Two small but (I think) profound steps forward today, the common thread being movement towards openness:

(1) Attila Csordas will be editing his doctoral thesis "live" on his blog. He won't, at least for now, be including data or unpublished discussions, but he did check with several relevant persons about the "prior publication" status of whatever he does blog (and concluded that the blogging will not present a barrier to publication). Says Attila:

...no idea on how challenging, meaningful this project, a sub-series in Pimm, will be. What I know is that continuous experimentation with genres and frames is the essence of free blogging!

It's at the heart of Open Science, as well; bravo, Attila!

(2) In reference to my earlier post about the proposal to make referee's comments public, Heather points out that PLoS One already offers reviewers the option of having their reviews published, anonymously or signed, as a discussion linked directly from the article. Kudos to Heather for opting to have her review of this paper made openly available.