Empowered to formulate

Strategic management involves decision making , formulation# and implementation of plans and carrying out actions towards achieving the objectives as changes are brought forth in the business environment and complexity of the equines. It is a continuous, long term process that requires strategic foresight and consists of risk.The strategic management is empowered to formulate policies regarding capital investment, mergers, expansion and so on. Some of the areas looked at under this management: Operations; decisions pertaining to production scheduling, inventory levels, pricing, marketing strategy, etc. These are often repetitive in nature, decentralized and at a the functional level Administrative; changes in organization triggered by strategic and operating problems. #Strategy formulation: SOOT Analysis: Strength- Weaknesses of the firm-opportunities-Threats. The four conditions will indicate the portfolio strategy and other strategies it should pursue.It presents itself as a system atic approach. Strength: strong brand name, quality products, state of the art tech, strong R&D support, good human resource management, good industrial relations, good reserves and high credit rating, efficient board of directors Weaknesses: poor sales force, weak distribution, poor inventory management, high costs, poor human resources, poor morale, low credit rating and inefficient managers. Opportunities: regulation, import liberalizing, economic boom, favorable change in customer behavior, consumerism Threats: political instability, recession, lower income and reduction in population.TOES Matrix: strategy- formulation tool based on internal(s; w) and external factors(o; t) SO strategy; maximize strength, maximize opportunity WOW strategy: minimize weakness, maximize opportunity SST strategy: maximize strength, min threat WIT strategy: min weakness, min threat. Strategic management has its downside too; it requires highly experienced or qualified members making it a costly affai r. Even good strategies lacking implementation may not yield the expected result thus causing frustration. The environment can be highly unpredictable bringing risks and a MIS-timed strategy can result in heavy losses.

Gang Violence in American Schools Essay

Did you ever have to move because your kids were bullied at school? Is the community you are living in is unsafe with gang violence and you were afraid your kids will grow up to be a notorious gangster? You believe the ideal place to raise a family is in a higher income suburban area where the school system is better and your kids will be free from violence. You might want to think again. In fact, youth â€Å"gangs, now more violent than ever, are spreading to new locations† (Gaustad, 1 ) all across the country, including public schools. Gangs are moving suburban areas to recruit more members to expand their gang group. They are using new members to distribute drugs because it is appealing to young children and profitable. It is causing an increase in violence in schools because other gang group does not get along with another set of gang. Kids are scared to go to school because they are afraid they might get bullied and attack. The dropout rates has increase, more weapons are being brought to school endangering lives. School properties are being vandalized with school logos and teachers are getting injured from trying to intervene (Capozzoli and McVey, 81). Gang violence in school are getting worse that school officials, community members, and law enforcements are coming together to figure out solutions. The three solutions that seems to be showing a great impact in reducing gang violence in American schools are school uniforms, peer mediation programs, and after school programs. School uniforms are the first solution that will help cut back gang violence in American schools. Gangs use colors, certain types of clothing, and bandanas to symbolize what group they are from or associate themselves with. Students that are not involved in gangs are unable to walk down the school hallway without being accuse they are involve with a rival gang due to the color shirt he or she may be wearing. School uniforms are typically seen in private or foreign country’s schools to indicate a business-like atmosphere ( Skiba, 10). Now it is becoming more common in public schools because it keeps pupils in similar clothing. The typical school uniforms usually consist of khaki pants and collar shirts. Female pupils are sometimes in a skirt that goes down past their knees. The colors of the collar shirts vary depending on what schools students attend. School uniforms will end gang members from wearing clothing indicating what group they are from. This will help reduce violence between rival gangs because it will be difficult to point out what gang another student associate themselves with. Students will be able to concentrate more on learning than worrying about getting attack. Not only does uniform help reduce the violence but it also help schools bring unity together and help pupils who come from a family with financial difficulty feel less pressure to dress a certain way to fit in (Lopez, 4). The Long Beach Unified School District decided to establish a school uniform policy during the 1990’s to help pupils further their education in an elementary school. The school district had supports from parents who feared for their child’s safety while they were walking to school and mistaken to be a rival gang member due to the color clothing they were wearing. Violence has dropped 86% after the school uniform policy been established for 5 years (Lopez, 4). Murray states,† higher student ratings of the quality of school climate in schools with a uniform policy† after studies was done on two North Carolina schools (qtd. in Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence, 10). The second solution are peer mediation programs. Peer mediation is a program that involves people who are chosen and educated to resolves issues between individuals that has dispute with one another. The program is used in schools, youth centers, and juvenile justice setting to help young people learn how to solve their conflict through talking it out instead of using violence. Peer mediation programs are used to help decrease lockdowns, suspensions, detentions, and to bring positive atmosphere. Instead of adults trying to diffuse the conflict between young people, the program gives students the ability to help their peer s figure out a solution to their conflict with one another. It also allows the disputers to be more open and able to express why they are conflicting with the other student. Young people tend to feel more comfortable and connect better with people their own age because they feel they won’t be judged. Students are the initiator of confrontations among other students. They have to be neutral and must go through training so they can understand the process. The process of peer mediation are broken down into six steps where the facilitator has to come up with rules that must be followed, hear both sides of the story, determine if it is the same issue causing the problem, suggest solutions that will fix the problem, make sure solution fits the goal of the outcome, and help dispute agree on a solution (Crawford and Bodine, 23). Classical high school in Lynn, Massachusetts has been using peer mediation program for 14 years now and feel that the program will help decrease violence in schools. The program is very important to the school that students have to put an application in and go through an interview process by the coordinator of the program, Miriam Markowitz to become a mediator. Student who have conflict dispute with one another are brought into a private room where the student mediator tries to resolve their issues by easing the pressure off the disputers to act a certain way if they were around their friends. Classical high school reported a â€Å"90 percent success rate† (Weber, 9). When school is out; kids can keep themselves occupied and out of trouble by going to an after school program. After school program is a safe place where kids are supervised, kept busy to drift them away from negative behaviors like gangs and drugs. A lot of the kids who goes to the after school programs lacks adult guidance, or come from a low income family that the parents are working a 12 hour shift and cannot be around to supervise their every move. The staffs at after school programs don’t just help kids with their homework but they build relationships with them and try to guide them in the right direction (after – school activities and clubs). After school programs are not just programs where kids come to do home works and activities, it is also a place where they learn about gang violence, how to prevent involvement. Council for Unity is an after school program located in Riverhead, New York that was developed by Riverhead high school. The program consist of students from different ethnic backgrounds that come together every Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays to talk about what issues are going on in the community, ways to prevent the violence in their schools and to learn about gang violence prevention. The coordinator, Mr. Desenna ask special guest to come by to talk and educate the kids (Council for Unity). Another after school program that is a major success and has been around since 1988 is Roca located in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Roca is a nonprofit organization that works with young people from ages 14 to 24 to help them stay away from gang, teen pregnancy, being incarcerated and graduate high schools. Roca work very closely with young people who are involved in gangs. Staffs from Roca have a program that they call outreach that consist of them walking the streets and trying to build relationships with the gang members. Most of the staffs have gone through incarceration or is an ex-gang member that has turned their lives around and using their experience to influence youths in a positive way. The program â€Å"helped more than 15,000 young people make positive, profound changes in their lives† (rocain.org) Gang violence in American schools is not going to go away overnight but if efforts are put in like: establishing school uniforms, peer mediation programs and providing more free after school programs, it soon will not be an issue facing the school systems. Having positive young people trying to influence their peers will help tremendously. Works Cited Capozzoli, Thomas, and R. Steve. McVey. â€Å"Gangs and Schools.† Kids Killing Kids: Managing Violence and Gangs in Schools. Boca Raton, FL: St. Lucie, 2000. 81-82. Print. â€Å"Council For Unity.† Riverhead.net. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. . Crawford, Donna, and Richard Bodine. Conflict Resolution Education. Rep. Champaign,IL: Research, 1996. Print. Gaustad, Joan. â€Å"Gangs.ERIC Digest.† Ericdigests.org. 2005. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. . Lopez, Rebecca A. â€Å"The Long Beach Unified School District Uniform Initiative: A Prevention-Strategy for Urban Schools.† The Journal of Negro Education 72.4 (2003). The Long Beach Unified School District Uniform Initiative: A Prevention-Strategy for Urban Schools. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. . Project, – Key. â€Å"Roca : Who We Are.† Welcome to Roca. Web. 12 Apr. 2011. . Skiba, Russel J. Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence. Rep. 2000. Print. Weber, Gretchen. â€Å"Peace among Peers.† The Lynn Educator 2008. Print.

Compare and contrast new buying used car vs new car Essay

Purchasing a car in today’s economy can be very difficult, whether you’re looking into a new or used car there are a lot of things to consider. Ensuring that you’re getting the best no matter the amount you’re spending, is difficult in its own way. Taking your time to collect information is very important. You never want to something that you know nothing about, because you will never know what you are truly purchasing .Asking yourself these questions will help you no matter what route you go in the car buying world. First question being what type of car do you want? It is Very important to purchasing a car that fits your life style. Next, how much are you willing to spend? Setting a budget will help you not spend over what you can afford. Finally, how long do you plan on keeping this car? If you are looking for a car for a couple months, you don’t want to exhaust all you funds into a temporary situation. Recently I’ve sold one of my cars and have been on the search for a new one. Buying a new car can be a very troubling thing to do. I’ve had to consider a lot of things when choosing the right car, and how to go about buying a new or used car from a dealership or buying a used car from a private owner. Being a young adult in this tough economy with a family to support, ensuring that I’m getting the best deal with a used cash car or a low interest rate and monthly payment on a new one. Making sure that a car payment fits into my house hold budget with now worries. Purchasing a used car from a private owner is one option I have been considering. Although the price can be very reasonable, you don’t have to worry about dealer fees, Monthly payments or being approved for financing. You will never truly know how well the car was taking care of, not to mention that the car will not come with any type of warrantee or return policy. Due to the extreme circumstances and series of unfortunate events: throughout, the world today with the weather and c rime. You can never be too cautious, with the credibility of a stranger. If something goes wrong with the car after the Purchase date. You are responsible for the cost of repair. However purchasing a new car or used car is slightly easier in terms of getting the exact vehicle you want, yet there are still some difficult steps in the process as well. One being the cost of the cars are more expensive depending on what year, make, and model you want. Prices can range from  20,000 to 100,00 dollars , not including dealer fees. Therefore, Finding a finance company if you don’t have all the money to buy the car out right can be nerve racking .You may be able to budget your finances to the exact dollar every month , but do you have enough income each month to the lenders standers. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about the conditions of the cars, because every dealerships new cars have been inspected before shipped to the actual lot. The used cars have been put to a series of diagnostic test to ensure they have no major problems and are marked certified pre owned, also ensuring you that they have been well maintained. All the cars come with some type of free warranty or extended warranty that you’re able to purchase at that time. In the event something dose go wrong you are not responsible for the cost of repair, not to mention if it was a new car you could return that vehicle within a certain amount of time. We all know that cars need regular maintenance. Another added benefit is that depending on the dealer you buy from some may even offer free, discounted or half price regular maintenance for a limited amount of time. In my experience searching for the perfect car to fit my lifestyle was very difficult. It seems that although the cars at the dealership are a little more costly, spending the extra money to ensure that you’re buying a quality vehicle could be worth it. On the other hand you can run into some of the same issues as if you are buying from a private owner. Doing Research and really taking my time in considering every options pros and cons definitely helped. We seem to live in a world where money is the root of all evil, so you have to have a lot of trust in whoever you decided to buy from. It can be very hard to find a creditable seller and not someone who is only looking to benefit from you no matter the cost, or lies they tell just to sell you a car.

PICO Question and research to answer the question Paper

PICO Question and to answer the question - Research Paper Example And based on the National Institute for Mental Health, the symptoms that the child is exhibiting are consistent with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder or ADHD (2008). An intervention being considered for the child is to not give him any drug at all. Some studies now currently indicate that ADHD is an over-diagnosed illness, and that it is being made as an excuse to suppress normal hyperactivity in children that parents cannot manage (Rowland & Salvatore, 2001). It is possible that the child may outgrow his hyperactivity and in the meantime, other remedies may be considered for his hyperactivity. Encouraging him to engage in physical activities can also provide a more fruitful outlet for the child’s excess energy. Ritalin should not be used as the first and last resort for hyperactive children because the child may just be going through a natural phase in his life. Ritalin use carries dangerous and irreversible risks for the child. It can stunt the child’s growth, can cause nervousness and insomnia, anorexia, nausea, and abdominal pain (Ritalin Side Effects, 2003). Some experts brand it as a mind-altering drug which is being used for children who may just be naturally rambunctious and playful, not mentally unstable. In recent years, demand for Ritalin increased. Many experts are now concerned with this increase and they advocate the belief that Hyperactivity or ADHD is being over-diagnosed and Ritalin over-prescribed (Rowland & Salvatore, 2001). The alternative intervention for this child is the drug Ritalin. The mental health professional that the child’s parents consulted with recommended Ritalin for the child. The child’s parents are still deliberating whether or not drugs would be the best remedy for their child’s condition. Ritalin is the drug of choice for many ADHD sufferers in the United States. Studies reveal that about 85% of Ritalin produced is being used

The Core Competencies in Medical Practice Essay

The Core Competencies in Medical Practice - Essay Example The first theme involves the journey by Emirates Airlines via Dubai to London. On arrival at the immigration, we realized the immigration officers were ridiculing the international students and felt embarrassed about it. The classes started after two weeks, and the lectures were quite supportive and interesting. All staff member were helpful, and it was a good experience interacting with the students from diverse nationalities. We improved vocabularies by studying about the ward rounds. Ward rounds refer to visits paid by doctors to each of the patient in the hospital (Kaye et al., 2014). It is a complicated clinical process that extends beyond a bedside review of care (Thomas & Michel, 2009). The lecturer converts the class to dynamic and interesting learning experience by dividing the students into two groups and the students can express their opinions when they are with the ward rounds (Kaye et al., 2014). The doctors can extend the same and where students differ they can learn through discussion. Improvements of traditional ward rounds can be done through strong clinical leadership with all health care professionals (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2011). Theme two involved changing NHS culture, medical idioms, and leadership into academic skills. Studies revealed that over 3500 people died unnecessarily in NHS hospital last year because of mistakes and avoidable errors (Thomas & Michel, 2009).  

Drug Dilemmas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drug Dilemmas - Essay Example Unfortunately, in a free market economy such as the United States, nothing can be done about it, except by government intervention through price regulation. Considering what Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, said about how pharmaceutical companies spend enormous resources in developing "me-too" drugs simply to get a share of the market of a top-selling drug, there is reason to believe that U.S. drug prices do not reflect the operation of a fair and competitive market, rather, the pharmaceutical companies have somewhat cartelized themselves resulting in a monopoly of the drug pricing. 2. Given the nature of their product, do pharmaceutical companies have ethical responsibilities that other corporations don't have In your view, are the large U.S. drug companies good corporate citizens According to the Case Resource, many drug companies enjoy larger profit margins than other U.S. corporations. At the very least, and considering the nature of their product, this writer believes that pharmaceutical companies should take on the ethical responsibility of reasonably pricing their products, at least at the level of most corporations. It would be more ethical of course, for pharmaceutical companies to reduce their profit margins in order to make their drugs more available to a greater number of people. After all, the mission and vision of most drug companies is to "lead the way to a healthier world by providing products that improve lives" (Wyeth, 2008), or "we are here for the people we serve in their pursuit of healthy lives" (Abbott, 2008). However, in terms of corporate citizenship, drug companies would be thought of as good corporate citizens especially if they pay the government the correct taxes from all the revenues and profits they make. 3. Are the large drug companies guilty of price gouging or charging an unfair or exploitative price for their products In general, what factors should determine the price of drugs Should Americans be permitted to import drugs from Canada or other countries Whether or not large drug companies are guilty of price gouging or charging an unfair or exploitative price for their products is highly debatable. On the one hand, if the drug company sets its price at a profit level well beyond regular profitability standards for U.S. corporations, then the company would be guilty of price gouging. However, to determine such profit level, various factors would need to be taken into account and some of these factors may not be existent in other corporations, such as costs of compliance with government regulations considering that such regulations may be stricter in the health industry than in other industries. In general, factors that determine the price of drugs would be production costs, distribution costs, marketing costs, administration costs and other overhead costs such as R&D. This writer believes that Americans should be permitted to import drugs from Canada or other countries for that matter. If the cost of imported drugs is less expensive than U.S.-manufactured drugs, this would be very beneficial to Americans. Moreover, it would provide a natural check and balance for the pricing practices of the U.S. drug companies. 4. Do drug companies have an obligation to make new drugs available to patients who were involved in their development, either here or overseas

The Religious and Social Perspective on Living Aspects of Humankind Research Paper

The Religious and Social Perspective on Living Aspects of Humankind - Research Paper Example Lewis uses politics in the first letter to replace reason, and show the prevalence of propaganda in the current society (Lewis 8). The year 1941 has been used as a case that depicts actual propaganda, affecting religion and world politics. Screwtape’s letter stands as one of the most non-religious societies where the evils of both worlds and entities are considered outdated and logical minds do not consider them in their lifestyles. Referring to the Bible, Lewis claims that we used to encounter evils and temptations from Satan and his followers as a daily strive. The patient in the first and second Screwtape’s letters has been converted from a Christian to believing the assumptions and thoughts presented in the letters. Lewis mentions to Wormwood that they must keep on working on his mind. Propaganda is further instilled in the fifth and seventh letters with reference made to war and the condition of the human mind. The patient’s engagement is used to corrupt his thinking and adopt their culture. Implying that the World wars are still occurring, Lewis makes note of the spiritual and physical aspects of the human body. The spiritual conflict had been in our lifestyles, starting from when Christians were converted. Lewis uses full propaganda words to replace reason and explain the tribulations of the last days. The tribulations have been manipulated to overshadow the logic of Christianity and the sanity of today’s world politics (Lewis 11). According to Lewis, humankind undergoes continuous suffering phases in our lives for no apparent reason (Lewis 17).

The trouble with Lichen. novel by John Wyndham and Short circuit movie Literature review

The trouble with Lichen. novel by John Wyndham and Short circuit movie - Literature review Example â€Å"The trouble with Lichen.† by John Wyndham. The plot of the novel takes the reader from the lab where the doctor, Saxover Francis, with his assistant, Brackley Diana extract the drug from the Lichen to the time when she has to make a run for her life when the secret about the drug leaks into society and her life is threatened. She eventually fakes her own death in order to avoid the death. Ironically, her product is actually supposed to avert death- at least for three hundred years. The movie is about a company that develops a set of five robots. The robots were originally intended to carry out some mundane activities like playing of musical instruments and others. They are named number one through to number five. After Newton Graham has finished developing the robots, he goes to demonstrate them to the other company at the grounds. His demonstration is however abruptly interrupted by a storm. It was while he was still evacuating the robots that one of them was struck by electric current. The electric current causes a â€Å"short circuit† and ultimately changes the instruction codes in the robot. This, as we later find out, gives the robot life. The two pieces are both science fictions that are somewhat related. They both predict on future innovations that actually took place many years down the line. Even though man has not yet found a solution to ageing that would make him attain the age of here hundred years, there are at least some drugs that are being used to control ageing to a significant degree. Consequently, the prediction made in short circuit have also come to see the light of day. There are much technological advancement in the ICT field that can be comparable to the ideas propagated in short circuit. The main reason why I chose this novel and this movie is the fact that they made some interesting predictions about the innovations in the future and the innovations eventually came to be. The other reason is the fact that they both took a realistic approach as far as how society responds to new inventions is concerned. The Trouble with Lichen This is a novel about a young lady who is working as a biochemist and wh o in the course of her day to day duties, stumbles upon a certain strain of Lichen that can actually be used to reverse the aging process in humans. It is from this Lichen that the novel draws its title, â€Å"trouble with lichen.† Supposedly, this strain of lichen can be used to lengthen the lifespan of an average human being to anything from two hundred up to three hundred years. The author of the novel approaches the issue by speculating on how the wider society would deal with such a discovery. There are two main characters in the plot of the book. The first is Brackley Diana and the second one is Saxover Francis. Both are biochemists who are involved in research. Saxover is a doctor and Diana is his employee. They are doing independent experiments to investigate the characteristics of certain strains of Lichen. Diana stumbles on a life transforming discovery when she notices that a certain strain of the lichen prevents milk from turning sour. The strain of Lichen that sh e discovered was rare and it actually originates form East Asia. She works tireless with the help of Francis Saxover and two eventually manage to extract a new drug from the Lichen. They call this new drug antigerone. Antigerone can be used to slow down ageing in the human body. Francis decides to secretly use the medicine on his family members and on himself to prevent their ageing. On the other hand, Diana sets up a spa and cosmetic business and starts using the product on a number of rich and

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation management - Essay Example But one thing we wouldn’t like to do is to pay much for such services. To be able to deliver quality services and goods to the customers, there are management skills that are needed. Operations management therefore focuses on such management skills that lead to higher productivity and increase responsiveness, providing more choice to customers and delivering quality standards. In short, operations management involves analyzing business processes and how to improve them (Investopedia, 2013). Progressing further, operations, management can be defined as the administration of business practices in order to create the highest level of efficiency in an organization. It is thus concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services in an efficient way in order to maximize the profit of an organization. Therefore, the operational management team is concerned with designing the inputs (materials, labor, and overhead) conversion methods, into outputs (goods, services and value added products), that brings benefits to the organization. Arguably, one would say that high level efficiency in an organization may be attained without employing certain administrative practices; hence operational management has no importance in making the business attain efficiency or maximize profit. This paper is meant to find out the solution between either using operation management or no operation management to achieve organizational efficiency. Nonetheless, one would wonder if firms that do not employ proper operations management techniques would also be able to maximize on their profits as they improve on the efficiency of the firms. This is as opposed to those firms that are keen about the kind of operations management techniques that are employed in their daily operations. Obviously, it becomes very necessary for all types of organizations to consider operations management since they all produce a mixture of some goods and services. In smaller organizations, many o perations management activities are done by the other employees who are involved in many other operations of the firm such as marketing staff and accountants. Operations management is considered important in any organization as it aids in making the decisions that would impact the costs of producing the products and services that the firm is involved in. It also aids in making a decision that would impact how well the products and services are delivered, which then is critical to the revenue that the organization receives. This would then mean that, when good operations management programs are put in place, the cost of production would be less while the products and services delivered would be of high quality, hence the resulting revenue that would be received by the organization will be high. When poor operations management programs are put in place, less revenue will be earned, hence good operations techniques are essential for profit maximization in any organization. Following th at, to illustrate this fact, a certain restaurant has employed two different operations management techniques in order to compare the cost of operations involved in running the restaurant. For the first three months, the restaurant hired excess workers and used to purchase materials in excess so that extra material could be given to the workers to avoid going bad. After the here months, a new management was put in place and there was a difference in the

Creating customer value Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Creating customer value - Term Paper Example Given the fact that there are no monthly charges and debit card customization fee, many clients will find it easy and beneficial to use this account. The ease of online access to the account will also mean that the customers will be able to access the services without being restricted by geographical location or time. The ease in online access will also imply that the customers would not have to worry when it comes to account opening and online transactions (Ryals 2008, p. 101). The frequent add-ons also imply that customers will have an easier time in making the banking services match their lifestyles. This implies that the bank will be continuously responding to the changes in demands of the market. The monetary cost involved in this case includes the money that would be used in development of systems and customization of the debit cards (Alessandrini, Fratianni & Zazzaro 2009, p. 97). The bank will have to invest extensively to make sure that these services are available to their customers. It will basically take the both the bank and their clients less time for transactions under this account. However, the add-ons and the customization of debit cards will definitely take some time (Cassis 2009, p. 109). This implies that this is a continuous process especially now that it will involve market studies. In this case the energy that will be needed is basically that which will be required in maintainace and management of the system and customer service related activities. The energy needed in this case will come in the form of electricity and human power. The physiological cost is that the bank will have to put up with attending to clients of diverse nature (Sarlak & Hastiani 2011, p. 117). The bank will have to make sure that their personnel are prepared to psychologically take care of the needs of their

Ecological footprint Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Ecological footprint - Essay Example This course was quite informative, quite an eye opening one which made me think of changing my habits, step by step, in such a way that I can track the intensity of environmental hazards I posed. Also, this course helped me change my habits to a large extent so that I can become a responsible global citizen considerate of the environment. This paper is an attempt to describe the step-by-step process of how I managed to make constructive choices in life and how I`m an environmentally responsible citizen now, however, the process is an ongoing one. The first chapter included the analysis of one the products of everyday use in our households. Ariel was the detergent which was being used for ages back at my home, and on conducting the background check of the product on the instructions of my advisor I came across astonishing facts about the product. It contained bleach, colorants, and brighteners and perfumes which biodegrade in such a way that it the chemicals are unhealthy for our skin as well as for the environment. Thus, I looked up for the environment friendly products and came across some of the home made recipes to produce detergents, also brands like Biokleen liquid and Clear Laundry Detergent are great products which give good results at the same time are environment friendly. ... After this activity, my personal interest in the field was enhanced and as the course proceeded I even became aware of the concept of recycling. Thus, I started engaging myself in recycling all the products and using them again wherever I can, instead of using new ones. For instance, I began recycling my clothes and even began purchasing vintage clothes to contribute positively for the environment. With time, I also switched to eco-friendly bio-bags for grocery shopping and developed a habit of carrying my own bag while shopping. This turned out to be an inspiration for others as well which encouraged me to take a stand and place bio-bags in some of the nearby stores I had access to, to promote the concept. Also, I switched to recycled paper to save planet earth and also began recycling any kind of paper I had. With time, when I talked to other friends around at school, I discovered that energy is a huge issue in many different states around the world, thus, conserving energy is also a crucial part of the process. I found out that many of my Asian friends doesn’t have access to electricity and clean water readily back at their home towns, thus I realized that energy is also a finite resource which should be conserved. Thus, this inspired me to conserve the rain water which I started collecting in buckets every time it rained. This water was then used to clean my Porsche and my car; also I installed water saving devices along with the taps that were being used in my residence. Also, I started using indigenous plants in my garden so that water consumption is reduced to the maximum extent possible. The next was my realization related to the effects of chemicals on the environment, as these products break

Comarative analysis of video games Essay Example for Free

Comarative analysis of video games Essay Introduction Pascal, after remodeling your house and adding a bonus/entertainment room, you mentioned that you would love to buy a new video gaming system. The last video gaming system that you owned was a Nintendo 64, which pales in comparison to the systems available today. Since owning a Nintendo 64, your experience with playing video games has been limited to playing MMORPGs (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games) on your personal computer. I have been researching your options and am constantly considering your preferences and restrictions. Your primary preference is game genre, with your most preferred genre being Role-Playing. Several other genres that you are interested in are Action, Adventure, Platformers, and Strategy. Your only real restriction is a spending limit of $700 for your entire gaming setup. Other preferences that have been noted are the system’s Blu-Ray capabilities, and that the system targets a mature audience. The three most prominent video gaming systems on the market that fit your preferences are Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii, and Sony’s Playstation 3. The following criteria are being used to evaluate your options. * Cost * Hardware Specifications * Games Offered * Target demographic * Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches * Movie-Playing Features The remaining contents of this comparative study will be organized into the several sections. RESEARCH DATA will be presented organized first by option and then by evaluative criteria. Each of the evaluative criteria will be compared in the RESULTS section by showing the results for each option side-by-side. These results will be totaled and a final CONCLUSION will be made. Finally, I will make a RECOMMENDATION as to the most appropriate course of action. Research Data Microsoft Xbox 360 Cost: $199. 99 – includes a 4GB console with built-in wi-fi, one wireless controller, A/V cables, and a one-month subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold. Hardware Specification: The following table shows vital hardware specifications that are important to your gaming preferences. Table 1. 1: Xbox 360 Hardware Specification * Media Type| * DVD| * CPU| * 3. 2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon| * Internal Memory| * 4 GB Flash| * RAM| * 512 MB| * Online Services| * Xbox Live| * Online Multi-Player Services| * Yes| * Connector Types| 1 x AV cable port,5 x USB 2. 0, 1 x Kinect port,1 x HDMI output1 x SPDIF output,1 x Ethernet| * * Games Offered: The following table shows how many Xbox 360 games are offered in your three most preferred genres. Table 1. 2: Xbox 360 Total Games in Preferred Genres Genre| Titles Available| Action| 563| Role-Playing| 108| Strategy| 48| The following images show compiled game review scores by genre to show which console does best for several preferable genres. The results have been split into two types for each console. The lighter shaded color bars show the average score for all games for the specified system in that genre. The darker shaded color bars show the average score of just the top 5 best-scoring games in that genre for the specified system. Graph 1. 1: Role-Playing Games Bar Graph Graph 1. 2: Adventure Games Bar Graph Graph 1. 3: Platformer Games Bar Graph Target Demographic: The target demographic of the Xbox 360 is most easily identified and quantified by looking at the ESRB ratings of the most popular game titles. The following is a list of the number of Xbox 360 titles offered for each ESRB game rating. EVERYONE 303 Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. EVERYONE 10+ 213 Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. TEEN 535 Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. MATURE 491. Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. RATING PENDING 149 Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a games release. ) Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches: The ten most common hardware malfunctions and glitches for the Xbox 360 are as follow: * 3 red flashing lights, also known as â€Å"Red Ring of Death† * Open tray and/or disc error messages. * No video or only audio * DVD laser replacement * DVD drive replacement * System freezes, dotted video or similar issues * 1 red light, E74 * 2 red lights * Stuck DVD tray * White screen Most of these issues must be dealt with by professionals and will be costly. Self-repair is a possibility, but is not recommended. Most systems run into issues eventually, but the Xbox runs into hardware problems more frequently than the other options. Movie-Playing Features: The Xbox 360 is capable of playing the following types of multimedia discs (list does not include Blu-Ray): * Xbox 360 Discs * Xbox 1 Discs * DVDs * CDs * DVD-R * DVD+R. * DVD-RW * DVD+RW * CD-R * CD-RW * Dual Discs Nintendo’s Wii Cost: $149. 99 – includes one remote controller, one nun chuck controller, one wheel controller, one sensor bar, and Mario Kart for Wii. Hardware Specification: The following table shows vital hardware specifications that are important to your gaming preferences. Table 1. 3: Wii Hardware Specification * Media Type| * Flash Memory Card, * Nintendo Wii Disc, * Nintendo GameCube Disc| * CPU| * 729 MHzIBM PowerPC â€Å"Broadway†| * Internal Memory| * 512 MB| * RAM| * 512 MB| * Online Services| * Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, WiiConnect24,| * Online Multi-Player Services| * Yes|. * Connector Types| (4 pin USB Type A),4 x Game controller,Component video output,Composite video output,S-Video output,2 x USB| * Games Offered: The following table shows how many Wii games are offered in your three most preferred genres. Table 1. 4: Wii Total Games in Preferred Genres Genre| Titles Available| Action| 593| Role-Playing| 33| Strategy| 32| Also, see the graphics and information in the section Microsoft’s Xbox 360 – Games Offered. Target Demographic: The target demographic of the Nintendo Wii is most easily identified and quantified by looking at the ESRB ratings of the most popular game titles. The following is a list of the number of Wii titles offered for each ESRB game rating. EVERYONE – 916 Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. EVERYONE 10+ 355 Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. TEEN 374. Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. MATURE 57 Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. RATING PENDING 61 Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a games release. ) Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches: Three common hardware malfunctions and Glitches for the Wii console are as follows: * Power Supply Issue * WiConnect 24 Issue * Dual Layer Wii Disc Problem All of these minor issues are covered by warranty and do not occur on the same scale as other video gaming system. The most common issue relating to the Wii system occurs when an excess of light interferes with the Wii Remote. Movie-Playing Features: The Nintendo Wii is only capable of playing Wii and GameCube discs and doesnot support the playing of DVD or Blu-Ray Discs. Sony’s Playstation 3 Cost: $299. 99 – Includes access to the Playstation Network at no charge, 160GB harddrive, and one wireless controller. Hardware Specification: The following table shows vital hardware specifications that are important to your gaming preferences. Table 1. 5: Playstation 3 Hardware Specificaton * Media Type| * Blu-Ray| * CPU| * 3. 2 GHz IBM Cell Broadband Engine (8-core)| * Internal Memory| * 160 GB HDD| * RAM| * 256 MB XDRAM| * Online Services| * Playstation Network| * Online Multi-Player Services| * Yes|. * Connector Types| 2 x USB,1 x Ethernet,1 x HDMI output,1 x PlayStation 3 AV output,1 x SPDIF output| * Games Offered: The following table shows how many Playstation 3 games are offered in your three most preferred genres. Table 1. 6: Playstation 3 Total Games in Preferred Genres Genre| Titles Available| Action| 536| Role-Playing| 117| Strategy| 33| Also, see the graphics and information in the section Microsoft’s Xbox 360 – Games Offered. Target Demographic: The target demographic of the Playstation 3 is most easily identified and quantified by looking at the ESRB ratings of the most popular game titles. The following is a list of the number of Playstation 3 titles offered for each ESRB game rating. EVERYONE – 481 Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. EVERYONE 10+ 186 Titles rated E10+ (Everyone 10 and older) have content that may be suitable for ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and/or minimal suggestive themes. TEEN 529. Titles rated T (Teen) have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language. MATURE 373 Titles rated M (Mature) have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language. RATING PENDING 145 Titles listed as RP (Rating Pending) have been submitted to the ESRB and are awaiting final rating. (This symbol appears only in advertising prior to a games release.) Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches: The five most common Playstation 3 hardware malfunctions and glitches are as follows: * Yellow light of death (3 red light beeps) * Not reading games/blu-rays * No video * Stuck discs * No power Doing self-repair is very difficult on the Playstation 3 is highly discouraged. Most of these issues are not easy fixes and require the replacement of key components. Movie-Playing Features: The Playstation 3 is capable of playing the following types of multimedia discs (list includes Blu-Ray): * Playstation 1,2, and 3 Discs. * Blu-Ray Discs * DVDs * CDs * DVD-R * DVD+R * DVD-RW * DVD+RW * CD-R * CD-RW * Dual Discs RESULTS Comparing Costs The following table shows your three options with their prices and a ranking based on affordability. Table 1. 7: Comparing Costs Option| Cost| Ranking (1-Best Option)| Microsoft’s Xbox 360| $199. 99| 2| Nintendo’s Wii| $149. 99| 1| Sony’s Playstation 3| $299. 99| 3| BEST OPTION: All Because you have already identified that your spending limit is $700 for a gaming setup, none of these options go against your cost preference. Cost is not a preventative factor in purchasing a video gaming system based on this information. However, if you decide that you would like to readjust your spending limit given the substantial difference between your limit and the prices of the systems, the Wii is your best option. Comparing Hardware Specifications The table below lists the hardware specifications for each option, and also includes the online capabilities of each system and their respective networks. Table 1. 8: Comparing Hardware Specifications | Options| Hardware Specification| Xbox 360| Wii| Playstation 3|. * * Media Type| * * DVD| * * Flash Memory Card, * Nintendo Wii Disc, * Nintendo GameCube Disc| * * Blu-Ray| * * CPU| * * 3. 2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon| * * 729 MHzIBM PowerPC â€Å"Broadway†| * * 3. 2 GHz IBM Cell Broadband Engine (8-core)| * * Internal Memory| * * 4 GB Flash| * * 512 MB| * * 160 GB HDD| * * RAM| * * 512 MB| * * 512 MB| * * 256 MB XDRAM| * * Online Services| * * Xbox Live| * * Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, WiiConnect24,| * * Playstation Network| * * Online Multi-Player Services| * * Yes| * * Yes| * * Yes| * * Connector Types| 1 x AV cable port,5 x USB 2. 0, 1 x Kinect port,1 x HDMI output1 x SPDIF output,1 x Ethernet| (4 pin USB Type A),4 x Game controller,Component video output,Composite video output,S-Video output,2 x USB| 2 x USB,1 x Ethernet,1 x HDMI output,1 x PlayStation 3 AV output,1 x SPDIF output| * Ranking| 1| 3| 2| BEST OPTION: Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Because your preference is to play online Role-Playing Games, the focus of the hardware specification criterion has to be online capabilities. When it comes to online game-play, Xbox 360 has the technical specifications to make it the best option. One of the most important specifications in a system is its processor speed. The Xbox 360 boasts a 3. 2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core Xenon processor, which is the same speed as the Playstation 3, but far superior to the Wii. When it comes to intense online game play with potentially dozens of other players, it is important to have a processor that can keep up. To keep the whole system running smoothly and minimize lag time, it is also important to have a substantial amount of RAM. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have 512 MB or RAM, while the Wii only has 256 MB. At this point, the Xbox and Playstation 3 are nearly equal in terms of specifications that lean toward online gaming. What really pushes the Xbox 360 in the lead is their network: Xbox Live. As of 2011, Xbox Live has over 30 million users worldwide. Most of the games that are played on the Xbox Live network are geared toward your gaming preference of Role-Playing and Adventure games. However, due to the massive size of the network and the sheer number of users, even a less popular category like Strategy is available for multi-player gaming. According to Michael McNeilly, an experienced Xbox 360 online gamer, â€Å"There is really nothing like the Xbox Live network out there. The network for PS3 is okay, but it isn’t nearly as big and has a lot of bugs that still haven’t been worked out. † Michael Mcneilly has played all of the other systems extensively, but due to his love for online gaming, he chose the Xbox 360. Ralph Jones, an avid Wii owner and player, explained to me that he really has no need to play online. He mostly enjoys the physical nature of the Wii’s gameplay, and doubts that the Wii is even capable of serious online gaming. According to Kyle Johnson, an avid gamer and owner of all three options, the Wii is not a competitive option in terms of online gaming. When asked about the Playstation 3 and its online gaming community, Kyle explained that there is a reason that the Playstation Network does not have a subscription fee. It is not adequate when compared to Xbox Live, and the number of users sometimes makes it hard to play the less popular games online. Clearly, the Xbox 360 offers the best of both worlds. It has a massive online gaming community and also boasts a powerful 3. 2 GHz processor. With processor speed and RAM that are equal to the Playstation 3 and far superior to the Wii, the Xbox Live community is what gives the Xbox 360 the top ranking and makes it the best option in terms of hardware specification. Comparing Games Offered Table 1. 9 lists a calculated average of the two figures previously provided in graphs 1. 1, 1. 2, and 1. 3. These figures were mean game-review scores of all games in three genres, and mean scores of the top-five best-selling games for the three genres. Table 1. 9: Comparing Games Offered pt. 1 | Options|. Genre| Xbox 360| Wii| Playstation 3| Role-Playing Games| 79. 4| 72. 7| 71. 75| Adventure Games| 76. 1| 76. 7| 77. 9| Platformer Games| 76. 2| 72. 2| 76. 2| Ranking| 1| 3| 2| Table 1. 10 shows how many games are available for each system in your most preferred genre: Role-Playing Games. Table 1. 10: Comparing Games Offered pt. 2 | Options| Genre| Xbox 360| Wii| Playstation 3| Role-Playing Games| 108| 33| 117| Ranking| 2| 3| 1| BEST OPTION: Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Based on the averages found for all five relevant genres, the Xbox 360 is the best option for the Games Offered criterion. Even though the Playstation 3 has a slightly higher total number of Role-Playing Games available for sale, it does not outweigh the fact that the Xbox 360 scored significantly higher on overall game-review scores. It is generally more important to have higher-rated games than a greater quantity of lower-rated games. For this reason, the Xbox 360 is the best choice for the Games Offered criterion. Comparing Target Demographic Table 1. 11 displays your three options and the total number of ratings received for each rating category out of all games available for each system. Table 1. 11: Comparing Target Demographic. | Options (Number of Ratings)| Rating| Microsoft’s Xbox 360| Nintendo’s Wii| Sony’ Playstation 3| Everyone| 303| 916| 481| Everyone 10+| 213| 355| 186| Teen | 535| 374| 529| Mature| 491| 57| 373| Rating Pending| 145| 61| 145| Ranking| 1| 3| 2| BEST OPTION: Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Based on all of the games available for each gaming system, the Xbox 360 has the most games with ratings in the Mature and Teen categories. Since you, Pascal, are an adult and prefer the types of games that are most commonly rated Teen and Mature, the Xbox 360 gets the top rank for the Target Demographic criterion. Sony’s Playstation 3 comes in second with a comparable number of games in the Teen and Mature rating categories, but they are not quite as high as the Xbox 360. Nintendo’s Wii has least number of ratings in each of those categories. The Wii has a staggeringly low number of games in the Mature category at 57, and roughly 150 less games in the Teen category than the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. This makes it clear that the Xbox 360 is geared toward an adult audience, and will likely have more games that suit the preferences of an adult. The Playstation 3 is a close second, but still offers significantly less games in the Mature category. The Wii seems to be geared toward a younger, less mature audience, and will likely have the least number of games that will fit your preferences. With all of this considered, it is clear that the Xbox 360 is the best option for the Target Demographic criterion. Comparing Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches Table 1. 11 shows all of the common hardware malfunctions and glitches for each option. This table also assigns a ranking (1 being the system with the overall least severe hardware problems relative to the other options). Table 1. 12: Comparing Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches | Options|. | Microsoft’s Xbox 360| Nintendo’s Wii| Sony’s Playstation 3| Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches| *Complete System Crash – â€Å"Red Ring of Death†*Basic Hardware Failure (eg. DVD tray and laser failure)| *Power Supply Issue*WiConnect24 Issue*Dual-Layer Wi Disc Failure| *Complete System Crash –â€Å"Yellow Lights of Death†| Ranking| 2| 1| 3| BEST OPTION: Nintendo’s Wii Based on this table and other research, I have identified Nintendo’s Wii as your best option for the Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches criterion. Even though the Wii does run into problems occasionally, they are rarely as severe as they are with the other options. All of the problems listed for the Wii are covered by warranty and are not worthy of complete system replacement. Alternatively, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 both commonly run into full system crashes, which render the system unusable. Kyle Johnson, an avid gamer and owner of all three options, has never run into a problem with his Wii, but has experienced full system crashes on both his Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The only reason the Xbox 360 is ranked higher than the Playstation 3 is because self-repair on the Playstation 3 is strongly discouraged. Kyle Johnson and Michael McNeilly have both performed minor repairs on their Xbox 360’s, but have never dared to open up their Playstation 3’s. With all things considered, Nintendo’s Wii is the best option for the Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches criterion. Comparing Movie-Playing Features Table 1. 13 below shows all of the media discs played by each option, and whether or not that option satisfies your preference of having a built-in Blu-Ray player. Table 1. 13: Comparing Movie-Playing Features | Options| | Xbox 360| Wii| Playstation 3| Media Discs Played| * Xbox 360 Discs * Xbox 1 Discs * DVDs * CDs * DVD-R * DVD+R * DVD-RW * DVD+RW * CD-R * CD-RW * Dual Discs | * Wii Discs * GameCube Discs| * Playstation 1,2, and 3 Discs * Blu-Ray Discs * DVDs * CDs * DVD-R * DVD+R * DVD-RW * DVD+RW * CD-R * CD-RW * Dual Discs | Satisfies Preference? | No| No| Yes| Ranking| 2| 3| 1| BEST OPTION: Sony’s Playstation 3 Based on the media discs that each option offers, Sony’s Playstation 3 is the obvious choice for the top rank in the Movie-Playing Features criterion. The Playstation 3 is capable of playing both DVDs and Blu-Rays, while the Xbox. 360 is only capable of playing DVDs. The Nintendo Wii, however, cannot even play DVDs. Because you have identified that you prefer a video gaming system that has a built-in Blu-Ray player, the Playstation 3 is the best option for the Movie-Playing Features criterion. CONCLUSIONS Table 1. 14 lists the rankings of each of the six evaluative criteria used throughout this report. In order to come to an overall conclusion as to which option to select, I have assigned reversed point values to the previously determined rankings. If, for instance, an option received a ranking of 1, it would be valued a 3. A ranking of 2 receives a value of 2, and a ranking of 3 is valued a 1. The total number of points will be shown at the bottom of the table along with the final ranking. The video gaming system with the highest number of points will be ranked as 1 and will be your best option. Table 1. 14: Overall Ranking | Options| Evaluative Criteria| Xbox 360| Wii| Playstation 3| Cost| 1| 1| 1| Hardware Specification| 1| 3| 2| Games Offered| 1| 3| 2| Target Demographic| 1| 3| 2| Common Hardware Malfunctions and Glitches| 2| 1| 3| Movie-Playing Features| 2| 3| 1| Total Points| 16| 10| 13| Overall Ranking| 1| 3| 2| RECOMMENDATIONS. It has been determined that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is the best option, and I would like to recommend to you several retailers where it is available for purchase. The price is universal when bought new, but may vary depending on bundling and other promotions. I have prepared a table showing three popular retailers, the nearest location, and the price of the Xbox 360 4GB system. Table 1. 15: Retail Locations and Price Retailers and Locations| Price| GameStop(425) 895-833116475 NE 74TH STRedmond, WA 98052| $199. 99| Target(425) 482-641013950 NE 178th PlWoodinville, WA 98072| $199. 99| Walmart(425) 741-94451400 164Th St SwLynnwood, WA 98087| $199. 99| Throughout my research I began to realize that the final outcome would depend heavily on how much any criterion was valued. Based on your personal preferences, the best choice is the Xbox 360. However, if you decided that you valued having a Blu-Ray player above everything else, then the Playstation 3 would be the best option. If you decided that the only way to play Role-Playing Games was to use a remote and a nun chuck, then the Wii would be the best choice. It all depends on the valuing of any particular criterion. If you are interested in doing further research, the bibliography lists all sources used. My personal interviewees may be available if you would like to ask them questions, and all of my other sources have a variety of useful and reliable information. Based on everything I have learned from this report and my personal experience with the system, I believe that the Xbox 360 is the best choice for a video gaming system. Bibliography Console at Nintendo Wii. Nintendo Wii Console. Web. 07 Aug. 2011. Dotree, Phil. 3 Common Wii Technical Problems. Associated Content from Yahoo! Associatedcontent. com. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. ESRB Ratings Guide and Definitions. Entertainment Software Rating Board. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. How to Fix Common Xbox 360 Problems: Same Day Repairs, Low Prices. Same-day Xbox Repair. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Johnson, Kyle. Owns All Three Options, Personal interview. 29 July 2011. Jones, Ralph. Wii Owner, Personal interview. 30 July 2011. McNeilly, Michael. Xbox 360 Owner, Personal Interview. 30 July 2011. Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim Specs (4GB) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Nintendo Wii Specs (original, Wii Sports Bundle) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. PlayStation 3 160 GB System. PlayStation PS3. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Playstation 3 Search GameStop. Games for PS3. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Specs (160GB) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Towell Justin, Games Radar UK, â€Å"Which console does best and worst in each genre? † 09 Aug. 2011. Wii Search GameStop. Games for Wii. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Xbox 360 4GB Console Xbox. com. Xbox 360 Official Site Xbox. com. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop. Games for Xbox 360. Web. 04 Aug. 2011.   [ 1 ]. Xbox 360 4GB Console Xbox. com. Xbox 360 Official Site Xbox. com. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 2 ]. Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim Specs (4GB) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 3 ]. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop. Games for Xbox 360. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 4 ]. Towell Justin, Games Radar UK, â€Å"Which console does best and worst in each genre? † 09 Aug. 2011. [ 5 ]. Towell [ 6 ]. Towell [ 7 ]. Towell [ 8 ]. Towell. [ 9 ]. Towell [ 10 ]. GameStop [ 11 ]. GameStop [ 12 ]. ESRB Ratings Guide and Definitions. Entertainment Software Rating Board. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 13 ]. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop [ 14 ]. ESRB [ 15 ]. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop [ 16 ]. ESRB [ 17 ]. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop [ 18 ]. ESRB [ 19 ]. Gamestop Xbox 360 Search [ 20 ]. ESRB [ 21 ]. How to Fix Common Xbox 360 Problems: Same Day Repairs, Low Prices. Same-day Xbox Repair. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 22 ]. Johnson, Kyle. Owns All Three Options, Personal interview. 29 July 2011. [ 23 ]. Johnson [ 24 ]. Johnson [ 25 ]. Console at Nintendo Wii. Nintendo Wii Console. Web. 07 Aug. 2011. . [ 26 ]. Nintendo Wii Specs (original, Wii Sports Bundle) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 27 ]. Wii Search GameStop. Games for Wii. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 28 ]. Towell [ 29 ]. Wii Search GameStop [ 30 ]. Wii Search GameStop [ 31 ]. ESRB [ 32 ]. Wii Search GameStop [ 33 ]. ESRB [ 34 ]. Wii Search GameStop [ 35 ]. ESRB [ 36 ]. Wii Search GameStop [ 37 ]. ESRB [ 38 ]. Xbox 360 Game Search GameStop [ 39 ]. ESRB [ 40 ]. Dotree, Phil. 3 Common Wii Technical Problems. Associated Content from Yahoo! Associatedcontent. com. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 41 ]. Dotree [ 42 ]. Jones, Ralph. Wii Owner, Personal interview, 30 July 2011. [ 43 ]. Jones [ 44 ]. PlayStation 3 160 GB System. PlayStation PS3. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 45 ]. Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Specs (160GB) Consoles CNET Reviews. Product Reviews Electronics Reviews, Computer Reviews More CNET Reviews. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 46 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop. Games for PS3. Web. 04 Aug. 2011. . [ 47 ]. Towell [ 48 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop. [ 49 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop [ 50 ]. ESRB [ 51 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop [ 52 ]. ESRB [ 53 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop [ 54 ]. ESRB [ 55 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop [ 56 ]. ESRB [ 57 ]. Playstation 3 Search GameStop [ 58 ]. ESRB [ 59 ]. How to Fix Common Xbox 360 Problems [ 60 ]. Johnson [ 61 ]. Johnson [ 62 ]. Johnson [ 63 ]. Johnson [ 64 ]. McNeilly, Michael. Xbox 360 Owner, Personal Interview. 30 July 2011. [ 65 ]. Johnson [ 66 ]. Johnson [ 67 ]. McNeilly [ 68 ]. Jones [ 69 ]. Jones [ 70 ]. Johnson [ 71 ]. Johnson [ 72 ]. Johnson [ 73 ]. Johnson [ 74 ]. Johnson, McNeilly.

RES Subglacial Mapping for Extraterrestrial Colonization

RES Subglacial Mapping for Extraterrestrial Colonization RES Subglacial Mapping Used to Assess Extraterrestrial Colonization Eric Phelan Successful colonization of another planet involves countless variables being addressed prior to mission launch. Water, being essential to sustaining human life, must be available in sizable quantities in order to establish a fruitful, long-term colony. But even with water filtration systems operating at one hundred percent efficiency, a viable native source of water must be identified on the planet if the colony is ever expected to prosper. Radio Echo Sounding may provide a solution to this problem. Introduction Radio Echo Sounding, Ice Penetrating Radar, or more commonly Radioglaciology, has been used for many years to map the subsurface of glaciers all across the globe. From massive canyons to pockets of trapped volcanic ash, RES has been a valuable tool in understanding how glaciers form and what they contain. In more recent years, studies have been conducted on the identification of subglacial lakes. These results may prove valuable when locating viable and continuous sources of water on otherwise desolate planets. We have already identified large ice caps on Mars [1] and that Jupiter’s Satellite, Europa, is covered in water ice [2]. We have even discovered small pockets of ice in craters on the moon [3]. The issue is that we must somehow extract usable water from these locations. It would be too costly and inefficient to continuously melt ice for use, so the next option is to identify pockets of fresh water in the ice. Radioglaciology gets us one step closer to identifying ideal colony locations by first locating large subglacial lakes. These subsurface fresh water bodies could provide just enough water for a colony to grow steadily and flourish. While scientists utilize RES here on Earth, we get one step closer to colonization of other planets. Greenland: Beneath the Ice As early as 1964, advanced RES techniques were being used in Greenland to map the subsurface beneath the mile thick ice sheet. [4] Just last year, RES surveys helped make a discovery of massive proportions. A canyon 50 percent longer than Arizona’s Grand Canyon was discovered snaking its way north toward Petermann Glacier [5][6]. This allowed scientists to extrapolate subsurface river data proving that looking beneath the surface of the ice on our own world delivers extremely valuable information that we otherwise would have failed to acquire. If we can find ancient river systems and lakes on Earth using this technique, it should be viable on other planets. Antarctica: The Hostile Habitat As more research teams explore Antarctica, the use of RES surveying is becoming more extensive. The concept that is being tested here is that liquid water can form beneath these ice sheets due to the bed being above water’s pressure melting point. These surveys have found 379 lakes in Antarctica nearly 4000 meters beneath the ice [7]. While scientists are currently more interested in finding life that miraculously escaped extinction 35 million years ago, these lakes also are important in determining whether other planets may have enough liquid water housed in their ice caps to support a human population. Although the popular and most commonly used methodology of RES surveys employs airplanes with radio equipment, satellites are also viable tools for the job. A satellite deployed in orbit around a planet can map elevation changes in ice sheets that are indicative of subsurface water movements. The more movements there are, the more active the lakes and rivers are beneath the surface. Knowing this can help us determine whether lakes are replenishing quickly or have a limited source of water. As Antarctica is arguably the most hostile surface environment on Earth, it is a good training ground for setting up an extraterrestrial colony. Exposure to the inclement weather can cause irreversible damage to the human body within minutes, testing the boundaries of what our technology and potential colonists can handle. Establishing drilling projects to extract water from these subglacial lakes may be the natural â€Å"next step† in determining our capacity to survive on other planets. If we can manage to transport liquid water from 2.5 miles beneath the surface to an outpost above, we will have tested and proved a technology that could someday be used on other worlds. Space Colonization Figure 3: Artist’s conception of a moon base http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_colonization The moon is a likely first candidate for space colonization. With the discovery of large concentrations of frozen water in deep craters on the moon in 2009 [3], humanity may have more incentive than ever before to establish a colony there. With the ability to find pockets of water in these ice pits, we are well on our way to finding a viable location on the lunar surface to establish a new home. RES surveys of the moon can be conducted from Earth’s surface, but for greater resolution we must get closer. Placing RES satellites in orbit around the moon would allow us to pinpoint liquid water access spots. The same technique would be viable on Mars and, eventually, Europa. If we can establish a stable colony on the moon first, though, we will be one step closer to reaching our full potential as a species. Conclusion The number of planets out in space is immeasurable. If only a fraction of them had water ice on the surface, it would open us up to countless possibilities. With the advancement of RES technologies, we will one day be able to detect water in places that we would have otherwise missed. Finding pockets of water buried deep beneath the ice on Mars or Europa using RES techniques would go a long way toward expanding humanity’s reach into the known universe. We could finally establish colonies on planets that were once thought to be impossible to access. It may be the stuff of science fiction today, but someday in the future this data will be used by engineers and architects to plan out large scale cityscapes that support thousands of lives. It would be the dawn of a new golden age for human civilization, and all of it made possible through the advancement of RES technologies. [1] Bibring, J., Langevin, Y., Poulet, F., Gendrin, A., al, e. (2004). Perennial water ice identified in the south polar cap of mars. Nature, 428(6983), 627-30. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204531038?accountid=14503 [2] Chyba, C. F., Phillips, C. B. (2002). Europa as an abode of life. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, 32(1), 47-68. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1013958519734 [3] Cowen, R. (2009, Oct 24). The damp moon: Team finds water on lunar surface. Science News, 176, 10. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197505984?accountid=14503 [4] TURCHETTI, S., DEAN, K., NAYLOR, S., SIEGERT, M. (2008). Accidents and opportunities: A history of the radio echo-sounding of antarctica, 1958-79. British Journal for the History of Science, 41(3), 417-444. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007087408000903 [5] Wayman, E. (2013, Oct 05). Introducing. Science News, 184, 4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1441704876?accountid=14503 [6] Oskin, B. (2013, August 29). Grand Canyon of Greenland Discovered Under Ice Sheet. LiveScience. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/39289-greenland-longest-canyon-discovered.html [7] Davies, B. (n.d.). Antarctic subglacial lakes. antarcticglaciers.org. Retrieved from http://www.antarcticglaciers.org/modern-glaciers/subglacial-lakes/ [8] Space colonization. (n.d.). Princeton University. Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Space_colonization.html

Role of micro finance in natural disasters

Role of micro finance in natural disasters The impacts of natural disasters are mainly faced by the poor community people in every country. It is very much tough for the poor people to cope with the impacts of natural disasters. Micro-finance has not only generated enormous hope for the poor people in many developing countries but also played a vital role in natural disasters affected areas. In this paper, the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters are illustrated. It has been seen that micro-finance institutions provide support on poor community people prepare for the onslaughts or rehabilitation needs of the disaster victims, show coping mechanism during a disaster hits and how people can wake of a post natural disaster both at the personal level and generally. Key words: Role of Micro-finance, impacts of natural disasters, poor, support, coping, developing countries. Introduction: Over the years, natural disasters seem to have become more frequent across the world, resulting in enormous human and economic losses. Natural disasters take many forms like earthquakes, floods, cyclones, tsunamis, tornados and droughts, which threaten the very existence of the local communities. Further, it has been observed that the effects of natural disasters are more acute in developing countries than in developed ones. Natural disasters have had devastating dev ·as ·tate  Ã‚   tr.v. dev ·as ·tat ·ed, dev ·as ·tat ·ing, dev ·as ·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. .. Click the link for more information.  effects on the poor. For example, in 1998, Bangladesh experienced the flood of the century. Households exposed to flooding had major crop failure, suffered various water-borne diseases, lost shelter, assets and the ability to meet basic needs. Results show that the burden of medical expenditures due to flood-related sicknesses is significantly higher for poorer households, and for households more exposed to flooding. More positively, econometric results indicate that social cohesion built on group-based micro-finance programs provide an informal social insurance that reduces sickness shocks. The strength of group-based micro-credit in coping with natural disasters is yet to be fully explored. Micro-credit may not be effective in the case of a large-scale natural disaster that creates a covariate shock. However, even in the case of a large-scale natural disaster (e.g. 1998 flooding), social capital developed through micro-credit programs is s hown to play a positive role in reducing the burden of sickness shocks. Micro-finance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. At the end of 2009, 1,084 MFIs that were serving 74 million borrowers ($38 billion in outstanding loans) and 67 million savers ($23 billion in deposits). For example, In Indonesian context, micro-financial savings and lending institutions support families to ensure consumption against illness shocks. Micro-finance actually helps the poor and vulnerable poor people. So, micro finance reduces vulnerability and increases coping against socio-economic shocks, including Natural disasters. At the same time, microfinance can provide relief in direct response to disasters. Thus it is possible to make micro finance tools a part of diverse disaster relief programs or response. Objective of the study: Disaster mitigation practices needs to be tied up throughout the life cycle of micro-finance tools in order to make poor community people sustainable and minimize non-financial losses. As just mentioned, the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters are the purpose of this study. This study is prepared based on the following questions: What are the roles of micro-finance in mitigating the impacts of natural disasters, coping mechanism during or after disaster period? What are the main lessons and challenges of micro-finance to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters in poor community? Microfinance and Disaster Mitigation: Some Conceptual Issues The attributes of microfinance, which are applied in reducing household level risks, are relevant for reducing disaster risks too. Microfinance instruments help poor households diversify their income by source and season. They also diversify income by earner as it provides opportunities to women to earn. Multiplicity of income-earning opportunities and asset building through microfinance help poor households in dealing with disasters better. Microfinance also provides explicit and implicit insurance to the households. There is growing interest and constant experimentation in using microfinance in disaster management. The role of microfinance and microfinance institutions in disaster situations, however, is to be clearly analyzed here. Microfinance deals with the poor who are vulnerable to various types of risks. The poor are more likely to be hard-hit hard-hit adj. Badly or adversely affected: Official rescue and recovery efforts were just getting underway in this ravaged port city and more than a dozen other hard-hit towns  R. .. Click the link for more information.  by disasters like drought drought,  abnormally long period of insufficient rainfall. Drought cannot be defined in terms of inches of rainfall or number of days without rain, since it is determined by such variable factors as the distribution in time and area of precipitation during and before .. Click the link for more information., floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. Disasters normally give rise to two kinds of needs, namely relief and rehabilitation. What is required immediately after a disaster is relief to take care of food, shelter, medicine and other immediate needs of the victims. Through its long term impacts of reducing poverty and supporting sustainable development, microfinance reduces the vulnerability of the poor to disasters. Microfinance cannot, however, provide standalone protection against disasters. It must be part of a greater strategy of disaster risk reduction. MFIs must be prepared for disasters by developing disaster management plans that ensure the survival of the MFI and sustainable delivery of its services. Education on microfinance and disaster mitigation is needed for both successful poverty reduction and disaster impact reduction. Microfinance must be linked to disaster mitigation, especially during rehabilitation when the links between recover y and preparedness are clearly evident. MFIs like BRAC, ASA, Grameen Bank, Shakti etc. are working to reducing vulnerability during natural disaster by providingClint-responsive loans, housing improvement loans, adaptation of current lending, emergency reconstruction loans etc. They help to so compulsory savings, voluntary savings, adaptation of forced loans etc. MFIs suggest people for doing Insurance (best established before disaster). MFIs provide money transfer services (remittances likely to increase), Grants and donations (for increasing power and building financial discipline), Livelihood relief (no payment) to the poor community people. Microfinance Institutions also provide non-financial services like training, information dissemination, distribution of supplies etc. In the aftermath of a disaster, microfinance can quickly provide relief, and then support sustainable recovery and rehabilitation. Microfinance institutions can additionally provide post-disaster communication and coordination through their established community networks. Microfinance requires a degree of self-management by clients and is normally community based, thus fostering recovery ownership, dignity and community cohesion during traumatic and unstable times. Microfinance can reduce the cost of post-disaster recovery financing, while reducing aid dependency. At the same time, however, post- disaster aid can distort markets, adversely affecting microfinance performance. Post-disaster activities must be carefully considered to prevent negative long-term impacts on local markets and MFIs. To best reduce disaster impacts on a community, MFIs should offer a suite of flexible products to adapt to specific needs and situations. Links and/or partnerships with the formal financial secto r are needed to enhance liquidity and support institutional and managerial capacity. IV.Cases (Disaster management of Micro-finance programmes): Flood in Bangladesh (1998): Bangladesh is largely a flat deltaic country formed by the confluence of great river systems of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna. These river systems annually drain a vast basin about 12 times its own size. Apart from this, hilly regions experiences flash flood after heavy rainfall and due to frequent depressions in the Bay, Bangladesh experiences regular threats of cyclonic storms, often catastrophic. The role of microfinance services in responding to disaster risks was demonstrated first during the 1998 flood. Bangladesh experienced the worst floods in its history from July to September 1998. The damages to standing crops, livestock and houses were overwhelming. The income generating activities of rural landless people were almost suspended. There had been a huge loss of property and human and animal lives during the SIDR attack in 2007 in the coastal areas of Bangladesh, nearly 4 millions affected, and more than six thousand people died, thous ands of livestock perished, and 0.9 million homes fully or partially damaged. All the MFIs in Bangladesh responded to the unprecedented situation of floods and SIDR. During the floods and cyclones, MFI workers even went on boats to ensure that weekly contacts with all members were maintained. Workers carried money with them and provided immediate interest-free consumption loans so that the members would not go hungry. the MFIs allowed the members to withdraw their savings. Grameen Bank, BRAC, ASA, Proshika, TMSS, CODEC, GUK and many other small MFIs despite a very serious financial consequence for their liquidity, opened access to compulsory savings account in an attempt to reduce the precipitous decline many households experienced in their incomes. In non-disaster times, members of these institutions did not have access to these funds unless they had fully repaid any outstanding loans and decided to leave the MFI. BRAC also operated disaster-related deposits, which allowed members to keep their assets safe from loss or damage due to the floods. A number of MFIs such as ASA and others provided voluntary savings facilities to their members. These facilities provided the members more assistance in disasters than compulsory or disaster-related savings with less negative financial consequences for the MFI. Tsunami -Micro Finance in Sri Lanka(2004): The December 2004 tsunami is one of the worst natural disasters experienced by Sri Lanka in recorded history. With over 35,000 dead and over 800,000 displaced it is a disaster of a magnitude that the country was ill equipped to deal with. Thirteen of the countrys twenty five districts were affected with the North and East provinces accounting for over two thirds of deaths and nearly 60% of the displaced. Sri Lanka (RADA) estimates that about 150,000 people lost livelihoods about 80 per cent of the affected lost their main source of income; 90 per cent lost their productive assets including the abodes. There were several issues facing the micro finance sector even pre-tsunami. The micro finance market has been pluralistic with high penetration by many different types of institutions, employing a wide range of micro finance models and methods. Bulk of micro credit is funded through Government banks and programmes, through subsidized credit, w hich is not sustainable. Agro Micro-Finance, BRAC, Arthacharya Foundation were working in Sri Lanka during tsunami. While these MFIs might be fulfilling their social mission, they were not charging interest rates that would achieve cost recovery. Capacity building of these institutions was a priority. Agro Micro-Finance was operating in eight districts in Sri Lanka, many of which were affected by the tsunami. Arthacharya Foundation is a national not-for-profit NGO functioning in seven districts. This organization is working with a large number of donors in promoting micro enterprises through savings and credit, and also working in health and sanitation. BRAC set up operations in Sri Lanka for undertaking post-tsunami rehabilitation activities. BRAC has quickly expanded the outreach as well as loans since establishing operations in Sri Lanka. Within a year of operation the number of clients reached has touched 26,373 making it one of the larger MFIs in Sri Lanka. Well established man agement practices and systems have enabled the MFI to quickly scale up. Though the initial operations were through grant funds from BRAC and Oxfam NOVIB, BRAC has recently approached commercial banks for loans for expanding its loan portfolio. Pre-tsunami, voluntary savings was offered by four MFIs and compulsory savings by ten MFIs. Overall, there have been several positive developments due to post-tsunami funding by donors. Lessons and challenges of micro-finance: As we look broadly at micro-finance as an industry, and at specific experiences in the natural disaster context, it is possible to draw several broad lessons: Microfinance cannot be a financial safety net to an entire affected community, but can play an increasingly constructive role in disaster preparedness and response as it expands its range of products and services. Establishment of long-term relationships between individuals and MFIs allow poor households access to existing MFI products that can help reduce some of the hardships caused by natural disasters. Preparedness of the MFIs staff and systems is the key to providing timely response to clients. Timing of MFI services matters to clients: emergency loans must be available quickly after disaster strikes, while reconstruction support is useful once the household has fully passed the emergency stage. Along with these broad lessons, there are also clear bottlenecks that limit the role MFIs currently play in natural disaster response and mitigation: Most MFIs do not have the liquidity position (or access to a Disaster Loan Fund) to respond quickly or fully in a disaster context. MFIs-from management, to field staff, to reserves, to information and communication systems-are not currently prepared to either weather or respond to a natural disaster situation. MFIs have not considered client needs from an emergency perspective; rather products and services are primarily geared to day-to-day business or household concerns. Demand for special services may be small, yet may require significant institutional investment. Therefore, individual MFIs are unlikely to invest in developing or maintaining these services. Regulatory restrictions and limits to institutional capacity will keep most MFIs from mobilizing voluntary savings for the foreseeable future. Findings of the study: Although the concept of using microfinance for disaster mitigation is a novel idea, the relevance of microfinance under disaster conditions especially for the poor is yet to be fully established. Microfinance even under normal circumstances faces quite a few limitations in bringing about improvement in livelihood. While microfinance can ensure livelihood protection by reducing various shocks and vulnerability, it cannot lead to livelihood promotion unless it is accompanied by other equally important measures like training, market linkages and technology development. As micro-finance institutions involved in livelihood restoration interventions, they are aimed at establishing funds that could be used in normal situations and during times of disaster. Their main aim during normal times was disaster preparedness. By taking up various activities aimed at disaster preparedness, they secured livelihoods and resources, improved the lives of the communities, made them less vulnerable and bet ter equipped to face disaster. In case of an emergency, the projects assisted the communities in mitigating mit ·i ·gate  Ã‚   v. mit ·i ·gat ·ed, mit ·i ·gat ·ing, mit ·i ·gates v.tr. To moderate (a quality or condition) in force or intensity; alleviate. See Synonyms at relieve. v.intr. To become milder. .. Click the link for more information.  the effects through loans reserved for the purpose. Insurance could be a useful instrument of risk mitigation for the poor especially under disaster situation Micro-insurance can take up under MFIs to provide protection to the women against loss of life, accidents, prolonged pro ·long  Ã‚   tr.v. pro ·longed, pro ·long ·ing, pro ·longs 1. To lengthen in duration; protract. 2. To lengthen in extent. .. Click the link for more information.  illness and hospitalization, and damage or destruction of houses and household assets. Thus, both during normal and disaster times, the MFIs funds were used mainly through loans. The core objective of the MFIs is to reach out to the most vulnerable among the target groups. As observed in the study, the members would like to depend upon MFIs for their social, economic and emotional security. For protection and improvement of their livelihood, they need diverse financial services. Many of them would like to take up income generating activities to strengthen their economic base. Moreover, no significant attempt is made by these interventions to adopt an integrated approach required for improving the livelihood of the disaster-affected households. Given the fact that the members of the poor households in the study area are faced with many social and economic constraints like illiteracy, severe caste and gender discrimination, and landlessness, m ere introduction of microfinance may not help them in bringing about any significant improvement in the livelihood. VI. Methodology: The study mainly uses secondary sources. Secondary data on Flood in Bangladesh (1998) was colleted from Bangladesh Country Report by Sirajul Islam (INAFI Asia Bangladesh) and Tsunami Micro Finance in Sri Lanka (2004) was collect from Review of Post-Tsunami Micro Finance in Sri Lanka by Girija Srinivasan. Moreover, I have taken help from different websites and books. VII. Conclusion: Reducing the Poors vulnerabilities to disasters and emergency situations is the role of micro-finance in disaster risk mitigation. It can immediately relieve financial burdens caused by the on set of calamities, especially if savings and micro-insurance is included in the package of services. It can further support consequent initiatives for sustainable disaster recovery and rehabilitation. Since, MFI is private in nature; it has great potential to provide financial and non-financial services in all stages-relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development. However, micro-finance services alone cannot immediately translate into a stand-alone successful disaster recovery enterprise but needs to form part of an over-arching disaster risk mitigation strategy. The success of the microfinance industry in various disasters is indicative of future accomplishments in exploiting microfinance for pre- and post-disaster mechanisms. While micro-finance can be an entry-point for the delivery of sustained services in disaster situation, it still needs the prompt provision of services from the government, like installation of damaged infrastructure and other rehabilitation interventions and active participation of other civil society groups for training, counseling and organizing. A more thorough understanding of microfinance and disaster mitigation is needed for poverty reduction and disaster impact reduction. Finally, it can be said that micro-finance institutions can be an entry point or a point of convergence of poverty alleviation and disaster mi tigation programs.

ATA to Ultra ATA :: essays research papers

ATA to Ultra ATA/66 Advanced ATA Storage Interface Introduction Interface History Understanding the Need for a Faster Disc Interface Technology Overview Performance Increase Cost Stabilization Backward Compatibility System Requirements Data Integrity and Reliability Conclusions More Information Introduction The PC industry is constantly searching for advanced technology. This equates to more disc space, faster performance, more memory, better displays – virtually every component is under relentless pressure to improve. Continual improvement for the disc drive industry means lower costs, improved reliability, higher capacity, and better performance. As PC performance increases, the performance of the hard drive, which is the central input/output (I/O) device of the PC, becomes increasingly important. Improvement in disc drive performance is a complex area and is measured using several components: seek time, rotational latency, internal transfer rate, cache, and interface speed. Interface History The hard drive interface is the path through which data travels between the PC and the hard drive. The original ISA-dependent ATA (IDE) interface was limited to about 4 Mbytes/sec in the beginning, but reached as high as 8 Mbytes/sec. Interface protocols, such as programmed input/output (PIO) and direct memory access (DMA) modes, were designed to take advantage of the new local bus architectures that replaced ISA. ATA interface modes have progressed from PIO to DMA and now Ultra DMA, giving data transfer rates from 8.3, 11.1, and 13.3 Mbytes/sec up to 16.6, 33.3, and now 66.6 Mbytes/sec. Specification ATA ATA 2 ATA 3 ATA/ATAPI 4 ATA/ATAPI 5 Max Transfer Modes PIO 1 PIO 4 DMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 UDMA 2 PIO 4 DMA 2 UDMA 4 Max Transfer Rate 4 Mbytes/sec 16 Mbytes/sec 16 Mbytes/sec 33 Mbytes/sec 66 Mbyte/sec Max Connections 2 2 2 2 per cable 2 per cable Cable Required 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin 40-pin, 80-conductor Additional Features - Base - Speed - Synchronous Transfers - S.M.A.R.T. - Secure Mode - Queuing - Overlap - ATAPI - Speed - Data Reliability Year Introduced 1981 1994 1996 1997 1999 The trends in the above chart show that several components have improved with the evolution of the ATA interface. Speed and functionality have made major strides over the years. Performance remains the most commonly considered attribute with interface developments, and Ultra ATA/66 makes burst data transfer rates of up to 66.6 Mbytes/sec possible. Understanding the Need for a Faster Disc Interface Ultra ATA/66 provides a low-cost, high-reliability, backwards-compatible solution to data transfer bottlenecks that slow overall system performance. As the data storage density (areal density) of disc drives and rotational speeds have increased, bottlenecks also increased, thus requiring the ATA interface to improve performance to attain compatible data transfer speeds.

Mary Shelleys Frankenstein - The Individual and Society Essay

Frankenstein: The Individual and Society      Ã‚  Ã‚   The creature's ambiguous humanity has long puzzled readers of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In this essay I will focus on how Frankenstein can be used to explore two philosophical topics, social contract theory, and gender roles, in light of ideas from Shelley's two philosophical parents, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft.    What Does it Mean to be Human? Individual and Society    One historically important tradition in social and political philosophy is called "Social Contract Theory." It gives a way of thinking about what it means to be human, raising fundamental questions such as: what is human nature, in itself, apart from society? Are people fundamentally equal, and if so, why, in what ways? What justifies governmental authority? In what sense are people free and independent if their lives are ruled by laws and governmental authorities?    Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), and John Locke (1632-1704), were English philosophers who approached these questions by hypothesizing a "state of nature." Try to imagine what a person would be like if he or she lived outside of any governed society. Hobbes thought that people would be isolated, desperately afraid of harm from others. Life would be, in Hobbes' memorable phrase, "poore, solitary, nasty, brutish and short." Locke wasn't quite so pessimistic. He thought that in the state of nature, people would be fairly sociable, and would establish private property and trade. Both Hobbes and Locke thought that insecurity in the state of nature would lead people to join together and give to a governmental authority the right to make laws and punish offenders. Hence, for them, government is based on a "social contrac... ...manly virtues are, in fact, weaknesses. Wollstonecraft insists, "The most perfect education, in my opinion, is such an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen the body and form the heart....It is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason" (103). When women are socialized to be feminine, when their reasoning powers are not developed, and when they have no option but to be economically dependent on men, their characters will become perverted, and they will become servile or manipulative.    Works Cited: Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Emile. 1762. translated by William Boyd, New York: Columbia University, 1956. Shelley, Mary. 1818. Frankenstein. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1996. Wollstonecraft, Mary. 1792. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.