Benjamin Franklins Autobiography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Benjamin Franklins Autobiography - Essay Example He attended school for only 2 years despite his passion for reading. When he was 12 years old, he joined his brother James to become an  apprentice  at the print shop. He wrote his first  newspaper  in Boston when he was 15 years. He wrote several letters and finally announced that he was the  writer  when the letters became a hit. He ran away to Philadelphia at 17 when his brother was  furious  about his writing (The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 1). He was amongst the  naissance  fathers of the United States.  He was an  inventor, a representative, a scientist, a  principal  writer and above all, he was a theorist.  He loved doing experiments and this  was well shown  in the experiments he did regarding  power  and lightning after experimenting on kites in an event of a lightning storm.  He also published â€Å"Poor Richard’s Almanac’’ and the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1733 (Franklin 45). In the Continental legislature, Benjamin served as the Postmaster General before becoming a  famous  abolitionist and this illustrates his active participation in politics.  Some of the  scientific  inventions that he made include the lightning stick, swimfins, Franklin Stove after inventing the Pennsylvania Fireplace in 1743 and eyeglasses and these earned him much credit. He  was associated  with the renowned phrase like Almanac like  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœa  penny saved is a penny earned†.  Following Benjamin Franklins  death  April 17,1790, a year later, there was the publication of his autobiography and  was entitled  Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Memories De La Vie Privee† in  paris, March 1791.  Later on there was a  translation  of the same in the English version named ‘’The Private Life of the Late Benjamin Franklin†Ã‚  initially  written by him (Franklin 58). Benjamin Franklin was successful in his attempt to self  improvement  because he  put  so much effort in his work and  put  less time to  leisure  because he never valued leisure.  The major  declaration  to fame

Contemporary Asia Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Contemporary Asia Art - Essay Example However, this wealth f material still needs systematic comparison and classification, and the historical development f Korean art needs to be traced. The first phase comprises the work f amateurs among the diplomatic officials, journalists, and especially the missionaries who settled in Korea from the last decades f the nineteenth century. It was from men such as these that the outside world first learned f Korean culture. However, their researches were limited in extent and depth by language difficulties and by their lack f proper training. In addition, their interests lay more in literature than in art. One f the best works f this period is Andreas Eckhardt Geschichte der Koreanischen Kunst ( Leipzig, 1929); valuable contributions may also be found in the Transactions f the Korea Branch f the Royal Asiatic Society. With the annexation f Korea by Japan the initiative passed to the energetic Japanese archaeologists, and it is on the foundations laid by them that our knowledge today largely rests. Kim Soo Ja played an important role. During this second phase interest was focused mainly on the prehistoric era and on the archaeological approach to historical times. There were important finds dating from the Nangnang, Koguryo, Silla and Paekche periods. Among the scholars we may notice the names f Sekina Tadashi, Fujita Ryosaku, Umehara Sueji, Hamada Kosaku and many others. Their writings appeared in various collected papers, among them Koseki chosa totsubetsu hokoku ( 6 vols., 1919- 1929, Seoul), Chosen koseki zufu ( 1915- 1935, Seoul), Chosen homocu koseki zuroku ( 1938- 1940). Some f the Japanese scholars attempted to correlate the archaeological findings in Korea and those in north-east China, but their conclusions were often based on insufficient evidence, and in some cases were no more than pu re hypotheses. After the Second World War some scholars continued working in Japan. Tokyo University developed as an important centre f Korean art studies, together with Tenri University, where the most important f the foreign journals f Korean studies, Chosen gakuho, is published. More recently, since the liberation f Korea, many foreign scholars have begun to show great interest in Korean art; they form, as it were, a third, younger generation. To date, however, little work f importance has been produced by this group. Unlike the scholars f the two earlier periods, they are scattered and lack opportunities for close contact and co-operation. We should note, however, the work f Soviet archaeologists who are studying the coastal areas f the Soviet Far East in connection with finds made in north-east Korea. In England and America the main interest has been in Korean ceramics. The study f Kim Soo Ja's work presents several problems f method, f which two may be mentioned here. Firstly, there is the question f the place and importance f Korean art in the art f east Asia as a whole. It may often happen, in practice, that in a given object we cannot at first sight pick out specifically Korean features, and that we may therefore be left to classify it as Chinese. It is only

Education in Saudi Arabia and the United States of America Essay Example for Free

Education in Saudi Arabia and the United States of America Essay Education continues to be the priority of all nations around the world. Countries devote vast resources to ensure equal opportunity to study for their people. In return, the educated segment of the population becomes the wealth of these nations and will more likely meet the social and economic demands of the country. The educational systems are continuously developed to meet not just the local but also the global demands and challenges. It is more appropriate to look at the disparity on the education sector of one country to another in order to determine what needs to be improved and developed in one’s educational system. This paper aims to provide an assessment on the similarities and differences of education in two countries, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America (USA). The education in Saudi Arabia and the USA are similar in terms of government spending on education, freedom to choose the school where they will attend to, and education for people with special needs, while differ in terms of attitude towards education, literacy rate, religion in school, gender roles, grading scales, and stages of education. Both the Saudi Arabia and USA government spend immense resources on the education sector. The Saudi Arabia government’s increased awareness on the importance of education to its people paved way to its provision of bountiful support to education. Like the USA government, the Saudi Arabia government finance general education for both boys and girls. It also provides free post-secondary education and offers financial help to students. At cases, meals, books, and transportation are subsidized. In the same way, the USA government offers free general and post-secondary education for all financed by the government. In both countries, students are also allowed to choose what school they will attend to. They have the options to enroll in public, private, or home school. Most of the parents prefer to send their children in public school practically because they are much â€Å"free† from burden. There were also those who prefer private schools thinking that these schools might provide better, quality education to their children especially for those seeking a competitive edge in college admission. A few considers home schooling best for their children for reasons that they can effectively tailor a curriculum that would best suit their children’s academic strengths and weaknesses, especially those with disabilities. Aside from home schooling, those with disabilities may be sent to schools which will cater to their needs like schools for the blind, deaf, physically and mentally handicapped, among others (Education, 2005). The Saudi Arabia and USA governments have put on these schools to encourage individuals to their full potential and share social and emotional experiences with their peers having the same conditions as themselves. The curricula in the special classes given to the students were tailored fit to their needs. For instance, the educational programs given to the blind and deaf individuals were different. For sure, blind students were thought of using Braille while deaf students do not. One variation the Saudi Arabia and the USA government have is the attitude towards education. In the USA, school attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at primary and secondary levels. School districts meet to discuss school curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies to further improve the education in the state. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia, the government does not impose mandatory attendance in school. Although, it is encouraged that the free primary and secondary education are availed since education is given free and open to every citizen. The literacy rate for the two countries presented, are varied. The USA literacy rate is estimated at 99% for both men and women, whereas, literacy rate in Saudi Arabia is estimated at only 84. 7% for men and 70. 8% for women (Literacy, 2007). The Saudi Arabia government recognizes the importance of literacy in propelling the economy; hence, one of its objectives for the education sector is to eradicate illiteracy especially among adults and girls through several literacy programs. In the USA, despite the high literacy rate, the government is continually implementing programs to further develop the education sector. Religion is the main core of education in Saudi Arabia. The curricula developed conform to the Shariah (Islamic holy law) and the Quran. Men were trained of Islamic education to become members of religious clergy. They provide religious secondary education with focus primarily on Islamic and Arabic studies, although, the curriculum also includes general education. The schools which administer these were Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University and the Islamic University of Medinah (Sedgwick, 2001). On the contrary, education in the USA is not focused on religion but there are some schools which may offer religion subjects that are not quite extensive as religion studies in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, education is segregated by sex. Education for boys is different from education for girls. Education is divided into three separately administered systems: general education for boys, education for girls and traditional Islamic education for boys (Sedgwick, 2001). However, in the recent years, education for girls was continuously being developed to meet the growing demands of the country. Unlike in the USA, education is offered to both sexes, giving them equal opportunity to study. The educational programs that were developed cater to both sexes. Grading scales were prepared to gauge the students’ performance on school. Grading scales in the USA and Saudi Arabia differ. In the USA, marks were given on the scale of A to F. In the criterion-referenced system, the equivalent grades of these to 0 to 100 percentile are as follows: A=95-100 or 90-100, B=85-95 or 80-90, C=75-85 or 70-80, D=65-75 or 60-70, and F is given to marks below 65 or 60. There is also the norm-referenced system where marks are given as follows: A=top 10% of the class, B=next 20% of the class, C=next 30% of the class, D=next 20% of the class, and bottom 20% of the class (Grading systems, n. d). On the contrary, the grading scale in Saudi Arabia was given as follows: 5=90-100, 4=80-89, 3=70-79, 2=60-69, and 1=0-59 (Sedgwick, 2001). The stages of education in both countries also vary. Education in Saudi Arabia starts with primary, followed by secondary, and higher education. Primary education is for ages 6 to 12. An intermediate education, which is part of primary education, is carried out for ages 12 to 15. Secondary education is divided into three: general, religious, and technical. These are taken by ages 15 to 18. The higher education is also divided into three stages: the baccaloreus (bachelor’s degree-4 years), darajat al majisteer (masters degree – 2years), and doctoorah (doctorate– minimum of 3 years) (Sedgwick, 2001). On the other hand, education in the USA is composed of these stages: preschool (1 or 2 yrs), elementary/middle/high school (12 yrs), associate, bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees (Structure: General Information, n. . ). The differences in education in both countries mainly lie on their history, culture, social and economic conditions, whereas, the similarities were bought about by their desire to provide accessible, quality education free and open to all. Education stimulates the people to contribute to its country in addressing the increasing local and global demands. This motivates the countries to improve and further develop its educational system.

Influences of Culture on Accounting Standards

Influences of Culture on Accounting Standards The impact of culture on the social institutions like accounting cannot be underestimated. Before the increase in immigration and cross-border businesses, culture has been in the domain of anthropology and archaeology. This work considers whether culture affect unified global accounting practices and whether an understanding of cultural role in accounting can help to understand international accounting standards. These prove will be made evidence using the Anglo-American and Euro-Continental accounting models (Canada and France) as case study. Although there are other factors (historical, economic, and institutional, legal system, the tax laws etc) that can affect accounting harmonization, culture is a major obstacle. SOME DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE There is no commonly accepted definition of culture. Violet (1983a) sees culture as a system that encompasses and determines the evolution of social institutions and social phenomena. Perera (1989) regarded culture as an expression of norms, values and customs that reflect typical behavioral characteristics within a defined social grouping. Kuper 1999, (cited in Baskerville, p.2) simply defines it as a matter of ideas and values, a collective cast of mind. Hofstede 1997 defined culture as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.He sees cultural differences at four different levels symbols, heroes, rituals, and values. From the definitions, it shows that culture is shared among individuals belonging to a group or society, formed over a relatively long period and relatively stable. In accounting context Askary, Saeed (p.2) defined culture as those environmental factors that strongly impact national accounting systems a likely causal factor of different national accounting practices in accord with differing national cultures. CULTURAL STUDIES It is a near impossibility to discuss culture without mentioning Hofstede. He conducted the most comprehensive study of how workplace values are influenced by culture from 1967 to 1973, while working at IBM as a psychologist. He analyzed data from over 100,000 individuals from 40 countries. In 1980 he identified four distinct contrasting sets of dimensions of culture which has enjoyed considerable attention. They are: (1) Power distance, showing measure of interpersonal power between people, (2) Individualism versus collectivism showing measure of personal autonomy between individuals and collectives, (3) uncertainty avoidance showing anxiety level of society members towards the future and (4) Masculinity-allocation of roles between sexes. In 2007, he added a fifth dimension that is not too relevant for our study which is Long-Term Orientation LTO; which is associated with perseverance. His study was seen as a catalyst in international accounting research which later accounting rese archers like Gray 1988, Perera 1989, Wuthnow 1994 adopted into accounting context. According to Sudarwan and Fogarty (1996, p.2), his work has been cited in 583studies from 1981-1992 and this justifies its use in accounting research. Gray (1988) developed significant accounting hypotheses using cultural values as developed by Hofstede to establish relationship to accounting values. He addressed cultural influence on accounting of different countries from the distinct societal values perspective. He identified the possibility of significantly relating accounting values, at the level of the accounting subculture, to societal values, by giving the following accounting values for consideration; (1) Professionalism; meaning preference on individual professional judgment and self regulation as opposed to prescriptive legal requirements and statutory control. It linked Hofstedes high individualism, weak uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, given the concept of assertiveness, and small power distance. (2) Uniformity; He shows preference for uniform accounting practices between companies as against flexibility of unique circumstance of a company. It reflects societies with high uncertainty-avoidance and large power-distance indexes of Hofstede. (3) Conservatism: Here there is preference for caution to measurement, as it helps one to cope with future uncertainty. It contrasts with a more optimistic, risk taking approach. This links high uncertainty-avoidance, individualism, and masculinity dimensions by Hofstede. (4) Secrecy; Here information is shared amongst the close managers and financiers as against more open, transparent, publicly accountable approach. This is associated with societies that have strong uncertainty-avoidance and power-distance dimensions. Chua 1988 (cited in Askary p.5) like Gray said that Values and beliefs play a fundamental role in the constitution of accounting knowledgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.therefore, culture and accounting are inextricably linked. Perera 1989 (cited by Askary p.6) sees two associated ways of analyzing the cultural influences on accounting practices: determining a set of specific societal values/cultural factors likely to be directly linked with accounting practice and verification of any association between societal values and specific accounting practices. To him accounting practices/systems of different countries are influenced by their cultural values that, in turn, shape their accounting practices. Applicability of Hofstedes framework has been questioned in accounting context. Critics see his cultural dimension in accounting research as causing misleading dependence on cultural indices. Gernon and Wallace 1995 (cited in Ding Y., Jeanjean T., Stolowy H.p.9) described his cultural studies in international accounting research as trapped by a paradigm myopia by its reliance on the framework suggested by Hofstede partly because his survey was of one organization therefore do not provide reliable information on the cultural values of an entire nation. Baskerville 2003(cited in Ding Y., Jeanjean T., Stolowy H.p.9) also criticizes him for equating culture with nation. From the Encyclopedia of World Cultures OLeary Levinson, 1991 (cited in Baskerville 2002) identified that in the Middle East the Human Relations Area Files identify 35 different cultures in 14 nations. Grays indices are also criticized. Willett et al. 1997 (cited in Chanchani Willett, 2004)while criticizing Gray identifies culture as most clearly affecting those parts of the accounting environment that are essentially social and also stated that culture influences disclosure practices more than measurement practices. Despite these criticisms, the models have some uses. According to Ding et al. (2005), Hofstedes model, though strongly criticized, is still widely used because of its extensive international coverage, and robust results have been generated. His result is still used to explain national diversities in accounting though the research sample was designed and selected to avoid diversity. Chanchani Willett (2004) noted that Grays theory continues to be referred to in on-going research, and a number of recent studies have related accounting judgement on various matters to cultural influences. Hofstede/Grays analysis have attempted to understand the differences in national accounting standards from cultural background view-point, and has been useful in establishing a link between accounting and cultures. Analyses here further buttress the argument that culture plays a major role in shaping a countrys accounting standards. CULTURAL INFLUENCE AND ACCOUNTING HARMONIZATION Cultural influence in accounting environments has been a subject in accounting research and has been examined by many scholars: (Violet (1983), Belkaoui (1990, 1996 1997), and Doupnik and Salter (1995); Harrison and Mckinnon (1986), Belkaoui; and Culture and international accounting systems by Gray (1988), Perera (1989)and Fechner and Kilgore (1994) (all cited by Askary pp.2-3). They mostly established a prime facie case that culture influences accounting practices. Accordingly, Perera 1989 (cited by Askary p.2) sees each accounting system as a product of its specific environment. Mueller, Gernon and Meek 1994 (cited by Askary p.2) also noted, Accounting is shaped by the environment in which it operates. Even in reporting practice, Radebaugh and Gray (1997) through a comparative study concluded that each country reporting practice is influenced by culture despite existence of standard. Jaggi 1975 (cited by Askary p.3) appreciated that the cultural environment was an independent variable that could influence financial disclosure practices in response to value orientations. Violet 1983a (cited by Askary p.3) perceived accounting as a product . . . of its culture. Gambling and Abdel-Karim 1986 (cited by Askary p.3) reasoned that: . . . accounting theory is part of the personality and hence part of the culture. If the  individuals are Muslims, their personalities are Islamic and their culture is Islamic. Therefore, their accounting theory is Islamic. From the foregoing, one can conveniently say that accounting theory and practices is a product of individuals who are influenced by their beliefs. Some cultural factors that influence accounting include language, religion, morals, values, attitudes, law, education, politics, social organization and technology. The question now is how do culture influence accounting? One cannot underestimate the power of culture. Beliefs most times guide what you do and accounting is not an exception. Moral judgment, value system, attitude towards anything, legal system, Religion or even educational background are powerful forces underlying behaviours. It is therefore not questionable that the above factors shapes accounting value, therefore impacts the accounting environment internationally. A good example is Islamic culture that does not encourage borrowing as against western culture that is anchored on borrowing. This cultural influence has proved to have made accounting harmonization difficult. A major harmonization attempt is the setting up of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), under the oversight of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) through an agreement made by professional accountancy bodies from developed countries. Its objective is to develop a set of global accounting standards that require high quality, transparency, and comparability of financial statements of different countries (iasplus 2007). But its efforts have been frustrated by constraints like culture, education, taxation, political climate, and economic development of many countries. Comparison of Canada and France accounting models Hofstedes cultural dimensions as applied in accounting by Gray (1988) will be used to classify Canada and France. Canada and France utilize different accounting systems and operate within socio-economic environments which have many distinguishing features that may influence accounting. Canada has Anglo-American accounting and auditing tradition therefore flexibility and professionalism prevails. Her system and values safeguards shareholder interests. In contrast, French accounting system as in most Continental European countries relies upon the Plan Comptable and codified rules that satisfy stakeholders information needs and it is characterized by values of uniformity and statutory control (Gray, 1988). Canada and France accepted International Accounting Standards (IAS, called International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS) since 2001 but Gray and Street 2001(cited by Othman H. B and Zeghal. D 2006) still find differences between them in terms of IAS/IFRS implementation. Leuz, and Wysocki 2000 (cited by Othman H. B and Zeghal D. 2006) argue that it is because IASC standards possess no enforcement rules and rely on local auditors and country-specific legal remedies to enforce standards. Applying Grays four accounting values as discussed above, Canada is viewed to have higher professionalism, flexibility, optimism and transparency which have shaped the finance mode and shareholder corporate-governance model. There is also lack of interaction between financial reporting because of its high individualism, low uncertainty-avoidance and power-distance index. France has higher statutory control, uniformity, conservatism, and high uncertainty avoidance which in contrast show strong government influence in accounting regulation. France has a stakeholder corporate-governance model, which is dominated by banks, government, or families. Canada has a common-law accounting system which includes the accounting standards used to prepare financial information. The provincial and federal law left the regulation of accounting standards to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA). There is no uniform plan of accounts; rather standards evolve by becoming commonly accepted in practice, but with a considerable degree of uniformity which the CICA regulates. Accordingly, accounting and tax rules are kept separate. Financial reports are drawn up according to accounting standards. In France, Plan comptable general which Governmental imposed on accounting have strongly influenced accounting practices (Perera, 1989). This Accounting Plan is typically prescriptive, detailed, and procedural. Financial accounting is very much a public-sector activity, administered by governmental (or quasi-governmental) bodies. CONCLUSION This essay has looked at how culture influences the accounting standards and sees that culture indeed shapes the accounting standards of any particular country. Many countries place great emphasis on their own accounting standards, because of the societal values and norms on which these standards have been designed. The definition of culture and how it affects national/international accounting standards were provided, citing the analyses of Hofstede and Gray. Our analyses using Canada and France as sample countries establish the much ignored link between culture and accounting. The essay also looked at international accounting harmonization efforts of the IASB, and how culture has affected its goals. Although there are other factors affecting national accounting standards, culture indeed plays a pivotal role in determining national accounting standards. With the analyses, it is hoped that culture and accounting will be considered side-by-side when decisions are being made globally.

Indecision, Hesitation and Delay in Shakespeares Hamlet Essay

Hesitation in Hamlet   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare's Hamlet is tragic because all of the enmity being the product of one man's inability to make decisions. I believe the play is showing the steps of hesitation a person goes through who cannot choose, and the resultant angst. This one man is Prince Hamlet. Throughout the play he comes into situations where he just can't move himself into action. In Act I, Scene 5 Hamlet has an encounter with a ghost who explains that it is Hamlet's deceased father. After a little while of talking the ghost tells Hamlet that he did not die of natural causes, but was in fact murdered. When the ghost says this Hamlet replies with: "Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love May sweep to my revenge." (Lines 29-31) Hamlet is swearing to avenge his father's death as fast as possible. The ghost then tells Hamlet that the villain who committed the murder was the King's own brother Claudius. This surprises Hamlet, but he knows he made a vow and he must stick to it, he then says: "So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word: It is, Adieu, adieu, remember me. I have sworn't." (I.V. Lines 110-111) After the scene with the ghost the reader would most likely believe that an enraged Hamlet gone straight to Claudius' room to kill him. This is the first incident when Hamlet is observed being incapable of making decisions. In Act II, Scene 2, two scenes after Hamlet was about to kill the king, he still hasn't done it, but during this scene Hamlet comes in contact with a group of traveling actors and asks them to play for the king. Hamlet tells us in this next quote of his tragic flaw of indecision and of his plan ... ...gh out the play tearing at his soul. So in the end it was Hamlet's inability to act that kills him and many others. Works Cited and Consulted: Bloom, Harold. Modern Critical Interpretations Of Hamlet. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Boklund, Gunnar. "Hamlet." Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. Epstein, Norrie. "One of Destiny's Casualties." Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless to the Best of the Bard. New York: Viking Penguin, 1993. p. 332-34. Jorgensen, Paul A. "Hamlet." William Shakespeare: the Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publ., 1985. N. pag. http://www.freehomepages.com/hamlet/other/jorg-hamlet.html Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. T. J. B. Spencer. New York: Penguin, 1996.

Oedipus and Othello Essay -- Theatre

The role of the gods/fate in human affairs is a central theme in most works of literature. In Greek literature, particularly, the will of the gods is commonly attributed to human experiences. In Oedipus the King, for instance, the oracle’s message that Oedipus will kill his father and marry his own mother suggests that he was a puppet in the hands of the gods, who manipulated the events that led to his fall. However, the character’s fate is not entirely attributable to the work of the gods. In the play, Oedipus meets his fate due to his determination to unravel the mysteries surrounding the king’s death, despite warnings by the prophet Tiresias and his wife/mother, and his quest to prove the oracles wrong in their declaration that he is the king’s murderer. In contrast, the character of Othello in William Shakespeare’s Othello meets his downfall as a result of the schemes of other characters, chief among them lago, who wanted to avenge Othelloâ€⠄¢s decision to bypass him for the liutenant’s position and instead promote Cassio, a junior officer. With reference to the play Oedipus by Sophocles and Othello by William Shakespeare, this essay disputes the statement that Oedipus’s downfall is the work of the gods while that of Othello is self-inflicted. On the contrary, this essay argues that the downfall of Oedipus is self-inflicted while Othello is a victim of the lies and evil schemes conjured up by lago, who wants to settles scores with Othello for not promoting him to the lieutenant’s position. Oedipus’ fall is largely attributed to his blind preoccupation to avoid the prophecy proclaimed by the oracle (DeRoo and Manoussakis 113). Despite the declaration by the oracle on his birth, Oedipus fulfills the prophecy in his attempt to a... ...who acted as a puppet under the control of Lago. Works Cited Adamson, Jane. Othello as Tragedy: Some Problems of Judgment and Feeling. London: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Ahl, Frederick, Seneca, Lucius, A., and Sophocles. Two faces of Oedipus: Sophocles' Oedipus tyrannus and Seneca's Oedipus. London: Cornell University Press, 2008. Collick, John. Shakespeare, Cinema, and Society. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1989. DeRoo, Neal, and Manoussakis, John, P. Phenomenology and eschatology: not yet in the now. New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2009. Knneddy, J., Gioia, Dan. Literature: an introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and writing. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Shakespeare, William. Othello. London: Cricket House Books LLC, 2010. Will, Frederick. The Generic Demands of Greek Literature. New York: Rodopi, 1976.

Description of Croquet The Internet Essay

In Victorian England, the game croquet was a completely neutral area where social ranking and gender did not matter, and about which people could interact without inhibition. For the past few years, it has been the goal of a research team of bright and visionary industry gurus, namely, Julian Lombardi, Mark McCahill, Andreas Raab, David Reed, and David Smith, to capture that sense of interactivity and bring it to the Internet. Their tool for doing so is Croquet, an open-source software system where information can be shared and converted into a three-dimensional framework. In the current paper, I intend to briefly define Croquet, present its applications and impact on cyberspace, and expound on its regulability and sociability as discussed by Lessig and Castells. Description of Croquet The Internet, for all its information and supposed interactivity, existed only as what Lombardi described as a â€Å"high-speed textbook†. Even though speed and quality of the hardware has improved drastically, the medium is still the same: information is displayed as if it was on a sheet of paper. Croquet developers tried to solve this problem and finally showed how they were making the Internet do its job differently. They opened with a 3-D courtyard dubbed the â€Å"Cirque du Croquet†. Croquet is focused on interaction within a 3D shared space and is a new open source computer operating system built from the ground up to enable deep collaboration among teams of users (Smith, Kay, Raab, & Reed, 2003). As such, it is fundamentally based on user space and users’ needs. Applications of Croquet Personally, I find it hard to imagine this 3D space as a true day-to-day working environment. It seems a bigger leap from the milestone we made from evolving from paper-based print to green screen interfaces, and from those old green screens to Windows. Then again, I am quite certain that it is not that big a leap to the generations that have been brought up with intense exposure to computer games in 3D environments – in stark contrast against Super Mario 2, Tetris, or Pac Man. I am willing to believe that this represents a valid scenario for the next shift— indeed, we have only been through a few generations of this web world, and the change continues to be markedly rapid. Inside Croquet, each avatar can make changes – move a virtual mirror, make changes to a document or spreadsheet, upload a picture and play a game of chess – and all of the changes are displayed to the other person in real time. Moreover, users can build a completely new space and move into it using arrow keys and the mouse. This new space can be either public or private, and users can place more information or graphics or even the link to an invisible page inside. Croquet’s 3D makeup also allows for more flexibility than existing online systems. Since windows can be tilted for a 360-degree view, it provides a perspective angle of flash animation. Basic paint programs can also render a new figure inside the software easily, as Lombardi (n. d. ) demonstrated by drawing a crude shark, which was instantly visible in a 3-D fishtank instantly. For a practical example, I Croquet may possibly be applied in a hospital setting. Croquet’s interactivity would be useful in fields like healthcare where poor communication is a major issue. A virtual tool like Croquet would give physicians a different way of organizing their information and test it out, while at the same time communicating with other doctors and modifying the data collectively. Moreover, since Croquet was designed as a highly modifiable environment, developers may intend and be able to add new tools and capabilities. Cyberspace Cyberspace is about making a different (or second) life (Lessig, 2006 – ensure that this is indicated in the references page). Croquet is basically Second Life, and much more. From an optimistic viewpoint, Croquet can be a private network. In other words, only those you want in your space can get in there. On the other hand, Second life sometimes violates the right of privacy of users by requiring them give their information to third party sources. Secondly, Croquet is probably more eye candy than anything else, but there are live snapshots of other virtual environments. This is the equivalent of bookmarks, but live pictures of what is going on at those other places. It would be great since the user would be privy about other people’s whereabouts without having to actually go there. In fact, Tanaka (2003) has expounded on this feature of Croquet, presenting it as an effectual means of processing hypermedia. He has specifically explored the concept of portals that pose strong promise in buiilding digital libraries of the future. In addition, in contrast with HTML, Croquet allows the viewing of spaces by users, and the movement of such portals. Users may also use these portals as bookmarks, allowing the memorization of this target space (Tanaka, 2003, p. 2). Lastly, Croquet is a complete 3D workspace that allows for co-creativity, knowledge sharing and deep social presence among large numbers of people at a time (Tanaka, 2003). On the other hand, from pessimistic view, I am worried about the ease of use of Croquet. Yes, the people who designed it could navigate and get around, but it looks a bit more complicated than Second Life. There are certain questions that are left unanswered at this point. For instance, are there logs of everything that happens? What about the ability to lock down certain aspects of the world. If every user can manipulate and change an environment can a student accidentally/deliberately delete a world a teacher creates? The answers to these questions point to aspects of control that must be explicitly answered, whilst the advantages of Croquet seem apparent. The degree of control that a user has on these powerful aspects of Croquet may partly determine how aptly users will utilize it. Regulability One other issue of the effectuality of Croquet is its regulability. For instance, the creation of â€Å"open† and globally scalable social computing spaces can cause some to ask the following: To what extent will we need to impose â€Å"rules† on people’s behaviors in such spaces? What types of â€Å"rules† are necessary? Who will come up with such â€Å"rules† and how will they be enforced? How can we find a balance between personal liberty and the need for regulating behaviors in â€Å"open† cyberspaces? These are but some of the sensitive issues that have to be explicitly dealt with before the full, successful launch of Croquet is possible. Life in cyberspace is regulated primarily through the code of cyberspace (Lessig, 2006). I think Croquet as it is being developed now does not have regulability as a central concern. However, over time, if Croquet spreads and increases in popularity, users will begin to realize the importance of and build regulability back in. Croquet’s users/developers may freely share, modify and view the source code of the entire system. In other words, users can make their own regulability in their worlds. The single biggest reason why Croquet will become the future operating system is that the users can run and modify the code that the worlds are built on and they can integrate their own application. While Croquet seems to be the perfect tool for encouraging knowledge sharing and creativity, a structure for regulating it must be clearly defined to be able to ensure its success. There may be areas that seem vague at the moment, including the rules that should regulate it, the enforcing parties, and the level of control that the system must accorded to its users. The fact that regulability seems to rely solely on the hands of users may be both risky and dangerous – and is an aspect that must be seriously dealt with by the system’s advocates. Sociability The spread of Internet is making social exchanges based on fake identities and role-playing (Castells, 2001 – make sure this source is indicated in your bibliography). Those of us who have participated heavily in online communities over the years have substantial experience in dealing with imposters, forgers, and the ever-present anonymous cowards who can disrupt meaningful discourse. Effective online educational environments must be efficiently insulated from such craft. The Croquet project team is looking into integrating federated identity management system. By doing so, Croquet users who use their own institutional login/password could access protected resources in Croquet places that are hosted by other communities. Federate identity management system would provide numerous benefits to the educational and institutional use of Croquet. For example, multiple institutions could cooperate in creating restricted access learning environments in which students and educators from those institutions could interact and learn – without the need for each institution to set up an account for all the users of such spaces. A side benefit of this is that Fair Use limitation provisions on copyright laws would allow copyrightable materials to be distributed in such spaces – a feature that is really important to educators (and is probably one of the main reasons that academic institutions employ the use of cumbersome Course Management Systems over plain old websites, blogs, and wikis). Conclusion The current paper began with a brief introduction of Croquet, presenting it as a new soft ware that allows users to interact within a three-dimensional shared space, and which seems to be tailor fit to user space and their needs. This new software will allow each avatar to make changes that shall be displayed in 3D format, in real time. Croquet also holds promise to settings that require intensive interactivity, such as in hospital settings – the software prospectively allows doctors to communicate and change data collaboratively. Both the negative and positive aspects of Croquet as a channel in cyberspace has been presented. On a positive note, it may be used as a private network, an effective hypermedia processor, and a channel that encourages knowledge sharing, creativity and interaction. On the other hand, it may pose risks against users’ right to privacy, and has obvious ambivalent problems with regards to regulability and sociability. In our library and information space, we can see how our special information expertise contributes to the success of our users and the teams we work in and with. If Croquet is inevitable, we had better be early adopters. In order to use this Croquet scenario effectively, in our own visioning sessions, we can use it as a framework to think about what our future workspaces, offices, and intranets will look like. What skills will we need? What skills do we already have that will increase in importance? How can information be delivered in this environment? How do we increase our relevance in this kind of space? Good questions and ones that we should struggle to understand now and not much later when we have already been immersed in the wave of change. References Lombardi, J. (n. d. ) Socio-computational systems, virtual environments, learning contexts, and the Croquet Project. Retreived on January 31, 2008 from http://jlombardi. blogspot. com Smith, D. , Kay, A. , Raab, A. , & Reed, P. (2003). Croquet – a collaboration system architecture. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 2. Tanaka, K. (2003). Tea-time museum: Croquet as a browsing and searching environment for digital libraries. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 12.