The irresponsible cell phone users

The irresponsible cell phone users When a cell phone goes off in a classroom or at a concert, we are irritated, but at least our lives are not endangered. When we are on the road, however, irresponsible cell phone users are more than irritating: They are putting our lives at risk. Many of us have witnessed drivers so distracted by dialing and chatting that they resemble drunk drivers, weaving between lanes, for example, or nearly running down pedestrians in crosswalks. A number of bills to regulate use of cell phones on the road have been introduced in state legislatures, and the time has come to push for their passage. Regulation is needed because drivers using phones are seriously impaired and because laws on negligent and reckless driving are not sufficient to punish offenders. No one can deny that cell phones have caused traffic deaths and injuries. Cell phones were implicated in three fatal accidents in November 1999 alone. Early in November, two-year-old Morgan Pena was killed by a driver distracted by his cell phone. Morgans mother, Patti Pena, reports that the driver â€Å"ran a stop sign at 45 mph, broadsided my vehicle and killed Morgan as she sat in her car seat.† A week later, corrections officer Shannon Smith, who was guarding prisoners by the side of the road, was killed by a woman distracted by a phone call (Besthoff). On Thanksgiving weekend that same month, John and Carole Hall were killed when a Naval Academy midshipman crashed into their parked car. The driver said in court that when he looked up from the cell phone he was dialing, he was three feet from the car and had no time to stop (Stockwell B8). Expert testimony, public opinion, and even cartoons suggest that driving while phoning is dangerous. Frances Bents, an expert on the relation between cell phones and accidents, estimates that between 450 and 1,000 crashes a year have some connection to cell phone use (Layton C9). In a survey published by Farmers Insurance Group, 87% of those polled said that cell phones affect a drivers ability, and 40% reported having close calls with drivers distracted by phones. Scientific research confirms the dangers of using phones while on the road. In 1997 an important study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The authors, Donald Redelmeier and Robert Tibshirani, studied 699 volunteers who made their cell phone bills available in order to confirm the times when they had placed calls. The participants agreed to report any nonfatal collision in which they were involved. By comparing the time of a collision with the phone records, the researchers assessed the dangers of driving whil e phoning. The results are unsettling: We found that using a cellular telephone was associated with a risk of having a motor vehicle collision that was about four times as high as that among the same drivers when they were not using their cellular telephones. This relative risk is similar to the hazard associated with driving with a blood alcohol level at the legal limit. (456) The news media often exaggerated the latter claim (â€Å"similar to† is not â€Å"equal to†); nonetheless, the comparison with drunk driving suggests the extent to which cell phone use while driving can impair judgment. A 1998 study focused on Oklahoma, one of the few states to keep records on fatal accidents involving cell phones. Using police records, John M. Violanti of the Rochester Institute of Technology investigated the relation between traffic fatalities in Oklahoma and the use or presence of a cell phone. He found a ninefold increase in the risk of fatality if a phone was being used and a doubled risk simply when a phone was present in a vehicle (522-23). The latter statistic is interesting, for it suggests that those who carry phones in their cars may tend to be more negligent (or prone to distractions of all kinds) than those who do not. Some groups have argued that state traffic laws make legislation regulating cell phone use unnecessary. Sadly, this is not true. Laws on traffic safety vary from state to state, and drivers distracted by cell phones can get off with light punishment even when they cause fatal accidents. For example, although the midshipman mentioned earlier was charged with vehicular manslaughter for the deaths of John and Carole Hall, the judge was unable to issue a verdict of guilty. Under Maryland law, he could only find the defendant guilty of negligent driving and impose a $500 fine (Layton C1). Such a light sentence is not unusual. The driver who killed Morgan Pena in Pennsylvania received two tickets and a $50 fineand retained his driving privileges (Pena). In Georgia, a young woman distracted by her phone ran down and killed a two year-old; her sentence was ninety days in boot camp and five hundred hours of community service (Ippolito J1). The families of the victims are understandably distre ssed by laws that lead to such light sentences. When certain kinds of driver behavior are shown to be especially dangerous, we wisely draft special laws making them illegal and imposing specific punishments. Running red lights, failing to stop for a school bus, and drunk driving are obvious examples; phoning in a moving vehicle should be no exception. Unlike more general laws covering negligent driving, specific laws leave little ambiguity for law officers and for judges and juries imposing punishments. Such laws have another important benefit: They leave no ambiguity for drivers. Currently, drivers can tease themselves into thinking they are using their car phones responsibly because the definition of â€Å"negligent driving† is vague. As of December 2000, twenty countries were restricting use of cell phones in moving vehicles (Sundeen 8). In the United States, it is highly unlikely that legislation could be passed on the national level, since traffic safety is considered a state and local issue. To date, only a few counties and towns have passed traffic laws restricting cell phone use. For example, in Suffolk County, New York, it is illegal for drivers to use a handheld phone for anything but an emergency call while on the road (Haughney A8). The first town to restrict use of handheld phones was Brooklyn, Ohio (Layton C9). Brooklyn, the first community in the country to pass a seat belt law, has once again shown its concern for traffic safety. Laws passed by counties and towns have had some effect, but it makes more sense to legislate at the state level. Local laws are not likely to have the impact of state laws, and keeping track of a wide variety of local ordinances is confusing for drivers. Even a spokesperson for Verizon Wireless has said that statewide bans are preferable to a â€Å"crazy patchwork quilt of ordinances† (qtd. in Haughney A8). Unfortunately, although a number of bills have been introduced in state legislatures, as of early 2001 no state law seriously restricting use of the phones had passedlargely because of effective lobbying from the wireless industry. Despite the claims of some lobbyists, tough laws regulating phone use can make our roads safer. In Japan, for example, accidents linked to cell phones fell by 75% just a month after the country prohibited using a handheld phone while driving (Haughney A8). Research suggests and common sense tells us that it is not possible to drive an automobile at high speeds, dial numbers, and carry on conversations without significant risks. When such behavior is regulated, obviously our roads will be safer. Because of mounting public awareness of the dangers of drivers distracted by phones, state legislators must begin to take the problem seriously. â€Å"Its definitely an issue that is gaining steam around the country,† says Matt Sundeen of the National Conference of State Legislatures (qtd. in Layton C9). Lon Anderson of the American Automobile Association agrees: â€Å"There is momentum building,† he says, to pass laws (qtd. in Layton C9). The time has come for states to adopt legislation restricting the use of cell phones in moving vehicles.

Was Colonialism Good for Uganda? :: African Africa History

Was Colonialism Good for Uganda? Introduction The past is another country, where it is only possible to go as a tourist, and which we will never fully understand. We can describe what we see, but it is far more difficult to know why people acted in the way they did, or what they believed, and why they believed it. Uganda too is another country, which did not even exist before the white man went there. Even the name reflects the ideas of the first explorers, whose gateway into the new territory was via the Buganda tribe, whom they were later to use as their colonial agents as British rule was extended. Those who 'discovered' Ugandan and the source of the Nile which the first explorers were seeking - men such as Speke and Stanley - and the soldiers and administrators who came after them undoubtedly believed in the superiority of European culture in a way which we today would consider unacceptably racist. Although they were impressed by the sophistication of Bugandan society, they implicitly assumed that Africa was more backward than Europe, that Africans would benefit from exposure to Western standards and practises, and of course from Christianity. To a degree this allowed them either to justify or even to suppress what now looks to be the crude reality that their underlying agenda was the extension of British influence, the promotion of British commerce, and the expansion of the British Empire, all without reference to the actual wishes of the Ugandan people. But then, even in Britain at thattime, democracy was a new idea and many people, including women, still did not have the vo te. Having said that, many Ugandans would today accept that their country had at some stage to be brought into contact with the modern world, and even that they were comparatively lucky in being colonised by the British rather than by, for instance, the Belgians whose brutal rule in the Congo was far crueller than that of the British Protectorate in Uganda. Moreover, the fact that the arrival of the British in Uganda was not accompanied by the theft of African land for white farmers - as it was in Zimbabwe or Kenya - meant that some of the bitterness and resentment felt about European rule in some African countries was not a feature in Uganda. So race relations, even today, are more relaxed in Uganda than in many parts of the Continent.

Are Religion And Science One? :: essays research papers

Is it possible that in our search for some basic reality, we humans may discover that although religion and science have always seemed to be in different places, the conclusion they will ultimately reach will be the same thing? What is God? Energy, Spirit, Universal Consciousness, Singular, Unilateral? According to David Hume, God is not different from the order that exists in the universe1. Training our thoughts along this line, one might doubt the commonly held view that Science and Religion are entirely different and exist at the opposite ends of a spectrum. Science is based on observation. Religion on the other hand makes arguments analytical in nature (like the Ontological Argument by Anslem) and requires some unquestioned faith. In spite of leading us through somewhat different paths, both try to find the basic stuff2. The goal thus in both cases is to determine the constituents of what form the reality. The routes though may not seem similar. In the essay, The Dynamic Universe, Fritjop Capra explores the philosophies on which various eastern religions like Hinduism, Taoism and Buddhism are based upon. He is of the view that the world is conceived in terms of movement, flow and change2. He then cites the examples of sub-atomic physics and the field of galaxies and heavenly bodies. Science studies them as units, which are in a state of constant motion. By doing this, he tries to class Science as well as Religion under the same heading, which is concerned with finding the basic reality. The next question that comes to the forefront then is what is the thing that we are after? What constitutes this reality that we all are in pursuit of? A scientist might call this as the order in the universe or the Energy, which is diffused in the world we live in. Religions like to call this ultimate reality as God. The order that the scientists describe implies a mind working behind it. This entity capable of setting an order in the universe is nothing but what religion defines as God. Science and Religion then appear to be tied up like two versions of the same notion. God, I feel, is the ultimate quest for which both these allegedly opposite views are after. His physical form is not visible to us. But his existence could be argued using aposteriori arguments based on the observation of what is around us.

Festival: Meaning of Life and Festivals Essay

A festival is an event which is celebrated collectively for celebrating a cause. Festivals are mostly celebrated to propagate the cultural heritage of nations. Festivals highlight various aspects of a society. For example people in all around the world celebrate Christmas, New Year, Sports events such as Olymics, Easter, Eid and other religious and cultural events to exhibit their emotions and happiness. Festivals at national level help to promote solidarity and patriotic spirit in the society. Religious festivals all around the world bring convergence and propagate acceptance of all kinds of religions in different geographical segments. International festivals help to increase brotherhood and remove ethnic racism in the world. Owing to the fact that world has become a global village, celebrations of all kinds of festivals in a country improves the overall image of the country and shows the acceptance of cultural diversity in the country. They help keeping alive the older traditions and provide entertainment to the people celebrating events in different parts of the world.All the festivals that we celebrate have some profound meaning in it and they have some pragmatic purpose also. If we take the example of Christmas, we all know that why it is being celebrated but when it comes to the purposes that it serves along with the religious one; primarily it is a psychological one. We all need some days of break in our life from our regular job. Sometimes we take it voluntarily but mass don’t understand the purpose of taking break and it is for these people, the festivals serve better that anybody. They are forced to enjoy life and thus they can improve the quality of their life. There are some other purposes also that a festival serves and usually you will find that people meet each other along with their families and thus improve their social life. So now you can understand the meaning of celebrating a festival and we expect that you will also spread the message celebration the world over.

Children with Down Syndrome Plastic Surgery Essay

Children with Down Syndrome: Plastic Surgery Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children with Down Syndrome share similar characteristics such as its effects on their facial features. The bandwagon of most children protracts such features as extra skin. As a result, these children have an epicanthi fold that is additional skin on their eyelids inner corners. In addition, they have slanted eye openings rather than the horizontal openings, a feature referred to as slant palpebral tissues. Besides, such children have flattened nasal bridge and may also have downturned lower lip and flat mid-facial zone. Notwithstanding, they may have an open mouth with a protruding tongue. Plastic surgery was proposed in the 1970s as a way to reconfigure their children’s facial features to recover from Down Syndrome. Surgery recoveries for this ailment are categorized into facial reconstruction and tongue surgery. The treatment approach has elicited mixed debate on the parenting and parenting rights. This paper argues that parents of children with Down Syndrome should not subject their children to plastic surgery to make them look more conventional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To begin with, interventions to change the body of a child may involve use of medicines, surgery or hormones. Conventionally, such interventions inflicted some physical damage to the children and are generally optional (Ameen & Boby, 2013). The procedures to reshape the body of a child are irreversible, invasive and potentially dangerous. Nonetheless, the fact these decisions are made indifferent to therapy needs differentiates them from similar parental decisions that design the child. Indeed, current laws do not consider the difference in these decisions, and therefore, parents can decide to subject their children to various body shaping. Current laws are indifferent to children body shaping decisions although they raise concerns on child rights, parental rights as well as parent obligations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the U.S.A for instance, it is constitutionally and in common law embalmed that competent adults decide on their personal medical decisions. These decisions go beyond lifesaving treatment, dangerous cosmetic procedures and election treatment. In this regard, children are not considered as competent adults. Ethicists argue that teenagers and young children should decide on their medical procedures. However, the law vests decision making for teenagers and children on their guardians and parents withy limited restrictions. Therefore, legally, parents are free to decide among different alternatives including plastic surgery to reshape their children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously, there is much as stake when parents are allowed to subject their children to plastic surgery even when the children have Down Syndrome. Firstly, plastic surgery inflicts physical harm as it involves piercing and cutting of the skin (Ouellette, 2010). Besides, it may entail removal of organs or tissues as well as injection or anesthetizing with hormones. Consequently, the children stand at a risk of suffering cancer, nerve damage, hypertension, diabetes or death in extreme cases. Notwithstanding, such children are likely to suffer from psychological risks associated with injury to identity and stigma. Still, the piercing, cutting and injecting the tender skin of children constitute child abuse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For ages, plastic surgery was a recipe for austerity and ostensible rich or a requisite recovery treatment for birth deformities and trauma sufferings. However, today, it is an optional cosmetic surgery accessible to people of all economic structures and ages (Ouellette, 2010). In spite of these, this paper is of the opinion that it should be accessible to adults only. For this reason, the researcher does not harbor ill will against plastic surgery for treatment but emphatically reserves it for adults only. Therefore, this is not a grand conceptualization to present a teenage girl for breast implants to rejuvenate her low self esteem. Neither should a teenage boy be subjected to plastic surgery for skin acne scars. Instead, parents should tally for a few more years for them to make these shaping decisions in their adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parents of children with Down Syndrome subject their children to plastic surgery to make them look â€Å"more conventional†. To begin with, â€Å"conventional† is a relative word in Down Syndrome vocabulary because most children tend to take after other members of their family (Ameen & Boby, 2013). Therefore, there is nothing unusual. So, conventional is a term used to brandish children with Down Syndrome by their parents to refer to a â€Å"less embarrassing† look. Note that I do not use any particular term for that purpose. As a result, my son and daughter are my children, period! If they have Down Syndrome, they are not normal, weird, and conventional or anything like that like their elder siblings or not. They are my children, period!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Coincidentally, parents subjecting their children to cosmetic surgery claim unconditional love to their children (Ameen & Boby, 2013). However, they willingly, uninfluenced and independently expose their children to pain and suffering in an effort to throw a cover over their having Down Syndrome. Most of the parents claim to mitigate humiliation, embarrassment and pain from teasing by â€Å"fitting them in†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pardon my dumbness, but I wonder how it helps a kid with learning disabilities learns that his parents were extremely embarrassed and ashamed of their outlook that they would have spent astronomically to reverse the situation (Ameen & Boby, 2013). Equally, I wonder how it helps the child when it is teased at school for being â€Å"unconventional† while the peers cannot tell that the child has Down Syndrome. For this reason, parents of children having Down Syndrome should not subject their children to plastic surgery. They should wait for the children to become of age and make personal decisions. After all, plastic surgery is an irreversible condition. References Ameen, F., & Boby, C. (2013, June 4). Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome. HubPages. Retrieved December 27, 2013, from http://society-parenting.hubpages.com/hub/Parenting-a-Child-with-Down-Syndrome Ouellette, A. (2010). Shaping P arental Authority Over Children ‘ s Bodies. Indiana Law Journal, 85(3), 956-1001. Source document

Gender role Essay

Gender role/expectation that exists in contemporary Japanese society Discuss one gender role or expectation that exists in contemporary Japanese society, please talk about: 1. how/why this role emerged and 2. provide examples of how men and/or women are changing and resisting/subverting this gender role/expectation. In Japan, traditional gender roles are characterised by a strong sense of patriarchy in society, this is a male dominated country with a distinct separation of gender roles. In the family, this refers to the idea that the man is a breadwinner and the woman is a homemaker. At the workplace, there is a strong male dominance in the company hierarchy. Generally, men have more career opportunities, often life-time job and good salary, and women are considered to be temporary employers, expected to stop working after the marriage or childbirth. Working women generally take on non leadership roles, so this reduces the possibility to climb on career steps. Childcare is regarded as the mother’s responsibility and the father’s domestic role is limited in helping to repair something and playing with children on weekends. Wives spend lot of time inside the house, and husbands – outside. Today this situation is a little bit changing, but still, remains the idea that man stands few steps higher than women, especially at work places and at government institutions. Gender roles and attitudes towards these roles among young generation’s couples are changing in a good way – men spend more time with their children, and women have more opportunities in their career, especially in international context. Young people, travelling abroad and then coming back to Japan begin to be more flexible and more elastic in this strict Asian country. They bring new waves, new feelings and new experiences, so it is natural, that little change towards the equality between man and woman is coming also. Then the old generation is less flexible than young Japanese people – attitudes are changing, but their behaviour is not. Nowadays, we can see optimistic alterations, for example, some sociologists claim that with the rising problems faced by the Japanese economy, there have been changes in the structured patterns of gender in both the family and the workplace. Economic recessions in this country have forced many women to enter the labour force in order to increase the level of income. With an increasing number of women in the labour force, the existing gender ratios have been altered favouring increased gender equality. Changes in the family can be seen in the presence of omiai, the traditional arranged marriage. Women are also marrying later, with the average age of first marriage at 28-29 years in 2005, compared to 25 years in 1983. For increasing equality between gender roles, the government began to pass legislation such as a Gender Equality Law, which aimed to set broad new principles for Japanese society. In addition, government legislation such as the Equal Employment Opportunity and Labour Standard Laws were set up to outlaw workplace discrimination and set up a definition for sexual harassment. These laws set the stage for a more equitable treatment of women and served as a positive step towards increased gender equality. (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Japanese_law) Coming back to the discourse about marriage, in modern Japan, under the democratic constitution, marriage is supposed to be based on equal relations between man and woman. Polygamy is prohibited, and Japanese family is formed under the father as a head of household. The contemporary Japanese family, however, is changing rapidly because of lower birth rates, longer life expectancies, an increase in the number of one-person households, and later age at marriage. Globalisation and cheaper travelling has also positive transformations in gender roles and equality. As an example, I would like to tell about one young Japanese couple, I was living in their neighbourhood for 4 months. I have noticed that the wife is not subordinated under her husband, as I have read before in some articles about traditional relations between married couple. During my university classes I have read that traditionally husband and wife are expected to communicate as little as possible here in Japan. This situation is described as a domestic divorce. There is no conversation, communication and sexual relations between a husband and wife, but they do not divorce. Well, now I can say that not all the couples are like that. Wife’s and husband’s roles are changing in positive. This young couple, on my opinion, is really an ideal couple. They were dividing their house keeping roles without any dominating behaviour. I haven’t noticed more power on her or his behaviour. They were acting as a normal, equal couple. Of course, one gender role – mother’s role, is noticeable, and, I think, is still resisting in Japan. Being a good mother sometimes could be even more important than being a good wife or lover. The concept of motherhood in Japan has deep cultural and historical roots, and today’s women still believe in the power of caring their children as well as they can. Another role, man as the main breadwinner of the family, is also resisting. The perception of the man as a main householder is common also in the rest of world, especially in South European countries. On conclusion, we can see that young Japanese families are changing apparently. Men are more and more present in domestic activities and women are more and more able to combine work and house-keeping together. I am sure that now, in the 21st century, the Japanese family is becoming on gender-equality based family! 2 FOLLOWING QUESTIONS Depiction of gender in the Japanese media (advertising/ TV commercials) Researchers and sociologists recently are talking a lot about that the stereotypic portrayals of men and women found in mass media reinforce gender stereotypes in Japanese society. A limited literature and research on Japanese media suggests that gender stereotypes may be present in Japan. Theoretically, we can argue about the existence or not, but practically, it’s true. Stereotypes exist, and fairly strong, especially during the after war period and the past three decades. We can see it on TV, magazines and newspapers. Media is a reflection of mass culture. So it’s normal to see these stereotypes depicted in media. Over the past decade gender stereotyping in television commercials has received particular attention. Some studies have reported either modest (Schneider & Schneider, 1979) or substantial decrements (Bretl and Cantor, 1988; Ferrente et al. , 1988) in stereotyping while others have found no significant changes in the portrayals of men and women over time (Lovdal, 1989; Maklin & Kolbe 1984). Of course, there is always big difference between woman and man, their role in society, work and family has different meanings and different approaches. For example, „boys are encouraged to be aggressive, become leaders, engage in sports, and grow into ‘macho’ men. Research by Sobieraj, 1998 (Children Now, Images of Men and Boys in Advertising, Spring, 2000), found in advertising for toys that these showed boys as â€Å"strong, independent, athletic, in control of their environments, adventurous, and aggressive. Girls are shown as giggling, gentle, affectionate, fixated on their physical appearance, and extremely well behaved. a (http://www. directessays. com/viewpaper/79101. html) I have watched some advertisements in TV, and noticed that women in these commercials are more likely to be young, beautiful, dependents, in the home and users of the products. They also are recommending some products without specific explanation how to use it or without the support of factual arguments (Men are better in to weigh in with an argument, I think). Men, on the other hand, are older, often â€Å"salarymen†, somewhere outside of the home and authorities on the products. They are also often explaining why the products are good and recommending items soundly. Even though some stereotypes about the presentation of gender in commercials persist (for setting, product type, voice-over), the recent study found an equal number of males and females appearing as primary characters in commercials during prime time. („Changing Gender Roles in Prime-Time Commercials in Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, and the United Statesa, Mary Jiang Bresnahan, Yasuhiro Inoue, Wen Ying Liu and Tsukasa Nishida). Talking about gender stereotypes in Japanese media, maybe somebody would talk about women position and how this position is objectified. Of course, Japanese women in past few decades felt discriminated politically and economically. This unsafeness made them feel weaker, and maybe unappreciated. But we can also see it from the opposite side. We can think about how men are objectified. Especially, how the male ideal in Japanese media is becoming closer and closer to a woman (as I have mentioned about it in past sociology papers). Recent studies talk about some changes of stereotypic portrayals of men and women and also are investigating changes in gender stereotyping over time. As example, in one online magazine we can find that „although some indigenous gender stereotyping was evident, several traits previously associated with Japanese women (devoted, obliging, rattle-brained, superstitious) were associated with men. Also, men were not linked with certain stereotypical male traits (autocratic, blustery, forgiving, generous, and severe). (http://www. jstor. org/pss/4189063). Other findings included women being shown in a positive way as often as men. This means that women are represented almost in the same way as men, for example, if advertisement is promoting a high-price product, there is an equal number of man and women shown in commercials. Otherwise, it is evident that gender, sex and advertising are „workinga for only one purpose- to make people desire specific product and to buy it.   

The Globalization/Consumption of Digital Media

University of Maryland University College-Adelphi University of Maryland University College-Adelphi By: Joshua A. Hood Instructor: Professor Robert T. Zornes Course: CMST 301 Paper Title: Globalization of Digital Media By: Joshua A. Hood Instructor: Professor Robert T. Zornes Course: CMST 301 Paper Title: Globalization of Digital Media Research ProjectProject 3 Research ProjectProject 3 Globalization of Digital Media Outline: 1. Introduction. 2. Think globally. 3. Rapid sharing. 4. Interactivity (changing the game) a. Web 1. 0 (convenience) b. Digital media defined c. Evolution of the Internet . Graph 5. Mobile digital media. e. Graph f. Iphone and Steve Jobs 6. Metaphorical summary relating to the inevitability of the evolution of digital media (and education) g. Recognizing power. 7. Education with digital media h. Comparison of differing educations 8. Globalization i. Globalization does not only include digital media 9. Globalization of digital media = powerhouse 10. Downloading. j. Consumption of digital media k. P2P (Peer to Peer) l. Digital media ethics? 11. Music industry/cinema m. Digital media creates musicians, literally. n. Myspace o. Adam Young (Owl City) i.Singer/songwriter thanks to digital media. 12. Refresh: What exactly has digital media done for us? p. Information availability q. Creates contributing members of society r. Creates scholars s. Creates new disciplines, academics. t. Information on burst! 13. Webisodes u. A young tool in the digital media world. v. Proposed outlet for successful cinema. 14. Social networking=shortened gap between nations. w. Purpose of Facebook/Twitter x. Business/networking y. Mark Schaefer; author of Tao of Twitter ii. Tweeting/retweeting iii. Twitter is unique. Why? z. Dell; the pioneer of social networking v. Cory Edwards v. â€Å"Dell Outlet Feed† via Twitter vi. Advantages/disadvantages through customer reviews {. Colorado shootings via Twitter. ————-Body——â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œGlobalization of Digital Media——————– I would like to base my final project on a very simple article that –if read in depth and understood correctly, –publically announces the influence that digital media has on our modern world. My topic on the other hand –not the article, more like the idea behind the article –focuses on global digital media. It focuses on humanity’s horizons, expanding through digital media.Subtopics discussed include: education, brick and mortar commerce, E-commerce, music, cinema, shared â€Å"common† culture from every corner of the globe (shared in a matter of seconds), education and the effects of the availability of education (in a global aspect) to the common man and the not-so-common man and lastly, social networking with its massive influence on digital media consumption. All of these topics relate to one another. They all contribute to the globalizati on of digital media. A main article I am basing my personal opinion off of can be found here: http://media. ezinemark. om/evolution-of-digital-media-an-incredible-advancement-511ee16da73. html Think globally. Even though Digital media began locally. From the television (and its mass development immediately after its invention) to the common simple radio, communication has only been moving up in the technological world. Here is an interesting fact. â€Å"The television took 13 years to reach 50 million viewers, Facebook added 100 million viewers in 9 months. † (Hopkinson, 2009) Is this a miracle? Or just excellent progress? So, along with the development of the television, also came the development of the ever growing rapid sharing of information.As you can see, Facebook’s growth rate is on a completely different level of expansion compared to the old days, when the Television was the â€Å"next big thing†. What changed the game for digital media? I would have to notice the advantages sprouting from an interactive interface system. Designed to be controlled by the user and their own interest, in the â€Å"Web. 1† days, interactivity was a game changer. It still is today. Back in the early 90’s, choosing what interested you online was a big deal. Users could view what they wanted, and when they wanted. Interactivity created a very personal experience.Today, I see interactivity focusing on convenience. Convenience seems to be the key with todays big sellers like Apple, Microsoft, Sony and more. Applications or â€Å"Apps† are always selling like wildfire. This is just me, but I made a keen observation on price free apps being in more abundance than apps that must be purchased. I wonder why that is? Where did it all start? Well, to answer this question we must ask ourselves another question. What is the purest definition of digital media? There is some debate to its actual meaning. I pulled the exact definition from the on line portal for my CMST 301 class.In the week 1, terms and concepts section, it is stated that: â€Å"The term â€Å"digital media† is often used unilaterally to describe any â€Å"online† content but ultimately includes digital transmittable text, graphics, audio, or video content. † –UMUC Webtycho portal I will provide a similar definition, so that readers without access to UMUC’s Webtycho portal may have a quick reference to the definition. According to Microsoft. com (who hasn’t heard of Microsoft? ), this is the definition of Digital Media: â€Å"Digital media refers to audio, video, and photo content that has been encoded (digitally compressed). †So now that we understand just what exactly digital media is. Lets dig deeper to get a better sense of understanding, regarding the evolution of the Internet (digital media), its global influence and how a globalization of digital media will ultimately enhance an already interconnected world. The Internet was not meant to stay the same. It was meant to grow and evolve. I believe what started the dramatic change in Internet experience from the early days, was the interactivity. Like stated before, interactivity was the game changer. Take this image for example. I included this image just to remind you of where digital media came from. In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. † – Eric Hoffer â€Å"In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. † – Eric Hoffer Digital media is always changing. I see it as a way of life. If you read the quotation above, you will see what I mean. If you do not adapt to new ways of this innovative and technologically advanced world, then you will be dealing with a world that doesn’t exist.However, of co urse it may exist in your own mind, making you what the young kids these days call â€Å"old school†. And there is nothing wrong with being â€Å"old school†; my parents are a bit old school themselves! And I still love them both regardless of their unwillingness to purchase an I-pad instead of a palm pilot. Yes, palm pilots are still made. Humorous. Get an Ipad, Dad. To clarify how important interactivity is to the digital media world, take a look at the graph below. I pulled this from http://www. threeminds. organic. com.It gives us a visual of just how committed companies have become to the concept of customer interactivity. If you check out the percentages on the right side of the table graphic, you will see CAGR. CAGR is an acronym for Compound Annual Growth Rate. This is the most important aspect of this table. It sums up specifically the amount of increases in financial spending, for different branches of the Internet. Not surprisingly, Social media had the high est percentage increase of 34%. Which is why I chose to near my conclusion with social networking. Source: Forrester’s Interactive Advertising Models, 4/09 and 10/08 (US only)With mobile marketing following behind just 7%, social media continued to have the highest increase in spending from 2009 to present, and predicted to hold the same pattern in the future (2014). However, another graph I pulled from the same website shows the growth of mobile media and browsing audiences. News, information and entertainment are also included when discussing â€Å"Mobile Phone Owners†. â€Å"Clearly, the days when parents admonished their kids to use cell phones only for emergencies are over. † * Ben Rogers Cell phones are a huge part of the globalization of digital media. Really I see Apple as a pioneer for the cell phone.Steve Jobs summed it up when he said â€Å"An iPod, a phone, an Internet mobile communicator†¦ these are NOT three separate devices! And we are calli ng it iPhone! Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. And here it is. † Whatever kind of phone you may have, know that these devices are stealthily taking over our lives. Cellphones, smartphones, mobile phones, and my dad still calls his smart phone a â€Å"Telephone†. For some reason this word â€Å"telephone† is beginning to sound foreign, maybe it’s just me. I only hear that word when talking to older generations. Many households these days don’t even have land line phones.What do you think they use? You guessed it. Smart phones, pre paid cellphones and etc. It’s not even the actual phone calling from phone to phone; it’s the usage of mobile data, applications, email, music and shopping applications that cause smart phones to be more and more popular. We cannot stop the inevitable. We cannot stop the globalization of digital media, no matter what form it may be. We cannot stop the tide. Its basic knowledge to know that any form of progression towards convenience will lead to the popularity of that specific convenience, being smartphones, or whatever form of digital media you happen to be utilizing.There is a story popular in Australia. I believe it directly relates to the subject of fighting what is inevitable. The story goes like this. A King by the name of Canut, attempted to stop an incoming ocean tide. The more educated members of his audience knew that Canute was demonstrating to his followers that neither his royal authority nor his ferocious fighting skills would ever control the power and laws of the great Mother Nature. He demonstrated that you couldn’t stop what is inevitable, what is meant to happen.We cannot fight its growth, its much better to work with it and use it to our advantage, rather than try to remain in a â€Å"traditional† stance and continue to argue over the true meaning of education. So in all the confusion between different types of education, modern, traditional, ivy league, public, military, cultural, life lessons and etc. We must ask ourselves. What is the solid, finite definition of education? Is there one such meaning? I say no. I say this because; education is such a broad term.To help us understand what education is, check out the definition from http://businessdictionary. com: â€Å"The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something. Education requires instruction of some sort from an individual or composed literature. The most common forms of education result from years of schooling that incorporates studies of a variety of subjects. † –www. businessdictionary. com Now, I recall viewing a national geographic documentary a few years back.It discussed the different types of people with different types of intelligence. The national geographic researchers really focused on the comparison between a NASA rocket sci entist and a Sherpa. You can imagine the amount of graduate/masters programs a NASA rocket scientist would have to achieve, before being employed as a rocket scientist. Could you imagine the amount of experience needed to be a certified Sherpa? A Sherpa is a member of a Himalayan people living on the borders of Nepal and Tibet. They are known worldwide for their skills in mountaineering.Both the individuals were very educated in their respective environments, however if they were to switch places, they would be fall into the category of confused and lost. The ties between education and digital media are intertwined within the threads. Don’t forget that the globalization of digital media does not only include education. I am fascinated by education; this may make me lean towards research regarding education intertwined with digital media, rather than the other numerous aspects of digital media. The Internet really is as diverse as the world itself.With that in mind, let me ask this question. Is it not understood that globally, digital media is the #1 powerhouse. Take entertainment for example. The music and movie industry both benefit (and not so much) from digital media. Of course and up to date person knows that music and movies are easily downloadable through peer to peer (P2P) programs online, such as UTorrent or Bearshare. com. There are so many examples out illegally downloading content out there, this gets more into the ethics of digital media, so lets not get to in depth with this.That is a totally different subject in and of itself. The music industry/cinema industries have gained an innumerable amount of advertising space through digital media. Skilled programmers have created interactive tools online and offline. These programmers have actually given birth to an entirely new genre of music called â€Å"dub step† or modern â€Å"Techno† music. This is just a theory of mine, so please don’t go out of your way to prove me wro ng, unless of course you feel inclined to do so. Constructive criticism is always helpful if taken the right way.Musicians such as Adam Young, more commonly known to the electronica listeners as â€Å"Owl City†. He is a singer and songwriter. In the beginning he did not play the guitar, he was just getting into the keyboard. His instrument of choice during the early stages of his career was his computer and its digital media capabilities. He used programs such as â€Å"Garage Band† on his MacBook, which was incorporated into Apples computer devices in 2006. He used programs online, which were created for interactivity with beats and the incorporation of pieces of musical work from numerous guitarists, pianists and percussionists.His music mainly become known at first through the social networking website known as Myspace. com. Many musicians who become well known in 2007 and after became known through social networking sites. This is just a sample from a musician which most of you probably have not heard of (if you have, I apologize for judging my audience! ) Not only did it influence the creation of an entirely new musical genre, it created a new type of television dubbed â€Å"Webisodes†. This gets more into the cinematic part of digital media, rather than music and education.I remember seeing my first webisode. They were mini episodes composed of small time actors from the show we all know as â€Å"Scrubs†. I believed it originally aired on HBO in 2007. The webisodes were the first of many. Today the more popular show â€Å"The Walking Dead† has its own webisodes. I don’t watch them; research simply showed me they exist. Another discovery here, digital media has created its own vocabulary. I just stumbled upon one right now. The term â€Å"webisode† is not recognized on Microsoft word. It tries to correct the term to â€Å"episode†.Here is an actual definition of the term. â€Å"A Webisode is a single push technology episode. A Webisode can be a preview or promotion of a particular TV show, music video, or other show presented from a Web site using streaming video or other techniques. Some sites are dedicated to presenting Webisodes. † (Rouse, 2005). This is just another minute example of digital media is changing things everywhere. Throughout this class, I have really focused on the social networking aspect of digital media. I did this because I use social networking everyday. I use digital media everyday.With that, I would like to end this research paper with a short focus on social networking, including examples of how social networking has changed the world already, and how it triumphs the consumption of digital media, ultimately resulting in the globalization of digital media. Today, almost everyone, young or old, has some type of social network account. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, serve other purposes than that of keeping in touch with loved ones. I n terms of business and networking, they are being used by countless businesses, ranging from a small business to large companies such as Dell.There has been much praise and of course, criticism for using social media. When starting a small business, Mark Schaefer, author of Tao of Twitter, suggests using Twitter to help jumpstart one’s business if they, themselves think personal networking would be beneficial for it. In his book, he dedicates an entire chapter on searching for people who are pertinent in helping one build a business. He mentioned that one could use features on Twitter, like the â€Å"Retweet† option, to assist in getting some recognition. To â€Å"retweet† something on Twitter means to merely re-share or spread something that someone else posted. Retweeting† someone else’s tweet is somewhat a compliment for them. It’s as if you are telling them that are in agreement with what they say or you’re simply telling them â⠂¬Å"Good job†. Personal note, I see this as an attempt by twitter to distinguish itself as different from Facebook, making it more unique. What Schaefer also mentioned was that one can also manage the people who follow him and what they say by arranging them in lists on Twitter. This is to organize and efficiently manage the groups that are associated with his business.Organizing business-related groups in this fashion makes it much easier to interact with those people and network. Large companies can and have benefited from using Twitter and the like. Dell was actually among the first to use social media. Dell’s social director, Cory Edwards, stated that the key to being successful in using these networks is to be attentive towards what the customers are saying and prove to them that you are listening to their feedback. Dell uses social media to obtain feedback from their customers on the quality of their products and to get any suggestions on how to improve them.They have been so successful in doing so that sales have increased significantly via their DellOutlet feed on Twitter. And mentioned earlier, some criticism comes along with the praises. Dell actually utilizes the criticism and uses it to their advantage. For the past few years, they have invited ten critics and ten enthusiasts to talk about the products and what they disliked and liked, respectively. Finally, after that event, Dell would do a follow-up and would inform those 20 people on how their opinions changed them. In addition to using social networks for business, it has also displayed some otential promise spreading the news in the most immediate manner. Because we live in a world where almost all of us are â€Å"glued† to our smart phones/ Iphones, it is convenient to use these devices when informing the public when tragedy strikes. For example, when the Colorado shootings occurred last summer, a 31-year-old woman logged on her Facebook to check her brother’s page. He was supposed to attend the Batman showing. She saw his status, which stated that he didn’t attend the Batman showing, giving her some relief. Many other stories, similar to this, were posted on Facebook and Twitter, but in somewhat different ways.With Facebook, it’s mainly family and friends who view your profile (unless your profile is public or you accept anyone who sends you a friend request). With Twitter, you obtain news from loved ones and from everywhere else in the world because of â€Å"trending topics† that are displayed. In regards to the Colorado shooting, the American Red Cross also tweeted on Twitter advising people in the theater to let their loved ones know that they are safe. Social media networks are, without a doubt, the fastest and most convenient way to update family and friends in times of tragedy.Digital media has touched so many different aspects of our lives. It shares information. It creates musicians. It creates scholars. It shares information from one side of the globe to the other. It communicates like a machine gun on burst. Much like King Canute, I recognize power when I see it. Digital media is one powerful beast. Embrace it, so we may reach our full potential, and thrive in this world of inevitable evolution thanks to digital media. Sources Cited Mathers, L. (2010, 07). Evolution of digital media- an incredible advancement. Free content article directory.Retrieved 03, 2013, from http://media. ezinemark. com/evolution-of-digital-media-an-incredible-advancement-511ee16da73. html Hopkinson, R. (2009, 10). A brief history of digital media. Three minds. Retrieved 03, 2013, from http://threeminds. organic. com/2009/10/a_brief_history_of_digital. html Alexander, A. (2012, 02). Top 15 cell phone and smartphone quotes of all time. Technology, tutorials, social media and infographics. Retrieved 03, 2013, from http://ansonalex. com/technology/top-15-cellphone-smartphone-and-mobile-quotes-of-all-time/ Ryan, Y. 1998 ). Time and tide: teaching and learning online. 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