north carolina
clock | May 6, 2008I am about to go to vote. You can watch the NC results here.
Update: Pam is liveblogging the election. If you have experiences from the polling places around NC today, post them in her comments.
clock | April 23, 2008The Tar Heel Tavern was the first blog carnival that focused on a geographical region instead of a topic. It was going strong for about two years, but I could not find enough time to manage it any more, so it went extinct.
But now that blogging in North Carolina has grown so much and got well organized, the idea of resurrecting the Tar Heel Tavern has popped up. Perhaps we can do a few, for special occasions, and if it "catches" turn it into a monthly or fortnightly carnival (weekly is far too intense).
Anton hosted the first resurrected TTHT with the topic of Water, due to the draught.…
clock | April 11, 2008A rare blogging event that I will miss, but you should come and meet the local political bloggers and candidates.
clock | April 7, 2008ConvergeSouth 2008 is ready to roll:
The Web site is online and registration is open: http://2008.convergesouth.com/
We're calling for presentations - see the schedule and apply to present.
There's a brand-new Video Walking Tour on Thursday, October 16, with Robert Scoble and Tom Lassiter leading two groups around Greensboro.
Lots more new stuff is happening. Keep up with ConvergeSouth on the blog: http://2008.convergesouth.com/blog/
See you in October!
clock | April 5, 2008You must have noticed that there wasn't too much effort on this blog over the past couple of weeks (except for the elaborate and too successful April Fools hoax). I've just been so busy lately. So, here is a quick recap, and some pictures.
Back on March 21, I went to Duke University to participate in a panel called Shaping the world, one job at a time: An altruistic/alternative career panel. From education, to public health in the developing world, to science journalism, writing, blogging and publishing. The room was full (80 people? Perhaps 100?!). I am not sure one hour was enough for…
clock | March 28, 2008I have announced before my support for my friend and blogger Jay Ovittore in his race to unseat the Republican Congressman Howard Coble. But before he can get there, he first needs to defeat the establishment Democrats in the primaries, still not easy for a true Progressive here in North Carolina.
The last day of this month is the day when the money is counted and you know that these numbers have a big effect on the way press reports on races (since they have no knowledge of the issues, or spine to report them, they use campaign finances as a proxy for who is "winning") which then become a…
clock | March 24, 2008My favourite newspaper has been publishing for a year now. . Robert Dickson and Kirk Ross mark the anniversary. Newspaper is not dead.
clock | March 24, 2008
Next Triangle blogger meetup is this Wednesday at 6pm at Milltown (307 E. Main St., Carrboro). It is organized by our friends at Orange Politics, for several years the model for local political organizing online. It is likely some of the local politicos and candidates will show up. It is free and open for all and, heck, if you do not want to chat about politics, you don't have to - we'll chat about everything and anything anyway, as we usually do ;-)
clock | March 13, 2008He was here last Tuesday for filming of a scientific documentary for PBS:
He was doing important work on an upcoming PBS special "The Human Spark", a three-part documentary about what makes us human, due to air next year.
Alda, who also met with researchers at Duke University on Monday, started filming last week and said he will tape additional segments in France, England and South Africa, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. Duke primatologist Brian Hare suggested the NC Zoo as a shooting location, zoo spokesman Rod Hackney said.
clock | March 13, 2008Yesterday we had our first blogger meetup since the Conference, the Triangle bloggers jointly with the NC science communicators. Who was there? Anton Zuiker, Russ Campbell, Brian Russell, Ernie Hood, Chris Brodie, Abel Pharmboy and Lenore Ramm who took the pictures. We talked about plans for foodblogging, wineblogging and blogging101 events, about local jobs in academia, about the next Conference, about Sigma Xi, about Eve Carson (the helicopters were in the sky above, helping catch the second suspect), and about Carrboro Coworking. Fun was had by all (the weather was gorgeous as well - 65…
clock | March 9, 2008SCONC Second Wednesday AND the BlogTogether bloggers meetup will occur jointly this month, at Tyler's Taproom, Durham!
Does science make you thirsty?
Jargon got you down?
Want to kick back with other SCONCs?
We're here for you. Come hang with other science communicators on Wednesday, March 12 and talk shop. Or not. Whatever. This is a social event, a chance to talk with people who share your passion for explaining science.
There's no official start time, but say 5-ish. Early arrivers: grab a table. Wear your SCONC pin to find each other.
Tyler's Taproom is on the American Tobacco Campus next…
clock | March 8, 2008Carrboro's Creative Coworking in the works:
Freelance web designer Brian Russell's vision to create a shared workplace for freelancers and other creative types is moving toward a concrete Carrboro reality.
The idea to open what he called a shared office space with a coffee shop atmosphere was first mentioned publicly nearly a year ago. Russell said James Harris, director of economic and community development in Carrboro, encouraged him to make it happen.
The concept lies somewhere between a wireless-equipped coffee shop and the generic, cubicle-clad office. Russell said the need for this type…
clock | March 7, 2008News from SCONC:
On Thursday, March 27 at 4 p.m., the Zoology Department at NCSU will host a seminar from Patricia Brennan of Yale University entitled "The Biology of Avian Genitalia: Form and Function." Brennan's work on the genital anatomy of waterfowl has revealed the existence of a "sexual arms race" between males and females. Unlike 97 percent of bird species, male waterfowl have a phallus, and it can range "from a half-inch to more than 15 inches long." The seminar will be held in 101 David Clark Labs. Refreshments will be served in the lobby at 3:45.
Related:
Friday Weird Sex Blogging…
clock | March 6, 2008Regular readers must be familiar by now with the ZooSchool in Asheboro, NC. Today's news from the school - their students have put up the first issue of their online newspaper, the ZSX-Press. Go check it out!
In related news, and also at the Asheboro Zoo and related to education, The NC Zoo and NC Zoo Society will be hosting the No Child Left Inside Conference Thursday (today), March 6th, which will be held in the MPR [multi-purpose room] of the Stedman Education Building. I wish I could go. Perhaps someone there will write about it and post something online.
clock | March 6, 2008News from SCONC:
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences presents Reptile & Amphibian Day on Saturday, March 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dozens of displays, activities and presentations highlight reptiles and amphibians from North Carolina and around the world. Here's your chance to get up-close and personal with hundreds of live animals, from giant pythons to bearded dragons. Meet reptile expert Dr. Brady Barr, the first person to capture and study all 23 crocodilian species in the wild.
clock | March 4, 2008News from SCONC:
Linda Buck is the Nobel-Prize winner that may live farthest from NC (but still in the U.S.). She will give a seminar Monday, March 10 at 4 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Talley Center at NCSU. Buck won the Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004 for the discovery of olfactory receptors and subsequent work on the neurobiological basis for smell. The title of her talk is "Olfactory Sensing in Mammals." Buck is based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. This seminar is part of a series put on by the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at NCSU.
clock | March 3, 2008News from SCONC:
Oliver Smithies is the Nobel-Prize winner next door. A professor at UNC for almost 20 years, Smithies got the nod from Stockholm last fall. He will give a seminar at the Friday Center on Thursday March 6 at 6:30 p.m. in a lecture hosted by the Carolinas Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association.
Along with Mario Capecchi and Martin Evans, Smithies was recognized for his research on embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals. Their work on gene targeting in mice made it possible to study individual genes in health and disease--a fundamental breakthrough…
clock | March 2, 2008Sue announces that the website will be up in two weeks, and the blog is already up and running. You can help with organization. In any case, mark you calendars:
ConvergeSouth 2008 will be held on October 16-17, 2008 in Greensboro, North Carolina. BlogHer will be held on October 18.
clock | March 2, 2008The March SCONC meeting will be Wednesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in RTP. The evening will include presentations on how NIEHS research impacts public health, the new NIEHS Web site and highlights of a few of the Institute's important research programs.