Accessibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Accessibility - Essay Example Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non government organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design.... For example, a website may have a wide appearance when viewed with the help of a computer; but it will appear in a sleek, oblong from when viewed with the help of a mobile phone. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 2013; Seffah and Javahery 2004) Section 508 and Its Impact In USA, Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act (1973) was legislated in 1998 by the means of an amendment. The main motive behind this law is to get rid of barriers in information technology (IT) systems, which people with disabilities confront in general. It also aims at developing techniques that would make it plausible and easier for people with disabilities to have equal opportunity to access information. Since websites are most rife at the technology interface available to general public, web development technology specific accessibility options are given special importance in the context of this rule. (Lazar and Olalere 2011) The Section 508 is having significant impact. Websites of both government and non govern ment organizations, particularly those working in the sphere of human services, may call for processes such as live chat, online support service, video conference, etc. In absence of proper scope to use wider accessibility options, such websites may become useless to users who have disabilities. Section 508 articulates that how IT systems and applications can be made more user-friendly. Consequently, it sets a legal and technical roadmap before the website developers, which defines how they can ensure numerous and better accessibility options in the websites they design. Available Tools for Compliance Testing The World Wide Web Consortium or W3C provides an efficient Section 508 compliance checking

Middle Childhood and Adolescence Paper Essay Example for Free

Middle Childhood and Adolescence Paper Essay The change that occurs from middle childhood to adolescence is arguably one of the most profound changes that children go through. Not only do children change physically but emotionally. â€Å"Adolescence is the transitional period between late childhood and the beginning of adulthood, and marks the beginning of the reproductive lifespan in humans. Adolescence involves sexual maturity in terms of hormones and physical development of the body, and is also characterized by an increase in the complexity of group interactions and thus social behavior (Lerner and Steinberg, 2004)†. During this time of transition many develop a stronger sense of self and begin to separate from completely associated themselves with their family members. This is a completely normal stage of transition for children turning into adolescents and becoming a vital part of a larger community. Family Dynamics There are many ways a child’s upbringing can affect how they mature into adults. A primary aspect taken into consideration is the family dynamic in which a child is raised. In many cases a child with a family that is well structured, has sound moral characteristics, and provides a stable environment is more likely to be a successful member of society. Whereas a child who has a family that is dysfunctional is less likely to be in a healthy environment emotionally or physically. For example, â€Å"Recent research has suggested that the family plays an important role in depressive disorders (Keitner Miller, 1990; Keitner, Miller, Epstein, Bishop, 1990). More specifically, research has demonstrated that families of depressed patients manifest significant impairments in family functioning during the patient’s acute episode relative to control families (Crowther, 1985; Dobson, 1987; Keitner, Miller, Epstein, Bishop, 1986) with 50%–75% of families of depressed patients manifesting significant family dysfunction.†(Miller, I. W., Keitner, G. I., Whisman, M. A., Ryan, C. E.,  Epstein, N. B., Bishop, D. S. ,1992). A dysfunctional family can become a catalyst for many undesirable emotional attributes and or physical reactions that can occur after being subjected to higher levels of dysfunction. For example if a child is verbally abused by a parent they may exhibit such behaviors towards their peers to gain some form of control in their life. Peer Influences: From Middle Childhood to Adolescence Peers from middle childhood onto adolescence make a substantial change with age. Many children at a young age learn how to socialize with other children and generally behave well with the collective group. As children grow in age and their hormones develop, they become more aware of their surrounding social group. This can have both negative and positive impacts on development. â€Å"The poor peer relations of aggressive children could make them isolated psychologically or physically from peers, which in turn might result in depressive or disruptive problems.† (Yamasaki, K., Nishida, N. 2009). Whereas in a healthy peer relation environment a child will be more likely to excel socially and develop a strong sense of individuality amongst those around them. Pressures faced in Adolescence vs. Middle Childhood. During the change from middle childhood to adolescence, children are begin to develop their own identity. They are physically going through major changes. Where sexual differences before adolescence usually played a dividing factor when it comes to social interactions, chemical changes that happen to most adolescent boys or girls bring about a change in interest. Often children begin to think more abstractly during this change instead of just asking why they think of the multiple possibilities. Children going through adolescence are going through body image struggles, boys feel pressured to have to meet â€Å"masculine† standards, whereas girls go through major changes in body image and can feel vulnerable. â€Å"With puberty, normal increases in girls body, fat can impact body image and self-concept negatively for many. Both boys and girls might be concerned with skin problems, height, weight, and overall appearance.† (Oregon State University, 2001). Almost all children face this significant change through puberty, which brings on emotional changes as well. It is important to encourage an understanding of healthy body image to boost confidence. Changes in Moral Values from Middle Childhood to  Adolescence During the change from middle childhood to adolescence moral values begin to advance beyond just the understanding of what is right or wrong determined by peers. During middle childhood children think more along the lines of what is fair, and rely on more of a give and take dynamic. With a transition to adolescence children begin to take into account others feelings and their perspective. Also when a child becomes older they come to see â€Å"the bigger picture†, and become influenced by society’s moral standards. â€Å"Increasing ability to take perspective of others into account with own perspective. (Children) Begins to question social conventions and re-examine own values and moral/ethical principles, sometimes resulting in conflicts with parents.†(Oregon State University, 2001). The mind begins to open to understanding different scenarios. This is when most children begin to question their peers and even formulate their own opinions, sometimes that involves changing from having the same ideals as their parents. Conclusion There are many changes that happen during the change from middle childhood to adolescence. Physical changes include changes in bodily image, many children enter into puberty at this time. When children become adolescents they become more involved with their self-image and individuality. Emotional changes begin to happen at this age as well, some attribute it to hormone changes, however cognitive growth also has a lot to do with the change. During this time of change it is important for families to provide helpful guidance without over stepping personal boundaries of young budding adults. Being a supportive family will increase a child’s ability to transition well and become a successful, well-rounded member of society. References Choudhury, S., Blakemore, S., Charman, T. (2006, December). Social cognitive development during adolescence. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2555426/ Miller, I. W., Keitner, G. I., Whisman, M. A., Ryan, C. E., Epstein, N. B., Bishop, D. S. (1992). Depressed patients with dysfunctional families: Description and course of illness. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101(4), 637-646. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.101.4.637 Nickerson, A. B., Nagle, R. J. (2004). The influence of parent and peer attachments on life satisfaction in middle childhood and early adolescence. Social Indicators Research, 66(1-2), 35-60. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:SOCI.0000007496.42095.2c Oregon State University. (2001, January). Middle Childhood and Adolescent Development [Chart]. Retrieved from http://extension.oregonstate.edu/tillamook/sites/default/files/documents/4h/ecno1527.pdf Yamasaki, K., Nishida, N. (2009). The relationship between three types of aggression and peer relations in elementary school children. International Journal of Psychology, 44(3), 179-186. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207590701656770

The Effects Of Climate Change On Cambodia Environmental Sciences Essay

The Effects Of Climate Change On Cambodia Environmental Sciences Essay The world climate is always changing through a natural sequence, and it grows up quickly due to the human activities which make the world worry about. As we all know that humans depend on a sustainable and healthy environment, and yet we have damaged the environment in numerous ways which lead the climate change and global warming occur. So, what is climate change and global warming? The climate change is an adjustment in the average weather for years. Usually, when we speak of climate change on a global scale, we are referring to changes in the climate of the Earth as a whole. Whereas, global warming is the growth up of the average temperature of the Earths surface. Although, the world climate and global warming are often used interchangeably, the NASA website has given the definition of these two terms that global warming refers to surface temperature increases, while climate change includes global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gases amounts will affect. For instance, if we look back to the 18 centuries till now, we can many homes, factories, and transportations increase dramatically. Those places are the main places where more coal and oil are burning; then those release greenhouse gases such as CO2, SO2 to the atmosphere, which cause the earth to warm quickly. Moreover, since the late 1800s, the global average temperature has increase d about 0.7 to 1.4 degrees F (0.4 to 0.8 degrees C). Many experts estimate that the average temperature will rise an additional 2.5 to 10.4 degrees F (1.4 to 5.8 degrees C) by 2100. This can happen due to the increase in total amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which trap infrared radiation from the earth. Causes and Effects of Climate Change to the World There are two main causes of climate changes and global warming-natural and human activities. First, it is caused by natural activities like continental drift and volcanoes. Million of years back, the continental that we live today is the formed of a gradually drifting apart of landmass that changed the physical feature of the landmass, and the position of water bodies. For example, the Indian landmass is thronging towards the Asian landmass slowly, but steadily due to the increase by 1mm of Himalayan range. Moreover, the large amount of SO2, water vapor, dust, and ash were thrown out when the volcanic eruption occurred. Those gases have serious effect to the atmosphere. For instance, so2 combined with water, it produces the acid rain which causes trees to fall their leaves, land erosion, and make the color of buildings become lighter. Second, climate change is caused by human activities. If we look back the industrial revolution in 19th century, we can see more industrial grow and the large scale of car increase nowadays. People also continue to burn more fossil fuel in their everyday activities like using modern transportation, create more factories and for household use. Burning fossil fuel, it release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere which cause to earth to warm quickly. Those causes produce most serious impact to the word today as it increases of the global temperature. When the temperature increase, arctic sea ice, glaciers and permafrost are melt; therefore, the sea level is also rise. Therefore, the lowland area like Newzaland will go to flood and it will destroy the habitat of animals. Moreover, higher temperature will cause the world drought so that people and some animals may die or move to the cooler places. In addition, warmer temperature also has bad effect to human health. People will have more allergies due to heat waves and the effect of direct ultraviolet from the sun. More animals that carry disease like mosquitoes are also growth more quickly. The Effects of Climate Change and Global Warming on Cambodia as a Nation Climate change and global warming affect Cambodia in several ways. First, it causes flood and drought. Flood and draught are two main extreme climate events and occur every year in a number of provinces such as Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Cham, Kandal, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhanang, Battambang, Siem Reap, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, and Takeo. Severe floods have resulted in a high number of casualties and destruction of infrastructures. For example, the recent flood caused by Ketsana at this end of September and early October 2010 caused 43 deaths and USD132 million of GDP loss due to the destruction of production sector, infrastructures, and social sector USD132 million, 19% of GDP loss in , and 33% of GDP loss in social sector. Besides, drought in Cambodia causes Mekong has low water levels which harm to people around 60 million who live along the Mekong River. For instance, the most severe drought, which subsequently occurred in 2002, affected more than 2 million people and destroyed more than 100,000 ha of paddy fields (Analysis of Policies to Address Climate Change Impacts in Cambodia by Ministry of Environment, March 2005). Second, it causes typhoons which strike the Cambodian coastline every 2 to 5 years and normally occur at the end of the rainy season. In November 1997, Typhoon Linda hit the Gulf of Thailand. At that time, the wind spread in Sihanouk reached 60m/s. Over five days, approximately 400mm of rainfall was recorded in coastal areas. It destroyed 81 fishing boats, claiming some 100 victims and most of the paddy fields of the Sihanoukville area (MoE, 1998). Third, climate change and global warming affect to Cambodian health especially the rural people. Those have high risk in facing to the disease such as dengue fever, typhoid and diarrhea. According to the Cambodia Ministry of Health (MoH) in 2004, it stated that Cambodia already has the highest malaria fatality rate within Southeast Asia, and 500 deaths per year. It was predicted by MoH that the changing of climate will increase the numbers of Malaria by 16%. How Cambodia Respond to the Effect of Climate Change and Global Warming Cambodia is a small a country that got impact form climate change and global warming as I have mentioned in the previous MC. The below are the response of Cambodia include individual, state, and international level to climate change and global warming. As individuals, we play a vital role in helping to protect our environment by trying to reduce the green house gases that emit from our everyday life. People can use bicycles to travel or walk from place to another instead of using cars or buses which burn fossil fuels that effect to our environment. Moreover, we can use some methods of recycle and reuse for some products in order to cut down the emission of CFCs into the atmosphere and then slow down the process of increasing our global climate which will deplete the ozone layer. Nowadays, we got a modern technology so that factories can use those techniques to apply in their factory to reduce pollution and destruction to the environment. Individuals alone cannot make an effect way to deal with the climate change and global warming. State also plays an important role to respond to the effect of climate change. As we can that Cambodia is the most vulnerable to the effect of climate change due to our economy depends mainly on agriculture. Due to 80 percent of Cambodian people are farmers and they facing severe drought and flood which cause serious problems to their rice yield, the government of Cambodia introduced some new techniques to them. In order to adapt to the climate change, he suggested some methods consist of changing the way of farming by telling them to chose the right seed, practicing rice growth techniques, promoting multi purpose of farming, and requesting them to do research for new techniques. Moreover, he can make a decision and enforce the environmental law such as not to cut down the tree, and set the maximum of emission of GHGs for each industries. In addition to the state actions, it has to cooperate with international level in order to get an effective to cope with climate change. For example, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted at the 3rd Conference of the Parties (COP-3), held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. It commits 39 developing countries to reduce their GHG emissions of about 5% below their 1990 levels during the period between 2008 and 2012. Moreover, Cambodian Climate Change Alliance (CCCA) funded by Climate Change Trust Fund of 8.9 million US dollars from European Union, UNDP, SIDA, and DANIDA to cover the period 2010-2012 in the aim of supporting the integration of climate change. Taking everything into account, we can make a conclusion that climate change and global warming is a hot issue that the world is worry about and it is really related to the global governance that we have learn for a semester. The reason is that climate change has no boundaries. For example, the forest fires in Sumatra Island which located nearby Singapore and Malaysia caused a serious haze to Southeast Asia by polluting the atmosphere. When it happens, it will destroy our hold economy, infrastructures, and our health; Cambodia is an example. To deal with those problems, we have to take time and spend more money by stating from ourselves to international level. However, I can pinpoint the challenge in this topic that the government may get difficulties in dealing with the climate change in the case of air pollution. As Cambodia is a developing country, we have to think and build up our economics first. Therefore, we have to lure the investors to invest our country. In this case, industries will grow so it leads to increase the emission of CO2, CFCs which cause more pollution to the atmosphere. Moreover, I think our government still not yet gets successful in helping the farmers to cope with climate change although he introduced some new techniques to them. As more than 80 percents of Cambodian people are farmers, not all of them get support from the government. Global government plays an important role in responding to this issue. As we can see that in 1988, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a credible assessment of the state of scientific knowledge on global warming. Moreover, Untied Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) adopted in 1992 which consists of 194 countries to address global climate change. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is created to allow developed countries to meet part of their reduction obligations through projects in developing countries that reduce emissions or sequester CO2 from the atmosphere.

Senseless: A False Sense Of Perception Essay -- essays research papers

Senseless: A False Sense of Perception   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I feel as though I have no choice but to be a skeptic about our ability to know the world on the sense experience given the information that is being presented. Our senses are touching, hearing, smelling and tasting, I believe it is quite possible that a person could think they see, touch, and smell something such as a glass of bear but there be no glass of beer present, therefore their perception of this glass of beer is false. There is a good possibility that this person is suffering from any of the numerous possible sensations, auditory, visual or tactile, experienced without external stimulus and caused by mental derangement, intoxication or fever, in other words this person could be hallucinating.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many ways that the senses can be tricked into believing things that are not true, an example is when a person takes the drug LSD, this drug is one which alters the state of the mind and tricks it into visually perceiving things which are not real such as pink elephants, green rats, gold skin and so on. Hallucinations may occur when pressure is applied to different sections, drawing different reactions from the person being affected, these reactions are caused by the affected person seeing things which they perceive to be real . Hallucinations are only one way by which the visual perception of an object can be altered there are many more ways by which the visual percep...

Night World : Dark Angel Chapter 5

Actually, it wasn't the light she noticed first. It was an eerie feeling that some†¦ presence was in her room with her. She'd had the feeling before, waking up to feel that something had just left, maybe even in the instant it had taken her to open her eyes. And that while asleep, she'd been on the verge of some great discovery about the world, something that was lost as soon as she woke. But tonight, the feeling stayed. And as she stared around the room, feeling dazed and stupid and leaden, she slowly realized that the light was wrong. She'd forgotten to close the curtains, and moonlight was streaming into the room. It had the thin blue translucence of new snow. But in one corner of Gillian's room, by the gilded Italian chest of drawers, the light seemed to have pooled. Coalesced. Concentrated. As if reflecting off a mirror. There wasn't any mirror. Gillian sat up slowly. Her sinuses were stuffed up and her eyes felt like hard-boiled eggs. She breathed through her mouth and tried to make sense of what was in the corner. It looked like †¦ a pillar. A misty pillar of light. And instead of fading as she woke up, it seemed to be getting brighter. An ache had taken hold of Gillian's throat. The light was so beautiful†¦ and almost familiar. It reminded her of the tunnel and the meadow and †¦ Oh. She knew now. It was different to be seeing this when she wasn't dead. Then, she'd accepted strange things the way you accept them in dreams, without ordinary logic or disbelief interfering. But now she stared as the light got brighter and brighter, and felt her whole skin tingling and tears pooling in her eyes. She could hardly breathe. She didn't know what to do. How do you greet an angel in the ordinary world? The light continued to get brighter, just as it had in the meadow. And now she could see the shape in it, walking toward her and rushing at the same time. Still brighter-dazzling and pulsating-until she had to shut her eyes and saw red and gold after images like shooting stars. When she squinted her eyes back open, he was there. Awe caught at Gillian's throat again. He was so beautiful that it was frightening. Face pale, with traces of the light still lingering in his features. Hair like filaments of gold. Strong shoulders, tall but graceful body, every line pure and proud and different from any human. He looked more different now than he had in the meadow. Against the drab and ordinary background of Gillian's room, he burned like a torch. Gillian slid off her bed to kneel on the floor. It was an automatic reflex. â€Å"Don't do that.† The voice was like silver fire. And then-it changed. Became somehow more ordinary, like a normal human voice. â€Å"Here, does this help?† Gillian, staring at the carpet, saw the light that was glinting off a stray safety pin fade a bit. When she tilted her eyes up, the angel looked more ordinary, too. Not as luminous. More like just an impossibly beautiful teenage guy. â€Å"I don't want to scare you,† he said. He smiled. â€Å"Yeah,† Gillian whispered. It was all she could get out. â€Å"Are you scared?† â€Å"Yeah.† The angel made a frustrated circling motion with one arm. â€Å"I can go through all the gobbledygook: be not afraid, I mean you no harm, all that-but it's such a waste of time, don't you think?† He peered at her. â€Å"Aw, come on, kid, you died earlier today. Yesterday. This isn't really all that strange in comparison. You can deal.† â€Å"Yeah.† Gillian blinked. â€Å"Yeah,† she said with more conviction, nodding. â€Å"Take a deep breath, get up-â€Å" â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"-say something different†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Gillian got up. She perched on the edge of her bed. He was right, she could deal. So it hadn't been a dream. She had really died, and there really were angels, and now one was in the room with her, looking almost solid except at the edges. And he had come to †¦ â€Å"Why did you come here?† she said. He made a noise that, if he hadn't been an angel, Gillian would have called a snort. â€Å"You don't think I ever really left, do you?† he said chidingly. â€Å"I mean, think about it. How did you manage to recover from freezing without even needing to go to the hospital? You were in severe hypothermia, you know. The worst. You were facing pulmonary edema, ventricular fibrillation, the loss of a few of your bits†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He wiggled his fingers and waggled his feet. That was when Gillian realized he was standing several inches off the floor. â€Å"You were in bad shape, kid. But you got out of it without even frostbite.† Gillian looked down at her own ten pink fingers. They were tinglingly over-sensitive, but she didn't have even one blood blister. â€Å"You saved me.† He gave a half grin and looked sheepish. â€Å"Well, it's my job.† â€Å"To help people.† â€Å"To help you.† A barely acknowledged hope was forming in Gillian's mind. He never really left her; it was his job to help her. That sounded like†¦ Could he be †¦ Oh, God, no, it was too corny. Not to mention presumptuous. He was looking sheepish again. â€Å"Yeah. I don't know how to put it, either. But it is true, actually. Did you know that most people think they have one even when they don't? Somebody did a poll, and ‘most people have an inner certainty that there is some particular, individual spirit watching over them.' The New Agers call us spirit guides. The Hawaiians call us aumakua†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're a guardian angel,† Gillian whispered. â€Å"Yeah. Your guardian angel. And I'm here to help you find your heart's desire.† â€Å"I-† Gillian's throat dosed. It was too much to believe. She wasn't worthy. She should have been a better person so that she would deserve some of the happiness that suddenly spread out in front of her. But then a cold feeling of reality set in. She wasn't a better person, and although she was sure enlightenment and whatever else an angel thought your heart's desire was, was terrific, well †¦ in her case†¦ She swallowed. â€Å"Look,† she said grimly. â€Å"The things I need help with-well, they're not exactly the kinds of things angels are likely to know about.† â€Å"Heh.† He grinned. He leaned over in a position that would have unbalanced an ordinary person and waved an imaginary something over her head. â€Å"You shall go to the ball, Cinderella.† A wand. Gillian looked at him. â€Å"Now you're my fairy godmother?† â€Å"Yeah. But watch the sarcasm, kid.† He changed to a floating position, his arms clasping his knees, and looked her dead in the eye. â€Å"How about if I say I know your heart's desire is for David Blackburn to fall madly in love with you and for everyone at school to think you're totally hot?† Heat swept up Gillian's face. Her heart was beating out the slow, hard thumps of embarrassment- and excitement. When he said it out loud like that, it sounded extremely shallow†¦ and extremely, extremely desirable. â€Å"And you could help with that?† she choked out. â€Å"Believe it or not, Ripley.† â€Å"But you're an angel.† He templed his fingers. â€Å"The paths to enlightenment are many. Grasshopper. Grasshopper? Maybe I should call you Dragonfly. You are sort of iridescent. There're lots of other insects, but Dung-Beetle sounds sort of insulting. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I've got a guardian angel who sounds like Robin Williams, Gillian thought. It was wonderful. She started to giggle uncontrollably, on the edge of tears. â€Å"Of course, there's a condition,† the angel said, dropping his fingers. He looked at her seriously. His eyes were like the violet-blue at the bottom of a flame. Gillian gulped, took a scared breath. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You have to trust me.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"Sometimes it won't be so easy.† â€Å"Look.† Gillian laughed, gulped again, steadied herself. She looked away from his eyes, focusing on the graceful body that was floating in midair. â€Å"Look, after all I've seen†¦ after you saved my life-and my bits †¦ how could I not trust you?† She said it again quietly. â€Å"How could I ever not trust you?† He nodded. Winked. â€Å"Okay,† he said. â€Å"Let's prove it.† â€Å"Huh?† Slowly the feeling of awed incredulity was fading. It was beginning to seem almost normal to talk to this magical being. â€Å"Let's prove it. Get some scissors.† â€Å"Scissors?† Gillian stared at the angel. He stared back. â€Å"I don't even know where any scissors are.† â€Å"Drawer to the left of the silverware drawer in the kitchen. A big sharp pair.† He grinned like Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother. Gillian wasn't afraid. She didn't decide not to be, she simply wasn't. â€Å"Okay,† she said and went down to get the scissors. The angel went with her, floating just behind her shoulder. At the bottom of the stairs were two Abyssinian cats, curled up head to toe like the Yin-Yang symbol. They were fast asleep. Gillian nudged one gently with one toe, and it opened sleepy crescents of eyes. And then it was off like a flash-both cats were. Streaking down the side hall, falling over each other, skidding on the hardwood floor. Gillian watched with her mouth open. â€Å"Balaam's ass,† the angel said wisely. â€Å"I beg your pardon?† For a moment Gillian thought she was being insulted. â€Å"I mean, animals can see us.† â€Å"But they were scared. All their fur-I've never seen them like that before.† â€Å"Well, they may not understand what I am. It happens sometimes. Come on, let's get the scissors.† Gillian stared down the side hall for a moment, then obeyed. â€Å"Now what?† she said as she brought the scissors back to her room. â€Å"Go in the bathroom.† Gillian went into the little bathroom that adjoined her bedroom and flicked on the light. She licked dry lips. â€Å"And now?† she said, trying to sound flippant. â€Å"Do I cut off a finger?† â€Å"No. Just your hair.† In the mirror over the sink, Gillian saw her own jaw drop. She couldn't see the angel, though, so she turned around. â€Å"Cut my hair? Off?† â€Å"Off. You hide behind it too much. You have to show the world that you're not hiding anymore.† â€Å"But-† Gillian raised protective hands, looking back in the mirror. She saw herself, pale, delicate boned, with eyes like wood violets-peering out from a curtain of hair. So maybe he had a point. But to go into the world naked, without anything to duck behind, with her face exposed†¦ â€Å"You said you trusted me,† the angel said quietly. Gillian chanced a look at him. His face was stem and there was something in his eyes that almost scared her. Something unknowable and cold, as if he were withdrawing from her. â€Å"It's the way to prove yourself,† he said. â€Å"It's like taking a vow. If you can do this part, you're brave enough to do what it takes to get your heart's desire.† He paused deliberately. â€Å"But, of course, if you're not brave enough, if you want me to go away †¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No,† Gillian said. Most of what he was saying made sense, and as for what she didn't understand-well, she would have to have faith. I can do this. To show that she was serious, she took the open scissors, bracketed the pale blond curtain at a level with her ear, and squeezed them shut. Her hair just folded around the scissors. â€Å"Okay.† The angel was laughing. â€Å"Hold onto the hair at the bottom and pull. And try less hair.† He sounded like himself again: warm and teasing and loving-helpful. Gillian let out her breath, gave a wobbly smile, and devoted herself to the horrible and fascinating business of cutting off long blond chunks. When she was done, she had a silky blond cap. Short. It was shorter than Amy's hair, almost as short as J.Z. Oberlin's hair, the girl at school who worked as a model and looked like a Calvin Klein ad. It was really short. â€Å"Look in the mirror,† the angel said, although Gillian was already looking. â€Å"What do you see?† â€Å"Somebody with a bad haircut?† â€Å"Wrong. You see somebody who's brave. Strong. Out there. Unique. Individualist. And, incidentally, gorgeous.† â€Å"Oh, please.† But she did look different. Under the ragged St. Joan bob, her cheekbones seemed to stand out more; she looked older, more sophisticated. And there was color in her cheeks. â€Å"But it's still all uneven.† â€Å"We can get it smoothed out tomorrow. The important thing is that you took the first step yourself. By the way, you'd better learn to stop blushing. A girl as beautiful as you has to get used to compliments.† â€Å"You're a funny kind of angel.† â€Å"I told you, it's part of the job. Now let's see what you've got in your closet.† An hour later, Gillian was in bed again. This time, under the covers. She was tired, dazed, and very happy. â€Å"Sleep fast,† the angel said. â€Å"You've got a big day tomorrow.† â€Å"Yes. But wait.† Gillian tried to keep her eyes open. â€Å"There were some things I forgot to ask you.† â€Å"Ask.† â€Å"That crying I heard in the woods-the reason I went in. Was it a kid? And are they okay?† There was a brief pause before he answered. â€Å"That information is classified. But don't worry,† he added. â€Å"Nobody's hurt-now.† Gillian opened one eye at him, but it was dear he wasn't going to say any more. â€Å"Okay,† she said reluctantly. â€Å"And the other thing was-I still don't know what to call you.† â€Å"I told you. Angel.† Gillian smiled, and was immediately struck by a jaw-cracking yawn. â€Å"Okay. Angel.† She opened her eyes again. â€Å"Wait. One more thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But she couldn't think of it. There had been some other mystery she'd wanted to ask about, something that had to do with Tanya, with Tanya and blood. But she couldn't summon it up. Oh, well. She'd remember later. â€Å"I just wanted to say-thank you.† He snorted. â€Å"You can say it anytime. Get this through your head, kid: I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here tomorrow morning.† He began to hum a Blind Melon song. † I'll always be there when you wake†¦ .' Yeah, yeah, yeah.† Gillian felt warm, protected†¦ loved. She fell asleep smiling. The next morning she woke early and spent a long time in the bathroom. She came down the stairs feeling self-conscious and lightheaded-literally. With her hair gone her neck felt as if it were floating. She braced herself as she walked into the kitchen. Neither of her parents was there, even though her father was usually having breakfast by now. Instead, a girl with dark hair was sitting at the kitchen table, bent closely over a calculus textbook. â€Å"Amy!† Amy glanced up and blinked. She squinted, blinked again, then jumped up, standing an inch taller than Gillian. She moved forward, her eyes huge. Then she screamed.

Leap Motion: the Future Is Now Essay

The next destination on our path to creating technology beyond the current human comprehension; is it a massive super weapon to dominate our rivals? Is it a horde of medical nanobots, which can repair your body from the inside out? Nope. This little box, about the size of an iPhone, is the Leap Motion, a completely hands-free virtual reality mouse. It may not be as nice as the nanobots, but it’s definitely useful for the common nerd! When plugged into the USB port of your computer and its software installed, this device creates a 3D interaction space around it’s sensor bar, containing an area of approximately eight cubic feet. Leap Motion Inc. , the developer of Leap Motion, claims this device is able to sense and track your individual finger, hand, and arm movements within one hundredth of a millimeter. It can differentiate between fingers, thumbs, and pens/pencils, and react differently depending on which was moved. Though I personally feel this would take some practice to get used to, Leap Motion Inc. ssures on its website that the Leap Motion is â€Å"Intuitive and easy to use†, as well as saying â€Å"No one needs an instruction manual for their hands. † Leap Motion’s inspiration came from 3D computer modeling. The developers felt that the mouse and keyboard were impeding the process, and thus the light bulb flicked on. Leap Motion Inc. ’s target consumer group is â€Å"Everyone! † Several of the examples listed on the official site, linked in the footer, are artists, engineers, gamers, surgeons, and private consumers. This brand new technology has several possible uses, in addition to bringing Tom Cruise-esque1 control to our computers. Imagine if you will, a surgery room. A doctor is preforming a liver transplant on a patient, and right in the most critical part of the operation, the patient flatlines. The doctor is confused. He did everything right, and he doesn’t know what caused the complication. He turns around and, without removing his gloves, turns on a laptop computer and does a search of the patient’s medical files, to find that he/she is allergic to the particular anesthesia they used. A quick shot of adrenaline is enough to save their life-thanks to a speedy response. This scenario, though explained in detail by myself, was one of several featured by the Leap Motion webpage. I believe that this technology will quickly gain ground in the market, and improvements will be continued to be created. Perhaps Leap Motion Inc. will expand to be the Apple of the 21st century,2 eh? This might be a good time to invest in some stock, in my opinion (Actually, I attempted to find their stock, and they aren’t listed, at least not yet). Unfortunately, this is about all the information that’s been currently released on the Leap Motion. There is no Wikipedia page for it yet, and Leap Motion Inc. is being very selective about the information it releases. Currently, the Leap Motion is available for preorder, with an expected release sometime during the beginning of the 2013 year. The Leap Motion’s preorder for $69. 99 USD, and is available on the official website which is, again, linked in the footer. I hope to follow this, and to definitely purchase its stock when it becomes available.