Friday, November 29, 2019

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg - Joe Penhall As a director, explain how you would create comedy for your audience from the serious subject matter presented in this extract.

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg - Joe Penhall As a director, explain how you would create comedy for your audience from the serious subject matter presented in this extract. As a director, I would try to bring out the comedy in this extract by, firstly, casting two people who have an ability to make people laugh by doing hardly anything. There are people who can send an audience into fits of laughter by simply pulling a face or walking. A naturally funny person would make the comic extracts of this play easier for the audience to accept.As for the direction of these actors, I would ask them to perform certain lines as follows: When Bri first mentions Freddie, his obvious dislike of the man could be very funny. I would ask the actor playing Bri to say Freddie's name with absolute disgust. Later, when Sheila reminds Bri that it was he who first introduced her to Freddie, Bri's reaction (a wry smile perhaps) would continue this joke. When Sheila tries to persuade Bri to go to the rehearsal by offering him whisky afterwards, Bri's reaction of 'whisky first, Freddie after' is easy for the audience to empathise with and thus laugh at.BRII would ask the actor p laying Bri to say this line as if it were preposterous that the whisky were to come after the gruelling prospect of a conversation with Freddie.Sheila's annoyance with the stupidity of the cat is very funny. If the actress were to have quite a lot of difficulty getting the door open because of the cat and then kicking it (with a pre-recorded squeal audible over loud-speakers), her mini-duel would be quite entertaining. Similarly amusing is the stupidity of talking to the cat and the audience's realisation of how stupid it is, yet they all do it.When Bri and Sheila are speaking to Joe (or rather, speaking at her), their mock enthusiasm and amazement is very...

Monday, November 25, 2019

GECON 200 Essays

GECON 200 Essays GECON 200 Essay GECON 200 Essay Essay Topic: Rebuttal Name: Instructor: Course: Date: : GECON 200 Torre, Pablo. Indianapolis will bid to host 2018 Super Bowl. Sports Illustrated. July 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012.The City of Indianapolis struggled to clinch the hosting of the 2018 Super Bowl tournament amid renewed economic and public relations scandals and controversies. The city had hosted previous Super Bowl competitions but due to economic problems, had lost the qualifications to do so over a period of three years. Led by the Mayor Greg Ballard, the city expressed their interest in presenting a formal bid on Wednesday amid cheers from different stakeholders such as organizers who assisted in the planning of the February 5th games and other events leading up to it. The financial benefit that was expected from hosting the Super Bowl reached up to $152 million in direct economic impacts and other related benefits.The Mayor made an approximate that around 84 cents in every dollar for the tournament stayed in Indianapolis. A study on the economic impact of clinching t he tender to host the 2018 Super Bowl estimated that over 100,000 visitors would grace the city within the ten days before the games begun and over 200,000 visitors during the course of the tournament. The host committee chairperson Mark Miles said in a separate comment that corporate donations had exceeded $ 1.8 million that would be allocated to the games in 2018.Retrieved from http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/nfl/07/18/indianapolis-super-bowl-2018-bid.ap/index.htmlFitzpatrick Dan Kapner Suzanne. Big Banks Prepare another Round of Cuts. Wall Street Journal. July 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012.The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the proposed budget and expenditure cuts aimed at banks and other financial institutions. Global financial companies were preparing for downsizing programmes in the wake of unstable markets, shaky stock prices and skewed economic growth. Led by Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank Of America Corp., the drive to introduce new cost c uts was much later taken up by Citigroup and other financial institutions. Most notably was Goldman Sachs who made an outright admission that the economic times were dire and downsizing was critical to survival. Canadian biggest banks also took an inspection of the different ways in which their expenses could be lowered in the preparation of slower growth and profit margins. Analysis done by experts such as John Aiken predicted the grappling situation by most international banks needed a quick intervention which downsizing could easily offer. The head-count reduction was however not considered the first option that most banks had. Aiken mentioned that some banks were looking into fiscal measures such as altering their variable compensation structures to defer payments rather than cutting jobs.Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444097904577535180303693776.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection#articleTabs%3DarticleFareed Zakaria Tax and Spend. Times Magazin e. July 23, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012.The issue of job creation featured in an article on Times Magazine on Monday that signaled the lower rates of job creation that were beginning to be acceptable by the populace. Over the month of June, around 80, 000 jobs were created which showed a slowing down in the economic recovery of USA. The past recessions were always accompanied by a spring back that featured growth in the employment rates. However, the rate of employment after recessions has been on a receding trend. In the 19th century, jobs were available in less than fifteen months of climbing out of recessions. However, in the 20th century, this period tended to stretch up to 39 months.Currently, the Times put the employment availability period after the 2008 recession at sixty months. This information was seconded by a study done by McKinsey. Fareed, in the article, attributed this phenomenon to two major forces: globalization and the spread of the Information Age. These two factors were cited as being responsible for the economic growth for many previously third world countries in Asia and South America. They have also expanded the economic activities within America. The downside to the impact that these two forces had was that they made it easier for capital-intensive economic growth that made wageworkers a last resort within America.Retrieved from time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2119336,00.htmlRandall W. Forsyth. The Euro’s Fate Barrons. July 14th 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012.Amid the recent events happening in Europe particularly the elections in Greece, the economic recession and the European Union leaders summit, the announcement by Airbus to establish its first production firm in the U.S. was perhaps the most surprising and intriguing. This was the first sign that the economic crisis that plagued Europe had finally begun taking its toll on domestic companies. In following the footsteps of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Airbus wa s not only running away from the harsh economic conditions but also the waning power of the Euro. The best solution to aid the rising unemployment rates and deficits in growth would be through monetary reflation. By lowering the bar to have a cheaper Euro, Europe would still be able to retain its competitiveness in the international financial arena, end its debt crisis and salvage the Euro in one move. This proposed solution had been applied earlier in the last decade with excellent results that bolstered the rate from $1.60 to around $1.22. Debasing the Euro may therefore be the best solution that Europe has in surviving the tough economic times.Retrieved from http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111904184504577519232109403716.html?mod=BOL_hpp_cover#articleTabs_article%3D1Dean Hoff Meyer. Capital One repays consumers to end card probe. Richmond Times Dispatch. July 19, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012Capital One was on Monday compelled to compensate its customers over $120 million over federal charge claims that it tricked its shareholder into overspending on add-on services like credit monitoring and payment protection. Richmond’s largest private employer faced a charge against them presented by the court that had violated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Act that was created to protect consumers from exploitative companies having hidden exorbitant fees. A large chunk of the compensation by Capital One was expected to go directly to the consumers. The McLean branch of Capital One was reported to have paid up to $150 million to consumers, $35 million to the Comptroller’s Office and $ 25 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Richard Cordray, the director at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau commented in a press conference over the Capital One issue by saying that such problems were not isolated to Capital One and that he expected other companies to follow the same trend in compensating gullible customers who were unfairly taxed or coerced out of their money. A representative at the Clear Point Credit Counseling Services also pointed out that there were no requirements for consumers to add services to qualify for loans or credit.Retrieved from http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/news/2012/jul/19/tdmain01-capital-one-repays-consumers-to-end-card–ar-2067611/Edward Wyatt. Despite Stronger Financial System, Report Cites Threats to U.S. Market Stability. New York Times. July 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012 Among the biggest threats to the stability in the American financial markets was the uncertainness in the Euro zone countries, the fiscal uphill faced by America at the end of every fiscal year and a weakening federal regulatory panel. The assessment by the Financial Stability Oversight Council that was made up of regulatory heads forms the Exchange Commission. The Federal Reserve and other agencies painted a grim picture for the American economic future. The Council particularly mentioned cyber threat as an emerging threat as well as the fact that many financial institutions might have focused on complex trading strategies at the expense of their security that could result in losses due to a change in short-term interest rates. The council also cited certain financial market utilities as posing the largest threat and recommended the increased monitoring of these utilities. Most of them were clearing agencies that facilitate the operations of trades of financial instruments. Other outcomes of the study done included reforms for the money market funds that were expected to make the funds less susceptible to investors if they were to run losses. Greater customer protection and segregation of customer assets were other recommendations passed by the council. Retrieved from nytimes.com/2012/07/19/business/economy/report-cites-threats-to-market-stability.html?_r=1ref=business Helft Miguel. JC Penney CEO: It may get worse before it gets better. July 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012In a conference at Fortune Brainstorm Tech, the JC Penney CEO, Ron Johnson predicted doom for one of America’s leading mobile and online application developer. The introduction of Ron Johnson as the head of Fortune Brainstorm Tech coincided with one of the worst times for the firm. The company had experienced setbacks in their marketing experiments that flopped dreadfully. The firm had also lost most of its customers by withdrawing the discounts and coupons that it previously offered. Sales had dropped sharply and the customer traffic to their stores had dipped significantly. In a rebuttal by critics, Johnson announced that he would stick to his plan of maintaining competitive prices in order to attract customers.Ron Johnson also mentioned the adjustments that were planned for regional stores. He announced the revamping of the technology infrastructure by installi ng an Oracle system that included an improved mobile checkout system and RFID tags that were expected to speed up purchases. However, even with these reforms, Johnson warned that the company might experience more losses before it fully recovered and recorded growth. Ron proposed a start-up approach that hinted the possibility of downsizing and a nod from the company board. He also negated claims that physical stores were being ousted by online retailing. Retrieved from http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/18/jc-penney-ron-johnson/ Paul R. La Monica. Will Facebook earnings be THAT bad? Money. June 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012 The floating of shares by the world’s richest social networking site, Facebook was followed by predictions that the earnings from the shares would not be as rosy as expected. Basing their arguments on the behavior that the stock had in the two years since it debuted, most critics placed Facebook shares alongside similar flops such as Nokia, Yahoo and Hewlett- Packard. The Facebook shares went down more than 10% within a week and this was from a10percentage rise from its June low of $25.52 that triggered an alarm among economists on the future of its earnings. The sluggish global economy was one of the reasons for the dismal share performance that also affected other firms likewise. Facebook however had a problem with finding ways through which they could profit off mobile users even as the consequences of acquiring Instagram at exorbitant prices caught up with the compa ny. The poor performance in the stock market may be due to a realization that Facebook might have been a victim of too much publicity during its IPO period. However, the article stated that it might be too early to write off Facebook as a failure. On the contrary, the mistake lied in the way the IPO was poorly handled. The company will still be able to attract experts and invest in developers that will help it grow.Retrieved from http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/07/18/facebook-earnings/?iid=HP_MP_RiverLouboutin Christian. Duchess doesn’t need advice. People Magazine. May 24th, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012Christian Louboutin commented on the sensational debate over whether the Duchess of Cambridge’s top-of-the-line fashion franchise might be in need of advice from top designers by pointing out the success that she has achieved so far by depending on her market skills. The thirty-year old duchess, Kate Middleton came into the international spotlight after launching the red-soled shoes that were posted at extravagant prices and purchased by prominent figures all over Europe. The sales figures for the branches of clothing lines, footwear and other fashion stalls that were owned by Miss Middleton showed a strong selling power even in the continuing economic instability in America and Europe. One of the stores, Debenhams adopted a cutomer-centered approach by meeting the customer’s needs and preferences especially on key events such as Christmas and Mother’s Day.The total investments by the royalty grew by 34.9% in the first quarter of 2012 and currently stand at 42%. The chief executive at Debenhams stated that their approach involved communication with customers alongside stocking great value increased their sales growth exponentially. Similar sentiments were echoed by the top leaders at Jenny Peckham. Kate Middleton became a significant economic figure in Europe after her economic activities were credited with giving the British economy over$1.6 billion boost through fashion sales.Retrieved from peoplemagazine.co.za/article.aspx?id=22325h=Louboutin:-Duchess-doesn%E2%80%99t-need-adviceChristopher S. Rugaber. US home construction makes slow, steady comeback. Daily News Record. July 18, 2012. Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012Within America, the general trend in the housing sector has been the increase I the erection of houses. This urgency to build housing facilities contributes to the long-awaited recovery that could boost the U.S. economy. Housing economists commented that the housing sector was expected to recover faster than it had. However, builders had started responding to buyers who were attracted by lower prices, lower mortgage rates and rising rents. This has increased the appeal for purchasing homes. The increased construction activities were reported to have coincided with higher stock prices for building firms and increased confidence in the housing sector.The bulk of the market was estimated to be s ingle-family homes who contributed the largest growth as was indicated by the highest number of permits taken since March 2010.This housing sector rejuvenation also influenced the Dow Jones industrial average which closed up at 103 point. The continued resurgence in the housing sector was predicted to benefit the flailing American economy that was weakened by lower consumer spending and slow employment rates.Retrieved from dnronline.com/hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-18-Housing%20Starts/id-93ebc4fd0d814560b100c0ffaa4e33f9 Preeti Kulkarni .Why top-up home loan is a better option in emergency. The Economic Times. July 18, 2012.Web. Accessed on July 18, 2012 The article Why top-up home loan is a better option in emergency discussed the hidden ramifications and benefits that a top-up home loan could have in times of an emergency. Most home loans are considered heaven-sent opportunities through which many people can own a house. Most financial g urus also advice individuals to take out these kinds of loans. The problem however would arise when they needed money urgently. Preeti urged new home owners who were interested in taking up such kinds of loans to consider additional loan or top-up loans. Banks generally offer top-ups at lower rates than the actual loan. One of the benefits of top-ups cited in the article included the extension of such loans to the existing home loan borrowers. This meant that it was only offered to existing clients of certain banks that would explain the comfortable tenure of top-ups loans that would sometimes go up to 20 years. In considering a potential candidate for a top-up loan, the banks consider the value of the property, the repayment trend, the outstanding initial loan and the ability to repay the top-up loan before approving the loan.Retrieved from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-finance/loan-centre/home-loans/analysis/why-top-up-home-loan-is-a-better-option-in-emergency/artic leshow/15036450.cms

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Early Twentieth Century, continued Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Early Twentieth Century, continued - Essay Example The manner in which Mine Okubo was treated is perhaps the worst I would expect to come across in a country that I proudly identify with. Placed in her position, I would interpret such form of treatment as betrayal from a country that I expected to protect my rights and freedoms as an American citizen. After undergoing the evacuation and confinement experience, I would relinquish the American citizenship and seek citizenship in my ancestral land rather than continuing living in a country that would turn against its own people on grounds of race in times of trouble. Today, the experiences of Mine Okubo can probably be traced in people belonging to minority or marginalized groups such as the American Indians, African Americans, the Mexican immigrants and people with the Arabic identity (Cadge-Moore 157). Despite being American citizens, Native Americans continue to face discrimination in all aspects of life including education, employment, political participation and health care. Discrimination partially explains why these groups continue to be marginalized and leveraged in poverty in a global economic power base. Terrorism threats currently experienced in America have exposed people with the Arabic identity and other immigrants to similar treatment including confinement in camps and incarceration as terrorism suspects. The war on terror has seen the U.S. Government establish stringent measures at its main entry points to avert illegal immigration. This has indeed contributed to harassment of American citizens in the detention camps as they await verification, a phenomenon experienced by Okubo and other immigrants (Cadge-Moore 146). Therefore, it is clear that some American citizens continue to suffer at the hands of their very own country. Mine Okubo’s art in â€Å"Citizen 13660† serves to depict some of the historical injustices faced by minority groups such as the Japanese Americans and Indian

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Marketing plan - Essay Example The mixture get shaken over ice, cocktail-style, then strained into a glass and served in a three-dimensional garnish: the chewy, tapioca pearls, marble-size Gummi Bear-like treats which are the bane of orthodontists across the world. Other ingredients like –milk, soy or lychee –can in the mixture of the frothy libation. A probable explosive growth of the bubble tea in the area you are living through the coverage on magazines, newspapers and television is not news that much (Richardson, Rubinstein & Joseph, 2009). This is because bubble tea has scaled a greater height in its competitive advantage in a number of aspects: This is the best-kept secret among the businesses selling this unique tea. The preparation of tapioca is simple as cooking spaghetti, rice, pasta or ramen noodles. One prepares the tapioca, as simple as boiling water. The drink or base portion of the drink is not hard as mixing instant cocoa or coffee. One gets amazed on how easy it was just after making the first bubble tea (Naughton, 2002). It all started out as a tea stand in Taiwan, the bubble tea has incredibly spread to North America, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and much more. To the surprise of many, that bubble tea could just be a fad which come and go, but it has been in existence for about two decades since it came into the market. It is remarkably known that, one either be a part of the Bubble Tea fad by constituting those who create the hoopla, or rather you can watch it go by and you will wish that you â€Å"shouldn’t have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bubble Tea Supply offers you with the knowledge and tools essential for your bubble Tea Business. A number of Bubble Tea Shops never share their secrets with anyone on how to make the drink or prepare the tapioca pearls (Guo & Moravska galerie v Brne, 2008). The mission of the Bubble Tea Supply is to have you dancing with the tapioca’s

Monday, November 18, 2019

Explain how inflation targeting operates in the UK and Critically Essay

Explain how inflation targeting operates in the UK and Critically evaluate the benefits of inflation targeting - Essay Example Inflation is all about price stability and it has been agreed by the economist that a rate of between (0-3) percent is the good enough rate fro the economy. With stable prices at that rate, consumer confidence is raised hence propelling the economy, if the consumer confidence is lower, then the economy will be stuck (Ben 2003). Inflation can only be made success through central banks making price stability its primary objective through strong institutional commitment to attaining that. United Kingdom was not the first country to introduce the inflation instead there are countries like Canada which did it ahead of them. Many countries over time have followed suit to introduce the inflation targeting within their economies with many others looking for technical assistance to help them introduce it (Richard 2005). Japan is one of the few who have not adopted it yet because of its well developed economy with rather stable inflation rate. UK inflation is therefore currently more stable in comparison with the past performance. UK quit ERM in 1992 due to rising tension between having to follow a tight policy framework in order to maintain existing exchange rate and the other option of having to cut the domestic downfall by taking down interest rates it (Richard 2005). ... With such big concern about inflation and well versed with knowledge of the trade-off between output and the inflation, the policy maker will then fix interest rates through adjustments informed by the knowledge on relative demand to supply and inflation. The central bank then set in the money markets the nominal interest rate and since prices of goods are somehow rigid then there will be movements around the real rate that always stand in absence of such moves by the central bank (Mervyn 2005). Due to these sticky prices, if a crisis hit the economy, it slips inflation away from the target and central bank can not quickly take it back to the track instead it has to take the longer old route by factoring in the monetary policy on what is the most. This older route will include having to factor in the bigger things that include having to go over the expected demands and supply and he pressure it will have on one another, that is to say the productive capacity of the economy and its co st implication as well as whether the economy is still on the track in relative to the expected inflation (Paul 1998). After all that considerations the central bank will then design a way to bring quickly inflation back to target with consideration of the impact it will have on the output. It will then have to decide on whether to aggregate demand should be stimulated or not and whether to be neutral. With all that there are unobservable effects of inflation on unemployment which it raises, the interest rates and growth of the economy through supply. The monetary policy committee (MPC) targets inflation by setting interest rates. When a shock hit the economy the committee action is not felt immediately. The results of adjustments in interest rates could yield tangible results after even

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Analysis of SIF Intrinsic Dynamics

Analysis of SIF Intrinsic Dynamics Abstract. It was recently found that spectral solar incident flux (SIF) as a function of the ultraviolet wavelengths exhibit 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations. In this study, an attempt was made to explore the SIF intrinsic dynamics versus a wider range of wavelengths, from 115.5nm to 629.5nm. It seemed that the intermittency of SIF data set was very high and the revealed DFA-n exponents were very close to unity. Moreover, the power spectral density was better fitted algebraically than exponentially with exponent very close to unity. Eliminating the fitting of three different types of Planck formula from SIF data set, scaling exponents very close to unity were derived, indicating that the 1/f scaling dynamics concern not the Planck’s law but its variations. 1. Introduction As it is well known, electromagnetic radiation is continuously emitted by every physical body. This emitted radiation is adequately described by Plancks law near thermodynamic equilibrium at a definite temperature. There is a positive correlation between the temperature of an emitting body and the Planck radiation at every wavelength. As the temperature of an emitting surface increases, the maximum wavelength of the emitted radiation increases too. Smith and Gottlieb (1974) re-examined the subject of photon solar flux and its variations versus wavelength and showed that variations in the extreme ultraviolet (UV) spectrum and in the X-ray of solar flux may reach at high orders of magnitude causing significant changes in the Earth’s ionosphere, especially during major solar flares (Kondratyev et al. 1995; Kondratyev and Varotsos 1996; Alexandris et al. 1999; Melnikova 2009; Xue et al. 2011). Simon (1978) examined the solar irradiance fluxes from 120 to 400 nm and suggested that the internal scaling properties of solar radiation during the eleven-year cycle is still unknown, as the cause of the available solar data discrepancies can not be attributed to solar activity. Solanki and Unruh (1998) proposed simple models of the total solar irradiance variations versus wavelength showing that variations on solar flux are mainly caused by magnetic fields at the solar surface. Solar observations may be reproduced by a model of three parameters: the quiet Sun, a facular component and the temperature stratification of sunspots. Tobiska et al. (2000) developed a forecasting solar irradiance model, called SOLAR2000, covering the spectral range of 1–1,000,000 nm. Using this tool, the authors attempted to describe solar variation versus wavelength and through time from X-ray through infrared wavelengths, in order to predict the solar radiation component of the space environment. Very recently, Varotsos et al. (2013a,b) suggested the existence of strong persistent long-range correlations in the solar flux fluctuations versus UV wavelengths. More precisely, by applying the detrending fluctuation analysis (DFA) to the initial SIF versus UV wavelengths data set power-law correlations of the type 1/f, which is omnipresent in nature, was found. In the present study, we examine whether the scaling feature of 1/f noise is apparent in a wider spectrum of SIF, namely for wavelengths (WL) between 115.5 and 629.5nm. 2. Data and analysis As mentioned just above solar incident flux data for WL ranging from 115.5nm to 629.5nm with a step of 1nm were employed. The spectrophotometric data of spectral extraterrestrial solar flux have been taken from the book by Makarova et al. (1991) (see also Makarova et al. 1994; Melnikova and Vasilyev 2005). Fig. 1a depicts SIF values for the wavelength range of 115.5-629.5nm. The principal feature shown in this figure is the existence of non-stationarities into the solar spectral distribution and the strong upward trend. The detrending of this data set was accomplished by applying linear as well as polynomial best fit. To eliminate the non-stationarities of this data set and to detect the intrinsic self-similarity, we applied the well-known DFA method (Peng et al. 1994; Weber and Talkner 2001; Varotsos 2005; Skordas et al. 2010). Furthermore, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial SIF-WL data set, using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm as well as the maximum entropy method (MEM) of the TISEAN package (http://www.mpipks-dresden.mpg.de/~tisean/TISEAN_2.1/index.html). For comparison reasons, we used the Planck formula taking into account the effective temperature obtained from NASA (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/sunfact.html). A brief description of DFA-tool may be given as follows: Consider the SIF data set x(i) of length N which is integrated over WL. In more detail, to integrate the data, we calculate the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuations of the N observations x(i) from their mean value xave, notably: x(i) xave. Therefore, the integrated data set, y(i), is consisting of the following points: y(1) = [x(1) − xave], y(2) = [x(1) − xave] + [x(2) − xave], . . . , y(i) = (1) We split the integrated data set into non-overlapping boxes of equal length, Ï„. In each box, a best polynomial local trend (of order n) is à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ tted in order to detrend the integrated profile (by subtracting the locally fitted trend). The root-mean-square fluctuations Fd (Ï„) of this integrated and detrended profile is calculated over all scales (box sizes). The detrended fluctuation function F is defined by: k = 0, 1, 2,†¦, , (2) where z(i) is a linear least-square fit to the Ï„ data contained within a box (Kantelhardt et al. 2002). In case the signals involve scaling, a power-law behavior for the root-mean-square à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuation function Fd (Ï„) is observed: Fd (Ï„) ∠¼ Ï„a (3) where ÃŽ ± is the scaling exponent, a self-afà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ nity parameter that represents the long-range power-law correlation (Ausloos and Ivanova 2001). It is worthy of note that a is a generalized Hurst exponent (H) being equal between them for the case of a fractional Gaussian noise (FGN) data set, where 0 1. For a fractional Brownian motion (FBM) data set (1 2) the relation between these exponents is H = a − 1 (Ausloos and Ivanova, 2001). For uncorrelated data, the scaling exponent is ÃŽ ± = 0.5. An exponent ÃŽ ± ≠  0.5 in a certain range of Ï„ values implies the existence of long-range correlations in that time interval. If 0ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ± ≠¤1.0 (and if again the data set is nonintermittent), then persistent long-range power-law correlations prevail (the case ÃŽ ± = 1 corresponds to the so-called 1/f noise) (Weber and Talkner 2001). Finally, the scaling properties of SIF-WL data set were also studied using Haar analysis (Lovejoy and Schertzer, 2012a,b). According to Haar analysis the variation of X parameter fluctuations ΔX with scale Δt can be defined using the â€Å"generalized† qth order structure function Sq(Δt) = ÃŽ §(Δt)q >, where the symbol stands for ensemble averaging. In a scaling regime, Sq(Δt) ≈ ΔtÃŽ ¾(q), where the exponent ÃŽ ¾(q)= qH K(q) and K(q) indicates the scaling intermittency (satisfying K(1) = 0). 3. Discussion and results Varotsos et al. (2013a) studying the high-resolution observations of SIF reaching the ground and the top of the atmosphere, suggested that SIF versus ultraviolet WL exhibit 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations. This result was derived by applying the DFA method on the SIF dataset obtained from the Villard St. Pancrace station of the Lille University of Sciences and Technology and was based on the slope (i.e., 1.02 ±0.02) of the log – log plot of the root mean square fluctuation function of SIF versus the WL segment size Ï„. In order to further establish the power-law scaling mentioned before, Varotsos et al. (2013b) employed the two criteria suggested by Maraun et al. (2004), notably the rejection of the exponential decay of the autocorrelation function and the constancy of â€Å"local slopes† in a certain range towards the low frequencies. The results showed that the power-law fit on the power spectral density (of the detrended SIF-WL versus logÏ„) was much better than exponential one, for scales higher than Ï„ ≈ 1.4 nm, while the method of local slopes exhibited â€Å"constancy† with constant threshold (a ≈ 0.92) at the same range, Ï„ > 1.4 nm. Therefore, the two criteria of Maraum et al. (2004) were satisfied ensuring the 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type power-law correlations in SIF versus WL suggested by Varotsos et al. (2013a). In the present study, the scaling dynamics of a wider spectrum of SIF-WL data set was studied, for wavelengths between 115.5 and 629.5nm. Firstly, DFA-n seemed to can take care of the trends revealing a DFA-exponent close to unity (after DFA-2), as shown in Fig. 1b. In the following we plotted the power spectral density (using FFT) of the linearly detrended SIF data set. The derived power spectral density showed that the power-law fitting gives coefficient of determination, R2, higher than the exponential one (see Fig. 2a). This was confirmed by F-test, at 95% confidence level. From the other hand, the DFA-1 exponent was 1.24, while by applying the multiple DFA on the linearly detrended SIF data, the derived exponents ranged from 0.94 to 1. Similar results were derived when we repeated the above mentioned analysis for the polynomially (of 6th degree) detrended SIF data set. The derived power spectral density was, once more, better fitted algebraically than exponentially (a result which was confirmed by F-test, at 95% confidence level), while the linearly DFA-exponent was 1.01 (see Fig.2b). In other words, it seemed that no detrending is needed for the studied data set. Next, to resume our results we analysed the initial SIF-WL data set by using Haar analysis (Lovejoy and Schertzer, 2012a,b). According to Haar analysis, as also mentioned in the Section 2, the variation of SIF fluctuations versus wavelength Ï„ can be defined using the â€Å"generalized† qth order structure function Sq(Ï„) = RF(Ï„)q >, for which it holds that in a scaling regime Sq(Ï„) ≈ Ï„Î ¾(q), where the exponent ÃŽ ¾(q)= qH K(q) and K(q) illustrates the scaling intermittency (satisfying K(1) = 0 and ÃŽ ¾(1) = H). Fig. 3b shows that the intermittency of SIF data set is very high (C1=0.20), hence the RMS exponent = ÃŽ ¾(2)/2=0.60 is quite different from the q=1 exponent (H) and the data are far from Gaussian. In the classical quasi-Gaussian case, K(q) = 0 so that ÃŽ ¾(q) is linear. More generally, if the field is intermittent – for example if it is the result of a multifractal process – then the exponent K(q) is generally non linear and co nvex and characterizes the intermittency. The physical significance of H is thus that it determines the rate at which mean fluctuations grow (H > 0) or decrease (H Ï„. According to Fig. 3a,b, the exponent ÃŽ ¾(2) of the structure function equals to zero (at scales below 10 nm), a fact which means that the power spectrum exponent ÃŽ ²=1+ÃŽ ¾(2) equals to 1 (1/f structure). On the other hand, at larger scales, the exponents ÃŽ ¾(2) and ÃŽ ² seem to equal to 1.2 and 2.2, respectively. To clarify this aspect, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial SIF-WL data set, using the MEM. Then, we plotted in Fig. 4a the power spectral density versus frequency and we compared these results with 1/f and 1/f2.2 structure, following the exponent ÃŽ ¾(2)= 1.2 shown in Fig. 3. Interestingly, the results lied in between these two lines. Furthermore, we calculated the power spectrum for the initial as well as for the polynomially (of 6th and 7th degree) detrended SIF data set, using again the MEM. We plotted in Fig. 4b the power spectral density versus WL and the corresponding algebraically fitting in the range from 10 to 100 nm. In the latter fitting we found exponent very close to unity. However, Varotsos et al. (2013a) tried to formulate the above-shown finding, i.e., that the solar spectral irradiance obeys 1/f power-law as a function of UV wavelength, using the well-known Plancks law: which, in the limit of small wavelengths tends to the Wien approximation: , where I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) is the amount of energy emitted at a wavelength Ï„ per unit surface area per unit time per unit solid angle per unit wavelength, T is the temperature of the black body, h is Plancks constant, c is the speed of light, and k is Boltzmanns constant. By applying the DFA method on the various values of I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) Varotsos et al. (2013a) showed that the calculated I(Ï„,ÃŽ ¤) values do not obey the 1/fà ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ­type scaling. In an effort to clarify this aspect, we firstly applied on the initial SIF data set a fitting that was based on the Planck formula: Planck(Ï„)= and the derived exponents were a1 = 6799.86 ± 45.39(0.6674%) and b1= 2754.38  ± 15.85 (0.5755%) (see Fig. 5). Next, we applied the formula: p(Ï„)= which releases the exponent in front of the Bose-Einstein distribution giving a possible explanation for the different distribution of photons. The derived exponents were a= 3250.17  ± 90.65 (2.79%), b= 4456.26  ± 121.3 (2.72%) and c= 8.81914  ± 0.2589 (2.94%). Our last step was to use the Planck formula taking into account the effective temperature obtained from NASA. However, since hc = 1.986à ¯Ã†â€™-10-25 Jm and k = 1.38à ¯Ã†â€™-10-23 J/K, the Planck formula gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 5224.3 K while the p(Ï„) formula gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 3229.5 K. Furthermore, the Wien displacement law: Ï„max à ¯Ã†â€™-T = b, where Ï„max = 450 nm is the peak wavelength and b = 2.898à ¯Ã†â€™-10−3mK is a constant of proportionality called Wiens displacement constant, gives ÃŽ ¤sun = 6440K. The analysis based on Planck and Wien laws gives ÃŽ ¤sun = (5224 + 6440) / 2 K = 5832 K which is less than 1% from the effective temperature obtained from NASA. Finally, the application of DFA method on the detrended SIF data, eliminating the fitting of Planck, p(Ï„) and Plank(Ï„, Tef) formula, gave again DFA-exponents very close to 1 (ranging from 1.01 to 1.08) as shown in Fig. 6. All the previous discussion indicates that the 1/f scaling dynamics observed in solar flux concerns not the Planck’s law but its variations. 4. Conclusions The main conclusions of the present survey were: DFA-n applied on the initial SIF data set revealed DFA-exponents very close to unity (after DFA-2). Power spectral density for the linearly detrended SIF data set showed that the power-law fitting gives coefficient of determination, R2, higher than the exponential one, while DFA-1 exponent was 1.24 and DFA-n exponents ranged from 0.94 to 1. Similar results were extracted when we repeated the above mentioned analysis for the polynomially (of 6th degree) detrended SIF data set and it seemed that no detrending is needed for the studied data set. To resume our results we analysed the initial SIF-WL data set by using Haar analysis. As ÃŽ ¹t was derived, the intermittency of SIF data set was very high and the data were far from Gaussian. At scales below 10 nm, the power spectrum exponent ÃŽ ² was almost 1 (1/f structure), while at larger scales, the exponents ÃŽ ¾(2) and ÃŽ ² seemed to equal to 1.2 and 2.2, respectively. The results of the power spectral density for the initial SIF-WL data set (using the MEM) versus frequency seemed to lie in between 1/f and 1/f2.2 structure. The power spectral density versus WL for the initial as well as for the polynomially (of 6th and 7th degree) detrended SIF data set (using again the MEM) revealed also exponent very close to unity. Eliminating the fitting of three different types of Planck formula from SIF data set, scaling exponents very close to unity were derived Finally, the 1/f scaling dynamics observed in solar flux concerns not the Planck’s law but its variations.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Stuff :: essays research papers fc

Trickster Tales: Not Just A Bedtime Story â€Å"Beep Beep†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦VRRROOOOMMMM†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and the Roadrunner speeds away from the deceitful Coyote as Coyote falls over a Cliff with his â€Å"Acme† dynamite still in hand. The tale of the â€Å"trickster† is known and shared all around the world. It is an age old story that has many different versions and is culturally diverse. Almost every culture has some version of the trickster tale; from the early West African people and their tales of Eshu, to the modern day American versions like Wile E. Coyote that Warner Brothers has made so popular (Doty and Hynes 10.) Japanese culture has the story of Susa-No-O, and even the ancient Greeks had similar stories dealing with the character Hermes (Doty and Hynes 141, 46.) With so many different cultures involved, one would think that the tales and myths would be just as variegated. However this is not necessarily the case. It seems as though the trickster story hent this human characteristic in that when a character is tricked, he, in return, takes revenge on his rival. In fact, this is what constitutes the main purpose for the action in these folktales. If it were not for our desire to see the wronged character revenged, there would be no motivation for the reader, or the writer of these stories. Without this theme, there would be no justification for wrongdoing, no justice for the wronged. This element of human nature is what makes these stories timeless and appealing to many generations. It is bred somewhere deep within us that a wrong must be somehow righted and the trickster tale fills this human need. Hand in hand with retribution is the theme of punishment. Not only must one be revenged, but also, in order to feel fully justified, your rival must be punished. Sometimes we can be our own rivals. When we have done something wrong to someone else, we feel the need to be punished, and sometimes, consciously or not, we punish ourselves if we do not receive the punishment from an outside source. Therefore, this idea of punishment is also innate in us. The trickster tale feeds this necessity for punishment. Each time the character is gullible enough to fall for one of the vengeful tricks, he is punished in some way for his naivety, and in essence, for punishing the other character earlier at some point.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 23~24

Chapter 23 Mom and Terrapin Pie â€Å"She's in town,† Jody said. â€Å"She's coming over in a few minutes.† Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway, Scott still dangling from his sleeve. â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"You're missing a cufflink,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't think he's going to let go. Do we have any scissors?† Jody took Tommy by the sleeve a few inches above where Scott was clamped. â€Å"You ready?† Tommy nodded and she ripped his sleeve off at the shoulder. Scott skulked into the bedroom, the sleeve still clamped in his jaws. â€Å"That was my best shirt,† Tommy said, looking at his bare arm. â€Å"Sorry, but we've got to clean this place up and get a story together.† â€Å"Where did she call from?† â€Å"She was at the Fairmont Hotel. We've got maybe ten minutes.† â€Å"So she won't be staying with us.† â€Å"Are you kidding? My mother under the same roof where people are living in sin? Not in this lifetime, turtleboy.† Tommy took the turtleboy shot in stride. This was an emergency and there was no time for hurt feelings. â€Å"Does you mother use phrases like ‘living in sin'?† â€Å"I think she has it embroidered on a sampler over the telephone so she won't forget to use it every month when I call.† Tommy shook his head. â€Å"We're doomed. Why didn't you call her this month? She said you always call her.† Jody was pacing now, trying to think. â€Å"Because I didn't get my reminder.† â€Å"What reminder?† â€Å"My period. I always call her when I get my period each month – just to get all the unpleasantness out of the way at one time.† â€Å"When was the last time you had a period?† Jody thought for a minute. It was before she had turned. â€Å"I don't know, eight, nine weeks. I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot.† Tommy went to the futon, sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. â€Å"What do we do now?† Jody sat next to him. â€Å"I don't suppose we have time to redecorate.† In the next ten minutes, while they cleaned up the loft, Jody tried to prepare Tommy for what he was about to experience. â€Å"She doesn't like men. My father left her for a younger woman when I was twelve, and Mother thinks all men are snakes. And she doesn't really like women either, since she was betrayed by one. She was one of the first women to graduate from Stanford, so she's a bit of a snob about that. She says that I broke her heart when I didn't go to Stanford. It's been downhill since then. She doesn't like that I live in the City and she has never approved of any of my jobs, my boyfriends, or the way I dress.† Tommy stopped in the middle of scrubbing the kitchen sink. â€Å"So what should I talk about?† â€Å"It would probably be best if you just sat quietly and looked repentant.† â€Å"That's how I always look.† Jody heard the stairwell door open. â€Å"She's here. Go change your shirt.† Tommy ran to the bedroom, stripping off his one-sleever as he went. I'm not ready for this, he thought. I have more work to do on myself before I'm ready for a presentation. Jody opened the door catching her mother poised to knock. â€Å"Mom!† Jody said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. â€Å"You look great.† Frances Evelyn Stroud stood on the landing looking at her youngest daughter with restrained disapproval. She was a short, stout woman dressed in layers of wool and silk under an eggshell cashmere coat. Her hair was a woven gray-blond, flared and lacquered to expose a pair of pearl earrings roughly the size of Ping-Pong balls. Her eyebrows had been plucked away and painted back, her cheekbones were high and highlighted, her lips lined, filled, and clamped tight. She had the same striking green eyes as her daughter, flecked now with sparks of judgment. She had been pretty once but was now passing into the limbo-land of the menopausal woman known as handsome. â€Å"May I come in,† she said. Jody, caught in the half-gesture of offering a hug, dropped her arms. â€Å"Of course,† she said, stepping aside. â€Å"It's good to see you,† she said, closing the door behind her mother. Tommy bounded from the bedroom into the kitchen and slid to a stop on stocking feet. â€Å"Hi,† he said. Jody put her hand on her mother's back. Frances flinched, ever so slightly, at the touch. â€Å"Mother, this is Thomas Flood. He's a writer. Tommy, this is my mother, Frances Stroud.† Tommy approached Frances and offered his hand. â€Å"Pleased to meet you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She clutched her Gucci bag tightly, then forced herself to take his hand. â€Å"Mrs. Stroud,† she said, trying to head off the unpleasantness of hearing her Christian name come out of Tommy's mouth. Jody broke the moment of discomfort so they could pass into the next one. â€Å"So, Mom, can I take your coat? Would you like to sit down?† Frances Stroud surrendered her coat to her daughter as if she were surrendering her credit cards to a mugger, as if she didn't want to know where it was going because she would never see it again. â€Å"Is this your couch?† she asked, nodding toward the futon. â€Å"Have a seat, Mother; we'll get you something to drink. We have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody realized that she had no idea what they had. â€Å"Tommy, what do we have?† Tommy wasn't expecting the questions to start so soon. â€Å"I'll look,† he said, running to the kitchen and throwing open a cabinet. â€Å"We have coffee, regular and decaf.† He dug behind the coffee, the sugar, the powdered creamer. â€Å"We have Ovaltine, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Beer, milk, cranberry juice, and beer – a lot of beer – I mean, not a lot, but plenty, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened the chest freezer. Peary stared up at him through a gap between frozen dinners. Tommy slammed the lid.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that's it. Nothing in there.† â€Å"Decaf, please,† said Mother Stroud. She turned to Jody, who was returning from balling up her mother's cashmere coat and throwing it in the corner of the closet. â€Å"So, you've left your job at Transamerica. Are you working, dear?† Jody sat in a wicker chair across the wicker coffee table from her mother. (Tommy had decided to decorate the loft in a Pier 1 Imports cheap-shit motif. As a result it was only a ceiling fan and a cockatoo away from looking like a Thai cathouse.) Jody said, â€Å"I've taken a job in marketing.† It sounded respectable. It sounded professional. It sounded like a lie. â€Å"You might have told me and saved me the embarrassment of calling Transamerica only to find out that you had been let go.† â€Å"I quit, Mother. I wasn't let go.† Tommy, trying to will himself invisible, bowed his way between them to deliver the decaf, which he had arranged on a wicker tray with cream and sugar. â€Å"And you, Mr. Flood, you're a writer? What do you write?† Tommy brightened. â€Å"I'm working on a short story about a little girl growing up in the South. Her father is on a chain gang.† â€Å"You're from the South, then?† â€Å"No, Indiana.† â€Å"Oh,† she said, as if he had just confessed to being raised by rats. â€Å"And where did you go to university?† â€Å"I, um, I'm sort of self-educated. I think experience is the best teacher.† Tommy realized that he was sweating. â€Å"I see,† she said. â€Å"And where might I read your work?† â€Å"I'm not published yet.† He squirmed. â€Å"I'm working on it, though,† he added quickly. â€Å"So you have another job. Are you in marketing as well?† Jody intervened. She could see steam rising off Tommy. â€Å"He manages the Marina Safeway, Mother.† It was a small lie, nothing compared to the tapestry of lies she had woven for her mother over the years. Mother Stroud turned a scalpel gaze on her daughter. â€Å"You know, Jody, it's not too late to apply to Stanford. You'd be a bit older than the other freshmen, but I could pull a few strings.† How does she do this? Jody wondered. How does she come into my home and within minutes make me feel like dirt on a stick? Why does she do it? â€Å"Mother, I think I'm beyond going back to school.† Mother Stroud picked up her cup as if to sip, then paused. â€Å"Of course, dear. You wouldn't want to neglect your career and family.† It was a verbal sucker punch delivered with polite, extended-pinky malice. Jody felt something drop inside her like cyanide pellets into acid. Her guilt dropped through the gallows' trap and jerked with broken-neck finality. She regretted only the ten thousand sentences she had started with, â€Å"I love my mother, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You do that so people don't judge you cold and inhuman, Jody thought. Too late now. She said, â€Å"Perhaps you're right, Mother. Perhaps if I had gone to Stanford I would understand why I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of cooking and cleaning and child-rearing and managing a career and a relationship. I've always wondered if it's lack of education or genetic deficiency.† Mother Stroud was unshaken. â€Å"I can't speak for your father's genetic background, dear.† Tommy was grateful that Mother Stroud's attention had turned from him, but he could see Jody's gaze narrowing, going from hurt to anger. He wanted to come to her aid. He wanted to make peace. He wanted to hide in the corner. He wanted to wade in and kick ass. He weighed his polite upbringing against the anarchists, rebels, and iconoclasts who were his heroes. He could eat this woman alive. He was a writer and words were his weapons. She wouldn't have a chance. He'd destroy her. And he would have. He was taking a deep breath to prepare to light into her when he saw a swath of denim disappearing slowly under the frame of the futon: his dismembered shirt sleeve. He held his breath and looked at Jody. She was smiling, saying nothing. Mother Stroud said, â€Å"Your father was at Stanford on an athletic scholarship, you know. They would have never let him in otherwise.† â€Å"I'm sure you're right, Mother,† Jody said. She smiled politely, listening not to her mother, but to the melodic scraping of turtle claws on carpet. She focused on the sound and could hear the slow, cold lugging of Scott's heart. Mother Stroud sipped her decaf. Tommy waited. Jody said, â€Å"So how long will you be in the City?† â€Å"I just came up to do some shopping. I'm sponsoring a benefit for the Monterey Symphony and I wanted a new gown. Of course I could have found something in Carmel, but everyone would have seen it already. The bane of living in a small community.† Jody nodded as if she understood. She had no connection to this woman, not anymore. Frances Evelyn Stroud was a stranger, an unpleasant stranger. Jody felt more of a connection with the turtle under the futon. Under the futon, Scott spotted a pattern of scales on Mother Stroud's shoes. He'd never seen Italian faux-alligator pumps, but he knew scales. When you are lying peacefully buried in the muck at the bottom of a pond and you see scales, it means food. You bite. Frances Stroud shrieked and leaped to her feet, pulling her right foot free of her shoe as she fell into the wicker coffee table. Jody caught her mother by the shoulders and set her on her feet. Frances pushed her away and backed across the room as she watched the snapping turtle emerge from under the futon merrily chomping on the pump. â€Å"What is that? What is that thing? That thing is eating my shoe. Stop it! Kill it!† Tommy hurdled the futon and dived for the turtle, catching the heel of the shoe before it disappeared. Scott dug his claws into the carpet and backed off. Tommy came up with heel in hand. â€Å"I got part of it.† Jody went to her mother's side. â€Å"I meant to call the exterminator, Mother. If I'd had more notice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mother Stroud was breathing in outraged yips. â€Å"How can you live like this?† Tommy held the heel out to her. â€Å"I don't want that. Call me a cab.† Tommy paused, considered the opportunity, then let it pass and went to the phone. â€Å"You can't go out without shoes, Mother. I'll get you something to wear.† Jody went to the bedroom and came back with her rattiest pair of sneakers. â€Å"Here, Mom, these will get you back to the hotel.† Mother Stroud, afraid to sit down anywhere, leaned against the door and stepped into the sneakers. Jody tied them for her and slipped the uneaten pump into her mother's bag. â€Å"There you go.† She stepped back. â€Å"Now, what are we going to do for the holidays?† Mother Stroud, her gaze trained on Scott, just shook her head. The turtle had wedged himself between the legs of the coffee table and was dragging it around the loft. A cab pulled up outside and beeped the horn. Mother Stroud tore her gaze away from the turtle and looked at her daughter. â€Å"I'll be in Europe for the holidays. I have to go now.† She opened the door and backed out through it. â€Å"‘Bye, Mom,† Jody said. â€Å"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Stroud,† Tommy called after her. When the cab pulled away, Tommy turned to Jody and said, â€Å"Well, that went pretty well, didn't it? I think she likes me.† Jody was leaning against the door, staring at the floor. She looked up and began to giggle silently. Soon she was doubled over laughing. â€Å"What?† Tommy said. Jody looked up at him, tears streaming her face. â€Å"I think I'm ready to meet your folks, don't you?† â€Å"I don't know. They might be sort of upset that you're not a Methodist.† Chapter 24 The Return of Breakfast The Emperor lay spread-eagle on the end of a dock in the Saint Francis Yacht Club Marina, watching clouds pass over the bay. Bummer and Lazarus lay beside him, their feet in the air, dozing. The three might have been crucified there, if the dogs hadn't been smiling. â€Å"Men,† the Emperor said, â€Å"it seems to me now that there is, indeed, a point to that Otis Redding song about sitting on the dock of the bay. After a long night of vampire hunting, this is a most pleasant way to spend the day. Bummer, I believe a commendation is in order. When you led us down here, I thought you were wasting our time.† Bummer did not answer. He was dreaming of a park full of large trees and bite-sized mailmen. His legs twitched and he let out a sleepy ruff each time he crunched one of their tiny heads. In dreams, mailmen taste like chicken. The Emperor said, â€Å"But pleasant as this is, it tastes of guilt, of responsibility. Two months tracking this fiend, and we are no closer to finding him than when we started. Yet here we lay, enjoying the day. I can see the faces of the victims in these clouds.† Lazarus rolled over and licked the Emperor's hand. â€Å"You're right, Lazarus, without sleep we will not be fit for battle. Perhaps, in leading us here, Bummer was wiser than we thought.† The Emperor closed his eyes and let the sound of waves lapping against the piers lull him to sleep. Lying at anchor, a hundred yards away, was a hundred-foot motor yacht registered in the Netherlands. Belowdecks, in a watertight stainless steel vault, the vampire slept through the day. Tommy had been asleep for an hour when pounding on the door downstairs woke him. In the darkness of the bedroom he nudged Jody, but she was out for the day. He checked his watch: 7:30 A.M. The loft rocked with the pounding. He crawled out of bed and stumbled to the door in his underwear. The morning light spilling though the loft's windows temporarily blinded him and he barked his shin on the corner of the freezer on his way through the kitchen. â€Å"I'm coming,† he yelled. It sounded as if they were using a hammer on the door. He did a Quasimodo step and slid down the stairs, holding his damaged shin in one hand, and cracked the downstairs door. Simon peeked through the crack. Tommy could see a ball-peen hammer in his hand, poised for another pound. Simon said, â€Å"Pardner, we need to have us a sit-down.† â€Å"I'm sleeping, Sime. Jody's sleeping.† â€Å"Well, you're up now. Wake up the little woman, we need breakfast.† Tommy opened the door a little wider and saw Drew dazzling a stoned and goofy grin behind Simon. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† All the Animals were there, holding grocery bags, waiting. Tommy thought, This is how Anne Frank felt when the Gestapo came to the door. Simon pushed through the door, causing Tommy to hop back a step to avoid having his toes skinned. â€Å"Hey.† Simon looked at Tommy's erection-stretched jockey shorts. â€Å"That just a morning wood, or you in the middle of something?† â€Å"I told you, I was sleeping.† â€Å"You're young, it could still grow some. Don't feel bad.† Tommy looked down at his insulted member as Simon breezed past him up the stairs, followed by the rest of the Animals. Glint and Lash stopped and helped Tommy to his feet. â€Å"I was sleeping,† Tommy said pathetically. â€Å"It's my day off.† Lash patted Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"I'm cutting class today. We thought you needed moral support.† â€Å"For what? I'm fine.† â€Å"Cops came by the store last night looking for you. We wouldn't give them your address or anything.† â€Å"Cops?† Tommy was waking up now. He could hear beers being popped open in the loft. â€Å"What did the cops want with me?† â€Å"They wanted to see your time cards. They wanted to see if you were working on a bunch of nights. They wouldn't say why. Simon tried to distract them by accusing me of leading a black terrorist group.† â€Å"That was nice of him.† â€Å"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. He told that new cashier, Mara, that you were in love with her but were too shy to tell her.† â€Å"Forgive him,† Clint said piously. â€Å"He knows not what he does.† Simon popped out onto the landing. â€Å"Flood, did you drug this bitch? She won't wake up.† â€Å"Stay out of the bedroom!† Tommy shook off Lash and Clint and ran up the stairs. Cavuto chewed an unlit cigar. â€Å"I say we go to the kid's house and lean on him.† Rivera looked up from a stack of green-striped computer printout. â€Å"Why? He was working when all the murders happened.† â€Å"Because he's all we've got. What about the prints on the book; any thing?† â€Å"There were half a dozen good prints on the cover. Nothing the computer could match. Interesting thing is, none of the prints were the victim's. He never touched it.† â€Å"What about the kid; a match?† â€Å"No way to tell, he's never been printed. Let it go, Nick. That kid didn't kill these people.† Cavuto ran his hand over his bald head as if looking for a bump that would hold an answer. â€Å"Let's arrest him and print him.† â€Å"On what charges?† â€Å"We'll ask him. You know what the Chinese say, ‘Beat a kid every day; if you don't know why, the kid will.  » â€Å"You ever think about adopting, Nick?† Rivera flipped the last page of the printout and threw it into the wastebasket by his desk. â€Å"Justice doesn't have shit. All the unsolved murders with massive blood loss involve mutilation. No vampires here.† For two months they had avoided using the word. Now, here it was. Cavuto took out a wooden match, scraped it against the bottom of his shoe, and moved it around the tip of his cigar. â€Å"Rivera, we will not refer to this perp by the V-word again. You don't remember the Night Stalker. This fucking Whiplash Killer thing the press has picked up is bad enough.† â€Å"You shouldn't smoke in here,† said Rivera. â€Å"The sprout eaters will file a grievance.† â€Å"Fuck 'em. I can't think without smoking. Let's run sex offenders. Look for priors of rapes and assaults with blood draining. This guy might have just graduated to killing. Then let's run it with cross-dressers.† â€Å"Cross-dressers?† â€Å"Yeah, I want to put this thing with the redhead to bed. Having a lead is ruining our perfect record.† She woke to a miasma of smells that hit her like a sockful of sand: burned eggs, bacon grease, beer, maple syrup, stale pot smoke, whiskey, vomit and male sweat. The smells carried memories from before the change – memories of high school keggers and drunken surfers face-down in puddles of puke. Hangover memories. Coming as they did, right after a visit from her mother, they carried shame and loathing and the urge to fall back into bed and hide under the covers. She thought, I guess there's a few things about being human that I don't miss. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of Tommy's shirts and opened the bedroom door. It looked as if the good ship International Pancakes had run aground in the kitchen. Every horizontal surface was covered with breakfast jetsam. She stepped through the debris, careful not to kick any of the plates, frying pans, coffee cups, or beer cans that littered the floor. Beyond the freezer and the counter she spotted the shipwreck survivor. Tommy lay on the futon, limbs akimbo, an empty Bushmill's bottle by his head, snoring. She stood there for a moment running her options over in her head. On one hand, she wanted to fly into a rage; wake Tommy up and scream at him for violating the sanctity of their home. A justifiable tantrum was strongly tempting. On the other hand, until now Tommy had always been considerate. And he would clean everything up. Plus, the hangover he was about to experience would be more punishment than she could dole out in a week. Besides, she wasn't really that angry. It didn't seem to matter. It was just a mess. It was a tough decision. She thought, Oh heck, no harm, no foul. I'll just make him coffee and give him that â€Å"I'm-so-disappointed-in-you† look. â€Å"Tommy,† she said. She sat down on the edge of the futon and jostled him gently. â€Å"Sweetheart, wake up; you've destroyed the house and I need you to suffer for it.† Tommy opened one bloodshot eye and groaned. â€Å"Sick,† he said. Jody heard a convulsive sloshing in Tommy's stomach and before she could think about it she had caught him under the armpits and was dragging him across the room to the kitchen sink. â€Å"Oh my God!† Tommy cried, and if he was going to say anything else it was drowned out by the sound of his stomach emptying into the sink. Jody held him up, smiling to herself with the satisfaction of the self-righteously sober. After a few seconds of retching, he gasped and looked up at her. Tears streamed down his face. His nose dripped threads of slime. Cheerfully, Jody said, â€Å"Can I fix you a drink?† â€Å"Oh my God!† His head went back into the sink and the body-wrenching heaves began anew. Jody patted his back and said â€Å"Poor baby† until he came up for air again. â€Å"How about some breakfast?† she asked. He dived into the sink once again. After five minutes the heaves subsided and Tommy hung on the edge of the sink. Jody turned on the faucet and used the dish sprayer to hose off his face. â€Å"I guess you and the guys had a little party this morning, huh?† Tommy nodded, not looking up. â€Å"I tried to keep them out. I'm sorry. I'm scum.† â€Å"Yes, you are, sweetheart.† She ruffed his hair. â€Å"I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Yes, you will,† she said. â€Å"I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Yes, you are. Do we want to go back to the futon and sit down?† â€Å"Water,† Tommy said. She ran him a glass of water and steadied him while he drank, then aimed him into the sink when the water came back up. â€Å"Are you finished now?† she asked. He nodded. She dragged him into the bathroom and washed his face, rubbing a little too hard, like an angry mother administering an abrasive spit-bath to a chocolate-covered toddler. â€Å"Now you go sit down and I'll make you some coffee.† Tommy staggered back to the living room and fell onto the futon. Jody found the coffee filters in the cupboard and began to make the coffee. She opened the cupboard to look for a cup but the Animals had used them all. They were strewn around the loft, tipped over or half full of whisky diluted by melted ice. Ice? â€Å"Tommy!† He groaned and grabbed his head. â€Å"Don't yell.† â€Å"Tommy, did you guys use the ice from the freezer?† â€Å"I don't know. Simon was bartending.† Jody brushed the dishes and pans from the lid of the chest freezer and threw it open. The ice trays, the ones Tommy had bought for the drowning experiment, were empty and scattered around the inside of the freezer. Peary's frosty face stared up at her. She slammed the lid shut and stormed across the room to Tommy. â€Å"Dammit, Tommy, how could you be so careless?† â€Å"Don't yell. Please don't yell. I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Clean it up my ass. Someone was in the freezer. Someone saw the body.† â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick.† â€Å"Did they come into the bedroom while I was sleeping? Did they see me?† Tommy cradled his head as if it would crack at any moment and spill his brains onto the floor. â€Å"They had to get to the bathroom. It's okay; I covered you up so the light wouldn't get to you.† â€Å"You idiot!† She snatched up a coffee cup and prepared to throw it at him, then caught herself. She had to get out of here before she hurt him. She shook as she set the cup on the counter. â€Å"I'm going out, Tommy. Clean up this mess.† She turned and went to the bedroom to change. When she emerged, still shaking with anger, Tommy was standing in the kitchen looking repentant. â€Å"Will you be home before I leave for work?† She glared at him. â€Å"I don't know. I don't know when I'll be back. Why didn't you just put a sign on the door, ‘See the Vampire'? This is my life you're playing with, Tommy.† He didn't answer. She turned and walked out, slamming the door. â€Å"I'll feed your turtles for you,† he called after her.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Essay on Internet as the Trigger of Shifting from CopyRIGHT to CopyLEFTEssay Writing Service

Essay on Internet as the Trigger of Shifting from CopyRIGHT to CopyLEFTEssay Writing Service Essay on Internet as the Trigger of Shifting from CopyRIGHT to CopyLEFT Essay on Internet as the Trigger of Shifting from CopyRIGHT to CopyLEFTToday, the development of internet opens new opportunities for information sharing. At first glance, internet facilitates communication between people and opens wider opportunities for sharing information between people, regardless physical distance between them. On the other hand, the development of internet has raised the problem of the violation of the copyright and the unauthorized use of intellectual property, such as music, audio and video records and other items of the intellectual property.The development of internet opened new opportunities for people to communicate and share information using the full potential of internet as the global network. In this regard, the main problem that owners of intellectual property rights faced along with the development of internet became the problem of sharing files containing their intellectual property. For instance, authors of books and other print media could suffer from sharing their print works which have been digitalized and in electronic form shared between users via internet, while authors of those print works would receive nothing and, thus, suffer from financial losses caused by the free sharing of their intellectual property between users.However, singers and audio recording companies suffered probably the most significant losses because of the development of internet. Users have started to share music files via internet. As a result, one user could purchase a licensed CD, copy music files and share them online with millions of other users worldwide while singers and audio recording companies suffered from financial losses because millions of users received their products for nothing downloading them from free online resources due to other users, who shared those files. The similar problems faced film companies and other owners of audio and visual products which were shared online freely, while their owners suffered unparalleled financ ial losses.At this point, it is possible to refer to the case of Napster, a file-sharing service, which offered users an opportunity to share files for free. As a result, this online service became the major online service allowing sharing files for free. As a rule, users shared music, video files and other files which they wanted to share with other users. Naturally, the online service became extremely popular because the new service offered users an excellent opportunity to download their favourite music or film absolutely free and paying nothing, while, otherwise, they would have to purchase either licensed CDs or purchase the same music and video from online stores. In the course of the decade of its intensive development, Napster became one of the largest online services that became the major threat to copyright and intellectual property rights’ owners (Singing a Different Tune, 2009). More important, similar services have started to emerge raising the threat to intellec tual property rights owners and related businesses. Obviously, the development of free online file-sharing services became the threat to the music industry with the music records sales cut substantially since even Apples popular digital iTunes store is little more than a niche service: fully 95% of downloads are illegal, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a trade groupIn responses to the emerging free sharing of information and files online, owners of intellectual property rights and large corporations have started to push on governments to protect their rights and prevent the risk of misusing of their products by users for free (Lessig, 2001). The main reason for the enhancement of the existing legislation to protect the copyright was financial losses of intellectual property rights owners (Singing a Different Tune, 2009).Governments have started to tighten and enhance regulations, copyright and intellectual property rights laws. The enfo rcement of the international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) via legislation of SOPA and PIPA (Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act) .In response to numerous threats and violations of intellectual property rights, legislators introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which provided that an Internet site is â€Å"dedicated to theft of U.S. property† if it â€Å"is marketed by its operator or another acting in concert with that operator for use in, offering goods or services in a manner that engages in, enables, or facilitates† copyright infringement (Carrier, 21).Another major legislative act that enhanced the copyright and intellectual property rights and their protection from online violations was the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which was a treaty, conducted largely in secret, designed to â€Å"address the problem of infringement of intellectual property rights, including infringement taking place in the digital environment.â⠂¬  (Carrier, 23).In addition, the Protect IP Act (PIPA) enhanced the legislation providing attorney with an opportunity to make the IP service provider to deny users violating the copyright and intellectual property rights access to internet (Carrier, 22). As a result, the PIPA creates condition for the selective punishment of those users, who abuse the copyright and intellectual property rights intentionally and purposefully.In fact, such large scale struggle against the violation of copyright and intellectual property rights became global. Results of such a struggle became quite controversial. On the one hand, individuals and organizations, which promote and deliver file-sharing services, software and other tools which allow sharing files and potentially violate copyright and intellectual property rights, face the threat of the legal prosecution. At this point, it is possible to refer to the case of Richard O’Dwyer, the founder of the tvshack.net, the online service that allowed users to track and record TV programs online, including not only open and legal sources but also illegal ones (Ball, 3). In such a way, the product created by O’Dwyer allowed users to record TV programs illegally, violating copyright and intellectual property rights.In such a situation, the enhancement of the copyright and intellectual property rights laws contributed to the enhancement of the legal basis for the prosecution of individuals and organisations that share or create products or services that allow sharing information between users without respect to copyright and intellectual property rights.On the other hand, the enhancement of the copyright and intellectual property rights legislation raises the problem of the interference of government regulations into the basic rights, including the right to the freedom of press and speech. At any rate, internet provides users with an opportunity to share information freely, while existing regulations raise the problem of the limitation of users’ right and opportunity to share information online freely.In this regard, the enhancement of the copyright law on the pretext of the protection of intellectual property rights raises the problem of the interference of private interests into the public domain. To put it more precisely, Gaylor (2008) stands on the ground that internet is the public domain and people from all over the world should have an opportunity to share files and information online freely. Gaylor insists that people can use movies, songs, music and other products for their own creativity. They can make remixes to manifest their creativity and implement their own ideas. However, limitations imposed on sharing files and information online in terms of the existing legislation that aims at the enhancement of the copyright and intellectual property rights laws deprive people of an opportunity to exercise their creativity and use available products and information freely.At this point , it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the main debate today involves two different views on internet. In fact, the existing legislation is not just the matter of the protection of copyright and intellectual property rights but it is also and mainly the opposition between the average users, who are naturally interested in the free use and sharing of information online, and large corporations that attempt to protect their financial interests since their profits rely heavily on sales of their intellectual property. Gaylor and other proponents of the view on internet as the public domain that should allow users to share information freely hold the premise that legislators and private companies as well as individuals owning intellectual property rights should not regulate internet use. In such a way, they will interfere into public matters. In such a context, the ban of sharing information online is like the ban to share purchased products between people. For instance, the ban of sharing files and information online that potentially violates copyright and intellectual property rights is like the ban to individuals to pass their licensed CD to their friends to use files or information stored on the CD in the real world, i.e. physically but not online.Large corporations and intellectual property rights hold the totally different premise that internet is not exactly the public domain but the tool that is used by users to violate their copyright and intellectual property rights. Obviously, the position of owners of copyright and intellectual property rights is determined by their financial concerns because the free sharing of files and information online leads to their financial losses. At this point, it is worth reminding consistent financial losses of the music industry associated with Napster and other online services (Singing a Different Tune, 2009). Their financial losses became the major reason for their pressure on the government to prevent free f ile and information sharing online.Nevertheless, the idea of the free use of information available online and sharing files and information online without limitations becomes more and more popular that leads to the emergence of new online services and resources, where users can share files and information, although they still have to respect existing copyright and intellectual property rights laws. The enhancement of the movement for the free use of internet for file and information sharing contributes to the emergence of creative commons, which unite people, who use their own creativity to make products that may be interesting for other users and allow users to share those products online without imposing any limitations on the use of those products and their protection by the copyright or intellectual property rights (Lessig, 2001). Such commons become cultural and creative centres which open wide opportunities for the average users not only to use products of contributors of crea tive commons but also to become contributors themselves and create new products that may be interesting for the online community.   Potentially, such creative commons can and do compete with audio recording companies, film making companies and other companies and individuals, who stand for the protection of their copyright and intellectual property rights. In such a situation, creative commons become more and more popular because they become free sources for sharing creative products of many users (Creative Commons Case Studies, 29).   As a result, the average users tend to use products of creative commons instead of purchasing licensed products online.At this point, it is possible to refer to the case of Magnatune, the online record label that uses creative commons licenses to promote its catalogue with free samples of songs and diverse pricing models. In fact, the emergence of such services and companies as Magnatune can contribute to the further accelerated growth of creative commons that will put under a threat the position of audio recording and film making companies as well as other owners of copyright and intellectual property rights. In such a way, creative commons can reach the high level of performance, while Magnatune and other companies and services alike can make their functioning profitable that will stimulate users to contribute more to creative commons as well as to use their services and products more extensively.Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that the development of internet has raised the problem of the violation of copyright and intellectual property rights because of the free sharing of files online by users via such services as Napster. However, legislators driven by audio recording, film making and other companies and individuals owning copyright and intellectual property rights to enhance legislation to protect those rights. In response, the online community shifted towar d the emergence of creative commons which open opportunities for creating products and using them freely online sharing files and information for free. In the future, creative commons can challenge the position of conventional audio recording and film making companies as well as other owners of copyright and intellectual property rights.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Essays

Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Essays Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Paper Are Leaders Born or Made Essay Paper Peoples have debated whether leaders are born or made for centuries. However. I am perfectly positive that good leaders are made than Borns. If you have the desire and self-control. you can go an effectual leader. â€Å"Good leaders can develop through a neer stoping procedure of self-study. instruction. preparation and experience† ( Jago. 1982 ) . To animate workers into higher degrees of teamwork. there are certain things a leader must be. cognize. and. make. These do non come of course. but are acquired through continual work and survey. Good leaders are continually working and analyzing to better their leading accomplishments ; they are NOT resting on their awards. Definition of Leadership Before we get started. let’s define and understand about leading. Leadership is a procedure by which a individual influences others to carry through an nonsubjective and directs the organisation in a manner that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaderships carry out this procedure by using their leading attributes. such as beliefs. values. moralss. character. cognition. and accomplishments. In the field of organisational acquisition. leading entered the treatment as a placeholder for the organisation. Initial constructs of leading in organisational acquisition were based on the impression of the dominant alliance. Organizational acquisition theoreticians had suggested that the senior direction squad. or dominant alliance. was in fact the organisation degree of organisational acquisition. Furthermore. leading has been described as the â€Å"process of societal influence in which one individual enlist the assistance and support of others in the achievement of a common undertaking. Harmonizing to Ken â€Å"SKC† Ogbonnia. â€Å"effective leading is the ability to successfully incorporate and maximise available resources within the internal and external environment for the attainment of organisational or society end. Charismatic Leaderships are made but non born. However. there are many knowing and motivated people who lack of the cognition to take others. So they don’t assume leading places. or if they do. they don’t do really good in them. Therefore. to go a made leader. we need to cognize about the feature of a leader for us to larn and research from at that place. Having personal appeal is an of import quality to any successful leader. that’s all extremely successful people must develop to maximise their success in leading functions. every bit good as usage it to derive a great advantage over their competition. Charisma can be explained as an undefinable personal magnetic attraction that helps pull people to you. and makes them desire to collaborate and work with you to carry through your dreams. To increase your ain degree of personal appeal. you must foremost be assurance in your ain vision. If you have a clear vision of what you want to carry through. so you need to concentrate on puting end for yourself. and do program to accomplish them without hold. The clearer you are about your intent. and how you are be aftering to accomplish it. will of course to pull others to assist and back up you in any manner they can. However. some say magnetic is born but non made. Yes. it’s. But without the born personal appeal. you can besides increase the degree of you charisma by speaking and interaction with other. certain interactions and wagess addition get downing relationships. such as a Celebrity utilizing a Charming Introduction will immediately hold a new friend. Charisma skill-building requires friends and relationships to come on. Personality and Physical Build Besides. the personality is besides an of import component to go a made leader. great leaders must hold the ability to project themselves. to pass on with subsidiaries in order to carry through a undertaking by teamwork. The dictionary definition of personality is the aggregation of emotional and behavioral traits that characterize a individual. That is. your personality is how you present yourself to the universe. It is how others see you. Is that of import for leading effectivity? I think so. Your public character is the accelerator for inscribing followings. For illustration. you might be typically dominant. or possibly you’re ever a friendly individual. or even person who takes really few hazards. These illustrations are personality traits. You may besides merely better your personality by your visual aspect such as frock up and do up good as the visual aspect oneself ever the first feeling they given to other. Aside of personality. physical physique is besides a trait of feature for being a leader. this can be made and improved by one ego. For illustration. the kids now are largely taller and stronger than their parents because of the better knowledegement attention. Endowment. accomplishments and knowledge Beyond the personal traits of a leader. leading endowment. accomplishments and knowledge person must get the hang if they want to be a leader. Leadership endowment is those unconditioned traits that a individual is born with but which they need to work on to develop their potency. Leadership accomplishments are learned behaviors that a individual patterns and hones over clip. And leading cognition is acquired larning about the methods. schemes. successes and failures of other leaders in concern and in different walks of life. The traits include intelligence. creativeness. diplomatic negotiations. strength. and organisational ability. The difference of the three is an intrinsic character of the leader and the latter two are learned. And an effectual leader combines all three: harnessing mixture of their natural feature. their erudite replicable behaviours. and their mental informations and larning into their ain alone manner to showing themselves as a leader. Knowing good of the managerial map Besides. cognizing good of the managerial map is besides a must for a made leader. From daily operating. they should be able to larn about planning. forming. staffing. directing and commanding in order to take their subsidiaries in an effectual manner. Planing refers to expect the chance. jobs and conditions and taking from among the option of future classs or actions. That includes prediction. scheduling. programming and etc. The organisation maps consist of developing the organisation. deputing authorization and set uping dealingss. Staffing is about be aftering the organisation with suited forces constitutes the staffing map. Direction map involves pull offing people and work through the agencies of motive. proper leading. effectual communicating and coordination. Controling map enables direction to guarantee the accomplishment is in conformity with the established programs. Communication accomplishment Furthermore. to be a made leader. we should develop ourselves to do effectual communicating thru experience. The communicating accomplishment can decidedly be improved if you have the desire to make it. a smart leader must ever the â€Å"30 seconds message† which conveying the most of import message within the shortest clip. Effective communicating is more than merely being able to talk and compose. A leader’s communicating must travel people to work toward the end the leader has chosen. Besides that. a leader has to be able to actuate everyone to lend. Each of us have different â€Å"button† . a great leader should cognize how to force to right button on everyone to do them truly desire to make their best to accomplish the leader’s end. This is decidedly non born because leader could press the right buttons on everyone through understanding their personality. Honesty and Integrity. Forward looking. Independence and Innovation. In add-on. the feature of a leader is besides consisted by honestness and unity. frontward looking. independency and invention. Once should non even be considered to go a leader without holding demonstrated the honestness. unity and trustiness to hold and keep a place of public trust. At all degrees. persons with unity and honestness show moral bravery by making the right thing even when it is non popular or by showing dissent when actions or pending determinations would go against organisational and/or constitutional values. Torahs. and ordinances. In add-on. they confront unethical behaviour in others. Furthermore. the candidly and unity is about following regulations and ordinance. this is made as we have no pick but have to follow the regulations and ordinance of the organisation. As a great leader. we ever need to be advanced toward any issue or job. When people do non see their leader forward-looking. that leader is normally enduring from one of two possible jobs which are the leader doesn’t have a advanced vision and the leader is unwilling or scared to portion the vision with others. The advanced attitude can be influenced by those people who are environing us with positive-minded. this can be made but non born. Last but non least. a great leader is besides an pioneer. Invention is about doing new tools. merchandises and procedure. convey forth something â€Å"new† which allows human being to carry through something they were non able to carry through antecedently. We can be invention through survey. research. discuss and deliberated from past experience. Leaderships must be tough plenty to contend. tender adequate to shout. human plenty to do errors. low plenty to acknowledge them. strong plenty to absorb the hurting. and resilient plenty to resile back and maintain on traveling. Leaderships must be tough plenty to contend. tender adequate to shout. human plenty to do errors. low plenty to acknowledge them. strong plenty to absorb the hurting. and resilient plenty to resile back and maintain on traveling. Leader is made because a individual becomes a leader through life and work experiences. through wise mans and personal contemplation. Leader takes clip to develop and they were made merely like anything else. through difficult work. If you are given a opportunity. you pattern. you can besides be a leader.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Module 5 case assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Module 5 case - Assignment Example The new strategies aim at eliminating promotion of products and focuses on selling the recognized brands. The promotion based pricing strategy was initially adopted by the company but latter the company undertook mark-up pricing strategy which made room for promotional discounts. However, the new everyday pricing strategy helped the company to set prices at a lower range and eliminated the need for higher sales price. There are several changes in the pricing structure of the company as the prices no longer ended in decimal number such as $9.99 etc rather whole figures are used for the products. The price tags of the products employed only one price and did not print the retailing price of the manufacturers. This trend of printing the retailing price in the product provided greater comparison pertaining to the amount of product that should be sold. The retailer has made important changes in assorting merchandise (Hess, 2011). The company focused on its mini-stores within larger ones and evaluated that the mini-stores are selling higher than the larger one. The new pricing strategy never gained any attention and thus it is unsuccessful in making any change to the situation. The consumers are not happy with the pricing strategies and the sales of the company declined steadily as time passed. The company encountered a loss of $3.3 billion in the first year of sales of Johnson plan. The amount increased as it approached the second year. The annual revenue of the company in 2011 declined 25% a sharp decline after 1987 (Henricks, 2010). As a result of the decline the CEO announced that the company will not use the everyday pricing strategy anymore and would return to the previous coupons and discounts and would focus on advertised sales (Henricks, 2010; Hill, 2010). 1) Everyday pricing is not correctly executed by the company as it sells many products and does not concentrate on a unique one. Everyday pricing is

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Electoral College Reform Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Electoral College Reform - Research Paper Example The Electoral College is the system used in the United States to elect its presidents. Generally, an electoral college refers to a set of electors with the mandate to elect a candidate to an office. Members of an Electoral College represent various interest groups or organizations with their votes weighted in specific ways. In countries where electoral colleges are used, the wishes of the general membership of a country or an entity is often ignored since the members of an electoral college are not only regarded as important but also as of the ideal wisdom needed to make better choices than the larger population. Though dating back to the historical times, there are several cases of modern electoral colleges in countries with complex regional electorates, which prefer Electoral College elections to the rather direct popular elections. The United States is perhaps the only modern state in which presidents are elected indirectly through the Electoral College system. In the U.S., the el ectors in the Electoral College represent the 50 states and the federal district of Columbia. However, each state is accorded electors corresponding to its total congressional representation in both houses. In addition to these electors, the non-state District of Columbia has three electors. In the U.S where the law requires one to marshal 270 electoral votes to win the presidency, the Electoral College generally votes for whichever contender wins the popular vote in each state (Bugh 67). This paper explores the reform needs in the Electoral College system used in U.S presidential election. Although cases of conflict with the popular vote are rather rare, having been reported only three times in over 200 years, the Electoral College system has been deemed as requiring reforms despite its being a time-honored system because of its likelihood to conflict with popular vote. Electoral College Reform Proposals Several proposals or reform options have been suggested regarding the need to reform the Electoral College in the U.S. First, the Electoral College could be reformed by altering the organization of the states in the U.S. That is, the territory should be re-divided into equally sized 50 bodies with roughly equal populations. An advantage of this proposal is that it would end the over-representation of small states and the under-representation of big states in U.S presidential and senate voting. Further, this proposal will not do away with the Electoral College; rather, it will preserve and ensure the continued existence of the unique federal system and the Electoral College (Bugh 67). In addition, there will still be a balance of authority among different government levels. What is more, the states should be re-districted after every census. However, there are several challenges and disadvantages associated with these proposals. For instance, local authorities and residents would have to deal with the shifting state procedures and laws. The other reform option s for the Electoral College system in the U.S include direct election followed by instant runoffs, proportional allocation of electoral votes, and direct vote with plurality rule, congressional district method, and national bonus plan (Ross & Will 165). Direct Election with Runoff With or without the Electoral College, instant runoff voting is a highly recommended approach to elections in the U.S. In this system, voters would be required to rank their preferred candidates so that in case no candidate emerges a clear winner and whoever has the lowest number of votes is automatically eliminated. Counting begins again during which second choice votes, which indicate the eliminated candidate as first choice are tallied. This process continues until a candidate with majority votes emerges. This system has the advantage of reducing time and resource wastages. The hallmark of most of the proposed replacements of the Electoral Col