Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Word #5

1. masquerade
2. But the failure in Apple's code means SecureTransport isn't checking the certificates properly, and anyone who wanted could masquerade as your banking site, your email, or worse. (The Dangers Behind Apple’s Epic Security Flaw on theverge.com)
3. (verb) pretend to be someone one is not.
4. That fraud is just someone who masquerades as someone who is homeless so people can give him free stuff.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Copy Edit the World

The first typo was found at a Thai restaurant. The second was found at a Chinese grocery store. The third I found while surfing the web. 
1. Typo: Frish Cake 
                                                                           Correction: Fish Cake


2.Typo: Brocori
                                                                          Correction: Broccoli 


3.
Typo: Carer
Correction: Career

Monday, February 17, 2014

Mystery Character

He is explosive on the basketball court. His gazelle-like gracefulness with his brute strength is a monstrous combination to which any of his opponents can attest. Off the court, he is as stylish as a fashion mogul. He wouldn't be caught wearing the same thing twice, unless it's one of his signature shoes from his own line. Whether it's by his style, his likable personality, or his elegance on the basketball court, he will always be seen as one of the most popular athletes of all time.

Word #4

1. insular
2. It was personal and confrontational and insular. (Why the Fighting Game Community is Colorblind on polygon.com)
3. (adjective) ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience.
4. The child was insular when it came to going to a church that practiced something he knew nothing about.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Word #3

1. prescient
2. The science of RoboCop is remarkably prescient. (‘RoboCop’ Review: Meet the New Model on theverge.com)
3. (adjective) having or showing knowledge of events before they take place.
4. It turns out the psychic was prescient when she said I would win something and I won the lotto a day later.

What Makes It News

Flappy Bird is an app that has adopted tens of millions of players in the last few months. Recently, Dong Nguyen, the creator of the game, announced that he would be taking it off the various app stores in which the game could be downloaded. He says he believed it was becoming too addictive to its players. I heard this story from a handful of my friends who played the game on a daily basis.
The news values that make this story newsworthy are unusualness and human interest. This story is unusual because Dong Nguyen created a game by himself and it became a smash hit. What was even more unusual was that Nguyen decided to end the game completely so no one could download it anymore. It’s extremely rare that someone does this after finding so much success worldwide. As mentioned before, tens of millions of people downloaded the game so a lot of people are sad, to say the least, that their newest obsession is gone for good. So human interest is definitely present.
To localize this story, one could interview local players and get their thoughts on Nguyen’s decision to end the game. There are sure to be many players of the game in the area who still play it even though it won’t be getting anymore updates. These diehard fans could explain why they keep playing a dead game. When it comes to the Silicon Valley, it’s never farfetched to think any piece of technology cannot be revived.

Monday, February 10, 2014

A Fly on the Wall

To many, Denny’s is a place where older people go to read the newspaper or enjoy a meal after church. What do I have to say about that assumption? Denny’s is the complete opposite. On the outside it may seem like a calm place but on the inside, it’s a circus of different things going on.
In front from where I sit, there’s a family with four children who are constantly running around the table. I blame the sugar they consumed by drowning their pancakes in syrup. Oh, and I think one of them farted. On my left, there’s a couple arguing about what to do for Valentine’s Day. He wants to stay home and cook her a meal, while she wants to go to Red Lobster. They leave before they settle on a decision. I say come back to Denny’s. Their prices are unbeatable. Then on my right, there’s an older man talking on his phone for what seemed like the whole time. Apparently his laundry is ready to be picked up, his mother needs dental surgery and I just discovered that my pet peeve is people talking on their phones in restaurants or any public place really.
This fly has seen, smelled and heard a lot of things on Denny’s wall. Since I can’t afford to go to Las Vegas to see the circus I guess this place isn’t a bad consolation. Plus they have great milkshakes.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Word #2

1. slopestyle
2. Take Russian slopestyle snowboarder Alexey Sobolev. (cnet.com)
3. (noun) a type of winter sporting event where the goal is to perform the most difficult tricks while getting the highest amplitude off of jumps
4. I competed in slopestyle and landed the most jumps to win the gold medal.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Your Favorite Writing

I really like this piece of writing because Ellis Hamburger gets into the gut of the app he’s trying to evaluate. Most app reviews are short and don’t cover every aspect of the app but this one is sensational and doesn’t leave anything out. The article is accompanied by a video but the writing is so good that you won’t miss anything from the video.
He says so much in so little like when he speaks of the performance of the app in the following sentence, “Everything from swipes to pinch-and-zooms respond instantaneously and naturally, and images load quickly.”
Ellis Hamburger’s article, “This just in: Paper is the best Facebook app ever” from theverge.com. Published February 3, 2014.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Word #1

1. cityscape
2. Tokyo's neon cityscapes recreated with thousands of dot stickers. (theverge.com)
3. (noun) the visual appearance of a city or urban area; a city landscape.
4. The bright lights brushed upon the cityscape.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

All About Me

My name is Henry Navarro. I'm from San Jose California. I'm majoring in journalism and linguistics. My professional aspirations include writing for European newspapers and/or magazines and teaching English in foreign countries. My strength as a writer is getting to the point without adding anything that wouldn't enhance the writing. My biggest weakness is just the opposite. I have a hard time writing to meet a word count that is significantly more than what I need to convey what I want to say about a topic. What I like to do in my spare time is play sports. I'll play anything that includes a ball and a goal. I also like playing along with Jeopardy when I can to see how I stack up against the contestants. Being on Jeopardy is definitely on my bucket list. I volunteer a lot for various organizations. Christmas is the best time to volunteer in my opinion. There’s no better feeling than knowing you’ve helped someone in need especially during the holidays. My hobby is collecting action figures and comic books. I take every chance I get to go to toy shows and comic conventions. It’s the only time I get to be around hundreds of people who share my interests. That is all about me.