Abstract
The paper discusses the concept of literacy in a present-day context that includes online text, and the need to re-evaluate ideas about literacy, readers and text.

From the Paper
"The purpose of this article was to present the concept of literacy in a present-day context. For example, the author noted that literacy now includes online text that engage the reader in a literal, as opposed to metaphorical, interaction. Mceneaney stated that while there has been considerable effort to understand literacy and even the use of technology to increase literacy, there is a lack of true comprehension about the effect that interactive test has as it reshapes literacy online."

Tags:Literacy, online text, reframe concepts

Abstract
This paper discusses mobile agent technology and its universal characteristics. The paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the security issues and highlights how the agent platform must ensure confidentiality, integrity and accountability. The paper also shows how this is clearly an area still very much open to research, design and development.

Outline:
Introduction
Multi-Agent Systems
Security Issues in Communication
Characteristics of a 'Malicious Attack' by the Host
Security Measures
Protection of the Agent Platform
Agent System Models
Dynamic Agent-Based Security Architecture
Issues in Agent Technology (Quantz)
Summary and Conclusion

From the Paper
"A mobile agent is defined as a class of agent "...with the ability during execution to migrate from one host to another where it can resume its execution and while this may assist in network traffic reduction and in overcoming latencies in the network, the ability of the agent to move around "...does however introduce significant security concerns." (Borselius, 2004) The autonomous- and multi-agent systems "...represent a relatively new way of analyzing, designing, and implementing complex software systems. " (Borselius, 2004) Mobile agent technology has presented a new paradigm in computing. A mobile agent is a specific type of agent with the capability of migration from one host to another where execution is resumed."

Tags:software, host, protection, confidentiality, integrity, accountability

Abstract
This paper includes a study in which the writer evaluates personal experiences at being a change agent within the family, organizations, and situations at school. From such experience, the writer notes that trust is by far the most important characteristic to continually build upon. The writer concludes that there are many skills necessary for being a successful change agent. The writer points out that these include the ability to change an organizational culture to be more focused on achievement and empowerment, the ability to create a highly reciprocal environment that builds on and stimulates trust, and the ability to create immediacy, concreteness, ownership, and acknowledgment.

Table of Contents:
Personal Essay
Change Agents Role Based on Readings
Skills for being an Effective Change Agent
References

From the Paper
"Executives need to change the very culture of a company first for change to be received. The readings stress that managers must also bring a strong sense of empowerment and ownership into an organization and grow de-facto leaders in organizations. These are the champions of change overall. This aspect of leadership behavior of specifically creating a champion of change is critical is the development of champions or de facto leaders that set the pace for everyone around them in the company. Jenkins and Oliver define this aspect of behavior that leads to successful change as being critical for the creation of trust between executive managers and the many affected employees of the company.
Countering resistance to change that starts with fear of the future takes nothing less than a leader who is passionate about making change part of the company's culture. Leadership behaviors to initiate and sustain the momentum of transforming goals or initiatives into high value and lasting business strategies is never a one-and-done proposition for any leader. It must be a constant passion to bring change into a company if any leader is going to be successful."

Tags:leaders, goals, culture, empowerment

Abstract
In this article, the writer discusses how community-based organizations are tied to social norms which keep them from reaching their potential as agents of liberation and change.

From the Paper
"Nonprofit community-based and grassroots organizations hereinafter referred to as community organizations deliver help to individuals and communities that are in need. These needs can range from the basic necessities of food water and shelter to education legal representation protection from crime and others. The needs served that these organizations serve are outside those which governments and businesses tend to Gilmore. Thus community organizations fill gaps of service that are not being taken care of by other formal organizations. Nonetheless community organizations as ..."

Tags:Non-profit, Community-Based, Grassroots Organizations, women of color, activism, patriarchy

Abstract
This paper describes a recent initiative of the The National Center for Biotechnology Information, which is a national resource for molecular biology information. The project is known as Western Washington University Periodic Search Agent for Protein Database Information or WWU Search Agent. This web-based search engine browses and does periodic searches of the protein databases of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool or BLAST. The writer describes the benefits of this project, which include its interfacing with the NCBI BLAST and the continuous updates and enhancements done by NCBI on the system.

Includes Charts:

Chart - Content of Protein Sequence Databases
Fig. 1 - General Subsequence and Database Input Area
Figure 2 - Options for Advanced BLASTing Input Area
Figure 3 - Format input area for report outputs

From the Paper
"The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) finds regions of local similarity between sequences. The program compares nucleotide or protein sequences to sequence databases and calculates the statistical significance of matches. BLAST can be used to infer functional and evolutionary relationships between sequences as well as help identify members of gene families. The summary of the Content of Protein Sequence Databases with the sequences they contain are as follows: (NCBI, 2006)"

Tags:Bioinformatics, Search, Engine, bioinformatics, protein, database

Abstract
This paper discusses the successful infiltration, by undercover FBI Agent Joseph D. Pistone, into into a New York Mafia crew. The paper provides an overview of the infiltration and its results and relates that FBI Agent Joseph D.Pistone had been undercover for so long he was able to amass a huge amount of intelligence about not only the New York Mafia Bonanno family but also other families including the Balisteri family based in Milwaukee. The paper also illustrates the activities of various crime families, but notes that, despite the FBI's efforts, the Bonanno family, although smaller in numbers, was able to rise from the ashes of its former disjointed self, more efficient, more innovative and as a result, much more deadly.

From the Paper
"Already seen as somewhat of a 'maverick' organisation (in part due to the prolific drug trafficking that the Bonanno family had been involved in since the 1950's), by the rest of the New York Mafia, the Commission (New York's governing Mafia body) decided that, in light of the FBI's successful infiltration of the Bonanno crime family, it could not be trusted. As a result, Rastelli's seat on the Commission was suspended, and the family's involvement in multi-family rackets was prohibited."

Tags:territory indictments maverick extortion, inter-family rackets

Abstract
The discussion of Spinoza's monism and its impact upon our understanding of the autonomous self necessitates - prior to addressing the issue itself - a choice as to whether or not to accept the assumptions upon which is based the "truth of Spinoza's monism". In this context, this paper will take a dualistic approach to this question. First, Spinoza's assumptions and his monistic theory will be examined to demonstrate some of their flaws, and therefore their irrelevance to the issue of the autonomous self. The second approach requires the provisional acceptance of Spinoza's assumptions and his propositions as to the monism of God. It will be argued that, although Spinoza's argument allows a degree of limited autonomy for the self as a causal agent, this freedom is based upon our finite ignorance of the causal relationship between ourselves as finite beings and God as an infinite entity.

Tags:spinoza's, monism, selfhood

Abstract
The paper looks at an article that outlines a few of the ways in which computer technology can help students in middle and high school classrooms bolster their math skills - while simultaneously giving classroom instructors a tool with which to be more responsive to the varied needs of their pupils. In the process of examining this article, the paper acknowledges some of the limitations inherent in using a "technology-rich" and "research-based" math program to meet Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) goals. Finally, and most importantly, a brief Instructional Technology Plan is put forward that offers some promise for the immediate future. The paper shows how all in all, challenges clearly lie ahead for the successful application of technology in the classroom - but those challenges are less daunting than they once were.

From the Paper
"Technology clearly serves as a time-saving tool for harried classroom instructors. More importantly, it can be just what is needed for students who need interactive and individualized tools that are designed to allow them to grapple with concepts and topics at their own pace. With those two things in mind, the following paper will look at a recent article that outlines a few of the ways in which computer technology can help students in middle and high school classrooms bolster their math skills - while simultaneously giving classroom instructors a tool with which to be more..."

Tags:instructional, technology, plan

Abstract
This paper explains that, although Gamal Abdal Nasser infused the nation with a new, heady confidence and energy during the early part of his reign in the 1950s, his cult of personality failed to create important modern cultural and political structures that would enable Egypt to compete effectively with the West. The author points out Nasser's reign must be considered a fundamental and lasting failure based upon his sustained autocracy that created a template for strong-fisted and undemocratic cultural and political resistance to the West. The paper relates that Nasser did change the Middle East by asserting an ideological legacy, Pan-Arab unity and defiance to the economic control of the West but without creating a sustainable political system, which can tolerate dissent.

From the Paper
"Maher al-Charif of the Institute d'Etudes Arabe in Damascus sees the failure of Nasser to transform his society primarly as an intellectual one. Nasser did not proceed beyond an ideology of resistance to the colonial legacy. Nasser failed because he did not understand that constructing a modern state and society required a free society and did not encourage liberal Islamic clerics who reconcile Islam with Western economic demands. Today, democracy and economic liberalism is now tainted with American cultural colonialism because of Nasser's refusal to let go of his autocratic controls over the Egyptian press and universities."

Tags:suez, showmanship, unity, dissent, systems

Abstract
The paper discusses a web-based portal that is designed to reduce the transaction time and difficulty of the real-estate purchase transaction. The web-based portal will incorporate complete functionality for all vested parties in the transaction: consumers, real-estate agents/brokers, finance companies, title companies and appraisers. The paper provides a centralized database for all phases of the transaction as well as immediate access to any of the vested constituents.

From the Paper
"The home buying process is a complex, problematic affair that consists of several different parties trying to protect their own interests while still trying to close the transaction. The parties with an interest in the transaction consist of (Ratcliffe, Stubbs & Shepherd, 2003): The buyer, the seller, an appraiser, typically, a buyer real-estate agent/broker, typically, a seller real-estate agent/broker, a finance company and a title company. The process of the buyers making a written offer and of the sellers accepting or rejecting this offer and consequently a follow-up offer by the buyer can be a lengthy process in itself. Not to mention the efforts required to make arrangements to show the property. For the finance company to fund the purchase, an appraisal needs to be done based on an examination of the property itself and of the comparative sells history of the neighborhood."

Tags:web, realestate, transaction