Religion Is The Opium Of The People Philosophy Essay

Religion Is The Opium Of The People Philosophy Essay Religion is the opium of the people Karl Marx, Critique of Hegels Philosophy of Right, 1844 The construct of two uniquely different terms being used together often raises the eyes of persons who focus on strategies to influence the thinking and actions of many persons. In this case, religion represents those persons around the globe who hold strongly held beliefs. Opium, conversely, often represents an addictive substance that shifts the ability of individuals to maintain control of their own faculties, abilities, or behaviors. Each term provides numerous images in the minds of people who value either religion or the use of substances. In this case, however, the terms are used in a statement of emphasis that demands that one see the critical direction that Karl Marx was approaching in 1844. According to Oxford Dictionaries (2009), Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Opium is a reddish -brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used illicitly as a narcotic and occasionally in medicine as an analgesic. The opium of the people is a thought and action-reaction regarded as inducing a false and unrealistic sense of contentment among people. In this case, it is Religion, according to Marx. History reports that the majority of people believe that Marx criticizes religion as being a relief for the masses, in the way that it creates an illusory fantasy to the poor, assuring them that even if they are living in misery in this life, they will find true happiness in the afterlife, thus only masking the problem and not solving it. However, based on the sudden change in the 19th century (period in which Marx lived) of how opium is perceived, the quote can be assessed in two way s; positively and negatively. This makes it interesting for us to analyze it since history plays a big part on how it should be understood. Since prehistoric times, opium has been used worldwide. From Egypt to China, it was highly regarded and used for many things, such as to relieve pain, to bring courage and strength to soldiers, to reach a feeling of ecstasy or to get in touch with the divine. These practices continued and spread, until the 19th century, when its negative effects were being detected. At this point, opium was found to be addictive, sometimes lethal and had started to be regulated. The impact and harm that was done through the use of opium caused societies to consider changing the perspective held on the use of the drug. Eventually, the use of opium became illegal because its damage was significant to the members of every society where it was used. Parenthetically, it was and sometimes still is being used for medical experiments and pain-reduction, delusional practices to this day and remains the most efficient pain-killer. However, despite the illegalization of opium and its derivatives, it was and is still being used by a wide variety of people in all parts of the world, most commonly in the form of heroin, in order to achieve a feeling of pleasure and to escape from reality. In the 19th century, opium was responsible for two wars that took place between the United Kingdom and China. The Opium Wars occurred because China illegalized the drug though the United Kingdom continued to traffic it in China, through India. After having had an overview on the history of opium, we can now deduce the different possible meanings that Marx conveys in his quote. In a first perspective, Marx could imply that religion is the opium of the people in a positive manner. This being the case, Marx meant that opium provides comfort and relief. Since Marx was a big supporter of the proletarian movement, which in his time was working in horrible conditions and leading miserable lives in cities, Marx might have insinuated that religions purpose was to create illusory fantasies for the poor as opium did for drug abusers and addicts. Economic realities often prevented the poor and to a large extent, even the aristocrats, from finding true happiness in this life; so religion tells them that this is OK because through a belief in God, through accepting the power and authority of God; through dying and going to heaven, one will find true happiness in the next life. Additionally, religion might bring comfort to people in hard times, for example during times of war, when people would pray for God to protect them, or after the death of a loved one, thinking thi s person would go to heaven and be at peace. Another argument would be that religion and opium give courage to people. Christians and Muslims believe that God Allah is always with them, protecting them and loving them, which could boost their confidence and make them feel they can do anything with God on their side. Lastly, religion can give, for some, a purpose to life based on the principles and tenets of God suggesting that God has a plan for each human being. Moreover, it explains all that science is unable to explain, for example the creation of the Human race. Effectually, what is not scientific is created by faith often unchallengeable in the eyes of rational thought. To conclude, Marx could be stating by his quote that people are in distress and religion provides solace, just as people who are physically injured receive relief from opiate-based drugs. On the other hand, Marx could very well be criticizing religion. First of all, opiates do not fix a physical injury, they merely make you forget pain for a limited time; this is a good thing only if you work on solving the underlying roots of the pain. Equivalently, religion doesnt fix peoples pain, it simply conceals their reasons of suffering and causes them to look ahead to an illusory future when the pain will cease, instead of working on changing their present condition. In other words, Religion as opium creates an imaginary world that prevents people from being accountable for their own lives and their own futures since they believe their path is traced and controlled by a certain God. They are thus led to let things happen and not be responsible for the situation in which they are. Moreover, religion is used as a control mechanism that gives power and authority of some over the masses. The desire to create a collective unconscious that diminishes the power of man to an acquies cing to the power and authority of a higher power often unseen and unknown. Because of the unknown nature -there is a concern that the higher power is infinite; man is finite, and in that finite nature, man can never be in control of his own destiny. Thus, man must acquiesce to the power of the higher authority, and its emissary on earth the Church. However, the church is the work of man and is bound to be flawed. For example, regarding Christianity, Jesus advocated helping the poor, but the Christian church merged with the oppressive Roman state, taking part in the enslavement of people for centuries. In the Middle-Ages the Catholic Church preached about heaven, but acquired as much property and power as possible. Finally, religion, just like opium, is a cause of war. Opium was the cause of two wars between the United Kingdom and China in the 19th century. Similarly, religion was the cause of the crusades, a war between Christians and Muslims that lasted nearly two centuries. This could be one of the reasons why Marx associated the word opium with religion. The quote Religion is the opium of the people can apply to the two major religions: Christianity and Islam. Both religions believe in one God, and both believe in a final judgment, where a person is judged according to their actions on earth, and then sent to either Heaven, place of joy and bliss where they will be happy, either in Hell where they will spend an eternity of misery. On the other hand, other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism believe in reincarnation of the spirit, which means the person might or might not be happy in his new life, and this excludes Marxs theory of religion being a comfort to the people.

The use of the loose coupling theory

The use of the loose coupling theory Loose coupling theory proposes that different parts of an organization are loosely related to one another. This can be understood as that different divisions of an organization are loosely coupled with one another, i.e. activities in the higher education department are loosely coupled to those in the English department activities in one department have a minimal impact, or take a long time to show up, in the other. The main thesis of his article is to argue that there are seven pros and corresponding cons of loose couplings. According to Weick (1976), loose coupling is a cognitive response to an environment of constant change, in which connections, networks, diffusion, imitation, and social comparison are less prevalent. The loose coupling systems (LCSs) are uncoordinated and have greater differentiation among components, high degrees of specialization among workers, and low predictability of future action, including change. In general, loosely coupled systems probably are cheaper t o coordinate, but are very difficult to systematically change. The goal of Weicks article is to show that all organizations do not function with tight linkages some organizations, like educational systems, are more loose, which may create more difficult problems for researchers. The loosely coupled approach has a strong parallel in more recent approaches to viewing organizations as complex systems, which has attracted considerable interest among management and organizational theorists. Birnbaum argues that complex systems such as collegial or bureaucratic institution models provide insights to the analysis of LCSs. Complex systems are bottom-up phenomena, also defined as systems comprising large numbers of agents in highly connected webs, can display both high levels of order and disorder. Importantly, order in complex systems is usually a result of micro-structuring processes that provide for robust self-organization. This form of order is not dependent on hierarchical control but is distributed, and it can lead to system-wide stability (or instability). Complex systems do well when they engage in a search for healthier and better-off states, otherwise searches are directed from the top down, and system will likely settle into only moderately fit states. Al so systems must be relatively free to interact with other systems until good fitting strategies are found. Complex systems have slow response times not because they are any slower than simpler systems in detecting environmental threats and opportunities, but because the process of adjustment takes longer. Educational systems demonstrate considerable robustness and resilience in the face of both environmental and intended change, thus the key is to focus on relationships and the building of similar behavior based around trust. Weick (1976) notes that more loosely coupled organizations offer advantages in complex environments. More autonomous groups may be more sensitive to environmental change, and offer more simultaneously adaptation to conflicting demands at the institutional level. If problems develop in one part of the system, it can be sealed off from the rest of the system. Efforts to create a less loosely coupled system or to control and centralize have not altered the overall complex system, which still remains loosely coupled. The concept of LCS is crucial to Rhoades argument about strategic activity. While Weicks strengths and challenges related to LCSs are positioned in difficulties to change organizations systematically, Rhoades approach calls for development of strategic activity through managerialism. Rhoades emphasizes that managerialism and market approaches are two sets of ideas that recently have influenced educational decision-making processes. The problem with these ideas, especially in loosely tight educational organizations, is that although it provided some change, it may not provide a basis for future improvement in education, especially in student learning. Within this model there is an assumption that there is a tight coupling between education policy (e.g. curriculum) and how teachers teach. Where improved performance is sought it is pursued through the manipulation of formal mechanisms such as rules, procedures, rewards or changed evaluation. Bureaucratic hierarchies have however been in creasingly criticized for being non-responsive and inefficient means for organizing public administration. With respect to education, they have certainly proven resistant to change. Managerial initiative is important to Rhoades in moving the universities forward, which is in contrast with loose couplings assumption where planned change has a low predictability as is unlikely to be successful within loose coupling environment. Loose coupling concept also poses some problems for leaders who want to change their organizations. Pfeffer and Salancik (1978) were well aware of this problem of change in loosely coupled systems. They argued that administrators could get around it by finding ways to tighten the coupling patters in their organizations, such as reorganization and stabilization of exchange relationships. The idea was to reduce internal and external variability in the system so that it could be more easily controlled. Thus, loosely coupled organizations can embrace change because its impact is limited. For instance, the English department can change without any punishment if no other departments are affected by its changes the loosely coupled organization as a whole isolates and neutralizes disturbance; however, change is slow. External as well as internal influences are absorbed by this organizational structure. So, the individual departments are not themselves typically difficult to change; rather, the problem lies in getting the entire organization to change, in diffusing the change across the networks. Birnbaum (1988) clearly articulates that to strengthen academic leadership, one must reform structures, adopt more rationalized management systems, and increase the power of executive leadership to make faster, more efficient, and more effective decisions, but for leadership to be effective within LCS, communication has to be present as a sense of general openness in institutional governance and climate. Leaders create organized disorder in which dynamic things happen at multiple locales within the system, thus creating a new behavior rather than controlling organizational activities. Also, the application of data to interaction permits information to influence preferences and possibilities, and that leads to decisions grounded in reality. It is not only about collection, analysis, and dissemination of data, but also about different constituents being interested in that data a nd how it interacts (Birnbaum, 1988). The interaction leads not only to positive administrative decision-making, but also to being rational and looking for consensus among loosely coupled units. Complex organizations cannot function effectively over the long term without leaders to coordinate the activities, represent them, and symbolize the institutional purpose (Birnbaum, 1988). As to administrative decision-making, Weick (1976) notices that LCSs are difficult to change systematically, thus any decision-making change that has to be discussed will encounter a problem of systematic change. The issue with implementation of any administrative change will always come down to the fact that teaching is isolated work and improving instruction is strictly a matter of individual initiative. Thus, the problem with administrative decision-making in LCS is that colleges do not show any collective impact on student learning. The problem with it is also that decision-making is explicitly and directly concerned with the instructional core of education by arguing that educational institutions and their faculty and staff need to be accountable for student learning. Moreover, loose coupling implies that the source of an effect may be located at a considerable distance in time or organizational structure from the effect itself, thus amplification of non-linear cycles makes it p ossible for an insignificant decision to have a major effect as it moves through the system over time (Birnbaum, 1988, p. 71). Birnbaum describes this as butterfly effect and indicates that cause and effect are difficult to predict or determine in loose coupling model. Moreover, circular systems that he describes may also imply about administrative decision-making. He encourages thinking in circles as thinking of unintended consequences that may arise with complexity of how things interact. Although, institutional prestige, faculty morale, student enrollment, and sense of community are crucial for this model, the feedback loops are missing from this model as well as culture of the organization. Also, local adaptations will not always assist with generating efficient responses to system-wide challenges in a decision-making process. Loose coupling implies slow diffusion of central initiatives. As a consequence, the administrator would have to start projects earlier, start more project s, start projects in a greater variety of places, and even talk more frequently about those projects that have been started. The perspective of educational systems as being loosely coupled seems to be weak at explaining one major decision making fact that approaches to schooling have remained remarkably uniform across geography and time. If education systems are loosely coupled, diverse practices should emerge in response to differing local needs and differing ideas about education. Loose coupling can account for the diversity of ways in which units implement different decisions; for instance, the RCM is the way to find innovative options to strengthen individual units where the center does not correlate with units (Rhoades, 2000). In order to improve administrative decision-making, the administrator should emphasize the role of interaction among an organizations members, as well as collaboration and negotiation as methods to determine how decisions should be carried. 2. The Mode 2 knowledge production model is perhaps the most well-known term used to indicate the impact of changes for the university sector. Gibbons et. al.(1994) in the mid-1990s presented their Mode 2 theory saying that university researchers, who previously most often worked on internal disciplinary Mode 1 problems, were now more inclined to involve themselves closely in industrial and governmental research collaborations. Economical factors were seen to be the drivers, as closer relations between university research and industry developed to meet competition from the growing economies. This trend prompted new organizations such as think tanks or hybrid organizations, which often were places where the new front research was to be found. Gibbons et. al. referred to these as Mode 2 organizations, seeing them as generic for the whole research landscape. It seems that Mode 2 model especially in research area was a result of a general economic development towards post-industrialism. Moreover, mode 2 knowledge production model is application-based, and can be explored in an interdisciplinary fashion. As such, the emergence of Mode 2 production would not eclipse Mode 1 methods entirely. In a resource-seeking environment, Mode 2 would likely be more attractive to outside funding agencies and investors due to its application-based principles. Mode 2 may not lead to increased social accountability rather than being held to social values, Mode 2 knowledge would respond to market values, thus will privilege certain kinds of knowledge over others. In this sense, Mode 2 is related to academic capitalism that proposes market-relevant knowledge production. From an academic capitalism perspective, Mode 2 can have a tendency to focus on disciplines with well-known possibilities for commercial use, i.e. technology and medicine, whereas other disciplines may be mostly ignored. By the same token, since both concepts are normative, the system of norms may be well affected especially among traditional researchers within social sciences. In this area, internal interests for research questions seem to be far away from industrys interest for commercial products or the governments interest for useful results. However, one can make an argument supporting Mode 2 and somehow against the notions of academic capitalism. It has to be noticed that Mode 2 would not push research outside of the university, but rather that applied science and the facilities for training researchers would make university-industry relations stronger. For instance, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and related intellectual property legislation profoundly affected the commercial poten tial of government-sponsored research and still allowed research to be conducted within the realm of universities walls. Thus, technology transfer was quite symbolic and the Act was a step toward developing a social exchange between university science and society. In this sense, Mode 2 can be seen as a positive engine that transformed the public research model. Moreover, knowledge production is crucial because knowledge society seen through the lens of academic capitalism would focus more on the activities of higher education institutions in the two countries in a particular regional sphere. Thus, the argument may take us to propositions of globalization and internationalization. A critique that may arise from academic capitalism proponents is the fact that there is no support for a merger of interests between researchers and industry. Researchers at the institutes (or centers of excellence) instead devote their precious time to a shorter research perspective that is strictly coming from the industry or directed toward it. This process was seen as influenced by reductions in state-support, an explanation quite close to the one put forward by Slaughter Leslie (1997). Thus, Mode 2 may jeopardize a strictly public focus of research universities when these start heavily getting involved with the industry. Even though Mode 2 involves multidisciplinary teams brought together for short periods of time to work on specific problems in the real world, this concept, from strictly academic capitalism critique, may not show any organizational diversity, which is at the core of academic capitalism. Also, academic capitalism may criticize Mode 2 as a concept of political i deology rather than a descriptive theory that academic capitalism claims to be. As for similarities, both concepts apply that there are three major actors in science university, industry and government and these extend beyond their former specific areas and change their former roles in closer collaborations for the benefit of economic development of society, thus academic capitalism partly confirms the claims of rising Mode 2. From the perspective of institutional theory, Mode 2 is a problem related to institutional structures. From an institutional theory standpoint, there are templates for organizing institutions that are implicitly understood and translated to new members of an organization. Moreover, these templates are interpretive schema, underlying values and assumptions, similar to mental models (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Scott, 1995). Templates of institutional behavior create resistance to change. One concept within the institutional theory that has regularly been applied to higher education institutions to explain change is institutional isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983), which suggests that institutions do not change as a result of a competitive market, external pressures or efficiency, but rather through the force of homogenization, striving to be like other types of colleges perceived to be elite. Mode 2 contrasts with institutional theory in the sense of the concept of change because influence of market and other external forces (such as NGOs or TNOs) create a high degree of heterogeneity among institutions. Institutional isomorphism also suggests that institutions tend not to be distinctive in their identity development or image, while Mode 2 emphasizes on organizations that do not have to necessarily conform to the rules and belief systems prevailing in the existing environment. For instance, older and well-established universities with strong cultures will have more specific power to resist change, while other institutions may be more vulnerable to market ideas. Since universities are complex and conflicted organizations, the institutional isomorphism that is projected by institutional theory may be one of the limitations of this theory to encourage distinctiveness and diversity of HED institutions. A critique that might arise from the institutional theory perspective is that the institutions have to learn to share their resources (physical, intellectual and  ¬Ã‚ nancial) with other kinds of knowledge producing institutions. According to Janson (2002), this task may be very difficult to accomplish considering that universities have held the monopoly among knowledge producers. Mode 2 is a threat to this status quo by encouraging alliances as well as collaborative relationships with other knowledge producers. Another critique from an IT standpoint is that Mode 2 would change standards of evaluation and accreditation as well as success and progression that would encourage more of a multidisciplinary context. For IT proponents, disciplinary boundaries are important, thus not only is traditional career path model being challenged by Mode 2, but also the nature of the undergraduate curriculum. Mode 2 is not the only knowledge production model that is challenging the more traditiona l, basic sciences model, but globalization and internationalization as well. According to Gibbons (1994), knowledge is transdisciplinary, problem-oriented, application-based, team-driven, multi-sited, partnership-based, socially useful, heterogeneous, quality controlled, re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ective and responsive, and less hierarchical than disciplinary knowledge of the kind produced in universities, that is being characterized as typically centered on disciplines, with academic hierarchies, more norm-concentrated, authoritative in regards to social behavior as well as concerned with homogeneity. Another critique is that it will be hard to protect academia from worldwide economic trends as well as production of knowledge in purely economic terms. Because Mode 2 is strictly defined in economic terms, all institutions may have a tendency for duplication and may follow one economic trend in order to survive. Scott (1995) indicates that, in order to survive, organizations must conform to the rules and belief systems prevailing in the environment because institutional isomorphism, both structural and procedural, will earn the organization legitimacy (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983; Meyer and Rowan, 1977). The institutional theory claims that change is less likely to happen within or among organizations, while Mode 2 encourages change especially toward the private sector being more entrepreneurial and challenging the traditional values found especially in higher education institutions. While institutional theory supports traditional values of HED institutions, Mode 2 encourages growth o f those hybrid organizations that capitalize on connections to teaching, research, and service. 4. The most important differentiation is that the concepts of globalization and internationalization that are characterized by glonacal agency heuristic (GAH) are situated above the level of nation-state. GAH as a method of thought focuses on institutions, positions, agency, and structure at three levels: national, local, and global. The concept focuses on colleges and universities (and units and faculty within them) as global agents, encouraging studies of activity and stratification regionally and internationally. However, it is not a method of positioning yourself relative to others. Globalization is not universal, because it does not feel the same for everyone, thus it is not inevitable. In this respect, globalization is uneven and asymmetrical. Moreover, the pressure that it is felt as an institution most of the time mediates. For instance, even if the pressure comes from a national or global context, the local arena may be able to mediate things. For instance, Raytheon company has a heavy involvement on the University of Arizona, however does not have hardly any on Pima Community College. On the other hand, the PCC has a pressure from auto repair industry in cooperation with Jim Click to have mechanics to fix cars. Thus, GAH provides a different response of institutions to globalization. It seems that for GAH there is no separation between globalization and internationalization because both are a total of complex interactions of human and institutional agencies at local, national, and global levels. Marginson and Rhoades (2002) define two types of agency: human agency and institutional agency. For them, it is all about positioning things not individuals. For instance, a supranational agency such as the World Bank has an im pact in developing countries, and the whole impact is being driven by market forces; thus individuals do not shape the globalization process. It takes a lot of agencies to understand what is going on and understand and find a point of where we could resist the impact. According to GAH there is limited analysis of the complex agencies and processes that define them; no global dimension to analyze yet. Thus, with it more comparative studies need to be conducted to know human agency better and also local dimensions institutions and agents. While depicting GAH, the authors base their concept on Clarks description of academic profession that is structured by a triangle, in which market-state is a starting point, from which everything spills over to disciplines and professions as well to government and management. Knight (2004) replies to this issue with the process of internationalization that is supposed to be happening on a continuum basis. Her concept of internationalization is chara cterized similar to Clarks description as a triangle, in which interactions may be of hexagonal shape, but the whole process of internationalization will happen on a continuum basis. For Knight, globalization/internationalization is binary and is an omnipresent force that institutions have to respond to. It is similar to the Newtonian account of action and reaction. However, unlike Marginson and Rhoades, she is interested in institutions approaches (the ways in which they internationalize) and their rationale (why you are doing it explanations and goals), and how they interconnect (by preparing students to exist in global society or bringing in faculty from around the world). Thus, reciprocity is of important value to this concept. It is up to you how you are changing the world. So in that sense, Knight disagrees with Marginson and Rhoades that there is opportunity for everyone to progress. It is worth mentioning that the concept of internationalization is often confused with globalization (Altbach, 2004). The main difference is that globalization may not be unalterable, but internationalization is a process involving many choices. Globalization tends to concentrate wealth, knowledge, and power in those already possessing these elements, thus diminishing the importance of peripheries. International academic mobility similarly favors well-developed education systems and institutions, thereby compounding existing inequalities. Initiatives and programs, coming largely from the north, are focused on the south. The key here is that Altbach summarizes programs and activities relevant to the American study abroad tradition while Knight emphasizes on internationalization as a process. For Knight, internationalization is a two-way street that serves important needs. For Altbach, the concept is focused largely on the south-north spectrum, where students move primarily from south to north, where north controls the process. In this sense, Altbachs approach is based on radical dependency theory that relies on neo-colonialism core. Also, I got an impression that Knights concept of internationalization is not focused on economic (mostly financial) ends. Instead, internationalization is supposed to enhance research, knowledge, and cultural understanding. For instance, one of the initiatives may include study-abroad experiences or enrichment of curriculum through offering a major in international studies or other area studies. Deeply in the core, it does not seem that the process is intended to bring financial profits, but strategically implemented will enhance competitiveness and institutional prestige. However, the process itself, if not controlled, may focus too much on institutional strategies and policies while excluding national governments. In the same aspect, I could sense a tint of skepticism in Altbachs approach in regards to an economic trend of globali zation. Even though he acknowledges the trend and claims it is inevitable, he emphasizes on negative aspects of internationalization as a process that will further diminish the intellectual as well as cultural sides within the developing countries. In addition, Knights definition of internationalization seems to limit itself to the teaching function of the institution by concentrating on the expansion of international curriculum. Although both articles of Altbach and Knight are written in the same year, it seems that Altbach hardly mentions supranational organizations while Knight already acknowledges the new trend proclaiming that not only institutions and national policy makers alone are driving the internationalization, but supranational organizations as well. The tendency for Knight is to look at challenges that globalization presents us from an insider perspective how institutions as well as individuals react to globalization through internationalization, while Altbachs approach can be seen from the outsider perspective that acknowledges institutions, but not the processes and individuals within.

Steve Wozniak Essay -- essays research papers

Steve Wozniak's childhood had a big effect on his revolutionary developments in the computer world. Wozniak grew up in Sunnyvale California. His family lived in a development built for Lockheed engineers like his father. (Rose, 26) As a teenager he w During his high school years, Wozniak was a prankster and was once suspended for placing a metronome disguised as a bomb in a friends locker. (Brodhagen, 1) The more serious side of Wozniak loved electronics and spent one day a week working at Sylvania Electronics, where Wozniak's love for computers grew. Wozniak was working with electronics from an early age. In 1962 Wozniak built a calculator using a few electronic components and entered it in a local science fair. (Brodhagen, 1) It won him a prize. In 1971 Wozniak and his friend Bill Fernandez built a computer in FernandezÕs garage. (Rose,25-26) They called it t Wozniak decided to go the University of California at Berkeley after he returned from C! olorado State. While he was there, his mother sent him an article about a mysterious person who called himself ÒCaptain Crunch.Ó (Rose, 27) Crunch would build electronic boxes, known as blue boxes, that mimicked the tones governing telephone company switching equipment. This allowed him to make free long distance phone calls. Apparently Crunch was the leader of an underground group who called themselves the Òphone phreaks.Ó They would use technology to get what they wanted, but they wope by staying one step ahead of the police. Wozniak was extremely interested and called his friend from high school, Steven Jobs. (Rose, 27) They decided to go into business selling them. Wozniak managed to make one which only used forty dollars worth of parts, instead of the 1,500 dollars it cost Captain Crunch. Wozniak and Jobs then went to college campuses and sold them to dorms for 150 dollars and up. Wozniak became obsessed with ÒphreakingÓ and almost forgot about school. This is! the first example of WozniakÕs In 1975 personal computers became a reality. The Altair 8800 was released. (Rose, 31) It was a computer kit. It came with all the pieces that were needed to build it, and it was then assembled by the consumer who bought it. It was really designed for computer hobbyists, who loved the fact that they were able to build it. It had its down side though. Once it was assembled, there wasnÕt much that it could do. The... ...nd something that the consumer would buy. Wozniak changed the computer industry because once he made his computer and Steve WozniakÕs prankster nature changed the world for ever. Since he tended not to listen to what people say, he didnÕt get discouraged when people told him he was wrong or that he would fail. He just kept on working. The result of all his work was that the personal computer became a reality. He is one of the greatest men alive. His work effects tens-of-millions of people every In researching this paper I looked in a recent MacMall (a mail order catalog that specializes in selling Apple products) and there were twelve different computers made by Apple. Ranging in price from 499.99 dollars to 4,199 dollars and from ! one that will fit in your pocket to one that will cover your whole desk. Apple also had a wide range of printers, scanners, drives and monitors. In my phone interview with Jim Harper he summed it up this way: ÒSince 1984 Apple has sold twenty-six million Macintoshes. The Macintosh in your home is more powerful and faster than the computer that put the man on the moon. It all started back in 1976 with Steve WozniakÕs Apple I.Ó Performa User $Ú &

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn: Critique :: Free Essays

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Critique Biography Mark Twain, the pseudonym of Samuel Clemens, was, as a literary writer, a genius. His use of numerous literary devices throughout the novel are quite unique. Examples of them would be, irony; "Here was a nigger, which I had as good as helped to run away, coming right out and saying that he would steal his children - children that belonged to someone that had done me no harm." p. 88; and colloquial enunciation; I ast 'm if dey 'uz gwyne to grab a young white genlman's propaty, en git a hidin for it?" p. 112 Samuel Clemens was a very controversial writer in his time. Although he was fiercely criticized, he was among the first writers to incorporate views other than that of a reverential main character into his stories, and he was also a primary user of colloquial enunciation. Plot Synopsis The plot is, as the title suggests, about the adventures of an unruly and carefree boy named Huckleberry Finn. The novel depicts the 1900's southern social climate in a manner that is not only satirical, but psychoanalytically intuitive. In it, Huck, as he is commonly known, runs away with a slave named Jim. As they travel along the Mississippi river, in the southern region of the United States, they undergo many extraordinary adventures. Analysis One of the most predominant themes in this novel is that of deception. Deception, in one form or another, is used with an avid consistency throughout the story. Two personifications of deception were the characters, King and Duke. They were "entrepreneurs" of deception (which is a polite way of saying hustlers). Samuel Clemens writes about them so ingeniously, that after a while the reader is able to understand the true nature of these tricksters, and that most of what they utter is either fabrication or a twisted truth.

Fiber Optics :: essays research papers

Fiber Optics Assignment Many modern medical materials and equipment work on a principle which is beyond the capacity of human transducers. Comment and discuss the working principles of an endoscope, uteroscope or a rectoscope showing the illuminating path, the image path, transmission path and the liquid transfer or operating instrument ducts, showing the position of suitable valves. This will therefore explain how light travels through an optical fibre and show how such fibres are used in medicinal equipment either to transmit light or to bring back images from within a patient. Contents Fibre Optics Fibre-Optic Bundles Coherent and Incoherent Bundles   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Transimission efficiency and resolution   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Types of Fibres: Single mode or Multimode ?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fibre Properties Fibre-Optic Endoscopy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Fibre-Optic Endoscope   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some Applications for Fibre-Optic Endoscopy References Fibre Optics A relatively new technology with vast potential importance, fibre optics, is the channelled transmission of light through hair-thin glass fibres. The clear advantages of fibre optics are too often obscured by concerns that may have been valid during the pioneering days of fibre, but that have since been answered by technical advances. Fibre is fragile An optical fibre has greater tensile strength than copper or steel fibres of the same diameter. It is flexible, bends easily, and resists most corrosive elements that attack copper cable. Optical cables can withstand pulling forces of more than 150 pounds. Fibre is hard to work with This myth derives from the early days of fibre optic connectors. Early connectors where difficult to apply; they came with many small parts that could tax even the nimble fingered. They needed epoxy, curing, cleaving and polishing. On top of that, the technologies of epoxy, curing, cleaving and polishing were still evolving. Today, connectors have fewer parts, the procedures for termination are well understood, and the craftsperson is aided by polishing machines and curing ovens to make the job faster and easier. Even better, epoxyless connectors eliminate the need for the messy and time- consuming application of epoxy. Polishing is an increasingly simple, straightforward process. Pre-terminated cable assemblies also speed installation and reduce a once (but no longer) labour-intensive process. Fibre Optic Bundles If light enters the end of a solid glass rod so that the light transmitted into the rod strikes the side of the rod at an angle O, exceeding the critical angle, then total internal reflection occurs. The light continues to be internally reflected back and forth in its passage along the rod, and it emerges from the other end with very little loss of intensity. This is the principle in fibre optics of which long glass fibres of very small cross-sectional area transmit light from end to end, even when bent, without much loss of light through their side walls.

Emily Dickinson needs no introduction

Emily Dickinson needs no introduction. One of the most prolific and renowned poets in the literary world, Dickinson still remains largely a mystery. She is often labeled as a lifelong recluse who did nothing but sit in her attic all day and scribble poetry. However, Dickinson’s poetry reveals a soul keenly in tune with the human condition. The simple and always relatable poetry of Dickinson serves as her greatest autobiography, and as a testament to humanity itself. She was and remains the master of capturing emotion in a literary statue.Happiness, anger, envy, surprise—every feeling that man has ever felt flowed from Dickinson’s pen at some point. One subject contains all of these emotions, and this subject both haunted and fascinated Emily Dickinson throughout her life: death. The poet wrote passionately about death many times, but one poem—one image–in particular resonated with readers in its stark, memorable simplicity. In â€Å"I heard a fly b uzz when I died,† Dickinson masterfully interweaves tone, style, and imagery to capture a speaker in the midst of life’s greatest questioning challenge†¦. its own conclusion.In the poem, life’s end is represented through the persona of a dying individual. The condition of the terminally ill speaker emerges through the poem’s compact, simplistic, yet conflicted structure and in its one powerful symbolic theme. Consider, for example, the simple sounds which recur and reinforce the speaker’s thoughts. Soft ‘w’ (â€Å"Was† (3), â€Å"were† (6), â€Å"when† (7), â€Å"witnessed† (8), â€Å"willed† (9), â€Å"what† (10), â€Å"with† (13), â€Å"windows† (15)) and ‘s’ (â€Å"signed† (9), â€Å"see† (16), â€Å"assignable† (11)) sounds give the language a sighing quality, perhaps the labored breaths of someone whose every breath is a precious commodit y.Yet these soft sounds are accentuated by an aggressive assault of ‘st’ syllables (â€Å"stillness† (3), â€Å"storm† (4), â€Å"stumbling†(13)), as if the speaker is struggling with a mental block of resistance. Death also looms in the aphoristic nature of the speaker’s language. With just a few well-chosen words (a dying breath)—â€Å"stillness† (3), â€Å"wrung† (5), â€Å"storm† (4), â€Å"stumbling† (13)—the speaker provides powerful insight into the complex feelings which accompany death. Who else but a dying person would understand the value of quality over quantity?This human conflict is further reinforced by the alternating long and short lines which constitute the final stanzas. While the opening stanzas form near-perfect boxes (the very symbol of control), the frenzied push-pull of the speaker’s closing thoughts offers a concrete snapshot of the inner turmoil that surrounds impendin g death. The moment of transformation for the speaker—from peaceful resolve to subtle panic—is highlighted by a â€Å"Dickinson Dash† (Milani, â€Å"Dickinson Analysis†) â€Å"†¦.Could make assignable,–and then/There interposed a fly† (11-12). Can the majesty of death be reduced to a mere fly’s presence? Is the majesty merely an illusion? (Frankowski, â€Å"Death†) The fly itself is the anchor symbol in a speaker’s mindset largely devoid of elaborate imagery (Frankowski, â€Å"Death†). Throughout the poem, the speaker eludes to a need for some magical spiritual fulfillment: â€Å"And breaths were gathering sure/For that last onset, when the king/Be witnessed in his power† (6-8).However, the only constant—the only true anchor—for the speaker as death approaches is the â€Å"uncertain, stumbl[ing], buzz[ing]†¦fly† (12-13). Does the small creature steal away the speaker’s peace by standing â€Å"Between the lights and me† (14)? Or does the fly’s final farewell (its auditory buzz) remind the speaker that he or she need not â€Å"see to see† (16). Does true sight come from the eyes, or does true sight—true light in fact—shine from a higher source?Perhaps the speaker’s musings are not random, but a confessed realization to the most enlightened audience of all, the Creator Himself. Why might one assume that the speaker is addressing God? First, and most simply, the speaker’s narrative occurs after death: â€Å"I heard a fly buzz when I died† (1). Yet evidence for the speaker’s intended audience also appears on a deeper level. The abstract diction of the speaker suggests a metaphysical plane: â€Å"stillness† (3), â€Å"form† (3), â€Å"breaths† (6), â€Å"power† (8), â€Å"light† (14), â€Å"air† (3), and even the formless â€Å"buzz† (1).Furth er, the formal tone (â€Å"The stillness round my form† (2); â€Å"What portion of me I/Could make assignable† (10-11)) carried throughout the piece would likely be reserved for only the most respected and wise of listeners. In addition, the iambic trimeter rhythm (Milani, â€Å"Dickinson Analysis†) of the speaker’s words and the traditional ABCB rhyme scheme summons a classic adherence to timeless laws and beauty. A dying speaker and a celestial audience provide the most powerful backdrop for the poem’s ultimate theme: mental and spiritual conflict.

How Does Shakespeare Incorporate Literary Traditions Into Macbeth? Essay

In the play Macbeth Shakespeare uses a wide range of literary traditions frequently: For example, ideas of tragic form are used, with aspects of both Senecan and Aristotlean concepts. The play consists of five acts, a traditional number, following the rise and fall of the tragic hero Macbeth. Elizabethan language conventions are followed, with numerous examples of rhyming couplets, imagery, personification, metaphors and similes used to project settings and aspects of characters. Macbeth follows the ideas of both Senecan and Aristotlean tragedies, using their concepts of how a tragedy should be set out and how it should flow. The play has five acts that separate the play out into the stages of the rise and fall of Macbeth, the central character. The first act explains his rise to the position of thane of Cawdor and the beginnings of the witches influence over him. The second act follows his position to its highest point; it firstly sees the death of Duncan, an act carried out by Macbeth, greatly influenced at this point by the witches. In this act Macbeth is promoted to king following the death of Duncan for which he is not suspected. Act three sees an ever increasing influence from the witches which results in a dramatic turn around of Macbeth’s position as he begins to break down after the banquet scene in which the ghost of Banquo is seen. This turning point signals the beginning of the downfall of Macbeth leading eventually to his death in act five. The events in the banquet scene arouse suspicion of Macbeth as he cries openly in front of a figure that no one else present can see. â€Å"Hence horrible shadow, unreal mockery hence!†(3.4.106-7) During the play Macbeth, both blank verse and prose are used in a structural way. The contrast between the flowing speech of blank verse used by the more important and well-educated characters and the ordinary speech or prose used by the more lowly or uneducated characters is designed and incorporated to demonstrate the differences in social status between them. This difference is demonstrated well by the porter who opens the doors of the castle on the night of Duncan’s murder. He speaks in prose and rambles on, as he is merely a servant of Macbeth’s with little or no social status. Macbeth however as he is the central character in the play and a lord or Thane of high social status speaks almost entirely in rhyming verse. Iambic pentameters are used in the play to avoid monotony as they give rhythm to a sentence and stress the more important words in it. An example of this is â€Å"I have thee not and yet I see thee still† (2,1,35) which is said by Macbeth as he sees the dagger before him but cannot touch it. In this sentence the more important words are obviously emphasized as shown by the underlining. Rhyming couplets are part of another literary tradition and are also used to give a natural and obvious conclusion to a speech, this property was used by Shakespeare as a cue for other actors as it could easily be remembered and recognised by them. Rhyming couplets are also used to indicate supernatural powers of a character in a play, as they sound unusual and ghostlike when spoken. This can be demonstrated in this speech by the weird sisters: â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair; Hover through fog and filthy air.† Shakespeare uses a number of examples of imagery, personification, metaphors and similes in the play. Imagery is used to project many of the themes of the play. One method of imagery used by Shakespeare is clothing, which displays the theme that appearances can be deceptive. For example in act one when Macbeth is given the title, â€Å"thane of cawdor† he asks, â€Å"why do you dress me in borrowed robes?†(1.3.108-9) as he believes that the thane of Cawdor still lives. Later in the play another reference to clothing is used in: â€Å"Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giants robe upon a dwarfish thief?†(5.2.20-3) This refers to Macbeth’s unsuitability as king; he is a dwarfish thief who has stolen the title of king from the true king. Another chain of images used in the play relate to blood, which is used frequently in reports of murders and in describing people and events to demonstrate the brutality of the play and of the acts committed in it. Imagery is used vividly to describe the murdered Duncan and after the murder of Banquo Macbeth says to one of his murderers: â€Å"There’s blood upon thy face†(3.4.12). This shows that the murder must have been particularly violent, as blood has sprayed onto the face of the murderer. Metaphors and similes are also used frequently in the play to demonstrate the deception that is used by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. This intended deception is shown by: â€Å"Your hand your tongue: look like th’innocent hower but be the serpent under’t.† This sentence shows that the intention of Macbeth is to look innocent and pleasant on the surface in order to deceive someone into a false sense of security in order to get rid of them by murdering them. Throughout Macbeth Shakespeare has used a number of different literary traditions, which enhance the dramatic effect of the play for the modern day audience, and to include popular traditional values for the audience for whom it was intended.