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An insider is a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access. The term is used in the context of secret, privileged, hidden or otherwise esoteric information or knowledge: an insider is a "member of the gang" and as such knows things only people in the gang know.
In our complicated and information-rich world, the concept of insider knowledge is popular and pervasive, as a source of direct and useful guidance. In a given situation, an insider is contrasted with an outside expert: the expert can provide an in-depth theoretical analysis that should lead to a practical opinion, while an insider has firsthand, material knowledge. Insider information may be thought of as more accurate and valuable than expert opinion.
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Roles [link]
There are many popular cultural roles ascribed to the insider.
In criminal and social justice, whistle-blowing and leaks are seen as (often heroic) efforts of individual insiders to right wrongs by making secret information public, usually in David and Goliath situations (e.g. by revealing transgressions of governments, large corporations or other powerful organizations). When whistle-blowers are cultivated by outside forces, they are known as informants and informers.
In finance, insider trading on the stock market is widely thought of as a means of rapidly increasing wealth for the privileged few who have access to private business information. This is at times perceived as profiting unfairly at the expense of others. Some forms of insider trading are illegal.
In everyday life, insider knowledge is seen as a source of practical information that is contrary to the standard or official advice, delivered in the form of tips from insiders in a wide range of industries. Industry insiders tell outsiders what really goes on behind the scenes, so that they can take advantage of that knowledge. Related to this is personal insider access, where advantageous info can be gained through "knowing someone" ("I'll find out what really goes on from my brother the cop, or my aunt the judge, or my friend who works in accounting").
In business, tips take the form of insider knowledge used by individuals and companies, often away from the view of the public. Jobs and contracts, while openly advertised, in fact go to people based on exchanges of various inside info between key parties. Here, the insider channels can themselves be revealed to a wider audience by other insiders.
A variation of this is the insider-versus-expert authority conflict, where the uncredentaled, "non-expert" insider has a better functional knowledge of a situation, based on "how things really work", than the outside experts, whose expertise is often embodied in a set of rules. For example, there is the farmer who sees folly in new agricultural regulations created by a team of government experts without firsthand farming experience. Or the office staff that keeps a business running smoothly by unofficially ignoring and working around impractical rules devised by management consultants.
In the media, investigative reports, exposés and inside stories are popular genres that usually rely on insiders speaking out, with results ranging from the trivial to the monumentally whistle-blowing.
Definitions [link]
Insider is a fluid term: depending on the usage, it can have strongly positive, negative, or neutral connotations. It is probably safe to say that in all contexts, being an insider implies relatively great, if fleeting, personal power, and therefore engenders some form of respect, and in certain situations, fear.
Active participation is a defining factor: being a witness alone does not make a person an insider. An insider is usually one who is privy to, not simply facts and procedures, but also the day-to-day working relationships and dynamics of people in a group.
Underlying the concept of the insider is a widespread belief, and fact, that in most human social activities, there are two simultaneous, intertwined systems or processes at work: the "way things seem" and the "way they really are". In any one situation, the way things seem may or may not actually be how things work most of the time, but there is always some significant deviation, usually through the clandestine activity of small numbers of individuals within the larger group. Revealing these activities is the role of the insider.
In this way, an insider comes into existence only on or near the act of revealing what they know to an outside party. The majority of people have some area of insider knowledge, but they only become insiders when tapped for that information.
In law, a formal value is assigned to insider knowledge when it is cited to qualify a person as an expert witness. It is also recognized in intelligence and law enforcement, when insiders are deliberately created in the form of deep cover spies and undercover officers, to obtain knowledge not available through surveillance and investigation.
Two broad classes of insider are commonly recognized: those who are principal players in close-knit groups with specific objectives (e.g. the upper management of a corporation; members of a secret society), and participants in a general area of endeavour, such as a particular industry or profession, a company, or a government department (e.g. a lawyer, an employee of XYZ Inc., a postal worker).
Media [link]
A casual survey of popular English-language titles indicates the prevalence and popularity of the insider concept in contemporary media:
- AppleInsider[1] - "Reports, inside information, and rumors." Web site for followers of Apple Computer.
- E! True Hollywood Story[2] - "Want the inside scoop on Tinseltown's steamiest secrets? Watch E!'s Emmy-nominated documentary series for the real Story..." Highly popular US TV series.
- The Insider (1999) - Based-on-a-true-story, big budget Hollywood feature film chronicles the efforts of Jeffrey Wigand a tobacco industry whistle-blower and a failure to report at CBS News.
See also [link]
References [link]
https://wn.com/Insider
Insider (album)
Insider is the second album of the Manchester alternative rock band Amplifier. It was released in 2006 by the German-based label SPV on 29 September in Germany and Austria then in the rest of Europe on 2 October.
Track listing
All songs by Sel Balamir
Credits
External links
Stargate SG-1 (season 10)
Season ten of Stargate SG-1, an American-Canadian television series, began airing on July 14, 2006 on Sci Fi Channel (United States). The final season of the series concluded after 20 episodes on March 13, 2007 on British Sky One, which overtook the Sci-Fi Channel in mid-season. The series was developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner. Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, Joseph Mallozzi, and Paul Mullie served as executive producers. Season ten regular cast members include Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Beau Bridges, Claudia Black, and Michael Shanks.
The season (and the Ori arc of the show) is continued with direct-to-DVD film Stargate: The Ark of Truth.
Reception
Will O'Brien of TV Squad thought "Company of Thieves" was, for the most part, a good one, despite a disappointing performance by Rudolf Martin. Jason Van Horn of IGN, however, was less than impressed, suggesting that the episode just wasn't interesting – that the Lucian Alliance was an enemy no one cares about and that Paul Emerson wasn't enough of a character within the show for his death to have had any meaningful impact.
Prayer
Prayer (from the Latin precari "to ask earnestly, beg, entreat") is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication.
Prayer can be a form of religious practice, may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words, song or complete silence. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creedal statement, or a spontaneous utterance in the praying person. There are different forms of prayer such as petitionary prayer, prayers of supplication, thanksgiving, and praise. Prayer may be directed towards a deity, spirit, deceased person, or lofty idea, for the purpose of worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing transgressions (sins) or to express one's thoughts and emotions. Thus, people pray for many reasons such as personal benefit, asking for divine grace, spiritual connection, or for the sake of others.
Some anthropologists believe that the earliest intelligent modern humans practiced a form of prayer. Today, most major religions involve prayer in one way or another; some ritualize the act of prayer, requiring a strict sequence of actions or placing a restriction on who is permitted to pray, while others teach that prayer may be practiced spontaneously by anyone at any time.
Christian prayer
Prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms of Christian prayer.
Christian prayers are diverse: they can be completely spontaneous, or read entirely from a text, like the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The most common prayer among Christians is the "Lord's Prayer", which according to the gospel accounts (e.g. Matthew 6:9-13) is how Jesus taught his disciples to pray. "The Lord's Prayer" is a model for prayers of adoration, confession and petition in Christianity.
A broad, three stage characterization of prayer begins with vocal prayer, then moves on to a more structured form in terms of meditation, then reaches the multiple layers of contemplation, or intercession.
There are two basic settings for Christian prayer: corporate (or public) and private. Corporate prayer includes prayer shared within the worship setting or other public places. These prayers can be formal written prayers or informal extemporaneous prayers. Private prayer occurs with the individual praying either silently or aloud within a private setting. Prayer exists within multiple different worship contexts and may be structured differently. These types of contexts may include:
Prayer (disambiguation)
Prayer is the active effort to communicate with a deity or higher being.
Prayer or Prayers may also refer to:
In music:
Other uses:
