Computer Forensics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Computer Forensics - Research Paper Example The intention of this study is computer forensics as a way of searching and analyzing data stored in computers and other electronic media. Computer forensics aims at forensically examining digital data in order to present facts and opinions concerning the information gained. It is a relatively young forensic science when compared to the other forensics. The process has been highly misunderstood both in meaning and application. Computer forensics is commonly used to refer to the analysis and reporting of the information collected from the forensic analysis of digital-related media. It is a procedure which has been used for as long as computers have been in use. In recent years, cases of computer crimes have been on the rise. This has necessitated the adoption of computer forensics as a way of trying to nab criminals over the internet. The spread of computer related crimes has risen as the use of computers increases. In the modern world, almost all people use a computer to perform a du ty within the course of the day. People have fallen victims to computer crimes as computers are considered to be safe. Installation of security software in computers has not been able to prevent some of the crimes occurring in the cyberspace nowadays. However, this alone cannot be enough to protect data from access by unauthorized persons. There are numerous cyberspace crimes commonly occurring in modern times. The range of these crimes keeps increasing as technological advancements continue to set in. Online frauds Online frauds have become a common form of computer crimes. There have been a rising number of stock scams instigated by criminal traders over the internet. The effects of these frauds have been adverse on the business world. People have been tricked by conmen online posing to be selling items. Once payment has been done, the delivery of goods bought fails to occur. In the stock market scams, the prices of stocks have been affected by frauds carried out online. These fra uds can happen to any company, and there is a need for companies to ensure they protect themselves from possible fraudsters. Hacking This can be termed as the process of illegally accessing protected information in a computer system. It has become a common problem in the computer security framework (Thomas, 2002). Though efforts continue to be made to curb the problem, new technologies keep on being created by the hackers. The problem of hacking has been extensively linked to numerous security system failures. Hacking into national security systems has been identified as a commonly employed tactic by terrorists. When an individual hacks into a company server, he can be able to alter the information contained in the server. Virus These can be defined as programs created to maliciously

Love in Time of Cholera Essay Example for Free

Love in Time of Cholera Essay Time of CholeraLove, as Mickey and Sylvia, in their 1956 hit single, remind us, love is strange. As we grow older it gets stranger, until at some point mortality has come well within the frame of our attention, and there we are, suddenly caught between terminal dates while still talking a game of eternity. Its about then that we may begin to regard love songs, romance novels, soap operas and any live teen-age pronouncements at all on the subject of love with an increasingly impatient, not to mention intolerant, ear. At the same time, where would any of us be without all that romantic infrastructure, without, in fact, just that degree of adolescent, premortal hope? Pretty far out on lifes limb, at least. Suppose, then, it were possible, not only to swear love forever, but actually to follow through on it to live a long, full and authentic life based on such a vow, to put ones alloted stake of precious time where ones heart is? This is the extraordinary premise of Gabriel Garcia Marquezs new novel  Love in the Time of Cholera,  one on which he delivers, and triumphantly. In the postromantic ebb of the 70s and 80s, with everybody now so wised up and even growing paranoid about love, once the magical buzzword of a generation, it is a daring step for any writer to decide to work in loves vernacular, to take it, with all its folly, imprecision and lapses in taste, at all seriously that is, as well worth those higher forms of play that we value in fiction. For Garcia Marquez the step may also be revolutionary. I think that a novel about love is as valid as any other, he once remarked in a conversation with his friend, the journalist Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (published as El Olor de la Guayaba, 1982). In reality the duty of a writer the revolutionary duty, if you like is that of writing well. And oh boy does he write well. He writes with impassioned control, out of a maniacal serenity: the Garcimarquesian voice we have come to recognize from the other fiction has matured, found and developed new resources, been brought to a level where it can at once b e classical and familiar, opalescent and pure, able to praise and curse, laugh and cry, fabulate and ing and when called upon, take off and soar, as in this description of a turn-of-the-century balloon trip: From the sky they could see, just as God saw them, the ruins of the very old and heroic city of Cartagena de Indias, the most beautiful in the world, abandoned by its inhabitants because of the sieges of the English and the atrocities of the buccaneers. They saw the walls, still intact, the brambles in the streets, the fortifications devoured by heartsease, the marble palaces and the golden altars and the viceroys rotting with plague inside their armor. They flew over the lake dwellings of the Trojas in Cataca, painted in lunatic colors, with pens holding iguanas raised for food and balsam apples and crepe myrtle hanging in the lacustrian gardens. Excited by everyones shouting, hundreds of naked children plunged into the water, jumping out of windows, jumping from the roofs of the houses and from the canoes that they handled with astonishing skill, and diving like shad to recover the bundles of clothing, the bottles of cough syrup, the beneficent food that the beautiful lady with the feathered hat threw to them from the basket of the balloon. This novel is also revolutionary in daring to suggest that vows of love made under a presumption of immortality youthful idiocy, to some may yet be honored, much later in life when we ought to know better, in the face of the undeniable. This is, effectively, to assert the resurrection of the body, today as throughout history an unavoidably revolutionary idea. Through the ever-subversive medium of fiction, Garcia Marquez shows us how it could all plausibly come about, even wild hope for somebody out here, outside a book, even as inevitably beaten at, bought and resold as we all must have become if only through years of simple residence in the injuring and corruptive world. Heres what happens. The story takes place between about 1880 and 1930, in a Caribbean seaport city, unnamed but said to be a composite of Cartagena and Barranquilla as well, perhaps, as cities of the spirit less officially mapped. Three major characters form a triangle whose hypotenuse is Florentino Ariza, a poet dedicated to love both carnal and transcendent, though his secular fate is with the River Company of the Caribbean and its small fleet of paddle-wheel steamboats. As a young apprentice telegrapher he meets and falls forever in love with Fermina Daza, a beautiful adolescent with . . . almondsshaped eyes, who walks with a natural haughtiness . . . her does gait making her seem immune to gravity. Though they exchange hardly a hundred words face to face, they carry on a passionate and secret affair entirely by way of letters and telegrams, even after the girls father has sound out and taken her away on an extended journey of forgetting. But when she returns, Fermina rejects the lovesick young man after all, and eventually meets and marries instead Dr. Juvenal Urbino who, like the hero of a I9th-century novel, is well born, a sharp dresser, somewhat stuck on himself but a terrific catch nonetheless. For F lorentino, loves creature, this is an agonizing setback, though nothing fatal. Having sworn to love Fermina Daza forever, he settles in to wait for as long as he has to until shes free again. This turns out to be 51 years, 9 months and 4 days later, when suddenly, absurdly, on a Pentecost Sunday around 1930, Dr. Juvenal Urbino dies, chasing a parrot upon mango tree. After the funeral, when everyone else has left, Florentino steps forward with his hat over his heart Fermina, he declares, I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love. Shocked and furious, Fermina orders him out of the house. And dont show your face again for the years of life that are left to you . . . I hope there are very few of them. The hearts eternal vow has run up against the worlds finite terms. The confrontation occurs near the end of the first chapter, which recounts Dr. Urbinos last day on earth and Ferminas first night as a widow. We then flash back 50 years, into the time of cholera. The m iddle chapters follow the lives of the three characters through the years of the Urbinos marriage and Florentino Arizas rise at the River Company, as one century ticks over into the next. The last chapter takes up again where the first left off, with Florentine now, in the face of what many men would consider major rejection, resolutely setting about courting Fermina Daza all over again, doing what he must to win her love. In their city, throughout a turbulent half-century, death has proliferated everywhere, both as el colera, the fatal disease that sweeps through in terrible intermittent epidemics, and as la colera, defined as choler or anger, which taken to its extreme becomes warfare. Victims of one, in this book, are more than once mistaken for victims of the other. War, always the same war, is presented here not as the continuation by other means of any politics that can possibly matter, but as a negative force, a plague, whose only meaning is death on a massive scale. Against this dark ground, lives, so precarious, are often more and less conscious projects of resistance, even of sworn opposition, to death. Dr. Urbino, like his father before him, becomes a leader in the battle against the cholera, promoting public health measures obsessively, heroically. Fermina, more conventionally but with as much courage, soldiers on in her chosen role of wife, mother and household manager, maintaining a safe perimeter for her family. Florentino embraces Eros, deaths well-known long-time enemy, setting off on a career of seductions that eventually add up to 622 long term liaisons, apart from . . . countless fleeting adventures, while maintaining, impervious to time, his deeper fidelity, his unquenchable hope for a life with Fermina. At the end he can tell her truthfully though she doesnt believe it for a minute that he has remained a virgin for her. So far as this is Florentinos story, in a way his Bildungsroman, we find ourselves, as he earns the suspension of our disbelief, cheering him on, wishing for the success of this stubborn warrior against age and death, and in the name of love. But like the best fictional characters, he insists on his autonomy, refusing to be anything less ambiguous than human. We must take him as he is, pursuing his tomcat destiny out among the streets and lovers refuges of this city with which he lives on terms of such easy intimacy, carrying with him a potential for disasters from which he remains safe, immunized by a comical but dangerous indifference to consequences that often borders on criminal neglect. The widow Nazaret, one of many widows he is fated to make happy, seduces him during a nightlong bombardment from the cannons of an attacking army outside the city. Ausencia Santanders exquisitely furnished home is burgled of every movable item while she and Florentino are frolicking in bed. A girl he picks up at Carnival time turns out to be a homicidal machete-wielding escapee from the local asylum. Olimpia Zuletas husband murders her when he sees a vulgar endearment Florentino has been thoughtless enough to write on her body in red paint. His lovers amorality causes not only individual misfortune but ecological destruction as well: as he learns by the end of the book, his River Companys insatiable appetite for firewood to fuel its steamers has wiped out the great forests that once bordered the Magdalena river system, leaving a wasteland where nothing can ive. With his mind clouded by his passion for Fermina Daza he never took the trouble to think about it, and by the time he realized the truth, there was nothing anyone could do except bring in a new river. In fact, dumb luck has as much to do with getting Florentino through as the intensity or purity of his dream. The authors great affection for this character does not entirely overcome a sly concurrent subversion of the ethic of machismo, of which Garcia Marquez is not especially fond, having described it elsewhere simply as usurpation of the rights of others. Indeed, as weve come to expect from his fiction, its the women in this story who are stronger, more attuned to reality. When Florentino goes crazy with live, developing symptoms like those of cholera, it is his mother Transito Ariza, who pulls him out of it. His innumerable lecheries are rewarded not so much for any traditional masculine selling points as for his obvious and aching need to be loved. Women go for it. He is ugly and sad, Fermina Dazas cousin Hildebranda tells her, but he is all love. And Garcia Marquez, straight-faced teller of tall tales, is his biographer. At the age of 19, as he has reported, the young writer underwent a literary epiphany on reading the famous opening lines of Kafkas  Metamorphosis,  in which a man wakes to find himself transformed into a giant insect. Gosh, exclaimed Garcia Marquez, using in Spanish a word in English we may not, thats just the way my grandmother used to talk! And that, he adds is when novels began to interest him. Much of what come [sic] in his work to be called magical realism was, as he tells it, simply the presence of that grandmotherly voice. Nevertheless, in this novel we have come a meaningful distance from Macondo, the magical village in  One Hundred Years of Solitude  where folks routinely sail through the air and the dead remain in everyday conversation with the living: we have descended, perhaps in some way down the same river, all the way downstream, into war and pestilence and urban confusions to the edge of a Caribbean haunted less by individual dead than by a history which has brought so appallingly many down, without ever having sopoken, or having spoken gone unheard, or having been heard, left unrecorded. As revolutionary as writing well is the duty to redeem these silences, a duty Garcia Marquez has here fulfilled with honor and compassion. It would be presumptuous to speak of moving beyond  One Hundred Years of Solitude  but clearly Garcia Marquez has moved somewhere else, not least into deeper awareness of the ways in which, as Florentino comes to learn, nobody teaches life anything. There are still delightful and stunning moments contrary to fact, still told with the same unblinking humor presences at the foot of the bed, an anonymously delivered doll with a curse on it, the sinister parrot, almost a minor character, whose pursuit ends with the death of Dr. Juvenal Urbino. But the predominant claim on the authors attention and energies comes from what is not so contrary to fact, a human consensus about reality in which love and the possibility of loves extinction are the indispensable driving forces, and varieties of magic have become, if not quite peripheral, then at least more thoughtfully deployed in the service of an expanded vision, matured, darker than before but no less clement. It could be argued that this is the only honest way to write about love, that without the darkness and the finitude there might be romance, erotica, social comedy, soap opera all genres, by the way, that are well represented in this novel but not the Big L. What that seems to require, along with a certain vantage point, a certain level of understanding, is an authors ability to control his own love for his characters, to withhold from the reader the full extent of his caring, in other words not to lapse into drivel. In translating  Love in the Time of Cholera,  Edith Grossman has been attentive to this element of discipline, among many nuances of the authors voice to which she is sensitively, imaginatively attuned. My Spanish isnt perfect, but I can tell that she catches admirably and without apparent labor the swing and translucency of his writing, its slang and its classicism, the lyrical stretches and those end-of-sentence zingers he likes to hit us with. It is a faithful and beautiful piece of work. There comes a moment, early in his career at the River Company of the Caribbean when Florentino Ariza, unable to write even a simple commercial letter without some kind of romantic poetry creeping in, is discussing the problem with his uncle Leo XII, who owns the company. Its no use, the young man protests Love is the only thing that interests me. The trouble, his uncle replies, is that without river navigation, there is no love. For Florentino, this happens to be literally true: the shape of his life is defined by two momentous river voyages, half a century apart. On the first he made his decision to return and live forever in the city of Fermina Daza, to persevere in his love for as long as it might take. On the second, through a desolate landscape, he journeys into love and against time, with Fermina, at last by his side. There is nothing I have read quite like this astonishing final chapter, symphonic, sure in its dynamics and tempo, moving like a riverboat too, its author and pilot, with a lifetimes experience steering us unerringly among hazards of skepticism and mercy, on this river we all know, without whose navigation there is no love and against whose flow the effort to return is never worth a less honorable name than remembrance at the very best it results in works that can even return our worn souls to us, among which most certainly belongs  Love in the Time of Cholera,  this shining and heartbreaking novel.

The Character of Dee in Everyday Use :: Everyday Use Essays

The Character of Dee in Everyday Use While reading the story "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, I found that I had a surprising amount of anger towards the character named Dee, or as she prefers Wangero. The anger that was instilled in me was caused by numerous comments and actions that occurred throughout reading the short story. I feel she was selfish, uneducated and unappreciative of her past and that the way she carried herself was ridiculous. Right from the beginning of my readings you are introduced to a character named Dee, before you ever get the opportunity to warm up to her character, she shows a very selfish characteristic and that trait is repeatedly brought out in the story. From the start, shortly after the introduction to her new boyfriend, Dee begins to ask for things. For instance, the desk and the chair, Dee wants to take them to help spice up her and Hakim the Barber's house when those objects are still in "everyday use" in their own home. Another instance is when she asks her mother for the quilts her grandmother had quilted, her mother said they were for Maggie (Dee's sister), Dee's reply was that Maggie wouldn't appreciate the quilts and Maggie, being the beautiful person she is, says her older sister can have them. Another reason I had feelings of anger for the character Dee, was that she was uneducated. Not the usual education, such as in college, because she had that, but the education of her heritage, or past. The second statement to her mother was when her mother says "Dee", Dee replied saying her new name Wangero, followed by the statement that Dee is dead and that she could no longer bear the name of the people that oppress her. At no point during the story was Dee oppressed or even mentioned being oppressed in the past. Then she tries to track back where her name came from, to show her mother it was a slave name or something along those lines. Her mother tracked it back as far as she could remember and no such thing was pointed out. To move on to another situation where Dee made herself look foolish and uneducated is, when they are leaving, she tells her mother that she just doesn't understand.

What Is the Importance of Leonard’s Body Tattoos in Memento?

Memento (2000) is a movie directed by Christopher Nolan that follows the life of Leonard, a man who, after an accident, suffers from short-term memory loss. When Lenny tries to save his wife from a possible rape, he hits his head on the floor damaging the way his brain functions, losing his capacity to create new memories. Every action of the film is set around a single objective; the relentless pursuit of the alleged murderer of Leonard’s wife.In order to be able to follow up the mystery, Lenny has developed a system where he writes up notes to himself, takes pictures of important people and events, and, most importantly, tattoos his body with important â€Å"facts† to remember clues as he tracks his wife’s murderer. Lenny’s tattoos are extremely important in Memento (2000) once they provide a memory trigger for the protagonist, building up his feelings of anger and revenge; they are key in character development and essential for the framework story.Lenny ’s tattoos are a memory source for the protagonist, allowing him to remember the murder and building up mixed emotions regarding the case. The character has different tattoos in the front part of his body representing what he believes are facts and key pieces on the murder of his wife. One of them in particular, located on his chest and written backwards says: â€Å"John G. raped and murdered my wife†. Lenny’s tattoos not only helps the protagonist remember his goal, to catch and kill whoever it was who hurt his wife, but also feeds his feelings of revenge and anger towards the killer.When Lenny believes he has uncovered Teddy as being the killer of his wife, for example, he quickly catches sight of his tattoo establishing a casual connection that motivates him to go after Teddy and kill him. Lenny has a visual memory, even though he must relearn daily who he has met and what he has learned since the incident, he still finds strength and is encouraged by the pow er of his tattoos to keep looking for John G. In the movie, tattoos have hidden meanings and help reveal and develop the character.One in particular, the â€Å"Remember Sammy Jankins† on Leonard’s hand, provides a miniature of the movie as a whole, as it has multiple meanings. Leonard believes that the tattoo is there to remind him that unlike Sammy, who has the same condition as him, he has a system and can therefore, control his ‘disease’. However, further in the movie we discover yet another hidden meaning in the tattoo. Sammy has never existed the way Leonard believes, in fact, the tattoo is a reminder that Lenny lies to himself, â€Å"not only the fiction of the cautionary tale of Sammy Jankins, but also of his inability to tell when people are lying† (Heuser, 2011).The tattoo represents Lenny’s lies and struggle to believe on what he wants to see as the truth, it unwinds a closer understanding of the protagonist giving meaning to the mo vie. Tattoos are essential for the flow and understanding of the story. They are introduced without many explanations, throughout the movie; however, different events and flashbacks allow the viewer to have a closer understanding of them. The viewer first discovers the various tattoos that cover Lenny’s body as he undresses in front of a mirror.In the same scene, â€Å"medium, close-up and point of view shots fragment Leonard’s body into readable tattooed statements which align the spectator’s knowledge with Leonard’s sense of being in the world† (Molloy, 2010). The viewer starts to slowly become familiar with the â€Å"facts† tattooed on the protagonist’s body and connect each tattoo to each other, making sense and framing the story. Leonard’s tattoos are essential in the progress of the framework story in Memento (2000), it is key in character development and it is a source of memory trigger for the protagonist.Leonard lies to himself, and his tattoos are simple excuses for him to believe on what he wants to be the truth, embracing his feelings of anger and revenge. Because he is covered in tattoos, â€Å"his subjectivity is made obvious, whereas culture and memories are literally inscribed onto him† (Blake, 2004); additionally, the lastingness of tattooing is what helps trap Leonard in his limitless search for his wife’s murderer.No matter what happens, Lenny wakes up every day, facing the â€Å"facts† and goes off on his search. Therefore, tattooing his body helps Leonard accept the murder and enhances his feelings of anger influencing his unstoppable search for revenge. Leonard is a locus of signs and his tattoos are important in the development of the story, making the final connection to what is believed to be the truth and the actual truth, reinforcing character development as well as the spectator’s identification with Lenny.Reference: Blake, L. (2004). Snapshots of M emento: Angles of Interpretation. George Washinton University. Heuser, D. (2011). Memento – What was this movie about again? Retrieved from: http://www. davidheuser. com/Memento. html (Feb 22, 2012). Todd, Jennifer (producer) & Nolan, Christopher (director). (2000). Memento. [Motion Picture]. (Available from Helkon, USA). Molloy, C. (2010). Memento. Adinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ?

Gas Laws Lab Essay

Introduction: In this lab we are going to investigate behavior of gas by working with a molecular model. Factors that effect gas behavior our pressure, temperature, volume and the number of moles. We are going to keep to variables constant and record the relationship or change in the remaining factors. Independent variables: Temperature, number of moles, volume Dependent variable: Pressure Controlled variable: apparatus used (computer program downloaded from the internet), volume and number of moles Question: What is the relationship between pressure and temperature of a gas filled container with constant volume and number of moles? Hypothesis: temperature and pressure are directly related. As temperature increases pressure increases. Pressure is directly proportional to temperature when the number of moles and volume are kept constant. Procedure: Log on to the Internet and visit heinnemann.co.uk/hotlinks and enter the express code 4266S. Click on weblink 3.2 the simulation on the right will appear. In this simulation one can set the parameters as per desire. For this experiment we need to set the volume and number of moles constant. Three trials are done for accuracy. For the first trial, we need to set the volume constant. The volume will remain set to the default value. Then pump 100 heavy species particle in the container and keep them the same until the next trial. The temperature will automatically go to 300K, remove heat to lower the temperature to 150K. Record the pressure produced. Add 50K each time, before taking another reading until the temperature reach 500K. Record the change in pressure with simultaneous temperature in a table. Before starting the next trail hit the reset button. Before starting the second trail change the depth of the container to 3.4nm. Measure the depth with a ruler (the ruler is given as a tool for measurement). Pump 100 more heavy species in the container to make a total of 200 particles. Increase the temperature as done before with similar intervals and record the pressure in form of a table. Hit the reset again and start the final trail. For the third trial, increase the depth of the container to 9nm and pump in a total of 300 heavy species particle. Record the temperature and pressure in a table. The uncertainty in this experiment for temperature is +0.5K and for pressure is +0.5 Pa. Use the tables to graph the data to show the relationship between temperature and pressure. Conclusion and Evaluation: From the data collected and the graphs processed we can make out that pressure is directly related to temperature when the number of moles of particles and the volume of the container is kept constant. We know that as temperature increases the particles gain more energy and collide at a faster rate with each other and the wall of the container. As the number of collisions increases, the more the particles exert force on the walls of the container. The force that the particles have on the walls is known as the pressure. All the 3 graphs have a linear relationship and the slopes of their lines are the coefficient of the temperature because temperature is directly related to pressure. As shown by the graphs temperature is directly proportional to pressure. In other words keep the volume and the amount of gas constant and change the temperature (by heating or cooling) and observe the change in pressure (Pressure law: P=const*T). The lines are not straight and a line of best fit is used. The unevenness of the lines on the graphs shows that there are slight errors involved in the experiment. The errors included are systematic, analytical and random. As the pressure was fluctuating the value noted was randomly chosen. The temperature was sometimes a point higher or lower, which again caused the pressure gauge to give a slight of value. Also the uncertainty in the measurement of volume showed that there were some errors also included while taking the measurement of the container. Suggestions for improvements: The lab was precise because of the number of trials done but it could be accurate by reducing the errors made in the experiment. Try to hit the raise the temperature of the container in the simulation accurately if that is not possible try setting the default temperature to the desired value and record the pressure. This would allow the pressure gauge to be more accurate. When taking measurement of the container for volume with a ruler try to avoid the parallax error, which is created by not looking at the measurement perpendicularly. Take the mode value from all of the values produced by the pressure gauge and wait a minute or two after setting the temperature and before noting the temperature. This helps to get a more accurate reading because the particles get enough time to settle. By recording the pressure value after giving certain breaks in the experiment will help the lines on all the three graph to be less uneven and more accurate.

How to prepare a report or write an article youve been assigned to do.

How to prepare a report or write an article youve been assigned to do. Research.The first thing you should do when you've been assigned to prepare a report or write an article is research the topic in much the same way as you've researched topics for essays or reports.On my first day as a reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press I was assigned to interview the Winnipeg singer Ed Evanko. I had never heard of him so I checked the newspaper's archives for articles. I took such copious notes that I had the first eight paragraphs completed before I met him that afternoon. If Ed Evanko so much as coughed I'd have my story.However, the research served another purpose. I now knew what sort of questions I should ask him.You might wonder how on earth can anyone write a news story by devoting the first eight paragraphs to archived material? I decided it wasn't going to be a news article, it was going to be a personality piece; after all I had reading a dozen personality pieces about him in the Free Press.Large sculpture of a scallop on the beach at Aldeb...The article was prominently displayed the next day on the first page of the local news section, complete with a photo of Mr. Evanko. Although the writing was flat, wooden, nd completely lacking in rhythmn and tempo it proved serviceable. The article began as follows:Fifteen years ago an 11-year-old boy made his stage debut in the part of a one-armed wooden soldier at Faraday School in West Kildonan.Edward Evanko, tenor and actor, recently returned to Winnipeg to play a leading role in The Fantasticks.Since that first appearance, Mr. Evanko, a Winnipegger, has studied under Stefan Pollman, a friend of the late Johannes Brahms, worked under the direction of the British composer, Benjamin Britten, and played before the Queen Mother.His prospects...

Why you need to stop researching and start writing - Emphasis

Why you need to stop researching and start writing Why you need to stop researching and start writing Theres no getting away from it: research is addictive. And theres a good reason for that – were all hard-wired to search. Its a survival mechanism, programmed into us by evolution. As hunter-gatherers on the savannah, we needed something that would shake us from our slumber; that would make us get off our fur-clad backsides and look for food or shelter. As you need both to live, this was undeniably a positive trait. And so those ancestors who happened to get a kick out of finding things survived, while those who could take or leave the wildebeest-tracking or shelter-finding starved or risked attack at dawn. As a result, we all became programmed to look. That kick you get when you find something new is actually a surge in the production of the feel-good hormone dopamine. And where once it was useful, these days it can actually be a real handicap. Thats because we get a dopamine rush not just from finding food or shelter, but from finding information. And information is everywhere. We dont even need to find it: it finds us. In todays always-on, smartphone-dominated world, it can sometimes feel like information hunts or even haunts us. But we still have our original programming in place. We still want information. And our tech-connected world provides it in spades. We look, we find, we feel good (for a moment, at least), and we look for more. This positive feedback loop is a recipe for addiction. And addicts are what millions of us are. Dopamine compresses time. It makes an hour seem like a few minutes. (Time really does fly when youre having fun.) As Clay Johnson says in his book, The Information Diet, A quick check of email when we get home can often end up in evenings entirely lost to LCD screens. It actually takes energy to avoid information, because resisting the urge to search means overcoming millions of years of evolution. And when information is all around us, avoiding it can be exhausting. And so we come to writing – or, more specifically, not writing, because were still researching. When youve been given free licence to go hunting for facts, its going to be hard to stop – especially if youre an information junkie already. If youre researching a report, every new little nugget of data, every intriguing fact, gives you a (perhaps subconscious) frisson of pleasure and spurs you on to look for more. Research is also a safe place. As long as youre looking, your report is still perfect. As long as youre still searching, you dont have to face the terrifying prospect of being crippled by writers block. In the end, research itself can become another displacement activity. At some point, there will come a time when you have to stop researching and start writing. What you need to do to overcome this is start to stack the odds in your favour again. So here are five ways to do exactly that: 1. Set a time limit on your research A project without a deadline is a hobby. If it is a hobby, then great. But if youre being paid to find information, then at some point youre going to have to report back. Staying in research mode forever is pointless, so set a time limit. Put a date in your calendar or – for more regular, smaller projects – give yourself just a day or two, or even just a few hours. Then start writing. 2. Use placeholders in what you write It can actually be profitable to write with small gaps in your knowledge. I wrote this piece in 45 minutes, but I was only able to do that because I didnt allow myself time to look up the name of the author of the book I mentioned above. Instead, I just wrote [insert name of author] and carried on writing. You can come back and fill in the gaps later. 3. Read offline The internet is one giant warren of research rabbit holes that lead you to distracting websites (and usually, I find, to social media or endless news sites). Its all too easy to disappear down one while fact-finding, and to be gone for hours. Apps like Pocket  and Evernote overcome this. Pocket, for example, lets you send information (articles, videos and images) to an app that you read offline (on any platform), in a layout that looks more like a book and without distracting menus. It also lets you tag the items you add to it, as does Evernote. Its a real boon to effective research. 4. Get some sleep Burning the midnight oil could actually be working against you. It takes immense willpower to stay super-focused and – ultimately – to stop researching. And your brain needs to be on top form in order to connect ideas and get writing. No amount of coffee will push ideas quickly enough around a brain fogged by tiredness. 5. Practise information hygiene Wean yourself off your information addiction by limiting how much information can chase you. Every smartphone or computer notification is a distraction that you need energy to ignore. (The author Kathy Sierra calls them cognitive leaks.) If you give in to them, youll reinforce your addiction to research. If you dont, youll leach away energy – energy that would be much better spent writing. Ive got a confession: Im an information addict too. I love that dopamine rush. In fact, one of lifes more old-school pleasures for me is to visit a university library. I love the heady aroma of centuries of accumulated knowledge. But thats generally not why you research. You do it not just to discover, but to share. And if you dont share it, no one will ever know that you discovered it in the first place. So, stop researching, and start writing. Image credit: Pet Greens Live Catnip

Biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady

Biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier; July 28, 1929–May 19, 1994) was the wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. During his presidency, she became known for her fashion sense and for her redecoration of the White House. After the assassination of her husband in Dallas on November 22, 1963, she was honored for her dignity in her time of grief; she later remarried, moved to New York, and worked as an editor at Doubleday. Fast Facts: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Known For: As the wife of John F. Kennedy, she was the first lady of the United States.Also Known As: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, Jackie O.Born: July 28, 1929 in Southampton, New YorkParents: John Vernou Bouvier III  and socialite  Janet Norton LeeDied: May 19, 1994 in New York, New YorkEducation: Vassar College, George Washington UniversitySpouse(s): John F. Kennedy (m. 1953-1963), Aristotle Onassis (m. 1968-1975)Children: Arabella, Caroline, John Jr., Patrick Early Life Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier in East Hampton, New York, on July 28, 1929. Her mother was socialite Janet Lee, and her father was John Vernou Bouvier III, a stockbroker known as â€Å"Black Jack.†Ã‚  He was a playboy from a wealthy family, French in ancestry and Roman Catholic by religion. Her younger sister was named Lee. Jack Bouvier lost most of his money in the Depression, and his extra-marital affairs contributed to the separation of Jacqueline’s parents in 1936. Though Roman Catholic, her parents divorced and her mother later married Hugh D. Auchincloss and moved with her two daughters to Washington, D.C.  Jacqueline attended private schools in New York and Connecticut and made her society debut in 1947, the same year she began attending Vassar College. Jacqueline’s college career included a junior year abroad in France. She completed her studies in French literature at George Washington University in 1951.  She was offered a job for a year as a trainee at Vogue, spending six months in New York and six months in France.  At the request of her mother and stepfather, though, she refused the position. Jacqueline began working as a photographer for the Washington Times-Herald. Meeting John F. Kennedy Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy, the young war hero and congressman from Massachusetts, in 1952, when she interviewed him for one of her assignments. The two began dating, became engaged in June 1953, and married in September at St. Mary’s Church in Newport. There were 750 wedding guests, 1,300 at the reception, and some 3,000 spectators.  Her father, because of his alcoholism, was unable to attend or walk her down the aisle. In 1955, Jacqueline had her first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage.  The next year another pregnancy ended in premature birth and stillborn child, and soon after her husband was bypassed for an expected nomination as the Democrat Partys vice presidential candidate.  Jacqueline’s father died in August 1957. Her marriage suffered because of her husband’s infidelities. On November 27, 1957, she gave birth to her daughter Caroline.  It was not long before Kennedy was running for the Senate again, and Jackie- as she was fondly known- took part in that, though she still disliked campaigning. While Jackie’s beauty, youth, and gracious presence were an asset to the campaigns of her husband, she only reluctantly participated in politics. She was pregnant again when he was running for president in 1960, which allowed her to bow out of active campaigning.  That child, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was born on November 25, after the election and before her husband was inaugurated in January 1961. First Lady As a very young first lady- only 32 years old- Jackie Kennedy was the subject of much fashion interest.  She applied her interests in culture to restoring the White House with period antiques and inviting musical artists to White House dinners.  She preferred not to meet with the press or with various delegations that came to meet with the first lady- a term she disliked- but a televised tour of the White House was very popular. She helped get Congress to declare White House furnishings government property. Jackie maintained an image of distance from politics, but her husband sometimes consulted her on issues and she was an observer at some meetings, including of the National Security Council. The White House announced in April 1963 that Jackie Kennedy was again pregnant.  Patrick Bouvier Kennedy was born prematurely on August 7, 1963, and lived only two days.  The experience brought John and Jackie Kennedy closer together. November 1963 Jackie Kennedy was riding in a limousine next to her husband in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, when he was shot.  Images of her cradling his head in her lap as he was rushed to the hospital became part of the iconography of that day.  She accompanied her husband’s body on Air Force One and stood, still in her bloodstained suit, next to Lyndon B. Johnson on the plane as he was sworn in as the next president.  In the ceremonies that followed, Jackie Kennedy, a young widow with children, figured prominently as the shocked nation mourned.  She helped plan the funeral and arranged for an eternal flame to burn as a memorial at President Kennedy’s burial site in Arlington National Cemetery.  She also suggested to an interviewer, Theodore H. White, the image of Camelot for the Kennedy legacy. After the Assassination After the assassination, Jackie did her best to maintain privacy for her children, moving to an apartment in New York City in 1964 to escape the publicity of Georgetown.  Her husband’s brother Robert F. Kennedy stepped in as a role model for his niece and nephew.  Jackie took an active role in his run for the presidency in 1968. After Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June, Jackie married Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis on October 22, 1968- many believe to give herself and her children an umbrella of protection. However, many of the people who had admired her so much in the aftermath of the assassination felt betrayed by her remarriage. She became a constant subject of tabloids and a constant target for paparazzi. Career as an Editor Aristotle Onassis died in 1975. After winning a court battle over the widow’s portion of his estate with his daughter Christina, Jackie moved permanently to New York. There, though her wealth would have supported her quite well, she went back to work, taking a job with Viking and later with Doubleday and Company as an editor.  She was eventually promoted to senior editor and helped produce bestselling books. Death Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis died in New York on May 19, 1994, after a few months of treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and was buried next to President Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery.  The nation’s depth of mourning stunned her family.  A 1996 auction of some of her belongings, to help her two children pay inheritance taxes on her estate, brought more publicity and significant sales. Legacy Jackie Kennedy is one of the United States most iconic first ladies, consistently topping polls of the nations most beloved and influential figures. As a style icon, she helped popularize long gloves and pillbox hats, and she continues to inspire couture designers today. She has been depicted in the films Thirteen Days, Love Field, Killing Kennedy, and Jackie. A book written by Jacqueline Kennedy was found among her personal effects; she left instructions that it not be published for 100 years. Sources Bowles, Hamish, ed.  Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years: Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001.Bradford, Sarah.  Americas Queen: A Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  Penguin, 2000.Lowe, Jacques.  My Kennedy Years.  Thames Hudson, 1996.Spoto, Donald.  Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: A Life.  Macmillan, 2000.

MGMT 4500 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

MGMT 4500 - Essay Example Collaboration with other organizations such as Warner Bros contributes to the success of the organization. It enhances its stature in the market, and contributes to the acquisition of the market share. The ability of the organization to re-organize its negotiations with other entities contributes to the success of contracts. However, the organization needs to be keen with the intention of addressing emerging challenges. Executive bonus compensation plans target individuals with high ranks at the organization. This means that it becomes increasingly difficult to address the organizational needs as a whole. These bonuses may trickle down to the common worker though the percentage significantly reduces. Consequently, it is crucial to embrace corrective measures and harmonize such bonuses amidst the employees. It is equally crucial to reduce executive control on the financial processes especially bonuses because they affect the motivational levels of other employees. The executive bonus plans should focus on people, strategy, as well as operations within an organization. It should not focus on individuals or personalities rather than the goals of the entity (Katsioloudes

Developing and Managing Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Developing and Managing Performance - Essay Example Time management is essential in conducting performance appraisals; furthermore, managers require professional development both to personal and staff levels. Organizational skills are essential in recording employee skills and responsibilities; whiles interacting with employees regularly and providing feedback aids employee development which is an essential part workforce management. Moreover, regular communication between departmental managers and executive leaderships is essential. Ensuring that executive leadership is knowledgeable is a good business practice that enables the executive team to execute wise decisions for the business. Question 2 Before the module I was aware of the different employee management skills such as planning and setting work expectations, constant performance monitoring and developing performance capacity. As well, I was informed of the skill necessary for performing periodic rating of performance in summary form and the skill for rewarding good performanc e. I was conscious that planning involves employees in order to aid them apprehend the goals of an organization, in addition to understanding what has to be done, why it has to be done and the best way it can be done. Moreover, I knew that monitoring involves continuous measurement of performance and offering feedback to employees on the progress toward achieving their goals. I was also cognizant that developing involves increasing the capability to perform by training, giving assignments in order to introduce fresh skills and improving work process. Moreover, I understood that rating includes a summary of employee performance by assessing employee performance alongside standards and elements within the employee’s performance plan. Finally, I was aware that rewarding means distinguishing an employee for his or her performance that contributes to the company’s mission. Question 3 In the module I have learned that time management not only plays an essential role in perso nal live but also in organizations and learned that an essential aspect in time management is planning. Effective planning allocates time to each activity beginning with high priority jobs which have to be done before the other jobs, and the other aspect of time management that I studied was setting goals and objectives. Therefore, without goals, an organization can easily lose its mission; however, the set objectives need to be rational and feasible. Moreover, setting deadlines is another of time management I learned in the tutorial, since setting deadlines ensures that one strives to complete a task before the deadline. As I explored, for effective time management an individual has to be organised, ensured in not misusing time and focussed. Moreover, in the tutorial I learned that effective communication is essential since managers express ideas clearly, which enable employees to understand what is required of them; thus, subordinates perform their tasks correspondingly. Additiona lly, I came to understand an excellent way of managing performance and maintaining positive approach toward communication that ensures understanding between a supervisor and an employee, resulting in an effective workplace. Valuable communication provides clear understanding on what is necessary from employees. Within organizations, effective communication guarantees massive performance from staff; thus, boosting customer

Economic and financial aspects of business Essay

Economic and financial aspects of business - Essay Example & FESS, P.E., 2005] Environmental accounting: - It shows the role played by natural environment in economy. It provides data which shows contribution of natural resources in economy and costs born by economy due to pollution and other environmental factors. Financial accounting is purely related to the record of daily transactions. In it only those transactions are considered in which money is directly or indirectly involved. It provides information to the present and potential shareholders and stakeholders of a business such as investors, creditors, debtors, suppliers, customers, financial analysts and government agencies, about the financial condition of the business. As it has to serve the information needs of a diversified base of users who have diversified needs, so it presents the financial accounts in a very structured manner and strictly follows certain rules, these rules are called â€Å"Generally Accepted Accounting Principles† or GAAP. Managerial accounting is defined in following words â€Å"The process of identifying, measuring, analyzing, interpreting, and communicating information for the pursuit of an organizations goals.†[INVESTOPEDIA] It fulfills the information needs of internal stakeholders of business as managers and employees. It provides useful accounting information to management of organization, to support them in making more educated and informed decisions. It is mostly related with such decisions as continue or shut-down a factory, make or buy decision, drop a product or not etc.. Financial accounting information is generated for the use of external stakeholders of organization such as stockholders, investors, creditors, debtors, suppliers, customers, government agencies, financial analysts and other regulatory bodies. Managerial accounting system generates information for the internal stakeholders of organization especially for management to support them in effective

Merged School of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Merged School of Business - Essay Example They are globalization, technology and sustainability (Schuler & MacMillan, 2006). It is worthy of mentioning that the expression ‘human resource management’ has been used in the context of practicing organizations as well as academicians since last ten to fifteen years. Formerly, the concept was referred as personnel administration. Human resource management takes into consideration all the activities that are undertaken by the enterprises for the purpose of utilizing the resources of the organisation effectively in order to attain individual, organisational as well as group goals (Franklyn, n.d.). A well-crafted merger as well as acquisition strategy can assist an organisation to attain competitive advantage and therefore help in the creation of the shareholders value (London Business School, 2011). The case study is related to the problems faced by All Star University which is the product of a government-sponsored amalgamation between two universities as well as their school/departments. One of them is 115 years old Sandstone University and the other one is 20 years old Redbrick Institute of Technology. The main objective of the essay is to identify the key stakeholders involved in the case study and to discuss their major interests. It will also try to examine the HR challenges as well as problems involved in this merger and therefore will present solutions and recommendations in order to overcome the challenges. Stakeholders can be identified as the persons who get influenced by the strategic plan. Stakeholders may be either group of people, institutions, and organisations or may as well be individuals. The term ‘stakeholder’ may as well be identified as actors or as interest groups. It can be mentioned that the acknowledgement of the stakeholders is an iterative procedure. It is significant to mention that the stakeholders may be at any position in the society. They may be at international level to national, regional, household o r intra-household level. It may comprise all those who affect or may get affected because of the policies, actions or decision in any particular method (International Centre For Development Oriented Research In Agriculture, n.d.). It is often noted that universities are termed as typical organisation which are made up of the stakeholders. The overall management as well as development of the university is completely dependent by its close association with the stakeholders. Conventionally, universities were simply taken as institutions comprising of teachers providing lessons or conducting researches, students of all the levels, various other employees who were held accountable for the business work as well as academic work, the course systems and other related resources and management procedures. However, such opinions generally ignore other development resources as well as social capital. The major stakeholders in any university can be teachers, parents, commercial circle, students, public as well as private sectors of the economy, mass media, professional associations as well as the society (Yi & Rui, n.d.). In the context of this case study, there are many parties who are actively involved. Sandstone University is one of the stakeholders which are in operation since 115 years. The other significant stakeholder is Redbrick Institute of Technology which is into existence

Consensual Relationship Agreements Research Paper - 2

Consensual Relationship Agreements - Research Paper Example According to evidence, about 75% of the companies do have the CRA policy about workstation romance. Experts agree that the policy is exceptionally crucial because workplace affairs are inevitable. Discussion This discussion contributes to the controversy on the issue of CRA policy within the work environment. It aims to define CRA and argue for its benefits in the workplace. In addition, it will provide counter argument against CRA use and ethical issues involved in its use, as well as other options apart from CRA that will redress workstation relationships. Benefits of CRA in workplace Workstation affairs are inevitable. Experts agree that when clusters of individuals work together for a week, month or several years, there is bound to develop some form of attraction. Similarly, concerning attraction, it is not a person’s position that put them together, but physical attraction and mutual interests. Employees cannot help who they get attracted to and why. In most cases, it is instant, while, in other cases, it may take some time. The more managers reject office relationships, the more it occurs. Therefore, offices and companies should have CRA policy to guide and direct office relationships at all time, (Pierce, Karl & Brey, 2012). ... The CRA policy keeps office romance under track, prevents favoritism and ensures that the behavior does not infringe or offend other workers in the workplace. The contract does alleviate crude behavior and sexual harassment, instead; it permits individuals who are attracted to each other to develop an affair without guilt, secrets, stress and fear, (Tyler, 2008). The policy is an authentication of their affair being deliberate and consensual, warranting that the relationship statutes do not influence the dynamic of workstation ethical infrastructure. The parties in relationship agree to adhere by the managers’ antidiscrimination, workstation conduct policies and anti- harassment policies. Several employers and workers find that consensual relationship agreement can be advantageous and detrimental in the workstation, influencing personal affairs, workstation infrastructure and profitability. Counter argument Some scholars argue against consensual relationship agreement and stat e that workstation relationships can create various issues that cause poor work performance. Some argue that workers involved in the affairs can be blamed for poor judgments – the ability to make fair, actual, and the better decisions centered on the condition at hand. Similarly, braches of morals refer to infringing the ethical standards or codes of behavior in an organization, which involves but not restricted to, counterfeiting information, interest conflict, sexual harassment, and braking organizational codes of conduct. Productivity lots are a crucial argument against workstation affairs. When workers spend more time concentrating on their romance affairs leaving little time for workplace activities, and thus, minimizing the productivity of workers, (Tyler,

Merged School of Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Merged School of Business - Essay Example They are globalization, technology and sustainability (Schuler & MacMillan, 2006). It is worthy of mentioning that the expression ‘human resource management’ has been used in the context of practicing organizations as well as academicians since last ten to fifteen years. Formerly, the concept was referred as personnel administration. Human resource management takes into consideration all the activities that are undertaken by the enterprises for the purpose of utilizing the resources of the organisation effectively in order to attain individual, organisational as well as group goals (Franklyn, n.d.). A well-crafted merger as well as acquisition strategy can assist an organisation to attain competitive advantage and therefore help in the creation of the shareholders value (London Business School, 2011). The case study is related to the problems faced by All Star University which is the product of a government-sponsored amalgamation between two universities as well as their school/departments. One of them is 115 years old Sandstone University and the other one is 20 years old Redbrick Institute of Technology. The main objective of the essay is to identify the key stakeholders involved in the case study and to discuss their major interests. It will also try to examine the HR challenges as well as problems involved in this merger and therefore will present solutions and recommendations in order to overcome the challenges. Stakeholders can be identified as the persons who get influenced by the strategic plan. Stakeholders may be either group of people, institutions, and organisations or may as well be individuals. The term ‘stakeholder’ may as well be identified as actors or as interest groups. It can be mentioned that the acknowledgement of the stakeholders is an iterative procedure. It is significant to mention that the stakeholders may be at any position in the society. They may be at international level to national, regional, household o r intra-household level. It may comprise all those who affect or may get affected because of the policies, actions or decision in any particular method (International Centre For Development Oriented Research In Agriculture, n.d.). It is often noted that universities are termed as typical organisation which are made up of the stakeholders. The overall management as well as development of the university is completely dependent by its close association with the stakeholders. Conventionally, universities were simply taken as institutions comprising of teachers providing lessons or conducting researches, students of all the levels, various other employees who were held accountable for the business work as well as academic work, the course systems and other related resources and management procedures. However, such opinions generally ignore other development resources as well as social capital. The major stakeholders in any university can be teachers, parents, commercial circle, students, public as well as private sectors of the economy, mass media, professional associations as well as the society (Yi & Rui, n.d.). In the context of this case study, there are many parties who are actively involved. Sandstone University is one of the stakeholders which are in operation since 115 years. The other significant stakeholder is Redbrick Institute of Technology which is into existence

The Main Problems of Nokia Smart Phone Market and Its Strategy Essay

The Main Problems of Nokia Smart Phone Market and Its Strategy Adjustment - Essay Example While the first smartphone was introduced by IBM and then followed on by Nokia with the release of Nokia 9000 in 1996, it was not until 2007 that the smartphone craze would catch up with the world. Even though Nokia was the first to introduce its line of user friendly smartphones, it was unable to retain a strong market position. This has been attributed mainly to the fact that Nokia was unable to truly understand the potential of the smartphones and did not actualize on its innovative product. Nokia, before 2007, had captured a great chunk of the cell phone market share. However, with the introduction of the iPhone and other smart phones, Nokia was unable to retain its position. Even though Nokia is still one of the biggest cell phone providers and had introduced its smart phones before the other smart phone, it does not enjoy a good share of the smart phone market. Nokia, recently, underwent a change in operations and management but despite this Nokia is still leading after Samsung and Apple. 1.1. Research Objective / Questions: In this increasingly competitive smart phone industry, it is very difficult to develop a strong position in the market. However, the market for smart phones is in its growth phases and this is perhaps the best time for producers such as Nokia to claim the lion’s share of the market. The objective of this paper would be to understand the issues that Nokia is facing with regard to their smart phone market. After a good understanding of the issue which would keep into focus the competitor’s strategy regarding smart phones, a strategy adjustment would be recommended for Nokia smart phones. 1.2. Significance of the Study In this paper, an attempt will be made to understand the smartphone market. Smartphone market has recently seen an... For the purpose of this paper, the company and the industry would be analyzed using different analysis techniques such as PESTLE Analysis and SWOT Analysis. Also strategies for the company would be discussed using the Ansoff Matrix and Porter’s Generic Strategies. Using these as a basis, the final strategy for Nokia would be suggested. The results of the study indicated that the position that Nokia is in right now is precarious. Nokia is slowly losing its strong position in the market. This corresponds with Merritt assertion that Nokia has landed itself in a challenging position. It is facing challenges from both within and outside. From the outside, smartphones by competitors are taking over the market share while Nokia is unable to match the products and services offered by the competitors. It not only lacks in design but also in features as compared to the competitors. The review of literature concluded that Nokia should remove its focus from the emerging market and start tapping the high end consumers present in the local markets such as Europe and USA. The results of the study confirm these findings to a certain extent. The managers believed that the focus on emerging markets can continue if only Nokia is able to cater to the local market also. However, the review of literature does not support this recommendation fully. This is because of political issues that are plaguing the world right now. Many people in the East have boycotted Western goods and if this trend continues, it could have negative implications for Nokia that relies heavily on sales from such countries.

Traditional Banking Essay Example for Free

Traditional Banking Essay The article â€Å"The decline of traditional banking: implications for financial stability and regulatory policy† by Franklin R. Edwards and Frederic S. Mishkin presents a very detailed and well researched exploration of the current movement of banks away from traditional banking. The authors describe their objectives as including an examination of the reasons behind the decline of traditional banking, and an identification of the effects that these would have on the stability and regulation of banks. The article meets these goals well, as it begins by demonstrating the complexity of the current banking situation and how/why balance sheets reflect information that go far beyond mere lending. The non-traditional methods of banking as well as the financial institutions that have evolved and crowded the banking market are also explored in detail. Finally, the authors expound on the ways that banks might improve their status in the financial market and maintain stable regulatory policies within such a highly competitive and unstable environment. Therefore, while in some areas the explanations were a bit awkward, overall the authors manage to unite the causes, effects, and possible remedies of the current problems being faced by banks, and this is done in a manner that demonstrates a deep understanding of the situation. The introductory pages of the article do give a very detailed picture of why the authors found it necessary to explore the decline of traditional banking. Traditional banking, they explain, dealt mainly with the issuing of long term loans financed by short-term deposits (Edwards Miskhin, 27). They provide evidence in the form of graphs and statistics, showing both the size of the decline in earnings from such traditional (financial) borrowing, as well as the share of non-financial borrowing granted banks and their competitors. The fact that both commercial and thrift banks’ non-financial borrowing declined by an average of 7% over a thirty-five year period demonstrates that significant decline has indeed taken place in their share of that market. The authors also give concrete evidence concerning the decline in these institutions’ returns on such holdings as assets and equity. Finally the authors demonstrate the trend in banks’ share in the market concerned with non-interest income. This increasing trend represents precisely the move away from tradition they have identified. The placement of these facts and charts was effective as a method of vindicating the authors’ decision to explore reasons for the decline in traditional banking. Edwards and Mishkin   go on to explore such areas as the decline in banks’ advantage as far as liabilities are concerned. This is demonstrated in terms of declining cost advantages, which as shown to have become a reality when other institutions found a way to capitalize on the banks’ financial privileges. They explained the fact that ceilings and other restrictions (at one time favorable to the banks) had been placed upon their ability to offer interest on certain types of deposits (such as checkable deposits). These regulations restricted their ability to be competitive at a crucial time in the market and therefore opened the doors for other lending institutions (exempt from such restrictions) to attract customers by offering higher interest. This serves as a cogent explanation of why banks have declined in this traditional area. Yet, the authors represent the complexity of the market by exploring a few other reasons why such decline has taken place. The existence of the new paper market (securities) has also been cited as a reason that adds to the complexity of the problem that banks now face (Edwards Miskhin, 31). The previously mentioned decline in banks’ lending to commercial entities is now explained by the fact that these businesses have been given the option of borrowing directly from the public through the issuance of securities. The authors also cite the rise of mutual funds and junk bonds on the money market as having an indirect effect on the market position of banks. They write, â€Å"The growth of assets in money market mutual funds to more than $500 billion created a ready market for commercial paper because money market mutual funds must hold liquid, high-quality, short-term assets† (31). This serves the explanatory purposes of the authors by demonstrating the sheer size and number of the alternatives to banks that exist on the financial market. The authors, Edwards and Mishkin, also explore some of the reasons why such alternative institutions have become such a threat to banks. Besides their ability to offer attractive alternatives to customers, these financial institutions have also demonstrated an ability to secure their assets. They explain these institutions’ methods of originating loans and then creating more loans from these. They write: â€Å"Advances in information and data processing technology have enabled non-bank competitors to originate loans, transform these into marketable securities, and sell them to obtain more funding with which to make more loans† (Edwards Miskhin, 32). The rise of financially capable technology has made easy these maneuvers by such non-bank facilities, and this has led to the current position of decline in banks’ traditional activities. The authors of the article also demonstrate the route that banks have had to take in order to combat the effects of being forced to share their market. They use graphs and data effectively to demonstrate the sharp climb in what had traditionally been considered risky types of loans. These graphs depict a rise in bank issuance of real estate loans, and further details the authors provide demonstrate that banks have had to stoop to lending to â€Å"less credit-worthy borrowers† in order to increase their financial viability in these tough times (Edwards Mishkin, 27 33). They also depict the methods chosen by banks to increase their activities that take place off the balance sheet. Banks have expanded into the market for financial derivatives, in which they serve as â€Å"off-exchange or over the counter (OTC) derivatives dealers† (34). In order to increase the authority of the article, the writers then provide in several charts concrete evidence of the different kinds of derivative deals in which actual banks have recently participated or mediated. Further evidence concerning the proportion of income banks have derived from these off-balance transactions serve to depict the extent to which they have effaced or replaced traditional banking. Edwards and Mishkin’s exploration of the nature of the risk faced by these banks in involving themselves in OTC activities demonstrates the extent to which these institutions have been forced by a declining traditional market to engage in alternate financial activities. Since their derivative activities have mainly been in the area of swapping interest rates, the risk involved in this can be seen to be high—though tempered by the fact that they â€Å"do not involve payment of principal amounts† (Edwards Miskhin, 38). Furthermore, the authors’ detailed explanation of swaps and the risks they carry aid the overall understanding of the type of risks banks have been forced to take in order to retain their profits. This leads to a better understanding of the extent to which traditional banking has been transformed. Finally, the authors Edwards and Mishkin go on to outline the regulations that have been put in place and the implications that they are likely to have for bank policies. The need for regulation is expressed in the evidence they produce from the GAO (U.S. Government Accounting Office). It explains that the discounts and insurance provided by Federal Reserve Bank accords to banks a level of security that might induce them to take higher risks that they would (or should) otherwise have taken. Regulations have therefore been made that allow only banks with good management and high capital to engage in some of the riskier types of non-traditional banking activities. Such activities include securities underwriting and trading, and dealing in the derivatives market. The inclusion of these explanations in the article demonstrates the thoroughness of the authors in identifying other reasons (beyond mere competition) why some banks have been or may be forced out of the financial business. The details of policy implications for banks given by the authors are shown to include regulations that strengthen banks’ ability to compete. These measures have also been shown to include the seeking of methods that prevent the fall of capital below certain levels (Edwards Mishkin, 40). In presenting the pros and cons of these ideas, the authors demonstrate and impart a thorough understanding of the intricacies of banking and further communicate the complexities of the business. The writers, through their efforts, also demonstrate the gravity of the situation that banks now face in their need to write policy giving them the ability to expand beyond their traditional financial market. Despite the overall clarity and detail of the ideas presented in support of the authors’ claims, a level of awkwardness does enter into a few paragraphs of this article. The awkwardness within this article mainly exists in the introductory pages, where Edwards and Mishkin enumerate (rather than explore) the reasons for and the extent of the decline in traditional banking. The confusing nature of the financial situation being faced by banks is translated to the work, as the writers continually meet their given reasons with qualifications to the effect that demonstrate the inadequacy of each explanation. They, for example, identify their measure of banks’ profitability over a period of time as â€Å"crude† and explain that other measures do not â€Å"adjust for the expenses associated with generating noninterest income† (Edwards Miskhin, 29-30). One gets the feeling that the writers might have taken the trouble to do the extra calculations in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the situation. However, they do provide much more detailed explorations in the ensuing paragraphs. This article by Edwards and Mushkin presents a very interesting and informative view of the current situation facing banks in today’s financial market. The traditional role usually occupied by banks as lenders has been undermined by the influx of non-traditional lending institutions. These institutions have taken the opportunity to provide lower-interest loans and higher-interest deposits to customers, thereby forcing banks to flee to riskier methods of gaining revenue. Policies that regulate banks’ behavior have become necessary as a result of this trend toward riskier business, and this has sparked ideas concerning policy making and the risks and benefits they would impart to all stakeholders. Work Cited Edwards, Franklin R and Frederic S. Mishkin. â€Å"The decline of traditional banking: implications   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   for financial stability and regulatory policy.† FRBNY Economic Policy Review. July (1995): 27-45.

Technical Writing in Computer Hardware Electronics

Technical Writing in Computer Hardware Electronics What is Technical Writing? Technical writing is a style of formal writing used in various fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics and biotechnology. In short it is conveying specific information about a technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose. Presentation of information is indeed very important as it helps the reader in solving a particular problem or in understanding a particular technology or product. The words and graphics of technical writing are meant to be practical i.e., they should be able aid in communicating in simple terms; a body of factual information that will help the audience understand a subject or carry out a task. DDLC DDLC stands for document development life cycle; it is a linear collection of several phases that are used by a technical writer to create a clear, concise, informative and well structured technical document. Conceptual knowledge of DDLC is crucial in creating good technical documents and thereby in achieving success in the field of technical writing. Various phases of DDLC are: Requirement Specification The Requirement specification phase is all about content collection and content representation. It involves determining Audience who is going to benefit from this document or who is going to use the document? Time The time frame and various deadlines to be followed through the entire project Quantity/Number of pages The size or number of pages in the document. Tools The tools to be used for creating the document. Document type whether the doc is a user manual or help guide etc. Templates The templates and style guides to be used in preparing the document Reference Documents The reference documents client might provide to aid in the creation of the document. A lot of times the, thewriter must usually interview the user as well as a subject matter expert (SME) to get detailed information and to find out what is needed or required. In the case of writing software documents the writer is supposed to interview or talk to the programmers and whereas to write about hardware, the writer talks to an engineer, technician or manager. The method of conducting the interview may vary from just talking with the person and taking down notes to tape recording the conversation. It is a good practice to have a list of questions on hand during the interviews with the SMEs or other technicians. Other sources include the internet, reference documents etc. The tools that are to be used in making the document are decided on the basis of the document type. For example, RoboHelp is used for creating online user guides and MS-Word is used in creating user manuals. Audience Analysis The complexity of a document is decided by the audience it caters to. Audience analysis phase involves determining the audience level. This can be done by either talking to the developers of the particular product or technology or through the SME. Also we can learn more about the audience level by talking to those the product is intended for. Formally, audience can be categorized into three levels based on how much they already know about the product or the technology. Novice A novice user is completely new to the technology or product the document is about and usually has very little or no knowledge about it. Documents intended for these kinds of audience need to contain everything about the technology starting from the very basics. Mediocre A mediocre user has a general knowledge about what the product is all about but need to Technical / Experts An expert or technical user has an in depth knowledge of the product , technology or software and is usually looking for only particular information. Product Analysis Product analysis phase involves deciding which of the two approaches presented below is more appropriate in writing about the technology / software. Menu driven Thematic approach Document Flow The purpose of this phase is creating an outline for the required document i.e., creating the skeletal framework of the document. A skeletal framework usually includes Preface or introduction, Table of Contents and figures, Chapter information and sequence, bibliography, index etc. All the elements of the document are ordered serially to prepare the Table of Contents (TOC) . The output of this phase is to produce a clear view of how the document will be structured. Gathering Information Now that the technical writer has a skeletal framework, he needs to gather the information required to fill in the blanks. For this purpose he needs to again communicate with the developers, SMEs and also find some of his own resources through the internet or the reference documents he is provided with. First Draft This phase involves preparing the first draft of the required document following the pre approved document plan and time schedule. Review The purpose of this phase is to review (self, peer, technical, and final) the completed document against the requirements specification document, style guide and template determined during the requirements specification page. Peer review Peer reviewing is subjecting the authors work to the scrutiny of other employees who are experts in the same field. Peer reviews usually need a community of experts in the same field given field, who are qualified and can perform an impartial review. Even though there are a lot of speculations about peer reviewing, it actually encourages authors to meet the accepted standards of their discipline and also prevents the dissemination of irrelevant findings, unacceptable interpretations, personal views and unwarranted claims. Technical review Technical reviewing aids in creating a technically superior version of the work product that is reviewed, which is done either by correction of defects or by recommendation or introduction of alternative approaches. Technical reviews are also a form of peer reviews but in which a team of qualified personnel examines the appropriateness of the document for its intended use and also identifies deviations from the mandatory specifications and standards. Technical reviews sometimes provide recommendations and examination of various alternatives. Editorial review Editorial reviewing aims at improving the readability of a manuscript. The reviewer parses through the manuscript to find whether it can be further simplified or clarified. The reviewer either makes changes or makes marginal notes and a written report and then returns the manuscript to the writer for further revision. Second draft The second and the final draft of the technical paper is out only after a final review. Once the document is free of any grammatical or technical related errors and follows all the guidelines, it is ready for publication.

A Bruised Way of Life :: essays research papers

A Bruised Way of Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"BONG!† is the one and only word that anyone in my family has to say to bring back the memories of an incident that happened at the age of eight. Oh, but this horrifying happening couldn’t have happened in my home, it had to have happened in the middle of my favorite place in the world. None other than the original Downtown Disney, on the most beautiful day there has ever been at the beginning of December. The day was sunny, cloudless, and warm. Or at least warm to me after my accident.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, let me take you back in time. To the day that changed the way my family would make fun of me for the rest of my natural life. On the second day of our vacation to Walt Disney World, my parents, brother, and I decided that we all wanted to get some early shopping into our schedule before actually â€Å"hitting† all of the major parks that Disney World is known for. The usual routine for this area of vacationing was usually left up to the women in our family since it is the shopping area. Everything was going fine, going through the shops and looking at all of the merchandise we wished we were able to afford, when my brother, Brandon, spotted the water fountains that came up from the ground to play in. Before long, Brandon was begging and pleading my parents to go play in the water with the other kids. Even though they were strangers. My parents, of course, said yes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the first few minutes of Brandon’s fun in the water, I just had to join in. There was no way that I was going to let my brother have all of the fun, then decide to shove it in my face. No way was I going to let that happen to me. By the time a couple of minutes had passed, both my brother and I, were completely soaked from head to toe. That didn’t stop the fun though! The two of us were having such a great time that it had become a chore for our parents to get us to stop. Although, it seemed like a game for Brandon and me! Brandon was the first to finally give in to my parents and stop playing so we could do some more shopping. But getting me out was a totally different story.

Free Will Philosophy Essay

I strongly believe that W.T. Stace is correct while arguing for the view of soft determinism, also known as compatibilism. Stace believes in compatibilism, which states that determinism is true, but free will still does exist. He puts both views together by studying the definition of free will. Stace asks, â€Å"How can anyone be punished or rewarded for his or her actions if they have no control over their actions?† That statement seemed extremely convincing to me because both d’Holbach and Chisholm supported one side of the argument. d’Holbach and Chisholm argued that we are either strictly determined by the laws of nature and physics or that we are not determined, rather being we have the power to do as we choose. Stace on the other hand, put both positions together and made them work together. He explained that the laws of nature and physics do have an impact on our choices, but we do have the ability to choose what we want to choose when making a decision. Outside forces may push on our decision, but we are the ones responsible for choosing what we want to choose. He persuasively defends his view of soft determinism by explaining the definition of free will. He states, â€Å"In order for one to define free will, one must look into how the phrase is commonly used.† The way a philosopher interprets free will is different than the way a common person will do so. Stace defines free acts as acts that are directly caused by a person’s internal thoughts or desires coming directly from the person. Not free acts are those that have outside forces pushing a person to do something a certain way such as a threat or harm. This was very different from what other philosophers have stated in the past. By providing examples of free will, Stace points out that free will clearly does exist. It wouldn’t make sense for free will not to exist since it is compatible with determinism.

Jill Lepore, new york burning

New York Burning, by Jill Lepore, is an interesting yet flawed study of a 1741 conspiracy among New York’s slaves, which authorities discovered in the wake of ten fires started by African Americans.   While the work claims to examine the slave revolts and ensuing trials (in which over a hundred blacks were executed by hanging or burning) as evidence of how political opposition formed and functioned, it succeeds much better as a study of race relations and the culture of paranoia. Lepore’s thesis is that the 1741 conspiracy, while based more on hearsay and forced confessions than on actual evidence, occurred within a climate of political and intellectual ferment that made political pluralism (and, ultimately, the American political system) possible.   Indeed, the New York she describes was already politically divided in the wake of the landmark Zenger trial of 1735, in which printer John Peter Zenger was charged with printing libelous attacks against the arbitrary, heavy-handed colonial governor. His acquittal laid the foundations for free speech but also caused a political schism, as two rival political factions formed – the Court party, which supported the royal governors, and the Country Party, an opposition group which demanded greater liberties.   (However, she makes clear that liberty was reserved strictly for whites and pertained more to the press and taxation than to individuals, certainly those of color.)   Mutual mistrust between the two parties lingered for years. The 1741 conspiracy took place, says Lepore, within a rather tense and paranoid context.   It began in March with a fire at the city’s only military outpost, Fort George.   Subsequent blazes over the next few weeks broke out at houses and businesses belonging to Court party members, and these were quickly followed by a series of arrests and trials that lasted into the summer. Twenty whites and 152 blacks (slave and free) were arrested and over a hundred people executed, including many Country Party members’ slaves and servants.   Lepore claims that the end result of these events was greater acceptance of political opposition, but her work does less to connect the slave plot to politics than it does to describe a place beset by racism and paranoia. In tracing the plot’s evolution, Lepore offers the reader a detailed description of New York in 1741.   A former Dutch colony with a multilingual population and sizeable slave population, New York had considerable political division and a strangely paranoid culture.   Not only were fears of slave rebellions prevalent and population politically split, but novels and plays about intrigues were common and highly popular.   (She notes that George Farquhar’s The Beaux’ Stratagem was then the city’s most popular play.) New Yorkers were thus highly sensitive to anything resembling a plot and unusually prone to imagine such things; Lepore writes, â€Å"Nothing ‘just happened’ in the early eighteenth century.   There was always a villain to be caught, a conspiracy to be detected.   The century was lousy with intrigues† (51). In addition, she asserts that the black plotters may have been misunderstood by white witnesses who overheard them in Hughson’s tavern, taking oaths and swearing revenge on New York. She demonstrates that, much like New England’s slaves staged mock â€Å"election days† to both mimic and satirize white culture, the New York plotters may have been imitating their masters, many of whom were Masons (and thus mistrusted in an early America which saw wrongdoing in their secrecy and rituals).   Horsmanden, says Lepore, viewed the trial like a conspiracy novel and, â€Å"In an anxious empire, he found monstrous black creatures . . . [and] political plotters† (122) from whom he thought he could save the city. The 1741 plot was thus tailor-made for the age.   It involved a group of New York blacks who swore oaths to burn down the city, kill its white men, take their wives, and to install a tavern keeper and small-time criminal named John Hughson as the new governor.   After the arsonists were captured and confessions extracted (in some cases with torture, which could not legally be used on whites but was freely used against blacks), the colony’s Supreme Court was eager to demonstrate its authority and regain some of the credibility it lost after the Zenger trial.   In particular, Lepore devotes considerable attention to Daniel Horsmanden, the English judge who prosecuted Zenger and was eager to redeem himself. Lepore relies heavily on his own journal of the trial, pointing out its biases and distortions, and she comments that Horsmanden considered losing the Zenger trial â€Å"a gross humiliation† and that the 1741 plot offered him â€Å"an unrivaled opportunity to consolidate the court’s power.   He could make a name for himself† (118). Indeed, his handling of the trial shows not only his zeal but also how poorly colonial courts handled evidence and how grossly they mistreated black defendants.   Four whites and over a hundred blacks were executed, often in a grisly manner that assuaged the nervous city.   According to Lepore, whites enjoyed public executions and attended â€Å"out of hatred, out of obligation, out of fascination† and, â€Å"like imprisonment, interrogation, and trial, an execution was a pageant† (105).   Trials and executions of rebellious slaves were especially celebrated, as the racial order was preserved. Though the book claims to examine the 1741 slave plot’s meaning in terms of politics, is actually spends little time doing this and her analysis is thus somewhat underdeveloped.   However, Lepore offers an excellent picture of colonial New York’s race relations, which were volatile and tense, adding that â€Å"however much ‘liberty’ some enslaved New Yorkers might have enjoyed, it was always fragile and nearly always illicit† (155). Whites so feared blacks that they passed laws regulating their right to gather freely and set grossly unfair standards for sexual conduct (white men could exploit black women without penalty, but black men were sternly discouraged from consensual relations with white women).   It is little wonder, then, that blacks resented their white masters and neighbors.   Also, at the same time, though, the court was quick to attribute the plot’s leadership to Hughson, a smuggler and thief on the side, because few believed blacks intellectually capable of hatching such a scheme. Lepore ends the book by claiming that the 1741 plot demonstrates how New York’s colonial politics operated.   Horsmanden, who exacted a vicious justice on the conspirators, was stripped of his political offices in 1747 and then became a champion of the liberties he had denied as a judge.   His activities redeemed him and one of his posts was restored to him in 1755. Lepore uses this, along with the Zenger trial, as evidence of how New Yorkers became more tolerant of opposition politics, but she does not tie this very convincingly to the slave plot.   Indeed, her discussion of New York’s colonial politics pales in comparison to her picture of New York’s social and cultural landscapes. New York Burning appears to be two different histories in one, with its study of race relations and fear of conspiracies submerged within its examination of how the plot influenced politics.   The political aspects are not as well-developed and Lepore does not argue very convincingly that the Zenger trial and slave conspiracy demonstrate how New Yorkers handled the question of political opposition. The author devotes much of the book to exploring race and culture, and she creates a vivid, convincing picture of how early New Yorkers combined fear of their slaves with their taste for (and sensitivity to) conspiracy and intrigues.   Had the book been a study of race and paranoia, instead of claiming these were only parts of a developing political culture, it would likely have been a stronger piece of scholarship.   The book succeeds as a cultural history while failing to connect race and culture to the developing political landscape of early America. Lepore, Jill.   New York Burning.   New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.

K-12 Curriculum Essay

Poverty * One of the biggest problems we Filipinos suffer. In reality, PHILIPPINES IS NOT A POOR COUNTRY. The problem is that wrong people mismanage and misgovern the budget of our country. Because of this mismanagement, citizens suffer and pay the price. And now, they’re implementing this curriculum that would be another burden to us Filipinos. If 10 years is already a big thing for parents, then what more is 12 years of sending their children to schools? Yes, there are public schools all around our country, but think about it. Many parents are minimum-wage-earners and aside from the education of their children, there are still other important things included in their monthly budget. So why add 2 more years in the basic education of an average Filipino? Lack of Excellent teachers * In our present time, we see that teachers are indemand and in the curriculum they implemented, teachers are needed. MORE EXCELLENT teachers are needed to be able to produce globally competitive students. There are many taking Education as their course but where are they? Most of them are working overseas. A proof that Philippines doesn’t need to adopt the education system of other countries for Filipinos to be successful and productive citizens. Now that K-12 program is already in use, the government should figure out how and where can they get the people to produce competitive, bright students. Lack of facilities, classrooms and equipments * We all have to accept the fact that in terms of facilities, classrooms and equipments in the schools in the Philippines, our country is underprivileged. For a good quality of education, a comfortable place to study is a big factor affecting this. Even before, classrooms are already inadequate, just think about adding more years in high school. Before the government have decided about a new education system, it could have been better if they solved the problems in the education in the Philippines first. We already have a good quality of education in our country, there are just some points we need to improve. Better education is needed not MORE education. If the government just used the allotted budget for this project to solve other economic issues, it could have helped more Filipinos. To cut everything short, there is just one thing I’d like you to comprehend. The answer to the question is simply NO.