Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Contextual Analysis of Rodney Graham's Halcion Sleep Term Paper

Contextual Analysis of Rodney Graham's Halcion Sleep - Term Paper Example The pill has been presented as the leap from the societal pressures that an individual takes to escape the pressures of society, which is certainly inappropriate for him. In the film Halcion Sleep, Rodney Graham has been filmed on the backseat of a car in the state of unconscious due to the dose of drug. The whole film is a sequence of Graham’s journey in an unconscious or sub-conscious state from the room of the motel, where he has consumed the drug, to his apartment in the center of Vancouver city. In the film, the city lights and life of Vancouver is being focused through the rear windshield of the car. The total length of the film is twenty six minutes in which the journey of sleeping Graham has been presented; however, the production of the film is contained with deeper interpretations which will be explicated in the following paper (Graham 0:01-26:21). Halcion Sleep is metaphoric representation of the average human individuals who bears significant and severe societal pr essures to survive in the society. ... Although these problems are diverse and multilateral in nature, but it can be categorized in multiple dimensions from which the pressure on individuals builds up. The most significant and grave problems, which develop pressure in individuals are social problems which are further correlated with political problems (Sterba 103-114). The political structure of a society determines the quality of life, economic conditions and stability and individual’s status and roles in a society. These determinations are necessarily coupled with several responsibilities for each individual to survive in the society. In the traditional or modern, that is capitalist system, systems, every individual cannot be pertained to be considered on similar grounds. These grounds are being measured in terms of social economic status of individuals. As this dissimilarity among the individuals of society is developed, the society becomes divided into classes in which individuals belonging to lower or middle c lasses are pertained to struggle more than the higher economic class. These struggles are largely focused on the acquisition of better economic status by which there social status can be raised (Sterba 120-126). These striving life of individuals make them mentally fatigued and pressurized due to the political and social structure of the society. It is the class difference, which inevitably creates the divide in individuals of the society. It is because of the class difference, there is status divide and with this discrimination, individuals are brought to mental and physical pressures. Life’s struggle which is actually futile in a sense has to be made by each member of the society, because the society sets a tradition that every man is part of this competition. Consequentially the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Security Threats in Businesses

Security Threats in Businesses Musa Hajara Muhammad Introduction The business environment is becoming a fast paced globalized economy that depends on information and data carried via open channels. As a business organization, it is critical to maintain and protect both physical and virtual property that is being owned against intruders, potential theft and other acts that could cause loss of any form. Dominos, for example, one of the biggest pizza delivery company faced a massive data breach where customer information was made public, hence resulting in loss of sales and customers. In today’s global, digital world, data rules. Safeguarding intellectual property, financial information, and a company’s reputation is a crucial part of business strategy. With the number of threats and the sophistication of attacks increasing, safeguarding becomes a formidable task.Businesses, both small and big are under massive attacks by external agents in order to get credit card information and other confidential data which can be have a negative imp act on the growth of the business. However, this security threats are not limited to attacks from the outside, but also from within the firm (BusinessSecurity, 2013). A recent survey shows that 80% of security breaches are caused by insiders- most often employees, more than 20% of attacks on the corporate WEB sites come from the inside, almost 30% of companies, experience more than 5 attacks from the inside every year. However, it has also been argued that having too much security may affect business processes. According to Cowan (2012), while there are various security solutions to help protect businesses from potential reputational or financial damage, a heavy investment in business security solutions may have a counter-productive impact on the business. It can affect the corporate culture, flow of information and operational processes, leading to inefficiencies and productivity loss (Cowan, 2012). On the other hand, being too permissive can have the same result, with employees able to access, share, lose or damage sensitive data too easily (Cowan, 2012). According to Cowan, business security needs to be tailored to each business depending on their respective risks and business objectives, that is, Security measures must neither be so restrictive that they affect business processes, nor too relaxed and thereby causing harm (Cowan, 2012). The key is to weigh up all the risks and vulnerabilities, potential consequences and controls, and then decide which information assets to protect and which can be accessed and shared openly without major consequences. Following a risk-based approach will lead to business growth and spending the right amount of time and money on the right level of protection in the right areas (Cowan, 2012). As a result of the negative issues of security threats to businesses, many companies today are adopting a corporate security strategy. Corporate securityidentifies and effectively mitigates or manages, at an early stage, any developments that may threaten the resilience and continued survival of a corporation. It is a corporate function that oversees and manages the close coordination of all functions within the company that are concerned with security, continuity and safety (Wikipedia, 2010). Core components of corporate security includes personal security, physical security, information security, corporate governance, compliance and ethics program, crime prevention and detection, fraud deterrence, investigations, risk management, business continuity, and crisis management (Wikipedia, 2010). While it takes effecting time planning to implement, Bordoloi (2012) argues that developing an effective governance approach to corporate security results in five basic outcomes: Reduced risks and potential business impacts to an acceptable level; Strategic alignment of security with the enterprise strategy and the organizational objectives; Business value generated through the optimization of security investments with organizational objectives; Preserved and increased market share due to the reputation for safeguarding information; Efficient utilization of security investments that support organization’s objectives. Also Adhering to a good corporate security policy can assist senior management to help them make decisions and then pass the essential actions to those in management positions. Al-Awadi Renaud (2008) argue that implementing an effective security solution can be complex and time consuming, stating that while it can slow a firm growth due to the resources involved, it is the key strategy for the sustainability of a firm in the 21st century. Al-Awadi Renaud (2008) identified five key factors for the successful implementation of a business security strategy. They include awareness and training, budget, management support, Information Security Policy Enforcement and Adaptation and organization mission. Critical success factors for security policy implementation Dhillon (1999) argues that, organizations must have ongoing education and training programs to achieve the required outcome from the implementation of an information security policy. The 2002 security awareness index report cited by McKay (2003) concluded that organizations around the world are failing to make their employees aware of the security issues and the consequences. Hone Eloff (2002) explain that the behaviour and attitudes of employees towards information security will be more in line with secure behaviour if top management demonstrates concern, therefore it is suggested that the tone of security is set by the attitudes of those at the top of the organization (Hinde, 1998). Management wont act to support the information security unless they can see that it supports the organizations core business function (Blake, 2000). Hence they must be convinced of the importance of information security before they will to provide sufficient budget, and act to enforce the information security policy (Von Solms, 1999). Also, Bjorck (2002) describes budget as the financial facility which firstly rationally estimates the costs and secondly assesses the access required to the resources to achieve successful implementation of information security. Organizations require adequate funding (Doherty Fulford, 2005) to achieve effective information security. â€Å"Budgets generally depend on the manner in which individuals’ investments translate to outcomes, but the impact of security investment often depends not only on the investor’s own decisions but also on the decisions of others† (Anderson Moore, 2006, p.612 ). Lack of information security budgeting in organizations leads to under- investment in appropriate controls (Dinnie, 1999). Moreover, Fung et al. (2003) explains that a good security policy is the keystone to a sustainable business growth. There is no doubt that the adoption of a security policy is the initial measure that must be in place to minimize the threat of unacceptable use of any of the organization’s information resources. And lastly, Siponen (2001) explains that in terms of security, organizations usually do nothing as long as nothing goes wrong, but when things do go wrong, they suddenly pay attention and a lot of effort is required to recover from the situation, even though sometimes full recovery is impossible. Some of the experts said that the organizations clear goals and objectives are essential in implementing security policies and that having a culture of secure information in the organization will affect its success. Conclusion Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Businesses are beginning to understand the need to demonstrate to customers that their information is being handled securely, especially in the light of numerous data breaches such as the NSA scandal. When customers are aware that the information a firm possesses about them is highly secured, they tend to build confidence in such a firm, and invest even more. What has been discovered from the analysis above is that firms that are concerned about security are more likely to survive both internal and external threats posed to them. However, due to the complexity of implementing these security initiatives, certain schools of thought are of the opinion that it may take firms concerned with security time to grow. These thoughts have led to the emergence of security analysts, data managers, network and security engineers, and other security personnel who specialize in safe guarding company data and information from various mishaps. In recent years the amount of money pumped into security firms around the world simply goes a long way to reiterate the fact that firms are getting keener about security investment. $15 million pumped into Cylance, $23 million into EndGame, and a whopping $50 million into FireEye are a few from the several investment deals reached with tech security companies. (Bryon Acohido, 2013). Investing in security can cost a company a large amount of its resources, but not adequately investing in securing its most valuable asset, which is information can cause a company to totally shut down in the case of any data exposure or loss. Alpex Consulting Africa Managing Director, Joseph Kibe, in Kenya said, â€Å"Organizations have lost a lot of data and there must be a lot of losses incurred because of customers’ data being thrown away when information leaks to the wrong hands. The economy has to wake up and secure this information†¦if you walk into an insurance firm, a bank, or a hospital, is your information secure? That is what will determine who makes it †¦Ã¢â‚¬  For a successful security policy, organizations must institute security policies to prevent unauthorized access to their resources. Steps must be taken to ensure that employees get the required awareness and security training to make them aware of the security issues and the consequences of insecure behavior. Moreover, the results suggest the ethos of security must come from the top of the organization to encourage a serious attitude from employees and an expectation that they will comply with the organizations security policy rules and regulations. A point worthy of note is that, for a firm to think about security in the first instance, it must already have a decent amount of presence over the internet. This alone, can make a company gain more profit and recognition due to its global presence. Most security breaches occur in the most developed of countries, and this is because of the level of advancement in technology, and also sophistication in cybercrime. A country who is just at the developing stage seldom experiences high level of security mishap. This goes a long way to say that the level of development in a country can be directly proportional the amount of cybercrime that occurs in that country. Implementation of security won’t be possible if a sufficient budget is not allocated. Clear organizational mission statements and goals result in positive employee behavior and positive attitudes towards securing the organization’s information assets. Just like a car, building, or machine, information is an asset, and the most valuable in this era of information technology. Safeguarding such a valuable asset will in no way slow down the growth of a firm, but set it apart from its adversaries. References Bordoloi, C. (2012) 5 Benefits of Proper IT Security Governance URL: http://www.enterprisecioforum.com/en/blogs/cj-bordoloi/5-benefits-proper-it-security-governance Accessed (23/06/2013) Bjorck, F., 2002. Implementing Information Security Management Systems – An Empirical Study of Critical Success Factors. Wikipedia (2010) Corporate Security URL:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_security Accessed (23/06/2013) Dhillon, G., 1999. Managing and Controlling Computer Misuse. Information Management Computer Security, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 171-175. Doherty, N. F. and Fulford, H., 2005. Do Information Security Policies Reduce the Incidence of Security Breaches: An Exploratory Analysis. Information Resources Management Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 21-39. DeviceLock (2012),Corporate security: risks of the insiders attack URL: http://www.devicelock.com/articles/detail.html?CODE=corporate_security Accessed (23/06/2013) Business Security (2013) Understanding Business Security URL:http://www.businesssecurity.net/ Accessed (23/06/2013) Cole, E (2010) Importance of cyber security to protect your business URL: http://www.securityhaven.com/specialist/cyber-security-for-business.html Accessed (23/06/2013) Hone, K. Eloff, J.H.P. 2002. What makes an Effective Information Security Policy. Network Security, Vol. 20, No. 6,pp. 14-16. Fung, P., Kwok, L. Longley, D. 2003. Electronic Information Security Documentation. Australian Computer society, Vol. 21. Dinnie, G., 1999. The Second Annual Global Information Security Survey. Information Management computer security, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 112-120. Hind, S. 2002. Security Surveys Spring Crop. Computers and Security, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 310-321. McKay, J. 2003. Pitching the Policy: implementing IT Security Policy through Awareness. SANS Institute. Von Solms, R. 1999. Information Security Management: Why Standards are Important. Information Management Computer Security, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 50-57.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Utilitarianism in Crime and Punishment Essay -- Crime Punishment Essay

Utilitarianism in Crime and Punishment      Ã‚  Ã‚   Raskolnikov's mathematical evaluation of the moral dilemma presented to him in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment exemplifies the empirical view of utilitarianism.   Utilitarianism attempts to distinguish between right and wrong by measuring a decision based on its calculated worth.   Raskolnikov appears to employ the fundamentals of utilitarianism by pitting the negative consequences of murdering his old landlady against the positive benefits that her money would bestow onto society.   However, a true follower of utilitarianism would be outraged at Raskolnikov's claim that murdering the old woman can be considered morally right. Raskolnikov arbitrarily leaves out some necessary considerations in his moral "equation" that do not adhere to utilitarianism.   A utilitarian would argue that Raskolnikov has not reached an acceptable solution because he has not accurately solved the problem.   On the other hand, a non-utilitarian would reject even the notion of deliberating about the act of murder in such a mathematical manner.   He might contend that Raskolnikov's reasoning, and the entire theory of utilitarianism, cannot be used to judge morality because it rejects individual rights and contains no moral absolutes.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A utilitarian bases his belief upon two principles:   the theory of right actions and the theory of value.   These two principles work together and serve as criteria for whether or not a utilitarian can deem an action morally right. First, the theory of right action argues that the morally right decision is the one whose consequences are at least as good as any other availa... ...    Gibson, A Boyce. The Religion of Dostoyevsky. Philadelphia: Westmenster Press, 1973. Monas, Sidney, trans. Crime and Punishment. By Fyodor Dostoyevsky. New York: Penguin, 1968.    Morsm, Gary Saul. "How to Read. Crime and Punishment." Commentary 1992 June, 93 (6):  Ã‚   49-53.    Rosenshield, Gary "The Realization of the Collective Self: The Birth of Religious Autobiography in Dostoevski's Zapiski iz Mertvogo Doma." Slavic Review 1991 Summer 50 (2): 317-27.    Panichas, George A. "The World of Dostoyevsky." Modern Age 22: 346-57    Mann, Robert. "Elijah the Prophet in Crime and Punishment." Canadian Slavonic Papers 1981 Sept 23 (3): 261-72.    Yancey, Phillip. "Be Ye Perfect, More or Less: Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and the impossible Sermon on the Mount." Christianity Today 17 July 1991: 38-41.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The Puppet Master of Rome: the Mother-Son Relationship in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus

There is one thing in the world that everyone has: a mother. Some people never knew their mothers, some have bad relationships with their mothers, and some love their mothers more than anything else. In William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Caius Martius, or Coriolanus, has a very intense relationship with his mother, Volumnia. He loves, respects, fears, and is controlled by her. This is made very evident throughout the play. Everything she asks for is done promptly after a simple proclamation of her need for it.This includes anything from fetching a drink for her to calling off an attack on a city. Coriolanus has his mother’s voice in his ear throughout the play. Sometimes, it saves him, but it also gives him a lack of identity and ultimately causes his demise. The first time we are introduced to Volumnia is in Act 1, Scene iii of the play. She is sitting and sewing with Virgilia, Coriolanus’ wife, and Valeria, Virgillia’s friend. At this point in the play, C oriolanus is in battle, fighting the Volsces in the city of Corioles.Virgilia worries for the safety of her husband and prays that he comes back unharmed. Volumnia responds to her and lets the audience see what kind of mother she really is. As Virgilia expresses her concern for her husband’s well being, Volumnia proceeds to tell her that she would rather have her son die in battle than come back uninjured. She makes a short speech about how his injuries and his involvement in battle enforce his manhood. When he was but tender-bodied and the only son of my womb, when youth with comeliness plucked all gaze his way, when for a day of kings’ entreaties a mother should not sell him an hour from her beholding, I, considering how honor would become such a person – that it was no better than picturelike to hang by th’ wall, if renown made it not stir – was pleased to let him seek danger where he was like to find fame.To a cruel war I sent him, from whence he returned, his brows bound with oak, I tell thee, daughter, I sprang not more in joy at first hearing he was a man-child than now in first seeing he had proved himself a man. (I, iii, 5-17) In this speech, Volumnia makes it clear that she had always planned for Coriolanus to be a warrior and she would not be proud of him for any other reason. As their talk continues, Virgilia asks her how she would feel if her son died in battle. Volumnia responds to her by saying that is she had twelve sons, she would have rather â€Å"had eleven die nobly for their country than one voluptuously surfeit out of action. † (I, iii, 22-25) This statement reveals the to audience Volumnia’s obsession of gaining fame vicariously through her acclaimed war-hero son and her influence on her son becomes blatantly apparent.This demonstrated Volumnia’s gender role in her society, as well. Volumnia â€Å"manages to be heard in spite of [traditional gender roles]; nevertheless, there are s trict codes of conduct and societal expectations for the behavior of women, which Virgilia follows to the letter, although Volumnia cannot help but rebel. Coriolanus seems restricted by these same ideas [and] forced to act like a hardened man, and stung when he has to admit weakness, or show any emotion. † (Coriolanus Themes) This view is further enforced in the following act’s first scene, when Coriolanus returns.Volumnia and the others stand watching him and his army approach. Volumnia proclaims â€Å"O, he is wounded; I thank the gods for‘t. † (II, i, 118) She basks in the glory of his wounds and announces them to the crowd as he approaches. A darker side of Volumnia comes out in this scene. As trumpets sound, she looks upon her nearing son and says aloud â€Å"Before him he carries noise, and behind him he leaves tears. Death, that dark spirit, in’s nervy arms doth lie; which, being advanced, declines, and then men die. (II, i, 154-157) She also makes it known that she has faith in his position in the Consul, which has yet to be confirmed. This overbearing attitude of Volumnia’s has a huge influence on Coriolanus, but we don’t see the true extent of his dependence and commitment to her until act III, when Volumnia berates him for his actions in front of the citizens of the town and for the Senators, therefore, costing him his position as Consul member. Coriolanus had let his temper and disdain for the citizens and government overcome him and he insulted them all in various ways, including calling the Senators â€Å"barbarians† (III, i, 239).She enters by saying, â€Å"O, sir, sir, sir, I would have had you put your power well on, before you had worn it out. † (III, ii, 16-18) After berating him, she encourages him to go make amends with the people of the town and regain his popularity; she won’t give up her dreams quite yet. She also lets him know that she will guide him and he can  "go to them, with this bonnet in thy hand; and thus having far stretched it – here be with them – thy knee bussing the stones – for in such business action is eloquence [†¦]. (III, ii, 72-76) She later follows this statement with, â€Å"Prithee now, go and be ruled [†¦]†(III, ii, 89-90) This statement presents a sort of double entendre, seeing as she presently rules him and has for his entire life. She is not only telling him to hand himself over to the approval of the public, but to let her take him by the hand in doing so. Volumnia makes it known that she has everything to lose from Coriolanus’ failure. She even bluntly states, â€Å"[†¦] it is my more dishonor than thou to them. Come all to ruin!Let thy mother rather feel thy pride than thy dangerous stoutness, for I mock at death with as big heart as thou. Do as thou list. Thy valiantness was mine, thou suck’st it from me, but owe thy pride thyself. † (III, ii, 124- 130) To this, Coriolanus responds with compliance and goes immediately to the market place, asking of his mother, â€Å"chide me no more. † (III, ii, 132) Coriolanus cannot take much chastisement or reprimanding from his mother without caving in and doing exactly as she asks, for that is all he knows.Towards the end of the play, Coriolanus finally defies his mother and leaves Rome to side with the Volces. This is the first time he ever left her or did not follow her word in the entire play. However, before his attack on Rome, Volumnia uses the most epic of motherly guilt trips when she, Virgilia, and Valeria travel to the Volsces’ city to convince Coriolanus to stop the attack. She attempts to break his icy exterior to attack his heart and change his position on the coming war.She first attempts to stoke his ego and confirm his greatness, asking how he could make this decision. When that fails to reach him, she pushes the argument that they will have no place to go whe n their home is destroyed. When that also fails, she then pulls on his heartstrings and tells him that they will all die by the hands of the Volsces because of his commands. When she notices him beginning to doubt his position, she lays on the line â€Å"so, we will home to Rome, and die among our neighbors. [†¦] Yet give us our dispatch.I am hushed until our city be afire, and then I’ll speak a little. † (V, iii, 172-182) This finally reaches him. He breaks down to Aufidius and makes peace, refusing to continue the war. In the end, Vomumnia was praised by Rome for convincing her son to make peace and preventing the attack. He gained the hero status she wanted for her son. He did not resent her for it, but he did die to defend the honor of Rome. â€Å"Volumnia's reputation as the noblest Roman matron of them all is apparently the product of outmoded idealization of motherhood.Hofling, undoubtedly the best informed of the recent commentators, writes: ‘Volumn ia thus is seen to be an extremely unfeminine, non-maternal person, one who sought to mold her son to fit a preconceived image gratifying her own masculine (actually pseudo-masculine) strivings. Her method, we learn from the above and other speeches, was to withhold praise and the scant affection she had to give from any achievements except aggressive and exhibitionistic ones† (Putney) Coriolanus’ lack of independence from his mother created a lack of identity for himself.He did not know how to go about life without his mother, even at his age and having his own family. â€Å"Coriolanus' lack of identity is due to a controlling mother in a fatherless environment. According to the Freudian model for establishing male identity, Coriolanus is doomed. Nowhere is this more evident that at the end of the play, when Volumnia, his mother convinces him to spare Rome. He is wholly controlled by his mother, and has no voice of his own. He says, â€Å"Like a dull actor now,/ I ha ve forgot my part and I am out,/Even to full disgrace† (V, iii, 40-42).Following his mother's demands, he spares Rome, which leads directly to his demise. Thus, his controlling mother coupled with the absence of a father figure leads to his lack of identity, which leads to his death. † (Freudian Interpretation) Coriolanus even follows his mother’s desire for honor in death in battle during his final hour. He proclaims, â€Å"cut me to pieces, Volsces. Men and lads, stain all your edges on me. † (V, vi, 110-111) In the end, if it were not for Volumnia’s influence, her son may have lived a full life and been able to care for his family.In the same respect, there may have not been peace between Rome and the Volsces. Volumnia truly is the strength of Rome. Throughout the play, Volumnia never lost her courage or backed down from the challenges that could have prevented her and her son from achieving her status. She made it seem as though she would do anyt hing for the people she loved and the city that was her home, but she always had ulterior motives and clawed her way to the top, sacrificing her son along the way. Works Cited â€Å"Coriolanus Themes.† GradeSaver.com. 14 Mar. 2011. GradeSaver LLC.. 1999 . â€Å"Freudian Interpretation.† New York University.edu. 14 Mar. 2011. New York University. . Putney, Rufus. â€Å"Coriolanus | Mother-Son Relationship.† eNotes.com. 14 Mar. 2011. eNotes.com. 2011 .

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Digital Rights Management

Technological innovation is drastically taking place in almost every field. Experts and engineers put their extraordinary effort to develop software or products that requires some kind of security to protect it from misuse. Digital Rights Management is the one which is used for technologies that controls the use of digital content. With the advancement of Internet and development of digital content, content owners are being impelled into a new arena where they can enhance their rights by using DRM technologies as a way to control the use of their content.The present paper focuses on DRM, argumentative views of various experts on it and effectiveness of DRM in radically changing Hi- tech world. Digital Rights Management (DRM) facilitates copyright holders to achieve value for their works. DRM is used variably in literature. According to Electronic Frontier Foundation, â€Å"Digital rights management technologies are aimed at increasing the kinds and/or scope of control that rights-ho lders can assert over their intellectual property assets.†DRM allows the copyright holder to control the ways consumer’s access and use the holder's work once the work is made available in a digital format. By controlling the access, a right holder is capable to offers an exclusively competent business model and his work will be protected from infringing uses. It is not possible for DRM at its own level to realize these aims because it is susceptible to the hackers, which is able to avoid DRM safeguards. That’s why, law enforcement is required to avert from hackers.These steps will strengthen DRM technology (Christopher D. Kruger, pg: 281). The focus of the first generation of Digital Rights Management (DRM) was mainly on security and encryption as a way of working out the problem of unauthorized copying of the content. It was performed by locking the content and to limit its distribution to only those who make payment. In the second-generation of DRM, major step s to cover the description, identification, trading, protection, monitoring and tracking of all forms of rights procedures over both tangible and intangible assets.DRM deals with all rights and not only the rights applicable to permissions over digital content. There are two significant architectures which must reflect on while designing and implementing DRM systems. The Functional Architecture is the first. This covers the high-level modules or components of the DRM system that together provide a management of rights till the end user. The Information Architecture is the second critical architecture. This covers the modeling of the entities within a DRM system as well as their relationships.In digital rights management, the licensing authority issues to the DRM licensee a certificate and a public/private key pair for use in service. The client will sign the certificate with the licensing authority private key and send it to the content server along with the public key. The content server then verifies the certificate and thereby authenticates the client. The server also checks the certificate with the list of revocation and if so, the client will not be able to receive or decrypt content. There are two algorithms used in signing.The Windows DRM for Network Devices and HDMI and the Open Mobile Alliance use the RSA algorithm. An Elliptic Curve algorithm being much lighter, are used in Windows DRM for Mobile Devices and DTCP. There are number of companies holding patents, which cause some concern for adopters and have delayed the introduction of ECC to wider use in DRM. Once the authentication of a device is complete and it is determined that it has the valid license authority certificate, then in a DRM design, the last step is to decrypt content – the symmetric cipher key. This is obviously very important.Consumers just can not break their head to manage a key for every song or video that they have licensed under a DRM scheme, nor would the owner of a br and new product wish to enter 40 hex digits into the new console before using it. It is to be noted that one tremendously imperative feature of DRM security design is the processes by which secret DRM values are stored. While these consumer electronic products can be accessed by consumers, hackers will pry the design looking for susceptibilities. It is better to use the key storage on chip non-volatile memory.The major problems with this approach are NVM memory is not available in every process, especially the advanced technology nodes, the license fees for NVM are fairly high and last of all the programming of the secret values in off-shore ODMs may encounter a security issue as the secret values are in plaintext (Al Hawtin, Embedded Technology Journal). DRM has many advantages such as one can make more investment in digital content. Digital copies are perfect no matter how many copies are to be made. Large corporations are not the only creators of content.The Internet provides low -cost distribution network globally from which thousands of software producers get advantage. Strong DRM ensures a revenue stream at lower rate. Furthermore, good DRM means more legal free media, and lower prices. (John Carroll, 2002ZDNet). Even though DRM has many positive aspects and it is legally protected, it is always a matter of argument. Debate over the issues of fair use and DRM at the 12th annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy (CFP) conference in San Francisco summarizes that it is too early in this period of technological modernization to begin locking down digital content.Peter Jaszi, law professor at American University's Washington College of Law referred to copyright holders' attempts to keep tight control over their digital content, such as some record companies' moves to distribute DRM-protected CDs that cannot be played on more than one device. But even more threatening to fair-use advocates is proposed legislation introduced by Senator Ernest â€Å"Fritz† Ho llings, which aims to incorporate a built-in copyright protection measure in all consumer digital devices. Most speakers at CFP established that DRM was not the solution to the copyright difficulty.Many of the advocates agreed that DRM would be more successful in harmonizing the rights of user and copyright holders than would be legislation. Stefan Bechtold, a Stanford Law School fellow and author of a book on digital rights management, argued that even though DRM can slow down fair use and free speech, the technology is more progressive than law. It develops speedily and can be installed on an international level. According to Microsoft Security Architect Barbara Fox, DRM technologies make easy to secure the content and setting rules for consumer use but it is much more intricate to guarantee that users have fair use of that content.Further he noted that copyright law is vague when it comes to fair-use rights and DRM would be incapable to settle on whether a user should be able to use content under certain state of affairs (CNN). Even so many controversies, various industries like the entertainment industry, led primarily by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), are dynamically chasing DRM-friendly policy initiatives through federal legislation and regulations, the courts and standards organizations.Music and movies have grabbed most of the headlines around digital rights management (DRM). The â€Å"killer app† for enterprise DRM is document management, primarily for purposes of regulatory compliance. The relevant regulations include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOA). These laws require that the confidentiality and/or integrity of certain types of documents be protected (E.John Sebes, Mark Stamp, Pg: 52). DRM is computer code that can be embedded in music and video files to dictate how th ese files are used. The best-known example is the music Apple Computer sells at its iTunes Music Store. Using a DRM system it invented called FairPlay, Apple has engineered its songs, at the insistence of the record companies, so that they can be played only on a maximum of five computers, which means that one can burn only seven CDs containing the same play list of purchased tracks.In fact, obtaining relatively liberal DRM rules from the labels was the key to Apple's success in selling music. But some other uses of DRM technology are not so benevolent. Some CD buyers are discovering to their dismay that new releases from certain record companies contain DRM code that makes it difficult to copy the songs to their computers, where millions prefer to keep their music.People who buy online music in Microsoft's Windows Media format too often run into the DRM error message â€Å"unable to obtain license† when try to transfer the songs to a music player. The theft of intellectual p roperty on the Internet is a real problem. Millions of copies of songs, TV shows and movies are being distributed over the Internet by people who have no legal right to do so, robbing media companies and artists of rightful compensation for their work (WALTER S.MOSSBERG, 2005). The premier provider of smart mobile content retailing solutions, announced the U. S. Patents and Trademarks Office has issued the company a patent in the area of mobile content and applications Digital Rights Management (DRM). To sum up, DRM standardization is now taking place in a number of open businesses. Digital Rights Management is rising as an alarming new confronts, and it is necessary for DRM systems to provide interoperable services.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

To Put It Bluntly . . .

To Put It Bluntly . . . To Put It Bluntly . . . To Put It Bluntly . . . By Maeve Maddox Adam Rubock asks for a discussion of the difference between saying something bluntly, and blatantly saying something. The word blunt came into the language around 1200 with the meaning â€Å"dull, obtuse.† At that time a â€Å"blunt person† would have been a stupid person. In the 1580s blunt took on the meaning â€Å"abrupt of speech or manner.† This is closer to the way we use the word now. The third definition of blunt given by the OED is â€Å"Rudely; without ceremony or delicacy; abruptly, curtly.† When we say that so-and-so is â€Å"blunt,† we mean that the person puts thoughts into words without regard to the sensibilities of listeners or readers. In speaking of an object, such as a â€Å"blunt sword† or a â€Å"blunt instrument,† the sense is still â€Å"dull† or â€Å"not sharp.† blatant The OED gives these definitions of blatant: Of persons or their words: Noisy; offensively or vulgarly clamorous; bellowing. Clamorous, making itself heard. In recent usage; obtrusive to the eye (rather than to the ear as in orig. senses); glaringly or defiantly conspicuous; palpably prominent or obvious. According the Etymology Online Dictionary, the word blatant was coined by Sir Edmund Spenser in The Faerie Queen: to describe a thousand-tongued monster representing slander; probably suggested by L. blatire to babble. In the 1650s blatant came to mean â€Å"noisy in an offensive and vulgar way.† The current sense of â€Å"obvious, glaringly conspicuous† is from 1889. Both words are popular on the web. Blatant seems to be associated with the act of lying in particular. A search for â€Å"blatant lie† gets 136,000 hits. â€Å"Blatant liar† gets 83,400 hits. The cliche â€Å"to put it bluntly† gets 4,860,000 hits. 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical WordsPeople versus PersonsHyphenation in Compound Nouns

Monday, October 21, 2019

Huck Finn and Intruder in the Dust essays

Huck Finn and Intruder in the Dust essays Mark Twain and William Faulkner write completely different ways than each other. One is a very humorous writer that brings up many issues most people would never bring up. He fills his works with social satire and makes fun of all different types of writing from almost every era before his time. Mark Twain criticizes hypocrites, racists, aristocrats and any other category of person. The other of the two is unlike any other; his unconscious writing is full of information about the conflicts in the south at a trying time period. He tells his novels from so many different points of view and ties it all into one story. Although the stream-of-conscience writing he did is hard to follow it can be deciphered and thoroughly understood and is now greatly respected. The two had very different writing styles but wrote about the same problems from the south and what was affected. Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and William Faulkner in Intruder in the Dust show that racism and st ereotyping can blind people to the truth. Racial stereotyping causes groups of white people to accuse a black man of murder without knowing the facts. Jim, a black slave, is accused of murdering Huck Finn, a white orphan, by Hucks guardians. Jim decides to leave town and escape from slavery so he will have a better chance to free his family. The same night Huck eludes his abusive father for fear of his safety. Both he and Huck are in terrible situations that they feel they need to get out of for their own good. Jim is going to be sold down river to New Orleans for eight hundred dollars and Huck is trapped in his fathers cabin where he is taking on physical, emotional and mental abuse. Finn fakes his death with and elaborate plan and leaves town at the same time Jim escapes his plantation and makes his way to Jacksons island where he meets Huck for the first time. Huck asks, ...how long you been on the island, Jim?...I come heah d...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Has it Gotten Desperate

Has it Gotten Desperate It is funny how emails from readers serve as prompts for each weeks editorial thoughts, and this week is no exception. Received a question from an indie author who asked me where he could obtain statistics on how much money indie writers make. BookScan and other entities attempt to monitor traditional sales (not that they get it correct, but they try), but he felt there had to be something somewhere monitoring the same for indie. Then he gave me his statistics, and how low they were. A friend of mine told me one of his bestsellers sold 300 copies. That was eye-opener for me, because I honestly thought someone in his position would do better than that. I started self-publishing in late 2009 and have put out 23 books. Ive sold 2917 copies for a total of $5793.73. This averages $1.98 a copy. Im personally committed to print books, but probably 75 percent of all my sales are ebooks. This also averages to about 126 copies of each of my 23 titles. However, I can say I have one book which clearly outsells the others and accounts for about 85 percent of all my sales. I love writing short stories (I cant seem to write novels) but readers arent captivated Whats happening these days is that writers dont sell as many books because there are so many books out there. There are also so many tools popping up to advertise books for FREE, 99 cents and $1.99. Daily and weekly publications tell you were all the secret best deals are. So: 1) Readers expect to pay less for books than they used to. 2) Writers receive less money and feel they have to write more to take up the slack. 3) That puts even more books out there, so readers dont know what to buy and they stick to lists. 4) The lists start charging for appearances in their lists. The spiral continues. It used to be that writers had to have three to four books to be a success. Now its closer to ten. And after attending a recent mystery conference, Im learning that the serious writer has two dozen or more. My suggested solution? 1) Dont forget traditional publishing. They still get your name out to more regions. 2) When indie publishing, pump serious attention into quality, to include financial investment. 3) Dont forget to write well. Dont shortchange your craft for quantity. 4) Be patient, keep writing, and know that this phase will change for another. Dont let it freak you out. New indie authors do not make money. Those that do have been busting their asses for a long time. Nobody is an overnight success. So keep on keeping on. Only the diligent survive this business.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Reflection paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Reflection paper - Essay Example Both artists are generally considered to play music under the Pop rock genre. Aside from this shared quality, the two musicians differ greatly in almost everything else from their style of music, their portrayals in music videos, their album covers and even their live performances (â€Å"Jason Mraz† n. pag.; â€Å"Katy Perry† n. pag.). Jason Mraz was born on March 23, 1977 and started his career singing at various coffee shops in San Diego where he released his first acoustic album, â€Å"Live at Java Joe’s,† last 2001. Since then, he has made 9 award-winning albums up to his current album, â€Å"Love is a Four Letter Word.† Over a little more than a decade, he has accumulated two Grammy Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, and was the â€Å"Artist of the Year† in the San Diego Music Awards for three consecutive years, while garnering many nominations in between (â€Å"Jason Mraz† n. pag.). As a performer, Jason Mraz tends to present himself simply, relying on his music and wit to liven up a performance. During his live performances, he likes to joke and share his ideas with his audience in between songs. In his album covers, he is usually portrayed simply on the street, in a hallway or a simple caricature of himself. His minimalist presentation seems to invite the listener to skip the album cover and go ahead to the music. In his music videos, he is usually portrayed playing a guitar and singing in various locations in casual clothes. This seems to give him the image of an artist that is ‘all about the music’ by not adding so much glamour to his performances. His stereotype is that of a laid back coffee shop musician that makes his music quite easy to listen to. Katy Perry was born as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984, and started out as a gospel singer when she released her first self-titled album of Christian songs in 2001 at the age of 15. Her second album, â€Å"One of the Boys† last 2008, had a more â€Å"Pop† feel to her

Friday, October 18, 2019

Implications of the 2012 US elections for the policy making bodies in Essay

Implications of the 2012 US elections for the policy making bodies in the US federal government - Essay Example Furthermore, the analysis will seek to at least minimally explain to what extent the election results have impressed upon the shareholders (inclusive of the President and legislators) of the need to either seek compromise or push single-mindedly towards a highly partisan solution to each and every issue that may face them in the coming years leading up to the next election. As a means to understand this, the key changes that have been effected before and after the November 2012 election will be analyzed. Due to the intrinsically liked nature of the way that the Electoral College and the popular vote within a given state or region is linked, the two have a way of tracking with one another; albeit representing two somewhat different variants (Brown 419). For instance, the 2012 presidential election saw Mr. Romney accrue around 47% of the popular vote and carry 23 states whereas President Obama obtained 51% of the vote and carried 27 states. This of course translated to a victory for Pr esident Obama and the subsequent plurality of Electoral College votes that propelled him to re-election. Naturally, as compared to the two other forms of election results which will herein be discussed, the election for president does not have the same level of nuance. For instance, the overall total number of states won is not important; overall victory of course is. Unlike the Senate or the House of Representatives where an increasing number of seats gives another party a proportionate increase in the power it yields within such a chamber, the victory of the president is less nuanced. In this way, the overall nature of whether the president won in a landslide or won election by a very small margin matters little for the direction that the given president might chose to pursue policy goals and implementation within his term. Of course this is not to say that a first term president will not be mindful of the extent to which he experiences broad based support; quite the contrary. Rat her, it is merely meant to serve as an indication that the presidential election is a much different type of election than those which take place to make up the two houses of legislature. With respect to the Senate, a great deal of change was not incorporated as a result of the election results of 2012. For instance, the 2012 elections incrementally bettered the Democratic position in the Senate by increasing their majority by two seats (53 as compared to 51 previously), it did not provide a fundamental shift in power such as would allow either party to approach issues from a primarily different method of action. Conversely, the result of the US House of Representatives was somewhat different than the result that has thus far been discussed in the Senate. Compared to the last election, the Republicans lost 8 seats to settle at 234 whereas the Democrats of course picked up these 8 seats to settle their total at 201. This of course combined to ensure that the Republican party still ma intained a majority within the House; however, it is of course not a super majority or one that can be used in concert with the Democratically controlled Senate to affect any real level of partisan goals. With respect to the overall policy implications that the aforementioned situation is likely to entail, it will necessarily be a divergence from

Draper Engineering case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Draper Engineering case study - Essay Example Usually, the conditions in the organizational environment – internal and external – influence the potentials of the organization for growth. At this point, the ability of organizational leaders to introduce strategies that will help the firm to increase its competitiveness is critical. Current paper focuses on the examination of the performance of Draper Engineering, a firm operating in the automotive and transport industry. The SWOT analysis is used as a strategic tool in order to identify the firm’s advantages and weaknesses and to check whether its potentials within the particular industry are significant or not. Moreover, the relationship between the firm and its contractors is reviewed and evaluated; measures are also suggested so that the above relationship to be improved, as possible, taking into consideration the current market conditions and the resources available. It is concluded that, currently, the performance of the organization is characterized by a series of failures; the introduction of certain policies, as suggested below, can help the organizational performance to be improved, even in the long term. 2. Draper Engineering – SWOT analysis – improvement of weaknesses 2.1 SWOT analysis In order to understand the current status of the firm in terms of its performance, it would be necessary to develop a SWOT analysis. The specific technique helps to identify a firm’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The advantage of the specific technique is that its elements are not standardized – only their classification in the four above categories needs to have the particular format (Analoui et al. 2003). Otherwise, a variety of organizational characteristics and elements can be included in the specific analysis – depending on the information provided by the organization and the market conditions, which can lead to different assumptions on a firm’s potentials for growth (Burtonshaw -Gunn 2009). For instance, for a specific organization, outsourcing can be a competitive advantage (when the technology used by the firm’s partner is significant and the increase of the firm’s productivity is important); however, for another firm outsourcing may be a weakness, when the contribution of the contractor in the increase of the firm’s performance is quite low while the costs of outsourcing are high. From this point of view, the SWOT analysis of Draper Engineering will be based on the information available but also on the expected performance of the firm in accordance with the current market performance – in other words, the potentials of a firm of this size within the specific industry would be considered as a standard – minimum – of performance which the firm should reach. If it is proved that such performance is not achieved, then the causes for this outcome will be identified and evaluated. The SWOT analysis of the particular o rganization could be developed as follows: a) Strengths The firm operates in the automotive and transport industry, a sector with many perspectives, if taking into consideration the level of the use of its products in markets worldwide. Moreover, the products of the firm are not quite common in the market; in accordance with the case study the firm focuses on the production of ‘drive shafts and track rods’ (case study, p.1) for the particular industry. This means that the firm has two significant advantages: it is part of an industry which has an important presence in the global market and

Compare and contrast Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Compare and contrast - Assignment Example powerful customer base, great expertise in recommendation software, and opportunities to market through cross-selling† (Furtado, Grosman, & de Souza, n.d., p. 2). Despite its failure to dominate the net, Microsoft still has much strength to sustain competition. Aside from being the most globally recognizable brand, it has a diverse and talented workforce, a good reputation as an employer, and its own online network division (Hafner & Hibert, 2001). Although they have different strengths and products, Amazon and Microsoft share the same market which makes competition inevitable. However, both companies can fare better if they cooperate. First, it would increase the exposure and scope of Amazon products. Secondly, it would provide Microsoft with more assets (e.g. in music retail) and prevent companies like Apple from dominating their respective markets. More importantly, Amazon and Microsoft are more like complimentary companies than competitors. For example, Microsoft could provide the software to Amazon’s Kindle (Perlow, 2010).On the part of the consumers, however, such partnership may not be beneficial. As in traditional trade, online commerce can be monopolized. Monopolies can dictate the online market to their advantage, just as in the case of Google whose â€Å"new formats†¦increase expenses for advertisers† (Edwards, 2010). Scenarios like that would trigger a domino effect that would eventually burden

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Summary of strategic strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Summary of strategic strategy - Essay Example For instance, Apple has gone through three different versions of the iPhone, each time introducing new capabilities into the product. Therefore, new technology can continuously be integrated into the product. In the past five years, they have tripled their sales. Although this has occurred with the return of Jobs at the helm of Apple Jobs, like Apple, believes that innovation is very important when it comes to new products. The idea of the iphone came when Apple realized how much most and individuals did not like their cell phones. Apple saw an opportunity to make a great phone that everybody would want to use again and again. This is often how Apple comes up with ideas for products. They see an opening in the market and decide to make the best product possible to fit in with that need. Apple believes in making sure all of its products are excellent. Furthermore, Apple wishes to inspire its employees by letting them know that they can do things the Apple they would not be able to do anywhere else. Apple also believes in hiring the best people in order to give them a piece of the business and the thin do as they please with it. They want their employees to make excellent decisions and contribute to the company overall. Furthermore, Apple police and always working hard are in hard are to make the best products possible. ... Book Analysis: Our textbook describes a company's importance as far as setting goals is concerned. It can be argued that Apple definitely sets goals, but unlike the structures presented in the book, they tend to use their own approach. As mentioned in the article analysis, Apple likes to find an area and the market that one could consider a whole. When the fullest discovered, Apple then dressed of formal product that will fill that need. The Iphone has been the perfect example of this. As Apple realize people were generally unhappy with their cell phones, they set the goal of coming up with a better cell phone.When Apple sets a goal, they tend to stick with the school. They do not tend to diversify, which is against many of the ideas presented in the textbook. Apple has found that by concentrating on a few products they are better able to meet their consumers happy. Apple believes that diversification will make them spread themselves too thin, and therefore, their products will not be as good or a successful.The book also mentions that the company should agree on performance measures. Apple however says that likes to hire people who are never satisfied. Apple's sphere of satisfaction comes with the fact that they believe satisfaction may reduce one's ability to perform or set better goals. Therefore, they strive to do better and better no matter how good their performance measures currently are. This information conflicts with the information that is presented in the book.One item of the book that Apple does agree with is the concept of making business strategies flexible. This can be seen with the various concepts that had been

Health history and discharge. (Alterations in Pulmonary and Kidney Essay

Health history and discharge. (Alterations in Pulmonary and Kidney Function) - Essay Example This has caused her health to decline significantly as evidence by her steep loss of weight within a short time. Though Sallie has most of the medicine she is required to take. The visit revealed that she was missing crucial medicine which she only got some time back. As this medicine was also crucial for her recovery, the absence of it could show why her state of health was deteriorating over time. Sallie lacks somebody to take care of her at home. To ensure she eats well and takes her medication as and when it is to be taken. Her daughter works long hours so is unable to do this. This problem is evidenced by her missing some important medication that she ought to have had from the beginning. Sallie is lonely in her house where she lives alone, her daughter, Thelma Jean is a full-time employee in town and rarely visits. She also misses her late husband who she describes as a jolly man who used to love and make her

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Summary of strategic strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Summary of strategic strategy - Essay Example For instance, Apple has gone through three different versions of the iPhone, each time introducing new capabilities into the product. Therefore, new technology can continuously be integrated into the product. In the past five years, they have tripled their sales. Although this has occurred with the return of Jobs at the helm of Apple Jobs, like Apple, believes that innovation is very important when it comes to new products. The idea of the iphone came when Apple realized how much most and individuals did not like their cell phones. Apple saw an opportunity to make a great phone that everybody would want to use again and again. This is often how Apple comes up with ideas for products. They see an opening in the market and decide to make the best product possible to fit in with that need. Apple believes in making sure all of its products are excellent. Furthermore, Apple wishes to inspire its employees by letting them know that they can do things the Apple they would not be able to do anywhere else. Apple also believes in hiring the best people in order to give them a piece of the business and the thin do as they please with it. They want their employees to make excellent decisions and contribute to the company overall. Furthermore, Apple police and always working hard are in hard are to make the best products possible. ... Book Analysis: Our textbook describes a company's importance as far as setting goals is concerned. It can be argued that Apple definitely sets goals, but unlike the structures presented in the book, they tend to use their own approach. As mentioned in the article analysis, Apple likes to find an area and the market that one could consider a whole. When the fullest discovered, Apple then dressed of formal product that will fill that need. The Iphone has been the perfect example of this. As Apple realize people were generally unhappy with their cell phones, they set the goal of coming up with a better cell phone.When Apple sets a goal, they tend to stick with the school. They do not tend to diversify, which is against many of the ideas presented in the textbook. Apple has found that by concentrating on a few products they are better able to meet their consumers happy. Apple believes that diversification will make them spread themselves too thin, and therefore, their products will not be as good or a successful.The book also mentions that the company should agree on performance measures. Apple however says that likes to hire people who are never satisfied. Apple's sphere of satisfaction comes with the fact that they believe satisfaction may reduce one's ability to perform or set better goals. Therefore, they strive to do better and better no matter how good their performance measures currently are. This information conflicts with the information that is presented in the book.One item of the book that Apple does agree with is the concept of making business strategies flexible. This can be seen with the various concepts that had been

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Module 5 Reflections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 5 Reflections - Essay Example The quiz was one of the most challenging compared to the ones done in the previous. This is ironical because, the module featured most of the concepts that had been approached in the previous modules. Therefore, even before engaging in the study I had assumed that I knew the concepts well. This assumption proved to be the challenge to the realization of a good mark in the test. One thing that I learnt through this is to be careful to internalize concepts while keeping track on revising so that I do not forget what has been previously learnt. Despite the quiz being challenging, I did not expect to miss a whole nine questions. The question that I would like the instructor to give further insight is on the distinction between triangulation and explanatory methods. The major area that proved challenging was n elucidating and comprehending the experimental designs. Of particular concern was the mixed methods design. I remember vividly, the lecturer talk about the rationale for mixing as well as the importance of research questions in the study. For the later, I understood how to frame it as well as its significance in a research. The research question provides is the puzzle that is unmasked after the research is concluded. Drawing a thick line between triangulation, exploratory and explanatory mixed designs was a major challenge especially in the quiz where I missed two of the questions that were meant to establish an understanding of these three designs. Though I have been able to understand the bit of what these mixed methods are about distinguishing them is an uphill task. On the other hand, I would like to raise the question on what is the need for mixing the designs. However, going through the text I found powerful insight on why qualitati ve data should be mixed with quantitative data. The most striking thing that clearly caught my attention and proved to be a simplistic concept in the

Monday, October 14, 2019

Technology Disaster Recovery Plan

Technology Disaster Recovery Plan   Jacob Malone Disaster Recovery-As-A-Service Companies are starting to rely more on technology for their critical operations, data protection, and the availability of their systems. As a result companies or providers are offering new solutions and services in order to make IT disaster recovery cheaper and stress-free. With so many options available for Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service it can be difficult to determine what your business actually needs. The main purpose of a disaster recovery plan is to have the ability to recover any of your hardware, software, and apps after disaster strikes. According to Dustin Bolander, CIO at Technology Pointe, With so many businesses being IT driven, often times business continuity cannot happen without IT having a solid DR plan. The biggest gap we run across is getting the business workforce access again. Many IT departments are prepared to recover servers and networks, but have not considered how to communicate and re-enable the staff to resume work (2017). DRaaS was developed due to the increased demand in technology and instability of disaster recovery. According to Doug Hazelman, Without a robust DR infrastructure, a fire, a flood, an earthquake or even a really bad storm could not only take a business offline, it could take it out completely (2017). When executed correctly, DRaaS is more than a safety net for your information and technology because your users never experience the disaster to begin with. DRaaS is the replication and hosting of physical and virtual servers to a second location, either to a second appliance or the cloud, which is usually located in a distant second site. In the event of a man-made or natural catastrophe, those replicated systems and data can be booted and accessed. According to Rohde and Haskett (1990), disaster recovery encompasses four distint phases: prevention, prerecovery, immediate recovery, and return to normal operations (p. 652). At some point servers, operating systems, and networks will fail and that is when DRaaS will be vital in continuing business operations. When it comes to Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service there are three types to choose from: Self Service DRaaS, Assisted DRaaS, and Managed DRaaS. The Self Service DRaaS model gives you the tools to establish a disaster recovery plan yourself. This means you are solely responsible for monitoring the recovery environments as well as deciding how often to test to ensure the solutions are working appropriately. For example, when a disaster happens your IT team is exclusively responsible for the recovery. This model comes with the lowest investment option, but comes with the tradeoff of time and resources to manage them. In addition, this model is best suited for a business that has internal disaster recovery expertise and enough bandwidth to manage the recovery environment. A second option to the Self Service DRaaS is the Assisted DRaaS. In this model a provider will advise you as you implement, test and manage your solutions. You are still responsible for your disaster recovery plan like in the Self Service model, but a DRaaS provider is standing by if their assistance is needed. Although you are still responsible for your disaster recovery plan a DRaaS provider may step in if IT team members are unavailable to help with failover in case of an emergency or disaster. This option is more expensive than the Self Service model, but it is still cheaper than the Managed model. This model is best for organizations that have IT assets, but are looking for addition help to provide direction and support with a DRaaS solution. Lastly, few providers offer this solution and will not offer a recovery SLA, meaning you are ultimately responsible for the recovery during an emergency or disaster. The third and final DRaaS solution is a Managed model. In this model the vendor or provider is responsible for the development, testing, and management of your disaster recovery plan. They will manage nearly every aspect of your recovery plan in order for the team to focus on the companies priorities. When disaster strikes the Managed DRaaS provider provides and supports the recovery process. This model provides a larger investment than a Self Service or Assisted model, but it provides the highest level of support and surety that the disaster recovery plan will meet the companies needs. Organizations with high demand for IT teams involved in the tactical operations of their business should use this model. Furthermore, this model will come with a SLA from the provider to ensure they will be responsible for the recovery in case of an event or disaster. In order to best understand the replication and backups of DRaaS it is best to picture it on a hot to cold map. This meaning that the hotter the solution the faster the recovery will have. For example, it a solution is hot then the system could be restored in a matter of minutes versus days on the other end of the spectrum. Another thing to consider when looking at a hot solution is the investment. The hotter the solution typically equates to a larger investment. When choosing a solution it is best to find one that balances the needs of your applications to the cost and timeliness of your recovery. The cheapest recovery option on the scale would be backups. According to Wu and Li (2014), it is a process that copies all or part of data from one hard disk to another storage medium (p. 1207). They are often disconnected from running technology and can be retrieved in order to restore system applications. Since these data backups are housed in a physical form like a tape or disk, there will be a large increase in downtime to identify and restore the system. This system typically does not offer the most up to date recovery solution, but they do offer a great long term solution for data preservation for a low cost. If a companies needing a faster recovery timeline then replication would be the best solution. While backups store information for long periods of time, replication will duplicate data as changes in the environment occur. According to Margaret Rouse, The result is a distributed database in which users can access data relevant to their tasks without interfering with the work of others. The implementation of database replication for the purpose of eliminating data ambiguity or inconsistency among users is known as normalization (2012). This option will allow you to quickly access recent changes to your data during a disaster, but it is not meant for long term retention. Real-Time Replication vs. Backup-Based Replication Provides recovery in seconds or minutes Records full environment Tracks Changes as they occur in the environment Reports changes on regular basis (typically once a day) Enables failback to earlier version if needed Table 1 You should not have to scramble in the event that disaster strikes. For every minute your business is down it is losing revenue and reputation. That is why it is best to approach disaster recovery from the viewpoint of disaster avoidance. With this in mind the term IT Availability has emerged. IT Availability differs in several ways from Disaster Recovery. IT Availability recognizes how IT and businesses depend on each other whereas Disaster Recovery views technology in a boxed perspective. Disaster Recovery Focus vs. IT Availability Focus Invest in an insurance policy Invest in ability to serve clients React to downtime and events Be proactive to minimize risk Rely on backups to store data Failover and failback to ensure service Recover anywhere from hours-days Recover in minutes to hours Emphasis on technical infrastructure Emphasis on serving end users Develop minimal process and reporting Process-driven and documented Emphasis on avoiding catastrophes Emphasis on continuous improvement Table 2 With the increased need of Disaster Recovery and the customer demand for uptime, many companies struggle implementing an effective solution before a disaster impacts them directly. According to 2016 Cost of Data Center Outage: Ponemon Institute, it is indicated that just one minute of downtime could cost a company nearly $8,000, but with a proactive approach to disaster recovery could equate to a substantial cost savings. DRaaS can be an effective solution to combat downtime and achieve IT availability. If approached in the right way, it can provide comprehensive proof of recovery to stakeholders and most importantly, increase your availability during an event. Quite simply, the success of your business depends heavily on both DR and BC plans working in conjunction. Most of todays network outages dont occur because of weather-related incidents, but because of human error. Its crucial that companies plan for the full gamut of events that could likely, and unlikely, impact their operations. In conclusion, DRaaS can increase you uptime and cost savings when disaster unexpectedly strikes. It is essentially insurance for your business. References Bolander, D. (2017). Disaster Recovery vs. Business Continuity. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.bluelock.com/practical-guide-to-draas/disaster-recovery-vs-business-continuity/ Guster, D., Lee, O. (2012). Outsourcing and replication considerations in disaster recovery planning. Disaster Prevention Management, 21(2), pp. 172-183. Hazelman, D. (2017). What is Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.bluelock.com/practical-guide-to-draas/what-is-draas/ Rhode, R., Haskett, J. (1990). Disaster recovery planning for academic computing centers. Communications of the ACM, 652-657(33), pp. 1207-1210. Rouse, M. (2012, April). What is database replication? Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/definition/database-replication Wu, Z., Li, H. (2014). Analysis of data backup and recovery system. Applied Mechanics Materials, 631-632, pp. 1207-1210.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Religion as a Gothic Element in American Romanticism Essay -- Romantici

Religion as a Gothic Element in American Romanticism American Romanticism can be strongly defined through its use of Gothic elements. Webster’s defines gothic as "of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents" (529). Pre-American Romantic writers, such as Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, do not tend towards the gothic in their writings of religion and religious elements. Although God is mysterious to both writers, they maintain certain characteristics and aspects expected of them and their religion. They keep their texts true to their beliefs. However, Mary Rowlandson begins a transition phase for the writers of this period. She begins to view God and religion in a darker and /more mysterious manner. By the time James Fenimore Cooper is writing, he blurs religion between two different religions. The Christian and the Indian God becomes mixed, along with their heaven. Whereas the earlier writers tend to understand and accept their Go d, the writers in the American Romantic period re-create their God adding a gothic twist to their religion and beliefs. Anne Bradstreet believes if she lives her life the way God meant her to live it, things will work out fine for her. She writes, "About 16, the Lord laid His hand sore upon me and smote me with the smallpox. When I was in my affliction, I besought the Lord and confessed my pride and vanity, and He was entreated of me and again restored me" (145). Bradstreet has a traditional view about God. She believes if she lives her life as a good person, she will be rewarded for it. If she lives her life full of pride and vanity, then she will pay the consequences. The good and just are rewarded ... ...us. Cora and Uncas end up together. There is the traditional romantic ending of riding off into the sunset, but into a Heaven which accepts both Indians and whites equally, adding elements of the gothic. Works Cited Bradstreet, Anne. "To My Dear Children." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 1999. 144-147. Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. New York: Viking Penguin Inc, 1986. Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 1999. 200-211. "Gothic." Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1991 ed. Rowlandson, Mary. "A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 1999. 148-164.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Computers In Business :: essays research papers

Computers In Business - ------------------------- In the business world today, computers and the software applications that run on them basically control a well organized business. Every major company is equipped with a computer, or network that connects through different branches throughout the firm. Computer Hardware: To keep up with the fastest technology that dominates the market is to be a sensible buyer. A system can be outdated in a matter of two years time. Software applications based on today's needs require more hard disk space and speed to run efficiently. The most powerful system would be the 586 machine which was developed in November, 1992. The space required on a business system depends on the firm. If a company has a network, their memory would range on the applications required to run the system productively. A one to three gigabyte hard drive would be most common for businesses. To keep these applications on the computer, you need a fair amount of RAM memory as well as hard disk space. An application developed in 1993, probably will be to powerful and run quite slow on a previous system that was 'top of the line' in 1991. That's why it is important for companies to understand that they must think years down the road before spending thousands of dollars on the technology of today. The best way is to prepare for the future such as making sure your mainframe is upgradeable and contains at least 8 expansion slots, which should already be loaded with enhanced graphics cards, the necessary amount of serial ports etc.. Networks are everywhere in the world of business. A network is a series of computers throughout the company which rely on one or two fileservers. Or it can be used in long distance communication through modem. An example would be that a company located in Calgary can call up its other branch in Toronto via modem, also able to up and download valuable files or records. Networks have their disadvantages also. Computer viruses are always present somewhere in a disk or computer system ready to strike. If an over powering, destructive virus enters a network system, all data can be severely damaged or lost completely. That's why there is back-up drives to store existing data that is written onto the disk each day. Anti virus programs are there to alert the user and wipe the virus off the system before it does any destruction to the data stored on the network. As far as practicality and mobility is concerned, the laptop has been around for quite a long time. A laptop computer is a Computers In Business :: essays research papers Computers In Business - ------------------------- In the business world today, computers and the software applications that run on them basically control a well organized business. Every major company is equipped with a computer, or network that connects through different branches throughout the firm. Computer Hardware: To keep up with the fastest technology that dominates the market is to be a sensible buyer. A system can be outdated in a matter of two years time. Software applications based on today's needs require more hard disk space and speed to run efficiently. The most powerful system would be the 586 machine which was developed in November, 1992. The space required on a business system depends on the firm. If a company has a network, their memory would range on the applications required to run the system productively. A one to three gigabyte hard drive would be most common for businesses. To keep these applications on the computer, you need a fair amount of RAM memory as well as hard disk space. An application developed in 1993, probably will be to powerful and run quite slow on a previous system that was 'top of the line' in 1991. That's why it is important for companies to understand that they must think years down the road before spending thousands of dollars on the technology of today. The best way is to prepare for the future such as making sure your mainframe is upgradeable and contains at least 8 expansion slots, which should already be loaded with enhanced graphics cards, the necessary amount of serial ports etc.. Networks are everywhere in the world of business. A network is a series of computers throughout the company which rely on one or two fileservers. Or it can be used in long distance communication through modem. An example would be that a company located in Calgary can call up its other branch in Toronto via modem, also able to up and download valuable files or records. Networks have their disadvantages also. Computer viruses are always present somewhere in a disk or computer system ready to strike. If an over powering, destructive virus enters a network system, all data can be severely damaged or lost completely. That's why there is back-up drives to store existing data that is written onto the disk each day. Anti virus programs are there to alert the user and wipe the virus off the system before it does any destruction to the data stored on the network. As far as practicality and mobility is concerned, the laptop has been around for quite a long time. A laptop computer is a

Friday, October 11, 2019

Choosing your theorist and theory

Much research and thought has been put into our school's programs to meet the needs of many diverse learners. Throughout time, theorists have developed any theories that we, as educators, continue to use to this day. Thanks to their contributions, we have been provided with the best educational tools to cultivate young minds today. Every educator has their own opinion as to what theory they think is best. After reading various theories, there is one in particular that I truly believe to be the most beneficial which is The Behaviorism Theory. Behaviorism theory, also now as behavioral psychology Is a theory of learning based upon the Idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning† (Cherry, 2011 B. F Skinner and John B. Watson are the two creators of the behaviorism theory. They stated that development included learned behaviors. These learned behaviors are based on positive and negative experiences within their everyday environments. Every action has a consequence. I think that's a way to look at the way children learn over time.For example; when I was teaching at a different Children's Center, here was a little girl who would cry nonstop till I or someone else picked her up. We believed that at her house, the minute she cried, someone would be there instantly to pick her up. She never learned how to self soothe and knew that crying would get her the attention she wanted. She learned this behavior at home and brought it to school with her, thinking it would also work there. She had never been taught that crying wasn't a way to get what you want. It was our responsibility at school to break that habit.Instead, I would say directly to her, kneeling down to be on her level, â€Å"I will elk to you when you use your words and big girl evolve to tell me what you want†. Over time, she learned that crying wasn't getting her the attention she wanted. She decided to take the approach I offered her instead. This ultimately worked out the best for e veryone involved, her parents included. It was a learned behavior. This is what B. F Skinner defined as Operant Conditioning; which is â€Å"The behavior is followed by a consequence and the nature of the consequences modifies the organisms' tendency to repeat the behavior In the future† (Before, 2000).Operant conditioning can also be used for a positive behavior as well. There was a little boy I recently anatine for, his parents were ready to begin potty training him and they weren't sure how to go about it. After they thought it over, they decided to go about it with a rewards approach. If the little boy sat on the potty for 3 minutes, he'd receive a piece of candy. After a few attempts at sitting on the potty, he caught on. Sit on the potty, get a piece of candy. Then, the trick was to get him to actually go while sitting. When he affably went, Mom was clapping and praising him.He was so happy! She continued praising helm every time he went and he Is now fully potty traine d. Positive reinforcement was key in this situation. This is what's known as â€Å"Continuous Reinforcement†. I truly believe in being a constructive, firm, respectful and motivating educator. Providing a child with an environment full of positive reinforcements and consequences encourages the children to continuously strive to do their best. It children listened really well during circle time, they'll get extra time on the laggardly that afternoon.I believe that children learn in their own ways and grow at different rates. I believe that providing a hands on approach to learning is key in a child's development. There are 5 developmental domains that we as educators really focus on. These domains are physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social development. These different domains can be easily remembered as PILES. There are many ways to help children develop in each of these domains. For example, having age appropriate toys ND activities readily available can help their intellectual and physical domains.I feel that it's important to provide a stimulating environment for children to grow and develop emotionally, socially, and intellectually. Our classroom gives you child the opportunity to learn on many different levels. We provide age appropriate books, crayons, paper, and art activities to help create your child's language development. We encourage the children in our class to work together as a team and form friendships among their peers. By doing this, we are helping develop their social and motional skills.We have full access to our playground as well as our multi-purpose room for all our physical activities. We take advantage of our playground and being outside on a daily basis to keep our kids active and healthy! My classroom is a place where children can laugh and learn throughout the entire day. I feel that applying the theories many educators have set forth helps us provide the best education possible for today's youth. Children are our future and it is our responsibility to help them become the best person they can be.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Annotated Bibliography on William Shakespeares “Hamlet” Essay

Other artists represent the dramatic structures, terms, images and characters from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet by portraying the exact emotion of the play. They act out a good representation of the spiritual experience in visual terms. The students vision studies and its importance in writings on aesthetics and representation. Adams, Joseph Quincy, â€Å"Arrival in London. † A Life of William Shakespeare. S. I: Houghton, 1923: 126-128. There were three classes of persons at the playhouse besides musicians. There were sharers, hirelings, and servants. The â€Å"sharers† were the most important actors. According to their merits, they enjoyed either half-sharers or whole-sharers as indicated by Hamlet. Below the sharers in rank were the â€Å"hirelings† who did not profit by large takings of the theatre. The third and final class, the servants, was the prompters, stagehands, property keepers, and caretakers. Chute, Marchette, â€Å"Hamlet. † Stories from Shakespeare. Cleveland: World, 1956: 157-160 Hamlet is perhaps one of the most famous of all of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is known all over the world and has kept a compelling fascination wherever it goes. The hero is so real and his dilemma is very basic to human living that people in every country recognize him. Hamlet is not only the most brilliant of the tragedies but one of the saddest. It is the saddest tragedy because the hero is not destroyed or killed by any evil in his nature but by kind misplaced good. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, â€Å" Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and other English Poets. † Online. Internet. Available: http://shakespearean. org. uk/haml-col. htm. (6 February 2004) Hamlet’s character is the prevalence of the abstracting and generalizing habit over the practical. He does not want courage, skill, will, or opportunity; but every incident sets him thinking; and it is curious, and at the same time strictly natural, that Hamlet, who all the play seems reason itself, should be impelled, at last, by mere accident, to effect his object. Lamb, Gregory M. â€Å"A sweet, gentle, inspired Hamlet. † Christian Science Monitor: 20 April 2001. (6 February 2004). T. S. Eliot called Hamlet the â€Å"Mona Lisa of Literature†. No matter how hard we look at the play, it never yields all its secrets. We have become fascinated by it. This being Shakespeare, a ripping good story unfolds, of course, from the moment a creepy ghost walks the castle’s parapet on through murders, suicide, and enough plot twist and complex relationships for any soap-opera fan. This is all topped with a dramatic sword fight. Hamlet is no Bruce Willis tale of an action hero on a payback mission. â€Å"Shakespeare† Britannica, 1989 During Shakespeare’s early career dramatists sold their play to an actor company, who then takes charge of them, prepared working prompt books, and did whatever it takes to make sure other companies did not take their work. This way they could exploit the play itself for as long as it drew an audience. Some plays did get published into smaller books called quartos. Hamlet quartos are a good example of plays that were pirated or bad text. â€Å"Shakespeare, William† The World Book Encyclopedia, 1979 Shakespeare wrote his greatest tragedies during the third period (1601-1608) of his artistic development. Of all the tragedy plays, Hamlet has to be the most dramatic and saddest of all the plays. The role of Hamlet in particular is considered one of the theater’s greatest acting challenges. Shakespeare focused the play on the deep conflict within the thoughtful and idealistic Hamlet as he is torn between the demands of his emotions and the hesitant skepticism of his mind. Thorndike, Ashley Horace. Shakespeare’s Theater. New York: The MacMillian Company, 1916:246-251. Records of court performance are abundant and descriptions of performances of traveling actors before noble or king may be found in Hamlet. The traditions and standards of acting accumulated by a generation of practice before an increasing audience. This made the play more exciting to watch every time it was portrayed.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Peer Pressure Essay

Introduction Peer pressure is a social influence exerted on an individual by others in order to get that person to act or believe in a similar way. It is used by a social group, often with the implication that â€Å"everybody’s doing it. † This influence can be negative or positive, with a successful result being a change in a person’s behavior. Nearly all children experience some form of peer pressure, whether at school, at church or at home among siblings. As a kind of social pressure, it dominates preteen life. Many teens become absorbed into different cliques and groups, spending less time with their families. Much of the personality of a teen can be shaped by a peer group. Negative peer pressure can be a dangerous tool against children, especially younger or insecure children. They may be persuaded to take actions they might otherwise not have considered, such as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Peer pressure is a problem for adults, who may be coerced, for example, into buying a house or car they can’t afford in an effort to â€Å"keep up with the Joneses. † Peer pressure is not always negative, however. A student whose friends excel in academics may be compelled to study hard and get good grades. Influence can also be exerted to get a friend off drugs or to help an adult take up a good habit or drop a bad one. Study groups, class projects and athletic groups are examples of positive peer groups. Why I chose the topic – I decided to chose this topic because in the Indian Education System children experience a sudden thrust of freedom and responsibility to shape their future at the same time. In such cases, they can either be well-guided or mis-guided. Peer pressure may also lead to stress and anxiety. Teens have a multitude of issues that can cause them anxiety. The two major settings for this peer pressure teen stress are in their home lives and in the college setting. The stressors are many and diverse. Their feelings can be affected by some of the issues listed below: * The feelings that others and also inside themselves tell them they should do and how they should perform. * Peer pressure teen stress is also caused by the way they feel they are viewed by adults in the college setting. * The peer pressure teen stress to perform in the grades and work they do. * Problems with socializing with other teens. Problems at home with family members. * Having a low self worth. * Always having verbal conflicts with their friends and family. * Low income living conditions for the family. * Peer pressure teen stress is sometimes caused by a major event causing grief or trauma within the family. This could be death, an illness, or parents splitting up. * A split in the relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend. * The neighborhood in which they live is not a good place. * Having to move to a new home is yet a cause of the peer pressure teen stress. Having to adapt to a new school/college environment. Objectives of the project: The main objective of the project is to discuss the issue of peer pressure under â€Å"no pressure†. The students must be made to understand how they can grasp the good and leave the bad. The project tries to distinguish between Good Peer Pressure and Bad Peer Pressure. It analyses various aspects that cause such a pressure and gives a solution to the same. The project also gives a remedy for overcoming bad peer pressure. The project also makes suggestions as to how can peer-pressure-struck children can be helped. The project also tries to examine the reasons that make children give-in to peer pressure. Here are some other reasons why people give in to peer pressure, that are less known but equally as responsible. †¢ The lack of self-confidence to go one’s own way. It is easier to follow the footsteps of another than to make your own. There is also a certain level of safety that comes with following another. Taking the road less traveled by making your own choices takes self-confidence and self-assurance. †¢ The desire to avoid embarrassment. Many people fear embarrassment more than death. Knowing this, it is easy to see how important effective communication can be in responding to peer pressure. For example, if a bunch of peers surround a teenager and asked him if he wants to smoke a cigarette like the rest of them have, and all the teenager can think of is, â€Å"but†¦ my mom said I should just say no. † then he is in trouble. It is best to prepare yourself and your children with witty, yet clear and firm responses to known peer pressures. For example, in the above situation the teenager could say, â€Å"Hmmm, spend my life wasting money, offending people, having bad breath, and killing myself†¦. o thanks. †Ã‚   A good response cannot only save one from embarrassment, but give others the confidence to not give in to the peer pressure as well. Those who lead are often well respected by those who follow. †¢ The lack of using one’s own mind. Again it is reacting, rather than responding that causes one to get in trouble. Think about th e consequences of your actions, both present and future. Don’t give in and sacrifice your long-term goals for short-term gratification. †¢ The lack of unbiased information. When someone feels pressure from peers, they are often presented with biased information. Again it is preparation that can help one to avoid peer pressure by knowing all the facts. Anticipate peer pressure in life and get the facts from a reliable source. Educate yourself and your children – don’t count on the school system to do it. Some of the more common peer pressures experienced in youth that can be prepared for today are smoking, alcohol, drugs, sex, cutting class and committing crimes. The biggest peer pressure in adulthood is being expected to behave, act, and perform like your peers rather than becoming the person you are capable of becoming. Know the reasons for and against these pressures. Resources referred: ? Bullying Prevention Program http://www. clemson. edu/olweus/ ? Take Action Against Bullying www. bullybeware. org ? Steps to Respect: A Bully Prevention Program www. cfchildren. org/str. html ? Breaking the Cycle of Violence: Intervention for Bullying and Victimization (1996) By Richard J. Hazler ? How to Say No and Keep your Friends: Peer Pressure Reversal for ? Teens and Pre-Teens (1997). By Sharon Scott ? CAFS Teacher Talk Volume 1(3) 1996 http://education. indiana. du/cas/tt/v3i3/peerpress. html Preventing Classroom Bullying: What Teachers Can Do (2003). By Jim Wright http://jimwrightsonline. com/pdfdocs/bully/bullyBooklet. pdf ? Resource for parents: http://sitemaker. umich. edu/356. darnell/advice_for_parents Conclusions: Growing up, everyone will experience some form of peer pressure. Peer pressure is the control and influence people of our age may have on us. Peer pressure can occur in many kinds of relat ionships. The way we respond to peer pressure can have a great impact on the decisions we make and, in turn, our total health. There are many different types of peer pressure. There is positive, negative, and manipulation. Positive peer pressure is not limited to following or setting good examples of what to do. It can also provide examples of what not to do. A teen whose friends do not use alcohol or other drugs may be positively influenced to follow their example. Being a good role model is also a great way to demonstrate positive peer pressure. Influencing peers to take part in a positive act or worthwhile cause is a healthful way of influencing others. It can be contagious. We are primarily social beings with a strong need to belong. Throughout our life, we search for the balance between independence and connectedness. How much of ourselves do we give up/compromise in order to belong? The teenage years (and pre-teen) are a time of shifting focus of belonging from family to peers as while also developing a personal identity. Because kids don’t yet have the maturity to grasp or to understand the potential consequences of being influenced by their friends, it is difficult for them to see the pitfalls of poor relationships and negative peer pressure. This project is designed to walk us through the inquiry and clarification of the need to feel connected and belong, as well as to be true to one’s self while assessing the harmful affects of peer pressure. In addition to the inquiry looking at the costs/benefits belonging, it will identify strategies to deal with negative peer pressure and ways to turn it around, creating positive peer pressure, building leadership and personal power.