Mayan Civilization Essay Example for Free

Mayan Civilization Essay * Which of the three Mesoamerican civilizations is most significant? Explain. The most significant Mesoamerican civilization is the Mayans. The Mayans are the most important for many different reasons. They were a very intelligent civilization and their inventions and discoveries are what set them apart from the other Mesoamerican civilizations. The Mayans civilization was the most significant for multiple reasons. They were the only Mesoamerican civilization that had a written language. It was called Maya Script or Maya hieroglyphs. It is currently the only Mesoamerican writing system that has substantially been deciphered. Not only did they have their own system of writing, they were very clever mathematicians. They had a counting system that was represented by only a dot, a bar, and a symbol for zero. The Mayans were some of the only people to understand the meaning of the zero. This was a huge step in mathematics. Another major discovery was the calendar. The Mayans were most interested in astronomy. They made an astronomical observatory that consisted of 3 windows at the top to determine when the fall and spring equinox, 365 steps to resemble the 365 days on the calendar and a serpent head at the bottom of the stairs. On March 21st the body of the serpent would appear to slither down the pyramid and point towards their water supply. The Mayans were gifted people who made a substantial impact on their time. With their writing, mathematics, and their astronomy as only some of their greatest accomplishments, this proves that the Mayans were the most significant Mesoamerican civilization.

Jacob Zuma Essay Example for Free

Jacob Zuma Essay But it was not easy for him to get this position. His father died at the end of World War 2. After his father death his mother took up employment as a domestic worker in Durban. He spent his childhood moving between Zululand and the suburbs of Durban and by the age 15 he took on odd jobs to supplement his mother’s income. Also he did not receive formal schooling. He learned to read and write properly in his late teens while serving as a young trade union activist. He became involved in politics at an early age and joined that African Notational congress in 1959. He became an active member of umkhonto we sizwe witch means (Spear of the nation) in 1962 following the banning of the ANC in 1960. While on his way out of the country in 1963 he was arrested with a group of 45 people recruits near zeerust by the northern west province. Convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island. While in prison he was given to the chance to get more of an education. After his release Jacob Zuma helped mobilize internal resistance and was instrumental in the reestablishment of ANC underground structures in the then natal province thought out 1973-1975. He left South Africa in 1975and for the next 12 years, based in Swaziland and then Mow-zum-beek dealing with thousands of young exiles who poured out south Africa in the wake of Soweto uprising. HE lived in several African countries working for ANC, where he rose rapidly to become a member of the ANC National Executive committee in 1977. He also served as the Deputy Chief Representative of the Anc in Mow-zum-beek, post he occupied until the signing of the Nkomati Accord between the Mow-zum-bican and south African government in 1984. After the signing of the Accord, he was appointed as Chief Representative of the ANC and was one of the few who remained in Mow-zum-beek to carry out the work of the organization, crossing in and out of South Africa on a number of occasions. Jacob was forced to leave Mow-zum-beek in January 1987 after considerable pressure on the Mowzumbican government. HE moved to the ANC Head of office in Lusaka Zambia where he was appointed Head of underground structures and shortly thereafter chief of intelligence department. It’s a long way for a man to come considering his childhood and never having any formal education, having been in prison for 10 year. If he can overcome those odds than anybody should be able to become president.

Who Invented Christian Martyrdom Religion Essay

Who Invented Christian Martyrdom Religion Essay The questions of who invented Christian martyrdom and why, and who was the first Christian martyr, are ambivalent in themselves as there cannot be a definite correct answer. When considering the history, many key related figures become apparent. There are three possible areas in which martyrdom may have been invented, these are the Christians, the Jews and the Romans. There is evidence of martyrdom stemming from each of these groups, which will be addressed in this essay. As well as the three groups mentioned above, there are individual examples of those who may have had been responsible for the initial inspiration that formed the invention of martyrdom. The Romans undoubtedly played a large part in the development of martyrdom. The formation of the Roman Empire following the Republican period, created an autocratic empire that ruled the majority of Europe and surroundings areas of the Mediterranean. This gave the first Emperor Augustus and his predecessors power to control the religious institutions. The development of Christianity was seen by the Roman Empire as both superstition and atheism. The first accusations of the Christians came after the Great Fire on Nero in 64. The Christians were a convenient religious group to blame this upon (even though after the fire Nero himself used the landmass to build, making the fire seem extremely convenient for his own uses, which brings about questions of the sincerity of the accusations of the fire) and from this came persecution and execution. Christians were subsequently dealt with in this way, and from this it can be claimed, that martyrdom stemmed from the Roman Empire. Christians were being forced into execution, and through support of their religion they came to prefer death rather than deny their religion and live.  [1]  The Roman Emperors views differed on the prosecution of the Christians. The attitudes were sporadic. Nero, Decian and Diocletion were responsible for serious attacks on Christianity however Trajan was rather lenient to Christians compared to other Emperors. Pliny is somewhat ambivalent, not knowing whether the crime is being a Christian or the secret crimes connected with the name  [2]   It can be argued that Christian martyrdom was invented by the Jews, as it was Jesus himself who died for his faith, and obviously being a Jew this would lead the invention back to Judaism. However as this was pre-Christianity it cannot be said to be the invention of Christian martyrdom, just a moral example. As well as the latter point, Jews had been taught from the early prophets to scorn the religions of his neighbours, even if these for the time being appeared to be more successful in earthly rewards than himself.  [3]   It was of course the Christians themselves who were martyred, but it can be suggested that if it were not for the prosecution of the Christians by the Roman Empire then Christian martyrdom would not have come about at all. There would have been no need to prove their faith. The martyrs became something of an example for other Christians, and inspiration to stick by their faith. The author of source 20 in A New Eubusis states how blessed and noble are all the martyrdoms which have taken place and respects their nobility and endurance and love for their Master.  [4]  As in the words of Polycarp, when told to curse Christ, Polycarp continued to confess himself as a Christian, and when faced with being burnt alive commented that I must needs be burnt alive, so that he might take a portion among the martyrs in the cup of Christ, because he wanted to be a rich and acceptable sacrifice  [5]  This gives evidence to show that despite the imminence of death, their faith would remain. As well as looking at the groups mentioned above, there are certain individuals who can be said to have had a significant effect on the development of martyrdom. Martyrdom can be thought to have originated from the figure of Jesus, and his crucifixion at the hands of the Romans due to his blasphemous claims. Jesus apostles were thought to have emulated him in this way, as nearly all his apostles in turn died at the hands of their beliefs and faith in Jesus. It is this act of Jesus that is claimed by some to be where martyrdom began, making Jesus the inventor of martyrdom. Despite this claim, I would argue that Jesus is an exemplar rather than a creator. Evidence for this statement is clear in the account of Polycarps martyrdom where there are references to crucifixion, the Lord might once again give an example of the martyrdom which resembles the gospel story.  [6]  It is also stated in the martyrdom that Polycarp refused to blaspheme saying For eighty-six years I have been his servant and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme against my king and saviour?  [7]  It also becomes clear in the Martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, 177, where Christ if often mentioned, with references such as then in turn a mighty dispensation of God came to pass, and the measureless compassion of Jesus was displayed , in a manner rarely vouchsafed among the brethren, but not beyond the art of Christ.  [8]  Both letters make clear and relevant that Jesus actions were the incentive, and that his actions gave them the strength and power to die for their beliefs. Although it can be argued that Jesus was the martyr exemplar, he cannot be called a martyr himself. There is very little evidence suggesting he was ever called a martyr. In fact the only time the word is ever mentioned is in Revelation 2:13 and Acts 22:20 with reference to his disciples as martyrs, meaning witness as this is the Greek root of the word. So the word martyr is associated with Jesus death, but with a different meaning and this is further highlighted by a very relevant Christian martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, who didnt even use the Greek word martyr for himself. Another example of what same may call a martyr is Socrates, however in this case, as well as with Jesus, Christianity was not yet born, and so this pre-Christian martyr can only be seen, as Jesus was, as a model for the Christians. This is referred to in Justin Martyrs second apology; Socrates was charged with the same things that we are.  [9]  Both of these examples perhaps give Christians the idea to carry ou t this heroic action. This then calls for an explanation of how the new meaning of the word martyrdom came about. How did it move away from its original meaning and why? As previously said there is ambiguity as to who the first Martyr was, and hence who invented Martyrdom. We have established the neither Jesus nor Socrates were martyrs, so then we come to the Jewish Maccabees, their relevance is highlighted through the way in which Blandina is likened in Lyons and Vienne to the mother of the seven sons. At this point martyrdom had come to mean what it does today as Professor Baron stated there were born that great exaltation of Christian martyrdom which was to dominate the minds of the jews and chritians for countless generations.  [10]  However, the two terms are clearly linked and may be seen to merge together. As the Apostles were witness to the death of Jesus, they then became venerable due to their everlasting faith, and could at anytime be called upon to deny what was witnessed under penalty of death. As the apostles would never deny their beliefs, they moved from being a witness, to being open to the idea of death, which will lead us on to the controversial topic of voluntary martyrdom. St. John, at the end of the first century, describes martyr as a faithful witness (martus) who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth (Revelation 2:13). In Bowersocks Martyrdom and Rome he highlights the point from the latter paragraph, that despite the use of the word itself in the New Testament, the meaning is by no means the same. Bowersock believes that it was not until the 2nd Century that the word martyr came to mean what is means today. Even though links can be drawn to earlier events, such as Nero at Rome which followed the great fire in 64, the change and the more relevant events come later. It is suggested by De Ste. Croix that from approximately 112 onwards Christians started to be prosecuted by pagans simply for being Christians the nomen Christianum, and Pliny states in a letter to Trajan that he executed those charged before me with being Christians.  [11]  The definition of the word martyr was emphasised when the title was turned down by the confessions of Lyons, as they did not actually die, and stated They are already martyrs whom Christ has deemed worthy to be taken up in their confession, having sealed their te stimony by their departure; but we are confessors mean and lowly.  [12]   The interesting movement that occurred, that is dissimilar to Jesus, Socrates and the Maccabees was the voluntary martyrdom. Not only were devote Christians willing to give their lives, they actually wanted to. This was something that very much puzzled the Roman Empire, and became interpreted as almost a provocation. But the sincerity was entirely there as proved by Perpetua and Germanicus. Voluntary martyrdom was in fact forbidden by the church, and those being executed voluntarily were said to be considered far less heroic. The bishops of the churches were supposed to refuse to the voluntary martyrs the honour of the name martyr, and this is backed up by a number of sources including Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Lactantius, the canons of the council of Elvira and the passion of Polycarp. Yet despite this, the martyrs were usually seen in high regarded, seen also as heroic figures.it has been said, notably by De Ste. Croix that it was a montanist practice in origin, however he then goes on to suggest that it began far earlier, but there is not sufficient evidence to back this up. Christian Martyrdom was essentially invented to prove the seriousness of the Christian faith. Initially those who were sentenced to death, did so graciously, without hesitation, yet not with the will of that being the case. These were described as glorious examples of resistance to tyrannical authority and painful suffering before unjust judges. Despite the development of martyrdom, and from that the stemming of voluntary martyrdom, it is made clear from Perpetua how difficult, and how much of a dilemma the Christians faced when deciding between sacrificing their beliefs, or their lives. It must be noted that the ambiguity of this invention can be partly resolved when considering that Christian martyrdom stems from Christian theology. Even though the discussion of the invention of martyrdom is centred around the denominations and figures mentioned above, none of the martyrs would have died if they were not following closely their religious beliefs, and obeying what the church required of them. It is impossible to say who invented Christian martyrdom, and I question whether invent is even the correct term to use in this context. The action came about due to devotion and faithfulness to the Christian religion, and thus became almost a tradition, in which followers showed their dedication to Christ and their one God. It was not invented for a particular purpose, but became something of a statement. Its roots are deeply embedded in the Jewish history concerning Jesus and then Socrates, as well as in the lives of St. Stephen the first Martyr and the many other Christian figures who gave their lives to support their faiths. Word Count: 1,950

The Godfather: Power :: essays research papers

Power   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  People have many different dreams, and many different ingredients for happiness. Some people relay on love, others lean towards money, it may be achieved through money, relationships, or even the misfortune of others, but why does power have the persuasion to change a person and what drives them to gain more?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mario Puzo, the author of â€Å"The Godfather† does an excellent job of showing the many outcomes that power has on people. He writes about Don Corleone, the head of the Corleone family whom has unlimited power and influence throughout the east coast, yet he remains a respected business man and negotiates with his pupils rather than command them. â€Å"Don Corleone was a man to whom everybody came to for help†¦it was not important that you had no means to repay him†¦it was only required that you proclaim your friendship.† He believed in good ties, and solid relationships. He used his power to advance his loved one’s happiness. On the other hand, his rival, Solozzo, uses his power to strong-arm his followers and reign terror upon his foes. He relies on his allies for support and wields that power to pursued others to help him. â€Å"Sonny will come after you with everything he’s got†¦You gotta talk some sense into him, the Tattalgia Family stands behind me with all their people.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is the deciding factor for one’s outcome as a result of power? Some think it is like a drug that seems to addict people, they constantly crave more. This would explain why people act so selfishly in order to acquire it. But is power a purely greedy emotion? For Don Corleone, it has brought out generosity and charity. He does favors for others, not expecting any in return. As a result of this he has obtained many new life long friends. I believe that the Don was a very giving man before he had his power. When analyzing these two characters you tend to see that Don Corleone has had strong morals throughout his life, morals that he will stick to.

Legality :: essays research papers

Today the vast majority of authors get little or no income from copyright royalties. For instance, scientific, technical, and academic journals usually pay nothing to their authors, and most scientific, technical and academic books earn only a few hundred dollars in royalties. Newspaper writers work on salary, and so do magazine writers, or they are free lancers who are paid a flat rate, not a royalty. Only a tiny percentage of authors make any significant portion of their personal income from royalties. Even in the case of books, typically only around five percent of the retail price goes back to the author. Yes, it is good for writers to be paid, but copyright royalties are a very inefficient way of doing it. So why was copyright developed? It was because of the invention of the printing press. For thousands of years, the only way written works could be duplicated was through a slow and extremely expensive process of copying by hand. But then the printing press was invented and it became possible to produce an unlimited number of inexpensive copies. However, there was a catch. To produce a printed book requires a very large expense ahead of time for things like editing, typesetting, running off at least a few hundred copies of the book, and promotion. A publisher would be willing to invest all this money only if it knew it would have exclusive rights to publish the book. Otherwise any book that was a hit would immediately be copied by other publishers, and the original publisher would get little or no return on its investment. So copyright law was created to promote publishing so that the public could enjoy the fruits of the new technology of printing. We have copyright for music recordings for the same reason. The invention of the phonograph made possible cheap copies of music. However, a great deal of money is required to produce the record--recording studio time, paying musicians, editing, producing a master, producing records at a factory--and also for promoting and distributing it. Copyright for music guarantees exclusive rights to sell a record, so music companies are willing to put up the money ahead of time to produce records in hopes they will make a profits from them. So copyright was invented so that society could enjoy the fruits of new inventions for reproducing works. But now we have new technologies that radically change the economics of reproduction.

Savage Journey in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essays -- Heart Da

Heart of Darkness:   Savage Journey  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inherent inside every human soul is a savage evil side that remains repressed by society. Often this evil side breaks out during times of isolation from our culture, and whenever one culture confronts another. History is loaded with examples of atrocities that have occurred when one culture comes into contact with another. Whenever fundamentally different cultures meet, there is often a fear of contamination and loss of self that leads us to discover more about our true selves, often causing perceived madness by those who have yet to discover their own self.   Joseph Conrad’s book, The Heart of Darkness is a story about Man’s journey into his self, the discoveries to be made there and about Man confronting his fears of insanity, death, and cultural contamination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During Marlow’s mission to find Kurtz, he is also trying to find himself. He, like Kurtz had good intentions upon entering the Congo. Conrad tries to show us that Marlow is what Kurtz had been, and Kurtz is what Marlow could become. Every human has a little of Marlow and Kurtz in them.   Marlow says about himself, "I was getting savage (Conrad)," meaning that he was becoming more like Kurtz. Along the trip into the wilderness, they discover their true selves through contact with â€Å"savage† natives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As Marlow ventures further up the Congo, he feels like he is traveling back through time. He sees the unsettled wilderness and can feel the darkness of its solitude. Marlow comes across simpler cannibalistic cultures along the banks. The deeper into the jungle he goes, the more regressive the inhabitants seem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kurtz had lived in the Congo, and was separated from his own culture for qu... ...ure, a self-discovery happens. Both cultures realize that deep down inside, all humans are essentially the same. We all posses a good and an evil side, and no culture no matter how "advanced," is exempt from that fact. This discovery often causes madness as this evil side is allowed out. Only those who have completed the "journey into self" can understand the actions of people such as Kurtz. They are alone in this world of horror. Works Cited Conrad, James. Heart of Darkness and Other Tales. New York, Paperbacks ltd.   1996. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Underline titles of novels. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When writing quotes, the last quotation mark should come immediately after the last word of the quote, not after the parentheses. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Great work on the works cited. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The introduction should be limited to one paragraph.   5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Overall, your paper is well-organized.

Identify the following components of the system discussed in your textbook

The input device is the laser beam that sweeps across the bar code; the process involves reading the bar code and transferring it to the computer system. Output devices include: The handheld scanner serves as the output device as it has a screen that displays the price of the product; feedback: (in terms of hardware – the handheld scanner is connected to a computer system by a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable. The handheld scanner has a lens and a laser light that scans the bar code. Software, – the scanner has a software program (POS software which comes with the scanner) that integrates the scanner with the computer system.Data and network taxonomies: the database is located on the computer system and the scanner fetches the information from the database and then displays the information on the small LCD screen attached onto it. Data is transferred to the computer system by using Bluetooth technology. Please list as much information as you could find on the scanner sy stem, and discuss the supporting technologies. The light detection system is a s photodiode that conducts electricity when light energy falls on it and does not conduct any electricity when light energy does not fall on it.There are lenses on the scanner that concentrate the laser beam. This is made up of either highly polished glass or plastic. The scanner also has holographic disks used to record laser images. the material used for this disk is a highly reflecting material. Then comes the encoder (a photodetector) that will transfer the image to the computer in the (electrical signals) digital form. It consists of a converter that converts the read code in the form of light energy to a digital form that can be decoded by the software program. The barcode reader is connected to the central computer system via a Bluetooth.This is the IEEE 802. 15. 3 protocol. b. Please classify that kind of a system is this (TPS, DSS, EIS, MIS, etc. )? Why? In this situation, the barcode scanner is functioning as a Point of Sale System (POS). This is because the scanner aids in determining the value of the goods after the customer might have bought them and is ready to pay for them. c. Having the information electronically in the system may provide opportunities for additional managerial uses. Other possible managerial use that the information can be put to includes accounting.It would be easy to manipulate the data in order to calculate the profit or loss of the supermarket. Also, it also helps in accountability because the supermarket is able to monitor all the sales it has made. Also, the supermarket would be able to harvest data about which goods consumers are purchasing and at what rate. This would afford the supermarket the opportunity of stocking these kind of goods and by so doing, increase the returns in terms of profit. Also, manufacturers are able to determine which goods consumers are purchasing more, and focus on producing these particular goods.Also, it gives the m room to improve on the ones that seem not to be moving. In marketing, the supermarket can focus on commodities that are in high demand and also improve on the sale of the ones that are not in such a high demand. In Human Resources, the supermarket can identify sales representatives that are selling more goods and reward them accordingly while reprimanding the ones that seen not to be selling much. The supermarket can then fire the redundant workers and reward the hardworking ones accordingly.In transportation, it can aid them in planning which products to stock in which part of the shop. Also in security, it would eliminate tampering with prices of commodities as some dubious customers may want to engage in. in this way, customers cannot have any reason for paying less for the commodities they purchase. d. When did the scanner system come into existence? Where was this technology initiated? Research and provide a brief history of the scanner technology (during the past 20 years). The history of bar code technology is a long and convoluted one.it is the story of one of the technologies that took a lot of research and time to complete because most of it was by personal effort on the part of the inventors. The invention is credited to Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver in 1952. They were awarded the patent for the first barcode. it was initially designed as the structure of a bull eye model and the reader was an infrared sensitive inc. however the inventors found out that this was too expensive and they had to change it. They finally settled for code identification through the medium of identifying patterns. Bar code was first commercially in 1966.By 1970, a company set the standard for writing the code. It was called the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code (UGPIC). This code evolved to become the (Universal Product Code) U. P. C symbol set in 1973. The UCC (formerly The Uniform Product Code Council, Inc. ) is responsible for issuing product numbers and specifications. e. Research and report on how such scanner type related systems will be operating in the future. What are the new technologies, such as RFID, in this area? State other types and names, and describe them. Barcode scanners are being taken a step further.The new kinds of barcode scanners being developed nowadays now come with in-build cameras instead of normal laser scanners. They are called two dimensional (2D) scanners. They use a small video camera to capture the bar code image. The reader then decodes the digital image with a digital image processing device which is in built. Video cameras use the same CCD technology as in a CCD bar code reader except that instead of having a single row of sensors, a video camera has hundreds of rows of sensors arranged in a two dimensional array so that they can generate an image.`This image is then processed, either by the scanner if it is a PDA scanner of the image is transferred to another kind of processing machine, it can ne a computer system f. Which countries and companies are at the forefront of the development of RFID technology? Is there any international standard emerging? What new societal issues or challenges are they likely to create? Samsung is one of the companies in the forefront of RFID technology research. It is in the process of deploying RFID systems into its wide array of mobile phones.The company is an international company. Japan is also one of the countries that are intensively researching into the RFID technology. Various companies in Japan are also researching into the technology. Challenges might come in the area of implementing RFID technology because some people are already speculating on the privacy infringement that RFID technology might pose to consumers since most of the commodities they could be purchasing would have been labeled and this has the potential of reporting the location of the individual.Therefore, unless people are reassured that this is not going to take pl ace, they might not embrace the technology. A lot of factors could also militate against the implementation of FRID technology. They include the environment, cost, resistance to technological change, lack of integration and as mentioned earlier can all influence the implementation of this technology. WORKS CITED. 1. http://www. textually. org/picturephoning/archives/2007/11/018097. htm