Caribbean Political Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Caribbean Political Philosophy Essay Western Political Philosophy in the opinion of this essay is a concerted attempt to project and impose on a hapless people a foundation for immediate, continued domination and exploitation, we, therefore as a united Caribbean people, cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them. This paper identifies and discusses the central themes (thinking) of Gordon Lewis’ Main Currents in Caribbean Thought, Paget Henrys’ Calibans Reason, Rex Nettlefords’ â€Å"The Battle for Space† and Charles W. Mills’ Blackness Visible. This identification and discussion (generally) is achieved by tracing the evolution of Caribbean Political thought through an examination of race/class, explanations of underdevelopment, perspectives on dependency and the anti colonial movement inter alia. The paper goes on to explain (specifically) the manner in which these works assist in understanding the characteristic features, concerns and content of Caribbean political thought. The final section briefly examines where the Caribbean is at currently by isolating the present set of circumstances engaging the islands. In doing so the paper hopes to make a contribution to the understanding and progress of Caribbean political thought. INTRODUCTION The Caribbean has been described as an area of European colonisation and exploitation through slavery and the plantation system according to Dennis Benn (1987), it has also been described in terms of the product of these conjoined variables, the product of a racial mixture of African, European and Asian referred to as Creole. Nigel Bolland (2004) describes Creole as locally born persons of non-native origin, which, in the Americas, generally means people of either African or European ancestry. This essay goes further and defines this groups’ contribution to this space, diverse in cultural, ethnic and religious inputs, in terms of the new demands to be made on the state from the product of the aforementioned conjoining. Contribution is achieved by way of a clearly articulated political philosophy moderating the competing interest. It is this articulation that is the purview of this essay. To this end an effort will be made to identify and critically discuss the central themes of Gordon Lewis’ â€Å"Main Currents in Caribbean Thought†, Paget Henrys’ â€Å"Caliban’s Reason†, Rex Nettlefords’ â€Å"The Battle for Space† and Charles W. Mills’ â€Å"Blackness Visible†. To achieve the necessary coverage of the issues the essay will proceed as follows: an analysis of the characteristic features, concerns and content of Caribbean political thought. Comparisons will be made to typically distinctive aspects of African and European political philosophy (characteristic features), democracy, representation, institutional arrangement and authority (concerns), equality, social justice, welfare (content). It is by this comparison to the assumed standard that a location of Caribbean political thought could be made and understanding of its existence assessed. Finally the understanding sought will be put to use in locating the Caribbean in this global milieu. It is hoped that a contribution however small will contribute to the ongoing development of Caribbean Political Thought. CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES The assumption that philosophy is held as a European monopoly is grounded in an intellectual tradition whose history consists of the evolution of men’s thoughts about political problems over time according to Sabine and Thorson (1973). Thankfully, there is balance to the discussion accorded by nuanced analysis describing the aforementioned assertion as a false assumption given that these phenomena as known to the Greek were but artefacts of thought George Belle (1996). The question must, therefore, be asked to what extent the character of Caribbean political philosophy shown a level of independence from western political philosophy and by extention an enlightened path that reflects its African/European/Asian origin and coalescence of its peoples (Creole). This coalescence is described, to a large extent, by C W Mills (1998) as â€Å"the coexistence of parallel but incompatible institutional arrangements within a recognised political state† speaks clearly to the many complex issues engaging the multitude of interest acting within this Caribbean. Significantly and more importantly, is the anti-colonial struggle that is fought at the level of the psyche through cultural and spiritual expressions Paget Henry (1997). This essay will examine both examples and place them into context. Henry argues that religion has undergone systematic alienation within the Caribbean theatre by way of a â€Å"lowering of its register or importance to thought. † His observations show an embrace of Eurocentric Christianity used by the former colonials as a tool of control and subordination culminating in a radical disenfranchising of traditional African religions pertaining to inherited Afro-Caribbean Christianity (voodoo and shango). He explained: â€Å"A deployment of binaries (negative assertions) led to European/Christian denials of the existence of an African religious philosophy, significantly and more importantly, is the anti-colonial struggle that is fought at the level of the psyche through cultural and spiritual expressions. † What is noted by Henry is the idea that stagnation has been allowed to take root in the philosophy allowing gaps for re-colonisation. These gaps are identified by Mills (1998) as he draws on the efforts of David T Wellman (1993) who made clear: â€Å"It has been argued that the historic source of white racism lies in a combination of religious intolerance and cultural predispositions to see non-whites as alien. The medieval battles against Islam are then the precursors of the racism that was to accompany European expansionism into the world. African religions were seen as devil worship, black culture and customs viewed as mumbo jumbo, paradigmatically bizarre. † Henry and Mills collectively recognised the Eurocentric imposition that has come to be known as Christianity and its use as a tool to negatively impact race relations dividing and colonising a people. The expectation would be a Caribbean response in defense and ownership of that cosmology which was African. Instead, according to Belle (1996), an intellectual stasis was the result complementing the concept of negative binaries. Belle went on to intimate: â€Å"Haitian political actors culturally trivialised and ridiculed voodum. The role of voodum, a spiritual expression, in the Haitian experience was central for them in their supernatural and cultural expressions within an anti colonial context. † Recall Mills (1998) â€Å"incompatible institutional arrangement† alluded to earlier; consider that Henry was able to capture the Haitian dynamic beautifully, this also in the context that Haiti holds the distinction of being the first independent black state of the new world. He expressed it as â€Å"A series of extended debates between the major competing racial groups of the: Euro-Caribbean, Amerindians, Indo-Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean over projects of colonial domination. The philosophical productions of the Euro-Caribbean were aimed at effecting European political and social hegemony (recall Belle (1996)). While, in contrast, the philosophical undertakings of the Indo-Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean were aimed at destroying European hegemony by destroying the legitimacy of their colonial projects. † It is clear from these attempts to define the character of Caribbean political philosophy emphasis has been placed on its utility as an anti colonial tool for overcoming and overturning projects of European hegemony according to Henry (1995). At the heart of these projects are attempts to minimise the effort to develop an alternative to Christianity, reconnection to an African cosmology that bore witness to the imposition of European dogma and through the condemnation of Islam. This essay accepts that any attempt to build out a project must at the same time have a level of self assessment attempted by Mills and Henry in this instance. What are of concern to this essay are efforts from within to compromise the character of the project. It is left to be determined if concerns (to be discussed) will suffer the same fate. CONCERNS The classic argument in favour of western political thought is found in social-contract theories, first proposed by seventeenth-century philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Social-contract theory, in fact, constitutes the basis for concerns in modern political thought according to Andrew Heywood (2004). The argument is referenced to society without government, a so-called ‘state of nature’. Hobbes poignantly describes this state of nature as being ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short’ reinforcing that without government to restrain selfish impulses, order and stability would be impossible. To what extent has this argument been a part of the contribution concerning Caribbean political philosophers or has there been a redefining of Hobbes’ position? Paget Henry (2000) identifies a situation of what came natural to the African and the colonial intrusion of a self appointed hegemonic force. In an attempt to locate the discussion within the confines of the state Henry draws on Kwameh Nkrumah (1965) to establish a modern ideology unlike the European articulation of Hobbes state of nature. The African assessment is one of diametric opposition, Nkrumah explains: â€Å"The traditional face of Africa includes an attitude toward man which can only be described, in its social manifestation, as being socialist. This arises from the fact that man is regarded in Africa as primarily a spiritual being, a being endowed originally with certain inward dignity, integrity and value. † This rationality of the African locates him apart from his European counterpart. Henry showed the widespread existence of one-party states in Africa was not due to one particular outlook he opined it pointed to the persistence of a traditional political culture that included a â€Å"grammar† of chiefly or kingly political behaviour. The argument is not without reason given the application by Plato to the philosopher kings and much later the Divine Right of Kings show a use of African political structure in an attempt to order a European society. The Caribbean, however, has shown no such inclination having been to a large extent â€Å"trapped in and shaped by social rivalries, ethnic animosities, weak personal/social identity and political fragmentation caused by the twin epiphenomena of slavery and colonialism† according to Gordon Lewis (1983). This is not by accident Lewis argued that the inability of Caribbean people to come to grips with this reality, that was not imagined but was real, left them open to continued exploitation. He went on to explain quite accurately that: â€Å"Slavery was also a powerful ideological deterrent, for it generated a scale of values in the top, dominant groups of the colonies, in which fear of the black masses stifled aspiration for national independence. At every turn in the story, these groups opted for selfish treason rather than for popular revolt. † Lewis contribution established the consequence of the native bourgeoisies economic dependence upon the colonial bourgeoisie. It has never been the intent of the former coloniser to give more for less on the contrary the intent was one of taking more for less. Observe how the power struggle ostensibly between colonised and coloniser gets displaced by power relations within the colonised body politic itself. Remember the argument is one of government structure based on self interest (Hobbes and Locke) against one based on consensus (Paget Henry). Seemingly self-serving political and economic ambitions knows no boundary and does not seek to serve the interests of the newly independent proletariat. Frantz Fanon (1963) suggests the ways in which intellectual leaders often betray the national working-class: â€Å"Before independence, the leader generally embodies the aspirations of the people for independence, political liberty, and national dignity. But as soon as independence is declared, far from embodying in concrete form the needs of the people in what touches bread, land, and the restoration of the country to the sacred hands of the people, the leader will reveal his inner purpose: to become the general president of that company of profiteers impatient for their returns which constitutes the national bourgeoisie. † Fanons assessment is encapsulated by a more specific argument against the existence of a Caribbean Philosophy, it is the perception of the absence of an intellectual tradition, and the belief the Caribbean is a cultural desert. The widely held view of the Caribbean as a region of the three S’s: sea, sand and sex. – A notion upon which the tourism industry has been constructed by and to this day exploited by a select few (national bourgeoisie). The writers, to a large extent, have highlighted the threats to democracy, representation, institutional arrangement and authority by way of concerns. A social contract theory promulgated by the former colonial has been answered by an African option structured on consensus. A timely observation of the constraints to growth based on petty rivalries is a reminder of the island state vulnerability to external influence. This essay suggests that betrayal of the political elite fairly represents the intellectual dilemma the Caribbean is now facing if Fanon (1963) is accepted. This essay argues that if these concerns were addressed maybe the stability of the natural African heritage would have offered up a leader and a type of governance sensitive to the masses and diversification needed. This essay understands the contribution of Henry and Lewis in attempting to show there was an intellectual tradition drawing attention to democracy, institutional arrangement and authority to address the myriad of concerns. CONTENT Issues that, historically and today, have most concerned political philosophers begin with a set of questions about equality, justice and welfare. These could be thought of as an enquiry into the best form of state according to David Miller (1998). It is a fact that for most of our history human beings have not been governed by states hence the free roaming tribes of Africa, Taino and Kalilingo of the Caribbean and not to be left out the marauding barbarians of Europe. From the inception this essay has identified a specific group as central to the continued existence of the Caribbean. Rex Nettleford (1993) and Charles Mills (2007) confirm that centrality by, in the first instance, identifying the group as one of three broad elements shaping the society in the second instance, through a specific schema that embodies a racial polity both starting at diverging points but eventually reaching a mutually understood location. Nettleford has been innovative using the concept of space to draw attention to social injustice; he describes maronnage or â€Å"the retreat into safe psychic sanctums calling on inner reserves beyond the reach of external violators. † This retreat came about with the use of language to communicate, plan and execute rebellion in a tongue foreign to the invaders bringing some equality to a struggle that was always almost dictated by the colonial. He explained â€Å".. Creole, in the proper sense of native-born, native-bred and not in the sense of an aberration of a dialect to the norm of a standard tongue. The very code switching , so normal to Caribbean people in the liberal use of Creole for appropriate circumstances transformed to the lingua franca as the occasion demands (sometimes in one sentence), is a sign of the capacity to master the flow between inner and outer space on one level. † The code switching to which he refers is an attempt to push back an institution not sympathetic to the Creole. To organise and communicate meant the mastery of a tongue foreign to the colonial because the institutions to which he had a monopoly were unequal, lacked social justice and had no welfare. This was identified by an economic relationship that marginalised tray merchants placing the Caribbean person on the periphery of existence according to Nettleford (1993). The exclusion from the vicinity of â€Å"formal commercial enterprises† driving the trader underground to the informal economy away from the formal economy clearly establishes a prima facie case for the judicial, executive and legislative institutions to answer with regard to the adopted precepts of western political thought. Mills wasted no time highlighting the fact that race has been essentially reduced to a minimal debate, glossed over, and otherwise left out of the majority of the multiculturalism literature Mills (1998). His evaluation was logical and nuanced, he argued that: â€Å"Tracing the evolution of the concepts of race and ethnicity race began as a biological and therefore immutable aspect of the human condition, while ethnicity was and is seen as a consequence of culture. Racism and ethnocentrism were differentiated by their essential characterisations: Race is a consequence of biology and therefore racism presumes a biological hierarchy; ethnicity is a consequence of culture and therefore ethnocentrism requires a surrender of cultural distinction and assimilation. † Given the consensus within the scientific community that biological race and thus biological hierarchy do not exist, what pertains in the Caribbean, therefore, in the form of Creole ethnicity and ethnocentrism are seen as relatively more logical and reasoned according to Mills (2007). There is confirmation of this assessment by Lewis (1983). He articulated a position that the Caribbean’s single greatest contribution to political thought is its open exploration of the question concerning race. This exploration, as Lewis puts it, possibly offers a counter to a Eurocentric fetish with its misplaced presumption of superiority on the subject, a sober Caribbean response. The content of Caribbean thought being characterised as overly concerned with the use of race converges to the concept of Creole recall the alignment sought earlier by Nettleford (1993) and Mills (2007) it is no wonder, therefore, that ethnicity as articulated by Mills (2007) is seen as a more politically palatable category to discuss and philosophically legitimate engaging the polity at all levels. As a people are we therefore satisfied with the aforementioned argument in its attempt to reconcile what is a contentiously debated topic? This essay suggest that the attempt at convergence is likely due to the challenge of the (particularism) of Caribbean Political thought essentially a question of authenticity which can be defined as of undisputed origin, genuine, reliable and trustworthy. It is a question of who constitutes the Caribbean person, in this case the African or Asian or European or is it the Creole or maybe none of the previously mentioned. Since it is suggested by some that the attempt at convergence is unlikely must the debate be reduced to one or the other in an attempt to secure an answer? This essay further suggests a complexity that cannot be determined by way of who has the right to speak on behalf of the Caribbean and a claim of superiority. To attempt this would in the opinion of this essay reduce the debate to that which western political thought is insecure in its biological existence. This is where maturity and understanding is paramount in the construction of a worthwhile paradigm independent of western political dogma. UNDERSTANDING CARIBBEAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY The term political philosophy often refers to a view, specific political belief or attitude about politics that does not necessarily belong to the technical discipline of philosophy. In short, political philosophy is the activity, as with all philosophy, whereby the conceptual apparatus behind such concepts as aforementioned are analysed, in their history, intent, evolution and the like according to Jean Hampton (1997). Tim Hector questioned, Where is our philosophy? as if to imply that the aforementioned concepts are yet to be found or worst not understood and overlooked. His ask is reasonable given the time our people have occupied this space with the accompanying accoutrements of independence and must be answered against a background of accepted criteria as to what a political philosophy is Hampton (1997). Right or wrong the confluence, convergence, divergence, lack of application that has become synonymous with these islands gives what they have to say a genuine uniqueness. Since independence, for all the limitations, they have not found the need to go on crusades slaughtering millions in the name of God, use an intellectually convenient ideology to foist on the rest of the world a self serving expansionist ideology under developing Africa and the Caribbean in the name of capitalism, murder its own in two world wars and as this essay concludes present globalisation as the new destabilising force. It is the position of this essay that the writers have been able to establish a prima facie case toward a political philosophy; there is history, intent and evolution however more needs to be done if only to say Caribbean political philosophy is not what western political philosophy is. As long as the peoples resist the urge to lean toward their own understanding Caribbean Political Philosophy has a chance to become a global solution to its Western Political nemesis. CONCLUSION It is clear that an understanding of Caribbean political philosophy is an understanding of the post colonial project and the need for the Caribbean to extricate itself from the political dogma that is Eurocentric in construction and delivery. In summary this characterisation of Caribbean thought places a high value on overturning projects of European hegemony Nettleford (1995). So important is this aspect of the project that an epistemology, ontology perspective was developed to give structure and ground the thinking given the purported monopoly expressed by the European. Henry (2000) highlights the key thematic lines along which Caribbean political thought has thus far been expressed. This, however, has not been without controversy the claim that the Caribbean’s single greatest contribution to global thought is its exploration of the question of race Lewis (1983) has triggered the characterisation as overly concerned with the utilisation of race as an analytical category. Mills (2007) answers the characterisation with a nuanced alternative articulating that biological race and thus biological hierarchy do not exist, what pertains in the Caribbean in a form of Creole ethnicity and ethnocentrism. If exclusively defined by the Western Political standards the Caribbean would be hard pressed to identify a political philosophy, the debate is thus confined to what is important to the people occupying the space. The fundamental difference is with application of what needs to be done given that the Caribbean is young relative to its European counterpart then there is more to be accomplished. This essay understands the confluence, convergence, divergence, dialectic that has become synonymous to these balkanised geographical dispersed islands. This essay accepts that understanding of a situation comes not with a presumption of right or wrong but openness to arguments, that, if placed on a balance of probabilities could become the reality of the reader. BIBLIOGRAPHY Belle, George. 1996 Against Colonialism: Political Theory and Re-Colonisation in the Caribbean. Paper presented at the Conference on Caribbean Culture: Mona Jamaica UWI. Benn, Dennis. 1987 Ideology and Political Development: the Growth and Development of Political Ideas in the Caribbean 1774-1983. Jamaica: ISER, Mona. Bolland, Nigel. 2004 The Birth of Caribbean civilization: A century of ideas about culture and identity, nation and society Kingston: Ian Randle Fanon, Frantz. 1963 The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press. Hampton, Jean. 1997. Political Philosophies and Political Ideologies, Montreal: Westview Press. Heywood, Andrew. 2004 Political Ideologies, 3rd Edition: An Introduction, USA: Palgrave McMillan Henry, Paget. 2000. Calibans Reason: Introducing Afro Caribbean Philosophy, London: Routledge, Lewis, Gordon. 1983. Main Currents in Caribbean Thought: The Historical Evolution of Caribbean Society in Its Ideological Aspects, 1492-1900, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Miller, David. 1998. Political philosophy in E. Craig (Ed. ), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, London: Routledge. Mills, Charles. 1998 Blackness Visible: Essays on Philosophy and Race, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Mills, Charles. 2007 â€Å"Multiculturalism as/and/or Anti-Racism?† in Multiculturalism and Political Theory Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Nkrumah, Kwameh. 1965 Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism London: Thomas Nelson Sons, Ltd. Nettleford, Rex. 1993 Inward Stretch, Outward Reach: A voice from the Caribbean Basingstoke: MacMillan. Sabine, George Holland, Thomas Landon Thorson. 1973. A history of political theory. Hinsdale, Ill: Dryden Press. Wellman, David T. 1977 Portraits of White Racism, 2d ed, New York: Cambridge University Press.

Definition of Groupthink. Retrieved from Essay Example for Free

Definition of Groupthink. Retrieved from Essay I have always had a different idea of what groupthink really means, to me I thought of it as a bad idea from someone amongst a group of people that had not been voiced seemingly because the person having this thought lacks confidence or backing. More like trying to proof to your business partners that an idea of using an outdated tactic to target a young crowd is not the best idea In its own definition Wikipedia(2013) describes groupthink as a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision- making outcome, whereas it can also be viewed as the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. All different versions of what it is but also giving a detailed well round idea and description. Good examples of groupthink situations as studied by Janis in the book â€Å"fiascoes† are such as the United States government failure to anticipate the Pearl Harbor attacks, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the escalation of Vietnam War, and the ill-fated hostage rescue in Iran (Janis,1972) Some recent past examples of groupthink would be in the hastened decision making of the Bush administration and Congress to pursue an invasion of Iraq based on a policy of â€Å"preemptive use of military force against terrorists and rogue nations.† It is definitely an undeniable fact that groupthink has been a large part of decision making in the United States government for a long time. As we speak, arguably the best current example of groupthink that the American government is facing is the Obama Care. This is so because some might see it as a majority of democrat leaders refusing to see or identify with different ideas that are outside theirs, thus leading to what psychologist consider as a mental deficiency commonly known as groupthink. â€Å"Groups affected by groupthink ignore alternatives and tend to take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups† (Janis, 1972). I found it rather interesting reading the article by the net advisor to bring out reasons as to why the Obama care was created under the influence of groupthink. The net advisor article reads â€Å"the patient protection and affordable care act or â€Å"Obama Care† was passed by majority of the then Democratic House. The house leadership under Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) refused to allow the US senate of any party to even consider debating, let alone voting on Obama care. The house by passed the entire U.S. senate by using a controversial self-executing rule or â€Å"deem and pass† procedure then quickly sent it to president Obama to sign†(Net advisor). This brings out the question, what if the Democratic Party had not made such an irrational decision to pass the Obama Care, would it have made any difference in the case of the government shutdown. Since the main reason that led to most of the republican members to oppose raising the debt ceiling that would have prevented the government from shutting down was primarily a disagreement in the Obama care. This is arguable in both sides since the republican party might also have made a groupthink decision to prevent the Obama care under any circumstances, leading to a government shutdown that has dented the government debt even more, ironically an issue that they (republican party) are trying to avoid with the Obama care. The united states is established in two well defined parties and many are the times that the conflicting views from each party, makes it harder to make any decisions or view the others opinion. Hopefully in the future the decisions from our leaders can be viewed in a more universal dimension, thus the administrators of our president can challenge each other to eliminate groupthink. References Janis, I (1972, Victims of groupthink (1st edition ed) retrieved from http:// leadership theory 3450.blogspot.com Obama care is an example of Groupthink gone wrong. Retrieved from http://netadvisor.org/2013/09/26. Definition of Groupthink. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink

Classification Of Operating System

Classification Of Operating System An Operating System is the basic software of computers that provides an interface between the computer programs and hardwares. Operating system also provides a software platform on top to other programs, they are called application programs (Application program: is the software that helps the users to make typical functions, like making text, othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). Your choice of the operating system, determinates the great extent of the application that you can run. The basic functions of the O.S. are managing machine resources, coordinate the hardware and organize files and directories on storage devices. Classification of Operating Systems Operating systems can be classified as follows: Multi-user: is the one that concede two or more users to use their programs at the same time. Some of O.S permits hundreds or even thousands of users simultaneously. Single-User: just allows one user to use the programs at one time. Multiprocessor: Supports opening the same program more than just in one CPU. Multitasking: Allows multiple programs running at the same time. Single-tasking: Allows different parts of a single program running at any one time. Real time: Responds to input instantly. Operating systems such as DOS and UNIX, do not work in real time. Operating  system functions The operating system serves several functions: Management Processor: Operating System Processor manages the distribution among programs using a programming algorithm. Management Random Access Memory: Operating system manages the memory space allocated for each application and each user, if appropriate. When physical memory is insufficient, the O.S creates an area of memory on the hard drive, called virtual memory. Virtual memory permits you to run applications that require a capacity of memory beyond available RAM in the system. However, this memory is much slower. Management of input / output: Operating system to unify and control access to material resources programs through the drivers (also known as administrators peripheral or input / output). Execution Management applications: Operating system ensures that applications run smoothly by allocating the resources they need to function. This means that if an application does not respond properly may succumb. Managing authorities: Operating system is responsible for security in connection with the execution of programs by guarantee you that resources are used only for programs and users with appropriate authorization. File management: The O.S manages all the writing and reading in the file system and access permissions to files and user applications. File system that permits files to be recorded in a tree structure. Information management: Operating system provides hundreds of indicators that can be used to diagnose the operation of the equipment. Operating System Components The system consists of a set of software that can be used to manage interactions with the hardware. These items are usually included in this set of software: The core: This represents the core operating system functions, such as memory management, processes, files, inputs / main outputs and communication functions. The shell: This enables communication with the operating system through a control language, allowing the user to control the device without knowing the characteristics of hardware, the management of physical addresses, and so on. First operating system was developed by IBM with a young man named Bill Gates, this could run on different computers from different manufacturers, it was called DOS (Disk Operating System), but differences between the parties did not set off a pitch. DOS was just a text screen with a command line that tells us which directory as we were only data for guidance. You had to know that things had to write for the machine to do something. There wasnt a context menu, and graphical displays to guide us. But in the beginning there were these systems presented so elegantly with many colors, there was only the command line interface that to only people who had great computer knowledge could use the computers. OPERATING SYSTEM IN THE 80s At 80s appear Mac OS systems and MS-DOS, Windows. The exponential growth of users, most of them without any knowledge of languages for high or low, made in the 80, the priority of designing an operating system was the ease of use, thus resulting the first user interfaces. Macintosh is the name under which we currently refer to any personal computer designed, developed, built and marketed by Apple Inc. Macintosh 128K was released on July 22, 1984 and was the first personal computer that was successfully marketed, which used a GUI and mouse instead of the standard of that time, the command line interface GUI makes use of a WIMP environment (windows, icons, menus and pointer). The background of the screen is called desktop, which contents an image called icons. Apple in 1984 produced the Macintosh, the first computer with mouse and graphical user interface (GUI). A few years later, Microsoft launched Windows, another operating system based in graphics and intuitive tools List of OS: Windows 7 Windows XP Professional Ubuntu Macintosh OSX Microsoft Vista Fedora Mac OS X Leopard Microsoft Windows 1.0 Xandros Linux Microsoft Windows 3.1 Unix Linux Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of software operating system based in graphical users interfaces produced by Microsoft. The different versions of Windows are: Windows 1.0 Windows 2.0 Windows 3.0 Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows XP Windows Vista Windows 7 Mac OS Mac OS is an operating systems developed by Apple Computer Inc. Macintosh is popular because the graphical user interface, it was the integral and unnamed system software first introduced in 1984 but is usually it referred to simply as the system software. Mac OS can be divided into two families: The Mac OS Classic family. The Mac OS X operating system. UNIX This was developed in 1969 by a group of employees of AT T Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas Mcllroy, and Joe Ossanna. UNIX was developed in assembly language, but 1973 had been almost completely recoded in C, facilitating their development and migration to other hardware. This Operating Systems found on mainframes and workstations in corporate Installations. Linux Linux has its origin in UNIX. He showed in the sixties, developed by researchers Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson of AT T Bell Labs. Andrew Tanenbaum developed a Unix-like operating system called Minix to teach students to design an operating system. Due to the teaching approach of Minix, Tanenbaum never allowed him to be altered, and complications that could be introduced into the system for their students, but Finnish student named Linus Torvalds, verifying that it was not possible to extend Minix, decided to write his own operating system compatible with UNIX. Linux can be installed on all kind of computer no matter the hardware. This O.S is a leading server operative system, and can runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the entire world, and the best two thing of it is that u don ´t get virus and is free. Mobile Operating System The mobile O.S is the Operating system that controls all mobile devices. The different systems for mobiles are: Windows Mobile Palms OS BlackBerry OS Symbian OS Android

American Newspaper Comics :: Newspapers Comic Strips Cartoons Art Essays

American Newspaper Comics 1. Definition and Defining Elements of Newspaper Comics 1.1. Definition According to Wikipedia encyclopaedia, â€Å"[†¦] a comic strip is a short strip or sequence of drawings, telling a story. Drawn by a cartoonist, they are published on a recurring basis (usually daily or weekly) in newspapers or on the Internet. They usually communicate to the reader via speech balloons. The term ‘comic’ derives from the fact that most strips were funny in the beginning. For this reason they are often also referred to as ‘funnies’.†. Comics, however, need not be humorous by necessity. While many comics remain focused on humour, others involve politics, human interest, murder and suspense, or adventure. Another word for comic is ‘sequential art’ , which I regard as the most appropriate term describing the genre, because it refers to comics as an art form on the one hand and gives you an idea of the nature and appearance of comics on the other. This takes me to the structure and appearance of newspaper comics. 1.2. Structure and Appearance Most comics consist of more than one panel, which is a box or a frame that contains a given scene, but as the following strip shows, sequence can also be expressed in only one panel. Here, one can imagine what happened before this scene, by just seeing one panel. Almost all comics also contain some text, which appears in balloons or headlines. While most daily newspaper comics are published six days a week in black and white, those on Sunday tend to be in colour.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1.2. The Characters In fact, the characters are the most important ingredients of a successful feature, because everything else is exchangeable. There are often lots of artists who work on one strip and if any of them discontinues, there are others to replace him or her. Artists may even switch syndicates without anyone noticing, but Peanuts, for example, would not be the same without Charlie Brown or Snoopy. The characters become your friends, because you identify with them. The typical loser who never manages to sit next to the little red-haired girl during the break might sympathize with Charlie Brown and the person being bullied at his or her workplace is very likely to feel affection for Dilbert. According to Julie Davies, â€Å"[†¦] comic strips can only be effective if readers see their own lives reflected in the daily funnies.† The Funnies are also something steady, something you can rely on, because, once adapted, they are not likely to change.

Humorous Wedding Speech for a Car Salesman -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Sp

Humorous Wedding Speech for a Car Salesman Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen – for those of you who don’t know me I’m Floyd, Edward’s best man. Of course, the only problem with being the best man at a wedding is that you never get a chance to prove it, but if anyone wants to start a drinking competition later, then come talk to me. Edward has been a great friend to me since we met. And, over that time, he's always been there for me. I remember especially him being there when I had my first car crash†¦ oh, that's right, Edward was driving! Laughter Honestly Edward, I’m not really up here to embarrass you. You did a fine job of that yourself during your bachelor’s party (stag night). In fact, we were a little concerned when you made your cross-dressing tendencies public, that Nancy might have had some competition today. But given the formal nature of the occasion, I am pleased to see, Edward, that you've decided to copy my outfit, rather than hers. Edward has gone through many evolutionary changes to end up the man he is today. In order to understand exactly what went wrong, let’s examine Edward’s career. As many of you know, Edward has been climbing the ladder in sales in recent years. This comes as no surprise since he has always been able to talk his way out of anything. You know, his parents still believe that it wasn't him who flooded the kitchen. Edward's talent for being able to spin any di... ... the surface, Edward was still a simple Somerset boy at heart. ‘She’s different to us’ he informed me. ‘What do you mean?’ I enquired. ‘Well, put it this way,’ Edward replied, ‘she gets out of the bath to have a pee.’ None the less, they hit it off. And we’ve seen both of them grow over the six years of their relationship. I think their marriage is going to be a wonderful partnership – and Edward will be the silent one. Truthfully, I can’t think of two other people that are better suited to spending the rest of their lives together! Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure, not to mention relief, to ask you all to raise a toast to the newly weds. Congratulations to the bride and groom.

school uniform requirement :: essays research papers

It's official -- the largest school district in the U.S. has adopted school uniforms. Over a half-million elementary-school students in New York City will have to adhere to a dress code by the Fall of 1999. The president of the school board said the policy is "important to diminish peer pressure and promote school pride," but that it's not "an act of magic to transform schools overnight....It isn't going to replace good teaching, good principals, small classrooms." It's a fashion trend that's spreading. From Los Angeles to Louisiana, from Maryland to Miami, public schools are discussing, and in many cases adopting, the old private school idea. School uniforms are designed to help kids focus on algebra instead of high-tops; to make students compete for grades rather than jackets. "It helps to get up in the morning and not have to think about what you're going to wear," said Maria, a ninth-grader who swims, plays soccer, and wears exactly what everybody else does at her high school in Washington, DC. Each school day, Maria dons an all-white oxford shirt, brown shoes, and a gray/maroon plaid skirt that has to be long enough to the touch the ground when she kneels. After school and on weekends, of course, all bets are off. Maria has a simple yet effective strategy: she borrows her friends' clothes, typically baggy jeans. School uniforms also take the pressure off students to pay top dollar for clothes, according to Reginald Wilson, a senior scholar at the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C. "I think it does lower the cost of clothes, and kids don't emphasize clothes as much when they're all wearing the same thing," Wilson said. "Certainly the competition to wear the best shoes or the best sweaters and so forth has been prevalent in school ever since I was in school, and the poor kids felt inferior." Training? The 'training' argument says that when you are employed, you are likely to have to wear a uniform. Is this true? What are the odds that children will wear a uniform later in life? Typically, the occupations where people have to wear uniforms are the lower paid jobs, nothing to look forward to, really. Generally, the more educated people are, the less they wear uniforms later in life. Look at teachers, they don't wear uniforms! Well-paid work tends to reject uniformity, and for good reason, the demands of the future include qualities such as assertiveness, creativity, individuality, originality, a spontaneous personality, being a self-starter, taking initiatives, being able to cope with change, etc.

Accounting Profession

The workload of the office is measured 2 In terms of actual clients; rather than attempting to measured the firm In terms of the billing hours or dollars. Two individual clients serviced by the firm illustrate the complexity of coordinating the activities within one local, targeted firm within the region. One client Is an independent 011 and gas entrepreneur that operates over an expanded region which may involve operations in multi-states when exploration is active. A second client is a construction company that has crews operating in four states on a weekly basis..The required accounting and tax documents (paperwork) ND information change exponentially with the addition or deletion of new clients to the existing client list. A concurrent change is that of administering a database to ERM the tell to manage the required coordination between separate accountants working independently but for the same client. The firm's workforce is made up of two partners, one non-partner associate an d various other hourly personnel. The firm currently operates offices in two locations within a single state.The CPA Firm (CPA) partners recognized within the past several years that a paper intensive environment ad resulted in a firm-wide system that was in danger of collapse. One of the two partners, the senior partner, was assigned the specific task of developing policies related to two interrelated purposes involving the use of technology: (1) to improve the management of the processes and work (data) flow within the firm's system and (2) to undertake strategic planning to insure the firm's continued growth and success by improving cost efficiencies through better usage of technology.The research group (authors of the study) used the results of an interview of a partner of a repressions law firm (in a parallel study) using the nine milestones recommended by the SEARCH (the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics) during the literature review as a guide in dete rmining the strategic planning and implementation for a typical law firm within the Justice system in order to compare research results between two different, but similar, professional firms.The milestones permitted the research group to organize its findings in a manner that is consistent with other efforts within the Justice system (law firm) while also providing similar structure for a CPA that is governed by parallel expectations.However, since the law firm was a component of the Justice system the findings are grouped into fewer categories to allow the research group to structure the intent of the recommendations provided by SEARCH to a specific case study (of the CPA) regulated by professional, federal and state statutes/regulations to a professional law firm within a specific segment of the overall Judicial system yet regulated in a similar manner. Both types of professional firms have legal and ethical obligations to protect their clients' interests (manual and electronic do cuments, etc. 3 STRATEGIC DISASTER PLANNING The CPA notionally had a self-contained computer- based information system housed internally in one of the two branch offices of the firm. As growth of the client base grew and the firm expanded the firm added a part- time, consulting-in-nature IT support that continues today. Initially IT periodically backed up the firm's data on an infrequent basis that evolved into a routine practice over time. However, no firm backup policy or procedure existed; rather the IT staff simply implemented common sense and applied what experience had shown them was the service the firm needed.In short, simple use of backup tapes and disks as determined informally by the IT consultant as his time permitted. However, as the CPA continued to grow the partners began to informally create a plan for backup; however, the backup was still localized and stored at one of the firm's office where the primary IT operation was housed. The easy plan established and used wa s to store duplicate copies of computerized files in the same physical location where the master copies were located.Experience proved to be a lesson learned. The offices of the firm are located in an area of the U. S. That is prone to hurricanes. While the offices are not located on the coast hurricane damage NAS occurred within the elite to the firm and the original partners learned that offside storage of backup copies could prove to be a wise course of action in an area that has experienced hurricanes on a frequent basis. Thus a backup of computerized records with offside storage became the default plan for several years.The senior partner, upon being charged with the responsibility to improve the management of the processes and work (data) flow within the firm's system and to undertake strategic planning to insure the firm's intended growth and success by improving cost efficiencies through better usage of technology initiated planning by developing a firm wide identification o f technology needs, policies and procedures that would be necessary for the firm to successfully survive a natural disaster.This planning effort included charging the IT consultant with the responsibility to recommend changes in the computerized firm-wide system that would permit the daily backup of all databases and other files at remote sites including alternative network capabilities that could be used to resume email and there communication capabilities as quickly as possible if the main office location was down due to a natural disaster. The plan was to have alternatives that would permit the firm to resume and maintain operations from various sites within the U.S. If necessary. On no single date was the system to be backed up at only the main location by having the master and backup files physically located at the same system. The IT consultant recommendations were used by the senior partner to subsequently develop plans for the CPA which addressed the backup, relocation, secu rity, and covert in the areas of hardware, software, databases, and physical 4 structure or operational areas, and telecommunications-network links internal and external to the CPA.The IT staff was requested to provide the senior partner with suggested scenarios that would describe the cause and effect of actions (procedures) that the CPA should implement. Examples provided by the senior partner included the following: 0 Hardware – laptop computers were to be taken home (and subsequently to evacuation locations) by individuals the laptop was assigned to by the firm. All non-removable computers, etc. Were wrapped in heavy plastic for retention from wind and water damage (anything short of a direct destructive hit).The CPA buildings were to be secured to minimize the effect of wind and water debris and structural damage. 0 Software – All software programs, systems and applications, backed up and sent to offside locations in second firm office located another geographical region of the country. 0 Databases – all data backed up and copies moved to local and distant locations electronically and hardcopy. Two sets prepared and kept at two different locations locally and one set sent to an off-site location in Tennessee (and not in line for hurricane damage).Telecommunications- network – reviewed the backup contingency plans with vendor that was located in another geographic region to initial recovery efforts once the CPA and vendor could resume contact and after power and other utilities were restored. Partners of the CPA were obviously kept in the loop and were advised to carry identified hardware, software, and paper files to other locations (homes and perhaps subsequently to evacuation location areas outside to the disaster area). The partners supervised t transfer of items to the second CPA location (from one gulf coast state to an inland state overnight).August 26, 2005 the path of Hurricane Strain continued to indicate that the CPA likely would be within the projected landfall area and subsequent inland path of destruction. The increasing magnitude of the hurricane became obvious to the firm personnel and the disaster plan was set in motion. The plan identified those responsible for each of the planned areas of responsibility. When the decision was made by the partners-owners of the firm to implement the disaster plan there was approximately four hours remaining in the work week.CPA employees were already concerned for family and personal reporter and the firm began to allow employees to leave work early to tend to those needs. However, a core of employees – partners and one staff person remained to oversee the completion of disaster procedures. Who did what? When asked this question the senior partner stated that the partners did the activities related to insuring the hardware, software, databases, 5 telecommunication-network and structural preparations were completed as quickly as possible.He commente d that what most have to remember is that Hurricane Strain grew from a category 1 too category 4 or 5 within a very short timestamp. All disaster planning had been based on what disaster experiences in the past had shown would be probably. The IT consultant worked non-stop until the last items were relocated, secure, backed up and ended their efforts on Sunday, August 28th. The CPA partners at both locations dealt with the business end of the disaster plan implementation.Those tasks included : 0 Notifying clients and carriers the CPA was â€Å"battening down† and would be back in touch as soon as possible, 0 Arranging to have any imminent incoming checks re-routed to the off-site inland state location (for feet and operational banks), 0 Updating voice messages for the office, 0 Making final decisions about which paper (hard) copy file needed which level of protection (covered, uncovered, removed to another location, etc. , 0 Reviewing that all electronic (soft) copy were back ed up according to the plans to insure that copies were located in several locations locally and remote and the person responsible for each copy, Providing phone contact lists for all employees and giving out partner information to all employees (who had already been sent home to deal with personal and family assister preparations), and 0 Checking insurance policy coverage (and later following through [for example, business interruption insurance has been troublesome]).