ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Summary A married couple (Linda and George) with their children (Peter and Lynda) move into a brand-new house with the latest technological advances installed in it. The house called the Happylife Home, however, conceals a threat to people’s lives. Lurking in the children’s room and disguise as a smart interface for creating landscapes according to the inhabitants’ wishes, it slowly transforms into a killing machine supposedly manipulated by the children. As Lynda and Peter become increasingly obsessed with the African veldt created by the room, the parents grow concerned. After George forbids the children from playing there, the room turns against the parents. Setting One of the most fascinating things about The Veldt is that it has not one, and not two, but three different settings. The first one is introduced by the “Happylife Home” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 1) loaded with a set of futuristic elements that were original at the time when the story was written but are nowadays repeated in any sci-fi novel. For instance, the kitchen, where the stove makes food without any human interference, the hall, where the lights go off automatically, etc. The second and the third ones are created and represented by the Veldt, which turns the reader nauseous with the eye-blinding sight of an African steppe and then lulls their vigilance by offering a background with Rima in the center of it. The use of the setting is perfect in the novel. The three different backgrounds contrast each other to create a perfectly creepy atmosphere by developing an element of suspension and foreshadowing a tragedy. Characters Although the size of the novel does not leave much wiggle room for developing a character, the ones introduced in the story are fleshed out fully. The kids are interesting, with their fascination with the veldt and their willingness to sacrifice their parents for the sake of staying in it. They can be poster children for getting addicted to new forms of drugs, which come in the shape of the technological progress in this world. The parents are very strong characters, as they deviate from the traditional image of a clueless parent and gradually develop the understanding of the situation – unfortunately, they do so not soon enough. The wife, Lynda, however, can be viewed as a stereotypical portrayal of a woman as helpless and in constant need of support, as she barely does anything – it is the husband, who decides to check the room, and whom she asks to talk to the children: “You’ve got to tell Wendy and Peter not to read any more on Africa” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 2). Wendy, the daughter, does not break the female character tropes popular at the time, either, being assertive and submissive to both her parents and her brother: “’I don’t remember any Africa,’ said Peter to Wendy. ‘Do you?’ ‘No.’ ‘Run see and come tell.’ She obeyed” (Bradbury, 1950, p. 5). Nevertheless, the characters remain believable and three-dimensional throughout the entire story, mostly because of the unique interactions be
Research Question Does the image of women promoted by the media cause them to undertake cosmetic surgery? The research will be based on the sources that can be accessed online. I plan to use various types of literature – websites, books, journal articles. Day 1: Search for sources The objective is to locate as many relevant sources as possible, look through them and identify the ones that match the purpose of the research best. Looking for materials, I will rely on Google Search, Google Books, and Google Scholar. The keywords for the search will include the combination of the following words and phrases: women, self-image, body image, advertising, mass media, objectification, cosmetic surgery, medicalization, Asian, African-American, racial features, ethnic identity. The keywords concerning the racial features are included because I plan to cover the issue of ethnic diversity and its relation to the fixed standards of beauty. Overall, the first step of the research will focus on the search for the suitable sources. The links to all of the documents and web pages that match the subject requirements after a brief scanning will be saved in a separate document. Day 2: Reading the sources, processing and synthesizing the information The task for this step will be to identify several main subjects for the literature review section. Another objective is to create a detailed outline with all the sections, subsections, and topics that I will attempt to cover in the paper. The basic outline of the sections is expected to look like this:  1. Introduction (half a page)  2. Background (2 pages)  3. Method (1 page)  4. Sample (1 page)  5. Literature Review (3 pages)  6. Results (2 pages)  7. Discussion and Implication (2 pages)  8. Conclusion (half a page) Day 3: Writing the first several pages This step includes the work on the sections of introduction and background. They must occupy at least two and a half pages. The introduction will focus on the problem statement, description of the aspects the paper will attempt to cover, and the research question it will answer. Background section will present the general information about the rates of plastic surgery in the modern world, the influence of the media, and objectification of women namely. Both sections will be supported with several references. Day 4: Description of Method and sample By this stage, I will know the number of sources for the paper and their types. In the “method” section I will explain that the research would be based on the review of the literature, and in the “sample” section I will provide a description of the search and selection of sources. Day 5: Literature review The objective is to complete the largest section of the paper will be written with the inclusion of all the sources. For better clarity, I plan to divide the review into several subsections. Day 6: Results, discussion, conclusion This part of my paper is estimated to take about 4 pages and three sections. Basically, it will provide my analysis of the information foun
Introduction Most countries in the world have united due to modernization of various technologies that have promoted human interactions. The use of digital communication tools has enabled people to exchange messages faster and this has given rise to transfer of political, social and economic artifacts. The business world has benefited significantly as a result of the introduction of digital trade and trading blocks that have promoted international trade among member countries. Governments have not been left behind in terms of promoting local trade in order to encourage locals and foreigners to invest in various business activities (Walsh 2003). At the same time consumers have been cushioned against unscrupulous businessmen who disregard the quality and quantity of their services at the expense of consumers’ ignorance. Nations use various approaches to ensure consumers are protected against exploitation by business people and one of the major ways which trade is controlled is through the introduction of fiscal policy that regulates the prices of commodities. This essay discusses the impacts of fiscal policy on the consumer population and local investors. Fiscal policy is defined as measures taken by the government to control trading activities in terms of tax impositions that reduce or increase the prices of goods and services. This becomes an influential tool for controlling trading activities within a country due to the fact that it lowers or
Introduction Creating the compensation system that works, i.e., leaves the employees satisfied and permits a flexible financial strategy for a company operating in the environment of the global economy, is beyond complicated. The necessity to take the needs of all stakeholders into account sets a company on the crossroads between investing in the employees’ professional growth and designing the tools that will make the company recognizable in the target market. CustomInk, however, seems to have designed the approach that provides leeway for sustainable usage of the available financial resources. However, the fact that the company is not associated with any trade unions shows that entrepreneurship may face certain issues when addressing the needs of its staff and, therefore, experience a rapid drop in employee satisfaction rates. Special Groups: What CustomInk Has to Offer According to the existing definition, special groups in an organization include corporate directors, top management executives, supervisors, professional employees, etc. (Locke, 2013). CustomInk provides compensations for some of the above members as well; for instance, directors and professional employees may receive compensation in accordance with the corporate policy. However, these are primarily employees that are entitled to repetitive compensations, which entrepreneurship is so famous for in the contemporary business area. The organization, however, seems to focus on the needs of the staff members, which aligns with CustomInk’s philosophy. Indeed, according to the firm’s standards, the employees should be viewed as the primary asset and the essential HR resource ( Philosophy , 2016). Role of Unions: Negotiation and Research When considering the role of trade unions in the identified environment, however, one must admit that CustomInk’s current compensation system is rather flawed. The lack of any connection with the existing trade unions makes a case for some of the staff members being underrepresented in the company. More importantly, the unavailability of trade union membership for the CustomInk members may become the premise for the workers’ rights abuse. Although the firm has been showcasing a prime example of meeting the needs and requirements of its staff so that the person could be motivated and loyal, the lack of any connection with trade unions whatsoever makes the people involved rather vulnerable to the external factors such as the possibility of staff reduction. Therefore, it is imperative that CustomInk should reconsider its approach toward the connection with trade unions. Unless a proper way of safeguarding the staff’s rights is introduced into the company’s compensation system, the rates of employee loyalty are going to drop inevitably. It is s
It is indeed true that determined attacks cannot be protected by firewalls. However, a company’s network is supposed to be provided with a definitive filter in the form of a firewall. It is unfortunate that a number of well known commercial firewalls can still be bypassed by hackers. The vulnerability of companies towards attacks is often increased during the process of outsourcing network security. The latter can be a cumbersome task owing to the high level of risks involved. Although outsourcing network security has several attractive ventures, there are considerable risks. Managed security services have been offered by several companies for some decades. The confusing nature of the field has made it difficult for industry analysts even to classify the actual nature of services offered. A recent study on SonicWALL, Palo Alto Networks, Juniper, Fortinet, and Cisco firewall companies revealed that all of them are prone to attacks. A split Handshake spoofing trick that interferes with TCP connections can penetrate through these firewalls. The trick is used by hackers to confuse server machine computers. The devices may not be able to differentiate between internal and external sources of communication. Cisco and other firewalls cannot be used to enhance password policy. Noncompliance to strict password policy can lead to dire security ramifications. In addition, non-technical risks can hardly be prevented effectively by Cisco. For instance, social engineering is one of the areas that Cisco cannot manage properly. Besides, lax security policies and poor decisions cannot be prevented by the Cisco firewall. In order to enhance the effective operation of a firewall, employees should not visit vulnerable sites within office networks. Passwords should remain confidential at all times. Office workers should also follow the security guidelines provided by the firewall company. Office users are also supposed to immediately report any signs of malicious attacks or suspicious links to the network security personnel.
Introduction Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” fits within the Romantic literary style. In the poem, nature is represented as a powerful and inspiring force that is incomprehensible to humans, who, in comparison to nature, have no power in influencing the world and what eventually occurs. In the dispute about nature in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” there can be two contrasting opinions on the treatment of nature. On the one hand, environmentalists may be concerned with the way nature is treated by humans, while on the other, there is a spiritual perspective that nature is the embodiment of God, with which the Mariner must reconcile. Nature and Power in the Poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” begins with the description of a wedding feast, during which the Mariner decided to tell his remarkable story. The scene then changes to the description of nature where the Mariner is left alone to sail his ship: “the ship was cheered, the harbor cleared, Merrily, did we drop,” which signifies the positive outlook of the mariner on his upcoming adventures (Coleridge 52). Alone and away from civilization, the Mariner is forced to battle against storms and other dangers of the ocean. A crucial moment to consider in the discussion about the role of nature in the poem is the Mariner killing an albatross (Rumens). Some can link this episode to the human desire to master nature, while for others, this act is spiritual. However, one must agree that nature in the poem has much more power over human beings than human beings have of nature. For instance, nature is so powerful that it forces the Mariner and his sailors to suffer from intense thirst when they remain in desolate waters: “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink” (Coleridge 70). This shows that any attempts to become the master of nature are pointless, and the only thing that human beings can do is merely survive. Spirituality Versus Environmentalism: Should They Be Separated? With regard to the idea of spirituality in the poem, the author depicts nature as an expression of the spiritual world. The author illustrates the close links between nature and the spirituality in the sequence of unfortunate events that the Mariner has to suffer after killing the albatross (Pham). In the poem, nature is the creation of God; thus, when the Mariner improperly interacts with nature and wants to gain power over it, he also challenges God. Therefore, attempts at harming nature are sins or moral failures since they question the authority and power of God. In the Christian perspective, sins lead to puni
Introduction In the early Islam, women were considered inferior, but due to the evolution of mysticism as a cult that emerged from within the Islamic faith, it has made many women attain the level of sainthood that was earlier a preserve for men only. The Islamic religion has a caste system for the priesthood that was strictly for men. According to Smith (1977), “It is the development of mysticism or Sufism within Islam, which gave women their great opportunity to attain the rank of sainthood.” The objective of the mysticism is to renounce the worldly things and become clean so that one can have total devotion to God. Al-wahatiyya in Al-Sulami (1021) defined Sufism as “…rejecting all worldly means of support and ending all worldly attachment.” Thus, the religion of mysticism is about focusing on the heavenly interests and purposes rather than getting involved with the people or material things. Mysticism regards gender equality in serving God because “in the spiritual life, there could be neither male nor female. All whom God had called to be the saints could attain, by following the Path, to union with Himself, and all who attained, have their royal rank, as spiritual beings, in the world to come” (Smith, 1977). The Sufi women aimed at perfect union with God by making sure that they had no extra burden from the world to carry as they had better relinquish their burden through repentance than continually carry the burden in the sinful world. Mysticism Mysticism is a form of religion among Sufi women where the women are the leaders in its establishment and development. Rabi’a of Basra was chosen to be the first woman saint to lead mysticism because she the Islamic region no longer restricts women from reaching sainthood. The Sufi women heaped lot of praises to the Rabi’a that she was devoted to God like men; hence, she is more than just a woman. Smith (1997), describes Rabi’a as “the head of the women disciples and the chief of the women ascetics, of those who observed the sacred law, who were God fearing and zealous… and she was one of those who were pre-eminent and experienced in grace and goodness.” The religious qualities of Rabi’a made her to be given chance to lead in the growth of mysticism by the Sufi woman. The biography of the saint Rabi’a is so fascinating and mystical she grew without parents, become a slave and her devotion to God made her master release her. When she was free, she experienced direct communication with God as the sakina glory of God shone over her head when she prayed. Rabi’a took her pilgrimage to Mecca and on her way, the ass she was using to carry her luggage died and Instead of seeking help from strangers, she refused saying that she was dependent on God only but not His creatures. She earnestly prayed until a miracle happened when her ass stirred up and the she continues on her pilgrim journey. God in the desert directly answer
Statistics plays a very useful and constructive role in almost every walk of life. Statistics is all about analyzing a myriad of historical data to extract useful information and trends and use this information for making important decisions for the future. Though there is no guarantee that what has happened in the past will occur in the future as well; but there is an equally important case for believing that something which has withstood the test of time in a reasonably long period of time in the past will stand the same test in future as well. Besides, the historical data and information extracted from the same are the only thing that one has in hand while taking the decisions for the uncharted territory of the future. Therefore, it is not surprising that people rely on historical data and the information extracted from it to make the appropriate decision for the future. Investment decisions are something very important for all of us. We need to save from our hard-earned money and invest the same to create a pool of resources to rely upon on our bad days. But, investment decisions are probably the most difficult. One has to choose a set of investment opportunities that optimizes between the risk and return, i.e., while return should be maximized, the risk should be minimized at the same time. One of the very important investment options is equity investing. This is best from return consideration, but at the same time, worst from risk consideration. Therefore, people need to pay the greatest attention with respect to decisions in equity investments. In this case, also, statistics provide great help. The article “Those with Sense of History May Find It’s Time to Invest” by Alex Berenson is such an article in which the author has discussed, using relevant historical parameters, how this is the best time to invest. Inequity investing, there is one very important and popular parameter – P/E or price to earnings multiple. This is the ratio of the price of a share to the net earnings per share. What analysts do is that they keep tracking this parameter. Besides, analysts calculate P/E based on estimated forward earnings as well, and they compare it with historical values. The same analysis is done with the index as well. A high value of P/E implies optimism in the business outlook for that company; an extremely high value implies greed, and an extremely low value implies fear. In this article, the author has relied mainly on this parameter while making a case for the current situation being the time to invest. The author has given an example of an index S&P which is currently trading at 13 times P/E. This valuation for the index is the lowest in the decade. The author has also given another example of a company Newell Rubbermaid which is trading at just eight times its one-year forward P/E. The author says people are valuing this company as if it is going out of business. That too, when this company’s business is not so prone to recession, yes, the demand for its products will come down, but so will the raw material cost (as crude is falling), and the company’s balance s
The possibility of teletransporation is a topic that concerns not only science fiction but also raises important philosophical issues of personal identity. Supposing teletransport becomes possible, it is not clear enough whether a person who disappeared in one place and appeared in another will be the same. Thus, it should be determined what factors influence the fact that a person is still self during some time. Philosophers at different times raised questions about the relationship between soul, body, and identity. According to the Body Theory (brute-physical view), personality is determined by a bodily criterion, and people are their bodies, which define identity. In turn, Descartes believed in the existence of an immaterial soul or mind, which causally interacts with a material body (“Personal Identity,” 2019). With this, for personal identity, nothing is needed except the personality itself. Locke also considered the question of souls that could live in a human body. Moreover, according to his views, one soul can live in several bodies in different lives, which resembles the concept of reincarnation, but at the same time, a person is not the same. Identity, in this case, depends on the consciousness’ continuity, and, for example, people who have lost their memory lose their personality. Parfit, who raised the teletrasportation paradox issue, believed that any factors for determining identity are not enough, and character features and memory come to the fore. Thus, even though I find Locke’s opinion to be the most convincing, each of these views may speak in favor of using a teletransporter. However, with the brute-physical view, it depends on whether human cells are transferred or duplicates created. In the second case, following this approach’s views is likely to be not the same person. However, following Descartes, if transported people define their identity in the same way, they will remain the same. Following Locke and Parfit, the identical character qualities and memory will also testify to the same identity. I believe that experience and attitude to it determines personal identity and I would advocate the use of a transporter. Reference Personal identity . (2019). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web.