Thorn Queen Chapter Six

Kiyo always healed quickly, and when we got home that night, he was in fine condition to see who could put on the highest-quality performance in bed. Consequently, he woke in a very cheerful mood the next day, though he still couldn't help a little grumbling about following along yet again. I knew it was all gruffness, though. He liked knowing I was safe, and that warmed something up inside of me. â€Å"You tricked me,† he remarked once we'd crossed over to the Otherworld that morning. I was hoping these bandits would be as easy to dispatch as the kobolds, unnatural hybrids of small animals aside. â€Å"After that thing you did in bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He sighed happily at the memory of a particularly skillful feat my mouth had performed last night. â€Å"Well, you know I'd agree to do anything now.† â€Å"Come on,† I said, still feeling a bit proud. â€Å"It has nothing to do with that. Don't you want to see justice served to those who dare torment my subjects?† â€Å"Careful there. People might think you're acting like a real queen.† I glanced down at my torn jeans and Poison T-shirt. â€Å"Well, let's not get carried away. Maybe it'd help if I got a crown like Dorian said.† To my astonishment, Kiyo's teasing expression immediately hardened. â€Å"No. That's the last thing you should do.† I stared in surprise. â€Å"Why not? Too Miss America?† â€Å"It'll make you seem more†¦official.† I gestured around at the tapestry-draped castle room we'd appeared in. â€Å"We're in a fucking castle, Kiyo. I don't really see how it can get any more official.† â€Å"You don't understand. I mean, you're a queen, yeah, and they all know it†¦but a lot just see you as this warrior stand-in. Like a regent. Get a crown†¦start appearing before lots of people in it, and I don't know. It makes you legitimate. It makes it real. It'll be harder for you to get out of this than it already is.† I thought about how often I'd wished I hadn't been saddled with this land and how often I'd tried to avoid it-yet still kept coming back. â€Å"I don't think it can get any harder.† We found Shaya before heading out on our raid. I'd brought some things that I hoped would help with the Thorn Land's drought and famine. When I gave the first one to her, she could only stare in silence for several moments. â€Å"Your majesty†¦what is this?† â€Å"It's a children's place mat I got from Joe's Tex-Mex restaurant.† Along with Joe's kid's menu, the place mat also depicted a map of Arizona that kids could color while waiting for their food. I pointed to the assorted symbols on the map. â€Å"See, this shows Arizona's natural resources. The stuff that grows and can be found there. Cotton. Copper.† â€Å"What's this?† she asked, pointing to something that resembled a glass of liquid. I frowned. It certainly wasn't water, that was for damned sure. â€Å"I think it's some kind of citrus product. Orange. Grapefruit.† I shrugged. â€Å"I think you can grow either in this weather. And that's the point. This land mirrors Tucson, so all the things there should be the same here. There should be copper deposits that you guys can find. That's valuable in trade, right?† Copper was one of the few metals gentry could handle. Iron was right out, being the harbinger of technology. That's what made it one of my most lethal weapons. â€Å"And the rest should grow here, if you can find seeds. Someone must have them somewhere, even in this world.† â€Å"They still need water,† she pointed out. â€Å"Right. That's what this is for.† I handed her my next prize: a book. â€Å"It's a history of the engineering of wells and aqueducts from ancient and medieval Europe. It should help in moving water around.† She still looked stunned, so I tried to think of something comforting. â€Å"I'll help find more water sources too.† I then handed her another book about Southwest architecture, adobe and stucco homes. She took the books and flipped through them, taking in the dense chapters and diagrams. â€Å"I don't think I'm the right person to do this. I don't have the mind for it.† â€Å"Maybe not. But I'm sure you can delegate to someone who can.† I patted her encouragingly on the arm. The truth was, I was as baffled by the book as she was. I could put together jigsaw puzzles in record time. Reading engineering diagrams? Not so much. â€Å"Just be careful with them-those are library books.† I had to go then and felt a little bad about leaving her. Yet, despite her confusion now, I knew she would find people and ways to implement this. She was just that competent. Maybe I should have had more of a hand in this, but hey, I'd been the one who had to choke down Joe's crap Tex-Mex food in order to score the place mat. That had to count for something. If I'd had my way, I would have just taken Kiyo and gone out to hunt down these bandits ourselves. I had to imagine they were just riffraff and not much of an obstacle to us. Kiyo was a pretty fierce fighter, as last night had shown, and between my weapons and magic, I was his equal. Rurik had protested this plan, however, insisting that he and almost two dozen guards come along. I didn't think this gave us much in the way of stealth, but he'd told me we'd dismount and go on foot once we reached the passes the bandits lived in. Before we left, I decided we might as well add one more person to our entourage. I stepped into a darkened corner, far from the light of candles in the room, and took out my wand. Immediately, the guards moved away from me. They knew what I was going to do and didn't like it. When something magical made gentry uneasy, you knew it was bad. I spoke the words of summoning and felt magic move through me. It wasn't the storm magic I'd inherited, the pull to water and air. This was a learned human magic, a way of reaching out to the worlds beyond. The temperature in the room dropped, a sudden shock compared to the dry heat we'd just been in. Then, the cold lifted, and Volusian stood before me. Volusian was my minion, for lack of a better word. He was a damned soul, cursed to wander without rest for all eternity after committing atrocious acts in life. I'd fought and bound him to me, forcing him to serve me. Volusian wasn't very happy about this and frequently liked to remind me of how he would destroy me if he ever broke free of my control. After hearing stuff like that over and over, it almost took on a familiar feel, kind of like how a pop song heard often enough will work its way into your heart. While Otherworldly spirits often had insubstantial forms in the human world, the shape Volusian had now looked exactly the same as it would if I summoned him back home: a short, imp-like creature with black skin, pointed ears, and red eyes. â€Å"My mistress calls,† he said in a flat voice. â€Å"And I answer. Regretfully.† â€Å"Oh, Volusian,† I said cheerfully. â€Å"Always a joy to have you around. You're such a ray of sunshine on a dreary day.† Volusian merely stared. I turned to the others, hoping I sounded queenly and authoritative. â€Å"Alright. Let's go kick some outlaws out of town.† I still wasn't used to having an entourage of guards. So much of my life had been solitary, so much of it spent fighting on my own†¦well, I didn't really know what to do with so many people at my back. As we headed toward our destination, I found it was a lot easier to deal with the guards if I just focused on Kiyo and pretended we were alone. â€Å"I can't believe you gave Shaya a place mat and now expect her to revolutionize this place's total infrastructure,† he noted. â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† I asked. â€Å"You were just complaining about me getting too involved in this place. Handing off a place mat is about as uninvolved as I can get-unless you're saying I should take a more active role now?† â€Å"No,† he answered swiftly, face darkening a little. â€Å"Believe me, if there were an easy way for you to give up this place, I'd make you do it.† I cut him a glance. â€Å"You'd make me, huh?† â€Å"Encourage,† he amended. â€Å"Unfortunately, it's a moot point. The only way to lose a kingdom is if your power drops or†¦well, if you're killed.† â€Å"I'm sure Volusian would love to help with that.† My minion walked near me, needing no horse to move swiftly. Upon hearing his name, he said, â€Å"I would perform the deed with great relish and much suffering on your part, mistress.† â€Å"You can't put a price on that kind of loyalty,† I told Kiyo solemnly. â€Å"No crown even required.† Kiyo grunted noncommittally. There was a lot of tension between him and Dorian, but the one thing they both agreed on was that Volusian was trouble. Both had encouraged me to get rid of him. I didn't have the power to completely banish him to the Underworld, but it probably could be managed with another magic user. Still, dangerous or no, I continued to retain the spirit's services. â€Å"Are you going to stick around when we're done here?† I asked. That was my subtle way of asking if Kiyo was going to see Maiwenn. His dark eyes were on the road ahead, thoughtful. â€Å"No. I was hoping to go back to Tucson and see if I could get this hot chick I know to go out with me. I hear she's in demand, though. She keeps putting me off each time I try to plan something romantic.† â€Å"Yeah, well, maybe if you come up with a good itinerary, you could lure her out.† â€Å"I was thinking dinner at Joe's.† I made a face. â€Å"If that's the case, maybe you'd better brace yourself for rejection.† â€Å"Red Pepper Bistro?† â€Å"Okay. Now you're in the zone.† â€Å"Followed by a long massage in the sauna.† â€Å"That's pretty good too.† â€Å"And then indecent things in the sauna.† â€Å"I hope you mean you'll be doing the indecent things-because I more than did my share last night.† Kiyo glanced over at me with a mischievous grin. â€Å"Who says I'm talking about you?† I would have swatted him if he'd been in reach. Instead, I grinned back, my mood happy and light. Bantering with him like this was just like the old days, back before Maiwenn and this baby business was an issue. I felt like his girlfriend again. And despite just having had sex last night, I couldn't deny the truth. Thinking about having sex with him in the sauna was doing uncomfortable-pleasantly uncomfortable-things to my body, particularly with my legs spread like they were. Our gazes met, and I felt an answering heat in his eyes. I remembered how fierce he'd been while throwing himself in front of me last night and could perfectly envision that same fierceness translated into passion in bed. The lines and muscles of his body suddenly seemed that much stronger, and I could imagine his hands all over me†¦. Rurik trotted up beside me and interrupted my pornographic thoughts. â€Å"We need to go on foot now. We're getting close.† We stopped on the edge of a â€Å"forest† comprised of saguaro cactuses and scraggly trees. They spread on ahead of us, up toward some sharp rises in the land that turned into sandy red cliffs studded with rocks. While tethering the horses, Kiyo decided he'd go ahead and scout in fox form. â€Å"If you can't change back, that's going to seriously interfere with our date,† I told him. He ran a hand along my bare arm, making every part of me tingle. â€Å"Nah, nothing's interfering with that. I'll go in small fox form-they'll never see me.† He slowly shape-shifted, his large, muscled frame growing smaller, then elongating into a red fox about as big as a medium-sized dog. He brushed against my leg and then disappeared into the vegetation ahead. I watched him go. Some part of me would always worry about those I loved, but overall, I had confidence in Kiyo when it came to dangerous situations. The rest of us milled about in the midday heat, passing water around. About twenty minutes later, Kiyo returned. With each approaching step, he transformed from a cuddly furry critter into the man I loved. Not that I didn't love him as a fox too. â€Å"They're over there, just like we thought,† Kiyo said. There was kind of a lope as he walked, a leftover from the fox form. It was both cute and sexy at the same time. â€Å"Looks like they're camped out and resting for the day.† â€Å"Any lookouts?† asked Rurik. Kiyo grinned. â€Å"Not anymore.† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"Did you see any girls?† His smile faded. â€Å"No. Just the bandits. They've got a few less people than we do.† â€Å"Well, that's good,† I said, frowning. No girls. What did that mean? Had the couple in the village been wrong? Maybe their daughter really had run off with her boyfriend. Still, if this group was harassing people, getting rid of them would certainly be a good deed. Kiyo and Rurik plotted strategy on how to sneak up on the camp, and our group set off, planning to fan out around the brigands. With no lookouts, the gang had no one to warn them of our approach and seemed totally unaware when we got our first glimpse of them. They were mostly men, with a few women. The women clearly weren't captured girls, though. They were older and hardened from harsh living. The whole group looked like it had seen hard times, actually. There was a toughness about them that suggested they'd fight tooth and nail. Based on an earlier discussion, I'd thought our whole group would just swoop down at once. Instead, one of my guards suddenly stepped out and shouted, â€Å"Surrender in the name of the queen!† Oh God, I thought. He did not just say that. There was no time to ponder it further as my party charged forward. â€Å"Remember,† I hissed to Volusian. â€Å"Subdue. Don't kill.† He didn't look happy about this. Of course, he never looked happy. The rest of my guards had orders to avoid killing if they could but not to hesitate if it was their life or a bandit's. I wanted prisoners we could question later and didn't really like the idea of furthering my tyrannical image if I could help it. As I'd expected, the bandits fought back. No surrender here. They had conventional gentry weapons, as well as some weak fighting magic. It became clear early on that taking prisoners was a little harder than killing. Killing was fast. Taking someone down and tying them up was a little more complicated. It exposed you to attacks from others. Nonetheless, I saw my guards handily bind two of the bandits right away. A couple other bandits got killed shortly thereafter, but they'd had knives at my men's throats and left us no alternative. Kiyo and I were working together to tie a flailing man up when I suddenly felt a surge of magic in the air. I stopped what I was doing. It wasn't gentry magic. In fact, none of the others noticed it right away. As a shaman, I'd developed a sensitivity to creatures and powers from the different worlds. This power made my skin prickle and had a slimy, oily feel to it. It wasn't from the human world or even the Otherworld. There were Underworld creatures here. â€Å"Demons,† I said, just as they materialized within the camp. â€Å"There are fucking demons here.†

Seminar on Ubiquitous Computing

UBIQUITIOUS COMPUTING Varun. R USN- 1RE08EC110 Reva Institute of Technology and Management Bangalore. [email  protected] com Abstract- The highest ideal of ubicomp is to make a computer so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it. One of the goals of ubiquitous computing is to enable devices to sense changes in their environment and to automatically adapt and act based on these changes, based on user needs and preferences.The technology required for ubiquitous computing comes in three parts: cheap, low- power computers that include equally convenient displays, a network that ties them all together, and software systems implementing ubiquitous applications. Keywords— ubicomp, nanotechnology Introduction Ubiquitous computing (often abbreviated to â€Å"ubicomp†) refers to a new genre of computing in which the computer completely permeates the life of the user. In ubiquitous computing, computers become a helpful but invisible force, assisting the user in meeting his or her needs without getting in the way.Mark Weiser, the originator of the term â€Å"ubiquitous computing†, â€Å"described it this way: â€Å"†¦ [Ubiquitous computing’s] highest ideal is to make a computer so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it. † It is also referred to as Pervasive computing. Pervasive computing environments involve the interaction, coordination, and cooperation of numerous, casually accessible, and often invisible computing devices. These devices will connect via wired and wireless links to one another as well as to the global networking infrastructure to provide more relevant information and integrated services.Existing approaches to building distributed applications, including client/server computing, are ill suited to meet this challenge. They are targeted at smaller and less dynamic computing environments and lack sufficient facilities to manage changes in the network configurations. Networked computing devices will proliferate in the user’s landscape, being embedded in objects ranging from home appliances to clothing. Applications will have greater awareness of context, and thus will be able to provide more intelligent services that reduce the burden on users to direct and interact with applications.Many applications will resemble agents that carry out tasks on behalf of users by exploiting the rich sets of services available within computing environments. Our preliminary approach is to activate the world and provide hundreds of wireless computing devices per person per office, of all scales. This has required network in operating systems, user interfaces, networks, wireless, displays, and many other areas. We call our work as â€Å"ubiquitous computing†. This is different from PDA’s, dynabooks, or information at your fingertips.It is invisible; everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of a ny sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere. Nanotechnology and Wireless Technology If computers are to be everywhere, unobtrusive, and truly helpful, they must be as small as possible and capable of communicating between themselves. Technological movements supporting these goals are already well underway under the rubrics nanotechnology and wireless computing. Nanotechnology The trend toward miniaturization of computer components down to an atomic scale is known as nanotechnology.Nanotechnology involves building highly miniaturized computers from individual atoms or molecules acting as transistors, which are the heart of the computer chip. The number of transistors in a chip is indicative of its power. Therefore, nanotechnology’s extreme miniaturization of transistors allows for impressive levels of computing power to be put into tiny packages, which can then be unobtrusively tucked away. Wireless Computing Wireless computing refers to the use of wireless technology to connec t computers to a network.Wireless computing is so attractive because it allows workers to escape the tether of a network cable and access network and communication services from anywhere within reach of a wireless network. Wireless computing has attracted enormous market interest, as witnessed by consumer demand for wireless home networks, which can be purchased for several hundred dollars. Context-Awareness and Natural Interaction Small computers that communicate wirelessly provide a necessary infrastructure for ubiquitous computing. However, infrastructure is only half of the battle.As noted above, the ubiquitous computing movement aims to make computers more helpful and easier to use. Indeed, computers should be able to accurately anticipate the user’s needs and accommodate his or her natural communication modes and styles. These themes are captured with-in the ubiquitous computing movement’s focus on context-aware computing and natural interaction. Context-Awarenes s The promise of context-awareness is that computers will be able to understand enough of a user’s current situation to offer services, resources, or information relevant to the particular context.The attributes of context to a particular situation vary widely, and may include the user’s location, current role (mother, daughter, office manager, soccer coach, etc. ), past activity, and affective state. Beyond the user, context may include the current date and time, and other objects and people in the environment. The application of context may include any combination of these elements. For example, a context-aware map might use the information that the user is away from home, has no appointments, and that the time is 6:00 in the evening to determine that the user could soon be interested in dinner.It would then prepare to offer the user guidance to nearby restaurants should he or she makes such a request. Natural Interaction Currently, using the computer is part of the task we are attempting to accomplish—something else to focus on, learn, or do in order to accomplish a goal. The idea behind natural interaction is for the computer to supply services, resources, or information to a user without the user having to think about the rules of how to use the computer to get them. In this way, the user is not preoccupied with the dual tasks of using the computer and getting the services, resources, or information.Donald Norman, a well-known researcher in human–computer interaction, once said that he doesn’t want a word processor; he wants a letter writer—something that will allow him to get the job done of writing a letter, without the instrument getting in the way. UbiquiTrain The UbiquiTrain system is based on a database of training content to which users connect via desktop computers and wireless handheld systems. UbiquiTrain loads training content according to an algorithm that includes a number of context-related cues. The first cue centers on the user’s schedule.For example, if there is an upcoming meeting called by the user, UbiquiTrain would load training content on how to lead meetings. As the meeting time approaches, this training content floats to the top of the list of topics available. A second cue invokes the context of the user’s current activities. If the user is working on a task related to an item on his or her to-do list, UbiquiTrain would load corresponding content, as well. For example, the user working on a proposal would cue UbiquiTrain to call up training content on written communication in general and proposal writing in particular.UbiquiTrain holds content at the ready should users ask for it. The system does not demand the user’s attention. As befits the nature of ubiquitous computing, users interact with UbiquiTrain in the way that feels most natural to them. Some users talk to the system, asking it to show them a particular piece of training content. Other s, not yet comfortable with talking to a computer, use the touch screen. UbiquiTrain reacts to the user, as well. Noting the confusion on the user’s face as it explains how to deal with attendees who derail meetings, for example UbiquiTrain tries explaining the concept a different way.It then offers a short video example. Observing that the user is nodding, UbiquiTrain resumes the normal course of training. Of course, if users are looking for information on a particular topic, they can skip straight to the content simply by asking for it. UbiquiTrain is flexible enough to understand the different ways users might request a given piece of content. UbiquiTrain is more than a means to deliver already-developed training content. The system also offers important benefits in training needs assessment by monitoring trends in training content demands across users.The system takes action when it senses a trend in demand for certain broad areas of training content among members of part icular departments or among workers with similar duties across different departments. As a means of respecting user’s privacy, the system polls them and asks if they would like to request in-depth training on the topic, taking suggestions for areas in which users might want particular detail. If sufficient interest is found, the results are then forwarded to the group responsible for training in the organization. By observing trends in content demand, UbiquiTrain can also sense when its database is incomplete.If users ask for content that doesn’t exist in the database, the request is logged. If a sufficient number of similar requests are received, the system generates a requisition for new content. In this way, the database stays current with the needs of its users. Finally, UbiquiTrain can help evaluate the training it has delivered. The most overt way is to ask the user for feedback on the training received. A second way is have the user request relevant coworkers to evaluate him or her in a given area at a given time, if appropriate. The rating task, of course, is administered by UbiquiTrain through the coworkers’ computers or handhelds.Raters can choose to make their ratings and comments anonymous, if they wish. Once all of the data are compiled, UbiquiTrain feeds them back to the user and offers appropriate development suggestions. The system makes use of the data, as well, to track the effectiveness of the training it has delivered. Clearly, UbiquiTrain offers important benefits to all constituents. Users have a convenient, up-to-date training tool that unobtrusively responds to their needs. At the corporate level, the training needs within the organization are easily tracked and clearly delineated and can be analyzed to fine detail. Current Embedded TechnologyEmbedded technology is the process of introducing computing power to various appliances. These devices are intended to perform certain specific jobs and processors giving the c omputing power are designed in an application oriented way. Computers are hidden in numerous information appliances which we use in our day to- day life. These devices find there application in every segment of life such as consumer electronics, avionics, biomedical engineering, manufacturing, process control, industrial, communication, defence etc†¦ Embedded systems, based on there functionality and performance requirement are basically categorized as: i.Stand alone systems ii. Real time systems iii. Networked systems iv. Mobile devices Stand alone systems work in stand alone mode, taking inputs and producing desired outputs. They do not have any dependence on other systems. Embedded systems in which some specific work has to be done in a specific time period are called Real time systems. Meeting the dead line is the most important requirement of a real time system. In Hard real time systems, missing a deadline may lead to a atastrophe and in Soft real time systems such proble m is not present.Systems which are provided with network interfaces and accessed by networks such as LAN or the Internet are called Networked Systems. Networking may be wired or wireless. Mobile devices are devices which move from one location to another, like mobile phones, PDA’S etc. Today, many people carry numerous portable devices, such as laptops, mobile phones, PDAs and mp3 players, for use in their professional and private lives. For the most part, these devices are used separately i. e. , their applications do not interact.However, if they could interact directly, participants at a meeting could share documents or presentations, business cards would automatically find their way into the address register on a laptop and the number register on a mobile phone, as commuters exit a train, their laptops could remain online; likewise, incoming email could now be diverted to their PDAs. In such a distributed environment where several embedded devices has to communicate and c o-ordinate with each other. For this a communication link is required which may be wired or wireless.In initial stages of Networked embedded system environments wired connection was preferred as it provided a safer and faster channel for communication. But the cost, immovability and the cables running around the floorboards became less attractive. On top of this, dishing out the cash for network cards, cables and a hub/switch reserved this practice to the more elite computer users, until wireless networking hit the scene. Infrared communication was initially used for wireless communication because of the low cost offered by it. But it suffered from the limitation that it can be used only within Line Of Sight. IEEE introduced 802. 1 as the international standard for wireless LANs. This used a 2. 4GHz transmission band while maintaining a steady 1-2 Mbps bandwidth rate. Being that this was extremely slow compared to 100Mbit wired LANs, it took a while for the 802. 11 standard to devel op into a viable solution, achieved shortly after with the 802. 11a, b and g standards, offering bandwidth ranging from 11Mbps to 54Mbps. Although this is still considerably short of the 100Mbit found in cabled networks, 802. 1 x wireless technologies is now literally regarded as the future of networking. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max are the latest solutions, under the 802. x standard, for wireless communication over short, medium and long range communication respectively. Pervasive Computing Earlier in this paper, we characterized a pervasive computing environment as one saturated with computing and communication capability, yet so gracefully integrated with users that it becomes a ‘‘technology that disappears. ’’ Since motion is an integral part of everyday life, such a technology must support mobility; otherwise, a user will be acutely aware of the technology by its absence when he moves. Hence, the research agenda of pervasive computing subsumes that of mob ile computing, but goes much further.Specifically, pervasive computing incorporates four additional research thrusts into its agenda, as illustrated by Figure 1. Effective Use of Smart Spaces The first research thrust is the effective use of smart spaces. A space may be an enclosed area such as a meeting room or corridor, or it may be a well-defined open area such as a courtyard or a quadrangle. By embedding computing infrastructure in building infrastructure, a smart space brings together two worlds that have been disjoint until now [16]. The fusion of these worlds enables sensing and control of one world by the other.A simple example of this is the automatic adjustment of heating, cooling and lighting levels in a room based on an occupant’s electronic profile. Influence in the other direction is also possible — software on a user’s computer may behave differently depending on where the user is currently located. Smartness may also extend to individual objects, whether located in a smart space or not. Invisibility The second thrust is invisibility. The ideal expressed by Weiser is complete disappearance of pervasive computing technology from a user’s consciousness. In practice, a reasonable approximation to this ideal is minimal user distraction.If a pervasive computing environment continuously meets user expectations and rarely presents him with surprises, it allows him to interact almost at a subconscious level [46]. At the same time, a modicum of anticipation may be essential to avoiding a large unpleasant surprise later — much as pain alerts a person to a potentially serious future problem in a normally-unnoticed body part. Localized Scalability The third research thrust is localized scalability. As smart spaces grow in sophistication, the intensity of interactions between a user’s personal computing space and his surroundings increases.This has severe bandwidth, energy and distraction implications for a wireless mobile user. The presence of multiple users will further complicate this problem. Scalability, in the broadest sense, is thus a critical problem in pervasive computing. Previous work on scalability has typically ignored physical distance — a web server or file server should handle as many clients as possible, regardless of whether they are located next door or across the country. The situation is very different in pervasive computing.Here, the density of interactions has to fall off as one moves away — otherwise both the user and his computing system will be overwhelmed by distant interactions that are of little relevance. Although a mobile user far from home will still generate some distant interactions with sites relevant to him, the preponderance of his interactions will be local. Like the inverse square laws of nature, good system design has to achieve scalability by severely reducing interactions between distant entities. This directly contradicts the current etho s of the Internet, which many believe heralds the ‘‘death of distance. ’’Masking Uneven Conditioning The fourth thrust is the development of techniques for masking uneven conditioning of environments. The rate of penetration of pervasive computing technology into the infrastructure will vary considerably depending on many non-technical factors such as organizational structure, economics and business models. Uniform penetration, if it is ever achieved, is many years or decades away. In the interim, there will persist huge differences in the ‘‘smartness’’ of different environments — what is available in a well-equipped conference room, office, or classroom may be more sophisticated than in other locations.This large dynamic range of ‘‘smartness’’ can be jarring to a user, detracting from the goal of making pervasive computing technology invisible. One way to reduce the amount of variation seen by a us er is to have his personal computing space compensate for ‘‘dumb’’ environments. As a trivial example, a system that is capable of disconnected operation is able to mask the absence of wireless coverage in its environment. Complete invisibility may be impossible, but reduced variability is well within our reach. [pic]This figure shows how research problems in pervasive computing relate to those in mobile computing and distributed systems. New problems are encountered as one move from left to right in this figure. In addition, the solution of many previously-encountered problems becomes more complex. As the modulation symbols suggest, this increase in complexity is multiplicative rather than additive — it is very much more difficult to design and implement a pervasive computing system than a simple distributed system of comparable robustness and maturity. Note that this figure describes logical relationships, not temporal ones.Although the evolution o f research effort over time has loosely followed this picture, there have been cases where research effort on some aspect of pervasive computing began relatively early. For example, work on smart spaces began in the early 1990’s and proceeded relatively independently of work in mobile computing. Figure 1: Taxonomy of Computer Systems Research Problems in Pervasive Computing Example Scenarios What would it be like to live in a world with pervasive computing? To help convey the ‘‘look and feel’’ of such a world, we sketch two hypothetical scenarios below.We have deliberately chosen scenarios that appear feasible in just a few years. These examples use Aura as the pervasive computing system, but the concepts illustrated are of broad relevance. Scenario 1 Jane is at Gate 23 in the Pittsburgh airport, waiting for her connecting flight. She has edited many large documents, and would like to use her wireless connection to e-mail them. Unfortunately, bandwid th is miserable because many passengers at Gates 22 and 23 are surfing the web. Aura observes that at the current bandwidth Jane won’t be able tofinish sending her documents before her flight departs.Consulting the airport’s network weather service and flight schedule service, Aura discovers that wireless bandwidth is excellent at Gate 15, and that there are no departing or arriving flights at nearby gates for half an hour. A dialog box pops up on Jane’s screen suggesting that she go to Gate 15, which is only three minutes away. It also asks her to prioritize her e-mail, so that the most critical messages are transmitted first. Jane accepts Aura’s advice and walks to Gate 15. She watches CNN on the TV there until Aura informs her that it is close to being done with her messages, and that she can start walking back.The last message is transmitted during her walk, and she is back at Gate 23 in time for her boarding call. Scenario 2 Fred is in his office, fr antically preparing for a meeting at which he will give a presentation and a software demonstration. The meeting room is a ten-minute walk across campus. It is time to leave, but Fred is not quite ready. He grabs his PalmXXII wireless handheld computer and walks out of the door. Aura transfers the state of his work from his desktop to his handheld, and allows him to make his final edits using voice commands during his walk. Aura infers where Fred is going from his calendar and the campus location racking service. It downloads the presentation and the demonstration software to the projection computer, and warms up the projector. Fred finishes his edits just before he enters the meeting room. As he walks in, Aura transfers his final changes to the projection computer. As the presentation proceeds, Fred is about to display a slide with highly sensitive budget information. Aura senses that this might be a mistake: the room’s face detection and recognition capability indicates tha t there are some unfamiliar faces present. It therefore warns Fred. Realizing that Aura is right, Fred skips the slide.He moves on to other topics and ends on a high note, leaving the audience impressed by his polished presentation. Missing Capabilities These scenarios embody many key ideas in pervasive computing. Scenario 1 shows the importance of pro activity: Jane is able to complete her e-mail transmission only because Aura had the foresight to estimate how long the whole process would take. She is able to begin walking back to her departure gate before transmission completes because Aura looks ahead on her behalf. The scenario also shows the importance of combining knowledge from different layers of the system.Wireless congestion is a low-level system phenomenon; knowledge of boarding time is an application or user-level concept. Only by combining these disparate pieces of knowledge can Aura help Jane. The scenario also shows the value of a smart space. Aura is able to obtain k nowledge of wireless conditions at other gates, flight arrival/departure times and gates, and distance between gates only because the environment provides these services. Scenario 2 illustrates the ability to move execution state effortlessly across diverse platforms — from a desktop to a handheld machine, and from the handheld to the projection computer.Self-tuning, or automatically adjusting behavior to fit circumstances, is shown by the ability to edit on the handheld using speech input rather than keyboard and mouse. The scenario embodies many instances of pro activity: inferring that Fred is headed for the room across campus, warming up the projector, transferring the presentation and demonstration, anticipating that the budget slide might be displayed next, and sensing danger by combining this knowledge with the inferred presence of strangers in the oom. The value of smart spaces is shown in many ways: the location tracking and online calendar services are what enable A ura to infer where Fred is heading; the software-controlled projector enables warm up ahead of time; the camera-equipped room with continuous face recognition is key to warning Fred about the privacy violation he is about to commit. Perhaps the biggest surprise in these scenarios is how simple and basic all the component technologies are.The hardware technologies (laptops, handhelds, wireless communication, software-controlled appliances, room cameras, and so on) are all here today. The component software technologies have also been demonstrated: location tracking, face recognition, speech recognition, online calendars, and so on. Why then do these scenarios seem like science fiction rather than reality today? The answer lies in the fact that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, the real research is in the seamless integration of component technologies into a system like Aura.The difficult problems lie in architecture, component synthesis and system-l evel engineering. Difference between traditional networking and pervasive computing These connections are fundamentally unlike those we associate with networks. Rather than using the network to connect computers that are being used directly by people, these appliances communicate over networks such that people do not directly monitor the communication between machines and programs.The majority of these communications will occur in an end-to-end structure that does not include a human at any point. The number of machines connected to the Internet has been increasing at an exponential rate and will continue to grow at this rate as the existing networks of embedded computers, including those that already exist within our automobiles, are connected to the larger, global network, and as new networks of embedded devices are constructed in our homes and offices.The kinds of devices that will be used to access the Internet are no longer confined to desktops and servers, but include small de vices with limited user interface facilities (such as cell phones and PDAs); wireless devices with limited bandwidth, computing power, and electrical power; and embedded processors with severe limitations on the amount of memory and computing power available to them. Many of these devices are mobile, changing not only geographic position, but also their place in the topology of the network. Unlike traditional Desktop Computers and existing networks, the new devices will have the following characteristics: 1.Many will have small, inexpensive processors with limited memory and little or no persistent storage. 2. They will connect to other computing elements without the direct intervention of users. 3. Often, they will be connected by wireless networks. 4. They will change rapidly, sometimes by being mobile, sometimes by going on and offline at widely varying rates. Over time, they will be replaced (or fail) far more rapidly than is now common. 5. They will be used as a source of infor mation, often sending that information into the center of the network to which they are attached.Ubi-Finger Here, in contrast, Ubi-Finger is the gesture-i/p device, which is simple, compact and optimized for mobile use. Using our systems, a user can detect a target device by pointing with his/her index finger, and then control it flexibly by performing natural gestures of fingers (Fig. 1). [pic][pic][pic] | | | | |By pointing a light and making| |The light will turn on! | |a gesture like â€Å"push a | | | |switch†. | | |Figure- 1 An example to control Home Appliances | [pic] Figure- 2 As shown in fig. 2, ubi-finger consists of three sensors to detect gestures of fingers, an infrared transmitter to select a target device in real world and a microcomputer to control these sensors and communicate with a host computer. each sensor generates the information of motions as follows: (1) a bending degree of the index finger, (2) tilt angles of the wrist, (3) operations of touch senso rs by a thumb.We use (1) and (2) for recognition of gestures, and use (3) for the trigger mechanism to start and stop gesture recognitition. Information Hoppers and Smart Posters Once these zones are setup, computers on the network will have some interesting capabilities. The system will help to store and retrieve data in an Information hopper. This is a timeline of information that keeps track of when data is created. The hopper knows who created it, where they were and who they were with. Another application that will come out of this ultrasonic location system is the smart poster.A convention computer interface requires us to click on a button on your computer screen. In this new system, a button can be placed anywhere in your workplace, not just on the computer display. The idea behind smart posters is that a button can be a piece of paper that is printed out and struck on a wall. Smart posters will be used to control any device that is plugged into the network. The poster will know where to send a file and a user’s preferences. Smart posters could also be used in advertising new services.To press a button on a smart poster, a user will simply place his or her bat in the smart poster button and click the bat. The system automatically knows who is pressing the poster’s button. Posters can be created with several buttons on it. Ultrasonic location systems will require us to think outside of the box. Traditionally, we have used our files, and we may back up these files on a network server. This ubiquitous network will enable all computers in a building to transfer ownership and store all our files in a central timeline. HAVi- An Implementation in Consumer Appliance EnvironmentHAVi is a standard for home appliances consisting of a set of APIs, services, and a standard for communication. HAVi’s primary goal is providing a dynamic service environment in which software components can discover and interact with other. It provides mechanisms fo r devices to discover, query and control other appliances on the home network, and provides system services such as message and event. Eight major consumer electronics manufacturers have come up with an open standard enabling home entertainment devices to communicate intelligently with each other.The HAVi(Home Audio Video Interoperability) standard promises to bring true platform independent interoperability to consumer devices using high bandwidth IEEE 1394 (FireWire) as the connecting medium. Major consumer electronics, software, semiconductor and computer manufacturers, namely Grundig, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba along with now over 30 other participants, have formed a non-profit organization called HAVi (Home Audio Video Interoperability) for promoting the development of interoperable consumer products.The goal of HAVi organization is to provide a standard open architecture for intelligent audio and video devices to interoperate with each other regardless of manufacturer, operating system, CPU or programming language used for implementation. The simplest example can be time synchronization between different devices. TV set might get the correct time from the broadcast stream and the other devices can query the TV and set their own clocks according to it. Setting the VCR to record a program is a familiar situation users usually have problems with.With HAVi enabled devices this task can be made very easy. User can select the program he wishes to record with the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) residing on a digital TV set (or set top- box). The TV then locates an available recorder (e. g. , a VCR or a recording DVD device) and commands it to record the program supplying it with the time, length and channel parameters taken from the EPG. Thus, the user doesn’t need to program or touch the recording device in any way. The advantages of Pervasive Computing:We increasingly rely on the electronic creation, storage, and trans mittal of personal, financial, and other confidential information, and demand the highest security for all these transactions and require complete access to time-sensitive data, regardless of physical location. We expect devices — personal digital assistants, mobile phones, office PCs and home entertainment systems — to access that information and work together in one seamless, integrated system. Pervasive computing gives us the tools to manage information quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly.It aims to enable people to accomplish an increasing number of personal and professional transactions using a new class of intelligent and portable appliances or â€Å"smart devices† embedded with microprocessors that allow users to plug into intelligent networks and gain direct, simple, and secure access to both relevant information and services.. It gives people convenient access to relevant information stored on powerful networks, allowing them to easily take action an ywhere, anytime.Pervasive computing simplifies life by combining open standards-based applications with everyday activities. It removes the complexity of new technologies, enables us to be more efficient in our work and leaves us more leisure time and thus pervasive computing is fast becoming a part of everyday life. Concerns The power ubiquitous computing promises carries with it significant risks. One such risk is associated with the amount of privacy that must be sacrificed to see the benefits of truly helpful computers.Another is that early, â€Å"bleeding edge† applications of ubiquitous computing will turn out to be more ambitious than effective, leading some to prematurely conclude that the idea is a failure. We address each of these concerns below. Privacy Issues Simply put the more software tracks users, the more opportunities exist to trample on their right to privacy. To some degree, these issues are already being argued in the contexts of corporate e-mail snooping and the use of IT software that can track user activity down to the level of individual keystrokes.However, factoring in the idea of software that can track and act upon a user’s physical presence and form of activity leads to privacy concerns of a magnitude beyond those currently debated. The privacy implications of ubiquitous computing implementations must always be accorded the most careful consideration. Without powerful standards surrounding user privacy, the future world of ubiquitous computing may very well shift from one of ease and convenience to one where each of us has an inescapable sense of being watched, at best, and no control over our personal information, at worst.Such prospects are clearly far from desirable. Growing Pains Systems that can act as subtly as those described will not come without a substantial developer learning curve. As system developers learn from their mistakes, there will undoubtedly be at least one premature declaration that truly ubiqui tous computing is an impractical ideal and that the interim efforts are too riddled with problems to be usable. We cannot guarantee that ubiquitous computing will fulfill its promise. However, we would argue that it ought to do so, based on the strong trend we have observed toward more powerful, more usable software.The first author recalls a word processor from about 1984 that required the manual entry of printer codes for boldface and italic fonts. Advanced ideas like templates and styles—and, come to think of it, tables—were far from consideration as features. Modern word processors are very powerful, flexible, and easy to use compared to anything that has come before. Usability is definitely a recognized goal in software design, and much has been learned to make new software—even unique, new applications—very easy to use.It should only get better. Ongoing Research: A number of leading technological organizations are exploring pervasive computing. Xero x's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), for example, has been working on pervasive computing applications since the 1980s. Although new technologies are emerging, the most crucial objective is not, necessarily, to develop new technologies. IBM's project Planet Blue, for example, is largely focused on finding ways to integrate existing technologies with a wireless infrastructure.Carnegie Mellon University's Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is working on similar research in their Project Aura, whose stated goal is â€Å"to provide each user with an invisible halo of computing and information services that persists regardless of location. † The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a project called Oxygen. MIT named their project after that substance because they envision a future of ubiquitous computing devices as freely available and easily accessible as oxygen is today.What is this next generation going to look like? Today the uses of Internet are limited a s its users look for read-mostly information. As we move to a world where the Internet is used as an infrastructure for embedded computing, all this will change. We can hypothesize that the individual utility of mobile communication, wireless appliances and the respective mobile services – pervasive technologies in general – will be exploited through a digital environment that is – †¢ aware of their presence sensitive, adaptive and responsive to their needs, habits and emotions †¢ and ubiquitously accessible via natural interaction. Increasingly, many of the chips around us will sense their environment in rudimentary but effective ways. For Example – ? Cell phones will ask the landline phone what its telephone number is and will forward our calls to it. ? Remote computers will monitor our health statistics and will determine when one is in trouble and will take appropriate action for rescue. Amplifiers will be implanted and used in the inner ear . ? New machines that scan, probe, penetrate and enhance our bodies will be used. ? Refrigerators will be connected to the Internet so one could find out, via cell phone or PDA, what is in it while one is at the store. A refrigerator may even sense when it is low on milk and order more directly from the supplier or rather than this, the connection will enable the manufacturer to monitor the appliance directly to ensure that it is working correctly and inform the owner when it is not. Stoves will conspire with the refrigerators to decide what recipe makes the best use of the available ingredients, and then guide us through preparation of the recipe with the aid of a network-connected food processor and blender. Or they will communicate to optimize the energy usage in our households. ? Cars will use the Internet to find an open parking space or the nearest vegetarian restaurant for their owners or to allow the manufacturer to diagnose problems before they happen, and either inform the owner of the needed service or automatically install the necessary (software) repair. Wrist watches will monitor our sugar. [pic] ? Digi-tickers or implanted heart monitors in heart patients will talk wirelssly to computers, which will be trained to keep an eye open for abnormalities. [pic] In a nutshell, our personal network will travel around with us like a surrounding bubble, connecting to the environment through which we move and allowing our mobile tools to provide us with more functionality than they ever could alone. Conclusion: Pervasive computing provides an attractive vision for the future of computing.Well, we no longer will be sitting down in front of a PC to get access to information. In this wireless world we will have instant access to the information and services that we will want to access with devices, such as Smartphones, PDAs, set-top boxes, embedded intelligence in your automobile and others, all linked to the network, allowing us to connect anytime, anywhere s eamlessly, and very importantly, transparently. Computational power will be available everywhere through mobile and stationary devices that will dynamically connect and coordinate to smoothly help users in accomplishing their tasks.We are heading toward a reality that plays like a scene from Star Trek. We may have difficulty envisioning these possibilities, but they are not remote anymore. Technology is rapidly finding its way into every aspect of our lives. Whether it’s how we shop, how we get from one place to another or how we communicate, technology is clearly woven into the way we live. Indeed, we are hurtling â€Å"towards pervasive computing†. When Edison finally found a filament that would burn, did he see the possibility of silent but pervasive electrical current flowing throughout our homes, cars and communities?An easy way to comply with the conference paper formatting requirements is to use this document as a template and simply type your text into it. Page Layout Your paper must use a page size corresponding to A4 which is 210mm (8. 27†³) wide and 297mm (11. 69†³) long. The margins must be set as follows: Top = 19mm (0. 75†³) Bottom = 43mm (1. 69†³) Left = Right = 14. 32mm (0. 56†³) Your paper must be in two column format with a space of 4. 22mm (0. 17†³) between columns. Page Style All paragraphs must be indented.All paragraphs must be justified, i. e. both left-justified and right-justified. Text Font of Entire Document The entire document should be in Times New Roman or Times font. Type 3 fonts must not be used. Other font types may be used if needed for special purposes. Recommended font sizes are shown in Table 1. A. Title and Author Details Title must be in 24 pt Regular font. Author name must be in 11 pt Regular font. Author affiliation must be in 10 pt Italic. Email address must be in 9 pt Courier Regular font. Font Sizes for Papers Font |Appearance (in Time New Roman or Times) | |Size | | | |Re gular |Bold |Italic | |8 |table caption (in Small | |reference item | | |Caps), | |(partial) | | |figure caption, | | | | |reference item | | | |9 |author email address (in |abstract body |abstract heading (also | | |Courier), | |in Bold) | | |cell in a table | | | |10 |level-1 heading (in Small| |level-2 heading, | | |Caps), | |level-3 heading, | | |paragraph | |author affiliation | |11 |author name | | | |24 |title | | | All title and author details must be in single-column format and must be centered. Every word in a title must be capitalized except for short minor words such as â€Å"a†, â€Å"an†, â€Å"and†, â€Å"as†, â€Å"at†, â€Å"by†, â€Å"for†, â€Å"from†, â€Å"if†, â€Å"in†, â€Å"into†, â€Å"on†, â€Å"or†, â€Å"of†, â€Å"the†, â€Å"to†, â€Å"with†. Author details must not show any professional title (e. g. Managing Director), any academic ti tle (e. g. Dr. ) or any membership of any professional organization (e. g. Senior Member IEEE).To avoid confusion, the family name must be written as the last part of each author name (e. g. John A. K. Smith). Each affiliation must include, at the very least, the name of the company and the name of the country where the author is based (e. g. Causal Productions Pty Ltd, Australia). Email address is compulsory for the corresponding author. B. Section Headings No more than 3 levels of headings should be used. All headings must be in 10pt font. Every word in a heading must be capitalized except for short minor words as listed in Section III-B. Level-1 Heading: A level-1 heading must be in Small Caps, centered and numbered using uppercase Roman numerals. For example, see heading â€Å"III.Page Style† of this document. The two level-1 headings which must not be numbered are â€Å"Acknowledgment† and â€Å"References†. 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Please use only SOLID FILL colors which contrast well both on screen and on a black-and-white hard copy, as shown in Fig. 1. [pic] Fig. 1 A sample line graph using colors which contrast well both on screen and on a black-and-white hardcopy Fig. shows an example of a low-resolution image which would not be acceptable, whereas Fig. 3 shows an example of an image with adequate resolution. Check that the resolution is adequate to reveal the important detail in the figure. Please check all figures in your paper both on screen and on a black-and-white hardcopy. When you check your paper on a black-and-white hardcopy, please ensure that: †¢ the colors used in each figure contrast well, †¢ the image used in each figure is clear, †¢ all text labels in each figure are legible. A. Figure Captions Figures must be numbered using Arabic numerals. Figure captions must be in 8 pt Regular font. Captions of a single line (e. g. 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Causal Productions has used its best efforts to ensure that the templates have the same appearance. AcknowledgmentThe heading of the Acknowledgment section and the References section must not be numbered. Causal Productions wishes to acknowledge Michael Shell and other contributors for developing and maintaining the IEEE LaTeX style files which have been used in the preparation of this template. To see the list of contributors, please refer to the top of file IEEETran. cls in the IEEE LaTeX distributio n. References 1] S. M. Metev and V. P. Veiko, Laser Assisted Microtechnology, 2nd ed. , R. M. Osgood, Jr. , Ed. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 1998. 2] J. Breckling, Ed. , The Analysis of Directional Time Series: Applications to Wind Speed and Direction, ser. Lecture Notes in Statistics. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 1989, vol. 1. 3] S. Zhang, C. Zhu, J. K. O. Sin, and P. K. T. Mok, â€Å"A novel ultrathin elevated channel low-temperature poly-Si TFT,† IEEE Electron Device Lett. , vol. 20, pp. 569–571, Nov. 1999. 4] M. Wegmuller, J. P. von der Weid, P. Oberson, and N. Gisin, â€Å"High resolution fiber distributed measurements with coherent OFDR,† in Proc. ECOC’00, 2000, paper 11. 3. 4, p. 109. 5] R. E. Sorace, V. S. Reinhardt, and S. A. Vaughn, â€Å"High-speed digital-to-RF converter,† U. S. Patent 5 668 842, Sept. 16, 1997. 6] (2002) The IEEE website. [Online]. Available: http://www. ieee. org/ 7] M. Shell. (2002) IEEEtran homepage on CTAN. [Onl ine]. Available: http://www. ctan. rg/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/supported/IEEEtran/ 8] FLEXChip Signal Processor (MC68175/D), Motorola, 1996. 9] â€Å"PDCA12-70 data sheet,† Opto Speed SA, Mezzovico, Switzerland. 10] A. Karnik, â€Å"Performance of TCP congestion control with rate feedback: TCP/ABR and rate adaptive TCP/IP,† M. Eng. thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, Jan. 1999. 11] J. Padhye, V. Firoiu, and D. Towsley, â€Å"A stochastic model of TCP Reno congestion avoidance and control,† Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, CMPSCI Tech. Rep. 99-02, 1999. 12] Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specification, IEEE Std. 802. 11, 1997.

Does it make sense to believe in life after death? Essay

In this essay I will be arguing that you can almost make no sense to believe in life before and after death and that there is no humanly logical way of proving either side of the argument. Plato acts on the words of his teacher, Socrates, and how he considered the soul to be separate from the body but linked until death. He says that the soul influences how we behave and tries to sway us from bodily desires. He says that the soul moves from one body to another when death occurs and to be born into subsequent bodies. This is a good indication from Plato to show life after death because he says the life of the soul is everlasting like an infinite line or a circle. Plato said that the soul is made up from three parts: the Logos, which is the mind and allows logic to prevail. Thymos is emotion and drives us to do heroic acts of bravery and courage. Eros equates to the appetite that drives humankind to seek out its basic bodily needs. There is no scientific way of proving life after death with this theory is correct and no way of proving it incorrect so it would be false to say that Plato’s theory is wrong because it made sense for Plato because they were his ethics, it would be bad to say that someone’s ethics were wrong because they aren’t like yours. Aristotle’s view however is quite similar in the characteristics but the concept of an everlasting soul to him makes no sense because he believed in the soul being created at birth and dying at death. This doesn’t correspond with Plato because he said that the souls come from the Forms (which is space-less and timeless) so the soul must also last forever. Aristotle believed that the soul wasn’t made from physical tissue but of powers or skill, so therefore pointless talk about separation from the body because it just wasn’t logical. The flaw in this statement is that it is impossible to connect meta-physics with logic so there is no way to measure, see, touch or knowing what the answer is. Thomas Aquinas once said that the soul has the appetite for knowledge because he said, â€Å"since the intellectual soul is capable of knowing all material things, and since in order to know a material thing there must be no material thing within it, the soul was definitely not connected and that it was an individual spiritual substance and that it could survive on its own†. Aquinas said that the soul is subsistant and therefore can’t die with the body and cant be born with it. This is like saying the soul doesn’t even exist in this form of life properly and only exists partly with your body and outside it. John Hick, a 20th century philosopher said that life after death is no where near provable but he said that a rational person would be able to accept it. John Hick discussed a theory he had that when you die, your separated soul and body will resurrect and be re-united in a new and glorified form. The example he uses is that he is giving a lecture in London at 2:00pm and died at that exact moment, his living tissue and soul were transported to New York in a new and glorified form at 2:00.0000001pm (London time) giving the exact same speech as he was in London. Once again there is no rational way of explaining life before and after death because the soul isn’t a rational thing. A philosopher, Derek Parfit created a scenario where in the future and teleportation device was created to transport a person from one place to another without any physical movement from the person or anyone or anything around that person. The teleportation device copied your living tissue and you’re DNA and even your thoughts and memories. Once the copying stage is complete, the machine will disintegrate your body and a machine at the receiving end will create an exact replica of you with everything perfectly the same (a clone). If you had done this 100 times and then one time it didn’t work to plan and it would take 30 minutes to incinerate you, you would see an exact replica of you at the other teleportation receiver. Which one are you another person would ask, but the answer would be neither of them because the real person would be the very first incinerated person because only clones were created afterwards. I think this is one of the most valid arguments because he uses knowledge and common sense in his story but doesn’t explain where the soul went. I think that there is no logical way of making sense of life after death because to have sense, you must have proof and because there is no proof of and sides of the arguments aren’t logical there is no way of making sense of them. I think that it is still rational be open to the concept of life after death.

4 discussion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

4 discussion questions - Assignment Example Personally I believe the development of IPv6 appropriately overcomes the issues occurring with IPv4. In order to improve performance, I believe the need to adopt and upgrade to newer technology is stronger than improving the current version of technology which is readily approaching its decline. Microsoft and UNIX is an ongoing debate which has been discussed by numerous critics. Microsoft evidently has a competitive edge due to its mass bundled offerings and relentless marketing. Microsoft is rampantly available everywhere, bundled along with most PCs/Laptops. Also, the fully loaded services available with Microsoft come as an exclusive attraction for many users. The issue of ethicality of Microsoft’s decision to bundle its services yet needs to be resolved. However, it is unanimously believed that Microsoft had intended to create its monotony rule in the IT industry. It has increased its operations to such an extent that the court proceedings ordered for its operations to be broken down into smaller independent units. I believe the court rulings were absolutely

Questions Pertaining to Mega Mountain and Columbia Food Company Essay

Questions Pertaining to Mega Mountain and Columbia Food Company - Essay Example Acting on inside information, Franklin gained an illegal advantage over other stockholders and profited from their losses. His actions were in direct violation of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. In order to prove its case, the Securities and Exchange Commission will need to secure the testimony of the executive secretary who shared the takeover information with Franklin. However, this testimony alone will not be sufficient to prove the case. If, as the scenario points out, the SEC has filed suit against Franklin and others, someone must have known about Franklin's entry into the executive offices to obtain information about the object of Mega Mountain's takeover. Using the testimony of both the executive secretary, and an informant who brought Franklin's activities to light, the SEC will be able to prove its case against Franklin for violation of the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act. Liuzzo and Bonnice (2006) define easement as "a right or interest in land granted to a party to make beneficial use of the land owned by another" (p. 321). Once an easement has been recorded, it cannot be sold or otherwise transferred. The question to be determined here is whether an easement was mentioned in the earliest available deeds of the two properties.

Personal statement for application of Economics Graduate School

For application of Economics Graduate School - Personal Statement Example oduction to micro/macroeconomics; inter-media micro/macroeconomics; econometrics; public economics; mathematical economics; international economics; urban economics; economic development; applied calculus and introduction to calculus. By the time I graduate, I would have also taken two more courses. These are advanced calculus and linear algebra. My enrolment in graduate school will help me to enhance the knowledge that I already have in economics. It will also help me to broaden my perspective as well as offer me novel insights into the depth of my field. With this advanced knowledge, I will be in a better position to competitively progress in my future career. One of my achievements in the Economics and Mathematics field is the GPA of 3.93 that I was able to competitively attain during my course. In overall, I had a GPA of 3.65. This was all possible through my hard work and determination in the course. It is also quite important to note that my interest for this field enabled me to put in more effort that saw me achieve all these great results. Apart from my recommendable academic performance in the Economics and Mathematics field, I was also the Vice President at the Chinese Student and Scholar Association (CSSA) at the university. This position helped me to expand my leadership skills as well as to be of great help to my fellow Chinese students. Through this position, I was able to help the Chinese international students in the United States to get the required documents that were expected of them such as insurance. Housing is equally a very challenging endeavor for students. This is especially occasioned by the fact that the cost of h ousing is quite high and most students are not able to afford. This leaves the students to be â€Å"homeless† in campus. Through my position as the Vice President of the CSSA, I was able to give a helping hand to the Chinese students to acquire housing. This made their school work very comfortable as they did not have to struggle

Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Starbucks - Essay Example The next portion of the essay will describe theoretical background of marketing concepts. Marketing Concepts Research scholars such as Burrow (2011), Sandhusen (2000), and Mercer (1996) have stated that organizations need to decide marketing strategy in terms of marketing mix, segmentation and target market, in order to become successful in competitive business environment. Kotler et al (2009) have pointed out that organizations need to change marketing mix such as product, price, place and promotion in accordance with the situational perspective, in order to achieve competitive advantage. Kotler et al (2009) have tried to establish link between implanting right marketing strategy and competitive advantage model proposed by Michael Porter (1980, 1985, and 1991). Elements of marketing mix can be explained in the following manner: Product Companies manufacture new products in order to match steps with the ever-changing nature of consumer demand. Organizations develop products through m ultiple stages like generating idea about new products by using primary and secondary research; selecting the potential idea through idea screening, testing the concept of product development with the help of feedback of customers, analyzing the business aspect of the product development such as market volume, price estimation, market size calculation etc., launching the product in small market segment in order to test acceptance of the product, manufacturing the product on commercial basis after achieving success in test marketing phase and finally commercializing the product. Ansoff matrix can be used in order to understand the significance of product concept in marketing. (Source: Stone, 2001, p. 51) According to Ansoff matrix, companies develop product strategy due to four reasons, 1- increasing market penetration by existing products in existing markets with an intention to decrease risk factors associated with entering new market, 2- developing new products for the existing ma rket in order to achieve competitive advantage over competitors, 3- launching an existing product in new markets in order achieve business growth in foreign shore without investing huge amounts of capital in new product development, and 4- launching new products in new markets in order to create brand awareness among customers. Mintzberg et al (2003) have stated that companies need to decide the product portfolio in accordance with the demographic and societal trends of a particular country. Price Companies decide the price of products in accordance with macro environmental characteristics of market and in some cases organizations decide the price of products in order to enhance brand image. For example, Apple use premier pricing policy or assigning high price on products in order to show class and aristocracy, while Wal-Mart uses cost orientation strategy in order to offer everyday merchandises at everyday low price (EDLP) to customers. Adopting EDLP model has helped Wal-Mart to ac hieve price competitiveness over their competitors. Place Companies decide distribution strategy in order to distribute products to customers. Organizations design distribution channel backed by retailers, wholesalers, online sales channel, c&f agents, company sales executives etc., in order to

Multiculturalism - Freedom, Recognition and Authenticity Essay

Multiculturalism - Freedom, Recognition and Authenticity - Essay Example It is often thought that this is the best framework that would accommodate different parts of the population, especially if they come from various cultural, religious or other backgrounds (Appiah 2007, p. 14). Nevertheless, I have considered some of the peculiarities of it and came to a conclusion that that it may be flawed to a certain extent. A. That is exactly what I wanted to talk about. Do not you, wise men, think that this is too unrealistic? Equal respect is truly a platform that the stability of a diverse society rests on, but it is too abstract, especially when it comes to actual application (Abbey 2000, p. 118). B. Our friend is absolutely right here, equality is something that can hardly be achieved in a society where citizens are different in numerous aspects, starting from the level of income and up to the very place where they live. It is virtually impossible to create equal conditions for everyone. A. C, my friend, I can see where you are going with this, but I would like to point out that the politics of equal respect, the one that you like so much, is actually inhospitable to difference (Ferrelly 2004, p. 88). B. I fully agree. C, you see, diversity is a factor that is dynamic, it is not static; in other words, one can hardly make a set of coordinates that would include all the differences and find harmony between them. In addition to that, acknowledgement of difference requires a constant change with in the social framework. A. Exactly! Do not you see that this is absolutely the opposite of what the system was designed for. The universal application that you have mentioned relies on one size fits all ideology. In other words, while claiming to respect the difference, this politics actually eliminates it (Fraser & Honneth, 2003, p. 30). B. Indeed, if two groups of people believe in different, sometimes opposite values, do you think that there can be a single policy that would unite them. Nevertheless, if the principle of

The Critical Review EssayOn the Titanic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Critical Review EssayOn the Titanic - Essay Example This essay declares that the theme of trust is the underpinning them in the film is the theme of sacrifice presented as an evolving phenomenon that coils itself around romance. Cameron uses romance to bring the theme of sacrifice and he illustrates this by the relationship between Jack and Rose. These two very young people each other and starting having something common that developed into friendship. This friendship grows into trust. Trust is the lifeline to any romantic relationship, and this trust does not have to be based on anything, it can be just about people who trust each other, not because they know each other too well, but because they are yearning for love and companionship. This paper makes a conclusion that the best way to test trust is sacrifice; if you are trustworthy, you would do anything for me. This becomes more evident at the end of the film. Rose sacrifices her freedom and even endangers her life by going to the bottom of the ship where jack is shackled (which is dangerous considering that the ship was sinking and the last place anyone would like to be is at the bottom deck). The theme of sacrifice is further depicted when Jack chooses to sacrifice his life so as Rose would carry one. At this point, their love and romance is sealed, there is no doubt beyond this that they are on love, to the point of willing to die for each other.

Demographics of Democrats vs. Republicans Research Paper

Demographics of Democrats vs. Republicans - Research Paper Example However, now that we are a month away from the presidential elections November 6th and the political arena seems to be on fire as Obama and Romney try to garner votes for their campaigns especially after their debate the last week, this made me curious and made me decide to conduct a research on the demographics of Democrats and Republicans. I know it’s not that important to many of us, but have you ever wondered which party has the highest number of highly educated members? Which is the dominant religion in the Senate? Or which party has the highest number of military men in the house? The tectonic plates of the American politics are shifting, and the demographic forces are reshaping the electorate and the major political parties. I have done some research on these parties and compiled the population characteristics of the 1) wealth (economic status), 2) education and intellect, 3) religion. A large number of Americans consider the Republican Party to be the party of the rich (Osterman, 28). Surprisingly the majority of the banks in America are in support of Romney based on their generous contributions to the Republicans. The investment bank is on the forefront having contributed $637,000, and JP Chase Bank, JP Morgan and Bank of America follow closely and as we all know banks are the hearts of our economic system. On the other hand, Democrats are supported by companies led by Microsoft, which has donated $419,000 for the elections campaign than Google and Harvard University. The wealthiest Americans are Republicans while the largest number of poor and middle-class Americans favors Democrats. Republicans are economically conservative, and their policies seem to favor the rich people and institutions such as the Wall Street (Levine, 27). The ideological centers of gravity towards the finance industry between the two parties are the causes of the wealth alignment.  

Expression in Human Imagination, Values and Emotions Essay

Expression in Human Imagination, Values and Emotions - Essay Example According to Vernon (1999), the birth of baroque style was an extension of the renaissance art period. Eventually, renaissance gave way to baroque, as the baroque style became more and more distinct. Baroque paintings, sculpture and architecture of a dramatic character were influential tools in the possession of secular and religious absolutisms. Baroque flourished in the service of the Catholic monarchies and the Catholic Church. The artists of this style concentrated on space lights, natural forms, colors, as well as the literal relationship between the portrait subject and the observer. This style produces experience emotions, immensely powerful and thrilling to the observer. The logical purpose of this style was to relay messages to the illiterate people rather than the educated ones. This explains why the paintings were portraits of common and famous stories in the scripture. Initially, baroque art style was dominated by history paintings, religious paintings, portraits and allegories, but later, genre scenes, still life and landscapes gained notoriety rapidly (Vernon, 1999). The most striking feature of the baroque painting was immense drama, dark shadows and intense light. The artists used to select the moment when the action was taking place and also slightly before a sweeping action would take place (Vernon, 1999). For example, the portrait of a steady David daring the giant and another portrait of David throwing the stone with his sling. Baroque style of art was meant to evoke passion and emotion, as opposed to calm rationality of Renaissance. Baroque came up during a period of political and religious strife. Reformation was bringing chaos among the religion of Roman Catholic. As such, it formed a counter reformation to check the increase of Protestantism (Vernon, 1999). Rome was the centre of patronage at that period, and the church was in need of an art style that would lure people back to Catholic Church. The art was further influenced by the prevailing political climate as the monarchies of Spain, which promoted this style. This art period denied people the freedom to choose their life style and enjoy entertaining pieces of art, as it concentrated on religious issues only. Further, the political and religious chaos was ruining people’s happiness. This pressure led to the development of the rococo art movement. #2 Rococo Art was a decorative interior design and French art that emerged in the period (c.1700-1789). Rococo art style focuses on the indulgence and lavishness of the aristocracy. The paintings of this style have outstanding erotic themes, and they are also whimsical with striking flowering brushstrokes and petal colors (Vernon, 1999). The design of rococo rooms was total works of art with ornate and elegant furniture, tapestry complementing style, ornamental mirrors, and small sculptures, wall paintings and relief. Painters used curving forms and delicate colors to produce exceptional artistic works that were naughty. Many people believe that rococo serves the same purpose to baroque as mannerism serves to Renaissance. Therefore, rococo is

Ethics In Group Counseling Essay Example for Free

Ethics In Group Counseling Essay Abstract This essay provides information about ethics, as defined and regulated in the practice of counseling or therapy sessions. Furthermore, this essay looks closely at the intricacies of ethical issues in counseling and group therapies and how these compare to the ethical issues in individual therapies. It also touches on the importance of co-leadership in group therapies and the dynamics of the relationship between the leader and the co-leader. This essay also covers in great detail, the reasons why therapists prefer to conduct group therapies over individual therapies and vice versa. Ethics in Group Counseling Ethics – Defined Ethics has various meanings. Many counselors see ethics as a code of conduct or a set of moral values. Some counselors emphasize the legal principles and ramifications of certain behavior during counseling sessions, while others put a high priority on the cultural norms or societal standards brought forth within the counseling practice (Hill, 2004).Code of conduct and set of moral values go hand in hand (Hill, 2004). These are guidelines of the â€Å"do’s and don’ts† in counseling. Just as God has given us guidelines for effective and joyful leading through the ten commandments Exodus 20:1-20 (New International Version) and the examples of Christ in the New Testament, along with the epistles and letters of apostles and disciples like Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, so should the majority of the professional groups or sub-groups such as the counseling industry also have moral codes of conducts, procedures and laws. These behavioral conduct principles are geare d towards counselors for high efficiency and success rates in therapy sessions (Hill, 2004). They help maintain the integrity of the counselor which helps maintain the trust between the therapist and the patient. There are inconsistencies and discrepancies with these moral values or code of conducts (Jennings et al., 2005).Many professionals put precedence over  rules and regulations, just as many Christians can be overly zealous with God’s commands that they miss out in creating and maintaining meaningful relationships. Many counselors can also miss out on the strengths of relationships as they focus on just the foundational moral values they bring into their professions (Jennings et al., 2005) In other words, it is not merely enough to go by the â€Å"codes† in one’s profession. These codes can be too broad. One’s beliefs, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, justice and sound mind should also be a direct and large part in the ethical behavior of a counselor. Each profession, including the counseling profession must create a balance or equi librium for such rules. Legal principles, on the other hand, are governing standards that are defined to create safety nets around the counselor and around the client. Legal principles not only define the boundaries between the client and the counselor, they also define the legal consequences if such boundaries are neglected or abused (Hill, 2004). Legal principles for psychological counseling include the stringent process of handling complaints from clients. As in any law-governing body or group, complaints must be handled efficiently and efficiencies depend on the protocols and guidelines constituted by specific bodies such as the American Psychological Association or the APA. Legal principles also include the issuance and the renewal of counseling or social work licenses. Each state has a governing body that overlooks the issuance and the renewals of licenses, as well as the insurance procedures including liability claims for counseling professionals Cultural norms or societal standards are highly regulated principles set forth by a certain group within a profession. For instance, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs regulate the principles and procedures within the counseling profession. The principles set forth are guidance procedures that keep the professionals professional, and the clients protected. Such accrediting bodies or regulatory agencies also set forth educational and professional backgrounds for counselors to adhere to or live by. In other words, counseling groups require their professionals to attain certain amount of education, training and experience to ensure that their professionals are skilled and prepared to counsel clients from various diversities and cultural and emotional backgrounds (Hill, 2004). The counselor’s competence is a priority. The main  issue, when it comes to competence, is the fact that the counselor has built ample set of skills, through education and experience, in order to effectively, successfully and ethically counsel others relationally (Jennings et al., 2005) After all, psychologists are professionals who use most of their time observing human behavior and experiences and interpreting these into progressive theorie s that can benefit others mentally and emotionally in their physical, social and environmental relationships. The professional must know how to deal with people and this includes listening, suggesting, advising and creating plans for individuals. These plans can highly affect the individuals’ self-esteem and progress. Ethical issues in social work group settings are challenging (Gumpert Black, 2006). It’s far more complex than what the general public knows about. One of the ethical standards is that the group leader must have ample amount of experience in different types of group settings; must have a very extensive perspective; and must be equipped to face the obstacles and complexities that rise more commonly in group settings (Gumpert Black, 2006). Therapists must be able to overcome conflicts and tackle crises (Amato, Blase, Paley, 2000). Therefore, the therapist must be skilled in screening potential group members (Amato et al., 2000, p. 12) Conflicts are inevitable in any group setting because individuals are made up of different personalities, educational and socio-economic backgrounds and mental, physical and emotional capabilities. Ethical issues are important because they help the therapists understand their clients and embrace the diversity at hand. Spiritual background should also be considered because ethical issues also take into consideration the spiritual backgrounds, values and beliefs of the individuals. Ethical Issues Unique to Group Settings Some of the ethical issues in professional group counseling include the highly confidential nature of group sessions and the challenges counselors have in refraining members from communicating with each other outside the group settings. As simple as these guidelines sound, it is difficult for the counselor to ensure these principles. After all human beings are relational beings. (Gumpert Black, 2006). We are all inclined to create relationships as we understand ourselves and each other. These relationships have defined boundaries. In group counseling, one of the most important boundaries to  remember is to refrain from sharing private or confidential information gathered in the group outside the group. Additionally, the demand for confidentiality in the counseling profession is one that can be neglected and can inevitably cause detrimental effects not just for the group but for individual as well (Gumpert Black, 2006). With this confidentiality at hand, the trust issues are at stake and one that should be monitored closely and on a regular basis. The consequences of violating the confidentiality clause in any group therapy must be introduced and must constantly be re-visited on a regular basis. It is that important. Communication with other members of the group also propels another problem in ethics amongst counseling professionals. It creates a breach of contract among the group members (Gumpert Black, 2006). Once this breach of contract is violated, the professionalism and the integrity of the counseling group is in a dangerous and delicate stage and one that can keep the group from progressing and the individual members from succeeding in their therapy goals. One of the ethical issues in group counseling is of control, or the lack thereof. According to Haeseler, group therapists have lesser amount of control over what happens in group counseling sessions compared to individual therapy sessions (Amato, Blase, Paley, 2000). Haesler has conducted both group and individual art therapies. She concluded that although group sessions can encourage member interactions, certain members can affect other members in a negative way (Amato et al., 2000). Not only are human beings relational beings, we are also influential beings. We strive to persuade others as much as we strive to encourage one another. In group therapies, this need to influence others can be too strong that it creates a sense of peer pressure. (Amato et al., 2000) Although not all peer pressures are bad (because we can pressure others into doing what is morally correct) it is one that should be highly monitored in the groups. Every member of the group should be comfortable to freely state their feelings, thoughts and ideas and not be pressured or be influenced by other members to do or say what doesn’t come sincerely from our hearts. (Amato et al., 2000) Choosing Group Therapy over Individual Therapy Group therapies are as important as individual therapies. Many therapists  choose to conduct group therapies because in groups, members tend to feel a sense of equality (Banks, 2005) with other members, as opposed to having one authority (the counselor) and one individual (client or subject). Additionally, some people actually thrive better in groups because they like to share with others and may not feel very comfortable with having to talk to just one person. Group therapies can be the better therapy for people who dislike being by themselves. Group therapies also encourage respect for others (Banks, 2005). Since members are required to actively participate in the group, they are also required to respect other members with their opinions; multi-cultural diversities and various personalities. They are required to allow others to share their experiences with the other members. Members who have learned to adapt to listening to others and learning from them can get better results in their emotional and social levels. Group therapies are also preferred by leaders because of the exhilarating aspect of being more vigilant with members (Banks, 2005) when it comes to conflicts or negative outlooks of certain members. Therefore, group leaders have a stronger sense of keeping things more imaginative and livelier. There is nothing complacent and dull with a group because there are always different dynamics that the leader can face from one moment to the next. Group therapies can keep counselors on their toes, watching out for that dominant talker, or the negative influence in the group. They also try to find more ways for the groups to be more exciting and challenging through different exercises. Interpersonal learning also has a natural way of allowing members to reflect on a topic of issue, based on experiences of other members. Reflections can create thought-provoking questions that invite members to work even harder in probing how they feel or how they see things from another member’s background and experience. Group therapies can create the perfect environment for observation on how we can each impact the lives of others. The members of the group can witness right away the effects of good communication and right attitudes and perceptions in real time within real relationships (Vandenberghe, 2009). There are no hypothetical discussions in group therapies. There are always experiential discussions and narratives in groups. This dynamic is ideal for learning by observation. The more opportunities are given to members for observation and feedback; for sharing and relating, the more progress the group can have as a whole. As the group  progresses as a whole, each individual member can also progress in his or her own level and within his or her own sets of goals. Choosing Individual Therapy Over Group Therapy It is important to look at both sides of therapy. Many therapists prefer group therapies over individual therapies, and vice versa. Therapists who embrace individual therapies believe that group therapies reduce the sense of individualism for the patients (Piper, 2007). In other words, the patient is more likely to be influenced by other members of the group, regarding feedback and participation, rather than be encouraged to be themselves. Sharing is an essential part of therapy and some members are just not adapted to sharing how they feel with others. Therefore, the trust level also diminishes. With one on one therapy, the trust level can be gained in each session, and sometimes almost instantaneously. Many therapists also claim that group therapies are more likely to expose the therapists to personal attacks or criticisms (Piper, 2007). In other words, the observations of other members on how the therapist reacts to another member can create different perceptions of favoritism, in clusion or lack thereof, and can lead other members compelled to attack or even rebuke the therapist. This of course, can take the group therapy to another level which can keep other members from progressing. For many therapists, group therapies are more difficult to plan for or to organize (Piper, 2007). There are more challenges to face. These include the logistics of the group sessions: assembling members as well as generating referrals to keep up or maintain the groups (Piper, 2007). The therapist must be diligent in screening his or potential group members; must take into consideration the different personalities of the members and must highly prioritize the goals set forth in each session. These goals must be aligned to the goals that the members have in joining a group. A mismatch in the goals can create a disaster for all members involved, not to mention misunderstandings and conflicts. Conducting group therapies also requires more training and experience that only a few therapists are equipped with. The therapist must possess leadership and group communications skills and ex perience. Supplemental skills of forming, maintaining and ending a group must also be present, as well as working stage skills such as keeping the focus, creating dyads, and  handling negative members should also be taken into consideration (Jacobs, Masson, Harvill, 2009). This is where co-leadership can come into play. Before conducting groups, counselors must be experienced in co-leadership. The experience can give them better ways of handling conflicts and prepare them in communicating with the members as a whole. Finally, it is always difficult to avoid the subject of â€Å"budget† even in counseling therapies. Many therapists prefer individual therapies because group therapies are still not considered as a common treatment (Piper, 2007) and therefore, many healthcare management systems do not consider them as an essential in the overall well-being of the patient. With the reduction of health care benefits by the health care management companies, the acceptance of group therapy as part of a rigorous treatment plan is still in its minimal level and many group therapy claims are continuously being denied (Piper, 2007). Conclusion Being able to counsel others as a group is a rewarding and fulfilling experience. A good group counselor must be experienced in both group and individual counseling therapies, and must know his or her strengths as well as his or her weaknesses. Most importantly, a good group therapy leader must be well-informed about the ethical practices, issues and limitations of his or her profession. Having an extensive education, well-balanced experience and background, self-awareness and broad knowledge of the ethical issues of group counseling, along with passion to make a difference and good and sound wisdom can help a group therapist succeed and therefore make a tremendous difference in people’s lives. References Amato, L., Blase, C., Paley, S. (2000). Ethics. American Journal of Art Therapy, 39, 12. Banks, R. (2005). Solution-Focused Group Therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 16, 17-21. Freeman, S. J., Engels, D. W., Altekruse, M. (2004). Foundations for Ethical Standards and Codes: The Role of Moral Philosophy and Theory in Ethics. Counseling Values, 48, 163-173. Gumpert, J., Black, P. N. (2006). Ethical Issues in Group Work: What are They? How Are They Managed?. Social Work with Groups, 29, 61-74. Hill, A. L. (2004). Ethical Analysis in Counseling: A Case for Narrative Ethics, Moral Visions and Virtue Ethics. Counseling Values, 48, 131-148. Jacobs, E. E., Masson, R. L., Harvill, R. L. (2009). Group Counseling Strategies and Skills (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Jennings, L., Sovereign, A., Bottorff, N., Mussell, N., Pederson, M., Vye, C. (2005). Nine Ethical Values of Master Therapists. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 27, 32-47. Luke, M., Hackney, H. (2007). Group Coleadership: A Critical Review. Counselor Education Supervision, 46, 280-293. Piper, W. E. (2007). Underutilization of Short-term Group Therapy: Enigmatic or Understandable?. Psychotherapy Research, 18, 127-138. Urofsky, R. I., Engels, D. W. (2003). Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, and Counseling Ethics: Not an Abstraction. Counseling Values, 47, 118. Vandenberghe, L. (2009). A Functional Analytic approach to Group Psychotherapy. Behavioral Analyst Today, 10, 71-82.