WordPress Pingbacks and Trackbacks Explained + Why to Disable Them

If you’re a perceptive user, you may have noticed a setting in your dashboard relating to WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks. However, there’s a good chance you have no idea what these techniques are, or why they’re controversial.In a nutshell, pingbacks and trackbacks are technologies that notify other websites when content has been published that their users might find interesting. While this sounds pretty good in theory, there are also a number of downsides to using both strategies, which is why we recommend that you disable them.In this article, we’re going to start out by explaining what WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks are and discussing their pros and cons. Then, well show you how you can disable both on your own website. Let’s take a look! What are trackbacks?A trackback is a notification that WordPress sends to an external site when you link to it in your content. Let’s say that you’ve just published a new blog post on dog t raining tips, which includes a link to another website that contains some solid advice for your readers.In this scenario, you could send a trackback ‘ping’ to that site, in order to get the owner’s attention. That person could then choose to approve the trackback. This would display an excerpt of your post and a link to your site in their comments section.What are pingbacks?Pingbacks in WordPress have a very similar goal, but they work a little differently. In fact, they were actually created to be a better version of trackbacks, in order to resolve some of the problems with the technique (which we’ll look at shortly).The key thing to understand is that while trackbacks are sent manually, pingbacks are automatic. To illustrate this, we’ll go back to our earlier example. Let’s say you have pingbacks set up on your blog, and you just published that article about dog training tips (linking to the same external website as before).In this case, a pingback would immediately be sent to the site you linked to – as long as it also has pingbacks enabled. That site would then automatically check to verify that the pingback originated from your post (and wasn’t some type of spam), before displaying it as a simple link in the comments section. In most cases, pingbacks won’t include an excerpt from the post in question, though this depends on the theme that a site is using.From your perspective, the trackback and the pingback work in a very similar way. The most vital differences are ‘under the hood’ – the communication technologies used are different. However, it isn’t necessary to understand all the technical details in order to get a sense for the advantages and drawbacks of using these techniques.An example of what pingbacks/trackbacks look likeThe pros and cons of using WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks on your siteIn order to understand why we recommend that you disable pingbacks and trackbacks, lets discuss the pros and cons.Pros 👠It’s easy to see why so many people have used both pingbacks and trackbacks in the past. The potential benefits of these technologies include:Increasing backlinks to your own site, driving traffic your way and improving your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).Making connections with related sites, and encouraging them to share your content by showing your willingness to promote theirs.Offering more value to your readers, by introducing them to other content they may find useful.Cons 👎The biggest issue with trackbacks is that they soon became used to send huge amounts of spam. As trackbacks can be sent manually to any site, spammers use them to get their links posted on as much content as possible.Keeping these spam trackbacks off your site requires manually checking each one since there’s no other way to verify that they aren’t fake. Naturally, the time spent moderating these trackbacks could be better used elsewhere. It also makes them a lot less valuable than they could be in a theoretical sense.As we mentioned earlier, pingbacks were designed mainly to resolve this spam problem. That’s why they work automatically, and require verification before they can be posted. In addition, they won’t even be sent unless both blogs have enabled pingbacks.However, pingbacks soon fell victim to the same downsides as trackbacks. Many spammers were able to easily overcome the protections put into place. That resulted in a lot of fake and malicious pingbacks. Again, this means that sites with this feature enabled generally have to spend a lot of time moderating the resulting comments.In addition, you can end up with something called ‘self-pings’. If you link to another post or page on your own site, the pingback feature will send a notification (as though you were linking to an external source). This isn’t very useful and can quickly become an annoyance, although you can eliminate this problem with a free plugin like No Self Pings.Most sites should disable WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks (heres how to do it)There’s been a lot of controversy over the years as to whether using pingbacks and trackbacks is worth the downsides. These days, however, its widely recommended that you avoid both techniques.At the end of the day, using WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks tends to result in a lot of spam and wasted time. Even if they can provide a few benefits, there are better ways to drive traffic to your site.In addition, very few people actually use these technologies in a legitimate way at this point. This means that, more so than in the past, you’re likely to get a lot more fake pingbacks and trackbacks than legitimate ones.Fortunately, disabling both on your own site is a simple matter. In your WordPress dashboard, you can navigate to Settings Discussion:Here, you’ll want to deselect the first two options:Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the articleAllow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articlesThis will prevent your site from creating and receiving pingbacks and trackbacks. As a result, you should have an easier time keeping your comments section under control. Plus, youll free up time that can be devoted to more effective audience-building strategies.Skip the pingbacks and trackbacks!Pingbacks and trackbacks do have benefits in theory, but there are plenty of reasons why they’re rarely used these days. Ultimately, the downsides of both outweigh the potential for a slight boost to traffic and visibility.Keeping WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks active on your site is likely to result in a lot of spam coming from people who just want to get a link of any sort posted on your content. The good news is that you can quickly disable both options in your WordPress Settings screen.Have you ever used pingbacks and trackbacks on a WordPress site , and what was the result? Share your experiences with us in the comments section below! #WordPress pingbacks and trackbacks explained, plus why you really should just disable them

Campus Safety essays

Campus Safety essays Do you know how to remain safe on campus? There has been a rise in campus crime over the years due the increased dorm population, according to Maj. Susan Norred, assistant director of safety and security for the University Police Department. Norred, a police officer for approximately 17 years, has primary concern for students that walk or jog alone at night. She has served in her current position for two years. Whenever a person is out alone at night, they are providing an opportunity for an assault or a robbery, she said. A person increases their vulnerability by wearing a headset while they are walking or jogging, she said. To prevent themselves from being a target for criminals, both female and male students should use the buddy system. They also should let someone know where they are going and when they can be expected to return. Another serious safety issue that has been brought to Norreds attention deals with campus parking. Students will often be spotted returning to their cars after class and they will be offered a ride to their car so that the other person can have their parking space. This practice is a very, very dangerous practice for students to participate in and a person should never, under any circumstance, accept a ride from a stranger, she said. You never know who you are getting in the car with, Norred said. Meeting new people and trusting them very quickly is another personal safety issue that Norred addressed. Learn to build up trust before you actually entrust your life with them, she said. She advises meeting new people in a group setting, preferably with a good friend. Have your own transportation so that you do not have to rely on that person to take you back home, she said. Theft is also a personal safety issue at UF. Bicycles are the most commonly stolen item and they account for 40 percent of all thefts, Norred said. ...

Immigration Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Immigration Law - Essay Example (thomson 5) The first type is that of the skilled workers who come to UK under the official work permit scheme. These migrants make up about a third of the business and information services sector and a quarter of the healthcare sector. The second category of immigrants is composed of the relatives of British citizens coming to join them. These are frequently not economic migrants and do not contribute to the country with work. The third category is made of asylum seekers. Lastly, the fourth type is made up of illegal immigrants. The British Government has formulated policies that welcome the first type into its fold. But its policies regarding the other three are getting more and more stringent. As we will find out later in this paper that non-EEA immigrants who are not skilled are increasingly finding themselves excluded from the job market in the UK. (a) Non- EEA workers usually work under the work permit scheme. This scheme was formalized in 1980. In this scheme, the employer has to apply on behalf of a particular employee for a specific job. He has to show that there are no other resident workers available for the same job and with the requisite skills and experience. Work permits are then granted for work up to five years, and workers are then eligible to apply for 'indefinite leave to remain.' The employer has to support the application for it to be granted. (b) Under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme farmers and growers and students in full time education can take up work for a period of not exceeding three months. The government has increased the quota of workers under this scheme recently. (c) Another scheme is the Working Holidaymaker Scheme, which provides the young Commonwaealth citizens to holiday for 2 years in the UK and work alongside full-time for 50% of the time or work part-time for more than 50% of their stay. This provides a good avenue for work for migrants from non-EEA countries. (d) There is also a Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, under which highly talented and accomplished individuals are taken in as workers in UK. In this scheme, the application comes directly from the individuals, not the employers. They are assessed on a point system which covers qualifications, experience, to some extent age, etc. (e) Under the Innovators Scheme those individuals are allowed entry into the UK who have business ideas which will bring economic benefit to the UK but they are not qualified under any other scheme. (f) The last group of workers is Asylum seekers and refugees. The asylum seekers are normally not allowed to work while their applications are under consideration. However, if a decision has not come after six months, they can apply for permission to work. After they are granted refugee status, they can freely work and do not need to be granted permission from the Home Office to do so. 2. Policies governing Immigrants and Asylum seekers 2.1 The British Government has passed, over many years, several acts governing the issues related with immigrants and asylum seekers. These are: Immigration Act 1971, Immigration Act 1988, Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993, Asylum and Immig

How the deficits of the 1980's contributed to the prosperity of the Term Paper

How the deficits of the 1980's contributed to the prosperity of the 1990's - Term Paper Example These are: (1) to reduce the growth of government spending, (2) to reduce the marginal tax rates on income from both labor and capital, (3) to reduce regulation, and (4) to reduce inflation by controlling the growth of the money supply† (Niskanen, â€Å"Encyclopedia†). These changes reduced taxes for most wage earners, and most of the poor were actually exempted from taxes. Reagan also eliminated price controls on oil and natural gas, long distance telephone service, and ocean shipping. As reported by the Joint Economic Committee in April of 2000, Reagan’s polices resulted in the largest peacetime economic boom in American history. It also resulted to 35 million jobs for many Americans. The committee reports, â€Å"[i]n 1981, newly elected President Ronald Reagan refocused fiscal policy on the long run†¦these were fundamental changes that proved the foundation for the Great Expansion that began in December 1982† (Sperry, â€Å"Issues†). At the b eginning of the 1990s when Reagan’s tax rate cuts were set in place, tax payers who earned more were taxed more, and those who earned less were taxed less. This gave a chance for those in the lower rungs of the economic ladder to recover from their difficult economic situation. The reductions in income tax for those who had lower income were so dramatic because President Reagan doubled the personal exemption; he also increased the standard deduction, and he tripled the earned income tax credit. Earned income tax credit gave net cash to single-parent families with children at the lowest income levels. Reagan’s economic policies practically took from the rich and took less from the poor, and this gave the lower income group in American society a chance to recover and improve their lives. The eventual manifestations of improved life were later seen in the 1990s. The stimulants for growth in the 1990s can be traced back to the economic measures and policies which were implemented during the

Case Study 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

4 - Case Study Example isorder – Observation of thin, tired-looking, fatigued, weight loss, poor appetite, muscle weakness, skin warm, dry, flat affect, provides little detail in answers, indecisive, has difficulty concentrating depressed mood or anhedonia (absence or pleasure) for at least 2 weeks. (Pg 53) sleep disturbance, weight loss, loss of appetite, loss of sexual interest (Pg 59-60), Patients with depression may display poor or lapsed hygiene. Pg 61 May cause a patient to be withdrawn (Pg 61), negative, slow, low-self-esteem Hypothesis 1: Major depressive disorder – genetics plays a vital role, results from abnormalities between brain hormones and neurotransmitters i.e. hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis; serotonergic, dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems. Depression might be caused by relational issues. Bereavement is among the most traumatizing, painful and gut wrenching experience a person will ever face. Grieving people often undergo various states during this period (regret, loneliness, withdrawal, intrusive images, depression, unhappiness, a feeling of being overwhelmed and depersonalization. These characteristics displayed by the patient made the diagnosis from settling on anemia, thyroiditis and insomnia. At first, the feelings of grief may seem to be forgotten. But, with time they evolve into bursts of depression which are brought about by the reminders of the dead/deceased (Astrid,

What Makes Up Marine Ecosystems Environmental Sciences Essay

What Makes Up Marine Ecosystems Environmental Sciences Essay An ecosystem can be defined as an area where there is an interaction between all the non-living and living components. The complete group of organisms inhabiting the ecosystem can be called a community. The abiotic non-living components include such items as air, water, soil sunlight all of which may be critical to the survival of the organisms (Soper et al 1997). Odum (1969) described the ecosystem as a single entity composed of many different parts dynamically interacting with transfers of energy and considers the ecosystem to be a unit of biological organization made up of all the organisms in a given area (that is community) interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to characteristic trophic structure and material cycles within the system. This more elaborate explanation is still applied today and is more relevant as it takes into account the important issue of energy flow between the components. Marine ecosystems include oceans, coral reefs, estuar ies and coastal areas such as lagoons and kelp beds. An appreciation of the fundamental definition described above allows us to understand how the ecosystem concept can be extrapolated from smaller marine ecosystems such as coral reefs or sea grass beds to bigger ones such as the Caribbean Large Marin Ecosystem (CLME) which is an interconnected complex of these and many other smaller ecosystems. Duda (2002) describes the large marine ecosystem (LME) as a vast marine area which begins with and includes coastal regions and estuaries and eventually stretches out to continental shelf limits and areas dominated by coastal current systems. Sherman et al (2004) use the following more detailed factors to develop criteria for demarcating LMEs ; bathymetry, hydrography, productivity, and trophically dependent populations. Several of the 64 LMEs spread out across the globe also occupy spaces which are semi-enclosed seas for example the Caribbean and Baltic seas are two semi enclosed seas which form the respective CLME and Baltic Sea LME (BSLME). Another factor used in determining the seaward extent of LMEs is the area affected by the major ocean currents of the world, hence, for example the North Brazil Shelf LME (NBSLME) is delimited by the North Brazil Current system and its extent. This factor therefore sometimes supercedes the 200 nautical mile of EEZ fisheries zone limits criteria. The understanding of the concept of the LME is fundamental to this study as the area of interest transcends the boundary between two adjacent LMEs namely the CLME and the NBSLME (see figure 1.) (Polygon delimiting actual study area needs to be inserted on this diagram) Figure 1. The Caribbean and adjacent Large Marine Ecosystems. (Fanning et al. 2009) Resources and Ecosystems Seagrass, coral reefs and mangroves are very common marine coastal ecosystems within the CLME. The outflows of two of the largest river systems in the world, the Orinoco and the Amazon have a great impact the LME of the Caribbean (CLME, 2007)., the former having the greater effect due to its closer proximity, approximately 100 km from the south coast of the island of Trinidad. The North Equatorial Current moves in a generally westward direction from the mid Atlantic region into the Caribbean basin through the Lesser Antilles and thus many of the islands within this area are impacted by its nutrient poor nature (see fig 2). The islands of the South Eastern Caribbean however, especially the twin island nation of Trinidad and Tobago are heavily impacted by the Guiana Current which enters the Caribbean along the northern coast of South America (fig 3). It has been stated that the freshwater outflows from the Amazon and Orinoco has a significant impact on the Guiana current (Morrison and Smith 1990). Muller-Karger et al. (1988) illsutrate that the Amazon River discharges the most amount of freshwater into the ocean from any single point source. The North Equatorial Current (NEC) as represented by the Mariano Global Surface Velocity Analysis (MGSVA). The NEC is the broad westward flow that is the southern component of the N. Atlantic subtropical gyre. It is fed by the Canary Current and its waters eventually end up in the Gulf Stream system, either via the Antilles current or through the Caribbean via the Guiana current. (Bischof et al. 2004) South equatorial current, North Brazil Current and North Brazilian Current are all terms which have been applied to the Guyana current. Flagg et al. (1986) suggest that the misappropriation of the names is due mainly to the seasonal nature of the adjacent currents. The Guyana Current starts off as the North Brazil Current which carries along the south American coastline up to the region of French Guiana where part of it diverges and rejoins the North Equatorial Counter Current. The Guiana Current is formed from the remainder which continues along the coast in a northwestward direction (Condie 1991) The Caribbean current as represented by the Mariano Global Surface Velocity Analysis (MGSVA). The Caribbean Current transports significant amounts of water northwestward through the Caribbean Sea and into the Gulf of Mexico, via the Yucatan Current. The source water for the Caribbean Current is from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean via the North Equatorial, North Brazil, and Guiana Currents. The counter-clockwise circulation of the Columbia-Panama Gyre is evident off-shore of southern Central America (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) and northern Colombia. (Gyory et al. 2004) (Gyory et al. 2004) The Caribbean exhibits a great degree of spatial and temporal differences when it comes to its marine environment. Coral reefs are a prime example of the diversity of its ecosystems and its species as most of the corals and associated species found in the region are endemic making this biodiversity of international importance (Burke and Maidens 2004) The interdependence and flow of energy from the nearshore more productive habitats such as the reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds to the less productive open ocean areas such as the planktonic and pelagic systems and the environmental conditions that influence them are not well understood at this point. Why conserve and manage marine ecosystems? The importance of marine ecosystems and hence the need for their sustainable management can be best illustrated by two main factors; the direct and indirect services they provide and the ensuing natural and human based stressors that they face. Marine ecosystem services Humans often view the oceans as a huge waste bin while simultaneously as a perpetual source of food. With five percent of the worlds protein supply coming from the sea and up to 15 percent is selected areas such as China and Japan our dependence on the ocean for food is immense. There is a wide range of services apart from being a food source that humans garner from the oceans, to fully appreciate these one must first come to terms with the varying scales of spatial distribution and time which these services may be provided. Obviously different regions will provide various services due to their different physical makeup and constituents for example near shore coastal ecosystems provide most of the services of a particular type due to their highly productive nature whereas open ocean areas provide most of the regulating services and chemical balancing mainly due to its immense size. The medical, spiritual, aesthetic values of the ocean are also great but often receive lesser attention. Recently much interest has been placed in carbon sequestration and the role of the oceans and marine ecosystems in acting as carbon sinks slowing the global climate change process Garcia and Cochrane (2005) mentions this and categorizes ecosystem services into four main areas; provisioning, supporting, regulating or cultural. The function of coral reefs, mangroves and even salt marshes in buffering coastal areas from wave and storm damage was apparent during the 2004 Asian tsunami and the 2005 Gulf of Mexico Hurricanes. It is well known that coastal habitats such as mangroves, salt marshes, coral reefs, and sea grass beds act as nurseries for young fish and other species while also providing a source of income and employment generation. The fisheries sectors of many a nation is fuelled by the highly productive upwelling zones mainly in and around New Zealand, Chile/Peru, South Afr ica and the western United States. Also in terms of biodiversity 16 of the 36 animal Phyla that exist occur only in the oceans, this fact has implications for the biochemical and medical fields for human use (Baskett et al 2005). Marine ecosystem stressors Most of the worlds population lives in or near to coastal areas for many different reasons. Primarily most of the jobs exist in and around the coastal zone as this is where many of the major cities and ports occur. Also food and recreation and leisure activities are gained quite easily from the seas. As a result of the high population densities experienced by the coastal regions a lot of the significant ecosystems and coastal marine communities are being negatively impacted due to human activities (Halpern et al., 2007, 2008). Pollution of various forms have caused increase nutrient enrichment, eutrophication, sedimentation due to land degradation and mismanagement and changes in the hydrological patterns. Climate ahnge is another signifjicant contributor the the deterioration of the marine ecosystems and have taken a heavy toll on coral reef systems in particular (Baker et al. 2008). GESAMP (2001) lists the modification and demolition of habitats, sewage run off and impacts on human health, rising eutrophication and nutrient enrichment and the decrease in fish stocks as well as alteration of sedimentation pattern due to hydrological changes and land degradation as some of the most significant issues facing coastal and marine areas and ecosystems. How are they Managed? Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Conventional types of natural resource management have been replaced over the years by a more rounded approach ecosystem based management (EBM) which focuses not only on specific sectors but is more all inclusive. Traditionally, activities that influence the management process have been engaged independently and have not considered the collective impacts on the ecosystem (Curtin and Prezello 2010). EBM is a new approach that considers a broader range of contributing factors (ecological, environmental and anthropogenic) in designing a management technique. Management techniques including coastal management, fisheries management and the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs) help to drive EBM related models. Christie et al. (2007) also stress that ecological function and pertinent scales must be considered in the EBM process. Arkema et al (2006) summarize it most effectively: Ecosystem based management represents a much broader view than how marine ecosystems have been managed tr adition- ally, taking into account the interconnectedness and inter- dependent nature of the components of ecosystems, and the fundamental importance of ecosystem structure and functioning in providing humans with the broad range of services that are taken for granted. Cury et al. (2005) notes three key issues that must be adhered to in EBM; establishing lasting goals that are pertinent to the particular ecosystem, defining meaningful indicators, and determining suitable models, data gathering tools and means for analysis. INDENT (2006) provides an assessment of a wide range of indicators, while mechanisms for marine ecosystem management and monitoring are outlined by Hoffman and Gaines (2008). Biological monitoring makes use of indicator species and also considers numbers of particular species, this is especially useful in fisheries monitoring to detect when a disturbance in a specific area in this regard fisheries monitoring is considered a tool on its own. Tracking variations in the water quality or physical habitat is termed environmental monitoring and is separate from biological and fisheries monitoring. The multitude of stressors which influence the marine environment can have many sources, including estuaries, coastal areas and even far away areas such as watersheds. At the highest level therefore EBM should take into account watershed impacts (Guery et al. 2005). Also from a management perspective it has been suggested that an approach which begins at the lowest scale and then makes its way up to the level of large marine ecosystems thereby allowing a greater number of stressors and the services that they impact to be considered Agardy (2007) and Rosenberg (2006). Sustainable management and application of marine ecosystem services always need to consider the relationship between the socioeconomic and ecological parts of the entire system across the various scales involved. Indicators The fisheries resources within an ecosystem are directly related to the primary productivity of that ecosystem (Pauly and Christensen 1995). The ever increasing problem of coastal eutrophication can be monitored by utilizing ecosystem productivity as an indicator. Ecosystem characteristics can be observed through the use of satellite data. Satellite data that has been tuned to a specific region can provide data on nutrients, productivity, phytoplankton, and sea surface temperature (Aiken et al. 1999; Berman and Sherman 2001; Melrose et al. 2006). The 2004 National Coastal Condition Report II illustrates the use of five indices for coastal assessment put forward by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). These include water quality, sediment quality, benthic communities, coastal habitat, and fish tissue contaminants. These indicators and the entire methodology are gradually being applied to the international global environment facility (GEF) funded LME projects. The Gulf of Mexico LME and many European LMEs have suffered due to nitrogen overenrichment over recent decades. The 1970s Green Revolution which saw much of the wetlands of the world being transformed to agricultural lands and the subsequent fertilizer and livestock increase are said to be the major contributors to this process (Howarth et al. 2000 and Duda and El-Ashry 2000) with other contributors coming from urban sewage sources and automobile exhaust. Indicators used for Marine Management The increasing range and intensity of human uses has led to a need for efficient management of marine ecosystems in the region. Marine ecosystem indicators can play a key role in improving the planning and management practices within the marine environment for sustainable use (Borja et al. 2008b; 2009). Indicators enable managers and stakeholders to monitor the condition of an ecosystem and the impacts of its associated human activities. Indicators can also be used to support planning and decision-making for ecosystem-based management, including problem identification and policy implementation. More than a decade ago the chief method employed in assessing marine quality was the use of indicator species collected from the benthic communities. A wider approach is now being undertaken with the inclusion of the physical components as well as a greater range of biological components (Pinto et al., 2009). Fishes, phytoplankton and zooplankton are biological components that are now part of the ecosystem assessment process and are being used as indicators for marine quality evaluation (Borja et al 2009). True marine quality assessment is usually done by incorporating the various physico-chemical and biological elements of the system (Borja, 2005, 2006). Moloney and Shillington (2007) show that it is necessary to have indicators for ecosystem health however, individual indices can be applied for various aspects of the physical and chemical environment. Further work is required for the establishment of an effective method of defining the single indicator for assessment of marine qual ity (Borja et al., 2008a). The past approach had several deficiencies chief of which was it usually was based on just a few indicator organisms which may not have been a true representation of the ecosystem condition. On the other hand developing several indices based on several different organisms has seen a proliferation of indices (Diaz et al., 2004). Another key point to consider is the validation and testing of an index once it has been developed to ensure its accuracy. Obviously the usefulness or applicability of an index lies in its ability to accurately transmit the information about the quality of the study area for which it was designed (see Borja and Dauer, 2008). It is important to note that local scale indices have been generated in abundance in recent times not taking into account the interconnected nature of the larger marine ecosystems. A key step in index development is the multivariate analysis over areas where the ecosystem compositions are close by comparison. Borja et al (2009) have illustrated clearly that stakeholders and decision makers often need information on larger regions that cross habitat boundaries and thus scale is an important factor in index development. Nextà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Indicators for marine management derived from Satellite Remote Sensing

Essay --

The Importance of Julius Caesar as Dictator Julius Caesar was born in a wealthy and well-known family. His father, Gaius Julius Caesar, was governor of the province of Asia, while his aunt was married to one of the most important figures in the Roman Republic, Gaius Marius. At age sixteen, his father died and life became tough for Caesar as he became the head of the family. Later on his life, a civil war broke out between his uncle and Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a Roman general. Sulla won the war and stripped anyone of his or her inheritance who was connected to Gaius Marius, which included Caesar who ended up fleeing from Rome. As years went by, Sulla would eventually die and Caesar would return back to Rome where he would start his political career. He became the governor of all of Gaul and as a military genius he defeated tribes like the Helvetians, the Germans, and the Nervii. When he came back to Rome again, he created the first Triumvirate with Pompeius Magnus, Marcus Licinius Crassus. This was to help him gain power of Roman Republic. When Crassus died in a battle, a civil war broke out over the control of Rome between Pompey and the Senate against Julius Caesar. Caesar would win the war and become the sole ruler â€Å"dictator† of Rome where he created many reforms that stabilized the Mediterranean world. Julius Caesar dictatorship led to the reforms of the political system, social life, calendar, and helped with the creation of the Roman Empire. During his time as dictator, Julius Caesar reformed the corrupt Roman political system. Before he took over, nobles would bribe people in the assemblies for votes. For instance, â€Å"A noble would give a voter some money or a piece of his land in exchange for the voter’s vote†(Smith, 201).... ...to many positive things, which includes the reform of the political system, the social life, the calendar, and he also helped with the creation of the Roman Empire. He fixed the political system by replacing the corrupt voting system with a controlled election. Roman citizenship became a lot easier to get and people around the Mediterranean received more legal rights. He also reformed the calendar so it could catch up to the solar year, which was named the Julian calendar. Today many countries calendars including us, is based on the Julian calendar. Julius Caesar became a very popular leader for the people of Rome and was on verge to become the first Roman Emperor. His assassination would eventually lead to the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. Without Julius Caesar, Rome’s history would have been completely different.

Gender Inequality In India Essay

Imagine yourself in the shoes of a person who has been oppressed their entire life. Imagine all the laws that were made to protect you have not been effective one bit. Imagine yourself as a minority in the second largest community in the world. Yes, I am talking about the women in India. Why do some women live like slaves when the men thrive as the superior race in India Customs, traditions, rustic beliefs are some of the answers that advocate male superiority in the country. Some of the facts that you read a1bout women on the internet are outrageous. According to a survey done in 2011 every 42 minutes, an incident of sexual harassment takes place. Every 43 minutes, a woman is kidnapped. Every 93 minutes, a woman is killed. Every 102 minutes, a dowry death. Surprised yet? These are only a few from the thousands of facts. Women are discriminated on a daily basis in the society, workplace and even at home while men on the other hand live like the emperors of the society. India portrays the image of society with men holding the whips, and taking control. It is as common to find women oppressed in the cities, as much as they can be oppressed in the remote villages. Majority of the women in India live in the fear of raising their voices, for they have been robbed of their rights and have been imprisoned to a world where they are voiceless. Even though today’s women are far more modern and independent, they are still haunted by the views and believes of the older generation where women are meant to be ideal housewives who take care of the family, feed them, maintain them and nothing more, while men are free to decide their future and choose what they want to be. A woman has equal rights as a man, she can choose the life she wants and the way she wants to live it. She shouldn’t be burdened with the views of the society or tradition. It is tough to believe that when 82 per cent of the men are educated only 65 per cent of women in India were lucky enough to have had the liberty to attend school. This shows  the ignorance and negligence of the parents who fail to ensure the education of their girl child. It is not surprising that India has the lowest workforce participation rate from women. You might think the few women who make their own living lead a better life, well think again. Only 4 out of every 10 women take part in a corporate office. The work participation rate of men in India is almost double as that of women. Women continue to be concentrated in jobs with low pay and authority levels placing limits on their overall access to income, status and power while men continue to dominate the top positions of the firm ensuring higher payment and better job security. The numbers of women that hold managerial positions in India are exceptionally low. Multinational companies prefer men to be the face of their organization to be more appealing to the public. On top of all the work load and discrimination, women go through a lot of mental as well as sexual harassments at work. There are constantly challenged by the nature of their work and the environment they are placed to work in. Unlike men the work of a woman does not end outside the doors of the office, she gets back home to take on the next set of mundane tasks. From the very beginning a girl is taught to do the household works while her brothers are treated like kings. Boys of the family have the rights to be out as long as they want and when a girl misses her curfew by a few minutes all hell breaks loose. It is almost like she has no voice of her own, everyone else makes a decision for her. Let it be a child or a full grown women, she never escapes the discrimination. In the modern world where men and women are working members of the family, the wife is still expected to come home at the end of the day and take care of the rest of the family and attend to their needs. She is expected to provide and nurture others with nothing in return while the only duty of the man is to earn for the family. Statistics shows that an average woman in India spends almost 10 years of her life in the kitchen while an average man at most would have spent 4 years. In India physical abuse of Indian women is high ranging from 22-60 percent and the suicide attempts due to violence and torture is shocking. 74.8 percent of women who reported violence have attempted to commit suicide. What is more surprising is that these statistics are from within  the four walls of their â€Å"safe home†. Despite the efforts of many women and political group to end discrimination against women, it still goes on. Every now and then a strike or a rally is conducted to educate the youth the importance of women in the society but the enthusiasm and the energy of these programs dies away the next day. Women will not have their rights and freedom in the society until there is a change in the mindset of men. This is the twenty first century, along with the development in science and literature we need to develop a society where women are no longer discriminated, a society where women and men hold equal positions at work and at home. We need work towards a future in which every girl gets to define who and what she wants to be. The question, though, how far away is that future?

Lord Woolf’s Reforms

Essay Title: â€Å"Although settlement, rather than litigation, poses a number of problems for a civil justice system these matters have been largely resolved by Lord Woolf’s reforms. † What is civil justice system? There are several definitions for the civil justice system. Every civilized system of government requires that the state should make available to all its citizens a means for the just and peaceful settlement of disputes between them as to their respective legal rights. The means provided are courts of justice to which every citizen has a constitutional right of access.Lord Diplock in Bremer Vulkan Schiffb au and Maschinenfabrik v South India Shipping Corp. [1981] AC 909, HL, p. 976. The justification of a legal system and procedures must be one of lesser evils, that legal resolution of disputes is preferable to blood feuds, rampant crime and violence. M. Bayles, ‘Principles for legal procedure’, Law and Philosophy, 5:1 (1986), 33–57, 57. The first impulse of a rudimentary soul is to do justice by his own hand. Only at the cost of mighty historical efforts has it been possible to supplant in the human soul the idea of self-obtained justice by the idea of justice entrusted to authorities.Eduardo J. Couture, ‘The nature of the judicial process’, Tulane Law Review, 25 (1950), 1–28, 7. There have been over 60 official reports on the subject of civil processing the past. Latest published reports were Evershed Report in 1953, the report of the Winn Committee in 1968, the Cantley Working Party in 1979, the Civil Justice Review in the late 1980s and the Woolf. All those reports are focused on the same objects like how to reduce complexity, delay and the cost of civil litigation. What are the problems before reforms?This is a mere compare of the pre-Woolf and post-Woolf civil landscape without baseline statistics. As research for the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) on the pre-Woolf litigation landscap e (pre-1999) demonstrates that: * 50% – 83% of defended cases in the county courts were personal injury (PI) claims * overall at least 75% of cases were within the small claims or fast track financial limit; in most courts this figure was 85% or more * the higher the value of the claim, the more likely both sides were to have legal representation * PI cases had high settlement rates and a small number of trials.Non-PI cases had a higher proportion of trials, and a much higher proportion of cases withdrawn. Debt cases were most likely to end in trial (38%) and in all of those the claimant succeeded. In 96% of all cases going to trial the claimant was successful * In all types of cases 50% of awards or settlements were for ? 1,000 – ? 5,000, and a further 25% – 33% were for ? 5,000 – ? 10,000. Costs in non-PI cases were relatively modest, and in PI cases around 50% had costs of ? 2,000 or less, 24% had over ? 4,000. Wolf ReformsLord Woolf’s approach to reform was to encourage the early settlement of disputes through a combination of pre-action protocols, active case management by the courts, and cost penalties for parties who unreasonably refused to attempt negotiation or consider ADR. Such evidence as there is indicates that the Woolf reforms are working, to the extent that pre-action protocols are promoting settlement before application is made to the court; most cases are settling earlier, and fewer cases are settling at the door of the court.In fact, most cases are now settled without a hearing. Lord Woolf, Access to Justice (Final Report, July 1996), identified a number of principles which the civil justice system should meet in order to ensure access to justice. The system should: (a) Be just in the results it delivers; (b) Be fair in the way it treats litigants; (c) Offer appropriate procedures at a reasonable cost; (d) Deal with cases with reasonable speed; (e) Be understandable to those who use it; (f) Be responsive to the needs of those who use it; g) Provide as much certainty as the nature of the particular case allows; and (h) Be effective: adequately resourced and organized. The defects Lord Woolf identified in our present system were that it is: (a) Too expensive in that the costs often exceed the value of the claim; (b) Too slow in bringing cases to a conclusion; (c) Too unequal: there is a lack of equality between the powerful, wealthy litigant and the under resourced litigant; (d) Too uncertain: the difficulty of forecasting what litigation will cost and how long it will last induces the fear of the unknown; (e) Incomprehensible to many litigants; f) Too fragmented in the way it is organized since there is no one with clear overall responsibility for the administration of civil justice; and (g) Too adversarial as cases are run by the parties, not by the courts and the rules of court, all too often, are ignored by the parties and not enforced by the court. The Basic Reforms of Woolf A syst em is needed where the courts are responsible for the management of cases. The courts should decide what procedures are suitable for each case; set realistic timetables; and ensure that the procedures and timetables are complied with.Defended cases should be allocated to one of three tracks: (a) An expanded small claims jurisdiction with a financial limit of ? 3,000; (b) A new fast track for straightforward cases up to ? 10,000, with strictly limited procedures, fixed timetables (20-30 weeks to trial) and fixed costs; and (c) A new multi-track for cases above ? 10,000, providing individual hands on management by judicial teams for the heaviest cases, and standard or tailor made directions where these are appropriate.Lord Woolf's Inquiry was also asked to produce a single, simpler procedural code to apply to civil litigation in the High Court and county courts. The Final Report was accompanied by a draft of the general rules which would form the core of the new code. Pros and Cons of wolf reforms * However, costs have increased, or have at least been front-loaded. In particular, in cases where mediation has been attempted and agreement has not been reached, costs are clearly higher for the parties. * Litigation will be avoided wherever possible.People will be encouraged to start court proceedings to resolve disputes only as a last resort, and after using other more appropriate means when available. * Litigation will be less adversarial and more co-operative. There will be an expectation of openness and co-operation between parties from the outset, supported by pre-litigation protocols on disclosure and experts. * Litigation will be less complex. There will be a single set of rules applying to the High Court and the county courts. The rules will be simpler. * The timescale of litigation will be shorter and more certain.All cases will progress to trial in accordance with a timetable set and monitored by the court. * The cost of litigation will be more affordable, more predictable, and more proportionate to the value and complexity of individual cases. There will be fixed costs for cases on the fast track. Estimates of costs for multi-track cases will be published or approved by the court. * Parties of limited financial means will be able to conduct litigation on a more equal footing. Litigants who are not legally represented will be able to get more help from advice services and from the courts. There will be clear lines of judicial and administrative responsibility for the civil justice system. The Head of Civil Justice will have overall responsibility for the civil justice system. * The structure of the courts and the deployment of judges will be designed to meet the needs of litigants. Heavier and more complex civil cases will be concentrated at trial centers which have the resources needed, including specialist judges, to ensure that the work is dealt with effectively. * Judges will be deployed effectively so that they can manage litiga tion in accordance with the new rules and protocols.Judges will be given the training they need to manage cases. * The civil justice system will be responsive to the needs of litigants. Courts will provide advice and assistance to litigants through court based or duty advice ; assistance schemes, especially in courts with substantial levels of debt and housing work. Final conclusion It can be concluded, overall the Reforms were supported by both branches of the legal profession, judiciary and both the lay and the legal press welcomed them. Promoting settlement and avoiding litigation can be the iggest boon to litigants who otherwise when get entangled in the costly and everlasting court procedures suffer a lot. The reforms intended to focus on reduction in cost and delay, however they did not escape criticism and reduction in cost is still considered to be a debatable area. But the reforms were a step in the right direction and were deemed triumphant as they have resulted in justice being accessible to wider proportion of society especially when problem is of small nature and can be quickly and cheaply dealt with in lower courts.Wholistically, the advantages of the Reforms outshine the disadvantages. The reforms were a positive way for the future; still a lot of work needs to be done in a few areas for making timely, inexpensive justice available to the lay man. Reduction in cost of litigation as a consequence of reforms was not fully realized but nonetheless it cannot be said that reforms had a detrimental impact on civil justice overall as timely exchange of information between the parties does promote culture of co-operation and settlement if not always and as a result of the reforms problem of delay in litigation were well catered.There was a move away from the adversarial culture and increase in out of court settlements was seen. It can be concluded that the foundation stone for a better and prosperous litigation culture has been laid, what needs to be do ne now is to rectify the shortcomings of the Woolf reforms and build on the so called revolutionary much needed positive reforms aiming to avoid litigation and promoting timely settlement of disputes, so that parties no longer are faced with the never ending litigation process.Bibliography * http://www. lawteacher. net/english-legal-system/lecture-notes/civil-justice-review. php * Cambridge University Press: 978-0-521-11894-1 – Judging Civil Justice: Hazel Genn: Excerpt * D. Gladwell, ‘Modern Litigation Culture: the first six months of the Civil Justice reforms in England and Wales' 19 Civil Justice Quarterly, 2000 pp. 9-18 * Gary Slapper and David Kelly, The English Legal System 9th edition, Routledge. Cavendish, Chapter 9(The Civil Process), pg 369. * P.

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of 1939 On August 23, 1939, representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (also called the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact), a mutual promise made by the two leaders  guaranteeing that neither would attack the other. With the imminence  of World War II becoming ever clearer, signing the pact guaranteed Germany protection against the necessity of fighting a two-front war. The Soviet Union  was awarded land in return, including parts of Poland and the Baltic States, as part of a secret addendum. The pact was broken when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union less than two years later, on June 22, 1941. Why Did Hitler Want the Pact? Germanys role in a two-front war in World War I had split its forces, weakening and undermining their offensive strength.   As he prepared for war in 1939, German dictator Adolf Hitler was determined not to repeat the same mistakes. While hed hoped to acquire Poland without force (as he had annexed Austria the year before), the necessity to diminish the possibility of a two-front war as a consequence of the invasion was clear. Thus negotiation for Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was born. The Two Sides Meet On August 14, 1939, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop contacted the Soviets to arrange a deal. Ribbentrop met with the Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov in Moscow, and together they arranged two pacts: the economic agreement and the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The Economic Agreement The first pact was an economic trade agreement, which Ribbentrop and Molotov signed on August 19, 1939. The agreement, which proved instrumental in helping Germany bypass the British blockade during the early years of World War II, committed the Soviet Union to provide food products and raw materials to Germany in exchange for products such as German machinery for the Soviet Union. The Non-Aggression Pact On August 23, 1939- four days after the economic agreement was signed and a little over a week before the beginning of World War II- Ribbentrop and Molotov signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Publicly, this agreement stated that Germany and the Soviet Union would not attack each other and that any problem that might arise between the two countries was to be handled amicably. The pact, which was supposed to have lasted 10 years, lasted less than two. Terms of the pact included the provision that if Germany attacked Poland, the Soviet Union would not come to its aid. Thus, if Germany went to war against the West (especially France and Great Britain) over Poland, the Soviets were guaranteeing that they would not enter the war. This would block the opening of a second front for Germany. In addition to the agreement, Ribbentrop and Molotov added a secret protocol to the pact- a secret addendum whose existence was denied by the Soviets until 1989. To the Chancellor of the German Reich, Herr A. Hitler,I thank you for your letter. I hope that the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact will mark a decisive turn for the better in the political relations between our two countries.J. Stalin* The Secret Protocol The secret protocol held an agreement between the Nazis and the Soviets that greatly affected Eastern Europe. In exchange for the Soviets pledging to decline engagement in the imminent war, Germany gave the Soviets the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), leaving Poland to be divided between the two along the Narew, Vistula, and San rivers. The territory restructuring provided the Soviet Union a level of protection from a Western invasion via an inland buffer. It would need that buffer in 1941. Pact Unfolds, Then Unravels When Nazis attacked Poland on the morning of September 1, 1939, the Soviets stood by and watched. Two days later, World War II began with the British declaration of war on Germany. Soviets rolled into eastern Poland on September 17 to occupy their sphere of influence as designated in the secret protocol. The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact effectively barred the Soviet Union from joining the fight against Germany, thus affording Germany success in its attempt to safeguard its borders from a two-front war. The Nazis and the Soviets kept the terms of the pact and the protocol until Germanys surprise attack and invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

Comparative Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Comparative Analysis - Essay Example The female heroines are placed into situations in which love is not easy, nor it is the primary goal of these women, but it is an inevitable outcome to the events that occur. The novels Jane Eyre, an Autobiography and Emma explore the topic of love through heroines which have no interest in finding love, but whose destinies are on a trajectory towards that end. The story of Jane Eyre, an Autobiography, written by Charlotte Bronte, is a tragedy, the life of Jane filled with painful moments that seem to plague her life. As a child she is orphaned and sent to live with relatives who treat her poorly. She attends a school where cruelty is the main interaction with adults. Once she finds a position, the strangeness of the house is balanced against the love that she finds there, only to find out that the subject of her love is married to another. Love is denied to Jane throughout the novel, her life defined by a resignation to this fact. It is a surprise when she finds love, but her principles keep her from that love until such time as the circumstances around it become appropriate. A word that defines the nature of Jane is dignity, although much of the time those around her are working hard to deny her that quality. The story of Emma written by Jane Austen is a comedy which is in high contrast to the gothic, dark environment of Jane Eyre, an Autobiography. Where Jane is reserved and has had a difficult life financially, Emma has no financial worries and explores her world without much caution. Emma is an extrovert who tries to manipulate her environment with a blind belief that she knows what is best for everyone who comes into her life. The conflict comes as it appears that she does not know what is best for everyone else, not even herself. The novel is written from the perspective of Emma’s world view, the third person narration often sounding much more like it is coming from Emma’s thoughts. This perspective creates a humorous, often ironic narrative. Emma

Control & Co-ordination Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Control & Co-ordination - Assignment Example The central nervous system gathers information from the peripheral nervous system and analyzes it to create action, and later resends it to the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. These two divisions work together to ensure that the body is able to respond to different internal and external changes and environments. A simplified chart showing the organisation of the nervous system is as shown below (Brelt, 2003). The forebrain is responsible for receiving and processing of detailed and complex sensory information, thought, perceptions and language. The forebrain is the part of the brain that differentiates the human beings from other organisms. This part of the brain is comprised of the thalamus and the hypothalamus, the cerebrum and cerebral cortex. The thalamus is responsible for sorting and differentiating information and sending/relaying it to the different parts of the fore brain. The hypothalamus controls and monitors activities such as eating, drinking or sexual activity by affecting the endocrine system to produce hormones. The cerebrum forms the largest part of the forebrain and processes information, relaying it to the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is responsible for speech, grammar, mathematical abilities, non verbal emotions among others (Brelt, 2003). The midbrain is a link between the hind and fore parts of the brain. It relays information between the two brain parts and is responsible with auditory and visual responses such as hearing, sight, and sleep among others. This part of the brain, located just below the cerebral cortex is the smallest as compared to the forebrain and the hindbrain. The hindbrain is located at the rear of the skull and is comprised of the medulla oblongata, the cerebellum and the pons. The medulla oblongata controls activities such as breathing and posture whereas the