BADGERS - Building Analysis Datasets and Gathering Experience Returns for Security

Whilst researching yesterday’s second WOMBAT, I came across another acronym even more contrived that the first: BADGERS - Building Analysis Datasets and Gathering Experience Returns for Security - was the name given to the Second Open Workshop for the WOMBAT project. Given that badgers have some superficial similarities to wombats, being “short-legged, heavy set” animals of similar size, I think that you can retroactively fit a connection so this one’s a post hoc.

For their commitment to contrived acronyms, I think the WOMBAT team deserve the second Outstanding Contribution To Acronym Generation Or Notoriety (OCTAGON) award.

[NB. This is not the first BADGER in ORCA.]

More JABBA Awards at keithbradnam.com

Just a quick post to note that Keith Bradnam has a few more contrived bioinformatics algorithms at over at keithbradnam.com for another round of JABBA (Just Another Bogus Bioinformatics Acronym) awards. I’ll no doubt steal them for ORCA once a decent amount of time has passed! :op (Actually, they’ve been up for a couple of weeks already, I was just slow to spot them.)

JABBA - Just Another Bogus Bioinformatics Acronym

As already noted in the recent Biostars post, my own field of bioinformatics is particularly bad (or good, depending on your point of view,) at spawning contrived acronyms. Sometimes this works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, you get the feeling that people are trying a little too hard.

Keith Bradnam has a long and illustrious career in bioinformatics - I first met him when I was a PhD student in Nottingham in the late ’90s, where he was probably the number one local bioinformatics guru. As a result, he has seen more that his fair share of acronym atrocities committed in the name of science. This has resulted in his creation of the Just Another Bogus Bioinformatics Acronym (JABBA) Award.

I won’t reveal the winner of the inaugural JABBA award here - you’ll have to read Keith’s post, linked above, to find out - but ORCA is sufficiently impressed with Keith’s commitment to using acronyms to fight acronyms, that he is being awarded the inaugural Outstanding Contribution To Acronym Generation Or Notoriety (OCTAGON) award. Congratulations, Keith!