Thursday, December 26, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Women s Leadership For Women - 1408 Words
We have great leader especially are women leaders. They empower other people and embrace each other in a loving kind of way . The are some good leaders.There is also some bad, but the good outways the bad. Itââ¬â¢s importance of women leaders . I think we have been wrong to some women just because they are women. Women should have the same rights as men do. This is coming from a man, so women arenââ¬â¢t they only ones wanting rights for each other. The good leaders out there in the world are trying to making a change. Trying to make this world a better place. We should have more women leaders in the world like this. They are leaders that want rights for each other. They are making a change for people everyday. How are women good leader in this world. I think women have better work ethics to be leaders in their business. ââ¬Å"It is that 6 out of 10 women want to be a senior leader in their companyâ⬠(KPMG research 2). That means 60% of women want to lead their company and be a great leader for the company. As a leader ââ¬Å"you have to teach others how to be leader.â⬠Statistics say women at a young age weââ¬â¢re taught how to be leaders.ââ¬Å"67% of women reported theyââ¬â¢d learned the most important lessons about leadership from other womenâ⬠(KPMG Key findings 6). ââ¬Å"The kpmg took 3,104 U.S. women (2,140 professional working women and 604 college women) between ages of 18 and 64 were surveyed as part of the study. Specifically, the study sought to identify how these women were socialized to leadershipShow MoreRelatedWomen s Leadership For Women1411 Words à |à 6 PagesWe have great leader, especially are women leaders. They empower other people and embrace e ach other in a loving kind of way . The are some good leaders.There is also some bad, but the good outways the bad. Itââ¬â¢s importance of women leaders . I think we have been wrong to some women just because they are women. Women should have the same rights as men do. This is coming from a man, so women arenââ¬â¢t they only ones wanting rights for each other. The good leaders out there in the world are trying to makeRead MoreWomen s Leadership For Women1410 Words à |à 6 PagesWomen leaders We have great leader especially are women leaders. They empower other people and embrace each other in a loving kind of way . The are some good leaders.There is also some bad, but the good outways the bad. Itââ¬â¢s importance of women leaders . I think we have been wrong to some women just because they are women. Women should have the same rights as men do. This is coming from a man, so women arenââ¬â¢t they only ones wanting rights for each other. The good leaders out there in the world areRead MoreWomen And Women s Leadership Essay1729 Words à |à 7 PagesWomen in leadership provided a variety of different insights about being a woman in leadership positions both in the business world and outside of it. One constant theme throughout the class was how women have to constantly prove our competence more than men. Women are less likely to have an executive position in a company, which means that when women are hired for these positions, they have to prove themselves. As a woman , this is something I have not faced in my current positions as an undergraduateRead MoreWomen s Leadership Gap Between Women And Leadership1689 Words à |à 7 PagesWomen make up a majority of the United States population and yet they are significantly behind men when it comes to their representation in leadership positions. Women only hold about 52 percent of all professional-level jobs (CITATION). When it comes to politics only about 20 percent of political leaders in the world are women (CITATION). In todayââ¬â¢s society, women are absent in almost all major leadership positions in both business and politics. Women seeking leadership positions are constantlyRead MoreSupport For Women s Leadership1712 Words à |à 7 PagesIn order to show support for women in leadership, I will examine several different online resources. Within these sources, I will meticulously pull out key contexts in order to help better articulate the idea of women in leadership roles. As apart of my pap er, I will include in my first section of the paper the misinterpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:34. In order to do so, I will be examining the text itself first, then going on to various online resources to gain a better idea of why Paul wrote thisRead MoreWomen s Leadership And The Barriers That Women Face Essay1712 Words à |à 7 Pages Women run the World. Women are essential to the world, without women the world would not be able to continue to populate and grow. So why are women not given the credit that they deserve in the corporate world? In this paper I will be discussing what women go through in leadership, the pros and cons of women in leadership and the barriers that women face in the work place. I will also discuss the role that men play in leadership and the different leadership styles that men have comparedRead MoreWomen s Leadership Style Of Leadership2061 Words à |à 9 Pagesquestion remains: Why canââ¬â¢t women become great leaders? An effective leader can lead in many ways, as well as adopt their own leadership style, to ââ¬Å"tailor-fitâ⬠their followers. Men change their leadership styles, so why canââ¬â¢t women? Oprah is a leader first; secondly, she is a woman. Oprah uses three different styles of leadership: Transformational, Servant, and Authentic leadership. Throughout the world, Oprah Winfrey is known for her charismatic style of leadership, commonly referred to as transformationalRead MoreThe Role Of Women s Leadership Roles Essay3057 Words à |à 13 PagesTHE ROLE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 11 THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP 12 The Role of Women in Leadership Edward Minter SOC 402: Contemporary Social Problems the Workplace Dr. Peggy Morrison October 17, 2016 In our society, men are usually always in the role of being a leader. We see, men as leaders in Politics, in the military, as CEO?s of major companies and in churches just to name a few of areas men are leaders. Why do women in the same fields not get the recognitionRead MoreAfrican American Women s Leadership2113 Words à |à 9 PagesAfter the seminary days, the women church ministers encounter numerous challenges as they begin and carry on with their professional career. In modern African American churches, womenââ¬â¢sââ¬â¢ leadership has shifted from the typical roles as leaders of women in missionary societies and groups to congregational leaders like pastoral ministry and Christian education. In the current paper, the focus is on the problems single women minister, pastor, preacher faces with dating or being in a relationship andRead MoreWomen s Leadership Of The Gcc Nations1305 Words à |à 6 Pages Without precedent for the GCC nations, Kuwait Shell in a joint effort w ith the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) held the inaugural International Professionals in Energy Conference (IPEC) under the topic Enabling Women s Leadership from 25 to 26 September. Shell illustrated amid the gathering, that by giving equivalent open doors and admiring the assorted qualities of ethnicity, age and sex, a working society where contrasts are esteemed will be will made. The gathering tended to fascinating
Monday, December 9, 2019
Magna Carta v. Bill of Rights free essay sample
Seriously, can you imagine what the United States would be like if we didnââ¬â¢t have a democracy? Without the Magna Carta or Bill of Rights the U.S would be hectic because the federal government would have more power and they would be able to do things unfairly. The Magna Carta influenced our most cherished document the Bill of Rights in two noble ways; individual freedom, and by restricting the power of the government. One belief that although, the Magna Carta and Bill of Rights were two completely discrete documents, they are both still comparable in particular ways. The Bill of Rights, evidently states in the first amendment that ââ¬Å"congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.â⬠In relation to this statement, in clause 1 of the Magna Carta, it states that ââ¬Å"â⬠¦the English church is to have all its rights fully and all its liberties entirely. We will write a custom essay sample on Magna Carta v. Bill of Rights or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â⬠Both documents gave the church its freedom, which is excruciatingly great. In addition, one belief that these documents came an extensive way into the present day because without it, persons wouldnââ¬â¢t be able to establish a religion and they would have to go by what the parliament says. In clause 9 of the Magna Carta, it establishes a precedent for the Local Government. The Magna Carta influenced the Bill of Rights, also by limiting the power of the government. In clause 14 of the Magna Carta, it states that the punishment the persons receive, it should fit the crime. Clause 9 impacts the eighth amendment of the Bill Of Rights. The eighth amendment of the Bill of Rights states Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. The Magna Carta made a huge impact on the Bill Of Rights because without neither documents, the United States will be a distinctive world compared to what it is now. In numerous countries, there is such commotion. With a hectic government, one beliefs that persons would be treated in such appalling ways. For instance, being thrown in jail with no evidence of committing a crime, now that is cruel. The Magna Carta influenced many respected documents such as the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. One cannot truly imagine what it would be like without such exalted documents. Can you imagine? Think about it, these documents made such a splendid improvement in the world we live in today, one wouldnââ¬â¢t change a thing. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is whatââ¬â¢s important in the U.S, it has always been.
Monday, December 2, 2019
US Foreign Policy in Central Asia
Introduction ââ¬Å"I want to speak to the people of Central Asia. The United States believes that liberty, dignity and justice are within reach of everyone in this region. We are fully committed to partnership in helping you to realize this vision. We seek peace and security. We seek economic development and prosperity. We seek democratic values and human rights that unite all free nations in trust and in respectâ⬠, (Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, 2005).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on US Foreign Policy in Central Asia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Historical experience shows that when a foreign-policy era ends, the institutions, mindset, and interest groups that characterized the old era tend to persist into the new era, with inertia that often endures far longer than the institutionsââ¬â¢ utility (Overholt, 2008). Any analysis of the US relations with Central Asia must be undertak en with historical consciousness of the caricatures that arise and suddenly collapse. Americaââ¬â¢s relations with Central Asia continue to rely on principles that are a legacy of the Cold War. However, after the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, the US changed its relations with the Central Asia. These were deadly occurrences with severe impacts for Central Asia. When the US initiated war against terror on Afghanistan in the year 2001, its interest in the neighboring countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan increased (Crosston, 2006). In the subsequent years, the US activated Tajikistan foreign policy. Tajikistan relations with the West and Asian countries improved with a diversified foreign policy. The countryââ¬â¢s participation on the war against terror enabled it to reach out to the world. Tajikistan participation in the war against terror reduced its relations with Russia. Tajikistan started weighing its relations with the aid and cooperation of th e leading nations. The US embarked on a task in ending terrorist groups wherever they were to be found. It had to create democratic states so that terror groups will not find breeding sites in which to reemerge. In short, official US foreign policy to the Central Asian region has always been three-fold: preventing the spread of terrorism, providing tools for political and economic reform and instituting the rule of law, and ensuring the development of energy reserves.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The US human rights and democracy strategy The American political philosophies on human rights rest squarely on the institution of democracy. The US Bureaus for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, (DRL) have responsibilities of supporting democracy worldwide. The institution believes that democracy is the only national interest that helps in securing all other rights. The US believes that countries with democracy promotes peace, prevent aggression, promote economic growth, protects US citizens, open their markets, fight terrorism, crime, prevents humanitarian chaos, and uphold human rights. The DRL promotes the US diplomatic, foreign policy on spreading democracy. The institution has the responsibility of aiding new states to form and implement democratic principles. It also advocates for democracies worldwide and assist other countries in promoting their own democratic principles. At the same time, the institution identifies and denounces countries which deprive their citizens free and fair democratic processes. In this context, the US is promoting a strategy for respect for human rights in a moral and self-justified manner for the benefit of the US security. The US believes that countries, which have gross violation of human rights, are mostly likely to create chaos and disrupt peace and security in their regions. Consequently, this results in to massive ill that can have gross consequences for the US. The US supports this ideology by relying on its National Security Council Strategy. In reference to human dignity, the strategy highlights issues such as the rule of law, regulation of state powers, promotion of justice, freedom of speech, religious and ethnic tolerance, freedom for worship, respect for women, and respect for private property. These are the guiding principles and policies on which the US interacts with the world community. These interactions form the main objective of the US foreign policy. The engagements derive their support from American strategy of holding regimes accountable to their actions under the norms of universal human rights banner. The strategy also promotes the respect for human rights. Further, it dwells on freedom from torture, free press, freedom of expression, rights to children and women and security of minority groups. America also aims to promote the rule of law, combat culture of impu nity and seek accountability. The US foreign policy is perfect in relation to promotion of the fundamentals rights of persons. However, there is a general problem in implementation. Another problem lies in gauging the results. This is because it might need up to two generations in order to see the tangible consequences (Fukuyama, 2006).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on US Foreign Policy in Central Asia specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The US has adopted a diplomatic approach of emphasizing the basic generational quality of its reforms in the region of Ferghana Valley. However, critics believe that these declarations are false promises because the US does not fully involve and implement its policy in the region. They believe that there will be no results, not even generational if the US cannot implement its policy (Jonson, 2006). What comes out is that the US is philosophically engaging Central Asia but w ith no real, productive implementation of policy. The US declares it principles with regard to human dignity, law and accountability but ignores them if any ally, in the war against terror does not follow them. The US has not changed the culture of impunity, particularly in connection to terrorism. Surprisingly, the DRL assertively declares the historical developments of the US foreign policy in creating democracy across the globe. The records show that there were 30 countries recognized as democratic by the year 1974. Progressively, this number had reached 117 by the year 2005. This is American legacy of spreading democracy. However, the reality suggests otherwise. Central Asia is a crucial example of this reality. The region has been slow to adopt changes after the former Soviet Union left it. The region experiences domination of the superpowers that have the absolute power and control over it. At the same time, it remains isolated politically and economically (Gleason, 2003). Bef ore the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the US, Central Asia was not significant to America. However, after the incidences the region became strategic point in setting the US foreign policy in curtailing terrorism elements in Afghanistan and Iraq with a close watch on Iran. Despite Central Asia providing a strategic point to combat terror, the region has not experienced any real implementation of the US foreign policy and democratic principles. In reference to these points, the US is ignoring the principles that drive its foreign policy. These are the core of its human rights agenda and democracy focus. However, the reality shows that this policy is impotent. Observers believe that failure to implement the policy will finally return to disturb America in its war to combat terrorism. Democracy in Central Asia After the 9/11 attacks, the US has focused its war on terror in Central Asia using three-piece ideals. There have been deliberate efforts to promote democratic principles, develop civil society groups and promote the rule of law. Further to this, there is a fourth ideal of war on terror in promoting democracy. The US insists that their partners in war against terror must also demonstrate a positive willingness to manifest a positive change within their societies.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The US has repeatedly stated that they cannot turn a blind eye on atrocities in favor of fighting terror. According to Powell, former Secretary of State, these ideals of promoting foreign democracy reinforce each other. There are mutual relations between international war against terror and promotion of democracy within the alliesââ¬â¢ domestic societies. This is the foundation of philosophy of democracy. America learned this harsh lesson when it disengaged from Afghanistan in the early 1990s. The notion is that the US cannot leave alone countries to develop into breeding places for terrorism and extremism. In order to prevent Central Asia from becoming a breeding ground for terrorism and extremism, the US foreign policy is promoting stability, prosperity and full integration of the region into the world community. However, no major progress is noticeable (Chomsky, 2004). The US has significantly and consistently increased its aid to the Ferghana Valley. This is because the regio n has cooperated enthusiastically in fighting terrorism. However, with reference to the other three ideals of promoting democracy, there has been less progress made. In any case, the civil society, principles of democracy and the rule of law are declining in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. However, government agents lauds the progress made, and remarks thus more work to be done (Carothers, 1999). The Wonka Vision notes there is nothing wrong with ignoring the experienced reality of false democracy while promoting the fantasy of emerging democracy. This is tantamount to naà ¯vely ignoring long-term goals in support of short-term favors. The US has been actively involved in fighting terrorism and developing energy reserves, but has ignored the development and promotion of democracy in Central Asia. The US assistance programs After the fall of the Soviet Union in Central Asia, it became obvious that the US would provide funding to the region to act as a stabilizing element duri ng the transitions. True to this, the US has focused its funding programs on economic and political transformation, combating nuclear proliferation, legal and judiciary aid, promotion of free press and development of parties (Adams, 2003). Though there are incidences of financial assistance increments, there is very little on the ground to show for it. The US ambassadors continue to account for achievements in Central Asia as generational transition, which varies significantly from country to country in the region. However, they claim that the USG assistance programs continue to aid in promotion of good rule of law, independent press, growth of civil society and human rights. Most of these aids go in building security apparatus for law enforcement necessary in war of combating global terror. At the same time, the financial assistances go in addressing internal issues that may create conflicts, extremism or emergence of other failed states. The critical point to note is that American aid in Central Asia is purely to promote American agendas. The US uses this funding aid to help in state planning, development of institutions capacity, stabilization and reconstruction of the region from conflicts to strife, which will lead them to a path of democracy, peace and open market economy (Andrew, 2005). Critics argue that the American aid in Central Asia is funding short-term American national interests and projects. According to them, this is fundamentally not right. Critics further notes that ever since the 9/11 attacks, the US has reduced its funding to allegedly questionable states, but has increased its funding to the Central Asia. They believe that the aid programs are rewards for the region for cooperating in war against terror, but not for promotion of democratic principles. To them, cooperation and war on terror in Central Asia is putting Americansââ¬â¢ security at risk in the future (Callahan, 2003). Conclusion Central Asia strategic relevance only became u seful to America after the 9/11 attacks. The current development of the US foreign policy in Central Asia shows a deadly disparity with potentially risky consequences. The problem is that America is not supporting its verbal commitment of democratic ideals with the implementation of its foreign policy in Central Asia. A closer look at the types of projects America is funding after the 9/11 reveals that they are not in the direction of implementation of democratic policy but towards the issues of a trans-national security with questionable achievements. There is an exceptional division between philosophical framing of the US foreign policy and the reality of implementing the programs. According to the US, democracy is not only essential for freedom but also for security. For instance, the words of former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice in the year 2005 reflect philosophical reasoning in confrontation, and implementation of foreign policy in Central Asia. Americans believe that d emocracy is the priority solution to terrorism and fundamentalism. The US foreign policy in Central Asia may be cultivating severe consequences for its security in the future by failure to implement what it believes in promoting. References Adams, L. (2003). Cultural Elites in Uzbekistan: Ideological Production and the State: In The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Andrew, B. (2005). The New American Militarism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Callahan, P. (2003). Americaââ¬â¢s Foreign Policy: Theories of Americaââ¬â¢s World Role. New York: Longman Publishing. Carothers, T. (1999). Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve. Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Chomsky, N. (2004). Hegemony or Survival: Americaââ¬â¢s Quest for Global Dominance. New York: Henry Holt Co. Crosston, M. (2006). Fostering Fundamentalism: Terrorism, Democracy and American Engagement in i n Central Asia. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Fukuyama, F. (2006). America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power and the Neoconservative Legacy. New Haven: Yale University Press. Gleason, G. (2003). Markets and Politics in Central Asia: Structural Reform and Political Change. New York: Routledge. Jonson, L. (2006). Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam. New York: LB.Tauris Co Ltd. Overholt, W. H. (2008). Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics. New York: Cambridge University Press. This research paper on US Foreign Policy in Central Asia was written and submitted by user Emilee Mckenzie to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Free Essays on Ethics In Business
From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or threats that an employee mi... Free Essays on Ethics In Business Free Essays on Ethics In Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner are both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling fro m a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldn?t distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or threats that an employee ... Free Essays on Ethics in Business When taking about the subject of ââ¬Å"business ethic,â⬠it may sound like an oxymoron. As Wartick & Wood assert, ââ¬Å"Business ethics is based upon some normative concepts about they way business should operateâ⬠(Wartick & Wood, 1998, p. 124). Since this day and age we are living in, business practices mostly seem to be publicized as unethical, the word ââ¬Å"shouldâ⬠that is emphasized in Wartick and Woods definition of business ethics stands out. People tend to be more apt to uphold a higher code of ethics in a personal or societal context, as opposed to a business context. There is also the ever present ââ¬Å"what comes first, the chicken or the eggâ⬠rhetoric. Is it the responsibility of the people within the organization to uphold a code of ethics? Since a corporation cannot enforce ethicality amongst its members since ethics themselves cannot be imposed on others, it is the organizations responsibility to find a way to ensure members fit into the code of ethics they promote or at least follow it when working within the organization. Virtually all decision-making in the business setting is affected, either positively or negatively, by ethicality. All organizations are imbued with their own code of formal and informal code of ethics. The formal code of ethics comes in various forms, such as vision and mission statements, and written policies in which the organization chooses how business should be conducted. The informal codes of ethics are the unspoken rules; how people relate interpersonally, and if there is any punishment when the formal code of ethics is violated. When someone joins an organization, they bring with them their own personal values, and morality shaped by their own personal and professional experiences. ââ¬Å"If the formal and informal organizational ethics are consistent, one is left merely to decide whether the organizational ethical climate is compatible with his/her individual ethics. If compatibility ... Free Essays on Ethics In Business Ethics in Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitiga... Free Essays on Ethics in Business Ethics In Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be very profitable. In general, a steady stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company continues to grow. There are a few obvious downfalls to working with government contracts; a higher quality is to be expected as well as extensive research accompanied by accurate and complete documentation is usually required. If one part of the process fails to perform correctly it can cause minor flaws as well as problems that can carry some serious repercussions; for example the case of the failed computer chip at Company X. When both the employee and company are found at fault, the question arises of how extensive should the repercussions be? Is the company as a whole liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the available information of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the situatio n. Next you would have to analyze the final outcome from a corporate viewpoint and then examine the corporate responsibility as a whole in order to find a resolution for cases such as this. The first mitigating factor involved in the Company X case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on their duties that they were assigned. It is possible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnââ¬â¢t distinguish between the parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final product that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employee is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is one of th... Free Essays on Ethics in Business Ethics in Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individ... Free Essays on Ethics In Business From a business perspective, working under government contracts can be a very lucrative proposition. In general, a stream of orders keep coming in, revenue increases and the company grows in the aggregate. The obvious downfalls to working in this manner is both higher quality expected as well as the extensive research and documentation required for government contracts. If a part fails to perform correctly it can cause minor glitches as well as problems that can carry serious repercussions, such as in the National Semiconductor case. When both the culpable component and company are found, the question arises of how extensive these repercussions should be. Is the company as an entity liable or do you look into individual employees within that company? From an ethical perspective one would have to look at the mitigating factors of both the employees and their superiors along with the role of others in the failure of these components. Next you would have to analyze the final ruling from a corporate perspective and then we must examine the macro issue of corporate responsibility in order to attempt to find a resolution for cases like these. The first mitigating factor involved in the National Semiconductor case is the uncertainty, on the part of the employees, on the duties that they were assigned. It is plausible that during the testing procedure, an employee couldnt distinguish which parts they were to test under government standards and commercial standards. In some cases they might have even been misinformed on the final consumers of the products that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the part of the employees would fully excuse them from any moral responsibility for any damage that may result from their work. Whether it is decided that an employees is fully excused, or is given some moral responsibility, would have to be looked at on an individual basis. The second mitigating factor is the duress or threats that an employee mi...
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Lucas Carlson Think bigger for your books Reedsy
Lucas Carlson Think bigger for your books Reedsy ââ¬Å"Think Bigger For Your Booksâ⬠: An Interview with Lucas Carlson As you know, we are big believers in authors looking outside the publishing world for marketing inspiration, and what better world than the startup one to find ââ¬Å"growth-hackingâ⬠ideas? After interviewing startup mentor and venture capitalist Sean Wise last week on what he and Brad Feld are doing to promote their new book, we thought we would sit down and chat with an actual startup founder and author. So today, weââ¬â¢re interviewing Lucas Carlson, hybrid author of Finding Success In Failure, the Ruby Cookbook and Programming for PaaS. Also CIO of CenturyLinkLabs and founder and CEO of AppFog.We discuss how non-fiction books can bring the author much more through their unexpected upsides than through the sales themselves. We also touch on Facebook, Twitter, Google ads and how to calculate your ROI (Return On Investment) for those. As usual, the lovers of the written word will find a transcript of the key takeaways just below! The value of your book goes beyond its salesââ¬Å"One of the things that I didnââ¬â¢t realize about writing non-fiction is how you can take advantage of the books themselves in ways that you never expected. Iââ¬â¢ve published three books so far, two traditionally and one was indie published, and the main thing that I got out of each one of them - even if they sold pretty well - wasnââ¬â¢t the book sales, but it was the optional things that happened outside of the book sales themselves.For example, after being a programmer for a long time I became an entrepreneur, and I started a company to help other programmers get their software on the cloud a lot easier. One of the things I didnââ¬â¢t expect when writing my programming book a few years before that, was how much the reputation that writing a book gives you helps you when youââ¬â¢re trying to raise $10 million from venture capitalists.Also, my second book, Programming for PaaS, didnââ¬â¢t sell as well as my firs t one. However, itââ¬â¢s brought me speaking opportunities that have much more return in terms of absolute dollar figures than the book sales ever had.So as an indie author, what really means the most to me is just getting my words in front of as many people as possible. Not necessarily in order to monetize the book itself, but because I have personally experienced multiple times in my life how much the optionality - the unexpected upside - can change your life. You canââ¬â¢t plan for these things: I didnââ¬â¢t know I was going to start a company when I wrote my first book. But you can cultivate this upside optionality by making sure your book gets in front of as many people as possible.â⬠Indie authors have more flexibility and a bigger financial cushion to acquire readersââ¬Å"The onus is on you whether you are traditionally published or indie published. The difference, though, is that if youââ¬â¢re self-published, you are getting 8 times more money every time you sell a book. So you are much more incentivized and, more importantly, it gives you much more flexibility.You are the decision-maker behind your marketing choices, which means you donââ¬â¢t have to ask anyone for permission if you want to run a giveaway or promotion. Moreover, indie publishing gives you more of a cushion to do certain things. When your margins are 70% of sales instead of 10%-15% of 70%, you can actually afford yourself to go and try doing Twitter ads, Facebook ads, Google ads. The cost per click (CPC) can usually be between $0.15 and $1, and if youââ¬â¢re selling a book for $4 and getting 70% of that, you can definitely afford to give away a third or a fourth of your revenue on the sale in order to attract a new reader.Thatââ¬â¢s not possible if youââ¬â¢re traditionally published: you donââ¬â¢t have enough of a cushion, so you depend on the publisher to do a lot of the advertising for you; but theyââ¬â¢re not going to, because they donââ¬â¢t thi nk that way.â⬠How to use social ads to target the right set of ââ¬Ëcustomersââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬Å"Before Facebook and Twitter, when you had only Google, people were searching for search terms but you didnââ¬â¢t know what kind of person was searching.If you havenââ¬â¢t tried advertising with Twitter and Facebook, I highly suggest you give it a try. My book is Finding Success in Failure and itââ¬â¢s directed at people who want to start, or have started businesses, so I try to get into the mind of those people: usually, they like to watch Shark Tank. It doesnââ¬â¢t matter if youââ¬â¢re on Twitter or Facebook, you can actually target the people who watch Shark Tank via those social networks.You can be very, very specific about the kinds of people youââ¬â¢re after, to make sure you target an audience that is already predisposed to your books and products. This works better, of course, for non-fiction than fiction, and Iââ¬â¢m actually finishing my first novel, so Ià ¢â¬â¢m not going to do Facebook ads and Twitter ads for my novel, because to me it doesnââ¬â¢t make sense. I might play with it, just to see, targeting Dan Brown readers for example, but I donââ¬â¢t think itââ¬â¢s going to work.Amazon themselves have an advertising program where you can pay for your book to show up on other booksââ¬â¢ pages. All of these are things that are much easier for me to play with as an indie author because of the cushions I mentioned.â⬠Think bigger: include upside optionalities in your ROI calculationsââ¬Å"Itââ¬â¢s important to understand how you want to measure your return. If you measure it just in book sales, if youââ¬â¢re lucky you might just break evenâ⬠¦ But if you think about the bigger picture, every reader you acquire is a potential reader of your future books. So the question becomes: what is the lifetime cost and the lifetime revenue of that reader? This is a very ââ¬Å"startupyâ⬠way of thinking about recurri ng revenue software businesses, but it can totally be applied to an author who publishes regularly. You can almost think of it as a subscription model for your true fans.Even bigger than that, if you think that you can get speaking opportunities or further your career - if you can monetize your book in ways completely outside your readership itself - then the ââ¬Å"Returnâ⬠part of your ââ¬Å"Return On Investmentâ⬠(ROI) gets much bigger, thus giving you a bigger cushion to play around with marketing strategies.Youââ¬â¢re not necessarily advertising to sell your book, you might be advertising to raise awareness around yourself and your brand across the world, to attract new opportunities.If you have that faith, then you do everything possible to spread the word about your book.â⬠Capture the readers you get to turn them into lifetime customersââ¬Å"Find people who have built fantastic platforms, who have captured their audiences and successfully turned a reader ship into an actively engaged audience, and read their work. If you need a starting point, read Secrets of the Millionaire Mindà and see what he does and how he does it. Ramit Sethi is another: take a look at his work, start reading it and see what it does to you.Study other peopleââ¬â¢s platforms and see not only what has worked, but what resonates with you. A lot of the time some things are not going to work for every author. Not everyone wants to do a podcast or prepare online courses.â⬠Follow Lucas and Reedsy on Twitter: @cardmagicà andà @ReedsyHQWhat do you think about Lucasââ¬â¢ mindset for non-fiction books? Is it to risky to invest in the books, or to heavily discount them, in the hope they will bring more than sales? Have you tried social ads (Facebook, Twitter)? Leave us your thoughts, or any question for Lucas, in the comments below!
Thursday, November 21, 2019
The Economic Rationale for Road Pricing is Compelling Essay
The Economic Rationale for Road Pricing is Compelling - Essay Example The European Union is studying the marginal cost of pricing in the arena of transportation for about a decade now. The Union funded many ongoing projects in this field. The RAC Foundation handed over the responsibility of determining the mechanisms of motoring taxes to the independent institute of fiscal studies. They were asked to investigate whether the taxes are equitable and justifiable. The report from the institution mentioned the issue of cabotage and stated that the hauliers belonging to the other countries have the potential to deliver goods into the market of UK by paying lower taxes on diesel or ignoring the duty rates of the country (Gillen, 2007, p. 1-2). Road Transport and economics A key role is played by transportation in the economic scenario of today. A term, transport economics is used now to identify the role of transport in economy. The supply is determined by the capacity carriers offer to the travelers while the demand is determined by the number of trips the t ravelers takes within a particular time frame. In order to witness a booming economy it is necessary to maintain a steady system of transport that allows fluent access of goods and services across the country. If the goods get delay because of lacks in transport facilities the profits will fall which will take its toll on the level of efficiency. An efficient transport system will create employment opportunities (Croner, 2012). A vast majority of labor is necessary to carry out the responsibilities of transporting goods to the various places quickly. When the economy is not on its course people are less willing to travel and the economy suffers while in the booming situation frequent traveling not only creates more job opportunities but also contributes in strengthening the transport system. The road transportation is more popular where people tend to find the less costly method of transportation. The road transportation facilities are characterized by monopolistic competition which revolves around the conditions of supply and demand. The products or the services offered in the monopolistic competitive market are same but cannot be substituted. The differentiation in the offered products provides choices for the consumers and the consumers can take the decision on which product they want to avail. This factor acts as the catalysts to drive in more competition into the market as well as new innovations which are less costly and more effective (Seely, 2012, p. 2) The report The report of the IFS recommended a move to a more diverged system of road pricing. The revenues raised as a resultant can be used to reduce the taxes on motor transport. Such a measure is thought to generate sufficient economic gains from reduction in congestion. The measure is also thought to reduce the levied taxes on the majority of driven miles, and leave a certain portion of the motorists in a better off situation as well as provide a stable footing for the taxes on motoring without tak ing any additional measures to raise the net additional benefits from the drivers. The use of roads generates costs that are borne not only by the motorists but also by the wider society. Therefore externalities are accrued to the system of road taxes or the system of road pricing. These externalities suggest that in the absence of effective pricing or taxation policies there is inefficient high level of road use. The taxes have the
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
September 11th Attacks on the United States and How it changed my Personal Statement
September 11th Attacks on the United States and How it changed my outlook on Politics and world events - Personal Statement Example This attack generated hatred, depression, frustration and insecurity among the people. Every individual whether Muslim or non-Muslim has experienced a tough time after the 9/11 attack. Brutality rose to its peak in different countries that lead to discrimination. The political situation in U.S and other countries become worse. People live in fear and hesitate in exchanging their personal views regarding the prevailing political situations worldwide openly with others. U.S imposed a policy war against terrorism with the help of numerous countries in Muslim states. Its been 11 years since the attack took place and nothing has been gained so far except hatred, conflicts among nations and aggression. Inflation rose, which in turn lead to unemployment and poverty. Nations invested millions of dollars for the security of their borders to eliminate the risk of attack. Illegal activities such as drug smuggling, human trafficking, and pornography rose. I suffered a mental trauma that created a negative picture regarding different nations. The U.S economy faced budget deficits as they increased their investments in purchasing modern weapons to fight against terrorism. The Muslim community suffered more after the attack that lead to harassment, conflicts in religious practices and demoralization. This chain of events has changed my life in various ways, it has deeply affected my thinking and damaged my level of trust towards the government. The US government spends millions of dollars every year in upgrading their security systems and still 19 people armed with pocket knives could easily hijack 4 passenger planes and so easily crashed them into the twin towers and inflicted such a long-term tragedy that changed the history of mankind. Peace and harmony among nations has been taken out of peoples lives, and now they are living in fear and incursion. In my opinion the situation has become worse as it
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Professionalism Study Essay Example for Free
Professionalism Study Essay People may look down at an individual for being more professional because that individual is not doing what everyone else is doing. An individual doing what is right in the work place is being a professional. If an individual follows the five keys to be a professional, character, attitude, excellence, competency and conduct, he or she will surpass his or her competitors. Character is who a person is, he or she know that what he or she is doing is the right thing. An individual who doesnââ¬â¢t take mediocrity, doesnââ¬â¢t look for the easy way out and doesnââ¬â¢t expect that his or her job will be easy is just the beginning. When an office is looking to higher an individual they look for integrity, and responsibility. These are some question an individual can ask themselves when looking to see if he or she has integrity. ââ¬Å"Do you do what you say youââ¬â¢re going to do? Can you be trusted with confidential information? Are your expense reports truthful and reasonable? Employers want someone who can honestly answer questions like these with a resounding, ââ¬Å"Yes.â⬠â⬠(http://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/top-10-character-traits-to-look-for-when-hiring-a-senior-professional/). Attitude and conduct would go great together because they have similar meanings, attitude; how an individual look and handles problems, and conduct; how an individual holds himself or herself together in the work place. A professional always has a friendly and welcoming aura about them, making others feel comfortable to come ask for help. Conduct is wrapped into an individualââ¬â¢s attitude because he or she ââ¬Å"acknowledge people right awayâ⬠(Professionalism is for Everyone, The Goals Institute, page 63). He or she shows everyone the respect that they deserve. A professional doesnââ¬â¢t believe that he or she is better than the individual that they are helping, or with his or her coworker. Attitudes to have in a work place are ââ¬Å"enthusiastic, and efficiencyâ⬠(http://www.careerealism.com/attitudes-workplace-get-ahead/) Excellency and competency also go together on the grounds that they both are how an individual works. Excellency is how well an individual excels at his or her job/career. Competency is the degree of expertise that an individual puts into his or her career. A professional always ââ¬Å"press for excellence in all aspects of his or her lifeâ⬠(Professionalism is for Everyone, The Goals Institute, page 37). One knows what is expected of them in the work place. He or she does what is asked, when it is asked and does it in a timely manner. A professional strives to be better for themselves, for his or her family and for his or her friends. Never be someone who thinks ââ¬Å"Iââ¬â¢m just doing this for the money.â⬠If one thinks that way he or she will never get to his or her dream job. Remember, character, attitude, excellence, competency and conduct will be an individualââ¬â¢s best friend. Works Cited Professionalism is for Everyone, The GOALS Institute, 2013 http://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/top-10-character-traits-to-look-for-when-hiring-a-senior-professional/ http://www.careerealism.com/attitudes-workplace-get-ahead/
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Free Essays on Frankenstein: The Creature as a Foil to Frankenstein :: free essay writer
The Creature as a Foil toà Frankenstein à Frankenstein, speaking of himself as a young man in his fatherââ¬â¢s home, points out that he is unlike Elizabeth, who would rather follow ââ¬Å"the aerial creations of the poetsâ⬠. Instead he pursues knowledge of the ââ¬Å"worldâ⬠though investigation. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word ââ¬Å"worldâ⬠is for Frankenstein, very much biased or limited. He thirsts for knowledge of the tangible world and if he perceives an idea to be as yet unrealised in the material world, he then attempts to work on the idea in order to give it, as it were, a worldly existence. Hence, he creates the creature that he rejects because its worldly form did not reflect the glory and magnificence of his original idea. Thrown, unaided and ignorant, into the world, the creature begins his own journey into the discovery of the strange and hidden meanings encoded in human language and society. In this essay, I will discuss how the creature can be regar ded as a foil to Frankenstein through an examination of the schooling, formal and informal, that both of them go through. In some ways, the creatureââ¬â¢s gain in knowledge can be seen to parallel Frankensteinââ¬â¢s, such as, when the creature begins to learn from books. Yet, in other ways, their experiences differ greatly, and one of the factors that contribute to these differences is a structured and systematic method of learning, based on philosophical tenets, that is available to Frankenstein but not to the creature. à à à à à à à à à à Frankenstein speaks fondly of his youth because his parents were ââ¬Å"indulgentâ⬠and his companions were ââ¬Å"amiableâ⬠(21). His parentsââ¬â¢ policy in the education of their children is that there should neither be punishment nor ââ¬Å"the voice of commandâ⬠(26). Instead, they encourage their children to pursue their studies with vigor by ââ¬Å"having the end placed in viewâ⬠(21) and by having them discover the process by which to reach the end and not by making them learn tedious lessons. Frankensteinââ¬â¢s testimony to this is that he learnt better and retained his knowledge well. The approach to Frankensteinââ¬â¢s education in the home is strongly influenced by Rousseau, one of the most eloquent writers of the Age of Enlightenment. In his influential novel Emile, Rousseau expounded a new theory of education that emphasises the importance of expression rather than repression to produce a well-balanced and free-thinking child.
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Description of Croquet The Internet Essay
In Victorian England, the game croquet was a completely neutral area where social ranking and gender did not matter, and about which people could interact without inhibition. For the past few years, it has been the goal of a research team of bright and visionary industry gurus, namely, Julian Lombardi, Mark McCahill, Andreas Raab, David Reed, and David Smith, to capture that sense of interactivity and bring it to the Internet. Their tool for doing so is Croquet, an open-source software system where information can be shared and converted into a three-dimensional framework. In the current paper, I intend to briefly define Croquet, present its applications and impact on cyberspace, and expound on its regulability and sociability as discussed by Lessig and Castells. Description of Croquet The Internet, for all its information and supposed interactivity, existed only as what Lombardi described as a ââ¬Å"high-speed textbookâ⬠. Even though speed and quality of the hardware has improved drastically, the medium is still the same: information is displayed as if it was on a sheet of paper. Croquet developers tried to solve this problem and finally showed how they were making the Internet do its job differently. They opened with a 3-D courtyard dubbed the ââ¬Å"Cirque du Croquetâ⬠. Croquet is focused on interaction within a 3D shared space and is a new open source computer operating system built from the ground up to enable deep collaboration among teams of users (Smith, Kay, Raab, & Reed, 2003). As such, it is fundamentally based on user space and usersââ¬â¢ needs. Applications of Croquet Personally, I find it hard to imagine this 3D space as a true day-to-day working environment. It seems a bigger leap from the milestone we made from evolving from paper-based print to green screen interfaces, and from those old green screens to Windows. Then again, I am quite certain that it is not that big a leap to the generations that have been brought up with intense exposure to computer games in 3D environments ââ¬â in stark contrast against Super Mario 2, Tetris, or Pac Man. I am willing to believe that this represents a valid scenario for the next shiftââ¬â indeed, we have only been through a few generations of this web world, and the change continues to be markedly rapid. Inside Croquet, each avatar can make changes ââ¬â move a virtual mirror, make changes to a document or spreadsheet, upload a picture and play a game of chess ââ¬â and all of the changes are displayed to the other person in real time. Moreover, users can build a completely new space and move into it using arrow keys and the mouse. This new space can be either public or private, and users can place more information or graphics or even the link to an invisible page inside. Croquetââ¬â¢s 3D makeup also allows for more flexibility than existing online systems. Since windows can be tilted for a 360-degree view, it provides a perspective angle of flash animation. Basic paint programs can also render a new figure inside the software easily, as Lombardi (n. d. ) demonstrated by drawing a crude shark, which was instantly visible in a 3-D fishtank instantly. For a practical example, I Croquet may possibly be applied in a hospital setting. Croquetââ¬â¢s interactivity would be useful in fields like healthcare where poor communication is a major issue. A virtual tool like Croquet would give physicians a different way of organizing their information and test it out, while at the same time communicating with other doctors and modifying the data collectively. Moreover, since Croquet was designed as a highly modifiable environment, developers may intend and be able to add new tools and capabilities. Cyberspace Cyberspace is about making a different (or second) life (Lessig, 2006 ââ¬â ensure that this is indicated in the references page). Croquet is basically Second Life, and much more. From an optimistic viewpoint, Croquet can be a private network. In other words, only those you want in your space can get in there. On the other hand, Second life sometimes violates the right of privacy of users by requiring them give their information to third party sources. Secondly, Croquet is probably more eye candy than anything else, but there are live snapshots of other virtual environments. This is the equivalent of bookmarks, but live pictures of what is going on at those other places. It would be great since the user would be privy about other peopleââ¬â¢s whereabouts without having to actually go there. In fact, Tanaka (2003) has expounded on this feature of Croquet, presenting it as an effectual means of processing hypermedia. He has specifically explored the concept of portals that pose strong promise in buiilding digital libraries of the future. In addition, in contrast with HTML, Croquet allows the viewing of spaces by users, and the movement of such portals. Users may also use these portals as bookmarks, allowing the memorization of this target space (Tanaka, 2003, p. 2). Lastly, Croquet is a complete 3D workspace that allows for co-creativity, knowledge sharing and deep social presence among large numbers of people at a time (Tanaka, 2003). On the other hand, from pessimistic view, I am worried about the ease of use of Croquet. Yes, the people who designed it could navigate and get around, but it looks a bit more complicated than Second Life. There are certain questions that are left unanswered at this point. For instance, are there logs of everything that happens? What about the ability to lock down certain aspects of the world. If every user can manipulate and change an environment can a student accidentally/deliberately delete a world a teacher creates? The answers to these questions point to aspects of control that must be explicitly answered, whilst the advantages of Croquet seem apparent. The degree of control that a user has on these powerful aspects of Croquet may partly determine how aptly users will utilize it. Regulability One other issue of the effectuality of Croquet is its regulability. For instance, the creation of ââ¬Å"openâ⬠and globally scalable social computing spaces can cause some to ask the following: To what extent will we need to impose ââ¬Å"rulesâ⬠on peopleââ¬â¢s behaviors in such spaces? What types of ââ¬Å"rulesâ⬠are necessary? Who will come up with such ââ¬Å"rulesâ⬠and how will they be enforced? How can we find a balance between personal liberty and the need for regulating behaviors in ââ¬Å"openâ⬠cyberspaces? These are but some of the sensitive issues that have to be explicitly dealt with before the full, successful launch of Croquet is possible. Life in cyberspace is regulated primarily through the code of cyberspace (Lessig, 2006). I think Croquet as it is being developed now does not have regulability as a central concern. However, over time, if Croquet spreads and increases in popularity, users will begin to realize the importance of and build regulability back in. Croquetââ¬â¢s users/developers may freely share, modify and view the source code of the entire system. In other words, users can make their own regulability in their worlds. The single biggest reason why Croquet will become the future operating system is that the users can run and modify the code that the worlds are built on and they can integrate their own application. While Croquet seems to be the perfect tool for encouraging knowledge sharing and creativity, a structure for regulating it must be clearly defined to be able to ensure its success. There may be areas that seem vague at the moment, including the rules that should regulate it, the enforcing parties, and the level of control that the system must accorded to its users. The fact that regulability seems to rely solely on the hands of users may be both risky and dangerous ââ¬â and is an aspect that must be seriously dealt with by the systemââ¬â¢s advocates. Sociability The spread of Internet is making social exchanges based on fake identities and role-playing (Castells, 2001 ââ¬â make sure this source is indicated in your bibliography). Those of us who have participated heavily in online communities over the years have substantial experience in dealing with imposters, forgers, and the ever-present anonymous cowards who can disrupt meaningful discourse. Effective online educational environments must be efficiently insulated from such craft. The Croquet project team is looking into integrating federated identity management system. By doing so, Croquet users who use their own institutional login/password could access protected resources in Croquet places that are hosted by other communities. Federate identity management system would provide numerous benefits to the educational and institutional use of Croquet. For example, multiple institutions could cooperate in creating restricted access learning environments in which students and educators from those institutions could interact and learn ââ¬â without the need for each institution to set up an account for all the users of such spaces. A side benefit of this is that Fair Use limitation provisions on copyright laws would allow copyrightable materials to be distributed in such spaces ââ¬â a feature that is really important to educators (and is probably one of the main reasons that academic institutions employ the use of cumbersome Course Management Systems over plain old websites, blogs, and wikis). Conclusion The current paper began with a brief introduction of Croquet, presenting it as a new soft ware that allows users to interact within a three-dimensional shared space, and which seems to be tailor fit to user space and their needs. This new software will allow each avatar to make changes that shall be displayed in 3D format, in real time. Croquet also holds promise to settings that require intensive interactivity, such as in hospital settings ââ¬â the software prospectively allows doctors to communicate and change data collaboratively. Both the negative and positive aspects of Croquet as a channel in cyberspace has been presented. On a positive note, it may be used as a private network, an effective hypermedia processor, and a channel that encourages knowledge sharing, creativity and interaction. On the other hand, it may pose risks against usersââ¬â¢ right to privacy, and has obvious ambivalent problems with regards to regulability and sociability. In our library and information space, we can see how our special information expertise contributes to the success of our users and the teams we work in and with. If Croquet is inevitable, we had better be early adopters. In order to use this Croquet scenario effectively, in our own visioning sessions, we can use it as a framework to think about what our future workspaces, offices, and intranets will look like. What skills will we need? What skills do we already have that will increase in importance? How can information be delivered in this environment? How do we increase our relevance in this kind of space? Good questions and ones that we should struggle to understand now and not much later when we have already been immersed in the wave of change. References Lombardi, J. (n. d. ) Socio-computational systems, virtual environments, learning contexts, and the Croquet Project. Retreived on January 31, 2008 from http://jlombardi. blogspot. com Smith, D. , Kay, A. , Raab, A. , & Reed, P. (2003). Croquet ââ¬â a collaboration system architecture. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 2. Tanaka, K. (2003). Tea-time museum: Croquet as a browsing and searching environment for digital libraries. IEEE Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing, 12.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Cloud Computing â⬠Risk or Opportunity Essay
Abstract Cloud computing is a term that refers to sources and computer systems available on demand through the network, which can provide a number of computer services integrated without being restricted local resources in order to make it easier for the user and include those resources space for data backup and synchronization self also includes processing capabilities software and scheduling of tasks and push e-mail and remote printing, and the user can control when it is connected to the network in these resources through a simple software interface simplifies and ignores a lot of detail and internal processes. Cloud computing has become increasingly popular because it offers users the illusion of having infinite computing resources, of which they can use as much as they need, without having to worry about how those resources are provided. It also provides greater scalability, availability, and reliability than users could achieve with their own resource The core property in cloud computing that held computing ââ¬Å"in the cloudâ⬠; for clarity, the treatment process (and related data) is not confined to the place (places) private and unknown. Thus, this model is the antithesis of the treatment process is located in one or more of the servers are well known. Exposure model cloud of criticism and attack because of privacy advocates, for the ease of large governing the hosting companies for services cloud, and then, can impose censorship and domination, whether legal or illegal, the communication process as well as the data stored in between the user and the host company Introduction Cloud computing has become a ubiquitous term and largely discussed topic in the global information technology (IT) world. Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which organizations and individuals communicate, collaborate and compute. The concept of cloud computing ensures a costââ¬âeffective transformation of utility computing principle that allows users and providers a convenient access to resources in a self-service and ââ¬Ëpay as you go fashionââ¬â¢. Consequently, cloud computing has reduced the cost associated with system administration as well as aided in improving resource utilization and accounting. Since last few years, cloud computing has resulted in a number of positive impacts on the IT ecosystem, thereby giving rise to new markets and widely scattered new user communities (European Commission, 2012). Contextually, the concept of cloud computing is the outcome of the direct industrial needs to enhance resource utilization without intervening consumer requirements. In other words, the concept ensures the use of the available resources in more efficient manner (European Commission, 2012). The paper intends to critically examine the opportunities and the risks associated with cloud computing and draws a valid conclusion on its adoption by organizations. Cloud Computing: Definition, Models and Services Cloud computing was initially used in an academic perspective by Prof. Kenneth K Chellapa who illustrated it in 1997 at the Informs Conference in Dallas as ââ¬Å"a computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limitsâ⬠(Petri, 2010). There are various definitions of cloud computing however the most appropriate and broadly accepted definition is being provided by North America National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). According to NIST, ââ¬Å"Cloud Computing is a model for enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort to service provider interactionâ⬠(Petri, 2010). There are many cloud computing models for business purposes including: Public Cloud: Public cloud model is provided by vendors and can be accessed over the internet or private network. One or more data centers are used by this model which is shared by multiple customers (Weitz, 2010). Private Cloud: Private cloud model is managed and used internally by the organizations which utilizes ââ¬Ëshared services modelââ¬â¢ and makes variable usage of virtualized computing resources. The data stored in the model are managed within the organization (Weitz, 2010). Hybrid Cloud: As the name suggests, the hybrid model is the mixture of public cloud services and private cloud architecture. The model is designed to meet certain specific needs of customers (Weitz, 2010). Community Cloud: Community cloud model is used across the organizations having similar requirements and objectives. Community cloud model is established using public cloud services in order to ensure collaboration among the companies (Weitz, 2010). Cloud Computing Services Cloud computing services are provided mostly in the following ways: Software-as-a-Service (SaaS): Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has been operational in the market since many years. Currently, businesses are more interested in shifting licensing software to subscribe services particularly on the basis of per user and per month among others (Weitz, 2010). Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS): Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) includes development of such environment that allows developers to build software applications that can be offered as services to customers or to general users (Weitz, 2010). Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS): Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provides customers or users with storage, network and other various fundamental resource requirements in order to run arbitrary applications (Weitz, 2010). Literature Review According to Etro (2009), cloud computing is a recently evolved internet based technology that stores large information in servers and provides that information as services on demand to clients. Accordingly, its impact is spectacular on both consumers and companies. Furthermore, he stated that consumers can access all their documents and data from any devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets while the companies can rent hardware and software from the service providers and pay as they use the services like other services availed by the companies such as electricity (Etro, 2009). Petri (2010) postulates that, cloud computing is one of the most discussed IT innovations in the last few years. Hence, risk management is the most critical area which draws a serious attention. He emphasized that future is relatively uncertain when associating cloud computing with security factor. He critically points out that cloud vendors should quickly address the security and other related concerns for ensuring better customer satisfaction (Petri, 2010). According to Bein, Bein & Madiraju (2010), cloud computing is a new paradigm of computing that has evolved in the recent times as an expensive way for providing storage and software. They further stressed that many companies are moving ahead with an intention to make cloud computing easy to use. They advocated that there are huge potential for consumers to exploit the cloud computing technology (Bein, Bein & Madiraju, 2010). According to Gartner Inc (2012), continuous monitoring of cloud computing technologies and usual updates to the enterprisesââ¬â¢ cloud strategies are necessary to prevent any cost related errors for the subsequent few years. It also stated that cloud computing technology will have significant impact on the level of its adoption over a period of time (Gartner Inc, 2012) According to Pokhriyal (2012), cloud computing would contribute towards increasing complexities relating to data storage and users access to applications as well as other frequently conducted processes. She also stated that risk of exposure of critical data is more with the use of cloud computing technology. She advocated that business firms may also witness security breaches and hacking that shall make the cloud storage relatively ineffective and inefficient (Pokhriyal, 2012). According to Willcocks, Venters, & Whitey (2011), cloud computing technology is changing the ways of IT business services in terms of data delivering and managing. Accordingly, cloud computing has escalated the importance of delivering effective services and for this reason the IT and business services urgently need to raise the level of service competency and should focus on the availability of quality services to meet the customer expectations (Willocks, Venters, & Whitley, 2011). In the words of Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili (2012), cloud computing has the potential to bring certain drastic changes in the organizations as witnessed in case of the internet during the last decade of the 20th century. They emphasized that by applying cloud computing technology without proper care and due-diligence may result in unforeseen problems. Consequently, executives must be aware of risks and other issues of cloud computing in order to derive significant benefits out of the provided services (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). According to Santos, Gummadi, & Rodrigues (2012), cloud computing enables organizations to cut costs associated with resource storage, network bandwidth and other relevant data. However, they argued that concerns about the privacy, confidentiality and integrity of the data and computation can be considered to be the major deterrents for those organizations which are looking forward to embrace cloud computing (Santos, Gummadi, & Rodrigues, 2012). According to Hinchcliffe (2009), cloud computing will transform IT business scenario by a large extent and it will have to balance between the risks and the benefits associated with cloud computing models. Therefore, he points out certain major risks associated with such transformations including security of organizational data that is stored in the cloud, loss of control over cloud resources and reliability factor. He also stated that the efficient use of cloud computing will enable market validation and prototyping of new approaches at much faster and relatively less expensive rate than ever before (Hinchcliffe, 2009). According to Weitz (2010), cloud computing will be playing a major role in the future of IT and shall bring in enormous opportunities for the organizations. Consequently, he stated that larger organizations will also have an opportunity for cutting the existing costs of IT infrastructure with the use of cloud computing models. However, he also highlighted the risks related with cloud computing and expressed his deep concerns relating to the security and confidentiality of certain relevant data (Weitz, 2010). Hyek (2011) in his report, ââ¬ËCloud Computing Issues and Impactsââ¬â¢, postulated that, cloud computing models should comply with laws and regulations in each of its operations. The processing of data by the cloud service providers must be in conformity with governmentsââ¬â¢ requirements (Hyek, 2011). According to Curtis, Heckman, & Thorp (2010), the most important factor related with the cloud computing model is the concern about the security and privacy of data while adopting cloud computing models (Curtis, Heckman, & Thorp, 2010). According to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (2010), in its report, ââ¬ËCloud Computing: Opportunities and Challenges for Australiaââ¬â¢ considers the importance of government and its roles in encouraging researchers and business sectors to adopt cloud computing models. The report emphasized that government should formulate strategies that initiate business sectors to adopt cloud models for their resource and application requirements. The report precisely described the responsibility of the cloud service providers in terms of proper management of data in order to prevent any situation that may result in loss of vital data (Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 2010). According to Catteddu & Hogben, (2009) cloud services provide expedient storage accessible by various devices along with other benefits including useful communication and instant multi-point collaboration. They also emphasized that level of risk may tend to vary significantly based on the type of cloud model. It is for this reason that customers should be aware of the probable risks associated with cloud computing models and they should strive to transfer the risks to the providers (Catteddu & Hogben, 2009). Characteristics of Cloud Computing A few of the relevant characteristics of cloud computing are elaborated below: On-Demand Self Service: Cloud computing providers offer various computer services such as applications, e-mail and network without involving human interaction with various service providers engaged in certain specific services only. Currently, there are multiple organizations that provide cloud computing services based on on-demand self services such as Google, Amazon Web, Microsoft and IBM among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Broad Network Access: Cloud services are available over the network, specifically over the internet and are accessed through certain standard mechanisms such as personal laptops, mobile phones, tablets and iPads among others (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Resource Pooling: The cloud computing models of the providers are shared with various resources in order to serve multiple clients. The resources united together may consist of processing, network bandwidth, storage of data, memory, virtual machines and email service (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Rapid Elasticity:The capacities of cloud services can be swiftly and elastically provisioned, in a few instances robotically as well to quickly balance out and release to scale in quickly. Furthermore, the capacities accessible for provisioning frequently emerge to be infinite and can be procured in any amount at any time (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Measured Services: The resource usage of cloud computing can be measured and reported to both providers and customers related to the amount of services utilized. Hence, cloud computing service providers charge the customers for the resources that they have actually used i.e. ââ¬Ëpay as you useââ¬â¢. Considering the fact, more the customers utilize the cloud computing services, more they have to pay and vice-versa (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Multi-tenacity: Multi-tenacity is one key characteristics related to cloud computing which is being advocated by Security All iance. Multi-tenacity is related with the requirement for segmentation, ââ¬Ëpolicy-driven enforcementââ¬â¢, control, service levels, billing models and isolation for the different consumer requirements (Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, 2012). Cloud Computing: Opportunities and Risk Assessment Cloud Computing Opportunities Opportunities derived from cloud computing are related with cost reduction to increase flexibility and decrease complexity which benefits the customers in terms of higher returns on their investments. Certain vital opportunities and benefits provided by cloud computing comprise: Cost Saving: Cloud computing customers are liable to pay merely for computing services and resources that they use rather than making permanent investments on resources or leasing equipments that may or may not be utilized fully at all times. Cloud computing enables to share IT resources with multiple organizations and facilitates them to access as per their requirements which can be related as operating expenses (OPEX) and not as capital expenses (CAPEX) (Petri, 2010). Speed of Deployment: Cloud service providers can meet the needs of the organizations for computing resources quickly and efficiently than other internal informati on technology functions. The customers do not have to wait for months for crunching large data. They can simply rent resources for limited period and can avail huge benefits at considerably reduced time (Petri, 2010). Scalability and Better Alignment of Technology Resources: An organization is able to scale up as well as down its capability from a single server to multiple numbers of servers with no capital expenses through the use of cloud service models. An organization is also able to deploy additional storage capacity over the web (Petri, 2010). Decreased Efforts in Managing Technology: Owning and operating of IT functions are often costly and time consuming. However, cloud computing enables an organization to concentrate more time on its purposes and goals (Petri, 2010). Environmental Benefits: Cloud computing also results in environmental benefits. If all the organizations replace their private data centers with cloud computing, it will significantly reduce the overall power consumption and carbon emissions (Petri, 2010). Higher Value Added: Cloud computing does not only provide software functionality but it also provides the customers with relevant information and data which was traditionally supposed to be created by the customers themselves (Petri, 2010). Cloud Computing Risks Risk is an event that prevents the organizations from achieving their determined purposes and objectives. Certain risks associated with cloud computing are stated below: Disruptive Force: Facilitating innovation and cost saving aspects can itself be viewed as risk to the existing cloud computing organizations. By lowering the barriers to entry, new competitors may pose a serious threat to certain cloud computing business models (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Residing In the Same Risk Ecosystem as the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) and Other Tenants of the Cloud: Organizational reliance on third party involved in managing cloud solutions will increase legal responsibility and incident escalation among other core areas. By following the actions of CSP may impact the organizations in certain direct and indirect ways (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Lack of Transparency: A cloud computing service provider does not facilitate complete information regarding its processes and oper ations. Consequently, cloud customers have only little knowledge about the storage locations and algorithms that are implemented or used by the cloud service providers in relation to computing and controlling resources of customersââ¬â¢ data (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Reliability and Performance Issues: Even though efficiency of cloud computing may get disrupted due to risk events such as system failure that may occur without any early alerts to the end users. Hence, system failure may be viewed as a distinctive challenge posed to cloud computing (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Security And Compliance Concerns: Cloud computing supports various processes that may tend to evolve security and retention concerns in relation to its compliance with certain specific laws such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The cloud service providers may have no obligation to reveal such information associated with privacy of certain laws such as US Patriot Act and EU Data Protection Directives among others (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). High Value Cyber Attack Targets: The over-dependence of multiple organizations on single cloud service providers may tend to create vulnerability of cyber attacks then those used by a single organization (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Risk of Data Leakage: The risk of data leakage is also more where multiple organizations share their resources through cloud environment. Consequently, cloud service providers do not provide adequate data privacy and confidentiality of resources which the organizations intend to secure from intruders (Horwath, Chan, Leung, & Pili, 2012). Conclusion Cloud computing has changed dramatically the ways in which the organizations communicate, collaborate and compute. In general, cloud computing refers to delivery of scalable IT resources over the web particularly internet. An organization can purchase or rent software on need basis or according to usage which results in less investment and consumption on the part of the organization. Cloud computing facilitates the organizations to manage their IT requirements remotely, at much lowered costs. It further enables organizations to share resources in a single place or through a single cloud service provider. The organizations do not have to make heavy investments on establishment of their own IT infrastructure as cloud computing models provide organizations with established database for fulfillment of their IT demand. Moreover, organizations and users are charged or billed on the basis of their resource consumption. Despite having numerous benefits of adopting cloud computing models, there also exist certain risk factors which restrict the scope of cloud computing. Security and privacy are the prime issues restricting the adoption of cloud computing. Since multiple organizations will be consolidated on single cloud computing, there exists more vulnerability of data hacking. Consequently, cloud computing service providers do not guarantee the adequate safety for data losses and leakages which at times deters organizations from adopting cloud computing solutions. Nonetheless, if organizations cautiously consider the risk factors associated with cloud computing related solutions then these risk events can be overcome efficiently. Considering this aspect, it can be stated that organizations should adopt cloud computing solutions. By adopting cloud computing solutions, they can avail numerous opportunities that shall help them to grow and sustain their business profitably. References Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. (2010). The roles of government in cloud computing. Cloud computing: opportunities and challenges for Australia, pp. 13-19. Bein, D., Bein, W. & Madiraju, P. (2010). Web applications and cloud computing. The impact of cloud computing on web 2.0, pp. 1-6. Curtis, W. B., Heckman, C. & Thorp, A. (2010). Security and Privacy Considerations. Cloud computing: e-discovery issues and other risk, pp. 1-5. Catteddu, D. & Hogben, G. (2009). Top security risks. Cloud Computing: Benefits, Risks And Recommendations For Information Security Cloud Computing, pp. 2-125. Etro, F. (2009). Features and implications of cloud computing. The economic impact of cloud computing on business creation, employment and output in Europe, pp. 2-33. European Commission. (2012). Introduction & background. Advances in clouds, pp. 1-7. Gartner Inc. (2012). Gartner outlines five cloud computing trends that will affect cloud strategy through 2015. Retrieved from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1971515 Horwath, C., Chan, W., Leung, E. & Pili, H. (2012). COSO enterprise risk management for cloud computing. Enterprise Risk Management For Cloud Computing, pp. 1-20. Hyek, P. (2011). Security and privacy. Cloud computing issues and impacts, pp. 12-46. Hinchcliffe, D. (2009). Eight ways that cloud computing will change business. Retrieved from http://www.majorcities.org/generaldocuments/pdf/zdnet_eight_ways_that_cloud_computing_will_change_business.pdf Information System Audit and Control Association, Inc, (2012). Essential characteristics of Cloud Computing. Retrieved from http://www.isaca.org/Groups/Professional-English/cloud-computing/GroupDocuments/Essential%20characteristics%20of%20Cloud%20Computing.pdf Pokhriyal, R. (2012). Cloud computing myths explained: part 1. Retrieved from http://www.cloudtweaks.com/2012/10/cloud-computing-myths-explained-part-1/ Petri, G. (2010). Risks of cloud computing. Shedding light on cloud computing, pp. 25-30. Santos, N., Gummadi, K. P. & Rodrigues, R. (2012). Towards trusted cloud computing. Retrieved from http://www.mpi-sws.org/~gummadi/papers/trusted_cloud.pdf Willcocks, L., Venters, W. & Whitley, E. A. (2011). Clear view of the cloud: The business impact of cloud computing. Cloud computing, (1). Weitz, C. (2010). Barriers of cloud computing. A Balancing Act What Cloud Computing Means For Business, And How To Capitalize On It, pp. 1-9.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Janis Joplin essays
Janis Joplin essays Blues legend Janis Lyn Joplin was born on January 19th 1943, the eldest child of parents Seth and Dorothy Joplin. Janis was born and raised in the small Southern petroleum industry town of Port Arthur, Texas. Her father was a canning factory worker, her mother a registrar at a local business college. Her non-abberational upbringing coupled with the atmosphere of Port Arthur at the time; generally restrictive, intolerant, and unnurturing must've made even Janis' early childhood difficult. By all accounts, however, Janis seems to have been a "normal" and happy child, who fitted society's usual definition of "pretty". It was in Janis' adolescence that the hang-ups and hassles that were to affect the path of the rest of her life. In a sense, her rigid upbringing played a large part in making Janis who she was. This would never have been admitted at the time, but, predictably, the "Port Arthur" ethic created a fire inside Janis (the fire which later made her so famous) and kept it burning until her death. Janis' troubles began, when, as a teenager, her "good looks" gradually began to disintegrate, her soft blonde hair turned into an unruly brown mane. She also developed severe acne, which would scar her mentally as well as physically. Hence, Janis became something of a loner, an "ugly duckling"- somebody who no longer fitted society's absurd notion of "pretty." She soon began avoiding mirrors, and her anxiety about her looks was made worse by the constant taunts by peers, who rejected her and often made fun of her. When Janis found that society had rejected her, she simply rejected it. Janis raised on classical music and omnipresent country music back in Texas, discovered the blues of Louisiana. Janis was soon inspired to both learn and appreciate music, and its roots- her idols included Odettea, Leadbelly and Bessie Smith, who would have great influence on her subsequent musical career, especially her vocal style. By the time Janis gr...
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
The Only Actual Science You Need to Know for ACT Science
The Only Actual Science You Need to Know for ACT Science SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips While youmay have been toldyou need zero science knowledge to answer any ACT Science questions, this is NOT true. There are typically around four questions per test that you cannot answer without previous background knowledge.That's the difference between a 31 and a 36 on the Science section! In this article, I willgive an overview of the 13 topics that will NOT be explained in the ACT Science passages that the ACT expects you to know. The ACT assumes you know these topics from school and science class. To gather this info, I dissected dozens of previous ACT Science test sections to find the concepts you have to know. As far as we can tell, we're the only ones who have taken the time to research this. If you've gotten bad grades in science classes in school, this article will give you a refresher on the only concepts you need to know. Reminder: If you haven't already, check out our Ultimate Study Guide for ACT Science.It contains dozens of ACT Science guides going into every question type tested, strategies to tackle the questions, and how you should be organizing your prep to raise your score. In order to best answer this question of what science you actually need to know for the ACT Science section, I am going tostart with what topics the ACT says the Science section covers. According to the ACT makers, "The content of the Science Test includes biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth/spacesciences (for example, geology, astronomy, and meteorology).â⬠So much information. Do You Need to Be a Science Expert to Succeed on ACT Science? No, and even the ACT makers admit that ââ¬Å"Advanced knowledge in these subjects is not required, but background knowledge acquired in general, introductory science courses is needed to answer some of the questions. The test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills over recall of scientific content, skill in mathematics, or reading ability.â⬠Why Donââ¬â¢t You Need Expert Knowledge? In the ACT Science passages, they give you the majority of the information you need to answer the questions.They explain most of the terms within the passage. See for yourself inthis example passage, from a free ACT online practice test: You can see in this passage they give you definitions for most of the terms: refracted, seismograph, focus, shadowzone, the types of seismic waves, the difference between p and s waves. How Much BackgroundKnowledge Do You Need to Answer Most ACT Science Questions? Very little. Most of the questions can be answered using your knowledge of reading graphs and charts.Check out our article on the types of ACT Science Passages for more information about this strategy. For the questions that you canââ¬â¢t answer with the visuals, you can usually figure them out by reading the passage. However, there will be times you can't find the answer in the passage- and that's what we're discussing in this article. What Information Will Not Be Given in the Passage? As I mentioned earlier, there are typically around four questions per test that you cannot answer without previous knowledge.In my study of old ACT Science sections, I have found a total of 13 topics spanning biology, chemistry, physics, and math (yes, math) that you need to know. Here is the overview. I'll go into more depth on each topic below. Biology Cell Biology DNA, RNA, and Ribosomes Natural Selection Chemistry Basic Molecule Structure Freezing/Boiling Point of Water in Celsius pH Scale Molar Mass Concepts How Charges Interact Phase Changes Physics Gravity Density Formula Density Rules Math Basic Math Skills The basic overviews that I present below should be all you need toknow for the test, but I provide links to more in-depth explanations if you would like to do more reading. In our first topic, Cell Biology, you'll also see the first example of a question that you wouldn't be able to answer without prior knowledge, even after reading the passage. Knowledge Subject 1: Biology Topic 1: Cell Biology You need to know certaincell organelles (parts of cells), their functions, and whether they are found in animal or plant cells. Animal Cell Structure Lysosomes hold enzymes. Lysosomes digest food or break down the cell when it dies. Mitochondria are organelles that act like a digestive system, which takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy-rich molecules (ATP) for the cell. The cell nucleus acts asthe brain of the cell. It contains the cell's DNA, or the genetic information, from which proteins are made (see Topic 2, coming up next). It also helps control eating, movement, and reproduction. Chloroplasts only exist in plant cells and assist in the process of photosynthesis, converting light into energy (which only plants do, not animals). The cell membraneholdsall of the pieces of the cell and serves as the barrier between the cell and other cells. Belowis a sample question where you need an understanding of these organelles to select the correct answer. The chemical reaction mentioned in the passage was photosynthesis. Knowingthat photosynthesis happens inchloroplasts, I can correctly choose answer F. But nowhere in the passage was it said that chloroplasts are where photosynthesis happens! This is a fact you had to know before the test. While there are many other organelles, the ones listed above and ribosomes (which I will cover in the next topic) should be the only organelles you need to know for the test. Also, you should not need to know any other information about these organelles. If you would like to do more reading on these topics, click here. Topic 2: DNA, RNA, Ribosomes, and Protein Synthesis DNA contains the genetic information needed for making proteins (protein synthesis). Protein synthesisinvolves DNA, RNA, ribosomes, and proteins. DNA acts as the blueprint for protein production. The Process of Protein Synthesis Messenger RNA (known as mRNA) makes a copy of the sequence of DNA of a specific gene. This process is known as transcription and happens in the nucleus. Once the mRNA is made, it leaves the nucleus and enters the cytosol of the cell. Ribosomes use mRNA as aguide to make protein of the same amino acid sequence as the original DNA.The process of producing protein from the mRNA is referred to as translation. So, the process of protein synthesis consists of two steps: DNA to mRNA transcription and mRNA to protein translation.If you would like to read a more detailed summary, click here. Topic 3: Natural Selection Natural selection is also known as 'survival of the fittest.' In a specific environment, traits that allow organisms to reproduce more effectively will become more common, and traits that reduce reproductive success will become less common. A classic example of this is the change in peppered moth color during the industrial revolution. In England, the burning of coal during the industrial changed tree bark from light brown to dark brown in color. The peppered moth blended in perfectly and was hidden from predators.However, once clean air acts were passed, the trees quickly returned to a lighter color, making the dark moths easily visible to predators. Meanwhile, lighter colored moths were still hidden from view and survived to lay eggs. Thus, because of natural selection, over the course of years, the moths turned from dark to light in color!Click here for more information. The Strong Survive, the Weak Hang On Knowledge Subject 2: Chemistry Topic 4: Basic Molecule Structure The ACT Science section expects you to know the basic molecular structure of sugar, fat, protein, and nucleic acids. C6H12O6is the basic sugar molecule structure (for more on sugar molecules, click here). There are many different kids of fats: saturated, unsaturated, trans (you may have seen this on nutrition labels). The test does not expect you to know each structure. You only need to know that fatsare made up of C (Carbon), H (Hydrogen), and O (Oxygen), and to differentiate fats from sugar, fats have nearly twice the number of H as C and a very small number of O. Fats are much bigger in size than sugar (for more information on fat molecules, click here). For example,an unsaturated fat triglyceride has a chemical formula ofC55H98O6. Proteins are composed of amino acids (as I mentioned in the above section on protein synthesis, proteins are made based on the original DNA sequence). There are many different protein structures, but all proteins contain C, H, O and N (Nitrogen). Click for more information on proteins and amino acids. Nucleic acids are biomolecules. Two types of nucleic acids that we already discussed are DNA and RNA. Nucleic acids are made up of three parts: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. Nucleic acids are different from Sugar, Fat, and Proteins becausethey aremade up of P (Phosphorus) and N in addition to C, H, and O. For more information on nucleic acids, click here. Here is a sample question from the ACT: In order to answer this question, you need to look atthis equation from the passage: You then see that the Carbon from the originalCO2becomes a part ofC6H12O6.However, you need to know thatC6H12O6is a sugar molecule to get the correct answer G. Once again, the ACT expects that you know how photosynthesis works, and what the chemical formula for sugar is! You wouldn't be able to get this information from the passage. Topic #5:Freezing/Boiling Point of Water in Celsius Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius and boils at 100 degrees Celsius. That is all you need to know. Memorize those numbers. For more information, click here. Topic 6: pH Scale A pH scale is a measure of how acidic or basic a substance is. While the pH scale formally measures the activity of hydrogen ions in a substance or solution, it is typically approximated as the concentration of hydrogen ions. All you need to know is that a pH of below 7 is acidic, above 7 is basic, and at 7 is considered neutral. Fun fact: the beverage Coke has a pH of 2.50 while drinking water typically has a pH of 7.00, and hand soap has a pH of around 10. Coke's very acidic! For more information, click here. Topic 7:Molar Mass Concepts Remember the periodic table? Don't worry- you don't need to memorize molar weights of elements. The only molar mass concept you need to know is that the mass of a molecule is the sum of the mass of its atoms. This appears in an ACT question asking aboutoxygen's weight versuscarbon dioxide's weight. You need to know thatO2is lighter per molecule thanCO2because CO2has an extra Carbon atom compared to oxygen. Check out this ACT Science question: In order to answer this question, you need to use this figure from the passage as well as your outside knowledge. Figure 2 shows that the pressure exerted byO2was greater, eliminating answer choices F and G.However, nothing in the passage tells you if there are moreO2molecules per gram orCO2molecules per gram.You nowknow thatO2is lighter per molecule than CO2, sothe answer is J. For more information aboutO2versus CO2, click here. Topic 8: How Charges Interact Atoms are composed of three types of particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged, and neutrons have no charge. Like charges repel each other while opposite charges attract each other. For example, two positive charges will repel each other while a positive and a negative charge will attract. For more information, click here. Topic 9:Phase Changes I already mentioned the freezing and boiling point of water in Celsius, but you also need to know the order of phase changes. Below freezing point, a material will be in solid form, just above freezing point a material will be in liquid form, above boiling point, liquid becomes gas (is vaporized). One natural way to think about this is in terms of water. When it's really cold, it turns to ice (solid). When it warms up, it turns to liquid. Then, when you boil it, it turns to steam (gas). For more information, click here. Want to learn more about ACT Science? Check out our new ACT Science prep book. If you liked this lesson, you'll love our book. It includes everything you need to know to ace ACT Science, including deep analysis of the logic behind ACT Science questions, a full breakdown of the different passage and question types, and tons of expert test-taking and study tips. Download our full-length prep book now: Knowledge Subject 3: Physics Topic 10:Gravity You need to know thatgravity is a downward force that acts on objects, and other forces (such as a spring or pulley) can counteract gravity. This will come up a lot in passages that show experiments using springs or pulleys. For more on gravity, click here. Topic 11:Density Formula Density is the degree of compactness of a substance. To calculate the density of a substance, you use the formula: Density = mass/volume For more information on density, mass, and volume, click here. Topic 12:Density Rules You need to know more about density than just the formula. You need to know the main density rule. Denser objects sink, and less dense objects float.Objects only float when they are less dense than the liquid they are placed in. An easy way to think about this: what happens when you throw a rock into water? It sinksthat's because the rock is denser than water, meaning it weighs more for the same volume. What about when you throw a styrofoam cup onto water? It floats- because styrofoam is less dense than water. For the same volume, styrofoam weighs a lot less than water. For more on this rule, click here. Knowledge Subject 4: Math Topic 13: Basic Math Skills You are not allowed to use your calculator on the science section. Yet, there are problems that require math skills like the one below. In order to solve this problem, you have to use the given information from the passage that Algol C is a 1.7 solar-mass MS Star.Then, you have to multiply 1.7 by the mass of the sun (solar-mass) given to you in the question, 2.0 x 10^30.You need to be able to do basic multiplication. 1.7 x 2.0 x 10^30= 3.4 X 10^30, so the answer is C. In order to refresh your basic math skills, I suggest during your practice to attempt some of the easier ACT Math Section questions (the first 15 questions) without using your calculator. And that's it!By knowing these concepts, you'll be able to answer any basic science question the ACT throws at you. If any of these concepts are unfamiliar to you, review them and brush off the cobwebs- you won't need to know the details beyond what's in this article, but it won't hurt to get more attuned to the science topics. Whatââ¬â¢s Next? Now that you know the basic science for ACT science, it's time to tackle the rest of the science section.Check out our article about the 3 Types of ACT Science Passages.Learnthe big secret of ACT Scienceandthe best way to read ACT Science passages. Reminder: If you haven't already, check out ourUltimate Study Guide For ACT Science.It contains dozens of ACT Science guides going into every question type tested, strategies to tackle the questions, and how you should be organizing your prep to raise your score. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:
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