University of Glasgow

Roderic Page

![Ifttt](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gBMY1HNc49M/UeOxImS--aI/AAAAAAAAC7o/vvVngSFw8qY/ifttt.png?imgmax=800 "ifttt.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="460" height="144"}Since 2009 I\'ve been running a
service that takes posts to the EvolDir mailing list and sends them to a
Twitter stream at [@EvolDir](http://twitter.com/evoldir). This service
was running on a [local
machine](http://iphylo.blogspot.com/2009/01/darwin-on-twitter.html)
which has died. Rather than wait until I rebuild that server (again), I
looked around for other ways to recreate this service. I decided to use
[IFTTT](http://ifttt.com) (\"if this then that\"), which is a wonderful
way to chain together web services.  
  
IFTTT uses \"recipes\" to chain together two services (if something
happens here, do this). For example, given a RSS feed of recent messages
to EvolDir, I can create a recipe to send the links to those posts to
Twitter:  
![Rsstwitter](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-r0tCxy8PvkA/UeOxJiEFsuI/AAAAAAAAC7w/8tbPDo07F9c/rsstwitter.png?imgmax=800 "rsstwitter.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="460" height="110"}  
Great, only EvolDir is an old-fashioned mailing list distributed by
email only. There is no web site for the list that has URLs to each
post, and no RSS feed. IFTTT to the rescue again. I created a recipe
that reads emails for a GMail account that is subscribed to EvolDir, and
each time it gets an email from EvolDir it sends the contents of the
email to a [blog on Tumblr](http://evoldir.tumblr.com/):  
![Mail2tumblr](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-RFGXVT7DvZA/UeOxKRWMnxI/AAAAAAAAC74/Imf0JQcMFks/mail2tumblr.png?imgmax=800 "mail2tumblr.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="460" height="91"}  
Now each post has a web presence, and Tumblr generates a RSS feed for
the blog, so the first recipe can take that feed and every time the feed
is updated it will send that post to Twitter. Simples.


Since 2009 I've been running a service that takes posts to the EvolDir mailing list and sends them to a Twitter stream at @EvolDir. This service  was running on a local machine which has died. Rather than wait until I rebuild that server (again), I looked around for other ways to recreate this service.

Using @IFTTT to create a Twitter stream for @EvolDir

Robert M. Griffin ([@GriffinEvo](http://twitter.com/GriffinEvo)) has
launched
[ProjectEvoMap](https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=211137438455901265530.0004cbb2cd7859b1b6c75&msa=0&ll=37.857507,41.835938&spn=127.785219,307.96875).
Rob explains:  

> I have decided this week to try to create a resource where
> evolutionary  
> biologists can find info on labs and groups from all around the world.
> I  
> have created a collaborative Google map online which evolutionary
> biology  
> research groups can pin their labs to with a brief description of
> their  
> interests. Others can then browse the map to look for labs in
> specific  
> areas -- for example, if someone wants to find suitable labs in
> their  
> current country for work they can see all the labs in that area,
> likewise  
> anyone looking for work in a specific region or who needs access to
> labs  
> while on fieldwork can look for nearby groups which may be able to
> help.

  
Below is a screen shot of part of the map. If you\'re working on
evolutionary biology now is your chance to literally put your lab on the
map.  
  
![Project](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-nhJhko9Lz6w/UHfRKu4570I/AAAAAAAACF4/kAMczuj4DHg/project.png?imgmax=800 "project.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="500" height="344"}  
In parallel I\'m experimenting with adding a map to the venerable
EvolDir mailing list, for which I run a twitter stream
([@evoldir](http://twitter.com/evoldir)). Using some terribly crude code
to extract what looks like an address from EvolDir posts, then calling
Google\'s [Geocoding
API](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/)
results in a map of recent posts. You can see the live map at
<http://bioguid.info/services/evoldir/>. This service compliments Rob\'s
by giving a sense of current activity in the community (e.g.,
conferences, courses, jobs).  
  
![Evoldir](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ysnlPke5z9M/UHfRMArQ_uI/AAAAAAAACGA/b8PkK-IdKag/evoldir.png?imgmax=800 "evoldir.png"){style="display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"
border="0" width="500" height="366"}


Robert M. Griffin (@GriffinEvo) has launched ProjectEvoMap. Rob explains:Below is a screen shot of part of the map.

Mapping evolutionary biology: @evoldir and #ProjectEvoMap

[![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclDk1yUSPMy3HYJUxgLRpw6OQGJwabHFFsXt4b_Asapgfu5No-Icv9VJObT3X9EibdEwEDh2zk_oj2EJUlFJnN6-Xt4cvLwzbFd_9jqEcV-QpRet6ORKUmnjcbEtdtQpG74wP/s320/d_bigger.png){#BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293662585126808018
style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 73px; height: 73px;"
border="0"}](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclDk1yUSPMy3HYJUxgLRpw6OQGJwabHFFsXt4b_Asapgfu5No-Icv9VJObT3X9EibdEwEDh2zk_oj2EJUlFJnN6-Xt4cvLwzbFd_9jqEcV-QpRet6ORKUmnjcbEtdtQpG74wP/s1600-h/d_bigger.png){onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"}  
Well, not Darwin himself, exactly. The [Evolution
Directory](http://evol.mcmaster.ca/evoldir.html) (better known as
\"EvolDir\") is a mailing list run by [Brian
Golding](http://helix.biology.mcmaster.ca/) at McMaster University,
Ontario. It\'s widely used by evolutionary biologists to post
announcements about jobs, courses, conferences, software, and other
topics of interest to the community.  
  
In this age of spam- and administrivia-clogged inboxes I find it hard to
keep track of emails (and routinely ignore most), so it occurred to me
that I\'d pay more attention to EvolDir if the announcements were made
over [twitter](http://twitter.com). Hence, I wrote a script to monitor
my email account for EvolDir emails, and post any announcements to
twitter. You can follow EvolDir by going to
<http://twitter.com/evoldir>.  
  
One complication was working out a URL for individual EvolDir emails. To
make my life simpler I created a simple web archive of each individual
email. As a by product of this there is now an RSS feed for EvolDir,
available from <http://bioguid.info/services/evoldir/>, if RSS is your
preferred means of consuming news. I\'ve added the EvolDir RSS feed to
the [Systematic Biology](http://systbiol.org/) web site, so that
visitors to that site can see the latests announcements from the
evolutionary biology community.


Well, not Darwin himself, exactly. The Evolution Directory (better known as "EvolDir") is a mailing list run by Brian Golding at McMaster University, Ontario.

Postagens de Rogue Scholar

Using @IFTTT to create a Twitter stream for @EvolDir

Mapping evolutionary biology: @evoldir and #ProjectEvoMap

Darwin on Twitter