CPA, 1956

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/1089/thumbnail.jp

Impeding Forgers at Photo Inception

We describe a new concept for making photo tampering more difficult and time consuming, and for a given amount of time and effort, more amenable to detection. We record the camera preview and camera motion in the moments just prior to image capture. This information is packaged along with the full resolution image. To avoid detection, any subsequent manipulation of the image would have to be propagated to be consistent with this data—a decidedly difficult undertaking

Unveiling the challenges of curbing wildlife crime in Kenya : evaluating the 3Cs solution.

This is an original thematic research thesis that investigated the causes that lead to the current unprecedented escalation of wildlife crime in Africa that threatens to destroy our global environment by decimating and driving our wildlife which is a global heritage to extinction. The research study which was conducted both in Kenya and in the United Kingdom, has developed unique and distinguishable proposals, methods and recommendations, referred to as the 3Cs solutions, which can be effectively utilized in combating and curbing wildlife crime at a global scale. Nature has provided very delicate and sophisticated ecological systems where all plants and animals have very important roles that they play which keeps this planet Earth’s environment habitable. The realization that the future of this World and the entire human race is greatly linked to these global ecological systems and their biodiversity balance has caused a new global awareness and eagerness to view these eco-systems and the entire global environment as one and to halt destruction of any of these eco-systems taking place anywhere on planet Earth. Wildlife crime is currently the greatest threat to the ecological system and its bio-diversity balance in Africa and by extension to the global environment, as it is destroying an ecological and bio-diversity system of a globally important biome and green belt area south of the Sahara. East, Central and Southern Africa have been identified as the largest source markets that supply illegal wildlife trophies to the consumer markets in the Far East Asia, Western Europe the Middle East and the USA. Yet some of these supply source countries have functioning legal systems that have failed to curb this crime. Kenya is one such country. Kenya was selected for this study because it is the region’s major logistics and trading hub for illegal wildlife crime trophies. Kenya has a functioning Criminal Justice System mandated to combat wildlife crime yet it has badly failed to do so. The three departments within that Criminal Justice System which are mandate to protect wildlife by enforcing wildlife crime laws in Kenya are Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) warders for policing, the Prosecution and the Judiciary. The main purpose of this study was therefore to investigate and understand why a functioning legal system is unable to combat wildlife crime by determining the challenges it faces in curbing this vice. The study focused on wildlife crime committed for commercial export purposes and identified 5 prime species that are targeted for their trophies for illegal export which are the elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and cheetah herein after referred to in this study as the ‘Charismatic Five. The study employed Empirical research methods to conduct the research and to answer the research questions. Qualitative and quantitative research techniques were utilized. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design in order to assist the researcher achieve the objective of the study. Five national parks were selected for the study being the parks where the charismatic 5 wildlife species are abundantly found and therefore the targeted parks by poachers. The population of the study were therefore Kenya Wildlife Service Wardens in the selected national parks, Magistrates and Prosecutors serving in the courts where these parks are located. A peer review of this study’s research tool was first done followed by pilot study carried out at the Nairobi National Park in Kenya, which tested and found the research tool to be suitable, reliable and valid to achieve the overall research objectives. The main survey was conducted in Kenya and took over 4 months for data collection to be completed. Data analysis was done in the United Kingdom. Inferential statistics were used in drawing conclusions. Out of the 156 questionnaires distributed, 152 were completed and returned, representing a 97% response rate due to massive interest shown on the topic by the respondents. The study identified 20 causes and challenges being experienced within the criminal justice system and made recommendations for each challenge that offers the best solution to resolving that challenge. This research study has developed and promulgates some conclusive proposals as its original contributions to knowledge. These contributions are supported by analytical and empirical evidence from this research study and are as follows: Firstly, it challenges the Apocryphal Cause that corruption is the cause of the escalation of wildlife crime. Based on the evidence collected through this research, it can now be categorically and authentically proved that the sudden upward surge of demand in wildlife trophies in the consumers markets of the Far East Countries is the leading cause of escalation of wildlife crime in the source markets like Kenya. Secondly, this study has developed a new concept called ‘The 3Cs’ concept, through which it proposes and offers new methods for combating wildlife crime. The concept is conceptualized and propounded in a pack consisting of The Concept; The 3Cs Test; The 3C’s Model; and, the 3 Cs Application Tool Kit. Overall, it is sincerely hoped that the finding of this research will dominate discussions in the global arena dealing with wildlife crime and contribute tremendously as a solution to this global cause

History of Construction Cultures Volume 1

History of Construction Cultures Volume 1 contains papers presented at the 7ICCH – Seventh International Congress on Construction History, held at the Lisbon School of Architecture, Portugal, from 12 to 16 July, 2021. The conference has been organized by the Lisbon School of Architecture (FAUL), NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Portuguese Society for Construction History Studies and the University of the Azores. The contributions cover the wide interdisciplinary spectrum of Construction History and consist on the most recent advances in theory and practical case studies analysis, following themes such as: - epistemological issues; - building actors; - building materials; - building machines, tools and equipment; - construction processes; - building services and techniques ; -structural theory and analysis ; - political, social and economic aspects; - knowledge transfer and cultural translation of construction cultures. Furthermore, papers presented at thematic sessions aim at covering important problematics, historical periods and different regions of the globe, opening new directions for Construction History research. We are what we build and how we build; thus, the study of Construction History is now more than ever at the centre of current debates as to the shape of a sustainable future for humankind. Therefore, History of Construction Cultures is a critical and indispensable work to expand our understanding of the ways in which everyday building activities have been perceived and experienced in different cultures, from ancient times to our century and all over the world

Impediments to Democratization in Iraq

This is a study of the democratization process in Iraq between 2003-2014The basic contention of this study is that democratization in post-2003 Iraq has faltered due to a multiplicity of reasons that include the role of religion in politics, lack of democratic tradition, weak sponsor commitment, the legacy of the dictatorial regime, exclusionary policies, stateness problem, interference by regional powers, rentier economy and sectarianism among others. Long years after toppling the Ba’athist dictatorial regime, the establishment of stable democratic institutions continues to elude Iraq. I argue that post-2003 Iraq could not completely eradicate the long historical tradition of despotic governance due to both deep-seated religious beliefs and tribal values, along with widening societal ethno-sectarian rifts which precluded the negotiation of firm and stable elite settlements and pacts across communal lines. After exploring the different definitions of democracy, I discuss the adverse effects of these endogenous impediments to democratization; arguing that they were compounded by a hostile regional environment and the rise of sectarian fundamentalism and armed groups and militias which have mushroomed later due to terrorist threats and outside support. I will examine how the fear by neighbouring countries of a region-wide domino effect of the Iraq democratisation process caused them to adopt interventionist policies towards post-2003 Iraq that helped to stunt the growth of democracy. The lack of resolve and commitment by the sponsor and initiator of the post-2003 democratic process, the United States, undermined the prospects of democratic consolidation. This is compounded by serious administrative mistakes such as the Deba’athification policy and disbanding the Iraqi army which caused a security vacuum that the US forces were not able to fill. This is in addition to the absence of strong competent leaders which the Iraqi society failed to produce. The contribution of this study is to identify clearly the main impediments to democratization in Iraq, providing the evidence for each of them. Identification of the problem is crucial for finding solutions which are not impossible if the right leaders, who are ready to make difficult decisions, emerge.Non

Digesting creepypasta: social media horror narratives as gothic fourth-generation digital fiction

This thesis examines, recontextualises, and provides a new methodology for analysing a collection of Internet phenomena known as ‘Creepypasta’. Critically engaging with its form and participation in the Gothic and horror literary traditions, I argue that creepypasta should be considered as an emergent genre that manifests through the form of digital fiction and derives a renewed horror and Gothic affect through that form. Existing as unnerving tales written for and spread across social media and Web2.0 websites, creepypasta is an acknowledged, but under-studied genre of fiction. The majority of scholarly attention has analysed creepypasta through the lens of folklore studies which, while aware of the affordances of its digital form, considers creepypasta as folklore first rather than being attentive to media specificity or situating its form and unnerving affective qualities at the centre of its definition. I attest that creepypasta is emblematic of fourth-generation digital fiction and a continuation of horror and Gothic literary traits. In particular, I forward that creepypasta leverages its form to reinvent and renew ways of engaging with the Gothic traits of threats and ontological ambiguity. This, I argue, is primarily achieved through what I define as “ontological flattening”, whereby real users and their responses, and the fictional story they are reading and responding to exist in the same textual space without borders, implied hierarchy, or explicit indicators of fictionality in the story text. Throughout my analyses of Candle Cove (2009), The Slender Man (2009), and The Interface Series (2016), I demonstrate how ontological flattening is central to how creepypasta renews Gothic characteristics. In chapter 4, I forward a development on Isabelle Klaiber’s “double plot model” of collaborative interactive fiction to take into account collaboration in ontologically flattened spaces. In chapter 5, I also introduce the concept of the techno-Weird as a new form of contemporary Gothic fiction that uses ontologically flattened spaces as a way to emphasise characteristics of weird fiction. I conclude by presenting my model of the relationship between readers, creepypasta, and ontologically flattened spaces, and indicating where future applications may lie

Investigating and Writing Achitectural History: Subjects, Methodologies and Frontiers.

The volume contains the abstracts and full texts of the 157 papers and position statements presented and discussed at the III EAHN (European Architectural History) International Meeting, Torino 19-21 June 201

Data Journeys in the Sciences

This groundbreaking, open access volume analyses and compares data practices across several fields through the analysis of specific cases of data journeys. It brings together leading scholars in the philosophy, history and social studies of science to achieve two goals: tracking the travel of data across different spaces, times and domains of research practice; and documenting how such journeys affect the use of data as evidence and the knowledge being produced. The volume captures the opportunities, challenges and concerns involved in making data move from the sites in which they are originally produced to sites where they can be integrated with other data, analysed and re-used for a variety of purposes. The in-depth study of data journeys provides the necessary ground to examine disciplinary, geographical and historical differences and similarities in data management, processing and interpretation, thus identifying the key conditions of possibility for the widespread data sharing associated with Big and Open Data. The chapters are ordered in sections that broadly correspond to different stages of the journeys of data, from their generation to the legitimisation of their use for specific purposes. Additionally, the preface to the volume provides a variety of alternative “roadmaps” aimed to serve the different interests and entry points of readers; and the introduction provides a substantive overview of what data journeys can teach about the methods and epistemology of research