Biography of Gilles de Rais 1404 - 1440

Gilles de Rais was a French noblemen and noted soldier of the fourteenth century who was tried and executed for the murder and torture of numerous children. He is now remembered chiefly as a historical serial killer, but may have been innocent. Gilles de Rais as Noble and Commander Gilles de Laval, Lord of Rais (thus known as Gilles de (of) Rais), was born in 1404 at Champtocà © castle, Anjou, France. His parents were heirs to wealthy land holdings: the lordship of Rais and part of the Laval family possessions on his father’s side and lands belonging to a branch of the Craon family through his mother’s side. He also married into a wealthy line in 1420, uniting with Catherine de Thouars. Consequently Gilles was once of the richest men in the whole of Europe by his teens. He has been described as keeping a more lavish court than even the French king, and he was a great patron of the arts. By 1420 Gilles was fighting in the wars over the succession rights to the Duchy of Brittany, before being involved in the Hundred Years War, fighting against the English in 1427. Having proved himself an able, if brutal and low level, commander, Gilles found himself alongside Joan of Arc, taking part in several battles with her, including the famed rescue of Orlà ©ans in 1429. Thanks to his success, and the crucial influence of Gilles’ cousin, Georges de Ka Trà ©moille, Gilles became a favorite of King Charles VII, who appointed Gilles Marshall of France in 1429; Gilles was only 24 years old. He spent more time with Jeanne’s forces until her capture. The scene was set for Gilles to go on and have a major career, after all, the French were beginning their victory in the Hundred Years War. Gilles de Rais as Serial Killer By 1432 Gilles de Rais had largely retreated to his estates, and we dont really know why. At some stage his interests turned to alchemy and the occult, perhaps after an order, sought by his family in 1435, barred him from selling or mortgaging anymore of his lands and he needed money to continue his lifestyle. He also, possibly, began the kidnap, torture, rape and murder of children, with the number of victims ranging from 30 to upwards of 150 given by different commentators. Some accounts claim this ended up costing GIlles more money as he invested in occult practices which didnt work but cost regardless. We have avoided giving too much detail on Gilles crimes here, but if youre interested a search on the web will bring up the accounts. With one eye on these infractions, and possibly another on seizing Gilles’ land and possessions, the Duke of Brittany and the Bishop of Nantes moved to arrest and prosecute him. He was seized in September 1440 and tried by both ecclesiastical and civil courts. At first he claimed to be not guilty, but â€Å"confessed† under threat of torture, which is no confession at all; the ecclesiastical court found him guilty of heresy, the civil court guilty of murder. He was sentenced to death and hanged on October 26th 1440, being held up as a model of penitence for recanting and apparently accepting his fate. There is an alternative school of thought, one which argues that Gilles de Rais was set-up by the authorities, who had an interest in taking what remained of his wealth, and was actually innocent. The fact his confession was extracted through threat of torture is cited as evidence of severe doubt. Gilles wouldnt be the first European who was set up so people could take wealth, and remove power, by jealous rivals, and the Knights Templar are a very famous example, while Countess Bathory is in much the same position as Gilles, only in her case it looks very likely she was set up instead of just possible. Bluebeard The character of Bluebeard, recorded in a seventeenth century collection of fairy tales called Contes de ma mà ¨re l’oye (Tales of Mother Goose), is believed to be partly based on Breton folk tales which are, in turn, partly based on Gilles de Rais, although the murders have become of wives rather than children.

European Competition Law And Policy - 1335 Words

This essay will analyse European competition law and policy to ascertain the values and characteristics that serve as its foundation. First, this essay will give a brief outline of competition and the significance of competition law and policy. Subsequently, this essay will give an explanation of the values behind European competition law and policy, which are consumer welfare, economic efficiency and economic freedom. The values will incorporate Articles 101 and 102 TFEU along with reference to the Chicago school of competition analysis and ordoliberalism. Competition occurs in a free market economy where firms will endeavour to achieve business objectives which adapt according to interactions with consumers. These objectives are profits, sales or market share. Competition is essential for a properly functioning market as firms will be placed under competitive pressure to provide consumers with a comprehensive choice of goods and services at the most favourable prices. In a free market economy, government regulations or restrictions are not applied in this economic system. Instead, it is determined by supply and demand which directs the production of goods and services. The premise of a free market is competition between firms to enable increased consumer welfare while promoting innovation and efficiency as there will be lower prices and products of better quality. For competition to be effective in a free market economy, it must be protected by competition law andShow MoreRelatedThe Application Of The Eu Competition Law1220 Words    |  5 PagesThesis on Competition Law according to the Community ACQUIS at UNIVERSITY OF EUROPEAN STUDIES IN MOLDOVA, FACULTY OF LAW. Chapter III. The application of the EU Competition Law in the Republic of Moldova. 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Macbeth Themes Essay Example For Students

Macbeth Themes Essay William Shakespeare, in his tragic play Macbeth, written in 1606, dramatizes theunrelenting power of deception, insanity, and greed which ultimately results inthe demise of Macbeth. Macbeth allowed his desire to become king overrule hisjudgement which consummately terminated his existence. The play is full ofpestilence and set in Scotland during the eleventh century. In Macbeth,sleeplessness is an important motif that permeates the dramatic structure. Shakespeare uses this fatigue to substantiate the guilt of Macbeth, to representsubconscious insanity, and to show a foreshadowing of bad things to come. Themotif serves to dramatize the true overview of how the characters are handlingthe various tragedies that occur. Initially, the motif of sleeplessness is usedas a model of foreshadowing. For example, in Act II, scene i, Banquo finds ithard to sleep the night Macbeth is supposed to kill King Duncan. This isevidence that evil things will occur throughout the play. Furthermore, in ActII, scene ii, while Macbeth was killing Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain arose intheir sleep. One laughed and the other cried murder. This is theirsleeplessness foreshadowing because Duncan was dead, even though the brothersdid not know it yet. Shakespeares use of the sleeplessness motif asforeshadowing allows the reader to get a concept of what evil will come in thefuture. Not only does Shakespeare use sleeplessness for foreshadowing he alsouses it as a mo de of guilt. For example, in Act II, scene ii, Macbeth thinks hehears a voice say, Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep! This isMacbeth imagining voices, telling him not to sleep because he is feeling immoraland liable for Duncans murder. Next, Macbeth is afraid to sleep peacefullybecause he knows that Duncan is in restless ecstasy(Act III, scene ii). Apparently, Macbeth is aware of his wrongdoing and feels culpable that he isking and alive, but only at the sacrifice of Duncan. By using guilt to showsleeplessness, Shakespeare shows that a corrupt crime can only leave the mindunsure and unable to rest. The most significant aspect of this motif, however,is how it is used to demonstrate the insanity of Macbeth and his wife. Forinstance, in Act II, scene iv, Macbeth is at dinner with Lennox, Ross, and otherlords. He sees ghosts and is apparently insane. This proves that all the sleepin the world could never clear Macbeth of his crime, he is already destroyed. Inaddition, Lady Macbeth sleep walks and hallucinates a spot of blood on her handsin Act V, scene i. This proves that she has gone crazy as well. She cannot sleepbecause she is trying to remove the spot, which represents guilt. The strong useof insanity as a moving force in the play causes the reader to understand thatMacbeth and Lady Macbeth cannot rid themselves of their evil d eeds. The playdemonstrates that the subconscious can allow evil things to occur. Thesleeplessness motif is significant because it shows how the characters in theplay deal with their stresses. The eerie use of sleeplessness added to the guiltof the characters, the foreshadowing of evil supplied a dark sensation, and theirony of insanity showed that the characters souls could not handle thecalamitous situations. Macbeth could not sleep because he was too guilt-ridden,which eventually drove him to the breaking point. Macbeths fate, foretold bythe witches, finally caught up to him and after his frighteningly sleeplessnights, he was now engrossed by the eternal sleep called death.

The Sword In The Stone Kay Gets What He Deserves Essays

The Sword In The Stone: Kay Gets What He Deserves At the end of The Sword in the Stone, it is true that Kay does receive the `rough end' of the deal because he, being the son of a noble and a knight, and the Wart, comparatively nothing but a squire to Kay became the King of England when Kay thought himself more qualified and better for the postition. However, throughout the Boy's childhood, Kay maintained the dominant position in their relationship. I think that it is only fair that in the end, justice is served and theWart gets to rule over Kay. When the boys were young, Kay maintained a dominant position over the Wart, constantly reminding and humiliating him by saying that he "was not a proper son" and "Kay seemed to regard this as making him inferior in some way". Because Kay constantly reminded the Wart that he "was not a proper son" and said that he was inferior, upsetting the Wart, he learned to simply give in to Kay and always let him get his own way. After this constant torment and opportunities only available to Kay, I think that it is only deserving that, in the end, the Wart becomes more powerful and important than Kay, Sir Ector and the other people who had always `ruled' him. I think that the Wart was a better person to Kay and although he may not have been superior to Kay, he certainly had a better personality and was kinder than Kay. With Merlyn's `education', the Wart learned not only how to lead well, but also to be a better person, and Merlyn taught him much about how to treat other people with respect and to relate better with them. When the Wart meets Robin Wood and Maid Marion, he learns through Marion that women are no different to men and should be treated equally. He is also taught the pointlessness of violence when he requests a joust between Sir Grummore and King Pellinore. Before the joust, Wart thinks that it is noble and brave to fight, but after seeing the Grummore-Pellinore joust, he thinks differently about it. He sees that there is nothing noble or brave about fighting to the death with a friend or fellow knight. Although Kay did get the `rough end' of the deal in the end, I think that he deserved it, after all the things he did to the Wart during their childhood. He held the dominant position for half of the boys' lives, and now the Wart holds the same position (in their relationship) for the later parts of their lives.

Importance of Physics Essays

Importance of Physics Essays Importance of Physics Essay Importance of Physics Essay .Physics is the field of scince that controls the Earth, the Moon, the Sun and the Universe It is the science of matter and its motion, space-time and energy. Physics describes many forms of energy such as kinetic energy, electrical energy, and mass; and the way energy can change from one form to another. Everything surrounding to us is made of matter and Physics explains matter as combinations of fundamental particles which are interacting through fundamental forces. It will not be an exaggeration if it is said that Nature is almost Physics (apart from the fact that the word Physics itself is derived from Greek word physis meaning nature). Physics is all around us. We can find Physics as the backbone for any daily life example such as an electric light, electricity, the working of our vehicle, wristwatch, cell phone, CD player, radio, plasma TV set, computer, and the list goes on. Physics is also a necessity in solving our future problems. The examples cited above show that forward-looking developments are based on the insights of physics. This applies most especially to all problems, or rather solutions thereof, which are critical for our future. Whether it pertains to new materials, the development of fuel cells for a more environmentally-friendly propulsion techniques, or nuclear fusion as a source of energy in the future, in any event, physics creates the conditions for solving problems. Simply we can say, Any sort of technology which we uses in our daily life is related to Physics. It plays an important role in health, economic development, education, energy, and the environment.

Linking Verbs and Action Verbs

Linking Verbs and Action Verbs Linking Verbs and Action Verbs Linking Verbs and Action Verbs By Mark Nichol Verbs are divided into two functional categories: copular verbs and action verbs. This post discusses their differences. Copular, or linking, verbs, which express a situation or a state rather than an action or a process (and thus are among the class of verbs called stative verbs), consist of several types of verbs. The basic ones are forms of the verb phrase â€Å"to be†: am, are, be, being, is, was, were, and been. However, become, get, grow, turn, and similar terms, and their tense forms (for example, became and â€Å"will become†), also perform this function, as do those in two other small groups. First, there are the words such as appears and seems, and second, there are what are called the sensory verbs, referring to impressions based on the five senses: feels, looks, smells, sounds, and tastes. (These, of course, also have their tense forms, such as appeared and â€Å"will feel.†) The default for use of copular verbs is that each clause has only one, as in â€Å"I am here, and you are there.† Some languages allow a zero copula omission of a copular verb but in American English, this is an informal usage recommended only in colloquial dialogue, as when one character drops the copular verb when asking another character something such as â€Å"Where you going?† The double copula (for example, â€Å"What it is, is a disaster†) is also common in casual speech but is also discouraged in most writing; such constructions are organized that way for emphasis, but in formal prose, the sentiment is easily expressed more concisely: â€Å"It is a disaster.† A variation of the copular verb is the copular prepositional verb, which includes a verb and a preposition, as in â€Å"feels like† and â€Å"gets into.† Action verbs, by contrast, are the ones that actually describe an accomplishment, achievement, or activity. Accomplishment verbs describe the result of an effort, as in â€Å"He solved the problem just in time.† Achievement verbs describe an instantaneous action, as in â€Å"I saw the dog.† (Although one can continue to see a dog, the initial occurrence the transition from not seeing the dog to seeing it takes place in an instant.) An activity can be definite in duration (â€Å"I walked while I waited for him to get ready†) or indefinite (â€Å"I walked along the road.†) One significant difference in sentence constructions that feature a copular verb and those that include an action verb is the part of speech that might follow the verb. If an action verb is modified, the modifier is an adverb (â€Å"She sifted carefully through the pile of documents†), while a copular verb is followed by an adjective (â€Å"I was careful as I sifted through the pile of documents†). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar 101 category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowList of 50 Great Word Games for Kids and AdultsPeople vs. Persons

MBA Capstone Part 1 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

MBA Capstone Part 1 - Term Paper Example ership is regarded as such sort of leadership quality based on which the business leaders often use several plans and strategies for accomplishing desired business or operational targets. In this form of leadership, the leaders provide certain vision to the organizations and accordingly strategies are built. This form of leadership skill enables in making effective decisions for the organizations. It also leads towards appropriate use of human resources by understanding the potential skill of the employees. Moreover, strategic leadership often acts as a driving force for the organizations to reach their ultimate goals and objectives. Thus, this form of leadership proves to be highly effective for any organization. It can be apparently observed in this similar concern that Tesla Motors is one of such organizations, which implemented strategic leadership in its business operations for reaping several significant benefits (Harrison & John, 2013; Hill & John, 2012; Drucker, 2008; Collins , 2001). Sustainable strategic management refers to the situation, wherein organizations possess an objective for gaining long-term sustainability in the business markets. In this regard, the organizations also seek for gaining long term competitive advantage through the implementation of strategic management. In this form of management, organizations undertake periodical evaluation and understand the prevailing business market conditions. Sustainable strategic management is quite essential from the perspective of an organization, as this leads in attaining predetermined business or operational targets. Specially mentioning, this sort of management can also be found applicable in Tesla Motors, which supported the company to form, develop as well as maintain long-term sustainable growth in alignment with the prevailing business market settings (Tesla Motors Inc., 2014; Drucker, 2008; Collins, 2001). The arrangements that make by a strategic leader in accordance with the vision and

The Kepler Mission Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Kepler Mission - Research Paper Example By observing the activity of the other planets and stars in the galaxy, the NASA informs human activities thus making the earth a safer place. The other planets and the star orbit revolve around the earth. This implies that the space consists of numerous movements thus increasing the likelihood of collisions (Shipman, Wilson & Higgins, 2013). The authority has determine past crashes on earth thus informing safety precautions in order to avert the loss of lives associated with such activities. The devise monitors the activity on the earth’s Milky Way. Fixed in a particular point of view in the Milky Way, the spacecraft maintains an integral view of the earth’s habitable zone. The spacecraft thus monitors the movement of other planets and stars on the path thus informing the safety and stability of the earth. The main instrument in the spacecraft is known as photometer with which it discovers ad monitors the lights emitted by the other stars on the Milky Way. The device t hen transmits the dates it discovers to the NASA offices on earth for analysis. The analysis always portrays the periodic dimming of the stars and the possible effects on both the earth and their host stars (International Astronomical Union, Pont, Sasselov, Holman & International Astronomical Union, 2009). The spacecraft observes the movement and activity in the space. In doing this, it observes both the light and sound emitted by the other stars orbiting around other planets on the earth’s Milky Way. Launched in 2009, the spacecraft that is part of the massive NASA’s discovery project had a timeline of three years (Marett-Crosby, 2013). However, the project has encountered several challenges most of which have influenced the rescheduling of the dates and the timeline of the project. Among the preliminary challenges to the project was the noise produced by both the machine and the stars in the space. The two impaired the data collection process thus informing the resch eduling of the dates as the association sought to rectify the anomalies. Additionally, in May 2013, one of the reaction wheels of the spacecraft failed thus resulting in subsequent receives and rescheduling of the dates. Goals Kepler maintains a dedicated observation of the earth’s Milky Way relaying fundamental information about the relationship and activities in the earth’s Milky Way. In doing this, the machine explores the structures and diversities of the earth’s planetary system. The information obtained from such studies help inform the activities and movements of people on earth. Some of the movements on the earth’s Milky Way possess substantial danger and security threat to the Earth. Some of the stars move on the earth’s orbit thus presenting potential security threats. The spacecraft observes the speed and closeness of such moving stars thus obtaining the specific dates of impact among others. The project’s goals include the follow ing: To determine the number of earth size planets lie on the earth’s Milky Way. To determine the sizes, ranges and shapes of the planets To estimate the number of planets on the earth’s habitable zone, in doing this, the spacecraft observes the size, the brightness, mass and density of the planets on the earth’s Milky Way. Dedicated monitoring of the space by Kepler among other scientific mechanisms employed by both the NASA and other scientific bodies globally is important in determining the safety of the earth. Kepler uses photographic lenses in capturing

Mercer Mayer Essay Example for Free

Mercer Mayer Essay Mercer Mayer was born in 1943, and has been writing and illustrating children’s books for almost forty years. As a child Mayor moved all the country with his family, because his father was in the Navy. I believe that this was an influential factor in determining his success. His pictures are drawn without signifying any particular region, which helps children to create an emotional attachment to the story. Mayor’s family settled down in Hawaii when he was a thirteen years old. He had attended the Honolulu Academy of the Arts for a year when he realized that he wanted to illustrate children’s books. He tells, I always liked to draw, and one day I decided I had nothing to lose, so I made a lot of sketches and began to peddle them. Mayer did this against the advice of his professors who believed that he didn’t have enough talent to succeed at it. In 1964, he moved to New York in an attempt to find work as an illustrator. While He received art training from the Arts Students League. After being turned down countless times, he was given advice from a harsh art director, insisting that he throw away his entire portfolio, because it was so terrible. As difficult as this was for Mayer to hear, he eventually took the man’s advice. With an empty portfolio, Mayer began to draw things that he remembered from his childhood, and shortly after he was chosen to illustrate his first book. Mayer’s first solo book was published, in 1967, and it was well-received by critics. It was a wordless book called A Boy, a Dog, and His Frog, and it was the first in a series of five. Mayer is given credit as being one of the creators of the wordless picture book. He continued for a while as an illustrator only, and completed the illustrations for almost 80 books. It was later on when he felt comfortable enough to add his own text to the drawings. One aspect of his style of illustrating is that he always includes humorous objects in the background of his pictures. My favorite example of this is Professor Wormbog in Search for the Zipperump-a-Zoo. The Little Critter books have many characters that are present in the background of the story but never mentioned in the text (such as the frog, mouse, and the spider). Frogs actually appear in many of his books, from his wordless series to the Little Critter books. The lines he uses to draw his nature scenes are usually nongeometric curves that convey a harmonious and lifelike feeling. His work has also been recognized for the detailed texture it displays. In Shibumi and the Kitemaker, his use of value to draw extravagant backgrounds and faces that practically glow allows the pictures to seem realistic and three dimensional. In 1973, Mayer and his wife Marianne bought a farm in Connecticut. On the farm they were surrounded by many animals and nature, which significantly influenced his work. All of Mayer’s books feature some part of the outdoors and nature in them. His illustrations routinely feature large trees that are drawn in great detail. All of the characters in his Little Critter series are animals and the main character lives outside the big city in a wooded area. Mayer began publishing with Golden Press after his first divorce, with Marianne, in 1978. With Golden Press he started the Little Critter and the Little Monster series. Children are able to create powerful links between themselves and his books because of all of the familiar situations he writes about, like going to bed (Just Go to Bed), overcoming your fears (There are Monsters Everywhere), or dealing with the frustration of constantly being told what to do and what not to do (When I Get Bigger and I Was So Mad). Mayer married his second wife, Jo, in 1979, and they had two children together. Mayer started working from his home in Bridgewater, Connecticut, surrounded by his two young children. This situation was most likely brought about another major theme in his works, family. Some particular titles in the Little Critter series where he has adventures with only one of his family members are: Just Me and My Dad, Just Grandma and Me, Just Me and My Mom, Just Grandpa and Me, The New Baby, and Just Me and My Cousin. In the other books, Critter usually relies on his family members to help him do things like bake a cake for his teacher (The Best Teacher Ever) or help doing his science fair poster (Just a School Project). Mercer Mayer’s main characters are usually independent, strong willed, and a bit on the rebellious/wild side. His characters aren’t afraid to take action and overcome obstacles in order to do what they know is the right. In The Queen Who Loved to Dance, after the King made it illegal to sing and dance, the Queen had to stop doing those things she enjoyed the most because even a queen must obey the law. In Shibumi and the kitemaker, Princess Shibumi knew that she must give up the comfortable life she led in the palace in order to help the poor people of her city. In There’s a Nightmare in My Closet, the main character is a boy who is absolutely terrified of what might be lurking behind the closet door. One night he decides that it is time to face his nemesis. In full armor and weapon in hand, the boy attacks his monster and makes the poor thing cry. Even though the boy is mad, he understands what it is like to be afraid and decides to let the monster sleep in his bed with him. Mayer received the National Book Festival Artist of the Year award in 2007. Contrary to what his professors thought, Mayer’s illustrations are very popular with all audiences. Mayer currently lives in Roxbury, Connecticut with his third wife Gina, with whom he co-writes many of the popular Little Critter books. He continues to draw inspiration from his grandchildren, who as he says, â€Å"Always remind me what it was like. † I am a big fan of Mercer Mayer’s writing and illustrations. However, the display of gender stereotyping is definitely an unfortunate part of the content in many of Mayer’s picture books. In Mayer’s Little Critter series the mom is almost always shown in the kitchen, doing laundry, or cleaning the house, whereas his dad is rarely depicted in the house. My favorite book of Mayer’s is Just a Mess, because my room is always a disaster. I remember one particular occasion when I was frantically searching for my softball cleats before a Little League game and couldn’t find them anywhere. I have always struggled with what goes along with growing up like being neat and organized, sleeping without the closet light on, going to bed at a decent hour, not juggling eggs, and other un-fun stuff. My favorite quote of Mayer’s is â€Å"It’s real fun to be an old kid. †

Free Essays - Free Will Isnt Free in Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth - Free Will Isn't Free Could Macbeth choose his own path in life or is it already planned? Everything he does in his life is already planned out. It is destined for what happens happened in his life. He still has his free will, but no matter what everything is bound to happen as it were destined to. His destiny is still a step ahead of him. No matter what his decision is, even the three witches can foretell his future. Every decision that Macbeth choose was on his free will and his fate is already destined for him ahead of times. The three witches knew everything before hand. Therefore, they could foretell who would be the destined one and be king. They knew the exact time and place in which they were suppose to encounter the future king. They knew Macbeth would be ordained to be this future king. They told Macbeth that he was the Thane of Glamis because he is the rightful heir "all hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, thane of Glamis!" [I, iii, 49], Thane of Cawdor all hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Tthane of Cawdor" [I, iii, 51] and King of Scotland, "all hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!"[I, iii, 49]. They told Macbeth about the apparitions of the signs that he would be overthrown off the throne. The first apparition was Macduff "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff, Beware the thane of Fife" [IV, I, 71]. The second apparition is foreshadowing that nothing woman born shall kill him, "the pow'r of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" [IV, I, 80]. While, the third apparition tell ing Macbeth not to worry until the forest comes to him and the eight kings overthrow him from the thrown. "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him" [IV, I, 92]. So the three witches already know Macbeths destiny and his decisions. When the witches told Macbeth that he was going to be king, he was not patient enough to wait, hence, wanted for him to be king right then. He discussed the ordeal to his wife about the three witches warning him and how things started to take its course.

Animal Species

Animal species are decreasing at an alarming rate, and many of it has to do with human interference to animals habitats. In the article â€Å"Era of ‘Biological Annihilation' Is Underway, Scientists Warn†(2017) by Tatiana Scholssberg she explains the way in which 2 Stanford University Professors and one professor from Universidad Nacional Autà ³noma de Mà ©xico wrote their study and the way they worded and put their ideas together on the topic of global loss of animal species: It wouldn't be ethical right now not to speak in this strong language to call attention to the severity of the problem.† The destruction humans are doing to animals is detrimental, and is causing animals to go decrease in population at such a high speed and these 3 professors take it upon themselves to make this issue sound as horrendous as it should. Throughout the beginning to mid part of the article Scholssberg explains how fast animal populations have decreased, she uses specific numbers to show at what speed these populations are actually decreasing by. Such as cheetas as se mentions have about 7000 members left than they had before any major destruction was made to their habitats and them. She further explains how it was difficult for the 3 professors from UNAM and Stanford to gather their information. Since different scientists have distinct definitions of what population means, it would be hard to show how population loss is affecting different species of animals. When scientists are looking into animal population loss they usually see a fragment of how much the animal species population has been decreasing and not necessarily the whole picture regarding all animal species as explained by Scholssberg. She mentions that â€Å"previous estimates of global extinction rates have been too low, in part because scientists have been too focused on the complete extinction of a species† which does not â€Å"generate enough public concern,† and lends the impression that many species are not severely threatened, or that mass extinction is a distant catastrophe.† Scholssberg mentions that the 3 professors whos study she was reviewing took a different route when discussing the decrease of various animal species, which helped them come to the conclusion that â€Å"the disappearance of entire populations, and the decrease of the number of individuals within a population,† are both equally important but usually people don't see the big picture in the decrease of various animal species. As mentioned earlier many of the decreases in the animal population are because of human activity. Such as climate change and the constant exploitation of animals habitats. To help sort of balance this out Scholssberg mentioned in her article that â€Å"some species have been able to rebound when some of these pressures are taken away.† By this, I'm sure she means that when humans stop interfering with an animals habitat, animals are more likely to live a more fruitful life. Humans may just really be the toxic ones, over exploiting and taking over animals habitats. There will be a long-lasting impact with these animal populations and if we don't stop now, when will we?

Nutritional Assessment

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is the ratio of weight to height and is used to classify people as being â€Å"underweight,† â€Å"normal,† or â€Å"obese† (BMI Classification, 2007). Using the international classifications, a BMI of 32.2 would be considered as Obese Gr. 1. The case being answered is why is a person who eats normally at 4-5 fairly healthy meals every day, satisfies the recommended allowances classified as obese? Many factors must be considered when answering this case. Most important among these is whether the measurement of the BMI is done under normal conditions, that is, if the body type, health status, body composition and metabolic function of the patient are considered. Truly, there are some instances when the BMI classification is not applicable. It must be noted that the Body Mass Index is a standard for determining the risk of normal people. It cannot be used for people who have high muscle mass. Muscle is considered as heavier compared to fat and a more muscular person would naturally be higher in body weight compared to his or her â€Å"more normal† counterpart. Two persons, for example may have a 32.2 BMI but may have different body compositions: one may appear â€Å"fat† because of greater body fat composition and the other may appear really lean and healthy because his or her body composition is mainly of muscles. A bodybuilder may always be classified as â€Å"overweight† or â€Å"obese† if BMI standards are used; when Arnold Schwarzenegger won a certain competition, his BMI was 31 (Whitney, Cataldo and Rolfes, 2002). As it is, the definition of the BMI must be kept in mind—it only considers the person’s weight and height and not the person’s body composition. In other words, in assessing the health risks of a person using a BMI, the body composition or body type of a person should be considered first because the results may erroneously represent the real status of the individual. The results of the Body Mass Index can also be influenced by the water composition in the body. If the person is retaining water, for example, he or she should not be classified using the BMI standards because the weight is affected by the unnecessary water that is retained inside the body. If water is retained and the person is measured, the BMI would naturally result to a higher value which would not represent the person’s true health status. Edema or water retention can sometimes happen to people with kidney failure, and to women who are pregnant. The BMI classification should also not be used to pregnant women because in measuring the BMI, the weight of the unborn child is not considered which could also erroneously increase the true value of the index. The result would then, not become representative of the true health status of the individual. If however, the patient is not â€Å"muscular†, the relatively high BMI of the person, despite his or her normal intake can be attributable to the person’s rate of metabolism. There is a possibility of the person having low metabolism as a result of previous abnormalities in dietary practices and intake or possibly a thyroid disorder. Hypothyroidism can decrease the rate of metabolism of a person by as much as 30%. At such rate, the person, no matter how healthy his or her eating habits are, is at risk to gaining more weight, having higher BMI and thus, being at risk to the diseases associated with higher BMI. These factors must be considered first in assessing whether there is something significant in the BMI of the patient under study.   The 32.2 BMI of the person may not be signifying a risk in health but a mere indication of erroneous use of the classification without considering the body composition, water retention, or pregnancy. But if these factors are considered, the person must really be at risk for high fat deposition as a result of low rate of metabolism. The person should then consider doing more physical activity or consulting a doctor on how to normalize the thyroid function. Works Cited BMI Classification. (2007). World Health Organization. Retrieved 26 Feb 2007 from http://www.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_3.html, Whitney, Cataldo and Rolfes. (2002). Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition. 6th ed. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

The Good Earth; Importance of the Setting Essays

The Good Earth; Importance of the Setting Essays The Good Earth; Importance of the Setting Essay The Good Earth; Importance of the Setting Essay In the book The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, the setting is very essential, as it is with most all books. The setting shapes the entire book, and it could not have been set in a different time or place and still have had the same effect. Throughout the book there are hardships as well as times of prosperity, but there is no validity that the city is a â€Å"bad† place and the country a â€Å"good† place, for both good and bad happenings fall upon the people from both places.Without the setting, or with a different setting, the book The Good Earth would be an entirely different story. The Good Earth has a setting that sets the hardships that Northern China faced; drought, flood, famine, cold, heat, and war. The setting also creates character by putting important obstacles in the paths of the characters in the book. How each character deals with these obstacles shows what kind of character they are, and helps to create the plot of the book itself. The themes of the book a re also created by the setting.The setting especially effects Wang Lung, for conflicts influenced by the setting proves one of the themes that â€Å"the land has control of the life of a farmer†. A different time or setting would completely change the story, and it wouldn’t of had the same effect. Wang Lung’s love for the earth is the main driving force in his life. The only thing Wang Lung loves with consistency is the earth, because the earth is consistent as well. He always returns to the land and yearns for it w

Step Pyramid of Djoser - Egypts Oldest Pyramid

Step Pyramid of Djoser - Egypts Oldest Pyramid The Step Pyramid of Djoser (also spelled Zoser) is the earliest monumental pyramid in Egypt, built at Saqqara about 2650 BCE for the 3rd Dynasty Old Kingdom pharaoh Djoser, who ruled about 2691–2625  BCE (or perhaps 2630-2611  BCE). The pyramid is part of a complex of buildings, said to have been planned and executed by that most famous architect of the ancient world, Imhotep. Fast Facts: Step Pyramid of Djoser Culture: 3rd Dynasty, Old Kingdom Egypt (ca. 2686–2125 BCE)Location: Saqqara, EgyptPurpose: Burial chamber for Djoser (Horus Ntry-ht, ruled 2667–2648 BCE)Architect: ImhotepComplex: Surrounded by a rectangular wall enclosing several shrines and open courtyards  Size: 205 feet high, 358 feet square at the base, complex covers 37 acresMaterial: Native limestone What is a Step Pyramid? The Step Pyramid is made up of a stack of rectangular mounds, each built of limestone blocks, and decreasing in size upward. That may seem odd to those of us who think pyramid-shaped means smooth-sided, no doubt because of the classic  Giza Plateau pyramids, also dated to the Old Kingdom. But stepped pyramids were the common type of tomb for both private and public individuals until the 4th dynasty when Sneferu built the first smooth-sided, albeit bent, pyramid.  Roth (1993) has an interesting paper about what the shift from rectangular to pointy pyramids meant to Egyptian society and its relationship to the  sun god Ra; but thats a digression. The very first pharaonic burial monuments were low rectangular mounds called mastabas, reaching a maximum height of 2.5 meters or about eight feet. Those would have been almost completely invisible from a distance, and, over time the tombs were built ever-increasingly larger. Djosers was the first truly monumental structure.   Djosers Pyramid Complex Djosers Step Pyramid is at the heart of a complex of structures, enclosed by a rectangular stone wall. The buildings in the complex include a line of shrines, some fake buildings (and a few functional ones), high niched walls and several wsht (or jubilee) courtyards. The largest wsht-courtyards are the Great Court south of the pyramid, and the Heb Sed courtyard between the rows of provincial shrines. The step pyramid is near the center, complemented by the south tomb. The complex includes subterranean storage chambers, galleries and corridors, most of which were not discovered until the 19th century (although they were apparently excavated by Middle Kingdom pharaohs, see below). One corridor that runs beneath the pyramid is decorated with six limestone panels depicting King Djoser. In these panels, Djoser is dressed in different ritual clothing and posed as standing or running. That has been interpreted to mean he is performing rituals associated with the Sed festival (Friedman and Friedman). Sed rituals were dedicated to the jackal god known as Sed or Wepwawet, meaning Opener of the Ways, and an early version of Anubis. Sed can be found standing next to Egyptian dynastic kings right from the first images such as that on the Narmer palette. Historians tell us that Sed festivals were rituals of physical renewal, in which the aged king would prove he still had the right of kingship by running a lap or two around the walls of the royal residence. Middle Kingdom Fascination with the Old Guy Djosers name was given to him in the Middle Kingdom: his original name was Horus Ntry-ht, glossed as Netjerykhet. All of the Old Kingdom pyramids were the focus of keen interest to the founders of the Middle Kingdom, some 500 years after the pyramids were built. The tomb of Amenemhat I (Middle Kingdom 12th dynasty) at Lisht was found to be packed with Old Kingdom inscribed blocks from five different pyramid complexes at Giza and Saqqara (but not the step pyramid). The Courtyard of the Cachette at Karnak had hundreds of statues and steles taken from Old Kingdom contexts, including at least one statue of Djoser, with a new dedication inscribed by Sesostris (or Senusret) I. Sesostris (or Senusret) III [1878–1841 BCE], Amenemhats great-great-grandson, apparently snagged two calcite sarcophagi (alabaster coffins) from the underground galleries at the Step Pyramid, and transmitted them to his own pyramid at Dahshur. A rectangular stone monument featuring the undulating bodies of snakes, perhaps part of a ceremonial gateway, was removed from Djosers pyramid complex for the sixth dynasty Queen Iput Is mortuary temple at the Teti pyramid complex. Sources Baines, John, and Christina Riggs. Archaism and Kingship: A Late Royal Statue and Its Early Dynastic Model. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 87 (2001): 103–18. Print.Bronk Ramsey, Christopher, et al. Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt. Science 328 (2010): 1554–57. Print.Dodson, Aidan. Egypts First Antiquarians? Antiquity 62.236 (1988): 513–17. Print.Friedman, Florence Dunn, and Florence Friedman. The Underground Relief Panels of King Djoser at the Step Pyramid Complex. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 32 (1995): 1–42. Print.Gilli, Barbara. The Past in the Present: The Reuse of Ancient Material in the 12th Dynasty. Aegyptus 89 (2009): 89–110. Print.Hawass, Zahi. A Fragmentary Monument of Djoser from Saqqara. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 80 (1994): 45–56. Print.Pflà ¼ger, Kurt, and Ethel W. Burney. The Art of the Third and Fifth Dynasties. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 23.1 (1937): 7–9. Print .Roth, Ann Macy. Social Change in the Fourth Dynasty: The Spatial Organization of Pyramids, Tombs, and Cemeteries. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 30 (1993): 33–55. Print.

Contrast Mackays Tulip Bulb story with the US housing market of the Essay

Contrast Mackays Tulip Bulb story with the US housing market of the past 45 years - Essay Example The recent credit crunch bothering the US economy in particular and the world economies in general, unleashed by subprime mortgages amply reveals the susceptibility of markets to speculative fads and misinformed human avarice and greed. In the given context, Mackay's 'Tulip Bulb' story published in his book 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds' seems to be highly relevant. Infact the given narrative is a crystal clear example of a debilitating dichotomy between the prices of a coveted asset and the market fundamentals (Garber 14). The story is based in the year 1559, when the tulip bulbs became a priced commodity in Holland. Infact tulip bulbs were widely traded in the local market exchanges and the people went to the extent of stretching their speculative propensities far beyond their means and started investing in the tulips bulbs that sometimes fetched a price as high as 2,000 guilders. This obsessive herd mentality was totally oblivious of the pragmatic market realities and was solely driven by mass instinct (Peers 29). Eventually, in February 1637, the tulip bubble busted and brought the Dutch economy down to its knees. The story being discussed certainly draws one's attention to the housing and real state bubble that dominated the US economy in the last five years.

The Orthodox Jews Total Way of Life Research Paper

The Orthodox Jews Total Way of Life - Research Paper Example Also known as erub or eiruv, an eruv is an enclosure in which Orthodox Jews can push or carry objects on the Sabbath, to escape the violation of the Jewish Law which prohibits carrying things except within the home setting.   An eruv, therefore, serves the purpose of a home, and in it, things such as house keys, nappies, prams, crutches, food and beverage, extra clothes essential medicines and handkerchiefs may be carried. Differing Interpretations of Eiruv among the Different Jewish Denominations. On the one hand, Orthodox Jews accept the use of an eiruv to serve as a house, to cushion them from contravening the Jewish Sabbath Law. Reformed Jews on the other Reformed Jews do not regard an eruv as an unnecessary mechanism which encourages separateness and works against assimilation (Diamond, 490). Taboos in Orthodox Judaism emanate from the Torah and the oral interpretation of the Torah and the codification of the Torah [the Talmud and Mishna].   These laws in the Torah became th e total way of life for Orthodox Jews. Again, the same laws became a total way of life for Orthodox Jews because they were believed to have originated from God, through Moses, as is shown in the Torah. In respect to the foregoing, all food taken by Orthodox Jews must be kosher, meaning, proper for consumption. For instance, Orthodox Jews may neither take milk and beef nor cheeseburger because of their observation to Deuteronomy 14:21 and Exodus 23:19. These taboos cover the Orthodox Jew’s total way of life and therefore govern even business dealings.  

Liam and Irene live at 8 MacDuff Lane, Elgin. They have two children, Case Study

Liam and Irene live at 8 MacDuff Lane, Elgin. They have two children, Stuart and Tracy, aged 8 and 4 years respectivel - Case Study Example This is because the couple will be required to cater for the monthly mortgage fee and insurance premium before the new owners move in. Consequently, the computations below illustrated the actual amount each of the three offers will generate. Consequently, the analysis above reveals that the third offer is most preferable for the couple due to its potential of maximizing the untaxed capital gain they will accumulate (King & Carey, 2014). This implies that the couple should consider selling their house to the third buyer at the price of  £195,000. Even though the offer will cost the couple a higher maintenance, the strategy will allow a realization of a higher net value of the house. The optimal decision that Liam should undertake on the 1,000 shares he inherited from his father is to sell them at the current lower price. This is because the strategy will allow Liam to avoid capital gain tax from the sale of the inherited shares. Shares that are inherited use the market value price at the day they were inherited if they were inherited after 31st of March 1932 by the new owner (Mclaughlin, 2013). Owing to the recent sharp decline of the distillery shares, the current price is likely to be lower than the market value of the shares at the day of their inheritance. Thus, Liam will avoid paying lump sum tax amount by selling the shares at their current prices instead of keeping them in future that might attract tax (Spencer, 2013). In addition, selling the shares currently will allow Liam to claim for capital loss in his tax return. This is because the net amount that will be realized from the sale of the shares will be lower than the market value of the shares at th e day of their inheritance. Even though the price of the shares will be lower than the market value under consideration, the value of the shares has the potential of been higher to that of the original price his father acquired the shares.

The World Is Flat Flattener Information Technology Essay

The World Is Flat Flattener Information Technology Essay The World Is Flat is an international bestselling book by Thomas Friedman that analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. Globalization became more prominent during the last decades. Friedman argues that globalization made the world smaller and flatter, allowing all countries to take chance of the available opportunities equally. As Friedman describes in The World is Flat there are three eras of globalization and ten flatteners which made the world smaller, making it easier to communicate and share our knowledge. This paper deals with the flattener number 2 i.e.; When the NetScape went Public and associated developments after 2003 till date. Background Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times. In his famous book The World is Flat he identifies three eras of globalization. The first era, called Globalization 1.0,between the years 1492, when Columbus set out to discover a new trade route to the New World, and 1800, made the world fall in size from large to medium. During this period, the strength of a country was based on the number of horsepower or the number of steam engines owned, compared with other countries. The second period Globalization 2.0, between the years 1800 and 2000, decreased the size of the world, from medium to low. Multinational companies were the integration force, and the power was given to a company by the level of innovation in the field of machinery and equipment. Last era Globalization 3.0 began around the year 2000. If the first two periods led to globalization at the country level and, later, at the company level, this new period favorized reduction to a very small world, flattening the playing field and putting the individual in the centre(Friedman, 2007, pp 25-26). Globalization has been maintained by the action of some flattening factors that favoured the levelling of the World and the emergence of some opportunities that could increase welfare if successfully exploited. One of these factors is the event on 09/08/1995, the Netscape Company was to give life the Internet by creating the first commercially and well known web browser, facilitating web browsing culture definition to general public. Objectives The main objective of this paper is to investigate the contribution and after effects of flattener number 2 in make the world flatten during the period 2003 to 2012. Methodology Data for this report were gathered from 3rd December 2012 to 18th January 2013. The data was collected by research online and in college library. Procedure The procedure involved in analysis of the facts and authentication of information given in each report and article available in online and in college library. The main agenda is to capture all the contribution and after effects of Netscape internet explorer in making the world flatten from 2003 to till date. Findings Flattener #2 is shifting us from a PC-based platform to an Internet-based platform. The concept of World Wide Web was developed by British computer scientist Berners-Lee. Berners-Lee is someone who certainly helped to flatten the world. Berners-Lee explains that the web is an imaginary space of information. On the Net, we will find computers and the connections are cables between computers. On the Web, we will find documents, videos, sounds etc like information and the connections are hypertext links. The Web exists because of programs which communicate between computers on the Net. People are really interested in information; they dont really want to have to know about computers and cables. In the early 1990s, Berners-Lee created the programming language for writing WebPages called HTML. The 1st website by Berners-Lee was at http://info.cern.ch and was 1st put up on August 6, 1991. It was the 1st website ever. It explained how the WWW worked, how one could own a browser, and how setting up a Web server. 1st widely popular commercial browser was created by a tiny start-up company in Mountain View, California, called Netscape. Netscape went public on August 9, 1995 at the price of $28. Netscape and the Web broadened the audience for the Internet from its roots as a communications medium used primarily by early adopters and geeks to something that made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five-year-olds. The digitization that took place meant that everyday occurrences such as words, files, films, music, and pictures could be accessed and manipulated on a computer screen by all people across the world. The more alive the Internet became, the more different people wanted to do different things on the Web. So people demanded computers, s/w and telecommunications networks. This demand was satisfied by the rollout of Windows 95. Windows 95 become the operating system used by most people worldwide. Friedman recognizes the publication of Netscape and Windows 95 as a huge flattening force. What Netscape did was bring a new killer app -the browser to this installed base of PCs, making the computer and its connectivity inherently more useful for millions of people. This in turn set off an explosion in demand for all things digital and sparked the Internet boom. This development, in turn, wired the whole world together, and without, anyone really planning it, made Bangalore a suburb of Boston. Now Netscape is known as Firefox. The second flattener gave people a way to cheaply distribute and retrieve content digitally. Basically, the second flattener consisted of 3 events: (1) The Internet emerged (low-cost connectivity among PC users); (2) The World Wide Web emerged (PC users can post their digital content for anyone to access); and (3) The commercial Web Browser emerged (PC users can retrieve documents or Web pages stored in Web sites). Everyone could use the Internet, thus consumers wanted more to do on the Internet. One of the benefits of Netscape was it was available to everyone and people didnt have to continually pay for it (after they bought the browser). The Internet boom leads to over-investments. For instance, the fiber-optic cable companies invested in making mass amounts of fiber-optic systems. The companies didnt realize that almost everyone was using the Internet and they didnt need to make anymore fiber-optic systems. Netscape was the first highly successful browser, and it could work on an IBM PC, an Apple MacIntosh, or a Unix computer, insuring that people could communicate with each other no matter what computer they were on. Netscapes browser made millions of existing computers and connectivity much more useful, and reinforced the free flow of information. Freidman concludes that browser technology was one of the most important inventions in modern history. Together with the Internet and Web, Netscape allowed more people to communicate and interact with each other than had ever happened in the world before. There is an interesting quote when you give people a new way to connect with other people, they will punch through any technical barrierà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦people are wired to want to connect with other people and they find it objectionable not to be able to. (Marc Andreessen : The World is Flat : 65) Lets look at each one of these developments. Marc Andreessen, a brilliant young computer scientist, developed the 1st really effective, easy-to-use Web browser, called Mosaic. His company called Mosaic Communications later renamed to Netscape communications. Marc Andreessen did not invent the Internet or the World Wide Web, but he certainly played a historic role in helping to bring them alive. Netscapes 1st commercial browser was released in December 1994, and within a year it completely dominated the market. People were downloading it for 3-month trials. Thus Netscape played important flattening role. In addition to the Netscape browser, other standardizations further simplified communications among computers. Berners Lee and other scientists had developed a series of open protocols mainly FTP, HTTP,HTML,SSL,SMTP,POP, and TCP/IP. Together they form a system for transporting data around the Internet and World Wide Web in a relatively secure manner, no matter what network your company or household has or what computer or cell phone or handheld device you are using. Each protocol had a different function. TCP/IP was the basic plumbing of the Internet, or the basic railroad tracks, on which everything else above it was built and moved around. FTP moved files. SMTP and POP moved e-mail messages, so that they could be written and read on different e-mail systems. HTML allowed ordinary people to author Web pages. HTTP enabled people to connect to HTML documents on Web. SSL provide security for Web-based transactions. By the late 1990s the Internet computing platform became integrated. Soon anyone was able to connect with anyone else anywhere on any machine. This integration was a huge flattener. Generally, people take long time to change their habits and learn new technology. But in the case of Internet, they did it quickly and ten years later there were 800 million people on the internet, because people always want to connect with other people. People will change their habits quickly when they have a strong reason to do so, and people have an innate urge to connect with other people. (Marc Andreessen : The World is Flat : 65) Flattener 2 is responsible for the birth of AOL (Netscape was sold to AOL), newer versions of PC-Windows, Google, Yahoo and dot.com boom. Netscape going public stimulated a lot of things. one is, degree of overinvestment. Every sillier and sillier idea got funded. Digitization made investors to believe that demand for internet usage and internet-related products would be infinite. Digitization is a magic process by which words, music, data, films, files and pictures are turn into bits and bytes- combinations of 1s and 0s- that can be manipulated on a computer screen, stored on a microprocessor, or transmitted over satellites and fiber-optic lines. Thus mail digitized as e-mail, camera to digital camera, buy and browse books digitally on amazon.com, digital library, digitized music.. In a news conference at 1999 World Economic Forum, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told that these Internet stocks going to drive innovation faster and faster. Gates compared Internet to the gold rush. The Internet stock boom causes overinvestment in fiber-optic cable companies. They laid massive amounts of fiber-optic cable on land and under the oceans, which reduced cost of making a phone call or transmitting data anywhere in the world. The 1st installation of a fiber-optic system was in 1977.Optcal cables can carry digitized packets of information over long distances. Fiber-optic cable is used for secure communications, because it is very difficult to tap. The capacity of all the already installed fiber cables just keeps growing, making it cheaper and easier to transmit voices and data to any part of the world. The first transoceanic fiber-optic cables were laid between the United States, United Kingdom and France in 1988. The first transpacific cables were laid down in 1989 and connected the U.S., Hawaii, Guam and Japan. Fiber optic cables made it possible for Web users to connect and communicate with people at long distances. The installation of under-water cables was the first step to uniting all corners of the world. The perception of distance became much smaller. Now anyone could get on the Internet and communicate with someone half way around the world in less than seconds. Not only could you just talk to oth er countries, but with advancements in computer capabilities, you could also have a face to face conversation with them. The world became much smaller and flatter. *Smith, D. R. (2004). Digital Transmission Systems. Norwell, Ma: Kluwer Academic Publishing. The dot-com bubble was created by over-estimated values of Internet companies. Everyone jumped on the band wagon when the expected profits seemed to just keep growing. People were investing with the faith that one day those companies would reach their quota and so much more. In 2000 to 2001, the bubble burst, which resulted in a drop in investments and economic growth (Becker, 2008).* One of the biggest fall-outs was in the business of fiber optic cables. Everyone underestimated the efficiency and capabilities of fiber optic cables. When they turned out to have a much larger capacity than companies needed it became practically free to use them. This created opportunities for countries who couldnt afford to buy the cables outright. India was one such country that used the access of the Internet to globalize very fast in order to catch up with the rest of the world, and catch up they did. *Becker, A. (2008). Electronic commerce: concepts, methodologies, tools and applications (Vol. I). Hershey, Pa: Information Science Reference. It also allowed the telecommunications giants such as the Baby Bells and ATT to provide both phone service and infrastructure for internet. Global crossing was founded in 1977 by Gary Winnick and went public the next year. The telecom deregulation of 1996 allowed local exchange carriers to build their own data transmission capacities. The Internet-e-mail-browser phase flattened the earth a little bit more. In short, the Apple-PC-Windows phase and Netscape browsing-e-mail phase together enabled communication and interaction with people anywhere on the planet. Now thanks to the internet, we dont have to travel distances to meet face to face since we are interconnected with everyone everywhere. The day Netscape went public opened up the World Wide Web so that almost anyone could navigate the Internet without problems. This user-friendly browser made accessing the plethora of information on the Internet open to everyone. There existed browsers for searching the web prior to Netscape, but they were not as simple and easy to use. Now anyone who could read had access to the internet. Knowledge is power, and people got addicted to this easy learning tool. It gave individuals the power to take their lives into their own hands. The dot-com boom created a new and very different world. A world runs more by innovative individuals than by corporations. The birth of Mozilla On February 23, 1998, Netscape Communications Corporation created a project called Mozilla to co-ordinate the development of the Mozilla Application Suite, the open source version of Netscapes internet software, Netscape Communicator. Mozilla is a free software community best known for producing the Firefox web browser. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products and works to advance the goals of the Open Web described in the Mozilla Manifesto. In addition to the Firefox browser, Mozilla also produces Firefox Mobile, the Firefox OS mobile operating system, the bug tracking system Bugzilla and a number of other projects. Originally, Mozilla aimed to be a technology provider for companies, such as Netscape, who would commercialize their open source code. When Netscapes parent company AOL drastically scaled back its involvement with Mozilla in July 2003, the Mozilla Foundation was launched as the legal steward of the project. Soon after, Mozilla deprecated the Mozilla Suite in favour of creating independent applications for each function, primarily the Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird email client, and moved to supply them direct to the public. Recently, Mozillas activities have expanded to include Firefox on mobile platforms, primarily Android, a mobile OS called Firefox OS, a web-based identity system called Mozilla Persona and a marketplace for HTML5 applications. In a report released in November of 2012, Mozilla reported that their total revenue for 2011 was $163 million, which was up 33% from $123 million in 2010. Mozilla noted that roughly 85% of their revenue comes from their contract with Google. Introduction of new free web browser Firefox Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser developed for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and Android coordinated by Mozilla Corporation and Mozilla Foundation. Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine to render web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards. Gecko is a free and open source layout engine used in many applications developed by Mozilla. It is designed to support open Internet standards, and is used by different applications to display web pages and, in some cases, an applications user interface itself. Gecko offers a rich programming API that makes it suitable for a wide variety of roles in Internet-enabled applications, such as web browsers, content presentation, and client/server. Gecko is written in C++ and is cross-platform, and runs on various operating systems including BSDs, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, OS/2, AIX, OpenVMS, and Microsoft Windows. Its development is now overseen by the Mozilla Foundation and is licensed under version 2 of the Mozilla Public License. Gecko is the third most-common layout engine on the World Wide Web, As of October 2012, Firefox has approximately 20% to 24% of worldwide usage share of web browsers, making it the second or third most widely used web browser, according to different sources. According to Mozilla, Firefox counts with over 450 million users around the world. The browser has had particular success in Indonesia, Germany, and Poland, where it is the most popular browser with 65%, 47% and 47% of the market share, respectively. The Firefox project began as an experimental branch of the Mozilla project by Dave Hyatt, Joe Hewitt and Blake Ross. They believed the commercial requirements of Netscapes sponsorship and developer-driven feature creep compromised the utility of the Mozilla browser. To combat what they saw as the Mozilla Suites software bloat, they created a stand-alone browser, with which they intended to replace the Mozilla Suite. On April 3, 2003, the Mozilla Organization announced that they planned to change their focus from the Mozilla Suite to Firefox and Thunderbird. The Firefox project has undergone several name changes. Originally titled Phoenix, it was renamed because of trademark problems with Phoenix Technologies. The replacement name, Firebird, provoked an intense response from the Firebird free database software project. In response, the Mozilla Foundation stated that the browser should always bear the name Mozilla Firebird to avoid confusion with the database software. After further pressure from the database servers development community, on February 9, 2004, Mozilla Firebird became Mozilla Firefox, often referred to as simply Firefox. Mozilla prefers that Firefox be abbreviated as Fx or fx, though it is often abbreviated as FF. The Firefox project went through many versions before version 1.0 was released on November 9, 2004.On October 5, 2012, Mozilla released the Metro interface version of Firefox, included in the Nightly 18 build, to be used in Windows 8. In a flat world, the importance of comparative advantage disappears. Bhagwati (2010) argued that, although global capital markets led to decreasing interest rate differences between different countries and even multinational companies have facilitated technology transfer between countries, the differences remain due to culture and politics. An example is the political regime from China, which has undermined software development. PC (Communist Party) in China is irreconcilable with the PC (personal computer) of U.S. origin. But unlike China, which occupies a leading position in hardware production, India is better at programming and not at the hardware, thanks to the recently opened Indian autarchic regime following the 1991 reforms (Guha and Ray 2004, pp 301-302). The other obstacle in the flattening process, but an obstacle which can both accelerate or decelerate the global integration, is the national culture. The more resistant to globalization the local culture is, the higher the chances of isolation are and the probability that the community will crush because of the internal conflicts. Rà ©gis Debray (in Matthew, 2007) lists two reasons behind the crisis of the world culture: rapid population growth and the local retreat which the technological globalization is fuelling as the world begins to resemble more, the people are trying to distinguish between them more through local cultures, leading to an increased nationalistic feeling. The fierce criticism of the flattening earth theory is related to increased income disparities, both in developing and developed countries. For example, the poor countries, where the financial markets restrict access to capital for people with low incomes, the investments are extremely low and growth is inhibited. Thus, globalization tends to favour increased income disparities, since the main beneficiaries of globalization are those that have already wealthy capital and higher education or, at the country level, citizens of developed countries, where are healthy and stable institutions. Birdsall (2005, p. 33-36) proposes reforming global institutions like the World Bank or International Monetary Fund, so they can truly represent the interests of poor countries. They are the ones that have mechanisms to manage the implementation of a social contract model to increase access to educational opportunities for the poor and creating sound and stable institutions in developing countries. F or now, the votes are non-democratically allocated in these institutions. Europeans always choose the IMF president and Americans the WB president. In addition, most of the time, people in their management have no experience in solving the problems they face, since the holding of such functions are not related to previous work experience (Stiglitz, 2006, September 10). The Birdsalls second recommendation proposes the creation of global rules that correct market failures, environmental protection (eg Kyoto Protocol), support markets from poor countries to overcome financial risks (IMF) and deter corruption and other anticompetitive practices. The same argument the disparities of income growth was brought by Stiglitz (2006, September 10) to contradict Friedmans vision. He said that globalization can be felt only in terms of transport and communications costs decrease. Regarding economic development, he gave the example of the Republic of Moldova that although it experiences a transition period from communist regime, its GDP has decreased by 70% in 2005 and has spent about three quarters of GDP for foreign debt. Internet Abuse The internet has become a fundamental part of many peoples day-to-day working lives. As with the introduction of other mass communication technologies, issues surrounding use, abuse and addiction in the workplace have surfaced (Griffiths, 2002; Weatherbee, 2009). It is not uncommon for office workers to spend workplace time on various non-work activities (e.g. booking holidays, shopping online, bidding in online auctions, e-mailing friends/romantic partners, etc.). According to a survey by the International Data Corporation (Snapshot Spy, 2008), up to 40 per cent of internet access in the workplace is spent on non-work related browsing, and 60 per cent of all online purchases are made during working hours. The same survey also reported that 90 per cent of employees felt the internet can be addictive, and 41 per cent admitted to personal internet surfing at work for more than three hours per week. Internet abuse at work can lead to a decrease in productivity, network clogging, and an increase in the incidents of security breaches at an organization (Pee et al., 2008; Clayburgh and Nazareth, 2009; Weatherbee, 2009). Activities and consequences such as these highlight that internet abuse is a potentially serious cause of concern for employers. It has been claimed that excessive internet use can be pathological and addictive (Widyanto and Griffiths, 2006) and that such behaviour comes under the more generic label of technological addiction (Griffiths, 1995, 1998). It has been argued that behavioural addictions are no different from chemical addictions (e.g. alcoholism, and heroin addiction) in terms of the core components of addiction such as salience, tolerance, withdrawal, mood modification, conflict, and relapse. Research into internet addiction suggests that it does indeed exist but that it affects only a very small minority of users (Widyanto and Griffiths, 2006, 2009). These are usually people who use internet chat rooms or play fantasy role playing games activities that they would not engage in except on the internet itself. To some extent, these internet users are engaged in text-based virtual realities and take on other social personas and social identities as a way of making them feel good about themselves. In such cases, the medium of the internet may provide an alternative reality to the user and allow them feelings of immersion and anonymity, feelings that may lead to an altered state of consciousness for the user. This in itself may be highly psychologically and/or physiologically rewarding. There appear to be many people who use the internet excessively but are not addicted as measured by addiction criteria. Most people researching in the field have failed to use stringent criter ia for measuring addiction (Widyanto and Griffiths, 2006). Internet as an advertising medium Internet penetration rate in the U.S. reached 67.8% in 2005 (Internet World Stats, 2005), which translated to $133.3 billion in e-commerce revenues (Kumar Shah, 2004). In April 2006 the penetration rate hit new high and reached 73% (Madden, 2006). Broadband penetration in the U.S. rose to 63.8% in October 2005 and is expected to reach 70% in 2006 (U.S. Passes Singapore to 15th, 2005). The growing availability and usage of Internet, particularly broadband Internet, has created a large audience for Internet advertising. More people are spending more time online. The Internet has reached well beyond the critical mass to be considered a medium economically viable for advertisers. The uncertainty that once hung over online commerce has given way to steady, or even robust, growth (Hyland, 2004). Internet companies, as well as traditional firms selling online, are making real revenue. A research study in 2004 showed that 79% of online retailers were making money, with a 21% average margin (Ramsey, 2004). It is expected total online sales in 2006 will increase 20% to $211 billion (Online sales expected to rise, 2006). With the rise of Internet audiences and online e-commerce activities, the Internet is prospering as an advertising medium. Internet advertising revenues in the United States totaled more than $1.5 billion in 2005, a 30% increase over 2004 (Interactive Advertising Bureau [IAB], 2006). Internet advertising accounted for about 5% of total U.S. advertising revenues in 2005 and nearly matched total consumer magazine advertising. Web Accessibility Few people are aware of the term web accessibility. In the short-life time of the web visual aesthetics has been the design goal, rather than equal access. Web accessibility is the practice of making web sites accessible to people who require more than just traditional web browsers to access the internet. For example, a visually impaired user can use a screen reader to translate text and graphics on the computer screen to an audio format so the user hears the screen content via a speech synthesizer or sound card. An accessible web site is designed to accommodate a wider set of ways users can access the site. However, designing a web site with accessibility not only serves people with disabilities, but also results in a wider set of benefits for everyone. Twitter New media for information sharing Twitter is a micro blogging service commands more than 41 million users as of July 2009 and is growing fast. Twitter users tweet about any topic within the 140-character limit and follow others to receive their tweets. Twitter has emerged as a new medium in spotlight through recent happenings, such as an American student jailed in Egypt and the US Airways plane crash on the Hudson river. Twitter users follow others or are followed. Unlike on most online social networking sites, such as Facebook or MySpace, the relationship of following and being followed requires no reciprocation. A user can follow any other user, and the user being followed need not follow back. Being a follower on Twitter means that the user receives all the messages (called tweets) from those the user follows. Common practice of responding to a tweet has evolved into well-defined mark-up culture: RT stands for retweet, @ followed by a user identifier address the user, and # followed by a word represents a hashtag. This well-defined mark-up vocabulary combined with a strict limit of 140 characters per posting conveniences users with brevity in expression. The retweet mechanism empowers users to spread information of their choice beyond the reach of the original tweets followers. Social Network A social network is a social structure made up of a set of actors such as individuals or organizations and the dyadic ties between these actors. The social network perspective provides a clear way of analyzing the structure of whole social entities. The study of these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics. In 2002, social networking hit really its stride with the launch of Friendster. Friendster used a degree of separation concept similar to that of the now-defunct SixDegrees.com, refined it into a routine dubbed the Circle of Friends wherein the pathways connecting two people are displayed, and promoted the idea that a rich online community can exist only between people who truly have common bonds. And it ensured there were plenty of ways to discover those bonds. An interface that shared many of the same traits one would find at an online dating site certainly didnt seem to hurt. (CEO Jonathan Abrams actually refers to his creation as a dating site that isnt about dating.) And, just a year after its launch, Friendster boasted more than three million registered users and a ton of investment interest. Though the service has since seen more than its fair share of technical difficulties, questionable management decisions, and a resulting drop in its North American fortunes, it remains a force in Asia and, curiously, a near-necessity in the Philippines. Introduced just a year later in 2003, LinkedIn took a decidedly more serious, sober approach to the social networking phenomenon. Rather than being a mere playground for former classmates, teenagers, and cyberspace Don Juans, LinkedIn was, and still is, a networking resource for businesspeople who want to connect with other professionals. In fact, LinkedIn contacts are referred to as connections. Today, LinkedIn boasts more than 175 million members. More than tripling that number, according to recent estimates, is MySpace, also launched in 2003. Though it no longer resides upon the social networking throne in many English-speaking countries that honour now belongs to Facebook just about everywhere MySpace remains the perennial favourite in the USA. It does so by tempting the key young adult demographic with music, music videos, and a funky, feature-filled enviro

A Comparison of Two Types of Treatment for Alcoholism Essay -- Biology

A Comparison of Two Types of Treatment for Alcoholism One of the largest debates in the study of alcoholism is the etiology of the disorder. The prevailing theory today seems to be that alcoholism is a disease, a biological affliction that can only be ameliorated by abstinence or medication. However, there are those who believe alcoholism has its roots in environmental influences and that the disorder is a maladaptive pattern of behavior. The two main methods currently employed for treating alcoholism reflect the foundations of the two main theories. Perhaps the most widely known method is the "Twelve Step" program created by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) (1). Underlying this process is the belief that alcoholism is a biological disease that can never be cured, nor can it even be hindered without the use of external forces(2).. Members of AA are required to admit that they are powerless to fight alcoholism and need to relinquish control to a "power greater than ourselves." (3).This power can take any form for the adherents to the program, yet there is repeated mention of God and other aspects of Christian spirituality(4). More relevant to the topic at hand is the belief that alcoholism is a biological disease, which can be inferred from the acknowledgement that help with alcoholism can only come from God. This implies that alcoholism is out of one's own hands and thus should not be considered a "character flaw" or an aspect of personality; it also implies that alcoholism is something more intrinsic to the individual. In fact, the Big Book, the handbook of AA, states that alcoholism is a medical disease. (5).. Indeed, there is a substantial amount of evidence to support this assertion; this is based on tre... ...h in U.S./Canada http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/em24dc14.html 2)The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/em24doc6.html 3)A Newcomer Asks http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/ep24doc1.html 4)The 12 Step Cafà © http://www.12steps.org/Brochure/12step/STEPS/STEP1.htm 5)The Doctor's Opinion http://www.recovery.org/aa/bigbook/ww/doctors_opinion.html 6)Neuroscience Research and Medications Development http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/please-note.htm 7)Alcoholism http://www.noah.cuny.edu/wellconn/alcoholism.html 8)Animal Models in Alcohol Research http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/please-note.htm 9)Children of Alcoholics: Are They Different? http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/please-note.htm 10)The Genetics of Alcoholism http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/ 11)Treatment of Alcoholism http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5h-al10.html

Romanticism – Samual Taylor Coleridge & Joseph Turner

In a reaction to the rational, conformist conventions of the Augustans, writers and artists of the Romantic era advocated the transcendence of rationality through a sublime and imaginative connection with the natural world. This emancipation from traditional social and moral restraints informed their literary, artistic and philosophical pursuits. It was these qualities that marked the movement as unique in the history of European intellectual discourse. Romanticism derived largely from the ‘transcendental idealism’ of Emmanuel Kant, which proposed that things exist outside the intellect that we simply cannot comprehend through pure reason. Three Romantic texts – Samual Taylor Coleridge's poems ‘This Lime Tree Bower My Prison' and ‘Kubla Khan' and Joseph Turner's painting Snowstorm: steamboat off a harbour's mouth – reveal how the human imaginative appreciation of the natural world is able to transcend physical limitations as well as the restrictions of technology and logic. Coleridge, in particular, was a true proponent of the Romantic tradition. He described the uniting of reason and feeling as ‘intellectual intuition’ and saw imagination as ‘the ultimate synthesising faculty, enabling humans to reconcile differences and opposites in a world of appearances. His poem ‘This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison' clearly exemplifies the power of the imagination, combined with the redeeming and regenerative power of nature, which enables him to overcome the isolation of egotism. The intimate, personal nature of this conversation poem engages the reader as they are transported with th e poet to new locations and perhaps themselves transformed. Coleridge presents an idealised view of pastoral England with vividness, intensity and delicacy, thereby stimulating the senses and the mind. Colours used to evoke mood and imagery, ‘blue betwixt two Isles Of purple shadow! ‘ is integral throughout. His vision is visceral, bringing enlightenment and contentment to the poet and the reader. The poet also controls light intensity to great effect; binary opposites reflect his thought process, as in â€Å"pale beneath the blaze†. He contrasts dark and light, pale and radiant, shadow and sunshine throughout. His thoughts also move from the finite ‘dell, overwooded, narrow deep' of the first stanza to the infinite ‘wide, wide heaven' of the following stanzas. Antithetical concepts of freedom with restriction, absence with presence and the imagined with the real create a systolic and diastolic rhythm that merges Coleridge's psychological beliefs with his imaginative experience, aligning with what Kant describes as the individual's ‘subjective reality'. The structure of the poem is cyclic, with emphasis on pain before pleasure, with ‘well, they are gone, and here I must remain' before the later stanza that begins with ‘A delight comes sudden in my heart, and I am glad as myself were there. The poet ceases feeling isolated and communes with nature, imagining that he is with his friends, before ending by referring to the lime-tree bower beneath which he sits, and to his friend, the ‘gentle-hearted Charles', once again. The illumination of nature's power and its ability to transform can also be seen in another of Coleridge's poems ‘Kubla Khan'. The first stanza, set inside the walls of Kubla Khan's ‘pleasure dome' in Xanadu, contrasts with the second stanza which takes the reader outside those confines, reflecting the same systolic and diastolic thoughts that are evident in ‘This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison'. As Xanadu is a synonym for ‘paradise' or ‘utopia', the poem can be considered a reflection on Coleridge’s perception of heaven, linking to the pantheistic belief that God is found in nature. ‘The sacred river Alph' running through this paradise represents in the realm of a poet's imagination a holy and divine place. The ‘caverns measureless to man' reflect the endless creations that can emanate from such a powerful imagination. The ‘walls and towers' that encircle the fertile ground and the ‘enfolding' of greenery speak of the poet's energy in trying to capture and hold onto nature's power and beauty. The intensity of the world outside the tamed garden highlights the power of the natural world in contrast to the ultimate fragility of man-made structures. The ‘dome of pleasure’ built by Kubla Khan may be taken to represent the man-made and may perhaps be a comment, on a wider scale, to the Industrial Revolution. Coleridge juxtaposes this with an image of the natural flow of the river to sea, showing his greater appreciation for the creative force of nature. Joseph Turner's painting Snowstorm; steamboat off a harbour's mouth making signals in shallow water, and going by the lead also contrasts the natural world and the man made. Like the eruption of the natural world in Kubla Khan, this painting illustrates an extreme phenomenon of nature — a snowstorm at sea. The Neo-Classicists believed that technology would triumph over nature. Turner's painting, however, depicts the awesome power of nature, and its sublime beauty, as it overpowers technology. The steamboat, representing the latest technology of the time, is a symbol for the Industrial Revolution, which was in full swing by this point. The experience of being caught in a storm on board the steamboat, provided Turner with the conception for his painting. Turner claimed that he had the ship's sailors strap him to the mast, so as to capture the true atmospheric conditions of the event. ‘I wished to show what such a scene was like' Turner wrote. ‘I got the sailors to lash me to the mast to observe it [the storm]; I was lashed for hours† The sleet, the bitterly cold, roaring winds and the surging waves throwing up sea spray were the atmospheric conditions Turner needed to feel. This personal experience of such a sublime moment in nature enabled him to record, through his painting, the feelings and emotions of an individual's experience of the storm. While Turner's original idea for the painting emanated from actual experience, its execution derives from complex imaginative truths. The painting has a very clear relief like surface and the texture is picturesque, as the brush strokes are very evident. Turner wanted to be innovative and to challenge tradition, to produce works that depict a sublime atmosphere and spirit. The painting is an emancipatory expression through its intensity of hue, which renders the image of the boat barely recognisable, thus challenging Neo-Classical mechanistic properties of sharp colours and realism. All three texts — the Turner painting and the two Coleridge poems — depict the sublime beauty of nature and its ability to transform a negative human mind-frame and to transcend the man-made products of the Industrial Revolution. While the ways in which each of the individual texts show this differs, they each allow the responder to appreciate the same ideas. Coleridge provides two different perspectives in his poems ‘This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison' and ‘Kubla Khan'. The first is an entirely first-person perspective, typical of his conversational poems, enabling the reader to become involved on a personal level. ‘Kubla Khan' is mainly narrated from a third-person perspective, giving it a grander story-like feel. Like â€Å"This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison† Joseph Turner's â€Å"Snowstorm: steamboat off a harbour's mouth† represents a personal appreciation of an extreme natural event. The event is shown to be as violent as it is beautiful and the form enables the viewer to visually appreciate it and connect with it on a transcendental level. It clearly illustrates the power of the natural over the unnatural. As Northrop Frye has argued, ‘Romanticism has brought into modern consciousness the feeling that society can develop or progress only by individualising itself, by being sufficiently tolerant and flexible to allow an individual to find his own identity within it, even though in doing so he comes to repudiate most of the conventional values of society. ’