Narcotics

The communication capabilities of specialized databases within the criminal Justice system, has been enhanced by the help of technology. Technology has many various forms in use today within the criminal Justice field. Systems such as the IRIS scans and mobile data terminals or MET for short, are electronically advanced tools for law enforcement work. For the subject matter of this particular paper my intention is to discuss and compare different forms of specialized databases.Also provided are some of the negative and positive effects due to all the new technologies in the rimming Justice field. Including those that have been and are currently being incorporated daily law enforcement actions and activities. One such specialized database used to help with communication is the mobile data terminal (MET). The mobile data terminal device is used in emergency and transit vehicles to communicate with the dispatch or central office (91 1 Dispatch Online, 2011). Many police agencies require officers to have this form of terminal system usually in the form of wireless mobile installed in their vehicles.Law enforcement officers use this database to manage their workload in the center and also provide officers gain better efficiency regarding time management. Mobile data terminals allow officers to have access to status updates, dispatch receipts, and to other units in case that unit needs backup and/or assistance. Frequent communication between dispatch and officers happen on this device frequently in order to know where to go, to update their statuses, to call for assistance, etc. IRIS scans are another form of specialized database the criminal Justice system uses frequently.The IRIS scan is a method of biometric identification in which pattern connection of the eye is used to determine the identity of a subject and/or suspect (Technology LLC, 2010). When identifying an individual IRIS scan may be quicker than retrieving fingerprints. IRIS recognition and IRIS scan are without a doubt proven to be the most accurate type of biometric devices the criminal Justice system has today. Utilizing a scan of different patterns in the eye are taken by a camera and then scanned. This works because Just like fingerprints no one person's eyes are the same.Everyone's eyes contain different patterns that make them unique thereby asking the device's results accurate due to a person's eye patterns different from any other person. Communication in the criminal Justice system is improved by the utilization of this technology. IRIS scans allow officers to determine if a person has already been processed in the criminal database as well as if they have a criminal history or background while allowing other Jurisdictions to be able to access the same forms of information even if the officers are not in the same town or city.IRIS scans and IRIS recognitions have only been used in the past decade and the overspent wants to continue to see this type of technology advance a nd grow within the criminal Justice system (Technology LLC, 2010). Currently database access, watch lists, security purposes, border crossings, passports, and computer logging are the main uses of the IRIS database. The mobile data terminal is currently the most widely used in vehicle device in the criminal Justice system.Just by typing in a suspect's name or scanning a form of their identification, a screen full of information comes up. This can include prior arrests, addresses, known associates, and aliases. The IRIS system although more advanced is not currently in may police vehicles and if it is they are usually a federal law enforcement vehicle. In comparison although the MET system is the most widely used and probably will be for a long time, the IRIS is the next evolution of this system.Both systems are very accurate and produce many of the same results. MET shows results when the information is scanned, typed in or relayed to the officer in another way. The IRIS scans the a ctual individual, stopping a suspect or offender from being able to lie about any detail of you they actually are. Thus providing the officer with a fake name impossible. The phrase' the eyes cannot tell a lie', is a motto I think the IRIS has proven. For many of us in today's society technology is a major factor we depend on to live our daily lives.New technologies create many positive effects towards communication. Cell phones, computers, IRIS scans and mobile data terminals, are only a few technological advances that have improved safety measures of officers while they patrol our communities. Cell phones are the greatest advancement of communication to date. Computers as well as the internet have increased the costive aspects on communication; they have allowed officers to organize, store, and process large amounts of information and data that officers use daily.As technology grows, new advancements will continue to improve computer systems and data processing that the criminal J ustice system uses on a daily basis. As with anything else with positives come negatives especially, in regards to technology. As a society we are so dependent on technology that if we were to lose the use of computers it would constitute a drastic negative effect on the criminal Justice system. Specifically he way officers gather, store, and share information and data.Advancements and the growth of technology have resulted in people to have to be trained over and over to keep abreast of the new types of technology. Technology and the consistent advancing, changes and updating causes problems due to the time it may take for an officer and/or person to learn the ever changing forms and uses of technology. Cost is another negative aspect of technology is that it costs to upgrade many of the devices I. E. Computer systems, cell phones, etc. And some law enforcement agencies ay not possess the monies required to upgrade these devices.Modern technology has caused some to work faster and harder to stay abreast of all the new technologies that are being implemented into our Jobs almost on a daily basis. I would choose the mobile data terminal, if given the option to choose the type of specialized technology I wanted to use. Since this device is helpful in storing large amounts of data while allowing information to be sent and received in a matter of seconds. Another reason is that the mobile data terminal has a built in GlobalPositioning system (GAPS) it would be very convenient to an officer who does not know the area well, but needs to get somewhere in a hurry. This same technology referring to the mobile data terminal is also responsible for allowing officers to receive status updates of other officers, subjects and suspects, and dispatch receipts. Also, the data terminal allows officers to receive information on offenders, suspects, etc. In a matter of seconds as opposed to having to go back to the police station to retrieve information and files that are needed in a timely manner.AVIS, mobile data ermine's, IRIS scans, live scans, and facial recognitions are all different forms of specialized databases in the criminal Justice system that help to improve our communication and work capabilities for law enforcement officers. Although, technology has many negative and positive effects overall it has improved our lives and work force especially in the criminal Justice system by leaps and bounds. Before the telephone police work was still successful and Justice was served. With new technology being developed it has also brought new types of criminals into the light.What technology has done for law enforcement worldwide is make it easier to log information, record larger amounts of data, and most importantly quickly share information, that can become corporeal such as records, criminal data, and up to the date essential data. In closing technology has changed the Justice system. References: Online, 9. (2013). Dispatch Magazine Online. Retrieved f rom http://www. Dispatch. Com/info/immobility. HTML Technology. (2012). Http://www. Technology. Com/CT/Technology-Article. Asp? Arthur=64. Retrieved from Technology: http://www. Technology. Com

Aims of education Essay

Culture is activity of thought, and receptiveness to beauty and humane feeling. Scraps of information have nothing to do with it. A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God’s earth. What we should aim at producing is men who possess both culture and expert knowledge in some special direction. Their expert knowledge will give them the ground to start from, and their culture will lead them as deep as philosophy and as high as art. We have to remember that the valuable intellectual development is self- development, and that it mostly takes place between the ages of sixteen and thirty. As to training, the most important part is given by mothers before the age of twelve. A saying due to Archbishop Temple illustrates my meaning. Surprise was expressed at the success in after-life of a man, who as a boy at Rugby had been somewhat undistinguished. He answered, â€Å"It is not what they are at eighteen, it is what they become afterwards that matters.† In training a child to activity of thought, above all things we must beware of what I will call â€Å"inert ideas†-that is to say, ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilised, or tested, or thrown into fresh combinations. In the history of education, the most striking phenomenon is that schools of learning, which at one epoch are alive with a ferment of genius, in a succeeding generation exhibit merely pedantry and routine. The reason is, that they are overladen with inert ideas. Education with inert ideas is not only useless: it is, above all things, harmful – Corruptio optimi, pessima. Except at rare intervals of intellectual ferment, education in the past has been radically infected with inert ideas. That is the reason why uneducated clever women, who have seen much of the world, are in middle life so much the most cultured part of the community. They have been saved from this horrible burden of inert ideas. Every intellectual revolution which has ever stirred humanity into greatness has been a passionate protest against inert ideas. Then, alas, with pathetic ignorance of human psychology, it has proceeded by some educational scheme to bind humanity afresh with inert ideas of its own fashioning. Let us now ask how in our system of education we are to guard against this mental dryrot. We enunciate two educational commandments, â€Å"Do not teach too many subjects,† and again, â€Å"What you teach, teach thoroughly.† The result of teaching small parts of a large number of subjects is the passive reception of disconnected ideas, not illumined with any s park of vitality. Let the main ideas which are introduced into a child’s education be few and important, and let them be thrown into every combination possible. The child should make them his own, and should understand their application here and now in the circumstances of his actual life. From the very beginning of his education, the child should experience the joy of discovery. The discovery which he has to make, is that general ideas give an understanding of that stream of events which pours through his life, which is his life. By understanding I mean more than a mere logical analysis, though that is included. I mean â€Å"understanding† in the sense in which it is used in the French

Nefertiti: Queen of Egypt

Today, Nefertiti is one of the most well known queens of Egypt, famed throughout the ancient world for her beauty. There is little known about the background of Nefertiti but many believe that she was not of royal bloodline. Her father was believed to be a high official of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten. It is said that Nefertiti was chosen by her Father and her Aunt, the Pharaoh’s mother, because of her strong personality that it was believed she could reign in the Pharaoh so her family would hold the real power behind the throne. She was not rivaled only by her power but also by her beauty. Her face has become one of the most recognizable images in the world since the founding of her bust in 1912. She was an independent woman and thinker centuries before her time (Fletcher, 2004). But the question that many people wonder is â€Å"Who was Queen Nefertiti and how much power did she have? † Nefertiti first rose to prominence in Egyptology in 1912, when a three-thousand-year-old bust of the queen was unearthed and quickly became a recognizable artifact around the world. But pieces of Nefertiti's life remained missing (Fletcher, 2004). The beginning of her existence starts with her breaking through the sex barrier to rule as a co-Pharaoh alongside her husband, Akhenaten. Nefertiti parents are not known and she was probably of non-royal birth, most historians say. Most believe she was 12 years old when she became queen and that Amenhotep IV was around the same age (Englar, 2009). Nefertiti married Amenhotep IV who took the name â€Å"Akhenaten†, who ruled over Egypt for approximately 17 years during the 18th Dynasty around 1357 B. C. E. She had six daughters but no sons with Akhenaten, who also had other wives. But neither of them were carved into the sculptures except Nefertiti, so many people believed he loved her most. She appeared with her husband Akhenaten on all major monuments. She even assisted in offerings. There has been no other queen who appears so frequently in Egyptian history as Queen Nefertiti. Many images of her show simple family gatherings with her husband and daughters. She is also known as the mother-in-law and stepmother of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. Nefertiti and her husband defied ancient custom by practicing monotheism and by elevating Nefertiti far above the role of subservient consort previously played by Egyptian queens (Tyldesley, 1999). Upon her fourth year of being queen, she left the capital of Thebes where a new city to honor their chosen god, Aten was built. He believed that the Aten, a minor sun god, was the most important god so Nefertiti being his wife followed suit. The religion in the country was then transformed so their new god, Aten, may be held up above all others. Neferitti and her husband designed the new city and more than 50,000 Egyptians moved to Akhenaten to serve the king and queen in their new city. This is the first time that Egyptian religion accepted one god rather than many gods. Nefertiti’s new religious duties gave her more power than most previous Egyptian queens. Nefertiti was perhaps the most influential person on Akhenaten, at that time one of the most powerful rulers on earth. Many people do not know that Nefertiti and her husband changed their names to honor their God. Nefertiti meaning â€Å"the beautiful woman† had come to be known as Neferneferuaten which means â€Å"beautiful are the beauties of Aten. † The reason for this change is so â€Å"Aten† would be included in her new name to honor their god. During the Amarna period, Nefertiti was seen as almost equal to a Pharaoh. Nefertiti soon became enamored with her new found power and her popularity with the people and is somewhat swept up along with her husband in his dreams of glamour, power, and immortality (Moran, 2007). Upon his death she took control of Aten. The Egyptian people loved her and celebrated her beauty in art, but the priests did not feel the same way. Historians say that priests who, upon Nefertiti's death, had her name erased from all public records. This led to her being left out of history for over three thousand years. Very little is known of Nefertiti, her death is not recorded, and her tomb has not been found. Her beauty is renowned from the masks found at Amarna by archaeologists early in this century, having been lost for millennia. It is unusual that a queen like Nefertiti, death would not be recorded in the culture of Egypt. Even to this day monuments to those who ruled and played a major part in Egypt have pyramids and tombs bestowing their importance. It is very sad that Akhenaten and Nefertiti's family was all but destroyed. Three thousand years after her death, Nefertiti’s beauty still captivates thousands of visitors each year. It was her mysterious smile and powerful gaze that attracted many men to her making them wonder who she had been and how she’d become a dominant figure in ancient Egypt. However, tragedy eventually calls, and everything Nefertiti worked so hard to achieve hangs in the balance (Englar 2009). Some historians believe she died from a plague or even ruled Egypt under a new name, Smenkhkare. Yet there has, over time, been a great deal of controversy on all these facts. It would seem that Smenkhkare became co-regent shortly after the death of Akhenaten’s principle wife, Nefertiti. Speculation at times have run rampant, including one theory that Nefertiti herself had actually disguised herself as a male in the custom of Hatshepsut, becoming co-regent (Dunn, 2003). Nefertiti will always hold a mysterious history, her remains and the location of her body has long been a subject of curiosity and speculation. Her place as an icon in popular culture is secure and she has become somewhat of a celebrity due to the rare find of her bust. After Cleopatra, she is the second most famous queen of Egypt in the Western imagination and her image has influenced, through photographs, and changed standards of feminine beauty of the twentieth century, and is often referred to as â€Å"the most beautiful woman in the world† (Dunn, 2003). Her most important legacy, though, may be that she and Pharaoh Akhenaten tried to establish a monotheistic religion in Egypt, which, if it had survived, would have created a very different history for the Middle East, with important ramifications for the current religious/political turmoil of the area (Weller, 2008). She will always be held as one of the most influential and most powerful queens to ever rule Egypt. References Dunn, Jimmy. (2003). Smenkhkare: An obscure pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. Retrieved from ttps://ww. touregypt. net/featurestories/smenkhakare. htm Englar, Mary. (2009). Nefertiti of Egypt. Capstone Publishing Company. Fletcher, Joann. (2004). Search for Nefertiti: The true story of an amazing discovery. Harper Collins Publishers. Moran, Michelle. (2007). Nefertiti. New York: Crown Pub. Tyldesley, Joyce A. (1999). Nefertiti: Egypt’s sun queen. Viking Adult. Weller, Doug. (2008). Nefertiti. New world encyclopedia. Retrieved (2010, February 25) from http://ww w. newworldencyclopedia. org

Distinguish between the money and capital markets Essay

Distinguish between the money and capital markets - Essay Example Money markets encompass a broad assortment of institutions and procedures that are related to and transact in short-term debt instruments (which have maturity periods of less than a year). These instruments are usually issued by borrowers that boast of high credit ratings. Good examples of instruments traded in money markets are U.S. Treasury bills, many federal agency securities, bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper and negotiable certificates of deposit. Common equities or shares of publically traded companies do not come under the money market. One of the distinguishing features of money market is that it is an intangible market, for most of the transactions are carried out through electronic network systems. Further, â€Å"the money market is designed for the making short-term loans where individuals and institutions with temporary surpluses of funds meet borrowers who have temporary cash shortages. One of the principal functions of the money market is to finance the wo rking-capital needs of corporations and to provide governments with short-term funds in lieu of tax collections. The money market also supplies funds for speculative buying of securities and commodities.† (www.thefutureofmoney.blogspot.com, 2009)

Evolution of Business Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evolution of Business Theories - Essay Example Interaction of Business Environments The term business environment can be simply defined as a set of economical, social, political, legal, and institutional conditions which are unmanageable in nature, and influence the day to day performance of an organization. The framework of business environment has two major components including internal environment and external environment. According to Daft and Marcic (2010), internal environment comprises of man, material, money, machinery, and management and it is usually within the control of business; whereas, external environment represents factors which are beyond the control of the organization (pp.47-48). The external environment is again subcategorized into two, such as macro environment and micro environment. Suppliers, customers, market intermediaries, competitors, and public constitute micro environment while macro environment includes economic, socio-cultural, technological, demographic, and international environments. Generally, external environments of organizations, particularly that of multinational corporations, relate to each other regardless of their industrial differences. According to Bird and Stevens, â€Å"increasingly, an identifiable and homogeneous group is emerging at least within the world business community† (cited in Samovar, Porter, and McDaniel, 2009, p.11). Researchers argue that cross cultural differences may or may not influence the interaction of business environments, because cultural elements largely deviate from region to region. Nowadays, a high level interaction is observed among business environments. Industrialization and urbanization together with the emergence of information technology provide infinite opportunities for business houses; and therefore, modern firms tend to expand internationally. Consequently, a number of international business models developed including import/export businesses, franchisee models, joint ventures, foreign direct investments, and mergers and acquisitions. Each of these models necessitates interaction of business environments. As Maznevski, Steger, and Amann (2007) comment, modern business management is a much complex task; and diversity, frequent market trend changes, and ambiguity are the major drivers of this complexity. This complexity in turn leads to uncertainty regarding future. Many management experts are of the view that global interdependence can have a great role in reducing modern business complexity. Hence, a number of organizations have recently adopted an interactive business style where its external environments communicate with each other. This increased interaction of business environments assists organizations to effectively predict future trends and immediately respond to unforeseen contingencies. In addition, business environments’ interactions have greatly aided firms to avoid unhealthy market competition and thereby to trim down unnecessary operational expenses. Furthermore, this policy would help companies to easily reach global customers and increase the geographical coverage of the business. Thus evidently, interaction of all business environments has led to the evolution of a globalized business environment, which offers infinite opportunities for modern organizations. Business Theories While analyzing the modern business era, the old paradigm of business practices seems unsuccessful because market and market trends have been notably changed over the past few decades. Nowadays

Enterprise in action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Enterprise in action - Essay Example The specific process needs to be developed in a series of phases, aiming to limit the chances of failures. However, in extremely turbulent market conditions, like the current ones, it is quite difficult for business opportunities to be identified and developed. The use of the effectual approach in the decision making process could help to manage such projects more effectively. Current paper presents the phases of the identification and the development of a business opportunity. Suggestions are made regarding the processes through which a business opportunity can be identified and developed. Appropriately literature has been also used for explaining the requirements and the challenges of the particular process. It is concluded that the use of appropriate techniques for identifying and developing the particular business opportunity can reduce the risks involved. However, it is necessary that all phases of the process are continuously monitored so that the chances for major losses to be eliminated. 2. Describing and processing the opportunity In order to identify and develop a business opportunity it is necessary to follow certain processes. These processes are analytically described below. At a first level, it is necessary to choose the approach on which the processes will be based. The effectual approach of decision-making has been chosen under the terms that the future conditions of the market involved cannot be precisely defined in advance – taking into consideration the strong market turbulences because of the global recession. Each of the phases of the processes is justified using relevant literature; additional literature is analytically presented in a separate section. 2.1 Effectual approach The effectual approach of the decision making process is based on the proposition that since certain elements of the future are known, there are measures that can be taken for controlling it, even if its precise characteristics are not known. In the terms of the business environment, the above approach means that the future performance of business plans can be guaranteed – at an important level - by taking measures which are appropriate in terms of the common market conditions. The above approach is not based on the perspective that the exact future conditions of the market can be known, a perspective accepted in the causal approach of decision making. For this reason, the effectual approach has been chosen as most appropriate for checking a business opportunity, since this approach has the following benefits: a) it does not require accurate decisions but just effective plans; emphasis is given on the construction of the business projects and not on the development of a series of decisions; this fact can help to save time in realizing the projects, b) it does not require precise goals or stable market environment; this fact is an advantage of the effectual approach taking into consideration the turbulences in the global market, c) i t does not require extensive market research, a fact that could also save time/ resources in the completion of the business project involved(Doke et al. 2007). The principles and the rules of the effectual approach have been critically examined in order to decide on their use in the identification/ development of a business opportunity. The effectual principles that have been proved more effective in the identific

Research Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Research - Article Example Whereas it is oftentimes true that a certain level of correlation relates to a similar cause, the assumption that these two are mutually exclusive is oftentimes what leads individuals down the primrose path of expectation. For instance, the medical researcher must be keenly aware of the fact that a correlated trend between two or more groups is not significant enough to assume that a similar causation is responsible for their occurrence. Many scholars point to the fact that as drugs are tested on humans or animals, scholars oftentimes take note of unique similarities between the test groups. Oftentimes, a preliminary representation of these findings lends one to believe that joint causation must be exhibited. However, such an assumption is more often than not incorrect and should instead cause the researcher/healthcare professional to review the data and perform further tests prior to jumping to conclusions. Ultimately, the scientific method is predicated upon the ability of the researcher to test and prove that the findings are accurate, correct, and repeatable (Lee, 2012). An individual that works in a chicken processing plant may notice that ambient room temperature has an impact upon the overall shelf life of the chicken that is stored within the warehouse. In such a way, ambient temperature as an impact upon shelf life that shelf life does not have an impact upon ambient and stop in such a way that, the relationship is causal. By means of comparison and contrast, the relationship could be with respect to the overall exhibition of violence within a particular region as compared to the overall number of cell phone towers is not (Gelder, 2013). Whereas it may be true that a decreased number of cell phone towers are exhibited within areas that are less violent than others, the correlation does not equate to a causation of the actual reasons for this violence. Ultimately,

The Symbiotic Relationship Between the United States and Britain Essay

The Symbiotic Relationship Between the United States and Britain - Essay Example The Second World War was initially fought on the European Continent and American role was marginal till it came under Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The American masses were generally against participation in a Continental War. The British were facing a crisis of sorts as France was overrun and the Soviet Union came under the throes of the biggest threat ever, Churchill the British Prime Minister was left to Britain’s dogged determination to survive the critical days till America joined the war effort. The incidents leading to Pearl Harbor, America’s reaction to Japan’s surprise attack and British response denote that Churchill had foreseen the eventuality of this strike and declared war against Japan within 24 hours. It was a momentous event and Churchill could not hide his glee at finally drawing America into the Great War, as this tipped the balance in favour of the Allies. (Churchill: 1970). A key event which not only determines the course of the Second World War but also the post-war alliance was drafting of the Atlantic Charter. Churchill had developed a personal rapport with the American President, Roosevelt. Drafting of the Charter was a triumph of Anglo American cooperation. The declaration included provisions as no territorial aggrandizement or changes by the alliance partners, right of people to choose the form of government, fair and equitable distribution of resources and creation of peace and stability within nations as also on the high seas. (Churchill: 1970). The United Nations was thus formed after the war and a number of nations freed from colonial dominance.

POEMS ABOUT DOCTORS AND PATIENTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

POEMS ABOUT DOCTORS AND PATIENTS - Essay Example Instead, the last stanza does conclude what is in the fourth stanza hence clarifying all the points to the reader. 5. When referring to the ‘you’, the speaker of the poem refers to the patient to whom she was visiting. This is because she said that the hospital lawn is being taken care just as a patient the patient is. 6. The first stanza does compare the lawn and the hospital rooms. When the speaker compares these two parts, she does show how the hospital is clean and well maintained hence the same does apply to the patients present in the hospital. 7. In the third stanza, the speaker draws back to the red and hideous battlefields where many young men were brought to that hospital when suffering from different injuries. This image shows that the hospital has treated many people suffering from different injuries and illnesses. This makes the staff and the doctors in the hospital to be experienced in what they do. 8. In the final stanza, the speaker of the poem describes a scene where a patient has passed away. This is because the speaker says that she turned and stepped inside an empty room while the previous day there was someone there. The machines are silent, and the bed is all made new. This shows that the patient who was there has passed away. 9. The poem is about the hospital and the patients who attend the hospital. The poem does describe how the hospital is maintained. The poem does also describe the different patients in the hospital. The poem does give a description of how the hospital treats its patients. Therefore, the theme of this poem is how patients are treated in the hospitals in comparison to how the environment of the hospital is. 11. The words after line seven portray that the speaker has a different understanding of religion. The speaker has an understanding that the religion is all about kneeling down in forest groves and asking for help. This

Hit or Misled Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hit or Misled - Essay Example There are vague areas in the law and the requirements can vary widely, especially when marketing in other countries. To further complicate the process, states may have state laws that may restrict certain brand names. Petty points this out by noting that "[] roughly half the U.S. states" recognize the right of a celebrity to control their name and likeness when used in product promotion (47). The legal requirements for branding and promoting a product often lie in the ability of the consumer to discern fact from fiction. The example of Bermuda shorts is an instance where no reasonable consumer would believe they are actually from Bermuda (46). However, the term Idaho potato may have less legal foundation as consumers may reasonably assume they are from Idaho. Processes that have become more generically accepted into the market, such as Swiss cheese, may be allowed by the courts. Adding to the complicated process of using endorsements is the legal requirement that any claims by a celebrity of expert must be factual. The expert must have the credentials to make the claim and the celebrity can only testify to their actual experience. This places the marketer in a position where they must carefully weigh what a court might consider truthful.

Competitors Analysis for Hoi Tin Tong Essay Example for Free

Competitors Analysis for Hoi Tin Tong Essay Hung Fook Tong (HFT) founded in 1986 and more than 120 stores in China and HK. HFT turned traditional herbal tea shop into a modern and innovative enterprise over the years which have over 100 products, including herbal jellies, herbal tea, homemade soups, and preservative-free healthy drinks. An innovation that helped both the popularity and the portability of herbal tea, they have more than 3000 retail points across the territory, including supermarkets, convenience shops, schools and restaurants. Kung Wo Tong (KWT) was established in 1904 by an imperial physician in the Qing Dynasty, there are total 10 stores in HK and 1 in China. The stores located along a main street and keeps old-fashioned herbal drinks shops in typical sized with limited even no decoration over hundred years. Most of shops sell four to six kinds of herbal drinks, but the herbal jelly is one staple that seldom miss the list. They keeps tradition way and focus more on the health benefits rather than its taste. HealthWorks (HW) started as a traditional Chinese herbal tea shop in 1989 and decided to modernize the company in 2000 in order to follow their global expansion plan. HW use modern technologies involves in develop, produce and distribute an array of traditional Chinese natural nourishing productions including herbal soup, herbal tea, medicinal tea, herbal jelly and other Chinese medicinal diet. There are 22 shops which mainly at MTR stations with trendy decoration and more than 1500 point of sales distributing ready-to-drinks herbal tea in various supermarkets and convenient stores Compare to HTT, customer regard KWT is more traditional and believe the products have more medical function while HFT and HW are trendier and provide health supplement goods. So, customers who go to HTT and KWT will be the local people who believe traditional herbal benefits, mainly the adult and elderly. The customers who go to HFT and HW will be younger age customers with health conscious and even tourists. HTT lost the competitive advances to HFT on product range and market coverage due to HFT do a good job at distribution strategy which has lots of products and large distribution channels. HFT also use price strategy to set their price is the lower among these competitor, these advances make HFT become the biggest herbal tea group in HK according to survey by AC Nelson. HTT use location strategy and branding strategy better than other competitors who have many chain stories and strong image, so HTT have competitive advances on sales network, number of chain stores and customer loyalty.

The cultural and memory institutions Essay Example for Free

The cultural and memory institutions Essay There has been a radical change for the cultural and memory institutions across United Kingdom and these changes are moreover due to the changing facet of technology and the growing feature of user demands. The modern trends influence the purpose of the traditional as well as modern culture preservation and its management. The new technology has brought about rapid changes with its ways to preserve culture in its conventional form by scholarly studies and development of supporting strategies. In this regard, the possible ways, UK’s cultural institutions should probably approach is discussed here in this report. The objective of this study is provide recommendations and options so as to make visible the country’s cultural institutions and actors. It is hopeful that the study will help to improve the way UK’s cultural actors organize for the predictable changes that will take place in the next five years. This report aims to converge the three main trends discussed in the report – technology, culture, their interaction in order to increase the social participation and how new emerging web technology and online services can help to increase the public participation in culture. Definitely, internet technology or more profoundly, digitization has changes the scenario to a large extent and has created demands for on-demand, continuously available, personal access to products. Almost every library, archives and museums in UK have become digital by now and have changed their roles from the customary bodies to hybrid organizations that know how to take care of all the various cultural resources. The adaptation of the cultural contents to the digital form of content has presented a new dimension to the society to access their cultural heritage in ways that were unbelievable about a decade ago. According to Paul Fiander, Chief of BBC Information and records, UK, â€Å"The dividend from investment into going digital is substantial. † With the increasing levels of knowledge in the society, there will always be an increasing demand for quality and rich content and the Cultural institutions can cater to this need of learning services that are needed at all levels of the society. The modern internet technologies can play a major role in enhancing and delivering new content about culture heritage of the society. With this addition of innovative internet technologies, users will be able to enjoy easier access to their cultural lives and will be able top actively participate in events and cultural communities world wide. Users will be able to locate their areas of interest, visit virtual museums, and libraries to search for information they would have to toil hard to obtain. According to David Bearman,AMICO, â€Å"Offering highly interactive and rich environments will become a competitive factor within the cultural heritage community. In the future, we will expect that you can manipulate digital images in many ways, turn them around, look at the bottom, etc. Those resources that you cannot manipulate will be perceived as second rate. Moreover, the museums they come from will be perceived as second rate. † Displays, narrations and visuals combined with studies or information are learnt to have more positive effect on any student or end user. Latest advancements can provide a more effective and interactive learning environment for the users to add value to their studies and research works based on cultural heritage. Nevertheless, technology cannot alone boost the growing needs to reinforce a cultural scenario within the British society or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, but it also requires the understanding and the intellectual â€Å"capital† to create and develop new and rich cultural content material. This will help the cultural institutions to unlock the rich cultural heritage to the masses. Meanwhile the private sector has already started its efforts in the direction to re-invent the cultural content online. Amazon, BBC, Wikipedia, Second Life and MySpace have out in considerable efforts in this field and have changes the content landscape on the internet within a short period of time. These companies have done revolutionary digitization changes with the existing online content and have improved it beyond imagination. The truth is that they are inevitably assimilating. However, the next big question is that, what are most suitable policies that can meet the desired aims to merge technology and culture at the same time and what will the opportunities that online cultural opportunities can bring forward in a fast changing world. This paper throws some light in these issues and what can be the roles that the different organizations can play to achieve this aim.

New Era Of Science And Technology

New Era Of Science And Technology In this new era of science and technology, it is very difficult to imagine people working without assistance of computers. Our dependency on computers has led to the rapid development of faster, smaller microprocessor, multi-tasking software and better graphics cards for them. Computes already become a daily activities needs for personal, social, educational, professional, and entertainment purposes. Today video game are very famous, almost 75% of heads of household play computer or video game and game habit can found in everywhere such as working desktop, palm-held device with or without network connection. In this case, video games allow learners to visual system in three dimensions compare simulation with their understanding and manipulate variables. This paper intend to present ongoing research on feasibility of game technology to create interactive 3D environment that easier for user to view the photorealistic of the campus and immersive navigation as a tool for campus analysis and visualization. 3D campus now is the famous virtual reality environment in this new era. By using such game engine, it is possible to create engaging interaction such as user clicking on particular object, AI on Non Playing Character to interact with player and/or environment. At the end, I will present the feature of the game engine. The advantages and the limitation of using game engine to develop a virtual reality environment. Why Virtual Reality Environment for Campus In this new era, Virtual Reality (VR) is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds. VR include a wide range of new technologies that offer the viewer an experience they participate in. Besides, people can see a first person perspective on screen because they have the ability to control their point of view. VR engages us with interactivity, and invites us to be active in the experience, as if we are really there. VR has already been used in special applications to treat motor problems, or disabilities induced by mental problems with promising results and so on. Nowadays, VR is a new way of optimization between computer and human. Because VR can construct more realistic virtual world in 3D vision, audible, tactile. It can also help users to through the virtual environment to interact to the virtual entities designed through a nature feeling. 3Ds Max is a software to create virtual world, which can describe 3D object. Users normally construct virtual world by integrating various media style such as text, picture, and sound and so on. We are using 3Ds Max to build modeling of TAR college. Because 3Ds Max is more expressive that a simple 3D scene. It can show campus scenery through the net. Users can virtually walk into campus, feeling the nature entities of campus scene. Besides, users can acquaint him with each buildings relative position and its function. In every building user can learn by in teractive materials. Features like these are very important for those are fresh and foreign users can also login the net to explore out virtual campus. What is Game Engine? Game engines provide a suite of visual development tools in addition to reusable software components. These tools are generally provided in an integrated development environment to enable simplified, rapid development of games in a data-driven manner. Game Engine provide flexible and reusable software platform which provides all the core functionality needed, complexities, to develop a game application while reducing costs, and time-to-market. Game engines usually provide platform abstraction, allowing the same game to be run on various platforms including game consoles and personal computers with few, if any, changes made to the game source code. Some game engines are able to provide real-time 3D rendering capabilities instead of the wide range of functionality required by games. These types of engines are considered as graphics engine, rendering engine, or 3D engine instead of the more encompassing term game engine. Unity 3D also considers as a multi-platform game development tool. It is fully object-oriental design and FPS (First Person Shooter) controller ready to program. Unity 3D consist of API for develop RTS (Real Time Strategy) and FPS type of game genre. Benefit of Game Engine Game engines offer several of features and opportunities:- Tracking and logging of individuals and their behavior if the world is represented digitally, it can be recorded precisely. Security features individuals may be prevented from entering certain parts of the world, in fact, the engine could restrict anything they do; Vandalism in the real world, reconstructing a demolished building is essentially impossible whereas in a digital world it is not; Detachment users cannot harm each other physically because they are probably in different parts of the real world, and engulfed in a virtual one; Censorship the engine would be able to define what a certain individual can and cannot see, or what they can and cannot do; Empowering everyone share the same abilities independent of actual physical state; Reproduction if we record the world like a video, we could replay it at will, from any place at any time through any view. Comparison of Game Engines With the number of game engines increasing, today game engine provide the most advance features such as complex model, artificial intelligent, graphic engine, as well as networking, sound engine and modification tool. Most leading game engine based on game title namely: Unreal Tournament 3 and Half Life 2 has relatively equal ability in graphic engine, physic engine and development tool. These categories are essential in this research for its visualization and flexibility to modification although limited to game level only. Unity 3D is not based on game title and can be used to develop new game with game play, game logic and environment. Game Engine for Visualization Tool Game Engine can use to develop various natures of projects. Normally, the game world is built by importing its entire object from particular CAD/3D applications such as 3Ds Max. In this case, game engine usually comes with the game itself becomes a platform on which modification is taking place. Modifying game level for architecture visualization purpose is stimulating because it opens up the game engine for real time data rendering and manipulation. Game engines could quickly develop models and deploy it with texture and lighting effect in game engine-based application with no further demand on high-end computer specification Actually a lot of technical specification on each engine, I had focus on the findings some primary functions of game engine such as 3D geometry data input/output, lighting and texture mapping. This consideration was taken mainly because those basic functions are the most significant functions that take advantage from the 3D rendering and animation software. The summary of this study is depicted by Table 1. Table 1 Summary of game engines for visualization. Engine Name Geometries I/O Lighting Texture Mapping Unreal Engine 2 Built-in editor, any CAD data must be converted Dynamic lighting and shadow, HDR (High Dynamic Range) Rendering 3D vegetation generator, shader management Source-Half-Life 2 No built-in editor, any CAD data must be converted Dynamic lighting and shadow, HDR (High Dynamic Range) Rendering Optimization for large open area CryEngine Natively read most of CAD file format Dynamic lighting and shadow, Time of day lighting Heightmap and polygon reduction Game Engine for Interactivity Tool In addition to visualization, virtual environment also has provide users with interactive and communication systems. The virtual environment will only be useful if it supports physically realistic behavior. The types of realistic behaviors depend on the specific application. In architecture and campus design, usually we demand realistic representation of spatial environment with naturalistic effect as well as dynamic elements that inhabit it. Moreover, for interactive tool that could enhance spatial awareness and comprehension to further make better design decision, it is important to consider how user can interact with game objects. In this case, I found that two previous projects are using built-in interactivity tool in game engines. Since interactivity is the element that is not provided by any 3D rendering and animation software, it is easy to us to use this function to enhance the quality of architecture visualization. Table 2 Summary of game engines for interaction. Engine Name Interactivity function HalfLife 2 Built-in interaction editor, limited only for non-playable objects. Basic navigation provided. Renderware C++ script to build interaction with objects and users Both of these game engines are ease for use. Scripting mechanism is the main issue to create the interactivity by using game engine. For use in campus design, interaction system is based on the assumption that we can observe, examine as well as explore in 3D in real world whatever objects or entities we want to interact with. This kind of demand may require script programming in order to get high flexibility and freedom to achieve goals. APPLICATIONS Following are some applications that can create by Game Engine:- Entertainment Game engines exist purely for the purpose of gaming and entertainment but a huge industry exists around not just the content of the game, but the technology behind them. Innovations because of internet have led to a huge surge for online gaming, where a number of players owning the same game compete head-to-head or with each other in the same game environment. Warfare American army cadets already use games to practice tank and infantry battles either individually or as teams. Real practice sessions in real tanks are expensive, whereas a game world is easily reset within a few moments. The American government developed a game that would accurately recreate the operations of the U.S. Army, with the intention of signing on new recruits. Battles are fought in a full 3D world between groups of people with an internet connection. Medicine 3D games (specifically for gaming) are used as relaxants if a patient is undergoing a painful procedure, pre-occupying that patient with a game served by a VR headset can cut their perception of pain in half. The effect is not as significant if the patient is playing in 2D or in a non-immersive world. Exhibitions Digitalo Studios developed two exhibitions using the Unreal game engine: high resolution walkthroughs of the Notre Dame and the Florida Everglades National Park. The intent was to replicate the environments and populate them with simple characters. There are many reasons to use a licensed game engine in this context by default, they include a powerful renderer, interactivity and multi-user features. The target platform is identical a standard PC. Impact on 21st Century Classroom There are multiple barriers to properly implementing game design into the 21st century classroom. Highlighted below are six primary obstacles which will need to be addressed prior to utilizing game design broadly in our college: Negative perceptions toward video games as educational components. Much of this comes from a lack of understanding of educators of the difference between arcade style video games to more complex role-playing, graphically dense, and cognitively viable modem games. The difficulty of providing state of the art graphics in educational video games. The students enthusiasm for gaming may be diminished if the quality of the graphics utilized in the classroom are not equivalent to the graphics they are used to seeing on home consoles. Lack of adequate computing hardware in the classrooms to run advanced video games a one-to-one student computer ratio is not in the near future. A school day divided by short class periods which hindered long term engagement in complex games. Researchers must determine if a student is interrupted while in the process of engaging in a learning objective within the gaming environment, do the interruptions interfere in the students learning process? The findings of this research will dictate the type of short activities that could be developed to align with the school day. A lack of real world affordances. A lack of alignment to state standards. Video games pre-aligned to state standards (where they exist) would have an easier time getting into our classrooms. Why Unity 3D? Unity3D is a software application and 3D game development environment. It can call as Game Engine. Unity 3D Game Engine allows users to create immersive, interactive, 3D games and simulations. However, the games and simulations that are created with Unity can be easily played on Linux and Windows computers, using either a web-browser plug-in, or running a self-contained executable program. Unity consider as GUI based and it can easily to imports 3D models and animation from a variety of 3D design software applications. Compared to many other game engines, Unity is relatively easy to learn, using it can still be used to develop rich and robust games and applications. Finally, Unity allows users to choose from a different of coding and scripting languages to program the interactivity and artificial intelligence components of the game. E.g. C# and JavaScript 4.2 Visualization Techniques In order to achieve graphic performance as appropriate as the most 3D rendering applications, we explored Unity3D capability to handle basic function such as large scale texture mapping and dynamic lighting (see Figure 5). The main factor taken into consideration is the balance between graphic performance and real-time simulation. Adjusting texture map with orthographic photograph Applying final texture in 3D mesh in Unity3D 3D Model in Blender, baked- lighting using ambience occlusion technique to render texture map Figure Procedure of texture mapping and baked-lighting. For such condition, there are two constraints of texture mapping to obtain greater performance both in graphics and game play (see Figures 6 7): 1. Texture size must be as small as possible and visually appropriate. 2. Texture must be layered with baked-lighting information to get lighting effect (ambient occlusion) during game play. -image size : original 1024 x 1024 pixel -memory consume : 652 KB -visual quality : high quality, antialiasing, detailed relief -image size : 512 x 512 pixel -memory consume : 170.7 KB -visual quality : appropriate quality, nearly no-difference from 1000 x 1000 pixel -image size : 256 x 256 pixel -memory consume : 42.7 KB -visual quality : poor and loose detail Figure Comparison of texture size. The Investigation on Using Unity3D Game Engine Texture Size and Memory Consumption Figure 7 Memory size comparisons Interaction Technique Virtual reality in game-based environment can categorize into two parts which are game world and game design. Game world consist of game environment and all game objects. Game design consists of game scenario that determines how the game will be played and how the game world would interact with the user or with other game objects. Intention on investigating Unity3D is to explore its ability as a tool for design study, how it different from any other available 3D applications or any 3D viewer and presentation authoring applications and what is the advancement (see Table 4). Therefore before we expand our investigation, we start with architecture design point of view. We regard game engine as an engine to develop our tool therefore it is important to consider aspects of design study to be incorporated in this application and at the same time investigating the method and technique to accommodate such requirements. Table 4 Game Design and requirement Game Design Unity3D- based application Other applications create 3D environment which visual quality balance with the game performance maximum visual quality for real world representation, i.e. : light and shadow, alpha channel, texture map, time-frame independent animation less visual quality features (VRML, Flash-based) create system of navigation which allow user to explore with maximum degree of freedom allow maximum degree of freedom to explore and navigate in virtual environment pre-programmed animation sequence (3D animation), less flexible freedom of movement (QuickTime VR) view direction, high degree of navigation system (Bentley-3D PDF) create system of navigation which allow user to examine particular object of interest in various way of perspectives method to enhance spatial comprehension view direction, high degree of navigation system (Bentley-3D PDF) create method to incorporate various type of information rich content and other data bounding technique require script language and server-based interaction (Flash-based) create method to accommodate flexible 3D data exchange method for 3D data interchangeable to external tool less flexible to perform data synchronization (Flash-based and other animation packages) create a method to translate conventional analysis study method to perform some basic visual-based analysis less flexible flexibility to expand game design Object-oriented programming 4.3.1 Navigation The navigation system is the main important to be considered in this application. As for a tool to examine 3D world, the main considerations of developing navigation system are: 1. It must be easy to learn, easy to remember and easy to use with maximum intuitive level as possible. 2. It must have rich features on minimum key input As navigation system is crucial both for exploration and comprehension of 3D environment, we then elaborate the design of navigation system into the following criteria: There are two main navigation systems: Human Eye View (HEV) (First Person Camera) and Bird Eye View (BEV). Both are triggered by mouse stroke on an icon. On each navigation method, instead of using icon-based navigation panel for pan, zoom, orbit and others (see Figure 8), each method has contextual button using mouse-keyboard stroke combination. In BEV: zoom: using mouse scroll wheel orbit: using mouse movement pan: using mouse left click and drag Figure Pan, zoom and orbital navigation using mouse In FPS, we use standard view navigation for FPS game (see Figure 9) : look and turn : using mouse movement walk forward : using key w walk backward : using key s slide left : using key a slide right : using key d Figure Turn/look and move toward direction using mouse and keyboard combination. All these navigation system are programmed using Unity3D JavaScript since it does not provide any built-in navigation system as available on previous web-based applications.

Sickle Cell Anemia :: essays research papers fc

The problem is that sickle cell anemia affects about 72,000 Americans in the United States. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease in which the body is unable to produce normal hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein. Abnormal hemoglobin can morph cells that can become lodged in narrow blood vessels, blocking oxygen from reaching organs and tissues. The effects of sickle cell anemia are bouts of extreme pain, infectious, fever, jaundice, stroke, slow growth, organ, and failure. Sickle cell anemia hurts many people today in fact it hurts about 72,000 Americans. But some doctors are finding cures for this inherited disease. This disease causes mainly strokes and fever. With this disease a stroke is not predictable, a stroke can happen as early as a one month old as a baby. It can hurt a person really bad because it causes them to not be able to do many things like can't play sports, and things that gets your heart pumping because if the red blood cells gets clogged up it can causes a stroke because oxygen can't flow. Most Americans who have sickle cell anemia are of African descent. The disease also affects Americans from the Caribbean, Central America, and parts of South America, Turkey, Greece, Italy, the Middle East and East India. Since sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease if both parents have the trait for sickle cell, their baby's chances of having sickle cell disease is one in four. Many doctors are trying to find cures for this disease by trying the solution on patients. Doctors at Emory University and University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Chicago. Doctors in Emory University in Atlanta credited an experimental stem cell transplant that for the first time is not from a related donor. This transplant cured the inherited disease from Keone Penn who is 13 years old from Georgia. He suffered a stroke at 5 years old and had a fever of 106 degrees, "I almost died" (Ferraro, Newspaper Article) What the doctors did was replaced the boy's bone marrow with stem cells taken from the umbilical cord blood of an infant not related to him. Dr. Ruby Bellevue of New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn has patient that he wants to do the transplant procedure on, but he is waiting for more studies to come out to see what the long-term effects are. Some effects could be rejection, complications, and/or death.

Grace Kelly :: essays research papers

Even before Grace Kelly married a prince, she had the aura of a princess. Frank Sinatra once commented, "Grace was a princess from the moment she was born." She had remarkable elegance and sophistication that made her different from other Hollywood actresses. Some say she had an undertone of fire beneath her charm. Alfred Hitchcock, who directed her in three films, called her "a snow covered volcano". Grace was born into a family of fame and success. Her father was a wealthy bricklayer, her brother was a champion sculler, and her uncle, George Kelly was a famous playwright. They set a hard example to follow and Grace sometimes felt pressured by her family’s reputation for prosperity. She lived up to and even surpassed the fame of her family members. Grace served many roles in her life as an actress, princess and mother. 	When Grace Kelly first walked on stage as Virgin Mary at age six, people knew she was magic. She had a passion for the stage that her father could not understand. He had a poor opinion of the acting profession, but then his daughter had always been a mystery to him. Being so energetic and outgoing himself, he found it hard to understand a daughter who enjoyed sitting still, reading or writing. Grace begged him to enroll her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and he reluctantly agreed. Her mother also disapproved of sending her to New York. She worried about the dangers lurking in wait for an innocent girl in New York City, but Sending Grace to the Academy proved to be a valuable decision. Grace loved the Academy and worked hard there, modeling in her spare time. She faced many rejections before she landed her first film role, Fourteen Hours in 1951. She also starred in many other films such as High Noon, High Society and Rear Window. Perhaps her best role of all was in The Country Girl, where she played the shabby wife of an alcoholic. Before, she had mostly played roles that were similar to her own personality. In The Country Girl, she broke free from this restraint to play a depressed, bedraggled woman. Many people, including her costar Bing Crosby, opposed to her playing this role. They saw her as being too genteel. Her extraordinary performance stunned the world, and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1954.

Islands As A Narration Of A Yo :: essays research papers

A. Hemon’s Islands is the narrative of a young boys initiation into the adult world. The boy travels to a place he has never been before, far away from all the comforts of his childhood home. The island is full of secrets about the ‘adult world’ and the terrible things that can happen within it. While away, he learns shocking lessons about the world in which he lives, mainly from his Uncle Julius, who tells scary stories that he thinks the boy should know about. The boy is unprotected from everything on the island and everything it contains. Through this unprotected environment, he learns things about the adult world that are not learned anywhere else.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the car on the way to the coast, the boy almost loses his voice by singing â€Å"communist songs the entire journey.† (129) By his singing songs about â€Å"mournful mothers looking through graves for their dead sons† and â€Å"the revolution† the boy demonstrates his naivity. He is, after all, just a young boy. His limited life experience is shown in his singing such songs, without understanding the full meanings and connotations that those songs carry. The boys’ innocence is emphasized here, as these are ‘adult’ songs and it is only, generally, children who sing on car journeys until their voices are gone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Even before boarding the boat, the boy begins to notice how ugly age and adulthood can be. He notices the â€Å"gnarled knees , the spreading sweat stains on their shirts and sagging wrinkles of fat on their thighs.† (129) At one point, he sees â€Å"one of the Germans, an old, bony man† get down on his knees and then vomit over the pier edge. The boy sees this, but still relates it back to something he understands. â€Å"The vomit Catherine Henderson hit the surface and then dispersed in different directions, like children running away to hide from the seeker.† (130) Again, by relating something so grotesque to something so childlike and innocent, the boy reminds the reader that he is still just a young child, not yet ready to deal with this kind of adult vision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once boarded on the boat and sailing to Mljet, the boy loses his hat. It is not just a hat though, it is his hat that shielded him from the grown-ups and the adult way of life. If he wanted to look at them properly, he had to raise his head. The hat was a â€Å"round straw hat with all the seven dwarfs painted on it.† (129) When the gust of

The Villancico

During the late fifteenth century in Spain, King Ferdinand along with other Spanish courts influenced the idea to develop their own idea of music. The Villancico was the product of this movement and became the most influential secular polyphonic style in the Spanish Renaissance. Songs were based on subjects that were talked about throughout Spain and were only composed for aristocracy. These short songs included a refrain and one or more stanzas. Meanwhile, in Italia the counterpoint to this was the Frottola, which was a four part strophic song that is set syllabically with the melody in the upper voice, that include marked rhythms and very simple diatonic harmonies. However, as history progresses new things are invented and soon the madrigal endured the frottola, the madrigal would to be the most important secular style in the sixteenth century Europe, predominantly Italia, and one could argue of the entire Renaissance era and its entirety. During the course of this essay I will be discussing the background of how the madrigal came to be, as well as an introduction to how it slowly rose to the top of the charts in Italia as well as Europe, as well as the madrigal itself explaining its influence in society and to musicians all over Europe, and lastly the composers and what inspired them to grow the movement that would stand strong for years after their departure. To the knowledge of mankind at the moment we are unsure directly of the condition the madrigal had before the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg; but, though there is missing evidence, there is a very small margin of doubt that the early phases must have some correlation as we are aware of the later ones have done. It is thought that the people responsible for the origination process were, the Troubadours and the Minnesingers, these groups had a very strong influence in popular music during the middle ages. In Florence during the fourteenth century a very unique style of poetry was introduced to the composers that would spark the madrigalists and would produce one of the best composers of the time Francesco Landini to write madrigals. Now a side note, the fourteenth century madrigals are different from the sixteenth century ones. â€Å"Madrigal, in music, secular composition for two or more voices, introduced in Italy in the fourteenth century and revived in a different form during the sixteenth century, at which time it also became popular with English, French, German, and Spanish composers.† (4). For the most of the fifteenth century the music of Italy was sought out by the composing masters in the northern regions of France along with parts of the Netherlands. Late into the fifteenth century the native tradition of music that was very keened to the Italians, whos way of life was soon salvaged by the patronage noblemen in Florence as well as Mantua. As the fifteenth century carries on, Spain begin to see a slight rise in the musical field during the Ferdinand and Isabella campaign – yes the very same who sent Christopher Columbus to find a new way to India – the king and queen wanted the courts to find a new style that would encourage unity and glorify Spain. The product of this is the Villancico, which was the most important polyphonic form for them in the Renaissance time period. The form of this style uses AAB stanza structures like most songs from the middle ages, the melody was always carried by the top voice while the other parts could be either sung or played by instruments. When Italia knew the news of this new form being produced in Spain, they slowly developed a counterpart which is called the Frottola. The frottola was a tune that was used to sing poetry with, with the ending of each line having a cadence of some sort, with the upper voice providing the melody and lower parts the harmonial foundation. The features of this music was very simple and satritical, made for the courtly elite during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. According to Fenlon and Haar, â€Å"the publication of Pisano's Musica of 1520 put a stop to the publication of frottola collections without encouraging the rise or development of the madrigal or even the publication of new compositions of this sort†¦ It was only with the appearance of the undated Libro primo de la Fortuna, which Einstein placed about fifteen twentynine, that the first true madrigals reached print. The intervening period was regarded as an ‘artistic pause', a larval stage of undermined length and character.† (6). It was around this time in the sixteenth century that the madrigal made its appearance into the Italian lives, and began to have a long outstanding impact on the composers and music as a whole. â€Å"As a literary type, the madrigal of the sixteenth century is a free imitation of the fourteenth century madrigal. This literary movement was a great stimulus to musical activity. The musicians of the early sixteenth century, at first Netherlands composers working in Italy, cooperated with the poets in order to achieve a new style of artistic refinement and expression.† (2) † A Madrigal, is a form of vocal chamber music that originated in northern Italy during the fourteenth century, declined and all but disappeared in the fifteenth, flourished anew in the sixteenth, and ultimately achieved international status in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.† (1). Madrigals date back to Italia in the fourteenth century, the madrigals then were based on a poem that was pretty constant of a couple to three stanzas with each having exactly three lines, with about seven to eleven syllables per line. It was most often seen polyphonically (many voice parts) in just two parts, the form that was used reflected musically from the structure of the poem that was used for the piece. The most common madrigals have a form that is AAB with both of the stanzas as the A section being sung to the exact same music as the first, this is then followed by the B section, or the coda, which kinda finishes up the poem. In the early sixteenth century the madrigal owed the style to the lyrics of Petrarch, the poetry at this time was very enjoyed and had an asstounding revival. â€Å"Madrigali de diversi musici: libro primo de la Serena (Rome, fifteen thirty) is the first collection of pieces to bear the title ‘madrigal'. Its eight works by Verdelot, one by the Ferrarese Maistre Jhan and two by each of the Festas are characteristic of the new genre but it contains, like the diverse prints of the fifteen twenties, some lighter pieces and even a few French chansons.† (5). In the very early stages many songs were written in homophonic style (this is a dominant melody, sometimes predominant, with a somewhat subordinate accompaniment) and is typically intended for four voices. One of the most influential composers of the madrigal was Philippe Verdelot, the french international spent most of his time in Italy, he is arguably considered to be called the father of the Italian madrigal even though he is french. However, he is the most prolific and one of the earliest composers of the madrigal in his time, spending most of it in Florence after the city was revived by Medici. In fifteen thirty three or fifteen thirty four, two books of Verdelot madrigals were officially printed in Venice, Italy. These books were soon to be the most popular collections of music at the time. By fifteen forty, Verdelot and Arcadelt were seen as the masters of the madrigal, although there are many other composers of the first generation some include, Francesco Layolle, Corteccia, Domenico Ferrabosco, and Costanzo Festa. Festa was an important figure in the creation of a subcategory of madrigals, the three voice. The possible interest in this three voice madrigal is said to be stimulated by the three voice chansons in Rome around the fifteen twenties to fifteen thirties. His three voice madrigals were printed and reprinted countless times due to popularity for the simple and elegant style. It is difficult to see from Festa's point of view to assess his importance, but nonetheless he was a figure that helped grow popularity for the musical genre. Arcadelt was seen to have followed in the footsteps of Verdelot, the madrigals of Arcadelt were published in five books that had a good diversity of one, three or four voices between the time of fifteen thirty eight to fifteen forty four, and many of his works appear alongside Verdelot in manuscripts. Many of the poetic literature that Arcadelt chose showed a very close relationship to the ballata style and some form of the canzone as well. His madrigals are shown to contain a fairly decent about of counterpoint, within this texture he was able to blend the idea of sound and sense. There is however no proof in any form that shows that Arcadelt or Verdelot lived in Venice, Italy at any point in time. During the middle of the sixteenth century the classical style of Arcadelt was still widely used even though the madrigal genre was very rapidly changing. The rising composer in Venice was Willaert, he soon became the head musical figure ther from fifteen twenty seven until his death in fifteen sixty two. According to the Oxford University Press, â€Å"In several respects this differs from what Verdelot and Arcadelt had done, even from Willaert's own earlier work. Willaert here set the verse of Petrarch in preference to that of that of 16th-century Petrarchists; he favoured the sonnet, dividing it so that a piece in two sections or partes, like a motet, resulted.† (5). The voices that are used in his madrigals are freed as if someone were speaking more so than exact. The pupils of his fairly imitated his style in many ways with questionable success. Due to Willaert's strong impact in the fifteen forties the town of Venice, Italy was the prime center of all madrigal composition in europe. The outer cities were were greatly influenced by the Venetian way of musical culture. In the fifteen fifties, the level of chromaticism began to please the ear of society, again it is said that Willaert and his circle of pupils took the head figure. A composer by the name of Rore became of prime importance to the new innovations that were sweeping the madrigalists. The early madrigals shows that there must be some association with Willaert. The focus on the meaning of poetry led Rore to be able to fluidly run lines together, ending some phrases in the middle of the line, even disregarding some rules here and there. However, a new power emerges in fifteen fifty five as Palestrina and Lassus both finished their first book of madrigals. The figure of Palestrina though could not be deciphered, as he was very commonly opinionated as a follower of Arcadelt, which to many historians seems unfitting and unjust. Although Lassus was strongly associated with Rore and Willaert, his writings were very complex in nature. Palestina on the other hand was seen as a stand out, a conservative of sorts from the experimental side of things. â€Å"The madrigals are as a class appropriately lighter in texture and more flexible in rhythmic motion than the motets, and they make sharper use of contrasts. Yet they share the general lucidity of texture common in his music, and this quality may well have contributed to the popularity of the most famous among them.† (5). This made Palestrina a strong figure as a known madrigalist than people tend to admit. His books show a joy in the popularity of Rome during the time period, and many works are seen to be written for a private devotional setting. Meanwhile in england during the latter sixteenth century there was a greater concentration of madrigal compositions being written. The madrigal is said to be associated with London music printing, which in fifteen eighty eight began under Byrd. In the fifteen nighties, Morley, weelkes and Wilbye began to shine as prolific composers for england. Morley was a young chap that was very keen to Italy was a major role in guiding the english madrigal development. He enlisted more madrigals than anyone else in his time, he set a stylistic normality that was soon followed by other madrigalists in england, this game him a position of quality power along with prestige. Unfortunately for England, the madrigal was short lived after the death or Morley and Queen Elizabeth, once then the madrigal began a decline. This new growing mood struck and action against Petrarchism. The history after the year sixteen hundred merely comes down to the study of minor figures who wrote only a few songs with some success. The period of English madrigals to some composers were seen as more abstracted in tradition. Many of whom seemingly ignored or merely did not understand the madrigal, they style of text or how to treat the words in a harmonic style. â€Å"After the second decade of the 17th century, no work of any lasting reputation was produced, and the style soon fell into neglect. Under the Stuart dynasty polyphonic song lost much of its popularity, and the civil war crushed out all artistic feeling† (3). The madrigal was a popular choice throughout the Renaissance, but like most good things, they come to and end for a period of time before they are drawn out again. The madrigal gave a new enlightenment to the people and the composers that wrote them. Without the madrigal we may not have the style that we use to day when we sing or hear instruments play. It opened doors that were used for many years and gave the opportunity for improvement. The madrigal set norms that may not have been set without it and if they were it would have been many years after and who knows where we would be today without its unique style. Although this style is no longer written today, there are still societies and groups in schools that show a great appreciation to the genre, and form madrigal clubs that only sing them. After the madrigal fell out the opera became the talk of the town and it is believed the reason as to why the madrigal fell short is what seems like only an eighty year span. Work CitedBritannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. â€Å"Madrigal.† Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, Inc., 19 Nov. 2017, www.britannica.com/art/madrigal-vocal-music. â€Å"The Italian Madrigal of the Renaissance.† The Italian Madrigal of the Renaissance, www.lcsproductions.net/MusicHistory/MusHistRev/Articles/ItMadrglRen.html.†History of the Madrigal.† Music Of Yesterday, musicofyesterday.com/history/history-madrigal/. â€Å"Madrigal.† Edited by Wilfrid Mellers, Madrigal, Colorado University, autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy3/E64ContentFiles/MusicAndTerms/madrigal.htm.†Madrigal.† Grove Music, Oxford University Press, 22 Dec. 2017, www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040075#.Fenlon, Lain, and James Haar. â€Å"The Italian Madrigal in the Early Sixteenth Century.† Google Books, Cambridge University Press, books.google.com/books?id=ffA8AAAAIAAJ;printsec=frontcover;dq=madrigal;hl=en;sa=X;ved=0ahUKEwjmn9eM7vvZAhWJ3YMKHU1FBhIQ6AEISDAG#v=onepage;q=madrigal;f=false.

Neiman Marcus Sales Plan

Neiman Marcus is a premier luxury retailer with distinctive merchandise and superior service. They opened in Dallas, Texas in 1908. Since 1908, Neiman Marcus has opened 40 additional stores. In 2010, the current count is 41 retail stores and 28 clearance centers called Last Call Neiman Marcus. As you can see from the chart, Neiman Marcus sells very diverse items. The largest category is women’s apparel, followed by women’s shoes, handbags and accessories, men’s apparel and shoes, cosmetics and fragrances, designer and precious jewelry, home furnishings and decor and the smallest category is other items. Neiman Marcus’s Mission Statement: â€Å"Neiman Marcus Stores will be the premier luxury retailer recognized for merchandise leadership and superior customer service. We will offer the finest fashion and quality products in an exceptional environment. † For the fiscal year 2010, Neiman Marcus had strong sales numbers. The total sales in the first quarter included the months of August, September, and October. The total sales were $ 869 million. The second quarter included the months of November, December, and January. The total sales were $ 1,102 million. The third quarter included the months February, March, and April. The total sales in the third quarter were $ 895 million. These figures include all 41 retail stores and the Neiman Marcus on-line website. According to the latest annual report from the U. S. Census Bureau the total amount of sales for the U. S. retail industry was $ 4. 13 trillion. This report comes from the calendar year ending in December 2009. Neiman Marcus has three top competitors. They are Barneys New York, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Even though there are many other luxury retailers, only the three listed above can compete with Neiman Marcus’s customer service and diversity of products. Code of Ethics The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. placed a Code of Ethics and Conduct to all its sales associates. The following are only a few examples of the policies that were placed. Protecting Customer Information When it comes to customer information, Neiman Marcus is dedicated to protect their customer’s confidential information. The company places the responsibility of protecting customer information to each sales associate that comes in contact with that information. Not only is certain information protected by state and federal laws, it is also protected by the company’s own data security policies. Sales associates are prohibited from using a client’s personal information on personal PDA’s or any personal computer for future reference. Conflicts Of Interest Neiman Marcus’s Code of Ethics and Conduct describes situations in which sales associates should avoid. According to the Code of Conduct, associates should avoid any situations that their personal interests could conflict to those of the company. The sales associate should avoid lending money to its customers for them to buy from the company nor should he or she use the company’s information or a customer’s confidential information for personal gain. It is also stated that the â€Å"associates should not accept any gifts†. These rules are made to avoid any unethical transactions between its associates and its customers or other parties. Discipline For Violations Neiman Marcus has disciplinary guidelines for sales associates who authorize, condone, or participate in actions that violate not only the company’s policies but the law. This also applies to sales associates who encourage others to retaliate against whistleblowers. Sales associates who withhold information relating to a violation are also at risk of disciplinary action. Sales associates who also submit false reports of violations or suspected violations which are made in bad faith will also receive disciplinary action. Neiman Marcus also prohibits sales associates to share employee discounts. Because the company regards the employee discount as a courtesy and privilege extended to the employee, if discovered, sales associates can have their benefit revoked or be terminated. Recruiting and Selecting Part of how Neiman Marcus selects its sales force is through its interview process. Part of that process is the use of a personality assessment to screen for desirable candidates to fit with Neiman Marcus’s ideology. The screening tests are supposed to help an interviewer have objective information that is not subject to biases. According to the Dalrymple’s Sales Management text â€Å"Testing was found to be one of the most reliable predictors of entry level job success. † Three main tests mentioned are intelligence, personality, and aptitude. The application process is as follows: after a candidate completes a job application on a HRIS (Human Resource Information System) they are then transferred to the SHL system and complete an assessment test. They are then transferred back to the HRIS system. (â€Å"SHL is a company that provides workplace talent assessment solutions including ability and personality tests, and psychometric assessments in more than 50 countries and in 30 languages†. ) A report is then immediately available which enables the interviewer to hire right then and there. As a result of Neiman Marcus adopting this process they make claims of having a reduction in staff turnover by 18%. In locations where the new system is being used, the pay for sales associates have been increased by 15. % and the interview – to- hire cycle was reduced from several days to 24 hours. The criteria selected by Neiman Marcus for a sales associate position is a direct result from the planning process where the company would define the company culture by analyzing the job, analyzing the job description and determining the qualifications they want to invest in a sales force. After receiving that information, the company SHL designed a personality assessment based on key competencies, attitude, and behaviors that applied to top performing sales associates with good employment tenure records. The assessment is simple and easy to use by store managers for the purpose of minimizing the risk of poor interviewing techniques. 30% of businesses that were surveyed showed that they used personality tests in hiring. Many companies consider testing more important than experience or education, while other companies like Universal Studios Theme Park will still interview candidates regardless of test scores just in case there were errors in the assessment. In most cases the results are close to what is surmised in the interview. Long held debates question whether or not personality tests can reduce personality to a set of numbers. Examples of popular tests are the â€Å"The Myers-Briggs type indicators used to match job seekers with jobs based on four qualities of introversion/ extroversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, judgment/perceiving and for careers in positions of authority and trust. Another popular test is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test, which looks for drug abuse or other pathologies. Questions remain unanswered. Could this sort of testing stigmatize applicants who have not committed any wrong doings and could it result in an injustice to innocent people? A survey showed that 49 percent of companies that used computerized hiring systems saw no changes in turnover rates. The American Psychological Association found little evidence that tests purporting to measure honesty are accurate. The danger that lies in these tests is they are not regulated or certified, and anyone can make up a test and make claims as they wish. Companies like â€Å"People Answers† make claims of â€Å"streamlining the recruiting process† and hiring process for hiring managers offer â€Å"full behavioral analysis on every candidate†. They claim they can uncover hidden attributes that reveal a candidates drive for success and can separate out the underachievers. While this procedure may save time and the associated costs of hiring staff, questions arise about these programs of whether they make allowances for people who come from different cultures and minorities. These programs may be set to be too narrow as to not give equal opportunity to deserving candidates. Creativity and innovation cannot be predicted by a computer survey. Also, candidates could gain knowledge on how to beat these tests rendering them useless. While these tests might prove to be a good indicator of the attributes of what a company finds desirable in a candidate, it is being suggested here that there is no substitute for good training and interview skills. Caution is indicated where there could be an over reliance on these procedures and could prove to be a drawback in the long run. Training Since Neiman Marcus’s training programs are decentralized, sales associates are trained at the store location where they will work. This instruction is done in a classroom setting that includes web conferences and online essions. This strategy reduces travel expenses and managers can observe the new employees first hand. The decentralized training for sales associates has worked well for them. One of the things Neiman Marcus has been doing right is their training philosophy and techniques. Much of what they have done has been imitated by others. The contemporary theory of customer service was popularized by Neiman Marcus. Neiman Marcus offers a five day training course to new employees, while Nordstrom has a less formal approach with more emphasis on incentives and providing information. New Sales force employees receive training that covers Neiman Marcus history, policies and procedures. They also receive a course called ‘The Art of Selling† which teaches new sales associates how to give outstanding service to clients. This training offers custom-designed materials and programs to fit the Neiman Marcus philosophy. The material covers product knowledge and how sales process behavior leads to a successful conclusion. Another thing Neiman Marcus does right is their follow up training. They use a variety of methods that include classroom session, video, web conferences, systems training, online resources, lending library, in the job coaching, and in-store/in-facility experiences. Associates receive 200 hours of training their first year and 150 hours of training in subsequent years. This constant training reinforces the Neiman Marcus culture and leads to continual improvement, better selling skills, increased product knowledge, and ultimately better customer relations. Retailers have found that better service often equals higher sales and almost always results in loyal customers. A new topic for sales training is technology based selling skills. This is an area that is changing all the time. Cutting edge technology can give a company a real advantage over the competition when they are early entrants. One new technology is customer relationship management hand held devices. In the past, product information that might only be known by a few specialists with years of experience is now at the finger tips of the entire floor of sales associates. This is the power of being trained in using customer relationship management hand held devices. These devices are called Mobile CRMs. The devices have the power to take customer service to a whole new level. Imagine a sales person being able to access customer data at any time. Sales people can up sell, make suggestions, check inventory availability, and even answer customer’s questions about a specific product without having to run off somewhere to get answers and information. Instead, they can get it on the spot. If a product is not available, they can put the customer on a call list to be notified when a product has become available. This cutting edge technology will free sales associates to make the buying experience as effortless as possible. Sales people can make the transactions for the customer without having to go back to the register counter or point of sale station. Customers can be on their way in just minutes. This type of device helps a sales person improve his/her efficiency by being more competent in carrying out one’s duties which will in turn improve customer relations that result in an increase of productivity that leads to more personal satisfaction resulting in reduced turnover. According to the New York Times article, â€Å"Creating a Better Sales Force†, Mr. Lyon of The Container Store states: â€Å"If you give great service, you make people happier. Not only do employees who are better prepared to sell have a greater sense of accomplishment, they contribute ideas that help the company grow, and they become the next generation of management. † Account Relationships Neiman Marcus prides itself as the premier luxury retailer dedicated to providing our customers with distinctive merchandise and superior service. Former President Stanley Marcus believed in the â€Å"best of the best†, both in products and customer relationships. It was his belief that providing superior customer support through consultative transactions would result in customer loyalty. The sales associates should provide a â€Å"personal shopping† experience with each customer. They assist by knowing where merchandise is located, what? s in stock, what? s coming in, what will meet a customer’s needs, and what will not. Associates build trust with customers by answering the customer’s needs rather than providing the nearest product with a simple solution. For example, if a customer arrived looking for a lightly colored lip gloss, a sales associate would try to determine if the customer was looking for nourishment, a concealer, or an enhancer, because each situation may have a different product as a result. To assist the sales associates, Neiman Marcus partnered with Business Objects in 2002 to redesign a strategic customer relationship application. The new computer system provided sales associates with product information. They are able to know what is in stock and on the floor at all times. The system was also created to include a computer based clientele tracking system. This system can track all sales for each client. Based on the information from the sale, such as designers, colors, sizes, time of purchase, and frequency, a profile can be built for each customer. It will also allow the sales associates to track life events and special occasions for each client to add value and build a meaningful personal relationship. This system will also allow department sales managers to access real time reporting on the sales of each associate in their department based on dollar amount, number of sales, and brands sold. Sales associates are also instructed to build a relationship and create loyalty by maintaining familiarity with InCircle, Neiman Marcus’s loyalty program. Each associate is expected to introduce new customers to the program and provide updates to existing members. To become a member, a customer only needs to open a new Neiman Marcus account. Once opened, they are enrolled and can register their American Express and Diners Club credit cards, the only other cards accepted in stores. Each dollar spent in the store or online will equal one point in the InCircle loyalty program. After the first purchase, members will receive advanced notices of promotions, shows, and invitations to exclusive events. It is these â€Å"soft rewards† that generate Neiman Marcus’s most loyal customers. Sales associates promote the exclusivity of the events to make members feel as though they are included in the most fashionable circles. At the exclusive InCircle events, shoppers mingle with other likeminded members who positively influence their spending. Members are also encouraged to bring a non-member to the events which generate promising new customers. Businesses can also benefit for the quality customer service at Neiman Marcus. Many businesses use the knowledge and reliability of associates to place bulk orders. Often a business relationship can develop over the phone, with products being delivered in person. This service allows minimal interruptions for busy business professionals. This service if often utilized during the holiday season by corporations looking to distribute luxurious gifts to their employees.

Human skin color Essay

â€Å"Virtue, then, is a state that decides, consisting in a mean, the mean relative to us, which is defined by reference to reason, that is to say, to the reason by reference to which the prudent person would define it. It is a mean between two vices, one of excess and one of deficiency† Aristotle’s definition of Virtue of Character but what is it really saying. Let us define it with the Socratic Definition per genus et differentia. Let us break it into the three parts genus, species and the differentiating factor (differentia). The genus or general topic would be virtue of character, the species or the specific area of virtue of character would be the mean between the two vices excess and deficiency, lastly is the differentiating factor or what makes the species different from other forms of it which would be the situation and how individual people can reason out different outcomes from what is required from them. Virtue is an activity of the human soul and has two parts virtue of character and virtue of intellect. Virtue of intellect is wisdom and knowledge an example would be studying at school. Virtue of character is learned by action and practice an example would be learning that cheating on tests is bad and knowing not to attempt it. Reasoning out where we stand in a particular situation is not related to knowledge or studying but rather repeated application of acts so Aristotle’s is stating acts of character not of intellect. Nothing can be to good, have to little and you have deficiency have too much and it’s excess. The mean is the middle ground between too much and too little. This mean varies on person to person. An example would be too much sun. Take a 2 people one with a fair skin tone and one with a dark skin tone. The mean amount of sun for the dark skin tone would be excess to the fair skinned person and possibly give them sunburn. Give the dark toned person the mean amount of sun required by the fair toned person and you have deficiency and could led to lack of vitamin E. But it’s up to the individual to regulate between the two through trial and error.