ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
A moment from the 4 th episode of Ken Burns’ The Civil War that made a particular impression on me was at the beginning of episode 4. When discussing the condition of the Potomac Army, the narrator mentions that the Union soldiers suffered greatly from the lack of provision due to inadequate supplies. There were also numerous ailments plaguing the army, such as scurvy, typhus, and many others. The documentary wraps it up by mentioning that, for every soldier dying because of battle-related causes, two had perished due to illness. This moment was impactful because, when one thinks of war, one usually imagines battles, but these are only a small part of a military conflict as a whole. The documentary serves as a somber reminder that the causes not related to combat directly, such as the seemingly mundane logistical disruptions, can produce a frightening toll in casualties. One thing that I think is not stressed enough in the documentary is why the attacks in close formations proved so costly and fruitless. The documentary mentions that attacking a well-prepared position defended by cannons and riflemen in bayonet charges caused frightening casualties but does not explain the technical developments that led to this outcome. After all, European armies have used close formations and bayonet charges in the Napoleonic Wars, and one may rightfully wonder what has changed that they stopped working in a matter of several decades. The reason for this development was the breech-loading rifles that were much more accurate and quick to fire than the old flintlocks. Mentioning this technological development would help to explain what gave fire such a tremendous edge over the bayonet in the American Civil War.
Democracy has a long history, and its definition and perception changed many times. However, the core values have remained unchanged. Even though today democracy is understood differently from what Athenians thought about it, everybody agrees that democracy is about equality among people, liberty, respect for the law, and justice. Athenian democracy has protected the liberties and rights of the wealthy people in the first person, while modern democracy is about the fair treatment of people from all social levels. Recalling the speech of Thucydides, democracy is when the power is in the hands of not a minority but of the whole people when all are equal before the law when political life is free and open, when people are free and tolerant in their lives when citizens are obedient to the one they put in the position of authority when each individual is interested not only in his affairs but also in the affairs of the state. This was the Athenian democracy, and unfortunately, modern democracy is very different from the one practiced by ancient Greeks. Athenian democracy was marked by the dedication to the republican state and by the subordination of the private life to public affairs and good for all. As Pericles noted, “the virtue of the individual is the same as the virtue of the citizen” (Held, p. 17). For many centuries to follow, democracy has become the rule of the game, and the role of every individual in the democratization process has been forgotten. Pure democracy can be established only when all citizens can and should participate in political life when they do not face the obstacles to involvement in public affairs based on wealth or rank. Plato defined democracy as the form of society that treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not, and ensures that every individual is free to do as he likes (Held, p. 29). This definition, which is easily understood by modern society, has not always been the rule of the game for many countries. Some nations praised it, while others degraded it. Democratization has been the strong impulse in some states, while at the same time, it has been very weak in others. The long history of
Lenovo ThinkServer TS200v A versatile solution for a small to medium business for several reasons. The price range and the relatively powerful hardware for its class make it a good variant for many possible applications. The ThinkServer TS200v has several variations of configuration, with the most affordable starting as low as &299, with the dual-core 2.26 GHz Celeron G1101, all the way up to the $985 for Intel Core i5 CPU 650 with two cores running at 3.20 GHz and the RAID 1 capability. It comes with the rather simple Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation (Lynn par. 3). Asus RT-AC68U Dual-band Wireless-AC1900 Gigabit Router A solid router capable of managing the network of a small business, in case the four ports it is equipped with will be enough. Being dual-band, it communicates at both the 2.4 and the 5.0 GHz frequency bands, adding to the versatility and reliability. The speed tests show the router performs at one gigabit above the other products of the same class (Ngo par. 3), which allows for professional usage. Also has NAT capabilities and supports WPA2 encryption. It can be bought for $168.94. D-Link 24-Port EasySmart Gigabit Ethernet Switch (DGS-1100-24) One of the biggest switches in the family, this model sports 24 ports which will suffice for almost any small business. The ports support up to 1000 Mbit/s, which is currently enough for any LAN. For home usage, more affordable models with fewer ports are advised. The price tag of $149 makes it an affordable yet reliable choice. Network Everywhere NH1005 10/100 5-Port Hub This modest network hub
The author gives a detailed account of the main theories of sociology whereby he discusses the ideas of some of the known scholars in the field, such as Emile Durkheim, as well as others who came later with either divergent or supportive views. In the chapter, the author explains the occurrence of crime using the main theories of sociology, even though he also offers a critique of the methods. He manages to explain how antisocial criminal behaviors are transmitted from one person to the other and from one generation to another using the theories. The ideas of Merton that crime traces its roots in the American Dream, which teaches people to work extremely hard to fulfill their potentials in society, are valid even though he underscores the fact that other causes of crime exist in the community. It is unfortunate that, while the American dream encourages people to be industrious in whatever they do, a majority in society does not have the means to achieve these treasured values, something that increases the cases of delinquency where individuals would want to engage in crimes, such as money laundry, terrorism, cybercrime, and drug trafficking to been as industrious. The idea that criminal behavior is something that can perhaps be learned through the socialization process is fantastic since it implies that the environment has a role to play in shaping the human behavior in any given society. In the entire chapter, understanding anomie is fascinati
Joan Miro is a well-known surrealistic artist earning his international acclaim for a series of self-portraits written during varied periods of his mastership. The image under consideration in the following paper named “Self-Portrait I” is completed by Joan Miro in 1937-1938. The artist accomplished it in pencil and crayon on canvas. Currently, the picture can be found in The Museum of Modern Art located in New York. The main themes of the paper are centered around Miro’s philosophic approach to his personality; the artist fills every piece of his face and neck depicted in the portrait with a lot of varied details including flowers, leaves, and twigs suggesting certain ideas about his personality. This work of art will be analyzed in the context of its time and the art school it belongs to. The work of art under consideration represents the art school of surrealists with its philosophic overtones, ambiguous ideas, an unconventional approach to the basic methods, and conceptions of picture creation. Speaking about the painting’s characteristics, it should be stated, first of all, that it can be described as using content peculiar for surrealistic artists of this period. The lines of the picture are sharp and straight with clear visibility of pencil contours; this suggests that the author of the picture has a sharp mind and outward personality. The picture features unexpected juxtapositions of colors and shapes. These juxtapositions feature unusual, and it can be even said, abnormal form combinations for portrait conception. Further, regarding the color use and color harmony in this work of art, it can be said that the painting uses a variety of obscure and glooming colors. This use of color harmony can be described as indicative of surrealists. Speaking about the range of color which can be seen in this painting, it should be said that it is rather unvaried and features gloomy and cheerless colors such as grey and pale tinctures of green, yellow, and pink. Miro resorts to the use of irregular colors here. We see him depicting varied parts of his face and neck in green and yellow which are abnormal colors for them. The colors can be hardly addressed as complemented. Thus, the conclusion can be made that the author aims to lay some unconventional philosophic ideas about his personality upon the audience. Probably, the author is deliberate in the choice of this color harmony as such colors represent the certain mood of the person including the ideas on the search of meaning in life, some level of dissatisfaction with the phenomena of the surrounding world, desire to find new ways of world perception and seeing one’s own personality and the pursuit for some other sources of enlightenment including the connection with the nature and universe. Next, the painting can be evaluated as having a row of uneasily noticed objects which is relevant for surrealists. In this painting, Miro seems to have an objective to impress t
Nowadays, it is crucial to define and analyze the cultural differences between countries in order to manage a business in a global environment. Multinational enterprises have to design a proper strategy and management type taking into consideration cultural dimensions to operate on external markets. Cultural dimension theory, introduced by Hofstede, is a great tool designed to determine and assess cross-cultural differences in order to distinguish how business is done across the world (Beugelsdijk, Maseland, and Van Hoorn, 2015). This essay is aimed to use the “individualism versus collectivism” dimension to compare Saudi Arabia and Poland in terms of management approach. Those particular countries were chosen based on the idea to compare representatives of Arab and European cultures. Whereas Saudi Arabia is a collectivistic country and requires group-based management, Poland’s culture is more individualistic and requires the management of individuals. In terms of Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism (IDV), Saudi Arabia scored 25 (The Hofstede Insights, 2020). IDV generally shows how an individual perceives his/her place in society and the quality of interpersonal bonds within particular cultural settings. This low percentage of individualism means that the Saudi Arabian level of group integration is closer to collectivism. In a collectivistic society, people are ready for a long-term commitment to the special group, including families and other extended relationships. In such cultures, loyalty becomes the supreme value among society that even overpowers some regulations and rules. There are strong ties between members of a particular group encouraged by society, so every member is obliged to take responsibility for others. That is why, people perceive relationships at work, such as employee-employer relationships, in a similar moral way, as they do with family links (The Hofstede Insights, 2020). HR departments of companies are expected to pay attention to employees’ in-group when making decisions on their employment or promotion. In that case, the most suitable managerial approach is group management. Collectivism is deeply rooted in Saudi Arabian religion and history. Arab society is established on the mutuality of person
Introduction In the U.S, people living in poverty are so diversified to the extent that, they can’t be described along a particular dimension. To do this, poverty data should be presented by selective characteristics i.e. age, the composition of families, citizenship, and Hispanic origination. This is the best way of illustrating how the rates of poverty differ. Main body The federal government has its way of poverty measurement. The United States uses sets of wealth-income thresholds, which differ by the sizes of families and their composition to identify poor persons. If for example, the entire earnings of a particular family are lesser than its threshold, then every person in it is regarded, as poor. These thresholds do not differ with certain localities; instead, they are brought up to date yearly for inflation by use of the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The official description counts up cash proceeds before taxing not including capital gains and non-cash benefits i.e. public accommodation, Medicaid, or food stamps. This term is also not applicable for individuals in armed forces barracks, organizational group residence, and unrelated persons fifteen years of age and below i.e. foster children. They are left out of the poverty world because; they are neither regarded as being poor nor privileged. The federal government also presents poverty information by use of 2 other measures: “the ratio of income to poverty threshold and the income deficit. The ratio of income to poverty threshold shows the number of people with incomes below multiples of their poverty thresholds;” (Dalaker, 7) the proceeds shortage, illustrates the dollar variation between a family’s earnings and its particular poverty threshold. It is also important to note that, “since the income items specify a period covering the last 12months, the appropriate poverty thresholds are determined by multiplying the base-year poverty thresholds (1982) by the monthly inflation factor based on the12 monthly CPIs and the base-year CPI” (Dalaker, 21). Poverty in the U.S has been gradually declining ever since the previous financial recession. The state of poverty is still regarded to be higher than that of the 1970s. This is when a total war on poverty was laun
Introduction Paul Ree’s argument can be summarised under the concept of cause and effect wherein the existence of free will is in doubt since the actions of people are invariably caused by factors that influenced them towards these actions. For instance, if every action can result in a reaction then constant interaction with the environment, the culture you are in, and the social structure you are a part of will lead to a response. However, an individual reacting to these factors is doing so outside of their inherent control since they are merely reacting based on factors that they have been introduced to and will be introduced to in the future via their external environment. Thus, the concept of free will is questionable since all reactions that a person has can be traced to an action that did not uniquely originate from them. Even their actions are based on stimulus and input from the external environment. On the other end of the spectrum, De Beauvoir presents the notion that humans are inherently free due to the presence of cognizance of choice regarding the actions that a person can put into effect. In essence, human freedom for De Beauvoir is based on awareness of the self; consciousness acknowledgment of “others” and the capacity to enact change through action. It is based on these two perspectives regarding the existence of freedom that this paper will compare the arguments of Ree and De Beauvoir to come up with sufficient evidence to debunk one of their perspectives on human freedom This can be accomplished through an examination of their perspectives and using real-world examples to apply their arguments. This paper assumes that it is the cognizance of the presence of choices for our actions that validates the existence of free will since, even if some extenuating circumstances and influences can impact what choice we make, the fact remains that a choice can still be made. Analyzing the Perspective of Rees The work of Rees has several philosophical undertones similar to the “unmoved mover” and “uncaused cause” arguments made by St. Thomas Aquinas when he presented his arguments regarding the existence of God. For instance, Rees is correct when he states that actions prompt reactions and that every action has an inherent origin. Thus, he argues that people do not necessarily have free will since there is an origin to the action that influences their reactions and future subsequent actions. Rees even implies aspects related to learned behavior theory wherein it is stated that an individual’s thoughts, actions, and behavior are merely the result of learned behavior from the external environment (Mele 781). As such, all their actions and reactions are based on preconceived notions that they have internalized and applied. Since these aspects
Introduction Organization learning is arguably one of the most important business concepts that any organization must embrace if it were to maintain a competitive edge during this volatile market trends. Organization learning basically means the process of acquiring new business concepts, knowledge, experience and ideas and intelligently integrating what is learned with previous knowledge to create new and innovative products either technological, business ideas or management to gain a competitive edge over other competitors by offering excellent services to their invaluable customers. This paper addresses how organization learning contributes to innovation, competitiveness, and economic-financial results and also how successful the article is in relating organization learning with business performance. Contribution of organization learning to innovation Organization learning involves well-planned acquisition, distribution, interpretation and comparison of knowledge with previous knowledge and experience in all organizational structures of the organization. The knowledge obtained from organizational learning is used in developing superior products and services and also more effective management in all aspects of the organization. This results to dynamic innovation not only of new brands, products and services to customers but also excellent management that will leave the customers with customer experience (Serrat, 2009). I concur with Lopez, Peon, and Ordas (2005) that “learning-oriented organizations are able to quickly reconfigure their architecture and reallocate their resources to focus on emerging opportunities or threats” (Lopez, Peon, and Ordas, 2005, p. 230). Toyota industry has always applied this concept whereby they either learn from current demands of low emission more fuel-efficient policies and genius marketing strategies. They have also continuously learned from mistakes as was seen when they recalled some of their models. The Toyota Company has continuously developed its brands to form better models that are always competitive at the market (Lopez, Peon, and Ordas, 2005). Contribution of organization learning to competitiveness We are living in a world where everything changes in a flash second. For organizations to maintain their brands on this dynamic market they have to employ organization learning. Organization learning ensures that organizations are well equipped with previous knowledge, experience and the acquired knowledge which they carefully organize to create dynamic products which are unique. This is simply blending what you already know and newly acquired knowledge to predict the future needs of your customers and this makes sure organization will always remain competitive. This is suggested by Lopez, Peon, and Ordas (2005) “learning, through better knowledge and understanding, facilitates behavior change that leads to improve performance” (Lopez, Peon, and Ordas, p. 230). Successful organizations such as Microsoft continuously learn from previous models, marketing concepts and overall management strategies to con
In an era of increased globalization, it is difficult not to notice how closely cultures integrate with one another. Individual communities, socio-cultural units, and even states observe the development of other participants in the geopolitical arena and borrow valuable experience and valuable knowledge for the strategic development of the country. In the context of the continuity of experience, morality, and moral values, it is appropriate to emphasize one of the most apparent global trends, namely the gradual recognition of the inalienable rights of the LGBTQ+ community. More and more cultures over time are recognizing the unconditional freedoms and rights of these minorities, endorsing same-sex marriage, and, most interestingly, actively promoting LGBTQ+ values to the masses, even among heterosexual people. This trend can be examined in the light of international events theory, namely through three levels. Individual Level  1. Minorities are tired of being constantly pressured and oppressed by the heterosexual, patriarchal majority, so they have decided to assert their rights openly.  2. Members of LGBTQ+ communities feel supported by similarly disenfranchised individuals — especially if celebrities commit coming out — and gain confidence and power to speak out.  3. Open access to information (Internet) becomes a window for individuals to gain new knowledge. The observation, reading, and awareness of the possibility of non-heterosexual views reinforce people’s latent feelings, resulting in a growing number of LGBTQ+ members. State Level  1. Has seen an increase in social programs from the state and major national companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft) to protect and support LGBTQ+ minorities.  2. The natural civilizational development of communities — different pace for each country — leads to recognition of the importance of human life regardless of views. As a result, there is an increase in tolerance and tolerance, including for LGBTQ+ people.  3. Gay Pride Parades and Pride Months as national events bring more attention to the issue, resulting in not only increased tolerance but also more adherents to the community.  4. The political lobbying for LGBTQ+ approval has a national level, as deputies and politicians either for personal reasons or to broaden the electorate initiate socially significant reforms. International Level  1. It cannot be ruled out that there is a serious trend toward recognizing the value of LGBTQ+ culture. Inexperienced adolescents who have not yet had a sexual experience identify with this community because it is fashionable.  2. An increasing amount of scientific research shows the biological makeup of homosexuality among people, which ultimately leads to a dead-end policy against such individuals. Since it is not a disease or a temporary condition, society can do nothing but accept the ideas of homosexuality.  3. Transgenderism and the pursuit of gender identity agains