John Keats’ “On the Sonnet” and William Wordsworth “Convent’s narrow room” Essay

Two sonnets, â€Å"On the Sonnet† by John Keats and â€Å"Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room† by William Wordsworth, address the same subject, the restrictions of the sonnet. Despite the same subject matter, they approach these restrictions using different forms and imagery, and each has his own opinion of the subject. Keats starts off his sonnet using an allusion from Greek mythology: Andromeda, a princess chained to a rock and in danger of being devoured by a sea monster. This was his main idea and criticism of the structure of the sonnet–if poets are chained by the Shakespearean or Italian format, the sonnet will eventually lose its spirit and be devoured over time. He advises his fellow sonneteers to â€Å"fit the naked foot of poesy†, like us wearing shoes by breaking the rhythm and imposing creativity on the form, so the sonnet can endure. This is because it will stand out among mediocre sonnets. Keats` other allusion is to King Midas and his gold; he uses Midas to express how miserly poets have to be with their words and not to use clichà ©s, â€Å"dead leaves in the bay-wreath crown†. His last allusion is to the Muse-Greek goddess of art-to express the creativeness and freedom needed for the beauty of poetry. With â€Å"the weight of too much liberty†, poetry is as restrictive as ever, argues Wordsworth. If these restrictions are too much, do not write a sonnet because like poets who write a sonnet, nuns choose their convents, hermits their cells, maids their looms and bees their foxglove bells: all make this choice willingly. This vivid imagery makes plain what writing a sonnet is all about: a personal choice to chain ourselves because we enjoy it. It is sometimes better to play in a â€Å"scanty plot of ground† then run through the vast open fields and be lost and confused. The restrictions are what makes it more challenging and forces us to create something more beautiful than just prose. Wordsworth finds peace in a restrictive sonnet, like us when we lock ourselves in our room to do the same. Each true to his word and ideas, the poets practice what they preach in their sonnets. Keats does not write his sonnet in any particular known form. It is broken into three parts; ln 1-6: expressing what poetry is like; ln 7-9:  what poets must pay attention to; ln 10-14: what poets must avoid in writing. He follows what he says about â€Å"if we must be constrained†, that he wrote the poem in iambic pentameter. Wordsworth as well does what he says about writing true to the sonnets restrictions. His entire sonnet consists of only 4 rhymes, abba abba cddc cd, and the poem is also broken into three parts, ln 1-7: comparing the sonnet to other things in life, ln 8-9 ½: his statement on the sonnet restrictions, and ln 9 ½-14: why his statement is so. Neither seems to agree about the roles restrictions play in the sonnet–Keats complains about them and tells us how to make the sonnet better, while Wordsworth is saying, take the challenge and enjoy doing it.

Explorers of the Renaissance

Bartholomew Dais, the explorer for Portugal, planned to head an expedition in search of a sea route to India. Though, at the end of his voyage he only became the first sail to the tip of Africa. This, landing has only created a new name for the Cabot ads Galahs and the cape Cabot ads Torments for his country. Dais had a voyage that inspired explorers to try a faster or better route to travel, which lead to the discoveries of newer lands;also, this voyage helped encourage inventors and scientists to invent effective techniques and new technology that could help future expeditions.Magellan studied very famous explorers for many years in Portugal. He planed to find a route to the Spice Islands by sailing west and around the world. Ferdinand Magellan, an explorer of Spain, has amazed us with his courage by venturing through the chaotic and the untouched world. Through his voyage Magellan provided the first positive proof that the world was round, thus opening trade routes to explorers al l over the world. Ferdinand Magellan is recognized as the first person to circumnavigate the world.His discovery of this route had the effects in many ways; for example, the religion of Christianity has also traveled along his Journeys, and also his geographical finding has made the current map more accurate then it originally was. Jacques Carrier sailed in the name of France. Carrier searched to find a Northwest Passage to India and the Spice Islands and also looking for new places to trade. In the end Carrier was the first to sail up the SST. Lawrence River and Canada. Canada was claimed as a piece of France; furthermore, this opened up for trade with the natives.

Admission services Admission Essay

Marquis de Vauvenargues, a French moralist and essayist said that  the greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources.   My work experience as a research analyst, a school manager and a full time classroom teacher widened the horizon of my career and led me to pursue a study that will enable me to establish a business that would create jobs to people in my community.My initial job as a research analyst and laboratory manager at Biosphere 2 Center in Arizona provided me with the opportunity to design the CO2 control system and implemented new chemical procedures.   I was also given the task of supervising the research works and thesis of students in the undergraduate level.Due to my desire to explore more avenues in the field of science, I moved to Columbia University in New York and worked as a laboratory manager and researcher.   In Columbia University, the task of managing and maintaining the laboratory of Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, a world class state of the art research institution specializing in the Earth sciences, sharpened my managerial skills.As my task also included conducting data collection, analyses, interpretation and data reduction, my knowledge and skills in research and statistics was enhanced.   I developed good analytical and problem solving skills as well as communication and interpersonal skills through constant interaction with tenured faculty, accomplished scientist and highly motivated graduate students   Ã‚  I also designed and implemented new chemical procedures.Although I grew up in India, I was fortunate to be given a rare opportunity to work in a prestigious university and laboratory center in the United States.   Although the transition was challenging, the experience was rewarding.   The administrative and research opportunities that were given to me in my first two jobs enriched my knowledge and skills but I felt a nagging call to share my knowledge.Hence, I worked as an adjunct professor at Bergen Community College in New Jersey and eventually in Herman Ridder Intermediate School and Bronx Academy in New York.   My students became the recipients of the knowledge that I have gained from my previous exposure in a fully equipped and modernized laboratory.   As a full-time environmental science and mathematics teacher for grades 7-12 level, I was able to awaken the minds of students to appreciate mathematics.As I taught them a number of ways to approach and solve mathematical problems, I also found out the source of their weaknesses and their lack of enthusiasm in the subject area.   Some could not solve complex problems due to lack of knowledge in the basic principles of mathematics.   Others never had a teacher who used games as a way to make students enjoy the subject.Science and mathematics are closely related and I believe that the progress of the nation is partly dependent on the scientific discoveries and technological advancement that the future generation can offer.   Working with poorly motivated students with behavioral problems and those who were hostile and hopeless about their situation was very challenging.   The personal conviction to increase students’ achievement led me to organize an innovative volunteer program whereby students requiring assistance outside the classroom were tutored during lunch break.I also identified student’s individualism and developed curriculum to accommodate their diverse learning styles and maximize their potentials.   To facilitate learning, a curriculum was developed to ease instruction of individual, small groups and classes of 40 students.   Open communication and close monitoring of student’s progress facilitated learning and improved academic achievements.  Parental involvements in the academic and extra-curricular activities of students were strongly encouraged. Comprehensive mathematics and science learning resource were also created so students were able to take home and learn materials with their parents.I had my last employment in Herman Ridder Intermediate School in New York where I was designated by the school principal to serve as a teacher and business manager due to my analytical and interpersonal skills.   I directly collaborated with the principal in acquiring educational materials and developing after school learning programs.I have also worked on budgetary matters relating to the implementation of assigned programs and performed administrative functions in implementing budgetary programs, policies and procedures.   School and district budget were planned, reconciled and effectively managed.   My exposure in managing school finances led me to discover that I had talent for budgeting and managing small teams.   This has also confirmed my strong desire to focus my future career in business management.Having a solid educational background in geology, earth and environme ntal science, and vast exposure and experience in the field of management, education, research and statistics in the United States and India, I would like to further my studies in Business Administration by being part of the graduate program in Rice University.Backed by my knowledge and experience in data analyses, data interpretation, research background and strong quantitative skills, I want to have a stronger grasp of business management as I intend to be a Petroleum industry marketing and market research consultant after my graduate studies.I was impressed with the sense of cooperation and team spirit between the faculty members and students of Rice University when I visited the campus twice and spoke with   Dr. Seetharaman and several students.   I believe that with the small class size, personal interaction with fellow students and faculty, hands on training and excellent program of Rice University, I will gain more exposure and experience in dealing with problems and issu es related to the management of business in relation to Petroleum industry.In the near future, I would like to serve my community by establishing a business so I can provide more jobs and contribute to the economy of the country.   This is the best time to pursue a Masters in Business Administration degree after gaining a vast experience in managing people with different background, attitudes, personality and academic achievement.After being a stay at home dad for two years, I could not wait to go back to school this fall to further my studies and eventually work and in a competitive and challenging field.

The History of Human Resources Management Research Paper

The History of Human Resources Management - Research Paper Example Industrial relations and organizational behavior are much the same paving the way for HRM as the ideal management model responsive to the pressures of intensive competitive forces. By definition, HRM simply refers to a system of operational management designed to ensure effective and efficient use of human talents in accomplishing organizational objectives (Mathis & Jackson, 2007). The function of HRM in the business enterprise has a long history, with roots right in the rise of modern industry in the nineteenth century. This article endeavors to put into perspective the history and development of the subject matter at hand, providing in part its progressive nature into the modern status. The Genesis and Early Development of HRM A generic thought that involves the management of labor services in production, human resource management (HRM) has its origin in the establishment of formal enterprises during the course of human history. Though recent in its use within the academic circles and/or in industrial developments [barely two decades old], the ideas engendered in "human resource management" are old and goes back to the dawn of human history. It [human resource management] has, thus, only undergone social and economic makeovers from earlier forms of administration through history, necessitating name changes a couple of times to accommodate the various productivity optimization add-ons. HRM as practiced today has two distinct antecedents: the emergence of industrial welfare in the 1800s and the creation of separate recruitment and selection offices/departments in the 1900s. The 1800s, particularly in the 1830s onwards, quite a number of companies begun the provision of various workplace and family amenities that included medical cover, housing, libraries , recreational programs, among other free services deemed important for effective and efficient production (Gospel, 1992). The inclusion of these extra services, reportedly pioneered by the German industries, f requently called for the creation of temporary departments hitherto known as welfare departments out of humanitarian concerns. From temporary positions created out of necessity to handle immediate tasks regarding employees’ wellbeing, separate employment offices, often staffed by one or a limited number of lower-level clerks, emerged to centralize and standardize functions such as recruitments and the general record-keeping of employee-related issues. The enactment of civil service legislations across Europe solidified the importance of employment departments, contributing to phasing out of the temporary nature of these departments into permanent offices. Farnham (1921) report of a German steel company Krupp having had an established Personnelburo as an independent office handling staff related functions since the late 1800s. As similar bureaus became widespread, the term ‘employment management’ quickly became the accepted description of the new management functi on with wide cross border managerial support. Routing employment management to HRM as ordered today was the emergence of the doctrine of scientific management (SM) authored

Write a paper on everything that rises must converge Research

Write a on everything that rises must converge - Research Paper Example One of the major themes in Everything That Rises Must Converge is the theme of race as one of the key social and cultural concerns in the American society in 1960s, and it is addressed and analyzed in many ways in the piece. As it is follows from the short story, there are two views on the situation that took place in the society, and they depended on people’s belonging to a particular generation. Specifically, Julian’s mother as a representative on an older generation adheres to old cultural norms of the society, meaning she does not accept any changes regarding race and social classes. In fact, she grips hold of her old-fashioned views and wants to impose them upon her son. In particular, at first convenience she tries to remind her son and, perhaps, even herself that they come from a good and respected southern family and that their ancestors were wealthy and powerful: â€Å"Your great-grandfather was a former governor of this state†, â€Å"Your great-grandfather had a plantation and two hundred slaves† (O’Connor). That is to say Julian’s mother chooses to live on her family’s greatness, which is now gone, because that gives her a sense of being as powerful and renowned as her family used to be in the past. Her behavior and overtly racist attitudes show narrow-mindedness of her generation when it comes to changes and new social norms. Overall, from how O’Connor depicts it, it follows that for Julian’s mother there is a great necessity to separate herself from African Americans who have suddenly become the equal part of the society she lives in. this is one more reason why she is used to reminding about her roots and social standing of her ancestors. She separates herself and her son from those who is different from them, and this kind of separation suggests her attitude towards African Americans is of a discriminatory character.

Strategic and Financial Decision-making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic and Financial Decision-making - Essay Example The brokers of the stock exchanges or any qualified individual can play the role of the analysts. They try to identify the trends by analyzing the past behaviour of the stock and other market important information. The statistical tools such as beta, alpha, regression, time series etc are popular among the analysts. London Stock exchange (LSE) is the prominent exchange in UK and FTSE 100 is a popular index of LSE followed by most of the investors and analysts. Beta of a stock measures the volatility of that particular stock with the market movement. In this report the betas of two FTSE 100 companies will be calculated using covariance and variance, and using the linear regression model. The two chosen companies are Experian (EXPN) and Sainsbury(J) (SBRY). EXPN is one of the leading companies in global information services. It provides data analytical tools and other systems that help an organisation to take proper decisions (Experian, Plc. n.d.). Organisations like banks, government departments or retailers etc are the clients of EXPN. SBRY is UK’s third largest chain of supermarket and convenience store engaged in retail marketing of daily household products like grocery, garments etc. â€Å"Sainsburys Supermarkets is UKs longest standing major food retailing chain, having opened its f irst store in 1869, presently consisting a chain of 525 supermarkets and 303 convenience stores – and Sainsburys Bank† (J Sainsbury Plc. 2010). SBRY and EXPN, both the companies were listed in the LSE on July 11, 1975 and on October 26, 2006 respectively and the stocks of these companies are currently traded at the rate  £323.78 and  £600 respectively (London Stock Exchange. 2010). In order to calculate the betas of both the companies, the historical stock prices are required. The beta will be calculated using the covariance of stock return and market return relative to the variance of market return. The second method uses linear

Sustainable Tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Sustainable Tourism - Essay Example In order to conduct an in-depth analysis a literature review consisting of the existing literature has been carried out. This has been followed by a primary research which would provide firsthand information about the means to ensure sustainable tourism in the nation. A questionnaire survey has been created for the purpose which would be followed by a section that would contain a set of plausible recommendations about the means to bring about sustainable tourism in a nation so as to bring about greater economic and social prosperity in the tourism industry. Introduction The twenty first century has been often cited by critics as the age of globalization which has been categorized by organizations trying to breach across geographical boundaries to reach out to new and potential market regions. This has bolstered and fuelled the economic growth of many nations whose citizens have reported considerable rise in disposable income. This has in turn enhanced the demand for leisure activitie s like tourism. Tourism has evolved in a major way with global tourism hotspots being termed as generators of revenue for the economy and the nation. According to World Tourism Organization sustainable tourism is defined as â€Å"tourism which leads to management of all resources in such a manner that social, economic and the aesthetic needs could be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, and biological diversity and life support systems† (United Nations Foundations, 2002, p.1). The significance of tourism as an industry segment could be analyzed from the fact that global tourism industry contributes approximately 11 percent towards the global GDP of the world. This sector employs approximately 200 million individuals across the globe serving approximately 700 million customers across the world. Experts point out that this figure is expected to increase to exactly twice its present value. Much of the value of this global tourism comes from the developed nations which contribute approximately seventy percent of the total revenues generated from tourism. The developing nations have grown by approximately 9.5 percent since 1990 which is quite comparative as compared to the annual growth of the global tourism industry which is pegged at 4.6 percent. Tourism generates precious foreign exchange, employment as well as GDP for the nations. There are a large number of nations and islands whose economy is entirely dependent on the tourism industry (Roe & Khanya, 2001, p.1). The present study would try to analyze the aspect of sustainable tourism and would also discuss about the different factors affecting global tourism with regards to certain issues related to the environment. Literature Review Social and Economic Sustainability of Tourism The sustainability of tourism industry is largely dependent upon other sectors as many economic and social factors are said to be correlated with the tourism industry. Presence of infra structure and political stability are factors that have a deep impact on the success and growth of the tourism indus

Immigration(advantages or problems) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Immigration(advantages or problems) - Essay Example Furthermore, they help address the need of the country for seasonal labor during harvest time. Illegal aliens, as they are commonly referred to, readily accept relatively lower wages as compared to the local labor force for the same type of work or amount of workload in light of their need to get jobs straight away ("Wikipedia"). In this regard, some who profit from this arrangement assert that illegal immigration is indeed beneficial since the country of origin of the illegal alien, which is usually a developing country, earns dollar through overseas workers' remittances. Similarly, the US-based employers may take advantage of relatively lower labor expense with the substantial availability of labor provided by illegal immigrants (Hanson). However, these people fail to take into account the adverse effects of illegal immigration to the economy as a whole. They have a limited perception of the problem such that they only consider the gains directly derived from illegal immigration and not the other economic and social costs. There are myriad disadvantages in connection with illegal immigration. One of them is in terms of the intensified competition in the labor market. American citizens and other legal immigrants or residents can often be heard complaining that it is harder to look for jobs these days. This can be attributed to the fact that there are a growing number of illegal immigrants in the country that directly compete with the local labor force for available jobs. With this, legal workers continue to experience job displacement due to illegal aliens. As discussed, illegal immigrants who seek employment in the country willingly settle for below average wage levels. Although employers benefit from this type of arrangement, it should be highlighted that such is generally detrimental for the entire labor force. By accepting wages that is less than the minimum wage standard, the income mainly coming from wages received plummets (Hayworth). This distorts the labor conditions in the country. Decreased wages is especially harmful for workers who are already on the verge or even below the poverty line. In addition, this changes the consumption propensity of legal workers and may diminish the quality of their and their families' lives. Another major disadvantage of illegal immigration is that it further buoys up expenditure of the federal government. Based on numerous reports, an increasing number of communities across the nation continuously contend with over budgeting in order to make hospital care and educational services to illegal immigrants and their families. Given this scenario, the government would need to find a way to address budget deficits to take into account these public services for all including illegal immigrants. To compensate for the portion of the budget used up for illegal immigrants, it may be expected that the government would impose tax increases which would be shouldered by legal workers. In the end, legal workers who fund social security services through the taxes remitted to the government each payday are burdened with the problem brought about by illegal immigration. According to studies, illegal immigration also has an effect on the health conditions in the US. Some assert that the presence of illegal immigr

Logistics within the Business Organization Coursework

Logistics within the Business Organization - Coursework Example One of the most important strategies that can be used in encouraging management to pay closer attention to the supply chain management is to call the attention of senior management to the effective â€Å"sales† coming out of their competition and other business models that utilize a concentration on the supply chain. According to Dutton, this is a highly effective strategy because it demonstrates the better supply/logistics processes or use of technology that can result in reduced costs for inventory items. It is best that the manager knows how to frame his thoughts and words in such a manner that will make the supply and logistics discussion an interesting and important topic for the managers. Rudski agrees with the observations and suggestions of Dutton. But he adds that the supply management must be able to favorably impact 5 areas of supply management. These include: (1) exceeding performance and earnings expectations, (2)growing revenues year on year, (3) reducing risk an d the  volatility in revenues and earnings, (4) continuously improve the return on investment capital and return on equity, and finally (5) will it create a unique business model that others cannot copy? Furthermore, Dutton calls attention to some additional tips that can help interest business managers in the demands of supply chain management.

Omeprazole Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Omeprazole - Research Paper Example They inhibit this pump and hence lead to a reduction in the production of the acid. The drug has many indications which include the ulcers of the stomach which are the primary indication. Other indications include disturbances caused by the acid in the stomach and heartburn. It may also be given to relive chronic cough. Certain medications like non-steroidal anit-inflammatory drugs cause damage to the lining of the stomach and the proximal part of the intestine. It is also considered to assist in reducing the risk of cancer of the esophagus. Omeprazole can be given to avoid this damage. It is also indicated as a pre anesthetic drug before the administration of general anesthesia. Omeprazole can be taken orally and it is also available in the form of injections. The oral form of the drug is coated to prevent damage to it in the stomach by the acid. The action of the drug lasts for approximately 24 hours and it is extremely important to be understood that for complete results, the drug needs to be taken for at least 3 to 4 days. The drug may have a few adverse effects which include headache and pain in the abdomen. It may result in other gastrointestinal problems which include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation. It is also seen that treatment with this drug for prolonged periods of time may result in increased levels of gastrin in the blood. The drug is also associated with reduction in the absorption of the vitamin B12. Also as the drug leads to reduction of acidity in the stomach, it may hinder the absorption of drugs like digoxin which require an acid medium for their absorption. The susceptibility of infections of the gastrointestinal tract and the respiratory system also increase with this drug.

Video games Essay Example for Free

Video games Essay This is very useful as it tells the staff in GAME quickly and efficiently about the availability of software in the shop. It allows them to inform questioning customers. GENERAL SECURITY Â  CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) this device is used to monitor everything that is happening. They are based everywhere in the company, in every department. This device can pick out things like thieves who are stealing merchandise to finding out what caused a certain accidental incident in another part of the company. Â  Login Systems a login system is a security lock that allows only authorised people to access computers. A username would be asked for followed by a password confirmation. This is a simple method to keep out people from accessing files on computers that are important. These are on all the computers in the company. Â  Keypad- this device is used in GAME to restrict areas that are only allowed for people that are authorised personnel. The person would have to key in a password to gain access to the restricted area. All the departments have areas that are restricted. Â  Norton Anti-Virus this program scans the computers for viruses and removes them. This is very useful if you are connected to the internet a lot where a lot of viruses try to attack you. Â  Norton Internet Security this program gives you extra protection from internet abusers. This allows you to enforce parental control, intrusion detection, privacy control, ad blocking, AntiSpam and a personal firewall to keep out intruders. DEPARTMENT SPECIFICS This section is on the specific hardware, software and security used in each department. SALES DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used specifically in the Sales Department. Hardware Input. These are the input devices used only in the sales department. Barcode Reader The barcode reader in the EPOS system scans the barcode on the items and keeps track of what items are being taken out and being returned. This also lets the company know whether they are running out of any specific items. They can also in the future use the information they obtained from the EPOS system and evaluate whether they should stock up on more items or less. Â  Magnetic Strip Reader This device is like a barcode reader but it has some advantages. It can hold more information and it also has more security. In a barcode you could find out the code on the barcode because of the numerals under it, but in a magnetic stripe you have to pass it through its reader to obtain its code. In the GAME industry they accept credit cards that have a magnetic strip. They also let people register for a GAME card, which also has a magnetic strip. Hardware Output These are the output devices used only in the Sales department. Â  Receipt Printers These printers print out the item that was purchased and include other details such as the date it was purchased, etc. These receipts are extremely useful, as they will allow the customers to return goods that do not satisfy them or is faulty. A unique system of GAME allows the customer to return goods that do not agree with them as long as they still have their receipt. Software Application These are the application software only used in the Sales department. Â  MS Publisher this program allows the Sales department to create sophisticated marketing products. Products like posters, leaflets and other paper-based marketing goods. Â  MS Excel this program allows the sales department to produce a database on their customers. The reward card scheme allows GAME to keep a record of their customers and their history with GAME. GAME can use their database to find out what each customer has bought and returned. They can find out what each customer likes and dislikes. They can use this information to improve on what they need to do to make GAME a better service to the customers. Security These are ways security is handled only in the sales department. Â  Security Guards security guards are used in the sales department to guard retail shops from vandals, thieves and troublemakers. They are trained professionals that can handle all different situations. Â  Sensor Barrier this device is used in the sales department in the retail outlets. People have to go through it whenever they want to enter or leave the shop. If it rings then that means the culprit that caused it has an item that has not been bought but in fact is being stolen. It is very useful in cutting down shop robbery. Â  Finance Supervisor these are people who have been hired to watch over the people who are involved in the transactions of the money belonging to GAME. So if a worker is seen to be trying to steal some of the companys money, then the supervisor would report the culprit for arrest. PURCHASING DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used in the Purchasing Department. Hardware Input These are the input devices used only in the Purchasing department. Â  Barcode Reader The barcode reader in the purchasing department is used to key in all the items that are being bought in and out of the retailer. It helps it to determine how much of each product is in stock. Hardware Output. These are the output devices used only in the Purchasing department. Ordering Software this software is used to buy products from different manufacturers. Whenever the company is low on a product the ordering software would purchase more of that same product to restock. Security The purchasing department uses only the security stated in the general security section. FINANCE DEPARTMENT This is the Hardware and Software used in the Finance Department. Software Application These are the application software only used in the Sales department. Â  BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing Syst.

New Age Constructions Essay Example for Free

New Age Constructions Essay New Age is a building construction organisation based in Bangalore. The organisation, which was established in the year 2005, is relatively new in this sector. The activities of the organisation are limited to Bangalore. There are a number of well-established builders in Bangalore. Therefore, initially New Age found it difficult to obtain large projects and undertook only small building projects. However, recently, New Age has got a lucrative contract for building a large shopping mall. The organisation finds the contract to be a stepping stone of its future success. Therefore, it is striving to deliver the project on time and within the planned budget. The organisation has hired Mr. Sinha as the project manager. To carry out the assigned project, Mr. Sinha has emphasised on three principles of project management including the principle of project strategy, the principle of team building, and the principle of satisfaction. During the project, Mr. Sinha communicated the relevant project information to all the team members. However, he did not prioritise maintaining a thorough documentation of the entire project. Seven months into the project, Mr. Sinha faced some major issues. He was asked by the management of the organisation to provide a complete project report on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, it was also noticed that he used some extra human resource, which affected the project’s cost management as well. Mr. Sinha did not even consider the triple constraints of the project Questions: a. As a project manager of New Age, which knowledge areas and principles would you like to follow the most? b. Do you think considering the triple constraints would have helped Mr. Sinha? Justify your answer. a. Summarise the various knowledge areas and principles in brief you would follow as a project manager of New Age b. Give your opinion if triple constraints would have helped Mr. Sinha Provide justification for the opinion 2. Describe the five phases of a generic project lifecycle. (unit 1) [Describe each phase of a project lifecycle] 3. Write short notes on: Work breakdown structure Product line analysis Capital rationing Challenges in Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) [Work breakdown structure Product line analysis Capital rationing Challenges in Social Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA)] 4. How would you classify the sources of financing infrastructure projects?[State the meaning of source of finance, Explain the external and  Domestic sources of finance available in the infrastructure financing List financing sources available for infrastructure projects in India in tabular format] 5. Discuss the different types of project termination. 6. How is a monitoring system designed? [Explain what is done in each step of the process of designing a monitoring system] PM0011 – PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING 1. Write short note on: Controlling PMO (Project Management Office ) Bottom-up approach for estimating project planning Consequences of project delays Partnering [Controlling PMO (Project Management Office ) Bottom-up approach for estimating project planning Consequences of project delays Partnering] 2. Explain various stages of project scope management. [Briefly describe each stage of scope management] 3. Write short notes on : Scope change Porter model used by organisations to identify investment opportunities Tools for Project Scheduling Operating Feasibility [Scope change Porter model used by organisations to identify investment opportunities Tools for Project Scheduling Operating Feasibility] 4. Explain the various tools of project planning. [Briefly mention the role of project planning tools in an organisation Explain various tools that are used in project Planning] 5. Explain the meaning of CPM. Mention various steps involved in CPM. [Write the meaning of CPM Explain various steps associated with CPM] 6. What do you understand by cost of quality? Elaborate on various types of quality costs associated with a project. PM 0012 – PROJECT FINANCE AND BUDGETING 1. Write short notes on: Lump sum contract Project Cost Profile Trade credit Types of project resources [Lump sum contract Project Cost Profile Trade credit Types of project resources 2. Discuss the financing of telecommunication projects. [Explain the financing of telecommunication projects and Discuss the factors needs to be considered while financing a telecommunication project.] 3. Do lenders, sponsors, EPC contractors, and the government require project insurance? Explain [Give your opinion is project insurance required by lenders, sponsors, EPC contractors, and the government Provide justification to your answer from perspective of lenders, sponsors, EPC contractors, and the government] 4. Write short notes on: Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Earned Value Analysis (EVA) Optimal capital structure Net Present Value(NPV method of capital budgeting [Expected Monetary Value (EMV) Earned Value Analysis (EVA) Optimal capital structure Net Present Value(NPV method of capital budgeting] 5. Explain the role played by engineering advisors in project finance. [Explanation of the nature of the role played by engineering advisors in project finance Summarization of the role played by engineering advisors according four phases of activities] 6. Define PPP (Public Private Partnership) and list the advantages and disadvantages of PPP . [Define PPP List advantages of PPP List disadvantages of PPP] PM 0013 – MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES IN PROJECTS 1. Write short notes on: Human Resource Cycle Role of a project manager Productivity measurement method of manpower estimation Managing Conflicts in a project [Human Resource Cycle Role of a project manager Productivity measurement method of manpower estimation Managing Conflicts in a project] 2. What is the need for building a team during any project? [Define team building and its significance Discuss the various reasons for building a project team 3 Write short notes on Qualities of a project leader Dealing with Poor Performers in a Project Team Minority groups Health issues of project team members [Qualities of a project leader Dealing with Poor Performers in a Project Team Minority groups Health issues of project team members] 4. What are the major roles that motivation plays in handling project environment? [Explain how motivation plays a considerable role in the success and failure of a project Discuss the major roles of motivation in a project environment] 5. Explain various types of collective bargaining. [Explanation of four types of collective bargaining] 6. What is a Human Resource Information System(HRIS). [Define HRIS Very briefly Functions of HRIS List any two advantages of HRIS List any two disadvantages of HRIS]

Reflective Portfolio of an Occupational Therapist

Reflective Portfolio of an Occupational Therapist Reflective Portfolio and Continuing Professional Development Portfolio The HCPC defines a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) portfolio as: ‘A range of learning activities through which health professionals maintain and develop throughout their career to ensure that they retain their capacity to practise safely, effectively and legally within their evolving scope of practice’. (Allied Health Professions project) Put simply, a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio is a way for professionals to continue to learn and develop throughout their careers so they keep their skills and knowledge up to date and are able to work safely, legally and effectively within social services or the private sector. Alsop (2000) recognises that there is a wide range of benefits of CPD. By keeping a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio it helps to encourage a higher standard of personal professional performance. It demonstrates a commitment from the healthcare professional to ensure the best practice is given as well as demonstrating a dedicated commitment to service users. Continuing Professional Development Portfolio requires some specific documents. For example a CPD portfolio requires a fully up-to-date Curriculum Vitae and a personal statement with a summary of current work and how your CPD improved the quality of your work and the benefits you have provided to your service users. As well as the basic necessities there are a variety of things that could be beneficial to include in ones Continuing Professional Development Portfolio such as informative hand-outs or articles that have impacted upon your understanding of Occupational Therapy or examples of your skills applied to your current situation. Another key aspect of keeping a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio is to have regular reflections of your objective practices and assessments. By turning ones experiences of practice into a written form of documentation it will help each individual identify and support their learning outcomes and learning needs. It also helps to have a wide ra nge of learning activities including peer review/feedback and group projects. As well as peer feedback from group work it would also be beneficial to include feedback on assignments from professors, illustrating how your learning has developed, and your practice has improved. The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (COT, 2010) specifies the requirements of an Occupational Therapist in relation to keeping a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio. It states that all Occupational Therapists must continue to keep a CPD portfolio that may be audited by the HCPC every five years. Each professional must make sure that their CPD Portfolio shows a variety of different kinds of activities and that each activity is relevant to their line of work. Each CPD portfolio should aim to improve the quality of work you produce, and ensure that each healthcare professional is able to practice safely and effectively within their scope of practice as well as being able to practise within the legal and ethical boundaries of each varying profession. For example an Occupational Therapist because they have such a holistic approach to their care would need to be aware of the impact of culture, equality and diversity on their practice (HCPC 2013) With each health care prof essional updating their Continuing Professional Development Portfolio they will be able to draw on up to date and appropriate knowledge and skills to inform their practice decisions and to help them understand the need to establish and maintain a safe practice environment. However a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio is not just kept by Occupational Therapist’s but are required from the entire multidisciplinary team A multidisciplinary team (MDT) is composed of members from different healthcare professions with specialised skills and expertise. This is beneficial to the patients because when professionals from a range of disciplines with different but complementary skills, knowledge and experience work together they are able to deliver comprehensive healthcare aimed at providing the best possible outcome for the physical and psychosocial needs of a patient and their carers. Multidisciplinary care occurs due to the fact that a patient needs may change with time and treatment. Since the team has such a diverse range of professions to call upon for a patients care the structure of the team may also change to meet these needs. There are many health care professions that make up a multidisciplinary team ranging from District Nurses, Physiotherapist, Doctors, Speech and Language Therapists and of course Occupational Therapists The role of an Occupational Therapist can provide many benefits within the multidisciplinary team. Their specific training allows them to hold the distinctive role of understanding a patient’s medical, physical and psychological state and the impact that their disability or injury might be imposing on their lives. It also helps that occupational therapists are able to address an individual’s broader goals that will help a patient integrate with their local community and reduce depression and participate in the activities that are important to them. Essentially Occupational Therapists prove to be instrumental in combined teams as they are able to understand both the health and social care context of a client. The Occupational Therapists have a unique opportunity to link various professionals dealing with a clients care. They can act as the cohesive agent to maximise the effectiveness of a team. They have involvement in working with both health and social care and return to work schemes. Unlike the rest of the multidisciplinary team Occupational Therapists’ provide a client centred approach to their practice, they look at the person as a whole so involving the clients occupation, their environment and their spirituality into their treatment. ‘The occupational therapist values individual experience, cultural diversity, religious beliefs and lifestyle diversity in their clients. The expression of these values means that occupational therapy is essentially a flexible process in which the therapist listens to the client in order to understand and respond to their individual needs, values, interests and aspirations. For intervention to be integrated into the life and context of the individual, the family and carers, it must be culturally sensitive and culturally relevant.’ (Creek 2003, p29). This client centred approach is also greatly aided by the fact that occupational therapists have an extensive knowledge and understanding of the equipment and adaptations that are a major part of healthcare services (Rabiee and Glendinning 2010). This makes Occupational Therapists a valuable part of the MDT for the government as they drastically help reduce the cost of care for some clients. A recent study which explored the relationship between provision of correct equipment from an Occupational Therapist and the reduction on care package costs and residential care found that on average the cost of an eight week care package was dropped by over  £60,000 (Hill. S (2007). This was because housing adaptations made by the Occupational Therapist greatly reduced the need for daily visits and reduced or even in some cases removed the costs for home care this ultimately brought savings in that ranged from  £1,200 to  £29,000 a year. (Heywood and Turner.2007). Ultimately the setting up of supplementary moving and handling equipment by the occupational therapists reduces the need for two carers to assist the patients with their personal care. In Somerset, of the 125 services users who were assessed; 37% of them are now only assisted by one carer instead of two, with savings of  £270,000 achieved. The average initial investment in equipment was  £763 per service user (Mi ckel 2010). This additional money saving shows that the Occupational Therapists are a cost effective and highly efficient members of the multidisciplinary team, who can provide holistic, well rounded care to each individual patient. As well as all members of the multidisciplinary team having to keep a Continuing Professional Development Portfolio they must also keep reflection folders. Reflection can be defined as a framework through which professionals can explore all issues involved in clinical practice to them it is a means of enabling practitioners to theorise about practice and thus enable theory to emerge from practice. Schà ¶n (1983) presents the idea that there are two types of reflection: Firstly there is reflection in action this is when the professional’s instinctive actions are reflected upon, whilst they are carrying it out the actions or assessment, and altered as necessary whilst in the situation. Secondly there is reflection on action this is when we as professionals step back from the performance and reflect on that action at a later time and date. Many different professionals have presented different models of reflection for healthcare practitioners to follow, ranging from Graham Gibbs, Christopher Johns and John Driscoll. Graham Gibbs developed his reflective cycle (Gibbs 1988) based upon each stage of David A. Kolb’s experiential cycle (Kolb 1984). He suggested how a full structured analysis of a situation could take place using prompt questions at each stage. It is probably the most cited model by health care professionals but does not contain the number or depth of prompt questions contained in some other models Description In this section, the professionals need to explain what they were reflecting on. This means that they need to include background information, such as what it is they were reflecting on and tell the reader who was involved. It’s important to remember to keep the information provided relevant, to-the-point and most importantly confidential. Feelings In this section the professional needs to discuss their feelings and thoughts about the experience. They need to consider questions such as: How did you feel at the time? What did you think at the time? What did you think about the incident afterwards? Here they are able to discuss their emotions honestly. Evaluation-For the evaluation, the professionals need to discuss how well the event went. Including factors such as: How they reacted to the situation at hand, and how did other people react to the same situation? What was good and what was bad about the experience? Analysis- In the analysis, one needs to consider what might have helped or hindered the event at the time. The professional also has the opportunity here to compare the experience with the literature they have read. Conclusion- In the conclusion, it is important for the professional to acknowledge: whether they could have done anything else; what has been learned from the experience; consider whether they could you have responded in a different way. If the experience was positive it is important to discuss whether the same actions would be undertaken to ensure the same positive outcomes next time. At the same time considering if there is anything that could have been change a to improve things even further. If the incident was negative then you need to reflect on how this could have been avoided and what needs to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I chose Gibbs’ model of reflection to use in my own assignment, because I found that the structure was easy to follow, and was laid out clearly. The instructions were simple and sequential. In addition to this the model was easy to apply to my assessments and my clients. Applying the Model to an Assessment performed on Placement. For confidentiality reasons during this reflection the client will take the pseudonym of Mrs Jones who was a seventy five year old woman and my educator will go by the pseudonym of Mrs Smith. Description In this section I will be reflecting upon a washing and dressing assessment with Mrs Jones that took place on the ward before her returning home. Mrs Jones was in hospital for several months after suffering a fall at home. Mrs Jones lived at home by herself in a two storey house, with three bedrooms but with a downstairs toilet and bathroom. Involved in this assessment were myself, Mrs Jones and Mrs Smith. The assessment took place on the ward in a small wash room and toilet. After her fall Mrs Jones had been using a Zimmer frame to walk around the hospital ward. Feelings As this was my first assessment on my own naturally I was incredibly nervous. Throughout the entire assessment I was worried that I was going to make a wrong choice or a poor decision. Throughout the assessment I was also conscious about trying to impress my educator, so actually I could be guilty of focussing more upon impressing my educator than focussing on the patient. However after the assessment had finished I did feel that it had been a success! Mrs Jones had performed well proving that she was capable of washing and dressing herself with minimal assistance from myself or from Mrs Smith. This ultimately proved that she was ready to return home. Evaluation- During the assessment I felt that I remained calm and collected and managed to keep my nerves under control. However looking back on the assessment and after a discussion with Mrs Smith, I feel like I could have been a bit firmer with Mrs Jones. For when she kept asking to sit down and rest during the assessment I would let her whereas Mrs Smith said that she would had encouraged Mrs Jones to keep going. Stating that since being on the ward Mrs Jones had become used to the nurses doing everything for her and that whilst she was with us I would need to learn to differentiate between Mr Jones genuine need for help, for example when she needed help washing the top of her back and when she was being lazy and trying to get me to do things for her. However Mrs Smith said that being firm but fair with clients would become much easier with age and experience. Analysis- During this assessment I also learnt to give the physical environment much more thought before starting a washing and dressing assessment. The cubical wash room was quite small and I failed to take into consideration that during the assessment I would have to manoeuvre myself, Mrs Jones and Mrs Jones’ Zimmer frame around the toilet, shower and wash hand basin. I should have realised that I should have entered the wash room first in order to have full access to all the facilities, however I politely followed Mrs Jones into the bathroom, but then had the difficulty of moving round Mrs Jones and her Zimmer frame in order to move on with the assessment. A greater awareness of the physical environment would have enabled me to pre-empt this inconvenience. Conclusion- In conclusion I feel that the assessment was a positive experience for both myself and Mrs Jones. In order to replicate the same positive experience for both parties, I need to remain confident and emphatic to my clients, whilst ensuring I am realistic with their abilities. The fact that I remained in an energetic and encouraging mood help lift the spirits of Mrs Jones, and inspired her to keep going in the assessment even when she claimed she didn’t want to. I found that the mood of the Occupational Therapist can quite often transfer to the patient, so remaining positive whilst in front of the client is essential to a beneficial and successful assessment. Reflecting on all of my assessments whilst on my placement helped me identify my future learning needs. I realised that there is still plenty of room for me to grow and develop not only as a professional but also as a person. Mrs Smith and all of the clients helped me understand that to grow as a professional I need to continue to build therapeutic and respectful relationships with my clients. Although a strong rapport with patients is essential at the same time I need to learn to distance myself emotionally from my clients and to continue to remain professional. For a few times on placement and during initial assessments I found myself becoming emotionally attached to my clients, viewing them as if they were a family member, my grandparents for example. In order to become a better professional I need to learn to differentiate sympathy and empathy for my clients. Once I have managed this it will be easier for me to learn to find the balance between firm and fair when assessing my eld erly clients, and only ask them to do what was realistically achievable. The final learning need that I was able to identify from my multiple written reflections, and from my reflection discussions with Mrs Smith was that as a professional I need to learn to be more confident when in charge of an assessment, but this will be something that will continue to develop and grow with age and experience. In assessing a client’s needs and appropriate course of treatment I need to consider which methods will best help achieve the desired outcome. Experience will help develop my ability to determine realistic targets and reflection will enable me to create a portfolio of these methods to achieve those targets. A record of good and effective practices such as exchanges with other Occupational Therapists can only serve to enhance my professional development. References (Allied Health Professions project), ‘Demonstrating competence through CPD’, 2002. Alsop, A. 2000. Continuing Professional Development: A Guidefor Therapists. London: Blackwell Science. COT- College of Occupational Therapists 2010. Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. London. College of Occupational Therapists. Creek J (2003) Occupational therapy defined as a complex intervention. London: College of Occupational Therapists Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit. HCPC Health and Care Professions Council 2013.Standards of proficiency for occupational therapists. London. Health Care professions council Heywood F and Turner L (2007) Better outcomes, lower costs: implications for health and Dsocial care budgets of investment in housing adaptations, improvements and equipment: a review of the evidence. London: Stationery Office. Hill S (2007) Independent living: equipment cost savings. [Research report identified through the COT Killer Facts Database]. Mickel, A (2010) A ticking timebomb. Occupational Therapy News [OTnews], 18(5), 38-39 Nottingham University: Reflection Models online accessed 25/04/2014 http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nmp/sonet/rlos/placs/critical_reflection/models/gibbs_model.html Rabiee P, Glendinning C (2010) The organisation and content of home care re-ablement services. (Research Works 2010-01). York: University of York, Social Policy Research Unit. Schà ¶n D.A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Aldershot. Arena

The Study and Findings of Climatology in Nepal Essay -- Climae Environ

The Study and Findings of Climatology in Nepal In many areas in Nepal, the history of climatology only dates back to 1956. Around this time, the Indian Meteorological Department instituted stations in various areas around the country, which were eventually taken over by the Nepalese government in 1966. Having these stations in place has given scientists significant insight into the Nepalese climate. However, some of the Indian equipment remained in the Nepalese stations, and unfortunately many Indian findings vary significantly from the Nepalese records of the same areas. Therefore, some information is unreliable, coupled by the fact that not all stations have operated since the start of the program (Thyer, 645). However, there are other sources of NepalÕs climate history, like extracts from articles written by climatologists from other countries, like Japan, the US, Germany, and France (Thyer, 645). Nepal is a small country, land-locked between India and the Tibet region of China in South America. It is 900 kilometers from east to west, and 150 to 250 kilometers from north to south (Spence, 223). Nepal is home to eight of the ten highest mountain peaks in the world, most notably Mount Everest, which lies at 8,848 meters. In contrast, some of the areas that are situated lower in Nepal are only about eighty meters above sea level. Clearly, Nepal has much climate variation; in fact, the climate progresses from tropical to arctic within a 200-kilometer area from south to north (Agrawala, 12). There are five geographical regions in Nepal (though, sometimes the mountain regions are grouped together as one). The Terai plain is the southernmost strip, bordered to the north by the Himala... ... Works Cited Agrawala, Shardul, Vivian Raksakulthai, Marteen van Aalst, Peter Larsen, Joel Smith, and John Reynolds. Development and Climate Change in Nepal: Focus on Water Resources and Hydropower. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2003. Spence, Captain F.S. Himalayan Survey. The Geographical Journal. Vol.153, No.2. July 1987. Thyer, Norman. Looking at Western NepalÕs Climate. The University of Calgary. June 1985. Unknown-1. Introductions about Nepal: Geography and Climate. Himalayan Dreams.com http://www.himalayandreams.com/climate.html Unknown-2. Nepal Weather. Adventure Travel with iExplore. 2007. http://www.iexplore.com/dmap/Nepal/Weather+and+Climate Unknown-3. Kathmandu Climate and Weather. Globe Media Ltd., 2007. http://www.wordtravels.com/Cities/Nepal/Kathmandu/Climate

Free Essays - Evil and Good in Othello :: Othello essays

Evil and Good in Othello Life in general is often used as a system of ways to define what kind of person you are by its end. Shakespeare takes that theory into test upon his characters in his work of the famous play Othello. Through the verbal twists and turns along with the addition of color symbolisms, the personalities of Othello, Iago, Desdemona are revealed to their fullest extents, along with their own balance of good and evil within. When this is realized by this famous Shakespearian work, the judgment of good and evil is carried out, and as a result of mass purging of emotions, neither prevails in the resolution. Othello, due to his Moorish nature but at the same time morally white and untainted, can be considered grey with the opening of the play, but possesses the potential to become either the most brilliant white or the darkest black. From the way that he is described by Iago and sometimes Brabantio, he is a dark beast lurking in the shadows, but he is as white as he can be by the Duke. Grey is a color not quite white nor black, hesitation and confusion wavering behind his eyes. This confusion is caused by his naiveté at trusting people too easily, and Iago eagerly takes this weakness to his advantage. So that when Iago manipulates Othello, Othello unknowingly gives in to the temptation, even going as far as telling Iago "I am bound to thee for ever" (III. iii. 242). Othello at this point is completely taken in with Iago's mind poisoning and willingly submits to him, yielding to his trickeries. Inevitably with a little push from Iago, Othello slowly goes down the path o f dark and pure blackness, with murder evident in mind. With Iago's tampering of his inner moralities, Othello turns black like a speeding snowball, once Iago set him on the right path. Everything else Othello had done the damage himself; Iago only suggested the notion in the most subtle of ways. Thus he sometimes "breaks out to savage madness" as Iago put it, when being put under such pressure (IV. i. 65). He is so far gone that he even has epileptic fits hearing of Desdemona's infidelity.

Netflix Essay -- Technology, DVD Rentals

Introduction Reed Hastings (co-founded) founded Netflix in 1997. During this time, Netflix offered DVD rentals by mail. As Netflix went public in 2002, shortly a year later their subscription reached the one million mark (Netflix Management, 2011). Recently, Netflix is recognized as one of the 50 most innovative companies, ranking number eight for â€Å"streaming itself into a $9 billion powerhouse (and crushing Blockbuster)† with 20 million subscribers (fastcompany.com, 2011). This success shows how Netflix embraced a business approach where their mission was to take the troublesome experience of everyday consumers and transform them into a business opportunity. Below illustrates how Netflix rank in other categories. Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Film Netflix Double Negative Real D Dreamworks Video YouTube Twitter Netflix FX Web Companies Twitter Google Zynga Netflix Learning Team A will describes and evaluate Netflix’s innovation strategy, the specific products offered to their members, and the benefits that the company brings to its customers and employees. To begin, innovation goes beyond an invention. It captures the opportunity for change, growth, and market leadership that allows leaps within the industry in multiple ways (Pearce & Robinson, 2011, p. 376). Simply stated on Merriam-Webster.com, innovation is â€Å"the introduction to something new; a new idea, method, or device† Netflix’s Innovative Overview The outlook for Netflix has developed a trend of continuous growth with subscribers and providing products with a substantial cost advantage by distributing a wide variety of titles that appeal to different customer groups (Anthony, 2005). The success of Netflix was simply listening to consumer’s feedback regard... ...a remarkable opportunity to grow in the industry and lead as an innovative provider, Netflix has much opportunity to satisfy its customers and maintain their attention with their revolutionary business growth (Martala, 2009). Their success goes beyond their product. As stated, it is a combination of their culture of high performance drivers and fosters the â€Å"freedom and responsibility† mindset (Elliott, 2010). Because of their innovation and gradual entry into the market, Netflix has the competitive advantage to add layers of products for growth for years to come. Currently, Netflix has the competitive advantage to increase price and retain their current customer base. Even more beneficial, is the opportunity to attract additional subscribers with their new features. To end this, combining their products, price, culture, and strategic plan makes Netflix innovative.

Case Study: Active Data Warehousing

1. Describe â€Å"active† data warehousing as it is applied at Continental Airlines. Does Continental apply active or real-time warehousing differently than this concept is normally described? An active data warehousing, or ADW, is a data warehouse implementation that supports near-time or near-real-time decision making. It is featured by event-driven actions that are triggered by a continuous stream of queries that are generated by people or applications regarding an organization or company against a broad, deep granular set of enterprise data.Continental uses active data warehousing to keep track of their company’s daily progress and performance. Continental’s management team holds an operations meeting every morning to discuss how their company is performing in regards to the data collected by their active data warehousing program. The management team believes, â€Å"you can’t manage what you can’t measure,† so they use active data warehou sing to keep track of their customers experience while using Continental Airlines.The information that the management team uses to analyze their company in regards to customer relationship is on-time arrival, on-time departures, baggage handling, and other key performance indicators. Continental also uses active data warehousing for revenue management, revenue accounting, flight operations, fraud detection and airline security. Continental restructured their goals to try to become customers â€Å"favorite† airline to use. They use their active data warehousing to gain as much information about the company’s performance as well as the customers experience.They use this real-time warehousing program to interpret information that is provided and make changes that will better improve their customers experience and help Continental better suit their business in regards to their customers’ needs. 2. In what ways does real-time data warehousing fit with the Continental strategy and plans? Continental Airlines decided to shift their strategy once they went from â€Å"worst to first. † The new goal that they wanted to achieve was making the move from â€Å"first to favorite. Continentals’ new strategy and plan of becoming their customers’ favorite airline could only be achieved by using real-time data warehousing. Continental made plans to become the â€Å"favorite† airline and their strategy involved making business decisions based on information they receive from real-time data warehousing such as: on-time arrival, on-time departures, baggage handling, and other key performance indicators. This information gives the Continental management team the necessary information needed to make corrections or changes in order to better their customers’ experience while using Continental Airlines.Continental’s strategy and plans to become the â€Å"favorite† airline would be much harder to accomplish without real-time data warehousing. They need this information in order to realize what parts of their company need to be tweaked to keep the customer happy. Without real-time data warehousing Continental wouldn’t be able to achieve their goal of moving from â€Å"first to favorite. † 3. Describe the benefits of real-time data warehousing at Continental. Real-time data warehousing has allowed Continental to make significant changes to its business in a variety of ways.According to Continental’s president and COO Larry Kellner, â€Å"Real-time BI is critical to the accomplishment of our business strategy and has created significant business benefits. † There is a wide-range of benefits that Continental has gained from real-time or â€Å"active† data warehouse in the categories of marketing, corporate security, IT, and revenue management. One key benefit in the marketing field is the average increase of travel amongst Continental’s most valuable custo mers, approximately $800 per customer (35,000 customers).A central benefit in is that all employees have the ability to access important facts and information about its customers and the business in its entirety. This in turn allowed Continental to check passenger reservations and flight manifests by cross-referencing with the FBI’s â€Å"watch† list only hours about the 9/11 attacks, deciding if it was safe to fly. Above all, Continental has recognized over $500 million of cost saving and revenue generation (tracking and forecasting, fare designs and analysis, and full reservation analysis) due to the advantages of the business intelligence. . What elements of the data warehousing environment at Continental are necessary to support the extensive end-user business intelligence application development that occurs? There are numerous elements of the data warehousing environment at Continental that are necessary in the support of the extensive end-user BI application deve lopment that takes place. Two important elements that are necessary to discuss are the systems scalability and data security. Since the real-time data warehousing warehouse never gets rid of information, the amount of data increases exponentially over time.Additionally, with the development of BI application, the number of uses will also increase. To deal with the amount of usage and data, the data warehouse at Continental should have scalability which allows the data warehouse to expand the accessible disc space and throughput. The Continental design team took this into account when going through the architecture design of the warehouse. The other element that is important to take care of is data security. Data security is extremely important when a company handles customer information and personal data.Continentals’ warehouse stores all of the customer’s information that can be accessed by other users in order to gain the data that they need. The customers can rest a ssured knowing that their personal information (i. e. social security numbers and credit card numbers) are protected from being opened by any users that are not authorized to view this sensitive information. 5. What special issues about data warehouse management (e. g. , data capture and loading for the data warehouse (ETL processes) and query workload balancing) does this case suggest occur for real-time data warehousing? How has Continental addressed these issues?Real-time data warehousing creates some special issues that need to be solved by data warehouse management. These can create issues because of the extensive technicality that is involved for not only planning the system, but also managing problems as they arise. Two aspects of the BI system that need to be organized in order to elude any technical problems are: the architecture design and query workload balancing. Architecture design is important because when a company is progressively receiving business and different asp ects of the customers’ usage of the company changes the warehouse needs to frequently be updated.Continental planned for the company to use real-time data warehousing so they structured the design to accommodate for the demand of real-time information. The information then became easier to update the warehouse in a timely manner. Query workload balancing is another important aspect of the warehouse that needed to be addressed in order to fulfill Continentals’ need to use the warehouse for tactical and strategic purposes. Continental would run into issues of backed up query processing in their warehouse if query workload balancing wasn’t introduced.The queries would be processed in a â€Å"first in first out† system and would essentially cause backups. Continental resolved this issue by making the warehouse process queries according to the query type. They set up the warehouse to process the specific queries that access single records first and marked them with high priority. Then they prioritized other queries to either be marked with medium priority or low priority depending on what information they are asking for and for what reason it’s needed.Continental’s utilization of using prioritized groupings of queries has led them to be able to process information in a timely manner that is most convenient for the person trying to access this information. (Information regarding the case as well: not sure which one you wanted so I included both) There are two issues that the case study suggests in terms of data management. The first is to recognize that some data cannot and should not be real-time, for three reasons. The first is that Continental knows that real-time data feed are hard to administer because the constant flow of transaction data must always be supervised.The second reason is the need for extra hardware. The last reason Continental is extremely cautious with the movement of additional data is because real-time data feed is extremely costly to bring about. The second issue Continental deals with when it comes to data warehouse management is having the right people in the right positions. Anny individual who handles any aspect of a real-time warehouse must be highly qualified and knowledgeable in both technology and business.According to the case study, â€Å"At Continental, data warehouse staff members in the more technical positions (e. g. , design of ETL processes) have degrees in computer science. Some of them previously built and maintained reservation systems before they joined the warehouse team. Consequently, they have experience with transaction oriented, real-time systems, which serves them well for real-time BI and data warehousing. The warehouse team members who work closely with the business units have previous work experience in the business areas they now support. †

How poverty effected mozrts music and life… Essay

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had been one of the most prolific musicians of all times. Mozart was the son of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart and he was born in Salzburg Austria. At the young age of four Mozart already showed his prowess in music and it is in this regard that his father, Leopold (also a renowned musician) had been so proud of him and did everything in his power to expose Mozart into the musical field. (Moss, 2007). Mozart had been a great success in the field of music and tons of people admired his prowess in composing music as well as on his ability to master many musical instruments. It is in this regard that at the age of fifteen Mozart earned a post in the orchestra that works for the Archbishop of Salzburg. However things did not work well between the Archbishop and Mozart and thus Mozart was kicked from his position and left the archbishop’s premises even though it is against his father’s wishes. Mozart had also been a success in Vienna even after he had grown up. However, life did not bode well with Mozart in spite of all his successes in his musical career. Poverty had been one of Mozart’s constant companions during most of his life especially since he do not know how to manage his money well and also according to his mother he would give almost all of his money to his friends if one would only let him be. (Chew, 2007) In spite of Mozart’s brilliance in the field of music he was snubbed in the court of England. Thus, he went to Manheim wherein he met and fell in love with Aloysia Weber. However, life had not been kind to him as his mother died in Paris and he was also rejected by Aloysia. (Microsoft Encarta, 2001). However, even though he lost his job in the Archbishop’s place he still continued living in Vienna. And from there in the year of 1782, he composed the Abduction from the Seraglio which had been a great success. Following that, he married the sister of Aloysia, Constanze. However, poverty did not make their lives any easier and it made it even harder by Mozart’s constant illnesses. Poverty greatly affected Mozart’s life as well as musical career. It is due to poverty and through lack of patronage that his music for the years to follow had not been very popular and consistent. It is in this regard that Mozart was forced to rely on the kindness of his friends in order to continue to survive. Mozart returned to his teaching careers since income from his performance had not been very steady. Poverty even forced him to stop performing and thus he spent most of his time writing compositions. However, in spite of his many compositions money still did not trudge their way. It is hard to believe that after living a life of extravagance and luxury Mozart died in illness and poverty. One of the primary reasons why Mozart’s music ceased to be a success in Vienna is the fact that people found his music too complex and thus in his latter life of poverty Mozart adapted simplicity on to his music making Vienna love his music once more. However, Mozart still died at the early age of 35 and he died full of debts and still living a life of poverty. It was said that Mozart was buried in an unmarked grave. Mozart’s influenced reached musicians such as Haydn, Schubert, and Strauss. (Encyclopedia Brittanica). Basically, poverty greatly affected Mozart’s life. Used to living an extravagant life he was reduced to a life almost similar to that of a pauper. Due to poverty Mozart was forced to stop doing the thing he most wants to do (performing in public). However, Mozart did not let poverty rob him of the right to compose music and thus in spite of his poor life he still managed to compose a lot of musical items. Although poverty made Mozart and his family’s life hard, it still did not lessened Mozart’s genius in terms of music and thus he still went on writing music that is nice on the ears and he even remedied the one flaw Vienna public found on his music (his music being too complex for the people of Vienna). Thus, to conclude even though poverty has greatly affected Mozart’s life and musical career he still went on doing what he knows best (even though he was struck with poverty and certain illnesses), composing. References: Chew, R. (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Austrian Composer [Electronic Version] from http://www. lucidcafe. com/library/96jan/mozart. html. Encyclopedia Brittanica. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART [Electronic Version] from http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9108745/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart. Microsoft Encarta. (2001). Wolfgang Amadeaus Mozart [Electronic Version] from http://home. comcast. net/~cjwin1/ilike/mozart/mozart. html. Moss, C. K. (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [Electronic Version] from http://www. carolinaclassical. com/articles/mozart. html.

You Get Stronger While Facing Difficulties

Our society is consistently changing. Different generations of people may have different kinds of life. Since my mother and I grew in different environments, we may have different set of values. I have had interview with my mother who grew up in an environment which is different from mine, and I found that our personal history, sense of cultural and social history are very different. Although she grew up in a relatively poor environment, she still succeeds due to her hard work. My mother was born in Hong Kong. She has two brothers and two sisters. At the time when she was a child, Hong Kong was not a rich city.The majority of people were poor. In my mother's family, since there are five children, they did not have sufficient income to maintain their lives. In this case, my mother needed to get a part-time Job after school in order to reduce the family financial burden. According to my mother, she always worked till 11 pm every day. She added † [This was really very hard. ] At t hat time, there were only a few ways to entertain. When my mother had spear time, she usually listened to the radio. She always said that Refortifies † [At that time I was bored. I could only listen to the radio when I had time. When comparing to her, I grew up in an environment which had many kinds of entertainment. Watching television, playing computer games and surfing the Internet are major types of activities that we do after school. Since Hong Kong is richer when compared to the past, most of the kids do not need to get part-time Jobs. These show that we grew up in different environment. Obviously, my mother faced more difficulties than me. Besides that, my mother thought that she was like living in a reign country. In terms of race, more than 90% of Hong Kong people are Chinese.However, since Hong Kong was a British colony before 1997, our national identity was not clear. According to my mother, every time she traveled to another place, she had to say her nationality wa s British, although her race is Chinese. She always said -3–t%-o [It strange. ] She added m, was in a place where the majority of the populations are Chinese. However, this place was ruled by another country. I was like living in foreign country. ] Luckily, since the majority of the populations were Chinese, my mother could still participate in a home country traditions. Clammed. L could still celebrate Chinese festivals such as Lunar New Year; I could also eat Chinese food everywhere. ]According to my mother, racism problem in Hong Kong still existed when she was young, although it was not serious. â€Å"she said. [People usually thought that White people were more superior. ] Apart from that, before 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony in which English was the only official language in the city. According to my mother, all the subjects at school were aught in English, [l have to read English book every day because all the textbooks were in English. She added, tiff, [In thi s case, I needed to learn an additional language other than Chinese. ] On the other hand, Chinese songs were very common. My mother quite enjoyed listening to Chinese songs. She said there were local Cantonese songs and Mandarin songs from Taiwan. When compared, nowadays the importance of English in Hong Kong has declined. There are more and more high schools use Chinese as medium of instruction. In other words, nowadays Hong Kong is more likely to be a Chinese city. In terms of culture, now it is â€Å"easier† to live in Hong Kong than before.Although my mother faced some cultural difficulties before, she tried her best to deal with it. Therefore, she can have a better life nowadays. Last but not least, my mother faced a lot of social problem when she was a child. She really concerned about social issues when she was a child. She said † [l am not a recent immigrant; I was born in Hong Kong. I should be more concern about social issues. ] According to my mother, there w ere many social problems. For example, at the time when she was a child, the irruption problem was quite serious.My mother said that the police department was the most corrupted department in the government. â€Å"Г*, † she claimed. [At that time, the majority of people hated police very much. ] Furthermore, the housing problem in Hong Kong was also very serious. My mother said, † [At that time, many people lived in squatter areas. ] She added, [l was comparatively luckier because I could live in public housing estate. ] When compared, due to the establishment of Independent Commission Against Corruption (IAC) in 1974, at the present, the corruption problem has been greatly improved.Besides that, since Hong Kong people are richer than before, they can live in tall buildings instead of living in squatter areas. Although my mother did not live in a good environment, she did not give up, so she can succeeds and have a better life at present. In conclusion, the growing environment of my mother and me are really different. She grew up in a relatively difficult and poor environment. Although she faced many problems, she did not give up. Working hard to solve all the problems that she faced, now she can have a better life. This positive attitude should be learned.

Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Angel Dust The bed of Simon's pickup was full of beer-sodden Animals enjoying the morning fog and speculating on the marital status of the new cashier. She had smiled at Tommy when she arrived, driving the Animals into a psychosexual frenzy. â€Å"She looked like she was being towed through the store by two submarines,† said Simon. â€Å"Major hooters,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"Major-league hooters.† Tommy said, â€Å"Can't you guys see more in a woman than T and A?† â€Å"Nope,† said Troy. â€Å"No way,† said Simon. â€Å"Spoken like a guy who has a live-in girlfriend,† said Lash. â€Å"Yeah,† Simon said. â€Å"How come we never see you with the little woman?† â€Å"Seagull! â€Å"shouted Barry. Simon pulled a pump shotgun from under a tarp in the truck bed, tracked on a seagull that was passing over, and fired. â€Å"Missed again!† shouted Barry. â€Å"You can't kill them all, Simon,† Tommy said, his ears ringing from the blast. â€Å"Why don't you just cover your truck at night?† Simon said. â€Å"You don't pay for twenty coats of hand-rubbed lacquer to cover it up.† The shotgun went under the tarp and the manager came through the front doors of the store. â€Å"What was that? What was that?† He was scanning the parking lot frantically as if he expected to see someone with a shotgun. â€Å"Backfire,† Simon said. The manager looked for the offending car. â€Å"They were heading toward the Marina,† Tommy said. â€Å"Well, you tell me if they come back,† the manager said. â€Å"There's a noise ordinance in this city, you know.† He turned to go back into the store. â€Å"Hey, boss,† Simon called. â€Å"The new girl, what's her name?† â€Å"Mara,† the manager said. â€Å"And you guys leave her alone. She's had a rough time of it lately.† â€Å"She single?† Troy asked. â€Å"Off limits,† the manager said. â€Å"I mean it. She lost a child a few months ago.† â€Å"Yes, boss,† the Animals said in unison. The manager entered the store. Simon ripped a beer from a six-pack ring. He held another out to Tommy. â€Å"Fearless Leader, another brew?† â€Å"No, I've got to get home.† â€Å"Me too,† said Simon. â€Å"I've got to clean the bird shit off the beast. You need a ride?† â€Å"Sure, can we stop in Chinatown? I want to pick something up for Jody.† Simon shook his head. â€Å"You worry me, son. Men have been pussy-whipped to death, you know.† He downed his beer and crushed the can. â€Å"Out of the truck, girls; Fearless Leader and I have to shop for tampons.† â€Å"Pull!† Troy shouted. A half dozen beer cans arced into the air. The shotgun came out and Simon pumped out two quick shots. The beer cans fell to the parking lot unharmed. The shotgun went under the tarp. The manager came through the front door. Simon said, â€Å"I saw it, boss. Was a baby-blue 72 Nova with a stuffed gerbil on the aerial. Call it in.† Jody's hands were covered with a greasy dust: the remains of Philly. The body had decomposed to dust in seconds after she finished drinking, leaving a pile of empty clothes. After staring at the pile for a moment, she shook off the shock and gathered the clothes into a bundle, which she carried into a nearby alley. The blood-high raced through her like an espresso firehose. She leaned against a dumpster, holding the clothes to her breast like a security blanket. The alley tilted in her vision, then righted, then spun until she thought she would be sick. When the alley stopped moving, she fumbled through the clothing until she found a wallet. She opened it and pulled out the contents. This bundle of rags had been a person; â€Å"Phillip Burns,† the license said. He carried crinkled photos of friends, a library card, a dry-cleaning receipt, a bank card, and fifty-six dollars. Phillip Burns in a convenient, portable package. She pocketed the wallet, threw the clothes into the dumpster, then wiped her hands on her jeans and stumbled out of the alley. I killed someone, she thought. My God, I killed someone. What should I feel? She walked for blocks, not really looking where she was going, but listening to the rhythm of her own steps under the roar of the blood-high in her head. Philly had spilled into her shoes and she stopped and sat on the curb to dump him out. What is this? she thought. This isn't anything. This isn't what I was before I was a vampire. What is this? This is impossible. This isn't a person. A person can't reduce to dust in seconds. What is this? She took off her socks and shook them out. This is fucking magic, she thought. This isn't some story out of one of Tommy's books. This isn't something you can experiment with in the bathroom. This is not natural, and whatever I am, it isn't natural. A vampire is magic, not science. And if this is what happens when a vampire kills, then how are the police finding bodies? Why is there a guy in my freezer? She put on her shoes and socks and resumed walking. It was starting to get light and she quickened her pace, checked her watch, then broke into a run. She'd made a habit of checking the time of sunrise every morning in the almanac so she wouldn't be caught too far from home. Five years in the City had taught her the streets, but if she was going to run she had to learn the alleys and backstreets. She couldn't let anyone see her moving this fast. As she ran, a voice sounded in her head. It was her voice, but not her voice. It was the voice that put no words to what her senses told her, yet understood. It was the voice that told her to hide from the light, to protect herself, to fight or flee. The vampire voice. â€Å"Killing is what you do,† the vampire voice said. The human part of her was revolted. â€Å"No! I didn't want to kill him.† â€Å"Fuck him. It is as it should be. His life is ours. It feels good, doesn't it?† Jody stopped fighting. It did feel good. She pushed the human part of her aside and let the predator take over to race the sun for her life. Nick Cavuto paced around the chalk outline of the body as if he were preparing to perform a violent hopscotch on the corpse. â€Å"You know,† Cavuto said, looking over at Rivera, who was trying to fend off a reporter from the Chronicle at the yellow crime-scene tape, â€Å"this guy is pissing me off.† Rivera excused himself from the reporter and joined Cavuto by the body. â€Å"Nick, keep it down,† he whispered. â€Å"This stiff is making my life difficult,† Cavuto said. â€Å"I say we shoot him and take his wallet. Simple gunshot wound, robbery motive.† â€Å"He didn't have a wallet,† said Rivera. â€Å"There you have it, robbery. Massive blood loss from gunshot wound, broke his neck when he hit the ground.† The reporter perked up. â€Å"So it was a robbery?† Cavuto glared at the reporter and put his hand on his thirty-eight. â€Å"Rivera, what do you say to a murder-suicide? Scoop over there killed this guy, then turned the gun on himself – case closed and we can go get some breakfast.† The reporter backed away from the line. Two coroner's assistants moved to the body, pushing a gurney with a body bag on it. â€Å"You guys done here?† one of them asked Cavuto. â€Å"Yeah,† Cavuto said. â€Å"Take him away.† The coroners spread the body bag out and hoisted the body onto it. â€Å"Hey, Inspector, you want to bag this book?† â€Å"What book?† Rivera turned. A paperback copy of Kerouac's On the Road was lying in the chalk line where the body had been. Rivera slipped on a pair of white cotton gloves and pulled an evidence bag from his jacket pocket. â€Å"Here you go, Nick. The guy was a speed reader. Snapped his neck on a meaningful passage.† Jody glanced at the lightening sky, ducked down an alley, and fell into a trot. She was only a block from home, she'd make it in long before sunrise. She leaped over a dumpster, just to do it, then high-stepped through a pile of crates like a halfback through fallen defenders. She was strong in the blood – high, quick and light on her feet, her body moved, dodged, and leaped on its own – no thought, just fluid motion and perfect balance. She'd never been athletic in life: the last kid to be picked for kickball, straight C's in phys ed, no chance as a cheerleader; the self-conscious, one-step dancer with the rhythmic sense of an inbred Aryan. But now she reveled in the movement and the strength, even as her instincts screamed for her to hide from the light. She heard the policemen's voices before she saw the blue and red lights from their cars playing across the walls at the end of the alley. Fear tightened her muscles and she nearly fell in mid-step. She crept forward and saw the police cars and coroner's wagon parked in front of the loft. The street was full of milling cops and reporters. She checked her watch and backed down the alley. Five minutes to sunrise. She looked for a place to hide. There was the dumpster, even a few large garbage cans, three steel doors with massive locks, and a basement window with steel bars. She ran to the window and tried the bars. They moved a bit. She checked her watch. Two minutes. She braced her feet against the brick wall and pulled on the bars with her legs. Rusty bolts tore out of the mortar and the bars moved another half inch. She tried to peer into the window, but the wire-reinforced glass was clouded with dirt and age. She yanked on the bars again and they screamed in protest and came loose. She dropped the grate and was drawing back to kick out the glass when she heard movement behind the window. Oh my God, there's someone inside! She looked around to the dumpster, some fifty feet away. She looked at her watch. If it was right, the sun was up. She was†¦ The glass shattered behind her. Two hands came through the window, grabbed her ankles, and pulled her inside as she went out. â€Å"These here turtles are defective,† Simon said. â€Å"It's okay, Simon,† said Tommy. They were in a Chinatown fish market, where Tommy was trying to purchase two massive snapping turtles from an old Chinese man in a rubber apron and boots. â€Å"You no know turtle!† the old man insisted. â€Å"These plime, glade-A turtle. You no know shit about turtle.† The turtles were in orange crates to immobilize them. The old man sprayed them down with a garden hose to keep them wet. â€Å"And I'm telling you, these turtles are defective,† Simon insisted. â€Å"Their eyes are all glazed over. These turtles are on drugs.† Tommy said, â€Å"Really, Simon, it's okay.† Simon turned to Tommy and whispered, â€Å"You have to bargain with these guys. They won't respect you if you don't.† â€Å"Turtle's not on dlugs,† said the old man. â€Å"You want turtle, you pay forty bucks.† Simon pushed his black Stetson back on his head and sighed. â€Å"Look, Hop Sing, you can do time for selling drugged turtles in this city.† â€Å"No dlugs. Fuck you, cowboy. Forty bucks or go away.† â€Å"Twenty.† â€Å"Thirty.† â€Å"Twenty-five and you clean 'em.† â€Å"No,† Tommy said. â€Å"I want them alive.† Simon looked at Tommy as if he had farted in neon. â€Å"I'm trying to negotiate here.† â€Å"Thirty,† said the old man. â€Å"As is.† â€Å"Twenty-seven,† Simon said. â€Å"Twenty-eight or go home,† said the old man. Simon turned to Tommy. â€Å"Pay him.† Tommy ticked off the bills and handed them to the old man, who counted them and put them in his rubber apron. â€Å"You cowboy friend no know turtle.† â€Å"Thanks,† Tommy said. He and Simon picked up the crates with the turtles and loaded them into the bed of Simon's truck. As they climbed into the cab, Simon said, â€Å"You got to know how to deal with those little fuckers. Ever since we nuked them, they got a bad attitude.† â€Å"We nuked the Japanese, Simon, not the Chinese.† â€Å"Whatever. You should'a made him clean them for you.† â€Å"No, I want to give them to Jody alive.† â€Å"You're a charmer, Flood. A lot of guys would've just paid the ransom with candy and flowers.† â€Å"Ransom?† â€Å"She's got your nooky held hostage, ain't she?† â€Å"No, I just wanted to get her a present – to be nice.† Simon sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if fighting a headache. â€Å"Son, we need to talk.† Simon had distinctive ideas about the way women should be handled, and as they drove to SOMA he waxed eloquent on the subject while Tommy listened, thinking, If they knew about him, Simon would be elected the Cosmo Nightmare Man for the next decade. â€Å"You see,† Simon said, â€Å"when I was a kid in Texas, we used to walk through the watermelon fields kickin' each of them old melons as we went until one was so ripe and ready that it busted right open. Then we'd reach in and eat the heart right out of it and move on to the next one. That's how you got to treat women, Flood.† â€Å"Like kicking watermelons?† â€Å"Right. Now you take that new cashier. She wants you, boy. But you're thinkin', I got me a piece at home so I don't need her. Right?† â€Å"Right,† Tommy said. â€Å"Wrong. You got one at home that you're buying presents for and saying sweet things and tiptoeing around the house so as not to upset her and generally acting like a spineless nooky slave. But if you put it to that new cashier, then you got one up on your old lady. You can do what you want, when you want, and if she gets pissy and don't put out, you go back to your cashier. Your old lady has to try harder. There's competition. It's supply and demand. God bless America, it's nooky capitalism.† â€Å"I'm lost. I thought it was like watermelon farming.† â€Å"Whatever. Point is, you're whipped, Flood. You can't have no self-respect if you're whipped. And you can't have no fun.† Simon turned on Tommy's street and pulled the truck over to the curb. â€Å"Something going on here.† There were four police cars parked in the street in front of the loft and a coroner's van was pulling away. â€Å"Wait here,† Tommy said. He got out of the car and walked toward the cops. A sharp-featured Hispanic cop in a suit met Tommy in the middle of the street. His badge wallet hung open from his belt; he was holding a plastic bag. Inside it Tommy saw a dog-eared copy of On the Road. He recognized the coffee stains on the cover. â€Å"This street is closed, sir,† the cop said. â€Å"Crime investigation.† â€Å"But I just live right there,† Tommy said, pointing to the loft. â€Å"Really,† the cop said, raising an eyebrow. â€Å"Where are you coming from?† â€Å"The fuck's going on here, pancho?† Simon said, coming up behind Tommy. â€Å"I got a truckful of dyin' turtles and I ain't got all damn day.† â€Å"Oh Christ,† Tommy said, hanging his head.