Thursday, October 31, 2019
Job description and analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Job description and analysis - Essay Example On the other hand, removing Helen from the group may result in the loss of her exceptional knowledge and skills from the group. This leaves the Harmeningââ¬â¢s first option whereby Katie can make efforts to smooth out the process. She needs to understand clearly the genesis of the problem through talking to the group members and encouraging them to raise particular issues that they think should be addressed. A careful analysis of the groupââ¬â¢s responses will offer a good foundation towards smoothing out the process. Task analysis is necessary in this situation to determine the whether Helen is properly equipped to perform her tasks effectively. Without proper equipment and space, she may certainly desire to use other peopleââ¬â¢s working space which might be more appealing than her own. If she has all the requirements and doesnââ¬â¢t perform her tasks on time, then she needs to be asked to explain the reasons and also to be reminded to pay attention to the time limit for completion of the tasks. On the other hand, if her knowledge and skills demand greater responsibility, her tasks can be adjusted to keep her engaged in the extra time in which she has been roaming to co-workers (Harmening 175). Katie needs to develop a list of duties for all members of the group including Helen and to ensure that all of them understand their tasks and that no one should interfere with those of another person unless when asked to help. Interaction within the group should be aimed at increasing efficiency a nd not lowering the speed of performing tasks (Harmening 177). All employees need to understand the employerââ¬â¢s expectations and hence a performance evaluation should not come as a surprise for Helen. Katie needs to make Helen understand the trend in the turnaround time since she joined the group. This revelation should enlighten Helen with regards to her role in this new development without causing her embarrassment
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Mining Site Risk Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Mining Site Risk Management - Research Paper Example Before conducting an analysis of the risk management system, it is important to understand the types of risks involved herein. In this context, the risks can be categorized into three layers. The first is organization-specific risks, and these are the risk factors directly affecting or arising from the inside of the organization. They can be financial, construction, labor, material, equipment, management, or estimator-related. The second layer is what can be termed as acts of God. These are mainly naturally-occurring events, and which man cannot predict or even control. These include tsunami, flood, earthquake, volcano eruption, or landslide occurrences to mention but a few. The final layer is that of global risks. These are the global trends of events which affect the international level of organizations. They may include project designs, political factors, competition, and economic factors to mention but a few.There exist several techniques or methods of analyzing risk management s ystems. The first one is the probabilistic analysis technique which bases its analysis on human judgment, assumptions, and prior experience. The second technique is the certainty theory which on its part bases its analysis of factual statements or the level of belief that one has towards given evidence. These are the major techniques of conducting the analyses, and the most appropriate for the mining context. They may differ in their execution of the analyses, but all in all, they give almost-similar findings and conclusions.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
The Marketing Communication Plan Marketing Essay
The Marketing Communication Plan Marketing Essay With the background information I have been given in this assignment, I have created a key objective for the health and fitness centre where I will gather a report that reviews and analyses the marketing communications activities also outlines recommendations for future communications activities. My aim at first place is to increase the number of members, I will also propose to use more personal selling to develop new accounts, this will increase the amount of trials and encourage other members to join a fitness club and be made aware of other promotions. Like many fitness clubs devote themselves to schedule a marketing plan, research shows that promoting for health club is managed by using telephone (telemarketing) Radio (radio advertising) Biz (business membership programs) Mail (direct mail and email marketing), TV (cable advertising) News (newspaper advertising), etc (Source: fitness360). These tools have been tested and proven that promotion is custom designed in particular relation with demographics region, time of the season, current members, male-female ratio and other information gathered from clubs profile before starting of the promotion. When analyzing them all together by designing multiple exposures marketing programs to achieve the campaign, Ill suggest to employ a pull up strategy, with most prospects aged between 10- 25 mostly targeting primary school, and college to offer them services that encourage students. This group has most free leisure time and most disposable income to spend on visiting a fitness club ever si nce most schools and colleges do not have the health and fitness service in their premises. This will also reinforce current members beliefs and help create loyalty which could aspire them to use a fitness club at some point in the future. Ill also suggest targeting the affordable sector of the market with a competitive pricing, including off-peak membership and low joining fees. Ill make the use of the PEST analysis to analyse external impacts on the health and fitness club that requires examining political, economic, social and technological environments. Political In the UK and worldwide government policy has potential influence to the market, specific initiatives could benefit the industry but theres also a broader push on the part of the government to try and promote healthy eating and exercise, possibly resulting in more people seeking gym membership. Early this year the government encouraged people to get fit ahead of the Olympic to come. Economic The economic factors such as utilities prices and wage rates will affect numerous aspects of any fitness club in the UK, the fitness costs will rise and members may need to prioritise their spending as cuts are made on their disposable income, especially in the prospect group. Not a lot of people are willing to spend much in the fitness club when they could on their own practice physical exercise at home, however price will be reviewed in order to well compete in the market and encourage subscribers to join a fitness club. Social Lifestyle factors such as growth in convenience foods and home entertainment have resulted in more muddy lifestyles; consumption levels of alcohol are rising which will effect gym participation and subscription. In todays celebrity cultures theres lots of pressure to looking better in the social life and have better appearance; this has influenced the levels of people who want to improve themselves such as some men that are influence to build six pact bodies to attract more females and such are also the desire of some women encourage their men not to be obese. Technological Its important that the health and fitness club have up to date machines to compete with others and satisfy the needs of the members. However I will also use technology to target the public in an effective way, text messages with special offers and online free trial vouchers and also create a page on the socials network.(source: 2.warwick) Task2. Marketing communications mix The first element of my strategy is the vision for health and fitness club, which is to ensure the quality of the fitness club, in which the communities get its service, where my goal is to maximize earnings. My mission is to create a winning strategy that is unique. Every fitness and health club plans is designed base on the personal exercise and nutrition history, past and presents events. In order to accomplish the marketing communications mix I will outline my strategy in more details and then bring forth my marketing communication mix to emphasis more on my ambition. The strategy section will be divided into discussions around objectives, message, and media. Objectives: The strategic objective will aim to provide the fitness club consumers, access to sport and exercise opportunities to the top range facilities by adopting a healthy lifestyle. A physical activity and exercise will be integrated into the curriculum wherever possible, The fitness club will work with its local partners in education and people to share information, knowledge, skills and expertise, for example with schools, Higher Education and local employers through the arrangement of work placements for students and will share good practice at national competitive sporting events. The fitness will give services to support pupils progressing from school to college a unique opportunity to consolidate good experiences or to re-engage those who have had a less positive experience. Allowing students to actively engage in recreation and extracurricular activities, including sport, when activities are discovered and adult habits are formed they will still be on the go to be familiar with the fitness centre, with a given benefit to ensure that all students have access to develop healthy and physically active. With the local customers of the fitness club, promotion will be given, such as free weekly passes to the members, allowing them to bring friends and close relatives, which could attract some new subscriber, with a discount packages to the current member that manage to bring friends, promote a fitness fair, by having an open house for the public to give free passes. Set up drop-boxes in a few public places advertising a chance to win a free 3 months membership, this will allow people to obtain contact names and numbers. Give people a call and put forward them a free 7-day pass, and have a drawing for the grand prize. Message: My message should sound making bold statements to draw the attention of people in belief of my commercial messages: organizing a public speaking and fitness group will means getting people together to motivate each other by allowing people to be aware of what we are attend to do and reminding them of our existence. However getting out and spreading words concerning the fitness club, is one way to promote fitness and organizing a fitness group is to explain in more details the importance of physical activity, therefore public speaking may be one way to get the word out to the public and sedentary friends and co-workers. To achieve this, Ill suggest the use of current staff and get them trained and have sufficient knowledge to encouraging people to subscribe, by telling their own experiences regarding the good effect since they joined the fitness club and how you got to be physically fit, they should also mention how fitness has changed their lives. Go over the benefits of phy sical fitness such as weight loss, improved self-esteem, and renewed energy. All of these could be done by demonstrating the good facilities that are there to encourage people, by joining the health centre, and why choosing to join us whiles other health centres are still there? In so doing, people will understand my overall message, where the key point is to promote exercise, consistency and offer support and encouragement, and then for sure people might now develop the need to join the health and fitness centre.( source: sales-and-marketing-for-you) Media: when hoping to bring a new product or in my case to promote a new service that will be ruining in fitness club, you need to carefully consider possible ways to promote your product. Being excited about the new services is fine but having to get the public excited about it will be the most important aspect, if the aims are to make money. However, using different mediums such as Radio, Bus, TV, public speaking, and social network are welcome (source: ehow). The key point illustrating on marketing communication mix is to create strategies and tactics goals around each stages of the sales process. As the growth of customer improve from side to side of the stages from unaware to aware, interested, evaluation and purchase, the message and communication tools, uses on every single stage needs to link into where the customers are in the journey and what sort of information will help them progress to the next stage. Specifically focusing on internet and face to face marketing in order to increase brand awareness. The adverts will show the benefits of healthy lifestyles, giving the consumer the idea about getting in shape. However: Population trends by socio economic group are an important influence on ability and prosperity to spend on fitness club membership. Consumers from the socio economic groups are the most likely to use health and fitness clubs regularly, most are light TV viewers so this medium is not an effective target, Radio is like ly to be more effective. (Source: sales-and-marketing-for-you).The use of social media has exploded in recent years as a way to raise awareness and generate free traffic. This is a very broad term which includes sites and services such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and many others. The main advantages of tapping into the power of social media are that it is free and that your message has the potential to go viral and reach a huge amount of people without additional effort. The negative effect in social media is how to avoid being considered a spammer. The key to successfully promote services in social media is to provide content that is worth enough, that people really want to follow and take your advice when you recommend services that they are looking the most to get, for instance a page address will be create and give some brief explanation of what we do, who we are and what are the benefits of joining us, there shall be a drop up mail for people to leave note and comme nts, consistency survey will be on the site for people to tell us what they think, where improvement could be done to still attract subscribers.( source: clickbank) Task3. Marketing communication plan The section shields the strategic day to day aspects of setting up my plan into action, where the use of my judgment and discretion on deciding how to schedule and plan activities, calculating costs and measuring progress will be outlined. The cost of the marketing will certainly play a big part in what I am intend to do. Bad sales and marketing is as a general announcement focused on no one in particular. In order to maximize a huge return profit, it is always good to approach the marketing plan with consideration and not devote a lot of money on a single marketing channel or campaign. I will instead try to shape up a range of successful publicity approaches over a time, I will also outline its cost, and how much money will I have to spend on advertising campaign? How long and how much each communication method will be balanced against the marketing communication budget. I will at first place, be concerned about the break-even point before developing any sales and marketing program, including advertising cost. I will also find out how much is each new customer and exiting customer worth to the fitness club? When observing the lifetime value of the health and fitness club subscriber, I will use approximation such as fi guring out, how long each customer stays with the fitness club, where the contract will be given for 1-3 years for the new subscribers. Once I know the number and frequency of sales I derived from the average customer, I can then use profit margin to estimate how much each customer worths to the fitness club and how many customers is needed to obtain the specific marketing campaign, in order to consider it as a success: However, focusing on 4 different medium as a starter, to promote my new services, I found that the cost for ITV 1 channel per day in Yorkshire is of à £411, the cost of Local Radio Station is of à £40 per week with 8 short spot adverts of 15 seconds per day and the cost of transport advertising is of à £159 per week ( Source: Blackboard). My message needs to reach customers, therefore the out home advertising buses will be these that are seen on high street shops and go to different places of the city, where middle and junior management of the social class are liv ing. Based on my research, I will therefore recommend 4 weeks of advertising on radio which worths à £160 a whole month , 4 week buses advertising with the cost of à £636 the month and 4 Sundays advertising on ITV 1 as most weekends, especially on Sunday people stay home and get prepare for the coming week, where they will be target on the daytime services of 11am to be aware of the services from the fitness club at the cost of à £1644, the total average budget for the advertising will be estimated at the price of à £2440 for a whole month . Personal selling: This is the most frighten as well as the most costly methods in the marketing communication process. Nevertheless, as small business we are, it also can be the most rewarding aspects of my marketing process. Just as with usual marketing, good selling practice begins and ends with the customer. My whole objective is to remind the local area about the existence of the club, inform them about the new services that will be taking place in the health centre: However, due to the huge volumes of fitness club, Well differentiate ourselves from other fitness and health centre, by determining their needs and create the best solution for customers and then persuade them to subscribe with us. Report Executive Account Statement To: Brand Spanking Agency 29/10/2012 I Daniel Kevin AMATCHA, I am please to submit my report describing on how I intend to promote the fitness and health club. The purpose of this report was to gather sufficient information to render professional opinion about advertising your health and fitness club. This assessment includes research and figures concerning the cost of the whole month budget when using the mass media to promote the fitness club: however. I have also included the PEST analysis, which is an effective way to analyse external impacts on the health and fitness club, and planned the strategic action that will be of good use for the marketing communications mix as I separated into discussions around objectives, message, and media. I have also introduced a marketing communication plan on how to work side with the marketing mix, which I have designed along with its schedule and plan activities including the cost of the advertising. You may also find underneath of my report the weekly statement budget and the chosen mediums to promote your health and fitness club for a month period. Statement of weekly budget: Weeks week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4 Total Communications Tools Radio à £40.00 à £40.00 à £40.00 à £40.00 à £160.00 ITV 1 à £411.00 à £411.00 à £411.00 à £411.00 à £1,644.00 Bus à £159.00 à £159.00 à £159.00 à £159.00 à £636.00 Other costs Total à £610.00 à £610.00 à £610.00 à £610.00 à £2,440.00 If you should have any question please contact me on: [emailprotected] ID Num: 33287677 Sincerely Daniel Kevin AMATCHA Account Executive Bibliographies: Source: fitness360//>>campaign types//>> services/>> sales and promotions//>>à © 2012 fitness marketing systems //>> http://www.fitness360online.com/fitness-marketing-services/on-site-membership-promotions viewed on the 24/10/12 Source: 2.warwick//>>fitnessfirst//>>pdf//>>context analysis and promotional//>>http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/alumni/services/eportfolios/bsqjfb/fitnessfirst.pdf viewed on the 17/10/12 Source: sales-and-marketing-for-you//>>marketing communication plan//>>Copyright à © 2012//>>http://www.sales-and-marketing-for-you.com/marketing-communication-plan.html viewed on the 17/10/12 Source: ehow//>>ways-promote-new-product//>>http://img.ehowcdn.com/author-avatar/studio-image/ver1.0/Content/images/store/0/5/10f337f6-807a-4881-a57c-27efbd75408f.Small.jpg by Larry Amon//>>http://www.ehow.com/way_5162681_ways-promote-new-product.html viewed on the 17/10/12 Larry Amon Larry Amon has been working in the computer field for more than 10 years and has experience writing scripts, instructional articles and political commentary. He has been published online, as well as in NRB Magazine and Delmarva Youth Family. He started a nonprofit media organization in 2000. Source clickbank//>>common ways to promote products//>>http://www.clickbank.com/help/affiliate-help/affiliate-guides/common-ways-to-promote-products/ Source: Blackboard//>>x-stream.leedsmet.ac.uk//>>http://x-stream.leedsmet.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_33250_1%26url%3D Viewed on the22/10/12 Source: myadbase//>> guide//>>advertising radio station//>>http://myadbase.com/guide_final.php?page=advertising_radio_station viewed on the 20/10/12 Source: ukbusiness//>> UK Business forums//>> Business forums//>> General business forum//>>http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=49219 viewed on the 26/10/12 Source: outdooradvertisingltd//>>Bus stop advertising//>> http://www.outdooradvertisingltd.co.uk/pages/bus-stop-advertising.php viewed on the 26/10/12 Source: sunriseradio//>> advertising//>> http://www.sunriseradio.fm/innerpage.php?rank=2 viewed on the 24/10/12
Friday, October 25, 2019
Steroid Use in Sports :: Papers Steroids Drugs Essays
Steroid Use in Sports Steroid use has become very common in the world of athletics. Steroids are no longer just used by body builders. Steroids are now becoming widely used in all sports such as baseball, football, track and field, and ice hockey. Steroids have become easy for just about anyone to get their hands on them. This has become a serious problem that needs to be taken care of immediately. A steroid is a laboratory-made version of the human hormone testosterone, which is primarily found in males. Steroids are taken by athletes to enhance the growth of muscles. There are however, certain kinds of steroids that do enhance the growth of bones. The use of steroids creates many risks that are often looked over when compared to the benefits. Some of these risks include damaging important body organs such as the liver and kidneys; some of the other risks include shrinkage of testicles in men and they may create bad breakouts of acne. There are also other side effects which result in thicker skin and courser facial hair (Mihoces, 2000) (Conaway, 1998). The problem of steroid use exists everywhere including all ages from young middle school students to forty-year-old men. A Penn State professor states in the USA Today web site that approximately 175,000 teenage girls and 375,000 teenage boys have used steroids at one time or another (Michoces, 2000). This is a serious problem when teenage boys and girls are using steroids. Unless using one specific steroid, all of these teenagers are going to stunt their growth because the most common steroids used completely halt the growth of bones and increase the growth of muscles. Many people take steroids for many different reasons but most of the athletes that take steroids take them for one reason and that is to become better at what they do. Some of the reasons that athletes take steroids are because the competition is so high. In the sport of Major League Baseball for instance, only around seven hundred players participate in a single season. There are approximately 7,100 players that play professional baseball all together, including the minor leagues. The average career in the major leagues only lasts 2.7 years. This is a rather short career and considering the amount of money to be made, every player would like to play as long as he possibly can.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Cyberpunk and Science Fiction Essay
Cyberpunk and Science Fiction in the Information Age Cyberpunk science fiction is considered to be the ââ¬Å"literary manifestation of postmodernismâ⬠(Elements149). According to McHale, as a sub-genre of science fiction, cyberpunk stands as the product of the convergence between ââ¬Å"science fiction poetics and postmodernist poeticsâ⬠(Elements 149). In Constructing Postmodernism, McHale states ââ¬Å"cyberpunkâ⬠¦as science fiction derives certain of its elements from postmodern mainstream fiction which itself hasâ⬠¦already been ââ¬Ëscience-fictionizedââ¬â¢ to some greater or lesser degreeâ⬠(229). The correlation of cyberpunk and postmodernism however is not limited to the existence of cyberpunk as a coagulation of the different factors within science fiction tales. Postmodernism, as a school of thought and as a movement in the different arts, may be characterized by its ââ¬Å"incredulity toward metanarrativesâ⬠(Lyotard xxiv). Metanarratives refer to the ââ¬Å"ââ¬Ëgrand narrativesââ¬â¢ or stories that go to legitimize particular practicesâ⬠(Warren and Warren 78). In the same manner that postmodernism debunks the idea of grand narratives, cyberpunk debunks such grand narratives by placing emphasis on the construction of a separate individual reality within the sphere of cyberspace. Works considered as a part of the sub-genre of cyberpunk are named as such due to their focus on ââ¬Å"technological revolution and its social and psychological implicationsâ⬠¦on online publicationâ⬠(Stierstorfer 109). The correlation between cyberpunk and postmodernism may thereby be traced to the existence of various worlds within cyberspace presented within cyberpunk texts. It is important to note that the importance of cyberspace is attributed to the space that it provides the individual user for the creation of fictional production. Cyberspace, within these works, stand as a space which is in continuous creation. The creation is determined by each individual and hence it provides the individual with both the freedom and the power to create and determine the worlds created by other individuals within the cyberspace. Within the aforementioned context, reality stands as an individual construction determined by a set of rules for how such a creation may occur. These rules however are not moral rules but merely substantive rules. In a sense, one may thereby state that ââ¬Ërealityââ¬â¢ within these texts is in continuous flux since what is ââ¬Ërealââ¬â¢ is determined by oneââ¬â¢s point of view, oneââ¬â¢s perspective of the world. The act of reading these texts are in a sense determined by the sequence in which these texts are presented however within the context of the assumptions of reality within the text it is possible to imagine a space wherein all acts do not merely interact or collide but occur at the same time since cyberspace is a boundless space and such is the world presented by the texts within the genre of cyberpunk fiction. In line with this, what follows is a discussion of William Gibsonââ¬â¢s Neuromancer and Spook Country and Stanislaw Lemââ¬â¢s Imaginary Magnitudes. Online communication creates a space of social contact out of intertextual materials that may end up relying on the very conventional social narratives that many participants hope to escape. These hidden conventional structures within social interaction are the subject of the novel that gave us the term ââ¬Ëcyberspaceââ¬â¢ that being William Gibsonââ¬â¢s Neuromancer. A discussion of Gibsonââ¬â¢s novel not only provides a glimpse of the very different understanding of identity that results from this intertextuality but also suggests how best to negotiate these narratives. At the most general level Neuromancer is the story of Caseââ¬â¢s quest to be re-integrated with cyberspace and the information that it possesses. The story opens with Caseââ¬â¢s nervous system intentionally harmed in subtle ways by a past employer so that he is unable to access cyberspace and perform his past role as a ââ¬Ëcowboyââ¬â¢ who infiltrates computer networks and steals information. Case is mysteriously offered surgery to repair his system if he participates in a complicated scheme to free an artificial intelligence named Wintermute from the limitations placed on it by its creator. Gibson describes Caseââ¬â¢s experience of cyberspace in terms of the pleasure of reintegration. The experience is described in the following manner. Found the ridged face of the power stud. And in the bloodlit dark behind his eyes, silver phosphenes boiling in from the edge of space, hypnagogic images jerking past like film compiled from random frames. Symbols, figures, faces, a blurred, fragmented mandala of visual information. Please, he prayed, nowâ⬠¦Expanding- And flowed, flowering for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinityâ⬠¦And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face. (Neuromancer 52) In the aforementioned passage, Caseââ¬â¢s movement into cyberspace is a kind of homecoming that brings him back into contact with a network of human information. Given the lyrical tone of this passage, it is not surprising that interpreters of Neuromancer have concluded that the connection to networks of human information that Case pursues is a uniformly positive thing. Cyberspace subculture frequently takes the disembodied integration into electronic information systems quite literally as a next stage in human evolution. Rather than asserting the value of social integration for its own sake, this story treats such connections as merely showing the protection and evolution of individuals. The links between individuals are similarly ambivalent in Neuromancer. Probably the novelââ¬â¢s clearest statement of the ambivalence of social connection comes late in the novel when Case reflects on his involvement with unseen ââ¬Ëbossesââ¬â¢. Case has been hired by the mysterious Armitage, who turns out to work for Wintermute. As Case realizes the degree to which Armitage is a puppet or even a construction of Wintermute, he reflects on his involvement with larger political and social powers. It goes in the following manner, Case had always taken it for granted that the real bosses, the kingpins in a given industry, would be more and less than peopleâ⬠¦Heââ¬â¢d always imagined it as a gradual and willing accommodation of the machine, the system, the parent organism. It was the root of street cool, too, the knowing posture that implied connection, invisible lines up to hidden levels of influence. (Neuromancer 203) Caseââ¬â¢s reflections about the nature of social connection suggest both its positive and negative qualities from the perspective of the individual. Positively, these connections position the individual as a kind of parasite within the ââ¬Ëparent organismââ¬â¢, sheltering the individual who may not share the goals of the larger system to which he or she belongs. Within this context, one might perceive individuals as pieces of a larger puzzle whose form is partially known but whose image is only available through the different vantage points available to different individuals. Such vantage points however are only accessible or can only be known to one individual unless it is penetrated and in a sense controlled by another one. Knowledge within this space is thereby continually in flux as a result of the power struggles of the entities within it. Imagining people as ââ¬Ëassemblagesââ¬â¢ whose subjectivity is constructed from sources of which they are rarely aware and whose elements do not necessarily cohere certainly seems unappealing at first glimpse since it works against traditional ideas of self-consciousness and personal coherence. However, Neuromancer also suggests that much more dangerous than this disunified subjectivity is the attempt to deny multiplicity and to hide behind some apparent unity. Precisely this tension between unity and incoherence is at issue. One might state that cyberdiscourse enables individuals to raise their consciousness about their own identity however it is also possible to state that it is nothing more than an intertextual concoction of mass media cliches and stereotypes. Gibsonââ¬â¢s other novel Spook Country also raises these issues. Spook Country stands as a continuation of Pattern Recognition. As opposed to the futuristic setting of Neuromancer, the later novel is set within the current century. It presents the story of a former rock singer named Hollis Henry who turned into a freelancer researching about locative art for Node magazine. In the process of the research, Hollis discovers that locative art is an art form that combines virtual reality with GPRS technology. As a result of this combination, an individual is able to replicate the events occurring within a particular place thereby allowing the spectator of the artwork to participate within a different reality. This is evident in the following passage from Spook Country. As Hollis and Chombo discuss locative art, they specify the experience that one may achieve in it. They state Weââ¬â¢re all doing VR, every time we look at a screen. We have been for decades nowâ⬠¦VR was an even more specific way we had of telling us where we were going. Without scaring us too much, right? The locative, though, lots of us are already doing it. But you canââ¬â¢t just do the locative with your nervous system. One day, you will. Weââ¬â¢ll have internalized the interface. Itââ¬â¢ll have evolved to the point where we forget about it. Then youââ¬â¢ll just walk down the streetâ⬠¦ (Spook 65). In the aforementioned excerpt, one sees the tension between unity and coherence not only in the definition and specification of reality as a result of technological innovations but also the tension that it creates in the process of determining individual identity. This tension is apparent if one considers that an individualââ¬â¢s conception of the ââ¬Ëselfââ¬â¢ is partially dependent upon his surrounding environment. Within the virtual space of locative art, one may thereby create and in a sense develop oneââ¬â¢s own space separate but at the same time placed within the sphere of immediate reality. The tension brought about by the existence of the various possibilities of reality within these cyberpunk texts is also evident in Stanislaw Lemââ¬â¢s Imaginary Magnitude. Lemââ¬â¢s Imaginary Magnitude is composed of different introductions and prefaces to non-existent books. The various texts serve satirize the current trends and movements within literature and the other arts. An example of this is evident in the following passage. He states, In an extreme instance, in which there is a Propervirt of less than 0. 9%, the TEXT OF THE PRESENT PROSPECTUS may likewise undergo an ABRUPT change. If, while you are reading these sentences, the words begin to jump about, and the letters quiver and blur, please interrupt your reading for ten or twenty seconds to wipe your glasses, adjust your clothing, or the like, and then start reading AGAIN from the beginning, and NOT JUST from the place where your reading was interrupted, since such a TRANSFORMATION indicates that a correction of DEFICIENCIES is now taking place. (Lem 86) The aforementioned passage may be seen as alluding to a period in the future when it is possible for human beings to directly interact with their reading material. In another context, one might also see it as a parody of the impositions regarding the proper position and manner that individuals ought to read texts. Either way, the book in itself as well as its content of imaginary texts presents the reader with yet another conception of reality that allows the fluidity of experience. Within the aforementioned contexts, one considers how one is to understand the concept of reality, self, and knowledge within the context of cyberpunk science fiction. Within this genre, one sees reality, the self, and knowledge in itself as continuously in flux. Within a text which creates worlds determined by intertextuality, the process of reading the text becomes an act of recognizing the interrelation of its parts to the extent that one is willing to recognize that the events within it and in a sense the realities within it may all occur within the same time and space. Works Cited Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Np: Ace Books,1984. ___. Spook Country. Np: G. P. Putnamââ¬â¢s Sons, 2007. Lem, Stanislaw. Imaginary Magnitudes. Michigan: U of Michigan, 1984. Lyotard, Jean Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Minnesota: U of Minnesota P, 1984. McHale, Brian. Constructing Postmodernism. London: Routledge, 1992. ___. ââ¬Å"Elements of a Poetics of Cyberpunk. â⬠Critique 33. 3 (Spring 1992): 149-75. Warren, William and Bill Warren. Philosophical Dimensions of Personal Construct Psychology. London: Routledge, 1998. Stierstorfer, Klaus. Beyond Postmodernism: Reassessments in Literature, Theory, and Culture. Np: Walter de Gruvter, 2003.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Actual families Essay
The views of actual families and perceived families on inner city family values are different in the sense that reality hits actual families. Our minds can perceive what should be done but if we check reality, poverty is a serious problem that should be dealt with fervor. Teaching family values is the foundation of all solutions to these problems. Why is that so? If children learn family values at home and the parents show them good example in practicing these values, children will most likely emulate the parents (Learning Family, 1999, p. 1). Then there will be no existence of violent crimes since people practice compassion. There will be no extreme poverty since people practice being industrious. All these could be perceived in the mind but can be transformed into reality. Finally, it is not true that inner societies should believe that poverty is part and parcel of the society they belong. Poverty can be eradicated by all means if cooperation of the people concerned can be given. However, there are people who become poor because of the things that they do not have control of. And other people experience poverty because they are too indolent to work hard. The former cause of poverty deserves to be treated as recoverable and can be solved. See more: Beowulf essay essay And there is nothing we can do for people who become poor due to idleness and slothfulness. Thus, family values of industry and integrity must be upheld in both actual and perceived families on inner cities. References Ashman, K. & Hull, G. 1999. Understanding Generalist Practice. USA: Nelson-Hall, Inc. International Herald Tribune. 2008. Global Food Shortage; Americaââ¬â¢s light still shines; moving too fast. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www. iht. com /articles/2008/03/13/opinion/edlet. php. Learning Family. 1999. Learning Family Values. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www. learningfamily. net/about/values. htm. News 24 Website. 2008 August 25. Poverty, parenting cause crime. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www. news24. com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2382088,00. html. Overpopulation Website. 2008 September 7. Impacts. Retrieved September 30, 2008, from http://www. overpopulation. org/impact. html. Vogel, S. 2008 August 24. Gazette Extra. Does Poverty Equal Crime? Scholars disagree. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://gazettextra. com/news/2008/aug/24/does-poverty-crime-scholars-disagree/. Wattenberg, M. , Edwards III, G. & Lineberry, R. 2003. Government of America. USA: Addison- Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc.
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