Steven Jobs

February 24, 1955 – October 5 2011

The power that Jobs has is power from the hard work and effort that he put into creating and developing some of the biggest companies in the world with power over everyone invested in his products. His outcomes where intended for the good of humanity and development of technology. Jobs never showed signs of being corrupt or ill minded with his power. Overall he was a good influence on society.

Jobs was adopted and raised by Paul and Clara Jobs when he was 5 and lived in California. Paul was a machinist for a company who produced lasers and taught Steve some basic electronics. Steve went to Homestead high school in Cupertino, California. In 1972 Jobs went to Reed College but after only one semester he dropped out. He later said, “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.”

In 1976 Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple, and in 1978 they lured Mike Scott away from Pepsi to serve as CEO. In 1980 Apple produced the Apple Lisa and one year later the Macintosh. Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985 and founded NeXT Inc. NeXT computers where first released in 1990 at $9,999, and was technologically advanced marketed at financial, scientific and academic communities. In 1994 the reported their first profit of $1.03 million and in 1996 released ‘WebObjects’, developed for web application. In 1997 when NeXT was acquired by Apple, WebObjects was used to build and run the Apple Store and the iTunes Store.

In 1986 Jobs bought Pixar for $10 million. After a few years of no profit from the Pixar Image Computer, They joined with Disney to produce animated films. Jobs was credited as executive producer for the release of Toy story in 1995.
In 1996 Apple bought NeXT for $429 million and Jobs was formally named interim chief. With his guidance the company’s sales increased with the introduction of the iMac and other products. In 2000 Jobs was named permanent CEO. Then Apple exploded in popularity with the introductions of the iPod, iTunes and in 2007 the iPhone.

In August 2011 Jobs resigned as CEO of apple but remained as chairman of the companies board. Jobs only earned $1 a year as CEO of Apple but held 5.426 million in shares as well as 138 million in Disney.

Jobs was a demanding perfectionist who aimed to position his businesses and products at the forefront of their industry. He based his management style around a quote by hockey player Wayne Gretzkey, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Jobs has been listed as inventor or co-inventor in 342 US patents or patent applications and technologies ranging from computer devices, speakers, keyboards, power adapters, lanyards and packages.

Jobs died at 3 pm on October 5, 2011 due to a rare form of pancreatic cancer resulting in respiratory arrest.

– by Brod Jewson, 11ENG

Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States, and is the first African American to be in charge. The sort of power that Barack Obama has is that he is president of the United States of America; he can send the country to war. He can rule over everyone in America, change laws and do what he believes is right. Obama’s power can be very influential and helpful to people around the world. It is a power that is not bad or monstrous, it is a power that he uses for good, to the best he can.

Barack Obama got his power being a democrat; he had represented Illinios in the United States Senate from 2005 to 2008, which he later had been elected to the U.S senate. He than beat Senator John McCain, in the 2008 Presidential Election and served 2 years in the U.S Senate, before running for president. He was brought into become president by John Roberts, chief justice of the U.S. In Obama’s first address he listed the challenges the nation faced, including such things as economy, political congestion and overseas conflicts. He became president of the United States on the 20^th of January, 2009 and also won the Nobel Peace prize that year.

Some specific outcomes of Barack Obama’s use of his power is that he signed a $787 billion economic stimulus bill that was meant to shore up an economy reeling from high service and dropping financial markets. A law called the American Recovery, were included Investments that Obama did for education, energy, science and transportation projects, and also included tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits. The outcome Barack Obama hoped it would be, is that it would create or save 3 and a half million jobs within 2 years. He also called for a withdrawal of up too 100,000 troops, but allowed up to 50,000 troops to remain in Iraq through 2011,  by the 31^st of August 2010 in which he said all U.S combat operations in Iraq would stop and many other things. These outcomes were for good, Obama is trying to do the best he can as president of America to please the citizens of that country, and the outcomes have been good enough.

No, Obama does not show signs of being corrupt, but many people may want a different president to Barack Obama as they believe that he does show signs of being corrupt and that it needs to change. Really though, he is just doing his job of being the leader of America. He does seem like he is very confident in his own abilities and does what he believes is right, and doesn’t display anything that makes him seem dishonest. Obama has very good intentions, nothing monstrous or bad about him, he isn’t selfish or greedy, and he puts people before himself after having a tough up bringing. He does things in a way in which he reckons the government or people want things done.

Overall Barack Obama is a very nice and good person, who influences on society in America and on the world. Although things may not always turn out completely how he had planned, I’m sure he tried his absolute best to do what he can. A good person is someone who has a positive and good effect on others and improves their society and in which benefits others. With Barack Obama, this definition fits very well.

– by Matt Tabone, 11ENG

Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Dr Martin Luther Jr. was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Throughout his life, even as a child, Martin discovered violence. It was also evident that he had the ability to persuade and influence others with language. Martin always had the intention for black and white people to be equal in this world. He was introduced to the ugliness of prejudice at an early age. Certainly Martin, like all black southern children, knew that there were places blacks could not go: swimming pools, rest rooms, water fountains, certain seats on the bus and particular restaurants. He experienced firsthand racial discrimination. He was informed from the mother of two white children that they could not play with them at school anymore. His mother consoled him but the sting of rejection hit him hard.

As America grappled with rising racial tension in the early part of the twentieth century, a host of leaders emerged who would shape and lead the modern civil rights movement. Yet few did more to alter the face of race relations during these turbulent years than Martin Luther King. His inspiring speeches virtually ignited the movement, and his commitment to nonviolence set the tone that would characterize the entire era.

Martin was a unique human. By presenting his speech ‘I had a dream,’ he had the power and influence over the world and civil rights movement. His power seems to have taken on even greater meaning for all races on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, the first African American to hold the office. He not only changed the way the world viewed the African American race with his power, he showed a nation that it had to deal with a painful past to find the path of peace. These actions and outcomes were all purely for the good influence of the world. He did this to archive his childhood dream, for black and white people to be equal. Not at all for the exposure or name in the media, but for Negro people to be treated correctly. Many would agree that he alone changed the world with his determination and good power. Martin achieved his power by self confidence and to make ‘his dream’ become reality. He also always had a talent in public speaking and excellent English skills.

With his power on the issue, He left a huge legacy that is still remembered 40 years later. Without his influence, we may not live in the same world that we know today. The Civil Rights movement changed our country, and the world. His power and determination inspired other countries to do the same. After his death, people really felt the importance of his cause. They realized that this man died for something he believed in, something that was important for others to believe in as well. His power was then passed on. You had people after his death that carried out his legacy and worked for all of those things. He wasn’t there to do it, so it was left in the hands of everyone else.

Martin Luther King truly an influence to the world and played a huge role in Civil rights movement. His use of power was definitely in the good category and was an inspiration to many.

– by Jamie Powell, 11ENG

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s power was not given to him but was earned and deserved. He was the 16^th President of the United States, serving from 1861-1865. The certain power that Lincoln had was obviously control over the whole of the United States and America. He was raised in a poor family and was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband and father of four children.

Lincoln also led America through the Great American Civil War, concentrating on the military and political strategies.

Abraham Lincoln gained his power when he became president and used that power for the freedom of many people. Throughout his leadership, Lincoln managed to control and overcome slavery in America and also planned thoroughly for the war and how to outsmart his fellow countrymen. The war began on April 12 1861 – a year after Lincoln was elected into presidency – and ended April 9 1865. Six days later Abraham Lincoln was shot at point blank range mortally wounding him. After laying in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died.

There were lots of things that Abraham used his power for such as slavery, freedom  and the civil war. Slavery had been a big part of America, as a large majority of other countries at that time, and was becoming more and more inhuman. On October 16, 1854, in his “Peoria Speech”, Lincoln declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to the presidency. Speaking with a very powerful voice,he said the Kansas Act had a “declared indifference, but as I must think, a covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world…”

Abraham Lincoln did not show any signs of being corrupt as president. He helped thousands of people out of slavery and into freedom and tried his best not to start the American Civil War as much as possible. He wasn’t self-centred at all, always looking out for and considering others before himself, and came from a very trying and humble background.

Overall, Lincoln was a good person and president (possibly one of the most known and acknowledged), and made a reasonably positive impact towards society. Although there were people, like the Unions, who opposed what he thought and decided to take matters into their own hands, such as John Wilkes Booth, the man who managed to assassinate him. Lincoln tried to help as many American citizens as was humanly possible as he could. Abraham Lincoln was able to ‘Unite’ the “United States of America”.  I would classify Lincoln as a ‘Good’ person because of everything he did and stood for.

Lincoln has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names,including the capital of Nebraska. The first public monument to Abraham Lincoln was a statue erected in front of the District of Columbia City Hall in 1868, three years after his assassination. Lincoln’s name and image appear in numerous other places, such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and Lincoln’s sculpture on Mount Rushmore.

– by Jarryd Noller, 11ENG

Anonymous

An unusual unstoppable power.

Anonymous, first started in 2003 to attack internet sites that have been seen wrong by the members of the group. Anonymous attacks have stepped up since 2006, from when they first started by attacking social networking sites like Habbo hotel, to attacking the religious group scientology. Many “high power” people which have said things against Anonymous, or which have offended Anonymous, have had their emails and websites published on the internet which has ended up destroying many business.

The sort of power anonymous harnesses is that they can attack just any website on the Internet, they have hacked government websites with strong firewalls, so it is most people on the Internet. Teaming up with new freedom of information group Wiki leaks, helping the company release private information that they see as information everyone should know.

Anonymous hasn’t got there power from one single person but a group of people which have set up sophisticated, planed attacks on companies on people and business. The way Anonymous came about their power is un-explainable because it is just a group of Internet hackers working together.

Anonymous outcomes or achievements have come from hacking websites and releasing information or personal information. In February Aaron Barr from HBGary Federal lawyers said he had cracked Anonymous. This was a mistake because Anonymous went on to hack the websites main page and replace it with the message “Anonymous should not be messed with” and also 68,000 personal emails were posted. This put the company to a loss of $2,500,000. Anonymous uses their power for good by freedom of information and destroying many bad companies.

Anonymous really depends on which side of the fence you sit on, if the hacks are being done to you, you may think that the organization is corrupt, or in the opposite direction if its practice what you believe in then it is a good person and not corrupt and upholding the rights to freedom of information. They also have the power to affect people as you can see in the protest which are being held all over the world at the moment, Exposing company greed, because most of these members that started the peaceful protest were member of anonymous.

– by Liam McGarry, 11ENG

Elizabeth Bathory

‘The most prolific female serial killer in history’

Elizabeth Bathory was born in 1560, into one of the oldest and wealthiest families inHungary, being the niece of Stefan Bathory, the King of Poland. Around the age of 5, Bathory began to have violent seizures which were caused by an unknown neurological disorder, which may have led to her gruesome behaviour later in life. As a child, she always had servants and peasants around her to fulfil her every whim, which gave her a feeling of power and control. As a teenagerElizabethwas very intelligent, and quickly became fluent in Hungarian, Latin and German.

Elizabeth married in 1575, aged 15, to Count Ferenc, and lived with him Castle Csejthe inHungary. Count Ferenc was a soldier, and would often be away for months at a time, and as a result, would often have affairs with some of the male peasants at the castle.Elizabethwas dissatisfied. Despite being surrounded by servants and being of the highest nobility in the land, she began to seek other ways to spend her time. Elizabeth and her old nurse began to find ways of torturing the servant girls in the castle grounds.

In 1600, Count Ferenc died, which was whenElizabeth’s true atrocities began. When a young servant girl was brushingElizabeth’s hair, she pulled the brush a little too hard, and in a blind rageElizabethsmacked her across the face so hard she drew blood. After washing her hand,Elizabethin her insanity believed that the patch of skin where the blood was looked whiter and creamier than the rest of her hand, and in her anxiety of losing her beauty, she believed she had found the secret to eternal youth.

Elizabeth began to hire maids and henchmen who would go about and abduct young girls to become servants at her castle. She would then kill the girls, and drain their blood into a vat, which she would bathe in daily. This went on for ten whole years, and it is believed that the castle was never searched in the time as people were intimidated by her level of nobility and her wealth. When the castle was finally raided in 1610, the governor found over 50 bodies in the castle alone, and another 30 in a cavern nearby where the vat of blood was kept. The death toll as a result ofElizabeth’s insanity and monstrous actions exceeded 650 girls. Elizabethwas locked up in a bricked-off section of her castle, and eventually died in 1614.

– by Charlie Mackie, 11ENG

Oprah Winfrey

         “Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.”
                              – Oprah Winfrey

After a truly incredible 25 years in the business Oprah Winfrey has said that’s enough. The now 57 year old black and in control role model has had one of the most well-known and powerful careers of all time. Starting out at just 17 years of age Oprah was always destined to exceed greatness, with major success in her day time talk show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’  the inspirational women has used her success, money and power to make this world a better place.

Oprah career began when hired at the local TV station and successfully became Nashfields very first black female news anchor. After a short period of time it was noticed Winfrey became too emotionally involved with her stories but was too good of a reporter to leave.  Their Oprah went on to co-host the WJZ’s local talk show, soon after the young and rising star moved herself to Chicago took over the low rated WLS-TV’s and legendarily  renamed it “The Oprah Winfrey Show” the network now worth 2.7 Billion. Oprah talk show has been watched by millions and broadcasted nationally since 1986, with such success and achievement Oprah’s debates on controversial topics, and own personal experiences shared on air such as weight loss, weight gain and her awful upbringing. Women have found it extremely easy to relate and use the strong independent black women not only as a role model but a hero too.

Not only has Oprah had one of the most famous careers in history, she has dedicated time, money and support to a mass amount of charities. Oprah has used her show to feature people who were the victims of poverty or unfortunate accidents to demonstrate her good deeds and values to the world. Oprah, simply being Oprah has set up three main charities including the ‘Oprah Angle Network’ ( supported by viewers) ‘The Oprah Winfrey Foundation’ (supported purely  by herself) and ‘The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation’ ( set up for the leadership award in south Africa). The charities have managed to help millions of lives all over the world. Oprah has extended her arms far and wide in helping people purely for the benefits for others.

Oprah is motivated by her past of being abused and mistreated, Oprah growing up in what you and I would call a ‘no hope part of the world’. Her motivation came from not wanting to be like everyone else that grew up there, wanting a future and to better herself and the others around her.  Oprah is currently 14^th of the ‘Forbes’ most powerful women and 64^th powerful person, all which is just unbelievable and an outstanding achievement to the dedicated women.

Overall Miss Oprah Gail Winfrey is a truly remarkable woman that not only uses her power for good but to assist and benefit many astounding people.  Her money and motivation and generosity has made her the currently ‘Forbes’ 2nd most famous celebrity. This woman is unbelievably powerful among ladies all over the world she is simply an inspiration to all women no matter what size or raise. Oprah obviously fits perfectly into the categories of THE GOOD.

– by Em Leeds, 11ENG

Adolf Hitler

Hitler was a very smart but deceptive man his rise to power was more by force than being a favourite in Germany’s eyes until he convinced them to believe his beliefs. Hitler came to power by destabilising the German society by force with his gang of thugs. The German people were also at a very vulnerable point due to the world economic crisis which put thousands of Germans out of jobs. They thought they might end up back to the days of World War 2. Hitler took a prime opportunity by rallying the spirits of the Germans and telling them they could gain more power. With all Hitler’s inspirational speeches, the NAZI party gained a number of seats in the Reichstag but were still a minor party. The president at the time, Hindenburg, unknowing of Hitler’s plans, invited Hitler to become Chancellor because he would have rather Hitler as a friend than an enemy. When the President died in 1934, Hitler wasted no time in taking the Presidency for himself and the NAZI party. Hitler now had power over Germany to do whatever he pleased until the world later stepped in.

Sadly, most of what Hitler did was bad. His orders led to millions of deaths and nearly the determination of the Jewish race. Hitler rounded up all the Jews living in Germany, sent them to Concentration camps all around the country to work for nothing and live in horrible and un-humane conditions. These people were not treated like humans they were given barely any clothes for a cold winter, barely any food and very poor living conditions. Hitler’s intentions were to rid Germany of any imperfections and have a perfect race, everyone having Blonde hair and Blue eyes. Hitler’s actions were luckily stopped but while his actions were in place, they resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people just because they didn’t have blonde hair or blue eyes or just because one man thought that a certain race weren’t human but monsters.

Hitler showed many signs of being corrupt, trying to wipe out an entire race being one of them. In Hitler’s eyes his intentions were good, many Germans also believed that what Hitler was doing was good but the rest of the world thought that his actions were completely wrong and had to be stopped. Hitler was also motivated by his own self-interest because he craved power and wanted everyone to live like he wanted.

I think that, and many would agree with me when I say that Hitler is definitely monstrous due to the things he did during World War two and the horrible things that he did to the Jews just because of their race and was a very bad influence on the German society. Some of the Germans believed what he was saying so he did influence the German public into doing what he wanted and carrying out his plans for the Jews and the world.

– by Sam Hicks, 11ENG

 

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is an American talk show host as well as a bussineswoman, humanitarian, producer, actress and a media administrator. She is very best known for her self-titleded multi-award winning talk show ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ which is the highest rated program of its kind in history. As everyone knows, she is still not only the richest African-American of the 20th century but she is also considered to be one of the World’s Most Powerful People and Women in the World.

Oprah was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother, who couldn’t support her properly, and so she spent her time living in turn with her grandmother and her father.  At the age of 13, Oprah was sexual abused by her cousin, this resulted in an unexpected pregnancy making her attempt to run away from home, causing tension with her mother.

After moving with her father, she became immersed in her schooling, in that she began participating school activities and working at a local radio station, which was her first job. These experiences led her to want to help others who were living in adversity like that in which she grew up in. eventually giving her the drive to start a talk show that had influence over citizens that had the ability to help others. Giving people advise, hope and most importantly to her and her audience, encouragement.

With her show, she has dedicated her whole life to inproving other people’s lives, she gives her best selflessly and doesnt expect anything in return when she helps and contributes to a good cause and even though she has had a tough childhood, she stilll treats everyone with love and care. Unlike others who could hate everyone because of the terrible things that have happened in the past. She teaches us to pick ourselves up through hard times and to forgive but most of all she teaches us to believe, to believe in ourselves and in our dreams, which made her a great role model to everyone especially to women around the world. The contributions that Oprah has made to socity is that she made a network called Angel Network which is for raising money for charitable causes around the world and to inspiring people to make a difference in there lives of others, she opened a  40 million dollar school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa which is call The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls- to provide educational and leadership opportunities for academically gifted girls from impoverished backgrounds in South Africa who exhibited leadership qualities for making a difference in the world.

Oprah Winfrey is a good person who uses her power and personaility to influence others to do good things and not being afraid of doing what you want, or being what you want to be. Oprah always say, “No matter what, you are here for a reason” – she’s teaching us become more than our failure and fight for what we love.  Oprah is an influence on every woman around the world to fight for their rights and the ability to voice their opinions.

– by Malvinder Gill, 11ENG

Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh is not a name readily talked about anymore, but to anyone who grew up during the 50’s and 60’s, he was an important man who shaped war during that time. Born in 1890 in a very well off family, Ho was brought up to, in some ways to always resist those who had a hold over Vietnam. His father and mother refused to learn French, but he himself was very educated, and was a teacher for some time. Before long, he realised that his heart lay elsewhere, and proceeded to travel to many countries, many communist, to learn different ways of life, and to see what his people were missing out on.

In 1945, Ho Chi Minh became the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, a communist party that represented mostly the north of the country, and later Vietnam entirely. He had spent many years fighting against the French, and later the Japanese, in order to free his country; in turn, in 1945, independence was declared. This political power gave Ho fighting power, which allowed him to create the Vietminh, which was a guerrilla army. With both political and fighting power, and nearly an entire country behind him, Ho was a much loved part of everyone’s family.

For Vietnam, Ho was special as he was elected into power, something that had not been done for a very long time, maybe never. His biggest challenge was the Americans, who had previously supported Ho when Vietnam was ruled by France and later when they fought with Japan. However, the Americans did not see eye to eye when it come to the idea of a communist country, which resulted in the horrible, bloody American War. Vietnam did prevail, but only after their beloved leader was dead. Without Ho, Vietnam may still today have been used and abused by other countries, when millions of people suffering.

While Ho Chi Minh was not loved and adored by all Vietnamese, most still today refer to him as ‘uncle’, and his face can still be seen throughout the entire country. Although communism is a questionable form of government, Ho’s idea revolved around the necessity to free his people from those who had wrongly ruled them for so many years. He had no self interest, and personally put his life on the line many times to reach independence. And while there are arguments against his choice of political beliefs, no one can question his desire to help his people, the people of Vietnam. Ho only worked for good, and his work resulted in the freedom of Vietnam today.

– by Becca Edgar, 11ENG