Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay

Securing Restful Services With Token Based Authentication Computer Science Essay Enterprises are increasingly deploying RESTful services for two reasons 1) to enable Web 2.0 integrations with data stores and backend systems 2) to allow RPC-style communication between client side web frameworks like GWT or YUI and backend systems. In addition, there are multiple frameworks to develop these services that are consumed internally and externally by different endpoints in different contexts. Hence, it is vital to provide simple and adaptable security that both integrates seamlessly with enterprise security and brings authentication, authorization and integrity to the services. This paper covers the pros and cons of various approaches of RESTful services security: 1) Transport level security (TLS/SSL) provides secure peer-to-peer authentication, but this technique is inadequate when requests for authentication are based on delegation (allowing sites to authenticate on behalf of the user). 2) The OAuth protocol enables consumers to access services through an API that doe s not require consumers to disclose their service provider credentials to access services. This is the most commonly followed approach used by Google AuthSub, AOL OpenAuth, and the Amazon AWS API. However, not all REST frameworks provide support to this protocol. 3) Token-based authentication developed for CA Technologies Unified Connector Framework (UCF) to expose services over REST or SOAP combines the advantages of these two without compromising standards and simplicity. Introduction Since RESTful web services are exposed using standard HTTP protocol and methods, they can easily be consumed in multiple ways, such as with direct access from browsers using URLs; through programmatic interface using HTTP client libraries; and from client side frameworks such as JavaScript,. If enterprise systems provide RESTful access to their data and functionality, the open nature of REST requires a strong security solution to prevent access by unintended users; to prevent sniffers on the network from reading messages; and to control the users who are allowed to interact with specific services and disallow certain actions for certain users. The question is what should be the strong security solution? The REST protocol itself does not specify any predefined security methods. Many people believe that HTTP security practices can be successfully applied for securing REST services. This can be true, depending on the scenarios where RESTful services are consumed. HTTP security may be ad equate if the RESTful services are intended for internal use only. One example is web applications using Ajax frameworks. Since they need RPC over HTTP or RESTful services for backend interactions, invocation of services is internal to the UI and transparent to clients who interact with the UI. In such a scenario, HTTP security may be adequate.. However, greater security is required when RESTful services are intended for external use, For example, CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform provides RESTful services that can be consumed by such mechanisms as mashups, ESBs, Ruby scripts, and many more, and requires a higher level of security. Although the security requirements greatly vary for these two scenarios, we need a simple and adaptable solution for both. This article describes the commonly used security methods for RESTful services and suggests a solution that mostly fulfills the security requirements for externally published services, including REST, SOAP over JMS, SOAP o ver HTTP, and other protocols. This approach was developed for and is used in the RESTful services of the Core API of CA Technologies Catalyst integration platform. Commonly available methods for securing RESTful services Container-Managed Authentication and Authorization: As RESTful web services are HTTP-centric, the most natural fit for authentication and authorization is container based authentication and authorization. The concept of realm places a central role in the Tomcat approach. A realm is a collection of resources including web pages and web services, with a designated authentication and authorization facility. The container approach to security also is declarative than programmatic that is details about the security realm are specified in a configuration file rather than in code. The container also provides option to enable wire level security. Refer [1] [2] for information about configuring realms for authentication and authorization and SSL/TLS for wire level security. The advantages of this method need not be specified explicitly here as they are proven and widely used. However, it has the following limitations when applied to RESTful services for enterprise use: With user credentials based authentication, the security solution is confined to identity silos. It does not support the Actas scenario. An Actas scenario involves multi-tiered systems to authenticate and pass information about identities between the tiers without having to pass this information at the application/business logic layer. Mutual Authentication: HTTPS with client certificate enabled performs two-way authentication. In addition to the client receiving a signed digital certificate representing the server, the server can receive a certificate that represents and identifies the client. When a client initially connects to a server, it exchanges its certificate and the server matches it against its internal store. Once this link is established, there is no further need for user authentication. Mutual authentication is perhaps the most secure way to perform authentication on the Web. This approach has the same drawbacks mentioned in the previous section. Another disadvantage of this approach is the managing of the certificates. The server must create a unique certificate for each client that wants to connect to the service. From the browser/human perspective, this can be burdensome, as the user has to do some extra configuration to interact with the server. Shared Key based authentication: This is the common method used by Amazon web services and Microsoft Azure services. In this method initially the client registers with the service provider. As part of registration, the service provider sends the client an Access Key ID and a Secret Access Key. When a client wants to invoke services, it prepares the request, performs a hash on the request using its Secret Access Key, attaches the signature (hash) to the request, and forwards it to the service provider. The service provider verifies the signature is a valid hash of the request and, if authenticated, processes the request ([3] [4]). This achieves requester authentication as well as integrity without SSL The problem with this authentication schemes is that the contents and ordering of the string to sign are different from one service provider to another service provider. For instance, though Amazons and Azures mechanisms are very similar, their differences make them incompatible. Perhaps due to this issue, the OAuth approach covered in the next section is gaining popularity as a standard security mechanism for RESTful services. OAuth Oauth is an open protocol allowing secure API authentication and authorization in a simple and standard method for web applications. OAuth allows users of a service to provide limited access to a third party account of theirs to the service without sharing credentials. OAuth is often described as a valet key that users can give to a service to access their accounts on other services. For example, a user of Flickr (the service provider) would provide Snapfish (the consumer) with read only access to their Flickr account. This lets Snapfish access photos in the users Flickr account so they can order prints. Refer [5] for more details about OAuth specification. OAuth has some distinct advantages: It doesnt require certificates By choosing the right token format, it can support claims based Token. A claim is a statement about a subject; for example, a name, key, group, permission, or capability made by one subject about itself or another subject. Claims are given one or more values and then packaged in security tokens that are distributed by the issuer. It supports the SAML token. SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is a standard for exchanging authorization and authentication data between between an identity provider and a service provider regardless of their platforms or security systems. OAuth with SAML enables federated authentication and authorization. The only drawback is that not all RESTful services frameworks provide native support for dealing with OAuth based authentication. For example, Apache CXF does not support OAuth. Token based Authentication CA Technologies Catalyst4 integration platform includes the Unified Connector Framework (UCF) that provides a Java-based solution for connectivity and integration among CA and third-party products UCF has distinct security requirements: It should be able to support Actas scenarios; the platform should be able to invoke services from 3rd party providers on the behalf of clients Catalyst exposes services in several different protocols, including RESTful, SOAP over HTTP, SOAP over JMS, etc. Its security solution should work consistently in all the forms of the services. Its security solution should be extensible, simple and adaptable in different scenarios. To accommodate these requirements, UCF introduced the token based security solution using public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificate for authentication and authorization of its services. This solution has the following components:. Domain Trust Certificate (DTC) is an X.509 v3 certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) or self signed owned by the DomainManager that controls the UCF domain. Trusted Certificate (TC) is a X.509 v3 certificate signed by DTC. A Node is either a service provider or service consumer who owns that TC signed by the DTC. Security Service is available per container2 which hosts several connectors1. This service issues a Token, validates the Token and sets claims retrieved from Token to the context so that they can be used by connectors or other entities in the container for Authorization or Actas scenarios. CertAuthService is an independent entity provides services like signing Certificate Signing Request CSR 5 and providing the DTC public key Token consists of set of claims signed by security service. Interactions on the Client side: The client generates a CSR (Certificate Signing Request) using keytool 6 and obtains a X.509 certificate signed by DTC from the CertAuthService. The signed CSR is called a Trusted Certificate (TC) in UCF domain. The client makes an addTrust() request to the Security Service at the service provider by passing its public key certificate. This step enables the Security Service to validate the certificate and add provided certificate to its trust store. Steps 1 2 are performed only once per client. The client makes a getToken() call with tokenRequest to the Security Service. The tokenRequest consists of claims and a signature computed using the clients private key. If client is using UCF API to make remote calls, then steps 1 2 are transparent to the client at the time of proxy creation to the service endpoint. The client prepares the request and adds the Token to the request header. If client is using the UCF API to make remote calls, then adding the Token to the request header is transparent to the client. The client makes a remote call Interactions on the Service side: The Security Service is hosted from a Catalyst container so that it is available to both external users and inside the container for security token validations. For addTrust() calls, the Security service validates the provided certificates signature to find whether it is signed by DTC or not. If it is DTC signed then the Service adds the certificate to its trust store. For getToken() calls, the Security service checks the signature against the available keys in its trust store. If it succeeds then a token is prepared and returned to the client. The token consists of claims, lifetime and the signature of the Security service. For all incoming calls to the services available in the Catalyst container, calls are intercepted at CXF handlers and the token is verified with Security service. If it is from a valid client then claims are extracted out of the token and sets to thread local context so that it may be used by connector implementation for further authorization or authentication with other service providers. Finally, the call is forwarded to the service. If the Security service is unable to validate the token, an unauthorized exception is returned to the client. Authorization is handled by any provider on service using claims. As described above, this solution supports authentication based on X.509 certificate and authorization is done by any provider using claims. The same set of claims is used for Actas scenario. For instance, services running in Catalyst container can use claims to talk to another services or endpoint on the behalf client. Conclusion The solution described in Section 3 is a better fit for platforms/products like Catalyst that need to make services available in more than one form such as REST, SOAP over HTTP and SOAP over JMS. It is a security solution that works consistently in all forms of services. Also, the solution is extensible to other modes of authentication like user credentials other than certificate based. This solution needs additional work to replace custom Token format to SAML based so that tokens can be consumed in third party software which understands SAML. This. Acknowledgments The solution described in Section 3 was contributed by entire UCF team which includes Sijelmassi, Rachid, me, GVN, Anila Kumar and Koganti, Naga. . Actas

What Is The Digital Divide?

What Is The Digital Divide? One of the worlds most serious problems is the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. A small percentage of the worlds population enjoys luxuries while global poverty seems to be increasing. A key aspect of this divide is the digital divide where a large difference in terms of access to information communication technology. Throughout developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America access to such technology is limited whereas in developed nations members enjoy the convenience provided by such technology and is more efficient and effective through usage of such technology and also takes advantage of the educational opportunities made available by ICT (Tiene, 2002). The concept of the digital divide can be explained from two perspectives: (1) the distance between countries who have access to electronic information and those that do not, (2) the difference in internet literacy between citizens of developing and developed nation (Brooks, Donovan, Rumble, 2005). (http://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-873.pdf) The second scenario is often considered as a direct result of the former where the lack of infrastructure made available does not create an environment suitable to encourage a higher literacy rate of usage of the internet. The digital divide refers mainly to the division between the information rich and the information poor and is also used to divide the globe geographically similar to the NorthSouth dichotomy (Gudmonsdottir, 2005). The difference in the divide can be attributed to 5 factors, socioeconomic, geographical, educational, attitudinal and generational factors. Information Communication Technology (ICT) has pla yed a major role in the 21st century. However, usage of such technology remains poles apart when compared between developing and developed nations. The term digital divide is used to describe situations where there are gaps in the market in terms of access to the use of ICT devices (Singh, 2012). The measure of the digital divide is not limited to access of the internet and measures other gaps such as access to mobile technology and other forms of communicative technology. According to OECD (2001), the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, business and geographic areas at the different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access of ICTs and their use of the internet. It reflects the differences between and within countries. For the purpose of this paper, it will examine the digital divide using the concept of the haves (represented by developed countries) and have nots (developing nations) along with the key assumptions as to h ow the digital divide determines the future of class, education and economic capacity with long-term and social political consequences. The paper will further examine the efforts made by global agencies and the policies that they have developed to overcome this divide and examines the level of success of these policies. The digital divide exists between countries with different levels of progress and even within the country between urban and rural areas (ITU, 2002). It is a result of the disparities of society and is likened to the divides created by income, health and education. The primary reason for the disparity is poverty where when a countrys citizens have less money it is less likely that they would use ICT (Figure 3). Difference in access to ICT has created a difference in the measure of power in society with the digital divide reflecting how power is being distributed. The digital divide in reference to figures 1 and 2, can be seen that developed nations are among those with the highest internet penetration boasting penetration of over 60%. Developing nations represent the lower half in terms of internet penetration and do not even have a .25% penetration among the 10 countries with the lowest internet penetration. Internet usage among those countries is largely associated with the more dev eloped cities and usage of internet in rural areas is almost unheard of. ] Recent efforts by organizations have shown evidence that the digital divide is shrinking. Developing nations have been able to increase the number of internet users by 2% in 1991 to 23% in2001. However, advancements in technology has led to a new form of digital divide where shifts have been made from basic to advanced communciations. This is harder to measure as it measures the quality of ICT used. For example, international internet bandwidth is a good measure of users experiences as the greater the bandwidth the quicker the response time improving efficiency. Comparisons between developed and developing nations can be illustrated where the 400,000 citizens in Luxembourg have more international internet bandwidth compared to Africas 760 million citizens. The highspeed internet access made available in developed nations allows internet users to better quality access and allows them access to more advanced sites that allow video streaming rather than basic usage like checking emails. Impact of the Digital Divide The digital divide and its impact on developing nations economies is that of a spiral where they do not have the economy to support the infrastructure necessary to allow developing nations to utilize technology to level the competitive advantages with developed nations. Primary concerns among developing nations is that poor countries have more pressing concerns such as focusing on food, healthcare and basic needs of the people rather than focusing on technological advancement (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm). As a result of this, developing nations lack the capabilities of establishing the infrastructure necessary to allow their nations to have wide enough coverage to be effective. This puts their country in a position where they schools are unable to teach IT skills necessary in more industrialized industries which would help move a country beyond an agricultural themed economy. Also, it puts students from these schools at a disadvant age as they are unable to take advantage of the vast amounts of information available on the web. In comparison, developed nations have the ability to recruit highly trained individuals who are equipped which enables them to produce more giving the country a higher economic growth. Also, countries that lack the IT infrastructure will be unable to carry out e-commerce or e-businesses putting themselves at a disadvantage in the global market. With e-commerce representing 12% of retail sales in the United States, it indicates the impact of technology in the market. It also helps improve overall growth of an economy by reducing costs of some processes such as the elimination of the brick and mortar stores, ease of advertising, reducing search costs and improving efficiency of doing business. Also, access to mobile technology has a significant impact on economies of developed and developing countries. In developing countries the impact is more pronounced as in Wavermans model a developin g country an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people helps boost the GDP growth by .6 percentage points. To illustrate this, in Bangladesh, farmers and fishermen use these mobile phones as a means of identifying the best prices they can get for their goods. Small businesses can use mobile phones as a means to shop around for products. Use of technology in this manner reduces transaction costs, broadens trade networks and helps reduce the need for transportation and broadens the trade network (http://www.economist.com/node/3742817?story_id=3742817). However, as developing nations do not have the infrastructure in place to allow broad usage of such technology, it reduces the production capability of the individuals in their country reducing their competitiveness on the global scale. One of the most important effects of the digital divide is the impact it has on educational efforts in developing nations. With the use of digital technology, it grants access for students to large amounts of information provoking thoughts in dynamic ways and encourages them to work more efficiently. Without access to ICT, developing nations face the possibility of being unable to keep up with their peers. The United Nations Development Program in its Human Development Report for 2001, noted that the technology divide is consistent with the trend of following the income divide across the globe. A lack of education in ICT puts citizens of a developing nation in a weaker position of benefitting from new technologies reinforcing the economic disparities between the rich and poor (Henry, 2012). The digital divide in the societal sense can be likened to events in the past, similar to the industrial revolution. Taking a look at the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it can be observed that with the industrialization it enabled international competitiveness and economic benefits which in turn led to Japan being able to compete on a global scale. Introducing industrialization has led Japan to become a globally recognized force in the world with great technological advancement in manufacturing and information technology. In comparison however, nations who have yet to adopt industrialization can see their GDP per capita and living standards at rate considerably lower compared to Japan. ICT adoption of nations in the developed world is considerably greater in comparison to developing nations as they have better access in terms of resources and have the existing infrastructure to support it. ICT adoption in terms of the digital divide can create a parallel collapse to an even greater degr ee in comparison with the industrial revolution. The ICT revolution creates barriers such as access to information, restructuring society and creating horizontal networks divided by access to information technology. Differences in the scale of technology adoption restructures society by altering class structure to create a new degree of equality in the potential it gives to access to common knowledge via technology such as the internet. Limited adoption of ICT by developing countries further exasperates the divide as it creates a new class system of access. It creates a division of the haves and have nots. The divide could lead to unemployment in more advanced industries which adopt technology as new skills are required and could lead on through generations if members of society are not trained. This could force members of developing nations to focus on primary industries such as agriculture and mining which would lead to such nations being left behind in terms of competitiveness in other industries. United Nations (2001) Human Development Report New Technologies and the Global Race for Knowledge Chapter 2, pp.57-75. Gudmunsdottir, C. (2005). Approaching the digital divide in South Africa. NETREED Conference. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.netreed.uio.no/conferences/conf2005/GretaGudmundsdottir.pdfudmundsdottir.pdf Venkat, K. (2002) Delving into the Digital Divide IEEE Spectrum, Volume 39, Issue 2, February, p.14. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/IEEESpectrum-02-2002.pdf Henry, L. (2012). The Digital Divide, Economic Growth and Potential Poverty Reduction: The Case of the English Speaking Caribbean. University of West Indies, St Augustine. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.caribank.org/uploads/publications-reports/research/conference-papers/development-strategy-forum/The%20Case%20of%20the%20English-speaking%20Caribbean.pdf Peà ±a-Là ³pez, I. (2003) Want bad news?: ITU Digital Access Index: Worlds First Global ICT Ranking In ICTlogy, #3, December 2003. Barcelona: ICTlogy. Retrieved 22nd September 2012 from http://ictlogy.net/review/?p=38 Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 [www.oecd.org/sti/telecom/outlook] Bridging the Digital Divide This section of the paper examines the causes of the digital divide and the efforts put forward by organizations towards bridging the gap. The relationship between ICT and lifelong learning and policies and objectives by governments towards improving the economic competitiveness and reducing the social exclusion are complex. The figure below illustrates the complexity and the road towards bridging the digital divide. Policies made by governments and organizations have to support both competitiveness and inclusion and also at the same time use digital technologies to support lifelong learning. By creating the center of the diagram larger, the digital divide can be overcome with the right policy objectives. The following will identify the objectives needed to be met in order to bridge the divide. http://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/41232069.jpg Guide to Bridging the Digital Divide Sourced from Mcnair, 2000 An important objective is to secure access for all to ICT as one of the major causes of the digital divide is the difference between the technologically advanced and technologically poor nations (Mcnair, 2000). A good indicator of the level of the digital divide is the number of access lines and access paths per 100 inhabitants. As the graph below indicates the total communication paths in OECD countries has steadily increased over the years however, it is still not evenly distributed as the highest ratios of access paths are still being held by developed nations. The digital divide is even deeper for internet access with China, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel accounting for 52% of all internet hosts outside the OECD and Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa representing a further 24%. This indicates that there is the distribution even among developing nations is skewed such that approximately 76% of internet hosts outside the OECD nations are in 9 countries (OECD, 200 1). A solution to this issue is to consider liberalizing the telecommunications market. The liberalization of telecommunications services helps improve the competition forcing existing firms to improve on their service quality; it will lead to price reductions, better service coverage and improve access to ICT (OECD, 2001). As the affordability of access to ICTs reduce, it encourages usage of ICTs (Pena-Lopez, 2003). In Europe for example, it can be observed that with liberalization, the average cost of telephone charges continue to decline. The average price for bundle services dropped by 32% after liberalization of the telecommunications industry in Europe in 1998. Similar circumstances occur with bandwidth prices in Europe where competition and a rapid drop in bandwidth prices occurred as can be observed in the figure below. The increased competition on a global scale has led to several key factors in addressing the digital divide (1) Computing costs have steadily decreased and c apacity is increasing in a variety of devices to prices where many users can afford. (2) Competition among technology firms has led to improvements in technology such as the new wireless protocols which are able to overcome technical and financial problems when expanding into rural communities in developing nations. (Smyth, 2006) (http://www.intel.com/it/pdf/wireless-technologies-and-e-learning-bridging-the-digital-divide.pdf) Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 Developing infrastructure necessary to facilitate the usage of ICT is also crucial in bridging the digital divide. The responsibilities of this however falls on, local governments, private institutions and also international organizations with the technological expertise in helping facilitate the construction of the infrastructure. Among the key projects which have been launched is the optical fibre network being deployed throughout South and East Africa. As part of a project by national and cellphone operators, national research and education networks are emerging in African countries as part of a consortia to link their major institutions by purchasing internet bandwidth. This project SANREN, is being funded by the Meraka institute as well as the tertiary education network to create a broadband system for its higher education and research institutes. The project aims to be the Geant of Africa and is expected to be at least 1,000 times faster than the current infrastructure made ava ilable. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is another initiative considered to be a milestone in the region. The objective of which is to connect the countries of Eastern Africa with the rest of the world via an optical cabling system. This allows countries in the region to no longer rely on expensive satellite systems as a means for connectivity. This project is being funded by the Developmental Bank of Southern Africa and the World Bank. (http://www.saao.ac.za/fileadmin/files/Publications/Quest_Digital_Divide.pdf) Having the infrastructure in place helps increase access paths reducing the barriers to access to ICTs. Another key would be using education as a means to bridge the digital divide. Disparities in the level of education explain 9.9-14.4% in computer penetration gaps with the average number of years of school in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa being 3.7 years and 8.3 years in Europe and Central Asia. In comparison, the average years of schooling in the United States is 12.1 years. Having computers requires a certain degree of education to be used therefore countries with low levels of human capital have limited demand for computers(http://cgirs.ucsc.edu/publications/wp/wp2004-3.pdf) (Caselli and Coleman (2001) and Pohjola (2003)). It is imperative therefore that for organizations to create a learning economy within developing nations where individuals, firms and countries will be able to create wealth in proportion to their capacity to learn and share. Creating a learning economy places emphasis on life-long learning to foster dissemination, circles of discovery and an emergence of sha red understandings. The World Bank has implemented several measures to help develop developing nations towards a knowledge economy http://www.worldbank.org/education/digitaldivide/DD_EXT.pdf. The Human Development Network (HDN) provides knowledge management, training resources and technical assistance for developing countries in areas such as education and the use of technology for educational purposes. It has also developed a program that provides training for teaching staff and students in developing countries known as the Developmental program. Another initiative by the World Bank is setting up Global Distance Learning Centers which aim to provide tailored learning programs and state of the art facilities for internet-based learning (http://gdln.org/about). The Bank has also developed financing instruments for education based programs. The number of education technology activities increased by 20 and 90% in 1997 and 1999. 1/3 of this financing went towards developing nations in L atin America and the Caribbean. Building on the initiatives taken, the World Bank has set up a specific task force with the aim of bridging the digital divide through education. The objective of the task force is to assist developing countries in developing strategies with regards to technology in education. The task force is also assigned to promote projects that help address key issues in terms of education such as quality and increased access to ICT. This task force will work hand in hand with another division of the World Bank, the Global Distance Education Network which has similar goals in reducing the digital divide. By providing its expertise in these areas and helping set up a proper mapping guide as to how to improve education, it creates better environments to educate citizens of developing nations. The higher the level of education, the higher the demand for computers resulting in better usage of ICTs in these developing nations (Fairlie, 2003). These initiatives also help educate citizens of developing nations and trains up a workforce able to develop, maintain and provide value-added products and services required by the knowledge economy which will in turn help improve the countries competitive capabilities (Hudson, 2000)_(http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/BRYUH/12.hudson.pdf). Examining the digital divide, it can be observed that the digital divide is getting smaller, however it is still not equal across all borders. Certain developing nations still face more pressing issues such as fulfilling basic needs of their people particularly in countries with the lowest digital access index such as Niger, Mali and Chad. Political turmoil in these countries make it difficult for international organizations such as the World Bank to assist in narrowing the digital divide. Progress can definitely be seen as some key points are examined. In 2010 there were approximately 2 billion internet users worldwide having doubled from 1 billion in 2005 with China leading the charge at 418.9 million. Information based development in China has exceeded the worlds average level as a result of its initiatives in bridging the divide. Lack of access to ICT leads to a lack of education, wealth and income, in turn leading to lack of access to ICT infrastructure and services and so continues the digital divide. Several socio-economic groups, especially within the developed world, have benefited enormously from the innovative creations of the ICT industry, not least in the arenas of learning and collaboration. By sharing this experience and expanding the key uses of ICT in education to other groups within our own society and in the developing world we can kick-start the beginning of the end for the digital divide. To date, communications equipment has been expensive and requires good infrastructure to be in place. Rural communities and developing countries often do not have either the necessary infrastructure or the available funding to put such infrastructure in place. With the advent of the new wireless technologies, there is an unprecedented opportunity to remedy this situation at a fraction of the cost, and in a f raction of the time, that would previously have been required. The digital divide must then be fought on at least two battlefields: economy and education. Regarding the possibility to allow more people to be able to afford a computer or a mobile phone, a good accomplishment is represented by the fact that the cost of digital technologies lowers year after year. The UN are currently helping eliminating the digital divide in developing countries by promoting international initiatives, and also private institutions are contributing with ideas such as the One Laptop Per Child project. On the other hand, there is still a lot to do to make sure everyone can properly use digital technologies; for example, the Internet which is the expression of the new media world is still not completely accessible and interactive to most of its users. Starting with web design, a big accomplishment would represent a more distributed adoption of the W3C accessibility guidelines, let alone the use of a writing style that is based on simple grammar and makes content easily searchable and readable. The major issue, however, remains the lack of education that influences many people and does not allow them to access certain information sources that are only reachable via digital technologies. In this case, the progressive spread of mobile phones and the expansion of mobile networks (as stated in a recent report by Word Bank) might certainly represent a significant improvement in the lives of all those individuals whose access to the digital era is still denied. Link: http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm#ixzz28RyJWlzR

roseanne And The Kiss :: essays research papers

Roseanne and The Kiss   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This past winter break, myself and one of my best friends were driving down one of the main roads in our home town of Elmira, New York. I happened to look up at a billboard that was on the side of the road, and saw a sign that read something like: â€Å"Be safe, be smart, be protected.† I thought to myself (immediately) â€Å"well, that's a big improvement from a few years ago when condom ads weren't even allowed on television.† Then I noticed, it had the gay symbols of the upside down pink triangle, and the symbols of two men and two women together. My first thought was â€Å"why is this necessary† then I mentioned that to my friend. He didn't notice, but we both kind of laughed and agreed that why does it have to be gay people that need to protect themselves? We (straight people) are just as much at risk--what was the point? The point is, that it has become mainstream and accepted to be gay in this society now, so they can do that. Only three years ago, however, it was a bit different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Roseanne† helped to set a trend in society that has made it more acceptable to be gay in the media. From the billboard I saw, to Roseanne's now (in)famous kiss with another woman. Roseanne has contributed to this trend immensely with her television sitcom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To begin with, the series Roseanne has had gay characters on it for a long time. Roseanne's boss Leon was gay, and after â€Å"the kiss† his role on the show became more outspoken as he got married to his lover in the season after Roseanne kissed another woman.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the 1994, Roseanne had a homosexual encounter with another woman played by Mariel Hemingway in a gay bar. The episode was entitled â€Å"Don't ask, Don't tell† seemingly making light of Bill Clinton's policy of gays in the military. The plot of this episode is, that Roseanne goes into a gay bar with her bisexual friend Nancy, played by outspoken bisexual actress Sandra Bernhard. Roseanne dances with Nancy's new girlfriend Sharon (Hemmingway). The situation is uncomfortable to Roseanne's sister Jackie who also went with them, but Roseanne has a great time. After dancing with Sharon, the two sit down to chat, one thing leads to another and Roseanne makes a joke which is misinterpreted by Sharon, and she kisses Roseanne. The rest of the episode deals with Roseanne's discomfort with the kiss.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The episode was finally aired, but it went through a lot of trouble to do so.

Attitudes towards women, and their role in American Musical Theatre. Es

Attitudes towards women, and their role in American Musical Theatre. For my essay, I am going to look at the attitudes towards women, both from men and other women, and the significant role that that women had in telling the stories in American musical theatre. Showboat was the first musical of its kind. Up to this point, musicals consisted of songs and dances, with often feeble storylines based around the big stars. Showboat had a real story, adapted from a novel, and both the singing and dancing told the story. At the beginning of Showboat, after we have been introduced to the main characters, we hear the main female characters attitude towards men and love. 'Fish got to swim, birds got to fly, I got to love one man till I die. Can't help lovin' dat man of mine.' Julie seems like a surrogate mother to Magnolia, giving her advice, as we see Magnolia's relationship with her own mother is very strained. Parthy doesn't want her daughter to have anything to do with the stage or Ravenal, the two things her daughter is most passionate about. Julie, on the other hand, just offers Magnolia advice and listens to her. We see Magnolia and Parthy's differences highlighted by the composer's use of the perfect fourth to show Magnolias closeness with the river, and the augmented fourth or tritone to show Parthy's distance from the river and its ideals. We see a mother-daughter relationship, where the mother wants one thing for her daughter and her daughter wants the opposite. The action in the musical then jumps forward and we see a now married Magnolia, destitute in a boarding house. She has been abandoned by Ravenal, just as her mother predicted. We then see Julie, now an alcoholic, who has also been abandoned by her husband. Magnolia comes to audition for a job where Julie is working. She sings 'can't help lovin' dat man' and Julie leaves her job so Magnolia can have it. Magnolia doesn't see Julie, but Julie supports her in this way. The musical ends happily, with Magnolia, Ravenal and their daughter Kim being reunited. Showboat was totally revolutionary, and tackled issues that had never been looked at through this medium before. It paved the way for all kinds of other issues to do with women to be looked at. Porgy and Bess was a totally new concept. Not only did it have a black cast, but it showed the life t... ... but out of place in the liberal seventies. In conclusion, the attitude towards women has changed and developed with that in the developed world. Musicals have both reflected this, whilst at the same time maintaining a continuity of strong female characters. Musicals, whilst being looked at as 'light entertainment,' constantly looked at new issues, often to do with women, to challenge their audiences and society at large. The role women played was obviously integral to the musical's stories as well as also in raising these issues. The roles women played varied widely from mother, daughter, strong, weak, and authoratitive. The issues varied from domestic violence to single parents, and forced society to pay attention to the way these were affecting women's lives. This focus helped play a part in getting equal rights for women and reflects on the society we have today. Bibliography Enchanted Evenings - Geoffery Block Rodgers and Hammerstein Ethan Morden Gonzl's book of the Musical theatre Kurt Gonzl and Andrew Lamb The Complete Lyrics of Cole Porter Hamish Hamilton http://musicals.net http://libretto.musicals.ru http://www.stlyrics.com

Coming-of-Age Stories with Morals: T. Coraghessan Boyles Greasy Lake a

T. Coraghessan Boyle's "Greasy Lake" and John Updike's "A & P" have many similarities as well as differences. Both are coming-of-age stories that teach some sort of lesson to the protagonist at the end. â€Å"A&P† is about a nineteen-year-old boy who stands up against his manager to impress a couple of girls who are dressed â€Å"immodestly†. â€Å"Greasy Lake† is about many nineteen years olds playing a prank on a couple of bad characters who turn out to show the teens what they can really do in return. Luckily, the narrator and Sammy both realize their deficiency after the situations with the other characters. In â€Å"A&P† the narrator’s turning point in his life is when he finds the bikers body in the lake next to him. In â€Å"Greasy Lake† the realization occurs after Sammy quits his job and tries to be the â€Å"hero† to those girls. In both stories, the protagonists’ have no idea what the real world is like, or how it works. The narrator in â€Å"Greasy Lake† does not know what bad means until his own â€Å"badness† is put to the test in the real world. From his experience, Sammy learns that he will...

Robot in Medical Field

VEX ROBOTICS ESSAY I believe that robotics should be used in the medic field because they can be safer and be more helpful. They can save time and a person life. They are more accurate. I have a evidence to prove that robots are safety to use. 1. In 1997, surgery was performed in Cleveland using Zeus, a robotic surgical system. The operation successfully reconnected a woman’s fallopian tubes. 2. In May of 1997, the first robotically-assisted operation for a heart bypass case in Germany was successfully done using the da Vinci surgical system. 3.The first coronary artery bypass graft was performed using the ZEUS robotic surgical system in October, 1999, in Canada. 4. The first unmanned robotic surgery was performed in Italy, in May, 2006. 5. Also in 2011 a 50 year old mother of 4 child, Maureen Sampson was suffering from gastrointestinal disorder. This is very serious and it can be deadly. Her conditions worsed each day. As the day went by her condition worsed. But in july of 2 011 her doctor referred her to the robotic-assisted surgery program at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago.Maureen didn’t hesitate after learning that she could recover in a matter of weeks versus months compared to a conventional surgery. Just a month after her surgery, Maureen was back at work, back to daily life with her family, and finally feeling at ease about her health. Maureen is just one of hundreds of patients who have benefited from the knowledge and skill of the robotic-assisted surgical team. But remember these are just some of the examples of succesful robotic surgery. Robotic-assisted procedures reduce the negative impacts of surgery, allowing for a speedier recovery and less pain, risk of infection, and scarring.Surgery robots on this day are actually cleverly made manipulators controlled by competent doctors. Nowadays, there are two fields where surgical robots are being developed and tested. One is telerobotics which enables a doctor to do a surgery at a di stance. The other field is minimally invasive surgery – surgery done without making large cuts. The da Vinci robot surgery system is one great example of robotics use for surgery purposes. The da Vinci System consists of a surgeon’s console that is typically in the same room as the patient and a patient-side cart with four interactive robotic arms controlled from the console.Three of the arms are for tools that hold objects, act as a scalpel, scissors, bovie, or unipolar or bipolar electrocautery instruments. The fourth arm is for an endoscopic camera with two lenses that gives the surgeon full stereoscopic vision from the console. For patients, the benefits of robotic assisted surgery may include: -Decreased post-operative pain -Decreased risk of infection -Decreased use of anesthesia -Decreased blood loss -Shorter hospital stay -Quicker and more complete recovery -Faster return to normal daily activities

Ielts Practice Essay

You should spend only 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words. In many parts of the world there is continuous coverage of sport on television. Some people believe this discourages the young from taking part in any sport themselves. Discuss this view and give your own opinion. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Recently, a greater attention has been paid to sports programs on television. Some people state that watching TV to gain interests in sports is important for the young. However, there are some opponents who disagree with the above perspective. As such, there is a growing controversy whether young people should deal with this issue. In these following paragraphs, the arguments surrounding the issue of sports programs on TV will be carefully examined. The first point to consider is the fact that many youngsters can know about interesting sports by watching TV. There are many types of sports programs, where both children and adults learn numerous things from the top athletes’ performance. In addition, it is a great opportunity to listen to interviews after their performance. Some children may be inspired to be like their sports icons and consequently, try the sport themselves. Moreover, young people easily watch sports on TV anytime during their free time. In Japan, many daily news programs include sports. Hence, most of the young watch sports with the news. Even though, some young children do not have interests in current social news, they are able to see the lineup of all of the contents and will see news topics. On the other hand, there is no doubt that some young people spend too much time watching sports on television. Young children usually cannot manage their time well. What is more, nowadays many young people rather want to stay at home than go out as compared to in the past. Various kinds of sports programs on TV may discourage youngsters from going outside and playing sports themselves. In the final analysis, there are pros and cons for watching sports on television, however, that allows us to feel the fun in sports and gain knowledge about them easily. I firmly believe that sports contents on TV have an excellent power for the young.