Perspectives in Human Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Perspectives in Human - Research Paper Example Values are a part of our lives (Heker, 1994). I can describe myself according to the following values which are: hard working, result oriented, punctual, impartial, open-minded, critical and rational. My list is inexhaustible but these are my strongest values. Before this semester, the most important values were being critical, hard working and being results-oriented. This however changed after I started this semester as I discovered new values which have proven to be of great benefit in determining my personality. Presently, I have endorsed the values of punctuality, impartiality, open-mindedness and rationality. These values have helped me to be open to new ideas and opportunities as change is always inevitable for a student. These values have helped me to gain more clarity and focus on setting my priorities right. My experience in this semester has changed my values in a positive way. These values have helped me to have a clear definition of my goals. I have been able to decide th e goals which are of most importance to me and consequently prioritize them according to the most significant. This process has enabled me to divert my energies towards my targets. Upon the achievement of my goals, I have been able to come up with new goals and try to accommodate them to my list of values (Ehrenreich, 2011). Knowledge has been defined as power but the main value of knowledge is brought out through the use of it. Knowledge is a compilation of facts. When we value knowledge, we draw near it with honest uncertainty. The main importance of knowing our values is to have a better clarity and focus to enable us to make reliable decisions and take a devoted action. The essence of knowledge of our values is to improve our results that are of most importance to an individual. This knowledge has enabled me to know and cherish myself and gain familiarity with my strengths and weaknesses. It has also helped me to use my strengths to assist others and to improve on my weaknesses (Heker, 1994). Our influence to others is of great importance as we knowingly or unknowingly influence others positively or negatively. Despite this, we should strive for the ultimate good by being an encouragement and inspiring them and this will help in making our world an improved place. Knowledge has made me to realize that everyone can make a contribution whether major or minor to the world that we live in by using some of the values like being kind and tender hearted. Based on the knowledge that I have, I should value myself, my passion and compassion, kindness, time, knowledge and mentoring. My actions should be focused on achievement of my goals. My actions should be almost be like a replica of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has the ability to distinguish and embrace life’s happiness and face its cruelties and desolation. This will require one to have values like being strong, visionary and courageous enough to be able to persist life’s challenges as we live in di fficult times (Loeb, 2004). This will be possible through the orientation of the heart by embracing the value of hope. Hope is the power of the human being spirit to prevail in challenging times. Despite this, we must never forget the importance of courage. Courage helps us to prevail over the fear that pushes us away from each other and enable us to stand for our beliefs because if we ignore it while faced with injustice, cruelty and oppression, we are sacrificing a

The Rise of Mass Communications HW Research Paper

The Rise of Mass Communications HW - Research Paper Example With the technology that we have at our disposal now, one would expect that the start of the 20th century would have been technologically quite prosperous. But as far as mass communication media are concerned, the only mass communication medium available was newspapers (Unknown, 2000-2010). The telegram and telephone were also present at that time, which were very powerful supplements to newspapers by providing ways to send information across huge distances, instantly (Bellis, 2011). Still, newspapers were the only source of mass communication. So, the 20th century has seen the advent of many technological advances, and with them, there have been numerous revolutions in the ways through which businesses, governments and public figures have employed, and at times exploited, mass media for their agendas. Radio was the first of the communication media inventions in the 20th century, invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901. Radio, combined with telegraphy, was one of the most excessively u sed tools (Unknown, 2000-2010), specially at the time of war. It was extensively used as a tool of propaganda during WWI and WWII. Also, political leaders fighting for freedom from colonial rule used this as a tool of spreading their word and getting people united under the same banner, such as in the subcontinent. Radio has also been used extensively for advertisement and information broadcasting since the advent of Amplitude Modulation Radio and Frequency Modulation Radio. Television was the next major invention in the field of communication, and its global outreach opened up new paradigms of media usage. It has proven to be the push required to spread businesses across continents by providing them the platform to advertise to global markets and extend their reach e.g. global brands, like McDonalds (McDonald’s, 2010; Stanley, 2010), have relied heavily on television for going global. With reach comes the power to influence further, and that made television a more powerful p ropaganda tool. The notion of sitting in a person’s home, in front of them, and talking to them with words and actions, has been exploited time and again by public figures and political leaders to lure public into believing what they want them to believe. The false propaganda going on against Islam in recent times, showing it as a cruel and inhumane religion, has been at the heart of building animosity between people and gaining support for oppressive attacks against Muslims (Bleher, 2000). The 20th century has had many technological marvels, but nothing has been as miraculous as computer and internet. This finally provides a medium for not only transmitting your message like the television or newspapers, but also getting feedback on it instantly through dialogues, understanding different cultures and building as well as professing views. Free information access through internet means that companies strive and pay more and more to fill the computer screens of potential custom ers. But, the most powerful use of internet is e-business, which needs virtually no investment, and thus no chance of a monetary loss. Companies like Amazon and others have become global internet brands and almost every company pitches its products to millions of customers, everyday through websites (Newell and Budge, 2011). The bigger they are, the bigger they are; internet has been the source of most conspiracies and

Cross Cultural Studies Essay Example for Free

Cross Cultural Studies Essay Beauty, is anything that appeals, and is incorporated in current fads and trends of the area. Its features drastically vary across the globe where antagonizing manners are adopted. Obesity is such an example, where in the west, obesity is shunned, and admonished, and on the contrary, in the African countries, obesity lures and is considered to be a blessing, exhibiting richness. Beauty may be skin deep, but there are cases when such becomes a paradox. Obesity is not just about the weight, or the physical and genetic rationalities we can derive from it. Obesity can also be derived from its psychological roots. What is obesity and how it affects the reputation, personality, or even the attitude towards it varies across cultures as mentioned earlier. In this paper, obesity is seen as good and wanted physiological trait, compared with as a social cancer plaguing the health in most Western countries. RESEARCH FINDINGS Norimitsu Onish (2001), in his article entitled, ‘On the scale of Beauty, weight weights heavily’, has explained in a formidable manner the craze obesity has amongst teenage girls in Nigeria. He has depicted the ways ladies will employ to go beyond their means so as to become fat, and conducts market surveys determining which types of steroids, pills or chemicals they would use. The paper explains how obese women are idealized and looked up onto. Onish indicates that women would tend to consume harmful chemical to gain fatty tissues, and have become so obsessed with becoming fat, that they would go to ‘fattening farms’ and get massaged weeks before their weddings. Likewise, some of the poorer women would consume animal feed in order to get fat and become attractive, as they cannot afford the rich foods. Historically, fleshy African women were considered well endowed financially, because they can afford food, are healthy and fertile. Women in African culture are revered to as the food provider, the one who plants and supplies food in the community. A fleshy African woman connotes someone from an affluent family or perhaps a potential good provider for her family. The heavy African woman was valued and held in high esteem. However, it is important to note that African women labored diligently, working sun up to sun down, and their laborious tasks were not conducive to being big. The arduous work kept African women basically on the thin side (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). STRATIFICATION: Stratification is an integral part of a community and society that occurs due to a division in the classes which is determined by the economic situation of the household or community. This horizontal stratum is also prevalent among some countries which have a male dominant society, on the pretext of religion. This has been depicted in Onish’s article, where obese women are a status symbol, exhibiting their resources, and that they belong to well to do families, compromising their health in this way. A very good example is quoted explaining how a girl since the age of 11 years, was forced to become obese on the pretext of getting a ‘good match’, and now she suffers from hip dislocation, and bone disorders, as it has become difficult to carry herself around. Culturally, being large was not customary. In the African view, women who are fleshy, had hips, and a voluptuous body are the women to marry. Body size was also perceived to make them excellent mothers. African women who are large have more adipose tissue, and were perceived to carry a fetus to full term and suspend for some time the effects of starvation should there be scarcity of food (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In a class lecture by Mead back in 1974, culture was defined as the transmission of values and behaviors and concepts. It is the way one eats, the way one walks, and the way one raises a child. In Africa, the cultural level was subtle for little girls to learn that African men and families values large women and was highly acceptable. But being voluptuous was deemed in a different way when slaves were transported to the new world. African women then were viewed and even designated to be breeders and has a duty to give birth as many times as her owner wants to. Alex Haley documented this in his book by relating how large African women beats slave children and hands them to a slave owner as a sexual prize (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In another article, ‘Culture: A sociological view’, Becker (Becker, 1982) explains the significance of culture in a society and how it is regularly modified in order to meet the modern fashion and fad. Culture is being regularly changed, and newer versions of principles and practices are adopted. Likewise, stratification in terms of race and gender is also now being diluted, as a sense of equality is prevalent within most of the societies across the globe. A society is organized by its cultural values, which is the essence to its development, and thus although newer concepts are adopted, older principles should not be ignored and should be passed onto generations in order to preserve a society’s cultural heritage. The gradual changes in society together with the culture in which one grows takes generations. There are a few and core cultural traits which are passed on from one generation to another, preserved in families, despite the many changes that are constantly happening. In the sociological context, this also reflects how society influences the individual’s views and perceptions with the many changes happening around him/her. At some point, the person knows what his culture is inherently, but also adjusts to fit in and cope up with the many cultural changes in our societies. CROSS CULTURAL STUDIES: Cross cultural studies was a very interesting subject that depicts the various anthropologies around the globe. The primary essence in this study is an element of tolerance which various ethnic groups have to incur so as to accommodate and intermingle with various cultural set ups. A united stand in which people from entirely different cultures will team up and constructive serve towards the progress and development of a society is prevalent in most countries. A good example is depicted by the people of Malaysia, in which various ethnic groups coexist and play their respective roles in order to make Malaysia one of the most rapidly developed nation in the past decade, and it is now a role model for others to follow. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism coexist and temples are built right next to mosques and churches, where people go shoulder to shoulder to preach in tolerance and harmony. The same can be derived when slaves where transported to the New World. As African women became sexual prizes to their owners, some Westerner has fathered a child, and bore an African-American child. In the existing culture, being thin is in. Bulimia and anorexia has become an epidemic amongst teens and younger women because of the images of thin women being cultivated in the new society. The cross cultural examination between how women in Africa in comparison with African-American women view obesity is different and is a reflection of how views and perception change over time and across cultures. CONCLUSION: Culture differ across the globe, meeting the geographical requirements of a region, these can vary and be contrary, like the case of obesity, which is endeavored by some, and admonished by other societies, like the westerners. Likewise, cultural set ups are modified and changed in order to meet modern day requirements, and simultaneously maintaining and preserving the ancient cultural values that have been passed on. Similarly, cross cultural set ups also do exist, and various ethnic groups coexist and serve proactively for the development and progress of nations, thus exhibiting discipline, unity and tolerance. REFERENCES: Becker H. (1982) Culture: A Sociological View, Yale Review, September 2, , 71:513-527 Johnson, R. W. and Broadnax, P. A (2003). A perspective on obesity analysis of trend of obesity in African-American women. ABNF Journal. Onish N. (2001) Maradi Journal: On the Scale of Beauty, Weight Weighs Heavily New York Times dated Feb 12

The Day Of The Dead In Mexico

The Day Of The Dead In Mexico Every Mexican is closely acquainted with death, jokes about it, caresses for it, sleeps with it, celebrates it, said the Mexican poet Octavio Paz (Kuhn. 2006). Day of the Dead (Spanish: Dà ­a de los Muertos) is a holiday, festival which is dedicated to the memory of the dead people, and is held on the 1st -2nd of November in Mexico. There is a belief that the souls of dead people come to their relatives` homes these days (Williams, 1998). The origin of the holiday goes back to the tribes of Maya, Purà ©pech, Naun and Totonac. These people had been praising the dead during more than 3 thousand of years. The Aztecs considered that the death was more important than the life. The life was worth of nothing, and they believed that leaving, a man was going through the nine lower worlds in Miktlan, which is the shelter of the dead people. No matter how people lived, it is important how they were dying; it influenced their fate in the netherworld. It is also said that the Day of the Dead was brought to Mexico by Spanish people. But the Catholic Church is not able to eradicate pagan holidays till the end. Day of the Dead is a dangerous mix of Christian traditions of the conquerors and the ancient Aztec customs. Talking about the history of this holiday, it is necessary to mention that the life for the inhabitants of ancient Mexico was just a moment. Death was waking dreams in the present, in order to enter the world of the dead and appear in front of the other gods, depending on the type of case, which took away their lives. Those who have been sacrificed or died in a result of the war, went to the sun after death, the same fate awaited the women who died, giving life to the child. Those who have drowned found themselves in paradise (Smith, 2005). The souls of the dead children were regarded as precious, thats why they stayed in the house; the soul that was not chosen by God was left in the underworld. In order to help souls to travel from this world into the world of the dead, without delay, people who died were buried or burned, along with things, food, a dog as a companion and water for the road. In the sixteenth century, when the conquest and colonization began, the widespread dissemination of the Catholic religion also started. People were afraid of death and hell that time. But in the eighteenth century, two types of attitude toward death were intertwined in a single cult. Skeletons and bones appeared again, but with a festive and the comic mood, in addition, the Catholic symbols appeared in the local crafts and foods. Now it is a popular holiday, which involves all segments of society. It is believed, the souls of the dead people return to the world of alive in order once again to see their families for two days. Houses in these days look like the crypts, but the graves are decorated with flowers and ribbons, and all the relatives and friends come to honor the memory of dead people. And in order their souls which are returning to earth in the form of butterflies or hummingbirds dont get lost, candles are lit everywhere, pointing them the way home (Verti, 1993). The holiday gathers the friends and family together in order to remember and pray for those have already died. The cult of the dead was very important for Indian tribes, which are why nowadays ceremonies, rituals and traditions come from that time. One of the mysteries of the holiday is the altar, which is traditionally built on October 31. The Aztecs believed that the dead are returning home in order to take the necessary things for the journey to the world of the dead: el Mictlon. Now to build the altar is an unusual way to show the deceased relatives, friends, that they are remembered and loved. Each component of the altar has a special meaning. The altar stands on a table covered with an embroidered cloth. The most important component is the bread which has the shape of the human body and has the name of the deceased. The bread is surrounded by orange flowers of calendula, symbolizing the sadness. Candles should be burning around the altar (each of them gets the name of the deceased). In some homes the road from the entrance door to the altar is sprinkled with petals of calendula, in order the deceased not to get lost. On the 1st of November Mexicans go out, meet friends, and then have dinner at home, telling funny stories. Usual altar, which Mexicans have on The Day of Dead has such things as: calaveras, fruit, nuts, candles, bread of dead, alcohol, cigarettes, papel picada (perforated paper) and a lot of petals of flowers (Conklin, 2001). And on the 2nd of November people bring rice with milk, sweets, tequila, cigarettes and coffee to altar. The bottom of the altar is decorated with pumpkins and rolls of various shapes and colors. Sometimes the part of the altar, is carried to the grave of the deceasedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ decorating tracks of cemetery with candles. In those days, people treat each other on behalf of the deceased, in the hope that in the future the deceased will help in a difficult moment. The first day of the holiday is called Dà ­a de los Angelitos (Day of angels) and is dedicated to the commemoration of little children. For adults is meant to be the second day; which is in fact, the Day of the Dead. All major events and celebrations are on the second day. It is the day when street marches, especially in small towns and villages are arranged. The way of the celebration can be very different: in some areas of the country the residents organize sad solemn torch procession, the type of funeral, while others prefer the burlesque fun, bright colors, dances and songs. Usually people dress up as skeletons and at night the whole country under the light of torches rushes to the graves of relatives, taking traditional tequila, favorite food of the deceased and sugar skulls with the names of dead people on forehead. In the night, it looks like a fiery river flows in the direction of the cemetery. At cemeteries people drink, eat, and dance (Greenleigh, 1998). On the Day of the Dead it is common to write humorous epitaphs and draw caricatures of the deceased. Thus, during the holiday people can buy sugar and chocolate skulls of all sizes, marzipan coffins, skeletons and marmalade in every shop. Women bake cakes and donuts with the pattern of bones, the crosses of the dough, and other decorations for the altar, for the picnic at the cemetery. The Day of the Dead is the most popular holiday in Mexico. Mexicans` attitude to the death is not usual; it is not tragic, but joyous day for meeting with those who were dear for them. It is not a tragic holiday, but triumphant festival, with the colorful costumed procession and the music. This holiday is so significant, unusual, and colorful, that in 2003, it was declared the heritage of mankind by UNESCO (Kuhn, 2006). It is very beautiful and interesting to walk at Mexican cemetery at the Day of Dead. Every grave is a peace of art, which can form an idea about the dead person: whether he was a carpenter, or a watchmakerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ There is a small building at every cemetery, which looks like a room with a hole in the ceiling. This is a special place which people use in order to talk to dead people. If someone has something important to tell to the dead people, he can go into this room and whisper his important information. And if the teller is sincere, then he will be always heard by the deceased person. There is a need to say that while celebration, people cook sweets in the form of skulls, make special figurines of dressed female skeletons Katrina (Spanish: La Calavera de la Catrina). In 2004 the students of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, built a wall from 5,667 sugar, chocolate and caramel skulls, which is 2,667 skulls more than the former wall. The wall has become one of the records from the Guinness Book of Records (Brandes, 2006). Mexicans have very specific attitude to death, that is why their holiday Day of the Dead is one of the best and popular holidays in their culture. As famous Mexican poet Octavio Paz wrote: Fearless Mexican doesnt feel confused when death comes, he is ready to move forward it, to teas, tempt it, squeeze it in his arms, lie down with it in bed; it is his favorite toy and the last love. Work Cited Brandes, Stanley. Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1405152478. 12.15 (2006). pp. 232. Conklin, Paul. Death Takes A Holiday. U.S. Catholic 66 (2001): 38-41. Greenleigh, John., Beimler, Rosalind Rosoff. The days of the dead: Mexicos Festival of Communion with the Departed. (1998). p. 56. Kuhn, John. Making a night of Day of the Dead. Los Angeles Times 18. 10 (2006). Smith, Fiona. Bolivians Honor Skull-Toting Tradition. Associated Press. 11.08 (2005). Verti, Sebastià ¡n. Mexican traditions. (1993). pp. 112-115. Williams, Rick. The Day of the Dead, Halloween, and the Quest for Mexican National Identity. Journal of American Folklore 442 (1998). pp. 359-80.

Adapting Canada to the Future of a World With Scarce Water Essay examp

Introduction Water is just more than drinking water. Water is the most basic and vital resource that humans need to sustain themselves. Water is used for food production from irrigating crops to actually manufacturing them. Canada like the world, uses water for sanitation, cleaning, manufacturing and daily function. Demand and supply will soon be at a crossroad, as increasing population creates increases in pollution, waste-water and global warming (Baker, 2007). This paper will seek to examine the effects of global warming on Canada’s freshwater system, the effects of pollution and will evaluate how Canada manages its freshwater now and what Canada can do to form policies that will adapt to the future crisis in Canada’s freshwater. Degradation of the Great Lakes The North American Great Lakes are the largest resource in freshwater lakes in the world. They contain 95 percent of North America’s freshwater and more than 20 percent of the world’s freshwater (Barlow, 2008). The Great Lakes play a prime role in Canada because they provide water and livelihood to more than 40 million people and are also a huge economic player in Canada (Barlow, 2001). Unfortunately, the lakes are shadowed by a serious threat because of the rise of global warming. In July 2010, The Canadian Press announced that there has been an 11 degree increase in surface temperatures in Lake Superior. There has also been a decrease in precipitation as a result of increasing lake temperatures. Lakes are reaching their summer temperatures weeks ahead of time (Barlow, 2010). This quick change in temperature adversely affects the aquatic chain of life, leading to algae bloom, inevitably increasing Eutrophication. This in combination with Canada’s growing popu latio... ...esult of our industrial system and pollution, we must have a plan to retaliate. Canada needs to see the impacts and decaying of the Rockies and the Great Lakes. The examination of global warming and pollution on Canadian soil is increasing; the future of water is at risk. Without water, Canada cannot sustain itself. New policies must overtake the old; we must improve our priorities and make water the public good that it is. New water managing strategies must be in place. After global warming, the fate rests in the policy making of the government, we must improve our systems, increase research and re-examine failures of water management, including the extent to which we must enforce water laws. The looming crisis on water does not have to be a crisis if we have a plan to combat it, if we have technologies to aid us in a world where water will one day become scarce.

Aztec :: essays papers

Aztec The Aztec lived in the city of Tenochtitlan, which is a fertile basin about 50 miles long and as wide. Surrounded by mountain ranges and several volcanoes, the Aztec has abundant supply of water. With being 8000ft above sea level the day were mild and the nights are cold during much of the year. The Aztecs name means "heron people" their name is derived from the mythical homeland to the north called Azatlan. This in mind their language(Nahuatl) also belong to the linguistic family as the Soshonean, a tongue will represented among the Indians of the Untied States. In the Aztecs culture their main principal crop was maize. Maize was usually cooked with lime then ground to make dough, then patted into tortillas, other principal crops were beans, squash, tomatoes, cotton, chilies. The two crops maguey and agave were used as cord, sacks and sandals and a substitute for cotton in clothing. From the juice of the maguey was use in a mild form of alcohol called pulque, which was the ceremonia l drink. Only the old men of the committee was able to drink pulque freely, otherwise among the younger generation couldn't get drunk except at certain religious feast. Drunkenness was considered a serious offense even punishable by death. In the Aztecs culture there were clans, each clan there was tribes and each tribe was divided up. Then each family were allotted sufficient land for its maintenance, if no one else were alive in the family, then the land were reverted back to the tribe. Urban communities, the land were communal, each group called capulli was composed of a few families that jointly owned a piece of land. Then part of the yield was given to the state as a tax. Rest of yield would be either sold, traded or for their own use. There were two kinds of farmer, first there was the general field workers. They were in charge with preparing the soil, breaking up clods, hoeing(with the coa digging sticks), leveling, setting boundary markers, planting, irrigating, winnowing and storing grain. The second kind of farmer were the horticulturists their job was planting of trees, transplanting, crop sequences, rotations and a supervisory role, for they were expected to read the Tonalamatl almanacs to determine the time for planting and harvest. One of the unusual feature of the Aztec agriculture were the floating gardens. These gardens were built by digging ditches into squares or rectangle, then they would pile up mud on the area which the ditches enclosed.

Vce It Applications Unit 3 Outcome 1

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | IT Applications Unit 3 Outcome 1 Revision Notes| | | | IT VCE Feb 2013| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | IT Applications Unit 3 Outcome 1 Revision Notes| | | | IT VCE Feb 2013| Table of Contents Revision2 Section 1 – Purpose of a Website2 Blogs2 Chat Rooms2 Forums3 Social Networking3 Wikis3 Section 2 – Websites and Data4 Why Organisations Acquire Data Via Websites4Why Individuals and Organisation Supply Data Via Websites4 Techniques for Acquiring Data on Websites4 Techniques for protecting the rights of individuals and organisations supplying data4 CSS/CMS5 Static Websites5 Dynamic Websites5 Content Management Systems5 Introduction5 Content Creation5 Content Management6 Publishing6 Presentation6 Pros and Cons7 Software7 Cascading S tyled Sheets (CSS)7 IntroductionError! Bookmark not defined. Revision Section 1 – Purpose of a Website * To provide information and news (inform)Static Website (no interaction) * To promote an opinion (persuade)Blog To teach (educate)Wiki * To answer questionsForum * To entertain * To provide information and news (inform) * To promote an opinion (persuade) * To teach (educate) * To answer questions * To entertain Blogs * Diary entries, commentary, news, pictures and videos * Mainly one way communication * Have feedback so readers can leave comment * Most are text based * Examples Videoshttp://ryanedit. blogspot. com. au Audiohttp://www. abc. net. au/services/poadcasting Photoshttp://www. photoblog. com/stuartbarbara * Technorati (http://technorati. com )is a popular search engine Chat Rooms Online messaging services * Communication in real time (synchronous – existing or occurring at same time) * Many are commercial * Let communities interact quickly * Textbox, Scrolli ng Window * To join need to register, given a username and password for security * Avatar is an identity/nickname users assumes to protect their name * Moderator is a person who monitors communication to ensure people follow rules, they have power to ban, discipline, warn and educate users. * Rules No abusing No trolling (deliberately post inflammatory messages to get a reaction) Don’t flood Example: http://www. wireclub. com Forums * Also known as message boards * Multi-user threaded message application * Posted messages is form of conversation between users * Thread is a continuous conversation/post & replies on a specific topic * Hierarchical – forums divided into boards (main topics) and sub-boards (sub-topics) * Example: http://forums. whirlpool. net. au * Have their own netiquette/etiquette/rules: No spamming (flooding server with data) Posts must be on-topic (OT) Personal Arguments with individuals should be taken No trolling No abusing Read rules Give posts tit lesBanned topics not to be used Social Networking * Sites allow people to communicate with others * Present information about themselves * Some are special-interest (e. g. green living, Indian people, genealogy, teenagers) * Others (e. g. Facebook, Twitter) have no specific theme. * Have a profile page * Problems: Stalking Grooming Posting Persona Information Posts will last forever Employers have sacked workers Wikis * Examples: Wikipedia, Wikispaces * Online software tools that let a group of people contribute to the development of a document or knowledge base. * Needs some control over editings Prevent accidental or deliberate damage to the aggregated information. * Wikipedia – anonymous edits need to be approved by a moderator. * Controversial topics may be locked so only registered user, or specific users can edit them. Section 2 – Websites and Data Why Organisations Acquire Data Via Websites * Cheap * 24 hour customer access * Instant * Efficiency * Effectiveness Increased accuracy if visitors enter own data Less chance of error Can be processed automatically once entered Type data easier to read * Access to global market * Can use prompts (* – shift+8) to collect right data Can use controls radio buttons to enforce data integrity * Use validation tools to make sure it’s in right format (DOB – dd/mm/yy) * People are put off by having to email, write or phone Why Individuals and Organisation Supply Data Via Websites * Purchasing of goods and Services * Social Networking * Exchanging Information * Immediate results * Anonymity * Voting/Polls Techniques for Acquiring Data on Websites * Collating data from entries in a web form * Providing a web forum * Online chat Techniques for protecting the rights of individuals and organisations supplying data * security protocolsSSL or TLS encryption. Transport Layer Security  (TLS) and its predecessor,  Secure Sockets Layer  (SSL), provide communication  security  over theà ‚  Internet * File encryption * Logins with usernames and passwords. * Using Captcha to deter robotic logins. * Automatic timeout of idle connections. Very commom in the financial sector * Requiring strong passwords CSS/CMS Static Websites * Each page is produced by hand, using GUI web editor (e. g. Dreamweaver) or raw HTML code * Pages never change without being edited * Can be dull and unresponsive to current conditions Imagine a static eBay site where the finishing time of all auctions had to be entered by hand every second. Dynamic Websites * Constantly changing – e. g. eBay * Can respond to events and the profile of the user * Can be achieved to a degree with Javascript (e. g. a countdown timer on a static page) Content Management Systems Introduction A content management system (CMS) supports the creation, management, distribution, publishing, and discovery of corporate information. It covers the complete lifecycle of the pages on your site, from providing simple tools to create the content, through to publishing, and finally to archiving.It also provides the ability to manage the structure of the site, the appearance of the published pages, and the navigation provided to the users. The functionality of a content management system can be broken down into several main categories: * content creation * content management * Publishing * presentation Content Creation At the front of a content management system is an easy-to-use authoring environment, designed to work like Word. This provides a non-technical way of creating new pages or updating content, without having to know any HTML.The CMS also allows you to manage the structure of the site. That is, where the pages go, and how they are linked together. Many even offer simple drag-and-drop restructuring of the site, without breaking any links. Almost all content management systems now provide a web-based authoring environment, which further simplifies implementation, and allows content updating to b e done remotely. Content Management Once a page has been created, it is saved into a central repository in the CMS. This stores all the content of the site, along with the other supporting details.This central repository allows a range of useful features to be provided by the CMS: Keeping track of all the versions of a page, and who changed what and when. Ensuring that each user can only change the section of the site they are responsible for. Integration with existing information sources and IT systems. Publishing Once the final content is in the repository, it can then be published out to either the website or intranet. Content management systems boast powerful publishing engines which allow the appearance and page layout of the site to be applied automatically during publishing.It may also allow the same content to be published to multiple sites. Of course, every site looks different, so the CMS lets the graphic designers and web developers specify the appearance that is applied by the system. These publishing capabilities ensure that the pages are consistent across the entire site, and enable a very high standard of appearance. This also allows the authors to concentrate on writing the content, by leaving the look of the site entirely to the CMS. Presentation The content management system can also provide a number of features to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the site itself.As an example, the CMS will build the site navigation for you, by reading the structure straight out of the content repository. It also makes it easy to support multiple browsers, or users with accessibility issues. The CMS can be used to make your site dynamic and interactive, thereby enhancing the site’s impact. * Examples – WordPress, Joomla, Drupal Videos to Watch * http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_detailpage&v=VdvEdMMtNMY * http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_detailpage&v=jexUS43sdeQ * http://www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_ detailpage&v=VdvEdMMtNMY * http://www. outube. com/watch? feature=player_detailpage&v=RUSAJ_2ZqNI * Database-driven software that creates pages when needed and tailor-makes them for the time, the circumstances, the user * The CMS fetches content (e. g. text, data, pictures) from the database and creates a webpage with pre-defined formatting chosen by the webmaster. * The same pages might look different for each person viewing it (e. g. their ‘My eBay’ pages, or their Facebook pages. ) Pros and Cons Pros * Site maintenance is far easier and quicker * Sites become dynamic and pages change automatically Easier to manage assets (pictures etc) * Better looking sites * Site has a consistent appearance across all pages * Far less chance of 404 errors or bad links Cons * Must install CMS software onto your webserver – some are expensive * Must learn how to use the CMS * Can be expensive/slow to convert an existing static site to CMS Software Webmaster creates content (e. g. body text) Media (pix, videos etc) are stored in the database The CMS combines content, media, formatting to create web pages which are sent to the visitor’s browser Cascading Styled Sheets (CSS) CSS * Instead of repetitively formatting lots of types of text in the same way, define the formatting in a CSS file and just mark text with the style it needs * To change the look of main headings, change the definition of HEADING1 once in the CSS file. * Don’t have to find and change every piece of HEADING1 text across the site * Far quicker, easier * Creates consistently formatted sites * E. g. CSS file contains â€Å"Heading 1 = Bold, TNR, size 20† * In a webpage, some text is tagged as being â€Å"Heading 1† style. CSS Tutorial * http://www. w3schools. com/css/