Brain Implants Help Physically Challenged

Brain Implants Help Physically Challenged Free Online Research Papers The ever-increasing risk of computers in everyone’s lives has generated an awareness of the need to address computing requirements for those who have or may develop physical limitations. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires any company with 15 or more employees to make reasonable attempts to accommodate the needs of physically challenged workers (Grube 98). The phrase, â€Å"Monkey see, Money do† may need revised to â€Å"Monkey think, monkey do† after analyzing the latest research. Scientist implanted small chips in rhesus monkeys’ brains and then trained the animals to move a joystick with their hands and chase a red dot moving around a monitor screen. The implants, which is the size of a small pea, recorded the signals sent from the motor cortex of the brain, which controls movement to the hands. These signals were analyzed and then translated to computer instructions that repeated the same movement. In the next step, the joystick was disconnected. One monkey was able to repeat the cursor action merely by thinking about the joystick motion (Computers and Your Future). The researches are hoping their work will help paralyzed individuals use their minds to control computers and other devices within the decade. Some humans already have a similar device implanted, but the newest hardware is smaller, has thinner wires, and uses fewer neurons for function. Applications could include allowing paralyzed individuals to read e-mail messages, browse the web, control remote robotic-devices, and move artificial limbs. The researches are hopeful that this technology will help physically challenged individuals better interact with their environments (Austin 17-25). Chip implants may raise ethical questions, though, such as determining who will receive the first implant, how chips will be updated, whether insurance companies will cover the cost, the number of applications to include on each chip, and whether monitoring patients’ thoughts invades their privacy. Austin, Hannah J. â€Å"How to Get Smart: Artificial Intelligence.† Genius Weekly News and Report. May 2005: 17-25. Computers and Your Future. Shelly Cashman Series. Course Technology. 5 Feb. 2006. www.scsite.com/wd20032e/pr2/wl.htm. Grube, Charles. High-Tech Trends: Predicting the Future of Computers. New York: Belfry Holdings, 2006. Research Papers on Brain Implants Help Physically ChallengedThe Project Managment Office SystemMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfTwilight of the UAWOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Fifth HorsemanGenetic EngineeringThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use

The Caribbean Islands of Greater and Lesser Antilles

The Caribbean Islands of Greater and Lesser Antilles The Caribbean Sea is filled with tropical islands. They are popular tourist destinations and many people refer to the  Antilles  when speaking of certain islands in the archipelago. But what are the Antilles and what is the difference between the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles? The Antilles Are Part of the West Indies You probably know them as the Caribbean Islands. The small islands that scatter the waters between Central America and the Atlantic Ocean are also known as the West Indies. Trivia Time: The West Indies received its name  because Christopher Columbus thought he had reached the Pacific islands near Asia (known as the East Indies at the time) when he sailed west from Spain. Of course, he was famously mistaken, though the name has remained. Within this large collection of islands are three main groups: the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles. The Bahamas include over 3,000 islands and reefs on the north and east side of the Caribbean Sea, beginning just off the coast of Florida. To the south are the islands of the Antilles. The name Antilles refers to a semi-mythical land called  Antilia  which can be found on many medieval maps. This was before Europeans traveled all the way across the Atlantic, but they did have an idea that some land was across the seas to the west, though it was often depicted as a large continent or island. When Columbus reached the West Indies, the name  Antilles was adopted for some of the islands. The Caribbean Sea is also known  as the Sea of the Antilles. What Are the Greater Antilles? The Greater Antilles are the four largest islands in the northwestern portion of the Caribbean Sea. This includes  Cuba, Hispaniola (the nations of  Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. In total, the Greater Antilles make up almost 90% of the land in the West Indies.  Cuba is the largest single island in the Caribbean.During the colonial period, the island of Hispaniola was known as Santo Domingo, named for the capital city of what is now the Dominican Republic. What Are the Lesser Antilles? The Lesser Antilles include the smaller islands of the Caribbean to the south and east of the Great Antilles. It begins just off the coast of Puerto Rico with the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and extends south to Grenada. Trinidad and Tobago, just off the Venezuelan coast, are also included, as is the east-west chain of islands that stretches to Aruba. The Lesser Antilles are further divided into two groups: the  Windward Islands and the  Leeward Islands.Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are known as the ABC islands and are territories of the Netherlands.A number of the Lesser Antilles islands are dependent on or territories of larger countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, and France.

Manegenment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Manegenment - Essay Example ect as well reasons why project managers focus on those activities that lie within a critical path rather than those on the slack time when crashing a project. Research indicates that for many years, project networks has been developed using the PERT diagram despite being based on stochastic process which may lead to inaccurate outcomes (Pinto & Jeffrey, pp 312-314). However, with the development of Gantt charts, numerous advantages have been derived over the application of PERT diagram in project scheduling. This is because Gantt diagram not only provide a link between the activities and project schedule time, but also provides an opportunity to now how the activities will be undertaken as well as the actual date when the project will begin till and the time it will be accomplished (Pinto & Jeffrey, pp 312).However, despite the short comings of PERT diagram, the diagram provides project managers with a tool for planning on how the tasks will be accomplished (Pinto & Jeffrey, pp 312-314). Crashing project may involve compressing the activities duration in order to reduce the amount of time that could have been taken to complete the project (Pinto & Jeffrey, pp 220-311). Therefore, a project might be crashed under the following circumstances: when the project is lagging behind the scheduled time, secondly due to market demand whereby, it may be required to accomplish a project earlier before the scheduled date (Pinto & Jeffrey, pp 220-311). Project managers focus on crashing activities within a critical path because it is one of the longest paths within a network (Pinto & effrey pp-232-302). Additionally, crashing those activities within the slack path may reduce time but may subject a project to an additional cost that could have been avoided if crashing was strictly undertaken within the critical path (Pinto & Jeffrey pp-232-302). Therefore, it is advisable to utilize critical path when crashing a project in order to compress the amount of time and reduce

Small and medium sized enterprises and the risks they face in an Essay

Small and medium sized enterprises and the risks they face in an international environment - Essay Example The study of international businesses and internationalization has been traditionally focused on the analysis of large corporations. Despite the growing importance of small and medium businesses, they often remain beyond the scope of scholarly studies. Apart from the fact that small and medium enterprises play a crucial role in the rapid advancement of economies, the prevailing majority of today’s international and multinational corporations have once been small and medium domestic enterprises. These are just some of the many reasons why the place of small and medium businesses in international trade should not be disregarded. More important is the question of risks faced by SMEs as they enter international trade. Recent advancements in technologies and transportation facilitate the subsequent integration of small and medium business forms into international trade communities. Therefore, SMEs should be aware of and be prepared to face international trade risks. Small and medium enterprises: Why so neglected? Small and medium enterprises are generally considered to create a strong foundation for the rapid advancement of economies. It is not surprising that so many developing countries provide SMEs with greater flexibility and freedom from taxation and administration burdens, to speed up their development and contribution to nations’ economic development. However, the current state of research often leaves small and medium-sized enterprises beyond the scope of analysis.... Yet, it should be remembered that â€Å"many MNEs developed from large, mature, domestic firms, and they commanded attention because they wielded significant economic power, especially after World War II† (Chandler 1986; Dunning 1981; Oviatt & McDougall 1994, p.45). Moreover, recent changes in the technological environment and transportation make it easier for domestic small and medium firms to expand to an international level. The growing number of consumers in international business makes international trade extremely attractive for domestic businesses, especially small and medium ones. Today, any small or medium businessman with a sufficient amount of capital can successfully conduct business anywhere in the world or travel to any part of the world, looking for international business opportunities (Oviatt & McDougall 1994). That small and medium enterprises find it easier to capture international business opportunities means the topic of their internationalization is becomi ng more urgent. Scholars in organization science are becoming more attentive to the issues of internationalization and international trade challenges affecting domestic SMEs. However, again, the most common issues considered in today’s research include the effects of public policies on SMEs, the nature and characteristics of entrepreneurial activities across countries, and comparing international and domestic enterprises (Oviatt, & McDougall 1994; Ohe et al. 1991). In light of these issues, a close look at the risks faced by domestic SMEs going into international trade is required. This report will help small and medium businesses going into the international trade

Strategic Operations Issues Essay Example for Free

Strategic Operations Issues Essay Using your own organisation or a local organisation that you know well, identify a strategic operations issue or problem that needs to be addressed. Describe the organisation briefly and briefly explain the specific operational issue, problem or process that needs to be addressed and provide clear details of its functions within the organisation; analyse the problem using a concept covered in the subject; consider the performance objectives of operations management; changes to performance objectives or outcomes; improvements; theory and recommendations for improving the system or operation. Executive summary Manufacturing plant operation issues of XYZ Plastics Pty Ltd This paper studies the operations issues of XYZ Plastics Pty Ltd’s manufacturing plant. In the last three months, the plant experienced a decline in % OEE (% Overall Equipment Effectiveness) from 90 per cent to 81 per cent, the raw materials inventory increased 10 per cent from 900 tons to 990 tons and increased the outsource warehouse cost from $100 000 per month to $150 000 per month. The overtime cost was also increased by 50 per cent from $20 000 per month to $30 000 per month. The analysis of the manufacturing process and workflow revealed that the root causes were: a) Inadequate communication linkage between the Planner and Maintenance supervisor which resulted in lack of critical spare parts to service major equipment breakdown. b) The batch size of white product was too small which contributed to speed loss and quality loss c) The Planner’s order quantity of raw materials was too big and caused average inventory to increase and inventory overflow to outsource warehouse. d) The double handling of raw materials by the warehouse staff which contributed to the wastage of overtime resources. The study recommended the company: a) Use a Kanban system to signal â€Å"pull† to the Planner to order spare parts for maintenance department. b) To set up an operating policy to limit the minimum production batch size to ËÆ'24 tons for white product. c) To maintain a discipline of using the Economic Order Quality (EOQ) for replenishment  order of the raw materials and reorder according to the inventory profile based on safety stock, delivery time and consumption rate. d) To provide training to the operating staff regarding the Wastes of Lean Manufacturing as a way to promote the learning culture. Table of Contents Table of Figures 1 Introduction XYZ Plastics Pty Ltd manufactures and sells black and white plastic materials for toy molding application. Its manufacturing process involves grinding the polyethylene plastics into a molten form and mixing with black pigment or white pigment. It produces a black product and a white product. The products are sold in 25 kg bags. The plant operates 24 hours by seven days a week but only four weeks in a month. It produces a product mix of 96 per cent black and four per cent white. The General Manager reviewed the monthly operations report recently and found that in the last three months, the operations performance was on a downward trend: a) Its Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) dropped down from 90 per cent to 81 per cent. Pophaley (2010) states that there would have been issues associated with the Availability rate, Performance rate or Quality rate. b) Raw material average inventory was increased by 10 per cent and the outsourced warehouse costs increased by 15 per cent. c) There was 50 per cent more overtime paid to fulltime workers. The sales volume remained unchanged at around 672 000 kg per month in the last three months. This was alarming because it suggested that the profile and productivity would have dropped. The General Manager called a meeting with its operations team to review the performance data and operations issues. They traced the problem back to the manufacturing processes and workflow to determine the root causes and take corrective actions. Discussion and analysis The manufacturing process involves loading the plastic pellets and pigments into the hopper, the grinder and mixer converts the mechanical energy into heat then melts and mixes the raw materials. The mixed molten paste is extruded out through a pressing die with 400 holes to form spaghetti like strips. The strips are cooled by water and cut into pellets by the rotary cutter, the slurry is then spun in a water separator to remove the water and dry the plastic pellets (see Figure 1 below). The products are then packed into 25 kg bags and stacked onto a pallet as a 1000 kg lot. Figure Manufacturing process schematic diagram 2.1 OEE performance trend analysis The operations team reviewed the % OEE trend of the last three months and looked at the date of three components that made up the % OEE, namely Availability rate, Performance rate and Quality rate mentioned by (Pophaley 2010). They found that all three components were on the decreasing trend which contributed to the % OEE decrease from 90 per cent to 81 per cent. The operations team found that the Availability rate dropped from 95 per cent to 93 per cent which indicated that there was increase of equipment breakdowns. They looked at the maintenance log book and found that there was an increase of pressing die cleaning frequency. During the pressing die cleaning, the process is shut down and the maintenance staffs needs to spend 16 hours to drill holes to clean the dirt out. This maintenance job is usually outsourced and they have a spare pressing die but this was not returned to the plant on time from the cleaning services supplier because there was a miscommunication between the Pla nner and the Maintenance Supervisor. The workflow is described in (Figure 2 below). Figure Process mapping of workflow The maintenance supervisor left an email message to the Planner, to order the die cleaning service which the Planner overlooked. There was a delay in sending the spare pressing die out to the supplier for cleaning. If they had  the spare pressing die ready, they would have saved the downtime of 16 hours for cleaning the die. It appears that a Kanban pull system would have provided better systematic demand information as stated by (Claudio Krishnamurthy 2009) for parts replenishment. The operations team found that the performance rate dropped from 97 per cent to 92 per cent of their maximum capable production rate of 1030 kg per hour, based on the current deteriorated production rate of 947.6 kg per hour (0.92 Ãâ€" 1030) the plant will be behind the monthly production target. The operations team reviewed the production log book and found that the production speed loss was due to increased production runs of white products. For every white production run, the operating staffs needs to clean the whole production line thoroughly because the black pellets in the previous run will contaminate the white products. The cleaning process required two hours per run. The plant also needs to spend two hours to change the rotary cutter as well. The plant normally runs one white product per month (26 880 kg) but in recent months the sales team requested four smaller white product runs per month (6720 kg Ãâ€" 4). The rationale was there were four smaller customers willing to pay higher price for the white products but they required delivery at short notice without providing forecast to the Planner. The smaller run size of white product contributes negatively to the per cent performance rate, the cleaning time of two hours per run and cutter changing time of two hours per run contributes a total of four hours of speed loss per run which could have been utilised to make more products. The Planner and sales team did not communicate with each other on this change and assess the economy of scale for the production run. The operations team re-assessed the change with the capacity size decision process, as (Rabta Reiner 2012) suggested that optimal values of production batch size will reduce cost and lead time. The operations team took considerations on algorithms of the extra cost required for the cleaning, changing cutter and speed loss for different batch sizes, and generated a graph (see Figure 3 below) to assist the decision on the size of the production run. Figure Capacity size decision graph The Figure 3 graph showed that the smaller run (6720 kg per run) costs more to make per ton and even selling at increased price, it was making a profile margin of only $100 per ton. In comparison, the larger run size (26 880 kg per run) costs less to make but even selling at normal price, it was still making $400 per ton. The graph showed that the most economical run of the white product is ËÆ'24 tons. The operations team also found that the quality rate dropped from 98 per cent to 95 per cent. They checked the quality records and determined that this was due to the rework materials generated from the increased white runs. The manufacturing team used raw materials to purge clean the process system to avoid contamination. The purged materials were used later on the black runs as rework. The time they spent on the rework could have been utilised to make good product. The above analysis determined the root causes which caused the % OEE drop from 90 per cent to 81 per cent and it is illustrated below: % OEE = Availability rate % Ãâ€" Performance rate % Ãâ€" Quality rate % Historical % OEE = 95% Ãâ€" 97% Ãâ€" 98% = 90% Current % OEE = 93% Ãâ€" 92% Ãâ€" 95% = 81%. 2.2 Raw materials inventory analysis The operations team reviewed the inventory performance on the monthly operations report; it showed that the raw material average inventory volume increased by 10 per cent from 900 tons to 990 tons in the last three months. Due to the increase in average inventory, the plant ran out of storage space and therefore it required the inventory to be stored at an outsourced warehouse location. The plant storage space was enough to store 1000 tons of raw materials but from time to time the space is filled and overflows the inventory to the outsource warehouse especially in the last three months. As a result, it increased the storage costs by 15 per cent from $100 000 to $115 000 per month including logistics and labour costs for the material handling. The operations team interviewed the Planner regarding the order quality and order frequency. The investigation revealed that the Planner was not  ordering based on inventory management principles. The ordering process takes about one week, from placing the order to receiving the goods. The plant normally keeps a safety stock of 672 tons of raw materials (roughly enough for one month consumption). This was based on their experience that the raw materials comes from other state and shipment delays could be up to four weeks; this safety stock is to maintain the service levels of the company. The raw material comes in normal order quantity of 2.5 weeks consumption, about 420 tons (672 Ãâ€" 2.5/4 = 420 tons). The Planner starts to place order when the inventory gets close to 672 tons (the safety stock mark). When there is a supplier promotion, the Planner would order a bigger quantity than 420 tons, thinking that would save the company money. There were a number of supplier promotions in the last three months and the Planner placed a bigger order quantity of 470 tons for each promotion which resulted in an increase in average inventory level from 900 tons to 990 tons. The operations team constructed a graph to determine if the Planner was making the correct order quantity decision. They used the total inventory cost based on two inventory cost components mentioned by (Schreibfeder 2009), namely holding cost and materials order cost. Figure Economic order quality(EOQ) The EOQ graph in Figure 4 indicated that the order quantity of 470 tons which the Planner placed on the supplier’s promotion was not economical. Rather than saving the company money, the total cost was higher than that of the EOQ of 336 tons. Even the normal order quantity of 420 tons was not as economical as the EOQ of 336 tons. The inventory profile with the new EOQ of 336 tons is shown in (Figure 5 below). It was constructed according to the method shown by (Silver Zufferey 2011) with the probabilistic replenishment lead time and slope (consumption rate). If The EOQ of 336 tons was adopted and orders were placed when the inventory touches 840 tons, it would have kept an average inventory of 840 tons and maximum of about 1000 tons on site. The inventory profile showed that average inventory (840 tons) would be lower than the current average inventory (990 tons) and most importantly it would eliminate the need for outsource warehouse. Figure Raw material inventory profile 2.3 Labour cost analysis The operations team reviewed the profit and loss statement and found out that there were 50 per cent more overtime paid to fulltime workers. It increased from $20 000 to $30 000 per month in the last three months. The amount of overtime was mainly paid to the warehouse staff. The operations team interviewed the warehouse supervisor and found that when the raw materials warehouse is full, they would move the materials to the finished goods warehouse for temporary storage, and shift it back when there are more spaces. One round trip to transport one ton of materials on a fork lift would require two minutes. These are considered double handling of materials as stated by (Liker Franz 2011). This is one of the Wastes in Lean manufacturing namely (transportation) that should be avoided (Slack, Brandon-Jones, Johnston, R Betts, A 2012). Conclusion The drop in Availability rate was due to the longer breakdown time required to clean the pressing die as there was no spare pressing die available. It appears that both the Planner and Maintenance supervisor required an improved communication system for the spare parts ordering. The capacity size decision graph in Figure 3 showed that the most economical run of the white products is 24 tons. Any smaller run size would result in speed loss and contribute negatively to the performance rate. The quality records showed that the drop in quality rate was due to the rework materials generated from the increased white runs per month. These root causes need to be addressed in order to improve the % OEE from the current level of 81 per cent back to 90 per cent. The EOQ graph in Figure 4 indicated that the order quantity of 470 tons which the Planner placed on the supplier’s promotion was not economical; even the normal order quantity of 420 tons was not economical. The associated total costs were both higher than that of the EOQ of 336 tons; it increased the average raw materials inventory level on site and causes inventory overflow to the outsource warehouse. There were double handling of materials by the  warehouse staff and this is a â€Å"transportation waste† which needs to be avoided according to the lean manufacturing principals described by (Liker Franz 2011). 4 Recommendations The maintenance supervisor should use a Kanban system to signal a â€Å"pull† to the Planner to order outsource services to clean the pressing die. Kanban is a visual signal system advocated by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota and mentioned by (Liker Franz 2011). The Maintenance supervisor can use a red box to signal that the pressing die is ready to be picked up and send outside for cleaning. When the cleaned pressing die returns, it can be placed in a green box indicating it is ready to be used, similar to the dual card system described by (Chen Subramaniamac 2012). The plant needs to set up an operating policy which states that the minimum size is to be 24 tons for white product. The Planner needs to maintain a discipline of using the EOQ of 336 tons for replenishment order of the raw materials and placing the purchasing order when the raw materials inventory touches 840 tons (a re-order point about one week before it reaches the safety stock of 672 tons). The inventory profile should be reviewed every three months to update the consumption rate to determine the new re-order point. The plant needs to provide training to operating staff regarding the Wastes of Manufacturing especially the warehouse staff as a way to promote the learning culture as advocated in Toyota and stated by (Liker Franz 2011). The operations performance such as OEE should be shared with all staff and initiate counter measures to poor performances. This will connect the staff to the continuous improvement cycle to achieve operational excellence.

A Woeful Trap... Act 1 In Hamlet :: essays research papers

Is he mad or sane? Or just mad in craft, yet punished with sore distractions. Perhaps Hamlet is the victim--as we all at some time feel to be--of the world's sane view of insane perplexities. He is the man at war within himself; a traveler with a passport into strange, twilight regions of the soul. Whether or not Hamlet's suffering, and then insanity, is caused by his relations or by his own melancholy, Hamlet's struggle embodies the essential inwardness of human suffering that all can relate to.The concrete manifestations of Hamlet's misery are closely related. Not only has his father died, also his uncle is the murderer, his mother marries the uncle and is a likely accessory to the crime, and his true love lies to him. It is reasonable to suppose that Hamlet's state of mind becomes more and more unstable as he is consumed with thoughts of all of the sins against him. Eventually Hamlet loses all sense of life's significance. He states to his deceitful mother and uncle, "But I have that within which passes show These but the trappings and the suit of woe" (I, II, 85-86). Hamlet tries to articulate that his grief for his father's death and the prospect of his mother's unfaithfulness is almost inexpressible. He is left alone to bear the burden of suspicion toward the people he once loved. To a man bereft of a sense of purpose there is no possibility of action because it wouldn't have any meaning. No act but suicide seems rational.Yet Hamlet seeks to escape his life of woe when he is commanded by his father's spirit to a great act--revenge. Therein lies the unique chance for a sick soul to heal, to be cleansed and rested. But good cannot come of evil, and so the sickness of his soul only further infects his state of being. His mental disintegration, once proposed to be on purpose, continues uncontrolled. In the desert of his mind, void with the utter emptiness of the knowledge of death (his father's and the death of his faith in his mother) lies the supreme enemy to neurotic despair: romantic love. For romantic love assures power, it can create a sense of purpose, inspire heroism and beauty.

Reading Response to the Road

Title: The Road Author: Cormac McCarthy Text Type: Fictional Novel Date of response: 6th of February 2012 SUMMARY: The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a novel about two people, a father and son, living in a post-apocalyptic North America. Their belongings are a cart, with scavenged food and tools inside, their clothes, and each other. Together they struggle to survive in this world, where many of the trees are gone, where the air, ground and all things are saturated with ash. Production of goods and foods has long since ceased. Survivors of the apocalypse must get by on canned goods and must ? d ways to survive the harsh, frozen nights. But those canned goods become scarce and the humanity of many of those who survive is no longer existent when faced with the alternative of death. This book is about the struggle that the child and the father face together; the struggle between satisfying human needs and doing so whilst maintaining a semblance of humanity. STRUCTURE: This novel does not fo llow a conventional structure. In the ? rst scenes of the book, (this book is not separated into chapters), the reader is introduced to the boy and the man.It is clear early on that the man is the boy? s father, as the boy calls him â€Å"papa†. The reader also understands that they have a cart full of goods and that they travel and sleep wherever necessary. This is the exposition. After that, the book follows them as they travel toward the coast, ? eeing from the cold habitat of the northern land. While traveling, they must also replenish their food multiple times. As they walk towards the coast and search for food, they are met with many ethical and moral problems. They meet a child whom they suspect, but do not know, has no one to look after him.They meet fellow vagabonds, starving and dying, with some of whom they cannot afford to share resources. The child asks child-like questions that spark deep philosophical questions of morality in the father. â€Å" I? m afraid for that little boy. I know, he? ll be all right. We should go get him, Papa. We could get him and take him with us. We could take him and we could take the dog. The dog could catch us something to eat. We cant. And I? d give that little boy half of my food. Stop it. We cant. He was crying again. What about the little boy? he sobbed. What about the little boy? This is one of the complications of this novel that superimposes itself on the underlying complication of the lack of food: Can one simply watch someone such as a little boy walk off to their death? This complication is not resolved in this book. Another complication and moral dilemma of this book is the question of whether the man will be able to kill his son if need be. The remnants of North America, and if the rest of the world survived, there too, a majority of the people left were cannibalistic savages who raped and tortured those that they captured before eating them.His wife had asked him questions of whether he would be a ble to end their lives to spare them the suffering that they would be put through if they were captured. â€Å"Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesn? t ? re? It has to ? re. What if it doesn? t ? re? Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock? Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing? Can there be? Hold him in your arms. Just so. The soul is quick to pull him towards you. Kiss him. Quickly. † There are several ? ashbacks in this book, the man dreams of his lost wife and the moral dilemma that they faced, which was not resolved.The wife took on a fatalist view of the world, and wanted it over with. The man simply wanted his son to live, and to try and help him live as happy a life as possible. The wife then left, and it is inferred that she went to her death. CHARACTERIZATION: One character that has made an impression on me is the child. The child is always sweet and generous. It is heartbreaking to read the effects of the happenings of the world that he lives in, but perhaps even worse reading the times when it doesn? t anymore. What really effected me about this child is the simpleness with which he viewed the world.A lens that only a character like him could look through. â€Å" Tell me. The boy looked down the road. I want you to tell me. It? s okay. He shook his head. Look at me, the man said. He turned and looked. He looked like he? d been crying. Just tell me. We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we? No. Of course not. Even if we were starving? We? re starving now. You said we werent. I said we werent dying. I didnt say we werent starving. But we wouldnt. No. We wouldnt. No matter what. No. No matter what. Because we? re the good guys. Yes. And we? re carrying the ? re. And we? re carrying the ? re. Yes Okay. † Although I? sure many of us would like to think that cannibalism is beyond us and that we would never eat another human being to save ourselves, but I do not think that it is a reality that will sur vive in midst of crisis when there is no society to impose the morality that binds us today. It is for us to decide whether we have a moral compass separate and independent from the ideas of society.THEME: The author? s purpose in writing this book is to question what we think is the foundation of humanity; the foundation of who we are. Can humanity survive in a world of chaos and suffering such as this? Is there room for it? And if here is not, then can it be called â€Å"survival† if we have forsaken the values that we used to say is what we were. In reading this book the reader develops an appreciation for life and for the things that we have that we call fundamental and thus take for granted. â€Å"He had no shoes at all and his feet were wrapped in rash and cardboard tied with green twine and any number of layers of vile clothing showed through the tears and hoes in it. † I also think that Cormac McCarthy meant for the reader to ponder problems in the book, so as to compare ourselves to the characters and their actions, and to imagine what we may have done in their shoes. The boy lay with his head on the man? s lap. After a while he said: They? re going to kill those people, arent they? Yes. Why do they have to do that? I dont know. Are they going to eat them? I dont know. They? re going to eat them, arent they? Yes. And we couldnt help them because then they? d eat us too. Yes. And that? s why we couldnt help them. Yes. Okay. † Is it okay? Does not doing all you can do to help make you a guilty bystander? Does it make it any better that you were not the one that would commit these heinous acts, but were simply the ones that saw the victims-to-be and walked away? LANGUAGE:In this novel, McCarthy does not follow many grammatical rules. When there is a dialogue, McCarthy, instead of using conventional speech marks, indents what is said from one character and does the same for the next. He does not always follow this either, but it is the norm throughout the book. â€Å" You promised not to do that, the boy said. What? You know what, Papa. He poured the hot water back into the pan and took the boy? s cup and poured some of the cocoa into his own and handed it back. I have to watch you all the time, the boy said. I know. If you break little promises you? ll break big ones. That? what you said. I know. But I wont. † This system leaves it up to the reader to infer who is speaking. Some parts of the book are up for interpretation in meaning but also who speaks at certain points. This changes much meaning, the reader is left to ponder who is speaking what and the implications thereof. The vocabulary in this book is very complex, McCarthy even uses some words that are no longer in many dictionaries. He uses many words in ? exible ways that challenge the mind, and are also up for much interpretation. â€Å"On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. †McCarthy misses s ome apostrophes where the word can still be deciphered. He also breaks small rules of grammar to do with multiple â€Å"and†s in one sentence and makes many fragments. â€Å"He did not take care of her and she died alone somewhere in the dark and there is no other dream nor waking world and there is no other tale to tell. † At times he simply disregards the logical sentence structure altogether. â€Å"Query: How does the never to be differ from what never was? † I think that all of this relates back to the book. The crumbled society and people of this book that I mentioned before is portrayed through the events and characters of this book.The writing style of this book in its errors and sentences I think is symbolic of the disintegrating society. Writing no longer follows the rules that it has because there is no reason for it to. It makes for many incredibly complex and beautiful sentences, no longer bound by the limitations of a normal sentence. These sentence s challenge your mind, and can be subject to so much more interpretation than a normal sentence. â€Å"Like the great pendulum in its rotunda scribing through the long day movements of the universe of which you may say it knows nothing and yet know it must. †

Belief System Introduction

Belief System Introduction Each country has its own culture as each person has his/her own religion. Belief system of a person or a society is the set of beliefs that they have about what things are right, wrong and what things are true, false. The personal beliefs of us play a small part in each religion, which it points out the special of it that no others can have. Religion is certainly a type of belief system, but not all belief systems are religion. Each individual person has different types of belief system, hence, the ways their behaviors are and the ways they act are different.But when that individual person Join in a specific religion, he/she needs to follow all typical laws or rules that that religion has made and created. For society: a group of people that has the same belief system will have the same acts together, forming a basic standard for that society. Due to different religion, that group of people will have different ways of solving problems. For example: when the re is a disadvantage as a difficult circumstance, the Buddhists will organize a donated campaign where people can help each other to bring up the society, making it more and more better.Last but not east, things usually go the way it decided to go and so sometimes we become conscious with everything around us. Along the Journey of life, we will be able to find out what and where we want to become. Hence, belief system is an actual set of precepts, which our daily gives us words, actions and thoughts in life. Belief system can refer to [1] A religion- the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe. A philosophy – a personal outlook our viewpoint.An ideology – a set of idea that constitutes one's goal, expectation and actions. It is a ay of looking at things and theorizes of a visionary or impractical nature. [1] Global/ International Perspective Depend on each region, each area, each ethnic and each fami ly; an individual person choose for his/her own religion, as it should be suitable with their mind, and they like to be apart of the religion. They must be instructed in an appropriate way and a right way and they have the rights to choose whether they want to be in the religion or not.There is no force in this. It should also depend on How they act What they do How they treat things (interact with others) MAJOR RELIGION IN THE WORLD 1. Buddhism [3] [4] [5] Buddhism focuses on the development of a personal spirit. The number of Buddhists in the world at between 230 million and 500 million is making it the world's fourth-largest religion. Buddhists believe that life should not be destroyed Buddhists take responsibilities for what they do and the results they receive.Buddhists try not to harm living things, try to have a kind-hearted and always control feeling and think clearly before doing a thing Buddhists are required to have equal respect to all living things. Buddhists go to pago da, temple to pray for good. All temples represent for 5 elements, which is: Fire, Water, Wisdom, Earth, Air and hey have a statue of Buddha. 2. Hinduism About 900 million persons or 14 percent of the world's population follow Hinduism. It is world's 3rd largest religion in the world Major religion in India (80%) and Nepal Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world.Hindus believe in a Supreme God. Hindus believe that life is a cycle of birth. We born, we death and reborn. Hindus believe that successful life depends on how the previous life was lived. Hindus believe that killing a baby that hasn't born yet is worse than killing parents. But also because boy is more prefer women may choose to abort the baby to prevent new baby girl would be born. Most Hindus are vegetarians and they don't eat beef. 3. Islam With 1. 57 billion Muslims, Islam is the second-largest religion in the world.People who follow Islam are called Muslim Muslims believe that God sent prophets Jesus, Moses and Ab raham) down to teach them the way of living. Muslims believe that their final prophet was Muhammad. Muslims believe in angels. Muslims believe they have only one God is Allah and Allah was the one who created all living things. Muslims who are women are allowed to get abortion because Muslims believe the women are responsible for it and they are originators who give earth for the baby. Muslims believe animals exist for a benefit of human beings and they are not allowed to harm or treat them bad. . Christianity [1 2. 1 billion Followers bring Christianity to be the world's biggest religion. People who follow Christianity are called Christian. Christianity focuses on the teaching of Jesus Christ who believed are the Son of God. Christians believe God had created animal for human to use so Christians are allowed to treat animals whatever the way they want to. In the old time Now, Christians believe they have to treat animals kindly due to they are weaker than us, ND God created animals to live a harmony live with human.They deserve to be respected somehow and treated generous. They read, learn and follow things from the Bible. Valentine is the most popular which everyone not only Christian know about this day 14 February which came from Saint Valentine. The cross symbol of the Christian is one of the most powerful symbols in the world which you can see it everywhere in your daily life. You even wear them on your body. Christians usually go to church on weekend to show their love and obedience to God, to build up their spirit strength ND to provide fellowship with other Christians. 1 *Almost every religion has some sort of principle that says we should treat our fellow man kindly. Furthermore, many religions go a step further and give specific instructions on how we should care for the poor and downtrodden in society. Atheism The road to atheism tends to be very personal and individual, based upon the specific circumstances of a person's life, experiences, and att itudes. Nevertheless, it is possible to describe some general similarities, which tend to be common among quite a few atheists, particularly atheists in the West.Atheism is characterized by an absence of belief in the existence of gods. This absence of belief generally comes about either through deliberate choice, or from an inherent inability to believe religious teachings that seem literally incredible. It is not a lack of belief born out of simple ignorance of religious teachings. Globalization affect to belief system Globalization refers to connect worldwide together, creates relationship between people and makes them become more familiar with each other.People from different region and areas can easy know about each other and how they are doing in other part of the world. Globalization also is the expansion of global linkages, the organization of social life on a global scale, and the growth of a global consciousness, hence to the consolidation of world society. Globalization a ffects culture because when people of different cultures and from different places come together and shares what they have; they get to know each other. They bring back what they have learned and it enters into society and culture.If we focus on the cultural consequences of â€Å"globalization†, we see positive and negative effects. Through globalization, people are not indiscriminate like in the past. Nowadays, through traveling, Internet, high technology, free flow of information, people have more logical and scientific reason to be sure in their belief. It is somehow can not explain all the original of a problem but it helps people to know whether that thing is right or wrong to believe in. Beside the positive aspects of globalization is its negative aspect: CONFLICT between nations.Conflict doesn't mean that there has to be a fight between nations, it could be arise from two different belief systems. For example: The Arab-Israeli Conflict is act of hostility and political tensions have lasted about a century. It involves the establishment of the modern State of Israel, as well as the establishment and independence of many Arab countries during the same period, and relations between Arab countries and Israel The conflict between Islam and the West: The continuous violence of Muslims around the world to publish the cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.All of this violence, whether or not excited by the extremist Islamic group, showed a strong rise of the Islamic spirit, and challenge the dominance of Western civilization. Muslim conflict – the West has and continues to emerge as the main trends of world politics in the 21st century. Solutions: _Promote Dialogue Youth Hanoi could strengthen traveling to visit an Islamic country or China to exchange through seminars and conferences. Cultural Exchange: tourists visit to Western Country _Mutual Learning _Exchange experiences _Organize training courses All of these actions enhance exchanges and mutual un derstanding and exchange of neutral understanding. Different belief system can bring different ways of doing things such as many people in the world nowadays think that same-sex marriage is Just a normal things. But for some people and parents, they think it's not acceptable and they do not allow it to append to their children or their relatives.This is one of the problems that are happening in the world also. Local/National Perspective Vietnamese belief system Vietnam is a country with many forms of belief and religion. Vietnam is very convenient with connecting culture, religions with other countries in the world because of its position located. 5] At present, in Vietnam, there are about 75 % of the population have their own belief system, of which millions in 76 millions total followers of 6 religions, but most of the population are non-religious. Buddhism: 10 millions followers Christian: > 5. Millions followers Protestantism: 60. 000 followers Muslim: 1 million followers Ho Hay Buddhism: 1. 3 millions followers Cacao Dad: 2. 4 millions followers. Vietnamese belief system can refer to many factors Culture Position located Family perspective & Personal perspective Rules/Laws In Vietnam, we celebrate both New Year Events and Lunar New Year that maybe only China has the same traditional. During Et Holiday, the young children will receive lucky money that will bring them luck for the whole year that include good health, well-doing in education etc.We also have spirit money and lucky items that we always bring it beside us. We consider it as something will protect and bring luck to us. In Vietnam, people usually work in a group, they listen to other opinions to consider whether it's right or wrong, they sometimes need proof for their belief. Hence, from there, they believe and follow what they informed about. We can hardly distinguish the Vietnamese Culture because it is the mixture of many belief system, values due to the influences of neighboring countries.Ev en Vietnam is not a rich country but the Vietnamese people are very easily integrated. We seem to have one common belief system is that in every situation, whether we are at home, school or many, respect is always the very important to show how we behave. We have our own freedom to believe in what we think is right beside rules and laws that have applied to follow. Parents in Vietnam believe the age when they can be sure that their children are fully grow-up is 22 right after they finish university, however, their children are consider adults once they reach the age of 18.The mother in Vietnam also really hard to allow their daughter to go out lately at night and commonly, they usually don't accept for them to sleep over their friend's house when they are monger than 18, the mother believe that it's not appropriate and it should not happen if you are a girl. Even though we have many different belief systems in our country, maybe in a small community also, but we don't have and show any bad attitudes to others. We respect it, and we know that each person can have his/her own religions, they might think the way we never do, but they don't as we either.More important, what they do don't usually effect our lives. Family/Personal Perspective I am not really Buddhist but I read book and I follow some of the rules that Buddha teaches. I feel that all of those things are right and I believe that it is good for me to learn it. What I believe is not really same as my family, but somehow, because I am not fully-grown up yet so I can't really make my own choice. But in my opinion, the life now is very different from the life of few decades ago, so the way my parents think cannot be same as young people now.I have some of my friends who are Christian. We have a lot of not common things such as I go to temple but they go to church. They believe in Jesus Christ but we believe in Buddha. And there are many of the things they do different from me. I think it is important to st udy to understand the relationship of belief system to social behavior in order to avoid significant errors in social interaction. Each person has his/her own religion so we have to respect it. It feels weird when something that you never do before but surely there's once when they feel the same way to you.

History of the Apple Macintosh

History of the Apple Macintosh In December of 1983, Apple Computers ran its famous 1984 Macintosh television commercial on a small unknown station solely to make the commercial eligible for awards. The commercial cost $1.5 million and only ran once in 1983, but news and talk shows everywhere replayed it, making TV history. The next month, Apple Computer ran the same ad during the Super Bowl and millions of viewers saw their first glimpse of the Macintosh computer. The commercial was directed by Ridley Scott, and the Orwellian scene depicted the IBM world being destroyed by a new machine called the Macintosh. Could we expect anything less from a company that was once run by the former president of Pepsi-Cola?  Steve Jobs, co-founder of  Apple Computers  had been trying to hire Pepsis John Sculley since early 1983. While he eventually succeeded, Jobs soon discovered that he did not get along with Sculley who, after becoming CEO of Apple Computers, ended up booting him off Apple’s Lisa project. The Lisa was the first consumer computer with a graphical user interface or GUI. Steve Jobs and the Macintosh Computer Jobs then switched over to managing the Apple Macintosh project that was started by Jeff Raskin. Jobs was determined that the new Macintosh was going to have a graphical user interface like the Lisa, but at a considerably lower cost. The early Mac team members (1979) consisted of Jeff Raskin, Brian Howard, Marc LeBrun, Burrell Smith, Joanna Hoffman and Bud Tribble. Others began working working on the Mac at later dates. Seventy-four days after the introduction of the Macintosh, the company was only able to sell 50,000 units. At the time, Apple refused to license the OS or the hardware, the 128k memory was not enough and the onboard floppy drive was difficult to use. The Macintosh did have Lisas user friendly GUI, but was missing some of the more powerful features of the Lisa, such as multitasking and the 1 MB of memory. Jobs compensated by making sure developers created software for the new Macintosh, Jobs figured that software was the way to win the consumer over and in 1985, the Macintosh computer line received a big sales boost with the introduction of the LaserWriter printer and Aldus PageMaker, which made home desktop publishing possible. That was also the year that the original founders of Apple left the company. Power Struggle at Apple Computers Steve Wozniak  returned to college and Steve Jobs was fired as his difficulties with John Sculley came to a head. Jobs had decided to regain control of the company from Sculley by scheduling a business meeting in China for Sculley and so that Jobs could carry out a corporate takeover while Sculley was absent. Word of Jobs true motives reached Sculley before the China trip and he confronted Jobs and asked Apples Board of Directors to vote on the issue. Everyone voted for Sculley and so, in lieu of being fired, Jobs quit. Jobs later rejoined Apple in 1996 and has happily worked there ever since. Sculley was eventually replaced as CEO of Apple.

Kinds of Consequences

Kinds of Consequences Kinds of Consequences Kinds of Consequences By Maeve Maddox A reader questions a radio announcer’s odd use of high to quantify the noun consequences: â€Å"For business owners who become the victims of these scams, the consequences can be high. Since when have consequences been high? â€Å"Dire,† maybe. â€Å"Serious,† maybe. â€Å"Severe,† even. High? Never! The English word consequence derives from a Latin compound that combines cum, â€Å"with† and sequi, â€Å"to follow after.† (In English words, cum appears as com- and con-.) A consequence is what results from something that has gone before. I agree with the reader that the appropriate modifier for consequences is one that signifies a degree of seriousness, like dire or grave. A Google search indicates that the phrase â€Å"high consequences† is out there, if only with 35,400 hits. The expression seems to be seeping into general usage from jargon associated with the behavioral sciences. As jargon, â€Å"high consequences† is part of the descriptive term â€Å"Low-Probability/High Consequences.† The term, abbreviated LPHC, is applied to events or- in the context of marketing- products that have a low probability of risk, but which nevertheless could have a horrific outcome in the event of failure. An article in the proceedings of a marketing science conference explains the concept this way: â€Å"Low-Probability/High Consequences  (LPHC) risk† is present in consumer decisions associated with potentially cataclysmic outcomes such as losing ones life or job. Air travel is [an] LPHC â€Å"product.† The expression high consequences has meaning in this narrow context, but is out of place in the general vocabulary. Here are examples of the questionable use of low and high to describe consequences: â€Å"Why does evolution make out that there are such  high consequences  if we dont pass our genes down?- Question posed on Quora site. The High Consequences of Low Interest Rates- Headline in The Wall Street Journal. Actions that show significant differences are those involving Low Consequences, High Consequences, and Suspension.- Book about school testing. In the first example, the word serious would be more appropriate. In the second example, the headline writer was probably striving for a neat balance of words (high-low), but a better choice would be: â€Å"The Potential Consequences of Low Interest Rates.† The third example illustrates the tendency of parents and educators to use the word consequences as a euphemism for punishment. The study compares student behavior that resulted in different degrees of punishment: â€Å"minor, major, and most severe.† Educators and others are also guilty of using inappropriate verbs with consequences. Consequences are results. Consequences follow actions. They may be felt, suffered, or endured, but they are not given, as in these examples from school publications and parent guides: Consequences will be given  in a calm, consistent, brief, immediate  and respectful fashion.- Kindergarten brochure, Wisconsin No  consequences will be given  if student has an excused tardy.- High school guidelines. However, children don’t need to know every consequence that might be given. Whats important is that they understand that  consequences will be given  consistently for certain behaviors.- Parenting book. In each of these examples, what will be given or withheld is a penalty. Another odd use of the word consequences making the rounds on the Web is a sentence that originated in the angry outburst of a moderately literate man expressing anger about cyberbully attacks on his daughter: â€Å"Consequences will never be the same!† The expression even has a definition in the Urban Dictionary: â€Å"to tell someone to stop doing something.† Interestingly enough in the context of this post, the attacks on the girl were apparently the consequences of her own online behavior. Bottom line: Consequences may be major, minor, serious, severe, dire, or unexpected. They are felt, experienced, suffered or endured. Except in very limited contexts, they are not high, nor are they given. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Direct and Indirect ObjectsList of 50 Great Word Games for Kids and AdultsContinue and "Continue on"

Mergers and Acquisitions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mergers and Acquisitions - Essay Example Man has always tried to conquer the unconquerable and do the undo able this is the same factor that drives the companies into the abyss of the unknown (Allan and Michael, 2010). In a bid to outdo and outsmart the competitors and get the upper hand of strategic advantages, companies cannibalise other companies or in some cases form understanding relationship. It is done either through merger and acquisition where one company either devours another one or decides to merge together and form a new entity (Andrews and Smith, 2006). A significant number of these mergers and acquisitions either goes smoothly whether the companies emerge victorious and successful in the process, while in other case the deal fails to get through, and the companies suffer massive financial damages (Debbage, 2004). a) Increased globalisation across the world has increased the number of across borders mergers and acquisitions around the world. The authors of the article named 'Dubious Logic of Global Mega-Merger s’, argue that most of the time the megamergers that take place, does not substantiate into something extra ordinary, as was thought to be. The article represents how the mega companies are still living under the shadows of the age old theory of the capitalists (Benner and Sandstrom, 2012). Most of the mighty and strong companies in and around the world strongly believe that the prevalence of one can only be guaranteed, if the prevalence of the others can be weakened. For example most of the big companies resort to constant and innumerable number of mergers and acquisitions in order to stay big and strong. The mergers and acquisitions have increased transfer of knowledge, transfer of resources, transfer of economy and even transfer of culture (Caoello and Gillesaie, 2003). This have helped to bridge the gap between the nations, between the companies and the between the various industrial sectors as well. So it can be argued that globalisation has led to concentration of compa nies (Chiefele, 2012). As companies engage in innumerable cases of mergers and acquisitions the length and breadth of the industry begins to get shortened. Thus slowly the industry begins to shrink and thus there remains only limited number of players. These players happen to call the shots. This argument is favoured by various researchers. Although the authors Cravens (2010) state that in reality there is no cause and effect relationship between globalisation and mergers and acquisitions. In fact globalisations after the World War II has lead to decreased concentration in certain industrial sectors. Companies engage in engage in merger and acquisition to take advantage of the economy of scale. Apart from that the other advantages are transfer of technical know-how, sharing of intellectual resources and other strategic advantages (Xu, 2000). The authors are right in their view that the history of merger and acquisitions is strewn with numerous failures but close review of the failur es will indicate that the failures were partly due to the management incompetency (David, James and Arthur, 2011). Due to incompetency, the management of the acquiring companies could not evaluate the exact economic value and the subsequent risks. Despite the fact that the history of mergers and acquisitions are riddled with innumerable failures but there are various successes stories also. The following table

Advanced Principles of Human Computer Interaction Essay

Advanced Principles of Human Computer Interaction - Essay Example This matte area is marginally raised from the surface for a functional reason. On the matte area, on the four points of the compass are four playback buttons. At the north, a point is a â€Å"MENU† button that allows you to navigate through the menus. At the west, a point is a step back button. At the south, a point is a play/pause button. At the last point is a step forward button.   The MENU button takes you from the normal screen to a menu screen that allows you to navigate to different capabilities including â€Å"Music†, â€Å"Photos† and â€Å"Videos† options on the menu. You can then enter each of these menus and navigate through them and if you want to go back up to the previous level of the menu then you can just press the MENU button again. This allows you to move back through the menu systems if you have made a mistake during your navigation. Each time that you press it will take you to the next level up in the menu system until you reappear at the original screen that you started from.   The step back button allows you to go back to the beginning of the playback of an item should you wish to. It allows you to return to the start of a song or a movie if you should need to do that. If you press the button twice then you will return to the start of the previous item and each time that press the button after that you will be moved to the item before that until you reach the start of the playlist. The step forward works in reverse since clicking on it will take you one item further on for every click of the button until the end of the playlist   The play/pause button determines the playback of items depending on the number of times you press the button. If you press it once then the item will play and if you press it twice then the track or video will freeze in place and continue from that spot when the button is pressed again.