What Authors Actually Think of Amazon’s Pay-Per-Page Model

What Authors Actually Think of Amazon’s Pay-Per-Page Model What authors actually think of Amazon’s Pay-Per-Page Model This past month's buzz about Amazon’s announcement of a Pay-Per-Page  model for Kindle Unlimited authors has received a myriad of responses. Much of it has consisted of information being blown completely out of proportion on various media pages. Vocal journalists have expressed their fear of Amazon promoting length over quality, or of Amazon total dominance of the publishing industry. It all made us think: â€Å"what do authors actually think about it?† So we went ahead and asked a few â€Å"indie† and hybrid authors - the ones affected most by the changes.Amazon’s â€Å"Pay-per-page† responds to author feedbackIt turns out that the main thing that the media have been forgetting to say is that Amazon’s change is actually prompted by authors requesting it. When Kindle Unlimited was launched, Amazon paid authors for a full â€Å"borrow† as soon as the reader read more than 10% of the book. This means that authors who were writing long er novels were being undercut, but the ones writing shorter books were sliding under the radar and collecting their checks every time a reader made it 10% of the way through a book. If you are reading a short novel, 10% may not be many pages at all.This is what indie author Lindsay Buroker and hybrid author Bob Mayer point out:â€Å"The changes seem to be more a response to author feedback, and perhaps reader feedback as well. I know many novelists who were frustrated that short stories and installments of serialized fiction made as much as their full-length novels. Were readers also frustrated with all of the short fiction and chopped up books?† - Lindsay Buroker, author of  The Emperor's Edgeâ€Å"Overall, authors who wrote full length novels were actually getting screwed. If I’d wanted to game the system, I should have focused on writing five 20,000 words stories (earning $6.60 if all are borrowed) rather than one 100,000 page book (earning only $1.32 if borrowe d). Under Kindle Unlimited my income would have been five times what it is. Under the new system, my income is more, as long as those pages get read.† - Bob Mayer, author of the Area 51 seriesClick on the image to tweet it!Sharing is caring! Click on any images above to tweet the quote with the author's handle!What is  your opinion on the Amazon pay-per-page change? Are subscription services a threat to authors in the long term? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below!

Text-Based Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Text-Based - Research Paper Example The news media is also able to convey the health of the economy to the viewers of its different sections. They thus, perform a very valuable function in the society. This paper shall look at how the news industry has on occasions failed to live up to the expectations that are made of it. The article shall also look at news that focuses on gossip and its effects. Later on, the essay shall look at alternate forms of news. The essay shall also focus on the reporting of wars in the news media. The essay shall also look at the neglect that foreign affairs are made to face by the American public in times of peace. The essay shall then go on to analyze the selective reporting of news and the biases that may be behind such a phenomenon. The essay shall thus, look at various aspects of American news media, focusing on its problems and some of the solutions that have emerged from within the industry itself. The article by the news agency AP, â€Å"AP: We Ignored Paris†, points to a mala ise that affects news media in these times. Almost as a matter of routine, one finds that newspapers and news channels on the television report items that do not concern the daily lives of the common citizens of the world. This is a phenomenon that one finds all over the world. The ironic part of this phenomenon is the fact that this is carried out in the name of the common citizen, who according to the news media, wants them to report such news. The article in question repudiates such a myth, placing the blame for such standards of reportage on the reporters and editors themselves. Such reportage takes attention away from real articles of news at a time when the nation is at war and several internal security issues have been a thorn in the flesh of the government. The responsibility of the media is clearly to convey such issues to all sections of the society. This is not what the media has done and this reflects, according to Jan Wieten, a class-based bias that the media has harbor ed for years. The sections of the media that caters to the elite sections of the society has always reported on problematic areas of governance and the economy. On the other hand, those sections of the media that have been accessible to the lower classes of the society have always resorted to irrelevant pieces of news, under the assumption that such sections ‘want’ such news. Wieten argues that such a view has always taken the shape of gossip and tabloids. Such forms of the news media attempt to classify false articles of news as real in an attempt to sell them. The profusion of reality shows is only the latest form of such news, according to Wieten (1998). Such forms of the media obfuscate the real news, deflecting the attention of the masses, the people who are responsible for the election of the government that has to ultimately, take decisions. There are however, forms of the news media that do believe in entertainment and news value. Rachel Smolkin speaks of one su ch program, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in her essay, â€Å"What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart†. She speaks of the fact that the binary between entertaining programs and non-entertaining or informative ones has led to the creation of certain shows that are merely entertaining without being informative and some with no entertainment at all. Her argument is aimed at such shows and reveals the need for

Super Keyword Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Super Keyword - Research Paper Example However, other languages have a liberal approach, which allows redefinition of keywords for purposes. Keywords refer to identifiers or symbols which stand for functions or variables. This means that keywords have a characteristic of self evaluating and self quoting interned in the KEYWORD package. They have their application in labeling named opinions to functions, and they represent symbolic values (Savinov, 2008). Programming languages vary on the provision of keywords and library routine. For instance, some languages have provisions for keyword output or input operations, while other languages offer library routine. Languages such as Python and Basic dialect use, print, as a keyword, while Lisp and C use, format and printf, in their standard library. When a programmer applies keywords to functions or variables name, this triggers a compilation error. Most of the current editors have keywords automatically set in different text color for the purposes of indicating that they are key words. Super keywords have their definition and application in Java, where they play a crucial role during inheritance. Programmers use super keywords when accessing members of the super class. Super keywords have their application when a subclass needs to define or refer to an immediate super class. The super keyword can be invoked when a method overrides one of the super class’s methods. The super keyword in this case can be invoked to override the method. As a result, the super keyword in java indicates the super class of the classes in which the super keyword has recently been used (Leahy, 2011). Super keywords are also standalone statements used in calling the constructor of super classes in the base class. The super keyword has two forms. The first form calls the super class constructor, while the second form accesses members of the super class that have been hidden by members of a subclass. A super keyword can be illustrated as; Public class Super class { Public void p rintMethod () { System.out.println (â€Å"printed in Superclass.†); } } Purpose of the Super Keyword The super keyword can be used when referring to a hidden field. This will enable the access of hidden variable data of the original class. For instance, class A has two instance variables; float b and int a. Class B, expands to class A, and it has its own data members with similar names, (a) and (b). In this instance, class B will be hiding the variables in class A. The super keyword is used in accessing the hidden variables. This can be done by using the super.member; syntax. This gives the super keyword a function of identifying the super class of its identifiable subclass. In this case, members can take the form of an instance variable or a method (Leahy, 2012). The program will display (a) in super class 1 and (a) subclass 2. The instance variable (a) in B conceals the (a) in A, hence; super keyword allows access to (a) defined in the super class. Therefore, the super keyw ord can be used in calling methods hidden by a subclass. Another purpose of the super keyword is in calling class constructors. Super keywords are used when calling super constructors in a subclass. This is done using the super(parameter-list); syntax. The parameter list includes parameters that the constructor needs in the super class. For instance, the super keyword can be used to cite a super class constructor. The mountain bike can be considered as a subclass of a

Background and purpose of the project Essay Example for Free

Background and purpose of the project Essay Introduction. The Manuscript Digitization Demonstration Project was sponsored by the Library of Congress Preservation Office in cooperation with the National Digital Library Program (NDLP). This report includes copies of sample images created during the projects Phase I, which extended through 1995.1 During 1996, Phase II of the project created a testbed of 10,000 images of manuscript items from the Federal Theatre Project collection in the Librarys Music Division. These images are now online as a part of that collection; selected examples have been referenced and made accessible in later sections of this report. Background. The Library of Congress is developing its capabilities for providing computerized access to its collections. In part, this means wrestling with practicalities of production and identifying and testing a broad range of tools and techniques. In part, it also means investigating the ramifications of digitization as it pertains to preservation, understood to include both the conservation of the original item and the conversion of originals through preservation reformatting. Preservation reformatting refers to the copying of items as a safeguard against loss or damage, i.e., insurance that the worlds heritage will be kept alive for future generations. Today, most preservation reformatting consists of microfilming, although other types of copies are also made. Two features are of special concern to those responsible for carrying out preservation reformatting: the faithfulness of the copy and its longevity. This demonstration project was concerned with the former, i.e., image quality. Other parallel projects are investigating longevity issues.2 The Library commissioned the Manuscript Digitization Demonstration Project because it believes that certain classes of manuscript documents lend themselves to the creation of digital copies that are faithful to the originals in a reasonably efficient manner. The Library was cognizant of the work being carried out by the Cornell University Library regarding printed matter3, and saw that manuscripts would make for a useful demonstration project at the Library of Congress. A key issue for the Library is finding the most judicious balance between conserving precious original documentsprotecting them from damageand achieving a reasonably rapid rate of conversion. The outcomes of this project are expected to assist the Library in designing models for further conversion applications for the Librarys collections. Manuscript collections. The manuscript holdings of the Library of Congress include extensive papers of individuals and organizations, many from nineteenth and twentieth century America. Since the Librarys digitization efforts are initially focused on its American holdings, this demonstration project emphasizes the physical types of documents found in these papers collections. The specific test documents were selected from the Federal Theatre Project collection held by the Music Division. The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was a New Deal effort that employed out-of-work playwrights, actors, directors and stagehands to produce and perform plays in many American cities during the latter years of the Great Depression. For the purposes of this project, a manuscript page was defined as a separate handwritten or typed sheet of paper, generally at A size or legal size, i.e., from 8.511 inches to 8.514 inches. The test documents include scripts, administrative files, and surveys of theater genres commissioned by the FTP. During Phase I, a set of documents was used to produce a variety of sample images for study. Examples of these images illustrate this report and are accessible from Appendix A. A portion of the sample set represented paper in good condition with reasonably clear, dark writing on a reasonably light background. The other portion of the preservation research sample included documents that represent typical scanning problems: * a mix of colors or pencil and ink, * low contrast and carbon copies of typed materials in which the edges of the character imprint are soft, * documents that have extraneous markings or print-through. The Document Digitization Evaluation Committee. The Manuscript Digitization Demonstration Project was carried out by Picture Elements, Inc., working in close relationship with a special Document Digitization Evaluation Committee. This committee was made up of Library of Congress staff members (listed here alphabetically) representing various units with an interest in digitization. * Ardith Bausenbach Automation Planning and Liaison Office, Library Services * Julio Berrios Photoduplication Service * Lynn Brooks Information Technology Services * Paul Chestnut Manuscript Division * Carl Fleischhauer National Digital Library Program; project planner and contracting officers technical representative * Nick Kozura Law Library * Basil Manns Preservation Research and Testing Office * Betsy Parker Prints and Photographs Division * Ann Seibert Conservation Office * Leo Settler Automation Planning and Liaison Office * Tamara Swora National Digital Library Program; project planner and contracting officers technical representative * Peter Waters Conservation Office * Walter Zvonchenko Music Division The committee met on a regular basis during Phase I. At these meetings, Picture Elements representatives reported their survey findings, presented sample images, conducted tours of sites at which special scanners could be examined, and led the discussions that ultimately resulted in the findings and proposals provided in this document. The activities of Phase II are reported in Sections 12 and 13. The projects findings are summarized in Section 14. Developing Project Objectives Proposals should include both goals and objectives. Goals provide an overall philosophy, a concise statement to the purpose of the whole project. Objectives relate directly to the goals and say what you are going to do, but not how you are going to accomplish your goals. The Methods or Procedures section describes how. A well-considered project will have one to three main goals, several objectives related to each goal and many action steps to take to achieve each objective. Objectives discuss who is going to do what, when they will do it and how it will be measured. For example†¦ At the end of the three-day training session (when), workshop participants (who) will infuse quantitative reasoning into one course (what) as determined by a survey distributed and reviewed by a panel of knowledgeable faculty members. Objectives discuss the desired end results of the project, not how those results will be accomplished. For example, an objective would not be â€Å"to construct a new Art Gallery.† That is a method, or one way to accomplish the goal of building the audience for art appreciation. Objectives for this goal might be to†¦ Increase attendance from the local community (what and who) within the next five years (when) at the scheduled art exhibits, as indicated by daily registers of attendees. AND/OR†¦ Affect the level of art appreciation (what) within the local community (who) by offering an annual series of four regularly scheduled lectures (when) as measured by pre- and post-surveys of audience members. Writing research objectives are somewhat different, since basic research involves the generation of new knowledge rather than changing a behavior or developing a product. Research objectives may be stated as hypotheses or as research questions. Research objectives/hypotheses/questions are generally short. For example, research objectives might be to†¦ * Determine the impact of contaminated sewage water on the xxx fish population in Barnegat Bay. * Identify the needs of the fish industry in preventing the loss of these fish due to contamination. * Formulate guidelines for the wastewater treatment plant to meet the needs of the fish industry and the xxx fish. Objectives should flow logically from the problem statement/needs assessment. After identifying a set of objectives, you can develop methods and activities that will lead to these objectives. The evaluation plan will follow easily from well-developed objectives.

Ancient Religions: A Comparison Essay -- essays research papers fc

Ancient Religions: A Comparison As civilization has expanded and improved it has gone through many different religions. Some of the most interesting and different have been the Mesopotamian religion, the religion of the Greeks and finally Christianity. These three religions were practiced in different areas and different time periods and therefore they will be excellent for a comparison. Religion is a key part of every society and civilization. No matter how it is organized or what type of God they worship, a society would be nothing without some kind of deity to organize it. Through the units of study the amount that people rely on Gods has been evident and that is why this makes a very good essay topic. Three areas of religion will be used to compare each of the religions chosen, worship style, their temples or places of worship, and the nature of their God or Gods. Each of the three religions selected had very different ideas of how to worship their God or Gods. In the Mesopotamian religion worship was very straightforward and casual. They would give daily offerings of food and drink with sacrifices during special monthly and annual feasts. The most important of these feasts was the New Year’s festival, which later on during the first millennium came to include some lesser festivals as well. These worship events were held by the Priests and Priestesses who also took care of the great wealth stored in the Mesopotamian’s temples. The director of the temple cults was the Sheshgallu; all the sacrifices were performed by the Shangu-priests. Other classes of priests dealt with the other, lesser rituals. The priestesses varied from the Entu, the consort of the God, all the way down to the temple harlots (Garber, p204). The Greeks on the other hand, did most of their worship in private. They also had festivals and rituals, but their worsh ip was much less organized. If a person wished to pray to a god, or invoke their intervention, they would go to one of the shrines or temples of that god and say a prayer and leave a small gift. These gifts varied from frankincense or a cake to large sacrifices of animals. There were also dedications of small statuettes or even large painted vases (Webster, p79). There was no class of priests nor any real religious teachings or texts. There were no real worship services as we think of them, with large gatherings of people. The... ... thousand, it was the need for some greater being that drove people to temples, churches and shrines throughout the ages. With a God or multiple Gods to show them the way and even to put the blame on at times, they felt they could live with their problems. Also, having a God to turn to in times of trouble they had direction. Even though the three religions that were compared were different, they all provided the same thing, giving people the will to live and go on. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Garber, Janet Serlin The Concise encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations Franklin Watts/New York/London 1978 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Millard, Anne Ancient Civilizations Warwick Press 1983 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Webster, T.B.L Everyday Life in Classical Athens Jarrold and Sons Ltd 1969 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Williams, Paul L. Everything You wanted to Know About the Catholic Church but Were Afraid to Ask for Fear of Excommunication Doubleday 1975 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ?Walker, Robert J. World Civilizations: A Comparative Study Oxford University Press 1998 New International Version The Teen Study Bible Zondervan Publishing House 1993

The Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfeild is the main character of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is portrayed as a very troubled and alienated young boy. He alienates himself to protect himself from the hurt of losing his brother Allie, the pain of growing up, and the phoniness of the adult world. Holden grieves the loss of his beloved little brother by thinking of everyone else as not good enough. He wants to fit into this new world he’s coming into as he’s growing up, but he can’t find a place for himself.During this book Holden always describes himself as a victim of the world around him. He says to Mr. Spencer in the beginning of the book that he feels trapped on â€Å"the other side† of life. Throughout the book Holden attempts to find his way in a world that he doesn’t feel he belongs in. In chapter nine Holden tells us about some ducks that he sees in the central park lagoon. The ducks are a symbolic part of the story. The pond is a metaphor for Holden’s life and the stage of his life that he is in when this book is written.The pond is â€Å"partly frozen and partly not frozen. † It is in transition between two states, just as Holden is in transition between childhood and adulthood. The deeper into this book we get the more we start to realize that the way Holden alienates himself is just to protect himself. Hilden has been hurt before and he makes that very obvious when he speaks of his brother Allie and his death. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie. (39) This quote shows us how strongly Holden did care about Allie and what a loss Allie’s death was to his life. Holden tries to pass off his alienation as him thinking he is better than everyone else and is too good to interact with them.An example of this would be when Holden is in the club and he meets three older women. Holden says, â€Å"they didn’t invite me to sit down at their table- mostly because they were too ignorant- but I sat down anyway. †(73) and â€Å"I tried to get them in a little intelligent conversation, but it was practically impossible. You had to twist their arms. You could hardly tell which was the stupidest of the three of them. †(73) These quotes show that Holden thinks of the women as stupid and below him before he even knows them.He assumes people are not as good as he is and that everyone has something wrong with them. But really Holden is the one who has a problem interacting with people. Holden is desperately in need of human contact and love. He needs someone to talk to and be close with, but he de nies himself that. Which might be one of the causes of his depression. Holden also used alienation to protect himself from growing up. Holden is obviously overwhelmed by change. But instead of growing up, Holden criticizes other people for the things that he is guilty of.He rarely ever admits to being wrong or not knowing something. One of the few times where he does admit being wrong is when he speaks of sex and admits, â€Å"sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t†(63) This shows us that Holden isn’t really as grown up and worldly as he would like us to think. Holden puts on an act to make himself seem much older and more experienced than he really is. In most of the book he does a good job of making that image of himself believable, but this is one part where he shows us that he is still a child.Holden also uses alienation to protect himself from the phoniness of the adult world. Holden uses the term â€Å"phony† as a so rt of catch all for all the things he sees in the world that he doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with. An example is when Holden describes childhood as â€Å"innocence, curiosity, and honesty†. While he says that adulthood is â€Å"superficial and phony†. Holden does not want to grow up, which could be a reason he would describe adulthood as being â€Å"phony†. A way that Holden avoids growing up and addressing his problems or flaws is by pointing out the phoniness in the world and in people around him.Holden uses many different things to alienate himself and to keep himself closed off and protected from the world. He alienates himself to avoid growing up and to avoid changing. Holden even talks at the end of the book about opening up to people. He says, â€Å"Don’t ever tell anymore anything. If you do, you’ll start missing everybody†(214) But what Holden does not see that we, as the reader, can, is that Holden’s alienatio n of himself is one of the pain sources of his pain and depression. We can see that if he would only trust in people and open up that he would be happy and wouldn’t feel so alone. The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is home to the protagonist Holden Caulfield. There is no coincidence that he holds a striking resemblance to the author of the novel himself. Salinger seemed to have a similar childhood as Holden describes in The Catcher in the Rye. Both men also seemed to have a certain fascination with younger children, especially younger women. J.D. Salinger based one of his most famous characters, Holden Caulfield, on personal experience. Holden's story in The Catcher in the Rye begins with Holden at his school, Pencey Preparatory, which is a boarding school. He was sent there by his parents, who seemed to be withdrawn from his life. Similarly, Salinger's parents sent him to Valley Forge Military School, where he had a neighbor who always seemed to be barging in, showing a resemblance to Ackley. The reader learns that Holden is the son of wealthy parents from New York. It turns out that J.D. Salinger was also born in New York to upper-class parents. It seems as though Holden Caulfield's childhood is an identical match to that of J.D. Salinger's. Salinger had a deep love and fascination with young children, especially young women. In the 1970s, Salinger maintained a close connection with an eighteen year-old girl, Joyce Maynard, who eventually moved in with the author. J.D. Salinger continued to have many relations with younger women, much like this one. His fascination with young women is reflected in Holden, who has a similar mind-set. Even as a seventeen year-old, Holden is infatuated with his perception of Jane Gallagher as a little girl. It is this picture of innocence that Holden is in love with, and not what Jane is like now. The concept of, â€Å"the catcher in the rye,† itself projects his interest in children. He day-dreams about standing at the edge of the rye field catching any children that are too close to the edge of the cliff. Salinger used Holden to vent his love, and passion for children. Holden is almost an identical representation of what J.D. Salinger is truly like. His adoration for young women is shown in Holden's love for Jane, and in the concept of, â€Å"the catcher in the rye.† Both show similarities in their childhoods, from growing up wealthy in New York, to being sent away for school. J.D. Salinger used Holden Caulfield to expose his personal life, and possibly his personal feelings. The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfeild is the main character of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Holden is portrayed as a very troubled and alienated young boy. He alienates himself to protect himself from the hurt of losing his brother Allie, the pain of growing up, and the phoniness of the adult world. Holden grieves the loss of his beloved little brother by thinking of everyone else as not good enough. He wants to fit into this new world he’s coming into as he’s growing up, but he can’t find a place for himself.During this book Holden always describes himself as a victim of the world around him. He says to Mr. Spencer in the beginning of the book that he feels trapped on â€Å"the other side† of life. Throughout the book Holden attempts to find his way in a world that he doesn’t feel he belongs in. In chapter nine Holden tells us about some ducks that he sees in the central park lagoon. The ducks are a symbolic part of the story. The pond is a metaphor for Holden’s life and the stage of his life that he is in when this book is written.The pond is â€Å"partly frozen and partly not frozen. † It is in transition between two states, just as Holden is in transition between childhood and adulthood. The deeper into this book we get the more we start to realize that the way Holden alienates himself is just to protect himself. Hilden has been hurt before and he makes that very obvious when he speaks of his brother Allie and his death. I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it.I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn’t do it. It was a very stupid thing to do, I’ll admit, but I hardly didn’t even know I was doing it, and you didn’t know Allie. (39) This quote shows us how strongly Holden did care about Allie and what a loss Allie’s death was to his life. Holden tries to pass off his alienation as him thinking he is better than everyone else and is too good to interact with them.An example of this would be when Holden is in the club and he meets three older women. Holden says, â€Å"they didn’t invite me to sit down at their table- mostly because they were too ignorant- but I sat down anyway. †(73) and â€Å"I tried to get them in a little intelligent conversation, but it was practically impossible. You had to twist their arms. You could hardly tell which was the stupidest of the three of them. †(73) These quotes show that Holden thinks of the women as stupid and below him before he even knows them.He assumes people are not as good as he is and that everyone has something wrong with them. But really Holden is the one who has a problem interacting with people. Holden is desperately in need of human contact and love. He needs someone to talk to and be close with, but he de nies himself that. Which might be one of the causes of his depression. Holden also used alienation to protect himself from growing up. Holden is obviously overwhelmed by change. But instead of growing up, Holden criticizes other people for the things that he is guilty of.He rarely ever admits to being wrong or not knowing something. One of the few times where he does admit being wrong is when he speaks of sex and admits, â€Å"sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to God I don’t†(63) This shows us that Holden isn’t really as grown up and worldly as he would like us to think. Holden puts on an act to make himself seem much older and more experienced than he really is. In most of the book he does a good job of making that image of himself believable, but this is one part where he shows us that he is still a child.Holden also uses alienation to protect himself from the phoniness of the adult world. Holden uses the term â€Å"phony† as a so rt of catch all for all the things he sees in the world that he doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with. An example is when Holden describes childhood as â€Å"innocence, curiosity, and honesty†. While he says that adulthood is â€Å"superficial and phony†. Holden does not want to grow up, which could be a reason he would describe adulthood as being â€Å"phony†. A way that Holden avoids growing up and addressing his problems or flaws is by pointing out the phoniness in the world and in people around him.Holden uses many different things to alienate himself and to keep himself closed off and protected from the world. He alienates himself to avoid growing up and to avoid changing. Holden even talks at the end of the book about opening up to people. He says, â€Å"Don’t ever tell anymore anything. If you do, you’ll start missing everybody†(214) But what Holden does not see that we, as the reader, can, is that Holden’s alienatio n of himself is one of the pain sources of his pain and depression. We can see that if he would only trust in people and open up that he would be happy and wouldn’t feel so alone.

Research Proposal about Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Hydraulic Systems

Hydraulic engineering equipment is popular due to the enormous amount of high density power generated and transferred through small pipes and valves and the instant results attained on application of massive forces of torque. Hydraulic systems are usually very complex and, detection and diagnosis of faults should be very precise, however this could hamper the overall functioning of that particular system. Causes of faults within a hydraulic system may range from leaking valves or cylinder seal, blocked filters, to more massive faults such as complete failure of the whole hydraulic system, which often leads to considerable losses in performance and increase in operational costs. Hence, there is need for diagnostic information, which is a manual for fault diagnosis or as part of a wider architecture for system monitoring and control, which is key in detection of faults. The task of the diagnostic system is to apply data from one or more sensors to establish information regarding the fault condition of the system. Condition monitoring of hydraulic systems is equally essential in the early detection of component failure which could lead to better performance. Operational safety will be enhanced through control design process so as to enable continued safely and effective functioning until it can be shut down and the faulty components repaired (Staroswiecki, 2004). Against this background, this research is going to focus on two fundamental areas of fault detection and diagnosis in hydraulic systems: 1) efficient line fault detection techniques development by using a model-based approach and the smooth variable structure filter (SVSF). 2) Adaptive control strategy development that uses fault diagnosis information in ensuring safety and reliable performance of the system in the presence of performance impairing faults, using the multiple sliding mode control (MSMC). Reference Staroswiecki, M. (Eds.). (2004). Proceedings from 5th IFAC symposium 2003: Fault detection, supervision and safety of technical processes 2003. Washington, D.C: Elsevier.