I've been a fan of Wired magazine for a long time, and magazines in general actually. I'm not sure when it happened, but initially I had the idea that magazines were mostly full of ads and fluff, and for sure lesser than novels. In some ways, they still are, but magazines are inherently different than books, I just didn't see it at the time. As I came to appreciate journalism and the writing of news and informative articles, my love for Wired grew.
Newsstands are few nowadays, but one place where I am for sure close to a copy of Wired is when I'm at the airport. So it's become a bit of a ritual to stop at the Relay market and pickup the latest issue.
And that's no exception with this issue, which is subtitled, Oops, We Blew Up the Internet.
I'd like to come back and elaborate at a later date on these articles. But I suggest to anyone to check them out.
Article | Author |
---|---|
The Audacious Guts of Jennifer Doudna | Jennifer Khan |
How to Create a Monster | Andy Greenberg |
Under the Radar | Geoff Manaugh |
We're All Sysadmins Now | Paul Ford |
Six-Word Sci-Fi | WIRED readers |
The Audacious Guts of Jennifer Doudna
Jennifer Khan
This interview between two UC Berkeley professors was an informative read. A bit dry, but I found myself repeating to other what I learned in this article. Doudna's research on the gut microbiome is leading her down the path of fighting climate change. How, you ask? By using CRISPR gene editing to change the genes of the bacteria in cow's stomachs to produce less methane. Doudna believes that it will be easier and faster than editing the genes of a cow itself, and having to produce a whole new breed of animal.
The interview also covers interacting with human gut microbiota, to combat asthma, Parkinson's disease, and other ailments. As research continues on how gut bacteria affects our bodies, more opportunities for innovations in healthcare will come to light.
How to Create a Monster
Andy Greenberg
This interview was on the cover of the magazine, and it's a blockbuster. The article covers the creation of the world's biggest botnet, a network of infected computers. This botnet was used to blast traffic at target networks and computers in an effort to take them offline, otherwise known as a DDoS attack (Distributed Denial of Service).
The article name drops some giants of the industry, like Bruce Schneier, and Brian Krebs, as well as some lesser known but important figures in they cybersecurity space, like Allison Nixon and Elliott Peterson. The three young men behind the creation of this destructive tool also play a huge part in the mitigation and investigation of the criminal industries of DDoSing and click-farming.
Running at a whopping 32 pages, Greenberg's epic article chronicles the childhood and growth of the hackers, the creation and use of Mirai (the botnet), the release of the tool to the public internet, the criminal investigation, and the outcomes for various people involved. A compelling story no doubt, but also compellingly written. I couldn't stop reading. I've recommended this article to others, and begged them to put it at the top of their reading lists. Not to mention that I'm checking out other works authored by Greenberg to add to my list.
Under the Radar
Geoff Manaugh
An interesting article about modern archaeologists and the technologies they use nowadays for non-invasive exploration. Manaugh attends various "digs" with different archaeologists in Italy and Croatia. Manaugh explores the use of ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry, . As noted in the article by professor Eileen Ernenwein, "[t]he problem with excavation is that is destroys the thing you're studying. The article is cool simply for the concepts it covers and the possibilities, but we hear a lot about the "renderings" that are created from the heaps of data that is collected, yet the article fails to provide even one render. That's the only negative point from me.
We're All Sysadmins Now
Paul Ford
I generally like Paul Ford's column in Wired, and there is one standout article from last year that he wrote that I've been meaning to write about. But alas, I haven't gotten around to it.
Yet, We're All Sysadmins Now isn't too relatable to me. It strikes me more as "old man yelling at clouds" than a real complaint. Password managers are the future and the guiding light, and I take pride in the family and friends that I've converted to using them. As well, perhaps I actually am that technical guy that would program their router, but that sounds like a fun weekend project to me (surprise, surprise, I have, OpenWRT for the win).
Six-Word Sci-Fi
WIRED readers
Some of my favourite entries from this one.
In six words, write a story about: a mysterious alien artifact.
Turning the dial, the sun flickered.
—@anelectricpoet
The object looked to be smiling.
—Geoff Sowrey
Inhale it to unsheathe the blade.
—@RthurDouglass