Digital Forensics in the Criminal Justice System Essay

Digital Forensics in the Criminal Justice System - Essay Example The methods of treating digital information while upholding evidential steadiness and integrity can be observed as a complex procedure, but if dealt with it in appropriate manner, it can generate cost effective outcomes for forensics. Based on this understanding, the essay intends to create a case portfolio regarding the collection of digital evidence along with handling or transferring of digital evidence, methods of preservation of digital evidence, analysis of digital evidence as well as preparation of testimonial for the outcome of such analysis. Digital Evidence Digital evidence is regarded as different kinds of digital information, which can be used as proof in any legal proceeding. This type of information exists in electronic form and can be classified as text file, images, audio, video and any other documents. The collection of digital information can be undertaken by appropriation of storage drives, tapping or observing information movement or making digital duplicates of i nformation held. Even though hard copy of digital information is not considered as digital information, it is regarded as the initial point for smearing the use of digital evidence in the future (7Safe, n.d.). Therefore, the digital evidence noticed at the scene was a hard drive, 2 CD disks, a thumb drive, a telephone, and 3 system units. There is also a card reader, monitors, and a modem; however, those objects are not that useful. Collection of Digital Evidence Any case of trail process regarding criminal activity starts with the collection of evidences. In several jurisdictions, digital information is collected throughout explorations, raids or examinations of computer system. Besides, digital information is also collected by forced discovery in any organization or house. In this case, the collection of digital evidence starts with obtaining search warrants (Cartel Working Group, 2010). CD: CDs are regarded as the copy of original information and certain data might be copied from hard drive to CD. Furthermore since, CD is regarded as an in-volatile storage medium, it is also regarded as a vital evidence for the case, and hence has been collected for digital evidence. Card Reader: The card reader is an important forensic evidence examination tool. The key twist with respect to card reader is that there are certain specific SD cards which are only supported and can be accessed with specific card reader. Due to this reason, the card reader also acted as a key digital evidence for the case. Thumb drive: Thumb drive or flash drive has gained much popularity due to its storage abilities and quick data access capability. Furthermore, because of non-volatile information medium, flash drive can possess valuable evidence for the criminal case. Telephone: The telephone was also seized as a part of digital evidence collection. Telephone can provide important evidence regarding any call made by offender. Thus, evaluation of call records might provide hidden contacts, wh ich might be useful for the case. CPU: Finally, three CPUs were also seized for collecting digital information. CPU contains Random Access Memory (RAM) and internal hard disks which store important files and programs. Hence, digital information from these components of CPU can provide great evidence for the criminal activity. Whether forensic agencies attempt to collect available digital information or just a portion of digital ev

Infrared Film and Thermography Essay Example for Free

Infrared Film and Thermography Essay Thermogram of a traditional building in the background and a passive house in the foreground Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal imaging, and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. Thermal imaging cameras detect radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (roughly 9,000–14,000 nanometers or 9–14  µm) and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms. Since infrared radiation is emitted by all objects above absolute zero according to the black body radiation law, thermography makes it possible to see ones environment with or without visible illumination. The amount of radiation emitted by an object increases with temperature; therefore, thermography allows one to see variations in temperature. When viewed through a thermal imaging camera, warm objects stand out well against cooler backgrounds; humans and other warm-blooded animals become easily visible against the environment, day or night. As a result, thermography is particularly useful to military and other users of surveillance cameras. Thermography has a long history, although its use has increased dramatically with the commercial and industrial applications of the past fifty years. Government and airport personnel used thermography to detect suspected swine flu cases during the 2009 pandemic.[1] Firefighters use thermography to see through smoke, to find persons, and to localize the base of a fire. Maintenance technicians use thermography to locate overheating joints and sections of power lines, which are a sign of impending failure. Building construction technicians can see thermal signatures that indicate heat leaks in faulty thermal insulation and can use the results to improve the efficiency of heating and air-conditioning units. Some physiological changes in human beings and other warm-blooded animals can also be monitored with thermal imaging during clinical diagnostics. Thermogram of cat. The appearance and operation of a modern thermographic camera is often similar to a camcorder. Often the live thermogram reveals temperature variations so clearly that a photograph is not necessary for analysis. A recording module is therefore not always built-in. Non-specialized CCD and CMOS sensors have most of their spectral sensitivity in the visible light wavelength range. However by utilizing the trailing area of their spectral sensitivity, namely the part of the infrared spectrum called near-infrared (NIR), and by using off-the-shelf CCTV camera it is possible under certain circumstances to obtain true thermal images of objects with temperatures at about 280 °C and higher.[2] Specialized thermal imaging cameras use focal plane arrays (FPAs) that respond to longer wavelengths (mid- and long-wavelength infrared). The most common types are InSb, InGaAs, HgCdTe and QWIP FPA. The newest technologies use low-cost, uncooled microbolometers as FPA sensors. Their resolution is considerably lower than that of optical cameras, mostly 160120 or 320240 pixels, up to 640512 for the most expensive models. Thermal imaging cameras are much more expensive than their visible-spectrum counterparts, and higher-end models are often export-restricted due to the military uses for this technology. Older bolometers or more sensitive models such as InSb require cryogenic cooling, usually by a miniature Stirling cycle refrigerator or liquid nitrogen. | Thermal Energy This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) | Thermal images, or thermograms, are actually visual displays of the amount of infrared energy emitted, transmitted, and reflected by an object. Because there are multiple sources of the infrared energy, it is difficult to get an accurate temperature of an object using this method. A thermal imaging camera is capable of performing algorithms to interpret that data and build an image. Although the image shows the viewer an approximation of the temperature at which the object is operating, the camera is actually using multiple sources of data based on the areas surrounding the object to determine that value rather than detecting the actual temperature. This phenomenon may become clearer upon consideration of the formula Incident Energy = Emitted Energy + Transmitted Energy + Reflected Energy where Incident Energy is the energy profile when viewed through a thermal imaging camera. Emitted Energy is generally what is intended to be measured. Transmitted Energy is the energy that passes through the subject from a remote thermal source. Reflected Energy is the amount of energy that reflects off the surface of the object from a remote thermal source. If the object is radiating at a higher temperature than its surroundings, then power transfer will be taking place and power will be radiating from warm to cold following the principle stated in the Second Law of Thermodynamics. So if there is a cool area in the thermogram, that object will be absorbing the radiation emitted by the warm object. The ability of both objects to emit or absorb this radiation is called emissivity. Under outdoor environments, convective cooling from wind may also need to be considered when trying to get an accurate temperature reading. This thermogram shows a fault with an industrial electrical fuse block. The thermal imaging camera would next employ a series of mathematical algorithms. Since the camera is only able to see the electromagnetic radiation that is impossible to detect with the human eye, it will build a picture in the viewer and record a visible picture, usually in a JPG format. In order to perform the role of noncontact temperature recorder, the camera will change the temperature of the object being viewed with its emissivity setting. Other algorithms can be used to affect the measurement, including the transmission ability of the transmitting medium (usually air) and the temperature of that transmitting medium. All these settings will affect the ultimate output for the temperature of the object being viewed. This functionality makes the thermal imaging camera an excellent tool for the maintenance of electrical and mechanical systems in industry and commerce. By using the proper camera settings and by being careful when capturing the image, electrical systems can be scanned and problems can be found. Faults with steam traps in steam heating systems are easy to locate. In the energy savings area, the thermal imaging camera can do more. Because it can see the radiating temperature of an object as well as what that object is radiating at, the product of the radiation can be calculated using the Stefan–Boltzmann constant. Emissivity Emissivity is a term representing a materials ability to emit thermal radiation. Each material has a different emissivity, and it can be difficult to determine the appropriate emissivity for a subject. A materials emissivity can range from a theoretical 0.00 (completely not-emitting) to an equally-theoretical 1.00 (completely emitting); the emissivity often varies with temperature. An example of a substance with low emissivity would be silver, with an emissivity coefficient of .02. An example of a substance with high emissivity would be asphalt, with an emissivity coefficient of .98. A black body is a theoretical object which will radiate infrared radiation at its contact temperature. If a thermocouple on a black body radiator reads 50  °C, the radiation the black body will give up will also be 50  °C. Therefore a true black body will have an emissivity of Thermogram of a snake held by a human. Since there is no such thing as a perfect black body, the infrared radiation of normal objects will appear to be less than the contact temperature. The rate (percentage) of emission of infrared radiation will thus be a fraction of the true contact temperature. This fraction is called emissivity. Some objects have different emissivities in long wave as compared to mid wave emissions. Emissivities may also change as a function of temperature in some materials.[3] To make a temperature measurement of an object, the thermographer will refer to the emissivity table to choose the emissivity value of the object, which is then entered into the camera. The cameras algorithm will correct the temperature by using the emissivity to calculate a temperature that more closely matches the actual contact temperature of the object. If possible, the thermographer would try to test the emissivity of the object in question. This would be more accurate than attempting to determine the emissivity of the object via a table. The usual method of testing the emissivity is to place a material of known high emissivity in contact with the surface of the object. The material of known emissivity can be as complex as industrial emissivity spray which is produced specifically for this purpose, or it can be as simple as standard black insulation tape, emissivity 0.97. A temperature reading can then be taken of the object with the emissivity level on the imager set to the value of the test material. This will give an accurate value of the temperature of the object. The temperature can then be read on a part of the object not covered with the test material. If the temperature reading is different, the emissivity level on the imager can be adjusted until the object reads the same temperature. This will give the thermographer a much more accurate emissivity reading. There are times, however, when an emissivity test is not possible due to dangerous or inaccessible conditions. In these situations the thermographer must rely on tables. Difference between infrared film and thermography IR film is sensitive to infrared (IR) radiation in the 250 °C to 500 °C range, while the range of thermography is approximately -50 °C to over 2,000 °C. So, for an IR film to work thermographically, it must be over 250 °C or be reflecting infrared radiation from something that is at least that hot. (Usually, infrared photographic film is used in conjunction with an IR illuminator, which is a filtered incandescent source or IR diode illuminator, or else with an IR flash (usually a xenon flash that is IR filtered). These correspond with active near-IR modes as discussed in the next section. Night vision infrared devices image in the near-infrared, just beyond the visual spectrum, and can see emitted or reflected near-infrared in complete visual darkness. However, again, these are not usually used for thermography due to the high temperature requirements, but are instead used with active near-IR sources. Starlight-type night vision devices generally only magnify ambient light. Passive vs. active thermography All objects above the absolute zero temperature (0 K) emit infrared radiation. Hence, an excellent way to measure thermal variations is to use an infrared vision device, usually a focal plane array (FPA) infrared camera capable of detecting radiation in the mid (3 to 5 ÃŽ ¼m) and long (7 to 14 ÃŽ ¼m) wave infrared bands, denoted as MWIR and LWIR, corresponding to two of the high transmittance infrared windows. Abnormal temperature profiles at the surface of an object are an indication of a potential problem.[4] Thermal imaging camera screen. Thermal imaging can detect elevated body temperature, one of the signs of the virus H1N1 (Swine influenza). In passive thermography, the features of interest are naturally at a higher or lower temperature than the background. Passive thermography has many applications such as surveillance of people on a scene and medical diagnosis (specifically thermology). In active thermography, an energy source is required to produce a thermal contrast between the feature of interest and the background. The active approach is necessary in many cases given that the inspected parts are usually in equilibrium with the surroundings. Advantages of thermography * It shows a visual picture so temperatures over a large area can be compared * It is capable of catching moving targets in real time * It is able to find deteriorating, i.e., higher temperature components prior to their failure * It can be used to measure or observe in areas inaccessible or hazardous for other methods * It is a non-destructive test method * It can be used to find defects in shafts, pipes, and other metal or plastic parts[5] * It can be used to detect objects in dark areas * It has some medical application, essentially in kinesiotherapy Limitations and disadvantages of thermography * Quality cameras often have a high price range (often US$ 3,000 or more), cheaper are only 4040 up to 120120 pixels * Images can be difficult to interpret accurately when based upon certain objects, specifically objects with erratic temperatures, although this problem is reduced in active thermal imaging[6] * Accurate temperature measurements are hindered by differing emissivities and reflections from other surfaces[7] * Most cameras have  ±2% accuracy or worse in measurement of temperature and are not as accurate as contact methods [8] * Only able to directly detect surface temperatures * Condition of work, depending of the case, can be drastic: 10 °C of difference between internal/external, 10km/h of wind maximum, no direct sun, no recent rain, Applications Kite aerial thermogram of the site of Ogilface Castle, Scotland. * Condition monitoring * Digital infrared thermal imaging in health care * Medical imaging * Infrared mammography * Archaeological Kite Aerial Thermography: Kite_aerial_photography * Thermology * Veterinary Thermal Imaging * Night vision * UAV Surveillance[9] * Stereo vision[10] * Research * Process control * Nondestructive testing * Surveillance in security, law enforcement and defence * Chemical imaging * Volcanology[11][12] * Building [13] Thermal imaging cameras convert the energy in the infrared wavelength into a visible light display. All objects above absolute zero emit thermal infrared energy, so thermal cameras can passively see all objects, regardless of ambient light. However, most thermal cameras only see objects warmer than -50 °C. The spectrum and amount of thermal radiation depend strongly on an objects surface temperature. This makes it possible for a thermal imaging camera to display an objects temperature. However, other factors also influence the radiation, which limits the accuracy of this technique. For example, the radiation depends not only on the temperature of the object, but is also a function of the emissivity of the object. Also, radiation originates from the surroundings and is reflected in the object, and the radiation from the object and the reflected radiation will also be influenced by the absorption of the atmosphere.

Gwendolyn Brooks :: Biography Biographies Essays

Gwendolyn Brooks Although she was born on 7 June 1917 in Topeka, Kansas--the first child of David and Keziah Brooks--Gwendolyn Brooks is "a Chicagoan." The family moved to Chicago shortly after her birth, and despite her extensive travels and periods in some of the major universities of the country, she has remained associated with the city's South Side. What her strong family unit lacked in material wealth was made bearable by the wealth of human capital that resulted from warm interpersonal relationships. When she writes about families that--despite their daily adversities--are not dysfunctional, Gwendolyn Brooks writes from an intimate knowledge reinforced by her own life. Brooks attended Hyde Park High School, the leading white high school in the city, but transferred to the all-black Wendell Phillips, then to the integrated Englewood High School. In 1936 she graduated from Wilson Junior College. These four schools gave her a perspective on racial dynamics in the city that continues to influence her work. Her profound interest in poetry informed much of her early life. "Eventide," her first poem, was published in American Childhood Magazine in 1930. A few years later she met James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, who urged her to read modern poetry--especially the work of Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and e. c. cummings--and who emphasized the need to write as much and as frequently as she possibly could. By 1934 Brooks had become an adjunct member of the staff of the Chicago Defender and had published almost one hundred of her poems in a weekly poetry column. In 1938 she married Henry Blakely and moved to a kitchenette apartment on Chicago’s South Side. Between the birth of her first child, Henry, Jr., in 1940 and the birth of Nora in 1951, she became associated with the group of writers involved in Harriet Monroe's still-extant Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. From this group she received further encouragement, and by 1943 she had won the Midwestern Writers Conference Poetry Award. In 1945 her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville (published by Harper and Row), brought her instant critical acclaim. She was selected one of Mademoiselle magazine's "Ten Young Women of the Year," she won her first Guggenheim Fellowship, and she became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her second book of poems, Annie Allen (1949), won Poetry magazine's Eunice Tietjens Prize. In 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize. Gwendolyn Brooks :: Biography Biographies Essays Gwendolyn Brooks Although she was born on 7 June 1917 in Topeka, Kansas--the first child of David and Keziah Brooks--Gwendolyn Brooks is "a Chicagoan." The family moved to Chicago shortly after her birth, and despite her extensive travels and periods in some of the major universities of the country, she has remained associated with the city's South Side. What her strong family unit lacked in material wealth was made bearable by the wealth of human capital that resulted from warm interpersonal relationships. When she writes about families that--despite their daily adversities--are not dysfunctional, Gwendolyn Brooks writes from an intimate knowledge reinforced by her own life. Brooks attended Hyde Park High School, the leading white high school in the city, but transferred to the all-black Wendell Phillips, then to the integrated Englewood High School. In 1936 she graduated from Wilson Junior College. These four schools gave her a perspective on racial dynamics in the city that continues to influence her work. Her profound interest in poetry informed much of her early life. "Eventide," her first poem, was published in American Childhood Magazine in 1930. A few years later she met James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, who urged her to read modern poetry--especially the work of Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot, and e. c. cummings--and who emphasized the need to write as much and as frequently as she possibly could. By 1934 Brooks had become an adjunct member of the staff of the Chicago Defender and had published almost one hundred of her poems in a weekly poetry column. In 1938 she married Henry Blakely and moved to a kitchenette apartment on Chicago’s South Side. Between the birth of her first child, Henry, Jr., in 1940 and the birth of Nora in 1951, she became associated with the group of writers involved in Harriet Monroe's still-extant Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. From this group she received further encouragement, and by 1943 she had won the Midwestern Writers Conference Poetry Award. In 1945 her first book of poetry, A Street in Bronzeville (published by Harper and Row), brought her instant critical acclaim. She was selected one of Mademoiselle magazine's "Ten Young Women of the Year," she won her first Guggenheim Fellowship, and she became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her second book of poems, Annie Allen (1949), won Poetry magazine's Eunice Tietjens Prize. In 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.

The Importance of Respect in John Steinbecks Cannery Row Essay example

The Importance of Respect in John Steinbeck's Cannery Row Cannery Row is a novel John Steinbeck wrote after World War I. At first, the novel almost seems like a humorous book, written in a style commonly used by Steinbeck. The book has its main plot, but also has side chapters that periodically interrupt the main idea, which adds to the story. One would think that these side chapters are there to universalize the book, but in fact that is not true. The side chapters tell their own story, and they have a message that Steinbeck was clearly trying to show through his book. The novel has a main point about respect. In Cannery Row , Steinbeck is trying to say that respectability is the destructive force that preys on the world. Steinbeck uses his characters to tell this story about respect and its effect on society. The central figure of the whole book, Doc, better explains this point by saying, "It has always seemed strange to me . . . The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the con comitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitive, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second" (131). In chapter three, the respect issue is brought up and is closely related to chapter four. Chapter three introduces Dora and her prostitutes. It also introduces a character named William, who is the bouncer at Dora's Bear Flag Restaurant. William finds out that the tight society of Cannery Row rejects him and laughs at him. William had no friends and no respect from others, so he thought that suicide was his only way out. Chapter four talks ab... ...s respect was at the lowest it had been in his life when he explained to Doc, "It don't do no good to say I'm sorry. I been sorry all my life" (119). Respect is something everyone wants in their society. If one is respected, it also brings on a self-comfort in that society. Mack and the boys showed that they had respect even though they were nothing more than bums. Doc always showed unselfish respect and was admired for that. Steinbeck does a perfect job of showing how respect from individuals has an affect on society. Cannery Row is a very humorous book, but it also has its points about respect hidden inside of it. One can find many places where Steinbeck shows the differences of respect in Cannery Row, and there are many more that are hidden in this humorous novel by John Steinbeck. Work Cited Steinbeck, John. Cannery Row, Viking Press., New York: 1973.

Effects Of Media On Globalization Essay

Media and globalization go hand in hand. Although researchers in both fields may have divergent views on the extent of influence of each on the other, it is evident that the two have a correlation and will always be in tandem. Terhi Rantanen acknowledges that media and globalization are closely interlinked. Whereas most communication scholars focus the role of media in the process of globalization they are opposed to media being relegated to a socio-cultural study. They think media affects all arenas globalization including politics and economics. On the other hand, experts of globalization are in agreement that globalization would be impossible without media and communications As the name suggests, globalization is to make something local go worldwide; to have a reach beyond the borders of one’s locality. Media does extend people beyond their national borders and globalization does affect media. The focus of this paper will be on the effects of globalization on media. It will determine how globalization has changed media in Britain through the: – Modifications in language of media. – Innovation and increased use of new media – Increased and profound focus   on global issues – A closer relationship and shared culture by people from different continents – Increased income and transnational corporations Media in Britain has had to adapt different languages to attract a new international audience. Globalization from a business perspective means leaving one’s country and selling one’s goods and services to another country. Therefore, it follows that one has to adjust to the national language of the people so as to trade. Media is a commercial venture like any other and making profit is the end goal. The audience reach, response and retention have to be massive to realize any benefits, monetary or otherwise. Evidently, the globe is the largest untapped market for British media. To maximise on this new frontier, one has to know and effectively apply the correct vocabulary, intonations and other aspects of language to capture and retain their attention of the prospective audience in a foreign country. The world has 6,912 living languages. It would be impossible to broadcast in all languages but a media institution that broadcasts or prints its information in the major and popular languages of the world has an advantage over a rival entity that only does so in English. Take an example of BBC World Service, the leading international broadcaster that broadcasts in 33 languages including Urdu, Swahili, Chinese, French, Shona, Spanish etc. Why does it do so? It diffuses its message in all these other languages because of globalization. BBC no longer appertains to the British. It is now an intercontinental brand name. Consequently, to boost the audience numbers, the national broadcaster has to present programs which non English speakers can also understand. BBC’s purpose for existence is ‘to enrich people lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain,’ Indeed, if BBC had not started broadcasting 75 years ago in other languages, today it would not be the leading international broadcaster that it claims to be nor would have such universal brand recognition. Globalization has provoked the creation of new production for new media. As the labour costs and other production costs in the West including Britain rise to unprecedented heights, manufacturers of new media apparatus such as computer chips and other components are relocating their business to cheaper assemblage destinations. According to Lievrouw et al. new media is not only the content but also the infrastructure that supports production, distribution and exhibition of this content. They emphasize that institution of satellite broadcasting and telecommunication networks which sustain the seamless content supply, actively supports the globalization of new media. Also these networks encourage the international growth of local, regional and global markets. ‘Communication and new media systems have supported the expansion of business beyond national markets to a system whereby components are developed, manufactured, assembled, and sold far from where corporations (Transnational) exercise control. In short, globalization has encouraged advancement of communications technologies thus improving the quality and quantity of intercontinental information and commerce which has encouraged further globalization. This endless cycle has led to opening of factories in developing countries which benefit from the new income. The British Media has increased the coverage and space of international issues. They are running more in depth programs and writing feature articles on events taking part in other parts of the world. For instance, at the beginning of this year violence broke out in a tiny East Africa country called Kenya that was once a former colony of Britain. During this period Sky Broadcasting Corporation, British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC), the Daily Mail and The Guardian gave us blow by blow accounts of the breaking news. Why did they give so much time to such a story from a far off state? Well, Kenya was of great strategic to Britain. Britons have business interests and some have family members residing there. The world was really compressed because this chaos taking place in Kenya was part of their reality as well. Globalization has affected how Britons and the media understand the world. As the media advances and increases in complexity it is not enough to just listen, watch or read the news. Britons want more than just excerpts. The news, especially international news, are analysed; experts are summoned; explanations and predictions are made. Reuters diffuses political, economic and social news in over 23 languages through its wire services. This information comes complete with historical backgrounds and expert opinion. Globalization has in fact led to Vilanilam writes ‘Reuters main business is not simply transmitting news of daily political events it also supplies the media with news of financial transactions worldwide. . . . In short, the world’s financial transactions and their impact on the immediate and long term interests of its allies are of primary concern to Reuters. ’ Therefore because British media also has an interest in the global information, it has to reinvent itself and broaden its perspective so that it can keep with an audience that has increased consciousness of world around them. Bryn et al describe globalization as a schoolboy who listens in India who eats American cereal, listens to a Canadian pop singer is a schoolboy on a Japanese manufactured MP3 player, wears American Jeans , converses to his parents in Hindi, and goes for English language classes. This phenomenon has indeed has linked between people of different land masses together and in this same way it has helped to propel brand names from western countries to developing countries in the southern and eastern part of the hemisphere. How has it affected media in Britain? The media has played a part in this process and has benefited through transmission of adverts to foreign countries. British Media has extended its programming and publications to the other side of the globe. The Indian boy would get know all this brand names and the MP3 because he saw it in Sky International or BBC Click program. The media in Britain is enhancing the homogeneity of people with different racial, ethnic and political affiliations already began by the process of globalization. Hence, globalization and media have a symbiotic relationship The globalization trend has led to the rise of so called new media in Britain. Bill Jones says that, ‘By 2005, nearly 36 million people or nearly 60% of UK homes, have a PC . . . . ‘ . Globalization has forced Britons to modernize the way they access information. They no longer rely on the old media such as television and radio or newspapers. Nowadays Britons are spending more time at watching news, reading newspapers on the Internet. This is because globalization means that business, politics; society in general has gone global. To keep on top of what the trends, one has to have the fastest media available. The Web contains more information than any source of media. It can be portable and one does not have to be in a fixed place to access the precious information necessary for survival. Apart from the PCs Britons have Ipods to download music from their favourite international artists, MP3 players to watch their favourite UEFA club match. Globalization has brought economic growth to the media industry in terms of the massive annual incomes derived by companies who endeavour to globalize. O’Loughlin et al explain how there are now new entities called ‘transnational’ media corporations which extend beyond Britain. He gives an example of NewsCorp owned by Rupert Murdoch who has multi-million dollar interests in Asia and Britain. These corporations create job opportunities for media practitioners in Britain. This new media market is almost a trillion dollar industry in Britain and it will continue to grow. In conclusion, globalization has changed the media for the better and with time the face of media in Britain will have a different appearance because of influence from globalization. Consequently, globalization and media in Britain are ultimately and inextricable interconnected and symbiotic.

Humans vs Animals Debating Essay Sample

Humans vs Animals Debating Essay Sample Humans vs Animals Debating Essay Example Humans vs Animals Debating Essay Example The mind-body item in philosophy researches the connections between mind and matter, and especially the connections between consciousness and the brain. The item was investigated by pre-Aristotelian philosophers, and later, it was notably researched by Renà © Descartes in the 17th century, leading to the formation of Cartesian dualism. Rene Descartes believed that the bodies of animals have the analogous feelings, as human beings have, but they lack mind. It practically means that Descartes considered that there is a physical shell (home), but there is literally no one at home, meaning no self, and no person present in animals to observe the feelings, experience them, and become conscious of them. It is like in a situation with a movie demonstrated in an empty theater. Are We All Different from Animals? According to Rene Descartes, the conduct, which seems to be an antipathy and volition, affliction and consolation, apathy and curiosity, is practically a hard-leading planned replication and reaction, similarly to a machine. Descartes considered that human beings only and no other animals have this non-physical mind. Personally I disagree with Descartes, as I believe that animals and humans are not of different kind, but of different degree. Rene Descartes believed that human beings have two constituents: the body and the mind (soul). The majority of processes that human beings perform can be accounted for thoughtless reactions, or passions to the environment. Descartes believed that animals, due to the lack of the mind, operate and interact through passions only. Thus, Descartes believed that animals are, briefly, â€Å"organic automata† (meaning machines), being â€Å"much more splendid than artificial ones,† but remaining machines nonetheless (Descartes 11). Therefore, a number of Descartes’ claims can be defined. The first claim states that animals cannot â€Å"use speech or signs as we do when placing our thoughts on record for the benefit of others,† (Descartes 14) or alternatively stated that they are unable to utilize language in order to make known the considerations and speculations in a distinct manner. Moreover, Descartes particularly notes that the sphere, where all animals â€Å"fall short† is language and explicit intercourse, which Descartes support by the phrase that animals â€Å"have less reason than men, but that they have none at all, since it is clear that very little is required in order to be able to talk† (Descartes, 15). On the basis of the above-mentioned assumptions, Descartes grounds his over-vaulting approval concerning animals and their assumed machine-similar nature. Rene Descartes defined a number of discrepancies between animals and humans. He believed that if there was a machine with the analogous organs as in an animal, it would be actually indistinguishable from the animal itself. However, if there was a machine with analogous organs as in human beings, people would easily recognize the discrepancies. The human machine, practically, would be able to respond to standard motivators, including a hot rabble being pressed to the side. Nevertheless, in the case when the human machine has to perform more complicated actions, including the process of expressing the feelings and emotions, they will not be able to perform it. Moreover, human machine lacks the soul. Thus, even despite the fact that they may be able to perform particular actions on the same level or even better than human beings, the machine is just able to perform those tasks. It is due to the fact that human machines have shortage of knowledge. It means that they are able to perform only the functions that they have been programmed to perform. Animals are similar to their machines, due to the fact that they operate with the help of their organs disposition. They do not speculate that animals eat when their stomach tells them to eat, and they go to sleep when their brain tells them to do it, etc. Therefore, an animal machine, which will have analogous organs as animals, would actually operate identically to an animal. At the same time, a rational human would be able to observe the situation and perform depending on the way the human beings feel. In fact, all people will perform in a number of ways, but on the other hand, all machines will perform in an analogous way (Descartes 14). Thus, Descartes has concluded that animals are machines; moreover, they are automata as they do not speculate, possess a language, and have no self-awareness. Furthermore, they have no apperception, and they are totally without emotions and feelings. Descartes investigated two principles causing motions: one of them is merely automatical and material and depends absolutely on the influence of the spirits and the structure of our organs. Therefore, it can be named corporal soul. The other one is the incorporated mind, the soul, which is differentiated as a speculating substance. Descartes investigated whether the motions of animals originated from both of these principles or the one only and concluded that they â€Å"all originate from the corporeal and mechanical principle† (Descartes 12). According to Descartes, an immaterial mind is manifested by the usage of creative language, and the process of creatively utilizing language, which is exclusively peculiar to humans. Descartes asserted that, instead of being originally rational, the minds of animals are mainly governed by various kinds of predilections, instincts, and impulses, meaning the things, which human beings also have together with the concept of â€Å"thought.† Descartes demonstrated such theory with the help of analyzing human beings’ capacity to intercourse and communicate explicitly through language. Nevertheless, Descartes does elude â€Å"the simple repetition of words and/or sentences† by the concept of language (13). It is done purposely due to the fact that animals possess a biological capacity to â€Å"utter words just like ourselves† including â€Å"magpies and parrots,† Descartes explained that by the fact that animals â€Å"cannot speak as we do, that is, so as to give evidence that they think of what they say† (Descartes, 15). Moreover, Rene Descartes even more dilates his theory with the help of stressing the capability of people who are both â€Å"deaf and dumb† to be able to intercourse in a meaningful way, even despite the fact that they do not have the physical organs of speech, which according to Descartes, the majority of animals have (Descartes 15). In fact, animals have intercourses, despite the fact that they are simply retranslating instinctively wished things, including food and water, or showing backward responses, including pain or excitement. Alternatively stated, animals are conscious, but they are not self-conscious. Moreover, Descartes believes that animals cannot presume and afterwards express emotions and ideas. Therefore, animal pain, due to the fact that it is not a genuine pain, is unimportant in a moral way. It practically means that it does not matter. Thus, Rene Descartes provided humanity with the sanction to perform actions with subterfuge. It is very pressing in some quarters to believe that human beings are significantly distinctive from animals. This would actually allude that there exists some particular ownership, which is possessed by human beings only. In fact, it is obvious that a number of years ago, mind was believed to play this role, but researches on animal brain have demonstrated that animals have the same kind of mental abilities as human beings do, but only in a more restricted form. Due to the fact that mind and intelligence appear to be the abilities, which can be possessed to higher or lowers degrees, it actually does not make sense to mark off on the basis of the scale and assert. Charles Darwin was sure that â€Å"the difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind† (Darwin, Prodger, and Ekman 266). He considered that human beings are analogous to animals and solely gradually more intelligent resulting from the higher evolution . Darwin possessed a general view that natural selection is the result of the aloft evolvement of the living creature with the time. Darwin explained this with the help of nine claims. Firstly, humanity has the same senses as lower animals. Secondly, humanity has some of the same instincts that lower animals possess (e.g., self-protection, consternations, kindness and passion to other friendly beings, love of mother to the child, etc.) (Darwin, Prodger, and Ekman 290). Thirdly, humanity feels pleasure and hurt, the same as lower animals do. Fourthly, humanity enjoys play as lower animals do. Fifthly, humanity imitates other beings as lower animals do. Sixthly, humanity has dreams as lower animals do. Seventhly, humanity has mental individuality as lower animals do. Eighthly, humanity uses language as lower animals do (Darwin, Prodger, and Ekman 290). Finally, humanity appreciates beauty as lower animals do. Thus, human being is considered to have originated straightly from the animal k ingdom with the help of the analogous processes being involved and the same evolutionary factors, which actually caused animals to evolve (Darwin, Prodger, and Ekman 291). Therefore, the discrepancies between human being and animal are not considered to be essential and fundamental as they are only the difference in degree. In fact, human being has only evolved to a greater ratio. The studies in comparative psychology demonstrate that conduct features, which have been once considered exceptional to human beings, are actually shared with other animals, incorporating even cognitively sophisticated ones, such as fraud and self-management. A low-degree male baboon will, for example, menace a top-degree male for a single objective of sidetracking him in order to provide another low-degree male the ability to have a sexual relationship with one of the top degree’s mates (Cadsby). Chimps will even divert themselves in order to impose their volition. Therefore, during the research, in which they were repaid with more sweets in case they agglomerate them rather than eat them at once, they will play with toys in order to withstand temptation (Colley). Moreover, chimps will also accumulate and throw out stones for the future utilization as armament, demonstrating the capability to speculate beyond the current instant to a tentative futurity. As a matter of fact, t hese are not only the great apes, which show cognitive proficiency. Incertitudely controlling researches demonstrate that dolphins and rhesus macaque monkeys are able to control their cognition at the time when they collide with variable results (Colley). Therefore, they will, for example, choose lighter assignment, which actually provide them with lower rewards, rather than complicated assignments, which offer higher rewards. Moreover, the burgeoning research, which demonstrates the unthinkable resourcefulness of other animals, does not actually diminish the fact how much more advanced human being cognition is, but it does propose that there are forerunners in other animals for human being cognitive skills (Cadsby 2014). This practically creates a strong argument supporting the case of degree, rather than kind. As a matter of fact, a video â€Å"A Conversation with Koko† (2013) visually demonstrates animals’ ability to communicate with people. Koko is a western lowland gorilla. Penny Peterson, the President and scientific director of the Gorilla Foundation and Koko are the examples of a whole new world of understanding. Their friendship actually shook the ancient stereotypes and changed the outlook on both gorillas and human beings. They are the first human and gorilla to share a common language. Penny taught Koko to speak sign language. There is an exchange of intellect and emotion that we get with another person. Koko is peering into somebody’s eyes, as if asking the person about something and getting the information from this person due to the fact that she can do it as she understands the sign language. It demonstrates that human beings share the world with other intelligent beings. It is hard to make any conclusions as the sign language between Penny and Koko is un known to the viewers, however, it is obvious that gorilla does not simply repeat the actions after Penny. She really tries to tell something and explain something she has on her mind. However, Koko is not the only one, who is able to communicate. Another example is Kanzi , who is a thirty-one years old male bonobo residing in a little societal community together with other representatives of his species at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa (Goldman 2012). As a matter of fact, bonobos, as well as chimpanzees, are human beings nearest existing affinity. Due to the fact that Kanzi has been working with a primatologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, he is currently able to comprehend a number of thousand words. Furthermore, Kanzi is able to communicate, while utilizing a special type of keyboard, which incorporates approximately four hundred optical symbols, which are called lexigrams (Goldman 2012). In addition, there exists a border collie named Rico, who is acquainted with the labels of approximately two hundred different items, and is able to regain them at a word of command. In comparison with Koko and Kanzi, this fact might not seem especially trimming or stirring. Nevertheless, Rico is able to study the docket of an item, which he has never observed before after only hearing the word once. In the case when there are twenty items in front of him, with the nineteen being already familiar to him and he is directed to regain an item utilizing a word he has never heard before, Rico is able to conclude that the unacquainted item coincides with the unacquainted word (Goldman 2012). Moreover, Rico is able to remember the coupling even within the weeks. This procedure of word-studying, which is called quick-mapping, is analogous to the procedure, with the help of which young infants study new words. Moreover, there are the female Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, named Phoenix and Akea kamai. They existed at a special Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory in Honolulu (Goldman 2012). A well-known paper by the marine biologist Louis Herman and colleagues in 1984 demonstrated Akeakamai’s and Phoenix’s capabilities to comprehend clauses in optical or audio synthetic languages. The investigators provided the dolphins with instructions, which were fully formed with the help of familiar words, but in different schemes, which would only be comprehended by appreciating the grammar of the clauses, not only the lexicon. For instance, the phrase â€Å"Phoenix Akeakamai Over† was the direction given to Phoenix in order to swim to Akeakamai and hop over her, at the same time â€Å"Akeakamai Surfboard Fetch Speaker† directed Akeakamai to take the surfboard and bring it to the speaker. In all of these situations, both dolphins were supposed to estimate and translate the words in the connections to the noun utilized. For example, they had to understand whether the word â€Å"fetch† applied to the surfboard or the speaker (Goldman 2012). Therefore, it is important to repeat the major questions: what is the discrepancy between human beings and animals? Significantly, there is no difference due to the fact that the discrepancies are just a matter of degree. Nevertheless, human communities and animal communities are significantly distinctive, as human societies process the information in a way, which sets them far apart from animals’ communities, which are only slightly less intelligent than humans. Does this make humans special? Only if somebody considers, for instance, the H2O molecules of the liquid water to be significantly distinctive from the molecules in the ice.

Creating A Character essays

Creating A Character essays How does a novelist and/or a playwright make a character interesting for us? One would think that the plot of a novel or play would mould its characters and determine whether they are interesting or not, however, even in a mediocre book there can be a character that is interesting for some reason or other. This some reason or other can be defined through the readers relationship with this character; what makes a character interesting is that the reader either can identify and empathise with him/her or is placed in a position where s/he is able to make a value judgement about this character. Characters that a reader remembers are usually main characters, purely because one sees and gets to know the most about them. To show how novelists and playwrights make their characters memorable and remarkable it is best to use the example of two main characters that are in situations that are comparable to some extent. The protagonists in Shakespeares Hamlet and Forsters A Passage to India are involved in crime for various reasons and have to deal with different degrees of punishment but all are affected by mental strain. In this essay I will examine the different techniques the novelist/playwright uses by referring to both novels, more specifically the two main characters: Hamlet and Aziz. As mentioned above, the most simple way that a novelist/playwright can make a character interesting is by letting the reader know a lot about them. There are different means to achieve this end; an all-knowing narrator can impart the information which usually gives the reader insight without getting them emotionally involved. This occurs in Forsters novel as the reader is still getting to know Aziz and also Fielding. Forster describes their appearance and views - we hear of Azizs pride in Islam and the discrepancies in what he thinks about the haughty and venal English and how he acts toward...

Creating a Personal Brand Essay Sample

Creating a Personal Brand Essay Sample Self-Positioning and Creating a Personal Brand Essay Self-Positioning and Creating a Personal Brand Essay In the competitive world of employment and entrepreneurship, it is important to position yourself to facilitate personal development. The term branding has been relegated to companies and celebrities. However, everyone should work on developing a personal brand. Not many individuals focus on cultivating their personal trademarks as they grow in their careers. The brands are important; and they exist to ensure that the development process is smooth and leaves a footprint among colleagues, friends, workplaces, and bosses. A brand is anything that is uniquely associated with an individual. It may be a symbol, name, reputation, emotion, tone, employees, design or even the perceived attitudes that differs the one individual from another (Wilson Blumenthal 2008). Some individuals have created trademarks associated with their names being worth billions of dollars. At a business level, branding is common. Its importance at personal ranges has not been emphasized until about a decade ago. En trepreneurships have realized that as businesses require brands to survive in competitive markets. Therefore, individuals demand self-positioning since they make these firms work (Kramer 2011). The essay is my reflection on the career growth process, involving personal branding and self-positioning to grow as a unique person. As I make plans for career growth, I must focus on the way I appear to the world. Self-positioning and personal branding is the first step to ensure that my name and reputation is interesting and polished. Once people know who I am and begin to identify my specific area of understanding and expertise, I will be on the first step to becoming a required person in my industry or niche. The question is related to the most efficient strategies to ensure that the person becomes recognized by building authority and following. The experiences of every entrepreneur are a proof that hard work and persistence are required for an individual to be successful (Chritton, 2012). In addition to loving what one does, continually learning from others and building a great team around the one’s career development are some of the most important guidelines to creating reputation and a personal brand. When it comes to starting or running a business, the most valuable asset is a person. It is what giv es the one a competitive advantage, helping in driving sales (Quilty, 2013). And while one might set out an excellent business plan, the strategic vision and nous, all the efforts are moot if the standing with potential investors, employees, and customers is not set out. Building the personal reputation does not happen overnight. It is created one block at a time, ensuring that all the requirements are met every step of the way (Bence 2014). There are two desirable differentiating points that I have identified in self-position and constructing myself as a brand. The first one involves self-evaluation, discovering my strengths, skills, talents, and weaknesses. The second one involves developing a unique brand using original and potentially successful methods. The first step is self-discovery. The biggest mistake that one can make is starting the self-positioning process just for the sake of it. People fail to invest time in learning and discovering about what is in their best interests, what they would like to spend their lives on, and how well they are suited for the paths chosen. In my first desirable step towards personal branding, I have decided to take an individual journey towards discovering myself (Schawbel 2013). The key to success is not revolutionary. I have learnt that it is compensated based on one’s passion. In order to discover my passion, I need time to reflect my past, plan my future, and think of the strategies that would contribute to the success. In order to find the one’s desire, the person needs time to think. The one has to find time to carry out the research to find all the requirements of the career. It should be a step by step process. The individual should not rush towards a path to success. Self-evaluation is about figuring out what one plans to do for the rest of the one’s life. I have set the goals that I want to achieve in life, written down a personal brand statement, which involves what my career does include and the path I would like to take. I have also written down a vision and mission statements, as well as created a development plan. The self-evaluation process should also involve the input from experts. One should consult other people such as colleagues on the strengths and weaknesses, but does not have to take it as the specific advice. The description of the brand should also involve one’s personality as described by others. The person should evaluate whether the attributes given by others pertain to them. I have learnt that the brand development process should be planned such that self-impression should match how other people perceive you. Before I enter the second self-branding and positioning process, I plan on selecting a niche. It is to e nsure that I master my domain. The domain means that I have to find an area that does not have many competitors (Grams 2011). I obtain the highest possible probability of success in the chosen domain. Self-evaluation encompasses defining who I am, how I am perceived by others as well as what I want to achieve. In determining who I am, I have analysed my skills. They include abilities, education, and professional experiences. Specialization should also be involved. The key to success is determining what one is good at and capitalizing on improving it. It includes the personality and passion in the career chosen, which is important in guaranteeing that one perfects the career. In determining how I am perceived, I have evaluated my personal relationships. It is done by inquiring what my friends, colleagues, educators, and mentors think about me. This issue is important in evaluating whether whatever they think about me is similar to how I would like to be perceived. In the digital generation, the person’s online reputation is also important in personal branding. It involves what the online search results in search engines and social media reveal about the individual. After hea ring one’s name, the most common thing that happens is searching the names in online platforms to see the history. The digital footprint that one leaves behind is important in self-positioning. It is also essential to evaluate professional relations. It occurs through the inquiry of people that the person meets professional qualities, whose perceptions may not be biased as compared to those of friends and relatives. On what I want to achieve, I have written down all my goals, strategies towards achieving them, and the target audience while developing my personal brand (Banet-Weiser 2012). The second desirable point in my self-positioning process is the actual design and creation of the brand. An individual trademark does not start when the career is begun or graduate from college. It is the process that is cultivated for a long period of time leading to a close association in a long run. After getting to know what I have, having claimed my niche and set my mind towards the target brand, I plan on getting online. I have come up with my personal branding toolkit, which is the sum of all the material required in designing, creating, and marketing my trademark. It comes from the first process, which is self-evaluation. My toolkit is unique such that it has characteristics differentiating me from other individuals not only at school but also as I grow in my career. The first component is my business card. According to the research I have carried out, it does not matter the level I am at, but I should have my own unique business card. It is a very important tool for creatin g official contacts especially during meetings, forums, interviews, and other social functions. The business card contains my picture, contact information, my personal brand statement as well as the contact logo and data. I maintain both the personal and digital business cards, making possible to share them with people as well as through social networks. The distribution of it is an important step towards my self-positioning process. It will ensure that as many people as possible are aware of my skills (van Dijck 2013). My resume is also a part of the personal branding toolkit. I have designed a CV with the cover letter and references. These ones are the typical requirements for job applications and interviews. Every individual requiring a consideration for a job opportunity should have the resume depicting their academic and professional history as well as the personal statements. I will prioritize each document with the custom information depending on the target audience. I also plan on posting my CV in online professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, in order to ensure that it makes it the ultimate social media resume. It will promote my personal brand across the globe as well as making it shareable to billions of people. My personal portfolio creation is as well essential in the self-position process. I plan on creating a web, print and digital portfolio to showcase all the works I have done in the past. It is aimed at convincing people of my skills to accomplish similar results in the fut ure. As I grow in my career, I will update my portfolio every time I succeed in the tasks related to my professional development. The use of social networks such as carbonmade.com will ensure that I can showcase my creative and innovative skills across the world especially when I make great strides in my career. Doing the portfolio will also be my motivation tool (Marwick Boyd 2011). It is related to the fact that I have to work harder each day to ensure that I have something new to add to it and make it unique as compared to my colleagues. The portfolio as well includes taking special consideration in my popular social networks to guarantee that the friends I maintain are important in the career growth. It will show that my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other popular social media accounts are active and contain status updates attracting the professional audience. This process ensures that the classes of persons around me are crucial in my development process. I will contribute to discussions related to my area of expertise to guarantee that I am well known in it. The most unique aspect of my personal branding process will be building relationships. As most people undertake the networking process as involving selling, I will ensure the following fact. My process will be about talking to people and healthy interaction. I have sharpened my networking skills to be about listening rather than trying to sell my brand. The best networkers are those ones being able to build relationships and invest their time in learning about others as well as identifying with them. I will ensure that I connect with people, since it is the best way to build my personal brand and getting my name and reputation out there. As more persons know me and what I can offer, they will be more likely to do business with me or give their recommendations to others. I have learnt that self-promotion is important in brand development (Omojola, 2008). After creating my trademark, I will ensure that I maintain a good and strong reputation. It is best achieved by having the necessary confidence required in sharing my vision and brand with my audience without sounding as if I am selling myself. I will create a plan on how I am going to market my brand to the relevant audience. This process ensures that I pitch my professional knowledge and contacts around other professionals. There are also the points of parity that I will need in order to negate possible weaknesses. One of the main issues is reputation management. According to the advice that I have received from experts, I have learnt the following fact. It may take more than twenty years to build the good reputation, but only five minutes to ruin it. Being guided by that, I will ensure that every step I take is careful and well-calculated. When building a personal brand, it is important to manage the reputation along the whole way. It is not that everyone is going to agree with what I have to say or do online, being in interviews or blogs. It is important to be ready to address the concerns and critics in a professional way to guarantee that I do not ruin my reputation. There is also a need to be mindful to track my social media activity, since it is one of the ways through which millions of people can access my information. To avoid any loopholes in my reputation, it is important to treat social netwo rking sites as the reflection of who I am and what I stand for. It involves treating my updates with care to ensure that a productive activity does not turn into destructive works. The access of social networking sites by other persons has also ruined others’ self-positioning processes (Milo 2013). I will ensure that I secure all my accounts to manage them effectively and appropriately. The second point of parity required to overcome weaknesses in self-positioning is consistency. It is very important that I should always remain motivated despite the challenges I meet on the way. While building the one’s reputation, there are individuals that make their main agenda as breaking a chain of success. There are also some risks associated with career growth such as a failure, rejection by colleagues and other professionals, as well as lapses in innovation and creativity. The input to build the one’s brand is only half the battle in self-positioning. To ensure that the person remains on the upward trend, it is essential to continually monitor what others say and think about you. It is also advisable to continue looking for some ways to grow in the career such as enhancing education, attending professional forums and carrying out the research in new areas and ideas (Banet-Weiser 2012). The one’s reputation is everything to the trademark and positioning. In order to hit my target and annual benchmarks, I will ensure that I follow the way how my target audience perceives me. I will also avoid the influence from negative personalities and individuals while sharing my vision, being motivated to achieve my goals and creating my personal profile. There are some things that I will need to do in the future that I am not doing now in order to achieve the desired positioning level. One of them is thinking beyond individual positioning. I have based my plans, goals, objectives, and strategies towards designing, creating, and developing my personal brand. However, there are different situations that affect an individual especially when one becomes a leader with a strong and good reputation. The challenges that the person faces require taking strong stands and difficult decisions in various situations. The cases may affect the lives of others, thus requiring thinking beyond the individual self-positioning process. There are also other situations affecting employees and customers especially when one grows to become an entrepreneur. The old ways where decisions required going by the rule book are soon changing (Bence 2014). As I grow in my career, I will need to take strong initiatives that may differ from the common ways. It should b e done in order to achieve the desired results not only for my personal brand but also for the benefits of those around me. The tendency to play it safe and just think of my individual position will soon change as I get into the career world. At that time, I will need to change my way of thinking and positioning strategies to accommodate the welfare of others depending on the matter. In the future, I also plan on starting to think of myself as a brand. I am currently in the initial stages of self-positioning and personal branding. It occurs due to the fact that I am at school and have not yet ventured in the career world. As I graduate from it to join the professional environment, I will change my perceptions to act and behave according to the qualities and reputation associated with my brand. I have not yet reached the level that my trademark is well known or positioned whereby people watch my reputation closely (Marwick Boyd 2011). However, after creating my brand, I will understand how it is perceived. It will affect my strategic behaviour. It does not mean that I have to abandon my human nature and start marketing myself as a commodity. It means that I have to choose the specific point of authenticity and stick to it. A strong brand can yield maximum benefits, whether one works in an organization or is leading it. I will have to build up an authentic self in developing my trademark and reputation. I will also have to be more careful in how I carry myself around people and in social networking sites to maintain authenticity and at the same time promote growth.

Conversion and Adaptation of Buildings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conversion and Adaptation of Buildings - Essay Example urant will be arranged in a manger that leaves space at the centre meaning that the tables and the chairs will be placed at the edges (Barrows, Powers, & Powers, 2009:37). This will provide a historic/ traditional feel but also be combined with a trendy fashion that looks amazing. Energy is an essential resource in the operation of the hotel. To ensure that it meets its mandate and satisfies customer needs, the hotel must have sufficient energy that will be used for cooking, lighting, heating, entertainment and refrigeration purposes (Jones & Zemke, 2010:43). Dependence on electricity, oil and gas will be essential but will not be enough. Therefore, the restaurant will use solar energy though solar panels to augment the other sources of energy. This will ensure that the restaurant has enough power for all the requirements and saves on energy use especially non-renewable energy. The design uses Greenfield space to minimize wastage of energy. Key-card systems were installed to control light, heating and air-cooling when rooms are not in use (Baker, 2005:17). Health and safety is an essential aspect as part of sustainability initiatives of the restaurant. To achieve this initiative cleanliness will be one of the most vital aspects in terms of the restaurant’s hygiene in the menu it provides, and also within and outside its premises. The foods provided by the restaurant will undergo constant health and hygiene checks from public health officers and nutritionists. The health and safety department is established specifically to deal with such issues. The reports from such checks will be availed to the relevant authorities and the public upon request. All employees’ safety and health will be guaranteed through constant medical check-ups and in safety precautions put in place at work. The restaurants design has been developed to prevent health risks by ensuring there is enough space for movement. The restaurant will also contain notices of slippery flows and any

Emergence of Baseball - World Civilization, History Essay

Emergence of Baseball - World Civilization, History - Essay Example 251). In this regard, the current essay aims to present the ways by which the game of baseball apparently reflected the realities of American life during its early years. The exact origin of baseball was identified to as early as the 1700s where a sport reportedly known as â€Å"base†, â€Å"base ball† or â€Å"goal ball† (Baker, 1997, p. 253) exemplified the framework for contemporary baseball. Its growth and popularity as a professional game was identified to have been fathered by Alexander Cartwright in 1845 (Baker, 1997, p. 253). During these early years, American life manifests a preponderance to activity, fast pace, a focus on industrialization and urbanization, consistent with overall economic development. The sport which was considered team sports was the perfect epitome of American life in terms of â€Å"reflecting the nationalistic, patriotic tendencies of the age†¦ (where) individuals found a sense of self-importance as parts of a larger whole† (Baker, 1997, p. 251). As America was exhibiting leads and gaining grounds for economic development and growth, the factors that likewise provided the impetus for se lecting a preferred sports that mirrored American life was reported to include the following: (1) increasing wages and a five-day work week; (2) technological advancement and development that enhanced the design, easy access, and availability of sports equipment; and (3) sports areas that conveniently housed spectators and players in various time frames (Baker, 1997, p. 252). Upon closer review, it could be deduced that American life veered away from rural and agricultural endeavors to industrialized and urbanized activities. The increasing income of households, in conjunction with more leisure time, enabled people to spend on alternative ways for entertainment and sports. Likewise, the popularity of watching a

Talk Talk Plc and its Service Marketing Literature review

Talk Talk Plc and its Service Marketing - Literature review Example ecided on maintaining market transparency and competition rather than resort to prescriptive regulation to protect consumers’ interests (Annual Report 2011, p. 11). 2.1.3 The UK government has made it a priority to support and fund the rollout of superfast broadband networks in rural communities. This should aid in the development of viable markets in places in the UK which were considered economically unfeasible (Annual Report 2011, p. 9). 2.2 Economic 2.2.1 The protracted recovery in the broad economy and the continued economic weakness in the European region will continue to influence the performance of UK business in general, including internet service providers (Annual Report 2011). 2.2.2 Competition is fierce such that if network services proved unreliable compared to the rival firms, this creates customer churn (turnover). The cost of switching among ISP services is low and therefore customers may easily abandon their service in favour of a rival firm (Annual Report 201 1). 2.3 Social 2.3.1 Social networking continues to gain momentum among internet users, aside from the growing dependence on the internet as a source of information for work and school. In addition, the continued popularity of television as a broadcast entertainment medium presents an opportunity for the convergence of television content with ISP services (Annual Report 2011). 2.4 Technological 2.4.1 Data security and integrity is a continuing concern in the digital telecommunications industry. Loss of customer data attributable to data protection breaches may damage the firm’s reputation and cause the imposition of fines (Annual Report 2011). 2.4.2 The development in fibre optic technology has begun to push demand for fibre access, precipitating the need for wholesale product development that... This essay discusses that TalkTalk is presently making a bid to gain higher quality service and thereby improve the profit margins, even at the expense of losing 43,000 or more customers who have chosen the company only on the basis of low prices. By doing so, the firm adopts a bolder strategy that accomplishes the twin purpose of (1) adjusting from weaknesses created by the recent demerger on the one hand, and (2) assuming a better position to address the increasingly competitive environment in the face of a challenging regulatory and economic environment. PESTEL shows that there are challenges as well as opportunities which face the entire industry. SWOT shows that TalkTalk is equipped with strengths in the form of technological innovations and strategic partnerships, and that its weaknesses are being remedied by adopting a revised strategic outlook and resolving its problems with service quality, customer billing problems, and lacklustre performance. TalkTalk is innovating in its service product, has the advantage of place and time, is rethinking its price strategy, and linking promotional efforts in a meaningful way to people’s economic realities. Process, physical evidence and people are seen to support the innovations being adopted in the product strategy. Finally, the firm is adopting more profitable service strategies as defined by Lovelock and Wirtz in building loyal ties based on quality, adopting greater transparency in handling complaints, and providing enhanced service quality and productivity.

A Report on the issue of absenteeism within business organizations Research Paper

A Report on the issue of absenteeism within business organizations - Research Paper Example After concluding, the report will present recommendations that can be used to eliminate or control the issue of absenteeism within business organizations. This present report is based on the issue of absenteeism and in particular, the report will critically analyze this issue in regards to different case examples from different business organizations, According to the studies by Mullins (2007), absenteeism is described as the act of failing to report to the workstation or school without prior knowledge of the work supervisor or the schoolteacher or in other circumstances with prior knowledge to the work supervisor or the schoolteacher. Therefore, absenteeism can be scheduled or unscheduled or it can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Absenteeism is a common issue at the workplace and it occurs in almost all industries, however, De Paola (2008) stated that in the disciplined forces such as the Army or the navy, the issue of absenteeism is not quite prevalent because of stringent rules and regulations in the disciplined forces that prohibit against unscheduled and intentional absenteeism. Numerous studies have focused on the issue of absenteeism because of the overall impact that it has on work operations and the subsequent impact on the bottom line of a business organisation. ... 1.0 Introduction This present report is based on the issue of absenteeism and in particular, the report will critically analyze this issue in regards to different case examples from different business organizations, According to the studies by Mullins (2007), absenteeism is described as the act of failing to report to the workstation or school without prior knowledge of the work supervisor or the schoolteacher or in other circumstances with prior knowledge to the work supervisor or the schoolteacher. Therefore, absenteeism can be scheduled or unscheduled or it can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Absenteeism is a common issue at the workplace and it occurs in almost all industries, however, De Paola (2008) stated that in the disciplined forces such as the Army or the navy, the issue of absenteeism is not quite prevalent because of stringent rules and regulations in the disciplined forces that prohibit against unscheduled and intentional absenteeism. Numerous studies have focus ed on the issue of absenteeism because of the overall impact that it has on work operations and the subsequent impact on the bottom line of a business organisation. Mullins (2007) noted that given the fact that employees perform various roles or duties while on their workstation, it means that during their absence, certain functions will not take place or the output from their respective positions will be considerably low. This is because the employees who will be replacing them or acting on their position will not have similar or matching skills and qualifications. It is however, important to note that the impact of absenteeism on a company’s operations or the bottom line of a company largely depends on the position

The European Banking Union Project Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The European Banking Union Project - Term Paper Example On one hand it allowed these bubbles to grow dangerously while on the other hand it was extremely cautious in its quantitative easing policy (The European Central Bank: The Main Cause of the Debt Crisis). The European Union Banking Project: The Proposal The European Union leaders have come forward to propose a remedy for the current financial crisis. The European Council of 28th and 29th June, 2012 has agreed to deepen the economic and monetary integration. The leaders have discussed a  report titled 'Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union', prepared by the President of the European Council in close collaboration with the President of the European Commission, the Chair of the Euro group and the President of the European Central Bank. The Commission has proposed to design a single banking supervision mechanism in the Euro area. In 2008 when the financial crisis spread to Europe, there were 27 different banking regulatory systems based on the separate national rules. The propo sal is not aimed at changing the rule making for the single market (with its ‘four freedoms’ namely, freedom of movement of goods, services, and the factors of production i.e. labour and capital) existing amongst the 27 countries, but the way in which the banks in the Euro area would be supervised. Although coordination pre-existed by way of the framing of the monetary policies for all these banks by the ECB, it was rather informal and was not sufficient to face the financial sector crisis of this nature. A full-fledged banking union has become necessary that would lead to pooled monetary responsibilities and better financial integration (Towards a Banking... This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of the creation of European Banking Union, as a form of central supervisory system. It is argued in the paper that benefits of forming such an union outweight its limitations. During the period of 2000 to 2007 there was a significant global rise in savings which was available for investment in the EU. It created an easy credit facility as well as helped the formation of a powerful real-estate bubble. When these bubbles burst, the property price fell hugely while the liabilities owed to global investors remained at their full price. The high-risk lending and borrowing practices had started taking its toll. The European Council in June, 2012 has agreed to deepen the economic and monetary integration. The leaders have discussed a report titled 'Towards a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union, prepared by the President of the European Council in close collaboration with the President of the European Commission, the Chair of the Euro group and the President of the European Central Bank. The Commission has proposed to design a single banking supervision mechanism in the Euro area. In response to the proposal of establishing a banking union, several countries have showed their concern or fear. Such a method of unifying the monetary responsibilities of all the banks in the European Union is going to have a far-reaching effect on the growth of the economies. Germany, for example, is not willing to cede control of its entire banking sector.

A Report on the issue of absenteeism within business organizations Research Paper

A Report on the issue of absenteeism within business organizations - Research Paper Example After concluding, the report will present recommendations that can be used to eliminate or control the issue of absenteeism within business organizations. This present report is based on the issue of absenteeism and in particular, the report will critically analyze this issue in regards to different case examples from different business organizations, According to the studies by Mullins (2007), absenteeism is described as the act of failing to report to the workstation or school without prior knowledge of the work supervisor or the schoolteacher or in other circumstances with prior knowledge to the work supervisor or the schoolteacher. Therefore, absenteeism can be scheduled or unscheduled or it can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Absenteeism is a common issue at the workplace and it occurs in almost all industries, however, De Paola (2008) stated that in the disciplined forces such as the Army or the navy, the issue of absenteeism is not quite prevalent because of stringent rules and regulations in the disciplined forces that prohibit against unscheduled and intentional absenteeism. Numerous studies have focused on the issue of absenteeism because of the overall impact that it has on work operations and the subsequent impact on the bottom line of a business organisation. ... 1.0 Introduction This present report is based on the issue of absenteeism and in particular, the report will critically analyze this issue in regards to different case examples from different business organizations, According to the studies by Mullins (2007), absenteeism is described as the act of failing to report to the workstation or school without prior knowledge of the work supervisor or the schoolteacher or in other circumstances with prior knowledge to the work supervisor or the schoolteacher. Therefore, absenteeism can be scheduled or unscheduled or it can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Absenteeism is a common issue at the workplace and it occurs in almost all industries, however, De Paola (2008) stated that in the disciplined forces such as the Army or the navy, the issue of absenteeism is not quite prevalent because of stringent rules and regulations in the disciplined forces that prohibit against unscheduled and intentional absenteeism. Numerous studies have focus ed on the issue of absenteeism because of the overall impact that it has on work operations and the subsequent impact on the bottom line of a business organisation. Mullins (2007) noted that given the fact that employees perform various roles or duties while on their workstation, it means that during their absence, certain functions will not take place or the output from their respective positions will be considerably low. This is because the employees who will be replacing them or acting on their position will not have similar or matching skills and qualifications. It is however, important to note that the impact of absenteeism on a company’s operations or the bottom line of a company largely depends on the position

Reflection Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Reflection Paper - Essay Example In my final media project, I have selected human sensory organs as the tools to convey the theme of my project. These tools are human eyes, nose, mouth and hands. These images are all paper cutting from different magazines. The participant is asked to paste these images on a blank canvas having blindfolded eyes. The reason for blocking the sight of the participant was actually to make a clear distinction between sight and feeling. Having blindfolded eyes the participant would feel these image cuttings without the help of eyes. The basic reason for putting all the image cuttings on one canvas is to give a brief concept of new media. These days the media is also playing the same role of putting all things at one place. For this reason I have selected this theme to truly present the picture of media. This may include social websites also. These websites, which actually called as the social networking sites are now used for any purpose. Businesses are using them to advertise their products. People use them to expand their social relationships. All the activity has been done blindfolded. Therefore I can assure my viewers that the outcome of this project is the true depiction of the participant’s feelings about the image cuttings. The essence of the project was to feel the image and then paste it on the canvas as they want to see it. I must say that I am successful to achieve my expected outcomes as the resultant canvas is the perfect picture as I expected. There is no regularity in the pasting of the image cuttings of the sensory organs and that is what I want to show that Media is playing the same role. Sometimes there is no connection between content of different programs but still people follow them in a blindfolded manner. The reason for using magazine cuttings as the tool in my media project is that I want to depict media in the form of the magazine. The technique of appropriation says that using one object to convey the message of other and in my

Blackberry Picking Essay Example for Free

Blackberry Picking Essay Task: Choose a poem that deals with an aspect of ordinary living. Analyse the poem showing how it . Pleasures are like poppies spread You seize the flower, its bloom is shed Bums Seamus Heaneys sensual and disturbing poem Blackberry -Picking explores aspects of ordinary living and enables us to see clearly the truth about a core element of human nature. This engaging piece of verse, written early in the Nobel laureates career, exposes humans perpetual desire for pleasure and the seemingly inescapable negative consequences attached to this pursuit. The poem is produced in a style readers familiar with Heaney will recognise: the deeper meaning is heavily cloaked in metaphor, and is therefore made clearer and more emphatic once understood. Upon reflection of these underlying themes about ordinary life, the reader experiences the clarity of vision usually associated with seeing something for the first time; this is a quality Heaney has claimed is essential to poetry. The poem is, on the surface, about a boys experiences at berry-picking time in the countryside. The anticipation and participation in this apparently very pleasant practice is conveyed for most of the first stanza of this two stanza piece. The poet describes an insatiable appetite (that verges upon greed) for indulging in the activity. In the latter part of this first stanza, however, a far less hedonistic mood can be detected by a very noticeable change in lexical choice and imagery; indeed, guilt and perhaps even remorse are evident here. In the second stanza the picked fruit becomes grotesque as it decays and the inevitable destructive forces of time take effect: Primarily, it is necessary to detail the larger metaphor which is relevant from the very beginning of the poem the title: Blackberry-Picking. The concept of picking fruit has irreducible associations with the Biblical story of Genesis an explanation of creation and mankinds fall from a state of innocence to one of sin a nd guilt. In this book Adam and Eve are templed by Satan to pick the forbidden fruit, resulting in their expulsion from Paradise. From this we can infer that the berries of Heaneys poem symbolise temptation, and that this temptation will lead to a loss of innocence and the incursion of guilt and sin into the world of the poem. In addition to this, the idea that the propensity for giving in to temptation is central to human nature, as it is of such ancient  origin, is strongly suggested. †¢ The time of year when these symbolic berries are picked, Late August, is given in the first line, and the sultry, humid, sensual atmosphere of this time of year is evoked by the following zeugma: given heavy rain and sun. This sensual atmosphere is developed in the first nine lines of the poem, and it clearly contains allusions to sex in lines 5-7: You ate that first one, and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summers blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for Picking. Here the idea of the irresistible allure of the berries is emphasised, and the allusions to sexual pleasure through the lexical choice of that first one, its flesh was sweet, Leaving stains upon the tongue, and the direct reference to lust, heighten the mood of sensual temptation. This is reinforced and strengthened by the suggestion of intoxication in line 6 when the flesh of the berries is described in a simile as being Like thickened wine. Summer is subsequently personified and this reference to Summers blood thickens the languid, warm, impassioned atmosphere. In this section of the poem, then, very ordinary aspects of life sensuousness, sexuality, desire, temptation are conveyed cleverly and clearly through the metaphor of blackberry picking. This metaphor enables us to see these things as extraordinary driving forces behind our actions, and this is a disturbing realisation. The boy experiencing this burgeoning, bountiful time of the rural calendar cannot, as has been shown ab ove, get enough of the fruit he picks. He and others set out between lines 9-12 to gather as many berries as they can. After they have indulged in this harvest, however, a contrasting mood is introduced: .. on top big dark blobs burned Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeards. Here the poetry is loaded with imagery and cultural associations. Initially the monosyllabic alliteration of the plosive b in big dark blobs burned strikes the reader as ponderous and menacing. This reaction is reinforced by the connotations of pain in the verb burned. The effect of this is aided by the gruesome and macabre simile that follows. The berries are described as being Like a plate of eyes. The very different mood engendered by this imagery is developed by the subsequent allusion to the crucifixion of Christ in hands in thorn pricks and the simile incorporating the legendary  character Bluebeard (a pirate who murdered many wives). This section of the poem, then, gives three consecutive images that evoke . connotations of guilt: the mutilation of the berries nat ural environment, the indirect reference to Christ (crucified by mankind), and the comparison between the berry pickers hands and the bloody hands of a serial murderer. In stanza two the mood of the poem deteriorates further as the harvested berries decay. In the first line the word hoarded, used to describe the volume of berries stored, reminds us of the insatiable appetite and self-indulgence depicted in the first stanza. The berries are now rotting, however, and this is conveyed effectively through word choice. They are described with the verbs stinking and fermented. Furthermore, a disease is spreading through the hoard. This is described as A ratgrey fungus, glutting on our cache. The connotations of disgust, revulsion and disappointment evident here are developed in lines 20-21: Once off the bush/I the sweet flesh would turn sour. What we can also perceive here is the notion of the inevitable and regularly experienced fate of all pleasure it cannot last and becomes satiety and guilt. The anguish at the fate of the berries, and therefore the fate of all indulgence is emphasised by the tone of the third last line: I always felt like crying. It wasnt fair. The boy of the poem is clearly still becoming accustomed to the irresistible forces of time. In the last line, however, we learn that the boy experiences this annually: That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot Each year I hoped theyd keep, knew they would not Perpetual hope and the following inevitable disappointment is emphasised here, and the reader can directly engage with this as we all experience such sequences in ordinary life. By the process of reflecting upon, and understanding, the blackberry picking metaphor, the reader sees the driving forces behind human behaviour afresh, and they become extraordinary and disturbing. Blackberry-Picking is a sensual and evocative poem which entices the reader with rich and opulent images. In stanza one we are drawn into the pleasure of the activities depicted by the poet. The ideas of guilt, disgust, and disappointment are then introduced as the greed of the pickers and the decay of the berries are illustrated. The extension of this cycle to others areas of life is performed by the use of sexual and cultural  allusions, symbolism and metaphor. Through these techniques we are given a startlingly clear picture of a common and ordinary reality we may never before have considered: that our lives are driven by perpetually disappointed hope and desire and that pleasure cannot last. The disturbing nature of this realisation is compounded by the religious symbolism of the berries this state of affairs may have been with us from the very beginning, and there is no reason why it should not be with us to the end.

Reviews And Summary Of The Kite Runner English Literature Essay

Reviews And Summary Of The Kite Runner English Literature Essay THIS powerful first novel, by an Afghan physician now living in California, tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseinis privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his countrys revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. A more personal plot, arising from Amirs close friendship with Hassan, the son of his fathers servant, turns out to be the thread that ties the book together. The fragility of this relationship, symbolized by the kites the boys fly together, is tested as they watch their old way of life disappear. Amir is served breakfast every morning by Hassan; then he is driven to school in the gleaming family Mustang while his friend stays home to clean the house. Yet Hassan bears Amir no resentment and is, in fact, a loyal companion to the lonely boy, whose mother is dead and whose father, a rich businessman, is often preoccupied. Hassan protects the sensitive Amir from sadistic neighborhood bullies; in turn, Amir fascinates Hassan by reading him heroic Afghan folk tales. Then, during a kite-flying tournament that should be the triumph of Amirs young life, Hassan is brutalized by some upper-class teenagers. Amirs failure to defend his friend will haunt him for the rest of his life. Hosseinis depiction of pre-revolutionary Afghanistan is rich in warmth and humor but also tense with the friction between the nations different ethnic groups. Amirs father, or Baba, personifies all that is reckless, courageous and arrogant in his dominant Pashtun tribe. He loves nothing better than watching the Afghan national pastime, buzkashi, in which galloping horsemen bloody one another as they compete to spear the carcass of a goat. Yet he is generous and tolerant enough to respect his sons artistic yearnings and to treat the lowly Hassan with great kindness, even arranging for an operation to mend the childs harelip. As civil war begins to ravage the country, the teenage Amir and his father must flee for their lives. In California, Baba works at a gas station to put his son through school; on weekends he sells secondhand goods at swap meets. Here too Hosseini provides lively descriptions, showing former professors and doctors socializing as they haggle with their customers over black velvet portraits of Elvis. Despite their poverty, these exiled Afghans manage to keep alive their ancient standards of honor and pride. And even as Amir grows to manhood, settling comfortably into America and a happy marriage, his past shame continues to haunt him. He worries about Hassan and wonders what has happened to him back in Afghanistan. The novels canvas turns dark when Hosseini describes the suffering of his country under the tyranny of the Taliban, whom Amir encounters when he finally returns home, hoping to help Hassan and his family. The final third of the book is full of haunting images: a man, desperate to feed his children, trying to sell his artificial leg in the market; an adulterous couple stoned to death in a stadium during the halftime of a football match; a rouged young boy forced into prostitution, dancing the sort of steps once performed by an organ grinders monkey. When Amir meets his old nemesis, now a powerful Taliban official, the book descends into some plot twists better suited to a folk tale than a modern novel. But in the end were won over by Amirs compassion and his determination to atone for his youthful cowardice. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence forces that continue to threaten them even today. Edward Howers latest novel is A Garden of Demons. A former Fulbright lecturer in India, he teaches in the writing department of Ithaca College. Opinion 1: We agree with this review, its sort of a short summary. The reviewer thinks its a beautiful story and so do we. There arent any negative things about the book in this review. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E0DF123FF930A3575BC0A9659C8B63 Review 2: An Afghan hounded by his past. Khaled Hosseinis shattering debut work, The Kite Runner, is the first novel to fictionalise the Afghan culture for a Western readership The Kite Runner In this, apparently the first Afghan novel to be written in English, two motherless boys who learn to crawl and walk side by side, are destined to destroy each other across the gulf of their tribal difference in a country of dried mulberries, sour oranges, rich pomegranates and honey. Its a Shakespearean beginning to an epic tale that spans lives lived across two continents amid political upheavals, where dreams wilt before they bud and where a search for a child finally makes a coward into a man. The Kite Runner is the shattering first novel by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan doctor who received political asylum in 1980 as civil conflict devastated his homeland. Whatever the truth of the claim to be the first English-language Afghan novel, Hosseini is certainly the first Afghan novelist to fictionalise his culture for a Western readership, melding the personal struggle of ordinary people into the terrible historical sweep of a devastated country in a rich and soul-searching narrative. Over the last three decades, Afghanistan has been ceaselessly battered by Communist rule, Soviet occupation, the Mujahideen and a democracy that became a rule of terror. It is a history that can intimidate and exhaust an outsiders attempts to understand, but Hosseini extrudes it simply and quietly into an intimate account of love, honour, guilt, fear and redemption that needs no dry history book or atlas to grip and absorb. Amir is a privileged member of the dominant Pashtun tribe growing up in affluent Kabul in the Seventies. Hassan is his devoted servant and a member of the oppressed Hazara tribe whose first word was the name of his boy-master. The book focuses on the friendship between the two children and the cruel and shameful sacrifice the rich boy makes of his humble, adoring alter ego to buy the love of his own distant father. I ran because I was a coward, Amir realises, as he bolts from the scene that severs his friendship with Hassan, shatters his childhood and haunts him for the rest of his life. I actually aspired to cowardice. The book charts Amirs attempts to flee culpability for this act of betrayal, seeking asylum from his hellish homeland in California and a new life buried deep in black velvet portraits of Elvis. Amirs story is simultaneously devastating and inspiring. His world is a patchwork of the beautiful and horrific, and the book a sharp, unforgettable taste of the trauma and tumult experienced by Afghanis as their country buckled. The Kite Runner is about the price of peace, both personal and political, and what we knowingly destroy in our hope of achieving that, be it friends, democracy or ourselves. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/sep/07/fiction.features1 Opinion 2: In this review the opinion of the reviewer was more clear than in the first one. The reviewer describes the themes of the book and he picked out he important things of the book. We agree with this reviewer,  we also got a lot of respect for Khaled Hosseini and his story about his youth. Review 3: Pulled by the past An immigrant returns to Kabul in Bay Area authors first novel San Francisco ChronicleJune 8, 2003 04:00 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Behind the title of first novelist Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner lurks a metaphor so apt and evocative that even the author never fully exploits its power. For the benefit of readers who didnt grow up in Afghanistan as Hosseini and his alter ego Amir did a kite runner is a sort of spotter in the ancient sport of kite fighting. In a kite fight, competitors coat their kite strings in glue and ground glass, the better to cut their rivals moorings. While the fighters kite is swooping and feinting in an effort to rule the skies, his kite-running partner is racing to own the streets, chasing down all their opponents unmoored, sinking trophies. Its a fresh, arresting, immediately visual image, and Hosseini uses it well enough as a symbol for Amirs privileged Afghan childhood in the 1970s, when he and his faithful servant, Hassan, had the run of Kabuls streets. Near the novels end, when the adult Amir returns in secret to Taliban-controlled, sniper-infested Kabul in search of Hassans lost son, the contrast with his cosseted, kite-flying youth could scarcely be more pronounced, or more effective. But Hosseini could have deepened the symbolism even further if he hadnt ignored what, in essence, a kite fight really is: a proxy war. Heres Afghanistan, jerked around like a kite for most of its 20th century history by the British, the Soviets, the Taliban and us, played off against its neighbors by distant forces pulling all the strings, and Hosseini never once makes the connection. Its just too tempting a trick to leave on the table. Of course, its Hosseinis metaphor and he can do with it or not do with it as he pleases. Considering how traditionally and transparently he tells the rest of Amirs story, though, Hosseini wouldnt seem the type to go burying half-concealed ideas for readers to tease out. More likely, he instinctively hooked a great image but, alas, doesnt yet have the technique to bring it in for a landing. Its a small failing, symptomatic of this middlebrow but proficient, timely novel from an undeniably talented new San Francisco writer. Hosseinis antihero Amir narrates the book from the Bernal Heights home he shares with his wife, Soraya. Like Hosseini, Amirs a writer, modestly celebrated for literary novels with such pretentious-sounding titles as A Season of Ashes. But Amirs childhood in Kabul still haunts him, specifically his mysterious inability to earn the love of his philanthropically generous but emotionally withholding father, and his guilt about failing to protect his angelic half- caste old kite runner, Hassan, from a savage assault. When Amir receives a deathbed summons from his fathers business partner in Pakistan, he sees a chance to redeem himself from the secrets that have left him psychically stranded between Afghanistan and the United States. Unfortunately, we know all this because Amir tells us, and not just once. Listen to him here, on the verge of his rescue mission over the Khyber Pass: I was afraid the appeal of my life in America would draw me back, that I would wade back into that great, big river and let myself forget, let the things I had learned these last few days sink to the bottom. I was afraid that Id let the waters carry me away from what I had to do. From Hassan. From the past that had come calling. And from this one last chance at redemption. One might excuse all this melodramatic breathlessness as the reflexive self- examination of a character who, after all, writes novels with titles like A Season of Ashes. But Amirs not the only one given to overly explicit musings. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/08/RV24780.DTL Opinion 3: We dont agree with the  opinion of this reviewer, he is way more negative then the first two. He thinks Hosseini could have deepened the symbolism of the book even further. But we think the book is okay like it is now. Setting Place: The story takes place for most part in Afghanistan, in and around Kabul. Later on the setting moves to the United States/ America, in San Francisco, California. Then Amir goes back to Pakistan and Taliban ruled Afghanistan. The story ends in the United States. The place is important for the story because you can imagine how it was in Afghanistan before the occupation. Many people fled to America to build a new life. Time: The time is not that important. Only the cold war. Amir en Baba need to run to Pakistan and then to America. Character Amir: Amir is in his childhood 12 years old and lives in Kabul,Afghanistan. He is a Pashtun, that are the better and richer people in Afghanistan. Later he is 38 years old and lives in America. Amir is the half-brother of Hassan, but he doesnt know that yet. He finds out much later in the book. Amir is a writer he loves to tell stories and when he is a grown up he writes a book. He wants his father to love him for who he is. Because his father rather wanted to see other qualities like Hassan has in Amir. Hassan: Hassan is the best friend of Amir in his childhood. Amir never told him that but Hassan knew they were. Hassan is a Hazzara which means he is almost worth nothing in the believe in Kabul. He has a china doll face and green eyes. Hassan has a father called Ali, who later turned out to be not his father but Baba was his father, he never knew that. Hassan always fights for Amir. Hassan would do anything that Amir asks him to do. He is the slave of Amir. Later he gets married and have a son called Sohrab. He and his wife get murdered by the Taliban and Sohrab goes to a orphanage. Assef: Assef is the bully of the neighbourhood. He has blond hair and blue eyes so he is very beautiful. He is the one that rapes Hassan. Later in the orphanage he also rapes Sohrab, the son of Hassan. But Amir and Sohrab fight to him and they could escape. Assef becomes part of the Taliban. And is very extreme he believes in the ideas of Hitler. Baba: Baba is the father of Amir and Hassan. Baba has a good running business which no one thought he could do that. His best friend is Rahim Khan. He stands for the rights of human and does not discriminate. He says that the only sin you can make is theft. When you kill someone you steel his life, you steel someones son, father or husband. Baba wants Amir to be more like Hassan. Because Amir reads poetry just like his mother but Hassan can fight and do boys stuff. At the end of the book Baba dies because of lung cancer. Ali: Ali is a childhood friend of Baba, he is also the servant of Baba. He has a son Hassan, who later turned out to be not his son. He had Polio so he is cripple. The children in town laugh at him and call him names. He was killed by a landmine. Rahim Khan: Rahim Khan is the best friend of Baba and also his business partner. Rahim Kahn supports Amir in Writing because Baba doesns, he buys a book where he can writes his stories in for Amir. Rahim Khan is the one who calls Amir and also the one who tells Amir that Hassan was his half-brother. He tells him to come and get the son of Hassan. At the end of the story he disappears and leaves a letter for Amir. Soraya: Soraya is an Afghan woman who lives in America with Amir. She is the wife of Amir. She has a father who is a general. But in there culture she is not clean. When they lived in Afghanistan she ran away with here boyfriend and had sex before marriage. Her father brought here back, but after that nobody wanted her anymore, except for Amir offcourse. She cannot have children but later they adopt Sohrab. Sohrab: Sohrab is the son of Hassan he is just like hes father in many ways. They look quite the same and Sohrab can also shoot very good with a sling-shot. He is also raped By Assef and was traumatized. He tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists. He is adopted by Amir and Soraya. Plot Introduction: The story begins in America when Amir is called bij Rahim Khan. That is the moment that there is action in the story. Amir tells about his history, his childhood with Hassan. Initial incident: Hassan gets raped by Assef. Amir sees it but wont do a thing. Amir wants Hassan to go away. And hides the watch he had on his birthday. Hassan and Ali move away. The war starts and Baba and Amir run to Pakistan, later to America Rising action: Rahim Khan calls Amir and tells him to go to Pakistan to get his redemption from the past. The son of Hassan needs to be safed. Climax: Amir is in Kabul and saves Sohrab the son of Ali. He fights with Assef. Sohrab shot in the eye of Assef. Falling action: Amir and Sohrab are back in Pakistan and they need to get back to America, but Sohrab has no visa. Soraya the wife of Amir she has here connections and she can adopt Sohrab. Summary On a sunny day in 2001 Amir calls from Rahim Khan, the best friend of his father. The book is about a boy named Amir. He lives with his father, Baba and their servants Ali and Hassan. Saunaubar, Amirs mother was deceased when he was born. Amir is a Pashtun, a Soenni muslim. Hassans mother, Sanaubar, has run off with another man. Hassan is a Hazara, a Shia muslim. Mahmood is also a good friend of Baba. Mahmood is a pilot and has a German woman and a son named Assef. One day Hassan and Amir are on their way to the pomegranate tree. Under this tree Amir reads stories to Hassan. Later closed Assef, and his friends Kamal and Wali their in. Assef says that Hitler was a good man and that he also had to do with the Hazaras what he did to the Jews also. Hassan tied Assef and his friends with a slingshot. One day in 1974, just after Ramadan, Hassans birthday. He does not get gifts like toys, but an operation on his cleft lip. Dr Baba. Kumar surgeon invited to come and make an appointment for the surgery. Amir loves the winter in Kabul. Every year, Kite and Amir did run tournaments held each year. He wanted to be the first to fall more into the eyes of his father. Amir and Hassan went to the bazaar to buy material to make a kite. Baba saw that they were making a kite and said it might not be good enough for the competition. He took along to Saifo, the best kite maker in Kabul, Baba bought a kite for Amir and Hassan. The next day its snowing outside and Amir doubt for kiting. As Hassan says there is no monster, its a beautiful day Amir decides to go kiting. During kiting . his hands bleeding completely. After a while he is still in the final with a boy. Amir manages to keep the kite to cut and he wants the match. Amir still wanted the blue kite in the air. Hassan ran after the kite because he knows where the kites fall. Everyone congratulated Amir. Amir went searching for Hassan. He asked the people on the street if they had seen him. Omar, a son of one of the friends of his father, Ha ssan said that in the direction of the market went. At the bazaar Amir asked a man if he had seen Hassan. The man had seen him and told that he said: For you a thousand time over. Amir suddenly heard voices and noises. He recognized the voice of Hassan. He saw the three boys, Assef, Wali and Kamal with Hassan. The boys like the kite but Hassan would not given it. He said that Amir won the game fair. Assef said that nothing in the world is fair. Wali and Kamal pushing Hassan to the ground and Assef raped him. Amir continues to see and do or say nothing at all. Eventually he runs away to the bazaar. He let Hassan down. Later Hassan runs in a hard way to Amir with the kite in his hand. His father is very proud of him. Hassan feeling pretty good and not so he would only sleep. Ali thinks that something is and asks Hassan to Amir. Amir would have been possible with his father and do things. They go to Jalalabad, the cousin live there, his wife and two daughters (twins) and Karima Fazila. Amir is carsick and throws up on Fazila back in the car. When they come home, Hassan and Amir didnt talk to each other. A few days later Hassan asks Amir if hes coming to the bakery. Amir says he doesnt want it so Hassan asks what he has done wrong. Amir asks his father if they start taking new servants, Baba is angry, saying: Hassans not going anywhere. He is staying right here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and were his family. Amir get for his birthday a stingray and wrist watch from his father. Rahim Khan gives him a notebook to write his stories. Amir write a story about the life of Hassan. Hassan loved it and later said that Amir would be a great writer. Amir could not live with his guilt that he had done nothing when Hassan was raped, but also because he felt that Hassan get sometimes more attention than him. When Ali and Hassan went to the bazaar Amir put his new watch and some money under the mattress of Hassan. He told Baba that his watch was missing. eventually they find it under the mattress of Hassan. Amir hopes that Baba accused Hassan of theft from their home and move. But that is not the case. Baba forgives Hassan. From self-esteem Ali and Hassan go away. Baba does everything to let them stay, but nothing can stop them. They go to Hazarajat to Alis cousin. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, early 1980, flights Amir and his father to Peshwar, Pakistan. On the way into the tank theyre all acquaintances, including Kamal and his father. The mother was shot dead by Kamal and Kamal has a trauma left over so he can not talk. Kamal is dead the next morning. His father can not take it anymore and shoots himself with a bullet in his mouth. Amir and Baba flight from Pakistan to the United States in 1980. Amir builds a new life, but he fails to mention Hassan. Amir goes to school to become a writer and Baba find work at a gas station. Amir gets a Ford from his father. Baba is very ill. The doctors discovered that he has lung cancer. Baba does not want chemotherapy, only painkillers. Amir and Baba go in their spare time to the market for selling used products. Amir get to learn Soraya and fall in love with her. Her father is General Mr. Sahib. Iqbal. He worked for ministery of Defense. Baba buy a VW from an old acquaintance. Amir and Soraya talk. Soraya want them to read stories written by Amir. Sorayas mother, Jamila finds Amir is a nice guy. When it is New year Amir and Baba are walking a bit outside. Baba falls on the ground and theres blood from his mouth. Hes just unconscious. Baba is taken to hospital. Baba told Amir that he likes Soraya and Baba agree with it, so Amir and Soraya are goint to marry. Soraya wants to talk to him on the phone. She said that she is impure. And she has had some problems with her ex boyfriend. Soraya thought Amir would not want her after she said that. The day after the wedding the aunt and uncle from Soraya came to visite. They played a game with Amir. That night Baba Soraya wanted to give his medication but he did not. He said he had no pain. From that evening Baba never woke up. Amir writes books about father and son. His book is crowned. Amir and Soraya learn that they cant have children. Soraya doesnt want a child addoption she wants to feel how its like to be pregnant. . When Sorayas father learned that she had gone to bed before her marriage, she was imprisoned and had all her hair cut off. She wished that her father died. 2001, Amir gets a call from Rahim Khan. He said that he is very ill and that he wants to see Amir before his deat. He lives in Pakistan. They talk about Baba and the occupation of Afghanistan by the Taliban. The Taliban has expelled the Russians from Afghanistan. People thought they were saved. But that was wrong. Rahim said could care no longer for the house of Amir and Baba. He decided to go to Hassan and Ali and with difficulty he could persuade Hassan. Rahim did not sell the house because of the great memories. Hassan was married and had one son, Sohrab. His wife was pregnant with a daughter. Amir reads the letter that Hassan had written for him. Hassan and his wife were shot by the Taliban. Sohrab was arrested and placed in an orphanage. Amir Rahim wish now that he is going to save Sohrab because all the children in that orphanage are in the hands of the Taliban. Rahim also said that Ali is not the real father of Hassan, because he could get no children. Baba is the father of Ha ssan only he has a different mother. If Amir hears this hes very angry, because they had concealed for them the fact that they are step brothers. Amir thinks about the past and now know why Baba never forget Hassans birthday. When Amir Baba asked if she would take new servants said Baba yet,Hassans not going anywhere, hed barked. He is staying right here with us, where he belongs. This is his home and were his family.Amir feels guilty. He decides to go to Kabul to rescue Sohrab. Farid, the taxi driver and friend of Rahim, takes him to Kabul. Along the way, they stayed with the brother of Farid. Amir sees for the first time in his life a Taliban soldier. He also meets an old classmate of his mother. The man told a few things, but a lot has forgotten. Eventually they go to a orphange. The location of the orphanage where Sohrab would sit, is lent to a ruler of the Taliban, monthly boys or girls from the orphanage will get to satisfy his sexual needs. Zaman is the boss. Farid will fight with Zaman. Amir should go with Farid to the stadium, to look at the man who has a black sunglasses. Amir goes to the home of the Taliban fighter. Amir recognized the man, it is Assef. Assef says Amir can take the child if he wins. Amir gets a slap in the face with brass knuckles. He gets a tear in his lip. Sohrad shoot a stone in the eye from Assef with his slingshot. Assef concern Sohrab and Amir and this will give the opportunity to flee. Amir has to go to the hospital. In the taxi they fled to Pakistan. Rahim Khan is gone and left money for Amir he can use to return to America. It was a trick of Rahim Khan to get Amir that far he would take care of Sohrab. He knew of the betrayal of Amir and he realizes that this is the only way to give back to Hassan. Amir ask Soraya if she want to adopt Sohrab, she scared a bit. Amir hears how difficult it will be to get away Sohrab. He is advised to let Sohrab stay in Pakistan in an orphanage for a while, but Sohrab will no longer be in an orphanage and that Amir had pledged him. During a telephone call from Soraya she informs that she thinks she can adopt him in America, Sohrab cut his wrists. Fortunately, he saved time and then he recovers. Sohrab needs a visa to be allowed into the United States what takes a long time. Soraya finally able to arrange dates could take Sohrab to the United States. Amir adopted Sohrab and he buys a kite for Sohrab. The two of them kite fight together and win. For the first time Sohrab smiles for Amir. Then Amir use the phrase that Hassan always said to him: For you a thousend time over and run to fetch the kite. Theme There are a lot of themes in this book and mostly apply to all the characters. Father and son relationship: Baba has two sons but you think only Amir is the son of him. For Amir is Baba the smartest and strongest men in the whole entire world. Amir wants his father to be proud of him but Baba doesnt like the qualities of Amir. He wants Amir to be more like Hassan. Also the relation of Hassan and Sohrab they are a lot a like. They can both use the sling shot very well. Betrayal: Amir betrays Hassan by framing him for theft. Loyalty: The loyalty of Hassan to Amir because they are best friends but Hassan is also the servent of Amir. Also Ali to Baba when the watch is stolen from Amir. Ali wants to go away because of honor and loyalty. At the end of the book its the other way around now is Amir loyal to the son of Hassan, you can read that when Sohrab en Amir go kiting in the park Amir is running after the kite of Sohrab. Redemption: Amir tries to make it up to Hassan by adopting Sohrab, many other characters try to find redemption like Baba. Title The title is: The kite runner. Kite fighting is a traditional sport in Afghanistan. Hassan is a kite runner for Amir. He runs to fetch kites Amir has deafeated by cutting their strings. He knows where such a kite will land without even seeing it. One day, Amir wins the local tournament, and finally Babas praise. Hassan goes to run the last kite for Amir, saying for you, a thousand times over.