Group items tagged

What really drew me to this article was how interesting the author made the subject sound. They hooked me right away by presenting something we usually consider to be ordinary as extraordinary. Additionally, the authors voice was really present and interesting throughout the whole article which is something that I really need to learn from. Also, once I got to the end I realized how well the article was organized. The title and initial premise wrapped right back up at the end with the experiment with spoons of different metal types. All in all, this article was well written; it was well organized, intriguing, and also concise.

"The legality of using Firesheep is less wooly when it comes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which criminalizes accessing computer systems without authorization."

"The legality of using Firesheep is less wooly when it comes to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which criminalizes accessing computer systems without authorization."

I like the way this is written because the author makes it a fun read. It is not a long boring article about the writing process of her story, but rather it breaks down her process into steps. Moreover, her writing is entertaining, which grasped my interest more so than many other posts. 

I thought the author of this post did a great job explaining the experiment and the point of his research. Additionally, he was able to clarify complex scientific words and processes, without spending too much time explaining every detail. The overall structure of the blog post is well done, as the author progresses from an explanation of the experiment, to the meaning of certain results, to the results themselves.

This article concerning the science behind poker and its categorization as either skill or luck is particularly well written in that it draws its audience in by presenting a recent event that concerned poker, and then proceeding to present information on the history of poker as well as the statistics that support its argument.  Furthermore, the author establishes credibility throughout her post by referencing credible studies done. Her voice throughout the post continues to be entertaining, keeping the reader's attention for the entirety of her post.

Astronomy is a very interesting subject but also a very complex one. I picked this article because the author does a good job of making a complex subject simpler to understand, while keeping the topic interesting by addressing the reader with a natural and creative tone.

This particular blog post caught my eye because of its funny, and somewhat goofy, title. Instead of simply listing the facts, the author describes a piece of history in a comedic and entertaining manner.

This article is interesting because the author makes an unusual comparison (between a controversial art piece and the far reaches of space) in order to make his point. Despite the differences between these two topics he melds them together in order to show the reader a new way of thinking about the concept of nothing.

I thought this article was very well written because at first it has a nice captivating introduction and title. The author goes on to explain the concepts in the most technical manner, but then he takes a step back and goes back to the reader's level in order to facilitate the reader's understanding if he or she does not have much knowledge on the topic. All in all, the article introduced a very interesting discovery about human evolution.

I thought this was a well written article because the author is informative without being too dry in her descriptions. Blogs do tend to be more conversational and this one is no exception. The academic focus on this relatively historic topic is still present, but the article is written for a wider audience than the academic community.

I felt that this article was particularly well written because of how conversational the author was with the reader. The conversational aspect allows the scientific aspect of the article to be better understood, in a way. The use of a video was also allowed for a better understanding of the physics.

I was thinking about doing this one! I curled for a couple of winters, and always wondered about the weirdly illogical physics of curling stones. Unfortunately, the nearest curling club is 3 hours away in Knoxville...

This blog post was a very entertaining and read. The concept that the reason people get scammed because of their strengths (trust in authority/desire to follow) and not our weaknesses is a bit mind boggling. It was very well written and kept me interested throughout the entire post.

A blog, by multiple authors, about new results in elliptic curve cryptography.

This doesn't quite follow the guidelines of the blogging assignment, I don't think, but I found it pretty interesting, so I'll share this one too. This is basically about the people who are going to be holding the keys to the building blocks of the internet. I'm not sure I understand it completely, but it sounds fascinating!

Excellent find! I heard about this security system when the author of this piece, James Ball, was interviewed for the "On the Media" podcast: http://www.onthemedia.org/story/so-many-keys/. Great stuff.

This article discusses the faults in former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell's statement that the use of encrypted apps made it difficult to stop terrorists. Claims that encrypted communications put them out of reach was false - there had been no change in al Qaeda tactics. Also, author Howard points out that there isn't a clear dichotomy between privacy and security.

This article goes over America's security and privacy trade-off, especially after 9/11. The author argues that we have done an excellent job keeping a balance between these two approaches and, while actions such as the Paris attack may make us question if we should add more security, there is no reason to take away the privacy we have as since 9/11 we have been doing a good job of valuing both of these aspects.

Good pick, but Greenwald is already on the list. Can you make another suggestion?