Interview Petya Raykovska Jenny Beaumont - On WP and WordCamps

Hey friends, its time for another chat with some interesting WordPress people! But heres the twist, todays is a double interview, or a mirror interview! Yes, youre getting two for the price of one.This formula came to our minds some time ago but it is only now that we managed to get it done. It means that, for every single question, youre going to get two answers from our gracious interviewees. So, dont miss Petya Raykovska and Jenny Beaumont talking about their contributions to the WordPress community, their projects, non-WordPress activities, and other fun stuff.But before we dive into this double-dose interview, make sure to check out our previous talk with  Brad Touesnard, the founder of Delicious Brains.Petya and Jenny have many things in common: they work as project managers at Human Made,  get involved in local and major WordCamps, and have both left a big mark on the way the overall WordPress community has grown lately.If youre a regular attendee at WordCamp Europe, there s a high chance youve already met at least one of them!Petya RaykovskaJenny BeaumontJenny and Petya both have plenty of technical knowledge, but their communication skills, love for socializing with others, and passion for what they do moved them towards the humanized side of WordPress.They are part of the reason why the WordPress community is now so solid, welcoming and friendly. They started by improving the small groups in their hometowns and continued their work up to the European and international level in subsequent years culminating with their roles as leaders of the WordCamp Europe organizing teams.But lets hear it from the girls in person! JennyI began building websites before the advent of CMSs, and saw them slowly emerge as the solution to two recurring problems. On the one hand, clients were increasingly wanting control over their content, and on the other, we were looking for ways to avoid reinventing the wheel at every turn.For me, it was the technical overhead of my first e-commerce projects that lead me to test these platforms, giving me access to technology that I couldnt master on my own, offering me a rich learning experience and an affordable product to clients.As time went on and new software came out, I would poke at them to find their strengths and limits, adapting my choices for each project. I first heard about WordPress in 2006, and started playing with it in 2007, but found it lacking the sophistication I needed. I favored Dotclear, a popular CMS in France at the time, until the version 3.0 of WordPress and the introduction of menus, which drew me back in. By 2011 I was working with WordPress exclusively.PetyaIn 2011, I left a job in publishing that I really loved to start a small web agency in Sofia, Bulgaria with a couple of friends. We decided were going to try building websites with open source software and thats how we started working with WordPress.For me, it was the best of all the CMSs we tried. Then I fell in love with some one who was heavily involved with contributing to WordPress and the community and they introduced me to the Polyglots team. Once I started contributing, WordPress became a big part of my life, because of people.What does a project manager at Human Made do on a daily basis?JennyMy favorite answer to this question is still, I have no idea. (And my husband thinks Im crazy for saying so.)What Im learning since joining the company back in March is that there doesnt seem to be a typical experience. All of the projects are different, each of us bringing our personal style of management to the table, and each of us participating in the WordPress project in various ways and to varying degrees.My days are divided between project work (communicating with the project team, both internally and client-side, doing my part to ensure that the project is delivered on time, within budget and with our standard of quality), agency work (internal meetings, resourcing, reporting, internal projects) and co mmunity contribution (Im primarily focused on organizing WordCamp Europe at the moment, but have other aspirations).I also make sure to carve out a little time every day for personal/professional development: staying on top of industry news, networking, etc.Every day is a little different, just the way I like it.PetyaSo Im a project manager thats also an event organiser, a community builder and a publicity and marketing expert. So I dont have a daily routine. PMs take care of everything a client project needs from the communication to making sure developers are happy, have everything they need, to documentation, financials, keeping up with project timeframes, resourcing, research about the best solutions to a specific client projects and sending developers lollipop bouquets 😛 (Thats Jenny B for you).But then Im also involved with organising several WordCamps, so there are meetings, logistics, etc there as well. And I do have my Polyglots weekly activities support, chat, ta lking to people, translating WordPress, working with devs to build features for translators, organising global contributor days, going to conferences and talking about important contributing work. So no single day is like the other.Whats your technique for staying productive throughout the day?JennyAs Ive gotten older (if not wiser), routine, which Id often railed against in my youth, has become my best friend. Good habits start first thing in the morning and set the tone for the day:Get a good nights sleep.Eat well and at regular intervals, avoid snacking.Stay hydrated.Know whats on my calendar and keep it up to date.Turn off social media notifications only check in periodically during breaks or downtime.Try to schedule downtime after meetings and not schedule too many in a row (these tire me out the most).Take frequent breaks.Get physical exercise every day, and make sure to stretch frequently if Im stuck at my desk all day (which is most days).And my number one productivity tech nique: do only one thing at a time (which Im still not very good at).PetyaLove what you do. Drink plenty of water. Take a break every time you need one.You are part of the WordCamp Europe organizing team. What do you love most about this experience?JennyThe teamwork is by far the most satisfying aspect of organizing a WordCamp for me. Its also what inspired me to stop freelancing and join a company. The second most rewarding is, of course, seeing all the happy campers enjoying the fruits of our labor. Nothing quite like it.PetyaI was a part of the organising teams in 2014, 2015 and I led the team in 2016. I decided to dedicate my time to other things this year and in the future and its important for WCEU that there are new people on the team who can learn to go through the motions and bring new fresh ideas and developments to the event. I loved organising WCEU in those three years the impact that event had on the European community, the global community and building connections is worth all the sleepless nights and effort thats put into organising it.You wake up and theres only one week left before WordCamp Europe starts. Whats your daily schedule as an organizer?JennyThis will be my third year as a WordCamp Europe organizer, and my third role on the team, having started out on Speakers and Sponsors, then moving to local lead in Paris, and now taking on the role of global lead for 2018 in Belgrade. These all have very different responsibilities throughout the year and as the event approaches.At a week out the heavy lifting is done and the team as a whole is trouble-shooting with vendors, speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and MCs; helping people resolve problems, tying up loose ends and hammering out the hour by hour logistics of the event days. At a week out weve all pretty well surrendered to the idea that no matter what might go wrong, itll be okay.PetyaA week before WordCamp Europe youve already done everything you need to do for the event. You also are prob ably already on location, so whats left to do depends on your role. The most important part is to not overdo it, to try and stay energised and fresh for the event so that you can survive it.Youre traveling a lot. What is the nicest place youve ever been to?JennyI think that what I classify as a nice place is anywhere that makes me feel welcome. And of course, the joy of traveling is to see new things, meet new people, discover different cultures and experience local cuisine and customs. A lot of times the way you experience a new place can depend on who youre traveling with and under what circumstances. Traveling for WordCamps, for example, hasnt always afforded me the opportunity to get more than a glimpse of the city.My favorite vacation spot? Brittany. Oh, and Id love to return to Guernesey and visit Jersey some day. Two of my homes away from home? Chicago and London. Some places Ive visited and would love to return to? Vienna, Berlin, Torino, Sofia and Zurich to name a few. And there are so many places Ive never been to! Australia is on the top of my listUpcoming trips to new places include Marseille, Belgrade and Petritoli.PetyaHome. The best thing about constantly traveling is coming home. If you have not been to Bulgaria, you should definitely visit. There are a lot of things to love.How do you define being successful?JennyI keep a 5-minute journal as part of my daily routine. Success for me is signing off with, It was a good day, measuring daily how Ive managed my time, my energy levels, my interactions with people, and whether or not Ive accomplished what I set out to do that day. Have I made a positive impact? Have I contributed to both my short and long terms plans? Have I been good to myself and those around me? Success!PetyaBeing content and happy with my present. Being autonomous in my work, making an impact with it and being able to constantly learn and improve.What do you like to do when youre not WordPress-ing?JennyOff the job I enjoy hiking, yoga, cooking (read: eating), reading and visiting with friends. Im also slightly addicted to American television, and love home improvement projects (especially those involving power tools).PetyaGo to gigs, dance, play music, sleep.Any cool personal or professional projects coming up?JennyOn the WordPress side of things, and beyond WordCamp Europe, Im hoping to jump back into some WordCamp site development projects, notably the WordCamp Talk Proposals project that I worked on earlier in the year, but which is currently on the back burner. Then, a personal project Ive been working on for some time is completing my yoga teacher certification, which I delayed this year as my professional workload grew, but am picking back up again.PetyaIm organizing WordPress workshops for kids and Im hoping to inspire WordCamp organizers to do those around every WordCamp.What do you wish more people knew about WordPress?JennyThat it is made by the people, for the people. The open source community is still poorly understood, in my opinion, by those outside of it. Why do I think its important for people to know this? Because unlike most other products, there is a real opportunity in open source to make a difference, to play a part in making WordPress better for everyone.There is also a better appreciation to be had about how the project is built and maintained, about how technology evolves in general, which I believe is important to understand in order to for people to fully take responsibility for their websites. PetyaI think WordPress is popular enough. I wish more people knew they could help make WordPress. And Im working every day to make that happen.Whos doing things that are just cutting-edge and incredible in the WordPress space right now?JennyI dont know about cutting-edge, but the Gutenberg project will be the biggest game-changer maybe since menus and custom post types were introduced. Im a late-adopter, and so still a bit of a skeptic about Gutenbergs ability to effect ively implement this block content system, but there is no denying that its coming whether we like it or not, and the debates around it are interesting to follow.Ive always firmly believed that one of WordPresss greatest strengths is the ability to work around any of its apparent limitations. Im sure it will be the same with blocks, and that we will learn and iterate until it succeeds in opening up new audiences or leading us in a new direction entirely.The other interesting space to follow, IMO, is hosting. So many mergers and acquisitions, so much riding on that user experience and coming up with solutions to make it a seamless one, from install to updates, guarding against hacks and providing metrics. Lots happening in this arena and still more to be done!PetyaEveryone building things with WordPress and the REST API. You should check the videos from A Day of REST, the WordPress REST API conference we at Human Made organise to showcase what can be done and is already done with the REST API. The WordPress core team is also doing amazing things with WordPress. Looking forward to Gutenberg!Describe the WordPress community in one word.Life-changing.JennyWarmth.PetyaWhats the one thing youd like to change about WordPress?JennyThere are of course loads of improvements to be made to WordPress across the board, but if you ask me what is the one thing, it brings me back to your earlier question about what I wish people knew about it. If there was one thing I would change it would be peoples perception whether it was around the nature of open source, taking it seriously as a scalable high-end solution, or the simple difference between WP.org and WP.com. I believe there is a lot of work to be done around the branding of WordPress.PetyaFinding a recipe for not burning contributors out would be amazing.What was the first big thing youve bought with your first WordPress earnings?JennyHa! Well, this doesnt really apply to me since WordPress, despite its huge presence in m y life in recent years, is really anecdotal to my career. I do remember the first laptop I bought in my early years, with my own earnings and without financing, and yeah, that felt pretty great.PetyaI dont remember exactly, but I bet it was either a concert ticket or a plane ticket.What was the most challenging thing youve done during your career?JennyPivoting. Knowing when to get in and when to get out. I started out by building an agency and then went freelance. I then started a commercial venture, closed it, started another agency, closed it, and somehow kept freelancing on the back burner to come back to.Since that first company back in 1998, my work has revolved around the web, but in different capacities, adapting with the market, technology, circumstances, collaborations, my evolving skill set, and the impact of my personal life. Twice in that time I took time off to rethink things. Staying fluid, adapting to change, doing regular health checks and course-correcting when need ed Id say these are the most challenging things Ive faced and the most essential to sustaining a career thats spanned nearly two decades.PetyaLearning to let go of things, to delegate, and to pass the torch to others when it was time. Learning to accept people from all over the world, to love their quirks and differences. Learning to listen. Thats not one thing, but a list, I realise that. But I cant pick a most challenging one from all of those.What does it take for a WordPress-er to become a WordCamp Europe organizer if they were to apply for this role?JennyStrong candidates are/have:Based in the EUPrior experience volunteering at WCEU in some capacityPrior experience organizing a WordCamp or running a MeetupStrong written and communication skillsPrior experience organizing other types of large events (1000+ people)Comfortable with remote workWe open organizer applications every year in July. This years team is already in place, but if youre interested for future years, do keep a n eye out for the call for volunteers and join us! Its a great way to see how things work and gain the extra experience that will make all the difference. You can sign up for our newsletter on the website to be notified about the call for volunteers and other announcements.PetyaOh, the WordCamp Europe team just posted the answer to this question in detail. Be prepared to give it everything you have and you will be handsomely rewarded. Good luck!

Oligopoly and Game Theory Essay Example

Oligopoly and Game Theory Essay Example Oligopoly and Game Theory Paper Oligopoly and Game Theory Paper ECO 152 December 9, 2013 Photo by Christian Gooden, [emailprotected] dispatch. com St. Louis Christmas Tree Lots: Oligopoly and Game Theory Since Christmas is drawing near, the annual Christmas tree lots are beginning to open. This brings memories of my father cursing in the car every Sunday before mass because half the church lot is taken up by trees. For a few weeks Ted Drew becomes the king of Christmas not the king of custard in St. Louis. Pretend the image I selected is not taken from the St. Louis Post Dispatch but is in fact my family having a wonderful time together at the St. Peters Church Christmas tree lot in Kirkwood. This picture does not exist because our time spent at the Christmas tree lot is usually spent arguing over what tree to choose and ultimately ending in my sister crying because my father says we cannot bring a 30 foot tall tree into our home. The Christmas tree market in St. Louis can be considered an oligopoly because there are relatively few locations which sell Christmas trees in St. Louis. An oligopoly is a market structure in which a small number of independent firms compete, somewhere in between a monopoly and a competitive industry with many firms. In this case let us Just consider the Ted Drewes lot and the St. Peters Church lot as a duopoly to represent the St. Louis Christmas tree market. Christmas tree prices are determined by St. Peters and Ted Drewes in order to maximize profits. The prices are not only determined by demand, but also by the price at which competitors choose to sell. We analyze this price competition by what economists call game theory. Game theory is the study of the decisions of firms in industries where the profits ofa firm depend on its interactions with other firms. In ligopolies, firms are very large compared to the market therefore their interactions are what determine success and profit. Three characteristics of game theory are payoffs, rules and strategies. In the example of the Christmas tree lots, we can use game theory to analyze price competition between Ted Drewes and St. Peters Church. To make the maximum profit, the price Ted Drewe and Father Smith decide to sell the average Christmas tree is dependent on what the competing firm prices are. They will either sell them at an average of $40 or $50 per tree. The action a firm takes to achieve the goal of aximizing profits is an example of business strategy. In fgure 1, the possibilities for each firm are organized into a matrix to determine the payoffs for each firm based on their and the competing firms price decision. Figure 1 Ted Drewes $50 STP earns $10,000 profit St. Peters TD earns $40 $10,000 profit STP earns $5,000 $15,000 profit STP earns $15,000 _$5,OOO profit STP earns $7,500 _$7,500 profit St. Peters Church profits are in blue and Ted Drewes profits are in red. If both St. Peters and Ted Drewes charge an average of $40 per tree, each win earn a profit of 7,500 in total sales. If St. Peters charges a higher price than Ted Drewes at $50 per tree, they will lose customers to price competition and earn $5,000 total profit while Ted Drewes earns $15,000 total profit. If the situation is reversed and Ted Drewes charges a higher price, their total profits will be $5,000 while St. Peters earns $15,000 total profit. If both Ted Drewes and St. Peters charge $50, they with each earn $10,000 total profit. Looking at the matrix it seems that the firms would be better of both charging $50 to earn $10,000 total profit each. Ted Drewe and Father Smith could do this by making an agreement between their firms to charge the same price or otherwise not to compete. This is an example of collusion, which is against the law in the United States. Here we see the characteristic of rules implemented in game theory. Since the firms cannot collude and set their prices they must guess the price which the other firm will choose. If Ted Drewe thinks that Father Smith will charge $40 per tree at St. Peters, he will choose to also sell at $40 per tree because this would earn 7,500 in profit instead of $5,000 if they Ted sold at $50. If Ted Drewe believes Father Smith will sell at $50 per tree, he would still choose to sell at $40 per tree because this would increase total profits from $10,000 to $15,000. This means either way, Ted Drewe will sell at $40 per tree. Father Smith has the same situation as Ted Drewe, so it is expected that he will also sell at $40 per tree. Both Ted Drewes and St. Peters Church will choose to sell at $40 per tree no matter what the other firm does. Either firm selling at $40 per tree is n example of dominant strategy because it is the best choice in any situation. When each firm is maximizing profits no matter what choice the other firm makes it is called a Nash equilibrium. The example of the firms Ted Drewes and St. Louis Church in the St. Louis Christmas tree industry shows how game theory uses payoffs, rules and strategies to analyze oligopoly. photo: Gooden, Christian. Stltoday. com. N. p. , 20 Dec. 2011. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. http:// www. stltoday. com/news/multimedia/live-christmas-tree-fee-on-hold-for-now/ image_30ae5b2e-84de-5313-a8d8-3abc99f6bc6e. html

A Job Costing System Accumulates Economics Essay

A Job Costing System Accumulates Economics Essay Chapter 14 A job-costing system accumulates and analyzes costs separately for each product or small batches of products. Examples of firms that use job-costing systems include law firms and firms that build custom houses. A process-costing system accumulates and analyzes costs by each process (or a department) rather than by each job. Examples of firms that use process-costing systems include steel mills and paper companies. Direct materials and direct labor are traced, and overhead is allocated. Work in process inventory is the inventory of unfinished products at the start of a period. Cost of goods manufactured is the cost of items finished and transferred from work in process inventory to finished goods inventory. Cost of goods sold is the cost of products sold in a period. It is the cost of items transferred from finished goods inventory to the income statement. A predetermined overhead rate equals expected overhead costs for the period divided by the expected activity level. Fi rms use predetermined overhead rates because actual overhead costs and activity volumes frequently fluctuate. A normal-costing system is a job-costing system that uses a predetermined overhead rate. Underapplied overhead means that the overhead applied to jobs is smaller than the amount actually spent on overhead. Overapplied overhead means that the overhead applied to jobs exceeds the amount spent on overhead. False – if a firm has underapplied overhead, the actual rate must have exceeded the predetermined rate. (1) correct rates are year end, (2) write off to cost of goods sold, and (3) prorate among inventory accounts and cost of goods sold. The adjustment will increase cost of goods sold and, in turn, decrease net income. The proration method allocates the under- or overapplied overhead to WIP inventory, FG inventory, and cost of goods sold in proportion to their unadjusted ending balances. Three accounts will be affected: (1) WIP, (2) FG, and (3) COGS. Income will be hig her under the proration method because some of the adjustment will be to the inventory account. Discussion Questions Job shops and process shops differ considerably in the extent to which we can trace costs to individual units and jobs. A pure job shop makes custom products. Each unit is a separate job and is unique. It is therefore possible to trace many costs directly to each job. However, in process shops, it is not possible to trace most costs to individual units. Rather, we can trace the costs, even for direct materials and direct labor, only at the process or departmental level. Yes. Each patient’s care may be viewed as a job. Many of the costs, including the costs of nurse care, attending physician’s time, medicines and drugs, room occupancy can be directly traced to the patient. Some indirect costs may still have to be allocated. However, such a system also has elements of process costing in that we might use pre-determined rates (e.g., $40 per hour of nursing or $100 per visit by a doctor) to determine costs rather than use actual costs. Business consulting firms are likely to have job-costing like systems. Fast food restaurants like McDonald’s have more of process costing-type environment.

Gender roles and Marriage Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender roles and Marriage - Thesis Example While sex refers to the biological classification into male and female categories, gender indicates social classification of the masculine and feminine attributes. On the other hand identity depends on ones self realization about his or her sexual category. In the paper two stories have been taken up for study – ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber and ‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin. In the former work, Mr. Mitty tries to build his masculine identity through his regular daydreams and in the second work, Mrs. Mallard tries to gain freedom from the repressive bond of marriage and a kind of sexual freedom is experienced after she hears the news of her husband’s death. In fact both these characters of opposite gender tries to gain freedom in their own ways. Mr. Walter Mitty attempts to gain freedom from the influence of his dominating wife who apparently always has the last word. The institution of marriage can be repressive ow ing to the influence of gender roles. ‘The Story of An Hour’ by the American writer Kate Chopin talks about the central character Mrs. Mallard’s reaction and mental transformation on hearing the news of her husband’s death and the mix of emotions experienced by the frail woman. Widowhood does cause some sorrow but within minutes it brings forth a new opportunity and light to the journey of life. The transformation in thoughts and a feeling of some kind of freedom gradually replaces the initial feeling of loss. In this case the freedom enjoyed within shows how repressive the marriage could be. This is not really written to criticize the character of Mr. Mallard as a repressive husband but through the reactions of his wife, it mocks this supposedly happy union. The open window, the comfortable chair, ‘delicious breath of rain’ and the tops of the trees that were ‘all aquiver with the new spring life’, all indicate an underlying feeling of regeneration or rebirth and a m ind which is open to the change and the new life that will belong solely to her. The open window through which she stares at the sky represents a glance at life through the eye of freedom. Mrs. Mallard was ‘young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength’; this description has been used as a tool to highlight the change that was taking place within. She was gaining her strength from the expectation of a new life approaching her. These new oncoming years have been portrayed like â€Å"creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air†. (Chopin, 1894) Chopin’s story bears significance to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman where the wife finally protests against her husband who does not want her to write and always asks her to rest and sleep like a sick woman. Again, there are sexual overtones in the story that cannot be overlooked. The initial ‘stor m of grief’ is almost indicative of a sexual urge or release, which goes hand in hand with the term ‘wild abandonment’. The quivering of the trees is analogous with the thighs that aquiver with sexual anticipation. The term ‘haunted’ signifies that she was craving for it from within and therefore this freedom meant physical or sexual freedom as well (Eggins, 2004, p.39) She also prays that her life may be long. This shows the immense joy experienced. The expression in her eye has also changed from a dull glare to a look of ‘feverish triumph’. As she came down the stairs into the living room, being supported by her sister, Mr.

Technology and being a nurse educator Assignment

Technology and being a nurse educator - Assignment Example The field of nursing education needs a nurse educator that is competent, with unique application of nursing knowledge as well as responds to the knowledge evolution. Nursing education evolves from simple, traditional classroom teaching to complicated, online learning, use of informatics, and virtual simulations ( Bonnel, & Smith, 2010, p. 3). Along with this evolution is the need for nursing educators who can embrace technology and use it appropriately to meet the ever-changing needs of nurses, educators, students, patients, and society. Effects of Technology to a Nurse Educator The integration of technology in the field of nursing education affects nurse educators positively and negatively. The positive effects include the nurse educators’ enhancement of teaching opportunities, improved access to teaching materials saving both time and cost, provides educational options or strategies of teaching (used of printout, electronic sources, classroom interaction etc.), presents educ ational materials more challenging, knowledgeable, and presentable, promotes clinical safety and gain efficiency in teaching and learning, and guides evidenced-based practice. On the other hand, one possible negative effect noted is the difficulty encountered by nursing educators to adapt to technological advancements resulting in poor teaching and learning outcome.

Essay --

Drew Rivera English 4 Ms. R. Crow December 11th, 2013 NSA spying, what is it and how can we stop it? The National Security Agency was created in 1952 through a top secret memorandum signed by President Truman. At the time of its creation, the NSA was secretive, with only a few members of Congress knowing about it. Existence of the agency had been a deep secret until it was unveiled in a Senate investigation called the â€Å"Church Committee† in 1975 (2nd Source Title: Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying). The Committee uncovered illegal domestic spying by the NSA, and recommended it make reforms, this was one of the earliest incidents / scandals for the NSA. Prior to that, in 1973 the Supreme Court ruled that warrants are required and that the NSA are to provide the names of all US citizens and residents it wished to monitor. After 9/11, President Bush ordered the NSA to eavesdrop without court approved warrants technically breaking breaking previously set â€Å"rules† on domestic spying. Leaked reports from whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, claims the NSA reviews millions of phone records collected by Verizon (source title: NSA said to be spying on millions of Verizon users.), does this sound legal to you? The NSA collects and keeps record of calls made in the U.S., this includes the phone number of the telephone that is receiving and making the call, and the duration of the call. This is known as â€Å"metadata† it doesn’t include a recording of the call. This information was discovered through a leaked secret court order, that states Verizon is to turn over all information meeting this criteria every day. Phone Companies including AT&T and Sprint, are also said to be giving up records to the NSA on a daily basis. All of... ...vering information about the programs. In that sense, the supposed â€Å"Congressional oversight† seems more like an illusion of accountability. The NSA claims its mission for domestic spying is â€Å"simple† that they are here to : collect, process, and store U.S. citizen data for the good of our nation. They NSA further elaborates that they cope with the overload of information we have in our country and use it to their strategic advantage. This in turn, helps them find new ways to detect, report, and respond to all domestic threats. â€Å"We work through you. For you. For our Nation.†(Source:http://nsa.gov1.info), this means they are trying to justify that spying on civilians is being done for the good of our nation. Though they claim this is for the sake of our nation, does this violate any previously set laws that are in the constitution or amendments in the Bill Of Rights?

Design Argument for the existence of God Essay

The Design Argument can be split into two sides: design qua purpose and design qua regularity. The key idea of design qua purpose comes from William Paley. He used analogy as the basis for his argument, noting how the complex design of a watch allows all the parts to work together perfectly to achieve its purpose. He then noted the complexity, order and purpose of the universe, stating that â€Å"every manifestation on design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature.† Therefore if a watch’s intricacy stands as evidence that it has been designed, by analogy the universe must also have a designer and, as the designer is required to be supremely powerful, the designer must be God. Aquinas also presented an argument to support design qua purpose. Similarly to Paley, he argued that all natural occurrences show evidence of design. He claimed that this suggested there is a being which directs all things, and as humans have knowledge this being must also be knowledgeable. Therefore there is an intelligent being that directs everything towards its purpose, and Aquinas stated that this being must be God. Unlike Paley, Aquinas explained that God is a designer at work who continues to direct us towards our purpose as well as regulating the universe (e.g. the planets and the seasons). He also attempted to explain how free-will plays a part in design, claiming that we are programmed to reproduce but free-will allows us to choose who we reproduce with. Through these points he also demonstrated a key aspect of the design qua regularity side of the Teleological Argument. Another aspect of the argument is the anthropic principle, which was first introduced by F.R. Tennant. The significant difference of this principle to Paley and Aquinas’ ideas is that it doesn’t reject the scientific principles for existence, as Tennant said that the conditions for the development of human life were intrinsic to the Big Bang. The strong principle says that the reason and purpose of the universe is to support human life, supported by the way the conditions on earth are perfect in order for us to survive.  For example, the atmosphere is 21% Oxygen which is near enough the exact amount that humans need. Consequently a greater being created the universe to support us, and the only being powerful enough to do so is God. On the other hand, the weak anthropic principle doesn’t accept that life was inevitable from the beginning and instead suggests that it just happened to have occurred. Richard Swinburne developed this by suggesting that the creation of the universe came down to probabilities rather than chance. He recognised that the universe could have easily been chaotic, but the fact that it isn’t suggests some element of design. Tennant described this as the world being â€Å"compatible with a single throw of a dice†, and said that â€Å"common sense is not foolish in suspecting the dice is loaded.† This explains how Swinburne and Tennant believed that it took an incredibly small singularity to create the cosmic explosion which created the universe, but the order and purpose is so beyond chance that there must have been a greater being behind it. This therefore shows how the anthropic principle is used to prove the existence of God. This principle has been supported by many other philosophers, including Fred Hoyle and Anthony Flew. Comment on the claim that this argument totally fails to prove the existence of God Charles Darwin used the idea of ‘Natural Selection’ to challenge the Design Argument. This is a theory that claims that the strongest and most adapted species survive and therefore species develop and evolve naturally through time. Darwin argued that the illusion of design is actually a result of natural and random process caused by Natural Selection, and not by God as the designer. Steve Jones described this process as â€Å"a series of successful mistakes†, which again doubts the involvement of God in the design of species. Nevertheless, Christians could object to this disproving that the Design Argument proves the existence of God as the anthropic principle suggests that Natural Selection and Evolution are caused by God, as they are too unlikely to have occurred by chance. As a result, one would argue that Darwin’s theory doesn’t hold up under its counter argument because Natural Selection can still occur with God being the designer of the universe. Freud also questions the Design Argument’s success at proving the existence of God in his book ‘The Future of an Illusion’. In it, he describes religious faith as an illusion based on wishful thinking, arguing that religion exists because people fear living in a chaotic and unordered world. Therefore we project order on to the universe out of fear and so our minds are predisposed to see order. Freud uses this idea to dispute that the order and regularity of the universe is a result of design, thus questioning the existence of God overall. One would say that Freud’s argument supports the claim that the Design Argument fails to prove God’s existence as it suggests that the universe is in fact not ordered perfectly as we perceive, and so God’s work as a designer is an illusion arisen from fear of chaos. Additionally, the Epicurean Hypothesis disputes that the designer of the universe could be the God of classic theism by exploring the idea of evil and suffering. Epicuris says that if God is willing to prevent evil but isn’t able to then he can’t be omnipotent, and if he’s able but not willing then he can’t be benevolent. From this argument, he concluded that either God isn’t the God of classic theism or God isn’t the designer of the universe at all. On the other hand, Christians could counter this by arguing that evil and suffering is a test from God as an opportunity to prove our faith to him. Therefore based on this, evil and suffering doesn’t disprove that God is the ultimate designer. However, the argument still stands as if God was omniscient he wouldn’t need to test people as he would know whether or not they were faithful. Also permitting evil and suffering would still make him malevolent. Consequently  one would say that the Epicurean Hypothesis still supports that the Design Argument fails to prove the existence of God. Overall, despite the Design Argument’s in depth ideas such as the anthropic principle and design qua purpose and regularity, there are stronger scholarly arguments to support the claim that the Design Argument fails to prove the existence of God. Although the use of Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection can be cancelled out by its counter, Freud’s idea of illusion both successfully argues that the apparent design is created out of fear of chaos and not the result of a supremely powerful source, and the Epicurean Hypothesis argues that the God of classic theism can’t exist under the premise of evil and suffering. Therefore these ideas effectively support that the Design Argument doesn’t prove that God exists.