The Illad essays

The Illad essays "The Iliad", an epic tale told by the famous Greek author Homer, is focused primarily on the Trojan War between the Greeks, or Argives, and the Trojans. This war was filled with bloody battles and a massive loss of life. Homer tells stories about a duration of time during this fighting, and not the entire war. He uses his story-telling abilities to focus the audience on the garish and sometimes mundane drudgery of war. Due to his removal from the actual time of these battles, his stories may be embellished or not completely accurate descriptions of what did or did not happen. Overall, however, the Iliad is believed to be mostly true. Homer was born, most likely, in the 8th Century B.C. He is widely believed to be the best and most popular of the Ionian poets. His birthplace is not known beyond a doubt. Some have even said that he may have been blind. This idea has its share of critics though, since Homer details specific landscape scenes all throughout his works, and most of his writing is focused on the vision of the scene in which he describes. Homer relies heavily on descriptions to get his points across to the audience. In Homer's time, stories were told orally. Therefore, as a good writer, he attempted to write eloquently to convey to the audience the overall feeling of his stories. William Shakespeare did the same thing in his writing. Shakespeare knew that his work was going to be performed, and that his audience was predominantly illiterate. He knew that if he created a quality story and told it in an interesting way, he would gain greater popularity by allowing those who didn't understand to be entertained anyway. Homer used this to his advantage in his time also through the use of elaborate descriptions of battles and scenes, and with similes and metaphors. The similes and metaphors of The Iliad, in my opinion, are the real attention-grabbing parts of the story. Homer's descriptions using similes are mostly very deta...

Understanding the Ninth Amendments Effect and History

Understanding the Ninth Amendments Effect and History The Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution attempts to ensure that certain rights - while not specifically listed as being granted to the American people in the other sections of the Bill of Rights - should not be violated. The complete text of the Ninth Amendment states: â€Å"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.† Over the years, the federal courts have interpreted the Ninth Amendment as confirming the existence of such implied or â€Å"unenumerated† rights outside those expressly protected by the Bill of Rights. Today, the Amendment is often cited in legal attempts to prevent the federal government from expanding the powers of Congress specifically granted to it under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The Ninth Amendment, included as part of the original 12 provisions of the Bill of Rights, was submitted to the states on September 5, 1789, and was ratified on December 15, 1791. Why This Amendment Exists When the then proposed U.S. Constitution was submitted to the states in 1787, it was still strongly opposed by the Anti-Federalist Party, Led by Patrick Henry. One of their main objection to the Constitution as submitted was its omission of a list of rights specifically granted to the people - a â€Å"bill of rights.† However, the Federalist Party, led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, contended that it would be impossible for such a bill of rights to list all conceivable rights, and that a partial list would be dangerous because some might claim that because a given right was not specifically listed as protected, the government had the power to limit or even deny it. In an attempt to resolve the debate, the Virginia Ratifying Convention proposed a compromise in the form of a constitutional amendment stating that any future amendments limiting the powers of Congress should not be taken as justification for expanding those powers. This proposal led to the creation of the Ninth Amendment. Practical Effect Of all the amendments in the Bill of Rights, none is stranger or harder to interpret than the Ninth. At the time it was proposed, there was no mechanism by which the Bill of Rights could be enforced. The Supreme Court had not yet established the power to strike down unconstitutional legislation, and it was not widely expected to. The Bill of Rights was, in other words, unenforceable. So what would an enforceable Ninth Amendment look like? Strict Constructionism and the Ninth Amendment There are multiple schools of thought on this issue. Supreme Court justices who belong to the strict constructionist school of interpretation essentially say that the Ninth Amendment is too vague to have any binding authority. They push it aside as a historical curiosity, in much the same way that more modernist justices sometimes push the Second Amendment aside. Implicit Rights At the  Supreme Court level,  most justices do believe that the Ninth Amendment has binding authority, and they use it to protect implicit rights hinted at but not explicated elsewhere in the Constitution. Implicit rights include both the right to privacy outlined in  the landmark 1965 Supreme Court case of  Griswold v. Connecticut, but also basic unspecified rights such as the right to travel and the right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.   Writing in the Court’s majority opinion Justice William O. Douglas stated that â€Å"specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.† In a lengthy concurrence, Justice Arthur Goldberg added, â€Å"The language and history of the Ninth Amendment reveal that the Framers of the Constitution believed that there are additional fundamental rights, protected from governmental infringement, which exist alongside those fundamental rights specifically mentioned in the first eight constitutional amendments.† Updated by Robert Longley

From the precpective of the human cognitive abilitis are current Essay

From the precpective of the human cognitive abilitis are current computer well designed - Essay Example Here, according to Zaphiris and Ang (2009), human perception, memory, and attention are important because these are crucial in ensuring the minimal use of their efforts and interaction with technology in the ultimate aim of enhanced human-computer interaction –. (p. 2550) In the context of human-centered design, it is posited that there should be a convergence of the content information, the user, the designer, and infrastructure along with the enhancement of communication effectiveness. Norman suggested three requirements for a computer design that effectively addresses the human cognitive abilities. These are: 1) conceptual models which make invisible functions visible by using feedback, as the effect of an interaction, and explanations of its use; 2) constraints which are proactive measure to limit the choices of interaction and reduce human errors; and, 3) affordance is the perception and actual properties of the thing. It suggests how the device can be possibly operated. (cited in Zaphiris and Ang 2550) With these variables in mind, it is easy to understand how the current computing technologies are well designed. Computers are currently designed after through analysis and synthesis of individual needs, cultural practice, preferences, and, yes, cognitive ability of its users. A specific demonstration of this is computer developers’ preoccupation with usability, visibility and functionality. In developing a computer operating system, for example, companies such as Microsoft and Apple are bent on reducing errors of everyday life by designing systems that feature easy navigation system, user-friendly environments, functional interface, memorability, lack of errors and user satisfaction, among other variables. This is also shown in the way designers create interaction tasks, techniques, devices and applications. The input-output relationship that characterize

History - Malthusian Demographics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History - Malthusian Demographics - Essay Example This he said will be due to the fact that resources will no longer be able to sustain the expanded population (Elwell 133). For the balance of the population and the resources to be reached, Malthus proposed certain natural calamities to be vital in this; he said that countries going to war and mass killing being realized were one way of reducing the enormous number of the population that was creating tension on the limited available resources. He also proposed other natural catastrophes like volcanic eruption to be helpful in the checking the population growth rate. The Malthus prediction can be said to have failed since its inception, but that is not all, the problem facing the developing countries currently will certainly lead to the population explosion (Ehrlich, Paul, and Anne 156). In the developing countries, there are massive and unchecked population growth while in the same time the recourses created can not support the population. The rate of population growth in the develo ping countries has immensely contributed to the widespread abject poverty in the region. Even without directly experiencing Malthus projection we can say that the effect of unchecked population is impacting negatively in some parts of the world. One of the salient features of the high population growth rate is the cause of political instability in the countries that are victims of these. In the third world countries, resource distribution is acutely skewed towards the a few individuals that wield political power and have great influence in the country and can marshal resources in their favor to lead opulence life while their subjects are surviving from hand to mouth (Smith 199). This has led to public outcry and has in some unfortunate circumstances led to mass actions in a bid to topple and impeach the existing government for not caring about the common man. It has also led to the formation of the insurgents who antagonizes the government creating political instability. Malthus pro posal may not be realized today but in other ways it can be seen as having come to reality. Haphazard population increase has led reduce wages in the work environment and this has perpetuated poverty in such areas. The relationship between population increase and poverty is very imminent in light of scramble for the few opportunities available. Increase in population numbers provides alternatives manpower since there is more supply than demand and this can only work on reducing the wages of the workers (Malthus 112). The state of population explosion can also lead to high level of unemployment and this impact negatively on the younger generation in which the youths are involved in the law breaking due to frustration a situation refereed to as juvenile delinquency. In his publication ‘Additions to an essay on the principle of population’, Malthus intrinsically evaluated the connection between the global population increase and employment opportunities vis a vis wages com pensation (Malthus 213). In regard to this he did made a hypothesis that the increase in the world population will catalyze poverty introduction as well as low income through wages to the workers. This is because of the readily available workforce. This came to be widely known as ‘The Iron Law of Wages’ (Malthus 246). The exponential population incr

Ellen DeGeneres and her importance in the Gay Community Essay

Ellen DeGeneres and her importance in the Gay Community - Essay Example It also tries to explore her importance in the GBLT history and understands the various persuasive techniques that she used in her struggle for gay rights. Ellen DeGeneres: An Introduction Ellen DeGeneres, who was born in 1958 in Louisiana has played an important role bringing issues related to LGBT rights to the forefront so that they get appropriate media and political attention. As a stand up comedian, DeGeneres made a large number of appearances on very popular TV shows such as, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Oprah Winfrey Show (Biography, n.d). This increased her popularity and very soon, she appeared in a sitcom, which was called Ellen (1997), where she used her character, Ellen to come out to the public. At the same time, she also publicly declared her homosexuality on the Oprah Winfrey show. Post her coming out in public, the show Ellen faced a lot of criticism because acknowledging homosexuality openly was not common in the United States during the late 1990s. In fac t, DeGeneres is regarded as the first lead case of a show who acknowledged the fact that she was a lesbian on air (Biography, n.d). Because of that, some of the affiliates that were associated with the channel ABC on which Ellen aired, refused to air the particular episode of the show. Furthermore, some of the sponsors associated with the show also withdrew their support (Biography, n.d). After the main character came out as a homosexual, there were many episodes which followed the same track and continued that way until the season got over. Due to this, both the show and the channel received strong criticism. However, Ellen's performance was critically acclaimed and won her an Emmy award (Foley, 2007). In addition, it also received immense support from the gay community all across the United States. In spite of these, the show was canceled within a years time. In the meantime, DeGeneres had gained enough popularity and became a common face in both the television industry as well as the movie industry. Due to her popularity, she began her own show known as the 'The Ellen DeGeneres' show which ran over 10 seasons (Foley, B. (2007). Ellen DeGeneres. Wmagazine 36(3), 496–501. ). In addition, she also hosted the Academy Awards, became a judge on the popular show American Idol, acted in movies and wrote books. She is often considered to be one of the best role models for the LGBT community in the United States (Foley, B. (2007). Ellen DeGeneres. Wmagazine 36(3), 496–501. ). Role of Ellen DeGeneres in GBLT history, community, or social movements It is a given fact that involvement of celebrities and public figures with regards to social movement has an impact on resource mobilization and constructing a collective identity (Barber, 2012). The fact that the celebrity is in the public eye gives much more importance to the issues that they highlight and hence, deeply influence the causes that they join or start. This is because the involvement or participa tion of a celebrity results in attention from the mass media and increases participation from their supporters. Hence, the celebrities can provide a high level of visibility to any event or social cause that they participate in (Bird et al, 2011). Ellen DeGeneres also used her popularity and her status as a public figure to raise issues that were relevant and important to the LGBT community. During the 1990s, the homosexual community found it a big

User centred design | Analysis

User centred design | Analysis Introduction Nowadays, User Centered Design has been embedded in many design works. This essay seeks to explore the nature of this approach. This essay is split in to four sections. The first section is to provide a definition for User Centered Design while the second section will explain the benefits of using this approach with examples. I will then move on to discuss the limitations of User Centered Design and a conclusion will come afterwards. What is User Centred Design? User Centred Design is an approach which aims at increasing the usability of products, and therefore making them more effective in meeting users needs. This approach requires the designer to focus on the users throughout The planning, design and development of the product. (UPA resources, no date) Norman (1999) described user centred design as Transforming difficult tasks into easy ones. It requires the designer to study the users before designing. User Centred Design approach often requires a great deal of involvement from the users during the process. Carrying out this approach often includes collecting end users opinion right before the start of the project, as well as during the design process, and designing with them. The objective of this is to allow the designers to have a good understanding of the subjects who will use the product. Therefore, good interaction between designers and users is the key under this approach. UCD is widely recognized and there is an international standard which serves as a benchmark and a guideline. International standard ISO 13047:Human-centered design process outlines the 5 stages of a typical UCD design, which are identifying need for human centered design, specifying the context of use, specifying requirements, creating design solutions and evaluating designs. (UPA Resources, no date) These steps define only general procedures but not exact methods. In fact, these standards do not outline how each phrase should be carried out. For instance, specifying the context of use can be done by surveys, observations, interview and many other methods. Advantages of User Centred Design Norman (1999) first suggested UCD is essentially a series of procedures that simplifying difficult tasks through exploiting natural properties of people and of the world, simplifying the structure of tasks, making both execution and evaluation sides of an action visible, exploiting natural constraints and designing for error. Aesthetics is not considered as a need in his original definition of UCD. Needs of end-users in study during a UCD process should not be only those associated with functions of a product, but also users unexpressed needs including, but not limited to, needs for aesthetics. Norman (2004) introduced three levels of user centered design namely Visceral design, Behavioral design and Reflective design. Visceral design is about the appearance of the product which aims at capturing peoples attention that they would never forget it or replace it with others. A design that people love it when they see it the first time is a successful visceral design. The Muji Bath Radio is essentially a radio which is designed to be used in bathrooms and it fits in with the bathroom with a playful element. This product is designed by Industrial Facility. It is fun only when it gathers with the Muji refillable shampoo bottle, they appear to be a family; the bottle itself and even the label of the shampoo are of the same size with the speaker of the radio. Using it is very straightforward, simply turning the top to adjust the volume and on or off while the AM and FM tuning section is at the bottom. The radio is sealed to ensure it is water resistant to protect the radio due to the environment that it is being used (Fig. 1-3). (Industrial Facility, 2009) Behavioral design is the functional part of a design. The product needs to be functional and easy to use. Norman suggested that even some products are complicated and users need to learn how things works but it should be learnt once only. Apple increased the usability of Mac computers by making the interface of software written for Mac OS similar. Therefore, once the basic controls are learnt, users can manage a variety of software for this system easily and quickly. Another good example would be hook-and-loop fastener which makes tying shoes easier and serves as an alternative to shoelace. It is also a design that focuses on users. Tying a shoelace is an everyday but potentially difficult task for children and infirm adults due to its inherent complexity. Hook-and-loop fasteners simplify tying shoes and provide an easy alternative to shoelaces. Many may argue that this example is not significant but as Norman (1999) suggested; this simple design caters the needs of users and solves the difficulties of a large segment of population. Reflective design is about the message the product gives to the user and the way the product represents the person who uses it. Sometimes people buy a product is not for the physical outcome but the psychological outcome. The main selling point of this type of design is not their functionality but things like prestige that owning the design brings. For instance, People drink Fair-trade coffee may not really concern about the farmers benefit in the third world. They may do so to show to others how kind and generous they are. Nowadays, many businesses have incorporated this ideology into their product range. Creating products which consumers actually need and want often feeds through to higher sales and hence higher profit. Brand image will also be benefitted. One of the key benefits of UCD approach is that it allows designers to attain some level of understanding of the users needs. According to Parsons in Blueprint November 2009 (2009, p.54), before UCD is being widely adopted, designers have to use their experience and knowledge to guess the needs of users. This in turn may create a mismatch between the product and the needs of end-users. UCD ensures efficient use of time and resources. Limitations of User Centred Design However, UCD is by no means a perfect model and may not be the ideal solution in some cases. I am going to illustrate the limitations and disadvantages of UCD in the following paragraphs. UCD is often characterized as time-consuming and costly. Many UCD designers believe that market research is generally not an appropriate way to understand the behavior of the end users. Users may not do what they told market researchers and there are often unexpressed needs such as those associated with attractiveness and aesthetics. For the sake of gaining a full and reliable understanding, UCD designers often observe their users directly such as observing how end-users actually carry out specific tasks. Observing a range of subjects can be expensive and definitely takes a great deal of time as well as effort. However, it is possible these observations are subjected to Hawthorne Effect whereby individuals change their behavior when they know they are observed. (Campbell, Maxey and Watson, 1995) These observations may not be reliable after all. Moreover, end-users may not know what they truly need. They may not know if they really need or desire the product until they actually see it. Therefore, participation of users in the earlier stages may not be too helpful. Furthermore, without the technical background as a professional designer has, what users think might work might not work in practice. Also, too much commitment to satisfy the needs of a particular targeted users group may overly complicate the design which reduces its usability by other users. Norman (2005) suggested that If a user suggestion fails to fit within this design model, it should be discarded. A balance between doing what consumers want and maintaining the usability should be achieved. UCD is an ideology, which is the manifesto of many designers. However, usage of UCD procedures does not guarantee the product is useful for the users. Although there is an international standard which outline the general structure for typical UCD projects, the methods to go about these procedures are decided by the designer. Besides, due to time and budget constraint, designer can only study the behavior of a particular sample. There is again no guarantee the sample is representative for all the targeted users since everyones needs are somewhat different. In addition, the sampling method used directly determines the reliability of these observations. Users needs are influenced by many external factors and hence needs are subject to changes. This is especially the case for visceral design and reflective design, which is subject to changes in the social culture. What is trendy at this moment may not be so in the next. Under UCD, designers spend a long time to gather input from users and encourage them to get involved in the design. By the time the product is produced, users needs may have changed and thus it no longer meets the new needs. There are many examples where products, which have not gone through UCD procedures, are highly successful. Moreover, these products require the users to adapt them, which is exactly the opposite of what UCD is about. (NORMAN, 2009) For instance, chopsticks require the users to learn and adapt them. Learning to use chopsticks can be difficult and there are a couple of new products aiming to replace chopsticks. However, they are still used by a huge segment of the population. Individuals have different preferences and needs. A product aiming to satisfy the needs of one group may in turn compromise the need of another group. Take hook and loop fasteners as an example again, they are not as flexible in the adjustment of the tightness of support as shoelace and versatile. This design is originally targeted to young children, elderly and disabled. As Norman (1999) suggested, hoop and loop fasteners are not used in sports shoes such as football shoes and boxing boots. User centered design does provide a general benchmark to judge the quality of a design upon. However, using this principal as a basis of design may not be beneficial as it limits the creativity of a designer. The following example will illustrate this. The Step is the first unique cooker which extraordinarily holds both gas and induction heat (IH) hobs and it is designed to accommodate a variety of cooking type and level. It is designed by Industrial Facility and produced by KichenAid. It owns three professional gas burners, two induction plates, cast-iron grates, cast-iron grill, solid ergonomic controls with built-in electronic ignition and with a Vitroceramic and stainless surface. The hobs are divided into two levels. The gas hob with the grill is higher and far from the front because it needs to handle heavy pans. The induction heat surface is at the front and is the same level with the worktop and able to provide an extra space for the work. (Industrial Facility, 2009)Gas is always perfect for heavy cooking whereas induction heat is normally for fine cooking and one is not happened to perfectly replace the other. From the user centered design view, in this case, consumers could enjoy cooking without sacrificing either one coo king method. From my point of view, this is neat and modern but after all it is merely a combination of two existing product. Why spend time to work on how to re-design something instead of creating a new cooking technique? You will never know if something works unless you have tried. UCD sometimes prevent designers to start from scratch. It often places too much emphasis on the point tools adapts human which limits the creativity of the designer. In fact, in many cases, needs arise only when a new product launches. For instance, before telephone and SMS messages were launched, people did not know they demanded communication in these forms. Conclusion Finally, I believe every products starting point is human centered. Every single existing product is human centered. We design because we want to improve peoples life by using our products. Every project, we work on the appearance, functionality, and narratives of the design. Although the priority may vary, we design useful products, no matter it physically does the job or psychologically does the job, it definitely have a positive outcome. A design could have been better does not mean it is not a good design. Without a doubt, listening to the end-users opinion is wise and helpful in design in many cases. However, basing our designs solely on what consumers want can be problematic. This is because users often lack the expertise. Having users involved is beneficial but they cannot replace the job of designers. (Parsons, 2009) I believe striking a balance between the two is essential. Bibliography Published Materials Journal CAMPBELL, J., MAXEY, V., WATSON, W.,1995,Hawthorne Effect: Implications for Prehospital Research Annals of Emergency Medicine, Volume 26, Issue 5, Pages 590-594 Books NORMAN, Donald. Emotional Design: Why we hate love (or hate) Everyday things, The MIT Press. 2004 NORMAN, Donald. The design of Everyday things, The MIT Press. 1999 Articles in Periodicals Parsons, Tim. User centred design, through enlightened in theory. Blueprint, November 2009, p.54. Internet Material Bath Radio, Industrial Facility. http://www.industrialfacility.co.uk/if.html, 13 Dec 09. Step, Industrial Facility. http://www.industrialfacility.co.uk/if.html, 13 Dec 09 Human centered design considered harmful, NORMAN, Donald. http://jnd.org/dn.mss/humancentered_design_considered_harmful.html, 13 Dec 09. What is UCD?, UPA Resources. http://www.upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/what_is_ucd.html, 13 Dec 09. Step 90cm, Walter Dix Co. http://www.wdix.co.uk/Products/RangeCookers/KitchenAid/Hobs/Step90cm/tabid/457/Default.aspx, 13 Dec 09.

Henrik Isbens A Dolls House Essay -- A Dolls House Essays

Independence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of us live a life where we do what we want and when we want without anyone telling us how to live our lives. This wasn’t the case in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, where he illustrates to us how one woman lives a life through her father and husband. Throughout the play we see how a once childish like woman gains her independence and a life of her own. Ibsen shows us a very realistic play that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seem to have it all. While in reality their life together is simply empty until Nora stands up for herself and starts to build her own life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nora Helmer was a fragile character that relied on her husband for her own identity. This dependence has kept her from having her own personality in so many different ways. Throughout the story Nora portrays the perfect housewife who stays at home to take care of her family and please her husband. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, only hoping to please them. Nora’s upbringing was so easy that she only needed to make a cute noise and someone would come running over to serve her. It’s no wonder that when she got married that Torvald followed the same routine. Ibsen even states that, â€Å"she was merely a doll, a plaything, passed from papa’s hands onto Torvald’s† (1610). I believe that these actions made her look extremely infantile, showing that she had no thoughts of her v... Henrik Isben's A Doll's House Essay -- A Doll's House Essays Independence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of us live a life where we do what we want and when we want without anyone telling us how to live our lives. This wasn’t the case in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, where he illustrates to us how one woman lives a life through her father and husband. Throughout the play we see how a once childish like woman gains her independence and a life of her own. Ibsen shows us a very realistic play that demonstrates how on the outside Nora and Torvald seem to have it all. While in reality their life together is simply empty until Nora stands up for herself and starts to build her own life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nora Helmer was a fragile character that relied on her husband for her own identity. This dependence has kept her from having her own personality in so many different ways. Throughout the story Nora portrays the perfect housewife who stays at home to take care of her family and please her husband. From early childhood Nora has always held the opinions of either her father or Torvald, only hoping to please them. Nora’s upbringing was so easy that she only needed to make a cute noise and someone would come running over to serve her. It’s no wonder that when she got married that Torvald followed the same routine. Ibsen even states that, â€Å"she was merely a doll, a plaything, passed from papa’s hands onto Torvald’s† (1610). I believe that these actions made her look extremely infantile, showing that she had no thoughts of her v...