Describe what an e-commerce opportunity is - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2843 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category IT Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? 3.1 Description and Market Potential Description Introduction: Describe what an e-commerce opportunity is. Cite sources. The current system was developed as part of an internal intranet define terms clearly with sources. This allows staff to set up alerts based on requests by existing clients or through new clients brought in by sales. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Describe what an e-commerce opportunity is" essay for you Create order This process could be automated into a website that allowed clients to review, purchase and setup their own alerts for their company without the need for manual processes by internal employees. This model favours a higher volume of sales at a lower cost with the potential to access new B2B what is this? sales outside of the current high value business clients. The single unit of sales for the site is an alert. A single alert covers: A number of twitter users to follow, these can be defined and grouped by the user for management convenience. A key area of the product will be pre-defined groups maintained by social360 that identify the influential journalists, bloggers and social media commentators from specific business sectors and geographical areas. Limitations are imposed on the user for numbers of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“influencersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ not yet defined per alert or group depending on the package selected and price The keywords the customer wants to follow. This requires an easy to understand process that defines the words to match or exclude and the logic that joins them together, either AND or OR. The people that the user sets up to alert, these can be managed as groups that can be shared across alerts or as individuals. Process requiring that the intended recipient is invited and accepts the receipt of alerts and can manage their subscription to alerts is required to avoid the sending of unsolicited email. SWOT Analysis (what are you analysing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Social 360? You have not yet identified your product or service for your proposed e-commerce activity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" state your service idea clearly at the beginning à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" paragraph 2) Strengths Already tested as a concept. Good feedback from clients using the existing service. Few competitors offering similar services. Low running costs. No stock or inventory, a digital product. Weaknesses Reliant on suppliers of data services, rapidly changing marketplace. Requires proprietary software which could increase development time. Opportunities Potentially large market unlimited by import/export taxes. Possibility of licensing to agencies in the future. Good expansion possibilities, creation of new products/services. Application can be localised for international sales. Threats Competitors offer limited services for free, need to focus on our differences. Services require high-availability service interruption must be avoided. Time to market is key in fast moving sector. Cost reduction devalues product for high value clients. PESTEL Analysis Political Changes in State and European law could affect service providers and their ability to provide the basic services required for the product. Economic Scalability of costs what is this? from suppliers needs to be assessed. Internal limits on staffing requirements and costs. Social Modern social landscape online provides potential customers interested in marketing, brand analysis and monitoring. Trends towards greater public sharing of data and opinions. New Public Relations in corporations moving from print media towards social media. Technological Fast moving changes in licensing of data from social media platforms could disrupt data suppliers Reliability of product is key, technology must be selected to provide continuity in services as missed content is unlikely to be tolerated. Use of freely available APIs provided by social media platforms should be exploited to improve informational content behind core services. Environmental Low general environmental impact. Data centres are the most significant use of energy, possibility of researching most efficient providers. Legal Must adhere to the data protection act concerning customer information Must be aware of requirements outlined in the e-commerce regulations act of 2002 Must be aware Suppliers terms and conditions Strategy/Vision The primary e-commerce strategy is to exploit new markets that are not currently reachable through traditional sales methods. Designing a system that is configurable through a public facing website removes the need for company employees to configure and administer alerts. When combined with a package selection process and payment system this creates a product with a sales process that removes a significant portion of the cost. Reducing the cost and improving the scalability of a virtual package selling allows for smaller businesses in a larger marketplace to to become targets for the product. Another significant factor is being able to pay minimal costs to translate and localise the interface into regional versions that can reach markets that would traditionally need sales staff who potentially need to speak the language and reside within the timezone. Objectives Vision Create a product of value to anyone marketing a brand or product or requiring social media tracking of a subject relating to their organisation. Provide a satisfying and intuitive user experience throughout all aspects of the site. Achieve levels of reliability befitting of a service for use in times of organisational crisis and for sending critical information. Produce alerts of social media content matching the clients needs delivered in a timely and reliable way to the organisational members that need it. Maintain the privacy and security of users of the site. Goals Primary initial objective is to produce a working and testable à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“betaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  version of the site within 4 months this entails: Research market potential of the product, assess competitors offerings. 1 week. Analysis of the current system used internally to identify its strengths and weaknesses, proposing areas for improvement specifically in usability. 1 week Research and planning; research available technology that can be used, specifically frameworks to assist with development and APIs relating to suppliers of data, email and payment services. 2 weeks Development of site to alpha version, unit, integration and component interface testing. 2 months System testing and deployment, acceptance testing. 1 month Market Research Applicable primary market research is based around feedback from existing clients using a similar product that fulfils the same function. Formulated questions and their responses can become part of account managers normal communication with clients communications departments. This allows for the gathering of data from questionnaire style responses conducted in a telephone interview style without the need to mail drop the client with what could possibly be off-putting marketing material. For existing clients the specifications for current alert configurations contain valuable data about the market. Clients can be separated into sectors showing their usage of the system based on the keywords, trends and influential people that they choose to follow. The marketing usage for these clients will allow for more targeted advertising to different business types. Possible selling points include: Brand management. Tracking social media conversation surrounding a brand or product. Product Launch. Analysing conversation on social media follow a product launch. Consumer Dissent. Providing data to help formulate response to criticism or protest. Political/Legislative. Tracking a core political issue or legislation change that affects the market place. Secondary research includes the use of publicly sourced data to understand the use of social media in the marketing and public relations departments of potential clients. This is a rapidly changing environment in marketing as companies realise the potential for using social media for marketing purposes and the need to monitor outlets that have influence. Social media marketing budgets will double over the next 5 years (Pam Dyer, 2013) From 2010 to 2012 the percentage of Americans following any brand on a social network increased from 16% to 33%. An increase of 106%. (Van Den Beld, B, 2012) Competitor analysis The closest competitor providing service of this nature is Yatterbox. Yatterbox provide a real time alert service limited by numbers of keywords and following fixed lists of influential accounts. SWOT analysis of yatterbox from the point of view of our product: Strengths Well maintained lists of influential social media commenters. Existing user base, current market leader. Good coverage of social media platforms. Graphical analysis of data history Weaknesses No provision for self maintained lists of influential sources. Limited number of search terms allowed on basic accounts. No real time alerts on basic accounts. Our Opportunities Provide greater control over lists of sources Allow user maintained lists Provide unlimited keyword search terms. Compete on price, offer limited free subscription to build user base. Offer real time and scheduled alerts Our Threats Not the first to market Comparison is inevitable, must compete on their strengths and highlight our own unique selling points. Competing on price doesnt allow us to set our own pricing. Yatterbox Pricing Basic Professional Enterprise 5 Keywords Unlimited Keywords Unlimited Keywords Daily Alert Real Time Alerts Real Time Alerts  £29 per month  £99 per month  £399 per month (Yatterbox, accessed 16 May 2014) 3.2 Systems Evaluation Service Providers A significant part of the product relies on services provided by third parties as a reliable platform for key functionality. The e-commerce part of the site also requires payment services to complete transactions. Data There are 2 main players in providing data streams from social media platforms who have licenses to provide social media data from a number of online platforms. Initially the main platform of concern is Twitter as this has been identified as the man driver of news within social media. Datasift and Gnip both provide APIs to allow for connection to streams of content based on rules to filter data. For our purposes we only require data from users accounts that are requested by users of our product. Streams can also be filtered by keywords but we intend to provide the setup for this within our own users accounts allowing them to decide what subjects are important to them. Main concerns affecting the choice are the ease of integration of the product, quality of documentation, reliability of the stream and cost. It may not be possible to completely asses these factors without trialling the services of both providers. Email The reliable delivery of email alerts is a critical factor in provision of the service. Usage of standard SMTP services within standard email accounts is unlikely to meet the requirements of sending large volumes of email due to concerns over spamming and unsolicited email. There are a number of services that are designed to provide a high volume email delivery platform. These also generally give better logging and information about delivery statuses and failures which we can transfer to the user to allow them to manage the recipients of their alerts. Providers include: Sendgrid Amazon SES Socketlabs Mailjet The relative advantages and disadvantages of each would have to be assessed using demo services and investigating the APIs in applicability to our own needs. At a first look Sengrid appears to be a good fit with clear documentation with examples of integration in a number of platforms, favourable independent reviews and a competitive pricing plan. Registrar/DNS services The main reason for the registrar is the registration of the required domain name for the website, but other concerns include the ability to manage DNS Explain meaning . This requires that the registrar used provides good online services for the administration of DNS records. Hosting For this type of project shared hosting (where servers are shared by a number of customers) is unlikely to provide the level of control and reliability required. Some of the processes we intend to setup on the server, such as the stream connections and management of email queues and processing, require a level of access that is generally limited or non-existent on shared servers. This leaves Cloud Computing service or Dedicated Servers as possible platforms for the services. For this project there are a number of unknowns that mean the usage of cloud computing is undesirable. Bandwidth, disk and memory usage and SQL storage costs are difficult to predict and can be expensive on cloud platforms. These are easier to assess as a known cost quantity on a dedicated system where it is possible to buy services with unlimited bandwidth and hardware more than capable of hosting the site for a reasonable length of time into its launch. The downside is reliability of a single point of failure in the hardware but this can be addresses by mirroring important services across colocated servers and using load balancing to route requests. SSL Certificate Most Service Providers who sell Secure Socket Layer certificates have a number of options ranging from basic encryption certificates that just offer the encry ption required to secure data in transit to those offering users greater confidence through vetting processes to ensure the organisation using the certificate is who they say they are. The certificates offered are usually 1 one of four of 4 types: Simple SSL security, offering encryption services identified by the use of https protocol prefix in the browser address bar and the browser à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“padlockà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  symbol. Domain Validation SSL, same as the simple with added checks for the validity of the domain. Users can click on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Site Sealà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  icons to check the validity of the domain with the certificate issuer. Organisational Validation SSL, same checks as the domain with extra vetting process for more information on the organisation when clicking the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“site sealà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  icon. Extended Validation SSL, the most stringent checks are carried out by the certificate issuing authority to validate legal, physical and operational existence of the organisation and that this information matches official records. This results in the browser displaying a highlighted green validation bar in the the address area with details of the verified company. (GlabalSign Ltd, accessed 19 May 2014) Whilst not all forms of payment integration described below strictly require the use of an SSL certificate any transfer of user information is best encrypted in this way and is essential if when hosting localised checkout pages. The use of encryption coupled with verification checks that can be performed by the user increases their confidence in the site, however I am unable to find any study or clear statistical evidence that there is an increase in user confidence or sales conversion rate through using Extended Valuation SSL over the simpler forms. Payment Gateway Considerations for payment gateways include: Charges imposed and how they scale with volume Applicability of the integration. Quality of the API and documentation Security Some payment gateways are linked to a merchant bank account and provide the possibility for a more seamless checkout experience with a greater level of customisation and control over the checkout experience. Sagepay, a popular UK payment provider has 4 possible levels of integration a serves as a good example of possible solutions: Form integration. No customer data is stored on site, entire checkout process handled by Sagepay. Simple and quick to integrate, shortest development time. No on-site security issues from storing customer data. Limited customisation, no control over checkout steps Limited opportunity for customer data recording. Server Integration. Customer transaction details can be stored locally, card details and payment pages handled by Sagepay. Card transactions simplified by sagepay. Advantages in storing customer transaction information, improve user experience on site. Limited customisation, no control over checkout steps. Increased security issues by handling customer data. Server inframe integration. Similar to the server integration but allows greater control through embedding the sagepay card payment step into and iframe in the checkout process. Card details handled by sagepay. Store customer transaction information locally. Full checkout customisation, only the card details step handled by sagepay. Greater opportunities for customer interaction during checkout. (help, chat, feedback etc) Increased development time, checkout steps need to be created and tested. Increased security issues through handling customer data. Direct integration. All aspects of the payment process are handled on site including customer card information, greatest level of control over the checkout and completely seamless as it only communicates with sagepay at the point of transaction processing from the local server. Greater control over customer checkout, data handling and checkout flow. No front-end considerations for integration, user experience entirely customisable. Longest development time, requires greatest consideration of implications. Greatest security risk. Requires PCI DSS certification (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) (Sagepay, accessed 15 May 2014) Other payment solutions do not require merchant accounts and can not be seamlessly integrated into the checkout flow. Systems such as PayPal offer solutions for easy integration that will always require that the user leaves the payment issuing site to go through the payment process (although PayPal does offer merchant account solutions as well), transaction reporting can be provided through call back systems such as PayPal Instant Payment Notification. There are advantages in using PayPal as it has a very large user base. This user base has become accustomed to the convenience of faster checkouts as there billing data and preferences are already stored and do not require re-entry during the checkout procedure helping to increase sales conversions for new customers. (PayPal, accessed 15 May 2014) Project Management/Version Control As with any software development version control is essential to manage the codebase. There are currently 2 ma in considerations for version control that are both open sourced and have online services to provide remote repositories for code. Git is a widely used Version Control System and can be hosted on github.com Mecurial provides similar functionality and can be hosted by bitbucket.org Other services go further than just version control by providing project management tools that fit in with software design methodologies such as Agile. These include: Assembla Basecamp

Aristotle on Friendship Essay - 1134 Words

Aristotle on Friendship We are social creatures. We surround ourselves with other human beings, our friends. It is in our nature. We are constantly trying to broaden the circumference of our circle of friends. Aristotle understood the importance of friendship, books VIII and IX of the Nicomachean Ethics deal solely with this topic. A modern day definition of a friend can be defined as â€Å"one joined to another in intimacy and mutual benevolence independently of sexual or family love†. (Oxford English Dictionary). Aristotle’s view on friendship is much broader than this. His arguments are certainly not flawless. In this essay I will outline what Aristotle said about friendship in the Nichomachaen Ethics and highlight possible†¦show more content†¦Both have something the other wants. These friendships do not last very long as once the buyer is no longer useful to the salesman, or visa versa, the connection is severed and the friendship ceases to be. Friendships of utility a re common among old people, for in old age people pursue the useful rather than the pleasant. 2. Friendships of Pleasure Friendships of pleasure are based on the amount of pleasure the people get from being in the relationship. People who go to football matches together, or who go to the pub together might be in this type of relationship. They are friends for their own sake, because the friendship brings them pleasure and enjoyment, not for their friend’s sake. Friendships of pleasure are common among young people. Young people quickly become friends and quickly cease to be friends because what pleasures them changes constantly. 3. Friendships of Virtue Friendships of virtue, unlike friendships of utility and pleasure, which can include a circle of friends, are strictly one on one relationships. These types of friendships can only occur between two people of the same virtues and both persons have to be virtuous. One can only become virtuous through wisdom and age. Therefore friendships of virtue are not found among young people. It is a relationship of mutual respect and love. The persons in this type of relationship are not in it because they gain something from the relationship, they are not friends becauseShow MoreRelatedAristotle And Aristotle On Friendship1480 Words   |  6 Pageswork The Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle addresses the question: what is the good life? Aristotle acknowledges that the generally accepted notion of the human good is happiness or, alternatively put, eudaimonia. The difficulty surrounding the age old question, and the topic that Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics primarily addresses, is not what we call the human good, but rather how happiness is defined and what contributes to a good, eudaimonic, flourishing life. Aristotle writes that happiness is anRead MoreAristotle on Friendship1069 Words   |  4 PagesIn book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle defines the three types of friendships that exist in the Greek word philia (a broader definition of friendship than one might think), which are based off usefulness, pleasure, or goodness, the three reasons for liking something: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure and complete friendships. In the beginning, Aristotle says that friendship is a virtue or at least involves virtue. It is necessary to life, since no one would choose to live withoutRead MoreAristotle on Friendship Essay610 Words   |  3 PagesAristotle On Friendship Philosophical Ethics December 6, 1995 Friendship is undoubtedly one of the most important elements in the books of Aristotles ethical principles. Aristotle takes the idea of friendship to a serious degree. He categorizes them into three groups or types of friendships. This report will attempt to define each type of friendship as well as identify the role of friendship in a society. Aristotle considers friendship to be a necessity to live. HeRead MoreEssay Aristotle On Friendship1333 Words   |  6 PagesAristotle wrote on many subjects in his lifetime but one of the virtues that he examines more extensively is friendship. Aristotle believes that there are three different kinds of friendship: utility, pleasure, and virtuous friendships. He also argues that a real friendship should be highly valued because it is a complete virtue and he believes it to be greater than honor and justice. Aristotle suggests that human’s love of utility and pleasure is the only reason why the first two types of friendshipsRead MoreAristotle s Views On Friendship890 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to Aristotle s views on friendships he believes that friendship is necessary to live a good life, inspires us to be virtuous, and is a kind of love. Aristotle also believes friendships help people predispose their character and keeps the youth away from errors. Additionally frien dship gives support during weakness and helps people be generous and know when they need help. Aristotle views that there are three kinds of friendships, pleasure, utility, and perfect friendships. Pleasure friendshipsRead MoreAristotle s Portrayal Of Friendship1708 Words   |  7 Pagesvirtuous character. While in Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle s depiction of friendship is a lively one, they show affection and their own virtuous character translates to our own. In contrast, Seneca s On The Shortness Of Life suggests that we should seek friends of virtue with the dead because they possess the ability to always be with us and guide us with their own knowledge of life. While Aristotle and Seneca would rather choose one form of friendship over the other, we can denounce the notion thatRead MoreFriendship Between Aristotle And Nietzsche1461 Words   |  6 Pagesthings that everyone shares. One common thing is friendship. Almost everyone Earth has experienced friendship and love whether it was a positive or negative experience. Aristotle and Nietzsche both have views on love and friendship, but have some very clear differences. This paper will show what consists of friendship to Aristotle, a rebuttal from Nietzsche, and how Aristotle’s beliefs can show and prove otherwise. Both philosophers believe that friendship is necessary in human life but both break downRead MoreAristotle s Theory Of Friendship1415 Words   |  6 Pageswould choose a friendless existence on condition of having all the other things in the world (Aristotle).† Humans are social beings, social beyond any other creature in the world. Human interaction is a must for survival. It is in our nature. Aristotle understood this, he even had his own analysis of friendship. In the Nicomachean Ethics written by Aristotle, books VIII and IX are based off of friendship. Today, the definition of a friend is, â€Å"A person with whom one has a bond of mutual affectionRead MoreAristotle s Types Of Friendship2060 Words   |  9 PagesAccording to Aristotle, one can experience three different types of friendship. The first type is a friend who is used for utilitarian purposes. Aristotle, however, quickly dismisses this type. As an example, Aristotle explains that one could never be friends w ith wine; while wine is satisfying to the person drinking the wine, no person ever wishes wine good fortune (Aristotle, 32). In order for a relationship between two people to be considered a friendship, one must want good things for the personRead MoreAristotle s Views On Friendship1357 Words   |  6 Pagesthat Aristotle attaches importance to friendship within his ethical reflections. It suffices to recall that the Nicomachean Ethics, the most representative of the ethical works of Aristotle, contains two complete books, books VIII and IX, dedicated to friendship. This means that the theme of friendship is given a much wider space than other fundamental ethical issues. However, this breadth in his explanations is not something casual, but rather responds to Aristotle’s belief that friendship is something

Twelfth Night Essay Summary Example For Students

Twelfth Night Essay Summary Twelfth Night is a comedy of light and shade. Its characters are not unreservedly happy and the events are not unreservedly humorous. Discuss. As a comedy, Twelfth Night is obviously intending to not only entertain its audience but also point out problems in society. It is imperative to entire merit of the play not to be realistic but to allow for empathy. Therefor to have a comedy of complete lightheartedness there would be no balance and hence no avenue for audience interaction. Without light we would have no darkness and for this reason Shakespeare has had to incorporate tragedy in order for the comedy to have its desired effect. The two in juxtaposition accentuate each other. The characters of Twelfth Night are neither bluntly humorous nor artlessly tragic. Twelfth Night like all Shakespearean comedies is largely about social concerns. The social messages in Twelfth Night are largely about, the need for a balance in life, that you should not judge on appearance as they can be deceptive and the importance of self awareness or the humor in lack of. Neither is artlessly or bluntly humorous, as this would detract from the g reater issues he in attempting to convey. Humor instead is used in contrast to some pain to antithesis the comedy and accentuate the themes. The plot of Twelfth Night is comic it explores many social issues in its comedy yet is also not unrestrained in its humor. As a comedy Twelfth Night follows, many conventions as far as structure, the setting is in a far away romantic land, situation, and events somewhat steer the plot however this is certainly not without art or subtleties. Shakespeare has carefully intertwined comedy and pain in both the main and the sub plots to highlight the comedy and explore the social themes. The audience is forced to suspend disbelief that such a coincidence could occur. The audience is transported from their ordinary mundane existence and is transported into a world of chance, non-existent penalties for practical jokes and the unmistakable harmony of events. It is this incongruity compared to everyday life that is humorous. However, this summer, frivolr is setting is not completely free from conflict. There is however, some predominately lighter characters that serve as comic relief from the more serious main plot and represent a certain type of people in society. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew would have been marvelously enjoyed by Shakespearean audiences as they are today. Not a scene goes by involving these to where we can laugh and the slow wit of Sir Andrew and the awkward puns of Sir Toby. However, we find the names and foolish antics of these two rather amusing. It is with a certain hesitance that we laugh at the gullibility of Sir Toby, his disillusioned love for Olivia is rather somber and balances our opinion of him. This balances is representative of all the characters in Twelfth Night, they may be predominately comic yet they are never completely comic or completely serious. This has the effect on Twelfth Night as making it more true to life and therefor we as the audience can relate and understand the themes. Malvolio and Feste are typical examples of characters that are seen as comic, yet when looking beyond these superficialities we see a far more important role of their character in the play. Feste, his name and title as a fool is careful balance of light and shade. He is arguably the most intelligent character in the play and it is evident at the end of the play that he is the most powerful, because he concludes the play. Feste is certainly a vital link between not only the main and sub plots but also as a conveyer of the action to the audience. It is ironic that such wit and wisdom are found in the fool. Cesario refers to Feste as, This fellows wise enough to play the fool: / And to do that well craves wit. The obvious key to understanding the themes Shakespeare is conveying we must closely examine the characters, with which he communicates. Feste is not a character of low, blunt comedy, his merriment is truthful not scornful or artless. Act 1 scene 5, The more fool, madonna, to mour n for your brothers soul being in heaven. Take away the fool Feste is clever well balanced and has a keen understanding of himself and others. This combination of intellect, humor and subtlety effectively conveys the themes of Twelfth Night, rather than a cruel, crude, unreservedly humorous character that would be not nearly as potent. The Contrariety Of Two Friends EssayThe irony of the situation is humorous and through music, we see Sir Toby and Sir Andrews serious side. It may well be seen as humorous that these two lonesome drunks care for love rather than the good life they have chosen. The comedy of the situation is tainted by the slight but penetrating sadness we can see in the two. Music is found in almost all aspects of the play, from the beginning where music reveals the humor in Orsinos depressing situation. Through to the final speech in the play where Feste uses song to speak truthfully about the meanings of the play. But thats all one, our play is done, / And well strive to please you everyday. The language of Twelfth Night, its structure and purpose are area where it is obvious that Shakespeare intended the play, its characters and the plot to be an overlapping indefinite line between light and shade. Maximum suspense is created by the constant balance, though we as the audience know that as a comedy all will end well Shakespeare combats this as much as possible. The structure of the play where two thirds of the play is written in prose, therefore allowing for punning and word play, it is lively and dynamic which holds audience attention. Moments of importance are made as obvious to the audience with rhyming couplets and blank verse. Letters, such as the letter to Malvolio rhyme to highlight the humor of the situation, I may command where I adore; //With bloodless stroke of my heart doth gore. The language of the play is manipulated in such a way, it is humorous, but it is balanced and constrained. Twelfth Night is a comedy, it has humorous aspects, and the plot is often laughable. However, it is contained through the cunning clever artistic ability of Shakespeare. Moments of great pain and sorrow are capitalized for effect. Accentuating the social themes and issues dealt with throughout the play. Every aspect of Twelfth Night is artistic and controlled; every scene has deliberate intentions to convey messages to the audience. The play in its entirety is effective through the careful balance of humor and pain. Twelfth night succeeds as a comedy because of this careful balance, entertaining its audience as well as allowing people to examine their own failings. The carefully crafted characters such as Malvolio help convey and accentuate the themes. Comic characters are also somber and vice versa. To do this Shakespeare employs many dramatic techniques, such as humor of situation and character, the true skill of Shakespeares writing is demonstrated when examining his complete cont rol of comedy within the characters and plot. Bibliography:

Public Lands System Essays - Conservation In The United States

Public Lands System The government has control of over one-third of the nation's land, and 398 million acres of that is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM 6). This land hold a wide diversity of resources, from timber, and grazing lands found on the surface to a mass of oil, natural gas, and minerals laying below the earth. The history of these lands is hardly a dull story, because it is the story of the taming of the "Wild West". Should the BLM though, still be controlling these lands under the same laws that where put in affect to establish the "Western Frontier." I feel that a radical reevaluation of these laws needs to take place, in order to adapt them to the changing demographic and technological environment of our society. The laws that are remaining are allowing companies to hurt the land, which is against the mission statement of the BLM. The BLM mission statement say, the Bureau is responsible for the balanced management of the public lands and resources and their various values so that they are considered in a combination that will best serve the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield; a combination of uses that takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources. These resources include recreation, land, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife, wilderness, and natural, scenic, scientific and cultural values. (BLM 7). Therefor by allowing these old laws to remain they are pulling away from there mission statement. Throughout the 80's the Bureau of Land Management developed a host of programs and emphasized a number of others - outdoor recreation, wildlife and fisheries, toxic materials management, and wetland enhancement, to name a few - but there are still many problems that must be addressed. Due to the increasing demand for outdoor recreation, there has been an overcrowding in our local, state, and national park. There is the demand for BLM to do more in outdoor recreation. Eight of the 10 states with the highest population growth between 1970 and 1980 were states with substantial acreages of public lands administer by the BLM. (BLM 12) The visitation to those lands has increased nearly three-fold in the past 20 years, and there is an expected increase of between 40 and 60 percent by the year 2000. (BLM 12) The amount of people that visit our park system each year is having a profound effect on the ecosystem of the park. An ecosystem can only absorb the effects of a small number of man made facilities on it. The number of large complexes that the public wants in their parks have effects that extend beyond there immediate boundaries. Yellowstone Park has to dispose of nearly 7000 tons of garbage every year. (Houston 3) The BLM needs to expand efforts to maintain facilities to protect public investments and the health and safety of the visiting public. Also, provide additional facilities with Federal funding and private sector concessions to meet the growing outdoor recreation demands. This would allow more destinations for the public that are seeking an outdoor experience, causing the crowding to become less dense because the users would be more widely distributed. Setting more public lands aside for parks would preserve that land for the future, because a park on BLM lands would require a greater on-the-ground presence, to monitor its use. A problem that is closely related to that of outdoor recreation, is providing a suitable habitat for the large diversity of animals that lives on the BLM's Public Lands System. Many of these animals are available to the hunter, trapper and fisherman; some are threatened or endangered; most contribute to the pleasure of wildlife viewing; all contribute to the ecological diversity of the Public Land System. (BLM 14). With so much land under the control of the BLM, the bureau manages more wildlife habitat than any other agency or group in the United States. The wide diversity of lands that is under their control supports over 3,000 species of animals and an untold number of land and invertebrate species. Public lands wildlife and fisheries resources are important to the American Economy. For instance, during the 1985-1986 season, over 5 million hunter use days occurred, with hunters spending an estimated $145,000,000. As for fishing there where over 3 million days at an estimated $55,000,000 spent by fishers. (BLM 14). Wildlife also contributed to enjoyment of the public lands for millions of campers, hikers, photographers and other users. These "Nonconsuptive" users spent

Free Essays on Spine

Functional Goals following SCI - Basic SCI - Functional Goals for Specific Levels of Complete Injury Level Abilities Functional Goals C1-C3 C3-limited movement of head and neck Breathing: Depends on a ventilator for breathing. Communication: Talking is sometimes difficult, very limited or impossible. If ability to talk is limited, communication can be accomplished independently with a mouth stick and assistive technologies like a computer for speech or typing. Effective verbal communication allows the individual with SCI to direct caregivers in the person's daily activities, like bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, transferring as well as bladder and bowel management. Daily tasks: Assistive technology allows for independence in tasks such as turning pages, using a telephone and operating lights and appliances. Mobility: Can operate an electric wheelchair by using a head control, mouth stick, or chin control. A power tilt wheelchair also for independent pressure relief. C3-C4 Usually has head and neck control. Individuals at C4 level may shrug their shoulders Breathing: May initially require a ventilator for breathing, usually adjust to breathing full-time without ventilatory assistance. Communication: Normal. Daily tasks: With specialized equipment, some may have limited independence in feeding and independently operate an adjustable bed with an adapted controller. C5 Typically has head and neck control, can shrug shoulder and has shoulder control. Can bend his/her elbows and turn palm Daily tasks: Independence with eating, drinking, face washing, brushing of teeth, face shaving and hair care after assistance in setting up specialized equipment. Health care: Can manage their own health care by doing self-assist coughs and pressure reliefs by leaning forward or side -to-side. Mobility: May have strength to push a manual wheelchair for short distances over smooth surfaces. A power wheelchair with hand contr... Free Essays on Spine Free Essays on Spine Functional Goals following SCI - Basic SCI - Functional Goals for Specific Levels of Complete Injury Level Abilities Functional Goals C1-C3 C3-limited movement of head and neck Breathing: Depends on a ventilator for breathing. Communication: Talking is sometimes difficult, very limited or impossible. If ability to talk is limited, communication can be accomplished independently with a mouth stick and assistive technologies like a computer for speech or typing. Effective verbal communication allows the individual with SCI to direct caregivers in the person's daily activities, like bathing, dressing, personal hygiene, transferring as well as bladder and bowel management. Daily tasks: Assistive technology allows for independence in tasks such as turning pages, using a telephone and operating lights and appliances. Mobility: Can operate an electric wheelchair by using a head control, mouth stick, or chin control. A power tilt wheelchair also for independent pressure relief. C3-C4 Usually has head and neck control. Individuals at C4 level may shrug their shoulders Breathing: May initially require a ventilator for breathing, usually adjust to breathing full-time without ventilatory assistance. Communication: Normal. Daily tasks: With specialized equipment, some may have limited independence in feeding and independently operate an adjustable bed with an adapted controller. C5 Typically has head and neck control, can shrug shoulder and has shoulder control. Can bend his/her elbows and turn palm Daily tasks: Independence with eating, drinking, face washing, brushing of teeth, face shaving and hair care after assistance in setting up specialized equipment. Health care: Can manage their own health care by doing self-assist coughs and pressure reliefs by leaning forward or side -to-side. Mobility: May have strength to push a manual wheelchair for short distances over smooth surfaces. A power wheelchair with hand contr...

Fascinating Tufted Titmouse Facts

Fascinating Tufted Titmouse Facts The tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a small, gray-plumed songbird, easily recognized for the crest of gray feathers atop its head, its big black eyes, black forehead, and its rust-colored flanks. They are quite common throughout the eastern part of North America, so if youre in that geographical region and want to catch a glimpse of a tufted titmouse, it may not be that difficult to find. Fast Facts: Tufted Titmouse Scientific Name: Baeolophus bicolorCommon Names: Tufted titmouseBasic Animal Group: BirdSize: 5.9–6.7 inchesWeight: 0.6–0.9 ounce  Lifespan: 2.1–13 yearsDiet: OmnivoreHabitat: Southeastern, eastern, and midwestern United States, southern Ontario (Canada)Population: Hundreds of thousands or millionsConservation Status:  Least Concern Description Male and female titmice have similar plumage, which makes identification a little bit easier, and titmice can be tempted to backyard bird feeders, so you may not have to go far at all to see one. Tufted titmice exhibit some distinct physical characteristics that make them easy to identify; these traits are easily spotted under most conditions and are not shared by too many other species within their range. The key physical characteristics to watch for when trying to identify a tufted titmouse include: Gray crestBlack forehead and billLarge, black eyesRusty-orange flanks The characteristics listed above are most useful in confirming that the bird youre looking at is a tufted titmouse. But you can also look for other field marks characteristic of the species, which include: Overall gray color, with darker gray upperparts and lighter gray on breast and bellyLight gray legs and feetMedium-length, gray tail (about one third its entire length, head to tail) Habitat and Distribution Populations of tufted titmice stretch from the East Coast of the United States westward to the Plains of central Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa. The highest population densities of tufted titmice occur along the Ohio, Cumberland, Arkansas, and Mississippi rivers. Within their range, there are certain habitats that tufted titmice prefer- they are most common in deciduous and mixed-deciduous forests, especially those with a dense canopy or tall vegetation. Tufted titmice also occur to a lesser extent in suburban areas, orchards, and wetlands and can be spotted at backyard bird feeders on occasion, during the fall and winter months. Diet and Behavior Tufted titmice feed on insects and seeds. They forage on trees and can be seen on trunks and limbs looking for insects in the crevices of the bark. They also forage on the ground. Throughout the year, their preferred foraging locations can change. In summer months they spend more time foraging in the canopy of a tall tree, while in winter they can be spotted on trunks and in shorter trees more often. When cracking open nuts and seeds, tufted titmice hold the seed in their feet and hammer them with their bill. tufted titmice feed on a variety of invertebrates including caterpillars, beetles, ants, wasps, bees, treehoppers, spiders and snails. When feeding at backyard bird feeders, tufted titmice have a fondness for sunflower seeds, nuts, suet, and mealworms. Tufted titmice move along branches and over the ground by jumping and hopping. When flying, their flight path is direct and not undulating. The song of the tufted titmouse is usually a clear, two-syllable whistle: peter peter peter peter. Their call is nasal and consists of a series of sharp notes: ti ti ti sii sii zhree zhree zhree. Reproduction and Offspring Tufted titmice breed between March and May. The female generally lays between five and eight brown-speckled eggs in nests that are 3 to 90 feet high. They line their nests with soft materials such as wool, moss, cotton, leaves, bark, fur, or grass. The female incubates the eggs for 13 to 17 days. Tufted titmice typically have one or two broods each season. The young of the first brood usually help care for the nestlings of the second brood. Most of the hatchlings die shortly after birth, but if they survive, they can live for more than two years. The oldest tufted titmouse on record lived to be 13 years old. The tufted titmouse is fully mature and ready for reproduction by age 1. vandervelden  / Getty Images Conservation Status The IUCN classifies the tufted titmouses conservation status as least concern.  Researchers place the number of tufted titmice in the hundreds of thousands or millions. Their numbers have increased slightly in the past few decades, about 1 percent, and they have moved northward, from the southeastern U.S. to the New England region and Ontario, Canada. Since they are among the larger species of birds, competition is not thought to be a factor, but they may be moving northward to areas where there are more dense populations of trees due to climate change. Sources Tufted Titmouse.†Ã‚  Animal Spot.â€Å"Tufted Titmouse.†Ã‚  Tufted Titmouse - Introduction | Birds of North America Online.Watt DJ. 1972. Comparison of the foraging behaviors of the Carolina Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse in northwestern Arkansas. M.Sc. thesis, Univ. Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Limited Warfare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Limited Warfare - Essay Example In the contemporary world, political and strategic failures, fiscal constraints, and the growing military power of nations globally are dictating the existence of limited warfare. Limited war entails that, destruction of an enemy need not be complete in material trait, but lead to a poise of the power structure, in which the power of rivaling groups, results toward stability. A limited war is one which involves nations that are at war but weapons such as nuclear weapons are not involved. The limited war is aimed to preserve several resources of a nation to be applied elsewhere or use part of resources to attain the desired objectives. The limited war seeks lesser objectives and not the annihilation of the adversary; its goals are limited to issues such as swings in political behavior. However, like other wars the limited war involved a foe and enmity and it is less refined that it was in the 18th century. There have been numerous limited wars witnessed in the world history which incl ude; the American Indian war, the Afghanistan war, the Libyan war and to some extent the Vietnam War. In some of these wars although Washington applied limited character it was evident that its main aim was to oust the regimes (Slim, 173). Political and Military Implications The political description of the aims is with conversion into military purposes. It would be hard, sometimes vague and tortuous, yet its victory is truly vital to the achievement of the political aims. Key military notions relating to the wished end product such as military conquest are changed to reflect a much important political emphasis. There exist Rapid resolution making and military response. The successful result of such a war centers on the ability to respond rapidly to a developing calamity, which most often explodes by surprise. This would be a key dispute for the military. Organizing and maintaining home and global political support. Military actions in the present age of precision and honesty need p olitical legality (Slim, 213). In that most significant issues are evasion of victims on both sides and reduction of collateral harm. It is crucial to maintain the military management in the defense and tactical decision-making circle and uphold a straight politico-military boundary. Militarily, the greatest dispute could arise in the political unwillingness to entrust a pro-active commitment and persistence. These would be to keep the authority for endorsing not just key military progress but also many operational resolutions concerning to operation and service of military resources. Political and military necessities will necessitate heavy dependence on acumen, watch and investigation. Use of ground forces across the boundaries could be dejected, or held up, due to fear of victims and complexity in disengagement. Information operations turn out to be important. The political necessities of the military operations, in order to attain and keep the ethical high ground and refute that to the opponent, would need a complete and complicated media, public associations and information campaign (Slim, 214). This needs full incorporation and harmonization with the preparation and implementation of the military operations. Mental warfare has existed as a part of typical war it gets significance now. Limited conformist war need to consider counter involvement and protective measures. The so called cold start

History of the Department Store Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

History of the Department Store - Essay Example As our cities changed, the department store changed to meet the needs of the new demographics. While some suburbs flourished, inner cities fell into decline. By examining the history of the department store we can get a better look at the evolution of our American cities, and create a more effective plan for their future. The department store had its beginnings in New York when A T Stewart opened his legendary Marble Palace in 1846. This would be followed by Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Marshall Field, and Wanamaker who spared no luxury in opulent buildings, window displays, and the quality of merchandise. By the turn of the twentieth century the department store had become the hub of American inner city commerce. Owned by giants such as R. H. Macy, Marshall Fields, and A. T. Stewart, the stores reflected the name and reputation of their owners. The department store concept catapulted the owners to fame and notoriety as a1900 account of A T Stewart refers to him as "the acknowledged head of the mercantile world in this city and the sights on New York included AT Stewarts marble store downtown and Stewart's marble palace uptown" (From cellar to garret, 1900). These men that pioneered the department store helped define the geography of our cities and shape the demographics of consumerism. Department stores were created when the ability to move goods to a central location coincided with the ability to move customers to that location. Department stores were unique in their ability to offer a huge array of goods under one roof arranged in departments. "Such large retailers only became feasible when the horsecar or streetcar could deliver crowds to the central city. Department stores exploited economies in purchasing and distributing to a large market, which made them cheaper than the alternative, local neighborhood stores" (Nye, 1990, p.113). In addition, the stores utilized the concept of fixed pricing, which eliminated the need to haggle or bargain on a price. This would open the door for relatively inexperienced salesclerks that were often women. Of course, the success of the department store would be dependent upon attracting enough customers to make it a profitable venture. The introduction of the trolley car and railroad made this possible. The early department sto res were located along these lines of transportation and created the core of commerce and the inner city. In Chicago, P. Palmer ran a dry goods and carpet store in the downtown area and had foreseen the coming of the department store, and the importance of the inner city, with the success of the Marble Palace and Macy's in New York. "Palmer had correctly foreseen that State Street would become the burgeoning city's new central business district because of its location near an important transportation junction, and he invested wisely in real estate there" (Benes, 2006, p.72). In 1893, Marshall Field opened a store on Palmer's property amid the fanfare of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The store was an instant success as, "People would visit the store and then go home and tell their neighbors about it. The neighbors would come to marvel at the huge store-and to buy its rare and high-quality goods" (Benes, 2006, p.72). These department stores located in downtown areas would attract other

Comparing the Republic to the Modern Society Essay Example for Free

Comparing the Republic to the Modern Society Essay The relevance of The Republic to our modern society In Plato’s The Republic, Plato illustrates what his ideal city would look like. He describes the educational systems, ideal legislators and the purposes of democracy. The republic influenced many people to understand the purpose for democracy, and it led to new philosophical schools of thought. Although this work was written hundreds of years ago, it still affects our modern world today. One of the most important things that Plato stresses is the importance of education. Without education of the masses, democracy would cease to exist. When Plato was forming his ideal society, he stressed the importance of education for several reasons. Most importantly, educating citizens led to a peaceful, well-run republic. For Plato, education was not about information intake and data storage. Rather, education was drawing out the knowledge that was already in the student. He said that â€Å"the power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already† He gives an allegory of prisoners in a cave, who have never seen light before. They become free, come out of the cave and see the light. They understand that the shadows are just reflections of real things; they are not the real things themselves. They ascend up to a mountain and see the world for what it really is. Plato uses this story to illustrate what education does for the human soul. We are all born in a dark cave, chained to a wall and cannot see the light. We still around all day looking at shadows, which appear to be so real to us. Education breaks the chains of ignorance. We can ascend to the top of the mountain and look out onto the beautiful world. According to Plato, after the prisoners’ ascend all the way to the top of the mountain, â€Å"they must be made to descend again among the prisoners’ in the den and partake in labors and honors, whether worth having or not. † Plato notes that once a person is educated and has received knowledge and truth, they should go back and teach those who do not know. This still relevant today because we need to not be so focused on how high we climb up the ladder, but we need to be concerned with how we help others achieve their goals. This allegory is also used to describe justice. The prisoners’ in the cave do not know what real justice looks like. The people on the mountain tops must come down and give understanding to those who are lacking it. Plato goes on to describe the type of leader that would be perfect to run the ideal city. The type of leader that Plato describes is someone who is â€Å"wisest about the affairs of the state, and by whom the state is best administered and who at the same time have other honors and a better life then that of politics. â€Å" The ideal leader in Plato’s time is not much different from the ideal leader in our time period. We still want someone who knows and understands the problems of the state or country, who will be a good leader, and will be able to put the welfare of his people before his own. These characteristics are still what many people look for in a dependable leader. Plato describes that a good leader should not be caught up in their own wealth, they should care about their people. This is a very foundational idea that is still important in America today. We desire to have a leader who will be humble and care for us, instead of one that has a hidden agenda. According to Plato, economic self-interest and political power must be kept separate and not be allowed to work in combination to the disadvantage of the state. In mapping out his utopian society, Plato stresses the importance of democracy. In a short piece called democracy considered, Plato talks about how oligarchies decay into democracies and democracies decay into tyranny. Tyranny is formed from pursing one’s pleasures and appetites. Plato claims that â€Å"a man who is deranged and not right in his mind will fancy that he is able to rule, not only over men, but also over gods â€Å"He describes here that a man can not be a leader if he is deranged and thinks that he is the center of the universe. Plato then shows how democracy and tyranny differ. In describing the differences, Glacon says â€Å"They are the opposite extremes for one is the very best and the other is the very worst. † The republic shows many similarities to today’s society. We still have many of the same ideals in education and in government. This piece of work was criticized at the time it was written by is now honored and very influential. It was one of the first writings that began western thinking and formed many new beliefs that influenced the renaissance.

What makes a good website :: essays research papers

What makes a good website?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction In my opinion what makes a good web page? I have been on the net for the last, can’t really believe it, coming to ten years now. From the conception to now, I have been a regular surfer on the web, visiting thousands of pages a month, mostly in search of some thing or another. Most searches have lead to even more searches but some times I come up tops. Having been used to the all text sites of the beginning, and seeing the first implementations of more graphic based sites, there was a three-year lapse where I rarely got to surfing and missed a whole evolution in web page. When I returned in full to surfing, I discovered the face of the internet have started to change. Buttons with pictures, navigation systems, some that even worked, all and all better thought out sites that where pleasing to look at and better to work with. This was probably due to the introduction of java script and more complex versions of html. Before then what made a sight good or bad, for me, was more bas ed on contents. As this change came to be my expectations of sites changed as well. When, at first, we where happy to have hyperlinked, underlined blue text, now we expect to have a good, easy to use, constant navigation system. Where bad resolution bitmaps where the norm, now we want smooth animated graphics. The way we use the internet have changed with the advances in technology, so changing our expectations and creating a whole new set of problems for anyone, from the big spenders to backroom designers, how to get our attention and how to keep us coming back. First impressions: The first thing that I look for in a web site is definitely something to draw my attention. I am not picky, but it normally comes in the style of some sort of graphic. Will it be the company logo, background image, or even just the colour used in the background, any of them can make me take a second look and so giving the designer a chance to get me into the rest of the site. The newer sites these days come with splash pages, advertising to you what you can expect on the inside, but like all advertising can become its own undoing by either chasing you away in the first place or misrepresenting what you are going to find there.

Mobile Crushing Plant Arrived at Philippines Quarry Essay

Last week, a good news came from Philippines that the customer who had ordered DSMAC mobile crushing plant for his quarry is satisfied with the final sand crushed by the crusher. Early since September 2012, the Philippines customer consulted on DSMAC official website about the crushing equipment. Aiming to the existing problem of serious wear and the quarry’s position of suburb, the enterprise engineer recommended the mobile crushing plant. At the end of 2012, the30tph mobile crushing plant was exported to Philippines successfully. The whole crushing plant includes: Hopper+ PE400*600 jaw crusher + PYT900 cone crusher + 2YK1245 circular vibrating screen + belt conveyor Besides, the equipped Commins diesel generator, hydraulic pressure unit and frequency conversion control cabinet, and so on are also sent to the customer. On 13th December, DSMAC two engineers are sent to Philippines customer site. On 22th, the mobile crushing plant began to operate successfully, and the crushed sand has good shape and high cleanness, which makes the customer satisficed. Mobile crushing plant is often mainly used forsand making line and construction waste crushing line. This crushing station has the features of convenient and stong mobility, saving lots of infrastructure and removal cost and the materials’ transportation cost, because this crushing station can work in complicated terrain and move with raw materials’ mining fields. DSMAC mobile crusher integrates primary crushing and secondary crushing closely, and realize the less occupation, convenient installation and automation. Therefore, the mobile crushing plant is always liked by owners of quarry and construction waste processing plant at home and abroad. Besides, there are also variety of stationary crushers, production lines, feeders and screens, ore crushers, crusher spare parts, and so on. The customers who are in need of crushing equipment can visite the website http://www.sandmakingplants.com/ About DSMAC Founded in 1997, DSMAC Group is a China leading crusher and sand making machine manufacturer with a complete line of crushing, grinding and screening equipment. We boast an extensive product range, and our impressive 128,000 square meter factory space is fully equipped with CNC machines, spectrometers, welding machines imported from Germany, and more, to efficiently meet your requirements. Contact Information DSMAC GroupJanet ZhangPhone: +86-371-6789-7680 E-mail: janet@dscrusher.com

Advantages and Disadvantages of Normal Lan vs. Wireless Lan

Advantages and disadvantages of normal LAN vs. wireless LAN. Computer networks for the home and small business can be built using either wired or wireless technology. Wired Ethernet has been the traditional choice in homes, but Wi-Fi wireless technologies are gaining ground fast. Both wired and wireless can claim advantages over the other; both represent viable options for home and other local area networks (LANs). Below we compare wired and wireless networking in five key areas: †¢ease of installation †¢total cost †¢reliability †¢performance †¢security About Wired LANs Wired LANs use Ethernet cables and network adapters. Although two computers can be directly wired to each other using an Ethernet crossover cable, wired LANs generally also require central devices like hubs, switches, or routers to accommodate more computers. For dial-up connections to the Internet, the computer hosting the modem must run Internet Connection Sharing or similar software to share the connection with all other computers on the LAN. Broadband routers allow easier sharing of cable modem or DSL Internet connections, plus they often include built-in firewall support. Installation Ethernet cables must be run from each computer to another computer or to the central device. It can be time-consuming and difficult to run cables under the floor or through walls, especially when computers sit in different rooms. Some newer homes are pre-wired with CAT5 cable, greatly simplifying the cabling process and minimizing unsightly cable runs. The correct cabling configuration for a wired LAN varies depending on the mix of devices, the type of Internet connection, and whether internal or external modems are used. However, none of these options pose any more difficulty than, for example, wiring a home theater system. After hardware installation, the remaining steps in configuring either wired or wireless LANs do not differ much. Both rely on standard Internet Protocol and network operating system configuration options. Laptops and other portable devices often enjoy greater mobility in wireless home network installations (at least for as long as their batteries allow). Cost Ethernet cables, hubs and switches are very inexpensive. Some connection sharing software packages, like ICS, are free; some cost a nominal fee. Broadband routers cost more, but these are optional components of a wired LAN, and their higher cost is offset by the benefit of easier installation and built-in security features. Reliability Ethernet cables, hubs and switches are extremely reliable, mainly because manufacturers have been continually improving Ethernet technology over several decades. Loose cables likely remain the single most common and annoying source of failure in a wired network. When installing a wired LAN or moving any of the components later, be sure to carefully check the cable connections. Broadband routers have also suffered from some reliability problems in the past. Unlike other Ethernet gear, these products are relatively new, multi-function devices. Broadband routers have matured over the past several years and their reliability has improved greatly. Performance Wired LANs offer superior performance. Traditional Ethernet connections offer only 10Mbps bandwidth, but 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet technology costs little more and is readily available. Although 100 Mbps represents a theoretical maximum performance never really achieved in practice, Fast Ethernet should be sufficient for home file sharing, gaming, and high-speed Internet access for many years into the future. Wired LANs utilizing hubs can suffer performance slowdown if computers heavily utilize the network simultaneously. Use Ethernet switches instead of hubs to avoid this problem; a switch costs little more than a hub. Security For any wired LAN connected to the Internet, firewalls are the primary security consideration. Wired Ethernet hubs and switches do not support firewalls. However, firewall software products like ZoneAlarm can be installed on the computers themselves. Broadband routers offer equivalent firewall capability built into the device, configurable through its own software. About Wireless LANs Popular WLAN technologies all follow one of the three main Wi-Fi communication standards. The benefits of wireless networking depend on the standard employed: †¢802. 11b was the first standard to be widely used in WLANs. †¢The 802. 11a standard is faster but more expensive than 802. 11b; 802. 11a is more commonly found in business networks. †¢The newest standard, 802. 11g, attempts to combine the best of both 802. 1a and 802. 11b, though it too is more a more expensive home networking option. Installation Wi-Fi networks can be configured in two different ways: †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ad hoc† mode allows wireless devices to communicate in peer-to-peer mode with each other. †¢Ã¢â‚¬ Infrastructure† mode allows wireless devices to comm unicate with a central node that in turn can communicate with wired nodes on that LAN. Most LANs require infrastructure mode to access the Internet, a local printer, or other wired services, whereas ad hoc mode supports only basic file sharing between wireless devices. Both Wi-Fi modes require wireless network adapters, sometimes called WLAN cards. Infrastructure mode WLANs additionally require a central device called the access point. The access point must be installed in a central location where wireless radio signals can reach it with minimal interference. Although Wi-Fi signals typically reach 100 feet (30 m) or more, obstructions like walls can greatly reduce their range. Cost Wireless gear costs somewhat more than the equivalent wired Ethernet products. At full retail prices, wireless adapters and access points may cost three or four times as much as Ethernet cable adapters and hubs/switches, respectively. 802. 1b products have dropped in price considerably with the release of 802. 11g, and obviously, bargain sales can be found if shoppers are persistent. Reliability Wireless LANs suffer a few more reliability problems than wired LANs, though perhaps not enough to be a significant concern. 802. 11b and 802. 11g wireless signals are subject to interference from other home applicances including microwave ovens, cordless tel ephones, and garage door openers. With careful installation, the likelihood of interference can be minimized. Wireless networking products, particularly those that implement 802. 11g, are comparatively new. As with any new technology, expect it will take time for these products to mature. Performance Wireless LANs using 802. 11b support a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 11 Mbps, roughly the same as that of old, traditional Ethernet. 802. 11a and 802. 11g WLANs support 54 Mbps, that is approximately one-half the bandwidth of Fast Ethernet. Furthermore, Wi-Fi performance is distance sensitive, meaning that maximum performance will degrade on computers farther away from the access point or other communication endpoint. As more wireless devices utilize the WLAN more heavily, performance degrades even further. Overall, the performance of 802. 11a and 802. 11g is sufficient for home Internet connection sharing and file sharing, but generally not sufficient for home LAN gaming. The greater mobility of wireless LANs helps offset the performance disadvantage. Mobile computers do not need to be tied to an Ethernet cable and can roam freely within the WLAN range. However, many home computers are larger desktop models, and even mobile computers must sometimes be tied to an electrical cord and outlet for power. This undermines the mobility advantage of WLANs in many homes. Security In theory, wireless LANs are less secure than wired LANs, because wireless communication signals travel through the air and can easily be intercepted. To prove their point, some engineers have promoted the practice of wardriving, that involves traveling through a residential area with Wi-Fi equipment scanning the airwaves for unprotected WLANs. On balance, though, the weaknesses of wireless security are more theoretical than practical. WLANs protect their data through the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard, that makes wireless communications reasonably as safe as wired ones in homes. No computer network is completely secure and homeowners should research this topic to ensure they are aware of and comfortable with the risks. Important security considerations for homeowners tend to not be related to whether the network is wired or wireless but rather ensuring: †¢the home's Internet firewall is properly configured †¢the family is familiar with the danger of Internet â€Å"spoof emails† and how to recognize them †¢the family is familiar with the concept of â€Å"spyware† and how to avoid it †¢babysitters, housekeepers and other visitors do not have unwanted access to the network Conclusion You've studied the analysis and are ready to make your decision. Bottom line, then, which is better – wired or wireless? The table below summarizes the main criteria we've considered in this article. If you are very cost-conscious, need maximum performance of your home system, and don't care much about mobility, then a wired Ethernet LAN is probably right for you. If on the other hand, cost is less of an issue, you like being an early adopter of leading-edge technologies, and you are really concerned about the task of wiring your home or small business with Ethernet cable, then you should certainly consider a wireless LAN. Wired vs Wireless Wired Wireless Installationmoderate difficultyeasier, but beware interference Cost less more Reliability High Reasonably high Performancevery good good Security reasonably good reasonably good Mobility limited outstanding

Computers Are Making Users Sick †Health and Safety Essay

Computers Are Making Users Sick – Health and Safety Essay Free Online Research Papers Computers Are Making Users Sick Health and Safety Essay Almost half of all PC users in the UK have experienced health problems caused by using computers, research has found. According to a poll conducted by computer retailer PC World, eye strain was the most common problem associated with computer use, suffered by 25 per cent of users. About 15 per cent had experienced back pain, while headaches were experienced by 14 per cent of users. Of those surveyed, 11 per cent cited wrist pain and 10 per cent shoulder pain caused by prolonged PC use. A PC World representative said that health and safety guidelines introduced in UK businesses had not trickled down to home users. â€Å"It’s too easy to compromise your health. Adopting a simple routine of looking up, easing up or stretching and ultimately getting away from the PC can help you to avoid some of the aches and pains caused by extended use,† he said. In an average day, 18 per cent of people spend two or more hours using a PC at home, and 15 per cent at work. Two in five respondents took no breaks in two hours of PC usage. Respondents were also asked whether they used any of a range of products including flat-screen monitors, which help minimise eye strain, and ergonomic keyboards and mousemats. The majority of home users, 59 per cent used none of these products, with 54 per cent at work also using none. The most popular product was the mousemat with wrist rest, with 27 per cent of home PC users and 31 per cent at work using these products. Monitor screens designed to minimise glare were used by 14 per cent at home while six per cent were using ergonomic keyboards. In conjunction with the charity AbilityNet, PC World said it would launch a campaign to raise awareness of good computing practice to minimise the health risks associated with PC use.AbilityNet hopes to raise awareness of the health risks of PC use. Research Papers on Computers Are Making Users Sick - Health and Safety EssayInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesTwilight of the UAWMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringThe Project Managment Office SystemNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseHip-Hop is ArtDefinition of Export Quotas

Information on Arizona Education and Schools

Information on Arizona Education and Schools When it comes to education and schools, each state takes its own unique approach. For the most part, state governments and local school boards develop educational policy and mandates that shape education and schools within state and local boundaries. Though there is some Federal oversight, most highly debated education regulations are shaped more closely to home. Trending educational topics such as charter schools, standardized testing, school vouchers, teacher evaluations, and state adopted standards typically align with the controlling political parties philosophy. These differences have made it difficult to compare education and schools between states accurately.   They also ensure that a student living in a particular state will be receiving at least a somewhat different education that a like student in a surrounding state. There are many data points that can be used to compare education and schools among states. Though it is a difficult endeavor, you can begin to see differences in educational quality by looking at shared data in regards to education and schools among all states. This profile of education and schools focuses on the state of Arizona. Arizona Education and Schools Arizona State Department of Education Arizona State Superintendent of Schools:  Diane Douglas District/School Information Length of School Year: A minimum of 180 school days is required by Arizona state law. Number of Public School Districts: There are 227 public school districts in Arizona. **** Number of Public Schools: There are 2421 public schools in Arizona. **** Number of Students Served in Public Schools: There are 1,080,319 public school students in Arizona. **** Number of Teachers in Public Schools: There are 50,800 public school teachers in Arizona.**** Number of Charter Schools: There are 567 charter schools in Arizona. Per Pupil Spending: Arizona spends $7,737 per pupil in public education. **** Average Class Size: The average class size In Arizona is 21.2 students per 1 teacher. **** % of Title I Schools: 95.6% of schools in Arizona are Title I Schools.**** % With Individualized Education Programs (IEP): 11.7% of students in Arizona are on IEPs. **** % in Limited-English Proficiency Programs: 7.0% of students in Arizona are in limited-English Proficient Programs.**** % of Student Eligible for Free/Reduced Lunches: 47.4% of student in Arizona schools are eligible for free/reduced lunches.**** Ethnic/Racial Student Breakdown**** White: 42.1% Black: 5.3% Hispanic: 42.8% Asian: 2.7% Pacific Islander: 0.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native: 5.0% School Assessment Data Graduation Rate: 74.7% of all students entering high school in Arizona graduate. ** Average ACT/SAT score: Average ACT Composite Score: 19.9*** Average Combined SAT Score: 1552***** 8th-grade NAEP assessment scores:**** Math: 283 is the scaled score for 8th-grade students in Arizona. The U.S. average was 281. Reading: 263 is the scaled score for 8th-grade students in Arizona. The U.S. average was 264. % of Students Who Attend College after High School: 57.9% of students in Arizona go on to attend some level of college. *** Private Schools Number of Private Schools: There are 328 private schools in Arizona.* Number of Students Served in Private Schools: There are 54,084 private school students in Arizona.* Homeschooling Number of Students Served Through Homeschooling: There were an estimated 33,965 students that were homeschooled in Arizona in 2015.# Teacher Pay The average teacher pay for the state of Arizona was $49,885 in 2013.## Each individual district in the state of Arizona negotiates teacher salaries and establishes their own teacher salary schedule. The following is an example of a teacher salary schedule in Arizona provided by the Dyzart Unified School District. *Data courtesy of Education Bug. **Data courtesy of ED.gov ***Data courtesy of PrepScholar. ****Data courtesy of the National Center for Education Statistics ******Data courtesy of The Commonwealth Foundation #Data courtesy of A2ZHomeschooling.com ##Average salary courtesy of National Center of Education Statistics ###Disclaimer:   The information provided on this page changes frequently.   It will be updated regularly as new information and data become available.

Arguing to Persuade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arguing to Persuade - Essay Example Argument to persuasion invites more use of language resources than argument to persuade (Caine 54). A persuasive paper intends to use logic and reasoning to convince others abandon their stands and beliefs and be conformed to the writers views). In this regard, this writing prior to preparation is necessary. There are stipulated steps that, if followed would result to a high performing persuasive paper. To begin with, an author should choose a certain stand (Wachob 34). Before one embarks on convincing others about his point of view, he or she must be sure of what he or she believes. Understanding and analyzing the audience follows; after this, the writer must delve into serious research on the topic. This enables one form concrete decisions, explanations to every statement and also boosts personal confidence and esteem. It is also in this level that one understands the failures of former works in the topic and develops mechanisms to counter them. The research on the topic also helps indentify reliable and legitimate sources of information and experts on the same. From the research plane, one is to develop a hypothesis, a proposition, a claim on the topic. The hypothesis should be debatable, carry with it two opposing ends. One can resort to having a thesis that stands against his or her stand, doing this ensures that the claim is debatable. The next move is to try and extrapolate possible refutations against your stand. This stage can be meant to do two things, prepare one psychologically to defend his or her stand and prepare answers to the refutations citing legitimate and available evidences (Forsyth 23). The next point is to provide concrete reasons for a particulate stand. This can be done by providing evidences by the use of facts, statistics from dependable sources and by the use of illustrations and examples. There are elements of a good persuasive writing. There should be order of how things get presented. This allows a clear flow of information witho ut conflicting of ideas, facts and truths. To start with is the introduction of the paper. This part gives an oversight of the paper and should not to be too lengthy. Terminologies in the topic of the paper should be defined and be explained at this point. Explanation of the background of the paper can also be given in the introduction (Caine 64). In the end of introduction, the claim should be introduced in a clear and precise way. The thesis can tell the reader the actual topic of the paper and the organization of the paper After introduction and having stated the thesis, the next thing in line is defending the thesis by providing evidences. This happens in the body of the paper and should take a minimum of three paragraphs. The thesis carries the whole paper. At this point, it is healthy to have the extrapolated refutations in the fingertips so as to start countering them from the very first defense. The paragraphs should also be arranged in accordance with the weight of the evid ences, starting from the beast to the least. The last statement of the paragraph should also be able to link with the next paragraph in a manner that embraces a perfect flow of information. (Wachob 39) After a perfect statement of the writers evidences, the paper should proceed to a new paragraph or segment that purely focuses on refutations. Since the writer communicates through writing, he or she is denied the chance of getting

Ethics and Professional Code of Conduct Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics and Professional Code of Conduct - Essay Example Integrity ensures that such persons respect the citizens’ constitutional rights, liberty and adhere to the values of justice and fairness in their duties to the citizens (Gaines & Kappeler, 2011, p 345). In this case, the professional is capable of ensuring fairness in his or her duties and refraining from unjust use of authority. Secondly, ethics and integrity ensures that police chief exercises reasonable courtesy while interacting with the public. In this case, the police chief or county sheriff is able to refrain from mocking, embarrassing, ridiculing or humiliating subordinates or fellow officers in order to incite them to violence. Thirdly, ethics and integrity will enable such professionals to observe confidentiality of information that is available to them in their capacity as senior law enforcement officers (Gaines & Kappeler , p 343). The officers should not willfully violate any legal restrictions that restrict the dissemination of the private information and should not disclose information that may endanger the life of a complaint or victim to a crime. There is a clear difference between ethics, morality and law as pertains to the duties of law enforcement officers. Ethics are external standards that are set by the law enforcement profession and are regarded as the social system or framework that should offer the acceptable behavior in the execution of duties of the law enforcement officer (Hess & Orthmann, 2011, p189). Morality refers to the law enforcement officer’s own principles regarding what is right or wrong. Morality is internal as it reflects the habits, beliefs, culture, and religion of an individual while ethics are external since they are set by the profession. Morality is guided by the existing cultural norms while the ethics are guided by the legal and professional guidelines. Dutelle (2011) asserts that the morals are

The Hazards Of Smoking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Hazards Of Smoking - Essay Example   The cigarette has been part of man kind's evolutionary journey for a long while now. In the present day, it holds an entire industry in form of tobacco industry. Established cartels, business enterprises, firms, stake holders, suppliers, and investors are associated with this business.   National, international and multinational operational operations are conducted and across the continent exchange of cigarette products is performed.   Governments issue proper licenses for its promotions, it's selling, its usage for trade and other purposes. A large amount of investment alone in the field of advertisement of tobacco and cigarette is done and every local media in different parts of the world have been enrolled into it. Hence it is a menace that has spread its web firm and strong and has become an integral part of every society and mainly the male members of respective societies.  The path forward:  Having mentioned its vastly spread network, a vigorous policy must be devis ed to ensure that the menace can be eradicated and controlled in a contained manner in order to protect the precious lives from it.   The alarming fact about it is the point that it induces its impact into others through passive smoking and inhaling. It is being said that through the passive smoking, the people in the vicinity are nearly or equally prone to the threat of its dangers. Smoking, in general, is a very dangerous thing and poses threats to health and the human body in many forms.

Motivation Aspects to Job Selection

Motivation Aspects to Job Selection Motivation is derived from the latin word â€Å"movere† which means to move. Motivation is the process of moving from ones needs to drives and finally to incentives. Needs are identified because of a deficiency which may be physiological or psychological. Drives activate the behaviour for fulfilling the needs that were identified above. The behaviour which is performed because of drives cause results in a reward or an incentive which may be tangible or intangible. This report is about selecting a job that will motivate us and explaining the same using various motivation theories. We deliberated on the kind of jobs that would motivate us and came to the conclusion that we would wish to be management consultants in a reputed consultancy firm. After looking for vacancies in various job portals and company websites we came to the conclusion that joining Mckinsey and Company would be the best.The details of the job description and the company overview is discussed below. Job Description Junior Associate – McKinsey Company â€Å"As a consultant, you will join teams working with the top management of corporations on critical issues, identifying business opportunities, generating and evaluating solutions, and developing result-oriented change programs. You will also have the opportunity to contribute to the development of state-of-the-art management concepts and practices.† McKinsey Company is a global management consulting firm which started in the year 1926. It is one of the most trusted advisors to the worlds leading businesses, governments and institutions. One of the golden rules that Mckinsey follows is below which is beneficial to both employees as well as clients â€Å"We work with our clients as we do with our colleagues. We build their capabilities and leadership skills at every level and every opportunity. We do this to help build internal support, get to real issues, and reach practical recommendations. We bring out the capabilities of clients to fully participate in the process and lead the on-going work.† Motivation theory – Equity Model This cognitively based model is on the calculation of outputs received by an individual and the amount of input that he/she has put in to get the outputs. The inputs and outputs might be perceived differently by different individuals and hence it is measured relative between individuals. Age, sex, education, social status, organisational position, qualifications and how hard the person works are examples of perceived input variables. Outcomes consist primarily of rewards such as pay, status, promotion and intrinsic interest. Schematically this is represented in the 3 possible scenarios. If the perceived ratio is not equal to the others, he or she will strive to restore the ratio to equity. This striving to restore equity is used as the explanation of work motivation. The person may alter the inputs or outcomes, cognitively distort the inputs or outputs according to his or her scale. Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy and Theory of Motivation The Maslow’s model is one of the classic content theoretical models that explained motivational needs as a hierarchy. To simplify, he believed that once a given level of need is satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate. The next level of need has to be activated, which results in the motivation of an individual. The various levels of Maslow’s need can be understood by the below diagram with reference to a job or career. The job application that we are referring to is catering to the physiological and safety/security concerns that are required. The pay is quite high even at the entry levels with a base package of 20 lakhs p.a. with additional variable salary components that amount to 6 to 8 lakhs more. The next level i.e. the social level has been considered as an important aspect in the work culture of Mckinsey wherein they follow a collaborative approach. The associates work in small groups of 3 to 5 which consists of business analysts, associates and partners. The organisation is flat with few hierarchical levels and hence it makes easy for a person to approach others and get help in case of any issues. Our understanding of different industries and functions will grow exponentially as the teammates share their expertise. Well receive coaching and feedback throughout the engagement. In fact, consultants often find life-long mentors—and friendships—in their senior colleagues. The 3 levels of Maslow’s hierarchy are something which is readily satisfied by the job and the organisation. Hence focusing on the next level is the Esteem. Self Esteem as well as respect from others is an important aspect that needs to be addressed. Taking this job would provide us and opportunity to grow in the organisation. This is evident from the fact that Mckinsey recognises the performance of the individual and promotes them as seen in various posts from associates in forums. Formal performance reviews happen at the end of every project and associates with good analytical and people skills move up the ladder. The â€Å"Up or Out† approach makes sure that the performing people deserve to go to the top, right to the level of a CEO. Self-actualisation is indeed the most important aspect of this hierarchy where the professional tends to move towards satisfaction in life, both professional and personal. To cater to this need, Mckinsey creates a conducive environment where we will get many opportunities as described below. â€Å"Our private-sector work will put you at the center of the transformative forces sweeping business. We work in just about every industry and functional area you can imagine, with engagements that range from creating entirely new businesses, to leveraging leading-edge technologies, to reinventing manufacturing, to advising companies on the future of media and social sharing. Our public-sector and social-impact work is global in nature. We advise many of the worlds governments and NGOs on everything from re-imagining the delivery of education and the healthcare services to creating centers of local entrepreneurship.† Apart from professional aspirations, there is a scope of people for pursuing their passions such as singing, travelling and other personal wishes by opting for a programme known as the TIME-UP programme. The highlights of the programme are â€Å"Our â€Å"Take Time† program allows consultants to take time off between engagements to pursue personal interests and passions, whether that includes spending time with family or going on a dream trip. This â€Å"on and off† model allows consultants additional time to recharge without disrupting client work.† Making a difference in the world is a deep motivation. Porter Lawler Model Porter and Lawler suggested that motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance but they are all separate entities. They say that effort does not lead directly to performance but is directed by abilities, traits and by role perceptions. The rewards that follow and how they are perceived will determine satisfaction. Unlike the content theory, here performance leads to satisfaction. In lieu of the above theory, Mckinsey is cutting back their financial-incentive programs, but have used other ways of inspiring talent. The understand how to make their employees perform better and hence get satisfaction. Analogous to Porter-Lawler’s model we have:- Opportunity to perform- Mckinsey provides ample opportunities to its employees in order to enhance performance a chance to lead projects or task forces. Abilities Traits- As a company Mckinsey believes in its employees’ abilities and delegates work as per their abilities. Their belief helps the people to understand their potential and work towards better and better performance. Role Perceptions—Managers set expectations for the employees under them to perform better with specific roles. Effort Level and Direction of Effort- Praise from immediate managers for their work is found to be an effective way to boost the morale of the people. The employees are guided towards a direction so that their own effort is rightly appreciated and is fruitful for the company Self-Efficacy- Inculcating a strong sense of self-efficacy among the people helps them to develop deeper interest in the activities they perform. By Leadership attention-Managers go on one-on –one meeting with their team members to help them develop the desire to perform and produce a desired effect. Effort-Reward Probabilities- Team members are rewarded as per their performance. As budding managers this study helps us to realise that we need to inculcate the culture of performance driven satisfaction among our peers and subordinates. It is important for us, as managers, that we have belief in our team members and motivate them to perform better which will help us and them to gain satisfaction.

Essay --

Kassidy Hause CWL 320-06, Fall 2013 Dr. Talar Chahinian Final Paper 12-10-13 Ways of Dying, Violence, Fantasy & Comedy Zakes Mda was born in 1948 in Herschel, South Africa and is known for being a novelist, poet, activist, playwright and cultural theorist. Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda is a novel from western form. Literature that was written by Black South African writers between the 1948 and 1994 really captures the oppression and tragic violence that characterized the lives of Blacks under the apartheid. The apartheid or â€Å"apartness† as some Afrikaans call it, describes a system of laws and policies of complete and total racial segregation in South Africa that began in 1948 when the national party came to power. The apartheid did not end until 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected president in the first democratic elections. The horrific deaths that are portrayed throughout Zake Mda’s novel Ways of Dying, were all true ways of dying that Zakes Mda, saw himself, read about in the newspaper or read when he was doing research. The very true deaths that he portrays in the novel really p aint a picture of the structural and political violence that was going on in South Africa during the apartheid. This violence and oppression really creates a tragic background for the novel however, Zakes Mda challenges the norm of violence and finds a way to portray it as something somewhat idiotic, which in turn makes Ways of Dying quite comical. He also combines fantasy and magic to the novel, which emulates all the spectacular and wonderful parts of South African beliefs and traditions. Zakes unique way of combining the depiction of how ridiculous it is that death has become so normalized in South Africa and magic and fantasy makes Ways of Dying an ... ... Magic and fantasy is also a central theme for this book because magic gives a sense of hope and belief in people and a strength that people never knew they had. The biggest example is the garden, a magic garden of beauty that still stands among all the horrible things that Toloki and Noria are living in. The garden gives them hope that magic and beauty still exist in the world. In this part of the novel the readers are laughing and smiling because they feel hope and happiness and sense of magic that they are going to get through their issues and be okay. Ways of Dying is a spectacular novel by Zakes Mda, written during the apartheid era, which was a horrific time for South Africans who were abused and murdered by their corrupt government. Zakes Mda was able to provide a sense of history, comedy and hope all into one novel and that any reader would enjoy to read.