Wednesday, October 30, 2019
The internet has changed the way we access information, bringing the Essay
The internet has changed the way we access information, bringing the world to our desks. What are some of the strengths and weak - Essay Example This new platform has been aiding learning and education for several years now, and it is recognized to be one of the most valuable tools, which the world can use for advancement. The internet has become a very popular tool for academic research, due to its highly useful and user-friendly nature (McCuen, pp. 104). Scholars and students alike can access academic journals and books related to science, medicine, technology, business, and hundreds of other disciplines online, from any corner of the world, which has internet access. This gives them a wide bank of resources to work with, which often eliminates the need for more lengthy procedures such as locating and going through printed versions of books and journals. Another reason why this latter procedure is less desirable is because it is highly time consuming, as a researcher who is looking for a specific topic will have to leaf through the whole journal to locate a relevant article (McCuen, pp. 104). Whereas, in an online journal, technology assists this research and the researcher only has to type in the key words of their search and the computer presents them with relevant journal articles from several different journals, books and magazines. It is thus a highly efficient procedure to conduct research online, saving large costs in terms of time and money (McCuen, pp. 104).
Monday, October 28, 2019
History of Halloween Essay Example for Free
History of Halloween Essay Close to $7 billion dollars is what consumers spent on Halloween costumes, candy, and decorations in 2011. When the temperature starts to drop, the leaves turn different colors and the sun sets earlier little by little each day, fall is the perfect season to celebrate Halloween. Millions of children dress up and go to strangers doors begging for candy. Have you ever wondered where this strange and unique tradition originated from? The three most important points of Halloween can be summed up by looking at its origins, how it came to include jack-o-lanterns and bobbing for apples, and how it is celebrated today with trick-or-treating and haunted houses. Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve, has originated from the ancient Celtic festival known as Samahin (sow-in) derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning summers end. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated the end of the harvest season with the festival of Samhain and celebrated the upcoming new Year on November 1. Used by the ancient pagans, Samhain was a time to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. October 31 was the day the ancient Gaels believed the boundaries overlapped between the worlds of the living and the dead, and the departed souls would come back to life and cause mayhem such as damaged crops and sickness. The Gaels built massive bonfires and summoned the help from gods through animal and possibly human sacrifices to ward of the spirits. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which in turn attracted bats. These are additional features of the history of Halloween. Halloween is also thought to be influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints Day, also known as Hallowmas, and All Souls Day falling on November 1 and 2. It was a time for honoring the saints and praying for the deceased who had yet to reach heaven. Traditionally it was believed that the departed souls roamed the earth until All Saints Day, and Hallows Eve delivered one last chance before moving on to the next world, to gain revenge on their enemies. Christians would disguise themselves in costumes and masks to avoid being recognized by the wandering souls. Trick or treating is the practice of dressing up in costumes and going door to door begging for candy and resembles the late medieval practice of souling when the poor would proceed door to door on Hallowmas receiving food, or soul cakes which were pastries, and in return would pray for their dead relatives souls. It was believed at the time the souls of the departed would wait for passage into heaven until enough people prayed for their souls. Soul cakes would be given in exchange for a song, performance, or another sort of trick in some cultures. Eventually, children embraced this practice and were given money, food, and ale. Jack o lanterns are a Halloween staple today, with at least two historical roots. The first is the pagan Celtic people carved turnips and rutabagas to hold hot coal from the bonfire to light their homes and ward off the evil spirits. Another folklore tale gives jack o lanterns their name. An Irish myth portrays a trickster and a drunk known as Stingy Jack, who asked the devil to have a drink with him. Jack persuaded the devil to change himself into a coin so he could pay for his drink, but instead he put the coin in his wallet next to a silver cross, trapping the devil and preventing him to change himself back. Jack said he would free the devil if he did not bother him for another year. The following year Jack tricks the devil into climbing an apple tree for a piece of fruit. He then carved a cross in the bark of the tree preventing the devil from climbing down. In order to get down from the tree, the devil promised Jack he would not seek his soul anymore. Because of his swindling and drunken ways, when Jack died he was not allowed into heaven. He also was not allowed into Hell because the devil kept his word. Taking pity on Jack, the devil gave him an ember to light his way in the dark, putting it into a hollowed out turnip for Jack to carry on his lonely, everlasting roamings around the Earth. People from Ireland and Scotland would make Jack o lanterns during this season to scare away Stingy Jack and other evil spirits wandering about. Over the next several centuries, superstitions about witches and black cats were added to the folklore and legends of Halloween. Cats were thought of as evil, especially black cats, and were killed by the thousands in Medieval times, possibly contributing to the Black Plague, due to the shortage of the rats natural enemy, the cat. During this time, the church created the belief that evil witches existed. Apples, which are a seasonal fruit, and the symbol of the Roman goddess Pomona, were thought at the time to retain qualities of knowledge, resurrection, and immorality. Bobbing for apples was thought to predict the future on the night of Samhain. (sow-in) Halloween eventually made its way over the Atlantic in the second half of the nineteenth century when America became flooded with new immigrants. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that ultimately became todays trick-or-treat tradition. The 20th century saw an emergence of Halloween as a genuinely North American holiday and one that was becoming an advantage for shopkeepers and manufactures. Costuming became popular for Halloween parties for children and adults as well. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in the United States. Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic prototypes such as ninjas and princesses. Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons. Most attractions are seasonal Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees), who are a non-political youth service organization between the ages of 18 to 40, for fundraising. They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides, and the level of sophistication of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an estimate $300-500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers. This maturing and growth within the industry has led to more technically-advanced special effects and costuming, comparable with that of Hollywood films. Halloween is currently the second most important party night in North America, and in terms of its retail potential, it is second to Christmas. Personally, Halloween is one of my favorite days of the year. Even as an adult, to dress up and be someone or something else for the night can be fun and exciting. To escape reality into a fantasy-like world where goblins mingle with princesses is definitely a strange site to see, but is well worth the money and time devoted to one of the spookiest nights of the year. So whether you celebrate Halloween or not, you now have an idea of how Halloween originated, how it came to include bobbing for apples and jack-o-lanterns, and how we celebrate it today with haunted houses and trick-or treating. The sources I cited for this information are from: www.cnbc.com www.halloweenhistory.org www.wikipedia.org www.history.com
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Internet Life :: Technology Computers Web Essays
Internet Life Paying bills online, reading a novel, and buying a pair of sneakers is just some of the opportunities the world wide web has only allowed us to do in the last decades. Even though these tasks simplify our lives, making it less stressful on our busy lives, it seems as though if we are losing part of culture through losing daily errands. Can you imagine one hundred years from now that you might be able to go to a tourist attraction that showed our everyday life, such as you can do now at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts? At Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, you can visit a built replica of the Pilgrims’ community and interact with Pilgrims ( or employees acting like Pilgrims) to see how life was during that time. Suppose if there was a replica of our society, would they have employees dressed up acting like they’re doing routine tasks, such as picking up the dry cleaning? Would the visitors be amazed with what we had to endure and how unfortunate we were to have such small techn ological advancements such as we are with past cultures? Even the minor errands we do every day, such as using the library, will become a click of a button away without even having to leave the house. Today you will not find a card catalog in a library, and soon, our way of gathering information will become a rare item. Our society continues looking for new technology to simplify life, and the cost becomes overwhelming when trying to keep up to date. You cannot buy a new computer and feel satisfied with it six months later due to new updates and more gadgets being made for it. Updating and manufacturing of these computer goods seem to be too quick to keep up with learning the programs also. Even as we speak, my father has owned a personal computer for about six years now, but he still does not know how to open any other program than AOL. If everything becomes digital, it seems that we would lose a grip of reality with losing sense of touch and human contact. Reading a book requires the physical process of grasping the book in your hands while turning the pages with your own fingers; Kurzweil refers to a book having value to it, because you can actually feel the source of knowledge.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Lincoln :: essays research papers
Over the past few years we’ve seen the glamorous acquisitions and mergers of some of the world’s largest companies. Looking towards consolidating resources, minimizing risk and greater control over the product from inception to marketing, these mergers incorporate both vertical integration and horizontal integration.      Times Warner’s’ merger with Turner broadcasting created the largest media company in the world. It owns cable distribution, cable channels, production, music publishing, book and magazine publishing, retail interests, film production and theater chains. An example of possible problems: The 1996 controversy over Time Warner’s cable provider not wanting to distribute Fox’s 24 hour channel, a competitor with Turner’s CNN. Add to this that TCI, the country’s largest cable provider, is now the third largest shareholder in the corporation through its stake in Turner.      These new organizations have the ability to control and promote a product from multiple angles. However, the size doesn’t tell the whole story. A greater measure of the level of competition comes in terms of market share and the barrier for new companies to enter the industry. While the current trend seems to be toward both vertical and horizontal integration, there are possible reasons for the trend to reverse itself. Because of the financial risk involved with new, large-scale ventures, companies that compete in one market find themselves in partnerships elsewhere. This could cause conflicts should these competing ventures find themselves in the same market.      We have witnessed many mergers in recent months. Here are some mergers that might happen in the future: Names of Co. Merging                              New Name W.R. Grace Co., Fuller Brush Co., Mary Kay:          Hale Mary Fuller Grace John Deere & Abitibi-Price:                         Deere Abi Honeywell, Imasco, and Home Oil:                    Honey, I’m Home 3M, J.C. Penney, Metropolitan Opera Co:               3 Penney Opera Grey Poupon & Dockers Pants:                         Poupan Pants Over the past few years we’ve seen the glamorous acquisitions and mergers of some of the world’s largest companies. Looking towards consolidating resources, minimizing risk and greater control over the product from inception to marketing, these mergers incorporate both vertical integration and horizontal integration.      Times Warner’s’ merger with Turner broadcasting created the largest media company in the world. It owns cable distribution, cable channels, production, music publishing, book and magazine publishing, retail interests, film production and theater chains. An example of possible problems: The 1996 controversy over Time Warner’s cable provider not wanting to distribute Fox’s 24 hour channel, a competitor with Turner’s CNN. Add to this that TCI, the country’s largest cable provider, is now the third largest shareholder in the corporation through its stake in Turner.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
General Motors Organizational Transition
General Motors Organizational Transition General Motors was founded by William Durant on September 16th, 1908. General Motors (GM) is an American based automobile manufacturing company. From its inception, GM has grown from a small Detroit, Michigan manufacturing plant to one of the top three auto manufacturers in America and the world’s second largest. GM has manufacturing plants in 35 countries and sells in over 200 countries. Throughout the years, recognizable brand names such as Oldsmobile, Opel, Cadillac, Pontiac and Chevrolet have become a part of GM. The company has branched out into the aviation and financial lending fields as well. Recent economic meltdowns have affected GM to point of bankruptcy in 2008. It took an American government bail-out in 2008 to save the company. GM then began an over-haul of its entire organization; including production, manufacturing, management structure and fiscal responsibility practices. The article, GM Organizational Change by Michelle Powers, published March 17, 2009, covers many points of the corporation’s transition from a traditional organizational model to a transformed organizational model. The article identifies how changing the organizational model impacted GM’s workforce, customer base and local communities that GM’s many arms of business were a part of, support systems that were put in place at GM to insure successful transition. Before the transition was put into effect, GM had a traditional hierarchical management structure and viewpoint. At the top of the structure was the president, who was answerable to only the board of directors, senior management and vice-presidents of varied departments were answerable to the president. On down the line there were division managers & supervisors and so on, then your average, regular employees. Having separate entities, such as Buick, Cadillac and other divisions operating differently from each other and the parent company was costly and ineffective in this â€Å"earth is flat†economic and communications era. GM North America President Mark Reuss, stated, â€Å"I could see clear as day that the mix and the structure of people just wasn’t right. These changes were necessary for GM to move faster and win. We need people who are change agents. After the economic troubles of the company, all aspects of how the company was run and directed were researched. Jack Smith GM’s CEO stated, â€Å"I had the opportunity to really structure the business in the way I thought is should be run. †GM has started to move their organization into what is called a transformed organizational model (TOM). A TOM does not have multiple departments, performing sepa rate tasks from others with different goals. It has taken several years to transform GM to an organization with a more centralized organization. The company set up The Automotive Strategy Board, a management committee to ensure that the CEO was informed and knowledgable of the company’s progress, trouble-spots, and over-all health. A monthly meeting is held with all the heads of all the regional departments even Global officials had to attend via phone. With this plan, all of the companies leaders were informed and were able to implement common goals and practices. The separate computer systems bogged down communications and often produced more mis-communication than not. A central software program was developed and implemented. All offices, administration staff, management, and employees were all trained on the new system world-wide. This level of development and training was costly. With the new level of stream-lined communications and universal usage, the system and training proved their worth. In the new Mishawaka, Indiana plant, GM has pioneered a teamwork concept called the Global Manufacturing System (GMS). Teams of workers have designed the jobs that are performed for each stage of the production process. The worker is supported first by his or her own â€Å"team†, a group of four or five workers assigned to perform specific tasks. The team is supported by a team leader. In turn, each group of four or five teams has the support of a group leader. In addition, each person is a member of a team assigned to perform specific tasks. Each team member is cross-trained for each other’s job. â€Å"Inherent in this process is everyone helps everyone. The whole focus, the entire focus, of GMS is to support the operator,†said AM General President and Chief Executive Officer, James Armour. So far, AM General has spent $35 million on more than 177,000 hours of training for employees. The plant(s) implementing the GMS model show more confidence in the workers. On the assembly line there are cords for each station in the event that a worker feels that there is a problem, he or she can stop the line at his or her discretion to correct the problem. The assembly lines are designed more ergonomically. Other plants use the straight-line assembly model where workers have to reach the line either by differing platform heights or outright reaching from the ground. The new plant has the assembly line rolling along for different heights for each portion of the production needed in that placement. Employees have more control over their life on the job. This has been leading to less management/labor disputes . The plant has a three-step grievance system and as of yet, no grievance has gone further than the first step. Not all plant employees who have been offered a transfer to the new GMS model have not been interested in a transfer. For some people the old way is working best for them. If this model continues to be successful, they might not have a choice about it for much longer. I believe that the changes GM has been implementing have improved the company overall. It seems that extensive research showed that getting the people of all levels throughout the company more involved with more aspects has had a positive impact. The use of teams has proved more effective than the solitary worker with a manager or supervisor to report to. Centralizing communications has put everyone on the â€Å"same page†for goal setting, problem solving, and share of information throughout the organization. The more information that is shared, the better for all concerned. The employees are more empowered with the chance to improve their production, implement their ideas, creativity and have more responsibility. The company has showed concern for the worker’s well-being, respect for their jobs and contributions to the company. That type of leadership gives the employees confidence in their leaders and their jobs. The entire over-haul of the company has predominately been concerned with OB. Corporate culture begins with OB. You cannot change a company for the better without taking into account the people who work at all levels for the company is not going to be effective on any level. GM has been recovering from its financial difficulties and these changes have had a major part in it. It has been showing consistent growth and profit for the last year. It has also been making it’s payments for the financial bail-out. I believe they are the only company who has done so. On top of that they have been running ads telling the people of America thank you and acknowledging their employees for their efforts at improving GM.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Permian Mass Extinction essays
Permian Mass Extinction essays A mass extinction about 250 million years ago, which destroyed almost of the species on Earth, happened very quickly and it is demonstrated in the fossil record by the collapse of one-celled organisms called protests. Something suddenly killed off more than 90 %of all species on earth, and that led to the age of the dinosaurs. Evidence indicates the massive die-off was linked with an abrupt drop in productivity, the rate at which inorganic carbon is turned into organic carbon through processes such as photosynthesis. Terrestrial faunal diversification occurred in the Permian and 90-95% of marine species became extinct. Among terrestrial fauna affected included insects, amphibians, reptiles and mammal-like reptiles. The terrestrial flora was predominately composed of gymnosperms, including conifers. Life in the sea consisted of common groups of brachiopods, bony fish, sharks and fuslinid. Corals and trilobites were also present, but were exceedingly rare. During the Permian period all the worlds land masses joined together into a single super continent named Pangaea. The collision between Laurasia and Siberia-Kazakhstania and China finalized and assembled into Pangaea by the end of Permian. This was the first time since the late Protrusion super continent of Rodina that such a landmass had formed. Pangea was shaped sort of like a giant pacman with the mouth on the east. There was a corresponding large single ocean, called Pathalassa. The body of water enclosed by the pacman mouth constituted a smaller area, the Tethys, which covered much of what is now southern and central Europe. Throughout the Permian, Europe was covered by a very salty inland sea, the Zechstein Sea, which advanced and receded at least twice. This was home to an impoverished fauna, mainly brachiopods and bivalves, which were able to cope with the hyper saline conditions. ...
Monday, October 21, 2019
Globalisation essay part 2
Globalisation essay part 2 Globalisation essay part 2 Globalisation essay part 2 Globalisation  essay part 1In addition, the economic cooperation is the most advanced between well-developed nations. For instance, the EU emerged as the economic union of western European countries which were and still are the major European economies. The economic cooperation between developed nations leaves developing nations outsiders in the global economic development process.However, even in well-developed nations, globalisations has failed to eliminate the socioeconomic disparity and the problem of poverty in developed countries persists, especially this problem aggravates after economic crises as was the case of the US economic recession that was followed up by the global financial crisis of 2008. Many researchers (Bhagwati, 2004) argue that globalisation increases the risk of the widening disparity between the rich and the poor because the accumulation of capital leads to the enrichment of the rich, while the poor remains in the inferior position. In fact, globalisation is beneficial for businesses and large corporations but not for employees. More important, in case of employees, globalisation has a destructive impact on them and leads to their pauperisation because companies based in developed countries tend to outsource many services and move productions to developing countries, where the labour force is cheaper. As a result, employees from developed countries remain jobless.Effects of globalisation on developing nationsDeveloping countries face the dubious effects associated with the development of globalisation. On the one hand, globalisation stimulates their economic development due to the elimination of fiscal barriers that opens the way for their products to supply to the global market (Weiler, 2002).On the other hand, developing countries face the problem of their inability to compete with developed ones to compete in terms of technology and diversity of production. The problem is that companies operating i n developing countries are often technologically dependent on companies based in developed countries. As a result, they cannot outpace and challenge the position of companies based in developed countries in high tech industries.In addition, developing countries are predominantly mono-industrial countries, i.e. they have only one main industry which is well-developed and produces the lion share of the national GDP. For instance, Nigerian economy depends consistently on the oil export with other industries being underdeveloped in the country.Moreover, globalisation aggravates the current disparity between the rich and the poor nations because developing countries are predominantly suppliers of resources, including human resources, whereas developed countries supply high tech products and services (Khor, 2011). As a result, developing countries turn out to be in a disadvantageous position in a long-run perspective because globalisation facilitates and accelerates their exploitation by more developed nations which consume more resources supplied from developing countries, while developing countries retain their backwardness both technological and economic compared to developed nations, while some researchers (Danaher, 1999) insist that this gap grows wider under the impact of globalisation.The seeming improvement brought by globalisation to employees in developing countries because many companies from developed countries have moved their production to developing countries or outsources many of services they needed. However, such a view on the impact of globalisation on employees in developing countries is also erroneous because the move of production from developed countries to developing ones does not improve conditions of work. On the contrary, often companies recruit employees and pay them minimal wages. Many companies neglect workplace safety requirements and neglect rights of employees. As a result, companies employ children and fail to prevent accidents and casualties in the workplace environment in developing countries.Effects of globalisation on the world as a wholeEconomic problems have become global that means that financial and economic crisis became global. In other words, globalisation makes the world economy more vulnerable to economic crises. In the past, when national governments protected domestic economies by fiscal barriers and when the cooperation between nations was relatively low, the crisis in one country or region affected the one country or region only, while the impact on the world economy was minimal. On the contrary today the economic crisis in one country only may trigger the global economic crisis. Obviously, such interdependence of world economies makes them vulnerable to the high risk of crises, while economic crises become deeper and longer (Gomory, 2002).Furthermore, changes at the local and regional level affect the global economic development. For instance, a war in the Middle East can skyrocket the oil pr ice, while opening the US oil reserves can cause the drop of the oil price globally. The emergence of international organisations, such as the World Trade Organisation and supranational organisations and agreements, such as the EU, or the NAFTA, became the government response to the emergence of economic globalisation.In addition, the increased power and role of multinational corporations raises the problem of the government control over business operations. To put it more precisely, many researchers (Stiglitz, 2013) argue that multinational corporations have become more powerful than national governments (Van der Borght, 2000). In response, governments unite their efforts and policies to keep economic development under control because, today, the government performs the role of the mediator between large corporations and citizens. Otherwise, interests of citizens could be neglected by large corporations that means that large corporations could conduct irresponsible environmental po licies, for instance, while citizens could not protect their communities and environment without the assistance of the government and government agencies.Stiglitz (2012) questions prospects of the new economic order established under globalisation. The researcher believes that globalisation may have a destructive impact on the economic and social development of the world because the growth potential of the global market is still limited, while the elimination of national barriers raises the question of the ability of governments and the public to keep control overlarge multinational corporations and businesses.ConclusionThus, the process of globalisation stimulates the rise of international business activities and may even stimulate the economic growth. However, in a long-run perspective, globalisation has rather negative than positive effect. Globalisation leads to the growing disparity between developed nations and developing ones. The former have accelerated the exploitation of n atural resources and other resources of the latter. Moreover, the social inequality persists even in developed nations, where the rich become richer, while the number of poor increases, especially if an economic crisis strikes.
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