Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Philosophy - Essay Example The film depicts the class difference in the society where the powerful manipulate the less fortunate for social and economic gains. The three categories describe human nature which Plato asserts consists of the appetite, the spirit, and the reason. The most skeptical members of the society are those who govern the rest. As portrayed in the film, they seek to manipulate their kind for the economic gains, which contravenes the dictates of ideal coexistence in the society. To achieve this, they seek mechanisms to manipulate others. The film depicts those who develop computer programs that compel the rest of the human population to be at their mercy. The programs have the ability to manipulate everyone, yet the inventors do not employ that on themselves but on others that they deem secondary (Plato, Ferrari, and Griffith 34). However, Plato and Desecrates concur that everyone possesses a quality of opposition especially on issues that they do not concur in. This is what led to the liber alization of most contemporary democracies. Regardless of their positions in the society, humans will always oppose any idea that seeks to subordinate their existence. Additionally, in his description of the state, Plato observes that the workers are always the majority in any society. They may not always have much wealth or capital, but their large number is their greatest power. The ruling class consists of a select few who often, as per the dictates of democracies, promise to protect the interest of the rest of the population. When united in an opposition, the workers topple states and governments. The film depicts this and uses the zeal to oppose oppressive regimes to develop an effective conflict... This paper approves that Plato and Desecrates concur that everyone possesses a quality of opposition especially on issues that they do not concur in. This is what led to the liberalization of most contemporary democracies. Regardless of their positions in the society, humans will always oppose any idea that seeks to subordinate their existence. Additionally, in his description of the state, Plato observes that the workers are always the majority in any society. They may not always have much wealth or capital, but their large number is their greatest power. The ruling class consists of a select few who often, as per the dictates of democracies, promise to protect the interest of the rest of the population. The film depicts this and uses the zeal to oppose oppressive regimes to develop an effective conflict that sustains the story. This paper makes a conclusion that Descartes explains the origin of science which the film also exhibits. He emphasizes the use of reason to develop science; the developers of the film employ extensive reasoning to help stretch the limits of science. Descartes asserts that philosophy is like a tree with metaphysics as the roots and physics as the trunk. All other branches of science such as physics, medicine, and ethics thus stem out of the trunk. In this assertion, Descartes explains that ethics should always govern human curiosity and result in the determination of ethical knowledge. The lack of ethics in any of such endeavors is likely to meet resistance from the disadvantaged just as the film depicts.

Anti Death Penalty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anti Death Penalty - Research Paper Example All states in United States of America have been granted freedom to choose whether to apply death penalty or not. In 1999, ninety-eight people were executed and about three thousand five hundred and sixty-five prisoners were on the death row in 2000. Death penalty is perceived differently by different members of the society. To some, capital punishment provides ultimate solution to reduce or eradicate the vice while to others, it is brutal and a disgrace to a civilized society. To understand the magnitude of death penalty, it is important to know the views of both the opponents and proponents of death penalty as a punishment to capital offenders. First, supporters of death penalty argue that capital punishment is a sure way of eliminating worst criminals and making the society safe. This is because when capital offenders are removed from the face of the earth through a judicial process, they are stopped from committing further worst crimes. Worst criminals must be executed because they may commit the same worst crimes if released back to the society or escape from prisons walls. Furthermore, they may commit worst crimes in the prisons that host them. Therefore, terminating their existence through the judicial process is considered appropriate. Secondly, death penalty is considered retribution. The families and friends of victims of murder or rape may feel that justice has been delivered by executing the perpetrators that caused death or anguish to their loved ones. The perpetrators deserve death because it is a punishment proportional to committed offenses. Thirdly, death penalty acts as a strong deterrent to potentially wor st criminals. This is true especially where execution is carried regularly and immediately. In Britain and United States of America, the rate of worst crimes such as murders reduced significantly when the death penalty was in force and regularly

The Beat Generation and the Sixties Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Beat Generation and the Sixties - Essay Example They were a postwar generation, and the war had made them weary and long to escape. They turned to inner examination in the form of literature, to drugs and in some cases to crime. It was this emotion and the desire to escape from the bounds of life and society that paved the way for the cultural revolution of the 1960s. The 1960s were a decade of social and cultural change, commonly known for indulgence and excess, as well as the disregard for many of social norms of the time. Two different impulses drove the youth of the sixties, the spiritual and the desire for revolution. Both of these impulses can be tied back to the Beat Generation. The term Beat was first used by writer Herbert Huncke who picked it up in Chicago. In that context, beat was used to describe the condition of travelers who had been travelling for a long time. However, it was the phrase â€Å"I guess you might say we’re a Beat Generation† made by Jack Kerouac and quoted by writer John Holmes that make the term popular . Members of the Beat Generation were far from the stereotypical American, and as such, they challenged the perceptions of those around them. They were considered to be interested in the extremes of life, too independent and intent to be taken seriously by their elders or society around them . Television and magazines depicted the Beats as rebels , and to many extents they were. Although there was no universal politic for the Beat Generation, it could generally be considered a worn down culture, rubbed raw from repeated use and abuse and tired of the rigidly of society around them. Many used drugs as a means of escaping the confines of society and those that broke laws showed little to no guilt about doing so . The Beat Generation had either fought or witnessed the Second World War, and years of fighting, hardship and loss had led to many angry at the cost of victory and tired of the violence of war . These two factors combined in the sixties to produce a generatio n that saw war as a waste of lives and was tired of the oppressive nature of government. The Vietnam War had been in operation since 1955 however, it was early in the sixties that the war became especially prevalent. In addition, the Bay of Pigs, a failed attempt at overthrowing the Cuban government occurred in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in 1962. All of these events considerably grew the antiwar sentiment among the population resulting in a change from the non active Beat Generation, that did not get politically involved, to the anti-war protests of the hippie era. The same can be seen in regards to the environment. The desire to defend the environment was prominent among many members of the Beat Generation, yet other members of the generation had no interest in it . In addition, some of those interested in environmental conservation did not wish to identify with the Beat Generation label. This desire to protect the environment grew from the Beat Generation, inspirin g a save the environment movement within the sixties. Thus, while both the Beat Generation and those from the sixties had many of the same values, these grew from a more theoretical base within the Beats to something that was applied actively through protests and movements. The American Dream, prosperity and security appeared readily available in the 1950s, but not so for the Beat

Does Silver Alloy Coated Foley Catheters Reduce Urinary Catheter Research Paper

Does Silver Alloy Coated Foley Catheters Reduce Urinary Catheter Infections - Research Paper Example The use of catheters causes one of the most common health associated infections and is known as CAUTI or Catheters Associated Urinary Tract Infections. As CAUTI can deteriorate into a serious condition, preventive steps have to be taken to minimize it in the hospital environment as well as in other settings. One of the steps that are being carried out is the use of Foley catheters coated with silver alloy. These catheters, when used as part of indwelling catheterization, are said to reduce CAUTI sizably. Although other studies show that it provides only negligible positive results. So, this paper after analyzing six journal articles, its purpose, its results, strengths and weaknesses, will discuss whether silver alloy coated Foley catheters reduces UTI. The article, Audit of catheter-associated UTI using silver alloy-coated Foley catheters written by Coral Seymour discusses the advantages of using the silver alloy-coated Foley catheter in reducing the threat of CAUTI in an acute gene ral hospital. As part of the study, even before the use of silver alloy coated Foley catheters, the standard catheters were used for 10 weeks on particular patients and the prevalence of CAUTI was audited. Silver alloy-coated Foley catheters there were introduced among 117 newly catheterized patients, and they were monitored for signs of CAUTI for another 10 weeks. Then the results were audited and analyzed, and it clearly emerged that CAUTI incidence rate has decreased by 20%. Although, the period of 10 weeks for monitoring may seem little short to fully analyze the course of UTI, the fact that emerged is â€Å"silver alloy-coated Foley catheters proved to be cost-effective given the recognized additional costs of CAUTI and prolonged in-patient stay† (Seymour, 2006). The article, A prospective, controlled, randomized study of the effect of a slow-release silver device on the frequency of urinary tract infection in newly catheterized patients was authored by Reiche et al., an d it focuses on the efficacy of silver ions releasing systems including silver alloy coated Foley catheters regarding CAUTI. The study focused on 213 patients as part of a prospective controlled randomized trial. At the end of the trial, the authors state that there were reductions in UTI among subjects, who either used antibacterial devices like the Unometer 400 metering system or PP 2000N closed urine-bag system, as well as coated Foley catheter. However, the limitation with this study is, the difference between infection and non-infection in the subjects were not statistically significant (P < 0.05). In addition, the authors come to the conclusion that modifications to the Foley catheters and the urine-collecting systems in the form of silver coating and silver releasing may yield positive results, care should be taken to block the internal and external pathways of infection. In the article, The efficacy of silver alloy-coated urinary catheters in preventing urinary tract infecti on: a meta-analysis written by Sanjay Saint et al. discusses about the effectiveness of not only silver alloy coated Foley catheters, but also silver oxide coated ones as well. Instead of conducting trials directly, â€Å"published or unpublished articles were sought using MEDLINE, reference review, and correspondence with original authors, catheter manufacturers,

Girl by Jamacia Kincaid Essay Example for Free

Girl by Jamacia Kincaid Essay I read Girl first and I felt that the mother as a nagging soul who was hard on her daughter. I thought that the advice that she gave her was useful in her culture, yet she just gave her so much information at once. I believed that the mother was pushing her daughter toward becoming a bad person because she kept repeating that she knew her daughter would become a slut. People will live up to the standards that are expected of them, and I worried that the character would finally become a slut since her mother felt she would become one. However, when I listened to the monologue, I was shocked. I realized that it was humorous and tongue in cheek. It was a much better piece when I heard it read aloud. B. The mother is wanting to make sure that her daughter is well prepared for life, and she is convinced that the daughter will not figure out what to do in life if she does not tell her time and time again. This allows the mother the sense of being important to her daughter. The daughter is typical of young people in that she is only half listening. She is thinking â€Å"Here we go again. † I feel that she sees her mother as a nagging person even though she loves her. References Kincaid, J. Girl. Turkshead Review. Retrieved October 2, 2008 from http://wwwlturksheadreview. com/library/texts/kincaid-girl. html.

The Relation of Narratives and Video Games Essay Example for Free

The Relation of Narratives and Video Games Essay Video games are a relatively new form of entertainment; the first video game is considered to be Tennis for Two (1958), around fifty years ago, while film has been around for over one-hundred years, the printing press for over five-hundred, and storytelling for thousands of years before that. Because of its newness, video games are a developing medium, their conventions and potential have not been explored as fully in comparison with film and literature. Computers as a technology allow us to overcome more complex tasks and obtain and utilize information more quickly than previous technologies. Often there can be the tendency to describe the new medium as radically different from the old, solely based on its technology. However, it is not necessarily the case. Video games do have new capabilities that separate them from previous storytelling media and it is these new characteristics of video games that separate them from film and literature, creating an environment of storytelling where the traditional narrative structure does not directly apply. Using narrative media as examples a lot can be discovered about video games, however, one must remember what makes them games. See more: how to start a narrative essay Looking at video games as a continuation of games in general rather than an extension of film, they hold a history dating as far back as the ancient Egyptian game of Senet (discovered in the 2686 BC tomb of Hesy-re) (Juul, Half-Real 3-4). It is these game components that must be understood before looking at games from different perspectives. Jesper Juul drew from theorists before him to present what he denotes the classic game model. Juul defines that a game is: 1. a rule-based formal system; 2. with variable and quantifiable outcomes; 3. where different outcomes are assigned different values; 4. where the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome; 5. the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome; 6. and the consequences of the activity are optional and negotiable (Half-Real 6-7). This model is only a barebones description of what games are and does not outline the variety of games, or what makes games enjoyable. This model is also transmedial, meaning that games are not tied to any medium, just as storytelling is not tied to any medium—there is no ideal game medium and there is no physical component common to all games, but there exists the â€Å"immaterial† component of rules that is common to all games. Rules are the base component of games. They govern how the game is played and they should be designed in a way to make it clear what is and is not allowed in playing the game. Games therefore resemble a state machine, a term used in computer science to describe a machine that consists of an initial state, accepts a number of input events, that changes the state responding to the inputs using a state transition function (in the case of this example, the game rules) and then produces outputs using an output function. Visualizing a game as such, the activity of playing a game produces a game tree that can be seen as branching off at each decision and input. Playing a game is interacting with this state machine and exploring this game tree (Juul, Half-Real 55-56). Rules, however, are seen everywhere in the world, and it is not solely the existence of rules that makes a game. The second item of the classic game model—that games must have variable and quantifiable outcomes—is a salient feature of the game. If a game exists in such a way that no matter how the player interacts with it, it always produces the exact same result, it is not a game. The variable outcomes must also have different values, with some being more desirable to attain than others. In the video game Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo 1985) the outcome of losing all of the game lives is less desirable than defeating the last stage. A player must also exert effort to influence the outcome, generally in a manner that requires more effort to realize a more desirable outcome. It is not merely enough that the player interacts with the game, they must also have a sense of agency. Agency is not simply interaction, but interaction where the player has influence (Murray 126). This separates games of pure chance and gambling as borderline cases. In a game where the player rolls a die and the result of rolling a six is considered victory, the player only exerts trivial effort to roll the die, and exhibits no agency. The player of a game must also feel emotionally attached to the outcome—if the player loses all of their lives in Super Mario Bros. , the player has achieved a negative outcome, and agrees to feel sad, while if they defeat the last stage, they have achieved a positive outcome and agree to feel happy. If the player is not emotionally attached to the outcome, they would not exert the effort to play. The sixth item of the classic game model separates games from the real world—game theorists Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman call this subset of the real world a magic circle (95). Games are a part of the world that they exist in, but the rules carve out a world separated from the real world. It is here where the consequences of outcomes are optional and negotiable—games are a voluntary activity where players can decide the consequences of the game. Soccer, as an example, is a game where in some cases players decide the consequences are simply the glory of victory, but other players, decide that the consequences are career-changing (in the case of professional soccer players). On the other hand, the rules for a political election are game-like and could be played as a game, but an actual election has decided, non-negotiable consequences and therefore is not a game. In the same manner, it could be argued that professional soccer is not a game, but soccer itself is still considered a game as it is known that soccer is played recreationally and its consequences are negotiable. The classic game model outlines games as a voluntary activity that evaluates a players performance—based on a players effort and skill in interacting with the game rules, a variable outcome with an attached value is reached, to which the player is emotionally attached. However, with the advent of the video game (as well as the pen-and-paper role-playing game), the classic game model is not all there is to games anymore. It is still a valuable definition, but the addition of the computer to games modifies the standard game definition. When it comes to rules, the computer is able to handle far more complex processes than a human, allowing for games where the player is free from enforcing the rules of the game, instead having the computer run as a referee of sort. This referee capability can operate anywhere from playing tic-tac-toe to simulating entire fictional worlds. The ability of the computer to run as a referee also allows for rules and calculations to be kept secret from the player. This ability to manage a large amount of information, as well as the ability to run it in secret allows for the computer to manage whole fictional worlds spawning a new type of game, the progression game. This now means there exists two types of games (elements of which can be combined): emergence games and progression games. Most games that have existed before video games are emergence games—games where a large variety of game variations and outcomes come from a small set of rules. Chess, soccer and Pong (Atari 1972) are examples of the emergence game. Progression games require the player to actualize a predefined sequence of events in order to beat the game. The progression game came about with the adventure game and early examples include The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo 1986) and Final Fantasy (Square 1987). Now that video games can have this progression capability and the ability to easily run fictional environments, they have expanded to include storytelling components. The study of video games, therefore, delves into not just the study of rules and interaction, but also the study of narrative as well. Narratives operate fundamentally differently than games and one cannot use the same methods of study for both. Therefore, when comparing games and narratives, just as one must understand games, the basics of narrative in comparison to games must be understood as well. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a narrative as a spoken or written account of connected events; a story. There are three traditional components of the narrative: setting, character and events (plot)—a narrative consists of a world situated in time, populated by characters that participate in action. The world is independent of the question of fictionality, as narratives can be of real as well as fictional events. They can also be split into two levels, the discourse (the telling of the story) and the story itself. Each of these levels has its own time, discourse time and story time, respectively. The story time is the time it took for the actual events to occur, and the discourse time is the time it takes for the retelling (Juul, â€Å"Games Telling Stories†). A week may pass in a story with no event, and thus the narrative could write it off in one sentence, while an action scene that lasted merely a few seconds could take much longer to explain. This means that even though the narrative may be observing events at a time, there exists an understanding that the events are not actually occurring at the moment of reading (Juul, â€Å"Games Telling Stories†). Narratives are not limited to the novel or storytelling, and can recognizably be translated between different narrative media—The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R Tolkien is recognizable as the movie of the same name. However, not everything can be transferred equally as well. For example, film is better at conveying action and movement, while the novel is better suited to producing inner thoughts. With games and narratives understood, examining the two side-by-side displays several differences. The most apparent of these is the difference in timing. The narrative has two levels, discourse and story, but when examining games in the same manner it is near impossible to distinguish between the two. In playing Super Mario Bros., when the player presses the A button on their controller, the in-game character jumps, thus synchronizing story and discourse time. It is imperative of the narrative that this separation in time exists. Not only does jumping in Super Mario Bros. place discourse and story time together, it also influences the game world. The understanding, in experiencing a narrative, that the time of the discourse is separate from the time of the events means that in some manner the events have already occurred (even if the setting is in some supposed future)—the events are unable to be influenced. The very agency that the player exercises in playing a game contradicts the idea of narrativity; it is impossible to influence an event that has already occurred (Juul, â€Å"Games Telling Stories†). Because of this contradiction, games themselves cannot be narratives, but this does not limit them from employing and producing them. The very activity of playing a game can produce a narrative, the player can tell a story of their experience in the game. Just as well, games can have stories told through them (especially progression games) as many games contain back-stories and quests that offer the player narratives alongside their play. Video games have two parts: rules (discussed earlier) and fiction. For a number of years, the arcade game was all that existed and they contained both rules and fiction, but the two were loosely connected. This led some to conclude that a games fiction is easily removable and replaceable, thus making it unimportant in relation to the rules. Juul had previously taken the stance that rules are what make a game a game, fiction is unnecessary for a game, a game with an excellent fiction can still be a terrible game, therefore fiction is unimportant in games (Half-Real 13). When looking at simple games such as Space Invaders (Taito 1978), one could remove the theme of an alien invasion and portray an advancing German front; the players spaceship could become a Russian tank. If the rules were kept the same, the player would experience no real difference between playing either, but the same sort of procedure would not perform the same if it were attempted on a progression game such as Myst (Broderbund 1993) because the game experience relies more heavily on the fiction. Juul stated that, There are, of course, many relationships between theme and structure in a game. Whether or not any of those relationships are essential, they are complex and vital enough to resist my attempt to lightly shuffle them around (Half-Real 15). If the fiction of a game is tied to its experience, what role does it play in the game and its rules? In some cases the fiction may point to the rules, as well as the other way around; in other cases the fiction serves the rules in an incoherent manner, subservient to gameplay. When it comes to the fiction component of games, one main difference from narrative media is that they do not require anthropomorphic actors/characters in order to be entertaining (Juul, Half-Real 160-161). While films and other stories are largely about humans or anthropomorphic characters that a viewer/reader identifies with on a cognitive level, games such as Tetris (Pazhitnov 1985), Pong and Missile Command (Atari 1980) exist without such. This lack of a visible actor does not make Tetris any less of a game, and makes the idea of a movie based on Tetris an unlikelihood, but it shows how games can accomplish something different, and almost completely separate, than traditional narrative media. Another main difference is the progression of time in games. Previously the difference with discourse and story time was explored, but the chronological appearance of time also varies between games and narratives. Due to the fixed, predetermined nature of a narrative the telling can jump around to various points in the story time either in flash-forwards or flash-backs. To do the same in a game becomes problematic, for predetermination precludes agency. If the player is put back in time (in the past), they are put in a situation where they must actualize a series of events that allows the game in the present to exist, thus limiting the player. The same goes for flash-forwards where the player is put in a position of what is to happen, limiting their play upon return to the present. However, even though games are not narratives, games are no longer strictly abstract. They often contain fictional components as well, leading to new types of games. Besides just viewing games as emergent and progressive, there exists five categories of games: abstract, iconic, incoherent world, coherent world and staged. Abstract games are games that does not, nor do its pieces, represent something else. The game of Go is a game that is merely rules and although there exist conventions for the size and appearance of the various game pieces, they do not mean anything. Tetris is a well known abstract video game. Iconic games are quite similar abstract games, but their individual pieces simply have iconic meaning. In a standard deck of cards there is a king, queen and jack of each of the four suits, but there is no clear explanation of their relation to the other kings, queens and jacks of the other suits. Incoherent world games are games that have a fictional world, but it either contains contradictions or events in the gameplay that cannot be explained by the fictional world. In Super Mario Bros. , Mario has multiple lives, but there exists nothing in the fiction that explains it, it only serves the rules. Chess represents two parties at war, but to explain the movement of the units one must refer to the rules as it is not apparent in the fiction. Coherent world games are games that have a fictional world that contain nothing that prevents the player from imagining them in full. Most adventure games such as the recent The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks 2012) are coherent world games. Staged games are a special type of abstract or representational game that are played inside of a larger, more elaborate world. Mario Party (Nintendo 1998) contains an overarching fictional world and game, but is largely made up of individual staged games. Another instance of the staged game is in Shenmue (Sega 1999) where the protagonist can play on in-game arcade machines. Each of these categories of games has its own place in the world of video games and it is important to be aware of the varieties that exist. Of these varieties though, there is the coherent world—the progression game. In this type of game the player must perform a predefined set of actions in a coherent world setting. This kind of game sounds very similar to the narrative, but still has variable outcomes, player effort and other game components. One example of this kind of game is The Walking Dead (Telltale Games 2012). The Walking Dead is set in Georgia during a fictional zombie apocalypse. The player plays as Lee Everett, a professor convicted of killing a man he found sleeping with his wife. Due to the zombie uprising he does not end up in prison, instead ends up caring for a little girl by the name of Clementine. The gameplay mainly revolves around conversations that the player has with other characters and occasionally the player is put in a position where they must make a critical decision. At the end of each â€Å"chapter,† the game reports out on the player’s decisions as well as the percentage of other players that either disagreed or agreed with them. It is through this method that the player is able to reflect on the cause and effect of their decisions. This sort of environment demonstrates that games are a playground where the player may experiment with things they would or could not do in a real-life setting (Juul, Half-Real 193). It is this phenomenon of player-made decisions and the reflection of them that traditional narratives cannot accomplish. In conclusion, games are made up of six components that make up the classic game model: they are rule-based systems with variable outcomes that have different assigned values, the player exerts effort in order to influence the outcome, the player feels emotionally attached to the outcome, and the consequences of the game are optional and negotiable. With the advent of the computer, there are new capabilities available to games. There are now two main types of games, emergent and progression games, with a spectrum of combinations between them. Emergent games are made up of a set of rules that combine to produce a large set of outcomes. Progression games require the player to perform a specific set of actions in order to complete the game. With this progression capability, it is important to compare video games and narratives. A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events. Narratives have two levels, story and discourse, each of these with their own time. Games often do not have distinction between their story and discourse time (as the events are occurring in real time), and thus are not narratives. Games, although not narratives themselves, allow for players to produce narratives through playing them; players may recount their experiences in a game. Games may not themselves be stories, but that does not mean that they do not employ them or that player’s cannot tell stories about their experiences in a game. Games offer a different experience than the narrative media before it; the player gets to experience something rather than view it and has an influence in the environment. The player of a game also gets to experiment with ideas in a sort of playground and reflect on their decisions and the effects they have. That does not, however, imply that the medium is necessarily a superior or inferior one. Films, novels and other narrative media can provide experience that games cannot, just as games provide experiences that traditional narrative media cannot. Looking forward, one can only imagine what games can accomplish in the field of entertainment that was not possible before. Works Cited Aarseth, Espen J. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1997. Print. Ebert, Roger. Video Games Can Never Be Art. RogerEbert. com. Ebert Digital LLC, 16 Apr. 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. â€Å"Game Studies. † Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. Game The News: The Project That Birthed a Syrian Civil War Game That’s Been Pulled from the App Store. Edge Online. Future Publishing Limited, 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. Juul, Jesper. â€Å"A Clash between Game and Narrative. † Thesis. University of Copenhagen, 1999. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"Games Telling Stories? A Brief Note on Games and Narratives. † Game Studies1. 1 (2001): n. pag. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. . Half-Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds. Cambridge: MIT, 2011. Print. Jenkins, Henry. Game Design as Narrative Architecture. Henry Jenkins. MIT, n. d. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: MIT, 1997. Print. Narrative. Def. 1. Oxford Dictionaries, Oxford University, n. d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. Ryan, Marie-Laure. â€Å"Beyond Myth and Metaphor: The Case of Narrative in Digital Media. † Game Studies 1. 1 (2001): n. pag. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. Salen, Katie, and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2003. Print.

Information Systems In Banking Industry

Information Systems In Banking Industry INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BANKING INDUSTRY Executive Summary: Information systems are extremely vital for the growth and survival of business organizations in todays world. All sectors of the industry are entirely dependent on these for the management of important information and data. Small organizations to large, powerful businesses such as high street banks and central and local government are taking the help of information systems to regulate their data. In this paper, we will discuss the various advantages of the use of information systems in the banking industry. We will thoroughly analyze the requirements of information systems at the various different levels and review the security needs for these purposes. Use and Benefits of Information Systems in the Banking Industry: The advent of computers has given rise to information systems being used as a business tool on a large scale. Computers and more specifically information systems are being used on a large scale by almost all businesses. The application of the capabilities of Information systems and technologies brings out improvement in business processes (Davenport and Short, 1990). One of the major sectors to reap the benefits of computers and information systems is the banks. The nature of the banking industry along with other financial industries involves information and trust. Being in the service industry, banks are in the most need of information. Technologies like cloud computing and other internet based information storage systems have allowed banks to deliver state of the art customer services to its customers while maintain the market competitiveness required for gaining business. The following paper analyzes the information needs of the banks at various departmental levels and compares th e security levels used by banks with those in other sectors. At the end of the paper, one should be able to understand the most commonly used technologies in banks, the security measures currently used in banks and whether or not there is scope for further improvement. Information Needs in Banks: The need of information was first realized in the banking industry. Being in the service sector, banks needed to store information to better their services and gain a competitive edge over their competitors. Basic services include the book keeping records of the customers while the luxurious ones include the facility of an IVR (Interactive Voice Recording) through which customers can get answers to their F.A.Qs. However, developing an information system needs huge investments, responsibility of non-leakage of information (robustness of the system), and various other security measures. Banks therefore need information at every stage possible. The benefits of information are many. Today, decision making systems are also used by banks for purposes of marketing newer loan schemes. Typically, banks might need information at the following levels. Basic or Level 1: This is the most basic level. Information at this level might be used purely for administrative purposes. Tasks include book keeping, account handling of customers etc. The revolution of internet banking has made the basic level much more attractive to customers than it used to be. Moreover the concept of phone banking through IVRs has further proved to be a major technological step towards the progress of banks and IT systems. Advanced or Level 2: At this level, information is crucial and is used at the managerial level. Managers use certain information like stock listings, annual general meetings etc in databases that is to be kept secure. This information is supposed to be secret and cannot be distributed without consent and proper authoritative power. Information at this level is hardly for customer use. However, in cases of fraud and cheating, banks can use this as a safety measure to ensure their reputation does not lose. Evaluation of Information Systems: Majority of the banks in the western countries and more recently in Asian countries to use the advent of information systems to bolster their business. Decision making tools, account management systems, and internet based systems are widely used by banks to lure customers in the quest to attract them. Since the sector they operate is the service sector, banks need to realize that they can ill afford to let their customer service affect due to the technological advances. To evaluate the information systems used by banks, one needs to realize the general nature of information systems used by banks currently. Nature of Information systems currently used by banks: A variety of information systems are being used by banks. Currently, most banks operate with multiple legacy systems that operate on a single mainframe computer (Lenard ML, Ferran C 1997). With times, this basic concept has not changed much. The concept of object oriented programming has given rise to the use of multiple servers thereby reducing the load on a single PC. Moreover, the internet has evolved as a complete source of secure technology that acts as a useful resource to the banks. The advent of internet based systems (popularly known as web based systems) has allowed banks to be more precise and keep a hassle free record system. However, the internet based systems have led to many security issues. The next section describes them. Security: The main problem of internet based applications is the level of security provided. There have been a number of cases with the most famous ones being the ATM card duplication and credit card faults have all arisen due to information system vulnerability. Therefore, banks need to provide a level of security that cannot be breached. It is tough to say that the system is â€Å"foolproof† since programming involves coding and decoding. Therefore what can be coded can also be decoded. However, many security measures have been taken by bank authorities in accordance with the IT professionals to allow smooth hassle free banking through the use of computers and information systems. Some of the common security features include the secure server technology (SSL technology), Enforcement of laws like the Data protection act enables for more careful banking by the banks. The law enables anyone the use the information provided over the internet with due care and only with the consent of the provider of that information. This law has worked wonders in that it has made the owners of websites more responsible to such mishaps. Information flooded over the internet can only be used for purposes said and described prior to collection of it. Law thus acts as one of the barriers to those who want to breach it. Apart from law, security levels include password remembrance systems, additional information provision and providing passwords to specific phone numbers only. By doing this, the internet has taken help of other acquisitions of humans into consideration. The logic is that a human cannot lose all at a time and hence is a good measure to reduce the security threats. Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is the term given to applications which operate over the web and are accessible to everyone who has an access to the internet. Intranet, knowledge based systems and websites are all examples of cloud computing. Cloud computing takes help of a third party service provider to rent the applications. With cloud computing, users need to have little expertise over the computer and its working. This calls for major security threats since it can be accessible by anyone who has access to a computer. Computer literacy is also little required. However, for our chosen organization cloud computing is not suitable. Although in other service sectors, cloud computing has worked wonders to attract customer base, banks cannot afford to use such systems. In fact, banks can operate with secure systems and yet gain an advantage by stating their expertise and care they take for their customers. To conclude, the use and benefits of information systems in banks are many. Along with these come many challenges which the banks need to take care of. However, with the wonderful invention, banks have certainly been revolutionized. References: C. Ferran and M.L Lenard, â€Å"An Object Oriented Approach to Banking Information Systems†, 1997, pp. 1-7. D.E. Avison and V. Taylor, â€Å"Information systems development methodologies: a classification according to problem situation†, Journal of Information technology, 1997, pp. 73-81. T.H. Davenport and J.E. Short, â€Å"Information technology and business process design†, Operations Management, 1990, Vol.3, pp.11-27.