Multiple paragraphs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Multiple paragraphs - Essay Example I expect my art to inspire my audience to be able to make change just as I did, and to fulfill their dream of what they are passionate about. Again, there is neither right nor wrong in making a hobby into a job, nor making a passion into reality and so they need to be their own judge, and take charge for their own life. Bill does not think his art is great, but he likes how he actually uses bold colors, flashy accessories and trends in the making of his art. Although he sees some technical issues, his art always puts people in light because he seeks the beauty that people wear on the street and finds it. His art changed him, for example, he started to find beauty in his own interactions with people, better than before and will tend to look in his eyes like a genuine human being. He became engaged in life that is because his natural enthusiasm and joy that he cannot help to uplift everyone. Cunningham’s art would influence other people’s lives, because he tends to know much about people without judging them in his art and tends to bring the beauty in them. His art has an underlying message which is â€Å"no matter how you do or look like you will find the beauty within you and you will have a light that will shine on you, so don’t let people judge you, judge yourself

Japanese Gardens Essay -- Essays Papers

Japanese Gardens The role of gardens play a much more important role in Japan than here in the United States. This is due primarily to the fact the Japanese garden embodies native values, cultural beliefs and religious principles. Perhaps this is why there is no one prototype for the Japanese garden, just as there is no one native philosophy or aesthetic. In this way, similar to other forms of Japanese art, landscape design is constantly evolving due to exposure to outside influences, mainly Chinese, that effect not only changing aesthetic tastes but also the values of patrons. In observing a Japanese garden, it is important to remember that the line between the garden and the landscape that surrounds it is not separate. Instead, the two are forever merged, serving as the total embodiment of the one another. Every aspect of the landscape is in itself a garden. Also when observing the garden, the visitor is not supposed to distinguish the garden from its architecture. Gardens in Japan incorpo rate both natural and artificial elements, therefor uniting nature and architecture into one entity. Japanese gardens also express the ultimate connection between humankind and nature, for these gardens are not only decorative, but are a clear expression of Japanese culture. Although this extremely close connection of the individual with nature, the basic principle of Japanese gardens, has remained the constant throughout its history, the ways in which this principle has come to be expressed has undergone many great changes. Perhaps the most notable occurred in the very distinct periods in Japanese history that popularized unique forms of garden style—Heian (781-1185), and the Kamakura (1186-1393). Resulting from these two golden ages of Japanese history came the stroll garden from the former period and the Zen garden from the later. As we shall see, the composition of these gardens where remarkably effected by the norms of architecture and the ideals of popular religion in these eras. Therefor, in understanding each garden style in its context, it essential to also take into account the social, historical, and theological elements as well as the main stylist differences. Japanese aristocrats from at least mid-eighth century customarily had gardens near their homes. During the Heian period a somewhat standard type of garden evolved in accordance... ... these differences in presentation, design, and the relationships between the garden, viewer, and the architecture, the general goal of both garden types are inherently the same. In the Japanese tradition, these gardens are meant to function as aids in understanding in one form or another. In addition, both demonstrate the emphasis on the relationship between humankind and nature—perhaps one of the most important elements of Japanese art and architecture. Bibliography: A.K. Davision, The Art of the Zen Gardens. Boston: Houghtom Mifflin, 1983. Bring, Mitchell, and Wayembergh, Josse. Japanese Gardens—Design and Meaning. McGraw-Hill series in Landscape and Landscape Architecture. McGraw-Hill, 1981. Hayakawa, Masao. The Garden Art of Japan. Trans. Richard Gage. Weatherhill.Heibonsha, 1973. Ito, Teiji. The Japanese Garden—An Approach to Nature. Trans. By Donald Richie. Yale University Press, 1972. Kincaid, Mrs. Paul, Japanese Garden and Floral Art. New York: Hearthside Press Inc., 1966. Kucke, Loraine. The Art of Japanese Gardens. New York: The John Day Company, 1940. Yoshida, Tetsuro, Gardens of Japan. New York: Fredrick A. Praeger, 1957.

Digital Fortress Chapter 15

Susan Fletcher sat at her computer terminal inside Node 3. Node 3 was the cryptographers' private, soundproofed chamber just off the main floor. A two-inch sheet of curved one-way glass gave the cryptographers a panorama of the Crypto floor while prohibiting anyone else from seeing inside. At the back of the expansive Node 3 chamber, twelve terminals sat in a perfect circle. The annular arrangement was intended to encourage intellectual exchange between cryptographers, to remind them they were part of a larger team-something like a code-breaker's Knights of the Round Table. Ironically, secrets were frowned on inside Node 3. Nicknamed the Playpen, Node 3 had none of the sterile feel of the rest of Crypto. It was designed to feel like home-plush carpets, high-tech sound system, fully stocked fridge, kitchenette, a Nerf basketball hoop. The NSA had a philosophy about Crypto: Don't drop a couple billion bucks into a code-breaking computer without enticing the best of the best to stick around and use it. Susan slipped out of her Salvatore Ferragamo flats and dug her stockinged toes into the thick pile carpet. Well-paid government employees were encouraged to refrain from lavish displays of personal wealth. It was usually no problem for Susan-she was perfectly happy with her modest duplex, Volvo sedan, and conservative wardrobe. But shoes were another matter. Even when Susan was in college, she'd budgeted for the best. You can't jump for the stars if your feet hurt, her aunt had once told her. And when you get where you're going, you darn well better look great! Susan allowed herself a luxurious stretch and then settled down to business. She pulled up her tracer and prepared to configure it. She glanced at the E-mail address Strathmore had given her. [email protected] The man calling himself North Dakota had an anonymous account, but Susan knew it would not remain anonymous for long. The tracer would pass through ARA, get forwarded to North Dakota, and then send information back containing the man's real Internet address. If all went well, it would locate North Dakota soon, and Strathmore could confiscate the pass-key. That would leave only David. When he found Tankado's copy, both pass-keys could be destroyed; Tankado's little time bomb would be harmless, a deadly explosive without a detonator. Susan double-checked the address on the sheet in front of her and entered the information in the correct data field. She chuckled that Strathmore had encountered difficulty sending the tracer himself. Apparently he'd sent it twice, both times receiving Tankado's address back rather than North Dakota's. It was a simple mistake, Susan thought; Strathmore had probably interchanged the data fields, and the tracer had searched for the wrong account. Susan finished configuring her tracer and queued it for release. Then she hit return. The computer beeped once. TRACER SENT. Now came the waiting game. Susan exhaled. She felt guilty for having been hard on the commander. If there was anyone qualified to handle this threat single-handed, it was Trevor Strathmore. He had an uncanny way of getting the best of all those who challenged him. Six months ago, when the EFF broke a story that an NSA submarine was snooping underwater telephone cables, Strathmore calmly leaked a conflicting story that the submarine was actually illegally burying toxic waste. The EFF and the oceanic environmentalists spent so much time bickering over which version was true, the media eventually tired of the story and moved on. Every move Strathmore made was meticulously planned. He depended heavily on his computer when devising and revising his plans. Like many NSA employees, Strathmore used NSA-developed software called BrainStorm-a risk-free way to carry out â€Å"what-if† scenarios in the safety of a computer. BrainStorm was an artificial intelligence experiment described by its developers as a Cause Effect Simulator. It originally had been intended for use in political campaigns as a way to create real-time models of a given â€Å"political environment.† Fed by enormous amounts of data, the program created a relationary web-a hypothesized model of interaction between political variables, including current prominent figures, their staffs, their personal ties to each other, hot issues, individuals' motivations weighted by variables like sex, ethnicity, money, and power. The user could then enter any hypothetical event and BrainStorm would predict the event's effect on â€Å"the environment.† Commander Strathmore worked religiously with BrainStorm-not for political purposes, but as a TFM device; Time-Line, Flowchart, Mapping software was a powerful tool for outlining complex strategies and predicting weaknesses. Susan suspected there were schemes hidden in Strathmore's computer that someday would change the world. Yes, Susan thought, I was too hard on him. Her thoughts were jarred by the hiss of the Node 3 doors. Strathmore burst in. â€Å"Susan,† he said. â€Å"David just called. There's been a setback.†

History and Background on the Yakuza in Japan

They are famous figures in Japanese movies and comic books - the yakuza, sinister gangsters with elaborate tattoos and severed little fingers. What is the historical reality behind the manga icon, though? Early Roots The yakuza originated during the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1868) with two separate groups of outcasts. The first of those groups were the tekiya, wandering peddlers who traveled from village to village, selling low-quality goods at festivals and markets. Many tekiya belonged to the burakumin social class, a group of outcasts or non-humans, which was actually below the four-tiered Japanese feudal social structure.   In the early 1700s, the tekiya began to organize themselves into tight-knit groups under the leadership of bosses and underbosses. Reinforced by fugitives from the higher classes, the tekiya started to participate in typical organized crime activities such as turf wars and protection rackets. In a tradition that continues to this day, tekiya often served as security during Shinto festivals, and also allocated stalls in the associated fairs in return for protection money. Between 1735 and 1749, the shoguns government sought to calm gang wars between different groups of tekiya and reduce the amount of fraud they practiced by appointing oyabun, or officially sanctioned bosses. The oyabun was allowed to use a surname and to carry a sword, an honor previously allowed only to samurai. Oyabun literally means foster parent, signifying the bosses positions as the heads of their tekiya families. The second group that gave rise to the yakuza was the bakuto, or gamblers. Gambling was strictly forbidden during Tokugawa times and remains illegal in Japan to this day. The bakuto took to the highways, fleecing unsuspecting marks with dice games or with hanafuda card games. They often sported colorful tattoos all over their bodies, which led to the custom of full-body tattooing for modern-day yakuza. From their core business as gamblers, the bakuto branched out naturally into loan sharking and other illegal activities. Even today, specific yakuza gangs may identify themselves as tekiya or bakuto, depending on how they make the majority of their money. They also retain rituals used by the earlier groups as part of their initiation ceremonies. Modern Yakuza Since the end of World War II, yakuza gangs have rebounded in popularity after a lull during the war. The Japanese government estimated in 2007 that there were more than 102,000 yakuza members working in Japan and abroad, in 2,500 different families.  Despite the official end of discrimination against burakumin in 1861, more than 150 years later, many gang members are descendants of that outcast class. Others are ethnic Koreans, who also face considerable discrimination in Japanese society. Traces of the gangs origins can be seen in the signature aspects of yakuza culture today. For example, many yakuza sport full-body tattoos which are made with traditional bamboo or steel needles, rather than modern tattooing guns. The tattooed area may even include the genitals, an incredibly painful tradition. The yakuza members usually remove their shirts while playing cards with each other and display their body art, a nod to the bakuto traditions, although they generally cover up with long sleeves in public. Another feature of yakuza culture is the tradition of yubitsume or severing the joint of the little finger.  Yubitsume is performed as an apology when a yakuza member defies or otherwise displeases his boss.  The guilty party cuts off the top joint of his left pinkie finger and presents it to the boss; additional transgressions lead to the loss of additional finger joints.   This custom originated in Tokugawa times; the loss of finger joints makes the gangsters sword grip weaker, theoretically leading him to depend more on the rest of the group for protection. Today, many yakuza members wear prosthetic fingertips to avoid being conspicuous. The largest yakuza syndicates operating today are the Kobe-based Yamaguchi-gumi, which includes about half of all active yakuza in Japan; the Sumiyoshi-kai, which originated in Osaka and boasts about 20,000 members; and the Inagawa-kai, out of Tokyo and Yokohama, with 15,000 members. The gangs engage in criminal activities such as international drug-smuggling, human trafficking, and arms smuggling. However, they also hold significant amounts of stock in large, legitimate corporations, and some have close ties with the Japanese business world, the banking sector, and the real estate market. Yakuza and Society Interestingly, after the devastating Kobe earthquake of January 17, 1995, it was the Yamaguchi-gumi who first came to the aid of victims in the gangs home city. Likewise, after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, different yakuza groups sent truck-loads of supplies to the affected area. Another counter-intuitive benefit from the yakuza is the suppression of petty criminals. Kobe and Osaka, with their powerful yakuza syndicates, are among the safest towns in a generally safe nation because small-fry crooks do not trespass on yakuza territory. Despite these surprising social benefits of the yakuza, the Japanese government has cracked down on the gangs in recent decades. In March of 1995, it passed tough new anti-racketeering legislation called the Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Criminal Gang Members. In 2008, the Osaka Securities Exchange purged all of its listed companies that had ties to the yakuza. Since 2009, police across the country have been arresting yakuza bosses and shutting down businesses that cooperate with the gangs. Although the police are making serious efforts to suppress yakuza activity in Japan these days, it seems unlikely that the syndicates will disappear entirely. They have survived for more than 300 years, after all, and they are closely entwined with many aspects of Japanese society and culture.