All About Maps Essay Example for Free

All About Maps Essay What are maps? Maps are the world reduced to points, lines, and areas, using a variety of visual resources: size, shape, value, texture or pattern, colour, orientation, and shape. A thin line may mean something different from a thick one, and similarly, red lines from blue ones. How do maps represent reality? A photograph shows all objects in its view; a map is an abstraction of reality. The cartographer selects only the information that is essential to fulfil the purpose of the map, and that is suitable for its scale. Maps use symbols such as points, lines, area patterns and colours to convey information. Why are maps important? A map gives a miniature picture of a very large space. A map is a guide to a space you have not encountered before. Maps have distance, mountains, rivers, and shapes of places or destinations. With a map, one does not have to depend on local directions. For a small price, it is a direction finder and a dependable way to take a journey. What are atlases? An atlas is a collection of maps in book form. Atlases are made for different regions and areas, and are prepared for desk use or travel use. A travel atlas is usually packaged for easy use during a trip, often with spiral bindings so it can be folded flat, and with maps at a large zoom so that they can be easily consulted on the go. A desk atlas features sizes and bindings that are typical for reference books: usually a paperback or hardcover format. Lines of latitude These are imaginary lines that circle the world in an east-west direction. They tell you how far north or south a place is from the Equator. They are drawn parallel to the Equator. There are five main lines of latitude. They are the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle. Lines of longitude Longitude is the angular distance, measured in degrees, east and west of the Prime Meridian, which is at 0o. These are imaginary lines that run across the Earth’s surface in a north-south direction, from the North Pole to the South Pole. Legends and symbols Since a map is a reduced representation of the real world, map symbols are used to represent real objects. Without symbols, we wouldnt have maps. Both shapes and colours can be used for symbols on maps. A small circle may mean a point of interest, with a brown circle meaning recreation, red circle meaning services, and green circle meaning rest stop. Colours may cover larger areas of a map, such as green representing forested land and blue representing waterways. To ensure that a person can correctly read a map, a Map Le

Speech Recognition -- Technology Computers Essays

Speech Recognition Speech recognition is a computer application that lets people control a computer by speaking to it. In other words, rather than using a keyboard and mouse to communicate with the computer, the user speaks commands into a microphone that is connected to a computer. By speaking into the microphone, users can do two things. First, they can tell their computers to execute some commands such as open a document, save changes, delete a paragraph, even move the cursor, ­ all without touching a key. Second, users can write using speech recognition in conjunction with a standard word processing program. When users speak into the microphone their words can appear on a computer screen in a word processing format, ready for revision and editing. Although many modern speech-recognition programs and devices voice-enable their systems, the terms voice recognition and speech recognition are not synonymous. While both use technology to capture the spoken word, voice recognition and speech recognition have different goals, and run different technologies. Speech recognition is continuous, natural language processing. In contrast, voice recognition uses recordings to determine an individual's identity, a twist on today's social security number and fingerprint. There are two kinds of speech recognition software now available; discrete speech and continuous speech. The older technology, discrete speech recognition, requires the user to speak one word at a time. A newer technology, continuous speech recognition, allows the user to dictate by speaking (at a more or less normal rate). As the user speaks, the software puts one or more words on the screen by matching the sound input with the information it has in the user's voice... ...ms and software for their homes and actually speak to their computers. Although it is still rather new for computers to be able to understand and transcribe the imprecise speech of humans, it is possible and systems are only continuing to improve. Sources Bates, Regis J and Gregory, Donald W. Voice and Data Communications Handbook. Capron, H. L. Computers, Tools for an Information Age, Upper Saddle River: Addison Wesley, 2002. Newman, Dan. The Dragon Naturally Speaking Guide, Berkeley: Waveside Publishing, 2000. Newman, Dan. Talk to Your Computer: Speech Recognition Made Easy, Berkely: Waveside Publishing, 2000. . . . .

A Hardball Leadership Essay

Politics is a battlefield for power. Throughout history, politics play an important role in shaping leaders and forming powerful states. Wars are even conducted to be able to get the advantage of politics. However nowadays, to get ahead into politics warfare is not necessary; it all depends on how an individual handles it. It is more than just the leadership skills, the charisma and the motivation to serve. It is the usage of the smartest strategies to get acquainted with the ‘who’ and to get the ‘what’. â€Å"The end justifies the means. Machiavelli famously imprinted these words in the world of politics. For Machiavelli, politics is more than just a career, it is an art that should be mastered and should be maintained. For Chris Matthews, politics is a game that should be learned by playing according to a set of rules. Both authors have goals in mind: to be on top of the power. Their works serve as guidelines on handling politics. Machiavelli and Matthews provide strategies on how to be an influential and effective political figure. These rules were patterned in the context of their current society. Though Machiavelli’s attack on The Prince is more aggressive than Matthews, this is mainly because of the political turmoil that has occurred during his time. Matthews on the other hand, wrote practical approaches that can be applied not just in government but as well as in business, job promotion or other aspects of life. This is to convey that politics is everywhere. Nonetheless, despite the differences between Matthews and Machiavelli, their works are cohesively direct to the path of power. To be the best player in the field of politics, one must maximize everything – including flaws and opponents – to his or her advantage. While Machiavelli focused more on state affairs, Matthews applied strategies not just to politics but to general ways of life. Like Machiavelli, Matthews related in his book on how to rise to power and maintaining it the moment it is achieved. The spread of influence and the utilization of wits will be able to bring someone to the top. Matthews enumerated his practical strategies that people within the Washington circle used. The ability to appear powerful is one of the tactics which Machiavelli has also cited. The embodiment of power is important to acquire power itself. From the famous saying of ‘what the mind conceive the body will achieve,’ people and competitors will believe a person portraying as a powerful individual. It creates a strong impression. To convince others that one has a power; it should reflect the outer attributes and incorporate the attitudes of a powerful entity. The Politician will have to utilize everything to be able to reach the top and at the top, his resources should be exhausted even more to maintain his or her stature. The Prince has the same aim. Machiavelli described most of his tactics with the likes of being a fox and to be a lion at the same time. On the other hand, Matthews associated it with a term of aggressive sports. In the field of sports, an athlete needs to play hard and it is necessary to lay out the strategies to be able to win the game. The aspects of deception and manipulation clearly reflect a Machiavellian theme situated in the White House. The politician works closely with the enemies rather than shunning them away. It gives the politician an opportunity to watch the actions of the enemy directly. Their capabilities can be used in favor of the politician’s gain. Both authors have stated the importance of alliances to strengthen influence and gain trust. Machiavelli stressed the importance of taking sides rather than going neutral. Win or lose, the Prince still has allies to aid him when crisis comes. Matthews mentioned having alliances to gain loyal supporters. He was able to portray in Washington, that people who actually do favors for the politician become great allies. The work of Chris Matthews is often compared with Machiavelli. Both of them preached the same aim of acquiring power, though their subjects are different. It can be viewed that Machiavelli’s The Prince is solely based on an individualistic approach since he focused on monarchies as a source of power. On the contrary, Matthews’ approach is more inter-personal. By the title of his book Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told By One Who Knows The Game, it gives the impression of sports which is composed of individuals and teams. To be on top means to be the captain of the game. Hardball can be a useful reference for people who want to get ahead with life. As mentioned earlier, Matthews’ approach is not as aggressive as Machiavelli. This can be applied in other aspects of life because as what Matthews mentioned in his introduction, â€Å"there are enduring human truths in the rules that politicians play by† (Matthews 17). Matthews depicts politics as an exciting and thrilling environment where the most amusing personalities are passionately involved. Machiavelli, on the other hand, gave a cruel and ruthless picture. Since politics is compared with sports, the major player from Matthews’ book is a prominent figure in world politics. The United States is one of the most influential countries, economic-wise and political wise. As a state, the U. S. is good at keeping their alliances. The long years of friendship with other countries (i. e. Great Britain) contributed to numerous gains which helped the US to be a super power in the international community. Behind its status is the most powerful political figure in the United States. For the upcoming 2008 US Presidential election, it is notable to mention a candidate that created a name for him as the first colored American to be nominated for presidency. Barack Obama can be a perfect example of a major player in Matthews’ political field. Being raised in a multi-racial background, this became an asset for him to reach different minorities in the country. This particular asset of Obama became one of his forefronts of his campaign which focused on thriving for change. Modern United States is a diverse country made up of various racial origins and Obama thought that his colored skin can be an advantage. Obama revealed in his memoir Dreams from my Father about his previous lifestyle of smoking and drinking. Relating this particular detail of his life, it can be seen as a target for his opponent to dwell on. However, this can also be viewed as a method derived from Matthews’ book. Before the other party can even use it against him, he does the broadcasting himself. Admitting one’s flaw can lessen the negative impact of it, and the rivals will have to search for a new attack to use against the politician. Citing this example, it is seen how Chris Matthews’ strategies are put to use. This kind of political play inside the White House reflects how the United States moves in the arena of world politics. Taking that into account, Chris Matthews gives the readers a clear picture of the inner workings of America’s political center. Washington is portrayed as the battlefield, wherein politics is the game, and the athletes are the politicians who play hardball.

Marilyn Monroe Famous and Unfamiliar Quotes

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson in 1926. She starred in many popular films, was married to and divorced from both Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio, and died of an overdose of barbiturates in 1962. Nevertheless, interest in her life and her story continues in popular culture and in feminist studies. Select Marilyn Monroe Quotations I wanted to be treated as a human being who had earned a few rights since her orphanage days. Its nice to be included in peoples fantasies but you also like to be accepted for your own sake. I think that when you are famous every weakness is exaggerated. Im very definitely a woman and I enjoy it. I dont mind living in a mans world as long as I can be a woman in it. People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of a person. They didnt see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts, then they white-masked themselves by calling me the lewd one. I dont know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot. To a reporter: Please dont make me a joke.  End the interview with what I believe. I dont mind making jokes, but I dont want to look like one. Fame is like caviar, you know -- its good to have caviar but not when you have it at every meal. If fame goes by, so long, Ive had you, fame. If it goes by, Ive always known it was fickle. So at least its something I experienced, but thats not where I live. It stirs up envy, fame does. Seeing your name in front page headlines as if you were some kind of a major accident or gun battle is always startling. No matter how often you see it you dont get used to it. You keep thinking-Thats about me. The whole countrys reading about me. Maybe the world is. Ive been on a calendar, but never on time. I am invariably late for appointments ... sometimes, as much as two hours. Ive tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong, and too pleasing. I restore myself when Im alone. This life is what you make it. No matter what, youre going to mess up sometimes, its a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how youre going to mess it up. People respect you because they feel youve survived hard times and endured, and although youve become famous, you havent become phony. The worst thing that happens to people when they dress up and go to a party is that they leave their real selves at home. Theyre like people on a stage playing somebody else. They play that theyre important, and they want you to meet their importance, not themselves. The truth is Ive never fooled anyone. Ive let people fool themselves. They didnt bother to find out who and what I was. Creativity has got to start with humanity and when youre a human being, you feel, you suffer. Im for the individual as opposed to the corporation. The way it is the individual is the underdog, and with all the things a corporation has going for them the individual comes out banged on her head. The artist is nothing. Its really tragic. [about reading Rilkes Letters to a Young Poet] I was never told what to read, and nobody ever gave me anything to read. You know -- the way there are certain books that everybody reads while theyre growing up? . . . So what I do is -- nights when Ive got nothing else to do I go to the Pickwick bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard. And I just open books at random -- or when I come to a page or a paragraph I like, I buy that book. So last night I bought this one. Is that wrong? Arthur Miller wouldnt have married me if I had been nothing but a dumb blonde. About Her Childhood I learned also that the best way to keep out of trouble was by never complaining or asking for anything. At twelve I looked like a girl of seventeen. My body was developed and shapely. But no one knew this but me. I still wore the blue dress and the blouse the orphanage provided. They made me look like an overgrown lummox. (about Norma Jean, her childhood self) With success all around me, I can still feel her frightened eyes looking out of mine. She keeps saying, I never lived, I was never loved, and often I get confused and think its I who am saying it. I watched the faces of the listeners when the minister would cry out how much God loved them and how much they needed to set themselves right with God. They were faces without any argument in them, just tired faces that were glad to hear Somebody loved them. On Love, Marriage, Sex Quotes about love and marriage and sex from  Marilyn Monroe, movie star especially important in the 1950s: I have too many fantasies to be a housewife.... I guess I am a fantasy. Its better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone. A career is wonderful thing, but you cant snuggle up to it on a cold night. A wise girl kisses but doesnt love, listens but doesnt believe, and leaves before she is left. Dont you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldnt marry a girl just because shes pretty, but my goodness, doesnt it help? [in character as Lorelei Lee in  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes] What good is it being Marilyn Monroe? Why cant I just be an ordinary woman? A woman who can have a family ... Id settle for just one baby. My own baby. The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up. Sex is part of nature. I go along with nature. Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered. Its not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on. If I play a stupid girl and ask a stupid question Ive got to follow it through. What am I supposed to do -- look intelligent? Thats the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. But if Im going to be a symbol of something, Id rather have it sex than some other things weve got symbols of. Everyones just laughing at me. I hate it. Big breasts, big ass, big deal. Cant I be anything else? Gee, how long can you be sexy? Before marriage, a girl has to make love to a man to hold him. After marriage, she has to hold him to make love to him. The public doesnt mind people living together without being married, providing they dont overdo it. Most men judge your importance in their lives by how much you can hurt them, not by how happy you can make them. Men are always ready to respect anything that bores them. [H]usbands are chiefly good as lovers when they are betraying their wives. I have noticed ... that men usually leave married women alone, and are inclined to treat all wives with respect. This is no great credit to married women. Men are always ready to respect anything that bores them. The real lover is the man who can thrill you by kissing your forehead or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space. Wives have a tendency to go off like burglar alarms when they see their husbands talking to me. Its womans spirit and mood a man has to stimulate in order to make sex interesting. The real lover is the man who can thrill you by touching your head or smiling into your eyes or just staring into space. Men who think that a womans past love affairs lessen her love for them are usually stupid and weak. A woman can bring a new love to each man she loves, providing there are not too many. As far as I can make out, womens friendships with each other are based on a gush of lies and pretty speeches that mean nothing. Youd think they were all wolves trying to seduce each other the way they flatter and flirt when theyre together. (about her teen years)  My admirers all said the same thing in different ways. It was my fault, their wanting to kiss and hug me. The first effect marriage had on me was to increase my lack of interest in sex.... Actually our marriage was a sort of friendship with sexual privileges. Its better for the whole world to know you, even as a sex star, than never to be known at all. On Acting and Hollywood Marilyn Monroe  was quite aware of the powerful impact she had on people just from her physical presence, but she longed to be recognized as a serious and talented actress, working hard at her vocation. When you have only a single dream it is more than likely to come true -- because you keep working toward it without getting mixed up. If Id observed all the rules, Id never have got anywhere. Its all make believe, isnt it? I love to do the things the censors wont pass. Its better for the whole world to know you, even as a sex star, than never to be known at all. I am trying to prove to myself that I am a person. Then may be Ill convince myself that Im an actress. A career is wonderful thing, but you cant snuggle up to it on a cold night. A career is born in public -- talent in privacy. Hollywood is a place where theyll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. Of the nude pictures:  Sure I posed. I needed the money. An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine. An actor is not a machine, no matter how much they want to say you are. Creativity has got to start with humanity and when youre a human being, you feel, you suffer. In Hollywood a girls virtue is much less important than her hairdo. Youre judged by how you look, not by what you are. Hollywoods a place where theyll pay you a thousand dollars for kiss, and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty. I dont want to make money. I just want to be wonderful. My work is the only ground Ive ever had to stand on. I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation -- but Im working on the foundation. I want to be an artist, not an erotic freak. I dont want to be sold to the public as a celluloid aphrodisical. Acting isnt something you do. Instead of doing it, it occurs. If youre going to start with logic, you might as well give up. You can have conscious preparation, but you have unconscious results. Ive always felt toward the slightest scene, even if all I had to do in a scene was just to come in and say, Hi, that the people ought to get their moneys worth and that this is an obligation of mine, to give them the best you can get from me. This industry should behave like a mother whose child has just run out in front of a car. But instead of clasping the child to them, they start punishing the child. Like you dont dare get a cold. How dare you get a cold! I mean, the executives can get colds and stay home forever and phone it in, but how dare you, the actor, get a cold or a virus. You know, no one feels worse than the one whos sick. I sometimes wish, gee, I wish they had to act a comedy with a temperature and a virus infection. I finally made up my mind I wanted to be an actress and I was not going to let my lack of confidence ruin my chances. My illusions didnt have anything to do with being a fine actress. I knew how third rate I was. I could actually feel my lack of talent, as if it were cheap clothes I was wearing inside. But, my God, how I wanted to learn, to change, to improve! Some people have been unkind. If I say I want to grow as an actress, they look at my figure. If I say I want to develop, to learn my craft, they laugh. Somehow they dont expect me to be serious about my work. Ive often stood silent at a party for hours listening to my movie idols turn into dull and little people. As Michael (Chekhov)s pupil, I learned more about acting. I learned psychology, history, and the good manners of art -- taste. Acting became important. It became an art that belonged to the actor, not to the director or producer, or the man whose money had bought the studio. It was an art that transformed you into somebody else, that increased your life and mind. I had always loved acting and tried hard to learn it. But with Michael Chekhov, acting became more than a profession to me. It became a sort of religion. 1956 interview about her childhood:  Looking back, I guess I used to play-act all the time. For one thing, it meant I could live in a more interesting world than the one around me. Im trying to find myself as a person, sometimes thats not easy to do. Millions of people live their entire lives without finding themselves. But it is something I must do. The best way for me to find myself as a person is to prove to myself that I am an actress. Quotes About Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe  has attracted many interpretations. Heres what a few people have had to say about Marilyn Monroe: About Marilyn Monroe, by her ex-husband,  Arthur Miller:  To have survived, she would have had to be either more cynical or even further from reality than she was. Instead, she was a poet on a street corner trying to recite to a crowd pulling at her clothes. Billy Wilder:  The luminosity of that face! There has never been a woman with such voltage on the screen, with the exception of Garbo. Groucho Marx:  Its amazing. Shes  Mae West,  Theda Bara  and Bo Peep all rolled into one. Shelley Winters:  If shed been dumber, shed have been happier. Frank Sinatra, reportedly:  Shut up, Norma Jean. Youre so stupid you dont know what youre talking about. Simone Signoret, married to Yves Montand:  If Marilyn is in love with my husband it proves she has good taste, for I am in love with him too. Ronald Reagan, at a White House Briefing on tax reform, May 22, 1986:  I must admit there were times in this process, as tax reform wended its way through the sometimes convoluted passageways of Congress, that even I had some momentary doubts. I told a group last night that it was a little like the time Marilyn Monroe, the late Marilyn Monroe, met Albert Einstein. And Marilyn grabbed him by the arm and said, Lets get married. And Einstein looked at her and replied, But, my dear, what if our children had my looks and your brains? Film critic  Pauline Kael:  Her mixture of wide-eyed wonder and cuddly drugged sexiness seemed to get to just about every male; she turned on even homosexual men. And women couldnt take her seriously enough to be indignant; she was funny and impulsive in a way that made people feel protective. She was a little knocked out; her face looked as if, when nobody was paying attention to her, it would go utterly slack -- as if she died between wolf calls. Biographer Louis Banner:  She is the child in all of us, the child we want to forget but cant dismiss. We want to know what would have happened to her if she had lived longer. Biographer  Gloria Steinem:  I remember her on the screen, huge as a colossus doll, mincing and whispering and simply hoping her way into total vulnerability. Biographer Gloria Steinem:  A student, lawyer, teacher, artist, mother, grandmother, defender of animals, rancher, homemaker, sportswoman, rescuer of children--all these are futures we can imagine for Norma Jeane. . . . One also can imagine the whole woman who was both Norma Jeane and Marilyn becoming a serious actress and wise comedienne who would still be working in her sixties, with more productive years to come. From the eulogy by Lee Strasberg:  She had a luminous quality -- a combination of wistfulness, radiance, yearning, that set her apart and yet made everyone wish to be part of it, to share in the childlike naà ¯vete which was at once so shy and yet so vibrant. Also from Lee Strasbergs eulogy:  Marilyn Monroe was a legend. In her lifetime she created a myth of what a poor girl from a deprived background could attain. For the entire world she became a symbol of the eternal feminine.