Mar
17

ScienceOnline2012 interview with Elizabeth Preston

Every year I ask some of the attendees of the ScienceOnline conferences to tell me (and my readers) more about themselves, their careers, current projects and their views on the use of the Web in science, science education or science communication. So now we continue with the participants of ScienceOnline2012. See all the interviews in this series here.

Today my guest is Elizabeth Preston (blog, Twitter).

Welcome to A Blog Around The Clock. Would you, please, tell my readers a little bit more about yourself? Where are you coming from (both geographically and philosophically)? What is your background? Any scientific education?

Elizabeth PrestonThank you! I live in Chicago now, though I grew up in Syracuse and went to college in Massachusetts. In college I double-majored in English and biology, a combination that seemed to really distress people when they heard it.

I had some great biology professors and lab work opportunities in college, and wrote a senior thesis on the evolutionary genetics of malaria resistance in humans. But I found I didn?t want to stay in the lab forever. Enough PCR is enough.

Tell us a little more about your career trajectory so far: interesting projects past and present?

Right after college I was lucky enough to get a job I was totally unqualified for, as an assistant editor for the children?s publishing company that produces the magazines Muse and Cricket, among many others. Less than a year after that, some unusual circumstances left me running Muse on my own. It was, let?s say, a very steep learning curve for a while. (How do I assign deadlines? When are commas used in Chicago style? What are permissions?)

Over time, as I found my footing, I was able to start having fun with the magazine. Muse primarily focuses on science, but has always included stories about history and culture too. (It also has a silly streak and a bit of a sassy tone, which is fine with me.) What?s amazing is that I can really make the magazine my vision each month. I experiment with different kinds of articles, I make jokes, I wrap up this package of things I think are interesting and then send it off to a whole bunch of excited kids.

That?s not to say it?s all fun and fan letters. You can find me smashing my face against my desk on most days. But there are rewards. I also do a lot of writing for the magazine myself?partly because it?s free and I never complain about my edits, but also because I enjoy it. And in 2010 I started my blog, Inkfish, as another outlet for what I wanted to write.

What is taking up the most of your time and passion these days? What are your goals?

A lot of my time outside of the office goes to my blog. I?ve also done some freelance writing, and I?m looking to do more. I?m excited about writing for different audiences and reaching people who might not think of themselves as sciencey. I want to pop up in someone?s favorite magazine or website and share a compelling enough story that they don?t realize they?re reading about a subject they normally wouldn?t.

I also write poetry, which has always embarrassed me to admit. But in the past couple of years I?ve started actually trying to get published in that area, and I?ve had a few successes, so maybe it?s OK to tell people. If anyone?s looking to thicken their skin, I recommend submitting to literary journals. They?ll reject you immediately with a nice note, reject you slowly with a form letter, lose your submission for nine months and then find it again and reject you. One magazine I submitted to folded while I was waiting to hear back, so I put that in the ?not a rejection? column.

When and how did you first discover science blogs? What are some of your favourites? Have you discovered any cool science blogs by the participants at the Conference?

I started following 80beats and ScienceNOW a few years ago. I write a monthly feature in Muse called ?Bo?s Page,? which is a set of 6 or so quirky science news stories summarized very briefly. (There?s also one made-up story mixed in, and the game is to guess which ?fact? is false. The answer is at the bottom of the page.) These two blogs gave me a lot of material for Bo?s Page. But there were so many more of these interesting items than I could use in the magazine; I found that I was always regaling my friends with these tidbits, whether they liked it or not. This was part of what led me to start my own blog. It was an outlet for stories I wanted to share but didn?t have space for in the magazine?not to mention stories on, say, insect genitalia that aren?t as appropriate for the 10-to-14 crowd.

How does (if it does) blogging figure in your work? How about social networks, e.g., Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook? Do you find all this online activity to be a net positive (or even a necessity) in what you do?

My blogging is currently separate from my work, in that it?s not tied to Muse and I don?t get paid for it. But it is a large part of what I?m doing these days.

When I joined Twitter in the summer of 2011, it was kind of revolutionary. My blog audience started growing quickly, and I found this great community of science writers and communicators. They were so welcoming and enthusiastic (present company very much included!) that I decided I had to sign up for Science Online 2012.

Google Plus still confuses me, though.

What was the best aspect of ScienceOnline2012 for you? Any suggestions for next year? Is there anything that happened at this Conference ? a session, something someone said or did or wrote ? that will change the way you think about science communication, or something that you will take with you to your job, blog-reading and blog-writing?

I told my friends and family when I came back that this conference was like the mothership. I couldn?t believe I was meeting all these smart, creative, talented people who are passionate about the same things I am. It inspired me to work harder at what I?m doing and gave me faith that that work will take me to interesting places.

Thank you for the interview. Looking forward to seeing you again next January!

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=374ec0c703319a712c7c7fc2613256e9

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Feb
04

Turkey And Turkey Hunting Magazine ? Tips For Experts and …

The turkey and turkey hunting is one of the leading magazines in the marketplace that provides people with the latest information and updates which can be used in hunting. The magazine is released in a monthly basis. The different issues discuss all the things needed to have a productive events and turkey hunting tips.

Turkey hunting could be hard since it involves a lot of waiting and scouting. The bird is very cautious and may be driven a way easily by approaching footsteps of hunters and scouts. That is why the turkey hunting magazine has discussed different ways on how to catch and shoot turkeys effectively. The tips provided allows hunters to use techniques and methods which takes years to master without guidance from the magazine.

The turkey and turkey hunting magazine has different sections. The major sections deals with fire arms, drills, techniques and updates. It discuses the right way to hold, point and shoot rifles. It also teaches people how to clean and maintain the guns. The fire arms section is dedicated on the proper use of guns when hunting for turkeys. People can buy the necessary gun modifications to enable more accurate shots. This would include scopes and gun stabilizers. This is ideal for professional turkey hunters which are always hunting in the outdoors.

The turkey hunting drill section is also full of useful information. This would include fitness and training regimens to improve one?s skill in hunting for turkey capabilities. The techniques section teaches hunters how to properly position themselves during hunting and scouting. The editors recommend running and weight lifting drills to condition the body for hunting. This should be learned by all hunters since turkeys could be hard to find and follow. They can run fast contrary to popular belief.

The turkey and turkey hunting magazine is very useful for professional and novice hunters. It teaches people a lot of valuable information which can be used to hunt turkeys. A million subscribers have been following the magazine for several years. In fact, the magazine has been exported to other countries due to its usefulness. People can order online since the magazine would be delivered right at their doorstep. People would need to be resourceful and creative in order to surprise and subdue the turkey. The different everyday tools such as nets, wood and ropes could be used to catch turkeys if they are placed in the proper position. Turkeys run very fast that they neglect to check the direction they are headed.

Are you looking for more tips on turkey hunting magazine? If you would like more turkey hunting tips and distinguish yourself from the usual results obtain by beginner turkey hunters, please go to: www.howtohuntturkey.com

Source: http://www.writers4net.com/recreation-and-sports/turkey-and-turkey-hunting-magazine-tips-for-experts-and-beginners/

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Jan
21

Al Qaeda-linked magazine delivered to Guantanamo (Reuters)

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba, Jan 18 (Reuters) ? A copy of an al Qaeda-linked magazine was delivered to the Guantanamo detention camp for suspected terrorists, a military prosecutor revealed on Wednesday during a courtroom discussion of mail security.

The camp commander, Rear Admiral David Woods, issued orders last month tightening the screening of mail sent by lawyers to their clients at the camp that holds 171 captives on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba.

In a pretrial hearing for suspected al Qaeda bomber Abd al Rahim al Nashiri at the Guantanamo war crimes court on Tuesday, Woods testified that the new rules were necessary to prevent contraband from entering the camp, but he gave no specifics.

One of the prosecutors in Nashiri’s case said in court on Wednesday that the old system had not worked.

“There was material getting in like Inspire magazine that should not have been getting in,” said the prosecutor, Navy Commander Andrea Lockhart.

Inspire magazine bills itself as the publication of Yemeni-based group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and famously published an article titled, “Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.” The United States considers it a propaganda and recruitment vehicle for the group, and killed its editor in a drone strike in Yemen in September.

A Pentagon spokesman could not immediately provide details concerning the copy that wound up in Guantanamo.

Lockhart indicated it was sent by a civilian lawyer representing a detainee challenging his Guantanamo detention in the U.S. District Court in Washington. Those civilian “habeas corpus” cases are separate from the war crimes tribunals taking place in fits and starts at Guantanamo.

FAIR TRIAL RIGHTS?

Nashiri is the only prisoner currently facing charges in a tribunal, and his lawyer said he was not the one who received the Inspire magazine.

The 47-year-old Saudi citizen is accused of orchestrating the October 2000 attack that killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured dozens more aboard the USS Cole. Suicide bombers rammed a boat full of explosives into the side of the American warship while it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden, blowing a huge hole in its side.

He could be executed if he is convicted of charges that include murder, attempted murder, conspiring with al Qaeda and attacking civilians.

Two days of pretrial hearings in his case this week focused partly on the mail restrictions that Woods imposed for the other 170 prisoners. Woods said teams of Pentagon contractors, who included lawyers, translators and former intelligence officers, reviewed the mail to ensure it did not contain physical or informational contraband. Under his rules, the screeners divided mail into three categories.

Nashiri’s lawyers argued that in order to carry out that task, the screeners had to read confidential legal mail. They said submitting case-related documents under that system would force them to illegally disclose trial strategy, violating Nashiri’s right to a fair trial. They said it was also an ethical violation that potentially could put their own law licenses in jeopardy.

The judge in the case, Army Colonel James Pohl, heard arguments from both sides and said he would issue an order in a couple of weeks outlining procedures for the handling of Nashiri’s legal mail.

Nashiri was captured in Dubai in 2002 and held in secret CIA custody until his transfer to Guantanamo in 2006. Prosecutors hope to start his trial by March 2013 at the latest. The defense said it would not be ready before March 2015, in part because it hopes to receive about 570,000 pages of evidence, some of which must be translated and some of which requires special handling because it is secret.

The long wait for the start of the trial and the focus on Nashiri’s rights was frustrating for families of the sailors killed aboard the Cole more than 11 years ago. Two sailors who survived the attack traveled to Guantanamo to attend the hearing, as did relatives of three sailors killed on the ship.

“Justice is slow, very slow,” said 68-year-old Jesse Nieto, whose son Marc Nieto died in the blast. “I just hope that I’ll be able to see and be alive when the outcome resolves itself.”

Oliva Rux, whose husband Kevin Rux died aboard the Cole, said, “I have nothing but time to wait, to wait until that detainee takes his last breath.”

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/ts_nm/us_usa_guantanamo

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