Thursday, November 28, 2019

Pokemon And Beyond Essays - Pokmon, Pokemon Unity,

Pokemon And Beyond Pok?mon and Beyond Imagine for a moment a little boy lifting his sleepy little head off his Pokemon pillowcase, climbing reluctantly out from underneath his warm Pokemon blanket, exchanging from his Pokemon pajamas into his favorite Pokemon T-shirt, drinking his morning juice from his beloved Pokemon cup. All the while, he is making his way into the family den to watch his favorite cartoon, Pokemon. A typical day begins like this for children in households all over the country. Evidence of the Pokemon phenomenon is everywhere: on television, in movie theaters, at fast-food restaurants and in products of every conceivable type. There are Pokemon videos, toys, books, software, videogames, trading cards, school supplies, clothing and toiletries. The Pokemon brand is a five billion dollar industry worldwide. The prosperity of Pokemon has attracted negative attention from parents, educators and childhood experts. Labeling a product either good or bad on the basis of profit is wrong. The worth of a toy should be determined by the educational value for a child rather than monetary profits. The only downside to Pokemons success is its success. The Pokemon rage has spread like wildfire through schools and communities by word of mouth the old fashioned way. Although scarce, advertisements for Pokemon appeal to the need for affiliation, the need to achieve and the need to dominate. The whole Pokemon fantasy is cognitively engaging for the targeted audience of childre n from six to fourteen years old. Parents should be quick to see the positive benefits of Pokemon for their children by looking beyond the promotional craze. While Pokemon mania is seizing the attention of kids across the nation, kids culture has been doing this for a long time. There have always been kiddy crazes. For example, in the 50s the hit television show Davy Crockett set off a coonskin cap craze. During the 60s, children everywhere watched Howdy Doody religiously while sending off for prizes and joining his club. In the 70s kids were crazy for Puff n Stuff fully equipped with the latest metal lunchbox illustrating their passion. Little blue elves called the Smurfs dominated the 80s. While in the 90s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers lit up the media and cash registers. Todays children are no different than of days gone by. Tim Burke, a cultural history professor and author of Growing Up with Cartoon Culture, says, Pokemon is a cultural phenomenon not just a toy fad. Its an amazing piece of alchemy, the way one tie-in has seamlessly led to another...Pokemon has set a new standard (Maurstad.) Parent s should recognize that Pokemon is a fundamental part of childhood just as their favorite cartoon character was an important part of theirs. For the Pokemon illiterate parent, understanding the origin of Pokemon can be as confusing as answering the proverbial question-which came first the chicken or the egg? Despite the publicity generated by the trading cards, the heart of Pokemon is a game cartridge for the Nintendo Game Boy. Pokemon began in Japan in 1996 and the game has swept across the United States at an accelerated speed. The game takes place in an imaginary land inhabited by 150 creatures called Pokemon, which translates to pocket monsters. The object of the game is for the player, called a trainer, to catch as many of the creatures as he or she can, hence the slogan Gotta Catch Em All. Once caught, the creatures catch other Pokemon and the trainer receives badges in hopes of becoming a Pokemon master. Interestingly, Pokemon do not die in battles. They simple fall asleep or faint at which time they are taken to the Pokemon Center where they can be restored. Parents should recognize that Pokemon is a game of strat egy not blood and guts. Unfortunately, parents across the country become overly concerned when they hear the term pocket monsters. Ebeneezer Smith, a pastor from the Landover Baptist Church in Iowa, claims, Pokemon toys and games are only sugar coated instruments of the occult and evil (Landover.) To drive home his point, the pastor burned Pokemon trading cards and videos with a blowtorch while the congregation chanted, burn it, chop it and kill them all. Granted

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Visions and Visits

Visions and Visits Visions and Visits Visions and Visits By Mark Nichol Vision and visit both pertain to seeing something, and that’s no coincidence, because they are cognates, both stemming from the Latin verb videre, meaning â€Å"see.† A discussion of the words, their variations, and some related terms follows. The word vision describes the literal ability to see and the figurative sense of something conjured by the imagination as if it is seen or even merely contemplated (the original connotation), as well as the act or power of seeing or imagination. In addition, the word refers to the quality of discernment or foresight, a sense that arose only about a century ago. A vision is also something seen, including a particularly charming or lovely person, place, or thing. Little-used adjectival and adverbial forms are visional and visionally. Someone with discernment or foresight is called a visionary. Other words in the vision family include envision, a verb meaning â€Å"picture.† Something that can be seen is visible (the adverbial form is visibly), and the quality of being able to be seen, whether on a practical level or in the sense of celebrity, is visibility; the antonym is invisibility. The adjective visual refers to the faculty or process of sight, and the adverbial form is visually. Visualize is the verb form, and something visualized is a visualization. (The British English spellings are visualise and visualisation.) Something that does not involve sight is nonvisual. Related compounds are television (a compound of the Greek word tele, meaning â€Å"far off,† and vision), audiovisual (an adjective referring to technology that enables sight and sound), and proper nouns such as VistaVision, the brand name of an obsolete form of wide-screen cinematography. Several words referring to the face include the syllable vis, which stems from videre and refers to one’s appearance or face, including visage, a noun that is a synonym for â€Å"face,† and visor, originally a reference to the part of a helmet covering the entire head that protects the eyes (and later to an eyeshade). Envisage is a synonym for envision. (A related term is the adopted French term visvis, meaning â€Å"face to face,† which in English is a preposition meaning â€Å"face to face with† or â€Å"in relation to† or â€Å"compared with.† Less commonly, it is a noun referring to a counterpart or a person one is on a date with, or an intimate conversation, as well as an adverb meaning â€Å"together.†) Visit began as a verb describing someone attending on another to benefit or comfort and later came to refer to one or more people paying a call to one or more others, as well as the sense of afflicting or coming on to (as in the biblical verse â€Å"The sins of the fathers are visited on the sons†). Later, it became a noun describing the instance of paying a call. One who visits is a visitor (the term, for example, refers to members of a sports team coming from somewhere else to compete with the home team), and a visitation is an instance of an official visit (or is an adjective referring to such a visit). Visit, visitor, and visitation also have a connotation of an examination or inspection of a place of religion. To revisit is to consider something a second time; it is generally not used to mean literally â€Å"visit again.† The verb advise and the noun advice, referring to recommendations given, ultimately derive from videre by way of the Old French term avis, meaning â€Å"idea,† â€Å"judgment,† or â€Å"view.† Advisory is the adjectival form as well as a noun referring to a report that gives advice or suggests a course of action. (Despite that spelling, adviser is favored over advisor to describe someone who does so.) To supervise is literally to look over, to manage or monitor an area or a procedure; the act of doing so is supervision and the actor is a supervisor, and the adjectival form is supervisory. Meanwhile, revise means â€Å"look again† and refers to changing something- generally, something written- that one (or someone else) has produced; the adjective is revised, and the noun for the act is revision. (There is no direct actor noun, although one might be referred to as a reviewer.) To improvise is to do something unprepared or to make something using available resources; the act is improvisation. Words from other languages that stem from videre include visa, from the Modern Latin phrase charta visa, which literally means â€Å"paper that has been seen† and refers to a document or to a sticker or stamp in a passport that confirms authorization to visit a foreign country, and vista, from the Italian word for â€Å"sight† or â€Å"view,† which refers to a prospect or a view of a landscape or seascape. A subsequent post will discuss words stemming from videre that do not include the element vis. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Greek Words You Should Know8 Proofreading Tips And TechniquesThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"

Thursday, November 21, 2019

My experience with Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My experience with Religion - Essay Example I would have to say no unfortunately. I did attend Sunday School but many of things that the pastor spoke about were not covered. I suppose that I was clueless about my own religion until my mother purchased a Volume of Children’s Biblical stories. These books gave me a better understanding and perspective of the religion I was practicing. At first I really did not enjoy going to church, but when I joined the youth choir and started attending Vacation Bible School, church visits suddenly had a purpose. As an adult, I continued to attend church regularly. However, I decided to change churches because my childhood church was nothing more than a fashion show. The new church that I began attending was not as big as my previous church. Also, the pastor and the congregation were very accepting of me and did not care what I wore so much. I attended this church for about six years, but I became very disgusted with the sinful acts that people in the church were engaged in. At that point, I decided to leave the church and find my way. I was told as a child that people that attended church were Christian and lived strictly by God’s way. However, I realized that many members in the church were committing great sins. These were terrible sinful acts, such as sleeping with other members’ husbands or wives, going to the bar after church, frequently using profanities, etc. Due to witnessing these actions, I lost my faith and decided to leave the church for good. After years of not attending church, I realized that going to church gave me a purpose in life. I now understand that I should have never left God’s Kingdom. I now realize that I have no control over the wrong doings of others. If I continue to live right by God, then that’s all that matters. I was very happy when I learned that Empire State College would offer a course on Religion and Spirituality. I hope that this class will give me better outlook on the various religions practiced in our society.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Differences and Similarities between Existing Security Standards Essay

Differences and Similarities between Existing Security Standards - Essay Example As discussed before information security is essential for saving the data and assets of a business. Thus, businesses require being completely responsive for devoting additional resources to save data and information assets, as well as information security has to be a top concern for both governments and businesses (Government of the HKSAR, 2008). In addition, the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) has been offering directions and guidelines for customers, businesses, trade officials, governments and developing nations since its establishment in 1947. Additionally, all that knowledge goes into the building of innovative standards and the development and enhancement of accessible information security standards. In this scenario, the ISO 9000, the excellence management standard, is yet probably the most identifiable ISO standard to American businesses for the reason that of its influence in the United State all through the late 80’s as well as untimely 1990†™s. However, there are numerous top security standards that have been discovered with the passage of time. For instance, whole 27000 series is intended to cover numerous areas of information security as well as risk management: (JBwGroup, 2009; Government of the HKSAR, 2008) IS0 27000 – Information Security methods, basics as well as vocabulary ISO 27001 – Information Security Management System Requirements (available: 10/2005) ISO 27002 – Code of Practice (available: 06/2005) ISO 27003 – Planned ISMS Implementation ISO 27004 – Directions intended for Information Security Management Metrics as well as Measurement ISO 27005 – Guide intended for Risk Management (available 06/2008) ISO 27006 – Worldwide Accreditation Requirements (available 03/2007) However, business corporations that have adopted ISMS and attained self-governing 3rd party certification regarding their information security plans have gained a number of strategic benefi ts (JBwGroup, 2009; Government of the HKSAR, 2008). Moreover, from the above stated different information security standards I have chosen the ISO/IEC 27001. ISO- 27001 or ISO/IEC 27001:2005 is typically referred as the most excellent practice specification that facilitates businesses and corporations all through the globe to build up a best-in-class information security management system (ISMS). In addition, these security and safety standards were published jointly by the ISO (international security office) and the international electro-technical commission (IEC). In this scenario, the British standard BS7799-2 was the predecessor for ISO 27001 (IT Governance Ltd., 2011; WikiBooks, 2009; Arnason & Willett, 2008; ISO, 2011; Praxiom Research Group Limited, 2011). In this information technology based age, information and information systems are very important for the businesses. Keeping this fact in mind, ISO 27001 establishes specific needs and requirements which have to be followed , as well as against those requirements organizations’ information security management systems are audited and certified. In addition, ISO 27001 is intended to harmonies with ISO 14001:2004, ISO 9001:2008, ISO 20000 as well as various other security standards established for efficient management system integration. In this scenario, the ISO27001 standard allows the organizations to produce a structure to comply with a lot of authoritarian standards. Additionally, all the United Kingdom businesses have to obey following standards:

Monday, November 18, 2019

Assignment 4 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assignment 4 - Term Paper Example However, employees in the private company have limited options with regards to vesting their options especially while they are still employed there. Within the private enterprise there is really no way of knowing the fair market value for one’s stock options. Going public offers a better market for employees to exercise their stock options. Therefore, from the employee perspective, Deltek’s reason for going public was merited. 2-What advantages did Deltek find in going public once it became a public company? What disadvantages did it face? In going public, Deltek’s experienced two major benefits: increase in brand equity that came with all the attention it received as a public image and extra cash from the sale of stock which have it the resources to make important acquisitions. However, from the case, it seems that the company experience greater disadvantages than advantages on becoming a public company. The biggest disadvantage was the obsession with the stock price. Everything in the company now revolved around the stock price and this focus shifted the company’s attention away from the more important long-term goals (Johnston 4). This was especially dangerous given that it directly has an effect on the company’s ability to survive in future. ... Why did those companies go public? Who gained? The three major differences between Deltek and other dot-com companies that rushed to go public were that: (1) it had a single investor – who was the founder; (2) the founder was not eager to sell his stake; and (3) Deltek was already a profitable company. The other dot-com companies went public largely for three reasons. Firstly it was to raise money to fund growth irrespective of whether they were currently profitable or not. Secondly, these companies went public to gain the visibility or prestige offered by being a publicly traded stock. Thirdly, these dot-coms went public in order to cash in on the inflated prices that others were willing to pay for tech start-ups at the time. The people who gained from the dot-com IPOs were mostly the venture capital investors, the founders and employees who had stock options within those tech start-ups. These individuals cashed in on the high IPO prices whereas the new investors were left to face the dot-com bubble burst a few years later. For Deltek, both the founder and employees who had stock options gained from the initial IPO prices, however their work-life balance was adversely affected by the demand placed on them by their new public status. 4-Why did Deltek decide to leave the public arena and become a closely held corporation once again? Do you think its management made the right decision? Deltek decided to leave the public arena for three main reasons: (1) to focus on its long-term goals; (2) to avoid being second-guessed by the fits and starts of a volatile stock market; and (3) to regain the work-life balance that was taken away by going public. Deltek’s management made the right decision with regards to

Friday, November 15, 2019

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India

Nokia Challenges In Rural Marketing In India The world is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the number of people who own a mobile handset. According to a September 2009 Economist report, the total number of people who owned a personal mobile handset stood at a whopping 3.6 billion, which is more than half of the worlds population. The point that is worth noting here is the fact that the majority of this growth has come from the developing nations. In the year 2000, the developing countries accounted for only one-fourth of the worlds 700 million mobile phones. But, by the beginning of 2009, developing nations accounted for more than 75%. Considering the fact that the developed markets are saturated, it is the developing worlds rural poor which will fuel the growth in this market in the coming times. [1] Exhibit 1 shows the share in mobile phone subscriptions of the developing nations and that of the developed nations in the last decade. [2] It is in this context, we consider the case of the Indian mobile handsets market which has seen a sea change in the last decade owing to a number of critical success factors. India is presently the worlds fastest growing telecom market in terms of the subscriptions as well as the number of mobile handsets. The mobile subscribers in India are projected to grow at a CAGR of 15% in the next 5 years from 2010 to 2014. [3] This shows the tremendous opportunity that exists in the Indian telecom market for the handset manufacturers. Indian Telecom Industry The Indian telecom Industry is the worlds fastest growing telecom Industry in the world with a total of 706.37 million subscribers out of a population of 1180 million. As of Aug 2010, out of the 706.37 million, a whopping 670.60 are mobile phone connections.[4] The Indian mobile telephony market adds more than 20 million subscribers a month on an average and for the first time in the year 2008-09, rural India outpaced urban India in mobile growth rate. The growth in the Indian telecom sector can be attributed to several factors which include the rising disposable incomes of households, rising aspirations of consumers across the country, the enhanced utility of a mobile phone for people from all walks of life be it business or education or just information. The mobile handsets revolution has changed the lifestyle of consumers by giving them a faster way to reach their near and dear ones, by making their life easier in more ways than one. The growth drivers for mobile handsets can be attributed to the telecom service providers and off late, it is also the mobile phone applications that are fuelling the increasing adoption of mobile phones as they give the consumers a whole range of new services he/she can avail by using a mobile phone. Mobile phones in India are fast changing into a commodity with the entry of numerous players in the market and similarity of offerings by the existing competition. Exhibit 7 shows the change in consumer decision making that has occurred over the years in the Indian mobile handsets market. It has changed from a High Involvement-Low Experience product to a Low Involvement-High Experience product. Mobile phones are mainly divided into 4 categories in the handsets industry in India: Smart Phones: These are essentially the high end phones which have many features and have the internet accessibility capabilities and Wi-Fi technology. This space is mainly dominated by the multinational brands like Nokia, Samsung, Blackberry, and Sony Ericsson. The general price range for such phones varies from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.35000 in the marketplace. DUAL SIM: This is the fastest growing category in the Indian market accounting for more than 35% of the total shipments in the beginning of year 2010. The principle reason so as to why these phones are in such great demand is the fact that consumers want to reap benefits of the attractive offers provided by telecom players. In this regard, Multi-SIM handsets are also being launched and they are fast becoming the next trend in this space. The market for this is mostly dominated by domestic manufacturers like Lava, Karbonn, Micromax, MAXX and Zen Mobiles among other players. It was only in September 2010, Nokia has launched its first ever DUAL SIM handset after it realized the huge demand for such models in the market. The general price range for such mobiles varies from Rs.2000 to Rs.5000 Touch Phones: These are the type of handsets which do not have any manual keys and are completely sensor based touchscreen handsets. These are extremely fashion oriented handsets which are in-vogue among the youth and fast catching up with all types of consumers due to their visual appeal and ease of use. The market for such handsets was mainly dominated by the multinationals but now it is cluttered with the entry of Indian players such as Micromax, Spice mobiles and others. The general price range for such mobile phones varies from Rs.5000 to Rs.15000. CDMA: These handsets use a different technology compared to others which are GSM based mobile phones. CDMA handsets are generally cheaper than their GSM counterparts. They are mainly preferred by consumers who have a heavier usage of mobile phone. The general price range of CDMA phones is Rs.1000 to Rs5000. This market is evenly distributed between Indian players as well as multinationals. Exhibit number 5 shows the type of handsets that fall into each of this category in the Indian market. The current tele-density in India stands at 58.17% and this is projected to reach up to 82% by the year 2012. The rural Indian market has a tele-density of 24% as of March 2010 whereas the Urban tele-density has already crossed the 100% mark* [5]. Considering the fact that around 65% of Indias total population lives in rural areas, we can say in other words, that every third person holding a mobile phone is from rural India. Therefore, it offers a huge potential for growth in coming years for the various handset manufacturers. Also, with the upcoming of 3G technology in the Indian market, the sector as a whole is likely to see robust growth in the coming years. In addition to this, the Indian mobile handsets market is witnessing a sea change in terms of the expectations of the consumers. It is being observed that consumers are demanding phones with multimedia and multi SIM capabilities at very affordable prices, especially in the Tier-3 and rural regions. Indian mobile handset makers are fast making inroads into the Tier-2, Tier-3 and rural markets which offer tremendous growth potential. Multi-SIM handsets accounted for a whopping 38.5% of the market in the 1st quarter of year 2010. Rural India: A huge opportunity in mobile handsets market The market for mobile phones in rural India remains highly untapped and offers a very high potential. It is this immense opportunity and the inability of the foreign based multinationals in understanding the Indian consumers that has led to the proliferation of numerous local manufacturers who now pose a serious threat to the existing players. According to a research by the Research and Markets, the market for mobile phones in rural India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17% in the years 2009-2012. [17] It is also being suggested that the availability of low cost long battery phones will primarily drive the growth in these markets. The Mobile Handsets Market in India This unprecedented level of growth in the mobile usage of the Indian population has also lead to the birth and proliferation of a number of home grown mobile handset manufacturers. The market for mobile handsets which was once dominated by the likes of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola are being fast replaced by domestic Indian concerns like Micromax, MAXX, Videocon, Lava, Karbonn, Spice mobiles, Zen Mobiles to name a few. These domestic players have a strong penetration in the smaller towns and rural hinterlands of the country because they understand the needs of the local people better than the multi-nationals. Some of the innovations from the regional players include a 45 day battery phone, a solar powered cell phone to cater to the perennial power shortage in rural India. Again, there have been launches of mobiles that are dust resistant, water-proof and high decibel to cater to various needs that are unique to the rural Indian consumers. According to a research conducted by Voice and Data, the total market share of all the Indian mobile handset manufacturers came to 14%, which is quite a significant number considering the complete dominance of Nokia and other foreign players like Motorola and Sony Ericsson till very recently. Micromax leads the Indian mobile handset manufacturers with a market share of 4.1% followed by Spice mobiles with 3.9% and Karbonn with a market share of 3% respectively. However, Nokia still continues to be the market leader in the Indian market with a share of 52.2%. [6] Exhibit 3 shows the market shares of various players in the Indian market and a comparison in the years 2008-09 and 2009-10 is being tabulated as shown. [7] The following are the details about various players in the Indian mobile handsets market: Nokia: The Finland based multi-national is the worlds largest manufacturer of mobile telephones with a global market share of 30% in the beginning of 2010. Its latest offering is its OVI technology platform which offers a wide range of internet services such as games, music, maps, media and messaging. Nokia made its entry into the Indian market in the year 1995 [11] and there are many firsts to Nokias credit in the Indian mobile handsets market. It would not be an overstatement to say that Nokia has pioneered the evolution of mobile telephony in the Indian market. For instance, the first mobile call in India on an Indian network was made on Nokia phone and they were the first to introduce a camera phone as well as the first Wi-Fi enabled phone. Samsung: It is currently the worlds second largest mobile phone manufacturer after Nokia. It is a part of Samsung Electronics, based out of South Korea which is the worlds largest electronics company. [12] It is one of the major players in the Indian mobile handsets market and is known for its stylish phones as well as utility oriented models. The famous Indian actor Aamir Khan has been the brand ambassador of Samsung Mobiles in India and this has given the brand a good mileage in terms of product acceptance and trust ahead of big players like Nokia. Their anti-theft mobile tracker is one of the most successful features in the market and was highly appreciated by the consumers. Micromax: The Gurgaon based handset manufacturer started its operations in the year 1991 but it has made its presence felt in the last 2-3 years. With a slew of product launches with attractive features and value-proposition, it is now currently the third largest player in the Indian mobile handsets market after Nokia and Samsung. It appealed majorly to the high-potential underserved rural market with its 1 month battery backup model. It has also come up with attractive models at prices as low as 50% to that of a Nokia phone with the same features. Motorola: The American telecommunications giant has lost market share to other players in the Indian market. It also did not feature in the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world in the International Data Corporation (IDC) research carried out in the beginning of year 2010. [14] Exhibit 4 shows the top mobile phone vendors, their market shares and the shipments of the top 5 mobile handset manufacturers in the world. Motorola had become the second largest player in the Indian market in the year 2007 on the back of its aggressive promotions and innovative product line. It had roped in the Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachhan as the brand ambassador during that time. Sony Ericsson: Sony followed a similar strategy and launched a series of phones which has very good music features that reflected the Sony Walkman legacy. Actor Hritik Roshan was the brand ambassador for Sony Ericsson in India and during this time, the company had gained considerable market share before its decline started due to the rise of local Indian handset manufacturers. Blackberry: The parent company RIM continues to be one of the top notch manufacturers of high end business phones in the world and as given in exhibit 3, it is currently the 4th largest handset maker in the world. In India, it targets only the business users and hence uses different communication channels rather than the mass media which is used by other manufacturers. HTC: This is a Taiwan based manufacturer of smartphones which made smartphones based on Windows software but is now shifting to Googles Android as its operating system. It has a very small presence in the Indian market and it has no intentions to come up with handsets that will be targeted at the Indian rural consumers. Spice Mobiles: This is a part of Spice Telecom which is majorly owned by the Aditya Birla Group and is currently the 5th largest player in the Indian market. It is being endorsed by the Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra. Lava Mobiles: It is one of the recent entrants in the Indian market which has launched a series of handsets which offers the DUAL SIM capability which is very highly demanded especially in the rural areas since many consumers in rural India buy one phone for a group of individuals and it is shared. Karbonn: It is a Joint venture between two players: UTL group and Jaina group. It is being endorsed by the Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag which the company believes is a good move since the mobiles they manufacture are positioned in the same tone as that of the playing style of Sehwag, which is explosive and agile. MAXX: Endorsed by the Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni, this is one of the leading brands from the Indian mobile handset manufacturers. Videocon: This Company which is a conglomerate has diverse interests ranging from telecom to petroleum to power generation. They entered the Indian mobile handsets market in November 2009 [15] The Videocon group has also gained the rights to be the T-shirt sponsors of the famous Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians. This has given Videocon mobiles a lot of visibility and created awareness, which is very important considering the fact that it is still a new entrant in the highly competitive mobile handsets market. The market for handsets in India has evolved drastically over the last one decade with consumers expecting a lot more out of their mobiles rather than just making a call or sending a message. Exhibit 2 shows the various applications in mobile handsets as a percentage of total number of mobile phones shipped in India from the years 2007-2009. [7] It is precisely in this space that most of the recent players in the Indian mobile handsets market have positioned themselves. They offer more features in their handsets at the same price as the market leaders, Nokia being the benchmark of sorts in the Industry. Analysis of commercials of Nokia in the last 5 years In order to understand the communication strategy of Nokia in the last 5 years, a thorough analysis of all their TV commercials was carried out. This helped to understand their positioning and the type of customers they are primarily targeting. Given below are the series of analysis of their commercials for their various models of handsets. Nokia Xpress music 5310 and 5700: The commercial involves a plot in which there are shown lot of young students (all were apparently from a city background) in a hostel enjoy their music non-stop on the new Xpress music Nokia phones. This commercial also highlights the 18 hours non-stop music capability of this phone from Nokias stable. Nokia 1110i and 1600: In this commercial, the creative involves a husband coming back to his home in the village and he has his wife and daughter waiting for him. The husband gets stuck on the way as his vehicle gets damaged. Then, a neighbor in the village who has a Nokia phone helps in reaching the neighbors husband through the Nokia phone and thus an emotional connect is being formed for Nokia. It is also nicely captured in the advertisement where in the end, the daughter asks her mother: Kya hum bhi Nokia le lein? Nokia 3110 Classic: In this advertisement, the plot involves a young boy trying to impress a young girl through his Nokia mobile phone which has an 8ÃÆ'- zoom capability and a one touch camera option. This again focuses on the urban segment as the attire and the ambience as shown in the advertisement reflects a citys environs. Nokia 6300, 5310 and 2630: the commercial is more of an attempt towards corporate advertising where Nokia is being shown as a part of every moment of joy in the lives of people across the country. All the regional festivals are being shown and people have been shown clicking pictures, playing music etc. from their Nokia phones to celebrate their moment of joy. This ad shows no discrimination towards an urban or rural background. Nokia 7610 and 3600: It is a commercial which reflects the lifestyle, attitudes and aspirations of the modern day young girl. This again is filmed against the backdrop of a city projecting a metropolitan girl. The ad is a lively ad that captures the essence of the modern day lifestyle and the phone tries to reflect the same. This is again a commercial that focuses on the urban way of life and the youth belonging to such places. Nokia Navigation (Maps): This advertisement shows a character who finds her way all up to the house of her destination through the help of Nokia maps. This commercial emphasizes the utility of Nokias series of applications and tools to attract customers towards them. This is one of Nokias responses in countering the competition from numerous local Indian players. But, again this is an advertisement focused at the Indian urban population rather than rural where they are presently losing out to more nimble footed players. Nokia priority dealer: manpasand mobile guaranteed. The commercial shows an individual trying to find a good new mobile for him but has to do all the running to so many places. He is shown to be running after one model to the other but not able to catch hold of the phone that he is actually looking for. In the end, a Nokia priority dealer store is shown where he can find all the models of Nokia phones, thereby reducing his hassles. That is why the tagline in the beginning is apt. Nokia 1208 and 1209: This advertisement inspires the viewer by showing that all the dreams of an individual like owning a house, a car and taking a flight etc. will come true one day. Again, the ad goes on to show that Nokia is there for the consumer in realizing their dreams in life. These are the two low end phones of Nokia and there is a clear focus towards the aam aadmi of India who dreams of a better life. There is no discrimination of urban and rural in this case also. Nokia 6270: this advert shows the new Nokia phone which has a memory capacity of 1GB which was unheard of in the Indian mobile handsets market in the year 2006. The commercial shows the precision and perfection with which the phone has been designed. It is being positioned as an exclusive handset which is for those who desire perfection in life. This again has no clear bias on whether it is targeted at the urban consumers or the rural consumers. Nokia (Corporate): This commercial features the Indian star actor Shahrukh khan which shows his life as a superstar. The commercial explains how his Nokia phone has been there with him for the last 10 years and now he has a trust for that brand. The ad ends with Shahrukh Khan saying hamara Nokia. This is an advertisement that focuses on corporate branding of Nokia rather than any particular model. Nokia E-Series Business Phones: This commercial initially shows how it is very difficult for a modern day executive to balance and get the best of both his personal as well as professional life. And then the new Nokia E series business phones have been shown as the ideal solution using which the executive is able to merge his personal as well as professional commitments and is content with his wife, kids and work. This advert again has an urban focus in a thorough and distinct manner. Nokia OVI Music Unlimited: this commercial emphasizes on the unlimited music options that are available with the new Nokia OVI music store where one can get and store literally a million songs from the OVI store. The ad has a strong catchy theme and it does not have any bias towards an urban or rural backdrop. But, inevitably this also gives away its urban focus in the latter part of the ad. Nokia 1650 and 2626: This commercial shows the Radio (FM) feature in their handsets and how Radio still has a future in our multimedia world where there are numerous options for entertainment. Songs from all the possible types of genre have been shown playing on the radio through the Nokia handsets. This advertisement is targeted at all the target groups with no clear focus on the youth or the urban-rural distinction in particular. Nokia 1600: This advertisement is a fast paced creative where it is being shown how colors are a part of the life of an Indian and how colors are integrated into every aspect of our life. Various individuals from different walks of life have been shown in this ad. This ad also reflects the product that is being endorsed here: a phone for the common man of India. It ends with the caption: naya Nokia 1600, har jeb main rang. Nokia 7710, Experience: this advertisement shows an individual enjoying a music video on a screen that is so wide that it almost feels to him like a theater. The effect of the widescreen has been shown very distinctly in the commercial. This is one of the higher prices phones from the stable of Nokia. There is once again no clear distinction so as to who is the target audience for this product. Nokia 6300: This advertisement ends with the statement true style never shouts. The advertisement begins with a scene where a shooting for some purpose is going on and the director asks the professionals on the set to continuously remove all the glitz and showy backgrounds. In the end, a simple white background is what suits the need perfectly. Thus, the statement that true style doesnt need any showbiz associated with it. This is an effort to tell the consumers about the simplicity and reliability of Nokia as a brand with respect to all its recent competitors in the Indian market which have focused more on the showbiz. Insights from the commercials From the above advertisements and various corporate promotions carried out by Nokia in the last 5 years (a time during which a lot of new domestic players have entered the Indian mobile handsets market), a clear pattern that emerges is that Nokia has still not focused exclusively on the rural Indian consumers who form a major chunk of the population that uses mobile phones on todays date. There are many commercials which exclusively focus on the modern day youth of urban India and their lifestyles, attitudes and aspirations. But, there are very few advertisements and promotions that show Nokias willingness to target the rural Indian consumer. One of the reasons for this may be the fact there are no products that Nokia has exclusively designed that can fulfill multiple needs of the rural consumers other than just phone and messaging. Its only product that found an instant hit with the rural consumers was the 1100 model which had an in-built torch light. But, there were many needs of the rural consumers which could have been fulfilled with the help of mobile phones but Nokia did not come out with such products. It is in this space that almost all the new Indian domestic players have been very successful. Micromax, the Gurgaon based mobile handset manufacturer is one such case in point. They realized the acute shortage of electricity in the rural hinterlands of India and it was being observed that consumers need a phone the battery of which lasts for longer periods of time than the usual 2 days on an average. They aggressively promoted their new handsets which lasted for a month after being charged once. This was also accompanied by their sales promotions which offered phones at highly discounted rates and with more features than what a Nokia phone would offer at the same price. This trend continued and it led to the entry of other domestic players like Lava, Karbonn, Spice among others in the Indian mobiles market. Each of the player offered much more enhanced features than Nokia and at a price which is in many cases as low as 60% to that of a Nokia phone. Another very common trend that was again captured by the Indian manufacturers as well as some of the cheaper Chinese mobile manufacturers in India was the Dual SIM concept. Increasingly, people felt the need to use the services of two service providers at the same time and buying two phones for this purpose was not feasible for most of them. This was again catered to by these players who launched a slew of Dual SIM mobile phones at prices that were very competitive in comparison to a similar phone with a single SIM capability. One more such feature of the latest offerings from domestic players has been the ability to handle multiple accounts from a single handset. This has been an instant hit with the consumers of Rural India where a group of people now own a mobile phone. This reduces the burden on each particular individual and also at the same time ensures connectivity. Unfortunately, for Nokia has not paid much attention to these innovations in the initial stages and now it has woken up to reduced market share which has dropped down drastically from 78% five years ago to 52.2% in the year 2010.[4],[5] Analysis Our analysis was intended to find so as to how the Indian consumer perceives various brands depending upon their communication, their positioning and their overall marketing efforts which include different type of promotional activities. In this regard, a questionnaire was being developed which tried to measure the attitudes and perceptions of consumers in general towards Nokia and other brands of mobile phones that they use. From the responses thus obtained, a simple arithmetic coding was being done to quantify the responses and thus we obtained average scores on each parameter of importance in a mobile phone. For instance, here we calculated the average score that each brand of mobile phone gets on parameters such as price, battery back-up, sound quality among all other features. The MS excel sheet attached below gives an idea of how the responses were coded and then converted into a perceptual map. For better visibility, the averages were being coded further using simple arithmetic techniques as shown in the sheet as under: Perceptual Map Analysis In order to find out the current day perception of Nokia with respect to its various competitors in the Indian mobile phone market, as mentioned earlier, a questionnaire was being designed. This was circulated among a select group of respondents. It was being ensured that there are users of all the kinds of brands of mobile phones that are popular in the Indian market. It is mandatory that we get at least 6 responses each of the various brands of mobile handsets for them to be reasonably eligible to find a place on the perceptual map and thus be compared with other brands of phones. Exhibit 6 shows the questionnaire that was being circulated among the consumers who owned a mobile handset. From the perceptual map, it is clear that Nokia is perceived to be more expensive when compared with other domestic players in terms of the features that they offer for a given price point. In order to counter this, Nokia either has to come up with products that are exclusively designed for the rural masses with customized support for them in terms of the local language and certain locally relevant tools. Also, as we can see that there is no real difference in terms of the local manufacturers of handsets as all of them offer a slew of features at prices which are very low in comparison to the existing multinationals like Nokia and Blackberry. In this regard, Nokia can take a lesson from the stable of Samsung which has adopted an innovative strategy in dealing with the rural Indian market. It has launched a series of products like Samsung Guru, which are specifically targeted at the rural masses and have been very successful with their advertisement campaigns for the same. Nokias current strategy for the Indian Rural Market With a population of more than 800 million, rural India offers huge potential and Nokia has realized it. Nokia has already started its rural marketing as well as communication initiatives and have a well chalked out plan for the coming years. Given below are some of the steps that Nokia has already taken in this regard: It has tied up with 1000 micro-finance institutions across the country which will help in financing the mobile phone purchases of the rural consumers. It has tie up with big players like SKS Micro-finance which has a network of 653 branches across the nation It has come up with showrooms on the wheels which is its rural marketing vehicle that is a novel approach in this market and is borrowed from the FMCG industry where such activation programs are commonplace. Nokia has hired certain professionals who go to the villages and rural hinterlands to promote the brand Nokia in innovative ways like sponsoring a regional festival which sees participation from the whole population of the area. Another initiative is their Rural care on the go, which is their servicing vehicle for the rural markets. This is to tell the consumers and other possible buyers the fact that Nokia is with them at their doorstep to account for all of their mobile handset issues. Nokia Life Tools: These are a series of tools developed for the rural consumers which will help them make their life easier and better in more than one way. For the farmer community of the rural Indian population, Nokia life tools provide information about the type of seeds, best practices and commodity prices. Young students can use the education life tool for career related information and other help related to their academics. Location based tools are also being developed by Nokia, some of them being exclusively for the rural consumers for their entertainment and convenience. These are some of the initiatives taken by Nokia till now in order to increase connect with the rural Indian consumers on a pan India basis. But, it is yet to launch products that truly cater to the differentiated needs of the consumers in smaller towns and villages. Also, the same has to be communicated to the consumers through various traditional as well as non-traditional media. Suggestions and Recommendations In its quest to gain a significant position in the rural Indian market, Nokia can take a leaf from the strategy adopted by the domestic mobile handset manufacturers. For instance, Videocon mobiles took cues from customers feedback of the need to have large speakers and launched a model accordingly. Again, another regional player Zen mobile realized the importance of launching phones with regional language support as many consumers in the hinterlands and small towns are not well versed with English language [16]. Therefore, they came up with models that had compatibility with 18 different Indian languages. Nokia should also launch certain models which have features that are currently desired by the users and at prices that are comparable to that of the local domestic players. One interesting

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

math graph story :: essays research papers

Between study group, debate, and chess tournaments there wasn’t much of a social scene around Winchester University in Omaha, Nebraska. The school year at this college was year round, but the students were given a 30 day summer vacation in July. The majority of the students went back home to visit their families during this time. But as juniors at the University Charles, Fredrick, and Stanley, all childhood buddies, decided it was time for a change and that they needed a little more spice in their life. Realizing that they were almost twenty-one and had never breached their comfort zone, they knew a road trip was in store.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As June came to an end the nearly grown men finished exams and planned to leave for their escapade the first day of July, also being the 1st day of break. They made a pact to keep the trip a secret until their return, for the main reason that their parents wouldn’t approve. If their families had any question as to why hey weren’t coming home to visit, they would simply say they were staying at the University to get ahead on the following year. This would be a reasonable lie, because no one would expect them to do any different.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The morning of their departure they loaded all the luggage and food that they could into Fredrick’s forest green Ford focus. Before they pulled out of the parking lot they had to lay some ground rules:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ~ No school attire   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ~ No proper English   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  ~ No acting like themselves, only the new â€Å"cool† young adults that they were. Freddy, as they called him, established one last rule. They were to stop at four places and the rest of the time they were driving. This gave them a reasonable amount of time to live and get back to the University to start the New Year. And now†¦they were off†¦ As Freddy peeled out of the parking lot Charles, sitting in the passenger seat, turned on 93.3 KTNP modern rock.. The first 3 days of their trip were mainly getting out of the places they had seen time and time again. They didn’t experience much except for driving and eating as they reminisced on the past. Stopping frequently for Stanley’s immensely small bladder they reached about 50 miles the first few days. As they approached the evening on July 3rd they drove by a college, and decided to see if anyone would let them crash for the night.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Celta †Focus on the Learner Essay

The first part of the assignment focuses on the general overview of Entry 1 group who are majority females of South-Asian origin; also a Chinese, African & Arab learners are also enrolled in class. Learners of this group are housewives with little or no previous education background. They would have learnt Urdu or Gujarati in their country. The ages range between 24 and 45. The majority of learner’s first language speaks Gujarati or Punjabi. They have been learning English between 1-3 years & some less than a year and they all enjoy learning English. Most learners are married housewives and have children. They are motivated as they have children and would like to keep pace communicating and helping their children with English. Some also would like to find work. They also like to learn English so they can communicate with doctors, school staff and general everyday life. They like watching TV, Reading and using Computers. From the observation they like listening to the teacher and prefer to learn from pictures, visuals, gestures etc. They prefer the kinaesthetic type of teaching by listening to audio, matching sentences and also interpersonal skills by working in pairs and groups. However as Adults on the whole tend to be more disciplined, the South Asian learners are very well disciplined, listen and are motivated to learn. However they may struggle to learn coming from the cultural background and education experience. â€Å"The traditional Eastern respect for the teacher and for the written word is still a prominent characteristic of learners from India and the neighbouring countries†[1] Due to the culture, there education is more emphasis on discipline and written work. This may be the reason why learners are shy to speak and difficult for teachers to elicit from learners. Part Two From observation during class learners find some difficulty in reading and writing as the majority of learners come from South Asia, where they do not share the Roman transcript; unlike learners from Poland who would pick up the letters of the Alphabet as they share the Roman transcript. They may read out words, however due to not being confident; words may not sound as clear as they could be. They struggle writing in a straight line and also missing out capital letters when writing names of people etc. The group are good at listening to audio exercises and enjoy this type of task as most learners achieve the correct answer. They South-Asian learners struggle a little with their writing skills because of influence of spelling on pronunciation. â€Å"South-Asian scripts are for the most part phonetic, so that spelling is largely an accurate guide to pronunciation. Learners’ pronunciation of English words is consequently over-faithful to the written forms†[2] One of the features of South Asian language accent can be recognised by: â€Å"Tenser articulation than in English, with vowels produced further forward, leading to the loss of some distinctions between different vowels†[3] We observe this in words like Tom; consonants /t/ and /d/ are pronounced heavier. I have also observed the form can/can’t whilst doing my TP. Learners struggle pronouncing both words with the weak form and can’t (stressed) /ka:nt/ with an open mouth; this could have a completely opposite meaning to their answer. They need to respond and get them to elicit more during class. Grammar has also been a weakness as learners struggle with word order and the (ing) form. I have noticed their use of Present simple/continuous. They seem to use the (ing) from the opposite way. I.e. Learners will say or write ‘I am eat’ instead of ‘I am eating’. The South Asian Grammar will have some similarities with English Grammar. â€Å"The ‘parts of speech’ of English and Hindi are broadly similar†[4] There are other differences which will cause problems for our learners. â€Å"has no word class corresponding to the English articles, prefers postpositions placed after a noun or pronoun to prepositions and has its normal word order one in which the verb is placed finally in a sentence†[5] â€Å"With stative verbs rarely used in progressive forms, the present progressive may be used inappropriately by analogy with Hindi simple present, formed with the present participle and present auxiliary: We are not understanding what she means. (for We don’t understand what she means.) The present progressive Hindi is used to say how long a present state of affairs has been going on: How long are you living in England?†[6] Part Three I have identified 2 areas of weaknesses, Grammar and Pronunciation. Grammar activity I have chosen the Grammar activity from ‘‘Language in Use’ by Adrian Doff & Christopher Jones, CUP, Unit 11, pg 48 & 50. (see attached) I would use the attached activity on ‘What’s going on’ for learners to practice with Present simple/continuous (ing) form. This activity is useful as learners omit the (ing) form when speaking and writing. This is due to word order with South Asian language as they tend to omit the ing after the verb. This would be introduced at the start of the lesson with pictures on the whiteboard and elicit what they are doing. They can then think of an action and write on paper. They would then learn how to make the ing form by using basic rule of adding ing to verbs and verbs ending in e; removing (e) etc. They will then complete the exercise on pg 50. Rationale This exercise would be useful as learners all understand the simple verbs and have come across before. This activity is good as it’s simple and clear with visuals; there is also a listening activity which will help learners understand more. I will give explanation on this topic followed by exercises using speaking and listening, which should address this weakness. Pronunciation activity I have chosen the following activity from ‘Language in Use’ by Adrian Doff & Christopher Jones, CUP, pg 81-82. (see attached). I have identified the use of can/can’t in simple sentences. Learners do not stress enough to differentiate between the two; they need to pronounce can’t /ka:nt/ (stressed) with an open mouth this is very important as they don’t convey the wrong meaning of what is being said. This will require a lot of practice listening, speaking and eliciting more from learners during lesson. Rationale The exercise I have chosen is about a woman and what she can/can’t do. Learners will listen to the pronunciation of can/can’t and observe the difference carefully. I would also ask learners to look and observe at the mouth opening more and explain the long vowel in /ka:nt/. Learners are explained the stress and the open r in /ka:nt/. There will be lots of drilling chorally and individually. This would be done mid-way through the lesson after introducing the Grammar and listening to audio. Learners have understood the weak form and open r in /ka:nt/ but have little practice pronouncing the stress form. More listening, drilling and getting learners to speak in pairs and in class should address this problem.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on Native Son

Richard Wright’s Native Son Set in the 1930’s Native Son, by Richard Wright, is a powerful novel that has meaning today. It is an unsparing reflection of the poverty and feelings of hopelessness of African Americans. It gives a visualization of what it meant then and what it means today to be black in America. Never has their been a book that so clearly accounted for the African American feelings toward white people. The hate and fear that brewed inside of African Americans was unbelievably strong, yet very appropriate. Native Son captures readers and gives and in-depth view to the feelings of people at this time and their reactions to the conflict between people of different backgrounds and different beliefs. The violence depicted in Native Son, although quite grotesque, is necessary to deliver the full meaning that Richard Wright wishes to convey to his readers. The main character Bigger Thomas, a black man, has been robbed of his dignity, his pride, and his identity. He lashes out in fear. A fear that furthers his self-destruction while giving him an identity separate than that of other black people. Three subparts to Native Son shows the transformation of Bigger’s fear into something that gave him a sense of individuality. He struggles to lose this fear and claim his sense of self. Fate, part one of Native Son, tells the reader about Bigger Thomas. Despite the loathsome qualities of Bigger, he represents the victimization of black people. Bigger struggles with his fear on a daily basis. The anger expressed by Bigger is nothing but an outlet for his fear. The first representation of how Bigger’s fear will play a role in his death comes into play during the first few pages of the book. It is while killing a rat The rat’s belly pulsed with fear. Bigger advanced a step and the rat emitted a long thin song of defiance, its black beady eyes glittering, its tiny forefeet pawing the air... Free Essays on Native Son Free Essays on Native Son Richard Wright’s Native Son Set in the 1930’s Native Son, by Richard Wright, is a powerful novel that has meaning today. It is an unsparing reflection of the poverty and feelings of hopelessness of African Americans. It gives a visualization of what it meant then and what it means today to be black in America. Never has their been a book that so clearly accounted for the African American feelings toward white people. The hate and fear that brewed inside of African Americans was unbelievably strong, yet very appropriate. Native Son captures readers and gives and in-depth view to the feelings of people at this time and their reactions to the conflict between people of different backgrounds and different beliefs. The violence depicted in Native Son, although quite grotesque, is necessary to deliver the full meaning that Richard Wright wishes to convey to his readers. The main character Bigger Thomas, a black man, has been robbed of his dignity, his pride, and his identity. He lashes out in fear. A fear that furthers his self-destruction while giving him an identity separate than that of other black people. Three subparts to Native Son shows the transformation of Bigger’s fear into something that gave him a sense of individuality. He struggles to lose this fear and claim his sense of self. Fate, part one of Native Son, tells the reader about Bigger Thomas. Despite the loathsome qualities of Bigger, he represents the victimization of black people. Bigger struggles with his fear on a daily basis. The anger expressed by Bigger is nothing but an outlet for his fear. The first representation of how Bigger’s fear will play a role in his death comes into play during the first few pages of the book. It is while killing a rat The rat’s belly pulsed with fear. Bigger advanced a step and the rat emitted a long thin song of defiance, its black beady eyes glittering, its tiny forefeet pawing the air... Free Essays on Native Son In Richard Wright’s novel, Native Son, Bigger Thomas could possibly be classified as guilty but mentally ill by today’s standards. Stress, anxiety, and aggression in Thomas’ social and romantic relationships, living conditions, family life, and childhood and adolescent experiences are all factors. The older basis for pleading insanity requires the person to be â€Å"so severely disturbed at the time of his act that he did not know what he was doing, or if he did know what he was doing, did not know that it was wrong†. Some states have also added â€Å"irresistible impulse†, which states that â€Å"some mentally ill individuals may respond correctly when asked if a particular act is morally right or wrong but may be unable to control their behavior† (Atkinson et al. 632-633). Although standards have changed a bit, the idea behind the insanity plea remains the same. In the 1970’s, not all, but most state and federal courts adopted a new legal definition proposed by the American Law Institute (ALI) stating, â€Å"A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct, as a result of mental disease or defect, he lacks substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law.† The ALI uses words like â€Å"substantial† to suggest that â€Å"any incapacity is not enough to avoid criminal responsibility but that total incapacity is not required either,† and the word â€Å"appreciate† rather than â€Å"know† suggests that â€Å"intellectual awareness of right or wrong is not enough; individuals must have some understanding of the moral or legal consequences of their behavior before they can be held criminally responsible † (Atkinson et al. 632-633). Guilty but mentally ill is one more option. A verdict of guilty but mentally ill is found â€Å"when a defendant is found to have a substantial disorder of thought of mood that afflicted him at the ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Sample College Admissions Essay on Teaching Summer Camp

Sample College Admissions Essay on Teaching Summer Camp Many college applicants have had summer camp experiences. In this Common Application essay, Max discusses his challenging relationship with a difficult student who ends up having a lot to contribute.   The Essay Prompt Maxs essay was originally written for the pre-2013 Common Application essay prompt that states,  Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.  The influential person option no longer exists, but there are many ways to write about an important person with the current seven essay options on the 2018-19 Common Application. Maxs essay has recently been revised to fit the new 650-word length limit of the current Common Application, and it would work nicely with the 2018-19 prompt #2:  The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? The essay would also work well with Common Application essay option #5,  Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. Max's Common Application Essay Student Teacher Anthony was neither a leader nor a role model. In fact, his teachers and his parents were constantly chastising him because he was disruptive, ate too much, and had a hard time staying focused. I met Anthony when I was a counselor at a local summer camp. The counselors had the usual duties of keeping kids from smoking, drowning, and killing each other. We made God’s eyes, friendship bracelets, collages, and other clichà ©s. We rode horses, sailed boats, and hunted snipe. Each counselor also had to teach a three-week course that was supposed to be a little more â€Å"academic† than the usual camp fare. I created a class called â€Å"Things that Fly.† I met with fifteen students for an hour a day as we designed, built, and flew kites, model rockets, and balsawood airplanes. Anthony signed up for my class. He was not a strong student. He had been kept back a year at his school, and he was larger and louder than the other middle school kids. He talked out of turn and lost interest when others were talking. In my class, Anthony got some good laughs when he smashed his kite and threw the pieces into the wind. His rocket never made it to the launch pad because he crumpled it in a fit of frustration when a fin fell off. In the final week, when we were making airplanes, Anthony surprised me when he drew a sketch of a sweep-wing jet and told me he wanted to make a â€Å"really cool plane.† Like many of Anthony’s teachers, and perhaps even his parents, I had largely given up on him. Now he suddenly showed a spark of interest. I didn’t think the interest would last, but I helped Anthony get started on a scale blueprint for his plane. I worked one-on-one with Anthony and had him use his project to demonstrate to his classmates how to cut, glue and mount the balsawood framework. When the frames were complete, we covered them with tissue paper. We mounted propellers and rubber bands. Anthony, with all his thumbs, created something that looked a bit like his original drawing despite some wrinkles and extra glue. Our first test flight saw Anthony’s plane nose-dive straight into the ground. His plane had a lot of wing area in the back and too much weight in the front. I expected Anthony to grind his plane into the earth with his boot. He didn’t. He wanted to make his creation work. The class returned to the classroom to make adjustments, and Anthony added some big flaps to the wings. Our second test flight surprised the whole class. As many of the planes stalled, twisted, and nose-dived, Anthony’s flew straight out from the hillside and landed gently a good 50 yards away. I’m not writing about Anthony to suggest that I was a good teacher. I wasn’t. In fact, I had quickly dismissed Anthony like many of his teachers before me. At best, I had viewed him as a distraction in my class, and I felt my job was to keep him from sabotaging the experience for the other students. Anthony’s ultimate success was a result of his own motivation, not my instruction. Anthony’s success wasn’t just his plane. He had succeeded in making me aware of my own failures. Here was a student who was never taken seriously and had developed a bunch of behavioral issues as a result. I never stopped to look for his potential, discover his interests, or get to know the kid beneath the facade. I had grossly underestimated Anthony, and I am grateful that he was able to disillusion me. I like to think that I’m an open-minded, liberal, and non-judgmental person. Anthony taught me that I’m not there yet. Critique of Max's Common Application Essay In general, Max has written a strong essay for the Common Application, but it does take a few risks. Below youll find a discussion of the essays strengths and weaknesses. The Topic Essays on important or influential people can quickly become predictable and clichà © when they focus on  the typical heroes of high school students: a parent, a brother or sister, a coach, a teacher. From the first sentence, we know that Maxs essay is going to be different: Anthony was neither a leader nor a role model. Maxs strategy is a good one, and the admissions folks who read the essay will most likely be pleased to read an essay that isnt about how Dad is the greatest role model or Coach is the greatest mentor. Also, essays on influential people often conclude with the writers explaining how theyve become a better people or owe all of their success to the mentor. Max takes the idea in a different direction - Anthony has made Max realize that he isnt as good of a person as he had thought, that he still has much to learn. The humility and self-critique is refreshing. The Title Theres no one rule for writing a winning essay title, but Maxs title is perhaps a little too clever. Student Teacher immediately suggests a student who is teaching (something that Max is doing in his narrative), but the true meaning is that Maxs student taught him an important lesson. Thus, both Anthony and Max are student teachers. However, that double meaning is not apparent until after one has read the essay. The title by itself does not immediately grab our attention, nor does it clearly tell use what the essay will be about. The Tone For the most part, Max maintains a pretty serious tone throughout the essay. The first paragraph does have a nice touch in the way that it pokes fun at all the clichà © activities that are typical of summer camp. The real strength of the essay, however, is that Max manages the tone to avoid sounding like he is bragging about his accomplishments. The self-criticism of the essays conclusion may seem like a risk, but it arguably works to Maxs advantage. The admissions counselors know that no student is perfect, so Maxs awareness of his own short-comings will probably be interpreted as a sign of maturity, not as red flag highlighting a defect in character. The Essay Length At 631 words, Maxs essay is at the upper end of the Common Application length requirement  of 250 to 650 words. This is not a bad thing. If a college is requesting an essay, it is because the admissions folks want to get to know the applicant better. They can learn more from you with a 600-word essay than with a 300-word essay. You may encounter counselors who argue that admissions officers are extremely busy, so shorter is always better. This little evidence to support such a claim, and youll find very few applicants to top-tier colleges (such as the Ivy League schools) being admitted with essays that dont take advantage of the space allowed. The ideal essay length is certainly subjective and depends in part on the applicant and the story being narrated, but Maxs essay length is absolutely fine.  This is particularly true because the prose is never wordy, flowery, or excessive. The sentences tend to be short and clear, so the overall reading experience isnt labored. The Writing The opening sentence grabs our attention because it isnt what we expect from an essay. The conclusion is also pleasingly surprising. Many students would be tempted to make themselves the hero of the essay and state what a profound impact they had on Anthony. Max turns it around, highlights his own failures, and gives the credit to Anthony. The balance of the essay isnt perfect. Maxs essay spends far more time describing Anthony than it does describing Anthonys influence. Ideally, Max could cut a couple sentences from the middle of the essay and then develop a little further the two short concluding paragraphs. Final Thoughts Maxs essay, like  Felicitys essay, takes some risks. Its possible an admissions officer would judge Max negatively for exposing his biases. But this is unlikely. In the end, Max presents himself as someone who is a leader (he is designing and teaching a class, after all) and as someone who is aware that he still has much to learn. These are qualities that should be attractive to most college admissions folks. After all, colleges want to admit students who are eager to learn and who have the self-awareness to recognize that they have room for a lot more personal growth.

Monday, November 4, 2019

IT questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT questions - Coursework Example The sockets enable applications in different software to communicate through inbuilt network hardware and operating systems. In my daily communication, I get to use socket programming in different ways. The instant messaging applications that I use to connect with people in different parts of the world are coordinated by socket programming. At one point computers at our working place were connected through multiple sockets to enable us network together easily (Shuang, 2013). In any case where a server is used to connect some data or users of different software at distributed places, threads are used. A local database server that I was once involved in managing used java threads to respond to requests sent to the database server (Batenkov, 2012). Thread pools were created to keep track of the number of requests handled at a time. This was possible due to java concurrency that enables many programs to run parallel. The java threads were also helpful in synchronization of worker queues (Silas, 2012). Some times in our teams and organizations we are required to coordinate with other team members who are situated far from us. We use distributed processing in such cases since it enables us exchange data as messages are passed across processors. Several processors with their own memories are used here. Apache Storm is an example of distributed real-time computation systems we adapted. This application synchronized streams of data from many processors in different time zones (Kivi, 2012). With the advanced technology in the world today, many messaging applications have been introduced into the telecommunication industry (Sultan, 2014). Some of these applications have been of importance in coordinating me with my colleagues and friends. Google hangouts are one of the messaging applications that I use to connect with my partners found in other continents. Whatsapp is another application that helps me in communicating across continents

Friday, November 1, 2019

The Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Ford Motors Company Essay

The Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Ford Motors Company - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that Ford Motors is a U.S. automaker and is among the leading automakers in the world. Ford was incorporated on June 16, 1903, by its founder Henry Ford. The company’s headquarters is based in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford has emerged as one of the automaker giants in the world. For instance, the company ranks fourth largest automobile company globally and second largest in America according to annual sales volume. Ford sells in a variety of brand names such as Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln. The company has also been the manufacturer of Land Rover and Jaguar, which were sold off to Tata, an Indian automaker. In the U.S. market, the company currently ranks second after General Motors, which is the world’s leading automaker. PESTEL analysis implies political, economic, social, technological, environmental analysis that helps in understanding the macro-environmental factors that affect the operation of Ford. These factors are discussed h ereunder: Politics of a country is very important as far as far as car manufacturing is concerned. The U.S. politics influence the legislation and laws by which car manufacturing companies like Ford operates. For instance, Ford’s operation has hugely been affected by the political pressure from the government of the United States regarding the global warming caused by greenhouse gaseous emissions. In this regard, the government has imposed certain measures aimed at limiting the level of gaseous emissions that a particular vehicle has to emit to the environment. This has threatened the operation of Ford because complying with some of these laws is not easy, as they require a total change of the manufacturing process. Ford is also required to comply with the tax policies imposed by the government. The changes in tax policies by the U.S. government particularly by increasing taxes on the automobile industry has affected the operation of the company in recent times where it servi ce high taxes in order to be able to operate. For instance, the idea to introduce a road tax proportional to the number of gaseous emissions is affecting the company’s operations.