Monday, December 30, 2019

Writing News E.A. Poe House Museum Will Be Reopened in October

Poe Baltimore, the organization which is going to take over the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, has announced the date of reopening: October 4, 2013. This does not simply mean that the old museum will be reopened – although located on the same premises and displaying most of its old exhibits, the new house museum will be considerably different from its predecessor in its approach to the topic. For example, it will pay much greater attention to the ways Poe had been connected with Baltimore and this particular house: what events took place there, how they were intertwined with his literary work and so on. Interestingly enough, the museum will try to display not only the house, but the city as well – that is, how it looked at the time Poe lived there. Ann Barton Brown, museum consultant working on this project, when asked to comment on the news, stated that their main goal is to make the visitors of this museum feel that they are transferred into the times of Edgar Allan Poe – the less of the 21st century they feel inside the house, the better. This, however, doesn’t mean that Poe Baltimore shun the high technologies in all their forms. For example, Digital Harbor School of Baltimore has assigned some of its students a project of creating a museum website until the end of July, and the project members seriously consider giving the visitors an opportunity to use credit cards (previously the museum only accepted cash). Some notable exhibits will also get back to museum, such as the lock of the writer’s hair and the telescope used by his stepfather. Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well-known and notable American writers – although he worked in a lot of different genres (from poetry and literary criticism to mystery and science fiction), he is best known for his short stories, which, according to many experts in literature, laid the foundations of modern horror and detective genres as well as contributed greatly to the emerging science fiction genre. He is also the first American writer who was known for the fact that he made living by writing alone, without any additional jobs to support him. The results are well-known – although his life was at times difficult and he always had problems with money, nowadays he is recognized as one of the most important figures in the history of American literature who influences the modern culture even now, more than 150 years after his death. Anyway the reopening of Poe’s house museum is good news for everyone who is not indifferent to the history of literature in general and American literature in particular.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

The Risk Of Legalization Of Marijuana Essay - 722 Words

The risk of Legalization of Marijuana Marijuana, as we know, is a kind of drug. According to Thompson (2015), marijuana is not only one kind of drug, but also can be used as a medicinal material. The reason it can be a medicinal substance is that marijuana has a curative affect of relieving pain. Despite different states having a variety of regulations about the usage of marijuana, there is always one rule that is unified, which is the medicinal usage of marijuana must be approved by the FDA—the US Food and Drug Administration. Based on the current status, due to the fact that the researches about its effects on human bodies is not enough, the FDA has not implemented the medicinal marijuana to be used. With the increased attention on marijuana among the public, the legalization of marijuana was gradually put on the agenda. After researching and understanding of the background, I would like to say that marijuana legalization will bring us more disadvantages than the benefits. F rom the study, â€Å"Medical Marijuana in Neurology† (Benbadis, Sanchez-Ramos, Bozorg, Giarratano, Kalidas, Katzin, Robertson, Vu, Smith, Zesiewicz, 2014), one of the effects of marijuana is analgesia.Known from common sense and the basic knowledge of biology, pain is conveyed by the nerves. Since marijuana can relieve pain, it also means that those who takes the drug may have their nervous system suppressed or delayed. If marijuana becomes legalized, which can also be considered as a legitimate form ofShow MoreRelatedWeed Be Better Off Without Marijuana1728 Words   |  7 PagesBetter Off Without Marijuana Dope, Mary Jane, Pot, Grass, Weed, Blunt, Joint, and Nuggets are only a few of the countless names for marijuana, a narcotic drug used for recreational and sometimes medicinal uses across the world. Recently growing enough popularity among younger generations due to the glamorization of media, and the overwhelming financial gains through taxes and fees seen in Colorado, have caused Ohio legislators and citizens to consider the idea of legalizing marijuana for both recreationalRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Marijuana Legalization1442 Words   |  6 Pagesthat plague American society, the issue over the legalization of Marijuana remains as one of the most controversial topics. Marijuana, also known as Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. According to national surveys conducted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), â€Å"marijuana use rose from 4.1 percent to 9.5 percent of the U.S. adult population in the past decade.† The increase of Marijuana use created an ongoing debate over whether it shouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay1685 Words   |  7 Pagesconstitution allowing for the legalization of medical marijuana. However, the amount of licensed medical marijuana card holders was small until 2009, when the U.S Attorney General gave the prosecution and legalization of marijuana over to the states. After this, the number of medical marijuana licenses increased greatly in Colorado. Then, in 2012, the sale of recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado, to all those over the age of 21, and retail stores began selling marijuana in 2014 (Monte). PublicRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized For The Best Of Society?1742 Words   |  7 PagesMarijuana is one of the most controversial discussions to consider in various countries due to the numerous debates between citizens to legalize or criminalize the drug for the best of society. In countries such as Colombia, Netherlands, and vari ous states in United States (Colorado, Washington, and Oregon), marijuana is legalized for recreational and medical purposes, which is obtainable to all citizens. However, in countries such as Canada, marijuana remains illegal for recreational use, whichRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1232 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The possession, use, cultivation, transportation, and sale of marijuana are illegal under the federal law in the United States. However, the federal government announced that states are allowed to pass a law to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use, provided that they develop a system to regulate the activities. Under the Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970, Marijuana is classified as a substance of schedule 1, the highest listing under the legislation. The classificationRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1601 Words   |  7 Pagesuse of Marijuana is considered illegal in most of the states of the United States. Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Alaska legalized the use of Marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. Montana, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Jersey and Hawaii have legalized Marijuana for medical purposes o nly, the rest of the states have no laws legalizing marijuana (Governing)Read MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1617 Words   |  7 Pages1113 2 December 2014 Legalization of marijuana According to Wikipedia, marijuana is a name for cannabis plant and a drug preparation made from it. Commonly it is named as cannabis, bud or weed, pot or ganja. I have found marijuana to be one of the most controversial things in United States. Not necessarily is marijuana controversial, the views related with the legalization of this thing are truly dubious. It is true that different persons haveRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legal?1384 Words   |  6 Pages When hearing the word marijuana, we instantly think a â€Å"dangerous drug,† because that is what we are taught growing up. That there are different types of drugs that are dangerous for us and will only harm our health and our future. Growing up with this information as children, we do not really have other reasoning so we just take in the information and accept it. This information which was given to us at a young age is only questioned after we start to age. If research is actually done in order toRead MoreThe Deba te about Legalizing Marijuana1487 Words   |  6 PagesMarijuana is a hot, controversial topic often heard of in the media. Whether the anchors talk about a drug bust or the drug wars going on in Mexico, there is no doubt marijuana is in the mind of thousands of people. Some cultures use the plant in traditional practices. Smoking the plant was a popular thing in the sixties when hippies protested for peace, love, and being one with oneself. There are other instances where hemp is used in making cleaning products. Some people use the drug for medicalRead MoreThe Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana1645 Words   |  7 PagesThe legalization of recreational marijuana has recently been a widely debated topic, especially since medical marijuana was legalized in several states. Critics say that cannabis is a Class I drug that has both negative health effects and behavior effects. However, there is minimal evidence to support these claims, and none of the benefits of marijuana ar e taken into consideration when the arguments are made. The possession and use of recreational marijuana should be legalized in the United States

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Outline the Key Principles of Natural Law Free Essays

Jamshed Masjedi Outline the key principles of Natural Law Let’s start off with a definition of Natural Law: a moral code existing with a purpose of nature, created by God. Aristotle theory of purpose inspired St Thomas Aquinas to develop his idea of Natural Law to present a rational basis for Christian morality. Aquinas developed an absolute and deontological theory which states that certain acts are innately right or wrong. We will write a custom essay sample on Outline the Key Principles of Natural Law or any similar topic only for you Order Now Natural Law directs people to their great purpose, and can be deduced through reason. Good acts are those which enable humans to fulfil their purpose, and are in unity with the primary precepts. Through Aristotle’s idea that everything has a purpose (theory of causality) and we have a purpose to do good and avoid evil and seek happiness and fulfilment in life (eudaimonia), Aquinas started by trying to work out what the purpose of human life was. Aquinas developed the primary precepts which follow from this idea. The Primary precepts are connected with preservation of life, reproduction, education, living in a society and worshipping God. These Primary precepts can then be developed into secondary precepts as practical human rules that govern our daily behaviour. For example from preservation of life, one could argue someone who is in desperate need of organs or bloods would be correct. This could lead to a secondary precept of you donating your organ(s) to saves lives of other. Another example is about reproduction linking it genetic engineering with Natural Law suggesting that humans have an essential nature and manipulating it, through genetic engineering, is conflicting to the natural order of things and so is wrong. Aquinas developed four kinds of law: eternal, natural, human, and divine. Eternal law is humans being not being able to know gods intention. Natural law is humans with a natural sense and the discovery of reason. Human law is some sort of man-made law with the natural law supplied by the government to the societies, and divine law is the specially revealed law in the scriptures. The main aspect of Natural Law theory is that it relies heavily on reason. It can be discovered by anyone, regardless of any religious alignment. For this reason it is universal and not a relativist argument but an absolutist argument. Reason is used in order to establish how we should live our lives. We use our reason to fulfil the requirements of the primary precepts and therefore to achieve our aim of doing good and avoiding evil. If everything is created for a purpose, human reasoning in examining that purpose is able to judge how to act in order to conform to that purpose. Thus, the role of reason plays a huge part as Aquinas states â€Å"To disparage the dictate of reason is equivalent to condemning the command of God. Hence, humans shouldn’t be trapped by their desires and that the duty of a Christian is alike to the duty of an atheist or agnostic. Reason is the superlative human asset that ultimately separates us from animals. However, if human reasoning is misguided it could lead us to the wrong moral choices such as following ‘apparent goods’ which could leads away from Natural Law rather followi ng ‘real goods. ’ An example of an ‘apparent good’ is getting drunk or taking drugs as it seems like we are doing a good thing in the short term however, on the long term, it’s not. Or as a rather deeper example, perhaps we can consider that Hitler with his misguided belief about Jews, seeking an apparent good to remove them, in the end, it wasn’t such a wise move. Jamshed Masjedi For Aquinas, both the intention and the act are important. According to Aquinas, God knows the secrets of our hearts and thus, our actions must be interior rather than exterior. The purpose behind an act gets recorded. For example we should help an elderly person cross the road because it is the honest thing to do not because to gain admiration of others i. . someone watching nearby. It is said that if humans act towards this way, it’s said that god is glorified. Is this theory relevant to the 21st century? Many theories have been created 10 years ago, 100 years ago or 1000 years ago that still shape and dictate our society today, since it’s the 21st century, many theories have been developed and improved, but as far as questioning the theory of natural law and ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s standing, it’s a theory holding major significance around the world today. For example the Roman Catholic Church supports the theory with them making the primary precepts into absolute rule thus, meaning no room for negotiation. Natural Law has many benefits to society and for individuals. Since it’s an absolutist argument, it provides moral foundation to rules with clear guidance at all times. Most individuals are in favour of Natural Law because it offers a universal code. Most people believe in preserving life, education etc. On the Flip side, Natural Law theory cannot seem to get at certain individuals. It relies to use reason correctly, however, it is fair to say that we do not all have the same ability to reason. If we do, everyone can come up with the same conclusions and decide what’s right and wrong. The precepts are to be looked when one finds them in a situation, but this also is disputed. Homosexuality is a common example of something that Natural moral Law is unable to provide a succinct response to. Furthermore, in modern forms Natural Law does not allow room for negotiation because the Roman Catholic Church has made the secondary precepts into absolute rules. The book of Genesis seems befuddling with Natural Law. It’s inconsistent with the story of the Fall. Genesis 3 teaches that that human reason was separated from God Through sin. Thus, if our reason is corrupt then how can we deduce God’s purpose? Society can never guarantee people’s safety but with the theory of Natural law, it’s open in arms for offering protection, therefore will always be relevant. Furthermore, natural law is a good guide for the believers in God. Natural law will provide an instructive and dependable guide to moral behaviour. The Roman Catholics Church is in favour of Aquinas’s brilliant knowledge of reasoning in the Natural law. What’s more, Aquinas himself was a Catholic and so, some might question from whom is it relevant to? It can hardly be claimed that Natural Law ethics is irrelevant to Roman Catholics. Linking to situation ethics, Natural Law would be helpful when making a logical decision depending on the situation a person’s in and with its deontological and absolutist status, it would also create guidelines to follow for all especially for individuals or societies wanting the absolute right and wrong. Due to the adaptation in the 21st century, the Natural Law theory is always going to be controversial. I think the most usual criticism for during our time is that it may be too inflexible over major issues. There is no direct reference to issues, for example like abortion or euthanasia. Others might argue that the theory is too old and other types or similar systems of ethics are better that the Natural Law theory. For example, if Aquinas could have been wrong about the primary precepts, he could have also been wrong about the secondary precepts. Finally, I believe this could be the strongest negative assessment of Natural Law, is that this God-based ethic may no longer be relevant to, what is an increasingly secular society. On the whole, I believe that taking both arguments in on the balance, Natural Law has become not irrelevant, but less relevant, because the modern definition of human nature is much wider than that offered by Aquinas. Natural law is based purely on deductive, rational reasoning. This makes it an objective theory, it is not open to interpretation – should everyone reason correctly we should all come to the same conclusions about what is right and what is wrong. We can see this in action around the world, with many societies sharing common beliefs about morality – this is strength of the theory since there is evidence of a common system of morality in place, although that is not to say the universal theory is natural law Natural Moral laws relies on our ability to reason correct, that is to use casuistry to deduce the correct action based on how it fits in with our precepts. However, it is fair to say that we do not all have the same ability to reason. Whilst Aquinas maintained that all humans were equal he did say that some were better at reasoning than others and therefore we should practice our logical skills so that they become habitual. This is fine to an extent, but if we were to encounter a totally alien situation we would have no prior experience to draw reference from, and so our ability to decide the right course of action would come down to our individual ability to reason correctly In such a situation we should stick to the precepts; since they are logically sound, but even these can be ambiguous. Homosexuality is a classic example of something natural moral is not able to provide a succinct response to. On the one hand we can say since homosexuality doesn’t lead to procreation, and so it is a misuse of humangenitalia, but on the other hand we can say that since it is pleasurable, that pleasure is there for a reason. How to cite Outline the Key Principles of Natural Law, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Clustering and Opinion Mining

Question: Discuss about the Clustering and Opinion Mining. Answer: Introduction Owing to social medias massive popularity, currently business organizations are using social media tool as a medium to promote business and commerce in the form of advertisements and promotional videos. As a result, the companies have been able to reach to more people all over the world (Chen Zhao, 2012). Moreover, due to the interactions in the social media, many companies have also joined together for collaborative ventures in the field of commerce. This report mainly emphasizes on the development of social media and the business collaborations that have grown from the social media. Social Media and Business Collaboration Projects Social medium is referred to the websites that are specifically designed to create friendships between people all over the world. With the progress of digitalization and virtualization in the modern era, people sought after some kind of medium that would enable them to stay connected to each other even though they are far apart (Aral, Dellarocas Godes, 2013). In order to make up for this need, developers started designing some websites that would enable people to connect to each other in form of text messages, photos, videos and others. Thus, developers started developing some websites and Orkut, Facebook, Twitter and other popular websites came into existence. Every year, the number of subscribers of these websites started rising and currently, almost one-third of the worlds population are connected to social media. This also resulted in development of online business promotions and collaboration projects grew up between many companies. The arrival of Web 2.0 in the first decade of the 21st century quickened the development of social networking sites. Web 2.0 destinations are those that permit ease of use of client produced content. This permitted cooperation and coordinated effort amongst people and associations over the web utilizing exchanges of words as a part of a virtual domain. Communication may be in type of trade of assessments in discoursed, production of hypothesis and its input in a blog, and so forth (Anjaria Guddetti, 2013). Cambria et al. (2013) researched on the development of social media and its effects on business promotions and collaborations projects and they prepared some basic models. One of the models was based on etymological investigation and was proposed by Liu (2012) and the other accentuated on the examination of technical learning strategies. Attributable to enormous ubiquity of a medium, specifically the social media, it has rapidly turned into a subject of research for the cooperation examiners and sentiment miners (Khan, Atique Thakare, 2015). Social networking is a miniaturized scale blogging website, where a feeling from a specific individual must be communicated in a basic dialect and in a little size. The miniaturized scale blogging stage goes about as a noteworthy wellspring of individuals' sentiment. This is on account of, these days, general mass, lawmakers, sportsmen, big names alike utilize social media and all express their assessments or perspectives over a specific subject through social media. Huge quantities of posts are made in social media consistently, and henceforth, accumulation of a specific information turns into a troublesome errand. In this way, use of mechanized information accumulation framework gets to be vital (Maynard, Bontcheva Rout, 2012). Genuine uses of association examination have been the primary reason of development for different enterprises. Organizations got orders for a specific item, client criticisms and conclusions for further advancement of the organization through the web-based social networking. Development and thriving of organizations like Microsoft, HP, Google and a few others gave inspiration to further research of collaboration examination on the social networking (Liu, 2012). Other than these genuine applications, a few research papers were distributed amid different periods, which were situated on application-based investigation. Connection investigations can be utilized for forecast of offers result, rank traders and items, or even expectation of consequences of an open decision (Maynard, Bontcheva Rout, 2012). Social networking examination gives the pattern of political angle inside general mass. Currently, business organizations are using social medium as a place to promote business and commerce in the form of advertisements and promotional videos. Due to the interactions in the social media, many companies have also joined together for collaborative ventures in the field of commerce. For example, according to a popular case study (Aral, Dellarocas Godes, 2013), Toronto-based Goldcorp, a gold mining firm, looked for another way to deal with discovering gold stores on their 55,000-section of land Red Lake, Ontario property. With examiners trusting that the fifty-year old property had been purged, high creation costs, work strikes and waiting obligation, the firm was frantic to discover new life. Without choices, CEO Rob McEwan made the Goldcorp Challenge whereby he put each bit of data about the property on the web for all members to download, concentrate on and submit suggestions. More than 1000 members from more than 50 nations joined to take care of Goldcorp's issue. Entries originated from a different gathering of members, numerous not prepared in geography. This open-source advancement sequence ended up being significant recognizing 110 targets worth more than $3 billion. Another well-known example can be stated as follows (Aral, Dellarocas Godes, 2013). In mid-2007 IBM made Beehive, an inner informal organization to associate representatives around the world. The system picked up force and backings 30,000 representatives. Every worker can include a bio page, photographs and interface with representatives from other IBM workplaces around the globe. What is fascinating about Beehive is the way the representatives utilize the inner system. There are three particular classifications of utilization. The first is to interface with representatives they meet at meetings or when chipping away at interdepartmental or between divisional tasks. The system gives a component to remain associated and become more acquainted with different workers and their range of skill. The second utilize is to pick up venture support and conceptualize with others on how best to finish a venture. The associations give a cooperation channel to elevate the venture to others and accumulate thoughts from other individuals at various levels. Another common example of collaboration project through social media is collaboration between Facebook and Workplace. Facebook is a social networking site where users can contact with each other over the virtual interface whereas Workplace is a social medium site that mainly deals with job openings for all the users. At some point in the second decade of 21st century, Facebook noticed the prospect of Workplace and started collaboration with the company in the name of Workplace by Facebook. The move was immediately popular and the number of Workplace subscribers rose significantly. These examples depict some collaboration projects as conducted by some popular companies. Following these examples, more social media sites were developed (e.g. LinkedIn) that created direct connections between business organizations so that the promotional activities do not get hidden among normal social connection activities (Lpez, Tejada Thelwall, 2012). As a result, more companies came together and started collaborating with each for conducting large scale projects. In 2016, two popular social media websites Facebook and WhatsApp collaborated with each other and started functioning together as one company. Even more social media sites also came together for collaboration that ultimately resulted in development of business and popularity of the sites. In spite of all the popularity of social media in the field of business and commerce, it itself presents several challenges to the business interactions analysis research. First, deviation of discussion from the main topic and use of irrelevant comments, often non-suitable for young viewers, poses a major threat to the study. Because of this particular problem, some contents cannot be shown to some viewers, and a definite general opinion cannot be evaluated (Petz et al., 2013). To get rid of this problem, several classifier personnel should be trained to classify comments and remove irrelevant ones. Clustering opinions regarding same topic can also be done to remove unwanted comments. Secondly, using the search function of the website may not always bring desired results. This happens when several discussions have been conducted on very similar topics and when searching for one particular discussion using search operator, all the discussions are presented (Nakov et al., 2013). This p roblem can be solved by using an approach that is entity specific. That is, a search can be made on a specific entity and then finding relevant discussions on that entity. Thirdly, another important threat is negation. According to Liu (2012), researchers cannot handle negative opinion properly when there is no proper definition of the amount of negativity. Subtle differences between two different usages of the same word can be hard to analyze in a suitable manner. Fourthly, use of some high-level world knowledge, which might not be accessible to all users, poses a threat of confusion within a media discussion. For example, one may compare to one real world entity to a fictional character, which in spite of being popular, might not be a part of knowledge of some other discussion member (Selvan Moh, 2015). On the contrary, this can be useful to some extent, as it may increase stock of knowledge of an individual and sometimes, provides important information not known to some. Finally, there are few points to be noted. Use of social media as a medium for business collaboration or collaboration projects is a very good idea as it gives the small and medium sized organizations more global exposure (Kim Kim, 2014). With this global exposure, the companies can grow easily. Again, collaboration projects also benefits both the companies and hence, one company can have the share of profit from the other companys prospects. This is how, a small company can grow and one day become a large multinational business organization (Cooper, 2013). However, there are some issues as well. These issues include security issues and fraud cases that severely damage a business organization. There are many fake companies available in the social media that take advantage of the collaborating companys trust and steal confidential files, money or even identity of the company (Zhou et al., 2015). Hence, verification and cross-checking is necessary before starting collaboration with an other company through social media. Conclusion From the report, a number of things can be concluded regarding the existence of large collaboration projects that have been possible only because of the existence of the social media. Before concluding about the collaboration projects, it is clear that social medium is currently an inseparable part of business of the large business organizations. Owing to the massive popularity of social media, currently large business and ecommerce organizations are using social medium as a place to promote business and commerce in the form of advertisements and promotional videos. As a result, the companies have been able to reach to more people all over the world. Moreover, due to the interactions in the social media, many companies have also joined together for collaborative ventures in the field of commerce. As a result of promotions through social media websites, many well know business organizations like IBM, Goldcorp collaborated with other organizations to complete some large scale projects in their business fields. Recommendations As a result of the study, some recommendations can be prepared for further increasing the collaborative projects in the future. These are as follows. Collaboration and Promotion More business organizations (small and medium sized) should use social media as a medium for promoting business. These will allow other companies to know more about them and some of the companies may choose to collaborate with them for executing some projects. Legitimacy Before starting collaboration with any another company, one organization must check its legitimacy and business history as there are already numerous fraud companies present in the social media. Security Use of social media should be limited to certain extent in order to maintain security of the organizations server system. As there are many security threats lurking in the social media, it is best to use them with strong security measures. Internal Details The business organizations that are looking for collaborative projects in the social media should only share the essential details of the organization. The business strategies should never be disclosed in the social media. References Anjaria, M. Guddeti, R.M.R. (2014), January. Influence factor based opinion mining of Twitter data using supervised learning. InCommunication Systems and Networks (COMSNETS), 2014 Sixth International Conference on(pp. 1-8). IEEE. Aral, S., Dellarocas, C., Godes, D. (2013). Introduction to the special issue-social media and business transformation: A framework for research.Information Systems Research,24(1), 3-13. Cambria, E., Schuller, B., Xia, Y. Havasi, C. (2013). New avenues in opinion mining and sentiment analysis.IEEE Intelligent Systems, (2), pp.15-21. Chen, K. Zhao, H. (2012). Twititude: Message Clustering and Opinion Mining on Twitter.2012. Cooper, G. (2013). Opinion Mining with Twitter Course: MT8902Major Research Project. Khan, A.Z., Atique, M. Thakare, V.M. (2015). Combining lexicon-based and learning-based methods for Twitter sentiment analysis.International Journal of Electronics, Communication and Soft Computing Science Engineering (IJECSCSE), p.89. Kim, D. Kim, J.W. (2014). Public Opinion Mining on Social Media: A Case Study of Twitter Opinion on Nuclear Power.Proceeding of CES-CUBE,2014. Liu, B. (2012). Sentiment analysis and opinion mining.Synthesis lectures on human language technologies,5(1), pp.1-167. Lpez, R., Tejada, J. Thelwall, M. (2012). Spanish sentistrength as a tool for opinion mining peruvian facebook and twitter.Artificial Intelligence Driven Solutions to Business and Engineering Problems, pp.82-85. Maynard, D., Bontcheva, K. Rout, D. (2012). Challenges in developing opinion mining tools for social media.Proceedings of the@ NLP can u tag# usergeneratedcontent, pp.15-22. Nakov, P., Kozareva, Z., Ritter, A., Rosenthal, S., Stoyanov, V. Wilson, T. (2013). Semeval-2013 task 2: Sentiment analysis in twitter. Petz, G., Karpowicz, M., Frschu, H., Auinger, A., St?tesk, V. Holzinger, A. (2013). Opinion mining on the web 2.0characteristics of user generated content and their impacts. InHuman-Computer Interaction and Knowledge Discovery in Complex, Unstructured, Big Data(pp. 35-46). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Phan, D.H. Cao, T.D. (2014), December. Applying skip-gram word estimation and SVM-based classification for opinion mining Vietnamese food places text reviews. InProceedings of the Fifth Symposium on Information and Communication Technology(pp. 232-239). ACM. Selvan, L.G.S. Moh, T.S. (2015), June. A framework for fast-feedback opinion mining on Twitter data streams. InCollaboration Technologies and Systems (CTS), 2015 International Conference on(pp. 314-318). IEEE. Sidorov, G., Miranda-Jimnez, S., Viveros-Jimnez, F., Gelbukh, A., Castro-Snchez, N., Velsquez, F., Daz-Rangel, I., Surez-Guerra, S., Trevio, A. Gordon, J. (2012). Empirical study of machine learning based approach for opinion mining in tweets. InAdvances in Artificial Intelligence(pp. 1-14). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Zhou, X., Coiera, E., Tsafnat, G., Arachi, D., Ong, M.S. Dunn, A.G. (2015). Using social connection information to improve opinion mining: Identifying negative sentiment about HPV vaccines on Twitter.Studies in health technology and informatics,216, p.761.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Slopes Of Kilimanjaro Essays - The Snows Of Kilimanjaro,

Slopes Of Kilimanjaro Ernest Hemingway's background influenced him to write the short story ?The Snows of Kilimanjaro.? One important influence on the story was that Hemingway had a fear of dying without finishing a work. Hemingway confirmed this fear in many interviews. Baker, in ?The Slopes of Kilimanjaro,? states that Hemingway could well express the feelings of Harry because they both feared death in the event that they may have unfinished a work (50). Similarly, in ?The Snows of Kilimanjaro? Harry, the protagonist, is constantly facing death. In an effort to get his ideas and feelings expressed, Harry resorts to flashbacks, which to him were ?very real moments? (Chaman 111). In addition to his feelings on mortality, another influence on the story is Hemingway's history with women. Hemingway married many times, possibly inciting the bitter feelings toward the women in his stories. By comparison, Harry is very bitter towards the woman, his companion on the wild African Safari. He demonstrates bitterness best in comments like ?you bitch, you rich bitch? (Hemingway 9) and ?she shot very well this good, this rich bitch, this kindly caretaker and destroyer of his talent? (11). Perhaps the most important influence on the story is that Hemingway had been on many safaris in Africa. In an interview with Pilmpton, Hemingway states that for ?The Snows of Kilimanjaro,? he drew on his ?knowledge and experience acquired on the same long hunting trip? and tried to ?convey the feelings felt while on his trip? (qtd. 32). This background together with a believable plot, convincing characterization, and important literary devices enables Ernest Hemingway in ?The Snows of Kilimanjaro? to develop the theme that a person should neither waste the gifts he holds nor lead his life taking advantage of others. To develop this theme, Hemingway creates a believable plot through an internal conflict and a determinate ending. Hemingway formulates a believable plot through the internal conflict in Harry. Harry, an aspiring writer, came to realize in his dying all that he had not accomplished. He began to blame others for the death that was awaiting him and for all the things, he never wrote. Harry shows his disappointment of not being able to write by stating ?he would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well? (Hemingway 5). Harry's first blame for not being successful was his present wife, whom he married for her money. Harry emphasizes his quest for a better life and more money in the statement, ?Your damned money was my armour. My Swift and my Armour? (9). He further separates himself from his wife by implying he did not like doing things with her. Harry established this feeling with the statement, ?the only thing I ever really liked to do with you I can't do now? (9). Harry also changed his opinion on dying many times. At times, he seemed to welcome the thought of ending it all, and at other times he was bored with the idea of dying. In the end, Harry was afraid of dying and tried to fend off his death; he tried to ?send it away without speaking?(15). Along with the internal conflict, Hemingway further creates a believable plot in his story by using a determinate ending. With the reference to the dead leopard on the mountain, Hemingway foreshadows the ending of the story from the very beginning. This short preamble indicates someone in the story will fall short of his or her goals. While dying of gangrene, Harry can see the vultures that were once circling above now beginning to perch around the camp sight (3). The next clue that Harry was going to die was the appearance of the hyena. Whenever the hyena appeared, it was to symbolize the onslaught of death. When Harry faced the realization of his death, it came ? with a rush?of a sudden evil-smelling emptiness?that the hyena slipped lightly on the edge of it? (15). Furthermore, when the death actually occurred it was the hyena that announced it with a ?strange, human, almost crying sound (27). In addition to creating the theme with a believable plot, Hemingway also develops the theme of ?The Snows of Kilimanjaro? by convincingly characterizing Harry, the protagonist. Harry was a convincing character because he was constantly facing his death. From the beginning when the reader finds out he had gangrene, the story tells the reader that even if his leg was removed, he would still die. This whole short story is centered on the death of the

Monday, November 25, 2019

Small Business Essays - Business Models, Entrepreneurship

Small Business Essays - Business Models, Entrepreneurship Small Business Small business: In our definition we consider that business as a small business, which are registered with Government agencies and requires initial capital of 500,00025,00,000. The turnover for a small business ranges from 25,00,00050,00,000 and number of employees ranges from 550 depending upon the nature of business. Examples of small business in Pakistan: 1. Nagori milk shop 2. Time medico 3. Almas dish washing powder 4. Allahabad stores 5. Kaybees Entrepreneur: An entrepreneur is someone who recognizes his opportunities. He raises the capital and other

Thursday, November 21, 2019

What factors have led to HSBS's offshoring policy What benefits does Assignment

What factors have led to HSBS's offshoring policy What benefits does HSBC gain from this - Assignment Example The operating profit of the group was $5,298 million during 2009, with a reduction of 30.7% from 2008. HSBC has become largely involved in the process of offshoring with an aim to decrease costs of labor. (Data Monitor. 2010) This paper will focus on the issues relating to offshoring by one of the globally known financial service provider HSBC. It will mainly discuss the factors that have led to the company’s offshoring policies and what kinds of benefits are being derived by HSBC Holdings from its offshoring activities. A brief note about Offshoring; Exporting jobs that is commonly known to be as offshoring has become widespread across the world. Companies based in developed regions are getting involved in offshoring to low cost regions of the world. Offshoring mainly implies relocation of jobs with the purpose of reducing costs of production. India and China have become the most important service providers. From the macroeconomic perspectives, there has been a huge debate ov er whether it offshoring is good or bad for the economy of the exporting countries as well as to the economy of the importing countries. Particularly, major concern has been raised regarding the impacts of offshoring on the economy of the importing nations, like USA, UK, other European nations, Australia, etc. A huge number of highly recognized and highly profitable companies of these nations are involved in offshoring. (Abramovsky et al. ... (CORPORAT E PARTNERS RESEARCH PROGRAMME. n.d) The labor available in UK and other European countries are quite expensive compared to the labor available in countries like China and India. Many people have expressed their concern over the effect of offshoring on the domestic economy and domestic productivity of UK, but this concern has not quite affected one of the largest financial service providers of the country. In fact, the extent of offshoring has been increased by HSBC to reduce their fixed and variable costs of production. Major motivational factors behind offshoring: Major motivational factors that have played crucial role in adopting the path of offshoring by HSBC can be as follows: First, a financial service provide generally gets the opportunity to of investing in global securities by adopting the path of offshoring. Very often many top performing securities are not available to the citizens of the UK and thus the investors of this country generally does not get the option of investing in these securities that provide lucrative returns. But offshoring makes it possible to make these global top performing securities accessible to the investors. (Clark, 2009; CORPORAT E PARTNERS RESEARCH PROGRAMME. n.d) Second, a banking service provider that opts for offshoring becomes able to provide its banking account holders the opportunity of accessing all those banking products that would not be available otherwise in the domestic market. (Clark, 2009; CORPORAT E PARTNERS RESEARCH PROGRAMME. n.d) Third, the level of confidentiality is much higher in case of offshoring banking services and hence investors become more interested to purchase

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

How Has Photography Been Used To Reflect Upon The Ways In Which Essay

How Has Photography Been Used To Reflect Upon The Ways In Which Looking Is Socially Structured - Essay Example Ergo, what exists for women is a sort of masochistic pleasure of observing one’s own pain. In her work, â€Å"Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema† (1975), Mulvey states that women’s place in society is to compensate for the weakness in men by submitting her own strength, thus removing the threat of emasculating and upsetting the male world, or as Mulvey calls it, the phallocentric order. She goes on to state that mainstream cinema was formed in the language of the dominant group, that being men, and that only a cinema that rejected the mainstream cinema’s oppressive format and paternal structure could truly be considered alternative. In her analysis of cinematic visual pleasure, Mulvey refers to Sigmund Freud’s definition of scopophilia, that being the taking of a person as an object, and subjecting them to a controlling gaze. The extreme version of this, Freud explains, can develop into a fixated perversion where the viewer can only attain sexual satisfaction from objectifying others by watching them. The narcissistic aspect of scopophilia oc curs at the time of mirror phase during childhood, where the viewer not only recognizes himself or herself in the mirror, but also perceives the mirrored image to be superior to the real image. In an attempt to understand the relationship spectators have to film and cinema, earlier theorists, such as the auterists, formalists, structuralists, and Marxists, attempted to measure how moviegoers respond to films. Their attempts proved to be inaccurate, however, because the theorists failed to take into account the dissimilar natures of the spectators, and thus wrongly assumed that they would respond to the same text in the same manner. Any individuality that the spectators brought to the act of viewing the film was not considered in the study’s conclusion; therefore the resulting determination can not really explain the significance or meaning that the film

Monday, November 18, 2019

Beyond the All Blacks Representations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Beyond the All Blacks Representations - Essay Example The article by Uperesa, Fa‘anofo Lisaclaire (Lisa) addresses a number of issues with relation to how that Samoan has received support in American field football. In American SÄ moa (and other transpacific Samoan groups), football has come to speak to both a genuine and envisioned approach of getting out of what appears to numerous as a choked field of plausibility. The permeability and liveliness of football in American SÄ moa are established in Samoan histories of relocation to the United States, Samoan social sensibilities, the changing business sector of the American football industry, and narrowing financial opportunities (Uperesa, 2014). The transnational way of football relocation is vital to understanding the offer of playing football, the prizes that collect to effective players and how these assets have kept on changing states of probability. These changes have been in relation to the ideology and materialistic approach that the youngsters in the islands consider A merican Football to bring about. Through the author, this article investigates the layered and complex inspirations for football interest as molded by forthcoming types of capital, authentic possibility, and transnational brandishing organizations. Concentrated on history, economy, and a changed vision without bounds, it offers a basic ancestry of football in (American) SÄ moa and Samoans in football is an instrumental breakthrough in shaping the societies that participate in such competitions (Uperesa, 2014).

Friday, November 15, 2019

Political Apathy in Youth Essay

Political Apathy in Youth Essay Is Political Apathy Among Youths Prevalent Across The World Today? Tan Hong Kai Introduction The antithesis of social advancement, political apathy, is a pressing yet thorny issue all countries need to address. Citizens’ impassivity towards politics could destabilise a country, particularly the youths as they are the future of a nation. With the increasingly rapid pace of life, youths tend to be more occupied with keeping up with the Joneses and climbing up the social ladder rather than getting themselves involved in the affairs of their state. Recently, American youths have also made clear that they do not vote due to their dislike of politicians. Political apathy is a universal problem. It recognises no boundaries, and continues to be pervasive across many parts of the world today. Definition of Key Terms Political apathy is a lack of concern and the indifferent attitude of citizens towards public affairs. Throughout this essay, the term youths will refer specifically to persons between the ages of 18 and 29. Political Apathy Among Youths in America One of the main problems with American youths is the huge propensity to be politically indifferent. This attribute is seen in two metamorphic events, the 2008 and the 2012 Presidential Elections. 3.12008 and 2012 Presidential Elections The 2008 United States Presidential Elections saw Barack Obama succeed George Walker Bush as the 44th President of the United States. The voter turnout for the 2008 Presidential Elections was 61.6%, which was the highest since the 1968 Presidential Elections. Howbeit, Hayes (2013) pointed out that the youth vote made up a mere 19% of the electorate. The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement pointed out that youths â€Å"make up 21% of the voting eligible population in the U.S.† The data above can be represented in a pie chart, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. 2008 Presidential Elections Voter Turnout. Only 11.7% out of the 21% of youths casted a vote in the elections. Four years later, in the 2012 Presidential Elections, Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term. Voter turnout, however, decreased from 61.6% in 2008 to 58.2% in 2012. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (2012), 45% of youths voted, which is a decrease as in 2008, 51% of youths casted a vote. Evidently, less than half of all American youths are keen in choosing the leader they want to represent their nation. According to Kohnle (2013), the 2013 Harvard Public Opinion Project found that most American youths would replace every member of Congress if they could. However, 26% have declined the opportunity to vote in the 2014 midterm elections. Although American youths do hold certain views against the political leaders, they are uninterested in instigating change themselves. Stockley (2014), per contra, expressed that historically youths have been the least reliable voters as they tend to be distrust and be dissatisfied with the government for not listening to concerns, thus believing that their votes do not matter. This could be the reason why American youths choose not to vote. The participation of American youths in the elections suggests that problem of political apathy among youths is present in America. As youths are uninterested in voting, there is a lack of political participation as they choose to abstain from voting. Political apathy is thus present in the United States. 3.2Political Participation of American Youths Nevertheless, American youths cannot be said to be completely apathetic about politics. During the African-American Civil Rights Movement, youth activists participated in the â€Å"sit-in movement†, which had â€Å"at least 56 colleges in the region linked to† it. A decade later, hundreds of youth demonstrated at Times Square to protest against the Vietnam War. Thus in history, youths were proactive about politics and wanted a say in the decisions the government makes. In recent times, similar movements had taken place as well. In 2011, youths organised the Occupy Wall Street protest movement to express dissatisfaction at the country’s economic disparity and alleged political corruption. This suggests that even till today, youths do participate in politics and in this case, pressure the government to reform and ameliorate the country’s plight. American youths are hence not as apathetic as feared. American youths are concerned and do express their thoughts over state affairs through demonstrations and protest. Political Apathy Among Youths in China While America is ruled democratically, the People’s Republic of China adopts a different kind of political ideology. Governed by the Communist Party of China, civilians in the socialist country do not have the opportunity and freedom to vote for a leader. Nonetheless, the difference on political ideology has no impact on whether citizens are concerned about the state’s affairs; youths in China are politically apathetic as well. To date, the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989 was the only student-led demonstrations in China. In 1989, Chinese youths gathered in Tiananmen Square. Youths called for social equality, freedom of speech, and most importantly, democracy, amidst political corruption and economic nepotism. However, on 4th June, Chinese troops entered Tiananmen Square and opened fire on these student protesters. This attack conveys the message that the government is unwelcoming of these demonstrations and will be hostile towards anyone who partakes in such protests. Political apathy in China can be attributed to the education system and the stringent laws the Communist Party of China had enforced in the country. The Chinese Education System The Chinese education system places a huge emphasis on galvanising chauvinism. Taboo topics such as the Cultural Revolution, the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the Great Leap Forward and the aforementioned Tiananmen Square Massacre are intentionally omitted from the syllabus. (â€Å"Political Apathy Among Youth†, 2012) As these taboo subjects are usually events which stir anti-government fervor, youths lack exposure to these movements which could have spurred them to participate in political activities and make a difference. Besides, in the Chinese education system, America’s multi-party system is ridiculed. In high school, students go through Political Science lessons and courses, in which they are taught sensitive yet critical issues such as Sino-Japanese relations, the â€Å"Taiwan Issue† and â€Å"Mao Zedong Thought.† These lessons stir nationalistic feelings and promote patriotism among the students. Thus, youths are taught to be loyal and committed to the Communist Party of China. As a result, youths would refrain from instigating anti-government protests or participating in politics as they are satisfied with status quo. The Prohibition of Demonstrations All protests are banned in China. â€Å"Public demonstrations from dissidents that explicitly oppose the government will be whisked away by the police force.† (â€Å"Political Apathy Among Youth†, 2012) Due to such strict laws the government has imposed, youths would naturally be unconcerned about politics. Youths know that any efforts to call for change will be dismissed. Only government-sanctioned protests are permitted. This can be seen from the 2012 Anti-Japan Riots. Tang (2012) reports that â€Å"Outside the Japanese Embassy, student protesters shouted slogans demanding that Japan relinquish the Senkaku islands.† While Chinese youths do not initiate any movements or demonstrations as it is banned, they would still participate in protests approved and led by the Communist Party of China. Political apathy is hence prevalent amongst Chinese youths as they do not display any interest or concern unless they are instructed by the government to do so. Political Apathy Among Youths in Singapore Singapore has always been known as the bridge between the East and the West. As mentioned, both the youths in the East and the West are politically apathetic. Intriguingly and idiosyncratically, that is not the case in this hybridised cultural melting pot. Political Participation of Singaporean Youths Singaporean youths have actively participated in politics. This can be seen from the organisations youths have established in response to certain political issues. 5.1.1Youth for Ecology In 2013, the government released the Population White Paper which proposed the Singapore population to hit 6.9 million in 2030. The release triggered a countrywide debate as Singaporeans did not welcome the import of foreign labour. A group of youths from Singapore Polytechnic realised that â€Å"there was little said about the environmental impact of what was outlined in the paper†, thus they formed the â€Å"Youth for Ecology† to raise awareness. Dialogues were organised and papers were written and submitted to Nominated Member of Parliament Faizah Jamal to address in Parliament. Singaporean youths are concerned about the nation’s future as well. They are also willing to take action to appeal to the government certain aspects they might have missed out. 5.1.2Social Media According to Lee (2013), a Singapore Polytechnic survey found that â€Å"almost 71% of those aged 15 to 19 said they speak up on politics and the Government on social media, while 68% of those aged 20 to 24 do so†. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, all of which are hugely popular among the tech-savvy youths, can be used to express their opinions on state affairs. A study conducted by the Institute Policy of Science (2010) showed that 25.5% of youths participate in politics online as compared to 16.8% adults. Over 77% of Singaporeans in their 20s have a Facebook account (Nielson, 2009) while more than half of Singapore Members of Parliament have a Facebook account. (Hussain, 2010) Thus, social media can be utilised to convey their opinions on political issues and ensure it is heard by the Members of Parliament. With such a convenient platform, youths are recommended to air their views freely and encouraged to participate in political activities. 2006 and 2011 General Elections Nonetheless, the voting turnout of Singaporean youths has been largely disappointing. Chang (2012) found that in Singapore, despite its compulsory voting, the youth turnout had a 40% drop from 63% to 2006 to 38% to 2011. About 70% of young voters had hardly voted in elections. A survey conducted by The New Paper found that 40% of youths will not vote if voting were optional. Furthermore, 25% of youths bemoaned that they have little say in government policies. (â€Å"Are our young Singaporean voters politically apathetic?†, 2011) This suggests that Singaporean youths believe that it would have been pointless to vote since they could not influence any plans the government proposes. Conclusion As Meheresh Yeditha puts it so nicely, â€Å"As the youth, we are its future. Our habits, political views, and actions will have a major effect on the future of our country, and the future of humanity. We as a youth have a moral obligation not only to be informed about current situations, but also to try to make a difference.† Political apathy is something any country could not afford. Youths, being a crucial subset of every electorate, can influence election results to a huge extent. Despite, political apathy is still present in today’s world. Youth turnout for the American Presidential Elections in 2008 and 2012 was low. Nevertheless, American youths have organised political movements to protest about certain issues. Saying that American youths are politically apathetic would be a sweeping statement. In China, due to the education system which places a huge emphasis on chauvinism and the prohibition of demonstrations, youths believe that any participation would not have any impact on how the country is ran at all. Therefore, Chinese youths would not be concerned about state affairs knowing that there is no room for contribution. In Singapore, youths are actively participating in the country’s state affairs. For instance, youths have established organisations which provide feedback to Members of Parliament on certain governmental policies. Youths have also used social media as a platform to express their opinions. However, youth turnout has declined, and youths would choose not to vote as they believe they had little say in politics. Nevertheless, voter turnout should not be the only measure used to determine whether a country’s youths are politically apathetic or not. Political participation should also consist of how vocal they are and how much they engage themselves with political issues. Such is the case in America and Singapore, where youths may not vote but are proactive in voicing out their concerns through protests and peaceful demonstrations. As in the case of socialist China, since there are no elections and freedom of expression is limited, Chinese youths are demotivated to participate in politics, which explains why they are politically apathetic. Plato once said â€Å"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. For a democracy to work, people must participate in that democracy. The same applies to any political ideology. Governments worldwide have gradually become aware of that and are starting to take measures to curb political apathy. In America, MTV has established the â€Å"Rock the Vote† organisation, which strives to fuse pop culture and technology to encourage youths to register and cast a ballot. It allows youths to register online, which is a more convenient process. In Singapore, the People’s Action Party has set up and developed a youth wing, called the â€Å"Young PAP†. Formed by Singaporean youths, it seeks to influence youths to participate in politics as they are indispensable to Singapore’s future. In China, while plans have been made to provide more channels to allow youths to express their thoughts, it remains to be seen what will be put into effect. During the 2011 United Nations High-Level Meeting, Senior Official Zhou Changkui mentioned, â€Å"As youth is an important political force, facilitating youth in political participation symbolizes equality and progress of a society. Participation is a way for young people to improve their status, exercise their rights and promote common development.† It could only be a matter of time when barriers are removed and Chinese youths start to engage themselves in political activities. It is therefore unfair to say that political apathy among youths is prevalent across the world. While it exists, it is not pervasive and widespread. Youths in democratic countries such as Singapore are less politically apathetic as compared to those in countries with lesser freedom, such as China. Hence political apathy among youths is not prevalent across the world today, but it is existent and is a pressing problem for countries to curb and prevent. 7.0References

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Production Report on Thriller Film Essay example -- Papers

Production Report on Thriller Film For my production unit, I chose Brief 1: Thriller Film. This is due to my interest in them and the confidence I have in producing my own, which I found from GCSE television advertising work and in my ability to deconstruct existing films. In order to fulfil my brief successfully, I had to perform several areas of research, which will make the product look like products in real life and show that I know and can use the appropriate codes and conventions. I also watched a non-Hollywood film, the French film 'La Haine'. Comparing the two different sorts of films, emphasised the codes and conventions that I needed to use for my 'classic Hollywood' film. For example, the 180degree rule, continuity and the way sound is constructed to fit the distance of source from camera. To go into more detail about typical Hollywood style, I deconstructed many sequences in terms of shots and techniques in existing Hollywood thriller films, with a fifteen or eighteen certificate looking at the codes and conventions specifically used in them to create the effect desired e.g. the use of incidental music and silences; filming the villain so his face is never fully shown; using low-key lighting to create shadows; low and high angled shots to create the feeling of power and control; close-ups of eyes to show fear; slow, long-held shots to create tension. A particular favourite film of mine was 'Silence of the Lambs'- a film by Jonathan Demme, because the tension created was a lot subtler and there was very little violence or action in the film- the enjoyment came out of the highly detailed characters and the i... ... my film was an older, more sophisticated audience than most thriller films- probably the same audience as 'Silence of the Lambs', who will appreciate little action and detailed characters. I think my film does target this audience as it involves complex emotions and in the opening sequence, a lot of mystery and things to work- it is not self-explanatory-an enigma and I think an older audience would enjoy this factor of the film. Overall I am pleased with the effect I have created in my sequence. I think it sets up the rest of the film well and this opening sequence would make an audience want to watch the rest of the film. I believe that my film follows enough conventions to be called a 'Classic Hollywood Realism' film and although the quality is not brilliant due to lack of technology, I am pleased with the result.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Spoiled, but Not a Brat

Diquan Lamar Hubbard Introduction to College Writing Professor Sophie Bradford October 19, 2012 Spoiled, but not a Brat The ideal spoiled child does not come to mind easily. I observed people around campus, but I think one of the perfect examples of a spoiled child is Angelica Pickles from the popular Nickelodeon show Rugrats. Angelica showed characteristics that made her stand out as an antagonist. She would refer to the other characters as â€Å"dumb babies. † Angelica would show how selfish she was by convincing the other characters to do plans that would only benefit her, which set her up most of the time as the antagonist in each episode.She would receive gifts to her heart’s desire and not be the least bit thankful. Her parents set out to please her in every way that they could, but it never seemed like it was enough. What makes a child in the real world like this? How have these bratty tendencies in childhood showed up later in life? A better way to explain this is to look deeper into what characteristics a brat actually has. Some people would look at a person as a brat because they get expensive things from their parents. Getting nice things may not have been seen as out of the ordinary to some spoiled children.Davis shares how she saw life at a younger age: Growing up, I was oblivious to money and the division of classes like many young kids. I never knew not every kid was presented with new clothes every day, or got to go to Toys-R-Us whenever they wanted or had to take educate classes once a week. I thought that was a normal everyday thing in the life of a kid. That was what kids my age did. (Davis 1) I think that receiving things and having a well off lifestyle does not mean that a person is spoiled. I think it is there sense of entitlement afterwards.Davis admitted that she was oblivious to other people and she thought that everyone lived the same way that she did. If a person feels like the reason that they receive these things is be cause they deserve them; that shows that is a characteristic of a brat. A brat thinks that they are the greatest gift to earth and nothing else matters as much as they do. Davis may have gotten things, but that doesn’t necessarily make her into a brat. Brattiness can continue on longer than in childhood if it is not stopped earlier. There are some people who continue to be brats, even into their college years.Students in college may be seen as spoiled or brats if they don’t have to work or they go home every weekend to have things like groceries bought or laundry done for them. I think this is overgeneralizing some of the habits that these students may do. I can see how this can look like they are just being lazy from the outside, but it could be that it is a way to save money by washing clothes together. This is especially true for people who live near campus. I was an example of people that did that. Since I had to go home every weekend at my college summer classes, I did not do laundry at school.Instead I would take it home and get it washed with everyone else’s, in an effort to save money. Any way that I could think of to save money was a plus, not just for me, but for my grandmother as well. My grandmother, who I lived with thought it was a good idea. It was cheaper for her to wash all of the clothes together, instead of having to half loads of clothing. I think that the whole idea of spoiled children being brats can sometimes lead to a lot of overgeneralization. This especially applies to people who may have more money than others. We assume that if someone has expensive things that they will be brats.I have seen a lot of rich people that can be very humble and a lot of people who don’t have as much money be as bratty as can be. A good example is a close friend of mine, Whittney Williamson. Whittney is rich. I think rich is even an understatement. She doesn’t even know how much money she has. Her father owns oil fields in Oklahoma and Texas. He also sells machinery. Whittney seems like she would get everything in the world, but that isn’t the case. I think Whittney was humble and very misunderstood. Because, she came to school in Camaros and Corvettes, other students assumed that she was going to be brat.I worked with her in Student Council, a club that makes decisions for the school and does community service, for three years. I have seen, just by working with her how hard she works. She is constantly being taught things from her father that will make her into a well off college student. She explained that she had to do the same things as most other normal kids and that she got this philosophy from her father who did not start out as an oil tycoon, but worked his way up. I have also seen a counter example in a people that may not be rich, but they were brats.I was in program called Upward Bound, while I was in high school. Upward Bound was created for at-risk teens that may not have come f rom the wealthiest of homes and they are usually first-generation college students. While I was in Upward Bound it was common to see people with nice things, but they had worked for them. They wore expensive clothes; they had all kinds of expensive technology like MacBook’s and iPads. A lot of them worked too and they would off-set the cost of a lot of their things. There were some that didn’t; that acted like they deserved to have things given to them just for being present.In Upward Bound they would help us by giving us checks for our mileage and gifts all of the time. There were some people who were just ungrateful for what they were given. To be ungrateful for something a person is given is a bad quality of a person in general. It is just another one of those factors that make someone into a brat instead of a spoiled child. A spoiled child can be guided toward becoming a brat depending on external influences. Family and peers can either facilitate a person’s brattiness or discourage it. Maria Yagoda, editorial assistant at saveur. om, explained how she was stopped from being a brat: Part of my avoidance of â€Å"brat† status, I believe, comes from having attended public schools, where I learned alongside a socially and economically diverse group of students. My parents also preached to me the importance of social activism and political involvement: dragging me to rallies, encouraging me to volunteer and constantly reminding me how fortunate I was to grow up where I did. (Yagoda) If a person has experiences the outside world and learns about people and situations that are out of their comfort zone, they are less likely to be a brat.Like Yagoda mentioned, being in public school made her have to learn about different people. In most public schools there are a variety of people. Yagoda also said that her parents encouraged her to get involved. A parent has a lot of influence on how their child acts. If they allow different behaviors to occur, they are more likely to increase. Davis admits that her father grew up in a â€Å"struggling household† and that is what made him look outside of her privileged world. As people begin to become more independent they tend to act less like a brat.Something that helps is when parents teach their teenagers, especially right before college, more domestic skills. Yagoda mentioned that she had the pink laundry load. When teens a taught things like how to do laundry and how to do things like sweeping, or taking care of their own money while at home, they benefit later in life. They have things that they don’t have to. They won’t have to call mom or dad to help because a load of laundry turned pink or they didn’t realize that they used up all of their money in their checking account. Being spoiled is not a bad thing.A spoiled child, or even young adult, may get what they want, but that doesn’t make them into a brat. The behaviors that they show a fterwards are what make them into a brat. A person can be spoiled all of their life, but if they learn to receive things and be thankful; they will be seen in a completely different light. If a person learns to not rely solely on receiving things but, striving out to get things done themselves and setting their own goals, they can be seen as not brats, or even spoiled children. They will be seen as good person in general.There are plenty of external factors that can make someone into a brat, but the ultimate thing that stops a spoiled child from turning into a brat is themselves. There is only so much that parents and peers can do that can affect a person’s personality. The deciding factor is how a person chooses to behave and how a person chooses to be in life. Works Cited Davis, Lacee. â€Å"Yes, I’m Spoiled† 15 Oct, 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012 Yagoda, Maria. â€Å"†I'm Spoiled, But I'm Not a Brat†Ã¢â‚¬  Motherlode Blog. The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Face as an Index of Character Essays

The Face as an Index of Character Essays The Face as an Index of Character Essay The Face as an Index of Character Essay THE FACE AS AN INDEX OF CHARACTER A man’s face, if we can read it alright, generally is an index to his character. We can tell what sort of man he is by the expression of his countenance, as we can tell the species of a shell-fish by its shell; for, as a shell-fish secrets is shell, so the soul secrets its physical face. It is we ourselves who make our faces. Character is simply the sum total of confirmed habits; and as habit is formed, it slowly writes its characteristics marks on the face, and gives its own look to the eyes. It is harder to read character in the faces of young unformed children than in the faces of grown up men and women, though one can often detect meanness or frankness even in the face of a child; but the older people get, and the more fixed their habits, the easier it becomes to tell what sort of people they a e from their faces. There are certain kinds of faces which almost everyone can read. The character is written in capitals on the face. You cannot mistake the red and bloated face of the drunkard, the pride in the face of an arrogant, the crafty look in the eyes of the sneak. But it takes a trained and careful observer to read some faces, for some clever people can make their faces like masks to hide their real selves. A false-hearted man may have an apparently frank and open face; a cruel man may wear a deceptively kindly smile; rouge may look very honest sight. As Hamlet says, â€Å"A man may smile and smile, and be a villain. But the face has always something that will betray such hypocrites to an acute observer; especially in the most expressive features, the eyes and mouth. A look in the eyes the way in which he shapes his mouth, may betray the hidden meanness, cruelty, craftiness or selfishness that lurk behind the friendly smile and the frank look. Certainly it is that dishonesty, lust and cruelty, honesty, purity and kindness, all leave indelible marks on the face.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

How to Use Conjunctions in Italian

How to Use Conjunctions in Italian Italian conjunctions serve as connector words, bringing words, phrases, and clauses together, like one big, happy family. They’re handy because they make expressing yourself a whole lot easier, and they save you time. For example, the phrase: devo andare a Parigi e a Londra per lavoro is the result of two phrases: Devo andare a Parigi per lavoro. - I have to go to Paris for work.Devo andare a Londra per lavoro. - I have to go to London for work. Which, joined by means of the conjunction â€Å"e - and†, becomes: Devo andare a Parigi per lavoro e devo andare a Londra per lavoro. - I have to go to Paris for work, and I have to go to London for work. But, really, what’s easier to say is: Devo andare a Parigi e a Londra per lavoro. - I have to go to Paris and to London for work. Types of Italian Conjunctions There can be two types: coordinating conjunctions (congiunzioni coordinative), or conjunctions that combine two independent clauses, and subordinating conjunctions (congiunzioni subordinative) or conjunctions that combine a dependent clause with an independent one. Congiunzioni coordinative: Join clauses or parts of syntactically equivalent clauses A coordinating conjunction is, for example, the â€Å"e - and in the preceding sentence: devo andare a Parigie a Londra per lavoro, where the elements brought together by the conjunction (a Parigi e a Londra) are equivalent from a syntactic point of view. In practice, coordination means to combine two syntactically homogeneous terms: Two attributes of the same noun (una strada lunga e diritta - a long and straight street)Two subjects of the same verb (Sergio e Claudio scrivono - Sergio and Claudio write)Two verbs with the same subject (Sergio legge e scrive - Sergio reads and writes)Two subordinate clauses of the same principal (verrà ² domani, se ci siete e non disturbo - I’ll come tomorrow, if you all are there and I’m not disturbing) Congiunzioni subordinative: Combine one dependent clause with another (known as the principal or independent clause), and therefore modifies, completes, or clarifies the meaning Examples of subordinating conjunctions are: Perchà © - BecauseQuando - WhenSe - If Esempi: Non esco perchà © piove. - I’m not going out because it’s raining.Non esco quando piove. - I don’t go out when it rains.Non esco se piove. - I’m not going out if it rains. Here the main clause â€Å"non esco† is on a different level with respect to the subordinates perchà © / quando / se piove: the latter add a determinant (causal, temporal, conditional), and act like a complement to the main clause. What is clear, then, is the similarity between the subordinating conjunctions and the prepositions: the causal clause perchà © piove, introduced by the conjunction perchà ©, is equivalent to a complement of cause per la pioggia, introduced by the preposition per. Forms of Italian Conjunctions With respect to their linguistic form, conjunctions are divided into: Semplici (simple), if they are formed by a single word such as: E - AndO - OrAnche - AlsoMa - ButCome - Like, asChe - ThatNà © - Neither, nor, or Composte (compound), if they are formed by two or more words joined together such as: Eppure (e pure) - YetOppure (o pure) - YetNeanche (ne anche) - NeitherSebbene (se bene) - Although, even thoughAllorchà © (allora che) - When, as soon asNondimeno (non di meno) - Nevertheless, regardlessPerchà © (per chà ©) - BecausePercià ² (per cià ²) - Therefore, for this reason, soPoichà © (poi chà ©) - Since Locuzioni congiuntive (subjunctive idioms), if they are comprised of multiple words written separately, such as: Per il fatto che - For the fact thatDi modo che - So thatPer la qual cosa - For whichAnche se - Even ifDal momento che - From the moment thatOgni volta che - Each time that

Monday, November 4, 2019

Collapse of CTV Building Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Collapse of CTV Building - Assignment Example The governments of several countries are motivating the organizations to follow proper business policies in order to improve countries’ business environment. This study will focus on the collapse of CTV building during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The study will try to find out several other reasons behind the collapse of this building. Collapse of CTV Building Introduction CTV Building was the headquarters of several leading organizations including Canterbury Television. This building was established in the Christchurch Central City (Kunstler, 2005). The CTV building became one of the significant symbols of 2011 Christchurch earthquake. 115 people lost their lives due to the collapse of CTV building during the earthquake. A series of construction, council, decision making, and engineering related errors over the last 20 years caused the catastrophic collapse of the CTV building. Prime Minister John Key ordered to set up the Royal Commission in order to investigate this i ncident. According to several reports it can be stated that the collapse of CTV building was the biggest life-taking incident. The Royal Commission stated that the CTV building’s engineering design was deficient in several ways. This building was not developed according to the appropriate standards. Therefore, Christchurch City Council did not make a right decision by issuing a building permit for CTV building. During the construction of the office block, it was found that the construction had been inadequately supervised by the appointed construction manager (Wilson, 2012). This study will identify the stakeholders and key role players associated with CTV Building and its consequences. Moreover, this study will critically analyze and evaluate the key management and several organizational factors associated with the critical incident. Analysis of the Case Study The government of New Zealand is trying to find legal reasons behind the collapse of this building. First of all, th e government has stated in the report of the Royal Commission that the construction plan was not created according to the standard level. The Royal Commission has concluded that serious deficiencies in its construction and design are the major reasons behind the accident (Figure 1). CTV building did not meet the standard construction criteria. Moreover, the designing engineer constructed the building out of his depth (Stursberg, 2012). Moreover, as for the council staff that inspected this building after the incident of the earthquake, none of them were the engineers. The Construction and Building Minister said that the report of the commissions would be handed over to the professional engineers’ institute. The government wanted to find out the level of corruption and crime associated with the collapse of CTV building (Xu, 2012). Alan Reay Consultants Ltd. were in charge of CTV building construction. The commission blamed the groups for establishing a noncompliant and inadequ ate design (Figure 2). Moreover, the council stated that city officials were also responsible for the incident as they had not sent notice to the owner of the building. According to the report, the building got a green sticker after the earthquake of 2010. Signalling authorities gave it thumbs up for the individuals to use in future. Identify the Roles of Key Role Players and Stakeholders The owner and principle engineer did not follow the legal aspects. The principle engineer

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Modern China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Modern China - Essay Example When Europeans and Americans started to recognize the Chinese people, the traditional intellectual Chinese started to take part in the political and economic systems of China. The most significant evidence was that Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing rule and established the Republic of China. 2.What are your ideologies? Why are they suitable for 1905s China and better than your rivals? My ideologies are about reforms. Being a reformer in Chinas 1905s during the Qing dynasty would mean overcoming the bureaucratic structures of the government. As a reformer, I would recommend and implement various reforms in the military, administrative, and fiscal systems to eliminate bureaucracies and encourage coordination and representation in all decision-making activities of the government. Like in the Boxer Protocol, reforms would include improvement in the tax systems, subsidies, and benefits offered by the government. The tax reforms would include enforcement and collection of land taxes to reduce inefficiencies and conflicts in the lenient approach of landowning. The revenue received from taxation would be used to improve various sectors of the economy including irrigation, roads, schools, and charities and benefits to needy members of the society such as old people and people living with disabilities. There should also be reforms in the electoral system in which the people would have more power and independence to choose their leaders. The reforms also involved changes in the legal code and abolition of the examination system.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Business Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Organization - Essay Example More flexible: Even though an LLC should file all its articles with the national government, it has a more flexible management as compared to a corporation. In this regard, this permits the business owner to develop a structure based on the needs of the business owners. Little compliance issues: In most cases, an LLC does not require an annual general meeting or a board of directors. In addition, there is less paperwork as well as record keeping needed in comparison to a corporation. With regard to building capital, unlike corporations that issue stock so as to increase funds for their companies, limited liability companies have to put in more effort to look for investors along with other sources of capital. Percentage of ownership: The partners should record the amount of money each partner contributes to the partnership before its opening. These contributions are utilized as the basis of ownership percentage. Death of a partner: If a partner dies or leaves the partnership there is a need to have a buy or sale agreement. It outlines a method by which the partnership interest will be valued and interest purchased. Being a great place for the people to work in addition to developing responsible citizens by supporting and building sustainable communities, and getting the customer’s associate the company’s products with absolute best service. The leadership of the firm will comprise of the executive management, senior managers, and head of departments who will ensure strategic direction of the business. The company will employ democratic leadership. An open-door policy will be adopted and most decisions will make prior to consulting. The inputs to make a Smartphone that has an excellent phone, camera,  a music player include several sketches as well as wireframes. The sketches will determine the phone’s size, portability, and weight. The team will decide which designs will become prototypes.

Monday, October 28, 2019

My View on Consumerism Essay Example for Free

My View on Consumerism Essay The main point of In Praise Of Consumerism by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. was that consumerism is very broad and relates to a lot of different features in everyones everyday life. When Rockwell says consumerism is just another word for freedom in the marketplace. What Rockwell is saying is that any person in the world can buy anything they want because of the widespread variety and costs. Any person could be rich or poor and still have some sort of option even if you had to scavenge materials and build your own item, consumerism plays a role. In todays world technology advances and some people in the world just cannot keep up with it and give up, like smartphones even, I recall seeing an elder woman throwing a new smartphone at the ground in a Verizon cell phone store awhile ago. People today also crave information and with consumerism they are given options to view info differently with your phone, laptop, or even tablet. People in the world today not only want heat in the winter, but they also want air conditioning in the summer, to top that off those heating and air systems are advancing all the time. When it comes to a variety or choice of products is when different manufacturers compete to make the better product. Rockwell says, If something is broken, we want the materials made available to repair it. I can really relate to that quote right now because while Im writing this essay, I am also sewing my backpack together. I went to the local Pac-And-Save store to purchase that sewing kit and I was looking for the cheapest available, but there was only a choice of one but lots of variety in thread color sold separately. I agree with Rockwell when he relates to people wanting creature comforts or a variety of necessities like food, wine, cleaning products, toothpaste, and razors. Some people are limited though when it comes to purchasing some bigger items like Heat pumps for homes or Air Conditioners. New units can cost upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 dollar range, but this is where variety or choice come into play and sometimes you can shop around for a used bargain or even get estimates on new equipment from different businesses to see where your going to save the most money. When money is not a problem people abandon old forms of communication or entertainment for far superior modes of information technology. like Rockwell said. The worlds economy is still not the greatest and because of that many people today want options and choices when it comes to buying anything.People are getting what they want to because of something called Market Economy says Rockwell. Market economy, in Rockwells definition Is nothing but a bunch of people cooperating and innovating to make better lives for themselves. He also states that there is no dog-eat-dog competition which I disagree with. I believe that manufactures of products that consumers want also want there products to be the best so the people designing the product will do whatever it takes to make the other manufacturer look bad or there product look like junk. In this quote Rockwell says, But if by consume we meant to purchase products and services with our own money in order to improve the human condition, who can help but plead guilty? I like that quote about consumerism because it affects our economy in a better way while improving human health globally. In a earlier paragraph Rockwell says, Theres no dog-eat-dog. There is so much competition in the consumerism industry, when theres a new product there are all sorts of people out there to try and make it better. Manufacturers also try to make the product less expensive and so it appeals to a different group of people. If some company in America has a better reputation and they improve that product but maybe mark the costs up because that Made In America sticker costs a little more for labor will get some people to buy it for that reason only not the cost difference. One thing that I think is very good about consumerism is that it can be used to better the human life, health, and just all around living. People are able to purchase things like cough medicine, or vitamins to help simple sicknesses. In the bigger aspects there are scientists that buy products to held find cures and help get rid of viruses. Rockwell says, The whole history of ideas about society has been spent trying to come up with some system that serves the common man rather than just the elites, the rulers, and the powerful. I dont understand what this quote means when I read it, but the next sentence kind of puts it in perspective for me, the story reads, When the Market economy, and its capitalistic structure, came into being, that institution was finally discovered. I derived this from that quote, that leading manufactures have more power over smaller companies. Some People today let Greed take over and they buy superfluous things like Rockwell said. He also said, who is to say what is a need versus a mere want? I think Its all up to the person with the cash buying whatever products it might be. I agree to Rockwell when he says, wants and needs are linked so the one persons necessities are met precisely because other peoples wants are met. Here is an example, A farmer sells his crops to the Co-op And in return he uses the money, for seed, for the next years crop. Market Economy is King over some things in Life, don’t let it get the best of you though. Do research on products before you buy, look at customer reviews, ask people that have purchased a different brand of the same tool, or be straight forward and contact the manufacturer and ask about how many faulty units they have had or any complaints, any of those things can steer you in the right direction when fighting or loving Consumerism.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Why People Refuse To Use Internet Banking Information Technology Essay

Why People Refuse To Use Internet Banking Information Technology Essay Do you consider online banking in its current state to be secure. In your experience, what are the biggest mistakes that financial services providers and their customers make that expose them to security risks? The world is changing at a staggering rate and technology is considered to be the key driver for these changes around us (Papers4you.com, 2006). An analysis of technology and its uses show that it has permeated in almost every aspect of our life. Many activities are handled electronically due the acceptance of information technology at home as well as at workplace. Internet can be seen as a truly global phenomenon that has made time and distance irrelevant to many transactions. The transformation from the traditional banking towards e-banking has been a leap change. The evolution of electronic banking started from the use of automatic teller machines (ATM) and has passed through telephone banking, direct bill payment, electronic fund transfer and the revolutionary online banking. The future of electronic banking according to some is the acceptance of WAP enabled banking and interactive-TV banking. Online banking is the future of electronic financial transactions. The rise in the e-commerce and the use of internet in its facilitation along with the enhanced online security of transactions and sensitive information has been the core reasons for the penetration of online banking in everyday life (Papers4you.com, 2006). According to the latest official figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS, 2006) indicate that subscriptions to the internet has grown more than 50% from 15 million in 2000 to 35 million in 2005 in the UK. It has also been estimated that 60% of the population in the UK use internet in their daily lives. Why people refuse to use internet banking? Today, there are still many internet users who refuse to do their banking online. Their main reason for not doing so is the lack of online banking security. One of the reasons why they feel insecure about banking online is because of misinformationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.not knowing the correct information about internet security. A study from the University of Michigan by Atul Prakash looks at design flaws that many online banking sites have today. He concluded that they fail to protect users who dont know the basics about internet security. The study focussed on design flaws rather than actual software programming weaknesses. Website design flaws are decisions or assumptions that were made by the web developers when they designed the online banking website. For example, the developers assumed that online banking users were educated about internet security. In fact, the opposite is trueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.many online banking users are uneducated about basic internet security. This assumption can be taken advantage of by unscrupulous hackers. Some of the design flaws of online banking security are: Being able to access the site by using insecure HTTP, Being redirected to an untrusted site, Low security password thresholds and e-mailing confidential data to users. These are all examples of website design flaws that can lead to confidential data being leaked! Strong Passwords: As far as user password information goes, many of the sites involved in the study dont require password restrictions for users. Having low quality passwords invite themselves to being disclosed by brute-force attacks. The study also noted that having a strong password does not protect against phishing sites and key loggers. Many banks find it to be just an inconvenience for their users to force strong passwords. The online banks claimed that by enforcing a three-strike  [1]  lockout policy when incorrectly typing in a password makes brute-force attacks on low quality passwords unrealistic. However, the study found that even when a three-strike lockout policy is enforced, it can be broken if low quality passwords are allowed. For example, if you use a password that is very weak like password, hackers can successfully use automated attacks to compromise your login. This is so, even if the online bank enforces a three strike policy. The design flaw here is that online banks have assumed that users will always use strong passwords. Online banks must not assume that some online users understand basic internet security and enforce the creation of strong passwords. Well designed online banking sites will enforce strong passwords by using JavaScript  [2]  to immediately test the passwords strength. If the password is not strong enough, the user will immediately be advised by an on-screen error message or a graphic. Click here to create a password and test whether it is a strong password. Hackers and intruders have an easier time figuring passwords out when they are not frequently changed. You must change your passwords regularly, especially for your online banking password. When you change your password, the hackers would have to start over again. Online banks with strong password security policies automatically enforce users to change their passwords periodically. Typically a password creation screen will appear and you will be asked to update your password twice. You will also need to know the old password. It is harder for hackers to figure out your password if you use a number of different charactersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ especially if it is a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols found in your keyboard. Of course, it will be harder for you to remember the new password, so you have to make sure you memorize the combination. A useful tip: never use passwords that are codes like your birth date, spouses name, or other relevant information because your password can be deduced quickly and easily. These coded passwords are used by a lot of people, particularly in ATM machines and email passwords. By doing this, you simply make yourself a big target to hackers. Chain of Command: The University of Michigan study by Atul Prakash also mentions websites that break the chain of trust. Often time, bank websites will redirect you to other websites without notice. These sites may not be secured by using SSL  [3]  . Many times the certificates  [4]  used are not affiliated with the bank at all and there is no way for the user to tell if they are still on the banks website or not. This makes it hard for even knowledgeable users to know if they are on a phishing  [5]  siteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ or not! Some online banking sites may present secure login options within an insecure webpage. While their online banking site may offer secure logins via SSL and HTTPS  [6]  , that same webpage may be available insecurely through a HTTP  [7]  version. While redirection to a secure page may occur, if the user had already entered in credential information under the insecure page, then their credentials are at risk of being compromised. While many sites exhibited 1 or 2 of the noted flaws, there were many on the list that didnt show any flaws and offered very good security. It also went on to note that some of the sites may have even fixed the flaws noted in the study at the time when the study was released. Online Banking: Tips for Doing It Safely With the increasing popularity of the Internet as a virtual marketplace, consumers and criminals alike have capitalized on this growing community. As a result the issue of Internet security has become one of great importance, especially when it comes to online banking. However, safe banking online is not as difficult as it may seem. It simply involves making the right choices. Here are some tips that will help ensure a safe banking experience on the Internet. First, make sure that the bank you choose is legitimate. If they do not have a branch you can visit locally, then you wont have the convenience of checking them out in person. In such cases, it is advisable to read pertinent information about the bank on its site. Most financial institutions will have an About Us tab where you can read more information about the bank and its history. You should even be able to the find name and address for the banks headquarters along with a toll free number you can use to speak with a live person. Second, be aware of criminals who put up fraudulent websites under a name or web address similar to that of a credible bank. Unfortunately, these undesirables have caused some trepidation when it comes to online banking. However, they can be fairly easy to spot and avoid. These sites are designed to trick you into entering their website and providing your personal information (i.e., social security number, account number, password). Be sure you have typed the appropriate web address for your bank before accessing your account online. This can be easily ensured by book marking your banks site or adding it to your favourites in your web browser. Doing this virtually guarantees you will visit the correct site in the future. Third, safeguard your private information. Thieves would love to get a hold of your credit card numbers, banking info, social security number and other private data. Review your banks security practices. This information is usually available on their website, but you should also be able contact the bank directly if necessary. Fourth, a secure online banking site will provide encryption  [8]  . In this process, private information is scrambled in order to prevent the wrong eyes from seeing it. Some web browsers will show an icon at the bottom of your screen that looks like a key or a lock. This icon indicates that your transaction is secure and your private information has been encrypted. Hackers and bad people are constantly attempting to crack into our online accounts and access everything from our email to our online banking records for nefarious purposes. How can you stop them from easily accessing your accounts? One very important step is to use highly secure passwords that arent easily guessed or cracked by their malicious software. Most of the time theyre after easy targets and will move on if your account cant be hacked quickly. Here are five tips to help you create secure passwords for your online accounts: Dont use names, dates, phone numbers, or addresses Dont use common words from the dictionary Use a mix of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters (such as! * % where possible) Make it at least 8 characters long (longer is better) Change it often (for online banking or hosting accounts, try every month) You may want to use an online random password generator. If youre worried that you may have trouble remembering all your secure online passwords, dont resort to using the same password at multiple sites or using passwords that arent secure! Instead, consider an option like RoboForm or RoboForm Online. You can also use Firefox as your browser (its free) and allow it to save your passwords. Just be sure to use a master password to secure your passwords file. You can find details about that at http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_password Finally, make sure that you logout of the online banking site completely. When you are finished with your online banking session, you need to be sure that you log out. If you do not physically click the log out button, you may stay signed in. Anyone who uses the computer that you used to check your bank account could then get into your bank on-line account. It could also give more time to those people who want to crack into your bank account. Checking for the lock that indicates a secure log in is crucial to being careful when using online banking. It helps you to ensure that you are giving your password and information over a secure connection. Password protection, and having a secure password, will allow you to make it difficult for others to log into your account. By logging out, you can be sure that you have stopped the connection, preventing anyone (both online or in person) from finding and using your account. You need to be responsible when using online banking to ensure that your finances are safe. It should be clear that safe online banking is not an impossible task. It simply involves being well informed and making the right decisions.