Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essays

Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essays Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essay Dreams in The Great Gatbsy Essay Jay Gatsby’s life is revolved around a series of lies and dreams; he believes so strongly in these lies and dreams that he eventually believes them to be true. Gatsby is one of the most hopeful characters in literary history; he has an incredible ability to convince others, and himself, that what he says is always true. Despite Gatsby’s money and tremendous backstory, he has one dream that is the centerpiece for every single action he does after the war, Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby and Daisy had a romantic history from before the war, and while Gatsby was away, Daisy married and had a child with Tom Buchanan. Despite this, Gatsby still truly believed that he could win Daisy back and have everything go back to the way it was when they were teenagers, which sparks the famous quote, â€Å"can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!† (110). Gatsby has an elaborate plan to win Daisy back: he will become very rich (assumably through illegal means), and he will move into a mansion just across the bay from her where he will throw elaborate and wonderful parties in hopes that Daisy will stop by. Gatsby’s dream is that Daisy will see what Gatsby has done, and that now he is wealthy enough for her, and she will run away with him. Gatsby’s dream takes a slightly different course than her wandering into his house randomly; Gatsby’s new neighbor, Nick Carraway, is cousins with Daisy, prompting Gatsby to ask Nick to arrange a get together at Nick’s house. After rekindling, Gatsby and Daisy begin a romantic affair, and it seems that Gatsby’s long anticipated dream was about to come true. There is a brief moment in the climax of the story where if Gatsby would have taken his chips and walked away from the table, he would have achieved his dream of winning Daisy back, but Gatsby keeps playing, and ends up losing everything. Daisy had confessed that she no longer loved Tom, and that she was in love with Jay, but when Gatsby insists that Da

Sea Otter Facts

Sea Otter Facts Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are an easily recognized and beloved marine mammal. They have furry bodies, whiskered faces, and a propensity to lay on their backs and float on the water, a behavior that humans perceive as evidence of fun-loving.  They are native to the northern coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, from northern Japan to Baja, Mexico. Most critically, they are a keystone species, meaning that their continued existence is required for several other species to survive. Fast Facts: Sea Otters Scientific Name: Enhydra lutrisCommon Name: Sea ottersBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: 3.3–4.9 feetWeight: 31–99 poundsLifespan: 10–20 years  Diet:  CarnivoreHabitat: Coastlines of the North Pacific Rim, from northern Japan to the central Baja peninsulaConservation Status: Endangered Description Sea otters are carnivores in the family Mustelidae- a group of animals that also includes terrestrial and semi-aquatic forms such as weasels, badgers, skunks, fishers, minks, and river otters. Sea otters are the only fully aquatic form of otters, but they share features with the others such as thick fur and short ears. This thick fur keeps the animals warm ​but unfortunately has led to over-hunting by humans of many of these mustelid species.   Sea otters are the smallest fully marine mammal in the world: Males range in length between 3.9–4.9 feet, while females range between 3.3–4.6 feet. The average body mass for males is about 88 pounds, with a range of 49–99 pounds; females range from 31–73 pounds.   Temperature balance is a significant challenge for sea otters, who lack the blubber of other marine mammals such as seals and walruses. Otters have a dense fur made up of a combination of undercoat and longer guard hairs that provides insulation, but it must be almost continuously maintained. Fully 10 percent of a sea otters day is spent grooming its fur. However, fur is an inflexible insulation, so, when necessary, sea otters cool off by flapping their nearly-hairless rear flippers. Habitat and Distribution Unlike some marine mammals like whales that would die if they were on land for too long, sea otters can go up onto land to rest, groom, or nurse. However, they do spend most if not all of their lives in the water- Sea otters even give birth in the water. Although there is just one species of sea otter, there are three subspecies: The Russian northern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris lutris), which lives in the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka Peninsula, and Commander Islands off Russia,The northern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris kenyoni), which lives from the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, down to Washington state, andThe southern sea otter (Enhyrda lutris nereis), which lives in southern California. Diet Sea otters eat fish and marine invertebrates like crabs, urchins, sea stars, and abalone, as well as squid and octopuses. Some of these animals have hard shells, which protect them from predators. But that isnt an issue for the talented sea otter, which cracks open the shells by banging them with rocks. To hunt prey, sea otters have been known to dive as deep as 320 feet; however, males mostly forage at depths of around 260 feet and females about 180 feet. Sea otters have a baggy patch of skin under their forelimbs which is used for storage. They can keep extra food in this spot, and also store a favorite rock for cracking the shell of their prey. Jeff Foott / Getty Images Behavior Sea otters are social, and hang out together in groups called rafts. Sea otter rafts are segregated: Groups of between two and 1,000 otters are either all males or females and their young.  Only adult males establish territories, which they patrol during mating season to keep out other adult males. Females rove freely between and among male territories. Mint Images - Frans Lanting / Getty Images Reproduction and Offspring Sea otters reproduce sexually and that only occurs when the females are in estrus. Mating is polygynous- one male breeds with all the females in its breeding territory. The gestation period lasts for six months, and females nearly always give birth to a single live pup, although twinning does occur. Young sea otters have a form of extremely woolly fur that makes an otter pup so buoyant that it cant dive underwater and can float off if not tended carefully. Before a mother otter leaves to forage for her pup, she wraps the pup in a piece of kelp to keep it anchored in one spot. It takes 8–10 weeks for the pup to shed its initial fur and learn to dive and the pup stays with the mother for up to six months after birth. The females enter estrus again within several days to weeks after weaning.   Female sea otters become sexually mature at about 3 or 4 years of age; males do so at 5 or 6 although most males dont establish a territory until they are 7 or 8.  Female otters live 15–20 years and can have pups every year from the first estrus; males live for 10–15 years. Keystone Species Sea otters are a keystone species and play a critical role in the food web of the kelp forest,  so much so that even terrestrial species are influenced by sea otter activity. When sea otter populations are healthy, urchin populations are kept in check, and kelp is abundant. Kelp provides shelter for sea otters and their pups and a variety of other marine organisms. If there is a decline in sea otters due to natural predation or other factors such as an oil spill, urchin populations explode. As a result, kelp abundance decreases  and other marine species have less habitat. Kelp forests absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and a healthy forest can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than if it were subject to sea urchin predation.   When sea otter populations are abundant, bald eagles prey primarily on fish and sea otter pups, but when sea otter populations declined in early the 2000s due to predation by an increased population of orcas, bald eagles preyed more on marine birds and had more offspring because of the higher caloric content of a seabird diet. Threats Because they are dependent on their fur for warmth, sea otters are heavily affected by oil spills. When oil coats a sea otters fur, air cant get through and the sea otter cant clean it out. The infamous  Exxon Valdez  spill killed at least several hundred sea otters and affected the sea otter population in Prince William Sound for well over a decade, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.   While sea otter populations increased after legal protections were put in place, there have been recent declines in sea otters in the Aleutian Islands (thought to be from orca predation) and a decline or plateau in the populations in California. Other than natural predators, threats to sea otters include pollution, diseases, parasites, entanglement in marine debris, and boat strikes. Conservation Status Sea otters first became protected from the fur trade by the International Fur Seal Treaty in 1911, after the population had decreased to about 2,000 as a result of unrestrained hunting for furs. Since then, sea otter populations have rebounded, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the species as a whole as Endangered. The ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System lists both northern and southern sea otters as threatened. Sea otters in the U.S. today are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Sea Otter Skins. Gulf of Maine Cod Project, NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries / National Archives Sources Anthony, Robert G., et al. Bald Eagles and Sea Otters in the Aleutian Archipelago: Indirect Effects of Trophic Cascades. Ecology 89.10 (2008): 2725–35. PrintDoroff, A. and A. Burdin. Enhydra lutris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T7750A21939518, 2015.  Northern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System, 2005.Southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis). ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System, 2016.Tinker, M. T., et al. Otters: Enhydra Lutris and Lontra Felina. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals (Third Edition). Eds. Wà ¼rsig, Bernd, J. G. M. Thewissen and Kit M. Kovacs: Academic Press, 2018. 664–71. Print.Wilmers, Christopher C, et al. Do Trophic Cascades Affect the Storage and Flux of Atmospheric Carbon? An Analysis of Sea Otters and Kelp Forests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10.8 (2012): 409–15. Print.

Analysis essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Analysis - Essay Example The burger consists of a single beef patty which is topped with American cheese, fried onions, and thick steak sauce. The advertisement shows a young girl who is all eager to have a big bite of the burger she is looking at with surprise openly expressed in her eyes. The girl is tip-top, as if she is seducing the people out there to come at the fast food point and have this delightful treat. The media in general and this ad in particular is exploiting people, especially children, by way of sexual appeal and exaggerated messages in advertisements. Since the youth is more attracted toward junk food than adults, and because of the males’ attraction toward sexual content (the sexual innuendo will be described in a later paragraph), this advertisement has made use of the fragility of young minds to sell the product. Young people, such as teenagers, tend to have less-developed ability of decision-making or critical thinking, so they cannot realize what is wrong with what they are vie wing, and their minds learn or absorb every act they see. I believe that this specific advertisement is very effectively selling the product by manipulating young minds into getting away from healthy food and turning toward junk meals. Media is exploiting kids to make them their unsurpassed consumers. Children are being affected by the media every day and every moment they sit in front of the television. This eventually affects the whole society. Businesses are now targeting children because they form a huge part of American population today. The idea behind is that kids spend or make their parents spend a lot of money on things like video games, junk food, electronic items, and the like, and thus this spent money forms are great part of the country’s economy. Hence, advertisers and businesses are targeting children because they have an influence over purchasing and making decisions in all small and big shopping. Parents become helpless. When a teenager will see this specific advertisement, he will totally relish the yummy bite of the burger in his dreams, and will bug his parents to allow him to have it one way or another. This is because the message, which will be discussed in a later section, is so tempting that a teenager will not be able to resist the temptation. Companies have started calculating the nagging factor (John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) which determines how much anger or stubbornness kids have to show to their parents in order to persuade them to buy something of their choice. Mass media is manipulating kids’ minds through marketing in schools, public places, homes, and through television, internet and DVDs. Companies present new brands in front of kids and attract them through suggestive content that is shown to them through marketing services. Children get attracted to the sexually suggestive content shown in the advertisements. They are attracted toward buying new brands of cereals, clothes, bedspreads, kidsâ⠂¬â„¢ furniture, school bags and lunch boxes. Marketers understand the psychology of children and control them. Ethics are not taken into account while marketing the products and this inculcates unethical values amongst the children. They tend to learn violence, aggression, and sexual fantasies, and then try to incorporate these things in their own lives (Strasburger, Jordan and Donnerstein). Also, they learn that they are supposed to get everything they see and then force their parents to provide them with everything they are attracted t

Pathological liar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pathological liar - Research Paper Example Once a lie is told, there is no changing it, no taking it back, and no easy resolution to solving the problems that it creates.† If lying becomes habitual and chronic, the liar becomes known to have developed into a compulsive liar. This is differentiated from a pathological liar, which is the topic of this research. This research paper is aimed at presenting relevant factors surrounding a pathological liar. A brief description of this disorder would initially be presented. The characteristics of this personality disorder would also be enumerated, as well as any remedies which might be available. â€Å"an individual who habitually tells lies so exaggerated or bizarre that they are suggestive of mental disorder†. In a study which differentiates a pathological liar from a compulsive liar, a pathological liar is described as: â€Å"someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as coping mechanism developed in early childhood and it is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder. A pathological liar is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get ones way). Pathological liars have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. A pathological liar often comes across as being manipulative, cunning and self-centered.† (TruthAboutDeception.com 2009). On the other hand, the same study defined a compulsive liar as â€Å"someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars ben d the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary. For the most

'A Current Affair' and 'Today Tonight' Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

'A Current Affair' and 'Today Tonight' - Essay Example The main role of mass media of informing and entertaining influences the way people live and conduct their businesses (O'Donnell 265). Rapid technological advancements particularly in respect to internet has significantly enhance the role that mass media plays in the world. Internet technology has widened the audience for media houses as the audience can catch the programs from virtually anywhere in the world and at anytime. Also, internet technology has enabled the audience to watch, listen or read the current and past contents of their interest from a particular media company (Lamble 18). Television programs have gained prominence over the years as the most preferred form of getting information and entertainment. As a result, many media houses have focused towards bettering their television programs’ content, reporting style, and visuals in order to meet or exceed the expectations of the target audience (Stuart Cunningham and Graeme 34). In basic terms, a television program refers to a segment of content that is intended for broadcast at a particular time or day(s) on television (Herd 9). This essay will discuss the programs ‘A Current Affair’ and ‘Today Tonight’, which are popular current affairs programs on Australian commercial television. The essay will seek to explain the elements that come together to make these programs successful. ... The program was revived in 1988 and has gradually grown to be one of the most popular television programs in Australia. According to the Australian TV ratings in 2008, the program had achieved about 1,130,000 viewers, coming second after ‘Today Tonight’ which had achieved about 1,380,000 viewers (O'Donnell 266). So, what elements have come together to make the program successful? One of the elements that have made the program successful is its content. The program is primarily informational and tends to offer information regarding the current affairs in Australia (Blundell). Like other societies, Australia is faced with a myriad of issues that affect its population in one way or another. It is against this background that A Current Affairs’ content is packaged; it is packaged to focus on various public affairs issues (Stuart Cunningham and Graeme 49). For example, it focuses on the issues of money such as how one can fight unfair speeding fines and makes some savi ngs. Also, the content of the program focuses on issues of food and nutrition where it is concerned with aspects of health eating and on how various diets negatively impact one’s health. Besides, its content focuses on family including how families are raised and some of the challenges that they are facing (A Current Affair). Moreover, the content of the program includes issues of business; how one can run successful business and some of the pitfalls to watch out for and avoid. Furthermore, its content addresses personalities such as celebrities and politicians and their various behaviors and activities and how they impact on the society (Lamble 55). In a nutshell, the content of the program focuses on various social, economic, cultural, and political issues and

Enterprises success Essay Example for Free

Enterprises success Essay

What Is The Digital Divide?

What Is The Digital Divide? One of the worlds most serious problems is the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. A small percentage of the worlds population enjoys luxuries while global poverty seems to be increasing. A key aspect of this divide is the digital divide where a large difference in terms of access to information communication technology. Throughout developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America access to such technology is limited whereas in developed nations members enjoy the convenience provided by such technology and is more efficient and effective through usage of such technology and also takes advantage of the educational opportunities made available by ICT (Tiene, 2002). The concept of the digital divide can be explained from two perspectives: (1) the distance between countries who have access to electronic information and those that do not, (2) the difference in internet literacy between citizens of developing and developed nation (Brooks, Donovan, Rumble, 2005). (http://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-873.pdf) The second scenario is often considered as a direct result of the former where the lack of infrastructure made available does not create an environment suitable to encourage a higher literacy rate of usage of the internet. The digital divide refers mainly to the division between the information rich and the information poor and is also used to divide the globe geographically similar to the NorthSouth dichotomy (Gudmonsdottir, 2005). The difference in the divide can be attributed to 5 factors, socioeconomic, geographical, educational, attitudinal and generational factors. Information Communication Technology (ICT) has pla yed a major role in the 21st century. However, usage of such technology remains poles apart when compared between developing and developed nations. The term digital divide is used to describe situations where there are gaps in the market in terms of access to the use of ICT devices (Singh, 2012). The measure of the digital divide is not limited to access of the internet and measures other gaps such as access to mobile technology and other forms of communicative technology. According to OECD (2001), the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, business and geographic areas at the different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access of ICTs and their use of the internet. It reflects the differences between and within countries. For the purpose of this paper, it will examine the digital divide using the concept of the haves (represented by developed countries) and have nots (developing nations) along with the key assumptions as to h ow the digital divide determines the future of class, education and economic capacity with long-term and social political consequences. The paper will further examine the efforts made by global agencies and the policies that they have developed to overcome this divide and examines the level of success of these policies. The digital divide exists between countries with different levels of progress and even within the country between urban and rural areas (ITU, 2002). It is a result of the disparities of society and is likened to the divides created by income, health and education. The primary reason for the disparity is poverty where when a countrys citizens have less money it is less likely that they would use ICT (Figure 3). Difference in access to ICT has created a difference in the measure of power in society with the digital divide reflecting how power is being distributed. The digital divide in reference to figures 1 and 2, can be seen that developed nations are among those with the highest internet penetration boasting penetration of over 60%. Developing nations represent the lower half in terms of internet penetration and do not even have a .25% penetration among the 10 countries with the lowest internet penetration. Internet usage among those countries is largely associated with the more dev eloped cities and usage of internet in rural areas is almost unheard of. ] Recent efforts by organizations have shown evidence that the digital divide is shrinking. Developing nations have been able to increase the number of internet users by 2% in 1991 to 23% in2001. However, advancements in technology has led to a new form of digital divide where shifts have been made from basic to advanced communciations. This is harder to measure as it measures the quality of ICT used. For example, international internet bandwidth is a good measure of users experiences as the greater the bandwidth the quicker the response time improving efficiency. Comparisons between developed and developing nations can be illustrated where the 400,000 citizens in Luxembourg have more international internet bandwidth compared to Africas 760 million citizens. The highspeed internet access made available in developed nations allows internet users to better quality access and allows them access to more advanced sites that allow video streaming rather than basic usage like checking emails. Impact of the Digital Divide The digital divide and its impact on developing nations economies is that of a spiral where they do not have the economy to support the infrastructure necessary to allow developing nations to utilize technology to level the competitive advantages with developed nations. Primary concerns among developing nations is that poor countries have more pressing concerns such as focusing on food, healthcare and basic needs of the people rather than focusing on technological advancement (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm). As a result of this, developing nations lack the capabilities of establishing the infrastructure necessary to allow their nations to have wide enough coverage to be effective. This puts their country in a position where they schools are unable to teach IT skills necessary in more industrialized industries which would help move a country beyond an agricultural themed economy. Also, it puts students from these schools at a disadvant age as they are unable to take advantage of the vast amounts of information available on the web. In comparison, developed nations have the ability to recruit highly trained individuals who are equipped which enables them to produce more giving the country a higher economic growth. Also, countries that lack the IT infrastructure will be unable to carry out e-commerce or e-businesses putting themselves at a disadvantage in the global market. With e-commerce representing 12% of retail sales in the United States, it indicates the impact of technology in the market. It also helps improve overall growth of an economy by reducing costs of some processes such as the elimination of the brick and mortar stores, ease of advertising, reducing search costs and improving efficiency of doing business. Also, access to mobile technology has a significant impact on economies of developed and developing countries. In developing countries the impact is more pronounced as in Wavermans model a developin g country an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people helps boost the GDP growth by .6 percentage points. To illustrate this, in Bangladesh, farmers and fishermen use these mobile phones as a means of identifying the best prices they can get for their goods. Small businesses can use mobile phones as a means to shop around for products. Use of technology in this manner reduces transaction costs, broadens trade networks and helps reduce the need for transportation and broadens the trade network (http://www.economist.com/node/3742817?story_id=3742817). However, as developing nations do not have the infrastructure in place to allow broad usage of such technology, it reduces the production capability of the individuals in their country reducing their competitiveness on the global scale. One of the most important effects of the digital divide is the impact it has on educational efforts in developing nations. With the use of digital technology, it grants access for students to large amounts of information provoking thoughts in dynamic ways and encourages them to work more efficiently. Without access to ICT, developing nations face the possibility of being unable to keep up with their peers. The United Nations Development Program in its Human Development Report for 2001, noted that the technology divide is consistent with the trend of following the income divide across the globe. A lack of education in ICT puts citizens of a developing nation in a weaker position of benefitting from new technologies reinforcing the economic disparities between the rich and poor (Henry, 2012). The digital divide in the societal sense can be likened to events in the past, similar to the industrial revolution. Taking a look at the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it can be observed that with the industrialization it enabled international competitiveness and economic benefits which in turn led to Japan being able to compete on a global scale. Introducing industrialization has led Japan to become a globally recognized force in the world with great technological advancement in manufacturing and information technology. In comparison however, nations who have yet to adopt industrialization can see their GDP per capita and living standards at rate considerably lower compared to Japan. ICT adoption of nations in the developed world is considerably greater in comparison to developing nations as they have better access in terms of resources and have the existing infrastructure to support it. ICT adoption in terms of the digital divide can create a parallel collapse to an even greater degr ee in comparison with the industrial revolution. The ICT revolution creates barriers such as access to information, restructuring society and creating horizontal networks divided by access to information technology. Differences in the scale of technology adoption restructures society by altering class structure to create a new degree of equality in the potential it gives to access to common knowledge via technology such as the internet. Limited adoption of ICT by developing countries further exasperates the divide as it creates a new class system of access. It creates a division of the haves and have nots. The divide could lead to unemployment in more advanced industries which adopt technology as new skills are required and could lead on through generations if members of society are not trained. This could force members of developing nations to focus on primary industries such as agriculture and mining which would lead to such nations being left behind in terms of competitiveness in other industries. United Nations (2001) Human Development Report New Technologies and the Global Race for Knowledge Chapter 2, pp.57-75. Gudmunsdottir, C. (2005). Approaching the digital divide in South Africa. NETREED Conference. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.netreed.uio.no/conferences/conf2005/GretaGudmundsdottir.pdfudmundsdottir.pdf Venkat, K. (2002) Delving into the Digital Divide IEEE Spectrum, Volume 39, Issue 2, February, p.14. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/IEEESpectrum-02-2002.pdf Henry, L. (2012). The Digital Divide, Economic Growth and Potential Poverty Reduction: The Case of the English Speaking Caribbean. University of West Indies, St Augustine. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.caribank.org/uploads/publications-reports/research/conference-papers/development-strategy-forum/The%20Case%20of%20the%20English-speaking%20Caribbean.pdf Peà ±a-Là ³pez, I. (2003) Want bad news?: ITU Digital Access Index: Worlds First Global ICT Ranking In ICTlogy, #3, December 2003. Barcelona: ICTlogy. Retrieved 22nd September 2012 from http://ictlogy.net/review/?p=38 Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 [www.oecd.org/sti/telecom/outlook] Bridging the Digital Divide This section of the paper examines the causes of the digital divide and the efforts put forward by organizations towards bridging the gap. The relationship between ICT and lifelong learning and policies and objectives by governments towards improving the economic competitiveness and reducing the social exclusion are complex. The figure below illustrates the complexity and the road towards bridging the digital divide. Policies made by governments and organizations have to support both competitiveness and inclusion and also at the same time use digital technologies to support lifelong learning. By creating the center of the diagram larger, the digital divide can be overcome with the right policy objectives. The following will identify the objectives needed to be met in order to bridge the divide. http://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/41232069.jpg Guide to Bridging the Digital Divide Sourced from Mcnair, 2000 An important objective is to secure access for all to ICT as one of the major causes of the digital divide is the difference between the technologically advanced and technologically poor nations (Mcnair, 2000). A good indicator of the level of the digital divide is the number of access lines and access paths per 100 inhabitants. As the graph below indicates the total communication paths in OECD countries has steadily increased over the years however, it is still not evenly distributed as the highest ratios of access paths are still being held by developed nations. The digital divide is even deeper for internet access with China, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel accounting for 52% of all internet hosts outside the OECD and Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa representing a further 24%. This indicates that there is the distribution even among developing nations is skewed such that approximately 76% of internet hosts outside the OECD nations are in 9 countries (OECD, 200 1). A solution to this issue is to consider liberalizing the telecommunications market. The liberalization of telecommunications services helps improve the competition forcing existing firms to improve on their service quality; it will lead to price reductions, better service coverage and improve access to ICT (OECD, 2001). As the affordability of access to ICTs reduce, it encourages usage of ICTs (Pena-Lopez, 2003). In Europe for example, it can be observed that with liberalization, the average cost of telephone charges continue to decline. The average price for bundle services dropped by 32% after liberalization of the telecommunications industry in Europe in 1998. Similar circumstances occur with bandwidth prices in Europe where competition and a rapid drop in bandwidth prices occurred as can be observed in the figure below. The increased competition on a global scale has led to several key factors in addressing the digital divide (1) Computing costs have steadily decreased and c apacity is increasing in a variety of devices to prices where many users can afford. (2) Competition among technology firms has led to improvements in technology such as the new wireless protocols which are able to overcome technical and financial problems when expanding into rural communities in developing nations. (Smyth, 2006) (http://www.intel.com/it/pdf/wireless-technologies-and-e-learning-bridging-the-digital-divide.pdf) Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 Developing infrastructure necessary to facilitate the usage of ICT is also crucial in bridging the digital divide. The responsibilities of this however falls on, local governments, private institutions and also international organizations with the technological expertise in helping facilitate the construction of the infrastructure. Among the key projects which have been launched is the optical fibre network being deployed throughout South and East Africa. As part of a project by national and cellphone operators, national research and education networks are emerging in African countries as part of a consortia to link their major institutions by purchasing internet bandwidth. This project SANREN, is being funded by the Meraka institute as well as the tertiary education network to create a broadband system for its higher education and research institutes. The project aims to be the Geant of Africa and is expected to be at least 1,000 times faster than the current infrastructure made ava ilable. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is another initiative considered to be a milestone in the region. The objective of which is to connect the countries of Eastern Africa with the rest of the world via an optical cabling system. This allows countries in the region to no longer rely on expensive satellite systems as a means for connectivity. This project is being funded by the Developmental Bank of Southern Africa and the World Bank. (http://www.saao.ac.za/fileadmin/files/Publications/Quest_Digital_Divide.pdf) Having the infrastructure in place helps increase access paths reducing the barriers to access to ICTs. Another key would be using education as a means to bridge the digital divide. Disparities in the level of education explain 9.9-14.4% in computer penetration gaps with the average number of years of school in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa being 3.7 years and 8.3 years in Europe and Central Asia. In comparison, the average years of schooling in the United States is 12.1 years. Having computers requires a certain degree of education to be used therefore countries with low levels of human capital have limited demand for computers(http://cgirs.ucsc.edu/publications/wp/wp2004-3.pdf) (Caselli and Coleman (2001) and Pohjola (2003)). It is imperative therefore that for organizations to create a learning economy within developing nations where individuals, firms and countries will be able to create wealth in proportion to their capacity to learn and share. Creating a learning economy places emphasis on life-long learning to foster dissemination, circles of discovery and an emergence of sha red understandings. The World Bank has implemented several measures to help develop developing nations towards a knowledge economy http://www.worldbank.org/education/digitaldivide/DD_EXT.pdf. The Human Development Network (HDN) provides knowledge management, training resources and technical assistance for developing countries in areas such as education and the use of technology for educational purposes. It has also developed a program that provides training for teaching staff and students in developing countries known as the Developmental program. Another initiative by the World Bank is setting up Global Distance Learning Centers which aim to provide tailored learning programs and state of the art facilities for internet-based learning (http://gdln.org/about). The Bank has also developed financing instruments for education based programs. The number of education technology activities increased by 20 and 90% in 1997 and 1999. 1/3 of this financing went towards developing nations in L atin America and the Caribbean. Building on the initiatives taken, the World Bank has set up a specific task force with the aim of bridging the digital divide through education. The objective of the task force is to assist developing countries in developing strategies with regards to technology in education. The task force is also assigned to promote projects that help address key issues in terms of education such as quality and increased access to ICT. This task force will work hand in hand with another division of the World Bank, the Global Distance Education Network which has similar goals in reducing the digital divide. By providing its expertise in these areas and helping set up a proper mapping guide as to how to improve education, it creates better environments to educate citizens of developing nations. The higher the level of education, the higher the demand for computers resulting in better usage of ICTs in these developing nations (Fairlie, 2003). These initiatives also help educate citizens of developing nations and trains up a workforce able to develop, maintain and provide value-added products and services required by the knowledge economy which will in turn help improve the countries competitive capabilities (Hudson, 2000)_(http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/BRYUH/12.hudson.pdf). Examining the digital divide, it can be observed that the digital divide is getting smaller, however it is still not equal across all borders. Certain developing nations still face more pressing issues such as fulfilling basic needs of their people particularly in countries with the lowest digital access index such as Niger, Mali and Chad. Political turmoil in these countries make it difficult for international organizations such as the World Bank to assist in narrowing the digital divide. Progress can definitely be seen as some key points are examined. In 2010 there were approximately 2 billion internet users worldwide having doubled from 1 billion in 2005 with China leading the charge at 418.9 million. Information based development in China has exceeded the worlds average level as a result of its initiatives in bridging the divide. Lack of access to ICT leads to a lack of education, wealth and income, in turn leading to lack of access to ICT infrastructure and services and so continues the digital divide. Several socio-economic groups, especially within the developed world, have benefited enormously from the innovative creations of the ICT industry, not least in the arenas of learning and collaboration. By sharing this experience and expanding the key uses of ICT in education to other groups within our own society and in the developing world we can kick-start the beginning of the end for the digital divide. To date, communications equipment has been expensive and requires good infrastructure to be in place. Rural communities and developing countries often do not have either the necessary infrastructure or the available funding to put such infrastructure in place. With the advent of the new wireless technologies, there is an unprecedented opportunity to remedy this situation at a fraction of the cost, and in a f raction of the time, that would previously have been required. The digital divide must then be fought on at least two battlefields: economy and education. Regarding the possibility to allow more people to be able to afford a computer or a mobile phone, a good accomplishment is represented by the fact that the cost of digital technologies lowers year after year. The UN are currently helping eliminating the digital divide in developing countries by promoting international initiatives, and also private institutions are contributing with ideas such as the One Laptop Per Child project. On the other hand, there is still a lot to do to make sure everyone can properly use digital technologies; for example, the Internet which is the expression of the new media world is still not completely accessible and interactive to most of its users. Starting with web design, a big accomplishment would represent a more distributed adoption of the W3C accessibility guidelines, let alone the use of a writing style that is based on simple grammar and makes content easily searchable and readable. The major issue, however, remains the lack of education that influences many people and does not allow them to access certain information sources that are only reachable via digital technologies. In this case, the progressive spread of mobile phones and the expansion of mobile networks (as stated in a recent report by Word Bank) might certainly represent a significant improvement in the lives of all those individuals whose access to the digital era is still denied. Link: http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm#ixzz28RyJWlzR