Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh - Essay Example The essay "Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh" will help to understand the importance of that figures in the art of 19th century. During these centuries not only did the nature of art change considerably, but artists of extreme talent also emerged. Vincent Van Gogh is perhaps the most renowned artist of the 19th century and is widely credited for implementing and perfecting a style known as impressionism. This essay examines both Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso and the contributions they made to the field art. Vincent Van Gogh was born in the Netherland in 1853 (McQuillan 4). While a strong amount of information is known about Van Gogh, the most prominent sources of biographical information on the artist comes from letters between him and his younger brother Theo who sold much of his art. While Van Gogh would ultimately become one of the most highly regarded artists of the 19th century, he would spend most of life in obscurity. Art scholars recognize that â€Å"Van Gogh’s greatest art productions emerged after his move to Paris in 1886†. During this period Van Gogh began to produce works in his now seminal impressionistic style. After his time in Paris, Van Gogh would move to Arles in 1888 . It was here that he produced such seminal works as ‘Starry Night Over the Rhone’ and ‘Bedroom in Arles’. Suffering from bouts of illness and depression throughout his life, Van Gogh would commit suicide in 1890 by a gunshot to the chest . Pablo Picasso is arguably the most renowned artist of the 20th century.

Use of database Essay Example for Free

Use of database Essay Computer technology has given many precious gifts to mankind. One of them is the database technology. It has made administration, trade and commerce very easy, precise and fast. Operations which used to take long time, and were still full of errors, are now managed in few seconds, and are cent percent free of errors. At the heart of this remarkable success is the software program, which helps creation, segmentation , categorization and retrieval of databases. These programs are known as database management systems, DBMS programs have a long history. Starting from very simple programs in 1960s they have developed into large, complex software packages like Oracle. While the management functions remain the same, the utility value and the facilities offered in newer versions differ vastly from their predecessors. This essay briefly analyzes the DBMS program used in a particular department of an organization and proposes hoe improvements could be made over the existing use of DBMS program. The organization is a market research agency. One of the departments is pharmaceutical research. The function of this department is to gather prescriptions of doctors from various geographic locations across the country, analyze the symptoms, diagnosis and the drugs prescribed by the Doctor. These prescriptions are codified according to standardized international codes. Based on this coding, a generalized report is then prepared, which specifies which drug is used more in a given geographic location. This market research is very important to pharmaceutical companies for devising their marketing strategies. Here, the database program used for coding the symptoms, diagnosis and drugs is taken as an example for analysis. First, the function of coding is explained with an example. Visits a doctor with a complaint of soar throat and difficulty in swallowing, coupled with fever. According to the directory of codes of symptoms of the company, symptom ‘soar throat’ has a code 3323, ‘difficulty in swallowing’ has a code 1018 and ‘fever’ has a code 1286. If the doctor diagonizes ‘ throat infection’ as the cause for these symptoms, the code for it, as specified by WHO is J029. (ICD-10). Now, the doctor prescribes ‘ MOX-500’ capsules, a drug which has Amoxycillin as its main content. The code of this drug is 05377-73, as per the company specification. Those who do this coding job have to frequently refer to each code. The sum total of symptoms, diagnosis and drugs runs into a few thousand entries. Manual reference to these codes is very cumbersome. A database management program is designed to aids the coders. The package used is Foxpro. It is a two way system, wherein, the code could be traced if the name is given as an input and the name is given as an output if the number is given as an input. So, the coder can trace the code from any name and conversely, the name can also be traced with the help of a numeric code. Like all the DOS based programs, this program is a very robust program, and easy to use. Name to Number program : This program contains all the data related to the symptoms, diagnosis and the drugs. While the name and its respective code are the main parameters displayed, the drug table also reveals the type of drug e. g. syrup. Tablet, capsule, injection etc and its respective capacities e. g. 5 ml, 200mg etc. Being a DOS based program, the database is indexed by the computer, each time it is accessed. The key command for a new entry are ‘ ‘alt-s’ keys on the keyboard. Even if the full name is not types, the program takes to the alphabetically ordered names of the data. For example, if only ‘ ‘soar’ is typed as a new entry, the program gives and output of the first entry, out of all the entries starting from alphabets ‘soar’, or just typing ‘ pen’ will take the user to the first entry alphabetically listed with ‘pen’ as the first three letters. The cursor needs to be taken down to locate the drug ‘penicillin’. Instructions regarding the keyboard controls for retrieval of information, traverse of the cursor and exit from the program are permanently displayed at the bottom of the screen. These are the read only features. This means only three operations are possible on the program by the coder. Either he can type a name and get the code, or he can traverse the cursor or he can exit. It bears typical resemblance to the ‘ WordStar’ program, where the controls for operations were displayed whenever the program used to start. It is a completely textual program, simply because the basic software package, Foxpro/ Dos version, did not offer any GUI facilities. Like all other DOS based programs, colors are non existent in this program. It is a black and white screen throughout its use. Number name program : Many times the coder need a reverse retrieval to be performed. That is, given a number, the corresponding name of the symptom, diagnosis and the drug is to be traced. This program offers this facility also. When the number is entered, its validity is checked and if it is a correct number corresponding to the database, then the name of the drug, diagnosis or the symptom is given out as an output. In the case of drug display, the other parameters like the type e. g. syrup, tablet, capsule etc are also displayed. This part also has all the features and limitations typically associated with a DOS based program. This program, even in its present form, based on the technology of early 1990s is extremely useful to the coders. Especially when it comes to coding few hundred prescriptions every day, this program helps in a speedy and precise coding procedure. The codes are written manually by the coder on a printed form on paper. Improvements: Several improvements are not only possible on the current system but it is a necessary demand of time. First, Windows – 98 is soon expiring as the last GUI operating system which can support DOS based applications. The next most popular OS, Windows-XP does not support DOS based applications. Even the new and latest processors like the Dual Core by Pentium and motherboards, do not support Windows-98. Hence, technically, it will be impossible to run this program, the latest computers. It is the demand of time, that a Windows based DBMS used. This can be MS Access, Foxpro/ Win, or Oracle, but a switch over to GUI based application development is a must. Second, the codes, after being retrieved, are written manually. A new application needs to be developed, wherein the need to write the codes separately on a different sheet is eliminated. The coder inserts the name of the symptom, diagnosis or the drug and the corresponding number of the code should be automatically entered in the blank format of the form. The concept of relational database comes into picture over here. The database needs to be related to many blank forms, in such a way that a new form comes on the screen no sooner one is over. As soon as the name is typed in the form, the code must be retrieved by the software and entered in the form. The third factor is to add the utility value of the program. The same program can be extended to keep a record of the name of the coder who has accessed this program and the amount of work done by him/her. This feature facilitates speedy calculation of the monetary remuneration to be given to the coder. A record of signing in time and sign out time will also tell how much time the coder has put in. This record would be useful to gauge the efficiency of the coder. Seeing to the requirements of the improved version, a switch over to Oracle is more desirable, for the versatility and flexibility it offers. One more issue arises out of this discussion. Is the development in computers heading in the right direction? Despite all the progress in the software industry, no program has been able to replace the ‘ command. com’ file of DOS. All versions of Windows also rely upon DOS for their booting functions. Similarly, coders do not have any problem with the program they are working at present, which is over a decade old. The basic question is: Is all the development necessary? Or is it that needs are first created and then devices are made to suffice them? Or is it that under the umbrella of ‘user friendly’ Bill Gates has prevented people from getting to know the inner aspects of a computer? A calculator was a good invention, but has it always helped mankind? Has it not put limitations on the mental calculating capacities? Our ancestors had no problems in adding 40 numbers , fast and precise. For the present generation it is impossible. The developments in computers, have reduced the computer, a PC, to a mere entertainment tool, and the internet has become a tool for chat and social networking for a vast majority of users. Any development is real only if it helps in sharpening of minds, not rusting it !!!

Environmental Causes of Schizotypal Personality Disorder :: essays research papers

The Environmental Causes of Schizotypal Personality Disorder   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), is considered by many as part of the schizophrenic spectrum. It is characterized by discomfort with other people, peculiar patterns of thinking and behavior, and eccentricity. These may take the form of cognitive or perceptual disturbances. Yet, unlike schizophrenia, these psychotic symptoms are not as fully developed as delusions or hallucinations but instead can be characterized as perceptual illusions. A person suffering from SPD might become extremely anxious in social situations, especially those involving strangers. Schizotypal patients also tend to be overly suspicious of others and are not prone to trust others or to relax in their presence. Another characteristic of the disorder is that schizotypes are often odd and eccentric. They often harbor absurd superstitions such as a belief in ESP and many other psychic or paranormal phenomenons that are outside the boundaries of accepted thought. In some cases Schizotypes believe that they possess magical powers, such as the ability to control other people with their thoughts. (Buss 2002) As a result of these symptoms, people diagnosed with SPD have great difficulty with social relationships, and are often alienated from mainstream society. This paper aims to investigate the suspected causes of this strange disorder, focusing on environmental and hereditary factors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some recent studies have found a correlation between the use of street drugs and instances of SPD. Researchers in New Zealand found that people who commonly used cannabis were more than three times as likely to develop schizophrenia and or schizotypal disorder later in life. There have been 30 published research experiments linking cannabis to these disorders. The increase in this evidence during the past decade has been attributed to increases in the potency of marijuana. (Allebeck 1993)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some street drugs are credited with not only increasing the risk of developing SPD, but actually in some cases have triggered the onset of the disorder. SPD and schizophrenia can some times be brought on by heavy use of hallucinogenic drugs, especially LSD; but it appears that a person has to have a predisposition towards developing SPD for this to occur. There is also some evidence suggesting that a person suffering from SPD but undergoing treatment can have a relapse episode by taking LSD. Methamphetamine and PCP are also known to mimic the symptoms of SBD, and can therefore bring about symptoms of the disorder without a previous diagnosis. (Allebeck) Some other research has found that enriched educational, nutritional and social environments substantially lower the risk of developing SPD.

Mother Daughter Relationship in I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen Es

Mother Daughter Relationship in I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† by Tillie Olsen If Only.... Almost every parent dreams of giving their children what they never had growing up. However, unavoidable situations cannot be changed and we are forced to make do with what life gives us. Life’s twists and turns are not always predicted, we get caught up with other things and lose sight of the important ones. In the story, â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing,† Tillie Olsen portrays the life and regret of a young single mother struggling to raise her daughter Emily. Olsen points out through uncontrollable circumstances in society, Emily’s mother is forced to become a working-class mother who must hold down a job and care for her child. To many the ideal mother-daughter relationship is not like the one we find is this story. This is neither the fault of the mother nor daughter. In the beginning, while she is ironing, the mother of a nineteen-year-old girl reflects on her daughter’s childhood. She is caught between feeling responsible for Emily’s unhappy childhood and realizes that she was powerless in making her life better due to the lack of alternatives. As she is ironing, the mother remembers back to when her eldest daughter was an infant. She was a young, inexperienced mother who followed â€Å"like the books said† (204) and considered Emily to be â€Å"the first and only one of [her] five [children] that was beautiful at birth† (203). During the worst years of the Depression, her husband deserts the family leaving them to fend for themselves. With no money or savings available to support the two, her mother is forced to find work and Emily is handed over to a variety of temporary ... ... her child. Olsen articulates the difficulties, obstacles, and struggles faced with non-privileged families in the story. The character of the mother in â€Å"I Stand Here Ironing† is one that is strong and wise. Throughout the story, she reflects on various events in Emily’s life that shaped the person she is today: self-sufficient and independent. At first while she is still young, she looks at her helpless daughter with guilt and pity because she is not able to give her the life she deserves. However, Emily grows into a young adult woman, Olsen points out the mother soon realizes that her daughter is a lovely, capable woman with potential. Her only hope is that Emily herself can and will realize it for herself. Olsen’s suggest that our circumstances shape who we are, but no matter the situation, we can still overcome them because there is potential in everyone.

Disadvantages of Globalization Essay

One of the disadvantages of globalization is the over-standardization of products through global branding. Using Emirate Airline to illustrate this point, globalization will means that their services are standardized which aim to serve all customers. They would lose their uniqueness of the business culture after they go global. Also, the over-globalization will result in the lack of creativity and product diversity Hongladarom (2002), Zekos (2004). Moreover, globalization can also create diseconomies of scale as not all countries have the same growth and economic cycle. For example, Emirate may operate very well in the Middle East and Europe market but expanding into Asia or America market will reduce their profit. This could be due to difficulties of coordinating activities in those new markets or the culture differences. It is also important to note that globalization will cause de-industrialization and high unemployment in the domestic market. Empirical evidences included: Mello (1997), Rodrik (1996), Fagerberg (1994).

Big Bang and Religion Essay

Big Bang and Religion Essay Big Bang and Religion Essay Religion v. Science: The Agrarians argue that science has taken the place of religion in the minds of some people, particularly those who favor industrialism. They refer to it as the "Cult of Science" and wrote, "†¦the word science has acquired a certain sanctitude. It is out of order to quarrel with science†¦" How do you think this idea holds true today? In what ways do you think science has faithful believers in the same way that a religion does? Explain whether or not you think science has elevated itself to a status of unquestionable proof so that one cannot argue with "scientific proof" or if fair debate about " science" is possible. (One example of this idea in action is the debate between evolution and creationism.) Coming from the point of view of a Jewish female, religion is a very important aspect of my life. Science and Religion run so close together that they actually influence each other. Science does have â€Å"faithful believers† just like religion does. For example, scientist believed in the big bang theory, while people heavy in religion were against it, because they only believed in God, and there were no other ways around it. I feel like the world has come to say it is fair to debate about science because there are so many more observations done trying to prove evolution. This has been an ongoing battle since at least 1859 (Darwin), and still continues today as scientist find new things to prove that evolution in fact does exist. So instead of saying the big bang theory does or doesn’t exist, they could take aspects from both beliefs and come up with one observation like, the big bang theory did occur, but God let it happen. Arts: One of the objections the Agrarians have to industry is that, in their opinion, it discourages religion, art, and human interaction. Specifically, they say: "Religion can hardly expect to flourish in an industrial society†¦Nature industrialized, transformed into cities and artificial habitations, manufactured into commodities, is no longer nature but a highly simplified picture of nature. We receive the illusion of having power over nature, and lose the sense of nature as something mysterious and contingent. The God of nature under these conditions is merely an amiable expression, a superfluity, and

Feasibility Paper Essay Example

Feasibility Paper Essay Example Feasibility Paper Essay Feasibility Paper Essay Product/ Service Feasibility Analysis Being and feeling healthy has always been a major desire and while many people unreason ten Detentes AT Dealing inanely Ana not many nave Eden addle to Implement healthy habits into their daily lives. As technology has advanced and we have discovered more about diseases and disorders, we have also grown into the awareness that many of these are attributed to the food people eat and the environment they live in. Due to these discoveries a new trend of healthy eating and living has came about and this awareness has been spreading over the years among the population. A number of people definitely desire to enjoy life longevity and minimize their medical expenses. Unfortunately, not many businesses have responded to the demand of the population regarding healthy habits. The companies that have taken advantage of this trend have achieved to charge high prices, but limiting the segment of the population they can target Just to high income. This happens because many restaurants disregard using organic ingredients due to its slightly higher price and its least lasting life or conservation, thus limiting options for customers of choosing green organic food while relaxing in an environmentally friendly place. Green Addict offers to satisfy the need of the customers. Its products and services are unique and appealing to a large number of people who are health conscious. It is apparent that the consumers will get excited when they are served organic food in a cool and environmental-friendly restaurant. Green Addict takes advantage of an environmental trend of global warming and the publicity of environmental issues. Most people are aware of the dangers of genetically modified food and the carbon production. It is apparent that even small children are aware of the going green concerned because of the media publicity. Green Addicts idea of sing recycled materials is vital in the eye of the public who are already trying in their own level to reduce carbon emission. Green Addict therefore feels the environmental gap that is currently experienced in the market place. The introduction of products and services by Green Addict is timely because it comes at a time when almost everyone around the world is worried about global warming and are more willing to implement healthy habits. : Green Addict will be offering products that many consumers would want to buy because of the consciousness of helping to save the environment environment and staying healthy. Everyone asked about the importance of organic food has given a positive response. Offering organic meals and a healthy environmentally friendly experience will therefore lead to a competitive edge in the market thus increasing the chances of the business idea to be successful. Customers that are health and environmental-conservation conscious will even be willing to pay slightly higher price because of their understanding of the quality of products and services offered. The product design and services offered at Green Addict may have a challenge of obtaining raw material as well as other organic supplies because they are very limited and extremely expensive. Offering organic foodstuffs is very costly and the customers may not be willing to pay the higher cost of services. It is also likely that Green Addict may incorporate a few ingredients, which are not organic such as cheaper cooking oil that may contain food additive and chemicals that may turn away the consumers. Maintaining a purely green and organic product may therefore not easy to maintain unless the customers targeted are willing and able to pay for the higher costs associated with the product and services. We decided to see what reaction would University of Miami students would eave T Green Act winner to De opened Ana located close to ten coral Ga campus. We were able to interview 100 students in the library to whom we asked two questions. The first question said: How important is to you eating healthy in a scale from one to seven, one being not important at all and seven being it is very important? From 1 to 7, the average came to be a 5. 8; this number, tells us a lot about how important staying and eating healthy is to the University of Miami students. The second question was a simpler Yes/No asked given after providing the student with a brief explanation of what Green Addict had to offer. Would you be ailing to spend two to three dollars more in your meal if the food were to be hea lthy? Surprisingly, again we obtained a favorable number towards accepting Green Addict in the market. Approximately 74% of the students at the University of Miami would consider spending two to three dollars more in order to have a Green Addict meal. We can conclude that students at the University of Miami would have a positive attitude toward Green Addict if it were to be opened. 2. Industry/ Target Market Feasibility Analysis It is crucial to assess the overall appeal of the industry as well as the target market for the Green Addict. Industry/ Target Market feasibility analysis includes industry and target market attractiveness. The new venture Green Addict targets individuals of middle and high income, college educated residents, and family oriented zones because these communities are generally more interested in the benefits of eating natural and organic foods. For consumers who believe that there are not enough places to eat in Miami, Green Addict would satisfy and cater to their recycled, go green, and organic lifestyle. The restaurant and food services industry is expected to grow extensively by 2014 and cafes and restaurants represent almost over 50% of the vernal industry. The organic food demand is skyrocketing because of the increasing global population as well as the general migration from rural to urban that changes the lifestyle trend. It is undeniable that the eating habits are changing particularly amongst the middle class and the rich families as well as college students because of their healthy living awareness. The increased number of organic food campaigns plays an integral role in the great performance of organic food industry. Most people currently work in the offices and do not have time to prepare and eat organic food as including time to relax in their homes. Green Addict operates in an industry with many prospects because college students along with the rich and the middle class families will always want to have healthy food and relax in an environmentally friendly organization. Change in consumer preference positively affects the organic food industry. Most consumers prefer serving a healthy menu, which includes eating fresh organic, nutritious and low calorie food because of the healthiness, and the environmental friendliness linked with it. The organic food restaurant industry is a vapidly growing industry due to the rising health concerns with increased obesity awareness on top of other related diseases. Most restaurant menus are filled with organic foods and drinks because of the readily available market. Consumers in the high-income bracket are shifting their preferences to organic food and other related products that are served in an environmental friendly experience and that is exactly what the Green Addict offers. Although the industry is associated with expensive products, a large under AT roll Ana immune class populations cannot Ignore ten health benefits associated with the products. The target market, who are the middle class and the rich believe that the health benefits linked with organic foods and related experiences deserve the higher prices. It is therefore obvious that the organic food restaurant industry is still young and is rapidly growing thus providing numerous opportunities for the Green Addict. Currently, most people are beginning to be health conscious and are therefore willing to buy healthy food while enjoying similar experience. The industry is also early in the lifestyle due to the latest needs and campaigns regarding healthy living. However, the industry is fragmented cause only the middle and the rich class are only consumers capable of buying the costly products. The health conscious and environmentally conservative people believe that organic food products and green experience is a must have and therefore should not be avoided as much as possible. This segment of consumers is more concerned with their lives and environment than the price of the product. They think that there are no alternatives for healthy living and are ready to give it all Just to remain healthy. Presently, the industry is not crowded because of the higher costs and low operating margins involved. 3. Organizational Feasibility Analysis The need for sufficient management expertise, business competence and resources are crucial for the better performance of a business venture. In organizational feasibility analysis, management prowess and resource sufficiency are important as well. The Green Addict will satisfy the necessity of pleasant living including fresh air and organic food in a green self-sufficient environment thus making it differentiated from other restaurants in Miami. Green Addict will differentiate itself from its competitors by providing a healthy, CEO-friendly experience that is unique in the industry. This will be an important aspect of the organization as far as increasing its market share is concerned because it will appeal to the untapped but willing and able to buy market. Additionally, Green Addict will operate as a chain of restaurants thus leading to wider market coverage. It will operate in different geographical places hence creating place utility to various potential consumers in different positions. Moreover, Green Addict will focus on satisfying the customers wants, such as, offering a more intimate environment and simplifying the act of healthy eating thus satisfying the immediate needs of the consumers. The chain of restaurants will not let their consumers take home foodstuffs as their competitors like Whole Foods and Fresh Market do, instead they will make their own organic food that will be eaten right in the restaurant. Ambiance remains integral to the Green Addict unlike some of its fast food competitors such as, Eves and Jamb Juice, which do not pay attention to the environment. Management of Green Addict will serve its purpose appropriately because the team will carry what it takes to do its intended business venture. The chain of restaurants management comprises of the expounders who eave vast experience in various special fields. The expounders include Amy Fernando who is yoga, Palates and eating healthy addict who greatly understands the target market and therefore will enhance marketing and promotions. The other expounder is Nathalie Base who is expected to induce the experiences she gained Trot working In a restaurant Tort two conservative summer, as well as Mane Average who has served in a non-profit organization that provided crucial management techniques and skills. Finally, there is Daniel Buttock who has taken several nutrition courses at the University of Miami hence providing a great knowledge in providing he best organic nutrition. Green Addict will operate in an environmental friendly place that conforms the nature of business. However, there will be few suppliers of organic food to the organization because most suppliers supply food for home consumption and at a higher price, which may not earn much profit for the business. The industry is still growing and the fast food industry seems to enjoy a higher number of suppliers compared to the organic food industry. This may therefore force the Green Addict to have their own garden and grow some of their own organic food such as vegetables and fruit. Nevertheless, this may take place after long run and working at a higher scale. . Financial Feasibility Analysis Restaurant business has really been thriving in Miami with annual revenue of $2,000,000. By analyzing the purchase and a set of Restaurant start up and Feasibility spread sheets for various restaurants serving dinner and lunch, the total weekly sales may be $14,380 and maintain a steady rise in percentage of 5%. When weekly sales are multiplied by 52 weeks, the likely annual revenue will be around $1,000 ,000 during the peak sales in the first 5-7 years. This forecast incorporates both the peak and low season. Green Addict is planning to maintain their customers through distinctive quality services and products. The loyal customers will then help in marketing the restaurant resulting into recurring and increasing source of revenue. The revenues generated will be sufficient to cater for expenses and finance other internal projects that contribute in growth sustained. When the Green Addict venture utilizes the four As strategically, then it is definite that it will be successful. Green Addicts products and services are unique and are highly demanded. Green Addict should also utilize the social media and print media as well as leaflets promotions to boost their revenues. Social media is currently the most popular media especially Backbone and therefore its utilization may be useful in targeting the college students who form a bigger percentage of Backbone users. Moreover, the restaurant will provide services and products at various locations due to the environmental friendly surroundings that are associated with it. To prove the viability of Green Addict, a cash flow statement for the two first years is explained. The following cash flow is based on forecasting the first two years of the company, which are 2014 and 2015. It starts by calculating depreciation, dividing the initial cost by the useful life of the asset, the first year the company is estimated to spend around 100,000$ in equipment and furniture. Those assets are calculated to last for a period of 10 years. Finally we will get depreciation sums a total of 10,000$. For the next year, 201 5, we expect to spend in equipment 50,000, which will focus on expansion and quality control. As well as 2014, we expect that those assets last for 10 ears minimum, so the depreciation for 201 5 will be 5,000$. Then we calculate the decrease in account payable and the increase in account expenses. There is a Mullen amount In decrease AT account paddle as well as In Increase AT Inventory since is a new venture and also because the business is selling a service, where the product is sold right away and do not have people owing them. Furthermore, we calculate the decrease in inventory. We are expecting a sale of more the 500,000$ a year, and we calculate that our inventory for a year costs 100,000$.

How to Organize and Manage Classroom Learning Centers

How to Organize and Manage Classroom Learning Centers Classroom Learning centers are a great way for students to work together to accomplish a given task. They provide the opportunity for children to practice hands-on skills with or with out social interaction depending upon the teachers task. Here you will learn tips on how to organize and store center content, along with a few suggestions on how to manage classroom centers. Organize and Store Contents Every teacher knows that an organized classroom is a happy classroom. To ensure your learning centers are neat and tidy, and ready for the next student, it is essential to keep learning center contents organized. Here are a variety of ways to organize and store classroom centers for easy access. Place task in small plastic bins and label with the word and picture.Place task in gallon size Ziploc bags, label and place in, or clip to, an accompanying file folder.A great way to keep your Ziploc bag sturdy is to place a piece of cardboard (cut the front off of a cereal box) and place it in the bag. Then on the blank side of the cardboard print the topic of the learning center and the directions. Laminate for easy reuse.Place little components of the learning center into small size Ziploc baggies and label.Place center task in shoe box labeled with the number that corresponds to the Common Core Standard.Take a coffee container and place task inside the container. On the outside label with words and picture.Place center contents in a manilla file folder and have instructions on front. Laminate if needed.Place contents in color coordinated baskets. Reading centers are in pink baskets, math centers are in blue, etc.Buy a colored drawer organizing rolling cart and place center task i nside. Create a bulletin board, adhere library pockets to the board and place the learning center task inside. Post directions on the bulletin board. Lakeshore Learning has storage bins in a variety of sizes and colors that are great for learning centers. Manage Learning Centers Learning centers can be a lot of fun but they also can get quiet chaotic. Here are a few suggestions on how to set up and manage them. First, you must plan the structure of the learning center, are students going to work alone or with a partner? Each learning center can be unique, so if you choose to give students the option to work alone or with a partner for the math center, you do not have to give them an option for the reading center.Next, you must prepare the contents of each learning center. Choose the way you plan on storing and keeping the center organized from the list above.Set up the classroom so that children are visible at all centers. Make sure you create centers around the perimeter of the classroom so children wont bump into one another or get distracted.Place centers that are alike near each other, and make sure if the center is going to use materials that are messy, that is it placed on a hard surface, not a carpet.Introduce how each center works, and model how they must complete each task.Discuss, and model the behavior that is expected of students at each center and hold students responsible for their actions. Use a bell, timer, or hand gesture when it is time to switching centers. Here are more ideas on how to prepare, set up and present learning centers.

Summary of Genesis 27-45 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary of Genesis 27-45 - Essay Example The passage generates two major phenomenon; irony and radical reversals. Irony is seen when characters are extremely deceptive and end up earning privilege rather than punishment. For instance, Jacob deceives his father, Laban to Joseph and Rachel to Jacobs’s family. Irony and radical reversal too is evident when Jacob the lastborn is blessed instead of Esau the firstborn as it is the tradition. Esau receives lesser blessing in addition to being excluded from the covenant forever. This passage is important as it shows humanity that choices have consequences. Esau lost his inheritance for choosing a bowl of soup; Rachel suffered for hiding the idols and Jacobs brother suffered for selling in Egypt. This passage reveals world division by way of binary opposites, initiated at the creation story. Just like male opposes female as per the creation story, Jacob and Esau are absolutely different in everything right from their occupations, behaviour and appearances. Another pair of binary opposites is Rachel and Leah both struggling for Jacobs affections. Oppositions are also seen in intangible elements like the match between man and God, contrast between famine and abundance. This passage is important as it shows the Gods way of working with humanity. It shows how God creates realms of contrasting reversals, symbols, and forces to suggest through whom and how His covenant is to be

Sports industry offers a range of potential opportunities to Nike Essay

Sports industry offers a range of potential opportunities to Nike - Essay Example The company acquired annual revenue in excess of US$ 18.6 billion for the fiscal year 2008 despite the adverse impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis. Although Nike markets many of its products under its own brand, it also markets some additional brands including Nike Golf, Nike Pro, and Nike Skateboarding to effectively market its sports equipments across the globe. This paper will analyse micro as well as macro business environments of Nike, Inc. using appropriate analytical tools and a strategic fit analysis. TASK A - Market Environment Analysis In the section, different market analytical tools are used to evaluate the business environment of the Nike. Here, Porter’s five forces model is applied to analyse the sports equipment industry (micro environment) and PEST analysis is deployed to evaluate the market potentiality of the Nike, Inc. (macro environment). Porter’s five forces analysis Currently, the sports equipment industry constitutes a larger number of com panies dealing with production and distribution of numerous and different sporting and athletic equipments. The total market capitalisation has reached nearly $8 billion and it is still growing. Most of the players in the sports equipment industry are grand corporate structures such as Nike, Easton, and Wilson; they offer equipments to a variety of sports items. In contrast, other companies like Callaway and Schwinn own noticeable market share and prominence in their specific area of focus. Sports equipment manufacturing companies mainly make use of two means of distribution. Wholesalers and retailers constitute the most common avenue of distribution whereas the company-owned and contracted specialty shops shape the second mode of distribution. In order to popularise their products and dominate the market, most of the sports equipment companies tend to sponsor high profile or top-rated sportsmen and athletes. In addition, such companies are also willing to undertake the sponsorship of major sporting events like World Cup Football as part of promoting their products. Threat of substitute products and services In general, sports can be easily substituted with a variety of different other activities, and therefore the threat of substitutes is very high in sports industry. To illustrate, people may easily turn their interest from physically demanding athletic or other sports activities to video/computer games. However, higher prevalence rate of obesity in the United States influences people to turn to healthy and fitness activities (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services). This situation relieves the sports industry from the threat of substitutes to some extent. At the same time, the substitution threat exists even in the sports industry itself. For instance, people may choose to play basketball rather than golf. Intensity of rivalry among competitors The intensity of competitive rivalry is very high in the sports industry and many sports equipment companie s have been thrown out of the market due to this higher degree of competition. While analysing present trends in the sports industry, it is obvious that companies are striving for their market competency and searching for industry consolidation. It seems that most of the sports equipment companies adopt mergers and acquisitions strategy in order to broaden their product lines, to increase economies

H Azeem company analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

H Azeem company analysis - Assignment Example Table of Contents Executive summary 0 Table of Contents 0 INTRODUCTION 1 CHOICE OF ORGANIZATION 2 Introduction of the organization 2 Choice Of Organization 3 BUSINESS BEHAVIOUR OF STAKEHOLDERS 5 Theories and frameworks in the small business management 5 Reasons of Small businesses to survive and prosper 7 Marketing Mix 9 ANALYSIS OF H AZEEM BUSINESS STRATEGY 11 Development of personal relationships 12 Flexible response to problems & challenges 12 Innovation 13 Low overheads 13 Niche markets 13 Marketing Mix 14 COMPARISON WITH COMPETITORS 15 Conclusions 16 Task B: Reflection on learning 16 References 17 INTRODUCTION There is a very famous German proverb stating that no one is rich or poor without helping himself to be in that position. That is one is to blame himself in what financial situation he may be. It is these kind of words that become a motivational factor for one person to start off of a small business and later on become an entrepreneur (Goel, Sanjay and Karri, Ranjan. 2006) . Some people start of their journey of becoming an entrepreneur by seeking a job which helps them to understand the ways a business is run and determine the factors that are crucial in the success of a business. Other may start up a business of their own and then learn from their mistakes. Many believe that small businesses may have some development issues but at the same time most of the people believe and it’s a proven fact that small business play a pivotal role in the development of the society and economy of a country (Aldrich, H.E., & Auster E.R. 1986). This report goes about in three steps. First, the introduction of H Azeem Jewelry, its basic information along with why was it chosen as an example. In the second step an analysis is carried out regarding the behavior of its stakeholders with respect to theoretical and practical ideas. Lastly, H Azeem is compared with its competitors and a reflection of where and why it stand at its current position is described. CHOICE OF ORGANIZATION Introduction of the organization H Azeem is a London based jewelry brand, It is managed by the designer, Hinna Azeem, herself and her aim is to introduce luxurious and stylish jewelry to the community at a cheap price. As they is a large Indian and Pakistani community nearby, who love to wear jewelry on every occasion, providing it on a cheap price gives her an advantage. Her luxurious and stylish designs give the business and brand an added value. H Azeem using both traditional and technological methods when it comes to marketing and sales, that is, jewelry can be bought through retailer shops and also through her e-store online. This also gives the business an extra advantages over its competitors. Another achievement of H Azeem is that it achieved a steady and stable positive growth within two years of business. This reflects the level of commitment and entrepreneurial skills of the management of H Azeem, the designer Hinna Azeem herself. H Azeem has been mention ed up in journals such a Vogue and has even displayed jewelry at the International Jewelry London 2012. This again shows how popular is this brand and how much is it loved by people. . Choice Of Organization We may come across many definitions of small business, some may relate it by the number of employees other may related it by how operations are

NHS Computer System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NHS Computer System - Research Paper Example Project management is further explained in five processes including initiation, planning, execution, controlling and closure. Moreover, it involves other knowledge areas such as time, scope, expenditure, risks involved, quality, commucation, procurement and even, integration at times (Milosevic 2003). The activities managed by the project team include identifying requirements, managing the expectations of stakeholders, and competing for time, scope, risk, cost, and quality. Projects are always marred by deviations from the scope, objectives and execution, and this has pushed project managers to link and harmonise change management, project control and risk management. This is because risks usually arise from inefficiency in management and inadequate documentation of changes (Heldman & Heldman 2007). Frame (2003) explains the importance of readiness by the project team to deal with changes and that it is risky to ignore a project’s environmental impacts and adequate information in the planning stage. According to Kerzner (2006), change and risk management is important as it reduces the number and level of surprises. He further he explains that risks and changes are â€Å"hand in hand† as risks are usually created by changes. NHS computer system NHS computer system was created under the functioning of UK Department of Health, and the system was produced to deliver the NHS National Programme which falls under IT (NPfIT). NPfIT was, however, initiated by the Department of Health of England which was given the task of shifting England`s National Health Service (NHS) to an integrated, electronic care record which can be centrally managed for patients, also which has the capacity... The NHS program has recently come under criticism especially with Department of Health refusing to give solid information about its progress to external observers. This has even led to academics in computer related fields to write a letter to the Health Select Committee raising concern about the program. The government has also been under fire for its apparent reluctance to evaluate and audit the program, and in case the development of the policy gets failed, i.e. the ICT policy proposed tends to cost less and benefit more, much evidence regarding technology is lacking.In 2009, the Public Accounts Committee reported that, the risks to the deployment system are getting higher and further termed in as being â€Å"as serious as ever,† whereby they further continued to say that the base of the project is now almost â€Å"way off the pace†, at this point further indicating the revision date which has already been extended i.e. the completion due date of 2014-2015 is still in doubt especially in the aftermath of the Fujitsu's contract being terminated, which had to cover the South. Moreover, it was concluded that there is already delay in essential systems, thus even if an effort to deploy the system is made, the clinical staff has high expectations which will not be possible to comply with. Furthermore, considering the current cost of the program, along with the managerial issues going on and also with the four IT providers being sacked, there has been an increase in the criticism going on about the project.

Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices and Senge's Five disciplines Essay

Kouzes and Posner's Leadership Practices and Senge's Five disciplines - Essay Example It is worth noting that a culture of collaboration, innovation and meaningful inquiry is dependent on all the five common elements/dispositions while working in collaboration with one another. The two sources are suggestive of similar theoretical concepts and presentations in various ways. Kouzes and Posner believe in the need of leaders clarifying their values and acting in congruence with the values which is critical in not only building credibility, but also inspiring others to listen and follow. Senge similarly believes in the discipline of Personal Mastery aligning well with the congruence of values and actions. This is what he refers to as creative tension that is generated by the juxtaposition of vision with the current reality. We can therefore conclude that just like Senge postulates, all disciplines need to be developed together as an ensemble with the common elements. In disregard to whether one subscribes to Kouzes and Posner or Senge, all the common elements will be present in all the organizations surviving and sustaining reform in the face of declining resources. Both the five Disciplines and the Five Exemplary Practices are a true explication and demonstration of the core leader disposition that is need while buttressed with other relevant leadership

NHS Computer System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

NHS Computer System - Research Paper Example Project management is further explained in five processes including initiation, planning, execution, controlling and closure. Moreover, it involves other knowledge areas such as time, scope, expenditure, risks involved, quality, commucation, procurement and even, integration at times (Milosevic 2003). The activities managed by the project team include identifying requirements, managing the expectations of stakeholders, and competing for time, scope, risk, cost, and quality. Projects are always marred by deviations from the scope, objectives and execution, and this has pushed project managers to link and harmonise change management, project control and risk management. This is because risks usually arise from inefficiency in management and inadequate documentation of changes (Heldman & Heldman 2007). Frame (2003) explains the importance of readiness by the project team to deal with changes and that it is risky to ignore a project’s environmental impacts and adequate information in the planning stage. According to Kerzner (2006), change and risk management is important as it reduces the number and level of surprises. He further he explains that risks and changes are â€Å"hand in hand† as risks are usually created by changes. NHS computer system NHS computer system was created under the functioning of UK Department of Health, and the system was produced to deliver the NHS National Programme which falls under IT (NPfIT). NPfIT was, however, initiated by the Department of Health of England which was given the task of shifting England`s National Health Service (NHS) to an integrated, electronic care record which can be centrally managed for patients, also which has the capacity... The NHS program has recently come under criticism especially with Department of Health refusing to give solid information about its progress to external observers. This has even led to academics in computer related fields to write a letter to the Health Select Committee raising concern about the program. The government has also been under fire for its apparent reluctance to evaluate and audit the program, and in case the development of the policy gets failed, i.e. the ICT policy proposed tends to cost less and benefit more, much evidence regarding technology is lacking.In 2009, the Public Accounts Committee reported that, the risks to the deployment system are getting higher and further termed in as being â€Å"as serious as ever,† whereby they further continued to say that the base of the project is now almost â€Å"way off the pace†, at this point further indicating the revision date which has already been extended i.e. the completion due date of 2014-2015 is still in doubt especially in the aftermath of the Fujitsu's contract being terminated, which had to cover the South. Moreover, it was concluded that there is already delay in essential systems, thus even if an effort to deploy the system is made, the clinical staff has high expectations which will not be possible to comply with. Furthermore, considering the current cost of the program, along with the managerial issues going on and also with the four IT providers being sacked, there has been an increase in the criticism going on about the project.

Early Years Foundation Stage Setting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Early Years Foundation Stage Setting - Essay Example According to Palaiologou (2010, p4) and the Department of Education (2012, p.1), under the EYFS setting, each and every child must be helped acquire the best possible start in life and this refers to every child early years development. EYFS suggests a standard policy and curriculum that, in the view of the Department of Education, ensures that every child has enjoyed its rights to equal treatment whether the child requires special care or not. EYFS outlines the fundamentals of a child’s early years curriculum that every practitioner, providers and/or responsible carers must be committed to ensuring that children are safe and healthy, children achieve various EYFS goals, equal treatment of the children irrespective of their background whatsoever (Goffin & Wilson, 2001, p12; Palaiologou, (2010, p6); Department of Education, 2012, p1) is observed, the children performance reflects their individual abilities (Pound & Hughes, 2005, p33), and that every child is dealt with as a uni que entity in the context of learning. The respective institutional administrations must ensure that EYFS guidelines are followed to the letter and so are implemented. But, according to Callaway (2005, p.19), Carr (2005, p7), Silberfeld (2009, p27), Glazzard, Chadwick, Webster and Percival (2010, p51), EYFS is a policy just like other existing policies and it is subject to failure especially as it comes to implementation. Important as it is, however, implementation of EYFS is crucial as it concentrates on the welfare of the children, that the efforts used in handling the children, in this context, determine the ways a particular child grows into adulthood and how such a child relates to its environment in the future. In other words, if EYFS could be defined as a policy, then it is a special kind of policy that must be implemented. But uniformity in implementation may not be a reality (Pound & Hughes, 2005, p38). While thus implementation becomes important a subject, this study asses ses how various children handlers implement EYFS curriculum guidelines. By doing so, various observations and conclusions are made as the study advances. Various EYFS guidelines: summary The EYFS supposes that every child must be helped to grow and develop fast and the various early year providers must ensure that this is attained (Palaiologou, 2010, p8; Department of Education, 2012, p1). The key goals of EYFS it to provide quality and consistency, equal learning opportunities at all levels, partnership between carers and academic practitioners, and anti-discriminating practice. EYFS also introduces specific areas of learning, goals and assessment criteria that must always be adhered to. It specifies educator-children ratios under different circumstances and other key requirements such as the essence of a key person for every child and the qualifications of various child educators. All these are coined in as being of paramount and equal importance in the learning and developmental processes of any child (Pound & Hughes, 2005, p53; Palaiologou, 2010, p17). Implementation strategies, analysis and critique of EYFS Curricula The curriculum provides a wide range of guidelines regarding various childhood requirements. The respective authority in the education sector ensures compliance as far as implementation of the curriculum is concerned. For example, all practitioners must make normative assessments and make each child’s profile detailing its abilities, achievements, areas of strengths and those of weaknesses and so on. While such a strategy may prove a cutting edge in this respect, only about 73% of public early years settings and 55% of private year settings fully comply with the curriculum (Goffin &

Potassium dichromate solution Essay Example for Free

Potassium dichromate solution Essay 1. Deep colour of potassium permanganate solution will show out two meniscuses but according to burette using, we are try to measure the volume by different. Therefore if we technically use the same meniscuses in the all reading, it will be fine for the experiment. 2. Store the dilute hydrogen peroxide in a cool, dry and well-ventilated area. Also put it in a steel or glass and opaque container. On the other hand, keep away from heat, flame and light. Conclusion: In titration I, we standardize the iron(II) solution is 0. 10M with N-phenylanthranilic acid indicator and Barium diphenylamine sulphonate indicator. In titration II, we determined the potassium permanganate solution is 0. 02M. In titration III, we estimated the dilute hydrogen peroxide is 0. 038g and we found out the molarity of it is 0. 045M. And for the original hydrogen peroxides percentage is 7. 67%(w/v) and volume concentration is 25. 27 volume. Titration III: Estimation of the concentration of hydrogen peroxide solution Titrant (in burette): Potassium Permanganate Solution Titrate (in Conical flask): 25. 0cm3 of Hydrogen Peroxide Solution Indicator used: Potassium Permanganate Solution Colour of indicator changed from: Colourless to Pink Titration II: Determination of the potassium permanganate solution Titrant (in burette): Potassium Permanganate Solution Titrate (in Conical flask): 25. 0cm3 of Fe2+ Solution Indicator used: Potassium Permanganate Solution Colour of indicator changed from: Green to Pink

Pro And Cons Of Security Measure Information Technology Essay

Pro And Cons Of Security Measure Information Technology Essay This work requires the student execute a limited research based assignment in Network security. This work should be a conference style paper. Suggested Topics are given below. However, the work should reflect real thought and effort. The grade will be based on the following factors: novelty, depth, correctness, clarity of presentation, and effort. Students can select any other topics relevant to network security other than listed below with the approval of the module leader. In this paper student should explain the Security issues relevant to their topics and should analyze any two of the security tools/measures widely used to overcome those issues. More emphasize is given to the analysis of pros and cons of the security measures followed where a thorough knowledge/understanding of the problem and its countermeasures are gained. Introduction Voice over Internet Protocol also known as Voice over IP, IP Telephony or VoIP and it started by a small company called Vocaltec, Inc in February 1995 from Israel. [Joe Hallock, A Brief History of VoIP] By that time, it will be the first internet phone software. Vocaltec aims are to provide user to makes phone call from one computer to another computer using sound card, microphone and speaker. This VoIP software created by Vocaltec only works when both caller and the receiver have the same setup software installed. VoIP is design for deliver the voice communication and multimedia session over the Internet Protocol and it is also categorized as one of the internet technology, communication protocol and transmission technology. In simpler terms, VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. There are three types of VoIP tools that are commonly used; IP Phones, Software VoIP and Mobile and Integrated VoIP. The IP Phones are the most institutionally established but still the least obvious of the VoIP tools. Of all the software VoIP tools that exist, Skype is probably the most easily identifiable. The use of software VoIP has increased during the global recession as many persons, looking for ways to cut costs have turned to these tools for free or inexpensive calling or video conferencing applications. Software VoIP can be further broken down into three classes or subcategories; Web Calling, Voice and Video Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing. Mobile and Integrated VoIP is just another example of the adaptability of VoIP. VoIP is available on many smartphones and internet devices so even the users of portable devices that are not phones can still make calls or send SMS text messages over 3G or WIFI.[2] One of the most significant advantages of VoIP (over a traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN also known as a legacy networks) is that one can make a long distance phone call and bypass the toll charge. This integrated voice/data solution allows large organizations (with the funding to make the transfer from a legacy network to a VoIP network) to carry voice applications over their existing data networks. VoIP telephone systems are susceptible to attacks as are any internet-connected devices. This means that hackers who know about these vulnerabilities (such as insecure passwords) can institute denial-of-service attacks, harvest customer data, record conversations and break into voice mailboxes.[26] Another challenge is routing VoIP traffic through firewalls and network address translators. Private Session Border Controllers are used along with firewalls to enable VoIP calls to and from protected networks. For example, Skype uses a proprietary protocol to route calls through other Skype peers on the network, allowing it to traverse symmetric NATs and firewalls. Other methods to traverse NATs involve using protocols such as STUN or ICE. Many consumer VoIP solutions do not support encryption, although having a secure phone is much easier to implement with VoIP than traditional phone lines. As a result, it is relatively easy to eavesdrop on VoIP calls and even change their content.[27] An attacker with a packet sniffer could intercept your VoIP calls if you are not on a secure VLAN. However, physical security of the switches within an enterprise and the facility security provided by ISPs make packet capture less of a problem than originally foreseen. Further research has shown that tapping into a fiber optic network without detection is difficult if not impossible. This means that once a voice packet is within the internet backbone it is relatively safe from interception. There are open source solutions, such as Wireshark, that facilitate sniffing of VoIP conversations. A modicum of security is afforded by patented audio codecs in proprietary implementations that are not easily available for open source applications[citation needed]; however, such security through obscurity has not proven effective in other fields.[citation needed] Some vendors also use compression, which may make eavesdropping more difficult.[citation needed] However, real security requires encryption and cryptographic authentication which are not widely supported at a consumer level. The existing security standard Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) and the new ZRTP protocol are available on Analog Telephone Adapters (ATAs) as well as various softphones. It is possible to use IPsec to secure P2P VoIP by using opportunistic encryption. Skype does not use SRTP, but uses encryption which is transparent to the Skype provider[citation needed]. In 2005, Skype invited a researcher, Dr Tom Berson, to assess the security of the Skype software, and his conclusions are available in a published report.[28] The Voice VPN solution provides secure voice for enterprise VoIP networks by applying IPSec encryption to the digitized voice stream. The IAX2 protocol also supports end-to-end AES-256 encryption natively. Traditional enterprise telecommunications networks used to be viewed as relatively secure because you practically needed to be within physical reach to gain access to them. Sure, things like toll fraud and war dialing were problematic, but those were easily remedied by longer or more complicated passwords and other access controls. The age of converged networks has changed that with voice now traveling over IP networks (VoIP). These converged networks inherit all the security weaknesses of the IP protocol (spoofing, sniffing, denial of service, integrity attacks, and so on). In addition, voice quality and confidentiality are potentially affected by common data network problems such as worms and viruses. Converged networks also offer an array of new vectors for traditional exploits and malware, as each IP endpoint becomes a potential point of network entry. Internet telephony refers to communications services-voice, fax, SMS, and/or voice-messaging applications-that are transported via the Internet, rather than the public switched telephone network (PSTN). The steps involved in originating a VoIP telephone call are signaling and media channel setup, digitization of the analog voice signal, encoding, packetization, and transmission as Internet Protocol (IP) packets over a packet-switched network. On the receiving side, similar steps (usually in the reverse order) such as reception of the IP packets, decoding of the packets and digital-to-analog conversion reproduce the original voice stream.[1] VoIP systems employ session control protocols to control the set-up and tear-down of calls as well as audio codecs which encode speech allowing transmission over an IP network as digital audio via an audio stream. The codec used is varied between different implementations of VoIP (and often a range of codecs are used); some implementations rely on narrowband and compressed speech, while others support high fidelity stereo codecs. Technical review In term of security issues, VoIP encounter numerous of issues reported and some of it can lead into big loss to a company. Below are some of the security issues that discuss in this research. Service Theft The most basic thing a hacker can do with your VoIP service is to steal it. In doing so, the perpetrator can make free calls and possibly start off a new VoIP telephony business of his/her own at amazingly cheap ratesjust like the first criminal who was charged with hacking VoIP 1. Service theft is relatively easy with VoIP because the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) that is used for authentication in VoIP calls does not use encryption by default. Identity Theft Close on the heels of service theft is the risk of identity theft. If someone can steal a service, they have everything else they need to steal the identity of the person(s) using the service. Accounts as basic as utilities and as critical as financial loans are often tied to a specific phone number. If all else fails, the hacker can, at a minimum, gather sig-nificant information about the target individual(s) to be able to take the next step towards stealing the persons identity. Eavesdropping One might remember when tapping a phone required some serious instruments that needed to be installed at the right places while at the same time the person bugging the phone would have to make sure that nobody watches him/her in action. This procedure is a lot easier with VoIP. The instrument might still look like a phone and work like a phone, but tapping this phone is not at all difficult for someone with the right knowhow and tools and the wrong intentions. Hackers today can take control over several VoIP features such as voicemail, call forwarding, caller ID, call forward-ing, calling plan selection, and billing details. Stealing the VoIP service to enable free calls is actually much less prof-itable and desirable for hackers. Instead, with businesses increasingly using VoIP, sensitive corporate information is now the target. VoIP packets flow over networks like packets of data that can be sniffed just like regular data pack-ets. These packets can then be merged together to play the voice conversation in a normal media player software. Mix VoIP hacking with corporate espionage and you end up with a very lucky and enabled hacker. Vishing Vishing is the criminal practice of using social engineering over the telephone system, most often using features facilitated by Voice over IP (VoIP), to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward. What if you were to receive a call from your bank or your credit card company that had an automated voice at the other end asking you to enter your debit/credit card number, PIN, and other details? Chances are you might comply with the request. Better still, if you were the person making the call to your phone banking number then these chances are actually quite high considering the fact that you were the person making the call. In both these cases, a Vishing attack could have been launched using VoIP that could lead you to believe that youre calling an entity that you trust. Specifically in the second case, redirecting your call to a Visher would actually be much easier if you use a VoIP based phone. Denial of Service One VoIP hacking method that can cause significant frustration and losses to businesses is the Denial of Service. As the name suggests, the main aim of the hacker is to ensure that your organization is denied the usage of your VoIP telephony service. Voice calls made by an organization can be manipulated, tampered, and even dropped. Hackers can even flood the target VoIP infrastructure with several call-signaling SIP messages. Many times, these DoS attacks are actually a smokescreen for hackers to plant malware or even take control of systems in the background. Spyware and Malware VoIP infrastructure rests on the same architecture as a normal computer system. Essentially, the issues that a normal computer system can face are quite applicable to VoIP infrastructures as well. Top of the list is spyware and malware. Consider the example of a software application that is used to enable VoIP telephony. A user would have to run this software over a computer, a PDA, an iPhone, or such. This introduces the vulnerabil-ity of falling prey to viruses, spyware, malware, worms, and just about all forms of malicious code. SPAM Spam exists with VoIP, although it is known as SPIT or Spam over Internet Telephony. While more typically just an annoyance, SPIT does at times carry viruses and malware, just like spam. While the occurrence of SPIT is not very common today, trends definitely dictate that SPIT is heading in the direction of SPAM. VoIP telephone systems are susceptible to attacks as are any internet-connected devices. This means that hackers who know about these vulnerabilities (such as insecure passwords) can institute denial-of-service attacks, harvest customer data, record conversations and break into voice mailboxes.[26] Another challenge is routing VoIP traffic through firewalls and network address translators. Private Session Border Controllers are used along with firewalls to enable VoIP calls to and from protected networks. For example, Skype uses a proprietary protocol to route calls through other Skype peers on the network, allowing it to traverse symmetric NATs and firewalls. Other methods to traverse NATs involve using protocols such as STUN or ICE. Many consumer VoIP solutions do not support encryption, although having a secure phone is much easier to implement with VoIP than traditional phone lines. As a result, it is relatively easy to eavesdrop on VoIP calls and even change their content.[27] An attacker with a packet sniffer could intercept your VoIP calls if you are not on a secure VLAN. However, physical security of the switches within an enterprise and the facility security provided by ISPs make packet capture less of a problem than originally foreseen. Further research has shown that tapping into a fiber optic network without detection is difficult if not impossible. This means that once a voice packet is within the internet backbone it is relatively safe from interception. There are open source solutions, such as Wireshark, that facilitate sniffing of VoIP conversations. A modicum of security is afforded by patented audio codecs in proprietary implementations that are not easily available for open source applications[citation needed]; however, such security through obscurity has not proven effective in other fields.[citation needed] Some vendors also use compression, which may make eavesdropping more difficult.[citation needed] However, real security requires encryption and cryptographic authentication which are not widely supported at a consumer level. The existing security standard Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) and the new ZRTP protocol are available on Analog Telephone Adapters (ATAs) as well as various softphones. It is possible to use IPsec to secure P2P VoIP by using opportunistic encryption. Skype does not use SRTP, but uses encryption which is transparent to the Skype provider[citation needed]. In 2005, Skype invited a researcher, Dr Tom Berson, to assess the security of the Skype software, and his conclusions are available in a published report.[28] The Voice VPN solution provides secure voice for enterprise VoIP networks by applying IPSec encryption to the digitized voice stream. The IAX2 protocol also supports end-to-end AES-256 encryption natively. Securing VoIP To prevent the above security concerns government and military organizations are using Voice over Secure IP (VoSIP), Secure Voice over IP (SVoIP), and Secure Voice over Secure IP (SVoSIP) to protect confidential and classified VoIP communications.[29] Secure Voice over IP is accomplished by encrypting VoIP with Type 1 encryption. Secure Voice over Secure IP is accomplished by using Type 1 encryption on a classified network, like SIPRNet.[30][31][32][33][34] Public Secure VoIP is also available with free GNU programs.[35] [edit]Caller ID Caller ID support among VoIP providers varies, although the majority of VoIP providers now offer full Caller ID with name on outgoing calls. In a few cases, VoIP providers may allow a caller to spoof the Caller ID information, potentially making calls appear as though they are from a number that does not belong to the caller[36] Business grade VoIP equipment and software often makes it easy to modify caller ID information. Although this can provide many businesses great flexibility, it is also open to abuse. The Truth in Caller ID Act has been in preparation in the US Congress since 2006, but as of January 2009 still has not been enacted. This bill proposes to make it a crime in the United States to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value [37] [edit]Compatibility with traditional analog telephone sets Some analog telephone adapters do not decode pulse dialing from older phones. They may only work with push-button telephones using the touch-tone system. The VoIP user may use a pulse-to-tone converter, if needed.[38] [edit]Fax handling Support for sending faxes over VoIP implementations is still limited. The existing voice codecs are not designed for fax transmission; they are designed to digitize an analog representation of a human voice efficiently. However, the inefficiency of digitizing an analog representation (modem signal) of a digital representation (a document image) of analog data (an original document) more than negates any bandwidth advantage of VoIP. In other words, the fax sounds simply do not fit in the VoIP channel. An alternative IP-based solution for delivering fax-over-IP called T.38 is available. The T.38 protocol is designed to compensate for the differences between traditional packet-less communications over analog lines and packet based transmissions which are the basis for IP communications. The fax machine could be a traditional fax machine connected to the PSTN, or an ATA box (or similar). It could be a fax machine with an RJ-45 connector plugged straight into an IP network, or it could be a computer pretending to be a fax machine.[39] Originally, T.38 was designed to use UDP and TCP transmission methods across an IP network. TCP is better suited for use between two IP devices. However, older fax machines, connected to an analog system, benefit from UDP near real-time characteristics due to the no recovery rule when a UDP packet is lost or an error occurs during transmission.[40] UDP transmissions are preferred as they do not require testing for dropped packets and as such since each T.38 packet transmission includes a majority of the data sent in the prior packet, a T. 38 termination point has a higher degree of success in re-assembling the fax transmission back into its original form for interpretation by the end device. This in an attempt to overcome the obstacles of simulating real time transmissions using packet based protocol.[41] There have been updated versions of T.30 to resolve the fax over IP issues, which is the core fax protocol. Some newer high end fax machines have T.38 built-in capabilities which allow the user to plug right into the network and transmit/receive faxes in native T.38 like the Ricoh 4410NF Fax Machine.[42] A unique feature of T.38 is that each packet contains a portion of the main data sent in the previous packet. With T.38, two successive lost packets are needed to actually lose any data. The data you lose will only be a small piece, but with the right settings and error correction mode, there is an increased likelihood that you will receive enough of the transmission to satisfy the requirements of the fax machine for output of the sent document. [edit]Support for other telephony devices Another challenge for VoIP implementations is the proper handling of outgoing calls from other telephony devices such as Digital Video RecordersDVR boxes, satellite television receivers, alarm systems, conventional modems and other similar devices that depend on access to a PSTN telephone line for some or all of their functionality. These types of calls sometimes complete without any problems, but in other cases they fail. If VoIP and cellular substitution becomes very popular, some ancillary equipment makers may be forced to redesign equipment, because it would no longer be possible to assume a conventional PSTN telephone line would be available in consumers homes. Improving Your VoIP The key to securing a VoIP infrastructure is to remember that it involves sending voice over the Internet Protocol (IP). So, the way to secure it is quite similar to the way you deal with an IP data network. Here are the key aspects to keep in mind when securing a VoIP infrastructure Encryption VoIP packets, by default, are transmitted in clear-text and so encryption is vital to ensure confidentiality. VoIP in-frastructures based on Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP) take a step ahead of the unencrypted SIP and en-sure that VoIP traffic privacy and confidentiality is maintained. Alternatively, encryption in the form of Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) can also make a great difference. Network Design A basic rule of thumb to remember is to logically separate voice and data networks. The best case scenario would be to let the VoIP infrastructure have its own isolated network with only the minimum necessary interactions with other sub-networks via secure firewalls. Having dedicated VoIP servers with audited and hardened operating systems and all unnecessary services disabled is the next step to fortifying your VoIP infrastructure. Soft Phones Soft phones add to an administrators misery by offering another end point that needs to be secured. The ideal solu-tion is to avoid using Soft phones altogether. If they must be used, ensure that they are fully hardened and patched at all times. While it adds an additional bur-den, it is absolutely paramount to the security of the VoIP infrastructure. Hard Phones Hard phones offer a great alternative to soft phones, especially when coupled with private branch exchange (PBX) systems running on a hardened and, preferably, dedicated server. Periodic checks and updates are essential to ensure that the IP-PBX and IP Phone firmware is fully patched. Physical Security This is an often understated aspect of VoIP security. While an organization can spend countless hours and resources securing the medium of transmission, it is critical to also ensure the physical security of the enabling infrastructure components like the hard phones, the VoIP servers, and any other device that directly or indirectly supports the VoIP infrastructure. Physical security can become the Achilles heel of your VoIP infrastructure if it is not respected. Defaults and Passwords More often than not, default passwords and settings are not secure. These defaults are created with a generic scenario in mind and will most likely not fit the requirements and customization that your organization demands. It is impor-tant to replace all default passwords with strong passwords that are at least eight characters long, and employ a com-bination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. This should be further bolstered by good password policies and robust identity management. Voice Messaging Systems and Storage One typical area that is easy to miss is the security of calls that are stored on voice messaging systems. Ensure that the voice message boxes of all users require that the password be changed each time the service is used. It might cause a bit of inconvenience, but it will also offer a mile of improved security. It is also important to secure the storage of voice messages by performing periodic checks and audits to look for exploitable holes. Vulnerability Assessments Last, but most important, a periodic vulnerability assessment of the VoIP infrastructure can ensure that no holes have emerged due to the ever-changing nature of business requirements and the networks that support them. Inde-pendent audits can often provide useful insights into the state of the VoIP infrastructure and serve as an additional piece of evidence of due diligence in the regulatory compliance armory. Make VoIP Work For You VoIP has truly been a genuine money saver for businesses all over the world and the world is a smaller place, in part thanks to VoIP technology. The security issues around VoIP are serious and very real. However, taking the right steps and countermeasures can truly help your organization make the most of VoIP. The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect. Research Methodology Secondary resources such as journal, white paper and thesis are being use in this research to analyze and further study in order to produce this research. Evaluation VoIP Sniffing Tools VoIP Scanning and Enumeration Tools VoIP Fuzzing Tools VoIP Sniffing Tools AuthTool Tool that attempts to determine the password of a user by analyzing SIP traffic. Cain Abel Multi-purpose tool with the capability to reconstruct RTP media calls. CommView VoIP Analyzer VoIP analysis module for CommView that is suited for real-time capturing and analyzing Internet telephony (VoIP) events, such as call flow, signaling sessions, registrations, media streams, errors, etc. Etherpeek general purpose VoIP and general ethernet sniffer. ILTY (Im Listening To You) Open-source, multi-channel SKINNY sniffer. NetDude A framework for inspection, analysis and manipulation of tcpdump trace files. Oreka Oreka is a modular and cross-platform system for recording and retrieval of audio streams. PSIPDump psipdump is a tool for dumping SIP sessions (+RTP traffic, if available) from pcap to disk in a fashion similar to tcpdump -w. rtpBreak rtpBreak detects, reconstructs and analyzes any RTP session through heuristics over the UDP network traffic. It works well with SIP, H.323, SCCP and any other signaling protocol. In particular, it doesnt require the presence of RTCP packets. SIPomatic SIP listener thats part of LinPhone SIPv6 Analyzer An Analyzer for SIP and IPv6. UCSniff UCSniff is an assessment tool that allows users to rapidly test for the threat of unauthorized VoIP eavesdropping. UCSniff supports SIP and Skinny signaling, G.711-ulaw and G.722 codecs, and a MITM ARP Poisoning mode. VoiPong VoIPong is a utility which detects all Voice Over IP calls on a pipeline, and for those which are G711 encoded, dumps actual conversation to separate wave files. It supports SIP, H323, Ciscos Skinny Client Protocol, RTP and RTCP. VoIPong ISO Bootable Bootable Live-CD disc version of VoIPong. VOMIT The vomit utility converts a Cisco IP phone conversation into a wave file that can be played with ordinary sound players. Wireshark Formerly Ethereal, the premier multi-platform network traffic analyzer. WIST Web Interface for SIP Trace a PHP Web Interface that permits you to connect on a remote host/port and capture/filter a SIP dialog. VoIP Scanning and Enumeration Tools EnableSecurity VoIPPack for CANVAS VoIPPack is a set of tools that are designed to work with Immunity CANVAS. The tools perform scans, enumeration, and password attacks. enumIAX An IAX2 (Asterisk) login enumerator using REGREQ messages. iaxscan iaxscan is a Python based scanner for detecting live IAX/2 hosts and then enumerating (by bruteforce) users on those hosts. iWar IAX2 protocol Wardialer Nessus The premier free network vulnerability scanner. nmap the premier open source network port scanner. Passive Vulnerability Scanner The Tenable Passive Vulnerability Scanner (PVS) can find out what is happening on your network without actively scanning it. PVS detects the actual protocol, various administrative interfaces, and VoIP scanner(s). Currently includes over 40 VoIP checks. SCTPScan This tool enumerates open SCTP ports without establishing a full SCTP association with the remote host. You can also scan whole networks to find SCTP-speaking machines. SIP Forum Test Framework (SFTF) The SIP Forum Test Framework (SFTF) was created to allow SIP device vendors to test their devices for common errors. SIP-Scan A fast SIP network scanner SIPcrack SIPcrack is a SIP protocol login cracker. It contains 2 programs, SIPdump to sniff SIP logins over the network and SIPcrack to bruteforce the passwords of the sniffed login. Sipflanker Sipflanker will help you find SIP devices with potentially vulnerable Web GUIs in your network. SIPSCAN SIPSCAN is a SIP username enumerator that uses INVITE, REGISTER, and OPTIONS methods. SIPVicious Tool Suite svmap, svwar, svcrack svmap is a sip scanner. It lists SIP devices found on an IP range. svwar identifies active extensions on a PBX. svcrack is an online password cracker for SIP PBX SiVuS A SIP Vulnerability Scanner. SMAP SIP Stack Fingerprinting Scanner VLANping VLANPing is a network pinging utility that can work with a VLAN tag. VoIPAudit VoIP specific scanning and vulnerability scanner. VoIP Fuzzing Tools Asteroid this is a set of malformed SIP methods (INVITE, CANCEL, BYE, etc.) that can be crafted to send to any phone or proxy. Codenomicon VoIP Fuzzers Commercial versions of the free PROTOS toolset Fuzzy Packet Fuzzy packet is a tool to manipulate messages through the injection, capturing, receiving or sending of packets generated over a network. Can fuzz RTP and includes built-in ARP poisoner. Interstate Fuzzer VoIP Fuzzer Mu Dynamics VoIP, IPTV, IMS Fuzzing Platform Fuzzing appliance for SIP, Diameter, H.323 and MGCP protocols. ohrwurm ohrwurm is a small and simple RTP fuzzer. PROTOS H.323 Fuzzer a java tool that sends a set of malformed H.323 messages designed by the University of OULU in Finland. PROTOS SIP Fuzzer a java tool that sends a set of malformed SIP messages designed by the University of OULU in Finland. SIP Forum Test Framework (SFTF) SFTF was created to allow SIP device vendors to test their devices for common errors. And as a result of these tests improve the interoperability of the devices on the market in general. Sip-Proxy Acts as a proxy between a VoIP UserAgent and a VoIP PBX. Exchanged SIP messages pass through the application and can be recorded, manipulated, or fuzzed. Spirent ThreatEx a commercial protocol fuzzer and ribustness tester. VoIPER VoIPER is a security toolkit that aims to allow developers and security researchers to easily, extensively and automatically test VoIP devices for security vulnerabilties. Differences in how security countermeasures are applied Discussion The Advantages and Disadvantages of VoIP VoIP has many advantages over a regular phone service. However, like any emerging technology, there are still a few kinks in the system. However, as standards are developed it becomes more reliab

The Avalon Ballroom :: essays research papers

The Avalon Ballroom Mostly everyone has a hero, role model, or someone to look up to. These people can significantly affect your lifestyle, and what you do. The Avalon Ballroom by Ann Hood displays this type of character as the father of Lily, the protagonist. This highly respected patriarch inspires her to do many things, like to go to college at Princeton University just as he did. Lily seems to want to follow her father’s footsteps by going to Princeton University. This â€Å"god-like† figure has affected Lily’s entire family in many ways. Lily is enthused by Trip, her father, and is obvious when she said â€Å"I need to come up with $2,000 so that I can go to Princeton in the fall. That’s why I work all these stupid jobs and why I never get to go to the clubs with everyone else. I’m saving every penny to go to Princeton. Don’t ask me why, but going there is like the most important thing in my life.†(Hood 17) Throughout the story, Lily tries very hard to get the money, and doesn’t waste any, that it drives her to be angered with her mother when she said â€Å"I’m thinking, why doesn’t she write something that makes money? Maddie Hazelton’s mother writes articles for magazines and gets at least $2,000 every time. I even tried to write one, but I got a rejection letter that basically s aid, ‘Forget it.’ My mother could do it, though. One article and my problem would be solved. One article about cellulite and I’d be on my way to Princeton.†(Hood 20) It is unbelievable how much the characters admire him. A quote that shows the adoration for even the slightest things, such as doing what he did, is displayed by this: â€Å"‘I’ve got some great news,’ I tell her. ‘I got into Princeton.’ ‘Princeton!’ Ottie shrieks. ‘A real Harper this one is. Carrying on the tradition. My, my.’ She beams at me and her orange lipsticked lips seem to take over her entire face.†(Hood 22) This venerable man is thought about by Pearl, Lily’s grandmother, and Sara, Lily’s mother, every single day. This inability to accept that he is gone, and to move on, has cause them both to construct shrines! These shrines are made up of numerous possessions of Trip’s, and are described by this quote: â€Å"Pearl already has a shrine to my father. It’s in his old bedroom, which still smells vaguely of a gym locker, all socks and soap.

Love and Hatred of a not so different kind :: essays research papers

Tossed into the lockers Michael slides to the linoleum in pain. Not so much in his body, but in his heart. Foot, boots, shoes, all a blur jab into his stomach and groin, causing bright flashes to erupt in his head. His towel, ripped from around his body, he lay there naked. Vulnerability and shame paint his face along with silent tears that refuse to give his nemesis the satisfaction that they want. Closing his eyes he comes to the realization that no one will rescue him from his torment. Everyone in the locker room is involved. Fellow peers he had once known, shared confidences with, participated in the beating or stood watching from each side of him, cheering on Michael's attackers. Leaving their friend to suffer the blows. Michael looks up. Each boy stares evilly at him, hatred pouring from their eyes and dripping on to him, burning him, scolding his tender flesh. The words, more powerful then any knives and guns they could've used. Fag, queer, and other names are hurled at him like stones. How the others had found out he was gay was beyond his knowledge. He had been so secretive and eluded all the so-called gestures and behavior that would have made him the target of others, yet they had found out his secret. Nothing hurt him more then the words. Being deaf would have been easier than to face this. He longed for Travis, his boyfriend, to be here with him then the barrage of blows. I'm glad he's not here to witness this, he thinks to himself, giving him joy and satisfaction in a time like this. Saying a prayer to God he relaxes, preparing to be taken soon by His arms to a place far away from here, a place where he could be himself and not pretend anymore. Letting go would be so easy. Then I can finally rest. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the beating was over. Unbelieving he looked up into the eyes of his attackers, begging them silently. "You fag. We don't like your kind here." The boy pulled Michael to his feet, supporting him for he could no longer do it himself. His icy blue eyes pierced into Michael's soul. "Don't ever let me catch you in here. You need to go into the girl's locker room you queer. I don't want you looking at us.

Bred In South Auckland Essay

The poems â€Å"Bred in South Auckland, The trick of standing upright here, and The Indigenous Pakeha† is related to our theme study of ‘the importance of culture and cultural differences’ because Glenn Colquhoun shows how elements of their culture are important to him. This is shown when he explains how everyone belongs somewhere. That each culture is different yet unique and connected to other cultures; â€Å"The trick of standing upright here is the trick of using both feet.† An important message explained and shown through the poems is cultural and multi/sub-cultures, their lifestyles and how culture’s are stereotyped; â€Å"†¦I listen to talkback radio. I use EFPTOS. Some people think I am a typical pakeha.† This is related to how Glenn Colquhoun’s culture was different, and how he grew up looking over the fence; â€Å"Meeting is the grip inside a hand. It is the sound of met lips.† The text made me see how he uses stereotism and multi-cultural differences, making what I read interesting. Also how he used Paradox in places of the poems that may have seemed stranged but contained meaning and truth if you were reading it between the lines. We also both let go of the negative aspects of a culture. What I have learnt is that each culture is different, yet connected. That you use different parts of another culture in your own; â€Å"The art of walking upright here is the art of using both feet.† And another thing is to be proud of being different or multi-cultural; â€Å"I think I am the luckiest mongrel I know.† Bred in South Auckland, The trick of standing perpendicular here and The Indigenous Pakeha. Glenn Colquhoun. Poems. The poems Bred in South Auckland, The trick of standing upright here, and The Indigenous Pakeha is related to our theme study of the importance of subtlety and pagan differences because Glenn Colquhoun shows how elements of their finish are important to him. This is shown when he explains how everyone belongs somewhere. That individually culture is different yet unique and connected to otherwise cultures; The trick of standing upright here is the trick of utilize some(prenominal) feet. An important message explained and shown through the poems is cultural and multi/sub-cultures, their lifestyles and how cultures are stereotyped; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I listen to talkback radio. I use EFPTOS. Some people think I am a typical pakeha. This is related to how Glenn Colquhouns culture was different, and how he grew up looking over the fence; Meeting is the bewitch inside a hand. It is the sound of met lips. The text made me detect how he uses stereotism and multi-cultural differences, making what I read interesting. Also how he used Paradox in places of the poems that may break seemed stranged further contained meaning and truth if you were reading it between the lines. We also both let go of the negative aspects of a culture. What I have learnt is that each culture is different, yet connected. That you use different part of some other culture in your own; The art of walk of life upright here is the art of using both feet. And another thing is to be proud of being different or multi-cultural; I think I am the luckiest mongrel I:

Economics Oligopoly

Main economic features of an Oligopoly and key economic theories of price fixing. This part of the coursework aims to identify and explain the main economic features of an Oligopoly and also the key economic theories which influence the price of a product or service. This part deals with the theoretical aspects of Oligopoly and the later part emphasizes on the practical applications of the theories and oligopoly features.According to Pass et al (2000), â€Å"Oligopoly, a type of market structure is characterised by a few firms and many buyers, where the bulk of market supply is in the control of relatively few large firms who in turn sell to many small buyers†. To describe the degree of oligopoly, concentration ratio is often utilized. Concentration ratio is the measure of the market share of the largest four firms in the industry expressed as a percentage. A low concentration ratio suggests a high level of competition and vice versa for.As there are few players dominating the industry, each player or an oligopolist is said or likely to be aware of others course of actions. The decision taken by one player seems to affect the decision taken by others and strategic planning by the firms needs to take into account the likely response of other participants (Wikipedia, 2010). For example, a proper game of chess depends on how well you read your opponent’s moves, similarly in oligopoly; strategies are devised based on the moves of competing market firms.The reason for existence oligopoly as stated by Maunder et al (1991) is for the achievement of economies of scale. Firms tend to reduce their average cost of production by increasing their scale of operation and since the small firms have higher average costs, they tend to go out of business or be absorbed by the larger ones. The features of oligopoly are:- a. Number of Firms:-The very important feature of an oligopoly is the number of firms. Even though there are a large number of firms operating in a particular industry, only a handful of firms hold the major share between them. . Interdependence: – A very distinctive feature of an oligopoly is interdependence. When a very few large firms operate in a particular industry, their activities or strategy cannot be independent of each other. Unlike monopoly, where the monopolist need not worry about the reaction of its rivals as there are none, an oligopolist takes into consideration the possible reactions of all rival firms. For example, a company considering a price reduction of its products may wish to estimate the chances of price reduction by the rival company and hence starting a price war. . Profit Maximization Condition: – The firms in an oligopoly generally agree to co-operate and act as one monopolist as it generates high profits (Begg and Ward 2007). This kind of formal collusive agreement is called a cartel. An oligopoly maximises profits where the marginal revenue equals the marginal cost. This is also know n as profit maximization condition. Price ELASTIC UNIT ELASTIC P MC, AC PROFIT MAXIMIZING OUTPUT O MR Quantity (Source: Begg and Ward 2007) d.Perfect Knowledge: – Oligopolists are said to have a perfect knowledge about their cost and demand functions but a lesser information about other firms (Wikipedia, 2010). e. Entry Barrier: – One of the main important features of oligopoly also is the entry barrier. There are high entry barriers that restrain a new firm from entering a market. For example, the barriers can be the economies of scale, access to expensive and complex technology, lower costs for an established firm, brand loyalty, patented production process and strategic action by incumbent firms etc.The table below gives the market concentration in different industries. As discussed earlier, the large few firms form a cartel and set a price. Once the members of the cartel agree on the price, they compete against each other using non price competition in order to gai n the maximum revenue. There are other various ways in which the firms fix the price. One of them being tacit collusion, where the firms agree on a price set by an established leader. This is also known as dominant firm price leadership as the price setting firm is the dominant firm in the industry.The other way is the barometric firm price leadership, where the price leader is the one whose prices reflect the market conditions in the most stable form (Sloman et al, 2010). To fix prices, the producers must be able to control the market supply. The other forms of price fixing in tacit collusion is average cost pricing, where producers add a certain percentage of profit on top of average costs and price benchmarking, where firms raise the price only up to a benchmark already set.Price fixing is achieved by the competing firms coming together on a platform where they can agree on a common pricing and production strategy thus acting in a manner in which a monopoly operates. This kind of collusion is known as cartelisation. Cartels although banned in many countries, is difficult for the enforcement agencies to gather evidence and penalise the participants. The quantity for the cartel and the individual firm will not be the same as one firm individually will have the scope for further increase in productivity to achieve a situation where the marginal cost equals the marginal revenue.In such cases firms may decide to go ahead with excess supply which can lead to a price war and inconsistent revenues to the industry. Even without overt collusion firms in an oligopoly are able to reach a point of profit maximisation when they behave in a manner reflected in â€Å"Nash Equilibrium† (Begg and Ward 2007). 2B) Direct to Home (DTH) television industry in India acting as an oligopoly. India has a total television population of about 135 million of which about 108 million have an access to cable and satellite television (Plugged in, 2010).The total DTH sub base at the end of first quarter in the year 2010 was 23 million (Dish TV India Ltd, 2010) which was about just 1 million in the year 2006. Indian DTH industry has seen a flurry of activities in the recent years after a monopolistic reign by Dish TV for a couple of years. It is currently in a state of Oligopoly with the top four operators controlling nearly 80% of the total market. The major players in the market are Dish TV by Zee group, TataSky- a joint venture by Tata and Star TV, Big TV by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Digital TV by Bharati Telemedia and SUN Direct from Sun TV.Since there are only 3 major players in the DTH market, Indian DTH industry is an oligopoly. (Indiadth, 2010) The product offering by the rival firms are more or less similar in nature with little or no product differentiation. Amongst all the players, Sun Direct has essentially remained a regional operator who made a late debut in the national scene. The content or the channels are same with all the operators barring few omissions and additions. The DTH industry market share is as follows. BRAND| MARKET SHARE| Dish TV| 30%|TataSky| 22%| Sun Direct| 25%| Big Tv| 13%| Airtel| 8%| D2H| 2%| (Source: http://www. pluggd. in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/) From the data above we can see that Dish TV, TataSky and Sun Direct together hold the maximum market share with over 75%. (Source: http://www. slideshare. net/) To confirm the oligopoly, we can use the Herfindahl-Hirschman index or the HHI. It measures the size of the firms in relation to the industry and also indicates the amount of competition between them. Mathematically, (Adapted from Pass et al, 2000)Here Si = market share of firm i in the market and N is the number of firms. Hence H = 302 + 222 + 252 + 132 + 82 + 22 H = 2246. With this value of H we can conclude that this industry is an oligopoly. Although there is no indication of an overt collusion in the industry, a closer look at their price plan (fig 1. 1) can lead us to a strategic o r tacit understanding between the players. The market is abuzz with marketing drives to garner market share and the customer is currently loaded with freebies like free installation, free channels and the like.Going by the level of investment and infrastructure the operators need to garner as much subscriber base as possible to be in a profitable proposition. They are however aware of the competition and are refraining from a price war. Such behaviour of the operators is characteristic of a non-price competition in Oligopoly. This is due to the interdependency of firms in the oligopoly and the strategic behaviour can also be referred to the â€Å"Nash Equilibrium† (Begg and Ward 2007). (Source: Slideshare. net/researchonIndia) Brand Name| PricePlan(inINR)/month| Dish TV| 135. 0| TataSky| 150. 00| Sun Direct| 115. 00| Videocon| 136. 00| Fig: 1. 1 (Source: Company websites, 2010) Now as in any oligopoly, it has to be supported by entry barriers, both endogenous and exogenous. T he natural barrier of entry in this particular industry is primarily associated with government licensing and also the intensity of capital investment required. Given that all the DTH operators are already established players in related sectors such as telecom, media it gives them a strategic advantage in terms of distribution and content.For any new entrant it could pose as a strategic entry barrier. Indian DTH market has constantly been attracting different players over the years given the increasing number of television subscribers. Although there have been entry barriers, companies like Videocon along with its cutting edge technology entered into the market in the presence of established players. The cutting edge technology proved to be a barrier breaker. Videocon managed to build television sets with set top boxes which helped it develop its own customer base.References Begg, D. , and Ward, D. (2007). Economics for Business, 2nd edition. Berkshire: McGraw Hill Publication. Chri stopher Pass, Bryan Lowes and Leslie Davies (2000). Economics, 3rd edition. HarperCollins Publishers. DTH, (2010). http://www. pluggd. in/dth-industry-in-india-analysis-297/ [Accessed 21/11/2010] Dish TV, (2010). http://www. dishtv. in/packages. aspx [Accessed 21/11/2010] Indiadth, (2010). http://www. indiadth. in/ [Accessed 22/11/2010] Maunder, P. , Myers, D. , Wall, N. , and Miller, R. L. 1991) Economics Explained, 2nd edition. Collins Educational. Sloman, J. , and Hinde, K. (2007). Economics for business, 4th edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Sun Direct, (2010). http://www. sundirect. com/packages. php [Accessed 22/11/2010] Tata Sky, (2010). http://www. tatasky. com/channel-packages. html [Accessed 22/11/2010] Videocon, (2010). http://www. videocond2h. com/wsc/packages. html [Accessed 22/11/2010] Wikipedia, (2010). Oligopoly. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Oligopoly [Accessed 21/11/2010)]