President Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

President - Research Paper Example A number of events took place during the cold war both regionally and globally catalysing the formation and adoption of the Truman doctrine. Russia sponsored communism was on the rise and influencing the entire Europe. Hungary’s democratic government was overthrown by the communist party in 1947 attracting strong condemnation by President Truman. In 1948 again the communist party with the support of Russia used force to grab power in Czechoslovakia. The attempted Berlin blockade would have also significantly affected the course of events had it succeeded. The Russian threat became particularly significant in 1949 when Russia deployed its tool to influence the entire Europe. Russia also went on to explode its nuclear bomb nullifying America’s lead. The Korean escalated the tensions between the two rival super powers. It became apparent that to restore confidence in Europe, economic assistance, rearmament of West Germany and military aid were necessary measures. The Presi dent thus sought Congress’s approval of $ 400 million towards aiding turkey and Greece both in terms of military and economically (Merrill, 20006). The relationship between the United States and the USSR was unhealthy during the cold war. Russia’s aggression and expansion of its communist influence into Eastern Europe after the defeat of Germany was not taken well by the United States and other Western democracies. The US dominated the politics and economics of Western Europe and therefore was very threatened by Russia’s influence in the East. The two powers differed on ideology & politics and were competing for internal influence along the different lines. The competition lasted between 1947 and 1991 when the Soviet Union officially collapsed. The spreading communism ideology supported by Russia saw communist parties overthrow democratically elected governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Russia’s detonation of its first atomic weapon and its

When we were Soldiers Essay Example for Free

When we were Soldiers Essay The Randall Wallace movie â€Å"When we were Soldiers† is a factual account of Vietnam War but with specific Hollywood aspects which one finds in majority of movies. The move takes you back to the year is 1965 and Lt. Col. Hal Moore leading the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry. The battle takes place at the La Drang Valley called The Valley of Death. This film allows the viewer to see what fighting and the what the war zone was really like in Vietnam as they experience one of the most violent battles in U. S history. The film uses images in a very important way to convey historical truth as to what really happened at Vietnam. The film uses graphic images to portray what the battle scene was really like. It shows how the American troops were outnumbered and how they were fighting literally within feet of the enemy. The images in the movie that we seen are as close to as what it was really like, because there was a photographer there taking pictures during combat. The pictures that the photographer shot during battle helped us visualize what the battle scenes were really like and the pain and anguish that soldiers went through when fighting. The images of soldiers dying during combat and the reality of the battle helps to portray the bloodiness of the battle. Some black and white photographs of the actual battle scene in 1965 were in the film so that the viewer could see real images of the battle and what soldiers had to go through to survive the combat. One problem with most Hollywood films about war is that they make war seem more heroic than it actually is. The producers of this film managed to keep that false sense of wanting to fight in a war to a minimum. The images and the plot allow the viewer to really see what is going on in the battle. The producers show how gruesome the battle really was and the small heroism there actually was in a war. The grim fighting conditions that soldiers endured while fighting in Vietnam made many Americans want to stay out of war as it was a horrible place to be. This film had a couple of weak spots in the plot. One thing was that it never really talked about why we were going to Vietnam to fight in a war. It barely touched on the subject about the controversial issues that surrounded the United States into entering this war. The battle at La Drang Valley was one of the first battles in the Vietnam War, and the American public knew little about our position in Vietnam until this battle had taken place. When this battle broke out there was no hiding our position any longer. The American public would now know that we were at war with northern Vietnam. Another part of the plot that I thought was bad was the life on the home front. I feel as the producers used Hollywood at the home front a little too much. The films most dramatic scene involving the Armys failure to properly deliver the telegrams of regret is ruined by a number of wives crying through screen doors. Also when the husband comes home he rings the door bell to provide a false sense of sorrow only to see him standing there to greet his wife and family. This hurts the films authenticity but makes up for it when the battle scenes resume. Another part of the film that was poor was the timeline of events that happened. In the movie it seemed as if the battle only took a few days where in reality the battle took over a month. It is a little bit confusing because when it returns to the home front it seems that time is going by but, when on the combat zone it is like the battle took a couple of days and then everybody left to go home. In reality the battalion that the film was following left the combat zone to another battalion and they returned back to base. The film is important because it takes a look at the first battle of Vietnam and how under equipped, out numbered and ill informed our troops really were. When they first step foot onto the battle scene they undertake heavy fire from the enemy and realize that they may be in over their heads. They never suspected that they had such great numbers in their military. The amount of casualties was tremendous, after the first day of fighting thousands of bodies lay on the battle field.

Leadership capabilities: An analysis

Leadership capabilities: An analysis Leadership: ‘Leader a word which makes a normal human being into a famous personality (locally, nationally, internationally). Many authors express their views on leadership like. ‘A leader is one who selects, equips, trains, and influences one or more followers who have diverse gifts, abilities, and skills and focuses the follower to the organizations mission and objectives causing the follower(s) to willingly and enthusiastically expend spiritual, emotional, and physical energy in a concerted coordinated effort to achieve the organizational mission and objectives.(Bruce E.winston,2006:7). Here he says that leader, who selects an individual who had diverse abilities, tastes, culture and skills for particular task to be completed in a way that he trains, motivates and influences him with his skills. This type of leadership is seen in many personalities, An example is Sir Stuart Rose CEO of Marks and Spencer, who follows democratic type of leadership style in his decisions but makes autocratic style of leadership in terms of his short term achievements. He established good relations between employees and his other colleagues. ‘Effective leaders arent born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that the price well have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal (Vince Lombardi, American football coach). Sir Stuart Rose was first joined Marks Spencer in 1972 as a management trainee then he took many stages in profession in many companies and presently CEO of Marks Spencer. This is how to compare the definition of Vince with Rose career, that if he was born leader then he could have given the high position in any sector but day by day he had developed the companys fame by the time he was CEO, Marks Spencer was low in profits and was going private. Increasing profits introducing new thoug hts like plan A, for which he became the chairman of business in the community (BIC). Criterion of Leadership: Behavioural theory of leadership defines that successful leadership is rooted in definable, learnable behaviour; any one can become leaders or learn leadership qualities by teaching and observation. This behavioural theory is a good tool for many people, basing on this we in our group had discussed few criterions for leadership. Professional-friendly: In this criteria a leader should be professional-friendly in terms of task so that follower can achieve the task successfully, so that he can deal a task with them correctly and can give good guidance. Vision: Basically a good leader has to understand the culture and value of the organization, then he can work hard to communicate their vision over the organization at all levels. He should have clear-cut idea of understanding that their vision will be successful in any situation. Motivation: Every human in this world has different cultures in terms of behaviour, feelings and many more, so that their commitment to particular task is different at this instance motivation is a tool which can boost their activities (performance), and finally this can yield fruitful results in any task. Individual consideration (Responsibility): Leader should take the responsibility of particular task at any situation with out depending on his followers. Here is an example which gives an idea of having individual consideration of a lady. In 1989 Melissa, a fourth-grader in Nashville, Tennessee in USA, she was felt responsible about the pollution in her country and felt that what could be her countries position when she grows old, then she began writing letters to president and local politicians like mayor, congressmen and senators, she had no response from any one, but she was called up the local television channel and did an on-camera commentary. Melissa also started a club called Kids F.A.C.E (kids for a clean environment) which could help then in planting trees, picking up litter. Starting with just six members at her elementary school, kids F.A.C.E. grew to more than more than 5,00,000 members with 22 countries. Feeling responsible even at age 9 and became a leader this shows that age doesnt matter. Since she took responsibility of a task and led it for huge level at different countries. (James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner, The truth about leadership 2010:2) Communication: The most important criteria for a leader, for giving a task to his followers he has to communicate in a proper way so that followers has to get the task which is to be done. It is also a way of ascendancy for his followers. Flexibility: When many issues hit at once, handle more than one problem at once, this is a perfect behaviour of a leader. For example Sir Stuart Rose was the chief executive officer of Marks and Spencer he had to deal with many sectors in a limited period of time, he made the organization (Marks and Spencer) better in terms of profits and fame, he made flexible. Teamwork: It is leaders responsibility to understand each and every one is from different culture and have different behaviour, human relationship and functions and bring them in and make a unity and perform teamwork. This is called as unity in diversity. Respect for others: Do not belittle (under estimate) the opinions and work of the other people regardless of their status (profession). Emotional Intelligence: ‘Abilities such as being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations; to control impulse and delay gratification; to regulate ones moods and keep distress from swamping the ability to think ; to empathize and to hope.(Mullins 2010:144). Emotional intelligence is able to think and handle the situations in frustrations. A leader should have this criteria because to lead the team successfully. Feedback with my strengths and weakness: Every one has strengths and weakness at his style in any of his own talents. Here is 360 degree feed back from my friends in my style of leadership along with my strengths and weakness to improve my effectiveness of my leadership. Motivation is a driving tool in achieving goals, I do like motivating people because every human is unique and they do mistakes and dont get positive result at single attempt( this is not in every ones talent, I do take in few cases) rather than discouraging is it important to motivate or encourage them. Responsibility (individual consideration), emotional intelligence. Here is an example for my emotional intelligence and responsibility, in my group professor gave an topic on delegation, so we were discussed and chose a person from my group as leader but the person was unable to speak then I took the responsibility and spoke few points about it( in Allitt Malcolms class in S3 batch). Flexible with group, this factor makes good use of comfort with individuals when performing as group and can communicate as well for different task to be completed. Respect for others, this is an good point for expressing ones capability, There is a famous telugu saying that even a grass comes out by bursting the land, so every one has individual thoughts and ideas so that a leader has to respect others. From my feedback its a point that I lack team work capabilities at situational times for example, if any professor gives a task to be completed in few minutes then I do my work independently. They say I am not a good listener, when I am listening my mind wanders for unnecessary thoughts and put me out of the class or any subject which makes me lack of confidence and feel depressed which is also a negative skill given by my friends in my feedback. Day by day every human learns a bit compared with the past, me comparing with the past days I learnt much in my Master of business administration (MBA). Being involved in group activities, taking responsibility, I am doing my best to improve the skills to be a good leader or at least be a good learner Conclusion: Though I have many positive qualities like communication, responsibility, emotional intelligence, motivation and lack in some skills like teamwork, not good listener, feel depressed for which I have to improve. In the leading in changing world every thing is not constant we have to grow as the world tends to modern. Personal Narrative Essay Outline: Anonymity on the Internet Personal Narrative Essay Outline: Anonymity on the Internet The right to anonymity over the Internet must be guaranteed to people due to the Fourth Amendment and the Supreme Court, and only information which people explicitly agree to offer can be accessed. People must be guaranteed anonymity over the Internet so they can voice insights and opinions, a right given by the First Amendment, freely without fear of persecution or danger. My father was a vocal critic of Woodbridge Townships (where we used to live) to cut spending from its middle schools, thus vastly reducing the capabilities of sports and extracurricular activities he voiced his concerns about the well-being of the students on an Internet blog, which gathered the following of many town residents and parents after several blog posts, he found that the township was attempting to gain a subpoena against the blog website seeking to identify my father, who blogged under an unrevealing username my fathers lawyer friend informed if that if the township succeeded in gaining a subpoena, my father might be persecuted the township failed in gaining the subpoena due to a similar case ruled before, Manapalan v. Moskovitz Judge Flynn ruled that, I recognize there are First Amendment issues with the past administrationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦anyone has a right to make their feelings clearà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and first of all the bloggerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as a right not to be drawn into the litigation and forced to reveal identity or to impede on his or her First Amendment rights simply on a suspicion, however founded or unfounded. Had my fathers anonymity been breached, he might have suffered persecution for simply voicing his opinions: for this reason, anonymity must be guaranteed to Internet users to allow people to fully express their freedom of speech. Second body paragraph: Topic Sentence: If people are not guaranteed anonymity over the Internet, they can be severely blamed or persecuted for reasons they are not responsible for. Supporting evidence: -three years ago, when I was in eighth grade, I was unfairly blamed for posting something on the Internet my eighth grade history teacher had all of his students participate in an online class forum where everyone posts their ideas anonymously on sensitive topics such as abortion -I left my online account open at the library inadvertently and posted harmless jokes on the forum -my teacher somehow found out that the jokes were posted by me, probably by contacting the website administrator, and had the school administration suspend me for a day even though it was my fault for not signing off on my account, I was unjustly punished even though the jokes posted were detrimental to the learning process, it would have been better if Internet anonymity was upheld so that no one would have been punished unfairly Closing Statement: Granting Internet anonymity prevents people from being unjustly blamed or persecuted for actions they did not commit, even if the actions warranted probable cause as said in the Fourth Amendment. Internet anonymity allows people to establish their feelings on the Internet without creating unnecessary negative publicity, as can happen when peoples online identities are revealed. Virgil Griffith created the Wikipedia Scanner in 2007, a search tool that tracks Wikipedia entries back to their source IP addresses even though the Scanner can help prevent people from posting incorrect things, it can create unnecessary publicity for celebrities or government agencies posting entries for example, if a celebrity edits his or her own page on Wikipedia by adding a true fact that is at the same enhancing his or her image, the media will portray him or her in a negative light The right of the people to be anonymous over the Internet allows them to express their voice without creating publicity that they do not desire The right of anonymity over the Internet must be guaranteed and people should be allowed to access information only which others have explicitly agreed to. The Fourth Amendment and the rulings of the Supreme Court support Internet anonymity.

Hurston :: essays research papers

Zora Neal Hurston was the daughter of a Baptist Preacher born in Alabama on January 7, 1891 only 26 years after slavery was abolished. When she was three her father moved their family to Eatonville Florida. Eatonville was the first incorporated black community in America, a place that Zora held as the black utopia. Zora was able to receive an education and earned her B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University in 1928 (Zora). Her father was the mayor of Eatonville which allotted her opportunities that many other blacks did not have, but that is not to say that being the daughter of a black mayor from a black town made things easy for her. Zora eventually became an accomplished novelist and folklorist as well as an authority on black culture from the Harlem Renaissance (Zora). Her greatest novel was that of Their Eyes Are Watching God, however when the book was released in 1937 it was criticized by the black community as downplaying the hardships that blacks of that time had to end ure at the hands of whites; subsequently the book was shelved and forgotten until the 1970’s. Today because of a revival of her novel it is considered to be a modern literary canon (Verma). The town that Zora grew up in was a rural black community. Because her interaction with whites was very limited she did not have the constant contrast or knowledge of being a minority. As far as she was concerned she was no different, or at least she held the same value as everyone else. It was not until she was sent to school in Jacksonville Florida that she actually realized her diversity, or as she put in her short story â€Å"To be Colored Me†, â€Å"the very day that I became colored â€Å"(Hurston). When she arrived in Jacksonville it was the first time that she had such a great contrast of her color to that of the larger of society. â€Å"I was not Zora of Orange County any more; I was now a little colored girl. I found it out in certain ways, in my heart as well as in the mirror† (Hurston). Zora was lucky however to have grown up in an all black community where she was not harassed for her color and looked down upon by others. As stated above she was not even aware of her color until she went to a major city where the majority of the population was white.

Community Illness Solution Essay

There has been an odd rise in similar and extensive illnesses in not only adults but children as well. This is becoming quite a concern for many of the residents in this community because that just means a rise in their chances of catching the illness to. If our community does not resolve the problem as soon as possible it will continue to spread and possibly affect the entire community. Upon further investigation into the reasoning or cause of this problem, I have found a legitimate reason why this is happening. I have discovered that the cause may be from the gas company’s malpractices either before the community came together or sometime afterwards. I found my reasoning by keeping an open mind and investigated any and every possibility there could be. The gas companies practices are the only issue I have found that could cause a problem such as the one in our community. As well, once I found that reasoning I looked also into the illnesses and what could have possibly caused them, and again I found that the problem with the gas company is the root cause for the illnesses. I have begun to spread the word about my discovery to make everyone in the community aware of the issue that has led to our problem. I believe that with the strength of our entire community we can unite and fight for our justice against the gas company who has caused our community such a great problem. My first idea in the fight for our justice is to go straight to the gas company and explain our findings and demand them to do something about the issue to help fix the problem. If our community cannot seem to meet an agreement with the gas company, I say we take it to a higher level. We need to possibly approach the mayor of our town or even the court system if we must. We need to keep our viewpoints open and not stick to what we think is going to resolve the problem because one idea may not instantly resolve our problem. We not only need to resolve the issue with the gas company, but need to find ways to help the families that have been plagued with the illness. I believe our community can set up a fundraiser of some sort to help raise money for the hospital bills and such that are a result of the illness. If our community does nothing about this problem we are never going to grow or thrive because no one beyond current residents will move here knowing of this plaguing illness. That would be horrible for our economy in this community, and we cannot just accept this problem. I believe we need to just go head to head with the problem and resolve it as a community. If we do not do anything our community is going to look weak and we will look like we gave up or that we are just a bunch of quitters. I won’t allow that to happen.

Bookbinders Book Club Essay

1. Before beginning any case, students should familiarize themselves with the model being used. Marketing Engineering for Excel comes with tutorials that demonstrate the capability of each model. The tutorial can be found under each model within the ME>XL menu after starting Excel. These tutorials are designed to work with our OfficeStar examples which are located in the My Marketing Engineering directory, usually installed in My Documents during software installation. The data required for this case is located in two files in the My Marketing Engineering directory (usually located within My Documents): Bookbinders Book Club Data (Customer Choice). xls Bookbinders Book Club Data (Customer Choice) Holdout Sample. xls 2. Introduction About 50,000 new titles, including new editions, are published in the United States each year, giving rise to a $20+ billion book publishing industry. About 10 percent of the books are sold through mail order. Book retailing in the 1970s was characterized by the growth of chain bookstore operations in concert with the development of shopping malls. Traffic in bookstores in the 1980s was enhanced by the spread of discounting. In the 1990s, the superstore concept of book retailing was responsible for the double-digit growth of the book industry. Generally situated near large shopping centers, superstores maintain large inventories of anywhere from 30,000 to 80,000 titles. Superstores are putting intense competitive pressure on book clubs, mail-order firms and retail outlets. Recently, online superstores, such as www. amazon. com, have emerged, carrying 1–2. 5 million titles and further intensifying the pressure on book clubs and mail-order firms. In response to these pressures, book clubs are starting to look at alternative business models that will make them more responsive to their customers’ preferences. Historically, book clubs offered their readers continuity and negative option programs that were based on an extended contractual relationship between the club and its subscribers. In a continuity program, popular in such genres as children’s books, a reader signs up for an offer of several books for a few dollars each (plus shipping and handling on each book) and agrees to receive Copyright  © 2008 by DecisionPro, Inc. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, go to www. decisionpro. biz. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the permission of DecisionPro, Inc. a shipment of one or two books each month thereafter. In a negative option program, subscribers get to choose which and how many additional books they will receive, but the default option is that the club’s selection will be delivered to them each month. The club informs them of the monthly selection and they must mark â€Å"no† on their order forms if they do not want to receive it. Some firms are now beginning to offer books on a positive-option basis, but only to selected segments of their customer lists that they deem receptive to specific offers. Book clubs are also beginning to use database marketing techniques to work smarter rather than expand the coverage of their mailings. According to Doubleday president Marcus Willhelm, â€Å"The database is the key to what we are doing†¦. We have to understand what our customers want and be more flexible. I doubt book clubs can survive if they offer the same 16 offers, the same fulfillment to everybody. †2 Doubleday uses modeling techniques to look at more than 80 variables, including geography and the types of books customers purchase, and selects three to five variables that are the most influential predictors. The Bookbinders Book Club The BBB Club was established in 1986 for the purpose of selling specialty books through direct marketing. BBBC is strictly a distributor and does not publish any of the books it sells. In anticipation of using database marketing, BBBC made a strategic decision right from the start to build and maintain a detailed database about its members containing all the relevant information about them. Readers fill out an insert and return it to BBBC which then enters the data into the database. The company currently has a database of 500,000 readers and sends out a mailing about once a month. BBBC is exploring whether to use predictive modeling approaches to improve the efficacy of its direct mail program. For a recent mailing, the company selected 20,000 customers in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio from its database and included with their regular mailing a specially produced brochure for the book The Art History of Florence. This resulted in a 9. 03 percent response rate (1806 orders) for the purchase of the book. BBBC then developed a database to calibrate a response model to identify the factors that influenced these purchases. For this case analysis, we will use a subset of the database available to BBBC. It consists of data for 400 customers who purchased the book, and 1,200 customers who did not, thereby over-representing the response group. The dependent variable for the analysis is Choice — purchase or no purchase of The Art History of Florence. BBBC also selected several independent variables that it thought might explain the observed choice behavior. Below is a description of the variables used for the analysis: Choice: Whether the customer purchased the The Art History of Florence. 1 corresponds to a purchase and 0 corresponds to a nonpurchase. Gender: 0 = Female and 1 = Male. Amount purchased: Total money spent on BBBC books. Frequency: Total number of purchases in the chosen period (used as a proxy for frequency. ) Last purchase (recency of purchase): Months since last purchase. First purchase: Months since first purchase. P_Child: Number of children’s books purchased. BOOKBINDERS BOOK CLUB CASE 2/4 P_Youth: Number of youth books purchased. P_Cook: Number of cookbooks purchased. P_DIY: Number of do-it-yourself books purchased. P_Art: Number of art books purchased. To assess the performance of the model, the data set includes a second sheet with 2300 customers–a holdout sample representative of the entire target market. The use of such a validation sample is an appropriate way to compare alternative models. BOOKBINDERS BOOK CLUB CASE 3/4 EXERCISES BBBC is evaluating three different modeling methods to isolate the factors that most influenced customers to order The Art History of Florence: an RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value) model, an ordinary linear regression model, and a binary logit model. 1. Summarize the results of your analysis for all three models. Develop your models using the case data files and then assess them on the holdout data sample. Interpret the results of these models. In particular, highlight which factors most influenced the customers’ decision to buy or not to buy the book. Bookbinders is considering a similar mail campaign in the Midwest where it has data for 50,000 customers. Such mailings typically promote several books. The allocated cost of the mailing is $0. 65/addressee (including postage) for the art book, and the book costs Bookbinders $15 to purchase and mail. The company allocates overhead to each book at 45 percent of cost. The selling price of the book is $31. 95. Based on the model, which customers should Bookbinders target? How much more profit would you expect the company to generate using these models as compared to sending the mail offer to the entire list? Based on the insights you gained from this modeling exercise, summarize the advantages and limitations of each of the modeling approaches. Look at both similar and dissimilar results. As part of your recommendations to the company, indicate whether it should invest in developing expertise in any of these methods to develop an in-house capability to evaluate its direct mail campaigns. How would you simplify and automate your recommended method(s) for future modeling efforts at the company. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1 The case and the database were developed by Professors Nissan Levin and Jacob Zahavi at Tel Aviv University. We have adapted these materials for use with our software, with their permission. 2 DM News, May 23, 1994. BOOKBINDERS BOOK CLUB CASE 4/4

Zhu Yuanzhang First Ming Dynasty Emperor essays

Zhu Yuanzhang First Ming Dynasty Emperor essays Zhu Yuanzhang was founder of the Ming Dynasty, the one dynasty that endured for so long (1368-1644), considering the fact that it was established by a commoner. The reason Ming Dynasty and its first emperor Yuanzhang occupy special place in Chinese history is because this was one of the only lonely two dynasties to have been formed by a landless peasant. It is not everyday that commoner emerges from nowhere, overthrown powerful rulers of the time, establishes his own dynasty that endures for three long centuries. But Yuanzhang managed to achieve this colossal feat and thus his name went down in Chinese history as a competent emperor, second commoner only after Liu Yuanzhang's rise to fame and power was simply unprecedented in history. Born to a very poor family in Anhui province in 1328, Yuanzhang was orphaned at a very young age. Since he practically lacked a family, he joined Buddhist monastery and became a monk during his teen years. In bad times, he even resorted to beggary but it appears that fate had something big in store for him. This young man joined the quasi-religious movement to overthrow the Mongols who had been created havoc in the country and quickly shot to position of leadership. He conquered Nanking in 1367 and attacked Beijing the very next year, defeating Mongols and establishing the famous The overthrow of Mongols and YUAN Dynasty are recorded in history as major events that spurred series of successes for Yuanzhang and gave peasants the courage to rise against the elite and their ruthless ambitions. But it is important to understand that Mongol defeat was not an independent occurrence. It was actually a culmination of a series of small peasant uprisings that had been occurring in various parts of the country. Peasants were living in wretched conditions and they revolted against Mongols in small but effective uprisings. However this gave Yuanzhang the opportunity ...

Jeffersonian vs. Jacksonian essays

Jeffersonian vs. Jacksonian essays In my report Ill talk a little about both the Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democratic sides and then Ill compare the two. Ill start with the Jeffersonian view. When political alignments first emerged in George Washington's administration, opposing factions were led by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. In the basic disagreement over the nature and functions of government and of society, the Jeffersonian advocated a society based on the small farmer; they opposed strong centralized government and were suspicious of urban commercial interests. Their ideals (opposed to those of the Federalist party) came to be known as Jeffersonian democracy, based in large part on faith in the virtue and ability of the common man and the limitation of the powers of the federal government. This group of anti-Federalists, who called themselves Republicans or Democratic Republicans (the name was not fixed as Democratic until 1828), supported many of the ideals of the French Revolution and opposed c lose relations with Great Britain. Led by Jefferson and his ally James Madison, the group had become a nationwide party by 1800, winning the support of Aaron Burr and George Clinton in New York, of Benjamin Rush and Albert Gallatin in Pennsylvania, and of most influential politicians in the South. Jefferson became President in 1800 in an election that has often been called a turning point in American history. With this election emerged an alliance between Southern agrarians and Northern city dwellers, an alliance that grew to be the dominating coalition of the party. With Madison and James Monroe succeeding Jefferson, the party's Virginia dynasty held the presidency until 1824. Now well take a look at the Jacksonian democracy. To his army of followers, Andrew Jackson was the embodiment of popular democracy. A truly self-made man of will and courage, he personified for many citizens the vast power of nature and Provi...

Buyer and consumer behaviour Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Buyer and consumer behaviour - Assignment Example As a result the brand performance of these companies is better than Nando’s. This first food company has low brand awareness and for this reason Nando’s is earning less revenue than other. Duplication of the Purchase Law has been highlighted in this case. Importance of brand attitude regarding Nando’s is focused in this assignment. Brand salience is important for this company. For this reasons various issues have been highlighted in this assignment regarding the implementation of various salient features in Nando’s. Factors related to demographic segmentation which influence the performance of the company have been focused here. The major competitive brands of Nando’s are McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC, Subway etc. All of these brands are able to capture huge amount of market share and customers. All the competitive brands have implemented effective marketing strategies for which they are able to penetrate their target market efficiently. With the innovative food products KFC, McDonalds, Subway etc are able to satisfy their customers. They have made a good connection with the customers and establish strong relationship with them. The company Nando’s has its business in many countries of the world but it is not so efficient in its marketing strategies. For this reason the company is not able to beat its competitors. Most of the people prefer purchasing food products form McDonalds’, KFC, Hungry Jacks and Subway. As a result the purchasing frequencies of these companies’ products are higher than Nandos. The buyer of Nando’s purchases its food products 1.1 times for a given per iod of time. This company is able to penetrate only 23% of its target market. The brand Nandos does not have any loyal customer. But all of its competitive brands except Subway have many loyal customers. This is one of the important reason for which the sale of Nandos

Reflective Writing on strategic business environment sustainablitiy Assignment

Reflective Writing on strategic business environment sustainablitiy - Assignment Example have made a brief examination about the actual picture regarding the consequence of present industrial activities on environment degradation and also made value judgements about preserving ecology. Before embarking upon this assignment, I had limited understanding about the term ‘sustainability’. However, after attending the lecture classes, I have realised that there are several aspects about sustainability, regarding which I was completely unaware. I had narrow perspective about sustainable development. I had a thought that sustainable development provides people and organisations the capability to support the environment in such a way so that they can end their reliance on sustaining profitability. However, sustainability, in broad perspective restricts the description to social aspects and partially financial aspects. Traditionally, I did not acknowledge sustainability as a serious problem. The assignment has provided me the knowledge about how significant is the issue of environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, in order to uphold environmental sustainability in business, a change is required in operational procedures. The term ‘sustainable development’ has been described from different perspectives. In general, it can be stated that sustainable development is a procedure through which we can ensure a sustainable future. Sustainable development is vital for all because it comprises social and economic along with environmental components which can protect the environment for the sake of entire human race (Natural Resources Canada, 2010). Gladwin & et. al., (1995) described that sustainable development is the procedure of accomplishing improvement in a comprehensive, associated, reasonable, judicious and protected way. Sustainability has also been defined as acting within the balance of natural environment and utilising natural resources at such a rate in which they can recover within minimal time. From business perspective, sustainability denotes

Monetary Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Monetary Policy - Essay Example A stock has no maturity date; the investor owns a portion of the business. Financial institutions move money from those with excess to those with shortage through financial instruments. Supply, investors, and demand, entrepreneurs, dictate the terms and conditions of the trades facilitated by the financial institution. Commercial banks, savings banks, formerly savings and loans, thrift institutions, securities traders and investment bankers, finance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies and pension funds all serve as financial institutions, but with differing regulations (Saunders and Cornett, 2007). The History and Current Role of the Federal Reserve System Mayer (2001) defines a central bank as a bank of issue, meaning it creates currency to represent wealth. Many American patriots like Tom Payne and Tom Jefferson thought only state chartered private banks should issue bank notes because governments that can pay bills by printing money generally did so. Money is a commodity, just like bread, eggs and butter. If the supply of money increases without value to back it up, inflation occurs and all prices rise (56). A central bank is a lender of last resort. When all banks clear their transactions through a central bank, the central bank smoothes volatility problems through loans. All banks remain solvent by leaving reserves at the central bank, and then the bank lends money to create more reserves. (57) The central bank regulates financial institutions. (79) In 1791, Alexander Hamilton convinced President George Washington to implement a central bank over the protests of Jefferson and Madison. By 1811, Madison became President and did not renew the charter. The end of the... Mayer (2001) defines a central bank as a bank of issue, meaning it creates currency to represent wealth. Many American patriots like Tom Payne and Tom Jefferson thought the only state chartered private banks should issue bank notes because governments that can pay bills by printing money generally did so. Money is a commodity, just like bread, eggs, and butter. A central bank is a lender of last resort. When all banks clear their transactions through a central bank, the central bank smoothes volatility problems through loans. All banks remain solvent by leaving reserves at the central bank, and then the bank lends money to create more reserves. The central bank regulates financial institutions. (79) In 1791, Alexander Hamilton convinced President George Washington to implement a central bank over the protests of Jefferson and Madison. By 1811, Madison became President and did not renew the charter. The end of the Civil War brought in a new central bank which, too, lasted about 20 yea rs. World War I, 1913, brought the Federal Reserve Act to form a compromised central bank with 12 regional banks. This compromise did not regulate disputes among the banks or with Washington, D.C. (Wells, 2004). As long as the gold standard was in place, the 12 banks could not print more money than was reserved. Friedman states (1994, p.250) â€Å"The 1974 removal of the prohibition against private ownership of gold in the United States was, somewhat paradoxically, a tribute to the end of gold’s monetary role†.

Customer Service in Modern Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Customer Service in Modern Business - Assignment Example All business in any industry are able to provide the highest quality products and what the business can do to increase its competitive advantage in the market is to deliver service to the customer. It is no longer about the product because the customer can get the product from any other firm out there. Instead, the customer is looking for high-quality service and customer experience offered by the business. This applies to all types of business, whether it is a service business or a business that produces physical goods. This has come to be called customer experience and deals with all levels of service from before the customer buys the product, during the purchase and delivery of the product and the after sale service of the product. This new attitude towards the customer has also changed the way businesses are managed. For instance, in the earlier days, a floor manager would be a person with just a high school diploma. These days, even the lowest managerial jobs such as floor managers are required to be highly educated and if possible, they have to be experts in what they do. They are also paid much better and also stand to earn even more based on their productivity. Their productivity is also measured not only in terms how much sales they make but in terms of how happy the customers are. In most cases when the customers’ expectations are too high or unrealistic, it is because the customers may not necessarily understand what they want. Ironically, it is the role of the business to understand the needs of the customer in such a situation and try to expose these needs to the customer so that the customer can make an informed choice with realistic expectations. Failing to do this would lead to the customer being unhappy and always complaining about the service. The other challenge that a business may have with regard to customer expectations is when the business fails to clearly define the service capabilities. A business can avoid this kind of misunderstanding by clearly defining its capabilities and the parameters within which it is able to give its service to the customer.  

Identify and discuss the relative importance of the major influences Essay

Identify and discuss the relative importance of the major influences on a tourist's purchasing decision - Essay Example Again, the paper on Japanese tourism demand for U.K outlines the visiting capability of both adult and children. Several factors affect the tourism of Japanese tourism to the U.K and further, it is pertinent to note that young children do frequent the U.K. the following is the summary of the book demand in tourism for the U.K. The book impact of demand in tourism for Japanese in the U.K argues that experts have concentrated on the study of tourism behaviors among Japanese forgetting the relationship of travel and motivational culture to Japan. Further, the difference between older and the younger is discussed. Therefore the article on Japanese tourism to the UK does not only analyze but also reveals the push and constraints as well as the cultural demand of Japanese’s choice on holiday outbound. Due to economic growth and increased expenditure in the Japanese nation, it is pertinent to note that the market on international tourism has gradually grown. Despite of the recent rec ession in economy, the outbound tours for Japanese has not been affected negatively; this is evident with the wide popularized overseas travel. It follows that the UK language, culture and novelty are the core values that act as pull factors to its tourism industry. Japan government has actively participated in the overseas visit since 1964, the Tokyo Olympic year. The article insinuates that the years after Olympic Games the government had to intervene in order to increase the Japanese overseas travelers to almost 10 million in the year 1991. According to the Japanese governmental report, it is acceptable that Japan did face economical recession although it did not hinder the Japanese from traveling outbound. The government concluded the above after analysis of the number of people who choose to enjoy leisure abroad, which was increasing despite of the recession in Japans’ economy. After several researches by experts, it is evident that both groups the older and younger pref er to take a yearly holiday. The frequency of travel varies for instance the younger tent to travel twice a year contrary to older age that travels less. Amusingly, the overseas travel is regarded as more luxurious and that is why, young Japanese are very much attracted to the UK touring. The book evaluates three factors that is the pull, push and constraints. It follows that the above brings out the understanding of the Japanese travel propensities to the UK. Constraints are factors that hinder or rather oppose the overseas travel by the Japanese. Thus, the book illustrates several categories of constraints as below. First, it is wise to analyze the constraint part. According to the research, it is evident that Japanese believe time is one of the constraints for the abroad travel on holiday. Even though it contradicts the study by JTB, who concluded that only 14 percent of the japans feel that time is a hindrance. This clash can be because of cultural differences. Since the japans are workaholics, they tent to feel it unfair to take off when others are working. In addition, the above further bears its evidence from the scholar by the name Bayton who made assumptions on the need of classification. It is argued that in the struggle to satisfy the ego-defensive and affection needs the Japanese do avoid holidays on regular basis. Another constraint to a

Qualitative Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Qualitative Studies - Essay Example Therefore, the discussions and observations are structured loosely, thus allowing for the expression of a "full range of beliefs, feelings, and behaviours" (Polit and Beck, 2007, 57). However, in contrast to quantitative studies, analysis and interpretation are ongoing and concurrent activities that will continue to guide choices about the next sample with concurrent modifications of the types of questions or necessary observations. Thus with the goal of clustering together of related types of narrative information into a coherent scheme of time consuming and intensive data analysis, the sample needs to be determined. The aim of most qualitative studies is to discover meaning and to uncover multiple realities, and so generalizability is not a guiding criterion as in quantitative studies. Thus probability sampling is not necessary. Randomly selected population may not necessarily be good informants, and thus the sampling method must be one of nonprobability methods. These include: extreme or deviant case sampling, typical case sampling, and snowball sampling (Cochran, 1977, 13-47). This means, there must be a purpose for any particular sampling method. In probability sampling, elements are selected by nonrandom methods. ... These are convenience, quota, and purposive (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Convenience Sampling A convenience sample can be defined as a sample in which research subjects are recruited based on their ease of availability, or in other words, the sample comprises of the most conveniently available subjects. Essentially, individuals who are the most ready, willing, and able to participate in the study are the ones who are selected to participate. In qualitative research, it may be helpful to use a convenience sample to test the appropriateness of interview questions. This is an inexpensive and quick way to test the design of the study by approaching an interested group of people first before embarking on a larger, longer, and more expensive study (Diekmann & Smith, 1989, 418-430). The main problem with such sampling is that the available subjects might be atypical of the population of interest with regard to critical variables. It has been argued that convenience samples can lack transferability or external validity in qualitative research. Thus although this is simple and more co st-effective, it is important to remember that the participants recruited are not necessarily reflective of the population being studied, and they may not necessarily be reflective of all view points, and thus the research may be criticized to be biased (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Quota Sampling (Stratified Purposeful) This is also known as quota sampling in which the researcher identifies population strata and also determines the number of participants needed from each stratum. To be able to determine this, the information about the population characteristics is necessary, since it should represent diverse segments preferable in a representative

Customer Service in Modern Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Customer Service in Modern Business - Assignment Example All business in any industry are able to provide the highest quality products and what the business can do to increase its competitive advantage in the market is to deliver service to the customer. It is no longer about the product because the customer can get the product from any other firm out there. Instead, the customer is looking for high-quality service and customer experience offered by the business. This applies to all types of business, whether it is a service business or a business that produces physical goods. This has come to be called customer experience and deals with all levels of service from before the customer buys the product, during the purchase and delivery of the product and the after sale service of the product. This new attitude towards the customer has also changed the way businesses are managed. For instance, in the earlier days, a floor manager would be a person with just a high school diploma. These days, even the lowest managerial jobs such as floor managers are required to be highly educated and if possible, they have to be experts in what they do. They are also paid much better and also stand to earn even more based on their productivity. Their productivity is also measured not only in terms how much sales they make but in terms of how happy the customers are. In most cases when the customers’ expectations are too high or unrealistic, it is because the customers may not necessarily understand what they want. Ironically, it is the role of the business to understand the needs of the customer in such a situation and try to expose these needs to the customer so that the customer can make an informed choice with realistic expectations. Failing to do this would lead to the customer being unhappy and always complaining about the service. The other challenge that a business may have with regard to customer expectations is when the business fails to clearly define the service capabilities. A business can avoid this kind of misunderstanding by clearly defining its capabilities and the parameters within which it is able to give its service to the customer.  

Qualitative Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Qualitative Studies - Essay Example Therefore, the discussions and observations are structured loosely, thus allowing for the expression of a "full range of beliefs, feelings, and behaviours" (Polit and Beck, 2007, 57). However, in contrast to quantitative studies, analysis and interpretation are ongoing and concurrent activities that will continue to guide choices about the next sample with concurrent modifications of the types of questions or necessary observations. Thus with the goal of clustering together of related types of narrative information into a coherent scheme of time consuming and intensive data analysis, the sample needs to be determined. The aim of most qualitative studies is to discover meaning and to uncover multiple realities, and so generalizability is not a guiding criterion as in quantitative studies. Thus probability sampling is not necessary. Randomly selected population may not necessarily be good informants, and thus the sampling method must be one of nonprobability methods. These include: extreme or deviant case sampling, typical case sampling, and snowball sampling (Cochran, 1977, 13-47). This means, there must be a purpose for any particular sampling method. In probability sampling, elements are selected by nonrandom methods. ... These are convenience, quota, and purposive (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Convenience Sampling A convenience sample can be defined as a sample in which research subjects are recruited based on their ease of availability, or in other words, the sample comprises of the most conveniently available subjects. Essentially, individuals who are the most ready, willing, and able to participate in the study are the ones who are selected to participate. In qualitative research, it may be helpful to use a convenience sample to test the appropriateness of interview questions. This is an inexpensive and quick way to test the design of the study by approaching an interested group of people first before embarking on a larger, longer, and more expensive study (Diekmann & Smith, 1989, 418-430). The main problem with such sampling is that the available subjects might be atypical of the population of interest with regard to critical variables. It has been argued that convenience samples can lack transferability or external validity in qualitative research. Thus although this is simple and more co st-effective, it is important to remember that the participants recruited are not necessarily reflective of the population being studied, and they may not necessarily be reflective of all view points, and thus the research may be criticized to be biased (Polit and Beck, 2007, 292). Quota Sampling (Stratified Purposeful) This is also known as quota sampling in which the researcher identifies population strata and also determines the number of participants needed from each stratum. To be able to determine this, the information about the population characteristics is necessary, since it should represent diverse segments preferable in a representative

Concentration of enzymes Essay Example for Free

Concentration of enzymes Essay CONCLUSION: Based on the results obtained from the experiment it can be concluded that the concentration of enzymes influences the rate of a chemical reaction. If enzyme concentration is decreased then the reaction rate will also decrease. If there is sufficient enzyme to bind with substrate then the reaction will proceed fast and if there are insufficient enzymes present then the reaction will slow down DISCUSSION: It was predicted that with the increase of concentration of amylase solution, the time took to break down starch would decrease . This was proved correct , if basing on just these trials . The graph shows how with every single increase of the concentration , the amount of drops until the mixture fails to give a blue-black colour with iodine solution disappear decreased. This continually happened , without any outliers. The trend-line of the graph shows the predicted linear line in the relationship between concentration of amylase solution and the amount of drops until the mixture fails to give a blue-black colour with iodine solution. The amount of drops until the mixture fails to give a blue-black colour with iodine solution with a amylase concentration of 0.1% was found to be 12 drops, which was plotted on the graph. It can be presumed that a higher concentration of amylase is better because it does not take much time to break down the polysaccharide chains and a higher concentration helps to speed up this process. The amylase concentration of 0.1% took only 12 drops until the mixture fails to give a blue-black colour, while the amylase concentration of 0.05% took 21 drops , the amylase concentration of 0.025% took 24 drops and the amylase concentration of 0.01% took 28 drops. Because the purpose of an enzyme is to speed up a reaction, it is logical that amylase would have a higher concentration so it can take less time for it to do its purpose. At higher amylase concentration the time taken until the mixture fails to give a blue-black colour with iodine solution. Despite this, there are sources of error that need to be acknowledge. The trial proved difficult for some, sometimes yielding no results. Another source may be the mixing of the concentration.

Cyber Crime: Strategies and Types

Cyber Crime: Strategies and Types Cyber Crime: Identity Theft A. Introduction In this era of globalization, one of many things that can distinguish a developed country to a developing country is its progress of science and technology. This is because along with the development of a countrys science and technology, will also developed the countrys ability to enrich their own potential. Great advances in science and technology in developed country are due to their well-established information system. Meanwhile, in the developing country, the information system is still minimal, which make the development of science and technology become blocked. Thus, whether a country will become a developed country or not, is highly depend on their mastery of information system. In times like these, the mastery of the information system will not enough by merely mastering. We need to conquer the speed and accuracy too, because there is almost no point in mastering outdated information. Moreover, the very rapid progress of information makes the age of the information shorted. In other words, substitution of old and new information becomes faster. Old information will be ignored because of the more recent information. But, the development of science and technology, in which also means the development of information system, does not always have good effects. It has bad effects too. One of them is the increased rate of the computer crime. B. Computer Crime Computer crime issues have become high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright infringement through warez, child pornography, and child grooming. There are also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or intercepted, lawfully or otherwise. A computer crime is any illegal action where the data on a computer is accesed without permission. This access does not have to result in loss of data or even data modifications. Computer crime is often attributed to rogue hackers and crackers, but increasingly organized crime groups have realized the relative ease of stealing data with low-level of risk. There are three major classes of criminal activity with computer: 1. Unauthorized use of a computer, which might involve stealing a username and password, or might involve accessing the victims computer via the Internet through a backdoor operated by a Trojanhorse program. Unauthorized use of computers tends generally takes the following forms: Computer voyeur. The attackers read or copy confidential or propietary information, but the data is neither deleted nor changed. Changing data. Example, changing a grade on a school transcript. Unauthorized changing of data is generally a fraudulent act. Deleting data. Deleting entire files could be an act of vandalism or sabotage. Denying service to authorized users. 2. Creating or releasing a malicious computer program (e.g., computer virus, worm, Trojanhorse). Malicious computer program are divided into these following classes: 1) A virus is a program that infects an executable file. After infection, the executable file functions in a different way than before: maybe only displaying a benign message on the monitor, maybe deleting some or all files on the users hard drive, or maybe altering data files. There are two key features of a computer virus: The ability to propagate by attaching itself to executable files (e.g., application programs, operating system, macros, scripts, bootsector of a hard disk or floppy disk, etc.) Running the executable file may make new copies of the virus. The virus causes harm only after it has infected an executable file and the executable file is run. 2) A worm is a program that copies itself. The distinction between a virus and a worm, is that a virus never copies itself, a virus is copied only when the infected executable file is run. In the pure, original form, a worm neither deleted nor changed files on the victims computer, the worm simply made multiple copies of itself and sent those copies from the victims computer, thus clogging disk drives and the Internet with multiple copies of the worm. Releasing such a worm into the Internet will slow the legitimate traffic on the Internet, as continuously increasing amounts of traffic are mere copies of the worm. 3) A Trojan Horse is a deceptively labeled program that contains at least one function that is unknown to the user and that harms the user. A Trojan Horse does not replicate, which distinguishes it from viruses and worms. Some of the more serious Trojan horses allow a hacker to remotely control the victims computer, perhaps to collect passwords and creditcard numbers and send them to the hacker, or perhaps to launch denial of service attacks on websites. Some Trojan Horses are installed on a victims computer by an intruder, without any knowledge of the victim. Other Trojan Horses are downloaded (perhaps in an attachment in e-mail) and installed by the user, who intends to acquire a benefit that is quite different from the undisclosed true purpose of the Trojan Horse. 4) A logic bomb is a program that detonates when some event occurs. The detonated program might stop working, crash the computer, release a virus, delete data files, or any of many other harmful possibilities. Atimebomb is a type of logicbomb, in which the program detonates when the computers clock reaches some target date. 5) A hoax is a warning about a nonexistent malicious program. 3. Crimes facilitated by computer networks or devices, the primary target of which is independent of the computer network or device (cyber crime) Examples of crimes that merely use computer networks or devices would include : Cyber stalking Fraud and identity theft Phishings scams Information warfare The third type of Computer Crime has become the most famous right now, because it produce more benefits than the other two. C. Cyber Crime The Internet is a new frontier. Just like the Wild, Wild West, the Internet frontier is wide open to both exploitation and exploration. There are no sheriffs on the Information Superhighway. No one is there to protect you or to to lock-up virtual desperados and bandits.This lack of supervision and enforcement leaves users to watch out for themselves and for each other.A loose standard called netiquette has developed but it is still very different from the standards found in real life.Unfortunately, cyberspace remains wide open to faceless, nameless con artists that can carry out all sorts of mischief. And that is why the cyber crimes can be as they are right now. Cyber Crime is a criminal activity done using a computers and the internet. This includes anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cyber crime also includes non-monetary offenses, such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the internet. Cases of cyber crime, 1970 2005: 1970 1990 1. John Draper discovers the give-away whistle in Capn Crunch cereal boxes reproduces a 2600Hz tone. Draper builds a ‘blue box that, when used with the whistle and sounded into a phone receiver, allows phreaks to make free calls 2. Robert T. Morris, Jr., graduate student at Cornell University and son of a chief scientist at the NSA, launches a self-replicating worm (the Morris Worm) on the governments ARPAnet (precursor to the Internet). The worm gets out of hand and spreads to over 6000 networked computers, clogging government and university systems. Morris is dismissed from Cornell, sentenced to three years probation, and fined $10K. 3. After a prolonged sting investigation, Secret Service agents swoop down on organizers and members of BBSs in 14 US cities, including the Legion of Doom. The arrests are aimed at cracking down on credit-card theft and telephone and wire fraud.(1990) 1991 2000 1. Five members of the Aum Shinri Kyo cults Ministry of Intelligence break into Mitsubishi Heavy Industrys mainframe and steal Megabytes of sensitive data. (1994) 2. Hackers adapt to emergence of the World Wide Web, moving all their how-to information and hacking programs from the old BBSs to new hacker Web sites.(1994) 3. Russian crackers steal $10 million from Citibank. Vladimir Levin, the ringleader, uses his work laptop after hours to transfer the funds to accounts in Finland and Israel. He is tried in the US and sentenced to 3 years in prison. All but $400K of the money is recovered. (1995) 4. The French Defense Ministry admits Hackers succeeded in stealing acoustic codes for aircraft carriers and submarines. (1995) 5. FBI establishes fake security start-up company in Seattle and lures two Russian citizens to U.S. soil on the pretense of offering them jobs, then arrests them. The Russians are accused of stealing credit card information, attempting to extort money from victims, and defrauding PayPal by using stolen credit cards to generate cash. (2000) 2001 2005 1. Microsoft become victim of a new type of attack against domain name servers, corrupting the DNS paths taking users to Microsofts Web sites. This is a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. The hack is detected within hours, but prevents millions of users from reaching Microsoft Web pages for two days. (2001) 2. The Klez.H worm becomes the biggest malware outbreak in terms of machines infected, but causes little monetary damage. (2002) 3. Two men hack into wireless network at Lowes store in Michigan and steal credit card information. (2003) 4. Brian Salcedo sentenced to 9 years for hacking into Lowes home improvement stores and attempting to steal customer credit card information. Prosecutors said three men tapped into the wireless network of a Lowes store and used that connection to enter the chains central computer system in NC, installing a program to capture credit card information. (2004) 5. Secret Service seizes control of the Shadowcrew Web site and arrests 28 people in 8 states and 6 countries. They are charged with conspiracy to defraud the US. Nicolas Jacobsen, is charged with hacking into a T-Mobile computer system, exposing documents the Secret Service had e-mailed to an agent. (2004) Australian Institute of Criminology, 9 types of cycber crime: 1. Theft of telecommunication service The phone phreakers of three decades ago set a precedent for what has become a major criminal industry. By gaining access to an organisations telephone switchboard (PBX) individuals or criminal organisations can obtain access to dial-in/dial-out circuits and then make their own calls or sell call time to third parties. Offenders may gain access to the switchboard by impersonating a technician, by fraudulently obtaining an employees access code, or by using software available on the internet. Some sophisticated offenders loop between PBX systems to evade detection. Additional forms of service theft include capturing calling card details and on-selling calls charged to the calling card account, and counterfeiting or illicit reprogramming of stored value telephone cards. 2. Communication in furtherance of criminal conspiracies There is evidence of telecommunications equipment being used to facilitate organised drug trafficking, gambling, prostitution, money laundering, child pornography and trade in weapons (in those jurisdictions where such activities are illegal). The use of encryption technology may place criminal communications beyond the reach of law enforcement. 3. Telecommunications privacy Digital technology permits perfect reproduction and easy dissemination of print, graphics, sound, and multimedia combinations. The temptation to reproduce copyrighted material for personal use, for sale at a lower price, or indeed, for free distribution, has proven irresistable to many. 4. Dissemination of offensive materials Content considered by some to be objectionable exists in abundance in cyberspace. This includes, among much else, sexually explicit materials, racist propaganda, and instructions for the fabrication of incendiary and explosive devices. Telecommunications systems can also be used for harassing, threatening or intrusive communications, from the traditional obscene telephone call to its contemporary manifestation in cyber-stalking, in which persistent messages are sent to an unwilling recipient. 5. Electronic money laundering and tax evasion With the emergence and proliferation of various technologies of electronic commerce, one can easily envisage how traditional countermeasures against money laundering and tax evasion may soon be of limited value. I may soon be able to sell you a quantity of heroin, in return for an untraceable transfer of stored value to my smart-card, which I then download anonymously to my account in a financial institution situated in an overseas jurisdiction which protects the privacy of banking clients. I can discreetly draw upon these funds as and when I may require, downloading them back to my stored value card (Wahlert 1996). 6. Electronic vandalism, terrorism and extortion As never before, western industrial society is dependent upon complex data processing and telecommunications systems. Damage to, or interference with, any of these systems can lead to catastrophic consequences. Whether motivated by curiosity or vindictiveness electronic intruders cause inconvenience at best, and have the potential for inflicting massive harm (Hundley and Anderson 1995, Schwartau 1994). While this potential has yet to be realised, a number of individuals and protest groups have hacked the official web pages of various governmental and commercial organisations (Rathmell 1997). http://www.2600.com/hacked_pages/ (visited 4 January 2000). This may also operate in reverse: early in 1999 an organised hacking incident was apparently directed at a server which hosted the Internet domain for East Timor, which at the time was seeking its independence from Indonesia (Creed 1999). 7. Sales and investment fraud As electronic commerce becomes more prevalent, the application of digital technology to fraudulent endeavours will be that much greater. The use of the telephone for fraudulent sales pitches, deceptive charitable solicitations, or bogus investment overtures is increasingly common. Cyberspace now abounds with a wide variety of investment opportunities, from traditional securities such as stocks and bonds, to more exotic opportunities such as coconut farming, the sale and leaseback of automatic teller machines, and worldwide telephone lotteries (Cella and Stark 1997 837-844). Indeed, the digital age has been accompanied by unprecedented opportunities for misinformation. Fraudsters now enjoy direct access to millions of prospective victims around the world, instantaneously and at minimal cost. 8. Illegal Interception of telecommunications Developments in telecommunications provide new opportunities for electronic eavesdropping. From activities as time-honoured as surveillance of an unfaithful spouse, to the newest forms of political and industrial espionage, telecommunications interception has increasing applications. Here again, technological developments create new vulnerabilities. The electromagnetic signals emitted by a computer may themselves be intercepted. Cables may act as broadcast antennas. Existing law does not prevent the remote monitoring of computer radiation. It has been reported that the notorious American hacker Kevin Poulsen was able to gain access to law enforcement and national security wiretap data prior to his arrest in 1991 (Littman 1997). In 1995, hackers employed by a criminal organisation attacked the communications system of the Amsterdam Police. The hackers succeeded in gaining police operational intelligence, and in disrupting police communications 9. Electronic funds transfer fraud Electronic funds transfer systems have begun to proliferate, and so has the risk that such transactions may be intercepted and diverted. Valid credit card numbers can be intercepted electronically, as well as physically; the digital information stored on a card can be counterfeited. Right now electronic funds transfer fraud is the most famous type of cyber crime. Every year the rate of case about electronic funds transfer fraud always increasing especially in credit card information stealing. From www.spamlaws.com they wrote about credit card stealing in 2005,†Credit card fraud statistics show that about $2.8 million was lost due to credit card fraud, from fraudulent use of MasterCard and Visa alone. In total, credit card fraud costs cardholders and credit card issuers as much as $500 million a year.† Identity Theft Identity theft is really identity fraud. This criminal uses someone elses identity for their own illegal purposes.Examples include fraudulently obtaining credit, stealing money from the victims bank accounts, using the victims credit card number, establishing accounts with utility companies, renting an apartment, or even filing bankruptcy using the victims name. The cyberimpersonator can steal unlimited funds in the victims name without the victim even knowing about it for months, or even years. Anyone who relies heavily on credit cards, Social Security Numbers or network blogging is more susceptible to credit identity theft. Many of our modern conveniences also come with a risk and less protection. The digital age is the perfect age for the Cyber criminal to commit it. Think of the internet as a dark alley in the middle of the night. And these cyber criminals are those people hiding there waiting for the victims to make a mistake. Credit identity theft is a very damaging crime because it not only damages the person financially but also damages the persons reputation as well. Imagine someone borrowing money using your name and never telling you. You will both bear with the burden of paying back the money he borrowed and suffer the humiliation of having this blunder under your name. Identity theft has been referred to by some as the crime of the new millennium. It can be accomplished anonymously, easily, with a variety of means, and the impact upon the victim can be devastating. Identity theft is simply the theft of identity information such as a name, date of birth, Social Security number (SSN), or a credit card number. The mundane activities of a typical consumer during the course of a regular day may provide tremendous opportunities for an identity thief: purchasing gasoline, meals, clothes, or tickets to an athletic event; renting a car, a video, or home-improvement tools; purchasing gifts or trading stock on-line; receiving mail; or taking out the garbage or recycling. Any activity in which identity information is shared or made available to others creates an opportunity for identity theft. It is estimated that identity theft has become the fastest-growing financial crime in America and perhaps the fastest-growing crime of any kind in our society. The illegal use of identity information has increased exponentially in recent years. In fiscal year 1999 alone, the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Fraud Hotline received approximately 62,000 allegations involving SSN misuse. The widespread use of SSNs as identifiers has reduced their security and increased the likelihood that they will be the object of identity theft. The expansion and popularity of the Internet to effect commercial transactions has increased the opportunities to commit crimes involving identity theft. The expansion and popularity of the Internet to post official information for the benefit of citizens and customers has also increased opportunities to obtain SSNs for illegal purposes. Victims of identity theft often do not realize they have become victims until they attempt to obtain financing on a home or a vehicle. Only then, when the lender tells them that their credit history makes them ineligible for a loan, do they realize something is terribly wrong. When they review their credit report, they first become aware of credit cards for which they have never applied, bills long overdue, unfamiliar billing addresses, and inquiries from unfamiliar creditors. Even if they are able to identify the culprit, it may take months or years, tremendous emotional anguish, many lost financial opportunities, and large legal fees, to clear up their credit history. Identity theft occurs in many ways, ranging from careless sharing of personal information, to intentional theft of purses, wallets, mail, or digital information. There are some reasons why the attacker can steal the credit card information: 1. Unsecured network Example: 1. Poisoning Poisoning technique is quiet complicated. First, the attackers need to connect to the same network with the target. After that, the attackers have to look for the IP address of the target. The next step, the attackers should poison the target computer with ARP poisoning or with trojan horse. Then the computer target will move following the attackers track. The attackers will bring the target into fake shop site, and make the target unrealized that he/she has entered the credit card information. 2. Sniffing This technique is unstable, why? Because its depend on the attackers luck. Just like poisoning, the attackers have to connect to the same network with the target. After that, the attackers should scan all of MAC address in the network. Next, the attackers start the sniffing program, such as Cain and Able or Wireshark. Last, the attackers should wait until someone in the network open a shop site and enter the information of the credit card. 2. Vulnerabilities on the site Example: 1. SQL Injection With this vulnerability the attacker can enter admin panel without knowing the username and password. They just need to enter a right syntax as username and password to enter the admin panel. If they are already in admin panel they can see the complete information of the buyer. 2. Blind SQL Injection Blind SQL injection is the most favorite vulnerability for the attackers. The attackers will only need the web browser to do this technique. First, the attackers have to found a right page to be injected with some syntax. After that the attackers should drop all database table, and looking for user table or admin table. If there is user table the attackers can drop the column and the attackers could get the full data of the user, included the credit card information. But, if user table doesnt exist, the attackers should use the admin table. The attackers should drop the admin column and search for the admin password. After the attackers cracks the admins username and password, the attackers could go to the admin panel and look for the information of the buyer. 3. Order log Order log is an old vulnerability, but theres still websites that have this vulnerability. With this vulnerability the attackers only need to use search engine and look for the order log. If the order log has already founded the attacker will open it, and suddenly get full information about the buyer. 4. Admin Directory This vulnerability makes visitor of the site be able to open admin directory freely. So, the attacker could use this chance to see the database. Order database is always in the database. In the order database, the data of the buyer will be saved completely, including credit card information. 3. Human error Example: Social Engineering or Human Manipulating Attacker could use security weakness which is human. Why? Because human is easy to be manipulated. First, the attackers could request the target to do something unimportant, and then set a trap for the target. Attackers will manipulate the target to follow the attackers scheme. Then, if the target has already been trapped, the attacker could make the target gives the complete information about the credit card. There are several ways that can be done to avoid the potential victims from identity theft : The potential victims should request a complete credit report every once a year and check it closely. When get unwanted pre-approved credit card offers, shred them up before tossing them. When in public, do not recite social security number outloud to a bank teller or store cashier. Use a secure mailbox that locks. When asked to give mothers maiden name as a code access, use another key word instead. Change the personal identification numbers on accounts regularly. Pick up and keep printed receipts at bank machines or gas pumps. Even if have been victimized, there are still things that can be done : Before calling the police, contact bank or credit card company and freeze the account. The reason for this is twofold: first, it will help minimize monetary loss, and two, most banks and creditors have a time period in which the notification still valid and can be used to protect the victims. Then call the police department. It does not matter if the identification is being used in the victims city or halfway across the world because the police are required by federal law to take the report. After making police reports, the victim could contact any of national credit bureaus and put a fraud alert on their account. While dealing with the credit bureau, the victim should get a current copy of their credit report. And read it carefully. Then, the victims can contact their insurance company and ask for compensation. At least one insurance company has developed an insurance policy to help deal with identity theft. REFERENCES Anonymous. Computer Crime Definition. cited from http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/definition/ computer-crime.asp [21 November 2009] Anonymous. Cybercrime. cited from http://www.techterms.com/definition/cybercrime [21 November 2009] Australian Institute of Criminology. Nine Types of Cybercrime. cited from http://www.crime.hku.hk/ cybercrime.htm [21 November 2009] Hoar SB. Identity Theft: The Crime of The New Millennium. cited from http://www.cybercrime.gov/ usamarch2001_3.htm [5 December 2009] Karnow CEA. Cybercrime. cited from http://www.davislogic.com/cybercrime.htm [5 December 2009] Herries S. Overcoming Identity Theft: What to Do After You Have Been Comprimised. cited from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/272448/overcoming_identity_theft_what_to_do_pg2.html?cat=17 [5 December 2009]

Countertrade :: essays research papers

CounterTrade Paper Countertrade is a trade between two countries by which goods are exchanged for other goods rather than for hard currency. Countertrade is often the solution for exporters that may not be able to be paid in his or her home currency and according to the text few exporters would desire payment in a currency that is not convertible. "Sometimes both parties are happy with the goods they receive, other times one country will liquidate the received asset, ultimately receiving cash in the deal. This is also referred to as "using barter to complete a trade." (www.investopedia.com, 2004) An example of countertrade is, the former Soviet Union would often countertrade, agreeing to trade, say, Soviet oil for another country's vehicles. After researching this subject, I have learned that countertrade is an umbrella term covering a wide range of commercial mechanisms for reciprocal trade. Reciprocal trading (two-sided trading, trade in return) occurs when the trade customers is also a supplier. The reciprocal trading arrangements may or may not be formally linked. In practice, reciprocal trade may strengthen an existing trading relationship, and may even create mutual dependencies, which may create new trade relationship. Barter is probably the oldest and best known example of countertrading, however others, such as offset, buyback, tolling and switch trading, have also evolved to meet the requirements of a more sophisticated world economy. All of these generally involve the exchange of goods or services to finance purchases, rather than using cash alone. "The importance of countertrade as a trading tool has increased since early 1970s -especially in markets where there is a shortage of foreign exchange and countertrade may be the only effective marketing mechanism for doing business." (www.barternews.com, 2003) "One of the unique risks of countertrade transactions is that companies often find themselves handling products with which they are not familiar. This is probably the greatest risk in a countertrade transaction." ((www.barternews.com, 2003) Approximately 130 out of 192 countries in the world require countertrade, one form or another, in their procurements. Many of them did so after having undertaken intensive and serious studies. Many global companies have dedicated in-house specialists dealing specifically with countertrade. Some 20% to 30% of world trade is countertrade. The annual global market size for countertrade is estimated to be between US$200 to US$500 billion. No one really knows what are the correct percentages are and how large the true market size is.

How John Lennon Made the Beatles More Popular than Jesus Essay

The story of the most legendary group in the history of popular music began in 1960, in Liverpool, England. The Beatles, were an English rock band, whose most well-known lineup, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, is considered by many as the most innovative, emulated, and successful music group of the twentieth century. John Lennon was largely responsible for the development of the band, since he, together with Paul McCartney, wrote most of the music for the Beatles. Lennon is largely responsible for the Beatles being considered the first rock performers who were truly considered groundbreaking artists in their own time, and years after the band broke up, with his lyrics, â€Å"Beatlemania†, and the controversy that he caused the band. John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool, England on Oct. 9, 1940. His father abandoned the family when John was a baby, and his mother, Julia (after whom Lennon titled a song on the ‘Double White Album’ in 1968) could never bring herself to settle down to parenthood, leaving her son to be raised by her sister, Mimi Smith, and her husband. Growing up in a working class family provided John with a typical upbringing and exposure to current music. As a teenager, while studying at art school in Liverpool, Lennon decided to follow his passion for music, and started the group, The Quarrymen. In 1957, Lennon met Paul McCartney, who became a member later that year, when the group first played at The Cavern, a local jazz club. In early 1958, McCartney introduced Lennon to another guitarist, George Harrison, who was accepted as a member of the group without hesitation. The Quarrymen continued as before, with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison joined by other young ... ...The Beatles. Avonmouth: Parragon Book Service, 1994. Print. Gopnik, Adam. "A Point of View: Why Are the Beatles so Popular 50 Years On?" BBC News. BBC, 15 June 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Hogan, Randolph. "He Love They Take and Make: Beatles Beatles Bibliography." The New York Times 5 Apr. 1981: 9. ProQuest. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Lennon, John, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. "Beatles Chicago Press Conference #1 - 8/11/1966 - Beatles Interviews Database." Interview. Beatles Interviews Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. "Lennon of Beatles Sorry for Making Remark on Jesus." The New York Times 12 Aug. 1966: 38. ProQuest. Web. Turner, Steve. The Beatles: A Hard Day's Write. New York: MJF, 1994. Print. Urish, Ben, and Kenneth G. Bielen. The Words and Music of John Lennon. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. Print. The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection.

Minimum- Wage Jobs Are A Ticket To Nowhere

I disagree with the statement, and I think that minimum-wage jobs are a good start for first-time employees and a way to keep the prices down for products and services of immediate necessity and some employers might be taking advantage of people who need job but I do not believe this entirely their responsibility. I believe that everyone has to start a minimum –wage job in their teenage years. When we are young we learn habits and behaviors.Minimum-wage jobs teach the habit of first responsibilities – going to work on time, following directions, team work, respect for more experienced coworkers and managers, those jobs teach the dynamics of the work place. Low-wage jobs take the student out of school and place him/her in their new environment where they will spend the rest of their lives. And yes, the jobs are of repetitive nature and sometimes boring but there are more important lessons learned there. My first job was as a sales person of eye glasses at a Christmas fai r.I was hired for one month with no day off to sell glasses during the month of December for a small retailer. I was responsible for the eye glasses to be displayed and clean, and sell them. It was not easy because I had to wake up early, open the shop; and my day finished at 8-9 pm when the store closed. It was a very busy time of the year. It was a very hard one month but there was nothing more satisfying then the first pay check, then I knew I did a good job. There is no embarrassing job if you learn to do it with pride and respect.On the other hand minimum-wage jobs are needed for the economy to keep the prices of products and services of immediate necessity. Let’s just imagine how much more would have to pay for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk if the cashier was getting higher salary, or how much more the burger menu would cost in the fast food joint next door. At the end of the day there are jobs that require less experience and no college degree, thus less pay. It works the same way as if we go in a department store and we stop by the jewelry department, we’ll see different rings with different prices because they have different values.Regarding the statement that employers are taking advantage of employees, I do not think we have to put the blame on the employers entirely; this is why the government of each state needs to revise the minimum-wage salaries on a regular basis so that they keep up with the changing dynamics of the economy. In today’s fast changing world the job market is somewhat regulated. No employer will pay high salary for basic skills job and vise versa no job requiring exceptional skills and knowledge will be rewarded with minimum wage. In conclusion, low-paid jobs are learning point in our lives and necessity for the economy; we just need to accept it.

ICT Is An Opportunity For Children To Apply And Develop Their Knowledge And Capability

Introduction:Within my setting, ICT is an opportunity for children to apply and develop their knowledge and capability. With my help, they can research, question accuracy of sites and exchange and share information together and through emails (we also share with a neighbouring school and have class blogs). Children are learning the fundamentals of research and electronic media, with support, guidance and safeguarding programs. They develop ideas using tools to refine work, enhance quality and accuracy, use spell checks and thesaurus.These are just some of the general requirements from National Curriculum 1999, published by QCA. In conversation with my teacher, we noted how technology has changed rapidly. We use ICT in Assembly, Role Play, across the curriculum and taking photos for evidence. Teachers are finding it easier to source programs that make learning more fun. An ICT program, namely, www. educationcity. com, covers Key Stage 1-4, all Curriculum areas, plus a Teacher Zone and is used across our school.We agreed, in the words of Blatchford, that we must provide activities to encourage children to explore the technologically of a variety of ICT tools and encourage them to apply these, for a range of different purposes. (Siraj-Blatchford and Siraj-Blatchford, 2006, p. 2). In line with National Occupational Standards expectations of Teaching Assistants in ICT, this ensures we get basic training to support pupils. (Block 5, Week 25, Activity 25. 3: School activity: observing ICT). Part One: Our class has been exploring seeds, so I based my Storybird book   around this.We covered topics in Maths, Science, Environment and Circle Time. These cross-curricular links were important for our class activity from sourcing the materials needed, to who would look after them and estimating their eventual height. The impact and effect flowers and bees had on our environment, and people’s feelings about this. I developed this story linking to friendships and secon d families, and in class extended the Maths talk, estimating the height they may grow, and eventual measurement to incorporate centimetres and inches, which we are covering this term.Linda Gillard and Virginia Whitby (2007) argue that the more prescriptive the curriculum, with guidance and requirements, the greater the potential influence it has on the way children’s subject knowledge is developed in schools. With this quote in mind, I will use this ICT site to benefit the children, using the pictures to help tell a story, and having ICT as a cross-curricular tool. We encourage children to use different strategies like story-mountains and mind maps but just having pictures and having to put words to them extend their thinking.My pedagogic subject knowledge helped me help them choose the pictures and I explained the concept to them in order for them to be able to understand. I knew they would then learn because they had chosen pictures that interested them. As Marianne Coulson , Combined Tutor Group pointed out â€Å"writing a story from the illustrations enabled me to experience what it might be like for a non reader trying to make sense of the story from using the pictures. We encourage children to use different strategies when reading to stop them becoming over-reliant on one strategy†.I learnt how to develop my ICT, enabling the children to better their literacy skills and to make choices. The children can let their imaginations rule the story. I will present this as a group activity and encourage the children to look at literacy through different modes of image and word. â€Å"The complex interweaving of word, image, gesture and movement and sound, can be combined in different ways and presented through a range of media† (Bearne and Wolstencroft, 2007, p. 21). Children develop their powers of thinking and understanding enabling them to be confident enough to develop.  (Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate, from DCSF, 2008, p. 2)(Block 3, Week 13, Study Guide: Talking and Listening)Daily writing develops technical proficiency, the ability to manipulate ideas and build a bank of possibilities to draw upon sparking fresh ideas to combine words, generate and select sentences and create from images (Pie Corbett, 2012). I have learnt that as adults, we already have the skills for reading but using illustrations, sounds and words is a multimodality tool. I tend not to use these different strategies and I think at first, this made my writing in Storybird difficult.I had plenty of ideas but had trouble finding images. I learnt children have far more of a free flowing attitude than adults do, and it took me a while to focus on writing around the images rather than finding an image to match my writing. Children already know much about multimodal texts from their home experiences. As teaching assistant’s it is our responsibility to build on these experiences and the children’s knowledge, recognisin g the relationships between different modes and use this in our teaching. The future of reading and writing is interwoven with the future of digital technology (UKLA 2005).For Show and Tell, I used the display we had put together on Planting. We planted seeds with the children as part of a Maths experiment to see how tall they would grow and be able to measure in cm's and inches. Children estimated the plants end height and recorded the information. Our Science lesson covered, talking about plants, bugs, bees and the environment. We use a similar ICT programme whereby the children send photographs and videos to a neighbouring school, and by refining and editing their work they are also meeting the National Curriculum (2005) QCA requirements.The children are aged six to seven and the intended learning outcomes were to see if their estimations were correct. For science, we were scaffolding the children to learn about discovery as well as communication, discovering if the plants would reach their estimated height, and communicating with each other to discuss expectations. To be able to distinguish the impact science and technology has on everyday life and environmental impacts on bee pollination and weather conditions (Block 4, week 18, Science and Technology).We represented the situation in maths to predict the outcome and add details to a graph, interpreting mathematical data (DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14) (Haylock with Manning (2010). Professionally, I thought it was good to share our approaches and the resources we use in our school setting. Taking note of comments in the forum, I delivered the show and tell to colleagues, explaining that we could use this in assessments for learning and received positive responses and feedback. (Word count: 1071) Part Two (a) Looking back at the Maths targets I identified and discussed in TMA01, I feel that my knowledge and progress in problem solving has developed.The challenge for me was the opportunity to understand the problem sol ving strategies and be able to use logical reasoning. The lack of this affected my mathematical investigations with the children and my confidence to represent and model situations using a range of tools and applying logic and reasoning. (cited Haylock with Manning, Chapter 2, pg. 21, DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14). I have progressed in thinking creatively and can understand, analyse and evaluate to solve problems, sharing my approach and solution effectively by re-reading the course material.I have learnt problem solving can relate to many different things within maths ranging from doing a jigsaw to reading a map { cited Study Guide, Week 26, Block 5, ICT (Ollerton, 2010, p. 84) } and the need to solve problems is the fundamental basis for the construction of maths. I have learnt, by reading Askew & Williams (1995) four areas of problem solving, being, Standard Problems, Non-Standard, Real-world and Puzzles, that to question the children on these, by using questioning that will help to develo p their mathematical thinking is of importance.In line with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA 2003, p. 8) I am now thinking about the children’s thought process, and the extent to which they will reveal their understanding and the language used. This will have a further impact on my support of them and my own knowledge and understanding. The most important thing I learnt in Block 2 (Week 8, Study Guide: Teaching for possibility thinking) related to maths being a rich context full of creative approaches to learning and how we, as teaching assistants, need to build on what we have previously learned.Using ‘what if’ and ‘as if’ thinking I will use creative questioning and support the children to explore what answers may be. Using the ‘shiny maths’ approach like line graphs, pie charts, 3D models and tessellation patterns to make maths and problem solving, more interesting. In compounding my subject knowledge for English, I ha ve found that my understanding and development has been re-enforced by re-reading Eyres (2007). My weakness as identified in TMA01, were Phonics and Word Classes and Apostrophes.By going over chapters 3, 4 and 8, I have come to make sense of phonics, graphemes, nouns, verbs, adjectives and the importance of how simple sentences are structured. How a word’s class can also be determined by its function of the role it plays in a sentence (Eyres (2007) p. 87-p. 89). Word classes, being the verbs, adjectives and nouns, describe English as being parts of speech.Assigning words to classes is more straightforward, for example, ‘the water run’s’, ‘water’ the verb and ‘run’  the noun and how an apostrophe can stand in for letters that have been dropped. For example ‘do not’ will become ‘don’t’ (Eyres (2007) p. 129). In Science and Technology, I have discovered collaboratively with our e-group, that there a re many sites we can use for investigation with the children. Useful facts and links can be used in conjunction with other classroom resources such as library books and working wall texts, with the idea that, children should do much more practical hands on experiments and be involved in the examination of scientific phenomena.When doing an experiment on germination, I learnt, after reading the article in Study Guide, Block 4 (Week 21, 2. 4 Observing Phenomena) by Karen Phethean (2008) giving the children a more ‘hands on’ and ‘minds on’ approach and allowing them to handle the seeds and Petri dishes made a great difference to their learning (topic pedagogy). I have gained knowledge that Science is a way of thinking and that it involves trial and error. I understand now that our conclusions can change during the lesson as we may make a new discovery through questioning the children.Howe et al (2009) suggest children need support to be creative and explore, p redict and observe and Vygotsky (1978) says communication in learning is important in the development of knowledge in which we have some understanding but are not fully confident. I feel a little out of my comfort zone when delivering Science and, although I have some sound knowledge, I need to develop along with the children and remember that science is not just a collection of facts. I have also realised that I need to question the children more to ensure they understand and allow them to give their ideas and interpretations.The use of online science and technology information has enhanced learning in my environment by allowing the children some independence to search for relevant information. This has helped me gather knowledge and understanding in cross-curricular ICT and be of assistance in facilitating children’s learning. Pedagogically, I can now put into practice the knowledge and experience I have gained through Block 4, Science and Technology including an understand ing of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult: the conceptions and preconceptions that students of different ages have.  (Word count: 842)Part Two (b) Looking back at the English targets I recognized and considered in TMA01, I am now confident that my subject knowledge in Letters and Sounds has advanced. I have developed my knowledge of children’s literature and the linguistic terminology used, along with spending much time examining the letters and sounds in Phonics. Re-reading English for Primary and Early Years, Eyres, (2007) has helped my progression enormously, and I now know I am confident to apply my developed knowledge in a practical sense.I have reaffirmed phonics is the study of how sounds we make correspond to the written letter and fully understand now that readers of English rely heavily on their knowledge of letter-sound association, and an essential part of the reading process is decoding the letter symbols to reveal the sounds of the la nguage (Eyres (2007) p. 200). Although phonics appears hard to grasp, by using the right approach, it is possible to make this easier for the learners with worksheets and/or audio, through use of laptops.We must use well-prepared phonics plans that take in the phonics rules and patterns. I have further learnt that after introducing the learner to the letters, we must teach them the sounds. The phonics lesson plans must include sounds worksheets. These phonics sound worksheets must include all the 26 letters, 44 phonemes, and 120 graphemes and digraphs. I have also learnt that we use a combination of three criteria for determining word class. The meaning of the word, its shape, form and the position it has in the sentence.Word classes – nouns, verbs, adjectives etc are all used in describing English. A words class may also be concluded by its function, for example, the role it plays within a sentence (Eyres 2007 p. 89). Supporting the children in this complex subject, I first sourced http://www. bbc. co. uk/schools/teachers/ks2_lessonplans/english/word_types. shtml and we used the game to identify the roles of these nouns and verbs and to understand how they would fit into our literacy writing. This also helped reinforce my learning of the lesson plan.Once more this has assisted with my continuing ICT development, and how I can best support and scaffold the children. My pedagogy, subject knowledge and the curriculum in my setting have strengthened to enable me to encourage the children’s learning through better communication. My ‘how to’ knowledge is now better merged with the subject and I can now identify, as read in Block 1, the misconceptions and preconceptions the learners have and be equipped to make the topic understandable to the learner. (Archambault and Crippen,2009;Shulman,1986).I have developed and extended my literacy skills through this course and by reading Eyres (2007) and really feel I am building good literacy skills using feedback I have received from my mentor assessing my lesson plans and deliverance. I have extended my vocabulary through listening, talking, watching and further reading. I do realise that with pedagogical content knowledge, my own secure subject knowledge will not automatically result in children moving forward in their understanding. Pedagogical knowledge understands how students construct knowledge and acquire skills.The Primary and Secondary National Strategies, state that pedagogy is the act of teaching, and the rationale that supports the actions that teachers take to make effective teaching decisions. I have learnt that I must build on what the learners, and myself, already know and structure the pace of the lesson so that the whole class are able to access and understand the subject. In addition to this subject knowledge gained, I also feel I can now select all the relevant information I need to support the students and myself for different purposes.I now feel far mor e confident in organising essential information and ideas for the lesson and communicate effectively with the children. (Word count: 623) Part 3: Evaluation: I discussed with my mentor that my most important learning area was phonics and how I have come to make sense of this, along with graphemes, phonemes and phonics sounds worksheets and be able to support the children in this complex subject. I explained that I had learnt that English sounds and how they work are known as phonology and how spelling words reflects the sounds of language (Eyres (2007) Chapter 3, Understanding English at word level).We considered how I could use ICT programmes to deliver Phonics lessons to small groups, scaffolding multimodality (Study Guide Block 5 week 25: Overview of ICT) and supporting the children with accessing the phonics subject knowledge to enhance their learning and help develop skills for literacy. I would also access paper-based texts in the form of picture/word cards helping to develop the spoken word and to be able to hear, identify and manipulate the sounds (phonemes) to further engage the children in decoding new written words and be able to blend these sound-spellings.I explained how I felt word classes was more of strength now, but that I still needed to develop some areas of maths. We looked together at my blog and my Professional Development Folder and decided that my work based learning could be set out to enable me to work more with our maths co-ordinator to gain extra knowledge and confidence in maths. She will look at Continual Professional Development courses for me to attend, in house and outside school, to help me analyse and evaluate concepts, policies and practice within the maths subject area.We chatted about how the challenge for me in maths was being able to understand and tackle problem-solving strategies, using logical reasoning and how this affected my work with the children and my confidence to model situations applying logic and reasoning. (cited Haylock with Manning, Chapter 2, pg. 21, DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14). She praised me for being able to organise, communicate and progress in my own learning and seek and learn from feedback after observations to improve my knowledge and performance within the class setting.We talked about how I work well in a team and can evaluate different approaches to support the children where differentiation may be necessary within the lesson plan, thinking on my feet. I explained about the rest of my course in Primary Teaching and Learning and told her my goal was to complete the next step, (E214, Equality, Participation and Inclusion) and to gain my Foundation Degree and perhaps think about the School-centred Initial Teacher training course, for which she could accommodate me.I also discussed with her that I would like to gain further experience and knowledge in Special Needs Education as this is the route my job seems to be going. We discussed a three-year plan, as E214 will take me to May 20 14, and we will meet six monthly to look at goals achieved and still to be met and of course discuss how the E214 is progressing.