ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction Globalization has created expansion opportunities to businesses in nearly all industries. Most businesses have opted to join overseas markets in order to expand their market shares and to increase their profits. However, joining new markets often involve high administrative and operating costs. Adopting modern information and communication technologies can enable investors to manage and expand their businesses in a cost effective manner (Berman, Marshall and Srivatbsa). Thus, this paper will attempt to analyze the extent to which ICT impact firm performance in the domestic and overseas markets. The analysis will focus on the use of cloud network in businesses. The Influence of Cloud Network on Businesses Cloud network technology has tremendously changed the methodology of doing business in various industries. In general, it has influenced the way businesses store data, develop new products, serve customers and manage their costs. The specific influences include the following. To begin with, most businesses are adopting cloud networks to optimize their capacity to improve customer value propositions. Optimizers are normally interested in offering great value in the market without undertaking major risks (Berman, Marshall and Srivatbsa). For example, North Carolina State University found it difficult to provide enough computing resources to over 30,000 students. In order to enhance its value proposition, the university adopted cloud network technology by creating a virtual computing lab. Consequently, the university has been able to attain flexibility in the provision of computing services to its students. Cloud network is also being used to facilitate innovation. Innovators use this technology to extend their customer value propositions in order to create new revenue streams. In this context, cloud technology enables businesses to change their roles in their industries, as well as, to join new markets. Finally, disruptors use cloud technology to identify new customer needs and to create new value propositions (Berman, Marshall and Srivatbsa). For example, in 2011, Comcast Corporation adopted cloud technology to respond to emerging needs in the entertainment industry. Concisely, Comcast used the technology to provide internet, entertainment and communication services to its customers via internet enabled devices. The technology has enabled Comcast to provide content via more devices than before. Additionally, the company is able to develop new applications faster and cheaply. Efficiency Improvement Cloud network technology has enabled businesses to improve their efficiency in the following ways. First, it facilitates easy storage, retrieval, as well as, maintenance of records or data (Yang, Goodchild and Huang 305-329). The network uses web-based applications which eliminate the need to store, maintain or process data within the business. These activities are outsourced and the user has real time access to his data. Second, it enhances internet communication by enabling all employees to interact using the same interface and data (Cloud Computing World). This improve
Social isolation has become a normal state of living for the world’s population in recent years. For many people, confinement has become a highly stressful situation, triggering their mental health issues, while for others became an opportunity to learn and grow. The recent article reviewed explores the impact of social isolation on a person, providing reliable data on the exact effect of such a notion on people and coping mechanisms to reduce its influence. This essay will summarize the story, adding relevant scientific evidence to ensure the credibility of the article. Peterson, the author of the article, focused on the challenges the world faced with the pandemic’s restriction on social isolation, inviting Emilie Kossick, the manager of the Canadian Institute of Public Safety Research and Treatment, to talk about the notion from a doctoral perspective. The expert proceeded to state that social desolation has been a significant problem long before the lockdowns, providing examples such as the conditions of astronauts and older adults’ loneliness in care facilities, explaining that it did not receive much attention from researchers until COVID-19 (Peterson, 2021). For that reason, there are currently many available pieces of research that can help facilitate people endure the effects of communication limitations. Among the physiological consequences of long-term isolation, Kossick indicates sleep pattern impairments and personality changes, in particular, the development of anxiety and depression. Indeed, multiple studies confirm the risks of mental health decrease, especially among children and adolescents who are constantly in need of socialization (Loades et al., 2020). The expert explains such impact to be caused by a decrease in brain activity in areas responsible for social skills and emotions. Therefore, social isolation negatively affects brain functions, causing multiple mental shifts. Not only social functions are impacted by long-term confinement, but there is also a high possibility of developing chronic diseases as a result of low physical activity and the lack of socialization. Kossick offers the theory
The existence of virtual communities is a predictable consequence of modern technological progress. Most up-to-date humans use at least one social network for work, entertainment, communication, and other purposes. Some humans claim that virtual communities have a negative impact on the population, making inappropriate materials easily accessible for younger generations, while others see only the positive sides of social networks (Ferris & Stein, 2020). Virtual communities have both positive and negative sides; however, their profits outweigh the shortcomings. Social networks allow people worldwide to communicate with each other, learn new languages, and stay societal if having various disorders. Communities online provide vast opportunities to share knowledge and experience with peers and stay up-to-date. Every person wants to be social, especially it is essential for teenagers. If a person does not live in a city with an immense population, he might lack social attention and involvement. Virtual communities provide a never-ending number of people from numerous countries and interests with whom sharing knowledge might be even more exciting. For humans interested in foreign language development, social networks allow enhancing language skills by having a native speaker pen pal. This can make a process of learning involving and more practical. Moreover, individuals having disorders that interfere with their social skills can feel uncomfortable communicating offline. For them, online platforms can be a solution to maintain social experience and self-development. Virtual communities broadcast people’s abilities, knowledge, and mindsets. However, social networks interfere with children’s upbringing providing them with unlimited access to adult content, graphic language, and violent materials. These shortcomings of online communications can influence children’s and teenagers’ psychological conditions and lead to various issues. These problems can be corrected by family restrictions, attention, and participation in children’s activities in their free time. Virtual communities cannot harm young generations if parents limit the content children access and discuss major topics inside the family. Reference Ferris, K. & Stein, J. (2020). The real world: An introduction to sociology (
The Environmental Protection Agency has several programs which specify the way environmental issues in the country need to be handled. EPA laws help to enforce proper environmental practices in the country to ensure all individuals and organizations conform to them. EPA monitors all activities in which public and private entities are involved to ensure they comply with proper environmental standards. The organization works within a regulatory framework that mandates it to deal with all environmental issues in the country. This paper will discuss the impact of EPA’s policies on business in the US. EPA’s waste and clean-up risk assessment program helps to monitor waste management and disposal in different sectors of the economy. This program ensures waste management processes by both individuals and business firms comply with established environmental regulations. This helps to protect the environment from being polluted by poor waste disposal. Waste management policies are enforced in line with provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The act has several regulations which stipulate the way waste disposal should be conducted to protect groundwater and air resources. The Act outlines guidelines that need to be followed by different industries to ensure firms adhere to high environmental standards (Browner, 1993). Therefore, EPA laws help business firms to institute proper environmental practices in their operations. Proper waste management and disposal by business firms help them to cut unnecessary costs in their operations. This allows companies to implement innovative internal processes to curb wastage of resources in production. For instance, hospitality and food manufacturing firms which dispose of waste in landfills close to their premises are likely to contaminate their products with toxic substances. Toxic elements from landfills can be swept into nearby rivers and streams, which serve as water sources for both business firms and other domestic users. These toxic substances can in turn find their way into food products manufactured by these companies, which endanger the health of consumers (Browner, 1993). Business firms must cooperate with EPA to ensure they dispose of waste generated by their operations properly. Business firms that follow EPA waste management guidelines can introduce innovative production methods to make them more competitive in the market. Firms can recycle waste products that are not bio-degradable to save money that is spent on new raw materials. This makes it possible for such organizations to invest in effective technological processes, which help them recycle nonorganic waste instead of disposing it into landfills. Kasich and Nally (2013) reveal that recycling processes make it possible for a business firm to comply with environmental regulations which max
When Nintendo first burst onto the scene with their Nintendo Wii motion gaming console, video gamers heralded the coming of a new age of game playing. One wherein the player is not merely tapping away on the control pad, but actually participating in the action sequences of the game. It was role playing taking to another level. However, gamers complained about the 2 dimensional look of the computer graphics. Over time, Game developers found ways and means to create more interesting and engaging cgi character renditions. The images now looked more natural but still somehow wooden. Even ground breaking games like the Halo and Grand Theft Auto series were faulted for the graphic image technology being used. Little did anybody suspect that Rockstar and Team Bondi, two of the game developers at the forefront of the CGI revolution teamed up with Depth Analysis to create L.A. Noire, a game that everyone in the game development industry hopes will revolutionize the art of video game image graphics as we all know it. When Rockstar and Team Bondi announced back in 2006 that they were going to go into the development of this particular bit of technology, the industry came alive with various expectations and suppositions regarding the capability and limitations of such technology. Here we are, 5 years later and Motion Scan Technology is now a reality that has left game deve
The concepts of consumerism, materialism and conformity factor heavily into the overall theme of the novel with the following phrase being an apt summary of such aspects: “then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own; now they own you” (Schultz, 583-605). What you have to understand is that Palahniuk portrays materialism and consumerism as adverse controlling influences within people’s lives in modern day society. This can be seen in the current pop culture obsession over getting the new iPhone 5, wearing branded clothes, having a particular hair style or driving a certain type of car. For Palahniuk, such aspects of behavior can be considered a form of irrational exuberance which is defined as: “the act of people basing their behavior on the actions of other people” (Schultz, 583-605). This can be seen in the thought process of the main character wherein his subsequent depression over the state of his life is actually based on a comparison between what he currently possesses and what society dictates he must possess (Schultz, 583-605). A similar way of thinking can be seen within many of the other members of the fight club, especially in the case of project mayhem, wherein their adverse and apathetic views towards society as a whole is in part influenced by their frustration over the need to conform to a materialistic consumerist oriented society. It is based on this that one way of interpreting this particular theme of the novel is to consider that, in an individual’s quest to conform to what is expected of them within society whether it is material gain or social status, they tend to lose the freedom to be who they want to be. This was exemplified in the previous line taken from the novel revolving around the concept of “things owning you”. What you have to understand is that in the pursuit of social conformity people within the novel as well as in real life tend to take on more than they should. This comes in the form of excess credit card debt, home loans, car loans and all other forms of debt accumulated to conform to the expectations of society regarding the correlation between material possessions and having a place within society as a whole. Unfortunately, this way of thinking often results in people having to take on burdens to pay for things they do not need, in order to impress people they do not know or like and, as a result, they become stuck in a cycle wherein what they own defines who they are. In essence, this is what Palahniuk refers to as “things owning people” since once something defines who you are it in effect owns you with the end result of you losing your freedom. It is due to this situation that the author creates a parallel theme involving the desire to be free from this state of irrational exuberance. This can be seen in the following phrase by the narrator when he describes Tyler Durden “Tyler is capable and free, and I am not (Schultz, 583-605)”. Such a statement, when coupled with the sheer amount of people that became members of the fight club, can be consider
The classical period in Greece began during the 5 th and 4 th centuries BC. The most common dates were the fall of the Athenian tyrant to that of the death of Alexander the Great. The Republican Rome was the phase belonging to the ancient Roman civilization and war characterized by a form of government that was republican. The Republicans began with monarchy overthrow and lasted for over 450 years. This essay paper is made to compare and contrast the society of classical Greece and that of the Republican Rome. Both classical Greece and Republican Rome societies experienced a lot of democracy and political equality. It is actually the democracy that was exercised in classical Greece that led to political transformation and the achievement of liberty and equality. This liberty was well explained by Aristotle as ruling and, in turn, being ruled and again living as one chooses. This democracy and political quality also exercised in the Republican Rome led to a remarkable development of the Roman city during the Republican era. So many immigrants came into the city from all the parts of Italy, leading to an increase in population to about half a million. Although both classical Greece and Republican Rome exercised democracy in their political structures, it gradually led to some downfalls of the states (Flower,112). For instance, in Republican Rome, it caused gradual destruction of the Republican state. Slave revolts arose as well as the civil war that led to the fall of the empire and finally to the killing of leaser. The extreme exercise of democracy within the political structure also contributed to political shifts in classical Greece and as well to a decline in the political stability of the city-states. Religion was also a common aspect among classical Greece and the republican Rome societies. In classical Greece, religion was comprised of a collection of rituals as well as beliefs. In their setting, the classical Greek societies believed that religion was the collection of practices that were local with the aim of honoring the local gods. To them, Religion was traditional, and innovation in worship was something that was out of the question. Republican Rome followed the Roman polytheism religion. Its religion later absorbed many other religions resulting in complex and rich mythology. Just like the classical Greek religion, facilities in Republican Rome believed in the supreme sky god referred to as Jupiter. Due to constant mingling with the Greeks, some gods of the Republican Rome were adopted from the classical Greek religion. However, the function of religion in Classical Greece was validation of the identity as well as the
Research will focus on the barriers which are faced by female students who are involved in distance education in Saudi Arabia. This research is important since female students face challenges like cultural barriers, lack of funds, poor IT skills and so on while trying to access education in Saudi Arabia. This can be attributed to their gender and cultural status in the society (Mhehe, 2004). Unlike their male counterparts, for many years now, they have been denied several privileges in life; one of them being education (Al-Dhuwayan et al, 2000). To keep up with the pace of rest of the world and to satisfy its internal needs, Saudi Arabia had modified its education system and adapted the western style of education that aims at creating qualified personnel in all the fields of the economy (Plank, 2009). First, it has incorporated the use of Information Technology so as to make education to be more effective and sustainable (Cordesman, 2009). Another advancement to the education system was to girl child a chance to attend school and gain formal education (Abdulkareem, 2001). That is why the government of Saudi Arabia, under the ministry of higher education, has adapted the use of e-learning in its universities (UWN, 2011). Many academics and analysts have argued that this move will transform the level of education in the country and give female students a higher chance of getting high quality education (Yahia, 2011). However, there are still some setbacks which make this dream to be unrealistic for many female students in Saudi Arabia, especially those who are under distance education scheme. Barriers to distance education learning include: time constrains, cultural influences, financial obstacles and incompetence in information technology (Mhehe, 2004). According to Mhehe (2004) most of these female students are either mothers or wives (p. 5). They therefore spend a good part of their day attending to their family issues. In the process, they become tired and have limited time for their studies. This affects their performance. There are still those families and cultures that still deny their females the right to education. Mhehe (2004) went further and said that this might be because they view education as not necessary to the lives of women. They still believe that the role of women in the society is to take care of their families. To add on that, most female students are not computer literate therefore accessing education on an online basis is difficult (Cordesman, 2009). Research questions To answer the problems that have been presented above, this study will try to answer the following questions:  1. Will distance education bring about positive impacts to the lives and careers of female students in Saudi Arabia?  2. What are the main factors that contribute to the development of barriers that are experienced by female students in distance learning?  3. What corrective mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that the problem does not prevai
The film under analysis is called Unknown Pleasures and is directed by Jia Zhangke. The movie focuses on the life of young people who do not have a purpose in life and who are searching for a better future. Being largely affected by Western culture and media, three main heroes decide to rob a bank, as it is often depicted in American movies. Further, plot development focuses on the frustration and disappointment with Western culture, as well as on their distorted attitude to reality. In the sequence under analysis, which lasts less than two minutes, the attention is paid to the dialogue between Xiao Ji, reckless teenager, and Qiao Qiao, a young dancer, and singer, that takes place in a café. Like the entire movie, the sequence is shot by means of a digital camera that has slightly changed colors to reach the tone needed for the main purposes of the movie. While shooting the scene, specific attention has been given to shot duration. Specifically, the director decides to direct the camera at one of the heroes engaged in a dialogue. Apparently, such a technique seeks to underline the importance of some of the responses in the exchange ideas. For instance, the camera focuses on Qiao Qiao when she talks about her parents to render her attitude and perception to the viewers. As soon as another hero starts talking, the camera immediately shifts to Xiao Ji. Additionally, sometimes the camera is established on the listener rather than on an active speaker for the viewers to understand what each of the heroes feels while listening to new information. The scene does not provide the picture of both heroes together in a shot. As per the depth of the field, all the objects in an image are sharp and, therefore, the depth of shooting is precise, which makes the short less focused. The accuracy of the short is measured by the distance at which camera is established. Because the camera shoots the objects at a relatively similar distance, there is no discrepancy in depths of field in the scene under analysis. Additionally, the director prefers using close-up to take a closer attention to the hero’s emotions and reactions, which prevents from noting the background image. The sequence under analysis is shot from one camera angle that shifts from one actor to another. Specifically, the director chooses close shots, which gives the impression that the heroes are along in the café. One cannot see other tables with visitors; neither can they see the waiters. The abrupt shift from right to left also keeps the viewers in psychological tension. It should also be stressed, however, that there are no changes in shot distance, which enhances the tension and draws attention to the high level of emotionality of the heroes. In such a way, it is possible