Phenomenology and the sociology of knowledge Essay

Phenomenology can both be understood to be a discipline and a movement in the history of philosophy. As a discipline, Phenomology can be defined to be the study of structures of experience and consciousness. Ontology, epistemology, logic and ethics are other disciplines which are related to Phenomology though they are distinct (Schulz, Wagner, 1997). In a different perspective, Phenomology can be defined as a historical movement which was launched by great thinkers such as Edmund Husserl among others in the 20th century. Phenomenology and social science Common theories present in social science are based in the real world. This leads to my conviction that phenomenological research can be used in the future studies of some methods which are in use in social science. Phenomenology can further be used in social science to facilitate the understanding of some phenomenon’s which are often taken for granted. For instance, man is assumed to be social being and language and communication systems do exist. Methods in social science fail to address why there is mutual understanding and communication and why men are motivated by certain experiences. Moreover, the social science methods fail to describe the underlying assumption and their implications in the interpretation of social interrelationship (Collins, 1998). All these can only be addressed through philosophical analysis which Husserl referred to as phenomenological philosophy. Phenomenology can also be used to bring meaning and insights to the study of grief, anxiety and pain which are some social issues which affect the very existence of man. Through phenomenology, social scientists can account and analytically describe the acts of intentional consciousness. Finally, phenomenology creates a bridge for the phenomenological sociology which provides an understand ding of the formal structures common in everyday day life. Sociology of knowledge Sociology of knowledge refers to the study of the social sources of knowledge and its impact on the society. In the study, knowledge is assumed to be a cultural product which can only be understood in the social context of its origin. The study is important to Collins in that it provides an explanation to most of the philosophical ideas which exist. In his book, he asserts that great and philosophical ideas are only produced through interaction between humans whose construction relies on the social structure of the intellectual world. Through the sociology of knowledge, Collins is able to explain that the rationalization process of Western, Indian and Asian philosophies has only been achieved through conceptual framework and social knowledge. He uses the sociology of knowledge to explain that social processes have an explanation as to why what is said to whom which he calls the sociology of thinking (Geoffrey, 2003). He also asserts that through the sociology of knowledge one is in a capacity to predict the conversation between two individuals if only their characteristics and the emotional synergies are known. He further uses the sociology of knowledge to explain how it is possible to predict the thinking process of an individual. Though thinking is an internalized conversation, Collins asserts that what we think is often a reflection of what we write on paper or we talk with other people. Collins believes that emotional energy and what we anticipate for the future determines our thinking process (Collins, 1998). Finally, the sociology of knowledge has enable Collins to describe the philosophical transformations which have been achieved in modern Europe, Japan and china. References Collins, R. (1998). The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory Of Intellectual Change Harvard University press, USA ISBN 0-674-00187-7 Geoffrey, L. (2003). Modern Philosophy. London: Routledge Schulz, A. & Wagner, H. (1997). On Phenomenology and Social Relations: Selected Writings. University of Chicago press. London ISBN 0-226-74153-2

The Fall Of Rome

The Book is written by Bryan Ward-Perkins, with the title The Fall Of Rome: And the End of Civilization and printed by Oxford University Pres in 2005. John Bryan Ward-Perkins was born in 1912 in UK. He was a British historian and archeologist and director of British School at Rome. During WWII he served in military, during which he gained the knowledge of Tripolitania and Roman ruins which led him to take interest in history.In 1946 he accepted the position of Director at British school at Rome and stayed on this position till 1974. â€Å"The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization†, addresses the general perception of modern historians about the benign change from Roman Empire to Christianity. The author corrects this thinking through archaeological evidence. He mentions that it was the coming of German tribes and their long term effects that led to the dissolution of Roman Empire.The main argument which I find different from the normal text books is the telling of story of fall of empire from the other side. For example, he mentions that the transition of Roman Empire was neither nor peaceful; instead it was Germanic tribes (Vandals, Visigoth) etc who crossed the river Rhine in 5th BC and took whatever they wanted by force rather than through treaties or negotiations. He argues that one of the main reasons for collapse of Roman Empire was decline of Roman economy through many centuries.He provides a reality check to modern readers shocking them with the truth about a Rome that was caught in economic collapse, rebellions from barbarians and rise of new orthodoxy; all of which became the reasons Rome collapse. The book provides interesting insight into the fall of Roman Empire from a different view compared to popular thinking in schools and text books. I believe this book is essential for any history student to look at a great event of history from a different perspective. Reference: Bryan Ward-Perkins,The Fall Of Rome: And the End of Civilization. Oxf ord University Pres,2005.

Project scope mangement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project scope mangement - Assignment Example This scope statement gives an analysis of the details deliverables, product, explains the project approach, produces estimates, lists stakeholders and lists project controls (Kassab, Ormandjieva, Daneva, & Abran, 2007). Thirdly, the work breakdown structure (WBS) is created. This is a graphical representation of all work that requires to be done in the lifecycle of a project. It helps in for easy task assigning and action items. Once the WBS has been made, all scope statement updates should be made. Fourthly, scope verification is done by gaining acceptance of the scope statement by the project stakeholders. Information included in scope statement, the scope management plan, and WBS is analyzed and verified in order to avoid surprises in the project lifecycle (Kassab, Ormandjieva, Daneva, & Abran, 2007).Lastly, scope control is executed. Scope control methods entails change management policies, re-planning policies, scrutiny of variance of the project scope as implemented from the project scope, and management of the conditions of the deliverables employed. Scope control assists in assuring that scope creep, a large threat to project management achievement, does not

Airbus A320 Control Problem Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airbus A320 Control Problem Case Study - Essay Example The side sticks reacted oppositely such that when the side stick on the right was controlled, the plane moved in the opposite direction and vice versa. After the plane moved to a height of FL120 the crewmembers noticed the abnormality and sought to land the plane safely for further checking. The maintenance organization group took over the plane and repaired the plane but did not realize the fatal error they did while trying to repair the plane. No damage occurred to the plane and no injuries occurred to the people on board. This paper discusses and analyzes the findings of the aviation investigation team and makes the distinguishing mistakes done on the plane by the teams handling the repair. Research Findings and Analysis The team investigating the fatal error first recognized that the plane was on maintenance two days even before the flight and the plane had indicated the problem. The problem affected both ELAC number one and ELAC number two. The errors were both visible through t he computer transmission. The elevator aileron computer controls the back angle of the plane. The researchers found out that despite repairing the elevator aileron computer, a bent pin on elevator aileron computer number one was not replaced and not repaired. The investigation also reveals that during the repair of ALAC number one, the entire rewiring process was incorrect. The command and the monitor channels faced alteration when the technicians inverted the whole wiring system after getting confused on which diagram to use on the manufacturers manual. The wire connects the plug of ELAC to the plane for ease of monitoring the back angle of the plane and other conditions of the plane. Due to lack of enough experience by both the engineers and the crewmembers, the errors remained undetected and almost led to massive losses and death. Flight controlled check group are to be blamed for failing to realize the error. The report argues that the error occurred due to the following reasons . There was an unclear information about the planes diagrams that resulted to abnormal wiring of the control and monitor channels. The researchers believe that a wrong diagram caused the problem. The research findings also indicate serious differences between the manufacturers and the engineers on the maintenance. The report argues based on the data difference used by manufacturers and the maintenance team in correcting the errors of the plane. The findings also indicate that the unambiguous instructions from the manufacturer could have led to the fatal error. According to the report, the analysts argue that the insufficient functionality of the quality assurance services undermined the quality of the work done by the maintenance and the flight control checkers. This is mainly due to the two separate groups working distinctively separate failing to identify and notice the problem. The high authority members of the organization is also to blame as they did not pass their tests in ens uring that sufficient supervision and maintenance was done to the plane before declared fit for transport. The following defenses were broken while trying to correct the error on the plane. On 18th March 2001 when the pane signaled an error message on ELAC number two, the maintenance group ought to have corrected the mistake instead of doing a RESET. Another defense broken is that the crew passed the plane fit for travel while they had not fully corrected the mis

Limitations of Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Limitations of Freedom - Essay Example This answer will consist of the advantages first, then the disadvantages of being a field slave or house servant. House servants had several advantages. They generally had to do house chores, which were hard, but not dangerous. These chores included, but not limited to, cleaning, dusting, washing, cooking, childcare, and planting gardens for the household’s use. A household servant might have the advantage of eating better than a field slave. They were required to remain cleaner than a field slave. In the wintertime, a house servant was protected somewhat more than a field hand from the weather. Yet, they also had chores outside, such as gathering wood, drawing water, and shoveling snow, but it was not constantly like a field hand. The biggest advantage for a house servant was the opportunity to learn (Kelley and Lewis, 142). When watching young white children, they could play school. Other ways to learn would be if a progressive master allowed a favorite slave the right to read. In the fields, slaves had no opportunity to learn anything but fieldwork or trades. Field slaves had the advantage of being away from whites continuously. Although a white overseer would be in place, but an overseer could supervise hundreds of slaves or have many acres to cover in a day. The best advantage of being a field slave was the opportunity to learn a trade. Field slaves were counted on to fulfill not only all planting, but the maintenance on a farm or in a household. Masonry, carpenters, animal caretaker, and other trades were open to the field slaves. The disadvantages to both types of slaves outnumber the advantages. One disadvantage was house servants came into closer contact with whites. Kelley and Lewis explain â€Å"This meant everything from assignment to petty jobs to insults, spontaneous angry whippings, and sexual assaults†

Macro12C Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro12C - Essay Example The unemployment rate reached a minimum of 5.5% from 7.5% at the start of term of President Reagan. The real median income for families increased to nearly $41,000 at the end of term; this was significantly higher than 10 years before and 10 years after President Reagan’s term. Inflation touched a minimum of 2% in 1986 and ended at 5% in 1989 compared to 11% at start of term in 1981. The growth of government spending was 1% during president Reagan’s term compared to 3.5% before him and 4.5% after him. Real income tax revenues increased by 16.3% even after top income tax rate had been reduced from 70% to 50% in 1983 and to 28% in 1986. The nominal federal revenues increased from $517 billion in 1981 to $1.031 trillion in 1989. On the downside, however, Reaganomics was used when US was at peace at the time, yet the national debt increased from 26.3% of GDP in 1981 to 42.3% in 1989. Secondly, the savings rate fell from 8% to 6.5% during president Reagan’s term as a result of his economic policies. Thirdly, the rich got even richer and the poor got even poorer. Reaganomics largely believed that if more wealth was given to the rich, they would re-invest this money, which did not really happen. Given the positive and the negative outcomes of Reaganomics, it can be said that while Reaganomics did work well for the years it was in force, it wasn’t a very sustainable economic policy as it relied mainly on increasing national debt to cover for the economic growth. Q2: Show graphically the effects on macro economy of a sharp rise in OPEC oil prices in a. the short run. b. the long run. How do you account for the differences in your answers to parts a and b? A sharp increase in OPEC oil prices occurs due to a supply shock that is a sudden drop in supply of oil. Below figures show its effects in the short and long-run. Short-run effect of a sharp increase in oil price is illustrated in figure 1 below: Figure 1. Short-run effect of Sharp increase in oil prices In the short-run, the supply shock causes price levels to increase due to inflation caused by high oil prices not only on oil dependant industries but also on transportation of goods and services. This leads to a drop in total output as well as price levels have increased but the wages have not in the short-run – leading to stagflation. Thus, the short-run effect is an increase in price levels and a decrease in total output. Figure 2. Long-run effect of a sharp increase in oil prices Due to increase in inflation in the short-run, unemployment starts to increase. Wages start to decrease. This leads companies to start hiring people. Also, the short-run effects bring about economic policy changes by the governments that are targeted to increase the output and to reduce inflation – which could be an increased government spending and/or decrease in interest rate. As the inflation comes under control, the real wages start to increase. This leads to an increase in demand in the long-run and the net effect is that

News and Communication Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

News and Communication Theory - Essay Example Significant level of literature on polarisation as well as selective exposure supposes that the Internet aggravates the fragmentation or separation of the media as well as of the citizenry. Nevertheless, this pays no attention to how the widespread utilisation of social media has changed news consumption across the world. Social media endow with readers a choice or option of stories from dissimilar sources that come advocated from politically, economically as well as socially heterogeneous individuals in the context that highlights social value over different ethnic affiliations. Building on different existing models of news and information selectivity (in respect to the business of journalism) to give emphasis to information utility, various researchers have hypothesised that the distinctive feature, social and political endorsements of social media trigger different decision heuristics which suggest utility. In respect to two experiments, researchers have demonstrates that much str onger social endorsements raise the probability that individuals select information and that their attendance decreases different selective exposure to the levels indistinguishable from the notion of chance (Messing and Westwood, 2011, p.1). This paper is aimed at providing a detailed analysis of the process of the emergence of Social Media re-shaped the gathering, dissemination and character of news and also its sustainability of the future trends. Thereafter the paper explains the ways which demonstrates different process through which the â€Å"many-to-many† model of communication affects the traditional notions and experience of accuracy, impartiality, fairness, spatial reach and relevance and timeliness. Research question: The research question of this essay is described as: what are the influences of social media and many-to-many models of journalism, communication and news delivery system across the globe consistent with its effects on traditional notions and are these trends in the system of journalism communicational system sustainable for the future? Social media and modern news delivery system: The emergence of the social media has been regarded as one of the most important aspects in modern structure of journalism and news. People who read news online use it because it is easily accessible, faster and it is available in 24/7. People who read hard copies of newspaper and magazine said it helps them to relax, gives more information than online, can be referred to anytime, good for the eyes and more comfortable. This makes the use of news and information easier for the readers. Also the use of advertisements is greater in case of online journalism compared to printed newspapers. This makes greater amounts of profit earning for the newspaper companies. This also helps the readers and audiences to gather greater amount of information regarding other products and services which are available in the market. Large number of people across the globe h as also argued that practices related to online journalism are helping business organisations in the business of news and journalism to spread higher amounts of news and information compared to the traditional sources of news and journalism business, such as print media. Large number of people have argued that the online journalism practices are sustainable in the future which has been possible because of the fact that the popularity of

Advantages Of Various Types Of Economic Systems Assignment

Advantages Of Various Types Of Economic Systems - Assignment Example The economic system decides the amount and the mechanism of the resource allocation. The factors of production, the organizations, and the market forces comprise the economic system that interacts with each other with an aim to resolve the economic problems (Anderton, 2009, p. 30). This economic system is of various types depending on the impact of market forces on the system. A free economy is one in which the market forces are solely responsible for the determination of the price and quantity and the resources are allocated automatically without any kind of government intervention. On the other hand, in the case of the mixed economy, the market mechanism is allowed to operate but to a limited extent. In a mixed economy, there is the coexistence of the public and private enterprises in the economy. It has been argued by many scholars that the free market economy operates on a higher level of efficiency compared to the mixed economies. Analysis of the Statement In order to understand the level of efficiency of these two types of the economy it is essential to analyze the characteristics of these economies. A free market economy is characterized by the private ownership of the means of production. The government’s role is limited to the regulatory and legal aspects of ensuring the rights of the people. The people who are existent in the economy have the right to operate in the market and buy and sell goods and services at the price and quantities that are determined by the market mechanism. The government may have regulation in form of quotas or tariffs that does not hamper the free market environment in such economies (Samuelson and ? Nordhaus, 2010, p. 31). The market structure that is existent in such economies is based on the competitive framework. The decision making of the allocation of resources id decentralized because of each individual and decide how much to buy or sell in the market depending on the efficiency level.  

A fundamental objective of the Land Registration Act 2002 Essay

A fundamental objective of the Land Registration Act 2002 - Essay Example The Land Registration Act 2002 aims at allowing prospective buyers of land know the existence of any equitable interests that may be attached to the land1. The basic assumption of the law is that prospective buyers should not take the burden of verifying the adverse interests attached on the land, but should rely on the land register that reflects any equitable interests attached to the land2. The Act also eliminates most of overriding interests in land by ensuring the duty of disclosure and reasonable inspection of interests attached to land3. This paper will mainly focus on the main provisions of the Act that has ensured accurate and timely reflection of the status of title of land. The enactment of the act provided a new breakthrough in the land title registration and verification since it changed the mechanism of sale and purchase of registered land from paper based transactions to electronic transactions. The Act followed the three principles articulated by Thoedore Ruoff, a for mer Land registrar of England. The principles are ‘mirror principle, curtain principle and insurance principle. For unregistered land, the title of the land must be inspected under the old rules and seller must prove 15 years unbroken chain of the title from the root of the title. The purchaser has the duty to register his title to the register within the stipulated time, failure to which he or she will lose his legal estate in the land. The Land registry provides a description of the piece of land, the legal owner and any other interests that may affect the value and ownership of the land. ... The electronic network capturers all transactions related to the land including the registration of the title by the parties. The Act has laid down formalities relating to electronic conveyance such as time and date when the electronic dispositions should take effect. All the electronic signatures must be authenticated and such electronic documents must be signed by all involved parties. Section 4 (1) (g) of the Act requires registration on the creation of a protected first legal mortgage that is protected by the deposit of title deeds and also registration of leases with a term remaining of more than seven years. The Act also grants the land registrar powers to use transaction information on the network in order to monitor and disclose such appropriate information to other parties in electronic conveyance chain5. The Act also facilitates electronic settlement by granting the Land registrar the powers to form or assist in formation of a company or invest in a company with this system of electronic settlement. In the case of Abbey National Building society v, Cann, the main concern was the registration gap that occurs when an interest is created at the point of registration but before completion6. However, The House of Lords ruled that a party must have actual occupation of the land at the date of completion of registration of any interest to land in order to attain an overriding status to the land. In practical basis, the purchase of the land is not completed on the day the purchaser makes official search, but after few days has lapsed. Provided the purchaser lodges a registration within the stipulated period, he or she is not bound by notices or restrictions that may be made within the intervening period7. Section 7 (1)

Initial Public Offering of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Assignment - 2

Initial Public Offering of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the business of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals is the development, production and the marketing of both generic and proprietary inhalable and injectable chemicals in the USA. Currently, the company is selling fifteen products, while at the same time in the process of developing thirteen more proprietaries as well as seven generic product portfolios, which will feature in the market in the near future. Â  The company prides more in its high technical and technological capability that is the main business strength that enables the company overcome competition in its field, through the introduction of innovative technologies such as the production of a variety of pre-filled syringes, and metered-dose inhalation technology. The terms of the Initial Public Offering of the Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares is through the use of prospectus, which acts as the registration statement for the shares, and the copies of the prospectus were being offered by the underwriters of the company shares, Jefferies LLC, from their offices. Thus, the press statements and advertisements of the IPO did not constitute an offer for sale, until the prospective buyer of the shares had obtained the copy of the prospectus and filled it. Therefore, the shares had been divided into various categories, comprising of 4,640,000 common stock shares that were directly offered by Amphastar Pharmaceuticals and common stock 3,360,000 shares that were being offered by the company’s stockholders. Additionally, the underwriters of the company, Jefferies LLC, are reserved 1,200,000 additional shares which were available for over-allotment, offered as an option for the prospective buyers to buy more shares. The company is offered 5,800,000 shares at an initial price of $7 per share, which constituted $40,900,000, but the Pharmaceutical Company paid a total of $6,200,000 in brokerage commissions and underwriting discounts, thus remaining with a total of $34, 700,000. The percentage of the commission to the broker-dealers, as well as the underwriter's discounts and other IPO issuing expenses, amounted to $6,200,000 of the total 40,900,000, which is approximately 15.2%.

First flight The wright brothers Essay Example for Free

First flight The wright brothers Essay People had always dreamed of flying, but before man could possibly make the â€Å"great leap forward† on the moon, its predecessors must first attempt to make the â€Å"great leap forward† to conquer the skies. In the year of 1903, the United States Army was trying to develop an airplane but failed to make a lift off the ground. Even the New York Times wrote that it would take 1million to 10 million years before anyone might be able to make a machine that would fly. Only eight days later, on the cold and windy 17th day of December morning in 1903, a â€Å"flying machine† took off and remained airborne for about 12 seconds covering a distance of just 120 feet. The two young men who made this flight possible were the Wright brothers whose feat summoned a new age in technology and human achievement. They will forever be remembered in history as the men responsible for making the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). Three years ago, December 2003 marked the 100th Anniversary of this groundbreaking achievement. Wilbur and Orville Wright were two small town businessmen who invented a technology that would define the 20th century. Theirs is a story that has inspired many generations of young and old alike, and much more on aspiring inventors. How the brothers succeeded, who had not even finished high school, is truly remarkable considering that there were so many who tried and failed, including many renowned scientists. However, despite their unique place and honor in our history today, their claim to this aviation â€Å"first† had been laden with controversy. There were various competing parties who had laid counter-claims. Do the Wright brothers have a secure right in their claim? Wilbur and Orville Wright were children born to Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner. Wilbur was born on 1867 in Indiana while Orville was born on 1871 in Ohio. Both never married. Other Wright siblings were Reuchlin, Lorin, Katherine, and twins Otis and Ida who died in infancy. Their knack for fixing and building mechanical things were influenced by their mother and even in their early years, the boys earned money by making home-made mechanical toys. However, the brother’s interest in flying objects was first developed way back to the time in 1878 when their father, who was a minister in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, brought the boys a toy â€Å"helicopter†. It was made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twist its rotor, making it their first ‘flying toy’, based on an invention by Alphonse Penaud. Apparently, the boys got extremely fascinated that they played with it until it broke but pursued to build their own. They would later account this early experience with a toy that sparked their interest in flying. Wilbur later wrote of the lasting impression that this incident had brought upon them: â€Å"instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor†¦lasted only a short time†¦but its memory was abiding† (T. Crouch. â€Å"The Bishop Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright†). Orville’s childhood was given to mischief and was even expelled once. Wilbur on the other hand, was athletic but an injury, although not severe, caused him to become withdrawn. He later dedicated himself on caring for his mother who was terminally ill with tuberculosis and to extensive reading in his father’s library. Although he did not pursue his studies at Yale, he was a determined and methodical industrial engineer, even braving to tackle projects such as machinery research and even church building (P. Jakab. â€Å"Visions of a Flying Machine†). Both brothers finished high school education, but did not receive their diplomas. Wilbur did not receive his diploma despite completing his high school education because of the family’s decision to move from Indiana to Dayton. Orville on the other hand, dropped out after his junior year and started a printing business. Later on, Wilbur joined and served as editor while Orville was the publisher of the West Side News. In 1892, the two opened a bicycle repair and sales shop and even manufactured their own brand. This enterprise funded their renewed interest in flight.

Lung Cancer Patient

Lung Cancer Patient Lung Cancer One of the most common types of cancer is lung cancer or lung carcinoma which is a tumor that worsens and will continue to metastasize or spread if it is not prevented or given a cure. It does not usually appear in the age of forty years old and below. It is more pronounced in males than in females at the age of forty-five years old and above. Case studies show that around 80% of the women are now suffering from lung cancer. There are several risk factors that causes lung cancer such as inhalation of air pollution, radon gas, coming in contact with asbestos, arsenic and radiation for example are connected to the occurrence of lung cancer. Chances of inheriting lung cancer is small and being a second-hand smoker candidates a person to have lung cancer as well. Case studies show that cigarette smoking is the primary culprit for getting lung cancer. (Merck Manual, 2003) Lung cancer due to prolonged cigarette smoking and especially in large amounts slowly progresses into a tumor or cancer in the lung. The following case study is about a gentleman in his middle 60s and has lung cancer. Mr. Virgil T. Carter, the patient in this case study, lives on a farm outside a small rural town, Jefferson. There are only few medical services where he lives. He was diagnosed with a tumor located in the middle lobe of his right lung. He then struggles to get well through treatment by surgery, radiation therapy, proper nutrition, obtaining support from his family, physical adaptation to his condition and having a positive outlook. (Rodger M., 2008) The purpose of this study was to investigate what happens to the patient before, during and after his lung cancer treatment. The patients experiences with lung cancer will be stated. Accompanying research to support the facts will also be mentioned in this case study. Episode 1: a) Mr. Carters experiences: On July 12, 2007 Mr. Carter sought medical attention. It all started when the patient started coughing up blood seven days ago. On the first day it began, he coughed up blood three times in the amount of about 15ml separately. Symptoms set in where his coughing was regular for the past three months with no blood. He felt shortness of breath while wheezing. He felt tired and weak during that time. Three years ago, the patient would smoke about thirty packs per year then he stopped. He ate a well-balanced diet then. He drank three to four cans of alcohol every week and his overall physical state was normal until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He is a father of three and a husband. He works as a farmer and is usually exposed to dust and would work about eight to twelve hours per day but then he had to stop three months ago due to the symptoms that he was experiencing. He loves interacting with other people and loves his work but he constantly felt the shortness of breath whenever he exerts force. The patient sought medical attention and was tested for hemoptysis and chest x-ray. He was co-operative with the medical staff and was informed that a lobectomy will be done. (Rodger M. Bruce R.N., 2008) b) My research: Mr. Carter shows the symptoms of a person suffering from lung cancer and it includes constant coughing that will not stop and it worsens if its prolonged and eventually, blood is expelled upon coughing. The patient will feel chest pains, feeling of tiredness, repeated shortness of breath in between wheezing, the patient gradually would lose interest in eating and eventually lose weight. (MedlinePlus, 1999) The patient is diagnosed through a chest x-ray where a shadow may be seen on the x-ray film, a Computed Tomography Scan shows nodules that the x-ray cannot show. A sputum examination may also be enough to provide adequate information for lung cancer. (Merck, 1995-2008) A lobectomy is a procedure wherein one entire lobe in the lung is removed. This will limit the spread of the lung cancer. (About.com, 2008) Episode 2: a) Mr. Carters experiences: On July 13, 2007, Mr. Carter underwent radiograph tests. On July 21, 2007 he underwent lobectomy. After the surgery, he said that he already wanted to go home. He feels that his health is improving. The patient wants to go home irregardless of his coughing. He was tolerating the therapy which was a good sign and healing of his wound was better. During physical therapy, the patient complains for pain in the chest and he was unable to sleep peacefully throughout the night. The patients lips have turned to the color of blue and so were his nail beds on his toes and fingers. He feels dizziness when he attempts to rise from his bed and he needed support when walking due to this and accompanied with shortness of breath. The patient co-operates with the medical staff even if he felt terrible with his condition. During physical therapy, the patient would respond by nodding his head for yes and would shake his head for no. He was in pain and felt too tired. The patient can already sit up in bed but he is still weak and easily exhausted even when hes asked to participate in light ADLs [activity of daily living]. He would tidy himself by washing his face and brushing his hair. He could eat just about one meal per week by himself. (Rodger M. Bruce R.N., 2008) b) My research: Post-surgery in lobectomy may allow a patient to be discharged from the hospital in a weeks time. Although, lobectomy may make a patient face the challenge to contract pneumonia, have bleeding, have an infection or they may experience adverse reactions to the medication or anesthesia used during the operating procedure. (About.com, 2008) Episode 3: a) Mr. Carters experiences: On August 2, 2007, Mr. Carter is feeling better, though his body still feels sore. He would only cough whenever he would take deep breaths and this causes pain to his chest. He doesnt have a fever and has been very co-operative by taking all of his medications. He doesnt eat a lot because he complains that it doesnt taste good. He would only finish half of his food and would feel tired during this time. Mr. Carter was provided a dietary plan to give him energy and heal properly. Mr. Carter is scheduled for radiation therapy at least two to four weeks after being discharged from the hospital. This will enable him to heal and recover properly. The patient has limited energy to move around or even do tasks. He feels a little pain when doing normal work. He feels calm and peaceful. He has a high energy level. He would fell downhearted and feel a little blue some of the time. The patient feels very badly since he doesnt do anything helpful but watch the television all day or spend the whole day in bed. The patient is affected emotionally by feeling hopeless and shortness of breath increased. This limited his movement once again. (Rodger M. Bruce R.N., 2008) b) My research: In the case of the patient, Mr. Carter, not only needs lobectomy, but he requires radiation therapy as well as not all of the cancer cells has been removed. At this stage, the patients body is still recovering and fighting the cancer cells. (Merck, 2008) Episode 4: a) Mr. Carters experiences: On January 29, 2007, Mr. Carter only feels a little shortness of breath when wheezing and no pain in the chest is felt. Though, he still feels weak and has withdrawn himself from the family by not joining in on their activities. Patient still doesnt feel like eating but he tries to consume a little food for energy. His weight has dropped because of inadequate intake of food. He feels tired most of the time. He has lesser periods of shortness of breath compared to what he felt before. He feels agitated when his wife tries to provide him care. This is probably due to the wifes attitude towards her husband because he doesnt do anything at home. He mentioned that he feels more energized compared to the previous appointment for Occupational Therapy. He can already dress and bathe all by himself. He would rest from time to time in the middle of his simple daily activities. (Rodger M. Bruce R.N., 2008) b) My research: Conclusion References Linda L.H. Steven T., Mark J. Lung Cancer Screening with Sputum Cytologic Examination, Chest Radiography, and Computed Tomography: An Update for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine. 4 May 2004. 29 January 2008. http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/9/740 Lung Cancer: Cancer of the Lungs. Merck Manual Home Edition.1995-2008. 29 January 2008. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec04/ch057/ch057a.html#sec04- ch057-ch057a-894 Lung Carcinoma: Tumors of the Lungs. Merck Manual Professional. 1995-2008. 29 January 2008. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec05/ch062/ch062b.html#sec05- ch062-ch062b-1379 Lung Cancer symptoms treatment information research charity Association For International Cancer Research 2004-2005. 29 January 2008. http://www.aicr.org.uk/lungcancerfaqs.stm?source=Adwords National Library of Medicine Lung cancer small cell MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Lung Cancer. 19 March 1999. 29 January 2008. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/lungcancer.html Cancer Lung Cancer Risk Factors Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2007. 29 January 2008. http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/risk_factors.htm Lung Cancer Causes, Symptoms, Signs, Stages, Treatment and Diagnosis on MedicineNet.com. MedicineNet, Inc. 1996-2008. 29 January 2008. http://www.medicinenet.com/lung_cancer/article.htm#toca Lung Cancer oncologychannel. 1998-2008. 29 January 2008 http://www.oncologychannel.com/lungcancer/index.shtml Rodger M. Bruce R.N. WHISSL Worldwide Health Information System Simulation Linkage. WHISSL. 29 January 2008. http://whissl.utmb.edu/WHISSL/index.asp Lobectomy Lung Cancer Surgery Lobectomy and Lung Cancer. About.com. 2008. 29 January 2008. http://cancer.about.com/od/lungcancersurgery/p/lobectomy.htm

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict Across the Muslim world it is a common refrain that Palestine is the mother of all problems. (Atran Ginges: 2009: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25atran .html) That these claims could be made about such a small piece of land, particularly one which has so little oil is extraordinary, serving only to highlight the importance of finding a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. To date, the numerous attempts at solving the conflict have all ended in failure. The prospects for a peaceful solution in the foreseeable future look bleak, with a wide range of factors contributing towards this, most notably the role of extremists, the failure of the peace process, actions of the Israeli Government, splits among the Palestinians and the actions of outside parties who benefit from the continuation of the conflict, as well as more fundamental underlying disagreements, particularly the refugee problem and the sovereignty of East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Israeli conflict is primarily a dispute over the control of land. It has been described by Amos Oz, an Israeli journalist and author, as a tragedy, a clash between one very powerful, very convincing, very painful claim over this land and another no less powerful, no less convincing claim. (Oz: 2002: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_ east/jan-june02/oz_1-23.html) In 1947 the UN passed a partition plan, attempting to find a solution to both of these claims, however this was rejected by the Arabs of Palestine and civil war broke out between them and the Jews of Palestine. (McDowall: 24: 1995) After Israel declared its independence on 14th May 1948, many of the surrounding Arab countries sent forces to attack the new state of Israel. In the 1967 Six Day War, Israel gained the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. (Smith: 2004: 279) Having returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1979-1982, in 1993 Israel and Palestine signed the Oslo Accords, which agreed Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, as well as for Palestinian self-government within those areas. (Smith: 2004: 438) Despite strong hopes for a final status agreement at the Camp David Summit in July 2000, this was not reached. After the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out later that year and the subsequent deterioration in Palestinian-Israeli relations, agreement presently looks a long way off. The two-state solution is the consensus solution to the conflict, with polling indicating that it has the support of the majority of both Palestinians and Israelis. (Pallister: 2009: http:// www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/22/israel-palestine-poll) Neither sees this as their ideal solution; however a majority of both recognise it is the only realistic way for peace to occur. Extremists on both sides present a constant obstacle towards solving the conflict. Rather than accepting that compromises are necessary, they are dismissive of the other sides right to exist. In Israel, there are organisations, including members of Benjamin Netanyahus current cabinet, that still believe that the Jewish State should include most, if not all, of Greater Israel, which among other areas, contains the West Bank. (Zakaria: 2010: http://www.cnn. com/2010/OPINION/03/18/zakaria.israel.mistake) Among Palestinians, extremists reject Israels right to exist and work to stop the possibility of peaceful coexistence. They have launched suicide attacks against Israeli civilians in their attempts to disrupt peace negotiations. Part of the reason peace has been difficult to achieve post-2000 has been the change in opinion among Israeli citizens that peace is a realistic possibility. When the Oslo Accords were signed, Israelis saw that by allowing Palestinians to self-govern, they were taking large risks and making a significant compromise. They tend to perceive the Camp David offer to the Palestinians as fair and just, and blame the lack of peace on Yasser Arafat for refusing to take it. (Morris: 2009: 135) With the Al-Aqsa Intifada beginning in late 2000 and causing the deaths of over a thousand Israeli civilians, (Catignani: 2008: 103) Israelis increasingly began to see the Palestinians as unwilling to make the compromises necessary for a two-state solution, destroying the belief of much of Israeli society in the possibility of peace. (Catignani: 2008: 103) This was only confirmed by the comprehensive victory of Hamas over the more moderate but corruption ridden Fatah in the Palestinian legislative electi on of 2006. Although also a social organisation, Hamas had perpetrated numerous suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, and rejects any attempt at a political settlement with Israel. (Mishal Sela: 2006: 52) In this context, many Israelis have concluded that they do not have a partner in achieving peace. Given that allowing the Palestinians to self-rule under the Oslo Accords had created areas from which it was significantly easier to plot attacks on Israel, (Catignani: 2008 131) they are incredibly wary of giving the Palestinians control of more land, questioning whether organisations such as Hamas will ever cease to attack Israel. Post-2000, the actions of the Israeli government have also made an end to the conflict significantly more difficult to achieve. Thousands of Palestinians have died at the hands of the Israel Defence Forces, with more suffering serious injuries. In 2005 Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, however the area has been under blockade since 2007, preventing the access of vital food and medical supplies. In May 2008, even before the more recent Gaza War of 2008-09, the International Committee of the Red Cross estimated that over 70% of Gazans were living in poverty. (ICRC: 2009: http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html /palestine-report-260609) In the West Bank the almost decade-long downturn has been largely a result of Israeli closure policieswhich disrupted labor flows, manufacturing, and commerce, both external and internal. (CIA World Factbook: 2010: https://www.cia.gov/libr ary/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/we.html) Since 2002 the Israeli Government has been constructing the West Bank Barrier. Built to protect Israeli citizens from attacks, it has succeeded in vastly reducing the number of Israeli civilian casualties. (Gelvin: 2007: 249) Controversially, however, rather than being built following Israels 1949 Armistice lines, it deviates into areas captured by Israel in 1967. The International Court of Justice proclaimed that construction of the barrier is contrary to international law (ICJ: 2004: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71p1=3p2=1 case=131p3=6) and it has also been criticised as an Israeli attempt to create an illegal unilateral solution, which severely restricts the lives of those living inside the barrier. (Shindler: 2008: 326)I loved to play football with my friends. I told the doctors that I wanted to be able to walk again they promised that I would. Ghassan, 14 years old, Gaza City. His older brother was killed and he himself was wounded during the military operation. He is waiting to be fitted with artificial limbs for both legs. The continued expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem also contributes towards making the conflict increasingly difficult to solve. Deemed as illegal by numerous UN Security Council Resolutions, (Qurie: 2008: 166) each new settlement is another settlement which may have to be dismantled in any realistic peace deal, and to continue building them shows a clear lack of commitment to peace. The actions of the IDF and the Israeli Government have helped created a generation of Palestinians that hate Israel and Jews. To those living inside the West Bank wall or in poverty-stricken Gaza, the message of extremists resonates. Israeli action is thus helping cause the circumstances from which extremists and potential suicide bombers emerge, creating a cycle of violence which is difficult to reverse. (Kamrava: 2005: 238) Splits among the Palestinians have also made it more difficult to end the conflict. Starting in December 2006, and continuing on-and-off to the present day, there has been a Civil War between Hamas and Fatah. Currently, Hamas control Gaza, whilst Fatah control the West Bank. This lack of unification within the Palestinians makes an end to the Palestine Israeli conflict impossible. For peace, a Palestinian leader would have to accept a deal which would to some extent not entirely fulfil the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and this leader would have to successfully convince them that taking it was their best option. Before his death in 2004, Yasser Arafat might possibly have been able to do this. Currently, there is no-one. Even before the Hamas-Fatah conflict, Israel had complained that there was no one to talk to among the Palestinians. (Gelvin: 2007: 246) Until the Hamas-Fatah conflict is to some extent resolved, there is no one that the Israelis can talk to about a deal. On the assumption that Palestinians and Israelis could be bought together for serious and meaningful negotiations, there are numerous disputes which would be very difficult to solve. Two of these, the refugee problem and the dispute over East Jerusalem, seem particularly difficult to resolve. In 1948, approximately 700,000 Palestinians became refugees after either fleeing or being forced to leave, with many more becoming refugees after the Six Day War. (Morris: 2004: 604) Many of them live in the West Bank and Gaza, but they have spread amongst the Arab World. Despite this, they have never been truly assimilated into the populations of these other countries; with Jordan being the only Arab state to have allowed large numbers of them to gain full citizenship. (Miller Samuels: 2009: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ middle-east/no-way-home-the-tragedy-of-the-palestinian-diaspora-1806790.html) Palestinian refugees claim that the UN guarantees their right to return under UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Israel has rejected this interpretation of the resolution and has never complied with it. They also argue that an acceptance of the Palestinians right to return would bring about the end of Israel as a Jewish State. Whilst few of the 1948 refugees are still alive, their descendants have spent their whole lives fighting for what they see as rightfully theirs, and will not give this up without significant recompense. Disagreement on the issue of the refugees is one of the central reasons for the failure of the Camp David Summit. (Smith: 2004: 498) Of all of the territorial disagreements, Jerusalem is the most difficult to solve. Even assuming that agreement could be reached on all other territorial disputes, it is difficult to envision agreement over Jerusalem. From 1948-67 West Jerusalem was under Israeli control, with East Jerusalem under Arab (Jordanian) control. East Jerusalem contains the Temple Mount, the site of the ancient Jewish Temple. The site of the two ancient temples, tradition states that it will be the site of the third and final temple. It is considered the holiest site within Judaism, so holy, that many Jews will not set foot on it. To Muslims, the Temple Mount is the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque and of the Prophet Muhammads ascent to heaven. It is widely regarded as the third holiest site in Islam. (Shindler: 2008: 282) Current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that A united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Jerusalem was and will always be ours. It shall never be divided. (Reuters: 2009: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLL96214120090521) This highlights quite how far away the current Israeli leadership is from meaningful and realistic peace discussions. However it is still almost impossible to comprehend that any Israeli leader would negotiate away The Temple Mount and the Western Wall. It is equally impossible to imagine any Palestinian leader relinquishing their claims over the Temple Mount. Palestinians feel that by accepting Israelis right to exist and a state broadly along the 1967 borders, they are making huge concessions. Giving up The Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque is something that is just one step too far. Even if a Palestinian leader were to make an agreement, it is virtually impossible to imagine that they would persuade the rest of the Palestinian people to accept it peacefully. Lastly, there are outside actors that benefit from the continuation of the conflict. Palestine would also be removed as an issue over which the Islamic world could unify, whereas hatred towards the USA and Israel would begin to disappear. If a peace effort led by the USA was achieved, this would be a major diplomatic victory for them. Regardless of statements suggesting they would support a two state solution, (Spillius: 2009: http://www.telegraph.co .uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5225705/Irans-President-would-support-two-state-solution-for-Israel.html) this would be undesirable to the Iranian leadership. Syria, which has its own territorial dispute with Israel, would not allow any peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel to occur unless its dispute with Israel was settled. The Iranians and Syrians will thus continue to assist and fund groups that help keep the conflict going. To conclude, there is a wide variety of reasons, some ancient, some more recent, that have made the Palestinian Israeli conflict so difficult to solve today. After so much promise during the 1990s that a deal could be reached, the chances of an end to the conflict have taken several steps backwards over the last decade. Despite this, The two-state solution remains the only viable solution. Its pitfalls are numerous and significant. However, as the Israeli President Shimon Peres argued last year, a one-state solution has enough intrinsic flaws to render it no solution at all. signifying the end of the existence of a Jewish state (Peres: 2009: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/09/AR2009020902098.html) Whilst there was much hope that movement towards the opening of meaningful negotiations would be re-started with the election of President Obama, this hope has largely evaporated, resulting in the continuation of the conflict for the foreseeable future. Bibliography Atran, S. Ginges, J. (2009) How Words Could End a War (24/01/2008) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25atran.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Catignani, S. (2008) Israeli Counter-Insurgency and the Intifadas: Dilemmas of a conventional army: New York: Routledge CIA World Factbook West Bank (04/03/2010) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the world-factbook/geos/we.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Gelvin, J. (2007) The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ICJ (2004) Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (9/07/2004) http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71p1=3p2=1case= 131p3=6: date accessed 19/03/2010 ICRC (2009) Gaza: 1.5 million people trapped in despair (29/06/2009) http://www.icrc.org/ web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/palestine-report-260609: date accessed 19/03/2009 Kamrava, M. (2005) The Modern Middle East: A Political History Since The First World War: London: University of California Press McDowall, D. (1995) The Palestinians: The Road to Nationhood: London: Minority Rights Publications Miller, J. Samuels, D. (2009) No way home: The tragedy of the Palestinian diaspora (22/10/2009) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/no-way-home-the-tragedy-of-the-palestinian-diaspora-1806790.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Mishal, S. Sela A. (2006) The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence and Coexistence: New York: Columbia University Press Morris, B. (2004) The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Morris, B. (2009) One State, Two States: New Haven: Yale University Press Oz, A. (2002) Coping With Conflict: A NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript (23/01/2002) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/jan-june02/oz_1-23.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Pallister, D. (2009) Most Palestinians and Israelis willing to accept two-state solution, poll finds (22/04/2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/22/israel-palestine-poll: date accessed 19/03/2010 Peres, S. (2009) One Region, Two States (10/02/2009) http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/09/AR2009020902098.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Qurie, A. (2008) Beyond Oslo, The Struggle For Palestine: London: Tauris Co Ltd Reuters (2009) Israeli PM says Jerusalem will never be divided (21/05/2009) http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLL96214120090521: date accessed 19/03/2010 Shindler, C. (2008) A History of Modern Israel: New York: Cambridge University Press Smith, C. (2004) Palestine and The Arab-Israeli Conflict Fifth Edition: A History With Documents: Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke Spillius, A. (2009) Irans President would support two-state solution for Israel (26/04/2009): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5225705/Irans-President-would-support-two-state-solution-for-Israel.html: date accessed 19/03/2010 Zakaria, F. (2010) Israel is making a big mistake (18/03/2010) http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/18/zakaria.israel.mistake: date accessed 19/03/2010

An American Epidemic :: essays research papers

An American Epidemic In modern times, nobody who reads the newspapers or watches television can avoid the chilling fate that our country faces. School violence is a rapidly growing trend in America, and it seems to be there is nothing we can do to stop it. The offenders are from all races and social classes. They range from the high school hero to the high school dropout. It often seems the only thing they have in common is an utter disregard for their own life and the lives of others. In the following accounts, taken straight from American headlines, harrowing events fit for blockbuster fiction prove that our country is becoming victim to a new criminal: youthful rage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In generations past, the high school rebel was the boy all the girls wanted and all the boys wanted to be. He was the one in the leather jacket who went to class only to make snide remarks, drove too fast, and talked too slow. Jump forward to the end of the twentieth century, and the high school rebel is the boy who students ignore, the one who sits in the back of the classroom and never talks, wears all black and keeps to himself. He is the last student anyone would fear, but probably the most dangerous. He doesn’t want to take advantage of those who are smaller than him, but wants to seek vengeance on those who have hurt him, basically everyone. He, in fact, is sometimes a she.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Of course, offenders can’t be classified into one group. Many times it is the last person you would ever imagine. That is the way it happened for Chester Jackson, a Detroit high school football star. Chester was a seventeen-year-old hero, a senior who had reached godlike status due to his work for the school football team. But if you ask his high school friends of their memories of Chester, they will not remember him running down the football field, but running down the hall, trying to save his own life. Like so many students, Chester found it amusing to tease the underclassmen. Particularly a fourteen-year-old freshman boy that was unable to defend himself when Chester and his friends pushed him in his own locker and secured the combination lock for three consecutive classes. That was the event they say made the boy snap. He brought a gun to school the next day, and even with all of his football training, Chester could not run fast enough to save his own li fe.

Dr. Faustus Essay -- essays research papers

Dr. Faustus Dr. Faustus, written by Christopher, is the story of a man that represents the common human dissatisfaction with being human. He sells his soul to the devil for what he believes to be limitless power, with full logical knowledge as to the consequences of such a transaction. He knows the stakes of his gamble with the devil. His extensive education and his cultural environment had certainly alerted him as to the dangers associated with Lucifer. Although aware of the consequences of such a pact, he is blinded by three things that bring about his ultimate demise. His greed to know all, his pride that made him believe he was better than man, and his denial that in the end he would bring his own downfall upon himself. If Faustus had not been these things he would not have brought an end to himself. Dr. Faustus denies the existence of everything, from his eventual torture in hell if he does not repent, to men, society, and indeed the world. The only aspect of his life which he does not deny is his physical reality. When Faustus meets with Mephistopheles (a messenger of the devil) he is frightened and demands a new appearance for his devil servant. "I charge thee to return and change thy shape; Thou art to ugly to attend on me. Go, and return an old Franciscan friar; That holy shape becomes a devil best." (Marlowe p.14) By choosing Mephistopheles to change his form, he i...

Essay --

The Renaissance is my favorite part of history to learn about as the Renaissance was a time of rebirth that led to artistic and scientific enlightenment. Particularly in Painting, numerous of artist a rose creating new techniques and styles not used before such as fresco, tempera and oil paintings. Particulary the Works of the Italian Renaissance painter and architect Raphael,born Raffaello Sanzio on April 6, 1483, in Urbino, Italy and is now known for his most famous works in the Vatican in Rome, Italy. At the time of Raphale’s birth, Urbino was a cultural center that encouraged the Arts. Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi, was a painter for the Duke of Urbino, Federigo da Montefeltro. Giovanni taught his young son Raphael basic painting techniques and exposed him to the principles of humanistic philosophy at the Duke of Urbino’s court. In 1494, when Raphael was just 11 years old, Giovanni died. Raphael then took over the daunting task of managing his father’s workshop. His success in this role quickly surpassed his father’s. Raphael was soon considered one of the finest painters in town. As a teen, he was even commissioned to paint for the Church of San Nicola in the neighboring town of Castello. In 1500 a master painter named Pietro Vannunci, otherwise known as Perugino, invited Raphael to become his apprentice in Perugia, in the Umbria region of central Italy. In Perugia, Perugino was working on frescoes at the Collegio del Cambia. The apprenticeship lasted four years and provided Raphael with the opportunity to gain both knowledge and hands-on experience. During this period, Raphael developed his own unique painting style, as exhibited in the religious works the Mond Crucifixion, The Three Graces, The Knigh... ...ld come to define the architectural style of the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. On April 6, 1520, Raphael’s 37th birthday, he died suddenly and unexpectedly of mysterious causes in Rome, Italy. He had been working on his largest painting on canvas, The Transfiguration at the time of his death. When his funeral mass was held at the Vatican, Raphael's unfinished Transfiguration was placed on his coffin stand. Raphael’s body was interred at the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. Following his death, Raphael's movement toward Mannerism influenced painting styles in Italy’s advancing Baroque period. Celebrated for the balanced and harmonious compositions of his "Madonnas," portraits, frescoes and architecture, Raphael continues to be widely regarded as the leading artistic figure of Italian High Renaissance classicism.

Comparative Analysis of Two Essays

Comparative Analysis of Two Essays on Truth and the Media Both â€Å"Who Killed Privacy? † and â€Å"The Shock of the True† deal with the subject of truth and the media, each has a different focus. In Roger Resentment's â€Å"Who Killed Privacy† the issue is whether the fact that something is true Justifies it as a subject for discussion in the media, and to what extent the public interest in the subject is appropriate. â€Å"The Shock of the True† is an exploration of crime and violence as a subject of works of non-fiction.Both authors imply that a great deal is printed or shown in the media for he express purpose of satisfying the publics lust for the lurid or the scandalous. Individual privacy enters into the discussion in the first of the essays, with the author concluding that the truth of a statement often bears no relevance and that details of the private lives of public figures are exploited for the titillation and curiosity of the public.Reference is made to the details of improper conduct made about George Bush and Bill Clinton and the sexual scandal of presidential candidate Gary Hart: â€Å"†¦ It seemed clear to most voters that the ability of both men to govern was not Impaired y their scandals. Yet Gary Hart's boat fling seemed to indicate a person out of control, so a distinction was drawn. The author cites well-known Instances of the intense focus on private, but true, facts that constitute an abusive use of the freedom to disseminate information. He mentions TRW and other credit agencies for making private information available without regard to Its accuracy, and chastised programs like â€Å"Marketplace Households† for publishing software containing personal, financial and consumer habits of Individuals. He states that, despite legal efforts to the contrary,

Mortiz Schlick: the Meaning of Life in Play Essay

I do not agree with Schlick’s contention that the meaning of life is grounded in the act of play and not work. I disagree for three main reasons. First, I find Schlicks account of forgetting the purpose of activities to be somewhat flawed. He demonstrates how the purpose of an activity does not yield meaning and that work is a means to a goal. I find a discrepancy in this in regards to his acceptance of Goethe’s rule. Schlick also holds that in order for us to understand how to lead a meaningful life through creative-play, that we do it by emulating children or youth. I disagree with Schlicks supposed template for meaningfulness due to the feelings associated with creative-play and what it is to feel meaning in something. I argue that he is appealing to emotions rather than the quality of meaning. Finally, I discuss Schlicks understanding of youth and what it means to attempt to emulate it. I believe that he is too presumptuous and assumes that all youth is experienced in a similar manner; this is not the case each individual possesses a different aspect of what youthful living is and was. Schlick holds that creative play may produce valuable goods in the same way that unpleasurable activity or work can. He then goes on to say that the more activities become play, the more work would be accomplished and value would arise from it. He finishes by saying that work is human action because we think of the outcomes or benefits, and not because we arrive at them. He uses examples such as the artist using the act of creation as a means of forgetting the rewards of the project he toils away at. I disagree with Schlick, or his understanding of forgetting the fruits beared from the act of creative play. In this sense, Schlick is assuming that we cannot have a goal in mind in order to derive meaning from the moment. He stresses that purposeless activities are the key to deriving meaning but what gives rise to the initiation of these activities? If there is no reason for the artist to pick up a paint brush then why bother do it? Schlick may argue that the artist finds meaning through painting because the entire process of creation is a joyful moment, even the tasks that are required to prepare to make art. I question what made the person become an artist then. There will be a precursor to each individuals decision that will be a reason as to why they decided to pursue something. I believe that Schlicks idea that the artist may lose himself in the moment of creation and derive meaning from it holds true to his theory, but I argue that it was necessary for a goal or purpose to be understood prior to seeking it. The goal provides a means to deriving meaning out of the appreciation of the activity. Unfortunately, not all goals or purposes can necessarily be thought of as a moment in which one could be enthusiastic about. I find it hard to believe that life threatening situations could be regarded as moments in which someone became enthusiastic or finds bliss to derive meaning. Certain goals, such as survival, provide stressors necessary for we as humans to complete a goal. It is in these moments of high stress that I would argue the meaningful moment be derived from the outcome or completion of the goal. Schlick may argue that life loses the power of creation when focused on distant goals but prior to that he mentions Goethe’s rule of working hard to play hard. It seems Schlick is willing to accept the possibility of individuals working towards goals so long as they never forget the value of joy and festivities. I believe this to be a flaw because he is considering work as a means to the meaning life, if the outcome of work is to be joyous and playful. This potentially contradicts his previous contention that the meaning of life is grounded in play. It does not specifically depict work as a meaning to life, but describes how it can be a necessary component of it. The combination of work and play grounding a meaning in life seems to be the result of this flaw. Secondly, Schlick emphasizes that children are living the most profound, meaningful lives because they do not have a work centered perspective of life. Complementary to his argument that life’s meaning lies in creative-play and not work, we can learn from the essence of what it is to be a child to appreciate creative-play as a child does. With this in mind, we find meaning by losing ourselves in the moment while completing activities, or rather change our attitude towards the activities we are doing so that we disregard the goal and appreciate the moment. Children are used as a template in order for older individuals who do not believe they are experiencing meaningful events to learn how to perform purposeless activities that yield meaning subjectively. Youth in this sense however is coined more properly as enthusiasm. Youth can be attained at any age because it represents a state in life referring to the purposeless enjoyment, learned from children’s play. I do not agree with Schick’s argument in terms of youthful living accounting for a meaning in life. I disagree with this notion because although the state of youthful living may bring about the acknowledgement of meaningfulness while captured in a moment, it is still very much a feeling of meaningfulness. This feeling is an emotion that we appeal to in order to enjoy, perplex or anger us for example to experience the meaningful moment. We may find meaning in creative play by tickling our brains with complicated conundrums or releasing our anger during a workout at the gym, but this meaning is not understood subjectively unless we feel it is meaningful. To lose oneself in a moment of purposeless activity that provides a sense of meaningful existence is still relying on a subjective enjoyment of the situation, which is translated through our senses and perceived by however we view the activities ourselves. In this sense, it seems that the ultimate goal of living youthfully is to appeal to the feelings which we find the most beneficial while performing activities that seem without purpose. These activities do have purpose in that they warrant desired feelings and results. To summarize this point, meaningful activities or purposeless activities derive meaning through subjectively losing oneself in the moment or becoming enthusiastic about the activity, which is transcribed into the emotions which one feels in order to understand that the moment or activity has meaning. Thus living youthfully is a cycle in which we attempt to experience feelings or emotions through activities that we subjectively feel are meaningful. Although the creative-play theory holds that intrinsically valuable activities are meaningful, I believe based on these notions that living youthfully in Schlick’s sense demonstrates how one can find enjoyment in life at all stages. It does this by changing our paradigm of work being a task of frustration, and allows us to enjoy the menial aspects of life by appreciating everything about it. Thirdly, I find a different flaw in Schick’s argument towards youthful living making for a meaningful life. Youth in Schlick’s analogy is represented by a sort of enthusiasm for doing things where the aim of the activity is lost, and meaning is derived from being in the moment. This term youth is not universal all over the world. In many underdeveloped countries youthful living is complicated by class or caste distinction, race and sex. By appealing to a state which he claims is supposedly shared universally by children or youth world-wide, he is saying that they all are able to bring to fruition a meaningful activity. What about areas where child labour is a regular staple to the economy? Do individuals learn youthful behaviour from children or who have work centered lives without play? Are young girls who lack rights and are married off at an early age demonstrating the very same youthful behaviour that enables creative-play? Would experiences such as these not depict a sour view of childhood and youth? It seems to me that youthful behaviour could be drastically different, parallel to our own area. In this case, creative play is subjective to different regions of the world. No one person will share the direct aspects of youth that is described by Schlick, because there is no precise cookie-cutter depiction of youth to be embodied. He states that â€Å" The more youth is realized in life,the more valuable it is, and if a person dies young, however long he may have lived, his life has ad meaning†(71). This cannot be true if youth is not understood in the sense that Schlick assumes the world shares, because no youth would yield no value. Therefore, Schlick’s contention that the meaning in life is grounded in play and not work requires revision based on my arguments. There can be reason for our goals if we proceed to enjoy and celebrate our success from work. Although we benefit from creative-play during the moment we are still able to endure menial or mundane tasks so we may succeed and appreciate life itself and derive meaning from the moment. Schlick should also account for our emotions being a possible vector for the meaning of life in his understanding. We can appeal to feelings to make those meaningful moments seem as meaningful as they are. It’s not necessarily what we do but what we feel when doing it that may make for a meaning in life at the given moment. In order for us to appeal to creative play through youth, we must first understand that youth is not a fixed term in the sense that Schlick implies. Experiences of youth are various in scope and do not yield the same type of play that Schlick believes is a model for learning creative play. Schlick must redefine this template to encompass a fundamental feature that we all share as individuals. That way an objective feature of people will provide means to subjective meaningfulness in life in accordance with Schlicks model. References Klemke and Schlick. On the meaning of life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc. , 2008.

Payment Methods in Ecommerce

With the rapid advancement in technology and the expansion of business, more and more companies are venturing into E-commerce in a race to grow not just regionally but also internationally. E-commerce adaption necessitates the change of the business model companies have been following traditionally and with it comes the change in the modes to make the payments.With the popularity of the internet for common use in business since 1990, E-commerce has been growing and touching the new horizons in every category of business , there are organizations today that depends heavily upon the E-commerce and there are examples amongst the fortune 500 giants which have seen tremendous growth in the era of E-commerce conducting the business online .(â€Å"Microsoft†,n. d) When the companies conduct business online the modes of financial payments become different from that of the traditional business payment ways like cash , checks, debit cards etc.Since while buying online, there is generall y no physical presence involved and customers could order the products sitting anywhere using their computers. B2B ( Business to Business)E-commerce today accounts for more than the 95 percent of total E-commerce and the B2B E-commerce means both the buying companies and the selling companies are the organizations and which consequently refer to larger amount of payment flow which is linked with buying or selling the products online , so electronic payment systems that are in place have to be very advanced when it comes to preciseness, security, privacy and the speed of processing the amount. â€Å"Turban et al† , 2004) There are always risk associated with the information that could be revealed over the internet while making a transaction and could lead to something unexpected like misuse of the instruments like credit cards and E-checks used to make the payment online. In an effort to make electronic payments more robust and error free, there are various protocols that are being utilized to encrypt the information being sent over the internet and these protocols differ in the encryption techniques. (â€Å"Electronic Commerce,† n. ) E-commerce is based on an ever advancing technology that gives birth to high end safety measures that could be applied while making the financial payments over the internet however internet Frauds, thefts still take place and need to be addressed since E-commerce is growing and would keep on growing at a fast pace as companies look to expand and make technology their platform for success in the retail market particularly. Introduction E -commerce is not limited only to buying and selling it also is an effective way of facilitating the inter and intra organizational flow of information and providing the customer service.There could be more than one way to define the E-commerce depending upon the prospective of the business and application of the technology, from a business prospective E-commerce is application of tech nology to make business more automated when it comes to day to day transactions and work flow, similarly if applied to the service industry E-commerce would mean a tool to address the service costs at the same time increasing the quality and speed of the service.The essay touches the various modes of electronic payment systems that are being used today as part of E-commerce today however it particularly concentrates upon online credit card payment systems, the terms related to the credit cards, their transactional process over the network, protocols that make credit card transaction secure over the internet . Some evolving electronic payment methods are simply electronic version of existing payment systems such as paper checks and credit cards and some other are based on the digital currency technology.Essay also focus upon the various protocols which exist to encrypt the information that is being sent over the internet to make the transaction exact and secure, the encryption techno logy that is being used along with the algorithms implanted in the cryptography techniques, the advantages and disadvantages of the various mode of payments that could make a difference when customers are concerned about the privacy and the security while making a transaction online keeping in view the amount of transactions that would take place in day to day business have been discussed since with increase in number of transactions number of thefts, frauds will also increase.Concept and Size of Electronic Payment Since payment systems use the electronic and computer networks, the nature of these payments is more complex than payment systems used in the conventional commerce so companies dealing in E-commerce should constitute frequent practice in banking. Most common form of the payments in E-commerce are payments made in Business to Business since they make more than 95 percent of total E-commerce payments today and these are executed through a proper network of electronic commun ication that would include digital telephony , IP telephony and use of internet to complete the transaction. (Turban et al, 2004 ) The amount of payment made in the electronic payment system varies from one type to another of the E-commerce; the payments that are made in the Business to Business E-commerce are quite higher than what are made in Business to Consumer or Consumer to Business types of the E-commerce.There are transactions that may range from $1 to $ 10 which generally take place in Business to Consumer form only and by their nature are known as the micro payments. Payments up to $ 500 are still mostly done under Business to Consumer form of E- commerce however are not considered micro payments, example of this could be buying a customized laptop from the Dell website which could cost around $500. (Danial, 2002) Payments higher than $1000 would generally fall under Business to Business E-commerce since individual customers who have to make a purchase bigger than this amo unt would preferably like to buy the products physically. â€Å"B2B transactions account about 95% of e-commerce transactions, while others account about 5%†. Turban et al, 2004 ) Modes of Payment in Electronic Payment system in E- commerce. There have been dozens of modes of payment in electronic payment system some of them are widely accepted and common however some of them are not. Some of them are just the electronic versions of the conventional methods that are there in regular form of commerce. Following are some common forms that are used in daily forms of E-commerce. 1. Electronic Fund Transfer. 2. Credit Cards. 3 E –cash. 4. Smart cards. 5. E –checks. 6. Electronic Debit Cards. Online Credit Card Payment System. â€Å"It seeks to extend the functionality of existing credit cards for use as online shopping payment tools.This payment system has been widely accepted by consumers and merchants throughout the world, and by far the most popular methods of pa yments especially in the retail markets†. (Laudon and Traver, 2002) A credit card is generally issued by the banks or other financial institution. It comes with a fixed amount of spending limit depending upon the type of the credit card and payment is to be made to the issuing institution within a stipulated time period it could be 30-40 days after which customer has to pay interest on the amount due. Following are the few terms that are related to the use of credit cards. 1. Card holder: – a card holder is the authorized person who is entitled to do purchases online using the card. 2.Card issuer: – Card issuer could be financial institution or a bank that has issued the credit card to card holder after a certain amount of verification about the card holder. 3. The merchant:- Merchant is the one who accepts payment via credit card used online in exchange of goods or services offered by him. 4. The acquirer: – a financial institution that establishes an acc ount for merchants and acquires the vouchers of authorized sales slips. 5. Card brand/card type :- there are types of credit cards that are accepted worldwide and different institution take care of different types of credit cards such as Visa and Master Card. (Turban ,Lee, King, chung , n. d)Process of using Credit Card While making a purchase online using a credit card, the transaction goes through a series of steps and following are few terms that need to be understood before understanding the transactional process, all these terms are kind of processes that could take place while processing a transaction. * Sale: A sale is when the card holder purchases a product or service from a merchant and the money is transferred to the merchant's account. *   Preauth: A preauth is not a sale transaction however it is a transaction to make sure that the credit card is valid and it typically charge around $1. 00(Techrepublic ,n. d)  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   * Postauth: â€Å"A p ostauth involves purchasing something before it is shipped. The customer can preorder something, and the amount is deducted from the customer's credit limit. No money is transferred, but the card hold is maintained on the customer's card.When the merchant fulfills (typically, ships the product), the merchant can perform a postauth to transfer the money and remove the card hold from the customer's card†. (Techrepublic, n. d) * Credit: This transaction is used while returning the good according to the procedure under the agreement and merchant puts the money back into the account. * Chargeback: A chargeback transaction is used in case of dispute settlement. In case of a dispute customer files a case and the financial institution involved temproraly withdraws money from the merchant`s account and transfers it to customer`s account. Each party have a certain number of days to prove the right billing and depending upon that amount goes in the account of right party. (â€Å"Techrep ublic† ,n. ) Steps involved in the online transaction While making a transaction customer fills in the credit card information on the HTML page and the information is sent over the server. 1. Server receives the information and sends it to the code that validates the information added by the user and if found valid this information is formatted into data that gateway could understand and is sent to gateway. (â€Å"Techrepublic† ,n. d) 2. â€Å"The gateway receives the formatted data from the HostRAD code, validates the card, and checks to see whether the amount for the transaction is available in the user's account†. (â€Å" Techrepublic† n. ) Upon validation if the card is found invalid or if there is not enough amount on the card a disapproval goes to the code and gateway charges the merchant money at this point of transaction even if it goes bad and if everything is found right the transaction is approved and an approval message is sent to the code. 3. Depending upon the type of the type of the card(Visa, Master card) gateway is batched upto the appropriate clearing house transactions arrive at the gateway, they're batched through to the appropriate clearinghouse. The clearinghouse that is used is determined by the credit card type and the bank that issued the card. As the clearinghouses receive transactions from all the gateways, the clearinghouses batch the transactions for all the banks involved, transferring monies from bank to bank.For providing this service, the clearinghouse takes between two percent and five percent of the total sale. (â€Å"Techrepublic†, n. d) 4. As the clearinghouses batch the transactions they receive, they transfer money from the customer's bank to the merchant's bank. 5. The merchant's bank receives the transactions from a clearinghouse and then transfers the appropriate amount of money for the customer transaction (started in box 1) into the Merchant's Card Not Present merchant account (†Å"Techrepublic†,n. d) Credit Card Transaction Security â€Å"More than 100 million personally-identifiable customer records have been breached in the US over the past two years. Many of these breaches involved credit card information. Continued credit card use requires confidence by consumers that their transaction and credit card information are secure†. (â€Å"Texas department of information resource† ,2009)The Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council is the authoritarian agency that issues the standards and policies that help reduce the internet crimes in use of credit cards and all vendors that accept credit cards in their transactions have to abide by these laws . PCI council includes all the major Card brands like American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard , and Visa International. â€Å"Texas department of information resource† ,2009) â€Å"The Council created an industry-wide, global framework that d etails how companies handle credit card data – specifically, banks, merchants and payment processors. The result is the PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) – a set of best practice requirements for protecting credit card data throughout the information lifecycle†. (â€Å"Texas department of information resource† ,2009) â€Å"The PCI compliance security standards outline technical and operational requirements created to help organizations prevent credit card fraud, hacking, and various other security vulnerabilities and threats. The PCI DSS requirements are applicable if a credit card number is stored, processed, or transmitted.The major credit card companies require compliance with PCI DSS rules via contracts with merchants and their vendors that accept and process credit cards. Banks, merchants, and payment processors must approach PCI DSS compliance as an ongoing effort. Compliance must be validated annually, and companies must be prepared to address new a spects of the standard as it evolves based on emerging technologies and threats†. (â€Å"Texas department of information resource† ,2009) Following are some terms related to online Credit card frauds â€Å"Phishing – This technique refers to randomly distributed emails that attempt to trick recipients into disclosing account passwords, banking information or credit card information. This one scam has played a major factor in the crisis we face today.Since phishing emails typically appear to be legitimate, this type of crime has become very effective. Well designed, readily available software utilities make it nearly impossible to trace those guilty of phishing. Phishtank, an anti-phishing organization, recently revealed that nearly 75,000 attempts of this nature are made each month† Pharming – This new technique is one of the most dangerous of them all. Pharming involves a malicious perpetrator tampering with the domain name resolution process on th e internet. By corrupting a DNS, (Domain Name System), a user can type in the URL for a legitimate financial institution and then be redirected to a compromised site without knowledge of the changes.Unaware of the background predators, the consumer types in their bank account details or credit card number, making them the latest victim of fraud. Skimming – refers to a process in which a special device is used to copy encoding data from the magnetic strip of a credit or debit card. This device is usually secretly mounted to an ATM machine as a card reader. Dumpster Diving – this act refers to a process in which an individual vigorously shift's through someone else's trash in search of personal and financial information. With a mere credit card approval that contains a name and address, a criminal can easily open up a credit card in your name and accumulate substantial debt in no time.Security measures in online credit card payment systems. Four necessary and important m easures that must to be followed for safe electronic system are as following. 1. Authentication Authentication is a method to verify buyer`s identity before payment is authorized. 2. Encryption Encryption is a process to making data that has to be sent over the internet indecipherable so that it could not be read by unauthorized persons and read only by the persons in authority to do so. 3. Integrity It has to be made sure that information that is sent over the internet is not modified, altered in an intentional or unintentional way. 4. Nonrepudiation This is the quality of a secure system that prevents anyone from denying that they have sent certain data. Here the communication system should be fault tolerant. Server where the transaction has been sent should keep a record log of every transaction and the user can't deny that he or she has not accessed the server. Security Schemes Key security schemes that make sure that information sent over the network while engaging in a transac tion is secure include encryption, digital signature, certificates and certifying authorities. Encryption:-Encryption is a technology that deciphers any kind of information before being sent over the network so that it could not be retrieved and misused by an unauthorized person.Two common encryption technologies that are used to encrypt and decrypt the data are Secret key and public key encryption as explained below. Secret Key encryption In this cryptography technique one key that is known as secret key is used to both encrypt and decrypt the data at sender`s as well as receiver end . Secret key encryption is easy to implement when number of users are less. The algorithm that is used for secret key cryptography is Data Encryption standard (DES) (Schneier ,n. d). The only problem with this encryption method is that the key has to be sent over to the counterpart. (â€Å"Dret†, n. d) Public key cryptography/Assymetric encryption.In this kind of encryption there are two keys th at form the part of encryption technology they are the public key and the privaret key . the public key is known to allthe users however the private key is only known to one user the owner. there are two methods the kep pair could be used eithet the data could be encrypted by the receiver`s public key and it will be decrypted by his private key but there is a problem with this method since the encrypting key is public key no body will know who sent the message the other way is encrypting the data with receiver`s private key and decrypting it by public key however this method also has an issue every public key holder will be able to decrypt the message so it has to be combination of keys.The data is encrypted using the receiver`s public key and reencrypted using the receiver`s private key the reciver has to use combination of keys to decrypt the data fully which means that the first the reciver`s private key and then the sender`s public key. The algorithm that is used in this techniq ue is RSA. (â€Å"turban, 2004) (â€Å"Dret†, n. d) Electronic Protocols. SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) protocol is an e-commerce protocol designed by Visa and MasterCard. Customers can purchase online and their personal information would be protected and also their buying habits would be recorded along with the information they provided. â€Å"SET developed by Visa and MasterCard is an open standard for encryption and security specification for credit card transactions on the Internet.The SET is a set of security protocols and formats that main section are application protocol and payment protocol†. (â€Å"Itig† , n. d) SET has many merits: SET has provided merchant protective method, cost-cutting and enough security for the electronic payment. It helps making the online E-commerce free from online fraud to quite an extent. SET keeps more secrets for the consumer to improve the satisfaction of their on-line shopping experience. SET helps the bank and the credit card company to expand the service to more broad space –Internet. And it lowers the probability of credit card on-line fraud. Therefore SET seems more competitive than other online payment method.SET has defined interface for all quarters of online transaction so that a system can be built on the products made by the different manufacturers. SET protocol based E-commerce model Although SET has been widely used in the electronic payment area and has gained more attention from the electronic commerce promoter, the SET transaction mode model only. Even for B2C model, its application is also limited. (â€Å"Itig†, n. d) DES algorithm and the RSA algorithm are used in SET protocol to carry on the encryption and the decryption process. SET protocol use DES as symmetrical encryption algorithm. However, DES was no longer a safe algorithm right now. Therefore, DES should be replaced by more intensive and safer algorithm.Moreover, along with the development of processing speed and storage efficiency enhancement of the computer, the algorithm will be cracked successively. It is necessary to improve the extendibility of encryption service. SET protocol is huge and complex in the application process. In a typical SET transaction process, the digital certificates need to be confirmed 9 times, transmitted 7 times; the digital signature need be confirmed 6 times, and 5 times signature, 4 symmetrical encryptions and 4 asymmetrical encryptions are carried out. (â€Å"cs. ucf†,n. d) SET protocol involves many entities such as customers, merchants and banks. All of them need to modify their systems to embed interoperability.As the SET requests installment software in the network of bank, on the business server and PC of the customer and it also need to provide certificates to all quarters, so running cost of the SET is rather high. The protocol cannot prove transactions which are done by the user who signs the certificate. The protocol is unable to pr otect cardholder and business since the signature received finally in the protocol is not to confirm the content of the transaction but an authentication code. If cardholders and trade companies have the dispute, they cannot provide alone the evidence to prove its transaction between themselves and the banks. Although there are some drawbacks in the SET protocol, it is still the most standard and the safest in the present electronic commerce security protocol and the international standard of the security electron payment.In order to overcome the defect that SET protocol only supports credit payment style, PIN(Personal Identify Number) digital items are modified in this paper; with regard to the other deficiencies such as complexity, slow speed, poor safety and adaptation of SET protocol, this paper also makes a model of architecture security control mechanism, introduces electron transaction authentication center and strengthens the security of transaction process of SET protocol. (â€Å"cs. ucf†,n. d) Transmission control Protocol (TCP) which is the main protocol used to send data over internet was not designed back then keeping in view the security issues that could arise in today`s World where E commerce plays an important role. The data transmitted through TCP could be read, intercepted and altered.Security breach still happens while an email is being sent or files are being transferred over the internet. Customer is always concerned over security when processing a transaction and sending information over the internet. Credit card information like name, number and date of expiration. Presently most of the companies use SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol to provide security and privacy this protocol encrypts the order at PC before sending it over the network however this protocol may not provide all the security needed. There is another more secure protocol Secure Electronic transaction (SET) however SET is is a slow protocol and may take long time to respond and also it requires that the digital wallet is installed on the customer pc.Electronic Fund Transfer â€Å"Electronic funds transfer† means any transfer of funds, other than a transaction originated by check, draft, or similar paper instrument, that is initiated through an electronic terminal, telephonic instrument, or computer or magnetic tape, so as to order, instruct, or authorize a financial institution to debit or credit an account. Electronic funds transfers shall be accomplished by an automated clearinghouse debit, an automated clearinghouse credit, or by Federal Reserve Wire Transfer†. † (Turban ,Lee, King;amp; chung ,n. d) Electronic Checks. E check is the electronic version of the traditional paper based checks , Paper check has been one of the most important way of payments that has been in use for a long time keeping in view the same concept E check has been designed to serve the same purpose. E-check contains the same information like acco unt number, issuing bank, address of the issuing bank and the amount of check.To validate the authenticity of the person, instead of signatures it has a digital code which is generated while filling in a check and is cross verified with the database while encashing it. Electronic Check offers many advantages over the traditional paper check since all the information is filled in electronically over the computer and it is not revealed as it passes through very few people who are in authority. E checks are cheaper by many folds because of ease of processing, also E-checks are lot faster in procession since the data is sent electronically and the chances of getting a check bounced are almost negligible. Electronic Wallets Electronic wallets or the e wallets also referred to digital wallets.An e wallet is a software program that contains user`s payment information in encrypted form to ensure its security, for example an individual`s e wallet could contain credit card number , bank accou nt number ,contact information and shipping location . This information can then be automatically and securely transferred to an online order form. †. (Turban ,Lee, King;amp; chung ,n. d) Virtual Credit Cards â€Å"Closely allied to e wallets is concept of virtual credit card. A virtual credit card is an image of a credit card placed on the computer desktop. With one click of the credit card image the card holder access the account information and pays for the online purchases.Customer can even drag and drop the virtual card from desktop onto an online checkout page . The credit card number and contact information is automatically entered into the checkout form and the customer just needs a pin to enter or other form of identification to authorize the transaction†. (Turban ,Lee, King;amp; chung ,n. d) Concluding Remarks Although there are many online payment systems available to choose from while making a purchase under E-commerce however the credit card is still the do minant and the most popular way not only because of the convenience it has but also because of its worldwide acceptability.Despite of the several security measures in place, credit card frauds do take place and protection of the information provided over the internet while making a purchase is of utmost importance. Encryption using the DES and RSA algorithms make the data indecipherable while being transmitted over the network and these encryption technologies are hard to break into however there are other ways credit card information could be disclosed. Phishing and Pharming as mentioned above in the essay are recent threats that are becoming common and are needed to be addressed as soon as possible since the users who are not really aware of these threats could unintentionally disclose information they are not supposed to.Credit card has wider acceptability because of its long established network thanks to the credit card brands like the Master card, Visa international and America n express and because of its friendly characteristics like ease of carriage, fast processing, 24 hour purchasing facility and the convenience of making purchase sitting anywhere. With the advancement of technology new protective measures like thumb imprint, retina scan are gaining popularity however it will take time for them to become common and implemented everywhere while making an online transaction since there are the cost and awareness issues related to these high end technology gadgets.