Annotated bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Annotated bibliography - Essay Example 2008-01-2489 Shannon Mayer, in the article â€Å"The Sport-Utility Vehicle,† she Debates on a Fuel-Economy Standards in Thermodynamics, declaring that the world of the 21st century will problems because of the increasingly population growth in this world and that in so as to confront these problems we require engineers who are critically analyzers who can think further as well as knowing the technical principles of their fields. In her format it shows that there was course participated by student where they were debating about efficiency of fuel and standard of fuel-economy. The experimental format of the article begins by giving background information to the student followed by data, then the in-class discussion, and finally the results. The author’s obvious purpose was to demonstrate a particular group of students on fuel economy standards of Sport Utility Vehicles in agreement with societal relevant matter in developing of their technical proficiency in thermodynamics. The required audience is most possibility individuals who are mechanical engineers, particularly to those who concentrate in thermodynamics. Mayer’s article connect to my topic as it is an enlightening course for students in informing them on how to be environmentally steady is very important. It associate to a little of the other articles (Diesel Engines and Racing Green) in the sense that they are all talking of efficiency in either ways. From a thermodynamic point of view, they are attempting in finding the finest ratio of engine output vs. engine input, while there are still issues like friction, loss of heat, and incomplete combustion of gases that reduces the attainable efficiency. the article starts that â€Å"The issue of automobile fuel economy profit from a awareness with thermodynamics. Particularly heat engines, hence is adoptable to a wide

Criminal Profiling: Pros and Cons

Criminal Profiling: Pros and Cons Many people who hear someone say they are a criminal profiler they are inclined to think of T.V. depicted shows such as Profilers, Criminal Minds and movies like Silence of the Lambs. Unfortunately, these examples portray a glamorous classification of capturing criminals (Fulero and Wrightsman, pg.79). Criminal profiling is considered to be the process of analyzing a crime scene and using the information found to determine the identity or features of a perpetrator. Although this does not give you the perpetrators name, it can be helpful in narrowing down suspects. For example, a profiling based on a crime scene provides information that may include personality, sex, age, ethnic background, and possible physical features such as scars, tattoos, birthmarks, or height and weight of the perpetrator. This type of information can be used to identify possible suspects, but it also depends on who fits the profile (www.mtholyoke.edu). The process of psychological profiling was first used as a method in America during the 1950s. Investigators found fascinating patterns and similarities between serial killers behaviors. Selected patterns found consist of the killers having suffered from abuse at a young age. Whether it was sexual or physical this kind of abuse led to abnormal behaviors later on. During a range of young ages through teenage years, they would start fires and they were cruel to animals or other children. Then in the late teenage years to early twenties, were engaging in petty crime and defying authority (www.library.thinkquest.org). According to some, committing serious criminal acts usually starts at about or around the persons mid to late 20s. Particularly at this older age range being able to manipulate victims and show a significance of power or domination is a main motivation for criminals, as well sexual intentions. Murdering someone gives the perpetrator sense of control in which they have never had before. Some criminals feel that they need to relive the events that occurred during the murder or crime, so they take something of personal value from the victim. Such as, jewelry, clothing and they go as far as body parts (www.library.thinkquest.org). Personality is considered by many to be one of the most important parts of criminal profiling. The personality profiles of criminals are the way in which a crime is committed, also known as the method of operations or M.O. The M.O. includes the identity of the victim, what the victim or victims have in common, the weapons that were used, the lack of sympathy, and the sign of any torture and/or sexual molestation. Analyzing these aspects of the crime scene, an investigator can determine the motives of the perpetrator. This can lead to the description of the perpetrators personality, or a personality profile (www.mtholyoke.edu). Appropriately, criminal profilers have methods in which they operate by. According to www.criminalprofiling .ch, there are seven profiling methods and six scientific approaches to profiling of criminal suspects. In the profiling methods, the first is the evaluation of the criminal act itself. Included in the act would be the M.O. and the signature. The signature is in disregards to why he does the acts he does, or the thing that fulfills him emotionally. Then an evaluation of the precision of the crime scene or scenes would be taken. An analysis of the victim or victims is conduced, this is also known as victimology. Subsequently, an evaluation of the preliminary police reports is seized, as well as the medical examiners autopsy protocol. As a result, the set up of a profile with critical offender characteristics is constructed. Lastly, an investigative suggestion to a prediction on the construct of the profile is constructed. The next level is to check with local investigators and propose practical strategies to get the unidentified subject or UNSUB to make a move. Then there are the scientific approaches to profiling criminal suspects. Initially there is profiling inputs. Inside this first stage an accumulation of all information about the crime is pulled together. Information that includes physical evidence from the crime scene, photographs of the crime scene, any autopsy reports and photos, witness testimonies, background information about the victim or victims and police reports. At this stage the criminal profiler does not want to know about suspects because it could cause a prejudice direction to their profile. Second are the decision process models. Within the decision processing model the profiler organizes all information into questions and patterns through many dimensions of criminal activities. Questions such as, what type of homicide has been committed, what is the primary motive of the crime and so on. Third is the crime assessment. Based on the findings of the other stages, the profiler tries to recreate the behavior of the offend er and the victim. For example, as general profiling rules say: vile facial injuries are directed to killers who know their victims, murders committed with any weapon that happens to be available display greater impulsivity than murders committed with a gun and may reveal a killer who lives rather closely to the victim and murders performed early in the morning rarely involve alcohol or drug use (www.criminalprofiling.ch). Fourth is the initial criminal profile. This is where the profiler formulates the scetch of the most likely suspects. The majority of usual profiles include such items as the perpetrators race, marital status, sex, age, where they live, employment history, past criminal records, psychological characteristics and beliefs and values. Fifth is the investigation stage. The investigation stage involves a written report that is given to the investigators that concentrate on suspects matching the profile. Most likely the police have already talked to the suspected but ha d no reason to doubt the suspects testimony. Still, if evidence is introduced at this stage the profile would need to be revised. Preceding the investigation stage is the apprehension stage. Ultimately, the main objective of the stages was to capture the right suspect which in turn leads to the interview technique. With the purpose of getting the perpetrator to confess or talk about the crimes he has committed, this technique can lead to helping in assessing he influences of background and psychological variables (www.criminalprofiling.ch). Investigators putting together a profile use another two approaches inductive and deductive. Inductive profiling imply believing that when a criminal commits a crime they have relate motive or experience of someone who has committed the same type of crime . An example of this is re-offending rapists whose target is white women, more often than not are most likely not to be black. Based on the fact that crimes in the past that have been similar have rarely crossed racial lines. However, these statements have been inquired and have encountered a lot of publicized negative aspects. Deductive profiling involves a process that avoids generalizations and averages. This method involves carefully studying suspects in great detail and changing findings in when new evidence emerges. A deductive profile is established on the offenders actions prior to, in the course of and after committing the crime. For example, if the murderer used a provisional weapon, the investigators are then able to assume that the crime was most likely random. Another example entails serial murderers. At this juncture, investigators are able to find out if the murder was organized. Which means that the killer carried out a planned attack on the victim, or if the attack was disorganized the murder was unplanned and the killer conducted themselves in an inexact way. Organized killers tend to carry a tool kit that has a mask, gloves, duct tape and rope. With these tools they can bind their victims while hiding their identity and not leave finger prints. Criminal profiling is used not only to find possible offenders, but it also helps narrow down a list of offenders that the police have already compiled. Although it doesnt work in every case, criminal profiling has helped investigators to catch many criminals. Through assessing the patterns and motives of previous criminals, criminal profiling allows investigators to accurately predict the characteristics of future and current offenders, which allows killers and other perpetrators to be caught before they can continue on to other crimes (www.wisegeek.com). Predictable, criminal profiling does have disadvantages, or cons. Some cons to criminal profiling involve not being able to identify a specific suspect nor reveal a certain individual, let alone an address or phone number. There are even instances when perpetrators purposely staging crime scenes to throw police and investigators off the right track. In many instances, the profiler will not know that area making more room for erroneous conclusions. Furthermore, profilers tend to have more background knowledge in psychopathology than the little background they have in forensic or criminal knowledge. Hence if the investigators and profilers do not work together it can cause the investigation to go unsolved because the information collected from both parties has not been collaborated. While there are cons or disadvantages to criminal profiling not surprisingly there are the pros to criminal profiling. PC World: Environmental Analysis PC World: Environmental Analysis Environmental Analysis PC World Shop PC WORLD Dublin branch / Electronics Department 2. Terms of Reference On October 2009 Business Management teacher Ms Keran Abberton Requested 2000-2500 words report on the organisation where the students doing their work experience or only other company or organization of their choice. This report was to be submitted by 16th December 2009 in partial completion of Business Management module. I got the opportunity to do my work experience in (PC WORLD) shop, and my assignment will be based on this organisation. 3. Method of Procedure In order to obtain relevant information, the following procedures where adopted: Class notes from Karen Abberton observation in the target workplace, Blanchardstown ‘PC World 2 days a week spent in the â€Å"PC WORLD Blanchardstown branch shop in order to complete 300 hours work experience for my advanced certificate in business course in Ballsbridge College of Further Educations I obtained the information of working procedure from Ken Flynn, the manager of the department. He trained me how to price the products, how to put security tags on the computers and all other products in the store, how to fill out the list of the different product to bring down from the warehouse. He told me the code for the wear house door. He explained to me how to print out the tickets for all products. He taught me to deal with customers and how to organise the stock for the next day. Bassically Ken Flynn introduced me to all working procedures in the shop. I obtained information about† PC WORLD† from the staff and my managers. 4 Findings4.1 Description of organization PC World was founded in November 1991, when a company called the Vision Technology Group Ltd, founded by Jan Murray, opened the first PCW Superstore in Croydon. The 24,000 square foot store specialised in the sale of PCs and computer related products. With PC ownership just beginning to take off, the concept soon proved popular and a second 23,000 square foot store was opened the following year at the Lakeside Retail Park in West Thurrock. Two further stores followed, at Brentford and Staples Corner in north London. At that point, in 1993, Vision Technology Group struck a deal to sell its four PC World Superstores to the Dixons Group plc (DSG). Throughout the 1990s DSG continued to expand the PC World portfolio of stores rapidly. In 1996 it acquired DN Computer Services plc, a direct computer reseller business, operating out of Heywood in Lancashire. This gave DSG the infrastructure it needed to launch PC World Business Direct in September 1997 a new business-to-business IT mail order service incorporating the brand strength of PCW and the sector expertise of DSG. A fully functional transactional website www.pcwb.com followed in 1999. In March 2001, as PC World Business, the company moved into a brand new  £13 million headquarters building and Operations Centre in Bury, Lancashire to meet the growth in demand from the business market. Recent achievements In October 2001 PC World Business was accepted to become an accredited GCat (Government Catalogue for IT supply) Prime Contractor to the Public Sector. In May 2002 PC World Business won two major multi-million pound contracts as a lead supplier and enabler of the Scottish Parliaments (The Scottish Executive) new ‘Digital Inclusion Programme aimed at giving every individual in Scotland better access to online services. Also in 2002 the group acquired Genesis Communications a specialist Business Telecoms reseller to strengthen its business-to-business offering. PC World Business also strengthened its product offering in 2003, with the introduction of a new finance package called SmartPlan. This product, a unique offering in the UK, allows businesses to spread the cost of their larger IT purchases in the form of a lease agreement. In June 2004 Micro Warehouse UK became a division of PC World Business, following the acquisition of the UK Operations of WHSU Inc. and WHSU International Inc. (formerly known as Micro Warehouse Inc. and Micro Warehouse International Inc. respectively) by PC World Business parent company. Micro Warehouse is one of the UKs largest and longest established direct resellers of branded IT products and services to business. Commenting on the acquisition, Simon Turner, Managing Director of PC World Group said This is an important deal that will further consolidate our position in the B2B technology market in the UK. The Micro Warehouse business will add scale to our unique combination of direct selling, national network of Business Centres and cutting edge value added services. (Ref: www.pcworld.com accessed 15th of December 2009) Ken Flynn managing director of Blanchardstown PC World branch. Responsible for inbound and outbound procedures which profit the shop. John OConnor is assistant manager which responsible for all staff workers. Pallav floor manager has pretty much same responsibilities as assistant manager of the floor. Kryzstof he is stock controller in the warehouse responsible for inbound products. Making sure no products arrive damaged. Correct distribution of this stuck. Staff is responsible in the first place correct they provide. I myself am responsible for making sure that no customers a left an attendant. I have to introduce customers to the products benefits and fetchers. To let them know the prices I also help Krzystof in the warehouse from time to time . 4.2 Internal influence on organization The value chain analysis is a very important tool for an organization. It helps to see the companys structure and who is responsible for what. The value chain analysis includes the detailed description of each department of the company. 1. Inbound Logistics: It is the first step of the PC Worlds business. All the goods received by the company are inbound logistics, the stationary. The stock arriving in the warehouse. 2. Operations are the value creating activities that transform the inputs into the final product. 3. Outbound logistics are the activities required to get the finished product to the customers, including warehousing, order fulfillment, etc. 4. Marketing Sales Are those activities associated with getting buyers to purchase the product, including channel selection, advertising pricing, etc. 4. Service activities are those that maintain and enhance the products value including customers support, repair services, etc. (www.valubasedmanagement accessed 10th of December) Any or all of those primary activities may be vital in developing a competitive advantage. For example, logistics activities are critical for a provider of distribution services, and service activities may be the key focus for a firm offering on-site maintenance contract for office equipment. These five categories are generic and portrayed here in a general manner. Each generic activity includes specific activities that vary by industry. (www.valubasedmanagement accessed 10th of December) 4.3 External influence on organisation PEST analysis It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. In fact, environmental analysis should be continuous and feed all aspects of planning. The organizations marketing environment is made up of: PEST Political Factors. The political factor has a huge influence on any businesses in the country it runs in, and also on the spending ability of consumers. The following issues should be considered. Law of employment Will government policy influence laws that regulate or tax your business? Impact of environmental regulations. Recycling charges. The employment law in PC World shop is followed according to the rules and regulations of the employment Act. I was trained for safety and fire situations. I got paperwork with the detailed explanation of my duties and entitlements. If the government changes the tax law to higher rate it means that the shop has to rise the prises on the goods and it means less sales which is a loss for the shop. Economic Factors. Marketers need to consider the state of a trading economy in the short and long-terms. This is especially true when planning for international marketing. You need to look at: If interest rates go up it will influence the income of the company. If level of inflation is low than the consumers confidence is low. VAT rates it is being discussed that VAT rate will be increased on tomorrows budget; if it happens than potential customers will be provoked to do their shopping across the border. Socio-cultural Factors. The social and cultural influences on business vary from country to country. It is very important that such factors are considered. Factors include: An Irish website, www.cso.ie gives information about the population of the country. Marriages, deaths, births and so on. It is important that population grows because in 10-15 years a generation will be old enough to use most new technology. There always will be a huge demand in newer versions of computers, IPods, TV-sets and so on. This is what people want and the higher the population is the better it is for the technology selling shops. Nearly all the goods in the shop are imported from different countries. The main country of import is China, customers are aware of the fact that most of the goods in the country are imported and it never was a concern. A bigger concern for the customers is which country were the goods released by. Career attitude Younger people are more educated in regards to the new technologies and of course it is easier for a younger generation to find a job rather than someone older, because they will need to be trained. Younger people know exactly what they want, what type of computer, TV, DVD-player and so on. Kids digital games, play station, Nintendo games and so on. Business owners can get all the information from the website mentioned above and use it as a guide of purchasing certain goods during different years for sale. Technological Factors. Technology is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. Consider the following points: Does technology allow for products and services to be made more cheaply and to a better standard of quality?Do the technologies offer consumers and businesses more innovative products and services?How is distribution changed by new technologies?Does technology offer companies a new way to communicate with overseas agents? Technology has a huge impact on selling performance in any business. PC World Dublin is now looking into introducing online shopping. It makes the goods to be purchased cheaper and more convenient for the customers. England PC World has already implemented this procedure and it has a great success. PC World shops always offer its customers more innovative products for sale. More up to date and newer goods as they are in huge demand as I said before. Distribution can ease customers life as already said online shopping. Telephone sales. PC World can easily get in touch with its agents in England order an item and let the customer know the day it will be available for collection. As you can see the PEST analysis is a very important tool for an organisation. It lets the management of the company see the weak sides of the business they run and predict the sales for the nearer future.Porter Five Forces A porter Five Forces Analysis is an important marketing planning tool for looking at the competitive environment that affects a business. Understanding the competitive ability of the industry is critical to the companys potential success. The model is illustrated here: Threat of New Entrants In the first of the five forces, new competitors in industry can raise the level of competition, reducing its attractiveness to current members. The threat of new entrants depends on how strong is the barriers to entry. Business like restaurants, hotels, local shops have very low barriers to entry of the new competitors. At present the threat of new entrants into the industry of PC World shop is very low. Even when the economy was growing not too many new entrants appeared in the market of Technology selling industry, I doubt there will be any now. So we can say that PC Worlds barriers to new entrants are quite high. Threat of Substitutes The substitute of the product is not very high because as we know in the first place PC World is part of the Currys stores, which also include Dixons, so even if a customer cannot find the product he needs the choice of the technology selling stores is one of the three mentioned ones or Power City. Customers may switch to buy a good in a shop which has the product they need regardless their wonderful, previous experience with PC World shop. So we can see that PC Worlds weak point is lack of variety of the products and if Curys and Dixons werent part of the shops co-working with PC World than PC World would have very low barriers of Product substitute, it would be easy for customers to switch to a different shop, but it would be painful for the store. Power of Suppliers Suppliers are defined as the businesses that supply materials other products to the businesses within an industry. I am not sure who exactly supplies the products for PC World I presume it is China but would say for sure which company or producer. I wouldnt take the responsibility to judge on this topic because of my lack of knowledge in this area. Power of Buyers Buyers are the people and/or organizations who create the demand in an industry. They are the target of any business. They are the reason of the business existence. In the present economical time it is definitely the buyers time. And PC World as a buyer has it power upon its suppliers at present, unless the supplier is the only one in the industry market than he can dictate the rules and have complete power upon its customers. Anyway PC World has to lower its prices at the moment to meet the customers financial needs. Intensity of Rivalry The fifth of the five forces, the intensity of rivalry between competitors in an industry, depends chiefly on: The structure of competition a rivalry is more intense where there are many small or closely-sized competitors; a rivalry is less intense when an industry has a clear market leaderan alternative supplier Strategic objectives when competitors are pursuing aggressive growth strategies, rivalry becomes more intense; when competitors are milking the profits in a mature industry, the degree of rivalry is lowerExit barriers when the barriers (such as the cost to close down factories) to leaving an industry are high, then competitors tend to show a greater degree of rivalry www.marketingteacher.com ( accessed on the 5th of December 2009) As mentioned already there are not too many competitors in the computer selling industry which means the intensity of rivalry is not that high. The competitors which exist are not taking any extra actions which may dramatically and negatively influence the store strategies and selling abilities. All the shops have pretty much the same prices, products, offers which makes all competitors be stable in the market. 4.4 Internal/external influence on organisation Swot Analysis Strength: Staff a well trained and qualified staff with many years of experience. Profitable The business itself is very profitable. Technology is civilisation. And this type of product will always be in big demand. Shop location is very handy. Most of the shops are located in easy to reach areas. In big and busy visited shopping centres. Growing the business is growing fast as the products of the company are in very big demand. Weaknesses: Lack of new products New products could be introduced in some of the branches. PC World does not sell domestic technology. (EX: washing machines, dishwashers, fridges etc.) Price Sometimes prices on some of the products are higher than in the other shops. Staff some staff representatives have lack of knowledge about technology and about the products of the shop. Macro Analysis External analysis. Opportunities: New products- the introduction of new products can increase sales. Funding Investment in staff training, well trained staff means increase of sales. Service A good high quality service will make the customers come back again and again. Threats: New competitors Power City is a competitor. If they open more stores around the city it will interfere with the selling procedure of PC World. Redundancy in the present recession times people are losing jobs which reduce their ability as a buyer. Economy Present economical situation influences sales in a negative way. 5 Conclusions Blanchardstown PC WORLDs goal is to sell quality product and satisfy fully its customers needs. Company policy is designed to ensure that the company can attract, recruit, develop and retain people of the type and calibre it requires to achieve this aim Blanchardstown PC WORLD policy is to recognise and reward the potential of each individual employee and to encourage personal development and career progression. Therefore promote internally wherever possible. Blanchardstown PC WORLDs aim to exceed customer expectations. The vision of PC WORLD is to be the best and most exciting Department Store in Ireland. It is their mission to ensure that PC WORLD in the Department Store of first choice for discerning Electronics middle market customer 6 Recommendations I have to say that I was extremely happy with my experience in PC WORLD shop. The customer service staff which seem to be the same people working every weekend I dealt with seem to be pleasant and helpful every time. I found high value goods for little money. I would recommend other student if they can use the opportunity to work in this shop as this is a rich experience in business field.

Cloning :: essays research papers

A DISCUSSION ON CLONING   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have you ever wondered when the scientists of our day will start cloning humans? You might be asking yourself what exactly is cloning. It is a method that involves the production of a group of identical cells or organisms that all derive from a single individual (Grolier 220). Basically, cloning is the copy of the same individuals DNA to another individual. There is no doubt that if humans are cloned many problems involving the technological and ethical sides of this issue will arise and will be virtually impossible to avoid. Another large aspect to consider is how much money the area of genetics uses every year. When cloning comes about, taxes will increase, and people will be willing to pay anything to create clones of themselves. It is such a costly form of technology. Society will do all kinds of things for money. A type of black market for embryos could easily develop. Parents already spend a great deal of money on in vitro fertilization, and who knows how much they would be willing to pay for cloning their children?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scientists today have already started cloning animals. Dr. Ian Wilmut started by cloning a lamb. They named the clone Dolly, after Dolly Parton. After this, they cloned five more sheep. All of them had the same genetic makeup or DNA. According to Daniel Kevles in â€Å"Study Cloning, Don’t Ban It†, Doctor Wilmut states that cloning would be â€Å"ethically unacceptable†. President Clinton asked for a quick study of cloning mammals. The president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization begged for the cloning of humans to be banned. The reason for this thinking is because animals do not have consciences and people do. Ellen Goodman at the end of her essay called â€Å"Hello Dolly† best argues this point. It states, â€Å"We are the shepherds, not the sheep.† In other words, humans are the shepherds, which are the leader such the scientist, and we are not the sheep, which is the experiment. The whole idea of cloning humans is one that we could possibly grow to accept as a reality for the future. With today’s technology we have surrogate mothers, and the process of artificial insemination. These techniques have become widespread throughout our country. Say a woman wanted to have a baby but could not, she would then have more options on how to go about having a baby.

How the Illuminati Effects the Music Industry Essay

In this assignment I will be talking about how music technology has been used in various performances, I will be covering the Experimentalists all the way back in the 60s and I will talk about how it has become more apparent, frequent and mainstream. I will investigate back when Theremin was invented in the 20’s up until Analogue Synths and the implementation of MIDI today, I will also talk a little bit about software synthesis. Advance’s in music tech has had a massive impact on the way music sounds today and with this essay I will investigate the way that music tech manipulated, created and used today and I will also study the historical development. So let’s get to it†¦ How music tech is used in performance†¦ Music tech is a very prominent part of musical performance, whether it be at a club, concert or festival, music tech has always been very important. Core equipment like DJ Decks, electronic instruments and even mixing desks (if used creatively) are very important when it comes to live performance, but there are artists out there that can get by with just a mic and a PA system†¦ but I will not be talking about those artists, today I shall be talking about artists who exclusively use music technology to perform and create music. History of the MPC The Akai MPC (First known as MIDI Production Centre now called Music Production Centre) is a very popular electronic musical instrument created in the late 80s. It was initially created to serve as a super powerful drum machine but the ability to loud your own sounds (samples) made it very unique and some people say that the MPC was a key part in the creation of Hip-Hop. In the early years of the MPC it was very basic and it was very limited as there was not much memory at all (Specs listed below) so with these limitations there was a demand for more memory, MPC60II was born with more sample memory and a headphone jack, which might sound basic now but back then this was revolutionary. This particular model was launched in 2008 and has a price tag of $3,500, the main innovations of this model was that it included an â€Å"8-track hard disk recorder a 20-voice, 3-oscillator virtual analog synthesizer with arpeggiator, a new sequencing engine with 960 PPG resolution, pad and track muting and mixing, 64 continuous sample tracks. It also has a new FX engine with 4 FX buses and 2FX per bus†, and is considered by Akai to be the MPC of all MPC’s. This compared to the first MPC is night and day, with this MPC you have 50x the amount of memory that the first MPC had and the ability to edit the frequency add effects and the ability to record gives you allot more creative range, so of course the MPC 5000 is a far more superior product to the MPC60, but when the MPC 5000 is compared to the 4000 it is very debatable because the 4000 has more features but the 5000 is newer and much more refined. Both the 4000 and 5000 has a USB port, two inputs for footswitches, and audio, headphone and microphone jacks. Also included are two MIDI inputs to connect a MIDI controller such as a keyboard to one input, with the other input used to receive MIDI Sync from another unit, such as a  digital recorder Each also has four MIDI outputs to control 64 external MIDI channels in conjunction with the machine’s 128 internal programs. How it is used in performance†¦ Arab Muzik is a Hip-Hop producer, but he just isn’t any old producer who sits behind the scenes, he will perform live, how does he do that? He uses his MPC sampler and arranger. His setup consists of an MPC machine connected to a PA system via audio cables L+R, prior to the performance he would have loaded samples on the MPC ready for him to trigger using the velocity sensitive drum pads. Things like drums, bass, brass and any audio sample can be loaded onto the MPC. He would have to take into consideration health and safety risks such as overloading the MPC with too much equipment for example connecting multiple laptops (more than 3) to the same MPC through dual USB adapters, this can spell disaster for the machine as the RAM cannot keep up with the processor and it could cause the MPC to explode. When performing Arab Muzik will create complex rhythms with the Drum pad and he will creatively mold different samples and create his own drum beat over the samples to create a unique sounding piece of music. Another way he could do this is to get a Laptop and use music programming software like Logic or Cubase to manually load samples onto a MIDI keyboard and trigger samples from the keys on the keyboard, I think the MPC is much better than loading samples onto keyboards as it is much more convenient to use the MPC to chop and choose your samples, it’s kind of like music programming software already built in to your keyboard, and I think the interface is a lot more simple than a MIDI keyboard.

Erikson’s Theory In Today’s Culture: A Reflection

A person’s personality directly affects how he conducts himself and ultimately, how he will live his life. In more ways than one, then, personality helps direct a person towards success. Having said this, it is no wonder that the development of a person’s personality has long been the subject of psychological research. Of the many theories in personality and child development, Erik Erikson’s is one of those that have stood the test of time. Perhaps this is largely due to the fact that unlike most theories, his covers the whole life cycle of man. It also helped that amongst the rather purist concepts – of the nature vs. urture phenomenon – his recognizes both the effect of internal development (of the body and the mind) and the influence of the outside world to a person’s personality. However adaptive Erikson’s psychosocial stages are, though, it is still important to reexamine it alongside our culture today, in order to gauge how effective and accurate it still is. On a general viewpoint, the main tenet of Erikson’s philosophy – that there are specific traits developed (or lost) in a particular stage in a person’s life – still holds even when analyzed alongside our ever-developing culture. This means that on most counts, contemporary culture has strengthened Erikson’s theory – not negate or redefine it. For example, that the viewpoint of a person with regard to how trustworthy the world is shaped during the early years is still true (whether that occurs exclusively during infancy is up to now subject to verification): recent studies of incidents of suicide show its relation to the formation during the early years of the basic belief I have earlier mentioned. Likewise, it is still true that a sense of autonomy is developed during the toddler years – when we learn to walk on our own, and feed and bathe ourselves. The continuous development of our educational system supports the two subsequent stages – play age and school age – in Erikson’s theory: indeed, it is during the time we start going to school and widening our circle that we develop initiative and the value of industry. As for the next stage, adolescence, it still is the case that during these years – in our struggle for independence from parents; in our attempt to develop romantic relationships and strengthen our ties with friends; in our quest to find the answer to the question â€Å"Who am I? † – we develop a deeper sense of our identity. I mentioned that on most counts, Erikson’s theory holds. There are several points in his work, however, that are redefined by a change in our culture. One of the most glaring changes would be in his stage of young adulthood. While it is true that during this time we seek love and a deeper relationship, more and more of the American youth opt to stay single until their thirties. Whereas before starting a family occurs at this stage, now having kids occurs more in Erikson’s next stage – middle adulthood. In my opinion, the high incidence of divorce nowadays, and the lure of leading a life devoid of the immense responsibility married life entails, instills in us the belief that having a family takes careful planning and thus, takes time. Upon examining Erikson’s theory, it is prevalent that he sees his stages as having a linear path; that is, the stages – and the development of the traits he singled out for each stage – occur one after the other, with each one having a direct effect on the stage it precedes. In simpler terms, then, if a person failed to develop trust in infancy, he will have a hard time cultivating autonomy in the next stage, if he even ever does. Such a pessimistic way of putting things, I believe, is doomed to criticism and negation in itself. How many times have we heard of success stories, of people who rose above a troubled childhood to find love and success in their adult lives? Erikson, it seems, failed to take into account the strength of the human spirit to rise above any predicament. If there is one characteristic of our culture and our world today that may hinder us from successfully navigating through Erikson’s psychosocial stages, it is their being fast-paced. In an environment where success is predominantly measured by what you own, we are driven to lead lives that place personal relationships in the back seat. Given this fact, it is possible that more and more of us will fail to resolve a crisis or two in the â€Å"right time†, as outlined in Erikson’s work. I believe, however, that despite this fact, in the end we will still tackle the issues inherent in our struggle to form our identity, and we will still be able to resolve them all.

Socrates Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato, Euthyphro

Socrates Essays - Socratic Dialogues, Dialogues Of Plato, Euthyphro Socrates While reading Platos Meno, Euthyphro, apology, and Crito, it became apparent that Socrates held very strong beliefs about the relationship between law and morality. Socrates makes it clear about the reasons laws should be or not be followed. He also clarifies his stand on why laws should be followed and why disobedience to the law is rarely justified. Socrates views humanity in the context that anybody is capable of wrongdoing. He continues with the elaboration that even returning an injury upon oneself is wrong. Socrates then makes a connection between the city and morality. If one is acting without the citys allowance, one is doing wrong toward the city and its laws. Behaving wrongly towards the people is also doing wrong against the city. The wrongdoing would become a way of destroying the cities laws, and hurting citizens in the process. Socrates compares this relationship to that of how a child should not cause harm to his parents. By doing so you disrespect the laws within the city. Causing harm to your father would lead to conviction; further illustrating the fact that wrong against the law is a wrong against everybody who abides by that law. Socrates follows this by examining what each citizen is taught. From birth you are told to obey laws. You were brought to life from your mother and father and thus you should respect and obey the rules that they do. But the cities laws were there before you mother and father, and are therefor equally if not more important than the laws of your mother and father. The citys law should be respected at least as equally as ones parents should. Socrates then goes on to explain that you do not have the same rights as your parents. Because they have taught what is right and wrong, it is immoral to treat your parents as they treat you. Your parents must have a higher position than you because they taught you. This thought is then extended to the city with the quote One must obey the commands of ones city and country, or persuade it as to the nature of justice. It is impious to bring violence to bear against your mother or father, it is much more so to use it against you country. (Crito, 46) One should obey your parents, but more important is the city. Because the city was that which has taught your ancestors and your parents, it must be superior to them. The cities laws being superior to your mother or father, should be respected and followed. Socrates explains his thoughts of the city and its rules as the nature of life. We were welcomed into the world by the city so it is immoral to fight against it. The laws should be accep ted and followed. But one should not obey a law just because it is a law. What is moral has been taught to us by our parents, and to them from the city. It is their opinion that will tell us if our actions are moral or not. However, one aspect of the city and its laws is that you are not forced to do as it dictates. As Socrates explains, you have two options, to obey the law or not. But in regards to Socrates opinion, it is not anothers opinion to decide what is right and wrong for us. But just as children argue with their parents, one doesnt have to do everything that he is told to. It is an immoral life to follow others opinions about morality. From Euthyphro Socrates opinion on how disobedience can be justified is shown. When Euthyhro accuses his father of murder, he states I say that the pious to do what I am doing now, to prosecute the wrongdoer, be it about murder or temple robbery or anything else, whether the wrongdoer is your father or your mother or anyone else; not to prosecute is impious. (Euthyphro, 22) In this case, Socrates is defending himself. He doesnt believe in all the Gods ideas and is justifying his opinion. He has similar thoughts about morality when he states I find it hard to accept things like that being said about the

Role of the Sexes essays

Role of the Sexes essays The submissive role of the female in a marriage or relationship is a common problem in many societies, including our own American society. This role has become so common that in fact it is now expected of the female. This male dominance goes as far back as the human race, to the beginning of relationships and marriage between the female and the male. Then, the physical prowess of the male led to his dominance in all situations and thus formed these roles. Even presently, with all our advances in equal rights and womens advances in the work fields, this role of submission and passivity is still present among our society. Why do women accept this role? Why hasnt it banished with the right to vote and her expansion into the male-dominated workplace? These roles are inbred into our society. The men are raised to lead and take charge. Women, on the other hand, are taught that their place is to keep peace, and in most scenarios that means conforming. There are many reasons women accept or allow this role. For many women, they find safety in allowing the male to dominate the relationship. The submissive role is familiar or so expected that the women fear changing the situation. Many authors illustrate this role of the sexes and portray some reasons and situations that are common in our society, such as Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, in her story The Hand, and James Joyce, in Eveline. These two authors both, even though each describes a woman in a very different, yet remarkably similar, situation, discuss one of the major reasons women succumb to males. Colette was a significant feminist in the early 1900s when the womens right movement was in full swing. She fought for equal opportunities for women and proved it was possible when she was the first woman to be admitted to the Goncourt Academy. As a novelist, she used her writing to illustrate the assumed roles society has developed. The C...

How to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA)

How to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA) If you’ve ever been in a hospital or a nursing home you’ve likely seen a certified nursing assistant (CNA). CNAs work under the supervisions of register nurses or licensed practical nurses to provide basic care services to patients in medical centers, nursing homes and other long term care facilities. As with many other healthcare positions, the demand for CNAs has been growing for years and according to the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, they project job growth of 11% for these positions through 2026. Skills needed to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA)From an educational standpoint, a CNA is required to have a diploma or GED and must pass a CNA certification program before earning their license. Typically, a CNA training course will take between six to twelve weeks to complete and includes classroom work as well as hands-on training with clinical activities. While some states differ slightly on training requirements, in general, a CNA will be tra ined on essential skills such as:Infection controlAnatomy and medical terminologyProper documentation techniquesBasic nursing skills and patient care such as taking vital signs, bathing, dressing, and groomingPatient rightsCommunication skillsThe certified nursing assistant (CNA) examAfter completing classroom training, aspiring CNAs must then pass the two-part CNA exam to earn their license. The first part is a written test which consists of 60 to 75 questions depending on the testing provider. Different states use different testing providers, the three main ones being:Headmaster – 75 questionsPrometric – 60 questionsPearson Vue – 70 questionsA score of 80% or higher will pass you in every state, though you can pass in a few select states with scores down to 70%. While test taking can be nerve-wracking for some, there are a lot of excellent free CNA test practice resources available online to help prepare for exam day.The second portion of the exam is the CNA s kills test. This portion of the exam requires the potential CNA to demonstrate a selected number of skills for a test proctor. Typically, tests will include the demonstration of five skills from a predetermined list, with one or two required skills such as demonstrating proper hand hygiene. This section of the test is typically the hardest and requires diligent preparation to successfully demonstrate and explain each skill.Obtaining a certified nursing assistant (CNA) licenseOnce the state CNA exam has been passed there are still additional steps to become and remain a licensed CNA. The next step is to submit for a license application to the state licensing board. This is usually a two page or less application that asks for basic information such as name, address, social security number, driver’s license number, criminal background, etc. In addition, CNAs will need to supply documentation to show they’ve completed a state approved training program along with a fingerpr int for a thorough background check.Once the above steps have been completed and a license has been obtained, a CNA will be expected to complete continuing education courses to maintain their license. Many employers will subsidize this training if asked. Typically, CNAs are required to complete 48 hours of continuing education every two years.Finding a job as a certified nursing assistant (CNA)There is tremendous demand for CNAs presently, and that demand will likely continue to grow in the future. This has led some employers to get creative in their recruiting efforts. Many facilities, especially nursing homes, will offer to cover the cost of CNA training for potential employees in exchange for agreeing to work for them for a minimum period of time upon completing their certification. While not every employer will offer up this kind of a deal, a quick search on any of the major job search websites should turn up a number of local opportunities near any population center.How much do es a certified nursing assistant (CNA) get paid?The most recent number from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics pins the average salary for CNAs at $27,510 per year. That said, there are a number of factors that can impact how much a CNA gets paid. The first factor is location. The average annual salary for a CNA in Alaska, for example, is $37,950. That’s the highest average salary in the United States, while the lowest is in Louisiana, where the average annual pay is $21,880. The second factor is the industry in which a CNA works. There are a broad range of industries that employ CNAs, including the federal government and scientific research businesses. A job in one of these sectors can mean a pay increase of $10,000 or more over a job at a home health care service business or an assisted living facility.The takeawayBecoming a CNA can be a relatively quick and easy way to gain a stable paycheck and get a foot in the door in the healthcare industry. Certification can be gained quickly and fairly cheaply, or even free in the right circumstances. While the initial pay isn’t particularly high, many CNAs progress into transitional education programs to become licensed practical nurses or into other higher paying healthcare roles. Depending on a person’s situation and goals, becoming a CNA can be a career destination or the first step on a bigger career journey.About the AuthorAshley Grader is a career advisor, assisting those interested in starting a career in healthcare. With over a decade of nursing experience, she assists new CNAs, LPNs, and RNs start their career on the right track.

Viewing The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Through Organizational Essay

Viewing The Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Through Organizational Theory - Essay Example It will then analyze how these theories apply to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BGMF) and how they impact this unique organization. The paper addresses some specific aspects of institutional theory and network theory and develops an understanding of how BMGF utilizes these theories and how they are reflected in the foundation's philosophy, governance, and strategy. "Organizations are technical instruments designed as a means to definite goals. But they also have a natural dimension. They are products of interactions and adaptation, they become the receptacles of group idealism...". Organizational analysis is relatively new among the sciences as a field of study, coming out of the latter years of the 19th century as industrialization became more technological (Scott, 2004). Originators of organizational management, among them Taylor, Weber and Mayo, believed there was one best way to manage an organization, and all recommended single, universal solutions to management problems, though they did not agree on what the solutions should be. There are many theories and models offered by researchers that delve into the inner workings of organizations and provide a rich and complex view of organizations. Zucker (1987) believed that normative pressures that arise from external factors such as the state and factors from within the organization drive organizations (p.443). Some have believed that there is only a single best way to define an organization, but it has eluded theorists and modern organizations have presented new challenges. 3. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: An Overview The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was instituted as a philanthropic institution to relive the suffering of the poor and deprived people across the world. Beginning in 1997 as a foundation to aid education in the Northeast, it diversified in 2000 to focus more effort toward improving global health (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 2007). The foundation has a substantial endowment fund that it dispenses to the poor and needy and helps to

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film Essay

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film - Essay Example This paper stresses that  despite being shot over a five-week period, from March to April 1968 in Philadelphia, Wiseman was scared of a lawsuit, so the film was not shown in Philadelphia at the time of its release in October of 1968. Chronicle of a Summer directed by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin is a film where people talk about topics on the themes of French society and happiness in the regular workers among others and with those affirmations the movie producers make fictional moments taking into account their interviews. Later on, the people talk about the pictures made with their particular words and check whether the film got their level of reality. It is a French documentary shot during the summer of 1960, but the release date is October of 1961.  This discussion highlights that the film starts with a discussion between Rouch and Morin on whether it is conceivable to act earnestly before a camera. Wiseman likes to pick institutions as his subjects this is because of its limita tions to a geographical area providing the boundaries. He is very keen on observing the way organizations are run, the guidelines that they are controlled by the relationship between the general population who give services and the general population who receives services. In the chronicle of summer, Rouch wishes to capture the repercussions of the Algerian war and just before the blast of social mobs that came to dominate that decade in Paris.

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film Essay

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film - Essay Example This paper stresses that  despite being shot over a five-week period, from March to April 1968 in Philadelphia, Wiseman was scared of a lawsuit, so the film was not shown in Philadelphia at the time of its release in October of 1968. Chronicle of a Summer directed by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin is a film where people talk about topics on the themes of French society and happiness in the regular workers among others and with those affirmations the movie producers make fictional moments taking into account their interviews. Later on, the people talk about the pictures made with their particular words and check whether the film got their level of reality. It is a French documentary shot during the summer of 1960, but the release date is October of 1961.  This discussion highlights that the film starts with a discussion between Rouch and Morin on whether it is conceivable to act earnestly before a camera. Wiseman likes to pick institutions as his subjects this is because of its limita tions to a geographical area providing the boundaries. He is very keen on observing the way organizations are run, the guidelines that they are controlled by the relationship between the general population who give services and the general population who receives services. In the chronicle of summer, Rouch wishes to capture the repercussions of the Algerian war and just before the blast of social mobs that came to dominate that decade in Paris.

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film Essay

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film - Essay Example This paper stresses that  despite being shot over a five-week period, from March to April 1968 in Philadelphia, Wiseman was scared of a lawsuit, so the film was not shown in Philadelphia at the time of its release in October of 1968. Chronicle of a Summer directed by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin is a film where people talk about topics on the themes of French society and happiness in the regular workers among others and with those affirmations the movie producers make fictional moments taking into account their interviews. Later on, the people talk about the pictures made with their particular words and check whether the film got their level of reality. It is a French documentary shot during the summer of 1960, but the release date is October of 1961.  This discussion highlights that the film starts with a discussion between Rouch and Morin on whether it is conceivable to act earnestly before a camera. Wiseman likes to pick institutions as his subjects this is because of its limita tions to a geographical area providing the boundaries. He is very keen on observing the way organizations are run, the guidelines that they are controlled by the relationship between the general population who give services and the general population who receives services. In the chronicle of summer, Rouch wishes to capture the repercussions of the Algerian war and just before the blast of social mobs that came to dominate that decade in Paris.

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film Essay

High School and Chronicle of a Summer Film - Essay Example This paper stresses that  despite being shot over a five-week period, from March to April 1968 in Philadelphia, Wiseman was scared of a lawsuit, so the film was not shown in Philadelphia at the time of its release in October of 1968. Chronicle of a Summer directed by Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin is a film where people talk about topics on the themes of French society and happiness in the regular workers among others and with those affirmations the movie producers make fictional moments taking into account their interviews. Later on, the people talk about the pictures made with their particular words and check whether the film got their level of reality. It is a French documentary shot during the summer of 1960, but the release date is October of 1961.  This discussion highlights that the film starts with a discussion between Rouch and Morin on whether it is conceivable to act earnestly before a camera. Wiseman likes to pick institutions as his subjects this is because of its limita tions to a geographical area providing the boundaries. He is very keen on observing the way organizations are run, the guidelines that they are controlled by the relationship between the general population who give services and the general population who receives services. In the chronicle of summer, Rouch wishes to capture the repercussions of the Algerian war and just before the blast of social mobs that came to dominate that decade in Paris.

Provide a viral marketing plan that uses blogs and social media tools Essay

Provide a viral marketing plan that uses blogs and social media tools to generate interest in the Courier - Essay Example In order to ensure the credibility of local news, the Courier should use a blog that is frequently updated and one that allows for the general public to comment. This blog will be more effective when it is attached to the Courier’s website. It can also be uses to share opinions of people and their reactions to different news items. High school students and institutions are the main target market for high school sport results. According to Bregman (18), the most effective way to reach out to students is through social media. Many students spend a large portion of their time on social media. Organizing campaigns that target them on social media platforms will create interest in the courier. The courier should engage the students by posting pictures of the sporting activities and commenting on the. Social media campaigns can also include competitions for students. This will increase the flow of students to the site and enhance the visibility of the Courier The courier should use social media presence to post topics that command attention of the reader. These topics should be linked to the main feature stories in the Courier’s website and blogs. Once the readers click on the topic, they should be automatically redirected to the Courier’s website to get access to the full story. This will increase the flow of customers to the Courier’s website and generate more interest in it. According to Andrews (6), using blogs and linking it to the website will optimize the website and make it easier to be traced by the search engine. In order to attract the interest of gardeners, home repair agents, crafts men and their clients who love functionality and beauty in their homes and places of work, the Courier will need to dedicate a blog spot on the Courier’s website that is linked to a social media page. This will act as a one stop shop for

Next Generation Air Transportation System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Next Generation Air Transportation System - Essay Example In addition, this program also encompasses airspace redesign and human factors affected by the air transport Next Generation Air Transport System is a proposed overhaul of the air traffic control system by the FAA. This government organ is moving away from the traditional control plan to exploit the advancement of technology in operating and managing aircrafts across the country. Accordingly, the aviation department plans to move from ground-based radar surveillance to satellite-based automatic monitoring. This program’s essential idea is the concept of free flights across the country. Through the adoption of various innovations, the aircrafts are guided by satellite instruments in the cockpit (Barkowski 6). This technology replaces the ground-based radars that require assistance by numerous traffic air controllers. Additionally, NextGen refers to the technology program that is essential and appropriate for ensuring safe and efficient movements of aircrafts. Thus, individual planes are given freedom to chart their path from departure to arrival destinations without the influence of aviation staff on the ground. Under free flights, the satellite-guided software provides direct and accurate routes to pilots to their targets. The Next Generation Air Transport System is currently in use across the country. Adoption of this program has already improved the air transport system in the country. Through the adoption of the guidelines and provision of this program, passengers are now enjoying the use of air transport. The crafts are saving time and moving swiftly across the country (Dillingham 5). In addition, the agency’s direct flights from different places is also useful. As a result, the industry is saving on operations cost since aircrafts use limited fuel. The crafts are also less pollutant to the environment since the emission of exhaust fumes has greatly reduced. Moreover, the program is

You chose it for me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

You chose it for me - Essay Example I have always admired famous racers like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton for their feats in those tiny but powerful speed machines. Drag racing, like the F1 series and indeed any other racing type involves; speed and acceleration competitions with the main difference being that in street, drag racing, anyone can participate. Furthermore, one does not need a special car, however, people often adjust their vehicles for maximum performance; in addition, a drag race involves only two cars at a time while other motorsports have as many as the course can safely hold. A drag race is a contest in which cars race over a predetermined distance usually a quarter mile with the winner being the one who reaches the finish line first, it is done on a drag strip. The racing event takes the form of two-vehicle racing at a time with each loser being eliminated from the contest and the winners proceed until only one is left, and this is the ultimate winner. In as much as I am a motor sports enthusiast, I rarely actively participate, and even when I drive fast, it is often within speed limits. Nonetheless, this does not prevent me from enjoying the racing experience since watching the cars is every bit as fulfilling as it would be driving them especially in view of the fact that it much less risky. On the Friday night of fun, it would be fitting to say I had the best time of my life in respect to motor sports, this is because although drag races do not rival the F1and other professional racing experiences, in terms of speed, cars, and stunts, I got to watch from the sidelines as opposed to the Television screen. This proximity helped to â€Å"feel† the race on a personal level, more so, many of the drivers were my friends and cheering them was a fabulous deal of fun since we could discuss the races later on and try to determine how they could be improved with giving a spectators perspective to the drivers. This race was a chance for me, the drivers and

Leadership and mentoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Leadership and mentoring - Essay Example The effects of leadership decisions on organizational growth are many.In fact, appropriate leadership practices can highly enhance the performance of a particular organization, an issue that needs to be taken into consideration when having to evaluate the role of leaders in establishing and promoting organizational strategies. In any case, leadership has been proved to be a critical concept for organizations operating in different industries. However, in most cases, the ability of leaders to promote effective strategies is doubted; failures in providing guidelines or making accurate provisions in regard to the potential needs of a specific plan seem to be common aspects of the leadership worldwide. Current study reviews the characteristics and the requirements of leadership as compared to mentoring. Reference is particularly made to the potential interaction between leadership and mentoring and the role of its of these concepts in the success of plans, either in the short or the long term. Both these concepts, leadership and mentorship, are explored in the context of the business environment. At the same time, the personal perceptions on leadership are presented. Using the example of leadership in work, the personal responses to the needs of such a role are described and explained. It is proved that leadership can highly affect the success of projects in all sectors; moreover, the personal experiences on leadership, as evaluated through an appropriate theoretical framework, lead to the following assumption: leadership and mentoring have a key role in the success of organizational plans. Moreover, the involvement of leadership and mentoring in the context of a business can be made clear in all parts of the business; in the workplace leadership is critical for the development of an effective relationship between the employee and the employer. In the long term, the success of leaders is necessarily evaluated by their competencies and experience, but also by their willingness to support all aspects of their organization’s activities without setting their own interest as a priority. 2. Literature review on leadership and mentoring 2.1 Definitions The development of leadership has been related to a series of different sectors; in fact, leadership has been involved in many social, economic and political activities. According to Daft and Lane (2008) the value of leadership as a social phenomenon has been identified quite early, even from the ancient times. However, it was just in ‘the twentieth century that scientific research on leadership first appeared’ (Daft and Lane 2008). A key characteristic of leadership is its complexity. More specifically, due to the high range of activities in which it is involved, leadership has been described using different criteria (Daft and Lane 2008). A common definition of leadership is the following one: leadership is ‘an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend re al changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes’ (Daft and Lane 2008, p.4). In other words, leadership is defined by the perceptions of leaders and followers, as these perceptions are likely to affect the style of the leaders but also the relationship between leaders and followers. The above definition has an important implication: no reference is made to the potential independency of leaders from their followers neither to the independency of the latter from the former. In other words, leaders and followers are considered as fully committed to the achievement of certain common goals, a fact that cannot be verified by the social and economic practice. In fact, many leaders tend to decide independently, without being influenced by the percepti

You chose it for me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

You chose it for me - Essay Example I have always admired famous racers like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton for their feats in those tiny but powerful speed machines. Drag racing, like the F1 series and indeed any other racing type involves; speed and acceleration competitions with the main difference being that in street, drag racing, anyone can participate. Furthermore, one does not need a special car, however, people often adjust their vehicles for maximum performance; in addition, a drag race involves only two cars at a time while other motorsports have as many as the course can safely hold. A drag race is a contest in which cars race over a predetermined distance usually a quarter mile with the winner being the one who reaches the finish line first, it is done on a drag strip. The racing event takes the form of two-vehicle racing at a time with each loser being eliminated from the contest and the winners proceed until only one is left, and this is the ultimate winner. In as much as I am a motor sports enthusiast, I rarely actively participate, and even when I drive fast, it is often within speed limits. Nonetheless, this does not prevent me from enjoying the racing experience since watching the cars is every bit as fulfilling as it would be driving them especially in view of the fact that it much less risky. On the Friday night of fun, it would be fitting to say I had the best time of my life in respect to motor sports, this is because although drag races do not rival the F1and other professional racing experiences, in terms of speed, cars, and stunts, I got to watch from the sidelines as opposed to the Television screen. This proximity helped to â€Å"feel† the race on a personal level, more so, many of the drivers were my friends and cheering them was a fabulous deal of fun since we could discuss the races later on and try to determine how they could be improved with giving a spectators perspective to the drivers. This race was a chance for me, the drivers and

Whittier Narrows Nature Center Field Project Essay

Whittier Narrows Nature Center Field Project - Essay Example The Nature Center is open from 8am-5pm Tuesday – Sunday. It is also free to enter the nature center. It surprised me a lot because most of the nature parks in China usually have to pay for the ticket. The latitude of the park is 34Â ° 2 3" N and longitude is 118Â ° 2 43" W. The San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo flow through Whittier Narrows only a mile apart. There are a lot of activities you can do at Whittier Narrows Nature Center, such as hikes, walks, bicycle riding,guide-led natural tour, nature day camps and a bird walk. There is also a wheelchair accessible trail available as well. When I first arrived to the park, I walked around a circle from entrance A to F. There were a lot of interesting things to see. The landscape of the Whittier Narrows is flat, dry and monotonous. The center is also bordering the San Gabriel River, this 400 acre preserve of riparian woodland features 4 lakes. If you visit there during summer, many plants and animals can be found in a wetland community. The two rivers San Gabriel and Rio Hondo River flows through the area and they are only a mile apart from one another (David and Guyette 79). San Gabriel River drains the second largest water in Los Angeles while Rio Hondo is a stream that only flows during the rainy season. The floor of the area is filled with the silt, sand, and gravel that are transported from the rest of the watershed north of the gap. When I visited the area, the temperatures of the day was around 86Â °F, the sky was cloudless, humidity was 7 percent, wind speed was 5 mph and it was flowing towards the northern direction. Over the course of the season, the temperatures varies from 48Â °F to 80Â °F, in few occasions it goes below 42Â °F and above 85Â °F, during that day, the temperatures were above the normal temperatures (David and Guyette 79). The climate of Los Angeles is moderate; it is similar to Mediterranean climate, the rainfall changes depending on the season, the summers are

John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism Essay Example for Free

John Stuart Mill and Utilitarianism Essay John Stuart Mill published Utilitarianism in 1861 in installments in Frasers Magezine it was later brought out in book form in 1863. The book offers a candidate for a first principle of morality, a principle that provides us with a criterion distinquishing right and wrong. The unilitarian candidate is the principle of utility, which holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happpiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure. One version of cecular utilitarianism was represented by William Godwin the husband of Mary Wollstonecraft and father of Mary Shelley, who achieved great notoriety with the publication of hil Political Justice of 1793. Godwins use of the principle of utility for the cause of radical political and social critique began the identification of utilitarianism with anti-religiosity and with dangerous democratic values. The second version of secular utilitarianism, and the one that inspired Mill, arose from the work of Jeremy Bentham. Benthan, who was much more successful than Godwin at building a movement around his ideas, employed the principle of utility as a device of political, social, and legal criticism. Benthams interest in the principle of utility did not arise from concern about ethical theory as much as from concern about lefislative and legal reform. Though Bentham and Godwin intended it to have this function in the late eighteenth century, utilitarianism became influential only when tied with the political machinery of the Radical party, which had particular prominence on the English scene in the 1830s.

Meeting at airport :: English Literature

Meeting at airport Ali had just driven through the rush hour traffic of London with his mother. He had arrived several hours earlier than necessary for the arrival of his wife’s return flight from India. His wife and son had been on holiday in India. He knew he had a couple of hours before his wife arrived. He had been married for two years. His wife was born in India. He had gone to India after completing his studies. He travelled to India with his parents to visit relatives, and to have a holiday before he started his new job. While he was on holiday, he made many friends. It was while staying with his grandparents that he met his future wife. His wife was the daughter of one of his neighbours. He was in India for only two months and within two months he had met, someone with whom he wanted to marry. During his walk around the arrivals area, he bumped into Ali a friend from his school who he had not seen for many years. Ali said to Sanjay†Hello, how are you, I haven’t seen you for ages!† Sanjay replied, â€Å"It’s you Ali, my old friend we have a lot of catching up to do.† Ali said† I have been married for a couple of years and I am waiting for my wife and son to return from India.† Sanjay replied, â€Å"I am waiting for my second wife to return from India, her job involves a lot of travelling.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"We’ve recently been allowed to adopt a child by the local authority.† Ali was surprised that Sanjay had been previously married. Sanjay said, â€Å"I was married to my first wife for about a year before we separated† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I wanted my wife to stay at home, and for us to start a family,† â€Å"my wife didn’t want to stay at home, she wanted to continue with her career.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I believe that a woman’s place is in the home and it is important for her to look after the house and the children after these responsibilities she can pursue a career.† Ali said, â€Å"I don’t completely agree as the maintenance of the house and children nowadays are a joint responsibility between Husband and Wife.† Ali’s eye caught the flight arrivals board, which indicated that their flight had landed.† Ali told Sanjay that their flight had arrived. Sanjay said, â€Å"I expect my wife to leave her job when she becomes pregnant.† Sanjay continued, â€Å"I wouldn’t want her to work again until our child was at least three years old, and starting nursery.† Ali said â€Å"Goodbye!†

Security Risk Management SRM and Auditing Essay -- essays research pap

Abstract The term â€Å"be prepared† applies especially well to today’s business environment, where enterprises across all industries and locations are challenged by a volatile, increasingly unpredictable world. In addition to protecting their internal resources, organizations must consider the security and well-being of their employees, partners, suppliers and customers, as well as the reliability of the web of networks and systems on which most now depend. Stop Managing Security. Start Managing Risk. The way forward lays in a security risk management (SRM) approach that protects your company from the most severe threats to critical IT systems and operational processes. SRM helps your organization understand its assets and analyze the vulnerabilities it must address. Security risk management also facilitates internal and external compliance initiatives. It enables your organization to enforce policies that relate to the integrity of customer data, the configuration of corporate applications and databases, and the accuracy of financial reports. Companies that take a systematic approach to SRM reap additional benefits: operational efficiencies that lead to better management of resources and reduced costs. It's up to all the parties involved in the IT operations and security mission to demonstrate that they can take on the demands of this new challenge. Security is a wide concept, it is a separated subject with its own theories, "which focus on the process of attack and on preventing, detecting and recovering from attacks" (William 1996). Certainly, these processes should be well organized in coping with the complex system issues. A coherent approach should be taken, which builds on established security standards, procedu... ...om norm', Network World Canada, Jun 24, Vol. 15, Is. 12, pp1-10, Gulati R, 1999, 'Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation', Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 20, Is. 5, May, pp 397-399 Osborne, Keith (1998), 'Auditing the IT Security Function', Computers &, Security, Vol. 17, NO.1, pp35-39. Hampton D K, Peter R &, Walker H T D, 1996, Relationship-Based Procurement strategies for The 21st Century, Vis, Canberra. Johnson, Jim (1995), 'CHAOS: The Dollar Drain of IT Project Failures', Applied Development Trend O’Brien, James and Marakas, George (2007) Introduction to Information Systems, 13th ed. McGraw-Hill William C &, Dennis L &, Michael S (1996), Information Security Handbook, NY: MacMillian Press LTD Gladstone D, 1988, Venture Capital Investing, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

Dickinson’s poem: “Because I could not stop for Death”

Emily Dickinson’s poem Because I could not stop for Death is her personal take on the mystical relationship between life and death. She addresses death from a somewhat cynical and very unique point of view, using metaphor and symbolic imagery to relay her main point, which is that eternity exists here on earth. To get to this point she contrasts the relationship between eternity and the present, and she poeticizes her personal assumptions pertaining to the afterlife. In the first two lines of her poem, she personifies death as a tall dark and civil man, whose flattering kindness causes her to be swept away.This is most apparently enforced through lines 6-8 when Dickenson says, And I had put away/ My labor and my leisure too/ For His Civility- (Dickenson, 6-8). Here it is easily identified to the reader that Dickenson feels no threat from death and she is even slightly honored to be in his company. The irony of this statement proposes that death is possibly a casual and antiqua ted part of life, and not as vile or harsh as some of the many methods through which we go about achieving it. A major motif used in the poem is the aspect of time.The contrast between the temporary and haste-full rush of the present with the open-ended nature of eternity is the main focus of the work, and the force that drives it. It can be seen throughout the poem in multiple ways. This contrasted relationship between the present and eternity is first initiated with the opening line, Because I could not stop for Death-/He kindly stopped for me- (Dickenson, 1&2). This motif is further used when Dickenson refers to immortality being in the carriage with her, and then when she says, We slowly drove- He knew no haste (Dickenson, 5).Death’s inclination to drive the carriage slowly is most likely due to the idea that time has no meaning in the hereafter. Time on earth is measured by the sun, but this time frame does not apply to death, nor to Dickenson anymore now that she is dea d. Her recognition of this fact is another pinnacle point of contrast between the present and eternity. She even acknowledges this value of the sun to signify time when she says, We passed the Setting Sun- / Or rather- He passed Us- (Dickenson, 12 & 13).Once she passes the sun, and the sun passes her, their relationship no longer has a bearing on her existence. From this moment on in the poem, all of Dickinson’s verses represent her personal assumption of the afterlife, and these lines attempt to find meaning in the unknown. As Dickinson settles into the reality of her own death, she uses phrases like Dews drew quivering and chill- (Dickenson, 14), and terms like Gossamer and Tulle referring to the thickness of her clothing, to point out that it is very cold where she is going and she failed to prepare for the trip.This is a very ironic notion considering that one main premise of this poem is that death is unexpected and waits for no one’s schedule to be clear. Dickins on then likens her soon to be grave to that of a house, which she says looks like the swelling of the ground (Dickinson, 18). Before she comes to her final realization, Dickinson makes her very last comparison to time and eternity when she says, Since then – ‘tis Centuries – and yet / Feels shorter than the Day (Dickenson, 20 & 21).Here she identifies that she no longer has the same concept of time, as when she was living. This corresponds with her last two lines and her realization that all along immortality had been right beside her. She realizes this through recognizing that the horses heads were facing eternity. I took this as another way of saying time is ever-changing and moving forward and like the children she sees playing, and all of the other surroundings, we are among this endless stream as well.In sum, Dickinson’s poem Because I could not stop for Death, becomes a critique on the way most view life. Few are given the possibility to know the exa ct moment of their death. Dickenson acknowledges this fact and turns it into a very mystical about entrance into the afterlife. With no more than 24 lines she tells a very saying tale, and where most stories begin with one living and then dying, her begins with her death and ends with her finding the truth behind immortality. This poem is a fable for the living.

Thorn Queen Chapter Six

Kiyo always healed quickly, and when we got home that night, he was in fine condition to see who could put on the highest-quality performance in bed. Consequently, he woke in a very cheerful mood the next day, though he still couldn't help a little grumbling about following along yet again. I knew it was all gruffness, though. He liked knowing I was safe, and that warmed something up inside of me. â€Å"You tricked me,† he remarked once we'd crossed over to the Otherworld that morning. I was hoping these bandits would be as easy to dispatch as the kobolds, unnatural hybrids of small animals aside. â€Å"After that thing you did in bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He sighed happily at the memory of a particularly skillful feat my mouth had performed last night. â€Å"Well, you know I'd agree to do anything now.† â€Å"Come on,† I said, still feeling a bit proud. â€Å"It has nothing to do with that. Don't you want to see justice served to those who dare torment my subjects?† â€Å"Careful there. People might think you're acting like a real queen.† I glanced down at my torn jeans and Poison T-shirt. â€Å"Well, let's not get carried away. Maybe it'd help if I got a crown like Dorian said.† To my astonishment, Kiyo's teasing expression immediately hardened. â€Å"No. That's the last thing you should do.† I stared in surprise. â€Å"Why not? Too Miss America?† â€Å"It'll make you seem more†¦official.† I gestured around at the tapestry-draped castle room we'd appeared in. â€Å"We're in a fucking castle, Kiyo. I don't really see how it can get any more official.† â€Å"You don't understand. I mean, you're a queen, yeah, and they all know it†¦but a lot just see you as this warrior stand-in. Like a regent. Get a crown†¦start appearing before lots of people in it, and I don't know. It makes you legitimate. It makes it real. It'll be harder for you to get out of this than it already is.† I thought about how often I'd wished I hadn't been saddled with this land and how often I'd tried to avoid it-yet still kept coming back. â€Å"I don't think it can get any harder.† We found Shaya before heading out on our raid. I'd brought some things that I hoped would help with the Thorn Land's drought and famine. When I gave the first one to her, she could only stare in silence for several moments. â€Å"Your majesty†¦what is this?† â€Å"It's a children's place mat I got from Joe's Tex-Mex restaurant.† Along with Joe's kid's menu, the place mat also depicted a map of Arizona that kids could color while waiting for their food. I pointed to the assorted symbols on the map. â€Å"See, this shows Arizona's natural resources. The stuff that grows and can be found there. Cotton. Copper.† â€Å"What's this?† she asked, pointing to something that resembled a glass of liquid. I frowned. It certainly wasn't water, that was for damned sure. â€Å"I think it's some kind of citrus product. Orange. Grapefruit.† I shrugged. â€Å"I think you can grow either in this weather. And that's the point. This land mirrors Tucson, so all the things there should be the same here. There should be copper deposits that you guys can find. That's valuable in trade, right?† Copper was one of the few metals gentry could handle. Iron was right out, being the harbinger of technology. That's what made it one of my most lethal weapons. â€Å"And the rest should grow here, if you can find seeds. Someone must have them somewhere, even in this world.† â€Å"They still need water,† she pointed out. â€Å"Right. That's what this is for.† I handed her my next prize: a book. â€Å"It's a history of the engineering of wells and aqueducts from ancient and medieval Europe. It should help in moving water around.† She still looked stunned, so I tried to think of something comforting. â€Å"I'll help find more water sources too.† I then handed her another book about Southwest architecture, adobe and stucco homes. She took the books and flipped through them, taking in the dense chapters and diagrams. â€Å"I don't think I'm the right person to do this. I don't have the mind for it.† â€Å"Maybe not. But I'm sure you can delegate to someone who can.† I patted her encouragingly on the arm. The truth was, I was as baffled by the book as she was. I could put together jigsaw puzzles in record time. Reading engineering diagrams? Not so much. â€Å"Just be careful with them-those are library books.† I had to go then and felt a little bad about leaving her. Yet, despite her confusion now, I knew she would find people and ways to implement this. She was just that competent. Maybe I should have had more of a hand in this, but hey, I'd been the one who had to choke down Joe's crap Tex-Mex food in order to score the place mat. That had to count for something. If I'd had my way, I would have just taken Kiyo and gone out to hunt down these bandits ourselves. I had to imagine they were just riffraff and not much of an obstacle to us. Kiyo was a pretty fierce fighter, as last night had shown, and between my weapons and magic, I was his equal. Rurik had protested this plan, however, insisting that he and almost two dozen guards come along. I didn't think this gave us much in the way of stealth, but he'd told me we'd dismount and go on foot once we reached the passes the bandits lived in. Before we left, I decided we might as well add one more person to our entourage. I stepped into a darkened corner, far from the light of candles in the room, and took out my wand. Immediately, the guards moved away from me. They knew what I was going to do and didn't like it. When something magical made gentry uneasy, you knew it was bad. I spoke the words of summoning and felt magic move through me. It wasn't the storm magic I'd inherited, the pull to water and air. This was a learned human magic, a way of reaching out to the worlds beyond. The temperature in the room dropped, a sudden shock compared to the dry heat we'd just been in. Then, the cold lifted, and Volusian stood before me. Volusian was my minion, for lack of a better word. He was a damned soul, cursed to wander without rest for all eternity after committing atrocious acts in life. I'd fought and bound him to me, forcing him to serve me. Volusian wasn't very happy about this and frequently liked to remind me of how he would destroy me if he ever broke free of my control. After hearing stuff like that over and over, it almost took on a familiar feel, kind of like how a pop song heard often enough will work its way into your heart. While Otherworldly spirits often had insubstantial forms in the human world, the shape Volusian had now looked exactly the same as it would if I summoned him back home: a short, imp-like creature with black skin, pointed ears, and red eyes. â€Å"My mistress calls,† he said in a flat voice. â€Å"And I answer. Regretfully.† â€Å"Oh, Volusian,† I said cheerfully. â€Å"Always a joy to have you around. You're such a ray of sunshine on a dreary day.† Volusian merely stared. I turned to the others, hoping I sounded queenly and authoritative. â€Å"Alright. Let's go kick some outlaws out of town.† I still wasn't used to having an entourage of guards. So much of my life had been solitary, so much of it spent fighting on my own†¦well, I didn't really know what to do with so many people at my back. As we headed toward our destination, I found it was a lot easier to deal with the guards if I just focused on Kiyo and pretended we were alone. â€Å"I can't believe you gave Shaya a place mat and now expect her to revolutionize this place's total infrastructure,† he noted. â€Å"What else am I supposed to do?† I asked. â€Å"You were just complaining about me getting too involved in this place. Handing off a place mat is about as uninvolved as I can get-unless you're saying I should take a more active role now?† â€Å"No,† he answered swiftly, face darkening a little. â€Å"Believe me, if there were an easy way for you to give up this place, I'd make you do it.† I cut him a glance. â€Å"You'd make me, huh?† â€Å"Encourage,† he amended. â€Å"Unfortunately, it's a moot point. The only way to lose a kingdom is if your power drops or†¦well, if you're killed.† â€Å"I'm sure Volusian would love to help with that.† My minion walked near me, needing no horse to move swiftly. Upon hearing his name, he said, â€Å"I would perform the deed with great relish and much suffering on your part, mistress.† â€Å"You can't put a price on that kind of loyalty,† I told Kiyo solemnly. â€Å"No crown even required.† Kiyo grunted noncommittally. There was a lot of tension between him and Dorian, but the one thing they both agreed on was that Volusian was trouble. Both had encouraged me to get rid of him. I didn't have the power to completely banish him to the Underworld, but it probably could be managed with another magic user. Still, dangerous or no, I continued to retain the spirit's services. â€Å"Are you going to stick around when we're done here?† I asked. That was my subtle way of asking if Kiyo was going to see Maiwenn. His dark eyes were on the road ahead, thoughtful. â€Å"No. I was hoping to go back to Tucson and see if I could get this hot chick I know to go out with me. I hear she's in demand, though. She keeps putting me off each time I try to plan something romantic.† â€Å"Yeah, well, maybe if you come up with a good itinerary, you could lure her out.† â€Å"I was thinking dinner at Joe's.† I made a face. â€Å"If that's the case, maybe you'd better brace yourself for rejection.† â€Å"Red Pepper Bistro?† â€Å"Okay. Now you're in the zone.† â€Å"Followed by a long massage in the sauna.† â€Å"That's pretty good too.† â€Å"And then indecent things in the sauna.† â€Å"I hope you mean you'll be doing the indecent things-because I more than did my share last night.† Kiyo glanced over at me with a mischievous grin. â€Å"Who says I'm talking about you?† I would have swatted him if he'd been in reach. Instead, I grinned back, my mood happy and light. Bantering with him like this was just like the old days, back before Maiwenn and this baby business was an issue. I felt like his girlfriend again. And despite just having had sex last night, I couldn't deny the truth. Thinking about having sex with him in the sauna was doing uncomfortable-pleasantly uncomfortable-things to my body, particularly with my legs spread like they were. Our gazes met, and I felt an answering heat in his eyes. I remembered how fierce he'd been while throwing himself in front of me last night and could perfectly envision that same fierceness translated into passion in bed. The lines and muscles of his body suddenly seemed that much stronger, and I could imagine his hands all over me†¦. Rurik trotted up beside me and interrupted my pornographic thoughts. â€Å"We need to go on foot now. We're getting close.† We stopped on the edge of a â€Å"forest† comprised of saguaro cactuses and scraggly trees. They spread on ahead of us, up toward some sharp rises in the land that turned into sandy red cliffs studded with rocks. While tethering the horses, Kiyo decided he'd go ahead and scout in fox form. â€Å"If you can't change back, that's going to seriously interfere with our date,† I told him. He ran a hand along my bare arm, making every part of me tingle. â€Å"Nah, nothing's interfering with that. I'll go in small fox form-they'll never see me.† He slowly shape-shifted, his large, muscled frame growing smaller, then elongating into a red fox about as big as a medium-sized dog. He brushed against my leg and then disappeared into the vegetation ahead. I watched him go. Some part of me would always worry about those I loved, but overall, I had confidence in Kiyo when it came to dangerous situations. The rest of us milled about in the midday heat, passing water around. About twenty minutes later, Kiyo returned. With each approaching step, he transformed from a cuddly furry critter into the man I loved. Not that I didn't love him as a fox too. â€Å"They're over there, just like we thought,† Kiyo said. There was kind of a lope as he walked, a leftover from the fox form. It was both cute and sexy at the same time. â€Å"Looks like they're camped out and resting for the day.† â€Å"Any lookouts?† asked Rurik. Kiyo grinned. â€Å"Not anymore.† I rolled my eyes. â€Å"Did you see any girls?† His smile faded. â€Å"No. Just the bandits. They've got a few less people than we do.† â€Å"Well, that's good,† I said, frowning. No girls. What did that mean? Had the couple in the village been wrong? Maybe their daughter really had run off with her boyfriend. Still, if this group was harassing people, getting rid of them would certainly be a good deed. Kiyo and Rurik plotted strategy on how to sneak up on the camp, and our group set off, planning to fan out around the brigands. With no lookouts, the gang had no one to warn them of our approach and seemed totally unaware when we got our first glimpse of them. They were mostly men, with a few women. The women clearly weren't captured girls, though. They were older and hardened from harsh living. The whole group looked like it had seen hard times, actually. There was a toughness about them that suggested they'd fight tooth and nail. Based on an earlier discussion, I'd thought our whole group would just swoop down at once. Instead, one of my guards suddenly stepped out and shouted, â€Å"Surrender in the name of the queen!† Oh God, I thought. He did not just say that. There was no time to ponder it further as my party charged forward. â€Å"Remember,† I hissed to Volusian. â€Å"Subdue. Don't kill.† He didn't look happy about this. Of course, he never looked happy. The rest of my guards had orders to avoid killing if they could but not to hesitate if it was their life or a bandit's. I wanted prisoners we could question later and didn't really like the idea of furthering my tyrannical image if I could help it. As I'd expected, the bandits fought back. No surrender here. They had conventional gentry weapons, as well as some weak fighting magic. It became clear early on that taking prisoners was a little harder than killing. Killing was fast. Taking someone down and tying them up was a little more complicated. It exposed you to attacks from others. Nonetheless, I saw my guards handily bind two of the bandits right away. A couple other bandits got killed shortly thereafter, but they'd had knives at my men's throats and left us no alternative. Kiyo and I were working together to tie a flailing man up when I suddenly felt a surge of magic in the air. I stopped what I was doing. It wasn't gentry magic. In fact, none of the others noticed it right away. As a shaman, I'd developed a sensitivity to creatures and powers from the different worlds. This power made my skin prickle and had a slimy, oily feel to it. It wasn't from the human world or even the Otherworld. There were Underworld creatures here. â€Å"Demons,† I said, just as they materialized within the camp. â€Å"There are fucking demons here.†