Passing of gun violence measures by Obama in 2013

I fully agree with the desire by president Obama to pass new gun violence measures even as we usher in 2013. The recent spate of killings by gunmen leave no option but to adopt stricter legislations that will cut down deaths related to gunshots.  What is your take on this? Leave your comments below.

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Gangnam Style

"Gangnam Style" (Korean: 강남스타일, IPA: [kaŋnam sɯtʰail]) is a K-pop single by the South Korean musician PSY. The song was released in July 2012 as the lead single of his sixth studio album PSY 6 (Six Rules), Part 1, and debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Chart. On December 21, 2012, at around 15:50 UTC, "Gangnam Style" became the first video in the history of the Internet to be viewed more than a billion times, and it is the most watched video on YouTube, after surpassing Justin Bieber's single "Baby"

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangnam_Style

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How to avoid plagiarism-important points to note

             When consulting other people’s writings, always acknowledge them regardless of who they are!

•  Deal with search engines and websites with extra caution since they can be easily accessed and copied. However, you still need to dignify the author/ originator/ developer of the work being consulted.
•  Paraphrase to demonstrate your adequate comprehension of your thoughts and knowledge. Nonetheless, you equally need to reference if they are not your personal thoughts.
•  Long quotations should be avoided. They do not demonstrate thorough understanding of the text.
•  Be keen with secondary sources – as much as possible try to locate the source so that you are not merely saying what one writer said about another.
•  Get into the habit of proper citing. for instance,  author & date (Harvard and APA) or author and page number (for MLA citations). 
•  You need to make sure that your reference and bibliography lists are properly compiled. If your list contains less than THREE texts that are original, then it may not be adequate.
•  Seek assistance or further guidance if doubtful or puzzled by the technicalities.
•  Test your drafts with software or tutors/lecturers.
•  Ultimately, be confident in your personal creation and capability because it is needed by other people as well!

Is this insightful? let us hear from you by leaving your comments below!

Complex messages in large organizations will always be misinterpreted

              Large organizations are usually faced with the need to process several messages in order to enhance smooth running. For example, it is worth to mention that effective working of an organization is determined by effective flow of information among employees, management and clients.  Therefore, it is prudent for the management of large organizations to simplify message that are shared across so that the needed feedback can be obtained.  

            As a matter of fact, the management of an organization can develop a message platform capable of embodying the intrinsic goals or activities of an organization.  It is also highly recommended that all forms of messages that are sent and received within an organization ought to have clear structures. In other words, they should be easily understood and interpreted by the recipient. Although the ideas or information contained in these messages may be complex in nature, it is still vital to simplify the language content of such messages. In the case of verbal communication where messages are passed from one person to another physically, it is necessary for the speaker to demonstrate credibility, authenticity and action while passing a given message.  In addition, the conveyor of the message should also understand that the points passed across in the coded message should be valid and easy to prove. False, misleading or exaggerated messages cannot be accepted by the recipients because they will be considered to be hollow and not worthy at all.
            In the case of large and well established organizations, passing messages to employees or the management should not take the form of a long twisted story. Moreover, verbal messages should not be narrated in the same way they appear in written formats because they may appear quite complex for most recipients. The speaker should have the ability to decode the encoded message so that it becomes easy to understand.
            Complex messages that have been successfully passed can be evaluate in terms of the following theoretical models and frameworks:

a.    The disparate activities of an organization are captured by the delivered message. The overall story of an organization is thereafter strengthened by the latter.

b.    The message is strengthened by the performance and overall activities of the organization.

c.    Both the management and employees of an organization can contribute and appreciate the messaging system. This can take place even if they do not utilize the same message characteristics. 

d.    The nature of messaging system used by an organization is adequately sustainable.

The above theoretical models and frameworks are hinged on the significance of effective communication in large-scale organizations.  As already mentioned, misinterpretation of complex messages is a common scenario and challenge facing many large organizations. Therefore, mutual understanding among all the stakeholders of an organization is critical.  The productivity and overall wellbeing of employees are also affected by the flow of information through the messaging system.
               Needless to say, clear, well articulated and coherent speech is of enormous import when facilitating effective communication in a large establishment. The issue of misinterpreting messages is mainly affected by lack of coherence in the messages being passed from one party to another. On the same note, various frameworks that have been used to elucidate effective communication in originations indicate that effective communication should be laced with facts. In other word, biasness is a prohibitive act that tends to make recipients of a given message to be reluctant. 
What is communication?
               Several models have been devised to expound the effective meaning of communication. For instance, when a piece of message is sent by an individual with the goal of evoking a response, the process is referred to as communication.  Hence, if the recipient interprets the message in the same way as it was initially intended by the sender, effective communication will take place. In addition, Wendy’s model asserts that fewer resources and minimal time are usually used when effective communication takes place.
               On the other hand, misinterpretation of a message can take place if the sent message is comprehended by the recipient according to his or her own contentment. Therefore, it is prudent to mention that effective understanding and interpretation of messages mainly depend on the communication process that has been followed.  The process usually begins with the sender. The latter is supposed to encode a given message before sending it. The encoding process may involve emotions or particular requests that may fit the intended recipients. After the process of encoding, the message is then sent to the expected audiences who are then supposed to decode and derive meaning from the meaning enclosed in the message. The recipients of a particular message are the expected to send feedback to the sender for the process of communication to be complete. This model is elaborated in the diagram below:

               From the above communication model, it is evident that large organizations can indeed suffer significant losses if messages are complex. For example, there are myriads of channels that messages pass before the final feedback can be obtained from the recipient (s). In addition, encoding and decoding messages that are already complex in nature may interfere with the overall interpretation of messages. In any case, senders and recipients of messages may have varying competences and skills needed to encode and decode messages. As a result, the outcome of these messages may still be affected especially in case whereby an organization is large.
Barriers

               The art of communicating has never been a simple undertaking. This explains why recipients of communication often misinterpret messages. As such, there are several barriers to communication that aggravate misunderstanding among employees and management of an organization. If large organizations can eliminate these barriers, then the levels of misinterpretation can also be remarkably minimized. 
               It is prudent to underscore the fact that large organizations often well endowed with diversity in terms of their workforce. Hence, it is possible to have some employees who have limitations in their individual perceptions and emotions. Besides, skills and competences at the workplace may also vary significantly. While diversity at the workplace is indeed applauded, negative characteristics may act as barriers to effective communication.
               A large organization is highly likely to use complex forms of communication in order to satisfy its performance and development needs. Thus, the nature and form of communication used may be a source of misunderstanding and consequent misinterpretation of messages.  Moreover, the communication interaction process may also be unique and elicit unexpected feedback especially to the sender.  Some of the factors that may lead to misinterpretation of messages in large organizations include individual mindsets of employees, attitudes, overexposure to data, past experiences, and stereotyping.  Moreover, other impediments to effective communication include personal and environmental issues, trust and empathy as well as perceptual filters.
               The aforementioned barriers to effective communication explain why large organizations are often at high risk of encountering frequent misinterpretation of messages. It is also vital to discuss the Lasswell’s communication model in order to appreciate how messages can be misinterpreted in large and well established organisations.
Lasswell’s communication model

               The Lasswell’s model of communication attempts to disclose how various channels are vital in the flow of messages. The model has been illustrated in the figure below:

The above model is one of the earliest theoretical models of communication adopted towards the end of 1940s.  According to Lasswell, communication follows specific channels before the final feedback is received. The model also elaborates various key players in the flow of communication. The Lasswell’s model has five key components. It begins with the communicator of the message. This is the person who give gives the message to the sender so that it can be delivered to the recipient.  Secondly, the actual message is a vital aspect in the flow of communication. The content of the message constitutes what the sender will deliver to the recipient. In other words, the sender will have to speak about the message. The next channel is the audience or receiver of the message. In addition, the channel or medium of communication is also a vital aspect according to Lasswell’s model. Finally, the feedback process completes a given channel of communication. At this point, the recipient has to respond to the message and offer relevant feedback.
               According to this model, understanding messages in large organisations can easily be experienced. Hence, misunderstanding and consequent misinterpretation of such is rife in such organisations.  

The media and stereotyping

Gender roles are likely to make people develop various stereotypes. For example, there are roles that are uniquely and separately designated for males and females. On the same note, masculinity refers to physical characteristics of a man, and therefore, if a female has masculine features, she may be perceived indifferently in society. This explains why the media has a tendency of branding people with masculine features to be gays or homosexuals. In most cases, the print media and radios do not have capacities to stereotype people. However, televisions and movies have highly been used to categorize people as gay, feminine or muscular in a negative manner.
            The media has for a long time been associated with creation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) themes. In addition, the study of LGBT is important because it enlightens people on how society has become dynamic. The media has also been perceived as the center where negative perceptions about this group of people are created. As a result, there are numerous stereotypes associated with this category of people in the modern society. Out of the many categories of media broadcasts, television and movies are widely known to reinforce negative perceptions on people who belong to LGBT category.
       Do you agree or disagree with the above observations? Let's have your comments below! 

Stereotyping people can be harmful because it can transform slight assumptions on people to perceived realities. Such stereotypes are capable of perpetuating inequality and social prejudice in society.  However, it is imperative to note that stereotyping through the media is sometimes inevitable. In the case of television, stereotyping occurs through advertisements, news bulletins and entertainment. For films, stereotyping has been used as a form of marketing. The stereotypical codes give TV and film audiences a common and quick way of understanding a particular person.

In most cases, stereotypical codes focus on ethnicity, social role, sexual orientation, occupation, race and gender. Most often, the groups that are being stereotyped may not defend themselves. They are usually the minority and raising their voices may make little impact. However, there are some measures which have been instituted to help reduce stereotyping.

There are those who have a common tendency of thinking that the way people think and cat can be uniform across the globe. This is not true because people are diverse and their mindsets also vary. This is mostly applicable in homosexuality whereby gays and lesbians are viewed to be outside the mainstream or dominant culture. The dominant culture in this case refers to marriage and love relationships between people of different gender. With the emergence of gothic culture, it is probable to categorize them as being weird or abnormal. Same sex marriages and behavioral patterns are prevalent in virtually all cultures.   As Carroll (2009) documents, “same sex behavior is found in every culture, and its prevalence remains about the same” (p.290).   

Media is a viable source of information in society such that televisions and films are very influential due to both sound and visual effect. These two mediums of communication are crucial in symbolic annihilations of lesbians and gays. Moreover, films and TVs tend to avoid integrating gays and lesbians in their programs for fear of offending advertisers, target audiences as well as investors. This kind of portrayal is not desirable because it denies them their human rights. The fact that they belong to a new generation culture does not mean that they should not enjoy their rights.

With their visual effects, the two mediums of communication cultivate a perception that homosexuals are bad elements in society. They should not be given a chance to be heard if they have views to rise. Due to fear of loosing audience and revenues, these two mediums of communication edit their programs to extent that audiences place homosexuals under the category of abhorred people.

The issue of sexual orientation has been used as an indicator of villainy and deviance in children’s movies. If children are to be shown movies that portray homosexuals as bad characters in society, then, they would grow up hating them. A negative perception is cultivated in such children. Such kind of stereotypes can instigate violence in society. For example, a gay male may not be welcomed in a party. It is only a question of ethics. Homosexuals are also put as either victims or villains in movies. They are depicted as belonging to a weird or foreign culture that cannot be tolerated. It is rare to have a movie that has the main character being gay or lesbian.

            If a girl begins to demonstrate some signs of male characteristics, she is referred to as a ‘tom-boy’. It is like a taboo to show such kinds of signs in a girl. On the other hand, if a male does not have masculine features, he is seen as an outcast. All of these perceptions are obtained from the media, and especially televisions and movies. Besides, media houses have for a long time helped to construct and reinforce stereotypical ideas about masculinity and men. From what is portrayed in the media, it is possible for people to dismiss others on the basis of whether they have masculinity or are feminine.

Televisions and movies through their visual effects help define ‘a real man’. During advertisements, there are some particular aspects of man that are portrayed. A man who fails to have certain forms of male features may not be shown on TV or may not be considered for a film. Moreover, the marketing companies have started to object men in the same manner women have been objected them for long. The fitness of a man, his muscles and general outlook count a lot in determining whether he is to feature in a program or not.

A research study titled, Attitudes toward stereotypical versus counter-stereotypical gay men and lesbians indicates that 662 confessed gays, lesbians and bisexuals had contended with victimization in the society. 20% of those reported having faced criminals because of their sexual orientation. In the year 2005, Federal Bureau had reported 1,171 hate crime offenses of people perceived to be of homosexual orientation. This is the kind of segregation that has existed in the society. The major problem is because media and mostly electronic media show homosexuals as people who have undertaken ‘abnormal’ directions of life. They are not part of the mainstream culture. The only solution to this is for governments to put up institutions that can help people understand that everybody ought to enjoy unlimited human rights. Forums can also help eradicated the notions cultivated by media about gay and lesbians and institute in the minds of people a culture of tolerance.

To recap it all, it is imperative to note that gender stereotypes are discouraging the minorities to invest in businesses. No particular person should be segregated on the basis of masculinity. However, the contemporary society seems not to be careful on categorizing people on gender and most importantly on femininity and masculinity. The best solution out of this tricky situation is to invest in education of young generation on how to accept all categories of people in society.

Reflection on Domestic Violence

          It appears as if there is massive human rights violation especially among immigrant women who are married by some abusive American natives. In the past, domestic violence was mainly dominant among the natives. Although there are legislations that have been put in place  in place to make sure that rights of immigrant women are not abused, it is definitely a cumbersome legal process to curtail this kind of human rights abuse. For instance, it is worth noting that most of the women victims find it difficult to resist any kind of domestic violence from their male spouses because they fear being deported. For most of these victims, they settled in the foreign states in order to seek greener pastures. Hence, any slight idea of going back to their native countries is highly rejected. 
       On the other hand, the civil society groups that advocate for human rights in the United States have indeed played their role in terms of championing for basic rights among victims of domestic violence. In spite of these campaigns, it may still take a lot of time and resources for individual cases of domestic violence to be addressed. This difficulty is perhaps attributed by two main challenges. Firstly, there are numerous cases of immigrant couples who are abused domestically. As a result, it makes it cumbersome for domestic violence courts to handle such cases promptly. Secondly, lack of willingness to file law suits among  some victims of domestic violence has significantly hindered the process of curtailing the vice. 
       Therefore, it will take some lengthy period of time before all cases of domestic violence are addressed. Needless to say, there are cases whereby racism still plays an important part in influencing the judgments leveled against perpetrators of domestic violence.    

Tips on how to write a History essay

         For students writing history essays for coursework, knowing how to write history essays is very important – as is knowing how to write an essay conclusion. A history essay assigned as coursework task is written to discuss any subject or topic related, either directly or indirectly, to the history topic discussed in class.

Writing a history essay, to be considered well-written and to earn a student high marks in class, should have the following characteristics:

• Focus and relevant content
• Must be unique in its interpretation
• Presents a thorough analysis of the topic
• Should include relevant historical evidence
• Must be organised and logical
• Must be accurate and written clearly and in a coherent manner

So, what should students pay attention to when writing a history essay? Here are a few tips, guidelines and pointers on how to write a history essay.

• Answer the essay question precisely. To do this, one should have a thorough understanding of the question.
• Provide a good thesis statement to open the essay.
• When writing the body of the essay, ensure to provide credible historical evidence to support the thesis statement.
• Close out the essay with a well-thought out conclusion.
• Ensure that all facts included in the essay are relevant to the topic.
• Avoid the use of flowery language. Aim to be concise and be straight to the point.
• Do not include any facts, no matter how interesting, if they are irrelevant to the topic.
• Avoid interjecting statements that are very opinionated. Stick to the facts.

If you want to know the basics of writing good essays, you may try to learn how to write a university essay or how to write UKessays. For additional essay writing tips and techniques, you may try to familiarise yourself on how to write an economics essay, how to write a law essay and how to write a critical essay to sharpen your essay writing skills. Aside from our site, there are plenty of other online information databases as well as web portals that especially cater to these concerns. From these various online sources, try to follow the tips and guidelines provided when writing your history essay and you will be on your way to completing a well-written academic piece.

writing tips

I hope this is helpful. You can also visit our site and then leave your comments below.

Ten principles/points for critiquing psychotherapy research

Most of the psychotherapy researchers focus exclusively on various clinical interventions but they fail to acknowledge psychotherapists who utilize their research findings. In most cases, these researchers do not find the relevance of the experiences, skills and personality of therapists. This essay describes some of the features that psychotherapy researchers should know in order to ensure that the various treatment groups are accorded the much needed interventions.

One of the critical issues affecting psychotherapy research is the lack of proper supervision and training. This is caused by the absence of a research literature body that can compare the appropriateness of the methods used in training and supervision. Most of the training models used in psychotherapy research are traditional in nature. In addition, majority of the supervisors normally use their personal experiences to supervise psychotherapy research. It is also pertinent to note that training programs do not concentrate much on the topic under supervision. Piper (2004) argues that in order to come up with a valid psychotherapy research, there is need to use a simple and appropriate approach that is capable of addressing all the implications associated with psychotherapy research. Specifically, a straightforward approach should be adopted since it is capable of providing a therapy list with more efficacy evidence.

Another critique to psychotherapy research is that these researchers aim at maximizing the treatment power. This implies that efforts are only put in place to countercheck the factors that affect therapists. The latter is executed by developing treatment manuals that can be used collectively on patients from a specific diagnostic group. It is evident that this type of research approach is not capable of providing the necessary attention especially on the curative roles that are linked to functions of therapists largely due to the fact that it appears to be independent of the available treatment procedures and models.

Psychotherapy research can also be assessed in terms of the clinical trials that aim at controlling the effects of therapy. This practice is desired mainly because it may reach a point where all therapists in a trial are able to operate at equal levels. This ensures that therapist effects are taken as error sources rather than treating them like variance sources.

Psychotherapy research mainly involves brief therapies and fails to recognize the need for long-term therapies. The research reports are written tentatively and contain major limitations that do not provide any form of inspirational confidence to the clinicians.

Psychotherapy research can also be criticized in terms of the research element itself which seems to be driven more by political reasons and funding patterns other than being based on the true promise of improving psychotherapy.

The developers of models used in conducting psychotherapy research are more interested in showing the relevance of their models. This might be attributed to the pressure subjected to the developers especially when they are expected to add credibility to the treatment approaches.

Psychotherapy research is also criticized from the perspective of relevance of scientific measures that may not be available. These researchers also focus more on the therapeutic techniques and fail to recognize the value of relationships between clients and therapist. Lastly, researchers usually ignore some of the key variables that help in making sure that the psychotherapy study is more manageable. The studies that need to be incorporated in psychotherapy complexities are also rarely done.  

How to Write an MLA Paper

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   The link between Islamic art and religion has been brought out clearly in the 3-part DVD series The Glories of Islamic Art. The movie attempts to expound how Islamic movements led major players such as Sinian in the field of art. In addition, it develops a memorable aesthetic heritage that has withstood the test of time and events. The stunning film also depicts major milestones that have been achieved through the instrument of Islamic faith. Although faith and art have been interlinked throughout the various themes in the movie, it is profound to note that the two aspects are quite distinct to some extent. Some of the groundbreaking themes explored in the 3-part DVD series include Ottomans of Istanbul, Sunni Mamluks of Cairo, Shi'ite Fatimids and Umayyads of Damascus. They all existed between the 9th and 16th centuries. The Citadel of Cairo was also an outstanding feature of Islamic art during this period of time.

      A wide array of audience is capable of simulating the contents of the 3-part DVD series due to the compelling storytelling approach and unsurpassed beauty adopted throughout the film. In addition, Christianity, Judaism and Islam have been correlated in the movie by Akbar Ahmed in terms of shared values and trust. From the movie, it is evident that between 1250 and 1517, both Syria and Egypt were ruled by the Mamluks before the Ottomans overpowered them due to military might (Yalman 96). Nonetheless, the Islamic society of Egypt was still dominated by the Mamluks even after being overthrown by the Ottomans. Some historical records also indicate that their presence in Egypt was eminent as early as the 9th century. During their rule, they managed to secure Egypt and Syria by crashing down the influence of both the Mongols and Kingdoms of Outremer. By the onset of the middle Ages, the Mamluks had already converted Cairo into a pure city of Islamic influence. In course of the same period of time, scholarship, architecture, craftsmanship and unlettered soldier-stateman’s rule flourished. It is against this backdrop that this paper takes an incisive look at the Islamic art that was developed by the Mamluks of Cairo with cross reference to the movie The Glories of Islamic Art.
     Between 1250 and 1260, the kingdom of Ayyubid was outwitted in Syria and Egypt due to the dominance of Mamluk Sultanate. By this time, slave trade was the main source of revenue and manpower for the Ayyubid sultans. The governing class also incorporated some slaves who were deemed to be fit enough to lead. Hence, family succession was not the only political leadership system in place. The Ayyubid strongholds that had been left around Mediterranean region were finally inherited by the Mamluks. Due to the strong influence of the latter, a very powerful Islamic empire was created. This empire embraced both Islamic art and religious fundamentalism in extending its dominance beyond Egypt. For instance, major urban establishments such as Medina and Mecca were influenced by the Mamluks’ rule in Cairo, Egypt. It is also worth to mention that the Islamic world benefited a lot from the artistic work, cultural and economic activities that were centrally located in Cairo as the capital of Mamluk (Atil 102).
The different lines of dynasties during the Mamluk’s rule in Cairo necessitated the division of Mamluk’s history into two distinct eras. The first era lasted between 1250 and 1382 and was dominated by Bahri Mamluks. This group of Mamluk had originated from the southern parts of Russia. The second historical era of the Mamluks was ruled by the Burji Mamluks. It lasted between 1382 and 1517. They are also believed to have originated from the Caucasian Circassian race.
The Islamic Art among the Bahri Mamluks
To begin with, it is vital to mention that the whole reign of Mamluk period was defined by the Islamic art and architecture that were developed by Bahri Mamluks. Moreover, the generous patronage by the Mamluks was mainly boosted by spices and silk since they were major items of exchange during the east-west trade. Hence, intense Islamic art and architectural activities that developed in spite of the internal strife that was eminent during that time. The Ayyubids masterminded most of the artistic techniques based on Islamic architecture from various parts of the world (Atil 107).
The new form of Islamic art was also given higher momentum by refugees who were migrating from the west and east. Some of the specialized art activities that were embraced included textiles, woodwork, inlaid metal work, gilded and enameled glass.
     Nonetheless, the Cairo Citadel can be considered as one of the most profound Islamic art and architecture ever constructed during the reign of Mamluk as depicted in the 3-part DVD series. It is located at the middle of Cairo City in Egypt at Mokattam Hill. The choice of this location for the construction of this Islamic fortification was largely influenced by the strategic view of Cairo coupled with fresh breeze blowing from the Mediterranean Sea. It is currently being used as mosque and museum due to its pre-historic nature.
The Ayyubid ruler by the name Salah-al-Din fortified this Islamic art of Cairo before 1183 CE so that it could be safe from the attacks launched by Crusaders. The Islamic art also had a lot of significance to the religion bearing in mind that it signified Islamic presence and authority in Cairo. As a result, both Fustat and Cairo were surrounded by a wall after Fatimid Caliphate was defeated. The wall was supposed to house the Citadel. It is also interesting to note that the Egyptian government used the Citadel of Cairo as its centre of administration until the nineteenth century. The choice of this Islamic art was mainly attributed by its secure nature and effectiveness to offer protection against external aggression. According to the synopsis of the 3-part DVD series, the Citadel was used by the Egyptian government up to 1860s when the Abdin Palace was constructed and adopted as the new administrative centre by Khedive Ismail who was the then ruler of Egypt.
      Even after the death of Saladin, the wall that he had commissioned some years back was still under construction. The wall was still being constructed in 1238 although by 1184, the Citadel had already been accomplished. It was given more importance because it was an Islamic art that signified both the significance and dominance of that religion. According to the DVD series, it is definite that the Citadel was highly valued.
The Well of Joseph supplied the much needed plenty of water to the Citadel of Cairo. The well was about 280 feet in depth. It is still an outstanding feature at the Citadel. The inner parts of the well are wounded by 300 stairs in form of spiral constructions in order to facilitate easy access. This also explains why it has been referred to as the Well of the Spiral (Ades 225).
      There were myriads of aqueducts positioned on the ground surface that assisted in supplying water to the Citadel. Adequate water supply to the Citadel was later improved during the reign of Nassir who channeled much of the water needed from the River Nile. However, the addition of mosque to the Citadel was the major contribution of Nassir. The Ayyubid structure that was built by Nassir was later converted into a mosque. By 1335, the structure had been modified several times to serve various functions (Ades 225). For instance, the southern enclosure of the structure was added by Nassir. Besides, the courtyard and harem comprised the residential area of the Citadel were all added during the reign of Nassir. However, the House of Gold and the Hall of Justice were constructed inside the Citadel by the Baybars even before Nassir made further modifications to the structure.
      The 19th century events that surrounded the Citadel are quite fascinating. For example, its summit was perched with the 1848 Mosque of Muhammad Ali. The latter explains the reason why it is sometimes referred to as the Muhammad Ali Citadel. Although the Mosque of Muhammad Ali was named after his second son, the naming was largely meant to eliminate all the Mamluk’s dynasty symbols.
The significance of Muhammad Ali during his reign is an important feature that has adorned the Citadel. The present day Citadel still offers a vivid reminder of the Ottoman architecture that was extensively used to construct the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Needless to say, the 19th century period witnessed the mosque as the largest structure within the Citadel especially after some sections of the Mamluk palace were destroyed (Ades 225). As a matter of fact, replacing the Mamluk palace with the mosque was a definite attempt to do away with the memories of past detested rulers. Moreover, the mosque of Muhammad Ali was adopted as the official mosque for the state, taking the place of the mosque of al-Nassir (Ades 225).
The Citadel also accommodates two other remarkable mosques. Since the Bahri Mamluk’s period, the Al-Nasir Muhammad Qala'un Mosque has been operational. Besides, the Mosque of Suleyman Pasha was also built inside the Citadel using the architectural standards borrowed from the Ottoman Empire.

                                                                   Works Cited
Ades, Harry. A Traveller's History of Egypt. Cairo: Arris Publishing Ltd, 2007. Print.
Atil, Esin. Renaissance of Islam: Art of the Mamluks. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution  Press, 1981. Print.
The Glories of Islamic Art. Ex. Dir. Akbar Ahmed. U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, Saban Center for Middle East Policy 2007. DVD.
Yalman, Suzan. "The Art of the Mamluk Period (1250–1517)". Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001. 85-103. Print.

PERSONAL INTERNET SECURITY

Can You Trust Your Browser With Your Passwords?
 Having your Web browser remember your passwords and/or credit card details can be convenient, but it poses some security risks. How much of a risk depends on which browser you’re using, whether you sync with other devices, and whether you’re using any of the browser's extra security features. Here are the main vulnerabilities in some of the most popular browsers—Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox—and ways you can protect against those weak spots.

Common Security Risks

The biggest problem with having your browser save your passwords involves prying eyes. Not only can other users who have access to your computer log in to your accounts and see your actual passwords or credit card details, but so can a thief if your computer, smartphone, or tablet gets lost or stolen. And the same risk applies if you haven’t properly erased your data from your PC when you get rid of it; whoever ends up with it next might be able to recover your information. Also, some viruses and malware can steal your saved passwords or credit card details.

As you’ve may have noticed, banking sites—and many others that deal with highly sensitive information—don’t let your browser save your password. However, if you use the same or a similar password on sensitive sites that you do on less-secure sites, someone else may be able to easily guess your banking password, for example.

Some browsers let you (or, potentially, thieves) view a list of your saved login credentials, including the site, username, and password. And for those that don’t, utilities like WebBrowserPassView can easily let you compile a list of them. This is handy if you forget a password or you want to evaluate all your passwords, but it's problematic if an intruder uses such software on your computer. Another way you (or thieves) can recover saved passwords is by using a utility like BulletsPassView to reveal the password behind a masked password field on a webpage or window.

In the next sections, we’ll take a look at three popular browsers—Internet Explorer 9, Chrome, and Firefox— to evaluate their credential-saving features, and discuss some tips for better securing them.

Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 offers the most basic password-saving functionality of the three browsers we’re covering. Its AutoComplete feature can also remember your name, address, and other data you type into Web forms or search fields. It doesn’t provide a way for you to view saved passwords from within the browser settings: It only allows you to change the main settings and delete all AutoComplete history.

Not being able to view a list of the passwords can help prevent casual snooping. And even though you can still log in to sites the browser saved the password for, you can’t by default view the password itself. As mentioned before, however, a determined hacker can use a utility to see a list of all your saved passwords or to reveal the actual characters behind the password field on a login page.

Unfortunately, Internet Explorer 9 doesn’t offer a native synchronization feature to keep your settings and saved data synced across multiple computers or devices, but, from a security standpoint, at least that’s one less security risk you have to worry about.

Internet Explorer 10 in Windows 8 will provide new password saving and syncing features, but it’s not yet clear if they will be available when you use Windows 7. When I tested the Release Previews of Internet Explorer 10 and Windows 8, I found that you can view and manage saved browser passwords using the improved Credential Manager in the Control Panel. And for security, before you can view the actual saved passwords you must reenter your Windows account password, which can help prevent casual snooping by others.

Windows 8 will also offer a new synchronization feature that lets you sync passwords for apps, websites, and networks—in addition to Windows settings and preferences—across your other Windows 8 computers and tablets. For security reasons, before you sync your passwords with a new computer or tablet, you must log in to a Microsoft site and approve the new device. And if you’ve specified a mobile number on your Microsoft account beforehand, you'll get a confirmation code texted to your mobile phone that you must enter on the Microsoft site before the trust is granted and passwords are synced.

Google Chrome 21

Google Chrome provides a more feature-rich password-saving feature than Internet Explorer does, as well as an autofill feature that can also keep track of your credit card details. But while these can be great time-saving features, they also pose more security risks.

Chrome lets you—or a thief for that matter—browse through the list of saved usernames and passwords (alphabetized by site name) or enter the site name into the search field to filter the list.

For privacy, Chrome masks each saved password with asterisks, but you can click the entry and press the Show button to reveal the actual password. You can also change the password, but unfortunately Chrome doesn’t sense password changes, so it won't prompt you when you log in to a site with a new password. You must go to the saved password entry and update it manually.

You can view a list of all saved addresses and credit card details, including the name on card, the account number, and the expiration date. Chrome partially masks your credit card numbers with asterisks, but you can click the entry and then click Edit to reveal the full number. The only card detail not saved is the card's security code, which is often—but not always—required to make purchases.

Unfortunately, Chrome doesn’t offer a master password feature like Firefox does in order to protect all your passwords and credit card details. Thus, anyone who’s logged on to your Windows account can view all the saved passwords and credit card details.

Chrome offers a syncing feature to keep most of your settings and saved data (including passwords, but not credit card details) synced across multiple computers and devices, but this creates another security vulnerability. By default, Chrome only requires you to enter your Google account password to set up a new computer or device to sync your browsing data. This is a great convenience; but if your Google account password is hacked, the intruder can potentially access a list of all your passwords unless you set a syncing passphrase, as we’ll discuss.

Chrome's sync settings.

To keep your saved passwords secured during syncing, Chrome encrypts them when they travel from your computers or devices to Google's servers (and vice-versa). You can also set the browser to encrypt all other synced data.

By default, Chrome uses your Google account password to encrypt and decrypt the synced data, but you can enter another passphrase if you want to add an extra layer of protection to your synced data. When you set up Chrome to sync on a new computer or device, you'll need to sign in with your Google account password and then also enter your encryption passphrase.

Firefox 14

Firefox offers advanced password-saving features that are even better than Chrome's. But while Firefox doesn’t natively support saving credit card details, at least that's one less security issue you need to worry about. As with Chrome, you can browse, search, and remove saved passwords via the Firefox settings.
Saved passwords in Firefox.

Though you can’t change the passwords in the settings, Firefox automatically senses password changes you've made elsewhere and asks if you want to update your password when you log on to a site with a password that’s different than what’s saved on your PC.

Unlike Chrome, Firefox lets you set a master password to encrypt and password-protect the saved password list.

Can You Trust Your Browser With Your Passwords?Firefox lets you set a "master password" to add an extra layer of security.

You must enter the master password the first time you use a saved password, once per browser session. Additionally, even though you enter the master password the first time, you must always enter it before you can view saved passwords via the list in the Firefox settings. This is a great feature to help prevent casual snooping of your passwords, and it even prevents most third-party utilities from recovering them.

Firefox can also sync your passwords, settings, and other saved data among multiple computers and devices.

This is similar to what Chrome provides, but by default Firefox encrypts all synced data instead of just your saved passwords. Additionally, there’s more security when you add a new computer or device to your Firefox Sync account. You can either enter a passcode from the new device into one that you've already set up, or take the recovery key from a device you've already set up and input it into the new device after logging in to your Firefox Sync account.

Summary

Internet Explorer 9 helps prevent casual snooping—there’s no list of saved passwords in the settings—but it doesn’t provide any advanced security features to prevent someone on your Windows account from using third-party utilities to recover your passwords.

Google Chrome 21 allows anyone on your Windows account to view your list of saved passwords and credit card details, so be careful who you let on. And if you sync your browsing data across multiple computers and devices, consider turning on encryption of all data and setting a custom passphrase for double-protection.

Firefox 14 also by default allows anyone on your Windows account to view your list of saved passwords, but you can create a master password to encrypt and protect them. And if you use the browser syncing feature, Firefox offers great security.

Of the three browsers we reviewed, I’d choose Firefox for the best password security thanks to its master-password feature, but I’m also eager to see the final version of Internet Explorer 10 for both Windows 7 and 8.

I’ll leave you with some additional tips to help you boost the security of your passwords:

Never save passwords or sync browser data on other people’s computers.
Try to use different passwords for each site—at least for banking and other sensitive accounts.
Password-protect your Windows account.
Create separate Windows accounts for each user, or at least for those you don’t fully trust.
For extended family or friends, utilize the Guest Windows account.
Use a good antivirus program and keep it updated.
Think about fully encrypting laptops, netbooks, and mobile devices.
Look into third-party password-management services like LastPass or KeePass.

Report Writing skills

Before becoming an academic discipline, report writing was (and still is) an essential part of an everyday practice, whether it was connected with finances, police offices, or medicine. The last one plays an essential part in the report writing evolution, for medicine is one of the oldest activities performed by people.

Medicine was practiced from the beginning of times, first unconsciously, and then with more responsibility. Medical reports were part of that responsibility. At firs, herbs were used to cure people, but as medical science opened new horizons, prominent medical doctors started reporting on important findings concerning the medical progress.

The English doctor and scientist of the XVII century, William Harvey, was the first one to report on the properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. His finding was a breakthrough in the world of medicine, and was followed by even more shocking and innovative reports from René Descartes, Rudolf Virchow, and Claude Bernard.

The more recent findings like evidence-based medicine, genomics, and pharmacology require even more report writing skills from the people that committed their life to medical studies.
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