Empire of Capitalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Empire of Capitalism - Essay Example French and German capitalism developed in a different way to the (more advanced) British form. When industrialization occurred in Britain it was driven by the need for technology to support farming. In France and Germany, however, it developed because they had a number of rivalries with other countries and so needed armies to support their place in the world. It was only after the defeat of Napoleon, and the loss of the protection guaranteed by having a large empire, that the economic competition from Britain began to be felt in France. France did not respond by copying the way Britain had developed, nor did they challenge Britain's better economic position in the world. Military needs continued to be the main reason why there was more industrialization in the nineteenth century, and the technological advances this brought gave France a head start in technological industries. The tradition of the government running industries in France also helped encourage industrial development, as well as laying the foundations of the quality of France's current public services - health, welfare, etc. State-led and military based economic development was even more marked in Germany. Before the nineteenth century Germany was many different countries. ... late nineteenth century there was a rapid period of economic development under Bismark (who was the German chancellor), and this quick growth was due in the main to military requirements (Bismark needed to fight wars). This is in sharp contrast to Britain's economic development, they made things for the non-military market. Germany's economy developed due to the government spending money on military goods. The Classic Age of Imperialism British capitalism meant that other countries had to become capitalist to compete with them. But this did not stop wars; the nineteenth century was the age at which colonial imperialism (the taking of other countries by force) was at its height. Marxist colonial theories of the time reflected this fact: Marx himself was interested in most mature system of capitalism - Britain. He saw Britain as a capitalist country in a world of largely non-captialist countries. Proceeding Marxist theorists of the twentieth century ("from Lenin to Mao"2) worked within systems that were either only partly capitalist or not capitalist at all. Marxist theories of imperialism likewise shifted their focus from the internal operations within capitalist countries to their exterior relations with the non-capitalist world. They thought that capitalism would end because capitalist countries would destroy themselves in wars over colonies. But such rivalries required a non-capitalistic world (i.e. Countries that could become colonies) to fight over. Rosa Luxemburg explicitly states that capitalism, despite wanting to take oer the world, requires "other economic systems as a medium and soil."3 In these theories, then, capitalism needs non-capitalism. The world of 'classical imperialism' (in which Europe and Northern American were made up of competing armies

Conclusions And Future Scope Engineering Essay

Conclusions And Future Scope Engineering Essay In the integrated circuit industry, the ceaseless effort to decrease critical transistor dimensions in each new technology guarantees that the prominence of electrostatic discharge will continue to grow. Devising ways to protect electronic devices against ESD is just as important as determining how to process and manufacture them because a product with susceptibility to damage will not be accepted. As a result of increasing susceptibility of devices to ESD because of miniaturization, the problem of ESD is now being dealt by most IC manufacturers and electronic system designers at several levels, from designing on-chip protection circuits to off chip protection design for systems. Once an IC is packaged and shipped to a customer, however, the in-built, on-chip protection circuit is the only means of defense against ESD damage. At the system level, the on-chip protection may not be sufficient to handle the system level ESD exposure. So off-chip or on-board protection devices are necess ary to protect the system from real world ESD. While circuit designers have successfully created robust ESD protection for past technologies, a lack of understanding of effects of ESD on various devices, circuits and systems; the mechanisms underlying ESD damage makes the susceptibility of electronic components to ESD still a hot topic of research. Mathematical analysis and estimation to calculate the induced transient voltages in shielded and unshielded cables is presented. This enables us to find the induced voltage and its rise time appearing at the terminals of the electrical equipment which are connected to such cables. This enables the designers to design protection circuits at the front-end of the equipment. The effect of ESD on logic gates, analog circuits, digital circuits, microcontrollers and complex electronics are presented. This chapter presents the contributions of this thesis toward implementing a methodology of characterization of the effects of indirect and direct ESD on various electronic components. Also the implementation of the board design and protection circuits on a custom designed microcontroller board based on an understanding of the ESD failure mechanisms of various devices and circuits is presented. This chapter covers the future scope on the research work carried out on ESD. The following results and conclusions have been arrived upon. 8.1 Overall Conclusions Mathematical equations have been developed and are implemented in MATLAB by which the coupled and induced voltages in unshielded and shielded cables can be calculated. The values of the induced voltages obtained agree with the published results by different authors. For contact discharge ESD, higher induced voltages are observed upto 10 MHz for CSD, upto 2.5 MHz for air discharge and in the 20 to 100 MHz range for all the three terminations resistive, RC shunt and CMOS device. The induced voltages are higher in the case of contact discharge compared to air discharge or CSD. The induced voltage in an unshielded cable increases with the decrease in the rise time and distance, and increase in the peak amplitude and the damping factor for the CSD current model. The peak value of the induced voltage due to IEC contact discharge ESD at 8 kV for resistive termination is 625V and 7.8 mV for RC shunt termination. The peak value of the induced voltage due to IEC air discharge ESD at 16 kV is 6.25 V and 3.25 mV for RC shunt termination. The peak value of the induced voltage at the input of a CMOS device is 14 V for contact discharge and 0.6 V for air discharge. It can be inferred that RC shunt terminations are preferred compared to the resistive or CMOS device termination as the induced voltages are in mV range. In case of shielded cable, a generic program in Visual C++ to compute the induced voltages for varying parameters of the current waveform, length, height of the cable and angle of incidence has been implemented. This can also be used to calculate induced voltages for different cable configurations. Using MATLAB, the data imported from Visual C++ is used to calculate induced voltages. The equations developed give the voltages induced whose values are in close agreement with those published by other authors. The induced voltages are investigated for braided and unbraided shielded cables. The induced voltage and current in the center conductor is larger for a braided cable compared to a non-braided cable. This analysis estimates the transient voltages appearing at the input of the system connected to the shielded cable. This estimate can be used to develop appropriate mitigation techniques to protect the sensitive system that is connected to the shielded cable. It has been calculated by simulation that in shielded cables, the voltages induced due to radiated ESD is negligible thereby reinforcing the theory that shielded cables can protect equipment from high frequency radiated fields due to ESD. The effect of variation of the parameters such the cable length, height of the cable above the ground plane and the angle of incidence of the ESD pulse has been discussed. The peak amplitude of the cable sheath current decreases correspondingly with decrease in the length of the cable. This change in the occurrence of the peak is due to smaller value of inductance in case of shorter cables as compared to long cables. The peak amplitude of the cable sheath current correspondingly decreases with increase in the height of the cable. The sheath current decreases with the increase in angle of incidence, as the induced current is function of cos  Ã‚ ±i. The induced voltage in turn depends upon sheath current and surface transfer impedance of the cable. The induced voltages for a shielded cable of length 1m, height 0.1m and angle of incidence 30o are 1.4-10-8V for braided and 6.6-10-16V for non braided cable as presented in Table 3.3. Mathematical analysis is used to model the response of Very High Frequency amplifier to ESD generated radiated EM fields. Using MATLAB the effect of the radiated fields on the induced voltages in a VHF amplifier for various distances from the ESD source is calculated. It is observed that a greater part of the energy due to ESD simulation currents has frequency components in the range of 200 to 400 MHz extending to the VHF and UHF bands. So the VHF amplifier is susceptible to ESD events in this frequency range. If the distance between the ESD generator and the pickup antenna is decreased, the peak magnitude of the voltage coupled to the amplifier input terminals increases. The amplitude of the fields at antenna terminals, open circuit voltage at antenna input terminals, voltage at the input and output of the amplifier decreases sharply with increase in distance from ESD source. It has been observed that the induced voltages at the amplifier input terminals can be as high as 7.446 V with a rise time of approximately 1 ns for a distance of 0.5 m between the ESD generator and the pickup antenna as given in Table 4.1. This can cause malfunction of the electronic circuitry inside the amplifier. The spice circuit modeling with transient analysis concurs with the experimental results for air discharge on analog circuits. The zero crossing detector built with an opamp is more susceptible to ESD when compared to the RC phase shift oscillator built with discrete components. It is experimentally verified and the modeling also revealed that the oscillator circuit using discrete components took some time to come back to its initial working condition after the ESD discharge due to the slow discharge of the charges accumulated. In the indirect discharge it is seen that the ESD effect depends on both distance and discharge voltage. Higher discharge voltage and shorter distances produce larger transients and distortions in analog circuits. Direct air discharge of 15kV at the ZCD input damaged the opamp but the oscillator recovered after 750 µs. Direct air discharge of 15kV at oscillator output affects the output of oscillator for 1.4ms. The ZCD output remains high till the sine wave output of oscillator circuit recovers. The spice modeling also give the same results for discharge at oscillator output. In the radiative coupling the transient appearing on the ZCD output could be due to differential mode and the common mode could not be investigated. In the direct air discharge conducted at the input point of the ZCD circuit, there could be two types of coupling the direct capacitor coupling to circuit and near field coupling for the common mode. In this case also the common mode was not investigated, so the transients shown are only differential mode. In the direct air discharge at oscillator output, the differential mode and common mode transients were seen. But the voltage probes and current probes of high voltage and low rise time of 1ns range with an accuracy of less than 5% were not available. Hence the initial rise time and the maximum amplitude of the transient could not be measured experimentally with good accuracy. The digital switching circuit without decoupling capacitors at Vcc malfunctioned when an ESD event occurred at a distance of 35 cm from the circuit. The transient affected only the data stream and the circuit stopped functioning. Post discharge analysis revealed that Binary counter IC SN74LS393N had failed functionally (all output pins were malfunctioning). The importance of adding decoupling capacitors to the supply point of each of the ICs is verified. Experiments carried out to study the response of data to ESD in a digital switching circuit with decoupling capacitors at Vcc reveal that the effect of ESD on the data and clock depends on the position of trigger and also the plane of coupling. During discharge onto the horizontal coupling plane (HCP), the instance of occurrence of the discharge (when Data and Clock are High or Low) played an important role on the effect of ESD on the output data stream. When both data and clock are High, increase in data amplitude or data inversion occurs and also there is increase in the amplitude of clock. The distance at which the pulse is discharged onto the HCP reflects on the amplitude of the transient. During discharge onto the vertical coupling plane (VCP) there is a loss of data and transient with more than 50V peak amplitude is introduced. The discharge to VCP affected the digital data more than the discharge to HCP. Experiments are also carried out by varying the values of decoupling capacitors in the digital switching circuit and it is observed that smaller the value of decoupling capacitor, the more susceptible the circuit becomes to ESD. The decoupling capacitor with higher value of capacitance (0.47 µF) offered better immunity to ESD in our digital circuit because of its ability to pass only lower frequencies thereby rejecting the high frequency ESD transients. Experimental investigations of the TTL and CMOS logic gates reveal that CMOS devices are more susceptible to ESD than TTL devices due to the presence of a dielectric media in CMOS devices which can easily breakdown at high voltages. The output of CMOS logic gates deteriorated after ESD stress and did not recover after reset. It is verified experimentally that the susceptibility of a circuit to ESD in the mixed mode circuit can be greatly reduced by properly grounding it. In the mixed mode circuit used, the data is affected more by transients of various voltages based on the discharge voltage given when the analog and digital grounds are common. This reiterates the fact, when the analog and digital grounds are common the high frequency return paths from the digital ground (astable multivibrator circuit using 555 Timer) reach the analog ground (inverting amplifier using opamp) and affect the output. In the mixed mode circuit used when the analog and digital grounds are separated there are no transients due to ESD in the analog output. Hence separate analog and digital grounds are recommended. Direct air discharge of 12 kV twice on the GPIO pin of the custom designed 8 bit microcontroller diagnostic circuit resulted in the impedance of the board becoming very low implying there is a dead short between the VDD and the VSS rails of the microcontroller. The microcontroller shut itself down by enabling the thermal shutdown feature. The failure of all the three designed diagnostic tests involving digital ports, UART and PWM channels are observed. It is observed that the failure in the 8-bit microcontroller is through the Vcc and Ground pins when the ESD event was closer to these pins. This may be because of the capacitor across Vcc and Ground discharging into these pins due to the ESD event. For the ESD event at other pins, mostly malfunction was observed. The MSP430 launchPad with 16 bit microcontroller is quite immune to ESD owing to its inbuilt design and ESD considerations. This is confirmed experimentally by performing indirect and direct ESD tests at specified standard voltages. However direct contact discharge of 8kV given to the Tx-Rx pins of the jumper array resulted in the damage of the communication port of the 16 bit microcontroller MSP 430G2231 IC. The microcontroller MSP 430G2231 is found to be not communicating with the software and the program is not executable. The communication port (Rx-Tx pins) needs protection in the form of TVS diodes. The 8 bit microcontroller system configured to do a diagnostic check of its functioning during an ESD event had no extra on-board protection devices other than the on- chip protection. The 8 bit microcontroller did not withstand the IEC recommended up to 15kV air discharge perhaps because it was designed on a two layer PCB board. The MSP 430 launch pad with the 16 bit microcontroller on a four layer PCB was designed keeping in mind the ESD considerations. The 16 bit microcontroller also did not withstand the IEC recommended upto 8kV contact discharge at the communication port perhaps because of lack of extra protection. Continuous discharges on 8 bit microcontroller led to its thermal shutdown. But the continuous discharges on the 16 bit and 32 bit did not result in thermal shutdown perhaps because it was designed on four layer boards. All the observations from the previous tests and conclusions are put to use in the custom designed four layer board with 32 bit microcontroller interfaced with various components like the UART, audio interface, USB, LCD display and key matrix. All the standard design rules for PCB design are followed in the custom designed microcontroller test boards one populated with components having in-built on-chip protection and another board with extra off-chip on-board protection devices. In the custom designed 32 bit microcontroller system on four layer board it is observed that the placement of components on the board and board design played an important role in the systems sturdiness to ESD. The adherence to standard design rules such as split ground and power planes; proper component placement to minimize loop area; power supply decoupling using ferrite beads and decoupling capacitors; placement of connectors, user interfaces and output devices at the edges of the board; separating analog and digital sections has made the microcontroller boards quite rigid against ESD. Also the on-board protection devices at strategic locations such as the input/output, data and power points, communication port and at the input points of the interfaces in the custom designed 32 bit microcontroller system plays a vital role in the robustness of the system. The adherence to standard design rules has made the microcontroller board with components having in-built on-chip protection also quite rigid against ESD. The board with on-chip protection is affected by ESD with problems like malfunction or reset on power on with a damaged LCD interface module. The other board has extra on-board protection devices like ferrite bead used to isolate the noisy digital section from the analog section, decoupling capacitors for power supply decoupling, schottky diode used for ESD protection of USB and TVS diodes used at input points of microcontroller, LCD display, audio amplifier, UART and USB. The board with extra on-board protection devices has only temporary resets and is hardly affected by ESD, and the interface modules are also functioning normally. So experimentally it has been concluded that with adherence to board design and just in-built, on-chip protection the damages are mitigated but malfunctions occur which only recover on hard reset on pow er ON whereas with extra on-board protection devices included, the damages are completely eliminated, malfunctions are reduced and only temporary reset occurs. It can be concluded that not only standard board design rules need to be implemented it is also necessary to provide on-board protection against ESD by choosing appropriate protection devices and placing them at appropriate and strategic locations like the input pins and supply pins of the device. Experiments of direct air discharge are conducted on the insulators in FPGA/CPLD kit like seven segment LED display, LCD and FRC, and contact discharge conducted on the metal points like the switches, pins and the mounting screws. An air discharge of 8 kV on Liquid Crystal Display distorts the data but resets with power ON and an air discharge of 15kV damages the data on the LCD which cannot be restored on reset. An air discharge of 2kV and 4kV had no effect whereas an air discharge of 8 kV and 15 kV distorted the output on seven segment LED display but the display reset to normal with power ON. A contact discharge of 2 kV and 4kV on the HEX keys feeding the data to seven segment display had no effect but a contact discharge of 8 kV shorted the keys which in turn displayed wrong display data. All these devices had only on-chip protection by the manufacturer and these devices needed off-chip, on-board protection devices to make them less susceptible to ESD. Huge transients are observed when air discharge is carried out on the FRC cables connected to the DAC module. When a contact discharge of 2 kV is given on the input pin 187 of the mother baseboard the DAC output voltage reduces. FPGA 3s50 IC is affected during this contact discharge on the input pin. The DAC ICs are affected during the ESD discharge one due to direct ESD effects and the other due to indirect ESD effects. CPLD 9572 IC is also affected by ESD. Because of the ESD discharge in the surrounding and on the input pin of the FPGA/CPLD kit, the ceramic capacitor in the SMPS power supply connected to the kit has shorted and found to be damaged. This is an after-effect observed after the ESD test. The damaged capacitor has been instrumental in contributing to the damage of the FPGA and CPLD ICs. Decapping of the FPGA and CPLD ICs confirmed the failure of these ICs due to ESD. The input/output pin bond pad and the metatop layer of FPGA 3s50 IC is damaged and there is dielectric breakdown observed in CPLD 9572 IC which makes these devices highly susceptible to ESD. Future Scope Much effort has been put into characterizing the effect and impact of ESD on individual ICs, on different designed circuits and few systems such as FPGA/CPLD kit, microcontroller units with various interfaces. However, less time has been spent in modeling all of these circuits/systems and to observe their behavior towards ESD using simulation tools. An effort in mathematical modeling and simulation has however been done with susceptibility of electronic system and cables due to radiated ESD fields. Also circuit modeling has been done for the analog circuits. The experimental based conducted susceptibility tests on various electronic components have resulted in some new results. Some of these results have reiterated some of the known facts and some results have given rise to new thoughts in implementing ESD protected circuit/system. ESD threat level variation to electronic components depends on the discharge voltage of ESD source, discharge point, structure and design of the component. ESD threat to components mounted in systems may significantly vary from the threat to unmounted, individual components. New models need to be designed to predict the condition while the device is working in the system and using the computer simulations it is necessary to predict the ESD voltage, power and energy threats to system-mounted component. This is one area where the experimental results can be compared with the simulated results and the source of the threat, the point of discharge and its impact on the system can be confirmed. Also new protection schemes can be adapted to make the system less susceptible to ESD. Another area of interest where ESD tests can be conducted is in the area of high speed radio frequency (RF) circuits and systems. As the demand for wireless (RF) and high-speed mixed-signal systems continues to increase rapidly, providing sufficient ESD protection for these systems poses a major design and reliability challenge. This is due to the fact that in applying ESD protection to these systems, the protection system must be transparent the protection circuit must not affect the signal under normal operating conditions. A poorly designed protection system can generate impedance mismatches, causing reflections of signals, corruption of signal integrity, and inefficient power transfer between the signal pin and the core circuit. Broadband RF system protection because of ESD parasitic capacitance poses a greater challenge; alternate protection schemes may be necessary. This necessitates us to first understand effect of ESD on these high speed RF systems. However, there is little published information that provides performance analysis of RF circuits with various ESD protection design options scheme, which is attractive for operations in the multi-GHz regime.

Indian writing in English :: essays research papers

Indian writing in English Raja Rammohan Ray was the first Indian to effectively express himself in black and white through English though he was initiated to the language when he was in his teens. Thereafter Vivekananda showed his perfect masterly over the language through his evocative prose, which made the west sit up and take notice of the greatness of Hinduism. Tagore also had written some poems in English. However, there is no denying the fact that Indian writings in English were extremely few far between. Jawaharlal Nehru and M.K. Gandhi were also great masters of the English language. Nehru’s Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History etc. are glaring testimony to not only his profound scholarship but also his absolute mastery over writing lucid prose in the foreign language. Gandhiji used the language in his writings with utmost precision and desterity. They were followed by the great triumvirate of Anand-Rao-Naryan, who were the first to make Indian writing in English popular among a sizable section of our English educated people. They primarily wrote fiction and their elegant styles soon caught the imagination of the common reader. Indian writing in English had finally arrived in 1930’s after a marginal existence for over a century. Mahatma Gandhi: Though Gandhi used his mother tongue, Gujarati, to write his famous autobiography, later translated into English by his secretary Mahadev Desai under the title The Story of My Experiments with Truth (1929), he used Hindi and English with masterly skill and use. As he lived through a eventful life among his people, who were attempting to liberate themselves from moral decadence, economic exploitation, and cultural subordination, Gandhi wrote, day and night, in and out of prisons, for his two journals, Young India and Harijan. Rabindranath Tagore: The national awakening in Asia found its expression first in the Indian literature, and its formost representative writer was Tagore (1861-1941). Tagore was the first Asian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1913). Tagore represents a happy combination of the ancient Indian tradition and the new European consciousness. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his slim volume of poems entitled Gitanjali. Tagore gave Indian poetry a new type of lyric. Through his collection of stories entitled Galpa Guchchha, running into three volumes, Tagore set the pace of the modern short story in India. His famous novels, Gora and Ghare Baire reflect the genius of a supreme visionary.

Basic of Stock Market

Wouldn't you love to be a business owner without ever having to show up at work? Imagine if you could sit back, watch your company grow, and collect the dividend checks as the money rolls in! As you've probably guessed, we're talking about owning stocks. This fabulous category of financial instruments is, without a doubt, one of the greatest tools ever invented for building wealth.Stocks are a part, if not the cornerstone, of nearly any investment portfolio. When you start on your road to financial freedom, you need to have a solid understanding of stocks and how they trade on the stock market.Over the last few decades, the average person's interest in the stock market has grown exponentially. What was once a toy of the rich has now turned into the vehicle of choice for growing wealth. This demand coupled with advances in trading technology has opened up the markets so that nowadays nearly anybody can own stocks. This paper is intended to explain all the basic questions about the inv esting. This will help new investors to lighten up their confusions and equip them the basic idea of Stock Market. Basic of Stock Market What Are Stocks?Stock is a share in the ownership of a company. Stock represents a claim on the company's assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership stake in the company becomes greater. Shares, equity, or stock, it all means the same thing. Being an Owner Holding a company's stock means that you are one of the many owners (shareholders) of a company and, as such, you have a claim (albeit usually very small) to everything the company owns. This means that technically you own a tiny sliver of every piece of furniture, every trademark, and every contract of the company.As an owner, you are entitled to your share of the company's earnings as well as any voting rights attached to the stock. A stock is represented by a stock certificate. This is a fancy piece of paper that is proof of your ownership. In today's computer age, sharehol ders won't actually get to see this document because the brokerage keeps these records electronically, which is also known as holding shares. In the past, when a person wanted to sell his or her shares, that person physically took the certificates down to the brokerage. Now, trading can be done with a click of the mouse or a phone call.Debt vs. Equity Why does a company issue stock? Why would the founders share the profits with thousands of people when they could keep profits to themselves? The reason is that at some point every company needs to raise money. To do this, companies can either borrow it from somebody or raise it by selling part of the company, which is known as issuing stock. A company can borrow by taking a loan from a bank or by issuing bonds. Both methods fit under the umbrella of debt financing. On the other hand, issuing stock is called equity financing.Issuing stock is advantageous for the company because it does not require the company to pay back the money or m ake interest payments along the way. All that the shareholders get in return for their money is the hope that the shares will someday be worth more than what they paid for them. The first sale of a stock, which is issued by the private company itself, is called the initial public offering (IPO) (Mladjenovic, 2002). When buying a debt investment such as a bond, shareholders are guaranteed the return of their money (the principal) along with promised interest payments.But in equity investment, being one of the owners of the company, shareholders assume the risk of the company not being successful – just as a small business owner isn't guaranteed a return, neither is a shareholder. Shareholders earn a lot if a company is successful, but they also stand to lose their entire investment if the company isn't successful. Risk It must be emphasized that there are no guarantees when it comes to individual stocks. Some companies pay out dividends, but many others do not.And there is no obligation to pay out dividends even for those firms that have traditionally given them. Without dividends, an investor can make money on a stock only through its appreciation in the open market. On the downside, any stock may go bankrupt, in which case shareholders investment is worth nothing. Although risk might sound all negatives, there is also a bright side. Taking on the greater risk also demands a greater return on investment. This is the reason why stocks have historically outperformed other investments such as bonds or savings accounts.Over the long term, an investment in stocks has historically had an average return of around 10-12%. Different Types of Stocks There are two main types of stocks: common stock and preferred stock. Common Stock A common stock is the basic stock a corporation issues. It just shows that shareholder own a fraction of the company. The common stocks are directly influenced by failures and successes of the company. Common stocks are more of a gamble . Since there is a higher chance of making profit, common stock owners are issued their dividends or profits after the preferred stock.Over the long term, common stock, by means of capital growth, yields higher returns than almost every other investment. If a company goes bankrupt and liquidates, the common shareholders will not receive money until the creditors, bondholders and preferred shareholders are paid. Preferred Stock Preferred stock represents some degree of ownership in a company but usually doesn't come with the same voting rights (Wikipedia, 2006). After all the common stock has been issued, companies begin to distribute preferred stock. The preferred stock owners are given their dividends before the common stock owners are.Also, if the company goes out of business, and liquidates, the preferred stock owners are paid back the money they invested before the common stockholders are reimbursed. The main drawback of preferred stocks is that they cannot benefit as much from company profits because they are only paid a fixed dividend payment. How Stocks Trade Most stocks traded on exchanges, which are places where buyers and sellers meet and decide on a price. Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor.The other type of exchange is virtual, composed of a network of computers where trades are made electronically – Internet trading. The purpose of a stock market is to facilitate the exchange of securities between buyers and sellers, reducing the risks of investing. The New York Stock Exchange The most prestigious exchange in the world is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (Encarta, 2006). The â€Å"Big Board† was founded over 200 years ago in 1792, with the signed of the Buttonwood Agreement by 24 New York City stockbrokers and merchants.Orders come in through brokerage firms that are members of the exchange and flow down to floor brokers who go to a specific spot on the floor where the stock trades. At this location, known as the trading post, there is a specific person known as the specialist whose job is to match buyers and sellers. Prices are determined using an auction method: the current price is the highest amount any buyer is willing to pay and the lowest price at which someone is willing to sell. Once a trade has been made, the details are sent back to the brokerage firm, who then notifies the investor who placed the order.Although there is human contact in this process, computers play a huge role in the process too. The Nasdaq The second type of exchange is the virtual sort called an over-the-counter (OTC) market, of which the Nasdaq is the most popular. These markets have no central location or floor brokers. Trading is done through a computer and telecommunications network of dealers. A market maker provides continuous bid and ask prices within a prescribed percentage spread for shares for which they are designated to make a market.They may match up buyers an d sellers directly but usually they will maintain an inventory of shares to meet demands of investors. Other Exchanges The third largest exchange in the U. S. is the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). The AMEX used to be an alternative to the NYSE, but Nasdaq had filled that role since. In fact, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which is the parent of Nasdaq, bought the AMEX in 1998. Almost all trading now on the AMEX is in small-cap stocks and derivatives. Buying StocksYou've now learned what a stock is and a little bit about the principles behind the stock market, but how do investors actually go about buying stocks? Investors don't have to go down into the trading pit yelling and screaming your order. There are two main ways to purchase stock: Using a Brokerage The most common method to buy stocks is to use a brokerage. Brokerages come in two different kinds. Full-service brokerages offer to investors (supposedly) expert advice and can manage the investorâ€℠¢s account; they also charge a lot.While discount brokerages offer little in the way of personal attention but are much cheaper. At one time, only the wealthy could afford a broker since only the expensive, full-service brokers were available. But when Internet came, the online discount brokers have been available, more affordable. DRIPs & DIPs Dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs) and direct investment plans (DIPs) are plans by which individual companies, for a minimal cost, allow shareholders to purchase stock directly from the company. Drips are a great way to invest small amounts of money at regular intervals. Bull and Bear MarketsIn addition to the three market theories mentioned above, there are other ways of thinking about the market as a whole, that are less theoretical and more grounded in what is actually happening to them. One way is to describe the overall trends in the market, such as by defining them as bearish or bullish. The Bulls A bull market, loosely defined, is a m arket in which the major stock indexes have risen by over 20% over a substantial period of time, usually measured in months or years. Bull markets can happen as a result of an economic recovery, an economic boom, or simple investor psychology (Khan, 1998).The longest and most famous of all bull markets is the one that began in the early 1990s in which the U. S. equity markets grew at their fastest pace ever. The Bears Bear markets are the exact opposite of bull markets: they are markets in which the major indexes have declined by 20% or more over a period of at least two months (a decline that large for any shorter time period is simply called a â€Å"correction†, especially if it followed a substantial rise). Bear markets usually occur when the economy is in a recession and unemployment is high, or when inflation is rising quickly.The most famous bear market in U. S. history was, the Great Depression of the 1930s. Price Chart/ Stock Table A price chart graphically illustrate s a stock's price action over a selected period — one year, for instance. Some investors, called technical analysts or chartists, feel it's a waste of time examining financial statements, dissecting analysts' forecasts or pondering a firm's prospects vis-a-vis the competition. Instead, they believe that a price chart tells them everything they need to know about a stock. Chartists say stock prices move in trends.That is, a stock that has already been moving up in price (up trend) will continue its winning ways, while one going the other way (downtrend) will continue to disappoint its shareholders. The analysis is easy. If the stock is in an up trend, the price will be higher on the right side than in middle or left side of the chart. Conversely, the right side will be lower than the middle or the left side if it's in a downtrend. Conclusion In conclusion, people around us might say that Stock Market is a gamble and investors might lose their money anytime.It will only happen if the investor will not do his responsibility as investors. Investing is not easy, investor need to do his assignment in order to gain. There have been untold ways about how to make the stock market easier and safer for the new investors. Few, if any, are likely to prove useful or effective. But in order to minimize the risks of financial market imbalances, it is important that there be a well thought-out laws for investing, rules and regulations that implement properly, smoothly, and honestly. This task requires the participation of all concerned investors.Bibliography Khan, A. (1998). Stock Investing for Everyone: Tools for Investing Like the Pros (p. 136). San Jose, CA: Bookworld Services Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia (2006). Stock Exchange. Retrieved last December 03, 2006, from http://encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761560145/Stock_Exchange. html#s1 Mladjenovic, P. (2002). Stock Investing for Dummies (p. 9). Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Wikipedi a, the free encyclopedia (2006). Preferred stock. Retrieved last December 03, 2006, from http://en

Hawaii Watersports Essay

With the white sandy beaches and crystal clear water Hawaii is the ideal place for ocean water sports. There are a wide range of water sports, from highly aggressive to leisurely sports that all types of people can enjoy. There are even sports which are specific only to the exotic islands encompassing this magnificent state. Taking a look at each individual sport will excite and possible mystify the sports enthusiast. Today we will take a look at sea kayaking, kite boarding, surfing, windsurfing, sailing, and scuba diving. Sea kayaking is an exhilarating and physically challenging sport. One must be sure to have the proper equipment and technique before heading out into the salty blue. It is said that kayakers ‘wear their kayaks’ and selecting a proper sea kayak, one that fits comfortably to your body type, can be a difficult task. First make sure that you fit comfortable in the pit. It should be snug, but not tight. If it is loose it may be difficult to maneuver. Kayaking is relaxing and comfortable sport especially around the islands. There are many ecological kayaking tours offered throughout Hawaii that will take you places and show you some of the amazing creatures and sites of the islands. Kite boarding is a new age surface water sport that is trendy among young people. Kite boarding is very similar to wakeboarding with the exception that the board is controlling their own movements with a kite, fully equipped with handle, instead of being pulled by a boat. Kite boarding is an extreme sport combining balance and coordination with the unique technique of keeping a kite in the air. Kite boarders have an unrivaled experience as they let the wind control their moves and can sometimes reach heights of 30 feet, and if they skilled and adventurous they may be able to do flips and other stunts before smoothly returning to the ocean. It is recommended that the new kite boarder takes a few lessons to learn proper techniques before venturing out on a kite boarding adventure. Surfing is a timeless and classic sport. Surfing like kite boarding is a surface water sport where the participant rides waves while balancing on a surf board. Surfing can actually be broken into many categories including body boarding, windsurfing, and body surfing. Body boarding is best described by using your body to ride a foam board over waves. Windsurfing uses both aspects of surfing and sailing. A windsurf board is a surf board with a sail attached. The windsurfer steers themselves with the sail and rides the wave as a surfer would. Body surfing is actually what the name implies, using one’s body to ride the waves. Body surfers are usually equipped with nothing by swim fins to take on the task of riding the breaking waves. Sailing is a leisurely recreation sport in which a person, or group of people, steer a ship or sail boat using sails. Sail boats move forward because of the inertia caused when the wind is caught in the sail. Sailing is a technical sport and the proper skills must be learned before heading out to sea. Scuba diving is another popular sport among the islands. Scuba requires a certification because of the danger involved. There are many short certification courses for tourists to partake in. These courses cover the essentials and make time for some short open water dives were the scuba can explore the exotic world on ocean water. Hawaii is an exotic place with many things to offer the adventurer or sports enthusiast. It is important to learn the techniques of the sports one wishes to indulge themselves in to ensure a safe and happy stay on the islands.

Free Essays on American Justice

America is a country that has long been praised for its principles of democracy, freedom, and equal justice for all. Our country was founded on those principles, as well as the idea that all are â€Å"innocent until proven guilty†. Our society today tries to uphold these principles, and as stated by the New York State Courts, â€Å"the mission of the [New York State] Unified Court System is to promote the rule of law and to serve the public by providing just and timely resolution of all matters before the courts.† (New York State Guide to the Courts, page 1). Over time, however, the system has been eaten away by politicians and others who are more concerned with their own gains than with the greater good. The judicial system in America has become a mockery of all that it once stood for; it is now a dog and pony show in which all the participants are more interested in the media’s attention than in ensuring that justice is served. Initially, the American judicial system was founded on the idea that â€Å"law is reason free from emotion† (Aristotle). The founders of the system strove to create one that provided equal justice for all, regardless of race, creed, religion, and gender. The idea was to break away from the Napoleonic principle of â€Å"guilt until innocence is proven†, and provide a haven for all American citizens. If accused of a crime, you were guaranteed several basic, unalienable rights. The judicial system functioned exactly as designed. Attorneys for the defense and the prosecution, as well as the judge, were largely unconcerned with public opinion, and presented their cases based on actual fact, and a desire to uphold the integrity of the system they were representing. At some point in history, this attitude shifted. It could be attributed to the growing influence of the media, or it could be a symptom of a much larger evil; the exact cause is unknown. What is glaringly clear is that nowadays, the judicial ... Free Essays on American Justice Free Essays on American Justice America is a country that has long been praised for its principles of democracy, freedom, and equal justice for all. Our country was founded on those principles, as well as the idea that all are â€Å"innocent until proven guilty†. Our society today tries to uphold these principles, and as stated by the New York State Courts, â€Å"the mission of the [New York State] Unified Court System is to promote the rule of law and to serve the public by providing just and timely resolution of all matters before the courts.† (New York State Guide to the Courts, page 1). Over time, however, the system has been eaten away by politicians and others who are more concerned with their own gains than with the greater good. The judicial system in America has become a mockery of all that it once stood for; it is now a dog and pony show in which all the participants are more interested in the media’s attention than in ensuring that justice is served. Initially, the American judicial system was founded on the idea that â€Å"law is reason free from emotion† (Aristotle). The founders of the system strove to create one that provided equal justice for all, regardless of race, creed, religion, and gender. The idea was to break away from the Napoleonic principle of â€Å"guilt until innocence is proven†, and provide a haven for all American citizens. If accused of a crime, you were guaranteed several basic, unalienable rights. The judicial system functioned exactly as designed. Attorneys for the defense and the prosecution, as well as the judge, were largely unconcerned with public opinion, and presented their cases based on actual fact, and a desire to uphold the integrity of the system they were representing. At some point in history, this attitude shifted. It could be attributed to the growing influence of the media, or it could be a symptom of a much larger evil; the exact cause is unknown. What is glaringly clear is that nowadays, the judicial ...

Do you think justice has been done in the trials against Enron’s less important executives Essays

Do you think justice has been done in the trials against Enron’s less important executives Essays Do you think justice has been done in the trials against Enron’s less important executives Essay Do you think justice has been done in the trials against Enron’s less important executives Essay Enron was once a multi-million dollar company which was trusted by many clients because of its wealth and power (CNN Money, 2007). It faced a very serious scandal a couple of years ago that led to its downfall. Many people from the top and middle management got accused of the crime and got tried in court which was known internationally.Many executives from the company who took part in the investigation pointed out names and released their anger while on the bench. Many names were blurted out several times like Lay and Skilling, who were the founders of Enron. Some names like Fastow and Causey were also involved and they are now facing a future spent in prison and a big amount of money to pay back. Other executives who stood up to be witnesses against the key players of the fraud were accused too after pleading guilty of the crimes they committed (MSNBC, 2007).I think what happened to Enron’s â€Å"little executives† like Kenneth Rice was not fair. As for the case of Mr. Rice, he pleaded guilty of the crime and agreed to play as a star witness against the big people behind the crime. He was so brave when he tried to plead guilty of his actions, he was cooperative when the police started their investigation, and he remained that way until the bad guys were properly punished. (MSNBC, 2007)Other executives also helped to shed light in the investigation. Even though they did the right thing of pleading guilty and helping out in the trials, their sentences, although lighter, are still long. They have to suffer long years of life behind bars. Their lives will be a complete torture because they have to live away from their families. Also, they still have to give up money that was allegedly stolen amounting to millions of dollars. Some accused are facing 5-10 years in prison, plus payment of money. Maybe it will be more acceptable, not only for me, but also to the public, that they have a shorter sentence. The fact that they tried to help and they faced th e public with courage are at least good excuses for them to be given a chance of a better life (MSNBC, 2007). After all, they were just puppets being controlled by the puppeteers.The problem in the company was a conspiracy which was done by smart people who tried to conceal their illegal activities and played their dummies to do the job for them. The major responsibilities are always on the shoulders of the top executives, mainly the CEOs. Daniel Fisher (2007) stated that:The government scored a huge win with the convictions of the two former Enron chiefs, who became symbols of the war on corporate fraud. Some experts think it will embolden prosecutors to pin even more responsibility on executives for business failures (Fisher, 2007).If the company fails, or if something bad happens to it, the chief executives are mainly to blame. This is because they are the boss of the company. They should have enough knowledge and skills to run a company, and the conscience to keep its good reput ation.

Make Your Own Crystal Geode

Make Your Own Crystal Geode Natural geodes are hollow rock formations that contain deposits of crystals. Assuming you dont have a geological timeframe to obtain a geode and dont want to buy a geode kit, its easy to make your own crystal geode using alum, food coloring, and either plaster of Paris or an eggshell. Crystal Geode Materials Alum (found with spices in the grocery store)Hot waterFood coloring (optional)Plaster of Paris (found in hobby shops) or an eggshell Prepare the Geode There are a couple of ways you can go here. You can crack open an egg and use the rinsed shell as a base for your geode or you can prepare a plaster of Paris rock: First, you need a rounded shape in which you can mold your hollow rock. The bottom of one of the depressions in a foam egg carton works great. Another option is to set a piece of plastic wrap inside of a coffee cup or paper cup.Mix a small amount of water in with some plaster of Paris to make a thick paste. If you happen to have a couple of seed crystals of alum, you can stir them into the plaster mixture. Seed crystals can be used to provide nucleation sites for the crystals, which can produce a more natural-looking geode.Press the plaster of Paris against the sides and bottom of the depression to make a bowl shape. Use plastic wrap if the container is rigid, so that its easier to remove the plaster.Allow about 30 minutes for the plaster to set up, then remove it from the mold and set it aside to finish drying. If you used plastic wrap, peel it off after you pull the plaster geode out of the container. Grow Crystals Pour about a half cup of hot tap water into a cup.Stir in alum until it stops dissolving. This occurs when a little alum powder starts to accumulate at the bottom of the cup.Add food coloring, if desired. Food coloring does not color the crystals, but it does color the eggshell or plaster, which causes the crystals to appear colored.Set your eggshell or plaster geode inside a cup or bowl. You are aiming for a container that is a size such that the alum solution will just cover the top of the geode.Pour the alum solution into the geode, allowing it to overflow into the surrounding container and eventually cover the geode. Avoid pouring in any undissolved alum.Set the geode in a location where it wont be disturbed. Allow a few days for the crystals to grow.When you are pleased with the appearance of your geode, remove it from the solution and allow it to dry. You can pour the solution down the drain. The alum is essentially a pickling spice, so while it isnt exactly good for you to eat , it isnt toxic either. Keep your geode beautiful by protecting it from high humidity and dust. You can store it wrapped in a paper towel or tissue paper or inside of a display case.

Operating Systems and Networking Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Operating Systems and Networking - Coursework Example In 2007, the college diversified its products by introducing legal studies as they opened a third campus in East London. In 2009, XYZ College launched its Open and Distance learning services to 5 study centres to cater for its student fraternity outside London. Currently, the college specialises in finance and law, has 3 campuses in Greater London and 5 study centres outside of London and has more than 200 staff members (including administration and academic staff) and over 2000 students in total across the country. The nature of business in the three campuses is the same. There are administration offices, lecture halls, a library, and a computer lab. There are several designated Wi-Fi hotspots for students with laptops. At each of the five study centres, there is an office, a small library, a computer lab, Wi-Fi hotspot, and several rooms that serve as reading areas for students and also as exam centres. XYZ College faces competition from similar colleges in London that offer course s in law and finance such London Business School, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Imperial College London amongst others. Requirement Analysis Keshav (2009) urges that networking involves providing a way of transmitting information from one point to another and providing a mechanism to share available resources. As networks are improved, there two things that change: The speeds of data transmission increases as current network technology is improved and as new technologies are invented in an organisation. New services and products take advantage of the improved network performance andprovide users in the organisation with exciting new applications. The new network design will bring the benefit to improve competitiveness of XYZ College in the following ways: There will be better utilisation of available resources such as printers whereby one central printer will serve the entire department instead of duplicating them in every offi ce. The logical grouping/subnetting of the overall network into smaller networks will optimize its efficiency and availability. This will result to high speeds of data transmission enabling all users to achieve more. It will enable XYZ College to implement new products for its clients. For example the network will have the quality of service required to stream lectures from the main campus and offer video conferencing sessions to students at the study centres. The realisation of this new network will require the following: Hardware: these are the physical devices that will act as nodes in the internetworking. These include: i) Computers - the college already has enough of them. Majority of students also come along with their laptops. ii) Servers – they will provide client stations with access to files, printers, and other shared resources in the  network iii) Routers – they will forward data packets between computer  networks iv) Switches - determine if data packet s should remain on a LAN and transfer them only to the connection that needs them v) VoIP phones – for making calls over the internet vi) Wireless Access Points – for providing wireless signal in Wi-Fi hotspots vii) Printers – they will be one of the shared resources Software: These are the applications that will be running on the hardware to make the network accessible and usable to the users. They include: i) Operating systems e.g. Windows XP, Vista, 7; Linux; Mac ii) Browsers – for browsing the internet e.g. Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer

3G Network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

3G Network - Essay Example The world had come a long way from personal letters sealed by wax in an envelope. People now live where a conversation with a love one from continents away is done with just a touch of a button. We are in a time where messages can be sent across seas in a matter of seconds, not months. This is a world where information and news can be received by anyone in the convenience of their own homes. This is the privilege of living in this decade.But what's next The communication technologies at work today may be at its finest but there always are innovations up ahead. A few years ago, the GPRS services seemed like the future, but it is now perceived as slow, expensive and is too much of a hassle. That is why a new generation of mobile telephone communication system was developed, the 3G.3G technology is short for third generation mobile telephone communication system technology. This technology promises better, faster and more efficient data transfer through cellular phones. It boasts 2Megab ites per second data transfers which allow video calls, conferencing, mobile banking, map positioning services and internet access among others. With this transfer rate it is the task of the service providers to utilize it to the fullest by giving a variety of services for the subscribers. Along with the above mentioned 3G capable cell phones will still have conventional voice and messaging services.The institution responsible for standardizing 3G is the International Telecommunication Union or ITU. The standards for 3G are specifically known as the IMT-2000. This stands for International Mobile Telecommunications system finalized in the year 2000. After this establishment, the development of physical equipments may then proceed. In May of 2001, the first pre-commercial 3G network was launched in Japan branded FOMA. The company responsible for this is NTT DoCoMo. This same company then launched the first commercial 3G in Japan on October of the same year. Korea and Europe then followed. (Wikipedia) Mobile phones were originally just for voice data transmissions, much like its land line forefathers. This was considered the second generation or 2G. But with the increase in demand for better audio qualities and later on the demand for faster data transmissions, a better system is require, this lead to the development or 3G. The first step to this change was the switch from 2G to GPRS or General Packet Radio Service. With this change came the increase in data rates from 56kbps to 114kbps. This now will allow not just voice data but also short message service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and wireless application protocol (WAP). Another change made was the per-megabite charging as oppose to the per-minute charging of 2G. Continuing, the GPRS service, otherwise known as 2.5G, was upgraded to 2.75G or Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. By definition, EDGE falls under IMT-2000 and should be called 3G but it is more frequently referred to as 2.75G, but it is more like an improved GPRS than 3G. (Wikipedia) According to the ITU, the key characteristics of IMT-2000 are flexibility, affordability, compatibility with existing systems and modular design. It is said to be flexible because it can accommodate five possible radio interfaces based on three different technologies which are FDMA, TDMA and CDMA. This avoids the problem of supporting a wide range of different interfaces and technologies. It is also agreed to make it more affordable so as to encourage the adoption by consumers and operators. The existence of the present technologies will also not cease because 3G is also compatible with these. And finally, the 3G system should be easily expandable in order to allow growth. Specifications 3G may have all the bells and whistles to brag about but it is, for a fact, a cellular telephone system, and all cellular telephone systems function the same way. The basic concept of two-way mobile telephone is quite simple; however, mobile telephone systems involve intricate and rather complex

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Research Paper

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that EEOC is under the mandatory obligation to monitor compliance and enforcement of Title VII under Civil Rights Act, 1964 along with other federal civil rights. Civil Rights Act, 1964, Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 are some such practices of EEOC that prohibit discrimination at workplace based on a range of factors age, nationality, ethnicity, gender, etc. Title VII of Civil Rights Act entails race, color, origin, gender, and religion as protected groups which show evidence of discrimination and the laws of EEOC are intended to protect employees and potential employees against discrimination. EEOC recommends that employees of all public-private firms are protected by federal laws against discrimination. In this regard, Title VII of Civil Rights Act, 1964 prohibits discrimination in terms of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in hiring, promoting, discharging, payment, fringe benefits, among other aspects of e mployment. The amended version of The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 protects employees, present and prospective, with disabilities in hiring, promoting, and other aspects of employment. For protecting discrimination based on an age of above 40 years who are the applicants or employees, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 is handy to ensure equal opportunity. Also, Title VII of Civil Rights Act, 1964 and The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibit sex discrimination where women and men are paid different wages for the same work in the same organization. Further to this, all federal laws prohibit any retaliatory action by an employer in cases of filing of charges of discrimination by the employee, and it can amount to serious offense of the laws. Diversity at the workplace is practiced to ensure that individual differences are recognized and acknowledged to create an environment that is diverse and innovative, and which utilizes the contributions of the diverse backgroun ds of its employees. In the diverse workplace, EEO policies apply in addressing the disadvantaged groups prone to discrimination in terms of age, race, etc.

Symbolism of Movie The Matrix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Symbolism of Movie The Matrix - Essay Example Symbolism in this movie is portrayed specifically by the characters and its plot. The movie focuses on how a small group of humans waged war against Artificial Intelligent Machines which seemed to have overtaken humanity (Roz Kaveney 34). In the movie, the machines take part in destruction and simulation of the world. The name of the movie refers to the simulated world, that is, a faked world. Matrix believers, as the movie depicts, agree with everything they do, feel, touch, do or anything that comes in their sight as real. In the movie, Zion City, which is located underground remains as the only human city where the machines have not conquered. Those who are not believers of Matrix together with those who have pulled out, reside in this city. However, just like extentialists like Kierkegaard, who do doubt the existence of God who can help us can be compared to those who believed in the Matrix. They did not believe that there was existence of a better place than where they were at t he moment. The symbolism used in the movie comes directly from the scriptures. It is however not concerned or related with any particular claims of a given religion. In Philosophy, this can be termed as Philosophy of Religion. For instance, the hidden city called Zion in the movie is what, according to the scriptures, called the wilderness. Just like in the scriptures, the wilderness is a truth that not many people know about. The same applies to Zion, which is actually hidden. In addition to this, according to the scriptures, the wilderness is a place God has created to protect his people against the evil when satan knocks at the door. Just like the children of Israel entered the wilderness as a place where they could find refuge, Zion served as a place where those people who did not believe in the Matrix ran to hide against the wicked Artificial Intelligent Machines. Just as an addition, Zion, the name used for the city in the movie, was one of the names given to the Children of I srael. Another area where symbolism is used in the movie, just like in the scriptures, when satan waged war against the children of Israel, not all children ran to the wilderness for hiding. The same applies in the movie where it is seen that all people run to the hidden city for refuge. Most of the key characters taking up various roles in the movie are Hebrews (blacks). This makes one to arrive at a conclusion that the person who did the writing of the movie, most likely was a black person. It is actually true, Sophia Steward, also referred to as the Mother of the Matrix who is a Hebrew Sister is the original author of the movie. The simulation used in the movie portrays the deceptive nature of the satanic world. According to Revelations 12:9, it is said that the great dragon, which is an old serpent also referred to as the Devil or Satan, has his main mission to deceive the world. This simulation, as used in the movie, makes those who believe in the Matrix not to have any questio n marks in their actions, whatever they see and feel. They take everything as real. According to From Alien to the Matrix, it is obvious that some roles were to be played no other group but the Hebrews. It is clear that none of the Hebrews did take up any role associated with the evil. The agents, on the side of characters and characterization, were allocated the most diabolical roles. In essence, they were used to

The affect of advertising on youth culture Essay

The affect of advertising on youth culture - Essay Example an entire counter-industry of media watchdogs, critics and authors selling books on the dangerous influence of consumerism on children -- by marketing these products to adults. And while society debates the ethics of selling legitimate products to children, ongoing concerns surrounding underage smoking and drinking linger. Joe Camel might be dead, but what about alcohol advertisements showing (barely) legal drinkers doing things teenagers like to do as well, like dancing and interacting with friends and the opposite sex This paper will examine the problem of pushing consumerism on to children and adolescents, and how it affects them and others they deal with, especially family and peers. The focus will be on the United States, but information from researchers in other countries will be reviewed for the sometimes enlightening differences seen across cultures. Television is the medium explored in the greatest depth, although the Internet is a growing influence on children and a source of conflict in families (Tufte, 71). Efforts to control or restrict advertising to children will be examined as well. Definitions Culture can be defined as "the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society. Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior" (Anderson & Taylor, 2004, p. 58). Consumer culture, therefore, encompasses the culture of consumers, including their thinking, behavioral and buying patterns. Raymond Benton, Jr. defines consumerism as "the acceptance of consumption as the way to self-development, self-realization, and self-fulfillment," in a society or group that focuses on its consumption, not on its production (in Goodwin, 3). The terms "consumerism" and "commercialism" are often used... This essay "The affect of advertising on youth culture" outlines the impact of the ad on the children, how they controlled spending and how they became a big part of consumer culture. It is safe to say children learn as much, if not more, outside the classroom as they do inside it. Perhaps the most important mode of transmission for the consumer culture is through advertising, especially television advertising aimed at children. Most of this advertising is shown during children’s programming like Saturday morning cartoons and cable stations targeting children (Cartoon Network, Disney, ABC Family). Communications professor Dale Kunkel estimates a child sees about 40,000 television commercials a year (Dittman, p. 37). Advertisements do not end at the front door: Children are also bombarded with commercials in educational television in the classroom, with exclusive contracts for brand name products in the lunch room and hallways, and even corporate sponsored curriculum units, som e espousing controversial, highly political views. Long the target of feminists concerned about how young girls view their bodies, the Barbie doll has kept up with the marketing times as well: Mattel Inc. and MasterCard teamed up to offer the â€Å"Cool Shoppin’ Barbie,† complete with mini MasterCard, a shopping boutique setting and a credit card processing machine that, not surprising, â€Å"approves† every purchase (George, 60). The official Barbie.com website collects information about visitors’ shopping habits that can be used as marketing research (Stockwell, 11).

Educational Linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Educational Linguistics - Essay Example The Spartans of Greeks uses the education for military and discipline purposes to make every citizen invincible in war and to develop conformity and obedience. They have physical and military education, moral training, very little intellectual trainings, music, gymnastic and vocational education. All financing was shouldered by the State. The most that we can emulate from the Spartans is the military education and the development of patriotism and discipline. The Athenians are the greatest lawmakers of all time. They use education for creating good citizens, individual excellences and many-sided development. There is civic and moral trainings, physical and intellectual education and arts. This early Athenians have contributed the free development of all human capacities and the Olympic Games. The Later Athenians came by the Sophist, pragmatic and utilitarian, also by Socrates, as education is used for the development of the power of thinking, by Plato, to control by intellectual rulers and by Aristotle, as education is used for rational living. They have moral and professional, vocational, domestic and intellectual trainings, physical, military and civic trainings, aesthetic and cultural education, sports and games. We learned from them, the Socratic method of teaching, the realm of philosophy of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others. Also the Euclidean geometry and the arts and classical literature. The Romans are also part of the stem of education. Education was for practical purposes, in which it is use to produce men who would be active and efficient in daily life. Also in moral, military, civic and political and religious also for oratorical or in public speaking. They need speech trainings literacy and vocational education. The outstanding contribution of them is the methods of organization, management and administrations. The Early Christians also used education during their times like in learning their relationship with God. Also for their salvation and social relations which are based on love. They use the lecture method in teaching, dialectic or the question and answer method) Aphorism, parable method and figures of speech. They contributed to humanity is the Christianity . The education we have now is the product of the long processes and progressions that happened on the past time. The traditional Education's foundation, that starts from the primitive people, in which the education aims to survival and security from the natural phenomena and from the wild animals and the believed evil spirits, hunger and from other tribes. There is no classrooms intended for studies, their agencies of education is the home and their environment. There is no organization of grades also. All instruction was than informally, enculturation. They learn from observation and imitation, from simple telling and demonstration and also from participation.

The affect of advertising on youth culture Essay

The affect of advertising on youth culture - Essay Example an entire counter-industry of media watchdogs, critics and authors selling books on the dangerous influence of consumerism on children -- by marketing these products to adults. And while society debates the ethics of selling legitimate products to children, ongoing concerns surrounding underage smoking and drinking linger. Joe Camel might be dead, but what about alcohol advertisements showing (barely) legal drinkers doing things teenagers like to do as well, like dancing and interacting with friends and the opposite sex This paper will examine the problem of pushing consumerism on to children and adolescents, and how it affects them and others they deal with, especially family and peers. The focus will be on the United States, but information from researchers in other countries will be reviewed for the sometimes enlightening differences seen across cultures. Television is the medium explored in the greatest depth, although the Internet is a growing influence on children and a source of conflict in families (Tufte, 71). Efforts to control or restrict advertising to children will be examined as well. Definitions Culture can be defined as "the complex system of meaning and behavior that defines the way of life for a given group or society. Culture includes ways of thinking as well as patterns of behavior" (Anderson & Taylor, 2004, p. 58). Consumer culture, therefore, encompasses the culture of consumers, including their thinking, behavioral and buying patterns. Raymond Benton, Jr. defines consumerism as "the acceptance of consumption as the way to self-development, self-realization, and self-fulfillment," in a society or group that focuses on its consumption, not on its production (in Goodwin, 3). The terms "consumerism" and "commercialism" are often used... This essay "The affect of advertising on youth culture" outlines the impact of the ad on the children, how they controlled spending and how they became a big part of consumer culture. It is safe to say children learn as much, if not more, outside the classroom as they do inside it. Perhaps the most important mode of transmission for the consumer culture is through advertising, especially television advertising aimed at children. Most of this advertising is shown during children’s programming like Saturday morning cartoons and cable stations targeting children (Cartoon Network, Disney, ABC Family). Communications professor Dale Kunkel estimates a child sees about 40,000 television commercials a year (Dittman, p. 37). Advertisements do not end at the front door: Children are also bombarded with commercials in educational television in the classroom, with exclusive contracts for brand name products in the lunch room and hallways, and even corporate sponsored curriculum units, som e espousing controversial, highly political views. Long the target of feminists concerned about how young girls view their bodies, the Barbie doll has kept up with the marketing times as well: Mattel Inc. and MasterCard teamed up to offer the â€Å"Cool Shoppin’ Barbie,† complete with mini MasterCard, a shopping boutique setting and a credit card processing machine that, not surprising, â€Å"approves† every purchase (George, 60). The official Barbie.com website collects information about visitors’ shopping habits that can be used as marketing research (Stockwell, 11).

Adult Aging and Development Project Description Essay - 9

Adult Aging and Development Project Description - Essay Example Lastly, there is retrieval that is the getting back the memory from storage for use. Researchers in human development and aging have gone deep scrutinizing the speed of processing information and working memory capacity to understand the effect of the age difference on the memory. In the memory process, the older adults have a myriad of issues like retrieval and encoding problems. The strategies of encoding are not readily used by the older adults as it happens to the young adults. There is decreased the flow of blood to the brain while encoding hence less brain activity. The older adults are more affected by false memories. False memories are made of the remembering and giving an account to events that never took place. For the fact that the old are affected more than the young ones, then they are not used in the court of law to testify as eyewitnesses in most cases. The older adults have a problem with having selective attention. The distracters affect the old more than it does to the young adults. Therefore, there is difficulty in the performance of complex tasks for their nature of divided attention. At the same time when talking to the adults, there is a need to be relevant and provide with an environment that is less distracted for better performance. As one age, their attention deficit keeps increasing up to the point they cannot work on any work constructively. From the studies, there is a substantial decline in intellectual abilities. There is a steady increase in intelligence up to the age of sixty where the fluid intelligence starts to decrease hence becoming less intelligent than the younger counterparts. The exceptional creativity that is extraordinary and helpful to the society is at its peak in the thirties and the decline as time goes. The older people lose that compelling desire to be creative hence the decreased creativity in the adults.  

Indias Society and Culture

Indias Society and Culture Executive Summary The culture of India is among the worlds oldest, reaching back about 5,000 years. Many sources describe it as Sa Prathama Sanskrati Vishvavara — the first and the supreme culture in the world. India is a very diverse country, and different regions have their own distinct cultures. Language, religion, food and the arts are just some of the various aspects of Indian culture. Here is a brief overview of the culture of India. Introduction Major determinants of social and political organization in India today are: Religion, Caste, and Language. There are more job opportunities in the private sector and better chances of upward social mobility now, hence India has begun a quiet social transformation in this area. The government has recognized 18 official languages; Hindi, the national language, is the most widely spoken, although English is a national lingua franca. About 80% of the population is Hindu; India is the home of more than 138 million Muslims, the third largest Muslim population in the world. India’s population also includes Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis. The Caste System The caste system is based on occupational and socially defined hierarchies. There are 4 castes: 1) Priests (Brahmin), 2) Warriors (Kshatriya), 3) Traders/artisans (Vaishya), and 4) Farmers/laborers (Shudra). These categories are generally understood throughout India. The caste system does not include the tribal people and those outside the caste system formerly known as untouchables†, or dalits. In reality, Indian society is divided into thousands of jatislocal, endogamous groups based on occupationand organized hierarchically according to complex ideas of purity and pollution. Discrimination based on caste is officially illegal, but remains prevalent, especially in rural areas. Government effort, expanding education, land reform and economic opportunity through access to information, communication, transport, and credit are helping to lessen the harshest elements of the caste system. The Hindu Worldview Concept of dharma – following one’s duty; being duty bound Karma – action and consequence (as we sow, so we reap) Samsara – cycle of life Moksha – release from the successive cycles of life, death and rebirth Hindu Weddings Hindu weddings are a sacrament. Generally, they last a few days. They are highly ritualized. Fire is a sacred and central element of the Hindu wedding. Weddings are very festive, with lots of music, dancing, food, sweets, gifts, and include many family traditions. Black or plain white is NEVER worn at a wedding as both are the colors of sorrow, mourning or widowhood. Not all Hindu weddings are ostentatious, noisy, and long. Many factors affect wedding customs: Region Caste Socio-economic standing Education level Urban versus rural Family make-up Workforce Labor force: 487.6 million (2011 estimate) Labor force by occupation: Agriculture: 52% Industry: 14% Services: 34% Unemployment rate: 9.8% (2011 estimate) Classified as a low income country by the World Bank with a GNI (gross national income) of $450. Great inequality in the distribution of wealth: the richest tenth of households hold 33% of wealth, while the poorest tenth only hold 3%. 29% of the population lives below the poverty line; 70% of these people reside in rural areas; 86% of the population lives under $2 per day; 44% lives under $1 per day; 25% of the population does not have enough money to eat adequately. Dos and Donts in India 1) Do drink bottled water only. 2) Dont offer bribes to get any job done. Bribe-taking and bribe-giving are a common practice in India but they are intended to speed up things or win a favor that non-Indians are not entitled to. Plan well in advance. Use consultants or trade and industry associations. If you expect favors, let them come free or not at all. Warn anyone (even in government) who asks you for a bribe that you would report him to the Anti-Corruption Bureau or the nearest police-station. 3) Don’t show amusement at Indian English, accents or choice of words. The fact remains that many Indians speak and write better English than many native English speakers. 4) Do pay attention to the Indian nod. Many Indians are in the habit of shaking their head in the course of conversation or taking instructions. The nod generally means I hear you. Namaste. This is a greeting done with joining of your palms as during prayer. 5) Do say namaste, folding your hands together, as if praying. This is a common greeting well understood across India, in spite of linguistic differences. 6) Don’t shake hands with women if they do not extend their hand out first. Many women may not wish to shake hands when met, so a ‘Namaste’ greeting is appropriate, followed with a Kaise hai? (How are you? in Hindi.) Indian Food Wide regional variation A variety of spices and nuts add delicate flavor to the food Vegetarian food is very common in India There are many types of curries (vindaloo, Madras, etc.) Do not confuse curry with gravy. No beef! (Cows are considered holy in India.) Chicken and lamb/mutton are common meats, as is fish. Indian pickles are served with every meal; they are made with oil, spices and a variety of vegetables (mango, lemon, chilies, and carrots.) Plain yogurt is consumed with almost every meal. Indian Cinema The biggest film producing industry in the world is the Mumbai-based Bollywood. It is also called Hindi Cinema, since many regional language films are also produced in India. Melodrama and romance are common ingredients of Bollywood films. Indian Music India has a history of music that spans millennia. Music serves as spiritual inspiration, cultural expression and pure entertainment. Types of music: Folk – rural, ethnic, regional music Popular – Bollywood and regional cinema music Classical music – two branches: Carnatic) Southern India) and Hindustani (Northern and Central India) Galaxy of Musicians by Raja Ravi Varma depicts Indian women dressed in regional attire playing a variety of musical instruments popular in different parts of the country. Indian Dance In Hindu mythology, dance is believed to have been conceived by Brahma, who inspired the sage Bharata Muni to write the Natya Shastra, a treatise on performing arts, from which a codified practice of dance and drama emerged. The best-known of Hindu deities—Shiva, Kali and Krishna—are typically represented dancing. Shivas cosmic dance, Kalis dance of creation and destruction, and Krishnas dance with the gopikas (cow-herd girls)—Rasa Lila—are popular motifs in Hindu mythology. Conclusion To conclude with, there are different aspects of the Indian culture. Each aspect is practiced by people but not everyone believes in the different aspects. As you can see it is a very traditional culture, everyone has their opinion towards it, positive and negative. Therefore the Indian Culture is a very unique culture and has various practices. Although the youth do not believe in the traditional aspects, the culture will vary with time and will not be traditional anymore because of the modern world. All in all the aspects are frequently practiced but tomorrow’s generation are going to change it.

Intimate Encounter Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

Intimate Encounter I needed a weekend away from the all too humdrum existence of day-to-day living. I decided that a good diversion might be to hike the Appalachian Trail for a weekend. After class on Friday, I ran to my car so that I could begin this wonderful divergence from daily life. The parking lot at Carver’s Gap, my destination, finally came into view as I drove up US 19E. Across the road, a short wooden fence separated me from my wonderful weekend of adventure. From the second I reached the parking lot, I realized that this hike, a great way to escape from reality for a weekend, awaited me upon the trail I saw dwindling in the distance. Due to my college freshman regimen of a bad diet and no exercise, the first bald I climbed winded me. At the summit of this little hill, however, a great vista gently caressed my eyes, as the natural beauty of Tennessee flowed over me. Verdant hills broiled before me, bubbling away into the distance to pop upon the backs of monstrous mountains. The sweet aroma of the few vibrant flowers on the flat plateau, and the intoxicating sensation of the breeze pawing at my hair, made the scene picturesque and serene. After gaping in awe for several minute, I turned my back from one beautiful landscape only to find my self at another. The harsh winds of the balds blew around me as I came upon the testaments of the winds power. The tree line appeared as a mass of gnarled, knotted, dead looking trees, the guardians of the forest. The harsh winds had over the years, deformed the trees here at the barrier between the lush forests and the vast plateau behind me. The path wound through the gnarled guardians and the true beauty of my hike soon greeted me. The lush, vibrant fall colors on th... ... as my hike the day before had. The secluded intimacy of the forest stunned my sense and made me feel as if I were apart of a land no man had before seen. As I passed the guardians of the forest, those gnarled, knotted, crooked trees overlooking the balds, I bid them farewell and a thank you also, for protecting the secluded interior forest from the harsh winds of the balds. My car squatted in the parking lot like a bug on a blackened, cooled, lava flow. I dreaded going back to my normal life after enjoying a weekend of such freedom and pleasure. Duties and obligations began to flitter though my mind as I once again began to think like an insect in a hive. I looked back over my shoulder, fondly remembering the freedom the wonderful weekend blessed me with, and vowed that I would once again return to experience the pleasure and seclusion that lay hidden therein.

The Euro :: essays papers

The Euro In 1991 it was decided that the Euro would be introduced. It officially became the currency of eleven European nations: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, shortly thereafter. Although the actually hard currency will not be introduced until January 1, 2002, it is possible to trade and complete transactions using this currency. This introduction allowed for a single money supply throughout most of Europe, caused increased transparency of prices and stocks throughout the nations adopting it and encouraged long-term investments between firms in different countries by eliminating exchange rate risk. Despite these benefits, the launch of the Euro has not gone as successfully as planned. Since it’s introduction the Euro has lost almost one third of it’s value compared to the dollar. This devaluation has the potential to create a large negative effect on European markets. To take control of the situation government intervention was deemed necessary. In early September, the European Central Bank lowered interest rates for the sixth time in less than a year, in hopes of initiating a rise in the value of the Euro. Despite these efforts the value of the Euro continued to falter. Then in late September central banks from many powerful economic nations collaborated in a major invention effort. The banks spent billions buying Euros to increase their demand while simultaneously selling dollars and yen. This effort seemed to have work as the Euro finally stabilized. This invention was an important step because a weak Euro would cause investors to lose confidence in the new currency. In addition it created a risk of increased inflation because of the increased expense of imports. However, the Euro is still not out of danger because many analysts feel that the reason that it is performing so poorly is because of the decreased amounts of investments in Europe as other markets, the United States in particular, continued to flourish. This is a long-term problem that the central banks will be unable to fix. Then in November as there were signs of slowing economic growth in the US the value of the Euro started to increase. By late November many businesses were acquiring a preference for the Euro because of the benefits it provided. According to one article, â€Å"The Euro has revolutionized corporate strategy and transformed approaches to doing business in Europe.

Bias of Roots and Culture Essay

Discussing roots and culture is often a very subjective topic. Quite often, the same story is interpreted entirely differently, depending on who is telling the story. This principle is also true in fictional works. A narrator will bring his/her own perspective and biases into the events that he or she is telling about. In Raymond Carver’s Cathedral, the first-person narrator has several biases that are used to reveal character. This first-person narrator has both positive and negative biases, and insights that clearly represent his character. The narrator in Cathedral has biases that serve to create his character well. Some of these are positive, and some are negative. The first clear bias that is made clear is a positive one. In the introduction of the story, as the narrator is giving background information on his wife, he speaks of her first husband. The manner in which he speaks of her impresses upon the reader of how little this first marriage matters to him, and thus shows that he acknowledges his wife has a past, and that he loves her just the same. Carver shows the narrators’ indifference to this first husband when â€Å"why should he have a name? † (Responding to Literature, 439) is asked. Another one of the biases the narrator has does not serve to create such a positive picture of him. This negative bias is the narrators’ bias against the blind in the beginning of the story. He speaks of them as very somber, as his idea of blind people was that all the â€Å"blind moved slowly and never laughed. † (438) These insights into the mind of the first-person narrator help to establish him as a character. The use of first-person narration in Raymond Carvers Cathedral serves to establish the narrator as a legitimate character well. The reader is given direct insight into the thoughts of the narrator, which would not be possible from other perspectives. For example, the reader is given a direct path into the narrators’ thoughts of the blind mans’ wife, Beulah. Without the words actually being spoken, the reader knows that the narrator feels sorry for her, without having ever met the blind man. He believes that Beulah must have had a â€Å"pitiful life† since she could â€Å"never see herself as he was seen in the eyes of her loved one†(440). Wordless insights into thoughts, such as this, are the true point of having a first-person narrator; because not only is the reader given a picture of the narrators’ thoughts, it serves to create a more dynamic, lifelike character, and not merely a lifeless voice that is tediously moving through words. First-person narration is always all about perspective, and consequently, bias. All first-person narration in fiction is chosen specifically for the purpose of having that bias, and those individual ideas that make for an interesting telling of a story. Raymond Carver’s Cathedral uses the first person narration very well, for that exact purpose. This story’s biases and partialities are used to separate the reader, and only see the narrators’ version of what happened. Had the story been told from the perspective of the blind man, it would have been immensely different. Biases come from ones’ culture and environment. Ideally, stories and retellings of events would be completely honest; but prejudices and tensions gradually become the general theme of the story, to the point that roots, culture, and acceptance thereof become irrelevant, and nothing remains but intolerance.

Language and Communication Essay

Choosing a college is one of the most difficult choices you can make in regards to your career and there are many facets which need to be looked at when making that decision. Since we have a similar career path, I wanted to take the time to share with you the many different reasons why I chose Western Governors University as my college of choice. Credited certification courses, online access, flexible scheduling, expediting graduation date, and cost were all major factors I considered when I chose WGU. Information Technology certifications many times can still be a requirement that employers look for, even if you have a degree, as I know, it is also one of your major concerns. WGU offers industry certifications as a part of their course curriculum, which is one of the only colleges to do this. They include many of the different types of certifications depending on your learning track like Microsoft, CIW, CompTia, and Oracle. By incorporating them into the courses it enhances your resume, not only by the ability to declare your education but also that you have certifications that showcases your knowledge within the information technology industry, giving you an edge. Having an outstanding online program with easy access to the certification and course material was another advantage of choosing WGU, which is another concern you raised due to your current travel demands with your job. The online presence offered by WGU is the best that I have seen and having used it for the last year, and I know firsthand its quality and accessibility. Whether I am in the hotel, a rest stop, or having lunch at work I can access all my program information. Furthermore, they utilize Pearson, Task Stream, course mentorship, online communities, and workshops and have an extensive online library. The online dashboard outlines your entire degree program, course descriptions, emails, course contacts, degree tracking, and financial aid information. Overall the quality of the online functionality is the best, and will help ensure your experience is a great one. By having a well laid out online degree program not only assists you gaining, access but also actually helps you stay on track with flexible scheduling. With a busy work schedule, I am not bound by offsite classrooms, conference calls, or online live classes which can be mandatory for some schools; I pick the time to work on my education. Having this flexibility is key as I move forward in my current job meeting its demands, and meeting my education demands as well. Whether it is before work, lunchtime, after work, or weekends it is up to myself to find the time when it allows. Also, meeting the demands of an active family life can be very difficult to manage. With on-demand materials, when you want them, you can maintain a normal family lifestyle. To be empowered with flexibility of scheduling your classes online, along with a dynamic, robust education platform, make Western Governors a clear choice. Even though flexible scheduling is an import aspect of WGU when considering a college, the power to expedite your graduation date is just as important. When you sign up with WGU, you select your courses that match your degree program and can control what semesters you would like to take at that time. Once you have completed all your courses for a semester, you can still take additional courses within that semester. By utilizing the pre-assessments within the online dashboard, you can pre-qualify what you know about the course and move forward with the test, completing the whole course in days rather than months. This is great if the course is on something you have already established industry knowledge in the work place. Another great aspect is that if you already have certifications that you have earned, you can get credit for it, thus fulfilling a credit course. Being able to expedite your graduation is a huge value in saving your time, efforts and, most importantly, costs. College tuition has been on the rise over the years, and choosing a school that provides a top knowledge education, that is credited, sums up yet another reason for choosing WGU. They have a unique cost-cutting education system where you pay by the semester, not by each credit. So as you complete each course and then add more within that semester, you can actually reduce your overall cost for that degree. There are also savings found when you do not have to take additional certification classes and tests outside of your normal tuition, because it is all included. Another cost saving piece is that the school provides all the course materials for free, the books for each class is provided electronically. You save on commuting, as well as room and board which can also add to the bottom line of your education costs. The value of going to WGU for a top quality education is an undeniable benefit to you and your family, and should be a major factor in your decision. The decision to go to school or going back to complete your education can be a daunting task and one not to be taken lightly. But with your own research, you will find out what I have, that WGU is the best answer to your quest for success. With the certification built into the program, it just makes sense not to duplicate learning tracks. Online access gives you the resource to control your education and gives you a wider, flexible schedule to work with. Expediting your graduation date can only speed up and increase career opportunities. Finally, the cost comparison between a campus college verses an online education at WGU will give you the sense of value for the money spent well. Western Governors University is one of the fastest growing, premier online schools, providing a great education in a timely manner and results that will enhance your career.