Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with taxonomy

Origin of latin names for different species?

melissam — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:30:14 -0800

Is there a database of the origins of Binomial Latin names for species? I have to memorize lots of boring molds. I know a little Latin and sometimes this helps me connect the Latin name to something about the mold. But I can't find a website that lists the origins of the names...does one exist?

Edward Tufte, make me a taxonomy!

soviet sleepover — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:32:41 -0800

Help me devise an Edward Tufte-approved visual system for tracking my life/health/happiness! Portable, layered, colorful, graph-like but illustrated... Right now I'm imagining a 365 page accordion-fold book that opens both ways--forwards for a timeline (with illustrations and notes I add day by day), and backwards for a regular journal/notebook. But I'm not at all wedded to that idea, though I do like the idea of being able to view several/many days at once as a progression. (A huge set of scrolls seems like a theoretically good idea, but unwieldy and silly in practice. Maybe a 60p accordion Moleskine is most practical..)

Practically, I'd like this to serve as a visual diary of my day's events, plus a way of tracking trends. I also want to be able to record evolving goals I set for myself, no matter how banal ("floss teeth," "write for an hour"), and have some aesthetically interesting way of seeing their progress..

As a side question, give me ideas of how to develop emotional/tonal taxonomies! How do you categorize the events/ideas in your life in a way that takes into consideration their emotional qualities, seriousness/ephemerality, etc? How to overlay a cloud system (think web 2.0 in analog, but without the layers of acetate!).

But despite the bent toward data collection, I want this most to be a creative project using collage, illustration, etc. So, the questions: how should I approach a project like this? What should I keep in mind? How would you go about developing taxonomies for this? I want to hear your anecdotes, your speculation, your naysaying or wonderful visions for doomed projects! How would you do this?

SEO for a product known by different names in different English-speaking countries?

AmbroseChapel — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:18:40 -0800

SEO for a product known by different names in different English-speaking countries? [Please assume by the way what I'm talking about white-hat SEO, not tricks, and that I know that semantic HTML, good, updated content and inbound links are key SEO factors.]

How would you deal with a situation where you're trying to optimise your website for a search term, but different English-speaking countries use different words for the same thing?

Say your company makes "scrunchies", those hairband things. Now, "scrunchie" is a made-up word. There's no official term for them.

Now imagine you're trying to sell internationally, and you find that in Canada, they're called "scroonchers", in the UK they're called "kranchies" and in Australia they're called "chuzzwazzas".

You want your product's name up there in the title, the URL, the H1 and so on, but there are four different names for your product.

Would you create separate sites for those different countries?

Would you use text like "scrunchies (aka scroonchers, etc)" into your pages?

Would you trust that Google is smart enough that all four of those terms are linked up in their magical taxonomy database and a search for one will return results for the others?

Does an Information technology taxonomy exist?

nyc_consultant — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:06:55 -0800

Is there such a thing as an "Information Technology Taxonomy?" IT is everywhere in our society, so I was stunned to find that I can't find a comprehensive categorization of all the things that comprise information technology. I realize that the very definition of IT can mean many different things, but I need to find viewpoints on have defined, and then categorize the field.

Any leads?

Exploring web content by mood?

blogenstock — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:10:24 -0800

I'm looking for examples of rich web interfaces that allow users to explore content based on mood or style, like Getty Images' Moodstream or Musicovery. Not necessarily restricted to audio, video or image sites; examples of 'mood 'explorers' helping users discover any other type of content -be it wall paint, holidays or cocktails- will be equally welcome.

What to do with an inherited tiger's head?

omnigut — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:26:09 -0800

We inherited a tiger's head from our dead grandfather, which was hunted around 1940. We'd like to know how much it is likely to cost, and what people think we should do with it; donate it to a museum? to an art college? to an insane asylum? Any suggestions appreciated. Photos are here, here, and here. You can see photos of it here, here, and here.

Is Pizza a Sandwich?

nonreflectiveobject — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:19:15 -0800

Is pizza a sandwich? I've been having a long debate with a close friend, and we're both somewhat obstinate, so the debate has gotten nowhere. My friend claims that pizza is in fact an unusual formulation of an open-faced sandwich; I disagree. Discuss.

Can You Name That Fallacy?

saulgoodman — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:14:08 -0800

Is there already a precise term for the rhetorical fallacy/trick described in the following scenario: Guy A and B are arguing. Guy A makes an assertion. Guy B counters the assertion with an argument of his own. Guy A ignores the specifics of Guy B’s argument, and asserts that Guy B’s argument does not genuinely reflect Guy B’s position (i.e., Guy A says that there are certain unstated ‘real’ reasons Guy B holds the particular position he’s arguing for, and Guy A then goes on to expound on those real reasons to Guy B on his behalf). Another common variation on this rhetorical sleight-of-hand has Guy A insisting that Guy B’s ‘real’ reasons for holding a particular position are ‘unconscious,’ and so, aren’t properly understood even by Guy B himself, although Guy A at the same time somehow possesses the ability to unpack the contents of Guy B’s ‘unconscious mind’ with laser-like clarity, all without being susceptible to any undue ‘unconscious’ influence of his own.

This seems to be a variation on the straw-man fallacy, but with an especially nasty edge, so I’m wondering if it’s already got a name, or if not, if it should.

Is there a website that categorizes songs by mood or subject?

melodykramer — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:54:36 -0800

Is there a website that categorizes songs by mood or subject? Searching iTunes for title words and hoping the title then corresponds to the lyrics/mood doesn't always give the best results. For work, I often have to find weird or unusual songs that have to do with a certain topic (and the songs have to be PG or G.)

For example, in the past three weeks, I've needed songs dealing with Botox, brains, and basketball.

I searched on iTunes for Botox; nothing relevant pops up. We ended up using a song called "Tighten Up," but it was only because one of my coworkers thought of it. I had never heard of this song before he mentioned it, but thought "Hmm. There has to be a thesaurus or database of song topics, moods, etc."

Is there a database or search engine to facilitate this song-searching process? I need to be able to say "Find songs about brains" and have relevant ones about heads and skulls and brains and foreheads pop up. Song titles are a good place to start, but unless I know every single keyword dealing with a subject, all of them won't pop up.

(Caveat: I hate going to lyrics websites because they often contain popups and embedded things that destroy my work computer. Also, I find these songs under a pretty tight deadline, so a mixtapes site or using Ask Mefi would take too long.)

Give me your best book of taxonomies.

bigmusic — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 22:09:03 -0800

So I enjoy books that are an elaboration on theoretical taxonomies such as Roget's International Thesaurus (not the dictionary style) and A Pattern Language. What other books or websites might I enjoy in this vein? Taxonomies on birds or plants are interesting, but I'm looking for things that aren't immediately obvious.

Is a bird's foot bleachable and keepable?

proj — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:15:28 -0800

My fiancee found a bird's foot/claw on the ground. She thinks it's like a bone that can be boiled/bleached to sanitize it and have it as a weird knick-knack. I think it's more like a piece of meat that will rot and bring germs in to the house. Who's right?

Teaching resources about racial concepts: their biological validity and various cultural expressions

LobsterMitten — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:22:51 -0800

I need teaching resources about race: the biology of human "races"; why "race" is not biological but social; how racial categories have shifted over time and place; and related questions on teaching about race? This is as a supplement to reading The Mismeasure of Man in a university "Critical Thinking" class. I need more science and verifiable cross-cultural examples to back up my "there are no biological races" claim. Give me your best clear, scientific teaching resources (websites, books, examples) about why the idea that humans belong to different biological races has been discredited.

Two objections I'm especially interested in answers to:
1. Sickle cell anemia, Tay Sachs disease etc. Some groups do have biological characteristics in common (eg susceptibility to certain diseases). Why not then say that race has some usefulness in making biological predictions?

2. "Why are blacks such great athletes? I heard they have extra tendons in their legs, and more ATP." (!!!) I have a student who is very attached to racial categories. What do scientists make of the observation that, for example, many Kenyans seem extra well-suited to be long distance runners? Is there any good science on this?

Another request - evidence that race categories are arbitrary and shifting.

3. Pictures and info on different racial categorization systems that have been used in different places and times -- the more different from present-day USA, the better.

4. Sources of quotes etc on past racial categorizations (eg, the filthy Irish) that would discriminate against people who would now be considered "white".

How do I organise my college course modules into one cohesive format?

ajp — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:29:05 -0800

How do I organise my college course modules into one cohesive format? Help! I'm drowning in college coursework. How do I organise my course modules into one cohesive format that I can easily update, expand, and use for revision?

There are some highly specific details in this question, but it's essentially a problem of organising related but distinct information into one cross-referenced and definitive source.

I'm currently studying osteopathy, and have a huge amount of anatomical information to learn. The course is split over several modules which are roughly:

1. Structural and functional anatomy (lists of bones, muscles, joints, etc. and how they work together).

2. Dysfunction (problems that arise, currently specifically in the musculo-skeletal system, although cardio-vascular systems and other organs of the body will also be included).

3. Technique (how to detect and treat problems using manual therapy).

The fundamental problem I have is that the course is structured in such a way that I find it very hard to relate these subject areas to each other. The modules are taught separately, and although there has been a clear attempt by the faculty to integrate the subject matter, I simply don't find it cohesive enough. A "perfect" lecture for me would be one whole day studying one anatomical feature. For example, starting with anatomy of the foot, moving onto its dysfunctions, and culminating in diagnostic and treatment techniques. Timetable restrictions prevent this. We may study the anatomy of the foot one morning, but learn technique for treating the back in the afternoon. Our study notes reflect this fractured approach: we may learn about the thigh while we're in college, but be expected to "read ahead" about the bones of the pelvis concurrently.

Revision is similarly tricky. If we want to revise all techniques, that's fine. But if we want to revise "the back", and include all three modules, we have to collate notes from multiple sources. This is time-consuming, and potentially leaves us open to accidentally missing information that is buried deep in one module. I'd like to organise revision (and the notes themselves) arbitrarily, not just by module. For example, it may make sense to revise "the foot", or "muscle attachements", or "nerve supplies".

How do I organise this fractured information into one cohesive, cross-referenced format?

Pointers on where to start looking, rather than definitive solutions, will be gratefully accepted. Googling has revealed plenty of well-organised and detailed information, but I'm not looking for yet more information on the subject matter.

I'm going to start by checking out mind-mapping, so if anyone has experience of learning anatomical or medical information using mind-maps, it would be very useful. The info I need to capture from my course is a combination of detailed text, bullet-point facts, and images. Mind-maps seem good for this; any words of wisdom? I'm not entirely convinced that they will handle the cross-referencing aspect very well: I'd have to settle on a means of organising the course material - probably by anatomical feature - then maybe have standard branches from each subject, maybe one for each module. Somehow that doesn't seem "good enough" to me! I've also just found GraphViz.org which looks interesting.

Bonus points: Whatever solution I settle on, I'd ideally like to put it online in some collaborative format, so my fellow students and I can combine forces to create a definitive coursework model. I have access to a Linux web-server with Dreamhost, but of course I only have user-privileges, not admin. PHP apps will probably be fine, maybe Java. Can anyone recommend appropriate software? (I am going to ask the college faculty if they'd outline all modules as mind-maps, maybe even the entire course, but I won't hold my breath).

Apologies for the length of this question :-)

Classical Music taxonomy and digitizing

squishy — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 16:33:58 -0800

Help me with digitizing and organizing my classical music collection! I have a metric buttload of amazing classical music CDs that have been collecting dust because I'm too lazy and unsure how to rip and organize them effectively.

I'd really like to send them all to a CD-ripping service, but I want to make sure that the cataloging is done well, and most services seem to just use Artist/Album/Track fields. Is there some sort of standard tag system for classical music? This one looks good, but I think it's just one person's thoughts, not necessarily a standard.

I have two SlimDevices Squeezeboxes and I've read that there's a plugin that can let you browse by custom fields, so it'd be nice if my collection's tags could play nice with that.

Currently I find it really difficult to navigate classical music on the Squeezeboxes, and in iTunes, for that matter, because you just don't have all the information. I get items like "Track:Allegro, Artist:Beethoven". Grr.

What are my best options, both for digitizing and for cataloging? If there's not a service that can do it all for me, is there good software out there for classical folks?

Are the terms ontology, taxonomy, and folksonomy interchangeable?

nramsey — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 17:39:51 -0800

Are the terms ontology, taxonomy, and folksonomy interchangeable? I started a new job and had a first meeting on Friday with some other departments. My position is as a writer, but I have to work with the Web people and have input into the "architecture" if you will. That being said, are the terms ontology, taxonomy, and folksonomy interchangeable? I know they talk about the same realm of stuff, but I didn't think they were the same thing. The terms were used in regards to a redesign and restructuring of a huge site.

taxonomic translation?

dhruva — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:46:54 -0800

Does anyone know of a website that provides meanings of scientific names for plants and animals?

Scientific jargon in other countries

clockzero — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:10:50 -0800

In America (and in Europe, too, I suppose), we use the Linnaean taxonomic system for living things and have certain specific terms (acetate, polymerase, cholinergic, etc.) that are used in chemistry, for example; how does such terminology work in other languages, especially those very dissimilar to English, such as Chinese?

How do you organize your mp3's?

tranquileye — Fri, 06 Aug 2004 12:45:07 -0800

Much excellent advice can be found in the Green concerning CD to MP3 ripping and storage. My challenge: 60 gigs of MP3s and not sure how to organize them. Bootlegs from the salad days of Napster, high bitrate rips of my jazz collection, some cartoon songs from the 70s, etc. On what basis do people sort their many tunes?