Interview Interview By Veda Dyne Essay - 1881 Words

Introduction For this paper, I have chosen to interview Veda Dyne. I chose to interview her because I have heard about her story from my friends and I wanted to get to know her a little better. Veda just recently openly joined the LBGT+ community. She is different from me because of her sexual orientation, but also her family life. She grew up in a completely different setting than I did, and I found that very interesting. Not only that, she has overcome some very tough situations throughout her life that most 19 year olds have never had to go through. She is a very strong person, and I’m proud to say I got to find out her whole life story. Going into this interview, I thought that she was going to be shy and not want to open up to me about what has been going on with her recently. I tried my hardest to make her feel comfortable letting her know I would never judge her and telling her she can tell me anything and it would be safe. At first I thought Veda was going to be rude, and closed minded about the whole interview as she did not seem interested when I first reached out to her. The whole interview actually went very smooth. She was kind hearted and was not scared or ashamed to tell me anything about her. Veda seemed to have felt very comfortable talking about her past, and her present. She had not had an easy life growing up, her parents divorced right after she was born and she stated that they have hated each other ever since. She has faced many obstacles in her

Lord of the flies literary terms - 2489 Words

Lord of the Flies: Literary Elements Symbolisms Scar: imperfection. The island could be a Utopia, but the scar tells the reader the island is flawed. Conch: order. The conch is used to call the boys to get themselves organized. Its possession: authority. The Individual who holds the shell has the right to speak. Fire: spirit of civilization that must be constantly fed Piggy’s glasses: government and political vision (created the spirit of civilization) Simon’s butterflies: innocence of childhood Title of the novel: (translation of Beelzebub) the latent evil that is within each of us, but is kept in check by reason and social pressure (civilization). In the absence of these controls, barbarism erupts. Pig’s head: stark reality of†¦show more content†¦Explains the fearlessness on the island when the boys loose their identities behind masks. C. â€Å"Piggy and Ralph found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society.† Ralph and Piggy want to be part of â€Å"the tribe.† Need to belong has superseded the spirit of civilization, the need for order. Piggy and Ralph are victims of peer pressure. It is no longer safe to be outside the tribe. It is no longer safe to have individual thoughts; the tribe functions as a single entity. D. â€Å"We tried to keep the fire going, but we couldn’t.† Ralph. The boys were unable to keep the spirit of civilization alive. They allowed the beast to take over. The spirit of civilization is replaced by savagery. The hope of rescue very apparent at the beginning of the novel dies as the fire dies. E. â€Å"Memory of the dance that none of them had attended shook all four boys convulsively.† If Ralph, Piggy, Sam and Eric admit that they were involved in the dance, they will admit they were involved in the murder of Simon. Example of their childish denial of their involvement of savage events. If they admit they were involved, the event becomes very real. {Irony: they remembered something they â€Å"hadn’t done.†} F. â€Å"Fancy thinking the beast was something you could kill.† The pig’s head is speaking to Simon while he is in one of his â€Å"fits.† The head reveals that the beast isn’t a thing or an animal, that it is actually part of the boys. The â€Å"beast† can’t be killedShow MoreRelatedTheme Of Lord Of The Flies And The Guide Essay1407 Words   |  6 PagesMD. Moazzam Hossain ID NO. 133013040 ENG 302 The Novel-1 Submitted to: Ms Arifa Rahaman Date: 09.12.2015 Theme of ‘Lord of The Flies’ and ‘The Guide’ ‘Lord of the flies’(1954) and ‘The guide’(1958) are the two novels written by famous novelists William Golding and R.K. Narayan. ‘Lord of the Flies’ portrays the story of a group of British boys trapped on an abandoned island who try to administrate themselves with catastrophic results and On the other side, R.K. Narayan quite consciouslyRead MoreLord of The Flies Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesLord of the Flies was published in 1954 by William Golding. Today Lord of the Flies is a well known literary criticism. Many schools require their students to read Lord of the Flies because of the literary criticisms in the book. In this paper three themes or literary criticisms are talked about: good vs. evil, symbolism of characters, and maturity of characters. Another topic in Goldings Lord of the Flies is the battle of good vs. evil. Everything seems to start out just fine on the island; theRead MoreSymbols in Lord of the Files by William Golding 779 Words   |  3 PagesIn the long story â€Å"Lord of the Flies† there are several symbols of interpretations in terms of meaning. The beasty that was mentioned a number of times in the novel, â€Å"Lord of the Flies† by William Golding was never really a beast, however it was never really human either (Shmoop). When kids are stranded on an island alone with no adults to look below the bed or look within the closet, there are sure to be ghosts and monsters roaming amongst the forest woods. From the very start this belief of someRead MoreLord of the Flies by William Golding754 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel â€Å"Lord of the Flies† there are several symbols of interpretations in terms of meaning. The beast within the novel, â€Å"Lord of the Flies† by William Go lding was never a monster, however neither was it really human (Shmoop). On a stranded island alone with no adults to look below the bed or look within the closet, there are sure to be ghosts and monsters roaming amongst the forest woods, and from the very start this belief of some monster hiding within the darkness is unfolded around theRead MoreEssay on Lord of the Flies by William Golding954 Words   |  4 PagesGolding explores the vulnerability of society in a way that can be read on many different levels. A less detailed look at the book, Lord of the Flies, is a simple fable about boys stranded on an island. Another way to comprehend the book is as a statement about mans inner savage and reverting to a primitive state without societies boundaries. By examining the Lord of the Flies further, it is revealed that many themes portray Golding’s views, including a religious persecution theme. Golding includes theRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Hobbit 1384 Words   |  6 PagesThe Hobbit Chapters 5-8 Answers Chapter 5: â€Å"Riddles in the Dark† 2. Literary consonance is a literary device where the same consonants are repeated numerous times in short succession. Sibilance is a form of literary consonance made by the flow of air through the sharp edges of the teeth. Phonetic Alphabet symbols representing sibilants are [s], [z], [ÊÆ'], [tÊÆ'], [dÊ’] and [Ê’], which all create hissing noises when spoken. Tolkien effectively provides a thorough demonstration on how an author can playRead MoreReflections on Society in Literary Works865 Words   |  4 PagesIn Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s I Only Came to Use the Phone and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies characters experience dehumanization through isolation from society. While some might believe that Marquez and Golding use the trapped characters’ actions to criticize society, it they are actually doing the opposite. All immoral behavior done by characters in these literary works are done in the absence of society, showing that the authors are actuall y portraying society as the stabilizing element ofRead MoreNotes On Progressions And Regressions 974 Words   |  4 Pagesof the many colloquialisms or in other words informal language usages I had in The Lord of the Flies Literary Analysis essay. Where in the most recent essay I only had minor issues such as grammar and fragments. â€Å"Which the public generally relies in the hands of the government to tell us information and keep us safe.† Having the sentence start with the word which, made it become a fragment. In the Lord of the Flies essay the concluding paragraph was very weak, I did manage to incorporate the openingRead MoreThe Hangmans Horror: Roger, Sadism, and Psychopathy in Lord of the Flies1506 Words   |  7 Pagesmen and first-hand experience with savagery and violence in World War II, William Golding used Lord of the Flies as not only a historical allegory and a pulpit from which to address the darkness in all men, but also as a metaphor and a example that no one is exempt from human nature. Golding’s characters in Lord of the Flies reflect this idea greatly, but none more so than Roger. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding uses the character of Roger to show the follies of mankind and the ability of all peopleRead MoreThe Lord Of The Flies By William Golding1347 Words   |  6 Pages The theme of The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, is the reason society is flawed is because people are flawed. Although Piggy is knowledgeable, he has many flaws including his lazi ness and physical inabilities. Ralph is an authority seeker. He sets rules and laws, yet does little to enforce them. Ralph wants to be the ruler, without doing the work to enforce his laws. Jack is persistent. He is rude, harsh and violent in order to get what he wants. He wants to be supreme. Piggy’s flaws are

Hopkins Winhover Analysis Free Essays

Who is God? Gerard Hopkins spent his life finding the answer through his poetry and exploring the nature around him. In Gerard Hopkins’ poem â€Å"The Windhover† there is a representational allusion to Christ and Jesus. The speaker praises the Lord by praising what he takes as a symbol for Christ. We will write a custom essay sample on Hopkins Winhover Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Throughout the poem the speaker symbolizes Christ’s glory by the way the falcon reacts to the air, how it maneuvers and even characteristic traits of the falcon species. The poem uses alliteration, internal rhyming, compound metaphors, elliptical grammar and complex threads of connotation. One could only appreciate the glory of the Lord more after interpreting the poem. The poem is almost impossible to understand without good background knowledge about Hopkins’s ideas and his odd words. There are many words of the Anglo-Saxon origin like rung (past tense of ‘ring’), minion, dauphin, and chevalier. There are also unusual combinations like â€Å"dapple-dawn-drawn†, which is an image of the bird. The last stanza is particularly complex because of the associatively linked words related to Christ and his sacrifice. Finally, the grammar is also odd; actually the poem does not follow any traditional grammar and structure. In short, the poem can be discussed as a sonnet because it has some of the features of the typical sonnet, but it must be called a modified sonnet adapted to a different kind of subject, word-game and music. The poem is therefore the thanksgiving to Christ. It is a hymn that is romantic in form but religious in theme. When the poet sees the beautiful bird, he is reminded of Christ and becomes thankful and appreciative of him. The poem’s theme is therefore related to the poet’s praise of Christ rather than being about the bird. Hopkins has mixed his romantic fascination with the nature and his religious favor of gratitude towards God for giving us a beautiful nature. The beauty of nature is illustrated by his attention that is suddenly drawn by the scene of a bird flying in the sky. He describes a bird which he saw flying in the sky that morning. Like in a romantic poem, he remembers the experience to express his feelings. That morning, the speaker had been out at dawn. From the excited description in the poem, we can infer that the speaker was probably in the field. This admirer of Christ brings the image of Christ’s wounds, pain and sacrifice. This suggests that he always remembers and becomes thankful to Christ. The poem is subtitled â€Å"To Christ our Lord† because the falcon reminds him of Christ. The speaker continuously hails one of God’s most stunning creatures, the falcon. He is flabbergasted at the magnificence of the windhover’s flight. He wonders at its colorful feathers and the sheer speed of its flight. His tone suggests that he is in awe. He is observing something equivalent to the second coming of Jesus or angels walking among regular men. He throws out a barrage of visual imagery to describe the windhover and still does not seem to come close to its real magnificence. He wonders how such a creature could exist but is eventually just filled with glee in knowing the fact that it does exist. In the first stanza the speaker states that he spotted the morning’s minion as if to suggest that the falcon was somehow less important to the morning. He suggests that there is some sort of royal hierarchy by using words that recall images of sovereignty. He describes the different tricks of the bird’s flight. The second stanza takes a different stance on things. The windhover is out maneuvering when it smoothly and suddenly dives. The speaker is scared for the birds’ safety but is pleasantly surprised when the bird is lifted by a huge wind. One can say that in times of foolish pleasure he can fall but Christ will always be there to lift him back up. Christ is the cushion needed for even a temporary fall from grace. Stanza three uses a stream of descriptive words to denote the dignity of such a creature. In the animal kingdom it would be considered king of the roost. The speaker calls the windhover a chevalier meaning knight or in other words a savior. Christ is also considered a savior. The speaker compares the bird and Christ with the hard work of the plow that creates a channel and displays the wet soil underneath and burned embers that shine red-gold when split open and burn with fire. That is directly omparable to the assumption that the speaker was living a dark life until the Lord stirred up his liveliness, split open his dark shell and helped him to shine with a new vigor for life. Christ could be seen in nature in the windhover’s existence. He is symbolized in all the actions of the falcon and also represented in its characteristics. The speaker praises the Lord by his amazed praise and represented in its characte ristics. The speaker praises the Lord by his amazed praise and appreciation. Christ does exists in even the smaller details in life and all we have to do is observe them periodically to know that Christ lives on. How to cite Hopkins Winhover Analysis, Papers

Principles Of The Interactive Media Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Principles Of The Interactive Media. Answer: Introduction The following assignment is the analysis of the website. The chosen website for this assignment is a gaming website known as the ubisoft. Ubisoft is the video game publishing company which launches the game made by the game developers. Ubisoft is the rising company in the gaming business they have launched various popular games like Assassin creed which has been on high demand thus working on such website will provide a good knowledge about the marketing strategy related to the rise of the website. The users in this website can range from 18 to 35 years of age. The characteristics of the user in this website are the people who are looking for the best game which has good interface and the multimedia. The main task which the user performs is to find the best game which they can play. Discussion The Ubisoft is the video game publishing company who publishes or launches the video games made either by the company or some game developing company. Some of the popular games made or launched by the website is watch dogs, tom Clancys the division, assassin creed and for honor. The assassin creed series which is published by the ubisoft is the best running games in the history. There have been various versions and series of the game developed by the company (Rada 2012). The assassin creed is considered to be the most reliable and the annual franchise of the company. In the year 2016 the latest version of the game has generated over seven hundred million dollars in the sale of the third quarter of the financial year. Therefore in the year 2016 the company generated over one and half billion dollars in the sales. The video game evaluation in the year 2016 in the United States was over 18 billion dollars. According to the statics of the video game played in the year 2016 the average ag e of the gamers who are playing the videogames is 35 years. The average of the purchasers of the games is 38 years. The percentage of the house which owns a gaming device is over sixty five percent and the average years the games ahs even playing the game is thirteen years. The male percentage of the gamers is fifty nine percent and the female gamers are forty one percent. Thus the above statics implies that nowadays every age group of the people is playing video games to pass their time. Therefore the typical users of the game are not only restricted to the children but different age group should also be targeted for marketing (Gee 2014). Over fifty percent of the users are playing the sports games. Thus the website needs to publish more of e-sports games. Method used to measure usability Feedback of any work is important to measure the usage and effect of that work on the customer. It also helps in detecting the loopholes in the work which can be corrected. In the gaming sector there are various methodologies development has been done in order to evaluate and analyze the user experience. The factors which include for measuring the game usability is fun, flow and Playability which is the common used factor to analyze the game usage (Chen 2014). A person also proposed the framework which can be used for the evaluation of the factor playability during game play. Taking the factor the user experience into the account its user experience is found to be the sum of all other factors, like playability, flow or usability. Playability can be the key factor for measuring the user experience. The sample screens and an analysis of the usability The above figure shows the various steps how to find the usability. The first step is the brand experience the second step is the desirability of the game and the third step is the utility of the game. Each step of the analysis depicts the customer satisfaction message which proves that the game is successfully running in the market. The analysis of the functionality of the interface in gaming The chosen website for the assignment is a gaming website which publishes the video games. Interface is defined as the platform where the user can exchange the data with the computer. Thus in gaming website the interface is a primary factor. If the interface of a game is good then the exchange of the information will be quick and efficient which means that the game will not hang and perform the instruction given by the user (Jones, Comfort and Hillier 2013). For example if the user presses the run button the instruction will quickly accessed by the processor and the action will be performed thus the game will run smoothly. The background music and all the controls of the game come under the interface part. Thus to design a best interface is a huge task for the company if the interface is faulty or not attractive the game will not be successful in the market. In the gaming website to attract the typical user the website of the game should be look attractive (van Vliet et al. 2012). Gaming is all about the efficient use of the graphics so that the pictures and videos look mo re attractive thus the gaming website should display an attractive graphics in its background. The user looks for the best games to play so the website should have the section which include the best games with its description to know the background of the game. The main task that the user needs to perform with the interface is all the controls of the game like the running, jumping and all other commands which is present in the game. It basically includes all the controls of the game. Other important factor of the gaming website is its navigation which means the way finding which is also known as the website architecture. (Hemmati et al. 2013). Another factor in the gaming website is its multimedia element. The multimedia element includes the image, videos and animation. In gaming the animation is the main tool on which the game is designed and makes it more realistic. Better the animation better will be the game graphics as the result the game will look more attractive (Rogers 2014). The animation of the game can be improved by putting images, videos and texts to make the animation part of the game more attractive. Thus in designing a gaming website the animation should be given top priority which will make the site more attractive. The six guidelines The selected website for this assignment is a gaming website. Therefore certain factors should be kept or removed from the game: The shortcuts: the feature of the shortcuts includes the breadcrumb navigation, search and scan columns. In the chosen website the feature of the shortcut should be present so that time complexity on the website by the user can decrease (Schaul 2013). If the user wants the information of the particular game then he can easily use the search column to search about the particular game or ca use the breadcrumb navigation to track back to the site where he was before. Navigation and Way finding: the navigation is an important part of the website it can help the company to study about the game, most of the customer is navigating to which will help them to study the customer liking towards a particular game. The mental mapping is important part of designing a website as it will help the customer to find the information about the games efficiently and easily. Pager headers and pager footers: These features are not necessary to give in the chosen website but it giving headers and footers will enable them to display extra information about the game like the copyright or the designers of the game. Typesetting: the feature of the typesetting is important for the website to make the website more attractive moreover the important information about the certain game can be seen by the user. Hence the feature of the typesetting should be included in the website. Graphics: Since the chosen website in the assignment is a gaming website. Therefore the concept of the graphics should be included in the website to make the website more attractive. To display the information about the game with its sample graphics is required in the website. Color: the website in the assignment is a gaming website. Therefore to include the feature of the graphics color is also required to make the website attractive. Conclusion From the report it can be concluded that the user of the gaming website are According to the statics of the video game played in the year 2016 the average age of the gamers who are playing the videogames is 35 years. The gaming industry is growing day by day as in the year 2016 the company generated over one and half billion dollars in the sales. The users in the website can be the factors which include for measuring the game usability is fun, flow and Playability which is the common used factor to analyze the game usage. Other methods of evaluations were more efficient to find the tool to measure the concept of user experience by including the account flow or fun or the playability of the particular games. References Chen, L., 2014. Research on Cultivation of Creative Class under Industrial Environment Cluster--Take Cartoon Game Industry as an Example. Chung, P. and Fung, A., 2013. Internet Development and the Commercialization of Online Gaming in China. InGaming Globally(pp. 233-250). Palgrave Macmillan US. Gee, J.P., 2014.What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Macmillan. Hemmati, M., Javadtalab, A., Nazari Shirehjini, A.A., Shirmohammadi, S. and Arici, T., 2013, February. Game as video: Bit rate reduction through adaptive object encoding. InProceeding of the 23rd ACM Workshop on Network and Operating Systems Support for Digital Audio and Video(pp. 7-12). ACM. Jones, P., Comfort, D. and Hillier, D., 2013. Playing the game: corporate social responsibility and the games industry.Journal of Public Affairs,13(3), pp.335-344. Rada, R., 2012.Interactive media. Springer Science Business Media. Rogers, S., 2014.Level Up! The guide to great video game design. John Wiley Sons. Schaul, T., 2013, August. A video game description language for model-based or interactive learning. InComputational Intelligence in Games (CIG), 2013 IEEE Conference on(pp. 1-8). IEEE. van Vliet, M., Robben, A., Chumerin, N., Manyakov, N.V., Combaz, A. and Van Hulle, M.M., 2012, January. Designing a brain-computer interface controlled video-game using consumer grade EEG hardware. InBiosignals and Biorobotics Conference (BRC), 2012 ISSNIP(pp. 1-6). IEEE. Walter, E., AtT Intellectual Property I, LP, 2012.Multimedia-based video game distribution. U.S. Patent 8,282,476.

Battle of Rourkes Drift - The Battle of Rourkes Drift Zulu War

Battle of Rourkes Drift - The Battle of Rourkes Drift Zulu War Battle of Rourkes Drift -Conflict: The Battle of Rourkes Drift was fought during the Anglo-Zulu War (1879). Armies Commanders: British Lieutenant John ChardLieutenant Gonville Bromhead139 men Zulus Dabulamanzi kaMpande4,000-5,000 men Date: The stand at Rourkes Drift lasted from January 22 to January 23, 1879. Battle of Rourkes Drift -Background: In response to the death of several colonists at the hands of the Zulus, South African authorities issued an ultimatum to the Zulu king Cetshwayo requiring that the perpetrators be turned over for punishment. After Cetshwayo refused, Lord Chelmsford assembled an army to strike at the Zulus. Dividing his army, Chelmsford sent one column along the coast, another from the northwest, and personally traveled with his Centre Column which moved through Rourkes Drift to attack the Zulu capital at Ulundi. Arriving at Rourkes Drift, near the Tugela River, on January 9, 1879, Chelmsford detailed Company B of the 24th Regiment of Foot (2nd Warwickshire), under Major Henry Spalding, to garrison the mission station. Belonging to Otto Witt, the mission station was converted into a hospital and storehouse. Pressing on to Isandlwana on January 20, Chelmsford reinforced Rourkes Drift with a company of Natal Native Contigent (NNC) troops under Captain William Stephenson. The following day, Colonel Anthony Durnfords column passed through en route to Isandlwana. Late that evening, Lieutenant John Chard arrived with an engineer detachment and orders to repair pontoons. Riding ahead to Isandlwana to clarify his orders, he returned to the drift early on the 22nd with orderes to fortify the position. As this work began, the Zulu army attacked and destroyed a sizable British force at the Battle of Isandlwana. Around noon, Spalding left Rourkes Drift to ascertain the location of reinforcements that were supposed to be arriving from Helpmekaar. Prior to leaving, he transferred command to Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. Battle of Rourkes Drift - Preparing the Station: Shortly after Spaldings departure, Lieutenant James Adendorff arrived at the station with news of the defeat at Isandlwana and the approach of 4,000-5,000 Zulus under Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande. Stunned by this news, the leadership at the station met to decide their course of action. After discussions, Chard, Bromhead, and Acting Assistant Commissary James Dalton decided to stay and fight as they believed that the Zulus would overtake them in open country. Moving quickly, they dispatched a small group of Natal Native Horse (NNH) to serve as pickets and began fortifying the mission station. Constructing a perimeter of mealie bags that connected the stations hospital, storehouse, and kraal, Chard, Bromhead, and Dalton were alerted to the Zulus approach around 4:00 PM by Witt and Chaplain George Smith who had climbed the nearby Oscarberg hill. Shortly thereafter, the NNH fled the field and was quickly followed by Stephensons NNC troops. Reduced to 139 men, Chard ordered a new line of biscuit boxes built across the middle of the compound in an effort to shorten the perimeter. As this progressed, 600 Zulus emerged from behind the Oscarberg and launched an attack. Battle of Rourkes Drift - A Desperate Defense: Opening fire at 500 yards, the defenders began inflicting casualties on the Zulus as they swept around the wall and either sought cover or moved onto the Oscarberg to fire on the British. Others attacked the hospital and northwest wall where Bromhead and Dalton aided in throwing them back. By 6:00 PM, with his men taking fire from the hill, Chard realized that they could not hold the entire perimeter and began pulling back, abandoning part of the hospital in the process. Showing incredible heroism, Privates John Williams and Henry Hook succeeded in evacuating most of the wounded from the hospital before it fell. Fighting hand-to-hand, the one of the men cut through wall to the next room while the other held off the enemy. Their work was made more frantic after the Zulus set the hospitals roof on fire. Finally escaping, Williams and Hook succeeded in reaching the new box line. Throughout the evening, attacks continued with the British Martini-Henry rifles exacting a heavy toll against the Zulus older muskets and spears. Refocusing their efforts against the kraal, the Zulus finally compelled Chard and Bromhead to abandon it around 10:00 PM and consolidate their line around the storehouse. By 2:00 AM, most of the attacks had ceased, but the Zulus did maintain a steady harassing fire. In the compound, most of the defenders were injured to some degree and only 900 rounds of ammunition remained. As dawn broke, the defenders were surprised to find that the Zulus had departed. A Zulu force was spotted around 7:00 AM, but it did not attack. An hour later, the tired defenders were roused again, however the approaching men proved to be a relief column sent by Chelmsford. Battle of Rourkes Drift -Aftermath: The heroic defense of Rourkes Drift cost the British 17 killed and 14 wounded. Among the wounded was Dalton whose contributions to the defense won him the Victoria Cross. All told, eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded, including seven to the men of the 24th, making it the highest number given to one unit for a single action. Among the recipients were Chard and Bromhead, both of whom were promoted to major. Precise Zulu losses are not known, however they are thought to number around 350-500 killed. The defense of Rourkes Drift quickly earned a place in British lore and helped to offset the disaster at Isandlwana. Selected Sources British Battles: Battle of Rourkes DriftRourkes Drift VC: The BattleBattle of Rourkes Drift

Gender Pay Gap Summary Response Essay Example

Gender Pay Gap Summary Response Essay Example Gender Pay Gap Summary Response Essay Gender Pay Gap Summary Response Essay Inequality has been a dilemma for several years in countless different ways. A persistent problem with disproportion of income between women and men has been lingering within many companies in the United States. It has been said that women earn less money than men in the workplace for many different reasons. Some of these reasons are that women have not spent enough time in the office to be rewarded with raises and bonuses because they are busy with their home lives and taking care of their children, they, unlike men, have been taught to be timid and unaggressive which ultimately steers them away from requesting higher pay, or they do not meet the qualifications to receive promotions (Hymowitz, 2008). This essay is in response to On Diversity, America Isn’t Putting Its Money Where Its Mouth Is in which the writer presents her argument as to why women should not earn less than men in the workplace. : In this day and age when we have come far enough to have an African-American man as our president, women who hold equivalent or greater qualifications as their male counterparts should earn equal pay if they hold the same position in every company without question. In Carol Hymowitz’s article, On Diversity, America Isn’t Putting Its Money Where Its Mouth Is, she states that the increasing amount of women being paid less than men in some of the nation’s biggest companies proves that businesses do not equally value their employees. In her research it was found that â€Å"young women earned 20% to 25% less than young men at the same education level about equal to men at an education level below theirs. † (Hymowitz, 2008) She believes that the lack of diversity within companies is only increased and vanquishes any achievement towards equality progression once a top female executive leaves the company or retires. The author feels as though the inequality that resides within companies emphasize that women, by some means, lack the leadership skills that men have attained (Hymowitz, 2008). The author makes a valid point when she says â€Å"at a time when Americans are congratulating themselves for having a diverse field of political candidates, their business leadership still doesnt equally value diverse employees and managers. In fact, progress for women and minorities in terms of both pay and power has stalled or regressed at many of the nations biggest companies. This inequality shapes perceptions about who can or should be a leader. (Hymowitz, 2008) This statement shows applicable reasoning as to why it is necessary to have equal pay between women and men in the workplace. When a company decides they are going to pay someone less money solely based off their gender without regards to their experience, it is discrimination and therefore the company is no longer an equal opportunity employer. Such practices need to be banned so our nation can truly say that we are all equal. Women need to form an alliance to prevent such discrimination from occurring and force our government to prohibit inequality in companies. In conclusion it has been proven that inequality still exists within companies. If women want to be paid based off their skills and not their gender, they need to become aware of the fact that this problem is still around and fight to get rid of it. Carol Hymowitz’s article reflects on the need to make a change in businesses around the world to offer diversity and equality. The change has to start with women coming together and taking a stand against discrimination. With constant change and growth within our country, there is no reason why women should earn less then men who offer the same expertise and educational background in their same job position. References Hymowitz, C. (2008). On diversity, America isnt putting its money where its mouth is. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online. wsj. com/public/article/SB120370822092186297-SRy6aZVon27ZkhkuiSz8WW6UdEs_20080325. html? mod=tff_main_tff_top

Proposal of analyzing Hershey's stock price and this firm Essay

Proposal of analyzing Hershey's stock price and this firm - Essay Example Using the results of the following report, my recommendation will be to invest into the Hershey stocks, as the company’s performance in the industry is commendable as well as its stock’s performance. After thoroughly analyzing the stocks of Hershey Company, I would note that the company has a potential for a continued appreciation for the value of its stock price in the stock market. However, my analyst recommendation in overall would be a buy of the shares and not a strong purchse for the stocks of the company. The reason for this is due to the rapid increase in the company’s share price and a relatively high P/E ratio. My recommendations based on my review of the company’s financial indicators, its opportunities for future growth and its comparison to the main competitors in the field (Fridson, Martin and Fernando 75). A detailed analysis that led to the drawing of my conclusion is as discussed in the report below. Brief description of Hershey Company Th e Hershey Chocolate Company is a US-based firm that is incorporated according to the laws of the State of Delaware. However, the company was founded in 1894 by Milton S. Hershey. Since that time, the company has remained as the leading manufacturer of chocolates and other sugary confectionaries, and has a marketing base of about 42.5% in North America. The company has several wholly-owned subsidiaries and entities to which it has a major controlling interest. This company is also the major and largest producer of superiority chocolate in North America and leads globally in chocolate and sugar confectionery production. The company functions as a single reportable segment in the manufacture, marketing, sale and distribution of the products under various brand names. The company is founded on the basis and principles of returning back to the community in which it operates in through corporate social responsibility (Brigham, Eugene and Michael 120). The amount of revenue that the compan y generates equals nearly to $6billion annually and has a current employment base of about 14,000 employees across all its subsidiaries. Over the years, the company has portrayed consistency in its growth patterns both in terms of market share and the market holdings. It has accumulated a large amount of wealth which have seen it trade perfectly in the stock market. Through this, the company has been able to earn itself a positive image and reputation both nationally and internationally following the various innovation programmes it has invested into. One such innovation programme is that of the ‘Innovative Cocoa – Link Mobile Technology Programme’ that was so far expanded to Cote d’Ivoire in May 2013. However, the company’s growth is expected to continue as a result of the announcement that it will price $250million, 2.625% notes by the year 2023. Recent developments in Hershey In the recent past, Hershey Co. has had several developments that have been witnessed through acquisitions of other small firms thus, turning them into its subsidiaries. For instance, in the year 1996, Hershey purchased the operations of America in Leaf Candy Company. In 1999, the company diversified and divested its Pasta group into several equity partners in a bid to form the New World Pasta Co. currently known as Ebro Foods. In 2002, the public became aware of the intention of Hershey Trust Foundation that was seeking to sell its

Cloud Computing Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cloud Computing Security - Essay Example This paper will compare some of the journal articles that address cloud-computing security. Bisong and Rahman (2011) note that many business organizations are beginning to adopt the cloud computing technology as a strategy for cutting down cost so as to increase the company’s profitability. They argue that cloud many companies, which have adopted this concept, have reaped a lot of benefits by cutting down cost, saving time and maximizing their flexibility. Despite the benefits, Bisong, and Rahman (2011) cautions that there is a number of security issues associated with cloud computing technology that an organization has to deal with effectively to maintain confidentiality, integrity, and reliability. As a result, Bisong and Rahman (2011) addresses all the security concerns associated with cloud computing technology in an organization such as the threat, vulnerability and risks in their journal article titled, â€Å"An Overview of the Security Concerns in Enterprise Cloud Comp uting† Qaisar and Khawaja (2012) through a journal article titled, â€Å"Cloud Computing: Network/Security Threats and Countermeasure†s agree with the view expressed by Bisong and Rahman (2011) that many companies today are looking forward to adopting the cloud computing concept since it is economical in terms of cost thereby resulting in improved profitability. In this article, Qaisar and Khawaja (2012) explore the security concerns associated with cloud computing concept. However, unlike in the previous article by Bisong and Rahman (2011) the article by Qaisar and Khawaja (2012) goes further to discuss the various types of cloud computing that are available for use. The third article â€Å"Is Cloud Computing Secure?† by Brittanny Lyons (2011) also acknowledges that cloud computing has been of great benefits to many companies, which have managed to adopt the concept. Lyons (2011) gives an example of Amazon and Google that uses the cloud computing technology to m anage their networks. However, the article like the previous two articles examines how safe the technology is for managing business networks in an organization. Lyons (2011) argues that cloud computing is secure just as the standard computing technology. Nevertheless, the article also agrees with the other articles that there are security issues that must be taken into consideration before adopting the concept in an organization. This includes hackers, viruses, worms, and cyber-terrorists. Other risks noted include lack of privacy since the providers are able to access the data being relayed through the system. With regard to style used, the first two scholarly journals are written in formal academic styles. This is evident as the articles have the abstract, introduction section, conclusion and the bibliography/reference sections. The content is also thoroughly and detailed, as the researchers appear to have gone deep when conducting the research. For instance, it can be seen that t he two scholarly journals went deep to discuss the cloud computing security related issues by giving examples as well as how to counter the threats as noted in the article by Qaisar and Khawaja (2012). The two scholarly journals also have a number of charts and graphs, which have been used for illustrating information. For instance, the article by Bisong

Your main task is to formulate an Information Systems (IS) strategy Essay

Your main task is to formulate an Information Systems (IS) strategy for an organisation of your choice. You then need to compile a concise report detailing your IS strategy - Essay Example It offers consumers great values by guaranteeing business a minimum number of customers, if a certain number of people sign up, then everyone gets the Groupon offer. If that minimum isn’t reached then no one gets the offer. The business process starts with the business owner or the retailer. The business owner will agree to provide his primary products or services at a set discounted price compared to retail value. Then the local daily deal is displayed at Groupon website. Then buyers will pay for the deal. If a certain number of people sign up for the offer, then the deal becomes available to all, if predetermined minimum is not met no one gets the deal that day. Goupon then collects the payment if the deal is valid and splits the revenue with the seller. Because groupon model encourages first time customers to partitioned business by offering services at 50 percent less than retail prices, the business owner will experience low or negative profit margins when they offer discounted products and services. They then have to set a ceiling on the amount of vouchers issued to limit their loses. Goupon gives half the payment to the seller and remains with the other half. This is how Goupon earns its revenue from the sales it acquires daily and the payment to the seller is broken down into instalments over life cycle of a deal loading Groupon with negative working capital. The Groupons mission is to become the operating system for local commerce. The business strategy has been discovering a business model that brings the power of the internet to local commerce .the business model has allowed the company to connect with millions of consumers and hundreds of people. Groupon has a number of contributions by facilitating trade and benefiting its seller and buyers. First by facilitating trade it brings together small sellers and individual

Moral and Ethical Role of Government

Moral and Ethical Role of Government Ethics and morality form a central position in the functioning of the government. Under normal circumstances, it is the role of the government to ensure a just society where order and harmony exist. As a result the government has to establish and enforce ethical and moral standards so as to ensure that the society functions well. Decision making is the governments chief role. Therefore it must make ethical and moral considerations in order to make decisions that are in line with the welfare of the society. Ethics and morality are used interchangeably. The two terms are related in several ways. Nonetheless, there is an inconsequential dissimilarity linking the two. Most commonly is the fact that morality goes deeper than ethics in defining human behavior and conduct. Ethics refer to the standards that make the society a better place of all while morality provide for more deeper considerations that amount to religion and spirituality. In order for the government to ensure that ethical standards are adhered to, ethics and aspects of morality are entrenched into the law. This makes it conveniently possible to enforce ethical standards and ensure that all people conform to the law. However, certain aspects of ethics and morality cannot be made legal. This will make the society more complicated since certain morality aspects and ethics are perceptive. This brings into perspective the facet of belief and religion which formulates different people to hold diverse views on the concept of ethics and morality. The upshot is that, the government plays a significant role in enforcing ethics and morality. As a result it is expected that the leaders ensure that the society is just and orderly for all. The aim of this paper is to critically examine the role of the government in morality an ethics. To succeed in this endeavor, the paper will discuss different aspects of morality and ethics. Role of Government One of the central purposes of the government is to enforce the law. The law represents the will of the people who have their own cultural and ethical perceptions of reality. As a result the government enforces the ethical and moral values of the people it governs. In other words it can be rightly said that the government serves to accomplish the peoples perceptions of reality as represented in their ethical and moral values. This makes the role of the government more complex not forgetting that not all values of ethical and moral consideration can be enforced by the government. However, the government remains the prime custodian of peoples values. Ethics and moral values have a great influence on the operation of the society. It is therefore true that the government exercises control over the society. This is true in light of the task of enforcing laws. In order to get a better understanding of the role of the government as far as ethics and morality is concerned; more focus should be on the law (Preston Bishop 2000). The law is the governments instrument of power. To perform its functions, the government relies majorly on the law. On the other hand the law is perceived as being representative of the ethical, cultural and moral values of the people. Therefore as much as the law might not be the perfect tool of enforcing ethical and moral values, it remains the governments chief weapon against unprincipled practices and immorality. The law describes what is right and acceptable in society and therefore provides a blue print towards an ethical and just society. In order to affirm their quest for a just society, citizens are expected to adhere to the provisions of the law. Therefore, the law binds the society together bringing harmony among different people. Failure to conform to the law is perceived as breaking ethical standards established and is thus punishable. Therefore, the law is perceived as the peoples will to be enforced by the government. There are a lot of challenges the government faces in its ethical and moral roles. First and foremost are the different perceptions of ethics and morality. This is coupled by the practical reality that the law does not fully represent ethical and moral standards. Perceptions are a great threat to the governments role. This is due to the fact that certain parameters which are legal are sometimes perceived as violating ethical and moral standards. A good example is the issue of abortion. As much as abortion might be legalized, it still remains a debatable ethical issue. This is due to the fact that it is seen by some members in society as unethical. Other issues include divorce and promiscuity. These conflicts underline the fact that the law is not a sufficient tool of enforcing ethical and moral values. It underscores the failure of the government to ensure a just society through enforcing the law. Ethical and Social Obligations Ethics and a society are inseparable, due to the fact that ethical standards are the adhesive of a healthy society. Therefore there can never be a society without standards that define behavior and conduct. A just society can only exist in line with a set of values that represent the ethical and moral values of the people. A society on the other hand is governed by a group of leaders through the institution of government (Kizza, 2010). Therefore, it is obvious that it is the role of the government to ensure that the society is just and orderly. This is what is referred to as social obligations of the government. In essence the government is a tool of the society. It is established by the society to govern it and enforce laws that are deemed to represent the wishes, values and convictions of the people. The governments social obligations are nothing but the functions of ensuring that ethical and moral standards are adhered to accordingly. This involves the task of ensuring that the laws set represent the ethical and moral values of the people. Conversely, the government needs to go beyond the institutional role of enforcing laws to more welfare operations. This is line with the fact that the law in itself is inefficient as far as ensuring the enforcement of ethical and moral obligations is concerned. Decision Making A critical look at the origin of government points at the true essence of the institution. Several theories outline the origin of politics or government. Nevertheless, the contract of social theory is much relevance to the governments decision making role. Under the social contract theory, members of the society came together and surrendered their freedoms in exchange for order. In order to achieve this objective, the people established a government which was to govern the state on their behalf. Among the principal roles given of this institution was that of making decisions on behalf of the people (Cremer 2009). Therefore the governments most significant role is that of decision making. The role of making a decision is supposed to be in line with the interests and values of the society. This underscores the big role played by the government in ensuring a just society for all. Therefore in making a decision the government plays an important part in enforcing ethical and moral standards. Apart from enforcing the law which is perceived as the will of the people, the government has the authority to make decision that affect the functioning of the society. Therefore in making these decisions the government ought to put ethical and moral obligations in prime focus. In this role the aspect of public trust emanates. The government has been given the public trust which must be reflected in every decision it makes. Therefore public officials must make decisions that not only promote ethics and morality but also represent the same. In making decisions the government needs to be guided by two principal aspects. First and foremost is respect of the law. The law is the supreme guarantor of morality, ethics and justice. Therefore due importance should be granted to the law in the process of making decisions. Decisions that are contrary to the provisions of the law should be discouraged. The law should be the common denominator of all government decisions. This will protect the people from leaders with evil intentions. Another critical aspect of consideration is that of ethical consideration beyond the law. This should be interpreted in a positive manner to mean that the law should be upheld in high esteem but should not be the end of ethics. Certain aspects of morality and ethics are not entrenched in the law but should be upheld in decision making. This regards appointments and other aspects of governance. This calls for integrity on the part of state officials in the discharge of their duties. Need For Appropriate Actions Leadership is a delicate affair which involves a lot of aspects. Since leadership involves the tasks of vision, direction and governance a lot of care must be made to ensure that ethical and moral; standards do not take a back seat. The government is bestowed with a daunting task of ensuring order and justice in the society. This is to be achieved through the enforcement of laws that represent the ethical and moral values of the society. This is also done through the making of legal and ethical decisions. The government therefore plays a primary role in the whole concept of ethics and morality. Through its actions, decisions and operations the government has a lot of impact on the functioning of the society. There is need for appropriate actions on the part of the government so as not to undermine ethics and morality (Kiel Lennick, 2007). Since the success of a society depends on the manner in which ethical standards are adhered to, the government officials ought to be careful in th eir actions so as to promote a just and orderly society. It is against this background that governments need to put several measures in place so as to ensure that the aspect of ethics and morality plays an important role in its functions. This will result in a justly moral and ethical society which is what will make life better for the people. As far as the governments role in achieving justice and order in society is concerned, a number of considerations are necessary. Caution must be exercised in the process discharging the functions of the government. State officers ought to conduct their activities in manner that does not undermine ethical and moral values. To start with, it will be necessary to vet people before appointment to such positions. This will ensure that all those who get these positions are people of integrity. This will go a long way in ensuring that the role of the government in guaranteeing ethics and justice is not undermined by the quality of personnel in its ranks. Suggestions The ethical and moral role of the government is instrumental in ensuring justice and order in the society. Therefore it is upon the officials in the government to ensure that their actions and activities go in line which fostering harmony among the people. This will be achieved if all the laws are enforced in line with the peoples ethical and moral values as envisaged in the law. On top of these, the decision making arm of the government must be fully used to enhance ethical and moral values in the society. It will be against the purpose of ethics should state officials make illegal and unethical decisions. Apart from that state officials must be men and women of integrity so as not to compromise the values of the society. In order to succeed in this endeavor it will be appropriate for the government to classify its moral obligations into two. These are institutional duties and the social responsibilities. The former refers to the use of laws and structures of governance to enforce total adherence to moral and ethical values. This will call for the enactment of laws that represent the ethical and moral values of the people (Fisher 2003). Through the law, the government will ensure that there is justice and order in the society. Those who break the law should be liable for punishment. These will dissuade offenders and make society orderly and harmonious. Social responsibilities refer to those roles that affirm ethical values in the cultural set up. Through this arm, the government will set up and fund several organizations and commissions to cultivate tolerance, orderliness and ethics among the society. This will call for equity and equality so that all sections of the society feels taken care of. On to p of this is the decision making role f the government. The government should use its authority to make decisions in promoting justice, order and ethics. Conclusion The government is the chief custodian of morality and ethical values in the society. It is the role of the government to ensure that moral and ethical standards are maintained in the society so as to assure order and justice. The political system gives government the sole responsibility of ensuring stability, harmony and conformity in the society. It is along this line that the government plays an immense role in guaranteeing ethical and moral values. This role can be performed in many ways. Most commonly the enforcement focuses on the enactment of laws that represent the cultural and ethical values of the people. These laws are enforced so as to ensure conformity. Those who break the law are liable to punishment in accordance to the law. Through exercising the provisions of the law, the government achieves its objective of creating a just and orderly society. However, since ethics and morality are relative terms, not all aspects of ethics and morality can be entrenched into the law. This poses a challenge to the governments role of fulfilling ethical obligations. Therefore, it vital for the government to come up with other means of achieving justice and orderliness through ethics. Through its social obligations the government enforces ethical and moral standards in the society. This can be through its decision making arm and also through the establishment and funding of agencies and organizations that cultivate a culture of ethical values. The government also guarantees ethical values by granting freedom to the people to exercise their spiritual and religious convictions. Moral and ethical as pects have spiritual and cultural connotations, therefore through equality and freedom the government ensures justice in the society. The government plays a central role in ensuring ethics and morality in the society.

Separate Peace Essay: Influence of the War on Characters

Influence of the War on Characters Historical events can play an important role in a person's life. In A Separate Peace, the whole atmosphere at the Devon School changed as World War II progressed. The boys either eagerly awaited the draft, enlisted in the area of war they wanted, or did not want to go at all. The students at the school created new activities for enjoyment since the customary past times could not be played due to a lack of materials. When a friend "returns" from the war, the boys at Devon got a real sense of what the war was like. The boys learned that going to war was not all fun and games like they had anticipated. The influence World War II had on the characters in A Separate Peace and on life at the Devon School was clearly depicted through their actions and activities. The beginning of the novel allows the reader to get a feel of what the Devon School was like during that time period. Students of "war age" were constantly leaving Devon to go to the war, either by choice or by draft. Whether kids wanted to go or not, the anticipation was always present. As winter approached the Devon school, so did the encroaching shadow of the war. The boys were called out to help shovel free a troop train trapped by snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brings the war home" for all of them, and they realized they would have to face a crucial decision very soon. Maturity leapt upon them, whether they're ready for it or not, at the tender age of seventeen. The excitement of the war had gotten to everybody at the school, including the staff, and made it a chaotic place. The boys wer... ...as different because of his experience. ****I like how you incorporate quotes from the book into your own thoughts in these sentences: When a friend "returns" from the war, the boys at Devon got a real sense of what the war was like. The boys were called out to help shovel free a troop train trapped by snow-blocked tracks. The experience "brings the war home" for all of them, and they realized they would have to face a crucial decision very soon. ****You need to be consistent with the tenses. To solve the problem you can do one of two things. You can change the tense of the verb in the quotation and enclose it in brackets to show that you changed the tense. (e.g. "return[ed]" "[brought]") Or you can just change the tense of all your discussion to present tense, which is commonly done when discussing books.

A Haunted House

â€Å"Here we left it,† she said. And he added, â€Å"Oh, but here tool† â€Å"It's upstairs,† she murmured. â€Å"And in the garden,† he whispered. â€Å"Quietly,† they said, â€Å"or we shall wake them.† But it wasn't that you woke us. Oh, no. â€Å"They're looking for it; they're drawing the curtain,† one might say, and so read on a page or two. â€Å"Now they've found it,' one would be certain, stopping the pencil on the margin. And then, tired of reading, one might rise and see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the farm. â€Å"What did I come in here for? What did I want to find?† My hands were empty. â€Å"Perhaps its upstairs then?† The apples were in the loft. And so down again, the garden still as ever, only the book had slipped into the grass. But they had found it in the drawing room. Not that one could ever see them. The windowpanes reflected apples, reflected roses; all the leaves were green in the glass. If they moved in the drawing room, the apple only turned its yellow side. Yet, the moment after, if the door was opened, spread about the floor, hung upon the walls, pendant from the ceiling–what? My hands were empty. The shadow of a thrush crossed the carpet; from the deepest wells of silence the wood pigeon drew its bubble of sound. â€Å"Safe, safe, safe† the pulse of the house beat softly. â€Å"The treasure buried; the room . . .† the pulse stopped short. Oh, was that the buried treasure? A moment later the light had faded. Out in the garden then? But the trees spun darkness for a wandering beam of sun. So fine, so rare, coolly sunk beneath the surface the beam I sought always burned behind the glass. Death was the glass; death was between us, coming to the woman first, hundreds of years ago, leaving the house, sealing all the windows; the rooms were darkened. He left it, left her, went North, went East, saw the stars turned in the Southern sky; sought the house, found it dropped beneath the Downs. â€Å"Safe, safe, safe,† the pulse of the house beat gladly. ‘The Treasure yours.† The wind roars up the avenue. Trees stoop and bend this way and that. Moonbeams splash and spill wildly in the rain. But the beam of the lamp falls straight from the window. The candle burns stiff and still. Wandering through the house, opening the windows, whispering not to wake us, the ghostly couple seek their joy. â€Å"Here we slept,† she says. And he adds, â€Å"Kisses without number.† â€Å"Waking in the morning–† â€Å"Silver between the trees–† â€Å"Upstairs–† ‘In the garden–† â€Å"When summer came–† ‘In winter snowtime–† â€Å"The doors go shutting far in the distance, gently knocking like the pulse of a heart. Nearer they come, cease at the doorway. The wind falls, the rain slides silver down the glass. Our eyes darken, we hear no steps beside us; we see no lady spread her ghostly cloak. His hands shield the lantern. â€Å"Look,† he breathes. â€Å"Sound asleep. Love upon their lips.† Stooping, holding their silver lamp above us, long they look and deeply. Long they pause. The wind drives straightly; the flame stoops slightly. Wild beams of moonlight cross both floor and wall, and, meeting, stain the faces bent; the faces pondering; the faces that search the sleepers and seek their hidden joy. â€Å"Safe, safe, safe,† the heart of the house beats proudly. â€Å"Long years–† he sighs. â€Å"Again you found me.† â€Å"Here,† she murmurs, â€Å"sleeping; in the garden reading; laughing, rolling apples in the loft. Here we left our treasure–† Stooping, their light lifts the lids upon my eyes. â€Å"Safe! safe! safe!† the pulse of the house beats wildly. Waking, I cry â€Å"Oh, is this your buried treasure? The light in the heart.†

Accredited Online MBA Programs Essay Example

Accredited Online MBA Programs Essay Example Accredited Online MBA Programs Essay Accredited Online MBA Programs Essay Accredited Online MBA Programs are a great place to start if your shopping for a college or university to enroll in an online MBA program. one extremely important bit of information when youre looking a accredited college or university is to make sure that they are accredited by an agency that is officially recognized by the US Department of Education. Otherwise you may find yourself with a degree that wont hold muster when it comes to that new job youve been looking so forward to. There are a plethora of Masters degree mills online that are more than happy to take your hard earned cash and send you a beautiful degree theyll even frame it for an extra charge. Top  Accredited Online MBA Programs We deduced the top online  distance learning MBA programs  from a couple of factors. The first and most important factor was tuition costs; at the end of the day you want your MBA for a great deal,  all the universities and colleges in our lineup bar accredited by the AACSB. The enrollment fees in these programs may have changed since the publishing of this article. Rather than make you read through the entire list were going to begin with the most affordable  accredited online MBA programs  and work our way to the least affordable. We have not received any compensation nor has any college or university paid for a position in our line up. First up is: 1)  Ã‚  Southeast Missouri State University  with a Masters of business administration/general management. These guys are the best priced online MBA program we could find. Residents:  $8,234 Non Residents:  $14,174 Click the Banner below for the Official SMSU Website:     #2 Most affordable  Accredited Online MBA Program 2) Texas AM University Online MBA Program  Master of Business Administration. TexasUniversitycomes in at a close second place with: Resident: $9,175 Non  Resident:  $17,485 TexasAMUniversityprepares its students to be rewarded professionally and personally. Graduates take courses online at any or all of our locations inTexas, Rockwall,Dallas, and Commerce, or any combination of them. TexasUniversity  is ready to meet the challenges and  opportunities in this competitive, global, and technological environment in today’s competitive and innovative culture.TexasAMUniversityprovides its students with a personal educational experience for a strong and diverse community of life long learners. Our goal is to discover knowledge for leadership and service in todays dynamic world. TexasAMUniversitys challenge is to nurture various partnerships for the cultural, social,  intellectual, vitality ofTexasand around the world. An online degree from Texas AM University  Commerce offers its students the affordability,  convenience, and flexibility that your busy life style needs! Our online program caters to students with busy lives whom have families and possibly work as well as the students who just prefer the online  learning  environment. Click the Banner below for the Official TAMU Website: Click to see #3 Thru #6:   Ã‚  Online MBA Programs  Accredited

What are the major threats to democracy in a modern society Essays

What are the major threats to democracy in a modern society Essays What are the major threats to democracy in a modern society Paper What are the major threats to democracy in a modern society Paper There are many threats to democracy in modern societies; these threats however, differ depending on the type of democracy implemented and the nature of the society, for example; the democracies of the developing world are confronted with different threats when compared to the threats faced by the democracies of the developed world. This paper will seek to provide an examination of the main adversities to democracies mainly in the developing world. To gain a general idea, it is necessary to look at the conditions conducive for democratization so that we can fully comprehend the many obstacles that modern societies are faced with. Democracy is not a natural order; this is stated by Pinkney in 1993. Throughout history most rulers were instilled without the consent of the citizens, such rulers were born into a monarchy or they were voted in by ruling elites. The factors that allowed for the establishment and maintenance of democracy in the west were different to those needed by the developing world; there are a few exceptions however. The west had already formulated a very stable economic and social structure, which are essential conditions for the development and advancement of long-term democracies. Based on this it is evident that in order for the world to flourish under a democratic type system there are several crucial requirements that are required to be met. One of the main perquisites that are conducive to the formation of a democratic state is the constant need for continual economic development; therefore it is evident that a lack of economic development in a particular country will pose a major threat to the prevalence and advancement of democratic ideologies in that country. Economic development is an idea supported by Lipset (1959). Economic development is considered one of the main necessities needed to guide a state into democracy. Lipset believes that the correlation between the existence of democracy and such variables as per capita wealth, industrialization, urbanization and the level of education, are causes of democracy. This underlines and demonstrates the insurmountable obstacles faced by many parts of the world, most notably the developing world in terms of maintaining and encouraging democratic influences. Poverty and unemployment are rife throughout the developing world and therefore the ever-rising unemployment levels coupled with exponential population growth is crippling the economies of many nations which is rendering these nations susceptible to adhering to the conditions necessary for the instilment of other forms of political governance which obviously, poses a threat to existing and potential democratic prevalence and advancement throughout modern society. Social structure is another factor that is hindering democratic advancement and instilment amongst modern day societies; this is particularly a problem throughout the developing world and most notably Africa. The predominant issue with this idea in terms of the developing world is that many developing nations after decolonization were left socially and religiously divided. This is just one of the many burdens left behind by the colonizers that has rendered the many societies and tribes of Africa liable to the prevalence of unfair and unjust rule as well as racial and other forms of discriminatory action which has left many ethnic minorities having the arduous task of attempting to rule and unite conflicting tribal, cultural and religious groups. For example, within each state of Africa it is possible to see a number of tribes or mixtures of Christianity and Islam, where they were all put together to live as one by colonial powers. This has left many ethnic minorities thus making the job of ruling fairly, extremely difficult. Democracy is more likely to come about from a society where, for example, the monarchy checks the nobility and the aristocracy goes into commerce. (Pinkney, 1993). We can see this in states that have conventionally had monarchs or upper class forced hierarchy ruling, such rulers are more prone to alter the political requirements of a democracy once the totalitarian regime has been lifted. From the arguments gathered above, it is easy to see the most prominent threats to democracy that are currently facing modern societies. The necessities needed to attain democratic rule portray how far some states are from acquiring and implementing a democratic status. It is evident that economic development is the main threat that is preventing many nations from adhering to the criteria necessary to implement and obtain democratic systems. The other factor that is hindering the advancement of democratic systems is the complex social structure of many developing nations due to the effects of colonization. The divisions and creation of isolated ethnic minorities caused by the colonization and decolonisation processes has made it extremely difficult for democracy to achieve fair and equal ruling that would be so beneficial for the many social groups within a society.

The Punishment of Children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Punishment of Children - Essay Example Positive approaches of child discipline should be encouraged among parent and even teachers in schools. Praising of a child’s good behavior will help in reinforcing positive behavior (Hardy, and Heyes, 47). Time outs are an effective way of disciplining since the child gets time to calm down and reflect on his or her behavior. Loss of privileges helps in disciplining a child since behavior will be modified positively among children for the fear of losing various privileges. There is a debate on whether punishment should be applied to children and type of punishment that is effective in changing behavior. There are people who argue that punishment of children should be encouraged. These people believe that issuing a punishment to a child will help in the disciplining of unruly child. Corporal punishments produced more civilized individuals who respected their elders since these children could not apply foul language when addressing their elders (Smith, Cowie, and Blades 51). Th e punishment served to scare the children on the consequences of using bad language. The proponents of corporal punishment among the children argue that in the olden times when corporal punishment was the routine of the day, using a bad language did not cross the minds of the children. The proponents try to compare the olden times and the present times where corporal punishment is being discouraged children are very unruly and that bad language is the order of the day. On ethical grounds, the proponents of child punishment argue that punishing a child can indeed help in saving the child’s future. In the past, the rate at which young people were arrested for their bad behavior was low unlike the present times where many children are being taken to prison and rehabilitation centers for their bad behavior like drug abuse. Many parents do not want to abandon corporal punishment they subject to their children because they believe that it is a God’s command that children sho uld be given a few strokes of the rod (Smith, Cowie, and Blades 56). There are opponents of corporal punishment to children especially these punishments have pronounced negative impacts on the lives of the children. Statistics shows that a corporal punishment lowers the children’s intelligence quotient (IQ). A study carried out in the United States shows that subjecting children to corporal punishments lowered their intellectual development and creativity. Corporal punishments makes a child develop fight back response system which greatly hampers a child’s creativity and imagination. Corporal punishments only serve to create an anti-social behavior and enhance violence in the society. Children who are exposed to corporal punishments develop a low self esteem since punishments strengthen a notion where the children will always view themselves as failures. Children tend to develop a rebellious behavior and develop some acts of violence as a method of self defense (Naz, e t al 14). Hardy and Heyes (52) argue that corporal punishments can cause physical damage in extreme cases where the punishment of children is termed as child abuse. The physical damage that arises from corporal punishment can be horrifying. Children suffer from broken limbs, internal hemorrhage, and the destruction of the sciatic nerves thus affecting the legs. The physical abuse of children causes unending psychological suffering and despair in life. The children can opt for bad

The Weather And Climate of Southeast Region of the United States Term Paper

The Weather And Climate of Southeast Region of the United States - Term Paper Example This paper stresses that the Southeastern United States refers to the region to the eastern part of the Southern United States. It is one of the most densely populated areas of the USA. The zone consists of the following states; Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia, West Virginia , Tennessee, and Kentucky. In this region, the State of Florida has the highest population while Mississippi has the lowest. The climate of this region is majorly warm and humid, characterized by long hot summers and short intervals of winters. The area boasts of large cash crop plantations due to its climate and good soil. This report on the weather of the southeast region of the United States was compiled as a result of a series of activities. First, the region was identified and geographically introduced. Second, research was done and data collected form various sources as indicated in the references. Lastly, a detailed discussion of the elements of weather and climate in the region was done, both periodic aspects as well as those events that happen daily. This research will help in the understanding of the adverse elements of weather such as hurricanes and the duration around which they occur so that evacuation and other emergency strategies may be started in good time. It has also identified the negative influences of human activities on the environment, such as pollution, its effects on the weather, and climate of the southeast region of the United States, and possible solution to this problem.... can be described as of the warm and humid subtropical climate type. The temperatures get hot during summers, with recorded high averages of 90 Â °F in cities like Charleston. Combined with moist tropical winds, summers here are hot and humid. Winters on the other hand register cooler temperatures, features of a tropical climate with wet summers and sunny dry winters. Due to the geographical location of this region, it experiences periods of alternating solar radiation giving rise to different seasons throughout the year, the major seasons of concern are thus summer and winter. The weather during summers is characterized by high temperatures averaging 90 Â °F and thunderstorms in the evenings. In addition, summers witness mid morning sea breezes that bring in a cooling effect. There are also occasional tropical cyclones. On the contrary, winters are cold with temperatures dipping as low as 39 Â °F in Tallahassee. Easterly winds blowing at this period help keep the temperatures mode rate during winters and the Gulf Stream also modifies cooler air coming in from the east and the northeast. Despite its tropical location, freezes are often witnessed in the region during winters. The lowest recorded temperature during winter was -2Â °F in 1899 Wind, Fog, Precipitation, and Snowfall In the region, northerly winds generally blow across the Panhandle and from the west over Jacksonville. During summer, the wind pattern consists of easterly winds blowing southwards and southwest winds in the northern regions. The maximum wind speed recorded was at 100 knots during Hurricane Andrew (Wind Mapper, 2013). With regards to fog, the Southeastern USA experiences fogs in winter. The total number of dense fog days in any year, with visibility less that

The Merger of Granda and Compass Research Proposal

The Merger of Granda and Compass - Research Proposal Example The success/failure of the merger will be analysed according to the Economies of scale: "This refers to the fact that the combined company can often reduce duplicate departments or operations, lowering the costs of the company relative to theoretically the same revenue stream, thus increasing profit."2 Many authors have dealt with the issue of clarity and understandability of the topic of mergers. Most of the research studies are aimed at studying the factors, which motivate the management of the companies to undertake the decision of merger and the benefits or the losses The study of mergers and acquisitions focuses on understanding what motivates managers to engage in this type of activity and the impact that mergers and acquisitions have on shareholder returns. Mostly the main aim of the companies for mergers could be empire building through growth in size, sales, and assets. 3 Mostly the motivation for the merger involve the increase in the market gains, the competitive advantage in shape of technological advancement, and the increase in the strength of the companies. In some cases the HR practices also improves as the result of these mergers. Efficiency improvements can be gained from synergy of target and bidding firms due to economies of scale and use of excess capacity. Recent studies stated that value creation couldn't be achieved in case of horizontal merger. 4 5 6 The entity formed by the merger of Granada and Compass, "Granada Compass", was 66.25% owned by Granada shareholders and 33.75% by those of Compass. The merger proposal said that prior to the IPO, Granada Media was expected to be capitalised with no net debt. At the end of March 2000, Granada's net debt was 1.9bn and Compass's was 1.1bn. In a joint statement Granada and Compass said that they expect their combined businesses to be "better placed to exploit the significant growth opportunities in each of its core markets and to benefit from the combination of its complementary businesses." 7 On the other hand the horizontal merger of Bell south and AT&T is expected to provide both the companies with the following advantages. Cross selling: Through the merger the companies become enable to sell their products to the customers of the other company. The natural combination of two will improve the services provided to the customers. Financial Benefits: The merger of both the companies will lead to a "financial benefits for stockholders of both companies; an expected net present value of $18 billion in synergies resulting from a more than $2 billion annual run rate in synergies expected in 2008, growing to $3 billion in 2010." 8 On the other hand the expected merger will lead to "accrete AT&T adjusted earnings per share in 2008, double-digit adjusted EPS growth in each of next three years (earnings adjusted for merger integration costs and amortisation of intangibles) and significant growth in free cash flow after dividends in 2007 and 2008". 9 Geographical or other diversification: Another advantage

Art and Society Essay Example for Free

Art and Society Essay All art whether it be visual, music, literature, film, etc. is affected by the specific cultural climate in which it is produced (time, place, social conventions, etc.) and is often created in reaction to movements or styles that came before it. How important is it to know these sorts of historical details to appreciate a work of art?  To know the historical details of a work of art is essential because without it you would never be able to aprreciate the work the same way. To be able to understand it better one has to know at what point in time was it made so when you see a painting of a steamboat knowing that the painting was made just after it was invented would give you a much different understanding than if it was made yestaerday. To whole different emotional responsed would be made. This is the same for the place (culture) social conventions, etc. What is Good Art?  8. As you wander through the contemporary galleries on the first or second floor, select a work of art that leaves you puzzled at best. Write down the title and the artist. Research the piece at the library or on the internet, or speak to an art expert to understand the artist and the intended message.  (a) Does this new information change your appreciation for the piece? Explain by referring specifically to the artists intention and the specific work. I chose The Bremen town musicians by Gim Hong-Sok South Korea. After searching in the internet I found out that the sculpture of the Donkey, Dog, Cat and a Rooster, is actually based on a story by the Brothers Grimm with the same title, I had no idea what the sculpture meant at that time because there is no description except a fictional one which states that the furry animal costumes are a family of Mexican illegal aliens and that they are paid 8 dolars a day for posing as said sculpture. I think that Gim just wanted to add some humor to art and to the viewer, as many works of art are deeply sentimental and emotional, which I found very satisfiying. In your contemporary gallery wanderings, choose two pieces of work you consider to be good and two you consider bad art.  (b) Identify the pieces and state the criteria you consider to be important in making good contemporary art[PH1].  Ã‚  Good Art  Why?  Impenetrable-Mona  I think its very good art because its a very innovative piece of work, it is just long lines of steel tubes in the form of a cube but the spaces are so tightly together and with small spikes which make the piece impenetrable just like its named. It also looks modern and neat as it appears to be floating in the air and can be appreciated in 360. Bad Art  Why?  Jean Paul Riopelle-Untitled  I think this is bad art because, there is no pattern at all its just random splashing of colours, and the piece of work doesnt even have a title, which makes me think as a receiver that Riopelle was just too lazy to come up with a decent name because there was no feeling input into it.  (c) If the artworks you were looking at werent part of a national collection and within a purpose-built gallery designed by an internationally recognized architect would you still view them the same way? Who do you think makes the decisions of what appears in National Gallery exhibits? Does their expertise and background matter in your experience of the works? If the pieces I saw were not a part of the national collection, I wouldnt view the same way because they wouldnt have the same artisitic value. If a piece of art is recognized by the world and known artists and collections, it gives the works of art much more significance. This doesnt mean everything that they consider art is something I will also consider art just because its in the gallery.  (d) Do you have the same reactions to the works online as you did viewing them in person? Whats missing? Is this important in viewing art? Can we have the same understanding of something filtered through a virtual experience as exposed to actually experience it in person? Interestingly, one exhibit in the galleries is two computers linking to the website atworkandplay.ca  No I dont have the same reaction because the quality and the size you can appreciate the works of art is totally different in real life, art is not just viewing but also EXPERIENCING and if you just view it online you are missing the experience of actually being there.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) Anjan Thapaliya Abstract AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. It is a web technology that evolved in early 2000 and uses a mix of technology like JavaScript and XML. This paper discusses about how AJAX technology works in modern web application and various advantages and disadvantages. This paper also discusses about various frameworks available for AJAX that can be used on different platforms. History In the past, when there was no such thing as AJAX, the websites needed to reload each and every time for retrieving even small bits of information from the server or processing a tiniest client request, which made the webpages very inefficient. Every time there is a page refresh, it put consumed some bandwidth and put some load on the request processing server. In order to overcome this cycle of request-response, and fetch required data from the server without having to make a round trip, Microsoft came up with iframe technology is as early as 1999 but it was clunky and not efficient. The core of today’s AJAX technology, known as XMLHTTP object was first implemented by Microsoft Outlook in 1999. The term â€Å"AJAX itself was first used my Jesse James in one of his articles in 2005 to talk about this new technology. W3C came up with its first round of documentation for the XMLHttpRequest and called it a web standard in 2006. Classic web application vs. Ajax web application AJAX has transformed how people view at webpages from a simple HTML document into a dynamic web application. The early web sites rendered the webpage as a plain HTML pages. It lacked features like dynamic updates and synchronization with services and servers. The web server in classic web applications performed all the serving up responses to requests with each round trip. Due to this overhead of constant server round trips, web sites in the early 2000 performed poorly and were not as dynamic in terms of updates and synchronization. On the contrary, AJAX based web sites perform better in terms of faster rendering and quicker updates. Not all the data processing is done on the sever side, as a connection is silently made to the server in the background which responds back by giving back the required data in some format like XML or JSON. The resulted data is then formatted using XSLT or CSS in the client side for a better rendering of the view. The diagram below shows how websites in the past differ from modern web sites that make use of AJAX technology: (Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications, J. Garrett, 2005) What is AJAX? AJAX is a modern web technology that leverages a bunch of existing web technologies to create faster and more efficient web applications. AJAX frees web sites from the need to post the whole webpage back to the server for small piece of information and lets pages or parts of a page update by receiving small chunks of data from the server magically behind the scene – without users barely noticing the page refresh. This is what is referred to when people talk about the â€Å"Asynchronous† behavior of AJAX. In a tradition sense, a classic web site always has to have an event send some kind of request to the server which will then result a response being sent back to the client from the server. That usually means, only one request can be responded at a time and any subsequent request have to wait until the previous requests have been processed by the server. When a user clicks on a button, that will trigger some kind of event resulting in either post or get request to the s erver, which will need to be processed by the server first and then the right view is served up to the user. Now this can happen behind the scene without the browser needing to do a complete post back to the server. The advantage of asynchronous call is that data can still be requested from a server without a complete post back to the server and all happens behind the scene and the user is barely affected by what is going on behind the scene. Instead of having to wait for the response result, pages or even parts of a page load asynchronously. What make up AJAX? AJAX is not a new programming language, nor is it just one new technology. It is rather a mix of existing technologies. The following make up the AJAX: JavaScript: It is a client side scripting language interpreted by browsers. JavaScript is one of the most important components of AJAX technologies. It is responsible for capturing user events and making a call to the server asynchronously for the needed data. Today, there are many JavaScript libraries like jQuery that have simplified how AJAX calls are made and in what format are the response data received. Since the advent of JSON, the response of an AJAX call doesn’t just have to be in XML format, but it can also be in JSON format. DOM: DOM stands for Document Object Model, which means it is a JavaScript Object model of an HTML document or XML document. It is the way JavaScript sees its content and structure. It is an object that includes how the HTML/XHTML/XML is formatted, as well as the overall state of the browser. CSS: CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheet and is used to present data or document in a certain style. It is the language to decorate the content, essentially separating the style from the actual content. XMLHttpRequest: XMLHttpRequest is probably one of the most powerful JavaScript Objects that has properties and methods to really change the overall architecture of today’s modern web application. It was designed by Microsoft and are now widely being adopted and by IT giants like Google, Mozilla, and Apple etc. This JavaScript provides an easy mechanism to fetch data from a URL without having to do a complete post back to the server over either http or ftp protocols. A web page can have a part of it doing something dynamically through the use of this object while the user is doing something else without really affecting user’s interaction with the page in any manner. XMLHttpRequest object has various properties and methods to open, close or cancel connection to a server and fetch data or send status of current request whether it is a success or failure etc. Below are some of the important properties and methods commonly used in AJAX based web applications. XMLHttpRequest object has following six methods abort (): This methods basically cancels an asynchronous call being made to a server. getAllResponseHeaders (): This methods returns all headers information as a string. getResponseHeader (header): It returns string containing header information or null if there is no header in the response at all or response is not sent out yet. open (method, url): This method is used to initiate a request call to a server. send (body): This method is used to send a browser request to the server, irrespective of whether it is synchronous or not. setRequestHeader (header, value): This method is used to set the HTTP request header to a certain value. There are six important properties of the XMLHttpRequest object: onreadystatechange: This property determines which callback function to call when the readyState property changes readyState: It is the current status of XMLHttpRequest object and can have any possible values from 0 to 4, where each values have a certain meaning. 0: The request has not been initialized. 1: The AJAX call has established connection to the server. 2: request received: The AJAX call request has been received by the server. 3: The AJAX call request is being processed. 4: The AJAX call request has completed and the response is ready. responseText: It returns a string which contains the body of the response responseXML: It retrieves the response body as XML DOM Object. status: Indicates what the current HTTP status code is like 200 for OK and 404 for server not found etc. statusText: It retrieves a friendly HTTP status of an AJAX request. Ajax Event life cycle The below diagram show the lifecycle of AJAX events in a web application (AJAX Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, Saikrishna, 2009): When a user visits an AJAX web site, the engine is first loaded and initialized before any AJAX related operation. The Ajax engine basically works around the two processes shown in cyan boxes in the above picture. The lifecycle of an AJAX operation is as follows: A user requests a webpage with AJAX implementation in his/h. Page is loaded in computer browser. User interacts with the site and creates an event, like a button or a link clicking. The click event initiates the AJAX call, and sends a data request to the server and also specifies how the needed data should be returned back, either as XML or JSON etc. The server resolves and processes the request and also prepares the response data in the required format. Server responds to the client browser with the requested data. A callback function gets the data, and transforms and updates the web page. This happens all behind the scene and user will never have to see his/her page post back to the server like the regular web pages do. Ajax Frameworks Like any other web application framework, people have developed various frameworks around AJAX so that an these frameworks can be used on a specific platform, with a specific language etc. and basically provides API for developers to easily make use of AJAX technologies in more efficient and abstracted manner. These frameworks have unique components to accept request or process request using AJAX and are adapted to a particular language platform like ASP.NET or PHP etc. There are many AJAX frameworks for different platforms and languages. Some of the notable AJAX frameworks are listed below: For .NET web applications: ASP.NET Ajax Framework Web.Ajax For PHP web applications: Tigermouse Zephyr Pherry For Java web applications: Salto Ajax Buffalo Ajax Apache Wicket For JavaScript based web applications: jQuery Prototype Atom.js etc. Real World Usage of AJAX: Live searches: It is an important feature in modern search engines made possible by AJAX. Users don’t have to type the whole thing and autocomplete kicks in as soon as few letters are typed in and the expected results show up instantly as we start entering the term we are looking for. When we visit the large search engine sites like Google or Bing and search for anything, then we get the autocompleting service as well as list of matching results instantaneously instead of having to wait for the server to process and send back the results. In the below figure, while searching for Chicago Airport, the auto-completion kicks in and the user can see a list of his/her choices. Real time messaging and chat with Ajax: Ajax updates social media pages like Facebook and twitter pages without refreshing the page which helps user see updates and communicate with people real time. Chat web applications like meebo use AJAX extensively to enhance the chat experience. Drag and drop: One of the important features of Ajax is that it lets users drag and drop files and plugins on a webpage and such drag/drop events are automatically persisted to the server. This can be seen in cloud storage sites like dropbox or onedrive. Instant login feedback: When user enters the wrong login credentials, then the login failure response is instantaneous, instead of having for the page to post back to the server and the failed response to come back to the user. Real world Users of AJAX There are many web sites and applications that use AJAX nowadays. The most prominent and early adopters are sites like YouTube, Google maps, Gmail, Facebook etc. Facebook seems to have great implementation of AJAX as the posts and updates are show almost instantaneously and doesn’t need any page refresh. AJAX implementation in Facebook site is what does the trick in instant updates of user status, messages etc. A Google map is one of the oldest and the most popular AJAX based web application. The Google map fetches XML data of the places a user is looking for and transforms the received data into complex map imagery. Users can drag locations around or zoom in and out and the page doesn’t have to reload to reflect the new changes. Gmail also uses AJAX for variety of useful features like spell check, auto save incomplete as drafts, fetching new emails etc. Flickr uses AJAX in its site for loading pictures in a picture carousel manner where when a user clicks for next pict ure, there is no page refresh, the click of the next button simply fetches the next pictures and presents the user with the next picture – which makes perfect sense because there is not really a need to refresh the whole site to just to retrieve one photo in a current sequence of photos. Advantages and disadvantages AJAX has become a vital aspect of modern web application. AJAX has many advantages but it does also have some disadvantages. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of AJAX: Advantages: AJAX helps lessen the round trips between the client and the server. A site’s overall response time will be a lot faster. Open source JavaScript libraries like JQuery, Prototype, etc. for development Disadvantages: AJAX is an extra abstraction layer and will complicate design and development Security is a concern since files are downloaded client side. AJAX based web pages are not indexed for search. Browsers with JavaScript turned off won’t be able to render AJAX web sites. Summary Ajax is a great technology and should be used when sites have a lot of plugins on a page and each need to refresh dynamically. AJAX makes a site more dynamic and performance is improved significantly as it cuts down on the number of post backs the page has to go through. It is also important to know that AJAX has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is important to distinguish which web applications require AJAX and which ones can do without it. Very simple web pages with very little data interactivity can probably do away with AJAX. Developers should always focus on the requirements of the site and wisely if AJAX is necessary or not to match the requirement. References Saikrishna. (2012, June 9).AJAX Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. RetrievedJuly20, 2014, from http://wegonemad.blogspot.com/2012/06/ajax.html Advantages of using Ajax in your website | BounceWeb Web Hosting Blog. (n.d.). Retrieved from  http://blog.bounceweb.com/advantages-of-using-ajax-in-your-website/ Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications | Adaptive Path. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/ajax-new-approach-web-applications/ Ajax History Information. (n.d.). Retrieved from  http://www.xmluk.org/ajax-history-and-information.htm Ajax pros and cons. (n.d.). Retrieved from  http://www.jscripters.com/ajax-disadvantages-and-advantages/ Codeproject. (). What is AJAX? Retrieved from  http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/534632/WhatplusisplusAJAX-3f Getting Started AJAX | MDN. (n.d.). Retrieved from  https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/AJAX/Getting_Started The characteristics of Ajax Applications. (n. d). Retrieved from http://www.openajax.org/member/wiki/images/8/89/NexawebAjaxCharacteristics.pdf