Sunday, October 27, 2013

Article 10/27 - “Yes the wind, yes the wind keeps, hooowwlin”


This article from Forbes talks about anticipated release of The Head and the Hearts new album, "Let's Be Still". This new album reflects how talented the group is and the uniqueness of their sound. The Head and the Heart is a six part band consisting of Josiah Johnson, Jonathan Russel, Charity Rose Thielen, Chris Zasche, Kenny Hensley, Tyler Williams. The author goes into analyzing each of the songs and how well each generally features an instrument, and also how the band has such a great ability to meld and create a pleasing sound. Another key aspect is that the band is very much one unit. They are unified and all share credit in the success of this new album. The purpose of this article is to inform about the new release a music album. The intended audience is those interested in music, specifically indie or folk. I greatly enjoyed reading this article being a fan of The Head and the Heart, and have already bought this album. I would recommend listening to this album and also their previous one.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Article 10/21 - Online Dating


http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/tech/web/online-dating-pew/index.html

This article from CNN is an interesting one on how internet dating is becoming more popular and socially accepted. According to a Pew Research Center project, six out of ten Americans now believe that dating websites are a legitimate way to meet people. Also, only two out of ten still believe that it appears desperate when a person uses an dating site. Even with increased numbers and acceptance there is still a flip side, being that about 54% of the users said they met someone whose profile was not accurate to themselves, and 28% said they had been harassed by someone they had met. More specifically, people ages 18-24 are the most internet social based and most admit to having flirted over the internet. I found this article very interesting and not surprising that with today's integration of technology and social communication this idea of online dating has become popular. The purpose of this article is to inform about a new acceptance of online dating. The intended audience is those who are interested in possibly using online dating or those who are interested in technology and social media. The author establishes very good logos with all of the facts from the study, but lacks in pathos and ethos.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Article 10/13 - The latest drug that's sweeping the nation!

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/10/learn-something-new-your-brain-will-thank-you/

This article published on the CNN website talks about how learning new things can actually become pleasing to your brain. This pleasure is due to a release of dopamine in the brain because the brain is recognizing that it is learning something new. The difference between this dopamine release and the one that you receive from drugs is that you also have the feeling of accomplishment. The user do not have to keep going back to the activity in stronger doses to get the same rush unlike drugs. This idea plays back to Aristotle's idea that developing and living one's life to the fullest is much more satisfying than passing momental pleasure. Studies have shown that those who focus on personal development have lower stress levels and better sleep. Overall this article was interesting but a bit jumbled. The author jumps around from topic to topic. The purpose of this article is to inform and intrigue readers about habits of the brain. The intended audience is those interested in living a healthy life and or interested in neurological study. The author's ethos is that he is a cognitive psychologist. The logos is a few neurological studies but none mentioned in great detail so evidence is lacking a bit. The pathos is the author's own attempts at learning to play the guitar which many of us can relate to. 

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Article 10/6 - Where am I?


http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/26/tech/gaming-gadgets/google-niantic-ingress/index.html

This article published on CNN talks about two new Google apps that help you interact with the world around you. Both of these app are being developed by a team called Niantic, named after a famous ship that was run aground in San Francisco. The first app the team developed is called Field Trip, and has been out for approximately a year. This app, using your current GPS location, looks up interesting landmarks near you and gives you general information about each one. The second app called, Ingress, is a worldwide game where players must "capture" landmarks for their one of two teams, according to their location. Though this app is still in beta, it has received great reviews from the test users. They have said that it really bring groups of people together, while at the same time competitively discovering new and interesting landmarks. The purpose of this article is to inform those who are interested in travel, and or technology of new apps that provide information of the landmarks near you. The intended audience is readers of CNN, and those interested in technology and travel. The author uses great description in the article, and almost appears trying to sell the apps to the reader.