Monday, January 30, 2012

Greensboro News & Record - DPAC

"To see what downtown Greensboro boosters have in mind for an entertainment venue, it's only necessary to look about 55 miles east. The Durham Performing Arts Center, or DPAC, has been a hit... DPAC has contributed to a strong revitalization of Durham's downtown, adding a major attraction to its sports and entertainment district. Could a downtown GPAC -- Greensboro Performing Arts Center -- match that success?"

- Editorial: Only Downtown, Greensboro News & Record

Friday, January 27, 2012

Facilities Online - Durham, NC

"With so many key attributes – affordability, accessibility and memorable attractions – it’s no wonder destination personnel express a new-found confidence as they compete in today’s meeting marketplace. 'Durham is able to host 85 percent of the conventions in United States,' said Sam Poley, Director of Marketing & Communications, Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau. 'We have two major airports within minutes of our convention center, which has just been renovated. Meeting Planners are looking for affordability and our costs are competitive.'"

- North Carolina Meetings Uniquely Growing, FacilitiesOnline

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Entrepreneur - Automated Insights

"Plenty of people will feel itchy at the thought (the editors at Entrepreneur among them), but there are machines out there that can write. Not just type or print, but actually turn bits of data into full sentences. Durham, N.C.'s Automated Insights has put its writing program to work to create more than 400 websites, 700 Twitter feeds and 400 mobile apps. The 13-person firm creates every single grammatically correct word of this network by machine, and founder and CEO Robbie Allen believes automated authoring has a home in almost any business."

- 10 Tech Trends Defining the Future of Small Business, Entrepreneur

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Washinton Post - Delta Rae

 "When you are in a six-piece band that features four lead singers and three siblings, you would think that things would get complicated, right? Not so for Delta Rae, the North Carolina-based group performing at Sixth and I Synagogue on Tuesday. After a year of touring and releasing a five-song EP in 2010, the band just released a new single, “Bottom of the River,” an intense movement that has drops of blues, soul and rock. Brothers Ian and Eric Hölljes talked with Click Track about using Kickstarter to fund their new LP, keeping the sibling rivalry at bay, and how even the creation of their band name was a family affair."

- Delta Rae on witch trials and keeping music in the family, Washington Post

Paste Magazine - Colin Stetson @ Motorco Music Hall

"Colin Stetson is set to hit the road this March behind last year’s New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges and the Those Who Didn’t Run EP. The bass saxophonist will tour with Sarah Neufield, who collaborated with Stetson in Arcade Fire and Belle Orchestre, opening the dates. Former Battles frontman Tyondai Braxton will also open for Stetson in Durham, N.C."

- Colin Stetson Announces Tour, Paste Magazine

Bleacher Report - Duke Basketball

"The Blue Devils don't have to worry too much about compromising their long-term goals, as they will be a threat to win the ACC Tournament when it rolls around, and they have enough talent to make a run through the NCAA Tournament when it comes calling. The rest of the regular season is a mere formality, with a couple high-profile games against North Carolina mixed in."

- Duke Basketball: Blue Devils Need Strong Finish from Austin Rivers, Bleacher Report

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

ABA Journal - Nancy Buirski/The Loving Story

"For most lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia is a familiar one. The 1967 decision struck down Virginia’s antimiscegenation statute, which prohibited and criminalized interracial marriage. Now a documentary film is bringing to light the story of the people behind the seminal civil rights decision... Filmmaker Nancy Buirski says she became interested in making The Loving Story after reading Mildred Loving’s obituary in the New York Times after her death in 2008... Buirski, for her part, says the documentary has unusual relevance today with the debate over marriage equality and the racially blended society in which we now live."

- A True Love Story: Documentary Looks at Couple Behind Famous Civil Rights Case, ABA Journal

Monday, January 23, 2012

AARP - Durham, NC

"This one-time Tobacco Road warehouse town has plenty of genteel charm, but its farm-to-table restaurant renaissance and cutting-edge cultural offerings make it quite worldly. The beneficiary of tobacco barons, Durham is where Wall Street hedge-funders retire early to grow heirloom vegetables on riverside farms. It’s also home to prestigious Duke University and the nearby Research Triangle, which give it a kinetic energy. Throw in the sun-dappled North Carolina climate, perfumed by honeysuckle and pine, and you have a winning U.S. destination. Stroll Duke’s neo-Gothic campus and admire the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Cheer on the Durham Bulls, the minor league baseball team featured in the 1988 movie Bull Durham. Downtown, eateries in former tobacco warehouses serve Southern classics with contemporary twists. Try shrimp and grits at Watts Grocery or southern French cuisine at Vin Rouge. The Magnolia Grill and Nana’s also put Durham on the culinary map."

- Great U.S. Destinations for 2012, AAPR

Friday, January 20, 2012

Bloomberg - Duke University Admissions

"Duke University, which last year offered seats to 13 percent of applicants, may be the beneficiary of some competitors having admission rates in the single digits. Freshman applications to the school in Durham, North Carolina, increased by 6.2 percent to more than 31,000, according to Christoph Guttentag, dean of admissions. “While sports may have a nominal impact on applications at Duke, it says something about selective college admissions when a 13 percent admit rate looks more possible,” Guttentag said in an interview."

- Applications at Top Universities Retreat Amid 'Impossible' Odds, Bloomberg

Examiner.com - Tobacco Road Sports Cafe

"Although baseball and basketball are the king sports in Durham, you can still get your football on at several great bars in town. Among those is Tobacco Road Sports CafĂ©, an upscale restaurant/bar located at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park downtown next to the Durham Performing Arts Center and the American Tobacco Historic Campus (there’s one in Raleigh as well). One of the things that makes this place a unique sports-watching venue is that they have a patio (I know, maybe you don’t want to sit out there in the winter) that forms the top of the left field wall for the ball park, plus two walls of windows, and great views of downtown. But wait, what gets my attention are the 40 TVs, about a dozen of which have a corresponding recliner."

- Hot Spots to Get Your Superbowl On, Examiner.com

Matador Records Blog - Bull City Records

"Bull City – or Bull Cittay, as it’s sometimes known around here – is one of our favorite stores around. Owner Chaz Martenstein is everything awesome about independent record stores. His love of new music and his devotion to his local Durham scene are second to none and his store is far too awesome for one measly post but here goes…"


- Get to Know Your Local Independent Retailer Vol. 5 - Bull City, Matablog

Thursday, January 19, 2012

TechCrunch - Triangle Startup Factory

"Serial entrepreneurs and mentors Chris Heivly and Dave Neal are kicking off the re-launch of their North Carolina-based startup accelerator, Triangle Startup Factory, in the hopes of providing entrepreneurs with a founder-friendly option for accelerating their early-stage tech businesses... Durham, North Carolina, where the accelerator is headquartered, is part of the so-called Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill “Research Triangle”, which includes Duke University, UNC, and NC State. Thus, it’s home to some great resources, and is an up-and-coming entrepreneurial hub in its own right."

- Triangle Startup Factory Re-Launches Accelerator; Promises $50K To Each Founding Team, TechCrunch

Friday, January 13, 2012

Huffington Post - Duke Students Appeal to Apple CEO

"As students from your alma mater, Duke University, we're writing to you [Tim Cook, Apple CEO] -- our favorite Duke alum -- to join our cause for conflict-free electronics. The time is ripe for change... As one of the first electronics corporations to map out your entire supply chain, we appreciate that Apple has become a national leader in the "conflict-free" movement. But, Apple has never been one to settle for "good enough" -- you have always strived for excellence. In the midst of election instability and war, this is a pivotal moment for Congo. This is not a time for rhetoric or strategic plans--it is a time for action."

- Duke Students Appeal to 'Favorite Dukie,' Apple CEO Tim Cook, for Conflict-Free iPhone, Huffington Post

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Violinist.com - Pianist Jeremy Denk

"A violinist and pianist together can explore some of the finest musical repertoire ever written, and what an exciting road that can be. The road certainly has been exciting for violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Jeremy Denk, who have played some 80 recitals all over the globe... On Tuesday they released their first recording together, French Impressions, with sonatas by Saint-Saëns, Franck and Ravel... Born in Durham, N.C., Denk started playing the piano when he was 5, and by the time he was 13 he was getting together with friends to play chamber music."

- Interview with pianist Jeremy Denk: 'French Impressions' with Joshua Bell, Violinist.com

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

NPR - Duke University Integrative Medicine, Mindful Eating

"We're a culture that loves to eat out... But every time we choose to eat a snack or meal away from home, we add an average of 134 calories a day to our diets... Mindfulness Training, or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been found to be effective as a complementary treatment for a variety of chronic health conditions. In recent years, health providers and universities including Duke University Integrative Medicine have offered classes on mindful eating."

- How to Eat Out Without Putting on the Pounds, NPR

NBC 17 - The Scrap Exchange

"There's everything under the sun in this place.The Scrap Exchange takes what some people may see as trash like industrial discard and allows you to turn it into green gold. You can also shop the artist's marketplace for clothing and accessories. If you're crafty, there's a variety or threads and yarns and fabrics to choose from. Or if you're quirky, perhaps you'll make a project from old computer parts. But some of the most fun is back in the Make-and-Take room."

- Visiting the Scrap Exchange, NBC 17

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

CyberGolf - Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club

"Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed Duke in 1957, building the golf course in and around stunning Duke Forest with the help of the school's football players for a total of $500,000. In contrast, each hole was endowed for $100,000 when son Rees agreed to update his dad's work in the early 1990s... Even though Jones played on his dad's design for Yale in the 1962 NCAA Men's Golf Championship, he had no desire to help out the Durham school since his wife went to rival UNC. But that all changed a year later, when daughter Amy applied to Duke... With his daughter in Durham, Jones added special attention to the project with repeated trips from his New Jersey home, resulting in some truly special green complexes. He also made Duke more generous off the tee, improved the shot values into the greens and brought the hazards more into play."

The Outstanding University Courses at Duke, North Carolina & NC State, CyberGolf

Monday, January 9, 2012

60 Minutes - Stem Cell Fraud

"The Internet is full of websites selling unproven stem cell treatments for incurable illnesses. Scott Pelley confronts one doctor offering false hope to a family with a disabled child."

- Stem Cell Fraud, 60 Minutes