Abu Yassin used to be a network engineer at an IT company in Beirut. Now he spends his days inventing new ways to kill people. He is one of Aleppo's premier bomb makers, and in the upcoming August issue of Wired Magazine, I tell his story, and that of the rebel's homemade arms industry.
In March, I traveled to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, and spent about three weeks with the city's weapons makers, chronicling their desperate struggle against Assad's professionally-equipped army. You can find the feature-length story online, along with photos from Magnum's Moises Saman, here:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/diy-arms-syria/
If you're a subscriber to the print edition--or you spot a copy on the display stand--you'll notice that Wired has done something pretty neat with the layout and the design. They've run the story in landscape, that is, sideways, which means that you have to turn the magazine ninety degrees to read it. Give it a try, and you'll probably find yourself flipping the top page over, so that it almost feels like you're holding a book. I think it's a smart idea that pushes you into a more contemplative reading space, and it's certainly innovative.