#and social issues such as the beginnings of pornography and the lives of sex workers

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just watched the first few episodes of ripper street and it’s better than i expected it to be so i think after succession ends all us mattmac fans should watch it together <3

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Erin In The Morning:

On Friday, numerous conservative accounts and news sources promoted headlines that the "American College of Pediatricians" had issued a statement against transgender care. A video accompanied the announcement featuring Dr. Jill Simons, who, wearing a white lab coat, states that there must be an end to "social affirmation, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones" for transgender youth. Despite the official-looking attire and name, the organization's name serves to mislead observers into thinking they are the much larger American Academy of Pediatrics, which represents tens of thousands of pediatricians. In reality, the ACP is a hyper-conservative Christian group of doctors created in 2002 to oppose gay parenting. In the announcement released on Friday, Simons called for an end to social transition and gender-affirming care for transgender youth. One video, which went viral, begins with a statement that the organization has released a "declaration" authored by the American College of Pediatricians, along with "hundreds of doctors and healthcare workers," opposing transgender care. It references the highly-politicized Cass Review from the United Kingdom, whose author controversially blames pornography for being transgender, as well as the Climategate-style leak of the “WPATH Files” to support the statement.

The video, which was viewed over 51 million times on Twitter, cuts off just before the next speaker is introduced: Dr. Andre Van Mol, who represents the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. Van Mol serves on the board of the Bethel Church of Redding, which made headlines in 2019 for attempting to pray a dead child back to life. He is followed by representatives from several other Christian medical organizations that also support banning transgender care. The website promoted at the event lists signatories to the statement, including the Catholic Medical Association, Genspect, The National Catholic Bioethics Center, the Family Research Council, and the Discovery Institute, an organization that promotes intelligent design over evolution in schools.

The American College of Pediatricians has been hugely influential in the promotion of anti-trans policy in the United States, relying in part to its misleading name. Members of the organization testify in state houses and courtrooms across the United States, misleading legislators into thinking they are the much larger American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional society that represents 67,000 pediatricians in the United States. In 2023, the organization inadvertently left a Google Drive public, leading to the leak of a massive trove of files showing their extremist roots. According to these documents, the group received significant donations from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing organization that has played a large role in the passage and defense of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the United States. It also received free video production from Family Watch International, a group of Christian fundamentalists opposing homosexuality, birth control, abortion, and sex education. The American College of Pediatricians itself has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center since 2012, when the group’s leader stated that “homosexuality poses a danger to children” and that the group was “essentially a Judeo-Christian values organization.”

[...] Despite the widespread misinformation, every major medical organization in the United States supports gender-affirming care. In February, the American Psychological Association, the largest psychological association in the world, released a policy resolution stating that gender-affirming care is medically necessary and saves lives. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that transgender youth have access to gender-affirming care tailored to their unique needs. The Advocates for Trans Equality maintains a list of over 30 of the largest U.S.-based medical organizations that support transgender care, including the Endocrine Society, the Pediatric Endocrine Society, the American Public Health Association, and the American Medical Association.

Anti-trans extremists such as X owner Elon Musk and numerous right-wing and anti-trans pundits and websites are touting a video from American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) Dr. Jill Simons issuing a statement opposing gender-affirming care for trans children.

In contrast to radical right-wing whacko group ACPeds, mainstream medical organizations support gender-affirming care as a medically necessary.

ACPeds is a radical right-wing medical group that is opposed to abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender rights, and has trafficked in COVID denialism and anti-vaxxer extremism.

[itmatters]

Theory of Social Network with Pros and Cons

The theory of social networks is the study of how individuals, organizations, or groups within their network communicate with others.

The Theory of Social Network

It is easier to understand the principle by analyzing the individual pieces beginning with the largest element, which is networks and moving down to the smallest element, which is the performers. Networks can be viewed as communities in some respects because networks are made up of actors and the relationships between them.

The Theory of social network describes social relations in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors in the networks, and the relationships between the actors are connections. The nodes can have many types of ties.

The Theory of social network is used to explain everything from a high turnover of workers to sophisticated websites connected to terrorist networks. In many ways, it’s the logic behind the theory of social network that explains how in very few steps a piece of social media content is going viral.

It demonstrates how a small change will greatly impact the network as a whole. When a node-level change is introduced, the transition spreads first from the node, along with its connections to the various linked relationships, before being moved out into other nodes and their relationships, creating a change across the entire social network.

Although Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn may be the first sites to come to mind when talking about online social networks, these popular websites do not represent the full scope of existing social networks. There is the availability of various other platforms for people to build connections online. While Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat are the websites to build social connections, YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok are popular sites for multimedia sharing. Likewise, LinkedIn and Angellist are professional social networks.

Pros of Theory of Social Networks

1. Socialization

The major advantage of a social network is that it helps us to know and internalize the norms and values that are required to relate to other people, either with friends from the past, present or new. As in real life, there is a large community within each social network in the virtual universe, in which everyone can participate, but with the proviso adjusting to their norms, it is, therefore, necessary to know the social network’s netiquette.

Social network users then become active members of a small virtual community where they can communicate with others for the reasons they want, friendship, affection, business contacts, exchange of views, company, etc.

2. Information

While social networks are not centered on obtaining the information we provide highly relevant information through web sites, blogs, and our contacts. From minor issues like activities to attend this weekend, a friend’s birthday or the latest movie launches, even more, relevant information and articles on subjects of our interest, current news or important events in our friends ‘ or contacts ‘ lives.

ALSO, READ  15 Pros and Cons of Social Media for Business

The primary knowledge we acquire is a significant advantage due to the fact that the reader meets the source and thus obtains better results. Whatever the case, social networks give us a wealth of information, more social and more intimate.

3. Job Opportunities

Since the advent of the world’s internet, the way people find work has changed entirely. Many employers have social environments where they discuss job opportunities, accept resumes and even know job interviews.

In addition to using these sites, you can do all sorts of connections that can be used to find some work and can even suggest getting a job. LinkedIn is a social network that focuses on this area, so if you are interested in making professional and business connections, it is important to make good use of this network.

4. Business

This category is closely related to the last one, but the distinction is not about getting a job, as you have a physical or virtual company that you want to promote. It’s not just ads to get new customers, but it’s also trying to connect with the brand, relevant product or service facts, feedback, and comments, helping you to fix anything that’s wrong and strengthen the relationship with your customers or buyers.

Social media marketing is one of the most important things to find out about the effect social networks have on the business field. Oddly, it’s free, but it takes time and effort for either a small business that wants to get noticed or a brand that’s positioned for a longer stay than you like at first stage.

Social media marketing can reap many benefits including relationship building, brand building, ads, promotions and so on by using social networks as stepping stones. So it can be inferred that social media marketing provides many opportunities for entrepreneurs, small businesses, mid-size businesses, and big businesses to develop their brands and company.

Cons of Theory of Social Networks

1. Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is different from face-to-face bullying, as it is not easy to identify bullies and also they have a sense of security that convinces them that they will not be identified. The bullies do not feel any guilt or empathy when they don’t realize the pain they caused to the victim.

Cyberbullying is also a form of cyber-crime that includes various divisions. The most common form is called harassment, in which the offensive and disrespectful messages are sent to the victim frequently. The world of social networks also contains other forms of cyberbullying such as bashing, denigration, impersonation, humiliation, trickery, and exclusion.

However, the most crucial way is known as cyberstalking, escalating abuse with major threats and creating fear. One of the main issues to eliminate cybercrime is that it is difficult to identify the perpetrator and in such a wide network it is almost impossible to maintain full-time surveillance.

2. Addiction

Social networks, which are used as a form of an educational assistant, often experience negative impacts on students. One such effect is network addiction.

ALSO READ  12 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking Sites

A survey conducted by the International Center for Media & Public Affairs (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland found that people under the age of 25 have a greater chance of addicted to social networks, and two-thirds of students using social media have already shown some addiction.

50% of people between the ages of 25 and 35 reported being so addicted to social networks that they use during office hours as well. Besides, if there is no parental guidance, kids can also become addicted to social media.

3. Online Sexual Exploitation

Online sexual exploitation is one of the most violent forms of cyber-crime. This involves distributing pornography, persuading sex and sex chat. According to a study commissioned by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, there are over 665,000 registered sex offenders in the United States of America. This means one child in seven was confronted online by a sexual predator which is more than 13% of children on the Internet.

Furthermore, as reported by the Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM), the average sex offender has been committing crimes for 16 years before he is finally caught. He committed a total of 318 offenses in that life span and offended 110 victims. With regard to these results, it can be clearly seen that online sexual exploitation has ruined the lives of children using social networks.

4. Privacy Issues

With so much data sharing happening with the modern social network, the amount of privacy we have for the average person is diminishing a little every day. Once you sign up for this service, the user agreements you agree to follow may even provide a license that allows the platform to use your content without attribution – even your pictures.

If you share your current location over social media, you might become a target. If your boss disagrees with something that you discussed over your network, he/she can choose to kick you off; if you share too much with the public, issues may arise that will never resolve as the information is released.

5. Health Problems

As you expose your brain to technology, it can shift your mind’s focus from wanting to go to sleep to stay engaged with social media. It can also activate the blue light spectrum from some apps, but the problem with this downside is that you will start thinking more about what other people are doing or the details on your profile instead of trying to get some rest which results in headaches and tiredness the other day.

It can also disrupt your habit of exercising by encouraging the habit of sitting down for a long period of time since social networking typically occurs on mobile devices or a computer.

Source:https://honestproscons.com/theory-of-social-network-pros-and-cons/

[bokaishu]

Annotated Bibliography

1. HARKNESS, E., MULLAN, B. and BLASZCZYNSKI, A., 2015. Association between pornography use and sexual risk behaviors in adult consumers: A systematic review. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(2), pp. 59-71.

This article focuses on determining if there is a possible link between the consumption of pornographic materials and the risks of engaging in sexual behaviors. Using adult population to examine the correlation of consumption of pornographic materials and the risks of engaging in sexual behaviours, Harkness et al. (2015) found out that the use of online and/or offline pornography can lead to a higher risk of engaging in “unsafe sex practices” and getting involved with multiple sexual partners. Even though this article does not show clear relationship between the use of pornography and increase risks of becoming young offender, this article can be used to show that the use of pornographic materials can lead to harmful health condition due to the practice of unsafe sex with multiple partners. It is given that one of the root causes of engaging in unsafe sex practices with multiple partners is the use of pornographic materials. Therefore, this article can be used to prove that the act of applying censorship in pornographic materials is necessary and enhance everyone’s awareness of safety.

2. WILLIAMS, L., 2014. Pornography, porno, porn: thoughts on a weedy field. Porn Studies, 1-2(1), pp. 24-40.

After explaining that pornography is all about the use of sex workers to produce life-like sexual fantasies in order to create more sales or income. Basically, this article talks about the different kinds of pornography. In this article, Williams (2014) said that pornography could be done among gay or lesbian people or by heterosexual people. With regards to the issue on whether or not there is a need to apply censorship in the spread of pornographic materials, this article talks about the argumentative sides of pro-censorship or anti-pornography and the anti-censorship or pro-pornography position. For instance, based on anti-censorship or pro-pornography position, it was mentioned in this article that the process of viewing pornographic materials (whether in print or in the video) is not sufficient in making a person engage himself in violent behaviors such as rape cases. Therefore, this article is useful when it comes to arguing whether or not we should or should not apply censorship in the regulation of pornographic materials and internet environment.  

3. BRINKMANN, R. 2008, The Art and Science of Digital Compositing: Techniques for Visual Effects, Animation and Motion Graphics: Second Edition, 2nd edn, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers/Elsevier, Burlington, MA.

Aiming to explore the artistry and science of digital synthesis and beginning with the most basic part of digital synthesis, this book explores different paths for the development of digital synthesis technology through different chapters. This is the author's second edition of the book, which was firstly published in 1999. Given a number of technologies and ideas have emerged over the years, Brinkmann believes that it is necessary to rewrite on top of previous ones. The first chapter of this paper describes the basic parts of digital synthesis technology and its earliest form and introduces the basic operation, the concept of technology related to images, and certain key concepts that should be understood in order to realize digital synthesis in the following chapter. In the end, the concept of High Dynamic Range Imaging (HDRI) is expounded, emphasis that the purpose of adjusting certain data thresholds is just trying to get the results "look good", while any technical correctness in the process of is ignored. This approach actually abandons any attempt to accurately represent the way light is represented in original scenes and thus is completely incorporated into the scope of the subjective process. On the other hand, if one is only interested in making pleasurable images, it is perfectly reasonable, which suggests that there is no right or wrong in that regard and merely lies in the way you look upon post-processing.

4. DEKESEREDY, D. and CORSINANOS, M., 2015. Violence against Women in Pornography. New York: Routledge.

This book is useful when it comes to considering the point-of-views of women when it comes to sexual crimes and the use of pornographic materials. Whether on screen or in print, this book highlights the fact that pornography is a form of violence against women. According to, there is a strong correlation between male pornographic consumption and their attitude to support violence against women. Somehow, the author of this book is suggesting that some women with an abusive partner are using pornographic materials and the act of using these materials could somehow activate their violent behavior on women. This statement somehow brings out the idea that some pornographic materials can stimulate aggressive behavior on the part the users. Therefore, this book can be used to support the claim that censorship should be applied to all pornographic materials that are currently spreading online and offline.

5. WRIGHT, S. 2017, Digital Compositing for Film and Video, 4th Edition, 4th edn, Focal Press.

According to this paper, digital synthesis is obviously not just a technology. With the development of technology and design thinking, the pursuit of realism should is also considered. This paper introduced the three major part of the theory of realism and demonstrates from colour correction to lens distortion from aspects of technology and sense. Can be roughly divided into realistic shooting, software operation and colour processing, most of the content in this paper discusses the operation of synthesis technology. This book expounds that the finished product of digital synthesis is not only of ornamental value, but of practical significance. More importantly, it analyzes the light source processing and proposes the concepts of diffuse reflection, specular reflection, saturation, light source quality and lens effect, which have more practical significance for users and digital synthesis, including distortion, depth of field and astigmatism.

6. WRIGHT, S. 2012, Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for the Aspiring Artist, Taylor and Francis.

Author of this paper aimed to study how to make the processed high-quality shots show the best results. This paper objectively discusses the processing and methods of post-synthesis of digital media, and comprehensively introduces the post-processing methods of digital images and videos. In the chapter on composition, the colour correction (RGB) and the gamma problem is analysed in an objective way. If there is no definite shadow, the lighting nature of the shoot should be considered and be used as the guide to the nature of casting shadows. which are composed of a kernel, a flange, and a very important contact shadow, which are combined together through the colour correction, gamma, grain structure and the lens distortion, so as to create a gradual shading and more realistic shadow that is in line with the intensity of the light source and the angle of illumination and taking into account the white balance, thereby forming a good shadow, which is essential to the 3D synthesis field.

7. KLAASSEN, M. and PETER, J., 2015. Gender (In)equality in Internet Pornography: A Content Analysis of Popular Pornographic Internet Videos. The Journal of Sex Research, 52(7), pp. 721-735.

This article states that researchers are now interested in investigating the impact of online pornography consumption and its content to the end users. To determine whether or not online pornography creates gender inequality amongst the amateur and professional actors and actresses, Klaassen and Peter (2015) conducted content analysis with regards to “power” and “violence” based on the top 400 most popular online porn videos. The research findings presented in this article shows that in terms of power, men, in general, are more dominant as women tend to play a more submissive role during sexual acts. In terms of violence, this study shows that minor violence such as “gagging” and “spanking” is done mostly by men on women. In other words, this article can be used to prove that continuous exposure to porn materials could somehow depict that performing the minor violent act on women during the actual sexual performance is acceptable by the public. This should not be the case in reality.

8. PRICHARD, J. et al., 2016. Tertiary Education Students' Attitudes to the Harmfulness of Viewing and Distributing Child Pornography. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 23(2), pp. 224-239.

In the context of public support on crime reduction, this article talks about the undergraduates’ perception about the negative effects of distributing child exploitation materials. Based on research findings, Prichard et al. (2016) found out that the act of distributing child exploitation materials creates a negative impact on the lives of the victims. Furthermore, the continuous distribution of child exploitation materials could create a psychological impact on the part of the viewers. To avoid creating a culture that accepts child exploitation practices, the authors suggest the need to apply censorship in the online and offline distribution of pornographic materials. Personally, I am interested in knowing how we could reduce the number of young offenders who are involved in sexual activities. In the process of applying censorship in the spread of child exploitation materials, this article shows how suggest that we could avoid the risk of increasing the number of young sexual offenders in Worldwide.

9. MCCLEAN, S.T. 2008;2007;, Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film, MIT Press, Cambridge.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between digital synthesis and scriptwriting. Van Helsing once said that in Hollywood, digitally synthesized films are mistakes that could result in a big hit to the story of the film. Therefore, this paper focuses on exploring the effects of digital synthesis in films. Starting with an introductory review and based on the storyline, this paper analyses the development of effects of digital synthesis. The application of digital synthesis technology from appearance to present is described. In addition to screenwriting, digital synthesis technology also promotes the progress of the film industry, and the Chinese film Hero is a good example of this. A solid script using good digital post-production can propel a director's dreams into reality. As with Spielberg's Ready Player One, As a graduate student of digital media, video post-production ability and screenwriter ability are both important. This book enables me to clearly see the relationship between video special effects and screenwriter and improve my professional skills.

10. JACKSON, W. 2016, VFX Fundamentals: Visual Special Effects Using Fusion 8.0, 1st edn, Apress, Berkeley, CA

This paper introduces Fusion 8.0, a digital media post special effects synthesis software developed with Blackmagic Design. Starting with the basics of VFX, the author describes the interconnections between its different features and the variations in use effects. For example, the completion degree of the basic part of 2D vector will also affect the completion degree of 3D vector, which can improve my comprehensive understanding of film post-synthesis. In addition, I am particularly interested in VFX3D font making discussed in this paper, in what the 3D scenes are created and the views are configured in order to display output, the stretch and bevel parameters are set, the customized 3D texts are extruded, and the basic parameters of VFX texts are set. In VFX3D fonts, the scale of shape is critical, which is a key element in creating more complex custom 3D texts with splines.

11. ZWERMAN, S. & FINANCE, C. 2015, The Visual Effects Producer: Understanding the Art and Business of VFX, Taylor and Francis.

In addition to describing VFX's industry background, the book also shifts its focus from software to VFX's production process and the preparation and planning of a digital synthesized work. Due to my strong interest in VFX, along with the structure of this paper, I also learn about the work content and responsibilities of visual effect producers, the well-described visual effects shots and the budget of digital work, so as to understand the division of labour in the digital synthesis department on film sets. As the author describes it, video assistive technicians need some time to set the right lends on their systems so that the director and VFX supervisor can check and fully understand how to proceed next. I discovered by this book experienced digital video assistive technicians and systems are almost indispensable for devices nowadays and something about the production process of VFX from it, which is very helpful for the study of digital media major. At the same time, I have a better understanding of the industry of the VFX.