"How a Rogue Geologist Discovered a Diamond Trove in the Canadian Arctic"
Carl Hoffman
11/24/08
Wired
Despite the egregious misrepresentation of the Canadianism "eh" in this article, the main facts are quite interesting. It details the work of Chuck Fipke, a geologist out of UBC who was the first man to find diamonds in Canada. The article discusses his use of examining other minerals that are generally found in conjunction with diamonds to locate huge deposits of the shiny material. It also talks about his penchant for using his new found wealth for a bit of local partying and womenizing.
ANALYSIS:
I think that the biggest issue I have with this story is the fact that Hoffman insists on writing the mannerism as "hey" rather than "eh," which is a well documented Canadian verbal tick. Aside from Hoffman's lack of entyomology, the article is pretty well written, with an excellent description of Mr. Fipke. I've noticed that the writers for Wired like to put themselves in the story, rather than just telling it as is, but Hoffman didn't do it as badly as the previous one. An interesting story about a topic that not many people are aware of.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
The Falling Man
"The Falling Man"
Tom Junod
09/11/08
Esquire
This article discusses a photograph taken on September 11th, of a man in mid fall after jumping from one of the Twin Towers. It first covers the photographer who took the photo and his discovery of it afterwards, then it goes through and shows each of the families to whom the Falling Man may have belonged. The story is on the surface about the hunt for the man's identity, but perhaps ultimately the article is about the hunt for our reaction or acceptance of what the man did.
ANALYSIS:
This piece was shorter than some of the other ones, yet still had quite a punch to it. Junod uses a lot of rhetorical questions, and exposition to tell his story, relying less on investigative journalism, and more on the esoterical. The article is probably a lot more "think-y" than most that I've read, and seems to want to make the reader explore his or her own feelings, and less about the identity of the man. It is as if the anonymity of him is what makes the picture important.
Tom Junod
09/11/08
Esquire
This article discusses a photograph taken on September 11th, of a man in mid fall after jumping from one of the Twin Towers. It first covers the photographer who took the photo and his discovery of it afterwards, then it goes through and shows each of the families to whom the Falling Man may have belonged. The story is on the surface about the hunt for the man's identity, but perhaps ultimately the article is about the hunt for our reaction or acceptance of what the man did.
ANALYSIS:
This piece was shorter than some of the other ones, yet still had quite a punch to it. Junod uses a lot of rhetorical questions, and exposition to tell his story, relying less on investigative journalism, and more on the esoterical. The article is probably a lot more "think-y" than most that I've read, and seems to want to make the reader explore his or her own feelings, and less about the identity of the man. It is as if the anonymity of him is what makes the picture important.
The Video Game World is More Complex Than You Think
"The Decline and Fall of an Ultra Rich Online Gaming Empire"
Julian Dibbell
11/24/08
Wired
The article talks about a man named Brock Pierce, who started up a company called Internet Gaming Entertainment (or IGE). What made IGE different from other companies, is that it dealt in the selling of things that don't technically exist: video game items. The premise was Pierce and his company would stock up on valuable and rare items that gamers sought after in massively-multiplayer online games, and then sell them to the public for actual money. IGE makes a profit, and the gamer gets his or her rare item. This is a highly controversial business in the gaming world (known as gold farming), and has lead to game makers banning and prosecuting those who do it. The story details the rise of Pierce's IGE, and the eventual fall in the face of community backlash.
ANALYSIS:
I think this is an interesting article for anyone who games as a hobby, especially those that are directly affected by gold farming, MMOs. It gives a fairly good insight into how those who started these businesses think, and the polarizing affect of their actions. However, while the narrative was well written, I feel that the author put himself in the article a bit too much, relying on his experiences, rather than letting Pierce and his story take center stage.
Julian Dibbell
11/24/08
Wired
The article talks about a man named Brock Pierce, who started up a company called Internet Gaming Entertainment (or IGE). What made IGE different from other companies, is that it dealt in the selling of things that don't technically exist: video game items. The premise was Pierce and his company would stock up on valuable and rare items that gamers sought after in massively-multiplayer online games, and then sell them to the public for actual money. IGE makes a profit, and the gamer gets his or her rare item. This is a highly controversial business in the gaming world (known as gold farming), and has lead to game makers banning and prosecuting those who do it. The story details the rise of Pierce's IGE, and the eventual fall in the face of community backlash.
ANALYSIS:
I think this is an interesting article for anyone who games as a hobby, especially those that are directly affected by gold farming, MMOs. It gives a fairly good insight into how those who started these businesses think, and the polarizing affect of their actions. However, while the narrative was well written, I feel that the author put himself in the article a bit too much, relying on his experiences, rather than letting Pierce and his story take center stage.
The School
"The School"
C.J. Chivers
03/14/2007
Esquire
This article is a re-telling of the events that happened inside a school in Chechnya, when the building was taken over by terrorists. The article starts mid-way through the situation, with a man trying to secretly disarm one of the bombs hanging over his head, and then starts at the beginning of the day. The carnage of the event is detailed through the experiences of a number of different hostages. The article ends with the Russian soldiers taking control of the school, and an epilogue detailing the fates of the hostages covered.
ANALYSIS:
A powerfully written story, that takes all the great elements of writing generally reserved for the most compelling Tom Clancy novels, and uses it to document a horrifying tragedy. The multiple viewpoints in the story help to give a full-scale sense, rather than limiting it to the viewpoint of one individual. Chivers also doesn't bog down the story with too many names, deciding to stick to a select few, and continuously revisit them.
The writing is descriptive without being overdone, and the sentences are long enough to convey the info, but short enough to keep the narrative moving. The overall effect is engrossing and makes the reader feel as if they were really there along side the captives.
C.J. Chivers
03/14/2007
Esquire
This article is a re-telling of the events that happened inside a school in Chechnya, when the building was taken over by terrorists. The article starts mid-way through the situation, with a man trying to secretly disarm one of the bombs hanging over his head, and then starts at the beginning of the day. The carnage of the event is detailed through the experiences of a number of different hostages. The article ends with the Russian soldiers taking control of the school, and an epilogue detailing the fates of the hostages covered.
ANALYSIS:
A powerfully written story, that takes all the great elements of writing generally reserved for the most compelling Tom Clancy novels, and uses it to document a horrifying tragedy. The multiple viewpoints in the story help to give a full-scale sense, rather than limiting it to the viewpoint of one individual. Chivers also doesn't bog down the story with too many names, deciding to stick to a select few, and continuously revisit them.
The writing is descriptive without being overdone, and the sentences are long enough to convey the info, but short enough to keep the narrative moving. The overall effect is engrossing and makes the reader feel as if they were really there along side the captives.
Nerds are useful.
"Secret Geek A-Team Hacks Back, Defends Worldwide Web"
Joshua Davis
11/24/08
From Wired.com
This article documents an internet security issue that was discovered a while ago. The flaw was discovered by a man name Dan Kaminsky, a middle-aged computer consultant who was messing around trying to get free internet at a local coffee shop. He used it by rerouting the path his computer took through the DNS (domain name system) to get to a specific website. According to the article, the DNS works like "directory assistance for the Internet." After injuring himself and playing around with his DNS hack while recovering, Kaminsky discovered that his little work around could be used to a much greater extent. He could effectively access anyone's emails, anyone's bank accounts, anything he wanted that was on the Internet.
Deciding to take the higher moral path, Kaminsky contacted Paul Vixie, one of the people who are continually updating the DNS. Vixie used his connections to pull together a huge, multinational effort to "fix" the Internet. An unprecedented, multi-platform patch was released which has temporarily fixed the issue. The article ends by warning that this was just a token measure, and that something much greater is needed in the near future to fix it completely.
ANALYSIS:
The story itself is written in a very compelling prose, jumping back and forth in time, and showing the different reactions of the various people involved. It's written almost like a spy novel or movie, starting off with the slob who unwittingly stumbles over something golden and then becomes thrust into the middle of a huge, international crisis. Being an article on Wired, there is some technical jargon, however the writer does a good job of defining it all so it doesn't overpower the story.
However, on the negative side, the author does tend to sensationalize the story a bit, and use a little bit of that neophyte, the-Internet-is-evil, scare tactic to create drama.
Joshua Davis
11/24/08
From Wired.com
This article documents an internet security issue that was discovered a while ago. The flaw was discovered by a man name Dan Kaminsky, a middle-aged computer consultant who was messing around trying to get free internet at a local coffee shop. He used it by rerouting the path his computer took through the DNS (domain name system) to get to a specific website. According to the article, the DNS works like "directory assistance for the Internet." After injuring himself and playing around with his DNS hack while recovering, Kaminsky discovered that his little work around could be used to a much greater extent. He could effectively access anyone's emails, anyone's bank accounts, anything he wanted that was on the Internet.
Deciding to take the higher moral path, Kaminsky contacted Paul Vixie, one of the people who are continually updating the DNS. Vixie used his connections to pull together a huge, multinational effort to "fix" the Internet. An unprecedented, multi-platform patch was released which has temporarily fixed the issue. The article ends by warning that this was just a token measure, and that something much greater is needed in the near future to fix it completely.
ANALYSIS:
The story itself is written in a very compelling prose, jumping back and forth in time, and showing the different reactions of the various people involved. It's written almost like a spy novel or movie, starting off with the slob who unwittingly stumbles over something golden and then becomes thrust into the middle of a huge, international crisis. Being an article on Wired, there is some technical jargon, however the writer does a good job of defining it all so it doesn't overpower the story.
However, on the negative side, the author does tend to sensationalize the story a bit, and use a little bit of that neophyte, the-Internet-is-evil, scare tactic to create drama.
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