ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
1990s fashion: a challenge of the decade Fashion is an important feature which makes a clear definition of the prevailing idealism and zeitgeist of a certain period. It is through fashion that people express themselves, who they are, and what kind of people they are. Fashion gives people an avenue for valuing and appreciating the aesthetic values of things and the environment. This is probably one reason why fashion is considered as an art over the years. Fashion and art shares a common ground, the same purpose and jives together most especially in the aspect of beauty and style. The decade of the 1990s was a period wherein great changes have occurred in the modern world. It acted as the transition period of almost all aspects. The decade served as the kick off of the twentieth century and therefore became a time when many ideas and trends existed. One of the facets wherein great transition has been observed was fashion. From a more consuming and conspicuous style of the 1980s, a more defined and individualized style of dressing and composing oneself emerged in the succeeding decade. During the 1980s, the most common styles which we can think of are those of a woman wearing oversized shoulder pads and big embellished shirts (Thomas, n. d.). In the next decade, these conceptions of 1980s fashion became less used until they became “phased out” in the industry and in the world of fashion. However, this certain decade was also coined as the “anti-fashion” because of several reasons. Anti-fashion refers to the rejection of the mainstream fashion style. It is a type of deviance which may tend to be defiant and offensive (Anti-Fashion, 2005). It was also a time when many fashion trends overlapped each other and contradicted other emerging styles. Because of this, many liberal ideas and images arose. Furthermore, this led to the concept that the 1990s period was a time when the boundary between fashion and art became blurred. One factor that brought about this struggle in the world of fashion was the idea of individualism. During this decade, many fashion enthusiasts were not anymore considering what was popular and in. More emphasis was given on the person’s individual sense of style and permanent fashion was not common that time. Because of this, many people, most especially the stylists came up with catchy and attention-seeking sense of style. This happened to the extent that many styles are already shocking and outrageous in the sense that it already promotes unhealthful acts and behaviors among the consumers, most especially the youth. The dominant styles of clothes during the 1990s decade were those fit and less-stiff styles compared to that of the 1980s. Also, more focus is given on the use of preppy clothes, most especially for females, rather than tight and boxy outfits (Proctor, 2006). Sporty outfit have been given emphasis, most especially with the productio
Introduction Asian art has a long and endearing history of skill, tradition, introspection, and connection to the spiritual world. For thousands of years that the Asian continent was separated from the rest of the world by distances, it followed its path of evolution. Asian artists are known for their skillful craftsmanship, as they are capable of creating beautiful works of art, be that paintings, pottery, or sculpture. The bond between generations is easy to perceive, as every new generation of artists added something new while honoring the traditions of their ancestors. Asian art was influenced by a wide variety of historical events, religions, conquests, and cultural adaptations. Buddhism and Hindu religions, in particular, played an important role in the formation and evolution of art in China, India, Japan, and other Asian countries since at least 5th century BCE. These religions promoted an introspective way of life, and their temples were decorated with beautiful statues out of wood, stone, and gold. Many of these works of art are presented in museums. The purpose of this paper is to analyze several works of Asian art and sculpture and reflect on their aesthetical, historical, and philosophical meanings, to develop a personal sense of taste. The Amulet Box (Gau) This ritual box was made in the 19th century in Tibet and is currently in possession of the Rubin Museum of Art. It is a gift to the museum made by Ralph Redford – a private collector. The box itself is made of silver, with a metal plate on the backside. This box is a religious Tibetan object. It was used to carry various religious artifacts and serve as a portable shrine. The central window of the box is meant to reveal a s
The Seattle hip-hop scene is extremely diverse with many interesting and unusual artists. However, Wanz has fascinated me with his unusual biography. The artist never achieved great success but did some amazing work for other musicians. Wanz’s real name is Michael Wansley. He was born in 1961 and has been a part of the hip-hop and pop scene of Seattle for the most of his life. He has been performing since the early 1980s (Gale, par. 4). His interest in music was increased after he studied jazz at the Central Washington University and taught himself to play bass. His career included playing bass and singing in various bands like Boys Will be Boys and Lifering. He used to be an established hook singer for D. Sane and worked with the artist for about ten years. Wanz never really became famous. After failing to get recognized, he became a software testing engineer and accepted that music is nothing more than a hobby for him (Unterberger, par. 3). He still occasionally sang for Street Level Records and even took part in the opera Porgy and Bess. However, his musical life changed after he was offered to sing a hook for the 2012 song “Thrift Shop” by Ryan Lewis and Macklemore. Nobody expected the song to become an international hit. Once it climbed the charts and the video went viral, Wanz once again hoped to create a career for himself through the unexpected popularity. He did tours with Macklemore and was making some money and fans. He said that time “seemed surreal” (Soper, par. 5). That allowed him to quit his software testing job and become a full-time musician. However, that did not last long. He was hired to sing hooks for several songs after that point, but his solo EP never came out. As the original video stopped being as popular everybody seemed to forget about the old singer. He did manage to publish “The Book of Wanz.” The collection of aphorisms was published last year. It covers his experience as a fifteen-minute star from 2012 to 2015. He had to return to his job as a software tester and once again give up on being an established hip-hop artist. When it comes to music, Wanz is well-known for his hook in “Thrift Shop.” With his deep, powerful and melodic voice, it is no surprise that the hook was widely known as the catchiest part of the song. It is surprising to me that the old artist failed to become popular by himself. His voice is truly powerful and
Every new franchise is rooted in a number of complex business decisions and ideas. This paper reviews the major peculiarities of the UPS store franchise as well as verifies its underlying principles against the existing economic issues. This brand presents much interest in current business reviews since it exemplifies a successful startup and helps to perceive the foundation of the modern economy. The UPS Store is a global corporation that provides various postal services. Specifically, the franchise specializes in printing, mailbox services as well as packaging and shipping. It was initially launched as an effective alternative to the American mail service and gained much popularity throughout the USA (“The UPS Store” par. 1). The postal store possesses a huge financial potential, for the number of its units increases every year. Moreover, the UPS store is a successful provider of financing support programs. Thus, it offers a number of franchise loans to the new owners, which helps the beginners to feel secure in their future undertakings (“The UPS Store: Franchise Cost & Fees” par. 3). The financing serves as a prerequisite of successful franchising. According to Keup, “franchising is a method of market expansion utilized by a successful business entity wanting to expand its distribution of services or products through retail entities owned by independent operators using the trademarks or service marks, marketing techniques, and controls of the expanding business entity in return for the payment of fees and royalties from the retail outlet” (5). Thus, one can deduce that efficient franchising is a guarantee of the corporation’s prosperity. The economy targets three questions that constitute its concept. These questions are aimed at the investigation of production sources, processes, and customer types. Therefore, they are usually regarded as ‘what,’ ‘how,’ and ‘for whom’ questions. The first issue refers to goods and services. The answer to the second question depends upon such factors as land and labor productivity as well as opportunity costs. Finally, a client implication determines the way in which a product or a service complies with a community’s demands (“The Three Fundamental Questions Every Economy Has to Answer. What, How, and For Whom” par. 1). Applying the fundamental questions to the UPS franchise study, it may be outlined that the company offers mailing services by providing the customers with high-quality postal operations. Thus, the evaluation of the UPS’s work shows that the franchise’s land and labor productivity rank extremely high, due to the corporation’s constant extensions. The store targets various business establishments that are interested in mail services as well as the individuals who use it. The three basic factors of production predetermine the outcomes of a franchise’s work. According to Ekelund and Hebert, the three factors are land, labor, and capita
Introduction Leadership embraces a process that involves direction of behaviors of other people geared towards achievement of some preset goals and objectives. According to Spence (1983), Leadership is “influencing others to get things done to standard and quality above their norm” (p.105). A leader must play his/ her roles in the most willing and pragmatic manner. Leadership is complex process involving social interaction. It entails influencing others, deployment of personalities who not only take proactive roles in acting but also participate as followers. A leader expects “a range of outcomes- the achievement of goals but also the commitment of individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the reinforcement of change of organizational culture” (Spence, 1993, p.95). More often than not leaders are normally role models, mentors or even industrial leaders among other personalities who guide masses into the right course of actions. The leaders must involve themselves in practices of effective leadership and accountability that contribute to documented success. This paper seeks to evaluate the characteristics of an effective leader, the role of individual accountability, personal strengths further showing how one can apply them in success, and critical thinking, leadership and accountability as critical elements in a personal plan of success. Effective Leadership Leaders, whether mentors, role models or industrial leaders should be free from self-obsession and egocentricity. They need to have enthusiasm to be truly humble and dedicated to serve leave alone their leading noble role. For the better part of the leaders’ daily job, it entangles making observations on themselves and their subjects. It is therefore requisite for them to be non-judgmental observers. A wealthy leader solves problems in the most amicable way using minimal data. Such a person demands to have the requisite capacity to face problems head on driven by substantial urge to adjust ruthlessly to the market dynamics to find alternative competitive ways of training his/her collaborates, workers and or customers. A leader in the business arena chooses how to embrace the 4W rule to determine when, where, why, and who to invest with while considering the most optimal fiscal conservativeness. “Effective leaders communicate precisely, consistently, concisely and clearly without sending mixed up signals” (Zhivago, 2010, para.5). The communication should be timed to create the anticipated effect in most significant manner. The direction given ought to be clear and precise while not negating the fact that an outstanding leader enormously need to be sufficiently armed with the power to make aggressive evaluations of his or her projects. Important to note, an effective leader deserve to have an exceptional sense of humor. A leader who exhibits positive leadership skills deserves to be in possession of a
Introduction Human beings are highly social and interact with one another in various spheres of life. The interaction is normally done through a presentation of a product or service. For example, for business people, availing products in a market is not enough, as they also have to present those items in an attractive way to lure in customers. On the other hand, two people meeting for the first time will try and give a good impression through both their physical and intellectual presentation. It can be posed that one must be able to make presentations that sway their audience to buy into their ideas to achieve their set objectives. The book Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Principles of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo provides readers with guidelines that can be used to make powerful public presentations. This essay is a reaction to the concepts and ideas presented in the book. Background Carmine Gallo is an American author, former journalist, communication coach, and the current President of Gallo Communication Group. This reflection paper focuses purely on Gallo’s work in Talk Like Ted: The 9 Public-Speaking Principles of the World’s Top Minds . In this book, the author reviews more than 500 TED presentations (about 150 hours of talks) and interviews some of the most successful TED speakers, top communication experts, neuroscientists, and psychologists. After an in-depth analysis of these presentations, Gallo infers that the speakers incorporate nine principles of public speaking grouped into three main parts. The three parts are emotional, novel, and memorable. This paper gives personal thoughts about the insights given by Gallo in the book and concludes that Gallo’s public speaking guidelines are useful for anyone yearning to sharpen their public speaking and presentation skills. Reflection Gallo posits that the first step under the emotional aspect in becoming a good public speaker is to unleash the master within (9). The statement implies that one must develop a passionate connection with his or her subject matter. It can be argued that to be successful, one should do what he or she believes is in line with their identity. According to Gallo, many times, one’s identity goes hand in hand with his or her passions as opposed to intellectual talents. For example, Steve Jobs and Michael Zuckerberg dropped out of college and began to follow their respective passion. Through this argument, one can argue that passion drives action. Thus, it can also be described as a pillar of success. I agree with Gallo, who suggests that it is impossible for a speaker to inspire the audience while they are not passionate about their subject (11). This perhaps explains why the most inspiring speakers analyzed by Gallo had a personal experience o
Introduction to Desalination and the Victorian Desalination Project Desalination is the process of removing or eliminating considerable amounts of salt and other minerals from saline or seawater (Mitchells, Brighton & Samuel 2012). The process produces fresh water, which is suitable for domestic and agricultural applications. Saline water, which is drawn directly from the sea, is not suitable for these purposes. The by- product of the entire desalination process is salt, which has a variety of uses. For example, the salt is iodised and used in cooking. Large- scale desalination is a very expensive endeavour. It consumes a lot of energy and requires expensive and specific infrastructure. As a result, desalinated water is more expensive than fresh water from natural sources, such as lakes, rivers, and rainwater. The Victorian Desalination Project is a water cleaning plant that was constructed by the government along the Bass Coast. The project neighbours Wonthaggi in Southern Victoria, Australia. The State of Victoria contracted a company by the name AquaSure to design and construct the plant. The contractor was tasked with the responsibility of completing the project under the supervision of the Department of Sustainability and Environment [herein referred to as DSE]. DSE is one of the various departments under the Federal Ministry for Environment, Water, Heritage, and Arts. The government and other stakeholders expected to complete the desalination project by December 2011. However, the project has stalled as a result of various challenges encountered by the government and the contractor (Department of Sustainability and Environment [DSE] 2012). The desalination plant is located approximately 500 metres from the Bass coastline. The marine water, which is drawn directly from the ocean, is channelled to the plant through a 1.2 kilometres aqueduct. After desalination, the clean water is distributed through a network of pipes measuring about 85 kilometres. The pipeline is connected to Melbourne’s main water supply network. From here, the water is distributed to the entire community. According to AquaSure (2012), the plant is expected to provide 150 billion litres of supplementary water per annum when completed. In addition, the capacity of the plant can be expanded to provide 200 billion litres of fresh water per annum. Opposition from various quarters has haunted this project over the years. The opposition comes from, among others, the local community and environmental groups, such as the Australian Greens. The opposition is characterised by regular demonstrations held on the site and in other locations w
The Short Summery of the Novel Under Consideration The novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” written by Junot Díaz can be acclaimed as one of the best modern day novels depicting people’s lifestyles and social and political developments in the ever changing reality of nowadays. Within the book the audience will find a coherent and cohesive depiction of a humorous portrait of a Dominican nerd and his meditation on private and public historical account and familial history. In the following paper, this novel will be addressed in terms of its connection to the valuable information concerning private and public life and history of Latin America studied by us during the classes. Generally, the book can be evaluated as a fine piece on history and people’s life in Latin America and the United States, and providing sustainable data, deep investigations, thought-provoking ideas and an interesting layout. The Primary Themes of the Book The book begins with the fukú. This is “generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World” (Diaz 84). Then the author relates the events of those days impartially showing all the difficulties that the family of Dominican immigrants has to face in the United Sates. After this, the author shifts to relating Oscar de Leon and his sister Lola’s personal accounts. The book ends up by relating the events leading to the death of its main character along with the reaction of the other personages to it. Discussing the events addressed in the book under consideration, it should be stated that they are addressed in a way easy for understanding and evaluating their re
Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the most thriving and growing countries in the Middle East, has transformed from a little-known desert nation in the Arab Peninsular to an iconic state among those in the region. At the center of this nation’s growth and development is a respect for cultural diversity, which Zhang (2016) defines as “a system of beliefs and behaviors that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society” (p. 244). The country’s cultural diversity has served to strengthen the UAE’s social fabric, allowing that nation to generate significant progress in different aspects of its social and economic spheres of development. This view is in line with Rabah’s (2016) emphasis on the importance of respecting cultural diversity in the process of nation-building because the concept is useful in solving conflicts and developing solutions that are beneficial to the majority of people. This paper highlights the progress that the UAE has made and the challenges encountered in integrating people from diverse cultural backgrounds into a collective whole. Diversity in the UAE The UAE is home to a culturally diverse society. The high numbers representing the country’s expatriate population are evidence of this fact (Al Mazrouei& Pech, 2015). Native-born citizens comprise only 11% of the country’s population (Brownie, Hunter, Aqtash, & Day, 2015). The majority of the UAE’s residents hail from India (34%), while people from other Arab states make up about 18% of the country’s population (Jayanthi, 2016). In terms of ethnicity, Emiratis, South Asians, Egyptians, Filipinos, and “others” account for 11%, 59%, 10%, 6%, and 12% of the total population, respectively (Jayanthi, 2016). The UAE’s cultural diversity is also evident in the form of official tolerance for other religions. In