The Azande

There are several institutions at play in modern day American culture function inning similarly to the witchcraft among the Cezanne people. For instance, within my culture, the Government dictates who punished when confronted with a crime. While The Cezanne place e the blame on witchcraft.Both use justice in a sense to place blame for an unfortunate happy inning, whether it be decided by an oracle, or common law. Whether it be a judge or an oracle, a sentencing verdict is decided in both cult rues. The ways of American law may be seen as more civilized, and the Cezanne may seem tab 00. The methods of the poison oracles, which included the envenoming of animals to observe t heir deaths and make assessments, is vaguely similar to the tests done on rodents, and other animals in research labs.Both of which can and have been labeled unorthodox in the past. Its SAA d in The Cezanne culture that witches may have caused harm unintentionally, and that sorcerer s do so intentionally. Also, rel ated in our society is the psychopath. Some believe that you are both with an instinct to kill without selector, while others believe that you are strictly Think about the ways in which members of your society are compelled to bee eave in socially acceptable ways. How do these differ from one another?Members of today's society are expected to behave in socially acceptable way due to fear of retribution. For example, due to the impending threat of prison, or other capital punishment, a crime would usually not be committed. These means of socially behaviors differ from each other greatly. To contrast American Culture who mainly have regular criminals with faulty intentions, The Cezanne only have sorcerers with a vendetta against the victim. The Cezanne can only speculate whom they argued with has hexed them.They also have ways to reprimand, although their old unethical forms of punishment, such as tying individuals to ant hills have been done away with. Both measures were used as a ba sis of r social control. Is there a â€Å"logic† to The Cezanne belief in witchcraft and the casualty of misfire nun? Within The Cezanne culture, there is a logic behind their belief in witchcraft an d the casualty of misfortune. While reading a section from Culture Sketches by Holly Peters Golden, the quote from an Cezanne man put many aspects of The Azans De thought process into perspective.After a man had hanged himself, due to an altercate on with his brothers the man stated only crazy people commit suicide; if everyone who was angry with their brothers committed suicide there would soon be no people left in t he world; if the man had not been bewitched he would not have done what he did do (19 37;. 71 v Personally, this quote opened my eyes to the ways that someone raised in HTH complex civilization would make sense of a tragedy. It is very en lightening to s e the says brains execute different ideas based on your upbringing in different par TTS of the world.Do you emplo y logic that is similar or different when explaining negative even Are there several different â€Å"systems of logic† that may be invoked, depending on the circumstances? Tend to enjoy logic that is differs from my own, when negative events are bee Eng explained. In other words to seeing an event occur from another's viewpoint I n their own words. Hearing logic that is not the same as your own on sensitive topics with out prejudice, and seeking knowledge where you may be ignorant allows a differed t system of logic.Depending on the circumstances, there are several different logical systems t hat may be invoked. When those involved are from different backgrounds, with u unlike views, and beliefs to base their opinions upon. Most logical people would never take witchcraft into question, perhaps they would say that it was an accident. But being raise Diana community where sorcery is common practice, you would not think any differ entry. What you are taught from a young age in y our community resonates into the ways t hat the person you will becomes handles misfortune.

A Rose for Emily: a Themes of Death and Change Essay

William Faulkner explains why the story is not about him, but his details about a lonely poor woman named Miss Emily is very unpredictable. Miss Emily is unable to grip the idea of death and suffers from denial. After the death of her father, the people from the town expected her to be in a state of grief but she is not. Instead, she proceeds to say that her father is very well with her and alive. William Faulkner’s idea of grieving is clear in this story because he shows his audience that it is better to accept death than to ignore it through the accounts of Miss Emily’s journey. William Faulkner’s story takes place in the South, during a time period of racial discrimination and major changes. By using reader response criticism, a reader can analyze â€Å"A Rose for Emily† through the aspects of the secret held within the story, race found through anthropology, and gender found through anthropology. To begin with, one can analyze â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by examining the hidden message found in the story. The hidden message that William Faulkner tried to convey in his story was the themes of death and change. For example, Emily told them that her father was not dead. Miss Emily tried to defy death by holding on to her father’s corpse and treating it as if he were still living and how fearful she was of change. She later killed Homer to ensure that he would never leave her. Miss Emily continually tried to prevent any sort of change through death or other means from occurring in her town. She was so frightened of change that she wouldn’t allow the city to put numbers on her house for mail. The next step to analyzing â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is to examine race found through anthropology. The South was once known for its extreme prejudice and racism. William Faulkner’s attempts to convey this racism is made clear in â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. Mr. Faulkner explains the roles of women in the South and how they were seen through the eyes of men. When Miss Emily Grierson died the whole town went to her funeral. The men out of respectful affection for a fallen monument and the women mostly out of curiosity. In conclusion, there are many aspects that were incorporated into â€Å"A Rose for Emily†. William Faulkner was able to create a story involving many ideas about society and how it functioned in a specific time period in the South. To further examine â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, one can use the reader response criticism and analyze the aspects of the hidden message found within the story, race found through anthropology, and gender found through anthropology. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is an important element in literature due to examination of the effects of change created in the olden South.

The Bhopal Disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Bhopal Disaster - Essay Example (e) The MIC tank was filled beyond capacity, so much that the overflow tank was also full. (f) The malfunctioning blow down value of the MIC tank was malfunctioning because it was in an open position. Consequences of the disaster: As stated earlier, there were 3800 plus deaths and more than 200,000 injured. Apart from the loss of human life, crops, animals and marine life were destroyed. Many of the women developed diseases such as gonorrhoea and pelvic inflammation, excessive menstruation and suppressed lactation. There was a high incidence of still births and among the babies who where born, there was a high rate of babies born with deformities. Many foetuses suffered from respiratory ailments and complications, which also afflicted the mothers. Other symptoms which were produced included impaired audio and visual memory, neuroses and anxiety reactions. Reliability Block Diagram: The reliability of any system is derived in terms of the reliabilities of the individual components of the system. The advantages of using reliability block diagrams are as follows: (a) Integrating the probability of faults occurring into modules (b) Including within each module, the probability of failure, the failure rate, the distribution of time to failure, the steady state and instantaneous availability (c) The ability to organize each module in a structured way, dependent upon the effects of each module’s failure The reliability block diagram can be used to assess probability for failure for the Bhopal disaster as well. The major cause of the failure was the faulty valve which allowed water to pass into the MIC tank. This major fault was only... There were 3800 plus deaths and more than 200,000 injured. Apart from the loss of human life, crops, animals, and marine life were destroyed. Many of the women developed diseases such as gonorrhea and pelvic inflammation, excessive menstruation and suppressed lactation. There was a high incidence of stillbirths and among the babies who were born, there was a high rate of babies born with deformities. Many fetuses suffered from respiratory ailments and complications, which also afflicted the mothers. Other symptoms which were produced included impaired audio and visual memory, neuroses and anxiety reactions. The reliability of any system is derived in terms of the reliabilities of the individual components of the system. The advantages of using reliability block diagrams are as follows: Integrating the probability of faults occurring into modules Including within each module, the probability of failure, the failure rate, the distribution of time to failure, the steady state, and instantaneous availability The ability to organize each module in a structured way, dependent upon the effects of each module’s failure The reliability block diagram can be used to assess the probability of failure for the Bhopal disaster as well. The major cause of the failure was the faulty valve which allowed water to pass into the MIC tank. This major fault was only exacerbated by other related factors, such as switched off air-conditioning, and malfunctioning pressure and temperature gauges, which prevented the fault condition being detected on time.

Other Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Other - Assignment Example This implies the university wants to obtain as much finances as it can (total revenue) from the fewer students who are expected to enroll for the services. By doing so, the university would have settled all the expenses it incurred to provide the services in the first place. As Beattie and LaFrance (2006) suggested, by choosing to increase the tuition fees, the university is likely to be engaging in price skimming in order to obtain maximum revenue. This is a pricing policy in which an organization sets a fairly high price for a good or service at its inception then reduces it over time (Bailey, Olson, & Wonnacott, 1980). It is a transient strategy of price discrimination quicker offsetting of potential losses. The strategy would allow Nobody University to reclaim its lost expenditure faster before competition from other similar institutions sets in and forces the market price downward for tuition services. Feess and Schumacher (2013) noted that price skimming may be used interchangeably with scaling down the demand curve. The institution’s main objective of implementing the strategy is to capitalize on the consumer surplus ahead of time so as to reap major benefits of the monopoly or the innovators’ poor price sensitivity. As such, Nobody University is likely to be a new institution that seeks to obtain the highest return on investment through its higher price strategy at its inception before normalizing the fee for a higher demand for learning. As Bailey, Olson and Wonnacott (1980) argued, meeting the demand of the first group of students will likely trigger the university to reduce the fee to entice another segment that is more concerned about fairer pricing. As Feess and Schumacher (2013) suggested, the university pricing strategy is theoretical in the sense that it is almost unlikely for the approach to turn the entire surplus of students into clients, despite its major potential impact on market

Okapi Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Okapi - Term Paper Example My skin is also oily to make the rain water drain off and keep me dry on a rainy season. I do resemble my relative the Giraffe except for the fact that I have a relatively shorter neck than the giraffe but it is long enough to enable me reach leaves that are high in trees and also helps me defend myself and also my territory and my head is also relatively lighter with a black muzzle supported by a thick neck. I have a very long (approximately 35 centimeters) flexible blue tongue that I use to stripe buds and leaves from trees. It is also long enough for me to wash my eyes and clean my ears inside out. I am a herbivore. The amazing thing about me is that I can eat a variety of plants that other animals and even human consider poisonous! Such as fungi and other plant materials. My main predator is the leopard. My ankles are white with dark spots on each of my hoofs and a thick skin that helps protect my legs from injury. Although I do travel by myself within my home range, I do have wa ys of communicating with the others whose ranges overlap mine; this is through a scent gland on either of my foot that leaves behind a sticky tar-like substance wherever I walk thus marking my territory. MY young ones are adapted in such a way that they defecate between four and eight weeks of age, this adaptation helps my young ones grow and gain strength before predators sniff them out. My sharp sense of smell helps me locate breeding partners. The minerals that my body needs I normally obtain them from eating the clay from along the river banks. My male counterpart has horns which are short and skin covered so that he won’t get tangled in the forest branches. I normally travel miles in search of food and I can consume 40 to 65 pounds of food. I do give birth to one calf and my gestation period can last up to a period of 16 months and am very protective of my young ones which are weaned at around 6months but may continue suckling for more than a year. My young ones have sho rt fringe hair along the spine at birth which disappears when it is one year old. The main threat to my existence is habitat loss due to deforestation. The leopard also threatens my existence because it positions itself from above the ground and hence able to survey the surrounding area for potential prey and also is able to ambush it from above, these threats makes me to be classified as an animal that is under that is threatened with extinction. The human hunters are also a threat since they hunt me for game meat and for my thick hide but the efforts that have been in place by the government of Zaire to seclude the area from hunting activities has done great in protecting me from human infringement. The other interesting thing about me is that I only vocalize when I am ready to breed and with my solitary lifestyle I don’t normally associate with other animals except with my calf that is when I have one. The fact that I inhabit a secluded section of the mountain forest means that I surprisingly have very few predators particularly in comparison other animals. Since I am a ruminant I do swallow food without chewing and then chew the curd afterwards. My shy and secluded nature is an adaptation since it helps me hide myself from the human hunters. The human efforts to have some of my family members captured and put in captivity is a measure aimed at ensuring that our population is protected from extinction and that our

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Interview - Essay Example One of her first jobs is to work at a call center of a cellular phone company. She made $9 per hour then. She worked graveyard shifts, and she complained that the schedule and target goals were very stressful and exhausting. After only three months, she decided to shift to becoming a pre-school teacher. She finished BS Mathematics and she enjoyed it. But she realized that she wanted to also become a pre-school teacher. For the next three years, she took Early Childhood and Education programs. After she finished the programs, she applied for a public school in our community and she got hired. Right now, she is still a pre-school teacher and loving her job. She makes around $30,000 every year. She is now pursuing her MA in Early Childhood Education. Teachers are not superheroes; they are human beings with likes and dislikes in this world. She said that as a girl, their family had two dogs, three cats, two rabbits, and two hamsters. The most special pet for her was Britney, their white cat with blue eyes and bunny tail. She is special, because she seems to be aware of her limits as a pet. Janice said: â€Å"Brit is the sweetest cat ever, and she never pounces on food, unless it is given to her. And you can just feel that she loves you so much, when she brushes on your legs.† Like other people, Janice tries to avoid some things, but she ends up doing them. She said that some of the things that she is doing that she said she would never do are eating another slice of chocolate cake, and spending more time playing CastleVille than originally planned. She admitted being â€Å"partially addicted† to both. Janice stresses that she hates long lines, traffic, and young people who disrespect their parents. Some of the best things that Janice loves about her life right now are that she can do anything she wants, because she is still single and she does not have to be encumbered with the responsibilities of being a

Credible and Reliable Sources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Credible and Reliable Sources - Essay Example Thus, those who have traditionally been university educated, were white males from privilaged backgrounds. This demographic has changed, and so to should the language conventions that reflect an era when only white males attended university – the very individuals or group that established past conventions. Thus, one important tip, is not to use 'gendered pronouns', rather, one ought to use 'gender neutral' pronouns like they, or their. One of the other elements that makes APA a desirable or optimal format, is the brevity of the style. With regard to the notion of APA Abbreviations, one of the important goals stressed, is that the style or format should do as little as possible to distract the reader from the content of what is being read. It is maintained by the APA that the less style formatting that is used, the better. The less there is formatting, the less attention a reader is going to spend paying attention to anything other than the basic text. So, for example, wherever possible, information is abbreviated. One good example of doing this, is with author's names. Author first names are not given either with 'in text' citations, which is normal for a lot of style conventions, or with bibliographical information.

Evolution of the Financial Development-Economic Growth Research Paper

Evolution of the Financial Development-Economic Growth - Research Paper Example Ultimately, this financial development is seen to impact on better quality investments with higher yields and lower risks, thereby fuelling wealth creation and economic growth.   A similar and more recent study conducted by James Ang (2007) found that financial development leads to higher output growth through the promotion of both private savings and private investment, within the context of the Malaysian economy.   It is hoped that this present study will be able to establish findings of a similar nature, but concerned with more than savings and investment, relevant to ten countries with the highest GDP rates,   and within the milieu of the first two years of the 2008 global financial recession. Ultimately, this financial development is seen to impact on better quality investments with higher yields and lower risks, thereby fuelling wealth creation and economic growth.   A similar and more recent study conducted by James Ang (2007) found that financial development leads to higher output growth through the promotion of both private savings and private investment, within the context of the Malaysian economy.   It is hoped that this present study will be able to establish findings of a similar nature, but concerned with more than savings and investment, relevant to ten countries with the highest GDP rates,   and within the milieu of the first two years of the 2008 global financial recession. 1.3   Statement of the Problem This study will undertake to describe the relationship between the financial development of an economy and the growth of that economy.   It will focus on the economies of four countries:   the United States, the United Kingdom, India, and China.   The study shall also utilize World Bank and IMF indicators to determine their responsiveness to the statistical study on such a causal relationship. 1.4   Objectives of the Study In particular, the paper shall seek to establish the following:1.4.1 To investigate the financial indicators representing financial development, as determined by the WB and the IMF  1.4.2 To determine which among the indicators of economic growth (GDP in local currency, GDP in US dollars, GDP in purchasing power parity, or GDP growth) exhibits the best association with the financial indicators.1.4.3 To assess the relationship between financial indicators and the appropriate economic growth indicator, and the degree to which financial development is influential upon economic growth.

Registered Nurse Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Registered Nurse - Case Study Example protocols and therefore a bit uncertain and lacking in her communication with the patients, the doctors and Miss Cook. Cook has to help Miss Wolf to shed her complexes and make her an efficient member of the staff. Usually, there are two methods. One is the Chosen leadership style and the other is the Authoritative leadership style. In the former, the leader is a chosen one and therefore has to be pleasant mannered, ever ready to help, interested in staff welfare, and be able to win the goodwill of all concerned. She has to use persuasion than power, instill duty consciousness in the nurses and teach them to find happiness in doing their job well. The other method is the Authoritative leadership style. This is indicated when circumstances call for a new vision. Any unit requires a clear sense of direction in order to achieve progress. If this is the problem, the Authoritative style would be very usefull. Sometimes organizations drift without any sense of direction and on such occasions also the Authoritative style is more appropriate and relevant. This style has a special attitude. It seems to say, "Come on! Come with me! I am with you. We will shatter all problems and go ahead!" Though authoritative, the style allows the workers a lot of freedom to deploy their own methods, skills and diplomacy and even to take calculated risks up to a limit.

Jacob Zuma Essay Example for Free

Jacob Zuma Essay But it was not easy for him to get this position. His father died at the end of World War 2. After his father death his mother took up employment as a domestic worker in Durban. He spent his childhood moving between Zululand and the suburbs of Durban and by the age 15 he took on odd jobs to supplement his mother’s income. Also he did not receive formal schooling. He learned to read and write properly in his late teens while serving as a young trade union activist. He became involved in politics at an early age and joined that African Notational congress in 1959. He became an active member of umkhonto we sizwe witch means (Spear of the nation) in 1962 following the banning of the ANC in 1960. While on his way out of the country in 1963 he was arrested with a group of 45 people recruits near zeerust by the northern west province. Convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island. While in prison he was given to the chance to get more of an education. After his release Jacob Zuma helped mobilize internal resistance and was instrumental in the reestablishment of ANC underground structures in the then natal province thought out 1973-1975. He left South Africa in 1975and for the next 12 years, based in Swaziland and then Mow-zum-beek dealing with thousands of young exiles who poured out south Africa in the wake of Soweto uprising. HE lived in several African countries working for ANC, where he rose rapidly to become a member of the ANC National Executive committee in 1977. He also served as the Deputy Chief Representative of the Anc in Mow-zum-beek, post he occupied until the signing of the Nkomati Accord between the Mow-zum-bican and south African government in 1984. After the signing of the Accord, he was appointed as Chief Representative of the ANC and was one of the few who remained in Mow-zum-beek to carry out the work of the organization, crossing in and out of South Africa on a number of occasions. Jacob was forced to leave Mow-zum-beek in January 1987 after considerable pressure on the Mowzumbican government. HE moved to the ANC Head of office in Lusaka Zambia where he was appointed Head of underground structures and shortly thereafter chief of intelligence department. It’s a long way for a man to come considering his childhood and never having any formal education, having been in prison for 10 year. If he can overcome those odds than anybody should be able to become president.

Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the Workplace In todays multicultural workplace, it pays to be familiar with the culture of fellow employees, supervisors, clients or customers who may come from a different ethnic background from you.   Understanding their cultural traditions and customs will allow you to work with these individuals more effectively.   Being able to understand ethnically diversified individuals will help to unlock their potential.   How can you teach these individuals to work together?   What can you do to motivate them to want to win or be successful? Employees become more productive when there is harmony in the workplace among co-workers.   This harmony comes from showing respect for individual differences.   An employer who values cultural smarts will often hire trainers to give their employees in house workshops on cultural diversity.   These workshops could cover nonverbal communication such as eye contact, which in some countries it is rude to make eye contact.   They might even discuss the use of hand gestures when speaking.   There are cultures where a handshake is offensive and the good ole American thumbs up can mean something completely different.   In Iraq, it means up yours. Cultural and language barriers are a challenge that needs to be beat in order for diversity programs to succeed.   Ineffective communication results in confusion, lack of teamwork and low morale.   There will always be that one employee who refuses to accept the fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing.   Attitude plays an important role in the positive progression is this type of attitude that can hinder progress.   Make language learning and support for language learning part of the team ethic and encourage people from different language backgrounds to communicate with each other.   For example, encourage co-workers and managers to reach out and learn each other’s names and to learn set, â€Å"ritualized† phrases in each other’s languages, such as â€Å"Hello,† â€Å"goodbye,† and â€Å"how are you?   Such small gestures go a long way towards improving workplace relationships because they demonstrate res pect and acceptance for all employees.   Eliminate prejudices and become sensitive to the needs of individuals who have different customs or traditions.   Pick an ethnic group and write down as many adjectives as you can that you feel describes the group.   See if there are similarities that apply to both your group and another ethnic group.   Become proactive at work and identify immigrants, talk to them, ask where they came from, what their goals are.   The best way to develop rapport is to find a common ground that can discussed and built upon, such as favorite food, holidays etc. Workplaces can benefit from the mix of cultures, traditions, and experiences. People of a different ethnic background bring new energy and vibrancy to the workplace.     This allows   people who do not naturally see the world in the same way to learn to work with each other, solve problems together, and collaborate for success.   We also need to understand gender differences in the workplace because gender may determine certain attitudes, behavior, and thinking.   Both men and women are equally competent in the work force.   We must show respect for each genders different approaches and views because doing so will be beneficial to everyone success.

Irony and Symbolism in Willa Cathers Pauls Case Essays -- Cather Pau

Irony and Symbolism in Willa Cather's Paul's Case   "Paul's Case," by Willa Cather, is a story that deals with a young boy who does not feel that he lives a life befitting of him. Upon a close reading, it is evident that "Paul's Case" is ruled by irony and symbolism, which are apparent in the story through the words of the narrator. The irony woven throughout the text builds up to an epiphonic moment, a main paradox in the story, which reveals to the reader Paul's true nature. Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware. In one class he habitually sat with his hand shading his eyes; in another he always looked out of the window during the recitation; in another he made a running commentary on the lecture, with humorous intention. Paul wanted everyone to think he was better than they were. Not only did he try to dress as if he were rich and important, his very actions displayed a great amount of disdain for everyone around him. Paul sees himself as superior. He carries himself with a haughty countenance and air about him, apparent in the description "Paul entered the faculty room suave and smiling." His attempts to portray himself as elegant is obvious in the adornments with which he tries to accentuate his attire: "he wore an opal pin in his neatly knotted black fourin-hand, and a red carnation in his button-hole." The irony in Paul's self-delusion lies in the way he is, in reality, seen by the rest of the world. While he thinks that he is dapper and winning in his ornamented garb, t... ...ft who is actually honest. To Paul, the ultimate place in life is to be a part of the upper class. Paul had to try very hard, and be very dishonest, to convey a certain image so that he would be accepted as a part of that class. At this moment, since the best place to be is the upper class, and if one must be dishonest to achieve high social status, Paul wonders how there can be anyone in the world who is honest because everyone should be striving to be a part of the upper class. As far as Paul is concerned, his deceitful measures were an acceptable means for achieving his goal. Works Cited and Consulted Brown M. & Crone R. Willa Cather the Woman and Her Works. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1970. Cather, Willa. â€Å"Paul’s Case.† The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter 6th ed. New York: Norton, 2000. 198-207.

Food Safety and Food Borne Diseases Essays -- Exploratory Essays

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food borne diseases cause an estimated 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. For many students, college is the first time many of you ever had to think about buying your own food or cooking for yourselves. As a result, many students are not educated in proper food safety precautions which can prevent many of these food borne diseases. Storing your food in the proper conditions is the first step in proper food safety. For meat, fish, and poultry, it is best to keep them in the coldest part of your refrigerator, which in most cases is in the drawers or the back of the bottom shelf. Storing meats on the top shelf may be more likely to leak and contaminate other foods that may be underneath. As a general rule of thumb, fresh poultry, seafood, and ground or chopped meat can be refrigerated for one to two days before cooking. Fresh red meat, cooked poultry, and meat leftovers can be refrigerated for three to five days, and lunch meats for three to seven day...

Fast Food vs Organic Essay

Have you ever sat and back and wondered why there are so many obese people in the U. S.? You would think that with all of the buzz about organic foods that we have available, that we would slowly be getting better with our weight as a country. Unfortunately the reality of the situation is organic food are expensive and with the way the economy is today many people are working on a budget and simply cannot afford to splurge on the organic items. So now that we know that lets look at the second half of that equation, Fast Food! Now as much as people criticize the fast food industry it’s convenient and like the name says fast. Now days most people do not want to come home after a long, hard day of work and slave over the stove to cook a hot meal for their family. However what they don’t realize is how much that food is poisoning us. Take McDonalds for example, it has been brought to the public’s attention just what goes on when they are making their food. The food looks like food that you would make in your kitchen, but it is actually manufactured. French fries use to be made by potatoes peeled in the back room and cut into strips. Today they are made in large factories, frozen and processed. Some of the ingredients are very fatty. Even though they have said that they â€Å"were† injecting the chicken nuggets with a pink dye, people are still running to the franchise for their food. I am not judging anyone by any means just stating my observations. Now if you think about it most families probably spend about $100 a week on fast food. Why would so people spend so much money on fast food you ask? Its simple it’s easy, and it’s convenient and inexpensive. Compared to other foods it’s something that working people and ordinary people can go out and enjoy. The design of a fast food restaurant is very well thought out. We form our eating habits as children so they try to nurture clients as youngsters. It’s very important that the fast food companies make sure that their fast food meals for children are healthier. In contrast the benefits of eating organic foods are great and if you can afford them should definitely take advantage of them. The are good for both the earth and the environment. The animals are living stress-free, free-grazing on the land and not being manufactured in deplorable living conditions. Organic farmers use less energy, less water resources, and NO pesticides. Organic farmers’ soil stays rich in content, moisture and nutrients due to careful management of land and using only natural organic matter to grow their crops. When industrialized agriculture arrives in farming communities, many farmers are forced out of business. Each month dozens of new pesticides, show up in local supermarkets and stores. Because they are advertised heavily are purchased and used and thus the destruction of the earth continues slow and steady. Organic farmers, live cleanly. Free of pesticides and toxins.

Out of Africa or Multiregional Theory Essay

For many years, scientists have wondered about the evolution of mankind. The two theories that scientists have come up with over the years to explain the theory of evolution were the multiregional theory and out of Africa theory. The multiregional theory expresses the idea that Homo erectus developed in different parts of the world. The out of Africa theory expresses that Homo erectus developed in Africa nearly two million-years-ago and as the temperatures changed, they moved throughout the world and developed differently. The multiregional view posits that genes from all human populations of the Old World flowed between different regions and by mixing together, contributed to what we see today as fully modern humans. The replacement hypothesis suggests that the genes in fully modern humans all came out of Africa. As these peoples migrated they replaced all other human populations with little or no interbreeding† (Johanson, 2001). The multi-regional hypothesis argues that our early hominid ancestors, including Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergensis, migrated out of Africa and thus the evolution of modern humans took place in different parts of the world – a process termed regional continuity. This theory places great emphasis on the notion of steady evolutionary alterations or changes that happen in different regions and produce diverse variations of the species. Evolution of this kind is kept at a regular rate due to an amalgamation of cultural progress and ‘gene flow’ or interbreeding, thus keeping all lineages evolving at the same time. This process is characterized as parallel evolution, which suggests a subtle morphological resemblance between populations of species who are geographically separated† (Edwards, 2012). â€Å"The out of Africa view posits that Homo erectus migrated out of Africa the different populations became reproductively isolated, evolving independently, and in some cases like the Neanderthals, into separate species Homo sapiens arose in one place, probably Africa Homo sapiens ultimately migrated out of Africa and replaced all other human populations, without interbreeding modern human variation is a relatively recent phenomenon† (Johanson, 2001). The Out of Africa theory predicts that the earliest fossils of Homo sapiens will only be found in Africa along with any transitional fossils, marking the evolutionary process of these modern humans. Such fossils will not be found outside this area. Secondly, this model suggests that modern-day human populations may not necessarily share lineages or links with the earlier populations that inhabited the same region. This idea stems from the notion that the new populations of modern humans that inhabit an area will replace any archaic Homo species that occupy this region, thus establishing a new lineage of descent. Evidence in support of these ideas exists through multiple sources, showing the clear superiority of this theory in contrast with the multi-regionalist model. Such evidence can be found in the striking research of molecular geneticists; research which supports the idea of modern humans arising in one place and subsequently spreading elsewhere† (Edwards, 2012). Both theories were further examined through anatomical, archaeological, and genetic evidence to prove which theory seems more valid. â€Å"The anatomical and paleogeographic evidence suggests that Neanderthals and early modern humans had been isolated from one another and were evolving separately into two distinct species† (Johanson, 2001). â€Å"The genetic studies support the view that Neanderthals did not interbreed with Homo sapiens who migrated into Europe. It is, therefore, highly likely that modern humans do not carry Neanderthal genes in their DNA. † (Johanson, 2001). â€Å"Archaeological evidence from Europe suggests that Neanderthals may have survived in the Iberian Peninsula until perhaps as recently as 30,000 to 35,000 years ago. Fully modern humans first appear in Europe at around 35,000-40,000 years ago, bringing with them an Upper Paleolithic tool tradition referred to as the Aurignacian. Hence, Neanderthals and fully modern humans may have overlapped for as much as 10,000 years in Europe. Again, with fully modern humans on the scene, it is not necessary to have Neanderthals evolve into modern humans, further bolstering the view that humans replaced Neanderthals. † (Johanson, 2001). The out of Africa theory is the theory most scientists are approving as the evolution of all humans due to fossil, anatomical and genetic evidence. â€Å"Researchers have discovered fossilized remains of two previously unknown primate species that lived 37 million years ago in what is now the Egyptian desert. The ancient teeth and jawbones of the tiny, monkeylike creatures shed new light on the poorly understood evolution of early anthropoids, a suborder of primates that includes apes, monkeys, and humans. The discovery, researchers say, is evidence that the common ancestor of living anthropoids arose in Africa and that anthropoids have been evolving on the now separated Africa-Arabia landmass for at least 45 million years† (Lovgren, 2005). All evidence points to the out of Africa theory being the most probable theory.

Software-Effect of Cultural Differences

Effect of Cultural Differences on Software Development A culture could be defined as the predominating attitudes and behaviour that characterizes the functioning of a group or organization. Through this paper we would like to address the effect of culture in the field of software development and one of the most commonly used model for development of a software Rapid Action Development (RAD). No matter what culture you are a part of; to develop software, a development model has to be followed. There are two different types of culture which affect the software development. 1.Culture difference between countries – People from different geographies think, act and react differently. There is no scientific relation between how two different individuals think or act on a given situation or scenario. It requires careful planning and judgement when working with an individual from a different culture. Some things might be normal for us but may be offending to someone else. With the adve nt of IT, the world is fast turning into a global village, the distances are diminishing. In such a scenario it’s expected that our colleagues can be from any part of the world.Hence it becomes all the more important to behave in a culturally sensitive manner. Negotiations with potential clients are more likely to succeed when concerned parties understand the reason for difference in view points. Fifty years ago, majority of the population lived in the same region they were born and employed in a single profession throughout their lives. The reality of working in a global company is almost the exact opposite. Employees of TCS interact and coordinate with colleagues in different time zones, in a foreign language and in global workgroups with members in distant countries.In order to make cross-cultural global cooperation work, cross-cultural competencies must be strengthened. Cultural differences, which can be seen, tasted, felt, smelled or heard, are not the ones that cause di fficulties. It is the invisible cultural differences that create misunderstandings – different value systems, attitudes, beliefs and expectations. To adopt a more customer centric approach, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is training all its employees to speak and understand at least one foreign language in a bid to become a global player in the knowledge sector.The move is not only limited to learn a language but also to make them conversant with other soft skills like culture and etiquette of at least one foreign country. Considering the diversity in cultures, our own experience with a North American based bank can be taken as an example here. This North American bank and Tata Consultancy Services have matured processes. Though a model driven approach is followed in both the companies, certain cultural factors are observed during the Software Development Life Cycle.Working in a multi-cultural environment for this North American bank has forced us to think about the cultural differences in software development. This bank is globalised in a true sense. We, Indians are currently working with colleagues from Greece, Sri Lanka, Russia, Romania and China. Where else would you get people of such diversity working towards one common goal of driving the business of the bank? 2. Culture of the organisation – Organisational culture lays out the values, beliefs, attitude and experience of a company. It may have been created unconsciously to align with the beliefs of the founder or top management personnel.The organisational culture we would like to describe here is of Closed Source and Open Source software development companies. Both these streams have their own beliefs and end goals. Main objective of a Closed Source organisation is profit and that precisely is the motive that drives these organisations. There strategy revolves around expanding their customer base and increasing the value of there stocks on the contrary Open Source organisations are non c ommercial in nature and the developers who participate do more for creative satisfaction than anything else.It’s just that the path they have chosen to conduct there business. Both the approaches have their own pros and cons. ? Model for Software Development The Rapid Application Development methodology was developed to respond to the need of delivering systems very quickly. Rapid Application Development, or RAD, began as a software development process developed in the 1980s. It is a methodology that involves iterative design, prototypes, and the use of CASE tools. RAD was designed as a response to previously limiting models, such as the waterfall method.The culture of an organization is a critical success factor in its process improvement efforts. â€Å"Culture† includes a set of shared values and principles that guide the behaviors, activities, priorities, and decisions. Due to RAD’s focus on quick delivery, certain project characteristics need to exist to fac ilitate the RAD processes: 1. Scope – focused scope with well-defined business objectives 2. Data – data already exists and focus is on analyzing and reporting that data 3. Team Size – very small, 6 or less 4. Technical Architecture – in place and tested 5.Technical Requirements – reasonable and within capabilities of technology being used Further, RAD requires management approval acceptance of certain tools, such as prototyping, iteration, and time boxing. Key Features of RAD RAD is composed of elements that are not new but are proven strategies. RAD differentiates itself from other systems analysis tools through its use of synergistic approaches based on the theory that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A. JAD – RAD utilizes facilitated workgroup sessions known as Joint Application Development sessions.JAD sessions are crucial in that they allow impartial facilitators to become part of the design process without becoming invo lved in the design decisions. Further, the use of JAD sessions, within RAD atmosphere, has been shown to dramatically reduce development costs and development time JAD facilitates the ultimate communication sessions and results in increased development success. We expect that professional software developers know how to do the â€Å"thing† right. Doing the right thing, though, requires an unambiguous understanding of what your customer expects. Proficiency of the English language becomes a key for all part of the project.Traditionally Business has been driven by market leaders like US and UK, by investing large sums of money in new ideas and emerging markets. Among India’s huge population of 1. 1 billion people, Hindi is the dominant and official language. Yet it’s important to note that, as a result of Britain’s long colonial involvement in India, an estimated 4% of the populace speaks English. This might not sound like much, but when you do the math, it turns out that you’re actually talking about 40+ million people, which makes India one of the largest English speaking countries in the world.This is one of the major reasons for the growth of IT and the ability of software companies from India to deliver consistently on time and with acceptable quality. B. Incremental Development – Like JAD, incremental development is nothing new and was developed in the mid 1980's. It’s believed that anything that passed 90 days of development missed the business opportunity window. The idea was to take the overall project and break it down into smaller pieces that can be analyzed, designed, and delivered incredibly faster than the original approach.RAD uses the 80/20 rule, which says that 80% of the value can be delivered with 20% of the application. By focusing on the required 20% of the application they are able to deliver the product with lighting speed. Systems analysts take advantage of constant feedback with the use of incremental development. The incremental delivery of prototypes allows the user to easily communicate what they actually want to the analyst. Through the use of incremental development, the user and the analyst approach a level playing field in terms of system requirements.With the growth of economies of the world, customers are aware about the complexities and with markets being opened up to globalization, the customer is able to convey his requirements to the analyst and this is translated to a solution C. Case Technology – Case technology is the third RAD element. Case has added new impetus to the JAD movement. With its emphasis on planning, analysis and design documentation capabilities, and a graphics language understood by both user and developer, Case both demands clearer communications and provides the idiom for it D. Small Teams-The last key element of RAD is the use of small teams of highly skilled and motivated people. Common sense tells us that bright, motivated people are likely to be highly productive. The only problem is finding those people! RAD seems to be applicable to most IS environments. It is especially appropriate when requirements are not well understood or easily pre-specified, as with many so-called â€Å"front office† departmental computing applications. In contrast, applications that depend on algorithmic complexity or require significant pre-specification, such as aerospace and defence systems, probably lend themselves less well to RAD methods.Management of RAD teams is by motivation towards achieving the optimum business solution. Those who see RAD as â€Å"seat-of-the-pants† development have missed its most critical aspects and will find themselves creating bad applications rapidly (or creating good applications without infrastructure, leading to bad systems and high maintenance overhead). RAD only makes sense after Case methods, JAD techniques and disciplined software processes have been established. 1. Eff ect of National Culture on Software development A. High Context Vs Low Context culture –Tasks are broken down to a detailed level, within each project, with dependencies identified and risk associated with each of the task, Stakeholders and reviewers would come to a common platform to evaluate the tasks, the time assigned to each task, the perceived risk and the mitigation strategy to be adopted. Though this being one of the crucial aspects of the project lifecycle, the team has noticed that the discussion tends to be prolonged with some meeting attendees trying to digress the topic in hand to more trivial issues.This is dependent on the project manager assigned to the project in guiding the team to delve into the more the tasks in hand and arriving at a logical decision point. A detailed discussion is carried out to implement any change in a truly low-context fashion. For we as Indians have a habit of assuming some things in a high context manner. This approach of targeting any issue in a detailed manner was the biggest difference in the initial days. All the stakeholders in a meeting narrate out their requirements and clearing out confusing details and finding out the real facts about something.The first and foremost difference observed during our day to day life is the detail and model driven approach implemented in this bank. This detail driven approach tends to increase the timelines of software delivery but improves the quality a little. Quality is of utmost importance when it comes to building software’s for banking solutions, aviation, nuclear plant etc. At the start of a project itself the cost of quality should be determined as to much effort would be sufficient. An optimum level of quality if sufficient would reduce the timelines as well as save the cost of resources which could be utilised later for another initiative.B. Personal Vs Professional life North American way of life tends to support a lifestyle to accommodate personal inter ests of an individual. Expanding ones hobbies, participating in cultural and outdoor activities apart from professional work. Life in the BRIC countries is more tuned to professional growth of an individual with respect to the socio-economic fabric in the society. Boom in the software and its ancillary divisions is contributing to the growth in the per capita income and has lessened the gap from the haves and the have-nots.Job security in the BRIC countries is growing and is helping the individuals to build a life beyond their workstations. BRIC countries are now opening their market to the world, has brought in influx of capital, work culture from Multi national software companies. All said and done the economic structure of BRIC countries are still not mature enough to allow individual to look far beyond their professional boundaries. It is happening but will take some time before it becomes a part of life.Being more inclined towards their professional life rather than personal th e work force of BRIC countries delivers the same product as offered by Western country at a much reduced timeline as well as at a throw away price. This dedication though is having its toll on the work force which tend to be more unsatisfied with there job than there western counterparts. C. Income and Demographics Demography is observed to be playing an important role in the way the world is shifting work. The large impact of this change is observed on Information Systems. The average age of a professional is much more in western countries than in the BRIC countries.Young work force in BRIC countries tend to pick up things faster, readily adapt to different situations and work environment and importantly are available at a relatively lower cost than those in developed countries The decline in working-age population and unavailability of resources on emerging technologies in developed countries is leading to a large shift of the work to the BRIC countries. A young resource in India can learn under the guided training programs and implement the emerging technologies with ease whereas the learning curve of an individual in a western country is much longer span of time.Apart from this due to difference in the economic value of the currency of the western and BRIC countries, the companies in BRIC countries are able to provide same software solutions at a much lower cost as compared to the companies in developed countries. This is a win-win situation for both the client and the vendor, client is able to get solution at a cheaper cost and the vendor generates more revenues. D. Innovative approach The people in developed countries tend to be more innovative than the one’s in the BRIC countries. Being Innovative is encouraged and is a part of life.With their stable economic background and sufficient fund to promote any aspiring talent they encourage a lot of research and development activities. Most of the new path breaking companies and softwares are developed by western countries. The work force of BRIC countries do not lack the talent but the problem lies in the economy of the country which still require international funds to cater to the needs of its growing population. The software companies in these countries tend to pick up service oriented assignments, as they can be easily executed and it brings in much required funds to develop the economy of the country.Any innovation is these countries are mainly due to an inspired individual alone with little or no support from the government. We can take the example of a country like Israel which being so small in size still has a high innovation quotient. The North American bank for which we work has only two employees working in the performance test lab but still they have sanctioned a few million dollars to buy a quality centre tool. There were no long meetings or debate to discuss the viability of the adventure. Top management thought that the tool may be handy and hence they approved.T hey could have done that only because they were backed by a department worth billions of dollars. 2. Organisational culture differences Since inception, Organisations have a culture where a hierarchical line of authority is maintained. These hierarchies have in fact ensured that work is done where the collective abilities the companies’ employees are harnessed and a finished product is thus deployed. Compare this against a massive online community in a virtual organization where the employees are spread across the globe, exploiting the power of communication and collaboration in a gigantic manner.Millions of employees of a virtual organisations use blogs, wikis, chat rooms and personal broadcasting mediums to add their voice to a constructive medium of dialogue. Thanks to Internet, masses of people outside the boundaries of traditional hierarchies can innovate to produce content, goods and services. This paradigm shift in the culture of an organisation, vanishing of the hiera rchies is having enormous impact on Software development as well. They contribute to this organisation thereby prepare a finished product – including cars, airplanes – which are perceived to be some of the most complex products.Software majors in India including Tata Consultancy Services are handling the outsourced work of major aircraft manufactures. TCS has a blogosphere for its employees where more than a hundred thousand of its employees share their thoughts on various topics to guide the company to the next generation of software Development. This is a cultural shift started by the Open Source movement to challenge the monopoly of some players in the development and deployment of software. Thousands of employees of TCS collaborate in real time, exchange ideas with the CTO of the company reading and commenting on some of them.One of the writers of this paper has more than 100 videos on the internet with three hundred thousand views so far and the number is growing day by day. Thanks to Internet, masses of people outside the boundaries of traditional hierarchies can innovate to produce content, goods and services. This paradigm shift in the culture of an organisation, vanishing of the hierarchies is having enormous impact on Software development as well. They contribute to this organisation thereby prepare a finished product – including cars, airplanes – which are perceived to be some of the most complex products.Below we compare some of the features of an Open Source vs. Closed Source culture. A. Open Source projects TCS using Open Source Culture to its full potential The firm of the future needs to be a people-intensive firm. In the new Open Source culture, managers need to give due consideration to future threats and depend more than ever on human imagination, creativity and initiative. Twenty First Century Software majors in India including Tata Consultancy Services are handling the outsourced work of major aircraft manufactu res.This aircraft manufacturing major has taken the collaboration to a new level by engaging its peer in a real time manner. Firm of the Future The organisation that will excel in the next generation will be the one that recognises information as a major resource and knowledge as an important structure in and of itself. This organisation will use information and knowledge as efficiently as it does its other resources and assets. The difference between success and failure in an Open Culture will be about sharing enough of the right information about designs and methods.The intellectual and knowledge management will be the toughest challenges for the firms in the coming years. Information is a resource like money and material. It has a cost and value. It is less understood because it is less tangible. The unique character of information is that its supply is useless. The future firms need to fathom this fact that information becomes more valuable with use and when properly applied can greatly enhance the use of other resources. A big chunk of the workforce for these companies will come from Generation Y (Born between 1980 and 1995).The Gen Y associate on an average would have better exposure to emerging trends and would have a global outlook. As the Global Delivery Model for the software firms matures, the employees of such companies would increasingly find themselves working in culturally diverse distributed teams. While this is an exception today, soon this can become the norm. Collaborative Software Development platforms can become a norm and accelerate this trend. Thus the firm of the future and in particular the software firm needs to inculcate the open source culture as it is here to stay.The changing demographics, advent of internet, the collaborative features of Web2. 0 will give way to new ways of working and collaborating. The cultural inertia has to fade off to stay in the competition. We won’t be surprised if TCS employees start introducing th emselves as â€Å"I am a TCSer working in project XYZ and member of the TCS Java and oracle blogging community†. These informal affiliations can gain enterprise wide legitimacy. Advantages of the mass collaboration culture ?Reduction of Cost: One of the foremost advantages of adopting the Open culture is its monetary benefits.The sole and whole purpose of driving this cultural change, fading off the cultural inertia and adopting new ways of developing the same thing is that it reduces cost for companies who are adopting and driving this change. For IBM alone who along with Red Hat was one of the few companies to join the Open source bandwagon, the cost reduction is $900 million annually. Self-organised Operating System like Linux marshals the efforts of thousands of scattered individuals, sometimes in miraculous ways. ?More user involvement: Let us take an example of user involvement from the Mozilla Firefox Internet browser.After the elimination of Netscape, Microsoft has no t experienced any real competition in the web browser market. But now, the introduction of Mozilla Firefox, an open source Web browser that allows users to alter the code and create plug-ins and customized extensions that the users can download. We put on our thinking hats on for the TCS web mail which we use extensively. Some of the major disadvantages observed in the web mail are that †¢The user interface is clunky in that it is poorly designed from a user perspective. †¢The UI has several unused features.So the TCS innovation lab came up with a script which quickly put together a script that runs this into this as illustrated in the screen prints below. ? ? Not to mention this is only applicable to an Open source browser like Mozilla firefox which hinges on the user creativity and imagination. This might act as a starting point where many of the internal One might be tempted to question the whole deal behind this small example given above. The big deal is that the futur e of software development lies in delivering Service Oriented, semantically correct systems that allow end users to tweak their user experience.So what else is possible for TCS like Software Development companies in the future? †¢Project Leader specific customizations and generation of reports. †¢Bringing the timesheet page on the front page of the internal website on Fridays only. †¢Right click Employee Number and be presented with a palette of information such as â€Å"Lowest/Highest rating received by the employee†, â€Å"Employee basic information†. This shows that if one does not stay current with the users, they invent around you, creating opportunities for competitors. ?More power to the end userIn the software industry, publishing code on the internet has enabled companies to focus the shift to applications, integration and services. By using peer production to involve way more people who are external to the organisations, a futuristic firm can d evelop customer solutions in a smart way. Without the Open source culture, we would just have a set of monopolies, creating what can be termed as â€Å"Feudalism in Softwareâ€Å". Understanding and applying this new culture to competitiveness means dispelling the cultural inertia. Collectively, these examples suggest a range of ways in which peer production creates value and competitive advantage.Challenges to the Open Source culture: Critics of Open Source culture have always argued that it will no longer be clear who owns what or how individuals and companies will profit from their creations. The challenge lies how does a company manage its information sensitive resources in a way it does give enough freedom to the user to expand his horizons. But also keeps the essential features with the company itself so as to benefit from it. The pioneer of the Apache web server – which currently powers 70 percent of all Web sites – Brian Behlendorf did not make a dime off it! But truly speaking, the inventors never intended to make money out of it. Thus embracing this new culture of Open Source means new ways of wealth creation, new ways to innovate and developing software at an accelerated rate. B. Proprietary or Closed Source System: Another approach for providing software solution is Closed source or proprietary system. It could be defined as â€Å"a system in which the specifications are kept proprietary or closed to prevent third party hardware of software to be used. It has a restriction on copying and modification. Restriction could be either legal or technical.Legal restriction is like software licensing, copyrights etc. Technical restrictions are usually implemented by releasing only machine readable format instead of complete source code. â€Å" The following below listed points lists down its various features which in turn affects software development. †¢Innovation driven by motivation – As opposed to an open source project a clo sed source initiative generates more revenues due to licensing, patents of software etc. Over a long term higher revenue implies having a dedicated team of developers motivated which otherwise becomes difficult in open source as it’s not a money spinner. Mission critical projects – Traditionally open source software are considered to be more secure as the source code is reviewed by thousands of tech savvy developers. Though this holds true in many cases but still mission and time critical projects prefer a closed source. Any tweak in that code can cost severe damage to the society and country. For example software of a jet liner or a nuclear reactor has to be a closed source. It simply cannot be risked to use an open source for them. †¢Stable development environment – Closed source projects are usually developed in a stable environment. It has enough potential in it o take all the variables into consideration and tie it all together so that it just acts as a piece of hardware. A closed source initiative iphone has had only one release till now whereas linux has had hundreds of upgrades. The environment is turbulent for open source initiatives to focus on its criteria †¢Contractual agreement – Before opting for a closed source solution a potential client has to make a decision about the money to be spent and the amount of transparency they require. A closed source will tie them with an agreement; they won’t have any access to the source code as well. Vendor support – Proprietary software provides proper vendor support, they generally have a dedicated helpdesk assigned to address public queries and issues. Proprietary solution also comes along with proper documentation as well which helps the customers to do some debugging themselves and also makes them aware of the different features and configuration of the system. The vendor is bound by contractual agreement to provide adequate documentation and support â₠¬ ¢Better life cycle – Closed source projects usually have a better development life cycle. It has a dedicated team of developers working towards a common goal.They also have a separate test labs to ensure performance and functionality of the application. This difference becomes more glaring when the code grows to millions of lines; it becomes difficult for naked eye to identify and fix a problem and adjudicate the effect of that fix on other portions of code. It requires proper automated debugging tool. This kind of a setup is difficult for an open source company to acquire. †¢Security – Being transparent causes open source system to be more secured as it is reviewed by thousands of developers but being obscure provides a different kind of a security to closed source system.It protects the codes from potential hackers. They are not able to read the code and figure out the loop holes. Take the example of an anti virus software. If the source code of that is releas ed for everyone to review the hackers and virus programs will just paralyse the entire computer industry. †¢User interface requirement – A project which requires a good and intuitive interface should go for a proprietary product. Especially if the users are not that well versed with the computer culture. We can take the example of Windows or MAC OS which automatically creates a wow from the user just because of their user friendliness.Even for a novice user they are not that hard to figure out. Now compare this to a KDE or Gnome shell which might make a new user scratch their head off. Precisely because of this UNIX is more used at the back end. †¢Driven by an end target – A project developed in closed source is usually with a end goal in mind. They align all there activities towards achieving the end result. For open source products there is a tendency of the developers to code keeping themselves in mind. They don’t consider that whatever is intuitive to them may not be to others. Budget constraint – A closed source initiative have a finite amount of budget, depending upon the intermediate milestones achieved, political acumen of the project lead that can vary whereas an open source initiative depends on how much time its developers can dedicate. For long running projects with no real monetary benefit it becomes difficult to keep the developers interested. †¢Scheduling – Closed source projects have predefined schedules which may be altered according to market conditions or to coincide with any event. Strategic marketing – A proprietary software has a separate marketing team looking in to build the hype and increasing the curiosity of the potential customers. It gives sort of a head start to such projects. †¢Organisational limitations – A proprietary product can suffer from organisational limitations. In a corporate environment there are a lot of senior management level people making decision s on the behalf of the developers. The framework to use, the language to code in, data base to use, architecture to be followed. The developers are stuck with the choice that has been made on their behalf. Quality of resource – A developer working on a closed source project might have been chosen for reasons other than technical skills. The reason maybe the seniority of the resource, their relationship with a top management official etc. This problem is usually not observed in a resource working on an open source project as most of the resources themselves have self volunteered for work. It mostly consists of motivated workforce who works for fame rather than money. †¢User limitations – Commercial or closed source products tends to balance the demand of its user base with the goal of increasing shareholders value.They tend to view things from the profit perspective. Their end motive is to generate revenue for the company whereas open source developers are free fro m this restriction and can concentrate on satisfying the needs of its user base. Their approach is non-commercial in nature. †¢Market limitations – Being profit minded; closed source organisations tend to include a lot of features on their product just to attract potential client. With time, the point of interest can shift towards those additional features which may not necessarily be part of original requirement. This may incur additional time and money. External factors affecting the end goal – There maybe other external factors apart from the user requirement which may change the features or the way a product is supposed to work. There might be constraint to be backward compatible or to be compatible from other applications from the same stable or a top management thinks otherwise of the way the software is supposed to work. ? 3. References 1. Wikinomics – Dan Tapscott and Anthony Williams 2. The IT Revolution in India – F. C. Kohli 3. The World i s Flat – Thomas L. Friedman 4. Dreaming with BRICs: The path to 2050. A Global Economics paper by Roopa Purushottam and Dominic Wilson

Advertising to Lgbt Community

Advertising to LGBT community: Producing ads that cater to gay audience is complex, and neither the pro- nor the anti-gay market view appears to be adequately addressing the issues. The problem seems to be that both demand that advertisements show life not â€Å"it should be† rather than how â€Å"it is†. We have observed in various case studies that we have followed in our course of ‘Integrated Marketing Communication’ that advertisers mostly tend to show lives a shade brighter than it really is, especially in those campaigns where we are trying to sell products by making the consumer feel good about themselves.This approach however leads to the LGBT invisibility and homophobic representations. Even when the LGBT people are identified as target segment or forming some part of the target segment, stereotype creeps into the picture. In the next segment, we talk about stereotype in marketplace. The Stereotype in marketplace Stereotype haunts LGBT people not o nly in streets but also in media and in marketplace. In marketplace, stereotyping may not be because of a bias or a preconceived notion about the community. It can be because of incomplete information – a bane for any marketer.For instance, we have already discussed that collecting gay and lesbian demographic data is way too difficult. Although law is more favorable and dare we say accepting to the community, cultural issues still hinder people to come all out about their ‘unconventional’ sexual and gender orientations. Now this difficulty in gathering data has consequences, such as that people of modest income and poorer people are ignored as part of the gay market. They are hence absent from gay images in marketing, as they usually are in mainstream ads.Economic stereotype An ideal gay consumer would usually be stereotyped as affluent, educated, and childless. This apparently contrasts with better representative observations of gay, lesbian, and bisexual consum ers. As the famous economics professor Lee Badgett in his paper â€Å"Income Inflation: The Myth of Affluence among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Americans,† notes: â€Å"Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people do not earn more than heterosexual people; gay, lesbian, and bisexual people do not live in more affluent households than heterosexual eople; two studies show that gay men earn less than similarly qualified heterosexual men. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual people are found throughout the spectrum of income distribution: some are poor, a few are rich, and most are somewhere in the middle, along with most heterosexual people. † As it is widely observable fact that on an average, women get paid lesser than men in similar jobs in most part of the world, a female homosexual household would obviously be poorer than their male counterpart or a heterosexual household.Also, female homosexual couple is more likely to have children than a male homosexual household and so on. Behavioral stereotype: In media gay men are often portrayed as sissies, gaudy flamers, intimidating, always on the prowl and/or pedophilic sexual predators. Similarly lesbians are depicted mostly as misandrist feminists and (worst of all) as an object of heterosexual men’s feminine fantasies. Challenge to advertisers Big task of advertisers here, would be to distance themselves from these preconceived imagery and to produce a gay image of relevance yet recognizable.

Marry Shellys Frankenstein Essay

In the story there are obvious sections, there are a few reasons for this. As you read the book you realize that the story is subdivided. There are different forms of narrative in the story. This varies from letterform at the start of the story, different narrators and letters sent to people in the story. In Frankenstein there are three different narrators, these are the monster, Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. The narrative set up is rather like an onion. This is because you have the main narrator, the monster, in the middle then Victor and then finally on the outside Walton. Robert Walton would have been seen as a Romantic hero because of his rebellious ways. Mary Shelly choose Robert Walton’s character because she wants him to be a rebel, which also links him to Victor Frankenstein as victor is a rebel as well. Mary Shelly links Robert Walton to Romantics. Firstly Romantics have interest in nature, rather like Robert Walton who is going on a voyage to the North Pole. Also Romantics rebelled against social rules. Robert Walton is rebelling against what Shelley calls the rules of nature as he goes on an expedition to the undiscovered. There are many Romantic heroes from various books like Odysseus from The Odyssey. But there are also other rebellious heroes many of who are from myths and legends. One of the main rebellious heroes was Prometheus who gave fire to man against Zeus’ will and was punished for it. Shelly presents Robert Walton as a rebel, rather like Victor Frankenstein. We no that Robert Walton is a rebel firstly because he rebels against the limitations of knowledge, he is going to the North Pole. He says, â€Å"I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited. † This means that he wants satisfy his need for knowledge by searching the ‘unknown’ world. We also know he is a rebel as his father forbids him to go on a voyage, which he is doing. Also we see that he doesn’t desire luxuries or an easy life, he says â€Å"My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to every enticement that wealth placed in my path. † This also shows that he will go a long way for glory and that he would much prefer glory than luxury and ease. Victor Frankenstein is seen as an amazing being through Robert Walton’s eyes through their time together. Shelly describes Frankenstein through the eyes of Robert Walton as a â€Å"Divine wanderer†. Also Walton Says that he is, â€Å"so gentle, yet so wise†. From Shelly’s choice of words we can see that Robert Walton sees Victor Frankenstein as a person with superhuman qualities. Therefore throughout Robert Walton’s letter we can see that Robert Walton looks up to Victor Frankenstein as a rebellious hero and as an amazing being. Structurally, Shelly’s opening to the novel is quiet strange. At the start of the novel you have Robert Walton’s letters and then Shelly follows the letters with Victors personal story. I believe that the way Shelley has opened the novel may be strange but it is effective trough out the sequence. By using different narratives Shelly encourages the reader to compare and contrast the viewpoints of Victor Frankenstein and Robert Walton. From Chapter one Mary Shelly proceeds to create the character of Victor Frankenstein through his own narrative. Interestingly, she reveals that like the first narrator, Robert Walton, Victor Frankenstein has had the desire to reach new depths of scientific research since he was a child. Mary Shelly shows the reader the parallels between the two narrators, Robert Walton and Victor Frankenstein. Firstly the reader can see that Frankenstein and Walton are alike, as they both want to rebel against the limitation of knowledge. The reader knows this as Walton wants to find new undiscovered things by going to the North Pole and Frankenstein wants to create life. Also the reader can see that the two of the narrators are alike as they both rebel against their father. Finally the reader can see the similarities in the characters as they both say that they have had the desire to reach new depths of scientific research since they where children. Luke Garner 10Pd English Literature Mr Dorefeyev Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Short answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Short answer - Assignment Example In this case, individual names may come into use or the use of names of acquaintances. These sequences often vary widely between composers. Schumann used such sequences in some of his compositions. One of the cryptograms he used was Scha (E-flat, C, B natural, A) as a representative for self in carnaval. In other cases, he used the reverse sequence of ASCH (Daverio 65-70). Music in the romantic era was an avenue that allowed the composers to express their emotions freely without hindrance. There were different types of music in this era. Schubert’s composition ‘the death and the maiden’ belonged to the category of ‘lied’ that combined an art song and the piano. ‘The death and the maiden’ was slow, accompanied by piano, and expressed the strongest of emotions of death. These traits make it fit in the romantic era. Schubert makes use of several devices to portray the characters of the famous poem ‘Erlkonig’. The story depicted in the poem has the narrator, father, boy, and Erlkonig. Schubert used different voice ranges with narrator using the middle range. He assigned the father a low range and a high range for the son while the Erlking stands out with the use of melody and piano adjustments. There are triplets of piano repetitions before the appearance of the ghostly Erlking. As the Erlking speaks, the piano produces rises and falls of arpeggios. There is a hastening of the pace as the father makes attempts of rescuing his son (Daverio

How new are the 'new wars' Evaluate Kaldor's thesis with respect to Essay

How new are the 'new wars' Evaluate Kaldor's thesis with respect to both the newness of the empirical trends she identifies and - Essay Example Mary Kaldor coined the term new war in her 1999 book ‘New and Old Wars’. Kaldor’s new war thesis is the most widely acknowledged in the new war debates. Kaldor described new war â€Å"as being increasingly fought over new identities rather ideologies, by non-state combatants rather than regular state armies, engaging in attacks on the civilian population rather than direct military encounters, and undermining rather than building the sate† (Rigterink 2012, n.p.). The thesis has been critics savaged especially on the empirical ground. This paper evaluates the Kaldor’s thesis with respect to the newness of the empirical trends identified in trying to answer that question whether new war are really new. The two world wars especially the Second World War made it necessary that globally systems be put in place to address any inter- states conflicts and civil wars. There has been a large success in addressing inter-states conflicts and wars, but clearly co nflicts and violence has not been banished (World Bank 2011, cited in Kaldor 2013). The increase of different actors in wars: criminal gangs, mercenary groups, local warlords and paramilitary units only contribute to make wars more complex (Kaldor 2006, p.9). The emerging trend of new wars is characterized by increased violence and a higher ratio of civilian to the military casualties. Munkler (2002, p. 15) adds that the new wars are â€Å"more bloody than any other kind of war since 1945.† According to Kaldor (2006, p.9), the ratio of civilians to military combats have increased from 1:8 in old wars to about 8:1in the new wars. In her article, In defense of new wars, Kaldor says that new wars are a means to elucidating the logic of contemporary war with the aim of offering a research strategy and guide to policy (Kaldor 2013). She argues that new wars need not be looked only in terms of its empirical basis; otherwise, truth will be lost. She, however, agrees that some of the critics are indeed valid but then the existence of new wars should not be lost so that the political elements of the wars can be addressed (Kaldor 2013). How new is the new war thesis? Kadlor argues that the wars we are experiencing today are indeed different in character from the old interstate wars. She gives a distinction between the old and the new war with respect to a complex of non-state actors; irregular participants and fighting; violence targeting civilians; prevalence of identity politics; widespread criminality; absence of centralized states directions; and transnational networks participation in providing financing, soldiers, and weapons (Kaldor 2006). Critics, however, argue that there is nothing new about the stated elements that indeed all have been experienced in various past conflicts. The truth is that the elements described are not entirely new but what Kadlor intended in proposing the new war thesis was that new strategy need to be embraced in researching the p resent conflicts and in policymaking (Kadlor, 2013). Critics, for example, that the states are being involved in today’s war will misses the point of the new war logic, since the new war thesis only offers input that a new trend of non-state actors are being drawn into the war without refuting the fact that states actors are still operation. Therefore, it would be important that one concludes that though new war have emerged it does not imply that the old forms of wars are no longer in play.

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss Essay - 9

There is a real danger of a house price bubble in London. Discuss - Essay Example Currently, effects of the bubble cause disruption in housing and economic system in London. The danger in housing bubble is becoming more eminent due to factors surrounding the London economy. UK housing bubble is demand related with prices falling slightly in 2008 due to low demands (Economic Outlook, 2013, p.6). Identification of economy bubble is easy contrary to beliefs of many economists. Signs of housing bubble were evident in London over two years ago. Over a year since then, the prices have continued to rise making the more unaffordable to people. This poses many dangers to those living or willing to live in London city, as the cost of living will also is unbearable. The house price bubble probably affects all the sectors in London’s economy. Localization of the effect of house price bubble has base in London alone now and other areas may experience their own bubbles. Rise in houses prices does not currently discriminate location of the area. It takes place all over the city. At first, one may think investors have taken even the poor regions of the city due to high prices. Percentage house prices increases in Brent and Lambeth were almost similar to those in Hammersmith & Fulham and Westminster. The rate of price rice in London is above that in any place in Britain and the rise is consistent since 2003 while all other factors changed slightly. House price rise estimation is at 18 percent. Although the rate of increase has not reached tat of 2007, its overall prices remain high than those in 2007. Building society has confirmed that t this percentages are greater than they had been before. The impact of high house prices affects the economy, which in turn cause low living standards. High debts numbers has macroeconomic impact that may cause recession, which has great effects. The house prices in comparison to employees’ wages bring out the effect clear. In the past decade, salaries payable to any

Close Analysis of Citizen Kane Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Close Analysis of Citizen Kane - Assignment Example Strong backlighting is applied in making the characters appear anonymous to the viewers; for example, when Kane is told that Mariah has been packing the entire morning. Smoke was filled in a room to illustrate the light beams that emanate from the projectors and the lamps. Cinematography utilizes great composition. This is effectively through mirror reflection. The reflection shows, analysis of the life of the characters, and also illustrating adequately composed image. The mirror enables the camera to illustrate several reflections of the characters. The inventive application of lighting and shadow in the film shows a genre that has dark and moody environment to illustrate mysterious and violent scenes. Like the scene where Kane tries in vain to convince Susan to stay. Classical Hollywood narrative is a concept applied in film history. The narrative illustrates both visual and sound techniques for developing motion pictures and production techniques in the American film sector, during the period â€Å"golden age of Hollywood.† Citizen Kane is classic film; this is because it was produced during the â€Å"golden age of Hollywood.† Classical film style applies the continuity editing principle. This is because the sound recording and the camera do not concentrate on themselves. In Citizen Kane, the cameras also focus on the background, like the several statues at the beginning of the clip. The classical narration has psychological motivation. This illustrates the human character will, towards a given goal. Kane illustrates the great desire to convince Susan not to leave. But, Susan has made up her mind to leave, despite the pleas of Kane. Classical Hollywood narrations have continuous time flow. The flow is only interrupted during flashback. Flashback is applied in Citizen Kane to show the memory sequence. Classical Hollywood overcomes the two

Teacher Tenure in California Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Teacher Tenure in California - Research Paper Example he teachers become eligible for the tenure they gain security towards their position and can only be dismissed if the school authority is able to put forward a just cause. The state law even proposed that the tenured teachers may be dismissed if they are giving unsatisfactory performance (Jederberg 43). However, as per the policy if the performance of students is low in the state it is not considered to be a condition for dismissal of teachers which in turn has resulted into more number of students exhibiting low performance. The dismissal conditions as highlighted by the court decision states that the school authority needs to give a prior notice to the employee before initiating any form of proceedings regarding dismissal due to unsatisfactory performance of a teacher. The teacher tenure policy majorly focused towards the well being of students and to retain those teachers who performed well and discard those who are not able to meet the standards of the school policy. The ones who supported the policy stated that the policy majorly aimed towards development and growth of students so that they are able to perform well in their career path. The other end of this provision was that it provided the flexibility to the school authority to focus more on performing teachers and reduce the cost by eliminating those teachers who did not perform well. The notice that would be given to the teachers before the dismissal must also include some of the behavioral instances that need to be communicated three months prior to filing charges. The major purpose of the policy was not to hide the underperforming teachers behind the tenure and to facilitate more of academic achievement of the students. There are almost 6 million students who are enrolled in the public s chools of California and thus the law was to support these students so that they are provided with an appropriate guidance. The tenure is always a security provision for teachers but this policy was aligned more towards

Materiality in Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Materiality in Auditing - Essay Example As per IASB, the term ‘materiality’ refers to the information that are is important if their its exclusion or inaccurate presentation could shape the economic decision of the users of the financial statement of a business. The Materiality rests upon the magnitude of the evaluated element or error in some scenario of the auditor’s omission or inaccurate presentation. The Materiality depicts the significance of an exclusion or of an incorrect presentation of an accountancy data or information which will impact the decision of a user of such accountancy information. As per ISA (UK&I) 320 , materiality in planning and carrying over out an audit means that the auditor employs the notion of materiality in planning and carrying over out the audit to identify material misstatements. Moreover, at the final  end of the auditing, the auditor will decide whether the unrectified misstatements recognised are either in aggregate or individually material to the financial statements or not. Thus, in deciding the materiality, auditor has to exercise his judgment. An omission or misstatement can be evaluated to be material or immaterial by virtue of their its nature or size or a mixture of both (FRC 2013:7). The auditor is anticipated to design and carry out an audit that offers a reasonable promise that materials’ misstatements will be exposed. Both materiality and audit risk are interconnected in that audit risk is explained in terms of materiality. If there is a material misstatement present in the financial statement even after the audit has been executed , in such case auditor will be held responsile for not highlighting the materiality (Rittenberg, Johnstone & Gramming 2011:135). The notion of materiality offers flexibility to financial reporting, and this can result in abuse. Corporations may record â€Å"small† errors

Tourism and the Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Tourism and the Media - Essay Example 25 percent of animals showed antibody evidence of infection (CDC, 2006). Swine flu is the viral disease which affects pigs. It is also considered as a severe respiratory disease which destroys entire the respiratory system of pigs. According to World Health Organisation, â€Å"morbidity tends to be high and mortality low in pigs†. This means that the virus spreads rapidly and kills one to four percent of its victims. The new H1N1 virus has genetic elements of North American swine flu and avian flu. This ‘new strain of swine flu’ is not affecting pigs. The symptoms which arise in Swine flu are fever, cough, muscle pain as well as extreme tiredness along with diarrhoea (The Sunday Times, 2009). The name swine flu was referred because from the testing it was detected that several genes were related to that of flu viruses that existed in the pig in North America. However, later it was tested that this virus is different from the North American pigs’ virus. This virus possessed two genes one from flu virus of pig in Europe and Asia and other gene from influenza virus in human and birds (Johnson, 2009). The virus of Swine flu is constantly changing as other influenza viruses. The influenza virus from different species affects pigs and as a result the viruses swap genes which results in emergence of new virus. The H1N1 virus causes illness to human in several countries. This virus is a generic combination of various viruses from pigs, human and birds. This recent concept of virus becomes challenging for most of the people’s immune system in order to fight against this virus (Toucan ED, n.d.). The name Swine flu is given to a current ‘strain’ of influenza or flu that was affecting the human lives.... This paper approves that it was found that the people were much related to the newspaper and social sites regarding such outbreak of epidemic disease in their country. Thus, it can be recommended that the people in order to get complete and viable information regarding such deadly disease and their protection instead of consulting this confusing media and sites, requires proper consultation from medical person. The people must judge properly before visiting any place during this time. As there was global attack of this disease, the restriction was developed only for Mexico and the US; thus the tourists cancelled their trip only to these places but other places remained unrestricted. The people visited other countries as there was no restriction from the media but did not go to Mexico. This essay makes a conclusion that with reference to the above observation, it was observed that the whole world was affected extensively by the pandemic disease named as Swine flu. Along with all the countries, the US and Mexico faced huge challenges and difficulties during this period of outbreak. The countries were suffering from economic slowdown as the major business sector of the country was in great loss. The tourism industry as considered as the major revenue outcome of Mexico was declining its business growth. Along with the tourism industries and related business, the hotel industry’s growth also slowed down. Various luxury hotels in Mexico remained unoccupied as the number of visitors postponed their trip to Mexico. The airline industry was in economic hardship because the numbers of flights in Mexico were reduced.

Quality of Life Essay Example for Free

Quality of Life Essay Twenty first century is witnessing a world that has become an increasingly diverse and complex place. Changing global trends are causing a paradigm transformation of social and cultural systems. Western societies are experiencing an accelerated aging and people in general have evolved a misconception about today’s elderly. They are perceived as being sick, isolated, self-centred and a burden on society, which is totally false. There is a need to develop social cohesion between generations and within the older generation to understand the matter in correct perspective. An effort has been made in this paper to focus on this key issue and highlight the importance of inter and intragenerational relationships to quality of life to older people. The present demographic profile of the United Kingdom reflects a number of consistent and marked trends. People are living increasingly longer, the birth rate is showing a steady decline and the mean age is increasing steadily. By 2031, the over 80s population is predicted to double to 5 million, according to the Office of National Statistics. If the health of the elderly population follows current trends that will mean people spend more of their lives fighting various illnesses. Since 1981, the amount of time women can expect to live in poor health has increased by 15%. For men, the length of poor health rose by 34% (Triggle, 2004). Besides health, older people face the mobility problems, poor transport and lack of finance. Car usage declines with age and varies by sex. 77 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women aged 65-74 in 2001 in Great Britain had access to automobiles (National Statistics, 2006). Today, we can observe a significant change in family structures. The realignment of family ethos has caused varying degrees of separation between the young and old members of families and affected familial relationships negatively. As people age and their working lives end, they may have more free time available to spend in a social circle. Barriers of older life further enhance the necessity to promote inter and intragenerational relationships. This paper scrutinizes the various dimensions of quality of life at old age. It overviews the factors affecting quality of life and highlight the significance of relationships at old age. Components of Quality of Life  Quality of life is a wide ranging term. The Department for Work and Pensions of UK (2006) identifies five domains as the most relevant to assessing progress in older people’s quality of life: 1) Independence within inclusive communities. 2) Healthy, active living. 3) Fairness in work and later life. 4) Material well-being. 5) Support and care. Independence within inclusive communities necessitates to address issues like exercising independence, exercising choices that give them control over key aspects of their lives, and participation in local community through inter and intragenerational relationships. Health and active living deals with problems like access to healthcare proportionate to older peoples needs. Fairness in work and later life encompasses factors like job opportunities, involvement in decisions that affect their lives, and no age discrimination in access to goods, services and employment. Material wellbeing includes sustaining key elements of their previous lifestyle, and using their resources to best effect. Support and care encompasses the supply of care and support, availability of support in a variety of forms to meet diverse needs, affordable care, and protection to older people from abuse. Factors Affecting Quality of Life of Older People Good quality of life in old age is a realistic ambition for all. Early old age, sometimes called the Third Age, between 55 and 75 years old, is the phase of life between leaving the labour market and the onset of physical dependency. There are a number of factors that affect quality of life at this age. A research study carried out by Dr Blane (2003) concluded that quality of life for the affluent-healthy is higher than for the deprived-sick. Having control over when and when not to work has a significant bearing on quality of life. Then the quality and density of a persons social network was more important than the number of people in the network. Importance of Intergenerational and Intragenerational Relationships to Quality of Life The term generation has a numerous contemporary meanings, incorporating biological, familial and social factors (Back, 1987). An intergenerational perspective (between and across generations) highlights the reciprocal obligations, rights and influences between different generations. An intragenerational perspective identifies similar age groups and the succession of individuals who are distinguished by the bounds of a society and set apart by time and common experience (Fredriksen, 1993). Historically, within the UK, there had been a strong tradition of the young learning from the old in their role as respected elders or through structures such as apprenticeship schemes and trade guilds (Hatton, 2002). Significance of intergenerational relationships is evident from a survey which reports that to the elderly, welfare of children and grandchildren is twice as more important than their own health and money (Roy, 1999). Older parents have always been providing financial support in the forms of donations, gifts and regular monetary contributions to their children. They are also important sources of instrumental support (shopping, cleaning, home maintenance, childcare) and emotional support (advice, validation) for their children (Bengtson, Rosenthal Burton, 1990). Many elderly people continue to provide support for adult children and the provision of a home for one’s children can extend well beyond middle age (Evandrou, Falkingham, Rake Scott, 2001). Living arrangements are a key dimension of quality of life and well-being in old age. Older people living alone are more likely to enter an institution than those living with other people (Breeze, Slogett Fletcher, 1999). Involvement of older persons in local communities contributes to their quality of life, as well as to the functioning of the community. The relationship between different groups of older persons is therefore very crucial in maintaining the quality of life (UN-Economic and Social Council, 2002). Altered patterns of mortality and fertility have made intergenerational structures in the family more â€Å"top heavy† and vertically extended. While horizontal, intragenerational ties are shrinking, vertical ties across generations are more complex and durable than ever before in history (UN-Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2005). Importance of social groups and networks in later part of life is quite evident from a research study carried out in Scotland (Philip, Gilbert, Mauthner and Phimister, 2003). The participant observations and questionnaires have provided useful insights into the levels and types of participation in social groups among older people in the study area. The report finds that there is high level of participation and involvement in social groups amongst older people (aged over 60). As a whole, respondents attended 68 wide-ranging types of groups including civic participation (e. g. local government), voluntary activities (e. g. Red Cross; Meals on Wheels), friendship, social, leisure, religious, cultural, heritage and special interest groups. Those aged in their seventies and early eighties were the most likely to be involved in social activities Another study summarises that older people preferred the company of others, had a higher level of contact with friends and lower levels of psychological problems (McKee, 2002). In 2002 around three in ten men aged 80 and over and nearly one in five women in England said they owned a mobile phone. Use of mobile phones and the Internet helps older people to remain independent by making it easier for them to communicate with their family and friends or to access public and commercial services (National Statistics, 2006). Conclusion Society in the UK is changing. More people are living longer in greater prosperity. In the next decade, the numbers over 50, over 65 and over 80 will all increase to levels never seen before. We need a coherent strategy to manage that demographic change. Elaborate and diligent plans are required to enable older persons to continue to participate fully in all aspects of life. For a better quality of life, we need to promote the development of a society for all ages through the strengthening of intergenerational and intragenerational solidarity. Young generations have responsibilities and a special role in building a society for all ages. Older generations have equal role to play.