Blog Post #4 : Casey Reinard

As is probably true for most college-aged people these days, the majority of what I read is found on the internet. Whether it is Yahoo articles or Facebook notes and status updates, it is often difficult to find something to read that is not an enormous waste of time, while at the same time, is truly interesting and engaging to me.

With that said, I still thoroughly enjoy reading the notes and status updates of my close friends on Facebook, even though this usually leads to my watching videos of Ultimate Frisbee trick shots or the things to watch for in the coming NFL season. The majority of the friends I graduated from high school with either live on campus here at OSU, or go to school in Cincinnati, Dayton, Athens, or Michigan, and so I am not able to see them very often. This is when I turn to Facebook for a little bit of help. To put it plainly, I really like to know what my friends are up to. Its not that I'm worried about their being safe, or my being replaced, rather that I simply enjoy knowing what others are doing. Because of Facebook, I am easily able to talk to those friends who aren't around anymore, who moved away when I was a little kid, or who I've lost touch with, even if they don't live very far away. I am able to look at pictures from when we were the best of friends, as well as from the previous night when they went to the premier of Harry Potter, for example, and dressed up like all of the characters in the movie.

 In a way, Facebook allows me to see how each one of my friends, as well as myself, has grown over the past few years, and to see the people they are turning into. That is why Facebook is a "piece of public writing" that is significant to me. 

Pei Chien WU

Except news, most of the public writing I read are about design. I subscribe numerous design websites and the new posts or designs will be mailed directly into my mailbox whenever they update, therefore, I check my mailbox frequently and always look forward to receiving the emails from the website.

One of my favorite design website is core 77, which basically contain everything about design, such as, articles, forums, books, award... and so on. I usually read design articles and my favorite are product and furniture design. The texts on core 77 are always about the ideas and inspirations of the products and how they function. Depends on the topic and the the product, they will lead into different kinds of text both formal and informal. I can spend all day browsing on core 77. There are always something interesting and new await. There are always text with photographs which helps the reader to understand the product more. Sometimes I get bored by reading pages and pages of words. I enjoy reading when it comes with photographs.

The other website I visit a lot recently is http://artofdanny.com/page/3. It is a personal blog of a graphic designer. I knew him from a random website and totally fall in love with his humor of design. He didn't write much about his design, however, he would sometimes share where his inspiration came from and explain a little bit. I like the way he randomly share about himself and his ideas. They are relaxing and easy to read.

If someone also enjoy reading design articles. highly recommend starting from personal blogs. It is always interesting to know other people's point of view to an object and you will find yourself falling in love with it pretty soon!

Molly Hopkins: Prompt #4

One of my favorite books that I have ever read is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. I read this my junior year of high school and it still is one of my favorites. This book is about a young boy who has autism and the challenges he faces on a daily basis as well as in his relationships. Because of his autism, he is slightly OCD about many things in his life. He has a routine that he must follow and can be a very irritable child when this routine is broken or thrown off in any way. He is also incredibly good at math, like many children with autism, and there are many interesting math problems throughout the story.

The major conflict in the story is when the boy, Christopher’s parents separate because his mother runs off with their neighbor. Because of Christopher’s autism, he has trouble processing exactly what is going on and his parents are not really honest about what is happening either, in hopes of protecting him. The main plot revolves around how Christopher does not deal with this change in his routine well at all and runs away to try and find his mother because she just abandoned him.

The author of this book writes in first person, from the point of view of Christopher, so that readers can really get to know how someone with autism thinks. The author does a great job at making a very serious topic and situation lighter by adding in a lot of humor. I have cousin who has autism who is about the age of the boy in the book, and I have always been annoyed with his irritability, however, after reading this story, I have become much more tolerant of my cousin. Also after reading this book I became extremely interested in autism, especially children with autism and I hope to be able to work at a camp for children with autism at home this summer. This book is one of the few books that I have ever read that really made me think about my life and has effected me is some way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick, funny, and inspiring read.

Andrew Katz Blog #4

Reading is one of my favorite things to do when I find myself with free time. I love fiction specifically, as I feel it makes me think outside the box and generally develops skills I can use in the real world. One very impactful book I recently read is called “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by the late Stieg Larsson. At first, I was very skeptical. I heard great reviews about the new movie adaptation, so I went and checked it out. I found my self thoroughly entertained and quite surprised as well, as the story telling was captivating and thought provoking. I was so intrigued I went home and got the book the next day. The first 150 pages were excruciatingly slow and unexciting, however the build up during the middle and the climax were unrivaled by almost any other book I’ve ever read (besides “The Da Vinci Code,” of course).

The way that Stieg developed his characters and set them up with difficult tasks and awkward positions was very fun to read. I found that I was unable to put the book down once I got into the thick of it, and those are the best sorts of books to read. The book is a mystery, and generally one likes to run through the list of possible solutions while reading. However it’s almost impossible to predict the finale of this intricate tale, no matter how certain one may be. And I love that about books. If there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s a predictable book because that just tells me that this author is pretty uncreative or didn’t really put in the necessary work to entertain the audience. Stieg Larsson went above and beyond expectations in this haunting murder mystery, and the book itself encourages me to think outside the box in my daily life.

Jimmy McGuire-Prompt #4

My example of public writing is probably a very cliche one, in that my favorite book series is the Harry Potter series. These books are what originally made me interested in reading in general, because before I was introduced to them I actually despised reading. When I was in fourth grade, my class started reading the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and from there I was hooked. I actually ended up reading ahead of the class, and by the time they were done reading the first book, I was already done with the second book.

The books contain so much appealing content that it is hard to express in words why I liked them so much. I assume what made Harry Potter so appealing was the vast amount of imagination intertwined in the author's world (J.K. Rowling). She imagined a world that was so unique and so appealing to the reader's imagination that I just could not put the books down. If you are unaware of what Harry Potter is about (and I find that hard to believe given the amount of popularity it has in both the books and movies), simply put it is a world of magic. Wizards and witches and many other magical creatures of fiction inhabit the world, and Harry is a wizard who is learning his art in a magical school. He is also the main protagonist in fighting the evil wizard Voldemort.

The movie interpretations are decent, and they have made a ton of money, but they just do not have the same luster that the books have. There is a lack of detail and a lack of the reader's own imagination in the movies. That's where the books really succeed for me; The world is so intriguing and so different from anything else, and it makes you wish you were apart of that world.

Needless to say, I have read all seven of the books, and they got better with each successive title. I often re-read them during summers when I have more free time, and it always takes me back to my childhood when I first experienced the magic of Harry Potter, no pun intended. The only thing that I wish is that J.K. Rowling would continue to publish more books, but sadly the saga is complete.

Prompt #4 Sara Campbell

Reading is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy getting lost in the world and the story that I am reading about. Books can be a nice distraction from everyday life so when I am stressed, I usually sit down and read one of my favorites. My favorite author is Sarah Addison Allen. She wrote "The Peach Tree" and a couple of others that are really good. My absolute favorite book of all, however, is "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

I love the era that it takes place in and I love the way Jane Austen writes. The first time I read it, it was a bit difficult because we do not talk like that anymore so their words and they way they use them take a while to get used to. The mannerisms that they follow are a lot different then ours are today so the way they behave is also something that I enjoyed reading about. This book is a great story but it also teaches you about what things were like for girls in their time.

I always enjoy the classics. Right now I am reading "Dracula" in my spare time and so far, it is really good. Reading is something that I love to do and when I am older, I hope to have a library in my house filled with books of all different genres. I think reading is important because it is just another way of how people share what they know and express themselves to everyone else.

Prompt #4: Lauren Schneider

Since I don’t have a whole lot of time to read books, I’d have to say my favorite type of public writing to read is a magazine. I like reading magazines because they are not part of a series and they do not take a long time to read. Also, magazines can include many different people’s opinions on topics, which I find to be interesting. Reading a magazine is very relaxing to me. I like to read magazines that are easy to relate to and that I enjoy reading for fun.

My favorite magazine is probably Seventeen. I have been reading this magazine for a couple of years now and I still subscribe to it. I feel like this magazine is very easy to relate to and is very interesting to read. Seventeen is a teenage girl magazine that talks about many different types of topics. Articles might include talking about fashion, make-up, relationships, athletes, or how someone made a difference in the world. This magazine is also a gossip magazine and often interviews a celebrity about their life. In the most recent issue, Seventeen talked about the upcoming spring and what trends are going to be popular.

Another one of my favorite magazines to read is Us. While this is a very “gossipy” magazine, I still find it very interesting to read about the different celebrities and what they are doing. This magazine interviews people such as The Jersey Shore and Teen Mom casts, but they have also interviewed people such as Prince Charles.

It is easy to see that I enjoy reading magazines that are girly, talk about style, and are “gossipy”. I do not enjoy reading sports or scholarly articles as much as I enjoy reading the two magazines that I mentioned. Magazines are very up-to-date and not written in the past like some books. A new magazine comes out almost every month, which makes it exciting and something to look forward to reading!

Prompt #4 Jonathan Vignos

When it comes to reading, I usually tend to not enjoy it. It’s something that I don’t find fun unless it’s something that I truly enjoy. My favorite type of public writing is anything that deals with sports. This would include anything such as ESPN.com, NBA.com, NFL.com and many more. My favorite site to look at and is always saved to my favorites is MLB.com. It is up to date with articles concerning Major League Baseball and what is currently happening around the league.

Since I don’t have that much time to watch TV, I tend to get on MLB.com a couple times of day, especially since baseball season is coming up. It’s something that I’m constantly looking at and it keeps me updated with scores and highlights around the MLB. I also am always looking at stats to see who is playing well and who isn’t playing so well. Though this site provides up to date scoring and player stats, when it comes to reading I enjoy the latest articles that they provide. These are on the front page on the top right corner and contain all the latest news that’s happening within the Major League. These would include trade rumors, injuries and anything important that is happening. I also enjoy when they provide information on who the top rookies are and what potential they have for the year.

My favorite type of article within the site to read is anything that involves my favorite team, the New York Yankees. They provide me inside information about what the Yankees are trying to accomplish this year and who will start for them. They also keep me updated with injuries and who the Yankees want to trade for. The most recent article that I have read was today about Mariano Rivera and how he implied it will be his last season.

Blog prompt #4 Lamaya Davis

 I’m not much of a reader so I really didn’t know what to talk about so the book that came to mind is today’s most trending book and movie the Twilight saga. I don’t think I’m that crazy about it but I am a fan. This book was not really important but it did catch and hold my interest. I like this book because everything about it is different. I’m used to reading, if I do read books of mystery and drama not really the romantic type.

   Twilight however appealed to me because it’s dramatic with a weird romance to it. The book is written with very vivid details of everything but it’s not too many details. This is good for me because I feel too many details can make a good book bad because it draws it out and makes it boring to read. But Twilight had enough details to somewhat create a picture of what was going on in the story. It kind of placed you in the story in the background of everything.

   It’s entertaining because of the different emotions and levels of intensity throughout the book; they range from calm and mellow to rage and more. I love how every book is filled with an array of emotions and action, love, hate, arguments and fighting. Even though it’s a good book there are things that I dislike about it. For example I don’t like the fact that Bella falls in love this person before she even really hold an actual conversion with him and how Edward falls in love with a girl just because she smells good to him.

    I also dislike how Bella is so willing to do stupid things just to picture him in her head or how she unconsciously isolate herself from everyone because all she can think about is him. The essence of their romance is “cute” and “awe factor” but it’s too unrealistic for me I don’t think most girls would just stop in their tracks and go through so much just to be with one person there has to be some type of compromise which is what Bella and Edward’s “relationship” lack besides the compromise of her waiting to be changed into a vampire. Otherwise than that the book was good to me it kept me wondering what was next and how everything was going to turn out in the end.      

Blog 4 - Steven Scherer

One of my favorite public blogs is ScienceDaily. It sounds pretty geeky, but if you scan some of the headlines you can see many pieces of research that apply to your daily life. Basically, ScienceDaily is a fast-paced blog that posts updates in all areas of scientific research. From psychology to dinosaurs, Science Daily encompasses wide variety of topics; everyone can find a topic that they relate to. I enjoy reading Science Daily more than I enjoy reading the general news; the mass media news outlets tend to be so biased one way or another.

I enjoy learning about cutting-edge scientific research and engineering achievements, so Science Daily is significant to me. A lot of the research comes from studies done at other universities. Since I’m currently attending such a large university that does research, it is interesting to see what other universities are coming up with as well as what cutting-edge research is coming from Ohio State and making us proud. It’s not necessarily the cutting-edge research that is intrinsically interesting; the practical applications of the research that is published on ScienceDaily is what people should be excited about.

If you want to convince your mom that you can’t call her because you need to be sleeping, ScienceDaily can help you with that. If you want to reassure yourself that the five pounds you just gained will not turn into fifteen, ScienceDaily can help with that. Perhaps you’d like to know what really happens in your brain when you don’t remember last night; ScienceDaily can help with that too. Maybe you actually remembered Valentine’s Day this year; ScienceDaily reassures you that you’re making a good effort.

All in all, I enjoy ScienceDaily because I believe the day isn’t over until you learn something. With Science Daily at hand, I’m assured that learning something is only an article away.

Davis Haug Prompt #4

Since the day I was born I have always loved sports. I was born into a very athletic family with my sister playing Division I college soccer at the University of Southern California (USC) and my dad playing on the PGA Tour. Following in their footsteps, I played at a high level of hockey ever since I was four years old. Since then, my dream has always been to play in the National Hockey League (NHL). However, this past year, reality struck me and my playing career came to a stall. As much of a disappointment this was, I knew what I wanted to do with my life instead and didn’t let this set me back, but used it as a catalyst to propel me forward.



Ever since I was in middle school I have always wanted to be a sports agent if my playing career didn’t work out. With that being said, a piece of public writing that I enjoy reading and that is extremely important and significant to me is the Sports Agent Blog. I read this blog every day, as well as do research on the industry. When the word “Sports Agent” comes up, many people do not know what it is. A sports agent is a person who helps out and negotiates contracts and endorsements for athletes and entertainers. They typically receive between 4 and 10 percent of what the playing contract is worth, and 10 to 20 percent of what the endorsement contract is worth. Nevertheless, the Sports Agent Blog is a blog written by Darren Heiter who is a Professor at Indiana University and a former sports agent.

The Sports Agent Blog is very significant and important to me, because it talks about current news in the industry and is used as a learning tool for young aspiring agents like me. The front page tells of the top headlines for that day as well as teaching tactics. On one of the tabs, it has numerous interviews posted on it from other successful agents talking about what the industry is like and what you need to do in order to break into the industry. Most of these interviews tell how hard a job this is and that you need determination and heart in order to succeed. There is never a day that is the same in this industry and you are basically on your phone 24/7. Also, it has every agency that is known listed on it and tells you the ones that offer internships for college students.



With all this being said, when I am reading public articles or blogs, I am looking ones that will help me out in my life, instead of ones that just waste your time. The Sports Agent Blog is definitely one of the best blogs that I have ever found and read that gives me advice and insight into my dream future job.

Cameron Dahlin, Blog Post #4

A piece of public writing that I consider important to me would be the Men’s Health magazine. My dad’s always subscribed to Men’s Health so it’s been lying around my house for as long as I can remember. This magazine covers almost everything that men of all ages would be interested in. It covers articles from sports, finance, health, fitness, diet, style, and relationships. I really like reading this magazine for the fitness tips and articles that researchers have come out with. I also really like the interviews they conduct with a lot of famous athletes or other significant figures in society. The most recent issue offers an interview with David Beckham who is also featured on the cover.

They feature an article that interviews David Beckham on his advice on life in general and fitness. It’s important to me because I look up to a lot of sports figures and it’s interesting to hear their point of view and listen to their advice that they have. The interview offered a lot of good advice on competition, fitness, and perseverance. This is just one of the many articles that help inspire me in different aspects of my life.

This magazine is significant to me because it consists of almost everything I find important in my life and it provides advice on those subjects. I read this magazine for advice on new workout tips that can help me in the gym or advice on how to manage my money. It also provides recipes for meals that promote weight loss and or muscle growth. Even the ads in this magazine are entirely relevant to myself and other men alike. It's nice to actually have interesting and intriguing advertisements as oppsesed to irrelevant ones. I find myself inspired by the interviews that are conducted with some of the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies. It’s very interesting to listen to what people of that level of success have to say on different topics.

Overall, I look to this magazine for a lot of advice and help in different aspects of my life. Most of the articles are interesting and relevant to my life in some way.

Prompt #4 Jackson Hart

Being in school, my access to things such as magazines and newspapers is much more limited than it was at home. With this being the case, almost everything that I read when in comes to public writing comes via the internet. I have never been that interested in politics and it seems to me that most news reported on these days is bad news, so I tend to avoid websites like CNN and other world news sites. The main source that I go to for my daily news is espn.com.

Being just a big sports fan in general attracts me to this site because of the countless things it has to offer. Whether it be just checking up on the latest scores of the day, a new article written about your favorite team or player, or even to vote in a random poll, there are so many things for someone to do here. My usual routine on this site consists of first, checking to make sure all of my favorite teams won on the day. With this a person can find out a summary of the games, stats, opinions of so called "experts", and also the opinions of anyone who wants to comment on the game. A thing that is very cool about ESPN is that anyone has the ability to comment on any game or article they feel like. I have a friend who actually spends a lot of time, probably too much, on commenting and arguing his points across on these opinon boards. This is the websites way for its viewers who are interested in the same topics to become connected, almost like social media.

After checking out my favorite teams, I'll usually browse the top stories and see if anything peaks my interest to be worth reading about, most of the time there is something good. Proof that this is a very popular site that people consistently go to for news is the fact that recently an employee of ESPN was fired for a title that they gave one of their articles. It's a very well known site with high standards and it was interesting to see how quickly and efficiently they made the decision to let this employee go after what he did offended a lot of people.

ESPN is definitely my favorite place to go to when it comes to the internet. Whether it be checking in to see where our basketball team stands in the rankings or to read up on the latest Linsanity news, ESPN has everything I'm looking for.

Blog #4: Matthew York

For me, public writing has been a pretty even mix of print and internet. As a high school student, I would sit and eat breakfast before going to school and I would usually read the newspaper. I also found myself flipping on the TV to see what had happened in the world the night before. One piece of public writing that I have always founds very interesting is ESPN. For me, sports are very important and sporting news is a way for me to stay current on everything going on. ESPN not only has a website, but also hosts several news channels on TV. These include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, and several others. ESPN is very appealing to me because for the most part,they tend to stay away from biases and stick to the facts when it comes to sports. ESPN hosts an array of programs on their different channels. The broadcast everything from basketball to bowling, which is appealing to someone like me who enjoys a wide variety of sports.

Very recently, ESPN has been in the news, but not for good reasons. They are in hot water after an ESPN writer posted an article about Asian-American basketball player entitled "Chink on the Armor". The writer was immediately fired and ESPN has been on the defensive ever since. In recent years, ESPN has also been speculated as being bias towards specific teams and players. They've been known to focus on large-market teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Yankees.

In general, I feel that ESPN does a spectacular job when it comes to reporting news from the sports world. It appeals to me because I have always had a love for sports, I played 3 in high school and still play intramural games here at OSU. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be Stuart Scott, who is a reported for ESPN and covers a wide range of sports and activities for the network. It was always my dream to become a reporter that specialized in baseball and travel around the United States, watching games and analyzing the players. I set a goal for myself that I would watch a baseball game in every major league ballpark in America before I die. ESPN has struck an interest in sports that I will continue to have. It has allowed me to stay updated in the sports world and has provided entertainment for a lifetime.

Blog 4: Jeffrey Jackson

         Most of, if not all, the public writing I read comes from the Internet. That being said, there are really only two websites I visit, Facebook.com, for all of my social networking and personal relationships, and reddit.com; described as a social news website where users submit content in a link or text. Reddit is home to millions of users who submit content 24/7. The content is then voted on by other users (each receiving 1 vote per link/text) and they either click an up arrow symbol to upvote a link/text or they click a down arrow to downvote it. 

reddit logo: reddit Alien

The links/texts are organized with the most “upvoted” at the top of the page and from then on proceeding to the least liked. However, the sheer amount of links everyday ensure anything on the first 3 pages are generally seen as good material, and after that the links digress more and more. The more upvotes a link/text gets, the more likely it will appear on the front Page. The reason I like reddit and see it as important because I can literally learn/read about anything I want on this site. 
There are “sub-reddits”; segments of the site particularly dedicated to one subject, such as world news where popular relevant news is posted from around the globe(reddit.com/r/world news) or the sub-reddit titled funny where silly pictures, comics, videos, or stories are posted non-stop (reddit.com/r/funny). The amount of information that one can gather from reddit is unbelievable. You can go to (r/askreddit) and ask the community any questions fathomable and you will at least get a response from someone. You could go to (r/fitness) and learn how to eat better and follow their guides on working out. There are anonymous experts on every subject on reddit. The populace joke about reddit being the ultimate time waster and distraction, but while I agree it has and does take up a lot of my time, I don’t see it as time 

Blog #4: Rachel Dadas

A piece of public writing that I have been reading lately is a book for my EDUPL 259 class called A Hope in the Unseen. This book is important and significant to me because it is inspirational and I can relate to it personally in many ways.

The book is about a young African American boy named Cedric Jennings who is very intelligent but lives in a poorer neighborhood and goes to a not-so-nice high school. His peers were involved in gangs, drugs and violence while he just wanted to get his education. In his high school, being smart and at the top of his class isn't something to be proud about; it is more of a shameful thing. In order to be "cool" or one of the more respected popular kids, you weren't smart and you were involved in dangerous situations.

Cedric overcame the torture of being bullied because of his intelligence and was accepted into Brown University, a top college. After all of his hard work and effort, he accomplished his goal of going to the school of his dreams and proving to the other students that he could make it. Cedric spent the majority of his days in high school studying, doing practice tests, doing extra homework, and even got the best SAT score in his whole school. Unfortunately, all of his hard work and knowledge couldn't compare to the knowledge of his fellow students at Brown. They all went to better schools, grew up wealthy in better communities, and were way smarter than him. Cedric's SAT wasn't even nearly as high as the rest of the students. He struggled in his college classes and had to work so much harder than everybody else just to try to be on their same level.

I have not yet finished the book, but so far I can relate to Cedric's situation a lot. I went to a decent high school, but the course load was nothing compared to other high schools. My school only offered one AP class and nothing more than your basic math, English, history and science. I worked harder than almost any of the other kids in my grade to reach my dream of coming to Ohio State, and I succeeded, but I still feel as if I will never be as smart as the rest of my peers. I took the most rigorous classes offered at my high school, only to find out that everyone was still way ahead of me. While other students go out on weekends and have so much free time on their hands, I feel as if all I do is study 24/7 and I still don't do as well as them. To read about Cedric in the same type of situation is inspirational to me because he is overcoming all of the same problems I'm facing right now, so it gives me hope that I can succeed as well.

Blog #4: Alex Cameron

When reading about any athlete or any sport, a true underdog story is always one of the most interesting articles. This "underdog story" comes in the form of the up and coming Asian-American basketball superstar, Jeremy Lin. He is a Harvard graduate and former Crimson point guard that electrified the entire campus during basketball season. In many aspects he is compared to the underdog story of Tim Tebow. Like Tim Tebow, Jeremy Lin has also turned an entire franchise around, is Christian, and has grabbed the attention of practically everyone, including non-sports fans. They both were also unbelievable college athletes that were completely overlooked and underestimated in the NFL and NBA draft.

However, all of this success he is beginning to obtain did not come without hard work. After Lin graduated from Harvard, he struggled. He was so small compared to many other NBA athletes, so he was forced to work even harder to "bulk up" and gain weight. In addition to this, he was also sleeping on his brother's couch in New York, just to make ends meet. He was even mistaken as a New York Knicks trainer by many of the security guards for the team. Jeremy Lin was constantly overlooked, but he knew that all he needed was one chance to prove himself. This chance came on February 6th, 2012. Since this start, Lin's stats have been compared to even those of Magic Johnson (former NBA point guard that was very good). Along with his stats came a new vocabulary to the sports world. Commentators brought about new words to describe Jeremy's play, such as "Lin-credible, Lin-sanity, and Lin-ing." This athlete goes to show how hard work and dedication really does pay off. This magazine article is very important to me because it reminds me of the hard work I put in for high school basketball. It all began after sitting the bench my freshman and sophomore year and realizing that I was tired of riding the bench, so I did something about it. I began to condition everyday by running and lifting. I continued to work hard even after being overlooked my Junior year and just kept working hard, waiting to get my chance to prove myself, much like Jeremy Lin did with the Knicks. Finally, my chance came senior year, when my high school team got a new coach. This new coach gave me my chance and I took full advantage of it. I went from riding the bench for 2 years and playing JV for 2 years; to finally starting Varsity my senior year and helping lead my team to the top of our league. Although I am in no way saying I am to any extent of the same caliber as Jeremy Lin, these kinds of inspirational, underdog dog stories are what inspire me to keep working hard in everything I do.

Prompt #4- Jordan Wamer

Hello friends. I frequently visit a website called reddit. It's a wonderful place, filled with a wide range of information that almost anyone can enjoy. Reddit is a site where users can submit content, whether it'd be an article from another site, a picture, or a "self" post. Users can “upvote” or “downvote” content based on whether they like it or not. This content can then be discussed in the "comments" sections. Pretty basic, right? It is! Anyone can sign up to be a part of reddit, it’s free! Even those users who don’t want to post content can still lurk without signing up. Reddit is composed of "subreddits", which contain more specific content. There are endless subreddits, any user can create one. The more popular ones are r/pics, r/gaming, r/funny, r/worldnews, and r/todayilearned. The main reason I frequent reddit is for the humor. Reddit is a place with many sides, one side being humor. r/funny is one of the largest subreddits, and even content submitted under r/pics or r/videos can still be humorous. If you ever want a quick laugh you can probably find one on reddit.
Reddit prides itself on finding original content; pictures, videos and stories that haven’t been seen elsewhere. This is part of reddit’s popularity. Reddit is a great place to keep up to date with the latest news. I get all of my news from reddit, from sports to politics. If something is relevant it will be talked about on reddit. Sadly enough, reddit can also be consuming. I have lost many friends to reddit (okay, not literally). It is a very entertaining website that truly never ends; unique user content is posted every second. I’ve found myself losing hours of sleep surfing through mounds and mounds of information to find something interesting. So before you blame me for showing you this ultimate time waster, you’ve been warned.

Prompt #4 - Garrett Cutting

There are many kinds of public writing, but the one that I probably use the most is the internet. There are a couple different websites that I use pretty frequently, but there is one that is probably the most important for me. That website is espn.com. Some might question how a sports related website can be important to someone, but that is just it; I love sports. Also, within this concept, there are more reasons this website is important to me.

The websites coverage of all the different kinds of sports is unreal. They have information, scores, and updates on sports from tennis to mixed martial arts. I am a fan of all sports so getting the latest scores and updates are very nice and easy to get from this site. Also, I can keep track of my favorite teams and players on a day to day basis like the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Tampa Bay Rays. How easy it is to access the information I want in a timely fashion is very convienent, and that is a part of why I use the website so often.

Another reason why ESPN is significant to me is because one of my favorite writers, Rick Reilly, does some work for them on their broadcasts and website. Rick's writing is intriguing for me because he takes a different spin on a sports event or play and analyzes it to the point where you can't stop reading. He usually puts out a new article every week, and I make sure to read it. In addition, I like to catch clips from my favorite ESPN TV show, "Pardon the Interruption", on the website. I love that they have shows on their website. It is very convenient. Overall, ESPN's website is one of the most useful and important site to me.

Blog #4 Jake Wenstrup

One of my favorite websites out there on the the interwebs, other than the ocd-like daily facebook check, is outsideonline.com. I am someone who is really interested in the outdoors and people who push the very edges of human abilities, and outsideonline.com has exactly that. Outsideonline is a collection of articles from authors around the world as they document interesting people, places and things they see in their travels. From base jumping to deep sea diving, outsideonline does a great job of exploring each activity, but also the individual involved and what drives them to do what they do. To me, the most interesting part is what drives a person like say Dean Potter, who free solo climbed (by himself with no ropes) a 3000 ft cliff to put their life on the line to do such amazing feats. Additionally, outsideonline often provides insight into what is going on in the mind of a person like Dean Potter while they are attempting something like a free solo climb.
Other than documenting amazing people doing amazing things, outsideonline.com is a great way to find places I want to put on my bucket list. Outsideonline has a really interesting section on travel and is the quickest way for me to want to leave everything behind and go to some far off country for a while. I think outsideonline.com provides a very open, interesting view on what each author has experienced with a new culture outside the U.S. and does so through an almost journal-like form that allows for a very personal view into international culture. My latest bucket list addition was New Zealand. This article:
http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/australia-pacific/new-zealand/Take-Me-Home.html
really appealed to me because I look to my own future and see myself caught up in deadlines and living where I don't want to live. Hopefully I'll find time in my own busy future to travel to a place like New Zealand and check it off the bucket list.

Prompt #4-Connor Cross

An article that’s very significant to me is an article in Forbes Magazine titled Steve Jobs was a Jerk. Good for Him. by Gene Marks. It was written about two weeks after Steve Jobs passed away from liver cancer last year, and in my opinion Steve Jobs was the best innovator and CEO the world has ever seen. Everyone knows the story of Steve Jobs and how he was basically fired from the company that he started, but came back when they were about to go bankrupt and ended up making it the largest and most successful corporation in the world. Steve Jobs is an idol of mine, and his company and products have changed the world forever.The article talks about how Jobs wasn’t just brilliant, creative, and hardworking, but he was also a jerk. When I watched the documentary on him there’s an interview where he says “If you want to get something done don’t let anything stand in your way, and don’t stop until your goal is reached”. His attitude towards his work makes me respect him even more, and if he wasn’t a jerk Apple wouldn’t be where it is today. He also worked extremely hard at protecting his ideas and not letting any competitor copy them, and realized how important maintaining control of his business was. Steve Jobs thought his ideas and products were so special that he exercised censorship and authoritarianism, and the Apple legal team filed the highest number of patent infringement cases to ever be filed in one year in 2011. Apple even has a “Worldwide Loyalty Team” that specializes in hunting down leakers, confiscating mobile phones, and searching computers. Apple wouldn’t have been as successful as it is today without Steve Jobs and his efforts to protect his products and ideas, along with the personality and attitude he had when it came to business.