Spotify The Way Forward Information Technology Essay

Spotify The Way Forward Information Technology Essay Peer-to-peer file swapping websites are becoming increasingly popular across the world as the next generation of the music sharing industry is developed. Peer-to-peer networking allows users to connect with each other to search for and share information. This information is decentralized, it does not require a central database server to search for locations of music files, it requires the use of peer-to-peer client software. The client software needs to be installed on users local machines (nodes), which then gather information on media files available for sharing and stores the information into a catalogue. When the user searches for media files the client software connects to other nodes across the networks (called hops) which search their catalogues, and this process continues. If a positive result occurs the client software connects directly with the peer that has the file and the media will be transferred. Users of the network can be both a supplier (information provider) and a consumer (information requester), the user can connect with multiple users all with the required resource, as the files transfer they can also be forwarded onto further users requesting the same files, saving time. Advantages of peer-to-peer include the ease of setting up, the speed of transfer of information, large numbers of peers can be contacted quickly, the network is not vulnerable to failure as there is such a wide spread of data not reliant on one centralized source. However disadvantages can include the potential for bugs and viruss during installation of client software, data is less secure, the provider may not be reliable and you may be breaching copyright and licensing laws. Peer-to-peer can be inefficient as its unknown which peers have the required information, a large number of hops can occur in a short space of time, potentially clogging the networks, but they will not be indefinite as a time to live countdown is in place which decreases with each hop until reaching zero at which point the search will end. A new internet music website is taking the industry by storm called Spotify, the site differs to normal peer-to-peer sites, you cant buy (or download) free music, but you can create a playlist or collection of your favourite songs to listen to just as you would on a radio station. Also there is an option to create or join collaborative playlists that are independent from the site and shared via websites, these can be added to by individual users. The tracks come with some advertisements between songs. A daily advert free listening package is an option for a small fee, or by subscribing monthly it can be entirely free of advertisements. Because there is no downloading of files Spotify is fast to use. It has a vast collection of songs, artists and albums. This is makes it very popular, however it has recently been forced to remove thousands of songs by the record labels who maintain control of what can be played where. Spotify argue that because tracks are only being listened to this could reduce the desire to illegally download and limit piracy. Spotify has recently released an Application Programing Interface (API) which it hopes will spread through other media devices such as gaming consoles, mobile phones and other media devices. An API is a way for website or service to talk to another website or service. APIs let you mix information and media from other services into your own site or application. (Wibbels 2009) The API is a set of predefined programming behaviour that Spotify have developed, which they can release to programmers to enable them to develop their own products to incorporate Spotify. This enables the company to reach out to many new users with a broad range of devices, for example an Apple iphone user may discover an application for Spotify to download to his device, having not previously heard of the service. In recent months a mobile device HTC Hero has become available with Spotify included. The Spotify subscription is paid in with the device contract, effectively seeming that the mobile device is giving free access to songs. With around 40,000 new users a day signing up to Spotify, there is no doubting its popularity, however does this imply that if free music is available then users will not need to make a music purchase again? There are mixed reviews, some alleged music pirates say they dont need to download illegally now, Spotify meets all their needs, other users are saying they will never buy music again. On the other hand some people are using Spotify to listen to music before going to purchase, on a try before you buy basis. It seems that Spotify is proving very useful for a wide spread of users. I think the release of the API will, as in the case of the HTC Hero device, spread the word of Spotify even further, however because of the ongoing problems with the music industry and copyright and licensing issues potential manufacturers of new devices need to move with caution, if licensing laws were favourable to the music industry and caused the demise of Spotify, with no API a lot of devices could potentially be useless. To conclude, I think that Spotify could be very successful in the future, the main barrier being its lack of support from the music industry. If more support, trust and guidance was provided by record and marketing companies then perhaps we would see developments of a more secure data transfer system, removing the chances of bugs and viruss for the users. The programing and network system on which it is based could prove to be the future of all online music sharing. I believe that this approach to the industry is a way forward, however I believe the software developers have a responsibility to behave ethically and responsibly so not to infringe the rights of all involved in the music industry. [989 words] Bibliography Spotify Ltd (2007 2010) About Spotify Available from http://www.spotify.com/uk/about/what/ Accessed 7th May 2010 Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia (9th May 2010) Peer-to-Peer Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer Accessed 12th May 2010 Kayne (2010) What is P2P? Available from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-p2p.htm Accessed 12th May 2010 uCertify (2008) What are the advantages and disadvantages of a peer-to-peer network? Available from http://www.ucertify.com/article/what-are-the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-a-peer-to-peer-network.html Accessed 17th May 2010 Johnson B and Arthur C (2009) Spotify opens doors to UK as record industry slams them shut. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/11/digitalmusic-downloads Accessed 23rd May 2010 Johnson (2009) Spotify plots launch of new API. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/apr/06/spotify-to-launch-api Accessed 23rd May 2010

Old Age in An Old Mans Winter Night and Follower Essay -- Robert Fros

Old Age in An Old Man's Winter Night and Follower This poem has a very direct title which intices the audience to find out more and is very similar to that of a Hollywood movie and uses plain language. From the 1st line we can see the boy’s possessiveness of his father from the words â€Å"My† we also know it is referring to the past from the tense of the word â€Å"worked† we also find out that he works on a farm. In the next 3 lines we can see the poets admiration for his father by the way he talks about the size of the man â€Å"globed like a full sail strung† and his strength. We see that his father was a real expert at his job by the way he can control horses with his tongue, heaneys intention was to show us the mans expertise and how he was in full control, it also shows us how hard the horses were working for him. In the next stanza on the 1st line Heaney calls his father â€Å"an expert† then pauses for affect to let it sink in, this is to show us the mans power and also the pure admiration from his son. In the next 2 lines we are again told about how good he was at his job â€Å"sod rolled over without breaking† the language which is used almost makes it seem effortless for the man. In the next stansa we see Heaneys use of enjanment with a run on line â€Å"Turned around – And back into the land† which reflects the movement of the plough. In the 3rd line we can see his father â€Å"narrowed and angled at the ground† using only his skill, not instruments, this makes him appear very wise and we can see that the boy is once again admiring his skills. In the next stansa we can see how the boy is clumsy in comparison to his father â€Å"I stumbled in his hobnailed wake† we also see his clumsiness from the word â€Å"fell† in the... ...the old man and his quality of life. After reading both poems we are given 2 different views on old age by 2 different poets. In Robert Frosts a lot of pity is felt for the old age and the poet seems to be very concerned about the quality of life being lived by the old man, he sympathises with the loneliness and feels sorry for the old man. Heaney seems to have a quite a different view on old age and we almost feel as if he is annoyed at his father for not being able to care for himself now, he is frustrated that the man whom he always looked up to has now become frail and now follows him around opposed to when he was a child. Out of the 2 poems I prefer Robert Frosts â€Å"An Old Mans Winter Night† as I believe that it has much more meaning to it and it really gets into the life of the old man and gets sympathy from the reader and gets them involved.

Laser corrective vision surgery

Clarity of vision depends upon how well cornea and lens permit rays to fall on to the retina on cones and rods. Light rays refract and bend on to focus on to the retina to form a clear image. There are two photoreceptors cones (which color sensitive) and rods (which is dim light sensitive). These send signals to brain though optic nerve. If the shape of the cornea is abnormal light does not fall properly or proper image is not formed on the back of cornea. (Fletcher, 2007) This is called refractive error. This can be corrected by refractive surgery. Refractive errors include myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism (an irregularly shaped cornea which causes blurring), and presbyopia (similar to hyperopia, a condition which causes the lens to harden). Refractive eye surgery helps to reduce or eliminate a person's dependency on eyeglasses or contact lenses. (NYP, 2007) There are several types of refractive surgery; proper diagnostics can only determine which is needed by whom. It can well be stated that â€Å"compared with surface ablation, LASIK results in earlier and faster improvement of uncorrected visual acuity, and has less (or almost no) postoperative discomfort, improved stability, and predictability.† (Agingeye, 2007) At the same note it can also be stated that â€Å"with LASIK, however, the risks of flap-related complications (wrinkles, debris, folds, buttonhole, and diffuse lamellar keratitis) may be associated with the creation of the lamellar flap.† (Agingeye, 2007) Precautions of laser correction surgeries are 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eyes should be healthy 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Patient should be adult 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Stable vision for a year or so. 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If pregnant surgery should be performed on after evaluating the shape of corneas. 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Should not have Degenerative or autoimmune diseases. (Allaboutvision, 2007) Some of risks in LASIK are 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some patients lose vision 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some patients develop debilitating visual symptoms. 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   irregular astigmatism, which can decrease the corrected vision 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   corneal haze or glare 5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   overcorrected or undercorrected vision 6)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   inability to wear contact lenses in the future 7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   loss of the corneal flap, requiring a corneal graft 8)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   scarring 9)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   infection (Roberts, 2007) 10) vision loss 11) develop severe dry eye syndrome 12) Irregular Astigmatism 13) Keratectasia 14) Night Vision Problems or Night Glare and Halos 15) Central Islands 16) Epithelial Ingrowth Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis (DLK) (Banerjee, 2005) Lasik has its benefits too. It is performed under a protective layer of corneal tissue. As a result, there is less surface area to heal, less risk of scarring, less risk of corneal haze, less postoperative discomfort, less postoperative need for medications, and vision returns more rapidly, often within a day or so. It can an also treat a higher range of vision errors. (Grochmaleye, 2007) One testimony to this is available from the US military. It is stated that â€Å"the U.S. military also has adopted widespread use of refractive surgery including LASIK to decrease reliance of troops on artificial lenses or eyewear as evidenced by the more than 16,000 U.S. Army personnel who underwent refractive surgery from 2000 through 2003. Studies of these outcomes showed that 86% achieved 20/20 or better uncorrected vision and 98% achieved 20/40 or better, which legally is considered good enough for driving without eyewear or contact lenses.† (Allaboutvision, 2007) Some Statistics are in this context can be stated as follows: Patient Results Three Months After Treatment Procedure 20/20 or Better 20/40 or Better LASIK for myopia 42.0% to 84.8% 76.8% to 99.4% LASIK for hyperopia 48.8% to 58.3% 93.4% to 98.3% PRK for myopia and hyperopia* 67% (approximate) 95% (approximate) (AAO, 2007) In conclusion it can be stated that the method has both positive and negative aspects. It should be remembered that the use of laser was approved by the FDA’s Medical Devices Advisory Committee in the context of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel and the effectiveness and safety was proved with the help of various clinical studies. (FDA, 2007) The FDA evaluated several case studies on the method and after analysis of 1,013 eyes LASIK performances that was carried out in thirteen centers of medicine over the period of half year it was found that â€Å"of the 1,013 eyes treated, 92 percent were corrected to 20/40 or better and 47 percent were corrected to 20/20 or better without glasses or contact lenses.† (FDA, 2007) However, in accordance to FDA it could be stated that â€Å"short-term side effects included pain (for 24 to 48 hours), corneal swelling, double vision and light sensitivity. In some patients these effects lasted for several weeks.†(FDA, 2007) Thus this could be termed as a well tested process but it needs more time and application to become a complete water-tight method. It could be stated that more work on the subject is necessary. References: American Academy of Ophthalmology; (2007); Ophthalmology Report 2007; Sydney: Allied Publications Allaboutvision; (2007); Lasik Criteria; allaboutvision.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik-criteria.htm Allaboutvision; (2007); Lasik complication; allaboutvision.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/lasik_complication_1.htm Banerjee, D; (2007); Details from Medical Journals of AIIMS; New Delhi: AIIMS Fletcher, R; (2007); Medical Principals: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing; Dunedin: Howard ; Price Grochmaleye; (2007); Lasik benefits; grochmaleye.com; retrieved on 10.02.2008 from http://www.grochmaleye.com/lasik_benefits.html

Families With Young Children - 924 Words

Families with young children across the world greatly differ in their composition. Some families may consist of only one parent, other children who have no parents at home may have extended family members raising them, while others may have a multi-generational home with both parents and grandparents living in the same house, to name a few. Regardless of the family composition, there is a common thread when it comes to bringing up young children, support. In decades past, many families lived near each other and naturally functioned as a support network for each other. However, in today’s society and economy, people have to move away from their family to find employment and affordable housing. One study conducted by a professor of pediatrics at Clemson University, Dr. Gary Melton, depicted the urgency of the matter, his findings of a poll taken in a vastly diverse area in South Carolina found about one-fifth of families with young children feel isolated (Melton, 2010). 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