Monday, September 30, 2019

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Chapters 9

â€Å"Trust me, we know the difficulties better than you. It is remarkable that you've managed to keep off the radar, so to speak, for this long. Tel me† – a hint of interest colored the monotone – â€Å"how are you doing it?† Our creator hesitated, and then spoke al in a rush. Almost as if there had been some silent intimidation. â€Å"I haven't made the decision,† she spit out. Then she added more slowly, unwil ingly, â€Å"To attack. I've never decided to do anything with them.† â€Å"Rough, but effective,† the cloaked girl said. â€Å"Unfortunately, your period of deliberation has come to a close. You must decide – now – what you wil do with your little army.† Both Diego's and my eyes widened at that word. â€Å"Otherwise, it wil be our duty to punish you as the law demands. This reprieve, however short, troubles me. It is not our way. I suggest you give us what assurances you can†¦ quickly.† â€Å"We'l go at once!† Riley volunteered anxiously, and there was a sharp hiss. â€Å"We'l go as soon as possible,† our creator amended furiously. â€Å"There is much to do. I assume you wish us to succeed? Then I must have a little time to get them trained – instructed – fed!† There was a short pause. â€Å"Five days. We wil come for you then. And there is no rock you can hide under or speed at which you can flee that wil save you. If you have not made your attack by the time we come, you wil burn.† This was said with no menace other than an absolute certainty. â€Å"And if I have made my attack?† our creator asked, shaken. â€Å"We'l see,† the cloaked girl answered in a brighter tone than she'd used yet. â€Å"I suppose that al depends on how successful you are. Work hard to please us.† The last command was given in a flat, hard pitch that made me feel a strange chil in the center of my body. â€Å"Yes,† our creator snarled. â€Å"Yes,† Riley echoed in a whisper. A second later the cloaked vampires were noiselessly exiting the house. Neither Diego nor I so much as took a breath for five minutes after they'd disappeared. Inside the house, our creator and Riley were just as quiet. Another ten minutes passed in total stil ness. I touched Diego's arm. This was our chance to get out of here. At the moment, I wasn't so afraid of Riley anymore. I wanted to get as far away as I could from those dark-cloaks. I wanted the safety of numbers waiting back in the log cabin, and I figured that was exactly how our creator felt, too. Why she'd made so many of us in the first place. There were some things out there scarier than I'd imagined. Diego hesitated, stil listening, and a second later his patience was rewarded. â€Å"Wel ,† she whispered inside the house, â€Å"now they know.† Was she talking about the cloaks or the mysterious clan? Which one was the enemy she'd mentioned before the drama? â€Å"That doesn't matter. We outnumber – â€Å" â€Å"Any warning matters!† she growled, cutting him off. â€Å"There is so much to do. Only five days!† She groaned. â€Å"No more messing around. You start tonight.† â€Å"I won't fail you!† Riley promised. Crap. Diego and I moved at the same time, leaping from our perch into the next tree over, flying back the way we'd come. Riley was in a hurry now, and if he found Diego's trail after al that had just passed with the cloaks, and no Diego there at the end of it†¦ â€Å"I've got to get back and be waiting,† Diego whispered to me as we raced. â€Å"Lucky it's not in view of the house! Don't want him to know I heard.† â€Å"We should talk to him together.† â€Å"Too late for that. He'd notice that your scent wasn't on the trail. Looks suspicious.† â€Å"Diego†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He'd trapped me into sitting this one out. We were back to the spot where he'd joined me. He spoke in a rushed whisper. â€Å"Stick to the plan, Bree. I'l tel him what I planned to tel him. It's not close to dawn, but that's just how it has to be. If he doesn't believe me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Diego shrugged. â€Å"He's got bigger things to worry about than me having an overactive imagination. Maybe he'l be more likely to listen now – looks like we need al the help we can get, and being able to move around in the day can't hurt.† â€Å"Diego†¦,† I repeated, not knowing what else to say. He looked into my eyes, and I waited for his lips to twitch into that easy smile, for him to make some joke about ninjas or BFFs. He didn't. Instead, he leaned in slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, and kissed me. His smooth lips pressed against mine for one long second while we stared at each other. Then he leaned away and sighed. â€Å"Get home, hide behind Fred, and act clueless. I'l be right behind you.† â€Å"Be careful.† I grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard, then let go. Riley had spoken of Diego affectionately. I would have to hope that affection was real. There wasn't another choice. Diego disappeared into the trees, quiet as a rustling breeze. I didn't waste time looking after him. I sprinted through the branches in a direct line back to the house. I hoped my eyes were stil bright enough from last night's meal to explain my absence. Just a quick hunt. Got lucky – found a lone hiker. Nothing out of the ordinary. The sound of the thudding music that greeted my approach was accompanied by the unmistakable sweet, smoky scent of a burning vampire. My panic went into overdrive. I could just as easily die inside the house as outside. But there was no other way. I didn't slow, just rushed down the stairs straight to the corner where I could barely make out Freaky Fred standing. Looking for something to do? Tired of sitting? I had no idea what he was up to, and I didn't care. I would stick tight to him until Riley and Diego got back. In the middle of the floor was a smoldering heap that was too big to be just a leg or an arm. So much for Riley's twentytwo. No one seemed terribly concerned about the smoking remains. The sight was too common. As I hurried closer to Fred, for once the sense of disgust didn't get stronger. Instead, it faded. He didn't seem to notice me, just went on reading the book he held. One of those I'd left him a few days ago. I had no problem seeing what he was doing now that I was close to where he was leaning against the back of the couch. I hesitated, wondering why that was. Could he turn his nausea thing off when he wanted? Did that mean we both were unprotected right now? At least Raoul wasn't home yet, thankful y, though Kevin was. For the first time ever, I real y saw what Fred looked like. He was tal, maybe six two, with the thick, curly blond hair I'd noticed once before. He was broad-shouldered and muscular. He looked older than most of the others – like a col ege student, not a high school kid. And – this was the part that surprised me most for some reason – he was good-looking. As handsome as anyone else, maybe even handsomer than most. I didn't know why that was so trippy for me. I guessed just because I always associated him with revulsion. I felt weird for staring. I glanced quickly around the room to see if anyone had noticed that Fred was normal – and pretty – for the moment. No one was looking our way. I stole a fast peek at Kevin, ready to shift my focus at once if he noticed, but his eyes were concentrated on some point to the left of where we stood. He was frowning slightly. Before I could look away, his gaze skipped right over to me and settled on my right side. His frown deepened. Like†¦ he was trying to see me and couldn't. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch into not quite a grin. There was too much to worry about to real y enjoy Kevin's blindness. I looked back at Fred, wondering if the gross-out factor would return, only to see that he was smiling with me. Smiling, he was real y spectacular. Then the moment was over, and Fred went back to his book. I didn't move for a while, waiting for something to happen. For Diego to come through the door. Or Riley with Diego. Or Raoul. Or for the nausea to hit again, or for Kevin to glare in my direction, or for the next fight to break out. Something. When nothing did, I eventual y pul ed myself together and did what I should have been doing – pretending nothing unusual was going on. I grabbed a book from the pile near Fred's feet and then sat down right there and acted like I was reading. It was probably one of the same books I'd pretended to read yesterday, but it didn't look familiar. I flipped through the pages, again taking nothing in. My mind was racing around in tight little circles. Where was Diego? How had Riley reacted to his story? What had it al meant – the talk before the cloaks, the talk after the cloaks? I worked through it, going backward, trying to assemble the pieces into a recognizable picture. The vampire world had some kind of police, and they were damn scary. This wild group of months-old vampires was supposed to be an army, and this army was somehow il egal. Our creator had an enemy. Strike that, two enemies. We were going to attack one of them in five days, or else the other ones, the scary cloaks, were going to attack her – or us, or both. We would be trained for this attack†¦ as soon as Riley got back. I snuck a glance at the door, then forced my eyes back to the page in front of me. And then the stuff before the visitors. She was worrying about some decision. She was pleased that she had so many vampires – so many soldiers. Riley was happy that Diego and I had survived†¦. He'd said he thought he'd lost two more to the sun, so that must mean he didn't know how vampires really reacted to sunlight. What she'd said was strange, though. She'd asked if he was sure. Sure Diego had survived? Or†¦ sure that Diego's story was true? The last thought frightened me. Did she already know that the sun didn't hurt us? If she did know, then why had she lied to Riley and, through him, to us? Why would she want to keep us in the dark – literal y? Was it very important to her that we stay ignorant? Important enough to get Diego in trouble? I was working myself into a real panic, frozen solid. If I stil could sweat, I would have been sweating now. I had to refocus to turn the next page, to keep my eyes down. Was Riley deceived, or was he in on it, too? When Riley'd said he thought he'd lost two more to the sun, did he mean the sun literal y†¦ or the lie about the sun? If it was the second option, then to know the truth meant being lost. Panic scattered my thoughts. I tried to be rational and make sense of it. It was harder without Diego. Having someone to talk to, to interact with, sharpened my ability to concentrate. Without that, fear sucked at the edges of my thoughts, twisted with the always-present thirst. The lure of blood was constantly close to the surface. Even now, decently wel fed, I could feel the burn and the need. Think about her, think about Riley, I told myself. I had to understand why they would lie – if they were lying – so that I could try to figure out what it would mean to them that Diego knew their secret. If they hadn't lied, if they'd just told us al that the day was as safe for us as the night, how would that change things? I imagined what it would be like if we didn't have to be contained in a blacked-out basement al day, if the twenty-one of us – maybe fewer now, depending on how the hunting parties were getting along – were free to do what we wanted whenever we wanted to. We would want to hunt. That was a given. If we didn't have to come back, if we didn't have to hide†¦ wel, many of us wouldn't come back very regularly. It was hard to focus on the return while the thirst was in charge. But Riley had dril ed so deeply into al of us the threat of burning, of a return of that hideous pain we'd al experienced once. That was the reason we could stop ourselves. Self-preservation, the only instinct stronger than thirst. So the threat kept us together. There were other hiding places, like Diego's cave, but who else thought about that kind of thing? We had a place to go, a base, so we went to it. Clear heads were not a vampire specialty. Or, at least, they weren't the specialty of young vampires. Riley was clearheaded. Diego was more clearheaded than I was. Those cloaked vampires were terrifyingly focused. I shuddered. So the routine wouldn't control us forever. What would they do when we were older, clearer? It struck me that nobody was older than Riley. Everyone here was new. She needed a bunch of us now for this mystery enemy. But what about afterward? I had a strong feeling that I didn't want to be around for that part. And I suddenly realized something stupendously obvious. It was the solution that had tickled the edges of my understanding before, when I was tracking the vampire herd to this place with Diego. I didn't have to be around for that part. I didn't have to be around for one more night. I was a statue again as I thought over this stunning idea. If Diego and I hadn't known where the gang was most likely headed, would we ever have found them? Probably not. And that was a big group leaving a wide trail. What if it were a single vampire, one who could leap up onto the land, maybe into a tree, without leaving a trail at the edge of the water†¦. Just one, or maybe two vampires who could swim as far out to sea as they wanted†¦ Who could return to land anywhere†¦ Canada, California, Chile, China†¦ You would never be able to find those two vampires. They would be gone. Disappeared like they'd gone up in smoke. We didn't have to come back the other night! We shouldn't have! Why hadn't I thought of it then? But†¦ would Diego have agreed? I was abruptly not so sure of myself. Was Diego more loyal to Riley after al ? Would he have felt it was his responsibility to stand by Riley? He'd known Riley a lot longer – he'd real y only known me a day. Was he closer to Riley than he was to me? I pondered that, frowning. Wel, I would find out as soon as we had a minute alone. And then maybe, if our secret club real y meant something, it wouldn't matter what our creator had planned for us. We could disappear, and Riley would have to make do with nineteen vampires, or make some new ones quick. Either way, not our problem. I couldn't wait to tel Diego my plan. My gut instinct was that he would feel the same. Hopeful y. Suddenly, I wondered if this was what had real y happened to Shel y and Steve and the other kids who had disappeared. I knew they hadn't burned in the sun. Had Riley only claimed he'd seen their ashes as another way to keep the rest of us afraid and dependent on him? Returning home to him every dawn? Maybe Shel y and Steve had just set off on their own. No more Raoul. No enemies or armies threatening their immediate future. Maybe that's what Riley had meant by lost to the sun. Runaways. In which case, he'd be happy that Diego hadn't bailed, right? If only Diego and I had taken off! We could be free, too, like Shel y and Steve. No rules, no fear of the sunrise. Again, I imagined the whole horde of us on the loose without a curfew. I could see Diego and me moving like ninjas through the shade. But I could also see Raoul, Kevin, and the rest, sparkling disco-bal monsters in the center of a busy downtown street, the bodies piling up, the screaming, the helicopters whirring, the soft, helpless cops with their dinky little bul ets that wouldn't make a dent, the cameras, the panic that would spread so fast as the pictures bounced swiftly around the globe. Vampires wouldn't be a secret for very long. Even Raoul couldn't kil people fast enough to keep the story from spreading. There was a chain of logic here, and I tried to grasp it before I could be distracted again. One, humans didn't know about vampires. Two, Riley encouraged us to be inconspicuous, not to attract the notice of humans and educate them otherwise. Three, Diego and I had decided that al vampires must be fol owing that guideline, or else the world would know about us. Four, they must have a reason for doing so, and it wasn't the little popguns of the human police that motivated them. Yeah, the reason must be pretty important to make al vampires hide al day long in stuffy basements. Maybe reason enough to make Riley and our creator lie to us, terrify us about the burning sun. Maybe it was a reason Riley would explain to Diego, and since it was so important and he was so responsible, Diego would promise to keep the secret and they would be cool with that. Sure they would. But what if what actual y happened to Shel y and Steve was that they'd discovered the shiny skin thing and not run? What if they'd gone to Riley? And, crap, there went the next step in my logical path. The chain dissolved and I started panicking about Diego again. As I stressed, I realized that I'd been thinking things through for a while. I could feel dawn coming on. No more than an hour away. So where was Diego? Where was Riley? As I thought this, the door opened and Raoul leaped down the stairs, laughing with his buddies. I hunched down, leaning closer to Fred. Raoul didn't notice us. He looked at the crispyfried vampire in the center of the floor and laughed harder. His eyes were bril iant red. On the nights Raoul went hunting, he never came home til he had to. He would keep feeding as long as he could. So dawn must have been even closer than I'd thought. Riley must have demanded that Diego prove his words. That was the only explanation. And they were waiting for the dawn. Only†¦ that would mean that Riley didn't know the truth, that our creator was lying to him, too. Or did it? My thoughts twisted up again. Kristie showed up minutes later with three of her gang. She reacted indifferently to the pile of ashes. I did a quick head count as two more hunters hurried through the door. Twenty vampires. Everyone was home except Diego and Riley. The sun would rise at any moment. The door at the top of the basement stairs creaked as someone opened it. I sprang to my feet. Riley entered. He shut the door behind him. He walked down the stairs. No one fol owed.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ifrs Adoption in Spain and the United Kingdom: Effects on Accounting Numbers and Relevance

Tutorial questions for Topic 6 Reading exercise Read Gaston et al (2010) article â€Å"IFRS adoption in Spain and the United Kingdom: Effects on accounting numbers and relevance† and find out the answer for the following questions: Q1 What are the research objectives? (the last 5 paragraphs of section 1) The main purpose of this research is to compare and contrast the quantitative impact of the IFRS adoption on financial reporting in Spain and the UK.There are two main research objectives. First it explores the economic and financial effect of the IFRS adoption for companies in the two countries. The second objective is to examine whether or not the IFRS will improve the usefulness of financial reporting. It is expected that companies’ market value and book value will increase under the IFRS adoption in both countries (Gaston et al, 2010). If you use direct quotation instead: The first objective of our study is to analyse the impact of IFRS on financial reports issued b y companies in Spain and the UK† (Gaston et al, 2010, p306). Q2 What is the research sample size? (section 3. 1 in page 306) 100 companies from the Madrid Stock Exchange General Index (IGBM) and 74 companies from the Financial Time Stock Exchange Index 100 (FTSE 100) (excluding financial institutions, holding companies and insurance firms) are used for this research.Q3 How many hypotheses are proposed, and what are they? (section 3. 3, p306-308) There are three hypotheses are proposed in this study and they are: â€Å"H01: There are no significant differences in the value of accounting figures and financial ratios determined under local GAAP and IFRS† â€Å"H02: There are no significant differences in the relative impact of IFRS on the value of accounting figures and financial ratios in the UK and Spain† â€Å"H03:There are no significant differences in the book values (per local GAAP and IFRS) and market value of firms† â€Å"H04: There are no significan t differences in the Gap(spainlocal), Gap(uklocal) and Gap(spainifrs), Gap(ukifrs) (Gaston et al, 2010, p307). Q4 What are the research findings? (section 5, page 312) â€Å"H01: There are no significant differences in the value of accounting figures and financial ratios determined under local GAAP and IFRS† H01 is rejected (not true) in both Spanish and British companies because: After IFRS adoption, Spanish firms showing (p308):Increases in fixed and total assets, long-term liabilities, short-term liabilities and indebtedness. Decreases in current assets, current ratio and solvency After IFRS adoption, UK firms showing (p309): Increases in fixed and total assets, long-term liabilities, short-term liabilities, operating income, net income, indebtedness and return on equity. Decreases in current assets, equity and solvency H02: There are no significant differences in the relative impact of IFRS on the value of accounting figures and financial ratios in the UK and Spain† H02 is rejected (not true) in both Spanish and British companies because: â€Å"the relative impact of IFRS has been statistically different in Spain and the UK on fixed assets, current assets, long-term and short-term liabilities, operating and net income, solvency, indebtedness, return on assets and return on equity (Table 8, p309) H03: There are no significant differences in the book values (per local GAAP and IFRS) and market value of firms† H03 is rejected (not true) in both Spanish and British companies because â€Å"the market value of firms is statistically different from the book value calculated with both local standards and IFRS† (Table 11, p311). H04: There are no significant differences in the Gap(spainlocal), Gap(uklocal) and Gap(spainifrs), Gap(ukifrs) H04 is rejected (not true) in both Spanish and British companies because there are â€Å"significant differences between accounting and market values†¦ these results are the same both in Spain and U K, as well as they apply local or international standards†¦the market value is significantly higher than the book value in all cases† (p312)

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Principles for Implementing Duty of Care in Health Essay

In my work I have a duty of care to the young people I work with. This means their health, safety, wellbeing and emotional development is my responsibility. For me to do this I follow company policies and procedures and when needed seek advice from the appropriate people. Ac3. Explain where to get additional support and advice about conflicts and dilemmas. While at work for any support I need I firstly will talk to the other member of staff I am on shift with. After that I may call a senior in the office or the out of hour’s duty manager. If problems are still not solved then for the safety of the young person I may need to call the police depending on the situation. 054.3 Ac1. Describe how to respond to complaints. If a yp wants to make a complaint about anything my first action would be to try and resolve the issue myself. After that it may need to go higher up to a senior or my manager, failing that I would assist the yp to fill in a complaint form and then hand it to the manager who would then take the appropriate action from thee. Ac2. Explain the main points of agreed procedures for handling complaints. †¢ Minor/informal complaints such as a yp complaining about the dà ©cor in their bedroom may be dealt with by staff verbally but it still must be recorded on a complaint form and handed to the operations manager. A record will be made in the complaints log. The complaint will be dealt with in 14 days and a written response will be given to the complainant regarding the outcome. †¢ Serious complaints must be written down within two working days and be fully responded to in writing. The complaint must be handed to the operations manager who then should notify the managing director of keys using a complaint referral form. All serious complaints must be resolved within 35 days. †¢ All serious/written complaints must be recorded briefly on a complaints form and in the central complaints file. They will be counted and audited on a monthly basis. The full investigation details will be filed in an individual investigation file. †¢ The operations manager must ensure all serious complaints are entered onto the weekly complaints report by the nominated office. †¢ Any complaint received externally must be logged in the homes central record and copies of any correspondence must also be held in the home. †¢ Copies of any correspondence and the fully completed appendix one must be sent to the complaints administrator at Rawtenstalll office who will ensure the checklist id fully completed.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Dreams from my father By Barack Obama Term Paper

Dreams from my father By Barack Obama - Term Paper Example Actually, mixed heritage presents many challenges and unanswered complexities to the people and President Obama shrewdly explored many of those complexities, while taking care to present the facts to the common public after interpreting them in his own unique way. President Obama’s mother was a white American and his father was a black man who had come to America all the way from Kenya. That is why, mixed heritage raised interesting questions for him related to race, and as he grew up, his curiosity for finding an answer also strengthened. President Obama naturally gravitated towards the African half of his identity as he grew up, despite having the privilege of living with his white American mother and maternal grandparents. This shows that race impacts an individual in a phenomenal way and no person can remain uninfluenced from his/her racial background, because racial background is a stark reality which plays a major role in making the identity of a person. President Obama has offered the readers a broad range of thoughtful meditations on race and inheritance with special regards to his own racial background and racial experience while growing up in America. President Obama has also presented his views regarding whether a person who is half-black, like himself, should accept America’s designation of black people or not. ... The significance of father in the building up of that foundation can not be underestimated. Fathers serve as tutors and counselors. They are to be idealized. They are both successful themselves and also serve as a constant source of motivation for us to be successful. Obama says that if we conduct our self analysis as men, we shall come to realize why our society lacks too many fathers. In fact, the fathers are there, but they are behaving like boys rather than responsible men. The weakness of the foundations of family in the contemporary society can fundamentally be attributed to this fact. This, according to Obama, is specifically true for the African American community. It is a fact that a vast majority of the African American children are brought up by a single parent. Obama compares his own case to the people without fathers in the society in general in these words: I know what it means to have an absent father, although my circumstances weren't as tough as they are for many you ng people today. Even though my father left us when I was two years old †¦ I was luckier than most. †¦ I screwed up more often than I should've, but I got plenty of second chances. And even though we didn't have a lot of money, scholarships gave me the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in the country. A lot of kids don't get these chances today. There is no margin for error in their lives. So my own story is different in that way. (Obama cited in Shepherd). 3. What is the key role that mistakes play in his decision making? Obama has been committing a lot of mistakes in the childhood. He says that he used to be very mischievous and would be mostly found in the principal’s office. Teachers used to teach him to

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Team Meeting Regarding Delivery Problems Assignment

Team Meeting Regarding Delivery Problems - Assignment Example Customs officials have identified that key information is missing from some paperwork coming from the business such as dates, signatures, or even the correct labels which identify contents on packaging. These are human errors and, if discovered to be the problem, should be easily corrected with the team’s ability to conduct internal process analyses. Team members are invited to bring with them, to the meeting, ideas on how to solve the paperwork problem with customs and also satisfy our clients. The new market in Canada will bring better sales revenues and provide more job opportunities for team members who can perform to policy expectations. Together, as a business unit, we can discover what process errors are causing delivery delays and improve the customs packaging and paperwork systems. I appreciate your dedication and your historical accomplishments in the project which have always led to business success. This new market is vital to the business and this issue requires a rapid response. Please attend the meeting with a few proposals on the

Project management and quality assurance Assignment

Project management and quality assurance - Assignment Example But after the calculation for net present value we have for project Mu 924,420, for project Eta 841,872 and for project Iota 370,072. To sum up due to above calculation project Mu is the recommended project because it has got less setup cost which is 1200000 and better payback period than the others which is 3 years and the net present value is much better than the other two project which is 924420 and project Iota has the high setup cost and late payback period and with low net present value. Due to underestimating the task A and task F the project would be finish later than the above estimated time which was 23/04/07. After the rescheduling the new finish day for the project Kappa would be on Monday 12/05/07 which would be 18 weeks When the plan of a project will rescheduling it would directly affect the cost and benefits of the project because the project would be finish later than the estimated time and it needs more work to do on it than the original plan so the main cost which is programmer cost will directly affect the benefit. According to I chart the project completes on 23-4-07 and by the new schedule the project will end on 9-5-07 This results in more than 2 weeks of delay and the marketing strategies also needed to be changed. The deadline mentioned to the customers about the supply of software need to be changed or the time duration between the completion of the project and the delivery of the product to the customer need to be decreased. If the cost based changes are concerned, the company has to pay for the programming and development costs for a period of 2 weeks more. This increases the expenditure on the product by 12.5 percent. The cost effectiveness of the product also decreases by that extent. If the company want to market it at the same price decided before rescheduling, there is a need of supplying for more customers initially as the supply to more number of customers will increaser profitability on same cost price. The increase of time in the production can be tolerated as no release of competitor's products is sited. This gives the company time to make the product bug free and to increase the functional performance. Due to increase in the production time, the marketing manager may object due to the delay in release of the product into the market. They can be

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Social Implications of IT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Social Implications of IT - Essay Example In the year 1923, the Capek Brothers first used the term robot in a play named Rossum’s Universal Robots or RUR. The word robot was derived from the Czech word robota, which means forced labor. In 1942, Isaac Asimov, the renowned science fiction writer, employed the word robotics in his science fiction story the Runabout. Since then, robotics has become a branch of science, and it has revolutionized the technology behind robots in a number of ways. The rapid growth of robotics and the development of robots based on it had brought about some fears among the people. Science fiction movies and novels served to generate creativity in the field of robotics. The law of robotics regulates the creation of robots and provides some safety measures. The works of Isaac Asimov had inspired the creation of the law of robotics. The concept of positronic brained robots was introduced by Asimov in his stories such as Robbie and Reason. These two stories have also described the restrictions to be imposed on the behavior of robots2. Â  The concept of artificial intelligence has historical evidence. The ancient Egyptians had documented ideas that almost match the principles of artificial intelligence. In a Dartmouth Conference in 1956, researchers in computer science and cognitive science introduced the term artificial intelligence. The Dartmouth Conference was the first ever meeting of scientists in pursuit of making machines that could think. In the same year, there was another meeting of scientists termed the Symposium on Information Theory, which was organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This conference developed the principles, which constitute the foundations of artificial intelligence and cognitive science. These two conferences attempted to find out the similarities and to compare human thinking and the computer’s processes.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Political Deviance or Scandal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Political Deviance or Scandal - Research Paper Example It is the higher immorality and has its roots in the governmental search for power and profit (Simon & Eitzen, 2002). It is a rational solution to the barriers or problems that stand in the way of these politician’s aims. The following seeks to look into the various aspects of political deviance and also explore its overall effects. The paper also looks at the accepted practices and policies in curbing this deviance. The last section of this study offers a projection on how political deviance will be treated in the next ten to twenty years. During political deviance, responsibility is denied by referring to actions as mistakes (Cepernich, 2008). There is also victimization through dehumanizing victims. Higher loyalties are invoked then condemners are condemned. It can be demonstrated in cases of extortion, bribery, or kickbacks. Political deviance is seen internationally in the actions of the CIA, that is, in war crimes like Mai Lai massacre and the Vietnam genocide (Cepernich, 2008). In the United States, for instance, the notorious Watergate scandal rocked the United States back in 1970s. Upon the occurrence of any political deviance, numerous effects are felt by both the affected society and culture. Political scandal being unethical and morally unacceptable in any society, it has to be dealt with accordingly. Engaging in political deviance attracts allegations of political bias (Cepernich, 2008). This activity is commonly more harmful both socially and even economically. Most state deviances are restricted to the a ctions of people of the highest social status. They involve tactical exploitation of the powerless members of the society by domination of the economy, engaging in crimes of government control, and abuse of human rights (Cepernich, 2008). It results in vast amounts of injury. The significant effect of any form of political deviance is that it

Monday, September 23, 2019

Psycho-pharmacology review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Psycho-pharmacology review - Research Paper Example When taken by pregnant women, the drug is known to cause various birth defects. Studies reveal that sertraline is very effective in the treatment of some subtypes of depression and panic disorder but not in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (O'Kearney). Although the drug is used to treat social phobia and posttraumatic stress disorder, it leads to only modest improvement in these conditions. 2. Ritalin: The generic name of this drug is methylphenidate hydrochloride which is a central nervous system stimulant. Ritalin is used in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults. It is also used in the symptomatic management of narcolepsy. Ritalin can become addictive. Some of the common side effects of this drug include nervousness, agitation, anxiety or irritability, trouble sleeping (insomnia), loss of appetite, headache, stomach ache, nausea, dizziness and heart palpitations. It is also known to cause some serious side effects like slowing of growth in children, seizures and eyesight changes or blurred vision. Although there is no information regarding the safety and effectiveness of long-term Ritalin treatment in children, it has been found to be very effective in the treatment of ADHD (St. Louis Psychologists and Counseling Information and Referral).

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Activity Intended for Enhancing a Skill Essay Example for Free

Activity Intended for Enhancing a Skill Essay This paper examines the effectiveness of the activity that is carried out in order to enhance a particular skill. The activity of turning letters into words is selected and carried out as a game between the members of an identified group with the main objective being attainment of improved group performance and development. The paper examines the degree of response achieved in the skill with the help of the intended activity. The game of Turning Letters into Words is an activity that is chosen to improve the development and performance of a group and is a great tool to develop knowledge abilities and skills through participation. Dividing the whole group into smaller teams helps in building a structured approach towards shared group objective. This activity creates a stimulating learning environment for each member and hones their behavioral skills to maximize the team’s performance and development. All the members participate fully in terms giving individual contribution as well as working together with others. Being an integral part of the team and having the responsibility of making the maximum words possible with the provided letters, gives a boost to the team spirit. Each member is then supposed to question oneself about whether the letters contributed by him/her helped or restricted the team members in making the most of the needed long words. This brings out the feeling of cohesiveness and suppresses the individualistic approach, which helps in rapid increase in performance levels. The collective act of choosing the letters and making maximum words not just brings the members together, but also promotes the feeling of trust, cooperation and the winning streak. The feeling of competing at the group level helps he members to cope with the distinct behaviors and perspectives, without getting into the blame game. Each member strives to achieve the maximum number of words by unknowingly working towards the strengths and weaknesses of their own teams and articulating the team’s vision. The activity of forming words as a team helps in establishing clear team guidelines, objectives and a well thought out team orientation process. The process of mapping the individual performance with the team’s overall performance while working at a high capacity in the present role augments the group development to accomplish the maximum performance. However, a close scrutiny of the team members’ reaction reveals that the age group is a significant factor in defining the individual’s response to such skill enhancing activities. The different set of values and attitude characterize the way the older generation is not so rapid with coming up with new words. The newer generation however responds more quickly to such skill grinding activities. Therefore, it can be concluded that strategically designed activities can surely be used to facilitate requisite skills such as yielding performance metrics, provided the management is well knowledgeable about the degree of responsiveness. References http://www. teambuildingportal. com/games/turning-letters-words. php

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Effect Of Technology On Human Thinking

The Effect Of Technology On Human Thinking This essay starts an exploration of how technologies impact the human way of thinking. In particular, it examines how the new computers technologies affect the architecture design. The first section highlights the relationship between human values and technology through reviewing some contradicted philosophical views and studying how the information technology inspired the way its work from the human brain. The second section goes in more specifically to review the connection between architecture design and technology, while the third section analysis some architecture Computer Technologies have significantly changed the human life in the twentieth century, and the premise is that information technology has arguably been the most important driver of change in our lives and will carry on to be so far at least the next several decades is completely true. Computer has altered every aspect of our life from a social standpoint to the most importantly a communication standpoint. As a result of this change there was a clash between computer technology and human values especially in the mid of the last century when the first generation of computers was produced. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) was one of the most innovative, influential and controversial thinker of the twentieth century and there is no philosopher describes the conflict of human value and technology so precisely as Heidegger. Unfortunately, Heidegger died before seeing the most powerful technological revolution and the wide spread of microcomputer, he just saw the first generation of computers, but the nature of his work allows him to cover the hole between the period before computers and after, and therefore his writings become the starting point for the other thinkers to identify with the new situation of the technology and the societies. Heidegger when he coupled between being and time, he knew that reality changes and with it the task of thinking. He sensed the rapidity of change in the twentieth century, and he appeared to predict what librarians grasp today: the image of humanist scholar in the book-crammed study, thinking deep thoughts, will continue to be less and less viable in the professional scholarship.(Holibaugh, 1988). This recent notice by Holibaugh the director of Olin and Chalmers libraries at Kenyon College prove what Heidegger in his writings assumed: our rapid technological advance challenges the legacy of human thinking (Heim, 1993). Heidegger in 1967 said in his own writings when he saw the rising crest of information: Maybe history and tradition will fit smoothly into the information retrieval systems that will serve as a resource for the inevitable planning needs of a cybernetically organized mankind. The question is whether thinking, too, will end in the business of information processing (Heidegger, 1967). Not far from Heidegger Marshall McLuhan, 1911-80. Communication theorist, who did not live to see the proliferation of personal computers. He credited technology with breaking the linearity of human lives and thinking, McLuhan (1964) described the twentieth century, it is the speed of electric involvement that creates the integral whole of both private and public awareness. We live today in the age of information and of communication because electric media instantly and constantly create a total field of interacting events in which all men participate. By the mid-twentieth century there were some philosophical views have argued that the computer appears as a rival intelligence that challenges the human being to a contest (Heim, 1993). Hubert Dreyfus the professor of philosophy in University of California Has studied the danger of computers and he conclude that we must know exactly what computers can and what computers cant do, Dreyfus said that the midtwentieth century culture tended to read the human being as an information processing system and the researchers described the brain as a programmed digital computer. Dreyfus noted that the brain can be described as processing information because its physicality and this will leads us into unexamined dogma that the human thinking operates in formal patterns and that appropriately programmed computers possibly will repeat thought patterns. If computers could repeat thought patterns, might we not then reasonable say that computer think or have artificial intelligence (Heim, 1993). Dreyf us continued to argue that the human thinking and expertise depend primarily on unconscious instincts rather than conscious symbolic manipulation and these unconscious abilities could never be obtain in formal systems. Dreyfus critique was based on modern philosopher like Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, Dreyfus applied Heideggers critique of technology to computers, but he understand the computer too narrowly as an artificial intelligence device and he saw the computer only as opponent. Dreyfus wrote in the introduction of his book What Computers Still Cant Do (1992), Artificial intelligence, our programs to a great degree are problems rather than solutions. If a researcher tries to write an understanding program, it isnt because he has thought of a better way of implementing this well-understood task, but because he hopes he can come closer to writing the first implementation. If he calls the main loop of his program UNDERSTANDING, he is (until proven innocent) merely begging the ques tion. He may mislead a lot of people, most prominently himself, and enrage a lot of others. Very different point of view from Dreyfuss belief which instead of regarding the computer as a potential rival it is better to interface with computers. The computers play a fundamental role in human life and it have many purposes and it has used in various types of environments, such as educational, medical, entertainment, and so on. Computer has become an important thread in the texture of the human civilization and human daily reliance on computers influences the way the culture proceeds in everything. As a result, the research and the development today are moving away from the artificial intelligence to research in human computer interaction, including information environment virtual reality by augmented human bodily perception. CYBERSPACE, and changing the way of life Since the last decade in the twentieth century, computer networks have captured people attention. All types of media have been filled with news about the internet (information superhighway) and of the financial and political fortunes to be made on it. As a result, the sales of computers increase dramatically and more people are getting connected to the net. Computer networks are now have many purposes and widely used. There are many terms have been used to describe the information superhighway such as the net, the web, and cyberspace, while each one emphasize different feature of network technology and its role, meaning and impact. Whichever the term is used, it is clear that computer networks have a great impact on our life by creating many new social atmospheres in which people can meet and interact with one another (Kollock, P.,Smith, M., 1999). Heim (1993) wrote describes the cyberspace in the information age, a mystic glow surrounds the term cyberspace. Every type of interface forms a window or doorway into cyberspace. Cyberspace suggests a computerized dimension where we move information about and where we find our way around data. Cyberspace renders a represented or artificial world, a world made up of information that our systems produce and that we feed back into the system. Just as a chessboard set up the checkered game space of its own world of rooks and knights, pawns and bishops, so too the computer interface holds its field of moves, hierarchy of files, places to go, and relative distances between points of interest. We inhabit cyberspace when we feel ourselves moving through the interface into relatively independent world with its own dimensions and rules. The more we habituate ourselves to an interface, the more we live in cyberspace, in what William Gibson calls the consensual hallucination. Cyberspace changes the way human lives and communicates, moreover it can cast a spell of passivity on their live. People talk to the system, telling it what to do, but the system language and process come to direct people psychology. In cyberspace people look throughout the interface unconscious as they peer through an electronic framework where their symbols (data, words, simulation) come below precise control, where things appear with startling clarity. Heim (1993) in his essay from interface to cyberspace wrote in cyberspace we forget ourselves as we evolve into our fabricated worlds. With our faces up against it, the interface is hard to see. Because information technology fits our minds, it is the hardest of all to think about. Nothing is closer to us. We can miss it as easily as we overlook a pair of eyeglasses on the bridge of the nose or a contact lens on the cornea. Cyberspace is an infinite cage as described by William Gibson (1988), in the cyberspace people can travel continuously without borders, and as cyberspace is electronic, people electronically can represent the actual world and moreover the possible and imagined worlds. Cyberspace creates a new way of interaction, coordination and communication which are different than face to face communication. According to this shift thousands of spaces to house conversations and exchange have established between different groups of people from very different and far area in the world, this kind of shift made communication more practical and convenient. By using network interaction media like email, conference system, and chat people have formed thousand of groups to discuss a wide range of topics politically, culturally, socially, entertainment and even work on a range of complex collective projects. Actually cyberspace in not just a new way of communication, it creates more than that, it is sustaining and supporting many-to-many interactions (Harasim, 1993). People in cyberspace create many kinds of social spaces, but there are two different visions regarding that. The first one touches the positive effects of networks and their benefits democracy and prosperity. The famous proponent is AI Gore (1993), said Our new ways of communicating will entertain as well as inform. More importantly they will educate, promote democracy, and save lives. And in the process they will also create a lot of new jobs. In fact, they are already doing it. The direct benefit is that networks will create new areas of assembly that will generate opportunities for employment, political participation, entertainment, and social contact. Moreover networks can renew community by strengthening the links that connect us to a wider social world while concurrently increasing our influence in that world (Kollock, P.,Smith, M., 1999). The other view remarks that this glowing vision is to some extent driven by significant investment in advertising, public relation, and political rhetoric. Many critic s see the dim side in which individuals are trapped and ensnared in the net that predominantly offers new opportunities for surveillance and social control. Theodore Roszak (1986), information technology has the obvious capacity to concentrate political power, to create new forms of social obfuscation and domination. At the same time as these critics do not rule out the idea that computers and networks enhance the power of individuals, they suppose that networks will disproportionately increase the strength of existing concentrations of power (Kollock, P.,Smith, M., 1999). William Mitchell in his book City of Bits (1995) has described the Cyberspace as a spatial city, he saw a lot of similarity between spatial places and places in the cyberspace, and physical bath and the logical links. In the cyberspace the structures of the access and exclusion are reconstructed in entirely non-architectural term (architecture as materially constructed form) entering and exiting place not physically but traveling through logical linkages. In the cyberspace many of the places are public, similar to squares, public building, and streets; they have uncontrolled access. On the other side there are also private, like mailboxes and houses; it can be access only for the one who has the key or demonstrate that his belong (getting into private electronic mailbox, for instance, required to identify the user and present the correct password). And sometimes, as with football stadium and Movie Theater, you have to pay to enter. The software walls once built can be breached, privacy can be violated, and the locks can be broken, the cyberspace has also its outlaw hackers and posses of lawmen chasing them, its viruses and Trojan horses, and its burgeoning mythology of transgression and retribution (Mitchell, 1995). Within the cyberspace moving from place to another following logical links instead of physical paths.Macintosh operating system has a graphical user interface; in this system the places are nested to form a strict hierarchy: going down a level by clicking on a folder icon to open a window into a place, and returning back a level by clicking on a corner of window to close it, just like Dorothy clicked her heels to get back to Kansas( Mitchell, 1995). PERVASIVE COMPUTING (THE INTERACTIVE FUTURE) Pervasive computing represents a paradigm shift from building virtual worlds toward embedding information technology into the ambient social complexities of the virtual word Malcolm McCollough, 2004 Pervasive or Ubiquitous computing can be defined as computation thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities, and it is often regarded as the intersection of computer science, behavioral science, and design Michael Fox and Miles Kemp, 2009 Pervasive computing or Ubiquitous computing is a new model of human computer interaction, in pervasive computing aims to integrate information processing into everyday objects and activities, actually this model is the advancement of desktop paradigm. The use of the term pervasive computing concerning primarily when the objects involved, while ubiquitous computing in relation to human activities. Today information technology allows people to interact indirectly, remotely, and asynchronously, and digital systems that are carried, worn, and embedded into physical situation can fundamentally change how people interact. Architects, ethnographers, psychologists, and cultural geographers hardly understand the consequences of all this mediation from their disciplines views, much less the implications for any new synthesis in design (Smith, 2007). The field of interaction design explores how interactive technology mediates everyday experience, the more it becomes subject matter for design. The best example for that is the electric light that may used to read a book, the most significant technology tend to disappear into daily life. A number of these technologies work without people knowing about them, and other demand people occasional monitoring. Some technologies require tedious operation, and others invite more rewarding participation, like games or sports. In fact these distinctions are degrees of interactivity (McCullough, 2004). The computer is first truly inactive technology and it has increased the need and the demand for the interaction design. Computer is not just document production tool, network computing has long since become a social medium. Brenda Laurel declared in the early 1990s, The real significance of computing has become its capacity to let us take part in shared representation of action. These representations can be of organization, activities, work practices or communities of interest. The word pervasive has become more common to give emphasis to the invisibility of chips in everyday things. According to a characterization from the year 2000 by from the national institute for standards and technology pervasive computing is (1) numerous, casually accessible, often invisible computing devices, (2) frequently mobile or embedded in the environment, (3) connected to an increasingly ubiquitous network structure. Intel the largest microprocessor manufacturer announced the technological future at the turn of millennium: Computing, not computer will characterize the next era of the computer age. The critical focus in the very near future will be on ubiquitous access to pervasive and largely invisible computing resources. A continuum of information processing devices ranging from microscopic embedded devices to giant server farms will be woven together with a communication fabric that integrates all the todays networks with the networks of future. Adaptive software will be self-organizing, self-configuring, robust and renewable. At every level and in every conceivable environment, computing will be fully integrated with our daily lives. Business week, in its 21 Ideas for the 21st Century, said: In the next century, planet earth will don an electronic skin. It will use the internet as a scaffold to support and transmit sensations. This skin is already being stitched together. It consists of millions of embedded electronic measuring devices: thermostats pressure gauges, pollution detectors, cameras, microphones, glucose sensors, EKGs, electroencephalographs. These will probe and monitor cities and endanger species, the atmosphere, our ships, highways and fleets of trucks, our conversations, our bodies even our dreams. Project Oxygen at Massachusetts Institute of Technology said about the pervasive computing: in the future, computation will be human centered. It will be freely available everywhere, like batteries and power sockets, or oxygen in the air breathe. It will be enter the human world, handling or goals and needs and helping us to do more while doing less. We will not need to carry our own devices around with us. Instead configurable generic devices, either handheld or embedded in the environment, will bring computation to us, whenever we might be. As we interact with these anonymous devices, they will adopt our personalities. They will respect our desires for privacy and security. We won,t have to type, click, or learn new computer jargon. Instead, we will communicate naturally, using speech and gestures that describe our intent (send to Hari or print that picture on the nearest color printer), and leave the computer to carry out our will. In the other side, there are many people get nervous by the so much advanced technology. McCullough (2004) said, Recently we have witnessed a paradigm shift from cyberspace to pervasive computing. Instead of pulling us through the looking glass into some sterile, luminous world, digital technology now pours out beyond the screen, into our messy places, under our laws of physics; it is built into our rooms, embedded in our props and devices-everywhere. He also continued criticizing the advanced technologies by saying, The cutting edge dulls on everyday life. Often the technologies on which new expectation are based blend into the fabric of everyday existence. Like the telephone before it, for instance, the internet has begun to fade into banal, unlovely normalcy. Other technologies are rejected for errors in principle. Much as bloodletting turned out to be in accurate in medicine, so virtual reality left out some important details- such as the fact that we oriented spatially not just with our eyes, but also with our body. Then too, other technologies obsolete by unforeseen alternatives, as a freight trains were by interstate trucking. Ubiquitous computing has neglected the significance of context in its universal version. Humanity has spent a long period to build conventions, languages, and the architecture of physical places. Technology has altered those elements of culture, but seldom done away with them. Context appears to have unintended consequences for information technology. Surveillance also one of the bad effects of pervasive computing and it has become an unfortunate fact of life, especially since the events of 9/11, people fear that the new roles of computer technology and pervasive computing are mostly about surveillance. The loss of privacy has become a central theme in cultural studies of pervasive computing and information technology (McCullough, 2004). SMART ENVIRONMENT in the future, computer will become intrinsically integrated into our lives to the extent that we will design objects, systems, and our architectural environments around the capabilities of embedded computation, and not the other way around Interactive (smart) architecture is not about technology, but about revealing new possibilities of global relationships between architecture and people in forming a symbiotic noosphere. A building is a network for living in Mahesh B. Senagala, 2009 It is time to stop asking what architecture is and start asking what it can do Michael Fox and Miles Kemp, 2009 Smart environments is a new kind of architecture aims to create spaces and objects that can meet the changing needs with respect to evolving individual, social, and environmental demands. .Mark Weiser (1988) has defined the smart environment as a physical world that is richly and invisibly interwoven with sensors, actuators, displays, and computation elements, embedded seamlessly in the everyday objects of our lives, and connected through a continuous network. The smart environments are envisioned as the byproduct of pervasive computing and the availability of cheap computing power which enhance the human interaction with the system and make it a pleasant experience. Today, there are many terminology have been used to give the meaning such as Intelligent Environment, Interactive Architecture, Soft Space, and Responsive Environment. Michael Mozer said when he was describing the intelligence of the Adaptive House in the late 1990s as that which arises from homes ability to predict the behavior and needs of the inhabitants by having observed them over a period of time. The developers of the adaptive house instead of programming the house to achieve certain actions, the house have the ability to program itself by monitoring the environment the environment and sensing actions performed by the occupants, and learning to predict the future status of the house. MITs Intelligent Room project is another example of the smart environment which it has applied different approach from the previous. The intend of the project was to experiment with different forms of natural, multimodal human interaction by embedding computational smarts into everything with which the user come into contact. This project has succeed to allow computers to participate in activities that have never previously involved computation and has allowed people to interact with computational system the way as they would interact with other people (Coen, 1998). From the previous two examples, the main characteristic of the smart environment is the two ways of interaction between the space and the occupants of the space, this interaction mediated by embedded computation into everyday objects and activities. Fox and kemp (2009) argued the current landscape of interactive space is built upon the convergence of embedded computation (intelligence) and physical counterpart (kinetics) that satisfies adaptation within contextual framework of human and environmental interaction.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Regulatory Frameworks for Financial Reporting

Regulatory Frameworks for Financial Reporting Discuss the reasons why we need a regulatory framework for financial reporting. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making accounting rules by law as opposed to using IASB standards? The body of rules which determine how financial accounts will be compiled in any particular situation are known as the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); these are drawn from a number of sources. The first of these are legal; the main sources of these include the Companies Act 2006, as well as EU Law and the remainder of the UK common law. The second strand of this includes national and international accounting standard such as the ASB and IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) standards, as set by the Accounting Standards Board and their international equivalent; they will also work to establish public opinion on proposed new standards, and use seminars to discuss issues within accounting. The third strand is comprised of the rules of the Stock Exchanges, though these are only applicable to companies listed on the LSE or AIM. The major argument in favour of a regulatory framework is that standardisation is encouraged and, through this, we are able to make an accurate assessment of financial health. As Alexander and Britton point out, before the introduction of these standards, different firms in similar situations were following different accounting standards, leading to different and incompatible results (Alexander and Britton, 2004). Indeed, when takeovers occurred, different valuations taken by accountants could potentially generate vastly different results, given the uncertainty as to what to include: this, in turn, was bad fro the reputation of the accounting profession. The framework, in the shape of both law and accounting standards, allows for the element of subjectivity to be lessened. Further advantages of the current regulatory framework include increasing level of information for the end user, through stipulating minimum standards of disclosure; in addition, the current system benefits through input both from government (in statute, for example), and from the accountancy profession, which arguably works to ensure a balance of interests. However, within this, we then face a choice between regulation by statute and regulation through accounting standards, each with their relative merits and demerits. I shall discuss these in turn. The first advantage is that accounting standards act as a way of reducing the disparate methods by which one may create accounts; this, in turn, makes the account of greater benefit to the end user, given that they have a document which is easily comparable to others of the same kind. Without such a standardisation, there is a risk that different firms of accountant may have chosen to classify a particular type of asset or debt in a different way. Alexander and Britton (2004) demonstrates this through the example of property how is this to be valued? We might argue that it should retain the value for which it is bought; alternatively, we could say that the value should be this, minus depreciation; or thirdly, we could say that the value (given that prices of property will almost always be rising) should be the original price plus an inflationary multiplier. This is just one example, and taken over a large company, the potential for fluctuations is substantial. In an internationalise d economy, this value is correspondingly increased; Zeff (2007) remarks that the introduction of international standards has led to a very great increase in global comparability in relation to what we had before, namely, every country using its own national standards, which differed considerably from country to country. Indeed, Haller and Walton (2003) describe this as the nub of the international accounting problem. How do companies that want to operate across national (and therefore usually cultural) boundaries convey economic information appropriate for business decisions? Secondly, they provide a focal point for debate over what accepted practice should be. At present, it has occasionally been argued that accounting standards are not based on any coherent conceptual framework, but rather exist simply as rules in themselves (Alexander and Britton, 2004). The IASB is a body well-poised to correct such a problem: thus, in recent years, the IASB has launched a project to develop an improved common conceptual framework that provides a sound foundation for developing future accounting standards. It is difficult to imagine Parliament giving time to such a broad yet arguably essential task. Thirdly, on much the same basis, it may be argued that accounting standards are much less rigid than relevant legislation; each change to legislation will require a separate bill to proceed through Parliament, in contrast to accounting standards. Thus, the maintenance of accounting standards provides a body of rules that create standardisation while simultaneously lacking a legalistic rigidity. In addition, the true and fair view can be used when justifiable to override other accounting standards which may apply (Fearnley and Hines, 2003). Fourthly, it can be seen that the introduction of accounting standards have encouraged companies to make available more information than they otherwise would have. Examples of this can be seen in, for example, Robins remarks that FRS 3 (on reporting financial performance), requiring companies to highlight a range of different financial performance indicators (such as the results of continuing operations and discontinued operations) which allow a greater level of information than if simply profit were indicated (Robins, 1999). Through requiring enhanced disclosure of information, it can be argued that accounting standards create a greater standard of information to the end user, and thus the value of accounting in general. Fifthly, it may be viewed as an advantage that the guidelines are created by people with a strong connection to the industry; that is, professional accountants. Statutes such as the Companies Act are inevitably subject to party political pressures: and, in despite their best intentions, Members of Parliament are unlikely to have the same level of expertise as people with vast experience in their field. A further point is that when Parliament drafts legislation, it will intend for it to be applied by the courts; it would therefore be more difficult to create comprehensive standards in such a way than it would be to do so through a body comprised of accountants, creating standards for accountants. We may conclude that a system based on professional considerations is more likely to provide an accurate assessment of an institution. On the other hand, there are a number of corresponding criticisms. Firstly, requiring additional information, and for institutions to comply with certain standards, will inevitably lead to an increase in costs; checking that a set of accounts adheres to a particular set of standards will be require more work than simply taking an ad hoc approach. In addition, each new set of standards will entail its own costs for example, in re-training accountants who had become used to different standards. Secondly, it may be argued that these guidelines are increasing in volume and complexity. Indeed, a letter from the International Corporate Governance Network to the IASB asked whether some instruments are so complex and unstable that not only is portraying things by one number insufficient, but the users of accounts and stakeholders would be better served by the recognition that there may not an answer. Thus in certain areas, complexity will firstly make the standards more difficult to enforce , but also perhaps create inappropriate results, as they are inappropriate to the particular context. This is a particularly strong criticism if we consider that the economic case for the regulatory framework is perhaps unproven: The case for uniformity in accounting is not based on any settled body of evidence, or literature (Bell, 2005). Thirdly, the fact that the guidelines are both set and disciplined by the accounting profession means that there may be no effective method of enforcing the standards this is in contrast to any statutory system, which will be enforceable through the courts. Where professional accountants are involved, the only sanction for breach of these guidelines would appear to be through professional bodies, which have been slow to do so (Lewis and Pendrill, 2003). This is a particular problem, considering that (as seen above), part of the argument for accounting standards is in fact to uphold the reputation of the profession. In addition (and as Lewis and Pendrill point out), many accounting standards deal with issues which in a democratic society, should arguably be subject to democratic controls: the example given is that of FRS 17 (Retirement Benefits), which stated that deficits in a company pensions scheme were to be treated as expenses on the profit and loss account. This is an issue of national importance. Finally, requiring further standardisation means that there will be a trend towards rigidity in financial reporting; it has long been feared that this will lead to accounting becoming a process of rote learning of rules, without searching for any meaning within them. (Baxter, 1962) Thus, although there will be a standardised system, this will not necessarily be one in which these rules have principled bases; at the same time, such standards remove any opportunity for individual judgment or discretion.. In addition, a rigid set of standards will not be appropriate in every situation to which they might be applied; for example, the property industry protested the application of SSAP 12 to property since its introduction (Andrew and Pitt, 2006; SSAP19 was later introduced to cover this). It may even be that an emphasis on rules over judgment distorts the realities of a given situation the experience of FRS5 has shown that judgement-based accounting can operate successfully to report ec onomic reality in a situation where previously there had been an over-reliance on rules (ICAS, 2006). In conclusion, while there is a clear value in standardisation (in that accounts, through being created from the same standards, are more reliably comparable), it would appear that there are certain conflicts. The first is between expertise and control: to what extent should Parliament allow standards boards to create their own rules, benefitting from their own experience, and to what extent should their own political persuasions have a role? The same problem applies in enforcement allowing the accounting industry the opportunity to enforce their own rules gives them the independence to enforce them using their own expertise, but otherwise could lead to charges of indifference to their own wrongdoing. Secondly, there is a conflict between standardisation and complexity; though the aim of standardisation would perhaps be best served by standards covering every possible eventuality, these would be so lengthy and comprehensive as to be unworkable; to some extent, we must rely on broade r principles. The relative merits of each of the relevant methods will therefore depend on the approach we take towards each of these conflicts.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

An Orange Juice Label as a Microcosm of Society Essay -- Exploratory

An Orange Juice Label as a Microcosm of Society One facet of Herbert von Hundstein's theory of universality is that all components of culture, from obvious propaganda campaigns to written notes exchanged on refrigerator doors, are meaningful and representative of society as a whole. Von Hundstein writes in Kultur ist Alle; Alle ist Kultur, The most mundane may also be the most significant, for is our culture any less forgotten in the private conversations of two lovers? Culture does not exist in a vacuum: it permeates all like oxygen, and for that reason anything in existence is a product of its culture. (34) Therefore, a parking ticket, office memo, and orange juice packaging are all representations of culture. It is the orange juice label that concerns us here, and its promotion of ambiguity, assumptions of the audience's supineness, and reliance on other texts. The word "minute" has multiple meanings, as does "maid," and thus "minute maid" is infinitely problematic. Are we to assume that the "maid," an unmarried girl or woman, is only a maid for a minute? After those sixty seconds, is her virginity gone? If this is the intended reading, being the primary denotations for both words, then should this company really be selling orange juice and not sex toys? Examining the phrase "minute maid" from a grammatical viewpoint, we could easily extrapolate that "minute" here serves as an adjective, modifying "maid," and thus means "a very small" maid. Perhaps virgin dwarfs create orange juice. The company presumes to convey a quickness created through the additional services of an assistant, a maid making a laborious process go by in a minute; however, that reading is only one of many possible. During the 2000 preside... ... cause orange juice labels to be less ambiguous, assumptive, and intertextual in the future. Let us not oversimplify and assume that one orange juice label does not matter, that the simple commands "shake well before enjoying" simply fall on blind ears and deaf ears. As von Hundstein states, this orange juice label contains a microcosm of society: within its directives lie the problems and successes of society. The orange juice label thus serves as a litmus test of American culture in general, and we can determine that American culture requires a fairly informed populace used to interpreting assumptions and intertextuality to avoid problematic ambiguity. Works Cited Minute Maid. "Orange Juice Label." Packaging on product purchased 27 Apr. 2001. Von Hundstein, Herbert. Kulture ist Alle: Alle ist Kulture. Trans. Gary Boyle. Dresden: U of Dresden P, 1994.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Ignorance :: essays research papers

Let us commence a journey into the much travelled topic of Ignorance. I find my self constantly drawn back to the subject of Ignorance. While much has been written on its influence on contemporary living, there are just not enough blues songs written about Ignorance. Crossing many cultural barriers it still draws remarks such as 'I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole' and 'i'd rather eat wasps' from the over 50, who are yet to grow accustomed to its disombobulating nature. Relax, sit back and gasp as I display the rich tapestries of Ignorance. Social Factors While some scholars have claimed that there is no such thing as society, this is rubbish. When Sir Bernard Chivilary said 'hounds will feast on society' [1] he saw clearly into the human heart. A society without Ignorance is like a society without knowledge, in that it is crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle. Recent thought on Ignorance has been a real eye-opener for society from young to old. It grows stonger every day. Economic Factors We no longer live in a world which barters 'I'll give you three cows for that hat, itï ¿ ½,s lovely.' Our existance is a generation which cries 'Hat - $20.' We will study the Simple-Many-Pies model of economics. Housing Prices It goes with out saying that housing prices cannot sustain this instability for long. Many analysts fear a subsequent depression. Political Factors Politics has in some areas been seen to embrace an increasing ananiathesis of intergovernmentalism leading to neo-functionalism. Looking at the spectrum represented by a single political party can be reminiscent of comparing chalk and cheese. In the words of that most brilliant mind Odysseus T. Time 'People in glass houses shouldn't through parties.' [2] I couldn't have put it better my self. When it comes to Ignorance this is clearly true. History tells us that Ignorance will always be a vote winner, whether we like it, or not.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Alexander the Great

| Alexander the Great| | | Craig Wilson| 11/12/2012| | Alexander was the son of Philip II of Macedonia. He was born in Pella, Macedonia’s capital city in 356 BC. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers and smartest men of the time, from when he was 13 until he was 16. He was also leader of the Companions, which was a group Philip II made to protect him from would be assailants (Alexander the Great Biography) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 340 BC Alexander’s father, Philip II, left for Thrace. While he was away, he left Alexander in charge of the kingdom.While Alexander is in charge, a Thracian tribe of Maedi in north-eastern Macedonia started a rebellion. Alexander took swift action. He assembled an army and led them against the rebels. Alexander was easily able to defeat the rebels and capture their city, which he renamed Alexandropolis. At the age of 18, Alexander was given a commanding rank among the senior generals of Macedonia as they in vade Greece (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The battle of Chaeronea, in 338 BC, was the final battle between Athens and the forces of Macedonia.It is a hard vicious battle that proved to be very taxing on both sides. However, the Macedonian forces pull out a very narrow victory and Athens is finally subdued. In celebration, the Macedonians decide to have a Dionysus festival when they return home in 336 BC. While attending this festival, Philip II is approached by an ex-lover with whom he had a child. He had earlier promised that the child would have a high ranking place in his army, but now he refused to acknowledge that the child even belonged to him.Philip II was so conceded that he assumed the woman was approaching him for another night of pleasure, but instead she killed him by slitting his throat. After his father is slain, Alexander takes over as ruler of the Macedonian Empire in 336 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (his toryofmacedonia. org). Immediately after Philip II’s death, the places he conquered began to revolt. Alexander, being the great leader that he is, easily stomps out the rebellions. Alexander then looks to take over Persia, which is at this point led by Darius III.When they reach Persia and begin to fight, Alexander’s troops tear through the Persians and appear almost invincible against them. As he defeats the Persians, he is recruiting the defeated soldiers instead of killing them. This expands his troops and allows him to keeps the numbers of his armies high so he can stay and fight longer (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The soldiers he tries to recruit eagerly accept his offer. The soldiers do this because he offers them pay, and he tells them that they are free to leave whenever they please.Alexander only asks that his troops be able to marry Persian women. Alexander does this in hopes that it will unite the Persian people wi th his (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 331 BC, the Battle of Gaugamela, which is the final battle between Darius III and Alexander the Great, takes place. The Persians are horribly defeated at this battle. Their leader, Darius III, is finally slain, and the Persian’s main city, Persepolis, is sacked and burned to the ground.After the battle, Alexander takes Roxanne of Bactria as his wife, which his men highly disapprove of (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Alexander then moves on to conquer Babylon, and pushes on to the Indus valley. Here Alexander and his troops meet heavy resistance that they have never seen before. War elephants are used against Alexander and his men, and they have no idea how to combat against the huge beasts. So Alexander orders that they retreat and come in a few weeks stronger than before to conquer he Indus valley tribes, but his men disagree. At this point Alexander an d his men have been out conquering for about ten years and his men are ready to return home. So his men organize a mutiny against him, which he easily disbands. Alexander realizes his men’s fatigue and does decide to return home to Macedonia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). On their way home, Alexander decides to throw a party to raise his men’s moral. Even though Alexander’s men advise him against it because they can tell he is sick, he begins to drink heavily.This is a bad idea because he is believed to have had yellow fever at the time. Alexander eventually drinks himself into a coma, but somehow comes out of it and survives two more days with his sickness. He has no heir in line for the throne, so while he is on his death bed his men ask him who will be the next ruler. Alexander just laughs and says, â€Å"Whoever is the Strongest. † Alexander’s death was in the year 322 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Since he left no heir, Alexander’s kingdom was split into three different parts.Egypt is taken by Alexander’s right hand man, Ptolemy. Ptolemy took samples of every new plant he found and became the world’s first botanist. Ptolemy Egypt, even though it was near ruins, turned out to be the most durable of the three. Seleucid Asia is next. It has the best resources out of the three, but is the least stable of the three and a complete failure. The instability is caused by Seleucid trying to force Greek tradition on the Persians, and the Persians are constantly rebelling. The third and final part is the homeland of Alexander the Great, and the most fought over.It was taken by Antigonus, and even though there was still a great deal of instability here, it was to a lesser extent than that of Seleucid Asia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Works Cited Alexander the Great Biography. 1996-20 12. 30 October 2012 . Culverhouse, Mr. C. History Teacher Craig Wilson. October 2012. historyofmacedonia. org. Alexander the Great(Alexander of Macedon) Biography. 2001-2003. 30 October 2012 . Alexander the Great | Alexander the Great| | | Craig Wilson| 11/12/2012| | Alexander was the son of Philip II of Macedonia. He was born in Pella, Macedonia’s capital city in 356 BC. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers and smartest men of the time, from when he was 13 until he was 16. He was also leader of the Companions, which was a group Philip II made to protect him from would be assailants (Alexander the Great Biography) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 340 BC Alexander’s father, Philip II, left for Thrace. While he was away, he left Alexander in charge of the kingdom.While Alexander is in charge, a Thracian tribe of Maedi in north-eastern Macedonia started a rebellion. Alexander took swift action. He assembled an army and led them against the rebels. Alexander was easily able to defeat the rebels and capture their city, which he renamed Alexandropolis. At the age of 18, Alexander was given a commanding rank among the senior generals of Macedonia as they in vade Greece (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The battle of Chaeronea, in 338 BC, was the final battle between Athens and the forces of Macedonia.It is a hard vicious battle that proved to be very taxing on both sides. However, the Macedonian forces pull out a very narrow victory and Athens is finally subdued. In celebration, the Macedonians decide to have a Dionysus festival when they return home in 336 BC. While attending this festival, Philip II is approached by an ex-lover with whom he had a child. He had earlier promised that the child would have a high ranking place in his army, but now he refused to acknowledge that the child even belonged to him.Philip II was so conceded that he assumed the woman was approaching him for another night of pleasure, but instead she killed him by slitting his throat. After his father is slain, Alexander takes over as ruler of the Macedonian Empire in 336 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (his toryofmacedonia. org). Immediately after Philip II’s death, the places he conquered began to revolt. Alexander, being the great leader that he is, easily stomps out the rebellions. Alexander then looks to take over Persia, which is at this point led by Darius III.When they reach Persia and begin to fight, Alexander’s troops tear through the Persians and appear almost invincible against them. As he defeats the Persians, he is recruiting the defeated soldiers instead of killing them. This expands his troops and allows him to keeps the numbers of his armies high so he can stay and fight longer (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The soldiers he tries to recruit eagerly accept his offer. The soldiers do this because he offers them pay, and he tells them that they are free to leave whenever they please.Alexander only asks that his troops be able to marry Persian women. Alexander does this in hopes that it will unite the Persian people wi th his (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 331 BC, the Battle of Gaugamela, which is the final battle between Darius III and Alexander the Great, takes place. The Persians are horribly defeated at this battle. Their leader, Darius III, is finally slain, and the Persian’s main city, Persepolis, is sacked and burned to the ground.After the battle, Alexander takes Roxanne of Bactria as his wife, which his men highly disapprove of (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Alexander then moves on to conquer Babylon, and pushes on to the Indus valley. Here Alexander and his troops meet heavy resistance that they have never seen before. War elephants are used against Alexander and his men, and they have no idea how to combat against the huge beasts. So Alexander orders that they retreat and come in a few weeks stronger than before to conquer he Indus valley tribes, but his men disagree. At this point Alexander an d his men have been out conquering for about ten years and his men are ready to return home. So his men organize a mutiny against him, which he easily disbands. Alexander realizes his men’s fatigue and does decide to return home to Macedonia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). On their way home, Alexander decides to throw a party to raise his men’s moral. Even though Alexander’s men advise him against it because they can tell he is sick, he begins to drink heavily.This is a bad idea because he is believed to have had yellow fever at the time. Alexander eventually drinks himself into a coma, but somehow comes out of it and survives two more days with his sickness. He has no heir in line for the throne, so while he is on his death bed his men ask him who will be the next ruler. Alexander just laughs and says, â€Å"Whoever is the Strongest. † Alexander’s death was in the year 322 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Since he left no heir, Alexander’s kingdom was split into three different parts.Egypt is taken by Alexander’s right hand man, Ptolemy. Ptolemy took samples of every new plant he found and became the world’s first botanist. Ptolemy Egypt, even though it was near ruins, turned out to be the most durable of the three. Seleucid Asia is next. It has the best resources out of the three, but is the least stable of the three and a complete failure. The instability is caused by Seleucid trying to force Greek tradition on the Persians, and the Persians are constantly rebelling. The third and final part is the homeland of Alexander the Great, and the most fought over.It was taken by Antigonus, and even though there was still a great deal of instability here, it was to a lesser extent than that of Seleucid Asia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Works Cited Alexander the Great Biography. 1996-20 12. 30 October 2012 . Culverhouse, Mr. C. History Teacher Craig Wilson. October 2012. historyofmacedonia. org. Alexander the Great(Alexander of Macedon) Biography. 2001-2003. 30 October 2012 . Alexander the Great | Alexander the Great| | | Craig Wilson| 11/12/2012| | Alexander was the son of Philip II of Macedonia. He was born in Pella, Macedonia’s capital city in 356 BC. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers and smartest men of the time, from when he was 13 until he was 16. He was also leader of the Companions, which was a group Philip II made to protect him from would be assailants (Alexander the Great Biography) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 340 BC Alexander’s father, Philip II, left for Thrace. While he was away, he left Alexander in charge of the kingdom.While Alexander is in charge, a Thracian tribe of Maedi in north-eastern Macedonia started a rebellion. Alexander took swift action. He assembled an army and led them against the rebels. Alexander was easily able to defeat the rebels and capture their city, which he renamed Alexandropolis. At the age of 18, Alexander was given a commanding rank among the senior generals of Macedonia as they in vade Greece (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The battle of Chaeronea, in 338 BC, was the final battle between Athens and the forces of Macedonia.It is a hard vicious battle that proved to be very taxing on both sides. However, the Macedonian forces pull out a very narrow victory and Athens is finally subdued. In celebration, the Macedonians decide to have a Dionysus festival when they return home in 336 BC. While attending this festival, Philip II is approached by an ex-lover with whom he had a child. He had earlier promised that the child would have a high ranking place in his army, but now he refused to acknowledge that the child even belonged to him.Philip II was so conceded that he assumed the woman was approaching him for another night of pleasure, but instead she killed him by slitting his throat. After his father is slain, Alexander takes over as ruler of the Macedonian Empire in 336 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (his toryofmacedonia. org). Immediately after Philip II’s death, the places he conquered began to revolt. Alexander, being the great leader that he is, easily stomps out the rebellions. Alexander then looks to take over Persia, which is at this point led by Darius III.When they reach Persia and begin to fight, Alexander’s troops tear through the Persians and appear almost invincible against them. As he defeats the Persians, he is recruiting the defeated soldiers instead of killing them. This expands his troops and allows him to keeps the numbers of his armies high so he can stay and fight longer (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). The soldiers he tries to recruit eagerly accept his offer. The soldiers do this because he offers them pay, and he tells them that they are free to leave whenever they please.Alexander only asks that his troops be able to marry Persian women. Alexander does this in hopes that it will unite the Persian people wi th his (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). In 331 BC, the Battle of Gaugamela, which is the final battle between Darius III and Alexander the Great, takes place. The Persians are horribly defeated at this battle. Their leader, Darius III, is finally slain, and the Persian’s main city, Persepolis, is sacked and burned to the ground.After the battle, Alexander takes Roxanne of Bactria as his wife, which his men highly disapprove of (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Alexander then moves on to conquer Babylon, and pushes on to the Indus valley. Here Alexander and his troops meet heavy resistance that they have never seen before. War elephants are used against Alexander and his men, and they have no idea how to combat against the huge beasts. So Alexander orders that they retreat and come in a few weeks stronger than before to conquer he Indus valley tribes, but his men disagree. At this point Alexander an d his men have been out conquering for about ten years and his men are ready to return home. So his men organize a mutiny against him, which he easily disbands. Alexander realizes his men’s fatigue and does decide to return home to Macedonia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). On their way home, Alexander decides to throw a party to raise his men’s moral. Even though Alexander’s men advise him against it because they can tell he is sick, he begins to drink heavily.This is a bad idea because he is believed to have had yellow fever at the time. Alexander eventually drinks himself into a coma, but somehow comes out of it and survives two more days with his sickness. He has no heir in line for the throne, so while he is on his death bed his men ask him who will be the next ruler. Alexander just laughs and says, â€Å"Whoever is the Strongest. † Alexander’s death was in the year 322 BC (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Since he left no heir, Alexander’s kingdom was split into three different parts.Egypt is taken by Alexander’s right hand man, Ptolemy. Ptolemy took samples of every new plant he found and became the world’s first botanist. Ptolemy Egypt, even though it was near ruins, turned out to be the most durable of the three. Seleucid Asia is next. It has the best resources out of the three, but is the least stable of the three and a complete failure. The instability is caused by Seleucid trying to force Greek tradition on the Persians, and the Persians are constantly rebelling. The third and final part is the homeland of Alexander the Great, and the most fought over.It was taken by Antigonus, and even though there was still a great deal of instability here, it was to a lesser extent than that of Seleucid Asia (Alexander the Great Biography) (Culverhouse) (historyofmacedonia. org). Works Cited Alexander the Great Biography. 1996-20 12. 30 October 2012 . Culverhouse, Mr. C. History Teacher Craig Wilson. October 2012. historyofmacedonia. org. Alexander the Great(Alexander of Macedon) Biography. 2001-2003. 30 October 2012 .

Monday, September 16, 2019

Dance Styles

Dancing and music in general has evolved through time. People who danced in style in the sixties would not fit in the generation of the new millennium. As years have passed by, it seems the style of dancing is getting to be bigger. It is inevitable that dance will change throughout our lives and so will its style. Some of the dance styles around today are tap, modern, swing, contra, country, belly dance and Latin dancing. Dancing has changed in relation to music, behavior and time passed.My three favorite dance styles are ballet, hip hop and jazz. Ballet is beauty; flow and elegance are inherent in the elements of ballet. Ballet is a classical dance form that can be mastered by it or used as a technical base or supplement to other dance forms. Classes focus on overall body alignment and awareness with emphasis on proper usage of feet and legs and execution of turnout. Carriage and usage of upper torso and arms are also stressed. Traditional barre work, center work and combination's a re included in all classes.Hip hop is a high-energy class that uses the latest sounds in rap, R;amp;B and pop music together with movements influenced by some of today’s hottest music video choreographers. Hip hop encompasses movement that has elements of popping, locking, and breaking as well as freestyle movement to give students the opportunity to develop their own sense of style. Hip hop is urban, it’s street, and it’s diverse and forever changing. Jazz is an exciting and ever evolving dance form full of rhythm, syncopation, passion and life.Steeped in the rhythm of jazz music, a true American art form, jazz dance brings energy and life to all those who dance it. Jazz explores body isolations of the head, shoulders, ribcage, feet and arms which encourage individual expression and the development of personal style. Jazz can be powerful and percussive or expressive and lyrical. Ever evolving, jazz dance is taught with the music of today together with the class ical jazz of yesterday. Classes teach basic jazz dance technique, terminology and movement quality with an emphasis on proper execution of jazz isolation's, rhythms and style performed to contemporary music.Maybe dance is the best language and the one we should use and that is why all cultures have dance. Dance is smoothing and relaxing. When someone needs a break from anything then the best way to get away is to dance. If someone looks they can find millions of dances to dance to. Someone can tap dance, do other cultural dances or maybe just dance with their heart. When you want to dance then dance as though no one is watching and dance because you want to dance.