The significance of this quote

Nomi’s mother is never really developed within ‘A Complicated Kindness’ but is evidenced through Nomi’s reflections on her past life, a life that took her mother and sister from her.Nomi’s mother was excommunicated from the community in which she and her family lived. Quote 1 provides insight into how the plot will unfold by way of short sharp snippets of what, why, where and how things happen in Nomi’s life and her struggle to deal with the fate bestowed upon her.The significance of this quote to the plot of the narrative is clear because it illustrates how Nomi would prefer to believe her mother was travelling which in reality cannot be so, for how can she be travelling without a passport. Such inference assumes that she is wandering aimlessly or maybe even dead – as dead as the ghost she appears to be in Nomi’s life.Only the â€Å"ID information† and a â€Å"black-and-white photo† are in the passport which again connotes a feeling of futility; we know Nomi’s mother existed or exists because the passport is provided in testimony of her being but that is all that is left of her existence other than memories for Nomi.The fact that the passport has no stamps or evidence of use helps to illustrate the life her mother lived; a life confined to one location, which was one of oppression and governed by rules. The photo provides confirmation for Nomi and readers that her mother, although living within the small community of Manitoba and possessing a passport never used, was hopeful of a better life, a life of travel and experience but a life that would never eventuate.The passport and its contents not only serve to carry forward the plot of Nomi’s story but also to provide evidence of her mother’s existence, the hope and dreams she desired and the stark reality that she was in fact now only a ghost in Nomi’s memories and reflections.He (Sheridan) said it gave him the cree ps because that was where his mom had killed herself years ago? When it happened, years ago, Sheridan’s mom went nuts. Trudie had told me and Tash that she thought Sheridan’s dad should have left town to save his mom the pain of having to pretend he was dead. She’d really loved him. They’d had a lot of fun together when he wasn’t drunk (36-37).East Village Manitoba is a place filled with pretence, double standards, and secrecy. This quote is pertinent in that it reflects the irony evident in the lives of Manitoba’s community.We are told by way of a disjointed memory reflected upon by Nomi of how people living in Manitoba, more specifically in this case Sheridan and his family, live a lie. Sheridan’s father was a drunk but drank in secrecy in fear of being excommunicated from the town; his wife therefore rather than admit the truth pretended he was dead. Living a life of deceit caused Sheridan’s mother to go insane and commit su icide.The irony of being unhappy but shamming happiness is evident throughout the novel but this quote presages the futility and despair of living that lie. Both Sheridan’s mother and father achieved nothing from their pretence except pain and downfall, which in turn led to Sheridan’s plight of having to cope with his life without either parent.Nomi’s reference to her mother telling her and her sister Tash that they were once happy and in love serves to add more sentiment to the fact; the fact that living in a town full of oppression and rigidity in turn causes people to live a life of lies that has no ending other than misery.Through use of this quote and Nomi’s reflection we realize that living in fear of excommunication, people of Manitoba are forced to secrete what they do, but in doing so they are excommunicating themselves from their families, each other and most importantly themselves.   

Digital Television †Is It Advancement?

Digital television is becoming a global trend with a startling velocity. Following the lead of North America and Western Europe, a host of countries in East/South Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe are also hastening the epic shift from analog to digital television. It is predicted that approximately 1 billion people will be viewing digital broadcast television by the end of this year. At the current pace, nearly 38 percent of the world's TV households will be receiving digital signals by 2010 (Informa Telecoms & Media, 2007, p. 2).Underlying this technological gold rush is an array of remarkable features that digital broadcasting presents: interactivity, multichannel capacity, immunity to interference by other signals, superb audio-visual qualities, and quasi-universal interoperability with other media that recognize digital language. These outstanding qualities are founded upon the quintessence of digital technology: the binary codification (comparable to the dots and dashes o f the telegraph code), which converts data into â€Å"a bitstream of zeros and ones† (Owen, 1999, p.151).Since digital technology can break down virtually any type of information (print, painting, music, sound, photography) into a uniform code of bits and bytes, it is now possible to establish universal compatibility among various media. As Timothy Todreas (1999) observes, â€Å"text, graphics, audio and video used to be within the purview of separate industries: print, radio, and television respectively. Once digitized†¦ bits can commingle effortlessly. Content can travel down the same distribution path and can be used interchangeably† (pp.78-79).Paradoxically, the atomize-ability of digital technology precipitates digital convergence, in which all the sophisticated traditional media taxonomies and typologies will become muddied and eventually obsolete. Aside from the universal connectivity of digital television with neighboring media, there are a few other prope rties of digital television: audio/visual excellence, multichannel capacity, and interactivity. The digital television is capable of delivering superior audio/video quality compared to its analog counterpart.However, the enhanced audio/visual fidelity of digital television is best exploited in a combined use with the Hi-Definition television system, an advanced method of injecting televisual signals onto the screen in a much more precise fashion than that of its predecessors, the NTSC and PAL systems. Contrary to common belief, HDTV is not an immediate offspring of the digital television system, although electronics makers, broadcasters, and policymakers of the digital television excitedly promote it as digital television's headliner.There are multiple, significant reasons behind the deliberate â€Å"passing† of HDTV as the figurehead of digital television, especially in a Japanese context. Compared to analog signals, digitized information takes much less bandwidth, i. e. , m uch less channel capacity to distribute content per unit of time. This technical â€Å"thriftiness† is an end result of the compression technology that can filter out redundant data and squeeze more data into a given bandwidth. The economic use of bandwidth means greater space to fit more channels, which ends the â€Å"distribution bottleneck† (Todreas, 1999, p.79) common to analog formats.The sudden abundance of bandwidth leads to an explosion of channel outlets, metamorphosing the television industry structure. The interactive function of digital television is yet another benefit of the efficient use of bandwidth. A broadened bandwidth not only increases the volume of channels and the velocity of information but also enables â€Å"two-way† traffic. With expanded two-way interactions between sender and receiver, digital television could transform the modality of broadcasting from a linear, unilateral communication to a cyclical, bilateral one.Apparently, the le vel of control for the user is strictly limited by the choices provided by the software programmer. However, the interactivity of television will incrementally open new modes of socio-economic and cultural interactions (Video-On-Demand and T-commerce, for instance) among the user (Swann, 2000). Still, all the perks of digital television don't come without costs and shortcomings. The multiple channels of digital television could inspire program diversification and perhaps contribute to a socio-cultural diversification.In fact, critics and viewers have already become disillusioned by the promise of channel multiplication, for it has impoverished, rather than improved, the program quality and originality in a way similar to what cable television did in the U. S. Likewise, the interactive functions of digital television could turn into a blight rather than a blessing. Tony Feldman (1997) posits that interactivity â€Å"runs the risk of giving the users so much power in determining thei r own experiences of content that the only message conveyed is the one the user chooses to receive.The freedom to chart your own course, therefore, can emasculate as readily as it can liberate† (p. 18). Development of HDTV The question of high definition television came up in the early 1970's when Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation, raised the possibility of HDTV. The technology was first developed by the Japanese to produce a better quality picture than previously available, and in 1978 NHK came up with two new HDTV systems. One of them was an 1,125 line system, the other a 2,125 line system that was transmitted by satellite (Fisher & Fisher, 1996).Japan started the HDTV movement in 1970 and spent over one billion dollars on its development by mid-1990 (Dupagne & Seel, 1998). In the early 1970's the major players in the effort to produce HDTV were Sony Pictures, Panasonic, Ikegami, and NHK. Most of the engineering was undertaken by Sony and NHK te sted the concept over the air. Panasonic and Ikegami (along with Sony) developed cameras, video tape recorders and other equipment needed for an entire HDTV package. Philips, the Dutch equipment manufacturer, developed a new HDTV system called Eureka in the early 1970's.The system scanned 1,250 horizontal lines at 50 frames per second, with the same 16 to 9 aspect ratio as the Japanese system. This system was sometimes referred to as Vision 1,250 (Gross, 2000). The American television industry was finally waking up and coming out of the doldrums it had been in since the early 1970's. The Japanese production had already taken over television, VCR's, and the stereo business. It looked as if they would also become world-leaders in the development of HDTV (Fisher and Fisher, 1996).The US was behind in the development of HDTV over Europe and Japan. The Defense Department pledged to spend $30 million dollars on the technology. The Defense Department sanctioned the spending of this money p artly because the superior picture quality would have application for military reconnaissance and pilot training (Hart, 2004). The House Telecommunications Subcommittee held a hearing with the intent to insure that this new technology would flourish in the United States (Gross, 2000).The electronics industry is in a high stakes race. A 1989 government report stated that the United States stood a chance to lose 2 million jobs, and suffer a $225 billion dollar annual trade deficit by the year 2010 if the US does not produce a coherent strategy to compete in the HDTV and associated industries (Dupagne & Seel, 1998). During the Reagan era an industrial consortium known as â€Å"Sematech† wanted to push the United States to become the leading technological manufacturer of the computer chip. This chip is used in HDTV.Chipmakers are of vital importance to the overall well being of the electronics industry. They represent the USA's largest manufacturing business, with revenues for 19 89 of $300 billion dollars. This is a business that is larger than the steel industry, aerospace, and the automobile industry combined (Dupagne & Seel, 1998). The American Electronics Association (AEA) wanted funds in US government loans, grants and loan guarantees to further produce and improve HDTV. They felt once the government committed itself that deeply it could not pull out (Hart, 2004).The AEA's attempt to persuade the government to enter into a government-industry consortium failed. It was an ambitious program to form a consortium to develop the next-generation of HDTV sets. The plan attracted only nominal support in Congress. The Bush administration actively opposed the idea. It received vocal support from the industry but no financial commitments (Hart, 2004). The Bush administration wanted to pull the plug on the high-tech industries. Washington was determined to cut the $10 million dollars pledged for research and development of HDTV in 1989.It also wanted to cut all fe deral support including the $100 million dollars it pledged for research and development in 1991. The Japanese manufacturers of semiconductors are encouraged by their government to spend 50 percent more on research and development of the chip. This is often subsidized by the Japanese government. This is more money spent on chip development than its US counterpart (Hart, 2004). In 1977 the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) formed a study group to investigate HDTV in the United States.As early as 1973 an 1,125 scanning line HDTV system was shown to engineers with CBS supporting the system. By 1980 SMPTE recommended using a system of about 1,100 scanning lines per frame and an interlace system (Fisher & Fisher, 1996). Since the US decided to take the lead in HDTV development the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sponsored the movement by creating â€Å"The Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service† (ACATS). This was headed by former FCC Cha irman Richard Wiley (Schreiber, 1999). ACATS declared an open competition to help create a usable HD service for the US.The FCC requested those involved with this project to submit their proposals to the FCC for approval. Shortly after that 23 proposals were turned in to the FCC. All of them were in analog format (Schreiber, 1999). Many of the inventors felt that digital would not become available until the 21st century. Also many broadcasters were not interested in creating a new system that was not compatible with their existing system, since that would require them to invest heavily to create a new market form (Fisher and Fisher, 1996). CBS was the first network to actively pursue HDTV (Hart, 2004).This was unusual since at that time the broadcast networks had less money to invest in high cost programming. In part some of this was due as a result of the viewing audiences shifting over from the broadcast networks' programming to the cable stations. The loss of viewers to home VCR playback and rental movies, satellite delivery of Direct-TV, DBS and pay cable services also accounted for viewer erosion (Hart, 2004). In 1981 the Japanese company NHK was prodded by CBS to come to the United States to demonstrate their HDTV system.Members of CBS and SMPTE met with the Japanese in San Francisco, California, at the St. Francis Hotel at an annual television conference. The demonstration was very successful. The viewers were impressed with the NHK's system's â€Å"extraordinary resolution, rich saturated color and wide screen monitors and projection television displays (Hart, 2004, p. 92). † The general feeling of the people attending the conference was that the HDTV system broke all constraints of television picture quality imposed on them by the aging NTSC color standard.In 1983, based on what they saw at the conference, the Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) was formed. Their goal was to improve the quality of video and develop new standards in tech nology. They were also instructed to come up with a recommendation for a usable HDTV standard for the United States by the spring of 1985. They were to present this standard to a subcommittee of the International Consultative Radio Committee (CCIR) which would set a world standard (Hart, 2004). The ATSC is a committee largely made up of engineers. In 1984 it had a yearly budget of $250,000.They decided to work on three parallel ideas to help improve the overall picture performance of US television. One group called the â€Å"improved NTSC† group headed by RCA Laboratories' Kern Powers, worked to improve the present standard by improving studio and transmission equipment and the television receivers. Another group called the â€Å"enhanced group† investigated new production and transmission systems that still used the 525 scanning lines and a 4 to 3 aspect ratio. They also sought to produce a better picture through different signal formats (Fisher & Fisher, 1996).The th ird group worked on HDTV at the CBS Technology Center and closely examined the Japanese NHK type of HDTV. This system would produce twice as many horizontal and vertical scanning lines as the NTSC system and would have an aspect ratio of 5 to 3 (Fisher & Fisher, 1996). Their goal was to have an HDTV standard that they could present to the FCC by the spring of 1985. Their standard would be compatible with NTSC, PAL and SECAM and they could transfer their video to 3 5 mm film for theatrical release (Dupagne & Seel, 1998).By March of 1985 ATSC did have a standard they felt they could present to the FCC. They picked 1,125 scanning lines as their standard because it was a compromise between twice the 525 NTSC standard, which equals 1,050 and twice 625 lines (used in Europe) which is 1,250. The system would also have a two-to-one interlaced scanning, a 5 to 3 aspect ratio and scan at 80 fields per second. This scanning rate was the only source of controversy, since the NTSC used 60 per se cond and most of Europe used 50 per second (Fisher & Fisher, 1996).The Europeans felt it could not be used by them because conversion could not take place without some degradation of picture quality. The Japanese approved of it since most of their experiments were conducted in a 60 field per second rate (Hart, 2004). By January of 1988 the ATSC voted on an HDTV system of 1,125 scanning lines, 60 hertz HDTV, 16 to 9 aspect ratio production standard. The vote approved of this standard 26 for and 11 against, with 8 abstaining. The Association of Maximum Service Telecasters (AMST) and the National Association of Broadcasters voted against the new standard (Dupagne & Seel, 1998).Late in 1987 the FCC steering committee submitted a list of five proposed guidelines in which to raise, or solicit, the funds from the participating companies involved with the development of HDTV. The most important guideline of the proposal was that â€Å"no one source contributes more than 15 per cent of the total, private funds raised,† according to the FCC (Hart, 1994, p. 216). In 1989 the American Electronics Association predicted that HDTV would reach the mass market by 1999 and that it would take until the year 2002 to reach 10 percent market penetration.They stated that HDTV would be megapixel, doubling the horizontal and vertical resolution of present television, with around 1,200 scanning lines by about 800 points across and close to a million pixels per screen. It was believed at this time that early HDTV sets would be expensive, large, projection TV's that would find their way into sports bars before they are accepted in private homes (Helliwell, 1989). It was the dawn of the digital age. â€Å"The leap from analog to digital could be as striking as that from black and white to color. † (Dupagne & Seel, 1998, p. 67).By 1990 General Instrument Corporation claimed it had perfected the first all-digital method of transmitting an HDTV signal that would be compatible w ith conventional broadcast channels. That year the FCC announced that it would select the new United States HDTV standard after extensive testing from applicants from six systems including European, Japanese and American companies (Hart, 2004). On May 24, 1993 the â€Å"Grand Alliance† was formed. The four leading pioneers of USA's quest for a high definition picture joined forces. General Instruments-DSRC, AT+T/Zenith, Thomson/Philips, and MIT were the companies that formed this alliance.The purpose of the Grand Alliance was to combine the various parts of their four separate systems into one complete system. This way they would produce a single, all-digital HDTV transmission system. The four HDTV systems that each company produced separately (before the alliance) had a good picture in a 6 Mhz channel, but none of them were deemed good enough to be considered the single acceptable standard (Dupagne & Seel, 1998). The new Grand Alliance systems comprised 1080 active scanning lines with 1920 pixels per line, interlaced at 59.94 and 60 fields per second, and a 720 active line with 1280 pixels per line, progressive scanning at 59. 94 and 60 frames per second. Both formats operated in the progressive scanning mode at 30 and 24 frames per second.The system used MPEG-2 video compression and transport systems and Dolby AC-3, 384 Kb/8 audio. It also used the 8-VSB transmission system developed by Zenith. This system was overwhelmingly approved by the ATSC membership. The old analog NTSC television will someday cease to exists as we know it. In its place high quality digital TV and HDTV will capture a larger and larger share of the market (Dupagne & Seel, 1998).The ATSC believed that its HDTV standard would rule the land-based-over-the-air broadcast not only in the United States but in the northern hemisphere, and even in a few Asian countries as well. Europe, Japan and Australia are going to have a different HDTV standard from the USA. America's standard uses a n eight-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB) 6- Mhz modulation for its over-the-air transmission. The European, Japanese, and Australian systems use an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system (Strassberg, 1998). But politics intervened and a world wide standard was not to be.Different parts of the world will all have their own high definition standards. All the different formats will have more scanning lines than the present NTSC system, but they will not have the same number of scanning lines as each other. Therefore, conversion will be necessary between each country's systems (Hart, 2004). When the people involved in trying to set up a standard for HDTV moved from the chaotic to a more organized collaboration the marketing strategies did not keep pace with the development. There was a consensus among the manufacturers that HDTV would never happen, or at least it would be on a smaller scale than predicted.In Japan their HDTV development was stunted because of a lack of attractive programming. In Europe HDTV was abandoned because there was no consensus among programmers, signal providers, and the public (Hart, 2004). Both Mexico and Canada have refused to sign off on the channel assignments granted to the US stations in bordering areas. This will lead to a clouding up of the signals in those parts of the states. Detroit had to delay its planned digital/HDTV delivery launch on November 1, 1998, because of signal mix-up (Stern, 1998). The Thompson Manufacturing Company emphasized that the success of HDTV will largely depend on the broadcaster.Though HDTV sets are being manufactured it will depend on the number of hours of high definition signal that is being transmitted out there, to pull the audience to the television screen (Hart, 2004). . The FCC and HDTV By 1990 the FCC decided that the HDTV signal would have to fit into one channel. The Japanese were suggesting that the US use their MUSE (Multiple Sub-Nyguist Encoding) system. This system would use one channel for the picture and another channel with information to boost it to HDTV level (Schreiber, 1999). By Congressional order the FCC has assigned a second TV channel to each of the nations 1,600 television stations.Each of these stations will now be able to offer digital signal service to the public. It will be up to the broadcasters as to what kinds of services to offer and in what format they wish to transmit in (Hart, 2004). Originally then FCC Chairman, Reed Hundt, wanted to auction off the HDTV channels. The proposal for this auction was then introduced to Congress by Senate Majority Leader, Bob Dole. But, heavy lobbying by the broadcasters quickly killed the bill (Schreiber, 1999). Regulators were considering adding 30 Mhz, or channels 2 to 6, to the spectrum that broadcasters will be using when the shift to digital TV is completed.By the year 2002 the analog channels will be returned to the government. The FCC will then auction these returned channels off to pros pective buyers. Congress and the White House expected this auction to raise somewhere around $5. 4 billion dollars. If broadcasters are given this additional 30 Mhz this would set the FCC back by about $2 billion dollars (Schreiber, 1999). When the analog channels are no longer in use by the broadcasters and they are auctioned off, they will be used for non-broadcast use such as mobile phones, two-way paging, and wireless Internet access (Schreiber, 1999).The broadcasters will transmit both the existing NTSC analog signal on one channel and the new HDTV signal on another channel. This way the existing analog TV sets will not be rendered useless immediately. The FCC adopted this simulcast plan where each existing television station would be assigned a second 6-Mhz channel for the analog TV and a channel for HDTV service (Schreiber, 1999). On Thursday April 3, 1997, the FCC approved by 4 to zero the biggest advance to broadcasters since the 1950's when color was introduced to televisi on.The government announced that it was giving away to broadcasters free air-space. Critics of the FCC felt that giving this free air-space, without having the stations pay for it, was the biggest government give away of the century. To the 1,600 stations in this country this is an estimated $70 billion dollar gift of free channels (Schreiber, 1999). To create the necessary channels needed for HDTV the spectrum space was taken from UHF stations of channels 14 or higher. The government has had a history of setting aside unused channels in the past for the broadcasters.The government will be taking these channels back and making them available to fire, police, rescue, and other public safety groups (Schreiber, 1999). By November 1, 1998 the FCC ruled that the networks must begin to broadcast a digital signal. At first only the top 10 markets will get any of the new ATSC digital signals. Only about 5 hours of broadcast high definition signal will be available. The stations will be free to broadcast as little, or as much HDTV signal as they deem possible. By 1998 the first true high definition television sets were available for sale on the open market (Hart, 2004).The roots of HDTV lie in a 1996 decision by the FCC to require broadcasters to transmit two signals, one in analog (NTSC) and one in digital. The FCC required that broadcasters continue broadcasting the analog signal until the year 2006, although the deadline can be extended if digital grows too slowly in popularity. The FCC gave each TV station a second broadcast channel for digital signals used for the new HDTV programming (Schreiber, 1999). There has been some indication that the HDTV signal does not work as well as it was predicted, or promised, to work.The November 1, 1998 launch date for HD signal was to deliver crystal clear images and CD-quality sound. And it did, but only 40 percent of the time. After a test in Washington, DC, in 1998 it was found that a majority of the time the televisions usin g indoor antennas could not display a high definition image. It was an all or nothing at all thing with over-the-air digital signals. Test results stated that with terrestrial transmission, broadcasters and set manufacturers will be even more reliant on cable operators to reach their potential viewers (Schreiber, 1999).For someone who sets up their HDTV receiver during the winter months when the leaves are off the trees, there are some who did not receive a signal in the spring when the new leaves appeared. Often the first time a potential customer views an HD television set they have to become accustomed to some surprising effects. As a result of the image compression techniques that are used to squeeze such a high-resolution picture into a 6 Mhz channel there are no noticeable defects in the picture until there is motion on the screen.The motionless backgrounds appear in stunningly clear detail, but when an object moves the picture momentarily blurs and develops a â€Å"block lik e† image around the moving object (Strassberg, 1998). The bugs are still being worked out, but as it stands the first person to purchase a high definition TV set will not be sure it will work with an antenna, and they won't be able to connect to cable (Strassberg, 1998). Industrial Policy, Politics and HDTV In October 1988, the American Electronics Association (AEA) released a report forecasting the effect of HDTV on the U. S. economy and technological prowess.This report heightened fears of foreign threats to the domestic consumer electronics industry. A string of Congressional hearings followed. In May 1989, the AEA issued a second report, which included a recommendation for $1. 35 billion in government assistance (Hart, 2004, pp. 157-9). This was necessary, argued the report, to make American companies competitive with their international competitors. The resulting political fall out could have hardly been anticipated. The second AEA report was the proverbial â€Å"last st raw† in a very heated ideological battle over American industrial policy.One side of the argument feared that U.S. firms were unfairly disadvantaged against international competition because many foreign companies enjoyed generous subsidies from their governments, which often had much more cohesive industrial policies than that of the U. S. The other side argued that the best way to ensure American success could only be accomplished through the competitive process of a free market, which is what drove the American innovative spirit—not government mandates and funding. These differing positions were soon became part of a political battle between Capitol Hill and the Bush Administration (Bingham, 1998).The position of the latter was influenced by a stand against industrial policy taken by Bush during a campaign speech, where he declared, â€Å"I oppose the federal government's picking of winners and losers in the private sector. That's known as ‘industrial policyâ € Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (Hart, 1994, p. 221). The debate had been percolating for some time. Just prior to the second AEA report, Senator Al Gore (D-Tenn. ) had been the most recent of a list of legislators to introduce yet another bill designed to spur HDTV development and push the Whitehouse towards a more proactive domestic industrial policy.The bill was motivated in part by Gore's unhappiness with Secretary Mosbacher, who had refused to attend a hearing by his Science Subcommittee (Bingham, 1998). Not all within the industry favored the Congressional push for government assistance. The Electronic Industries Association (EIA), whose members—unlike the AEA—included foreign owned companies as well as U. S. companies did not support government subsidization for fear they might not get a piece of the proverbial pie (Bingham, 1998). Philips and Thompson lobbied vigorously against this legislation.They argued that their system shouldn't be put at a disadvantage just because they wer e European companies. After all, their American subsidiaries provided American jobs just like their American owned counterparts, and their system, if chosen, would benefit the American public just like the other systems (Hart, 2004). This illustrates the problematic nature of industrial policy: provided you do decide that it is even in America's best interest to subsidize companies, how do you then rationalize subsidizing those very competitors all over again?Yet, if you do subsidize U.S. and not foreign owned companies, you still risk disadvantaging American workers (Bingham, 1998). As a consequence of the political battle over industrial policy, the Bush Administration developed an anti-HDTV policy. Secretary of Commerce Robert Mosbacher, who had initially supported the promotion of a strong HDTV policy, became a critic of such policies as a result of the political fallout. In one Congressional hearing, he criticized the industry for holding back research in hopes that it might ge t funding from the government (Hart, 1994, pp.221-222).The second AEA report came at the climax of the battle. A focal point of the battle was DARPA, which had begun an initiative to fund HDTV technology in the public sector for â€Å"dual use† purposes (i. e. encourage technologies that provide significant benefits to both the defense and civilian sectors) (Bingham, 1998, p. 110). By the end of May, the White House had ordered a halt to pro HDTV industrial policies, and Craig Fields, a vocal supporter of DoD funded HDTV development, would eventually be dismissed in April of 1990.Interestingly, in the midst of all this fallout, Al Sikes, former head of the NTIA and a big proponent of HDTV, became the new Chairman of the FCC in August of 1989. However, the nomination had actually been submitted before the political battle over HDTV had escalated (Dupagne & Seel, 1998, p. 184). The introduction of digital helped alleviate the conflicting goals of progress versus compatibility, by offering an option so significantly advanced that it superseded the goal of compatibility.The conflicting goals reflect the much broader conflict between the FCC's dual mandates to promote and police. It is interesting to keep in mind, however, that new technology was not the only factor in this move. After all, the FCC actually chose to pursue an HDTV approach vis-a-vis a more compatible EDTV approach at least two months before, GI revealed its digital system (Hart, 2004). It might be very easy to lay the problems of adoption that have resulted from choosing a digital system, which was not compatible to NTSC, at the feet of the FCC.We could speculate that commissioners were unable to grasp the complexities and significance economic principles or the staff was to rigid in its thinking to find a truly innovative solution to the problems already discussed. However, the fact remains that the move towards DTV was also made by industry participants. The FCC could not force manufacture rs to propose a system they did not want (Hart, 2004). Once full digital HDTV had been achieved, many manufacturers voluntarily scrapped their analog systems in order to pursue digital systems. In making this choice proponents were at the mercy of economic forces beyond their control.They could not afford not to choose a digital system following GI's breakthrough: the risk that the public and officials would perceive such systems as technologically inferior was too great. Digital threatened the successful adoption of any analog system, regardless of the outcome of the contest. In the end the analog systems failed to compete adequately with the digital systems anyway (Hart, 2004). Conclusion Now era of analog broadcast television in the United States will end as the nation completes its transition to an all-digital system, which is set on February 17, 2009 (dtv.com).The veneration of HDTV as the single source of spectacular televisual experience and as the epitome of digital televisi on is a necessary mythology for the joint endeavor of the broadcasting industry, HDTV manufacturers, and the MPT to move digital broadcasting in the world forward. HDTV is, by definition, a specific type of television receiver that provides higher resolution than the NTSC standard by way of compressing, storing, and delivering a greater amount of image and sound information than previous transmission systems.There are a number of competing HDTV standards, and unlike common mis/conceptions, not all HD televisions are digital. Nor does the digital HDTV necessarily guarantee a better audio-visual fidelity than the analog HDTV. Additionally, HDTV is not the sole foundation of the audio-visual grandeur of the digital television system. Technically, not all HDTV can assist or accommodate diverse functions (e. g. , interactivity) that the digital broadcasting service would normally offer. Nor can all digital television receivers, likewise, convey as good a picture quality as a HDTV would p roffer.As the digitalization of broadcasting became an irreversible national policy of U. S. in 1990s, electronics companies tended to blend the two technical specifications, manufacturing only digital HDTV sets. And as the digital HDTV becoming a norm in the industry, digital television and HDTV are often used interchangeably, regardless of their technical and conceptual differences. Digital TV alone could enhance audio-visual quality to a considerable degree, since it involves no mediation of transmission towers or ground cables, thereby decreasing the chance for the deterioration of broadcast signals.Accurate or erroneous, the adoration of HDTV as the end-all and be-all of visual excellence would place the entire edifice of digital broadcasting in U. S. on a pedestal. More specifically, it is expected to have a dramatic impact on the viewer's awareness of digital broadcasting, and consequently, adoption of more advanced, multifunctional digital TV sets. As the audience is exposed to the crisp, vivid images of HDTV, they will see a compelling reason to switch to digital broadcasting. A wide and speedy diffusion of digital HDTV is a prerequisite for the energetic growth of digital broadcasting and a barometer to measure such growth.Second, digital HDTV sets are considered an axial item for the reinvigoration of U. S. ‘s economy led by the three engines: the AV equipment industry, electronics manufacturing, and online business. With many years of rigorous R&D endeavors, U. S. begin to claims its share of the global HDTV and associated A-V equipment market. HDTV is no longer a plain â€Å"household appliance† but a core IT technology, equipped with cutting-edge apparatuses, ranging from memory chips, mobile transmitters, and LCD, PLP monitors, to various paraphernalia that enable interoperability with other digital devices.Conclusively, odd it may sound, U. S. ‘s development of HDTV is infused with what might be called â€Å"techno-nationali sm† that has intensified throughout its competition with the Japan for economic and technological supremacy. The four-decade long endeavor of promoting HDTV as the global standard has been at once a medium and a theater of the techno-economic contest between the two techno-egos. HDTV is, after all, as much a political game as a business matter; as culturally intense a project as a technology-intensive battle.But this battle is not over. As the latest news report, â€Å"the electronic company Sony will debut a flat-screen t flat-screen television powered by organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that require less power and space. The OLEDs result in a television picture with stronger colors and a faster response time in pixels. The television will be introduced in Japan but will not be available in the U. S. for several years. † (Berhie, 2007)

“Legalization Of Marijuana”: Pro Marijuana Essay

Marijuana should be legalized to solve many of today’s problems. These problems have gotten so out of hand that many extreme options are being considered to control or solve it. There seems to be no way to end the war against Marijuana other than to legalize it . The war on Marijuana doesn’t seem to be accomplishing too much. Different options need to be considered. There have also been too many lies, misunderstandings and misinterpretations thrown at Marijuana. Legalization is an option that hasn’t gotten a chance but should be given one. Although many people feel that legalizing marijuana would increase the amount of use, marijuana should be legalized because it will reduce the great amounts of money spent on enforcement and it will increase our country’s revenue. There are also many benefits that can be found to help people if legalization of marijuana is given a chance. Legalizing marijuana would increase our economy’s revenue. During alcohols prohibition, alcohol was still sold and used, but people were doing it illegally. Then the government took away the prohibition law and alcohol taxes were increased. The same thing should happen with Marijuana. Marijuana should be taxed heavily to increase our revenue. Marijuana would be made by the same people at pharmacy’s, so the quality would be assured, containing no poisons or impurities. Then Marijuana could be taxed heavily because the users will be assured of â€Å"clean drugs.† Making Marijuana legal will reduce the great amounts of money spent on enforcement every year. Drug dealers and users are one step ahead on the enforcement process. If one drug lord is caught, another one will show up somewhere else. We can’t defeat the dealers that way. Too much money is wasted on a cause that seems to have no end. So much of this money could be used on better things. By lifting the ban on marijuana use and treating it like other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, the nation would gain immediate and long-term benefits. This change in the law would greatly improve the quality of life for many people. Victims of glaucoma and those needing  antinausea treatment, for example, would get easier access to Marijuana. Also, Doctors could get on with the investigation of marijuana’s medical uses without fear of being put in jail. It might also become possible to discuss the accusations of the dangers of marijuana use without getting caught up in a policy debate. Meanwhile, the black market would disappear overnight. Some arrangement would be made to license the production of marijuana cigarettes. Thousands of dealers would be put out of business, and the economy would begin to open up. This would lower crime dramatically. The dealers and their organizations would have no flow of money, no money means no guns and no reason for as many gang wars. The legalization of marijuana would also help the federal budget in two ways, the federal cash flow would increase, because marijuana cigarettes would be taxed. In return, the companies that make the cigarettes would also pay taxes. Second, there would be less money spent on law enforcement to apprehend and jail users and sellers of marijuana. The drug enforcement authorities might finally focus more on intense, hard drugs and violent crimes and the courts wouldn’t have to worry about sending so many people to jails. Marijuana should be legalized to solve many of today’s problems.

The family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The family - Essay Example This traditional notion of the family is not only being challenged by new social realities but by anthropologists such as Jane Collier, Michelle Z. Rosaldo and Sylvia Yanagisako, the authors of â€Å"Is there a family?† who quite persuasively argue that the family is not â€Å"†¦a universal human institution.† They argue, â€Å"†¦the family is not as a concrete institution designed to fulfill universal human needs, but as an ideological construct associated with the modern state† (Collier 1). As controversial as this argument may sound, one finds support from Diane Ackerman’s, â€Å"A Natural History of Love† and in Sara Ruddick’s â€Å"Thinking about the Father.† Scientific and anthropological perspectives concerning the family concept invalidate earlier understandings. It establishes that the family is not a universal phenomenon and that even when it does exist in its traditional form it reflects the human desire for familiar patterns which is derived from the biological instincts. The most generalized concept of family, as the nuclear family which consists of a father, a mother, and children, still exists overwhelmingly in human society, however, new perspectives on the concept of the family is gathering strength. Social anthropologist, Bronislaw Malinowski is responsible for the popular traditional concept of the family as a universal phenomenon. He states, â€Å"The human infant needs parental protection for a much longer period than does the young of even the highest anthropoid apes. The father and mother have to look after the children for a long period, and in turn, derive certain benefits from the care and trouble taken† (Collier 2). According to his argument, the family fulfilled the universal need and so it is a universal institution. The universal function of a family is to nurture children. As he noted, the family unit was preserved and protected by the commitment of its members to one another, by the well-defined roles

Analysis Of The Tale Of The Veldt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis Of The Tale Of The Veldt - Essay Example The traces "Happylife Home" along with the acquainted room adjustments similar to the parents' bedroom along with the nursery provide one with a feeling that this is a standard local house of those times. The mom appears concerned or even puzzled regarding something as she said "the nursery is...different right now compared to it was", this initiative can easily lead one towards thinking that mom is having ideal competencies to be a mother but when one reads on then it is revealed that she has the habit of demonstrating stereotyped reactions to every event that comes her way, the mother and father then state "nothing as well great for our children". Later in the story the mother and father talk about the issues of the amazing house and also the nursery, "The house is wife, mother, and nursemaid, Can I compete with it ?", along with the dad possesses a generic answer "But I believed that's exactly why we purchased this house". The mother and father in the tale appear upon their childr en's needs since solutions rather than means of revealing any specific really like or treatment. In the tale we by no means understand something about the kids except for their obsession with the room, "I don't need to do anything, however, appear and pay attention and also odor; what more will there be to perform ?†. The story is all about human nature to remain discontented with everything after a short period of time. The mother in the tale is master at finding something wrong with everything in the house, life and even in her children. The female character in the story is a representation of the people who fail to see the beauty in their life while, dwelling about the negativities of the existence. They attach their happiness with certain goals and objectives and once they are fulfilled then they find something else to worry about and perhaps become a living example of those who want to be happy and satisfied tomorrow (Mattews, 75).

The development of education in Qatar throughout the last 10 years Term Paper

The development of education in Qatar throughout the last 10 years - Term Paper Example It must be realized that for the economy to flourish, these private sector companies must also be majorly occupied by the national residents of Qatar. It is argued that the previous educational system of Qatar, although well-structured and developed, did not produce competent enough individuals that can rise to the challenge and be the driving force for such private industries. With so much conflict in the Middle East, it is educational to see how countries like Qatar have managed to cope with the challenge of development amidst these adversities. The leadership in the Arabian Gulf nation of Qatar played a big contribution in giving focus to the educational department believing that it is the key to their economic and social progress (Brewer et al., 2007). It has been observed that in the past their educational system has not produced very good outcomes and their approach was very rigid, outdated and even obsolete to try and compete for world-class quality of education. It was believed that their education must also be on a par with their initiatives for social and economic changes that will catapult them into global competency. During the past years, the Qatar education has taken major reforms in order to augment their outdated system. With the modernization of society and the emergence of the expanding role of women, they have focused on giving larger roles and involvement to them, which was traditionally and historically avoided. They have also opened and developed satellite universities involving top educational institutions with high repute in the world-class quality of education. But a country like Qatar is very traditionalist and it is important to observe how they managed to implement drastic and decisive changes to their traditionally rigid form of doing things. Qatar has a unique status in the world’s economy because of its vast energy resources and

Parenting And Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Parenting And Education - Essay Example My Mother’s frequent visits affirmed her love for us and encouraged us to excel at academics. During the vacations, my aunts sometimes contributed to our care during my Mother’s regular business trips, but I am aware that it was my Mother who raised us single-handedly, and with several sacrifices on her part. My Mother was not as fortunate as we have been. Her separation from her parents at a very young age, due to compelling economic factors, persisted throughout her life. My maternal grandparents were poor traders in Ghana, who did not have the means to support their children. As their poor livelihood did not permit them to educate my Mother, she was sent to live in her uncle’s home. This uncle saw her through school, and then my Mother secured a scholarship which enabled her to pay her way through college and secure her Bachelor’s degree in Art. My Mother met and married my father in her late thirties, while on a short visit to the United States, and he r parents passed away before the birth of my eldest brother. As such, my Mother is very much a self-educated and self-made woman. When I consider the differences in the manner in which my Mother secured her education and the way in which she supported us through our academic careers, I never cease to marvel at her strength of purpose and her clear perspective on what she wanted for us. My Mother was determined not to let economic factors or the nature of her occupation compel her to send us away to grow up in the homes of relatives.

The United States government should ban gun control laws Research Paper

The United States government should ban gun control laws - Research Paper Example Watson (2005) argue that the gun politics have become a significant issue whereby many political leaders have come up with ideologies relating to possessing guns through illegal and non-illegal use. They address this issue basing on the safety of the state, but the gun politics deals with the issue of regulations, personal possessing of firearms and restriction of using guns. The issues of gun control have become the foremost debate in the United States. This is  because the proponents argue that owning guns will contribute to widespread danger whereas the opponents argue that it is one of the individual rights for self-security. Gun politics in the US has been a serious and long debate in the American politics. The debate concerning the possession of guns has been for long decades the issue. Some politicians argue that the gun control should be prohibited whereas others argue that gun control should be permissible. Those who support the US citizens from possessing the guns argue t hat it is one of the constitutional act of individual right of self-security. They argue this basing on the second Amendment of constitutional right bill that permits and protects individual rights of owning handguns. This constitution right was ratified in December 1971 together with other Bill of Rights. However, the Supreme Court ruled out the second amendment of permitting an individual to own handguns in a state for self-protection. The arguments in favor for banning the gun control laws are varied. First, the society requires reasonable gun control laws. The local and federal government enacted laws that protect and defends the property of people in the US. Thus, proponents of restrictive gun control laws argue that, by under- regulating, the law will put the state residents at unreasonable risk. This is because the community requires reasonable gun control that would not create any risk to the public. Crooker (2003) asserts that the American people may feel  unsafe in case the government allows everyone in the community to carry a gun. Although the government may ban gun control, they should prohibit ordinary citizens from using the gun in the public places such as schools, hospitals, churches and market places. The government should offer the citizens of US a right for reasonable protection from any causes of danger especially danger of using the gun. Secondly, high rates of firearm related violence and increased deaths such as homicides are behind the  need for banning the gun control. The proponents of gun control argue that the gun control should be made illegal. This is because owing personal firearms will contribute to increased crimes such as homicides and increased deaths in a state. The research report of 2011 indicated that about 47 percent of people in US own personal firearms in their houses (Watson, 2005). Thus, about 20 percent of homicides occur in many parts of the US because many families own private handguns. Therefore, banning gun control is essential because it will reduce cases of homicides, which are common in some states, in the American society. Those supporting the ban of gun control believe that by restricting gun ownership in the US state, government will be able to lessen gun related crimes such as suicide and homicides. This is because the research report indicates that gun related crimes are high in US with the majority of homicides being reported to be high followed by suicide. Watson 2005) argue that gun related

Smart phones Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Smart phones - Research Paper Example Also, the process was slow and, in particular, the previous management of information systems where most organizations had fewer computers used to retrieve and store information. In addition, the process of sharing information prior to the advent of smartphones was challenging because workers had to take notes from their seniors who sometimes are fast or not audible. However, smartphones bring flexibility and efficiency at the workplace that can help the organization to improve the speed of sharing information and ensuring projects are completed on time (Baltzan, Detlor, & Welsh, 2012). This paper examines how smartphones help to enhance the management of information systems. The widespread use of smartphones in the office environment as a medium for accessing, sharing and using information is influenced by the need to hasten the communication of vital information between employees in an organization. In a globalized business environment, employees require access to more resources, and this includes vital information that can help them to improve their efficiency and overall performance of the organization. Smartphones are not only portable but also has vital features that can improve the sharing of information between employees in the workplace environment. Such key feature include, for example, voice calling, text, emailing and video conference that has become an important platform where the top management in different geographical location can relay important information to junior staff in other regions across the world. For example, the top management can utilize smartphones for video conferencing since they can communicate important information to w orkers who are million miles away in real time (Carayannis & Clark, 2011). Further, smartphones also have several software applications that are relevant for sharing vital informational

Wegmans Essay Example for Free

Wegmans Essay Core competencies are the things that give a company one or more competitive advantages, in creating and delivering value to its customers in its chosen field. Also called core capabilities or distinctive competencies. It can be composed of different elements such as superior quality, customer services, innovation, team building, flexibility and responsiveness, etc. Firstly, Wegmans has a better customer service. Wegmans focus on customer service, their goal is to build an emotional connection with their customer. Wegmans give a college scholarship for both its full and part-time employees to locations around the world to learn about or to locate new and unique sources of foods. Wegmans employees have a rich knowledge can give a better support for their customer. Secondly, Wegmans has a good team building. Wegmans instituted a host of employees-friendly benefits such as profit-sharing and full medical coverage. Also, Wegmans’ annual salaries for full-time workers and hourly wages for part-time workers are among the highest in the industry. The result is Wegmans generous pay scale and its consistent listing as one of the 100 best companies to work for also attracts quality workers. Those strategies can build a sense of belonging of the employees. Thirdly, Wegmans has an innovation idea. For example, Wegmans built a 300-seat cafà © in their first store in Rochester, New York, a concept that was unheard of in 1930. Fourthly, Wegmans can provide a high quality product to customer. Because of Wegman employees have a rich knowledge of the food, they can locate a high quality supplier to Wegmans and provide some better product to customer. Finally, Wegmans has a good flexibility and responsiveness. For example, Wegmans employees can explain 500 varieties of cheese to customer, which types of crackers to serve them on, and which wines go best with them. Wegmans employees can give different suggestion to customer depend on what the customers needs.

The Buddhist No Self Doctrine Philosophy Essay

The Buddhist No Self Doctrine Philosophy Essay The Buddha taught that there were no persisting identity and there are no permanent stable identities. We are just a complex experience streamed through time. We are just short lived, temporal, historical beings in the process of becoming. There is no difference between you and your life: you are your life history. thoughts were the thinker and experiences were the experiencer The Buddha taught Ksanika-vada which is an anti-substantial doctrine that the world is in a continuous flux and is impermanent. There is nothing more than movement and change in the world (Anitya). There are no fixed or permanent, absolute or independent substances. The Buddhist universe is the same as Heraclitus simile of a river as you cant step twice into the same river due to the constant changing of water. The phenomenology of reality, objects, events and self are not what we think they are. They are in fact a temporary interconnected stream of some fundamental elements. This is the Buddhist ontology that everything occurs through causes and effects. All these things we believe to be persisting entities, including self, are just a stream of events. The effect doesnt exist when the cause existed and the cause stops existing when the effect comes to exist. This results in everything in the world having a cause and nothing existing unconditioned. The idea of Atman is the metaphysical self or soul which is everlasting. The Hindu religion uses this idea of the soul thus they adopt the Eternalists view. This is that the soul is immaterial, infinite and immortal so it will continue to exist for ever. Atman has various meaning such as soul, self, being, ego or personality. This is what Buddhism rejects, a persisting and enduring entity in humans. The doctrine of Nairatmya-Vada teaches us that to recognize ourselves as a persisting entity is an illusion. We are actually a phenomenon of human experiences (dharma) so we are temporal being (Ksanika). What we call the self is actually a temporary interconnected stream of thoughts and desires. So why do we believe we have a self and why do we cling onto the idea of a self? The early Buddhist believed individuals were an arrangement is a composition of five aggregates (skandha). None of these phenomena contain an actually sense of self: The body (rupa) Feelings of pleasure and pain (vedana) Sense-based perceptions of objects (vijnana) Conceptual thoughts (samjna) Volitions, inherited dispositions and habits (samskara) To clarify, conceptual thoughts are not the mind but just the thoughts themselves. They are not a substance or an enduring self. Also consciousness is not found in these five aggregates as the Buddha rejected the idea. Rather consciousness is named by the cause. It is dependent on all five and it cant exist without them. For example the eye gives visibility which gives rise to visible consciousness. This is a mental consciousness. Consciousness is always an effect of the aggregates and always in flux. . The self is not actually real as none of these five aggregates show that there is a persisting and enduring identity in humans. What gives rise to individuals feeling of self is just the aggregate of these factors replacing each other. For example, a body touch a red hot poker, this will give rise to a feeling of pain, this will give rise to a thought of pain and the memory of what it felt like. It is a conventional designation for a becoming compound of the five aggregates that gives rise to the feeling that we are selves. Descartes believed that I think therefore I am, whereas the Buddha taught that I am because I think. Therefore Buddhism is an impersonalist teaching showing us that the self doesnt actually exist so we are not what we think we are, we dont matter. Nagasena explains this concept in Question of King Milanda through a conversation between Menader (a king) and Nagasena (a monk). Nagasena asks the king if the axle, wheels, chariot body, flagstaff, yoke, reins or goad-stick is the chariot. Also he asks if all of these are the chariot. All of these were answered negatively. Thus the chariot is not the same as the parts and is not the parts conjointly. He concludes that the word chariot is only a name for the parts in a certain way formation. He applies this to self and postulates that his name is just a construction of his five aggregates but not actually a self: As the various parts, the different adjuncts of a vehicle, form, when united, that which is called a chariot; so, when the five khandas are united in one aggregate, or body, they constitute that which is called a being, a living existence. The Buddhism doctrine of Pratiya- Samutpada, often translated as dependent arising taught that thirst or desires, attachments and commitments are causally related to suffering (duhkha). This is where the Buddha explains the process where enduring world phenomenon arises. Even though cause and events (dharmas) are separate in Buddhism they are still interconnected and this is the same for the continuous cycle of rebirth (samsara). It is just life a flowing river or an ever turning wheel. There is no need for the self, all phenomena, our experiences, substances and events, can be explained by caused and effect. Life is one causal sequence made of Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (nidanas). This shows that no beings exist independent of any other beings. Therefore it describes one enduring identity from birth to death and also reincarnated lives: 1. Ignorance 2. Volitional Actions 3. States of Mind 4. Name and Form 5. Sense Sources 6. Contact 7. Feelings 8. Attachment 9. Grasping 10. Becoming 11. Birth 12. Aging and Death Yet again this process shows us that nothing can exist by itself. This is because the Buddha taught that if something has a dependent origination then it cant be independent: If something is fundamentally dependent then it must be devoid of having a nature that is independent of other phenomena, of existing independently. Anything that is dependently originated must in fact be empty. Everything that we experience is a result of a cause and the nature of them is being dependent. This means that all of our phenomena are empty of having an independent self. To be enlightened is to take away the first link of ignorance and be aware that all our phenomena are empty and once we are aware of this we will become enlightened. This is becoming aware that we arent actually what we think are. Our self or personality is a constitution of feelings and attachments to objects which is what causes our process of becoming. This is the aim of Atman, to escape from this unsatisfaction that the phenomena of the persisting self causes. When we grasp an object we want we may feel happiness but this never last and even if we get an object we want we always crave for more or are scared of losing it. We need to become enlightened that these are not actually real and are only a product of our phenomena. The four noble truths teach us that you can realise your true self and aspire to a higher living. When you understand that ignorance, volitional action, attachment and feeling and grasping are empty then you will let escape the circle of birth, suffering, death and rebirth (samsara) and find peace in nirvana. As we have seen, early Buddhism analysed experience into five aggregates but later schools developed the process of reduction analysis. The Abhidharma, a later reduction analysis text, develops some of the fundamental teaching of the Buddhism. The Abhidharma analyses phenomenon and experiences, reducing them into minute essentials (dharma) by complex lists. This rejects the sustainable self as an independent entity because it is actually a changing construction dependent on complex connection of mental and material components. The Sarvastivada Abhidharma doctrine teaches that only impartite entities truly exist. If atoms make up an object then the object doesnt exist as it is just an aggregate. The impartite entities in phenomenon (dharma) have a permanent identity of their own (svabhava) and exist in the past, present and future. Each dharma has its own essences or intrinsic nature (svalaksana). This idea is Atomism, where the basic constituent ingredients for all mental thoughts an d physical materials are all reducible to this. Yet again this breaks down our habits of attachment as we are just a mass of material elements and just as the Lotus flower will fade and die so will us. As the dharmas which have no cause and effect dont include the self, this must mean that all aspects of our experiences are impermanent and dependent on many causes and effects which arise and pass. This ontology of dharmas shows us that the world we live in is not what we think it is. Hence our attachments, commitments and desires for objects of this world are false: Try to grasp the world and it runs through ones fingers. The Abhidharma lists conditioned realities (samskrta) which are made from temporary fluxes. These phenomena are conditioned: 1. Material phenomena 2. Mind 3. Mental phenomena 4. Elements which are neither material nor mental The mind is conceived as a complex cognitive process consisting of a succession or related momentary mental states. Mental states arise dependent on its cause therefore forming a mental flux. The mind is always rapidly changing, streams of consciousness is made up of streams of awareness. Every moment of cognition relates to a particular object therefore intentionality and consciousness are inseparable. Our phenomenon of consciousness is therefore a stream of immaterial and impersonal events; it is associated with the body in life but will come to exist dependent on another body after the death of the body. This is not a persisting self but an impersonal series of mental events. Our reality is made up of a connection of momentary events. So mind and matter are not substance but events, and mental and material events interact in a flux. The Sautrantika teaching are different from the Abhidharma teachings as it rejections dharma as actual reality. The Abhidharma introduced the idea of permanence in the world through dharmas and the Sautrantika rejects this unconditional reality. This is because the Abhidharma dharmas go against the Buddhist principle of impermanence (anitya). They retain the notion of dharma but eliminate the notion of svabhava. They believe that our basic reality is just flashes of momentary energy (svalakshana). Therefore all things momentary exist only in the minute when they are produced. This is a radicalisation of impermanence as everything is instantaneous and has no duration. All materials are also impermanent as all things decay. Decay needs no external causes as it is a self destruction of the material. So there is only ever a present, there is no past or future as everything is instantaneous. An enduring and persisting self can certainly not exist as there is only momentary existence. Thus consciousness actually is just a flux of momentary flash of energy hence there is no need for a conscious self with a past, present and future. The doctrine of sakaravada teaches us that we are never in contact with the material world but only perceive an aspect based upon the sense organs and sense consciousness: It asserts the mediated character of cognition, the recognition that perception apprehends its object through the mediation of a mark left by the object on consciousness. Therefore reality is not what we think it is as there is a gap between our minds and what is actually occuringf. It is not a self being confronted by a world of objects. It is actually our sense consciousness taking on the form of the sakaravada. Before there was a need for a self for something to be consciously perceived by the senses but in this theory there is no need for this as we are not in direct contact with the world (bahyartha-pratyaks). The Nyaya- Vaisheshika taught that the world had an objective structure, that we are permanent, that there were persisting entities and they were substances. Dignaga, a Buddhist scholar believed that these categories that have been discovered in reality are just imposed by the workings of the mind and dont actually exist in reality. Through the process of our imagination (kalpana) is what we are giving words to. It is our language that imposes structure of reality. The mind groups svalakshana together. So words for generalities, for classes, for types, for qualities and words for individual substances all would seem to have repeatable properties are just our interpretation of the world and not actually real. Our minds are linking together different particulars and imagine them as an enduring and persisting entity. We forget that we are part of a process and talk in terms of us being stable observers not matter or quantum self, however we are not except from processes. Thus the belief of the self is just a word invented by the mind for the different processes in flux. Yogcara, another School of Buddhism, rejects the Sautrantika and Abhidharma idea of there being a reality independent of the mind. These ideas are interconnected and give rise to other ideas whilst being self illuminating. The unenlightened believe they have a self or they are conscious but this actually arises from a stream of conscious self illuminating ideas. This is because these self-conscious ideas may wrongly believe they have a self when actually they are part of a flux. It is the mind-set that makes us have this belief as this establishes how we perceive the world. Even though the world is mind only, the ideas cast themselves as external resulting in the misconstrued belief that we have a self. People dont feel individual because of the external world but because of the certain habitual mind-set they have, their feelings and moods.

KERS Energy Recovery

KERS Energy Recovery ABSTRACT In the past decade of the modern car era attempts at inducing Alternative Technology in cars had been made with some amount of success. This gave birth to cars that ran on Electric, Hybrid and Fuel cell technology. Though these cars are present in the market they have failed to make a significant difference as people still prefer gasoline fuelled cars. In 2009 FIA had introduced a row of technical changes to the sport also permitting the teams to run regenerative technology called KERS in an attempt to win back the fans interest and to prove that F1 does care about the environment. The technology already existed in hybrid cars but the primary purpose behind its introduction was to develop an efficient technology that could be transferred to road cars. All the major factory teams came equipped with KERS system but all of them struggled through the first half of the season many even avoiding it after three races due to reliability issues. The ban on testing made developments harder and time consuming. The KERS equipped cars won only three races in the entire season with the first win coming late after mid season. Even after investing huge amount of resources and money on KERS the teams failed to get the best out of the system. In this report the various KERS technologies developed by the F1 teams like electric, flywheel and electromechanical based KERS units and similar systems present in road cars along with their pros and cons are discussed in brief. Apart from the above, which system has more potential to be inducted in road cars is also discussed. INTRODUCTION I do agree that KERS in F1 would benefit the mainstream motor industry given the fact that one of the primary reasons behind its introduction was to facilitate a smooth transfer of the technology to road cars though substantial amount of work needs to be done. The 2009 F1 season introduced the widest range of technical rule changes the sport had witnessed for more than a decade. The one specific topic that got significant attention both from the F1 teams and the media was KERS a device which stores the waste energy produced during braking and releases it during acceleration. The rules limited the amount of energy recovery of KERS to 400kJ per lap, giving an extra 80hp for about 6.5 seconds. The teams were allowed to apply any means with the condition that they pass the F1 safety standards. After months of research and development the teams came out with innovative ideas but it was evident that the field was divided into two types. Williams was the only team which developed a mechanic al flywheel based KERS unit, though they never used it in a race while the rest of the field went for electric KERS unit. In contrast to what most people believe KERS is not a new technology in fact it has been used in a variety of applications including hybrid buses and cars. We shall now study both the systems and the improvements they can bring to the automobile industry. KERS in F1 cars As in any hybrid vehicle the primary factor that limits the efficiency gains over its lifetime is the recoverable energy storage system (RESS). The two most important characteristics of any RESS are specific energy and specific power. The former refers to the amount of energy per kilogram that the system can store and the latter to the rate at which energy can be put into or taken out of the system per kilogram. In the wake of preparations for the 2009 season teams had tested a range of different systems including electric, mechanical, hydraulic and even pneumatic based KERS units. After careful analysation majority of the teams concluded that the electric system would be the best option that would deliver the required amount of energy from the brakes. The norm in F1 to make things as compact and light as possible led the teams to this decision. With the rules allowing the teams only 60Kw of energy for 6.5 seconds per lap, drivers had to be very wise with regard to using this extra p ower. The KERS system was primarily intended to aid the overtaking of cars but as seen throughout the season most of the KERS equipped cars lacked overall pace at the start of the season and used the KERS for better acceleration out of the corners and to defend their positions. The basic working of the kers unit in F1 cars is very similar to the ones in hybrid road cars. ELECTRIC KERS This system consists of three components, the mototr/generator; KERS control unit and the battery pack. The motor/generator is directly connected to the drive train. It produces electrical energy during braking and releases it back through the transmission when required. The energy captured is stored in the battery which in turn is connected to the Kers control unit that governs the release and storage of energy to and from the batteries. The motor/generators were provided by motorsport companys specialising in this field eg. Magnetti Marelli (supplied for Ferrari,Renault,Toyota,RedBull), Zytek ( Mclaren) who worked closely with the teams to manufacture motor/generators tailor made to suit their design requirements. The heat generated during the charging and discharging process hampers the performance of the motors, hence the motor has an integrated liquid cooling system which weighs just 4kgs in total. The RESS unit (battery) has been developed by the teams themselves and Lithium-io n was the preferred choice. The entire system including the motor/generator, Kers control unit and the batteries weighs around 25-35 kgs with 25.3 kgs being the lightest developed by Zytek for the Mclaren Mercedes team. ADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC KERS The electric systems allow the teams to be more flexible in terms of placing the various components around the car which helps for better weight distribution which is of vital importance in F1. The specific energy of Lithium-ion batteries in comparison is unrivalled as they can store considerably more energy per kg which helps reduce the size of RESS. DISADVANTAGES OF ELECTRIC KERS Lithium-ion batteries take 1-2 hours to charge completely due to low specific power (i.e rate to charge or discharge) hence in high performance F1 cars more batteries are required which increases the overall weight of the batteries. Chemical batteries heat up during charging process and this takes place a number of times in KERS units which if not kept under control could cause the batteries to lose energy over the cycle or worse even explode. The specific power is low as the energy needs to be converted at least two times both while charging or discharging causing energy losses in the process. MECHANICAL KERS This system developed by the Williams F1 team is quite similar to the electric kers system consisting of a motor/generator that is matted to the transmission, an electric control unit to govern the power released to and from the motor but instead of storing the energy in a battery a flywheel is used as RESS medium acting as an electromechanical battery. They opted for the unique solution of incorporating the motor/generator into the flywheel. The figure below designed by Williams Hybrid Power shows the internal structure of the flywheel consisting of a stator mounted in the outer walls of the casing. The permanent magnets of the motor are incorporated into the composite structure of the flywheel itself thus making the flywheel magnetically loaded. This reduces the overall size and weight of the system leading to a compact structure.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The motor/generator is wound with fibre to keep the arrangement intact at high speeds. The fibre is embedded with metal particles which allow it to be magnetised as a permanent magnet. This substantially reduces the eddy current losses of the machine as there are no additional metals in the arrangement. When it spins, it can induce a current in the stator or be spun like a motor by a current through the stator. In order to achieve high specific power the flywheel is spun at speeds in excess of 50000 rpm which is possible in a vaccum. The challenge here was to allow the transfer of energy without letting any external air from entering the vaccum. This resulted in a highly efficient system whose temperatures could be kept under control in an easy manner without affecting the performance and operational life span. The result is a compact and efficient mechanism that can be packaged easily in the car. There was another similar system developed by Flybrid Systems LLP which had also designed a flywheel based KERS system but with a different design theory. As mentioned by J.Hilton the flywheel was made out of carbon filament wrapped around a steel hub and weighed around 5kgs. The flywheel was matted to the transmission of the car via a several fixed ratios, a clutch and CVT that was patented by Torotrak. The CVT consisted of input and output discs which were formed so that the toroidal surfaces on each disc formed the toroidal cavity. Inside each cavity there were two or three rollers in contact with the torroidal surfaces of both the input and the output shaft. When the roller is at a small radius (near the centre) on the input disc and at a large radius (near the edge) on the output disc the CVT produces a low ratio. Similarly a high ratio is produced when the rollers are moved in the opposite manner across the discs described in detail in. As highlighted in and CVT plays a vital r ole in the overall performance of the system without which the flywheels full potential is hard to extract. The transfer of power through the discs and rollers takes place via specially developed traction fluid. This fluid separates the rolling surfaces of the discs and rollers at their contact points. The input and output discs are clamped which results in an efficient mechanism for transferring power between the rotating discs and rollers. In order to maintain high efficiency the flywheel rotates at 60000 rpm in vaccum. The system was well capable of storing the required 60Kw of power as demanded by the teams. The total weight of the system was 25kgs consisting of both the CVT and flywheel which is the same weight as the lightest electric system. ADVANTAGES OF MEACHANICAL KERS The specific power of flywheels in comparison is much greater than that of batteries. The energy lost during transfers amongst the system components is relatively less due to high efficiency. The flywheel system can deliver almost the entire amount of energy stored in it, repeatedly without any decline in efficiency. The mechanical system does not need to be replaced as its life cycle is as good as that of the car. DISADVANTAGES OF MECHANICAL KERS The specific energy capacity of flywheels is lower than some of the advanced battery models. Friction produced in the bearings and seals cause the flywheel to slow down and loose energy. KERS TECHNOLOGY USED IN ROAD CARS Both the Electric and Mechanical KERS developed in F1 are not new to the automobile industry. Electric hybrid cars such as Toyota Prius(1997 Japenese market),Honda Civic Hybrid(2002),Ford Escape Hybrid(2005) did quite well since their introduction in the market especially the Prius. Flywheels on the other hand were introduced in transport buses in Sverdon,Switzerland (1950) and also in small electric locomotives for shunting purposes. The reason why flywheels have not been used in road cars is because they were heavy and produced high gyroscopic forces which upset the handling characteristics of the car hence they were installed in heavy buses and trams as discussed in. The kers system in commercial and transport vehicles was used to accelerate the vehicle from low speeds or standstill situations were an engine utilises most amount of fuel thus giving better fuel average figures. The electric hybrid vehicles mentioned above had good emissions and fuel average though the actual figure s were lower than those mentioned on paper. This was because manufacturers conducted tests in a secure environment were the battery system was tested in its ideal temperature range which in reality was not the case. They were then run on drive cycles whose figures wary from the real world numbers, thus resulting in efficiency figures that are inaccurate. The batteries used in hybrid cars are still quite heavy and due to constant charging and discharging wear out faster. Hence they have to be replaced from time to time. Due to the commerce involved in any new technology designers found it hard to gather money and resources to build such hybrid technology and thus the pace of development was slow. As car manufacturers face tougher emission norms hybrid technologies are getting more importance by the day. CONCLUSIONS Apart from increasing overtaking the main purpose of introducing KERS was to challenge the best engineers in the business to develop innovative ideas that would directly benefit the mainstream motor industry. Given the resources and pace of developments in F1, the Kers systems produced by the teams would have taken the car manufacturers much longer to develop. Both the types of KERS can be retrofitted in cars albeit with minor modifications. Given the current trend of engine downsizing they can add substantial amount of performance to the car without affecting the engine and average. The mechanical system is more efficient than the electrical systems that use inefficient batteries which makes them more likely to be induced in cars in the near future. The flywheels used in F1 cars were pretty powerful though they will be modified to suit real world situations which will be capable of storing 75kW and weigh about 35-40kg which compared to current battery systems is half the weight as s een in. The carbon fibre used in F1 flywheels can be reduced in quantity for road cars where as the rest of the materials like aluminium and steel are readily available and would be cheaper to produce in volume than electric systems. Flywheels are easy to recycle where as the use of rare earth materials make batteries more expensive to recycle. The flywheels could be charged directly by the engines thus charging faster which would help cope with the road conditions better. The electric systems developed by F1 have proved there is room for improvement in this field but comparatively flywheels seem to be the better option in terms of overall performance gains and sustainability though further work needs to be done to make it road ready. Flybrid systems is currently testing with Jaguar, the Technology Strategy Board established by the British government is funding a project involving Prodrive and Flybrid to help develop the technology for road cars as mentioned in. Initially manufacturers plan to introduce it with high end models and latter on to city a car which supports the statement that F1 KERS will benefit the motor industry. REFERENCE Vehicle Propulsion System by Prof. Lino Guzzella, Dr.Antonio Sciarretta, ETH Zurich, Institut fur Mess-und Regeltechnik, Sonneggstr.3, 8092 Zurich Switzerland. 2005 page ( 87-106) and (124-130). Handbook Of Automotive Powertrain Chassis Design by John Fenton 1998 page (131-139). http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/426958/exclusive-mclaren-f1-kers.html. Flybrid Systems LLP http://www.flybridsystems.com/Technology.html High Speed Flywheel Based Hybrid System For Low Carbon Vehicles by D.Cross, J.Hilton from IEEE Xplore Oxford Brookes University. TorotrakPlc. http://www.torotrak.com/Resources/Torotrak/Documents/SAE_WC_2009_09PFL-0922_KERS.pdf Williams Hybrid Power Lt. http://www.williamshybridpower.com/technology/

The Impact of Values on the Workforce Essay -- Business Organizational

The Impact of Personal Values, Organizational Values, and Cultural Values on the Workforce When we are called upon to make decisions, several factors are taken into consideration before this decision can be made. Depending on the type of decision, such factors could be cultural beliefs, personal beliefs, and organizational beliefs. We have come to realize that there are fundamental challenges in trying to apply ethical principles in a cultural and organizational environment. Each culture has unique distinctions in values, which may or may not be considered ethical by each individual within society. These differences in culture and personal beliefs influence any decision, whether personal or professional, of any individual. Certain cultures within the work force may decide not to adhere to organizational codes of conduct because of not only personal feelings, but also because of the varying differences in cultural backgrounds. The intent of this paper is to identify values that are important to me personally, organizationally, and culturally, and the effects that these v alues have on decision making in regards to my personal and professional life. Personal values are most important to me since these values define individuality. David Peters (2003) said it best when he said â€Å"an examination of our beliefs can offer valuable insights into our character and help us determine a clear pathway to a more satisfying life.† Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and respect are highly valued and these values are present in my everyday life. However, this does not necessarily mean that each individual within my society share these same personal values, thus creating an environment filled with varying personal beliefs, expectations, and philosophies that may not be logically connected with the society’s culture or ethics. Nonis (2001) states: â€Å"Values reflect the most basic characteristics of adaptation that guides individuals in deciding which situations they should enter and what they should do in them (Kahle 1980). According to Williams (1979), explicit and fully conceptualized values become the criteria for judgemen t, preferences and choices† (p. ---). My decisions whether personal or professional, are dependent on my values and the environment that I am in. Before accepting my current position, I made sure that the company had similar ethical beliefs as m... ...ead of forcing our beliefs unto others we need to respect the practices and traditions and get a better understanding why certain practices are done. Chris Jenks states: â€Å"Westerners, convinced that they are morally superior, have failed in their attempts to stop local practices because they did not take into consideration the culture and the reason for the practice† (p. 22). In relations to the work force, organizations are diversifying their workforce. They are realizing the importance of diversity and how it can benefit the organization, given that diversity brings different point of views and values to light. As an organization, we should not simply proclaim a set of values. Instead we should immerse both managers and employees in the organization’s ideology. Any disconnect in behavior between mangers and employees will strongly undermine the values of the organization. The undermining of these cultural values creates uncertainty in the minds of employees thus leading to potential conflicts. Work Cited Gardner, John W. "On Leadership" New York: The Free Press, 1990 Jenks, Chris. "Western Culture: An Introduction." Culture. Ed. Chris Jenks. London: Routledge, 1995

Magic Realism in Wise Children by Angela Carter Essay -- Wise Children

Magic Realism in Wise Children by Angela Carter Magical realism is a primarily Latin American literary movement from the 1960s onwards, which integrates realistic portrayals of the ordinary with elements of fantasy and myths. The result of this is a rich but disturbing world that appears at once to be very dreamlike. The term ‘magical realism’ was first used by German art critic, Franz Roh, who said it was a way of depicting ‘the enigmas of reality’ and literary critic Isabel Allende has said that ‘in magic realism we find the transformation of the common and the everyday into the awesome and the unreal. It is predominantly an art of surprises. Time exists in a kind of fluidity and the unreal happens as part of reality. Once the reader accepts the fait accompli, the rest follows with logical precision.’ Many critics have associated Angela Carter’s style of writing with magical realism, a term which refers to a writer portraying imaginary or improbable elements in a realistic, ordinary way. The novel conforms to the device of magical realism through the use of references and allusions to Shakespeare: there are five chapters, just as there are always five acts in a Shakespearean comedy; Dora and Nora live on Bard Road; art imitates life when Ranulph plays Othello, later catches his wife in bed with someone else and kills them and himself; also, Tiffany is a reflection of Ophelia, driven mad by love, when she has a breakdown on a live TV game show; there are disguises, twins, mistaken identities and love problems, all key elements of Shakespearean comedy. This kind of intertextuality is a subtle manifestation of magical realism. All the Shakespearean-style villainy, comic relief and intricate plot elemen... ...down to earth when Dora mentions that a zookeeper came soon after with a net to recapture the beautiful insects. This is a perfect example of magical realism. As mentioned before, magical realism has its dark and disturbing side, and this is apparent in Wise Children. When Saskia, Dora’s enemy, is a little girl, she is seen savagely devouring the carcass of a roasted swan. Later in life, Saskia becomes a TV cook and seems to take sadistic pleasure in disembodying animals. Magical realism is combined with carnivalesque literature in Wise Children to create a flamboyant, theatrical world within a humble, earthy reality. Both genres compliment each other in the novel, as both involve fantasy-like events and nightmarish imagery, and elaborate, rational explanations are used by Carter to encourage readers to suspend their disbelief, if only for a moment.

Wide Reading

Describe a character that interests you in The Fat Man and explain why that character interested you. Colin a 12 year old boy interested me from the book The Fat Man by Maurice Gee. Colin is a hungry boy caught up by the effects of the Depression. He learns from the fat man that his dad was a bully in school and the fat man wants revenge for what they did to him. Colin is interesting because of the time he lives in and because he has to learn truths about his parents and being brave and helping Verna.We learn from the book that Colin is a hungry skinny 12 year old boy who is always desperate for food. As it was the Depression there was not enough money to buy food to eat. Laurie (Colin’s father) has trouble finding a job and getting enough money to feed his family. In the book it tells us that Colin is a hungry boy with the quotation â€Å"Colin Potter was a hungry boy. † The other quotation â€Å"They were hard times. There were hungry times† tell us that Colinà ¢â‚¬â„¢s dad can’t find a job and get money that they need to buy food and they were quite hungry when Laurie couldn’t earn money.I thought this was interesting as it is different from how children nowadays are being brought up in New Zealand and having enough food for the whole family to have plenty to replenish their hunger when we are hungry. It is hard to imagine how New Zealand children were like during the Depression, hungry for food. Colin is interesting because he has a scary encounter with the fat man and learns that he wants revenge for being bullied by Colin’s father at school. Colin meets the fat man at the creek. The fat man holds him back even though he doesn’t want to and discovers Colin had stolen his chocolate.The fat man soon discovers that Maisie and Laurie were Colin’s parents. The fat man tells Colin about his parents. How his father bullied him at school and farting and blaming everything on the fat man. Laurie and his friends also spat sandwiches everyday at the fat man and made him eat them. â€Å"I cried too, everyday for a year. Pottsie liked it†. It tells us that Laurie made the fat man cry as he bullied him everyday for a year and the fat man hated it a lot. The second quotation â€Å"Then they’d spit on it†¦ Spit sandwich was its name.I ate one of those everyday. † The fat man had to go through Laurie and his friends spitting sandwiches on him everyday and he didn’t like it. It is very interesting seeing how Colin deals with truths about his father. In Colin’s eyes, his father seemed smaller to him now. Colin is a very interesting boy as he was very kind and supportive towards Verna when she had hard times. Despite Colin being very afraid of the fat man and the bullies at school, Colin stands up for Verna and walks her home even though he knows that the Rice gang is going to get him soon.Colin walks home with Verna. The quote in the book is â€Å"I’l l walk with you† which was very kind of him even though he didn’t want to. Colin’s bravery to me makes him a very interesting character. Colin is a very interesting character in this whole story. He overcomes his fear of the fat man and the bullies at school because he was a kind boy and wanted to help Verna. I also learnt more about the Depression – how many people could not find jobs and therefore their families could not afford food.

Complete the Ethical Lens Inventory Essay

Over the past few years I have been in the ‘finding myself’ phase. I have always been a person to be analytical and constantly working things through in my head. As of recent, I have been meaning to find purpose and meaning for all things humane. I would guess in the pursuit of happiness as they say. I often find myself wanting to reach out and see what I can do in my own pursuit to help others along the way. After taking the Ethical Lens game I can most definitely identify myself with the Rights and Responsibility lens. At a young age, I was attracted to my neighborhood church. I remember waking up to dress and walk myself there, to be around others in the community coming together for united purposes. After reading this specific lens focuses its ideals as said ‘through Nature or given by God’ as the way for man kind to strive to abide. A secondary value of this lens is loyalty. Nowadays, I find myself having to think about how far one should take loyalty. I have been in many debates on fairness to others. Defending friendships or family to the point where I’ve lost a few friendships from debating what I thought was right in a situation and came off too strong. That point leads to my blind spot, which was identified in this exercise as the ‘Belief that motive justifies method’. Looking back I can agree that I have hurt people unintentionally with what I thought was fair but being too pushy or as said in the inventory, having the risk of being too bossy. Also, I find often have to send myself reminders of not to be so judgemental of others when they don’t live up to the expectations I believe they should have for their lives. Yes I know ‘I have some nerve’. I am glad this was also pointed out as a risk in the inventory as my vice. The Ethical Lens Inventory now solidifies areas in my life that I now know for sure deserves immediate attention if I want to move forward and have succesful relationshi ps. I have never taken an ethical inventory in such detail as  this. I am grateful for this experience to identify my strengths and weaknesses in this unique exercise.