Love at First Sight, Is There Such a Thing Essay

What is common among the Hunger Games, Romeo and Juliet, Pokemon, 500 Days of Summer and The Vampire Diaries? They all have the trope of â€Å"love at first sight†Ã¢â‚¬â€Peeta instantly fell in love with Katniss when he heard her sing on the first day of school; Romeo fell in love with Juliet the first time he saw her; Brock fell in love with every pretty girl he saw; Tom fell in love with Summer at first sight in the office; and Stefan also had love at first sight with Elena. Love at first sight is the most widely used trope in literature and film. It is so common that most people mistake it as a reality. Why do I think that love at first sight is fictional? â€Å"Love is to be delighted by the happiness of another,† said Gottfried Leibniz. If what he said is true, then love at first sight is not really love. You can’t know the happiness of a person in an instant; you’ll have to be psychic to do that. To discover an individual’s happiness, one has to get to know him/her more. This can be achieved by spending time with that person—listening and understanding him/her. Another reason why love at first sight is fictional is infatuation. Love at first sight is just infatuation. Infatuation is not love because it is mere attraction and admiration while love is committing oneself to another because he/she cares for the other. Therefore, love at first sight is not love. Although it is not love, infatuation is inevitable when it comes to love relationships, because it gives you the courage to get to know someone, confess your feelings and move on to the â€Å"next level. † Even so, it does not guarantee love. It just gives it a â€Å"push. † There may be instances when people get infatuated with each other at first sight, then end up falling in love. This situation, according to them, is love at first sight. I think not. I think these instances are what you call infatuation that progressed into love. And these encounters don’t happen often. They are very rare. There is a bigger chance of you being infatuated, but as you get to know that person, you realize that he/she is not who you thought he/she was. We get infatuated all the time—when we see super good looking celebrities, appetizing foods, and such—but love, it only happens once, and it doesn’t happen in a blink of an eye, it develops. In the end, I think that love at first sight is not truly love, but infatuation. I find it so because, again, you can’t know someone’s happiness just by the mere sight of him. So, you can’t be delighted by his happiness. Although I believe that there is an innate romanticism attached to the thought of meeting someone, and having them hit enough emotional triggers immediately at first sight, I don’t think that it is love. It is infatuation—the first step towards love which can grow into a more mature love.

Free Essays on DO Not Call List

Recently, the Supreme Court struck down the â€Å"do not call† list, twice! This list is a registry that allows people to register their phone number on a list that prohibits telemarketers from calling their number. According to the Supreme Court, the call ban violates commercial free speech rights. Going against tradition, Congress voted against the ban of the â€Å"do not call† list. Despite this ruling consumers who don't want to receive telemarketing calls from particular sellers can still limit them by telling companies to put their number on each company's do not call list, which I know from personal experience is an efficient way to keep certain companies from calling your phone again. I concur with the ruling of the Supreme Court. There is no doubt about it, the â€Å"do not call† list violates the First Amendment right of free speech. I admit, that I can’t stand when telemarketers call my house several times a day, insisting they have a â€Å"once in a lifetime† offer and despite their annoyance, I understand that telemarketers are making a living calling several homes each day. If the telecommunication industry is restricted from calling millions of numbers, thousands of jobs will be lost and this country’s unemployment rate will increase, once again. After reading this article, I learned that Congress could vote against a Supreme Court ruling. In this particular case, I feel that the members of Congress are voting in favor of the â€Å"do not call† registry because they realize the annoyance and time that is wasted when people receive unsolicited calls. They receive the calls themselves and therefore, this issue hits closer to home for them. I also think the representatives in Congress know that to ban companies from trying to sell their product/program to millions of consumers over the phone, is a direct violation of freedom of speech. What I believe Americans need to fear about the â€Å"do not call† regis... Free Essays on DO Not Call List Free Essays on DO Not Call List Recently, the Supreme Court struck down the â€Å"do not call† list, twice! This list is a registry that allows people to register their phone number on a list that prohibits telemarketers from calling their number. According to the Supreme Court, the call ban violates commercial free speech rights. Going against tradition, Congress voted against the ban of the â€Å"do not call† list. Despite this ruling consumers who don't want to receive telemarketing calls from particular sellers can still limit them by telling companies to put their number on each company's do not call list, which I know from personal experience is an efficient way to keep certain companies from calling your phone again. I concur with the ruling of the Supreme Court. There is no doubt about it, the â€Å"do not call† list violates the First Amendment right of free speech. I admit, that I can’t stand when telemarketers call my house several times a day, insisting they have a â€Å"once in a lifetime† offer and despite their annoyance, I understand that telemarketers are making a living calling several homes each day. If the telecommunication industry is restricted from calling millions of numbers, thousands of jobs will be lost and this country’s unemployment rate will increase, once again. After reading this article, I learned that Congress could vote against a Supreme Court ruling. In this particular case, I feel that the members of Congress are voting in favor of the â€Å"do not call† registry because they realize the annoyance and time that is wasted when people receive unsolicited calls. They receive the calls themselves and therefore, this issue hits closer to home for them. I also think the representatives in Congress know that to ban companies from trying to sell their product/program to millions of consumers over the phone, is a direct violation of freedom of speech. What I believe Americans need to fear about the â€Å"do not call† regis...

Computer Game Narratives

Computer Game Narratives Free Online Research Papers In this paper we investigate if, and then how interaction can define narrative in a computer game. When developing computer games that include stories or story elements it seems natural to use the traditional linear narrative and storytelling methods without emphasizing that the computer is essentially different from any other media because of its interactive capabilities. Therefore it is important to investigate how it is possible to create forms of narratives that utilize the computers interactive capabilities. We approached the problem by investigating how it is possible to structure and objectify narratives so it can be understood by the computer. Through our investigation we propose that the solution to creating interactive narratives is to make procedural models that can be understood by the computer and theoretical models to work with when constructing such systems. Keywords: Narrative, Interactivity, Computer games, Introduction Storytelling is mankind’s tradition of communicating information, whether being educational, inspirational, entertaining or otherwise to get the listeners attention. We tell stories from our daily lives as a form of communicating our or other people’s experiences, ideas, or points of view. Storytelling and the narrative therein has evolved in association with advances in our society and reflects on many of its changes (Mello, 2001,  ¶ 2). As we sometimes observe; storytelling reflects social conditions, popular interests and traditions as in 19th century fairytales where characters dressed and spoke according to conventions of the story’s time and/or reflected the author’s hopes, fears or dreams. This is also true in 21st century narratives which both reflect contemporary and future interests and nostalgic flashbacks to ancient cultures of might and magic. Storytelling also serves the purpose of conserving social history, personal deeds and accomplishments; and through them we are allowed access to a grand spectrum of dramatic personal events, funny happenings and epic tales that changed the world as we know it (Mello, 2001; Latvala, 1999; Denk, 2006)? When the storyteller or author sits down to tell or write a story he is usually doing so from his own point of view, he is presenting his perspective on certain topics, and uses his abilities to lead the reader through events in the story. The storyteller /author try’s to construct causes and effect relationship between events and the characters he creates to act in these events. The method he uses to construct this is generally referred to as a narrative. As a consequence, the author is, wholly or partly, responsible for the intellectual and artistic content of his story and as such has more or less total control over its content (NLC, 2002, p.21). It is that total control that we, in this paper, want to challenge by investigating if established events and characters in a predefined story can be controlled and manipulated. By predefined story we mean, where events and characters have their own state or conditions for existence, and are subject to change when changes happen in their immediate environment, either through direct contact or alteration of objects in that environment. The changes are generated by interacting with the story, navigating and manipulation of elements therein, creating an interactive narrative. In this paper we will describe our approach to interactive narrative and some theoretic models for describing and implementing interactive narrative. We ask the following question: Is it possible to simulate interactive narrative in a computer game? By providing answers to this question we hope to provide alternative methods of experiencing narrative through interaction. Narrative The word Narrator, and its subsequent methodological denominator Narrative, derive from the Latin word â€Å"narrare† which has its Indo-European origin in the word â€Å"gnarus†, which means â€Å"to know.† (Meadows, 2003, p.5) Thus a narrative is a form of knowledge, and a narrator is one who has knowledge of something he is telling us. In their book Film Art: An Introduction, Bordwell and Thompson (2004) conclude that narrative can be described as: â€Å"†¦a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space† (p.69). While Cohn (1999) adds a more human element, when she states that narrative is a: â€Å"†¦series of statements that deal with a causally related sequence of events that concern human (or human-like) beings† (p.12) Other definitions tend to be more towards more current media formats, explaining that a narrative is: â€Å"†¦a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program† (WordNet ® -a, 2006). While others are more specific: â€Å"How the plot or story is told. In a media text, narrative is the coherent sequencing of events across time and space† (Boles, 2006). These definitions are all justifiable and include elements that are of a traditional nature and can be found in traditional storytelling. All underline a causal approach to events in a story, while the some emphasizes events in time and space and human or human-like beings as part of a narrative. It can probably be argued that human or human-like characteristics are a part of countless narratives, since even abstract entities sometimes include recognizable human elements as a means to convey messages through a story. According to these definitions we make sense of a story through narrative by identifying with its elements and linking them by cause and effect, time and space. Whether the time is backward or forward or events are remixed in seemingly random order, with hard established cause and effect relationships the fundamental purpose of narrative is to communicate meaningful messages to audiences or individual persons. With all these combined elements a narrative can be considered the overall method chosen to convey the message within a story to the reader, viewer, or player depending on the media platform (Dansky, 2006, p. 1). Narratives – Paradigm analysis Our approach is that narratives can be analyzed and broken down into, at least, character types and the functions they perform in any given story regardless of demographic or social situation. We further suggest that these categories of character types and functions can be simulated as constants and variables depending on the task at hand. These categories of character types and functions are not necessarily simulated in detail but up to the point where it is perceived to be real. Furthermore, we emphasized that building interactive narrative based on characters or entities is not entirely about building computational algorithms, but also concerns giving these characters and objects their own life by simulating what it means to exist in any given story orientated environment by simulating communication, emotions, and other complexities of human social interactions. We propose, based on the assumption that real life narrative and behavior – as it is with learning and intelligence – can be described precisely enough for it to be simulated by a machine. (McCarthy, Minsky, Rochester Shannon, 1955, p.1) This suggestion contradicts some authoritarian scholars in the field of narrative structure where they state that narrative is fundamentally a cognitive mental process that makes the human experience meaningful (Polkinghorne, 1988, p. 1) (McQuillan, 2000, pp. 7-8) and should, therefore, be at best a vague concept and hard to objectify. We counter-argue that the relationship between narrative and computer technology is at best ambiguous and that further research is needed to determine what happens to narrative when it is presented by a machine. Simulating Interactive Narrative If we are to reach the state of interactive narrative one needs to generate changes at the core of the narrative structure. If through interaction one is able to decide how the plot progresses by starting and stopping actions and events, and in what order events occur while maintaining a comprehensible plot or story he has achieved the state of interactive narrative. Narrative is there to produce meaning and comprehension, if that fails there is no narrative; only confusion. Based on this, we propose that the plot in an interactive narrative scenario be described on two levels: the author level and the player level. Furthermore, we propose that a procedural and theoretical model is needed to describe in detail the elements that are essential for a narrative to be considered interactive. Two-Level Plot By describing the plot at two different levels a form of balance could be achieved between these key elements in the game narrative: 1.High-level plot – predefined elements are under the author’s control 2.Low-level plot – the elements are freely altered by the player At the high-level, the author could retain the freedom to define the key episodes of the story while their actual implementation in the player time-frame is left to the game engine. While at the low-level the player performance can be dynamically analyzed and logically applied to the lower level details of the how and why of a specific episode or game sequence. Figure 1 shows a model describing the two-level plot. We expect that the overall effect will be that the plot becomes more dependent on the player who gains a part of the control on the development of the story. Moreover, the player is provided with a less predictable, more life-like experience with a different selection of the details in each episode and possibly the (involuntary) triggering of different sequences of episodes altogether. Interactive Narrative Model Interactive narrative needs a model of the narrative structure in any given computer game. This model should be based on analysis of traditional narrative structures and include the key elements or principals needed to successfully execute or reach a state of reciprocal course of action that triggers interactivity. The challenge is to find or construct a model that is suited to the interactive nature of computers. This model should be able to describe the procedurals of interactive narrative and not just a list of its elements. We work under the impression that interactive narrative should be based on a realistic simulation. This means that one needs to replace the action of the author statically writing the plot, with dynamic software capable of simulating the writing that is supported by theoretical structure to ensure that the storyline keeps coherent and intriguing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a form of procedural model or platform for narrative, where the player engages in interactive communication with the gaming world resulting in a state of interactive narrative or as close to interactive narrative as the simulation allows. This platform would naturally be a computer game with an intriguing storyline or a journey through multiple rising actions, main events, and conclusions manipulated through interactive action by the player. Figure 2 shows a conceptual model of one possible structure of the narrative elements and their relationship to other elements and functions within the game framework. 1.Through the game the player makes sense of the gaming world and brings his perception to it through? the story/game mechanics 2.Narrative causality and logic: Here the rules, including all possible NPC actions at any given time in the narrative, are executed. Gaming world includes the narrative causality and logic and is designed and made by the game developer. 3.Narrative sequences and events: Here the player makes a choice in the narrative; these choices are influenced by all possible actions provided by the execution of NPC rules. 4.Player perception: An adaptive process where the player is affecting and being affected by narrative events. Player is able to affect narrative sequences of events and consequently their perception of events changes. 5. The narrative causality and logic is a constant predefined element but still contributing to narrative sequences of events as perceived by the player. Conclusion We suggest that a model of the narrative is needed to provide visual representation and overview of the components needed for an interactive narrative to be comprehensible and support the plot structure provided in the story. Such a model includes physical elements such as: human like characters, environmental objects (houses, cars, and trees etc.) and subjective elements like emotions, textures, light and shadows, character identities and other references to real entities. We furthermore propose that narrative is not only a cognitive process, but can be presented as concrete units and rules that are subject to changes through interaction. As a consequence we propose that the term interactive narrative describes the result of the interaction between – predefined elements in the game formalized and developed by the author – and the subjective perception that the player will form while interacting with them. The problem is that a comprehensive plot is dependant on a successful execution of the narrative and the relationship between events that need to be established in a meaningful way. The danger is that if we leave this relationship to chance or random interactive functions, we risk that no narrative will be established. However, by analyzing traditional narrative functions and elements it is possible to isolate elements within narratives that can be considered action based and subject to active engagement and justifies the implementation of interactivity into narratives within the framework of an event based story. Having established a relationship between interactivity and narrative we conclude that interactive narrative is a real possibility given that all parameters are met. We further conclude that extensive procedural and theoretic models are needed to explain and execute a state of interactive narrative in a computer game. Reference: Bordwell, D., Thompson, K. (2004) Film Art: An Introduction, New York: McGraw Hill, 2004 (7th ed.), p.69 Cohn D. (1999) The Distinction of Fiction, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1999, p.12 Dansky, R. (2006). Introduction to Game Narrative, In Bateman, C. Game writing: Narrative Skills for Videogames. Boston Mass: Charles River Media. Retrieved 10 November, 2007, from charlesriver.com/resrcs/chapters/1584504900_1stChap.pdf Denk, K. M. (2006). Making Connections, Finding Meaning, Engaging the World: Theory and Techniques for Ignatian Reflection on Service for and with Others, p.17. loyola.edu/Justice/documents/Template_for_Ignation_Reflection.doc Latvala, P. (1999) Finnish 20th Century History in Oral Narratives. Folklore vol.12. December 1999. Retrieved 10 November, 2007, from folklore.ee/folklore/vol12/oralnarr.htm McCarthy. J., Minsky, M. L., Rochester, N., Shannon, C.E. (1955) A proposal for the Dartmouth summer research project on Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved December 6th, 2006, from: formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/dartmouth.pdf Meadows. M.S. (2003). Pause Effect: The Art of Interactive Narrative. Indianapolis USA: New Riders Mello, R. (2001). The power of storytelling: How oral narrative influences childrens relationships in classrooms. International Journal of Education the Arts. 2(1). Retrieved December 6th, 2006, from: ijea.org/v2n1/index.html WordNet ® -a (2006) Cognitive Science Laboratory Princeton University. Retrieved December 6th, 2006, from: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=narrative Research Papers on Computer Game NarrativesMind TravelIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThree Concepts of PsychodynamicInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Masque of the Red Death Room meanings

Incomplete Parallels

Incomplete Parallels Incomplete Parallels Incomplete Parallels By Mark Nichol In each of the following sentences, an associated pair of phrases are not optimally stated and organized to make their relationship clear. The discussion after each statement proposes a solution, which follows in each case. 1. Follow with user support and usage monitoring to ensure a smooth transition and an optimal user experience during and post-implementation. In this sentence, during and the prefix post share implementation (and post should be directly attached, with no hyphen), but a preposition and a prepositional prefix cannot share a root word, so replace post with a distinct preposition: â€Å"Follow with user support and usage monitoring to ensure a smooth transition and an optimal user experience during and after implementation.† 2. Millions of Americans, including younger citizens, recent immigrants, and those who do not use credit actively, have a limited or no credit history. The parallel structure of â€Å"a limited or no† is not erroneous, but the idea is more clearly communicated with more complete wording: â€Å"Millions of Americans, including younger citizens, recent immigrants, and those who do not use credit actively, have a limited credit history or none at all.† 3. Such programs should be based on a clear understanding and an evaluation of potential threats of data loss.   Understanding cannot share a preposition with evaluation, because the article an grammatically partitions the two nouns. (An cannot be omitted, because doing so will imply that clear applies to evaluation as well as to understanding.) Assign understanding its own iteration of of, and, to provide further clarity, treat the corresponding phrase as a parenthetical: â€Å"Such programs should be based on a clear understanding of, and an evaluation of, potential threats of data loss.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Great Similes from Literature to Inspire You5 Lessons for Mixing Past and Present TenseWords That Begin with Q

Risk Factors and Challenges in the Technology Industry Essay

Risk Factors and Challenges in the Technology Industry - Essay Example Moreover, business enterprises are very concerned about "outsider" company having access to the sensitive commercial information. Escalating complexity of the products and solutions: It is hard to test all the scenarios for the applications involving extremely lengthy and complex code, which sometimes leads to "bugs" and malfunctioning. Growth of in-house IT: Many non-computer firms joined the industry by adding divisions or by acquiring computer services companies. Banks, publishers, airlines, and telecommunications companies were among those whose information technology divisions were involved in this industry (SIC Computer Related Services n/p). Dependability on the readiness of the customers to engage in electronic interactions or networking: Value of network grows in line with the number of participants. If the market does not successfully adopt the new technology on a wide scale, it will not exist long. The wave of year-2000-related new equipment purchases that took place at the end of the 1990s, as well as the availability of quality used equipment from bankrupt Internet companies in the early 2000s, had a negative impact on the corporate market for new electronic devices and computers. (Electronic Computers n/p) From 1998 to 2000, reported IDC, ave... 2. Communications and Networking Changes in the industry-related regulations: For example, adoption of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 greatly influenced operations of the telecommunication industry players. Standardization and adoption of new protocols. Emergence of many competing formats, offering lower costs and improved services to the customers: for example emergence of PCS systems as strong competition to wireless phone systems. Integration of different services (e.g. mobile phones with PDA -functions, text and multimedia messages services, WAP-internet access). Transformation of the industry structure: mergers and acquisitions in the industry (for example, recently approved acquisition of Skype VoIP-operator by the EBay Corporation). Reaching saturation in the developed-countries markets and challenges of global expansion. Dependability on the readiness of the customers to engage in electronic interactions or networking: Value of network grows in line with the number of participants. If the market does not successfully adopt the new technology on a wide scale, it will not exist long. 3. Electronics and Computer Hardware: Temporary slowdown of early 2000s in the technology spending in both corporate and private sectors caused by economic conditions and changes in the consumer behavior: The wave of year-2000-related new equipment purchases that took place at the end of the 1990s, as well as the availability of quality used equipment from bankrupt Internet companies in the early 2000s, had a negative impact on the corporate market for new electronic devices and computers. (Electronic Computers n/p) High R&D costs and consequently high break-even volumes. Increasing competition of low-cost Asian electronic

Global business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global business - Essay Example Particularly this discussion will be looking at the issues that American businesses going in Russia need to understand in order to formulate effective entry strategy. These two countries have major cultural difference in language, authority, customs and norms thus conducting businesses in Russia present a communication and management challenge. Communication is essential for any business, Russia unlike America has several official language due to the large number of ethnic communities of about one hundred (Bloshteyn, 2007). This will need the company to have people who understand a variety of these ethnic languages while in US English is their official language. Body language help to convey certain messages like nodding the head to show agreement Russians do not use body language as such like Americans do but are said to be very emotion for instance they can walk out on you during a meeting to show disagreement. Authority in Russia is centralized and chain of commands are from top to bottom and the juniors staff are expected to perform their tasks without any questioning while the Americans top managers give directions and give room for debating. Russians organizational structures are very bureaucratic in nature and this makes it difficult to do business for instance according to an executive director of Russo-British commerce chamber Stephen Danziel, ‘‘you have to fill forms for all most everything and have them signed by the right authorities usually in triplicate’’. According to Trompenaars & Woolliams ( 2003), culture is the core value of any society, businesses have to understand the cultural background of the customer in order to be able to meet their needs. The ideologies and gender views of these two countries are different, Russians are seen as communalism and believe in collectivity while Americans are entrepreneurship and very competitive. Therefore Amer icans businesses need to be aware of these background which will enable the

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND NUTRITION Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND NUTRITION - Case Study Example The human circulatory system can generally be described as an organ system concerned with transfer of amino acids, the lymph and electrolytes on one hand and gases, blood cells and hormones on the other. From one cell to another throughout the body with the sole purpose of stabilizing the body temperature and keeping watch at disease vectors. Through lymph and blood contents, the system ensures balance in the body Ph and maintenance of the homeostatic processes (Neville, 1983 pg 678). The circulatory system comprises basically of two principle mechanisms that is; cardiovascular and lymphatic systems, the former being concerned with blood distribution and the latter being involved in return of excess filtered blood plasma from between cells and refers to as lymph. Humans exhibit a closed cardiovascular system. Two fluids are formed to circulate throughout the human body system and there are blood and lymph. Lymph is filtered blood plasma from blood cells which are returned to lymphatic systems. Cardiovascular systems comprise of the blood, blood vessels and heart while the lymphatic system comprises of the lymph vessels, lymph and lymph nodes. The circulatory system comprises of two systems, pulmonary circulation and systemic circulation. Pulmonary circulation supplies blood to the lungs where blood is purified/ oxygenated whereas the system circulation supplies oxygenated blood to the rest of the body parts. Blood as a tissue constitutes 7% of the total body weight of an average adult. The components of blood include platelets, plasma, red and white blood cells. A point to note is that the circulatory system complements the digestive system in the sense that it provides nutrients the system needs for continued pumping of the heart. Systemic circulation is a system concerned with nourishment of body tissues except the lungs and heart. Blood vessels are responsible for supply of oxygen and nutrients to various body tissues. Re-oxygenated blood enters the