Should Kids Books be Banned

Banning books blocks young children’s minds from real world information. By limiting their range of reading, their knowledge is lowered to a steady lull of comforting information. When they are pushed into situations relating to these topics, they are at a disadvantage. The Clan of the Cave Bear is a perfect example of this situation. The Clan of the Cave Bear has very useful information on early human life. The Clan of the Cave Bear is about a young early homosapien named Ayla. Ayla got separated from her home when she was young. The time setting is prehistoric Europe.She is found by a group of traveling Neanderthals. These Neanderthals talk using hand signals and few sounds. The leader of the group in named Brun, he has two siblings, Creb The Mog-er (or spiritual magician), and Iza the medicine women. Brun also has a son named Broud. Alya quickly learns to speak. Creb decides her totem is the cave lion, which is rare for a woman. As time goes by Alya teaches her self how to hunt, which is forbidden by the Clan women. The clan goes to hunt mammoth and Alya is forced to use her weapon to protect a child of the clan. Because of this Alya is given the death curse for one month.She returns and is welcomed back into the clan. Broud hates Alya and rapes her. The clan does not have any connection with intercourse and birth. Ayla gives birth but her baby is a mix of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. Her baby’s name is Durc. The clan goes to a gathering of ten clans of Neanderthals. When they return her mother Iza is sick and dies. There is an earthquake that destroys the clan’s cave, killing Creb. Since Broud is now leader he blames the earthquake on Alya and banishes her. Jean M. Auel is an inspiring author who researches thoroughly. Jean M. Auel grew up in Chicago.She was the second of five children. She later moved to Oregon with her husband Ray Auel. While working she raised she five children. Also at this time she earned an M. B. A. from the Uni versity of Portland. In 1980 her first book was published, The Clan of the Cave Bear. In 1982 The Valley of Horses followed. In 1985 her third novel The Mammoth Hunters was the first hardcover novel with a first printing of more than one million copies. Her next book, The Plains of Passage was published in 1990. In 2002, her fifth novel, The Shelters of Stone, debuted at #1 on bestseller lists in 16 countries.Her last book so far, The Land of Painted Caves was published in March 2011. One of Auel’s greatest prizes is the French government's Ministry of Culture â€Å"Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters† medal. (â€Å"About Jean Auel. â€Å") All of her books were banned or challenge. Including The Clan of the Cave Bear. Auel’s response was that she â€Å"writes for adults. † (â€Å"‘Clan Of The Cave Bear' Banned From A Library. â€Å") The first case was in 1993, when Tom Baldwin, a Moorpark school board member, fought to take Auel off the r ecommended reading list. (Auel). â€Å"The Clan of the Cave Bear. 3†) He argued that it had â€Å"explicit sexual content. (Maiella Jr. , James. ) His reasoning was looked over by a group of seven board members. His challenge was later denied. (Sova) The processes to challenge and ban a book are very different. 0. To challenge a book is to restrict the reading of that book. One must have a reason for challenging a book. Many challenged or banned books are accused of having: It is considered sexually explicit, used offensive language, and was unsuited to any age group. Challenging a book is stronger than just stating their opinion. For the most part, books that are challenged do not end up being banned.Books take much longer to be banned. There are usually are several cases of challenging of the book before it is banned. (â€Å"About Banned ;amp; Challenged Books. â€Å") Many people when discussing censor ship include the constitution in their arguments. 0. People need to be able to look over the details of books to find what the authors are actually trying to teach you. The Clan of the Cave Bear is a very informative and detailed book. People can learn so much about evolution from reading it. â€Å"When Brun saw a huge herd of bison, he was encouraged. They were the embodiment of his own totem† (Auel, Jean M).This quote shows the knowledge on early human life and their totems. The Clan of the Cave Bear is not just a story about Alya, but about early human life in general. Auel spent half of her time researching early humans. The other half was writing the actual books. If a child went through high school without any knowledge of evolution and early behavior of humans, they would be lacking a huge area of knowledge. Many people believe that banning is supported by the constitution, but others disagree. 0. One quote made by Sir Winston Churchill is â€Å"Every one is in favor of free speech.Hardly a day passes without it being extolled, but so me people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back it is a outrage. † (Doyle, Robert P. Banned Books Challenging) In this quote he is saying that people think they are right and they do not want anyone arguing with them. This quote can be related to the banning of books. The people who ban books defend themselves by saying that it is supported by the constitution. However, when others show them quotes from the first amendment they are defensive. When people ban books they block the level of potential of the children who could have read it. . A Supreme Court case involving censorship was the Right to Read Defense Committee v. School Committee of the City of Chelsea case. In this case The Chelsea, Mass. School Committee â€Å"decided to bar from the high school library a poetry anthology† (â€Å"Notable†) The poem was Male and Female under 18. They claimed that it was an â€Å"offensive† and â€Å"dam aging† poem. The poem was challenged in U. S. District Court. Joseph L. Tauro ruled: 0. â€Å"The library is ‘a mighty resource in the marketplace of ideas. ‘ There a student can literally explore the unknown, and discover areas of interest and thought not covered by the prescribed curriculum.The student who discovers the magic of the library is on the way to a life-long experience of self-education and enrichment. That student learns that a library is a place to test or expand upon ideas presented to him, in or out of the classroom. The most effective antidote to the poison of mindless orthodoxy is ready access to a broad sweep of ideas and philosophies. There is no danger from such exposure. The danger is mind control. The committee's ban of the anthology Male and Female  is enjoined. † (â€Å"Notable First Amendment Court Cases. â€Å") If people ban books their minds can be altered to a false reality.They can have a different and crippled knowledge o f the world. When put with the people who were not censored they have a strong difference in information. A quote expressing exactly this is: â€Å"Students in any high school in which there kinds of books are banned will likely graduate with little or no experience with contemporary fiction and unprepared for college-level study† (Bertin, Joan). What Bertin is saying is that the censored children will be unprepared for real world activities. His quote is a perfect for discussing the banning and censorship of the children

Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Expanding Indian Agriculture to Different Nations

MAHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED 1  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied T ABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive Summary: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited 2. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Business Overview 2. 1. 2. 2. Major Investments in the Company Evolution 2. 3. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Organisational Structure 2. 4. 3. Corporate Timeline Business Model of Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Product Portfolio . 1. 3. 2. Field Crop Seeds 3. 3. Oil Seeds 3. 4. 4. Hybrid Cotton Vegetable Crop Seeds Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Financial and Valuation Analysis 4. 1. Valuation Analysis and Financial Summery 5. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Analyst Recommendations 6. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited SWOT Analysis 7. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Key Professionals 7. 1. 8. Management Profile Macro Analysis of Seed Industry 8. 1. In dian Hybrid Seed Industry Market Size, FY’2008-FY’2012 8. 2.Indian Hybrid Seed Industry Segmentations, FY’2012 8. 2. 1. 8. 3. By Type of Crops Market Share of Major Players in the Indian Hybrid Seed Industry, FY’2012 8. 3. 1. By Hybrid Cotton 8. 3. 2. By Hybrid Field Crop Seed 8. 3. 3. By Hybrid Vegetable Crop Seed 2  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied 9. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Competitive Analysis 9. 1. By Products Offered/ Revenue/ Business Strategy 10. Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Management Outlook and Future Projections 10. 1. 11.Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Future Projection Appendix 11. 1. Market Definitions 11. 2. Abbreviations 11. 3. Research Methodology 11. 4. Disclaimer 3  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied L IST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Corporate Timeline 1964-2013 Figure 2: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Organizational Structure Figure 3: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Business Model Figure 4: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Product Portfolio Figure : Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Financial Performance on the basis of Revenues and EBIT in INR Crore, FY’2008-FY’2012 Figure 6: India Hybrid Seed Industry Market Size and Contribution in the Overall Indian Seed Market on the Basis of Revenue in INR Crore and percentage, FY’2008-FY’2012 Figure 7: India Hybrid Seed Industry Segmentation on the Basis of Contribution in the Overall Hybrid Seed Industry in Percentage, FY’2012 Figure 8: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Hybrid Seed Market on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012Figure 9: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Hybrid Cotton Seed Segment on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012 Figure 10: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Hybrid Corn Seed Segment on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012 Figure 11: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Pearl Millet Seed Segment on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012 Figure 12: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Paddy Seed Segment on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012Figure 13: Market Share of Major Players in Indian Vegetable Seed Segment on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012 Figure 14: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Future Projections on the Basis of Revenues and EBIT in INR Crore and Percentage, FY’2013-FY’2017 Figure 15: Non-linear Regression Analysis and Scatter Chart Based upon Indian Hybrid Seed Industry Market size, FY’2008-FY’2012 4  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied L IST OF TABLESTable 1: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Financial Summary on the B asis of Revenue, Growth and EBIT Margin in INR Crore and Percentage, FY’2008-FY’2012 Table 2: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Major Investments in Company Evaluation on the Basis Deal Type, Stake, Deal Value and Implied Enterprise Value in INR Crore Table 3: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Products Offered in Hybrid Cotton Seeds on the Basis of Different Zones in India Table 4: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Products Offered on the basis of Different Field Crop SeedsTable 5: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Products Offered on the Basis of Different Oil Seeds Table 6: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Products Offered on the Basis of Vegetable Crop Seeds Table 7: Company Comparables on the Basis of Revenue in INR Crore, FY’2008-LTM year ending 31st December 2012 Table 8: Company Comparable Analysis on the Basis of Market Capitalization, Net Debt and Enterprise Value and Valuation Multiples in INR Crore and Multiples, LT M 31 st December 2012 Table 9: Relative Valuation Analysis on the Basis of Deal Value, Deal Stake and Multiples in INR Crore, Percentage and MultiplesTable 10: Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Board of Directors Table 11: Company Comparables on the basis of Services Offered, Revenue and Business Strategies Table 12: Regression Coefficients of the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Table 13: Regression Intercepts of the Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited 5  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied E XECUTIVE SUMMARY: MAHARASHTRA HYBRID S EEDS COMPANY LIMITEDMaharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited also known as Mahyco, is a privately owned company and is headquartered in Jalna, Maharashtra. Mahyco is among the largest hybrid seed producers in India. The company is involved in the research and development, production, marketing and distribution of various hybrid seeds such as cotton seeds, field crops, vegetable crops and oil seeds. T he company has a prime focus in the generation and distribution of hybrid cotton seeds in the Indian hybrid seed market.Key Differentiators ? ? ? ? More than 1,000,000 cultivators are involved in seed production Competition and Positioning ? ? ? ? Leading position in the Indian hybrid cotton market Key Developments ? World’s foremost company to commercialize F1 hybrid cotton based on GMS/CMS system ? ? ? ? Financial Summary Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Financial Summary on the Basis of Revenue, Growth and EBIT Margin in INR Crore and Percentage, FY’2008-FY’2012 Particulars FY’2008E FY’2009 FY’2010 FY’2011FY’2012 Revenue Growth% EBIT Profit% 6  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied C ORPORATE TIMELINE On 11th November 1964, the company started its operation with the prime focus towards genetic research of plant and production of different varieties of seeds. In 1966, the company star ted its first research and development center in India with an objective of develop new products and increase its penetration in the Indian seed market. In 2013, Performance Plant Inc. nd Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited have entered into a license agreement†¦ Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Corporate Timeline 1964-2013 M AHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED O RGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The company has 9 processing centers across the nation situated at Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with annual seed processing capacity of over ~ quintal in these 9 centers†¦ 7  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copiedMaharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Organizational Structure B USINESS MODEL OF MAHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY L IMITED Business cycle of the company starts with the procurement of input supplies for research and development departments. Input su pplies are the principal driver for the production of new and improved hybrid seed products†¦ After harvesting of seeds, the company transfers these seeds to processing centers for further processing and quality testing†¦ 8  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copiedOnce the products are finished and packed the company distributes these products to different distributors across the nation†¦ Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Business Model M AHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED P RODUCT PORTFOLIO The company has a product portfolio of more than ~ hybrid products in ~ different crop species offering hybrid cotton, field crops, oilseeds and vegetables crops. The company offered ~ types of hybrid cotton, ~ types of field crops, ~ types of oil seeds and different types of vegetable seeds verities.  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied The company is continuously focusing on the research and developme nts of new products such as genetically modified (GM) rice, wheat, cauliflower, pigeon pea and okra†¦ Under the guidance of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India the company has been involved in different projects for the development of new products and new technologies and also the company has entered into various partnerships with other institutions†¦Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Product Portfolio 10  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied M AHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED F INANCIAL AND VALUATION ANALYSIS V ALUATION ANALYSIS AND FINANCIAL SUMMERY Revenue of the company has shown a CAGR growth of ~ % from FY’2008-FY’2012. The company has witnessed this growth due to constant development of new products and by improvements in its current product portfolio. Mahyco has pent INR ~ core in FY’2011 on research and development as compare to INR ~ crore in FY’2010 which showcase the compan y’s interest to enhance the quality of its products†¦ In FY’2011 and FY’2012 the company has shown a marginal growth of ~% and ~% respectively in revenues mainly due to increased competition in the hybrid cotton market†¦ As on 31st December 2012, Mahyco has been valued at INR ~ crore on company comparables basis. The company has been valued at average revenue multiple of ~x of different publically listed seed companies in India†¦Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Financial Performance on the basis of Revenues and EBIT in INR Crore, FY’2008-FY’2012 700. 0 600. 0 500. 0 400. 0 300. 0 200. 0 100. 0 0. 0 FY'2008 FY'2009 Revenues FY'2010E FY'2011 FY'2012 EBIT 11  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied Company Comparables on the Basis of Revenue in INR Crore, FY’2008-LTM year ending 31st December 2012 Revenue (in INR Crore) FY’2008 FY’2009 FY’2010 FY’2011 FY’2 012 LTM JK Agri Genetics Ltd. * Advanta India Limited** Monsanto India Ltd. Kaveri Seeds Company LimitedNath Seeds India Limited Company Comparable Analysis on the Basis of Market Capitalization, Net Debt and Enterprise Value and Valuation Multiples in INR Crore and Multiples, LTM 31st December 2012 (INR Crore, unless Stated) Company Last Twelve Months (LTM) Year Ending December 2012 Market Cap Net Debt Enterprise Value (EV) EV/Revenue EV/EBITDA P/E JK Agri Genetics Ltd. Advanta India Limited Monsanto India Ltd. Nath Seeds India Limited Kaveri Seeds Company Limited Mean Median 12  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copiedRelative Valuation Analysis on the Basis of Deal Value, Deal Stake and Multiples in INR Crore, Percentage and Multiples Date Target Company Deal Type 21-Feb-13 R J Biotech Limited IPO 24-Nov-12 Century Seeds Private Limited Inbound Acquisition 26-Jul-12 Advanta India Limited Inbound Acquisition 21-May-12 Bisco Bio Sciences Private Limit ed Inbound Acquisition 14-May-12 NaanDanJain Irrigation Limited Domestic Acquisition 24-Apr-12 Zero Waste Agro Organics Private Limited Domestic Acquisition 2-Apr-12 Super Agri Seeds Private Limited Private Equity Fund Raise 5-Mar-12 Gold'N ChicksLimited Inbound Acquisition 9-Dec-10 Metahellix Life Sciences Domestic Acquisition 7-Jan-08 Unicorn Seeds Limited Block Trade 22-Dec-07 Syngenta India Limited Inbound Acquisition 1-Jun-07 Golden Seeds Private Limited Deal Value INR (Cr) Stake % Implied EV/ Revenue Implied EV/ EBITDA Implied EV/ PAT Block Trade Mean Median 13  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied M ACRO ANALYSIS OF SEED INDUSTRY M ARKET SHARE OF MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDIAN HYBRID S EED INDUSTRY, FY’2012 The Indian hybrid seed industry is dominated by Nuziveedu Seeds Private Limited.The company has a market share of ~ % in the overall Indian hybrid seed industry followed by Mahyco and Monsanto India limited which have a share of ~% an d ~% respectively†¦ For Monsanto India, corn hybrid seed was the single biggest focus in seed business. Through its Project Golden Rays project the company has signed a public-private partnership with Rajasthan state government for increasing the maize hybrid yields by two folds†¦ Market Share of Major Players in Indian Hybrid Seed Market on the Basis of Contribution by Revenue in Percentage, FY’2012Nuziveedu Seeds Private limited Maharashtra Hybrid Corporation (Mahyco) Monsanto India Limited (MIL) Rasi Seeds Private Limited Bayer Crop Science limited – India Pioneer Seeds Syngenta India Ltd. Others 14  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied M AHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED M ANAGEMENT OUTLOOK AND FUTURE PROJECTIONS The company is planning to increase its focus on product portfolio of the company by increasing its expenditure on research and development.It is expected that the company will increase in research and dev elopment expenditure from INR 55. 0 crore to INR 100. 0 crore per year in the next four years. These expenditures will have a direct impact on the company’s revenues by bringing new and innovative products. Additionally, these research and development expenditures will also improve the quality of current product portfolio of the company which will lead to more cost efficient production process for the company. Due to this revenue of the company is expected to cross INR 2,000. crore till FY’2017 as improvement in products of the company through research and development will generate positive cash flows in the future and will lead to amplification of company’s revenues. It is expected that with the increase in revenues, operating margin of the company would also showcase an increasing trend. Additionally, Mahyco is planning to expand its operations in different nation specially neighbor countries of India by bringing new and innovative products so as to increase i ts penetration in the international seed market.M AHARASHTRA HYBRID SEEDS COMPANY LIMITED FUTURE P ROJECTION Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited is expected to cover hybrid paddy seed market in different countries such as ~ and ~. In FY’2012 the company has already started its commercial production in these nations and expected to increase the commercial production of these products in future as well. This will increase the market penetration of the company in the international seed market and will amplify the company’s revenues.Additionally, the company is expected to diverse its focus towards the production of hybrid rice seeds in the Indian seed market. As of now hybrid rice is contributing only ~% of the company’s overall revenues†¦ 15  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited is planning to introduce genetically modified (GM) seeds in food items in ~ and ~. Introduction of the se GM seeds will increase the company’s revenues from the international seed market†¦ The company is expected to showcase a revenue growth at a CAGR of ~% from FY’2012FY’2017.Mahyco is focusing on the development of Bollgard-II roundup ready flex cotton (BGII RRF)†¦ EBIT margin of the company is expected to be little under pressure as the company is expected to spend substantial amount in research and developments. EBIT of the company is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~% from FY’2012-FY’2017†¦ Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Limited Future Projections on the Basis of Revenues and EBIT in INR Crore and Percentage, FY’2013-FY’2017 2,500. 0 26. 0% 25. 0% 2,000. 0 1,500. 0 23. 0% 22. 0% 1,000. 0 in Percentage INR Crore 24. 0% 1. 0% 500. 0 20. 0% 0. 0 19. 0% FY'2013 FY'2014 Revenue FY'2015 FY'2016 FY'2017 EBIT Margin 16  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied D ISCLAIMER The research reports provided by Ken Research are for the personal information of the authorized recipient and is not for public distribution and should not be reproduced or redistributed without prior permission. You are permitted to print or download extracts from this material for your personal use only. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use.The information provided in the research documents is from publicly available data and other sources, which are reliable. Efforts are made to try and ensure accuracy of data. With respect to documents available, neither the company nor any of its employees makes any warranty, express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use will not infringe privately owned rights.The report also includes analysis and views expressed by our research team. The research reports are purely for information purposes. The opinions expressed are our current opinions as of the date appearing in the material and may be subject to change from time to time without notice. Investors should not solely rely on the information contained in the research documents and must make investment decisions based on their own investment objectives, risk profile and financial position.The recipients of this material should take their own professional advice before acting on this information. Ken Research will not accept returns of reports once dispatched due to the confidentiality of information provided in our reports. In case, a report qualify for return, we will issue a credit, minus shipping charges, of equal value to the original purchase price, toward a future purchase— no refunds. The decision about whether the product return can be accepted or not is solely at our discretion.Any dispute will be subject to la ws of India and exclusive jurisdiction of Indian Courts. No part of this manual or any material appearing may be reproduced, stored in or transmitted on any other Web site without written permission of Ken Research and any payments of a specified fee. Requests to republish any material may be sent to us. 17  © This is a licensed product of Ken Research and should not be copied

10 methods to prevent webserver overload

10 methods to prevent webserver overload Causes of overload are various. At any time, web servers can be overloaded due to reasons like: Web servers incomplete availability- This can happen because of expected or necessary support or update, hardware or software crashes, back-end malfunctions, etc. In these circumstances, the rest of the web servers get too much traffic and grow overloaded. Surplus logical web traffic numerous clients which are connecting to the website within a brief interval may cause an overload in the web server. Computer worms and XSS viruses that will cause irregular traffic due to millions of infected computers, browsers or web servers. Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DoS attack, DDoS attack). A denial-of-service attack or distributed denial-of-service attack is an effort to make a computer or network device unavailable to its proposed users. Network slowdowns so that client requests are completed more slowly and the number of connections increases so much that server limits are approached. The implications of an overloaded web server are: Overload results in a delayed serving of requests from 1 second to a few hundred seconds. All are familiar with the 404-error code just like that the web server returns an HTTP error code, such as 500, 502, 503, 504, 408, etc which are inappropriate overload condition. The web server denies or resets TCP connections before it returns any content. Sometimes the web server delivers only a part of the requested content. This can be studied as a bug, even if it normally occurs as a symptom of overload. How to prevent overload of web servers To partly master above average load limits and to prevent overload, several big websites practice standard techniques like for instance: Controlling network traffic, by using Firewalls to block undesired traffic coming from poor IP sources or having inadequate patterns. HTTP traffic managers can be placed to drop, redirect or rewrite requests which have poor HTTP patterns. To smooth the peaks in the network usage bandwidth management and traffic shaping can be done Expanding web cache methods Implementing different domain names to subserve different content by separate web servers. Employing different domain names or computers to separate big files from small and medium-sized files. The idea is to be able to fully cache small and medium-sized files and sufficiently serve big or huge files by using different settings Using many internet servers or programs per computer, each one connected to its own network card and IP address Using many computers that are arranged together behind a load balancer so that they perform or seen as one large web server Combining more hardware devices to each computer. Tuning OS parameters for hardware capacities and usage Adopting more efficient computer programs for web servers, etc. Practicing other workarounds, particularly if dynamic content is included.

Is the human soul immortal Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Is the human soul immortal - Thesis Example The combined effort of these three entities is required for the proper functioning of human life. Only the body is visible to us whereas mind and soul are invisible to us. This is because of the fact that body is made of physical things which are visible to us. On the other hand, mind and soul are invisible things even though we can experience the activities of these two things. The dual nature of body and soul was supported by ancient philosophers like Rene Descartes, Plato, Socrates etc. These philosophers believed that the soul is a non physical substance whereas body is a physical substance. Since soul is invisible, it is impossible for us to say accurately about what will happen to the soul after death. Science is keeping a meaningful silence in this issue even though it accepts the existence of mind and soul. On the other hand, only the religions are ready to answer the question with respect to the future of soul. Religious descriptions are based on beliefs rather than facts. I t is difficult to prove the religious beliefs or descriptions about soul scientifically. In short, the future of soul after our death remains a controversial topic or question. In my opinion, soul is immortal even though our body is mortal. This paper briefly analyses the immortality of soul based on the opinions of former philosophers like Plato, Socrates and Aristotle and also with respect to the some of the scientific facts available. Science says that energy can neither be created, nor be destroyed, but can be transformed from one form to another form. In other words, the total energy available in the universe is a constant. In all the activities we perform, energy is not destroyed, but transformed from one form to another. For example, a fan converts electrical energy into mechanical energy rather than destroying the energy. Soul is considered as an energy form by many people. This is because of the fact that it is difficult for our body to function properly in the absence of a soul since soul is the driving force of our body. If soul is an energy form, then there is no doubt about the immortally of soul even scientifically. Soul (Energy) which was in our body in one form could be transformed into another form after our death. In short, if science accepts soul as an energy form, it should accept the immortality of soul also. What will happen to the mind and soul if all the materials used in the making of our body were repalced with some other materials from another planet? It is difficult to answer the above question since we do not know the relation between body mind and soul. We do not know whether our body or the content of our body has any influence upon the making of our soul. Nobody knows whether life exists in other planets or not. If life exists, in other planets, what will be the nature of that life? How the body, mind and soul relationships will be there? Since science failed to give proper answers to all these questions, it is logical to believ e the words of religions with respect to the mortality or immortality of soul. Religions believe that soul is an entirely different thing which represents the Holy Spirit from god. Religions argue that human is the creation of God. According to Christian belief, God has transferred the Holy Spirit to human at the time of creation. In other words, God created the body of human from physical things and hence body will be destroyed after death. At the same time, God has given life to

Recruitment and selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Recruitment and selection - Essay Example Indeed, the recruitment and selection process helps in finding and employing top quality and proficient workers who meet organisational needs and focus on accomplishment of assigned goals and targets (Iles, 2001 p. 134). It should be emphasised that technology only accelerates the production strength but its employees who plan, organise, lead and control business operations. Therefore, there is dire need to implement right recruitment strategies to select right workers at the right time for business growth, survival and sustainability. The paper will first throw light over importance of Human Resource Management followed by importance of recruitment and selection process. The paper will then discuss various recruitment techniques such as internal and external recruitment, consultation from any HR agency, use of job and career fairs, referrals etc. In addition, the paper will provide an explanation on equality and discrimination followed by a discussion on how issues of Equality affect the recruitment and selection process. Finally, the researcher will provide the conclusion to summarise the findings from and shortcomings of current literature. Human Resource Management refers to managing employees and organisational members. Indeed, HRM is also known as personnel management and it plays vital role in success and growth of any business firm. For instance, the first major responsibility of HR professionals is to prepare a top quality workforce that could meet present and future organisational needs as well as could accomplish assigned targets. Hence, if right workers are not inducted then a company may not be able to form an excellent customer base, relationships with partners, distribution channel members and other stakeholders. Also, the absenteeism and turnover rates may become high that, in turn, increase costs (Caroline &

Sustainable Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainable Management - Essay Example According to Hulme, â€Å"Climate change is a scientific and a moral issue.† The process of generating scientific consensus has been largely driven by the desire to communicate climate science to policy users and to construct knowledge’ (Weingart, 1999). However, in doing so, the uncertainties have been downplayed (Van der Sluijs et al., 1998). Who are the IPCC and what is their function, and what are major findings of their report on global warming? IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is a scientific intergovernmental body and its main aim is to assess human-induced climate change, analyse its impact and provide options for adaptation and mitigation. The two major findings of its reports are --- firstly, climate change is unequivocal and secondly, the past and future anthropogenic carbon emissions will contribute to global warming resulting in rising sea levels. Global warming a consequence of the earth’s natural life cycle and has nothing to do with the emission of greenhouse gases? Discuss. Anthropogenic warming and rise in sea level would continue for centuries due to the impact of the Earth’s natural life cycle, even if the Greenhouse gas concentration stabilizes. Carter et al. (2006) suggest that climate is not driven primarily by human use of fossil fuels. Researchers believe that the perception that nature is a resource at our disposal is the factor which shapes our view towards exhaustion of resources. Further, Christiansen (1994a, 1994b, 1994c) argues that the formation of climate based institutions based on IPCC, suites the union of some political, scientific and business interests. To what extent do you agree with the Stern Report? Stern believed a rise of five to six degree of temperature may be a real possibility due to climate change. The Stern Report concludes that the benefits of early actions on climate change outweigh the cost of not acting. The report points towards the potential imp act of climate change on water, health, food production and environment. Some conclusions of the Stern Report can be justified, as not taking any steps to reduce climate change will definitely raise the cost of living. The report states the cost of not acting on climate change will be equivalent to at least 5% of the gross domestic product loss each year. What steps can organisations take reduce their carbon footprint? Organizations can reduce their carbon footprints by reducing carbon emissions through fuel combustion, transportation, process emissions and fugitive emissions. The carbon footprints can be reduced by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, monitoring waste disposal, transportation and use of products. What are the main points in Peter Senge’s book â€Å"The Necessary Revolution†, chapters 1 and 2? Peter Senge’s book â€Å"The Necessary Revolution† (chapters 1 and 2) talks about a different kind of world where excess energy of one busines s can be used to heat another. The book imagines a world where the commercial buildings are regenerative and create more energy than they are using. The book imagines a world of sound products and processes where products are cost effective rather than wasteful. Corporations such as Cosco, Nike and BP,

Legalizing gay marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Legalizing gay marriage - Essay Example Eight other states legislated gay marriages as legal while three states (Maine (Dec. 29, 2012), Maryland (Jan. 1, 2013), Washington (Dec. 9, 2012)) legalized marriage by popular vote. Unfortunately, there are still 17 states that ban same sex marriage and these include the states of â€Å"Alabama (2006, 1998), Arkansas (2004, 1997), Florida (2008, 1997), Georgia (2004, 1996), Kentucky (2004, 1998), Louisiana (2004, 1999), Michigan (2004, 1996), Mississippi (2004, 1997), Missouri (2004, 1996), Montana (2004, 1997), North Dakota (2004, 1997), Ohio (2004, 2004), South Carolina (2006, 1996), South Dakota (2006, 1996), Tennessee (2006, 1996), Texas (2005, 1997) and Nebraska† (www.gaymarriage.procon.org) which means that there are still 13 states that needs to work on about the legality of same sex marriage. One of the main reason why gay marriages should be legalized in all of the states of United States I because United States as a country is founded on the principles of equality and liberty and gay marriage is consistent to the demand of equality and liberty. This equality meant not only having equal rights and equal opportunities but also on the right to be who they want to be and who they want to love. Liberty meant not only being free from the shackles of a master but also liberty from discrimination of not being able to marry just because of sex orientation. It also meant the freedom to choose whom to love without encumbrance of the law. In a way, this is a right to equal accessibility to law to have the same legal contract of marriage that binds couple just like the straight couples. It is also worth mentioning that it is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence â€Å"that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, tha t among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happinessâ€Å"

The impact of exercise on mental health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The impact of exercise on mental health - Essay Example It is important for an addict to seek a particular exercise to be able to break the vice as this will also be able to finish the urge or reduce it.an addiction leads to becoming a habit for the victim and therefore for one to break a particular habit through exercise to break the monotony. An addiction has been described as a chronic disease because it affects the brain activity to be able to specify the notion of the body as a particular activity that needs to be done. Exercise can also be used to boost dopamine. In this it helps fight the stimuli effect or the urge back in the mind of the user of the particular addiction taking back to the brain and the user can view a particular activity as not important and this will lead to more inconsistency and lead to freedom. The challenge of quitting an addiction with one day is that the hypothalamic pituitary gland is thrown off balance as it was already used to the habit. The withdrawal affect comes over and this might lead to o ne to seek more of the addicted substance if they come into contact with it. The need for exercise is that it boosts dopamine which elevates the need for mood and also reduces drowsiness for the patient leading to boost of morale for the user. Exercise helps in rebuilding the mind by increasing neurogenesis. When this is done the urge of the addiction is almost brought to zero therefore enabling one to perform more alert and to be tolerant with the withdrawal symptoms. It is this aspect that exercise increases the neurogenesis and therefore helps in breaking the addiction. Exercise battles the anxiety and depression that comes with withdrawal. When one stops to indulge with an addiction there is a gap to his/her day activity and for it to be properly filled one has to replace with a new positive habit for

I have a dream arthin luther king Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I have a dream arthin luther king - Essay Example Martin Luther King delivered in his speech that African Americans should focus on oneness of people and do what they could in order to bring sanity within their lives as well as others. Martin Luther King’s speech remains relevant even to this day, even fifty years after he delivered it. It is because his speech outlined the fundamental need that the African Americans faced and still are going through in this day and age. His speech remains relevant because the present day America has more racism prevalent within it than ever before and there is a greater need to understand the American Dream that he spoke about (Author Unknown 1963). Martin Luther King was right when he suggested that African Americans must plan for their own selves what kind of lives they want, and then go about having it with ease and inner satisfaction. His speech therefore serves as the catalyst of a better change for the people of

Stem Cell Research in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Paper

Stem Cell in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Research Paper Example Medical science has no doubt about the ability of stem cell research in finding answers to some of the genetic and physical diseases. â€Å"A stem cell is a generic cell that can make exact copies of itself indefinitely. A stem cell has the ability to produce specialized cells for various tissues in the body, such as heart muscle, brain tissue, and liver tissue† (RightHealth Results for What Is Stem Cell). The major advantage of stem cell is that it can be saved for longer periods under suitable conditions and used later to cure some of the chronic diseases. Stem cells are usually taken from aborted fetuses (Embryonic stem cells) and from the bloods, intestines, skin, and muscle of people including children and adults (Adult stem cells). Embryonic stem cells seem to be more effective than the adult stem cells in treating chronic diseases. However, killing fetus for taking stem cell is an ethical issue which is causing barriers in the development of stem cell research. Stem cel ls are capable of renewing themselves in to different types of cells through division. It can be used to replace or repair malfunctioning or inactive cells. The above ability of stems cells in renewing and repairing inactive cells and tissues has caught the attention of medical sconce recently. Some of the major diseases which haunted medical science for years, are believed to be treated with the help of stem cells. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its adult stem cell protocol to conduct Phase I clinical trials to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease), TCA Cellular Therapy, LLC announced. This is the second FDA-approved protocol for the treatment of ALS using stem cells in the country; and the first using adult stem cells from the same patient. The aim of the Phase I study is to assess safety of IND 13729, as a stem cell therapy for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Stem cell therapy IND 13729 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in clinical trials: TCA Cellular) Most of the Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s etc are believed to be treated effectively with the help of embryonic stem cells. These diseases are often occurred because of the malfunctioning or inactiveness of certain cells and stem cells can repair or regenerate these cells and bring back the patient into his normal life. These diseases are often caused by the loss of structure or death of neurons. According to Inou (2010), Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers' is caused by problems in cortical neurons whereas in dementia, Lewy bodies, or frontotemporal lobar degeneration is causing the disease. Parkinson disease is caused by dopaminergic neurons whereas upper and lower motor neurons cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Inou, p.2560). Neurons are responsible for gathering data from the senses and sending to the brain for analysis. The instructions from the br ain are transferred to the body organs by the neurons. If neurons fail to do its duty correctly, brain may not get the data and the body organs may not get instructions from the brain. Thus a person with neuron fault cannot lead a normal life. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS is another disease which is caused by neuron problems and it can be treated effectively with the help of stem cells. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. In about 10% of cases, ALS is caused by a genetic defect. In the

Diagnosing The Change Essay Example for Free

Diagnosing The Change Essay Diagnostic models provide us with the tools to analyze the functioning of organizations. A variety of methods have been employed to ascertain the factors affecting the functioning of an organization; some looked at the internal factors, some at the external factors and some others a combination of these perspectives. No one model is â€Å"the truth,† but each offers its user the opportunity to view the operation of an organization from a particular perspective. (Ian Palmer) Burke-Litwin Model drivers of change: This model was chosen because it presents the outline of the external and internal factors that affects the organization, and its inherent changes in a balanced form. The model offers distinction between the transformational and transactional changes of the organization. This involves the responses of the organization towards the environmental changes. Transactional changes are those that mostly entail the qualities like the structure, the system, individual’s needs and values along with the individuals’ tasks and skills. However, the transformational change largely covers the changes with respect to the variations of the external environment in terms of organizational mission and strategy. â€Å"The four transformational factors are external environment, mission and strategy, leadership, and organizational culture.† (Ian Palmer) The following are some of the key points of this change model: External Factor: This factor embraces the markets, competition, legislation and economy. Both companies show evidence that they are adept at scanning their environment, a factor that enables them to plan and predict the recurrent changes that affect their organizations. Apple, at its best, has shattered the consumer electronics world and in the process has left competitors reeling, and it regained its lost market share and making its shareholders wealthy.

Friends Essay Example for Free

Friends Essay A friend is someone who is helpful and kind. A friend is someone who you know and like and who likes you too. A friend is not an enemy. I have many different friends. Friends at school, at church, at sports and even overseas. Friends are special to me. Today, I want to share with you why friends such as all of you, are important to me. Body Firstly, friends provide me with support and courage. They laugh with me when I am happy. They cheer me on when I am in a race. When I win, they celebrate with me. For example, last year, at the Athletics Carnival, we all supported each other in our races. Friends cheer me up when I am sad. They try to make me laugh by entertaining me or tickling me out of my sadness. When I am hurt or feel sick, they care for me. When I have a problem or when I am struggling, they help me out. For example, when I lost my school hat last year, Hannah and Luke helped me look for it after school. I had searched for it everywhere and was ready to give up. But then, Luke spotted a hat which had been blown way out into the oval by the wind. He ran to pick it up and thankfully, it was my missing hat. I do not feel afraid or lonely at school because of my friends. I know they will stand up for me if I get bullied and they will stay by my side. Secondly, friends help me learn and try new things and ideas. Conclusion Friends are important to me. They support me, help me learn and most importantly, are honest with me and care for me. I think it is important that we treat our friends well, with respect and kindness, just like how they treat us. I am thankful for the many wonderful friends I have here at my Public School .

Medicalisation

Medicalisation Medicalisation Medicalisation is defined as a process by which non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical problems usually in terms of illnesses or disorders. Initially all deviant behavior were described as sin or criminal behavior and religion had full control over how to punish such deviant behavior. Later on as societies became more complex with the growth of technology and as the hold of religion diminished as a control agent, the emphasis shifted from punishment as a preferred sanction for deviance to treatment of illness. Deviance that was considered sin or bad is now considered as sickness. With increasing success biomedicine started functioning as a control agent. Review of recent research shows that now many socially unacceptable behaviors have been medicalized and assigned disease terms in the 20th century and even normal human events and common human problems are considered under medical jurisdiction. For instance, alcoholism, drug addiction, hyperactive children, suicide, obesity, mental retardation, crime, violence, child abuse, learning problems, births, aging, menopause and many social deviances are all brought under the umbrella of medicalization. Medicine is all pervasive in our daily life. At the same time some behaviors previously considered medical problems have become more acceptable and been de-medicalized ,e.g., homosexuality and masturbation. T. Moreira (2006) suggested that the process of medicalisation is insufficient to understand the social aspect of relationship between a state that is considered as medical disorder and health. One needs to also look at the dynamics of the creation, evaluation and use of biomedical knowledge. The need for these dynamics was underlined in her research on relationship between sleep and health. She explored a very common sleep disorder,viz., obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)and shaping of continous positive airway pressure, a very common therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea(CPAP). She used the method of case study. Two case studies were scrutinized- Historical literature review of emergence and, development of OSAS and CPAP. Initially sleep apnoea was described as Pickwickian syndrome on the basis of symptoms that led to sleep disturbances. It was believed that sleep apnoea occurs among those who are overweight, lazy and snore loudly causing inconvenience to others. Extreme obesity was associated with severe daytime sleepiness. William Dement et.al. investigated this link by using sleep laboratories. But by late 1970s, obesity was no more considered the cause of sleep aponea, it was merely seen as a risk factor that may lead to disease. With laboratory observation of sleep it became clear that sleep process was responsible for OSAS and not obesity. There was a shift from Pickwickian syndrome to sleep aponea syndrome. In Pickwickian syndrome, the clinical symptoms like obesity, hypoventilation and plethoric face were highlighted while in sleep aponea syndrome Apnea/Hypoapnea Index became progressively more acceptable. The development of CPAP showed how on one hand patients actively participate in evolving health technology and on the other hand adjust and adapt to devices available according to their own needs and circumstances. In the studies of CPAP users the emphasis shifted on recognizing patients who are likely to discontinue to use these machines rather than blaming the patient for not using it. This led to looking at patient as a natural calculative subject who will do the cost-benefit analysis and decide whether to use health technology or not. This cost-benefit analysis is influenced by many psychological constructs like self identity, self- efficacy, self-confidence and social support, etc. On the basis of these calculations, by non-participation in certain health technologies, patients have created a new area of knowledge and intervention in biomedicine, health psychology, medical sociology and in sociology of science and technology. Thus medicalization of sleep has redefined the sleep as medically problematic and whole sleep industry has come up in last one decade or so. A person suffering from OSAS is no more stigmatized individual. He is no more powerless passive, dependent on medical personnel. He is a calculating independent person, an active consumer of health technology. Evolving the design of sleep machines showed that patient groups actively influence making of , evaluation and use of medical knowledge. Advantages Disadvantages of Medicalization According to Illich medicalisation has serious adverse impact on the society as the general public is made docile and reliant on the medical profession to help them cope with their life in their society. There is also structural problem as Western medicines notion of issues of healing, aging, and dying as medical illnesses. This effectively medicalises human life, rendering individuals and societies less able to deal with these natural processes. Marxists such as Vicente Navarro et.al. (1980) linked medicalization to an oppressive capitalist society. They argued that medicine makes people see health as an individual problem rather than looking at disease as a result of social inequality and poverty. It tends to strip subjects of their social context, so they come to be understood in terms of the prevailing biomedical ideology, resulting in a disregard for over-arching social causes such as unequal distribution of power and resources. Many critics believe that the term medicalization has become much more complex now as pharmaceutical companies have increasingly taken over the role of doctors, putting everyday problems into the domain of professional biomedicine. Direct to consumer advertising further undermines the role of doctors, as patients are encouraged to ask for particular drugs by name, thereby creating a conversation between consumer and drug company. Another problem with medicalization is that it puts the responsibility for the problem on individual causes and the solution to social problems on individual treatment. The psychologizing of social problems leads away from the analyses of the social structure of culture.For example, the reason for obesity is thought to be the obese person himself rather than the change in life style, socio-economic status of the person, easy availability and convenience of ready to eat junk food, etc.

Twinning In Cattle :: essays research papers fc

Twinning in Cattle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Due to the continual fluctuation of the cattle market cattle producers have been searching for ways to improve their production and increase their profits any way possible. For years genetic engineers have been working hard on improving economic efficiency in cattle. It is their hope that through genetic research they can improve the yield and the income of cattle producers around the world. Research has shown that twinning is one way that farmers can increase their yield . Twinning has a significant influence on producers as well as people who are involved in all realms of agriculture. The reason for this large impact at this time is the fact that the occurrences are limited. However, many producers have a vision that twinning can be more than a once in a blue moon occurrence. These producers see twinning as a way to dramatically increase their yield per calving season. Producers will increase their income due to more weight per year per cow. It is necessary ;however, that the producer be well educated on how to handle twinning, in order for it to be successful for them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many agencies see twinning as an economic move upward. The American Breeder Service has made efforts to produce semen as well as embryos with high predicted breeding values available to producers. They have been recorded based on twinning probabilities and ovulation rates. A large amount of work on twinning has also been done by the Meat and Animal Research Center. Since the early eighties, they have located cattle with a high frequency of twinning and been forming a breeding foundation based on this characteristic. â€Å"We believe the time has come to make some of these unique genetic resources available to the beef industry through artificial insemination and embryo transfer† (Gregory 23). An extensive amount of research has been done using embryo transfer in cattle. In one study recipients were implanted with either a single embryo, two embryo in one uterine horn, or one embryo in each uterine horn. It is also possible to split embryos using a micro manipulator and implant each half to produce identical twins. On the average about 16% of the cows implanted with two embryos produced twins. When two embryos were implanted, and one was placed in each horn, conception rates were comparable with the prior method, however the twinning rate was much higher when the embryos were in separate horns (73% vs. 45%). For the most part, when one embryo was split in an attempt to produce identical twins, only one of the offspring survived birth (Davis 302).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Many producers see twinning as a possible advancement in

Stephen Cranes The Open Boat Essay -- Open Boat Stephen Crane Essays

Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat"      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"None of them knew the color of the sky.† This first sentence in Stephen Crane’s â€Å"The Open Boat† implies the overall relationship between the individual and nature. This sentence also implies the limitations of anyone’s perspective. The men in the boat concentrate so much on the danger they are in, that they are oblivious and unaware to everything else; in other words, maybe lacking experience. â€Å"The Open Boat† begins with a description of four men aboard a small boat on a rough sea. The central theme of this story is about confronting Nature itself. â€Å"The Open Boat" is Stephen Crane’s account from an outsider’s point of view of the two days spent in a small boat. The correspondent is autobiographical in nature; Stephen Crane was shipwrecked off the coast of Florida while working as a war correspondent. The correspondent in â€Å"The Open Boat† portrays the author. Mainly through the corres pondent, Crane shows the power of nature and how one man’s struggle to survive ultimately depends on fate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The character of the correspondent learns that the principles of Nature is unpredictable by accident or by fate just as life itself is unpredictable. Stephen Crane pays special attention to the correspondent, who shares the painful chore of rowing the boat with the strong oiler. While rowing, he contemplates his situation and the part that nature plays in it. All of the men seem to know they are helpless in the face of nature.their lives, at...

J.R.R. Tolkien Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

J.R.R. Tolkien Merely mentioning the name J.R.R. Tolkien conjures up fantasies. Though his trilogy The Lord of the Rings is well known, not much else is known about the man who was a scholar before anything else. It is, in fact, the cult scale popularity of the trilogy that obscures the many accomplishments that marked his life. He won an exhibition, or a middle class merit scholarship, to Oxford University in 1911. By the time he attained his bachelor’s degree, he was conversant in seven languages and had created another. His definitive translations of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are still used in colleges today. In the end, though, it will be the popularity of the trilogy for which Professor Tolkien will be remembered. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in South Africa to a rather well to do banker. His early life was comfortable if middle class, but it lasted only a few years. His father died before he was five, and Tolkien spent the majority of his remaining life in what he called "genteel poverty." His linguistic genius emerged around the age of eight while his mother was tutoring him in Greek and Latin. It was around this time that Tolkien began devising a language of his own which would later develop into Elvish--a language complete with poetry and history, but not yet a people. In 1904, his mother died, leaving him and his brother orphaned and in the charge of a Catholic priest in Birmingham. Through this priest, the direction of his life would emerge. He met his future wife in the boarding house where the priest had him and his younger brother lodged. Also while in the boarding house he merited a scholarship to King Edward VI High School with the recommendation of the same priest. In high sc hool, h... ...e form of the Lord of the Rings. The bulk of the trilogy was written during the war, though it wasn’t finished until 1949. For the greater portion of his days Tolkien was a respected philologist, a dedicated professor and tutor, and a scholar above all else. In his field, he will continue to be remembered for his influence on a generation of philologists and for his contributions such as his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Outside that rather small circle most people will remember him as the author of a wonderful story; a few more for the language and mythologies he created. Work Cited Grotta-Kurska, Daniel. J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earth. Philidelphia: Running Press, 1976. Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." Modern poems: A Norton Introduction. Eds.Richard Ellman, Robert O’Clair. New York: WW Norton & Company,1989. 83.

Chinese Influences

China affected Asian countries culturally, socially and politically. Korea, Vietnam and Japan are the typical nations of Chinese influences. Chinese moral ethics, ideal roles of women and the government system considerably impacted those countries. Even so, among these countries, they developed their own unique aspect to some varying degrees. First of all, Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese authorities respectively emphasized Confucianism through education. For example, Confucian-based schools were established in Korea and Vietnam.In spite of those schools, Korean students studied Confucianism in China. Japanese students were also taken to China for learning Confucianism by Shotoku Taishi, a leading member of a major clan. After visiting China, he issued the â€Å"Seventh Article Constitution. † Taishi encouraged practicing Confucianism in Japan. Nevertheless, when the Japanese came up with samurai that emphasized bushido or the way of the warrior, they valued warriors rather tha n scholars whom Confucianism valued. Second, while Korean women had limited roles as Chinese women, Vietnamese and Japanese women had unbounded roles.Confucius highlighted women as subordinate characters to men. Therefore, as Confucian-influenced countries, they were expected to have limited roles of women. In fact, Korea was the only one in which restricted wide social activity of women. Korean women formerly raised her children at her parents’ home, but after adapting to Confucianism, she belonged to husbands’ family and raised her children at her parents-in-law’s houses. On the other hand, Vietnamese women had wide sphere of social and economic activities. Also, Japanese women were not restricted.They were able to inherit properties and live with her parents’ house when they were married. Most importantly, Vietnam, Japan and Korea borrowed the Chinese government system although Japanese developed their own in the later years. Vietnam was under Chinese rule for more than 1,000 years and the Chinese officials tried to assimilate into China. Korea is located right under the northeast of China. Therefore, there were a lot of political influences. For example, in the 7th century, the Silla Kingdom united the peninsula with help of Tang dynasty.Chinese tried to control and assimilate Korea. Chinese intervention led Trung sisters’ uprising in Vietnam and military resistance in Korea. Vietnam was able to establish as an independent state in the 10th century and China withdrew military in Korea. Whereas Japan, it was never invaded and conquered by China. It is 100 miles away from the mainland. Hence, Chinese influences were not significant. They did borrow Chinese political system. Then again, the Japanese government was decentralized and came up with feudal system and samurai.

Global Warming Will Lower Sea Levels Essay

Those who are highlighting the danger of global warming would not hesitate to relate it to a high sea level rise simply because according to their premise when there is global warming it affects both the Arctic and Antarctic regions, whereby the melting ice will eventually raise the sea level. The IPCC, the UN branch office that deals with scientific research had predicted a 20 inches sea level rise around the year 2100 and it is obvious that it has based it findings on the above assumption. Other suggestions and analysis indicate that what will in fact happen is the opposite where the global warming if it is true will either slow down the level of sea rise or will reduce it. The new analysis looks at two factual findings. The fact that the Earth temperature had risen 0. 6 degree Celsius in the last 100 years and the sea level had risen by 18 cm. What these analysts are focusing at is there is no relation between the two and especially the rise in sea level occurred independent of what happened to the temperature to a larger extent. What contributed to the rise of the seal level to 18 centimeters starts from the thermal expansion of the warming water body, especially the oceans and that contributed to 4 cm. What comes next is the melting of the so-called continental glaciers that accounted for 3. 5 cm rise level. The polar regions contributed to the lowering of the sea level simply because the warming of the temperature has evaporated more water and some of it rains in the Polar Regions adding to the amount of ice on these regions, hence there will be less water in the seas. But the findings highlight one shortcoming which is that the total amount of rise through the two activities adds up to only 20 percent of the total amount giving hint that there should be other sources contributing to the rise of the sea level other than the current global warming. What this led to was to depend on geological observations that revealed the sea level had been rising constantly for the last centuries at a rate similar to the last 100 years. Accordingly, there was sea level rise in the Little Ice Age from 1450 to 1850 indicating that if there were going to be a sea level rise it would be independent of what is happening in the environment. It was possible to arrive at such hypothesis using a data published on the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet tracing it back to the end of the last ice age. Hence, the conclusion arrived at was since there had been a 120 meters rise in sea level since the last ice age that took place 18,000 years ago, the melting is still in process and will continue to do so for the coming 7000 years independent of what is going to happen to the present day temperature. What could change this course might be the arrival of another Ice Age, which is not in the prediction. In reality it is possible to say that a global warming caused by human activity cannot contribute to the rise of sea level since the record shows the climate warmed much between 1900 and 1940 and cooled down from 1940 – 1975. The outcome was the sea level rise slowed when the temperature was warmer and it increased when it was colder. The relation here is the two components thermal expansion and glacier melting had a lesser effect on the sea rise level when compared to the ice accumulation on the Polar Regions from the rain caused from warmer weather. Hence, it is possible to make a firm conclusion that warmer air or the current global warming will not contribute to the rising level of the sea. Instead, as it was illustrated it will bring it down by simply changing the amount of water into ice and depositing it on the Polar Regions. In spite of this analysis, the findings based on computer simulation try to demonstrate that the warming of the global temperature due to human induced activities will result in raising the sea level revealing that there is something wrong with such assumption (9). Conclusion In spite of the findings from various sources accurate, satellite measurement taken have not found any trace of global warming. Weather balloons also had shown similar findings. There are indications that the temperature had been rising starting form 1880 but such rise in temperature cannot be caused by greenhouse gases that are coming into existences from human induced activity mainly centered on burning of fossil oil and through the introduction of a developed and new method of land use. The other indication that shows the findings could be wrong is most of the measurements could reflect the temperature and air condition found closer to highly populated cities. All the feared outcomes of a high temperature brought into existence because of the greenhouse effect such as heat wave, hurricanes, or epidemic disease did not occur. If there had been a temperature rise to talk about, it was observed in the nighttime and winter season. Overall, it is possible to discredit the greenhouse apocalypse outright simply because it was not accompanied with all the catastrophic disasters that were predicted and anticipated (10). Even economists are wary of all the concerns simply because there might not be a discernable effect that will materialize from postponing the reduction of the greenhouse gas by another 20 years and see what the outcome will be. One of the reasons for that is meeting the greenhouse gas reduction effort would require getting rid of a big chunk of capital goods before they complete their useful life and that might not make economical sense for something that lacks scientific proof. But there is no doubt that such plans could be part of a long term process of any undertaking and the burden could also be eased as new technologies pertaining to the warming of the globe become readily available. The Kyoto Protocol itself would cost between $7 and $12 billion annually if it is implemented, a sum everyone is not comfortable with, simply because implementing the Protocol alone would cost each household up to $2000 annually and could raise home heating cost by at least 70 percent. Since people, especially those living in the advanced regions are heavily dependant on energy for their day-to-day living, raising the cost permanently to any extent would have a devastating effect, even if energy price is already very high. The only relief is since it fluctuates consumers could stretch their earnings whenever possible. It is possible to take it a bit further and see that if the assumption that the global temperature is rising to a dangerous level is true, a simple cost introduction of raising the federal fuel economy standard from 27. 5 miles to more than 40 miles itself will be costly, since it is such kinds of drastic measures that will bring down the amount of the greenhouse effect as automobiles are the worst source of pollution. The domino effect of such measures will lead to raising the price of cars, while at the same time such cars would have to be compact reducing the safety of cars that is feared to raise the number of fatalities form where it is currently at 4000 annually. The fact that the findings are heavily dependant on observation and computer simulation makes the concern a bit groundless since carbon dioxide is not a deadly gas to have in the atmosphere after all. The reason for that is the more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere it adds to thriving of plants that have various use for it. It is not only that if what is said about the meltdown is true that is another advantage for agriculture since there will be more land to put into agriculture that will lead to more foods in the world even if there is no proof that there is shortage of food in the regions where the land is covered with ice sheet. Other areas that would benefit from global warming are those who live in areas where the winter season is cold and long. Regions like that could enjoy longer summer seasons, which would mean longer growing period that will add to the amount of food produced. There are findings that the warmer weather is also good for the health of people in such a way that medical cost in most of the cold regions would come down and the quality life of in such regions would get enhancement. The fear centered on the rise of the sea level that would come into existence when the ice from the Polar Regions melts because of the warm climate for the most part is groundless. The reason for that is the warm weather heats the water from the sea changing it into vapor that will come down as rain. The rainfall that takes place in the Polar Regions would not find its way back into the seas, instead it would add on the amount of ice that is already in existence in the region. This process has dual advantages where the first one is it will add to the amount of ice in the Polar Regions defying the fear that the warming of the climate is causing the ice of the region to melt. Secondly, the amount of seawater will come down through the process since some of it will become ice. Hence, it is possible to say that the warming of the climate is good for the Polar Regions since they would get more ice through the natural process. That might have some disadvantages in other areas, because the melting of the ice from the Polar Regions is not without a merit. One of the merit is this particular harsh region could become more habitable where there will be more lands opened for farming, for housing, and industrial development leading to a huge economic activity that will boost the outcome in agriculture and other venues. At the same time, there is an observation concerning the opening of new routes that will be advantageous for trade as well for the tourist industry. However, one disadvantage cited was it might affect the wildlife of the region where, for example, the polar bear is on the list to become extinct at the end of this century. Since the presumption is it will take many centuries for the ice of the whole region to melt away, the only inconvenience wildlife might encounter is going farther to where the dense ice is located. This by itself is advantageous since some of the wildlife is becoming a threat by coming closer to where there are human inhabitants. Overall, since everything surrounding global warming is still a hypothesis that borders fear, where if some measure is not in place now the future could be disastrous and could become out of control, it is not possible to fully rely on the grim pictures that the alarmists are painting. The reality is life goes on normally in the regions even if a few incidents of melting ice sheets into the sea had occurred. The answer for such incidents is it is the outcome of the weather variation where in the summer time it is natural that the level of the ice could get thinner in the edge area and when the winter season is around it will again attain its thickness. The proof for this is there is not yet any documentation where because of global warming the inhabitants of the area had gained more access to land for farming or for any other purpose. The outcome is the same from observations made in other areas where none of the feared apocalyptic fears had taken place. Nevertheless, if the weather becomes warmer cold regions could rip numerous advantages that include less death toll, better health, and better living condition since the summer season is short in these regions. That alone contributes to a much shorter food growing and recreation season. Other than that, if there is call for action, there is none better than to exert more effort to come up with a concrete scientific proof in the place of the presumption that is prevalent now. What the existing finding avails for the world is there are concerned groups that are claiming that there is a global warming that is causing the sea level to rise and is contributing to the melting of the ice caps, which is the habitat of wildlife such as polar bears that are feared to become extinct in the beginning the year 2100. The other major concern is the reducing of the greenhouse gases, which has a very high price tag attached to it. The findings will have to lean fully on scientific findings that would require more funding and time, but the cost involved might not be equivalent to what businesses are fearing to incur in the coming few years simply to meet certain standards that are believed to contribute in controlling the emission of certain gases into the atmosphere. If the implemented measures are scientific it will be worth the effort, otherwise it will be a waste of resources. Currently, since there is no settled scientific proof there is a division in the public’s opinion where the number of people who do not believe in global warming is much higher, no matter how inundated they are by the media and environmental groups. This might have a serious effect simply because it is the same people who cannot be convinced about the pollution level that is prevalent who are responsible in various ways to add to the pollution problem. Educating them based on hypothesis will also make the job difficult because the message they would get from such effort would vary. Another problem cited was that the existing effort through the Kyoto Protocol is to bring down the emission level back to where it was in the 1990s a premise that does not make sense since there might not be an accurate measurement in place that shows what level the emission was before the 1990s. Such shortcomings highlight that the primary effort should focus on finding a settled scientific consensus and after that, the effort of popularizing a concept based on hypothesis might dwindle down. REFERENCE 1. Bailey, R. (2004, November). Two Sides of The global warming: Is It Proven Fact or Just Conventional Wisdom? Reason Magazine. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://www. reason. com/news/show/34939. html 2. UN Report, Global Warming Caused by Human Activity. Retrieved November 26, 2007, from www. newstarget. com/021565. html

Enginineer Economic and Costing Essay

The HKSAR government announced to the public on 24 October 2006 that the former site of Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport) would be redeveloped as an international cruise hub. The whole project included two sub projects, â€Å"Site formation† and â€Å"Cruise terminal and ancillary facilities building†. In project costing Inflation factor is applied as refer to government inflation index in 2009 (2%) and 2010 (2.7%). As the reason of project postponed, the total cost increased nearly one billion dollars compared to the original plan due to retendering and ASD government requirements. Within project costing considerations, maintenance cost in cash flow out is estimated to be roughly 221.9 Million per year from 2013. For project revenue, two main factors based on fixed rent from tenant space ($13 million for ten year tenancy) and variable rent from percentages of annual gross receipt. Minimum acceptable rate of return (MARR) was also used and accounted for from Exchange Fund to calculate present worth analysis as well as benefit and cost ratio of proposed development. Aside from economic and cost based justifications for project analysis, three main factors of social impacts are also considered in competitiveness in the cruise market, employment opportunity, as well as promoting sustainability from an environmental prospective. Overall, the demand for worldwide passenger levels are ever growing, to promote the international image of Hong Kong, the proposal of building the Kai Tak Cruise terminal is feasible when considerations come into play for combination in socio-economic factors. 1Background In analyzing the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, we analyzed the socioeconomic implications for the development plan. The HKSAR government announced to the public on 24 October 2006 that the former site of Hong Kong International Airport (Kai Tak Airport) would be reissued for tender and to the redevelopment of reclaimed land that encompass 7.6 hectares with a general development cost estimate of roughly $8.2 billion. A brief background of the Kai Tak area is that it is the site of the former Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport located in Kowloon side of Hong Kong. Due to the sensitivity of limited land availability and urban density characteristics in Hong Kong, many rounds of deliberation and planning review by the government was required to finally approve the decision of developing the Cruise Terminal. Ultimately, the new Cruise Terminal facility will serve as a mix use facility to not only serves Hong Kong’s resurgence as an ecotourism destination, but a place for exhibitions and alternate venues as well. 2Cost and Revenue Analysis 2.1Project Costing and Investment Since the fail of tender in 2008, the government decided to proceed with the Design, Build and Lease (DBL) approach. The initial investment includes two sub-projects: â€Å"Site formation† and â€Å"Cruise terminal & ancillary facilities building† were original estimated costing $7.2 billion based on the price in 2008. However, the construction cost in general had surged significantly in 2009 due to sharp increase of numerous materials’ cost like sand and steel reinforcement ect. Finally the cost for â€Å"Site formation† roughly estimated as $2.30 billion with inflation factor 2% applied. This part starts from 2009 and will finish in 2017. One year later, the construction of â€Å"Cruise terminal and ancillary facilities building† started and the inflation factor increase to 2.7%. The cost roughly estimated as $5.85 billion. Thus the total initial investment cost becomes $8.15 billion which is around one billion difference to the original plan due to price infraction. The cash flow out show as below: [pic] The 1st pier will be commenced to public in 2013 Q2 (2nd pier will be after 2017). Thus using 2012~13 FY as reference point and assume MARR to be 4.9 %, whereas the initial investment cost used after 2013 will also be calculated to the present value in 2013 for comparison. Therefore, the total initial investment of Cruise Terminal will be $8.1 billion. [PW(I) = 8.1 billion] (Refer to Appendix Table 1) Beyond the initial investment, the government estimates the annual recurrent expenditure arising from site formation to be $15.5 million and from cruise terminal & ancillary facilities building to be $206.4 million. Thus the total maintenance costs will be $221.9 Million per year after the terminal commences to the public. [pic] 2.2Project Revenue Direct renting revenue to the government In 2011, HKSAR launched an open tender for the tenancy. The Tender Assessment Panel considered that the Worldwide Cruise Terminals Consortium (WCT)’s tender had complied the tender requirements. And the Central Tender Board approved the acceptance of WCT’s tender with renting detail as following: WCT will pay to the government a fixed Rent of approximately $13 million for the 10-year tenancy. The Government will be also received a percentage of the gross receipt of the operator as the variable rent. The percentages of the annual gross receipt to be shared with the Government by WCT are as below: [pic] 3Evaluation of Economic Viability 3.1Minimum Attractive Rate of Return (MARR) To understand the economic viability of carrying out this project, evaluation was conducted by applying the money-time relationships and the concept of Minimum Attractive Rate of Return (MARR). Average investment return of the Exchange Fund which is managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) was chosen as the MARR in the analysis. The Exchange Fund’s primary objective is to affect the exchange value of the currency of Hong Kong. The Exchange Fund may also be used to maintain the stability and integrity of Hong Kong’s monetary and financial systems, and can be invested in any securities or other assets to achieve investment return. According to the HKMA, the average return of the Fund was 3.5% over the last three years, 3.2% over the last five years, 4.9% over the last 10 years and 5.6% since 1994. In our analysis, the 10-year average investment return, which is 4.9%, was selected to be the MARR. The annual return of the Fund from 1994 to 2011 is shown in Appendix Table 2 shows the 2011 investment return and the average investment returns of the Fund over a number of different time horizons. The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Project According to the HKSAR government, the total capital investment required for the project is HKD 8156 million and the estimated annual recurrent expenditure is HKD 221.9 million. The annual income will come from a fixed rent for the 10-year operation as well as a variable rent with the percentage of the operator’s gross receipts. The maximum percentage will be 34% when the gross receipts are greater than HKD 90 million. 3.2Evaluation of the Project by Present Worth method (PW) In our analysis, we first applied the Present Worth (PW) method, which is commonly used for evaluating private financed projects. Our aim is to find out the operator’s annual gross receipt required so that the project can be considered to be economically justified if public benefits are not included in the calculation. By using the PW method, all cash flows and outflows are discounted to the present point in time at the determined MARR (4.9%). The PW is required to be greater or equal to zero if a project is to be considered as economically justified. In our calculation, the evaluation period is 10 years and assuming that the annual recurrent expenditure is a fixed contract amount. To estimate the operating revenue of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, reference to the operating revenue of Port Everglades in United State was made. Port Everglades is one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world. In 2010, its operating revenue from cruise sector was about USD 45.7 million (HKD 356.5 million). From the result of the calculation, the present value (2013-2014) is –HKD 8846 million (PW < 0) (refer to Table 3), which also means that the project is not economically justified when the public benefits are not included. The information used for the calculation and the cash flow are shown in Appendix Table 3. In addition, our analysis showed that the operator’s first annual gross receipts need to be HKD 3193 million (nearly nine-fold more than Port Everglades’) and then have 4% annual increase for PW to be greater than zero. Achieving this level of income is extremely difficult if not impossible. Table 3: Present equivalent of cash flow In next section, Benefit – Cost Ratio method, which is commonly used for evaluating public projects by considering public benefits, is applied in the analysis. 3.3B/C Ratio Overall economic benefit to Hong Kong Surely the government does not focus on the renting income but the overall economic benefit to Hong Kong. The project leads the development of the Cruise Economy which adds additional value to tourism, retail & dinning, travel trade and hotel etc. Based on the estimation from Tourism commission for latest cruise passengers’ expenditure data and multiplier effect, the cruise industry will bring following economic benefits to Hong Kong under different scenarios: The â€Å"low growth scenario† assumes growth brought by regional cruise operators developing cruise services with Hong Kong as homeport. The â€Å"high growth scenario† assumes growth brought by international cruise operators developing cruise services with Hong Kong as a homeport and port-of-call. We have calculated the B/C ratio for different scenarios as below with following assumptions 1) Interest rate is 4.9%; 2) The government only gets $13 million rent; 3) The Cruise Terminal continuous to operation till following year Therefore, even under low growth scenario, both conventional and modified B/C ratio greater than 1 after the Cruise Terminal continuous to operation over ten years, this project is worth to proceed. 4Social Impacts 4.1Higher competitiveness in cruise markets Compared to Shanghai and Singapore where the cruise terminals have been further developed, Hong Kong’s cruise market would be highly constrained if maintained at the original level. Because Hong Kong will require an additional berth between 2009 and 2015, and one to two berths beyond 2015 to sustain its development as a regional cruise hub in Asia Pacific region. 4.2Increase of employment chances Cruise vessels homeport at Hong Kong will create job opportunities in related industries including hotel, catering, shipping management, shipping supplies and insurance. It may support some 6900 to 10900 employment opportunities in 2020. 4.3Environmental impacts The terminal had obtained Platinum rating in BEAM Plus Project Assessment in 2012, which means a high level achievement in three Green aspects (energy saving, quality of indoor environment, and environmental impacts to neighbors) 5Conclusion From studies of worldwide passenger demand levels, it is estimated that there is a steady increase from 13.9 million to roughly 23.8 – 31.5 million by 2020. Although, this is a world estimate and Hong Kong is only small spectrum of the world, there is seemingly enough evidence from cruise terminal consultancy for Asia region to instill a predictable growth for Hong Kong. Overall, the project does not show promise economically with recurrent expenditures with operational revenues. It should be noted that the facility does not imply with an overall picture depicted in the B/C ratio. Therefore, to promote Hong Kong’s international image and standstill in the international sector, the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal is a viable option for Hong Kong’s bright future.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

For the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne the most explored theme of all his writings is the imperfect spirituality of man and the pervasiveness of sin throughout creation. Both of the stories under analysis here, Young Goodman Brown and The Minister’s Black Veil, feature a young reverend as the central character of the work and a Puritanical community in New England as the setting. Both of the tales are allegories centered on the ambiguity of human spirituality and on the ubiquity of sin in creation. Young Goodman Brown is an allegory about the deep mystery of sin, for which the author makes use of all available suggestive elements, from the setting- a deep and gloomy forest in New England, to the characters and their symbolic names- Goodman, an obvious hint at â€Å"good man†, and Faith, an equally transparent hint at religious faith, to other symbolic elements such as the staff resembling a wrinkled serpent, obviously the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Hawthorne approaches the idea of sin in his allegorical usual way, with conspicuous Biblical allusions, but also with deep psychological insight into the character’s soul and mind. He delves profoundly into human consciousness and the life of the mortal soul, highlighting the permanent conflicts between virtue and sin. In Young Goodman Brown we follow the main character on his intricate course through the dark and gloomy forest, reminding us of the Garden of Eden, and we are confronted with the grim temptations of sin in a vague, confusing setting, where the line dividing-line between dream and reality becomes very thin. It is Hawthorne’s own choice to leave the question as to whether the night’s confused events and the meeting of the community of witches was a dream or reality. Through this artifice, an essential problem is set forth- the result is that the reader has to wonder whether the sin and the fall into temptation belong to Goodman alone or whether the entire community is pervaded by sinfulness and immorality. The forest is thus a symbol for the human consciousness and for the spiritual life of man, and what Hawthorne undertakes to find out is whether everybody is actually lost on the paths of the spiritual, and which of the two –virtue or sin – is the true state of the spiritual life. Another important aspect is that in the midst of the gloominess of the forest meet for initiation into the lore of sinfulness, both the villagers who are commonly considered as virtuous and pious in everyday life, and are often set an example, and those members of the community who are normally viewed as sinners or criminals. Thus, the two main sides of spiritual life- virtue and sin are both mere appearances, whereas in the inner life of man they live together undisturbed. The Minister’s Black Veil is similar to Young Goodman Brown in many respects. Again, the centre of the story is the tormented consciousness of a young priest, who chooses to wear a symbolic black veil over his eyes, that prevents him from enjoying any kind of mortal happiness. In the end, the veil is seen as a symbol for the darkness and sinfulness that is hidden into the depths of human consciousness and that separates man from his fellows. As Goodman Brown typifies the average man, torn between virtue and sin, the minister in this story symbolizes the imperfect spirituality of man. The black veil that hides the face of the young priest is but the symbol of the outward representation of sin. According to Hawthorne, sin is inherent in the soul and is only veiled by the appearance of virtue. Sinfulness lies therefore deep within and separates all men from one another as the black veil separates the minister both from light and from communion with his fellows. Hawthorne therefore tackles mortal imperfection and the pervasive nature of sin in creation. Both stories emphasize the nature of human spirituality, at the very core of which sin and unlawfulness thrive.

Identity theft Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Identity theft - Research Paper Example This begins with understanding the various reasons why this problem remains relatively under-appreciated and what drives some people to engage in this sort of activity. At the same time that internet criminals are becoming ever more sophisticated in their means of making money from their activities, the general consumer public remains relatively unaware of the dangers. Everyone has heard of the identity theft and many have been victims of it, but few are willing to take the steps necessary to protect themselves against it. Despite the increasing numbers of online shoppers and the relative ease shoppers encounter as they enter an online retailer site, there are several negative factors not directly related to the consumer that nevertheless affect consumer behavior when determining whether to make an online purchase. One of the primary dangers being confronted is the issue of identity theft and information mining being conducted on reputable as well as questionable sites (Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2003). Until these issues had received some attention, buyers were recommended to make online purchases using more traditional modes of payment rather than through credit cards or online bank transfers. In more recent years, however, numerous security sites and software has been developed designed to assist retail clients build consumer confidence in making the more convenient credit card purchases over the internet, displaying small padlocks as a sign of trust or requiring specific security codes prior to accepti ng a payment through shopping cart technology (Wolfinbarger & Gilly, 2003). While it has become infinitely safer to make purchases online, shoppers are still cautioned to use care when entering personal information and in choosing retailers. Despite the relative ease shoppers encounter as they enter an online retailer site, there are several negative factors that must be weighed before an actual purchase is made. As is reported by Steven Chucala

Greatest challenge facing law enforcement agencies in investigating, Essay

Greatest challenge facing law enforcement agencies in investigating, exploitation, cyberstalking, and obscenity - Essay Example These crimes include crimes related to exploitation, cyber-stalking, and obscenity, which have exposed the unpreparedness of law enforcement agencies in handling emerging crimes. In addition, law enforcement agencies face a challenge related to turf wars and jurisdiction when investigating cybercrimes. This expose investigates the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies while investigating exploitation, cyber-stalking, and obscenity. Moreover, the expose goes to the extent of proposing the solutions to the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies. First, cybercrimes have caught the attention of the world with President Obama declaring cyber crimes and threats as the â€Å"most serious economic and national security challenges† faced by America in the 21st century (National Security Council, 2009). Nonetheless, experts identify implementation of policies that eliminated challenges faced by law enforcers as the first step towards eliminating cybercrimes and threats in c yber space. In this regard, experts agree that law enforcers face challenges regarding the investigation of cyber-stalking, exploitation, and obscenity. In line with this, the National Center for Victims of Crime (2004) noted that law enforcers faced challenges while investigating cyber-stalkers since stalking consists of repeated individual conduct that may not constitute a crime. In addition, law enforcers faced a challenge while investigating cyber-stalkers due to the challenging nature of identifying cyber-stalkers who will become violent. In this regard, law enforcers will face a challenge in profiling cyber-stalkers since there lacks a legal definition of cyber-stalkers and profiling them remains a challenge to date. A Congress report of 2001 identified a number of challenges that law enforcement agencies faced when investigating obscenity and exploitation. In this case, the report indicated that law enforcement agencies were ill equipped to deal with crimes of this nature sin ce criminals were sophisticated and they used advanced technology to commit these crimes. Hence, the identification of these criminals was a challenge. Moreover, the report noted that the criminal might be in a different jurisdiction and their identification did not guarantee further investigation by law enforcers. On the other hand, the report identified the challenge faced by law enforcers who investigated obscenity and exploitation by noting that the process of extracting data to investigate and prosecute obscenity and exploitation criminals remained a challenge. States, nations, and different localities draw jurisdictional boundaries between them within which various law enforcement agencies are responsible for administration of justice. Significantly, laws are only effective within the territorial boundaries of a particular jurisdiction, which is a weakness that cyber criminals identified and exploited. In the US, jurisdictional issues challenge the investigation of cyber crime s in two aspects. First, there is an underlying jurisdictional overlap between state laws and federal laws regarding the investigation of cybercrimes. In this case, Brenner and Koops (2004) noted that some state laws might not classify some aspects of a crime as