Science and Technology in Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress

Brown is an American author of thriller fiction. Brown can spend up to two years writing them. To remain focused on such projects, Brown ensures that when he chooses a theme for the novel and its subject, that they be those that can hold his interest. In Brown\u27s view, the ideal topic does not have an easily defined right or wrong view but presents a moral grey area that can lend itself to debate. Because his favourite subjects include codes, puzzles, treasure hunts, secretive organisations and academic lectures on obscure topics, he tends to incorporate those into his novels. Because Brown considers writing to be a discipline that requires constant practice, he has developed a routine to maintain his abilities. Article DOI : 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00003.

Understanding eService strategies in countries with different level of instability: comparative study

The implementation of eGov initiatives requires a robust strategic planning to succeed. Its successfulness can be full, partial or can result in failure. The gap between strategy and implementation determines to what extent the process of the initiative has developed. The smaller the gap between strategy and reality means that more activities have been implemented successfully. In our study we undertake a comparison of eGov strategies among countries at different levels of instability. It highlights the different approaches for implementing activities, and thus directs policy makers in highly unstable societies to important aspects and to embrace gaps during the implementation process. Consequently, the lessons learned by adopting best practice from different contexts enhances the process of activities’ development in an unstable environment. Our aim is to emphasise the factors that influenced strategic planning in societies with different levels of stability to adopt eService successfully. This comparison study explores the eService strategies among three cases namely: eGov Strategy in Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Although the three cases are different in their levels of instability, they have geographical, cultural and demographic similarities that make them the perfect choices for our study. The comparison sources are based on the information available from government reports and documents, related online publications, portals, and United Nations’ reports, surveys and statistics. The result reveals the approaches that each government had adopted in order to reach their eGov potential. We apply the Reinventing Government approach by Osborne and Gaebler (1992) as a theoretical framework. By using their ten principles of transforming governments this provides understanding about the context and issues of providing eGov services within the three case studies and to what degree each case strategy has influence on the activities implemented. Article DOI : 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00015.

Use of Mask in Girish Karnad’s Play Tughlaq

Girish Karnad is a multiple personality- a regional, national and international playwright, actor, film-maker and director. His plays have been performed all over the world and translated into many languages. For his works, Karnads has received a number of awards including “Gnanapeeth Award.” In Indian folk theatres, half-curtain is used to introduce a character. It shows a well as hides the face of the character. Mask is also used either to conceal or reveal a character’s reality. So the paper’s aims to study the use of a mask in Girish Karnad’s play “Tughlaq.” Tughlaq is the most complex and complicated of Girish Karnad’s works. This play is about the rash actions of Tughlaq which finally lead to his downfall. His followers fail to grasp his idealism with the result that they become his enemies. There is a faint comparison between Tughlaq and Nehru, as the idealism of the two leaders created only confusion and topsy-turvydom. Article DOI : 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00002.

Hussain Quli Mastan as a short story writer

Hussain Quli Mastan had various personalities. He was a journalist, translator, lyricist, poet, playwright, novelist, as well as columnist footer, and without a doubt he was the first Iranian photo-journalist.In this paper, hidden corners and unfamiliar life and priceless works of Hussain Quli Mastan has been introduced. Hopefully this article establishes Hussain Quli Mastan in Persian literature and his valuable work

E- Governance Transforming the Rural India: An Analysis of major Projects and Initiatives

E-Governance is the use of information and communication technologies to support good governance. A number of countries across the world have adopted E-governance schemes to transform the life pattern of their denizens. Information and communication technologies have a valuable potential to help meet good governance goals in India. The government of India and several state governments have been continuously endeavoring to provide citizen services in a better manner in all areas of Public administration such as Public Services, Rural Services, Social Services, Agricultural and Revenue Services,etc. The benchmark step taken by the Indian Government is the enactment of Information Technology Act (2000) .It has provisions to facilitate electronic commerce and electronic transactions, electronic contracts, prevention of computer crimes, electronic filing and digital signature, etc. The Union Government had approved the National E-Governance Action Plan for implementation during the year 2003-2007. The plan is an attempt to lay the foundation and provide impetus for long-term growth of e-governance within the country. E- Governance has helped in timely and accurate issuance of Records of Rights (ROR) to land owners. Agmarknet, Kisan Call Centres. E- Panchayats, E- Chaupal, E-learning in education, business and railways are other areas where E- governance is proving the effectiveness. India has a large network of Public Distribution System (PDS) and fair price shops (FPS) to provide essential commodities to the rural folk and E- governance will minimize the corruption and mismanagement of PDS. One goal of e-government will be greater citizen participation. Through the internet, people from all over the country can interact with politicians or public servants and make their voices heard. India has enforced the Right to Information Act (2005) and IT based services would lead to greater transparency in providing information under this Act. India is a country of villages and several types of disputes arise there. The pending court cases have brought the legal system to a halt. The application of ICT in Supreme Court and High Courts has enabled the parties to get information about their cases from remote areas. Further it will not only save the money and time of citizens but will also reduce the backlog of cases. The Postal department has already started effective services like delivery of Money Orders through Extended Satellite Money Order (ESMO) centres in certain stations. These services are being provided with the help of satellite based Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs). There have been several successful initiatives and noteworthy projects undertaken in various states of India. Some of the successful initiatives are: Bhoomi (Karnataka), Gyandoot (M.P.), E-seva(Andhra Pradesh),ASHA (Assam),Lokmitra (HP), Gramdoot (Rajasthan),Lokvani (U.P.),Sari ( Tamilnadu), Akshaya (Kerala), SETU( Maharashtra) and SUDA( Gujarat), etc. This paper specifically focuses on the E-Governance initiatives that have changed the life style of rural citizens and in which the citizens derive benefit through direct transactions with the services provided by the union and the provincial governments. The paper also highlights the variety of constraints in implementing the E-governance projects in rural areas. Article DOI : 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00009.

“Aurea mediocritas” The concepts of measure, measurement and moderation in Presocratic philosophy

An important moral tradition was formed in ancient Greece, starting from the early 6th century BC and extending approximately to the first half of the 5th century BC. This social morality which values virtue above pleasure (?????) and ordains the observance of measure (??????), namely the morality of prudence (?????????), was shaped thanks to the orders of the Oracle of Delphi and the Seven Sages for self-restraint and avoidance of excess, but also thanks to the moral teaching of Presocratic philosophers and the legislation of wise and enlightened legislators, as it seems that the requirement for measure ensures the existence of polis (city) and makes it operating orderly and in a harmonic manner. The purpose of this article is to show how the requirement for the measure was reflected in the theoretical thinking of Presocratic philosophers. The paper deals with the period, when the concepts of measure, measurement and moderation penetrated into the fields of ethics and political philosophy, fields that still have not acquired a more systematic form as it happens in the era of Plato, Aristotle and their descendants

Historical origins of the french school of economic warfare

The French school of economic warfare analysis may be considered one of the most prominent on the European continent today, with numerous private and public institutes – including the School of Economic Warfare in Paris – dedicated to spreading awareness of its importance in expanding and improving the practical activities of French businesses. This article proposes a historical analysis of this tradition, focusing on the last three decades of the 20th Century a division into three periods that goes beyond mere chronological convenience in order to illustrate the fundamental turning points and achievements in a not always linear evolution. One particular aim of the analysis is to emphasise the crucial role played by the French business intelligence apparatus in affirming the nation’s economic autonomy, previously in the bipolar world of the Cold War and presently in the context of globalisation. In addition to the internal dynamics of the evolution of this apparatus, emphasis is placed on the story’s leading characters, the scholars and statesmen, who provided it with propulsion through their works by interpreting the nation’s potential in the economic field as a direct descendant of the ideals that have lain at the heart of the French Republic since 1789

God plays with a quantum die infinite interactions from the arche

Albert Einstein once said, “God does not play dice.” In turn, Stephen Hawking said, “not only does God definitely play dice, but He sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they cannot be seen.” These quotations indicate fragmentation and dualism. On the one hand, God is an infinite almighty eternal gambler. He is pure energy. On the other hand, there are two classic and solid dice. God does not think of classic dice. There is no separation between the Dice and God. It is a quantum die which has infinite interactions. The game is a Code. A new name for Hugh Everett III’s theory is proposed. This is Infinite Interacting Vibrations. Can we conceive the Divine as a source from which an infinity of vibrations emanate? The universe is vibration. Our vibration is one of the infinite alternatives with a unique dimensional pattern. Each vibration is not the origin nor end of anything, but a fluctuation of the quantum Ether

Marxist ideology and philosophy as interpreted by Raymond Aron

Without posing the objective of providing an exhaustive interpretation of Aron’s thought on Marx and totalitarianism, we intend to identify several key concepts that emerge from an analysis of Aron’s acclaimed work on the role played by Marxist-Leninist ideology in the development of the 20th-century philosophic thought. Article DOI : 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00005.

Fugitive Youth and Transnational Terrorism: The Nigerian/ Cameroonian Perspectives

Youths are oftentimes regarded as the prospective leaders of their countries. Nevertheless, many youths in sub-Sahara Africa, in Nigeria and Cameroun precisely, are potential absconders from homes of orientation. Some of the responsible variables are mind-body problem, alternative thinking, and poverty to mention a few. These variables are the identified drivers of dimensions of insecurity and/or crises that are witnessed in both countries. Given this, the study demonstrates the role of the fugitive youths in the abating terror attacks at the frontiers and within some regions of Nigeria and Cameroun. Also, the study argues that priority should be accorded to the factors inducing fugitive youths to embrace antisocial/ anti-societal behaviours, especially terrorism within the Nigeria and Cameroun. To achieve these objectives, survey interview and desktop research were employed. DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2017.00014.