United States Court System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

United States Court System - Research Paper Example In spite of the belief that the adversarial system is a contest between two rivals, in reality a complex system of collaboration between judges, prosecutors, and defense lawyers is usually present. In the U.S. court system, members of the courtroom work team create guidelines about how specific kinds of cases must be dealt with and what type of petitions is legitimate for particular kinds of offenses (May et al., 2007, 159). At present, the United States implements a dual system of state and federal courts that often work autonomously, even though state cases are often petitioned to the federal courts. The dual court system developed from the belief of the founding fathers that every state has to have substantial judicial sovereignty and legislative power (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2012, 105). The federal court system emerged after the nation gained its independence from England. The existing federal court system emerged as a concession between the founding fathers who preferred a powerful federal government and those who supported the rights of the states with a restricted federal government. At present, there are several independent court systems in the United States. Even though some American Indian communities and the military have their own court systems, the general U.S. court systems are the state court systems and the federal court systems (May et al., 2007, 161-162). Figure 1. Structure of the federal court system (May et al., 2007, 162) Even though state court systems emerged with almost no interaction with other states’ court systems, the state court systems that ult imately progressed noticeably resemble one another in structure and organization. Almost all court systems at present are structured in a hierarchical way (Cole et al., 2012, 363). The first major characteristic to remember when looking at state court systems is the difference between courts with appellate jurisdiction and courts with original jurisdiction. Because cases come from them, trial courts are usually called ‘courts of limited jurisdiction’. These courts handle cases of misconduct or less serious offenses, cases of small claims, family disputes, and traffic disobedience. These courts seldom conduct jury trials and rely greatly on the judge for the final resolution (Neubauer & Fradella, 2010, 95). Courts of general jurisdiction handle both felonies and misconduct cases and function as a round-table for major civil actions. Courts of general jurisdiction, in numerous states, facilitate the first appellate level and give the accused who came from a court of limit ed jurisdictions the opportunity to open up another trial. These courts employ prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, juries, and all the other players usually connected to American courtrooms (Walston-Dunham, 2008, 147). These courts are more formal than courts of limited jurisdiction. They operate under the adversarial framework. The intermediate appellate court level—court of appeals-- is the subsequent level in state court systems. The main task of these courts is to evaluate petitions that came from resolutions given in the courts of general jurisdiction. The topmost court level in every state system is the court of last resort—the Supreme Court (Cole et al., 2012, 364-365). A petition can progress no further after the Supreme Court gives

What factors makes young online customer satisfied Essay

What factors makes young online customer satisfied - Essay Example As a consequence, a large amount of money has not only been put in marketing the products that companies have to offer but also in their improvement to make them more attractive to young customers. The marketing of products for young online consumers should not only be done at a local level, but the marketing campaigns of Reel Tributes, for example, are also be done at a regional, national, and international level. This is the best way to ensure that the products reach a wider audience than they would normally have if marketing were done at only the local level. While online marketing targeting young customers can be considered an important tool that can be used by companies, such as Reel Tributes, to gain an understanding of their customers who buy their products, it is not necessarily the only one. This process has to be augmented by this company ensuring that there are open lines of communication available between them and their young customers throughout that ensure that there is an understanding, which helps in the determination of a good and effective relationship. When conducting online marketing, the company’s management must ensure that each customer is given a perspective of the product that is thoughtful and careful so that the customer can make an accurate assessment of it. In order for an online marketing strategy for a product to be successful, the company must display a willingness to conduct a type of marketing that is both constructive and objective (Bailey 2012, p.24). In addition, Reel Tributes must ensure that it creates a situation where its customers display a willingness to take positively all the suggestions that are made to them, and to be able to work with the company to ensure that the products they receive are enhanced to their satisfaction. The professionalism of the marketing staff should enable the various companies making the product to compete effectively against other companies attempting to market similar products and i n fact, it gives these companies an edge over others. An organization should always aim at being the best in the marketing of its products, especially those meant for young customers, so that the ranking of its competitors in the marketing business should show the top quality of work that is done within it. The marketing of products for online customers should be done using all the media available, both visual and print, to ensure that a much wider audience is reached than anticipated. This will guarantee the success of the product within the market for a long time since the marketing strategy adopted would be one, which retains the attention of its audience. One of the best means through which the product can be marketed is online since there are billions of users of the internet who would be a ready audience. Most of those who use the internet today are young people and these are more likely than not to choose to make purchases online as well as be audiences for the online marketi ng strategies that various companies may choose to use. Because the internet is a leading tool in marketing, this is where most companies and other institutions go to when they need to acquire products for the use of their clients, marketing online ensures that clients stay up to date with the current product so that they are able to get the best out of it. The marketing of products aimed at young online consumers has become wide as a concept and has developed into a set of practices under

Effect of the Media on Consumers

Effect of the Media on Consumers Do consumers shape media spaces or do they shape consumers. Discuss this notion alongside the concept of mobile lives. Introduction Nowadays, media spaces play an increasingly important role in shaping consumers in the digital age with the rapid development of media and advanced science and technology. This paper includes an exploration of how media space shape consumers in a modern way of life which is called mobile live. Technological revolution has hit the media industry in the world. During the past decade, the form of media has changed a lot. It is no longer confined to the traditional media like television and newspapers just unilateral transmit message to the public. The rise of new media provides the multiple media forms and the fast growing of media space. It is an undeniable fact that the advent of the mobile phone is a turning point for the development of media space. Especially media space brings a huge impact on the attitude or behavior of consumers, when mobile technologies and digital create a new kind of mobile life. Media spaces and the concept of mobile live Media spaces define new methods of communication, with novel and unforeseen uses and potentialities. Communication through a media space is more than an approximation of face-to-face communication — it has a richness and complexity all its own. Media is the most significant element of the information transmission. Media spaces can be seen as information spaces which can unlimited expansion. Media spaces including material spaces that shaped by traditional media and material conditions like schools, libraries, homes and so on, and also including the virtual spaces that shaped by multiple digital media forms. Nevertheless, traditional media were not meeting consumers’s need any more. Now the media space mainly developed by the virtual cyberspaces. Media spaces are established on the interactive connection between public and information of the new media. Electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and ti me. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically separate areas (Stults 1986). In some ways, media spaces make people have new understanding toward time and space, which can across the distance between time and space. In the new media age, media more like a carrier in the virtual spaces to transmit information to the public. In fact, the virtual cyberspaces shapes the everyday life of people and real life with the mobile lives more than the traditional media in material spaces. According to Urry and Sheller (2003) â€Å"All forms of communication have been reconfigured by new technologies and the new spatio-temporal patterns of social life through which they are made effective.† Discuss the concept of mobile lives with media spaces, the development of mobile technologies influenced spatial and temporal distance and the boundary of private space and public space to create a new mobile life. Mobile lives are built on the advent of mobile phone, laptops or other latest digital technologies. Then the advent of wireless networks also pushed the development of networks and mobile technologies forward greatly. The good thing is Wi-Fi make computers no longer need to rely on cable broadband network and the phones also no longer need to spend lots of cost to supply network. Consumers are able to use the Internet become more convenient on the mobile phone and laptops because of Wi-Fi. Technology is implied as bringing modernity to any place and to anyone, no m atter how remote, serving as an equalizer of opportunities in an emerging and peaceful global civil society (Caletrà ­o 2012). In the digital mobile lives, the places have no longer as a reason to limit the use or search of the information in media spaces to public, whether you are at home, at school or on the way. Also people can get everything they want from the Internet in the current era of big data. Mobile technologies more yield the greatest effects on investment with the Internet. How media spaces shape consumers Mobile technologies have an intimate relationship with media spaces in everyday life. People can consider every smart phone as a media space and every smart phone has a consumer to some extent. Nowadays, it is incredible that how fast the messages transmit to consumers with cyberspaces. 1.0 Advertising and consumer behaviors Advertising is an indispensable part of media space, which is a propaganda to constantly transmit the messages to the public. Generally, advertising will impact or even change the behavior and attitude of consumers for the products or brands. Many consumers can feel that advertising is ubiquitous to occupy their space any time and anywhere, whether while they using any social Apps at home, play mobile games on the ways or surfacing the websites in working places. Although maybe sometimes you just ignore the advertising when you saw them. Nevertheless, advertising is the most important element to shape consumers in media spaces. 1.1 The encoding and decoding theory of Stuart Hall Stuart Hall is a sociologist and pioneer in the field of cultural studies whose work explored the concept of Britishness. Some people address him â€Å"godfather of multiculturalism†respectfully. In his notion of a mass communication theory Encoding and Decoding, encoding is the process of creating a meaningful message according to a particular code, while decoding is the process of using a code to decipher a message and formulate meaning (Brian Robert 2014). Hall define that encoder is the sender that can be seen as producer and the decoder is the receiver that can be seen as consumer. Every consumer maybe will have the different thinking with the same message which send from the same producer. According to Hall (1980) â€Å"The process in terms of a structure produced and sustained through the articulation of linked but distinctive moments production, circulation, distribution/consumption, reproduction †. This theory is appropriate for advertising. The occur of an advertising is able to shape the behavior of consumers. HM can be a good example to explain it. Production is the first step to create the advertising for the public. HM company start using many super model over the world to advertise their new style products in the world market, such as world-famous Chinese model Liu Wen. Circulation is how people receive the message. HM put the advertising on subway, Internet, television, billboards and many other media places to communicate the consumers. Also HM company will release some information about the new style products on the social media. The HM ads spread across the world market via those advertisements. And for distribution and consumption, individuals will have different understanding for the same information or advertisement. Hall suggested three hypothetical interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a text (Chandler 2014). Dominant readings are produced by those whose social situation favours the preferred reading. Negotiated readings are produced by those who inflect the preferred reading to take account of their social position. Oppositional readings are produced by those whose social position puts them into direct conflict with the preferred reading (Northumbria university n.d.). Linked to the example of HM, dominant is that some consumers will have interested in those HM new products and have a strong desire to buy them. Negotiated is that some consumers will maybe think those new products are looking good, but they should consider the price and if they have free time to shopping. And oppositional is that maybe some consumers will hate the design of those new produc t and they do not want to buy them. The last step is reproduction which is about the consumer’s action after they receive the message. Reproduction for HM is their advertising related to the sale of new products that decide consumers will take action to go to store browse and purchase or not. Consequently, this theory is described how advertising impact consumers behavior step by step. 1.2 Consumer capitalism Moreover, consumer capitalism is also an essential factor why advertising can affect the consumer behavior. Most commonly, consumer capitalism refers to the idea that consumption drives the capitalist economy through corporate manipulation of the consumer to purchase (and continue purchasing) material goods. The entire consumer capitalist framework is predicated on the idea that the value of a product is determined by the desire of the individual, regardless of the actual need of the product (Schrader n.d.). Propaganda means of Apple Inc is a very successful case as consumer capitalism. Apple enhanced their awareness through bombard users with advertising and word of mouth. It is made consumers believe the products of Apple are representing the top-class electronic products and top digital technologies. Apple succeed to lead a spending spree over the world to buy their IPhone, IPod and Macbook because of the consumer capitalism. Apple let most consumers believe that if you are use Ap ple’s products, you are the most fashionable people. It is certain that always media lead fashion instead of consumers lead fashion. 1.3 Dual coding theory Dual coding refers to information retained as conjoined being and words. This creates a stronger impression upon the reader of such information (Northumbria university n.d.). Generally for most people a product has images and slogans simultaneously are more help consumers to remember. For instance, the biggest Chinese micro-blogging Weibo typically use the dual coding theory. Every time if you close the app in the background on the phone, you will see the image and slogan of Weibo when you reopen this app. The image of Weibo is a icon represent people’s eyes and the slogan of Weibo translate to English is â€Å"find something new anytime and anywhere†. Although there are thousands of Apps on the smart phone now. But not too much Apps trying to do this. Weibo use the creative image and slogan simultaneously can catch up some consumers attention to some extent. 2.0 Mobile Lifestyle In the digital age, today’s society have already emerged a mobile life in the world. Most people even cannot imagine a life without mobile and the Internet. In the Educause Center for Applied Research (ECAR) conducts annual surveys and interviews in 2008, a student respondent illustrated the broader trends borne out of the data: I dont look at it as getting on the Internet. The Internet is a part of life. Its a lifestyle. Mobile lifestyle influences the everyday life of consumers in many ways in media spaces. 2.1 Relationships Media spaces have great influences to the interpersonal relationship. Particularly the mobile media spaces totally change the development of relationships between people. The interpersonal relationship can better develop and communicate through multiple media forms for mobile lifestyle, such as social media, email, phone call, SMS, video call and so on. It makes you keep in touch with your friends have no more need of face-to-face communication. Facebook always let you find some people who you have long time no see or long lost, even you can find your primary school classmates. It is good that Facebook build a more close connection with you and your friends or just people we know. Also the new media create many new interpersonal relationship. Some people are trying to date online, some people maybe have many online friend but never meet. Now the human relationships become more diversification because of media space. 2.2 Globalized Communication ways The advanced mobile technologies make the media spaces coming to globalization, which is a goal traditional media cannot accomplish. The almost all functions that consumers’ needs have included in a smart phone. Because media space is no longer have the distance of time and space, and the media communication ways remove the restriction of the region. For consumers, they can communicate everywhere over the world. Undoubtedly, media space is a space without borders that similar to the theory of cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism is a western notion that epitomizes the need social agents have to conceive of a political and cultural entity, larger than their own homeland, that would encompass all human beings on a global scale. The Internet has brought about the possibility of a transnational imagined virtual community: a decentered cosmopolitan crowd, synchronized by cyberspace, interacting on real-time, and engaging in global commercial, cultural and political exchanges (Ribeiro 2001). If media spaces combine with the theory of cosmopolitanism, It will be different with the reality space that every consumer is equal and there is no nationality, regional or social class limitations. For instance, consumers of smart phone can use multiple social media to connect with the people in almost any countries in the world if they want. The lat est figures from Facebook suggest that the number of people actively using social media each month has now passed the 2 billion mark over the world (Kemp 2014). Those social media support a huge number of globalized social media users to exchange and transmit the information in media spaces. Furthermore, languages no longer be the biggest barrier of communication if you go to an unfamiliar environment with different language. The use of translation software is a good global communication ways. There was a report said an elderly Chinese couple, which cannot understand and say English, immigrate to Canada. They nearly have not felt any communication barriers. Because they said if they have some troubles when they going out, they always use the translation software to communicate with local people. It is a great example that the communication of consumers getting more simple and easy under the digital media space influences. 2.3 Online Shopping and Travel Online shopping also is a main activity for consumers in media spaces. The total monthly amount of trade on the large shopping website like Amazon, Ebay and Taobao is an incredible number cannot imagined. Consumers can buy everything you want in those shopping website whether clothes or any electronic products, new or old. Online shopping satisfies whatever needs of consumers. Sometimes It is spend too much time and cost shopping in the shopping mall. Online shopping is cheaper and fast than go window shopping. Online shopping has become a habit for many consumers and maybe it will become the mainstream way for consumption. In additions, the mobile lifestyle of consumers cannot be without travel.For many consumers, travel is a way to enjoy life. Media spaces make traveling more and more easy because of mobile lifestyle. Today travelers can finish it just use the computers or smart phone at home. Some traveling websites not only have traveling party services, but also provide the reservation for air tickets, railway tickets and hotel accommodation. And almost every airline has their own official website and official App to allow people booking online. Also if you use the smart phone, you can find many apps are providing travel strategies for each country. Media spaces offer lots of convenience for consumers. 3.0 Thoughts of consumers 3.1 Celebrity effects Companies usually use the media to shape the thoughts of consumers to achieve their goals. Celebrity effects are famous marketing tools in media spaces, which companies use the social influence of celebrity to promote their popularity and brand awareness. Celebrities also have an effect on the charity events and public service advertising. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a successful example take advantage of celebrity effects in 2014. This example can describe through the mass communication model of Lasswell. Lasswell was a well-known American political scientist and communications theorist. Lasswell’s model, one of the first communication models, is summed up in five questions: Who, Says what, In which Channel, To Whom, With what effect. Who: the person who formulates the message What: the content of the message Channel: the medium by which the message is being communicated Whom: the person or persons who receive the message Effect: the outcome of the message. The initiator of ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a former Boston College baseball player Pete Frates who is a disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient. The content is this activity is ALS Ice Bucket Challenge promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. The rules of the Ice Bucket Challenge are either donate $100 to an ALS charity, or dump a bucket of ice water on your head or both. After, you can challenge a few people to join in too (Lecher 2014). For in which channel, Pete Frates post the video first and it through the social media spreed very rapidly. Then many world-famous celebrities, athletes, and tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg, Kobe Bryant, Taylor Swift and even President Obama all taking part in this activity to post their video on Facebook, Youtube and Twitter or donate the money for the ALS association. ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is reported by various media forms and lots of countries. This activity became globalization and had a huge impact that the receivers are the people around the world. The outcome of this challenge is raising millions of dollars and let ma ny people pay attention to the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 3.2 hyperreality Baudrillard believed that a contemporary society, founded on media and technology, would see the spaces of imagery and reality merge. What follows is a world where the real is not layered with the imaginary. Rather that the world becomes a ‘simulation’ of imagery where the world favours the ‘more real, than real’ (Northumbia university n.d.). Media images, the Internet, online games, mobile games and virtual spaces are taking people usually spend time communicating with a hyper-real world. Many online games and mobile games use hyperreality enable people to be the characters they want to be. When consumers see the world through media spaces under the screen, they usually integrate the real world with the hyper-real world in their mind. Advertising sells the public through strong, desirable images, and many consumers buy into the brands point of view and products. The objective of hyperreality in the media is to shape the thoughts of consumers. Conclusion In conclusions, this paper explored that how media spaces shape consumers in mobile lives. Some theories show that advertising is constantly transmit the new information to consumers for shaping their behaviors and attitudes of consumption. Also the thoughts of consumers will influenced by the media. Definitely, media spaces changed the lifestyle of people. The exchange between people through mobilities become more and more fast and simple. And consumers have new lifestyles like online shopping and online dating. The rise of an intensively mobile society reshapes the self – its everyday activities, interpersonal relations with others, as well as connections with the wider world (ElliottUrry 2010). Media spaces always express as different forms all around us, make people feel like being a part of them, and mixed itself with social realities. In the future, media spaces will sustainable growth and keep playing the significant role to shape consumers in the society.

Physics of Neurons Essay -- physics neuron

The human nervous system is divided into two parts, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system, CNS, is just the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system, PNS, includes the nerves and neurons that extend outwards from CNS, to transmit information to your limbs and organs for example. Communication between your cells is extremely important, neurons are the messengers that relay information to and from your brain. Nerve cells generate electrical signals to transmit information. Neurons are not necessarily intrinsically great electrical conductors, however, they have evolved specialized mechanisms for propagating signals based on the flow of ions across their membranes. In their inactive state neurons have a negative potential, called the resting membrane potential. Action potentials changes the transmembrane potential from negative to positive. Action potentials are carried along axons, and are the basis for "information transportation" from one cell in the nervous system to another. Other types of electrical signals are possible, but we'll focus on action potentials. These electrical signals arise from ion fluxes produced by nerve cell membranes that are selectively permeable to different ions. Neurons and glia (cells that support neurons) are specialized cells for electrical signaling over long distances. Understanding neuronal structure is important for understanding neuronal function. The number of synaptic inputs recieved by each nerve cell in our (human) nervous system varies from 1-100,000! This wide range reflects the fundamental purpose of nerve cells, to integrate info from other neurons. Cellular organization of neurons resembles that of other ce... ...ive current flow. Another way to improve the passive flow is to insulate the axonal membrane with myelin. This reduces the amount of current that would otherwise leak out of the axon and increases the distance that the current can flow passively. Myelination, aka axon insulation, increases action potential conduction up to 150m/s compared to 0.5-10m/s conduction velocities of unmyelnated axons! Speedy delivery of current (information) along axons is also due to the nodes of Ranvier. Nodes of Ranvier are gaps between insulated portions of the axon. The gaps create a place where the current can flow out of the axon so an action potential can be generated. Action potentials are started at one end of the node, flow passively through the myelinated axon, and pop out the other side to jump to the next node. This jumping of action potentials is called saltatory.

Android: Mobile os Vs Desktop os

Mobile os Vs Desktop os Android was designed from the ground up as an operating system (OS) for mobile devices. Its built-in application and memory-management systems were engineered with battery life as one of the most critical concerns. The Android OS does not work like a desktop operating system. On a desktop OS, like Windows, Mac OS X, or Ubuntu Linux, the user is responsible for closing programs in order to keep a reasonable amount of memory available. On Android, this is not the case. The OS itself automatically removes programs from memory as memory is needed.The OS may also preload applications into memory which it thinks might soon be needed. Under the Hood of Google Android The easiest way I can think of to visualize Android's structure is by imagining a house with five rooms The house represents Android in general. The rooms inside, however, represent the five key features in Android's structure: * Applications * The Application Framework * Libraries * Android  Runtime * Linux Kernel. Now, imagine that each of these rooms hold a certain number of people. Each person represents an element of that room. Different rooms hold different amounts of people.Applications This first room is a doozy. It's â€Å"people† represent all the applications that you have in Android. Games, SMS a calendar, maps, a browser, and your contacts. All applications are written in Java ,so you can add or take away as many of these as you like. The Application Framework As a developer, you'll have full acces to the APIs used by the core apps. Android is designed so that any application can publish its capabilities. In turn, any  other  application can use those capabilities, as well. It has some security constraints, as is expected, but still. That's pretty awesome.Along with all that, you get a Content Provider (which allows apps to share information), a Resource Manager (to help you with graphics, layout files, etc), a Notification Manager (which gives you those a nnoying status beeps and such), and an Acticity Manager (which manages the life cycle of your apps). All in all, when it comes to creating applications quickly and easily, Android has you covered. We'll cover how to write an application in another article. So, you could say that the ‘people' in this room are the managers and providers and etc. Believe me, there are a LOT.Libraries Android has a set of core libraries off of which the applications run. As always, developers can directly access these. Some of the core libraries include FreeType, SQLite, LibWebCore, and SGL. Android Runtime You could say that the ‘Android runtime' room is pretty exclusive– it only has two people: the Dalvik Virtual Machine and the core libraries (am I getting on your nerves with this ‘people' thing yet? ). In Google Android, there's a tool called ‘DX'. What this does is it executes files in ‘. dex' format, which are specially for the Dalvik Virtual Machine.This forma t is also created for minimal memory footprints, which makes it ideal for cell phones. The Dalvik Virtual Machine is written so it can run multiple prcesses quickly and smoothly. It relies on the Linux Kernel to do its magic. We'll talk about that right after this. Linux Kernel Lastly, we have the Linux Kernel. This little room contains the Keypad, WiFi, Camera, and etc. drivers. The Linux Kernel holds all of Android's internal structure together. It uses Linux 2. 6, and also acts like an abstraction layer between the hardware and the software. 6 FILE SYSTEM . 1 Storage media: NAND Android uses the YAFFS flash file system, the first NAND optimized Linux flash file system. For mobile devices, hard disks are too large in size, too fragile and consume too much power to be useful. In contrast, flash memory provides fast read access time and better kinetic shock resistance than hard disks. There are fundamentally two different types of flash memory based on their construction technique: NOR and NAND. NOR is low density, offers slow writes and fast reads. NAND is low cost, high density and offers fast writes and slow reads.Embedded systems are increasingly using NAND flash for storage and NOR for code and execution. Limitations Important limitations of NAND memory include block erasure and memory wear. Block erasure means that when erasing any memory the whole block must be erased. NAND can be randomly accessed on a page basis during programming, but cannot offer arbitrary random access rewrite or erase during normal operation. To overcome this limitation, memory segments are marked to be removed or â€Å"dirty†. When the entire block is dirty, then it can be erased.Memory wear means that there are a limited number of erase-write cycles in the flash memory and at the end of its lifetime the data integrity of storage will deteriorate. Wear levelling techniques are used to uniformly use whole sections and to optimize the total lifetime of the device. Bad block management (BBM) is also used to perform write verification and remapping to spare sectors in case of write failure. 6. 2 File system for NAND: YAFFS YAFFS (Yet Another Flash File System) was developed by Toby Churchill Ltd (TCL) as a reliable filing system with fast boot time for their flash memory devices.They initially tried to modify existing flash file systems such as JFFS (used mainly for NOR) to add NAND support, but it turned out that the slow boot time and RAM consumption of existing flash file systems was unacceptable. This led them to develop a different flash file system especially for NAND according to its features and limitations to optimize performance and ensure robustness. Upon completion YAFFS performed better than existing flash file systems and can still be used with NOR, even though it is was specifically designed for NAND. YAFFS is the first flash file system specifically designed for NAND flash.YAFFS includes the following features: †¢ Journaling: a log-s tructured file system, which makes it robust to possible power failures. Note that YAFFS requires some RAM to maintain the data structure for its log. †¢ Garbage collection: highly optimized and predictable garbage collection strategies that makes it high performance and deterministic under hard writing. Collection is executed when free space becomes low. †¢ Lower memory requirement: it has a lower memory footprint than most other logstructured flash file systems, so it is more scalable. Flexibility: it uses a more general definition of NAND flash, is highly configurable and can be customized to work with various flash devices, different geometries, different error correction options, caching options, etc. †¢ Portability: although YAFFS was originally designed for use with Linux, its modular design make it easy and portable to many operating systems. The file-system-specific code was kept separate from the main YAFFS file system code. The YAFFS Direct Interface (YDI) can hook up to other filesystems by applying a wrapper layer. Robustness: it is well tested and has been used in many products. Bad block handling and error correction mitigate the limitations of flash memory. We can conceptually treat YAFFS as an improved version of flash file system with following improvements: 1. YAFFS uses less run-time RAM. 2. YAFFS garbage collection is simpler and faster. 3. YAFFS uses a whole page per file for headers and provides no compression. 4. YAFFS can be used on NOR but, will not perform very well. Therefore, partition size can be a guideline to choose between YAFFS and JFFS.For smaller partition sizes JFFS is better suited whereas for larger sizes YAFFS performs better. KERNAL MODIFICATIONS Android is based on the Linux, but does not use a standard Linux kernel. The kernel enhancements of Android include alarm driver, ashmem (Android shared memory driver), binder driver(Inter-Process Communication Interface), power management, low memory killer, ker nel debugger and logger. All these kernel enhancements have been contributed back to the open source community under the GNU Public License (GPL) [8]. Here we list a summary of the most substantial components : alarm driver: provides timers to wake devices up from sleep * ashmem: allows applications to share memory and manages the sharing in kernel levels. * binder driver: facilitates inter-process communication since data can be shared by multiple applications through the use of shared memory. A service registered as an IPC service do not have to worry about different threads because binder will handle, monitor and manage them. Binder also takes care of synchronization between processes. * Power management: built on the top on standard Linux Power Management (PM) and take a more aggressive policy to manage and save power.Android is hailed as â€Å"the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. † Complete: The designers took a comprehensive approach when they developed t he Android platform. They began with a secure operating system and built a robust software framework on top that allows for rich application development opportunities. Open: The Android platform is provided through open source licensing. Developers have unprecedented access to the handset features when developing applications. Free: Android applications are free to develop. There are no licensing or royalty fees to develop on the platform.No required membership fees. No required testing fees. No required signing or certification fees. Android applications can be distributed and commercialized in a variety of ways. Android instead has its own Linux power extension, Power Manager instead. The core power driver (Shown at the bottom of Figure 3 as â€Å"Power†) was added to the Linux kernel in order to facilitate this functionality. This module provides low level drivers in order to control the peripherals supported by the Power Manager. These peripherals currently include: scree n display and backlight, keyboard backlight and button backlight.Each peripheral's power is controlled through the use of Wake Locks. These locks are requested through the API whenever an application requires one of the managed peripherals to remain powered on (Each lock setting shown in Table 1). If no wake lock exists which â€Å"locks† the device, then it is powered off to conserve battery life. In the case of multiple power settings the transition is managed through the use of delays based on system activity. A sample of this behaviour is shown in Figure 4 for the screen backlight. In addition to Wake Locks the Power.

Young Goodman Brown Analysis

The gloom Young Goodman Brown is feeling from the truth he discovers during the night is completely justified. How could it not be after such a traumatic experience? His entire image of the world around him was shattered. The people he new and looked up to, were not what he spent his life believing them to be. There are many passages by Young Goodman Brown that portray these thoughts, feeling, loss of innocence, and changes to his perception in the short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. What immediately stood out to me was the sweet exchange of words Goodman and Faith had, at the train station before his departure.Faith had bad dreams and negative thoughts about Goodman’s trip and does not want him to leave. Goodman replies, â€Å"My love and my Faith, of all nights in the year, this one night must I tarry away from thee. † This line was the best. I have never heard a better way to tell a woman that I can not spend time with her. This line will be used by me at some time i n my life. I wonder how much better Goodman’s life would have been if he would have listened to faith. Goodman regarded Faith as his anchor to everything that is right in the world.Faith, with her pink ribbons, is what could right any of the wrongs that might happen to him on his trip. â€Å"After this one night I’ll cling to her skirts and follow her to heaven,† he tells himself in the fashion of a silent prayer, pleading to make it through the night. I see this concept, of using Faith as a prayer, when he meditates on the phrase, â€Å"what calm sleep would be his that very night, which was to have been spent so wickedly, but so purely and sweetly now, in the arms of Faith! Amidst these pleasant and praiseworthy meditations. † It seemed as if everyone from the village had a relationship with the devil.â€Å"I helped your grandfather, the constable, when he lashed the Quaker woman so smartly through the streets of Salem: and it was I that brought your f ather a pitch pin knot, kindled at my own hearth, to set fire to an Indian village, in King Philip’s war,† said the devil. One of the first moments of truth occurred when Goodman witnessed Goody Cloyse speaking to the devil. Hawthorne portrays Goodman’s shock by having him repeat the phrase, â€Å"That old woman taught me my catechism. † Once you start on the road of behavior that makes you lose your innocence, the easier it becomes to travel down that path.The devil said, trying to comfort Goodman, â€Å"You will think better of this by and by. † The moment the Devil plucked the maple branch and it withered was a metaphor of how evil corrupts the innocent and a representation of what was in store for Goodman’s life after that night. Goodman was so shocked that the very leaders of his faith, the Deacon, would venture out into the night to meet the man with the snake cane. Then Goodman heard the cry of grief and held the pink ribbon in his han d crying out, â€Å"my Faith is gone,† was the end of his trying to withstand the devil.He gave up stating, â€Å"there is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. † In this moment of despair he calls out to the devil stating, â€Å"Come, devil; for to thee is the world given. † When he felt he lost is anchor (Faith) to everything that was Holy and pure to him he gave up. In Goodman’s mind he had no other choice to follow the Devil and after being apart of that ritual of initiation and the devil’s sermon, there was no coming back for him. Young Goodman Brown will forever be gloomy and withdrawn.

Animal Cruelty and Circuses

Animal Cruelty and Circuses Most accusations of animal cruelty in circuses focus on the  elephants, but from an animal rights perspective, no animals should be forced to perform tricks in order to earn money for their human captors. Circuses and Animal Rights The animal rights position is that animals have a right to be free of human use and exploitation. In a vegan world, animals would interact with humans when and if they want to, not because they are chained to a stake or trapped in a cage. Animal rights is not about bigger cages or more humane training methods; its about not using or exploiting animals for food, clothing, or entertainment. Attention has focused on elephants because they are considered by many to be highly intelligent, are the largest circus animals, may be the most abused,  and arguably suffer more in captivity than smaller animals. However, animal rights is not about  ranking or quantifying suffering, because all sentient beings deserve to be free. Circuses and Animal Welfare The animal welfare position  is that humans have a right to use animals, but cannot harm animals gratuitously and must treat them humanely. What is considered humane varies greatly. Many animal welfare advocates consider fur, foie gras, and cosmetics testing  to be frivolous uses of animals, with too much animal suffering and not much benefit to humans. Some animal welfare advocates would say that eating meat is morally acceptable as long as the animals were raised and slaughtered humanely.   Regarding circuses, some animal welfare advocates would support keeping animals in circuses as long as training methods are not too cruel. Los Angeles recently banned the use of bullhooks, a sharp tool that is used as punishment in training elephants.  Many would support a ban on wild or exotic animals in circuses. Circus Cruelty Animals in circuses are often beaten, shocked,  kicked, or cruelly confined in order to train them to be obedient and do tricks. With elephants, the abuse begins when they are babies to break their spirits. All four of the baby elephants legs are chained or tied for up to 23 hours per day. While they are chained, they are beaten and shocked with electric prods. It can take up to six months before they learn that struggling is futile. The abuse continues into adulthood, and they are never free of the bullhooks that puncture their skin. Bloody wounds are covered with makeup to conceal them from the public. Some argue that elephants  must love performing because you cant bully such a large animal into doing tricks, but with the weapons at their disposal and years of physical abuse, elephant trainers can usually beat them into submission.  There are, however, tragic cases where the elephants rampaged and/or killed their tormentors, leading to the elephants being put down.   Elephants are not the only victims of abuse in circuses. According to Big Cat Rescue, lions and tigers also suffer at the hands of their trainers:  Often the cats are beaten, starved, and confined for long periods of time in order to get them to cooperate with what the trainers want.  And life on the road means that most of a cat’s life is spent in a circus wagon in the back of a semi-truck or in a crowded, stinking box car on a train or barge. An investigation of one circus by Animal Defenders International found that the dancing bears spend around 90% of their time shut in their cages inside a trailer. Their time outside these miserable prison cells generally averages just 10 minutes a day on weekdays and 20 minutes on weekends. ADIs video shows one bear desperately circling a small steel cage measuring about 31/2 feet wide, by 6ft deep and about 8ft high. The steel floor of this barren cage is covered in just a scattering of sawdust. With horses, dogs, and other domesticated animals, training and confinement may not be as torturous, but any time an animal is used commercially, the animals well-being is not the first priority.   Even if the circuses did not engage in cruel training or extreme confinement methods (zoos generally do not engage in cruel training or extreme confinement, but still violate the animals rights), animal rights advocates would oppose the use of animals in circuses because of breeding, buying selling and confining animals violates their rights. Circus Animals and the  Law Bolivia was the first country in the world to ban animals in circuses. China and Greece followed. The United Kingdom has banned the use of wild animals in circuses, but allows domesticated animals to be used. In the United States, the federal Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act would ban the use of nonhuman primates, elephants, lions, tigers, and other species in circuses, but has not been passed yet. While no U.S. states have banned animals in circuses,  at least seventeen towns  have banned them. The welfare of the animals in circuses in the U.S. is governed by the Animal Welfare Act, which offers only the bare minimum of protection and does not prohibit the use of bullhooks or electric prods. Other laws, like the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act  protect certain animals, such as elephants and sea lions. A lawsuit against Ringling Brothers was dismissed based on a finding that  plaintiffs did not have standing; the court did not rule on the cruelty allegations. The Solution While some animal advocates want to regulate the use of animals in circuses, circuses with animals will never be considered completely cruelty-free. Also, some advocates believe that a ban on bullhooks just causes the practice to remain backstage and does little to help the animals.   The solution is to go vegan, boycott circuses with animals, and support animal-free circuses, such as Cirque du Soleil  and Cirque Dreams.

How to Make Biodiesel From Algae

How to Make Biodiesel From Algae Algae is easy to produce and requires less land to do so than many other plant sources commonly used in the making of fuels, making it an attractive candidate for full-scale biodiesel production. In addition, with a composition containing about half lipid oils, algae appear to be a rich resource as a biofuel feedstock. How to Extract Oil From Algae Not surprisingly, there are numerous ways to remove the lipids, or oils, from the walls of algae cells. But you may be surprised to learn that none of them are particularly earth-shaking methods. For example, ever hear of an olive press? One of the ways for extracting oil from algae works very much like the technique used in an oil press. This is the simplest and most common method for extracting oil from algae and yields about 75 percent of the total available oil from the algae plant. Another common method is the hexane solvent method. When combined with the oil press method, this step can yield up to 95 percent of available oil from algae. It utilizes a two-step process. The first is to utilize the oil press method. Then, instead of stopping there, the leftover algae is mixed with hexane, filtered and cleaned to remove all traces of the chemical in the oil. Used less frequently, the supercritical fluid method can extract up to 100 percent of available oil from the algae. Carbon dioxide is pressurized and heated to change its composition into both a liquid as well as a gas. It is then mixed with the algae, which turns the algae completely into oil. Although it can yield 100 percent of available oil, the plentiful supply of algae as well as the additional equipment and work required, make this one of the least popular options. More diversified than the extraction processes are the methods used for growing the algae so that it will yield the most oil. Growing Algae for the Production of Biodiesel Unlike extraction methods, which are practically universal, growing algae for biodiesel varies greatly in process and method used. While it is possible to identify three primary ways to grow algae, biodiesel manufacturers have worked hard to tweak these processes and make them their own in the quest for perfecting the algae growing process. Open-Pond Growing One of the easiest processes to understand is known as open-pond growing. This is also the most natural way to grow algae for the purpose of biodiesel production. Just as its name would imply, in this method, algae are grown on open ponds, particularly in very warm and sunny parts of the globe, with the hope of maximizing production. This is the simplest form of production, but not surprisingly, it also has some serious drawbacks. In order to truly maximize algae production using this method, water temperature needs to be controlled which can prove very difficult. In addition, this method is more dependent on weather than others, another variable that is impossible to control. Vertical Growth Another method for growing algae is a vertical growth or closed loop production system. This process actually came about as biofuel companies sought to produce algae quicker and more efficiently than what was possible utilizing open pond growth. Vertical growing places algae in clear, plastic bags which allows them to be exposed to sunlight on more than just one side. These bags are stacked high and protected from the elements with a cover. While that extra sun may seem trivial, in reality, the clear plastic bag provides just enough exposure to sunlight to increase the rate of the algae production. Obviously, the greater the algae production, the greater the potential amount of oil that will later be extracted. And unlike the open pond method where algae is exposed to contamination, the vertical growth method isolates algae from this concern. Closed-Tank Bioreactor Plants A third method of extraction that biodiesel companies are continuing to perfect is the construction of algae closed-tank bioreactor plants to further increase already-high oil production. In this method, algae isnt grown outside. Instead, indoor plants are built with large, round drums that are able to grow algae under near perfect conditions. Within these barrels, the algae can be manipulated into growing at maximum levelseven to the point they can be harvested every day. This method, understandably, results in a very high output of algae and oil for biodiesel. Some companies are locating their closed bioreactor plants near energy plants so that extra carbon dioxide can actually be recycled rather than polluting the air. Biodiesel manufacturers continue to hone the closed container and closed-pond processes, with some developing a variation known as fermentation. In this method, algae is cultivated in closed containers where it is fed sugar to spur growth. Following this process is attractive to growers since it provides complete control over an environment. A lesser advantage is that this method is not reliant upon weather or similar climatic conditions to be viable. However, this process has researchers considering sustainable methods for obtaining enough sugar to maximize algae production.

A Synopsis of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (HOB

A Synopsis of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (HOB In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles (HOB), Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are immersed in a setting that appears to transcend the known limits of the physical world. A demoniacal hound roaming the moors of Devonshire is rumored to have been responsible for the death of the affluent Sir Charles Baskerville. Dr. Mortimer, a family friend, is left no choice but to recruit the renowned detective and his partner to investigate the case. The narrative, recounted through Dr. Watson’s perspective, soon abandons the familiarity of Baker Street in exchange for the ghastliness of Baskerville Hall and its vicinity. Upon Watson’s arrival, Dartmoor proves to be every bit as ominous as it was hyped up to be. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle uses the valuable tool of location throughout to leave open the possibility that there are crimes beyond the scope of rational analysis. The setting first asserts itself when, in the midst of presenting the details of the case to Holmes, Dr. Mortimer reads aloud the myth of the Baskerville curse. One could have easily mistaken the piece for an excerpt from a Gothic novel, for it is ridden with the genre’s elements. The reader learns Hugo Baskerville of Baskerville Manor ruthlessly abducted the daughter of a yeoman. After she attempted to escape from the chamber upstairs one night, Baskerville and others chased her onto the moor. Eventually, she and Hugo were both found dead. Beside the body of the latter was, to the astonishment of the other men, â€Å"a great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon† (Doyle 9). The linkage between the plot and setting of the myth is important. As mentioned, they are both rooted in Gothic tradition and thus play off each other. The somber estate and the damsel in distress are both common elements of Gothic fiction. The degree to which Baskerville is alleged to have been infatuated with her is also indicative of the genre. Furthermore, the hound that lurks at night and the dark moor it inhabits are intentionally portrayed as demonic and supernatural, inviting the possibility that the â€Å"Father of Evil† may very well be Sir Charles’ assailant. Holmes—the embodiment of the Enlightenment—is, notably, more skeptical than the others, but even he does not completely rule out the chance that â€Å"forces outside the ordinary laws of Nature† may be at work (19). Additionally, the gloomy, Gothic setting established in the exposition matches the description Watson later gives of Dartmoor when he and Sir Charles actually arrive there. Suddenly, it seems less likely that the mystery is capable of being solved in the physical world through deductive reasoning. The great Grimpen Mire, capable of sinking one in its depths, evolves into a grisly metaphor for the mystery itself. Not coincidentally, it is navigable only by the naturalist Mr. Stapleton—the perpetrator of the crime—and eventually found to be the location of the hound’s fortress. Watson, after observing the mire’s capabilities, says, â€Å"Life has become like that great Grimpen Mire, with little green patches everywhere into which one may sink and with no guide to point the track† (54). This comparison expresses the imminent danger and apparent hopelessness of their predicament, which contributes to the suspense of the Gothic atmosphere. It also portrays Watson as an ill-equipped assistant in the absence of Holmes’ analytical mind. One could imagine that Doyle added in this additional component specifically to evoke despair. How will Watson alone—a mere mortal—be able to solve a murder as complex as this one? The presumption that the case is ultimately out of Holmes’ and Watson’s control again seems feasible toward the end of the story, when a blinding fog threatens the plan the former had concocted to lure the hound out onto the moor. Using Sir Henry—the heir to Baskerville Hall—as bait, Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade wait anxiously behind a series of rocks for the hound to appear. When the fog begins to engulf the moor, Holmes observes, â€Å"If he isn’t out in a quarter of an hour the path will be covered. In half an hour we won’t be able to see our hands in front of us† (111). Fog has traditionally been interpreted as a metaphor for confusion. If it had prevented the hound from being caught, the beast’s nature and other pertinent information would also remain clouded. But perhaps just as importantly, Sir Henry would almost certainly meet his doom if no one could get a clear shot on the hound. This adds yet another Gothic twist to t he climax, and the case—for one last time—seems as if it may be out of Holmes’ grasp. HOB deviates from the typical Sherlock Holmes mystery. Setting is imperative in creating the illusion of a world that would render even the elite detective powerless. As later affirmed, however, a supernatural world is merely a world not yet understood. Though complex, the physical world—at its core—is an orderly, comprehensible place if analyzed rationally. The eventual unmasking of Stapleton and demystification of the hound are testaments to this. But before that happens, the reader is, albeit temporarily, fooled into thinking HOB is a full-fledged Gothic novel. For the sake of creating a believable work, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle abandons this, just as Holmes and Watson return to a natural explanation for phenomena after shortly contemplating a supernatural one.

Andy Warhol an American Artist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Andy Warhol an American Artist - Essay Example The essay "Andy Warhol an American Artist" discovers the art of Andy Warhol. â€Å"Warhol's works, deliberately impersonal, often were made using the commercial processes of stenciling and silk-screening. His large troupe of assistants, working in what Warhol called the Factory, were the actual producers. Such art was thus philosophically the opposite of the deeply personal and original Abstract Expressionist work that then dominated the art scene.† Through the mechanically reproduced images of mass consumer culture, Pop Art mostly conveyed the state of being an uninvolved viewer in a society overwhelmed with information and media-generated images, which are at the same time fascinating and affectless. Andy Warhol experimented with several media and he produced films that are produced continuously from a single vantage point. His multimedia events combining live music with projections of film and light attracted many fans. â€Å"By blurring the lines between ‘highâ€⠄¢ art and commercial imagery, Warhol had a profound effect on late twentieth-century art. While Abstract Expressionism had received critical acclaim, it did not, at first, sell. But Pop Art did sell, leading to an explosion in the number of galleries, a corresponding rise in art prices, and a reinforcement of New York’s position as the center of the art world.† Therefore, the works by Andy Warhol gained essential acclaim from all over the world and an understanding of the practices of looking such as representation, the myth of photographic truth., images and Ideology, how we negotiate the meaning of images, the value of images, and image icons helps one in comprehending the true merit of his works. The social realms of popular culture and art are mainly produced by the images that are encountered in daily life and they are produced and experienced through various media such as painting, printmaking, film, digital and photography. These media are essential imaging technologies which help artists represent the realities of images. Every form these graphic media including the most famous paintings of Western art history makes the best use of different imaging technologies and technology of images is central to the human experience of visual culture. No other artist of the modern era is as much celebrated as Andy Warhol for the representation of everyday experience of visual culture with the use of most effective imaging technologies. His paintings such as Green Coca Cola Bottles, the images of Hollywood celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn Diptych etc illustrate his effective use of the technology of images. "As did other Pop artists, Warhol used a visual vocabulary and a p rinting technique that reinforced the image's connections to consumer culture... The silk-screen technique allowed Warhol to print the image endlessly (although he varied each bottle slightly)... Warhol often produced images of Hollywood celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe. Like his other paintings, these works emphasize the commodity status of the subjects depicted." (Kleiner and Mamiya, 984) Thus, Andy Warhol was one of the best artists of representation or the use of language and images to meaning about the world around us. Andy Warhol was unlike the other artists who were working outside the contemporary art styles selecting elements from aesthetic traditions and reducing them to formulas. He, on the contrary, created new formulas using elements from popular culture. Thus, Warhol's themes, techniques, and often his materials, in the form of mass media photographs, were mostly taken from the popular culture. In other words, the subject

Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries Assignment

Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries - Assignment Example However, there are certain general aspects of ethics which are accepted everywhere in the world. This paper briefly analyses the question; â€Å"Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries?†. Should our ethical commitment be determined by the state boundaries? â€Å"Values are the rules by which we make decisions about right and wrong, should and shouldn't, good and bad. They also tell us which are more or less important, which is useful when we have to trade off meeting one value over another† (Values, morals and ethics, 2002). Values are different in different societies. For example, Muslims are allowed to keep more than one wife at a time whereas most of the other religions consider such things as sin or unethical behaviour. In other words, values related to sexual activities or marriage is defined differently by different religions. Under such circumstances, the question; whether a Muslim person living in a Christian country should be allowed to keep more than one wife at a time, is relevant. It should be noted that plenty of Muslims are staying in America and Britain like Christian countries. If such Muslims try to follow their customs and traits related to sexual activities while living in overseas countries, the chances of social problems are immense. Same way, same sex marriage is allowed in Canada. â€Å"All same-sex marriages declared legal and valid by Canadian justice minister Rob  Nicholson†(Post media news, 2012). If Canadians try to follow same sex marriage customs while living in another country, social problems may definitely arise. Imagine a situation in which a Canadian male living in Saudi Arabia tries to marry another male while living in Saudi Arabia. â€Å"As per utilitarianism, utility is measured in terms of pleasure and pain† (Crane &Matten, 2007, p.95).. Another argument is that â€Å"Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness† (Mill, 2004, p.6). It is a fact that same sex marriage provides pleasure to the Canadian, but it provides pain to the society in which these things are unacceptable. In short, it is better to keep ethics and morals within the state boundaries. At the same time, in certain cases, ethics and morals should be allowed to travel beyond the boundaries of states. According to Maccarelli, (2006) â€Å"what a person should do and what a person wants to do are often not compatible† (Maccarelli, 2006). For example, Middle East is a place in which people from all parts of the world are working together. These diverse people have their own beliefs in morals and ethics. Christian workers consider Sundays as sacred days and they always like to have weekly off on that day. On the other hand, Muslims like to have weekly off on Fridays. If a Christian employee asks weekly offs on Sundays, his authorities should consider that demand favorably if possible. Social contract theory says that â€Å"Majority of the humans are self-interested and they will work for preserving their interest. But the law of nature ask commands that each man be willing to pursue peace when others are willing to do the same† (Social Contract Theory, 2004). In other words, the ultimate aim or objective of ethics and morality is to promote peace and harmony across the world. In that sense, it is better to keep unacceptable ethical behaviours within the boundaries of

Community Population Health Issues Research Paper

Community Population Health Issues - Research Paper Example These include, alcohol related deaths, wide spread health disorders, chronic diseases, alcohol related road accidents, domestic violence, reduced productivity in the community, deteriorating levels of education, and social disorder. In addition, the treads of alcohol consumption is also a demerit arising from this health issue in my community. Sadly, these alcohol related demerits spread over to the family and relatives of the alcoholic. As such, the alcohol-drinking problem equally propagates marital problems, cases of child abuse, and criminal activities as people seek to satisfy their addiction. Notable, is the fact that the few women who take alcohol while pregnant manifest adverse effects creating health and social disorder in my community. As such, alcoholism is the top public health issue in my community and warrants quick address. Nevertheless, it is disputable that alcoholism sprung in my community due to lack, quality, and access of health care. Indeed, the habit to indulge in alcohol is usually a personal decision among the adults or the effect of peer pressure among the youths. However, we lack enough well-established health and rehabilitation centers to address this problem. Indeed, there is little community awareness on the effects of alcoholism in my community and everybody is a witness to the prevalence of this problem. As such, various agencies can assist in addressing this issue. They may include the government through relevant agencies, non-governmental organizations that deal with drug and substance abuse campaigns, the police, the traffic department, counselors, and rehabilitation centers. These agencies and discipline forces can achieve this by undertaking a community mobilization initiative to create awareness on alcoholism and its adverse effects (National Center for Biotechnology Information Web). To curb alcohol drinking among students and other teens, the

Marketing led management(Apple's iphone) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing led management(Apple's iphone) - Essay Example The study will be focused upon the UK based company Telefonica,popularly known as O2.It has been in venture with Apple to promote iPhone in the UK market.The brand O2 caters the services in the telecommunication sector offering integrated mobile,fixed and broadband services in the UK,Germany,Ireland,Slovakia and Czech Republic In the year 2007, Apple launched its product iPhone with O2 in the UK market. Apple iPhone was offered in different tariffs with variety of handsets in the UK market (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2011). In order to launch iPhone in the European market, Apple needs to have a contract with the service provider. They had options in the European market. There were UK’s O2, France’s Orange and Germany’s T-Mobile. There were rumours regarding the revenue sharing percentage deal between Apple and others. After the plethora of negotiations, the UK’s O2 was finalised for the deal to market Apple’s product . Strategic Analysis The d eal was finalised between the UK’s O2 and Apple for the distribution of the Apple’s iPhone in the UK market. The deal concentrated upon the revenue sharing percentage that O2 would provide to Apple from the iPhone sales. The significance of the deal to O2 can be justified by the strategic analysis through the SWOT evaluation. SWOT Analysis Strengths O2 is known as the successful network operator in the UK market. The awareness of the brand is huge among the target customer group. There are more than 300 stores of O2 in the UK market (Franchise Development Services Ltd, 2011). Telefonica has been operating for more than 85 years in the UK telecommunication industry and has a consistency growth rate and is acquainted with their target consumers’ need and wants. By the year 2009 it had about 265 million customers operating in 25 countries. Telefonica provides integrated ICT solutions to all segments of customers that can be demonstrated in a graphical format below. Telefonica has diverse operations and generates revenue from different market operations, which build up a strong financial position of the company (Telefonica, 2010). (Telefonica, 2010). Telefonica has been able to increase its consumer base by 2009 and it is still on the rise. The company achieved a 9 % growth in the number of consumers by the end of 2009. The expansion in the consumer base will generate more revenues for the company. With the increasing number of consumers there is more possibility of increase in the sales of iPhone. This will generate more revenues for Apple (Telefonica Europe plc, 2009). Apple is one of the leading brands in the global market and is known for its iPhone. The newly launched product of Apple is the ‘iPhone 4’ in the UK market. O2 provides maximum advantage to every class of users at an affordable rate (PR Wall Street, 2010). The mobile network of Telefonica covers 99% of the UK populace. O2’s 3G network covers over 80% of the UK’s populace. The best selling device of Telefonica O2 UK is the iPhone that has more than 2 million sales (Telefonica, 2010). Weaknesses The UK consumers had the facility of 3G phones before the launch of the iPhone in the UK market. They were already using the 3G technology. There were problems related to the offering of the call rates. The call rates of the iPhone deal allowed 200 inclusive minutes for ?35 whereas the competitors provided 750 inclusive minutes with a free phone. The consumers were apprehensive about the contract related to iPhone. The main concern was regarding the up-gradation of the phone, the device itself as it has non-removable battery and limited battery life. The consumers wanted to upgrade their iPhone 3G as it faced the problem of battery life. This problem was a concern for Telefonica O2 UK against their endeavour to increase the sales and get

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 232

Assignment Example For the cable news network, I decided to watch CNN while I settled on Fox Network for the broadcast news network. After the thirty-minute session, I came up with the following outcomes. The first thing that I noted was that the top stories for both networks differed significantly. I decided to pay attention to the top three news stories for both the Fox Network, which is a broadcast network, and for CNN which is a cable network. I noticed that only one story was similar across the board for the two networks. For CNN, the similar story came third while the same story came first in Fox Network. This was a direct implication that the news stories that are covered by both networks are totally different. It is, however, important to note that ordinary viewers may not note this difference because they could be cruising through different stations oblivious of whether it is a cable or broadcast network. During the session, I also noted that both networks did not give the same weight to similar stories. As already mentioned, one story was broadcasted by both networks. However, Fox made the story their top story while CNN did not accord the same story equal weight. This is an implication that the two networks were not in communication so as to decide on a single pattern of airing the same story. In addition to that, the comprehensiveness of the story was different for both networks. Fox gave a comprehensive analysis of the story while CNN seemed to provide a mere overview. When it came to the amount of airtime given to the top three stories, Fox seemed to offer more airtime to its stories as compared to CNN. That notwithstanding, Fox was more comprehensive in analyzing the content of its stories as compared to CNN which seemed to provide a quick overview of the contents. Despite the difference in the airtime accorded for the stories in both networks, I was unable to notice a significant difference in the slant of presentations of the stories aired on that day.

Community Population Health Issues Research Paper

Community Population Health Issues - Research Paper Example These include, alcohol related deaths, wide spread health disorders, chronic diseases, alcohol related road accidents, domestic violence, reduced productivity in the community, deteriorating levels of education, and social disorder. In addition, the treads of alcohol consumption is also a demerit arising from this health issue in my community. Sadly, these alcohol related demerits spread over to the family and relatives of the alcoholic. As such, the alcohol-drinking problem equally propagates marital problems, cases of child abuse, and criminal activities as people seek to satisfy their addiction. Notable, is the fact that the few women who take alcohol while pregnant manifest adverse effects creating health and social disorder in my community. As such, alcoholism is the top public health issue in my community and warrants quick address. Nevertheless, it is disputable that alcoholism sprung in my community due to lack, quality, and access of health care. Indeed, the habit to indulge in alcohol is usually a personal decision among the adults or the effect of peer pressure among the youths. However, we lack enough well-established health and rehabilitation centers to address this problem. Indeed, there is little community awareness on the effects of alcoholism in my community and everybody is a witness to the prevalence of this problem. As such, various agencies can assist in addressing this issue. They may include the government through relevant agencies, non-governmental organizations that deal with drug and substance abuse campaigns, the police, the traffic department, counselors, and rehabilitation centers. These agencies and discipline forces can achieve this by undertaking a community mobilization initiative to create awareness on alcoholism and its adverse effects (National Center for Biotechnology Information Web). To curb alcohol drinking among students and other teens, the

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 232

Assignment Example For the cable news network, I decided to watch CNN while I settled on Fox Network for the broadcast news network. After the thirty-minute session, I came up with the following outcomes. The first thing that I noted was that the top stories for both networks differed significantly. I decided to pay attention to the top three news stories for both the Fox Network, which is a broadcast network, and for CNN which is a cable network. I noticed that only one story was similar across the board for the two networks. For CNN, the similar story came third while the same story came first in Fox Network. This was a direct implication that the news stories that are covered by both networks are totally different. It is, however, important to note that ordinary viewers may not note this difference because they could be cruising through different stations oblivious of whether it is a cable or broadcast network. During the session, I also noted that both networks did not give the same weight to similar stories. As already mentioned, one story was broadcasted by both networks. However, Fox made the story their top story while CNN did not accord the same story equal weight. This is an implication that the two networks were not in communication so as to decide on a single pattern of airing the same story. In addition to that, the comprehensiveness of the story was different for both networks. Fox gave a comprehensive analysis of the story while CNN seemed to provide a mere overview. When it came to the amount of airtime given to the top three stories, Fox seemed to offer more airtime to its stories as compared to CNN. That notwithstanding, Fox was more comprehensive in analyzing the content of its stories as compared to CNN which seemed to provide a quick overview of the contents. Despite the difference in the airtime accorded for the stories in both networks, I was unable to notice a significant difference in the slant of presentations of the stories aired on that day.

A Worn Path Essay Example for Free

A Worn Path Essay â€Å"A Worn Path† written by Eudora Welty, is set during a cold winter after the conclusion of the Civil War, in a rural area near Christmas time in the mid 1900’s. Phoenix, an older uneducated Negro woman, who endured racism, is the main character with minor characters of a hunter, a dog, a nurse, a clerk and Phoenix’s grandson. Eudora Welty began developing the story in the first paragraph by choosing the name of the main character – Phoenix. A phoenix is a mythological bird that supposedly lived over 500 years ago and died in flames and rose again from the ashes. (W) My idea of what the author is conveying through various writing techniques is that there are many obstacles in life and one may overcome obstacles by determination, love, a strong personality and a helping hand from others. The characters represent various aspects of life. Phoenix had to overcome many obstacles – cold weather, her age, a hunter with a gun, thorns and hills. The obstacles can be viewed as lessons or opportunities to learn. The black dog which startled Phoenix represents unexpected â€Å"bumps in the road.† Another obstacle, Phoenix had to overcome was her own internal worry about wild animals (snakes, coons, wild hogs, foxes, owls, and beetles) on her way to town. An external conflict was represented by the physical struggles Phoenix endured. A major obstacle, Phoenix overcame was to walk across a log suspended over a creek, using her cane to balance her weight. I consider this particular obstacle as a life changing event. Phoenix also knew she had to ta ke care of her grandson because she was the only person left. A reader could view the walk Phoenix regularly completed as Phoenix’s reason for being alive or as a rebirth. Assistance in life comes in many ways. The hunter and his dog helping Phoenix with a hand-up moved Phoenix forward on her journey. Life is like that made easier with help from others. The author did a great job conveying these characteristics. The main character, Phoenix, represents a strong individual who overcame numerous obstacles. Phoenix was dedicated to helping her grandson and was determined to complete her task. The author, through creative descriptive words, revealed a multitude of personality characteristics within Phoenix. The main character was in control of her life as evidenced by her determination to stay on her journey even when the hunter tried to persuade Phoenix to return home. A reader could view the walk Phoenix regularly completed as Phoenix’s reason for being alive or as a rebirth. Phoenix was on a mission! Eudora Welty was very effective with the writing techniques. The story was easy to understand, the language descriptive and was enjoyable to read. The descriptive language the author used made me feel as if I was there. I feel the author wrote the story from the third person omniscient (all knowing) narrator point of view. The author utilized the setting to represent obstacles. The setting is both physical and chronological. The author used great descriptive language to help create the story in the reader’s mind. The author, based on this particular story, perceives life as a struggle. Welty was successful in creating a story about values of love, compassion, dedication, determination and helping others. Works Cited W, Susan. LLCS. 2013. Definition. 2013. . Thesis statement: Thesis from A Worn Path by Eudora Welty: In Eudora Weltys A Worn Path, Phoenix Jackson exhibits great love, determination, and devotion as she overcomes many challenges on her frequent yet terrifying trek to town in order to retrieve medicine for her grandson.

A Critical Analysis Of Patriarchy Sociology Essay

A Critical Analysis Of Patriarchy Sociology Essay In the article Patriarchy, the System, Allan Johnson defines patriarchy, and in doing so addresses the common misconceptions and stereotypes that people inaccurately identify with the term. He argues that people tend to generalize and attach the term patriarchy with men, and therefore come to the conclusion that all men are oppressive people.  [1]  Johnson recognizes a pattern in which women feel free to blame men for oppressing them and therefore men take it personally and become defensive. He argues that women will blame men for patriarchy simply because theyre men.  [2]  Johnson also considers the possibility that perhaps people are simply confused, that they cannot distinguish the difference between patriarchy as a system and the individual. He argues that people have to recognize this, and examine larger contexts, in order to solve social problems. Johnson suggests that race, gender and class oppression are not actually oppression, but rather the sum of individual failin gs.  [3]  Johnson argues that in order to solve social problems, these misconceptions must be cleared up. If were ever going to work toward real change, its a confusion well have to clear up.  [4]  Johnson effectively identifies common misconceptions about patriarchy, and convincingly argues that this ignorance and individualist perspective is contributing to problems within society. Allan Johnson goes on to argue that patriarchy is organized around relationships and shared understandings, and he argues that this can limit you to some degree.  [5]  Johnson provides an interesting perspective on how we participate in our social lives. He makes a very good point when he suggests that patriarchy can exist without men being portrayed as the villains. People tend to follow along with what society deems is the norm. This is significant; as it explains why individuals make the decisions that they do, in a larger social context. Johnson further analyzes what patriarchy really means, and explains that it is simply part of our culture, and the symbols and ideas within it. He argues that the make up of patriarchal culture is important to understand because it affects the structure of social life.  [6]  He discusses the possibility that culture enforces gender roles and power positions, therefore shaping and influencing our values. Allan Johnson goes on to say that everyone contributes to patriarchy, the system, whether theyre aware of it or not. We are all involved in patriarchy, but it does not necessarily mean that women are the victims, and men are the oppressors. He explains that who we think we are is closely related to who others think we should be and where we fit in social systems. He sums up his ideas by stating that all men and women are involved in patriarchy because we occupy social positions.  [7]  This further proves his point, that patriarchy cannot be constrained to individuals themselves, as patriarchy is beyond the individual experience. This article studies the concept of patriarchy as a framework. It provides a sociological perspective on social inequalities and attempts to explain why they exist. Johnson convincingly argues that people dont truly understand the origins of patriarchy. He has taken the term patriarchy and uses a sociological approach to uncover what it really is, a social construction or framework. He defines patriarchy in broader social terms and effectively proves that there may be oppressive individuals in society but patriarchy is not the result of all men being oppressive people, it is the result of individuals collectively possessing power. The sociological approach that Johnson uses helps to examine and analyze society as a whole, a structure in which everyone participates in and contributes to. This approach can help to explain why individuals act out certain behaviors in their own social lives. Perhaps people behave in such patriarchal ways because the system has influenced us in such ways. Maybe gender oppression has nothing to do with men being patriarchal, but more to do with how our society has been constructed and how our culture and our ideas about men and women have been shaped within it. Johnson helps us to use our sociological imagination to better understand the problems society currently faces. To conclude, Allan Johnsons article Patriarchy, the System can help us to analyze society in broader social terms in order to understand systems like patriarchy and our participation within these larger systems. Johnsons article helps us to use a sociological perspective to better understand the individual and why things like gender oppression occur. This article is useful, as Johnsons argument could be applied to other social contexts as well. This article allows us to further our knowledge of social constructions and how we participate in them, and therefore how we can change them to improve equality and eliminate the ideas present in our culture that limit us.

Essay --

Personal choices are very important in one’s life. The stories that will be compared are, â€Å"The Use of Force†, by William Carlos Williams and â€Å"Lather and Nothing Else†, by Hernando Tellez. It is how the protagonists deal with a situation and how they use their intellectual thinking to deal with the situation. However, personal choices can change the outcome of a conflict, which will either be insightful or pessimistic. People make their own personal choices in everyday life. If the personal choices are not well-made, the conflict can either have a positive conclusion or negative conclusion. People make their own person choices in everyday life. In William Carlos Williams â€Å"The Use of Force† and Hernando Tellez’s â€Å"Lather and Nothing Else†, the protagonists make their own decisions based on the conflict they are confronted with. Williams and Tellez place the protagonists in an occupation in which both protagonists are met with a new customer. In Williams’ story, the doctor approaches a patient and is concerned about the patient’s illness. He uses his professional manner to determine whether or not the child has a sore throat. Similarly, in Tellez’s story, the barber has a customer come in and is responsible for shaving Captain Torres’ beard. The beginning of both stories shows how both of the protagonists are responsible for performing their tasks to the best of their ability. Moving forward, both protagonists come across with a problem. When the doctor attempts an examination, the patient does not respond coopera tively. The attempt at an examination rapidly escalates into a physical battle because the physician is not able to perform his job. In the same way, when Torres takes a seat, the barber realizes, it is his nemesis. Torres ... ...Tellez’s story ended with an exceptional closure because excellent moves were made by the barber. Williams took the protagonist in a negative route and conversely Tellez took the protagonist in a positive route. Personal choices can change the conflict, either leading to an upright ending or depraved ending. To conclude, personal choices are very significant in one’s life. In â€Å"The Use of Force†, by William Carlos Williams and â€Å"Lather and Nothing Else, by Hernando Tellez, both authors showed how people make their own judgments every day in life. However, the stories were different in certain cases because the decisions made by the individual caused the conflict to either end in an optimistic way or undesirable way. Personal choices are important because they help people solve conflicts, but the person must be careful if there personal choice they create is strong.

A Shattered Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Essay

A Shattered Dream in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman tells the story of a man confronting failure in the success-driven society of America and shows the tragic path, which eventually leads to Willy Loman's suicide. Death of a Salesman?is?a search for identity, [Willy?s] attempt to be a man according to the frontier tradition in which he was raised, and a failure to achieve that identity because in [1942] and in [Brooklyn] that identity cannot be achieved. (Gross 321) Willy is a symbolic icon of the failing American; he represents those that have striven for success in society, but, in struggling to do so, have instead achieved failure in the most bitter form. Perhaps what is wrong with the society is not that it has implanted the wrong values in [Willy], values which finally do not lead to success anyway, but that it has lost touch with values which should never be relegated only to the personal sphere or the family unit. (Lawrence 57) In Arthur Miller?s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman, the protagonist, pursues a false perception of the American Dream. Arthur Miller establishes Willy Loman as a traveling salesman in his sixties, a dreamer of success, and a troubled man. Willy is not a successful man, but clings to his dreams and ideals. ?[Arthur Miller] did not realize either how few would be impressed by the fact that [Willy] is actually a very brave spirit who cannot settle for half but must pursue his dream of himself to the end? (Hayman 55-56). Willy reminisces about the neighborhood years ago. His past recurs through the play in vivid scenes. Each time he returns from an episode in the past, Willy discovers new information that throws light on his troubled past. Willy portra... ... of a Salesman. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. 25-38. Roudanà ©, Matthew C. ?Death of a Salesman and the Poetics of Arthur Miller.? The Cambridge Companion to Arthur Miller. Ed. Christopher Bigsby. New York: Cambridge UP, 1997. 60-85. Sister, M. Bettina. ?Willy Loman?s Brother Ben: Tragic Insight in Death of a Salesman.? Modern Drama. Feb. 1962: 409-412. Spillane, Margaret. ?Life of a Salesman.? Nation 8 Mar. 1999: 7. Steinberg, M. W. ?Arthur Miller and the Idea of Modern Tragedy.? Twentieth Century Views Arthur Miller. Ed. Robert W. Corrigan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1969, 81-84. Weales, Gerald. ?Arthur Miller?s Shifting Image of Man.? Twentieth Century Views Arthur Miller. Ed. Robert W. Corrigan. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1969. 131-142. ?Why Willy Loman Lives.? The Economist 19 June 1999: 19-21.

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream

In February 1995, Bob Holland became CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream, Inc. A few years earlier, the ice cream market began to suffer due to a tread toward healthy eating. As a result, Ben & Jerry’s growth slowed, and its stock prices dropped. Therefore, in June 1994, Ben Cohen resigned as CEO. Competition is a big factor for Ben & Jerry’s. â€Å"Haagen-Dazs began aggressively attacking Ben & Jerry’s in a fight for market share† (Collis, 4). The company was the largest and oldest in the superpremium ice cream segment.It developed mix-in ice cream while introducing a new frozen yogurt line as well as a fat-free sorbet line. Breyer’s became a threat to the superpremium ice cream market because their products were less expensive. Ben & Jerry’s face challenges like any other company. One concern was that its mix-in flavors were costly and difficult to produce. â€Å"Mix-in† flavors consisted of candy bars, cookies, nuts, or f ruit that were added to a chocolate or vanilla base.Many of their flavors, like Chunky Monkey and Cherry Garcia, â€Å"contain numerous and large chunks of added ingredients† (Collis, 3). Ben & Jerry’s social missions is â€Å"to operate the company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in the structure of society by instigating innovative ways to improve the quality of life of a broad community† (Collis, 18). It should not abandon its mission. Bob Holland should remain enthusiastic and innovative.In 1994, Ben & Jerry’s had a total of forty-four flavors. â€Å"The introduction of new products stretched the firm’s capabilities† (Collis, 6). Production planning, purchasing, and inventory management all impacted the company’s gross margins. Ben & Jerry’s could create limited edition products to boost sales; holidays would be an excellent time to promote them. Also, any products that aren’t b ig sellers can be discontinued. Ben & Jerry’s should stand for quality and excellence for its superpremium products.It gained an early reputation â€Å"for the unconventional ‘mix-in’ flavors† (Collis, 1). It was founded by two friends and became an immediate success. Several small companies, like Steve’s Homemade Ice Cream and Shamitoff Foods, flourished briefly before falling or died altogether (Collis, 3). By 1995, Ben & Jerry’s was the number two maker of superpremium ice cream in the U. S with a market share of 43 percent; it was 30 percent in 1990 (Collis, 6). Haagen-Dazs was number one in addition to being the oldest and largest brand.There were many other small companies that ranked behind Ben & Jerry’s. It should continue to be innovative and follow the current trends. Many fast food restaurants now serve salads to keep up with the healthy eating trends. Many cola products are now low in carbohydrates. Ben & Jerry’s sho uld not abandon its mission, but should continue to adjust as necessary with the trends. Reference Collis, David J. Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream Inc. : A Period of Transition. Harvard Business School. May 19, 2005.

Reflection paper of leadership and ethics Essay

My experience was very much intriguing than I anticipated. Few days to the case day, I called up for a meeting with my group members via their email addresses to get familiarized with each of them and get to know some background about all of the group members before the scheduled case day. The meeting was arranged but unfortunately it lasted for a couple of minutes and I could not get much significant information about their background and it was at this point that I realized that I was going to have a lot of challenges at hand as a leader and a follower. This, I thought of due to the fact that, I knew a little about my group members and moreover, each of them come from a different country, with different cultural background, different belief systems and the like. I had no clue or experience as to how I could lead people with such diverse characteristics in term country, culture, beliefs, expectations and others. In an attempt to learn more about my group members with these diverse backgrounds, I sent to each of them friendship request on facebook social network to enable me check some more background information about each of them before the case day. Fortunately, I got all of them to accept my friendship request on facebook social network and started to engage them in conversation to find out more about them – what their value are, their expectations, their experiences in life, etc. Some few background information about each of them was gathered in a way but unfortunately, there was not enough time to get to know more than I already knew because we all had some reading and assignments to get done. It was at this point that I realized that, it would have been better for me to have started the  background check on each of them earlier than I did. In that case, I would have had a lot of information about each of my group members in terms of their way of life, values, expectations, etc and to inform me on how to relate to each of them as a leader and a follower in a more effective and efficient manner. I must confess, this was the first time I have had to lead a group from different countries, people with varying cultural background and belief systems and the main reason why I thought it would be more challenging than it appeared. The following is the account of my experience on case day one: My first task was a very interesting but challenging one and something that I never anticipated – you may be wondering what it was. My first task was to go shopping with my other four (4)  group members to buy at least five (5) ingredients given one hundred Norwegian kroners (100 NOK). The most challenging part was that, these five (5) ingredients was not to conflict with any of the group members interest or that each of us would find no difficulty eating. I started to wonder how easy it would be to figure out food for five (5) people from different countries, with different cultures and beliefs. I figured out that, the best way was to get everyone’s input as to what we should buy and should not buy and started taking suggestions and objections from each one of us. This exercise was to gather common ingredients to all of us and to do away those ingredients that were not common among us. Fortunately, after few minutes of deliberation on what to buy and what not to buy, a conclusion on what to buy was made and we got all ingredients that were common to all of us. I believe one thing was paramount here – cooperation. I learnt from this interesting experience where five (5) people from five (5) different countries with very divergent cultural background and belief systems were able to accomplish such a challenging task of arriving at a consensus to buy at least five (5) ingredients to prepare food that could be eaten by all members without haven to disregard or deny anyone’s interest within a couple of minutes. This has really thought me a great and valuable lesson that, cooperation and deliberation can be the best remedy for arriving at a consensus in such as a complex situation. I also learnt that, it pays to be a good listener so that  issues raised and discussed could be incorporated into making ethically responsible decision that satisfies everyone. Surprisingly, the tasks were getting more and more challenging, why am I saying this? My second task was to locate the route to our final destination where most of the tasks were going to take place. The only way to locate the route was from a map and I had no experience or clue on how to use maps because I have never used a map to locate a route to anyplace before. I asked my group members if anyone knew how to use the map to locate the right route to the place and I gathered some ideas and information from them and we set off. I learnt from this experience that, a leader does not know it all – he or she cannot be jack of all trade and has to rely not only on his knowledge but also on the knowledge and ideas of his followers through sharing and learning from each other. There is an adage that, â€Å"two heads are better than one†. To state it differently, a greater output or more effective and efficient outcome is achieved through sharing and learning by two or more people in a more cooperative manner than one person doing everything all by himself or herself. While we trek, I took time to get to know my group members in terms their culture, experiences in life, likes and dislikes, interests and hobbies and so on. This was important for me because I was building on my knowledge of each of them and to get to better understand them to help me as a leader and a follower. When we had gone half way through the trip we have had to stop to evaluate me as a leader and at this point I had started to think about some positive attributes about myself as I led my group members in task 1 – where we had to buy five (5) ingredients that would be common for all of us to eat together and task 2 – which was to lead my group members through the right route to our final destination for which I had no idea about because I had to do it with the aid of a map. In these two (2) tasks where I led the group, I did my best to listen to everyone’s view and involved everyone in the decision making, thus, ensuring  that decisions arrived were in the best interest of everyone and we were all comfortable with the decisions without ignoring or disregarding anyone’s view. It was however not surprising that, all my group members thought of me as a good listener, team player, energetic and a leader who takes everyone’s view as equal and into consideration. It was revealed to me during the evaluation exercise that, I was a leader of few words, someone who does not talk much, gave less details and more of introvert person. This is in my view was a true reflection of my personality and I have started to find out how I can improve on my communication and social skills, which I believe would help me lead effectively and efficiently in not too distant future. It is very interesting when your own colleagues assess you diligently and let you know in a friendly manner and in the same way encouraging to work hard because they believe in you and that you could be better. This made me want to learn more and more about myself, I wish I could have asked for more tasks to unravel my challenges or shortcomings as a leader so that I would be able to work on them for improvement. This was a good experience for me. This is the account of my first experience as a leader in a group of people with different backgrounds in terms of country, culture, belief system, etc and what I learnt from the tasks. After the evaluation, one most important thing that happened was to change leadership and this brought to bare different style of leadership or approaches to solving different tasks in different circumstances. This provided me with opportunity to assess other group members’ leadership   styles or approaches in solving tasks in varying situations and also learning from their good leadership attributes and helping them identify their weaknesses or challenges for improvement was a very good exercise for me as well. This exercise revealed to a greater extent each member’s strengths, weaknesses or challenges and values exhibited during the period of the activity and provided a strong foundation for every participant to improve on areas highlighted during the self-assessment and group member assessment sessions. Again, individuals’ true identity was also unraveled throughout the whole activity with no fiction or falsehood. When we arrived finally at our final destination, it was all excitement and every member of  my group walked up to me and said â€Å"yes, we made it† – I believe it was a great success for all haven used a map to locate the place without prior experience. At our final destination, the tasks got more and more interesting and thought-provoking. We were assigned a task to build a tent for shelter against extreme weather condition. The leader of our group organized us and we shared ideas as how best to build the tent within the stipulated time frame. The leader led by example, taking the initiative after we agreed on how to build it and this was a good thing because it motivated the team members in accomplishing the task as allocated to each one and as scheduled. Another major challenging task was assigned to us to make a one-handed rolling pin within a limited time frame and to also prepare food within the same time frame. This was the most challenging tasks for two reasons: one was the fact we did not know (or have prior experience on) how to make the one-handed rolling pin; and two was the fact that we have had to perform two (2) different tasks concurrently which could result in shifting more attention to one perceived as most important. The leader started by organizing the team members, we planned, shared and allocated the two tasks among ourselves. This was done to avoid the tendency of shifting more attention to one task leaving the other task unfinished. The leader also monitored, coordinated and motivated the team very well ensuring the two (2) different tasks were completed within the stipulated limited time frame. The interesting thing was that, no one was assigned a task that he or she was not willing to perform (morale was high). Thus, everyone was made to do what he or she could do best to ensure overall success of the team. We were successful in completing the two (2) tasks within the limited time frame. I learnt that good communication, planning, organizing, sharing of ideas, division of labour, monitoring and motivation as well as teamwork were important recipe for success in this situation. Additional task was assigned for us to pick a log of wood with ropes without touching the log with our hands and take it to a specified location without getting the log to touch the ground. As we did always, the leader organized everyone to share ideas on how best to complete the task assigned. We  successfully completed the task but we were a bit late since the other team completed before us. Here, the spirit of motivation was very good because we did not give up even though we knew, we were behind time and this is something I also learnt. This task was repeated and this time around we successfully completed before the other team. This however, meant that, we did our home work well and learnt from our mistakes. This is another important thing that I learnt from the exercise. Below is the account of my experience on case day two: In this case, I partly owned a sawmill company in a small county that buys trees from the farms in the area and produces and sells materials to most carpenters in the county and neighboring counties. I also had 15% shares in a local fishery factory in the county and represented party two (2) in the city council. All the roles assigned was believed to expose each participate to varying situations of ethical dilemma and assess how each one of us was going to act in such situations. At the beginning of the case, it was not too clear what we had to do or act. Most people were confused about their roles and what they needed to do to have their roles excellently played out. This was because most of us if not all of us did not have enough information as to what to do, who to interact with and what tasks were involved. When information regarding what each one of us was to do was disseminated then, it became clear what was expected of everyone. I was doing my business as expected but my business partner did not involve me in the finances of the business and would provide me with details transactions of the business. He was always out of the business premises doing one thing or the other and I had to take care of the business by staying in the office all day. I was never involved in any unethical act in my sawmill business and knew nothing about my partners’ unethical acts such as converting his personal loan to business loan, bribing others and the likes. This however, revealed that it is very essential for a business partner to be actively involved in all aspects of the company’s activities otherwise a lot of things could go wrong without it being recognized as was evidenced in my case. Another important point to note is the impact of the sale of my shares in the local fishery factory. The local fishery factory for over period of time was not making enough money due to the pollution of the water by the mining company’s activities. The mining activities rendered the local fishery factory unprofitable and even unsustainable and the city officials were not doing anything to salvage the situation. The mining company that was killing the local fishery factory was also a shareholder in the fishery industry. I was approached by the Accountant of the mining to sell my shares to the mining company and I did on the grounds the keep the business running (sustaining it) and make it profitable with greater shares in the fishery factory. It was realized after that the mining company only wanted to take over the fishery factory and collapse it, making the very essence of the sale of my shares lose its importance. I sold the shares because the fishery factory was going to collapse anyway but realized that by selling off the shares to the mining company, it do something about the situation. Thus, if it allows the fishery factory to collapse it losses more and therefore, would proactively do something to remedy the situation since it was the mining activities that was killing the fishery factory. The idea was that, a lot of people were going to be unemployed, people would lose their investments and society at large suffers from the collapse of the fishery factory. The mining company just wanted to collapse the fishery factory which I believe is not the right way to go as it harms people (employees, customers, etc.), animal, society and the environment at large. In conclusion, I have learnt a lot about myself as an individual (my strengths and weaknesses), about others and how to relate well with others in spite of varying backgrounds. I have also learnt various leadership qualities of an effective leader such as being a good listener, a good communicator, confident, able to delegate, creative, able to inspire others, positive thinker, caring and the like. Throughout the activity I learnt how to deal with different situations as a leader and as a follower (team member) and how successful a team can be as well as how far it can go if the leader ensure that all members work in harmony with each other and also with trust and honesty. I have learnt also that knowing one’s own self and the  team members plays a critical role in being a good or effective leader and makes it much easier to lead in a positive way as well as achieving better results. From case day two, I learnt that, it is imperative for companies or businesses to note that in achieving organizational goals, maximizing profit or personal benefits, it should not be done by causing harm to others, animals, society and the environment as a whole. I believe that, the mining company’s activities was causing more harm to others and the environment, thus, it was unethical from the utilitarianism, duty ethics, virtue ethics, discourse ethics, ethics of rights and justice perspectives as their activities, actions and inactions harm others, animals, society and the environment at large. Finally, the two-day activity was very helping in providing a practical experience in leadership and ethical decision making situations for participants.