Oil Spill Recovery Essay -- Energy Environmental Wildlife Essays

Oil Spill Recovery Can you imagine a world where clean water does not exist anymore? Can you imagine going to your kitchen and seeing black water instead of clear coming out of the faucet? Would you still go to the park if the rivers, lakes, and oceans would turn the color of oil and pollution? Would you still take your kids to see the fish and other living species if they were no longer living and floating belly up? How much would you pay to get the clean rivers, lakes, and oceans back? How much would it cost to get the living organisms living again in the rivers, lakes, and oceans? Maybe it is hard to imagine this world today because it is not as bad, water is not black, and living organisms don’t float bellies up when you walk by, but if we don’t think of the long run consequences of our polluting way of life today this horrible world won’t be so hard to imagine. Water covers about 70% of the Earth’s surface. It is the most valuable natural resource we have. For the most part all living organism require water to live, without water we would not exist. Water pollution is a very huge problem. By polluting our rivers, lakes, and oceans we are harming our planet. Organisms are dying at a very disturbing rate. Our drinking water has become greatly affected as well. There are a variety of causes of pollution they include sewage, fertilizers, wash off deposits, pathogens, petroleum, radioactive substances, heat, and other. The enormous accidental petroleum spills are an important cause of pollution especially along shore lines. Off-shore drilling operations contribute to the pollution pool. Certain statistical estimates state that for every million tons of oil transported one ton gets spilled. This paper will concentrate on oil s... ... 3rd edition, pg 373. 6.McKnight, J; Pelstring L. Patuxent River Oil Spill. Road to recovery. http://www.dnr.state.md.us/naturalresource/winter2003/oilspill.html 7.The Website of Hydrocarbons Industry. Lamor Coproration AB - Oil Spill Response and Recovery Equipment. http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/contractors/environment/lamor 8. Harju, T, High technology Finland. Managing oil spills more effectively (2003). http://www.indixon.com/enkku/rs-harvester.html http://www.hightechfinland.com/2003/energyenvironment/environment/indixon.html 9.Oil Spills at the Water Surfave. Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . 2002 http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/living/surface.html 10Preventing Oil Spills. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2004 http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/prevent.htm

Education Governance in Bangladesh Essay

This traditional thinking of education as the ticket to the good life emerges in different ways and degrees in Bangladesh. Education is seen as something that is received rather than achieved and it has increasingly become dependent on certificates. Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. The Government of Bangladesh places great importance on education and in this regard the Government has been trying to transform its huge population into human resource. Education for All (EFA) is the constitutional responsibility of the government. The constitution affirms equal rights in education for all. Since independence every government had taken several steps to increase the literacy rate in Bangladesh. But did they really work out? Our neighbor countries like India, Srilanka have made a great progress in literacy rate. But, where as the current literacy rate of Bangladesh is 63. 8 %. If all the steps were successfully implemented, then the rate would be around 80% (daily Janakantho, 24 July, 10). So, here is short description about the whole education system and the role of government in Bangladesh. Governance: Although the term governance is often used synonymously with the term government it tends rather to be used to describe the processes and systems by which a government or governor operate. The term government and governor describe the institutions and people involved. According to the World Bank†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Governance is â€Å"the traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for the common good. This includes (i) the process by which those in authority are selected, monitored and replaced, (ii) the capacity of the government to effectively manage its resources and implement sound policies, and (iii) the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic and social interactions among them. According to the UNDP†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. â€Å"Governance is the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a nation’s affairs. It is the complex mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights and obligations, and mediate their differences. † Education Governance: Education governance is concerned with how the funding, provision, ownership and regulation of education and training systems is coordinated, and at what level; local, regional, national and supranational. It is government who play the most significant role in coordinating education, the distribution of these responsibilities has been changing in response to calls for greater efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and democracy. Households, communities, and new kinds of private actors, are increasingly involved in many different aspects of education and training governance, raising questions about equity, participation and transparency. Objectives of Education Governance: To inspire and create enthusiasm among the learners in their thoughts, deeds and daily life to establish moral, humanitarian, religious, cultural and social values in personal as well as in national life. †¢ To develop awareness in the learners to protect the independence, sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh. †¢ To make education pragmatic, productive and creative with a view to bringing about changes in the socio-economic conditions of the country and making the students into a dutiful and responsibl e manpower with scientific outlook and help them develop the qualities of leadership. To give special emphasis on primary and secondary education with a view to expanding education, to instill respect and eagerness for physical labor and enable the learners acquire vocational education for self-employment in all stages of education. †¢ To promote fraternity, moral values, generosity and fellow-feeling in people and make them respectful of human rights. †¢ To promote democratic values through fostering tolerance of one another’s views and help develop life-oriented, realistic and positive attitude for blossoming democratic awareness. To ensure proper quality at every level of education; to strengthen and widen the knowledge, skills and attitude acquired in the previous stage (in accordance with various aims and objectives of education): to enable acquisition of new knowledge and skills and to encourage people to contribute in the system of education, especially in th e field of primary, secondary and vocational education. †¢ To emancipate the country from the curse of illiteracy. †¢ To create equal opportunities for education in accordance with merit and aptitude for the purpose of building a society free from disparity. To ensure gender parity in education and remove barriers of caste, creed and ethnicity in obtaining education. †¢ To ensure constitutional guarantee at all levels of education. †¢ To create awareness about protection of environment. Structure of Education sector in Bangladesh: The education system in Bangladesh is characterized by co-existence of three separate streams. The mainstream happens to be a vernacular based secular education system carried over from the colonial past. There also exists a separate religious system of education. Finally, based on use of English as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modeled after the British education system, using the same curriculum, has rapidly grown in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. However diverse the above streams may apparently look, they have certain common elements, and there exists scope for re-integration of graduates of one stream with the other at different levels. Different Streams in Education The mainstream education system in Bangladesh is structured as follows: – a. One or two year pre-primary education imparted in private schools/kindergartens, and informally in government primary schools for six months. b. Five-year compulsory primary education for the 6-10 year age group, imparted mainly in government and non-government primary schools. In metropolitan cities, however, government and non-government primary schools cater to the educational needs only of the poorer sections of the people, as the better-off families usually send their children to Private English Medium schools/ secondary schools that run primary sections as well. Very few NGOs however impart education for the full 5-year primary education cycle. c. On completion of primary education, students (11+) enroll for junior secondary education that spans over 3 years. At the end of this phase of education, some students branch out to join the vocational stream, offered at Vocational Training Institutes (VTI) and Technical Training Centers (TTC) run by the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Labor and Employment respectively, while students in the mainstream continue in government and non-government secondary schools for a 2 year secondary education in their respective areas of specialization i. . humanities, science, commerce, etc. At the end of their secondary education, the students sit for their first public examination (S. S. C. ) under the supervision of six education boards. The students of religious education and English medium streams also sit for their respective public examinations, Dakhil, and O level, conducted by the Madrasah Educ ation Board, and London/Cambridge University respectively, facilitated by the British Council in case of the latter. d. After 10 years of schooling at primary and secondary level, students (16+) who succeed in passing the Secondary School Certificate (S. S. C. ) examination have the option of joining a college for a 2 year higher secondary education in their respective areas of specialization, or enroll in technical/ poly technical institutes for technical education. After 2-year higher secondary education, one has to sit for another public examination called Higher Secondary Certificate (H. S. C. ) Examination conducted by the Education Boards to qualify for further education. Students of Religious and English Medium streams also sit for their respective public examinations, Alim, and ‘A’ level, conducted by the Madrasah Education Board and London/Cambridge University respectively to qualify for further education. e. Under-graduate education of various duration (2 to 4 years) are offered to 18+ students at a number of public and private universities / degree colleges/technical colleges/ specialized institutions. Successful completion of a degree course is a pre-requisite for appointment to a white-collar civilian job. . Post-graduate education normally of 1-2 year duration is provided at universities and selected degree colleges and institutions. Key Organizations governing the education sector in Bangladesh: Many organizations are involved in the direction of higher education in Bangladesh, and there is no single overarching authority. The President of Bangladesh is the Chancellor of most of the universities and is responsible for the appoint ment of vice-chancellors. The Prime Minister is Chancellor of a limited number of universities. To reduce the burden on the universities, the NU was established to take over and organize the affiliated colleges in all fields except agriculture, engineering and medicine. The Bangladesh Institutes of Technology (BIT) Council (CBIT) co-ordinates the activities of the four engineering colleges that enroll around 3,200 students. It has virtually the same functions as the UGC, only for the institutes of technology. The Association of Universities of Bangladesh (AUB) co-ordinates the activities of universities in both academic and administrative matters. The AUB also leases with the government and the UGC on administrative and financial affairs. Management of the education sector in Bangladesh: Pre-primary education, generally recognized as a useful stage of education to smoothen the transition from home to an institutional environment and thereby contributing to reduced drop out rates at primary level has so long remained outside the purview of official education policy of Bangladesh. Its management therefore lies at present exclusively in the hands of the schools imparting such education and some NGOs running such schools. The Education Policy 2010 did however recognize the need for pre-primary education and recommended its gradual introduction to 5+ children in primary schools with a view to universalizing one-year pre-primary education. As provision of universal compulsory primary education has been recognized by the Constitution of Bangladesh as a state responsibility, the government has assumed direct responsibility of the management of primary education in Bangladesh, particularly in the wake of enactment of Compulsory Primary Education Act in 1990. The overall responsibility of management of primary education lies with the Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED) set up as a separate Division with the status of a Ministry in 1992. While the PMED is involved in formulation of policies, the responsibility of implementation of the same rests with the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) headed by a Director General. The different tiers of administration such as Divisions, Districts and Upazilas are manned by Deputy Directors, District Primary Education Officers (DPEO) and Upazila Education Officers (UEO) respectively. UEOs are assisted by a number of AUEOs each in charge of a cluster of primary schools. At the school level, there exist School Management Committees (SMC) formed as per government directives with certain well defined functions, and Parent Teachers Associations (PTA) playing a supportive role in building favorable teaching-learning environment in schools. The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and its subordinate offices in the district and upazila are solely responsible for management and supervision of primary education. Their responsibilities include recruitment, posting, and transfer of teachers and other staff; arranging in-service training of teachers; and distribution of free text books, and supervision of schools. The responsibility of school construction, repair and supply of school furniture lies with the Facilities Department (FD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The National Curriculum and Text Book Board (NCTB) is responsible for the development of curriculum and production of textbooks. While the Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for formulation of policies, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) under the Ministry of Education is responsible for implementing the same at secondary and higher education level. The NCTB is responsible for developing curriculum, and publishing standard textbooks. Seven regions based Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) are responsible for conducting the two public examinations, S. S. C. and H. S. C. , in addition to granting recognition to non-government secondary schools. DSHE is divided into eight zones, each in charge of a Deputy Director assisted by two Inspectors, and two Assistant Inspectors. District Offices are headed by District Education Officers (DEO). There exist three different levels of supervision. BISEs are responsible for accreditation of non-government secondary schools. However, because of lack of inspection capacity, the work is delegated to Zonal Inspectors and DEOs. The Directorate of Inspection and Audit of MOE with a small manpower of 24 Inspectors are responsible for periodic qualitative and quantitative evaluation of non-government schools. Each zone has two Inspectors and two Assistant Inspectors to inspect all schools covered by the zones. At the school level, in case of non-government secondary schools, School Management Committees (SMC), and at the intermediate college level in case of non-government colleges, Governing Bodies (GB), formed as per government directives, are responsible for mobilizing resources, approving budgets, controlling expenditures; and appointing and disciplining staff. In government secondary schools there does not exist any SMC. The Head Master s solely responsible for running the school and is supervised by the Deputy Director of the respective zone. PTAs however exist essentially for ensuring a better teaching learning environment. The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) is responsible for planning, development and implementation of technical and vocational education in the country. Universities in Bangladesh are autonomous bodies administered by statutory bodies such as Syndicate, Se nate, Academic Council etc. in accordance with provisions laid down in their respective Acts. While the private universities are regulated by the University Grand Commission (UGC). Regulation/Licensing authority Under the President’s Order No. 10 of 1973, which established the UGC, the UGC has the right to visit the public universities or to have them visited by teams of experts as and when necessary for evaluating programs and assessing their needs and requirements. The establishment of a private university requires the formation of a non-profit corporation or foundation and the Private Universities Act stipulates a series of conditions for establishing a private university. Some of them are given below: †¢ A security deposit of Taka 50 million in interest-bearing government bonds. Transnational Report – Case Study: Bangladesh (October 2003) page 18 of 36 †¢ A minimum of two faculties. †¢ Permission to rent office space only for 5 years, before building their own campus. They should own land of at least five acres. †¢ Programs and courses to be offered must be approved by the UGC before students are admitted. †¢ Five percent of places must be reserved for free studentships to ‘poor but meritorious’ students. Following establishment, the UGC has the authority to periodically monitor, visit and evaluate the performance of private universities, regarding the numbers of qualified teachers, library books, facilities, approved curricula, and to recommend de-certification if institutions fail to perform according to agreed-upon standards. The National University reviews and approves the applications of all degree col leges that seek Government recognition. Applications are reviewed against minimum criteria for facilities, teaching staff, and library and laboratory facilities. Approval must be reaffirmed for all institutions each year and institutions can be de-affiliated. Guidelines of Ministry of Education: †¢ Human resource development is at the core of Bangladesh’s development efforts and access to quality education is critical to poverty reduction and economic development. The Government is committed to undertaking structural reforms that are expected to bring significant improvements in the education sector. Bangladesh’s commitment to education has been clearly stated in its Constitution and development plans with education being given the highest priority in the public sector investments. Education sector allocations are currently about 2. 3 percent of GDP and 14 percent of total government expenditure. Maintaining this commitment to the education sector is imperative in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). †¢ The management of the education system falls under two ministries – the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME, responsible for primary education and mass literacy) and the Ministry of Education (MoE, responsible for secondary, vocational and tertiary education). Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8. 0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly. †¢ Bangladesh has made significant progress, especially in regard to increasing access and gender equity, both at primary and secondary levels. Gross primary enrollment rates rose from 90 percent in the late 1990s to 98 percent in 2003, while a corresponding increase in enrollment rates at the secondary level rise to 44 percent. Gender parity in access to primary and secondary education has also been achieved. These achievements are particularly spectacular when compared to countries in the South Asia region and other countries at similar levels of per-capita income. †¢ The Government is strongly committed to alleviating the existing problems in respect of management and quality through reforms across the education system. At the primary level, MoPME is supported by a multi-donor group through the Primary Education Development Program II (PEDP II), which aims to strengthen educational access, quality and efficiency. In order to address issues at the secondary and higher levels, MoE has developed a medium-term framework for the secondary education sub-sector, focusing on quality improvements, policy measures and specific actions needed to reform the system. The development of this medium-term framework has benefited from an extensive range of consultations and workshops with stakeholders at the central, district, and upazila levels. The main objective of reforms being proposed is to address systemic governance issues aimed at raising the quality and cost-effectiveness of service delivery, and improve equity of access in secondary education. †¢ MoE is aiming to move towards a devolved system of governance within the current administrative structure. In this system the central government will be responsible for formulating policies, financing, setting quality standards, and monitoring and evaluation etc. , while lower levels of government will be responsible for administering the system. MoE is empowering officials at the district and upazila levels to take greater responsibility in monitoring school performance and ensure public disclosure of information (e. g. , SSC passing rates, teacher absenteeism, class sizes, etc. ) related to school quality. †¢ To ensure appropriate financial controls, MoE is implementing a Financial Management Reform Program (FMRP). This is intended to increase accountability and transparency in the use of resources Main laws governing education in Bangladesh: The legal basis for higher education is complicated, with some laws deriving from colonial time sand others from the Pakistan era. There may be fundamental change in the governance and administration of higher education in the near future (World Bank, 1999b). Currently, the universities have autonomy (by the parliamentary acts) to work within the UGC-given parameters, and the same is true for degree colleges under the NU. Public Universities Ordinance (1973) is the governance framework for public universities in Bangladesh.

How Information Flows and is Used in an Organization Essay

Going through the three individual courses this week in regards to Data Storage, Security, Recovery and Disposal has given me a new set of eyes on how information flows and is used among an organization’s computer infrastructure. What I found amazing about these processes is just how far we have come in these last few years when it comes to the technology of Digital Data. I will go over the individual topics that show the benefits, but also the drawbacks of such technology the way it is used at my work place, which is one of the largest Financial Institutions in the United States. Data Storage When we look back years ago when computers did not exist, it always puzzles me how is it that banks stored our information. I can only imagine the vast amounts of bank records in immense rooms that if you needed to research a certain transaction you did a few years back, even though I’m sure paperwork was kept in a certain order, it would be a hassle to get to it. Once computers came into play in the recent years and no longer you had to go to your local branch to do all your business, no longer you needed to sign a Signature Card, things have simplified immensely. You can go into any bank location and if you needed a history of your recent transactions, statements from a few months or even years’ back, it is stored in the bank’s centralized mainframe where all data is stored. Data Security When we speak about Data Security today, we seem to forget how things were done back before computers came into play. One example I like to use is Frank William Abagnale Jr., who forged a vast amount of checks. (â€Å"Frank Abagnale – Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia†, n.d.). He was able to do all  that by finding the loopholes in our financial system and used it to his advantage. When you consider today’s digital financial system with credit cards, debit cards, it is of major convenience to everyone that uses it. I can now buy an item through the Internet and the company selling it to me is able to immediately put a hold on the funds at my banking institution, creating a positive experience for both buyer (transaction was processed) and seller (funds were deposited into their account). However, also creates the risk of identify theft if not used properly. Data Recovery I think of Data Recovery something that was non-existant back in the days before computers existed. If you had mailed a check or sensitive financial information over to someone, if it was lost or stolen, there was no way to recover it had the person in possession either burned or ripped the information to pieces. In today’s world, there are so many forms of legitimate back-ups that it doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore. If a certain hard disk where my information is kept ends up failing, there is a backup of it at another disk that will still tell me how much funds I have and my transaction history. And what’s amazing is that all that happens seamlessly without my knowledge. Data Disposal Data Disposal is something that hasn’t really changed with the computer age. However, we are now disposing of the physical item that holds our information, instead of the information itself. Back when I signed my Signature Card at the bank and they kept it at that location, once they moved it over to a digital system, they disposed of that card and transferred it to a digital file in a hard disk drive. Now if they wanted to dispose of the same â€Å"signature card† they can write bits of data over where my signature card was or physically destroy the hard disk where it was stored. It does create the problem where if it’s not properly disposed, another person could retrieve my information. Conclusion In conclusion, I can say that how information is used and flows through an organization today depends how well the people in charge of the system itself are aware of the risks of not properly handling the different terms involved: Storage, Security, Recovery and Disposal. With most organizations  today using computer information systems as opposed to paper how it was used years ago the terms have largely stayed the same, however, with a different focus on how the data is now handled. References Frank Abagnale – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

Speech to Inform on Video Games Essays

Speech to Inform on Video Games Essays Speech to Inform on Video Games Essay Speech to Inform on Video Games Essay For almost a century, video games have shaped not just our country, but the whole world. An entire industry was developed and it continues to thrive, even in our rough economic times. Some people fall into the clutches of games’ $60 (or more) price tags, while others wait for titles to drop into the bargain bin. But no matter how you purchase them, video games have become much more than just ways to pass the time. They make us laugh. They make us cry. They make us want to scream in anger and punch a wall. Perhaps that is just the reason why we enjoy them so much. Today, I will be discussing the history of video games, the beneficial effect they have on us today, and the controversies that come with them. Video games have existed much longer than you would realize. The very first video game was actually invented in 1942, and it was called NIM. Although it was only a strategic math game, it was revolutionary at the time. Now, up until 1970, the video games that were being created were simple games such as a game of tic-tac-toe against the computer, or a game called Tennis for Two (an early version of Pong). However, the 1970’s was when the first arcade games and console games were being made. The hit-game Pong was released by Atari in 1972, and was later ported to home consoles. In fact, the very first console used at home was called the Magnavox Odyssey, and it was released in 1972 as well. 1997 saw the rise of second-generation consoles, three of which dominated the North American markets: Atari 2600, Intellivison, and ColecoVision. From 1978-1986, arcade games such as Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac-Man became huge hits, and were being featured everywhere: shopping malls, restaurants, convenience stores. You name it, and they probably had it there. In the 1980’s, many of the still immensely-popular game franchises were introduced, such as The Legend of Zelda, Prince of Persia, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. , Metroid, Castlevania, and Metal Gear. The NES was also introduced in 1983 and became an instant success, reviving the console market. The 90’s saw the release of many important things. Sonic the Hedgehog was released in 1991, becoming one of the most well-known video game characters to this day. The Sims began being published, and eventually became known as the best-selling PC games in history. Then the SNES was released in 1989, revealing games like Mortal Kombat and Star Fox. 1993-2006 brought games like Super Mario 64 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to the Nintendo 64, while Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII came to the Playstation. The Playstation 2 was released in the early 2000’s and became an instant success. It still sells steadily on the market to this day. The Xbox came in, and became well known, as they released their first Halo game in the series to come. Sega eventually fell out of the market with the Dreamcast, and now they stick to strictly game-making only. And Nintendo’s GameCube wasn’t doing as well as their newly-release GameBoy Advance. MMORPGs, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, came into rise around this time as well, with games like World of Warcraft. Between 2005 and 2006, many consoles were released. For the handhelds, the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP went on the market. Then the Xbox 360 was released, followed by the Playstation 3, followed by the Nintendo Wii. Microsoft is often criticized for their lack in the handheld department. Now with PC and mobile gaming on the rise, the Playstation Move and the Microsoft Kinect compete to bring gamers back to the home environment. Now in 2011, Sony announced the Playstation Vita, Nintendo already released the 3DS, and Nintendo’s mysterious WiiU is yet to be revealed. Now, video games have become much more than we ever thought they could be. 65% of American households play video games, and 40% of people who play video games are women. Nina Huntemann from Game Over stated, â€Å"You know whats really exciting about video games is you dont just interact with the game physically youre not just moving your hand on a joystick, but youre asked to interact with the game psychologically and emotionally as well. Youre not just watching the characters on screen; youre  becoming  those characters†. Studies have shown that people who play video games have better hand-eye coordination and visuo-motor skills. Visuo-motor skills are like resistance to distraction and better memorization skills. It has also been proven that frequent gamers have improved dexterity and better problem-solving skills as well. On the other hand, there are people who believe that video games can become fatally addictive and look down on them due to their depiction of graphic violence, sexual themes, advergaming (a form of advertising in games), consumption of drugs, consumption of alcohol or tobacco, propaganda, or profanity. However, the ESRB, which is the company that gives ratings to video games, was created in order to categorize such games in the appropriate age groups. There has been history of some gamers taking things little too far and acting them out in real life, but with situations like these, it wasn’t the game that caused it. Some activist groups cite crime, violence, aggressive behavior, deprivation of social development, and addiction as their reasons for being against them. These are all products of the parents’ decision of letting their child partake in these games, not the game developer’s. Sometimes people forget that video games teach lessons and inspire us, too. Like this quote said by Vanille in Final Fantasy XIII: â€Å"Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now. All in all, video games are something that has changed history and society. They’re not just the blood and gore they’re so often criticized for. They involve strategy and puzzle-solving; they require fast reflexes and the ability to adapt to different situations. They continue to evolve over the years. They’ve come so far through their history, affected us today, and even managed to bring along some controversies. But video games will always exist in some kind of form, whether we like it or not. So whether you’re 3 years old or 33, go break out the old 64 and pop in Super Mario. You just might like what you see.

Natural Language - Definition and Examples

Natural Language s A natural language is a human language, such as English or Standard Mandarin, as opposed to a  constructed language, an artificial language, a machine language, or the language of formal logic. Also called  ordinary language. The theory of universal grammar proposes that all natural languages have certain underlying rules that shape and limit the structure of the specific grammar for any given language.Natural language processing (also known as computational linguistics) is the scientific study of language from a computational perspective, with a focus on the interactions between natural (human) languages and computers. Observations The term natural language is used in opposition to the terms formal language and artificial language, but the important difference is that natural languages are not actually constructed as artificial languages and they do not actually appear as formal languages. But they are considered and studied as though they were formal languages in principle. Behind the complex and the seemingly chaotic surface of natural languages there areaccording to this way of thinkingrules and principles that determine their constitution and functions. . . .(Sà ¶ren Stenlund, Language and Philosophical Problems. Routledge, 1990)Essential Concepts- All languages are systematic. They are governed by a set of interrelated systems that include phonology, graphics (usually), morphology, syntax, lexicon, and semantics.- All natural languages are conventional and arbitrary. They obey rules, such as assigning a particular word to a particular thing or concept. But there is no reason that this particular word was originally assigned to this particular thing or concept.- All natural languages are redundant, meaning that the information in a sentence is signaled in more than one way.- All natural languages change. There are various ways a language can change and various reasons for this change.(C. M. Millward and Mary Hayes, A Biography of the English Language, 3rd ed. Wadsworth, 2011) Creativity and EfficiencyThe apparent fact that the number of utterances in  a natural language is  unbounded is one of its more widely remarked upon properties and a core tenet of modern linguistic theory. The classic argument for creativity uses the idea that one can continually add further adjuncts to sentences to establish that there can be no longest sentence and therefore no finite number of sentences (see Chomsky, 1957). . . .This conventional argument for the creativity of natural language is overly strained: who has actually heard a 500-word sentence? In contrast, anyone who studies [natural language] generation has available a far more reasonable and commonsense account of creativity, namely that one continually uses new utterances because one is continually faced with new situations . . .. The counterbalance to creativity is the efficiency of language (Barwise Perry, 1983): the fact that many utterances do reoccur countless times (e.g., Where did you go for dinner las t night?).(David D. McDonald, et al., Factors Contributing to Efficiency in Natural Language Generation.  Natural Language Generation, ed. by  Gerard Kempen. Kluwer, 1987) Natural ImprecisionNatural language is the embodiment of human cognition and human intelligence. It is very evident that natural language includes an abundance of vague and indefinite phrases and statements that correspond to imprecision in the underlying cognitive concepts. Terms such as tall, short, hot, and well are extremely difficult to translate into knowledge representation, as required for the reasoning systems under discussion. Without such precision, symbolic manipulation within the computer is bleak, to say the least. However, without the richness of meaning inherent in such phrases, human communication would be severely limited, and it is therefore incumbent on us (to attempt) to include such facility within reasoning systems . . ..(Jay Friedenberg and Gordon Silverman, Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Study of Mind. SAGE, 2006) See also CommunicationWhat Is Language?

Traditional Views of Nature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Traditional Views of Nature - Essay Example Shintoism is a religious form of nature worship that originated from Japan. The fundamental belief of Shintoism holds that the nature deities created the world and that everything, animate and inanimate objects, has a spiritual essence residing in them. The spirits within are said to be part of or created by the gods of nature. This would result in the belief that respecting the environment would mean reverence to the gods, while disrespect would mean dishonor to the deities. In philosophy, there is the idea of pantheism. Pantheism is the idea that everything is a part of the divine and that all things are extensions of the divine. This notion is shared by many ancient philosophies from Western and Eastern cultures. This relates to the fact that ancient cultures view nature as the way it is because the universe is moved by divine forces. For pantheism, everything in this world is an integral and unified extension of the divine in the

Explain how Marketing Communications can be used to change customers Essay

Explain how Marketing Communications can be used to change customers attitudes and influence customers behaviour.(Marketing communications) - Essay Example The different models and the ways are discussed below that may change the attitudes and perceptions of the consumers. The marketing models discussed below for the marketing communications allows the marketing managers to know about the attitudes of the customer and then influence different strategies to influence their buying behavior. Attractive marketing campaigns and promotions need to be done so that a huge level of customer base can be attracted towards the organisation. This model allows us to focus on the attitude level of the consumer and how they interpret and learn about the new information that is being communicated to them through the advertising messages and other marketing mediums. It is important to influence the strength and usability of a product or service to the consumers in the marketing messages so that they can show their interest towards the product or service (Fitzgerald and Arnott 2000). The McGuire’s information processing model basically focuses on five elements. They are as follows: Exposure, attention level from the customers, Comprehension, Acceptance level ability of the consumers, and the Retention level rate of the consumers (Dahlen et al 2009). The information processing model developed by McGuire allows the researcher to learn about the attitudes and changes in behavior of the consumers for the communication aspects that take place while communicating the marketing information to the consumers about any product or service. According McGuire, the changes in behavior will occur if the communication takes place in a persuasive manner. The communication can be delivered in a persuasive manner by following the steps that follows ahead (Fill 2008). Firstly, the message that is to be communicated to the consumers must be presented in a clear and unambiguous manner. Then, the message must be clearly attended by the one who has delivered it. All