Free Essays on The Sphinx

or less, stated that he believed that the survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis had built the Sphinx as early as 10,500 BC. He also believed that the survivors had concealed beneath it a "Hall of Records" containing all the wisdom of their lost civilization and the true history of the human race (dreamscape.com/morgana/hancock.htm, 2001). All three of the sources that I acquired information from seem to be very credible. Sure, not all of t... Free Essays on The Sphinx Free Essays on The Sphinx The questions discussed in this paper are â€Å"when was the Great Sphinx built?† and also, â€Å"what kinds of kooky things have you heard about the Sphinx?† The biggest controversy surrounded the Sphinx is not the question why was it built, but instead the question when was it built. There are two different theories that answer this question and they both seem to be logical answers. The first is that it was built around the same time as the construction of the Pyramid of Khafre, around (1425 - 1417 BC) (http://interoz.com/egypt/sphinx.htm, 2001). This is the theory that most archaeologists adhere to because they believe the Sphinx represents the Sun god, the king as the god Horus, or a king in the leonine form of a god (Archaeology, September 1994). However a new, more intriguing theory is beginning to gain support among Egyptologists. The new theory states that the Sphinx is much older than what was previously thought. Perhaps being built up to 12,000 years ago. The evidence that this theory is based on is that the pattern of erosion is due mainly to a very large amount of water. This indicates that the Sphinx was carved at the end of the last Ice Age, when heavy rains last fell on the eastern Sahara (dreamscape.com/morgana /hancock.htm, 2001). The second question being asked was â€Å"what kinds of kooky things have you heard about the Sphinx?† The â€Å"kookiest† thing that I could find involved the late American psychic, Edgar Cayce. Cayce, in more words or less, stated that he believed that the survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis had built the Sphinx as early as 10,500 BC. He also believed that the survivors had concealed beneath it a "Hall of Records" containing all the wisdom of their lost civilization and the true history of the human race (dreamscape.com/morgana/hancock.htm, 2001). All three of the sources that I acquired information from seem to be very credible. Sure, not all of t...

Acid-Base Titration Calculation

Acid-Base Titration Calculation An acid-base titration is a neutralization reaction performed in the lab to determine an unknown concentration of acid or base. The moles of acid will equal the moles of the base at the equivalence point. So if you know one value, you automatically know the other. Heres how to perform the calculation to find your unknown: Acid-Base Titration Problem If youre titrating hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide, the equation is: HCl NaOH → NaCl H2O You can see from the equation there is a 1:1 molar ratio between HCl and NaOH. If you know that titrating 50.00 ml of an HCl solution requires 25.00 ml of 1.00 M NaOH, you can calculate the concentration of hydrochloric acid, HCl. Based on the molar ratio between HCl and NaOH, you know that at the equivalence point: moles HCl moles NaOH Acid-Base Titration Solution Molarity (M) is moles per liter of solution, so you can rewrite the equation to account for molarity and volume: MHCl x volumeHCl MNaOH x volumeNaOH Rearrange the equation to isolate the unknown value. In this case, you are looking for the concentration of hydrochloric acid (its molarity): MHCl MNaOH x volumeNaOH / volumeHCl Now, simply plug in the known values to solve for the unknown: MHCl 25.00 ml x 1.00 M / 50.00 ml MHCl 0.50 M HCl

Human Factors and the Insider Threat Research Paper

Human Factors and the Insider Threat - Research Paper Example The cyber security is a framework which enables the users to protect their cyber assets through preventing, detecting, countering and recovering the cyber incidents (Mehan, 2008). Although many practitioners assess the cyber security as a technical approach, there are many human aspects of acquiring cyber security. It is important to understand the significance of human contribution in the cyber security processes. Incorporating human behavior into the process can lead to a more efficient use of cyber space and reduction in cybercrime. Cyber security is dealt with not only access to technology but also to the understanding of the human user. There are many aspects of human behavior that make the cyber security processes effective in which education and training play an important role. It has been a long debate that technology advanced and gives the humans a better way of living but due to the human behavior, most of the times the technologies are exploited, wasted and misused. It is important to use the cyberspace without interfering and annoying other users. This will reduce the amount of cybercrimes which includes hacking, transferring the data and others. With effective human factors, a cyber environment can be created which provides the users with all the functions along with personal and national security (Shinder &Â  Cross, 2008). There are many challenges in managing the human aspects of cyber security. Cybercrimes take place at a high rate including personal information being leaked, invasion in the data of national concern, hacking accounts etc. The reasons for the cybercrimes may be many from personal to professional. Any person who has the expertise in computers and cyberspace can hack or access any user’s information. Many times it is unknown to the user that who committed the action. However, managing the cybercrimes can be very challenging as recently seen it has become a challenge

What made the Soviet experiment work, and what did eventually lead to Essay

What made the Soviet experiment work, and what did eventually lead to its failure - Essay Example This paper has presented a comprehensive account of the cause of the revolution. It has described how, a rush into a new system with very little knowledge and experience, coupled with other factors such as; conflicts within the parties, and the civil war; led to the failure of the soviet experiment. There is a description of the soviet experiment. Also included is a description of capitalism and its integration with the Russian economy, as well as, a description of socialism and its compatibility to the Russian economy. There is also a discussion about the qualities of the revolutionary leaders that led to the success and failure of the experiment, conflict between the two parties that formed the revolution, the civil war, and the outcome that led to the abandonment of socialism. All these have been described with reference to examples from historical texts and documents.Before 1914, Russia was a country of great wealth considering the farmed land estates that it had. These lands wer e however, inadequately used and there were millions of peasant farmers that grew poorer by the day due to increased population of industrial works, and high rents imposed on them by the landlords. The state of the economy of Russia was not good because of a variety of factors. Russia had no domestic market for its industrial products. The country had built a railway to be used to export products, and also invested largely on foreign capital.

Teaching assistant diplom Essay Example for Free

Teaching assistant diplom Essay Introduction In this essay I will be analysing what influence the recession has had on consumer behaviour and the cause behind those changes in performance. A recession is defined as two straight quarters of depressing economic growth, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. Consumer behaviour can be defined as ‘The study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy products. The recent recession began in December 2007 and produce from the USA‘s advance market, mortgages were being proposed to people who simply could not afford to include one. As a result the property market collapsed and the economic down turn rapidly spread to the rest of the world’s financial system, therefore there is now a worldwide recession. With the banking world in turmoil there have been effects for other industries. For example, the car industry is one of the most terrible hit industries because banks are now being particularly alert about lending capital. This means that whilst a customer may wish a new car they are unable to fulfil those needs because there is no way of them generating the resources which would allow them to make the purchase. This can be demonstrated by the fact Toyota has suffered a loss of $4.4 billion4. It is Toyotas first loss in 59 years which added highlights how bad the recent recession is. Furthermore, the fall down of the property market has not just changed the behaviour of consumers in this industry although, it has also had knock on affects. For example, because less people are being contributed mortgages, due to the fact a 20-30% deposit is needed, there is usually less demand for new houses to be built because they basically would not be bought in the current climate. The sale of fewer houses then affects furnishing stores as there are hardly any consumers who need new furniture. Therefore, it is important to realise that consumer behaviour is related between industries. Impact of recession on consumer Consumer behaviour will also change during a recession depending on  demographics which include age, gender and occupation. Research conducted by Price Water House Coopers put forwards the most influenced age group is the 60-65+ year olds who are retired or come up to retirement, followed by 18-24 year olds, then 45-60 year olds and ultimately 25-44 year olds be likely to be the least affected by the downturn. The worst affected are the 60-65+ year olds because the UK government implements an economic policy. This means the government regulates the money supply and interest rates to direct the economy. As OAPs rely on their savings to supplement their pension it means in the current incidents they are earning significantly less money than they were in prior years because interest rates are currently at 0.5% contrasted with 4.5% in 2005. This clearly has huge affects on their buying behaviour because they are forced to create cuts which they may not want to make but have to go throu gh requirement due to major reduced disposable profits. With idleness soaring during a recession this affects consumer behaviour as individuals become more alert about their spending due to the fear of unemployment or unemployment. During the current recession it is the 18-24 year olds who are bearing the most with unemployment. However, with unemployment rates presently at 7.8% the increase in cautiousness, and the alarm of unemployment is not isolated to purely this age group as individuals who have seen friends, family or colleagues lose their jobs share the same sentiments and fears that they could be next. This has a huge impact on consumer confidence and therefore consumers will look to reign in their spending. Consumers adjust their frame of mind to being more adjusted towards saving money rather than spending money because of the uncertainty which surrounds their future. This involves the consumer’s behaviour towards products. Luxury products such as top of the range food, cars, clothes and perfumes etc are similarly to see sales drop spectacularly as consumers look for methods of decreasing their spending whilst maximising how far their budget goes. For example, an average family may choose to t he drop brand level of food for their weekly shop. So rather than buying the Tescos finest variety they would buy the Tesco Value range. Research proposes that on average you can save 33% for each product for a one level drop. For a family hit by the recession this would be a major saving and this emphasizes how when times are hard value is the most vital factor for the consumer and their behaviour will return this. During a recession many consumers are  forced to down grade their preferences in order to make living monetary viable. By staring at the performance of Dominos pizza it is evident to spot that consumers are changing their activities. Dominos pizza recorded a 20% rise in returns for the first half of 2009. This is an outcome of cash strapped families opting to stay in and order takeaways as a form of a treat rather than eating out at restaurants and pubs. This means the restaurants and pubs are experiencing the brunt of the change in the recession as equal to 75% of British family’s say they will avoid equally eating and drinking out of the house. This does not however mean that households are cutting alcohol out of their life. Instead British households are choosing to drink at home wi th the average spend per household thought to be  £35 per week. So the consumers behaviour is changing in the form of where they purchase their products rather than what they are purchasing in this case. Conclusion On the whole, it is enormously vital to recognise that consumer behaviour is affected by the recession. However it must be noted that the changes in consumer behaviour are very much charge on the industry and products concerned. This is underlined by the aforementioned points, so for example the car industry, construction and property market were the most unhelpfully affected even as industries which allow diversion benefit from the recession i.e. the entertainment sector and the cinema. Finally, consumer behaviour will evermore face affected. It will be affected depending what stage of the life cycle the country is at, therefore the only way to reduce the adverse affects and take benefit of the positive affects is for businesses to be flexible. These way businesses have the best opportunity of helping consumers to get equilibrium in the homeostasis see-saw which is more and more difficult to achieve in a recession as consumers face more limitations. Referencing UKessays.co.uk [online]. (2003 2014). Available from: . [Accessed 30 march 2014]. Wikipedia [online]. (28 March 2014). Available from: . [Accessed 30 march 2014].

Performers in Eighteenth Century British Theatre :: European Europe History

Performers in Eighteenth Century British Theatre Eighteenth century British theatre was perhaps the starting point that would evolve into modern theatre. Women started to be allowed on stage and acting techniques were beginning to change. Leading performers were like celebrities with a number of fans. Theatre was an intricate part of the social ladder. In the overall scheme of things the actors and actresses played an important part in making the theatre what it was. Without the performers there wouldn’t really be theatre, so in order to understand the eighteenth century British theatre the performers of that era need to be understood. The social standing of actors and actresses in the late eighteenth century was mostly understood to be of the lower class but they were not always treated so. "Many performers, furthermore, were received everywhere with cordiality and respect. Several of them made marriages with persons of distinction;" (Hogan, cxx). A problem that would often occur to dampen a performer's social standing would be the result of a character they played. People of the audience would often hold the performer accountable for the faults of their character. "For an actress to portray an adulteress was not only immodest, but it would almost certainly induce her to become one in reality; of an actor profligacy and immorality were his chief characteristics;" (Hogan, cxx). In a season that could involve 200 nights of performances over 100 plays may be produced (Hogan, ciii). With this in mind many actors and actresses would need to be available to play a great number of parts. For example, "in 1794-95 Quick's first appearance was on 24 September, his last on 25 May. This is a period of 177 nights, out of which he acted on 149, in 47 different parts" (Hogan, cii). With such an abundance of parts to be learned and understood performers had to develop a system to remember everything. There is no exact detailed system to how performers did this than just completely taking time to focus on the part. Hogan provides an example from Michael Kelly‘s Reminiscences that is perfect in showing the focus and discipline performers had to have. â€Å"Previous to the opening of the newly constructed Drury lane in the spring of 1794 its acting manager. John Philip Kemble, must clearly have had his mind occupied with countless details: the superintendence of a large crew of house servants and workmen, of finances, of advertising, of preparing a spectacular revival of Macbeth.

Analysis of Charles Dickens’ †Sketches by Boz Essay

‘The Streets-Morning’ by Charles Dickens is an extract taken from ‘Sketches by Boz.’ It is a descriptive piece and follows prominent features of the literary sketch technique, as it contains no prominent plot. The speaker narrates the â€Å"appearance presented by the streets of London an hour before sunrise on a summer’s morning.† The extract is in the first person narrative. This feature adds intensity and supports the use of details. First person narrative is generally considered unreliable due to lack of witnesses and external verification; however, the detached and objective narration by the speaker prompts readers to think otherwise – â€Å"now and then a rakish looking cat runs stealthily†¦bounding first on the water-butt then on the dust hole†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The sentence structures used support the use of detail and imagery. The speaker uses complex-compound sentences that are long with two or more sub-clauses. The use of these help create the atmosphere and heavy early morning slumber – â€Å"There is an air of cold, solitary desolation about the noiseless streets which we are accustomed to see thronged at other times by a busy, eager crowd, and over the quiet, closely shut buildings†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Through this narrative, readers are made aware of the close attention to detail the speaker employs. The mood of the extract is established through the sentence structure and setting. A relaxed and comfortably detached perspective is evident. In many ways it is similar to the morning itself, gently unfolding as the darkness fades. The narrative time and context is established through the subjects described in the setting. â€Å"Coach-stands† lying deserted in the larger thoroughfares remind readers of the 19th century. This is supported by the fact that they are described as ‘coach stands’ and not bus stands. Imagery plays an essential role in a literary sketch and is seen widely in this extract. The speaker uses concrete and abstract imagery. The use of metaphors lends a sense of what the speaker is feeling or trying to describe to the reader. Such metaphors are: â€Å"The days are swarming with life and bustle† the reference to honeybees shows a restlessness which was similarly used by John Keats in ‘Ode to Autumn† – And still more, later flowers for the bees, †¨Until they think warm days will never cease.† The bee metaphor is used to show activity that contrasts with the early morning street. The second metaphor is – â€Å"stillness of death is over the streets,† perhaps the most foreboding of lines in the extract, this metaphor could serve as a possible foreshadowing for impending events. The street itself becomes an important motif. It represents a path that leads somewhere, however, readers could question whether this could be leading to activity or stagnation. This theory is supported with the images of the â€Å"drunken, the dissipated, and the wretched.† The policeman similarly, is also preoccupied with his â€Å"deserted prospect.† The description of the street is similarly presented in Tennessee Williams’ ‘A Streetcar Named Desire†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ â€Å"The houses mostly white frame, weathered grey with rickety outside stairs and galleries and quaintly ornamented gables to the entrances of both. It is the first dark of an evening in early May.† The houses become symbols of who their inhabitants are in the extract. They give readers insights to where they live, how they live and who they are. The â€Å"quiet, closely-shut buildings† are perhaps the only privacy the residents have. The speaker brings in social context through this description and the tone shifts to one of fragmentation and futility with the description of – â€Å"The last houseless vagrant whom penury and police have left in the streets, has coiled up his chilly limbs in some paved corner, to dream of food and warmth.† The social context and strata becomes ironic when the last drunken man is home before sunlight, while the â€Å"orderly† part of the population are still asleep.† The opening lines of T.S. Eliot’s ‘Preludes’ also refers to an early morning scene similar to the one in the extract, using personification – â€Å"The morning comes to consciousness Of faint stale smells of beer From the sawdust-trampled street With all its muddy feet that press To early coffee-stands.† Human qualities are given to the cat who is – â€Å"rakish looking.† The character of whose develops as the speaker gives him gender and infers that â€Å"his character depended on his gallantry.† The use of personification adds further detail to the narrative with – â€Å"A partially opened bedroom-window here and there, bespeaks the heat of the weather, and the uneasy slumbers of its occupant.† The extract uses language in distinct and deliberate ways to shape meaning. The vocabulary used helps infer that the speaker is mature; this is seen with use of words such as â€Å"penury,† â€Å"profligate† and â€Å"dissipated.† A sentence of importance in shaping such meaning is – â€Å"The drunken, the dissipated and the wretched have disappeared.† The trochaic features at the end of each word, helps to reveal the distant and condescending manner in which the speaker is viewing these people. The order in which these words are presented form a climatic effect. Also seen is the use of the adverb â€Å"then† in describing the cat’s actions, which gives dramatic effect – â€Å"Bounding first on the water-butt, then on the dust-hole, and then alighting on the flag-stones.† The use of inversion by the speaker helps readers to concentrate on certain parts of the narrative. This is done in deliberation to gain readers’ attention, particularly in – â€Å"An occasional policeman may alone be seen at the street corners,† as opposed to the conventional ‘may be seen alone.’ Such emphasis is also used in – â€Å"cold, solitary desolation.† The speaker employs onomatopoeia to describe a drunken man’s inebriation with – â€Å"roaring out the burden of the drinking song of the previous night.† The speaker has a noted tone of detached indifference. This mood could be due to the futility of the modern age and monotony of these peoples lives in the eyes of a keen observer. The historical, social context comes back to the forefront and the void between the country and the urban life is seen. This effect of the 19th century and industrial revolution is addressed in – â€Å"The few whose unfortunate pursuits of pleasure, or scarcely less unfortunate pursuits of business cause them to be less acquainted with the scene.† Grammar and punctuation support meaning. The use of dashes shows a flow of thought or in the case of describing the cat, shows action and continuity. The use of the color grey in the â€Å"somber light of daybreak† supports the mood and futile atmosphere, seen also in O’ Henry’s ‘Gift of the Magi’ – â€Å"Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard.† The extract concludes with a reference to the figures in the early morning streets as â€Å"exceptions† other than which the â€Å"streets presents no signs of life, nor the houses of habitation.†

The study a library Essay

2. 1 Background of the study A library is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual. Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by people who choose not to — or cannot afford to — purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research. In addition to providing materials, libraries also provide the services of librarians who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information needs. Libraries often provide quiet areas for studying, and they also often offer common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration. Libraries often provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources and the Internet. Modern libraries are increasingly being redefined as places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources. They are extending services beyond the physical walls of a building, by providing material accessible by electronic means, and by providing the assistance of librarians in navigating and analyzing very large amounts of information with a variety of digital tools. Kalayaan National High School started when Mrs. Esmelita P. Ulangca, the principal of Bagong Silang High School, felt an urgent need of an annex school in order to accommodate the heavy influx of enrolment of students. In 1996, the construction of two(2) three-storey building with 9 classrooms each were constructed in Phase 10 Bagong Silang, Caloocan. The first enrollment commenced on May 21,1997 where the first batch of 1,450 first year enrollees and organized into 14 sections with 18 teaches from Bagong Silang High School. As classes went on another three-storey with 15 classrooms was also constructed, 300 second year and 212 third year students from Bagong Silang Hish School were transferred. Along with them were 8 teachers. The first inauguration of the said buildings was held February 6,1998. In June 29,1998, a Division Memorandum No. 97 s. 1998 was issued to inform the field that the establishment of Kalayaan National High School(formerly Bagong Silang National High School Annex) as per Republic Act No. 8644 entitled â€Å"An Act Establishing a National High School in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City to be known as Kalayaan National High School and Appropriating Funds Thereof, lapsed into law on May 30,1998. Library System is one of Transaction Processing System because it can process large records and data of the school and it is also use for library transactions like borrowing and returning books. In Computerized Library System, the data are kept accurate in order to lessen errors in listing of books and computation of penalties. Library System is also designed to perform the process involve in acquisition, cataloguing, and circulation of books in the library. The proponents intend to propose to develop A Computerized Library System for Kalayaan National High School to enhance the transactions of the current procedure of their library. 2. 2 Overview of the current System Borrowing For those who are new borrowers they will be given a library card and fill up all the informations needed. The students are allowed to borrow as many books as they want inside the library premises. Anyone who wishes to borrow a book must physically check by himself the book stored in the shelf to know if it is available, if it is he should bring it to the librarian together with his library card. If he wishes to borrow it for over night he must return it the following day(excluding Saturday and Sunday), if he fails to return it he will need to pay for penalty per overdue books which cost 1 peso per day; if the student fails to pay for the penalties his clearance will be hold. But if the borrower is a Faculty there is a logbook provided for them to write their name, title of the book, date borrowed, and date returned and he is allowed to borrow the book for the whole school year and return it before the school year ends, if he lost or damaged the book his clearance won’t be cleared. Returning For returning the book the borrower will return it to the librarian and find his Borrower’s Card then the librarian will check if it is returned on the right date if it is not the borrower must pay for his acquired penalty. For Faculty members they will give the book to the librarian to record it on the logbook for faculty’s borrowed book the date they returned it. For all the penalties for overdue books,damage books and return boooks they will pay it to the librarian. For overdue books the students should pay penalty per overdue books which cost 1 peso per day. For lost or damage books the students should pay for the price of the book or replace it with a new one. Reports The librarian anually submitting the library’s annual inventory report by checking the books manually in the library, the librarian should physically check the books on the shelves and match it on the list of their books thatthey have. The report was done using Microsoft Excel. 2. 3 Project Rationale The following will be the beneficiaries of this study: * School They will be able to provide better service to their students because of a more organized records and user-friendly library. This study will also uplift the image of school by providing an optimal use of new technology. * Librarian He will be able to monitor the books easily and provide a record of library transactions such as borrowing and returning of books. Generating of reports such as list of books, list of Borrowers, list of Borrowers with offense, list of Damage books, list of Lost books, list of borrowed books, list of returned books, Inventory of Book will be more faster and easy. * Borrowers They do not need to search manually for the books they wished to borrow and they could easily know the availability of the book. The borrowing process could be more faster than their current procedure. * Library The library could easily monitor the condition of their books as well as its availability and stocks, because on their current system the librarian should physically check the books on the shelves. Generation of reports such as list of books, list of Borrowers, list of Borrowers with offense, list of Damage books, list of Lost books, list of borrowed books, list of returned books, Inventory of Books will be easier and faster. They could manage and easily update their records and transactions. * Proponents They would enhance their programming skills and knowledge in developing a system. * Future Researchers They could use this as a referrence for their study and guide for improving this system.

Parker and his colleagues Essays

Parker and his colleagues Essays Parker and his colleagues Essay Parker and his colleagues Essay Experiment two used a white noise cue while experiment one used a 1000 Hz pure tone. In both experiments a significant response time advantage was found for valid cues at the short SOA of 200ms. The results obtained mirror those found by Spence Driver (1994) for exogenous processing in that valid cues produced a response time advantage for short cue-target SOA’s. Experiments 3, 4 and 5 tested endogenous auditory attention as opposed to the first two experiments which tested exogenous processing.The informative cues used differed from the uninformative spatial cues of experiment 1 and 2. It was found that for this experiment (3) response time was faster for all SOA levels. The faster response time for all SOA levels in experiment 3 says that the use of informative cues pushes attention towards the target. It was predicted that significant response time advantage would occur at the middle and long SOA levels (500ms and 1100ms) for valid cues as opposed to the invalid cues.On acquisition of the cue information, the subject can shift spatial attention to the likely location of the subsequent target location. In experiment 3 a significant response time advantage was found at all SOA for valid cues. Despite the significant response time advantage found for valid cues at the short SOA (200ms), these results were expected. While the significant response time advantage found for the short SOA condition (200ms) is not necessary expected with a cognitive based cue, the cue used in experiment 3 (and in subsequent experiment 5) was both informative and spatial based.The initial capture of attention to the spatial location of the cue would aid response time advantage at the short SOA condition (200ms), while the knowledge that the cue is informative would keep attention focused on the spatial location of the cue for longer aiding response time advantage for the other SOA conditions (500ms 1100ms). In experiment 4 the spatial component of the informative cue was removed to investigate pure endogenous processing. The results obtained for experiment 4 found a significant response time advantage for valid cues only at the middle SOA condition (500ms).The lack of a response time advantage for valid cues at the shorter SOA of 200ms can be expected with a purely endogenous cue, however at the longer SOA of 1100ms a response time advantage was expected to be found. The addition of extra subjects may have produced a significant response time advantage for the SOA condition of 1100ms, however the same may be said for the short SOA of 200ms which also had a moderate average valid cue response time advantage (16ms).Spence and Driver (1996) found that by using purely endogenous cues (side blocking and central arrow) with an auditory target response time were significant for higher SOA (600-900ms) and since the task still involved visual cues the results may have been affected by it. The results of the experiment supported the earlier findings in experiment 3 wherein, a significant response time advantage was found for valid cues for all SOA conditions in experiment 5. The lack of spatial cuing decreased the response time of subjects for they did not have basis for localization.Flanagan, McAnally, Martin, Meehan Oldfield (1998) visual search times were reduced when spatially informative auditory information was supplied. In comparison to experiment 3 overall response times were about 30ms faster in experiment 5. The introduction of speech alone did not have the effect of reducing response times in experiment 4 where a non-spatial speech cue was u sed. Unfortunately, this assumption cannot be made in this case due to the fact that not all subjects who completed experiment 3 also completed experiment 5.The successful use of virtual 3-dimensional audio in laboratory experiments have been supported by other researches Parker and his colleagues (2004) studied the effects of supplementing head-down displays with 3-dimensional audio during visual target acquisition found that it improved performance during visual acquisition tasks, in fact the addition of 3-D audio resulted in significant reduction in visual acquisition time and a significant reduction of perceived workload and improved situational awareness.Flanagan et al (1998) also used virtual 3-D audio in an experiment which compared an unaided search with visual and auditory search cues for targets outside the visual field. The pure tone was initially used as the pure tone will give side discrimination without distinct elevation discrimination. With cues and targets seeming t o emanate from the same spatial position, in the case of high targets, the effect of priming cannot be discounted in any response time advantage observed for valid high targets.While the faster response times observed in the current experiments were not significant, it is a concern as to why faster responses were recorded. Spence and Driver used cue duration of 100ms followed by target duration of 100ms, while in the current experiment cue duration was 200ms with the target also of duration 200ms Generally each experiment was analyzed individually with not all subjects completing the three experiments relating to this observed effect (experiments 3, 4 5). Flanagan, McAnally, Martin, Meehan Oldfield (1998) found that with the use of spatially informative auditory information, visual search times were reduced.They used a spatial localization task in which the search for a visual target was aided by either a visual arrow or an auditory cue. They found that both the visual and auditor y cues aided in significantly reducing the search time when compared to an unaided search. With evidence suggesting that attentional capacity is modality-specific (Duncan, Martens Ward, 1997) and that auditory cues can help with a visual spatial localisation task (Flanagan, McAnally, Martin, Meehan Oldfield, 1998), the nature of the links between auditory and visual streams in spatial attention is of great importance.In conclusion, our experiments have clearly demonstrated that 3-dimensional audio can be used successfully in testing auditory attention. The results of the experiments supports what has been reported by the research of Spence and Driver (1994), thus indicating that informative and spatial auditory cues increases response time. These findings have practical implications in the design of human interface systems where visual targets can be enhanced by virtual auditory cues in the form of pure tone or words.Although the findings have validated the existence of cuing para digms for auditory attention, much has to be learned in the study of audition and its practical implications.ReferencesBedard, M. A. , El Massioui, F. E. , Pillon, B. , Nandrino, J. L. (1993). Time for reorienting of attention: A premotor hypothesis of the underlying mechanism. Neuropsychologia, 31, 241–249. Begault, D. Pittman, M. (1996) Three-Dimensional Audio Versus Head-Down Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System Displays, International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 6(1), 79-93.

What Everyone Should Know About World War I

What Everyone Should Know About World War I World War I was an extremely bloody war that engulfed Europe from 1914 to 1919, with huge losses of life and little ground lost or won. Fought mostly by soldiers in trenches, World War I saw an estimated 10 million military deaths and another 20 million wounded. While many hoped that World War I would be the war to end all wars, in actuality, the concluding peace treaty set the stage for World War II. Dates: 1914-1919 Also Known As: The Great War, WWI, the First World War The Start of World War I The spark that started World War I was the assassination of Austrias Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The assassination occurred on June 28, 1914, while Ferdinand was visiting the city of Sarajevo in the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Although Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the nephew of Austrias emperor and heir-apparent to the throne, was not very well liked by most, his assassination by a Serb nationalist was viewed as a great excuse to attack Austria-Hungarys troublesome neighbor, Serbia. However, instead of reacting quickly to the incident, Austria-Hungary made sure they had the backing of Germany, with whom they had a treaty before they proceeded. This gave Serbia time to get the backing of Russia, with whom they had a treaty. The calls for back-up didnt end there. Russia also had a treaty with France and Britain. This meant that by the time Austria-Hungary officially declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, an entire month after the assassination, much of Europe had already become entangled in the dispute. At the start of the war, these were the major players (more countries joined the war later): Allied Forces (a.k.a. the Allies): France, the United Kingdom, RussiaCentral Powers: Germany and Austria-Hungary Schlieffen Plan vs. Plan XVII Germany didnt want to fight both Russia in the east and France to the west, so they enacted their long-standing Schlieffen Plan. The Schlieffen Plan was created by Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, who was the chief of the German general staff from 1891 to 1905. Schlieffen believed that it would take about six weeks for Russia to mobilize their troops and supplies. So, if Germany placed a nominal number of soldiers in the east, the majority of Germanys soldiers and supplies could be used for a quick attack in the west. Since Germany was facing this exact scenario of a two-front war at the beginning of World War I, Germany decided to enact the Schlieffen Plan. While Russia continued to mobilize, Germany decided to attack France by going through neutral Belgium. Since Britain had a treaty with Belgium, the attack on Belgium officially brought Britain into the war. While Germany was enacting its Schlieffen Plan, the French enacted their own prepared plan, called Plan XVII. This plan was created in 1913 and called for quick mobilization in response to a German attack through Belgium. As German troops moved south into France, French and British troops tried to stop them. At the end of the First Battle of the Marne, fought just north of Paris in September 1914, a stalemate was reached. The Germans, who had lost the battle, had made a hasty retreat and then dug in. The French, who couldnt dislodge the Germans, also dug in. Since neither side could force the other to move, each sides trenches became increasingly elaborate. For the next four years, the troops would fight from these trenches. A War of Attrition From 1914 to 1917, soldiers on each side of the line fought from their trenches. They fired artillery onto the enemys position and lobbed grenades. However, each time military leaders ordered a full-fledged attack, the soldiers were forced to leave the safety of their trenches. The only way to overtake the other sides trench was for the soldiers to cross No Mans Land, the area between the trenches, on foot. Out in the open, thousands of soldiers raced across this barren land in the hopes of reaching the other side. Often, most were hewn down by machine-gun fire and artillery before they even got close. Because of the nature of trench warfare, millions of young men were slaughtered in the battles of World War I. The war quickly became one of attrition, which meant that with so many soldiers being killed daily, eventually, the side with the most men would win the war. By 1917, the Allies were starting to run low on young men. The U.S. Enters the War and Russia Gets Out The Allies needed help and they were hoping that the United States, with its vast resources of men and materials, would join on their side. However, for years, the U.S. had clung to their idea of isolationism (staying out of other countries problems). Plus, the U.S. just didnt want to be involved in a war that seemed so far away and that didnt seem to affect them in any great way. However, there were two major events that changed American public opinion about the war. The first occurred in 1915 when a German U-boat (submarine) sunk the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania. Considered by Americans to be a neutral ship that carried mostly passengers, Americans were furious when the Germans sank it, especially since 159 of the passengers were Americans. The second was the Zimmermann Telegram. In early 1917, Germany sent Mexico a coded message promising portions of U.S. land in return for Mexico joining World War I against the United States. The message was intercepted by Britain, translated, and shown to the United States. This brought the war to U.S. soil, giving the U.S. a real reason to enter the war on the side of the Allies. On April 6, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Germany. The Russians Opt Out As the United States was entering World War I, Russia was getting ready to get out. In 1917, Russia became swept up in an internal revolution that removed the czar from power. The new communist government, wanting to focus on internal troubles, sought a way to remove Russia from World War I. Negotiating separately from the rest of the Allies, Russia signed the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918. With the war in the east ended, Germany was able to divert those troops to the west in order to face the new American soldiers. Armistice and the Versailles Treaty The fighting in the west continued for another year. Millions more soldiers died, while little land was gained. However, the freshness of the American troops made a huge difference. While the European troops were tired from years of war, the Americans remained enthusiastic. Soon the Germans were retreating and the Allies were advancing. The end of the war was near. At the end of 1918, an armistice was finally agreed upon. The fighting was to end on the 11th hour of 11th day of the 11th month (i.e. 11 am on Nov. 11, 1918). For the next several months, diplomats argued and compromised together in order to come up with the Versailles Treaty. The Versailles Treaty was the peace treaty that ended World War I; however, a number of its terms were so controversial that it also set the stage for World War II. The carnage left behind by the end of World War I was staggering. By the end of the war, an estimated 10 million soldiers were killed. That averages to about 6,500 deaths a day, every day. Plus, millions of civilians were also killed. World War I is especially remembered for its slaughter for it was one of the bloodiest wars in history.

Michael Jackson and How the Media Betrayed Him Assignment

Michael Jackson and How the Media Betrayed Him - Assignment Example A large number of interviews and news columns was publicised which have indicated Michael was a pedophile. Michael suffered the disparaging and debasing media charges and criticisms and persistently implored the media not to condemn him because his guilt was not yet proven (Barris & Gray, 2006). But the media kept on depicting the King of Pop in the most damaging way possible. Although the media has claimed their reports were for the public’s entertainment, the scathing media reports have constantly burdened and troubled Michael. For a media that flourished on generating images of Michael which depicted his life’s undesirable facets; the media coverage has been less disparaging in portraying the death of the King of Pop. His demise did not generate the burst of images normally depicting a famous icon’s passing away. The sole media image being shown is Michael’s ambulance snapshot while an EMS specialist was trying to revive him (Lee, 2009). It is somewhat unexpected that the media has easily acknowledged the verification of Michael’s death from law enforcement and family members. It is actually worrying because the media has constantly projected an ‘investigative’ character when it referred to current events or controversial personalities, particularly regarding the King of Pop (Hadley, 2009: 37). However, the media has not once challenged or looked into the legitimacy of Michael’s demise. They have been accommodating of family’s verification of Michaelâ €™s death and the unintentionally ‘disclosed’ coroner analysis of the cause of Michael’s demise (Campbell, 1994). The media has tracked and monitored Michael for roughly forty years, but they were not knowledgeable or informed of the degree of the alleged substance addiction of Michael. This is puzzling and incredulous a media quite meticulous in giving viewers photos and updates of   Michael and his children going abroad wearing surgical masks, being manhandled in a wheelchair, and going to establishments late at night (Sartore, 2000).