Active Perception Essay Example for Free

Active Perception Essay The Wikipedia article on perception defined passive perception theory which states that perception is a phenomenon that results from a sequence of events. First, the sensory information is taken in which the senses process and interpret. After processing the information, a response to the information is generated. The best way to illustrate this theory is by observing how an old computer works. Data are fed on to the computer which it processes and interprets after which, a response to the data is produced. However, recent studies show that perception does not occur in such a simple, linear manner. Rather, the information, the input or senses, and the description or interpretation of the information interact with one another and form a dynamic relationship. The Wikepedia article on perception refers to this occurrence as active perception. In addition, Freeman (78) claimed in his article that perception is a physiological phenomenon which is more complex than it appears. Previous studies reported that the cerebral cortex is responsible for the analysis of the sensory information. However, recent studies revealed that the brain does more than merely analyzing sensory information by extracting its features. The process of perception involves the past experience of an individual which he or she relates to the sensory message. This stimulus (sensory information) and its particular meaning to an individual are expected to be identified based on his or her previous experiences. Millions of neurons are simultaneously at work during perception which Freeman referred to as the brain of chaos. The brain of chaos is complex behavior of neurons that appears to be random but possesses some hidden order in actuality. Various neurons abruptly and simultaneously shift â€Å"from one complex activity pattern to another in response to the smallest of inputs† (Freeman 78). Freeman (78) speculated that the brain of chaos makes perception possible. This could explain why some people instantly recognize the distinct smell dental clinics and dislike it due to their terrible experience in a dental clinic in the past. In the same way, the underlying theory on active perception could explain why people can recognize a famous actor, the aroma of their favorite food, and a close friend’s voice at once (Freeman 78). All activities in one’s life require perception. It is one of the bases of behavior, beliefs, values, attitudes, and preferences. Perception is also important in decision-making and responding to external events. When shopping, for instance, the items that the buyer purchased (and those that he or she rejected) are a reflection of his or her perception on the items’ price, quality, function, and overall attractiveness. Hence, understanding perception works is very important. By understanding the underlying processes involved in perception, how the behavior, beliefs, values, attitudes, and preferences of an individual are formed would be determined. The cognitive and affective processes involved in decision-making and responding to external events would also be understood by conducting research on perception. Knowing the reason why people behave or think in a certain way would greatly contribute to understanding others. Certainly, when people understand one another, personal relationships would improve, while the activities that directly involve people such as a psychological therapy or a marketing approach would be more effectively implemented. In conclusion, perception is a complex process which is not limited to a passive process of obtaining sensory information. Rather, it is a process that involves past experience and a dynamic relationship between the information, the input or senses, and the description of the information. It was also discovered that perception is a complex brain activity in contrast to previous findings which state that perception occurs at the cerebral cortex. By understanding the process and concept of perception, people would be able to learn how behavior, beliefs, attitudes, preferences, decision-making, and response to external events are formed. Works Cited Freeman, Walter. â€Å"The Physiology of Perception. † Scientific American, 264 (1991): 78-85. â€Å"Perception. † 20 November 2007. Wikepedia. 20 November 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Perception.

P2P File Sharing And Its Influence Essay Example for Free

P2P File Sharing And Its Influence Essay With the advancement of technology we have moved into the digital word, into the days when property transactions are physically tangible. Now property more specifically intellectual property sharing ha s become common and is done easily over the internet using. P2P file sharing software easily available over the internet. In corporate network where this is done by making use of file servers, but on the internet it is done through the peer-to-peer model where files are stored and shared over the personal computers of the person. Most people engaging in such activities both provide and download such files from the internet. In the P2P network uploading the file is not necessary you can easily share the file with a person. P2P allows clients to share files online throughout some unofficial network that can be provided by both the users using the same download software. File sharing gives you access to a wide variety of information. Copyrighted material, pornography or viruses are all just a click away. (Ardenghi, Jorge and Javier Echaiz) On a daily basis numerous users share files with each other online. Be it music, games, software’s, videos etc. Software that can connect people to each other is usually freely available. Although these software are freely available over the internet they come with great risk, for example when sharing files with users, the user can use the same program to access information which you do not mean to share with people over the network. You can also download copyrighted material that could put you into legal problems. Or you may unsuspectingly download pornography when it is named something else. Also sometimes closing the window may not actually close the program and this could actually put you into a greater security risk. These â€Å"always on† connections are an invitation for users and sometimes hackers and preachers to access your private information and use it to their advantage (Sebastian Rupley, pp. 1). Importance of P2P: P2P networking has generated load of interest over the internet in a very short span of time. Daily thousands of people become part of this network. P2pP software systems like Kazaa and Napster are the most highly ranked and most commonly available P2P programs. Several businesses and websites have been promoting â€Å"peer-to-peer† technology to be the future of the Internet’s world of networking Having existed for many years now, P2P technologies promise to radicalize the word of networking. Although P2P file sharing software has created a lot of controversy over the legality issues as well as its fair use (Erik, pp. 1). P2P sharing has become the single most famous internet application over the past 10-15 year. Although people see it as P2P file sharing rather than P2P networking. To access the world of P2P networking a user just has to install a suitable P2P client application. Several P2P software and P2P networks applications subsist. Some P2P functions work only with a single P2P system, while others functions cross-network. Similarly, some P2P networks sustain only one request, while others sustain numerous requests. The importance of P2P can be seen from the fact that daily a lot of people are entering into the world of P2P sharing. P2P allows for quicker file sharing between users and it has become the household name for computer users all around the globe (Erik, pp. 1). Every passing day the importance of P2P is increasing at a rapid speed. Important files are shared over a P2P network. This save a lot of time that is wasted in attempt to first uploading the file over the internet and then allowing for the user to download the files from the link. When the user’s computer acts as an online server there is no need to upload the material over the internet first for the other user to download it. Now the user himself can download or share the data directly from the other user’s computer. This has solved a lot of issues like shortage of space. Plus most P2P software allow for continuation of download in case the software collapses or if the link is broken for some reason. The file does not have to be downloaded over and over again. (Duchechene, Anne and Patrick Waelbroeck, 565-570) Meaning to the Average American: Today to the average American the use of P2P sharing for downloading songs, videos, software, game etc has become part of their household. Research has shown that 60% of the young Americans downloading things of the internet are over the age of 12 and are mostly in their teenage. The young American teenager has been affected the most the P2P sharing around the world as clearly shown by the stats (Scholastic, 10). It means a great deal to the average American for the simple fact that the average American is able to save a lot on the downloading of free music from over the internet, even though there is enough awareness over the internet as this being illegal. But still as long as you don’t get trapped who minds if it’s illegal. The average American downloads at least 20 files at an average on a daily basis using their P2P software. In America the most commonly used software is Napster which is accessible free over the internet. A typical American is involved more in downloading illegal stuff instead of making use of this advancement of technology constructively. This sharing method is being used somewhat constructively in business environments where important data is being shared without having to be uploaded. Also this method saves a lot of space on the computer and also saves a lot of valuable bandwidth and time from being wasted. In case of the average American this is just a way of downloading free music, software, games etc. The average American who makes use of the P2P network mostly belongs to the teenage. These individuals spend most of their time downloading free music which is mostly illegal as it is copyright material and people sharing such music should be punished. But most of the times these individuals who are sharing these files are not from the US but in fact belong to some country where piracy is not that big a crime or is not punishable. These people easily share pirated material over the sharing software and the average American is more than happy to make use of the material as it does not cost them money (Scholastic, 75). Mostly the average American is aware of the intellectual property rights and he also knows that it is an act which is punishable by the US law but still they do not refrain from illegal file sharing as it is cheap and it is hard to detect, and what is hard to detect is hard to punish. Most of the average Americans are also aware that this is theft of intellectual property rights and it is same as stealing from someone. As when the music is transferred using file transfer or P2P software, the singer or the real owner of the music does not get any loyalty for it. Also the average American uses it to download pornography. This is something that the average user of the P2P in America watches. These are young individuals who are still in their teenage (well at least over 60% of them are). These individuals firstly use the internet without supervision which gives them the authority to do whatever they like over the internet and with the advancement of the P2P software they do not have to search much, they just have to make use of their P2P software, search for the required item and there it is, ready for them to download and watch. The P2P software that is being used mostly does not have a restriction clause in them or do not warn viewer about the age limit before they download the files for viewing. The advance broadband internet technology also make it easy and quicker for these young P2P file users to download pornography and watch it, with the new software they can even stream it while it downloads. Influence of P2P on American Pop culture (music, movies, TV shows etc) The birth of pop took place in the downtown sanctions of New York City at the end of the disco era. The new age music caught the attention of those MCs, who were capable of lyrically painting tapestries of anecdotes that were witty and stylized autobiographies. A pop prodigy was accompanied by a DJ who was able to produce a unique sound to go along with the lyrical flow. The beginning of Pop began when the Music composers introduced a DJ and tried to keep the attention of the crowd when introducing the next DJ. Before long this became a common practice where an MC was performing with a particular DJ, one example is Will The Fresh Prince Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff. In 1979, a huge fan following for pop had developed along with entry of new comers, which secured the hold of pop on the music industry. In 1990 gangsta rap a sub-category of pop was developed. A lot of argument was made on the lyrics used as encouraging brutality, promiscuity and the utilization of drugs. The culture of pop is a challenging culture to some extent. It is a way to express the fight in opposition to the ethnic unfairness against the white Americans. So this makes it a way of expression for the African Americans and obviously a defending act for the way to communicate for their racial differences. A P2P computer system utilizes assorted connectivity of users and accumulative bandwidth rather than sharing resources provided by low number of servers. The important thing in understanding a P2P network is that all customers offer equivalent resources. Computer users with the same type of P2P application can remotely access each others hard drives and can share files Such a network is useful in many purposes, mostly known for file sharing containing audio, video or any kind of data available in digital format. One of the oldest and commonly known P2P file sharing software is Kaaza. Its file trading music tool was the number one search engine of 2003 as music and multimedia continues to dominate Americas online mindshare as reported this week by tech news world. Nowadays, it’s clear that Kaaza and other such software’s are most popular mainstream culture for file sharing. The problem with this is that music and all the other industries are worried that why would anyone actually pay for an album or a movie when anyone and everyone can get it online for free. Sharing of movies, music albums and TV shows is becoming very common among amateurs. One influence this has on American culture is that some books or movies which are for specific age are now available to children of all ages as keeping a tap over their downloading activities has become impossible. Now a thirteen year old kid can easily get any rated movie by just giving the wrong information about his age. The culture is tied together by the links. Culture from all around the world have borrowed and also contributed to the jargon of pop and also changed the meaning of some words to fit their own use. Some consider the language of pop to be rude, sexist, violent, focusing on the darker aspects of the society, and also considered as being nothing more than a bunch of babble. But being able to climb the tower of babble; making use of the process of abstraction, will help us understand as to why the language of pop has become so forceful in today’s society. Abstraction is the process whereby we reach a point where we ignore a great amount of stimuli and focus on a limited few; classifying it according to the characteristics and the reality of our experiences through a unique filter system which is influenced by our cultural and personal experiences. Possible P2P copyright violation and security problem: Numerous studies have shown that sharing of file has had an unconstructive blow on record sales. As already discussed Sharing of movies, music albums and TV shows is becoming very common among amateurs. Such distribution hardly brings any income to the producer. One biggest possible copyright violation problem brought in my P2P networks in another such network known as Anonymous P2P network in which users are anonymous by default. This P2P network is specially becoming famous due to many reasons including data retention and lawsuits against bloggers. Such networks may also hold appeal to user who wishes to share copyrighted files like music movies etc. Users who normally use anonymous P2P networks usually require secrecy as to the contents they put on sharing which may my include material which is not only illegal but also incriminating. One of the first P2P system, Napster was shut down in 2001 by some major entertainment firms on the basis that as these file sharing system made it possible to not only share files but also to make illegal copies of copyrighted material while others are still running. According to survey conducted by MPAA, the movie industry lost around 6. 1 billion which is 75% higher than they predicted. In the US alone the movie studio’s lost 1. 3 billion in 2005. Unauthorized services that allow data as free download to other users such as songs, music and movies is blamed for falling sales. Security problems that arise by P2P networks can cause companies to lose millions worth of source code due to disguising files using P2P technologies. P2P covering tools, such as Wrapstar (a freeware service which can cover a . zip file with corporation resource code, as an MP3 of a song hit) as a result an accessory outside the company can use Morpheus to download the disguised file. To the companies security this looks like a common transaction, even if the company has frowned upon employees using P2P in music sharing without a clue that their company has just been robbed, and possibly millions worth of software has been lost. Another security risk involving P2P networking allows your network to be open to various forms of attack, break-in, and espionage. P2P does not carry new virus to the system, just common threats such as virus attacks and worms. One major risk of P2P network is unconsciously allocating files that are confidential. (Banerjee, Anirban, Faloutsos, Michalis, and Laxmi Bhuyan, 1273-1275) Laws kept up with changing technology: Private property is mainly known as the original way to present ideas, may it be the symbols and words. All this is represented as products or services of an individual. Music is also included in such a property. Copyright defines the rules for ones owned property. May it be novels or poems, films or musical works? These all are includes on literary and artistic works. Artist work can include the photography, paintings, illustrations, sculptures or drawings or any kind of architectural designs. Copyrights are compulsory on any kind of trademarks or patents. P2P is the mainly notorious action on the internet these days. The industry now is using latest strategies; including advising ISP’s (internet service providers) to slash off the accounts of customers who are common sharers of files. Gaspary, Luciano Paschoal, 4797) According to the FCC, the federal law is desecrated if vulgar programming is aired at any time. The contents are ought to be obscene, when it succeeds throughout 3 divided checks. Concerning modern principles to a usual individual, it has to be created, as an entire, attractive to the prurient attention; portray or illustrate, i n a deliberately unpleasant technique, sexual behavior particularly classified by appropriate regulation; and deficiency of severe legendary, imaginative, supporting, or methodical importance. The FCC has described transmit offensiveness as language or material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory organs or activities. (M. Fattah, Hassan, pg 44). It does not, however, augment to the echelon of vulgarity. Conclusion: When it comes to downloading software, it is easily done through P2P software. Using the P2P software the average American also downloads software for free, software for which in normal circumstances they have to pay a fee. This too is an illegal activity but something that has not been looked in to as deeply as the issue of the download of illegal music using the P2P software. This is mainly because the download of music over the internet is something that is measurable and not a lot of average American users are interested in downloading software from the internet. Although all good things come with some disadvantages, p2p sharing is one of them. It is very easy to just search up files and download the. But it is an illegal act. Because many files are copyrighted, and since there rights are preserved, it is ethically wrong to go against them. American pop culture is affected in such a way that, many people take the disadvantage of it, but breaking the official rights of the music. Pop music is now a culture in many countries. This culture is effecting the youth in such a way that they are now more in to bad deeds, rather than right ones. â€Å"Intellectual property illustrates nicely that property is a legal right rather than a physical thing. Intellectual property applies to allow owners to exclude others from intangible resources like certain secrets that businesses have, the copying of various creative expressions, and the reproducing of inventions and marks that identify the producers of goods and services. Property is a legal right to exclude, not a physical thing, and the object of a property copyright includes the reproduction of music for commercial profit. The market resource is diminished for the copyright owner when file sharers misappropriate music

European Presence In Africa History Essay

European Presence In Africa History Essay Although there had been a British and greater European presence in Africa prior to the last two decades of the 19th century it was primarily coastal and revolved around the slave trade. With the abolition of the slave trade within the British Empire in 1803 and a complete abolition of slavery across the empire in 1834 there was little interest in Africa by Britain until the end of the century. This lack of interest in Africa did not include The Cape Colony though, which the British gained at the end of the Napoleonic Wars and which served a key role in outfitting ships on the British trade route to India. The role and importance of Africa to the British soon changed though do to imperial competition with France and Germany. Germany under the aggressive policies of Bismarck set out to take a leading role in Africa and catch up to other European powers such as Britain and France in terms of empire by gaining new control over territory and expanding their spheres of influence. Other important factors made Africa the hot spot for British and European expansion including the discovery of gold in the Transvaal and diamonds in the Orange Free State, the palm oil industry in Nigeria, scientific discoveries such as the way to treat malaria, and the mapping and exploration of the previously mysterious African interior early in the 19th century. In order to explore the nature of British expansion in Africa Porters The Lions Share and T.O. Lloyds The British Empire 1558-1995 are indispensable texts. Using their information on British expansion throughout Africa as a foundation it becomes possible to break down the period of greatest growth between 1880 and 1900 by analyzing British role in Africa prior to 1880, the external roles that competitors such as Germany and France had in forcing Englands imperial hand coupled with the internal economic drives for procuring areas of Africa, and the special case and significance of the Cape Colony and British Afrikaner relations. Britains early presence in Africa was exclusive to Sierra Leone, Gambia, The Gold Coast and The Cape Colony. They gained control of these areas in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. It is not until the 1860s that Britain and other European powers began to assert themselves in terms of gaining African territory making treaties. The scramble for Africa really has its beginnings in the late 1860s but does not began to fully take off until the 1880s when Britain, Germany, France, and to a smaller degree Italy begin to stake their claims. Britains previous African expansion had been very different then it would be in Africa during the scramble. The early British territories were either in primarily un-inhabited coastal regions or they had been gained from other European powers that had previously established sound control of territory such as with France in regard to The Cape Colony. Britains attitude toward African expansion doesnt really change in the last two decades of the 19th century from its long held overall view of keeping Africa on a shoestring. Its actions change radically though because of newly discovered economic opportunities and a need to respond to the actions other European powers. Although economic influence and foreign pressure created a reason for British expansion in the last two decades it is key to look at the small ways the British built a foundation for expansion starting in the 1850s and 1860s. For example David Livingstons exploration in Africa and the resulting publicity in the Victorian media opened Englands eyes in regards to Africa. He was most effective in creating interest by awakening Victorian morality concerning the still active slave trade occurring in east Africa. David Livingston had caught the public attention with his accounts of his explorations and his reminder that a slave trade on the east coast was still taking a gre at many slaves across the Indian Ocean to the Arab world. When he said that he was going back to Africa to make an open road for commerce and for Christianity he meant that unless a natural alternative was provided the slave trade was bound to go on (Lloyd, p. 182). Livingston was an icon to remind the British of Africa but his role alone did not fully set the foundation for later British growth in Africa. African expansion hadnt particularly been considered by because it wasnt viable do to high mortality rates caused by malaria and other tropical diseases and the lack of geographic knowledge of the African hinterland. These piece of the foundation started to come together though in the 1850s and 1860s to combined with Livingstons publicizing of Africa to build the base that would support the rapid expansion the would develop in the 1880s and 1890s. Advances inland were becoming a little more practicable because of advances in technology; People had known for centuries that quinine was a useful drug for tropical diseases, but it was really not until an expedition up the river Niger in 1854 succeeded in keeping its death rate very low by laying down that everybody must take a regular dose of quinine that the drugs value comprehensive value for preventative purposes was accepted. (Lloyd, p. 182) Careless behavior in exploring or expanding in Africa was not a sound choice even as of Livingstons death denoting the lack of interest Porter believes present prior to and through the much scramble for Africa in terms of the British governments desire for expansion in Africa. All the same Livingstons publicity and the work of other explorers and the use of quinine certainly contribute to the availability for British expansion in Africa by the 1880s. As the 1880s arrived and the stage was being set for African expansion. This is when a big impact from Social Darwinism played a huge role in Europes imperial ways. Social Darwinism of this period is generally understood as the idea that the strong have the moral right to rule over the weak. This concept is influential in the motivation to expand into Africa. The scramble for Africa primarily starts as French and German policies of expansion become apparent. It is important to make note though that the British government as of 1880 was lead by the anti-expansionist sentiments of Gladstone who came into office trying to deal with the imperial entanglements that the previous conservative government failed to clean up. The need to resolve conflicts in Africa began in Egypt in regards primarily to the Suez Canal. Egyptian mismanagement of the economy and military and a continually more strained relationship with France who had held considerable sway since the Napoleonic era in Egypt crea ted an opportunity for England to become more important in Egyptian affairs which the English desired because of the importance of the Suez Canal as an eastern trade route (Porter, p. 92-93). The situation in Egypt continued to worsen as France played less of a role because of concerns with Germany and with the debts mounting and the abdication of Khedive Ismail in 1879 something had to be done in order to bail out Egypt and preserve control over the Suez Canal. The British for the economic reasons attached with the canal stepped in and bought out the Egyptian shares in the Canal to help cancel some of the Egyptians debts. The debts were still not able to appropriately managed and rebellion broke out because of the wretched economy and the European presence in Egypt. At this point Britain was un-encumbered as France was with major concerns about Germany decide to go in and occupy Egypt so as to ensure the canal and bring about order. Along with Egypt, Britain soon came to similar situations in Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya. The British had been present in Nigeria since the middle of the 19th century with many small companies involved in the palm oil and coco industries in 1879 these small companies were merged together through the leadership of George Goldie producing The Royal Niger Company. As other European powers began to encroach in on the area controlled by The Royal Niger Company Goldie requested favors from the imperial government to prevent the loss of Nigeria. France was moving east from Senegal. Germany gained control of Togoland and The Cameroons just to the south. The Belgians were making claims in the Congo to the southeast leaving Nigeria surrounded by other European powers. The problem primarily arose because Goldies company lacked a charter and had no real treaties with the tribes in Nigeria. As the encroachment became more severe Goldie gained a charter in 1886 granting his company the powers of government. Goldies administration turned out to be a success following the granting of a charter as The Royal Niger Company promptly went out and procured treaties with the principal rulers of the area-staking claim and effectively limiting the further growth of their neighbors. The situation of the Royal Niger Company once again highlights Gladstone and his anti-expansionist policy being manipulated and circumvented under external pressure. German expansion in eastern Africa prompts British annexation of The Buganda Kingdom, which will be come Uganda and Kenya and builds a close relationship with Zanzibar at the same time Goldie is making progress in Nigeria. The issue of Britain absorbing Uganda and Kenya came from the foreign minister Lord Salisbury who had a sincere yet somewhat implausible belief that the Germans would swallow up Uganda which is the wellspring of the Nile from there new colony of German East Africa and would create a massive water works and cut off the river decimating Egypt and making the Suez Canal worthless (Lloyd, p. 238). Salisbury spent much of his time hyping this idea and in the process found McKinnon and his British East Africa Company. The British East Africa Company seemed like the perfect way to establish a British presence in the regions of Uganda and Kenya. It also helped to solve the crisis occurring in Zanzibar. In 1888 Salisbury became convinced that the Sultan of Zanzibar was in real danger of having what remained to him of his dominions taken from him by Germany. British interests there had to be safeguarded, and the best way to do this seemed to be to underwrite McKinnons arrangement with the Sultan. In addition, there was considerable disquiet in the Foreign Office about what was happening in Uganda in the lakes region. The German explorer Karl Peters was threatening to take it; Bismarck denied that Germany was officially interested in the area, but only a few years back she had not been interested in The Camerooons or Zanzibar either (Porter, p. 109). At first this seemed sound but the British East Africa Company was poorly managed and was in competition with the east African slave trade. The company was in trouble right from the start but made efforts to get involved with the Buganda Kingdom who were the primary rulers of the hinterland. McKinnon sent missionaries and his military captain a man by the name of Lugard into the Buganda kingdom and they quiet successfully became overlords of the Buganda Kingdom with little bloodshed. The only problem that arose from this was the fact that the British East India Company had neither the money nor the military needed to politically control the region. Lugards expenses in the hinterland and the lack of financial growth by the government prompted Salisbury to try to get a rail line built between Mombassa and Lake Victoria. This plan was meet with little support and Lord Rosebery soon replaced Salisbury in 1892 (Lloyd, p. 239). Rosebery shared Salisbury interest in Uganda and also pushed for the building of the railway and a governmental take over of the Buganda Kingdom when the company failed in 1895. The railway was eventually built when Joseph Chamberlain came into power in 1895 and the region was soon divided into Kenya and Uganda. The annexation of the Buganda Kingdom ends the expansion of the British during the scramble for Africa but then special attention must be paid to southern Africa. The Cape Colony as was mentioned before was procured in 1795 from the French as a victor prize at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Although the British had gained the colony from France it was really Dutch in origin. The Dutch had begun settling the region as early as the middle 17th century. The Dutch population that represented the majority of the European population up until the middle of the 19th century settled the area so as to escape religious persecution in the Netherlands. The Dutch population that inhabited the cape colony was known as Afrikaners or Boers and they were staunch Calvinists. The Afrikaners were a unique culture that caused a fare degree of conflict when the British took over. They spoke their own version of Dutch known as Afrikaans and they were primarily agricultural and thus relied heavily on slave labor. As England encouraged emigration to the Cape Colony and the slave trade and slavery were abolished throughout the British Empire greater cultural conflict grew between the Afrikaners and the British. The abolition of slavery made the majority of Afrikaners feel that their rights were being impinged upon and so in 1836 under the leadership of Sir Benjamin DUrban and Piet Retieg a mass exodus of Afrikaners to the north occurred. Nearly 15,000 Afrikaners trekked north past the Orange River into unclaimed territory in the southern portion of the Zulu Nations territory and founded the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Britain is content to be rid of the Afrikaners for the time being and lets political issues rest in southern Africa until they grant representative government to the cape colony in the 1870s and there is British interests in unifying all of southern Africa. These desires become more intense when the opportunity arises because of the economic difficulties the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were experiencing and because of a new Zulu threat. Lord Carnarvon was the Colonial secretary under Disreli in the 1870s and he pushed for unification and in 1877 he was able to convince the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to be annexed in return for aide against the Zulu threat. When the governments Changed hands in Britain and Gladstone came to power the Afrikaners appealed to him for their independence back as they no longer needed the British as the Zulu had been neutralized. Gladstone was not impressed and it resulted in the rebellion that saw the British embarrassingly routed at Mejuba in 1880. In 1881 at the Convention of Pretoria Gladstone gave the Transvaal and the Orange Free State their independence back in a relationship of suzerainty. This meant that Britain would control native and foreign affairs for the Afrikaner States but that was all. The relationship between Britain and the Transvaal and the Orange Free State is revised once more at the London Convention of 1884 giving the Afrikaners control over native affairs. During this period though a change in economic status in the Afrikaner states economic changed British interests. Valuable diamond mines were discovered in the Orange Free State and the richest gold strike in the known world was found in the Transvaal. These discoveries resulted in a massive influx of people not only from the Cape Colony and Britain but also from around the world. This mass emigration made the Afrikaners insecure and they didnt want to grant citizenship to the newly arrived people they called Uitlanders because it would mean that they would lose political control. This economic growth produced a renewed interest in consolidating the south of Africa but the British were still no closer to a solution. Two methods of achieving this federation, the voluntary and the coercive, had both been tried and failed. The current hope in the 1890s was that (in Lord Salisburys words) by impressing them, they might be compelled to fall in line and to join the great unconscious federation that is growing up (Porter, p. 100). It soon became clear that impressing the newly wealthy Afrikaner nations were not going to be impressed into unification either. A new political figure then joins the picture named Cecil Rhodes who eventually pushed the British effort at unification forward in some ways. He became a millionaire because of the diamond mines and rose to control both the British South Africa Company and act as Governor of the Cape Colony. He had British interests a heart but also thought unification would be a positive step forward for the Afrikaners and managed to have some respect with the Afrikaners at least early on in his efforts. Although unification did not happen until the beginning of the 20th century after he had lost his position as governor of the Cape Colony and shamed himself by trying to take the Afrikaner states by force in a failed action called the Jameson Raid he laid the groundwork for the unification that would come at the end of the Boer War. The unification would consist of the conglomeration of the Cape Colony, Natal to east, and the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State. Rhodes Tried to return to Cape Colony politics after settling tribal disputes in Rhodesia which was also under British control do in many ways to Rhodes role as head of the British South Africa Company but without success. The southern portion of Africa did not fully stabilize until after the end of the scramble for Africa in the first years of the 20th century (Porter, p. 243-44). British imperial growth in Africa during the last two decades of the 19th century was on the grand scale. This growth was not due to a British expansionist policy. This is made particularly clear under Gladstones government but through reactionary response to other European powers imperial conquests, both failed and successful economic reasons were also influential in expansion, and by British imperialists at home and in Africa who were kept on shoestrings and forced expansion such as with the cape colony and to some degree the British East Africa company in the Boganda Kingdom. African expansion at this time was closely compared to Asian expansion. The first reason was that Africa was not really so valueless by contrast with Asia; South Africa especially was rapidly becoming a treasure-house itself with it diamonds and gold and the prospect of much more to come, and from Indias point of view it, and Suez at the other end of the continent, were as essential as ever for access to Britain. The second reason was that Africa was easier for Britain to defend anyway. None of her rivals there had the natural advantages Russia had in Asia except perhaps the Afrikaners, and they were underrated; Britains naval strength could count for more, and her military weakness need show less in skirmishes with Africans or European expeditionary forces then in wars with standing armies; and there was no India to fall apart at the first sign of trouble (Porter, p.163). The British role in Africa only began with the scramble for Africa. British influence would continue to grow until the African colonies began to gain their independence in the middle and second half of the 20th century.

Why People Nerf :: essays research papers

Why People Nerf Why do you nerf? The common response would be, â€Å"Because it’s fun.† Nerf is an exhilarating sport; there is something about running around shooting foam at people that is loads of fun. Problem solved, people do it because it is fun. There are a lot of different aspects that go into defining the fun in Nerf. Nerf is a war game, and thus has to be treated uniquely in defining the psychological rewards it gives so many people. Like real war, Nerf invokes a rush of adrenaline and a ‘battle mentality’ (which will be discussed later). Like a game, there is a sense of lightheartedness and a sport-like physical and mental aspect, in which injuries are not meant to occur. Nerf rewards humans on an almost uncountable number of levels. Many animals, and almost all mammals, play war games. Cubs, puppies, kittens and the like are known to wrestle, bite, chase and surprise. Through these examples, we see that even the most primitive subconscious aspects of the human psyche are satisfied in mock battle. On a more modern level, Nerf allows for participants to engage in combat without the physical aptitude required by the military, the consequences of death, or the moral significance of taking another life. In fact, I kill the same four people every weekend, and they kill me. The modification of Nerf guns satisfies the scientific urge to take apart, examine, and rebuild. Although most members of the nerfing community follow the modifications and innovations of a small percentage of this group, every person will go about modifying in a slightly different way. Even following mod instructions is a mental exercise. This lands us upon another of the important rewards of Nerf: the community. Belonging to a community is one of the most basic needs of humans. Because this community exists in a bundle of electrons it includes many people who wouldn’t normally consider themselves social; but get them to a Nerf war, and they are ‘just one of the guys’. After this general analysis of the rewards of nerfing, I would like to go into further detail in relation to two of the most prominent facets of Nerf. The Battle Mentality The battle mentality that Nerf causes in people is comprised of many different behaviors. Because Nerf is just a game, the behaviors mentioned should all be looked at through a filter of fun and sport.

Joan Miró Essay -- Visual Arts Paintings Art

Joan Mirà ³ Spanish painter, whose surrealist works, with their subject matter drawn from the realm of memory and imaginative fantasy, are some of the most original of the 20th century. Mirà ³ was born April 20, 1893, in Barcelona and studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and the Academia Galà ­. His work before 1920 shows wide-ranging influences, including the bright colors of the Fauves, the broken forms of cubism, and the powerful, flat two-dimensionality of Catalan folk art and Romanesque church frescoes of his native Spain. He moved to Paris in 1920, where, under the influence of surrealist poets and writers, he evolved his mature style. Mirà ³ drew on memory, fantasy, and the irrational to create works of art that are visual analogues of surrealist poetry. These dreamlike visions, such as Harlequin's Carnival or Dutch Interior, often have a whimsical or humorous quality, containing images of playfully distorted animal forms, twisted organic shapes, and odd geometric constructions. The forms of his paintings are organized against flat neutral backgrounds and are painted in a limited range of bright colors, especially blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Amorphous amoebic shapes alternate with sharply drawn lines, spots, and curlicues, all positioned on the canvas with seeming nonchalance. Mirà ³ later produced highly generalized, ethereal works in which his organic forms and figures are reduced to abstract spots, lines, and bursts of colors. ...

Princess Diana :: essays research papers

Princess Diana of Whales was a very wonderful person. She touched many lives and went through many turmoils herself. I decided to do my paper on Princess Diana of Wales, not only because I am named after her, but of my interest in such a wonderful role model. Lady Diana Frances Spencer, was born on 1 July 1961 at Park House near Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the youngest daughter of the then Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, now the late (8th) Earl Spencer and the Hon Mrs. Shand-Kydd, daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy. Lady Diana's parents were married in 1954 and separated in 1967. The marriage was dissolved in 1969. Together with her two elder sisters Sarah (born 1955), Jane (born 1957) and her younger brother Charles (born 1964), Lady Diana continued to live with her father at Park House, Sandringham, until the death of her grandfather, the 7th Earl Spencer. In 1975, the family moved to the Spencer family seat at Althorp in Northamptonshire. Lady Diana first went to a preparatory school, Riddlesworth Hall at Diss, in Norfolk. Then in 1974 went as a boarder student to West Heath, near Sevenoaks, Kent. At school she had a particular talent for music (as an accomplished pianist), dancing and domestic science, which she gained the school's award for the girl giving maximum help to the school and her schoolfellows. She left West Heath in 1977 and went to finishing school at the Institute Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland, which she left in 1978. For a while she looked after the child of an American couple, and she worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Young England School in Pimlico. On 24 February 1981 it was officially announced that Lady Diana was to marry The Prince of Wales. As neighbors at Sandringham until 1975, their families had known each other for many years. Lady Diana and the The Prince had met again when he was invited to a weekend at Althorp in November 1977. They were married at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981, in a ceremony which drew a global television and radio audience estimated at around 1,000 million people, and hundreds of thousands of people lining the route from Buckingham Palace to the Cathedral. The couple was married by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Runcie. The Princess was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the throne for an incredible 300 years.

Nutritional adventurism Essay

This article is about the effect of the show ‘MasterChef’ on the nutritional adventurism and culinary knowledge of children. The show is a reality game show about cooking, hosted by two chefs. The article explains how the show had appealed to young audiences. ‘MasterChef’, claims the article, has caused an increase in television ratings for the channel from which it is shown. The show has also given children extra culinary knowledge. Now, children are more interested and more critical about what they eat. They also judge their own food and the food prepared by their parents or other people. The show sparked numerous cooking lessons and workshops. Numerous recipes featured on the show have also been downloaded over the internet. Personal Opinion: I always believe that teaching children how to cook will help them in the future. Culinary skills learned early will definitely result to future households where food is a primary concern. MasterChef, and its effects on young audiences illustrates the possibility of making young audiences interested not only in the cooking show but more importantly in the food that they eat. Summary 2: This article is about the Community Gardens program which has three goals; to bring the community and the government together to address nutritional problems, to promote horticultural knowledge and initiate an exchange of indigenous horticultural knowledge, and to create an indigenous garden industry which will give communities livelihood and address their health needs. According to the article, collaboration in the community in horticulture gives the community a sense of food security because gardens are just as important as water systems. The article also illustrates how the program has succeeded in bringing together communities and encouraging innovative ways of horticulture. The fringe benefit of all these is the availability of healthy produce for the communities in which the program was implemented. Personal Opinion: I have confidence in the health benefits of organic and fresh food. The essence of community gardening comes to me not only as a means of providing the opportunity for communities to eat healthy but also the opportunity for communities to value the fruits of community effort. The Community Gardens Program is one such program that fosters fellowship and concern among community members while making healthy food available at the same time. Summary 3: Wangkatjungka is the main focus of this article where the establishment of home vegetable patches was apparently spurred by childrens’ school projects. Many vegetable patches mushroomed all over town because of this and each household began to eat what they produced. This was a very welcome change for the people of Wangkatjungka, second to the community ban on alcohol. According to the article, the establishment of household vegetable patches has made organic and healthier food available for the children and the adults. The article claims that this trend in backyard gardening has contributed so much to the community in that it has vowed to support and continue the project until each household in the community has their own vegetable patch. Personal Opinion: Having your own vegetable patch is such a good idea for me that I might even be starting my own. This article has given me enough new insights to consider the benefits of backyard grown produce and look into the possibility of having my own vegetable garden. I like fresh vegetables, and I like freshly picked organic fruits and vegetables even better. Summary 4: The relationship of diabetes and the eating habits of people is tackled in this article. In it a study by a certain Himsworth is mentioned that showed why third world countries had lesser incidence of diabetes and obesity compared to Western countries. The article attributes this to the kind of food that people eat in these countries; third world countries have more unprocessed carbohydrates and adequate animal protein in their diets than in Western countries. The article also outlines the value of healthy and basic or simpler eating in the control of diabetes and other metabolic disorders. It states that people who eat more plant or fruit based food are less likely to suffer metabolic disorders like diabetes and obesity. Personal Opinion: There are so many metabolic disorders that cause a myriad of health problems nowadays and it is comforting to know that the best weapon against these diseases is simply, basic and healthy eating. I am a believer in the idiom that ‘prevention is better than a cure’ as well as in the motto that ‘it would be better to spend money on healthy food than on medicine. † The insights offered in this article have encouraged me to eat healthier and begin my pursuit of a longer, healthier life. Summary 5: To sum up this entire article, one can simply say that it taunts at the way the judges in the show MasterChef make their judgments and throw snide comments at their contestants. The article purports that the decision of the MasterChef judges are influenced by the aesthetic or visual quality of the food presented and not by palatability of the food. The article implies that the show does not give justice to the way ordinary people cook, rather it insults the cooking skills of ordinary people by showing that cooking on television is not the same as real cooking, and that in the MasterChef kitchen, one doesn’t have to cook delicious food if one can be chefy with the presentation. Personal Opinion: I have seen the show, MasterChef myself and this article seems to have reason to claim that the judges in the show do not necessarily judge according to how ordinary people cook but have begun to become influenced by how one would expect food prepared by a professional chef. I believe that it is the show’s spontaneity and ‘reality’ that gives it its appeal and if the judges fail to remain in these ideals the show will ultimately fail.