Music Study Guide Essay

Music is an art based on the organization of sounds in time. Also the universal language of man or something who knows Pitch is the relative highness or lowness that we hear in a sound Tone is a sound that has a definite pitch Interval is the distance in a pitch between any two tones Tones are separated by an interval called the octave Tones have a specific frequency in music Pitch range is the distance between the lowest and highest tones that a voice or instrument can produce Range of an untrained voice is between 1 and 2 octaves Dynamics are degrees of loudness or softness in music Loudness is related to the amplitude of the vibration that produces the sound Accent is an emphasis of a note Instrument may be defined as any mechanism that produces musical sound Register is the part of the tonal range of an instrument or voice Pizzicato- plucked string Double stop- two notes at once Vibrato- rocking the left hand while pressing down with the other. Throbbing expressive tone that causes small pitch fluctuations that make the tone warmer Mute- a clamp that veils or muffles that tone Tremolo- rapidly repeats tones by quick up-and-down strokes of the bow Harmonics- Very high pitched tones are produced when the musician lightly touches certain points on a string Woodwinds have little holes along their length that are opened and closed by the fingers or pads controlled by a key mechanism Flutes and piccolos are played by blowing across the edge of a mouth hole Recorders are played by blowing through a whistle mouthpiece Single-reed woodwinds are played by fastening a reed over a hole in the mouthpiece that vibrates when the player blows over it (ex- clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone) Double-reed woodwinds use two narrow pieces of cane that are held between the musician’s lips (ex- English horn, contrabassoon, bassoon) Bass instruments are played by the musician blowing into a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece (vibrations of bass instruments come from their lips) Pitch of brass instrument is regulated by varying lip tension and by using slides and valves Mutes alter the tone color of bass instruments When a pianist’s finger strikes a key, a felt-covered hammer swings up against a string (greater the force on the key, more powerful the hammer’s blow, louder the tone produced) Damper comes down on the string to stop the vibrations when the pianist lets go of the key Damper pedal is the most important pedal, allows a pianist to sustain tones Una corda pedal, on the left, veils the sound Sostenuto pedal, in the middle, allows the pianist to sustain some tones without sustaining others Harpsichord has strings that are plucked. Controlled by one or two keyboards. Pipe organ has many sets of pipes controlled by several keyboards, including a pedal keyboard played the organist’s feet Tape studio was the main tool of composers of electronic music during the 1950s Synthesizers are systems of electronic components that generate, modify, and control sound Analog Synthesis is based on representing data in terms of measurable physical quantities Digital frequency modulation synthesis is based on representing physical quantities as numbers Sampling involves placing brief digital recordings of live sounds under the control of a synthesizer keyboard Instrument Digital interface (MIDI) is a standard adopted by manufacturers for interfacing synthesizer equipment Consonance is a tone combination that is stable. They are points of arrival, rest, and resolution. Dissonance is a tone combination that is unstable. Its tension demands an onward motion to a stable chord Dissonance has its resolution when it moves to a consonance The Middle Ages The Middle Ages spanned from 450-1450 Most important musicians were priests Church officials required monks to sing with proper pronunciation, concentration, and tone quality Church frowned upon instruments because of their earlier role in pagan rites Gregorian chant is a melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung w/o accompaniment Gregorian chant is monophonic in texture, its rhythm is flexible, w/o met.er, and has little sense of beat. The melodies tended to move by step within a narrow range of pitches. Used church modes as a scale. The Renaissance The Renaissance spanned from 1450-1600 The Renaissance mass is a polyphonic choral composition made up of the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei Baroque Baroque era spanned from 1600-1750 Baroque era used violins a lot. Organ and harpsichord where the main keyboard instruments Baroque suite is a set of dance-inspired movements. It is made up of movements that are all written in the same key but differ in tempo, meter, and character. Usually in A A B B French overture is a common Baroque suite opening. Short Answer Middle Ages (450-1450) Renaissance (1450-1600) Baroque (1600-1750) Classical (1750-1820) Romantic (1820-1900) Contemporary (1900-now) 3 Composers per period: Middle Ages- Hildegard of Bingen, Perotin, Francesco Landini Renaissance- Josquin Desprez, Thomas Morley, Giovanni Gabrieli Baroque- Johann Sebastian Bach, George Fredric Handel, Henry Purcell Italian dynamic markings: Pianissimoppvery soft Piano psoft Mezzo Pianompmoderately soft Mezzo fortemfmoderately loud Fortefloud Fortissimoffvery loud Orchestras contain string, woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments. Symphonic bands contain brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Duple Meter- measure has two beats Triple Meter- measure has 3 beats Quadruple Meter- measure has 4 beats Gregorian chant is monophonic in texture, its rhythm is flexible, w/o met.er, and has little sense of beat. The melodies tended to move by step within a narrow range of pitches. Used church modes as a scale. Polychoral Motet- motet for two or more choirs, often including groups of instruments Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D Major (1721), by Johann Sebastian Bach. Ritornello form, duple meter. Used a string orchestra and a group of soloists consisting of a flute, violin, and a harpsichord. Essays Compare and contrast two periods of music that we’ve learned Middle Ages and Renaissance Compare: Musicians worked in churches. The church remained an important patron of music. Vocal music was more important the instrumental music. Both had sacred music(Gregorian chant, Renaissance mass). Both used church modes as their basic scale of music. The cantus firmus (Melody used as the basis of a polyphonic choral) was used in both periods. Contrast: Musical activity gradually shifted to the courts in the Ren. Musicians had higher statuses in the Ren. Ren music sounds fuller than MA music. Bass register was used for the first time in the Ren, expanding the pitch range to more than 4 octaves. Invention of the printing press widened the circulation of music, and the number of composers and performers increased in the Ren. Ren music was more about men rather than God. Instruments were used more often in the Ren. Composers were no longer content to remain unknown; in the Ren they wanted fame and recognition for their works. Bach’s contributions to the Baroque period Bach was the mack daddy of Baroque music. His works show an astounding mastery of harmony and counterpoint, and they are used as models by music students today. With his set of six Brandenburg Concerto’s, Bach brought immortality to a German aristocrat, the margrave of Brandenburg. In Concerto No.5, Bach uses a string orchestra and a group of soloists consisting of a flute, violin, and harpsichord. This was the first time a harpsichord was given a solo in a concerto grosso. The harpsichord’s solo at the end of the first movement is spectacular. His audience marveled at this brilliant harpsichord solo within a concerto grosso, and audiences today are still blown away by it. Bach wrote fugues that were the peak among works in the form. In his collections of preludes and fugues, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Back explored with unprecedented thoroughness systems of tuning instruments that enabled a composer to write in all 24 keys, even keys with many sharps and flats. Bach also composed what is probably the most monumental setting of the Roman Catholic mass (Mass in B Minor). It was too long to be performed in a mass, so Bach was just probably being a show-off. Bach wrote about 295 church cantatas. Cantata No. 140 is his most famous.

Marketing Challenges in the Global Economy Essay

Abstract This article discusses some challenges faced with product development in the global economy. Brief case studies of Apple, eBay, and Levi Strauss & Co., provide real-world examples of the challenges – competition, reach of influences, infringement, etc. Embracing technological advances, such as social media, is essential for leveraging a competitive edge, provide the company can operate ethically. Marketing Challenges in the Global Economy Introduction The world is getting smaller, figuratively speaking, and companies must continually reinvent themselves to remain competitive in the global economy. A constant introduction of seemingly ever-changing variables create challenges for big businesses and start-ups alike, and while technology creates its own set of challenges, leveraging its benefits in marketing can propel a company to the leader’s board. But while technology has created new marketing opportunities – especially in engaging with consumers – companies need to be ever cautious about maintaining an ethical marketing strategy. Challenges in New Product Launches Companies face various challenges when developing products in the global economy. Some of these challenges are more distinct to specific industries, while others are universal. Twenty years ago, the biggest challenges with product development in the global economy were communication with manufacturers, especially when dealing with manufacturers halfway around the world, and the speed of production. Rapidly evolving technology has on one hand eased these, but also created new sets of challenges. The same technology that brought the world 24-hour news service also meant greater access for scrutiny, as well as a greater consumer expectation for full disclosure of business practices. Increasingly, people want to know that companies are running ethical production operations (Pelsmacker, Driesen & Rayp, 2005). Environmental sustainability, fair trade and wages, and safe and healthy work conditions are issues that companies have to consider more than ever. While technological advancement has granted easier interaction with manufacturers around the world, it has not changed the fact that reach of influence is still a challenge. Independent start-ups now have virtually the same global market access as multinational corporations. Big businesses can no longer assume the competitive edge. And all of these companies, big and small, operating internationally, have to compete with local businesses. This is why operating across a spectrum of socioeconomic and cultural consumer bases requires an understanding of the psychographics for each target audience. Another challenge in product development, especially for technology-based companies, is the risk of patent infringement. More tech dollars are spent in the courtroom than on the research and development (Duhigg & Lohr, 2012). Technology firms make money suing each other back and forth. Case Study 1: Apple Under the direction of Steve Jobs, Apple seemed to have no problem delivering products to the global market that transcended cultural boundaries – iPod, iPhone, iPad, Macbook. The key was simple, user-friendly products. Are Macbooks worth their price tags? Was the first iPhone worth $500? Product valuation has been a question largely irrelevant For Apple. It was able to defy the odds by creating a demand for the products, a key to pricing a product line (Guiltinan, 2011). Still, Apple, as with any tech firm, is at risk of being overshadowed by the next greatest innovation, as seen in the latest battle of the smartphone wars (Reuters, 2012). It is a back-and-forth war that extends beyond the front line that is the retail floor. Behind the scenes, Apple and every other tech device and software developer are engaged in costly patent litigation. Apple recently won more than $1 billion from Samsung (Pepitone & Goldman, 2012). Likewise, Samsung is taking legal action against Apple for patent infringement on the iPhone 5 (Musil, 2012). Other challenge that Apple provides a prime example is ethical oversight of offshore production. Apple’s Chinese factories, run by Foxconn, have received a lot of heat for work conditions and unfair wages that have resulted in mass suicide of employees, brawls, and halting production (Garside, 2012). Case Study 2: eBay Since 1995, the internet auction giant has been providing a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) service that revolutionized e-commerce, but its success has not been without challenges. Acting essentially as nothing more than an internet moderator between C2C transaction, eBay has not had to deal with all of the same issues as Apple, such as the controversy of sub-par factory conditions. But it has faced some of the other challenges synonymous with technology firms. Patent infringement has haunted eBay. For example, MercExchange sued eBay for unlawfully using its patented software to create the eBay â€Å"Buy It Now† feature (Larson, 2010). Likewise, eBay has had to compete with other e-commerce auctions around the world. It is the standard in most western markets, but could not win in China against TaoBao (Ou & Davison, 2009). After battling for market dominance eBay conceded to TaoBao, showing that even corporate giants are sometimes challenged in reach of influence. But eBay celebrates its failures just the same as its successes. With rapidly advancing technology, the minds behind eBay have sometimes had to make decision quickly, without conclusive research, and adjust later. If the decision resulted in a failure, they at least knew what direction not to evolve in (Ignatius, 2011). Case Study 3: Levi Strauss & Co The apparel industry is probably most notoriously associated with running factories in sub-par conditions (Brown, Deardorff, & Stern). Even iconic American denim brand Levi’s is not innocent of this. Competition in the 1990s forced the company to move much of it’s production offshore, where it was soon implicated along with dozens of other brands in sweatshop operations (Shenon, 1993). More recently, ease of access into the market has created a lot of competition for Levi’s. Furthermore, emerging fashion markets have been turning their focus to local designers, further challenging Levi’s reach of influence (Grail Research, 2009). To ensure survival, Levi’s has taken steps to reinvent its image through fresh marketing campaigns to match its fresh designs (Frey, n.d.), like its recent â€Å"Go Forth† campaign. Technology and New Product Development Social media has radically changed the marketing landscape. Advertising used to be a one-directional conversation – television, radio, and magazines told consumers what to buy, and consumers were limited in their ability to denounce these sales pitches. Now marketing is most certainly dialog that requires input from consumers. Technology: Facebook MySpace might have introduced the world to the concept of social media, but Facebook took it beyond peer-to-peer and created an environment where businesses and consumers can engage in meaningful dialog (Wilkinson & Thelwall, 2010). This has allowed companies to get direct feedback from consumers, while making consumers feel like they are part of the company. Companies of varying sizes have staged successful Facebook campaigns. Even anti-Facebook campaigns have found success on the virtual playground. As a tribute to Facebook’s IPO, the magazine Fast Company published what it considered to be the five all-time best Facebook campaigns (Iezzi, 2012). Technology: YouTube Celebrities like Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy have defined a new paradigm of stardom, achieving fame through the use of viral video. Social media users are always looking for their 15 minutes of fame, and companies have picked up on this. Numerous brands have launched user-generated content campaigns. This has allowed fresh vision to emerge, while build brand evangelism. One successful campaign of this nature was the Doritos Superbowl ad contest, in which the best user-submitted video was aired during the Superbowl. Technology: Google AdSense The ever-innovative Google developed a method for posting advertisements based on the user’s browsing habits – that, is ads related to page content. Logging onto Gmail, it is no coincidence that the right-column ads share subject matter with the inbox emails. Even the Facebook ads reflect browsing history. While web ads, especially pop-ups, generally invoke negative connotations, they have a certain subliminal effect on consumers. Legal and Ethical Implications in New Product Development As previously stated, advances in technology have allowed easier access for consumers to see the skeletons in the closet, so to speak, of companies. This means companies should be on their best behavior, or expect to have their dirty little secrets discovered. Still, companies continue to engage in unethical, and even illegal marketing. This questionable activity can come in such forms as misrepresentation and misinformation, slander against competition, omission of facts, or outright lying. It can even involve deliberate manipulation of emotions to achieve a desired effect. Legal and ethical implications: Dannon Activia Despite inconclusive evidence in studies (Walker & Buckley, 2006) regarding the benefits of probiotics, Dannon chose to market implied digestive benefits of Activia and DanActive. In turn, the yogurt company found itself engaged in a lawsuit. This is a clear example of why companies should not mislead consumers for profit. Legal and ethical implications: Feed the Children The Feed the Children campaign releases videos that use techniques to deliberately elicit guilt, thus â€Å"inspiring† the the viewer to donate. What they fail to include in the commercials is the fact that the majority of donations goes to administrative costs, that is, salaries (Defoor, n.d.) Legal and ethical implications: Techie trash talk If it isn’t enough to sue each other back and forth over patent infringement, smartphone companies have taken to slandering each other for the competitive edge. Samsung accused Nokia of this with its recent â€Å"Blown Away by Lumina† campaign, in which it allegedly misrepresents the capabilities of the Nokia Lumina against other smartphones (Mukherjee, 2012). Conclusion The examples presented here provide discourse for the challenges of product development in the global economy, and the benefits of technology in marketing. While technological advancement brings along new sets of challenges, the benefits vastly amount to more. Leveraging these benefits in marketing is key for companies to succeed in an increasingly competitive global market. However, under the looming microscope of public scrutiny, companies need to be ever cautious about maintaining ethical marketing strategies. References Brown, D., Deardorff, A., & Stern, R. NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, (2003).The effects of multinational production on wages and working conditions in developing countries(Working Paper 9669). Retrieved from website: http://www.nber.org/papers/w9669 Defoor, A. (n.d.). Who do they feed?. Retrieved from http://www.themarketingscene.com/index.php/site/topic/who_do_they_feed Duhigg, C., & Lohr, S. (2012, October 07). The patent, used as a sword. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/technology/patent-wars-among-tech-giants-can-stifle-competition.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Frey, U. (n.d.). Reinventing levi strauss & co. CalBusiness, Retrieved from http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/groups/pubs/calbusiness/stories/levi1.html Garside, J. (2012, March 29). Apple’s factories in china are breaking employment laws, audit finds. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/30/apple-factories-china-foxconn-audit Grail Research. Integreon, Grail Research. (2009). T he global fashion industry – growth in emerging markets. Retrieved from website http://www.grailresearch.com/pdf/ ContenPodsPdf/Global_Fashion_Industry_Growth_in_Emerging_Markets.pdf Iezzi, T. (2012). The 5 all-time best facebook campaigns. Retrieved from http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680811/the-5-all-time-best-facebook-campaigns Ignatius, A. (2011). How eBay Developed A Culture of Experimentation. Harvard Business Review, 89(3), 92-97. Mukherjee, W. (2012, April 11). Samsung: Nokia lumia campaign unethical. Retrieved from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/strategy/Samsung-Nokia-Lumia-campaign-unethical/articleshow/12620894.cms Musil, S. (2012, September 10). Samsung will reportedly sue apple over lte use on iphone 5. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57510080-37/samsung-will-reportedly-sue-a

Reflective Log Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reflective Log - Essay Example What it takes to come up with rules and regulations to cater for the every dying environment. Moreover, this reflection log is my personal statement regarding the course material. Environmental management is very significant. By appreciating what is around us, we gain the understanding of nature and thus implement policies to protect the environment. Moreover, we are able to come up with environmental laws that are not only meant to govern one nation, but they are universal for the entire globe. However, environmental management and laws differ from one region to another. Furthermore, the difference is for the good of the surrounding. On the other hand, the course has enabled me to recognize that each and every one is responsible for taking care of the environment. The participants of environmental management are not only those who come up with the rules and regulations, but everyone because our future generation’s quality of life will be dependent upon the current measures implemented to protect the environment. In addition, the core values in environment based upon creating shared value, standards and monitoring is very essential for environmental sustainability and management. This implies that before coming up with these values, it is of importance to recognize and evaluate the issues affecting the environment. More so, appreciate the current issues for instance, how the transport sector can be improved to avoid endangering the environment. Furthermore, to assess the global environmental challenges towards sustainable environmental sustainability. Therefore, without doubts, environmental management is very essential for the progress of a nation and the entire globe. In conclusion, this course has enriched the level of my knowledge academically. I have gained critical thinking skills on how to analyze to view a problem and come up with the solutions. Additionally, I am more informed than ever on all that pertains

Effective parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Effective parenting - Essay Example This essay is a critique of effective parenting. It highlights the practices that can enhance proper parenting, and the behaviors that parents need to avoid for the growth of their children. It is important for parents to realize that the manner in which they speak and the gestures they make amongst other expressions are significant for the growth of their children. Self-esteem in children largely depends on the behavior of parents Brooks (1997 p 67). For example, a little congratulation for good actions among the children means a lot in their development of self esteem. Self esteem is accomplished especially when the children are allowed to undertake tasks independently, which makes them realize their potential. This means that parents need to avoid trivializing the efforts of their children. The initial steps of a child mean a lot in the development of walking ability (Snow et al. 2001 p 103). It is therefore important for parents to ensure that they do not discourage their children by not showing appreciation of their efforts. Insults and quarrels are a major threat to effective development of children. Parents need to ensure that they use simple words when they warn the children concerning undesirable behavior. Rather than using insults, they need to use strong but controlled words to avoid generating frustration amongst the children (Ranga & Denise, 2006 53). Words such as â€Å"your brain must be very thick!† need not be used. Rather, parents are supposed to offer an understandable explanation of why children should act in a particular way and not the other. In essence, human beings learn from mistakes. Children should be allowed to learn effectively from their mistakes. Rewards are important in encouraging repetition of desirable actions. Children need to be reminded often regarding particular actions that were desirable to parents or other grown ups. Their initiatives also need to be

Human Resources Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resources Strategies - Essay Example Job applicants who take on-site interviews without seriously considering the prospective employer emerge to be ethically incorrect. Such candidates in most cases do not attend the interviews or written test as it is a requirement of any organization before employment (Kleiman, 2009). Ethical job applicants are prepared at all times and when unable to attend the interviews or written tests due to an important reason, they always inform their employer well in advance and ask him or her to make another arrangement if possible. Unethical job applicants who only take the on-site interviews knowing very well that they are not considering the organization a potential employer makes the organization to lose both financially and man hours in preparing interviews and written test. Job applicants who engage in unethical behaviors pose a great negative impact to the production of the organization. Such behaviors as laziness hastiness, being late for work and leaving early or not taking responsibilities of the new job seriously gives a strong negative impression to the employer. Candidates of this kind are less productive and do not perform to the standards expected by the employer. As such a conflict is likely to arise between the employer and the employee. This can often lead to organization failure in achieving its goals (Kleiman, 2009). There are job applicants who engage in unethical behavior such as bribery in order to get employed. Job recruiters when confronted by such situations may fail to make rational decision and avoid errors and this ending up in an unfair recruitment. This significantly lowers the reputation and tarnishes the name of the organization. Unethical job applicants may lead to hiring of employees and over staffing due to overoptimistic p rojections. When this projection are not met, unpleasant measures by the organization are employed in order to please the stakeholders and keep in pace with the competitors. These are measures in an attempt to cutback, restructure and downsize the organization are undertaken (Kleiman, 2009). Such an undertaking harms the future recruitment efforts of the organization, as potential employees will develop a perception of job insecurity in the particular organization. Furthermore, over staffing directly leads to underutilization of the talented recruits that leads to dissatisfaction. As such the corporate loyalty of the organization is impacted negatively. Each member of the human resource is therefore faced with the challenge of developing convincing ideas and priorities in trying to come up with the solutions to the problem. Furthermore, unethical job applicants leads to a decrease in morale among the workers in an organization. The middle class managers and those who are actually in volve in bringing the positive change to the organization become pessimistic about the possibility of sustained future change. This way, they start questioning their ability to make reasonable profit to the organization. Such a situation calls for the each member of the human resource to see into ways of totally transforming the organization. The corporate culture, knowledge base, skills level, style of leadership and team orientation would have to undergo change, for all the employees. The human each member of th

Identity Theft Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Identity Theft - Assignment Example commission; it postulates that in order for a crime to be committed such as the identity theft case; three elements namely; pressure, opportunity and rationalization must be in play. These are depicted in the figure below; Opportunity refers to the capability to commit a crime. Since very few crooks like being caught, they must act in a way that will ensure their activities remain untraceable. This becomes possible when weak internal controls and management practices exist that allow the fraudsters to sneak in and wreak havoc. Lack of established procedures to anticipate, detect, and respond to attacks and violations creates an opportunity for frauds. This is one area where frauds and crooks have the greatest leverage and control and are always looking to find a loophole; maybe a weak encryption system. Rationalization: this is another key component for frauds, which allows a fraudster to reconcile her behavior with normally accepted concept of trust and common decency. The fraudster feels no guilt and in fact feels justified (Turner, Mock & Srivastava). The fraud triangle is useful because it identifies why, what, where and who of the fraud. Once this is established then remedial measures can be taken. Fraud cannot be stopped; the pace of technological change and advancement gives it (fraud) an evolutionary nature and so the crooks will keep getting better and more sophisticated. There is however great opportunity more than ever to slow it down considerably to protect the masses and ordinary people. The identity world will continue to experience this cycle where a smart organization comes up with a secure system to protect identity and an even smarter crook comes up with a way around the security measure (‘Consumer protection Division’, 2005). The first step would be to take the basic measures, use passwords, use secure connections, and have anti spyware. By adopting the fraud triangle, measures can be put in place to anticipate, identify, and mitigate

The Effect of the Affirmative action Research Paper

The Effect of the Affirmative action - Research Paper Example I support affirmative action for it has proven most of the myths ton be wrong. That is, it is practically defending the powerless in the society and fight against corruption as well as injustices in the society. For instance, there is a myth that states that affirmative action has not managed to reduce gender discrimination that occurs at the workplace as well as color discrimination. Truly, affirmative action has led to reducing racial discrimination in various work places. Moreover, the racial discrimination has created numerous job opportunities for women as well as to the people with disabilities. That is, most organizations have laid down rules and regulations that defend persons with disabilities as well as women. Affirmative action has managed to educate women as well as persons with disabilities about their right as well as the position that they hold in the society. For instance, the research shows that with the implementation of affirmative action, there has been greater em powerment of women as well people with disabilities to participate economic development in various sectors of development. However, there are various responses from the respondents to affirmative action. For instance, the question was to find out the effectiveness of affirmative action programs about minority and women for job employment in the workplace. In this research, the respondents who were in favor of the favor of affirmative action were 58 and those who were opposing the impact of affirmative action were 36.

Terrorist Threats and Counterterrorism Response to a Terrorist Attack Essay

Terrorist Threats and Counterterrorism Response to a Terrorist Attack - Essay Example The use of unmanned aerial predator and reaper drones is seen as a new approach in counterterrorism has changed how the US combats terrorism. President Obama’s administration has been able to ratchet the drone program as opposed to the previous U.S. administration. He has managed to authorize more than hundred drone strikes worldwide mostly around the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan according to Bures and BureÃ… ¡ (2011). Despite the controversy, facing this operation, to a great extent, the American drones since 9/11 have been successful. The current research on counterterrorism builds its debate on two approaches: the war model and the criminal justice model. The war (military) model tends to structure the efforts against terrorism in terms of the military of an enemy-centric war. In such an event, the armed forces of the state are mainly responsible for developing counterterrorism plans. The criminal justice model advocates for the rule of law and democratic principles in counterterrorism. It has been suggested that viewing counterterrorism in terms of hard and soft power is very important. This advocates for a direct and indirect tactic in counterterrorism. Some of the strategies applied after 9/1 such as the drone strike have become popular and consistent since then. However, a change is being considered on the technique as it can lead to the loss of many innocent lives as well as collateral damage to property and infrustructure. The strategy is also seen to violate the sovereignty of some states like Pakistan. For successful response to terrorism, the U.S. should consider to minimize on its enemies and maximize on its allies. This element will be achieved by reestablishing and empowering their traditional alliances as stated by Gebicke (1999). The U.S. government has also considered softening the appeal of Muslim federalism, which will be achieved by diminishing the levels of moderate Muslim indifferences. The US

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty Essay Example for Free

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurty Essay The Last Picture Show is a story of isolation and dysfunction. Death is also a prevailing theme – death of a town, of friendships, of marriages and of friends. It is a story full of characters that can seem larger than life one moment and inconsequential the next moment. As different as they all appear to be, they all share traits in common and these are that they all feel separated from the rest of the world, they all seem to want more out of life than they currently have, and most feel an emptiness that loneliness and desire do not quite give full explanation or understanding of. The story covers a time span of one year in the town of small Thalia, Texas in the 1950s, a dusty and desolate place where everybody knows not only everybody else in town, but everybody knows everybody else’s business and secrets may not always be exposed, but also they are almost always known. Thalia is a place where the undersized population appears to have settled into their unsatisfactory existences even while they often make blundering mistakes in efforts to burst out of their current lives. McMurty’s story has an unusually large cast. Sonny Crawford, a high school senior and football player, is the story’s protagonist. An all-American genuinely nice young man full of deep sadness and quiet thoughts, Sonny lives in a rooming house with his best friend Dwayne, also a high school senior and football player. Duane, a main character, is a little rougher around the edges than Sonny. He is quicker to lose his temper and though he appears as unsatisfied as other characters he does not acknowledge his feelings as profoundly as others. Jacy Farrow is another main character. The beautiful rich girl of Thalia, Jacy is a young woman whose unhappiness with her life, her family, and her fear of the future feeds the fuel of her wild side and unleashes her inhibitions.   The town of Thalia itself is also main character and an absolutely vital part of the story. Thalia, which in the beginning of the story is an old town clinging to life with its unchanging reliability, undergoes metamorphosis’s which parallel and oppose the lives of the characters within it. As the story progresses The Last Picture Show highlights Thalia’s own slow death with the changes it must face. There are many lesser characters, which the story relies on to bring it depth and reinforce and are intricate to the themes of McMurty’s tale. These additional characters also allow the author to show very personal aspects of the main characters as they intermingle with each other. The story centers on these three young adults as they search for something beyond their own existence. The reader follows them through their ordinary lives as they date, dream, and push against internal and external barriers. The story exposes these characters weaknesses as they journey through monotonous days of loneliness where they end up betraying each other and themselves to varying degrees. The story also shows human strength in continuing on during the bleakest of times. Family dysfunction is a constant theme of this story. Sonny’s mother is dead and his relationship with is father is strained and shallow. His real family is Sam, a local businessman who runs the pool hall that is Sonny’s second home, and a handicapped boy, Billy, with no family of his own. Sonny lives in a rooming house with his best friend while his father lives in a hotel in town. Sonny does not like his own girlfriend and he covets his best friend’s girl. Without planning, Sonny because the lover of his coaches’ wife. The coach is hinted to be a closet homosexual with a mean streak a mile wide. Ruth, his wife, has almost given up of finding any happiness in life. Sonny feels sorry for Ruth and their relationship develops into more than Sonny can handle. Duane has no family and his father figure is a callous roughneck, Abilene, who sleeps with Duane’s girlfriend and his boss’s wife who happens to also be the love of his best friends’ life. Jacy is showered with material items from her family but is neglected by her parents emotionally and is filled with unfeeling and despondent advise from her mother. Jacy uses her body to get what she wants and uses people with as little thought as well. Her mother is an unsatisfied woman that cheats on her husband whose focus in life is on making money in a town on its last legs. The family dysfunction is critical to the story because it emphasizes the frailty of the characters and explains the needs they face as well as the choices they make. The town and the characters are supposed to inspired by the real life experiences of the author. How close to accurate portrayals The Last Picture Show is to his reality is unknown to this reader, but McMurty was able to create a life within his pages, which felt like it could have been real. He created visual images that really give off one of the main themes of the story, which is isolation. The town is isolated and seem as far removed from the rest of the world even though it is only a short distance to the much larger Fort Worth. Most of the characters are isolated because the dysfunction of their family situations does not easily lead them to trust others or openly show their true feelings. The characters are isolated too because as much as they want change, especially the younger characters, they are fearful of as well. There are some humorous moments in the story and these brief moments provide necessary alleviation of the overall melancholy, but the most memorable moments in the story are the poignant ones. One instance is when the boys return from Mexico, thrilled to be able to boast about their great adventure, but even more excited to be back in Thalia. They were grateful then, for the same things that often despised, the sameness of the town – they were happy then for the monotony of their Thalia. But that happiness was too brief because it is only minutes after their return that that they learn Sam has died during their time away. Another very moving section is at the very end of the book. After Billy’s death Sonny is numb and in a great deal of pain. Duane has left town, Sam is dead, he feels guilty about Billy, and he knows Jacy is not an option for him. Instinctually, Sonny heads to Ruth.   Her own pain is all too obvious as well. And in their pain they are able to comfort each other in a very touching way. The Last Picture Show is a cheerless story. There is no pat happy ending to be had for any of the characters. But, this book is one I would certainly recommend to others because it is an American story which carries a ring of truth to it; life is not always perfect, happy, or fulfilling and fairytale endings are not realist and would not have fit the tone of this story. The realist qualities and the powerfully accurate believability McMurty is able to generate enable the characters to come to life and produces profound feelings in the reader. The reader has become so involved in the lives of the characters that for those characters left at the end of the story the reader possesses intense hope for their future. When an author can bring into being these qualities they present a book incredibly worth reading.

Business Ethics Tyco International Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics Tyco International Essay Description of Organization and Product Tyco International Ltd. is a corporation with official headquarters based in Pembroke, Bermuda but the company maintains operational headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey. Tyco has grown into a multi-billion dollar company (scattered in over 100 countries) with revenue of $41.0 billion USD (2006) to boast. Founded in 1960 by Arthur J. Rosenberg, Tyco was birthed when Rosenberg opened a laboratory intended for research and experimental works catered for government use. Incorporated by 1962 as Tyco Laboratories, it shifted its focus to developing scientific materials as well as energy conversion products, which now caters for the commercial sector. Tyco is a manufacturing and service conglomerate which is involved in a variety of products ranging from electronics, fire and security services, healthcare, aerospace, and some industrial products. For instance, its passive and active electronic components are found in computers, aerospace, automobiles, industrial machines, and household appliances among others. Under its fire protection and electronic security operations, it is responsible for designing, manufacturing, and installing products as well as providing services in these areas. Part of Tyco’s Healthcare business involves medical, pharmaceutical, surgical, imaging, and respiratory products. The company also manufactures industrial valves, and fire sprinklers thereby giving services in residential and industrial settings (â€Å"Tyco: Our Business†). It also provides services consultation on engineering and construction management, including operating services. Through one of its subsidies, the company also has an integrated system used for the tracking and controlling public transportation system, tunnels, and bridges. Furthermore, Tyco is involved in the monitoring of systems of burglar fire alarms, and on medical alert systems where 24-hour monitoring and response is necessary. Tyco is also engaged in buying steel and resin in the United States, as well as copper, gold, zinc, brass, paper, ink, cotton, wax, chemicals and additives. Other products purchased by the group are foil, copper clad materials, adhesives, and cloth. As of 2005, Tyco is responsible for employing about 247,900 people in its company (â€Å"Company Research: Tyco International Ltd.†). Tyco’s phenomenal growth can be traced back in the late 1980s when the company engaged in a number of acquisitions in some major companies such as ADT, Siemens Electrochemical Components, Thorn Security, and Mueller Company. But it was not until the 1990s and the subsequent years that Tyco became more aggressive in its acquisition strategy under Dennis Kozlowski as CEO. In a span of about eleven years (from 1991 to 2001), Tyco has reportedly acquired 1000 other companies. It was in 1997 that Tyco made the controversial shift of headquarters from Massachusetts to Bermuda, after the company’s acquisition of ADT.   ADT Limited has its origins which can be traced way back in the 1900s in the United Kingdom and by 1980s was restructured under the laws of Bermuda. Although part of the merger, since ADT was incorporated in Bermuda, it was still perceived as a shrewd move to avoid taxes. Shareholder and investors were later informed of this tax advantage. A partial list of Tyco’s products and its brands: AMP for its electronic components and cables RAYCHEM for circuit protection devices Ansul, Total Weather, Skum Sabo for fire fighting products Kendall, Monoject, Shiley for medical supplies Simplex Grinnell, Wormald for fire sprinklers OpenSky and EDACS for critical communications systems Violation / People Involved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the 1990s, the company continued to show a stable and steady rise in income. But by 1999, rumors of accounting irregularities began to leak with charges directed against Tyco’s top executives: Dennis Kozlowski (former chairman and chief executive), Mark H. Swartz (former chief financial officer), and Mark Belnick (former general counsel). These accusations were vehemently denied by the company’s leadership.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was not until January of 2002 that prosecutors found Kozlowski guilty of tax evasion for his art purchases. Investigators later followed a trail of lavish expenditures, thereby making Kozlowski’s tax evasion scheme a mere ‘tip of the iceberg’.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eight months later, these three men were arrested and tried before the New York State Supreme Court. Kozlowski and Swartz were charged of robbing the company of about $600 million with the aid of Belnick. They were found guilty of treating Tyco as a personal bank account, stealing worth of $170 million through company loans and $430 million worth of fraudulent sales of securities without the company’s shareholders knowledge (â€Å"Three Tyco Execs Indicted for Fraud†). Kozlowski was found guilty of masterminding a series of ethical violations, by misusing corporate funds for relocation and executive loan programs. Since 1996 up to 2002, these two men awarded themselves hundreds of millions of dollars with low or no-interest loans usually from Tyco’s Key Employee Corporate Loan Program (KELP). The company explicitly defined the purpose of the program. Tyco’s KELP was designed to provide loan assistance for Tyco key employees to pay their taxes when investing upon Tyco’s common stock. Of the $270 million that Kozlowski took through KELP loans (from 1997 to 2002), about $29,000,000 only were used for taxes because of the result of the vesting of Tyco stock. The rest of the money were improperly used for self-serving interests such as acquiring luxury apartments and estates, expensive artworks, estate jewelry, a yacht, and spending about $100 million for a lavish party for his second wife. Also, Kozlowski is now notoriously known for owning a gold-laced shower curtain worth $6,000 a picture for his lavish lifestyle. He also used KELP funds to finance his own personal investments and other business ventures, deliberately violating the program’s purpose. Swartz also misappropriated about $85,000,000 dollars from the company’s KELP loans during these same periods. Following from Kozlowski’s example, he too appropriated only about $13,000,000 dollars to cover taxes as a result from the vesting of Tyco stock. Swartz misappropriated the remaining $72,000,000 dollars for self-serving purposes such as financing his own business investments, and the purchasing of real estate holdings and trusts. Kozlowski and Swartz were also guilty of deceitful acts by deliberately failing to disclose in their annual Director Officer Questionnaire (â€Å"DO Questionnaire†), which are given to Tyco’s senior executives, the information of these loans much less the manner of which how these KELP loans were used. Tyco’s shareholders were deceived by Kozlowski and Swartz’s failure to reveal these important facts on the company’s Form 10-K and proxy statements. The company also has a relocation loan program since 1995, to give assistance to its employees who were affected when it moved its offices to New York City from New Hampshire and later to Florida. Kozlowski and Swartz also enriched themselves by availing of relocation loans and spending it for purposes not covered by the program. Of the $46,000,000 dollars which Kozlowski amassed from the relocation loan, $18,000,000 was spent to buy a waterfront compound in Boca Raton and an estimated $7,000,000 Park Avenue apartment for his previous wife. Swartz spent $6,500,000 to purchase an apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side; $17 M for a waterfront compound also in Boca Raton; and the rest of the funds were used in purposes not authorized by the program. They were also accountable for repeatedly classifying and reclassifying their debts to the company, and even moving on to authorizing transactions by which their millions of dollars of KELP and relocation loans were forgiven and written off the company’s books. They also instructed others to falsify the company’s books and records in order to conceal these violations. Swartz also enriched himself by selling his New Hampshire real estate to a Tyco subsidiary for $305,000, but in which the Tyco subsidiary sold it at a far lower price about two years later from its purchase. Swartz purposely did not disclose this transaction from Tyco’s investors. Both Kozlowski and Swartz abused company perquisites from Tyco such as causing the company to purchase luxurious apartments and stay in it rent-free and made use of Tyco corporate aircraft in purposes unrelated to the company’s business. The former CEO also misused Tyco’s funds by releasing large amounts of charitable donations in his own name, and all the while failed to disclose and report these facts to investors, as mandated by the federal securities laws. While possessing material information, Swartz engaged in fraudulent sales of Tyco stocks through family business partnerships. Both men lied to Tyco’s auditors by signing management representation letters which avowed the absence of fraudulent acts from significant employees involved in Tyco’s internal control. Belnick, Tyco’s former chief legal officer, amassed millions of dollars from Tyco through similar violations committed by Kozlowski and Swartz (T Newkirk, J Coffman, R Kaplan, D Frohlich, and J Weiner. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission). Explanation of the Outcome   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two former top Tyco executives received 8 1/3 to 25 years of prison-sentence after being tried before a New York state court, after it’s first resulted in a mistrial. They were found guilty of siphoning and misappropriating company funds during their stint as Tyco’s top executives. This was considered as one of the biggest ethical violations in a series of white-collar crimes that has tainted and eroded public confidence in the US corporate landscape. As a result, Kozlowski and Swartz served their terms in New York state prison, a case which differs greatly from other convicted corporate executives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other convicted corporate executives such as Adelphia’s John Rigas, or Martha Stewart served their prison sentences in a federal prison. Often dubbed as â€Å"Club Feds† or â€Å"Camp Cupcake†, federal prison conditions could appear like a ‘boarding school’ - there are no bars and some are even offering facilities like tennis courts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In stark contrast, state prison do not offer such ‘luxuries’ and the gravest issue could boil down even to the inmate’s safety. It usually houses criminals convicted of rape, murder and other violent offenses - one reason which explains its unsafe condition and which makes tight security a necessity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While others may see this conviction too harsh for a white-collar crime, Kozlowski and Swartz cannot escape their fate since their case began as a state investigation for trying to evade about $1,000,000 dollars worth of tax payment for acquiring expensive artworks by Renoir, Monet and other celebrated painters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Also, this has come upon the government’s stand of placing stricter measures on its effort of cracking down corruption in the corporate scene (K. Crawford. â€Å"For Kozlowski, An Especially Grim Future†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to a former SEC prosecutor, the sentences for white-collar criminals are getting tougher and judges’ former tendency to give them milder treatment is fast disappearing. While Kozlowski is credited for building up Tyco’s multi-billion dollar industrial empire, which used to give an impressive and illustrious career rising from being an ordinary employee to become Tyco’s chief executive officer, his crime is also credited as the grandest (so far) in scale and amount of thievery in corporate history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While some would protest about the usefulness of long prison sentences given to white-collar criminals, especially when they are towards the age of retirement. However, there is an inescapable trend among state and federal courts to give longer years of prison-conviction. Whereas in the early 1990s, when such crimes were new and few, a certain convicted salesman received eight years reduction in his 10-year term, an equivalent of 22 months in jail (L. Lazaroff. â€Å"Ex-Tyco Executives Get Up To 25 Years: Kozlowski, Swartz also to pay millions in restitution, fines†). Kozlowski is serving his prison sentence at Midstate Correctional Facility in Marcy, N.Y., located outside of Syracuse of N.Y.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Clearly, there has been a great shift of change. Opinion of the Outcome   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the aftermath of the Enron, Adelphia, Tyco and other high profile business scandals which prove that ethical violations can pose a serious and costly risk for a business entity’s ability to grow or thrive. As demonstrated by Kozlowski, Swartz and Belnick - the collapse of integrity could cost hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars for its company to cover extra expenses such as litigation, fines, damage of company reputation, subsequent loss of client’s trust, decline in sales, and the process for damage-control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While this indictment against Kozlowski and his accomplices seem severe when it received as much punishment as those who commit violent crimes, but given the substantial amount stolen, the consequent loss of wealth due to erosion of public trust, and costly lawsuits the benefits of giving such harsh convictions would serve as a deterrent for future losses. It is also the government’s responsibility to restore confidence among investors towards corporate entities in order for these institutions to survive.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Kozlowski’s shot for â€Å"dizzying success† (even using fraudulent and criminal means) was fed in part by Wall Street’s hero worship of ‘rock star’ CEOs. However, in light of a string of corporate scandals, leaders must be emulated for their ability to ‘shepherd’ their company and provide examples of living up to ethical standards themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This outcome also brings the much needed transformation on government (such as the Sarbeans-Oxley Act) and company policies pertaining to how business is conducted by those who serve them. While most of the focus is on the violators, the rippling effects of such crimes could threaten the financial security of millions of the company’s employees and their families.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Companies, in lieu of the scandal, have now placed greater importance of training its employees to make ethical decisions which would cultivate a corporate culture founded on trust and integrity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This case also helped to strengthen greater consciousness for the need to fight corruption in a global scale. The United Nations signed a new treaty in its bid to fight corruption worldwide. This covers not only government officials but is applied to the private sector as well (â€Å"United Nations Convention Against Corruption†). The Organization Today   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rebounding from the moral crises that swept its top executives, along with other companies, there has been greater commitment for transparency among the new management performers in Tyco and other companies. These are corporate leaders who have built a track record of excellent performance and who have been practicing high ethical standards. All efforts are geared toward rebuilding the company’s reputation, public and investor’s trust.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Edward D. Breen became Tyco’s new CEO in July 2002, he took a bold step in his sweeping reform to re-establish credibility and faith to the company, which included firing the Board of Directors that hired him.   Of the 500 employees in Tyco’s Princeton, N.J. headquarters, as much as 480 are newly hired since Breen breezed in to Tyco’s management scene.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although at first, Breen found the company in confusion, low morale among its employees, and about to face a cash shortage because of an $11 billion debt due a year after, Tyco has a good foundation due to Tyco’s acquisition of a number of stable businesses (S. Lohr. â€Å"New Strategies Changing Face of Corporate Scandal†). This separates Tyco from much of the companies who suffered the same fate from dishonest dealings by its top executives most of which filed for bankruptcy. Tyco was able to recover from the crisis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to a public announcement made last January 13, 2006, Tyco International is divided into three business segments: Tyco Healthcare, Tyco Electronics, and Tyco Fire Security, and Tyco Engineered Products Services (TFS/TEPS). Each has operations separate from each other and possesses their own set of board of directors, executives, and financial structure. By February 6, 2007, Tyco has revenue of $41 billion and currently employing about 250,000 people in different countries.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite being in the process of splitting into three major companies, Tyco International Ltd. still saw an increase of net earnings of up to 43 % or a profit rise of about $793 million due to great demand especially for its electronics and security devices. Company profit taken from continuing operations is up on 37 cents per share – a performance which proved better than Wall’s Street’s forecasts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Among Tyco’s four divisions, three reported an increase in sales and better operating profits for the first quarter of this year; with its heal-care the only segment which handed in a lower yield in profit due to the company’s restructuring measures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tyco is preparing to push on its health-care and electronics divisions by the second quarter. It is gearing up for more aggressive measures as it sees a favorable global economic environment for this year, being optimistic to avail a rise of 6 to 7 percent in sales.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tyco’s shares have even achieved more than 30% over the previous year, twice than the rise of Standard Poor’s 500 index. Another measure of its success- Tyco’s stock price rose to $33.21 on the New York Stock Exchange from its $8 value just right after the scandal (â€Å"Tyco’s Net Earnings Jump 43%†). References:    â€Å"Tyco: Our Business†. http://www.tyco.com/ â€Å"Company Research: Tyco International Ltd.†. The New York Times. February 16, 2007. http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp?MW=http://marketwatch.nytimes.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.aspsymb=TYCsid=42806#compinfo â€Å"Three Tyco Execs Indicted for Fraud†. CNN.com/BUSINESS. http://edition.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/09/12/us.tyco/ Newkirk T, Coffman J, Kaplan R, Frohlich D, Weiner J. S. Securities and Exchange Commission. http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaint/complr 17722.htm Crawford, K. â€Å"For Kozlowski, An Especially Grim Future†. CNNMoney.com   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/21/news/newsmakers/prisons_state/ Lazaroff, Leon. â€Å"Ex-Tyco Executives Get Up To 25 Years: Kozlowski, Swartz also to pay millions in restitution, fines. Chicago Tribune. September 20, 2005. â€Å"United Nations Convention Against Corruption†.   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://untreaty.un.org/English/notpubl/Corruption_E.pdf Lohr, S. â€Å"New Strategies Changing Face of Corporate Scandal†. New York Times News Service. June 4, 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050604/news_1b4scandals.html â€Å"Tyco’s Net Earnings Jump 43%†. February 6, 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚   http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/06/news/companies/bc.tyco.results.reut/index.htm

How Global Is The Global Media?

How Global Is The Global Media? With the emergence of globalization, it has enhanced digital communications between suppliers and consumers and flourished the commercial media market. However, are these media systems developing a truly global market? Are they communicating with the public in a truly global perspective versus transnational, national, regional and local? (Martin, 1988, pp 40) In the twentieth century, global media simply means technology/digital media, the internet is known as our global village where information and communications can reach thousands homes in spite of geographical and cultural distances. Being global means getting internationally united and integrated through interchanging of world views. During the 1960s and 1970s, globalization primarily refers to the evolvement of Americanization, firms that are originally based in the United States started moving across the globe in a rapid pace. (McChesney, 2001) Since the United States market is already well-developed and only seeking for incremental expansion, these dominant firms aim to invest in the foreign markets so as to strengthen their competitiveness amongst other powerful national corporations. (McChesney, 2001) Unsurprisingly, these American firms have become the dominant players in the commercial media market after the 1990s, the concentration of specific media industries such as Television networks, Music industries, Film Makings, Books and Magazines publishing, are gradually increasing since dominant parent companies began to set up subsidiaries across the globe. In the twenty-first century, the global media market is basically dominated by seven multinational corporations which are based in America: Disney, AOL Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom, Vivendi and Bertelsmann. (McChesney, 2001) And according to McChesneys findings (2001), these companies own the major U.S. film studios, one of the U.S. television networks, most of TV channels in U.S. and worldwide, they even control up to 85% of the global music market. By all accounts, does a truly global media market include such a high level of media concentration? Scholars on globalization and cultural equality argued that the American dominance in the media industries has made it difficult for other developing countries to produce and distribute their own form of cultural media products and has limited the degree of cultural exchange between global countries. On the other hand, Morley (1996, pp37) believes that Americanization, also refers to media/ cultural imperialism, is just the side effect or process of globalization. He explains that in long run, the U.S. is striving to emerge a set of values and beliefs which largely shares amongst all nations through media. Media plays a significant role in spreading the word of mouth and is redefining the way the global communicates; (Morley, 1996, pp54) The flow of media communications can be multilayered, in this case, the U.S. is just taking the lead, media is going to wide spread across the globe layer by layer (local, regional, nation, transnational, multinational and global). Cultural media Imperialism A global media system supposed to be influential and powerful enough to mediate nations (organizations, groups and individuals) to communicate their differences and similarities through cultural exchange. However, Straubhaar (1991) has identified several key problems regarding the media flow in the 1970s: media and cultural imperialism. The spread of commercial media was seen to have constrained the distribution of media and its usage to a purely national basis. The media was perceived to be a one way flow of television and news from western countries like United States and France and the big four news agencies (Associated Press, United Press International, Agence France Presse and Reuters) respectively, to the rest of the world. (Straubhaar, 1991) Straubhaars concept of asymmetrical interdependence (1991) is able to explain the imbalanced set of relationships, where the original media flow of the world displays first world countries at the top, and third world at the bottom. It is very ironic to say that media/cultural imperialism is one of the stages to go through in the journey to media globalization. McChesney points out that the contemporary American culture is the most powerful and influential in history. The unequal distributions of income, the lack of industrial infrastructure, lack of government support and media resources in the third world countries (i.e. India and parts of Africa) not only have constrained them from creating their own media channels, it has also increased their dependency on the U.S for capital, technology and most media products. (2001) In the notion of global media, it encourages opening up to the world, sharing and exchanging instead of protecting your own culture; however, the dominant media coverage and financial and technologically lagging behind of the third world have even caused small countries to lose their cultural identity. (Morley, 2006, pp34) Living in a capitalist community, it is understandable for companies to be profit oriented; profits became the motor force to drive the expansion of U.S. media into international sales and investment. Nonetheless, according to Strabhaars findings, audiences preference is as well considered to be a key factor in producing socially determined television readings. (1991) For instance, the massive distribution (exports) of American global films has successfully promoted the U.S. culture and spread knowledge about the Americans to the world. Furthermore, multinational audiences choice of reading has been assimilated to the American style/layout/format media productions (especially films and dramas). (Martin, 1988, pp52) The international success of the U.S. media industries has flourished the media market in other European countries such as Britain, North American, Mexico etc. (Martin, 1988, pp 54) Matter fact that the American influence is giving way to the development of media industries in the third world. These firms are learning to take the first world models, and adapting it to their native settings such as developing non main stream media which is more economical. (Straubhaar, 1991) Accordingly, in less than ten years after the Americanization period, Brazil already owned its national radio station and theatre; India got its own community television channel; Egypt started its national media industry by introducing a new cinema and opera theatre. (Martin, 1988, pp 52) Cultural proximity and hybridisation Under the U.S. influence, media industries in Brazil tend to have adapted the American form of commercial media and cultural industry. Telenovela has been considered a distinct cultural industry product of Brazil since 1970s. (Straubhaar, 1991) Morley said that it is often being categorized as American style soap operas since it is translated from soap operas to Latin American by some Brazilian Americans. The Rich Also Cry is the first telenovela that went global which is exported to China, Russia, France, Malaysia, Japan and the U.S. etc. (2006 pp 43) The nature of cultural linguistic markets helps develop cultural proximity within regions more than the mass imported U.S. programs. (Movius, 2010) Telenovela helps spread sociocultural messages worldwide. Small communities like the Hispanic people who share similar cultural norms with the Americans and Brazilians, are attracted to watch Brazils telenovela even some of them are living in east Asian countries. (Movius, 2010) Straubhaar argues that even though some countries are sharing a similar culture or a common language, there are many media products, especially television programs being locally transplanted before they enter a local market; (1991) It is also very less likely to see pure imported media programs since the local audience usually prefer programs that are most proximate to them in terms of format, style, culture, tradition, custom and dialect. (Movius, 2010) Take for example, the Disney cartoon movie will be translated to Chinese when it enters the Chinese film industry, all the American slangs and jokes will not be presented in the same way or meaning since they cannot make any sense in Chinese. Regardless of the movies origin, viewers will interpret tem according to their cultural context and portrait it in their own urban lifestyle. (Morley, 2006, pp 35) To a certain extent, it is nearly impossible to assimilate worldwide cultures to one or else small nations will lose the unique aspects of their home, culture and environment. (Straubhaar, 1991) The global media means to enhance the exchange of cultural ideas, knowledge and values instead of overtaking others cultural image and identity. The success of Brazilian telenovela is considered as a combination of genre traditions and exchange of cultures between nations through media production. With reference to Martin (1988, pp 51), contraflow describes how the cultures interact and transform, without losing their own genres. Also, the exportation of telenovela Ugly Betty to the U.S. from Colombia is seen to be a great example of contraflow media, it proves that there is no longer a one way flow of media from the America. (McChesney, 2001) Initially, it represents a dependency upon the first world but succeeds in moving into a greater, but still asymmetrical interdependency. (McChesney, 2001) Cultural difference is no longer a communication barrier in the globalized world. The global media has broaden audiences social horizon as various media bring them new and compelling cultural knowledge. Mass media like radio, cinema and television has reconsolidated social groupings (closed cosmopolitan groups) and renewed cultural forms. (Movius, 2010) Apart of the Hollywood products from U.S., new layers of global production and access have emerged such as the worldwide flow of telenovela, Japanese anime and manga, Chinese Kung Fu films and Bollywood films. (Movius, 2010) It is not surprised that globalization is often associated with Americanization; the U.S. has indeed written the grammar of television and film production. Yet, starting from the 1990s, the global power has shifted to Asia. (Movius, 2010) Recently, the U.S. and Chinese film industries announced that they are going to set up a Hollywood co-production film studio based in Tianjin, China. (Pulver, 2012) At such, China would be able to nurture opportunities for cross cultural creativity and business investment in the future. This project also allows China to offer its rich heritage culture to the world. Asian countries seem to be turning the original imperialistic U.S. chain on its head in the 2010s, (McChesney, 2001) South Korea is a prime example of a turn of influential media flow and showing the crucial role of advancing technology. The KPOP (Korean music) culture favours a massive number of foreign listeners; Record companies encourage songs that combined Korean lyrics with rapped breaks and slogan-scaled English choruses, some of them even produce Japanese or Chinese song albums to attract the foreign market. In regard of the advance technology, the internet cannot be neglected as it is the most powerful and influential media that bridge communications amongst the global audience. It is known as the global village, the motor force that drives all nations together at once regardless of time and place. (Martin, 1988, pp 45) Social media like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace takes on the job of the mass media to globalize peoples identity but in a larger degree, through an interpersonal space. These new global media players continue to grow which have also strengthen social relationships as well as increased accessibility to global information. (Movius, 2010) However, identities and media relations are still multi-layered with cultural geographical elements (McChesney, 2001) According to Straubhaar (1991), there are tendencies that the communication of media networks will be effected by cultural media traditions and regulatory systems. For instance, Facebook is censored in China due to some political reasons. At the same time, the Chinese media has developed their own social networking sites that function like Facebook: Weibo and RENN. This act has again challenged the notion of global media, showing that there are still countries which want to protect their domestic media and cultural industries to some point. (Straubhaar, 1991) As a conclusion, there is an initial change in the world media relations from dependence to relative interdependence. Though the United States still make up a high percentage of media ownership worldwide, other national media industries are consolidating an independent position in the world media market. (McChesney, 2001) The question to media imperialism and power inequality within the global media system is still very complex due to some political, social, cultural and economic implications. The global media is trying to deliver the same message worldwide, however, there are others forces and causes influencing such process.

Open Fields :: Descriptive Memories Essays Papers

Open Fields When I think back to the days when I was a child, I think about all of my wonderful childhood memories. Often I wish to go back, back to that point in life when everything seemed simpler. Sometimes I think about it too much, knowing I cannot return. Yet, there is still one place I can count on to bring me back to that state of mind, my grandparents' house. There is something to be said about lying on one's back in an open field hour upon hour, staring up at a vast, blue sky. With no one around and not another house for miles, it is a great place to be alone, to listen. In the country, I can pick up all the wonderful sounds of nature commonly lost amidst the bustle of the city. The wind speaks as it blows across the land, whistling through the trees. Crickets rub their wings in song for anyone to hear. An unseen friend scurries beneath the fallen leaves, as an owl above questions who is there. Heading back towards the house, I soak in all the beauty of the surrounding landscape. There are towering groves of trees, creek beds lined with wildflowers emitting delightful fragrances, and sunsets that astound. Still, I walk cautiously. For all of nature’s beauty, trouble can still take form out here, whether it is running into a slithering snake or stumbling across a prickly thistle. Looking further into the distance, I spot the horses gracefully galloping along, their sleek manes dancing across their powerful bodies. As I pass the pond, I skip a stone across the water and I think about all the "real" stories the pond could tell of the ones that got away. Along side its banks I hear a familiar sound, as the bullfrogs' bellows lead the way for nightfall. The night will bring the cool country air, and with it the thick aroma of the wood-burning stoves. On some evenings, if I am lucky enough, some warm apple-butter jam may even be waiting for me back at the house. Now that I am older, I look for changes. I have grown to expect them. My grandparents will soon be gone, but the memories of the land they live on and I grew up on will always be with me.

Differences that Divide Essay -- Literary Analysis

Throughout most of human history, humans have had a tendency to judge people on the basis of clearly defined qualities, in an attempt to characterize and classify society into more easily understood â€Å"black and white† groups. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the characters, representative of the surrounding cultures portrayed, frequently participate in acts of inclusion and exclusion on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and lifestyle as a means of dividing the population into clearly defined, mutually exclusive groups. This underlying expression of discrimination serves as a modern critical analysis against society’s prevalent tenets of inequality. The first form of discrimination, most significant to the character Hassan, is done on the basis of ethnicity. As Edward Hower comments in â€Å"The Servant†, The Kite Runner’s depiction of Afghanistan is frighteningly â€Å"tense with the friction between the nation's different ethnic groups.† Representative of this prevalent Afghan culture, Assef believes in the superiority of the Pashtun people and thus the inferiority of the Hazara people, saying â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns... We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose [Hassan] here†. With these statements Assef self-justifies the distinctly different and unequal actions he displays towards people of different ethnicities. Through Assef’s carefree rationalization of segregation and reason for conflict, Assef serves as a criticism by the author about modern society and how attitudes such as Assef’s can prove harmful to even genuinely good-natured people . To represent such victimized people, Hassan starkly contrasts any form of negativity and fulfills a sacrificial role for Amir’s sake, clearly noted by Asse... ...al analysis of modern society's tendencies. The author requests that rather than operate in conflict, cultures, even those that contrast each other, should act together as a continuous entity, rather than be splintered by differences that divide. Works Cited Bartley, Jim. "Kite Catches and Flies High." Globe & Mail [Toronto] 28 June 2003: D3. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 254. Detroit: Gale, 2008. N. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. Denby, David. "Hard Life." Rev. of The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. New Yorker 17 Dec. 2007: 106. Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. Hower, Edward. "The Servant." Rev. of The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. New York Times Book Review 3 Aug. 2003: n. pag. Literature Resource Center. Web. 29 Mar. 2010. Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. Print.

‘In Paris With You’ by James Fenton and ‘Hour’ by Carol An Duffy Essay

James Fenton born 25th of April 1949 is a modern English poet, journalist a literary critic and was also a former Oxford professor of poetry. He wrote several books about poetry mostly about relationship and war like the collection of poems ‘The Memory of War’. He received multiple of awards for his poetry, the latest was in 2007 when he was rewarded a ‘Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry’. Carol Ann Duffy born 23 December 1955 is also a modern Scottish poet and playwright. Her poetry style speaks about everyday life experiences through stages of her life about love, memory and languages. She wrote poetry collection, children books and plays. Both poets show heavy feelings about love in their respectful poems but each poem contains different contents but apply to the same theme: love. In Paris With You makes the reader think that the poem is romantic but it actually an anti-clichà © poem that focuses mostly on the poet’s bitterness towards love because he speaks about his experience with his rejected love and his rebound relationship, the poem rejects conventional ideas about love. He might have been in love before and she left him, that is seen when he says â€Å"Yes I’m angry at the way I’m been bamboozled.† and that is why he’s hurt and in need of forgetting about his former lover but isn’t quite there yet when he starts the poem in a negative way: â€Å"Don’t talk to me of love. I’ve had an earful† This suggests that the narrator finds the subject of love difficult to discuss because of his share of love and heartbreak. Throughout the poem ‘Don’t’ is repeated and that indicates repetition in the first and last two stanza, it also shows how controlling Fenton was with his former lover when he’s always saying ‘Don’t’ as she left him. This gives the reader an impression of the poet is possessive and heartbroken because of the ending of his former relationship. The sentence ‘Don’t talk to me of love’ and that proves that the man is determined on keeping the subject of love out of a conversation and detest it being brought up by cause of his heartbreak from his past relationship as if trying to protect himself from further pain. I find the way the poet started the poem in a negative way really intense because the poet jumps into the subject without pleasantries towards love and doesn’t hide his distaste towards it and shows his deep  bitterness against love. Fenton also talks about how he’s victimized and has a feeling of self-pity by love throughout the poem when he describes the state he has been when his relationship ended with his ex lover, how he spent it hurt and drowning his misery with alcohol to help him forget. In the first stanza, he says: ‘I’m one of your talking wounded.’ That has a strong imagery of war because ‘wounded’ suggests that someone is injured in battle and in this case, injured because of love. The poet also mentions that: ‘I’m a hostage. I’m maroonded’ and that show us his emphasize on him being abandoned and deserted as he describes it as he’s trapped and stranded. He uses metaphors when he says that he’s really trapped as a ‘hostage’ and left alone in an inescapable place. He shows rebellion when he says ‘maroonded’ instead ‘marooned’ which is the right term. It gives the reader and idea of how painful love is to the poet and lowers the reader’s expectations of romance and love. Fenton uses a comical rhyme in ‘wounded’ and ‘maroonded’ to add a humor into the poem to lighten up the mood of the poem despite the bitterness. I think that the way the poet describes himself is in a devastating state after being deceived by love. The poem’s title ‘In Paris With You’ suggests a romantic theme but it’s ironic that Paris is the city of love but Fenton is only in Paris because he’s on the rebound but only because Paris reminds him of his former relationship. He uses repetition of ‘I’m in Paris with You’ throughout the poem reflects the speaker’s insistent concentration on the present. Fenton then goes off listing to show his disdain towards Paris’ landmark and how he doesn’t want to visit Paris’ romantic landmarks ‘If we skip the Champs Elysees’ meaning he would rather ‘remain here in this sleazy, old hotel room’ meaning that the poet rejects the traditional and usual romantic gestures and places in Paris and that they are unimportant and that shows us that he doesn’t care about the scenery around him as long being together with his lover, but stay in Paris is only about being on the rebound to forge t his former love, and that he’d rather stay in a cheap hotel room instead of going out to romantic Paris features. It creates an image in the reader’s mind of the tone of this poem where it goes from bitter, sad and  mournful and tells us that the poet doesn’t actually care about the woman or lover he had in company. There’s enjambment between stanzas three and four in ‘†¦in this sleazy†¦Old hotel room.’ That is used because the poet wants the poem read in a faster pace instead of a slow one without pauses in between stanzas so it shows the poet’s thoughts. I think the way the poet emphasize his bitterness towards love resulted to him turning towards alcohol and lust, his behavior is relatable in many ways because after a heartbreak, people tend to try to forget their feelings and their aching heart. Hour talks about how time is an enemy of love and how it destroys love with how quick it goes, that time is an obstacle for love and Duffy starts the poem with: â€Å"Love’s time beggar,† which is personification and it suggests that love is dependent and is a slave for time, that it doesn’t last forever and that is a negative sign. This has a huge impact on the reader because when being in love, there is never enough time to spend together with your lover and it goes quickly. The personification show us the image of love being a beggar and time being someone who would pass by and offer, that is when Duffy used â€Å"†¦but even a single hour, bright as a dropped coin, makes love rich.† And that means that time, which is the passer, offers love only an hour to be spent on and narrator values that and it also shows strong imagery of wealth to present that the love is far more precious than all the wealth in the world. This also suggests to the reader that the time spent between the speaker and her love is valuable for the both of them. Like I said above, love being put as a beggar has a negative tone and that only highlights the fact that time is a problem for love. The poem is a extended metaphor that time wastes love and that is seen when the narrator says: â€Å"For thousands of seconds we kiss†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and that could only mean that the narrator in the poem has been counting the time because she still couldn’t get enough of her lover. Throughout the poem, the poet uses various of imagery of wealth that identifies that the narrator finds the hour spent with her love one precious to her, Duffy uses the sentence: â€Å"love spins gold, gold, gold from straw,† which links to the story of Rumplestilskin where it also talks about how straw turns to gold, it also introduces the contrast to show that opposite  things mentioned in the poem like ‘jewel’ and ‘cuckoo spit’ and in the sentence, the poet says that love is spinning from straw which is negative and an ordinary thing to gold showing that love is cherished and valued. If the reader has experienced love in their life, they will find themselves relating to certain parts of the poem and find that longing love does indeed leave you finding the small amount of time precious. Duffy uses colour like ‘gold’ and wealth imagery when she mentions ‘coin’ – ‘rich’ – ‘treasure’ and etcetera to emphasize that love is more valuable than all the wealth and treasures of the world. I could agree that being in love with someone could leave you dependent on that person and set them as your reason of happiness and that is a beautiful thing, however, people shouldn’t rely on love too much because it will leave them in pain when the other person break their heart or falls out of love. Duffy uses romantic imagery in the first stanza, line 3 and 4 where she shows how unromantic scenery is more than enough for her that her and her lover would rather be out in nature. She says: â€Å"Spend it not on flowers or wine, but the whole of the summer sky and a grass ditch.† And that the place to her isn’t important as long as her lover and she are together, she prefers the outdoors because of the natural setting that surrounds them because of its simplicity. It also displays sign of sibilance and the effectiveness of the narrator’s feeling and her lover would rather enjoy the nature and the natural air instead of going on typical and traditional dates (courting) and that shows non-conventional ideas of love. The reader would find the idea of being out in nature a bit strange for dates but some may relate. Duffy suggests that â€Å"the summer sky and a grass ditch† which is far away from being a traditional place to spend with your love one but the narrator finds it an exceeding choice to enjoy the ‘summer sky’ and not be distracted with people in public, romantic places because the narrator only has an hour to spend it with her love. I find the setting of the poem odd to be a place spent by two people but it only defines who her lover and her are as a couple in this society and how different they are from the rest of normal couples and that is special. Both poems have similarity because they both show vivid feeling conveyed by  the poet. Whilst In Paris with You is bitter towards love, Hour is more about how time is an obstacle for love and spending an hour with your loved one is precious. The structure in both poems is also different. The similarities between both poems use metaphoric language to describe emotional feelings and also write in first person. I like the ‘In Paris With You’ poem because it had a deeper meaning into the words and people would have to read between the lines to finally get it with poetry. ‘Hour’ is a beautiful poem but I didn’t find myself pulled deeper into the words but Duffy does display both light and darkness and that is something interesting.

Thought Provoker

Assignment 1. 2 Dialogue 1 — Thought-Provokers Survey Derrick Crank Jones International University Leading from a Global Perspective BC607 Dr. Michael Jazzar February 09 2013 Thought-Provokers Survey Part 2 Thought-Provoker # _15_ Gist: Some Christian just hypo-critics and don’t really follow what they learn and teach at their church. Your reaction (from above): _ I agree Explanation of your response: I think when you gather several people in a small area: gossips tend to spread, people become jealous, and competition tends to develop.I have been in several churches around the country and all believe in the some beliefs. People tend to think with the God’s power they are right with their beliefs even though they go to church and pray for their sins. If we look at our history, most wars and deaths are due to the church and Christianity beliefs. They particularly destroyed the American Indian cultures and confine them to reservation and boarding schools in the late 1800s.Christianity burned witch at Salem, MA, because several people were thought to be witches. Christians don’t follow what they teach but use parts of what they learned to better themselves for their own needs. Thought-Provoker # __19___ Gist: That are some many religions and cultures around world and there is really no right answer. Your reaction (from above): Who really says that? Explanation of your response: I have been all over the world and I have come to the conclusion that there s no right religion. I believe all religions are equal. Each religion is set at its highest because people believe in their religion due to their demographics, family values, and how they were taught at a young age. Christianity belief is just one of the many religions around the world and continues to spread as the other religions have. Thought-Provoker # __21___ Gist: _Homeless have a reasons why they have chosen to be homeless. Your reaction (from above): What? Really? Explanation of yo ur response:I have worked from several homeless shelters and my conclusion is that they are not lazy. They are the hardest workers I know but they have a mental illness that clouds their judgments. Most of the homeless have mental illnesses due to post trauma stress, depression, bipolar, and schizophrenic tendencies. Some are veterans from past wars to child abused victims when they were growing up. Some homeless are unable to hold jobs because these mentally illnesses. They are not lazy but they are determined to survive on what they have.

Evaluating Change at Alegent Health

Alegent Health (AH) conducted six large group interventions or â€Å"decision accelerators† (DA) to generate innovative strategies for the six clinical service areas. Researchers at USC’s Center for effective organizations contracted with AH to assess the impact of the interventions and help the organization learn how to leverage further change. The implementation feedback involved executive interviews and surveys from people who participated in the â€Å"review DAs†, thus reflecting on implementation progress and plan future changes and support a positive assessment of overall progress. People generally agreed that the implementation of the clinical strategies was going well. They were positive about social capital that had been created by the DAs, especially between managers and physicians, as well as evidence of culture change. Overall the majority of persons believed that the DAs were a great energizer for the organization, generated comprehensive strategies and catalyzed important changes. However the strengths of the DAs were mostly felt by top management while the perception of the DAs was weak in the middle of the organization. The absence of formal change management processes made important resource allocation decisions, trade-offs on technology, and coordination of quality processes across the systems more difficult. When the DA had more community participants, there were broader participation in the discussions, the debates were more intense, and the DA stayed on track. The results from the survey data revealed that the higher percentage of physicians the result was less comprehensive on the other hand when the DA had a high concentration of community participants, the vision was more comprehensive. Overall the DA affected a variety of changes in organization either directly or indirectly. The organization’s initial use of the DA process as a strategic visioning intervention persists in the minds of most organization members. DAs cannot do everything and complementary governance and implementation processes are necessary. Discus the strengths and weaknesses of the assessment. Once the intervention is done it should be evaluated to determine if it is producing the intended results. Feedback gives the desired result if the implementation of the interventions were correct. The strengths of the evaluation were collected through interviews and surveys whose results were positive. Almost everyone â€Å"buy into† the clinical strategies, the DAs were a great energizer hence a high level of commitment. Clarity was gained at the top management level and many physicians. The involvement of community participants resulted in a more comprehensive vision. While the weaknesses involve the organization’s ability to leverage the change, the data revealed a more complex set of issues, weak perception in the middle of the organization, the absence of formal change management and the outcomes of meeting with top management and physicians revealed a less comprehensive vision. Participants thought that the strategy should be more aggressive business oriented How could it have been improved? Their needed to be more internal support to leverage the change, hence people would not feel so overwhelmed by the changes. The changes needed to be programmable to facilitate a formal implementation of the intervention process. Their needed to be more sensing and calibration as it was evident that the community participants produce a more comprehensive vision. There also need to be more internal support to assist the middle of the organization. Reward allocation could be used to gain more support from the middle organization. How much confidence do you have in the lessons learned for this organization? I have a high level of confidence in the lessons from this case because the intervention characteristics were evident and the researchers made use of the institutionalization processes.

Seminar on Ubiquitous Computing

UBIQUITIOUS COMPUTING Varun. R USN- 1RE08EC110 Reva Institute of Technology and Management Bangalore. [email  protected] com Abstract- The highest ideal of ubicomp is to make a computer so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it. One of the goals of ubiquitous computing is to enable devices to sense changes in their environment and to automatically adapt and act based on these changes, based on user needs and preferences.The technology required for ubiquitous computing comes in three parts: cheap, low- power computers that include equally convenient displays, a network that ties them all together, and software systems implementing ubiquitous applications. Keywords— ubicomp, nanotechnology Introduction Ubiquitous computing (often abbreviated to â€Å"ubicomp†) refers to a new genre of computing in which the computer completely permeates the life of the user. In ubiquitous computing, computers become a helpful but invisible force, assisting the user in meeting his or her needs without getting in the way.Mark Weiser, the originator of the term â€Å"ubiquitous computing†, â€Å"described it this way: â€Å"†¦ [Ubiquitous computing’s] highest ideal is to make a computer so imbedded, so fitting, so natural, that we use it without even thinking about it. † It is also referred to as Pervasive computing. Pervasive computing environments involve the interaction, coordination, and cooperation of numerous, casually accessible, and often invisible computing devices. These devices will connect via wired and wireless links to one another as well as to the global networking infrastructure to provide more relevant information and integrated services.Existing approaches to building distributed applications, including client/server computing, are ill suited to meet this challenge. They are targeted at smaller and less dynamic computing environments and lack sufficient facilities to manage changes in the network configurations. Networked computing devices will proliferate in the user’s landscape, being embedded in objects ranging from home appliances to clothing. Applications will have greater awareness of context, and thus will be able to provide more intelligent services that reduce the burden on users to direct and interact with applications.Many applications will resemble agents that carry out tasks on behalf of users by exploiting the rich sets of services available within computing environments. Our preliminary approach is to activate the world and provide hundreds of wireless computing devices per person per office, of all scales. This has required network in operating systems, user interfaces, networks, wireless, displays, and many other areas. We call our work as â€Å"ubiquitous computing†. This is different from PDA’s, dynabooks, or information at your fingertips.It is invisible; everywhere computing that does not live on a personal device of a ny sort, but is in the woodwork everywhere. Nanotechnology and Wireless Technology If computers are to be everywhere, unobtrusive, and truly helpful, they must be as small as possible and capable of communicating between themselves. Technological movements supporting these goals are already well underway under the rubrics nanotechnology and wireless computing. Nanotechnology The trend toward miniaturization of computer components down to an atomic scale is known as nanotechnology.Nanotechnology involves building highly miniaturized computers from individual atoms or molecules acting as transistors, which are the heart of the computer chip. The number of transistors in a chip is indicative of its power. Therefore, nanotechnology’s extreme miniaturization of transistors allows for impressive levels of computing power to be put into tiny packages, which can then be unobtrusively tucked away. Wireless Computing Wireless computing refers to the use of wireless technology to connec t computers to a network.Wireless computing is so attractive because it allows workers to escape the tether of a network cable and access network and communication services from anywhere within reach of a wireless network. Wireless computing has attracted enormous market interest, as witnessed by consumer demand for wireless home networks, which can be purchased for several hundred dollars. Context-Awareness and Natural Interaction Small computers that communicate wirelessly provide a necessary infrastructure for ubiquitous computing. However, infrastructure is only half of the battle.As noted above, the ubiquitous computing movement aims to make computers more helpful and easier to use. Indeed, computers should be able to accurately anticipate the user’s needs and accommodate his or her natural communication modes and styles. These themes are captured with-in the ubiquitous computing movement’s focus on context-aware computing and natural interaction. Context-Awarenes s The promise of context-awareness is that computers will be able to understand enough of a user’s current situation to offer services, resources, or information relevant to the particular context.The attributes of context to a particular situation vary widely, and may include the user’s location, current role (mother, daughter, office manager, soccer coach, etc. ), past activity, and affective state. Beyond the user, context may include the current date and time, and other objects and people in the environment. The application of context may include any combination of these elements. For example, a context-aware map might use the information that the user is away from home, has no appointments, and that the time is 6:00 in the evening to determine that the user could soon be interested in dinner.It would then prepare to offer the user guidance to nearby restaurants should he or she makes such a request. Natural Interaction Currently, using the computer is part of the task we are attempting to accomplish—something else to focus on, learn, or do in order to accomplish a goal. The idea behind natural interaction is for the computer to supply services, resources, or information to a user without the user having to think about the rules of how to use the computer to get them. In this way, the user is not preoccupied with the dual tasks of using the computer and getting the services, resources, or information.Donald Norman, a well-known researcher in human–computer interaction, once said that he doesn’t want a word processor; he wants a letter writer—something that will allow him to get the job done of writing a letter, without the instrument getting in the way. UbiquiTrain The UbiquiTrain system is based on a database of training content to which users connect via desktop computers and wireless handheld systems. UbiquiTrain loads training content according to an algorithm that includes a number of context-related cues. The first cue centers on the user’s schedule.For example, if there is an upcoming meeting called by the user, UbiquiTrain would load training content on how to lead meetings. As the meeting time approaches, this training content floats to the top of the list of topics available. A second cue invokes the context of the user’s current activities. If the user is working on a task related to an item on his or her to-do list, UbiquiTrain would load corresponding content, as well. For example, the user working on a proposal would cue UbiquiTrain to call up training content on written communication in general and proposal writing in particular.UbiquiTrain holds content at the ready should users ask for it. The system does not demand the user’s attention. As befits the nature of ubiquitous computing, users interact with UbiquiTrain in the way that feels most natural to them. Some users talk to the system, asking it to show them a particular piece of training content. Other s, not yet comfortable with talking to a computer, use the touch screen. UbiquiTrain reacts to the user, as well. Noting the confusion on the user’s face as it explains how to deal with attendees who derail meetings, for example UbiquiTrain tries explaining the concept a different way.It then offers a short video example. Observing that the user is nodding, UbiquiTrain resumes the normal course of training. Of course, if users are looking for information on a particular topic, they can skip straight to the content simply by asking for it. UbiquiTrain is flexible enough to understand the different ways users might request a given piece of content. UbiquiTrain is more than a means to deliver already-developed training content. The system also offers important benefits in training needs assessment by monitoring trends in training content demands across users.The system takes action when it senses a trend in demand for certain broad areas of training content among members of part icular departments or among workers with similar duties across different departments. As a means of respecting user’s privacy, the system polls them and asks if they would like to request in-depth training on the topic, taking suggestions for areas in which users might want particular detail. If sufficient interest is found, the results are then forwarded to the group responsible for training in the organization. By observing trends in content demand, UbiquiTrain can also sense when its database is incomplete.If users ask for content that doesn’t exist in the database, the request is logged. If a sufficient number of similar requests are received, the system generates a requisition for new content. In this way, the database stays current with the needs of its users. Finally, UbiquiTrain can help evaluate the training it has delivered. The most overt way is to ask the user for feedback on the training received. A second way is have the user request relevant coworkers to evaluate him or her in a given area at a given time, if appropriate. The rating task, of course, is administered by UbiquiTrain through the coworkers’ computers or handhelds.Raters can choose to make their ratings and comments anonymous, if they wish. Once all of the data are compiled, UbiquiTrain feeds them back to the user and offers appropriate development suggestions. The system makes use of the data, as well, to track the effectiveness of the training it has delivered. Clearly, UbiquiTrain offers important benefits to all constituents. Users have a convenient, up-to-date training tool that unobtrusively responds to their needs. At the corporate level, the training needs within the organization are easily tracked and clearly delineated and can be analyzed to fine detail. Current Embedded TechnologyEmbedded technology is the process of introducing computing power to various appliances. These devices are intended to perform certain specific jobs and processors giving the c omputing power are designed in an application oriented way. Computers are hidden in numerous information appliances which we use in our day to- day life. These devices find there application in every segment of life such as consumer electronics, avionics, biomedical engineering, manufacturing, process control, industrial, communication, defence etc†¦ Embedded systems, based on there functionality and performance requirement are basically categorized as: i.Stand alone systems ii. Real time systems iii. Networked systems iv. Mobile devices Stand alone systems work in stand alone mode, taking inputs and producing desired outputs. They do not have any dependence on other systems. Embedded systems in which some specific work has to be done in a specific time period are called Real time systems. Meeting the dead line is the most important requirement of a real time system. In Hard real time systems, missing a deadline may lead to a atastrophe and in Soft real time systems such proble m is not present.Systems which are provided with network interfaces and accessed by networks such as LAN or the Internet are called Networked Systems. Networking may be wired or wireless. Mobile devices are devices which move from one location to another, like mobile phones, PDA’S etc. Today, many people carry numerous portable devices, such as laptops, mobile phones, PDAs and mp3 players, for use in their professional and private lives. For the most part, these devices are used separately i. e. , their applications do not interact.However, if they could interact directly, participants at a meeting could share documents or presentations, business cards would automatically find their way into the address register on a laptop and the number register on a mobile phone, as commuters exit a train, their laptops could remain online; likewise, incoming email could now be diverted to their PDAs. In such a distributed environment where several embedded devices has to communicate and c o-ordinate with each other. For this a communication link is required which may be wired or wireless.In initial stages of Networked embedded system environments wired connection was preferred as it provided a safer and faster channel for communication. But the cost, immovability and the cables running around the floorboards became less attractive. On top of this, dishing out the cash for network cards, cables and a hub/switch reserved this practice to the more elite computer users, until wireless networking hit the scene. Infrared communication was initially used for wireless communication because of the low cost offered by it. But it suffered from the limitation that it can be used only within Line Of Sight. IEEE introduced 802. 1 as the international standard for wireless LANs. This used a 2. 4GHz transmission band while maintaining a steady 1-2 Mbps bandwidth rate. Being that this was extremely slow compared to 100Mbit wired LANs, it took a while for the 802. 11 standard to devel op into a viable solution, achieved shortly after with the 802. 11a, b and g standards, offering bandwidth ranging from 11Mbps to 54Mbps. Although this is still considerably short of the 100Mbit found in cabled networks, 802. 1 x wireless technologies is now literally regarded as the future of networking. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max are the latest solutions, under the 802. x standard, for wireless communication over short, medium and long range communication respectively. Pervasive Computing Earlier in this paper, we characterized a pervasive computing environment as one saturated with computing and communication capability, yet so gracefully integrated with users that it becomes a ‘‘technology that disappears. ’’ Since motion is an integral part of everyday life, such a technology must support mobility; otherwise, a user will be acutely aware of the technology by its absence when he moves. Hence, the research agenda of pervasive computing subsumes that of mob ile computing, but goes much further.Specifically, pervasive computing incorporates four additional research thrusts into its agenda, as illustrated by Figure 1. Effective Use of Smart Spaces The first research thrust is the effective use of smart spaces. A space may be an enclosed area such as a meeting room or corridor, or it may be a well-defined open area such as a courtyard or a quadrangle. By embedding computing infrastructure in building infrastructure, a smart space brings together two worlds that have been disjoint until now [16]. The fusion of these worlds enables sensing and control of one world by the other.A simple example of this is the automatic adjustment of heating, cooling and lighting levels in a room based on an occupant’s electronic profile. Influence in the other direction is also possible — software on a user’s computer may behave differently depending on where the user is currently located. Smartness may also extend to individual objects, whether located in a smart space or not. Invisibility The second thrust is invisibility. The ideal expressed by Weiser is complete disappearance of pervasive computing technology from a user’s consciousness. In practice, a reasonable approximation to this ideal is minimal user distraction.If a pervasive computing environment continuously meets user expectations and rarely presents him with surprises, it allows him to interact almost at a subconscious level [46]. At the same time, a modicum of anticipation may be essential to avoiding a large unpleasant surprise later — much as pain alerts a person to a potentially serious future problem in a normally-unnoticed body part. Localized Scalability The third research thrust is localized scalability. As smart spaces grow in sophistication, the intensity of interactions between a user’s personal computing space and his surroundings increases.This has severe bandwidth, energy and distraction implications for a wireless mobile user. The presence of multiple users will further complicate this problem. Scalability, in the broadest sense, is thus a critical problem in pervasive computing. Previous work on scalability has typically ignored physical distance — a web server or file server should handle as many clients as possible, regardless of whether they are located next door or across the country. The situation is very different in pervasive computing.Here, the density of interactions has to fall off as one moves away — otherwise both the user and his computing system will be overwhelmed by distant interactions that are of little relevance. Although a mobile user far from home will still generate some distant interactions with sites relevant to him, the preponderance of his interactions will be local. Like the inverse square laws of nature, good system design has to achieve scalability by severely reducing interactions between distant entities. This directly contradicts the current etho s of the Internet, which many believe heralds the ‘‘death of distance. ’’Masking Uneven Conditioning The fourth thrust is the development of techniques for masking uneven conditioning of environments. The rate of penetration of pervasive computing technology into the infrastructure will vary considerably depending on many non-technical factors such as organizational structure, economics and business models. Uniform penetration, if it is ever achieved, is many years or decades away. In the interim, there will persist huge differences in the ‘‘smartness’’ of different environments — what is available in a well-equipped conference room, office, or classroom may be more sophisticated than in other locations.This large dynamic range of ‘‘smartness’’ can be jarring to a user, detracting from the goal of making pervasive computing technology invisible. One way to reduce the amount of variation seen by a us er is to have his personal computing space compensate for ‘‘dumb’’ environments. As a trivial example, a system that is capable of disconnected operation is able to mask the absence of wireless coverage in its environment. Complete invisibility may be impossible, but reduced variability is well within our reach. [pic]This figure shows how research problems in pervasive computing relate to those in mobile computing and distributed systems. New problems are encountered as one move from left to right in this figure. In addition, the solution of many previously-encountered problems becomes more complex. As the modulation symbols suggest, this increase in complexity is multiplicative rather than additive — it is very much more difficult to design and implement a pervasive computing system than a simple distributed system of comparable robustness and maturity. Note that this figure describes logical relationships, not temporal ones.Although the evolution o f research effort over time has loosely followed this picture, there have been cases where research effort on some aspect of pervasive computing began relatively early. For example, work on smart spaces began in the early 1990’s and proceeded relatively independently of work in mobile computing. Figure 1: Taxonomy of Computer Systems Research Problems in Pervasive Computing Example Scenarios What would it be like to live in a world with pervasive computing? To help convey the ‘‘look and feel’’ of such a world, we sketch two hypothetical scenarios below.We have deliberately chosen scenarios that appear feasible in just a few years. These examples use Aura as the pervasive computing system, but the concepts illustrated are of broad relevance. Scenario 1 Jane is at Gate 23 in the Pittsburgh airport, waiting for her connecting flight. She has edited many large documents, and would like to use her wireless connection to e-mail them. Unfortunately, bandwid th is miserable because many passengers at Gates 22 and 23 are surfing the web. Aura observes that at the current bandwidth Jane won’t be able tofinish sending her documents before her flight departs.Consulting the airport’s network weather service and flight schedule service, Aura discovers that wireless bandwidth is excellent at Gate 15, and that there are no departing or arriving flights at nearby gates for half an hour. A dialog box pops up on Jane’s screen suggesting that she go to Gate 15, which is only three minutes away. It also asks her to prioritize her e-mail, so that the most critical messages are transmitted first. Jane accepts Aura’s advice and walks to Gate 15. She watches CNN on the TV there until Aura informs her that it is close to being done with her messages, and that she can start walking back.The last message is transmitted during her walk, and she is back at Gate 23 in time for her boarding call. Scenario 2 Fred is in his office, fr antically preparing for a meeting at which he will give a presentation and a software demonstration. The meeting room is a ten-minute walk across campus. It is time to leave, but Fred is not quite ready. He grabs his PalmXXII wireless handheld computer and walks out of the door. Aura transfers the state of his work from his desktop to his handheld, and allows him to make his final edits using voice commands during his walk. Aura infers where Fred is going from his calendar and the campus location racking service. It downloads the presentation and the demonstration software to the projection computer, and warms up the projector. Fred finishes his edits just before he enters the meeting room. As he walks in, Aura transfers his final changes to the projection computer. As the presentation proceeds, Fred is about to display a slide with highly sensitive budget information. Aura senses that this might be a mistake: the room’s face detection and recognition capability indicates tha t there are some unfamiliar faces present. It therefore warns Fred. Realizing that Aura is right, Fred skips the slide.He moves on to other topics and ends on a high note, leaving the audience impressed by his polished presentation. Missing Capabilities These scenarios embody many key ideas in pervasive computing. Scenario 1 shows the importance of pro activity: Jane is able to complete her e-mail transmission only because Aura had the foresight to estimate how long the whole process would take. She is able to begin walking back to her departure gate before transmission completes because Aura looks ahead on her behalf. The scenario also shows the importance of combining knowledge from different layers of the system.Wireless congestion is a low-level system phenomenon; knowledge of boarding time is an application or user-level concept. Only by combining these disparate pieces of knowledge can Aura help Jane. The scenario also shows the value of a smart space. Aura is able to obtain k nowledge of wireless conditions at other gates, flight arrival/departure times and gates, and distance between gates only because the environment provides these services. Scenario 2 illustrates the ability to move execution state effortlessly across diverse platforms — from a desktop to a handheld machine, and from the handheld to the projection computer.Self-tuning, or automatically adjusting behavior to fit circumstances, is shown by the ability to edit on the handheld using speech input rather than keyboard and mouse. The scenario embodies many instances of pro activity: inferring that Fred is headed for the room across campus, warming up the projector, transferring the presentation and demonstration, anticipating that the budget slide might be displayed next, and sensing danger by combining this knowledge with the inferred presence of strangers in the oom. The value of smart spaces is shown in many ways: the location tracking and online calendar services are what enable A ura to infer where Fred is heading; the software-controlled projector enables warm up ahead of time; the camera-equipped room with continuous face recognition is key to warning Fred about the privacy violation he is about to commit. Perhaps the biggest surprise in these scenarios is how simple and basic all the component technologies are.The hardware technologies (laptops, handhelds, wireless communication, software-controlled appliances, room cameras, and so on) are all here today. The component software technologies have also been demonstrated: location tracking, face recognition, speech recognition, online calendars, and so on. Why then do these scenarios seem like science fiction rather than reality today? The answer lies in the fact that the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, the real research is in the seamless integration of component technologies into a system like Aura.The difficult problems lie in architecture, component synthesis and system-l evel engineering. Difference between traditional networking and pervasive computing These connections are fundamentally unlike those we associate with networks. Rather than using the network to connect computers that are being used directly by people, these appliances communicate over networks such that people do not directly monitor the communication between machines and programs.The majority of these communications will occur in an end-to-end structure that does not include a human at any point. The number of machines connected to the Internet has been increasing at an exponential rate and will continue to grow at this rate as the existing networks of embedded computers, including those that already exist within our automobiles, are connected to the larger, global network, and as new networks of embedded devices are constructed in our homes and offices.The kinds of devices that will be used to access the Internet are no longer confined to desktops and servers, but include small de vices with limited user interface facilities (such as cell phones and PDAs); wireless devices with limited bandwidth, computing power, and electrical power; and embedded processors with severe limitations on the amount of memory and computing power available to them. Many of these devices are mobile, changing not only geographic position, but also their place in the topology of the network. Unlike traditional Desktop Computers and existing networks, the new devices will have the following characteristics: 1.Many will have small, inexpensive processors with limited memory and little or no persistent storage. 2. They will connect to other computing elements without the direct intervention of users. 3. Often, they will be connected by wireless networks. 4. They will change rapidly, sometimes by being mobile, sometimes by going on and offline at widely varying rates. Over time, they will be replaced (or fail) far more rapidly than is now common. 5. They will be used as a source of infor mation, often sending that information into the center of the network to which they are attached.Ubi-Finger Here, in contrast, Ubi-Finger is the gesture-i/p device, which is simple, compact and optimized for mobile use. Using our systems, a user can detect a target device by pointing with his/her index finger, and then control it flexibly by performing natural gestures of fingers (Fig. 1). [pic][pic][pic] | | | | |By pointing a light and making| |The light will turn on! | |a gesture like â€Å"push a | | | |switch†. | | |Figure- 1 An example to control Home Appliances | [pic] Figure- 2 As shown in fig. 2, ubi-finger consists of three sensors to detect gestures of fingers, an infrared transmitter to select a target device in real world and a microcomputer to control these sensors and communicate with a host computer. each sensor generates the information of motions as follows: (1) a bending degree of the index finger, (2) tilt angles of the wrist, (3) operations of touch senso rs by a thumb.We use (1) and (2) for recognition of gestures, and use (3) for the trigger mechanism to start and stop gesture recognitition. Information Hoppers and Smart Posters Once these zones are setup, computers on the network will have some interesting capabilities. The system will help to store and retrieve data in an Information hopper. This is a timeline of information that keeps track of when data is created. The hopper knows who created it, where they were and who they were with. Another application that will come out of this ultrasonic location system is the smart poster.A convention computer interface requires us to click on a button on your computer screen. In this new system, a button can be placed anywhere in your workplace, not just on the computer display. The idea behind smart posters is that a button can be a piece of paper that is printed out and struck on a wall. Smart posters will be used to control any device that is plugged into the network. The poster will know where to send a file and a user’s preferences. Smart posters could also be used in advertising new services.To press a button on a smart poster, a user will simply place his or her bat in the smart poster button and click the bat. The system automatically knows who is pressing the poster’s button. Posters can be created with several buttons on it. Ultrasonic location systems will require us to think outside of the box. Traditionally, we have used our files, and we may back up these files on a network server. This ubiquitous network will enable all computers in a building to transfer ownership and store all our files in a central timeline. HAVi- An Implementation in Consumer Appliance EnvironmentHAVi is a standard for home appliances consisting of a set of APIs, services, and a standard for communication. HAVi’s primary goal is providing a dynamic service environment in which software components can discover and interact with other. It provides mechanisms fo r devices to discover, query and control other appliances on the home network, and provides system services such as message and event. Eight major consumer electronics manufacturers have come up with an open standard enabling home entertainment devices to communicate intelligently with each other.The HAVi(Home Audio Video Interoperability) standard promises to bring true platform independent interoperability to consumer devices using high bandwidth IEEE 1394 (FireWire) as the connecting medium. Major consumer electronics, software, semiconductor and computer manufacturers, namely Grundig, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Sony, Thomson and Toshiba along with now over 30 other participants, have formed a non-profit organization called HAVi (Home Audio Video Interoperability) for promoting the development of interoperable consumer products.The goal of HAVi organization is to provide a standard open architecture for intelligent audio and video devices to interoperate with each other regardless of manufacturer, operating system, CPU or programming language used for implementation. The simplest example can be time synchronization between different devices. TV set might get the correct time from the broadcast stream and the other devices can query the TV and set their own clocks according to it. Setting the VCR to record a program is a familiar situation users usually have problems with.With HAVi enabled devices this task can be made very easy. User can select the program he wishes to record with the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) residing on a digital TV set (or set top- box). The TV then locates an available recorder (e. g. , a VCR or a recording DVD device) and commands it to record the program supplying it with the time, length and channel parameters taken from the EPG. Thus, the user doesn’t need to program or touch the recording device in any way. The advantages of Pervasive Computing:We increasingly rely on the electronic creation, storage, and trans mittal of personal, financial, and other confidential information, and demand the highest security for all these transactions and require complete access to time-sensitive data, regardless of physical location. We expect devices — personal digital assistants, mobile phones, office PCs and home entertainment systems — to access that information and work together in one seamless, integrated system. Pervasive computing gives us the tools to manage information quickly, efficiently, and effortlessly.It aims to enable people to accomplish an increasing number of personal and professional transactions using a new class of intelligent and portable appliances or â€Å"smart devices† embedded with microprocessors that allow users to plug into intelligent networks and gain direct, simple, and secure access to both relevant information and services.. It gives people convenient access to relevant information stored on powerful networks, allowing them to easily take action an ywhere, anytime.Pervasive computing simplifies life by combining open standards-based applications with everyday activities. It removes the complexity of new technologies, enables us to be more efficient in our work and leaves us more leisure time and thus pervasive computing is fast becoming a part of everyday life. Concerns The power ubiquitous computing promises carries with it significant risks. One such risk is associated with the amount of privacy that must be sacrificed to see the benefits of truly helpful computers.Another is that early, â€Å"bleeding edge† applications of ubiquitous computing will turn out to be more ambitious than effective, leading some to prematurely conclude that the idea is a failure. We address each of these concerns below. Privacy Issues Simply put the more software tracks users, the more opportunities exist to trample on their right to privacy. To some degree, these issues are already being argued in the contexts of corporate e-mail snooping and the use of IT software that can track user activity down to the level of individual keystrokes.However, factoring in the idea of software that can track and act upon a user’s physical presence and form of activity leads to privacy concerns of a magnitude beyond those currently debated. The privacy implications of ubiquitous computing implementations must always be accorded the most careful consideration. Without powerful standards surrounding user privacy, the future world of ubiquitous computing may very well shift from one of ease and convenience to one where each of us has an inescapable sense of being watched, at best, and no control over our personal information, at worst.Such prospects are clearly far from desirable. Growing Pains Systems that can act as subtly as those described will not come without a substantial developer learning curve. As system developers learn from their mistakes, there will undoubtedly be at least one premature declaration that truly ubiqui tous computing is an impractical ideal and that the interim efforts are too riddled with problems to be usable. We cannot guarantee that ubiquitous computing will fulfill its promise. However, we would argue that it ought to do so, based on the strong trend we have observed toward more powerful, more usable software.The first author recalls a word processor from about 1984 that required the manual entry of printer codes for boldface and italic fonts. Advanced ideas like templates and styles—and, come to think of it, tables—were far from consideration as features. Modern word processors are very powerful, flexible, and easy to use compared to anything that has come before. Usability is definitely a recognized goal in software design, and much has been learned to make new software—even unique, new applications—very easy to use.It should only get better. Ongoing Research: A number of leading technological organizations are exploring pervasive computing. Xero x's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), for example, has been working on pervasive computing applications since the 1980s. Although new technologies are emerging, the most crucial objective is not, necessarily, to develop new technologies. IBM's project Planet Blue, for example, is largely focused on finding ways to integrate existing technologies with a wireless infrastructure.Carnegie Mellon University's Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is working on similar research in their Project Aura, whose stated goal is â€Å"to provide each user with an invisible halo of computing and information services that persists regardless of location. † The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a project called Oxygen. MIT named their project after that substance because they envision a future of ubiquitous computing devices as freely available and easily accessible as oxygen is today.What is this next generation going to look like? Today the uses of Internet are limited a s its users look for read-mostly information. As we move to a world where the Internet is used as an infrastructure for embedded computing, all this will change. We can hypothesize that the individual utility of mobile communication, wireless appliances and the respective mobile services – pervasive technologies in general – will be exploited through a digital environment that is – †¢ aware of their presence sensitive, adaptive and responsive to their needs, habits and emotions †¢ and ubiquitously accessible via natural interaction. Increasingly, many of the chips around us will sense their environment in rudimentary but effective ways. For Example – ? Cell phones will ask the landline phone what its telephone number is and will forward our calls to it. ? Remote computers will monitor our health statistics and will determine when one is in trouble and will take appropriate action for rescue. Amplifiers will be implanted and used in the inner ear . ? New machines that scan, probe, penetrate and enhance our bodies will be used. ? Refrigerators will be connected to the Internet so one could find out, via cell phone or PDA, what is in it while one is at the store. A refrigerator may even sense when it is low on milk and order more directly from the supplier or rather than this, the connection will enable the manufacturer to monitor the appliance directly to ensure that it is working correctly and inform the owner when it is not. Stoves will conspire with the refrigerators to decide what recipe makes the best use of the available ingredients, and then guide us through preparation of the recipe with the aid of a network-connected food processor and blender. Or they will communicate to optimize the energy usage in our households. ? Cars will use the Internet to find an open parking space or the nearest vegetarian restaurant for their owners or to allow the manufacturer to diagnose problems before they happen, and either inform the owner of the needed service or automatically install the necessary (software) repair. Wrist watches will monitor our sugar. [pic] ? Digi-tickers or implanted heart monitors in heart patients will talk wirelssly to computers, which will be trained to keep an eye open for abnormalities. [pic] In a nutshell, our personal network will travel around with us like a surrounding bubble, connecting to the environment through which we move and allowing our mobile tools to provide us with more functionality than they ever could alone. Conclusion: Pervasive computing provides an attractive vision for the future of computing.Well, we no longer will be sitting down in front of a PC to get access to information. In this wireless world we will have instant access to the information and services that we will want to access with devices, such as Smartphones, PDAs, set-top boxes, embedded intelligence in your automobile and others, all linked to the network, allowing us to connect anytime, anywhere s eamlessly, and very importantly, transparently. Computational power will be available everywhere through mobile and stationary devices that will dynamically connect and coordinate to smoothly help users in accomplishing their tasks.We are heading toward a reality that plays like a scene from Star Trek. We may have difficulty envisioning these possibilities, but they are not remote anymore. Technology is rapidly finding its way into every aspect of our lives. Whether it’s how we shop, how we get from one place to another or how we communicate, technology is clearly woven into the way we live. Indeed, we are hurtling â€Å"towards pervasive computing†. When Edison finally found a filament that would burn, did he see the possibility of silent but pervasive electrical current flowing throughout our homes, cars and communities?An easy way to comply with the conference paper formatting requirements is to use this document as a template and simply type your text into it. 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Examples of reference items of different categories shown in the References section include: †¢ example of a book in [1] †¢ example of a book in a series in [2] †¢ example of a journal article in [3] †¢ example of a conference paper in [4] †¢ example of a patent in [5] †¢ example of a website in [6] †¢ example of a web page in [7] †¢ example of a databook as a manual in [8] example of a datasheet in [9] †¢ example of a master’s thesis in [10] †¢ e xample of a technical report in [11] †¢ example of a standard in [12] I. Conclusions The version of this template is V2. Most of the formatting instructions in this document have been compiled by Causal Productions from the IEEE LaTeX style files. Causal Productions offers both A4 templates and US Letter templates for LaTeX and Microsoft Word. The LaTeX templates depend on the official IEEEtran. cls and IEEEtran. bst files, whereas the Microsoft Word templates are self-contained. Causal Productions has used its best efforts to ensure that the templates have the same appearance. AcknowledgmentThe heading of the Acknowledgment section and the References section must not be numbered. Causal Productions wishes to acknowledge Michael Shell and other contributors for developing and maintaining the IEEE LaTeX style files which have been used in the preparation of this template. To see the list of contributors, please refer to the top of file IEEETran. cls in the IEEE LaTeX distributio n. References 1] S. M. Metev and V. P. Veiko, Laser Assisted Microtechnology, 2nd ed. , R. M. Osgood, Jr. , Ed. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 1998. 2] J. Breckling, Ed. , The Analysis of Directional Time Series: Applications to Wind Speed and Direction, ser. Lecture Notes in Statistics. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 1989, vol. 1. 3] S. Zhang, C. Zhu, J. K. O. Sin, and P. K. T. Mok, â€Å"A novel ultrathin elevated channel low-temperature poly-Si TFT,† IEEE Electron Device Lett. , vol. 20, pp. 569–571, Nov. 1999. 4] M. Wegmuller, J. P. von der Weid, P. Oberson, and N. Gisin, â€Å"High resolution fiber distributed measurements with coherent OFDR,† in Proc. ECOC’00, 2000, paper 11. 3. 4, p. 109. 5] R. E. Sorace, V. S. Reinhardt, and S. A. Vaughn, â€Å"High-speed digital-to-RF converter,† U. S. Patent 5 668 842, Sept. 16, 1997. 6] (2002) The IEEE website. [Online]. Available: http://www. ieee. org/ 7] M. Shell. (2002) IEEEtran homepage on CTAN. [Onl ine]. Available: http://www. ctan. rg/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/supported/IEEEtran/ 8] FLEXChip Signal Processor (MC68175/D), Motorola, 1996. 9] â€Å"PDCA12-70 data sheet,† Opto Speed SA, Mezzovico, Switzerland. 10] A. Karnik, â€Å"Performance of TCP congestion control with rate feedback: TCP/ABR and rate adaptive TCP/IP,† M. Eng. thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, Jan. 1999. 11] J. Padhye, V. Firoiu, and D. Towsley, â€Å"A stochastic model of TCP Reno congestion avoidance and control,† Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, CMPSCI Tech. Rep. 99-02, 1999. 12] Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specification, IEEE Std. 802. 11, 1997.