A post in the hand is worth two in the bush (RD)

Whether you know it or not, you have been exposed to the device known as sententia your entire life."A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". "You do not need a title to be a leader". "One good turn deserves another". "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Etc. etc. A good definition would be a brief witty statement, that contains a particular piece of wisdom which is used to sum up the previous arguments or statements. For that goal, it can be very effective. Because so many sayings and witticisms have been passed down in our society, it lets you use one of them and be fairly certain that your audience will know the saying, or at least understand what it means. That said, the sententia must not be too obscure, or you risk not getting your point across, and alienating your audience. Another caveat of using this device is over use, or relying too heavily on it. This must be taken into account with every device, but you must be particular with this one. If you have too little information before the saying then it is just making the argument for you. The same with overuse. If what you are writing is filled with references, then people are going to get distracted and it will destroy whatever you are trying to say. The best time to use it is when you already have a strong argument, and you know or can find a saying that sums it up nicely. If you can do this right, then sententia can be a powerful tool for completing, tying together, and enhancing your argument. "A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority."
    

Flappy Bird (IR)

 

So Flappy Bird is gone. A fact I am sure you were already aware of due to the game's viral nature. Regardless, I feel that the situation deserves a closer look, as this has happened before, as well as the fact it shows an important aspect of fame in regards to the internet. First of all, the reason he decided to take the game down. Well, when you reach so broad an audience, especially and internet audience, you are invariably going to attract some crazies. And attract them he did. The quite literal torrential out pour of virulent tweets and messages was astounding. People complaining about this and that, demanding he change it, hurting themselves, threatening to hurt him - insanity is indeed the right word to describe it. Moreover, Mr. Nguyen realized how many people were getting addicted to it, and the overall unhealthy nature of the game. So, I guess he pulled a Frankenstein and killed his own monster. Anyway, as I said, this is not a unique incident. I remember one particular example where a developer of a Call of Duty game increased the reload time on a gun by approximately .275 seconds - and was immediately awash with people on Twitter threatening to kill his family. There was also Phil Fish, who got so sick of incidents like this he quit the entire video game industry. And remember Anita Sarkeesian? She was attacked in much the same manner. Just a reminder that the anonymity of this internet is not always a good thing - I guarantee this will happen again.