Thursday, November 28, 2019

ANwar Sadats DEcision to make peace with israel essays

ANwar Sadats DEcision to make peace with israel essays Throughout time the decisions made by an individual or a group, such as President Anwar Sadat and his decision to make peace with Israel has dramatically changed the course of history. Every leader in history has made a decision that has affected the world, or just his nation in some way. After many years of struggling to keep peace among the Jews and Arabs, President Anwar Sadat, finally decided to make peace with Israel. Peace between Israel and Egypt would mean great changes were going to take place. This momentous decision would be a large step up for the two nations and would lead to them better lives, in peace. Before the Egyptian Israeli Peace Pact was signed in 1978, Palestine and Israel were enemies with each other in every way possible. They were nowhere near being on good terms with one another. One war constantly followed another, and it was impossible for them to live in peace. Neither side saw even a slight possibility of this happening. Since Arab nations refused to accept the fact that Israel could be a Jewish state, all the Arabs had on their minds was the destruction of the country. Anwar Sadat was prepared to sacrifice one million soldiers in the destruction of Israel (Bard, us-israel.org/jsource/History/73_War.html). The Suez War(1956), which followed the Israeli War of Independence, the British, French, and the US agreed not to supply the Israeli or Arabs with any needed weapons. Since they could not get weapons from those countries, Egypt made an arms deal with Czechoslovakia. Now, with their weapons, Egypt was able to invade Israel constantly. Egyptian President Nassar nationalized the Suez Canal, and did not allow Israel, or the French and British to use it, since they were supplying Israel with armaments. The three nations, Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt, and immediately defeated the Egyptians. The French and British prot...

Monday, November 25, 2019

Free Essays on A&P IT System

What problems did A&P have with its business? A&P was once the most famous supermarket chain in the United States and it had one time the second largest revenue reported followed by General Motors in 1950. However, by 1990, this famous old America supermarket faced depression in its business mainly due to serious competition and its old information system, which could not keep up with new trends of business. Strong competitors such as Safeway, Kroger and Wal-mart have their excellent information system to help their decision makers to manage inventory efficiently and to serve customer better. In the other hand, A&P still had a number of serious problems. â€Å"Its obsolete information technology infrastructure was composed of a complex web of stitched-together old legacy systems. The company was primarily using 12- to 20-year-old software running on two large mainframe computers.† (Laudon, Pg 67). Loli explained, â€Å"We had extremely antiquated systems, from finance to merchandising to store and warehousing sys tems.† (Laudon, Pg 67). Basically, they had outdated software and hardware for current business transaction. According to moor’s law, every 18 month or 2 year, computer speed and capability double. At the same time, we could apply this law and same concept to computer software. Every such amount of time, computer software’s capability and speed also double, because computer hardware and software are designed to cooperate mutually. In fact, there was such a tremendous improvement and development in the software world as well as computer hardware for last few decades. It is needless to say that there was a big change and huge gap between now and twenty years ago. Therefore, A&P would have outdated its software and hardware in the information technology compared to it new competitor such as Wal-mart. It would bring inefficiency in managing inventories and responding with consumer’s demand to A&P. Information ... Free Essays on A&P IT System Free Essays on A&P IT System What problems did A&P have with its business? A&P was once the most famous supermarket chain in the United States and it had one time the second largest revenue reported followed by General Motors in 1950. However, by 1990, this famous old America supermarket faced depression in its business mainly due to serious competition and its old information system, which could not keep up with new trends of business. Strong competitors such as Safeway, Kroger and Wal-mart have their excellent information system to help their decision makers to manage inventory efficiently and to serve customer better. In the other hand, A&P still had a number of serious problems. â€Å"Its obsolete information technology infrastructure was composed of a complex web of stitched-together old legacy systems. The company was primarily using 12- to 20-year-old software running on two large mainframe computers.† (Laudon, Pg 67). Loli explained, â€Å"We had extremely antiquated systems, from finance to merchandising to store and warehousing sy stems.† (Laudon, Pg 67). Basically, they had outdated software and hardware for current business transaction. According to moor’s law, every 18 month or 2 year, computer speed and capability double. At the same time, we could apply this law and same concept to computer software. Every such amount of time, computer software’s capability and speed also double, because computer hardware and software are designed to cooperate mutually. In fact, there was such a tremendous improvement and development in the software world as well as computer hardware for last few decades. It is needless to say that there was a big change and huge gap between now and twenty years ago. Therefore, A&P would have outdated its software and hardware in the information technology compared to it new competitor such as Wal-mart. It would bring inefficiency in managing inventories and responding with consumer’s demand to A&P. Information ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Convergence between GAAP and IFRS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Convergence between GAAP and IFRS - Assignment Example The US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles is the major accounting standard used in the United States (Walton 45-46). The International Financial Reporting Standard on the other hand is the accounting standard practiced in over 110 countries in the world. U.s. GAAP is mostly considered as a more rule based accounting system, while IFRS is mostly based on principles. It is therefore obvious that the IFRS and the U.S. GAAP do not agree on every issue (IASCF and IASB 80-101). This paper seeks to focus on the convergence between the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standard. The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) is an independent body in the private sector. It develops and approves International Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards. The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) functions under the International Financial Reporting Foundation oversight. It was formed in 2001 in replacement of the International Accounting Standards Committee. International Financial Reporting Standard, under the constitution of International Financial Reporting Foundation, has a full responsibility for all technical issues of the financial reporting standards such as: preparation and issuing the interpretations of exposure drafts and International Financial Reporting Standards, full discretion in pursuing and developing technical agenda dependent on requirements of consultation with the public and trustees, the issuing and approval of interpretations by the International Financial Reporting Standards Interpretations Committee (IASB 19-21)). ... SEC registrants are however required generally in presenting expenses that are based on function such as administrative costs and cost of sales. The criteria of extraordinary items are also restricted to both the infrequent and unusual items. In terms of the criteria of the discontinued operations, these operations are for those components that are specifically disposed of or held for sale, given that there will be no involvement with the disposed component or significant cash flows (Shamrock 29-30). On the other hand, in classifying expenses in the IFRS, expenses may be presented based on either nature or function such as depreciation and salaries. Particular disclosures on the expenses’ nature must be included in the notes if function is selected. There is no criterion of extraordinary items in the IFRS as it is prohibited. In addition, the classification of discontinued operations in IFRS is for components that are disposed of or held for sale. These components are either o f a separate geographical area or a different business line (IASCF and IASB 105-110). The layout of the balance sheet in the U.S. GAAP is not generally provided in accordance to a specific layout, but the public companies follow the specified requirements in the S-X regulation. The presentation of debt that has been violated is presented as non-current in case lender agreement to waive right for repayment demand exists for more than a year prior to the issue of financial statements. In the U.S GAAP, the non-current and current classification of deferred tax liability and asset is based generally on the nature of related liability or asset. This is a requirement. The U.S GAAP has no requirement for a third balance sheet. On the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Variable and Fixed Costs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Variable and Fixed Costs - Essay Example Unlike in the absorption costing, all the variable expenses under the contribution income statement are deducted from the sales to get the contribution margin. This is followed by deducting fixed costs from the contribution margin to get the net profit or loss for a particular period. Under the absorption costing and contribution costing the net income is always the same only when the inventory is the same. Otherwise the income is higher under the absorption income statement that in the contribution income statement when the inventory is higher. Even though the fixed production costs under the contribution income statement are aggregated at the lower part of the income statement, all the variable and the administrative expenses are taken into consideration during the computation of the net profit thus making the two methods to have similar net profits when the income is the same. However, the similarity ends when a firm increases its inventory. Companies should create another income statement in a different format in order to undertake a comparison. Based on the impact of the inventory on the income of a company, an extra income statement helps the financial managers to show actual income of the company. One of the major aspects that are depicted by the preparation of income statement using the contribution margin format is that it helps the management in determining the proportion of the expenses that has impact on the revenues of a company. In this regard, it helps the management on adopting ways of minimizing such expenses in order to increase the profits. It is vital to note that fixed costs in the manufacturing of any product must be incurred. This implies that under the variable costing techniques, management is assisted on how to recover the fixed expenses in order to survive. Break-even analysis is a useful tool especially to the marketers. It entails the sales volume expressed in units that is

Monday, November 18, 2019

Brand management the case of Verticon Ltd Essay

Brand management the case of Verticon Ltd - Essay Example On the other hand, it has been supported that â€Å"brands often can't justify the time and expense of developing new competencies until they are well behind the opportunity curve; successful licensing offers a way of accelerating new product development and deepening brand relevance† [1]. In other words, in order for branding to bring the necessary results, it has to be appropriately designed and developed taking into account that each particular company has its strengths and weaknesses that can be differentiated from the other firms that operate in the same industrial sector. For this reason, the brand management strategy which is going to be implemented in a particular company has to follow specific rules and, most important, to be adapted to the specific firm’s characteristics trying to promote the positive aspects of the organizational structure. Current paper refers specifically to the development of a brand management strategy for Verticon Ltd, a company that ope rates in the British market and especially in the fashion industry. The above firm operates quite long in the particular market, however the increase of the power of its competitors led the corporate managers to decide the establishment of a brand trying to enforce the firm’s performance and ‘secure’ its position in its market.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Factors That Determine the Success of Supermarkets

Factors That Determine the Success of Supermarkets 4.1 The general factors that determines the success of supermarkets Supermarkets are using all kinds of tricks to attract customers from introducing to new offers to give them loyalty discount. Supermarkets are providing all kind of incentives to customers. And starts of online shopping of grocery service by Supermarkets have created more convenience for the consumers to order their groceries from the comfort of their home. Here the author is discussing the success factors of the Supermarkets. 4.1.1 Range of choice The Supermarkets sells range of products. Consumers have wide variety of choice to select the product they want. It is important for the supermarkets to keep all the products in stock otherwise consumers will move to other supermarket or retailers. Consumers are very sensitive on what they buying. They always like that the supermarket they shop should keep the products in stock all the time. Supermarkets always monitor the consumer buying trend and always keep the certain products in stock all the time. It is also important that supermarkets should keep all the products in stock at all their stores. Now supermarkets even sells the ethnic foods like, Indian, African to attract ethnic customers. 4.1.2 Products must be on shelves Products should be on stock is important but what more important is to they must be on shelves. All the products must be properly displayed and the product mix must be adequate so it becomes easy for the consumers to choose the products. Supermarkets monitors what consumer buys most with the particular product or what he/she would like to buy with that product and then they display those products in the store next to each other. It makes easy for the consumers to choose products easily. It is also been seen that Supermarkets always display basic necessity products like Milk, Bread etc. in the last corner of the store so consumers have to reach there by passing and looking at all other products which attracts them and persuade to buy. 4.1.3 Effective Marketing Supermarkets use all sorts of marketing strategy to attract the customers. Their adverts are more customer centric which they like attract. For e.g., Asda attracts customers with the slogan Always low price. Tesco slogan is Every little helps as they wants to attract a large economical consumer group which cannot afford premium supermarkets like Waitrose and John Lewis. Marks Spenser (MS) and Waitrose attract the premium customers and also create their own brand values. Sainsburys and Morrisons attract a medium range customer who wants quality food at competitive range. Sainsburys slogan is Try something new today while Morrisons message is Better than half price at Morrisons, Great savings on big brands at Morrisons. This is the reason Marks Spenser slogan for the food range is This is not just food, it is MS food and same way Waitrose slogan is everyone deserves quality food. However, supermarkets try to focuses the consumer group they like to attract. 4.1.4 Pricing Strategy Price is the major factor which influence to consumers to switch to other supermarkets or retailer. Supermarkets compete with each other to sell the products at the best rate to the consumers. Tesco and Asda is the biggest competitor in the economical consumer range. They are trying to sell the products to best price to retail the customer loyalty to supermarket. Many supermarkets offers price comparison on their website so the consumers can see how much they have saved on their shopping. Most supermarkets also show the competitors price next to products in their shelves in order to make it easy for the consumers to compare. It is the biggest success factor of the Supermarkets. 4.3 Tescos Success During the Recession A Case Study Tesco has presence in 14 countries and have 4300 stores across the globe. It has declared 10% increase in its profit to  £3.5bn. According to Sir Terry Leahy, a Chief Executive of Tesco, Tesco is stronger than it was before recession. It now accounts for more than  £3 out of every  £10 spent on food by British shoppers, while its non-food sales, (clothing, home wares) have topped  £10bn. (Guardian, 2010) Tescos belief is to look after the customers. It also believes that if we sell more we can get better buying terms and those results in to lower price and higher profit margins. Lower prices can bring large sales volume and the cycle continues. Its rewarding Club card is another mile stone in success of Tesco. Tesco has succeeded in making itself largely classless, with price ranges designed to cater across the board. (Guardian, 2010) According to Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive of Tesco, during the recession when customers everywhere are feeling the economic strain, Tesco is responding to their changing needs by lowering prices, introducing more affordable products and offering even sharper promotions. (Tesco PLC, 2009) Here the author has discussed the success factors in detail. 4.3.1 Lower Price During the economic downturn consumers tends to limit on their spending and looking for the cheap bargain products. Tesco has large consumer group. It is easy for them to buy large quantity to meet the demand in order to meet the consumer requirement at a lower price. So they can offer the products at a lower price to customers. Consumer can also compare the price of the products they buying to make it easy for the consumer to select the products. 4.3.2 Affordable Products Tesco sells various brands products. During the recession, consumer looking for the more economical solution to of those of the branded products. Tesco grab the opportunity and offered its own brand product which are same in the quality but at a cheap price. It bagged huge success for the Tesco. Now Tesco sells all ranges of its own brand from packed food to toiletries. 4.3.3 Promotions Offers In the recession, consumers looking for better promotions and offers to save money. There would be always various attractive offers in the Tesco stores for consumers. In order to maintain the customer loyalty Tesco tries to sell the products at the same prices or lower than its rivals. 4.3.4 Clubcard Tescos one of the biggest success factors is its award winning Clubcard loyalty scheme. Clubcard gives rewards to regular customers at the regular interval. Dunnhumby, Tesco co-own research group, analyses the shopping habits of its 16 million cardholders. (Guardian, 2010) Tesco knows more about its shoppers than any of its rivals and can tailor offers to customers. The analysis helps to analyse the consumer regular buying habit and make it easy for the Tesco to locate it easily for the consumers. 4.4 Effects of Recession on Supermarket Industry 4.4.1 Secondary Research It seems that relatively Supermarket industry to beunaffected by the recession. Companies such as Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Lidl are still experiencing growth. Research has shown that Tescos turnover increased from  £47.3 billion in 2008 to  £54.3 billion in 2009 (Tesco PLC, 2009) while Lidl ltd. (2009), has experienced a 93% increase in turnover from 2005 to 2009. It was been expected from Lidl, as it is a heavy branded discounter. During times of recession market leaders tend to loose customers to the hard discounters who consumers choose during a recession (Mattioli, 2009). According to TNS Global World Panel, Sainsburys market share increased to 16.1% in 2009 compared to 15.8% in 2008 and Morrisons was also up and holds 11.6% market share in 2009. While Asda has shown slight growth and had 16.8% market shares in 2009. At the same time Tesco has lose 0.1% in market share but it still counts 30.8% market share in the industry in 2009. (BBC, 2009) All the supermarkets are battling to retain the consumers loyalty. They are trying to attract them with their budget range of products. In the contrary the local shops have suffered a lot. Because people believe that shopping at local shop would be expensive. In the 2009, Local shop sells was  £550mn which was  £50mn less than 2008. According to Dean Best, analyst at just-food.com, local stores can survive if they emphasise the service and the product knowledge that people feel they cant find in the big four supermarkets. (BBC, 2009) 4.4.2 Primary Research To explore the effect of recession Supermarket Industry, the author has done a primary research to find out the consumer behaviour during the recession in order to find out the habit and patterns of the consumers. Author has also tried to find out the impact of VAT increase on the consumer buying behaviour. 4.4.1 Questionnaire Research (Appendices 1) The questionnaire has 15 questions. There were 34 participants. While asking about their annual income only 88% participants were ready to give information while 12% participants didnt want to give that information. Those who gave their income details, 53% salary ranges  £10000- £19999, 30% ranges  £0- £9999, 10% ranges from  £20000- £29999 and only 7% participants salary was  £40,000+. There were 71% male participants and 29% female participants. Q.3 Gender Question 4 and 5 asked about impact of increase in VAT on buying behaviour. We received some interesting results (see figure 4.2). Out of 34 participants 71% responded that it will affect their buying behaviour while 29% says that it will have no effect as the increase would be very nominal and not noticeable. As we can see from the figure 4.2, 35% participants saying that the increase in VAT will badly affect their daily shopping. As they have to do large shopping and overall house budget will increase and savings will be decreased. Some respondents says that they will have to be careful on what they spending now as smaller purchases are not noticeable but they really impact on the household budget. 47% respondents are saying that effect of increase in VAT would be little as the increase is just 2.5% and the price increase would be few pence. And with surprise, 18% respondents are saying that it will not affect at all. Question 6 and 7 asked about the money spend on groceries and non groceries each week in UK pounds. The author has received very mixed responses. 29% of participants were spending  £15- £29 on groceries while 18% spending less than  £15 and another 18% says they spend only  £30- £40 on groceries. In non groceries 41% participants were spending less than while another 24% and 18% spending only  £15-29 and  £30- £44 respectively. This data shows that the participants are spending more money on groceries compare to non grocery product in the recession. While asking them about this difference they replied that groceries are basic needs, demand will be the same whether there is recession or not (however this type of demand may change qualitatively). However the non groceries items can be controlled by them during the recession while prices are rising. Q.6 About how much do you spend on groceries each week? Q.5 About how much do you spend on non groceries each week? Question 8 there are some actions given which normally people do in recession. They are to control spending (stop using services/products, buy less), replace only when needed (or buy smaller packages), do it yourself (homemade food, prepare/organise/make by yourself), shop smarter (buy when promotions and discounts available), seek value for money (comparing prices, search for lower ones). While asking the participants to pick 1 or 2, highest pick the seek value for money (24%), 23% responded that they will shop smarter, 21% said that they will control spending. Only 16% said they will replace when needed and do by themselves like, preparing food at home rather than getting from outside. This shows that there is an effect of recession on participants that is why they are comparing prices, search for lower ones, buy when promotions and discounts available during shopping. However they had few responses on controlling spending like stop using services/products, buy less, use homemade f ood, prepare/organise/ make by themselves. While asking the reasons they replied that the main reason is regular fixed income. They all are working fulltime or part time, retired participants have their pension income. This shows that the retail stores have to change their marketing style they should get the trust or make the customer believe that they are saving money while shopping in that store. For example many of supermarket also make place of emphasis on providing value for money. Supermarkets have focused on these consumers and created a lot of special offer to attract them during recession. And the result is supermarkets have done better during the recession than other retail industries. Q.8 In terms of the recession what do you prefer to do? Opinion Percentage control spending (for example: stop using services/products, buy less) 21% replace only when needed (or buy smaller packages) 16% do-it-yourself (for example: home-made food, prepare/organise/make by yourself) 16% shop smarter (for example: buy when promotions and discounts available) 23% seek value for money(for example: comparing prices, search for lower ones) 24% Table 4.4: In terms of the recession what do you prefer to do? Figure 4.5: In terms of the recession what do you prefer to do? Question 9 asked respondents to quantify the factors which made them shop. There were choices like important or unimportant, exciting or unexciting, interesting or boring and fun or nor fun. Finding suggests that for grocery shopping is important but its not very exciting, interesting or fun because it is regular basis shopping. However for non grocery items for example electric goods it is not regular shopping so it is more important, exciting, interesting and more fun. Obviously this small sample suggests that non grocery retailing lot benefit making their product proposition very exciting. The author would also suggest that the same has been and can be applied to grocery retailing. Q.9 Shopping for you is Question 10 asked respondents there is a list of factors which are important for the people while deciding where to do their weekly grocery shopping. The finding shows 44% of participants have given more importance to Low Price. Second factor which got high importance (78%) is accessed example On Public Transport Route. 44% of participants have given importance to Promotion and Special Offers, 67% to availability of Cash Machine and 50% to Customer Service/Friendly and helpful staff. However the research shows that 25% of participants gave more importance to High Quality while 29% has given a little importance to the High Quality. On the other hand the research revealed that 75% of participants give no importance to Store Loyalty Cards and Schemes. 100% participants give no importance to Online Ordering or Delivery Schemes or Large selection of Organic Goods in respect of grocery shopping. They said that because of the recession period they are giving more priority to low price products and services, and Promotional offers. Lots of people are travelling by public transport to save money and time that is why they give more importan ce on Public Transport Route. Highest Quality comes with high price so in this recession few participants give priority to it. When one looks at results, ranking of respondents does it mean the price is now order winner and quality is becoming a more qualifier (a given). Q.10 What is important for you while deciding where to do your weekly grocery shopping? Question 11 and 12 asked respondents which grocery and non grocery chain they usually use (See appendix 1). The study revealed that more participants are using economical supermarket chain like Aldi, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Iceland, Co-operative Group and Sainsbury. While very few participants are using Mark and Spencer, Waitrose in their regular shopping. However in non grocery shopping participants express that they use Argos, Asda and Currys most because of their good promotions and offers. While they use very little other chains like PC World, Staples, Comet, etc. For grocery chains Aldi is obviously the super discounter where as Tesco cannot be classified as such. And the Co operative Group generally has high price compare to other main chains. Our result of the number is the stores in the area. Or it is genuinely due to economics. For non grocery chains this is little bit more obvious; Currys and Argos are definitely non grocery whereas Asda is a grocery store our 23% who shops for non grocery products at Asda; simply buying Asda brand products example George. Q.11 Which grocery chain do you usually use? Q.12 Which non-grocery chain do you usually use? In question 13 the author has asked to express the participants views in relation to the supermarket they spend most. After getting their views it reveals that there should be more special deals in the local grocery stores, they think most supermarkets are same, they want to maximise their return on their spending by getting the best quality at the low price, they are not convince by the supermarket status, they have a lower belief that supermarkets are reliable in the delivery of product and service. However they have trust in their supermarket, they also have concern that the supermarket are concerns for the customer being well, they do not believe that they have relationship with supermarket, they would go to the more than one supermarket rather than sticking to one, they are happy with the customer service provided by the supermarket and they want that supermarket should make more efforts to getting to know their customers that what they like or dislikes. There are some important issues which arise from data. Nine of the respondents agree or strongly agree they are not interested in bargain seeking however the stores selected in Question 11 were bargain stores example Aldi, Tesco. Another contradiction to in the above is that 5 out of 9 respondents agreed or strongly agreed that it was important to keep up special deals at grocery stores because consumers wants to get more from their spending. All respondents indicated that they always try to maximise quality for the money spend. This seems to correlate with response given about the importance of quality in Question 10. Perhaps the most impressive agreement was in the survey was that participants did not perceive that supermarket did not make any effort for what they like. On positive side of supermarket is that most of the participants trust the supermarket they shop at, believe it would not trick them and its reliable for deliver goods and services. Q.13 Please indicate your agreement or disagreement with the following statements in the relation to the supermarket you spend most. Statements Strongly agree Agree neither nor disagree Strongly disagree I have little or no grocery shopping 4 3 7 11 9 Im not interested in bargain seeking 4 5 4 16 5 Its important for me to keep up with special deals being offered by the grocery stores in my area 3 18 6 7    Most of the supermarkets are all alike 4 18 3 7 2 While purchasing the product I always try to maximise the quality I get for the money I spend 8 18 5 2 1 When people see me purchasing from this store they form an opinion of me 2 4 18 9 1 The supermarket is reliable in the delivery of product and service 1 21 8 3 1 The supermarket in which I shop wont trick me 4 14 11 3 2 I feel the supermarket is concerned about its customers being well 3 10 14 6 1 I trust the supermarket, I shop at 2 17 13 2    I would recommend the supermarket to others 3 16 10 4 1 I am loyal to the supermarket 3 9 13 7 2 I have relationship with the supermarket 2 4 16 9 2 Id prefer to go to the only one supermarket for my shopping 4 5 7 14 4 Store loyalty cards are not worth having. The supermarket just wants us to think more positive about it 3 10 12 6 3 Being satisfied with the supermarket makes me loyal to it 3 15 11 4 1 The loyalty card makes me to repurchase at the same store 1 8 10 12 3 Im satisfied with the way the supermarket informs me about its products/services 3 8 18 4    Im satisfied with customer service at the supermarket 2 14 11 5 2 Id love the supermarket to make more efforts in getting to know what I like and dislike 7 16 7 3 1 Table 4.10: The supermarket you spend most In Question 12 participants asked to give their opinions that which promotions appeal them most. It shows that promotion from Asda and Tesco appeals them most. They are also attracted to promotions of Morrisons, Aldi, Marks Spencer and Sainsburys. But the promotion from the Waitrose and Lidl has less impact on them. They shop at Tesco, they like Tesco, this seems it appears to be fertile ground for super discounters like Aldi. Q.14 Which promotions mostly appeals to you? Promotions Percentage Only 1 pound each! Half price! Earn nectar points too. Sainsburys. Try something new today. 15% All the ingredients for a great picnic. (Well even supply a free rug or cool bag.) Waitrose. Everyone deserves quality food. 6% Better than half price at Morrisons. Great savings on big brands at Morrisons. Price crunch. Save 4.5pounds! 10% Tesco. Every little helps. Half price. 99p each. Its more rewarding with Clubcard 25% Wider choice. Lower price. ASDA. Saving you money every day. 22% Lidl. Seriously cheaper! Available in-store now. Sensational Deal! Incredible Offer! 5% The big deal. Aldis biggest summer deals. On sale 30th July. Aldi. Spend a little Live a lot. Hurry, once theyre gone, theyre gone. 9% Offer ends Sunday. Dine in for two  £10. Summer menu now being served. Yours MS. Quality worth every penny 9% Table 4.11: Which promotions mostly appeals to you? Figure 4.9: Which promotions mostly appeals to you? 4.4 Summary In this chapter has explored how Supermarkets got success during the recession with their strategy. Supermarkets have given a great lesson to other retail industry how to survive during the recession. Supermarkets havent just survived but they have outperformed. In the next chapter author will give conclusion and recommendation how other retail industry can survive during the recession like Supermarkets. Words: 2879 Finch, J. (2010), Tesco beats the recession to unveil record profits again, Guardian, [Online] Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/25/tesco-record-profits-terry-leahy (Accessed on: 16th January 2011) Tesco Plc (2009), TESCO: Growth in Tough Times, [Online] Available from: http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/ir/pres_results/results/r2009/2009-04-21/2009-04-21.pdf (Accessed on: 16th January 2011) Farnham, J. (2009), Recession bites into eating habits, [Online], Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8124352.stm (Accessed on: 16th January 2011) Lidl ltd (2009) Company Report Mattioli, D. (2009) In Recession Specials, Small Firms Revise Pricing Discounts and Lower-End Offerings Help Lure Cash-Strapped Customers; Vans Complement Limo Services Town Cars Wall Street Journal, Jun 9, 2009: B.5 Tesco PLC (2009) Company Report

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Psychological Research Report on Memory Essay -- essays research paper

ABSTRACT How is memory encoded and what methods can lead to greater recall? There have been many different models suggested for human memory and many different attempts at defining a specific method of encoding that will lead to greater recall. In this experiment subjects are asked to do a semantic task on a word related to them and an orthographic task in which they analyze the letter in the word. The results of the experiment indicate that the words which where encoded semantically and are related to the self have greater recall. INTRODUCTION In the last half century several theories have emerged with regard to the best model for human memory. In each of these models there was a specific way to help people recall words and images. The first model of memory is the short term and long term memory. In this model information is temporarily stored in the short term memory. Over here it is easily and quickly recalled and it can stay in short term memory and be recalled if the person rehearses it. When information leaves short term memory it goes into long term memory. While long term memory has a much larger storage capacity it is harder to recall items from long term memory. It has been proposed that items from long term memory are recalled by having large part of it placed in short term memory where it is examined to see if it has the necessary piece of information. If it doesn’t then either the person gives up on recalling it or takes another large set of information from long-term memory to examine. (Atkinso n & Sciffrin 1971). However this multi-store view of memory has not provided a strong enough explanation for scientists. Another theoretical view of memory is the idea that memory is based on depth of proce... ...nitially rehearsed by recognition could have greater recall. An example would if this experiment asked subjects to again find a letter in a word if the word appeared before. It has also been shown in this experiment that words that are related to oneself can lead to greater recall. However this experiment has not tested whether words related to oneself have a greater recall then other words that are encoded semantically since the other grouping of words were not semantically encoded. REFERENCES Atkinson, R.C. & Schifrin, R.M. (1971) The control of short-term memory. Scientific American, 225, 85-90. Zachmeister, E.B. & Nyberg, S.E. (1982) Levels of Processing. Human Memory, Ch.12, 250-273 Klein, Stanley B. & Kihlstrom, Jhon F. (1986) Elaboration Organization and the Self-Reference effect in Memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology 115, 26-38

Monday, November 11, 2019

IT ethics: Hacking And Copyrights Essay

IT ethics is a new branch of ethics that is growing and changing rapidly as IT technology also grows and develops. The term â€Å"IT ethics† is open to interpretations both broad and narrow. On the one hand, for example, IT ethics might be understood very narrowly as the efforts of professional philosophers to apply traditional ethical theories or virtue ethics to issues regarding the use of IT technology. On the other hand, it is possible to construe IT ethics in a very broad way to include, as well, standards of professional practice, codes of conduct, aspects of IT law, public policy, corporate ethics – even certain topics in the sociology and psychology of computing. In the industrialized nations of the world, the â€Å"information revolution† already has significantly altered many aspects of life – in banking and commerce, work and employment, medical care, national defense, transportation and entertainment. Consequently, information technology has begun to affect community life, family life, human relationships, education, freedom, democracy, and so on. IT ethics in the broadest sense can be understood as that branch of applied ethics, which studies and analyzes such social and ethical impacts of information technology (Bynum). In recent years, this robust new field has led to new university courses, conferences, workshops, professional organizations, curriculum materials, books, articles, journals, and research centers. The introduction of the World Wide Web in 1990 has catalyzed the expansion of the Internet, which is still growing today at unprecedented rates and IT ethics is quickly being transformed into â€Å"global information ethics†. The recent growth of the Internet has resulted not only in an increase in the amount of available knowledge, but also in an increase in the problems inherent to its usage and distribution. It has become clear that traditional rules of conduct are not always applicable to this new medium, so new ethical codes are now being developed. Edward F. Gehringer gives broad and wide-ranged classification of ethical issues in information technology area. He distinguished following main aspects of IT ethics (Gehringer): Basics; Commerce; IT Abuse; Intellectual Property; Privacy; Risks; Social Justice Issues; Although, in practice every case involves at least two of those issues. At first, let us discuss problems of copyrights in present-day IT industry. It seems that this issue deals with almost every aspect listed above and it will be good example of ethics implementation in IT. In article â€Å"Napster, DVD cases raise copyright questions in digital age†, we can observe some problems concerning copyright issues of IT industry. The article discusses this problem on example of Napster, the Internet search engine which allows over 60 millions consumers to find and download free music. â€Å"Experts say the high-tech context in which copyright questions are being raised – as exemplified by the Napster case in California and a DVD-encryption case out of New York – also shows that the law is always a few steps behind technology.† The Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit against Napster in December 2000, accusing the company of encouraging the illegal copying and distribution of copyright music on a massive scale. Author asserts that the case raises fundamental questions about freedom of information and activity on the Internet and what copyright protections musicians have or do not have in cyberspace. â€Å"For th ose and other reasons, legal experts point to the Napster case as crucial to the future of cyberspace and copyright law in the United States, the world’s leader in high-tech issues†, he states. In this article, the writer also describes how copyright law needs revision because it has become so complicated and counterintuitive. He also maintains that many content providers and copyright lawyers tend to propagate â€Å"made-up rules† that purport to clarify ambiguities such as the legality of sharing music on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Author asserts that copyright rules, however, are in considerable flux these days and very little is clear about these new technologies. According to article, we surely have no obligation to follow made-up rules, although it is sometimes easy to confuse these specious requirements with real ones. Given this confusion, it concludes that the need for copyright reform is urgent. With the dawning of the Internet and other highly advanced technology, people all around the world are now able to copy, download, and distribute copyrighted material with ease. Unfortunately, the use of the Internet has increased the conflict with copyright laws.   In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to address the tricky issue of copyright protections in a digital environment. An important aspect of that law was anti-circumvention protection, which barred people from circumventing password-protected and other secure Web sites that provide access to creative works. The law said the copyright owners could file civil lawsuits against those who break into such secure Web sites. This is the directly applicable law in the DVD case. At its core, copyright law says that the creators of certain literary and artistic works have the right to ensure that unauthorized people do not use their work for unauthorized purposes. The creators hold the copyright. They can gi ve up their exclusive right to publishers or other authorized entities for a limited time or permanently. Legislation and court rulings have held that people have a significant right to make use of exceptions within the copyright law to avoid lawsuits. On the other hand, if the overwhelming majority of actors regulated by the copyright law are ordinary end-users, it makes no sense to insist that each of them retain copyright counsel in order to fit herself within niches created to suit businesses and institutions, nor is it wise to draw the lines where the representatives of today’s current stakeholders insist they would prefer to draw them. Extending the prescriptions and proscriptions of the current copyright law to govern the everyday acts of non-commercial, non-institutional users is a fundamental change. To do so without affecting a drastic shift in the copyright balance will require a comparably fundamental change in the copyright statutory scheme. In a whole, issues in article raised very well, opposing two different views on copyright problem – from creator’s and from consumer’s side. Undoubtedly, both the Napster and DVD cases raise free speech, fair use and copyright issues, which makes them important to future legal and legislative action in the high-tech area. Using those cases writer shows controversial issues and concludes that the need for copyright reform is urgent. On the other hand there is no strong support for reasons in which way legislation concerning copyrights could be established. In my opinion, the eloquence surrounding digital copyright in general, and peer-to-peer file sharing and DVD encryption in particular, heated in article, inspires great confusion about what the copyright law does and does not prohibit. In general, most of the key legal questions are still unsettled, in part because copyright defendants have run out of money and gone out of business before their cases could go to trial. In that vacuum, some copyright owners are claiming that their preferred rules of conduct are well-established legal requirements. There may be an ethical obligation to follow real rules, even when they seem unreasonable. But there is any ethical obligation to follow made-up ones. Indeed, in this context, we may have an ethical obligation to resist them. When considering this new and advanced way of sharing information, with regard to copyright laws, the following factors must be assessed: the legality of the situation, financial losses and gains, and moral issues. Two different views can be inevitably argued over this controversial issue; those who think the downloading of copyrighted material, without the permission of the author is theft, and those who believe file sharing of copyrighted material is their right in the information age.   Although the digital age has made advanced technology available to everyone, the principles of justice and fairness should still prevail. As an IT professional, we have the moral responsibilities to point out when necessary about copyrights. We should be aware that copyrighted material on the Internet is available for free download only if the creators give consent to its publication and distribution. It can be certain that the debate on copyright in the digital age will continue, and that a definitive solution will take a while to reach for each side.   Technology will always be here and will continue to advance, but the industries must be willing to work with the technology to meet the demands of the consumer in the information age. Hacking is also one of the most significant issues nowadays, which involves almost every aspect of IT ethics. Second article I have submitted for hacking ethics topic is â€Å"Under the skin of digital crime† from BBC News. The article discusses issues of â€Å"positive† and â€Å"negative† hacking. It claims that there was a time when hacking was something positive. It was done in the name of intellectual curiosity rather than financial reward. Now hacking has become an activity that holds two positions and is therefore both solemnized for its insightful inventiveness and defamed for its devious acts. Article claims that the ethics behind hacking and the actions taken by hackers constitute a manifesto that transcends ordinary understanding of this activity. Hackers argue that their actions promote a means for tighter security by way of detecting flaws and patches for systems and software. However, these very actions are viewed as violations of the rights to privacy and security for both individuals and organizations. Consequently, this establishes a cautionary attitude toward ethical issues such as, privacy, security and the future of the Internet. Another trend that article raises is the creeping criminality of hacking, much of which is now carried out for explicitly financial reward. Some criminal hackers are threatening to bombard some web-based businesses with gigabytes of data unless large amounts of cash are handed over. It is extortion with a hi-tech gloss. In author’s experience, many of these criminal hackers have full-time jobs in technology. â€Å"Professional hackers are professional in all senses of the word,† he states, â€Å"they work in the industry.† The fundamental doctrine or ethic that hackers use in order to justify their behavior is the idea that hacking offers a mode of investigation, which allows an individual to gain knowledge necessary to infiltrate systems that contain vulnerabilities. Acquiring this knowledge allows one to develop strategies that facilitate exploration of their functions and the inner components of the systems. The â€Å"hacker ethic† states in part that all information belongs to everyone and there should be no boundaries or restraints to prevent disclosure of this information. This philosophy that is upheld by the hacker community introduces ethical questions regarding the freedom of information and the loss of privacy. One more argument supported by the hacker ethic is that break-ins elucidate security problems to those who can do something about them. Hacker intrusions into systems surpass the traditional understanding of violating the laws of trespassing. Hacking involves the exploitation, or the manipulation of a bug, or a backdoor that is inherently present within the system. In this view, hacking is not a threat against the integrity of the system being exploited, but instead is a means of implementing corrections and enforcing tighter security. Although issues in article risen well, the writer did not make a conclusive support argument of the statement that many of criminal hackers have full-time jobs in technology. There is not strong support for causes of criminal actions by hackers. The only reason that they carried out hacking, he argued for explicitly financial reward. Concerning hacking ethics, problem discussed very particularly, and the common statement depicts real situation. Undoubtedly, hackers and hacking problems are real ones, but how might they be solved? Security requires much more than designing a secure technical infrastructure that resembles an impenetrable fortress. The key to a secure network is the development of real time enforceable policies that take advantage of security bulletins and published security holes. â€Å"It is ethically wrong to wait until systems under protection are compromised in order to begin patching up the holes. Securing a network doesn’t begin with high cost software and security firewalls aimed at halting the intruders, but begins with utilizing available knowledge that calls for improvements made by ethical hacking.† (Mikkkeee). Whatever the case, hackers believe that when they compromise a system they are in effect introducing fixes that force the system administrator to take the necessary precautions in patching up the hole, thereby tightening the security of the system. From this position, the hacker is actually doing a service to the system administrator who is unfamiliar with the bugs that can lead to a system compromise. If there is any criminal intent on the part of the hacker, then they should be held legally accountable for violating the security of the system and their actions should be punishable by law. From the point of view of IT professional, we have the moral responsibilities to point out when necessary about hacker activities. Even though hacking undoubtedly has led to productive improvement in IT and software security, it has in effect created many disruptive problems online and offline. Hacking is an activity that introduces a method of analysis that targets and works on various components. Therefore, hacking has the potential to cause harm and to violate legitimate privacy and property rights. By ethical standards hacking does introduce crucial security fixes, but does so at the expense of violating privacy and the security of individuals. Furthermore, hacking activities lead to disruptive and dangerous problems for society, which tend to be difficult to eradicate. But, with awareness of those problems, we also should take into account that hacking is underside of technical progress, and could not be considered apart of it. As The Mentor warns in the conclusion to his manife sto, â€Å"I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can’t stop us all† (Mentor, 1). Even if the authorities catch a hacker, as long as there is a motivation, hacking will persist. On the other hand, IT professionals should clearly recognize boundary between real professionalism and hacking in their own activity, because that line is very transparent. In conclusion, we should note, that significant attention paid to issues erected above in public press. Many publications leave negative impression about hacking and copyrights, as those are lawless anyway. The Napster and DVD cases received the most publicity because it involves highly popular software that millions of people around the world use to share music and films. Concerning hacking issue, media tend to use the word â€Å"hacker† as a synonym for cyber vandal, digital criminal and basically any person who uses digital means to perform criminal or malicious activities. Nevertheless, it would be better to consider not only consequences, but causes as well. For the first look hacking and copyrights are on the contrary sides of ethics, but when we examine details, there are much more common between them. These problems are permanent topics of news nowadays. With penetration of information technology into mass media, which now functioning very closely related with World Wide Web, moreover, when Internet becoming a main media, issues of hacking and intellectual property ethics are affecting mass media itself noticeably. Thus those problems widely covered now in press and will cover on with spreading of information technology. The question is in qualitative impact of subjects on mass media. Bibliography: Bynum, Terrell, IT Ethics: Basic Concepts and Historical Overview. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2001 Edition), Edward N. Zalta(ed.), Gehringer, Edward. â€Å"Ethics in Computing.† Ethical Issues. Homepage. 2001 Chebium, Raju. â€Å"Napster, DVD cases raise copyright questions in digital age.† CNN.com News. August 7, 2000 Ward, Mark. â€Å"Under the skin of digital crime.† BBC News Online. 11 May, 2004 Mikkkeee. â€Å"Hacking: Ethical Issues of the Internet Revolution.† New Order Portal. March 29, 2003 The Mentor, â€Å"The Conscience of a Hacker,† Phrack, Vol One, Issue 7, Phile 3, January 8, 1986. February 10, 2003.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Países para obtener las visas H-2A y H-2B en 2019

Paà ­ses para obtener las visas H-2A y H-2B en 2019 Las visas H-2A y H-2B permiten a trabajadores extranjeros trabajar temporalmente en EE.UU. Para sacarlas es requisito indispensable ser ciudadano de determinados paà ­ses. Esta es la lista que aplica en 2019. Paà ­ses que permiten sacar las visas H-2a y H-2b A partir del 18 de enero de 2019, segà ºn ha publicado el Registro Federal de los Estados Unidos, y por validez de un aà ±o, los ciudadanos de 84 paà ­ses pueden beneficiarse de las visas H-2A que autorizan a trabajar temporalmente en labores agrà ­colas en EE.UU. Sin embargo, solamente los nacionales de 81 paà ­ses pueden solicitar la visa H-2B, para desempeà ±ar labores temporales no agrà ­colas. En el listado que sigue a continuacià ³n se listan los paà ­ses autorizados, con especificacià ³n de los restringidos solamente a la visa H-2A. AlemaniaAndorraArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBarbadosBà ©lgicaBrasilBruneiBulgariaCanadChileColombiaCorea del SurCosta RicaCroaciaDinamarcaEcuadorEl SalvadorEslovaquiaEsloveniaEspaà ±aEstoniaFijiFinlandiaFranciaGranadaGreciaGuatemalaHolandaHondurasHungrà ­aIrlandaIsla Salomà ³nIslandiaIsraelItaliaJamaicaJapà ³nKiribatiLetoniaLichtensteinLituaniaLuxemburgoMacedoniaMadagascarMaltaMà ©xicoMoldavia (solamente visa H-2A)Mà ³nacoMongoliaMontenegroMozambiqueNauruNicaraguaNoruegaNueva ZelandaPanamPapà ºa Nueva GuineaParaguay (solamente visa H-2A)Perà ºPoloniaPortugalReino UnidoRepà ºblica ChecaRepà ºblica Dominicana (solamente visa H-2A)Rumanà ­aSamoaSan MarinoSerbiaSingaporeSt. Vincent y GranadinaSudfricaSueciaSuizaTailandiaTaiwnTimorTogoTurquà ­aTuvaluUcraniaUruguayVanuatu Entre las novedades de este aà ±o destacan, por un lado, la inclusià ³n de Paraguay para las visas H-2A y, por otro, la exclusià ³n de Repà ºblica Dominicana del listado de paà ­ses con visas H-2B. La inclusià ³n de Paraguay fue justificada por el Departamento de Seguridad Interna (DHS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) por el bajo porcentaje de paraguayos con visa que exceden el tiempo mximo autorizado de estancia en Estados Unidos y por la colaboracià ³n del gobierno paraguayo en los casos de deportaciones o expulsiones de sus nacionales. Por el contrario, se ha excluido a Repà ºblica Dominicana de las visas H-2B por el alto porcentaje –superior al 30 por ciento–de nacionales con esa visa que se quedaban en EE.UU. ms tiempo del autorizado. Las personas que por su nacionalidad estn excluidas de aplicar para estas visas pueden estar interesadas en considerar trabajar en un crucero, cuyas visas –C1/D– no excluyen a ningà ºn paà ­s. Existen agencias con buena reputacià ³n especializadas en emplear trabajadores extranjeros para cruceros y los salarios son superiores al salario mà ­nimo en EE.UU. Informacià ³n bsica sobre las visas H-2A y H-2B Las dos visas son muy parecidas y brindan la posibilidad de trabajar temporalmente en Estados Unidos, la H-2A en agricultura y la H-2B en trabajos no agrà ­colas como pueden ser, por ejemplo, hoteles, ferias ambulantes conocidas como Carnivals o resorts. Para ambas visas es requisito imprescindible que un empleador estadounidense o una agencia intermediaria que trabaja con las empresas americanas inicien la tramitacià ³n ya que deben obtener una certificacià ³n del Departamento de Trabajo y la aprobacià ³n del Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a de los Estados Unidos (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s). Es decir, no se trata de que si una persona extranjera desea una de estas visas puede solicitarla en el consulado. En otras palabras, es imprescindible obtener antes un contrato por parte de una empresa estadounidense que es quien obtiene los permisos y quien pone en marcha la tramitacià ³n antes las autoridades. Una vez iniciado este proceso ya se indicar al trabajador extranjero cundo debe presentarse a la embajada o al consulado de los Estados Unidos correspondiente para la entrevista para la visa. Cabe destacar que las empresas estadounidenses, aunque lo quisieran, no pueden contratar a todos los trabajadores estacionales extranjeros para visas H-2B que quieran. Cada aà ±o fiscal puede concederse un mximo anual de 66,000 visas para esta categorà ­a, 33.000 son asignadas en la primera mitad del aà ±o fiscal y las restantes en la segunda. Una vez que se llena el cupo no se pueden emitir ms visas en esta categorà ­a. Las excepciones son los trabajadores contratados por estos visados para trabajar en la industria de las huevas de pescado o aquellos que desempeà ±en servicios en Guam o en las Islas Marianas (territorios de los Estados Unidos en el Pacà ­fico). Sin embargo, las visas H-2A no tienen là ­mite anual y estn entre las que en los à ºltimos aà ±os han visto incrementar ms sus nà ºmeros. Los mexicanos son el 90 por ciento del total de visas emitidas en esta categorà ­a y North Carolina Growers Association y Washington Farm Labor Association son los mayores patrocinadores. Adems, hay el problema de los fraudes tanto en la visa H-2A como en la H-2B. Algunos patrones pagan menos de lo que corresponde. Hay que destacar que los extranjeros con estas visas pagan impuestos y que tienen derecho a cobrar, al menos, el salario mà ­nimo. Otra fuente de problemas son algunas agencias, que pueden ser fraudulentas. Se recomienda verificar las opiniones y experiencias de otros trabajadores con la misma visa y en el caso de Mà ©xico checar este listado de ms de 60 reclutadores  para visas H-2A y H-2B. En algunos casos la organizacià ³n sin fin de lucro Contratados es una buena fuente para verificar si una agencia o reclutador cumple lo que promete. Puntos Clave: paà ­ses visas H-2A y H-2B Las visas H-2A permiten trabajar temporalmente en agricultura en EE.UU.Las visas H-2B permiten trabajar temporalmente en trabajos no agrà ­colas en EE.UU. Hay un là ­mite anual de 66.000 visas que pueden ser emitidas para esta categorà ­a.Nà ºmero de paà ­ses cuyos nacionales pueden obtener una H-2A: 84Nà ºmero de paà ­ses cuyos nacionales pueden obtener una H-2B:81Paà ­ses hispanohablantes que pueden optar a la H-2A: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Espaà ±a, Guatemala, Honduras, Mà ©xico, Nicaragua, Panam, Paraguay, Perà º, Repà ºblica Dominicana y Perà º.Paà ­ses hispanohablantes que pueden optar a la H-2B: los mismos que en el listado anterior excepto Paraguay y Repà ºblica Dominicana.Requisito indispensable: que una empresa estadounidense inicie el proceso de los papeles directamente o a travà ©s de una agencia o reclutador. En ningà ºn caso el trabajador puede iniciar los trmites. Este artà ­culo es sà ³lo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal para ningà ºn caso concreto.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

How to Self-Publish an eBook

How to Self-Publish an eBook When you decide to publish your book, you have several options for what medium and what distribution channels to use. While many authors think only of the traditional paper bound books, eBooks are becoming more and more popular by the day. With new apps for phones, iPads, tablets, and other reading devices which have become everyday items for almost every age group, choosing the eBook path is a smart option.eBooks are less expensive and faster to market, and they are more accessible to readers. Plus, you, as the author, are able to control much more of the process than you would with a traditional paperback or hardback print.Why choose eBooks?Lets first discuss why going the eBook route is a very good idea for people who are self-publishing. Typically, with hardback and paperback prints, an author can expect to get from 4% to 10% of the list price for each book sold. If youre publishing your own book, however, youll have to make up the upfront costs before you can really count anythi ng as a profit.With eBooks, the upfront costs are minimal and you receive up to 50% of the list price for each book sold. This is a pretty compelling reason to self-publish an eBook! On top of the much bigger commission, the time it takes to get your book to the masses is much shorter. Printing books on paper can take from six weeks to four months to get your book from your desk to a retailer for sale. With an eBook, the time to market is only a fraction of that time.eBooks are the books of the future. While those of us who love the tactile sensation of turning physical pages as we become engrossed in a story are sad to see the decline in paperbacks and hardbacks, eBooks are here to stay and will take us into the future.This can be a good thing, though, when you publish your eBook. If your book can go or be anywhere within mere moments, then your reader base can jump in size exponentially. So really, eBooks are basically your only choice to reach as many people as possible.Choose yo ur platform: How to format your eBookWe all like choices. We want to feel like we are in control of our life and our destiny. So, when it comes to choosing a format for your eBook, why does it seem like such a chore? Well, I say it doesnt have to be. With the low cost of entry for eBooks, you can choose more than one option. Here is a quick list of popular eBook formats.ePub This is the basic technical standard for eBooks. It was developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum. eBooks in this format can be read by almost any eBook reader, from the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes Nobles Nook to Apples iBooks app and Google Books app. Since it is a standard in the industry, this format has become the most widespread eBook format. There are many free online tools that will convert your .doc (Word) files into the ePub format.iBook Apple created their own eBook format called iBook. This is based on the ePub standard and has restrictions on where you can sell. These eBooks can only be sold on Apple devices.PDF This format is structured around the standard Portable Document Format that was created by Adobe. Many programs have PDF creation capabilities built in, so creating documents in this format is probably the easiest.Amazon Kindle This format is called KDP, or Kindle Direct Publishing. This format has some HTML and CSS3 built into it, which can help your eBook to look good on Kindle devices.First decide what platform you want to sell your book on, and then choose a format that will fit that platform and the devices that you think people will use to read your book. You could even create a website that is your book. Building an HTML5 website is much easier today than it used to be now that there are websites designed to help you to create your own site with minimal or no programming experience.Preparing your manuscriptOne aspect of getting ready to self-publish that many authors either ignore or dont think they have the resources for is editing. Having a pro fessional editor go through your manuscript to eliminate inconsistencies, typos, formatting issues, and more is an essential part of your eBooks success. It is well-known that its nearly impossible to fully edit your own writing, so having a neutral party examine your writing is a must. If you dont have the resources to hire a professional editor, then there are some other options to help you to still get some of the benefits from this step.Get a friend to read the eBook. If you have a friend who reads a lot or has experience with your genre, ask her to help you out by reading the book. Take her notes and implement the changes you feel improve your book.After taking a short break from the material, take your text away from where you normally write and read through it again. This will help give some separation between you and the text, which helps errors to pop out at you more clearly.Read the text in a different format than you normally would. For example, you could print the pages out on paper and read them, using a pen or a pencil to make notes on things you catch. You could also change the font size to something much larger than you have been using, which will cause misspellings and typos to more easily jump out from the page.Hire an editor to go through just the first couple of chapters. Take what they find in those chapters and use that knowledge to look for specific things. For example, they might find that a certain word is misspelled often or maybe you used two different names for the same character. Having a specific idea of what to look for will help you to self-edit the rest of the book.Read the manuscript from the ending to the beginning. By taking sentences out of context or order or by looking at each word on its own, your brain will disengage from its normal process of filling in the blanks. Instead of skipping over words that may be misspelled, those errors will become apparent to you.Using imagesIf your book has a lot of pictures or drawings, then you will want to first make sure that you have the right permissions to use those images. If they are your own photographs or drawings, then copyright isnt something you need to worry about. If you have downloaded the images from a stock photo website, then youll want to make sure you have the correct license.If you are creating a comic book or a graphic novel, then a tool like Amazons Kindle Comic Creator might be a good option for you. This tool was designed specifically for formatting books with comic images.With childrens books, you also need to use a tool that can help you to properly format the images with the text so that it comes across clearly on electronic book readers. Amazon also has a tool specifically for childrens books that is called the Kindle Kids Book Creator.Designing a coverWe all know the old saying Dont judge a book by its cover. But in this modern day of digital print and marketing, the cover makes a huge difference in whether or not someone clicks on yo ur book to buy it. Just like with advertisements, the book cover must stand out on many screen sizes.Regardless of what genre your book is in, your readers and potential readers should know almost immediately what your book is about. Here are some of the main tips to create an effective eBook cover design.If you can afford it, hire a graphic designer, such as one from ServiceScape.com, or use a design competition site to have designers give you their ideas for a cover based on your story synopsis. Telling someone else about your story and having them show you what images that brings into their mind will help you to identify what the cover should show. Is it a true representation of the main character? Should the focus be on the setting of the story? Or are there symbols and ideas that are the main concepts of your book?Consider your font carefully. While some of the flowy, curvy fonts are fun to look at, people browsing on Amazon arent going to be able to read it. Even though the ti tle of your book will be there, viewers eyes are drawn to the picture first. Make it stand out!Once you have a design, test it out in a size similar to what you see on Amazon or other eBook stores, such as Barnes Noble and iBook, to make sure it can stand out in the list of books. If the image isnt clearly communicating the topic of your book when its in a small size, then book browsers are likely to pass right over it.All of the above are wrapped into one main concept: keep it simple. You dont want to have an image with a hundred different things going on. You want something that very clearly and instantly shows the main point of your book.Gather your informationWhen you feel ready to submit your manuscript to an eBook publisher, be sure that you have all the necessary information with you.Book Title This needs to be exactly as it is on the cover.Sub-titles You dont have to have a sub-title, but this can be a good place to include keywords that will be searchable.Description This will be just like the synopsis you would normally see on the back cover of a paperback. Be sure it includes the main topic of the story, maybe one or two main characters, and a twist or a catch that grabs the readers attention.Contributors This is usually the place where you would put your name as the author, and any additional co-authors, translators, editors, etc.Keywords If there is an option to enter keywords, you will definitely want to take advantage of this option. These will act just like keywords for a website- this is how people can easily find your book.One final note before you publish is to carefully consider the price of your book. Make sure its in a good range for the genre and platform, and be sure that you feel it is a price you feel comfortable with. Dont sell yourself short, but dont alienate readers by setting the price too high. Do some research on what is out there already, and you will have the right information to set your own perfect price.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research Proposal - Essay Example Burning any fossil fuel produces Carbon dioxide which contributes to the "Greenhouse effect†, thus increasing the temperature of the earth. Coal is even more dangerous, the burning of coal produces more Carbon dioxide then oil or gas along with Sulphur dioxide. Coal also needs to be burned in huge amount on constant basis thus making it the most polluting commercial power generating source in the world (Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2008). However, in the recent years, it has been realized by scientists that the use huge amount of coal and other fossil fuels to produce cheap electricity has taken its toll on earth in the form of global warming, hence a number of more efficient and less polluting options have been considered and put into use by government around the world. There has also been a growing trend of exploring and using renewable energy options which produce zero pollution and are inexhaustible in contrast to coal and fossil fuel. One of the widely used renewable energy option is Hydro power. The purpose of this project is to establish whether hydro power can serve as a single source of energy for all the current and future needs of the world (Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2008). ... One of the major problems that the world is facing right now is the shortage of energy, particularly electrical energy. With the high predicted population growth rate, it is expected that the demand of electricity will far outweighs any other type of energy demand. The problem that this research will attempt to solve is to determine if one of the alternative sources of power, namely hydropower, is in such abundance that it can be used to meet the future electricity demands of the world. The purpose of the Study The purpose this project is to determine the ways in which hydropower can be used to generate electricity on a massive scale. A secondary objective of this research is to demonstrate how GIS can be used to establish the potential of hydropower for electricity generation for global demands. This project will use high altitude imagery, maps and other data available through NASA and other resources for its analysis with both qualitative and quantitative research method will be us ed to carry out the evaluation in an effort to determine the suitability of hydropower. Literature Review According to the figures provided in World Energy Outlook released by International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2009, global electricity demand is growing at double the rate of overall energy use and it is expected that it will see a growth of 76% by 2030 (International Energy Agency, 2008). While conventional methods of electricity production such as fossil fuels provide an economical and readily available way of electricity generation, the tremendous amount of negative impact that they have on the environment (green house effect and global warming) as well as their

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Gender Discrimination Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Gender Discrimination - Term Paper Example There are different contexts that sexual  discrimination  may  arise  (Ayres, p 65). For example, an employee attending an  interview  may be asked discriminatory questions, or an  employer  wrongfully terminated or did not  promote  an employee based on their sexual affiliations, an employer failing to hire an employee, or an employer pays  unequal  remunerations based on gender. Another instance is in an educational  setting  whereby there might be claims of a student  being left  out on  educational  institution, opportunity, program, student loan, scholarship, or student  group  due to their gender. In a housing setting, instances may be declined the right to negotiate on seeking a  house, leasing or contracting a  house  based on their sex. In a bank setting, an individual may be offered  unequal  loan terms or their  plea  for loans rejected based on their gender. Whereas there may be assertions of non-physical disparity bet ween men and women, academic  literature  based on gender find only a limited  amount  of characteristics that are similar psychological differentials, between women and men, these are directly in relation to experiences pegged on biological discrepancies (Gunderson, p129). There are  psychological  variations regarding to how problems, emotional reactions and perceptions relating to hormones, and the relevant characteristics of each sex during the long-term  function  in  historic  primitive  lifestyles. According to the United Nations, women more often than not  face  a â€Å"glass ceiling† and that no societies are available whereby women enjoy equal opportunities as men (Gregory, p82). The term describes a  distinguished  barrier  to progress in employment based on sex discrimination. In 1995, the Glass Ceiling Commission, a United Sates government financially funded group regardless of the fact that women  are awarded  over 50% of all masters degrees, 95% of senior managers, of over 1000  industrial  and 500 service companies are of the male gender. The  commission  recommended affirmative action in their report which considers employee’s race and gender.  while hiring and promoting employees, This is to  eradicate  this discrimination (Gregory p83).  In 2008, as a result of this move, 51% of all workers in well- paying professional, management, and related occupations were women. They were a larger number than men in occupations such as  financial  managers, public relations managers, and human resource managers. Transgender individuals, both female to male and male to female face difficulties which  eventually  result  to underachievement, dismissals,  difficulty  in job searching, social isolation, and sometimes violent attacks (Cohn, p74). However, gender discrimination is not only revealing itself with women or in transgender individuals. Men are also sometimes victimized on the basis of sex in certain fields of  employment  such as office administration and childcare settings conventionally assumed to be â€Å"women’s jobs†. Other ways in which gender  discrimination  may reveal itself is through an employee claims that a manager or another individual in power makes statements or jokes that are  insulting, demeaning, or offensive to women (McLean, Sheila, and Noreen, p68). Another instance is a  case  of a  manager  who clarifies through his words or actions that he has