Oops - that was the wrong link. Sorry. *blush* Here's the right one: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=3c30aaab1e07aca4b8f53c8237d651b7&gid=35268132830
----- Original Message ----- From: Pat Rapp To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:36 PM Subject: Re: DNA in action! Who's the technology officer? I was just offering to do it because it's a good idea, it's easy exposure, and it's free. If someone else wants to do it, I say go for it. An example: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=646157164&ref=profile#/group.php?gid=35268132830 ----- Original Message ----- From: Alicia Henn To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:22 PM Subject: Re: DNA in action! One of the things we've talked about doing is expanding our online presence beyond our website. There has been resistance to a Second Life R-SPEC presence. We should hear from our technology officer before launching a Facebook page. How do facebook pages for organizations work? I've never seen one. Alicia On Feb 4, 2009, at 10:15 AM, Jonathan Sherwood wrote: I'll pitch in my yes vote. Can we set it up to allow certain people to post? Obviously, we don't want anyone in the world posting updates, but I don't think we'd want just one person with access, either. -- Jonathan Sherwood Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer University of Rochester 585-273-4726 On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: I can put up an R-Spec page on Facebook, if there's no objection. It only takes a few minutes and we can easily post announcements, events, videos, pictures, link to our website, etc. On Feb 4, 10:01 am, Jonathan Sherwood <[email protected]> wrote: > I had been wondering about R-SPEC on Facebook. I don't know enough about it, > other than that it's a good way for people to keep abreast of what we're up > to. > But I think Pat's right - we need to promote individual meetings to some > degree. The D&C would run it in their calendar, and we can make sure other > places such as Writers and Books have it posted. > > -- > Jonathan Sherwood > Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer > University of Rochester > 585-273-4726 > > > > On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Or, perhaps more fitting to this group in particular -- as the atheist > > otters on South Park say, "For science's sake." > > : ) > > > All kidding aside, I agree that it's unfortunate that there was such a low > > turnout when we had a guest speaker of such high caliber. > > > Having said that, there are times when one just cannot get to a meeting. > > Work and school are priorities. What we should do next time is try a little > > harder to promote the event -- submitting to the newspaper, blogging it, > > facebooking it, etc. That way, even if the regular R-Spec crowd is unable > > to > > attend, maybe the wider general public would show up. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Dave Henn" <[email protected]> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:00 AM > > Subject: Re: DNA in action! > > > I'm sorry I couldn't be there, too. That's a lot of "I'm sorry I > > couldn't be there" posts. Of course, in my case, living 350 miles away > > during the week makes attendance a tad more difficult even if one > > doesn't have, er, scheduling conflicts. Had I been in town, and > > assuming I had functioning transportation, I probably could have found > > a way to juggle my time to squeeze in an hour or two at the talk. This > > probably not too subtle hint is not directed at any one person but is > > prompted by the cumulative weight of apologies for not being there. > > It's once a month, for God's sake (or, for the agnostics and atheists, > > goodness' sake, or, for the evil, for badness' sake, or, for the > > neutral, for whatever's sake, etc.). Same bat time, same bat channel > > next month. > > > Dave > > > P.S. We don't own a dog house, but I should probably build a nice one > > so when I come back to Rochester I can be comfortable. :-P > > > On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Jonathan Sherwood > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Yet another "sorry I couldn't be there" note (at least I have only two > > > more > > > months of Tuesday night classes!) > > > That video was stunning. I've forwarded it to half a dozen biologists. > > > > -- > > > Jonathan Sherwood > > > Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer > > > University of Rochester > > > 585-273-4726 > > > > On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Eric Scoles <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > >> Yes, thanks from me, too -- I really wanted to be there, I'm sorry I had > > >> to leave. Maybe we can get a panel together sometime, and promote it > > more > > >> heavily. Nancy and Mark for a start. Any other gene-iacal suggesticons? > > >> Get > > >> some real speculative juju moving. Other than Alicia (would it be > > awkward > > >> being on a panel with your manager?), do we have any biologists? > > > >> On 2009-02-04, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >>> Thank you for the summary, Nancy. I am so disappointed that I had to > > >>> miss > > >>> it! > > > >>> ----- Original Message ----- > > >>> From: [email protected] > > >>> To: [email protected] > > >>> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:58 AM > > >>> Subject: Re: DNA in action! > > > >>> Last night's R-Spec meeting was fascinating -- it was too bad that only > > >>> seven people could make it. Mark Zahn, Alicia's boss, spoke about > > >>> Biodefense. He slanted his talk toward practical knowledge for SF > > >>> writers > > >>> who want to include weaponized genemods in their stories, and he did a > > >>> wonderful job. > > > >>> He talked about which pathogens best lend themselves to modification > > >>> (Ebola, for instance, has a very small genome and produces only eight > > >>> proteins, which means there's just not room enough in the cell to fit a > > >>> lot > > >>> of extra, genetically engineered stuff.) Mark covered the assembly of > > >>> viruses using sequencing data and "off-the-shelf" sections of DNA. He > > >>> talked about the origins and spread of epidemics. I hadn't known that > > >>> the > > >>> natural host for influenza was an Asian species of duck, and that the > > >>> way > > >>> vaccine makers guess at which strains of flu will hit in a given winter > > >>> is > > >>> by examining ducks in late summer. > > > >>> The talk also covered what you need for a rogue genemod lab to > > weaponize > > >>> pathogens: off-the-rack equipment, experienced talent, and no more than > > >>> a > > >>> few million dollars. What the Russians may or may not have been doing > > >>> in > > >>> this regard was discussed, including a recommendation for Ken Alibek's > > >>> scary > > >>> book BIOHAZARD (which I have read -- it's horrifying). Mark finished > > >>> with > > >>> an overview of surveillance techniques used to spot and track epidemics > > >>> so > > >>> that appropriate measures can be taken, including quarantine if > > >>> necessary. > > > >>> Thank you, Alicia. It was terrific. > > > >>> _________________________- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
