History of Twitter write a well researched paper on the evolution, Research

History of Twitter compose a very much explored on the development, ebb and flow status and future patterns for the New Media theme you have chosen - Research Paper Example Scarcely into its fifth year, Twitter enlisted clients are now as of now assessed to be in the many millions and its incomes to be in the billions of dollars. For sure, Twitter is an effective story worth telling and following. In 2006, a product engineer named Jack Dorsey drew closer Odeo, a media syndication organization, to talk about his thoughts of making a â€Å"real-time status-correspondence stage with a social spin† where one could share and basically communicate to others pretty much anything from tattle to straightforward considerations. Business Stone, the author of Odeo, enjoyed the thought and Dorsey’s proposition was proclaimed as a side task of Odeo. It was concluded that the SMS foundation of cell phones would be unmistakably appropriate for the undertaking and a limit of 140 characters, shy of the 160 characters-cutoff of SMS text informing, ought to be utilized as far as possible (Thomases, p. x; Sagolla, p. xvii). Dorsey’s thought was a much needed refresher to Odeo, which was around then making some troublesome memories selling its most recent innovation Audio Blogger to clients due to the solid rivalry acted by such heavyweights like Apple Corp. The organization chose it needed to rehash itself and Dorsey’s person to person communication microblogging thought was viewed as an open door after it was introduced in a day-long conceptualizing of Odeo technocrats. Dorsey, Biz and Florian Weber proceeded to pound out the model of Dorsey’s proposition while the others proceeded with the standard organization business to ensure that if Dorsey’s thought bombs the organization has something to swear by (Sagolla p. xviii). The model was worked in about fourteen days and the administration was first tried by Odeo staff and different insiders, for example, their close relatives. It was totally electronic and the principal messages, which were communicated by Dorsey, were â€Å"waiting for dom to refresh

Behaviorist and Learning Aspects of Personality Research Paper

Behaviorist and Learning Aspects of Personality - Research Paper Example Annihilation is a quality of traditional molding where the relationship between the boost and learned reaction is debilitated each time the upgrade (triangle) is introduced without the related unconditioned improvement (boisterous commotion). In any case, the ingenuity of scholarly dread makes it impossible that it will scatter after some time because of oneself fortifying instrument depicted previously. To treat learned dread and fears, termination should normally be utilized in a social treatment worldview. A procedure known as efficient desensitization is one of the best and normally utilized systems for treating fears. These exceptional and unreasonable feelings of dread can take numerous structures (dread of canines, snakes, open spaces, cheddar) and are very impervious to characteristic eradication impacts. Alongside oneself supporting hypothesis, fears may hold their capacity since individuals will in general do all that they can to maintain a strategic distance from the evoki ng upgrade. Elimination can't happen without presentation to the upgrade. Deliberate desensitization tends to these issues straightforwardly. So as to permit eradication to happen, methodical desensitization guarantees presentation to the unpaired molded boost, however does as such in a steady way to limit the dread reaction and dispose of self-sustainment of the fear. The procedure is completed in three sections (Foa, 2010). Initial, a dread progression is built, posting circumstances identified with the fear in expanding force of uneasiness. Next, the patient is prepared in dynamic unwinding (or profound muscle unwinding). This preparation will permit the patient to actuate a condition of quiet through unwinding of explicit muscle gatherings. Accomplishing the proposed degree of quiet takes around twenty minutes, after which presentation to the dread inspiring upgrade can start. The run of the mill dread progressive system is comprised of 10 to 15 stages, and starts with the least dread bringing out situation that was set up in the initial step of foundational desensitization. The patient is told to envision the scene, trailed by a respite where the patient is advised to utilize the unwinding method that was found out in sync two. This procedure is rehashed until the patient reports no dread to the situation. Now, the following circumstance in the chain of importance is faced. The procedure can proceed, for the most part through numerous meetings, to bit by bit stifle the dread in a bit by bit process (McNally, 2007). The methodology can be increased to utilize humor rather than unwinding in the subsequent advance, or by actualizing computer generated reality innovation to help with authenticity and accuracy. Demonstrating is an elective way to deal with treating fears or fears that are the aftereffect of molding. In this strategy, patients watch a model (ordinarily on record) that is demonstrated interfacing with the dread causing improvement. The power of the scene is expanded as the patient watches. As per demonstrating hypothesis, the probability of playing out a demonstration increments when a model is watched doing that demonstration. Watching a model step by step impacts the subject to participate in exercises that include their fears, prompting the eradication of the dread. This methodology has a few focal points to methodical desensitization. The video angle is increasingly fitting for youthful patients who will be unable to utilize their creative mind appropriately and requires less educator time. References Foa, E. B. (2010). Subjective conduct treatment of over the top habitual issue. Exchanges in Clinical Neurosciences, 12(2), 199-207. McNally, R. J.,

Reading Comics on a Budget

Reading Comics on a Budget We here at Panels are taking some much needed time off; in the meantime, were revisiting some favorite old posts from the last 6 months! Well see you back on July 11 with all new posts for your enjoyment. This post originally ran on February 3, 2016. _______________ When I first started reading comics, I was in the comic shop every Wednesday, buying new releases, picking up titles I heard about online, buying trades of older series the employees recommended to me. I would go home and make piles of my new printed friends. I eagerly checked the mail for packages of back issues I couldnt find in the store and had ordered online or won on eBay. I was surrounded by comics. It was new, exciting, and so beautiful. I also didnt have enough money to eat. Here is a truth I have learned in the four years Ive been seriously reading comics: being a comics fan on a tight budget is HARD. $3 an issue sounds like so littlethats barely a latte! But $3 every month for 12 months is $36. And like Im only going to read ONE comic a year. Pfffft. Have you seen how many titles the DeFraction household is writing these days? I almost need another job to afford them all (also if they ever team up to write Pretty Deadly Sex Criminal Bitch Odyssey, I am right there, buying all the issues). So whats a comic fan on a budget to do? Im still trying to find a balance and figuring out how not to go broke while keeping up with the new titles, but here is hopefully some helpful information and what Ive come up with for myself. Single Issues/Floppies Pick the titles you arent willing to wait the six months to read as a trade. Depending on your personal budget, this could be two, or it could be ten! If youre torn between a few, I would chose the ones you most want to support, and titles with extra back matter that is only available in the single issues, like Bitch Planet, which features essays on feminism and are seriously worth the $3.50 cover price alone. Trades Generally, its cheaper in the long run to wait and buy the collected trade paperback. When buying trades, keep in mind how publishers release price them. In this regard, Image knows how to get all my money. The first volume of each trade is $9.99, and others are around $14.99 and released 1-2 months after the arc ends. If you read a lot of Image titles, it’s definitely worth it to wait for the trade. When it comes to trades put out by Marvel and DC, I highly recommend requesting these from the library. They typically come out six months after each arc, and are priced at $15.99 and up. Often, when you break it down, it would be cheaper or cost the same to purchase the same book as single issues rather than wait for the trade. But we’re on a tight budget and can’t afford that, so the library is our best friend here. Digital Comics Digital comics are great because they don’t take up any space on your bookshelf and you can put 50 of them on your iPad instead of bringing five trades with you on vacation. Comixology, Marvel, and Image run sales frequently, so keep your eye out for titles you read. Image and Boom! also usually drop the price of digital copies shortly after the newest issue comes out, so if you can wait a month or two, you can get two comics for the price of one. Score! Marvel Unlimited If you read three Marvel titles and dont mind waiting six months, this is a real deal. For $9.99 a month, (or $5.75 a month if you pay for a year upfront for $69) you get access to Marvel’s massive online catalog of comics. Want to read the Abnett Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy run your friends have been telling you to check out? It’s there. That Ms. Marvel title that we here at Panels can’t stop talking about? Issues 1-16 are currently available, and a new one gets added each month. This is especially worth your money if you’re a part of a comic book group that reads a lot of Marvel titles together. Marvel Unlimited frequently runs specials to get a month free, so keep your eye out and try it out at no charge. Your Local Library and Hoopla While every library is different, this is a great place to get trades and graphic novels. I even know of certain libraries that actually get monthly single issues you can check out, which is amazing! If your library doesn’t have a particular title you have been waiting for, request it! If they don’t purchase it, you can probably get it through an interlibrary loan. Also be sure to check and see if they offer access to Hoopla, a great digital option. Hoopla currently has a decent selection of digital comics you can check out from DC, IDW, Image, Boom!, and more. Not only do they have digital trades, but also single issues of some our favorite series, like Lumberjanes and Giant Days. Make Comic Friends I highly recommend making comic friends. Not only are friends nice to have, having comic friends who share your enthusiasm for Captain America and who are willing to loan you copies of Brubaker’s run on Cap from their collection are THE BEST. It’s also a great way to learn about new comics and read something outside of your usual pull list. So for me personally, I’ve culled my pull list down to six titles, signed up for Marvel Unlimited, will be reading a few of the other titles I had to drop from Hoopla, and have a small list of titles I am trade waiting for now, providing my budget allows, and if notthere is always the library. Those of you who are also on a comics budget, I’d love to hear your tips and strategy in the comments below! Sign up to The Stack to receive  Book Riot Comic's best posts, picked for you. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Reading Comics on a Budget This post was originally published at Panels, our sister site about all things comics! Check out more from them here. _______________ When I first started reading comics, I was in the comic shop every Wednesday, buying new releases, picking up titles I heard about online, buying trades of older series the employees recommended to me. I would go home and make piles of my new printed friends. I eagerly checked the mail for packages of back issues I couldnt find in the store and had ordered online or won on eBay. I was surrounded by comics. It was new, exciting, and so beautiful. I also didnt have enough money to eat. Here is a truth I have learned in the four years Ive been seriously reading comics: being a comics fan on a tight budget is HARD. $3 an issue sounds like so littlethats barely a latte! But $3 every month for 12 months is $36. And like Im only going to read ONE comic a year. Pfffft. Have you seen how many titles the DeFraction household is writing these days? I almost need another job to afford them all (also if they ever team up to write Pretty Deadly Sex Criminal Bitch Odyssey, I am right there, buying all the issues). So whats a comic fan on a budget to do? Im still trying to find a balance and figuring out how not to go broke while keeping up with the new titles, but here is hopefully some helpful information and what Ive come up with for myself. Single Issues/Floppies Pick the titles you arent willing to wait the six months to read as a trade. Depending on your personal budget, this could be two, or it could be ten! If youre torn between a few, I would chose the ones you most want to support, and titles with extra back matter that is only available in the single issues, like Bitch Planet, which features essays on feminism and are seriously worth the $3.50 cover price alone. Trades Generally, its cheaper in the long run to wait and buy the collected trade paperback. When buying trades, keep in mind how publishers release price them. In this regard, Image knows how to get all my money. The first volume of each trade is $9.99, and others are around $14.99 and released 1-2 months after the arc ends. If you read a lot of Image titles, it’s definitely worth it to wait for the trade. When it comes to trades put out by Marvel and DC, I highly recommend requesting these from the library. They typically come out six months after each arc, and are priced at $15.99 and up. Often, when you break it down, it would be cheaper or cost the same to purchase the same book as single issues rather than wait for the trade. But we’re on a tight budget and can’t afford that, so the library is our best friend here. Digital Comics Digital comics are great because they don’t take up any space on your bookshelf and you can put 50 of them on your iPad instead of bringing five trades with you on vacation. Comixology, Marvel, and Image run sales frequently, so keep your eye out for titles you read. Image and Boom! also usually drop the price of digital copies shortly after the newest issue comes out, so if you can wait a month or two, you can get two comics for the price of one. Score! Marvel Unlimited If you read three Marvel titles and dont mind waiting six months, this is a real deal. For $9.99 a month, (or $5.75 a month if you pay for a year upfront for $69) you get access to Marvel’s massive online catalog of comics. Want to read the Abnett Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy run your friends have been telling you to check out? It’s there. That Ms. Marvel title that we here at Panels can’t stop talking about? Issues 1-16 are currently available, and a new one gets added each month. This is especially worth your money if you’re a part of a comic book group that reads a lot of Marvel titles together. Marvel Unlimited frequently runs specials to get a month free, so keep your eye out and try it out at no charge. Your Local Library and Hoopla While every library is different, this is a great place to get trades and graphic novels. I even know of certain libraries that actually get monthly single issues you can check out, which is amazing! If your library doesn’t have a particular title you have been waiting for, request it! If they don’t purchase it, you can probably get it through an interlibrary loan. Also be sure to check and see if they offer access to Hoopla, a great digital option. Hoopla currently has a decent selection of digital comics you can check out from DC, IDW, Image, Boom!, and more. Not only do they have digital trades, but also single issues of some our favorite series, like Lumberjanes and Giant Days. Make Comic Friends I highly recommend making comic friends. Not only are friends nice to have, having comic friends who share your enthusiasm for Captain America and who are willing to loan you copies of Brubaker’s run on Cap from their collection are THE BEST. It’s also a great way to learn about new comics and read something outside of your usual pull list. So for me personally, I’ve culled my pull list down to six titles, signed up for Marvel Unlimited, will be reading a few of the other titles I had to drop from Hoopla, and have a small list of titles I am trade waiting for now, providing my budget allows, and if notthere is always the library. Those of you who are also on a comics budget, I’d love to hear your tips and strategy in the comments below! Sign up to The Stack to receive  Book Riot Comic's best posts, picked for you. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Why People Go Out And Commit Crimes - 1830 Words

It has always been a part of the American society for women to become wives, then mothers, and caretakers of her family’s needs before anything else. For a woman to venture out into the world was taboo and unheard of. Women that commit crimes was even an bigger monstrosity to think about. But trends have been changing rapidly in our culture than now makes it even more likely for women to go out and offend. Several theories have been created in an attempt to understand why people go out and commit crimes. If one were to study what would be considered a â€Å"mainstream† theory, they would find that they typically do not pertain to women offenders. Take heed, however, that feminist theories of criminology do exists, but the application of the†¦show more content†¦Then the circumference around the city is where the crime rate would lessen, meaning the further away one is from the center of the city, the less likely crime is to occur. The article by da Silva (2014) further explains that: Shaw and McKay affirmed that three structural factors—low socioeconomic status, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential mobility—disrupt a community s social organization, which in turn explains the spatial variations in the rates of crime and delinquency. Thus the community, treated as a small area in the interior of the urban space, became the unit of analysis of the environmental sociologist in the search for the causes of crime in large cities. When a city is of low socioeconomic status, the residents are likely faced with many stresses that can push them to commit crimes, like stealing clothes or food because they cannot afford to dress and feed their families. A high ethnic heterogeneity can be problematic and crime causing because people tend to get along with others that think and feel the same way they do, inciting lawbreaking. Residential mobility refers to the ability of the residents in a high crime area to move freely to commit deviant acts and a high rate of migration in and out of the city. With these three factors present in a community, it will be considered â€Å"disorganized,† and the conditions for illegal behavior would be perfect.

Undergraduate Education Adapting to a New World Essay

Undergraduate Education: Adapting to a New World Since medieval times, undergraduate universities have provided the education necessary to fulfill the needs of societies in terms of a professional work force. After completing the liberal arts curriculum taught at medieval universities, students could go on to study medicine, law or theology; but these disciplines could take up to a decade of continuous studies. The students that didn’t want to pursue those degrees could find other lucrative careers that society demanded at the time. Universities broadened the fields they taught to fulfill the always-changing needs for new skills in the workplace. The same way, universities throughout time have always restructured their undergraduate†¦show more content†¦Just as an example, the latest technology in teleconferencing and interactive learning has been just implemented at the Reynolds’ Center here at the UofA. And the College of Business is planing to keep their records electronically very soon. All college grad uates need to be familiar with the changes in technology and have to be able to adapt to the new ones, that is why many of the core classes in the college of business have to do with computers and their use. The Internet as a learning and communication tool has become part of the changes in technology that we, as students, have experienced in the past years. Today almost all information necessary for research can be found on the â€Å"Net†. The library has become a temple for those who either don’t have access to the Internet or their research is so specific it can’t be found on the World Wide Web. Even university and public libraries all around the US have stepped up to integrate their new competitor, the Internet, and make it part of their research options. The need for computer literacy is imperative, therefore if high schools don’t provide it, universities should. Besides the great need for computer literacy in recent years, an internationalization of undergraduate majors has become a common requirement among employers. The use of a foreign language in the work place has increased in the past years and those students who dominate suchShow MoreRelatedU.s. Federal Common Core Standards1196 Words   |  5 PagesWhile in a perfect world the government offices at all levels would coincide perfectly, without conflict, we live in a much more realistic world than that. There have been, are, and will continue to be many conflicts amongst the federal and state governments. Texas, in particular, has dealt with many political issues and laws involving, but not limited to, social, environmental and educational issues. Due to the conservative views that the majority of office seat holders in Texas have, and beingRead MoreThe New Appearance Of Classroom1598 Words   |  7 Pagesof the future of education? The iPod, established in 2003, is the mark that begins a trend for the new appearance of classroom learning at a prestigious institute in North Carolina, Duke University. Faculty Chair Member of the university, Cathy Davidson, author of â€Å"Project Classroom Makeover†, is a responsible party for the birth of the iPod in the classroom at the institution. Davidson’s reason for the selection of the iPod stems from the challenge she wants the undergraduates at the school to riskRead MoreMy Career As A School Teacher1586 Words   |  7 Pagesof birth, Nepal. Then, became college lecture before moving to the UK in 2005. Since 2005, I have been involved in the higher education (HE) practice in the UK in different capabilities, first as a postgraduate student, followed by a research stud ent (PhD), then a post-doctorate researcher and finally a lecturer. I am now involved in delivering a number of undergraduates and postgraduate modules as well as module leader for a postgraduate module on digital image and signal processing (M03CDE). DuringRead MoreThe Second Emotional Challenge Faced By Adult Learner888 Words   |  4 Pagesthat is completed. The adult needs a â€Å"classroom world (that) should ideally connect them with their other worlds.† (Kasworm) It’s important for them to gain knowledge that will help them in their jobs and allow them to put it to practical use or they have a hard time investing in the time necessary. The third emotional challenge surrounds how â€Å"adults focus on their engagement in learning new knowledge, as well as new perspectives and potentially new beliefs† (Kasworm). The adult student is challengedRead MoreLos Angeles : A City Five Hundred Miles Wide And Two Inches Deep1566 Words   |  7 Pagescentury. The reputation of USC has followed a similar trek, from being known as the University of Spoiled Children to Professor Gustafson’s notion of USC as the University of Service to the Community. This change is exemplified in the groundbreaking of a new building, Wallis Annenberg Hall. With over 20 classrooms and encompassing 88,000 square feet, the building demonstrates USC’s progress. Although its detractors claim that Wallis Annenberg Hall was an extraneous and costly venture that reinforces theRead MoreThe Impact Of Telecommunication Technology On Virtual Universities1732 Words   |  7 Pages Impact of Telecommunication Technologies on Virtual Universities Shena D. Sterling IX540: Research Methods for Education and Instructional Technology Professor Kimberly Case December 13, 2014 Introduction Virtual Universities are on the rise and are a legitimate threat to replace the traditional University. 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If you asked a million from people you would probably get a million and one different answers.That s one of if not the main challenge inRead MoreThroughout My Undergraduate Journey At Morgan State University,1135 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout my undergraduate journey at Morgan State University, I constantly heard of the most infamous rumor that has been passed down for decades: Morgan State was ranked with the highest rate HIV/AIDS and 80% of the students attending the university were HIV positive. As a health education major, this did not sit with me well, and I started to conduct some research to prove whether this infamous rumor had any actuality. I wanted to utilize wha t I learned as a health education and promotion majorRead MoreThe Mission Of Uniquely Adapting People Through Business Incubator1331 Words   |  6 Pages 2.1 Mission The mission of Uniquely Adapting People through Business Incubator is â€Å"Intensifying our passions by turning our visions into actions.† 2.2 Goals Preliminary objectives that provide measurable outputs and outcomes to support the incubator’s mission may include the following:  · Cultivate entrepreneurship on the U.A.P.B. campus and the community.  · Expand our marketplace in different cities in Arkansas and supportive states.  · Create higher wage jobs  · Read Moreonline v face to face training Essay1504 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom adapting to the environment in which we find ourselves and training like everything else in our lives is going â€Å"online. So anyone who wants to make a difference in vocational education can now raise their sights to master the â€Å"classroom on the cloud†.! ! So what do we want to bring with us, from the old methods and what new technology and understanding is coming to light for the Online Educator. The following 5 points are a good place to start for blending methods of adult education and technology

Culinary artistry Free Essays

Culinary artistry goes beyond the ordinary art forms. Unlike painting, literature, and the performing arts, culinary arts offer more than just the usual ocular, intellectual, or auditory experience. The culinary arts combine all of the aspects of all the art forms that we know of – a culinary masterpiece, unlike any other masterpiece in any art field should offer a multi-disciplinary experience as well as please the two other remaining sensations of taste and smell. We will write a custom essay sample on Culinary artistry or any similar topic only for you Order Now A culinary obra maestra has to complete the experience by offering visual appeal, the application of the concepts of food preparation, as well as the ultimate experience for the palate. Chef Jacques Torres has undoubtedly mastered the art of food preparation and more. Our likely chef was already a master in the kitchen at the tender age of 15. He spent most of his childhood in Bandol, in the south of France and was an apprentice in a relatively small pastry shop called La Frangipane. His two years being an apprentice was sheer pleasure for this young chef, and as a testament to this passion for cooking, he graduated at the top his apprenticeship class. Chef Torres went to attend high school and spent a year in the military; these however, did not dampen his passion for the culinary arts. Upon leaving the military he pursued his love for cooking and polished his culinary skills at the La Cadiere d’Azur where he earned the degree of master pastry chef. At 26 years old, Chef Torres was recognized by his countrymen with the most prestigious award for French craftsmen, the Meilleur Ouvrier de France Patissier (Best Pastry Chef in France), making him the youngest in history ever to receive this coveted recognition. He did not stop here – during this considerably early period in his career, Chef Torres already began to reap awards from all over the world; among these are the gold medal of the Japanese Pastry Chef Association and his win in the 1986 French Championship of Desserts M. O. F. , to name a couple. He was quite aggressive in pursuing his passion as he went on to spend culinary weeks in Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, and Spain as well as went on a culinary cruise with Le Figaro’s through the countries of the Mediterranean. He also offered consultation and product development services to Cointreau and Valrhona. Later, he also left for the United States to participate in the rededication ceremonies of the Statue of Liberty honoring President Francois Mitterand of France and President Ronald Reagan of the United States. Chef Torres wanted to share his expertise to aspiring chefs, which made him a cut above other chefs who would like to keep their secrets to themselves. Chef Torres believed in the value of legacy and made sure that his legacy lasted forever by ensuring that his skills and knowledge was appropriate transferred to younger chefs who shared his passion for pastry. Ideally, Chef Torres wanted to improve the area of pastry making so that the world could experience the wonders of this desert. To accomplish this particular objective of his, Chef Torres joined the French Culinary Institute Faculty in 1993. He even went to as far as designing the Classic Pastry Arts curriculum for the school. His dedication to the education of aspiring chefs appropriately made him the program’s Dean of Pastry Arts. His commitment to the education of young chefs allowed him to pay back the industry that made him into whatever he has become. He was a good educator and many of his students have gone on to pursue their own careers and make milestones of their own. Chef Torres was also a health buff, he regularly joins the New York City Marathon. As a testament to his love affair with health a few of his recipes appeared in the French Culinary (your family name) 3 Institute’s ‘Salute to Healthy Cooking (Rodale, 1998)’. This recipe book pays particular attention to healthy eating and cooking and so features menus arranged according to season availability that are a made from low-fat, healthy ingredients the classic French culinary way. No less than the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company hired Chef Torres as the corporate pastry chef in 1998. He was with the Ritz for a year until the great Sirio Maccioni invited him to be the executive pastry chef of Le Cirque which featured a custom-built state-of-the-art pastry kitchen. His work at Le Cirque allowed him to wow patrons with his creations. He gave them the culinary experience of a lifetime, one they will never forget. People from all over the country and even the world began to consider Le Cirque as the home of deserts made only for the gods. More and more, the patronage of Le Cirque grew. The patrons wanted more of Chef Torres’ deserts, and not only that, they wanted the diversity of the choices and expected more to come from this culinary genius. Chef Torres, on the other hand, never wasted a dull moment in making his creations and as a result, none of his patrons went away disappointed. They either had a wide smile on their faces or a small paper bag filled with more of his deserts to take home. For eleven years, Chef Torres impressed his clientele with his culinary expertise. As his fame spread throughout the land, his fame also grew. Soon enough, the demands were too much for the culinary genius; and as if his work at Le Cirque was not enough, Chef Torres also launched Dessert Circus with Jacques Torres, a public access show that aired 52 episodes; aside from this, he also released two recipe books to accompany the show, â€Å"Dessert Circus: Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make at Home† and â€Å"Dessert Circus at Home†, the former of which earned a 1999 James Beard Nomination. He did not however take any offense against these demands, in fact, ;his spirit was more than willing to indulge in the demands, but his flesh was weak, and so stress took the culinary genius down. After eleven years of heavenly deserts and more than satisfied customers, Chef Torres made a milestone decision; he left Le Cirque to start his own business. Fortunately, Chef Torres was not just an exquisite pastry chef but a businessman as well. He opened his own chocolate factory in Brooklyn and called it Jacques Torres Chocolate. The name was synonymous with the chef’s amazing deserts, and who can resist chocolate created by someone who can create divine deserts? Chef Torres wasted no time in building his business; he personally took care of the retail, wholesale, and internet operations, and in not time, his creations reached chocolate lovers from all over the world. His Chocolate Coconut Napoleon, Chocolate Bark, and Chocolate Mousse all became instant hits. How else would chocolate stuff made from real chocolate fare? To add to this, Chef Torres also created some unusual chocolate flavors like ginger-laced and chili-laced chocolates which became demand items! Soon after, in 2004, Chef Torres went into another giant venture, he opened a chocolate factory in Manhattan. The factory is a mix of cafe, retail, and manufacturing so that the guests can actually see how chocolate is created straight from cocoa beans, making Chef Torres a real live Willy Wonka. A feature to note is that Chef Torres is the only chocolatier who not only creates his own candy, but his own chocolate as well. Chef Torres’ chocolate has earned a name for itself in the roster of great chocolate makers like Godiva. Chef Torres too has earned a name for himself, even before his chocolate acquired his very own signature. Chef Torres was named the James Beard Pastry Chef of the Year, received the Chartreuse Pastry Chef award, was named the Chefs of America Pastry Chef of the Year, and earned membership into the Academie Culinaire de France. (your family name) 4 Chef Torres also has a big heart for children and the elderly. He has never hesitated to share his blessings to the less fortunate members of society, so aside from teaching the art of pastry making at The FCI, demonstrating his skills around the world, and creating and selling exquisite chocolates, Chef Torres also spends time with and donates generously to various charity organizations. We don’t really know if it is this commitment and dedication of Chef Torres to the needy that has given him all the great things that he is currently enjoying or his inherent talent and expertise in the craft that he loves; but one thing is for sure, whatever the reason for Chef Torres’ success, he is one individual who was never afraid to take the risk. His initially venture in Brooklyn was a big risk in itself considering the area in which his factory would be in. He took the risk and put more confidence in his business mind than in his fears and went on to pursue the challenge. This makes Chef Torres not only a brilliant chef, a chocolatier, or a teacher, but also a successful and proactive businessman. A passion in one’s chosen field always yields great results. Chef Torres is a classic example of this particular philosophy; like other great artists who came before his time, whether in the field of literature, visual arts, or the performing arts, Chef Torres has proven himself to society and to the world. There are challenges in pursuing your own particular field of endeavor but being persistent and being dedicated to your chosen field can always work for your dreams. Perhaps, Chef Torres did not know or dream of how great he can be, perhaps he just did well in pursuing his particular field of endeavor, but the burning passion and love that he spent on his craft paid-off well, and big time. The lesson that we could learn from this great chef is that it doesn’t really matter where you come from and what you believe in so as long as you have passion for your particular field of endeavor – always, what happens is, people acquire the contagion of our passion, dedication, and sincerity, and whether they like it or not, they all end up developing an acquired love for our art. (your family name) 5 References Treuting, J. (2007). Jacques Torres. Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://www. delish. com/cooking-shows/famous-chefs/celebrity-chef-jacques-torres? ref=findex Chef2Chef (2007). Chef Torres’s Biography. Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://topchefs. chef2chef. net/recipes-2/torres/ How to cite Culinary artistry, Papers

Gulf of Tonkin free essay sample

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, to me was a considerable formal declaration of war against communist North Vietnam. The United States wasn’t interfering with the conflict between North and South Vietnam, they were in international waters. The U. S did have a right to attack to keep peace and have security between themselves and the rest of the world. The U. S. S. Maddox was in the Gulf of Tonkin on the 2nd of August in 1964 surveying the coast and gathering intelligence about Vietnam, as a part of DESOTO. They were in international waters, to test the 12 mile boundary set by North Vietnam. North Vietnam saw this as a threat to their land, so they were attacked the U. S. S. Maddox, damaging United States ships. I would consider this as a declaration of war; they were attacked in international waters by a North Vietnamese naval force. Therefore they have a right to repel any armed force that threatened them in international waters, as a tool for defense knowing that the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Gulf of Tonkin or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S. ships weren’t actually in the Vietnam’s territory (Doc B). The gulf of Tonkin resolution is a formal way of declaring war; President Lyndon B. Johnson used the resolution as congressional authorization for the use of the United States military to intervene in Vietnam and take any necessary orders. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution specifically said that congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as commander-in-chief, to take all measures necessary to repel any armed attacks against the forces of the United States to prevent further aggression, to take all steps, including the use of armed forces. From those lines, this document basically acted a Declaration of War; he could use any power he wanted to. President Johnson believed that he could take any legal action which was deemed appropriate, hence Johnson sent in 500,000 Troops into South Vietnam to prevent the government from being overthrown. The resolution offered any use of force to keep peace and security between countries and in international waters, the resolution also offered to assist any SEATO member requesting assistance in defense of its freedom, posing that the U. S. had to the right to land troops in Vietnam to defend the nation and obtain its freedom (Doc A). The resolution also stated that the U. S. had the power to expand war efforts in Vietnam if it was necessary and take all steps required. The Gulf of Tonkin resolution posed as a Declaration of War because it gave the president complete power and authorized him to take any steps required to bring peace and security. The Gulf of Tonkin in my opinion is considerable as a formal declaration of war, the resolution gave the president complete power to take any steps necessary, and use of armed forces to prevent further aggression from the opposition. The resolution resembled the Declaration of War, by giving Johnson commanding power and allowing him to proceed and take actions that were applicable.

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Analysis Essay Example For Students

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Analysis Essay E.M. Forster makes a bold statement when he declares that he would rather betray his country than betray his friend. Forster takes a very moral stand on the issue and states that a friendship is often more important than a governments actions or societys beliefs. His opinion regarding the value of friendship is a common theme shared by many authors throughout history, including Mark Twain, and Alexandre Dumas. Mark Twains classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, describes a young boy torn between what he feels his country and society expect of him and what his heart tells him is right. Society believes that slaves should be treated as property; Huck, who had befriended a runaway slave, sees Jim as a person, not property. In the end, Huck Finn decides that he would rather disobey societys teachings about slavery, than betray his friend by returning him to his previous condition of servitude. We will write a custom essay on The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Further reiterating Forsters conception of the proper order of ones loyalty is a product of English folklore, Robin Hood. According to legend, Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor in an effort to bring happiness to the peasants of Nottingham in an otherwise dreary time under the tyrannical rule of Prince John. A childhood friend of Robin, Maid Marion places her friendship with Robin Hood above loyalty to the crown. She has numerous opportunities to betray Robin Hood, but she does not. She sees the good he is doing for the land and the lone resistance he and his band of Merry Men provide against the evil Sheriff. Had she been loyal to her country, Robin Hood would have never been successful against the Sheriff of Nottingham and the citizens of her kingdom would have had to endure even greater injustices. Sharing many of the same principles Robin Hood embodies is Alexandre Dumass The Three Musketeers. The famous trio of noblemen battle against the villainy of the Court of King Louis XIII. DArtagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis fight to preserve the honor of their Queen, Anne of Austria, against the Cardinal Richelieu. Their famous motto All for one and one for all! illustrates the value they place on their friendship. Efforts to maintain their close ties of friendship help them in resisting an immoral government. Had they chosen to remain in adherence to the Cardinals oppressive rule, they would have been unsuccessful in effecting change. The value of friendship has been a prevalent theme throughout both literature and history. Authors representing several eras have addressed the moral dilemma of friendship versus loyalty to ones country. Governmental leaders and their policies are transient; friendships last a lifetime.

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Pre If we talk about the best and the most influential composers of all the times, Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the first names that have to be mentioned. This German composer and organist created plenty of unbelievable works, which presented the Baroque period in all its glory.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Pre-Concert Talk about Johann Sebastian Bach specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In comparison to many other composers of the 17th, 18th, and 19th, Bach’s life and career has quite limited boundaries from Eisenach to Leipzig. However, his works and ideas are known to the whole world and arouse interest of many people with different cultures and preferences. His The Well-Tempered Clavier and Three Collections of Dance Suites are probably the greatest intellectual treasures all over the world. These keyboard works have their own peculiarities and captivate both the listeners and the performers. Without any do ubts, lots of pianists prefer to use the works by Bach during their performances, but they do not completely comprehend their style and background. Such lack of understanding turns out to be the major reason of why the same works may be presented and comprehended in many different ways. This is why it is crucially important to know the background of each musical work and be able to analyze its style. This time, two above-mentioned Bach’s works will be under our consideration. In Bach’s life, there are three major periods: Weimar, Cà ¶then, and Leipzig. During each of these periods, Bach created more and more captivating works and amazed people with his abilities to choose the best things in the world and represent them by means of music. â€Å"It was in Weimar that this remarkable process of self-education culminated in consummate mastery and the crystallization of Bach’s personal style which be then had evolved as the synthesis of the international musical le gacies.† 1 The Well-Tempered Clavier is considered to be one of the brightest works during this period.Advertising Looking for report on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is â€Å"much more than a compendium of contrapuntal devices, a role belonging more properly to the Art of Fugue.†2 In order to comprehend this work and be ready to read it, taking into consideration every detail, it is very important to analyze certain theoretical background and be aware of meaning of such notions like ‘equal temperament’, ‘just intonation’, ‘prelude’, and ‘fugue’. There are two volumes, which present a prelude and a fugue in every key, major and minor. A prelude is a quite short piece of music that may change its form depending on the whole masterpiece. Preludes usually serve as introductory parts to succeeding movements of the rest of the work or as separate pieces of works. The prelude consists of several repeating rhythmic motifs, so that it may considerably influence the general perception of the work. At the beginning of the 17th century, German composers started uniting preludes with another type of contrapuntal technique of a work, a fugue. The combination of preludes and fugues gained its recognition in numerous Bach’s works. Bach liked to participate in different events, where composers had to create and introduce fugues on organs or harpsichords in a short period of time. German composers wanted to move toward expression by means of huge harmonic changes and had a need of wider tonality realm. Without any doubts, Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier serves as a good example of this musical tuning, known to lots of people as â€Å"just intonation†. It is a kind of system, â€Å"in which all the intervals are derived from the natural (pure) firth and the natural (pure) third.† 3 Nowadays, well temp eraments are replaced by another system of tuning that is called â€Å"equal temperaments†, where only octaves considered to be pure intervals. Sebastian Bach could not agree that equal treatment should take such an important place.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Pre-Concert Talk about Johann Sebastian Bach specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"The more mathematically minded writers on equal temperament have given the impression that extreme accuracy in figures is the all-important thing in equal temperaments, even if it is patent that such accuracy cannot be obtained upon the longest feasible monochord.† 4 Of course, the results of Bach’s own tuning deserve people’s recognition and analysis. In 1722, Bach started the creation of the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier and the first cycle of different compositions in this very conception. The prelude in C Major that is followed by the fugue in C Major starts Book I. Then, the prelude and fugue in C Minor follow. Each pair of prelude and fugue is presented in the chromatic scale till the last key. Book II was completed in 1744. More experienced and more educative Bach made a wonderful attempt to continue his work and add more interesting details to it. He wanted to achieve one of his cherished goals during the creation of this Well-Tempered Clavier – to prove the feasibility of well temperament for each composition in every key. However, it was not the only purpose of Bach. He was also eager to clear up how progressive work might contain some conservative ideas. This is why The Well-Tempered Clavier may be analyzed as a great source of information about various historical styles and idioms. It is necessary to admit that ornamentation played a very important role in the sphere of music during the 17th and 18th centuries. Lots of Bach’s written-out notes may be regarded as ornamentation examples. O rnamentation in Bach’s compositions helps to comprehend better different melodic events and make them more beautiful. People, who cannot notice any pieces of ornamentation, may see only a kind of surface layer of all the notes presented by the composer. The table of ornaments, offered by Bach in 1720 describes almost all commonly used ornaments: turn, appoggiatura and trill, ascending trill, etc. 5Advertising Looking for report on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Without any doubts, The Well-Tempered Clavier created by Bach is considered to be the greatest work of the Weimar period. In spite of the fact that this composition was created during the Baroque period, it had a considerable impact on Western classical music. For lots of people, who deal with music, both theorists and composers, this masterpiece remains a good sources of various musical techniques, which were so inherent to the Baroque style. Bach tried to unite unbelievable things or just the things, the combination of which was still unknown to the composers of the 17th century. When people listen to The Well-Tempered Clavier, they get a wonderful opportunity to enjoy unbelievable sounds and ideas. However, without proper awareness of such issues as equal temperament, just intonation, prelude, fugue, and different types of ornamentation, a professional musician will hardly evaluate this piece of work and find out what exactly the creator wants to represent to his listeners. Anoth er Bach’s work that deserves our attention and requires deep consideration is Three Collections of Dance Suites: The English Suites (BWV 806-811), the French Suites (BWV 812-817) and the Partitas for Keyboard (BWV 825-830). In order to comprehend why Bach chose a certain style for his work, it is better to analyze the backgrounds of each of dance suite and clear up their tempos. There are so many kinds of dance suites like the allemande, the sarabande, the gavotte, or the bourree, and each of them has its own peculiarities and influences the further development of the masterpiece. â€Å"The suite is usually denotes a cycle (or series) of dance pieces changing in tempo and meter yet preserving key unity throughout.† 6 The dance suite appeared in the 17th century and was one of the most famous discoveries of the Baroque Era. The Baroque dance suite’s major components, which are performed in one and the same key, are a prelude (it has already been discussed), the a llemande, courante, sarabande, intermezzi (consisting of minuet, gavotte, or some other dance), and gigue. Usually, al these components turn out to be dependant on the composer’s wish. If he/she wants to make the work really captivating, it is crucially important to think about the possible combinations and represent them in the composition. To make the right decision, it is necessary to be aware about the background of each dance suite and its tempo. First of all, it is better to remember that: Allemande has German origins and is represented within quadruple meter. The tempo of this movement is quite moderate and starts with an upbeat. Courante has more French origins and is characterized by quicker tempo in comparison to allemande, and presented in triple meter. If we look at the French dictionary, we will see that courante means run. According to such a simple translation, it is easier to guess a nature of this very movement. Sarabande is probably one of the slowest types of dance suite. It has Spanish origins and is performed in triple meter. Gigue attracts people attention by its fast tempo and lively atmosphere. This dance suite came from England, and its peculiar features are numerous triplets and a certain number of wide leaps. This very dance suite starts with eight meter. These four movements were the major components of the suites during the times of Bach. It was also possible to add several optional movements, which may be placed between the sarabande and gigue. In Three Collections of Dance Suites, Bach preferred to use bourree, gavotte, minuet, and prelude, of course. â€Å"His music speaks of initial hesitancy followed by confidence†7, this is why his unbelievably right choice of components for the suites always amazes the listener. Almost all additional movements have French origins: bourree is characterized as lively dance, gavotte is a kind of moderately fast dance, and minuet is elegant French dance with three even beats perf ormed in triple time. The minuet is the dance suite, which was the most preferable one by Sebastian Bach. In his Collection of Dance Suites, each collection consists of six suites. The model to each collection is quite standard: prelude, allemande, courante, sarabande, optional movement, and gigue. However, it is necessary to admit that Bach did not like to follow the rules precisely, but still could not create absolutely different pieces of music, this is why each collection has something in common that corresponds to the general model, and something different that underline the uniqueness of each collection. The English Suites are one of those, which closely follow the ordinary model. All six suites have the prelude, allemande, courante, sarabande, and gigue. Between the gigue and sarabande, each suite presents own optional movement: bourree (1st and 2nd suites in A major and minor), gavotte (3rd suite in G minor), minuet (4th suite in F major), passepied (5th suite in E Minor), a nd again gavotte (for 6th suite in D Minor). The French Suite does not have the prelude, but presents more movements between the gigue and the sarabande. This is why some of the French Suites have 5 movements (the 1st suite), 7 movements (2nd, 3rd, and 5th suites), and even 8 movements (4th and 6th suites). The Partitas for Keyboard is interesting due to its introductory movements and the variety of movements between basic elements of the whole model. The first suite has the standard model with the prelude and minuet. The 2nd suite has sinfonia as the introductory movement, and rondeau and capriccio as the final movements. The following four suites have quite different structures represented in the same key. After we look at the structures of each Bach’s suites, we can easily find out the differences and the peculiarities of each of them. It is impossible to say that some suite is better or worse than the other is. It is rather understandable that the beginning of the composi tion is a bit simple in order to provide the listener with a chance to feel the melody and create the general picture of the events. With each suite, Bach adds more and more movements. Such addition may be compared with the development of a person. With time, a human learns something new and enlarge his/her knowledge, he/she meets new people, and tries to make this life better than it is. Almost the same happens in Bach’s compositions. With time, each suite is enlarged with one or more movements. They influence the suite in its peculiar way and make the listener feel something that has not been inherent before. Johann Sebastian Bach’s contribution into music during the Baroque Era remains to be rather considerable. People all over the world get a wonderful chance to enjoy his magnificent compositions. â€Å"His personal stamp on† 8the old forms of suites added something really new to the further development of classical music. Even if Bach was a bright represent ative of the Baroque Era, his impact on Classical music is also great. It is impossible to analyze his works after listening them for one or two times. To grasp all the ideas, which Bach wanted to reproduce, it is better to learn their backgrounds and pay attention to each detail in the composition. Each suite in Bach’s compositions has different components. These movements make the work sweeter, and the addition more and more different movements to each suite is a wining decision of the composer to attract the attention of many theorists and practical composers. His works serve as good educative examples to learn more and more about the world of classical and Baroque music. His Dance Suite and The Well-Tempered Clavier are real treasures, which have to be kept, analyzed, and used in order to improve our modern music. Bibliography Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1969. Barbour, James, M. Tuning and Temperament: A Historical Survey, Courier D over Publications, 2004. Gillespie, John. Five Centuries of Keyboard Music: An Historical Survey of Music for Harpsichord and Piano, Courier Dover Publications, 1972. Lloyd-Watts, Valery Bigler, Carole L., and Palmer, Willard A. Ornamentation: A Question Answer Manual, Alfred Publishing, 1995. Melamed, Daniel, R. J. S. Bach and the German Motet, Cambridge University Press, 1995. Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach, Princeton University Press, 1983. Schulenberg, David. The Key Board Music of J. S. Bach, CRC Press, 2006 Sharpe, R. A. Music and Humanism: An Essay in the Aesthetics of Music, Oxford University Press, 2000. Footnotes 1 Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music: With Special Emphasis on J.S. Bach (Princeton University Press, 1983), 7 2 Schulenberg, David. The Keyboard Music of J. S. Bach (CRS Press, 2006), 199 3 Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music. (Harvard University Press , 1969), 448 4 Barbour, James, M. Tuning and Temperament: A Historical Survey, (Courier Dover Publication, 2004), 87 5 Lloyd-Watts, Valery Bigler, Carole L., and Palmer, Willard A. Ornamentation: A Question Answer Manual. (Alfred Publishing, 1995), 39 6 Gillespie, John. Five Centuries of Keyboard Music: An Historical Survey of Music for Harpsichord and Piano (Courier Dover Publications, 1972), 40 7Sharpe, R. A. Music and Humanism: An Essay in the Aesthetics of Music (Courier Dover Publications, 1972), 81 8 Melamed, Daniel, R. J. S. Bach and the German Motet, (Cambridge University Press, 1995), 54. Pre Introduction Pre-stressing is one of the methodologies applied by civil engineers to mitigate natural drawbacks of steel concrete structures. The methodology is deployed to produce various structures for commercial utilisation such as floors, bridges, and beams among others.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Pre-Stressed Concrete specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Concrete withstands more loads while subjected to compressive loads than while subjected to tensile loads. This behaviour implies that, when used to produce columns that are to be subjected to compressive loads, it can withstand more loads relative to when it supports loads that subject it to tension. A similar scenario is experienced when concrete is deployed to produce a beam. For instance, when a beam is simply supported and loaded, the dead load (load due to the weight of the beam) and the applied load subject the upper portion of the beam to compressive d eformation. The lower side is subjected to tensile strains, which otherwise induces tensile stress. Since non-reinforced concrete is stronger in compression than in tension, the beam can only support a limited amount of load in tension. When the span of a beam is increased, the load, which can be supported, reduces because longer spans buckle more than shorter spans. One way of dealing with this challenge is by providing more supports to the beam. However, this strategy is inconvenient especially when a beam is used to support floors in multi-storey buildings requiring large floor surface areas. Cost also becomes prohibitive. The amount of concrete used to make a beam to support a given amount of load is also higher than in the case of a reinforced beam. Traditionally, reinforcing was done using steel bars, which provide the required strength in tension. With a reinforced beam, the spans, which can support an equivalent load with a non-reinforced concrete beam with equal cross-secti onal dimensions is higher. The need to increase such spans even higher gives rise to the need of utilisation of pre-stressed concrete. The aim of this paper is to discuss the historical developments of pre-stressed concrete, the basic concepts of pre-stressed concrete, and the manufacturing of the pre-stressed concrete. An effort is also made to discuss the design of pre-stressed concrete together with its new developments. Historical Development The current achievements of the utilisation of pre-stressed concrete in civil engineering rest on the undying effort of scientists and engineers within the last 100 years. A San Francisco-based engineer, Jackson, was the first to patent pre-stressed concrete when he applied â€Å"patent for construction of artificial stone and concrete pavements in 1886† (Raju 2009: 2).Advertising Looking for report on architecture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In his patent, pre-s tressing was realised through tensioning. Various rods used for reinforcing concrete were set in the form of sleeves. Two years later in 1888, small beams coupled with slabs were produced in Germany, Dorhring through deployment of tensioned wires that were embedded in concrete for purposes of crack prevention. In 1886, Mandl introduced the idea that pre-stressing was essential in countering the stress introduced by loads in concrete structures. Later, in 1907, â€Å" Koenen, of Germany, further developed the subject by reporting on the losses of pre-stress due to elastic shortening of concrete†(Raju 2009: 2). However, the significance of the loss of these stresses was identified first by an American Engineer, Steiner, in the year 1908. A Vienna-based Engineer, Emperger, used these findings to produce wire-bound concrete pipes. According to Raju (2009), these pipes were made by â€Å"binding high tensile steel wires on pipes at stresses ranging from 160 to 800 N/mm2† (2 ). Dischinger first demonstrated that unbounded tendons could also be utilised to make pre-stressed concrete structures in the year 1928. This task was accomplished through construction of deep-girder version of major bridges through use of pre-stressed wires, which were secured inside his girder that did not have any bond. The losses of pre-stress encountered were taken up by corresponding re-tensioning of wires that were deployed in the concrete structure. Based on these structures and exhaustively studying the steel and concrete properties, in 1928, Freyssinet argued that high-strength steel was advantageous for use in making pre-stressed concrete since more accounting of pre-stress losses could be realised. He singled out that such losses arose principally from shrinkage and creep in steel structures when loaded. From 1928 to 1933, Freyssinet is recognised for having made the most significant achievement in the development of pre-stressed concrete. These achievements were due to â€Å"development of vibration techniques for production of high-strength concrete and the invention of the double acting jack for stressing high-tensile steel wires† (Raju 2009: 2). These discoveries marked the beginning of the intensive spread of the practical applicability of the pre-stressed steel as from 1935. In the US and Europe, civil engineers began constructing long-span bridges from 1945 to 1950. A good example of such a bridge is shown in fig.1 below. Christian Menn designed and fabricated it in 1962. The bridge is found in Tamins-Reichenau in Switzerland. Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Pre-Stressed Concrete specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Fig.1: Tamins-Reichenau Bridge in Switzerland Source: (Billington 2004: 28) Over the last 50 years, pre-stressed concrete has been used in civil engineering for a variety of applications. They include construction of bridges having long spans, shelf roof f or industrial applications, construction of structures used in the marine industry, pressure vessels used in nuclear power plants, and railway sleepers among other applications. In recognition of these applications of pre-stressed concrete, Raju (2009) reckons, â€Å"there is probably no structural problem to which pre-stressed concrete cannot provide solution and often a revolutionary one† (3). In the same line of thought, it can be inferred that pre-stressing is a universal principle in civil engineering, rather than just a technique. Basic Concepts of Pre-stressed Concrete The need to use pre-stressed steel arose because of two main reasons. The first one is the need for utilisation of high-strength steel in the making of concrete structures. The basic idea behind this need is that, the stronger the material used in construction, the lighter and smaller the beams to be built without sacrificing strength. Burgoyne (2002) cites the second reason as â€Å"the recognition of losses of pre-stresses due to various causes† (548). In fact, the initial attempts to deploy mild steel in the making of the pre-stressed concrete failed miserably because the working stress of mild steel is about 120N/mm2. This stress is totally, or the better part of it is, lost due to shrinkage and creeping together with elastic deformation. In this regard, Burgoyne (2002) puts the loss of stress in pre-stressed concrete due to these factors in the order of 100 to 240N/mm2. A material to be utilised successfully for making pre-stressed concrete requires strength in the range of 1200 to 2000N/mm2. Such amount of strength can only be provided by high strength steel. Raju (2009) supports this basic design principle by asserting, â€Å"high strength concrete is necessary in pre-stressed concrete, as the material offers high resistance in tension, shear, bond, and bearing† (3). A fundamental question that arises is how the high-strength steel could be used to support tens ile loads yet it sags.Advertising Looking for report on architecture? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The response to the above query underlines the reason why pre-stressing is done while using a high-strength steel to make concrete beams. Perhaps the best way of conceptualisation of how steel functions in a concrete beam to support tensile loads can be done by consideration of an elastic band. When an elastic rubber band is stretched and force applied mid way, the amount of sag decreases when a constant load is applied as the stretching force is increased. This finding implies that the higher the pre-stressing force, the higher the amount of that load that the rubber band can support. This concept is the basic principle of operation of pre-stressed concrete beam. The functionality of pre-stressed concrete beam may also be interpreted by consideration of an analogy of carrying books, which are stuck together. Books can be stuck in rows, which can then be lifted up. It is also possible to carry the books by first applying a force to make the rows stick together and then pull the stac ked books in rows horizontally. Upon applying pressure, compressive stresses are induced in the books so that they become easier to move from place to place at once. Using the same concept, pre-stressing concrete helps to eliminate a number of design challenges associated with reinforced concrete. Burgoyne (2002) supports this importance of pre-stressed concrete by asserting, â€Å"Pre-stressing removes a number of design limitations that conventional concrete places on span and load by permitting the building of roofs, floors, bridges, and walls with longer unsupported spans† (551). Consequently, engineers and architects are given an opportunity to come up with designs for beams, which can have longer, lighter, and shallower spans while paying critical attention to the need of the high strength required for utility performance in structural components of roofs and bridges. Manufacturing of Pre-stressed Concrete Manufacturing of pre-stressed concrete is done at a pre-stressin g concrete plant. During manufacturing of the pre-stressed concrete, civil engineers apply two ways for inducing compressive stresses in pre-stressed concrete. The first one is pre-tensioning while the second one is post-tensioning. Pre-tensioning is a method whereby concrete is placed after stretching of tendons. Fig. 2 below shows the tendons used in the manufacture of pre-stressed concrete. Fig 2: Tendon used in manufacture of pre-stressed concrete Source (Raju 2009) The force used to pre-stress concrete is transferred via a bond to the concrete. In the pre-tensioning method, concrete is placed upon stretching steel. â€Å"In order to strengthen the beam, steel tendons with high strength are put in between two abutments to be tensioned to around 70 to 80 percent of their overall strength† (Mutsuyoshi Hai, 2010, p.167). The concrete is allowed enough time to cure to gain the necessary strength. Tensioning forces are now released. Steel produces a reaction after attaining the required strength from the concrete making it gain the length that it had before. Consequently, tensile stresses are converted into transformed into compressive stresses, which upon complete curing are now very firm. Fig .3 below shows an example of a beam used for bridge contruction manufutured through pretentioning. Fig. 3: Pretentioned pre-stressed Concrete beam Source (Billington 2004) Post-tensioning is a pre-stressing methodology in which the concrete put after the tendons is tensioned and hardened before the steel is stretched. â€Å"The pre-stressing force is moved through the end anchorages to the concrete† (Mutsuyoshi Hai, 2010, p.171). Concrete is then cast around. Normally, an engineer makes ducts in the concrete body as the process progresses. This case is done with the help of steel rods, which are later removed. In the next step, with regard to Raju (2009), â€Å"After the concrete is hardened until it gains the required strength, engineers place and str etch the steel tendons towards the end of the unit† (p.57). Concrete that has been post-tensioned has a myriad of applications ranging from making of large girders, slabs, and roofs to pavements among other applications. Both pre-tensioning and post-tensioning produce good pre-stressed concrete. However, they are different. One of the striking differences is that post-tensioning is only possible to do in a manufacturing plant. Post-tensioning is done on the job site using applications, which are cast in place. Design of Pre-stressed Concrete Beams The pre-stressed concrete design initiates by determining the required load to be supported and the mechanism of loading the resulting beam. However, while designing, it is important to remember that a beam has its own weight. In the most simplistic scenario, it is uniformly distributed. Supporting conditions also determine the dimensional and sectional properties of the pre-stressed concrete beam that is selected for a given applica tion. The simplest support conditions are the cart livered beams or simply the supported beams. For pre-stressed concrete beams, having multi supports such as the ones shown in making the bridge shown in shown in fig .4, the calculation involved requires advanced techniques to obtain solutions for deflections, and the tensile and compressive stresses and strains on the loaded beam. Such techniques involve numerical methods and other methods for obtaining parametric solutions. It is important to note that, with the development of software applications, there is a specialised commercial software application that helps designers to handle these often-tedious calculations. However, for the software to give practical solutions, there must be inputs such as loading conditions and sectional properties such as the modulus of elasticity, the permissible bearing, shearing, compressive and even tensile stresses that would be induced on the beam. Normally, a designer has at his or her disposal the material properties, which are often tested and documented in the form of standards such the required loading and span. Depending on the required aesthetic properties of the concrete structure, the cross-sectional shape may also be known. The design challenge is then to find the member size, which is required together with the tendon profile and forces required for pre-stressing. Fig 2: Chillon Viaduct Bridge in Switzerland Source (Billington 2004: 27) Determination of the member size requires designers to conduct an analysis of the pre-stressed members, which can be â€Å"different for different stages of loading† (Burgoyne 2002: 549). There are three main stages of loading. They are initial, intermediate, and final loading stages. The initial stage is further divided into two main sub-stages. These are â€Å"tensioning of steel and the transfer of pre-stress to concrete† (Raju 2009: 98). In case of the intermediate stage, the designer considers the loads acting on the members during transportation, handling, and during erection of members that are pre-stressed. In the final stage of design of the pre-stressed concrete beams, two main considerations are made. These are the response of the members during operation and the ultimate performance of the members during extreme conditions. Since a pre-stressed member is built to withstand even extreme forces, for instance intense forces impacted on members during high water waves or during earthquakes, the designer is most interested in the analysis of the failure of the structure during such scenarios. As argued before, the design process of pre-stressed concrete yield parametric solutions. Therefore, the designer is involved in the intersection between decision-making and numerical calculations. In this regard, Burgoyne (2002) argues, â€Å"the human designer alternates between decision-making and computational challenges until the design is complete† (p.549). However, simple calculations are conducted first since they are repeated again in case the design fails to work. Complicated calculations are normally executed last when the design engineer is completely sure that the design will work. New Developments in the Pre-stressed Concrete For many decades now, pre-stressed concrete has been used in the construction of structures such as bridges all over the world. Pre-stressed concrete has dramatically grown due to the rise of its advantages such as higher lifecycle and the initial cost of making the concrete bridge. Pre-stressed concrete has great features over steel bridges because of its huge characteristics in aesthetic and economic aspects compared to concrete bridges, which have been reinforced. Recently, most pre-stressed concrete bridges have deteriorated before serving their estimated life span. This situation is caused by various factors such as environmental factors and corrosion. Consequently, concerns have been raised in the design and construction of pre -stressed concrete and its long-term durability (Mutsuyoshi Hai 2010). Therefore, civil engineers have adopted and applied a number of innovative technologies of pre-stressed concrete during the actual construction of projects as well as in their developments. In addition, some structures used in the construction of pre-stressed concrete have been presented to represent state of the art technologies. Development of new structures for pre-stressed bridges requires using an external pre-stressing technique, which produces externally pre-stressed concrete bridges that are designed using pre-stressing tendons, which are placed outside the section with concrete but within the boundaries of the cross-section of the girder. The idea behind external pre-stressing is widely advantageous. It is now becoming more popular in the building of medium and long-span bridges. Some of the advantages are the ability to control and adjust tendon forces, ease inspection of tendons while they are built, and reduction in thickness of the web. To increase performance of pre-stressed concrete bridges, new innovative technologies have been adopted to make this possible. These technologies include PC bridges, which have tendons that are highly eccentric externally. Although, externally pre-stressed PC bridges are well known and are highly advantageous, their flexural strength is lower compared to that of internally bonded tendons because of the eccentric tendons being smaller and limited by the ties of the girder section as well as the reduced eccentric tendon at the definite flexural failure. Extra-dosed PC bridges comprise a type of system that is structured in a way that tendons have been installed outside and above the major girder with a short deviation of towers being situated at supports. With regard to Virlogeux (1998) argues, â€Å"Extra-dosed PC bridges have a girder height that is lower than that of the ordinary girder bridges† (p.19). This case reduces the weight of t he structure. Thirdly, bridges made from pre-stressed concrete and possessing webs from steel possess grooved steel plates with less weight. These are better instead of using the concrete web because corrugated steel can withstand shear forces while not absorbing the unwanted stresses brought by pre-stressing thus efficiently enabling pre-stressing of up and down concrete deck slabs (Virlogeux 1998). In fact, corrugated webs made form steel are known to possess incredible shear resistance coupled with buckling rà ©sistance. Raju, (2009) develops this argument further by stating, â€Å"Lightweight corrugated steel web plates cause about 25% reduction in self-weight of main girders enabling the usage of longer spans† (p.93). They also reduce the cost of construction. Conclusion Pre-stressed concrete offer a myriad of advantages compared to the reinforced concrete. From the discussions of the paper, these merits range from increased spans length of a beam that can be simply sup ported to reduction of the dimensions of the beam without sacrificing the strength of the structure constructed using the pre-stressed concrete beams. Since the weight of a beam is also less, the strength of the supports required is also reduced. The paper held that the advantages have prompted hefty research on how such beams can be cheaply manufactured since they are currently finding wide range of applications in a variety of fields such as nuclear power plants, rails, and road bridges having long spans and even in construction of roofs for building requiring large floor areas. Bibliography Billington, D, ‘Historical Perspective on Prestressed Concrete’, PCI Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, 2004, pp. 14-30. Burgoyne, C, Design of Prestressed Concrete Beams Using Expert Systems, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, 2002. Mutsuyoshi, H N Hai, Recent technology of pre-stressed concrete bridges in Japan, Saitama University, Tokyo, 2010. Raju, K, Pre-Stressed Concr ete, McGraw Hill, New York, 2009. Virlogeux, M, Non-linear Analysis of Externally Prestressed Structures, Proceedings of FIP Symposium, London, 1998.

Financial Analysis of DBMS in Health and Social Care Organizations in Essay

Financial Analysis of DBMS in Health and Social Care Organizations in Hong Kong - Essay Example This research paper studies the options available for database management system for Health and Social Care Organizations. One improvement needed is the proper communication between the public and private health sectors of Hong Kong. There is an actual need to establish a computer system that has the ability to contain medical records and data about patients. This computer system must be able to deliver or send needed information from one health care facility to another in various locations where it is needed. This would reduce waiting time and expenses on the part of the patients, and would improve the efficiency of service provided by medical practitioners. In relation to the above-mentioned need, after Hong Kong’s transition over to the Chinese mainland, there have been some proposed reforms on its health care system. At present Hong Kong’s public healthcare sector is subsidized by the government. And since it is supported by one of the lowest tax regimes currently existing in the world, the Hong Kong government is giving good consideration on having revamps implemented on the overhaul of its entire health care system. Reforms are needed in order to continue the provision of an effective health care program (Taylor, n.d.) To be able to get ready for such a change, the clinic where I am currently employed needs to have an updated computer that is internet enabled, to facilitate effective communication and information exchange. Hong Kong’s current health care system is made up of two sectors, the public sector, and the private sector. The public healthcare sector is managed by the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority. The Department of Health provides preventive and outpatient services.

Should parents be able to design their own babies Essay

Should parents be able to design their own babies - Essay Example However, what is hidden behind the images of the healthy little girl, is that she has a gene ensuring that she will never fall victim to the HIV virus. Genetic scientists have already found the key that will give man the capacity to change the shape and destiny of human beings. Babies-to-order are no longer the futuristic fantasy of science fiction novels; the ability to design future members of the human race has already become a scientific reality. And as this technique advances, so will man's potential power to create, and fundamentally change, chosen aspects of human genetic make-up. This fact has already been understood by genetic engineering, and is being increasingly applied, as more and more parents opt for embryo screening (Shannon Brownlee, Washington Post, 2002). The choice of having embryo's screened to determine the presence of various life-threatening diseases, became UK law in 1990, with the introduction of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. Then in April 1997, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (GMO: Genetic Engineering, 2007). The resulting document, which was signed by 41 MP's from different countries, clearly states that genetic testing can only be performed in relation to health purposes, and that gender selection is forbidden, unless pertaining to a serious hereditary sex-related disease (Donald Bruce, 2007).The recent use of the approach of preimplantation genetic diagnosis in determining whether cancer cells were present in embryos, before implanting them into the wombs of four perpective mothers, took the use of PGD one step further. The acceptance of cancer as a possible disease that can now be treated by PGD, has pushed ethical, and legal, barriers forward (Sarah-Kate Templeton, TimesOnline, 2007). This development, and science's recognised ability to introduce esthetic elements into human embryos, are raising serious questions, as concerned groups and organisations attempt to define man's moral, ethical, and social guide lines.According to the BBC; In just four years time, the Human Genome Project, will have unraveled the locations and identities of every single component of the genome..... [this] will help lead to the identification of genes responsible for character traits such as predisposition to happiness and intelligence - as well as physical characteristics such as hair and eye colour (BBC News, 2000). This essay will be considering the question of whether parents should be allowed to design their own babies from two different positions. First, it will consider the arguments of a group of doctors and scientists working on incurable, child killing genetic diseases, who are in favour of granting permission for such approaches as embryo screening. Then it will be considering the position of an environmentally and ethically concerned organisation, which although not fundamentally opposed to genetic engineering approaches, fears that this approach is a step too far, and who therefore will be denying permission. Brussels, September 200.....Conference Report for Doctors & Scientists: Making Decisions for PGD. Man's war against disease, over the past decade, has advanced dramatically through the introduction of such techniques as PGD. This

Anti-Bribery Convention and OECD

Anti-Bribery Convention and OECD The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)Â  And the Anti-Bribery Convention The International Initiative The Anti-Bribery Convention was originally conceived in 1989, it has under gone many changes since its conception, to begin with the group was designed to enable the review in to national legislations and the bribery of officials, in 1994 the review was turned into recommendations for actions and this was eventually replaced by a treaty agreement in 1997. The Anti-Bribery conventions main aim is to decrease the amount of corruption in underdeveloped countries, in doing this they can create a fair and level playing field, therefore encouraging sanctions against any form of bribery in International business transactions. Things That Are Right The Anti-Bribery Convention has developed a set of legally binding standards to criminalize bribery. The Anti-Bribery Convention works with all countries to improve the standards of international business transactions. The Anti-bribery convention welcomes all countries to join the convention; no one is singled out or excluded as long as they follow the guidelines and legislation recommendations. Things That Are Wrong The Anti-Bribery convention has no governing authority; the OECD only over sees it. The countries involved in the Anti-Bribery convention have the sole responsibility to implement the legislations so that bribery can be criminalized. According to the Transparency International report (Hardoon, Heinrich, 2013), at least half the countries that are signed to the Anti-Bribery convention have had only a few and in some cases no prosecutions. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Founded in 1961, The OECD’s main headquarters are in Paris, France, To date there are currently 34 member countries, although the OECD do work closely with Russia, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa, but they are yet to agree to join the organization. Whilst the OECD’s main aim is to help improve the social, economic, safety and welfare of people across the globe, they do also maintain relations and work closely with other international organizations like the IMF, World Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Labor Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization in an effort to promote and improve other aspects of peoples well-being globally. The Good Things The OECD uses peer reviews to evaluate its work and implement new changes and ideas, giving a wider perspective on the organization. The OECD has established a unilateral forum to allow governments to share their issues and experiences and work together to resolve the problems. The OECD defies conventional wisdom and works towards a resolution that is beneficial to all. Things That Need To Be Changed OECD has no authority over the Anti-Bribery convention, it purely over sees it. The OECD is not self-executing; it requires the governing country to enforce the legislations and uphold the laws Companies using the OECD guidelines arent bound by them as they arent compulsory. How anti-bribery convention and the OECD affect global politics Example 1 The OECD has established a unilateral forum to allow governments to share their issues and experiences and work together to resolve the problems. This is a great step for achieving success in global policies because it is an airing point for ideas and resolutions, governments can get together and discuss issue past and present and provide information on how they were able to resolve or work around certain common issues. The forum is based on facts and real life experiences and enables governments to proactively take part in the forming of global policies that are beneficial to all. They have the ability to collect data from governments and analyze this for possible trends that could potentially help other countries from avoiding situations like, austerity and unemployment during economic downturns. The Anti-bribery convention has established a set of legally binding standards to criminalize bribery; this implementation will boost the transparency of global politics for the member states that are included in the convention. In creating transparency and ensuring everyone is implementing the recommended standards there will be more cohesive trade agreements that will propagate healthy globalization. The creating and implementation of these legally binding standards has failed to force member states to follow the implementations, this will have an overall effect on globally policies because other member states will see that this type of implementation can be ignored with no real repercussions. The implementations will only work successfully if the Anti-bribery convention attains the legal jurisdiction to implement these standards. Currently they don’t have this and there seems to be no way of getting the jurisdiction so the implementation of legally binding standards is just that, An implementation, There is no law so the member states don’t have to implement the standards. The anti-bribery convention has placed the responsibility for implementing the legislations solely on the governments, this will have a massive impact on global policies because will still be left up to that country to implement the legislations, a majority of corrupt officials are in the government sectors and will not implement such measures if they feel it could impact on their corrupt enterprises. Such implications could unravel the social and economic standings of that country, they could undermine trade agreements and have a devastating effect on all policies globally, there is always going to be an issue of trust and if the governments of the countries don’t implement the legislations that will undermine this trust element globally. The Anti-Bribery Convention has failed to close a massive loophole in the system and is in part facilitating the continuation of bribery amongst public officials. The convention will only truly be successful if they find a way to close this loophole and prevent the continuation of bribery globally. Where it went wrong! The emergence of globalization and the vast complexities of international law and relations have grown hugely, member states have now become globally connected, global threats are now ever increasing and cannot be dealt with without the implementation of the international laws, they help develop and force structure into international relations where the law doesn’t currently apply. The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention has decided that member state countries should be responsible for implementing the laws and regulations as set by the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. I believe this has left a loop hole in their quest and goals for supporting member states both socially and economically, it leaves rise to member states dictating what rules, laws and legislations they feel are appropriate, there is no set standard when implementation is decided according to the specific member state, violations will occur and laws and regulations will become confusing across the globe. What I would do! I feel that a resolution to this loophole would be for the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention to secure legal jurisdiction under the existing title of International Legal Personality to enforce member states to adopt their standards as currently the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention only monitors if the implementations have been made. On December 3rd, 1949 the International Court of Justice set a precedent where it agree that International Organizations (IO‘s) could be included under the banner of International legal personalities and therefore be party to the rights and obligations under international law. It was decreed that the case subject (The United Nations) should be seen as an International Legal Personality and was therefore capable of having international rights and duties and it should be able to uphold these rights and make a legal claim against any international member state that violates its policies. How I would do it! If I was involved in the corporate aspects of The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention I would apply for International Legal Personality status , we would be deemed eligible for it because we a permanent association with our member states, we hold legal powers and have the power to act on these in the form of the legally binding standards that we currently implicate, we are able to effectively operate on an international scale and fulfill at the required criteria for International Legal Personality status. If the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention were to be granted International Legal Personality status, then our convention would have the power to enact an international claim for reparation against that member state for violating the standards set, and for negating on its statutory international obligations as set out by the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Citations Hardoon. D, Heinrich. F. (2013). Global corruption barometer 2013. Retrieved from Transparency International website: http://issuu.com/transparencyinternational/docs/2013_globalcorruptionbarometer_en Lunfengzhe (n.d.). National flag ball of OECD members. Retrieved from http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-national-flag-ball-oecd-members-image28867394

Abbey Road and Beatles

The Beatles â€Å"There's nothing you can make that can't be made, No one you can save that can't be saved, nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time – it’s easy†, this quote is taken from the song all you need is love by The Beatles. The Beatle's started out as four normal people and then in the 1960 they all come as the group called the Beatles. The members of The Beatles were Paul Mccartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. The Beatles are one of the most influential rock bands in history.Today we are going to look into the early years of the Beatles, the raising fame of the Beatles career and the end of the Beatles. How did the Beatles become a group? This is details about the early years of the Beatles. How did they become legendary? The Beatles were four normal people who meet each other day after day. It took a long period of time to change their name to the Beatles. The old names were Jonny and the Moondogs, and long john an d the beetles. The Beatles, they genuinely fitted and took over as the most commended rock star appreciated as the Beatles.The Beatles started in 1960 (Ktrek, 2005. ) This was a period where the Beatles comprised mostly their dance and pop music dating from 1963 through 1965 The Beatle’s raising fame. Next came the middle years where the Beatles experimented with sound and music and also developed rock music like never before, rock music beyond just dance music (Ktrek, 2005. ) The Beatles sound grew progressively with each album coming their way; culminating with many believes to be the masterpiece of rock music. They made many albums at this point like Rubber Soul in 1965, Revolver in 1966, and many more albums.The Beatles had their unbelievable end; leaving us with a message Let It Be, a song by the Beatles in 1970. They were on that final long and successful road. The Beatles were running out of ideas. Their song Abby Road is the best song of this period, but songs have th eir dull moment. The songs they did at this period were The White Album, Yellow submarine in 1969, and Hey Jude in 1970. â€Å"Hey Jude don’t make it bad, take a sad song it make it better†, this is quote from the song Hey Jude by the Beatles.The Beatles will never be the same as they were before but they have raising moments and have influence many people in the world. To their song Yesterday, to their song Rubber Soul, to their lasted song Let it be. What was your favorite song by the Beatles? What was your favorite period of music by the Beatles? They changed the sound of rock music leaving it with different sounds, and beats. â€Å"And in the love you take is equal to the love you make† that was a quote from the Beatles when they ended. (Ktrek, 2005)

Heroes and Villains in Postmodernism Essay

Postmodernism is a creative movement that is said to have originated in the 1950s. As the name suggests, it is the successor of modernism, and the development of postmodernism is visible in not only literature, but also other creative disciplines such as architecture, music, fashion, film and painting. Postmodernism was created as a reaction to its predecessor, and its â€Å"rational, scientific, and historical aspects†. This results in postmodernism being self-conscious, ironic, and experimental, concerned with the instability and unreliability of language, and with epistemology, the study of what knowledge is. In saying this, the purpose of postmodernism is not to shock the bourgeoisie world, as the avant-garde movement arguably does, but to challenge it- both by reducing it to its natural state, and by seeing how far it can be stretched beyond its existing ideas. Postmodernism does this by introducing deconstruction and disintegration to question our ideas of certainty, identity and the truth; and by the use of hyperreality, pastiche, bricolage, recurring characters, irony, authorial intrusions, non-linear narrative and self-reflexivity to bring more attention to the world outside of the text as a part of the world inside it. There is a true breakdown of what we know to be true, what we expect, and what we are able to believe, and this is certainly reflected in the depictions of heroes and villains within postmodernist texts. This investigation looks into the role of heroic and villainous characters in postmodernist texts, the aspects of the postmodern world that is portrayed by these characters and how they developed, in relation to the societal and political changes that were gasoline to the flames of postmodernism. The characters that will be used to  investigate this are the superhero Batman, and one of his arch-nemeses The Joker, using the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, both directed by Christopher Nolan, and the graphic novels Joker written by Brian Azzarello, and The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore; Shrek from the film Shrek, directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson; Billy Pilgrim from the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut; and Patrick Bateman from the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. These texts represent the wide-ranging reaches of postmodernism, including both what people may class as â€Å"literature† and â€Å"mass culture† as distinctive examples of postmodernism. However, in studying these texts, it is clear to see the disordered nature of postmodernism by the creation of the antihero- a protagonist who lacks the traditional heroic qualities, who is flawed, who the audience is ultimately able to recognise themselves in. How do the texts themselves reflect postmodernism? The literary label of â€Å"postmodernism† can be applied liberally, and encompasses a large number of texts, with differing postmodern qualities found in each one. However, over the range of texts that is being investigated in this report, there are some aspects that stand out more clearly than others. As this report focuses on heroes and villains within the texts, we will firstly look at the texts that were used to analyse the characters of Batman and the Joker. The texts used to study the Batman include The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Joker, and The Killing Joke. All of these texts are set in the fictional city of Gotham, New York, which is a postmodern setting that makes us aware of facing widespread social meltdown in which it is becoming increasingly more difficult to make a separation between law and anarchy, heroism and terrorism, and sanity and madness. This shifting, sliding, disintegrating world is clearly portrayed in all of Nolan’s, Moore’s and Azzarello’s work. This postmodern setting, an arguably dystopian Gotham, is infested with crime and corruption, and fear and mistrust is abound- the people of the city cannot trust the authorities, nor can they trust any of the social or political institutions that they were brought up to believe in. This reflects the postmodern idea of disintegration- the dissolving of social norms and institutions on which many people based their lives, the removal of the â€Å"absolute†. The issues  that the citizens of Gotham face are not merely about right and wrong, or good and evil, they are vicious moral dilemmas presented by psychopathic and unpredictable villains. Also, the hyperrealistic nature of the violence that is depicted in both the films and the graphic novels is also a postmodern aspect of these texts. For example, in the graphic novel, Joker, when a mob boss who went against the Joker was flayed alive and paraded on to a strip club stage; or when Harvey Dent’s hired detective/thug is shot in the head and hung upside down from a tree on the grounds of Dent’s mansion and Dent finds him in the morning, dripping brain matter over his newspaper. Hyperreality is a deliberate blurring of the boundaries between fantasy and reality, and the portrayal of hyperreal violence in postmodern texts is common, as they distort reality through a trivialization of violence and the effects it has upon human beings. Hyperreal violence is also found in the novel American Psycho, in which Patrick Bateman, a yuppie Wall Street banker by day, and psychotic murderer by night, commits gruesome murders and sexual acts constantly throughout the novel, which are described with chillingly accurate detail. By the end of the novel, the reader is numbed to the graphic descriptions of violence and gore, accepting them as part of his everyday life, just as normal as him going to work and engaging in mindless conversation with his colleagues. However, in American Psycho, the most obvious, and most often seen, characteristic of postmodernism is its constant references to brand names, pop culture and the corporate world that Bateman is a part of. As the novel is written in a stream-of-consciousness style from Bateman’s point of view, the reader sees his thoughts as he passes shallow, superficial judgment on virtually everyone he sees. Bateman’s thoughts as he and his girlfriend Evelyn attend a party are a good indication of the tone of the novel: â€Å"Evelyn and I are by far the best-dressed couple. I’m wearing a lamb’s wool topcoat, a wool jacket with wool flannel trousers, a cotton shirt, a cashmere V-neck sweater and a silk tie, all from Armani. Evelyn’s wearing a cotton blouse by Dolce do Gabbana, suede shoes by Yves Saint Laurent, a stenciled calf skirt by Adrienne Landau with a suede belt by Jill Stuart, Calvin Klein tights, Venetian-glass earrings by Frances Patiky Stein, and  clasped in her hand is a single white rose that I bought at a Korean deli before Carruthers’ limousine picked me up. Carruthers is wearing a lamb’s wool sport coat, a cashmere/vicuà ±a cardigan sweater, cavalry twill trousers, a cotton shirt and a silk tie, all from Hermà ¨s. (â€Å"How tacky,† Evelyn whispered to me; I silently agreed.) Courtney is wearing a triple-layered silk organdy top and a long velvet skirt with a fishtail hem, velvet-ribbon and enamel earrings by Josà © and Maria Barrera, gloves by Portolano and shoes from Gucci.† The constant allusions to brand names, fashion trends and collections, make the novel a part of, and a product of, the world outside of the text, the consumerist society we have today. Unlike the fictional, dystopian city that Batman and the Joker live in, Bateman lives in a world that we are easily able to relate to- our world. We, as the reader, have our attention called to the fact that the world the characters in the novel are experiencing is the same world that we live and take part in. This is unlike most modernist novels, in which the story and its characters are confined to the world created in the novel, and the reader is only able to experience them through the windows of the novel. References to pop culture feature prominently across postmodernist texts, as seen clearly in the film Shrek. Although intended as a children’s film, the films are a perfect example of a postmodern fairytale. The films themselves are extremely intertextual, creating a story with many, many fairytale characters woven into the one story, such as the Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, the Fairy Godmother and the Gingerbread Man, among many others. This intertextuality in itself is a reference to popular culture, citing multiple fairytales, stories, and nursery rhymes for many of the main characters. Other references to the world outside of the text include Robin Hood and his Merry Men dancing to Riverdance; Princess Fiona slowing down in time like Neo in film The Matrix while she is fighting; references to the film The Princess Bride; and mimicking the style of game shows and dating shows, for example when the Mirror on the Wall introduces Princess Fiona in a bachelorette-dating style. The directors also use irony at the start of the film Shrek, as the beginning scene of the film has a narrator telling the story seriously as a fairytale, when Shrek interrupts this and mocks the author when he says, â€Å"Yeah right.† and tears the page out of the book. Not only does the use of irony and humour in this scene make the audience aware  that the ogre we are introduced to is not a stereotypical one, we also see an interaction between the author and character, a barrier which is broken in postmodern texts to highlight that the text is a work of fiction. The audience is also made aware of this as Shrek acknowledges the camera or audience when he turns to the camera and blocks it before kissing Fiona. This shows that the film is self-reflexive, the characters of the film are aware of film-making and its tools. The use of such postmodern techniques embeds the story of Shrek in a world that the audience is aware of, and while it may not fully be the reality we live in, it is one that we have grown up with and are comfortable with. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five uses similar techniques to assert its postmodernism. It references popular culture, mentioning Christmas carols, novels (a character refers to the novel â€Å"The Brothers Karamazov†, by Fyodor Dostoevsky, as â€Å"everything there was to know about life†) and history books about one of the main events of the novel, the fire-bombing of Dresden. However, despite these links to the outside world, the reader gets constant reminders of the fact that this book is fictional. The author, Vonnegut is present as a character in the book, as a soldier, a POW taken to Dresden along with Billy, making occasional comments, and then informing the reader that â€Å"That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book.† The intrusion of the author into the narrative is also shown through the recurring phrase â€Å"So it goes†, which follows each mention of death: â€Å"The plane crashed on top of Sugarbush Mountain, in Vermont. Everyone was killed but Billy. So it goes. While Billy was recuperating in a hospital in Vermont, his wife died accidentally of carbon-monoxide poisoning. So it goes.† The use of the non-linear narrative structure is also a postmodern aspect of the text- the main protagonist travels randomly through time, experiencing the events in non-chronological order. For example, his death is merely four sentences in the middle of the novel, described as merely being â€Å"violet light and a hum.† Similar to American Psycho, the usual significance of death is not present in the novel. However, while in American Psycho the reader was slowly desensitized towards death, in Slaughterhouse-Five, death  simply does not matter, which challenges all the readers’ preconceived notions about death, and the sanctity of it. The temporal structure of the novel reflects what the alien Tralfamadorians teach Billy of their beliefs about time, that it is an â€Å"assemblage† of moments rather than a linear progression. This means that they are able to accept death as a perpetually occurring event, hence their use of the phrase â€Å"So it goes†. Another postmodern technique is the use of recurring characters: the character of Kilgore Trout, a science fiction writer, appears in Vonnegut’s other novels; Eliot Rosewater appears in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Howard W. Campbell, the American-turned-Nazi, in Mother Night; and Bertram Copeland Rumfoord is a relative of Winston Niles Rumfoord, who appears in The Sirens of Titan. These characters that appear over a number of books connects the discrete novels as being part of a greater whole; as being part of a world outside its pages. Vonnegut also blurs the lines of genre in the novel in order to deconstruct the idea of a â€Å"war novel†. The novel swings between the genres of science fiction and a biography, and Vonnegut mixes the fantasy of aliens and the planet Tralfamadore with the reality of war, and the author’s presence and experiences of it. The term â€Å"postmodernism† sweeps many different, and seemingly unrelated, texts under its wide reaches, but most such texts use similar postmodern techniques to achieve the ultimate effect- of making the reader aware of the text as a work of fiction, and as an entity that exists as a part of a greater whole, rather than an object existing in a world defined by itself. In what ways are the heroes or villains of these texts postmodern? With the ideological, cultural, and social upheaval that was present during the time of the birth of postmodernism, a new protagonist was born, which redefined our existing notions and stereotypes about the nature of these protagonists- the antihero. Defined as being the main character of a text, who does not possess the qualities of a traditional â€Å"hero†, the character appears in postmodern texts regularly. With the movement of heroes away from the expected â€Å"good†, we are also able to see changes in the villains of texts, and these revolutionary changes in the idea of heroes and villains,  which comes down to the primal, instinctive battle between good and evil, can be seen through postmodern texts. The character of Batman is an incredibly complex one, having heroic qualities yet not conforming to the stereotype of â€Å"superheroes†, the strong, powerful men or women with a heart of gold, using their powers for the good of mankind. Batman is postmodern in that he breaks the mold for a traditional â€Å"superhero†, and rejects the story arc for one. His whole journey started not from a need of his to create good, but a twisted sense of revenge for his parents’ death, and in order to become develop his fighting skills. After his parents’ murderer is killed, Bruce Wayne leaves Gotham and disappears for 7 years, â€Å"exploring the criminal fraternity†, and training with the League of Shadows. He obviously has a different set of morals than what is expected, when asked by Henri Ducard whether he pitied the criminals while he lived with them, he says, â€Å"The first time I stole so I wouldn’t starve, yes, I lost many assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong.† The recurring idea throughout the texts containing Batman is that he is not a hero, but he is â€Å"whatever Gotham needs him to be†, he is a symbol for good, a symbol for the hope of a new, functional Gotham. â€Å"As a man, I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed, but as a symbol†¦ But as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be everlasting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this way, he is astoundingly similar to Patrick Bateman. Patrick Bateman exists not as a person, but as a reflection of the society that he is a part of. He is an image created to fit the standards and ideologies of the society he lives in. â€Å"†¦there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.† Through the texts, we also see that the Joker is very similar to Batman, and this is what makes their relationship so psychologically complex. They are, in a way, similar to the two sides of a coin. As the Joker says to Batman, â€Å"I complete you.† The relationship between the hero and the villain is subverted and made incredibly ambiguous. Just as the Joker is a villain who does not observe even the basic rules of criminality by which society might identify and punish him, Batman is a hero who does not observe even the  basic rules of heroism so that society might recognise and glorify him. The Killing Joke ends with Batman capturing the Joker, but deciding not to kill him, and offering to help rehabilitate him, because he â€Å"needn’t be out there on the edge anymore. You needn’t be alone†¦ Maybe I’ve been there too. Maybe I can help.† And they laugh together at a joke that the Joker tells him, which only reinforces their similarities, and the fact that they can both understand each other. The Joker, at one point in the Dark Knight, also says to Batman that they are both â€Å"freaks†. And they are, both characters being outcasts of society. But while the Joker is there willingly because of his own calculating inhumanity, Batman is the scapegoat, the reluctant outcast who takes upon himself the violence of society and its corrupted institutions, in order that its illusions of law and order might be preserved, because he rationalizes that he is â€Å"whatever Gotham needs me to be†¦ Because that’s what needs to happen. Because sometimes, truth isn’t good enough, sometimes people deserve more; sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.† The story of Batman and the Joker is postmodern in that it subverts most of the expected story arcs of both superheroes, and supervillains. It shows that these two need each other to be effective. The Joker we see simultaneously seduces and repels, fascinates and horrifies, and he provides the inescapable force which Batman’s own persona is dependent upon. The character of the Joker is also very similar to Patrick Bateman, both displaying hyperreal violence in their villainy, and being incredibly unreliable narrators. In the Killing Joke, The Joker says, â€Å"†Something like that happened to me, you know. I†¦ I’m not exactly sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another†¦ If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!† Similarly, in American Psycho, we are unable to trust the memories of a psychopath, shown by his blank â€Å"But I don’t remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  statements when recounting his murders and sexual exploits. Also, when we find that one of Bateman’s victims, a colleague of his named Paul Owen, is actually alive at the end of the book, we find ourselves being sure of the entire story- his character, the plot and definitely his grisly tales of murder and torture. Bateman and the Joker are both psychopaths- and in some ways, they are both forces of anarchy in  their societies, the Joker being an elemental force unconstrained by any glimmer of humanity, fear or vulnerability. As he claims in the Dark Knight, â€Å"The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.† Meanwhile, Bateman has no regard for people as everything in his world is purely material- he does not care when he kills, as all he feels he is killing is an â€Å"Armani pantsuit†. Neither of these characters have an object nor a goal towards which they work, as Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler says, â€Å"Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought or bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men want to watch the world burn.† However, while the Joker is invincible due to his absolute freedom from pain and any other human attachment, Bateman is confined to the expectations of his status and social culture. Bateman heavily refers to popular culture throughout Psycho, keeping up a steady stream of superficial commentary on all aspects of his life. In this way, the character of Shrek is similar to Bateman, as he also lives in a world where advertising, brand names, and social standing play a major part in one’s life. However, looking at the characters, they are clear opposites- while Bateman has embraced the shallow culture of his time, and practices it dutifully, the society of Shrek’s time has turned him into a hardened cynic, one who would rolls his eyes whenever his companions would make a frivolous comment. This is related to the fact that Shrek is an ogre, and the film subverts the stereotype of the ogre as a villain, by molding him as the hero, and the actual Prince Charming as the whiny, cowardly villain of the film. This challenges conventional thinking, since we, the audience, have been conditioned to think of ogres as â€Å"evil† creatures who eat people and have no mercy. Through this film, we see that this is actually not the case; traditional villains can also become valiant heroes, given the right setting and sidekick. Billy Pilgrim, a cowardly, weak, time-travelling optometrist who is the protagonist of the novel Slaughterhouse-Five, is an unlikely war hero. He is weak, unpopular and pathetic to the audience, and becomes a laughable soldier. Even as a time traveler, he is described as a â€Å"spastic in time†. He is postmodern in the development of his character as an â€Å"anti-hero†, an  ordinary, if slightly on the pathetic side of ordinary, man. The story is driven the other the events more than the protagonist, since he is unable to be determined and strong-minded enough to change the world, or even his social world, neither positively nor negatively. He is another unreliable narrator, when he tells the world of his tales about the Tralfamadorians, he is taken to be insane, and not believed. Because he is such a weak character, he does not contradict the fact, but neither does he support it, and so the reader is still unsure at the end of the novel whether his tales of Tralfamadore were true, or whether they were merely an elaborate coping mechanism to help deal with the terrible experiences he suffered during the war. Billy Pilgrim is the ultimate postmodern hero- he is an ordinary person, who is thrust into a difficult situation, and similar to large majority of humanity, does nothing heroic or commendable. Through this, we also come to the realization that for every lauded, decorated war hero, there were hundreds of other â€Å"average† ones, and Billy Pilgrim is a perfect example of one. Through the analysis of these heroes and villains, we are able to see that postmodernism does indeed challenge the traditional notion of a clear cut hero and villain. Just as postmodernism blurs the lines of reality in texts, it also blurs the lines in our mind separating the good and the bad. Postmodernism depicts a much more realistic hero, an increasingly more human one, who makes mistakes, is determined by what society makes it, and sometimes, does nothing heroic at all. He or she is present in postmodern texts generally not to inspire, like a classic hero, but to make the audience realize a truth about their lives, their societies, and the world around them. Villainy is depicted as a result of something, rather than a character trait. Postmodernism claims that villains are created by the expectations of society, and are therefore, an essential part of the heroes they work against. How did the external world influence the rise of postmodernism? The birth of postmodernism has been linked back to the political atmosphere of the time, in the atrocities of Stalinism. This, along with the horrors of  Nazism, and the Holocaust, completely undermined the modernist narrative of progress, and the ability of language to describe such an incomprehensible atrocity. Thus, postmodernism was born, an era which looked not to change the world, but to redefine it, to make people look at truths differently. Postmodernist authors reveal many of the concerns of the world today, by both realistically and symbolically representing our world, our societies, through their texts and characters, and making commentary on them. For example, Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse Five as a response to war- â€Å"It is so short and jumbled and jangled, because there is nothing intelligent to say about as massacre.† The story is very jumbled, written satirically based on Vonnegut’s own experiences in WWII and being a witness to the firebombing of Dresden, which killed 130,000 people. The use of a pathetic protagonist indicates his anti-war stance- the novel was published in 1969, when USA was in the midst of the Vietnam War. During this time, Vonnegut was an outspoken pacifist, and critic of the war. Just like Vonnegut’s novel is social commentary of the issue of his time, Bret Easton Ellis uses American Psycho to explore newer, more disturbing trends in Western culture. He looks at the desensitization of our culture to violence, the increasingly gory films, novels and graphic novels we are exposed to, and how this tendency of the media can find its way back to people who are easily influenced by it, such as Bateman. He also criticizes our obsession with popular culture, image and brand names, by portraying his protagonist, a man with the perfect face, the perfect clothes, and the perfect image, as a psychopath, a man who kills for the fun of it at night. The popular-culture-mania of our time is also explored in Shrek, as it is a children’s movie, and even children when they watch it, recognize the references to other fairytales and brand names. This reflects how we are conditioned to believe and understand popular culture from a very young age. The story of Batman and the Joker, on the other hand, delves a little deeper into the issues of our society. They uncover the crisis of values in which America, and most of the western world, finds itself at the beginning of the 21st century. Cultural theorists portrayed the late 20th century in terms of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the postmodern condition†: an era in which traditional values, identities and social institutions were disintegrating and being replaced by twisted narratives, conflicting truth claims and multiple identities. Gotham City reflects what our society may be looking forward to, with the increasing fragmentation of our world into splintered groups and subgroups. Where does that leave us? The era of postmodernism is one that is difficult to define, but it still heralded as a time of immense cultural change, which redefined the way people look at the world today. This can be especially seen in its portrayal of heroes and villains. Gone are the days macho superheroes, instead we have flawed, sometimes even pathetic protagonists, the â€Å"anti-hero† which is increasingly similar to the ordinary person. The villains, on the other hand, are unreliable, and cannot always be expected to do the â€Å"evil† thing, they too are human; they too have backstory which elicits sympathy from the audience. By subverting the traditional stereotypes about the world today postmodern authors and directors warn us of the dangers of human nature and culture, and the bleak future we may be looking forward to, if we let the dangerous behaviour of our culture continue. Bibliography Adamson, Andrew and Jenson, Vicky. (2001) Shrek, Dreamworks Pictures Accessed 11/07/12 Adamson, Glen, et al. (2011) Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990. London: V&A Publishing. Accessed on 26/07/12 Azzarello, Brian (writer), Bermejo, Lee (artist), Gray, Mick (illustrator).] (2008) Joker. DC Comics Accessed on 26/07/12 Ellis, Bret Easton. (1991) American Psycho. New York: Vintage Books. Accessed 31/08/12 Moore, Alan (writer), Bolland, Brian (artist). (1988) The Killing Joke, DC Comics. Nolan, Christopher. (2005) Batman Begins, Warner Bros. Pictures Accessed 14/07/12 Nolan, Christopher. (2008) The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. Pictures Accessed 14/07/12 Vonnegut, Kurt. (2003) Slaughterhouse Five. New York: Harper Collins. Accessed 26/7/12 Wilcox, Leonard. Programme Coordinator of American Studies at University of Canterbury, interview on 12/09/12.