Concrete Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Concrete Lab Report Essay Engineering B45 Concrete Lab Report Introduction: Concrete is a mixture of sand and rock or similar inert material (aggregates) held together by a cementing material. Usually the cementing material is Portland cement, but sometimes binders such as asphalt or gypsum are used, in which case the concrete may be called asphaltic concrete or gypsum concrete. Properties of concrete are governed not only by the properties of its ingredients (cement, water, sand, and coarse aggregate) but also, to a great extent, by the relative proportions of these ingredients. The proportions must be so selected as to produce a concrete mixture of desired workability, strength, durability, and economy. The most common aggregates are gravel and crushed stone, although cinders, blast-furnace slag, burned shale, crushed brick, or other materials may be used because of availability, or to alter such characteristics of the concrete such as workability, density, appearance, or conductivity of heat or sound. Usually aggregate which passes a sieve with 0. 187-inch openings (No. 4 sieve) is called fine aggregate, but that retained by a No. sieve is coarse aggregate, although the division is purely arbitrary. If all the particles of aggregate are of the same size, or if too many fine particles are present, an excessive amount of cement paste will be required to produce a workable mixture; a range of sizes aids in the production of an economical mixture. The best concrete for a given use is usually the one which will provide the necessary strength and the desired wor kability at the lowest cost. Unless otherwise indicated, strength, as applied to concrete, refers to the ultimate compressive strength of the moist-cured concrete at the age of 28 days. Most concretes are batched to provide an ultimate compressive strength of 2500 to 4000 psi after 28 days. The figure below shows a typical strength curve of concrete with the passage of time. The modulus of elasticity of concrete is about 1000 times the ultimate compressive strength. The strength of concrete depends chiefly on the water-cement ratio, with a low ratio producing a strong concrete. While only a small amount of water is required to complete the chemical reactions of setting concrete, more than this is used to make the concrete more workable. The workability of concrete is usually measured by its slump. The standard method of measuring slump consists of placing the freshly-mixed concrete in a mold in the form of a truncated cone, 12 inches high, 8 inches in diameter at the bottom, and 4 inches in diameter at the top. The concrete is placed in the slump cone in three layers, each layer rodded thoroughly to compact it. When filled, the mold is immediately withdrawn by lifting it gently, and the slump of the concrete is measured at the vertical distance from the top of the mass to its original 12 inch height. An increase in the amount of mixing water will increase the slump, but it will also decrease the strength and increase the tendency of the ingredients of the concrete to segregate unless more cement is added. Increasing the amount of cement paste increases the cost, so all three factors- strength, workability, and cost-are interrelated in a complex way. Procedure: 1. Concrete mixtures are commonly given as volume ratios as cement: sand: gravel. You will make two concrete mixtures at ratios given to you by the instructor.

Book Review Of Sugar and Slaves

Book Review Of Sugar and Slaves The story Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies paints a clear picture of the English life in the Caribbean about four centuries ago. Using a variety of sources available, Richard Dunn explores the origin and the development of the plantation slave society in the region. He focuses on the sugar production techniques, the violent nature of the slave trade, the hurdles faced in introducing and adapting English culture in the tropics, and the disgusting mortality rates for both blacks and whites enriched these colonies. A summary of the book The narration begins in 1624, when the English took control of the tiny island of St. Christopher. From that lonely outpost emerged a cohesive and potent master class of tobacco and sugar planters that spread to Barbados, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua, and Jamaica. The book vividly portrays how the English planters created a living hell in a Caribbean Garden of Eden and how they accommodated themselves to the human wreckage involved in turning the islands into highly successful sugar-producing colonies. An analysis of the book The author brings to light the plight the natives of the Caribbean had to endure when the English invaded and conquered the islands. He points out cases of rape, forced labor, displacement from ones homes and deculturalization. The English ruled this colony with brutality. At the books beginning, the author points out how the early English planters made their beautiful islands almost uninhabitable on page (xxiii). Midway through his story, he expresses he highlights that it is appalling and distressing that from New England to Virginia to Jamaica, the English planters in seventeenth-century America developed the habit of murdering the soil for a few quick crops and then moving along. On the sugar plantations, unhappily, they also murdered the slaves on page (223). Most tragic is his exacting account of how English colonizers turned their small islands into amazingly effective sugar-production machines, manned by armies of black slaves (xxi) and how this altered English cultural value s, and ideas. In the authors perspective, this is a dejecting story of human degradation; brutalilizing Africans, and of the self-brutalization of the English planters and overseers. He sums up by writing that the English sugar islands, were disastrous social failures by the early eighteenth century on page (340), expressing his contempt for the sugar planters. The brutal treatment the enslaved Africans went through had to trigger some form resistance to the British planters ways as the author highlights on page (256) of the book by writing The acid test of any slave system, writes Dunn, is the frequency and ferocity of resistance by slaves . However, even in Jamaica, Britains most rebellious colony, African revolts had little effect in bringing an end to slavery. Much more important in destabilizing the British death-dealing sugar economy were hurricanes, earthquakes, malaria epidemics, and French mercenaries. Ironically the authors points out that, the English planters, who treated their slaves with such contemptuous inhumanity, were rescued time and again from disaster by the compassionate generosity of the Negroes (262). He goes on to argue that, the enslaved Africans lived indefinably difficult lives, dying prematurely, their attempts to resist brutalization were exercises in futility, and in the end awaiting redemption from of the Bri tish oppressors. This is a very saddening experience. The question of objectivity can be pointed out in regard to the authors judgment in this book. Richard Dunn seems to be outraged and impatient with mans inhumanity to man, with unconscionable behavior, and quite pointedly with numerous inconsistencies of freedom-loving British planters making life a living hell on for Africans. In addition the author delineates the land owner ship and concentration of power. Land is owner by fewer individuals than before. The process began in Barbados with switch from small scale cotton and tobacco production to extensive sugar production in 1640s.Power too was vested in the hands of few belligerent British planters during this period. Moreover inherited ideas and values continued to matter in the British Caribbean but only in limited ways. The writer notes on page (264) that In their basic living arrangementsfood, clothing, and shelter-the early settlers, he explains, hung on to English customs. However the author only sees only cultural stubbornness or stupidity in clinging to English habits that did not conform to the tropics. They foolishly wore cool-weather garb, ate the wrong food, and built houses absurdly. In all other matters, the English planters tragically abandoned what might have rescued them from the human catastrophe they were creating: they rejected the idea of representative assemblies in order to convert the assemblies into platforms for the master class, sabotaged the militia system because it interfered with sugar production, censored religion in order to prevent slave unrest, made common law a mockery by withholding due process from three-fourths of the population, and discounted education. Illustrating how the English adapted painfully to the strange new tropical world they labored to control, The writer points out on page (40): Seventeenth-century Englishmen attuned their lives to the weather, to seasonal change, and to the annual cycle of birth, growth, maturity, and death. But in the West Indies, they found a year-round growing season, year-round summer, and year-round heat. They were used to a moderate climate: moderately warm, moderately cold, moderately rainy and moderately sunny. But in the tropics they had to adjust their eyes to brilliant sunlight, and a palette of splashing colors: vegetation startlingly green, fruits and flowers in flaming reds and yellows, the mountains in shimmering blues and greens, shading to deep purple, the moon and stars radiant and sparkling at night, and the encircling sea a spectrum of jeweled colors form cobalt to silver. They found the Caribbean atmosphere to be volatile: blazing heat suddenly relieved by refreshing showers, and soft caressing breezes capriciously dissolving into wild and terrifying storms. In climate, as in European power politics, the Indies lay beyo nd the line. The authors stylistic ingenuity especially his to paradoxically narrate and describe the happenings in the Caribbean during the tumultuous era of the British planters, broadens the readers analytical view of the English invaders who did not go to Virginia or Massachusetts but forced their way into their tiny islands. On pages (337-38) He writes: Despite . . . close contacts, the islanders rapidly diverged from the mainlanders, most particularly from the Puritan colonists in New England. . . . The New Englanders, through their numerous elective offices and frequent town meetings, encouraged (indeed almost required) every inhabitant to participate in public life, but in the Indies the big sugar planters completely dominated politics. . . . In New England the young were deferential to their elders, repressed their adolescent rebelliousness, and often waited into their thirties to marry and set up on their own, while in the islands there were no elders, the young were in control, and many a planter made his fortune and died by age thirty. In short, the Caribbean and New England planters were polar opposites; they represented the outer limits of English social expression in the seventeenth century. Conclusion This story clearly illustrates the dehumanizing experience the Africans in Caribbean had to endure at the hands of the English colonizers. The English planters did not only invade the Caribbean, they conquered every aspect of life the natives had. They did away with the culture, they rejected the idea of representation in the assemblies in order to convert the councils into platforms for the upper class, dismantled the militia system because it interfered with sugar production, censored religion in order to prevent slave unrest, made common law a mockery by withholding due process from  ¾ of the population, and discounted education. The story is same on the mind and lips of many Africans in the world over as it is an actual representation of the happenings in broad African society during the invasion and colonization era. The authors shock and dismay at the brutal treatment meted on the Africans in the Caribbean by the British is totally agreeable. It was dark period in the history of mankind although some have argued that the colonizers introduced civilization in the African society and I totally disagree. Their invasion did more harm if this story is anything to go by.

Computer mediated communication

Computer mediated communication 1. Introduction: Social network sites (SNSs) have become some of the most popular online destinations in recent years (comScore, 2007a, 2007b). Academic researchers have started studying the use of SNSs, with questions ranging from their role in identity construction and expression (boyd Heer, 2006) to the building and maintenance of social capital (e.g., Ellison, Steinfeld, Lampe, 2007) and concerns about privacy (e.g., Gross Acquisti, 2005; Hodge, 2006). While these areas of inquiry are all important and worthy of exploration, a significant antecedent question has been largely raised: Are there systematic interconnection between the level at which users show online with their friends and offline with their counterparts, and are people equally likely to act in a similar or different way comparing their online and offline life? This article sets out to address this question. 2. Literature Review 2.1Online Offline: A Distinction Online offline distinction have been generalized from computing and telecommunication into the field of human interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered online and what is considered offline has become a subject of study in the field of computer mediated communication. The distinction between online offline is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer mediated communication and face to face communication respectively. Online is virtuality and offline is reality. Slater D. (2002:533) states that the distinction is so far too simple. To support his argument that the distinction in relationships are more complex than a simple online offline dichotomy, he observes that some people draw no distinctions between an online relationship such as including in cybersex, and offline relationship such as being pen pals. Slater also asserts that there are legal and regulatory pressures to reduce the distinction between online and offline with a â€Å"general tendency to assimilate online to offline and erase the distinction†, stressing that this does not mean online relationships are being reduced to pre-existing offline relationships. He also conjectures that an online/offline distinction may be seen by people as â€Å"rather quaint and not quite comprehensible† within 10 years. Individuals online activity also depends on his/her online identity or internet persona. This online identity or internet persona is a social identity that an internet user establishes in online communities or websites. Although some people prefer to use their real names online, most internet users prefer to be anonymous, identifying themselves by means of pseudonyms, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information. 2.2Friendship In addition to differences in social cues in online and offline environments, friendship is defined differently on social networking sites than it is in offline relationships. MySpace defines Friendship as any kind of mutual relationship among its members. Adding a friend to a list of contacts is not necessarily an indication of feelings for that person. Rather, it is seen as an expansion of ones social network. In an ethnographic study of teenage users, boyd (2006a) distinguishes friendship from Friendship: the former refers to a close relationship between two people and the latter refers to an online tie that connects people on social network sites. boyd (2006a) distinguishes between several types of online Friends including close offline friends and acquaintances, family members, work and school mates, admired people and strangers. boyds (2006a) and Dwyers (2007) work suggests that most users do not take online friendships seriously and consider most of them to be superficial. boyd explains that some of the relative superficiality can be attributed to social pressures associated with â€Å"Friending† (adding friends to list of contacts) online. Some users, as according to boyd, (2006a:25): â€Å"prefer to accept Friendships with someone they barely know rather than going through the socially awkward process of rejecting them while others hope that Friending a celebrity will make them look cool.† Bigge (2006) suggests that users accumulate friends to increase their social capital. The element of status associated with accumulating friends may explain the large number of friends that most users have linked to their profiles. According to Rosens (2006) study, MySpace users link an average of 200 friends to their profile, many of whom they have never met face-to-face. This clarifies to some extent on the way most users perception attitude towards online and offline friends. 2.3Purpose of being Online Despite the alleged superficiality of relationships, users participate in social networking sites to develop new relationships, maintain older friendships, and expand their social networks (Dwyer, 2007; Gallant, et al., 2007; boyd, 2006a; boyd, 2007). Participants in Dwyers 2007 study indicated that they use networking sites because they provide an inexpensive, easy and convenient way of managing social relationships. Gallant, et al. (2007:21) conclude from their content analysis of focus groups of MySpace and Facebook users that participants access network sites for â€Å"staying in touch with friends, making social plans, communicating with others and finding out about them, and dating.† In other studies, users report the usefulness of social networking sites as a means of establishing contact with old friends and people they do not see regularly (Dwyer, 2007). Online social interactions are informed by different rules and contexts than offline relationships. Dwyer (2007) explains that computer-mediated communication on social network sites can reduce and delay the transmission and perception of social context cues. Social context cues elicit cognitive interpretations of a given situation which shapes peoples communication. Dwyer explains: â€Å"When social context cues are strongly perceived, behavior becomes more otherfocused and carefully managed. Conversely, with communication of these cues is weak and cues are not perceived, feelings of anonymity result in more self-centered and unregulated behavior†. boyd (2007:8) suggests that online forums (as an example MySpace) provide spaces for teens to â€Å"do identity work† online. boyd argues that networking sites such as MySpace facilitate aspects of life central to teen identity formation, including exploration of social and cultural identities, social relations, and performances of the self. boyd (2006c) suggests that the dynamics of identity production online include a considerable emphasis on the construction of â€Å"cool.† Most of todays teens prefer to demonstrate ‘cool or to be called as so. Comments on sites such as MySpace serve as validation from peers and, boyd (2006c: para. 18)argues, as â€Å"a form of cultural currency.† Validation as well as negative feedback online can influence users self-esteem. Valkenburg, et al. (2006) found in a study of 881 Dutch teenage users of a social network site similar to MySpace that the publicly visible feedback they received on their profiles affected their social self-esteem and well-being. Positive feedback, which nearly 80 percent of the participants received, enhanced their self-esteem, whereas negative feedback, which seven percent of the individuals surveyed received, lowered their self-esteem (Valkenburg, et al. 2006). This shows that the behavior of users possessing themselves online relate to their lives to some degree. On networking sites, users social networks may overlap. For instance, users may be linked to close friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family members through the same profile. The identity the user establishes online may be appropriate for friends but not for relatives or co-workers (boyd, 2006a, Snyder, et al., 2006; Bigge, 2006). Due to this, some users change their profile name or display name other than the real one to be limited within their friends circle. 2.4Disclosure of users Information Users employ text and images in their profiles and blogs to describe who they are, what they like, and what they do. Through their posts, users send greetings, exchange messages, make plans, flirt, and maintain contact. These features of social networking sites allow users to reveal information about themselves and their lives. Stutzman (2006) suggests that while disclosing this information is optional, many users include it in their profiles. Stutzman (2006:1) attributes the high level of disclosure of personal information online to the â€Å"inherent sociality† of social network communities. Though many users share personal information, its validity is unproven. Some users intentionally mask their offline identities by using pseudonyms or remaining anonymous for fear of consequences related to disclosing sensitive or socially undesirable personal characteristics. Although these strategies may mitigate users privacy concerns, unintended audiences might still be able to find them through friends profiles (boyd, 2007). Unintended audiences such as employers, educational institutions, law enforcement officials, and marketing companies can access and use private information that users make public online. Employers can monitor current and potential employees through social networking sites (Bigge, 2006; Snyder, et al., 2006). Some colleges and schools keep track of their students posts on networking sites and issue offline punishments for socially undesirable or illegal activities disclosed online (Barnes, 2006). Prosecutors and police officers could potentially use online data to investigate interactions between suspects and victims (Schesser, 20 06). Bigge (2006) and Barnes (2006: para 3) criticize the fact that social network sites: â€Å"coordinate the interpersonal exchanges between American teens and global brands.† For Snyder, et al. (2006), who analyze the ‘terms of use document of MySpace, these unintended audiences violate the ‘social contract of networking sites because they use the sites for information seeking rather than for networking with others. Parents and lawmakers are concerned about the behavior of teens and children online. Through legislation such as the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) and the 2006 Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA), lawmakers try to protect young teenagers from social network sites by requiring public libraries and schools to install Internet filters (boyd and Jenkins, 2006). Librarians and academics expressed worries in response to these acts, citing concern for the development of a new digital divide in which users who rely on public access would be deprived of socializing online (Miller, 2006; boyd and Jenkins, 2006). Many parents express concerns about their childrens use of social networking sites. In a survey of 267 pairs of adolescent MySpace users and their parents, Rosen (2006) found that 63 percent of parents think that sexual predators use MySpace; 81 percent of them were concerned about teens meeting online friends in offline locations; and, 88 percent of them were worried about the posting of sexual photos. Despite their expressed concerns, many parents are not involved in their childrens use of social networking sites (Rosen, 2006; Rogers, et al., 2007). In Rosens (2006) study, one third of the parents did not know what kind of personal information their children were disclosing online; 43 percent of them did not know how much time their children spent on social networking websites; and, 62 percent of them had never talked to their children about such sites. Moreover, parents imposed little restrictions on their childrens use of these websites. Fifty percent of the teenagers surveyed in Rosens study were allowed to have computer in their bedroom and less than half of the parents set limits to their childrens computer use and the use of online sites. This is consistent with Rogers et al.s (2007) study in which only 15 percent of the adolescent participants reported having limits on their use of these Web sites. 3.Analysis: Online intimate friendship relationship is a rare phenomenon and so could be summed up in some cases only in terms of lying and deception, they would not be so common. For many of those who have known someone intimately through the internet, the relationships have proven to be positive, if not life-changing experiences. Lies and misrepresentations have been brought to explain some of these tendencies but they only begin to constitute a fuller theoretical mechanism. Research in this area often address what seems to be a working paradox in online dating sites: the connection between a pragmatic, consumerist tool for meeting others wrapped up in romantic and magical discourses. Individual, social and mediatized conceptions about love, and connecting gave us new sights into an activity whose popularity calls for reference to a broad social context. When individual engage in online communication/conversation, the spectacle in turn enhance a regime of communication that could be described as spectral, its quality being a confessional transparency. As noticed, users will tend to describe their inner feelings in detail, opening their soul in a manner that is in part imputable to the physical absence of their interlocutors. Imagination will play a crucial role, and conceptions of love, past experiences, stereotypes and phantasms will be used along with the acted information gained from the communication to construct an image of the potential partner and the story of their meeting. Online daters will tend to shorten this period, in their desire to avoid deception after having imagined someone incorrectly or having faced its own deformed or incomplete projection. Problem is that the interpretation of a persons mediated representation does not always accord with the actual in-real-life presentation of that person. On other occasions, the cause of the mismatch is not misrepresentation, but simply lies. According to Albright, ‘perhaps the lowered accountability levels of online interactions and the inability to pinpoint an online personal to a solid offline identity might foster such facades and lower peoples inhibitions about lying. It is more difficult, though, to assert that playing on online places which of course happens a lot in discussion groups, social networks and online dating sites can lead to long lasting relationships ( particularly if they go face to face). Indeed what could be considered as playing in an overtly playful space seems to be related more to lying and concealing in other spaces, such as online dating sites, where false information about physical appearance and occupational status abound. As an example, woman is prepared to meet a six feet tall lawyer could be surprised to be faced with a rather a short programmer or even a child. Flirting and playing go together, but the lack of physical proximity between dyadic partners opens the door to misrepresentation. But as a matter of fact, playing with ones body, personality and social status can also lead to sexual dysfunctions, cheating and criminal deviance such as harassment, rape or pedophilia. Playing is ok as long as every participant actually knows that he/she is in playing frame, which is not always the case online. There exist online places such as second life where playing with gender, physical characteristics and personality is the norm. Flirting and intimate relationships abound there as well but the rules are clear: this is game and you can play as such. Whitty et,al (2001:624) say: â€Å"Even if people are not engaging in cybersex or exchanging photos, we cannot disregard the importance of body or physical attraction. This is because- even in absence of photographs- bodies are reconstructed through users imaginations. Moreover, imaginations can give fantasized vision of the self and the others†. Whitty et al, (2001) use notions such as play potential space, transitional objects and splitting to construct a probing psychoanalytical lecture about online romance. Psychoanalytic approach that Whitty Carr (2001:623) say: ‘Play is all about illusion †¦, such illusion can only be sustained provided play can be kept within a frame work of its own- a frame which seeks to separate it from ordinary life. The objective of online dating sites is to change online connection rapidly in the hope of developing intimate relationships (Casual sex or Cybersex). In discussion groups or SNSs, the point is to allow perspective couples to meet online, then may be offline, in the hope of finding people who will understand each others feelings, share their own and eventually (in some situations) become more intimate. The very sense of a body attached to personal information could be considered to be more important in dating sites than in discussion groups, since the goals- which may still be the same for some users- are not dealt with in the same way. As a matter of fact, leaving an online profile with no photographs is giving oneself no chance of being contacted. In an online community, people get to know each other based on shared interests, not with perceived physical attractiveness of the participants. In theory, this works, but in fact, online flirting happens everywhere, even where it is not assumed to. How users who experience online romance define romance and love at large prior to and during their online explorations has not been thoroughly discussed by internet researchers as such. Before reading profiles on an online dating sites or being interested in the person behind certain online discussion posting on a community sites, a user hold wealth of personal conception about what he/she is/isnt, likes/dislikes, loves/hates and so on. This conception may change in the course of ones online intimate experience that could provide critical insight into the individual social integration of online connection. However, according to Anderson (2005), people who experience online romance do it in various online places but one thing they share is that they can conceive of finding love by using the internets online connection. In terms of finding love online, for many of us, it is not an easy thing. Working long hours, some of them alone, others at remote places, feeling caught in an improper relationship, being tired of a series of dreams with no tomorrows, lacking the confidence to face interesting prospects or just wanting to try something that supposedly works well, millions of people have been drawn to the internet over last few years, looking for individuals with whom to communicate and to bond. That is probably why many online researchers have observed that online intimacy is constituted and maintained mainly by trust, commitment and high level of self disclosure. It is difficult to theoretical framework that fully describes what is going on and when (two or) more people are flirting on the web or not. If individuals are to successfully develop a romantic relationship from an online dating site, they need to present a balance between an attractive and a real self on their profiles. Observing that online daters tend to meet each other fece to face more quickly than do participation in other kinds of online based relationships, Whitty(2001) suggests, in doing so, they can and want to avoid the frequent lies and embellishments associated with personal profiles. Also she holds that it shuts up the potential presence of a ‘true self (referring to what someone would like to be, but is not yet able to be), which, in theory, emerges slowly, coupled with high self-disclosure, trust and commitment. On another side, as she observed in her research, at the same time a seeking out authentic and genuine profiles, individuals were also looking for the more attractive and appealing profiles. Engaging on an online conversation, knowing friends friends on any SNSs, or putting a profile on an online dating agency is easy and banal in itself. But it can lead to profound changes in ones life. Over recent years, many researchers have addressed romantic relationships initiated on the internet. 4. Overview on Hypothesis: The hypothesis set out in this paper includes the change in the perception due to shift of online relations to offline relation and vice-versa, advantages and disadvantages of doing it with regards to the use of SNSs through the internet. To establish and get into the hypothesis set out in here, individual interviews have been employed in order to fully get into the subject. Except the individual short interviews, content analysis of the papers related to the use of SNSs as well as the survey questionnaires were also designed and disseminated to 55 international students of the two universities in Cyprus; University of Nicosia The European University Cyprus. As we are facing the world of fast-changing pace, it is hard to generalize the finding from the study of such a small group of people. However, the results obtained so far will give genuine insights to further research in the same area. Bringing offline relations to online seems very easy provided that the users real life friends or relatives are facilitated through the use of the internet or else they have not been regarded as the victims caused by the so called digital divide. On the other hand, bringing online relations to offline may result to both advantages and disadvantages. The term ‘trust has more to play the role in it. Because some people show their trust to the people met online that the information provided by them online are factual and true, whereas some do not find any trust in those information. It requires a sort of experience or say, the psychological knowledge to understand the motive of the strangers met online to decide whether or not he/she should meet hi m/her offline. In this regard, a genuine person who always flows true and factual information through the internet and holds decent desire of friending through online process may be the victim of some who do not trust online friends any more. The current fears of internet fraud, identity theft and the fakesters have constantly loosened in the extent of trust among the moderate internet users. Spam, junk mail and many other unknown mails coming everyday into the inbox are also the cause in declining the trust in the internet. Bringing offline relations to online seems the everyday routine of most of the internet users. The use of internet and its know-how is growing rapidly throughout the world. Today, many rely on the internet and cannot even think of their lives without being into it. Internet users even tend to see their offline friends online with the motive of being able to contact at any time, and also know how they are up to though they are physically very far. With regards to strangers online meeting them in real life situations seem unpredictable for everyone. For some, it is like a game as well as an interesting part of their life. Doing so, many get engaged for long time relationships, some as business partners and so on. 5.Methods: To accomplish the objective of the paper, three methodologies have been incorporated: Interviews Survey Content Analysis 5.1Interviews: Interviews conducted is the semi-structured consisting of 12 individuals who have their profiles on social networking sites; many of them being on facebook and Hi5. Interview questions (see Apendix) ranges from their demographics information, perceptions and understanding of online communications, involvement in SNSs, chatting preferences, time spent on the internet as well as the views on friends online/offline. Only the information obtain from individual semi-structured interviews were insufficient to come answer the proposal question raised in the paper. Hence other methods of research have also been carried out. Interview took place in different physical locations in Cyprus and around 6 individuals were interviewed online through facebook. 5.2Survey: A set of questionnaire was designed and disseminated to 55 international students of the two universities (University of Nicosia European University Cyprus) in Cyprus. The set of questionnaire consists of questionnaire that consists of 33 questions splitting them in three sections (see Appendix). The first section (section A) consists of 6 questions and collects the participants demographic information such as A/S/L, marital status, occupation, country of origin parental education. Inclusion of parental education in the demographic information is aimed to find whether participants parental education level is linked with their online offline perceptions or behaviors. 21 questions on the next section (Section B) address on the participants involvement with the internet, its use. More use or the less use of the internet and the time spent on any social network sites by any individual can be the basis to reveal the participants behaviors and perceptions regarding online/offline friends and connections. Last section of the questionnaire (Section C) is an attempt to explore the users online and offline behaviors, expectations, language used and the priority among online or offline friends. This section includes 6 questions all of which address how users intend to establish connections to their online friends (strangers and not strangers) and offline friends in their real life situations. 5.3Content Analysis: Many studies have been carried out on the issues of social network sites and their use. Distinguishing the users and non-users of social networks sites has also been studied. Stutzmans.(2006) â€Å"An evaluation of identity-sharing behavior in social network communities† has addressed a bit of online and offline behaviours of the internet users being focused on social network sites. Danah m boyd has been continually contributing to the social network sites and their use through her study. More and more sequential research made by boyd regarding the use of internet especially focusing teenagers have given more insights for accomplishing this paper. These two researchers are the basis to ground the theoretical aspects ranging from the meaning of SNSs to their use, internet persona as well as identity construction online. Hence, this paper also uses the content analysis approach of the study carried out by these two researchers in the field of social network sites and their use, but in a brief. 6.Results Discussion on Findings: Demographics: The study sample of international students taken from the two universities in Cyprus is skewed towards more male around 71.7%, female users being only 28.3% of total 55 students, 55.7% were Nepalese whereas the rest (36.3%) were Indian background. Regarding the parental education of the participants, fathers of 30% participants were postgraduates and none of the participants father were illiterate. 15 % of the participants reported that their mothers are illiterate. The age of the sample size of this study ranges from 18-30 years. With reference to the marital status, 54.5% were single and 45.5% were married. None of the participants were reported to be in a relationship or divorced. Results obtained from 12 individual semi-structure interviews are more consistent with the results obtained from the survey and hence the following results and discussion does not fully mention the interviews due to the space problem in this paper. However, the interviews have been the basis to carry out the study and bring it to the final readable form. Internets Use Regarding the average use of internet per week (see table 2), no female participants use internet for more than 15 hours a week. Majority of male (30.9%) were reported to use internet up to 15 hours a week whereas only 16.3% female do so, the study shows. The first task of the users while connecting to the internet, 27% said they check mails (46% female and 20% male), 18% open messenger (26 % female 15% male), 18% browse for news (25 % male) and around 37% open social network sites (26% female 40% male). The term ‘Social network Sites was not known to any of the participants in the sample. When it first appeared in the questionnaire, participants raised the question to the real indication of SNS. Participants were then asked whether they have known or heard of SNSs. 100 % participants said that it is a complete unknown term for them. When they are clarified with the term SNSs, 100% reported that they have their profiles in at least one or more SNSs. Of many SNSs around the wo rld available to everyone in the internet, sample said that they know only 7 SNSs of 16 SNSs mentioned in the questionnaire. Facebook, Hi5 and Bebo are the three social network sites that all participants have heard of and also have their profiles. The table 1 below is the illustration of knowing of SNSs reported by the sample of the study. Social networking sites respondents profile SNSs Respondents Total Male Female Orkut 52% 38% 53% Windows Live Space 36% 26.6% 29% LinkedIn 14.5% 15% 13.3% Bebo 100% 100% 100% MySpace 34% 37.5% 26.6% Facebook 100% 100% 100% Hi5 100% 100% 100% Table 1 As the sample recorded that the participants have their profile at least in one or more SNSs. It is now vital to get the data on how real are the information placed on their profiles taking into serious considerations on names, gender, age, location etc. 80% said

I Wish to Study Internal Medicine in the USA Essay -- Medicine College

I Wish to Study Internal Medicine in the USA Medicine appeals to me as a humanistic, challenging field that offers an opportunity to help people in the most vital aspect of their lives; their health. Medicine has passionately appealed to me from my early childhood. I come from a family of doctors. My father, who is my role model, taught me two important aspects in the field of medicine: To reduce suffering & do no harm to patients. With this strong foundation, as my basis and support, entrance into a rural medical school was out of fascination for the intricate human architecture and its functioning. Being constantly in touch with the field of medicine through my father and other fellow doctors and through 6 years of medical school and rotations, I realized that Internal Medicine has evolved as mother of all branches. That is what sparked my interest in pursing a career in Internal Medicine. The basic principal in the art of healing is, to investigate the etiology of a disease, to arrive at a proper diagnosis, to treat the condition appropriately, and more importantly attending to the emotional and psychological aspects of the patients illness. This gives me a great sense of joy and is simply the reason I chose the ever-challenging field of Internal Medicine as my profession. Healing is a universal language. Internal Medicine offers human interactions with the wide spectrum of patients of all age groups and socio-economic status. It requires emphasis on continued care, preventive practices and complex problem solving skills. I believe that an Internist is influential in shaping family dynamics, whether in the case of illness or death or in achievi... ...under the supervision of Dr. Lee Stone. I stayed in touch with current advancement in medicine through medical journals, publication and the Internet. In summation, what I can offer to your institute can be described by my 3D's theory in life. I am, "Determined in doing the best, Dedicated in giving my best, Devoted in performing my best". I can offer your program a motivated, responsible, team player and an enthusiastic person, who is committed to excellence, intelligence, and personal initiative. I am eager to support and promote the fine reputation of your institution. Hence, here I am, standing on the platform of the future, enthusiastic and curious about the world that is yet to be discovered, hoping to develop a strong foundation for the future years in this field.

Interruptions and Delayed Explanations in Act III of The Crucible Essay

The Crucible Essay In act three opportunities constantly arise for the whole problem of the play to be cleared up satisfactorily, but these are always frustrated. Show how this act is one of interruptions and explanations which are tragically delayed. The crucible is a play written by Arthur miller and concerns the mass hysteria, which led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials in the U.S.A. At that time the people who lived in Salem believed in witches and the devil. They believed that the bible told them that witches should be hanged and they were required to live by strict puritan laws. The main characters of the play are Elizabeth Proctor and her husband John. John had an affair with their maid, Abigail, and it was her intention to destroy Elizabeth and marry John Proctor herself. After Elizabeth and other members of the community have been arrested on charges of witchcraft, the trial begins and there are many opportunities to show that the people arrested were innocent but the many interruptions make this impossible. At the start of act 1 Martha Corey is being questioned by judge Danforth and Hathorne to see if she had been involved in witchcraft. Her husband, Giles Corey interrupts to say that Putnam wants everyone’s land. â€Å"Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land.† Corey says that he has evidence to prove this. Then he is interrupted by Reverend Parris who undermines Corey’s evidence by saying he was a very argumentative person. Corey is interrupted again by Francis Nurse who says that the girls are all frauds â€Å"We have proof of it sir they are all deceiving you.† John Proctor arrives in the court with Mary Warren and the evidence as well but they are interrupted by Parris who tries to blacken Proctors name by say... ...s a whore and she has a motive to kill his wife. Proctor’s wife is called in and Proctor has already told the court that she never lies, could never lie. Elizabeth Proctor is asked about Proctors relationship with Abigail and she said he had done nothing wrong. To save her husband, because committing adultery is a hanging offence, she tells that lie and condemns him. Proctor asks Mary to continue with her evidence but she turns against him and accuses him of being in league with the devil, â€Å"you’re the Devil’s man she points at him she says she will not hang with him and tells the court that he told her, â€Å"I’ll murder you, if my wife hangs.† Proctor tells Danforth â€Å"you are pulling heaven down, and raising up a whore!† If any of the people had been allowed to give their evidence without interruptions, the outcome of the court case might have been different. Interruptions and Delayed Explanations in Act III of The Crucible Essay The Crucible Essay In act three opportunities constantly arise for the whole problem of the play to be cleared up satisfactorily, but these are always frustrated. Show how this act is one of interruptions and explanations which are tragically delayed. The crucible is a play written by Arthur miller and concerns the mass hysteria, which led to the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials in the U.S.A. At that time the people who lived in Salem believed in witches and the devil. They believed that the bible told them that witches should be hanged and they were required to live by strict puritan laws. The main characters of the play are Elizabeth Proctor and her husband John. John had an affair with their maid, Abigail, and it was her intention to destroy Elizabeth and marry John Proctor herself. After Elizabeth and other members of the community have been arrested on charges of witchcraft, the trial begins and there are many opportunities to show that the people arrested were innocent but the many interruptions make this impossible. At the start of act 1 Martha Corey is being questioned by judge Danforth and Hathorne to see if she had been involved in witchcraft. Her husband, Giles Corey interrupts to say that Putnam wants everyone’s land. â€Å"Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land.† Corey says that he has evidence to prove this. Then he is interrupted by Reverend Parris who undermines Corey’s evidence by saying he was a very argumentative person. Corey is interrupted again by Francis Nurse who says that the girls are all frauds â€Å"We have proof of it sir they are all deceiving you.† John Proctor arrives in the court with Mary Warren and the evidence as well but they are interrupted by Parris who tries to blacken Proctors name by say... ...s a whore and she has a motive to kill his wife. Proctor’s wife is called in and Proctor has already told the court that she never lies, could never lie. Elizabeth Proctor is asked about Proctors relationship with Abigail and she said he had done nothing wrong. To save her husband, because committing adultery is a hanging offence, she tells that lie and condemns him. Proctor asks Mary to continue with her evidence but she turns against him and accuses him of being in league with the devil, â€Å"you’re the Devil’s man she points at him she says she will not hang with him and tells the court that he told her, â€Å"I’ll murder you, if my wife hangs.† Proctor tells Danforth â€Å"you are pulling heaven down, and raising up a whore!† If any of the people had been allowed to give their evidence without interruptions, the outcome of the court case might have been different.

Meet the Miller Essay -- Canterbury Tales Essays

Meet the Miller In the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer presents his reader with a blend of unlikely yet entertaining characters that find themselves on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Chaucer then describes the different characteristics and the outward appearances of these characters at length. He probably does so in order to bring these characters to life, giving us a more vivid understanding of what kind of people they were. The Miller is one of the most vivid characters that I have encountered in Chaucer's work for he is perfectly delineated as the man he is, without including any unnecessary detail. The Miller is described as a short and sturdy man who possesses uncanny strength. The undisputed champion of wrestling is he. He even seems hero-like at first: The millere was a stout churl for the nones; Ful byg he was of brawn, and eek of bones. That proved wel, for over al ther he cam, At wrastlynge he wolde have alwey the ram. He was short-sholdred, brood, a thikke knarre; Norton, 545-549. Although he is said to possess extraordinary strength, he is described in a derogatory manner as we read the passage. It seems that he is more of a brawl-initiator than a hero. The man wrestles for the ram, probably a prize awarded at such matches, clearly a peasant pastime. Even initially, it does not seem like we are dealing with a highly sophisticated person here. Actually, the Miller does use his head! I only hope he does so in rare instances for the author mentions that "ther was no dore that he nolde heve of harre, / or breke it at a rennyng with his heed" (Norton, 550-551). There you have it. Our hero engages in heaving doors off their hinges or breaking them down with his head. But do ... ...nded by. The Miller is, in fact, described as the scum of society, but he is necessary scum. Chaucer presents us with the facts of life, and whether we may think they are disgusting or unsuitable to be presented to us in such a blunt manner, they must be told, for they remain an undisputed piece of the Middle-English pie. Sources Abrams, M. H. and Greenblatt, Stephen. eds. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2000. Sumner, Laura. "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell." Smith College Studies in Modern Languages. V, No.4: Mass., 1924. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/CT-prolog-para.html,10/24/00. http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/, 10/24/00. http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/canterbury/,10/24/00. http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/canterbury/tale1.html, 10/24/00.

Macbeth: Kingship

In Shakespeare’s time a King was considered to be god’s representative on earth. He was looked upon as equal to god. Shakespeare’s ideas towards kingship can be seen throughout the play. He shows that a king should be chosen by divine right and shows the character and attributes of what is takes to be a good king. The character of the king was also a matter of importance. If the king was just and good, the state thrived. If the king was unjust, cruel and self motivated, then the state suffered.In Macbeth we see how the kingship, with its potential for good or evil, is a major theme of the play. Macbeth is seen as a hero in the eyes of all, a man worth and significance the saviour of his country, noble and brave: â€Å"Brave Macbeth†, â€Å"Valour’s Minion†. In his first appearance, King Duncan performs two of the basic duties of a king: punishing the bad and rewarding the good. Upon learning of the treachery of Cawdor and the heroism of Macbe th, he says, â€Å"No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interest: go pronounce his present death, / And with his former title greet Macbeth†.The phrase â€Å"bosom interest† means â€Å"vital interests,† but â€Å"bosom† suggests that a relationship of love should exist between a king and his subject. Cawdor, for his treason, is sentenced to death, but Macbeth and Banquo are rewarded for their loyalty. Macbeth is rewarded with the title of the Thane of Cawdor and is showered with the praise and promise of future glory. Therefore, there is much potential for good. The play provides us with a definition of the qualities required for kingship. In the course of his conversation with Macduff, Malcolm lists the ‘king-becoming graces’.Duncan is the lawful king of Scotland, and is portrayed as virtous, strong and just. At the start of the play he has defeated his enemies. Duncan’s murder is greeted with dismay and horror beca use it is attack against God and an attack on the whole notion of order. It is an act of extreme evil and this is reflected in the disorder that results in nature. The world itself is shaken and thrown into confusion by such an evil deed. A good king has been more cruelly murdered: â€Å"most sacrilegious murder†.Desperate and helpless, Macduff arrives in England to see Malcolm, the legitimate successor to Duncan's throne. Malcolm is almost an embodiment of all the positive qualities of kings. He, along with his brother, immediately decides to rely on themselves to preserve their dynasty by leaving Scotland despite the obvious and inevitable suspicion that it raises and their own bereavement. They handle the situation with wisdom and courage, all for the sake of their kingdom. When Malcolm meets Macduff we see more of his wisdom. He adopts the personality of a man who is â€Å"not fit to govern and not even to live.† Malcolm makes sure to not jeopardise his own life an d the welfare of Scotland by â€Å"testing† Macduff. Malcolm, unlike Macbeth, is able to tell appearance from reality in his superiority as king. Macbeth’s reigns regenerates into the bloody tyranny. In order to silence his conscience and ensure his safety, he has Banquo murdered. â€Å"There’s not a one of them but in his house / I keep a servant fee’d†. he seeks information from the instruments of darkness and has Lady Macduff and her children slaughtered to satisfy his blood-lust.The whole state convulses in pain- â€Å"It weeps, its beeps, and each day a gash is added to her wounds†. The main aspects highlighted by Malcolm that are absolutely incompatible with a decent king are lying, voluptuousness and greed. He plans to â€Å"cut the nobles of their land, desire his jewels and this other's house†¦ your wives, your daughters, your matrons and your maids may not fulfil the cistern of my lust. † Satisfied with Macduff's reacti on Malcolm opens up: â€Å"All I am is thyne and mine country to command† and admits that he is not ridden with vices are he pretended.We find out Shakespeare's vision of king-becoming graces: â€Å"Justice, Verity, Temp'rance, Stableness, Bounty, Perseverance, Mercy, Lowliness, Devotion, Patience, Courage, Fortitude† The return of the rightful king is marked by the delight of the army. Nature reacts positively when Malcolm returns. Macbeth, on the contrary, is full of bravado and feels invincible one minute and then left thinking about â€Å"all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death†¦ a poor player that struts and frets his hours upon the stage† as Scotland, Lady Macbeth and his soul are all deteriorating around him.In conclusion, the theme of kingship is well developed in the play, with illustrations of the difference between a noble king and a noble man turned incompetent tyrant and the principles behind kingship. The stability of the state depends on the king. The virtuous king rules over a strong and contented state. True kings like Duncan, Malcolm and Edward are associated with â€Å"renown and grace† because they rule by the grace of God and possess king-becoming graces. On the other hand, Macbeth, the usurper, destroys order and plunges his country into chaos unleashing fear, murder and evil.