news article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/07/31/nintendo_wii_u_sales_new_console_outsold_by_its_own_predecessor.html?wpisrc=flyouts
The Ninetendo company seems to be in a hard time because the company's income is plummeting. The newly introduced Wii U was a way to recover its hard time, but according to the article it seems that it is just a failure. The reason why Wii U came out was partly because the orginal Wii was not doing so well. However, within a year, Wii U had a lower income than the original Wii which came out 6 years ago. Even though Wii U seemed to be a failure for the Ninetendo company, they are going to try Wii U again for its success with the launch of new games.
This article gave me a feeling of pity toward the Nintendo company. The article even had a chart to show its incomes over the year and it was very sad to see. I think the author did a good job of making Nintendo company look bad. I also could not believe that the 6 years ago model was more popular than the newly came out model. I could only think how bad it is. I hope that Nintendo company comes back again and have their success with the new launch on the games.
The structure of this article was plain and simple. It first stated the topic and gave evidences to prove it. The author also put in some of his own analysis as well, but I think it was unnecessary to the whole point. The only difference I saw was the chart. The income chart clearly showed the problem in the income of Nintendo company.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
It’s Probably a Mistake to Prosecute the Driver of the Spanish Train that Derailed and Killed 79 People
News Article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/07/29/francisco_garzon_santiago_de_compostela_the_driver_of_the_spanish_train.html?wpisrc=flyouts
The article first described the situation that happened near Santiago de Compostela. There was a train crash and 79 people died. The train driver who made a mistake was 52-year-old Francisco Garzon. The prosecuters finds him guilty of criminal charges, but the author of this article thinks differently. The author says that there are too many questions to be asked about this situation and to put all the blames solely on the driver is not right. The author says it could be a technical problem, which could be true as well. The authors point of view in prosecuting the driver is expressed in the word, "scapegoating".
In my point of view, I think the driver can be prosecuted with criminal charges because he is responsible for the death of 79 people. The author said there are too many questions to be asked, but there are just too many evidences and his own account of the story tells us that he is solely responsible. It is a tragic accident, however, somebody must pay the price for it. Since the driver is the only person to blame, I think it will be hard for him to get out of this one.
The author's article was overall well stated and directed. The description of the situation is not biasly stated, but he clearly expesses his opinion on this accident afterwords. Even though he did not persuaded me to think like him, but I think he captivated many people with this article and persuaded number of people. The final paragraph speaks of not prosecuting the driver because of his simple mistake. This really set me apart from his side because the "simple mistake" killed 79 people. So I think his last paragragh needed more cogent words to persuade other people. Other than the last paragraph, I think the author did a well job of explaining the situation and stating his opinion.
The article first described the situation that happened near Santiago de Compostela. There was a train crash and 79 people died. The train driver who made a mistake was 52-year-old Francisco Garzon. The prosecuters finds him guilty of criminal charges, but the author of this article thinks differently. The author says that there are too many questions to be asked about this situation and to put all the blames solely on the driver is not right. The author says it could be a technical problem, which could be true as well. The authors point of view in prosecuting the driver is expressed in the word, "scapegoating".
In my point of view, I think the driver can be prosecuted with criminal charges because he is responsible for the death of 79 people. The author said there are too many questions to be asked, but there are just too many evidences and his own account of the story tells us that he is solely responsible. It is a tragic accident, however, somebody must pay the price for it. Since the driver is the only person to blame, I think it will be hard for him to get out of this one.
The author's article was overall well stated and directed. The description of the situation is not biasly stated, but he clearly expesses his opinion on this accident afterwords. Even though he did not persuaded me to think like him, but I think he captivated many people with this article and persuaded number of people. The final paragraph speaks of not prosecuting the driver because of his simple mistake. This really set me apart from his side because the "simple mistake" killed 79 people. So I think his last paragragh needed more cogent words to persuade other people. Other than the last paragraph, I think the author did a well job of explaining the situation and stating his opinion.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Like It or Not, Facebook Is Stronger Than Ever Before
News Article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/07/24/fb_q2_earnings_facebook_stock_spikes_because_everyone_s_clicking_newsfeed.html
The title of this news article did not really surprised me or shocked me in anyway, but still interested me because, like so many others, I use facebook. The article talked about how facebook company suffered and had a hard time in the beginning. However, it seems that everything turned around recently. With its lauching on facebook app on phones and tablets, the company met its success. Also, more people everday use facebook as a way to socialize with people. The whole point of this article was to show people facebook is getting stronger despite all the rumors.
I thought this article was quite interesting to read and it really did grab my attention while I was reading. I never knew that a company so feeble and weak can be so big and wealthy by only few years. I also knew that many people use facebook, but I had no idea that 700 millions of people use facebook. Alongside its popularity, the number of "advertisement clicks" and the price of advertisements also grew by a large amount, according to the article. Even with many more strong rivals like Twitter, Tumblr, and Snapchat, Facebook has remained steady and grew every minute.
The structure of this article was very much like an essay format. It first started off with a thesis stating that facebook is staronger than ever. Then, in subsequent paragraphs it gave specific details like statistcs and numbers. Near the end, it gave a counter-example as to show that there are some people who got bored with facebook. Finally, it ended with more evidences to go against that counter-example.
The title of this news article did not really surprised me or shocked me in anyway, but still interested me because, like so many others, I use facebook. The article talked about how facebook company suffered and had a hard time in the beginning. However, it seems that everything turned around recently. With its lauching on facebook app on phones and tablets, the company met its success. Also, more people everday use facebook as a way to socialize with people. The whole point of this article was to show people facebook is getting stronger despite all the rumors.
I thought this article was quite interesting to read and it really did grab my attention while I was reading. I never knew that a company so feeble and weak can be so big and wealthy by only few years. I also knew that many people use facebook, but I had no idea that 700 millions of people use facebook. Alongside its popularity, the number of "advertisement clicks" and the price of advertisements also grew by a large amount, according to the article. Even with many more strong rivals like Twitter, Tumblr, and Snapchat, Facebook has remained steady and grew every minute.
The structure of this article was very much like an essay format. It first started off with a thesis stating that facebook is staronger than ever. Then, in subsequent paragraphs it gave specific details like statistcs and numbers. Near the end, it gave a counter-example as to show that there are some people who got bored with facebook. Finally, it ended with more evidences to go against that counter-example.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Microsoft in Crisis
News Article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/07/22/microsoft_crisis_stock_plunging_ballmer_under_attack.html
This article was quite shoking to read. The company that was considered as the leading company of technology is failed to remain stable and its stock crashed. There was a chart showing this and the image is very mind-blowing. I never thought that Microsoft could go so low. The cause of this downfall is the 900 million dollars worth of inventory. The company stated that they won't be able to sell this inventory, which means that the company would suffer the loss of 900 million dollars. Also the new trend of Chromebooks is "attacking" Microsoft in markets, according to the author.
In my point of view, I believe that Microsoft cannot rise up again. There just too many rivals in the techonology market. Apple is one example that threatens Microsoft. Apple company exceeds the quality of Microsoft, I think. Microsoft needs to improve more to survive. However, I think that is beyond the ability of Microsoft. I think it is just a matter of time before Microsoft goes bankrupt.
The author of this article did a very good job of how crazy this incident is. By showing the charts of the past and this week, the crashed stock becomes clear to anyone. The author also stated the reasons why it fell so radically. The author also put in the information about the issue of the board seat. This was another interesting story, but I think it was little unrelated to the topic. I think if he stated something that connects the two story, it would have been better.
This article was quite shoking to read. The company that was considered as the leading company of technology is failed to remain stable and its stock crashed. There was a chart showing this and the image is very mind-blowing. I never thought that Microsoft could go so low. The cause of this downfall is the 900 million dollars worth of inventory. The company stated that they won't be able to sell this inventory, which means that the company would suffer the loss of 900 million dollars. Also the new trend of Chromebooks is "attacking" Microsoft in markets, according to the author.
In my point of view, I believe that Microsoft cannot rise up again. There just too many rivals in the techonology market. Apple is one example that threatens Microsoft. Apple company exceeds the quality of Microsoft, I think. Microsoft needs to improve more to survive. However, I think that is beyond the ability of Microsoft. I think it is just a matter of time before Microsoft goes bankrupt.
The author of this article did a very good job of how crazy this incident is. By showing the charts of the past and this week, the crashed stock becomes clear to anyone. The author also stated the reasons why it fell so radically. The author also put in the information about the issue of the board seat. This was another interesting story, but I think it was little unrelated to the topic. I think if he stated something that connects the two story, it would have been better.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Origin of gold found in rare neutron-star collisions
Article Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/origin-of-gold-found-in-rare-neutron-star-collisions/2013/07/17/a158bd46-eef2-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_story.html?hpid=z3
The whole article was about a theory that explained the origin of the gold. For a long time, scientists assumed that heavy metals such as gold, platinum, lead and uranium originated from supernova explosions. However, new evidences from the observations made in June led the scientists to think otherwise. Now, scientists believe that these metals originated from the collisions of neutron stars.
There were some interesting facts about the neuron stars that I was shocked to read about. A teaspoon full of a neutron star weighs 5 billion tons in earth. Also, a neutron star usually is a diameter of Washington, but contains more mass than our Sun. These two facts about how heavy the neutron stars are definitely increased my interest in learning about neutron stars.
This article was very interesting to read. It had several pictures to help understand the concept of the new theory and quotes from scientists made the new theory seem more valid. I liked how the author presented the idea and explained any terms that seemed to be uncommon. I also liked its title. It first captivated my sight when the word "gold" appeared. And after reading the rest of the title, I was more interested in reading it. So I praise the author's choice of title. The structure of the article was, in my opinion, not very good though. I think the first few paragraphs explaining the history and presenting the idea were good, but the last few paragraphs were unnecessary and unrelated to the topic.
The whole article was about a theory that explained the origin of the gold. For a long time, scientists assumed that heavy metals such as gold, platinum, lead and uranium originated from supernova explosions. However, new evidences from the observations made in June led the scientists to think otherwise. Now, scientists believe that these metals originated from the collisions of neutron stars.
There were some interesting facts about the neuron stars that I was shocked to read about. A teaspoon full of a neutron star weighs 5 billion tons in earth. Also, a neutron star usually is a diameter of Washington, but contains more mass than our Sun. These two facts about how heavy the neutron stars are definitely increased my interest in learning about neutron stars.
This article was very interesting to read. It had several pictures to help understand the concept of the new theory and quotes from scientists made the new theory seem more valid. I liked how the author presented the idea and explained any terms that seemed to be uncommon. I also liked its title. It first captivated my sight when the word "gold" appeared. And after reading the rest of the title, I was more interested in reading it. So I praise the author's choice of title. The structure of the article was, in my opinion, not very good though. I think the first few paragraphs explaining the history and presenting the idea were good, but the last few paragraphs were unnecessary and unrelated to the topic.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Obama: “We Are a Nation of Laws and a Jury Has Spoken”
Article Link: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/07/14/obama_issues_statement_calling_for_calm_after_zimmerman_acquittal.html
Obama made a speech about the death of Trayvon Martin. I assume he died of gun violence since the president said fighting the gun violence is the way to honor Trayvon Martin. He talked about how as citizens, we should protect our community, fight against gun violence, and prevent innocent deaths. And the author of this article included an opposing view upon this matter from the Republican Steve King. Republican Steve King said that the president made the situation worse by turning this incident into a political matter. His point was that the president should not have involved in this.
As for me, I disagree with Steve King. Having a president stepping up to declare a fight against gun violence makes a big difference. It makes a big push against the gun violence. By encouraging the citizens to help him out, the president inspired people to fight with him. Because of his speech, I think there will be a positive effect toward the battle against gun violence. I believe that the president did a good job of getting involved in this. In my opinion, the Republican Steve King just opposes him because the president is in the opposing political party, Democratic.
Overall, the author nicely summarized but did not analyze about President Obama's speech. The author also added the president's speech in the article, which I think is a good idea since the original speech clearly gives what the president's goal is. However, I think it was unneccesary to put what the Justice Department said because it gave us no useful information.
Obama made a speech about the death of Trayvon Martin. I assume he died of gun violence since the president said fighting the gun violence is the way to honor Trayvon Martin. He talked about how as citizens, we should protect our community, fight against gun violence, and prevent innocent deaths. And the author of this article included an opposing view upon this matter from the Republican Steve King. Republican Steve King said that the president made the situation worse by turning this incident into a political matter. His point was that the president should not have involved in this.
As for me, I disagree with Steve King. Having a president stepping up to declare a fight against gun violence makes a big difference. It makes a big push against the gun violence. By encouraging the citizens to help him out, the president inspired people to fight with him. Because of his speech, I think there will be a positive effect toward the battle against gun violence. I believe that the president did a good job of getting involved in this. In my opinion, the Republican Steve King just opposes him because the president is in the opposing political party, Democratic.
Overall, the author nicely summarized but did not analyze about President Obama's speech. The author also added the president's speech in the article, which I think is a good idea since the original speech clearly gives what the president's goal is. However, I think it was unneccesary to put what the Justice Department said because it gave us no useful information.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Bush welcomes new citizens in soft push for immigration reform
News Article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/10/politics/bush-immigration-speech/index.html?hpt=po_c1
It is not common for a former president of the United States come to an immigration ceremony. However, George W. Bush appeared for the ceremony held at his library and museum and left a short but strong impression for the change regarding immigration laws. He said that the immigration system is "broken" and there is a need for change. He also reminded people that America was built by the immigrants of different people. When someone asked him if the bill does not pass then would it harm the republican party, he answered that it is not to help the republican party but to "fix the system".
His point of view on this matter was very clear. He tried, though failed, to improve the immigration system when he was in his second term in office. His younger brother, Jeb Bush, also pushed for the change. George W. Bush undoubtedly sees a problem in the immigration laws therefore influencing Jeb Bush to take action as well. Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor, urged the house to pass the immigration reform laws.
I think that immigration laws are pretty stable at the moment. I also do not see a big problem that the former president sees for it is not specified in the article. Additionaly, George W. Bush points out that immigrants bring positive effects to our country. I, again, disagree with his opinion on this matter because many of the crimes occured in United States were caused by immigrants. If there is a better way for the immigration laws, then I think the change should happen. But, I just don't see any problem we have in our system right now.
It is not common for a former president of the United States come to an immigration ceremony. However, George W. Bush appeared for the ceremony held at his library and museum and left a short but strong impression for the change regarding immigration laws. He said that the immigration system is "broken" and there is a need for change. He also reminded people that America was built by the immigrants of different people. When someone asked him if the bill does not pass then would it harm the republican party, he answered that it is not to help the republican party but to "fix the system".
His point of view on this matter was very clear. He tried, though failed, to improve the immigration system when he was in his second term in office. His younger brother, Jeb Bush, also pushed for the change. George W. Bush undoubtedly sees a problem in the immigration laws therefore influencing Jeb Bush to take action as well. Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor, urged the house to pass the immigration reform laws.
I think that immigration laws are pretty stable at the moment. I also do not see a big problem that the former president sees for it is not specified in the article. Additionaly, George W. Bush points out that immigrants bring positive effects to our country. I, again, disagree with his opinion on this matter because many of the crimes occured in United States were caused by immigrants. If there is a better way for the immigration laws, then I think the change should happen. But, I just don't see any problem we have in our system right now.
Monday, July 8, 2013
A Violent Weekend in Chicago Despite a Recent Trend of Decreasing Homicides
News Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/us/a-violent-weekend-in-chicago-despite-a-recent-trend-of-decreasing-homicides.html?hp&_r=0
During the week of July 4th, there were 47 gunshots in the city of Chicago. 11 people were dead and many people more were wounded. Of those wounded people, there was a 5-year-old boy who got shot in the leg and stomach. His spleen, kidney, and pancreas were damaged due to the shooting and is unconscious in a hospital right now. The boy was outside in the park with his parents when this happened. A suspect of these gunshots was 24-year-old Darryl Chambers, a gang member.
All this happened even though the homicide rate has been steadily going down. There was a significant drop in crime rates because there was an increased number of poice officers stationed at places where crimes usually occured. However, I do not think that the homicide rates are goin down enough. People die from these accidents and we must figure out a solution and stop the innocent deaths from occuring. I believe there are more sufficient ways than stationing more poice officers.
I think there should be more ways to prevent these innocent killings because just stationing the police did not stop that boy from being shot. For example, there should be more strict rules or laws on gun owning. Most of these killings were made by gunshots and if we restrict more people from guns, I believe we can prevent more deaths. Even though the crime rates and homicide rates has been going down, there were killings and deaths occured not only in Chicago but across the world. I think we need more solutions to prevent these deaths and make our society more safe.
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