Monday, September 9, 2019

Knowledge and Skills Core to Journalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Knowledge and Skills Core to Journalism - Essay Example These programs are used for many purposes such as video editing, sound editing and photo editing. The paper also discusses need for a journalist to be; Entrepreneurial and Business Savvy, Multi-skilled, an Open-minded Experimenter and a Multimedia Storyteller. The paper also analyses journalism job market demand of Programming Skills, Fundamental Journalism Skills and Subediting Skills. The objective of this paper is to identify and evaluate the crucial skills needed by a journalist seeking to enter the Journalism and Communication industry. Logic Pro This is a must-have skill by any journalist who is actively seeking for an employment opportunity in this modern age. Sound is important in passing out messages from a journalist since it gives his / her work the correct sound track for improved quality and effectiveness is expression of the mood. Logic Pro is a MIDI sequencer application and hybrid 32/64 bit digital sound workstation for the Mac operating system X platform. This applic ation was first created by Emagic, German software developer, but later became a property of Apple after Apple bought Emagic in the year 2002. Logic Pro is henceforth a segment of Apple's Logic Studio bundle which is important to works done by a journalist (Burns, 2007, p. 121). A journalist needs to understand the working of the major features of Logic Pro. With Logic Pro skills in hand, a journalist with Logic Pro skills is more marketable in 2012 since he / she is able to broadcast his / her message with high quality that enhances his message. Final Cut Pro X Final Cut Pro X is software that is of great use to journalists as it contains several unique features that enable them perform their duties more efficiently and time consciously. It was issued in 2012 and is the most recent version of Final Cut Pro that enables one to organize, import, edit, sweeten, add effects, rate and deliver. One will observe discovery characteristics in all components of the work flow (Keeble, 2009, p . 98). Final Cut Pro X does not merely represent a different cut but is a completely new product that is characterized by a great new timeline, wonderful functioning and an active media system that basically eases the work of getting clips. The Final Cut Pro X has several fundamental features. There are three major divisions of the features which include: powerful media organization, revolutionary video editing and incredible performance. Since organizational skills are fundamental in this line of work to ensure meeting of deadlines and quality final products, knowledge in this software is fundamental to a modern day journalist. This is because it ensures orderliness and therefore making an individual with skill in it a prompt and efficient worker which is a key requirement of every employer in the field of journalism. Given that journalism is a time-oriented profession, knowledge in Final Cut Pro X is a must have for an individual seeking employment in this modern times. This is be cause of the high speeds that are directly proportional to quality associated with the software. Individuals proficient in the operations of this software are therefore at an added advantage when it comes to employment opportunities (Chapman & Marie, 2009, p. 81). Employers have been known to give top priority to those who are equipped on matters concerning

Sunday, September 8, 2019

MGT506 - Strategic Leadership, Mod 5 Case Assignment Essay

MGT506 - Strategic Leadership, Mod 5 Case Assignment - Essay Example The implication is that a leader must always lead by example which is expressed by doing that which is expected to be done in the correct way and time so that he rest of the population being led can follow the example and do things the way he has done them. Shamir defines a leader as a person that is considered the best in doing something or carrying out an activity, that a leader is the head of an organization or a country and is one that is considered the best in doing things that are supposed to be done by the people or group he or she is leading. He adds that the term leader refers to one who is in front of a group and is responsible for the actions of the group (Shamir, 1991). To this extent therefore what Shamir is trying to imply is that a leader must ensure that the people he or she is leading do the right thing all the times. Good leaders in essence act as mirrors to those that they lead which is a reflection of what the people should do even in the absence of the leader. He is the root map that people view to get the right direction to follow in order to make straight their progress in life, the Pacesetters in everything that goes on in the community around them. A good leader as Shamir would put it is visionary in the sense that he or she leads the people towards the realization if they're set dreams for a better future and a better life in the times to come (Shamir, 1991) . A number of people in the world have satisfied this definition and proved their worth to fall in the list most successful and honored leaders of the world given their excellent performance and determination in leadership positions. This paper is going to examine the qualities of a good leader and define the requirements for good leadership with reference to the example of the former South African Anti- Apartheid activist and president, Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela As a Visionary Leader Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918 in the current republic of South Africa. He was ado pted by the king of the Thembu tribe of South Africa after his father’s death just a few years after his resignation from the British employment (Mandela, 1994). While growing up among the king’s children, Nelson Mandela learned of the styles of leadership from the way the king used to handle cases brought to him from various regions within his kingdom. He also learned of the mode of relationship that the king had with the neighboring kingdoms in a bid to create peace and unity with the neighbors. In essence, the excellent style of leadership that Nelson Mandela portrayed as the first black president of the new republic of South Africa was learnt in this context right at the king's palace in the Thembu kingdom. (Waldman, 2006) David A Waldman in his journal article entitled Cultural and leadership predictors of corporate social responsibility values of top management: a GLOBE study of 15 countries defines leadership in the context of taking collective social responsibi lity taken at three levels. Of prime importance in this case is the dimension concerned with the community or state welfare, which he argues extends beyond just a particular stakeholder group include the larger societal entity which involves such values and actions as

Saturday, September 7, 2019

What Motivates Real Estate Investment Trusts to engage in open market Essay

What Motivates Real Estate Investment Trusts to engage in open market share repurchases in the U.S - Essay Example vational factors for share repurchase but most of these studies excluded REITs, given the existing regulatory framework under which each REITs is required to pay 95 percent of their earnings as dividends. Under such a scenario this paper has made an attempt to find out whether the factors that motivate other firms to buy back shares through open market purchase can also influence REITs significantly in doing the same. This study has however found that the factors, which motivate other firms, are not capable of motivating REITs. In many countries, like the Unites States, the United Kingdom, etc. companies have the power to buy back their own shares through a share repurchase program. On many occasions, management of a company can decide to buy back a particular proportion of its shares floating outside the firm. Since 1980, share repurchase by firms in the United States has increased significantly. When a firm repurchases a particular portion of its own share, it actually distributes lump sum amount of cash to its existing shareholders and takes away from them a fraction of the outstanding share of the firm in exchange of that cash. Stock repurchase can be done through various methods. In U.S., very often the firms employ the method of open market repurchase of shares. There exist a number of studies in the field of finance and accounting researches, which have attempted to explore major motivational factors behind share, repurchase for different types of firms (Jensen, 1986; Stephens and Weisnach, 1998; Dittmar, 2000; Fenn and Liang, 2001; Jolis, 1998 etc). Most of the companies, which earn profits, make use of these profits in two ways. First, a particular part of the profits are paid to the equity holders of the firms in the form of dividends. Second, the rest of the profits, which is generally known to be as the shareholder’s equity, are used to be kept within the firm for the purpose of using it to finance future investment projects. However, it is not

Friday, September 6, 2019

Microscopy, Cardiac muscle, Cornea, Eye Essay Example for Free

Microscopy, Cardiac muscle, Cornea, Eye Essay Abstract: Short {250 words max) overview of the experience that will summarize the objectives, methods, data collection and conclusion for the reader. This is a snapshot (advertisement) of your paper to entice the reader! Introduction: {WHY} you did this lab. For observation and dissection lab reports you simply want to inform the reader of your prior research/ readings on the subject and point out that before you did the experiment you had gaps in your knowledge and understanding of the topic. In other words this is the objectives section! Materials and methods- list the materials needed to repeat this lab and describe your methods {dissection procedure), how to use the microscope. Results/Observation Table Specimen Image/ Name/ magnification| Structures | Examples and functions| (Image)| Cell types, structures present, identification specific characteristics.| Describe where it is found in the body, its function as a unit or within a system.| | | | | | | | | | | | | Explanation of results: describe what you have observed as a narrative of the observation table in detail to a reader as if they were not there. Discussion- The â€Å"so what† portion of the lab report! Discuss findings and the significance of your data. You can use strong first person statements like I conclude that the samples of cardiac muscle were significantly different from skeletal muscles in that cardiac muscle tissue shows obvious intercalated disks and lacks the multinucleate presence of the skeletal muscle. Include a sentence or two on How to improve the experiment in the future or what the next step could be†¦ References: APA format is common and most acceptable. Sample discussion: The student performed the sheep eye dissection by following the standard procedure outlined in the Carolina guide. This dissection required proper safety equipment and attention to detail when making the initial incision through the sclera in order to maintain the choroid and retinal areas within the eye. The student used dissection scissors to remove the outer muscles and expose the location of the optic nerve within the adipose protective tissue associated with the posterior and lateral eye. Scissors were used to further open the sclera since the pressure from the scalpel would detach internal structures. Delicate and precise incisions were required to maintain the lens and attachment to the cilliary bodies or ligaments that suspend the lens within the aqueous humor behind the cornea. Aqueous humor and vitreous humor were observed in situ as the cornea and sclera were separated using scissors and pins to stabilize the specimen. The student made note of the unique structure called the tapetum which allows the sheep to have acute nocturnal vision. The tapetum is located deep to the retina and serves as a reflector and enhancer of the light wavelengths available at night. Having completed the dissection the student decided to further the experience in a future lab by comparing eye structures of other mammals or non-mammal animals in order to determine if there are structural similarities to the mammal eye.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Is Mass Surveillance Unethical?

Is Mass Surveillance Unethical? Surveillance is no different from the casual practice of people watching, but instead of being a casual practice that might occur at one park, or at one restaurant, mass surveillance is sustained over time, and is done on a significant number of people. This practice was put in place to pay attention not just to any random person that roams the streets, but to pay attention to a specific group of people and for a specified reason. This is what raises much controversy about the issue of mass surveillance. It does not have to involve watching, sometimes it can also be done by listening, smelling, or detective hardware. When a cellphone conversation is bugged, this is mass surveillance. When a dog is used to sniff out drugs at the border, this is mass surveillance. The ethics behind this issue have been debated time and again, but whichever point wins, it still remains to be seen that surveillance is a neutral activity whose application can be geared towards good or bad (Cohen, p25). Ye t most continue to argue over the morality of the issue. As we delve into this matter, there will be specific questions that logically need to be answered in order create a proper analysis that has the capability to be brought to a final conclusion and answer. Whose responsibility is it to spy on the masses? And under which circumstances is it right to listen is? Is mass surveillance right at all? These are the questions that thus paper will explore—analyzing the two sides to the sharp edged sword that is mass surveillance. The History of Mass Surveillance Ethics Jeremy Bentham came up with the idea of The Panopticon- an idea that was considered among the first to contribute to the ethical debate on mass surveillance (Bentham 1995). The proposed the concept of The Panopticon – a circular prison whose cells were adjacent to the outside walls and whose center had a tower that hosted the prison manager. The work of this manager would be to watch the inmates as they went about their daily business. It would be built in such a way that the supervisor would see the inmates, but the watched could not see this supervisor at any point in time. There would also be a means of communication that allowed the supervisor on top of the tower to shout out their demands to the prisoners. The principle of the system was that these prisoners would not know they were under surveillance, but seeing as the supervisor would somehow have access to all their secrets, they would, eventually, come to assume that they were being watched and listened to at all times (Cropf, Cropf & Bagwell, p65). This would, in turn, encourage them to behave in the required manner, and in case they had visitors over, these visitors would also be discouraged from committing crimes on the behalf of the inmates. The concept of the Panopticon does not end there. In his book, 1984, George Orwell takes this concept to a whole new level (Orwell 2004). Orwell magnified this concept to reach way beyond the inmates in Bentham’s idea. In 1984, the Panopticon took the shape of a two-way television that gave the government visual and audio access to the homes and work offices of its citizens. In the case of prisoners, these citizens would always be reminded that they were being watched. Orwell discusses both the reasons and the impact of doing something like this. Further exploring this issue is Michel Foucault in the book Discipline and Punish (Foucault 1991). The book explores the obvious use and abuse of power that is behind the idea of mass surveillance. He analyzes how prisons have grown from a means of punishment, to a way of punishing and disciplining offenders for their wrongs. With something like the Panopticon, Foucault argues that prisoners became like social experiments- denied their very basic freedoms in an attempt to punish and discipline them. These three references in history raised fundamental questions on the ethics of surveillance, and although their text mostly revolves around a prison setting, one cannot help but equate this concept to society such that the general population in a country become the prisoners, and the supervisor watching from the tower at the center of the Panopticon becomes the government. Modern Surveillance Surveillance has evolved from a primitive and a careless procedure to a carefully planned out scheme that involves more than a few parties. The technological advancements that the contemporary society so enjoys has become the very tool to be used against them. This realization has made people question the role of mass surveillance. This debate has spilled over to the field of academics where fields of study like Surveillance Studies have come up, brining jurists, sociologists, philosophers, and scientists together to examine the ethics, the science, and the reasons behind mass surveillance (Cropf, Cropf & Bagwell, p80). Today, thanks to technology, mass surveillance has become very complex, both as a social subject and as a science. Now, people can be watched with discreteness thanks to the mobility and small size of freshly invented mass surveillance devices. Surveillance is like a wide, wild wave from the ocean that no one ever sees coming. Take the instance of CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) cameras. These devices are there to gaze and stare as people mover about daily. On the other side is an anonymous viewer that is slowly making conclusions about the way we walk, the way we talk, and the way we live. Unlike the centralized Panopticon, this type of mass surveillance is watching people on an unimaginable scale. The network behind this system transfers magnitude of information back and forth every passing minute (Fuchs, p46). The computerized society is practically exposing itself to be watched and followed around. But surveillance is here for two reasons- to stalk and probe into the private affairs of other people, or to bring forth justice. In some cases, surveillance has even been known to be accepted by the people being watched. This makes it a very ethnically neutral subject, and hence very hard to be explored. The only things left to be analyzed are the proportionality of surveillance, or the methods used to surveil, or the justification of the cause. With such concepts in mind, other smaller but equally significant issues like autonomy, trust and privacy come up in relation to ethics. Forms of Mass Surveillance CCTVs and databases are still used to monitor people today, but for the most part, mass surveillance is done on the internet. Communications are what are monitored these days, including the activity on our mobile devices and computers (Fuchs, p64). Phone spying is done by geography. People in a specific area using a specific cell tower are surveilled together. There are also some cases when the government can set up fake mobile base stations so as to listen in on all the communication ongoing in a specific area, for instance, during a riot that is likely to turn violent. The limitations of mass surveillance devices are virtually disappearing and the government can now access more information than ever. Cell phone conversations are saved by phone companies to be retrieved incase the government needs it. All this information comes with immense power. Even in our homes there is surveillance. The invention of smart devices enables companies to monitor our electricity usage, and smart cities track vehicles for miles on end using sensors and cameras (Babcock & Freivogel, p34). The legality of these devices has been documented, so the only thing that is left for us to debate on is their ethicality. What is the Problem of Mass Surveillance? Governments have tried to sugarcoat the situation by calling mass surveillance ‘bulk collection of communications’, but however it is phrased, it is still just mass surveillance.   The problem is that mass surveillance interferes with privacy. This point cannot be stressed enough because all surveillance devices are bent on one goal- record it all. They are created specifically to mine data, to exploit data, to draw conclusions from this data, and to try and create patters from the information if provides (Babcock & Freivogel, p53). Systems are made specifically to filter out suspicious words and to determine relationships between suspicious persons. Mass surveillance, at the very beginning, assumes that each and every person is a suspect. Slowly but surely, most of the population is eliminated from this bracket. People are correlated on the basis of what many be nothing more than a coincidence. Visiting the same website at the same time, or going to the same restaurant every morning for coffee- conclusions are made from the little connections that can be made. With the little details, patterns can be created and the government can have a whole idea of what an individual’s life is like. By listening to what they do, what they say, what they buy, what they eat, and where they go, law enforcement agencies can create 100 percent accurate profiled on people without these people ever knowing. With this kind of information, there is always risk. In as much as there might be very strong guidelines put in place to protect the information from abuse, there will always be the few cases that slip through the cracks (Babcock & Freivogel, p74). Mass surveillance therefore becomes a danger to the very people that it is meant to protect. Those who end up as victims of such abuses suffer the worst mistakes of mass surveillance as the attacker usually has all the personal information anyone would need to cause harm. This is called the ‘chilling effect’ of surveillance. Sure, it is meant to protect and it does protect, but generally, mass surveillance puts people on alert. There is a difference between being watched and not being watched, most people are just too used to it to even notice, but take mass surveillance away and people will be freer to commit all sorts of acts- not necessarily criminal acts, but acts nevertheless. Ultimately, we believe that mass surveillance is there to protect us, but before we can be protected, how much do we have to give up? Our innovation? Our free imagination and free speech? Do we have to succumb to conformity just to be safe? Do we have to stand something so unethical? The Ethics of Privacy, Autonomy and Trust Privacy is an important this to society- it makes us feel safe, makes us feel in control again, even if just for a while. Mass surveillance is a threat to this privacy, or at least that is what most people use to make their arguments against it. Especially at the individual level, privacy is an important thing. It is called the right to privacy for a reason- it is not in the place of anyone, not even the state, to take it away from people without their consent. This right is really a blanket policy that incorporates other minor rights within itself. There is a right to privacy of property, and there is a right to personal privacy. This right, apart from consisting of other sub-rights, does not stand on its own. The right to privacy, in this respect, ceases to be a distinct right at all. It is consisted of the right to autonomy, and other such rights. For instance, when a person disposes their diary, it is violation of their right to pick up this diary and read it. This is a violation of the right to dispose of property privately. Torturing a person so as to get certain information from them is a violation of their right not to be physically hurt (Baxi, McCrudden & Paliwala, p56).   Yet in both these examples, there is still a violation of privacy among other rights. The definition of the right to privacy is therefore not definite. Mass surveillance cannot violate something that is not even definitely explained in the first. We are therefore forced to come up with our own definition of this right so that we can survive with the idea that we are being watched and listened to at all moments of the day. Privacy gives us some control and some dignity. As we interact with other people, a large amount of our security and our confidence comes from our privacy. Even though we know nothing about the strangers we meet each day, we feel safe with the notion that these people don’t know anything about us. If strangers knew our weaknesses, then they might use them against us, so we feel safe knowing that no one knows anything about our private lives. But mass surveillance violates this safe zone. In mass surveillance, we are exposed to an all-seeing eye and in a way, we are made to feel as though our secrets are out in the open. But the public has a level of dependency on the government, and in this way, it becomes okay for the state to violate our privacy for the greater good. But the more surveillance is used as an excuse to violate the privacy of the public, the more that people lose their sense of autonomy(Baxi, McCrudden & Paliwala, p76). Mass surveillance makes it so that we are not as confidence to speak in public. It entices fear because we know that any and everything we do has severe consequences. Using mass surveillance to make sure people don’t commit any crimes is like forcing them to be good, and this just increases their need for rebellion. So if the population becomes better because they are being watched, it can be argued that these actions are only pretentious, and if the mass surveillance equipment is taken away, then the public will back to its true colors. In this way, the government is also dependent on mass surveillance, and therefore it becomes unethical in such a way that it is used as a crutch for the state to control the behavior of its citizens. Why Surveillance? So many people jump straight to the impact that mass surveillance has on people- no one ever really stops to ask why surveillance is installed all around them. It is a basic assumption that surveillance is for security purposes, and while this might be true, this question still needs to be explored is the ethical foundation of mass surveillance is to be determined   (Cohen, p37). Yet even as we jump to security reasons as the obvious answer this question, the degree of security devices around us is a bit too much. There is also the question of who is monitoring the footage that is recorded on all the cameras. Take the example of political insurgents- is surveilling them really going to improve the security of the state? The first thing we need to understand is that their more than a few forms of surveillance. This practice extends far beyond the CCTV cameras on our streets and in our offices- mass surveillance has roots in each and every sector of the country. But security is not the only reason for mass surveillance. Retail stores and other companies get information on the kinds of goods that customers buy from the information on their loyalty cards- this is also a form of mass surveillance. The customers, in exchange of some discount deals of similar promotions, gladly participate in such forms of surveillance (Cohen, p57). Is this to be considered unethical? How can it be unethical when the shopping experience of these customers will be improved through their participation? Looking at transportation, especially public transit, people can now use the subway even with no money on them. This is as a result of the invention of smart cards. Using these cards, a person’s spending can be tracked and if they get into some medical trouble when far away from home, the cards can be used to identify who they are and provide their medical history. If police officers need to establish the credibility of a suspect’s alibi, then they can simply track their credit card movements and build a profile from there. These forms of surveillance are not only beneficial, they can sometimes be essential to the well-being of people. This is in no way unethical. Mass surveillance can be used for individual needs as well. A financially unstable computer genius might decide to use their skills to hack into a credit card company server and steal the numbers, hence taking other people’s money (Cohen, p81). The hacker is unethical, but the credit card company is not unethical for monitoring the spending of their customers. This makes mass surveillance both ethical and unethical- it all depends on how the issue is approached. For personal reasons, people might choose to exploit the mass surveillance equipment already in place to invade the privacy of others. These systems have a lot of personal information about many different people, and for this reason, they are sensitive. If used for good, mass surveillance can benefit millions, but is allowed into the wrong hands, then an unlucky few will suffer for it. Is it ethical, therefore, to allow the few to suffer for the well-being of the many? This brings up a whole other division of ethics that will take time and research to explore, but mass surveillance is not a subject to be approached in black and white. There are issues of distribution- who gets to suffer and who gets to live if a specific instance of mass surveillance goes wrong? There is the issue of consent. Supermarket customers have to agree to participate in promotions that monitor their spending and the kind of goods they buy, but criminals being investigated are denied to right to consent to privacy intrusion, and the law has no obligation to them as long as they are suspects (Cohen, p87). There is a concept of the greater good involved here, and for the few that have to fall victim to the dark side of mass surveillance, one million others get to live. Is this justified? No. but neither is it unjustified. Who is in Charge? As the party being watched loses autonomy and power, the surveilling party gains more power and control. The information that most people would rather keep to themselves is known- it is out there in the public and the chances of it circulating even further are higher. There is a power imbalance between the masses and the people that are in charge of mass surveillance. In this context, surveillance becomes wrong, almost like a primitive form of intimidation. It becomes unethical and very dangerous for all the parties involved. Everyone, no matter how insignificant, is entitled to certain basic rights. These are such as the right to freely speak, the right to interact with other people, and the right to freely protest against that which one finds distasteful. These rights are law and are preached to all citizens every waking day, but with mass surveillance, they become less equated to human rights and become more equated to evidence (Pandey, p24). If there is a record of a person speaking freely for or against certain beliefs they have, then thus record can be used against them if they are ever suspected of committing a crime. People, therefore, decide to stay low and only speak in the shadows, for the state holds all the power. When it comes to a point when a person’s rights are no longer their own, then mass surveillance is considered to have crossed the ethical line. The simplest democratic practices are hindered by cameras and such monitoring devices. What is the point of giving away privileges only to use them against the very people that are supposed to be protected by these privileges? There is also the question of distance. The surveilling team is literally on the other side of the screen- adding to the power imbalance between the authorities and the masses (Pandey, p32). This gives a sense of two very different parties where one in pulling the strings and the other party has to adhere to all the rules or there will be consequences. People are spied upon, denied basic rights, and made to feel powerless. In this way, mass surveillance becomes unethical, even though it is used to protect these very people. Nothing to Hide There is a famous statement, â€Å"if you haven’t done anything wrong, then there is nothing to fear.† This statement has long been used to justify the ethics of surveillance. If the public has nothing to hide, then they have nothing to fear even if the government pricks and probes at the most private details of their lives. Looking at it carefully, however, it does make sense. Majority of the people have no criminal records, nor do they have any intention of committing any crimes in the future. In this sense, mass surveillance does not affect them in any way. Surveillance is only meant to catch the bad few and make the lives of others safer in the process. In this reasoning, the government has installed cameras, wiretaps, and record checks almost everywhere. Citizens are convinced that all this effort is for their own good, and once the terrorists have been eliminated, it will have been worth it. But the bad guys never quit, and every waking morning, the government finds new ways to get more information- both in quantity and in depth. It is true that mass surveillance makes it safer for the majority, but this does not make it ethical (Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p51). If the government mandated every citizen to walk around with a tracking device in an effort to advance mass surveillance, then it would make sense that anyone who refused to do so has something to hide and should be investigated further. But it can also be argued that such measures are simply wrong and in violation of most forms of privacy. So if most people refuse to willingly submit to the will of government and give themselves up to be examined, then it does not necessarily mean that these people are criminals, it just means that they value their privacy more than their security- or something like that. Yet, with the modern advancements in technology, the government can already track people even when they are not carrying any tracking devices on them. People can be tracked using their credit card actions, or using cameras that are lodged on every street corner(Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p74). These movements, however, can only be tracked to a certain extent. In this way, a person is able to be kept safe and they are also able to maintain their privacy. Yet this is not any better that if the government forcefully implemented a law that mandated everyone to carry around a tracking device. Both actions are invasive, and thus both actions are wrong, and just because one is more invasive than the other does not make the latter action any less unethical. There is also the issue of storage. After the information has been collected from the public, it is stored in archives that are vulnerable to hackers. There are people capable of accessing this information and using it to harm and not to protect. This puts the whole argument against the use of mass surveillance to watch the public. For instance, back in 2007, a worker from the Department of Commerce, Benjamin Robinson, accessed a government database and used the information within it to track the movements of his former girlfriend. He accessed this system at least 163 times before he was discovered, an if it had continued for any longer, then the girl that was being tracked could have ended up in real danger (Bishop, Miloslavskaya & Theocharidou,   p85). This man was unethical in his actions, but so was the government for collecting personal information and storing it in such a way that it could be accessed more than 100 times before any red flags were raised. When to use Mass Surveillance So when exactly is mass surveillance ethical? Would it be ethical when we are invaded and it is the only way that the invaders can be flushed out? Would it be ethical if the data collected in the devices is not used against the people that are supposed to be protected by the surveillance systems? There are lines that should not be crossed, the only problem is that these lines are not clear. According to M.I.T. Professor Gary Marx, there are a number of questions that need to be answered before mass surveillance can be implemented anywhere. Means The first issue that needs to be explored is the means of mass surveillance being used. Does it cause any sort of harm to the public, be it physical or psychological? Does the surveillance method have boundaries? The technique used should not be allowed to cross a certain line without consent of the party being surveilled. The techniques being used also needs to be trustworthy. The personal information of the people being surveilled should be kept safe and it should not be used against them. Is the method invasive to personal relationships? Lastly, the means used to enforce mass surveillance needs to produce results as they were- the results should be valid and not doctored in any way (Berleur & Whitehouse. P42). Context The second issue that has to be explored to justify mass surveillance is that of data collection context. Those being surveilled need to be aware that personal information is being collected on them, and they need to know who is collecting this information and why they are collecting it. These individuals need to agree to be surveilled- consent is a key issue. And then comes the golden rule- those that are responsible to setting up and implementing surveillance also need to be its subjects. In short, everyone, even government officials, need to agree to the same conditions that everyone else agrees to. Mass surveillance should indeed look out for the masses- no exceptions. For it to be ethically justifiable at all, then a certain principle of minimization needs to be enforced. Mass surveillance also has to be decided by the public. To come to the decision of setting up surveillance, a discussion has to be held publicly and people have to decide for or against it. If they decide to go through with it, then there needs to be a human review of the machines and the equipment that are to be used. The people that decide to be surveilled are also entitled to inspect the results of this surveillance and question how the results were created and how they are going to be used. They also have a right to challenge the records in case any obvious errors are made with the surveillance results (Berleur & Whitehouse. P62). Before mass surveillance can be allowed to function in society, then there needs to be a means of redress. In case any individual is treated unjustly because of surveillance, then there should be appropriate punishments in place for the perpetrator of the crime so as to phase out unethical surveillance behavior. The data collected needs to be protected adequately so as to avoid any unethical use of this information in the first place. Mass surveillance methods need to have very minimal negative effects, or preferable, no negative effects at all. Lastly, mass surveillance needs to be equal. The same methods used on the middle class need to be used on the upper class, and is there is a way of resisting mass surveillance, then the government needs to make sure that these methods are available to the privileged as well as to the less privileged (Berleur & Whitehouse. P69). If even one person can escape mass surveillance, then all the other members of the public have no business being watched by the government. Uses The final issue that has to be analyzed is that of the uses of the data that is collected from mass surveillance devices. Surveillance needs to have a certain goal- whether it is to improve the shopping experience of customers, or to reduce crime rate. The data collected needs to be useful in fulfilling this goal, otherwise, there is no point. In as much as the goal needs to be fulfilled, there also needs to be a perfect balance between fulfilling this goal and spending just the right amount of money- not too much for it to be wasteful, and not too little for the surveillance to bear worthless results. Before surveillance is implemented, the responsible party needs to make sure there is no other means that will cost less money and fulfill the same duties (Berleur & Whitehouse. P87). If it is too costly, then are there any consequences of not installing surveillance equipment, and if so, to what extent will these consequences affect society? How can the cost and the risk be minimized? The information collected needs to be used only for its intended purposes only and nothing more. Therefore, mass surveillance can be ethical, but it also has a large capacity to be unethical. Following this guideline, mass surveillance should be installed with no problems and with no major violations of any kind. However this issue is approached, there will always be a basic violation of privacy that is associated with surveillance, but the damage is controllable as long as the public consents to it. there needs to be appropriate measures and guidelines put in place before using any form of mass surveillance on a population, and these guidelines need to be adhered to by all the involved parties- be it the party surveilling, or the party being surveilled. How do we make Surveillance Ethical? There is a lot of fuss about mass surveillance. We should never stop discussing the underlying issues on mass surveillance, but we should also give the government a chance to prove that mass surveillance is truly for the good of the public and not just some scheme to keep citizens in check. Mass surveillance attempts to do the impossible- keep people safe while also maintaining an open and free society with people who are not afraid to express their views. Amidst all these issues, the question of how to make mass surveillance more ethical is often overlooked, but there is truly a way in which we can make sure that mass surveillance is justified and only in the best interest of the masses. For mass surveillance to be ethical, there needs to be a reason for it. Secretively spying on people without them knowing why or how is why surveillance is considered unethical, but approaching these people from a logical standpoint and explaining to them why mass surveillance is necessary is in every way ethical (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, p38). For surveillance to be ethical, there also needs to be transparency. This means that there should be integrity of motive- no secret agendas. Right from the way the data is collected to the way it is handled and used, there needs to complete honesty between the parties involved. The methods used need to be analyzed for proportionality, there must be laws put in place to protect the interests of those being surveilled, and lastly, there needs to be a clear prospect for success if mass surveillance is to be carried on for a long period of time (Duquenoy, Jones & Blundell, p78). Conclusion So, is mass surveillance unethical? Yes it is, and no, it is not. This is one of those issues that has to be examined in context. If a criminal hacks into the surveillance system of a particular government and uses it to commit a major crime, then this criminal is wrong, but this still does not make mass surveillance unethical. The justification and ethicality of mass surveillance are often treated as one subject, and in as much as they may overlap, they are quite different. For instance, it is justified for a government to put up cameras to protect the many while they focus on the few bad apples that are likely to commit crimes, but it is unethical that this same government is intruding the privacy of so many people just to catch a few criminals. In the same way, it is unethical to listen in on a cell phone conversation of a suspect in a criminal investigation, but if this person ends up being convicted because of the conversation, then it becomes justified, and to some extent, also ethical. If we go back to the basics, parents have to monitor their children in order for these infants to survive. In this context, the infants are viewed as powerless, helpless, and in need of constant care and attention. It is therefore the parent’s responsibility, both ethically and morally, to be there for their child. After these children grow, they become independent and are no longer in need of constant attention. These children start to pull away from their parents and seek out their own privacy. The same knowledge can be applied to the issue of mass surveillance. The public can be seen as children who have grown over time and earned the right to their own privacy, and yet the government persists on monitoring them constantly (Cohen, p85). In the public consents to this surveillance, then it becomes ethically justifiable for mass surveillance to continue, but without the public’s consent to surveillance, then it becomes wrong and an intrusion of privacy. Work cited Cropf, Robert A, Robert A Cropf, and Timothy C Bagwell. Ethical Issues And Citizen Rights In The Era Of Digital Government Surveillance. 1st ed. Print. Cohen, E.  Mass Surveillance And State Control. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Print. Gamino Garcia, Arkaitz et al.  Mass Surveillance. 1st ed. [Brussels]: [European Commission], 2015. Print. Pandey, Archit.  An Introduction To Mass Surveillance And International Law. 1st ed. Print. Baxi, Upendra, Christopher McCrudden, and Abdul Paliwala. Laws Ethical, Global And Theoretical Contexts. Essays In Honour Of William Twining. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Print. Babcock, William A, and William H Freivogel. The SAGE Guide To Key Issues In Mass Media Ethics And Law. 1st ed. Print. Berleur, J, and Diane Whitehouse. An Ethical Global Information Society. 1st ed. London: New York, 1997. Print. Laws Ethical, Global, And Theoretical Contexts. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press, 2015. Print. Bishop, Matt, Natalia Miloslavskaya, and Marianthi Theocharidou.  Information Security Education Across The Curriculum. 1st ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2015. Print. Duquenoy, Penny, Simon Jones, and Barry Blundell. Ethical, Legal And Professional Issues In Computing. 1st ed. Australia: Thomson, 2008. Print. Fuchs, Christian.  Internet And Surveillance: The Challenges Of Web 2.0 And Social Media. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ

The Lamentation over the Dead Christ Classicism in â€Å"The Lamentation over the Dead Christ† The Renaissance Era was an epoch of artistic resurgence in the history of Europe. This period was marked by developments in Italian Renaissance paintings with the renewal of classical forms, motifs and subjects. In edict to discern the Classicism that prospered during this age, conceivably without need, from the Classical architecture of the ancient Romans. The exploration for cerebral legitimacy through art set apart the period. During this period, contemporary Classicism was described as the â€Å"proper technique†. Methodically, this set in motion a blitz against Baroque art, which, with its highlighting of embellishment and delusion, was considered to be distinctly fictitious. Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), in particular, modeled his work entitled â€Å"The Lamentation over the Dead Christ† (c.1480) in rudiments of Classicism. Mantegna used mainly foreshortening, a perspective used for compressing objects from a definitive viewpoint and chiaroscuro, the contrast between light and shadows bring this painting to life with essentials of Classicism. In this period, Classicism took on more visibly structural insinuations of the use of perspective, chiefly by the use of Foreshortening. Foreshortening occurs when an object appears compressed when seen from a particular viewpoint, and the effect of perspective causes distortion. Foreshortening is a predominantly constructive creative mechanism, used to give the sense of three-dimensional capacity and generate emotion in a picture. To sensationalize the supine Christ in perception, Mantegna paints his light source higher up the horizon line, to create illusion that the viewer will appear to be looking at an angle. The more askew the vanishing point, the more slanted the icon will be, as seen in the painting. Because the body of Christ is supine and symmetrical, the vanishing point is diametrically in the core of the perspective line. Because the spectators plane is parallel to Christs head at this point, the base perspective line appears to be horizontal. This imaginary line gives the fundamental, foreshortening perspective. The farther away the image is from the viewer, the nearer the illusion is to being perpendicular to the portrait plane, as seen in the Dead Christ. The position of the mourners (The Virgin Mary and St. John) are on the horizon line, to th e left the desertion point (Christs Head), as another foremost model to carry this position of foreshortening. The expanse from this point to the center of the perspective line denotes the distance within the painting for the viewer. If the point is isolated from the vanishing point, the mourners will appear condensed, and distant. If it is too close, they will emerge lengthened, as if it is too close to the observer. Essentially distorting the ray of light traveling from its origin to the onlookers judgment and ruining the illusion within the painting. This element is key to understanding Mantegnas brilliance of perspective in this fresco. In the case of the holes in Christs hands and feet; the perspective of the light source that illuminates (at an angle) the area of the holes also represents the use of foreshortening on the picture plane. When the light source hits the area of the holes, it hits at the appropriate angle on the picture plane. In order for the resulting image to ap pear identical to the intended scene, the eyewitness of the perspective must scrutinize the image from the exact vantage point used in the geometric calculations comparative to Christ. This proper use of foreshortening abandons visual imperfections that what would appear to be alterations in the painting when analyzed from a discrete point. These conspicuous distortions in foreshortening are more evident when viewing Christs thorax; as the perspective estimated from the surroundings, to the spectator becomes more finely tuned and comparative to the portrait base. In application, unless the viewer desires a radical perspective, like viewing the body of Christ from the base, the perspective on the whole, is in all probability accurate. It has been recommended that a painting in standpoint still seems to be in perspective at other spots because the individual still distinguishes it as a painting, because of the quality in its profundity of field indications due to the use of foreshortening. For a emblematic perspective, conversely, the field of view in the Dead Christ is tapered to the point, that the distortions are negligible and the fresco can be viewed from a site other than the tangible designed vantage point without seeming distorted, which in turn, buttress Mantegnas conclusion to paint the feet of Christ less significant than the customary individuals. While speaking at a summit on Greek mathematics and philosophy, Plato (429-347 B.C.E.) was quoted in repute to artwork, as stating, Thus (through perspective) every sort of confusion is revealed within us; and this is that weakness of the human mind on which the art of conjuring and of deceiving by light and shadow and other ingenious devices imposes, having an effect upon us like magic And the arts of measuring and numbering and weighing come to the rescue of the human understanding (Plato qtd. in Kahn) The applied use of the expression â€Å"chiaroscuro†, is the outcome of light representation in painting, in which three- dimensional capacity is advocated by the measure of color and the systematic partition of light and shadow contours on a two dimensional plane in a model of artwork. The creation of these belongings in the West, Skiagraphia or shadow-painting to the primeval Greeks, was attributed to the celebrated Athenian painter of the 5th century BC, Apollodoros. In the print of the Dead Christ, the light is approaching in from one encoded course exceeding Christs body, then light and silhouette will match to a set of natural conventions. An underscore of luminosity on Christs shroud symbolizes the summit where the brilliance is being revealed most unswervingly. This is most often attributed as a lightened white area, as seen in the shroud in Figure 1. As the viewers eye moves away from this emphasis, radiance strikes the article less candidly and consequently broadcast s a darker assessment of hues on the shroud. This changeover continues until the onlooker reaches the point where the darkness of the piercingly drawn material meets the lighted portion of the shroud. Here, there is a more abrupt conversion to darker values since no light is salient between Christs feet. Some oblique light is offered on the underside of Christs feet as the muted side does not turn unyieldingly dark. This is the product of reflected and refracted daylight that logically become apparent within the painting. As the viewer looks at the intense frame of the body of Christ, it is noticeable that it is patently lighter than the shadowed area of the mourners. Light in the environment is illuminating the background. The throw shadows are at odds, with separate values as well. Then, as light becomes more available, the same cast shadow lightens in increments until it reaches the shadows circumference. Craigie Aitchison (1923-2009), a Scottish painter and one of the better kno wn critically esteemed Royal Academians (Members Royal Academy of Arts have a exclusive position in being recognized as reputed artists and architects whose sole objective is to endorse the creation, pleasure and awarnessof the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate), recalls the Dead Christ as his favorite painting, stating, â€Å"I like it because it tells a Story Its a wonderful reddy colour and terrifically drawn If ever a painting was clear, its this one. Its fantastically clear about the story its telling theres no muddling about. It couldnt be any other way.† (Aitchison). Mantegna dominates and operates this modus operandi to generate a inventive sense of pathos in the mourners and character in the Dead Christ. The Mantegna painting, with light entering from above, illustrates a faint modeling of chiaroscuro to give quantity to the body of Christ, which in turn, confirms the strong stimulus of Greek inspired Classicism in this fresco. The contrasts betw een light and shadows bring this painting to life with essentials of Classicism. The Renaissance Era was an epoch of artistic resurgence in the history of Europe. This period was marked by developments in Italian Renaissance paintings with the renewal of classical forms, motifs and subjects. In edict to discern the Classicism that prospered during this age, conceivably without need, from the Classical architecture of the ancient Romans. The exploration for cerebral legitimacy through art set apart the period. During this period, contemporary Classicism was described as the â€Å"proper technique†. Methodically, this set in motion a blitz against Baroque art, which, with its highlighting of embellishment and delusion, was considered to be distinctly fictitious. Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), in particular, modeled his work entitled â€Å"The Lamentation over the Dead Christ† (c.1480) in rudiments of Classicism. Mantegna used mainly foreshortening, a perspective used for compressing objects from a definitive viewpoint and chiaroscuro, the contrast between light and shadows bring this painting to life with essentials of Classicism. Mantegnas version of the Dead Christ, is regarded as an indispensable art piece exemplifying the use of Classicism. Thus, he deserves the acclaim for the merit of these essentials in his work of art.

The BMW Corporate Culture Essay example -- Business Analysis

When asked to describe the culture at BMW, to do that one must first give a few definitions of the word culture that would give the most accurate description. First would be â€Å"The sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, rituals institutions which can be connected to motivation, and art, from one generation to the next.† Motivated employees that show commitment to their tasks has proven to be a crucial factors that help to motivate employees to work in line with the goals and aspirations of the company. Secondly we would use â€Å"Intellectual and artistic activity and the works produced by it.† Thirdly one would use â€Å"The behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.† At the German BMW Plant, employees there have the perception that their culture is quite unique because the atmosphere is very cheerful and friendly which allow everyone to be at ease with their work. The employees take pride in having the opportunity to express their opinions as well as their likes and dislike in their departmental meetings. BMW has proven to be a huge competitor in the auto industry with more than $60 billion dollars in sales, which is still much smaller than its American rivals. There are few companies that have been as consistent as BMW in integrating and producing its ever-changing product line, with its luxurious features and its unmistakable quality. Much of BMW’s highly rated success stems from an entrepreneurial culture that is rare in most corporations but is common in the ideology that the Germanys believe in. With diversity being a priority for the BMW Company still over three quart... ... one can be and making those around them be the best they can be as well. Also when one has a product that is second to none and one can be a part of a team that done so will give one a since of proud as that the BMW founders have in themselves and what they are able to build. Working in such an environment where diversity is what shows the people who they are and what they have done to make their product on the cutting edge of technology and performance will be an identity that one will be able to walk with your head held high knowing that they are the best. Works Cited Alvesson Mats & Berg Per Olof(1992). Corporate Culture and Organizational Symbolism. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter& Co Bang Henning(1999). Organisationskultur. Lund Studentlitteratur Hofsted, Geert(1991). Cultures and Organizations Software of the mind. McGraw Hill International UK