Children and education Essay

?Children’s mind is considered as white sheets, so it is easy for us to write on them as we want. In fact, some experts believe that children should begin to learn foreign language at primary school. In my opinion, there are many advantages to learn a target language as a child. First of all, the most advantage is they can learn a great number of vocabularies. Take my brother an example. He began studying English when he was six years old. Therefore, he knows many thematic vocabularies. Having graduated from high school, he finds it easy to communicate with foreigners by a wide knowledge. Next, learning foreign language as child helps children to imitate rightly pronunciation of native languages. For example, my daughter in grade two learns English two days a week. She often listens to songs and stories by native’s voice. As a result, she can imitate their voice and rhythm to pronounce rightly. Last but not least, another advantage is they can remember the pattern sentences longer. They can practice some patterns by repetition method. In reality, ones are repeated so many times that they remember them deeply, and that helps them to reflect quickly in context communicate. In brief, with above-mentioned reasons, it is better for children to begin learn foreign language at primary school than at secondary school. They will achieve a wide, strong knowledge as well as their self- confident to enter a bright future. Learning a foreign language at primary school or secondary school is very necessary for children. However, some people think that it is better for children to begin learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school. There are a lot of controversial opinions about this problem. In my opinion, I agree with this statement because of the following reasons. Firstly, learning a foreign language at primary school helps children develop their skills better. Nowadays, children of all primary shcools in the nation have to study the foreign language, mainly English. At primary school, children have focused on learning vocabularies, how to pronounce†¦At this age, the children’s brain is developing so it is very easy for them to learn the foreign language. Moreover, the children of primary school have a lot of time and conditions to learn the foreign language because they have less subjects at school. The chidren should begin learning the foreign language at primary school because it will help them to develope their skills including reading and speaking skill. If the children begin learning the foreign language at secondary school, they will face a lot of difficulties in their study because they do not have the basic knowledge of foreign language. At secondary school, the children have to spent more time on different subjects, therefore they do not have more time to learn the foreign language. Secondly, to begin learning the foreign language at primary school helps the children to pronounce more exactly. The program of teaching and learning the foreign language at primary school and secondary school is different. If the children begin learning the foreign language at secondary school, they will study more skills such as writing, speaking, reading, listening, grammar and new words. Hence, it is not good for children to begin learning the foreign language at secondary school. Unlike the secondary school, the children of primary school only learn the vocabularies, the way of pronunciation and simple sentences. Learning the foreign language at primary school will create many favorable chances for children to prepare firm knowlegde and this hepls them to learn the foreign language at secondary school better. In conclusion, to begin learning the foreign language at primary school is better than secondary school. The children should begin learning the foreign language at primary school because this is an important period that hepls them build basic knowlegde of foreign language.

Tim Burton’s Movie Expertise

Tim Burtons use of deferent movie techniques made one of the best directors existing. H made many movies, all very popular by his fans. His work Is considered to be some of the best, bringing Gothic humor and dark, but innocent tones to the audience. His works with Gothic fantasy, a genre almost never used in the past, is common in his movies. Some of his most popular gothic fantasy movies are Edward Chardonnays and the Nightmare Before Christmas. Tim Burtons use with in techniques with camera shots mostly made him famous. There are many examples to this.He used a variety of long shots, close-ups, and medium shots. A movie where I find the most of these angles used was Edward Chardonnays. In a scene In Edwards dark castle home, Peg, was trying to sell make- up products. She went up the hill, with Ion-shots establishing the setting in the scene. She drove up the dark trail up the hill, passing dead trees and a quiet, but leer area. She went up to the castle door, having a close-up to see the Intensity and emotion of her fear as she went Inside. She knocked on the door, but no one responded.She entered in herself, a long shot showing her walk into the castle uninvited. Peg went up a winding stairs, a medium shot following behind her, wowing from up her waist. On the empty CD floor, a long shot showed her walk over to a bed made of straw, with photos hanging by It. A close up on her face revealed her emotions as she examined the pictures. For the audience, the scene was predicting something, building up an event. Behind her, a medium shot showed the front of Peg, with a shadow moving in the back of the room, making a snipping sound.Peg looked behind her, as the flexure walked out of the shadow. She seems horrified, a close up looking at her face. A medium shot showed the figure to be Edward Chardonnays. A close up shot showed Edwards emotions, fear. He stood stiffly in front of her, the camera tracking both of them in a medium shot. Peg walked up to him, asking wh ere his parent's are. He responded with a close-up, â€Å"He never woke up. † Tim Burtons use of lighting is very extensive along with expert camera angles. Lighting was heavily used to emphasize the Joy and happiness of shots In Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.This was the key to the most Important establishing shot, the candy meadow. As the children and Wily Wonk walked through a dark, bland hallway, the lighting was from the back of the scene, where they came from. They mound a small door, and Wily Wonk crouched down, unlocking it. Light shown through the door as he opened It, revealing a large candy meadow, with a flowing chocolate waterfall and river. The children†s and parent's faces ere surprised, a high- key lighting the shot of the meadow.The camera moved, browsing through the many plants that were made of candy. The colors and lighting were bright, showing happiness and the Joy of the scene. Wily Wonk grinned, extending his arms to emphasize the scene's wond er. He let the children and adults go, as they browsed through the bright area for the candy. Another example would be from Edward 1 OFF Scissoring, where Peg brought Edward none in near car, driving by a ass's looking neighborhood. High-key lighting emphasized the bright grass, showing peacefulness and innocence.Children played on the lawns, while Edward watched the area with a mix of fear, wonder, and Joy. They passed bright colored houses, ranging from green to bright blue. Tim Burtons use of sound is another fan favorite of the director. The orchestra music ranges from Joy to fear, to being surprised. Dietetic sound includes eerie creaks, and other techniques for creating a mood for the audience to the movie. In the Charlie and the Chocolate factory, music and dietetic sound was used to display emotion in the shot and convey the message given to the audience watching the movie.In the candy meadow, a loud orchestra playing wondrous, beautiful music played non- didactically to set mood for the shot. As the character's moved around, they could could listen and hear dietetic music, like the chocolate waterfall, or the wind rustling the edible grass and trees. In Edward Chardonnays, non-dietetic music was used in the scene where Peg finds Edward. It was slow, and curious. When they both were riving to pegs home, it change dint a fast, more Joyful sound for the audience.Tim Burtons expert use of lighting, camera angles, and sound made his movies what they are now. Starting in the sass's his quality stayed the same, if not increasing over time. Even to his new releases such as Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. His audience grows eve large, as he spreads his techniques to new forms of film. In his most recent work, he directed the music video â€Å"Bones† by the British alternative rock band The Killers. Along with this, he found a student's short animated movie, turning it into a full-length feature film, called â€Å"Nine. â€Å"

The Importance of Macbeth in Modern Society

The importance of continuing to read Macbeth in our modern society is to educate readers on valuable lessons in life. The significance of gaining power appropriately, the fact that there are consequences for every action and the importance of justice are a few of the many life lessons that are relevant in Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth. Primarily, Macbeth, the main character, is influenced by his wife and subsequently has a great desire to be King of Scotland. Macbeth is presently the Thane of Glamis, as well as an army general of the current King, Duncan. When Duncan is in Inverness, he decides to stay at the home of the Macbeths. Lady Macbeth eagerly devises a plot to murder Duncan, thus ensuring her husband's place on the throne of Scotland. Although Macbeth raises concerns about the regicide, he is eventually persuaded by his wife to follow her plan. â€Å" Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires; the eye wink at the hand; yet let that be which the eye fears, when it is done, to see †(I. iv. 50-53). Macbeth knows that he must do wrong to achieve his goal, but plans to kill anyone in the way if he must. The method in which Macbeth chooses to use to gain power is neither civilized, nor humane. This extremity is perhaps hinting to the reader that Macbeth's actions were wrong, as well as showing the extremes one may go through to get what they desire. The witches' apparitions given to Macbeth and friend, Banquo, at the beginning of the plot play a monumental role in the thoughts of both men. Macbeth is told that he will be king, though Banquo's sons will be kings as well. â€Å"As the weird woman promis’d; and, I fear, thou play’dst most foully for’t; yet it was said it should not stand in thy posterity, but that myself should be the root and father of many kings† (III.  I. 2-6). Banquo explains that he will father all kings to come, and that Macbeth will not be king for a long period of time. This apparition challenges the friendship between Macbeth and Banquo. Macbeth is not afraid to show his jealousy when saying, â€Å"Upon my head they plac’d a fruitless crown, and put a barren sceptre in my gripe, thence to be wrenc’d with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding (III. I. 61-64). † Uneasy about the prophecy, Macbeth plans to kill Banquo and his son, Fleance, so that the premonition will not occur. Macbeth hires two men to murder Banquo and Fleance, but they only accomplished to kill Banquo, and Fleance is able to escape. The actions of Macbeth had consequences, as most actions do in present day. At the time of the murder, Macbeth does not think of the cost of his deeds. His self-interest and desire for the throne of Scotland drives him to finish the act. â€Å" Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep† (II. ii. 35-36). Macbeth achieves power, but due to guilt, he cannot sleep and starts to drive himself mad. Macbeth was not the only person who was suffering from guilt. Lady Macbeth shows her agony when sleepwalking and talking to herself, â€Å"Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One; two: why, then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord-fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? † (IV. I. 34-37) Lady Macbeth frantically tries to wash her hands, but the reality is that there is nothing on them. It is evident that she is feeling guilty for her actions and because of it, she is going mad. Insanity and loss of sleep are only minute consequences, but play an immense role in the development of the characters throughout the play. Lastly, Macbeth achieves justice and what he deserved at the end of the play when Macduff beheads him. Macbeth and Macduff battle, sword for sword, but Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, because of his belief in the witches' prophesy. â€Å" Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn The power of man; for none of woman born Shall harm Macbeth† (IV. i. 86-87). This apparition informs Macbeth that he cannot be killed by any man â€Å"of woman born† (IV. i. 86-87). Macduff declares that he was â€Å"from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd† which means that he was born by Caesarean section, and was therefore not â€Å"born† of a woman. The lesson to be learned is to not become a victim of peer pressure, and not to believe everything said. In conclusion, the importance of continuing to read Shakespeare's Macbeth in our modern society is to educate readers about human behaviour on many valuable lessons in life. Whether the play teaches readers about gaining power appropriately, the fact that there are consequences for every action, or the importance of justice, it proves that they are important to learn.

America before columbus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

America before columbus - Research Paper Example The period before the arrival of Christopher Columbus is known as pre-Columbian. Pre-Columbian is a term used to refer to the culture of the â€Å"New World†, as per Columbus description of America, in the era prior to European influence. The indigenous cultures before civilization continued to develop until Europeans challenged it though many centuries after 1492 when Columbus discovered the New World (Wulffson 52). This paper seeks to explore deeply on what America was like before arrival of Columbus. A lot of literature suggests that Columbus was not the first one to discover America as it is perceived and explained by Europeans. According to Mroueh (1) Muslims from Spain and West Africa were before him by about five centuries. They started their journey in the mid-tenth century during the reign of Umayed Caliph Abdul-Rahmna III only to return later from a strange land thought to be America (Mroueh 1). In addition, there are higher chances that Amerigo Vespucci, discovered America. Both of them set out at different times in their navigation ventures. Columbus had planned to go to Asia but without knowing, he headed to the West Indies. Throughout the journey, he believed he was headed for Asia but that was not the case. According to Wulffson (98), Columbus died still thinking that he was headed for Asia while Amerigo Vespucci was so certain that he had found a new land. America is therefore named after Amerigo Vespucci as the person who discovered it. Before Columbus arrived in America, America was sparsely populated due to the nomadic nature of the natives (Mann 465). They lived in highly stratified, complicated and perfectly organized societies. In his new book titled "1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus," Charles C. Mann compiled evidence of the sophistication of pre-Columbian America (Crabtree 1). According to him, the urban revolution took place way before the Europeans settled in America. As a result, there was the growth of ver y refined cities that have existed, grown and spread all through the American continent. As a result, the people practiced agriculture and domesticated crops and animals; this was done 5,000 years prior to arrival of Columbus. Funny enough, with the domestication of plants and animals, the health of the people was on a decline instead of improving. This was attributed to growth of the population as well as government policies that favored urbanization (Crabtree 1). However, there were still big portions of land that were highly underutilized before agriculture was introduced. When it was introduced, the populations exploded as many people sort to make use of the widely unused land. Diseases outbreaks were widespread in America that made the people to consider resettling into large, less complex and disorganized communities. This did not still solve the issue. The re-emergence of industrialization and urbanization led to trade and migration. Incidences of pollution increased from ind ustrial emissions and the population was faced by a challenge of housing due to explosive population numbers. As a result, infections were on the rise as most of the people congregated and squatted in cities, hence the disease outbreak experienced in the 1400s was the highest that has ever been recorded. The death rates increased and hence, the lives of the people became unbearable. All this was a product of pre-Columbian efforts to industrialize and urbanize America. The people suffered from degenerative joint disease, trauma,

The after life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The after life - Essay Example The following paper uses scholarly articles, e-books, and authentic articles available online, to explain the concept of life after death in the religion of Islam. It will also enlighten the reader about the factors that if performed in the world can lead to happier times in the life hereafter. Many people are scared to die perhaps because they are not aware of the fact that what will happen next. However, Islam is one religion that explains thoroughly as to what awaits an individual in life hereafter. It also lays down the principles that are of benefit in this life as well as the hereafter. Therefore, it is these principles or in the nonprofessional terms the deeds that will describe the quality of life beyond this tangible world. Nevertheless, before unfurling the concept of life after death it is important be familiar with the concept of Islam and its teachings in general. Islam: As a Religion Islam is a religion based on the oneness of God named Allah and in the believe that Muh ammad is his last prophet. Muhammad was born in the Arab world which was back then lead an ignorant life. Rights were denied to females, female child was buried alive and there was law that could protect people. Thus, Prophet Muhammad was sent as a mercy to the people of Arab and the entire humanity. It is believed that the prophet received revelations from God through angel Gibereal, the revelations were conserved on different mediums in the life of the prophet and after his demise the revelation were compiled in the form of a book which was called Quran. All the verses in the Quran are as authentic as they were revealed to the prophet Muhammad, i.e. not even a single word has been changed since then. The teachings of Islam stand erect on the five pillars and the 7 articles of faith that include the following: Articles of Faith 1. Oneness of Allah (no one is worthy of worship except one God) 2. Predestination 3. In the angels of Allah 4. In the messengers of Allah (The Prophets) 5. In the day of Judgment 6. In life hereafter. Pillars of Islam 1. Witness (Islamic Creed) 2. 5 daily prayers 3. Fasting in the prescribed month 4. Alms giving (Zakat) 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj: At least once in a life time) However, the Articles of Faith can be grouped in to three broader categories: 1. Oneness of Allah 2. Prophet hood 3. The day of judgment A Muslim is required to believe in the above-mentioned categories. It is the category i.e. the Day of Judgment that sheds light upon the life after death. The evidence in the Holy book of Muslims, the Quran provides evidence in the following verse: â€Å" Did you not think that We had created you in play and that you would not be brought back to us?† (Quran, chapter number: 23, Verse number: 115). â€Å"And those who disbelieve say ‘when we have become dust we and our fathers, shall we really be brought forth again?’† (Quran chapter number 27, Verse Number: 67) The above-mentioned verses make it inc umbent upon the Muslims to believe in life after death. In addition, in the Holy Quran Allah has promised a glorious life that will be for the believers alone. Moreover, it will be a reward for those believers who spent their life in remembrance of God, fearing him, and following the teachings of his beloved prophet Muhammad who is also considered the seal of prophets (Egan 10-11). The

Articaine and Lidocaine for Maxillary Infiltration Anesthesia Article

Articaine and Lidocaine for Maxillary Infiltration Anesthesia - Article Example The results calculated by the authors do not show any statistically noteworthy differences for commencement and duration of anesthesia between the articaine and Lidocaine solutions. It is manifested that, Lidocaine has been extensively used to produce local anesthesia. The authors agree that Articaine is an amide-type local anesthetic and is in use for the past 37 years also, they agree that Articaine is equivalent to, but not superior to, prilocaine for infiltration anesthesia. The authors state that results of comparative studies with lidocaine have been contradictory, because of the variation of epinephrine in the anesthetic agent. Lidocaine with epinephrine is the drug of choice in clinical practice in Finland but for patients with cardiovascular disorders, articaine with its lower epinephrine content is usually chosen with the intention of evading the systemic side effects of epinephrine. The authors have specified the purpose of the study to get a comparative account for the commencement of anesthesia and the duration of action of the commonly used solutions of 4% articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine and 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine. The authors have selected twenty healthy volunteers (12 female, 8 male) with a mean age of 23.8 yr. The subjects were dental students with no history of allergic reaction to amide-type anesthetic agents and were not on regular medications and had intact lateral incisors. The authors got the protocol for the study, approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Turku and Turku University Central Hospital. The test solutions were- 4% articaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine (Ultracain ® DS, Hoechst AG, Frankfurt, Germany) and 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine (Xylocaine  ®-Adrenaline, Astra, S6dertalje, Sweden). Infiltration anesthesia of the upper lateral incisor was carried out twice in all subjects in such way that each subject received both test solutions.  

Impact of Global Recession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Impact of Global Recession - Essay Example This all highlights the significance of this fossil fuel. The world market of oil is such that it is highly controlled by OPEC. In fact, OPEC has been thought to behave like a cartel. It especially behaved like a cartel during the 1970s when an embargo was placed on the Western economies, which plunged their economies into deep recessions (Bouchentouf, 2007). In addition, much of the oil supply is located in highly unstable markets, therefore the market of oil is highly volatile (Behr, 2009). The United States is the third largest producer of oil after Russia and Saudi Arabia (Bouchentouf, 2007). However, it consumes the production of oil drastically to support its huge industrial based economy. The United States also imports much of the oil in the world and Japan and Germany are one of the largest importers of oil. The United States and China are currently the largest consumers of oil (Bouchentouf, 2007).Literature ReviewThe sudden decrease in the price of oil as shown in the figure above was because as the recession hit countries all around the world, demand gradually decreased. Because of the drastic decrease in demand, the OPEC to curb the decreasing prices cut down outputs. World oil demand continuously fell across the period from 2008 to 2009. In 2008, world demand had fallen by 0.2 percent, and in 2009, it had fallen by 0.4 percent. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) had predicted at the beginning of the crash, that the ensuing years would see a decrease in the demand.... It has large importance for the world economy. The demand of oil is such that it is inelastic, that means even if the price rises, people would continue to buy it. Oil is indispensable and is a raw material for various other products. However, oil has an inelastic supply as well, that means since it is a non-renewable resource, it will eventually run out. This all highlights the significance of this fossil fuel. The world market of oil is such that it is highly controlled by OPEC. In fact, OPEC has been thought to behave like a cartel. It especially behaved like a cartel during the 1970s when an embargo was placed on the Western economies, which plunged their economies into deep recessions (Bouchentouf, 2007). In addition, much of the oil supply is located in highly unstable markets, therefore the market of oil is highly volatile (Behr, 2009). The United States is the third largest producer of oil after Russia and Saudi Arabia (Bouchentouf, 2007). However, it consumes the production of oil drastically to support its huge industrial based economy. The United States also imports much of the oil in the world and Japan and Germany are one of the largest importers of oil. The United States and China are currently the largest consumers of oil (Bouchentouf, 2007). Literature Review The sudden decrease in the price of oil as shown in the figure above was because as the recession hit countries all around the world, demand gradually decreased. Because of the drastic decrease in demand, the OPEC to curb the decreasing prices cut down outputs. World oil demand continuously fell across the period from 2008 to 2009. In 2008, world demand had fallen by 0.2 percent, and in 2009, it had fallen by 0.4 percent. The

Economics Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics Issue - Essay Example Korea as well as India may take the initiative of lessening tax rates for addressing and mitigating the above stated issues by a considerable extent. Based on the journal, which mainly depicted one of the problems facing by the economies across Asia concerning about diminishing inflation rates, it can be affirmed that then above nations must remain quite vigilant in keep the inflation rates under greater control. This might aid in attracting the investors and also the other stakeholders to take necessary and appropriate measures about solving such a crucial economic issue (Wright, â€Å"Economies across Asia Face Falling Inflation Rates†). With this concern, the essay intends to address the aforesaid economic issue with determining its impact on the economies and identifying the measures to address and mitigate such a crucial economic issue. In relation to Asian countries, Japan took the initiative of lessening consumer expenditures and making substantial investments for mitigating the problem of dipping inflation rates. In recent times, Japan experienced the crucial concern of rising prices in the form of monetary as well as fiscal stimulus. In this particular scenario, the economists anticipate that the inflation will fall below at certain rates in future. Apart from Japan, the inflation rate in Indonesia can also be apparently noticed below 8 % at the end of the year 2013 and the economists expect that inflation rate will be higher in subsequent years. This might be due to the reasons of increased level of globalization, gaining momentum of internationalization and most importantly increased level of customers’ expenditures among others (Wright, â€Å"Economies across Asia Face Falling Inflation Rates†). As per the article presented in Wall Street Journal, it can be ascertained that the respective governments of Asia have mainly relied on the debts for

Deciding Right from Wrong Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Deciding Right from Wrong - Essay Example However, even after thousands of years, we are still unable to make universal principles with respect to rights and wrongs. The rights of some people are the wrongs of the other people. For example, keeping more than one wife is a sin or a wrong thing for Christians whereas Muslims find nothing wrong in it. Based on individual perceptions, many scholars and philosophers tried to segregate between the rights and wrongs with the help of some ethical theories. This paper briefly analyses the rights and wrongs with the help of some ethical theories formulated by some eminent scholars and philosophers. â€Å"The concepts of ethics fall into two main categories; notions having to do with morality, virtue, rationality, and other ideals or standards of conduct and motivation; notions pertaining to human good or well-being and the "good life" generally† (Slote, n.d, p.2). Killing of enemies in a war is perceived as a right thing even though killing of innocent people are perceived as a wrong thing. Moreover, capital punishment is accepted as a morally right thing by many countries whereas some other countries reject capital punishment, purely on moral grounds. In other words, some people believe that killing of an antisocial element is good for the rest of the people in the society and hence such killing should be made legal, considering the future wellbeing of the other people. Most of the countries give capital punishments to terrorists because of the above notion. However, some people are of the view that taking the life of another person cannot be justified under any circumstances because of the immense value associated with human life. In their opinion, we are only creations and only the creator has the authority to make any modifications on our lives. Moreover, killing of criminals will deny them the opportunity to correct themselves. Some of the Muslims have the belief that killing of enemies of their religion is a sacred act. In short, killing of people i s justified under some circumstances by some people whereas others object it under any circumstances. In other words, moral theories associated with killing of other people are widely differing in different places. â€Å"The categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant, tells us that we may not use or mistreat other people as a means either to our own happiness or to that of other people† (Slote, n.d, p.2). Moreover, Kant argued that "Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law"(Categorical Imperative, n.d). Kant believed that the moral principles were applicable universally. In his opinion, it is impossible to have a moral principle right at some places and wrong at other places. Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. As per Kantian theory, human being has a special role in the creations and hence moral principles with respect to human cannot be applied to other living things. However Kant strongly criticized the segregation of good and evil based on the personal beliefs or the religious beliefs. In his opinion,"Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end†(Categorical Imperative, n. d.) â€Å"Utilitarian consequentialists regard pleasure or the satisfaction of desire as the sole, intrinsic human good, and pain or dissatisfaction as the sole,

Religious Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Religious Discrimination Essay Religious discrimination under Title VII as defined by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) involves treating a person unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs. The law protects not only people who belong to traditional, organized religions but also others who have sincerely held religious, ethical or moral beliefs. The law forbids discrimination on the basis of religion in any and all aspects of employment. This includes hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, and benefits. Title VII also prohibits workplace segregation based on religion, such as assigning an employee to a non-customer contact position because of actual or presumed customer preference. Title VII also addresses reasonable accommodation in relation to religion. The law requires that the employer must reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the employers business. For example, if an employee needs to be off work on Sunday mornings to regularly attend church services it would be the responsibility of the employer to reasonably attempt to accommodate this need. An accommodation for this could include paying another employee to cover the Sunday morning shift, even if it requires paying overtime. Or the employer could hire an additional employee to be able to cover the shift. Since Title 7 of the United States Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 there have been several judicial decisions that have molded the way this law in interpreted and applied. The first such court case that I came across was the case of Welsh V. United States which brought into question what types of beliefs can be used to obtain conscientious objector status when being selected to go to war. In this case the prosecutor was convicted of refusing to accept induction into the armed forces; he did claim conscientious objector status but did not base this decision off religion. He did not claim to believe in a deity that would morally keep him from fighting in a war, he instead asserted his own personal moral opposition to any conflict in which people are being killed. He alleged that the sincerity of his belief should qualify him for exemption from military duty under the Universal Military Training and Service Act. The Act allowed only those people whose opposition to the war was based on religious beliefs to be declared conscientious objectors. However in a 5-3 decision the court allowed Welsh to be declared a conscientious objector even though his opposition was not based on religious convictions. The implication this case has on Human Resources Management is that HR personnel must be aware of the broad scope of beliefs that will be protected under Title 7. Whereas before this case only majorly defined religions such as Judaism and Catholicism would be protected you now see religions such as scientology seeking protection under the law. Another relevant case would be Seshadri v. Kasraian which established that an employee bringing a religious discrimination claim does not need to belong to an established church. Another case that has shaped this law and impacted human resource management was Campos v. City of Blue Springs. In April 1996 Campos was hired as a crisis counselor for the Blue Springs Police Department’s Youth Outreach Program (YOU). At the time she did not have the advanced degree as required by the written job description, but her supervisor told her that she would have until February 1997 to obtain her degree and guarantee her position. She was also guaranteed via verbal contract that she would be paid an extra $10,000 per year for support group work, she would be a team leader within three months, and she would be an assistant director within six months of starting her full-time employment. She began working in October 1996, enjoying her job until she disclosed to her supervisor that she observes tenets of Native American Spirituality, not Christianity. Campos claimed that immediately her supervisor’s behavior towards her changed; she was unfriendly and critical, excluded her from employee meetings, and told her that she may not have been a good fit for the job. After failing to show up to work due to attending a mandatory meeting to obtain her dissertation, which was required by her employer, Campos received so much scrutiny from her supervisor that she resigned. After her resignation, Campos filed suit against the City, alleging that she suffered from employment discrimination based upon her religion, sex, and national origin. The charges of sex and national origin discrimination were eliminated, and the case was submitted to the jury on the theory that Campos was constructively discharged because of her religion. On April 13, 2001, the jury awarded Campos $79,200 for back pay and compensatory damages. The district court denied the Citys Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, or in the Alternative, for a New Trial, and awarded Camposs attorneys 90,556. 20 in fees and $11,825. 41 in expenses. This case has implications on Human Resources Management today because it establishes that employment decisions cannot be made based on whether or not an employee or potential employee agrees or disagrees with the employers religious views. One relevant business that comes to mind is Chik Fil A and their openly Christian beliefs. Even though they include Christian values in the core content of their mission statement and business plan they know that they cannot make any employment decisions based on religious affiliation. In Eatman V.  United Parcel Service in 2002 the company’s policy of requiring its drivers that had unconventional hairstyles to wear hats was called into question. The plaintiff was required by the company to wear a hat while on the clock because his hairstyle of choice was dreadlocks, a hairstyle where sections of hair are hand-rolled together in tight, interwoven spirals. After putting a lot of thought into the decision, Eatman, who is black, began wearing locks in February 1995 as an outward expression of an internal commitment to his Protestant faith as well as his Nubian belief system. At this same time he also became enlightened about locked hair and its connection to African identity and heritage. The position that his supervisor at UPS took on his hair was that the company uses common sense to determine which hairstyles are not businesslike; he finds ponytails, Mohawks, green hair, carved shapes, and locked hair—short or long—unacceptable. And there were currently 19 other drivers at this particular UPS that were required to wear hats to cover their unconventional hairstyles, including others that had dreadlocks. Even though Eatman claimed that the policy was discriminatory the jury did not rule in his favor. It was ruled that Eatman’s hairstyle was dictated by a personal choice. Nowhere in his religious texts did it dictate in any way that followers of the faith must wear their hair uncovered in dreadlocks. The implications of this case are actually pro employer and pro Human Resource Manager. It shows that not every claim that an employee makes based off of religious need has to be immediately catered to. There are cases where the request can be frivolous and off topic of religion, in which case the employer does not need to go out of their way to make accommodations. Another very interesting court case that I came across was EEOC v. Union Independiete De La Autoridad De Acueductos y Alcantarillados De Puerto Rico. I found this case to be very interesting because it stipulates that employees cannot pick and choose which parts of their religion they wish to follow and which ones they do not. In this case the issue was whether or not a Seventh day Adventist’s objection to union membership was the product of a sincerely held belief. Although the religious foundation of the Seventh day Adventist faith’s opposition to union membership has long been recognized, there was evidence that this employee often acted in a manner inconsistent with his professed religious beliefs. He was divorced, took an oath before a notary upon becoming a public employee, worked five days a week (instead of the six days required by his faith), and there was some evidence that the alleged conflict between his beliefs and union membership was a moving target. This case seemed important because is forces the employee to prove that religion is vital part of their life. It keeps them from claiming that they are Christian for the sole purpose of being off on Christmas, or from claiming that they are Catholic only to be off on Easter. It not only keeps people from faking being religious but it also helps to ensure the sanctity of those who actually are as religious as they claim to be. And the final court case that I found addresses sincerely held beliefs that have not always been there but can conceivably come about. In the case of E. E. O. C. v. Ilona of Hungary, Inc. an employee sincerely believed that she should refrain from working on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur even though she had not frequently celebrated Jewish holidays in the past. Her rise in faith was brought on by recent family events such as the passing of her mother-in-law and father, the birth of her son, and her husband’s rising faith. The court decided that these were significant enough to have caused a change in lifestyle and that she did believably have a real change of faith. After reviewing all of the cases mentioned above, along with numerous others, I have found that the topic of religion isn’t nearly as â€Å"black and white† as most would assume. There are many grey areas: What constitutes religion, how do you know if someone legitimately believes in their religion, and what aspects of someone’s lifestyle are pertinent to their claimed religion are just a few examples of where courts have to make a decision that will affect the way this topic is viewed for years to come. With the world become more and more diversified every day the topic of religion and all others under title 7 will continue to be tested and pushed to their limits. It is the job of the Human Resources Management team to be on high alert of potential discrimination cases and have all employees properly trained on these matters to ensure it does not happen at their company.

Product Placement On Tv Marketing Essay

Product Placement On Tv Marketing Essay Product placement is a promotional tactic used by business to advertise there products. Business pay a fee or provide there services in exchange for there products to be displayed/featured into content such as movies and TV shows. The use of product placement has both a negative (con) and positive (pro) impact on consumers. For example, the cons regarding the issue include that product placement invade the content space, builds expectation on what product individuals should buy, removes creativity from the program and adds more editorial review, effects consumer choice and sheds false light on products. However, in the majority of cases product placement can have a beneficial effect on consumers. Product placement pays for content, provides more realism to the movie (instead of a plain label, it says coke), eliminates the need for commercials and introduces new products in an entertaining way. Ethical code of product placement is a very complicated topic. A lot of elder people consider product placement to be not ethical and unfair, because the product is not advertised directly and the audience is not notifies about the fact of advertising. The issue of Product placement could have been introduced because of the worlds evolving technology. Advances in technology (remote controls, DVDS and TiVO) have made it increasingly easier for consumers to avoid traditional advertising messages. On TiVO you can fast-forward past commercials, and the use of the remote controls has allowed viewers the ability to change the channel at the sight of a commercial. This would ultimately mean that the use of this advertising medium would be unnecessary, and promotion wise would not benefit the business. As a result, brands would have had to find an alternative way to attract consumer attention. Additionally, the issue of product placement could have also been introduced because it can be seen that what the media tells us is what is popular, and products which are being promoted by celebrities are more likely to become popular. Therefore, businesses utilize this idea and each appearance of a leading brand reaffirms a products star-status an d helps maintain its leadership image. Furthermore, some examples of the success of product placement include: There are numerous solutions to the issue of product placement on TV. If consumers find product placement discouraging to children especially when junk food is being promoted-businesses could encourage young people and their families to eat healthier foods and be more active in order to support their well-being. This strategy will earn the respect of customers, as well as benefiting the business financially. Additionally, companies should not direct advertising at children but encourage healthier dietary choices, and that while this is a step in the right direction, consumers need to manage what there children are watching. Businesses can not be accounted for what parents allow there children to watch. Another solution, because product promotion is a debatable subject, is to let consumers find it difficult to disagree or agree on whether they want to watch product promotion. Different consumers have different views on product promotion and in-order to have a favorable result on both a business and consumer level, they must communicate. A step in the right direction would be stating whether the program contains product promotion (in print). Then, Consumers can decide whether they wish to watch the program. Furthermore, Product promotion is not necessarily a big issue and most consumers enjoy the realism that the products add to the movie. The only real issue is when smoking, alcohol, drugs and unhealthy food are glamorized and made to look acceptable. This type of promotion should be banned. It may not prove favorable for the business, but once consumers recognize that the company respects there health and wellbeing, they will trust businesses and ultimately the business will benefit. Furthermore, business should only advertise what is Good. placement will be allowed in films, drama, sports and light entertainment programming, but will still be monitored, and restricted for certain types of programming, such as childrens shows, and public service television. The issue I have chosen is unhealthy food sold and directed to children. Junk food advertising is a kind of product marketing which works by bombarding children with ads for drinks and foods of dubious nutritional value, full of sugar and fat. Products may be marketed to kids through promotions (e.g. Celebrity endorsements and the use of cartoon characters), price (Cheaper prices to make them more appealing to young people), place (school canteens and vending machines and incorporating packaging which is appealing to young people. This type of marketing has a negative effect on children, as Food advertising directly influences childrens choices and increases their requests of unhealthy foods. Additionally unhealthy food sold and directed to children impacts on the quality of childrens diets and can ultimately affect their weight. Furthermore, once food advertising has influenced the choices of children, health issues such as obesity, heart attacks and cholesterol may result. However, Food advertising is a necessary revenue stream without ad revenues from food companies, TV channels couldnt afford to make kids programming. This would have a negative effect on consumers (kids would suffer). There are numerous reasons why unhealthy food sold and directed to children has become such a serious issue in todays growing society. The main reason why unhealthy food sold and directed to children has become an issue is due to Money. The snack food industry in market-driven societies such as Australia generates billions of dollars in revenue each year. The market for processed snack foods is enormous, and a number of large corporations compete rigorously to capture larger shares of the snack food industry. This type of competition would mean that there would be a greater proportion of business competing thus the amount of food being advertised would would reach peaks causing an even bigger issue. Furthermore, the different advertising medians have developed over the past years; children were only commonly exposed to promotion of unhealthy foods only through television advertising. However, now children are exposed to Promotions including premium offers, celebrity endorsements, the use of cartoon characters, health and nutrient claims, product placements Sponsoring TV programs, sporting events, fundraisers and establishing or donating money to charity. Additionally, the kids whose parents who do not monitor and encourage their kids to eat healthy foods are more susceptible to these types of advertisements, and these children grow up to like the taste of the additives, and preservatives and ultimately influence there purchases as future adult customers. Solutions to unhealthy food sold and directed to children. Children and young people are particularly susceptible to the power of brands and advertising. Selling and Advertising unhealthy food is socially damaging and has a negative influence on our well-being. If business can advocate healthy eating, and can promote protecting the well-being of children and young people then consumers can feel more reliant on trusting businesses, likewise this strategy can be seen as a marketing campaign, and a way of promoting the business. This will have favorable results both ways. The amount junk food advertising should be limited. While an advertising ban alone will not eliminate the problem of obesity its a sensible first step that has the support of health experts, including doctors, community groups and, most importantly, parents. Furthermore, if business whish to continue advertising, then instead of offering toys when purchasing a meal, they could offer a choice of yogurt, fruit cup etc. In conclusion, parents should teach kids to discern what is marketing and what isnt, Limit the hours kids spend watching TV, and encourage their kids to eat healthy foods. If kids are taught in there early stages of life then they will not purchase junk food in the first place. Education is the key. If the media has proven to migrate decisions about health to children and adolescents, then business can use this to there advantage. Business can promote contributing to some of the negative affects which impact children and adolescents. You dont really come to this realization until your own children are in school. One step at a time, wake county schools in the elementary grades has removed soda and junk food machines and offers at least one piece of fruit on their lunch menu. Only teachers lounges have those machines in some schools, not that it is much better because they should be an example to the students.

Identity and Consumer Culture

Identity and Consumer Culture In the post-modern society, consumption became a very notion in peoples day-to-day life, consumer culture occupies the central position over the historical process of later modernity in the west, no matter we are black or white, fat or slim, male or female, doctor or housewife, European or Australian, people with a wide range of identities act as consumers in daily lives are obviously. The main task of this essay is to discuss the relationship between consumer culture and individuals identity, whether the contemporary concepts of identity fit with the qualities of a consumer culture, whether the qualities of consumer culture pose particular challengers for individuals to construct their identities. This essay was divided into two main parts: in the first part, different theoretical perspectives both on identity and consumer culture will be discussed; in the second central part, the essay will analyze and demonstrate how these two themes interrelated with each other. Over the centuries, there were a series of approaches on the subject about identity and self-identity from different aspects: psychology, social psychology, anthropology, sociology and philosophy, this essay will talk about identity from sociology and psychology perspectives. As Mach (2007) argues that identity is a symbolic construction, it is an image of ourselves, which we build in a process of communication with others. Therefore, it is dynamic and contextual, improving via dialogue and through the different ways in which people exchange the meaning of the diversity of symbols that constitute their cultural atmosphere and their social relations. Such as material culture, literature, ritual and myth, they are all the cultural heritage of people involved in the interaction, many other symbolic constructions (including these) plays a part in the process of construction of images, acting as the material out of which all these images as well as borders between groups are constructed. The construction of the identity of ones self and of others involves not only building symbolic images but also power relations, (March, 2007, p.54-55) which we must take into consideration. Between social groups there is an unequal balance of power, the process of communal symbolic identification take up the character of sustaining and legitimising the existing state of affairs through creating and re-creating the identity of all the members in that social context. Changes of symbolic identification and types of identity result from changes in the balance of power. Ardener claims that the construction of image of others and their model of identity is a performance of imposition (Andener, 1989 in Mach, 2007). The acceptance of this imposed identification may result from it. A person of a group may usually accept their identity as it has been created by their partners in the structure of society, in particular, if these partners conquer a stronger position in the structure of society . (Mach, 2007) Mach continues argues that there are two factors affect identity: one is the social relations of power and another one is the symbolic image of the world. The former contains not only the inner power structure within the group but also the relations with other groups. For example, if the power structure is a particular social group is incapacitated or oppressed, then its possibility to develop activities in which its identity shaped and transformed can be impaired. The latter factor is the conceptual foundation of these activities. (Mach, 2007) From a psychological perspective, Erik (1968) claims that identity formation makes use of a process of concurrent reflection and observation, a process happens on all levels of mental functioning, by which the individual judges him/herself on the basis of what he/she perceives to be the way in which other people judge him/her in comparison to themselves, while he/she judges their way of judging him/her in accordance with how he /she perceives him/herself in comparison to them and to models that have become pertinent to him/her. This process is more often than not unconscious except where internal conditions and external circumstances combine to aggravate an elated, or painful, identity-consciousness. (Erik, 1968, p.23) Furthermore, the process is always developing and changing, increasing differentiation and it becomes more comprehensive as the individual produces aware of a broadening circle of others significant to him/her. Finally, discussing with identity, we can not separate mut ual change and personal growth, nor can we detach the identity crisis in persons life and present crisis in historical development, because these two combine to define each other and are relative to each other. (Erik, 1968) Those are two theoretical perspectives on identity, next, let us move on to look at the concept of consumer culture. Everyday when we wake up we began to consume, using toothpaste and facial cleanser to wash, having some bread and a bottle of milk for breakfast, then we go to work produce goods, services or experiences for others to consume. Then we taking a break from work only to consume a delicious sandwich in the restaurant, after work we go to some clubs or pubs, if we still have some energy, go shopping or enjoying an incomparable concert, or even bought a CD and listening through computer. Therefore, our daily life is typically organized as alternating between times/space of work and times/spaces of consumption.(Sassatelli, R, 2007, p.3) So consumption has played a pivotal role in our daily life. In the modern world, central social practice and cultural values, identities, aspirations and ideas are defined and oriented relative to consumption rather than other social aspects, such as religious cosmology or military role. (Slater, 1997) As for Slater (1997), consumer culture is the main mode of cultural production developed over the course of modernity in the west. It stands for a social arrangement in which the relation between social resources and lived culture, between meaningful ways of life and the material and symbolic resources on which they rely, is arbitrated through markets. Consumer culture establish a system in which consumption is controlled by the consumption of commodities, and in which cultural reproduction is mainly understood to be performed through the practice of liberated personal choice in the private sphere of everyday life. Slater (1997) outlined some main features and characters in consumer culture: first, consumer culture is a culture of consumption. When considering this need to regard the main values of a society to be organized through consumption practice as well as in some sense to derive from them. Therefore, we might describe contemporary society as a pecuniary culture based on money, as materialistic, as commodified or as a society of choice and consumer sovereignty. Moreover, values from the sphere of consumption spill over into other areas of social action, such that modern society is totally a consumer culture, and not just in its specially consuming activities. Second, consumer culture is the culture of market society. We usually consume goods, services and experiences which have been produced exclusively with the purpose of being sold on the market to consumers. To a certain extent, essential to our consumption is the action of choosing among a series of alternative commodities produced b y organizations and institutions which are not interested in cultural values and need but in economic values and profit. The consumers access to consumption is organized by the distribution of material and cultural sources-money and taste- which itself is determined by market relations wage relation and social class. Third, in principle, consumer culture is universal and impersonal. Although we know that access to commodities is limited by access to money, commodity consumption is treated in principle as the activity of whole population. The idea of selling products is not designed to the needs of a unique and known person or community, however, which might be sold to anyone anywhere, presumes generalizable and impersonal relations of exchange as the foundation for mediating consumption. Fourth, consumer culture identifies freedom with private choice and life. Consumer choice is a private action, it is merely the ordinary version of the broader notion of private, individual freedom . However, the individual privacy choice seems to contradict social order, authority and solidarity. In many aspects, this is the main critics in consumer culture. Fifth, in principle, consumer needs are insatiable and unlimited. In consumer culture, the continuous desire for more and the continuous production of more desires is taken to be normal for its citizens as well as crucial for socio-economic progress and order. The increased is widely understood as both a spur and a response to individuals desires to become increasingly imaginative, sophisticated and personal, as well as individuals desire to advance themselves economically and socially. Sixth, within a post-traditional society, consumer culture is privileged medium for negotiating identity and status- the communication and practice of social position-under these conditions, tradition regulation is replaced by construction and negotiation, and consumer goods are important to the way in which we construct our social appeara nce, networks and our structures of our social value. However, Consumer culture is a contradiction in terms of culture because it characterizes the destruction of a stable traditional social order by capitalist and industrial relations that degrade real culture, challenge the social values that are essential for social solidarity and render peoples social identities fluid and unstable. Through consumer culture, through the use of goods, services and experiences that we formulate ourselves as social identities and present these identities. Goods can indicate social identity, but in the post-traditional society, comparing to others identity seems to be more a function of consumption. The images we constructed on the external of our bodies, our living location -appearance- become a central way of understanding and identifying ourselves and each other. (Slater, 1997) In terms of appearance, Giddens argues that bodily appearance and demeanour become especially important with the advent of modernity and modes of facial adornment or dress to some degrees mean individualization. (Giddens, A, 1991) On the one hand, our personal impression manifest our identity, so we consume certain goods to make ourselves look better and feel better which could be considered as a sign we construct our self-identity. For example, women consume cosmetics and beautiful dress to make them look good; some people use weight loss products to make them look slim; others may go to health clubs to built muscles or practice yoga to make them healthy. We choose these goods over others precisely because they are not neutral, because they are culturally incompatible and even in opposition to those perspectives on the organization of society and identity which we want to refute. In this sense consumption is the very arena in which culture is fought over and licked into shape. (Sassatelli, 2007, p.98) This means that consumption reflects fundamental choices of which type of society we want to live in and which type of person we wish to be, and what we do not agree to take and what we do not want to be. (Sassa telli, 2007) It is a process of internal self-examination and self-communication. In this process, people judge themselves, classify themselves and make themselves to choose, because consumers have sovereignty over their own needs, desires, wants, identities. (Slater, 1997, p.34) On the other, goods are good to think: they can be treated as symbolic means of classifying the world, as the tools of a particular form of non-verbal communication. (Douglas, M, 1996) Our world and society are classifies by goods into different class, lower class, middle class and upper class, people within different class have different social identity, according to Slater (1997), in principle consumers needs are insatiable and unlimited and whose desires grow much faster than their fortunes, (Ewen, 1999) So people in different class with different social identity and status want to rank among a advanced class to pursue higher identity in the manner of high value consumption. For instance, some may choose to go further for education and get masters degree or doctors degree; or others may choose to consume a famous brand to flatter their self-esteem, such as Chanel, Gucci, Christian Dior, Swarovski, Lancà ´me and so forth, therefore, some factories may copy those fashionable and po pular luxuries from upper class to fulfill those individuals desire and satisfaction on proving their social identities and status. A growing market in cheap luxury items allowed others to purchase the symbolic accoutrements of status. (Ewen, 1999, p. 59) We could negotiate, define, improve or observe our identities through goods, through consumption, through consumer culture; we also could be defined, guided and identified by those goods, institutions or communities vice versa, they are important in our daily life for constructing, reconstructing and maintaining our identity. Consumer culture offers wide range of guidance on the relation between the expanding sphere of meaningful consumer goods, experiences and services and the scheme of maintaining a self. This comes in the form of consumer magazines and the consumerist editorial columns in more general magazines as well as in the form of advertising. (Slater, 1997) For example, a teenage magazine named sugar considered as style bible for the teenage girl readers, because it provides a wide range of guides and instructions in the operations of femininity. To some degree, the developments in the teenage magazine industry during the 1990s can be seen as an intensification of the proce ss of logic of consumption. Increasingly promotional and editorial features have tied the making of adolescent feminine selves to the deployment and acquisition of appropriate goods and products and celebrated shopping and consumption as specifically feminine pleasures. Marketing publishers and directors were particularly active in constructing the figure of different consumers identity to meet the logic of consumer capitalism, and creating a natural fit between the demands and desires of those consumers with the solutions provided by the magazine product. Magazines are presented as dominant to the successful management of their readers who will have developed a strong sense of their own identity. (Bell Hollows, 2005, p. 173-177) Also, advertisement is another guidance guide us orientate ourselves for constructing self-identity. Slater (1997, p.86) claimed that in a commercial world, advertising provides maps of modernity, authoritative, discourses through and about objects which a llow us to orient ourselves to the social meanings of things. For example, appealing to insecurities and dissatisfaction around the job, certain advertisements not only offered their goods as a sort of job insurance, but also suggested that through the usage of their products one might become a business success-the capitalist concept of individual self- fulfillment. (Ewen, 1976, p. 46-47) However, under some circumstances, some advertisement or promotional images may not genuine or if the individual read them amiss, they may be lead very wide astray, because a promotional message is a complex of significations which at once represents, advocates, and anticipates the circulating entity or entities to which it refers. (Wernick,1991) People with different identities or people want to prove their distinct identities depend on choosing, we have no choice but to choose (Giddens, A, 1991, p.81), choosing according to ones taste is a issue of identifying goods that are objectively adjust to ones position. (Bourdieu, P, 1984) However, consumer culture increases the individuals experiences of anxiety and risk by offering more choice images and choices of different identities and by raising the sense of social risk let in for making the wrong choice, This kind of risk may cause identity crisis to some extent with the process of modernity. The description of modernity as mass identity crisis link up with consumer culture in several ways: first, the symbol of individual choice controls our sense of the social. Social structure and action are progressively understood in terms of individual choices take on in relation to the needs of/for self. Through the image of consumption modern identity is best understood. In the plural ized social world we choose a self-identity from the shop-window; objects, experiences and actions are all reflexively confronted as part of the need to maintain and construct self-identity. Second, identity itself can be seen as a commodity which can be sale. Self is not an internal sense of authenticity but rather a predictable condition of social success and survival. We have to create and sell an identity to a variety of social markets with the purpose of having intimate relationships, jobs and social standing. Third, both material and symbolic resources through which we create and maintain identities increasingly take the form of consumer goods and actions through which we create appearance and arrange social encounters and leisure time. Conversely, in post-traditional anomie, the quest for identity is debatably the greatest market of all, or the motivation underlies all markets, at least, marketing take for granted that we want goods primarily for the desirable and meaningful identities with which they might endow us. At the same time consumerism exploits mass identity crisis by offering its goods as solutions to the problems of identity, and in the procedure strengthens it by proffering ever more plural values and methods of being. Consumer culture breeds and lives in the cultural deficits of modernity. (Slater, D, 1997) As a conclusion, this essay goes overview the Mach and Eriks perspective on identity and Slaters concept about consumer culture and analyzes the relationship between those two themes: through consumer culture individuals could construct self-identity and present these identities when consuming, because goods can indicate social identity, in another word, people could construct identity in the back ground of consumer culture, this is a process we depend on our self and active. Also, we were received and guided through media consumption vice versa, this point was demonstrated by magazines and advertisement in consumer culture, and within this process compared to the previous one individuals are not so active to construct identity to some extent, they were guided by media information. Last, people making choice when consuming, when we make the wrong choice will lead to identity crisis, consumer culture increases the individuals experiences of anxiety and risk by offering more choice ima ges and choices of different identities and by raising the sense of social risk let in for making the wrong choice, This kind of risk may cause identity crisis to some extent with the process of modernity. Therefore, for the previous two points identity is fit with the contemporary notions of consumer culture, and for the last one, consumer culture poses the challenge for constructing an identity.

Community Policing in Extremely Depressed Areas Essay -- Policing Hot

To residents of the suburbs, all economically distressed districts of the city may seem dangerous and threatening, however, to residents of these poor districts, it is just home. The local residents know the truly crime-ridden areas of each district. This essay will refer to these crime-ridden areas within poor communities as "hot spots" or "skid-row". Skid-row is generally an area of the economically distressed community that is plagued with vagrants, criminals, drug abusers and other individuals thought to be of exile from normal society (Bittner, 1967). This is an area where law abiding, poor citizens do not wish to venture (Bittner, 1967). Due to this stigma, skid-row is an area that is patrolled by police, who generally take on the role of a peacekeeper. Their role of peacekeeper is driven by their ability to apply a great deal of discretion in their law enforcement duties, as well as their need to contain the criminal activities specifically found in the skid-row are as. The police are given a great deal of discretion in performing their duties. They make decisions on a daily basis, whether to arrest an individual on more minor offenses, or to give an individual a warning and promise to â€Å"keep an eye† on the person or area in the future (Bittner, 1967). When the officers make such decisions to not effect an arrest for a violation, they are essentially taking on the role of peacekeeper. The officer is trying to influence the actions of individuals, such as those in skid-row areas, to not commit further crimes (Bittner, 1967). The discretion not to arrest for certain crimes is likewise an attempt to contain the criminal activities to a specific area, as to not affect others (Bittner, 1967). Bittner (1967... ...aining crimes to certain areas, has proven effective (Eck and Spellman, 1986). References Bittner, Egon. (1967). The police on skid-row: A study of peace keeping. American Sociological Review, 32 (5): 699-715. Brown, Michael K. (1981). Nonenforcement: Minor violations and disturbances. In Working the Street Chapter 7 (pp. 182-220). New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Eck, John E. and Spelman, William (1987). Who ya gonna call? The police as problem busters. In Crime & Delinquency, 33: 31-52. Fyfe, James J. (1993). Good policing. In Brian Forst (ed.), The Socioeconomics of Crime and Justice Chapter 12 (pp. 269-289). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Nowicki, Dennis E. (1998). Mixed messages. In Geoffrey P. Alpert and Alex Piquero (eds.), Community Policing: Contemporary Readings. (pp. 265-274). Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

The Killing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern :: essays research papers

The Killing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Hamlet's own Philosophic view. In terms of Hamlet's own philosophic view, the killing of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is very out-of-character. Hamlet is an intellectual, and therefore believes that killing is not a necessary solution (this could also relate to why he hesitates so long at killing Claudius). He does this more out of anger and revenge than out of his own will and good judgement. As somewhat of a justification he says, "Ere I could make a prologue to my brains, They had begun the play-", proving that, given time to think about his actions, he probably would not have done it. Hamlet's goal of Revenge As far as his goals of revenge go; yes this was an act of personal vengeance for Hamlet, but it did nothing to aid in his ordered revenge of his father's death. Although somewhat justifiable, as the two were conspiring with the king against him, their deaths were not very practical. It is, in fact, completely plausible that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had no idea of the contents of the letters they carried, thus nullifying the whole point of the revenge put upon them, and putting the deaths of two innocents on Hamlet's head. If they did know what the letters contained, however, it was one of Hamlet's high points in the play. He actually accomplishes something instead of analyzing it to death, displaying the kind of action he should have taken towards killing Claudius. In Terms of Today's Moral Standards Crimes of passion are the most common crimes that result in death and Hamlets actions displayed just that. He was anger driven, and blind to reason, reacting emotionally, without thinking too much about the end results or circumstances of his deed.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living – Book Review

Notes on Author: Dale Breckenridge Carnegie (November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. About the Book: The book is a compilation of Dale Carnegie and his students’ experiences in facing the problems and how they have come out of the depression by conquering worry. He tells us how and why to not worry about criticism, six ways to prevent fatigue and worry from keeping your energy levels. He also includes few experiences of some inspiring personalities. In this book Carnegie discusses how to analyze your worries and how to solve problems without worry. He discusses the negative effects of worry to your health and your success. He teaches how to break the worry habit, seven ways to cultivate a mental attitude that can bring you peace and happiness and a â€Å"perfect way† to conquer worry. This book is very readable and well organized. It is written so that even a school-going kid could easily understand it. This book has suggestions at the end of each chapter summarizing the material and telling the reader how to apply it. It gives simple ideas which can make a difference in our lives. It has good, positive and powerful ideas which help us to overcome the difficulties and face the problems boldly. What I learnt from the book: †¢ If you want to avoid worry live in â€Å"day tight compartments†. When our mind is occupied with work, we won’t have time to worry. It applies not only to worry, but to all kinds of negative thoughts as well. We will greatly decrease their influence if we are busy doing something constructive. †¢ We should know how to analyze and solve worry problems. We can do that by finding and collecting all the facts, analyzing those facts, making a decision, and act on it. †¢ Count your blessings, not your troubles. If we want to be happy, we should focus on all the things that work well in our life and forget the other things that don’t. †¢ One of the best ways to increase your productivity is to take rest regularly. Take rest before you feel tired. Doing this simple thing will energize yourself throughout the day and enable you to accomplish more. †¢ One of the best teachers is your own experience. You can learn from it by taking notes of the fool things you have done and criticize yourself. If you constantly do this, you will constantly improve yourself. †¢ We should not worry about what other people say about whether or not we have done our best. Once we have done our best, we can be happy no matter what people say. †¢ Often we aren’t happy because we try to change things we can’t change. We should learn to identify those things and accept them.

Traffic and National Crime Records

Traffic is terrific  on roads Be it a weekend or a weekday, traffic is terrible on roads in India. The number of vehicles on Indian roads is simply alarming and in populous cities like Mumbai, Calcutta and Delhi, there is no space for pedestrians on the roads. In Delhi, it is just not the number of moving vehicles that create traffic on roads; a huge number of stationary vehicles parked along the roads are also responsible for traffic congestion.Since cars and motorbikes are parked on roads, the amount of space for moving vehicles is reduced significantly, resulting in more traffic jams and a delay in commute. According to a report published by the National Crime Records Bureau, the frequency of traffic collision is the highest in India, as compared to the rest of the world. Every year, more than 135,000 deaths occur in India due to traffic collisions.The traffic in India has increased over the years because people, especially the middle class and upper class people, are not keen o n taking public transport. Slowly, this mindset is changing with the latest development of metro rail transport system in big cities in India. However, since safety and connectivity are major issues pertaining to public transport, people continue to use private vehicles for travel purposes. And this constitutes heavily to traffic congestion.In India, the entire population uses the same roads unlike certain countries where cyclists and slow moving vehicles use separate lanes. In India, we can see motorbikes, cars, trucks, autos, rickshaws, bicycles, and even animal carts travelling on the same road. Since the speeds of these vehicles are different, traffic congestion is more likely to occur. In addition, people do not follow traffic signals, and at times, traffic signals don’t work, forcing drivers and bikers to make and follow their own rules.The booming population, an increase in the number of vehicles over the years, lack of civic sense and the lack of proper traffic rules have resulted in chaotic roads and traffic congestion on Indian roads. Every individual thinks he is the king of the road, travelling at his own will and on his own rules, putting other road users at risk. Traffic concerns are not just limited to drivers on roads. Even pedestrians find it difficult to navigate in traffic and cross the roads. It is time that the traffic police put on their thinking caps and helped the citizens of India travel decently on roads.

Cloud Based Gaming

Cloud Based Gaming [pic] By Gautam Gogoi 10BM60028 Vinod Gupta School of Management Abstract Imagine how great it would be if you could play a high end game like Far Cry 2 or Crysis on your netbook or your mobile. This is what cloud based video game providers like Onlive or Otoy promise. The entire processing of the games will be done in the cloud or servers maintained by the provider while the game will run in your browser and you will be sending the responses through the web. In this paper the effects of these changes on the Video Game industry and Gaming as a whole will be studied.The feasibility, limitations, challenges of this idea and the various players presently working on this new technology and their present progress in this regards will also be looked at. Initially it is planned as a paid service. But the possibility of all the costs to be covered by advertisement and nominal subscription costs as per economies of scale will also be analyzed. Video games and the Video Game Industry The definition of video game as per wikipedia is as follows- â€Å"A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.The electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms; examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld devices. † Below is shown the block diagram of a video game. The input device and the processor constitute the platform. Various examples of platforms are Computers, Play Station, X-Box, Nintendo Wii, mobile phones etc. The input devices are normally joypads or keyboards. A game software is a piece of software which is run by the processor to generate the required environment ith specific goals which the user has to achieve. It also defines the rules about what should happen in case of particular responses from the user. It has to be bought separately and plugged into the platform for the user to play the game. The display device may or may not be a part of the platform. Usually in case of computers and handheld device, it is a part of the platform, while for devices like Play Station and X Box, it is not a part of the platform. [pic] Any video game involves the interaction with the platform through an Input device.The input is then passed on to the processor, which processes the inputs to generate appropriate outcomes using a game software. These outcomes are then displayed on the display. According to the outcomes displayed on the display, the user again takes necessary steps which are again transmitted to the processor through the input device. This cycle takes place continuously and the user interacts with the platform to control a person or a team on real time basis to propel it towards its goal, which can vary from killing an opponent to winning a game.This process keeps on going till the final outcome of the game is reached (all levels cle ared) or if the user reaches the termination stage (game over). Video games have existed since 1950s in various forms. But it is in the last 10-15 years, that it has grown exponentially. This growth can be attributed to the growing computing powers of the PCs and various other devices. It started initially as a thing for the kids. But today it is meant for adults as well, with adults and teenagers comprising of a huge chunk. In fact, as per a report by Entertainment Software Association, the average age of gamers in America is 35.This can be partly associated with the increased maturity and complexity of games and also with the fact that, people who used to play games earlier have grown up but still continue to play games. Microsoft Flight simulator, is a very good example of a very complex and realistic game with even real pilots using it as a simulator to test their skills. Age of Empires is another wonderful game with large business connotations. Here you can build an entire empi re and conquer all other empires to become the ruler of the entire land. With games such as this, it s no surprise that video games are no longer things that are just for the kids. Another very wrong conception is the fact that video game is a small industry. The video game industry is infact a behemoth which earned a revenue of $41. 9 Billion in 2007. It has already surpassed the music and the movie industry and is closing on to the book and the DVD industry. But the game makers have specially been impacted by piracy. According to a survey by the Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association (CESA), the PSP and the DS lost approximately $41. 7 billion in sales from 2004 to 2009.Rampant piracy in places like India and China has specially impacted the PC Game makers. So bad is piracy that companies have stopped making games for places like China, because no one will buy them there. Also the sales from console based versions normally exceed PC based versions inspite of the large user b ase of the PCs. An example is that of Unreal Tournament 3 PC version selling 34,000 while the Playstation 3 version selling 86,633 in its first month. The major players include Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft with the platforms and game makers like Electronic Arts, Eidos, Konami etc.Among the platforms, Sony Playstation is the most popular one. Some simple games have already come out in a cloud based approach. Facebook games are a prime example of this. But this paper does not deal with these types of games. Rather this paper deals with more complex games like crysis, call of duty etc which require much higher processing power. But games like those present in facebook, provide interesting clues to the direction in which cloud based gaming (I will refer to this word in this paper to mean high end games hosted and running from the cloud and not the facebook games) will lead.Keeping this in mind lets look at some of the key characteristics of the Facebook games. Facebook games are immense ly popular among people specially the more aged ones. More than 200 million play games on facebook in a month and the top ten games have more than 12 million active users each. A very crucial reason for this is that these games are free. Also it is a fairly new phenomenon and as such the novelty concept is another reason for a large number of users. The revenue for these games comes from analytics about the users playing the games and from advertisement. Also the nature of games is very different.The game mainly focuses on cumulative effort. You will get more rewards if more of your friends play the game, or if you make friends while playing those games who will help you during the game. The most important learnings from these facebook are the user base and the revenue model which provides these games free of cost. The large user base and the popularity of these games across people of all ages is an evidence of the potential of cloud based gaming. As we progress through this paper, the revenue model of cloud based gaming will also be studied keeping the revenue model of facebook games in mind.Cloud Based Gaming an introduction In cloud based gaming, the processor and the program are present in the cloud (internet). The input is sent to the processor through the internet. Also the processor sends the visual signals to the display device through the internet. As shown in the figure the red arrows represent links using the internet. The game usually runs on an internet browser on the side of the user. [pic] The service provider will be maintaining the parts inside the cloud and will charge a monthly rate from the users who will avail this service.This rate can be a lump sum amount for a certain period of time or it can be on the basis of number of hours used. As the game runs on the cloud, it will result in optimal utilization of processing powers as a result of balancing of troughs and crests of various users. Let’s take an example of a game to see how th is works. Suppose you are playing Fifa, a football simulation game. The game will be installed and running on the servers of the provider. The game will be displayed on your system through your internet browser. You will use your keyboard to give inputs to the game.Suppose you want to shoot the football. You will press the appropriate button on your keyboard, which will then be sent to the servers of the provider through internet. The processing about the shot will take place on the server using the game software. The outcome of your shot will then be transmitted to your system and the display through the internet. This process will then be repeated as you keep playing the game. Impact of Cloud Based Gaming- Cloud based gaming will have an immense impact on the gaming industry as a whole and will also impact the computer hardware industry.The various impacts are mentioned below 1. Platform independent gaming – This will be one of the biggest impacts of cloud based gaming. As games will now be hosted on the clouds, platforms will become redundant. The entire processing will then be shifted to the clouds. All you will need is a device which can access the internet, display the game and send inputs to the cloud. As such it will result in the end of consoles (in the long run). We will be able to enjoy the same games on netbooks, mobiles, tablet PCs, etc. This will also result in reduction of demand of high end PCs for gaming.This is because, the moment the processing is shifted to the cloud, same resource will be shared by many users, thereby optimizing the use of processing power. 2. Game players will increase exponentially- Platform independence will result in a larger number of users or gamers. This is subject to the rate charged for the same, but considering the optimal use of resources and the economies of scale, the prices will definitely be lesser than what it costs now. This will also depend on the acceptance of the idea by the general public which will be discussed later. 3.Crackdown on piracy- As the games will be installed on the servers, piracy will be stopped. Whoever wants to play games has to take a subscription. The game makers will get their share of revenue from the providers. This will have an uplifting effect on the industry. As more people pay for games, the cost per user will go down. This will in turn induce more people to join in. This positive feedback loop can finally lead to much more affordable gaming. 4. Nature of games to change from single player based to multi player based- As all games will be played online, the ocus will be more on developing multi player based games. This is already taking place, but with time even more emphasis will be paid to multi player modes specially those involving much larger number of players than those playing today. 5. Massive scope of advertisement as a result of high number of users- With large number of users comes the scope of advertisement. This can be another crucial factor in reducing the price which will again lead to more users. It is an added advantage that people of most age groups play games. As such, the scope of advertisement increases further.Challenges and Hurdles – Although the benefits are numerous and the effects far reaching, there are many challenges and hurdles which have to be cleared for the benefits are to be realized. Lets look at the main hurdles towards this 1. Latency Issues- The time lag between the pressing of a button and the corresponding action will be a major deciding factor regarding how well this service is accepted by the gamers. Normally there is a lag of about 60-70 ms when we run games on our systems. But reaching to these levels at HD resolution and 60 fps (frame per seconds) is a huge technological challenge.Infact many people have commented that reaching to these levels of latency will not be possible. But Onlive tests have shown a latency of about 140 ms at 30 fps. Although this might not be accepta ble to hard core gamers, but casual gamers will be more than satisfied with this. 2. Video Compression- Cloud based gaming will require transmission of HD videos at real time basis. For this to be possible without any delay, some form of video compression must be used. 3. Resource sharing of the server- This is another crucial factor. Ideally one server should be dedicated for each user, but it is not possible practically.Using one server for many less demanding games will be problematic as all games assume that they own the server’s resources exclusively. Also many servers used in processing of single game will lead to problems of transmission of data among the GPU’s as lot of data is generated in the running of games. When achieved, proper utilizing of server resources will enable the providers to further reduce the subscription cost by reducing idle server time. 4. Convincing users to migrate to this platform- A big challenge will be to convince users to move to thi s new platform.Hard core gamers will be the hardest to convince because of things like latency issues. Also as most gamers already have a system at this moment, they will not migrate unless their systems have become outdated. So the migration will take place slowly as computers and consoles start becoming outdated. Many of the benefits will not be realized unless economies of scale are achieved and therefore this is a very crucial thing for the success of this idea. 5. High speed and dependable internet connection- This is a absolute necessity if cloud based gaming is to be experienced.Onlive, which is a provider of cloud based gaming specifies 3 Mbps connection as the minimum required and 5Mbps as the recomended to use this service. Apart from speed, dependability is another important factor. The speed has to be uniform. Otherwise, the game will get stuck in between resulting in inability to play the game. Although this might seem a problem now, with time and advancement, this will soon cease to be a problem. 6. Handling a large number of users- At present Onlive is providing cloud based gaming but the user base is very small. It is to be seen how they can manage to cope with vastly more users as time progresses.But this problem should be solved with time. Current Players Now let us look at the current players who have been working with this technology. Here we will study the current state they are in, how they have overcome the hurdles and their revenue model Onlive- It is the first company to come out with a model of cloud based gaming. Founded by Steve Perlman, a renowned entrepreneur and inventor in the field of video games, it has started its services from July 2010. The executive team also includes other renown figures like Mike McGarvey, a former CEO of Eidos Interactive and Tom Paquin, key developer of Netscape and a founder of mozilla org.At present the monthly rental is 15$ and apart from that you also have to buy games separately. It has also come out with many popular games like Unreal Tournament, Prince of Persia, NBA etc. The reviews about the service have been mixed. Latency for the games have been found to be between 150-210 ms. Video quality also has been variable due to the video compression used. But framerate and graphics were on an average found to be good. The video compression has been managed by a proprietary compression system. Here the screen is divided into 16 parts and each part gets its own encoder.Another thing they have done is the ability to retain and reuse most of the earlier video information. This is possible also across the various frames also. So if an object is moving from one frame to another, the same video data is used again to create the effect. The data centers are 5 in number with onlive going for a concentrated system rather than a spread out system. David Perry of Gaikai has criticized this by saying that distance is a critical thing in online cloud based services like this. Time will tell if this concentrated approach will indeed lead to lags or delays in the service.The pricing structure of Onlive has been a serious put off. Games infact cost as much as much as DVDs. Add to that the monthly subscription cost. So even if you own a game, you will not be able to play it if your subscription gets over. But as this is just the beginning, costs are expected to be reduced with time and as more users start using this service. But in terms of technology, onlive is right up there. It has proven the technological feasibility of the idea and only time will tell us about the financial feasibility of the same. They are portraying themselves as a replacement of consoles.They are even planning to come out with mini consoles that use the onlive service to deliver gaming service to televisions etc. But the present technology has a long way to go before it can compete with the consoles. The present system cannot compete with consoles for performance and as such most gamers will not mi grate very soon. A critical thing for onlive will be increasing its user base. If it can manage to do so, it can provide games at much lower rates. It can also look for advertisements to further reduce the user costs. But till then, it has to slog it out against the existing consoles.Gaikai- Founded by David Perry, one of the best known Video Game Industry veterans, Gaikai is another player in the cloud gaming sphere, but it has a slightly different model than onlive. Having received funds from TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Benchmark Capital it is also backed by Intel and Limelight Networks. Game companies like Electronic Arts and InstantAction have already signed up to use its service. The executive team also includes Michael Bowen, who was previously Director of Technical Operations at Facebook as well as VP of Operations at Sony Online Entertainment.They are expected to come out with a Beta in December 2010. Although based on the same idea, the business model of Ga ikai is quite different from that of Onlive. Gaikai is positioning itself as a service which allows users to test or try out new software. Suppose you are reading about a new game and you want to check out how it feels to play or use it. This is where Gaikai comes in. It will enable you to test run the software or game without the need of any download or installation. If you like it you can then proceed to buy that game. Gaikai will get its revenue from the software manufacturer who will pay for each purchase.So Gaikai is not competing directly with console makers and rather it is cooperating with them. Although this idea is not as radical as Onlive’s, it is still a very effective idea with numerous applications. The possibility of testing a software can influence many more users to buy this software. Also this can act like a launchpad for full fledged cloud gaming service. Gaikai also differs in the way it will distribute its data centers. While Onlive and Otoy are planning few large data centers, Gaikai is planning about 300 smaller centers across the US.They say that this way they can reduce the distance between the user and the data center. As such the performance of the service will be better. Otoy- Founded by Jules Urbach, Otoy was the first to promise cloud based gaming. But it has only come to prominence recently after finalizing deals with AMD, Intel and Nvidia. Infact AMD has been making a special graphics supercomputer which will be used by Otoy. The minnows among the three companies pursuing this technology, it plans to launch its services in summer next year. Its business model is not clear, but is expected to be in line with Otoy’s one.Also it is planning to provide HD services of games, movies and applications through its services. The way ahead With Onlive already coming out with its services and the others expected to come out very soon, the market is expected to heat up and attract a lot of users. But the main question is that w ill sufficient users be attracted to this service. The hardest thing will be to convince the users to migrate to this new platform. The most obvious outcome will be that initially these services will coexist along with the presently existing consoles and platforms.The hard core gamers will not easily migrate to this new platform and will be the last to migrate. Initially casual gamers will start using these services who do not own a very powerful system. But a lot will depend on the rate or price that will be charged. Till the prices are high, the number of users will not increase and most of the benefits will not be achieved. So according to me this service will continue to be an elite service for some years with people slowly adapting to this new service. But with the growth and advancement of technology, the prices will go down. The quality of the service will also increase substantially.This will further encourage more people to join into this service. A lot depends on the patie nce of the firms and how long they are able to wait to reach profitable levels, because this technology will be accepted slowly. The three players presently in this field might not reap the full benefits of this, but this is surely a winning idea and someone will surely reap full benefits of this in the years to come. The tipping point will be reached when the user base will be large and diverse enough to support advertisement. Advertisement will further reduce the costs and as such encourage even more people to join in. nly at such low levels of prices will people from India and China be encouraged to join into this service. India and China are the key to this service because these are the two places with most of the people and maximum piracy. When people from these two countries will start joining this service, the number of users will start rising exponentially. Piracy will be reduced and game makers will start receiving more revenues, specially from people who were earlier using pirated versions of the same games. The actual benefits of cloud based gaming will then be realized. But there is a catch to this.Many people play games because they are free, specially in India and China. If games become available only through the cloud, piracy will be stopped. As such many people might stop playing games. Therefore it is very important that the prices reach to a sufficiently low level to coerce such persons to try them out. I firmly believe that the things mentioned here have a very high probability of happening. The biggest reason which makes me believe this is the rate at which technology is advancing. With the growth in processing powers of computers and growth in internet bandwidths cloud based gaming is actually very near.Another reason is the win win situation for all the players. With growing piracy it is natural that game makers will start taking measures to prevent it. Cloud based gaming is a very natural way to fight piracy. If the users do not have acc ess to the games, how will they make illegal copies of them. Conclusion Cloud computing has revolutionized the computing world. Google, Amazon, Microsoft are heavily investing in it because it is the thing for the future. Already application like Google Docs and many corporate softwares are running from the cloud.So it is natural that games also go to the clouds. Running application from the cloud enables better use of idle system time, thereby optimizing the use of computing powers. Also it is much more easier to upgrade the software or hardware as the updation has to be done only on the server and not all individual machines of the users. In cloud based gaming, the processing will take place in a server and it will communicate with the users system through the internet. Benefits will include reduced piracy, increased user base, platform independent gaming and scope for advertisement.Hurdles include latency issues, resource sharing model at server level, video compression technique s etc. The present players in this field include Onlive, Gaikai and Otoy. As a gamer, the scope and potential of cloud based gaming really excites me. Imagine how great it would be if we could play our favorite games right from our mobiles and compete with players using various platforms like consoles or PC. The whole dynamics of games will change and they will cease to be a single player based games. The important thing will be collaboration between the various players.Games will start involving a huge number of players at a same time like it happens in Massive multiplayer online role-playing game. We will no longer be bothered by upgrading of computers and inability to play games because our systems do not support them. All you have to do is to open your browser, and all the processing will be done in the clouds. References- 1. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Video_game 2. http://www. theesa. com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2009. pdf 3. http://www. grabstats. com/statcategorymain. asp? StatC atID=13 4. http://vgsales. wikia. com/wiki/Video_game_industry 5. http://www. canada. om/topics/technology/games/story. html? id=ae936f84-8def-457d-b07a-40099252278d 6. http://gamer. blorge. com/2010/06/07/video-game-piracy-costs-industry-41-billion/ 7. http://techcrunch. com/2010/09/21/200-million-people-are-playing-facebook-games/ 8. http://www. onlive. com/support/performance 9. http://www. gamasutra. com/view/news/30537/Opinion_Give_Cloud_Gaming_A_Chance. php 10. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/OnLive 11. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Steve_Perlman ———————– Display Processor Game Software Input Device User Display Processor Program Input Device User