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The dataset generation failed
Error code: DatasetGenerationError
Exception: ArrowInvalid
Message: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 113
Traceback: Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 145, in _generate_tables
dataset = json.load(f)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/json/__init__.py", line 293, in load
return loads(fp.read(),
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/json/__init__.py", line 346, in loads
return _default_decoder.decode(s)
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/json/decoder.py", line 340, in decode
raise JSONDecodeError("Extra data", s, end)
json.decoder.JSONDecodeError: Extra data: line 2 column 1 (char 54287)
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1995, in _prepare_split_single
for _, table in generator:
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 148, in _generate_tables
raise e
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 122, in _generate_tables
pa_table = paj.read_json(
File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 113
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
builder.download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1027, in download_and_prepare
self._download_and_prepare(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1122, in _download_and_prepare
self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1882, in _prepare_split
for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2038, in _prepare_split_single
raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the datasetNeed help to make the dataset viewer work? Make sure to review how to configure the dataset viewer, and open a discussion for direct support.
pred_label
string | pred_label_prob
float64 | wiki_prob
float64 | text
string | source
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.664711
| 0.335289
|
Tag Archives: synthesis
What Is A MOOC?
Composition MOOCs: Theorizing Pedagogy, Space, and Learning.
Why Here? Why Now? As argued in earlier case studies, the Composition MOOC is one of many different types of course offerings in an emerging trend (some would call it a fad) of online higher education. This is a site of considerable tension in our field of Composition studies, perhaps because many scholars see this as a step backward and away from the hard-won push for smaller-sized, learner-centered classrooms for freshman writing courses. Some of the most common concerns expressed by scholars and practitioners in our field about MOOCs are as follows:
They will “devalue the current education system” (Friend).
They will “disrupt” the same (Friend).
MOOCs are a “lightning rod for virtually all that thrills and ails contemporary higher education” (Mitrano).
They are simply another step in the commodification of higher education (Barlow).
By that same token, “college leaders” see MOOCs as the competition, as MOOCs are – by nature – “open” and free of charge (“”What You Need to Know About MOOCs”).
They are anonymous and diffused, thus threatening the teacher/student relationship.
They foster or are founded on wrong-headed teaching practices.
They threaten the role of and need for teachers.
They turn teachers into mere “content developers” (Gardner).
Cover of Sullivan & Tinberg text, What is College-Level Writing?
Yet, there are other scholars in our field who argue that these digital spaces can, with careful attention to the space’s design, exemplify best-practice models of collaborative learning and scaffolded teaching practices found to be so productive in a face-to-face (f2f) first-year composition (FYC) course (Decker, Cormier, Downes, Hart-Davidson, Bourelle et al.). Some have even gone so far as to argue that many of the criticisms err by conflating MOOC classroom pedagogy design with higher education operations in general (Cormier, Gardner). This discussion reflects our field’s cautious approach to MOOCs in the spirit of Cynthia Selfe’s counsel on “the importance of paying attention” when it comes to 21st century technology literacies. As well, the debate itself seems to emerge from a common paradigm: the place-anchored classroom, one that often limits the “node-load” of a network to a basic binary structure of teacher-learner. However, as this semester’s case studies have demonstrated, a Composition MOOC encompasses a much broader scale of elements: it is a networked space filled with nodes and agencies that emerge from not only the basic system of learning (teacher to student), but ecologies of other systems as well (institutional, assessment, collaborative relations between students independent of teacher directives, software, texts, etc.). As such, when current theories of networks are applied to MOOCs, they are often done so as if all MOOC classroom designs are the same. As Decker points out, this is most certainly not the case (4). Indeed, some Compositionists argue that our field should consider a refreshed pedagogy for learning spaces like MOOCs (Debbie Morrison’s “A Tale of Two MOOCs”). The assertion is that traditional f2f methods and technologies cannot be simply overlaid onto such a complex system / space with any hope of success.
Be that as it may, this final case study is not intended to be an argument for or against Composition MOOCs. Rather, using key threads gleaned from the theories of Spinuzzi, Foucault, Bateson’s and Gibson’s ecologies, and Neurobiology, it is my intention to theorize the potentiality of such space by highlighting key areas of tension in the current debate.
Foucault, Archaeology of Knowledge cover
Thread 1: Foucault’s attention to “unities of discourse” provides an open door through which to begin mapping an amalgamation of theory, and serves as the premise by which this theory will address the question of “why this / why now?” Put another way, Foucault’s concepts of gaps, hierarchies, systems, and traces are the elemental glue that holds this FrankenTheory partnership together, calling our attention to those theoretical areas of dissonance that often go unmapped (traces). Foucault’s rejection of a linear, universalist lens by which to explore networks of knowledge pushes at what often appears to be a primacy of Composition Pedagogy Theory (situated in an f2f paradigm) in many of the aforementioned tensions when it comes to MOOCs and English Studies. In essence, his theory establishes a primer for this FrankenTheory, as he defers to a concept of a web — of influences and events (a network) — as a more “realistic” way to see and explore knowledge and knowing (3). Indeed, he asserts that we must see knowledge in terms of a complex system through a lens defined by terms he uses to explain statements as nodes. He proposes a more productive network is not a stable system, but one of complexity and discontinuities which have the power to transform current theoretical frameworks (5). Foucault allows that his “notion of discontinuity… is both an instrument and an object of research” (9), and for this reason becomes what amounts to a genomic element to this attempt to create new theory for examining both the Composition MOOC and theories currently infusing the discourse.
A Synapse, Image from Rediscovering Biology, Chapter 10 “Across the Synapse”
Thread 2: The field of Neurobiology contributes to this discussion in several important ways. First, as a metaphor, it frames the concepts of knowledge and learning in productive ways that can be extended into discussions of ecologies and complex activity systems, as well as the nature of discourse in technologically mediated / created spaces. The neuronal network mapping metaphor provides interesting ways with which to discuss learning and knowledge transfer within a networked system much like a classroom space. It also provides our field with a concrete look into the physiological network that is at the very heart of any learning space: the brain. Learning theories grounded in behavioral / psychology theories are all rooted in this central processing unit; considering the biomechanical processes situates the conversation in a way that moves the more theoretical and ontological discussions back into the realm of “how and where” of learning. Neurobiology, then, allows us to look at the potentiality for knowledge transfer in terms of “how” learners learn. However, the biomechanical will only move the discussion so far; the messiness of a “massive” system composed of many students from varying backgrounds, differently motivated, in many places, and mediated by diverse technologies may push a neurobiology-based metaphor beyond its limits. Alone, it is limited. Combined with these other threads of theory and operationalization, it becomes an important conceptual layer for discussions of the “how.”
Spinuzzi: Traffic Systems (image from NobleEd.com)
Thread 3: Spinuzzi’s Activity Theory contributes in two important ways: (1) distinctive terminology that begins to move our focus from the biomechanical to the relational and (2) as a pragmatic illustration of complex systems operationalized. His work with Actor-Network Theory and Activity Theory illustrates the power of Foucault’s gaps and disruptions when seeking common borders at which this conversation can turn. For example, Spinuzzi points to the gaps of “designer vs. user,” which in turn can productively correlate to a Composition MOOC’s gap / borders between instructor vs. student participant. Further, Spinuzzi’s use of distributed cognition (Activity Theory) and interconnections maps onto MOOC spaces in potentially useful ways, particularly when focusing on “interrelated sets of activities” (such as those described in Downes’ description of a connectivist course) rather than the individual learner, or networked minds vs. an individual mind (62). MOOC classroom models vary widely, earning such monikers as xMOOC and cMOOC, the latter of which has been deemed most effective by several scholars due to its emphasis on coordinated collaborative networking (Downes, Cormier). As scholars and compositionists, we must remain critically aware of the design of the learning / teaching spaces we employ / deploy, and Spinuzzi’s discussion of mediation and mediators provides a means with which to explore these. Spinuzzi’s Activity Theory allows our focus to center on concrete nodes of activity within a system: where and how the participants interact (where the learners learn and connect).
School of Natural Resources & Environment, UF
Thread 4: Ecology Theory deals exclusively with complex systems, not classroom spaces. However, the potential for mapping a dynamic and complex “living” network of actors, boundaries, and affordances as described by Bateson and Gibson is one of the more productive connections for MOOC discussions.Given the mechanics of the numerous digital platforms and software needed to operationalize a learning/teaching classroom space, it is not surprising to see so many critiques of MOOCs more in line with Hardware Theory, focusing on the mediating structures, than Learning Theory. Bateson and Gibson provide a counterweight to such limitations by attending to the power of boundaries to serve as both frontiers as well as informational economies (Bateson 467). Ecology Theory can thus extend our focus upon a classroom system to a larger scale, allowing me to discuss systems within systems. As proof of this usefulness, Margaret Syverson takes an ecological systems’ approach to the subject of the Composition classroom on the premise that a student’s “process of composing” – i.e., learning – takes place within a dynamic “complex system” based squarely upon ecological principles (Syverson 2-3).
Shaffer MOOC crib sheet
The networked nature of complex systems and the affordances of web technology-based classrooms create a discursive space where each of these theories find play. Building upon Foucault’s concept of traces and gaps, each of these threads serves as both lens and map for examining the nodes and networks that comprise MOOC learning spaces, as well as highlighting the misfits or gaps. Further, each of these theoretical lenses at some point hinges upon the concept of “relationships,” a key component for distributed cognition as well as collaborative, workshop-based FYC theories of pedagogy. Finally, each of these theories provide the means by which to explore collaborative learning as both node and activity, a step which may contribute to the design of future cMOOCs and shape the nature of English Studies.
In sum, exploring this Object of Study using such a FrankenTheory may allow our field to address not only those concerns listed above but others like them, utilizing a network theory that may offer an appropriately complex lens to account for and grapple with the complexity of emerging digital learning, teaching, and theorizing spaces. The design of this synthesis falls into three broad sections, each based on significant questions that seem to lie at the heart of our field’s treatment of MOOCs: (1) knowledge and learning (or, “what does it mean to know?”), (2) the locus or framework of learning (or “how does location shape learning?”), and (3) agency (“who has it and why does that impact the discourse?”).
Baseline Concept: Knowledge and Learning
The concepts of knowledge and learning are key to this attempt to create a viable synthesis using these four theories, becoming an effective organizing principle with which to explore how these theorists give shape or problematize integration into a new theory of networks. Of particular worth is how these theories align and diverge in terms of the theorists’ framing of the terms and how, once synthesized, they become a useful tool with which to describe Composition MOOCs.
Stephen Downes: Connectivism
First, spaces in which knowledge is acquired and disseminated are shaped by premises that undergird what we mean when we consider the term knowledge as a thing to be constructed and transferred. David Cormier asserts that in traditional models of online courses that base their knowledge delivery system on a one-to-many model, it is the institution or the instructor who possess the knowledge desired by the students. In their original design, MOOCs constitute “an ecosystem from which knowledge can emerge” as a result of “negotiation”… a nod toward their roots in Vygotsky and the “social nature of learning” (Downes “Connective Knowledge”). From this perspective, it is not enough to use the term “knowledge” as a Composition classroom’s outcomes. Rather, the term “connective knowledge” emerges, pointing to a “gap” in Composition discourse where a network-based FrankentTheory might prove useful.
The field of neurobiology describes the function of the human brain as a communications network that first “takes in sensory information” via neurons, then “process[es] that information between neurons” as thinking, with the end result or response described in terms of neuronal “outputs” (“Neurobiology”). In other words, knowledge, as treated by neurobiology, is to some degree a byproduct of neurotransmitter activity transferring electrical and chemical impulses that create memories (in essence, knowing a thing). However, the network system – and in particular relationships within that system — in which such processes take place are just as important to how we understand knowledge creation, or learning. Synaptic connections operate on a cause-effect basis, transmitting data in one direction over a gap between neuronal structures. It is important to note that these “synapses are not merely gaps but … functional links between the two neurons” (“Neurobiology”). Foucault might say that these synaptic gaps – like black holes – are significant areas of scrutiny because of their functional nature. The entire “communication infrastructure” in which these neurons exist, however, are not the origin of the process.” Rather, the process that occurs within this series of embedded networks (synaptic systems) “develops because there is something to communicate.” In sum, knowledge is both product and initiator of this sequence of events that result in what neurobiology calls learning. When used as a lens with which to examine MOOCs as a space for learning and sharing knowledge, it seems intuitive to utilize a neuronal network as a fitting and productive metaphor with which to explore this Object of Study (OoS) as not only an environment of constructed connections (from Learning Platforms like Blackboard to blog spaces for assigned student writing to student-created back channels in Facebook for student-directed discussions) but as a representation of cognitive transfer – how humans learn. In neurobiology terms, knowledge is both a material to be transferred between neurons but also an initiator that signals neuronal development, altering existing circuits and driving the creation of new neurons to make new connections (“Neurobiology”).
Stephen Downes refers to George Siemens’ definition of connectivism as “the thesis that knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and therefore that learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks” (Slide 15, Slideshare). Their MOOC, which he describes in a Slideshare presentation from 2009, explores the underlying learning theories informing the structure of the MOOC itself in light of their attention to how students best learn. While his course is not specific to freshman composition content, his theorizing of learning taking place within a network. Each component creates the “mechanisms to input, process and distribute content” (slide 27) – the course map or neuronal network — but students themselves “add to the map” (slides 46-56). The growth of this system — what student writers add and how they add it — might be discussed in terms of our neurobiology metaphor if we align Downes’ “mechanisms” with neurobiology’s initiating force of knowledge to be transmitted, addressing the questions, “how do we know?” and “what is knowledge?” Downes’ use of neurophysiology terminology illuminates a potential connection (what Foucault might say is a case of “minding the gap”) to the type of community networks typical of effective MOOC designs as “a ‘community of communities’” (Connectivism 120), a description which he illustrates using terminology drawn from the field of neuroscience. Downes’ description of a community-as-network asserts that “nodes are highly connected in clusters” and these clusters are defined “as a set of nodes with multiple mutual connections” which are instrumental in the movement or transmission of a “message from one community to the next” (Connectivism 120).
The parallelism to neurobiology is clear here: nodes, transmission, clusters, etc. However, for English Studies and Composition Studies in particular, while such a cellular-based network may ground this physiological process as a scientific set of facts, it does not address the broader question of how this translates to behaviors situated in dispersed cultural and social network systems. This is where Spinuzzi may fill the gap. For example, when Cormier writes of “knowledge networks,” it creates a point of intersection with Spinuzzi ‘s Activity Theory. Spinuzzi employs Hutchins’ theory of distributed cognition to illustrate how humans – not just freshman writers – learn most efficiently when in a collective and collaborative network of others.
Spinuzzi’s effort to correlate Activity Theory with Actor Network Theory provides a view of knowledge and learning from the perspective of activities performed in order to acquire or transmit knowledge. Spinuzzi distinguishes two competing discourse communities and their approaches to knowledge: designers and users, each creating very different hierarchies and relations to the other nodes within the network. His concept of centripetal and centrifugal “impulses” (20) creates a fascinating analogy with which to consider the discourse practices of these two communities and how that creates a perspective of knowledge or learning that could be useful within this FrankenTheory. His suggestion that the centripetal nature of a designer describes a discourse community that gravitates toward “formalization, normalization, regularity, convention, stability, and stasis” (20) may help us characterize a sort of knowledge creation privileging to which Foucault points in his work. The centrifugal nature of the user, on the other hand, represents “resistance…, innovation, — and chaos” (20), features that may also contribute to discussions of agency. This passage alone opens numerous connection nodes of analysis regarding the ways we envision networks functioning or moving knowledge. Spinuzzi’s identification of competing concepts of creation and operationalization of knowledge thus provides a useful tether to which the other theories may connect when examining this Object of Study.
Foucault argues that we must explore discourse “through the use of spatial, strategic metaphors” (emphasis mine) if we hope to perceive “the points at which discourses are transformed” (qtd. in Binkley and Smith). Not only are these points of transformation of a practical matter in the case of MOOCs (e.g., making choices between online platforms and applications to locate collaborative writing), they become the very “gaps” or “traces” (7) so key to Foucault’s theory of knowledge, revealing as they do points of contention and discontinuity where additional theorizing might take the discourse in new directions.
Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge offers this work a theoretical foundation with which to explore several key terms: knowledge and knowing (writing and learning), networks, disruptions of unities, différence and traces (169). With regard to knowledge in particular, Foucault argues that the reason some maintain that “the history of thought could remain the locus of uninterrupted continuities” creates a shelter “[f]or the sovereignty of consciousness” (12). Further, he argues that we must “question those ready-made syntheses” that inform current theories of the individual and society. For this FrankenTheorizing of MOOCs, this concept may provide a way to highlight the presence of a “status quo” element to current critical frameworks of knowledge and/or learning that are applied to scholarly treatment of MOOCs in Composition. Gardner and Cormier both point to ways the original MOOC design was more true to composition theory pedagogies of collaborative, decentered learning spaces. However, when MOOC spaces were corporatized through “Coursera, edX, and Udacity,” classes offered through MOOCs became prone to the “sage-on-stage teaching models” against which our field of composition has come to resist (Gardner). The “status quo” of decentering classrooms, however, always already exists within the larger “status quo” of an educational system that relies on assessment to measure what it deems “academic knowledge.” Within that system, MOOC designs are often perceived as “payload delivery systems,” making the online instructor complicit in this framing of teaching as a “content delivery expert” (Gardner).
From “Nature Communications” website: Black Holes
Foucault calls us to pay attention – much like Cynthia Selfe does – to ways in which points of disruption or tension in this discussion may actually define what we see. Foucault’s description on page 29 of how looking at absences or gaps (disruptions and displacements, the difference) actually helps define what we see makes its way into this FrankenTheory much the way black holes reveal the unseen by observing the actions of other bodies within its sphere of influence. Foucault writes, “in analyzing discourses themselves,” we should look for “the emergence of a group of rules proper to discursive practice” in order to see them as “practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak” (49). Foucault’s interest here is in the “discursive formation,” and I would argue at its core is the concept of knowledge and knowledge networks. With regard to previous comments on “delivery systems” and knowledge, this “disruptive” or transformative power of a MOOC creates a troubling gap in terms of how knowledge is conceptualized as content to be delivered, shared, and transferred within most academic communities. As a result, some Compositionists argue that our field must consider a refreshed pedagogy for learning spaces like MOOCs (Debbie Morrison’s “A Tale of Two MOOCs”). The assertion is that the traditional f2f methods and technologies cannot be simply overlaid onto the MOOC space with any hope of success.
Finally, theories of Ecology as advanced by Bateson and Gibson deal with knowledge in terms of more philosophical ideas rather than concrete transfers of material knowledge made within and between ecosystems. Bateson concerns himself with affordances and perspective within what he refers to as an ecology of the mind. Using a blind man and stick analogy to explore the “mental system” that is involved with knowledge and learning, “the stick” or the non-human node within the system that is considered an affordance serves as “a pathway along which transforms [or the effects] of difference are being transmitted” (465). For Bateson, then, the focal point of any discussion is not the “what” but the “how.” Gibson also focuses on the role of affordances – the environment – but in terms of knowledge, there is a considerable degree of unawareness that takes place between actor and activity. Perception is key. The human-centeredness may seem to situate the power of knowledge squarely in “the eye of the beholder,” but Gibson’s explanation of the role of other players in the environment (water, soil, animals) also suggests that the privileging of humans in the knowledge network may be tenuous.
Perhaps the most relevant “gap” in the discussion of MOOCs where Gibson’s theory may be helpful is his exploration of objects versus affordances. Gibson asserts that in an ecology network, objects should not be defined by their “qualities,” but by their “affordances” (134). He is careful to make the importance of this distinction clear when he observes that “to perceive an affordance is not [the same as] to classify an object” (134). He explains that such a distinction “rescues us from the philosophical muddle of assuming fixed classes of objects, each defined by its common features and then given a name” (134). In the case of a Composition MOOC, this distinction becomes especially relevant when our inquiry turns to the nature of distributed activities and network nodes in terms of student identity within the MOOC. By simply employing classifications such as instructor or student, too often these terms become infused with traditional connotations of power and knowledge creation a la “one to many” (Hart-Davidson) being transferred within a hierarchy of primary to secondary, rather than a pattern which follows a more diffused set of relationships fostered by the sort of collaborative-centered design of a cMOOC (Cromier). Further, Gibson’s theory points out that “[t]he richest and most elaborate affordances of the environment” are not even non-human agents. In fact, they are “provided by other…people” whose “behavior affords behavior” (135).Bourelle et al. describe MOOCs in this way, with knowledge being created and transferred (learning) as much between students as between student to instructor. The disruption created by the affordances of the networked and massive space itself thereby resists a fixed nature of objects. So, what does this mean for this OoS?
“Finding Meaning In Networks” (www.ysc.com)
Knowledge is closely aligned with the concept of meaning. In Composition theory, this pairing is typically framed within key rhetorical concepts of audience and rhetor (writer). Gibson asserts that his theory of affordances provides “a new definition of what values and meaning are,” particularly in terms of how these affordances are directed. Gibson’s theory insists that (unlike neuronal pathways), an “affordance…points two ways, to the environment and to the observer” (140-41). Within the network of a Composition MOOC, such principles of meaning and knowledge allow the discourse to shift to the gap which commonly houses a “chicken or the egg” dilemma: is the MOOC environment to be seen as machine interface housing the human interface (the student-student or student-teacher connections), or are the human connections and interfaces transforming the physical network structure itself?
In short, when it comes to a Composition MOOC, what does it mean “to know” – for both teacher and student? These theorists take the discussion out of the realm of assessment, assignments, and the writing process, and shifts us into the realm of how we learnin a complex system of networked relationships. I deliberately do not refer to “networked space” as these four theories facilitate a move away from the structural configurations of boundaries, tools, and computer-mediated access, and into the realm of social networks.
Baseline Concept: The Locus or Framework of Learning
Of all these lenses, some are more useful than others when it comes to interrogating the MOOC space as a learning and teaching space. Gibson argues that “a place is not an object with definite boundaries” but is instead more of “a region” (136). Bateson famously observes that “the map is not the territory” (455). What do these mean for a new network theory meant to analyze a Composition MOOC? It is Bateson’s map/territory equation that may be most productive initially, as we endeavor to discuss a MOOC as uniquely networked on a level that must be theorized differently than a physical Composition classroom space filled with desks, one teacher, 20 students, textbooks (or even eBooks). When attempting to theorize a space as massive and open as a MOOC, it soon becomes clear that we cannot talk about its practices or its situatedness using the same framework and terms we use to analyze a traditional Composition course following traditional paradigms of f2f classroom theory. In fact, Bateson’s theory is predicated on the assumption that we must “change our whole way of thinking about mental and communicational process” (458). When Bateson notes that the “differences are the things that get onto a map” (457), it is a phrase remarkably reminiscent of Foucault’s differences, disruptions, and traces as the more productive locus of our attention when it comes to theorizing knowledge and networks within MOOCs. But just what does this mean – “the map is not the territory” – for MOOCs?
Neurobiology may help address this if seen as a metaphor for the type of learning that happens in a MOOC. MOOCs have been cast by many skeptics (including many composition scholars) as a troubling “break” from traditional models of higher education. However, if seen through the prism of learning models, a Composition MOOC space may instead become one that facilitates creativity and independent thinking by participants who become co-creative powers within a network of learners. The concepts of neurobiology applied as both metaphor and learning theory may facilitate this view.
Hart-Davidson’s article recently published in Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promise and Perils of Massive Open Online Coursesfocuses on student learning – specifically learning to write — in digital environments. He observes that digital technology like MOOCs may promote “peerlearning,” which he asserts is “the way most humans actually learn to write” (212). His analysis relies heavily upon Lev Vygotsky’s theory of learning, and especially the “zone of proximal development” principle, or ZPD (212-213). Briefly, we might summarize this theory in terms of a composition classroom learning model as “I do – We do – You do”: the instructor provides the learner with a scaffolded structure of activity that is at first mediated through modeling, then co-created or co-supported with student involvement, until finally the student requires no further mediated support and proceeds independently. Hart-Davidson summarizes Vygotsky’s importance to his approach to writing in MOOC classrooms by pointing out that peer learning involves “networks” – each individual bringing to the mix “a rich set of resources” that “boosts the learning potential” (213). The “zone of proximal development” or “ZPD” allows students to perform (i.e., write) and learn “better than one of us alone because we are surrounded by resources – one another – to scaffold our learning” (214). In such a network, “[t]here may be no stable individual ‘experts’ at any given moment, but among the group there exists a collective ability for a successful performance” (214).
MOOC Web Wheel
She asserts that one course failed because of its reliance on a pedagogy that had not adapted its methods to the characteristics that define the web space as a learning space. In particular, she argues that the failed course did so due to its reliance on a “learning model that most of higher education institutions follow – instructors direct the learning, learning is linear and constructed through prescribed course content featuring the instructor,” a method not unlike the way many face-to-face (f2f) Composition courses are conducted. Such methods, she argues, are unsuited for the ways in which the Web “as a platform for open, online, and even massive learning creates a different context for learning – one that requires different pedagogical methods.” Morrison’s observation may illustrate one of the limitations of the neurobiology thread because the metaphoric image of a neural network isolates the picture somewhat, “tuning out” the environmental influences surrounding the neural pathways. In other words, the neural network nodes are a very small part of a much larger system, equated only to the “basic cellular mechanism in the brain” (“Neurobiology”). The dilemma for this application is whether this “smallness” can correlate to the “bigness” and complexity of a MOOC. This gap may be usefully bridged by integrating Spinuzzi’s work with chained activity networks and the concept of “connectivism” as applied learning theory.
Spinuzzi defines Activity Theory (AT) as “a theory of distributed cognition” that “focuses on issues of labor, learning, and concept formation” (62). Further, this theory continues to evolve, moving “from the study of individuals and focused activities to the study of interrelated sets of activities” (62) – networks that may include collaborative learning and development, both of which play significant roles in Composition pedagogy and MOOC structural designs. Such concepts and terms create a framework with which to explore how using a network lens provides a means with which to locate this discussion in terms of borders. As Morrison observes, such concepts and terms create a framework with which to explore how using a network lens provides a means with which to locate this discussion in terms of borders. As Morrison observes, the nature of a MOOC space does not easily align with the nature of an f2f classroom space. While the basic principles of Composition pedagogical theory must ground both in terms of the aforementioned priorities of student learning (as outlined by the NCTE in “Beliefs About the Teaching of Writing”), the nature of the space – the networks that represent the physical, the theoretical, and what AT calls the “dialectical” qualities of that space – create tensions at those boundaries which represent how to implement that learning. Morrison refers to the importance of “connectivism” as a corollary to “social constructivism,” a thread woven into modern pedagogical theory (and connected to principles of Ecology as well as Neurobiology) that states “students learn more effectively” when they are actively involved in knowledge construction that includes their own knowledge bases.
Spinuzzi Structure of Activity, Networks
Activity Theory as distributed cognition incorporates mediation as a key concept. Described by Spinuzzi as “tools, rules, and divisions of labor” (71), mediators are used by individuals within an activity system to “transform a particular object with a particular outcome in mind” in a way that is meaningful and connected to a (discourse) community (71-72). Composition MOOCs as networks are often seen through the filter of traditional f2f structural limitations, leading to concerns such as those described by Halasek et al., who assert that reflecting on “the MOOC learning environment” reveals the “ways we understood – and sometimes failed to understand – our roles as teachers of composition and our students’ roles as writers and learners” (156). Again, the example of the Discussion Boards serves as an example of how Activity Theory allows us to productively analyze the MOOC environment. Halasek et al. observe that Discussion Forums are typically conceptualized as nodes in which student participants depend on the “controlled exhanges…shaped and guided by teachers…and oriented toward assignment expectations” (159). In effect, these learning nodes are mediated in specific ways by a limited number of people who occupy academically hierarchical positions with relation to the student-to-teacher activity pathways. In the revised iteration of their MOOC class, Halasek et al. discovered that students “actively occupied” these learning spaces and mediated the activity as well as the flow of content when they “engaged and even tested the faculty team by making their needs explicit and articulating the problems the instructional context posed” (159). Such meta-participation is then makes students the mediators who transform the learning environment through their activity and co-creating of the space.
Finally, Activity Theory involves “chained activity systems,” a concept that may account for the sort of “organizational…boundaries” that create “informal linkages” between activities that could be interpreted as metacognitive nodes where transfer takes place (Spinuzzi “Networks” 74-77). As Spinuzzi explains, there are two types of work that takes place in systems: modular and net work (“How”). Complex tasks in Modular work is described as more compartmentalized and specialized, with clear boundaries and hierarchical orders of authority. Net work refers to the “coordinated work that holds” complex systems together (“How”). Foucault’s concepts of disruption and chaos as areas of transformation may fit here as Spinuzzi explains that modular work (a system of activity that emerged from the Industrial Revolution) has been “disrupted” or “destabilized” by technology’s impact. As a result, homogenous units of work gave way to “heterogenous networks…[that] form dense interconnections among people, texts, tools, etc.” (“How”).
Spinuzzi applies Activity Theory in terms of connected activity systems in which mediators – which in this case may be the digital space itself, the technology, or the pedagogical system that functions as a genre – provide the “tools, rules, and division of labor” (71) to create a system suited for “distributed cognition” (69). In terms of MOOCs, Spinuzzi’s characterization of “contradictions” as “engines of change” and transformation (a key component of Activity Theory) becomes a means of considering the impact of designers’ pedagogies as well as the agency afforded users in this learning space.
Further, Spinuzzi asserts that chained activities “don’t chain so much as they overlap and interfere with each other,” allowing the participants “to take on many functions” (“How”). This distinction is reminiscent of Syverson’s application of ecology to the Composition classroom in terms of how it allows us to treat a MOOC space as a “complex system” rather than a technology-mediated space. As a result of these theoretical combinations, discussions of the most productive teaching/learning models for a MOOC allow more credence to the “many-to-many” as opposed to one of “one-to-many” (Hart-Davidson).
For Composition, metacognitive transfer has become an increasingly foregrounded concept in discussions of student writing. For the Composition MOOC, AT becomes especially productive as a way to analyze it as a potentially viable mediator of student writing. It also offers a point of alignment with the neuronal metaphor (the way axons and dendrites constitute independent nodes of activity as part of the larger neuronal system that make up brain activity) as well as ecology theories.
But what of Agency within these complex systems? What of the students’ ability to co-create their learning and knowledge?
Baseline Concept: Agency
Foucault describes members of a discourse community as existing inside “a web of which they are not the Masters, of which they cannot see the whole, and of whose breadth they have a very inadequate idea” (126). These notions of control and scope are key to understanding and exploring the notion of agency in MOOC spaces, in particular how that impacts writing pedagogy. Because Foucault’s theories challenge the linear homogeneity of not only academic discourse but knowledge conventions as well, the notion of hierarchical agency as a power dichotomy comes under scrutiny.
As stated earlier, classrooms are often analyzed in terms of structural components: the mechanical, the hardware, the situatedness of student and teacher. In the case of any online classroom including MOOCs, it is easy to believe there is an individual mastery over the network, which Spinuzzi might refer to in terms of designer, as when the architects of that network exert an unseen filter in the form of a control system. Agency, then, within such networks must also be a point of analysis, and is a boundary where all four theories contribute to one degree or another.
Foucault’s Definition of Agency – Foucault resists essentialisms and absolutes. Therefore, his approach to agency is one that resists what he refers to as a “history of ideas” that promotes a linear approach to influences — a one-to-one, top-down hierarchy. Instead, he seems to locate that agency in moments of disruption and discontinuity, which networks facilitate in their “redistributions” (5). He argues that the “sovereignty of the subject” (12) is problematic, one fostered by the history of ideas. His assertion, through his archeology of knowledge, is to dethrone or decenter the subject. If we view “subject” as having the sort of primary agency as might a designer (Spinuzzi), a theory that decenters that subject’s hierarchical (and linear) primacy would fit a networked system in which agency is diffused. The MOOC’s essential networked structure can serve Foucault’s argument, but only if the hierarchical system of one teacher distributing knowledge to many students is disrupted. Some MOOCs, as Hart-Davidson points out, fail to operate in this way, but there are cases, such as the online classrooms cited by Bourelle et al. as well as Halasek et al., which operationalize a networked, student-prioritized course that diffuses the agencies of knowledge generation and transfer to tutors as well as students. Moreover, a consideration of how their online course failed to produce envisioned learning outcomes – a gap – served to focus their theorizing efforts to address these disruptions via a redistribution of agency. Foucault’s theory both frames the disruptive powers of networks as well as serving to illuminate the gaps where questions of agency may be asked.
Spunuzzi and Agency: Vygotsky’s theory of learning might locate agency in the relationship b/w nodes — teacher, student – which may be discussed in terms of scaffolding. The scaffolding, of course, takes on an entirely new location in a MOOC, but activity theory may allow this to be applied in a more decentered way than Vygotsky originally intended when he wrote about educational strategies for teaching children new concepts. While Vygotsky’s theories have been folded into Writing Center and even Composition theories, at their core is a collaborative activity. All too often, however, that collaboration still relies on a designer (tutor / teacher) who crafts the structure for that scaffolded behavior. In the case of MOOCs, the course design begins within the institutionalized origin of the course, but the networked system may allow designer agency to be diffused through the course through peerlearning nodes, some predesigned and others initiated and created by students (as in the composition MOOCs of Hart-Davidson and Bourelle et al.). As Downes observes, when MOOCs are designed following theories of Connectivism, students are empowered (i.e., are afforded agency) by the space itself to become “creators of learning” (Downes “Connectivism”). Teachers as well adopt “new roles” as “coaches and mentors” (Downes “Connectivism”). Due to this increased and diffused agency, learning then becomes “a network phenomenon” (Downes). Spinuzzi’s use of distributed cognition (Activity Theory) and interconnections also maps onto MOOC spaces in potentially useful ways, particularly when focusing on “interrelated sets of activities” (62) rather than the individual learner.
Ecology and Agency: For Bateson, meaning is “projected” onto the world by the perceptions and subjectivity of the viewer. Dividing potential agents into “creatura” and “pleroma,” he sets up a binary of subject/object. To set up the question, “what does it mean to know,” Bateson’s agency is diffused, but not shared. It is still very much a human-centered approach to networks, knowledge, and agency, an approach which Spinuzzi might find appealing. Gibson’s theory pushes back against the worldview born of the Enlightenment that sees the world in terms of mechanical cause and effect. Affordances are potential activity that allow agency, but have no agency of their own per se. The environment is not a “cause” of action, but instead facilitates it. The interactivity of an environment’s connectivity is one of give and take, self-regulating. Non-human actors (animals) are not simply machine-like, responding to environmental stimuli. His concept of agency is a theoretical one meant to disrupt a subject-object / subjective-objective dichotomy. Most interestingly, “[a]n affordance points both ways, to the environment and to the observer” (129). This relationship or network, while still privileging the human actor, opens up a means of exploring the structural elements of a created structural network (a system of connections that afford students and instructors to create relationships one with the other) of a MOOC. Affordances themselves, therefore, seem to possess agency of a kind. Their existence does NOT depend on their perception. Actions, then, reveal how animals are using those affordances, which Foucault might see as a trace or gap that results in new possibilities for analysis (statements).
Neurobiology and Agency: The neurotransmitters are the key to connectivity within the network, and specifically between synapses. Neurotransmitters are the key to movement within a neural pathway. A chemically-based reaction to stimuli, these “energy impulses” create a connection between two neurons. The very act of transmission transforms both neurons, opening “channels” and allowing movement through the phenomenon not unlike a differential seeking balance (“Neurobiology”). This action may be useful to discuss as a metaphor of how the types of peer writing practices employed in a MOOC writing class transmit and encounter text; emphasizing the rhetorical importance of audience by introducing the authority of “reader” may change or alter the writer’s perception of what he or she is doing and can have profound effects on a student’s understanding of the process and the text. (Lisa Ede and Andrea Lunsford wrote about this topic decades ago and more recently in a compilation that explores the current trend in English Studies to better foreground audience in Composition.) The usefulness of this metaphor is wide ranging, as the neurotransmitter’s role as agent or node can be applied to questions of student agency as well as affordances of the system itself (that is, technology choices made by both the course designers as well as the students to facilitate learning and/or writing).
Summation: Syverson offers a justification for an ecological approach to Composition, one which translates over to this OoS as well. As she observes, the layering of theory is “crucial in developing new knowledge” (Syverson 2). As well, we might argue that, just as MOOCs should be seen and theorized as a complex system, these theories are part of that system. In the end, as a unifying element of this FrankenTheory, Ecology seems the most productive of the four in terms of framing discussions of MOOCs as spaces for teaching, learning, and practicing writing. Too often, MOOCs seem to be cast in terms of a “simple system” of teacher-student relationships, when in reality – and as Foucault, Spinuzzi, Neurobiology, Bateson, and Gibson all demonstrate – it is far more complicated than criticisms based on “mechanistic explanations” permit (Syverson 2).
Indeed, as Syverson posits, the cMOOC is a “meta-complex system,” one wherein Ecology Theory may productively integrate (subsume) Neurobiology, Activity Theory, even Foucault. As Syverson argues, such ecologies allow us to discuss “writers, readers, and texts” as part of a complex system that is composed of “self-organizing, adaptive, and dynamic interactions” (3). This system, as she envisions it, is built of “interrelated and interdependent complex systems and their environmental structures,” structures that include “theoretical frames, academic disciplines, and language itself” (3) along with – I argue — assumptions about knowledge and agency.
In Music, It’s Called A Deceptive Cadence: I must admit, I’ve been suspicious of MOOCs as a productive place for freshman writing instruction since I first learned of them a few years ago. As a proponent of our field’s insistence upon smaller-scaled classrooms following a student-centered workshop / studio activity design, the sheer size and decentered nature of the MOOC seemed destined for trouble. I have taught freshman writing sequences online in the past, and it quickly became clear to me that the nature of the space cannot simply mirror that of the f2f classroom. The MOOC design takes this distinction to entirely new levels of complication.
But the very nature of our field demands flexibility and openness to new ground and new theories with which to best equip college-level writers for the demands of communication across disciplines and across technology-mediated spaces. MOOCs may be in their early stages of a full life in the realm of Composition Studies, or they may be on the road to extinction – a fast-burning flame. Another possibility is that they must simply be reclassified, recognized as a unique learning space for unique student populations. What the scholarly discussions seem to reveal is that we as a field are not yet certain how to deal with MOOCs, all the more reason why such theorizing (even after the fact) can be so productive.
Coda: If our field approaches the Composition MOOC as an ecology, how might the conversation change? How will it reflect the “enunciative function” identified by Foucault (88)? What new threads, nodes, or means of transmission might emerge as part of the discourse if we apply theories of learning like Vygotsky through the lenses of Neurobiology and Activity Theories combined? How might the goals and motives of our pedagogy evolve if we treat the technology of MOOCs as having productive, rather than reductive, agency in the ways students learn to write in a massive digitally-mediated space?
When these digital spaces are built as adaptive, complex systems rather than static delivery systems based on one-to-many models like Coursera and eduX courses (Hart-Davidson), how will the conversation be transformed?
Questions aside, as important is how we as a field of study will frame this discussion of the MOOCs place in 21st century higher education. Syverson’s question seems productive to our response: “Can the concepts currently emerging in diverse fields on the nature of complex systems provide us with a new understanding of composing as an ecological system?” (5). Her question posits the very behavior itself – composing – as a system (Spinuzzi might call it a networked activity) itself, not a learned behavior designed to produce a product. The transformation of our field of view afforded by this proposed FrankenTheory may allow those of us in the field of Composition Studies to bring this question, and these three key areas of theoretical overlap, to the forefront of this discussion in an effort to move us forward.
Barlow, Aaron. “Teachers and Students: Machines and Their Products?”Academe Magazine 26 May 2013. Web. 1 May 2014.
Bateson, Gregory. Steps To An Ecology of Mind. New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc., 1987.
Binkley, Roberta and Marissa Smith. “Re-Composing Space: Composition’s Rhetorical Geography.” Composition Forum 15 (2006). Web. 1 Mar. 2014.
Bourelle, Tiffany, Sherry Rankins-Robertson, Andrew Bourelle, and Duane Roen. “Assessing Learning in Redesigned Online First-Year Composition Courses.” Digital Writing Assessment and Evaluation. Eds. Heidi A. McKee and Danielle Nicole DeVoss. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press, 2013. Web. 2 Feb. 2014.
Cormier, David. “Knowledge In A MOOC.” YouTube. 1 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.
Downes, Stephen. Connectivism and Connective Knowledge: Essays on Meaning and Learning Networks. 19 May 2012. Creative Commons. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Downes, Stephen. “The Connectivism and Connective Knowledge Course.” Slide Share. 24 Feb. 2009. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. < http://www.slideshare.net/Downes/the-connectivism-and-connective-knowledge-course>
Downes, Stephen and George Siemens. “Connectivism and Connective Knowledge: Getting Started.” MOOC course, University of Manitoba. 2009. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://elearnspace.org/media/GettingStarted/player.html>
Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge and the Discourse on Language. New York: Vintage Books, 1972. Print.
Friend, Chris. “Will MOOCs Work For Writing?” Hybrid Pedagogy: A Digital Journal of Learning, Teaching, and Technology. 28 March 2013. Web.
Gardner, Traci. “The Misunderstood MOOC.” Bits: Ideas for Teaching Composition. Bedford / St. Martins. 5 June 2013. Web. 1 May 2014.
Gibson, J. J. “The Theory of Affordances.” In R. E. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.), Perceiving, Acting, and Knowing. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1977. pp. 127-143.
Hart-Davidson, Bill. “Learning Many-to-Many: The Best Case for Writing in Digital Environments.” Invasion of the MOOCs: The Promise and Perils of Massive Open Online Courses. Eds. Steven D. Krause and Charles Lowe. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2014.
Mitrano, Tracy. “MOOCs as a Lightning Rod.” Inside Higher Education 31 May 2013. Web. 1 May 2014.
“Neurobiology.” Rediscovering Biology. Annenberg Foundation, 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Norman, Don. “Affordances and Design.” jnd.org. 2004. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Spinuzzi, Clay. “How Are Networks Theorized?” Network: Theorizing Knowledge Work in Telecommunications. NY: Cambridge UP, 2008. 62-95.
Spinuzzi, Clay. Tracing Genres through Organizations. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003.
Syverson, Margaret A. “Introduction.” The Wealth of Reality: An Ecology of Composition. Southern Illinois UP, 1999. 1-27.
“What You Need to Know About MOOCs.” The Chronicle of Higher Education: Technology. 1 May 2014. Web. 1 May 2014.
Posted in Case Studies, ENGL 894
Tagged activity theory, ANT, AT, Bateson, Complex System, deceptive cadence, ecology, Foucault, FrankenTheory, Gibson, MOOC, neurobiology, Spinuzzi, synthesis, System, Syverson, theories, Transfer
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The History of High Heels
I adore high heels. So, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that when forced to do an informative speech I chose to do it on the history of the high heel. I'm taking a speech class right now, because I have to for my major and it makes me die a little bit on the inside.
I've only given one other speech beside this one and I stalled. I was standing in front of the class. Had not said a word and I didn't remember a word. I finally manage to say that I would rather choke myself with the scarf I was wearing then give this speech. There was some uncomfortable laughter and in his review of my speech, my professor tells me that I should be a stand up comedian.
I said one sub par humorous thing that was ad libbed. I was also shaking in heels. It was really not a good moment. No. I will not be doing stand up. I am not funny.
The original topic of my speech was on the difference between BDSM and abuse. I felt it was important to discuss the inaccuracy in 50 Shades of Grey. Yes, I went to see it, but I saw it for entertainment purposes. People need to know that this movie isn't what the BDSM lifestyle is supposed to be about. It's supposed to be about comfort and an open discussion about what the two partners want. That's not what 50 Shades of Grey is.
My teacher liked the concept and then he slowly started finding problems with it. How was I going to prove that I was knowledgeable on the topic? I don't know, I did this crazy thing called research? If he wanted me to say that I regularly practice BDSM I would. Did he want me to say I watch porn. Done. I don't know what he wanted.
Then, he told me that as college students this might make people uncomfortable. He was basically saying that we were all virgins that knew nothing of sex. Not true. At all. I also did not plan on discussing specific sexual acts or practices. But, I was over it. He didn't want me to do it, so I changed the topic to the history of high heels.
Of course being the mischievous little bitch that I am, I ended it on the subject of fetish high heels. I managed to incorporate the words 'dildo' 'penis' and 'anal' all into one horrifying sentence. He was rightfully victimized.
Now. The true subject of the history of high heels. Where did they start. Where are they from? They were not created by butchers to keep there feet out of blood. That was one interesting rumor. It was only about a few centuries off in accuracy.
Eventually they found there way to Europe. An early version was used by Venice prostitutes and was more of a platform called a chopine in the 1400's. It made the women taller and more visible. Royalty and the upper class soon updated it for themselves. It kept there feet out of the waste of the streets and served a reasonably practical purpose.
The true heel came around during the 1600's and was the height of masculinity. Queen Elizabeth I of England was the first documented ruler to wear them. It was the French King Louis XIV that turned it into a lifestyle. His shoes were red bottomed and only people in his favor could wear the red bottom.
Now you know where Louboutin got his idea for his red bottomed clackers.
Women initially did not wear them. When they did start wearing them it was in order to appear more masculine. There then began to be a separation in the type of heels men and women wore. Men's were more bulky and women's more delicate and stiletto like.
The enlightenment came around and people were like damn these heels are impractical. Men stopped wearing them. Although, there use for women didn't stop it slowed down. Heels were shorter. People just weren't feeling them in the 1800's.
With the invention of the camera. We did what anyone would do with such a great invention. Take naked pictures of women. Heels are a super normal stimulus, which is basically a fancy way to say that they enhance what we are already attracted to. They enhance the legs, the ass, the area of child bearing. They make our gait more attractive. But, all the dirty men of the 1800's cared about were the first three reasons.
Heels were back for erotic purposes. These sexy naked ladies were dressed up in them, but with the Victorian age, the classy sophisticated woman of the time was not going to be strutting in heels. Didn't mean they didn't do it. I am not an expert, but these are the people who made curtains for table legs because they were too sexual.
With the twenties Flappers were killing it with their heels, but it was really after World War II that heels made a major mainstream comeback. You won't believe why. The pin ups all the military men and sailors were looking at had heels on.
Pornography and fashion intersected and you can thank your grandfathers for bringing the stiletto back into existence. Thank you for being nasty old men. We applaud you for you interest in fashion.
The Shoes I Wore To Give My Speech
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10 things as old as our 2017 Freshers
Post written by George Vekic | September 4, 2017
To celebrate our new 2017 Freshers, we’ve picked out 10 things that are as old as most of this year’s undergrad intake. There’s a few surprises, and no way are some of these this old. Time to mope about how old we are.
Red or Blue? The Wachowskis’ epic featured Keanu Reeves as the protagonist, and opened our minds to new (and false) realities. The Matrix went on to rake in over $460 million at the box office. There is no spoon…
M. Night Shyamalan’s big break came in the form of the critically-acclaimed supernatural horror, The Sixth Sense. It launched the career of Hayley Joel Osment, spent five weeks at the top of the US box office charts, and scarred us for life. Then there was THAT twist.
The debut single of 90s legend Britney Spears, forever remembered for its controversial yet iconic music video. ‘Baby One More Time’ enjoyed considerable chart success and saw numerous covers and parodies.
We can’t believe it either, Brit.
Speaking of Britney… 😳 It’s fair to say Eminem wasn’t Britney’s biggest fan way back when, even going as far as to dress up as her in one of his videos – though they’ve since made up. 1999 saw the release of The Slim Shady LP, which was subsequently banned from the house by maws across Scotland.
Manchester United winning the 1999 Champions League
Featuring some of the greatest players the world has ever seen – including the famed Class of ’92 – the 1999 Champions League Final had everything. Two goals in the last three minutes (including THAT goal from Solskjaer) sealed the title for Man Utd at the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnecJa5satA
The third novel in the Harry Potter series was published on 8 July 1999. Written by J.K. Rowling, the Prisoner of Azkaban saw Mr Potter enter his third year at Hogwarts and contend with dementors, Sirius Black, shape-shifters and time travel.
The now legendary HBO drama aired in January 1999, and followed the daily life of mobster protagonist Tony Soprano and his family, as well as his other family. James Gandolfini brought the titular character to life, winning numerous awards for his portrayal of New Jersey’s finest ‘waste management consultant’.
He lives in a pineapple under the sea, absorbent and porous and yellow is he. 11 seasons and 218 episodes later, SpongeBob still holds a special place in the hearts of 90s kids.
BFF goals.
Yer auld da’s fav dancing choon, Lou Bega’s ‘soul’ hit entranced dance floors across the world in 1999. Mambo No. 5 was originally performed in 1952 by the Cuban-Mexican musician Perez Prado, with Lou Bega (real name David Lubega) recording his own vocals over Perez’s instrumental track.
Bran Stark / Isaac Hempstead-Wright
Bran the Broken, the Winged Wolf, the Three-Eyed Raven. Game of Thrones’ Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who plays Bran, turned 18 this year. And he’s already seen season 8, before you ask.
2017 Fresher at University of Stirling? Everything you need to know is on our website. Remember to follow us across social media:
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Former prisoners of war held in Java by the Japanese have met at the Imperial War Museum to hand over copies of their camp magazine Mark Time. Includes interviews with Sir Laurens van der Post whose life in...
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Former Commissioners
Indira J. St. Jean
Vanoulst Jno. Charles
Anthony P. La Ronde
Henry George Dyer
Davidson A. Bruney
Sir Brian Alleyne
Gerald Smith
George E. Williams
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Integrity Commission
Anthony P. La Ronde, Barrister at Law, Solicitor and Notary Public was called to the Bar of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (Dominica) in 1985.
He holds a B.A. General and B.A. Honours in History from the University of Waterloo, with a minor in Political Science. He read law at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados and was awarded the LLB. Thereafter he obtained the Legal Education Certificate from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago. Mr. La Ronde pursued post graduate studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He holds an advanced Diploma in legislative drafting.
From 1971 to 2002 Mr. La Ronde worked in the public service of the Commonwealth of Dominica first as a teacher at the primary and high school levels and thereafter as a Barrister at law and Solicitor.
Mr. La Ronde has been a Teaching Assistant in History at the University of Waterloo and a Tutor in Law at the University of the West Indies - Cave Hill Campus and in Political Science at the St Augustine Campus in Trinidad. He lectured in Law at the University of Guyana.
As a Barrister at Law and Solicitor he held the positions, on full establishment, as a State Attorney, Parliamentary Draftsman, Chief Parliamentary Draftsman and Attorney General in the Commonwealth of Dominica. As the Attorney General he was a Member of Parliament and the Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Dominica from 1995 to 2002. He also held temporary appointments as Magistrate, Registrar General of the Supreme Court and Director of Public Prosecutions.
From 2003 he was a Senior Draftsperson - Legal Consultant at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. From 2005 to 2009 he was the Officer in Charge/Director of the CARICOM Legislative Drafting Facility at the Secretariat.
Mr. La Ronde holds five specialist Practice Diplomas from the International Bar Association and the College of Law of England and Wales. The Specialist Practice Diplomas ar e in the following areas:
International Business Organizations
International Mergers and Acquisitions
International Joint Ventures
International Competition Law
Consequently he was made a FELLOW of the International Bar Association on the 18th day of October, 2007.
Mr. La Ronde has been involved in numerous regional and international negotiations. As a legal practitioner he has appeared before the Magistrate's Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice.
Dermot Southwell
Copyright & Privacy Notices
Copyright © 2023 - Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. All rights reserved.
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· Label Guide
· Archives
Atari 7800 Hardware and Accessories
While the 7800 can use the extensive library of 2600 peripherals and accessories, very few items were made specifically for the system. In the same vein, there is not an extensive catalog of prototype items either. Very few unreleased games have been discovered, and there is only a handful of hardware, but there are certainly some interesting items. In most cases you can click the image for a larger picture.
The Atari 7800. There are several variations of this machine, the notable difference being the presence of the expansion slot on the left side of the console. This expansion slot only appeared on early versions of the 7800, and unfortunately no hardware was ever released to take advantage of it. Some later versions of the 7800 have compatibility problems with a select few 2600 cartridges, most notably Robot Tank, Decathlon, Space Shuttle, Time Pilot, Kool-Aid Man and the Supercharger. Outside of North America, the 7800 was released with Asteroids built-in to the ROM OS. In Australia and New Zealand, it included the 32-in-1 game cartridge as a pack-in.
Atari Proline Joystick
This is the specially designed joystick that was included with the 7800. It has the advantage of two independently functioning fire buttons, but suffers from an awkward design that makes it uncomfortable.
Atari Joypad
Similar to an NES controller, this Atari-made gamepad was the pack-in for the 7800 when it was sold in Europe. Although rare in the US, they are not hard to find in Europe. However, they were sold separately in very small quantities in their own box, and this is very hard to find.
Atari High Score Cartridge
Announced at the beginning of the Atari 7800 launch in 1984, Atari never released this product. In 2000, Curt Vendel and Gary Rubio restarted this project and actually brought it to market in limited quantities. It's a piggy-back cartridge that allows you to record your high score, but it's only compatible with certain cartridges.
Atari XE Light Gun
Atari didn't make a gun specifically for the 7800, so owners had to purchase the XE gun that is fully compatible.
Best Joystick
Available from Best Electronics, this is similar to the standard 7800 controller, but is a bit sturdier, and also features auto-fire.
Best Light Gun
Available from Best Electronics, this is a compatible light gun for the 7800 made by a long-time Atari dealer.
Telegames Super Deluxe Joystick
Available from Telegames, this is a replacement joystick for your 7800, made by Telegames.
Atari 7800 prototype console
Prototypes were sometimes created from translucent plastic such as this.
Atari Proline controller prototype
Made of the same translucent plastic.
Atari 7800 Keyboard Prototype
Announced at the launch of the 7800, the keyboard was unfortunately never released. The keyboard plugs into joystick port #2 on the 7800 and theoretically turns it into a full blown computer, allowing it to use the full line of Atari 400/800 computer peripherals (software would still be incompatible however). It was also going to be packaged with system BASIC and a word processor called VideoWriter.
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BTS In The White House: U.S. President Joe Biden Has Nothing But Praise For BTS
by Victoria Marian Belmis / Jun 01, 2022 11:36 AM EDT
BTS has finally landed in The White House and United States President Joe Biden has nothing but praise for the K-Pop group.
READ: BTS To Make An Appearance At The White House, U.S. Senators Are Quarelling Over Invites
In a clip posted by the official Twitter account of the U.S. President, a part of BTS's meeting with President Joe Biden was revealed. The snippet started with RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook greeting the United States President.
It was great to meet with you, @bts_bighit. Thanks for all you're doing to raise awareness around the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination.
I look forward to sharing more of our conversation soon. pic.twitter.com/LnczTpT2aL — President Biden (@POTUS) June 1, 2022
Notably, President Joe Biden talked about how this month is an important month for his country. This is because June is the month the U.S. is planning to add more attention and awareness to the ongoing hate crimes faced by Asian-Americans.
"This is an important month here in America. A lot of our Asian-American friends have been subject to real discrimination. Hate only hides. When good people talk about it and say how bad it is, it goes down. So thank you," U.S. President Joe Biden shared.
BTS' RM thanked President Joe Biden for addressing the ongoing issue. He also stated that he appreciates the president's actions to lessen the number of hate crimes Asians are getting by signing a new act into law.
"We want to say thank you, sincerely, for your decision - like such as signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law. So we just want to be a little help and we truly appreciate the White House and the government's trying to find solutions," BTS RM remarked.
Furthermore, U.S. President Joe Biden concluded by letting the members of BTS know that the amount of influence they have globally is immensely high.
"People care a lot about what you say, and what you're doing is good for all people. It's not just your great talent, it's the message you're communicating. It matters," U.S. President Joe Biden ended.
Notably, U.S. President Joe Biden also teased that more details from his conversation with the members of BTS will be released in the future.
READ: Netizens Worried As BTS Jungkook Posts On Personal Instagram Disappears
Congratulations to BTS for reaching the incredible feat!
Tags: kwave, kwave news, kwave updates, Kpop, kpop news, Kpop updates, US, US news, US updates, U.S., U.S. news, U.S. updates, HYBE, HYBE artists, HYBE BTS, HYBE Labels, HYBE Labels artists, HYBE Labels BTS, BTS, bts news, BTS Updates, The White House BTS, BTS The White House, President Joe Biden, President Joe Biden news, President Joe Biden updates, U.S. President Joe Biden, US President Joe Biden
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You are at:Home»Gadget Reviews»Toshiba Portege Z830 vs Apple MacBook Air – can the cheapest Ultrabook compare to the prodigy?
Toshiba Portege Z830 vs Apple MacBook Air – can the cheapest Ultrabook compare to the prodigy?
By Gadgetman on Dec 22, 2011 · Gadget Reviews
The Apple MacBook Air was one of the first truly powerful ultra slim laptops, and even though the first model was expensive, slow (because of the hard drive) and overheated often, it was pretty much a success for those who wanted an ultraportable laptop that would still be powerful enough to run most of the normal software that most people needed. The MacBook Air with a Core 2 Duo could easily run VirtualBox, Photoshop, Sound Forge and other demanding apps, making it the number one choice for traveling developers, designers and audio makers.
Obviously, the latest version of the MacBook Air has seen quite a lot of improvements and it’s now better than ever, but the laptop has now gotten some serious competition in the form of Ultrabooks, which follow the same ultraportable philosophy as the Air, but are more powerful and cost less.
One of the most attractive Ultrabooks currently on the market is the Toshiba Portege Z830 – an all metal, super slim and relatively powerful laptop that has a starting price of $899, which is the same price as the 11.6 inch MacBook Air (the Z830 has a 13.3 inch screen, of course). Can the cheap Portege compare to the 13 inch MacBook Air, though?
The MacBook Air’s unibody design is the best in class, and there’s no doubt that it’s sturdy, but Toshiba’s new sandwiched construction with a honeycomb frame on the inside makes the all metal (magnesium alloy as opposed to the Air’s aluminum) Portege Z830 very sturdy and light, as well. In fact, the MacBook Air is actually heavier at 2.96 lbs, with the Portege weighing a more comfortable 2.47 lbs, which can make quite a difference in a travel bag or on your lap. The overall size is the same, although the Air is just a tad bit thicker at 0.68 inches, with the Z830 being only 0.63 inches – and that’s counting the rubber feet – without them, the Portege makes the Air look like a fatty, as it’s just 0.33 inches thin.
The performance/price ratio is especially interesting: the MacBook air has a Core i5 1.7 GHz processor, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM and 128 GB of storage space in its basic configuration, which costs $1299. The $899 model of the Portege Z830 (aka the Z835 at Best Buy) uses a Core i3 1.4 GHz processor, 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD, but for an additional $200, you can upgrade the processor to the same Core i5 1.7 GHz that’s on the Air (so it’s $1099 for the same configuration).
At the top configuration the Air offers a Core i7 1.8 GHz, 4GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD for a full $1599, while the Portege Z830 has the same Core i7 1.8 GHz, 6 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 10 GB if you do it yourself with an 8 GB stick – very nice) and a 256 GB mSata SSD for $1499. The difference isn’t big, but it’s there, and the cheapest Z830 model is especially interesting.
The port selection is also a bit different: the MacBook Air has 2 USB ports, 1 Thunderbolt port, an SD card slot, and one audio out/in jack, while the Portege Z830 offers the same 2 USB ports, a HDMI out port, an Ethernet jack and a VGA out port. Whichever is more useful depends on what you’re using the laptop for, but the HDMI and VGA out seem better in my opinion, since they’re compatible with more devices out there.
The one big drawback of the Portege Z830 is the display resolution –1366×768 pixels is just too small. The 1440×900 pixels on the MacBook Air are a godsend by comparison. If you want to do some more intensive work, you’ll need to adapt or just get the Air.
The Toshiba Portege Z830 is definitely a worthy competitor to the MacBook Air, and with the same specs and overall build quality, it’s cheaper, which makes it a good purchase for those on a budget. The display kind of breaks the deal, though – if they had a 1600×900 option, this Ultrabook would be perfect.
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June 12-23, 2023, NEW YORK
Application & Fees
The Summer Human Rights Institute (SHRI) is open to students and professionals from around the world with an interest in international human rights law. There are no specific academic requirements to participate in this program. All program courses and activities will be conducted in English, but no language assessment or scores are required. The 2023 program will be offered as a hybrid experience over the course of two weeks.
Registrants are accepted into the program on a rolling basis, in the order in which registrations materials and program fees are received. Registrants will receive formal confirmation of registration within 3 to 5 business days of receipt of their registration materials. Space is limited and we expect the program to fill up well before the May 31 deadline, so interested participants are encouraged to register early.
In order to register, please complete and submit the registration form. Please note that you will be required to upload your resume, any form of photo identification, and a current photo, to complete the form. Please have these files ready before starting the registration process. You will receive an automatic email confirmation immediately upon submission. All participants are required to submit a non-refundable $50 Registration Fee on completion of their Registration Form. Please note your application will not be considered or confirmed until the Registration Fee has been paid. You can pay the Registration Fee through our designated SHRI credit card system.
Once we have received both your Registration Form and your Registration Fee, you will receive an email confirming your place on the program as well as instructions for payment of the Program Fee which generally is required to be paid in full within two weeks of confirmation of your place, or your place will be released.
All participants are required to submit a non-refundable $50 Registration Fee.
The SHRI fee schedule is as follows:
Program Fee & Deadline
$1250 – Early Bird Registration on or before February 6, 2023
$1600 – Regular Registration on or before May 31, 2023
The program fees covers tuition for approximately 45 hours of instruction, access to live zoom sessions and other materials prepared exclusively for this course. In addition, a final certificate is awarded at the end of the program. The $50 Registration Fee and Program Fee may be paid using our online credit card system, or by check, money order or wire transfer. Detailed instructions for making payment will be attached to the email confirming provisional registration.
A limited number of partial and full scholarships are available to students who demonstrate need. To inquire about the application process, please contact leitnercenter@law.fordham.edu.
*The deadline for scholarship requests is April 14th, 2023.
The final deadline to register is May 31, 2023, after which participants will only be accepted if space is available.
The program fee is refundable, up to the deadline, after which no fees will be refunded. Registrants who withdraw prior to the applicable fee deadline will receive a full refund, minus the non-refundable $50 registration fee. Registrants who apply after the regular registration cycle, i.e. after May 31, will not be eligible for any refunds.
Professor Gay McDougall
Professor Gay McDougall is Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. Prior to coming to Fordham, she served as the first United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, as a member of the UN treaty body that oversees compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and as Executive Director of the international human rights NGO, Global Rights. She was one of five international members of the South African Independent Electoral Commission that administered the first democratic, non-racial elections in that country. For 14 years prior to that appointment, she had served as Director of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she worked to secure the release of thousands of political prisoners.
Professor Emily Smith Ewing
Professor Emily Smith Ewing is PVH Corp. Fellow in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where she co-teaches in the Center’s CSR and International Law and Development in Africa clinics. Prior to joining the Leitner Center, Emily worked as a corporate lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, and directed a small NGO, Hands On Hong Kong, that advised companies on CSR programs, among other initiatives. With past work experience in London, Hong Kong, Southern China and New York, Emily now works on CSR issues across a range of industries and regions, including research on CSR in Africa, examining the rights of workers in the apparel sector across the globe, and investigating the social responsibility of lawyers to provide pro bono services in Colombia and Ghana, with upcoming projects in Argentina and Chile.
Professor Martin S. Flaherty
Professor Martin S. Flaherty is Leitner Family Professor of Law and Co-Founding Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and the New School in New York. Formerly chair of the New York City Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee, Professor Flaherty founded the Rule of Law in Asia Program at the Leitner Center as well as co-founded the Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers, and has led or participated in human rights fact-finding trips in Northern Ireland, Turkey, Hong Kong, Mexico, Malaysia, Kenya, and Romania. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the author and editor of numerous books, chapters, and scholarly articles, in the fields of constitutional law and history, foreign affairs, and international human rights.
John Y. Mensah, Lecturer in Law
John Yeboah Mensah is a Lecturer at the University of Professional Studies Accra, teaching Public International Law and Jurisprudence. Prior to joining the UPSA Law School, John was appointed as a Dean’s Fellow with a joint appointment at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and the Access to Justice Initiative at Fordham Law School. In this capacity as Dean’s Fellow, John worked, inter alia, on initiatives to promote access to justice in civil matters and conferences to highlight the challenges facing low-income communities in addressing civil matters. At the Leitner Center, John researched legal issues on climate change in Africa and further worked as a Teaching Assistant in International Law, Human Rights, and Corporate and Social Responsibility.
Professor Elisabeth Wickeri
Professor Elisabeth Wickeri is Executive Director of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. Professor Wickeri also directs the Center’s Asia Law and Justice Program and is Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee. She concentrates her research on human rights defenders, socio-economic rights, and the rights of vulnerable groups and people. At Fordham, Professor Wickeri teaches in the public international law curriculum, as well as the Leitner Center’s International Human Rights and Law and Development in Africa clinics, and has led human rights fieldwork in Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Ghana, Myanmar, Nepal, Hong Kong, Rwanda, and Tanzania. She also serves as a law lecturer and course director with the Center for International Humanitarian Cooperation.
Professor Ramya J. Kudekallu
Professor Ramya Kudekallu is the Telford Taylor Human Rights Visiting Instructor at the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human
Rights (CLIHHR), and focuses her work and scholarship on the rights of minorities and atrocity prevention through international
intervention. She has been teaching a Human Rights Scholarship class as well as leading research that focuses on labor, gender-based
discrimination and access to justice. Her previous work experience includes research and litigation at the Alternative Law Forum, a
collective of human rights lawyers in India committed to responding to issues of social and economic injustice. Her work explored gender
and civil liberties at large, representing, in particular, the rights of sex workers and the LGBTIQ community. As part of her early professional
experience, Ramya worked with World YMCA in Geneva, Switzerland. She also co-founded IYAFP, an international youth-led reproductive
rights organization that advocates for youth access to SRHR services as a human right. She served as the Crowley Fellow at the Leitner
Center for International Law and Justice. Ramya graduated with an LLB degree from Bishop Cotton Law College, India. She attributes her
motivation to pursue public interest law to the encouragement and support she received in an all-women’s law school. In 2018, Ramya graduated from Fordham School of Law with an LLM in International Law and Justice.
Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu
Dr. Kwaku Agyeman-Budu is a Lawyer by profession and a legal academic. Since January 2013 he has been teaching various law courses
at the Faculty of Law of the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA) in Accra, Ghana. In September of 2013,
Kwaku established The Justice Foundation, an apolitical not-for-profit non-religious human rights organization, with the sole purpose of
increasing access to justice in Ghana. In this capacity, he has represented numerous indigent criminal defendants in the courts of Ghana
on a pro-bono basis. Kwaku holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B) and a Qualifying Certificate in Law from the University of Ghana and
the Ghana School of Law respectively. He also holds a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M) in International Law & Justice and a Doctor of
Juridical Science Degree (SJD) from Fordham University School of Law in the United States. Presently, he is the Head of Law Centers at the
Faculty of Law, GIMPA, where he oversees the management of the African Center of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ) and the African
Center on Law & Ethics (ACLE). He is also a member and coordinator of the Judicial Service of Ghana’s Internship & Clerkship Committee,
where he oversees the placement of law students to the various courts of Ghana. His research interests include Constitutional Law,
Criminal Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law & Justice.
Professor Paolo Galizzi, Faculty Director
SHRI Faculty Director Professor Paolo Galizzi is Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable Development Legal Initiative (SDLI) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School. He joined Fordham from Imperial College, University of London, and previously held academic positions at Universities of Nottingham, Verona, and Milan. At the Leitner Center, Professor Galizzi directs the international development clinic, as well as a new clinic on corporate social responsibility that he began in 2012. Professor Galizzi’s research interests lie in international environmental law, human rights and the law of sustainable development, and he has published extensively in these areas. He has also directed numerous legal research and capacity building projects in partnership with diverse public and private stakeholders in Sub-Saharan Africa.
© 2023 The Leitner Center, all rights reserved
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The Poor Get Prison, The Rich Get Pardoned
By Michael Santos · Monday, February 9th, 2009
David Muniz serves a prison term with me at Taft Camp. He is a 28-year-old father of two who is serving a sentence of 11 years. During the three years that David has served thus far, he has earned his GED and he has begun accumulating college credits that will lead to his associate’s degree from Taft Community College.
I watch David’s progress closely because we share a cubicle. Every day I work with him, as I have hopes of helping David prepare for a law-abiding and productive life upon release. The struggle challenges David, however, as he lives without much in the way of hope for a better life. In the article My Roommate at Taft Camp, I describe what I learned about David.
Essentially, David’s longing for his family challenges his adjustment. Administrative policies aggravate the separation because they limit David’s access to telephone calls and visits. His young children cry to talk with him, yet prison rules prohibit David from talking for more than an average of 10 minutes per day. During the Christmas season, the entire family suffers.
Every day, David sits on the edge of his steel rack and flips through a photo album with pictures of his beloved wife and children. For the first two years of his sentence, administrators denied David permission to marry the mother of his children, but after filing administrative grievances, David overcame the objections of prison administrators at Taft Camp and finally was able to marry Gabriella. Ironically, the staff members had been expressly dissuading David from marrying because they said he had too much time remaining to serve.
The pain for David runs deep, however. Like millions of ordinary Americans, David’s family has been hit especially hard by the country’s financial crisis. The family home is nearing foreclosure status, and Gabriella labors in a factory job that pays just above minimum wage; the job does not offer much in the way of security. David is distraught with worry, as he knows his imprisonment precludes him from contributing financially to the welfare of his family.>
“The best thing you can do for your family,” I tell David, “is to educate yourself. You must keep steady with these efforts to earn your college degree. That is the only way that you’ll be able to break the cycle of poverty that has put your family through struggle for so long.”
“I’m working, jefe,” as David referred to me. “Sometimes it’s too hard, though. Nothing’s really going to change. No one is going to care about whether I get educated or not. I still got to do all these years in prison.”
David feels discouraged because administrators do not recognize the significant efforts he is making to change his life. Considering from the disadvantaged background from which David and his family comes, the growth he has made thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. Yet to the profession of so-called corrections, David’s efforts do not mean a thing. All that matters to the system that holds David is the turning of calendar pages, that he serves the 11 year sentence his judge imposed.
David’s case is a prime example of what our prison system locks in cages. He is a young man of Hispanic heritage who comes from systemic poverty. Neither of his parents were highly educated, and as such, they did not impress upon David the importance of learning. In his teenage years he dropped out of school and worked a series of dead-end jobs until seemingly better opportunities came along as a low-level drug trafficker. DEA agents busted him, and without resources to access top-level legal advice, David pleaded guilty and he has been locked inside prison boundaries ever since.
What is remarkable about David, however, is the commitment he makes to learn. For him, the hurdles are high, as he has had to work exceptionally hard to reach levels of proficiency in basic reading and math and writing. He devotes hours every day. David is giving everything he has to educate himself, although the payoff for his efforts will not come for many, many years, until he concludes his prison term.
Like tens of thousands of American prisoners, David and his family suffer in significant ways because of his imprisonment. Unlike powerful criminals, like Scooter Libby, David did not come from a life of power and privilege. He did not have credentials from the world’s best universities. Certainly, David did not know people of influence and power. Prior to his incarceration, David did not even have a single friend or role model who was not from the same disadvantaged background that he had known for his entire life.
Unlike David, however, the rich and powerful do not need to suffer the indignities of lengthy prison terms. While the poor languish in prison, President Bush said that the privileged like his friend Scooter Libby suffer enough when a jury finds them guilty. Our prison system is one of corruption. I am hoping for change.
Perhaps with the leadership of President Barack Obama, we will see prison reforms that eliminate the harsh penalties that nonviolent drug offenders serve. We also need prison reforms that will offer incentives to nonviolent offenders like David Muniz who work so hard to redeem themselves and earn their way to freedom.
Topics: Injustice in America · Tags:
6 Responses to “The Poor Get Prison, The Rich Get Pardoned”
Brandon R. says:
As I read your article I wanted to ask, do criminals who try to reform in prison actually succeed and be law abiding citizens? Do you know of any?
I ask the question because it seems as though prisoners are more likely to reoffend. I believe those who serve a considerable amount of time use education as a tool to show the adminstrators they’re changing or changed. Why does it take prison or jail time to show inmates education is the essential tool to have when your outside the joint and not inside?
On the upside I do believe prisons need a reform on harsher penalities for nonviolent drug offenders as they overcrowd our jail systems. Do you believe societies will accept such radical move by the government?
A Dr. Torres Student,
Michael Santos says:
Thanks for writing. I’ve mailed your comments/questions to Michael and will post his reply to you as soon as I receive it back.
Carole Santos
Carole Santos says:
Here is Michael’s response to your question:
http://prisonnewsblog.com/2009/02/are-all-prisoners-criminals/
Maria Perez says:
Hello Mr. Mrs. Santos. My name is Maria Perez. I am a student of Dr. Torres in the corrections class he teaches at Cal State Long Beach. I would like to ask a few questions about the article above.
1. Why did you give this article that title?
2. Why do you believe that?
3. Do you believe that you felt very motivated to help Mr. David Muniz because you could almost see yourself in his position, when you were his age?
4. Was it the fact that he was approximately the same age you were when you got arrested for your crime and that it was for a somewhat similar crime?
5. If not, what did inspire you to help him?
Chad Swanson says:
Hello Mr Santos, I am a student of Dr. Torres and have a few questions for you. First off, I wanted to know if you knew of any people who received their degrees while incarcerated and if they were succesful in changing their lives. Second, I noticed that you said that your friend David Munoz was never encouraged to receive an education because his family was not very well educated themselves. Don’t you think then, that this lengthy prison term is actually a blessing since it gives him the opportunity to get a degree which will give him the opportunity to break the cycle that claimed him before. And also, if he does receive the degree do you believe the prison term will have been justified since he will have been rehabilitated?And even if he does not earn a degree I think its safe to say that when he is released he will do all that he can to stress to his family and anyone else who will listen the importance of an eduaction which could also be a justification for, and a benefit of such a long sentence. I would like to say that i understand where you are coming from in regards to your view on the prison terms being too lengthy for non-violent drug offenders but i do not. I do not mean to offend you in anyway and apologize if i do so, but in my eyes the lengthy prison term is what has given you this opportunity to change your life and has given you the drive that you will need to suceed when you get out. If the terms for non-violent drug offenders were shortened I don’t beleive that as many people would “see the light,” change their ways and try to go straight. Even if those who appeared to have changed were let out early I beleive that it would still decrease the amount people who would be rehabilitated by the long sentancing, and people would just fake that they have changed so they could get out quicker. What are your thoughts?
Thank you for your time and i look forward to reading your reply.
Dear Chad:
I appreciate your thoughtful comments and I welcome this opportunity to respond. To answer your first question, I’ve known several prisoners who earned two-year degrees and I’ve known fewer than a dozen who earned four-year degrees. Although I’m sure there are some, I’ve not known any other prisoners who earned graduate degrees. Statistics on education in prison, however, clearly show that prisoners who earn academic credentials are far more likely to succeed upon release.
It is to that fact of the relationship between success upon release and education that I base my responses to your subsequent questions. From my perspective, taxpayers ought to have the goal of a successful prison system. Success would imply a system that promotes respect for the law and prepares more offenders to emerge from the prison system as law-abiding citizens.
Although education certainly succeeds better than oppressive conditions in reforming prisoners, few prisoners commit themselves wholeheartedly to education. As a matter of public policy, that should concern our leaders and our citizens. We want our country’s institutions to be effective. The high recidivism rates show that we need improvements, and I am convinced that prison reforms that include incentives can offer promise.
I do not dispute that long sentences can have a place in the system. Yet leaders ought to augment the system with mechanisms that encourage prisoners to earn freedom through merit. I don’t mean overnight. But if more prisoners could comprehend that a sustained and measurable personal investment in education could advance his release date, then more prisoners would commit to positive adjustments. It is the absence of hope that is responsible for such a paucity of prisoners who commit to education.
With more prisoners working to earn freedom, society wins through lower recidivism rates, fewer gang problems, lower prison operating costs, and safer communities. That’s my take, and I hope it helps your understanding of my perspective. I aspire to influence a more effective prison system, not an easier prison system. I am convinced incentives would help.
Michael Santos
« America’s Prison System Represents a Tribute to Marxism | Home | Reforms Should Facilitate Ties Between Prisoners, Family, and Society »
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3 July 2012 ( *1 )
‛Legal protection of computer programs — Marketing of used licences for computer programs downloaded from the internet — Directive 2009/24/EC — Articles 4(2) and 5(1) — Exhaustion of the distribution right — Concept of lawful acquirer’
In Case C-128/11,
REFERENCE for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Bundesgerichtshof (Germany), made by decision of 3 February 2011, received at the Court on 14 March 2011, in the proceedings
UsedSoft GmbH
Oracle International Corp.,
composed of V. Skouris, President, A. Tizzano, J.N. Cunha Rodrigues, K. Lenaerts (Rapporteur), J.-C. Bonichot and A. Prechal, Presidents of Chambers, K. Schiemann, E. Juhász, A. Borg Barthet, D. Šváby and M. Berger, Judges,
Registrar: K. Malacek, Administrator,
having regard to the written procedure and further to the hearing on 6 March 2012,
UsedSoft GmbH, by B. Ackermann and A. Meisterernst, Rechtsanwälte,
Oracle International Corp., by T. Heydn and U. Hornung, Rechtsanwälte,
Ireland, by D. O’Hagan, acting as Agent,
the Spanish Government, by N. Díaz Abad, acting as Agent,
the French Government, by J. Gstalter, acting as Agent,
the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and S. Fiorentino, avvocato dello Stato,
the European Commission, by J. Samnadda and F.W. Bulst, acting as Agents,
This reference for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 4(2) and 5(1) of Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs (OJ 2009 L 111, p. 16).
The reference has been made in proceedings between UsedSoft GmbH (‘UsedSoft’) and Oracle International Corp. (‘Oracle’) concerning the marketing by UsedSoft of used licences for Oracle computer programs.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) adopted the WIPO Copyright Treaty (‘the Copyright Treaty’) in Geneva on 20 December 1996. That treaty was approved on behalf of the European Community by Council Decision 2000/278/EC of 16 March 2000 (OJ 2000 L 89, p. 6).
Article 4 of the Copyright Treaty, ‘Computer programs’, reads as follows:
‘Computer programs are protected as literary works within the meaning of Article 2 of the Berne Convention. Such protection applies to computer programs, whatever may be the mode or form of their expression.’
Article 6 of the Copyright Treaty, ‘Right of distribution’, provides:
‘1. Authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorising the making available to the public of the original and copies of their works through sale or other transfer of ownership.
2. Nothing in this Treaty shall affect the freedom of Contracting Parties to determine the conditions, if any, under which the exhaustion of the right in paragraph 1 applies after the first sale or other transfer of ownership of the original or a copy of the work with the authorisation of the author.’
Article 8 of the Copyright Treaty provides:
‘… authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorising any communication to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means, including the making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access these works from a place and at a time individually chosen by them’.
In the agreed statements concerning Articles 6 and 7 of the Copyright Treaty, it is declared that:
‘As used in these Articles, the expressions “copies” and “original and copies” being subject to the right of distribution and the right of rental under the said Articles, refer exclusively to fixed copies that can be put into circulation as tangible objects.’
Directive 2001/29
Recitals 28 and 29 in the preamble to Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (OJ 2001 L 167, p. 10) state:
‘(28)
Copyright protection under this Directive includes the exclusive right to control distribution of the work incorporated in a tangible article. The first sale in the Community of the original of a work or copies thereof by the rightholder or with his consent exhausts the right to control resale of that object in the Community. This right should not be exhausted in respect of the original or of copies thereof sold by the rightholder or with his consent outside the Community. Rental and lending rights for authors have been established in Directive 92/100/EEC. The distribution right provided for in this Directive is without prejudice to the provisions relating to the rental and lending rights contained in Chapter I of that Directive.
The question of exhaustion does not arise in the case of services and on-line services in particular. This also applies with regard to a material copy of a work or other subject-matter made by a user of such a service with the consent of the rightholder. Therefore, the same applies to rental and lending of the original and copies of works or other subject-matter which are services by nature. Unlike CD-ROM or CD-I, where the intellectual property is incorporated in a material medium, namely an item of goods, every on-line service is in fact an act which should be subject to authorisation where the copyright or related right so provides.’
In accordance with Article 1(2)(a) of Directive 2001/29, the directive ‘shall leave intact and shall in no way affect existing Community provisions relating to … the legal protection of computer programs’.
Article 3 of Directive 2001/29 provides:
‘1. Member States shall provide authors with the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit any communication to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means, including the making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
3. The rights referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not be exhausted by any act of communication to the public or making available to the public as set out in this Article.’
Article 4 of Directive 2001/29, ‘Distribution right’, provides:
‘1. Member States shall provide for authors, in respect of the original of their works or of copies thereof, the exclusive right to authorise or prohibit any form of distribution to the public by sale or otherwise.
2. The distribution right shall not be exhausted within the Community in respect of the original or copies of the work, except where the first sale or other transfer of ownership in the Community of that object is made by the rightholder or with his consent.’
According to recital 1 in the preamble to Directive 2009/24, that directive codifies Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs (OJ 1991 L 122, p. 42).
According to recital 7 in that preamble, ‘[f]or the purpose of this Directive, the term “computer program” shall include programs in any form, including those which are incorporated into hardware.’
According to recital 13 in that preamble, ‘the acts of loading and running necessary for the use of a copy of a program which has been lawfully acquired, and the act of correction of its errors, may not be prohibited by contract’.
Article 1(1) of Directive 2009/24 provides that ‘Member States shall protect computer programs, by copyright, as literary works within the meaning of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works’.
Under Article 1(2) of that directive, ‘[p]rotection in accordance with this Directive shall apply to the expression in any form of a computer program’.
Article 4 of the directive, ‘Restricted acts’, provides:
‘1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 5 and 6, the exclusive rights of the rightholder within the meaning of Article 2 shall include the right to do or to authorise:
the permanent or temporary reproduction of a computer program by any means and in any form, in part or in whole; in so far as loading, displaying, running, transmission or storage of the computer program necessitate such reproduction, such acts shall be subject to authorisation by the rightholder;
the translation, adaptation, arrangement and any other alteration of a computer program and the reproduction of the results thereof, without prejudice to the rights of the person who alters the program;
any form of distribution to the public, including the rental, of the original computer program or of copies thereof.
2. The first sale in the Community of a copy of a program by the rightholder or with his consent shall exhaust the distribution right within the Community of that copy, with the exception of the right to control further rental of the program or a copy thereof.’
Article 5 of the directive, ‘Exceptions to the restricted acts’, provides in paragraph 1:
‘In the absence of specific contractual provisions, the acts referred to in points (a) and (b) of Article 4(1) shall not require authorisation by the rightholder where they are necessary for the use of the computer program by the lawful acquirer in accordance with its intended purpose, including for error correction.’
Paragraphs 69c and 69d of the Law on copyright and related rights (Gesetz über Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Urheberrechtsgesetz)) of 9 September 1965, as amended (‘the UrhG’), transpose Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 2009/24 into national law.
Facts of the main proceedings and questions referred for a preliminary ruling
Oracle develops and markets computer software. It is the proprietor of the exclusive user rights under copyright law in those programs. It is also the proprietor of the German and Community word marks Oracle, which are registered inter alia for computer software.
Oracle distributes the software at issue in the main proceedings, namely databank software, in 85% of cases by downloading from the internet. The customer downloads a copy of the software directly to his computer from Oracle’s website. The software is what is known as ‘client-server-software’. The user right for such a program, which is granted by a licence agreement, includes the right to store a copy of the program permanently on a server and to allow a certain number of users to access it by downloading it to the main memory of their work-station computers. On the basis of a maintenance agreement, updated versions of the software (‘updates’) and programs for correcting faults (‘patches’) can be downloaded from Oracle’s website. At the customer’s request, the programs are also supplied on CD-ROM or DVD.
Oracle offers group licences for the software at issue in the main proceedings for a minimum of 25 users each. An undertaking requiring licences for 27 users thus has to acquire two licences.
Oracle’s licence agreements for the software at issue in the main proceedings contain the following term, under the heading ‘Grant of rights’:
‘With the payment for services you receive, exclusively for your internal business purposes, for an unlimited period a non-exclusive non-transferable user right free of charge for everything that Oracle develops and makes available to you on the basis of this agreement.’
UsedSoft markets used software licences, including user licences for the Oracle computer programs at issue in the main proceedings. For that purpose UsedSoft acquires from customers of Oracle such user licences, or parts of them, where the original licences relate to a greater number of users than required by the first acquirer.
In October 2005 UsedSoft promoted an ‘Oracle Special Offer’ in which it offered for sale ‘already used’ licences for the Oracle programs at issue in the main proceedings. In doing so it pointed out that the licences were all ‘current’ in the sense that the maintenance agreement concluded between the original licence holder and Oracle was still in force, and that the lawfulness of the original sale was confirmed by a notarial certificate.
Customers of UsedSoft who are not yet in possession of the Oracle software in question download a copy of the program directly from Oracle’s website, after acquiring such a used licence. Customers who already have that software and then purchase further licences for additional users are induced by UsedSoft to copy the program to the work stations of those users.
Oracle brought proceedings in the Landgericht München I (Regional Court, Munich I) seeking an order that UsedSoft cease the practices described in paragraphs 24 to 26 above. That court allowed Oracle’s application. UsedSoft’s appeal against the decision was dismissed. UsedSoft thereupon appealed on a point of law to the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice).
According to the Bundesgerichtshof, the actions of UsedSoft and its customers infringe Oracle’s exclusive right of permanent or temporary reproduction of computer programs within the meaning of Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2009/24. UsedSoft’s customers cannot, in that court’s view, rely on a right validly transferred to them by Oracle to reproduce the computer programs. Oracle’s licence agreements state that the right to use the programs is ‘non-transferable’. Oracle’s customers are not therefore entitled to transfer to third parties the right of reproduction of those programs.
The outcome of the dispute depends, according to that court, on whether the customers of UsedSoft can successfully rely on Paragraph 69d(1) of the UrhG, which transposes Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 into German law.
The question arises, first, whether a person who, like UsedSoft’s customers, does not hold a user right in the computer program granted by the rightholder, but relies on the exhaustion of the right to distribute a copy of the computer program, is a ‘lawful acquirer’ of that copy within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24. The referring court considers that that is the case. It explains that the marketability of a copy of the computer program which arises from the exhaustion of the distribution right would be largely meaningless if the acquirer of such a copy did not have the right to reproduce the program. The use of a computer program, unlike the use of other works protected by copyright, generally requires its reproduction. Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 thus serves to safeguard the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24.
Next, the referring court considers whether, in a case such as that in the main proceedings, the right to distribute a copy of a computer program is exhausted under the second sentence of Paragraph 69c(3) of the UrhG, which transposes Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24.
There are several possible interpretations. First, Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 could be applicable if the rightholder allows a customer, after the conclusion of a licence agreement, to make a copy of a computer program by downloading that program from the internet and storing it on a computer. That provision attaches the legal consequence of exhaustion of the distribution right to the first sale of a copy of the program and does not necessarily presuppose the putting into circulation of a physical copy of the program. Secondly, Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 could be applicable by analogy in the case of the sale of a computer program by means of on-line transmission. According to the supporters of that view, there is an unintended lacuna in the law (‘planwidrige Regelungslücke’) because the authors of the directive did not regulate or contemplate on-line transmission of computer programs. Thirdly, Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 is inapplicable because the exhaustion of the distribution right under that provision always presupposes the putting into circulation of a physical copy of the program by the rightholder or with his consent. The authors of the directive deliberately refrained from extending the rule on exhaustion to the on-line transmission of computer programs.
Finally, the referring court raises the question whether a person who has acquired a used licence may, for making a copy of the program (as UsedSoft’s customers do in the dispute in the main proceedings by downloading a copy of Oracle’s program onto a computer from Oracle’s website or uploading it to the main memory of other work stations), rely on exhaustion of the right of distribution of the copy of the program made by the first acquirer, with the consent of the rightholder, by downloading it from the internet, if the first acquirer has deleted his copy or no longer uses it. The referring court considers that the application by analogy of Articles 5(1) and 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 can be ruled out. Exhaustion of the distribution right is intended solely to guarantee the marketability of a copy of a program which is incorporated in a particular data carrier and sold by the rightholder or with his consent. The effect of exhaustion should not therefore be extended to the non-physical data transmitted on-line.
In those circumstances the Bundesgerichtshof decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court for a preliminary ruling:
Is the person who can rely on exhaustion of the right to distribute a copy of a computer program a “lawful acquirer” within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24?
If the reply to the first question is in the affirmative: is the right to distribute a copy of a computer program exhausted in accordance with the first half-sentence of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 when the acquirer has made the copy with the rightholder’s consent by downloading the program from the internet onto a data carrier?
If the reply to the second question is also in the affirmative: can a person who has acquired a “used” software licence for generating a program copy as “lawful acquirer” under Article 5(1) and the first half-sentence of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 also rely on exhaustion of the right to distribute the copy of the computer program made by the first acquirer with the rightholder’s consent by downloading the program from the internet onto a data carrier if the first acquirer has erased his program copy or no longer uses it?’
By its second question, which should be addressed first, the referring court essentially seeks to know whether and under what conditions the downloading from the internet of a copy of a computer program, authorised by the copyright holder, can give rise to exhaustion of the right of distribution of that copy in the European Union within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24.
It should be recalled that under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 the first sale in the European Union of a copy of a computer program by the rightholder or with his consent exhausts the distribution right within the European Union of that copy.
According to the order for reference, the copyright holder itself, in this case Oracle, makes available to its customers in the European Union who wish to use its computer program a copy of that program which can be downloaded from its website.
To determine whether, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, the copyright holder’s distribution right is exhausted, it must be ascertained, first, whether the contractual relationship between the rightholder and its customer, within which the downloading of a copy of the program in question has taken place, may be regarded as a ‘first sale … of a copy of a program’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24.
According to settled case-law, the need for a uniform application of European Union law and the principle of equality require that the terms of a provision of European Union law which makes no express reference to the law of the Member States for the purpose of determining its meaning and scope must normally be given an independent and uniform interpretation throughout the European Union (see, inter alia, Case C-5/08 Infopaq International [2009] ECR I-6569, paragraph 27; Case C-34/10 Brüstle [2011] ECR I-9821, paragraph 25; and judgment of 26 April 2012 in Case C-510/10 DR and TV2 Danmark, paragraph 33).
The wording of Directive 2009/24 does not make any reference to national laws as regards the meaning to be given to the term ‘sale’ in Article 4(2) of the directive. It follows that that term must be regarded, for the purposes of applying the directive, as designating an autonomous concept of European Union law, which must be interpreted in a uniform manner throughout the territory of the European Union (see, to that effect, DR and TV2 Danmark, paragraph 34).
That conclusion is supported by the subject-matter and purpose of Directive 2009/24. Recitals 4 and 5 in the preamble to that directive, which is based on Article 95 EC, to which Article 114 TFEU corresponds, state that its objective is to remove differences between the laws of the Member States which have adverse effects on the functioning of the internal market and concern computer programs. A uniform interpretation of the term ‘sale’ is necessary in order to avoid the protection offered to copyright holders by that directive varying according to the national law applicable.
According to a commonly accepted definition, a ‘sale’ is an agreement by which a person, in return for payment, transfers to another person his rights of ownership in an item of tangible or intangible property belonging to him. It follows that the commercial transaction giving rise, in accordance with Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, to exhaustion of the right of distribution of a copy of a computer program must involve a transfer of the right of ownership in that copy.
Oracle submits that it does not sell copies of its computer programs at issue in the main proceedings. It says that it makes available to its customers, free of charge, on its website a copy of the program concerned, and they can download that copy. The copy thus downloaded may not, however, be used by the customers unless they have concluded a user licence agreement with Oracle. Such a licence gives Oracle’s customers a non-exclusive and non-transferable user right for an unlimited period for that program. Oracle submits that neither the making available of a copy free of charge nor the conclusion of the user licence agreement involves a transfer of the right of ownership of that copy.
In this respect, it must be observed that the downloading of a copy of a computer program and the conclusion of a user licence agreement for that copy form an indivisible whole. Downloading a copy of a computer program is pointless if the copy cannot be used by its possessor. Those two operations must therefore be examined as a whole for the purposes of their legal classification (see, by analogy, Joined Cases C-145/08 and C-149/08 Club Hotel Loutraki and Others [2010] ECR I-4165, paragraphs 48 and 49 and the case-law cited).
As regards the question whether, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, the commercial transactions concerned involve a transfer of the right of ownership of the copy of the computer program, it must be stated that, according to the order for reference, a customer of Oracle who downloads the copy of the program and concludes with that company a user licence agreement relating to that copy receives, in return for payment of a fee, a right to use that copy for an unlimited period. The making available by Oracle of a copy of its computer program and the conclusion of a user licence agreement for that copy are thus intended to make the copy usable by the customer, permanently, in return for payment of a fee designed to enable the copyright holder to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of the copy of the work of which it is the proprietor.
In those circumstances, the operations mentioned in paragraph 44 above, examined as a whole, involve the transfer of the right of ownership of the copy of the computer program in question.
It makes no difference, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, whether the copy of the computer program was made available to the customer by the rightholder concerned by means of a download from the rightholder’s website or by means of a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD. Even if, in the latter case too, the rightholder formally separates the customer’s right to use the copy of the program supplied from the operation of transferring the copy of the program to the customer on a material medium, the operation of downloading from that medium a copy of the computer program and that of concluding a licence agreement remain inseparable from the point of view of the acquirer, for the reasons set out in paragraph 44 above. Since an acquirer who downloads a copy of the program concerned by means of a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD and concludes a licence agreement for that copy receives the right to use the copy for an unlimited period in return for payment of a fee, it must be considered that those two operations likewise involve, in the case of the making available of a copy of the computer program concerned by means of a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD, the transfer of the right of ownership of that copy.
Consequently, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, the transfer by the copyright holder to a customer of a copy of a computer program, accompanied by the conclusion between the same parties of a user licence agreement, constitutes a ‘first sale … of a copy of a program’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24.
As the Advocate General observes in point 59 of his Opinion, if the term ‘sale’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 were not given a broad interpretation as encompassing all forms of product marketing characterised by the grant of a right to use a copy of a computer program, for an unlimited period, in return for payment of a fee designed to enable the copyright holder to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of the copy of the work of which he is the proprietor, the effectiveness of that provision would be undermined, since suppliers would merely have to call the contract a ‘licence’ rather than a ‘sale’ in order to circumvent the rule of exhaustion and divest it of all scope.
Secondly, the argument put forward by Oracle and the European Commission that the making available of a copy of a computer program on the copyright holder’s website constitutes a ‘making available to the public’ within the meaning of Article 3(1) of Directive 2001/29, which, in accordance with Article 3(3) of that directive, cannot give rise to exhaustion of the right of distribution of the copy, cannot be accepted.
It is apparent from Article 1(2)(a) of Directive 2001/29 that the directive ‘leave[s] intact and … in no way affect[s] existing … provisions [of European Union law] relating to … the legal protection of computer programs’ conferred by Directive 91/250, which was subsequently codified by Directive 2009/24. The provisions of Directive 2009/24, in particular Article 4(2), thus constitute a lex specialis in relation to the provisions of Directive 2001/29, so that even if the contractual relationship at issue in the main proceedings or an aspect of it might also be covered by the concept of ‘communication to the public’ within the meaning of Article 3(1) of the latter directive, the ‘first sale … of a copy of a program’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 would still give rise, in accordance with that provision, to exhaustion of the right of distribution of that copy.
Moreover, as stated in paragraph 46 above, in a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, the copyright holder transfers the right of ownership of the copy of the computer program to his customer. As the Advocate General observes in point 73 of his Opinion, it follows from Article 6(1) of the Copyright Treaty, in the light of which Articles 3 and 4 of Directive 2001/29 must, so far as possible, be interpreted (see, to that effect, Case C-456/06 Peek & Cloppenburg [2008] ECR I-2731, paragraph 30), that the existence of a transfer of ownership changes an ‘act of communication to the public’ provided for in Article 3 of that directive into an act of distribution referred to in Article 4 of the directive which, if the conditions in Article 4(2) of the directive are satisfied, can, like a ‘first sale … of a copy of a program’ referred to in Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, give rise to exhaustion of the distribution right.
Thirdly, it must also be examined whether, as argued by Oracle, the governments which have submitted observations to the Court, and the Commission, the exhaustion of the distribution right referred to in Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 relates only to tangible property and not to intangible copies of computer programs downloaded from the internet. They refer in this respect to the wording of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, recitals 28 and 29 in the preamble to Directive 2001/29, Article 4 of Directive 2001/29 read in conjunction with Article 8 of the Copyright Treaty, and the agreed statement concerning Articles 6 and 7 of the Copyright Treaty, whose transposition is one of the aims of Directive 2001/29.
Furthermore, according to the Commission, recital 29 in the preamble to Directive 2001/29 confirms that ‘[t]he question of exhaustion does not arise in the case of services and on-line services in particular’.
On this point, it must be stated, first, that it does not appear from Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 that the exhaustion of the right of distribution of copies of computer programs mentioned in that provision is limited to copies of programmes on a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD. On the contrary, that provision, by referring without further specification to the ‘sale … of a copy of a program’, makes no distinction according to the tangible or intangible form of the copy in question.
Next, it must be recalled that Directive 2009/24, which concerns specifically the legal protection of computer programs, constitutes a lex specialis in relation to Directive 2001/29.
Article 1(2) of Directive 2009/24 states that ‘[p]rotection in accordance with this Directive shall apply to the expression in any form of a computer program’. Recital 7 in the preamble to that directive specifies that the ‘computer programs’ it aims to protect ‘include programs in any form, including those which are incorporated into hardware’.
Those provisions thus make abundantly clear the intention of the European Union legislature to assimilate, for the purposes of the protection laid down by Directive 2009/24, tangible and intangible copies of computer programs.
In those circumstances, it must be considered that the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 concerns both tangible and intangible copies of a computer program, and hence also copies of programs which, on the occasion of their first sale, have been downloaded from the internet onto the first acquirer’s computer.
It is true that the concepts used in Directives 2001/29 and 2009/24 must in principle have the same meaning (see Joined Cases C-403/08 and C-429/08 Football Association Premier League and Others [2011] ECR I-9083, paragraphs 187 and 188). However, even supposing that Article 4(2) of Directive 2001/29, interpreted in the light of recitals 28 and 29 in its preamble and in the light of the Copyright Treaty, which Directive 2001/29 aims to implement (judgment of 9 February 2012 in Case C-277/10 Luksan, paragraph 59), indicated that, for the works covered by that directive, the exhaustion of the distribution right concerned only tangible objects, that would not be capable of affecting the interpretation of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, having regard to the different intention expressed by the European Union legislature in the specific context of that directive.
It should be added that, from an economic point of view, the sale of a computer program on CD-ROM or DVD and the sale of a program by downloading from the internet are similar. The on-line transmission method is the functional equivalent of the supply of a material medium. Interpreting Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 in the light of the principle of equal treatment confirms that the exhaustion of the distribution right under that provision takes effect after the first sale in the European Union of a copy of a computer program by the copyright holder or with his consent, regardless of whether the sale relates to a tangible or an intangible copy of the program.
As to the Commission’s argument that European Union law does not provide for the exhaustion of the distribution right in the case of services, it must be recalled that the objective of the principle of the exhaustion of the right of distribution of works protected by copyright is, in order to avoid partitioning of markets, to limit restrictions of the distribution of those works to what is necessary to safeguard the specific subject-matter of the intellectual property concerned (see, to that effect, Case C-200/96 Metronome Musik [1998] ECR I-1953, paragraph 14; Case C-61/97 FDV [1998] ECR I-5171, paragraph 13; and Football Association Premier League and Others, paragraph 106).
To limit the application, in circumstances such as those at issue in the main proceedings, of the principle of the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 solely to copies of computer programs that are sold on a material medium would allow the copyright holder to control the resale of copies downloaded from the internet and to demand further remuneration on the occasion of each new sale, even though the first sale of the copy had already enabled the rightholder to obtain an appropriate remuneration. Such a restriction of the resale of copies of computer programs downloaded from the internet would go beyond what is necessary to safeguard the specific subject-matter of the intellectual property concerned (see, to that effect, Football Association Premier League and Others, paragraphs 105 and 106).
Fourthly, it must also be examined whether, as Oracle claims, the maintenance agreement concluded by the first acquirer prevents in any event the exhaustion of the right provided for in Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, since the copy of the computer program which the first acquirer may transfer to a second acquirer no longer corresponds to the copy he downloaded but to a new copy of the program.
According to the order for reference, the used licences offered by UsedSoft are ‘current’, in that the sale of the copy of the program by Oracle to its customer was accompanied by the conclusion of a maintenance agreement for that copy.
It must be observed that the exhaustion of the right of distribution of a copy of a computer program under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 only concerns copies which have been the subject of a first sale in the European Union by the copyright holder or with his consent. It does not relate to contracts for services, such as maintenance agreements, which are separable from such a sale and were concluded, possibly for an unlimited period, on the occasion of the sale.
None the less, the conclusion of a maintenance agreement, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, on the occasion of the sale of an intangible copy of a computer program has the effect that the copy originally purchased is patched and updated. Even if the maintenance agreement is for a limited period, the functionalities corrected, altered or added on the basis of such an agreement form an integral part of the copy originally downloaded and can be used by the acquirer of the copy for an unlimited period, even in the event that the acquirer subsequently decides not to renew the maintenance agreement.
In such circumstances, the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 extends to the copy of the computer program sold as corrected and updated by the copyright holder.
It should be pointed out, however, that if the licence acquired by the first acquirer relates to a greater number of users than he needs, as stated in paragraphs 22 and 24 above, the acquirer is not authorised by the effect of the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 to divide the licence and resell only the user right for the computer program concerned corresponding to a number of users determined by him.
An original acquirer who resells a tangible or intangible copy of a computer program for which the copyright holder’s right of distribution is exhausted in accordance with Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 must, in order to avoid infringing the exclusive right of reproduction of a computer program which belongs to its author, laid down in Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2009/24, make his own copy unusable at the time of its resale. In a situation such as that mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the customer of the copyright holder will continue to use the copy of the program installed on his server and will not thus make it unusable.
Moreover, even if an acquirer of additional user rights for the computer program concerned did not carry out a new installation — and hence a new reproduction — of the program on a server belonging to him, the effect of the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 would in any event not extend to such user rights. In such a case the acquisition of additional user rights does not relate to the copy for which the distribution right was exhausted at the time of that transaction. On the contrary, it is intended solely to make it possible to extend the number of users of the copy which the acquirer of additional rights has himself already installed on his server.
On the basis of all the foregoing, the answer to Question 2 is that Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 must be interpreted as meaning that the right of distribution of a copy of a computer program is exhausted if the copyright holder who has authorised, even free of charge, the downloading of that copy from the internet onto a data carrier has also conferred, in return for payment of a fee intended to enable him to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of the copy of the work of which he is the proprietor, a right to use that copy for an unlimited period.
Questions 1 and 3
By its first and third questions the referring court seeks essentially to know whether, and under what conditions, an acquirer of used licences for computer programs, such as those sold by UsedSoft, may, as a result of the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, be regarded as a ‘lawful acquirer’ within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 who, in accordance with that provision, enjoys the right of reproduction of the program concerned in order to enable him to use the program in accordance with its intended purpose.
Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 provides that, in the absence of specific contractual provisions, the reproduction of a computer program does not require authorisation by the author of the program where that reproduction is necessary for the use of the computer program by the lawful acquirer in accordance with its intended purpose, including for error correction.
When the customer of the copyright holder purchases a copy of a computer program that is on the rightholder’s website, he performs, by downloading the copy onto his computer, a reproduction of the copy which is authorised under Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24. This is a reproduction that is necessary for the use of the program by the lawful acquirer in accordance with its intended purpose.
Moreover, recital 13 in the preamble to Directive 2009/24 states that ‘the acts of loading and running necessary for the use of a copy of a program which has been lawfully acquired … may not be prohibited by contract’.
It must be recalled, next, that the copyright holder’s distribution right is exhausted, in accordance with Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, on the occasion of the first sale in the European Union by that rightholder, or with his consent, of any copy, tangible or intangible, of his computer program. It follows that, by virtue of that provision and notwithstanding the existence of contractual terms prohibiting a further transfer, the rightholder in question can no longer oppose the resale of that copy.
Admittedly, as stated in paragraph 70 above, the original acquirer of a tangible or intangible copy of a computer program for which the copyright holder’s distribution right is exhausted in accordance with Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 who resells that copy must, in order to avoid infringing that rightholder’s exclusive right of reproduction of his computer program under Article 4(1)(a) of Directive 2009/24, make the copy downloaded onto his computer unusable at the time of its resale.
As Oracle rightly observes, ascertaining whether such a copy has been made unusable may prove difficult. However, a copyright holder who distributes copies of a computer program on a material medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD is faced with the same problem, since it is only with great difficulty that he can make sure that the original acquirer has not made copies of the program which he will continue to use after selling his material medium. To solve that problem, it is permissible for the distributor — whether ‘classic’ or ‘digital’ — to make use of technical protective measures such as product keys.
Since the copyright holder cannot object to the resale of a copy of a computer program for which that rightholder’s distribution right is exhausted under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, it must be concluded that a second acquirer of that copy and any subsequent acquirer are ‘lawful acquirers’ of it within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24.
Consequently, in the event of a resale of the copy of the computer program by the first acquirer, the new acquirer will be able, in accordance with Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24, to download onto his computer the copy sold to him by the first acquirer. Such a download must be regarded as a reproduction of a computer program that is necessary to enable the new acquirer to use the program in accordance with its intended purpose.
The argument put forward by Oracle, Ireland and the French and Italian Governments that the concept of ‘lawful acquirer’ in Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 relates only to an acquirer who is authorised, under a licence agreement concluded directly with the copyright holder, to use the computer programme cannot be accepted.
That argument would have the effect of allowing the copyright holder to prevent the effective use of any used copy in respect of which his distribution right has been exhausted under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, by relying on his exclusive right of reproduction laid down in Article 4(1)(a) of that directive, and would thus render ineffective the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2).
In the case of a situation such as that at issue in the main proceedings, it must be recalled that in paragraphs 44 and 48 above it was found that the downloading onto the customer’s server of a copy of the computer program on the rightholder’s website and the conclusion of a user licence agreement for that copy form an indivisible whole which, as a whole, must be classified as a sale. Having regard to that indivisible link between the copy on the rightholder’s website, as subsequently corrected and updated, on the one hand, and the user licence relating to the copy, on the other, the resale of the user licence entails the resale of ‘that copy’ within the meaning of Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24, and thus benefits from the exhaustion of the distribution right under that provision, notwithstanding the term in the licence agreement set out in paragraph 23 above.
As may be seen from paragraph 81 above, it follows that a new acquirer of the user licence, such as a customer of UsedSoft, will be able, as a ‘lawful acquirer’ within the meaning of Article 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 of the corrected and updated copy of the computer program concerned, to download that copy from the copyright holder’s website, with that downloading constituting a reproduction of a computer program that is necessary to enable the new acquirer to use the program in accordance with its intended purpose.
It should be recalled, however, that, if the licence acquired by the first acquirer relates to a greater number of users than he needs, that acquirer is not authorised by the effect of the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24 to divide the licence and resell only the user right for the computer program concerned corresponding to a number of users determined by him, as explained in paragraphs 69 to 71 above.
Moreover, a copyright holder such as Oracle is entitled, in the event of the resale of a user licence entailing the resale of a copy of a computer program downloaded from his website, to ensure by all technical means at his disposal that the copy still in the hands of the reseller is made unusable.
It follows from the foregoing that the answer to Questions 1 and 3 is that Articles 4(2) and 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 must be interpreted as meaning that, in the event of the resale of a user licence entailing the resale of a copy of a computer program downloaded from the copyright holder’s website, that licence having originally been granted by that rightholder to the first acquirer for an unlimited period in return for payment of a fee intended to enable the rightholder to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of that copy of his work, the second acquirer of the licence, as well as any subsequent acquirer of it, will be able to rely on the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of that directive, and hence be regarded as lawful acquirers of a copy of a computer program within the meaning of Article 5(1) of that directive and benefit from the right of reproduction provided for in that provision.
Article 4(2) of Directive 2009/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the legal protection of computer programs must be interpreted as meaning that the right of distribution of a copy of a computer program is exhausted if the copyright holder who has authorised, even free of charge, the downloading of that copy from the internet onto a data carrier has also conferred, in return for payment of a fee intended to enable him to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of the copy of the work of which he is the proprietor, a right to use that copy for an unlimited period.
Articles 4(2) and 5(1) of Directive 2009/24 must be interpreted as meaning that, in the event of the resale of a user licence entailing the resale of a copy of a computer program downloaded from the copyright holder’s website, that licence having originally been granted by that rightholder to the first acquirer for an unlimited period in return for payment of a fee intended to enable the rightholder to obtain a remuneration corresponding to the economic value of that copy of his work, the second acquirer of the licence, as well as any subsequent acquirer of it, will be able to rely on the exhaustion of the distribution right under Article 4(2) of that directive, and hence be regarded as lawful acquirers of a copy of a computer program within the meaning of Article 5(1) of that directive and benefit from the right of reproduction provided for in that provision.
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1995/11/29 Kina Scollay - New Zealand -
Shark Attacks that happened in the years 1990 to 1999.
Post by sharkbait » Sat Dec 20, 2008 3:39 am
Shark attack survivor Kina Scollay Thirteen years ago, aged 22, Scollay was diving off the coast of the Chatham Islands when he was attacked by a five-metre great white.***
Shark attack survivor
Kina Scollay knows better than most the dangers of a shark attack.
Thirteen years ago, aged 22, Scollay was diving off the coast of the Chatham Islands when he was attacked by a five-metre great white.
He had been diving for paua when he accepted a dare to dive to the seafloor 18m below. He grabbed a rock from the bottom to prove he had made it.
On his way back to the surface he was attacked. The shark's first bite hit his weight belt, and the second struck his leg.
He managed to beat the shark off with the rock and get to the surface where he was helped into the boat by his friends who administered first aid. He received extensive gashes and was flown to Christchurch Hospital for emergency surgery.
Yet Scollay refused to let the experience cower him and he has dedicated much of his time to documenting sharks, where he specialises in filming them underwater.
He has worked on the shark tagging project with NIWA and the Conservation Department, and made a documentary film describing the then unheard-of behaviour of great white sharks hunting in packs.
Now 35, Scollay does not want to talk about his attack, but wants to emphasise the low risk and the promising research being conducted into the behaviour of great whites.
"I'd hate to put a kid off swimming," he said.
"I still dive and I'm more aware of the risks than probably anyone and know a hell of a lot about white sharks - I've been working with them for twelve years ... I wouldn't dive if I thought it was unsafe and people can feel safe going swimming," he said.
"Your chances of getting attacked by a shark in New Zealand waters are absolutely bloody low no matter were you are."
Scollay said that, while many shark sightings would be a case of mistaken identity, people should be wary of certain situations.
"Obviously people should be sensible if there is a shark sighting or if there is a whale stranding or something like that, perhaps you should be careful, but other than that I think the risks are absolutely minimal for most people on most beaches."
"All the New Zealand shark attacks, including mine ... have all been in high risk places that most people will never be," he said.
Scollay said people should not be alarmed by an increase in shark sightings over summer.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4798275a7693.html
Return to “1990 - 1999 Shark Attacks and Related Incidents”
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Ariel and Shimon Ovadia: Modern classics
Interview: Haris Stavridis // Photo: Justin Chung Photography — Courtesy of Ovadia & Sons
Twins have been making a lasting impression in the fashion industry for quite some time. From Dean and Dan Caten to Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, it seems that if the chemistry is there, the phrase “two heads are better than one” is true. Ariel and Shimon Ovadia are no exception to this dictum. They entered the fashion world as teenagers, by working at their father’s business of children’s garments, when they realised that their love for clothing was growing constantly. Fast-forward to the present: Ariel and Shimon have been included in the Best New Menswear Designers list of GQ magazine (thus sealing a collaboration with Gap), while their collection is currently being stocked in Barney's. This is definitely not a small feat for such a young label, and especially when the Brooklyn-bred, twenty-something owners have no formal training in fashion design.
Make it (modern) preppy
Ariel and Shimon started Ovadia & Sons for a very simple reason — the clothing that they wanted to wear didn’t exist. “We have our vision of the way we want clothing to look, feel and fit,” Ariel said in an interview with Life+Times. “We use high quality fabrics and pay close attention to fit, detail and design.” Their personal style originates from their love of American sportswear, combined with an Italian twist. Not surprisingly, their menswear label does not stray far from this style. They aim to keep their clothing timeless, classic, and sophisticated: cutaway collars, sharply tailored suits, and an endless love for double-breasted jackets are some of the elements of their collections, while making sure that the fit is just right (not too tight, not too loose). The line has a hint of old-world influence, but with a modern view. In an interview with GQ, Ariel emphasised that the brand “is not about trends or gimmicks.” According to Shimon: “We borrow from the past and make modern updates with fit and fabric.” The brothers are also passionate about supporting manufacturing in the United States. Cotton and silk pieces from Ovadia & Sons are outsourced from local mills. Despite their rapid ascent to stardom, Ovadia & Sons seems to be steering away from the hype. So, are we witnessing a classic label in the making? You can start betting.
We would really like to know the story that got you started in the fashion industry. What motivated you?
We grew up in the family business. Our father founded a children’s wear clothing company in Brooklyn almost thirty years ago, and we started working at a young age. To put it simply, we loved clothing - especially clothing that told a story and had a history. In high school, we were collecting vintage items: from military and hunting clothing to tailored clothing and formal accessories. Then, there came a point where we got tired of what we were seeing in stores. The selections weren’t exciting to us anymore. That’s when we launched Ovadia & Sons in Spring 2011. Our first collection included everything from sportswear to tailored clothing, shoes and accessories.
What does it feel like for two twenty-something brothers to have their own clothing line? What is the most exciting part of your job?
We don’t really think about that too much, it seems very natural for us. The most exciting part is to wake up and do what we love.
What kind of challenges have you faced so far?
There have been many challenges. Where and how to start was the most challenging. We had no formal training, we never went to school for this, we had no idea where to get anything made or where to buy fabrics. There are new challenges every day and you can just hope to solve them the best you can.
Could you please tell us a little about the dynamics of your relationship? Is there a balance in the way you share your duties?
We each have our responsibilities. When it comes to designing the collections we are usually on the same page. It’s a twin thing that we can’t explain.
Who gets to win in most of the arguments? Or is it something that you have not had to deal with so far?
When we were younger, the winner was whoever remained standing. Today, there are brotherly arguments. It’s only natural.
Is there any room for innovation in a limited and somewhat conservative field such as menswear? Do you think that a new designer has to stir things up in order to become relevant?
There is always room for improvement. We have an opinion and a point of view on what we like and our ideas of how things should be. We don’t think that you have to ‘stir things up’ to be relevant, although it has worked for others. The most important thing for us is to stick to what we like and design things that are true to us.
What is your design process behind each collection?
The idea of each collection is to build the perfect wardrobe for the season. We ask ourselves questions like ‘What do we want to wear?’ or ‘What plans do we have?’ and that leads us in the design direction.
How do you see your company evolving? Do you find the idea of creating a lifestyle brand (like Ralph Lauren) appealing?
With each new season, we try to improve what we’ve already done and bring a fresh, exciting approach for each collection. We’ve established ourselves as a lifestyle brand and we’ll continue in the same direction.
Will we ever see you step into womenswear?
This is a popular question with all of our lady friends. We would like to, and we see it happening in the future.
How much of New York do you put into your designs?
We are inspired daily by the people, places and buildings. There is always a touch of New York attitude in each collection.
You seem to be quite traditional in your selection of materials. Could you tell us about this, and how do you source them out?
When we select fabrics they need to have quality, style and function. We have a clear vision of what we want to make and if it ends up being traditional, we’re okay with it. We also like to experiment with non traditional fabrics. This spring, we designed a motorcycle jacket using a nylon water resistant tent fabric and fisherman netting for pockets. Sourcing the fabric is a story on its own.
Along with a handful of other people, you are representing a new and promising generation of American designers. Do you believe that you have a responsibility over this and why?
We think that it’s been some time since good menswear came out of America so we’re just happy to be a part of it.
How has the menswear scene in the US evolved the past ten years?
There has been a lot of change. It’s been a slow process but guys really care about the way their clothing fits and they want to know about the product. The internet has been the biggest game changer. The customer is educated and knows what they want more than ever. It’s incredible, men in America are again starting to care about the way they look and they want to buy quality.
Are there any current trends that you identify with?
We don’t really follow trends much, but we’re happy that the double breasted jacket and suit is getting some attention from the ‘fashion’ world. We’ve always been fans.
What ideas are you bringing to the table with your creative approach and what is your brand's position?
We’re bringing a fresh take to timeless clothing and we focus on fit, quality and style. When we make clothing, we make sure it’s timeless and you can pull it out of your closet twenty years from now and still want to wear it.
Brioni was acquired by PPR, Berluti is being expanded to a full fashion house by LVMH. It seems that menswear is becoming an important cash cow for fashion conglomerates. How do you view this? Is there enough room for new and aspiring menswear designers?
We don’t get caught in the politics, we can only speak for ourselves and what we’re doing. We think that there are still some voids that need to be filled in menswear. So, yes, there is room.
Camilla Skovgaard: Less is more
Alessandro Sartori: Z for Zegna
Maryam Keyhani
Recent in Conversations
Milan Vukmirovic: More than fashion
Michel Comte: My Way
Renzo Rosso: The visionary
Dolce & Gabbana: Made in Italy
Michael Kors: Master of luxury
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Many Firms Lack the Processing Infrastructure to Support Growth in Alternative Investments
Many firms lack the processing infrastructure needed to support the huge growth in alternative investments.
The rise of alternative investments continues to be one of the most talked about trends on Wall Street. But while the lust for sources of alpha spurs remarkable innovation in instrument development and front-office trading strategies, the processing infrastructure needed to support the growth is struggling to keep up.
Cutting-edge organizations -- including hedge funds, investment banks, and pioneering pension plans and endowments -- are seeking out alternative investment opportunities wherever a healthy return is to be found, whether that comes from over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, commodities, precious metals, real estate, art or any number of private equity deals. But, "The productization of these instruments has raced far ahead of ops and tech, and they're not necessarily going to wait," according to Tom Secaur, managing director with Citisoft, an investment management consulting firm.
So where are the technology challenges? Trade capture and matching for esoteric instruments has been a manual process for years, says Secaur, although he notes that Omgeo's Central Trade Manager is making strides to rectify that. Cash management is another pain point where firms may have difficulty in projecting cash flows, and even understanding current cash flows, on some of these instruments, he adds. And performance measurement and attribution tends to be a very manual process as well, Secaur continues.
The critical stumbling block is data management, says Secaur. "Whether you're talking about pricing, about a failed trade, the security setup or the general understanding of these esoteric instruments, it all comes back to data management," he asserts.
"The first thing you need before going into a new space is to find the appropriate data," says Daniel Abitbol, business development manager, VALUE, with Paris-based Sophis, one of the many sell-side vendors that has crossed over to the buy side. "You can have any type of pricing engine, but if you don't have the input, you don't have an output. And finding good data on an OTC product is not easy," he adds, noting, however, that new data vendors, such as Markit, are emerging.
But even with good data, pricing complex instruments can be a challenge. "You need to find good quants that have programming skills and that want to work for you," Abitbol suggests.
It requires "a lot of people and manpower to keep these instruments tracked and valued properly," notes Peter Salvage, product head, hedge fund operations at JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services. But, he adds, there generally is a lack of talent in the marketplace that knows how to properly value and handle such assets, the volume and complexity of which are growing continually. As a result, pricing continues to be the biggest operational challenge facing the hedge fund world, Salvage contends.
Of course, it is not only hedge funds that are piling into the alternatives space. A slew of pension funds, insurance companies and traditional asset managers also have been upping their asset allocations to alternatives, whether by investing directly or through exposure to hedge funds.
This institutionalization of the alternatives arena brings with it a demand for more-robust operational processes and technology solutions. Whereas a firm could manage its long-only equity trading using an Excel spreadsheet, once it moves into the derivatives space, the technology implications are huge, according to Sophis' Abitbol. "With the leverage effect, the financing leg, the collateral you have to put on the side to guarantee your investment -- the calculations become a lot more complex."
Having the technology to support that complexity, though, does not mean just bolting on additional functionality, stresses Abitbol. Rather, it requires a complete review of a firm's internal processes and often requires a total infrastructure overhaul. "If it's a failure, their whole business is at risk," Abitbol notes. "It's not only costly, it's strategic."
Firms not willing to spend the requisite dollars risk the futures of their businesses. If an asset manager isn't willing to invest in the technology and operations capabilities to support a swaption, for example, it may be forced to walk away from that product strategy, says Citisoft's Secaur.
The Sky's the Limit
One alternative to investing in an in-house technology suite is to use the services of an application service provider (ASP). Sky Road, for example, was spun out of Geneva, Ill.-based hedge fund Ritchie Capital Management in 2005. The firm uses Calypso Technology's platform for its core framework, with proprietary technology and marketplace connectivity built on top to provide clients with a custom-hosted solution offering multistrategy, cross-asset-class capabilities, relates John Borse, Sky Road's president and former chief technology officer at Ritchie.
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Fearing abandonment by Trump, CIA-backed rebels in Syria mull alternatives
The Washington Post reports: Three years after the CIA began secretly shipping lethal aid to rebels fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, battlefield losses and fears that a Donald Trump administration will abandon them have left tens of thousands of opposition fighters weighing their alternatives.
Among the options, say U.S. officials, regional experts and the rebels themselves, are a closer alliance with better-armed al-Qaeda and other extremist groups, receipt of more sophisticated weaponry from Sunni states in the Persian Gulf region opposed to a U.S. pullback, and adoption of more traditional guerrilla tactics, including sniper and other small-scale attacks on both Syrian and Russian targets.
Just over a year ago, the opposition held significant territory inside Syria. Since then, in the absence of effective international pushback, Russian and Syrian airstrikes have relentlessly bombarded their positions and the civilians alongside them. On the ground, Syrian government troops — bolstered by Iran, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Shiite militia forces from Iraq — have retaken much of that ground.
From a slow and disorganized start, the opposition “accomplished many of the goals the U.S. hoped for,” including their development into a credible fighting force that showed signs of pressuring Assad into negotiations, had Russia not begun bombing and Iran stepped up its presence on the ground, said one of several U.S. officials who discussed the situation on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The United States estimates that there are 50,000 or more fighters it calls “moderate opposition,” concentrated in the northwest province of Idlib, in Aleppo and in smaller pockets throughout western and southern Syria, and that they are not likely to give up.
“They’ve been fighting for years, and they’ve managed to survive,” the U.S. official said. “Their opposition to Assad is not going to fade away.” [Continue reading…]
This entry was posted in CIA, News, Syria, Trump administration on December 4, 2016 by News Sources.
← Philippine proponent of vigilante justice says he has ‘good rapport’ with Trump who supports his war on drugs Congress authorizes Trump to arm Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles →
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Community Eligibilty Program
Parent Info & Online Forms
TRENDING NOW: Beeville ISD achieves a rate of EXCELLENCE from the Texas Department of Agriculture! See more...
Improving student achievement through nutrition.... Beeville ISD Food and Nutrition Services is pleased to welcome you to our new website! This will be your one-stop shop for all things Child Nutrition! We are committed to providing your children appetizing, nutritious and delicious meals during the school year.
Click here to read more about the Beeville ISD Food and Nutrition Services Department.
Click here for how to stay informed of your childs account..
Current Menus, Pricing and Nutritional Info:
Beeville ISD Food & Nutrition Online Services:
Beeville ISD Food Service Department | 605 N. Tyler , Beeville, TX 78102
Online Prepay Online F&R Contact Us Beeville ISD Website Parent Forms Menus
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf , from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by: : (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov .
This institution is an equal opportunity provider,
Copyright 2023 - Beeville ISD - Child Nutrition Services - site by Nutri-Link Technologies, Inc. |Privacy Statement|Terms Of Use|
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Watch Kelly's Story Now!
Sharon Trainor: When Reoccurring Pain Meets Everlasting Love
Heather Gemmen: Finding ‘Beauty’ after Rape
Bernadette Powers: ‘Power’ to Forgive a Murderer
Read more Amazing Stories
Kelly Putty: Rape Victim Forgives Attackers
By Robert Hull
CBN.com –Sixteen-year-old Kelly Putty was a happy teenager with a bright future. One night, her life was brutally interrupted. She was running errands when she noticed two men parked next to her car.
“Something did not look right, but again I was from a small town, I was not trained in any kind of safety or what to look for,” Kelly said.
Kelly ignored the feeling and walked to her car.
“I got as far as putting my key in the lock and a man came up behind me with a knife and stuck it to my neck and told me if I said a word he would kill me,” Kelly said. “I really honestly could not think of what to do. I just froze.”
The men forced Kelly into the car and drove off.
“I was crying and begging them to let me out, and anytime I said anything they would punch me in the face,” she said. “So I quickly learned I couldn’t speak or do anything except just submit.”
The men drove to a secluded area and took turns raping Kelly.
“As it is happening it is so surreal, that you can’t image, like you’re watching a bad movie. You can’t imagine that this is happening to you,” Kelly said. “I’m in shock. I’m numb. I don’t know what to think. I don’t know what to feel. You just try to get through it.”
Kelly’s nightmare continued for hours into the night.
“The masks were off. I saw their faces,” Kelly said. “That is when I thought, ‘I’m gonna die; I’m not going to make it through this.’”
The men put Kelly back in the car and drove off. Then, in a bizarre twist, the men stopped to pick up the driver’s wife from work. With the wife at the wheel they drove past the location where Kelly had been abducted. The police were already on the scene.
“At this point, I saw my help and this was my only chance for survival; so I, I’m yelling at her to let me out of the car,” Kelly said.
The woman stopped the car and let her out. She ran to the police and told them what happened. The men were arrested and later received life sentences for the severity of their crimes. But Kelly was left with deep emotional and physical scars.
“After the rape, subconsciously I started letting go of everything normal to me,” she said. “Start this new life, pretend that this didn’t happen; I think that was my coping mechanism.”
But the scars remained. In Kelly’s attempt to begin her new life she started dating a boy named Shane. He was a Christian.
“I started going to church with him but I still was not willing to give my heart to the Lord,” she said. “I was doing what came natural and that was relying on Shane and trying to forget the past. Bury the past. That’s probably what I would have continued to do had I not gotten sick.”
As a result of the rape, Kelly was left with a medical condition that brought on cancer and infertility.
“They started me on these Chemo treatments. It was supposed to last eight weeks,” Kelly said. “During those eight weeks, Shane started praying and he got his church praying for me; and when I went back to the Doctor after the eight weeks, the Doctor was amazed. He said, ‘there is no scar tissue; there is nothing to show that you ever had any problems.’ This was the same doctor that stood up in court and testified that I would never be able to have children due to the complications from the rape.”
Kelly knew she had been miraculously healed by God, but Shane remained the center of her new life.
“I still relied on him to try to take these emotions away from me, to try to make me feel better,” she said. “I was still hurting from the rape. But it was so buried, I didn’t realize it, but it was all coming out in my neediness towards him.”
Before long, Kelly, who was just 17 was pregnant.
“I was petrified,” Kelly said. “When I discovered I was pregnant, it was a miracle in its self, because the doctor told me I was never going to be able to have children. So abortion was never an option.”
Kelly and Shane married after graduating from high school. They attended church regularly. While Shane’s fervor for God grew, Kelly’s heart remained hard. One Sunday morning, when she was eight months pregnant, she heard a sermon about what Jesus did on the cross for her.
“All of these things that he was describing were things that I needed to be free from: the shame, the fear, low self esteem. All these things that I was still trying to fix myself,” Kelly said. “I just knew this was my moment. He said, ‘Jesus can take this pain from you.’ I went down and he prayed with me and I accepted the Lord. That was just me giving all of my junk to God: the low self esteem, the shame, the guilt.”
Christ had lifted the shame off of Kelly, and some of the scriptures really spoke to her heart.
“Second Samuel 13, that is the story of Tamar where she was brutally raped by her brother,” Kelly said. “It was just God speaking to me, showing me that I was not the only one - you feel so alone, so shamed, like you are the only person that this has happened to.
Her next step in her journey with Christ was to forgive the people who raped her and stole so much from her. She tells how this happened.
“I just faithfully prayed about it,” she said. “Then I started feeling a peace about it. When I thought about the men, I did not have all the emotions that were tied to them that I had previously.”
Her act of forgiveness was put to the test one Sunday morning while visiting a church in her home town. The pastor asked people to come to the front of the church and pray for the person in front of them. As Kelly looked up, she realized the woman in front of her was the mother of one of her attackers.
“Instead of her son being the first person I saw when I looked at her, I was actually looking at her with a mother’s heart,” Kelly said. “I saw the heart of a mother in her and I saw how broken it was; and I was able to pray for her and I was able to pray for her son.”
Kelly has been set free from the emotional and physical wounds of her past. She and Shane have five children and they just adopted a sixth child from Ethiopia. She is a photographer and in her spare time she’s an artist.
“I want people to know that they can not make it in this world without God. I thought I could. I was on a road where I was ruthless and nothing would ever happen to me,” Kelly said. “But, life happens and that is when we realize we really need a Savior. It does not matter what you’ve been through, how ugly it is, what it looks like on the outside, the shame that comes with it - it can all be lifted off your shoulders; but only through allowing Jesus to come into your heart. That is what changes you and then you have to live it. His love and His grace will just overshadow all of the darkness.”
Can God change your life?
God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life. Discover how you can find peace with God.
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ECLIPSE OF THE SUNFLOWER 1945 Paul Nash (1889 – 1946) P114
DRUID LANDSCAPE C1938 Paul Nash (1889 – 1946) P37
THE DIVING STAGE 1928 Paul Nash (1889 – 1946) P90
Paul Nash (1889 –1946) is among the most important British artists of the first half of the 20th century and a key figure of Modern Art in Britain. Renowned as an official war artist in both the First and Second World Wars, Nash was fascinated with Britain’s landscapes and ancient history. Inspired by these influences, he interpreted his environment in a very unique and personal way that evolved throughout his career.
Spanning a lifetime’s work from his earliest drawings to his iconic war time paintings, the exhibition will explore Nash’s central role in the development of modern British art. His progressive style provided a basis for his involvement with international modern art movements such as Surrealism. He was a founding member of the British modernist group Unit One which included painters, sculptors and architects such as John Armstrong, Barbara Hepworth, Tristram Hillier, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Edward Wadsworth. The exhibition will show works by Nash alongside his fellow Unit One members, revealing the debates about abstraction and surrealism in which Nash participated during this time. It will explore his contributions to major exhibitions of the 1930s, including the International Surrealist Exhibition of 1936 and the Unit One exhibition which toured across the UK in 1934-5.
The display will consist of paintings by Nash from the Great War, such as the remarkable The Ypres Salient at Night, 1918, early abstractions such as Kinetic Feature, 1931, Surrealism and ancient landscapes such as Druid Landscape, circa 1938, and Equivalents for the Megaliths, 1935, amongst others. His illustrations for an edition of Urne Burial, the treatise by Norwich polymath Thomas Browne which was re-published in 1932, will also be included.
http://scva.ac.uk/art-and-artists/exhibitions/paul-nash
To abstract means to remove, and in the art sense it means that artist has removed or withheld references to an object, landscape or figure to produce a simplified or schematic work. This method of creating art has led to many critical theories; some theorists considered this the purest form of art: art for art’s sake. Unconcerned as it is with materiality, abstraction is often considered as representing the spiritual.
All copies of a book, print, portfolio, sculpture, etc., issued or produced at one time or from a single set of type. Printed works can be made in an edition of between one and many thousands of copies. With most printing techniques the plate or screen will become worn if very many prints are made, so to maintain quality (and exclusivity) editions of original prints are usually kept below one hundred copies and normally average between thirty and fifty copies. Prints made up of several different plates can be extremely complicated and time-consuming to edition, so in these cases editions are kept low for practical reasons. Sculptural editions are a set of cast sculptures taken from the same mould or master. These editions are usually much lower, consisting of no more than six casts. Though each cast in an edition might have a lower value than a unique piece, it may be a more effective way of offsetting costs of an expensive process such as bronze casting.
09 Sep 17 - 14 Jan 18
UK, Newcastle, Laing Art Gallery
08 Apr 17 - 20 Aug 17
UK, Norwich, The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
26 Oct 16 - 05 Mar 17
UK, London, Tate Britain
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BeatleLinks Fab Forum > Solo Forums > Menlove Avenue
John would have been so proud to show Sean around Liverpool
Oct 10, 2005, 10:12 AM #1
I am the Paulrus
Location: Here, There, and Everywhere
IN part one of a two part series chief feature writer Paddy Shennan talks to Yoko Ono on what would have been her husband John Lennon's 65th birthday.
By Paddy Shennan, Liverpool Echo
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...name_page.html
IT wasn't a happy birthday - how could it have been? - but it was one which overflowed with love and pride.
John Lennon should have been celebrating his 65th birthday yesterday, with his wife and soulmate.
But, instead, Yoko Ono could only wrap herself in the warm memories of a man she so clearly adored. And still adores.
For the past 25 years, Yoko, who's 72 but looks more like 52, has enthusiastically spread the gospel according to her John - and she isn't going to stop now.
On this day of days - John and Yoko's son, Sean, had his 30th birthday yesterday, but couldn't be with his mum due to filming and recording commitments in Los Angeles - she wanted to tell the good news to the readers of the Liverpool ECHO.
And so, late yesterday afternoon, I met a barefoot Yoko, who was dressed casually in black jumper and jeans, in her sumptuous suite in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel.
Before turning her mind to what on earth she might wear for today's Q magazine awards ceremony, where John will be honoured, she happily (and, on one occasion, not so happily - see tomorrow's article) answered questions relating to one of the most fascinating men in musical history.
No, make that history - full stop.. Like so many Merseysiders, I'd seen Yoko's breasts before (well, the photographs of that woman's breasts she put on show in the city centre in the name of art - and women's breasts have always been art in my book) - but it was great to meet her in the flesh. As it were.
Possibly due to the fact that she has enjoyed/endured interviews with a million and one journalists, her answers were, at times, short and succinct.
Some people are economical with the truth - Yoko can be economical with words.
At times I thought she was pausing, as she prepared to unleash an avalanche of words to support the four or five she had just uttered. But they weren't pauses, they were full stops. Not always, though . . .
Imagine John Lennon at 65? It's easy for Yoko, who doesn't have to even try: "He would definitely have retained his good looks!" she beams..
"He had the kind of face that wouldn't have deteriorated. And I think he would have been very fit."
Fit, but fuming.
Yoko explains: "I think he would have been furious at the fact that people are still using violence to try and solve things - because it doesn't work !
"It just proves that what he said - Give Peace A Chance - is still totally relevant in today's world."
Before Beatlemania, John's world revolved around Liverpool, a place which Yoko soon grew to love - after she fell in love with Woolton's most famous son (and no offence to the South Liverpool suburb, but surely it will never produce somebody who becomes more famous).
Yoko recalls: "As soon as we got together he took me to Liverpool to meet the aunties who still lived there - Mater ((Elizabeth), Nanny (Ann Georgina) and Harriet. And I was very pleased to meet them because they were very strong and intelligent women. This was before feminism and it really made me feel that Liverpool spirit.
"And then, of course, there was John's Aunt Mimi, who was also a strong and intelligent woman. John learned a lot about Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde from Mimi - she was very cultured."
Not for the first or last time during our conversation, Yoko's eyes suddenly light up - "And Liverpool, of course, is going to be European Capital of Culture in 2008, isn't it? John would have thought that was great."
She adds: "John was always talking about Liverpool and saying that living in New York was just like living in Liverpool. He even said the New York taxi drivers were just like the lads from Liverpool - very down to earth."
And, but for terrible fate, he would have returned to Liverpool to promote Double Fantasy, the album released just three weeks before he was gunned down by Mark Chapman . . . wouldn't he?
"He was a very proud Liverpool lad and he didn't want to go back without a number one record - but he would definitely have gone back. And he would have been so proud to show Sean around the city."
Today, John's memory lives on here in so many different ways - not least courtesy of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
What would he have thought of that? "He would have loved it," says Yoko (that was a full stop, not a pause).
Meanwhile, his former home, Mendips in Menlove Avenue, is now, thanks to Yoko - who bought the house and donated it to the National Trust - a popular tourist attraction, having been lovingly restored to its '50s glory.
Not that Yoko had to wait until its grand unveiling in 2003 to see inside - she was given a guided tour in 1969, thanks to John and its then owners.
She explains: "We were passing it and John said 'That was Mimi's house' - he never said it was his house.
"He said someone else was in there now, but the people came out and said 'Come in, come in'. John showed me around and his eyes lit up as he did so."
Of the open-to-the-public version, she says: "The people involved have done a wonderful job with it. It was so, so touching when I saw John's bedroom - I started crying.."
Everyone seems to have an opinion about John Lennon, a man who has inspired a million adjectives.
But which words would Yoko, the person who knew him best, use to describe him.
"He was a very sensitive human being."
And . . . ? And nothing. That was another full stop. Not a pause.
Er, right . . . bloody funny bloke, though, too, wasn't he? "Yes," says Yoko, who duly laughs, although she wants to rewind and dwell for just a little while on "sensitive" .. . .
She adds: "People sometimes missed that side of him - I think because he wanted to show he was tough!"
John's songs are here, there and everywhere, but which songs, on this special day, have come into your head, Yoko? Which songs mean the most?
She doesn't have to think for too long: "Imagine, of course, also Give Peace A Chance and Power To The People - those three songs are really still helping to change the world.
"John would have been happy to see so many of today's artists talking about important social issues - which he was the first to do - but there was a very modest side to him. There was a feeling that people were covering Paul's songs and not so much his.
"He wasn't angry but, perhaps, a little annoyed about it. I said 'Your songs are very complex and have lyrics which are difficult - people might be scared of covering them'.
"But today, John's songs are all over the place. Everyone is covering them. I just wish John knew about it because he would have been enormously touched by that.
"And I'm sure he would have had a little joke and said something like 'Covering my songs are they? That took a little time didn't it!'"
* TOMORROW: Yoko on the world's apparent wish to see herself and Paul McCartney slugging it out in a boxing ring!
What a woman
WHAT a privilege. What an absolute privilege.
A jet-lagged Yoko Ono didn't need to speak to a newspaper on the day her late husband would have been 65 - and on the day their son, Sean, turned 30.
But she did. She decided to speak to the Liverpool ECHO.
"You are the only one!" she said. "I wasn't going to do any interviews today, but Murray (Murray Chalmers, director of press for EMI Records) said 'What about the Liverpool ECHO?' And I said 'Oh yes!' Because Liverpool is where it all started for John."
Yoko came to our meeting via Tokyo where, on Friday, she sang Imagine and Mind Games as part of the Dream Power tribute concert in memory of John.
I came via Crewe and Milton Keynes (but, honestly Yoko, on a Sunday that must rank as almost as arduous a journey as flying in from Japan).
It was definitely worth my while. I hope it was worth hers, too.
A talented human being in her own right, Yoko Ono is also the keeper of John Lennon's memory.
And he'd be so proud of her.
"Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?" -The 9th Doctor, DOCTOR WHO episode "World War Three"
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Bexy_Starkey
Dr. Robert
What a lovely article, and a lovely interviewer!
And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
Choose Love, dudes!
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