Friday, September 6, 2019

Petrucio commands Essay Example for Free

Petrucio commands Essay Biancas suitors and the general people who lived in Padua spoke of her badly because of what they had heard and did not know the real person. Because of the lack of relationship with Kate that they had they would have not been able to do anything. The difference is family and friends wanted her to stop being so horrid and fiendish but hey didnt actually do anything about it. Petrucio on the other hand had tactics and wanted to tae Kate because he liked her, and they were married. The fact that someone for once was taking interest in Kate and not Bianca made Kate feel special and as if she had something or someone to change for. The fact that Kate knew someone cared started to change her thinking. Kates character is one that would play along with a game, which was trying to trick her but be able to make him think that she was being real. However by the end Kate realises she likes Petrucio and wants to be a proper wife to him, because hes the first person to have actually cared about her. She has not just given up but she has actually found someone who cares for her that she actually likes. Some would say that this theory is not true because of her behaviour toward him on their first meeting but she behaved in the same manor she does to everyone as a result of the expectations upon her.. Petrucio however responds in a way that would only cause Kate more annoyance. Petrucio does not run off and cast Kate off as a helpless cause he notices something special about her. Petrucio forces Kate to marry him but in all truthfulness Kate need not of married him as she could have just ran off, but instead it seems part of Kate wanted to marry Petrucio. Even when they are married Kate begins to listen to Petrucio more than she had done anyone else. She still argues but not in the same way. She doesnt hold up as much of a fight against Petrucio she never does even when he says they are to be married. At their own wedding reception she eventually gives in to him demanding they take their leave with minimal arguments. Even though her sister is left to show off in Kates embarrassment. Kate is treated badly on the journey, even denied food and rest but because Petrucio reckons nothing to be good enough for Kate. Again this is Petrucio showing his caring attitude. Kate argues civilly as Petrucio throws her food on the floor. Although Kate is hungry she doesnt want to show it to Petrucio. A true showing of her untouched spirit, as she begs Grumio for food, not wanting to appear weakened by the way he ahs treated her. A battle is taking place in Kates mind since they met, Kate likes Petrucio but doesnt want to give in to him. She wants to be civil and live a happy normal life but wants to do it in a way, which she still has, her pride. It is as Petrucio says to Kates family when he is forcing her into marriage, Tis bargaind twixt us twain, being alone, that she shall still be curst in company. Although at the time they had not agreed it this is secretly what Kate wants. She has to find away that she will still appear strong to her family whilst at the same time she wants to show off to them. Shes a married woman and is expected to be dignified, but then it will just appear that Petrucio was right and that he can tame anything and that he has had his way with her. Kate realises that to be happy she ahs to find a good balance between the two. She cant completely disregard the person that she is but she cant carry on the ways he is she needs to find a compromise. The first time we see her psychological game plan come into action is on the road to Padua to visit her family. Petrucio starts to speak about the sun and the moon. Instead of arguing Kate does the complete opposite of what is expected, instead of gradually changing which would indeed make her look weak she jumps from one extreme to the other and agrees with whatever Petrucio thinks. However her manor is cleverly sarcastic, Petrucio cant believe it and tests Kate once more when Vincentio appears, asking her to say hello to the lady. Kate takes part in his game and Petrucio feels confident that his tactics are working whilst Kate slowly thinks my games working. They are both playing each other at the same game. Kate eventually instead of becoming normal from being horrible goes form really nice to normal. She simply wants to show off to her parents and be happy with her marriage. Kate has to let Petrucio know now that she can be nice and will be but he has to give a little back. Whilst Petrucio think shes tamed shes not she has just learnt to find a compromise after all its what she actually wants. Kate has been badly behaved and angry simply because no one cared enough for her. Kate shows Petrucio in her speech and all her family just ho he is. People who have written it off as a piece of dramatic irony or her giving up were simply wrong and underestimating Kates intelligence and character. Her speech was to show to Petrucio thats eh will find a compromise with him and that they will be all right. When Petrucio commands Kate to come, normally Kate would have flown in up in arms shouting and creaming but instead she came because thats what no one expected she was proving them all wrong and putting them all to shame. She had the chance to show up her sister and to look better than her.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Article About Time Travel

Article About Time Travel Suppose that i give you a time machine and you travel some seventy years back and kill your grandfather. Since your grandfather would not have been married by then your fathers birth is not possible and you cannot be here today to travel back in time to kill your grandpa. Hence your grandpa is alive then and you are here today, now there is again the possibility for you to travel back and kill your grandpa. Soà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ I stopped my lecture and looked at the children .Some of them were baffled but many had bright faces. Though they didnt understand they were all enthusiastic so I continued my lecture. This has no solution it is like an infinite loop, we call it grandfathers paradox and it is one of the problems in time travel. There are others for exampleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,I stopped to pick up my ringing phone , I was shocked to learn that my grandfather passed away. As I was on my two hour flight to Hyderabad I spent my time reminiscing about my grandfather .He often said that there were no coincidences but only choices, either ours or others. But it was not my choice to hear about his demise while talking of grandfathers paradox, may be it was gods. My grandpa worked as an engineer in The Archeological Department of India, and headed the project for discovering the lost Indus valley civilization. He used to tell me strange stories about the Indus valley civilization when I was a child, but one of them was so fanciful that I just took it to be a mere fable but as I grew older my scientific knowledge and reasoning taught me that it was also possible. So I have asked him whether it was true or not and he always replied with a smile I have made an arrangement for you to know about it after I am dead . After the funeral my bereaved mom handed me a file which my grandpa wanted to give me. It was a collection of reports about the archeological discoveries around the world, UFO sightings etc., cut off from the newspapers. They looked decades old and I couldnt find their age coz there were no dates on them. As I scanned those articles one of them titled- Mysterious artifact found in the excavations at Harappa, caught my attention .My heart started pounding with anxiety to know whether this was the proof I was waiting for ,and I started reading it. A mysterious artifact resembling those found in 1903 at the excavations near the pyramids in Egypt was found at Harappa last month .Neither the material from which it is made nor its age were found by carbon dating spectrum analysis, but due to its dumble shape scientists believe it to be a toy. They also claim that this establishes that there was trade between the ancient Egyptians and the Indians. I was dazzled by his creative genius, coz he created a great story based on this article and it went like thisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ ******** He conceived the world around him in a different way, he used to say dont just look manavada (grand son), observe and question ,and at that age I couldnt really understand the difference. When I was in sixth grade I asked him the same question, he stared at me for a while and asked me do you know how many stone blocks were laid to construct the Giza pyramid ?,I said no. about 25 lakh stones each weighing about 25 tons, have u ever wondered how they constructed such a great structure in those days when they had no iron to cut the stones. Have u ever wondered how they transported or lifted such heavy blocks. I said no. It is simple, someone with the technology must have helped them. May be they were constructed by aliens. come on thathayya ( grandpa) not a fairy tale againà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦., why is it impossible manavada, as Sherlock holmes says when you have eliminated the impossible, the remaining however improbable it may seem is possible. then which alien civilization do you think is responsible? May be the one a billion light years away or a well advanced civilization from this planet itself What, how is it possible for a civilization belonging to the same period to be so advanced than the Egyptians Not of the same time, may be their own future generations, time travellers. What nonsense ok then explain me this, the mortar used in the construction of the pyramid is responsible for its strength ,even the mortar we use today isnt that strong. Our scientists were able to decode its chemical composition but not the process by which it is made. Now imagine that in the future our scientists figured out this process and also some other science freak invented the time machine. To test the strength of this mortar our scientists go back 4500 years and help the Egyptians to construct the pyramids with it. Since our scientists discovered the process by reverse engineering the mortar and gave the technology to the Egyptians, it would not have been possible for the Egyptians to construct the pyramids without our scientists help, and if that is the case there would not have been the source for our scientists to reverse engineer and travel back in time to give it to the Egyptians. Now tell me who found the process first the ancients or our time travellers? . I was befuddled and told him that I dont believe in time travel just to save myself from his wizardry. Then he said I am gonna tell you a secret and please keep it a secret, I travelled in time once. I broke with laughter and said do I look so foolish?, where did u get such a huge time machine from? The time machine need not be a machine at all. There is a state called singularity, it is the state of matter at the core of a black hole. When a large star explodes it is called a supernova. The substance present at the core of a supernova is called Dark Matter, and the dark matter can be used to harvest a worm hole. And Albert Einstein stated that by constructing such worm holes we can travel back and forth in time. In 1952 I was sent to Egypt for fieldwork, there we found strange dumble shaped tools. I secretly brought one of them to India and gave it to my friend who is a physicist to find what material it is. He found a small portion of darkmatter that must have been left by some time traveller and we used it. Though it seemed silly I was awe struck by his creativity, so I asked him where did you go then? Do you know what caused the extinction of Indus valley civilization? Well there are several theories like Aryan invasion, frequent floods of the Indus, continuous seismic activity etc.. These theories are only a twenty or thirty years old, in 1952 the only theory was Aryan invasion theory. And we traveled back 3500 years to the time when this civilization started declining to verify this theory. But to our wonder we found no sign of any invasion, floods or other calamities. We were enthralled by the brilliance of the harappans, and the splendor of the hakra and indus rivers, our rivers today are just canals when compared to them. They were constructing a behemoth sized dam over the hakra river that even the great pyramid is no match to its magnificence. I never heard of any such large construction on the Indus before let me complete, as we were on our way back something unexpected happened. My friend used a little more amount of the darkmatter to create the worm hole , as we entered the worm hole a huge explosion occurred and it shattered the dam causing a chain of floods and earthquakes leading to the decline of the Indus valley civilization. Now do you understand why the Indus valley civilization became extinct?. Obviously because of you and your friend, if you would not have gone there it would not have become extinct, if it was not extinct you would not have gone there to find the reason, causality paradox I guess. So the Aryan invasion theory is false. No, infact it is the only true theory and the Aryans were none other than me and my friend. why didnt you travel back in time again to prevent the destruction? How could we, in that chaos we left the dumble there and now we cant go back.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Social Media Effecting Political Democracies World Wide Media Essay

Social Media Effecting Political Democracies World Wide Media Essay This paper will attempt to distinguish the connections between democratization and information and communications. The relationship will be addressed by focusing mainly on how the advancement of technology, in this case social media, has effected, and is effecting, political democracies world wide. In order to discuss the connections of democratisation and social media I will first attempt to provide a definition for democracy and the process of democratization. The essay will further discuss different scenarios in various countries that have either led to the declination of political empires, or assisted the rise of a political party, through the involvement of social media. Furthermore, these views will be supported by discussing the contrasting views of a cyber-utopian versus a cyber-cynic, i.e. Clay Shirky versus Evgeny Morozov, respectively. Democracy and its roots In order to understand democracy, it needs to be defined and like most concepts it is relative, like Clinton once quoted depends on how you define democracy. According to Ivo Mosley democracy is government by and for all the people which literally means the people rule'. However the definition has evolved through history, which is why it is necessary to backdate to its origins tracing it into the present. (Charles Tilly, 2007, Democracy, Cambridge University Press, New York). The word democracy originates from a Greek word demokratia and literally means people-power and this in itself is ambiguous. The ambiguity of the term aroused questions such as; did the power actually belong to the masses or specific qualified individual citizens? Many theorists believed that the word demokratia was a term exploited by enemies of democracy, said to be the elite class who were against being out voted by laymen who were classed to be economically and socially inferior. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtm) However, over the centuries democracy rose, fell and varied in character, where and when it multiplied (Charles Tilly, 2007). In the 18th century despite not being defined as democracy, the US showed interest in experimenting with the doctrine of natural freedom and equality. Their Constitution administrated a government elected by the masses and took into account to protect civil rights and liberties to some extent. (Jacqueline Newmyer, Present from the start: John Adams and America, Oxonian Review of Books, 2005, vol 4 issue 2). By the 19th century many European regimes adopted the Greek democratic model. They made effort to provide equality and citizen rights. Democracy, as a concept, can be molded according to local needs, however is not a blueprint that can be copied and pasted in all regions of the globe. It did, however, gain popularity around the 20th century; after WWII many new countries came into being due to decolonization, when democracy as a concept caught on, not because it was a norm the world valued, but because it was used as a weapon against the threat of communism. This was also the basis of the onset of the cold war. It was the war of ideologies, and democratization of the newly independent states begun. As Potter stated why has democratization been a strong impulse in some countries, a weaker or non-existent impulse in others? (1997, Democtatization, Blackwell, pg.1) He then defined democratization as political changes moving in a democratic direction (pg 3). Webster (2011) stated in his lectures that democracy is on the march, majority of the worlds states are now democratic. Amartya Sen (1999) defined democracy as A un iversal value. According to freedom house (2006) 47% of countries in the world are classified as free. Though the statistics show that the concept of democracy is being enforced around the globe, it is difficult to adapt in some parts of the world. North Korea being one of the controversial cases where they state that the country is officially the democratic peoples republic of Korea. According to modern economists North Korea is strikingly different as it is cut off from the existing world as they live in their own separate reality, where the leaders of the country maintain complete control and the masses have restricted freedom of expression; anyone opinionated against the regime can be detained. Many theorists including Potter and Barber discuss the existence of different political regimes in terms of strong and week democracies, also known as liberal and partial economy that lead to either the rise or the fall of economies. The USA being a prime example a capitalistic and democratic country enforcing democratization on nations as a tool to gain world dominance, or even to maintain their existing status as the global super-power. However the means of public expression, which is being enhanced through the internet and its various means of communication, is becoming a more accurate form of democratic thought. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, Twitter, and even blogs has evolved to allow civil society to become more active in the governance in its countries. It has encouraged the process of bringing about a tool that enhances democracy through the true will of the people, even in strong dictatorship regimes. Within research, academics have attempted to explore civil society to explain processes of democratization by reference to societal context (laurence white head, 2002, democratization, theory 7 experience, oxford univeristy press). Macmillan defines civil society as the part of society that consists of organizations and institutions that look after people, their health and their rights. It does not include government of the family e.g NGOs, research institutes, e.t.c. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/civil-society This leads to an interesting concept explored by Habermas which reflects suspicions on markets ability to answer democracys needs the public sphere concept that aids civil society to communicate. It focuses on social democratic perspective on information and society. Where citizens can get together and freely express their opinons. Webster lecture 2011). Benkler (2007:123) foucses on internet as one of the strong mediator to public sphere. which then gi ves birth to the rise of social media in playing a vital role in deciding the faith of these democratic nations. Gary C. Gibson December 20, 2007 a bloggist defined Democracy is about individual liberty and political primacy; corporatism and other forms of neo-authoritarianism such as socialism are about the primacy of collectives under the authority of elites. Another bloggist Rahman Haq March 21, 2008 stated Democracy is a beautiful concept not particularly for its denotative implication that puts the majority opinion into context but rather due to the values and ideals that constitute the bundles of liberties derivative of the concept. While Rayne Brit may 13 2008 commented that One of the most fantastic parts about democracy is freedom of speech everyone likes freedom of speech unless someone speaks in contradiction to them. But that is the beauty of our constitution it allows diversity of opinion. http://www.helium.com The key elements in this process of a public sphere are communication and information. How important are these to democracy and what is the link between them? The power of Communication/Information and the birth of social media In the modern society we live in, communication and information have rapidly built great importance and brought about a turning point in different sectors. (McNair, 2006:1). The information society plays a vital role in the development of the modern social analysis (webster, (2004), The Information Society Reader Routledge). The fast paced wide spreading of globalization and the rising of the network society have led this modern society to heavily depend on them, impacting the society to rely on informative communication networks that possess knowledge and views to either built or unbuilt trust, the decisive source of power. Power being the utmost important process in the society. (Communication Power, Manuell). According to Webster (2004, 2) in the wider society, the idea that we are entering a new information age, or knowledge society, is a common place. Max Weber defines social power as the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will, despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests (1978,53). The ideology of social democracy a leftists political philosophy, which seeks to reform capitalism in line with principals of social justice, while upholding capitalistic approach of production, instead of creating a an entirely new socialist economic system has been the essence of debates of information. When analyzed it prominently points out the disadvantages of capitalism when providing information to its viewers: thereby suggesting that the market creates diversion, gossip and trivia, while being inadequate to supplying reliable news. In retaliation, the social democratic approach would recommend the state to intervene to make sure that the information requirements delivered to the public could be adequately met. Hence, it is understood as social democratic because of the inclination of the state intervention. A policy as such could be considered, by many, an inescapable introduction to tension seen as many of the advocates are impressionable to the growing of the spin within the literate society, the development of what they have galvanized as an antagonistic market to its inadequacies. Moreover Webster criticizes the argument that the market cannot be relied upon to produce information required to support a healthy democracy. A clear example that supports the argument of subjective and questionable informative medium is the invention of Wikipedia. A popular multilingual encyclopedia promoting free content and writers to contribute to this content from around the world. What makes it interesting is that anybody can edit an article, given the right references, using a wiki markup language eventually leading to a well balanced article including all the pros and cons. Even though Cass Sunstein10 and Brian Leither, 11 oppose citing Wikipedia, Sunstein (in Webster about Sunstein, 2006:2), states Wikipedia as an example of collective intelligence. Thus, indicating the decrease in the necessity of a public sphere. Ludovic Denoyer, Patrick Gallinari, Volume 40 Issue 1, June 2006 ACM New York, NY, USA This clearly emphasizes on Friedrich Hayeks theories of defending the free market system. He supported the principle that every human has rights and is free to make their choices. He argued against that the public sphere concept as he believed that all actions made by the consumers give messages to the market that are later adapted by them, he argued in favor of capitalism, Hayek (2002:8). Jimmy Wale stated Hayeks work is central to my own thinking about how to manage the Wikipedia project. However John Gray (1948) belonged to the conservative group who argued that free market can destroy order. He argued it is most obvious that changing the diverse world economy, on the basis of the singular model of the free market, would be an impossible task to carry out. The diversity of cultures around the world should be a self-evident reflection of the global varied economies. Thereby it would be safe to state that all economic systems are imperfect; no one system is universal, thus any attem pt to do so would result in a disaster. Yet the fantasy that the free market can and should be adopted throughout the world became for a while a litmus test of sound thinking, not only on the neo-liberal right but also in the ranks of the center left. http://www.scribd.com/doc/7221539/John-Gray-on-Free-Markets-Not-for-the-First-Time In the modern Information Age that we have entered, there is an effort to enhance brainpower by globally providing informarmation services and by implemention the power of computation as and when needed http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/what_is_internet.html. Technological innovations have given birth to information and communication mediums like television, radio, telephone etc. but one of the most powerful and upcoming media tool, a contribution to the network society is the Internet. This is considerably different from the old traditional ways, this allows more interactivity and many-to-many communication, rather than one-to-many. (THE PUBLIC SPHERE, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA, Petros Iosifidis, 31 January 201). This impacts the youth mainly gen Y and Z the focal users of this platform when they find overflowing information and rely on just this medium for rational. Murru (2009, p. 143) contributes to this thought by adding, in online contexts anyone can potentially take the role of speaker with practically no cost, thus multiplying the source of news and freeing the flux of communication and information from any sort of system control (economic or political). Webster (2010) discusses that this overflow can lead to fragmentation of users creating information cocoons that filter undesirable information. According to Losifidis (2010) the ever existent Habermasian concept of the national public sphere as discussed earlier is now said to have given birth to a multi-dimensional platform of online and social networks. The idea of networking is not new; Websters dictionary dates the term to 1940. However these networks are now rapidly growing to become significant in engrossing and influencing citizens and also playing a vital role in the communication process within which realistic and legitimate discussion takes place. He further argues that the internet and new media in terms of social media is being mis represented by extreme exaggeration and it represents technological optimism due to reasons like chaotic open to all policy, censorship, inclusiveness, partisan content, and most importantly the absence of the very essence of the public sphere extensive dialogue and critical discussion. As social media is the new phenomenon taking over the world it is giving birth to new jargons like infosphere, blogosphere, twittersphere. Participants find this platform as an ideal place to start discussions mainly on public debate and social change. Stumpel (2009) in contrast emphasizes that these new online forums, which allows people to unite in discussions to exchange veiws and knowledge either political or economical even critical in nature portrays a patten of similarity to Habermass concept of the public sphere. He argues that forums like facebook, twitter, myspace and other net spheres are public places that are outside state control where public-minded rational consensus can be developed. This widespread of information is worrysome for some. Webster (2004:76) stresses that the society must prevent them from being misled as technological developments are always socially mediated. Fukuyamas fears that over flow of information in the society will substitute the traditional community based on religion, tradition, race or culture with the modern community based on a formal social contact among rational individuals (ibid:7) But can the Net act as a public sphere where critical discourse can emerge and influence political action? The power of Social media and it effect on democracy As we experience the rise of the communication platform, there seems to be a tremendous increment in the participants to engage in public speeches which is portrayed through blogsphere and more interestingly different events have contributed to the public taking collective action by using these advance technology mediums. In 2001, when the congress voted to protect the President of Philippines President Joseph Estrada and set aside crucial evidence against him, the citizens of Philippines in anger protested against their corrupt president. Just as the decision was announced, they arranged a rally Go to EDSA wear black to mourn the death of democracy through simple forwarded text messages which later counted close to seven million. Shortly millions of people arrived, causing a shutdown of traffic in Manali. This ability of the public to arrange such a tremendous response threatened the legislators of the country and they allowed the evidence to be presented. In 3 days on this protest Estrada was gone. this was the first time social media had aided to play a part in a democratic nation to lead to a downfall of a national leader. Estrada himself blamed the text-messaging generation for his downfall. (clay shirky) Since then this strategy has been on the roll. A similar case took place In Spain in 2004 after the Madrid train bombing where text messages aided to the downfall of Spanish Prime Minister Josà © Marà ­a Aznar who inaccurately blamed basque separatists for the act while the protesters who belived that it was the doings of Al Queda forwarded the phrase who did it and arranged anti-govenment rallies on the day before the spring election http://mason.gmu.edu/~cuytioco/papers/edsa2cellphones.pdf. The Communist Party lost power in Moldova in 2009 when massive protests coordinated in part by text message, Facebook, and Twitter broke out after an obviously fraudulent election. It is widely discussed by many theorists that the internet has provided an open channel of free communication of information that has come to be known as social media tools, which would include the very popular social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook initially being invented as a means for introduction amongst university students and further networking is now rapidly becoming notorious for open communication for people to connect their political views and thoughts. Another example is that of the Twitter Revolution In Tunisia, in reaction to a street hawker setting himself on fire, for which it was banned in the country. The revolt was being rallied and coordinated through the social site ultimately bringing protesters to the streets, and tolling up to 70 people being shot by the police.. Consequently, the revolution led the president of Tunisia to abandon his post. Tunisia has only been the initial instigation of this fire which is spreading throughout the Middle East and Northern African countries. These sites are now fuelling younger generations to turn away from broadcast media one-to-many communication of information and through the inclination towards these sites finally becoming more involved in voicing their opinions via the many-to-many communication of information amongst themselves. A further result of this is evident in the reaction of the Libyan government as they have banned the social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, from their local internet services on state orders. The radical action can be interpreted that even the libyan state is beginning to recognize the extent to which these media tools are evolving to becoming a loud voice echoing in the public spheres. One of the main roles that has been played by the social media is that of a watchdog and whistleblower. Furthermore in many other cases public has taken aid from these social media tools to succeed in their protests. Another social media phenomenon that is gaining popularity widely in whistle blowing is through viral media. A prime example is the major protest and lawsuits the Catholic Church faced for child abuse and rape. In 2002 The Boston Globe exposed sexual abuse in the church that spread like viral online in just a few hours. Furthermore there are so many cases now that can be found on a new social platform Wikileaks. According to BBC it is a whistle blowing website now actively effecting news. Anonymous submission are published and leaked on different area of debate. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10757263 According to shirky (2010) The potential of social media lies mainly in their support of civil society and the public sphere. As I mentioned earlier that these tools can either aid or fail in helping the activists protest, many such cases have failed to produce positive results like in March 2006 in Belarus streets were full of protest which was arranged partly by email against their President Aleksandr Lukashenkos for vote rigging however the activists failed which led to the president to actively control social media. Similarly in 2009 during the month of June when the green movement was rising the activists in Iran tried very hard by using to protest against the miscount of votes for Mir Hossein Mousavi by using all sorts of technological coordinating tools but failed miserably. The use of social media tools text messaging, e-mail, photo sharing, social networking, and the like cannot be foreseen or predicted to any foretell outcome. Thus, any attempts to create an outline on their respective effects in the political arena are more often than none to duelling anecdotes. Let us take a look at Barrack Obamas presedentail online campaign of 2004 for instance. Castells (Volume II, 2004:379) states that it is also highly used in politics by describing Obamas internet campaign as an example. The use of social media tools enabled Obama to initially overcome a large portion of the presidential nominating race; and his ability to embrace the social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, was considered different which became advantageous to his campaign. This approach was considered so successful that according to Professor Thomas Patterson of Harvard University, Mr Obamas use of social media tools has led to mobilise younger generation. This has been consi dered a group which has traditionally been uninterested in politics, according to. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7412045.stm This makes us wonder do these digital tools enhance or destroy democracy? Cyber-Utopians vs. Cyber-Cynics Cyber-utopian optimist Clay Shirky in his paper The Political Power of Social Media, that appeared in the foreign affair magazine, (http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/01/politics_and_internet) makes a great distinction between the insturmental view and the environmental view of inetrnet freedom. He describes the instrumental approach as a means to avoid states from aiding censorship of external websites like, youtube, google, e.t.c. and thereby focuses more on the public spheres, emphasizing on the citizens speech and all the uses of digital media by private and social standards. An example that supports this was the call for anti-censorship software by Hillary Clinton, Americas secretary of state, in January 2010. This would particularly support the usage of sites such as Wikipedia and Google in states like Iran; give Burmese activists the freedom to blog without interference to blog; allow the Chinese public to utilise the use of instant messaging systems without being mon itored, among many others. However the challenges of anti-censorship software programs like Freegate and censorship-circumvention softwares like Haystack portray the hardship to weaponize social media to pursue country-specific and near-term policy goals. Many would argue that instrumental media overestimates the value of one-to-many form of communication information i.e. broadcast media while at the same time underestimating the value of many-to-many form of media communication of information i.e. social media tools including the internet. Instrumental media does provide a modest benefit to the freedom of information that it provides -confidential government information can get leaked through the open channels of information however it does not extend to the freedom of speech or assembly, which in turn the internet does provide. The popular belief about social media is a long-term tool to strengthen the civil society and the public sphere. The environmental view is the contradictitary outlook to internet freedom. A ground basis for internet freedom and environmental view is the gradual development of the public sphere which works like a forum of open to all opinions while relying on conversation information and media. Contrary to the Wests self-acclaimed view of holding the source code for democracy, the environmental view would assume that minor change occurs in political spheres without adoption of the ideas and opinions which circle in public sphere. The viewpoint professes that the access to information does not play as big of a vital role as the access to conversation. Furthermore, a public sphere is more likely to emerge as a result to the masses dissatisfaction towards economic factors in a country rather than some obscure political ideals. In contrast to Shirky, the cyber-cynic Evgeny Morozov disagrees, and states that while social media may have helped, its not clear how much it actually contributes. According to an article in the Guardian that analysed Morozovs The Net Delusion, he argues that, if read between the lines when praising technology and its advancements, you can decypher a misinterpretation of the internets political role and potential, through the combination of ignorance and a sense of utopianism. This idea was further elaborated to state that if careful measures are not ensued, the democratising power of new media will not promote democracy and freedom of thought, but an entrapment of authoritarian regimes around the globe. Critisizng cyber-utopianism, Morozov further believes that contrary to popular belief the internet is not emancipatory, and supports it through the arguement of the widely misguided belief in the example such as the one of Twitter-powered Green Movement of Iran in 2009 (pointing out figures that on the actual eve of the said elections, the participating numbers did not rise above 20,000 users), stretching it to larger heights of naive hopes that international exposure through the new media will bring a diminishing result of violence in areas around the world such as that of Africa and the Middle East. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/09/net-delusion-morozov-review Morozovs arguement emphasizes the insignificant contribution of the social media tools whereas Shirky promotes the idea that however small the contribution may be the governments should accept it and promote the communication of many-to-many as it is an aspect of democracy. With the growing numbers of the West where social networks such as Twitter and Facebook are used among the masses, in the East it is only a smaller percentage that have access, or the ability, to use it. Having said that, no matter how insignificant the numbers may appear to be at this point in time Shirkys arguement brings more to the debate as it is an escalating factor which supports the point that the public sphere, through social media tools, do play a rising role in todays democratic states around the world. Morozovs arguement supporting misguided beliefs about the cyber-utopians who cannot bring about any change in world, can also be refuted that in the short-run it may not display acute figures of revoluti on supporters, or how it affects political stance, but in many countries where the social media tools is used on a day-to-day basis it surely can take the initial step to creating awareness which could, in the long-run, create a stir in a mass so large that it cannot be ignored by any democratic country. These tools probably do not hurt in the short run and might help in the long run and that they have the most dramatic effects in states where a public sphere already constrains the actions of the government. Through the promotion of pro-democratic tools put forth by the government it is also aiding authoritarian governments to track down any revolts, while infiltrating social networks and propogating their own agenda, and out-smarting their beleaguered citizens. However, the debates tend to culminate in stalemate whenever put to discussion. Access to information is far less important, politically, than access to conversation. Authoritarian governments stifle communication among their citizens because they fear, correctly, that a better-coordinated populace would constrain their ability to act without oversight. Add to essay where ever required According to Marsha Mcluhan this world is now a global village. With the spread of globalization or as Herbert Schiller (1919-2000) would term it as Americanisation there has been a rise in the technological advancement hand in hand.Webster (2010, chapter 2:20) states that globalization is leading towards the irrelevance of a public sphere, or even to the establishment of multiple public sphere. Globalization of democracy said to be western and a form of imperialism. Fernand braudel commented (1902-85) thorugh globalization there is a homogeneity of cultural practices. A more tolerant framework within the society. Yet events like the Danish Cartoonist in 2006 who drew the forbidden drawing of the Holy prophet in an insulting manner led to unrest around the world or like the event posted up on Facebook in 2009 draw Muhammed day yet again let to unrest in the muslim world speacially Pakistan where the govenment was part of the protest to delete such an offensive page makes one think ho w far true are these motions of tolerance. However thinkers like Ronfeldt (in Allison, 2002:39) claims that the internet will not divide the world, but that it will provide community, democracy, empowerment, wealth and peace. Robins and Webster (1999:226) speak of a cyberculture on the internet with its endless circuit of communication that will create global cities. The cyber-culture has also given birth to e-democratisation which leads to e-govenment and e voting. however democracy demends to surville if all votters are eligible. it aso questions wheather bloggers are now acting as e democracts. However some critizise it by calling it couch potate politics.. Castells (2001:117) further adds that digital divide is a result of virtual communities that is another form of escapism. Conclision Carruthers (2000:201) argues that the global distribution and access of all modern technologies (telephone, radio, television and the internet) must first be continued and improved before we can truly speak of its global or universal effects However, if one scrutinizes the numbers involved in the actual protests, or what leads up to them, according to Morozovs The Net Delusion one cannot be entirely sure as to the extent of influence the uprising has towards the respective governments in the countries in question; the revolt in Iran in 2009 which was caused by Twitter it was said, however according to numbers tracked the number of users on the set day of election did not rise over 20,000. Shirkys arguement refutes these statements though stating that the numbers are escalating and the masses have found an efficient and free channel to communicate amongst themselves, and the result . This instrumental view of the matter where the state intervenes with censorship may cause a further uproar and more use of softwares created to slip through the crack; softwares such as Freegate and Haysmarket. It only seems to be a matter of time before the time bomb of the social media tools will explode and cause an uncontrolable uproar that even the strongest of states cannot even handle.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Rotunda of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition :: Architecture History

The Rotunda of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition Austria hosted a world's fair in 1873, as it aimed to present itself as a world leader and the equal of England and France. The structure that served as the focal point and ideological locus for the Vienna Exhibition was its striking Rotunda, a feat of engineering and design, which is pictured during the fair's opening ceremonies on May 1, 1873. On that day, the streets of the Ringstrasse were wet with a cold drizzle. More than twenty thousand Viennese citizens came out to see the festivities, yet the area around the Rotunda, Leopoldstadt and Praterstern, did not seem even half full. Emperor Francis Joseph appeared at noon, signaling the beginning of the ceremonies. The program was unusually brief; it concluded in less than thirty minutes and lacked any type of formal speech. However, the one characteristic that immortalized that day was the music. The strains of the Imperial Opera's orchestra and the voices of two Viennese Glee Clubs united in performing Handel's March, the waltzes of Strauss, and the Austrian national hymn. While the music emerged as a high point of the initial celebrations, the atmosphere in Vienna during the fair seemed rather half-hearted. For the past several years, the nation had been enjoying a period of economic growth and domestic prosperity. However, just a fortnight after these opening ceremonies, the Austrian stock market underwent a severe crash, wreaking havoc on the domestic economy. This frustrated the efforts of the Austrians to convey a strong impression to the international community. Ironically, it also seemed that while other countries experienced success in selling their national products to the fair visitors, the Austrian displays lay untouched. For these reasons, the atmosphere in Vienna during the fair was not as jubilant as had been seen at other exhibitions. However, the crash occurred after the Rotunda was built, so the budget for the construction of the Rotunda strikes one as fairly impressive. In July 1871, the original amount allocated for its building was 6,000,000 florins. However, in September of 1872, an additional 6,000,000 florins was added. The website image is an 8 X 11 inch black and white engraving that appeared in the periodical Kunst und Kunstgeverbe auf der Werner Weltasstelling. One can note the presence of a small crowd, in their finest attire inside the building. It seems logical that this picture was sketched by an artist who had been present during the ceremony.

Feedback Stress: Does Auditory Feedback Negatively Affect Performance o

In his historic study, Stroop found that reading names of colors interfered with individuals’ ability to name the ink color the word was printed in when the two differed (i.e., the word â€Å"BLUE† written in red ink) (1935). However, the basis of this phenomenon can be traced back to Cattell who found that naming colors and pictures took twice as long to accomplish than reading the word these colors or pictures represented (1886). He concluded that this was due to reading being an automatic process while identifying colors or pictures requires a conscious effort (Cattell, 1886). MacLeod (1991) reflects that it was Cattell’s work which strongly influenced future psychologist including Stroop. In his experiment, Stroop investigated how the reaction time to name colors increased when it conflicted with the automatic process of reading. He broke down his experiment into three parts. In the first, he tested how reading the name of a color printed in a different ink color (i.e., BLUE) differed from reading the name of a color printed in black ink (i.e., BLUE). The difference between the name of the color and the ink color it was printed in caused a slight interference resulting in an increased reaction time of 2.3 seconds (Stroop, 1935). In the second part of his experiment, Stroop (1935) looked at reaction time differences between naming the color of solid blocks (i.e., ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"  ) versus naming the color of the ink not the name of the color (i.e., responding â€Å"RED† for BLUE). He found that participants required 74% more time to name the color of the ink when it did not agree with the name of the color (Stroop, 1935). Stroop concluded that it was the interference between the automatic process of reading the names of the colored w... ...oop: An interference task specialized for functional neuroimaging – validation study with functional MRI. Human Brain Mapping, 6(4), 270-282. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0193(1998)6:4 Cattell, J. M. (1886). The time it takes to see and name objects. Mind, 11(41), 63-65. MacLeod, C. M. (1991). Half a century of research on the Stroop Effect: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 109(2), 163-203. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.109.2.163 Richards, A., French, C. C., Johnson, W. Naparstek, J., & Williams, J. (1992). Effects of mood manipulation and anxiety on performance of an emotional Stroop task. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 479-491. Shor, R. E. (1975). An auditory analog of the Stroop test. Journal of General Psychology, 93, 281-288. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Outliers Book Review

Francisco Ayala May 9, 2012 English 101 Outliers Malcolm Gladwell is a speaker, bestselling author, and Canadian journalist. He is a writer for the New Yorker since 1996. Gladwell has four New York Times bestseller books he has written. Among one of those books is Outliers: The story of success (2008). Outlier, a nonfiction book, had to do with social psychology. Outlier is about the success of people who do not fit into our normal understanding of achievement. Gladwell points out that many people could be giving the same opportunity but it all comes down to early opportunity and privileged social standing are what really makes an Outlier.Gladwell does a really good job on breaking down the story of success of some Outliers. He goes in detail in how some Canadian hockey players make it have it easier than others, how Bill Gates is who he is today and the genius Christopher Largan failure to become an Outlier. In Outliers, Gladwell wants to convince the reader that people don't just r ise from nothing to be successful. Success comes from parentage and patronage. It also comes down to when and where you grew up. First example Gladwell gives is explaining how some Canadian hockey players become better than others.Gladwell research shows there’s an uneven number of elite Canadian hockey players. Players that are born in the first few months, January, February and March, of the calendar are more likely to be successful than those born in the last month of the year. Statistics showed players born in January, February, and March are most likely to be in the hockey traveling team. The reason for this was because in Canada, the eligibility cut-off for age class hockey is January 1. Someone born in January 2 has bigger physical maturity than someone born in November.Those with bigger maturity get chosen to join the elite team. They get provided with better coaching, better teammates and more games than those who were left behind. It is why most likely they are able to make into professional leagues. I can relate to Gladwell research as I used to play in soccer leagues. The cut-off date was also January 1. I did notice a difference of physical maturity; I was born in April, than those born in the last three months. It was easy to outrun the shorter people and it was the shorter people who were always sitting on the bench.Another Outlier Gladwell uses as an example is Bill Gates. Young Bill Gates was a really good mathematician. Gates was headed to a highly intelligent, driven, and successful professional career. But what change his path into not only being successful in life but also making him a billionaire was Bill Gates was given a unique opportunity that no one was given to at that time. He had the privilege to be the only one to be able to use the High School computers as much as he wanted after school, even overnight. It is there where he practiced programming and achieved the 10,000 hour rule.The 10,000 hour rule is the require amount o f time a person must practice in order to succeed. Personally, I agreed with this 10,000 milestone as I know someone who put ton amount of hours in his profession. At the age of ten, a teammate of the soccer team I used to play in used to stayed an extra two hours playing soccer after soccer practice was over. Practice was three hours along. That was a total of five hours a day of playing soccer. This was his routine for at least five times a week for the next nine years. He passed the 10,000 hour rule by age eighteen.At age twenty, he got signed to professional soccer team New York Red Bulls. Gladwell also uses Christopher Largan as an example. Largan is considered by many the smartest man in America. He has an IQ of one-ninety five. With a higher IQ than Einstein, everyone automatically thinks he is going to be successful in life. Largan does not become an Outlier. One reason for that is Largan did not have anyone in his life. His mother was not there to support him. There was no opportunity for him to demonstrate his talent. Gladwell compares Lohan to Oppenheimer, the creator of the atomic bomb.Oppenheimer came from a wealthy neighborhood. His father was a business man. Oppenheimer had better opportunities to develop his intelligence than the opportunities Largan had. Largan came from a poor neighborhood and his mother was always working. Another difference between the two was Oppenheimer had practical intelligence and Largan didn’t. Practical Intelligence is â€Å"knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect (101). † Oppenheimer tried to poison one of his tutors.He was going to get kicked out of the University but he managed to get away with it because Oppenheimer had practical intelligence. Oppenheimer got these skills when he was child from his wealthy parents. He got away with attempting murder and just got sent to a psychiatrist in London. In the other hand L argan had to drop out of school because his mother didn't sign his financial scholarship on time, therefore he lost the scholarship. When he tried to talk to the dean, Largan wasn't able to convince the dean to let him keep his scholarship.Largan lack of practical intelligence he never got by his parents. It leaves me wondering what if Largan came from a wealthy neighborhood and his father was a business man. Would he have being bigger than Albert Einstein? What if Oppenheimer was raised in a poor neighborhood? He would’ve most likely end up in jail for trying to murder his tutor. Practical intelligence is something some persons have and should appreciate it. My brother always talks his way out of a ticket most of time when he gets pull over by police.On the other hand, I always get the ticket whenever I get pulled over by the police officer. I get very nervous and don’t know what to say while my brother always comes up with a unique excuse and they let him off the hoo k. Outliers has made me realize in order to be successful, one has to have luck on their side. I could be the smartest man in the world, but if I don’t have the proper background to succeed I won’t be able be successful. People who have being successful have had a unique opportunity in their life.Some of them were born at a time that was for their advantage. It makes me think if my birth year has any luck store for me in the future. I will recommend this book to people because it has some material in it that caught my attention. The 10,000 hour rule is what really got my attention. Seeing how The Beatles became successful after passing the 10,000 hours motivates me to put in hard work to what my goal is. What also caught my attention is how we have different perspective about school than what Asian think.Americans think if we go to school for a long time, we going to fatigue the brain and therefore not learn. That is the reason why we get a lot of vacation time. The As ian community makes their students go to school most of the year for at least eight hours. It is why they are mostly highly knowledgeable than most Americans. If people read what the Asians do in order to be highly intelligent, it could perhaps make them want to spend more time in school. Work Cited †¢ â€Å"Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell). † Weblog post. A Sea Change. 10 Feb. 2011. Web. 09 May 2012. .

Sunday, September 1, 2019

FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona, also known simply as â€Å"Barcelona† and familiarly as â€Å"Barca†, is based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In this paper, I will talk about three points about it: the history, the achievement, and the finance of FC Barcelona. In the eighteenth century, Hans Gamber and another 10 persons in Barcelona plays a game of one was not for the local people know sports – football. When Gamber on November 29, 1899 on this day created a Barcelona football club, he may be difficult to imagine how much glory and honor of the next brewing. Over more than one hundred years of history, FC Barcelona has grown spectacularly in every area and has progressed into something much greater than a mere sports club, turning Barca’s ‘more than a club’ slogan into a reality. The Barcelona football club is like a flag symbolizes the people's hope – for freedom, has continued to the present, and today, this belief has been maintained at this particular between the club and its supporters. In the 100 years of ups and downs in Barcelona rely on great vitality experienced all sorts of tests are honored to have the tragedy and suffering experienced a golden age of age experienced the victories and unforgettable classic failure, these moments are tempered into a train Barcelona today a well-deserved world-class rich and powerful family. Barcelona's reputation is world class, and it gives all aspects left a deep impression. Indeed, Barcelona at that time was indeed standing on the highest point in Europe, Barcelona is the only Grand Slam tournament for several teams in Europe, one of the club, in addition to Intercontinental, Barcelona honor room displays all possible honor, the spoils of war The most striking is the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona at Wembley made history, winning the highest honor in Europe! In addition to continuing the greatest achievement than the victory is that Barcelona is the only European team never missed the European Cup team, from the various European Cup in 1955 began, they continued to win their spoils of war in Europe – winning trophies, including the four times they won the League Cup in Europe is already a king-class team, and today, those who quietly glittering trophy was placed in display cases in years there is no refining its stand their glory. Of course, the performance of Barcelona in Spain is also as good as with the European theater, 25 King's Cup champion so far behind other Spanish teams. Year 1922 -1957 Cathedral Stadium – scene of a successful era, Cathedral Stadium, in 1922 started to use to witness to our growth during the golden age of Barcelona (1919 -1,929 years). During prime time because of national war (Franco rebellion) suddenly interrupted. But the Cathedral Stadium is such a time has been spent to give Barca brought five league championship. In year 1919 -1929, during the decade was considered a golden time for Barcelona, when the team has Samidier, Al-hole Tara, Zamora, Saginaw, Pierrat, and Sancho technologically superior The players, the club at that time the national downturn has also been recognized as the Catalan Catalan doctrine sign. May 20, 1922, Cathedral Stadium formally completed and put into use. This was a very luxurious stadium can accommodate 30,000 people, and later expanded to 60,000 people. In 1924 the club celebrated the 25th anniversary team when I was a famous painter who Iosep of Valencia. Sege Reers painted a poster for the Barcelona club, membership has increased to 12207 people, and the future looks bright. . 5 years after the 1928-1929 season, Barcelona won a league championship history, following the 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28 season, the rule of successive five Catalan Cup as well as the 1924-1925,1925-1926,1927-1928 arranged after the Spanish Cup, the Champions League so that culminated in Barcelona. The last game with Real Sociedad twice a re-match, with Barca goalkeeper Franz heroic magical play, Barca beat rivals to win, and later the poet Rafael. Alberti also write a poem as a tribute. In 2009, Barcelona became the first club in Spain to win the treble consisting of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and the Champions League. That same year, it also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year, thus completing the sextuple, comprising the aforementioned treble and the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. In 2010, Forbes evaluated Barcelona's worth to be around â‚ ¬752 million (USD $1,000 million), ranking them fourth after Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Arsenal, based on figures from the 2008–09 season. According to Deloitte, Barcelona had recorded revenue of â‚ ¬366 million in the same period, ranking second to Real Madrid, who generated â‚ ¬401 million in revenue. Along with Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, and Osasuna, Barcelona is organised as a registered association. Unlike a limited company, it is not possible to purchase shares in the club, but only membership. The members of Barcelona, called socis, form an assembly of delegates which is the highest governing body of the club. As of 2010 the club has 170,000 socis. An audit by Deloitte in July 010 showed that Barcelona had a net debt of â‚ ¬442 million, currently 58% of net worth as evaluated by Forbes. The new management of Barcelona, which Javier Faus revealed the audit numbers: â€Å"Barcelona’s debt as of today is the biggest in the club’s history. That doesn’t mean anything but that we are not comfortable working with this debt. The current debt is the biggest in the club’s history, e ven greater than in 2003. The losses back in 2002-2003 in Gaspart’s era were the biggest in the club’s history at the time and on top of that the income that Barca has today is much bigger than back in 2002-2003. After explaining all this, I still prefer the club’s current picture. † News had emerged that the club had recorded a loss of â‚ ¬79 million over the course of the year, despite having defended their La Liga title. The balance of Laporta is â‚ ¬11million, and Rosell’s balance is -â‚ ¬77 million, there is a difference of 88 million Euros. And there are some reasons about this problem. First, Joan Gamper Sant Joan Despi land sale – 21. 5 million. Only 1 million has been received so far. This money was not included as income by the auditor. Second, Mediapro TV contract – 16 million were included from a deal with Mediapro where the club will get 4 million until 2013 for TV rights. Only 4 million were included by the auditor. Third, Mediapro legal dispute – There is also a legal dispute with Mediapro where Barca would get 13 million back from them (in case of winning the dispute). The auditor only took 50% into account. Forth, Henry’s last year amortization value – 8. 2 million – This was not included by the auditor since Henry will not complete his last year in Barca. Fifth, Baena’s indemnisation – there is a legal dispute with Espanyol for this player’s transfer which could give Barca 3. 9 millions (if Barca wins the legal dispute) – Not included by the auditor. Sixth, Villa Decans lands – These lands were estimated to have a value of 17 million euros by an appraiser consultant hired by Laporta but the new management got this estimate from an actual certified appraiser who valued the land in 5. 7 millions. Auditor included 50% of the difference between both amounts. Seventh, Sogecable’s contract – there is also a legal dispute against Sogecable for TV rights that could give Barca 25 million euros back. – This was not included since Barca lost the first sitting of this dispute. There is also a big discrepancy regarding FC Barcelona’s total debt (in millions of Euros) between Barcelona AGM (30), Barcelona accounts (202), English media (350), and Rosell’s campaign (489) before the presidency changed. As explained in The Swiss Rambles blog, they are all correct in their account because in definition, debt can be broadly interpreted.