Air Pollution in America Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Air Pollution in America - Term Paper Example This is due to the fact as time goes by, people breathe in so many things that can be considered liter of air. In the course of a day, we breathe 5,000 to 15,000 liters of air. With each breath, we inhale life-sustaining oxygen, which is absorbed in our lungs and carried throughout our body. Air also contains pollutants, including pollen, microbes, particles such as soot and dust, and gases such as carbon monoxide-substances that can harm the human body. Contact with these harmful substances, which are filtered through the lungs and can also irritate the eyes and skin, triggers several defense mechanisms such as coughing, sneezing, and the production of secretions. When these defense mechanisms are overwhelmed, human tissue is damaged or destroyed. Chronic or severe exposure may hasten the onset and progression of disease and even result in death (Myer, p.43). Even though this study would have been conducted in other countries, almost all the world's countries and their people possess unifying attributes that make them distinct and unmistakable for any other nationality, race, culture and language. America possesses the probability of encountering this problem because of countless causes such as cultural differences and differences in opinions while having environment issues that could very destroy the earth. This is why there has been discussion of air pollution contributing to health issues in such a way, which gives a bleak future. This is why there was a court case between the United States vs. Rapanos was an issue because they went against the Clean Air Act. DiscussionIt is easy to gather that Americans want a future that has economic prosperity and clean air that will be more abundant. This is because the American life consists of material prosperity as much as in civil liberties or political democracy is an old on as the content of what people believe it to be. However, since the structure of globalization has to be reconstructed while the greenhouse effect is being dealt with through the air pollution issue, the planet's air is being destroyed by carbon dioxide and other pollutants.. "There is only one way to pacify our inflamed atmosphere: The climate challenge requires all the countries of the world to adopt a common framework with mandatory reduction targets. Within such a framework, countries can find their own ways to meet the shared goal. Since the United States emits at least twenty percent of the world's greenhouse gases - with only five percent of the world's population - it clearly needs to take a prominent role in any globa l solution. Here is a concrete framework for change that is financially sensible, politically feasible and based on existing technology" (Gelbspan). In the twenty-first century, economic changes and changes in the environment were threatening all American classes economically. . With addressing global solutions for the environment, the United States will force environmental laws onto the public such as the following. John and Judith Rapanos own three parcels of land in the State of Michigan known as the Salzburg, Hines Road, and Pine River sites. PA at A2. In the 1980's and 90's, the Rapanos hired contractors to prepare these sites for development. The

The Club Essay Example for Free

The Club Essay The Club (1978), written by David Williamson, is a satirical play that follows the fortunes and misfortunes of a football club over the course of the season. David Williamson cleverly integrates the realistic portrayal of characters and dialogue into the play in order to effectively provide the reader with an insight into the power and politics of sport and the commoditisation of players. The main themes in The Club that David Williamson communicates across to the reader are power and the concept of ‘human loyalty verses materialistic gain’, which will be explained in further detail below. Power is also explored extensively in The Club; much of the play is based on power struggles between the characters. As mentioned earlier, the power struggle between Laurie and Jock is evidenced by Laurie’s accusation that Jock supported the committee’s traditional approach only to stop Laurie from succeeding. Obviously some of the characters are much more successful than others. For example, Gerry is able to skilfully manipulate the other characters so he can accomplish his own hidden agenda. However the two players, Danny (the team Captain) and Geoff, do not really become involved in these power struggles except when they aid Laurie at the end of the play. Ted (the president) has the most obvious power at the start of the play, although he steadily loses it throughout as the other characters strive to improve their standing. The desire for power is basically universal, and there is resentment from those who are not in power towards those who are. These sporting attitudes have been clearly evident in sport in the last few decades. Attitudes towards commercialism are also explored in The Club. In the play, the Club itself is just beginning the road to commercialisation with the purchase of Geoff Hayward (the star recruit) for $90,000. However, Gerry (the administrator) and Jock’s plans for next year not only include the dropping of some Club traditions, but also extensive commercialisation as wealthy entrepreneurs are recruited for sponsorship money which will be used to buy more players. Jock is a person who supports the commoditisation of players when it is in agreement with his goals. For example when trying to avert a players’ strike, Jock claims that former Club heroes would be disgusted by the idea, â€Å"I want to turn all those photographs around so they don’t have to look down on this shameful scene. † However, it is later revealed that Jock supports the buying of players and a coach who has not played for the Club, both of which are against traditions, to ensurethat the Club wins a premiership next season. This hypocritical attitude towards tradition is probably a fairly typical Australian attitude. This attitude presented by Williamson is probably even more widespread now, as success and the reaching of goals is seen as being even more important today. Loyalty is also an important issue in The Club, although each of the characters is loyal in very different degrees and ways. Some of the characters, like Danny, are fiercely loyal to others; for example Danny threatens a players’ strike if Laurie is forced to resign, â€Å"If that bloody committee of yours gives Laurie the boot tonight, then we don’t play tomorrow. † Other characters, like Jock and Gerry, lack loyalty to other people and will manipulate and lie for their own personal advantages but are loyal to the Club as a whole. Gerry believes that, â€Å"Loyalty to any one individual is a luxury you can’t afford in a business with a multi-million dollar turnover. † Gerry’s pragmatic attitude is perhaps typical of the attitudes which are becoming commonplace in the cutthroat business world of the 1990s. In The Club, David Williamson utilises realistic dialogue to assume convey meaning and enrich the text of the play. Williamson achieves realistic dialogue through the constant use of many language devices including emotive language insults, interruptions, sarcasm, idioms, colloquialism, slang, irony, jargon and hyperboles. The main purpose is to depict power and domination between characters. This is done through a device such as tone, as it creates an atmosphere of tension and conflict. Tone is shown between the two most powerful characters, Gerry the football administrator and Laurie the Club’s coach. Gerry’s tone is calm and uses very formal language, which indicated his power and control over other characters. ‘You’re scarcely in a position to be delivering ultimatums, Laurie’. Laurie also shows control by his tone and word choice. ‘If you play well enough and the team plays well enough for the rest of the year, they’ll find it pretty hard to sack me’. The tone in Laurie’s dialogue changes from exasperation to control indicating that he has become his own master. Laurie’s approach to dealing with situations shows his power and dominates. The shift in tone of Gerry and Laurie’s dialogue emphasises the power shifts that take place in ‘The Club’. The frequent use of slang and colloquial language represents the Australian culture and way of life. Also, use of football jargon such as ‘goal-to-goal line’ shows how familiar the club members are with their sport. Another purpose shown throughout the play is the conflicting relationships between characters. Williamson has created this purpose through the use of sarcasm used by the characters. In the first scene, Ted and Danny have come across as having a conflicting relationship as there are many problems associated with the football club. ‘This is lovely, really delightful, a strike threat’. By Ted using sarcasm it gets Danny worked up therefore has created a conflicting relationship. Danny who is a young footballer complains about how little money he has in the back. ‘I can hardly wait, I’m taking my two best friends to Pizza Palace and putting the other half in the bank’. This has added tension between the two characters, and has showed how they use dialogue to create conflicting relationships. Sarcasm adds a feeling of resentment and reflects an unwillingness to be open to the prospect of resolution. Williamson’s portrayal of characters, even nowadays, reflects many Australian attitudes very accurately, even though the play was written many decades ago. Some of the attitudes expressed, especially those regarding the commoditisation of sport, are even more relevant today than when the play was written, while others, such as tradition, are still equally relevant in the current Australian society. By studying ‘The Club’ it has also helped demonstrate how purposes are made by using a range of language devices such as tone and sarcasm, therefore showing how dialogue helps express its underlying theme or power and relationships. It is because of this that David Williamsons 1978 play The Club is still being performed as it gives audiences a realistic perspective into the past, present and future of sport.

Social Self And Its Manifestations Sociology Essay

Social Self And Its Manifestations Sociology Essay The self-concept involves how we think about and evaluate ourselves. In psychology self means the collection of cognitively held beliefs that a person possesses about themselves. However it is also seen that the self is an important tool with the help of which human beings make their mark in the society and manage themselves to satisfy and fulfil their needs. Traditionally the concept of self was seen as a tool which only represented the stable, genetically determined character or which later came to be called as personality. Though recently it was found that self keeps on evolving throughout the lifetime of person. With more developments in science and research it has been found that self is seen as dynamic and changeable, hierarchical, situationally and cognitively influenced and culturally constructed. In marketing field it is seen that every customer has a unique image of himself/herself. These self-images or perceptions of self have close relationship with personality, customers tend to buy those products and services whose images or personalities they can relate in a meaningful manner. The purpose of self is to gain social acceptance and play social roles, the society creates and defines roles, and the individual seeks and adopts them. For example farmer, soldier, businessman etc. are all various roles in a society pursued by individuals. Aristotle the Greek philosopher said man is by nature a social animal, an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. This is where the social self comes into picture. In social self a significant portion of self and its behaviour are socially directed and influenced. The social self and socialization comprise of an intrinsic bond w hich is inseparable when it comes to identity formation. Socialization is imminent and inevitable consequence of human existence in society, the reason why an individual receives inclusion into society is to produce social and cultural continuity. Thus it is seen socialization plays a vital role in the prevalence of a culture and without adequate forms of socialization, culture may cease to exist. An individuals life depends on other individuals, human infants are born unable to care for themselves. Their survival depends on another individuals efforts. Thus the relation with individuals is the key not only to survive but also to fulfil needs, desires, attain success and reach highest potential. Sociology and marketing are closely interrelated. Marketing involves creating the value for people, making it accessible, retaining old customers and attracting new ones. It is hard to create and spread it without understanding human relations and behaviour of consumers. Once marketers understand how consumers think, what makes them tick, why do they choose specific products and services compared to other ones then they will be able to pitch their product/service in more efficient and visible manner. This in turn will be beneficial for the company as well, as with increase in sales profit will rise and eventually more and more consumers will begin to buy products/services. So sociology and marketing do not involve focus groups or media, they involve real life observations and digging into human nature and nature of interactions. Social media and the digital technology are just enhancers of social behaviour. Human beings just keep interacting and express themselves and their opinions, in the current scenario which is powered by technology that makes it wider and allows them to reach more people. The motivations remain the same as before social media belonging and conviviality, to mention two most relevant drivers. Development of concept of self has two aspects:- The existential self this is the most basic part of self-concept, sense of being separate and distinct from others and the awareness of the constancy of self. According to psychoanalysts the existential self begins as young as two to three old and rises in part due to relation the child has with the world. For example when the child smiles and someone smiles back. The categorical self the self can be put in categories such as age, gender, size or skill. In early childhood the categories children apply to themselves are very concrete. Later, self-description also begins to include reference to internal psychological traits, comparative evaluations and to how others see them. Social Self and Self Image:- The social self is simply any idea, or system of ideas, drawn from the social life that the mind cherishes as its own. The social self involves how the society perceives the individual, and the ideal social self involves how the individual would like the society to perceive him/her. In a society individuals are unique and different from one another however their self is thoroughly socially constructed. The social self can include ethnicity, gender, age, and place of residence or any other categorization that helps characterize a persons identity. There are two types of socialization: primary and secondary. Primary socialization involves the beginning stages of accepting social ideologies like for example a childs embrace into cultural practices and norms. Secondary type of socialization manifests on primary and becomes the true test of identification and the social self. The social self exists within the parameters of subjective reality, but selfhood is a part of larger objective rea lity that is intrinsically connected with socialization. Without socialization the social self and identity would not exist. Social self is on-going process combining the I and the me. In this on-going process social self is influenced by four factors:- The I the unpredictable and unorganised self. Me the image of the social self seen through other peoples reactions. The generalized other organized set of information about the general expectations and attitudes of a social group. Significant others a person or persons who have great influence on ones behaviour and self-esteem. The social self maintains complete cohesion based on its societal influences, the generalized other and primary socialization respectively. A number of theories explain how people become socialized and develop a sense of self. The looking-glass self refers to the interactive process by which we develop an image based on how the individual imagines he/she appears to others. Other people act as a mirror, reflecting back the image we project through their reactions to our behaviour. Seeing oneself as how others perceive is only the beginning. Eventually one sees how others see us, but also takes on or pretends to take the roles of others. This act of role-taking forms the basis of the socialization process by allowing us to anticipate what others expect of us. The figure on next page (fig-1) shows the hierarchy of social self and the various components that govern social self. Fig-1 Throughout history individuals have been thought to have a single self-image and to be interested as consumers, in products and services that satisfy that single self. When consumer behaviour is taken into consideration, the idea of individual embodying a number of different selves suggests that marketers should target their products and services to consumers within the context of a particular self. Every individual has a certain image of himself or herself with certain traits, skills, habits, possessions, relationships, and ways of behaving. Individuals develop their self-images through interactions with people, initially their parents and then other individuals or groups with whom they relate over the years. It is the image people create of themselves that is the psycho-cultural basis of their strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and failures. For a nations self-image tends to be self-fulfilling. If individual thinks that he/she will be defeated, then he/she has already lost the cause. If one thinks he or she is inferior, then one will tend to lower standards and will be satisfied. Negative self-images, whether individual or collective, can cause untold social and cultural damage. Human beings have nothing to lose by creating and working for the most exalted and inspiring images of themselves, because, as scholar Dr. Perlas any social self-image is a self-fulfilling prophecy anyway. Some people may ask how one person can be a potent force for social transformation, but as the prominent leader in Indian nationalism Mahatma Gandhi once remarked if you like the world to change, you can before by being the change you want to see in the world. Today, seemingly immutable ideas about people and organizations are being directly challenged and transformed on an unprecedented scale. Indeed, as human beings are moving towards a post-modern global society they are breaking out of their parochial perspectives and are recognizing that organizations in all societies exist in a wide array of types and species and functions within a dynamic spectrum of beliefs and lifestyles. A significant leading light towards this expansive direction is the illumination provided us by the profound insights of scholar Dr. Nicanor Perlas. His radical message is that organizations are products of human interaction and imagination rather than some blind expression of an underlying natural order.   This contemporary insight is still shattering many beliefs-one of which is the longstanding conviction that bureaucracy, oligarchy, and other forms of hierarchical domination are inevitable. In direct contradiction to materialist and behaviourist doctrine, w here everything is supposed to be governed from below upward through micro determinist stimuli and physiochemical forces, the new ideational view upheld by scholar Dr. Perlas gives subjective mental phenomena a causal role in brain processing and thereby a new legitimacy in science as an autonomous explanatory construct. Future reality, in his view, is permeable, emergent, and opens to the minds causal influence. That is, reality is conditioned, reconstructed, and often profoundly created through individuals anticipatory images, values, plans, intentions, beliefs, and the like.   To a far greater extent than is normally acknowledged, he asserts that human beings create their own realities through symbolic and mental processes and, because of this consciousness evolution of the future is a human option. It is the image of which in fact determines what might be called the current behaviour of any organism or organization. The image acts as a field. The behaviour consists in gravitat ing toward the most highly valued part of the field. By deliberately changing the internal image of reality, people can change the world. This is what led Einstein to admit that imagination is more important than knowledge. All individuals hold self-images, images of their race, profession, nation, and cultural belief systems; the underlying images held by a civilization or culture has an enormous influence on its fate. Human beings also have images of their own potential as well as the potential of others. According to mind-body studies, merely an anticipatory image, for example, of a hostile encounter can raise ones blood pressure as much as the encounter itself. Similarly, numerous new studies now show that consciously constructed images can lead directly to such things as blood glucose increases, increased gastric acid secretion, blister formation, and changes in skin temperature and pupillary size. The positive image of the future is the single most important dynamic and explanatory variable for understanding cultural evolution: Any student of the rise and fall of cultures cannot fail to be impressed by the role played in this historical succession of the future. The rise and fall of images of the future precedes or accompanies the rise and fall of cultures. As long as a societys image is positive and flourishing, the flower of culture is in full bloom. Once the image begins to decay and loses its vitality, the culture does not long survive. Digital trends set to trigger changes in the social self:- 1. The inner circle: Individuals seek to mirror their social personals in the digital world. But so far, digital has forced individuals to bring together not only their social selves, but also their professional and familial ones, and present a single persona to everyone they keep in contact with online. The average Facebook user has 130 friends, from best friends to new acquaintances. Examples:  Google circles, Facebook Groups, Twitter Lists 2. Personalized news: It is seen that human beings currently create more information in a year than they ever have historically. Understandably, overwhelmed by the plethora of information online, people need ways to navigate relevant information and choose what to read. Already, RSS feeds and social networks facilitate the process through integration with news sites that allow users to generate passive status updates by posting content to the wall. Now applications that sort content based on digital friendship are emerging. The result is social reading is the new standard in online content consumption. Examples:  Percolate, News.me, Flipboard, Zite 3. Rent: Today one can get more entertainment for less. The average Netflix user spends over 11 hours per month watching movies. Digital has changed the sense of ownership and the behaviour of renting is extending into categories beyond media and car rental where human beings realize that their use for certain products is limited and therefore does not warrant a purchase like for instance infant clothes or art for home or office interiors. Examples:  Plumgear.com, Artsicle.com 4. Seamless transactions: People are always demanding that their processes become more efficient, quicker and safer, especially when it comes to their bank account. People can now carry at least one screen with them at all times. 40% of US consumers own a Smartphone, which has becomes so much more than a phone. Transactions are quickly becoming fully integrated with screens in multiple ways, from paying with their phones to executing financial transactions. Examples:  Bitcoins, Google Wallet, Monitise, Square Card, Facebook Credits 5. Home, body, web: Technology is fast reaching a tipping point where it is both sufficiently small and affordable to allow people to monitor their bodies and adapt to their environment automatically. Peoples interest in leading healthier lifestyles, and automating the process through technology and sharing results and experience, is increasing dramatically. Examples:  Nest.com, Jawbone Up 6. Ubiquitous accessibility: Market researchers and data analysts have found that data storage capabilities double every two years, so the demand for data and data accessibility is huge. With the increase in cloud computing usage, physical storage space is becoming obsolete. People access data from multiple devices, whether at home or on the go. Not long ago people stored their digital files locally, but the development of the cloud allows them to store larger amounts online. This is a storage solution that will become more prevalent as companies allow cloud access and service offerings drop in price. Examples:  Bitcasa, DropBox, Google Docs, Instapaper, iCloud, SkyDrive 7. The reliable subscription: Human beings are creatures of habit and they want availability of the products they love in their busy lifestyle. In the past decades people have become an increasingly time-starved society, limiting their availability to maintain routines. Subscription services are utilizing this opportunity to greatest extent possible.  Examples:  ManPacks, PlaneRed, Lollihop, Memberly 8. Short-term nostalgic obsessions: Nostalgia has always been embedded in culture and society. People like to analyse their recent life through check-ins and status updates and to enhance their tactile experiences by bringing digital things to life. As people become more immersed in digital objects, their desire to revisit the not-so-recent past will increase. Examples:  Little printer, Instaprint 9. Location-based discovery: Seeing the same place through someone elses perspective enriches it with new meaning. Interactive websites and mobile social apps are helping people to make creative archives on locations. Examples:  Trover, Foursquare Radar, Google Maps, Tour Wrist 10. Control over data: Data has become an intricate part of human life. People are now able to quantify all their digital actions and more services catering to specialized activities have emerged. People are becoming aware of the value of the data they share online, and may start making decisions differently. Examples:  Ford  Sync, LastFM, Goodreads, reading.am, Voy.url Manifestations of self in online social networks:- Over the past 5 years, online social networking sites (OSNs) like Facebook and MySpace have become a central, virtually unavoidable medium for social interactions. OSNs started by catering to specialized communities and niche groups but have since expanded their reach substantially, permeating virtually every stratum and demographic group in the developed world. As such, they now provide fertile, ecologically valid, and empirically tractable domains in which to examine on-going, real-world phenomena and processes in social and personality psychology. To map out the basic connections between self and OSN behaviour, two descriptive exploratory studies are observed and studied to examine how traits are expressed on Facebook, currently the most widely used OSN in the world. The personality correlates of self-reported Facebook usage and ways in which personality traits are expressed in terms of observable information found on Facebook profiles are also studied as well as the extent to which observers are sensitive to the ways in which personality is manifested on profiles. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed to describe the relationship between offline and online behaviour. The rich-get-richer hypothesis argues that individuals with pre-existing social structures and socially adaptive personalities will reap larger social benefits from Internet use and will use the Internet more for social communication than will individuals who are less socially adept. In contrast, the social-compensation hypothesis argues that individuals wh o struggle to make social connections in face-to-face interactions will use the Internet as a place to enhance their inter- personal lives by forging social relationships online. Some early research on aggressive behaviour online suggested that online personality could diverge from offline personality, but others have argued that those studies were based on forms of media in which users had no expectation for future interactions. Supporting the idea that online social processes mirror those conducted offline, recent research suggests that people largely use online tools to maintain their existing relationships, people who are liked in offline context are also liked online, and mirroring offline findings, those who use OSNs more frequently also possess greater social capital. Despite this research pointing to similar socialization processes in offline and online contexts, research focusing specifically on personality processes in online contexts is scarce. The deliberate processes by which personality traits become expressed in physical, aural, social, and virtual environments could play the same role in OSNs. Result and conclusion of the research:- In two studies, this research revealed a number of connections between personality and Facebook-related behaviour. Extraversion predicted not only self-reported frequency of Facebook usage, but also engagement in the site, with extraverts (vs. introverts) leaving observable traces of higher levels of OSN activity. Consistent with socialization in offline contexts, extraverts seek out virtual social contact and are more engaged during online social experience than are introverts. In the case of social networking sites, this engagement leaves behind a behavioural residue in the form of friend lists, picture postings, and so on. Similarly, rather than providing an opportunity for conscientious people to loosen their collar, OSNs may instead provide another haven in which low conscientious procrastinators can avoid getting down to work. Openness is also expressed as it is in the offline-world with evidence of exploring new activities, experiencing new people, and changing the photo- grap hic scenery. Thus, rather than being an escape from reality, OSN sites exist as a microcosm of peoples larger social worlds. The findings converged with other research to suggest that individuals are able to use observable profile information-be it the number of friends, photos, or another feature-to form accurate impressions of at least some basic personality traits. However, the research also showed that observers seemed to neglect some of the valid cues. These findings showing that some traits are manifested more clearly than others are consistent with the growing body of research showing that different traits are manifested in different contexts. Conclusion:- The society plays a crucial role in developing the self of an individual. Self has evolutionary as well as adaptable functions , the self can serve various psychological functions, having a self is not only knowing who you are, what you can do etc, but also how to get along in a group, observe and understand how to contribute in a group and make oneself visible and important figure. Everyone uses social comparison to understand how are they doing and how high or low do they stand in various situations. The social comparison is done to make oneself feel better by downward comparison and for improving oneself the individual has to look through upward comparison. The self-concept is formed from three major sources of information that humans obtain from others: words, feelings, and behaviours. What one thinks about oneself is often based on others comments, how one feels about oneself often comes from others emotional reactions towards individual and how an individual behaves is often in response to others reactions towards that individual. Another source of information that helps build or reduce self-concept is the set of internal standards used to judge ones performance. If these standards of ideal performance are too high, a person may feel that he or she does not measure up. Consequently, the person develops feelings that devalue a sense of worth, resulting in a low self-concept or self-image in that area. Children often learn these internal standards from watching how their parents, teachers, and peers judge their performance at school and at home. When social self is discussed, another important aspect is also considered which plays vital role in development of self, this aspect is socialization. Socialization is a sociological approach that attempts to explain how people learn cultural morals and the responses and emotions that differentiate human beings from animals that are driven merely by the drive to survive and reproduce. Socialization starts from the assumption that humans are more than animals that do whatever it takes to survive. Instead humans recognize that they are part of a group, and they observe other humans for guiding cues on how they should respond. When a baby is born it observes its mother to learn how emotions work and what the proper response to different events should be. Gradually as the child learns that it is a separate being from its mother and other humans it learns to think about its own reactions and responses and how they differ from those of other people. In this stage the child may deliberately test things out by trying a different response than the one approved by other people. Eventually, the child settles into a pattern of being able to regulate their own responses and empathize with what others want and how they respond. In this way socialization is a careful dance in which the developing human learns to balance their own independent desires and responses with those of t he people around them.

Copyright From a Computer Perspective :: Copyright Art Protection Papers

Copyright From a Computer Perspective Copyright, is one of nine Muses that inspires authors in modern society during the creative process. Copyright is a category of intellectual property, and the main idea behind intellectual property is to encourage creation, by ensuring authors with recognition of original works as their own. Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression by giving authors exclusive right to copy, distribute, and to create derivative works. Copyright and art usually go hand to hand, almost anything that we can be copyrighted can be fit into an art category. For example, songs and novel figure into the art of writing, dances can be classified under performing arts, and paintings and sculptures are art works. So, how does software fit into copyright? Or does it fit at all? Software are computer programs, and society does not think of computer programs as art, or creative. So what does the law say about copyright and software? In addition to copyright rights specified, by statutes and constitution, common-law is also a source of copyright protection. Common-law is the body of law derived from judicial decisions and opinions1. So what does common-law copyright say about software? In order to answer these questions we are going to divide software into smaller elements and discuss how each of them is protected by copyright. For the purpose of this analysis, software will be divided into software, code and algorithms. Software refers to the product itself, code refers to the computer instructions, or program the software was created from, and algorithms refer to the algorithms used in the program. The process will address issues such as where copyright comes from, what the law is, some of the most important cases dealing with these laws, as well as th e issues surrounding them and the courts' decisions. Finally from this analysis, we will be able to derive to what extent does copyright actually protects software. The states where the first to provide copyright laws, until in 1790 the first Copyright Act became law. "An author may gain sole right and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vending a map, chart, book, or books for fourteen years, ..." Wheaton V. Peters, involving two reporters of the Supreme Court, was the first landmark decision in 18342.

Fame in Cinema and Television Essay

The â€Å"star phenomenon† began in theatrical advertising of certain actors’ names in the 1820s. It was not immediately transferred to Hollywood, nor to the many other film industries developing in parallel across the glove. Hollywood studios at first, from about 1909 to 1914, ignored â€Å"stars† – actors in whose offscreen lifestyle and personalities audiences demonstrated a particular interest. This was partly because of the costs involved in â€Å"manufacturing stardom† on a scale which the studies could translate into measureable box-office revenue, and for fear of the power which stars might then wield. Stars need all kinds of resources lavished on their construction such as privileged access to screen and narrative space, to lighting, to the care of costumers, make-up workers, voice coaches, personal trainers, etc. , as well as to audience interest through previews, supply of publicity materials, etc. Skillful casting is also important, though rarely discussed in work on stars, perhaps because it is seen to detract from the star’s own intentions in a performance. Key career decisions involve a star’s choice of casting agency or the choices made by a particular film’s casting director. Once established, the star system worked lucratively for the studios. Stars were used as part of the studio’s â€Å"branding† or promise of certain kinds of narrative and production values. They were useful in â€Å"differentiating† studios’ films. Stars were literally part of the studio’s capital, like plant and equipment, and could be traded as such. James Stewart, making an interesting comparison with sports celebrities, said once â€Å"Your studio could trade you around like ball player like when I was traded once to Universal for the use of their back lot for three weeks. † Stars’ large salaries, said to be due to nebulous qualities such as â€Å"talent† or â€Å"charisma†, worked to negate the powers of acting unions, who might otherwise have been able to calculate acting labor and ask for more equal distribution of profits (Branston and Stafford 2003). And stars have always functioned as a key part of Hollywood’s relationship to broader capitalist structures. In the 1930s, for example, over-production of manufactured goods had reached crisis point in North America, and the large banks funding Hollywood sought its help in shifting goods from warehouses to consumers. In addition to this, the celebrity is part of the public sphere, essentially an actor or, to use Robert Altman’s 1992 film characterization of Hollywood denizens, a â€Å"player. † In the contemporary public sphere, divisions exist between different types of players: politicians are made to seem distinctly different from entertainment figures; businesspeople are distinguished from sports stars. And yet in the mediated representation of this panoply of players, they begin to blend together. Film stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger share the stage with politicians like George Bush; Gorbachev appears in a film by Wenders; Michael Jackson hangs out on the White House lawn with Ronald Reagan; Nelson Mandela fills an entire issue of Vogue. The celebrity is a category that identifies these slippages in identification and differentiation. Leadership, a concept that is often used to provide a definitional distance from vulgarity of celebrity status, provides the last discursive location for understanding the public individual. The argument I want to advance here is that in contemporary culture, there is a convergence in the source of power between the political leader and other forms of celebrity. Both are forms of subjectivity that are sanctioned by the culture and enter the symbolic realm of providing meaning and significance for the culture. The categorical distinction of forms of power is dissolving in favor of a unified system of celebrity status, in which the sanctioning of power is based on similar emotive and irrational, yet culturally deeply embedded, sentiments (Marshall 1997). Of course, depending on the type of media where actors and actresses appear, their power and charisma varies. In addition to this, depending on the type of media used, individual’s star quality or qualities of being a celebrity varies. On television, an individual can become a star without ceasing to be his or her anonymous self, because the medium celebrates innocuous, domestic normality. Once on the â€Å"The Tonight Show† Jack Paar maddened the studio audience by attentively quizzing one of its number and ignoring Cary Grant, who’d been planted in the adjoining seats. As well as a practical joke, this was a boast of television’s license to bestow celebrity on those it promiscuously or fortuitously favors. But the medium can just as easily rescind that celebrity. Obsolescence is built into the television star, as it is into the sets themselves: hence those mournful commercials for American Express in which the celebrities of yesteryear- the man who lent his croaky voice to Bugs Bunny or a candidate for the Vice-Presidency in 1964- laud the company’s card, which restores to them an identity and a televisibility they’d forfeited. The game show contestants experience this brief tenure of television celebrity- Warhol’s fifteen minutes- at its most accelerated. But in order to quality for it, they have to surrender themselves to the medium. Their only way of winning games is to abase themselves, feigning hysteria on â€Å"The Price is Right,† exchanging sordid confidences on â€Å"The Newlywed Game,† incompetently acting out inane charades on Bruce Forsyth’s â€Å"Generation Game. † The cruelest of the games is â€Å"The Gong Show,† where one’s span of celebrity may not even extend to fifteen seconds. More or less, untalented contestants sing, dance, juggle or fiddle until the inevitable gong sends them back to nonentity. For some, the gong supervenes immediately. They’ve been warned this will happen, and coached to disappear with dignity, but are expected to go through with their act all the same and suffer their condemnation. Even a few seconds of television fame is worth the price of one’s self-esteem. The show pretends to be a talent quest, but is a smirking parody of that. The hosts on the game shows are, for similar reasons, parodies of geniality. A host soothes his guests and smoothes obstacles out of their way. But in homage to Groucho, the comperes subject their victims to a ritual humiliation, and their patter keeps the game-players throughout flinching and ill-at-ease (Conrad 1982). Television is good but may not be ideal for preserving important works. On the other hand, a good film can be shown anywhere in the world where there is an audience. Furthermore, the cinema will turn actors and actresses into stars. There are many well-known television actors and actresses, but they have no international fame like their big-screen counterparts. Films together with film magazines contribute directly to the formation of a star system and its attendant mythology. The stars perceived themselves to be, and were in turn also used as, icons for a modern lifestyle, especially fashion (Zhang 2005). They are given greater chances to achieve or receive international awards and become known not only in a particular state but to the whole world, unlike in the case of television stars. Those famous actors who appeared on television ten years ago have now vanished due either to lot or disintegrated videotape or a lack of interest by the contemporary audience. In Africa, there was a necessity to build more cinema theaters, instead of enforcing further use of television, because it was helping them to maintain a viable film industry. In Iran, they have more than 150 cinema houses. Their industry if progressing because they have a loyal audience who make it possible to recuperate money invested in production, which in turn is invested in the making of new films (Ukadike 2002). As a whole, it can be said that fame in cinema is more lasting than fame in television. In addition to this, the stars or celebrities appearing on cinemas rather than on televisions are the ones who are more favored by producers and stockholders. Moreover, they are preferred than the television stars to be used in magazines, especially if it is an international magazine. As such, the lifestyle of actors and actresses in cinemas are greater than those who only appear in television shows. The cinema industry as well as its actors and actresses are greatly favored and nowadays, more specifically preferred by a good number of the countries. Bibliography BRANSTON, GILL and STAFFORD, ROY, The Media Student’s Book (USA: Routledge, 2003). CONRAD, PETER, Television (USA: Routledge, 1983). MARSHALL, P. DAVID, Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture (Minneapolis: Regents of the University of Minnesota, 1997). UKADIKE, NWACHUKWU FRANK, Questioning African Cinema (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002). ZHANG, ZHEN, An Amorous History of the Silver Screen (London: University of Chicago Press, 2005).

The Life of Powhatan Indian Pocahontas

The Life of Powhatan Indian Pocahontas Birth: c.1594, Virginia Region Death: March 21, 1617, Gravesend, England Names: Pocahontas was a nickname meaning playful or naughty one. Here real name was MatoakaAfter her conversion to Christianity and baptism, Pocahontas was given the name Rebecca and became Lady Rebecca when she married John Rolfe. Pocohontas and John Smith: When Pocahontas was approximately 13 years old in 1607, she met John Smith of Jamestown, Virginia. They met in her fathers village which was called Werowocomoco on the north shore of what is now the York River. A tale often associated with Smith and Pocahontas is that she saved him from death by appealing to her father. However, this cannot be proven. In fact, the incident was not recorded until Pocahontas was traveling in London many years later. However, she did help the starving inhabitants of Jamestown during the winter of 1607-1608. First Marriage: Pocahontas was married between 1609 and 1612 to a Powhatan named Kocoum. It is believed that she might have had a baby girl who later died from this marriage. However, little more is known about this relationship. The Capture of Pocahontas: In 1612, the Powhatan Indians and the English settlers were becoming more hostile with each other. Eight Englishmen had been captured. In retaliation, Captain Samuel Argall captured Pocahontas. It was during this time that Pocahontas met and married John Rolfe who is credited with planting and selling the first tobacco crop in America. Lady Rebecca Rolfe: It is not known whether Pocahontas actually fell in love with Rolfe before they married. Some conjecture that their marriage was one condition of her release from captivity. Pocahontas converted to Christianity and was baptized Rebecca. She then married Rolfe on April 5, 1614. Powhatan gave his consent and presented Rolfe with a large piece of land. This marriage brought peace between the Powhatans and English until Chief Powhatans death in 1618. Thomas Rolfe Born: Pocahontas gave birth to Thomas Rolfe on January 30, 1615. Soon after, she along with her family and her sister Matchanna and her husband traveled to London. She was well received by the English. While in England she met back up with John Smith. Illness and Death: Rolfe and Pocahontas had decided to return to America in March 1616. However, Pocahontas got sick and soon thereafter died on March 21, 1616. She was only 22 years old. There is not real evidence to the cause of her death. She died in Gravesend, England, but the site of her death was destroyed years later when the church where she was buried was being rebuilt. Her son, Thomas, remained in England even though John Rolfe did return to America after her death. Many claim to be descendants of Pocahontas through Thomas including Nancy Reagan, Edith Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson to Thomas Jefferson. References: Ciment, James. Colonial America. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.