Literary Criticism on The Star by H.G. Wells Research Paper - 1

Literary Criticism on The Star by H.G. Wells - Research Paper Example   Both of them along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback has been referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". They have always been at the forefront of scientific thinking, they challenged the traditional and conservative views of many people who rejected the advanced and innovative research ideas and stubbornly followed old, outdated conceptions of the universe, the origin of man and the so-called â€Å"higher divine power.† In this work, we will make an attempt to reflect the points of view of both writers to the power of human thought, the role of science in the modern world, as well as the growing conflict between traditional religious beliefs and progressive scientific views. The objects of this essay are the novels â€Å"The Star† by H.G. Wells and â€Å"The Star† by Arthur C. Clarke. â€Å"The Star† by H.G. Wells is an apocalyptic short story written in 1897. It tells us that one day all mankind of the Earth was notified about the penetration of a new star into the solar system. Having disturbed the normal orbit of the planet Neptune, the star quickly approaches the Earth. At first, this fact concerns only astronomers, other people all around the world continue their everyday life not paying much attention to the unknown star. A famous master mathematician publishes his calculations according to which â€Å"the star would either hit Earth or pass by at close proximity, which would lead to apocalyptic ecological consequences† (Wells). The terrible prognoses come true and soon the whole planet is overwhelmed with earthquakes, ice-melting, floods, tsunamis causing â€Å"the devastation across the world. Most of the human population perishes, and its works remain unusable, cities, cathedrals, farms, etc. and when it seems that nothing can save the humanity the killing star suddenly slightly changes its orbit about the Earth to a more distant one† (Wells).

How Does a Cookie Work Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

How Does a Cookie Work - Assignment Example Sometimes, the websites also update the cookies in order to customize the site according to the preference of the users. For example, a user visiting eBay might be shown with a range of fitness equipment if he has searched for such equipment in the past. The sight might also welcome the user by name while recommending fitness equipment. Another example of a website which tracks through cookies is DoubleClick. This site develops a repertory of the user by tracking online behavior and purchases. However, the user’s names and addresses cannot be directly obtained from cookies. These can be obtained only if the user has registered himself on the website by giving personal information. Data from cookies and other analysis tools can be used by the online sites to track a visitor. Moreover, this data can be combined with other data collection methods such as offline surveys to build a user’s profile. The cookie text files are embedded on the hard disk of the visitor. When the user returns, tracking ID of the visitor is requested from the cookie and the data stored on the websites’ servers is accessed. In this way, the customized data can be shown to the visitor. All these technology advancements come with some moral implications. The cookies, in particular, are used by the websites to formulate electronic dossier of the visitors with complete information regarding their purchasing habits and online surfing behavior. This is called profiling. For example, DoubleClick offers its partners detailed information or profile of its visitors so that other websites can target customers with appropriate ad contents. Similarly, credit card purchases by the customers can make it possible for the companies to gain access to private or personal information of the visitors raising privacy concerns.