Mandatory Professional License for Software Designers
Abstract: Given the wide impact and real-time safety concerns of some software applications, it seems reasonable to regulate who will be doing the writing of this critical software. A number of other professions dealing with human safety require their practitioners to be either licensed. At present software professionals are not licensed. However, because software does have far-reaching and potentially disastrous effects, all software designers should also be professionally licensed in some manner.
Would you think twice about flying on a commercial airliner if you knew that anyone straight off the street could apply to pilot the jet you sit on? Would you be worried about going to a doctor who never attended medical school, even though he assures you that he "knows what he's doing"? And think about how you feel while driving next to a tractor-trailer barreling down the highway. Would you be more nervous if you knew that absolutely no training was required to jump behind the wheel of that big-rig?
Now consider how you feel about the fact that the man who wrote the routines to allow you to draw $60 out of your ATM might be some uneducated hacker. The lady who wrote part of the auto-pilot routine for the 747 you fly on might have cheated her way through all of her computer science classes and landed her job without any professional certification. And the software that is supposed to save your new novel to disk could have been written by any nut who happens to know a little C++.
Besides altruistic concerns about public welfare in safety-critical jobs and applications, the threat of lawsuits and an interest in protecting the field's own reputation drives many professions to institute licensing and training programs. The fact is that the airlines do regulate who can fly commercial airplanes. Doctors do have to go to medical school, and even large-truck drivers have certification programs to pass. However, no liscencing is currently required for software developers-even those programming safety-critical applications. Because software has such far-reaching effects and the very real potential to harm when written poorly, software professionals should be licensed as well. This license should ensure that the computing professional has the required body of knowledge and proper ethics to perform his job well.
Part of the issue is that software is somewhat invisible and creeps up in all sorts of places-often as an aid to those in strictly-licensed professions.
In Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey states that, “Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium, with a shifting tension between the looks on either side of the screen.” (Mulvey 40). A woman’s role in the narrative is bound to her sexuality or the way she
Morgan, Gerald. "Medieval misogyny and Gawain's outburst against women in 'Sir Gawain and the green Knight'." The Modern Language Review 97.2 (2002): 265+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, the author shows, in a deeper, fictional descriptive fashion, a look into English life of the late 1300s to the 1400s. Written in an ambiguous undertone, this poem is left for interpretation by the reader. This seemingly unknown author examines the personalities and character traits of Sir Gawain, and other people within the patriarchy by examining them through the different what they did in life, and how they conducted themselves within specific company. Particularly through Sir Gawain, the Pearl Poet examines more than just pride within this text, but bravery, honor, and temptation.
...ere her true allegiance lies. On the other hand, her position in this story provides insight into medieval society. Her antics with Gawain in the bedroom scenes reveal that her position as lady of the house is superior to Gawain’s as a knight. This situation further illuminates medieval gender roles especially when examining the lady’s relationship with her husband. Even if he may use her as a sexual pawn, she is able to assert herself thought the tactics she uses to persuade Gawain to break his oath. She is also intrinsically linked with Morgan le Fay and pagan traditions. This bond is balanced by Gawain’s connection with Mary as a figure for guidance. The wife’s position in this story epitomizes the dualities of medieval society. The conflicting social and gender roles and Christian and pagan traditions are somehow able to operate in this complex society.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is an example of medieval misogyny. Throughout Medieval literature, specifically Arthurian legends like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the female characters, Guinevere, the Lady, and Morgan leFay are not portrayed as individuals but social constructs of what a woman should be. Guinevere plays a passive woman, a mere token of Arthur. The Lady is also a tool, but has an added role of temptress and adulteress. Morgan leFay is the ultimate conniving, manipulating, woman. While the three women in this legend have a much more active role than in earlier texts, this role is not a positive one; they are not individuals but are symbols of how men of this time perceive women as passive tokens, adulteresses, and manipulators.
And even though these processes ostensibly offer the at-large public a degree of protection due to licensees having attained some minimal amount of competency, recent years have seen a groundswell of interest in deregulation or de-licensing of at least some professions. Moreover, the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) in addition to state governmental committee records corroborates de-licensing to have only occurred eight times during the past forty years!
In today’s society, the question of minimum wage is a large political topic. Many people argue that it is impossible to live on a minimum wage lifestyle. In her novel Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich looks into this issue. In an experiment in which she mimics the life of a single woman, she moves into the low-wage workforce in three different cities in America. Within these cities, she attempts to make a living off of low-wage work and records her experiences, as well as the experiences of the true low-wage workers around her. Throughout Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich utilizes both vivid imagery and data in order to persuade the audience to agree that the low-wage lifestyle is truly un-livable.
There are a few elite in our technology-driven world that possess the unnatural ability to understand and wield the power of computers. To the media they are known as hackers, threats to computer security everywhere. To the underground they are known as "console cowboys", samurais, and the last defenders of free information. To the common man they are young teenage boys that break your computer and ruin your e-mail. Hackers are not criminals or mischievous kids with no purpose. They play an important role in our culture and are the fuel behind our technological revolution.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre chronicles the growth of her titular character from girlhood to maturity, focusing on her journey from dependence on negative authority figures to both monetary and psychological independence, from confusion to a clear understanding of self, and from inequality to equality with those to whom she was formerly subject. Originally dependent on her Aunt Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester, she gains independence through her inheritance and teaching positions. Over the course of the novel, she awakens towards self-understanding, resulting in contentment and eventual happiness. She also achieves equality with the important masculine figures in her life, such as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, gaining self-fulfillment as an independent, fully developed equal.
References to Beddoes’ hacks (Bisson) evoke resentment among readers; they see that black hat hackers gain more by participating in illicit activities than honest citizens do in a year of work, causing them to feel as if it is unfair to themselves because they are stealing from honest citizens like most readers would be. Also, in emphasizing the damages done by black hat hackers and the mysterious backgrounds they often seem to come from, fuel is added to the fire of an already negative connotation. As the other two articles mention, the common perception of hackers is that they are rebellious teenagers out to destroy the world regardless of the channel used. The background described in this article supports those theories when Beddoes speaks of his past as a teenager who started out with an innocent interest in hacking and then transitions into a rebellious malicious hacker after being rejected by the companies that he was trying to assist. Beddoes’ ethos also supports the goal of the article because he is a credible, well-established hacker in recent years. After almost pulling off a multimillion dollar heist, he is a respected yet accessible authority on the topic. Statistics to quantify the amount of data Beddoes stole in his hacking career provide the base to an argument supported by logos. Referring to those numbers also evokes strong emotions in accordance with the amount of people losing money and being victimized by hackers. Readers are inclined to feel sympathy towards the victims of the hackers, evoking an even greater amount of resentment towards the hackers. The content of Bisson’s article effectively supports a negative reaction to
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl. In the eponymous book by Charlotte Brontё, Jane Eyre, even as forces strove to trample out her life, broke free from her cold circumstances, altering her spirit in order to free herself from depression and oppression. First Jane overpowered her bitterness towards her impassive aunt and even yearned for reconciliation between herself and the stubborn old woman. Secondly, through trying times and desperate blunders, Jane reformed her faith as God worked in her heart to truly focus on Him as the loving and caring father He is as opposed to the strict, harsh God presented to her by Mr. Brocklehurst. Finally, Jane’s toppling, swerving feelings
Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
In King Lear, Shakespeare portrays a society whose emphasis on social class results in a strict social hierarchy fueled by the unceasing desire to improve one’s social status. It is this desire for improved social status that led to the unintentional deterioration of the social hierarchy in King Lear. This desire becomes so great that Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall were willing to act contrary to the authority of the social hierarchy for the betterment of their own position within it. As the plot unfolds, the actions of the aforementioned characters get progressively more desperate and destructive as they realize their lack of success in attaining their personal goals. The goals vary, however the selfish motivation does not. With Edmund, Goneril, Reagan and Cornwall as examples, Shakespeare portrays the social hierarchy as a self-defeating system because it fosters desires in its members that motivate them to act against the authority of the hierarchy to benefit themselves. A consideration of each characters actions in chronological order and the reasons behind such actions reveals a common theme among the goals for which morality is abandoned.
...he was able to interpret the events of her life, and for the first time tell a visitor of everything that has gone on. Since Nelly’s life was not personally haunted by regrets, like Catherine and Heathcliff’s, she is able to recite the past and present in a clear and rational way. Lockwood believes her story and is so intrigued by all the dreadful events that took place across a lifetime on these Yorkshire moors. From the outside looking in it may appear that the Earnshaws and Lintons were just a private family living their lives, but nobody really knows what goes on behind closed doors, except for the help, our Nelly. This is why her narration is crucial and without it, the story of Wuthering Heights may still exist, but would not be as believable.