Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Recipe Book as a Tradition in the Family Essay

The Recipe Book as a Tradition in the Family - Essay Example Different families have different items among their possessions that they hold most dear. These items usually have some special meaning to the members of the family and they seldom give out these items outside the family. Among the many possessions in my family, there is one that has incomparable value. It reminds everyone of our past and is the basis of some of our traditions in the family. This special item is a recipe book that my grandmother wrote. The recipe book contains several recipes that my grandmother developed. These recipes have been in use in my family for such a long time that some of the meals have become our identity among friends and relatives. It is a tradition in the family to cook a meal from the recipe book at least once a week. We always look forward to meals prepared from the recipe book, as they are usually special. Our family also uses the book when we have guests and during special events and occasions. Owing to this tradition, the recipe book has become so special in our family. My family intends to keep the recipe book for generations to come. That is to keep the recipes a family secret down the years and ensure we maintain our uniqueness when it comes to preparing special meals. Only select members of the family will inherit it down the generations to keep the traditions going. Currently, the book is under the custody of my mother who, when the time comes, will decide whom to give it. Everyone in the family hopes to inherit it and be the master of those rich meals in their own family.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Cranialfacial reconstruction - pre op surgical technologist tech Research Paper

Cranialfacial reconstruction - pre op surgical technologist tech - Research Paper Example In such cases, the reconstruction is carried out immediately once the problem is analyzed. The need for craniofacial reconstruction depends on the complexity of the patient. The other situations may arise when the patient has met with an accident where the facial bones or skull is broken. In certain cases it may be done to reconstruct the facial and skull bones for cancer patients if they have undergone any bone removal during cancer treatment. Another possibility of facial reconstruction is when the patient suffers from cleft lip disorder. (Hardt, 2007).In this case, the patient’s bones of the upper lip do not fuse properly with that of the lower lip. In any case, this option is preferred only if the patient’s skull or face cannot be modified using any other surgery. It is done to modify a child’s skull if the child is detected with abnormalities during the birth. The abnormalities may be due to genetic problems or disorders. This surgery is done keeping in mind the future problems and issues. Depending on the growth of bone, the original bone must be restructured. Since craniofacial surgery involves more risk, doctors opt for it only when there is no other way to treat the patient. Craniofacial reconstruction involves various pre-operative procedures. The reconstruction surgery is done based on these reports. The initial step in the pre-operative process is skull examination. This is done based on the x-ray and scan report of the patient’s skull. The patient’s skull is examined to analyze its shape and dimensions. (Barone, 2004).This helps in easy reconstruction of the damaged skull. Once the skull is examined, the reconstruction plan is implemented. In the reconstruction plan, the dental and facial structures are analyzed. The next step is to match the tissues of the patient. The tissues are tested and then selected in equivalence with the patient’s skull and facial tissues. This will ensure that the

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Methods for Short and Long Term Memory Formation

Methods for Short and Long Term Memory Formation The purpose of the experiment was to determine which Learning Method was the most effective for short- and long-term memory formation. Method efficacy was tested via a Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM), glyph recall test. There were four groups, each using a different Learning Method which varied in two factors: written repetition (10X/none) and movie viewing (before/after STM test). The Learning Method was used to introduce the symbols, and there was a short maths test before the STM test. Symbol recall was assessed again in the LTM test, three weeks later. As the LTM test was taken after the STM test, all students had watched the movies. Analysis suggested that Learning Method 1 produced higher scores; students who wrote the symbol 10X and viewed the movie prior to taking the STM test had significantly greater glyph recall compared to those who used the other methods (p While Learning Method 1 appeared to be the most effective, it is possible that the results were affected by experimental design flaws; notably, the non-standardised test conditions. The degree of symbol retention demonstrated on the LTM test may be related to memory consolidation, which is aided by hippocampal ripple oscillations. The Learning Methods for each group were as follows (for the method code definitions and full method, see the Appendix): Group 1 (Learning Method 1): WB-1X_MB_10X Group 2 (Learning Method 2): WB-1X_MA_10X Group 3 (Learning Method 3): WB-1X_MB Group 4 (Learning Method 4): WB-1X_MA The independent variable is the Learning Method and the dependent variable is the number of symbols recalled correctly on the memory tests (STM and LTM). Method 1 was the most involved (writing 10X, and watching the movie beforehand). The alternative hypotheses are: Ha: if Short-Term glyph recall is related to the Learning Method (Method 1, 2, 3, 4), then students in Group 1, who used Method 1 (WB-1X_MB_10X), will recall a greater number of symbols correctly on a Short-Term Memory test. Ha: if Long-Term glyph recall is related to the Learning Method used for the Short-Term Memory test (Method 1, 2, 3, 4), then students in Group 1, who used Method 1, will recall a greater number of symbols correctly on a Long-Term Memory test. For the STM data, Levene’s test established that there was an effect of variance (p p p p p = 0.8790) and those in Groups 3 and 4 (p = 0.9260). For the LTM data, Levene’s test established that there was no effect of variance (p > 0.05). As the variance is not significant, a One-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test can be used to test the hypothesis. The One-way ANOVA established that LTM test scores differed as a function of Learning Method used [F(3, 124) = 66.0280, p p p = 0.6160). The results support the alternative hypotheses that if glyph recall is related to the Learning Method used, then students in Group 1 (who used Method 1) will recall a greater number of symbols correctly on both a STM and LTM test. As the test scores for students who used Method 1 were significantly higher in both the STM and LTM tests, at a significance level of 0.05, the alternative hypothesis is favoured. By adopting the alternative hypotheses there is a possibility of Type 1 error in both cases. The hippocampus contributes critically to memory formation, organisation, and storage Memory consolidation, a process that transforms newly acquired information into long-term memory, also depends on the hippocampus. Through consolidation, labile newly formed memory traces are progressively strengthened into long-term memories and become more resistant to interference. However, it is suggested that they remain susceptible to updating and modification The hippocampus generates high-frequency ripple oscillations in local-field potentials (LFPs), observed most prominently in the hippocampal CA1 pyramidal layer Ripples participate in strengthening and reorganising memory traces, possibly by mediating information transfer to neocortical areas Memory traces are represented by assemblies of principal neurons that are activated during ripple-associated network states There is evidence suggesting that memory consolidation is enhanced during sleep and resting (â€Å"off-line†) states Sleep is a state which optimises the consolidation of newly acquired information in memory, depending on the specific conditions of learning and the timing of sleep It induces long-lasting cellular and network modifications responsible for memory stabilisation A proposed neural mechanism for sleep-dependent memory consolidation, is reactivation of awake experience (neuronal replay) in the hippocampus which is associated with sharp wave-ripple (SPW-R) events that occur primarily during off-line states SPW-Rs are â€Å"aperiodic, recurrent instances of large deflections (sharp waves) in the hippocampal LFP†, and they are associated with synchronous fast-field oscillations (ripples) During SPW-R events, hippocampal cell firing closely follows the pattern that took place during the initial experience Theta (4-8 Hz) oscillations and ripples (~200 Hz) occurring during sharp waves may mediate encoding and consolidation, respectively. Pyramidal neurons replay previous waking activity in a temporally compressed manner, thus reactivated firing patterns occur within shorter time windows propitious for synaptic plasticity within the hippocampal network and in downstream neocortical structures. Slow-wave sleep (SWS) supports system consolidation and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep supports synaptic consolidation through specific patterns of neuromodulatory activity and electric field potential oscillations. During SWS, there is a diminution in cholinergic activity and the ripples stimulate the redistribution and transfer of hippocampus-dependent memories to the neocortex The thalamocortical spindles generated by the thalamus arrive at the neocortex at the same time as the hippocampal memory information, due to the slow oscillations which facilitate the transfer, and this synchronisation is thought to be vital to the long-term storage of memories within neocortical networks During REM sleep, at high cholinergic and theta activity, local increases in plasticity-related immediate-early gene activity may promote synaptic consolidation of memories in the cortex Incoming signals move through the hippocampus via a ‘trisynaptic loop’ consisting of synapses between principal cells in the dentate gyrus (DG), CA3 and CA1 Hofer et al investigated the cellular and network properties of SPW-Rs with simultaneous laminar multielectrode and intracellular recordings in a rat hippocampal slice model. Spontaneous SPW-Rs were generated in the DG, CA3, and CA1 regions During the memory encoding phase, the hippocampus binds neocortical representations to local memory traces. Then, during the off-line periods, the traces are concurrently reactivated in the hippocampus and cortex to potentiate the corticocortical connections underlying stored representations Studies show that disruption of ripples during post-learning SWS impairs memory consolidation and learning In an experiment conducted by Ego-Stengel and Wilson rats were trained daily in two identical tasks, each followed by a one hour rest period. Following one of the tasks, neuronal activity associated with ripple events was disrupted, without changing the sleep-wake structure, via selective stimulation of hippocampal afferents. It was found that the rats learned the control task significantly faster than the task followed by the stimulation, which suggests that interfering with hippocampal processing during sleep led to decreased learning Similarly, Nokia et al. found that disrupting hippocampal ripples using electrical stimulation either during training in awake animals, or during sleep after training, had a negative impact on learning A study by Wang et al indicated that the median raphe region (MnR) is important for regulating hippocampal ripple activity and memory consolidation. A fear conditioning procedure was used to determine this relationship, via interruption of ripple activity. Simultaneous in vivo recording in the MnR and hippocampus of mice showed that, when a group of MnR neurons was active, ripples were absent; ripple activity was related to the activity of MnR neurons. Additionally, MnR may regulate memory consolidation via its projections to thalamocortical regions, which facilitate interactions between the hippocampus, thalamus and cortical regions during SWS. Under the assumption that there was little deliberate reactivation of memory traces for the symbols in the three weeks following the STM test, the degree of retention of the symbols on the LTM test may be related to memory consolidation via hippocampal ripples occurring during sleep and rest. There were a number of limitations which may have affected the validity of the results. The major limitation was the non-standardised test conditions. Since different groups took the test at different times of the day, and different individuals have performance peaks at different clock times randomisation of subjects is important. This also leads to the possibility that students in an earlier group may have informed others of the symbols or experimental procedures. Knowledge of the tests could have influenced the students’ concentration, with those who knew being more likely to apply themselves to the Learning Method. While all students would be likely to undergo some degree of memory consolidation following the STM test, those who were aware of the experimental design would likely have greater retention. If all students took the test at the same time under standardised conditions, it would be less likely for this issue to affect the results. Additionally, the small sample size, and the fact that the participants were all students of one course (Neuroscience), also means that the external validity of the experiment, and thus the generalisability to groups other than the experimental group, cannot be established. There was also only one group per Learning Method, so it is unknown if the results are repeatable.

Friday, October 25, 2019

mission statement analysis :: essays research papers

Analysis Of Mission Statements By Group V-(Sankalp) Anupam Jha(51/04) Rahul Jhamb(53/04) Gitartha Bhuyan(57/04) Bikash Tewari Munesh Shyam  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   FMS Mission Academic excellence and leadership in university based management education in India through high quality teaching, research, case development, innovative courses and pedagogy of learning. FMS’s vision is to provide world class management education in India through high quality teaching, research, innovative courses & state of the art pedagogy tools. To create leaders for the future that will take India to new heights. To be seen as an institute whose students have sound principles and ethics in them. Components  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Score 1. Customers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 2. Products/Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 3. Geographic Markets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 4. Technology  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 5. Concern for Survival  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 6. Philosophy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 7. Public Image  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 8. Employees  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 9. Distinctive Competence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 Average Score  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.66 IMI,delhi Mission IMI, India provides a world-class, internationally oriented management education with a difference in content, delivery, focus, presence and students. Components  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Score 1. Customers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 2. Products/Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 3. Geographic Markets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 4. Technology  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 5. Concern for Survival  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 6. Philosophy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 7. Public Image  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 8. Employees  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 9. Distinctive Competence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 Average Score  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.55 IIM Ahemadabad Mission IIMA's mission is to help India and other developing countries improve their managerial practices both in the private and in the public sectors, and adopt superior public policies. It seeks to do this through producing risk-taking leader-managers who will pioneer new managerial practices and set new standards; through producing teachers and researchers who will generate new ideas of International significance; and through purposeful consulting aimed at helping client organizations scale new heights. Components  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Score 1. Customers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 2. Products/Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 3. Geographic Markets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 4. Technology  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 5. Concern for Survival  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 6. Philosophy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 7. Public Image  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 8. Employees  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 9. Distinctive Competence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 Average Score  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.77 LBSIM, delhi Mission To develop a center of excellence for value based management and information technology, education and research comparable with the best in the world through continous learning, societal responsiveness and strategic partnership with the industry. Components  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Score 1. Customers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 2. Products/Services  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 3. Geographic Markets  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 4. Technology  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 5. Concern for Survival  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3 6. Philosophy  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 7. Public Image  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2 8. Employees  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 9. Distinctive Competence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1 Average Score  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1.66 IIFT, Delhi Mission To globally strengthen, sustain and professionalise business knowledge through creative research and teaching and learning and by integrating with organisations, institutions and universities both within and beyond national boundary.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

My Thoughts About “Do You Speak American?”

After watching this video, I asked myself â€Å"Do I speak American? † Absolutely, the answer was no. In the past, I thought American English was only a language which pronounced â€Å"r† heavily. Surprisingly, according to the map of dialect, America can be divided by seven parts. They are Eastern New English, NYC,Philadelphia, The North, The Midland, The South and The West. And different regions of America have different dialects. In terms of the dialect of American English, I have a re-understanding of this language. I find it is interesting, even surprising, and I am more curious about that.The dialects of American English is really interesting. Honestly, when I hear a conversation or a speech, I can hardly recognize the accents without special note, although sometimes I can recognize the obvious accents according to the meaning of the sentence. For example, most young California say [? ] to replace [? ], say â€Å"like† as â€Å"lake†. According to my personal experience, when I traveled to Miami, Florida, I heard that most people in there said â€Å"lift† as â€Å"left†. Moreover, Net English used among young people is another part of interest.For example, â€Å"das kool† equals â€Å"that is cool†, â€Å"lol† means â€Å"laugh out loud†, â€Å"How ya doin hun† is â€Å"how are you doing honey? †, â€Å"g2g† means â€Å"got to go†, etc. Maybe they think typing English in this way is more convenient and fashionable, however, I do not think so. Furthermore, experts recommend that TV series is a good way to recognize and learn dialects since the actors of a program are come from different regions. At last, teenagers prefer to use some new words of phrases to express an common meaning, such as â€Å"bling bling† refers to expensive jewelry.This is popular and sometimes I also use that to express myself. Actually, I am surprised about the dialects of Americ an English in the following aspects. Firstly, in North America, people will laugh at lobsterman’s dialect and make fun with the way they speak. As far as I am concerned, we should respect different languages and cultures. Even though we cannot understand the way of communication, every dialect must has its own value to exist. Moreover, although people dislike some dialects, they can always imitate those dialects they hate. It is unbelievable.In addition, I watched these three DVDs without subtitle. So when I watched the CD2 which introduced the dialects in the mid-land, I found it was difficult for me to understand what people said. However, it is easier to understand what the north and west people said. I think it means that the people of mid-land and south have strong accents. Frankly, there are some points that I do not know before I watching this video. First of all, Philadelphia shakes the American speech more than any other city. Secondly, the Black and the White cannot communicate with each other by using English at the beginning.Thirdly, some people who come from the mid-land consider New Yorker speak bad English, since New Yorker say â€Å"water† as â€Å"[w? :d? ]†. To be honest, as for me, I like the dialect of New York. Fourthly, some pronounciation of dialect are totally different from the original pronounciation. For example, in Ohio and Michigan, â€Å"yins† means â€Å"you†, and in north, â€Å"ayuh† is equal to â€Å"yes†, etc. Finally, looking at magazines to find new words is a job, its purpose is to update the dictionary. To sum up, I don’t think I am speaking American even though I am in New York now.The dialects in United States are diverse. In my opinion, dialect is a component of cultural activities. And some dialects are related to history, some are related to the life style of different region. There are a variety of expressions for dialects. Those include the differences of pron ounciation, the new words for common meaning, net English, etc. Most important, no matter what kind of language we say, we should respect all of them and admit the existence value of them. At last, I think watching different American TV series is a good way for me to improve my American English.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Media Commercialization

Commercialization of Indian media The media industry across the globe has witnessed spectacular changes in the recent years. There has been a considerable change in the perception of media in the olden times, as revolutionary instruments and powerful political players. Today, the media is perceived more as businesses with a motto of `remaining profitable'. The growing competition along with the trend of confinement of media ownership to a few major transnational conglomerates has further intensified the commercial pressure in the terrain.This has also resulted in media proliferation, wherein numerous emerging media products embark on catering to the needs of a more fragmented market. Commodification of news has become a serious issue today. â€Å"The news has become a product, packaged and sold to the economic elite, designed to satisfy the needs of the advertiser first, and audience second. † The mounting competition adds on to this connotation which stimulates the media genr e to adopt strategies which may even disfigure and deface the relationship between editorial content and advertising.As the media dome becomes commercial, it relies more on advertising revenue for its survival, which, in turn increases pressure to develop media content that appeals to the advertisers. This, in fact, results in an elevated amount of conflicts with the media's accountability towards public in terms of supplying information, in public interest. In fact, the very purpose of the existence of the media, i. e. , informing the public is overshadowed by such commercial concerns.The increasing pressure also leads the media houses to be choosy about their audiences with regard to the advertiser appeal, and hence the focus is shifted to wealthy, elite audience. In India, the media careens between froth, marketing, reporting, opinion, and reacting. Seriousness is often dislodged by commercialism: editor of leading national daily turned gourmand and celebrity interviewer; front p age coverage of celebrity weddings, gastric troubles; fatter â€Å"lifestyle† supplements; hour long adulatory shows on news channels about an Indian superstar who frankly claims to have no ambitions other to have fun and entertain the masses etc.Predictably, the preponderance of coverage of the attacks and its aftermath is superficial too: trending to human interest, pandering to mass emotional outrage, instead of focusing on systemic problems. â€Å"Serious† reporters are doing talk shows of sorts, calling on their guest panel former soap stars, actors, and socialites. Reports are rife with accusations of the administration's callousness, dropped balls, and self-righteous calls for more heads to roll. Journalism in the face of a real crisis is laced with passionate rhetoric, not real questions and solutions.The strength and importance of media in a democracy is well recognized. Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, which gives freedom of speech and expression includes within its ambit, freedom of press. The existence of a free, independent and powerful media is the cornerstone of a democracy, especially of a highly mixed society like India. Media is not only a medium to express once feelings, opinions and views, but it is also responsible and instrumental for building opinions and views on various topics of regional, national and international agenda.The pivotal role of the media is its ability to mobilize the thinking process of millions. But in today’s highly commercialized market, the press is losing its main focus. Journalism had deviated from the path of responsible journalism to more saleable journalism. There is more news about the â€Å"rich and the happening† rather than the poor and dying. The gap between mass media and mass reality is growing at an alarming pace. Nowadays media is primarily focusing only â€Å"the elite† section of society. How much does the unforgettable tour of the Bachchans affect us?An d how much would a disaster like Bihar floods affect the people? Yet, the media is more interested in focusing on what should be printed on page 3. Ask yourself, does page 3 mean more than the realities of life? Though the role and importance of media is increasing in our lives today, it’s sad that its accountability and professionalism is dwindling. â€Å"With great power comes great responsibility†. Television channels in a bid to increase their TRP ratings are resorting to sensationalized journalism with a view to earn a competitive edge over the others.Sting operations have now become the order of the day. We are a democracy of a billion plus people with the largest youth population in the world, large sections poor and uneducated, inadequate social services, and a country in transition. It is imperative that our influential intelligentsia focus unfailingly on meaningful issues since the opportunity cost is enormous. The government is increasingly sidelined by priv ate enterprise; unprepared peasants are migrating to straining cities; and the nouveau riche anxious to express their nascent individuality is turning to incongruous consumption.Our academia is intently focused on the graduate's financial remuneration, and naturally, commercial interests don't provide any discipline. Entertainment czars consume our attention, shape public opinion, and increasingly control our daily life by forming a nexus with private industry, and entering the administration. We have mall adjacent to mall adjacent to mall, and almost no democratic recreational space. Mostly the middle-class Indian comes in contact with one another to consume, an individualistic pursuit, thus developing no collective voice or opinion.Further, democracy in India has many pitfalls: the educated vote counts as much (or as little) as the uneducated. Nepotistic, political power is concentrated; political will is weak, and further emasculated by our coalition government structure. Any one can start a new political party, garner a few electoral votes, cobble together a patchwork government, and sporadically threaten to fell the government if their personal demands aren't met. As a country we can't afford to feed or educate our children. We use our poorest as cattle, carting heavy burden on their backs in crowded urban markets.Our farmers are committing mass suicide. Religion is a recurring flash point. There is so much going on in India that we can't afford to dilute our focus on the important issues with front page/prime time coverage of entertainment. Moreover, print media, especially national newspapers are newspapers of record, and the current news standards will leave many important events that shape our country undocumented for our future generations. The state runs on taxes, and is liable to its citizenry, however the individual is unable to demand accountability.The Indian citizen has no serious platform to voice her concerns, of harnessing institutional powe r to fight systemic battles. Consequently, we now have a country where citizen activism is either all or nothing. It's an all out battle, which the common person struggling just to survive, exhausted amid the delays, chaos, chronic infrastructure shortfall/failure and pollution cannot wage. Activism cannot and should not be at the exclusionary cost of personal life, and livelihood. Media must provide serious relevant coverage, accurate information, and emocratic access to voice public concerns. This is media's non-negotiable obligation to society, by virtue of preferential access, mass reach and the ability to shape public opinion. Yes, the Mumbai attacks are a wake up call to our government, but also to our media, one of the original and last bastions of democracy. India urgently needs renewed civic engagement, and it is the media's responsibility to create that platform, not as a temporary reaction to some outrage, but as a permanent social structure. India is witnessing a rapid  commercialization  and  diversification of media  (news).One only needs to glance at the leading national dailies and 24/7  channels  to understand the extent of its impact. Reality is nothing more than a series of moments. And in these very moments one can find  elements of all that is strange, frightening, colourful, funny, ludicrous and fantastic. Who needs fiction when fact offers it all! But when it comes to the Indian media, there is sometimes simply too much being offered. Johann Wolfgang Van  Goethe  had felt that very few people have the imagination for reality.One wonders what the great thinker would have felt compelled to say after an evening spent surfing contemporary  Indian news  channels. Would he perhaps have concluded that too much imagination can mist reality, shrouding it in unnecessary layers of melodrama and exaggeration? Our so-called news  channels  fall into this erroneous routine with alarming regularity. The concept of ‘break ing news' in the age of 24/7 broadcasting has led to a tectonic shift in the paradigm- the spotlight has shifted from what matters to what sells. So the media is constantly on the prowl for fresh fodder-anything that exhibits potential to arrest eyeballs will do.Minor matters such as the relevance of the story, sensitivity towards the subject or the viewers, news prioritization, etc. get relegated to corridors of obscurity. Here are some moments from the recent past which were pounced upon with glee by the story-starved ‘infotainment' networks; moments which made the day for India TV and its ever-growing brethren; in short, moments which were made for the media Terrorism, terrible as it may sound, is made for television. The dawning sense of horror, the magnitude of destruction, the agony of human loss is captured with maximum precision and lasting imagery through the electronic media.The terrorist needs the oxygen of publicity to survive and TV provides with him that. 26/11 h aunts our collective imagination both because of the scale of terror and TV's explosive coverage of the attacks. The commercialization of the Indian media takes many forms. It has been known for some time that a few of India’s leading media conglomerates — including Bennett, Coleman & Co. , the publisher of The Times of India and The Economic Times — offer what that company calls â€Å"innovative† and â€Å"integrated† marketing strategies that blur the traditional line between advertising and article content.Bennett, Coleman’s Medianet division, for example, lets advertisers place articles on certain pages in the paper without clearly marking them as advertising. One of the company’s more aggressive offerings is a product known as a Private Treaty, which offers companies a certain amount of advertising space in exchange for equity stakes in those companies. According to the Private Treaties Web site, Bennett, Coleman now holds such e quity stakes in more than 100 companies. Officially, the companies are only given advertising space.But at least one businessman confirmed to me that it was made clear that he could also expect favourable news coverage. At the very least, it seems evident that Private Treaties set up a very serious conflict of interest, a point highlighted last year when the Indian stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, wrote a letter to the chairman of the Press Council expressing concern about the business practice. Private Treaties are an example of the commoditisation of business news. But much of the recent attention in India has focused on paid political content.Over the past year or so, there have been a growing number of reports of politicians paying media houses for favourable coverage or to skirt restrictions on campaign financing. Embracing commercialization seems to pose a threat to the quality of content communicated by the media, which, in turn, is question ing the fundamental objective of its very existence. Commercialization has a positive impact on the financial performance of media in the market, but it indeed shows the way to certain unpleasant upshots, mainly on the quality of the content of dissemination.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Moment of peace Gregorian Essays - Lottery, Free Essays, Term Papers

Moment of peace Gregorian Essays - Lottery, Free Essays, Term Papers 2014-03-18 Moment of peace Gregorian The statistician David J. Hand on eerie coincidence and playing the lottery (your latest book, "The Improbability principle," aims to prove that extremely improbable events are in fact commonplace. Can you explain that a bit?) Things like roulette wheels coming up in strange configurations or the same lottery numbers hitting two weeks in a row are clearly very rare events, but if you look at the number of lotteries and the number of roulette wheels, then you realize that you should actually expect these sorts of things to happen. I think within the statistical community people accept this. They're aware of the impact of the law of truly large numbers. (Why do you think this book will appeal to people outside the mathematics world?) Most people have had some experience like that: bumping into a friend in a strange city, thinking of someone just before they phone you - we've all had that sort of experience, and they do make you think: Wow, how did that happen? Is there's something funn y going on? Is somebody in control, guiding us through these things? (You're pretty harsh with people who believe that there's some kind of magic or divine intervention that makes these coincidences happen. Do you think that this takes the whimsy out of strange occurrences?) All I'm doing is saying, Look, you can explain these things using natural laws. Whether it takes the whimsy out of it - I don't think so. I don't think it taller the magic away - the psychological magic, I mean. I think the wonder is still there. (You use gambling a lot to prove your points. Are you a good poker player?) No, I've been to Las Vegas a couple of times, and I haven't played because I know that the house has the edge and will win - they'll gradually take my money away from me. The first time I went, my wife came with me. She insisted on playing some low stakes same, and I said, "Don't, you will just lose gradually." Guess what? She ended up winning. It was most frustrating for me. (Any advice for pla ying the lottery?) Funny enough, one of the most common combinations is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. So you buy that ticket it comes up, you think, Wow. I've won! And you tell your boss what you think of him, and you leave your job and then you discover 5,000 other people chose the same number. That's not so good. If you look at the lottery card and go across the top or down a diagonal or something, or use birthdays or something like that, other people are likely to do the same thing. The best thing to do is to use a random selection of numbers, and most of winning New York Powerball and 1 in 175 million - probably one of the worst I've come across. (You also write that geographical clusters of people with diseased might not necessarily be a result of environmental issues. It could just be a coincidence. Well, they could be due to some sort of pollution of infectious disease or something like that, but you can expect clusters to occur just by chance as well. So it's an interesting statistic al problem to tease these things out. Is this a genuine cluster in the sense that there's a cause behind it? Or is it a chance cluster? (So we shouldn't dismiss those coincidences) No, but if you do see such a cluster, then you should work out the chance that you would see such a cluster purely randomly, purely by chance, and if it's very low odds, then you should investigate carefully. (I was really surprised to read that 24,000 people die from lightning strikes each year. That seems like a lot.) That's worldwide, so it includes people in less-developed countries who spend a lot of time in the open and in fields and things like that. We tend to think about our own experience, and you're probably like I am, sitting in an office block, and the chance of us getting struck by lightning is pretty small. (That's good point. How about the