Development in the Hardware and Software Industries Tapped by GIS Appl Assignment

Development in the Hardware and Software Industries Tapped by GIS Applications - Assignment Example Hardware and software industries have catered to the needs of various areas defined in the marketplace. Software that is used to integrate geographical information with people and events, help in producing knowledge useful in the industrial operations and a basis of research outcomes. Examples are the GIS software and hardware used for libraries, museums, and schools that facilitate management, demographic/market analysis, asset mapping and inventories (Educational License Options n.d.).   Specific applications include ArcGIS for Desktop, Explorer, Mapping, Server, Server Image Extension and many others. In the case of Botanical Gardens and Zoological Parks, a software was developed specifically designed as a data model for mapping facilities and plant collections. It is called ArcGIS Public Garden Data Model. The hardware developments kept up with the industry standard or what was required for efficient data capture of GIS components. The digitizing tablets allowed the operator to record coordinates and scanners which convert analog source documents into digital raster form (Jackson and Woodsword 2012). GIS has been integrated into social networking. Ushahidi, for example, is a software that is used to collect information from multiple channels such as text messages, email, and Twitter (Dumbill 2010). It has been found useful in reporting disasters such as floods and aggregating reports from citizen journalists. The trend analysis provided by GIS in a combination of social data resulted in quick and effective disaster management. It has used information from social networking as sensors of the pending disaster, enabling the authorities to respond accordingly.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Info Tech Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of Info Tech Essay 1.more time: I.T has made it possible for businesses to be open 24/7 all over the globe, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient.it also means that u can have goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle. 2.bridging the cultural gap: I.T has helped bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow the exchange of views and ideas.increasing the awareness and reducing prejudice. 3.communication:communication has become cheaper,quicker and more efficient. we can contact anyone in the word simply by sending them and email or using one of the social networks for almost an instantaneous response.the internet has opened up face to face direct communication from different parts of the world by video conferencing. disadvantages 1.unemployment: while I.T may have streamlined the business process it has also created job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. this means all the middle class jobs have been gotten rid of causing more people to loose their jobs 2.lack of job security: industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue since technology keeps on changing everyday. this means that one has to be in a constant learning mode if he or she wishes to keep their job secure. 3.privacy: though I.T has made communication cheaper,faster and more convenient, it has also brought along some privacy issues.(eg. email hacking) people are now worried about their once private information  becoming puplic knowledge.

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay

A Postmodernist View Of International Relations Politics Essay Some scholars argue that alternative approaches to IR theory have not made any significant contributions to the theorization of IR. Moreover, these approaches lead our IR theory into disorder and we are left with a lack of direction. However, focusing on Postmodernism, we find it has produced the idea of the power-knowledge relationship to criticize the absolute truth which is proposed by Positivism, and also provides us with different methodologies such as genealogy, text, narrative, discourse, deconstruction and double reading to explain world politics. Besides, Postmodernism has utilized a variety of methods such as deconstruction of text to overcome the theories and concepts that people believe (Der Derian and Shapiro, 1989). In the past international theory has been dominated by four main theories: Realism, Liberalism, Marxism and Constructivism. However, in the last two decades there has been a dramatic change to this picture. A range of new approaches has developed to aid understanding of world politics. In the context of globalization, even Realism seems inadequate to explain issues like the rise of non-state actors, identity politics, transnational social movements and information technology. The new major development is not only underway in the academic discipline of social science but also in the philosophy of social science, in a movement known as Positivism. Thus many alternative ways of thinking about the social sciences have been proposed and since the picture of IR theory has changed a series of alternative approaches has emerged as more relevant to world politics in the twenty first century (Smith S, 2008). Until the late 1980s, most social scientists in International Relations tended to be Positivists. But since then Positivism has been under attack. The assumptions made by Positivism met with dissent as criticism of the IR theories led by Positivism began to emerge (Smith S, 2008). This is the so-called the third debate (Ashley R., 1987; 1990; Walker R. B. J., 1993). It can also be called the Positivism and Post-Positivism debate (Lapid Y., 1989; Jim G., 1990; Smith S., 1995).. The dissent from Positivism prominently contains Feminism, Critical theory, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism. Their common idea is that they all see the world as something external to the IR theory (Smith S., 2008).Postmodernism is the term used by sociologists and others to describe a way of thinking that has become pervasive in the Western world in the last twenty-five years. It is an approach to reality that is having a significant effect on architecture, art, education, law, literature, psychotherapy, science, theatre, and the study of history and peoples view of religion (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.). It reached IR theory in the mid-1980s, but can only be said to have really arrived in the past fifteen years (Smith S., 2008).The term Postmodernism first entered the philosophical lexicon in 1979, with the publication of The Postmodern Condition by Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard (Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, 2005). Other significant writers who have promoted Postmodernism are De Man, Elshtain, Geoffrey Hartman, Harold Bloom, Michel Foucault, J. Hillis Miller, Jacques Derrida, Habermas, Richard Rorty and Rob Walker. Postmodernists who have made important contributions to IR theory are Richard Ashley, James Der Derian, David Campbell and William Connolly. Its origins are found in the philosophies of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Marx and Freud (Exploring Christianity-Truth, n.d.; Smith S., 2008). As cited in Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy (2005), That Postmodernism is indefinable is a truism. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning. Until today there is no fit definition for the Postmodernism because it appears to be so open a theory that not even its advocates can agree upon how to define it (Geuras D., 2002). Some define Postmodernism as distrustful of all authority and dogmatism. Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard defined it as incredulity towards metanarratives and essentialism (1984: xxiv). The following paragraphs will discuss the significant contributions that Postmodernism brings to IR theory and use the methods that Postmodernists provide to deconstruct the Iraq war. 1. Power-Knowledge relationship and the non-existence of absolute truth Postmodernists emphasized the power-knowledge relationship and criticized the notion dominant in rationalist theories and Positivism that knowledge is irrelevant to the working of power; they also opposed the existence of absolute truth. From the rationalists and Positivists perspective, knowledge is not related to power and truth exists. However, Michel Foucault (1977, 1978, 1984, and 1994) totally disagreed with this idea and argued that power in fact produces knowledge. There is a well-known saying from Foucault that All power requires knowledge and all knowledge relies on and reinforces existing power relations. Thus, no truth exists outside power. To paraphrase Foucaults idea, Smith (2008) provided another saying, how can history have a truth if truth has a history? Whilst Marxism, -Sandpoint feminism Critical theory and Freudian psychoanalysis all support the existence of some fundamental truth about the world, Postmodernism still quarrels with direct access to truth. This aspect is stated most clearly by Stanley Grenz (1995) in a Primer on Postmodernism: Postmodernism affirms that whatever we accept as truth and even the way we envision truth are dependent on the community in which we participate . . . There is no absolute truth: rather truth is relative to the community in which we participate (summarized in Dean G., 2002). The Postmodernists use Foucaults approach which is known as genealogy to register and expose the significance of history in the light of this relationship between power and knowledge. Genealogy helps us to realize the process whereby the origins and regimes of truth edge out other discourse and are constructed into the so-called truth. Postmodernism focuses on how fragmental facts dominate others in very concrete ways (see, for example, Edwards P. 1996; Devetak R., 1996, pp.184-188). Postmodernists apply the genealogy approach to doubt the unity and certainty of national identity and explain how the existing appearance of unity and certainty is not natural but artificially constructed (Huang C. C., 2009: pp.138). Richard Devetak (1996) has mentioned that different configurations of power and knowledge give rise to different conceptions of sovereignty, statehood and intervention. Postmodernists always focus on counter-histories, seldom portray the impossible-to-get-to truth, but emphasize the existence of multi-histories, not just the one grand-history (cited in Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Take the ongoing war in Iraq for example; it could be an interesting field of study for Postmodernists to think about its shifting justifications. The US administrations purpose in making war upon Iraq has shifted from Iraqs disarmament to the spread of democracy. Public support from US citizens is essential throughout the ongoing war in the aftermath of 9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan and the Philippines), and it is reasonable to explain that the power-knowledge relationship contributes to the absence of outcry from US people. People have no means to access what they do not know about (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). 2. Divergent methodologies on analyzing text In addition to elaborating the power-knowledge relationship, Postmodernists are also concerned with the textual interplay behind power politics (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b; Derrida J., 1976). They believe that the world needs to be understood as a text, and all references to it are interpretative. Postmodernists claim that the best explanation for the text does not exist because the world is plural and explanations must be plural (Luo Li, 2009). All the interpretations of the world are meaningful and equal thus they use many ways to realize the world, and Postmodernists use techniques such as deconstruction and double reading in explaining the text (world) (Smith S., 2001: 240). 2.1 Deconstruction Postmodernists suggest deconstruction as a method of showing how all discourses and theories depend on artificial stabilities produced by means of seemingly objective and natural oppositions as well as a way to help us realize that there is not only one but always more than one truth behind an event (Smith S., 2008). A good summary of postmodern thinking is given by Os Guinness in Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Where modernism was a manifesto of human self-confidence and self-congratulation, Postmodernism is a confession of modesty, if not despair. There is no truth, only truths. There are no principles, only preferences. There is no grand reason, only reasons. There is no privileged civilization, only a multiple of cultures, beliefs, periods, and styles. There is no grand narrative of human progress, only countless stories of where people and their cultures are now. There is no simple reality or any grand objectivity of universal, detached knowledge, only a ceaseless representation of everything in terms of everything else. In sum, Postmodernismis an extreme form of Relativism. (Cited in Exploring Christianity) People always accept language or concepts constructed with the concept of binary opposition (such as black/ white, public/ private, right/ wrong, male/ female, homosexuality/ heterosexuality) as a matter of course. Constructivists make one of the binary privileged over the other by means of degrading the latter one. For example, in order to diminish white, Constructivists enhance the value of black (Luo Li, 2009). This concept is commonly used in contemporary political systems. When a dominant authority intends to intensify the reliability of a certain interpretation with respect to an event, it puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation.Jacques Derrida, a French Postmodern philosopher, originated the idea of deconstruction (Cky J. Carrigan, 1996). He himself found it difficult to explain the concept, and perhaps the clearest and most succinct definition comes from The Gale Cengage glossary: A method of literary criticismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦characterized by multiple conflicting interpretations of a given work. Deconstructionists consider the impact of the language of a work and suggest that the true meaning of the work is not necessarily the meaning that the author intended. Whilst the approach has been widely criticized and indeed ridiculed, for example by Anthony J. Fejfar (2006a, 2006b), it is an important tool in understanding what a text may be hiding. What Postmodernists try to do is to use deconstruction approaches to seek the truths behind an event that have been forgotten or deleted, and to explore the idea that a text is not a discrete whole but includes several irreconcilable and contradictory meanings; there is always more than one interpretation behind an event. Through the process of deconstruction, several explanations for the first occurrence of war in Iraq are revealed. From the standpoint of the Iraqi government, it was a matter of getting back their territory. For the elite members of an Iraq army group, it seemed a good opportunity for praiseworthy achievement. From an Iraqi generals perspective, it was a good opportunity for promotion. On the other hand, the women of Baghdad who suffered and became homeless may have attributed the terrible war to their fate or to America or may have seen it as a punishment from Allah. English and Egyptian soldiers may have seen different truths behind the war. American Ex President G.H.W. Bush claimed that the purpose of the Gulf war was to prevent the emergence of a dictator like Hitler in Middle East area (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). The deconstruction approach can be used again to seek out more than one truth about the Second Gulf War in 2003. On 5th of February, 2003 United States Secretary of State, Colin Luther Powell proclaimed that the declaration of war was because of Iraqs possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction. The American government claimed that they were going to destroy the connection between Saddam Husseins Government and Al Qaida terrorists. American Ex President George Bush claimed that the war was inevitable in order to turn Iraq into a democratic nation. Some scholars argued that America intended to plunder Iraqs large oil reserves (Cited in Chui A.T., n.d.). The American administration tends to exclude many other possible interpretations of an event by only presenting the most favorable one with the assistance of the media (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). While G. Bush refers to good and evil and frames the world in such terms, techniques as used during the Cold war, Postmodernists argue that neither term is pure or complete, but only becomes so in contrast to the other (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Behind any event there is always more than one truth, as with the Gulf War and the 9/11 terrorism attacks on the New York Trade Centre: the reason broadcast to the world by the American administration was not the only one. The American government tends to intensify the reliability of certain interpretations with respect to these two events, and puts down the other possible but contrary interpretation. There are still lots of truths behind these wars that have not been exposed; Postmodernists try to use deconstruction to excavate truths (Nicholson M., 1998; Yuen H.L., 2006). 2.2 Double Reading Double reading is the other means used by Postmodernists to read a text more deeply and realize how there is always more than one reading. After the 1980s, Postmodernists started to use this method to analyze aspects of world politics like the anarchy problematique of dominant IR theory (Ashley R., 1988) and to explain international events such as the Kosovo War, the Gulf War or Nazi issues. Double reading and deconstruction are both methodologies used by Postmodernists to focus on texts and help us to realize that there is no absolute truth. These two ways of elaborating texts are both from Derrida. Derrida used this technique to show how these stabilizations operate by subjecting the text to two readings. The first time of the reading is only a repetition of the dominant concept and text and shows how it achieves its coherence (Smith S., 2008). The second time of reading is trying to read the text deeper and find the obvious contradictions from the first reading. All ideas in the text via the first reading seem natural stabilization; however, utilizing the second reading can help scholars to find some differences. From the double reading approach, people can realize that this way of reading the same text can reveal not only one seemingly natural idea but also can explore the other, contradictory ones. Double reading is a useful, Postmodernist tool to illustrate the shortcomings of the dominant analytical languages. For example, the anarchy problematique- no existence of central government or hegemonic nation in the world- rests on a series of questionable, theoretical suppositions or exclusions, and sovereignty and anarchy are mutually exclusive concepts, which have to be deconstructed (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B. , 2005b). In International Relation Theory, Richard Ashley has performed exactly such a double reading of the concept of anarchy(on the state-level). He first provided the reading of anarchy based on traditional IR theories and then went through the second reading which showed that the seemingly natural opposition between anarchy and sovereignty in the first reading is in fact false opposition. Ashley showed that the truth of the traditional assumptions made about anarchy is arbitrary (Smith S., 2008). While the dominating, orthodox analytical languages of the modernist project analyze the war in Iraq in neo-realistic terms, Postmodernism would use double readings to make visible the assumptions underlying such interpretations (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005b). Double reading is a useful tool for analyzing the post-war-war (May 2003 onwards) and illustrating that the reality is not as it is perceived by mainstream media (Pà ¶lling-Vocke B., 2005a). Postmodernists would also focus on analyzing the different interpretations of current affairs in Iraq and other world affairs. Conclusion Post-Positivism movements including Critical theory, Feminism, Post-colonialism, Poststructuralism and Postmodernism (which are so-called alternative approaches of IR theory) emerged as a reaction to the methodology led by Positivists and rationalists. . Some scholars have argued that Postmodernism does not have anything significant to contribute to the theorization of International Relations. Not only that, it also leads IR theory into chaos. However, the supporting evidence presented in this essay suggests that Postmodernism effectively provides many different ways of explaining and understanding systems of world politics. Postmodernism can be described as a challenge to the prevailing modernity project. It focuses on counter-hegemonic-theories and explains how conclusions perceived as rational only work within certain parameters. Postmodernists criticize the statement proposed by Positivism and Rationalism that power and knowledge are irrelevant. They present the Power-Knowledge relationship to let us understand that power in fact produces knowledge and they also propose the idea that there is no existence of absolute truth. From the Postmodernists perspective, there is always more than one truth existing in an event. Postmodernism also teaches us to employ techniques such as deconstruction and double reading to deconstruct texts and re-consider concepts that are seemingly natural and a matter of course. With regard to the war in Iraq, Postmodernists prefer to portray a wide array of descriptions and explanations than providing just one as the truth. With the world understood as a text, it is important that the textual interplay behind power politics is clearly seen and that we realize that all the references to this text are interpretive. Politicians always provide a reason for the war in Iraq such as It is about democracy and freedom or It is about the abundant oil. Postmodernists do not believe in the existence of only one truth behind the war and try to utilize genealogy, deconstruction and double reading to deeply analyze the text and explore the multiplicity of reasons. Although there are so many controversies surrounding the emergence and existence of Postmodernism, it is absolutely wrong and unfair to say that Postmodernism does not bring any significant contribution to our IR theory. During the past 20 years, Postmodernists have provided intelligent methodologies like double reading and deconstruction that may enable us to better analyze contemporary political issues. Obviously, Postmodernism plays an important role in the theorization of IR especially since economic structures, media, political and diplomatic systems have evolved into completely different forms from what they used to be, and they can no longer be easily analyzed by traditional IR theories.

Composed from Westminster Bridge Essay -- Literary Analysis

‘Composed from Westminster Bridge’ invokes a strong sense of nature into the reader. It is from this that we can see the beauty of Wordsworth’s London. One can argue that it is the purpose of this sonnet to highlight the power of nature and how civilization fits in around it. Primarily this can be seen in the linguistic choices of the Sonnet, particularly the role of personification, the function of phonological features such as rhyme and rhythm and the position of secondary sources. Using this methodology we should be able to explore the awe inspired respect of nature and how the city of London meshes with nature. Wordsworth makes heavy use of personification within the Sonnet. These personifications animate the city beyond the literal description we encounter into a more natural affair. ‘This city now doth like a garment wear/ The Beauty of the morning; silent, bare.’ To suggest that the city is wearing a garment implied that it is being covered up or censored. We could take this as a sign that nature hides the sins of civilization in the morning time when the people are still asleep. Further more as nature is being worn by civilization we could infer that Wordsworth only takes on this appreciation of the city due to the effects of nature. To prove this we can look at Wordsworth’s description of London in relation its surroundings. The description of London’s ‘Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples’ in the syndetic list is almost paralleled in the latter line of ‘In his first Splendour valley, rock or hill;’ which is the view of Suckersmith who states that ‘the listed details of the city skyline, 'Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples' find a careful parallel in the features of the natural landscape, 'valley, roc... ...alden:Blackwell Publishing 2006) p.534-535 All subsequent references are to this edition Harvey Peter Sucksmith, ‘Ultimate Affirmation: A Critical Analysis of Wordsworth's Sonnet, 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge', and the Image of the City in 'The Prelude’, The year book of English studies 6 (1976) p. 115 Charles V. Hartung, ‘Wordsworth on Westminster Bridge: Paradox or Harmony?’, College English 4 (1952) p.202 Harvey Peter Sucksmith, ‘Ultimate Affirmation: A Critical Analysis of Wordsworth's Sonnet, 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge', and the Image of the City in 'The Prelude’, The year book of English studies 6 (1976) p. 115 C. V. Wicker, ‘On Wordsworth’s Westminster Bridge Sonnet’, The News Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 9 (1955) pg.4 Carl Woodring, ‘Nature and Art in the Nineteenth Century’, PMLA 92 (1977)pg. 193

Blindness of Prejudice – to Kill a Mockingbird

Everyone forms first impressions about others, but to act upon these early impressions as definite conclusions about other people’s characters is the beginning of the unfavorable trait of prejudice. In Harper Lee’s story, To Kill a Mockingbird, a young girl, Scout grows up in the small, southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where prejudice is heavy. Being a secluded community, rumors fly around rapidly in Maycomb, creating warped and exaggerated stories of the targets of the gossip.Harper Lee demonstrates through the causes and sources of the discrimination that prejudice is derived from appearances as well as influences from other people. Harper Lee uses Jem’s prejudice toward his neighbor, Boo Radley to illustrate that discrimination branches off of other people’s opinions. Scout discovers two pieces of chewing gum in an oak tree on the Radley lot one day, while coming home from school. When her brother, Jem realizes where she obtained her prize, he screams , â€Å"Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the trees over there?You’ll get killed if you do! † (45). Jem’s prejudice toward Boo is based on the rumors, stories, and opinions he has heard from other citizens of Maycomb. Despite the fact that he has never seen, let alone met, their reclusive neighbor, Jem still speaks badly of Boo. He discriminates against Boo because of what he has heard, rather than what he has experienced personally. In addition, Harper Lee reveals through the white jury’s discrimination toward Tom Robinson, a poor, crippled black man, that appearances are a major factor contributing toward prejudice.While sitting in the courtroom, during Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout observes the jury and realizes that â€Å"All [Mr. Ewell] had that made him better than his nearest neighbors was†¦ his skin was white† (229). Race and skin color are huge contributors to prejudice in Maycomb. Black people are co nsidered to be of lesser value than white people. Despite the fact that the Ewells live under terrible conditions and have no manners or morals, they still manage to receive much more respect than any black person would warrant. Similarly, Lee demonstrates racism based on first impressions through Lula’s ignorant ideas of Jem and Scout.Calpurnia, their black maid, decides to bring Jem and Scout to the black church one day, where they are met by Lula, a black woman, who angrily declares, â€Å"You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n† (158). Lula’s views of white people are similar to the views white people have of black people. She is discriminating against Jem and Scout due to their appearances and skin color. Her ignorance creates a rift right away between her and the two children before she allows herself to know them better personally.By emphasizing the reasoning of those who are prejudiced toward others, Harper Lee ultimately reveals that prejudice is motivated by not only appearances but also opinions absorbed from other people. Throughout the novel, there was not a single circumstance where a person discriminated against another because of what they had seen or experienced. All cases of injustice were derived from at least one of many things: first impressions, physical features, rumors, etc. Lee’s morals leave a lasting impact on the readers. Prejudice will only end when people stop themselves from acting upon their pre-formed ideas of others.

Expert Review The Official ACT Prep Guide

Expert Review The Official ACT Prep Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Looking for official ACT practice? The Official ACT Prep Guide is a great resource. In this article, I'll provide a review of the current Official ACT Prep Guide, including positives and negatives of the new guide, how it differs from The Real ACT Prep Guide (3rd Edition), and whether or not you should buy it to help you through the study process. What’s in The Official ACT Prep Guide? The book is organized into five parts, which each are further divided into smaller chapters. The five parts of the book are: Part One: Getting Acquainted with the ACT Test (general study strategies and test-taking tips, explanation of the format and what’s covered on the test) Part Two: Taking and Evaluating Your First Practice Test (diagnostic practice test along with an explanation of how to use your results to identify weak areas) Part Three: Improving Your Score (test-taking strategies for each section of the exam) Part Four: Taking Additional Practice Tests (two additional practice tests for you to take after you’ve evaluated your mistakes and done more prep) Part Five: Moving Forward to Test Day (shows you how to sign up for the test and what to expect on test day) There are five full practice tests included in this guide, counting the initial practice test that you'll use to diagnose your mistakes in part two. The online bonus content includes 400 extra official ACT practice questions (100 each for English, Math, Reading, and Science). In the next section, I'll go through my full review of the book with extensive details on its strengths and weaknesses. The Official ACT Prep Guide Review There are many reasons to like or dislike this version of the Red Book. I'll start with the positive attributes of the guide and move onto its not-so-awesome qualities. Pros Smart Overall Structure The order of the chapters in the book corresponds to when you should take each step in the review and testing process. This book understands that the best way to guarantee improvement over time is to take a practice test, evaluate your mistakes, study the content that's relevant to your mistakes, and take another practice test to see if you’ve improved. You'll learn exactly how to begin studying and which steps you should take along the way to make sure you’re improving. Good Advice on Scores and What They Mean The guide walks you through scoring your practice tests accurately, and it gives you a table of percentiles so you can see how your scores compare to those of other students. It also does a good job of explaining how to judge your scores based on where you plan on applying to college and how much you improve from test to test. Learning to set appropriate goals is a huge aspect of studying for standardized tests that can be overlooked in some prep books. Abundant Test-Taking Tips There are many test-taking tips for each section of the ACT included in this book. Some tips can seem a bit repetitive (sometimes it seems like they’re just filling up space), but most are solid pieces of advice. For ACT English, helpful tips listed in the book include considering the context of the question before choosing an answer, rereading the sentence using the answer you've selected, exercising caution with two part questions, and paying attention to the writing style. Cons Dull Style This guide is dryly written, with little in the way of images, graphics, or differentiated headings to break up the text. There are sporadic efforts to be more engaging, but it’s definitely not the most student-friendly prep guide. Adding to this, Part 1 has an overview of the test that includes long lists of concepts covered by each section that could be condensed. The book makes the test seem way too intimidating and overwhelming (more on this in the next point). Complicates the Material While it's great that there are abundant test-taking tips included in this book, they aren't always presented in the best way. The tips are a bit hard to digest and use in practice on the test. While question examples are given to show how the tips work in some cases, these examples are not as abundant as they should be. This book falls short specifically in demystifying the science section. The main issue with this section for most students is that it looks super intimidating, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. To overcome this, you need to learn to pick out the most important details and ignore extra information that’s just there to distract you. This guide makes the science section look scarier and more â€Å"sciencey† even though in reality it’s more about reading comprehension than scientific knowledge. Answer Explanations are Lacking Math and science question explanations are laid out in a way that makes them confusing and difficult to think through. Here's an example of what the answer explanations for math questions look like: As you can see, there are rarely any images to guide you in your understanding or even much room for the text to breathe at all. Everything starts to blur together into a mass of unintelligible math-like word goop. If you're already having trouble with the Math section, these sorts of answer explanations probably won't clear things up. The guide also makes some assumptions about how much you know about the content. If you didn't even understand where to begin in answering these math questions, the answer explanations provided aren't too enlightening. It would be helpful if they at least indicated the page in the book where you could find additional details on how to solve these types of problems. Not Enough Guidance on Understanding Mistakes The book tells you how to understand your mistakes, but it could have a more consolidated system to help you go through and diagnose them. An organized chart where you could record your findings would be better than just saying "put a checkmark next to the mistakes you made" and listing potential mistakes for each section. There are also no direct actionables that go along with each type of mistake. The guide doesn’t tell you which page to turn to if you have a certain problem. It would be great to know where to find advice that corresponds to the errors you made in each section. The tips for the Reading section also don’t elaborate on different ways to approach passages, which can be a huge problem for people on that section and should be addressed more comprehensively. It would be a shame to burrow down into your mistakes only to reach a dead end. Should You Get This Guide? You should get this book if you’re new to the ACT. It's a thorough summary of everything you need to know about the most up-to-date version of the test, even if has its imperfections. If you need additional practice materials, you may also choose to buy the 3rd Edition as a supplement (though don't use the old Writing prompts to practice your essays because they’ve changed significantly). Keep in mind that many of the questions from the fourth and fifth practice tests in the 3rd Edition were transferred over to the third practice test in the new edition. The first three tests will be the most useful for practice in that case. You also could decide to get the Official ACT Prep Guide book if you want to practice your essay-writing skills using new prompts that align with the current version of the ACT. There haven't been many official ACT essay prompts publicly released, and if you're struggling with the essay, four extra prompts to practice with could prove extremely valuable. If you're confident about self-guided studying and are just looking for more practice questions, it might be worth getting the new ACT prep book. The addition of the fourth practice test in this addition is valuable, since there aren't that many full, publicly released official ACT practice tests out there. However, there still isn't that much material, and almost all of it is recycled from previous tests. An alternative would be to get the 3rd Edition, which has more original practice materials, and supplement it with free online resources (particularly for ACT Writing). The third practice test in this guide is the rebellious twin of the last two practice tests in the 3rd Edition. It may have changed its hairstyle, but the same DNA is still there. Side note: If anyone had natural eyelashes that were this long, it would be a truly terrifying sight to behold. How to Get the Most Out of The Official ACT Prep Guide The best way to ensure that you're getting the most out of the guide is to go through it in chronological order. First, read the basic tips in chapter two so you can get a handle on the basics of how the test works. Then, take the first practice test and go through your mistakes. Go on to use the content sections of the book and any other resources on hand to study the areas that need the most work. When you feel that you've addressed your mistakes and are confident that your results will reflect your newfound expertise, take a second practice test to see if you've made significant improvements. Note that the most recent version of The ACT Black Book, a resource that we recommend alongside the Official ACT Prep Guide for the best strategic test-taking advice, is tailored to the practice questions in an older version of the guide. The main upshot of this is that there are no answer explanations in the Black Book for questions in the fourth practice test of The Official ACT Prep Guide (since previous additions did not have this test). The tips can still be helpful, but this is something to keep in mind so you aren't confused when you can't match questions to explanations using the newest Black Book and Official ACT Prep Guide editions. What's Next? Not sure what score you should be aiming for on the ACT? Learn how to calculate a target score that makes sense based on your college goals. Did your ACT test date sneak up on you? Check out our 10-day prep plan for advice on how to cram for the ACT and potentially raise your score by four composite points! If you still have quite a bit of time before the test, read this guide on how long you should study for the ACT so you can come up with a solid study schedule. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Free Essays on Third Party

Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator, went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our government, we feel drastic changes need to occur. Review Of The Literature Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: S... Free Essays on Third Party Free Essays on Third Party Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal Balanced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator, went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our government, we feel drastic changes need to occur. Review Of The Literature Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: S...

Master Your Interview Questions with these 3 Savvy Strategies

Master Your Interview Questions with these 3 Savvy Strategies You’ve scored the job interview. Congratulations! Now you have to get the job. You know the drill: get a good night’s sleep, dress smartly, show up on time, shake hands, and be charming and informed. But here are three things you maybe haven’t thought of, strategies that can make all the difference and help you ace your interview.1. Know Before You GoMemorize the job description, make sure you have all the skills required so you can sell yourself precisely for the position. Brush up on the latest news and trends in your field. If there are any holes in your knowledge, plug them up. Learn everything you can about the company and your future coworkers. Go the extra mile and prove your interest and expertise.2. Sell It SweetCraft and hone your elevator pitch; it’s the best way to buttress your resume and cover letter and to put a face and a message to your application. Remember, you have 30 seconds to give your spiel- make it matter. And stay positive. No mat ter what your reasons for looking for a new job, focus on your big dreams and ambitions. Focus on what a difference you can make in that position at that particular company. Your enthusiasm and positive attitude will be contagious.3. No HumblebraggingWhen the interviewer asks you what your biggest weakness is, be honest. Frame it constructively, of course, but don’t just spew out something that you hope will secretly count as an extra strength. There’s plenty of time to brag about your accomplishments. This is the time to be actually humble. Express that you have faced challenges before and are always working constructively to overcome them and learn from your mistakes.Remember, your interviewer wants to know two things: first, that you have the skills and expertise to do the job, and second, that you’d be a good fit in their workplace culture. Show them how easily you fit the bill.

A Biographical Sketch of Arnold Schoenberg Research Paper

A Biographical Sketch of Arnold Schoenberg - Research Paper Example The artist composed music in different styles attracting a mixture of reactions from the audience including students, friends, and other Viennese audiences. Some of his works later contributed to hatred from his musical enemies. The early life and music Arnold Schoenberg was born to a merchant Samuel Schoenberg and Pauline in Vienna, Austria, on September 13, 1874 (ThinkQuest, para.1). Schoenberg was born in a family that had no particular musical history (Rovi Corporation, para.2). His father died in 1890 when he was aged 16 after which he became an apprentice with some bank shortly. As such, he had to learn much of the music styles through self-teaching and reliance on friends. The artist learnt to play violin and began to compose at the early age of eight years (ThinkQuest, para.1). He had shown aptitude for music composition at the early age. He also began to learn and acquire skills from his friends. One of the artists who helped him develop his talents was Oskar Adler, who gave him rudimentary instructions in harmony and counterpoint (Rovi Corporation, para.2). In 1891, Schoenberg joined the orchestra â€Å"Polyhymnia† and met Alexander von Zemlinsky, the conductor of the orchestra; they would be friends throughout their lives (ThinkQuest, para.1). Zemlinsky, who would later be his brother-in-law, taught Schoenberg composition skills. This was the only formal instruction of this nature that the artist received in music. The early works of the artist in this career involved teaching privately and in other institutions and occasionally orchestrating operettas. He was a conductor of the metalworker-choir. Schoenberg got married to Zemlinsky’s sister, Mathilde, in 1901 and he moved with his wife to Berlin. The marriage was shaken at one point whereby Mathilde got married to another artist. They reunited later before her death in 1923. Schoenberg later got married ten months later to another woman, a sister to another artist. Music styles Schoenb erg developed his first original composition, some few piano pieces, at the age of twenty. The early musical compositions by this artist bore the image of the German Romanticism. This was particularly evident in his first composition Verklarte Nacht, Op.4 composed in 1899. This work was romantic and rich in harmony and color making this earlier work to be easy to comprehend and listen to (ThinkQuest, para.7). In the later developments, the artist concentrated in atonal music that did not have the structure of the traditional tonality. This formed the basis of criticism from his detractors. Nonetheless, the style attracted a large faithful following. He became an instructor in music. Some of the active followers would later become his pupils after establishing his private institution. The two most identifiable pupils of the artist are Alban Berg an Anton Webern. The two pupils developed their skills in music and would later match their trainer in style and composition ability. Workin g together, the three musical composers were the corner stones in the development of the atonal and 12-tone music that rocked the music industry in the first half of the twentieth century While in Berlin, Schoenberg was appointed to teach at Stern Academy in Berlin (ThinkQuest, para.3). In 1903, he returned to Vienna and established a private teaching academy. Berg and Webern became his first pupil. Schoenberg received further support from Zemlensky and another friend, Gustav Mahler, towards the real composition of atonal pieces (ThinkQuest) Gustav Mahler was the director of court opera. Schoenberg had now begun to move away from tonality towards atonal composition. He later composed some works and performed in a legendary in

MUTUAL FUND (SLP) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MUTUAL FUND (SLP) - Essay Example This paper will discuss as to which mutual funds to be purchased from the available funds of $95000 and what criteria is used to purchase the same. Mutual Fund Purchase Decision One of the funds to be purchased with the available funds is High Dividend Equity Fund which tracks the performance of Morningstar Dividend Yield Focus Index.1 This fund is a relatively new fund and was launched during March 2011 however; one of the key reasons at to why this fund is picked is its low expense ratio. The overall expense ratio is 0.4% with no acquired fees and expenses. A low expense ratio is one of the key criteria to decide about purchasing a mutual fund though it is not the only criteria. (Barker, 2011). Further, the overall holding of the funs is in sectors which are relatively stable and provide regular dividends. Since its inception, fund has earned a total return of 4.39% whereas index returned 4.52%. 50% of the funds will be used in the purchase of this fund. Another fund to be purchase d with the available funds is the MSCI BRIC Index Fund which tracks this index2.

Orientalism by Edward Said Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Orientalism by Edward Said - Movie Review Example United States, Said had the unique advantage of experiencing different perspectives on the issue of Palestine-Israel conflict as well as broader Arabian politics. His works on the subject of Middle East politics are informed by his first hand experiences at these places, as well as a careful study of preceding scholarship by Western intellectuals. The primary criticism in his book Orientalism, as also seen in the documentary, is directed toward the stereotyped vision of Arabs in Western media and academia. This phenomenon, Said notes, is not something new, for its origins could be dated back to the Napoleonic conquest of Egypt in late eighteenth century. Behind the Western stereotyping of the Orient is the underlying belief that the surveyed geographies and peoples are somewhat backward and unrefined compared to Western civilization. What is also evident is the process of homogenization, whereby the vast mosaic of Oriental culture, language, social norms and religious beliefs are bracketed and abstracted into a unified whole. According to Said, â€Å"Orientalism identifies a range of strategies by which 19th and 20th century scholars, writers and artists imposed their authority on the East. The Orient was represented as a theatrical stage affixed to Europe, a place where jaded aristocrats, earnest second sons and tyrannical explorers could discover timeless truths, or perhaps unimagined erotic delights. Stereotypes of eastern wise men and exotic harems removed the colonial world from history altogether, substituting a timeless realm. Orientals are seen not as people but as problems, subjects, races†. (Burrows, 1999, p.50) But the reality is far from such constructions, as accounts of people who live in different regions of the Orient attest to. And as Said suggests in the documentary film, this set of illusions about the Middle East is not accidental or due to scholarly oversight. Said identifies a subtle difference between the stereotyping of the

Marketing intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Marketing intelligence - Essay Example More and more consumers are shifting their buying patterns and are aligning them with the ethical consumption which caters for the requirements of environment. (Joergens, 2006) As consumers are becoming more ethical in nature, they expect the firms which they deal with to act ethically, too. Showing concern for environment and protecting it are also important ethical issues. (Bezencon and Blili, 2010) New and renewed concern for the environment is translating itself into unique consumer buying decisions. There is a growing trend where consumers also tend to prefer to do their weddings in a manner which supports the environment. The overall market of green weddings is on the rise, as people are showing more concern for the environment and are willing to act as eco-friendly stakeholders. (Grant, 2008) The existing location Manor house and its overall proximity with the nature can really prepare it to cater to the needs of customers who need green weddings. However, in order to know whe ther consumers will be willing to do business with us and utilize our green wedding facilities, it is important to perform a system marketing research and review to understand the trends. ... In order to particularly cater to the needs of customers looking for eco-friendly places to perform their weddings, it is critical to develop cross-selling opportunities so that consumers can get a complete shopping experience. (Askegaard and Bengtsson, 2005) In order to understand the dynamics of the market and to understand consumers’ buying behavior, it is important to perform a market research. In order to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, it is important to perform external and internal analysis of the environment in which this proposed business will operate. External Analysis Political Environment Political environment in UK is stable, with government being supportive of establishing free enterprises. Laws are being made in a manner which is supportive of the firms, with little or no interference from state into the affairs of the firms. There may be no risks of political destabilization which can actually result into significant threats and risks for business. Eco nomic Environment The economy of the UK is experiencing economic downturn and is not experiencing the required level of economic growth. Low economic growth and the depressed future outlook, therefore, are adversely affecting the consumer confidence. Low consumer confidence may result into low consumer buying activity and hence can reduce the demand for new services and products. Consumers prefer to save rather than spend, causing suppression in consumer spending and demand. Social Factors As discussed above, trends are suggesting that society as a whole prefers to conserve the environment and give more credibility to the firms which enhance the environment and protect it. Consumers are becoming more aware of

Should Advertising to Children be Restricted in Any Way Assignment

Should Advertising to Children be Restricted in Any Way - Assignment Example Young children, having a limited capacity to reason, often do not know the best for themselves for which they rely on parents for protection and guidance. More and more advertisements try to attract children to unhealthy habits that give rise to childhood obesity, malnourishment, and sedentary lifestyles. Further, advertising to children also has psychological implications. Psychologists studying the minds of children point out a visible change in the thinking of children as a result of consuming huge amounts of televisions ads. Advertising has caused children to be more materialistic thereby replacing their intrinsic interest towards things they actually like. Hence, the downsides of advertising targeted towards children are visible in children’s unhealthy habits and changes in their attitudes. Given the scope of the issue, efforts can be made on a community level in order to advocate against advertising targeted towards children. In this regard, a coalition with the community and organizations with similar interests can be formed to add more substance to our voice against advertising to children. An alliance can be formed with ‘Action for Healthy Kids’ which is a collective focused towards healthy eating and other health issues faced by children, many of which including obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and undernourishment, are products of unhealthy habits promoted by advertising. ‘Action for Healthy Kids’ operates in every state of the United States including New Jersey which will help find local support for the cause and that which is able to translate into a larger impact. Additionally, a coalition with the New Jersey government’s Division for Consumer Affairs could be built because the division has been involved with similar efforts that s eek to protect consumers related to healthcare issues.

European Union Court of Justice and the National Courts Essay

European Union Court of Justice and the National Courts - Essay Example The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) aims to equally implementation the EU law in all the countries which come under the European Union. Additionally, it is responsible to resolve the legal disagreements primarily between the EU institutions and the government. Organizations operating in the EU region along with the individuals can also make an appeal to the CJEU if they find that their rights are violated by the legal institutions. In order to comprehend the critical nature of hierarchical relationship between CJEU and the national courts of the member states it is important to first analyze the functionality of European Union Court of Justice . CJEU appoints one judge in every EU country who is assisted by different advocate-generals. These advocates are responsible to give their opinions and remarks on the cases and appeals which are made to the court. However, all their activities must be presented in public without any biasness. The group of judge and advocate-gener als is selected for a period of six years . This time period can be extended as per the legal and political circumstances. The selections are usually made by the ruling governments in the EU countries. In order to smooth the activities of the court and to easily resolve huge number of cases, a General Court is made to deal with all the cases of European citizens and organizations. These cases are typically related to the competition law. The dispute between the European Union and its personnel is resolved by the EU Civil Service Tribunal . 3. In broader terms, the CJEU is responsible to deal with the following types of cases4: Appeals related to Preliminary Ruling In this case the national courts requests the European Union Court of Justice to interpret and illustrate an article or any other point related to the EU law. European Union has established national courts in EU countries which are fundamentally in charge of ensuring that the EU Law is implemented in all states. However, a risk of misinterpretation always remains there in such cases. For instance, there are significant chances that the national courts might interpret the EU law in an entirely different way. In order to avoid such situations the EU Law has introduced a preliminary ruling procedure. According to this procedure, the representatives of the national court are now required to ask for the advice of CJEU if in case they are doubtful about certain EU laws and their implementations. The requirement of asking for advice which is also known as ‘pre liminary ruling’ is sometimes mandatory to validate the actions. Deed or failure to accomplish an obligation

Marketing intelligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Marketing intelligence - Essay Example More and more consumers are shifting their buying patterns and are aligning them with the ethical consumption which caters for the requirements of environment. (Joergens, 2006) As consumers are becoming more ethical in nature, they expect the firms which they deal with to act ethically, too. Showing concern for environment and protecting it are also important ethical issues. (Bezencon and Blili, 2010) New and renewed concern for the environment is translating itself into unique consumer buying decisions. There is a growing trend where consumers also tend to prefer to do their weddings in a manner which supports the environment. The overall market of green weddings is on the rise, as people are showing more concern for the environment and are willing to act as eco-friendly stakeholders. (Grant, 2008) The existing location Manor house and its overall proximity with the nature can really prepare it to cater to the needs of customers who need green weddings. However, in order to know whe ther consumers will be willing to do business with us and utilize our green wedding facilities, it is important to perform a system marketing research and review to understand the trends. ... In order to particularly cater to the needs of customers looking for eco-friendly places to perform their weddings, it is critical to develop cross-selling opportunities so that consumers can get a complete shopping experience. (Askegaard and Bengtsson, 2005) In order to understand the dynamics of the market and to understand consumers’ buying behavior, it is important to perform a market research. In order to develop a comprehensive marketing plan, it is important to perform external and internal analysis of the environment in which this proposed business will operate. External Analysis Political Environment Political environment in UK is stable, with government being supportive of establishing free enterprises. Laws are being made in a manner which is supportive of the firms, with little or no interference from state into the affairs of the firms. There may be no risks of political destabilization which can actually result into significant threats and risks for business. Eco nomic Environment The economy of the UK is experiencing economic downturn and is not experiencing the required level of economic growth. Low economic growth and the depressed future outlook, therefore, are adversely affecting the consumer confidence. Low consumer confidence may result into low consumer buying activity and hence can reduce the demand for new services and products. Consumers prefer to save rather than spend, causing suppression in consumer spending and demand. Social Factors As discussed above, trends are suggesting that society as a whole prefers to conserve the environment and give more credibility to the firms which enhance the environment and protect it. Consumers are becoming more aware of

European Union Court of Justice and the National Courts Essay

European Union Court of Justice and the National Courts - Essay Example The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) aims to equally implementation the EU law in all the countries which come under the European Union. Additionally, it is responsible to resolve the legal disagreements primarily between the EU institutions and the government. Organizations operating in the EU region along with the individuals can also make an appeal to the CJEU if they find that their rights are violated by the legal institutions. In order to comprehend the critical nature of hierarchical relationship between CJEU and the national courts of the member states it is important to first analyze the functionality of European Union Court of Justice . CJEU appoints one judge in every EU country who is assisted by different advocate-generals. These advocates are responsible to give their opinions and remarks on the cases and appeals which are made to the court. However, all their activities must be presented in public without any biasness. The group of judge and advocate-gener als is selected for a period of six years . This time period can be extended as per the legal and political circumstances. The selections are usually made by the ruling governments in the EU countries. In order to smooth the activities of the court and to easily resolve huge number of cases, a General Court is made to deal with all the cases of European citizens and organizations. These cases are typically related to the competition law. The dispute between the European Union and its personnel is resolved by the EU Civil Service Tribunal . 3. In broader terms, the CJEU is responsible to deal with the following types of cases4: Appeals related to Preliminary Ruling In this case the national courts requests the European Union Court of Justice to interpret and illustrate an article or any other point related to the EU law. European Union has established national courts in EU countries which are fundamentally in charge of ensuring that the EU Law is implemented in all states. However, a risk of misinterpretation always remains there in such cases. For instance, there are significant chances that the national courts might interpret the EU law in an entirely different way. In order to avoid such situations the EU Law has introduced a preliminary ruling procedure. According to this procedure, the representatives of the national court are now required to ask for the advice of CJEU if in case they are doubtful about certain EU laws and their implementations. The requirement of asking for advice which is also known as ‘pre liminary ruling’ is sometimes mandatory to validate the actions. Deed or failure to accomplish an obligation

Paul’s Missionary Journey Essay Example for Free

Paul’s Missionary Journey Essay The Apostle Paul was the great leader in the momentous transition which characterized the apostolic age, the transition from a prevailingly Jewish to a prevailingly gentile Christianity. Under his guidance Christianity was saved from atrophy and death, which threatened it if it remained confined in Palestine. At the same time, by reason of his insight into the truth of the Gospel and fidelity to it, as well as by his devotion to the Old Testament and loyalty to the highest Jewish ideals in which he had been reared, he saved Christianity from the moral and religious degeneracy to which it would surely have been brought if it had broken with its past, and had tried to stand alone and helpless amid the whirl of Greek religious movements of the first and second Christian centuries. In Paul a great force of onward movement and a profound and conscious radicalism were combined with fundamentally conservative principles. Paul appears to have been born at not far from the same time as Jesus Christ. According to Acts, Paul was born in Tarsus (Acts 9:11; etc. ), received the double name Saul/Paul (13:9), and through his family possessed Tarsian and Roman citizenship (22:25-29 (Murphy-OConnor 32-33). Overall, Paul can be described as an able and thoroughly trained Jew, who had gained from his residence in a Greek city that degree of Greek education which complete familiarity with the Greek language and the habitual use of the Greek translation of the Scriptures could bring. At bottom he ever remained the Jew, in his feelings, his background of ideas, and his mode of thought, but he knew how to make tolerably intelligible to Greek readers the truths in which, as lie came to believe, lay the satisfaction of their deepest needs. At Jerusalem Paul entered ardently into the pursuit of the Pharisaic ideal of complete conformity in every particular to the Law. He was, he tells us, found blameless (to every eye but that of his own conscience), and, he says, I advanced in the Jews religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. With fiery passion he entered into the persecution of the Christian sect, was present and took a kind of part at the murder of Stephen, and undertook to carry on the work of suppression outside of Palestine at Damascus, whither he journeyed for this purpose with letters of introduction from the authorities at Jerusalem (Murphy-OConnor 52-57). At this time took place his conversion. That he was converted, and at or near Damascus, his own words leave no doubt. I persecuted, he says in writing to the Galatians, the Church of God. . . But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me, even from my mothers womb, and called me through his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me: but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned unto Damascus (Gal i. 13-17). The change evidently presented itself to Pauls mind as a direct divine interposition in his life. It came to him in a revelation of Jesus Christ, whereby (and through no human intermediary) he received the Gospel which he preached, and the commission to be an apostle. He refers to it as to a single event and an absolute change of direction, not a gradual process and development; the two parts of his life stood sharply contrasted, he did not conceive that he had slid by imperceptible stages from one to the other. What things [i. e. his advantages of birth and Jewish attainment] were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ . . . or whom I suffered — as if in a single moment —the loss of all things (Phil. iii. 7. 8). From Pauls own words, then, we know that he was converted from a persecutor to a Christian, at a definite time and at or near Damascus, by what he considered to be the direct interposition of God; and it seems to be this experience of which he thought as a vision of the risen Christ (Hubbard 176-77). After Pauls conversion, which took place in the latter part of the reign of Tiberius (14-37 a. d. ), about fifteen years passed before the missionary career began of which we have knowledge from Acts and from Pauls own epistles. During this time Paul was first in Arabia, that is in some part of the empire of which Damascus was the most famous city, then in Damascus, and later, after a brief visit to Jerusalem, in Cilicia, doubtless at his old home Tarsus. In this period we may suppose that he was adjusting his whole system of thought to the new centre which had established itself in his mind, the Messiahship of Jesus. With the new basis in mind every part of his intellectual world must have been thought through. Especially, we may believe, will he have studied the relation of Christian faith to the old dispensation and to the ideas of the prophets. The fruit of these years we have in the matured thought of the epistles. They show a steadiness of view and a readiness of resource in the use of the Old Testament, which testify to through work in the time of preparation. Epistles written years apart, like Galatians, Romans and Philippians, surprise us by their uniformity of thought and unstrained similarity of language, in spite of the richness and vivacity of Pauls thought and style. So, for the most part, the characteristic ideas even of Epliesians and Colossians are found suggested in germ in Corinthians and the earlier epistles. Pauls epistles represent the literary flowering of a mind prepared by years of study and reflection (Murphy-OConnor 90-95). At Pauls missionary journey and the beginning then made of churches in Asia Minor we have already looked in a previous chapter. After his return to Antioch followed that great and pivotal occasion of early Christian history, the so-called Council, or Conference, at Jerusalem, described in the fifteenth chapter of Acts and by Paul in the second chapter of Galatians. At that time Paul established his right to carry on the work of Christian missions in accordance with his own principles and his own understanding of the Christian religion. His relation with the Twelve Apostles seems then and at all times to have been cordial. His difficulties came from others in the Jewish Church. To this we know of only one exception, apparently somewhat later than the Conference, the occasion at Antioch when Peter under pressure from Jerusalem withdrew from fellowship with the gentile brethren, and called out from Paul the severe rebuke of which we read in Galatians. There is reason to believe that the rebuke accomplished its purpose. At any rate, at a later time there is no evidence of a continued breach. The idea of missionary travel had evidently taken possession of Paul, for after returning from Jerusalem to Antioch he soon started out again, and was incessantly occupied with missionary work from now until the moment of his arrest at Jerusalem. Leaving Antioch on his second journey he and his companions hurried across Asia Minor, stopping only, it would appear, to revisit and inspect churches previously established. They were led by the Holy Spirit, as the writer of Acts believed, to direct their course westward as rapidly as possible to Greece, which was to be the next stage in the path to the capital of the world. In Macedonia and Achaia Paul and his companions worked with varying success at Philippi, Thessalonica, Ber? a, Athens, Corinth. At Corinth, the chief commercial city of Greece, the Christians arrived in the late autumn. The work opened well, and Paul remained at that important centre until a year from the following spring. The date of his arrival cannot be exactly determined, but is probably one of the five years between 49 and 53 a. d. While at Corinth he wrote the First and (if it is genuine) the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians. Somewhere about this time, perhaps before leaving Antioch for this journey, the Epistle to the Galatians was written. The churches of Galatia, to which it is addressed, were probably the churches known to us in Acts as Pisithan Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. After a flying trip to Syria and perhaps to Jerusalem Paul returned to Ephesus in Asia Minor, where he settled down for a stay of three years. A few incidents of this period have been recorded in the Book of Acts, and are among the most striking and realistic that we have. They include a remarkable number of points of contact with facts known to us from archeological discoveries, and in no chapters of Acts is our confidence more fully reassured in the contemporary knowledge and the trustworthiness of the writer of the book. While at Ephesus Paul had much communication with Corinth, and wrote I Corinthians, which had clearly been preceded by another letter. There are indications in II Corinthians that after this he found the difficulties in the church at Corinth such that he wrote them at least one letter which has been lost, and made a short, and in its outcome exceedingly painful, trip to Corinth and back to Ephesus. Finally he was impelled by danger to his life to leave Ephesus, and went through Macedonia to Corinth. On the way he wrote, to prepare for his own presence, the epistle we call II Corinthians. Arriving at Corinth in the early winter he stayed until spring. His literary impulse continued active, and to this winter we owe the Epistle to the Romans. Earlier letters had been called out by special need in one or another church; in Romans Paul comes nearer to a systematic exposition of his theology than in any of his earlier writings. He knew the importance that would surely belong to the Christian Church of Rome. He had made up his mind to go there. But first he must go to Jerusalem, and there were dangers both from the risks of travel and from hostile men. Of each hind his life had had many examples. Accordingly he provided for the Roman Christians a clear statement of his main position, together with a reply to several of the chief objections brought against it, notably the allegations that his presentation of Christianity involves the abrogation of Gods promises to his chosen people, and that it opened the way to moral laxity. This letter Paul sent as an earnest of his own visit to Rome. He had been for a year or more supervising the collection by the churches of Asia Minor and Europe of a contribution for the poor Christians at Jerusalem; the gentile churches should thus make a repayment in carnal things to those who had made them to be partakers of their spiritual things. This contribution was now ready, and Paul himself with a group of representatives of the chief churches took ship at Philippi and Troas for Jerusalem. The voyage is narrated in detail in Acts, evidently by one who was a member of the company. At last Paul reached Jerusalem, and was well received by the church; but, followed as he was by the hatred of Jews from the Dispersion who had recognized the menace to the Jewish religion proceeding from the new sect, he was set upon by a mob, rescued only by being taken in custody by the Roman authorities, and after a series of exciting adventures which will be found admirably told in the Book of Acts, was brought to C`sarea. There he stayed a prisoner for two years and more until on the occasion of a change of Roman Governor his case was brought up for trial, when he exercised the right of a Roman citizen to appeal from the jurisdiction of the Governor to that of the imperial court at Rome. It was late autumn, but he was dispatched with a companion whom we may well believe to be Luke the beloved physician, and from whom our account certainly comes. The narrative of Pauls voyage and shipwreck, of the winter on the island of Malta, and the final arrival at Rome early in one of the years between 58 and 62 a. d. is familiar. It is the most important document that antiquity has left us for an understanding of the mode of working an ancient ship, while the picture which it gives of Paul as a practical man is a delightful supplement to our other knowledge of him(Murphy-OConnor 324). In Rome, while under guard awaiting trial, Paul probably wrote Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and the circular letter, seemingly intended for churches in Asia Minor, known to us as Ephesians. They show some new development of ideas long present with him, and some new thoughts to which his other writings give no parallel, and the style of some of them has changed a bit from the freshness of Galatians and Romans; but these are not sufficient reasons for denying that Paul wrote the letters. They are, indeed, as it seems to me, beyond reasonable doubt genuine. The Book of Acts ends with the words, And he [Paul] abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him. This period of two years is sufficient to include the composition of the four epistles to which reference has just been made, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and Epliesians, the so-called Epistles of the Captivity. What happened at the expiration of the period? Apparently Pauls case, long postponed, then came to trial. Did it result in his release or his execution? The evidence is meager and conflicting, and opinions differ. It is perhaps a little more likely that he was released, and entered on further missionary work, probably carrying out his original purpose of pushing on with the proclamation of his Gospel to the west, and establishing it in Spain; but of this period there is no narrative. If after two years Pauls imprisonment at Rome ended with his release, as the absence of well-founded charges against him would lead us to expect, he must have been later again apprehended, probably in connection with the persecution artfully turned against the Christians at the time of Neros fire in July of the year 64. It is probable that he was beheaded, to which privilege his Roman citizenship entitled him, and that he was ultimately buried on the Ostian Way at the spot where now stands the splendid basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.

Intrusion Detection System Case Study

Intrusion Detection System Case Study Abstract Intrusion Detection system (IDS) has become powerful to provide security against the attack. It will help us to identify the deterring and deflecting malicious attacks over the network [1]. To remove all these problem regarding to security has been removed by this paper. In this paper we will go through the theoretical basis for intrusion detection. A distributed intrusion detection system based on agents and on multi agents based distributed intrusion detection also discussed in this paper. Some string matching algorithm are also used for the intrusion detection system. Keywords Distributed Intrusion Detection System; Agents; Multi Agents. 1. Introduction In the introduction of this paper, we are concerning the string matching algorithm in intrusion detection algorithm. In further we will see how to use the algorithm in IDS. String matching algorithm provides the solution to the problem of Intrusion detection. This algorithm will help us to detect the suspicious attack. Bad Character Heuristics The bad character heuristics [2] is very similar to the Boyer Moore string algorithm before. In this algorithm the string is divided into n number of character. Then the message is to be checked to remove the malicious attacks. In this algorithm it will check the first character of a string which is to be entered in a message. If that string is to be considered wrong that means there is some attack and the whole message is not to be considered whether it is right. The problem regarding to this is that it can easily hide the default part in the strings. Aho-Corasick:-Aho-corasick Algorithm is also used to remove the limitation of pervious algorithm. In this algorithm Aho-Corasick [2] make a algorithm as a tree structure. In this there is current node such as a message which to be checked, then if there is a matching node found in the testing than for that other node is to be made. Then after that if any other current node is being tested and if any problem is matched to the present node then the other string is to be tested. SFK Search In SFK search algorithm [2] in this there is a sibling node or the text cases are being present in the form of sibling. So that the current node is being tested by the sibling node ,then at that point the detection is being found ,then it will be added to the sibling node. Otherwise the next node will be tested. By using this algorithm we can find an efficient result. Wu-Manber This algorithm was developed by Wu-Manber [2] in this the limitation of bad character heuristics algorithm is being removed. In this algorithm the shift and hash two table are made to make the detection easy. In this there is character set in the shift table then it will be c be checked in the first table if the defect is found then it is move to the second table. 2. Problem in String Matching Algorithm Some problems are discussed here:- Snort:-Snort uses a set of rules that being derived by a attacks or other defects [2]. The rules are being made by the expert .If the condition is being satisfied then the action is being applied. Snort is a best practices and knowledge of the internet. Snort is a method through which some problem can be removed. In snort there is problem that the use of internet increases, then the definition of snort also increases. In this the use of snort increases so that the database also being very loaded so that there is a complexity in the data base. Due to this the speed of the snort database will decreases. 3. Agent Based Intrusion Detection System To use agent in the intrusion detection system there are some problem which we discussed here:- a) Real time of the intrusion detection and response is not so good [3]. b) If we make the centralized database and all the collective information is sent to that host then there should be overloading [3]. C) If some new hosts are added in the centralized database then the load increases [3]. d) Flexibility of system is not so good. e) Lack of co-operation between different intrusion detection system. To remove this problem there is agent based intrusion detection system used. 1. Agent-Agent is a self-adaptable. Intelligent and collaborative. In this the one is agent interact with the other agent. There are two type of agent: (a)Static agent:-static agent is proposed by the agent technology. In this which platform is being made it is being final, no changes should be made [3]. (b)Mobile agent:- It is capable to move from one node to another network [3] . 3.Working of Distributed Intrusion Detection Based On Agent:- Some merits of agent technology in this paper we will discussed the distributed intrusion detection based on agents [3] . Some parts are: Manage agent, Host Agent, Net Agent .Manage Agent include Mobile Agent Dispatcher (MAD), Learn Agent, Update Agent. -Static Agents are Net Agent and Learn Agent. -Mobile Agents are Manage Agent and Update Agent. In this the data will first checked by the Host Agent and Net Agent. They will detect the suspicious activity found in the data. Then it will send to the manage agent it will check the list in Mobile Agent Dispatcher which attack the host list and the Manage agent move to all the agent to find the similar attack. If mobile agent and and other agent found the threat then it will sent and inform to the Learn Agent which have the learning ability and Learning agent will update to the VHL. So the database is update and checks the other threat. Figure 1, Architecture of Distributed IDS Based on Agents [3]. 4. Distributed Intrusion Detection System On multi-agent In Distributed intrusion detection system only one agent is used to detect the suspicious attack. But the multi-agent it will helpful to find the suspicious attack [4]. (a)Problem:-Some problems are in multi-agent Distributed Intrusion Detection System [4] :- 1) Intrusion Detection cant test entire packet. 2) Signature Database update is not be done timely. 3) It is a single detection. 4) IT cannot interoperate the Intrusion Detection. 5) Intrusion Detection System and other network security cannot be interoperating. (b) Advantages:-some advantages are of Multi-agent are: 1. Intrusion Detection System based on multi-agent technology has a good independent, flexible, scalability [4]. 2. It will use top-down control mechanism which will work to prevent the damage [4]. 3. Each agent can inspect the system to ensure its safety. If it will lose the function, it will send its first message to the upper and then upper will restore the work[4]. 4. Agent analysis application software to protect a number of applications. Use the integrity analysis technology to make detection accurate [4]. (C) Working:- In this Multi-agent based IDS can monitor a analysis network and provide the accurate detection with improve speed. In this there is data collection agent which is configured according to network rate, data encryption etc, parameters. There is a data analysis agent which is based on expert system, state analysis and attacking tree analysis, data analysis agent can achieve high detection rate. There is communication agent which is the main part of multi-agent based IDS.IT must be configured to provide reliable security mechanism. There is a also a center agent which handle those condition that are not handled by analysis agent [4]. 5. Conclusion We have study the most common used String Matching Algorithm that are Bad Character heuristics, Aho-corasick, SFK search, WU-manber and also study the Intrusion detection in distributed computing that are based on agent and multi-agents. We have found that multi-agent based intrusion detection system can improve detection accuracy and detection speed and enhance the systems on security. We also found that Distributed Intrusion Detection Based on Agents and Multi Agents is the Reliable and more efficient than other IDS available Today. In future it also has scope for networks. 6. References Zhuowei Li , Theoretical Basis for Intrusion Detection , Amitabha Das, Jianying Zhou ,Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE workshop on Information Assurance and Security US Military Academy, west Point ,NY. Nathan Tuck, Deterministic Memory-Efficient Matching Algorithms for Intrusion Detection , Timothy Sherwood, Brad Calder , George Varghese, IEEE INFOCOM 2004. Jianxiao Liu , A Distributed Intrusion Detection System Based on Agents , Lijuan Li , IEEE Pacific-Asia Workshop on Computational Intelligence and Industrial Application, 2008. Weijian Huang , A Multi-Agent-Based Distributed Intrusion Detection System, Yan An, Wei Du , 3 rd International Conference on Advanced Computer Theory and Engineering (ICATE) 2010.

Leadership Speech :: essays research papers

Many people believe that leadership is simply being the first, biggest or most powerful. Leadership in organizations has a different and more meaningful definition. A leader is someone who sets direction in an effort or task and influences or motivates people to follow that direction. The power point presentation explains leadership is the influence that particular individuals exert on the goal achievement of others in an organizational context. When some think of leadership the idea of the military is taken into account while others use the term to refer to executive management. These are few examples of different types of leaders there are. There are also different roles of leadership such as senior-level executives and middle managers. Motivated leaders who have charisma and high levels of emotional stability will be honest and have integrity in the manner in which they lead. An effective leader must be respected by the members of his or her group in order to perform effectively. Another aspect of leadership includes leadership traits such as being influential and inspirational. There also different contexts of leadership, e.g, leading oneself, leading other individuals, leading groups, leading organizations. Some traits that are often associated with being an effective leader include a measure of intelligence, high energy, self confidence, dominance, and a need for achievement. An effective, charismatic leader must lead by example. That leader must be able to know what is going on, the job or task that is being accomplished, and be able to lead the group into performing the task at hand successfully. There are many different types of theories on leadership. There is Fiedler’s contingency theory, situational theories of leadership and House’s path-goal theory. These theories are used to make an individual or manager a more effective leader. They can be used as a guide for individuals and help them achieve whatever goal is set out by their organization or group. Fiedler’s Theory is stated in the power point presentation as the association between leadership orientation and group effectiveness is contingent on how favorable the situation is for exerting influence. If there is some catastrophe which will befall a group or set of individuals if a task is not complete, then that group will be more effective as they are motivated to complete that task to avert that particular catastrophe. The Situational Theories of leadership explain how leadership style must be tailored to the demands of the task and the qualities of subordinates.

Friction :: essays research papers

Friction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Driving a car could be a scary thing if you don’t know how to handle different situations. You will have a very high risk of getting into an accident. Before getting into a car your should know how to handle it well, be aware of your surroundings and the conditions of your environment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Friction is the resistance to motion between two objects in contact with each other. When the resistance related to the tires on the car against the road, it is called traction. The traction points on your car are where the rubber on your tire touches the road’s surface. There are three main traction purposes: putting your vehicle in motion, stopping your vehicle, and changing the direction of your vehicle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The amount of friction that is made is limited even when all the important factors are good. When you are driving, you should avoid decreasing the available traction. When you are braking in a straight line, you may use all the available traction for braking. If you are braking and steer or, accelerate and steer, you reduce the available traction. As soon as the traction requirement becomes greater than the amount available, your vehicle will start to skid.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several factors, which affect the traction of your vehicle, such as: tires, the road surface, speed, and mechanical condition.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tires are made with grooved surfaces, which are called treads. They are designed to channel water and such through the grooves to keep the rubber in contact with the road. Different patterns of treads are made for different uses and conditions, such as snow tires, or rain tires. There are two basic types of tires: the bias ply and the radial ply design. The bias ply has the plies (layers of cord impregnated with rubber) criss-crossed. This makes the casing strong in all directions; but the plies have a tendency to rub against each other. This conducts heat and tire â€Å"squirm† and the tires wear more rapidly and provide less traction. The radial ply has plies parallel to each other and perpendicular to the tread. Belts usually made of steel are then attached in the same position as the tread, which then gets applied along with the sidewall. The benefit of this is more flexibility. The tread stays in contact with the road producing more traction. Radial ti res also wear more slowly. You should never mix bias and radial tires on your car.

Conventional Shopping vs Online Shopping Essay

On-Line Shopping Vs Traditional Shopping The advent of the Internet has had an impact in our lives in all sorts of ways such as in the manner in which we communicate, flirt, date, and most importantly, how we shop. While even in the recent past the thought of whether some day one would be able to buy an Armani outfit wearing pajamas while looking after the needs of a couple of toddlers would have seemed an outlandish idea, thanks to the increasing sophistication of the technology of the 21st century, practically everything is virtually possible, and shopping from the comfort of one’s home has become a part of most people’s daily lives. When retailing on the web started, sometime in the middle to the late 1990s, it gave rise to the debate which is still ongoing, about online vs. traditional shopping. And even though shopping centres are still being thronged by shoppers, just as they do on the Internet, the question still remains – Whether online shopping will conquer all, or if traditional shopping will survive this increasing onslaught of e-shopping? In order to study this, let’s examine a few pros and cons of online vs. traditional shopping: Advantages of Online Shopping Internet has revolutionized the way we do our Shopping. Because of the numerous Advantages and Benefits of Shopping Online more and more people these days prefer Online Shopping over conventional shopping. Given below are my Top 10 Reasons for Buying Online. 1. Convenience: The convenience of this method of shopping is the best advantage liked by many people. Where else can one do shopping even a midnight wearing his/her night suit? one do not have to wait in a line or wait till the shop assistant is ready to help him/her with purchases. One can do shopping in minutes even if one is busy apart from saving time and avoiding crowds. Online shops give us the opportunity to shop 24 x 7 and also reward us with a ‘no pollution’ shopping. There is no better place to buy information products like e-books. Immediately after the payment is made one can download the information. And downloadable items purchased online eliminate the need for any kind of material goods at all. 2. Better Prices: Another thing which fascinates most customers is the cheap deals and better prices they get from online stores because products come to them direct from the manufacturer or seller without middlemen involved. Many online shops offer discount coupon s and rebates. Apart from this, the Online Store is only required to collect sales tax if they have a physical location in our state even if we buy from a store across the world. 3. Variety: The choices one can get for products are amazing. Read more: Essay About  Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping One can get several brands and products from different sellers at one place. You can get in on the latest international trends without spending money on airfare. When you shop online, you can shop from retailers in other parts of the country or even the world without being limited by geographic area. These stores offer a far greater selection of colors and sizes than you will find locally. Apart from that, How many times have it happened that you spend your money reaching a local shop only to find that the product you need is out of stock? Some online shops have a provision to accept orders without stock and ship it across to you when the stock becomes available. You also have the option of taking your business to another online store where the product is available. 4. Send Gifts: Online Shopping makes sending gifts to relatives and friends easy, no matter where ever they stay. Now there is no need of making distance an excuse for not sending a gift on occasions like Birthday, Weddin g Anniversary, Marriage, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day etc. 5. Fewer Expenses: Many times when we opt for conventional shopping we tend to spend a lot more than the required shopping expenses on things like eating out, traveling, impulsive shopping etc. 6. Comparison of Prices: Online shops make comparison and research of products and prices possible. Online stores also give you the ability to share information and reviews with other shoppers who have firsthand experience with a product or retailer. 7. Crowds: Many customers would like to avoid the crowds when they do the shopping. Especially during Festivals and Special events the crowds can really give a headache. Crowds force us to do a hurried shopping most of the time. Crowds also create a problem when it comes to finding a parking place nearby where you want to shop and going back to your vehicle later loaded with shopping bags. 8. Compulsive Shopping: Many times when we go out on Shopping we end up buying things which we do not require because of the shop keepers up selling skills. Sometimes we even compromise on our choices because of the lack of choices in those shops. 9. Buying Old or unused Stuff at low prices: Online Shops make it possible for us to buy old or unused stuff at rock bottom prices. If we want to buy antiques there is no better options than online stores. 10. Discreet Purchases: Some things are better done in privacy. Online shops are also best for discreet purchases like adult toys, sexy lingerie and so on. Online Shops enable me to purchase under garments and lingerie without the embarrassment that there are several people watching me and my choices. Disadvantages of online shopping The craze of online shopping has picked up quite significantly in the last decade and online sellers are expected to improve their share of purchases for years to come. There is no doubt that one can find great deals online and so many different brands which may not be even available in regular stores, even shopping malls. Despite of all the hype, there are certain disadvantages of online shopping. 1. One Do Not Physically See The Items: Normally when we shop from a regular store, we can see the item and at least visually inspect that it looks fine. You can select a color, size and can even speak to a sales person to clarify doubts regarding an item. The biggest disadvantage of online shopping is we do not physically see the item till it arrives. May be you have seen it in the nearby mall but there is a possibility that the particular piece you have ordered may be defective. Misinterpretation or misunderstanding of items bought online is a common problem. Usually the photo of items y ou see online are much better than once you have the item in front of you 2. Wait For The Items To Arrive: Once one place you order the waiting game starts. One has to wait for a few days for the item to arrive which can be quite frustrating. Most experts believe that we are most excited about your â€Å"buy† in the first few days, so by the time your item arrives you will most likely be less excited then getting the item on same day you made the payment 3. Chances Of Mishandling While Shipping / Delivery Risks: What if the item you are expecting never arrives, you will be lost in a series of phone calls to the seller and the courier company. What if you are not at home during the time of delivery and the courier company leaves the package on your door and a passerby decides to steal it? What if the shipping company broke your stuff and you realize it after opening it when the courier man has already gone away. The seller might claim that you broke it. 4. Shipping Charges: Only a few sites offer free shipping, some others will ship for free only if your total purchase price exceeds a certain amount. Shipping fee is often a big dis couragement for online shoppers. 5. Returning Merchandise: Even if the seller agrees to take back the defective merchandise, you often have to pay the cost of shipping it back. Additionally you have to call and convince the people regarding the reason of your return. Some good sites do have excellent return policy, but not everyone. 6. Online Security: Making payments online is usually safe but not always. There may be sites which are not secure or do not encrypt your personal credit card data, so if a hacker breaks in their system, your personal data can be compromised. 7. Risk Of Online Fraud: Some people pretend selling items at a very cheap price and often send you a low quality, opened or refurbished item, in other cases the site may shut down unexpectedly, leaving lot of customers who might have already paid for the item but did not receive anything. Shopping online can also take you to phishing sites which want to defraud you. 8. Timezone Difference: In countries like USA there are various time zones and the customer service hours of the online shopping site may be different from your time zone, making it difficult for you to get in touch with a human when you need help. 9. Sales Tax: Although an online shopping site may not charge you a sales tax during the purchase, you are legally obliged to pay taxes when you file annual taxes (assuming you live in a taxable state). Most people are able to get by, but in case of a scrutiny not paying sales tax on online purchases may become an issue. 10. A Dull Shopping Experience: Many customers enjoy going to a mall or just the nearby bazaar and enjoy the ambiance and feel more social among other people. Online shopping can be boring for many and make you feel like a loner. 11. Restocking Fee: Most online stores have a restocking fee, specially on electronic items. Items that you buy in a store, can be opened within the store in front of an associate after purchase, and if there is an obvious defect you can return/exchange it without paying a restocking fee which is usually between 10 to 20 percent. 12. Spyware On Your Computer: Having a virus or a spyware is not the sellers fault but there is a risk of your personal data / credit card information, to be stolen right from your own computer. 13. Knowledge Of Operating A Computer: Older people in particular are not comfortable operating computer and they will never purchase online because of the same reason. 14. Deal Hunting Can Be Frustrating: It is common that the price of items are different on different sites. Some people find excitement in finding good deals online while others hate to check various sites to find the best price. Also online shopping can often become addictive. 15. Online Connectivity Issues: You add items in your online shopping cart, enter your credit card information and press â€Å"submit†. What if the confirmation screen times out due to connectivity issues. You do not know if the order went through correctly or not. Many people refresh the screen and little do they know that it may cause double billing / double ordering. 16. One Cannot Buy Low Priced Or Perishable Items On The Web: Small items like pencil, eraser, socks, water bottles etc.. are low priced items and shipping them will likely double the cost. You will always have to depend on regular stores for them. Similarly items like milk, fruits and vegetables are perishable items and cannot be ordered online. 17. One Cannot Buy Items That He/She Need ‘Right Now’: Disadvantage of online shopping includes inability of getting items in your possession quickly. Most good internet sites have taken adequate measures to overcome most of these disadvantages. An intelligent online shopper knows a lot more than a novice. Both regular stores and online shopping have advantages and disadvantages of their own. However, traditional shopping does have certain plus points. Immediate gratification that local brick and mortar shops provide is still liked by many people. If you want something right away, just now, getting it from a retail store is the only option. Seeing and touching a product is also an important factor for many people when they buy things. For example, most people would not buy a piece of expensive jewellery only on the basis of a picture on a website. The chances are slim for the Internet to capture a share of the market of industries which are more suitable for traditional shopping. While consumers can carry out research online for high priced items like properties and cars, people usually want to see the piece of real estate or visit a car showroom and test drive a car before finalizing a deal. A traditional retailer bestows the personalized human contact which is not available on the Internet. Besides, for many people shopping is a source of entertainment, almost a social rite. People like to handle things, especially clothes, feel the texture, and try them on to see how they look in them. For Our Study We took * Myntra was established by Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania and Vineet Saxena in February 2007. Myntra’s headquarter is in Bangalore, with regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. * In 2010, the company shifted its strategy to becoming a B2C (business to customer) oriented firm, expanding its catalogue to fashion and lifestyle products. * Myntra.com is ranked among the top 10 e-commerce companies in India . In the last 3 years, Myntra has become the most popular destination for personalized products in the country. * Products :- * Men, Women, Kids Clothing * It Has About 20,000+ Styles, 350+ Brands and Counting! * It has the largest collection of the latest fashion and lifestyle products in India! * Myntra has tied up with top fashion and lifestyle brands in india, such as nike, reebok, puma, adidas, asics, lee, lotto, decathlon, fifa, john miller, indigo nation etc. * To offer a wide range of current season merchandise from these brands. Myntra currently offers products from more than 200 indian and international brands. These include shoes for running, tennis, football, basketball and fitness, along with casual footwear from world-renowned industry leaders like * There are also casual and dressy footwear for women from catwalk, carlton london and red tape to name a few. * Capabilities * Order processing and delivery: myntra attempts to order and ship every order within 24 hrs.it offers free shipping within india on all products it can ship internationally to all major countries. * Technological: myntra maintains its website which provides the only means by which a customer can make a purchase. * To maintain, upgrade and improve the website and the user experience, myntra employees many computer science engineers and experienced professionals. * Marketing: * Myntra has successfully used social networking websites facebook and twitter to expand its customer base. * Myntra positions itself as a fashionable new age brand. It launches major marketing campaigns every year. In february 2012, myntra rolled out an ooh (out of home) campaign across 2 cities to build brand awareness and promote online shopping. * Myntra has used mostly viral marketing and internet for its popularity coupled with occasional discounts and referral discounts. It can be given a rating of 3/5. * Revenue Model Myntra.com is an aggregator of many brands. Its business model is based on procuring current season merchandise from various brands and making them available on the portal at the same time as in respective retail brand outlets. All these products are offered to customers on mrp. It is a business to customer (b to c) revenue model. * Competitive Advantage * Competitive advantage in any e-commerce business can be due to a cost leadership or product differentiation or both. * In the case of Myntra the competitive advantage is mostly due to cost leadership * In special cases it also enjoys competitive advantage due to product differentiation. In case of IPL t- shirts the buyer can get his/her name imprinted on it. Also Myntra’s business model up till 2009 was of customized t-shirts and mugs etc which allowed it to have product differentiation. Recommendations When buying from online stores make sure to check out the following. * Does the online store value your privacy and confidentiality? Is their privacy policy available to read if you want to see it? * How long have they been in business? Are they reputed in business with great reviews from customers? * Does the online store have a way to contact them? * If you’re unhappy with your purchase, do they have a refund policy? If one take care of the above, Online shopping can be a very rewarding experience. Conclusion We think online shopping is great. We have grown an increase interest in doing most of our shopping online because of its convenience, no rush, and because you view everything in one place. The internet is can be shopping mall! However we think that there are items where traditional shopping has an edge over the online shopping. For example- while buying furniture like sofa, the feel of the sofa is very important. In traditional shopping one can come to the store and sit on the sofas to see if they like them or not. Many people are pickier than others and seeing the furniture online may seem like a good idea to them at first, but then they receive it and it’s a big disaster. Now, add the frustration of exchange/returns on a sofa you’re not happy with spells bigger disaster! we think that’s the only drawback. Other than that, online shopping is fun, convenient way to shop. Our only advice is be safe, be smart and make sure buying is done from a reputable website.