north carolina
clock | August 19, 2008Support Beverly Purdue:
Bev and Pat McCrory will face each other tonight in the second televised debate of the general election. The debate will be broadcast live at 8pm on WTVD in the Triangle area and streamed live on ABC11.com. Tune in tonight as Bev continues to prove why she's the best candidate to move North Carolina forward.
New ad, including Charlotte
Click here to see Bev's new ad, which is also airing in the Charlotte media market -- the first ad by either side to air in Charlotte. It focuses on Bev's extraordinary record of accomplishment and her plans for North Carolina's future…
clock | August 18, 2008I was just on my way to Raleigh this morning, among other errands also heading to Quail Ridge Books to pick up a book there, when I heard Nancy Olson's interview on NPR's The State Of Things. Very nice interview with the owner of my favourite bookstore! I drove slowly in order to hear the whole thing:
When Nancy Olson opened a small bookstore back in 1984, she wanted it to be more than just a place to find bestsellers. Today, Quail Ridge Books and Music is a community anchor, an incubator for Raleigh's creative class and a dream come true. Nancy joins host Frank Stasio to share stories from…
clock | August 16, 2008Downtown Revival:
The decline of downtown Gastonia, N.C., began long before Jennifer Harper was born, exacerbated by the collapse of the state's textiles manufacturing industry and the exodus of retailers to suburban shopping malls. But the young Gastonia native is lending her design skills to help restore the town center to its prime - and its roots.
Harper, who graduates in August with a master's degree in industrial design from North Carolina State University, walked into city hall a few months ago when she heard that city officials were planning a new convention center for the downtown…
clock | August 15, 2008First Line of Defense:
A new facility at North Carolina State University will help provide increased protection to first responders by testing their turnout gear against potentially harmful chemical and biological threats.
The Man-in-Simulant Test (MIST) laboratory, located in NC State's College of Textiles, will allow researchers to evaluate the capabilities of protective garments against non-toxic vapors that resemble chemical and biological agents. The new facility will give researchers the necessary technological advances to provide test results and analysis faster than similar facilities…
clock | August 2, 2008This may take a couple of years, but I'll be patient. And as soon as the okapi arrives, I'll be off to the Zoo! I've only seen okapi once in my life, in the early 80s in London.
clock | August 2, 2008I got a million and a half invitations to the Big Blogger Bash in Raleigh the other day, but unfortunately I could not make it.
At the bash, Ginny Skalski and Wayne Sutton unveiled their brand new project - a website called 30Threads, which will cover all sorts of locally interesting stories and engage the local community. It certainly already has interesting stories and an interesting and novel layout. Looks like the media of the 21st century should look like (especially after all but hyper-local newspapers die out or completely move online).
I bookmarked it and will keep an eye - it looks…
clock | August 1, 2008Ruby reports:
Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools just released a statement saying that the School Board selected a new principal for Carrboro High list night. Parents at the brand new school have been feeling shafted as their students have less advanced courses available, and their last principal was let go rather swiftly and unceremoniously. I wonder if people will be more satisfied after this new principal gets settled in.
Fortunately, both of our kids avoided having to go to the new Carrboro High School, so we have been watching this saga from the sidelines. It is, nonetheless, the local school…
clock | July 30, 2008Science Communicators of North Carolina:
Tuesday, August 19
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Science Cafe: Monster Storms - Hurricanes in North Carolina
Dr. Ryan Boyles, State Climatologist and Director of the State Climate Office at NC State University with Dr. Anantha Aiyyer, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine, Earth, Atmospheric Sciences at NC State.
Tir Na Nog 218 South Blount Street, Raleigh, (919) 833-7795
clock | July 20, 2008Just like they did it last year, Howard Hughes program at Duke is hosting student blogs in their summer program. Check out what the students are writing on their blogs, starting at homepages of the undergraduate students and high school students and going through the blogrolls on the right-hand sidebars.
clock | July 13, 2008You know I love and often eat at Town Hall Grill in Southern Village. This is where we had our Friday Night Dinner during the last Science Blogging Conference (photographic evidence here, here, here and here) and more recently a little local meetup (see also Lenore's review of the evening, and note she was nearby recently again).
Anyway, Town Hall Grill now has a new website (with a new URL), and the chef, Chris Burgess recently completely redesigned the menu: my old favourites (lamb kebab, chopped salad, chicken-under-the-brick, filet mignon and NY strip) are still on the menu, but there…
clock | July 7, 2008My friend, neighbor and uber-blogger Pam Spaulding, has an article about her in today's New & Observer. Very nice! Good read. And also, Happy Birthday, Pam - what a great present you got from the corporate media today ;-)
clock | July 5, 2008Thursday, July 10
6:00 - 8:00 PM
With support from our friends at Burroughs Wellcome Fund, SCONC (Science Communicators of North Carolina) is hosting an introduction to podcasting (think of it as radio over the Internet). National authority Ryan Irelan of Podcast Free America will lead a two-hour session at Sigma Xi on NC 54 in the Research Triangle Park. (click here for directions) Please RSVP to Ernie Hood no later than Tuesday, July 8, or you might go hungry. (bkthrough AT earthlink DOT net)
clock | June 14, 2008Last night, my daughter and I went to hear the NC Symphony at the Green here in Southern Village. The entire square was packed (a couple of thousand people?). It was very enjoyable and an interesting choice of pieces. What was more interesting, and I am not sure I liked it, is the chosen ORDER of the pieces. The first half was filled with classics, the second half with pop stuff, including some not-well-known pieces. I am not sure that worked very well....
The concert started with Johann Strauss Sr.'s Radetzky March - a very powerful piece of music. But there is a reason why that is…
clock | June 12, 2008There is a huge forest fire raging in Eastern North Carolina, unfortunately affecting the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The smoke has now moved more than 100 miles to the west, which means right here. It's been stinking of smoke all day, getting worse and worse as time went on. And it appears it will not get any better soon.
clock | June 2, 2008Another SCONC event:
RENCI to Show the Power of Visual Communications at Lunchtime Bistro:
The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) invites the public to a Renaissance Bistro lunchtime demonstration and lecture from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 26 in the Showcase Dome room at the RENCI engagement center at UNC Chapel Hill.
The Bistro is free and includes lunch on a first-come, first-served basis.
RENCI experts, Eric Knisley, 3D visualization researcher, and Josh Coyle, new media specialist, will demonstrate three-dimensional visualizations and interactive touch screen displays. Attendees…
clock | May 31, 2008News from SCONC (Science Communicators of North Carolina):
On Thursday, June 5 at 7 p.m. in the Banquet Hall of the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, NC:
Public Lecture:
The Beautiful Mind: Breakthroughs and Breakdowns of the Brain,
with Dr. Ayse Belger.
clock | May 9, 2008Holden Thorp is a chemist and an overall great guy. Good news for NC science and education.
clock | May 9, 2008Our governor agrees. At least in the print version of this article which has a somehwat different title: "Easley supports college for aliens". I wonder why they changed it for the Web version - is the editorial position that having green or purple skin disqualifies one from higher education?
clock | May 9, 2008A special issue of The Independent on local food scene:
The road to real food
Farm to table challenges
Farmers' helpers
One missing link: organic grains