Daily Writing: Magazine Article Summary Memo

For this first magazine-focused daily writing assignment, you will write a short summary of the article that you read and brought to class in the form of a memo.

A memo or memorandum serves many purposes, but fundamentally, a memo serves as a reminder or a memory of something within the workplace.

The format of a memo typically looks like this:

TO:

FROM:

DATE:

SUBJECT:

[Write the memo’s body here.]


When you create a communication or document, there should be an audience in mind. With the memo, it is generally who you are writing the memo to. However, you should keep in mind that others who are the unintended audience might read and react to what you have written.

For today’s assignment, write the memo to an imagined manager who you want to share the content of the article that you read for today’s class. You should communicate this intent in your memo’s introduction.


TO: Your Imagined Manager

FROM: Your Name

DATE: 9/3/2019

SUBJECT: Recommended Magazine Article on THIS TOPIC

First paragraph: The intent of your memo and the main topic that the article is about.

Second paragraph: Write at least 100 words summarizing the article. First sentence, what is the article’s main point? Second-and-following sentences, what are some details in the article that support the main point?

APA Bibliographic Citation. Go here for details. Example below.

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

Ellis, J. W. (2011). SFRA 2011. Locus, 67(3), 11.

Doctorow, C. (2001). Why should anyone care? Locus, 67(3), 31.


Type up your summary memo in Microsoft Word or Google Docs or another word processor. Save your work. Then, copy-and-paste it into a comment made to this blog post.

19 thoughts on “Daily Writing: Magazine Article Summary Memo”

  1. To: Mike
    From: Ervin
    Date: 09/03/2019
    Subject: A helpful article on saving the laptopā€™s battery life.
    Here is a quick summary of the article to get you started before reading the article.
    The new Window 10 has a built-in battery life control just on the tap on the battery icon, and from there you can set you preference on power to better battery life or performance. There is also a similar setting in Mac OS. You can just search ā€œEnergy Saverā€ in the search box in the upper right corner and then select the ā€œBattery Tabā€ from the results, and from there you will see and change the settings from there. In addition, you can help improve battery life by turning off unused applications or even turn the system on Airplane mode when not needing to use the internet. Hope this is helpful to you.
    Brant, T. (Aug 28, 2019). How to Increase Your Laptop Battery Life [Webpage].
    Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/feature/362789/how-to-increase-your-laptop-battery-life

  2. To: Road Runner
    From: Tariq Hemraj
    Date: September 3, 2019
    Subject: Recommended Magazine Article on New BMW 3-series review: CAR’s in-depth verdict

    I am writing this memo to educate you about the new 3 series car manufactured by BMW. I know you are looking for a new vehicle and you wanted to get into the European Marketed vehicles. The article goes in depth on the cars history and all the bells and whistles it contains. CARā€™s magazineā€™s road test team also takes the new 3 series for a spin and gives us their review.

    The all new BMW 3 Series and some of its features. From previous chassis moving forward the G20 BMW 330I comes with BMWā€™s motto ā€œThe Ultimate Driving Machine.ā€ The New G20 is bigger larger than previous 3 Seriesā€™ and comes with a huge upgrade to the technology package. Owners/drivers can use a credit card shaped key paired along with a phone app that gives you full access to unlocking, locking, starting the car and receiving real time updates. The vehicle comes with a twin scroll turbo forced induction 4 cylinder engine. This vehicle comes from the factory with settings to lock the differential at a press of a button, the options to stiffen and loosen spring rates, and also raise and lower the car a few inches with all the push of a button. BMW really went far with this vehicle and continues to push their ā€œUltimate Driving Machineā€ Motto.

    team, C. A. R. road test. (2018, August 15). New BMW 3-series review: CAR’s in-depth verdict. Retrieved from https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/bmw/3-series-g20/

  3. To: Daniel Tack
    From: Amir Radoncic
    Date: 09/09/2019
    Subject:
    My intent of creating this memo is to inform my audience how much has gaming changed my life! Ever since, I can remember I have been into first person shooter games such as COD (Call of Duty) franchise. In my opinion, playing competitive has changed my life in many ways.
    —————————————————————————————————-
    First off, I have spent continuous hours playing this game thus making me confident and aggressive in accepting any competitor or challenger. I would use that in my real life personality because I know if I put my mind into something like I did with COD I can be the best or close to it. I was the best top 10 Quick Scoopers in Modern Warfare III in the NA region. In the article, it explains how gaming has a big effect on the audience who plays the game and this is my story. In the article, it speaks about giving you different options and the game will always tend to the player such as, there is a receptionist at a desk is she a terrorist or being held hostage? This is what the player is challenged with, to make his or her decision and see how it would play out in the end.

    Tack, D. (2019 Sept.). Reimagining contemporary conflict. Gameinformer, 317, 42-55.

  4. To: Hassan Malik

    From:Karmoko Sillah

    Date:9/03/2019

    Subject:

    This memo is intended to summarize a magazine article from sciencemag on the needed protection of quantum computers. This article discusses the importance of developing ways to protect the not yet built quantum computers from hackers and attackers looking to intercept information.

    Cryptographers are looking for ways to ensure the protection of public and secret keys between two senders so that valuable information is not stolen by an outside entity, and this has to be done but somehow increasing public keys and also computing time. Researchers are looking into developing algorithms and schemes in order to ensure the protection of data on these brilliant computers that have yet to been developed. Thereā€™s no guarantee that quantum computers are unhackable, so it is extremely important that cryptographers implicate new ways in combination with current schemes,to ensure the safety and security of users.

    ChoAug, A., MalakoffAug, D., EscobarAug, H., NordlingAug, L., PennisiAug, E., Reilly, S., ā€¦ GalvisAug, S. (2019, August 21). Cryptographers scramble to protect the internet from attackers armed with quantum computers. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/cryptographers-scramble-protect-internet-hackers-quantum-computers

  5. TO: Manager of Brooklyn Museum
    FROM: Daniel Lawrence
    DATE: 9/3/2019
    SUBJECT: Recommended Magazine Article on an art exhibit piece I happened to come across an unorthodox approach of human impact, this could be of some interest to you.

    The article showcases the artist strength of simplicity on impactful topics such as the title implies ā€˜We are a blight on natureā€™. We should really consider adding a piece of this nature to our museum

    The article gives the artist, Conrad Shawcross an opportunity to comment on his latest piece. Conrad implicates something like an old car suspended upside down while rotating. It shows plays on the aspect of perceptual scaling and the symbolism of human exploits and its effects on nature. The artist explicitly mentioned something along the lines of the car being something enjoyed as a child.This piece is from the British artist Conrad Shawcross, normally his works lean more towards the theatrics of incorporating technology and art in the form of simplicity but this piece has taken it to another level.

    Honigman, A.F . (09.03.19). We are a blight on nature.
    Retrieved from http://www.artnews.com/2019/09/03/conrad-shawcross-interview/

  6. To: Professor Ellis

    From : Burhan Saeed

    Date : 09/03/2019

    Subject: Magazine Article on Ads on Facebook etc

    This magazine article is about how people can track our behavior by just spending $1000 to buy ad space on applications. These people have different ads in different areas for example if you are on Jay Street and you are using an application you might get ad about food that will tell them what street you are going through. This article shows you ways you can stay away from being tracked by these hackers, one of the best way is to limit your phone use and disable your location. This article came to me as a surprise because if I talk about food or clothes I would also see ads regarding that.

    Nathaniel Scharping. November 13,2017. With just $1000,Anyone can track your every move.
    http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2017/11/13/ad-tracking-stalking/#.XW7tfi5KiUk

  7. To: Mr. Smith
    From: J. Corona
    Date: 9/03/2019
    Subject: Recommended Magazine Article on iOS exploits.
    Hey Mr. Smith, looks like Appleā€™s security isnā€™t as top notch as once thought. There is a cyber arms dealer called Zerodium that is in the market for mobile hack exploits. What they do is buy hacking exploits and tools and sell them to government clients. They essentially payout millions to hackers who can perform these exploits.
    Recently they have been receiving tons of iPhone exploits that have been developed that they had to reject some. It is alarming that so many exploits exist for an extremely popular phone. Apple has been known in recent years to keep security and privacy extremely important aspect of the company. Not to long ago they were in legal battle because they did not want to give the U.S government a backdoor into their OS. They even went as far as to claim they are not aware of a backdoor.
    The fact that this company is willing to pay out millions for these hacks and exploits is extremely unsettling. Apple has yet to comment or verify these exploits. Now iOS isnā€™t the only OS this company is targeting. They are offering up to 2.5 million dollars for a zero touch exploit on Googleā€™s Android OS. No mobile OS is safe!

    Kane, M. (2019). iPhone hacks are flooding the market, says iOS exploit buyer. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/news/370526/iphone-hacks-are-flooding-the-market-says-ios-exploit-buyer

  8. To: Traffic Systems INC

    From: Eric Llerena

    Date: 9/3/2019

    Subject: Recommended Magazine Article on air traffic control system. I came across this article that can change traffic in our everyday society.

    NASA has been trying to conduct an air traffic control system. This system can be the future of our generation. NASA has been working on this system since 2015. NASA has conducted some tests that will change our perspective of traffic completely. The technological advances incorporated in this air traffic control system is insane.
    This air traffic control system will be able to track drones. Not only that but itā€™ll also prevent crashes between drones and instead produce safe destinations. NASA has been developing a cloud-based software system that supposed to ā€œautomatize air traffic control below 400 feetā€. This is a huge deal because this system will take over the FAA system and will be able to monitor 7 million other drones that the existing FAA system couldnā€™t. Testing on this system has already been made in rural areas. The reason in rural area is simply because itā€™s easier to maintain visuals of the drones. In comparison, urban areas disrupt not only the visuals with drones (due to buildings) but also radio communications with aircrafts. During 2019, This system has successfully helped drones navigate around buildings and park in 5 stories high buildings in Reno, Nevada.
    White, S (2019). NASAā€™s Air Traffic Control System for Drones Nearing Completion. Retrieved from http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/08/15/nasa-drones-air-traffic-control/

  9. TO: Jon Ell
    FROM: Dominick Denis
    DATE: 9/3/19
    SUBJECT: Magazine Article on recreating with 3-D printing

    In writing this memo, my intention is to provide information about how far the capabilities of 3-D printing can be taken to new levels. Those levels, in regards to the article, are recreating ancient sculptures destroyed in war.
    The main idea of this article is to safeguard the culture and history of a people. According to the article, the option of 3-D printing provided the opportunity to create a replica of a 3,000 year old ancient sculpture that had been destroyed by ISIS; for the most part, preserving history for the future. As most of us know, identity in basic human society is vital as it is how we can get a better understanding of ourselves, as well as those in our community (or not in our community). Maintaining the thoughts and beliefs of any culture gives light to new perspective. Sharing that perspective breeds a lack of ignorance in the people of the world. Unfortunately, this world will never cease of the perpetual ignorance.

    (2019). 3-D printing recreates ancient sculpture destroyed by ISIS. Tech Life News, 201

  10. TO: Professor Ellis

    FROM: Fernando

    DATE: 9/3/19

    SUBJECT: (Biometric) Facial Recognition

    [Facial recognition technology is there to identify an individual accurately is serves as a surveillance tool or password to such, banks, airports or even something that you want to keep protected. Many European countries have started implementing the biometric technology to identify for tracking and control by police forces to keep things in order, though it started with social media it has yet to improve. Facial recognition uses some algorithms to identify an individual and to immediately identify the person. In short, the technology scans the face to then taking measurements to translate that to code, processes that information storing it into the database, later to create an algorithm to be able to tell the difference from one person to another. It seems to be very accurate at the moment but, many people have many concerns about it like, security issues and the violation of our privacy as it continues to grow so will the concerns. At the moment, we have the technology on our phones to keep our info and data protected but, as mention it creates also has many concerns and disputes about the topic whether it should be implemented into law.]

    Sample, I. (2019, July 29). What is facial recognition – and how sinister is it? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/29/what-is-facial-recognition-and-how-sinister-is-it

  11. TO: Dr. Ellis

    FROM: Marco M

    DATE: 9/3/2019

    SUBJECT: Recommended Magazine article on AI Fact Checking

    I am writing to inform you about how we can use AI to detect and discredit fake news. Thereā€™s always been a lot of misinformation on the internet to try to sway the publics opinion especially on popular sites where there is a huge social media presence. The author Brooke Borel attempts to go up against an AI fact-checker to determine its effectiveness.

    The article has some interesting points on reliable AI fact checkers can be. The AI uses a lot of different types of algorithms to detect whether the input is true of false. However, the truth is very complex with room for a lot of errors. The issue presented is that we, humans can understand and distinguish irony and sarcasm. Even then, we sometimes still mistaken. The author of the article decides to test how accurate can an AI fact checker be when she throws some fake news at the AI. The fact is, there isnā€™t any artificial algorithmic model for the truth so how effective can an A.I. fact checker be?

    Borel, B. (2018). Fake news. Popular Science, 290(2), 65-71.

  12. TO: Professor Ellis
    FROM: Alain Palmer
    DATE: 9/5/19
    SUBJECT: Welcome the game changer for CPUs

    Iā€™ve read an article by Alan Dexter on the new second-generation zen chip. In the article, I remember reading about how AMD is now the new face of CPU while Intel will now be under pressure. For anyone who work with computers, performance is the key factor as for myself. However, letā€™s break this down and ask ourselves what we value more between capacity, latency, or frequency, which all do fall under performance.
    The game changing zen chip from AMD is here and it is the second-generation Ryzen. The legacy processor from AMD was good but definitely not great. AMDā€™s legacy system had flaws especially for the memory support that was patchy from start. For years, Intel has dominated the computing world with their processing chip. Now, it is now AMD who will take lead. AMD spent time perfecting their flaws on memory support. This now describes the second-generation Ryzen chip as ā€œgreat.ā€ Intel has been quiet for years laying low when it comes to launching a new processor. After AMD second-generation Ryzen, Intel is now under pressure to launch a better processing chip than what AMD has launched.

    Dexter, A. (2019) Second-generation zen is a game changer

  13. TO: Jeff Lee
    FROM: Liuming Chen
    DATE: 9/7/2019
    SUBJECT: Recommended Magazine Article on Martian Explorer

    I found this article about a new NASA project on exploring sign of life in our solar system might interest you.

    This article is about NASA is currently building a land rover for finding sign of life in Mars. It is going be deployed to the Jezero Carater on Mars next summer and it will be landed the following year. This new explorer is equipped with power cameras, sensors for weather study on Mars, but its primary mission is to use its powerful sensors and arms to find microbial life in the soil of Mars. It also equipped with a drill and that can drill into rock and extract core samples, and sealed in tubes inside the rover for future missions.

    Oberhaus, D. (2019, September). NASA’s next Martian explorer knows the drill. WIRED, 27(09), 30.

  14. To: Your Imagined Manager
    FROM: Huzaifa Anas
    DATE: 9/3/2019
    SUBJECT: Recommended Article about our Opensource tools.

    Free Riders by Zeynep Tufekci is about the surprisingly robust nature of open source work, like Wikipedia, but at the same time the desperate situation of these works, due to lack of support. We need to give some support to these open source works because we use them every day for our work and are critically important for our operations to work smoothly.

    If we go back to 1974, or any time before the internet, and take a social scientist to our modern world, the most shocking thing to them wouldnā€™t be todayā€™s trends of fake news, memes, or fast-paced communication, but the numerous open-source projects, which underpin the internet. The most visible are things like Wikipedia, where we can get large amounts of quality information without any input. This is shocking because we accept that humans are inherently selfish, so this seems counter-intuitive. Wikipedia isnā€™t a unique situation, because even critical pieces like encryption are run more than 66% by OpenSSL, which only received a meager $ 2,000 in annual donations and run by mainly 2 programmers. The mass freeloading continued until 2014 when the Hear-bleed bug was revealed, which finally led to more support from a few companies, but the project is still underfunded and understaffed. The funny part of all of this is when these open-source projects attempt to procure support theyā€™re ridiculed, like when the developer of Core-Js, a widely used software suite for JavaScript, asked for support was flamed on GitHub to remove the solicitation, because they deemed it clutter in the installation process. This dichotomy shows us the weird nature of humans, where some are more than willing to provide these services for free of charge, while others and groups will exploit them. These open-source projects are walking on thin-ice and for our operations to work smoothly we need to provide some support to these works.

    APA Bibliographic Citation:
    Tufekci, Z. (2019, August 20). FREE RIDERS. Wired, 27(09), 22ā€“24.

    The exact date of the article being published comes from checking the online version. I bought a physical copy from Barnes & Noble.

  15. TO: Joseph Doherty

    FROM: Julia Shin

    DATE: 9/3/2019

    SUBJECT: Recommended Magazine Article on Internet Privacy.

    This article written by Cathrin Schaer for Wired Magazine reveals some tactics that are being used by international agencies to really address the topic of Internet privacy. Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt (the Federal Cartel Office in Germany), takes matters into his own hands in an effort to tackle the security issues circulating big companies. This may lead to a revolution in terms of regulating big companies that can eventually help small companies like us as Mundtā€™s goal is not to break these corporate giants, but to welcome competition.

    Companies like Facebook are guilty of abusing their power by collecting and combining their users data to gain a profit. Consumers may feel like they have no other choice but to sacrifice their privacy to the company which further solidifies their dominance in the industry. In order to combat this, the Bundeskartellamt made a decision to prevent Facebook from combining the data they collect unless they receive permission from each of the German users. It took some time for Mundt to take action against the matter because he had initially believed that the Internet would eventually regulate itself. However after 10 years, he realized that that is not the case. Mundt has a team set up that is currently building a case that can be brought to court. If the court rules in favor of the decision, it would only be in effect for the German users. However, it can serve as the foundation for regulation worldwide.

    Schaer, C. (2019). Germanyā€™s plan to police big tech. Wired, 07(19), 36-37.

  16. TO: Your Imagined Manager
    FROM: Hector Dextre
    DATE: 09/03/2019
    SUBJECT: Recommended Article Magazine on Smart Homes
    The purpose of this memo is about the houses and apartments are becoming smarter than ever due to the advancements in artificial intelligence, robotics and sensors.
    To make ā€œsmart homesā€ happen soon, all the devices have to be connected to the internet. For that reason, occupants and owners will be fully immersed in the Internet of Things (IoT). With innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered devices, smart homes will acquire their owners and occupantsā€™ habits and preferences and, hence, anticipate their needs. Examples in AI are what kind of music the occupant wants to listen during the day or what kind of lights the owner wants to be on at a certain time of day with no need to touch or press any button. Moreover, developments in robotics, will give us gadgets that tender a helping hand with household chores such as cleaning and cooking. Examples in Robotics are smart vacuum cleaners picking up dust after us, robotic dogs keeping children company like pets and furniture switching from bed to desk or from closet to dinner table. Finally, developments in sensors that will monitor our well-being. Examples in sensors are cameras and sensors embedded in fridges will recommend to find more nutritious alternatives in case that people consume sugary drinks or fatty foods more frequently, sensors located in toilets to verify for signs of any potential health conditions by examining human poop before itā€™s flushed.

    Austin, P. L. (2019, August). Home is where the chip is. Time, 194(5), 42-47.

  17. TO: Manager John
    FROM: Zhao
    DATE: 9/3/2019
    SUBJECT: What else can my RAM do?

    The article I read is about random access memory or RAM, for short. RAM has a lot more to its name than just supporting the central processing unit or CPU. With the right knowledge to take advantage of it, RAM can make a computer run even more smoothly or even boost the computers speed. After this memo, I hope you will gain a better insight of what RAM is and can do.

    RAM can do way more than what you might think. Not only does it support your CPU or central processing unit, RAM can be used as a virtual disk. It read/write speeds are insanely fast, much faster than your average solid-state drive or hard disk drives. Furthermore, as the article says ā€œtheoretically there are no limits to its read and write speeds.ā€ The advantages of these types of virtual disk are simply astounding. However, with advantages comes disadvantages such as the data being volatile. Meaning, if for whatever reason your computer shuts off all the data stored inside of this virtual disk is gone completely. Another fantastic technique that can be taken advantage of is virtual memory. Virtual memory takes a part of your conventional hard disk drive and creates a paging file out of it. In the event that your computerā€™s RAM is completely used up, the operating system will use this paging file to store the excess memory. As you can see from this short summary, RAM has a lot more features to its name aside from just passively assisting your CPU.

    Thomas Nguyen (2019, September). Long-Term Memory. MaximumPC, 8, 22-31.

  18. TO: Professor Ellis
    FROM: Devina Budhan
    DATE: 9/9/2019

    SUBJECT: No Interaction Required on Biometrics

    Iā€™m writing to inform you that biometrics is going to be the new way of traveling with Jetblue airlines. According to Bryan Gardiner, Jetblue airways will no longer need a paper ticket or even a digital ticket to let you through. All you have to do is walk up to a camera, have your picture taken, have it run through U.S. Customs and Border Protection who sends it out to visa, immigration and passport images to find a match and if they do you can be on your way.

    Biometrics is the newest and latest type of security that is growing steadily especially in everyday life. With biometrics it eliminates the use of computers and allows for efficiency especially in airports. The chief of Xerox PARC, Mark Weiser states, ā€œā€¦if computers are ever to become truly useful, they need to get out of the way.ā€ Thatā€™s not to say all computers will become obsolete, but rather it would minimize the frequency of it. In current day, Alexa, Siri, and even Google Assistant has taken over. Voice assistants and smartphones or rather any handheld devices will always be in use but with biometrics it forces computers to be in less use. Like Weiser said, ā€œA good tool, is an invisible tool.ā€

    Gardiner, B. (2017). No Interaction Required. Popular Science, 6 (N/A), 69.

  19. From: Mustafa Nagi
    To: Professor Ellis
    09/10/2019
    Subject:100-Word Summary of Kasey E. Wertheim, M.B.A, and Kelly Badgett. This memo is intended to summarize and analyze the article “The FBI’s National Data Exchange(N-DEx)”
    This article is about the data share between all kind of law enforcements. It is very amazing way to discover if the person you stopped is murder or about to commit one. So, When the officers stop anyone they can find most information from the new program N-DEx which gives all the information in the law enforcement records. The authors stated that” This is reason the N-DEx Program Office continues to increase agency participation and assist new users with system searchers”, authors tell how helpful and very fast way when officers are trained to use the system to search about people’s records.
    Wertheim, K., Baggett, K (2015, December). The FBI’s National Data Exchange(N-DEx),led.

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