I greatly simplified Carl Jung’s method of dream interpretation, proving that he was a true genius. You should take advantage of this new alternative.

The unconscious mind helps you in all ways, giving you information about your psychological condition, and about the psychological condition of those who are around you. You also have trustful information about the world, which you could never have otherwise. Only the unconscious mind shows you all hidden truths, without distortions.   

People who have constant nightmares are mentally ill. Those who have recurring dreams have an important obligation that they keep postponing. They will face the tragic consequences of their negligence in the future if they don’t take action.

Those who have dreams about their mother are influenced by their anti-conscience all the time. This means that they cannot control their behavior. The anti-conscience is the wild side of the human conscience, which generates mental illnesses within our human conscience. It appears in dreams as the dreamer’s mother because the anti-conscience is our primitive conscience, which is the result of the disorganized formation of the first live conscience.

Many times you will have information about the influence of the dreamer’s anti-conscience into their conscience by analyzing the characteristics of certain part of their personality that belongs to their wild side. All parts of the dreamers’ personality are represented by other people in their dreams.

There are numerous dream symbols that will give you a trustful image of the mental condition of those who will tell you their dreams. This alternative will be immensely helpful, especially if you are a psychologist. The unconscious mind does all the work for you, showing you exactly why someone has a certain psychological problem and how they can be cured.

You will also have objective information about your patients’ mental condition in your own dreams. This is information that you can trust because the unconscious mind has a divine origin. The unconscious wisdom proves God’s existence.

Even if you are not a psychologist, you can learn how to become a psychiatrist and psychologist by obeying the unconscious guidance. You can cure the people you love by translating their dreams for them. Everything only depends on your seriousness and on your obedience to the unconscious guidance.

Perhaps you don’t want to become a doctor and help others solve their psychological problems, but you surely need to know who they really are for many reasons. Before getting married, before accepting a business preposition, of before taking an important step in life, you must carefully analyze the personality of the person you are trusting.

Dream translation will show you if you can really trust someone, or if you must be careful because they are not really balanced as they seem to be. You will also be relieved in case you are afraid of someone who deserves your confidence.

Besides understanding the most important aspects of someone’s psychological condition thanks to the information given to you in the dream messages, you will also understand which issues are more important for each dreamer.

For example, those who are immature have many dreams about their past. Those who are in love have frequent dreams about the person they love. Those who are facing a difficult challenge have many vivid dreams about various dangers. All dreamers have a series of dreams about the most important issues in their lives, the same way they have a series of dreams about their psychological reality.

You should study the meaning of dreams for a while and have this precious knowledge for life. This knowledge will be your best tool in life and give you numerous advantages.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to accurately translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Learn more at:

http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

http://www.booksirecommend.com

The ability to reach large segments of the public is of great value in commerce, politics, and a society’s culture. The mass media are usually controlled by corporations (as in the United States) or by national governments (as in China). The mass-media industry employs professionals to conceive, produce, promote, and deliver communication products that are specifically designed to meet the goal of attracting large audiences. These products may be sold as objects (such as books—or downloaded e-books—or digital videodiscs [DVDs]) or exhibited for the price of a ticket or subscription (such as movies shown in cinemas or on premium or pay-for-view cable TV channels). Some services may be offered at no cash cost to consumers so as to create an audience for paid advertising (such as commercial television or radio broadcasts or Internet sites). Most newspapers and magazines are sold directly to the reader but depend on selling advertisements for their profitability. A growing number of newspapers and magazines are available online for no fee; this “freebie” has proved to be a challenge for the cash-strapped print media.

No communication technology is inherently a mass medium. Rather, it becomes such a medium through usage. Radio was invented at the end of the 19th century primarily for use as a two-way communication system to serve industrial shipping and naval operations. In the 1920s corporate decisions were made by several major electronics manufacturers to mass-produce inexpensive radio receivers for retail sale and to operate radio stations as incentives for consumers to buy those receivers. Thus radio broadcasting—a mass medium—was born; it quickly grew into the primary use of that medium. Television developed in the opposite way. It was first introduced to the general public as a mass medium in the late 1940s. Decades later the development of such supplementary appliances as the videocassette recorder and the home video camera allowed for its use as an interpersonal medium. The telephone has been an example of a medium of interpersonal communication that remained, primarily, just that. It was only occasionally used as a mass medium; telemarketers use computers to automatically dial thousands of phone numbers for the purpose of reaching a potential customer or playing recorded messages. Letter writing has historically been an interpersonal medium. Yet direct mailing of millions of letters of solicitation by post or by e-mail constitutes the use of the letter as a mass medium.

History

Mass media are essentially an industrial-era phenomenon. The first commercial printing industry during the early 18th century sprang up around London’s Grub Street. This is often cited as a beginning for mass media because of the recognizable economic system that was put into place. It was there that publishing found its early commercial applications; hand-operated printing presses were used to produce and reproduce thousands of copies of inexpensive literary products—including novels (”penny-dreadfuls”) and magazines. These were sold for profit to a growing audience of rudimentary readers. Publishing had previously depended on the clergy or the aristocracy for funding rather than on retail marketing.

A string of communication technologies were introduced during the 19th century and accelerated the development of the mass media. The invention of the steam-powered printing press (along with increasing literacy rates) gave rise to mass circulation of newspapers and magazines. These types of mass-produced print products—as well as books—were commonly available for sale in Europe and North America by the 1860s. Photography was invented in the 1820s. Methods for reproducing photographs in the print media were improved throughout the century and made such media ever more attractive to consumers. The development of still photography led to the invention of the motion picture. The cinema was an entirely new means of communication that showed great potential for mass-media application.

In the 1830s the telegraph was invented and was in practical use by the late 1840s. It was perhaps the single most important invention in the history of mass communication. It revolutionized existing media by supplying newspapers and magazines with a continuous stream of news dispatches from the region and even the nation. The Atlantic cable was completed in 1863; newspapers could then acquire information from around the world. Newspapers and magazines were bolstered by the resources of the telegraphic wire services and eventually achieved circulations numbering in the millions. Thus print became the first of the modern mass media.

Other types of media were gaining public attention on this scale by the turn of the 20th century. Silent movies became increasingly popular. Dramatic narratives provided the main audience draw, with the newsreel and the documentary film also garnering viewers. Attendance grew as the introduction of synchronous sound to feature films in 1927 married voice with picture.

The phonograph (invented in 1877) emerged as a mass medium as well. It achieved wider use as electrification of homes allowed for replacement of hand-cranked mechanical models. Sales of recordings reached mass proportions during the 1920s, with commercial radio used to popularize musical genres and to make stars of artists. The first U.S. commercial radio station went on the air in 1920. Radio networks linked stations in various parts of the country to carry a single program simultaneously by 1927.

By the mid-20th century, newspapers and magazines, movies, phonograph records, and radio programs were all conveniently available to most of the American population. These media provided many aspects of cultural learning to a sizable number of people. Eventually these mass media began to rival such traditional cultural determinants as family and religion. Some saw this as a natural and positive extension of democracy. Others criticized the mass media for failing to propagate existing culture and replacing it with a new mass culture based on consumerism at the expense of traditional or any other values.

Broadcast television emerged as the nexus of the mass media during the 1950s. It contained news, drama, cinema, music, and at least some content from all other mass media in a single, convenient home appliance. Television’s overwhelming functionality was soon dictating supplementary roles to other components of the mass media. Radio began to produce specialized programming for smaller target audiences. TV absorbed general-interest entertainment—from drama and comedy to variety—which had been among radio’s most popular attractions. Newspaper circulation had started to decline in the 1930s as radio journalism proved itself both faster and more popular. The number of daily U.S. newspapers began to drop precipitously with the spread of television. Most cities were left with only a single newspaper publisher. Many general-interest magazines disappeared as well; publishers sought the smaller and specialized audiences that television did not serve. Motion-picture attendance declined in the face of television’s at-home convenience.

Mass Media Today

Evolving technologies continue to drive the development of mass media. Instantaneous communication is a process that originated with the telegraph; it reached a milestone with the successful launchings of communications satellites into low Earth orbit. The first of these was Telstar 1 (1962). It orbited the Earth at a speed faster than the Earth revolves. This allowed for “windows” of time when video and audio transmissions could be made within a shifting orbital footprint. There are now dozens of high-capacity communications satellites in synchronous orbit; a reporter may attach a camera or microphone to a laptop computer and report live via satellite from virtually any location in the world.

The nationwide dissemination of cable TV was a process that took decades because of the necessity of seeking legal franchises in virtually every U.S. municipality. Cable subscription reached a saturation point in the late 1980s. The new mass medium began to remake TV in much the same way that the introduction of TV had remade radio and magazines. Cable channels sought smaller audiences with special target interests for advertisers specifically intent on reaching these audiences. But that changed in the first decade of the 21st century; both the number of cable channels and the size of audiences grew. Millions turned to cable news channels for presidential election coverage in 2008.

The 1990s, meanwhile, were marked by an explosive growth in online services for people who used computers and had access to the Internet. Critics hoped that the Internet might offer an alternative or even a counterforce to mass-media influence over public taste and public opinion (with e-mail, newsgroups, and chat rooms).

Mass-media ownership was characterized by concentration of ownership through mergers and acquisitions in the late 20th and the early 21st century. In the United States a consistent trend of deregulation since the 1980s left most of the television industry (as well as other mass media) in the hands of fewer than a dozen companies.

The 2001 merger of Time Warner—an integrated mass-media company with holdings in publishing, film and television, radio, recording, and just about every other form of mass communication—with America Online (AOL), the then-largest Internet service provider, epitomized this trend. This deal, however, was struck at the height of enthusiasm for Internet and media stocks. When new technologies were created, new online providers jumped in. AOL began to lose many of its users. This was followed by highs and lows in the stock market; a recession ensued in 2007. Time Warner and AOL “divorced” in 2009. As part of the split, Time Warner kept the entertainment site TMZ (Thirty Mile Zone) as well as CNN (Cable News Network), HBO (Home Box Office), TBS (Turner Broadcasting System), and TNT (Turner Network Television).

Large media companies—such as General Electric, Westinghouse, News Corporation, and the Bertelsmann Group—also lost their luster by the end of the first decade of the new millennium. Their success had been fueled largely by a surplus of stock portfolios and the oversized presence—and dreams—of modern moguls.

Mass Media and Democracy

When mass-media ownership was in the hands of a limited number of companies, fewer communicators (and fewer types of communicators) were available to supply users with content. Although this changed with the advent of the Internet, television—both network and cable—remained the major source of news for many individuals. Political or social biases (whether perceived or actual) in the media have compelled some viewers to identify themselves in political terms—liberal, conservative, radical, reactionary. Many of these viewers, in turn, read or watch media material that accords with their own ideology.

The challenge to active participation in democracy was further compounded when the mass media seemed to be in concert about which issues to cover. Some critics think that the inclusion of foreign-based news organizations broadens the variety of American news coverage. Evidence of this appeared during the 2003 Iraq War; radio and television coverage included that by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The fact that a number of important American newspapers (and television stations) are moving to outsource foreign coverage in order to save money may have a significant effect on domestic issues in the future.

The diminishing coverage of world events is the result of budget constraints; it may also be caused by physical inaccessability to newsworthy places because of censorship or lack of a free press. Foreign reporters were banned from Iran after the controversial presidential election of 2009. Yet thousands of videos taken by Iranian citizens during election protests were uploaded to the social media site YouTube and were broadcast on TV stations and Internet sites around the world. In this way, a degree of public access to world news is growing; making this growth possible are new technology and participation of individuals who make their images available to the mass media.

The Effects of Mass Media

Because of their central position as a source of cultural and social learning, the mass media are easily, and often, blamed for many of society’s ills. Some researchers believe that the mass media shape the way people view the world, especially when people have little direct experience. Others point to the media as providing role models—positive and negative—imitated by members of the audience. The portrayal of violence in the media is perhaps the most prominent issue. Other behavioral areas are of concern as well, such as explicit sex or extremely coarse language. These arguments tend to be based on a couple of suppositions: one is that the experience of content presented by contemporary mass media differs in some qualitative way from material that people have been exposed to since the beginning of social communication; the other is that individuals will copy or be influenced by what they view. Attempts to hold mass-media corporations legally responsible for the criminal acts of the consumers of their products have failed. A general consensus has been reached that people will have to continue to be responsible for their own behaviors in the age of mass media.

                                                             THERE IS A WEBSITE CALLED ASK JEEVES FOR KIDS ,,,    IS ONE  EXAMPLE

      A CHILD CAN UTILIZE TO GAIN THE INFORMATION HE OR SHE WANTS ,,, THIS SERVICE ALSO LISTS OTHER 

     WEBSITES THAT ARE SIMILAR AND CONTAIN INFORMATION .       THERE IS ANOTHER WEB PLATFORM THAT

            LINKS CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE WORLD BY WAY OF AN EMAIL PRODUCT . ,   THE SERVICE IS CALLED

      EPALS ,,, IT JUST HELPS CHILDREN UNITE OF THE SAME AGE AND STUDYING THE SAME MATERIALS COME 

      TOGETHER AND WORK TOGETHER ON THE SAME SUBJECT MATTER.        YOU WILL HAVE KIDS  CONVERSING

  FROM TEXAS TO ARKANSAS ,  IOWA ,  AND ALASKA  ETC., ,,,,PARENTS CAN ALSO USE THESE SITES TO  

SEARCH FOR OTHER SCHOOLS ,,,SUCH AS SECONDARY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL INFORMATION.  

       TRY THE GLOBAL SCHOOL HOUSE ,     THIS SERVICE HAS A LONG LIST OF POSSIBILITIES. …AND THERE

     IS  ANOTHER SITE CALLED THE YUCKIEST SITE ON THE WEB,  ITS FOR KIDS ALSO ,,  IT HAS THE CHILDREN

   INVOLVED IN INTERACTIVE SCIENCE AND A LOT OF FUN THINGS TO DO .     THESE WEBSITES  OFFER A

    VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN TO GET INVOLVED AND REALLY BECOME CREATIVE AND WANT 

   TO LOOK FORWARD TO STUDYING AND COMPLETING THEIR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS …….

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Link: http://maps.google.com/

Vietnam

They had forced Google, Facebook and yahoo to give details of users using them and they did it! You can’t expect a company to face government. I don’t have to explain what is going to happen if you do flaw things, it government. Everything related to politics, human rights and much more are censored.

Tunisia

Similar to Vietnam they had strict internet access. Only thing is that they get user information by ip address and not by forcing companies.

Syria

Individual can use internet, but they are watch – be careful! Whatever you do online is watched and one thing against government you will be doomed.

People’s republic of China

Among all countries I feel china as best way to block content which is related to Tibetan independence, Taiwan independence, police brutality, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, freedom of speech, pornography, some international news sources and propaganda outlets, certain religious movements, and many blogging websites.

Iran

Similar to above content related to politics and other areas are blocked. Be careful of what you share online – they are out their one word against government..!

Saudi Arabia

It was recorded that they had blocked 400,000 to date but they hadn’t been a record of censorship in politics but are focused on pornography, drug use, gambling, religious conversion of Muslims, and filtering circumvention tools.”

Turkmenistan

Internet is very costly in this country and so most of people couldn’t effort it. You can access internet only through government provided internet points. Every site and mail is monitored in this country.  Most of sites are blocked even websites run by human rights organizations and news agencies are blocked. This means an individual can’t use internet!

Cuba

This is kind of funny only government official are allowed to upload and you can access only through government points.

Burma

Heavy censorship blocks human rights and politics mainly. Only few hand full people are allowed to use internet.

North Korea

They are very strict, all website are run by government itself. Only two sites are domain registered (not run by government) and the other entire site are restricted. Only 4% of population use internet.

Most of them censor mostly politics or human rights. It up to you are wish to decided which is most censored country.

Now that I managed to complete Jung’s arduous mission and simplify his complicated method of dream interpretation, everyone can discover the tremendous power of dreams. A dream is a letter sent by the divine unconscious mind in a symbolic form. The dream images are the unconscious words, while the dream story defines the unconscious intention. Each dream has primarily the power to cure your psyche. However, a dream can also give you information about the outside world.

The truth is that the power of a dream has no limits. A single dream can predict your future, and at the same time show you how to avoid suffering. The same dream that will help you predict the future development of your reality and show you how to prepare the positive future you desire, may also give you important information about other matters of your life.

A dream is a collection of images and scenes that have a symbolic meaning and help you solve all problems. The power of dreams is based on your contact with the divine guidance. The unconscious mind that produces your dreams shows you in each image something very important for your mental health, for your evolution as a human being, and for your happiness.

I will give you a few examples from dreams that belong to different online dreamers. I will post only a few dream scenes and the basic biographical details of each dreamer because I cannot publicly expose the dreamers who send me their dreams for a professional dream translation.

Dream: I see my husband is taking a shower. I am also in the bath room but it is unfamiliar bath. I think I was also taking shower, but in another shower in the same bathroom.  

A 25-35-years old woman recently married.

Dream Translation:

The shower in dreams is a purification. This means that your husband was eliminating his sins.

The bathroom represents your sexuality.

The fact that it is not your regular bathroom but an unfamiliar bathroom means that you ignore your real sexuality.

You are having a shower in another shower of the same bathroom because you were purifying yourself too, but far from your husband.

This part of the dream indicates that you and your husband will keep purifying yourselves because both of you will have an affair. The fact that you are not having bath together but in separate showers indicates a separate sexual life.

In a few words, this dream is showing you that you won’t feel satisfied with your husband and he won’t feel satisfied with you.

If you’ll cheat on your husband, he will cheat on you. You both will have a relationship with someone else besides being married.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

This dream was a warning for the dreamer. She understood that she had to be loyal to her husband if she wanted to be respected.

The unconscious mind was giving her objective information about her relationship. It was showing her that she would have a false marriage if she would cheat on her husband. Her husband would do the same. Therefore, their marriage would be merely an obligation without real love and without confidence.

The power of this dream is quite visible. This dream scene prevented the dreamer from being immoral and superficial. She understood that she had to be serious and respect her husband.

Here is another example:

Dream: I saw that my mom was driving the car I was in and then I saw my uncle who passed away last year and who was mentally unstable.  

A 35-45-years old man, unmarried.

Dream Translation:

The car in dreams represents your own life.

Since your mother is driving the car you are in, this means that your anti-conscience is driving your life. In other words, your worst, primitive conscience is deciding what you do in your life. Your mother in dreams represents your evil, immoral, and cruel anti-conscience. Since she is driving your life, this means that you are constantly controlled by the wild side of your conscience.

Your uncle who is mentally unstable is a part of your personality that is like him. You must be careful and follow dream therapy, without letting the worse parts of your personality control your behavior.

Since your uncle was already dead, this means that you are imitating his absurd behavior. His example cannot help you avoid becoming mentally ill like him because you already are mentally ill.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

This dream was a serious warning to the dreamer. He is already controlled by the wild side of his conscience. This means that he needs urgent psychotherapy.

Here is another example:

Dream: In classroom sitting in a desk that is much too small for me.

A 45-55-years old married woman.

Dream translation:

When you are in a classroom in dreams this means that you are studying the meaning of dreams and the meaning of life.

Since you are in a desk that is too small for you, this means that you are not in the right place.

The small desk indicates that this is a desk for children, and not for an adult like you. This means that you have to learn something that a child must learn (but you didn’t learn yet) so that you may evolve.

In other words, there are things about the meaning of life that you should have learned in the past but you didn’t understand. You have to learn them now, so that you may be able to learn a lot more in the future. This knowledge is missing.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

This dream is giving to the dreamer important information about her behavior and life. This simple dream scene already explains that the dreamer is immature and has a lot to learn, even though she is not a child. She should be a mature person, according to her age.

A single dream has the power to prevent suffering because it shows you the truth you cannot see. You are protected by the unconscious wisdom.

The unconscious mind criticizes your behavior, showing you the dangers that are threatening your mental health and your peace of mind. You must be humble and accept the unconscious criticism. This is how you will correct your mistakes and make new discoveries.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to accurately translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Learn more at:

http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com

http://www.booksirecommend.com

Why?-I once shared the ideal of many that turning off computers with the power button was harmless and the idea that it could harm the computer in any way was a wives’ tale. Sadly, I had to learn otherwise the hard way. One day, frustrated that my computer had frozen, I simply turned it off and back on using the power button. When it started up again, it displayed a message of corrupted files. I couldn’t start it back up again and system restore wouldn’t work. I researched it for a while but finally I was forced to replace the hard drive. Perhaps it was salvagable, but, at very least if you turn off your computer improperly you can lose your files.

2. Do not assume everything wrong with your computer is a virus

Why?-Frankly, computers have problems. There is nothing wrong with running a virus scan every once in awhile but unless you are downloading things from questionable sources, the problem is likely not a virus. In my school, some child thought he was being clever by making a shortcut on the desktop that would shut down the computer. My school put all computers with this shortcut out of use with a note that said “infected with virus”. Firstly, they could have scanned such computers and thus allowed students to use them, but the real problem with this is it could have been fixed simply by deleting the icon and making a new one. Always try to fix it before assuming it’s a virus.

3. Do not assume anything on the internet is true

Why?- With identity theft so rampant, it’s amazing that people don’t take more caution. People see sites advertised on a bar and click on them, not worried about what might be on the site. People also download things excessively. They want to watch a video so they download one from a site they find from google. This IS how people damage their computer. I know people who have downloaded things that claim to “speed up their computers”. These are often ad-ware and basicly destroy the computer.

4. Learn about computers, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, ask somebody.

Why?- I find that people who know the least about computers often think they know the most. I’m not talking about programming, as this is a whole different level of understanding, but of simple things on Windows. Knowing things like the fact the alt+f4 can close a window or to press ctrl+alt+delete if your computer is frozen are fairly common knowledge, and often people think that when something goes terribly wrong on their computer that they can fix it. If you have a problem with your computer, and you don’t know immediately how to fix it, either call a computer technician or research the problem and find a solution.

5. Don’t be overwhelmed

Why?- Computers are created by people to be user friendly. Years of work have been put in to make a computer self explanatory. You can use computers effectively and this article isn’t meant to discourage you from trying. These are just simple delusions held by people about computers that i thought i would do my part to remedy. I hope I made this article informative and if it didn’t help you, congratulations, you don’t have these bad habits.

When I think of Al Jazeera, I am reminded of a James Bond movie named ‘Tomorrow never dies’. The movie revolves around an evil media channel and its evil intentions to create conflicts between countries in order to get live coverage and thereby get more profits. Of course, this concept is not necessarily applicable to Al Jazeera. But nevertheless, Al Jazeera has been proved to be a channel to reckon with.

Al Jazeera started in 1996 as a pet project of Shaikh Hamad Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar. He started off the channel with an intention of it being the Arab World’s first independent channel. He believed that a free press would boost investor confidence, thereby bringing more foreign investment in the country and thereby helping it develop.

The most unique aspect of Al Jazeera is that it maintains editorial independence. The state of Qatar or any other power does not influence whatever is reported in Al Jazeera. At least technically, this holds true for Al Jazeera. It receives backing from the state of Qatar and receives financial aid.

How did it shoot into prominence?

As stated earlier, Al Jazeera was the first channel in the middle east which maintained editorial independence. As a result, it reported many stories which would embarrass many heads of state of the Arab world. The channel was broadcasted in Arabic and was free-to-air which meant that a large part of the Arab population would have access to Al Jazeera. While most countries had their own state run channels which would broadcast the happenings within a country, Al Jazeera was considered a relatively unbiased and true source.

Again, more than prominence, the channel gained more notoriety and controversy. The channel organized debate on various aspects of Arab society including religion. Sometimes very sensitive debates were held with very controversial figures making even more outrageous points of view. Sometimes, countries just shut off broadcasts if they found it ‘perilous to public safety and national security’.

But perhaps the biggest reason why Al Jazeera rose to fame was because this was the first Arab channel to give a voice to the state of Israel. While the Arab-Israeli conflict is a very sensitive issue, Al Jazeera plunged right into it. This does not mean Al Jazeera is in anyway pro-Israeli. In fact, Al Jazeera has been exploited by many Arabs to denounce Israel. Even the reporting by Al Jazeera about the Arab-Israeli conflict is very clearly anti-Israeli. Whenever any rocket hits Israel, Al-Jazeera does not report a word and its blogs have given every anti-Israeli writer a place where they can just vent out and lash out against Israel and feed its worldwide audience. But still, Al Jazeera maintains a bureau in Israel and gives them a voice.

Al Jazeera’s moment came after 9/11. Al Jazeera was one of the only channels which maintained a bureau in Kabul during the Taliban rule. So during the war in Afghanistan, reporters from Al Jazeera broadcasted the fighting between the Americans and the Taliban.

Terrorists have used Al Jazeera as a mouthpiece because of its large Arab audience. Al Jazeera was Osama Bin Laden’s favourite mike. Most terrorist organizations would send videos to Al Jazeera in order to spread their message. The biggest controversy has come when Al Jazeera apparently broadcasted a live execution conducted by terrorists.

But perhaps the biggest contribution made by Al Jazeera is to the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring was almost created by Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera covered the protests in Tunisia in great detail. Writers filled its blogs with their opinions and all this was broadcasted on people’s TV sets and on everyone’s computers. Facebook and twitter only amplified its effects. Soon, it was Egypt’s turn and Al Jazeera did not waste a single minute. Throughout the revolution, Al Jazeera was there covering everything and conducting debates. So on January 25th when thousands came on the streets to overthrow Hosni Mubarak, the first thing the Egyptian President was to ban Al Jazeera in Egypt. But they were still broadcasting to the world and then there was no turning back.

Then the phenomenon of the Arab Spring kicked off. The entire middle east flared up in protests. The contribution of Al Jazeera is more than obvious here. Al Jazeera repeatedly broadcasts videos with many protesters thanking Al Jazeera for its role in the Arab Spring and this is being showed over and over again.

The funny part is, Al Jazeera does not go back to the countries once the major revolution is over. Egypt is a good example. We know that Egypt is facing a crisis again with people protesting about the rule of the military and demanding elections. Al Jazeera has not covered it till date.

Al Jazeera has become a very influential media channel. Its expansion is very clear. It now has an English version of the channel and it is lobbying to get access to broadcast in the United States. Its expansion plans include opening versions in more languages and also to open a newspaper. Its influence is already known with the number of channels it broadcasts.

Al Jazeera has indeed changed the middle east

Copyright © 2011 Ashwath Komath

Your intelligence relies on your ability to retain information and extract it when needed. For an example when you are having a maths exam the outcome of that test relies on your ability to extract previously learned information. That previously learned information had to be retained with in your brain for you to later call upon for use, in this case for use in a maths exam. Now retaining and extracting information does not sound hard, so why aren’t we all geniuses? We aren’t because we humans get distracted when retaining information, we also forget information that we have not used in a while. For instance a 50 year old will more than likely have forgotten how to do algebraic equations that they once knew how to do when they were 16. Now the retained information about algebraic equations is still there but the pathways to it within your brain have not been used in a while, so it harder and takes longer to extract that information, sometimes pathways are rendered useless and cannot ever extract the information along that specific pathway. However new pathways can be formed to retrieve the information, an example of this is a sudden remembrance of an event you may of experienced and you needed a certain smell or image to rebuild the path way or in a common phrase “jog your memory”. So retaining and extracting information are the foundations of intelligence. The most important part however is the ability to think objectively. Thinking objectively, to put it simply is to get things done. You set yourself a goal, complete it, then move on to the next one. This also aids your ability to problem solve. Thinking objectively however is increasingly difficult as we have MANY ways to procrastinate and procrastinating slows or blocks this ability as we are unable to fulfil and create new goals. So simply intelligence is the ability to retain (learn, remember) information and extract (Say what you have learnt, call upon it) it, then use it effectively.       

     One such case study is the paper on the design of “knowledge work” (Painter, 2004).  Bert Painter is a consulting social scientist and associate of the British Columbia Research Council, Vancouver, Canada.  His website is in the business of developing and designing work organizations who embody a mutual gains strategy, supporting joint venture initiatives of employees and employers in office and manufacturing work (Modern Times Workplace, 2010).  The idea is to push action research (“learning by doing”), a term coined by German and American social psychologist Kurt Lewin in 1946 and the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in the 1950s through today, so that employees can participate in the decision-making process whereby change and improvements are made in a practical setting, as well as contributing meaningfully to social science knowledge and theory.

     What’s interesting about the mutual gains strategy is that the focus is in achieving economic competitiveness at high living standards.  The development of high levels of skill, adaptability and commitment from employees allows their employers to share in the returns by investing in ways that enhance employment security (Modern Times Workplace, 2010).
 
     What we can take away from this is a sense of not only expectations but also entitlements.  Yet the two are mostly motivated by personal means, are they not?  If so, this may very well affect implementation of socio-technical systems by the sheer fact that human emotions play a part in decisions about information, communication, policies and procedures.  Painter describes how electronic filing (E-File) systems had to be overcome since it took over most paperwork processing.  Naturally, the human instinct in this case was to shun it, and if we think about economic issues in the vein of employability, rightly so.  However, for the organization it makes perfect sense since it frees up resources and reduces downtime and dragged-out functions usually associated with the previous manual labor and coordination.

     The new IT solution was powerful for the WCB (Workers’ Compensation Board) of British Columbia, Canada, when they test piloted E-Filing, as it helped them with their information gathering, evidence weighing, and specialized knowledge applications for complex decisions regarding workers’ injury compensation claims throughout numerous industries (Painter, 2004).  It was well worth its weight, since 91% of the staff reported that it was a better system than the paper-based work process when it came to their medical claims information.

     This change in systems received “mixed” opinions and false starts.  Although claims were on hand at all times, some staff believed they were being overwhelmed by all that “paperwork”.  Too much documentation is easily accessible immediately when filed electronically, so they feel they must take care of it right away instead of later (Painter, 2004).  This could also be considered “information overload” where a caseload is virtually in one’s face every day.  More training is then required to have considerable “desk management” skills as it pertains to the E-File environment.  Because of a fear or backlash regarding “imaging” technology, the Compensation Employees’ Union was quite concerned that there were shortcomings to this new process as most staff members did not have any experience with personal computer systems.

     They finally used a Service Delivery Strategy (SDS), which was a socio-technical component on its own, with three concurrent objectives: (1) Customer Service improvements through timely claims payments, (2) Financial Savings improved workflow, cost management information, and reduced Short-Term Disability (STD) duration, and finally, (3) A Better Working Environment as a result of a skill-enhanced workforce and reduction of routine activities like paper filing (Painter, 2004).  E-Filing as an “infrastructure” was built as a holistic highway or platform for future functions at WCB.  Think about today’s digital world and how technology has helped and hurt.  It eliminated many jobs but also improved performance and efficiency for organizations.

     Take for example, the RESUMIX application, which is an automated resume-scanning system used by government agencies for recruitment purposes (ResumeEdge.com, 2010).  The software replaces manual reviewing of job applications by matching qualified candidates with open vacancies using OCR (optical character recognition) and other imaging technologies such as a patented skill-extraction “reader”.  This allows both hiring managers and Human Resources (HR) staff to identify required skills for a position.  It does not replace HR altogether however, as personnel are still needed to do a final review of resumes.  A computer simply can’t conduct interviews!  Painter’s argument about systems change reflected human change as well.

     For instance, an employee’s willingness to develop new skills and work practices is an adaptation of new rules that keeps them employed, to say the least.  The union bargained for a collective agreement that WCB would allow the time and support given to learn these new systems without fear of losing their job protection status (although attrition will always occur).  This is where socio-technical systems can either drive a wedge between humans and technology or it can enhance the entire outlook of all parties involved.  Proactive information sharing and problem solving was the best practice for them, and regular meetings about this then transpired.

     This “Tech Change” forum, guided by decision-makers with authority, would incorporate significant user participation in the design of the system and the organization.  The old, legacy systems run by dumb terminals and mainframes were restrictive, allowing for only e-mail messaging, claims registration, and ordinary file tracking.  A Distributed Data System (DSS) would be needed in order for a Local Area Network infrastructure with communication protocols to not only integrate data imaging software, but to automate workflow (Painter, 2004).

     This necessary change caused more “errors” than it did with paper files since an adjudicating officer’s handwriting was difficult to read and therefore the business rules were less enforceable then.  To successfully maintain E-File integrity, it needs to have forms, templates and “forced” data entry.  Designers must make them simple yet functional at the same time.  A feeling of “detachment” from a claim using E-File is relegated to the “institutional” feeling one gets as opposed to the personal “touch” with paper filing, however the new method of filtering and indexing helped sort, track and organize the files much faster.

     Because of this transparency, it was now more open to constant review by co-workers, which established “sanitized” information, increased accountability, and synchronization among staff (Painter, 2004).  “Cumulative” access was a thing of the past due to parallel processing.  The rational techniques of information systems practice and organizational dynamics with its social context are intertwined and almost symbiotic (Avgerou & McGrath, 2007).  This is why general senior managers must be involved in decisions along with IT managers.  It is an investment and necessity; otherwise enabling business objectives isn’t possible (Lacity, 2005).  This kind of technology, along with its related tasking or physicals adjacency, cannot develop “integrative” teamwork, but rather enable it instead.  The “knowledge work” can be beneficial yet must be tamed by a balanced socio-technical approach.

     The judgments of skilled human labor are irreplaceable, but it is the successful integration of both system and organizational design that should likely be implemented in sequence as opposed to all at once due to insufficient resources (Painter, 2004).  Change management needs to understand that there are no constants in the IT industry.  Without participatory consultation and design of the information system along with one’s business process, socio-technical design would fall flat.  E-File helped WCB transform themselves meaningfully without risk to professionals’ dignities and livelihoods – or even their sleep… well, maybe and maybe not!

(c) 2011 Cal Nguyen
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