The identities shaped by online games -- World of Warcraft Dissertation

The identities shaped by online games -- World of Warcraft - Dissertation Example The emergence of online identities is not a completely new concept. People have been creating public identities with the purpose of achieving goals throughout human existence (Wallen 1998, p. 52). However, the nature of the online persona is somewhat unique in that it is done with the intention of representing an ‘otherness’ through character and skills that would not be possible in the real world. Exploring the nature of this creation provides for a greater understanding of the concept of identity. Watslawik and Born (2007, p. 2) state that â€Å"ego psychoanalytical theory places the individual within a more or less nurturing social context, as contrast with the more confrontive view of classical theory wherein the individual is seen more as contesting society†. The nature of human interaction, according to Erikson’s theory, is in finding communities in which nurture is the primary benefit. While an individual seeks a community in which shared values and beliefs are experienced, or in the case of game play, shared goals, eventually it is the sense of nurture that is built that will provide the attraction to a community (Watslawik and Born 2007). The following literature review will focus on the identity as it is positioned in an online environment as a created and semi-controlled entity. This will be discussed through the created and controlled aspect, as well as how that control is not complete as the social dynamic and the real life characteristics begin to come through to the online identity. Avatar as it Becomes Part of the Community Individual and the Avatar The nature of identity is the result of a tension between conformity and individuality. In seeking to find an identity, the individual must find a position between these two oppositional forces in order to find both acceptance and individuation. This phenomenon creates an internal conflict within which the individual seeks to find a sense of self and the acceptance of self by the community (Jackson 1984, p. 203). Through following group norms, the individual seeks to find positive interaction within the context of group identification and personal differentiation. The sense of self is defined through social identities that are evolved through group behaviours and attitudes, with the individual identity evolving through perceptions and evaluations of social situations (Korostelina 2007, p. 36). Human existence has been framed through the formation of identity within the concept of race. According to Smedley (1998), the concept of race as an identifying factor has only emerged since the 17th century. Before that time culture and kinship were the ways in which people were grouped. Where in the past, occupation and city of origin identified an individual in a ethnic way, the idea of physical differences having the power to inform the identity is relatively new. In the game of World of Warcraft, actual species differences are developed in which race become s a very important aspect of the identity of the character (Hammer and Kellner 2009, p. 597). In choosing a race, the player makes the initial step towards creating an association within the game. However,

No city in the world has been designed for and by the automobile as Essay

No city in the world has been designed for and by the automobile as has Los Angeles - Essay Example Seemingly, the nature and design of its city has adopted similar trends. To a large extent, its distinctive features are reflective of the auto-culture that the respective society has assumed. To begin with, the land use practices in the city of Los Angeles underscore the fact that the locals place great emphasis on the use of vehicles. In this respect, Bottles indicates that the central business district of Los Angeles has allocated up to 79% of its total area to packing facilities, garages and streets (Bottles 33). These facilities imply that a significant percentage of the inhabitants use vehicles. The sidewalks on the other hand have shrunk significantly as very few pedestrians use them. Certainly, the high use of automobiles greatly influences the urban land use decisions that are developed, implemented and enforced by the relevant authorities. Another indicator of automobile dominance in Los Angeles pertains to the increase of traffic congestion in the region. Transport and urban reports of this nation cite traffic congestion as one of the main problems that Los Angeles is currently grappling with. Although intervention measures such as improvement and expansion of the road system network have been undertaken in the recent past, the problem still persists. Relevant authorities are still taking measures to address this issue through construction of more freeways. Comparatively, these require less space than the current road network structure. The emergence and flourishing of relative automobile industries is also indicative of increasing dominance of the automobile culture. In this respect, Bottles indicates that gas stations have increased significantly, repair and auto parts stores and several other automobile dealership has increased (Bottles 47). This trend ascertains that the population greatly values the automobile. These seek to respond to the increasing and changing needs of the users. To a great extent, this also seeks to offer new

Hospital Web Application Design for Elderly Patients

Hospital Web Application Design for Elderly Patients The aim of this project is to develop an elderly friendly web application which can be used to book hospital appointments online and also interact with Doctors via skype. It also can be used by doctors to maintain patient records which can be given read access to patients to their records. This aim also needs us to answer few things and the first one would be to address the needs of ageing population in learning how to use a computer if they dont know already and also using a web application which would cater their needs and make their lives easy. We will also discuss the specific difficulties faced by the ageing population in learning computer skills which will in turn help them using a web application easily. Older adults and technology Health takes a down turn when a person gets old and in the future years the number of older adults are going to increase according to many statistics. This could lead to being hospitals and clinics overfilled and become more in demand. Due to several factors, older adults will need supervision in their health from proper health care practitioners (Codreanu Florea, 2016). Perception of control is one of the most important factors in determining ones place on a social environment. To keep up with the new technologies younger generation use older generation are learning new computer technology faster than the younger generation (Morrell, 2002). To avoid themselves from socially isolating in this day and age older adults learn computer skills and also learn how to use internet. And some even contradict Morrell saying that older adults learn computer skills slower due to physiological changes which makes their learning process slow. Older adults can integrate with the modern society by learning how to use new technology and also know how to learn new stuff from internet on their own. There are many E-learning programs which can be used by the ageing population to learn anything. Most of the times older adults make the government of a country to to question its own policy towards people working after they retire. In the same way, they should also be able to integrate with the rest of the society to use latest web applications which are in the market and adapt to them and for them to adapt to it, the application creators should focus that there are plenty of older adults as well who might use their application in a day to day basis. To dive deep into the discussion of why web applications should be older adult friendly we will discuss the myths around older adults using web applications, how older adults are engaging themselves in learning latest technology and also the obstacles they face in using a web application (Githens, 2007). The goal of this project is to focus on the guidelines to be followed which can make the older adults involve in using web applications and also focus on other opportunities related to it in the favor of older adults and companies which develop web applications. How retirement is changing? Life expectancies have been increasing which has also increased the retirement years proportionally. Due to this the older adults value, all the benefits they get from employment after retirements such as financial, social, physiological and many more. Those employments may be full-time, part-time, paid, unpaid or even a temporary employment (Hale, 1990). With this and also seeing organizations dealing with new talents due to reduction of experienced workers due to retirement we could say that retirement is an outdated concept (Stein and Rocco, 2001). With the research done in the past decade it is seen that the new talents also want to be working after they retire, which is about 80% in 2005 (Dychtwald, 2017). With this spirit the notion of retirement will be transformed in the future as these new talents are the ones which bring big changes in the current world. The world-wide web or as we call the internet is not just for the younger generation. With many new applications like Quora, Facebook and many more we have seen that the internet is accepting individuals all around the world irrespective of the age and it is also seen that there has been an increasing number in the people of older age group. To determine the exact number would be difficult as any precise number which comes up will be obsolete after it gets recorded.

How is our I-Function related to Impulsive Behavior? :: Impulses Neurology Papers

How is our I-Function related to Impulsive Behavior? What are impulses? We experience impulses every day. Why are you wearing your orange shirt today? Why did you pick a salad for dinner instead of steak? Why did you drive one route to work as opposed to another? I suppose some people are more spontaneous than others, but can impulses be called sporadic? Uncontrolled? Are they valid choices you have made - or are impulses something we do not realize we are powerless to? Can we choose to say certain things? Do we have any choices? Who, or what rather, is in control? Some people have impulses that are not conducive to the decorum of society. Some people cannot explain their need, their impulse, to shout obscenities, to make strange faces at strangers, or to excessively mimic others around them. Tourette's Syndrome is one example of a disorder that causes a person to be overwhelmed by impulses to say and do things that they cannot control. Do impulses have varying degrees? And can some people more efficiently control these impulses, or channel the impulsive thoughts into something other than actions? Is our behavior conducive to the ability to monitor numerous impulses of all degrees? And I wonder what role I-function plays in behavior, if behavior is explained in terms of controlled impulses. I wrote my last paper on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and the implications that this disorder has on our understanding of the I-function. OCD patients are overwhelmed by the impulse to do certain actions or rituals that calm their fears. These fears might be of germs, heights, strangers, or something less common. OCD sufferers are treated by attempts to help the patients teach themselves to overcome their impulses that relieve their unfounded fears. The question that arises is how the OCD sufferer can be aware of their unrealistic and unprecedented fears, but cannot control their impulsive behavior? We are not conscious of the blind spot when our brain 'fills in' the empty area created by the blind spot, and thus have no control over our blind spot. However, OCD patients are aware of their brain's autonomous control over their behavior that causes obscure actions and thoughts that are typical of OCD patients. The I-function is not involved in the blind spot, but is it or is it not involved in OCD behaviors? How can the OCD patient be aware of what is going on, but not be able to control himself?

General Electric Strategic Position – 1981

General Electric (â€Å"GE†), similar to many major corporations in the 1980s and 1990s, underwent a restructuring phase in line with the McKinsey Restructuring Pentagon. Through this restructuring, General Electric implemented a portfolio-planning model to manage the ever-increasing demands of a company involved in over 190 businesses. Ultimately, this model allowed GE to formally? GE set lofty goals of increasing earnings per share 25% faster than the growth of GNP. In order to achieve this the company needed to address productivity and possible realms of expansion, but the systems in place often led to a lack of focus. Reginald Jones attempted to create value and compete in the market by implementing strategic planning and then integrated strategic planning to address productivity. Through GE’s engagement of McKinsey & Co. they devised a structure of Strategic Business Units along with Portfolio Planning. The development of strategic business units allowed the company to stay competitive in their respective industries by acting somewhat autonomously from GE Corporate. In the restructured GE, the SBUs were responsible for identifying crossovers to expand their competitive position by utilizing the entire GE network. The Portfolio Planning Model allowed GE to allocate resources to each SBU based on Industry Attractiveness and Business Unit Strength. The allocation of resources focused development on specific projects instead of â€Å"sprinkling money across a variety of businesses. † This matrix later would be called the GE matrix, which allowed GE Corporate to quickly analyze a business plan by highlighting the potential industry growth (using a Five Forces-style analysis) and looking at the relative knowledge within GE to capitalize on the industries market share. After the allocation of resources, GE identified business unit strategy. This strategic planning was ahead of its time in terms of management theory. Strategic Planners were required at each business unit to assess the strategic positioning of opportunities (including potential divestment) and to identify portfolio balance. This portfolio assessment identified the overall business unit balance in terms of cash-flow generation and growth prospects. After these metrics were defined, performance targets were set based on the business strategy and perceived competitive position. When combined with the BCG Matrix, GE was capable of making allocation decisions readily, addressing the productivity issue while maintaining its competitive advantage in industries viewed with positive growth potential. One can say the creation of value at GE in the 1981 depended on its use of metrics to focus on specific industries and growth opportunities. This created value by allocating resources more effectively in order to predict market trends and anticipate demand within markets before customers were able to clearly identify what was needed. In addition, this created value in terms of the shareholder value maximization model as GE innovated in order to outpace growth in GNP. Returning to the McKinsey Restructuring Program, it stands that GE created additional value and became an even greater competitive force across their broad industry footprint by capitalizing on the linkages between their SBUs. Part of Reginald Jones’ theory on implementing Sector level managers exemplified this value creation through corporate linkages. In order to stay away from a Holding Company status, GE Corporate realized it needed to add-value from the top-down. The end results was a structure whereby SBUs developed new business opportunities by ‘extending into contiguous product-markets;’ Sectors ‘developed new SBUs by diversifying within their macroindustry scopes;’ and Corporate developed ‘new sectors by diversifying into unserved macroindustries. ’ This renewed focus allowed GE to add value across its hierarchy, competing quicker and more efficiently than competitors while leveraging the full breadth of resources available to a truly diversified company. Additionally, due to GE’s restructure hierarchy; corporate was able to focus on what Jones called â€Å"arenas. † These arenas extended into nontraditional management, integrating new developments in techniques, motivation, and measurement, but were designed to create a vision for the future, which then linked back to the portfolio planning model in order to more appropriately allocate resources. As a result, GE decided to focus on the following arenas – Energy, Communications, Energy Applications-productivity, Materials and Resources, Transportation & Propulsion, and Pervasive Services. These arenas drew direct linkages between organizations within GE, further leveraging the company’s resources to compete more efficiently while creating shareholder value. Additionally, GE said that planning helps a company focus, but implementation and execution is the key to success. To this end, they developed their people internally at a faster rate then competitors, often shifting managers to completely new organizations in order to provide a fresh perspective on innovation and market potential. Planning became a way of life, but implementation and execution were the breath of the company, even as they faced a dynamic and continually changing organizational structure. General Electric in 1981 created value and became more competitive due to their focus. GE executives realized the shifting dynamics within a diversified company and provided a formal framework to identify opportunities and to put money to work in those arenas. Additionally, their ability to capture leverage from linkages, both with products and human resources, helped the company remain competitive and quicker then each industry player within their respective units. The overall restructuring and portfolio planning provided a framework for their growth and value creation, which Jack Welch capitalized on after the departure of Reggie Jones. We believe that the strategic planning approach implemented by Reginald Jones, CEO of GE was revolutionary and necessary for the time but the methodology remained unchanged and ineffective as the company grew through the 1970s. Jones was a person who had a clear vision for corporate growth and effective performance during recessionary times in the United States. He believed in creating a change, recognizing the problems the company was facing and implementing strategies to reshape the decision-making process in the corporation. The focus of the corporation was to impose the creation of business strategic units in order to gain a broader view on corporate management strategies. The main goal was to implement the company’s vision across all business units across various industries. GE introduced a strategic planning system where management was expected to take strategic decisions and be involved pro-actively in the decision-making process. The corporate approach was to introduce clarity of the job functions in order to avoid ambiguity and miscommunication between the business units. Management was encouraged to strengthen their relationships with the team to integrate communication between the departments. Through the strategic planning system, the company recognized certain sectors that were less profitable than others and decided to prune the business units that did not grow rapidly or remain static. GE focused on further developing growing business units in new sectors by diversifying in unexplored industries. Overall, the corporation showed an average growth of 16% annually on their income statement for the decade between 1970 and 1980. GE delivered 26 consecutive quarters of improved earnings through two recessions; however, it faced some structural problems. The internal audit showed that strategic planning was slow and inefficient. Integration and cooperation between the business units was non-existent, which deprived innovation and opportunism within the corporation. The decentralized management led to the proliferation of 150 strategic business units. Additionally, financial analysis and control was rigid and did not promote cooperation between the business units. The strategic planning processes were heavily infringed by paperwork creating bureaucracy. In order to control the information, new management layers were created which resulted in expanding the staff of the organization. The paper-driven processes, in combination with the large staff at the business unit level, increased the costs and reduced the efficiency of personnel, reflecting the overall performance of the corporation. The large amount of paper reports slowed the decision-making process by the corporate management team that was inefficient to take action in search of further market growth. Due to these issues, the financial performance of GE was moderate and it matched the GNP index but did not outperform it. The corporate management focused on increasing growth while fighting inflation when the company was growing in size in both personnel and business units. We propose a different approach to confront the issues that GE was facing in their initial proposition for corporate strategic management. The company should focus on reducing the bureaucracy and improving the efficiency of the strategy decision-making process. This may be achieved by implementing regular face-to-face meetings with the corporate strategy management unit. GE could introduce more flexible financial controls to promote innovation and intrapreneurship while providing more integration across the business-level managers. A major problem to resolve was the excess cost of duplication and uncoordinated actions. GE’s focus should be on pruning less efficient business units that are not profitable and strengthening the SBUs that will provide the highest ROI. As mentioned above, the company was increasing its labor size while the SBUs remained inefficient. There are still some departments that are not as profitable as others but remained in operation. GE should concentrate in its comparative advantage in the industry to retrieve new rivals. Therefore, looking for new opportunities, along with undiscovered sectors, will provide the corporation with a greater competitive advantage in those industries.

Festival

The Brightest Colorful Fiesta There are many festive emotions around the world that can never fade from the faces of every person. These festive emotions keep on growing with each passing season. Each and every country celebrates their festivals with great joy and happiness. The Indian festivals are based on most of the religious or mythological patterns. There are many such stories that can easily describe about the reasons behind these festivals.People express their happiness by dancing, singing, and enjoying every moment of celebration of the festivals. People in India are completely devoted towards the celebrations and the related ritual ceremonies related to the festivals. Holi is one of the festivals where people enjoy and express their love towards the festival by sharing happiness with each other. Holi is celebrated by playing with colors, and is mainly celebrated in India as one of the main festival. The festival of Holi, does have a mythological reason behind its celebratio n.According to the Indian Mythology, ‘Prahlad’, son of a king ‘Hiranyakashyapu’, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. But ‘Hiranyakashyapu’ did not let his son to pray Lord Vishnu. He always wants his son to devote himself praying the king. Many times he conspires to kill his son, but always failed. ‘Holika’, the sister of ‘Hiranyakashyapu’, had the blessings from Lord Agni that fire cannot even touch her. ‘Holika’ was blessed with immunity from fire. After many failures, ‘Hiranyakashyapu’ asked his sister, ‘Holika’ to sit with ‘Prahlad’ in the fire.As ‘Prahlad’ was the great devotee of Lord Vishnu, he came alive out of the fire and ‘Holika’ was burnt alive in the fire. This happened because ‘Holika’ wants to kill ‘Prahlad’, but ‘Prahlad’ was innocent about their conspiracy and all time he chanted the nam e of Lord Vishnu. On the next morning, it was seen that ‘Holika’ was burnt alive and the ashes turned into the Tesu flowers. ‘Prahlad’ was seen playing with the flowers spread all over. This event turned into defeat of ‘Hiranyakashyapu’.The event is now celebrated as the festival of Holi, because ‘Prahlad’ was seen playing with the Tesu Flowers. The burning of ‘Holika’ is celebrated as Hoilka Dahan prior to the second day of Holi called Dulhendi. According to the Hindi calendar, Holi falls on the last Full Moon day of Falguna Maas. The Holi festival is celebrated in different ways at different places. At some places the festival is enjoyed by playing with colors, at some places it is played with mud, at some places with long wooden stick, Tesu flowers, cow dung, etc.At some places, the celebration of the festival extends for 3-5 days. On this festival, people meet their friends and relatives, exchange sweets and wish t hem Happy Holi! The preparations of the festival begin from 1 month before the day of the celebration. People make Gujiyas, Gulab Jamun, Dahi Bhallas, and many more things to eat. But Gujiya is one of the important dishes on the occasion of Holi. On this day people forget all their sorrows and play with full enthusiasm by throwing colors and splashing color water on each other.