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倀愀琀 爀 椀 挀 唀氀 氀 愀攀甀猀
SOCIAL WATCH
Michela Sereni
Don’t Dream It, Be It: Queerest of the Queer
Since I first walked into the movement that led me to questioning my sexuality and identity, I noticed that a lot of policing was being activated as to how one should define themselves, or more specifically, what word they should be using for the group ‘as a whole’. The “Are More Letters Really Necessary? Yes, or No?” question has been ringing up and down the Internet for as far as I can remember (that is, early 2009, when I joined Tumblr and became aware of many flaming discussions I had been so blissfully unaware of). In fact, much debate has been aroused around the ‘LGBT*’ label for years now, and has been revamped lately, when The Huff Post changed their ‘Gay Voices’ section to ‘Queer Voices’ [5]. “We, like many others before us, have chosen to reclaim ‘queer’ [...] we believe that word is the most inclusive and empowering one available to us to speak to and about the community — and because we are inspired by all of the profound possibilities it holds for self-discovery, self-realization and self-affirmation” stated to editorial director. The core of the issue now ran around the ‘LGBT vs Queer’ formula: “the idea is that as our understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity widens, we recognize more identities and extend the label to be more inclusive [...] People are approaching inclusivity from a variety of different directions: For some, for example, it means expanding the acronym, while for others, it means using one word — “queer” — as an umbrella term” The latter method is essentially reclaiming what was used as offence since the XXth century: a move that oppressed groups have used for decades but that carries a lot of anger and mixed feelings with it (for an example in this category, “Dykes on Bikes” was a huge trend in the 1976 San Francisco pride, and it seems to be still working
The revoked term has a complex history (though its fame by the late 90s/early 2000s was quite steady already, as attested by pop phenomenons of the likes of the ‘Queer as Folk’ TV show or the ‘Queer’ track anthem by Garbage), still it is perfectly fitting for those who are still questioning themselves and/ or do not wish to settle just yet: for this very reason more and more people, including myself, decided to graciously shift toward it. “There are many reasons why someone may identify themselves as queer: from political reasons to simply feeling that their identity isn’t accurately described by words such as ‘bisexual’ or ‘trans’.
They may also want a term to cover both their sexuality and gender identity, or simply don’t want to be specific about and defined by their sexuality and gender. ‘Queer’ is perfectly ambiguous.Ultimately, self-identifying as queer is empowering and political, and disarms the slur in the mouths of homophobes” [4]. Online communities appear to be keen on this process, and to simple it out, in a Buzzfeed-like short-but-filled-with-gifs article, Pride has broken down six simple reasons as to why, in their opinion, this noun works [1]. Blogger Nicole King has added her own list [ 8], and it’s safe to say the back ups for this decision differ greatly from person to person and are as wide in number as the amount of hair I break when I finally decide to brush it. Many, however, are opposing this technique. One for all, Advocate’s Mark Segal has remarked that many within the community do not feel welcomed by the word, and has showed concerns that this question could be turning heads from bigger issues. “homelessness, poverty, employment discrimination, the need for housing to protect our seniors, and anti-trans violence. Those are problems I’d rather address, not a word — and especially not one that some of the most endangered people in our community see as another barrier” [2]. As much as that might be true, it’s also a fact that reclaiming an insult is an ancient political act; not to mention deeper, bigger problems are still being faced, regardless of whether this debate goes on or not. What’s necessary to highlight here, though, is that some have an awful experience with this Once-Insult. As it goes for every other slur that’s being taken back, it’s been used to hurt and put down people’s lives: it can be triggering. This is the main reason why this movement, that started out in the 1980s, is still polishing this controversy. For instance, “Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, queer has been used to refer degradingly to the LGBT community, and in its earlier uses, it was a dismissive label applied particularly to men who did not adhere to prescribed norms of masculinity” [7]. Essentially, there are more than an handful of different positions on this subject; Autostraddle [9] has tried to set the history straight by copiously writing about the contexts and evolution of the Q-Word. However, the story “it’s not over till it’s over, and it’s never over”. Bottom line is that once again there’s not a univocal response to this semantics riot. As with every identity issue, it’s probably better to accommodate your inner feelings and ride along with them.
Digital World Rareș Zaharia - Lefter
The rift opens to let out the gloomy light blue light. That light, that attractive color you have always associated with coziness, but at the same time with excitement, with safety, but at the same time with adrenaline. That color that glows in your mind at night and in the holograms on the sky during the day. That invades your thoughts and your soul without asking you – and you like it. You like it and you hate it, because as normal as it is, as normal as it makes everything seem, it creates a hollow space inside you. Something just feels wrong, but everything is right. “You will never have to cry.” Everything is safe, everything is regulated, everything is controlled. There has never been and there will never be a better, more perfect world. In the old days, it used to be “Everything at a single touch.” or “Everything at the tip of your fingers.”, when you had a device that could bring you anything in the world: all the music, all the books, all the pictures, all the movies, all at the tip of your fingers. Now you don’t even have a device, it’s all in a chip in your brain. “Everything at your disposal!”, they say. You don’t have to think about anything. It’s all there for you.
You want a new self-driving car? Sure, just think about it and the transfer is made straight from your account. In a couple of days, it will magically appear in your garage. Then, you can enjoy getting up in your new floating living-room. You don’t have to drive it; you don’t have to do anything really. Just admire its plain white seats and table, with the shiny light blue accents. Tell it where to go – it will take you. Tell it what music to let you hear – it will put it on. Tell it what to show you, tell it to fade the windows, tell it to drive you faster – it will. Be hypnotized, be mesmerized, just don’t snap out of it. Because after all – tell it to make you happy, tell it to make you feel alive – it won’t understand. “You will never grow old.” How old are you now even? No, scratch that. Do you even remember how old you are? Do you even care anymore? Because they don’t. What’s a heart attack? You’ve had a metal heart for the most part of your life. You don’t even remember when you got it. You don’t even care that you did. The days before that are so far, so faded; one can only remember so much until starting to forget. Thank God they didn’t manage to conceive a brain with more memory than yours yet. You would surely be operating on that right now.
It’s only a matter of time now, of course. But time…we have beaten time. Ah, the wonders of the modern world! So what if you are half steel – half flesh? You’ll live forever, right? “YOU…” In all of this chaos, you out of all, realize. Who cares if you live forever? This is not life, this is survival, maintaining in a world where you no longer belong. And you haven’t belonged for very very long. “…WILL NEVER…” What can you see anymore with a bionic eye? “See more! See it all!” they say. What they don’t say is you can’t see the moon and the stars anymore. You cannot see the sadness in someone else’s eye, a bionic eye doesn’t show any of that. Heh, what eye to read in, if the eye you’re looking at is a piece of metal, too? What can you think anymore with the circuits implanted all around your brain? You can make infinite calculus, yeah. You can access all the knowledge in the world anytime. But can you think about any such thing as the meaning of your life, or what makes you happy? Or have you forgotten these concepts, disappeared into thin air? “…HAVE TO…”
When it comes down to it, what can you feel with your titanium heart? Do you have a wife? Great. Do you love her? What? Is it that hard? Oh, you don’t know what that is, do you? Not anymore, at least. You stay with her to reproduce, and to take away the boredom of a lonely life. What a wonder! And you know it yourself, you can somehow feel it. For just a bit, you woke up from it. “…DIE.”
Close the rift!
Technology and Media Simona Mihalca
I do not wish to speak in clichés about how the internet has brought us closer and how we are in a global age of information. It is a fact we are so highly aware of time and time again. But that is not enough. With an ever-changing, ever-adapting technological environment, the media cannot stay behind. Journalism has changed, public relations have changed. But this did not happen overnight, it was a continuous process. Sometimes it was so subtle we didn’t even notice it until we were presented with the hard fact that we did not keep up with it. At other times, you can pinpoint certain events that have changed everything. Let’s take a brief look at this last century (or you know, the last 16 years). The year 2000 seems like a recent time, and yet there is a huge difference in everything we do. Changes were exponential and yet we didn’t take the time to reflect on them. It’s a year that seems close, that was lived and documented, but one that is miles away in terms of the evolution of society and not only. If we only look back we can remember the infamous Y2K scare, or the moment when it was generally believed, and a panic that was made only worse by the media, that all computers would malfunction due to the change of the century and everything would be lost.
Technology was seen as something that cannot be understood, an evil way of people who stray from tradition. Only a year after, 2001 marked a reference moment for the evolution of everything in our society, from politics to military strategies, culture, ideology and last but not least media. Everyone can remember, especially those in the USA, but not only, where they were at the time of the 9/11 attacks. It was a moment that shocked us to our core, as we felt personally attacked. The media had a field day, and every kind of theory was thrown. It was the moment that sparked such a huge wave of hatred, islamophobia and xenophobia. It was called “an attack on our way of life”. More than this horrible outing, it marked a turning point in the way news was being reported. We had hours and hours of footage, we could see it clearly. It was the first time an event had been covered unknowingly while it was happening, and not only by the media but by people who happened to capture it in their home videos or photos. It was the beginning of modern journalism, that could make or break it. For some, it made it, for some it broke it. It is such a normal thing right now to know that everyone can just take their phone and immortalise an event.
And yet that doesn’t always make it into journalism, doesn’t make it into a barrier-free, cultural and socially aware portrayal of the media. Coming back to the present, 2016 has not been a peaceful year. We have had so many vicious attacks; we have followed the refugee crisis or the failed military coup in Turkey, which will be mentioned in more detail in the next chapter. We have information at our fingertips and it’s spreading faster than anything. There are exabytes and exabytes of data, which is just being stored. Every day, we upload millions of photos to websites. Whether they serve a bigger purpose or are simply cats and flowers, they are growing in number. Sifting through what has long been an issue of the technological world, through data mining and data warehouses. However, now it is time for the media to be involved in it, with the help of said algorithms. Recreating an event through searching for all the photos posted on different social media and putting them together is a tool we would have never thought of 20 years ago. Having tweets be considered reliable enough reference, especially as news, is yet something else that shows how the world has changed. The problem now is not that you don’t have the data, but managing it and transforming it into reliable information. It is important to talk about these big events that have truly shaped the way we are, the way we think and the way the media is. However, life is still everything that happens in between and we cannot lose track of it and of the bigger picture. We can clearly identify the big moments that shifted the paradigm, but we need to discuss the paradigm extensively. We have to follow it step by step and analyse it, discuss it, see what was good and what was bad, learn from and try to improve in the future. It has never been easier to transmit a message anywhere around the globe, to reach news in an instant, to bypass mainstream media and be able to become an important source of news through a social media channel. The world is in turmoil and unrest, but there is a huge difference that can
be made through spreading information, sharing, collaborating and opening windows into every place that needs one. Technology and media don’t go together only for commercial use. They can be a life-saving tool during natural disasters and attacks, by allowing people to stay informed, to find shelter, to be found and saved. It has also been a great way for charities to expand, to attract funds and volunteers and spread their message. On a more social note, features like the safe marking by Facebook allow people placed in those areas to signal to everyone that they are unharmed or in no immediate danger. We have a duty to be informed and inform others, to educate and support, to bring comfort to the needy and to ask uncomfortable questions to the authority. Power can only be held in check by the will of the people, which can now so clearly be expressed. Special attention has to be paid to the differences brought about by technology and media that are mostly evident through different generations.
It has become the go-to subject of the press to come up with yet another article about what Millennials are doing or not, by portraying them as shallow, lazy and technology obsessed. Being a generation that was born into technology-people who have seen screens and computers from their childhood-means it has been shaped differently. Each generation was allowed to grow up and make mistakes, but the young generations are doing it under a public eye. They need to find their place in a world that tries so hard to cater to them that it ends up imposing a life and personality on them. A vernacular language of millennials has been created, with the advent of memes. English is changing to accommodate the new generation. More than that, millennials have formed a new kind of English without even trying, one that doesn’t have explicit rules and yet everyone involved figured it out natively. What has started as a way to bring a more expressive side of English to the online environment is actually a way of including paraverbal and non-verbal communication into the verbal one. There is an immense difference between white people and White People, between small and smol, between feelings and Feelings™. It’s a language that still evades the media, who is desperately trying to catch up to it without actually wanting to learn and assimilate.
Even the political discourse of the American presidential race has been shaped by this kind of language that was meant to bring in the young crowd, yet failed so badly. It was visible that the speeches and campaigns were designed by Old White Males. We have talked about how the new technologies have influenced the media. But is it just a one way street? It cannot be when everything is so tied together. Where does one start and where does the other end? At the end of the day, these are two intertwined processes which depend on one another. Firstly, we live in a technological era of social network. We can analyse each of the applications I have mentioned before and how they have reached such a huge market share. That’s not a general solution, of course. Take the failed example of Google+, which stands to argue that a social network for the sake of a social network is not a good answer and a viable solution, not even when backed by mega-giant Google. The consumer base is knowledgeable and loyal. At the end of the day, it’s not a homogeneous herd that can just be won or moved as a block. While sharing many characteristics and being divided in clear types, in order for such a thing to work it requires to cater to people individually. We can further talk about the development of
Silicon Valley, the holy place of software engineering and everything computer science. Through its rise, it has also attracted a self-developed “fauna” of media agency, publicity agency and full servicing communication systems. References to it have been present in many media outlets, but none more than the HBO show named Silicon Valley. Startups such as Airbnb and Uber have reached a global scale due to the media attention they have gotten.
We are aware of all of this but we haven’t actually pad attention to it. We have to reflect, to draw our own conclusions and to understand it. Technology is not going anywhere, so we’d better remain relevant. If we want to be involved in our future life and not be just a bystander, accepting what is being thrown and shown, we need to care! You have it all now, technology, media, giving you more ways to change the world than you could ever imagine. Let’s put down those cat videos and the new selfies of a self-proclaimed celebrity and try to make a difference!
The internet as it is Ioana Aghiculesei During the last decade, the world has reinvented itself, so much that we can go out and still remain connected with our loved ones, we travel and we still can be with our friends with a single touch. We know the daily news from the other part of the world and we are all concerned about the same problems that surround us. The young generation, these days, has reached the point in which they believe the internet can provide them with everything. Sometimes this is correct, that internet had saved us many times, but in some cases the information we receive online is very stupid and not helpful at all. I am not saying that the internet is bad and it shouldn’t be here anymore. We can see that along the process of what the internet become, things had developed and changed in a good or a bad way. By using the internet we can find means of international and national transport easily, we can visualize the problems of the world and get a point of what that means, we can do many things on and with the internet, so this isn’t actually a bad thing.
We can use it more than just for communication, we can use it as an entertainment way of spending time, we can do approximately whatever we want. Considering the fact that people are looking up for information every day and the number of the users is 40% of the world’s population, we can understand that the internet is an important factor in our daily lives. On the internet we can shop online, and find the item we bought at our door steps 2 or 3 days after, we can search for information about all kind of domains that interests us the most and we can communicate with our friends any moment of the day. The best thing that made the internet a ground-breaking innovation was the fact that the internet gave us everything in a really short period of time, a much-needed tool for living in an ever-changing, ever-growing world. But what internet did wrong was the fact that it never assured us that we get the best from anything we look up for.
We can never be truly secure with what we receive from the internet, unless the information we looked up for is also in a book, or the person that said something to us, said that thing to our face before too. For the whole world, it was the baggage that simplified everything, that helped us in the most important moments and that usually did a really good job. For me, however, the internet was a confrontation with the information I needed whenever I asked, it let me speak with the ones that were far away from me, but would always make me wonder if I got the best information or if the people I spoke to would be truthful to me. I was always concerned about this amazing thing that would one day actually help people put a mask on their face and never let them be who they actually are. We easily get drunk by the feeling of wanting to be the center of the attention and so the most easy way to capitalize this feeling is to use the internet. The internet is available to all of us and it’s simply a place which requires nothing, there are no rules and, of course, there is no one to respect them, even if there were any. On the internet we see what is beautiful, we see what people want us to see, we see masks and we are happy about it and we wish the same thing for ourselves, we look forward to become what is shown to us, we embrace those “pieces of advice” blissfully. If you think at all of the aspects, this things would help us develop and stop the fakeness and hypocrisy in the world, but actually, when we see that someone has a skinny body, with thigh gap, long legs, flat stomach and beautiful slim arms, we fall into a deep anxiety which changes in time into a really big disorder, which leads us to more health problems, which will follow us our entire life. In the end, we lose our self in the process that is so called “Globalisation” and we get used with many unhealthy habits and we don’t think about the repercurssions. The internet could be a very positive step towards education, organization and participation in a meaningful society, but that depends on every single one of us. We should be happy that we have this kind of “back up”, that we are surrounded by this smart people that simplifies our moves with their innovations and that we live in this world that let’s us feel and be whatever we want, whenever we want. We should be happy about what we have, but most of all we should know how to use what we have and not pass the line, because we can get easily lost. The neurons in a giant brain remain connected, as the internet today and as the neurons that will still be connected and will still make smart relations in the future, the internet will too.
Everything is changing Kovács Anna Sára Our smartphones wake us up in the morning. Going to work or school, we buy our bus tickets from machines with touch screens. If we live in a big city, chances are we travel by subway with autopilot. Using our computers and other electronic devices, we work, study, create art, write, communicate with each other and enjoy a broad scale of different forms of entertainment. Today’s reality would be pretty much unimaginable without high technology: it has become a very important part of our daily lives, and in the past 25 years or so, it has changed our society, probably for ever. There are some people who celebrate this change, there are some who seem to hate it, and there are some (slightly hypocritical) ones who share deep quotes on social media about how high technology ruins humanity – it can be said that most of us have some kind of opinion on the matter. While most of the time, the discourse on this topic often gets on a remarkably low level (I am thinking of the ‘You are stupid! No, you are stupid!’ type of highly scientific debate which is oh so common in the wild jungle of
the internet under any forum or in every kindergarten ever), I believe it would be important to sometimes sit down talk about the disagreements about this in a civilized manner, while trying to understand all parties. Let us admit: especially for those who were grownups when this started, this kind of incredibly fast progress is scary – when a scene you knew as stable changes in the course of a few years, it can feel like you have lost your sense of direction which can be a frightening experience for sure. People being in panic because of the sudden change of technology is not a new phenomenon at all – during the first industrial revolution, when textile factories in England began to use machines for certain aspects of labour that were previously done by people, weavers were afraid the machines would steal their jobs and ruin the textile industry, so they started destroying them. Of course, they are a pretty radical example, but the fear of the new, the unknown and uncertain is normal – much like the other concern often mentioned regarding computerisation.
This problem is called technological dehumanisation, often referred to as “these damn kids are always on their phones” in common language. Although some of the complaints about this don’t lack a certain amount of prejudice (while seemingly just being on my phone, I can be doing almost anything – reading a Shakespeare play, doing research on Japan’s foreign policy, writing my novel or typing this very article), we cannot ignore the fact that in some cases, using these devices too much is actually harmful for our health: staring at screens can damage our eyesight, video games might cause serious addiction, not to mention that living in virtual realities for too long might affect our mental health negatively. It cannot be denied that when we do not know how to use them, the products of industrial science can be just as much of a curse as a blessing. This duality of the effects of technological development can show in other situations too: although certain websites and games targeted at children are designed especially for educational purposes, and the internet made an incredibly great amount of information accessible for the masses, it is widely known that a lot of modern videogames, while improving certain skills, are actually harmful for children’s psychological development and their ability to concentrate on the same thing for a longer space of time. Finding a healthy balance in our usage of these miraculous inventions might be difficult, but in our time, it is essential for leading a decent lifestyle. Technology gives us freedom that not all of us can handle, but we have to learn to. Being able to access an unmeasurable amount of information, getting to learn about other cultures without travelling, making friends with people from foreign countries, getting to share art, music and other great creative content – it all comes at a price. But, with great power, I guess, comes great responsibility.
Instaglitter Andreea Albulescu
With every passing day, the virtual space called ‘social media’ expands more and more. New content appears seemingly out of nowhere and recently it has become pretty hard to tell the difference between illusion and the reality standing behind it. We see all these glamorous pictures and videos of teenagers and young adults who seem to live life at its finest. Always flawless, confident and fierce, with more likes than books in the Library of Congress, they simply slay with every new post. And they surely post a few times a day. After all, they have to make it look as real as possible. Reality, on the other side, tells us that nobody ‘wakes up like this’, unless they have been sleeping with tons of makeup on, which, by the way, is totally not recommended. On the other hand, what reality does not say is that it takes a lot of effort to build a glamorous image of yourself. You cannot afford the luxury of having a bad day and you should always be seen with a kind, yet mysterious, smile on your face. You can only write about your achievements and how marvelous your life is, not telling a soul about failures and disappointments. You also have to think about adding enough glitter to your profile to make everyone want to become like you, but if you overdo it, you will get the exact opposite result and you will end up looking cheap and desperate for attention. Now, on a little more serious note, several psychological studies regarding this matter led to very similar conclusions: behind most envy-worthy posts, there stand loneliness and a serious need for love and appreciation. Moreover, when the everyday life has almost nothing to do with what is posted on the Internet, a lot of people become confused and tend to lose their inner balance.
After all, it is not easy to look like a celebrity all the time and struggle with rent or taxes simultaneously. Many people who try to build a glittery image of themselves have been saving money for who-knows-how many months in order to buy an outrageously expensive outfit, only to post pictures of themselves wearing it. Those posts do not actually reflect who they are, but who they would like to be. So, in order to convince themselves that they are who they say they are, others have to be convince first. If they receive positive feedback and the appreciation they desired, it is only natural they you will keep building up this illusion. The satisfaction received by the number of hearts their post received in so little time will somehow outbalance the actual, real, problems they face offline and the self esteem will temporarily climb up the Empire State Building. So, I am asking now, is it worth it to live in a glittery dream while constantly facing a less happy reality?
I Realized How Fucked I Am
Drake and Future
You know, in history class I remember reading about the struggles of each generation. I sat in class all through high school thinking about how lucky I was to be living in my time, but I subsequently after the Paris attacks it hit me. I live in the shittiest time in recorded history. Please don’t mistake what I’m saying as a comparison to the black plague, any war, or economic depression. This is what I mean. I live in a time where technology is in abundance, but it isn’t a priority to invest in education, environment, or innovation. The cure to cancer, life in other planets, sustainable energy; it’s all in front of us and no one seems to be completely fucking frustrated that we can’t grab it. I live in a time where the color of skin, the amount of wealth, and one’s sexual interest defines quality of life. Regardless of our history and progressive thought, the culture and atmosphere we’ve pushed so hard to create has yet to defuse these ideas from disrupting our lives. People die every day for the way they were born and for some reason people are okay with that being routine.
I live in a time where my sister, daughter, wife (hypothetical) may never see societal success. They may never be treated equally in this quick moving world because somebody, somewhere, at some time thought that women were somehow less. Why are fathers and mothers okay with the fact their child will not be seen as equal for being female? I live in a time where democracy is the mask that the oligarchy wears. The opulence of the great nation I have the “privilege” of inhabiting refuses to give me basic human needs like health care or make education a priority. Instead exploiting me and making me a slave to a logo and a name are the end goals of each person’s intent. I live in a time where war is just another part of life. I’ve become complacent with the fact that people are dying because of radical ideals, money, or politics. What can I do about that? When the elected officials do not represent or regard what I believe. What a time, to be alive. With you and yours, and me and mine.
Myt he or yi st ha t youngpe opl eha vea l wa ysbe e nmor e pa s s i ona t e dur i ng s uc ht i me s ,a nd s i nc et e e na ge r s t oda yha vemor ea c c e s st owe a l t ht ha nbe f or e ,t he y ma t t e ra sc ons ume r sa ndr e be l l i ons e l l spr e t t ywe l l . Al s o,t oda y' sgr ownupsknowt heda r ke rs i de sofr i ot s we l l .The yha vel e a r ne dhi s t or y ,s omeoft he m ha ve s e e nr e a lr e vol ut i onst oo.The yknow wha tt hec i t yor t hec ount r yl ooksl i kea f t e r wa r dsa ndmos toft he m t hi nksi ti sj us tnotwor t hi t .The yknow a boutt he poi nt l e s sbl oods he dt ha ta c c ompa ni e st he s ee ve nt s . Thee ve nt soft hea c t ua lr i ot st ha tha ppe ne dt hr oughout ourhi s t or y ,us ua l l y di s gus torf r i ght e n us -t he i nf ur i a t e d, mur de r ous c r owd i s ha r dl y e ve ra pa r t i c ul a r l ypr e t t yorpoe t i ct hi ngt os e e .Mos tofus gr ow upt oha t et ol ovet hei de aofr e vol ut i on-a nd, mos toft het i me ,t her ootoft hi sa mbi va l e nc ec a nbe f ound i nt hedua l i t y oft hehe r oi cpoe t r ya nd t he vi ol e nc ea ndr ui na t i ont ha tus ua l l yc ome swi t hi t .