Letter from SciFoo: The joys and sorrows of the Unconference

This morning I am sitting down at my desk with a small red notebook with the words "Google: Open Source Programs Office" on the cover. It is filled with my scrawlings from a meeting this weekend at Google Headquarters, known as SciFoo. The notebook was part of a standard meeting goody bag SciFoo dispensed, along with one of those very heavy plastic cubes that meeting organizers love to engrave as a memento of a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Since I never check baggage when I fly, I left t...