Reflexion Research Report Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Reflexion Report - Research Paper Example The project deals with retail business as it relates to opening an e-commerce expansion to an existing firm. Due to the fact that data and analysis for a new form of retail sector is varied and vast, the amount of information available to analyze was equally varied. The Centre for Retail Research has stated that the retail spending for the current year was about 3.2% which depicted an increase of 0.9%. In the following year, The Centre for Retail Research has predicted sales rising a further 1.6% over 2012 levels. Likewise, these measurements are important to analyze and comprehend as if the market demand is not high, it would not be profitable for a new brand to launch its product in the sluggish market. But as per the report of Key Note, the future of the footwear market remains positive as sales are expected to rise in 2012 as with some large spectator events taking place in the city. The event is very much likely to boost sales of sports footwear as millions of individuals will b e coming to London to witness the spectacle of the Olympic Games. Between 2012 and 2016, the sales of footwear are expected to increase by 16.2% which will boost the confidence of the consumer to spend more on footwear products. The sources justifies that the research conducted in the retail segment relates with the business plan and proves to be both beneficial and profitable.

Warranty and Contracts Essay Example for Free

Warranty and Contracts Essay Did the â€Å"I accept† note scribbled on the napkin mailed to Ms. Daughtery create a binding contract between the two parties over the sale of 1965 Corvette Stingray, even though she has not received the acceptance note yet? Yes this is a binding contract between the two parties. While this may be an unconventional acceptance of an offer, it is still binding contract between our client, Mr. deCapo and Ms. Daughtery.  Ms Daughtery sent our client an offer note on February 13, 2008, selling her 1965 Corvette Stingray for the amount of 25,995 plus all title transfer fees. Approximately thirty days later our client Mr. deCapo sent Ms. Daughtery his acceptance of her terms for the sale of her vehicle with the additional cost for title transfer fees. Our client chose accept her terms, via a note on a napkin and sent in the mail. The note sent from Ms. Daughtery is in fact a valid offer of sales to Mr. deCapo. It was a simple offer and only asking the price of the car as well as transfer title fee. Once Mr. deCapo accepted the offer it became a binding contract. Even though Ms. Daughtery has not received the acceptance note from our client, according to the mailbox rule once it went into the mail it became a binding contract. There were no stipulations in Ms. Daughtery’s note to a specific timeline, the thirty days it took our client to respond has no bearing. The performance is the means of acceptance in this case under the mailbox rule. The mailed acceptance is a reasonable form to commit to the offer. If our client was responding with a revocation of his offer this would not be acceptable under the mailbox rule. Especially if it was sent after the acceptance was sent. The offer of acceptance would  arrive first therefore making it a binding contract between the two parties. In the case Adams v. Lindsell, â€Å"The acceptance was mailed on September 5; was not received until September 9. The offeror changed his mind in the meantime and claimed there was no binding contract. But the court held the contract was formed on September 5 when the acceptance was mailed† (www.kentlaw.edu). There is nothing about this process that would cause this to not be a valid binding contract. The note was sent by Ms. Daughtery and the acceptance was sent by our client. The acceptance became valid once the scribble acceptance napkin by our client was put in the mail. Even though Ms. Daughtery has not received the communication from Mr. deCapo it does not change the fact that he has accepted the offer from Ms. Daughtery. There was never a communication of an in-person delivery of the acceptance nor was there a stipulation of an expired time period for the acceptance offer, thus making this a binding contract between our client and Ms. Daughtery. Seller warrants that: (1) Clarice Daughtery (seller) is the sole owner of the vehicle; (2) such vehicle is free of all encumbrances, security interests, and other defenses against seller; (3) the cash price of $25995.00 and the additional amount all transfer title fees; (4) the vehicle will be delivered to and accepted by Leo deCapo (buyer) on day of payment; (5) Leo deCapo is of legal age and legally competent to execute the contract on the date thereof; (6) all disclosures to buyer and other matters in connection with such transaction, are in all respects as required by, and in accordance with, all applicable laws and regulations governing them. (7) Inspection and Acceptance of Vehicle: the buyer will assume cost of the inspection of the vehicle, if the vehicle is not found to be mechanically sound per sellers description; buyer  shall return vehicle and cancel payment of check. Inspection and Acceptance of Vehicle: 4 hours prior to completion of transaction. (8) The seller and/or buyer agree to sign related documents necessary to complete the sale to establish title. Dated: Resources Mailbox rules cases, retrieved on February 5, 2011, www.kentlaw.edu//classes/contracts/Docs/offer_acceptance/​mailbox%​20rule%​20cases.rtf South University Online Lectures, retrieved on February 5, 2011 http://myeclassonline.com Twomey, D. and Jennings, M. (2008) Business Law and Legal Environment 21st ed.

Eternity In The Elegy The Seafarer English Literature Essay

Eternity In The Elegy The Seafarer English Literature Essay The elegy usually contains a story, not too often a personal one that expresses the implied authors woeful state of mind. As a formal poetic convention it is used by poets to capture the mood of sadness and sorrow caused by a personal loss or a state of affairs that is outside the reach of the protagonists influence. This is a somewhat simplistic account which understates the subtleties of the development of the elegy but its briefness is intentional for the purpose of this essay we need to note that the elegy as a poetic form is governed by the idea of lamentation. The Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer thus falls conveniently in such a description of form. But it is remarkable how the poem initiates its story as a conventional elegy and it subsequently develops into a theological didacticism. The first-person narrative of the seaman lamenting his life at sea gives way to a religious admonition which gives the poem a feeling of incongruity and can lead one to believe that the second par t could have been added at later stages. Although, on close reading the links between the seamans insistence on lifes transience in the first part and his subsequent emphasis on eternity in the second can be made obvious and serve to compound the poem into a structural and thematic whole. The first half of The Seafarers story illustrates the protagonist as a lonely figure dwelling more among arctic creatures than among his fellow kinsmen. He emphasizes his loneliness with a juxtaposition between the realms of men and the ones of nature: At times the swans song I took to myself as pleasure, The Gannets noise and the voice of curlew instead of the laughter of men, The singing gull instead of the drinking of mead. (lines 19b 22) But nature itself is not a pure source of comfort as the above lines may suggest for she throws snow and hail and wind at his vessel and at such times no cheerful kinsman can comfort the poor soul (ll. 25b 26). It is an excursion through a hostile environment which is credited with being close to a peregrination, a journey of physical and spiritual endurance, as the protagonist confesses a path of exile. It should be noted that it is an intentional one. We read of him being physically on land but somewhat sea-restless, with his thoughts and heart still following the sea, desiring the moment when he would set off to meet the homelands of foreign people. The cuckoo warns with a sad voice (line 53) but still the seaman is eager to leave. The idea of the sea journey in the first half of the poem as peregrination, albeit a bit too subtle and only hinted at, is one of the links that provide continuity and coherence with the seemingly incongruent second part of the elegy. The seamans story develops structurally through an intense usage of oppositions. His narrative leaps back and forth from ship to land, sustaining the clash between the loneliness of the sea and the joys of the land. With the development of the poem, the opposition sea-land is given the overtone of a value judgment, bordering with a revelation acquired from the wisdom of seafaring. That one who has been distanced from the land is able to realize the temporariness of his or her life, and the futility of amassing treasures. The worldly preoccupations of the inhabitants on land are equated with futility, aimlessness, devoid of any governing idea whereas the life at sea is the antipode the source of the semi-spiritual revelation. The one on land has the joys of life, dwells in the city, Far from terrible journey, proud and wanton with wine. (lines 27a 29a) and he gives little credit to: how I, weary, often have had to endure in the sea-paths (lines 29b 30b) The juxtaposition between these two verbs is more than stylistical. For it serves to support the overall opposition between land/sea: the inhabitants of land are capable of actually living in an intoxicated conceit while the seafarer has to bear the troubles of his journey. In a metonymic succession, the seaman declares himself heedless to the worldly occupations: Not for him [the seaman] is the sound of the harp, nor the giving of rings nor pleasure in woman, nor worldly glory nor anything at all unless the tossing of the waves, but he always has longing, he who strives on the waves. (lines 44a 47b) In my reading, the striving for the waves is a metaphoric enunciation of the credo of the pilgrim. The sea is the half-spiritual journey that enlightens one into seeing the transience of life on earth. For everything, as the seafarer declares, always and invariably à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ will turn into uncertainty and man is, as much he surround him or herself with worldly goods, doomed to die. Earthly prosperity is transitory, life itself is only a short burst of existence and it is futile for one to account for his life with the accumulation of material goods. Up to this moment the elegy is a somewhat traditional one, in that it present the lamentation of a single character over a troublesome state of affairs, in the case of The Seafarer, a semi-spiritual state of affairs. But with a powerful enunciation of his disbelief of the worlds stability: I do not believe that the riches of the world will stand forever. (lines 66b 67b) the protagonist launches into a religious monologue in which he expounds his ideas of how one should live and act after knowing of his temporariness. At this textual moment, the poem perceptibly shifts from a heroic elegy to a didactic-theological one. The core that holds together the poem is the opposition in the first part land/sea now evolved into transient/eternal and the feeling of melancholy. Indeed hotter for me are the joys of the Lord Than this dead life fleeting on the ground (lines 64b 66a) What would then give joy and substance to ones life on earth so that it does merely fleet, or drag itself into death? The seaman passionately states that work, bravery, courage, which eventually inflame the power of his fame, might lead one to a communion with the glory of the angels, joy with the hosts. In a telling parallel, the glory of life in eternity will come when the glory of kingdoms once powerful will set. The second part of The Seafarer is clearly more symbolically construed and the image of the kingdoms, I suspect, stands for the demise in importance of worldly values. So do the implicit pagan references in the image of the burial lined with gold and a mass of treasure for all of those are no longer of value in the eternal. Thus the road to eternity is illustrated as lined not with gold but with a balance in ones life, control of his passions, and wisdom in his relationships all spiritual, metaphysical categories. The poem shows how the transience of life could be counte racted by following a series of semi-commandments (for all their rhetorical might they are still subjective, expressed through the viewpoint of the narrator-protagonist) that would lead into a blessed state of affairs in which ones life is belonging à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in the love of the Lord, joy in the heavens (lines 121a 122b). The insecurity of a life on earth, with all its materials transient and mortal, is transformed through a theological didacticism into a security in the eternal. The Seafarer is at first a sight an inconsistent poem with two delineated parts that are somewhat incongruous with each other. But the opposition sea/land which promotes the idea of a solitary, melancholic journey evolves into a metaphysical opposition between transitory/eternal and thus is one of the brinks that bind the poem together. The idea of a pilgrimage in the first part is consistent with the religious overtones of the second and thus unites both of them into a textual unity that serves to promote a vision and philosophy of a life in a world marked by transience. The relation between the lamentation and the obvious didacticism fits loosely within the convention of the elegy but poem is held together by the interplay of recurrent, yet evolving oppositions and by the sincere authority of the protagonist himself. Work cited: 1. The Seafarer

Continuous Emotional Response to the Audio, Visual, and Audiovisual Cha

Television messages can be defined a psychological stimulus (A. Lang, 2000). Within this perspective, mediated messages are assumed to be environmental stimuli that posses survival relevance in the forms of valence and arousal in its content (A. Lang & Friestad, 1993; Wang & A. Lang, 2006). Therefore, mediated messages automatically activate the human motivational systems. Through activating the human motivational system, mediated messages influence human’s ongoing emotional experience (A. Lang, 2006a). Television messages are composed of two streams of variously redundant information, one audio and one video (A. Lang, 2000). These streams of information are continuous, and both the audio and the video channels carry story, content (including motivational significance), and structural information (Basil, 1994a; A. Lang, 2000; Thorson, Reeves, & Schleuder, 1985). Visual channel carries the context in which the story is set; it can include still pictures, moving pictures, text, live action images, animated images, or a combination of these. The auditory channel serves the script or storyline of a television program; it can also have natural sound information, or sound effects (A. Lang, 2006a; Russell, 2002). Regarding the television research under the LC4MP paradigm, it have been discussed the relationship between emotional audiovisual content, emotional experience, and cognitive response. Studies have proved viewers have better memory for arousing or negative audiovisual content (Grabe, A. Lang, & Zhao, 2003; A. Lang et al., 1996). On the other hand, researches also point out that the structural feature in audiovisual messages like fast edits (A. Lang, Zhou, Schwartz, Bolls, & Potter, 2000) or fast pacing (A. Lang, Bolls, Pott... ...teractively activate the motivational systems and determine emotional experience. This study will represent a first to address this important issue. Because the emotional relevance of mediated messages activate the human motivational systems (A. Lang et al., 2007; A. Lang, Shin, & Lee, 2005), it is important to develop understanding of the influence of various channels or modalities on motivational activation and emotional experience. By advancing understandings of motivational activation stands to contribute to knowledge about cognitive processing of information in mediated messages. Automatic allocation of processing resources to cognitive processing of information in audiovisual messages depends largely on motivational activation (A. Lang et al., 1999; A. Lang, Dhillon, & Dong, 1995; A. Lang et al., 1996; A. Lang, Park, Sanders-Jackson, Wilson, & Wang, 2007).

Maintaining Race and Ethnic Identity Essay

The world we are living is very dynamic and exhibits various types of movements for both plants and animals including humans. History insinuates that man practiced considerable movements from one place to another since its first existence. This movement from one locality to another is referred to as migration. Migration can be 1) internal which is within the country, state or continent and maybe 2) international which crosses boundaries to other country, state or continent. With the development of technology and globalization, international migration continues to increase over the past decades. In 1960, there were 76 million international migrants and increased to 191 million international migrants in 2006. It was noted that a relatively high migration rate is from 1985 to 1990. Generally, ethnic identity diversifies according to the length of distance and therefore international migration increases the gap of connectivity in relation to ethnicity. Human migration can be classified as permanent or semi-permanent depending on their reasons which maybe voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary migration is generally practiced in search for a â€Å"greener pasture† and satisfaction of one’s preferences. This includes employment, climate, food supply, self development like education, religion and family. Involuntary migration, on the other hand, includes migration due to calamity, political conditions like when in war or in exile, slave trades or human trafficking and ethnic cleansing. (Boyd, 2003) Refugees can eventually be immigrants. Based from Human Migration Guide of the National Geographic Society, â€Å"A refugee is a person who is residing outside the country of his or her origin due to fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. † (â€Å"What is Human Migration? † 2005) . This involuntary migration results to a hefty impact on self identity rather than voluntary migration. Human migration has taken a major participation in shaping and honing the present status of the population. It allows the diffusion and combination of the structures, cultures, beliefs, ideas, principles, religion, and other traits which results to the modification of each others traits. Rejection of the integration, however, sometimes results to conflict that may cause decline of socio-cultural capital and values. Although immigrants tend to maintain their ethnic identity and cultures at home, the children of the second, third generation is common or comparable with generations of the host country. This means that these generations are highly acculturated to the host community and country. Intentional or not intentional, this is in response to their quest for belongingness. On the other hand, some immigrants give high regard to their culture which is linked to nationalism. Some may even believe that there is no other culture than theirs and fail to recognize cultures of other immigrants within the community. Some host countries like Western European nations and Japan are deeply concern about the effect of these immigrants on their culture and ethnic identity which can be compromised. Oftentimes, conflict such as racial discrimination exist and become the subject of debates. Different countries have their own policies regarding immigration. Other countries begin to recognize immigrants with different race and cultures. They are respected in preserving their respective cultures and interact peacefully within one nation. This official policy is known as multiculturalism and can be seen in Canada, Australia and the U. K. It is also called as the cultural mosaic of different ethnic groups. Nevertheless, immigrant groups are still encouraged to learn the language of the host country and participate in the activities of the major society including labor force. However, this policy gained many criticisms such as it divides the people even there is a need to be united on certain social issues and justices. Debates on immigration law and racism are still on-going issues of every host country.

Death penalty misc16 essays

Death penalty misc16 essays Is the Death Penalty Right or Wrong? Should we be able to execute people that have been convicted of murder or should we give them a chance to break out of jail and maybe kill other people. Well the Death Penalty has been around for a while ever since the Old West use to hang people for punishment. It is not cruel if you use the lethal injection but I could believe being electrocuted would hurt a little. Is the Death Penalty ethical or is it inhumane. Well some people can argue what would happen you sentience some on death row and he was innocent. The people for it will argue that if they killed some one why shouldn't they be killed. The people that are agents the death penalty are worry about what happens is they would execute some one that was innocent. Science 1900 23 innocent people have been executed. That is a lot of people to put to death that haven't done anything wrong to be killed for. A lawyer fee for a death penalty sentience is between 1.5 to 3 million dollars. There for only the rich people could ovoid the death penalty and get life and have a chance to get out of jail. People also say that it is inhuman to do that but what they did you the victim is also inhuman. People are saying that you are doing the same thing as the person did to the victim and it is not morally right. ...

Martin Luther King And Mass Media Essays - Community Organizing

Martin Luther King And Mass Media Essays - Community Organizing Martin Luther King And Mass Media Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Mass Media Martin Luther King Jr. was a very significant and influential man. Though his life was cut short at 39 years old, he left a big mark on today's society. From the Prayer Pilgrimage of May 17, 1957, an event and a date that marked King's entre into the field of national Negro leadership to the unforgettable March on Washington. (Bennett 10) King was determined to reach his goal, which was to have blacks and whiter united and treated equally. King was faced with many obstacles, including the press. At first, there was hardly any print about King's events and protests. When the events did get recognition King's name wasn't mentioned at all. Not until many years later when the protests sparked violence and death was King's name mentioned and even then, it was used in negative way. In this paper, I will discuss how the news magazines Time, Newsweek, and the U.S. News went about distorting, neglecting, and eventually praising King and his events. In order to help understand the Civil Rights Movement and it controversy you have to start at the beginning. On the way home from work as a seamstress Mrs. Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery City Line bus. When asked to give up her seat for a white passenger Rosa Parks refused. The bus driver left his seat and summoned the police. The police officer arrested Rosa Parks for violating the cities segregation ordinances. ( Bennett 59) Rosa Parks arrest sparked a one-day boycott that stretched out to 382 days. That event started the Civil Rights movement and changed the spirit of Martin Luther Kings, Jr. Time magazine was the first of the newsmagazines to pick up the story of the bus boycott. (Lentz 26) Newsweek didn't print the story until five months after it happened. In addition, not until then did King's name was mentioned by it or Time. Neither King nor the cause grabbed the attention of U.S. News & World Report. What they did report was how disturbed the southerners were over the population shift in Montgomery that seemed to be leading to black control. (Lentz 28 ) With the bus boycott in full swing merchants were loosing millions of dollars and white housewives were having to drive their black maids around, whose services they didn't want to loose. With people, complaining the Montgomery government stepped in. While the court was scheduled to hear the city governments petition to stop the bus boycott, the Supreme Court stepped in. A message came down form the Supreme Court striking down the motion that the bus segregation ordinance as unconstitutional. When this was heard a joyful bystander stated God Almighty has spoken from Washington D.C. (Lentz 31) After King's victory, there was almost nothing in Newsweek and Time. Not until 382 days after the bus boycott began, did Time and Newsweek report on the event. Both magazines predicted that the black victory would be accepted by whites. (Lentz 31) This later proved untrue. Snipers fired shots at buses and the homes of black ministers were bombed, as were black churches. Kings first arrest after trying to enter a crowed courtroom where another Negro integration leader was testifying put his face in Newsweek. A photograph showing policeman handling King roughly, appeared in Newsweek. The caption noted Alabama arrests a Negro minister on a loitering charge. (Lucaitis 27) Not even mentioning Kings name. In the late summer of 1962, King decided to launch a series of demonstrations in Birmingham. The demonstrations lead to wide spread violence. White police officers with K-9 dogs invaded the march and arrests were made. King was one of the demonstrators arrested. Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report would find themselves forced to write about the events in Birmingham. U.S. News would be forced into the all-together awkward position of having to account for the brutal and open violence black demonstrators, especially children, that the entire world had seen.(Lentz 78) Time and Newsweek would recall the Birmingham campaign as a crusade for freedom. (Lentz 78) When reporting about Birmingham, Newsweek entertained doubts. The journal chose terms, siege, army, generals, and recruiting troops, -that spoke of invasion and military.

20 Best Christmas Gifts for Students with Imagination

20 Best Christmas Gifts for Students with Imagination 20 Best Christmas Gifts for Students with Imagination Christmas is the time of giving. People around the world spend lots of time, effort, and money to give out to the less fortunate and to their loved ones. And for some students, it means saving enough cash from their allowances and think of imaginative ideas to utilize their budget. Giving Christmas gifts doesn’t mean spending loads of cash on a Christmas present. There are numerous gift ideas for your loved ones, which are creative and personal. Here are 20 examples of best Christmas gifts for students with imagination: 1. DIY pillow cases Are you thinking of something special to give your parents? And get really tired whenever your mom spends loads of time in the department looking for the perfect red and green pillow case this Christmas? Lastly, are you a creative person who enjoys do-it-yourself or DIY projects? This is one the best gift ideas for you. Why? It will save you from spending too much on one gift It is something personal and chances are your mom will appreciate it You will spend more time doing something you like What you need are the following: A meter or yard of plain cloth with any fabric you like, zipper or buttons, and needle and thread. And if you feel like decorating it, you may do so with cross-stitch patterns or embroidery. 2.   A sweet letter One of the best gifts anyone can get are personal letters written from the heart. First, you won’t have to spend anything but a decorative paper and a pen. Think of it as a Christmas writing discount where you improve your skill in writing and become a better writer. Here are some thoughts and guidelines if you wish to pursue this idea: Think of your letter as educational writing. You need to put it time and effort to impress your professor, and in this case your parents or loved ones. This kind of Christmas present can be as personal as you want it to be. Remember the fundamentals of writing like a good introduction, a heartfelt body, and a strong conclusion. And here I say, you’re welcome. Christmas writing is fun. And if you do not have can hire essay writers online and get a Christmas writing discount 3. A video editorial This type of Christmas present is best fit for students who are into film and any related field. You can edit old homemade videos and present it on Christmas day 4. Dough sets for your niece Thinking of creative gift ideas for your cousins and niece? Dough sets maybe the smartest choice. Why? Kids learn creativity and explore new shapes and sizes. 5. Journals or organizers Having a hard time buying gifts for students? Go for the usual journal or organizer. Students sometimes are having a hard time managing their time with all the requirements in school.. If you give them an organizer, they can now schedule their daily errands. Furthermore, if you give a student a journal, he can put to words and in detail all his or her experience in school. 6. Printed socks There are various companies who sell printed socks. It’s very out in the market, meaning you won’t have a hard time finding them. They’re available in different colors, patterns, and sizes. 7. Pencil cases A pencil case is a good gift idea if you’re thinking of a gift for a writers or students who have a collection of color pens, highlighters, and pencils. They now come in different shapes and styles. You can give the usual pencil you used to bring to school in junior high or a leather roll-up pencil case for a more professional look. 8. Ballpen set So there’s something to put in your pencil case. 9. Notepads Sticky notes have been in our lives for a long time and it’s not going to be obsolete even in today’s age of technology. It’s a thoughtful gift and also imaginative. 10. A selection of how-to guides for DIY artists This is a perfect gift for imaginative individuals who enjoy making DIY. 11. Running shoes Imaginative students also need to have a healthy lifestyle. 12. New clothes Buying clothes is an obvious choice for gifts. And young creative minds sometimes forget to dress up because of they are pre-occupied with all their projects they have to accomplish. Most imaginative individuals tend to wear the same style on a daily basis because it saves them the time and effort to think of their wardrobe. This is a good option because you already know what they want. If he or she wears a lot of black, buy a black shirt. This idea saves you the time and the possibility of committing a mistake. 13. Set of pencils Pencils have a variety of shades and function. If you’re giving a gift for someone who is into arts, giving him or her new set of pencils is a great option. 14. A witty mug This is probably the perfect gift for people who loves drinking coffee. There are a lot of options in the market. You can give a mug with pop arts designs or a witty statement that reflects his or her personality. 15. A spa gift certificate Buying gifts for students can sometimes be a painful task. The best gift for hard working students is something that will release them from all the stress through a nice day at the spa. 16. A good novel Reading is both fun and informative. 17. Foot rest This gift idea is perfect for writers who are glued to their couch thinking of the next great love story. 18. Pencil holder This gift idea is perfect for writers who are glued to their couch who writes all their next great ideas. 19. Typewriter This is a good idea for writers who can take a good pun. It’s traditional and retro! 20. Calligraphy writing set A calligraphy set is a great idea for students who have a penchant for writing. They can use it to practice their handwriting or even write an entire book using this just like some of the greatest writers who have walked this earth.

Law - Mock Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Law - Mock Exam - Assignment Example The two parties did not choose this method because of their friendship. They were friends and both were unable to go file a lawsuit. Their friendship was too strong to allow them to choose this method. Litigation would take a very long time to solve their case and they would lose even more time and resources. They had already lost enough and wanted to solve their dispute in the shortest time possible. Formal methods of dispute resolution are much slower than the informal ones. They take more time to resolve disputes due to increased cases that are filed every day in the formal sector. This makes it difficult for the few resources available to solve the many cases filed. The formal methods of dispute resolution are more costly than the informal methods. They require professionals who need to be paid dearly. The informal methods do not necessarily use professionals. This makes them a bit affordable and less costly for many people as compared to formal methods. The formal dispute resolution methods are open to everyone while those of the informal system are not open. All the details of a formal system of dispute resolution are read out loudly for everyone to hear even if one or both of the parties involved might not like it. In the informal sector things are done privately and only information that both parties want to be open will be open. The formal sector’s decision is final and binding but gives room for appealing. The informal sector’s decision is not final and neither is it binding. The two parties accept the decision only if they are comfortable with it. The formal methods give final decisions and do not care about the views of the individual parties. On the road through Dubai the driver lost control of the van and crashed into a Taxi causing injuries to two people, one Egyptian tourists and the driver of the taxi. The accident

Drug Trafficking Cartels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Drug Trafficking Cartels - Essay Example The cartels have a reliable supply of guns and other weapons used while conducting their business. Mexico is the hub of this business and almost all the illicit drugs used in the United States comes from Mexico. This paper looks at the policies set by the two governments and the extent they have gone to reduce or prevent the crime. The paper also compares the rate of drug trafficking between Columbia and Mexico and their impacts in the world. In addition to this, this paper also discusses the politics and political impacts affecting the rate of drug trafficking within these countries. Government policies The current policies used by these countries in bid to control this crime are unsatisfactory. United States has the highest demand for illicit drugs in the world. It is for this reason that Mexico and Columbia has identified the country as their best destination for selling their drugs. It is clear that prohibiting the use of illicit drugs is not an option to combat this deadly crime . However, possible strategies proposing legalizing the drugs and embracing health and treatment as control measures are under intense debate. This is only possible if these countries agree. Increased crackdown of drug users and cartels has led to increased cases of drug trafficking between these two countries. It is also crucial to note that since then the avenues of drug trafficking have increased making the prices of drugs cheaper. This encourages more participants in the market. During the reigns of president Bush of America, Columbia and America organized a five-year plan that aimed at cutting or reducing narcotic production by half. With most of refugees migrating to Colombia, it has been a problem to reduce drug trafficking in the country (Hylton). The relationship between Columbia and US weakened 4-5 years ago due to the collapsing talks concerning drug trafficking. The failing administrative policies between these two countries pose serious security threats to the US. Mexico country is currently receiving aids inform of military personnel, guns and other resource with the aim of overcoming the cartels. United Nation International Narcotics Control Board has also played a significant role in employing policies aiming at reducing drug trafficking in Columbia and Mexico. However, such organizations and other multinational organizations have failed in their quest to control drug trafficking because of their reliance on interdiction and use of force rather than use of public health approaches and other related options. Use of drugs becomes addictive with time and, the only way to reduce its consumption is by offering counseling and guidance to users. Countries like the US begin offering guidance and counseling to children as low a s 9 years old with the aim of preventing them from indulging in illicit drugs. US is also reported to be contributing to increased drug trafficking rates in the world due to the readily accessible weapons. Most of the weapons confiscated in Mexico have their roots in US. With this problem, it is even more difficult for Mexican officials to control drug trafficking since they are not able to inspect the weapon database in the US. Crime level and drug trafficking continue to rise in Mexico due to the low education levels and poor enforcement agencies. In 2001, Capo Guzman escaped from jail while the

Has the Global Financial Crisis lead to fundamental change in the Essay - 1

Has the Global Financial Crisis lead to fundamental change in the relationship between government and business - Essay Example Business is one segment in which governments made some policy changes in order to strengthen the business activities in a controlled manner. In some sectors governments imposed more restrictions whereas in some other sectors government liberalized the rules and assisted the business people to come out from the recession. For example, governments put more control on the activities of financial institutions like banks whereas they assisted other business entities like the automobile sectors in order to save that sector from total destruction. In other words, the relationship between the government and different business entities has undergone contrasting changes because of recession. This paper analyses the extent of changes happened in relationships between the governments and the business because of recession. The relationship between government and business is important both for the government and the business groups. Governments are primarily operating for safeguarding the interests of the people whereas business always works on making profits. Business always tries to exploit the public resources injudiciously to increase their profits. In other words, the interests of public and business are often contradictory and may not go hand in hand. Governments are fixing the boundaries or the norms in order to reach a compromise between the interests of the people and the interests of business. Government need to protect the interests of both. In order to grow economically, business activities should be increased and for that purpose, more liberalized rules are essential. At the same time, these liberalized rules should never affect the public interest negatively. Thus governments are acting as a bridge between the people and business ensuring that either the people or the business taking any undue advantages. According to the renowned economist John Maynard Keynes, a purely free market system would tend to

No Need To Trade Accusations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No Need To Trade Accusations - Case Study Example According to the paper, to begin, we note that according to the work energy principle, it’s possible to calculate the velocity v of a car coming to a halt given the cars weight and the coefficient of friction. In this case, the velocity can be got by using the formula. This gives a velocity of approximately 17.68 this translates to 38.0279 miles per hour way above the speed limit of 35 miles per hour that the humble township of West Trenton recommends for its citizens. Sandy’s car was pushed for a distance of 9m or 30 feet and since we know the final velocity of the van which was given as 25miles per hour by the police officer we can use this to calculate the weight or the mass of the van by considering that this van transferred energy to sandy’s car and this can be treated as work done. The van must have had a mass given by =176289 and which translates to a mass of 3101.50 kg 0r 6837.64lbs this is quite heavy. We can use this information to calculate the deceleration of the van before hitting sandy’s car and from this the initial velocity of the van. And a speed of 17.25m/s and which is a speed of 38.587 miles per hour.  

DESCRIPTION Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DESCRIPTION - Essay Example As a representation of that faith in mankind and the belief in a higher power the building I have chosen to observe is a church. The church itself is non-denominational and it is called the Christ Fellowship. It is set slightly off the main road which makes it accessible yet offers the peace and quiet which is a requirement for meditation and contemplation. While the typical church may exalt in the beauty of architecture with high roofs, steeples and a narrow structure this building is rather squat since it only has two floors but it looks very modern since it is a beige structure and makes liberal use of glass in its construction. The entrance is covered with an overhang that is supported by four white pillars and which put a person at rest soon as one lays eyes on them. Evenly spaced windows all around the building not only let the sun in they also give a beautiful well-lit outlook from the inside. Looking at it one would think it is a school building or another utilitarian office since there is no stained glass or much Christian imagery around the building. That certainly helps the purpose of the church since it is supposed to be a centre of learning and holds quite a lot of utility for us. While there are a number of trees which run around the building perimeter, there is also a significantly large car park attached to the building which is large enough to hold a hundred cars or more. Behind the building there are several open fields where a person can take a walk or children can use as play grounds. I have been told that once enough funds are generated, the empty space behind the church will be utilized for further development. On a typical Sunday morning you would find the car park almost filled to capacity and people of all races coming into the church. Most of the people who are coming in are in SUVs or family sedans and looking at them you would be able to guess that they are middle class or upper middle class

Reflection response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection response - Assignment Example What about students that will be able to work in the laboratory setting, but not others? Is that fair to everyone, or the teacher? No, it is not. To expect a teacher to have multiple standards for a classroom of sometimes 25-30 students will effectively cripple the class. Classroom lectures, especially in subjects such as science, need to have continuity and flow from one point to another to help the students understand the material. One standard will help this, while multiple standards will create disruption and confusion while multiple lectures are conducted in words that students can understand and comprehend. What are the students to do while these multiple lectures are going on? While some type of work could be assigned, the confusion in the classroom will not create an ideal learning environment, and students will inevitably fall behind. Having multiple standards will not only effectively cripple the class in terms of disruption; it will spread the teacher too thin and make the teacher unable to adequately prepare the class or students. It is hard to imagine having to create more than one lesson plan for any classroom, and by having multiple standards, at least two if not more lesson plans will need to be created.

No Need To Trade Accusations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

No Need To Trade Accusations - Case Study Example According to the paper, to begin, we note that according to the work energy principle, it’s possible to calculate the velocity v of a car coming to a halt given the cars weight and the coefficient of friction. In this case, the velocity can be got by using the formula. This gives a velocity of approximately 17.68 this translates to 38.0279 miles per hour way above the speed limit of 35 miles per hour that the humble township of West Trenton recommends for its citizens. Sandy’s car was pushed for a distance of 9m or 30 feet and since we know the final velocity of the van which was given as 25miles per hour by the police officer we can use this to calculate the weight or the mass of the van by considering that this van transferred energy to sandy’s car and this can be treated as work done. The van must have had a mass given by =176289 and which translates to a mass of 3101.50 kg 0r 6837.64lbs this is quite heavy. We can use this information to calculate the deceleration of the van before hitting sandy’s car and from this the initial velocity of the van. And a speed of 17.25m/s and which is a speed of 38.587 miles per hour.  

Reflection response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection response - Assignment Example What about students that will be able to work in the laboratory setting, but not others? Is that fair to everyone, or the teacher? No, it is not. To expect a teacher to have multiple standards for a classroom of sometimes 25-30 students will effectively cripple the class. Classroom lectures, especially in subjects such as science, need to have continuity and flow from one point to another to help the students understand the material. One standard will help this, while multiple standards will create disruption and confusion while multiple lectures are conducted in words that students can understand and comprehend. What are the students to do while these multiple lectures are going on? While some type of work could be assigned, the confusion in the classroom will not create an ideal learning environment, and students will inevitably fall behind. Having multiple standards will not only effectively cripple the class in terms of disruption; it will spread the teacher too thin and make the teacher unable to adequately prepare the class or students. It is hard to imagine having to create more than one lesson plan for any classroom, and by having multiple standards, at least two if not more lesson plans will need to be created.

Duffy-Exploitation of Women Essay Example for Free

Duffy-Exploitation of Women Essay To what extent is Duffy a poet who exposes the exploitation of women and fights against their further oppression? In your response, you must include detailed critical discussion of Standing Female Nude and at least one other poem by Duffy. In response to the question above, I feel that Duffy is a poet who portrays the exploitation of women and does at times fights against their further oppression. In my view, simply by raising these controversial issues Duffy is drawing attention to the matter and consequently fighting against their further oppression. The title Standing Female Nude is in itself significant. Apart from sounding possibly slightly inappropriate, the title reveals the objectification of women and their position in society. The word Standing however, gives the reader the impression that the character does have some sort of empowerment, as it is usually referred to as who has a high reputation or a position in society. This is apparent later on in the poem. Duffy immediately presents the issue of the exploitation of women and in my view, as a result is fighting against their further oppression by making people aware of the problem. The poem starts six hours like this for a few francs. This shows the reader how dismissive the character is towards whatever she is doing. The fact that she is so dismissive suggests that she is being treated unjustly. The harsh alliteration few francs really emphasises how the character feels she is too good to be doing that particular job or that she is simply not being paid enough for her services. Either way, it reveals how Duffy highlights the exploitation of women by being mistreated and underpaid. In the third line of the first stanza, the poem reads he drains the colour from me. This could be either in a literal sense due to the fact someone is doing a painting of her or in a metaphorical sense in that the painter is actually taking part of her, possibly suggesting that her dignity is being taken away. The way that the character is being bossed by the male painter shows that the woman is not in control of the situation. Although, the man refers to her as Madame, which could be a sign of respect towards the character I feel however, that it could possibly be interpreted to be said in a sarcastic and condescending tone. This adds further weight to my view that Duffy is exposing the exploitation of women and is fighting against their further oppression by making the reader aware of situation and the problems that women face. The word hung in the fourth line suggests that the character is no more than a piece of meat. It implies that the female character will have very little benefit from her work compared to the artist and emphasises the inferiority and exploitation of the woman. The fact that the painter is given a name and the female character in the poem is not, insinuates that she is of no great importance and again highlights how the woman is exploited. In my opinion, this is another key point Duffy includes in the poem to reiterate the issue of womens exploitation. It is an attempt to fight against their further abuse by forcing people to think about the issue. In the first two stanzas all the negative points were directed towards the female character. However, in the third and fourth stanza Duffy completely turns it around and focuses on the painters downfalls. This is demonstrated in the third stanza when she refers to him as little man. This is a sign of empowerment on her behalf, as she exploits his sexual attraction towards her by belittling him, referring to his sexual attributes. This is another example of how Duffy possibly fights against womens further oppression. However, I can understand how some people may disagree with Duffy as her view could be seen as a generalised representation of men and thus could lead some people to draw the conclusion that her poem verges on being hypocritical. Nevertheless, I still feel that Duffy is simply exposing how women are exploited in an attempt to fight against their further oppression. The second poem I am going analyse is Whoever She Was. Like the title in the previous poem, the title Whoever She Was is significant in relation to the poems meaning. The past tense verb, was in the title implies that the character has no identity and suggests she is not the same person as she was before. This perhaps indicates that as the character has lost her identity possibly due to her exploitation. The female character in the poem is described as a flickering figure on a shilling screen. The word flickering gives off the impression that the character is not constant in the sense that a candle flutters. This gives the reader an image of something going on and off and thus not constant. This could also be interpreted as her moving back and forth between reality and past memories of her children. This gives the impression that she is defined by her role as a mother. Although, the exploitation of the women is shown in a different light and is perhaps, not as apparent as in Standing female Nude, Duffy is still exposing the exploitation of women. In the second line of the first stanza, the poem reads My hands, still wet, sprout wooden pegs. The reference to sprout wooden pegs is metaphorical in that it reveals the determined roles of women as mothers. It is a very stereotypical view of mothers and the fact that the woman is saying this emphasises how she herself is defined by these roles and has herself been exploited. The mothers exploitation is also made apparent to the reader when the poem describes how she smells the apples burning as I hang the washing out. By including this Duffy is perhaps trying to show us how the character is living her life through the past memories of her children. I believe this as the smell of burning apples is quite distinctive and this could bring back memories of when she used to cook for her children. This would underline how she has been defined by her role as a mother and not through her individual character. This shows that Duffy exposes the exploitation of women and highlights the attitudes towards mothers in an attempt to fight against their further oppression. The exploitation of the character is shown further when the poem narrates Mummy, say the little voices of the ghosts of children on the telephone. Mummy. The children are referred to as ghosts implying that they are no longer children. However, the mother still views them as children, perhaps because she has been identified by her role as a mother all her life and she considers this to be normal and true. Again, this reiterates Duffys purpose and meaning of the poem by presenting the exploitation of women to the reader, which as result opposes their further oppression. The quote in the second stanza the film is on a loop is possibly a metaphor to the characters life. The word loop indicates the repetitiveness of her life because of the fact she is always characterised by her role as a mother and nothing else. It suggests that the character is stuck in a continuous cycle and cannot let go of her duties and responsibilities of being a mother. This is again reflects her self-perception of only having worth and purpose as a mother. In my view, Duffy is trying to show the reader how the conventions and expectations of motherhood have influenced her personality and perception of herself. By doing this, Duffy is exposing the issue, possibly in an attempt to help people to understand how society has left the character to feel isolated. Consequently, Duffy is fighting against the injustices suffered by women. In the fourth stanza, Duffy deliberately mixes the narrative of the poem from first person to third person. This gives the reader the concept that the character in the poem does not know herself. Because of this, we also get the impression that the character does not have a definitive sense of identity. This is also the case for the character in Standing Female Nude as she also has no distinct identity because of what she has to do in order to survive. In my view, Duffy purposely gives the characters no definitive identity to emphasise how their character and personality has been taken away because of their exploitation. Therefore, Duffy is revealing the exploitation of women to draw attention to the issue, in an attempt to combat womens further oppression. To conclude, although some people may find Duffys poetry to be an unfair representation of men and to a certain extent be sexist, I feel that Duffy is simply trying to raise awareness of the exploitation of women. Therefore, I feel that Duffy is opposing womens further oppression. The two poems Standing Female Nude and Whoever She Was are generally quite dissimilar they do have certain aspects which are similar. For example, both characters do not have a real identity and although in very different circumstances, the two characters have been exploited. Once again, I believe that Duffy is simply a poet who exposes the exploitation of women in an attempt to help improve the situation for others.

Simple Robots and Microprocessors

Simple Robots and Microprocessors I. Introduction A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an electro-mechanical machine which is guided by computer or electronic programming, and is thus able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own. While A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit (CPU)on a single integrated circuit (IC). II. Microprocessor A microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a central processing unit on a single integrated circuit (IC)The first microprocessors emerged in the early 1970s and were used for electronic calculators, using binary-coded decimal (BCD) arithmetic on 4-bit words. Other embedded uses of 4- and 8-bit microprocessors, such as terminals, printers, various kinds of automation etc, followed rather quickly. Affordable 8-bit microprocessors with 16-bit addressing also led to the first general purpose microcomputers in the mid-1970s Computer processors were for a long period constructed out of small and medium-scale ICs containing the equivalent of a few to a few hundred transistors. The integration of the whole CPU onto a single chip therefore greatly reduced the cost of processing capacity. From their humble beginnings, continued increases in microprocessor capacity have rendered other forms of computers almost completely obsolete (see history of computing hardware), with one or more microprocessor as processing element in everything from the smallest embedded systems and handheld devices to the largest mainframes and supercomputers. III. When It Comes Into Existance: It is interesting to note thatthe microprocessorhad existed for only 10 years prior to the creation of the PC. Intel inventedthe microprocessorin 1971; the PC was created by IBM in 1981. Now more than 20 years later, we are still using systems based more or less on the design of that first PC. The processors powering our PCs today are still backward compatible in many ways with the 8088 that IBM selected for the first PC in 1981. November 15, 2001 marked the 30th anniversary ofthe microprocessor, and in those 30 years processor speed has increased more than 18,500 times (from 0.108MHz to 2GHz).The 4004 was introduced on November 15, 1971 and originally ran at a clock speed of 108KHz (108,000 cycles per second, or just over one-tenth a megahertz). The 4004 contained 2,300 transistors and was built on a 10-micron process. This means that each line, trace, or transistor could be spaced about 10 microns (millionths of a meter) apart. Data was transferred 4 bits at a time, and the maximum addressable memory was only 640 bytes. The 4004 was designed for use in a calculator but proved to be useful for many other functions because of its inherent programmability. For example, the 4004 was used in traffic light controllers, blood analyzers, and even in the NASA Pioneer 10 deep space probe! In April 1972, Intel released the 8008 processor, which originally ran at a clock speed of 200KHz (0.2MHz). The 8008 processor contained 3,500 transistors and was built on the same 10-micron process as the previous processor. The big change in the 8008 was that it had an 8-bit data bus, which meant it could move data 8 bits at a timetwice as much as the previous chip. It could also address more memory, up to 16KB. This chip was primarily used in dumb terminals and general-purpose calculators. The next chip in the lineup was the 8080, introduced in April 1974, running at a clock rate of 2MHz. Due mostly to the faster clock rate, the 8080 processor had 10 times the performance of the 8008. The 8080 chip contained 6,000 transistors and was built on a 6-micron process. Similar to the previous chip, the 8080 had an 8-bit data bus, so it could transfer 8 bits of data at a time. The 8080 could address up to 64KB of memory, significantly more than the previous chip. It was the 8080 that helped start the PC revolution because this was the processor chip used in what is generally regarded as the first personal computer, the Altair 8800. The CP/M operating system was written for the 8080 chip, and Microsoft was founded and delivered its first product: Microsoft BASIC for the Altair. These initial tools provided the foundation for a revolution in software because thousands of programs were written to run on this platform. In fact, the 8080 became so popular that it was cloned. A company called Zilog formed in late 1975, joined by several ex-Intel 8080 engineers. In July 1976, it released the Z-80 processor, which was a vastly improved version of the 8080. It was not pin compatible but instead combined functions such as the memory interface and RAM refresh circuitry, which enabled cheaper and simpler systems to be designed. The Z-80 also incorporated a superset of 8080 instructions, meaning it could run all 8080 programs. It also included new instructions and new internal registers, so software designed for the Z-80 would not necessarily run on the older 8080. The Z-80 ran initially at 2.5MHz (later versions ran up to 10MHz) and contained 8,500 transistors. The Z-80 could access 64KB of memory. RadioShack selected the Z-80 for the TRS-80 Model 1, its first PC. The chip also was the first to be used by many pioneering systems, including the Osborne and Kaypro machines. Other companies followed, and soon the Z-80 was the standard processor for systems running the CP/M operating system and the popular software of the day. Intel released the 8085, its follow-up to the 8080, in March 1976. Even though it predated the Z-80 by several months, it never achieved the popularity of the Z-80 in personal computer systems. It was popular as an embedded controller, finding use in scales and other computerized equipment. The 8085 ran at 5MHz and contained 6,500 transistors. It was built on a 3-micron process and incorporated an 8-bit data bus. Along different architectural lines, MOS Technologies introduced the 6502 in 1976. This chip was designed by several ex-Motorola engineers who had worked on Motorolas first processor, the 6800. The 6502 was an 8-bit processor like the 8080, but it sold for around $25, whereas the 8080 cost about $300 when it was introduced. The price appealed to Steve Wozniak, who placed the chip in his Apple I and Apple II designs. The chip was also used in systems by Commodore and other system manufacturers. The 6502 and its successors were also used in game consoles, including the originalNintendo Entertainment System(NES) among others. Motorola went on to create the 68000 series, which became the basis for the Apple Macintosh line of computers. Today those systems use the PowerPC chip, also by Motorola and a successor to the 68000 series. All these previous chips set the stage for the first PC processors. Intel introduced the 8086 in June 1978. The 8086 chip brought with it the original x86 instruction set that is still present in current x86-compatible chips such as the Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon. A dramatic improvement over the previous chips, the 8086 was a full 16-bit design with 16-bit internal registers and a 16-bit data bus. This meant that it could work on 16-bit numbers and data internally and also transfer 16 bits at a time in and out of the chip. The 8086 contained 29,000 transistors and initially ran at up to 5MHz. The chip also used 20-bit addressing, so it could directly address up to 1MB of memory. Although not directly backward compatible with the 8080, the 8086 instructions and language were very similar and enabled older programs to quickly be ported over to run. This later proved important to help jumpstart the PC software revolution with recycled CP/M (8080) software. Although the 8086 was a great chip, it was expensive at the time and more importantly required expensive 16-bit board designs and infrastructure to support it. To help bring costs down, in 1979 Intel released what some called a crippled version of the 8086 called the 8088. The 8088 processor used the same internal core as the 8086, had the same 16-bit registers, and could address the same 1MB of memory, but the external data bus was reduced to 8 bits. This enabled support chips from the older 8-bit 8085 to be used, and far less expensive boards and systems could be made. These reasons are why IBM chose the 8088 instead of the 8086 for the first PC. IV. Simple Robots The International Organization for Standardization gives a definition of robot in ISO 8373: an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose, manipulator programmable in three or more axes, which may be either fixed in place or mobile for use in industrial automation applications. The Robotics Institute of America (RIA) uses a broader definition: a robot is a re-programmable multi-functional manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of a variety of tasks. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, a robot is any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner Merriam-Webster describes a robot as a machine that looks like a human being and performs various complex acts (as walking or talking) of a human being, or a device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks, or a mechanism guided by automatic controls. V. Line Follower Robot As Simple Robot I have taken the example of line follower robot as the simple robot and is shown in fig Line follower robot is an autonomous mobile robot that can follow a path. The path can be a white pah on a black surface or a black path on a white surface. Line follower robots are usually entertainment hobby robots. However, they can be improved and used in industry in order to carry some loads on a definite path or in markets and cafes for similar purposes. The important point of building a line follower robot is a good control that is sufficient to follow the path as fast as possible A. The circuit All we need is an IR source, an IR photo-transistor and a couple of resistors! Here are the resources: IR emitters and detector pairs: UK Maplins,CH10L and CH11M, or SFH409 and SFH309. Obviously the line following robot will need to see the line, therefore we require an light detector of some sort. We also would like it if the line following robot could do this regardless of the ambient conditions (is the room dark or light? is it lit by sunlight or artificial light?). So the robot will also need its own illumination source. The weapon of choice here will be Infra Red light. To make this easy for ourselves the light only needs to be constant. if a white line is present then it will reflect a lot of IR from our source. If the line is black then we see the opposite effect. IR emmiters and detector pairs: US Solarbotics QRD1114 (this has both in one package) On top of these, it would be nice if the signal that we get could be TTL (on or off, 0V, 5V). So to do this we will also require our favourite BEAM chip, the 74AC240, heres the circuit: Circuit operation is simple. no line to follow put the input to the inverter high, and therefore the inverter outputs a low, line detection turns on the transistor (or photodiode) and thus the inverter gets a low and outputs a high. If your robot is following a black line on a white page, then add another invereter after or before the first. So what should the values for R1 and R2 be? and how do I set up the 74AC240 chip exactly.. The value for R1 affects the source IR brightness, for maximum brightness we set R1 to give the maximum allowable forward current for the IR led. The chip setup is simple too ground pins 1, 10 and 19, put 5V onto pin 20. Now choose a pin to input your signal to, if you look at the74AC240 datasheeton page 1, you will see a connection diagram, any pin with an I is an input, follow it across to find its output. Pins 1 and 19 are the enable pins, which we have grounded to permanently enable the inputs on both side of the chip, this leaves you free to use any of the input pins. For example (in case I havent spelt it out enough already) input your signal at pin 4 and take the ouput from pin 16. The output signal could be used to directly drive your motor just connect one side of the motor to the ouput, and the other side to ground. If you do this for two motors (2 sets of line detectors will require two sets of emitters and detectors, but only one 74AC240 chip), then you have a basic line follower already. The left detector should be used to drive the right motor and vice versa .The behaviour of this robot as it stands will be too turn a motor on IF a line is present, if both detectors are over the line then it will drive straight, if the left detector goes of the line, it will turn off the right motor causing the robot to turn back onto the line, if the right detector goes off the line then it will turn off the left motor and again go back onto the line. If both detectors come off the line (end of line) then the robot will stop altogether Electronic VI. Microprocessor And Simple Robotics I have taken the example of line follower for simple robot. As shown in the fig. it consists of three units i.e. input, control, and output unit The control unit comprises of microprocessor. The function of all the units is given below: A. Input unit Input units consist of the sensors that detect the white path on black surface or the black path on white surface. QRD1114 IR reflective line/object sensor and CNY70 reflective optical sensor are the most commonly used sensors for line follower robots. The CNY70 is a reflective sensor that includes an infrared emitter and phototransistor in a leaded package which blocks visible light. The emitted IR of CNY70 reflects on the surface back to the phototransistor part and affects the base of the phototransistor. The black or white colour of the IR reflection surface causes different analog signals on the output of CNY70. To convert the analog output signals of CNY70 into digital signals in order to transport them to the microprocessor, 74HC14 Schmitt Triger can be used. When CNY70 sensor detects white, the analog signal is 5 V and 74HC14 converts it into logic 1. When CNY70 sensor detects black, the analog signal is 0 V and 74HC14 converts it into logic 0. The QRD1113/14 reflective sensor consists of an infrared emitting diode and an NPN silicon photodarlington mounted side by side in a black plastic housing. The on-axis radiation of the emitter and the on-axis response of the detector are both perpendicular to the face of the QRD1113/14. The photodarlington responds to radiation emitted from the diode only when a reflective object or surface is in the field of view of the detector. B. Output unit: For a line follower robot two dc geared motors are enough. The motor driver circuit can be prepared by using darlington transistor on a H bridge motor driver circuit or by using an integrated motor driver circuit like L293D or L298. The diagram shows the driving of the motors. C. Microprocessor as control unit The control unit is the microprocessor part of the robot. The microprocessor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is essentially what makes a computer work. The microprocessor forms the heart of the computer, along with the memory. The balance of the computer keyboard, monitor and mouse is known as peripherals. While peripherals are important for users to be able to work with a computer, they are useless without a functioning microprocessor. Same is the case in case of robotics. There will be no use of input and output unit until microprocessor is not there ac control unit. As in case of computer it takes input control the execution of instruction similarly in Line Follower the microprocessor takes the input signals from the sensors, use them in its program and make decision of the next movement of the line follower robot to follow the path. The output signals are transferred to the motor driver parts of robot. The most commonly used microprocessors are the pic microprocessors produced by microchip. VII. Application Software control of the line type (dark or light) to make automatic detection possible. â€Å"Obstacle detecting sensors† to avoid physical obstacles and continue on the line. Distance sensing and position logging transmission Industrial automated equipment carriers Automated cars. Tour guides in museums and other similar applications. Second wave robotic reconnaissance operations. VIII. Recent Discovery In Robotics Till now we were trying to discover the robots which can help the human being in different ways like in medical science in industries, in defence etc. But now robot has become itself scientist. Recently in April 2009 the Robot Scientist has discovered its first discovery. Now ADAM is the first robot—but maybe not the last—to have independently discovered new scientific information, according to scientists who recently built themselves the mechanical colleague. So in future scope of robotics is quite bright. IX. Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microprocessor http://eces.colorado.edu/~prasadae/LFR http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090402-robot-scientists.html http://www.robotiksistem.com/linefollower.html

Virginia Woolfs A Room of One’s Own Essay examples -- Literature Room

In Virginia Woolf’s feminist essay â€Å"A Room of One’s Own,† Woolf argues that â€Å"a woman must have money and a room of her own† (16) if she is to write fiction of any merit. The point as she develops it is a perceptive one, and far more layered and various in its implications than it might at first seem. But I wonder if perhaps Woolf did not really tap the full power of her thesis. She recognized the necessity of the writer’s financial independence to the birth of great writing, but she failed to discover the true relationship to great writing of another freedom; for just as economic freedom allows one to inhabit a physical space---a room of one’s own---so does mental freedom allow one to inhabit one’s own mind and body â€Å"incandescent and unimpeded.† Woolf seems to believe that the development and expression of creative genius hinges upon the mental freedom of the writer(50), and that the development of mental fre edom hinges upon the economic freedom of the writer (34, 47). But after careful consideration of Woolf’s essay and also of the recent trend in feminist criticism, one realizes that if women are to do anything with Woolf’s words; if we are to act upon them---to write the next chapter in this great drama---we must take her argument a little farther. We must propel it to its own conclusion to find that in fact both the freedom from economic dependence and the freedom from fetters to the mind and body are conditions of the possibility of genius and its full expression; we must learn to ‘move in’: to inhabit and take possession of, not only a physical room, but the more abstract rooms of our minds and our bodies. It is only from this perspective in full possession of ourselves that we can find the unconsciousness of ourselves,... ...d imposing figure of a gentleman, which Milton recommended for my perpetual adoration, a view of the open sky† (34). In this, the message is clear: women’s perspectives of the world should not be framed by the figure of a man; we should not allow the limits of our minds to be dictated to us by a patriarchal social structure, nor should we allow ourselves to be defined by the function that is prescribed for our bodies. We should instead transcend the struggle to find our right relation to men, and move in to our own minds and bodies; regain possession of them, inhabit them, and from these rooms of our own we should look for our place, our room, our right relation to reality. Only then will our glances upward be greeted with an incandescent, unimpeded view of the open sky. Works Cited Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One's Own. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1989.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie :: Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie The author: Agatha Christie was born in 1890 in Torquay in England. Her father was called Frederick Miller so she was born as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. She was educated at home and studied singing and piano in Paris. In 1914 she married Archibald Christie, but then World War I had broken out. Agatha worked as a nurse in a Red Cross hospital in Torquay at that time and that experience was useful later on. The book: I recently read a mystery book by the name of "And Then They Were None" by Agatha Christie. I read this book because a lot of people that read Agatha Christie’s books recommended them to me and because I like mystery stories. One of the mysteries to this book was, of course, who killed all of the innocent people. Another mystery was that every time another person was killed a little Indian figure would disappear from the edges of a serving plate. SUMMARY: Ten people are invited to an island, called "Indian Island", by letters that were signed by people they had met before. When they got to the island, they found out that their host, U.N.Owen, had not arrived yet. At dinner, they heard a voice, accusing each of them of a murder, which they were all guilty of. After one of them is killed, according to the first verse of a poem that is framed above each of their beds called "Ten Little Indians", they figure out that the murderer is one of them! As more people are killed off, one by one, the group narrows the suspect list down, until only one is left alive but she figured that she would never get off the island anyway, and she hung herself from the ceiling by putting a noose around her neck and kicking the chair away on which she was standing, but she was not the killer. SETTING: In "And Then There Where None" by Agatha Christie, they didn’t say when it took place, but I wouldn’t be surprised that it was in the 1900’s because that’s when she wrote it. It was on an island in the middle of the ocean. You couldn’t see any other land that surrounded it because it was really in the middle of nowhere! The general atmosphere was dark because there was a lot of trees and the ocean was nice but cold.

Buyer decision process Essay

Marketing Thoery & Practice Q.13 What is meant by the ‘buyer decision process’ ? Explain the process , relating it to an individual’s purchase of a new digital camera. 1 . Introduction: When a person makes a decision to buy something, basically, the product he want to buy is useful for him and he need it. Then he will go to find the â€Å"information† about that kind of goods from every seller and different brands. After he collect the information from ads, magazines, his friends, or mass media, he will think about that, compare the qualities, prices, services†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦between different sellers or companies, decide which brand of the product he gonna buy. Finally, he will choose the most preferred brand to buy. After he bought the product, as a marketer, do not forget the last part of â€Å"buyer decision process.† : Post-purchase behaviour. The reaction of customers are very important for a company . What are the buyers thinking about the products , it’s satisfied or dissatisfied, even the reputation of one company are all depends on â€Å"Post-Purchase behaviour.† So , the stages buyers pass through to reach a buying dcision are : Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Need recognition; Information search; Evaluation of alternative; Purchase decision ; Post-purchase behaviour. â€Å"Clearly, the buying process starts long before actual purchase, and continues long after. Marketers need to focus on the entire buying process rather than on just the purchase decision. But in more routine purchase consumers often skip or reverse some of these stages.†( Kotler Brown – Marketing 6th edition . ) 2 . ‘Buyer Decision Process’ : At the beginning of year 2004, Tony decided to buy a digital camera for taking photos during his journey around Europe. There were lots brands of digital cameras on sell at that time. He had to make a decision between them. 2.1 Stage 1 Need recognition Tony wants a digital camera to take photos during the way for personal using. Therefore the demands of functions are just enough for satisfy the individual need. The digital camera need to have the basic function the normal camera has and the price should be not too expensive, it’s better if the quality of pictures are more clearly, the speed faster and the design novelty. From this stage, the marketers should research the information that what the consumer need. It could become the target for a company who want improve the skill of their producing, for less risk , they need to follow the â€Å"Marketing Concept† , outside-in perspective , focus on customers . 2.2 Stage 2 Information search The science today is developing all the time , people need the cameras have more technologies in them . Digital camera could satisfy the demand of customers by it’s bigger LCD screen; transiting photos to computers from the camera; colorful display; faster speed; innovative features †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and also, all of these become the objective of the camera companies. There are lots goods from different camera companies such like Canon, Sony, Kodak, Olympus, Samsung†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ could be chosen by Tony. As most customers, Tony ringed his friends, asked how was the opinions and knowledge of the brand of the product from them, read some news about digital camera from magazines and newspapers, found some information through the internet, even go around several camera shops†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦At last, he limited the scope he the researching. He found two type of cameras which are fit for him. They are Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T1(Sony DSC-T1) and CANON IXUS430(Canon S430). Sony Canon We can see, in the business world today, â€Å"a company must design its marketing mix to make protects aware of and knowledgeable about its brand.†1 It’s very important for a company to know what the consumer thinking about their products and even the repute of them. If they didn’t advertised the produce, they may loss a lot of business profit because the complete ignorance of the customers. 2.3 Stage 3 Evaluation Of Alternatives The two digital camera companies all have high quality and good faith, the price of Sony DSC-T1 is 550 dollars, however the original price of Canon S430 was 620 dollars, now they are on sell just 520 dollars. Canon has a 1.5†³ LCD screen, Sony is 2.5†³ LCD display; The speed of Sony DSC-T1 is 15^1/5300 s, and the speed of the Canon is 15^1/2000 s; Canon camera has the USB input to connect with computers, but no memory stick. There are both USB input and memory stick on Sony DSC-T1. The weight of Sony is 180g, and Canon is 185g. For the people who buy the Sony camera, they retain the right to exchange the goods with any fault whenever they want in one year. There’s a only half a year’s warranty to Canon S430. But, If Tony decides to buy the Canon S430, he could also get a free camera handbag from the company. For personal use, the warranty of the company is the most important, which means to a company, service marketing is very important. Sony may win Canon by this factor. But also, Tony need to compare the qualities of two brands of cameras. He never mind how big the screen is, any of these two is ok for him. Because it’s a individual purchase, he just wants the speed of the camera enough to take normal photos, if faster, that’s better. Tony need the camera could connect with his computer, that he could keep the photos and fix them by the program in his computer and send them to his friends and relative. If the camera has memory stick is more useful. â€Å"Sony† is lighter than â€Å"Canon†, Tony could get more convenience from Sony camera. However, the price of Sony is 30 dollars more than Canon. 2.4 Stage 4 Purchase Decision After he compare the conditions above carefully, he made a decision to buy Sony Cyber-shot DCS-T1 camera. But it’s still not the last decision he’s made. â€Å"Two factors can come between the purchase intention and the purchase decision.† Maybe his friend doesn’t like the brand of â€Å"Sony† but â€Å"Olympus†, or at the same time, the price of another digital camera from Olympus has dropped down to 490 dollars and also has the similar effect as the two camera we’ve talked before. He may change his mind and buy the Olympus camera. 2.5 Stage 5 Post-purchase Behaviour After all of 4 stages before, Tony bought the camera which he decided to buy – Sony Cyber-shot DCS-T1, It seems like, he has already finished his buying process, but not really. The last stage of â€Å"Buyer decision Process† is very important. If Tony is satisfied by the camera he bought, he may advertises to his friends and suggest them to buy this brand of products (not just camera) and he will trust this company and buy this brand of product again. However, if he finds the quality of the camera is not as good as what he wants, he will also complain how bad the product is to his friends and relatives. There’s not just one customer dissatisfy like Tony, the company will lose million dollars of profit. Therefore, companies should pay attention to the â€Å"Post-purchase process† . The reputation of the company is depend on this stage. It could help the marketers get more customers and business profit. When some customers want to buy some goods, maybe there’s not all the stages during the process. They may skip or reverse some of the stages. Just like Tony, If he is satisfied this time, the next time he want to buy a walkman, or digital TV, or DVD player, he may skip of the second stage(Information search) and the third stage(Evaluation of alternatives). And also, for the next time, he reverse of the stages. the last stage(Post-purchase behaviour) come after the first stage(Need recognition) before the forth stage(Purchase decision). 3 . Conclusion : The â€Å"Buyer Decision Process† is the process when the customers making decision to buy something. It useful for customers to get the goods they really need and fit for the value. Also it’s the most common way of purchasing goods. On the other hand, the process is very important for marketers to improve their producing skill and get the information of how customers feel about their products. If marketers follow the process and satisfy the customers, they will be successful in their business. 4. Reference : 1. Marketing, 6th edition, Kotler Brown. 2. Law in Commerce, 2nd Edition, Brendan Sweeney & Jennifer O’Reilly. 3. http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_t1-review/index.shtml 4. http://www.dpreview.com/

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences

Investigate the ways in which hip hop music appeals to male and female audiences, with reference to 50 cent's Amusement Park, attempting to account for its popularity despite its sexist representations of women In this essay I shall be investigating the ways in which hip hop songs appeal to both male and female audiences, with specific reference to Amusement Park (released May 8, 2007) by 50 cent (real name Curtis Jackson), and its music video. I will attempt to account for the huge popularity of this artist, and others of the genre, despite the apparent sexism displayed in his songs. Firstly I shall look at how hip hop has gone from primarily an underground phenomenon to having mainstream status, as recounted by Bakari Kitwana (2005). From when hip hop originated, it was always an alternate culture for black youngsters to turn to. During the late 1980s economic recession, many Americans were still living in poverty: unskilled workers faced poorer wages than before, resulting in a sense of alienation from mainstream America. Although they had achieved equality in legal status, there were still plenty of economic and social problems facing black youth. Not only was hip hop an artistic way of expressing and making public these issues, but also provided a sense of culture those less privileged. Concerns could be voiced through the medium of music and radio stations, which, although primarily were by and for black people, still very much of the white working class population, who were also facing similar problems and suffering from the same detachment from the mainstream. In the late 80s powerful black icons began emerging, such as Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and major bands like Public Enemy who produced ‘politically charged lyrics, criticism of the media, and active interest in the concerns of the African American community'1. It soon became hard for white audiences to ignore hip hop culture. The East-West coast feud between artists from either side of America, leading to the eventual murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious BIG also brought both urban issues and its music in to public light. Gangster rap was a predominant subgenre which was responsible for expressing shocking views (notably rap group N. You can read also Audience Adaptation Paper W. A. ‘s F*** tha police) and portraying the more violent and misogynistic side of hip hop culture. While it still receives a lot of backlash, hip hop has become increasingly mainstream and popular. One way to account for the popularity of â€Å"Amusement Park† is to look at the representations of women in the video on its own, and to draw conclusions from those alone. The girls are shown against a very minimalistic background, only with the â€Å"ride† which they are on. This puts the focus on to their bodies and faces, increasing our sense of their sexuality. Both the shots of the girls and their poses are explicitly constructed, as their poses are unnatural and staged. They often look directly in to the camera, suggesting an awareness of the audience's voyeuristic perspective. A shot which specifically give a sense of degradation is one in which a girl is shot almost directly from above, her body twisted unnaturally on the ground, looking on command as the camera focuses on her. This appeals to the male audience by making them feel that the girl is putting out her sexuality for the benefit of the viewers i. e. he individual watcher. It might seem that this video is primarily aimed at males however; the huge success of 50 cent in the mainstream implies that his apparent misogyny is not only accepted but embraced by a large audience. One explanation would be to accept the belief of female sexuality being masochistic, and that the gratification a female gets from the video is that of relating herself to the girls in the video who are enjoying being a sexual object. However, French feminist Luce Irigaray questions the idea the traditional view of female sexuality: †¦ omen in the sexual imaginary of Western culture have always been a male fantasy; hence maschocism is something forced on women by culture, not a quality inherent within them. Thus, women don't define their own sexuality, desire, or pleasure2. If we bear in mind the amount of competition that is around now in the hip hop industry and the selection of media now readily available, through the wide range of music channel, and the relatively recent development of the ability to watch music on sites such as youtube and yahoo, audience could be said to become more active in the way they choose and thus perceive their media. Taking Irigaray's perspective, female audiences do not necessarily need to read the text in masochistic way, and this broadening of choice in their media allows them to take an alternate stance on such texts: that of a more active one. If this is the case however, it does not necessarily mean that female audiences reject Amusement Park, only that there is room to interpret the representations in a more ironic way and as I shall discuss later on, the text itself encourages this type of reading. The next issue I shall look at is the extent to which 50 cent is taken as a serious role model by his audiences. His background would imply that he is the stereotype of gangster: his mother gave birth to him at 15, was involved in cocaine dealing, and was murdered at the age of 23. 50 cent himself began dealing in crack/cocaine and taking guns to school. Before the release of his first album with Columbia Records, he survived being shot 9 times, including once in the mouth, which led to him being dropped by the record company. This would seem highly ironic, given that to a large extent the idea of an authentic gangster was what selling rap records in the first place (artists such as Snoop Dogg, The Notorious B. I. G and Tupac Shakur had a history of crime and drugs; and the murders of the latter two helped to bring hip hop in to mainstream media). It is interesting to ask whether it was the songs that consumers were buying and continue to do so, (his debut album, get rich or die tryin' selling 12 million albums worldwide) or the now glamorised image of celebrity gangster which is currently present, despite the fact that he currently lives in an $18,500,000 Mansion. He himself admits to the fact that his image portrayed in his music is separate from him as a person: †¦ all the things I say are good, if you watch what I do. What I say on record is entertainment; but what I'm actually doing with my life and the things I've had the opportunity to do is what makes me inspiring3 Although evidently he has achieved a great deal for himself, in the media he rarely expresses himself personal side, and even has made attempts to reinforce his gangster image, and example being: I've been in situations where either it was me or somebody else, and I handled my business. 4 (2003) However, in the later interview he does deny any assumptions: †¦ people associate me with gun violence, when I was the one who got shot5 This suggest that Curtis himself does have an expectation that audiences will be able to distinguish between his image portrayed in the media, and the reality of his life, but does little to counteract the negative images. Is he also being naive in thinking that the audience will automatically realise this, and not model his violent and sexist lyrics? There is clearly some sort of awareness in public audiences, both black and white, as shown by findings by the Black Youth Project: Over half of youngsters between the ages of 15 – 25 strongly agree with the statement that â€Å"Rap music videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways. 6 The huge success of 50 cent however, seems to contradict this, which would seem to imply that audiences are in fact able to separate this misogyny from the rapper himself. However, it could also be argued that this is merely a way of excusing such portrayals. Considering the artist's earlier works, such as Get in my car containing the lyri cs â€Å"I got no pickup lines / I stay on the grind / I tell the hoes all the time / Bitch get in my car† and the highly pornographic music video for Disco Inferno, it is harder to take such things lightly. A widely quoted statistic is that 70% of hip hop consumers are in fact white. Although it is interesting to note that no accurate source has been cited for this statistic, hip hop is undeniably a prominent part of mainstream white music culture. Before, when the genre was a political move as much as it was a music genre, a chance for black underprivileged youth to voice their concerns for the culture, it was something that both black and white people could understand in relation to their own lives. The current state of hip hop is that we ‘look through the keyhole into a violent, sexy world of â€Å"money, ho's and clothes†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ as described by Justin Ross (2007). This may be an accurate description of the way that audiences perceive such videos, given that 50 cent's music refers to neither the real problems, past or present, of black culture, nor to the life which Curtis leads. It would also account for the general acceptance of these representations, if the audience is distanced from what is shown in the videos: issues of sexism and violence are far less relevant outside black urban society and it is therefore easier for a white consumer to take the videos solely as entertainment. It is also important to remember that while the majority of hip hop artists are black, it is predominantly marketed and controlled by a white industry, as Bakari describes (p46) in which the importance of an authentic representation of black culture is of little importance compared with supplying the public with texts which they will buy in to, as evidently the sex appeal of the videos is an important aspect. The next thing I shall look at is the level of awareness of the sexism in both the video itself, and the audience it is aimed at. There are many shots which suggest that the images in it, and the lyrics, are not entirely sincere. This is evident in the shots of the girl sitting on a bench next to 50 cent. Unlike the rest of the images, she is not highly glamorised, and her actions appear to be a lot more naturalistic than the others. She directly reacts to his lyrics, often looking away smiling, as though amused by what he is saying. The title of the song could also be referring to 50 cent himself as a celebrity figure: that both his image and his songs are merely an â€Å"amusement;† not to be taken as serious. This creates a sense of bathos juxtapositioned against the more professional looking shots, so that the female audience can relate more to the women shown. Although taking up a lot less time in the video than the glamorised ones, it creates a distance between the hyperreality of the rest of the video, and the ordinary more down to earth shots, so audiences see the video more objectively. The shots of the girl lying provocatively on the car bear even less relation to the lyrics than earlier in the video, being more reminiscent of a car commercial than a music video. The car itself is briefly but distinctly focused on, which makes reference to the importance of money and material values which are present in not only video, but the whole hip hop industry. This hints at the suggestion that both the girls and their representations are merely a product of this, and therefore are not in fact serious degradations of the women. In this shot we see a girl, while impressed; rolling her eyes at the artist at the lyrics â€Å"You know it's no fun without the magic stick†. In this sense the girls are in fact the more active ones in the video, whilst 50 Cent mostly maintains his position as an entertainer. Instead of them covering the whole screen, two similar shots of the same girl are often slid in from either side against a plain black background, sometimes overlapping each other. Whilst in one sense emphasising the importance of the girls' bodies, it also is highly self aware as product, as by seeing two separate views of one scene, it reminds us that it is a construction. Instead of taking itself too seriously, it makes explicit its intention of providing a sex appeal. A less prominent but important character in the video is the girl dancing acrobatically, and the only girl who is represented by her skill rather her sexuality – the camera barely focuses on her face. On the surface, she seems to represent an entertainer at a fair (the bright flashing lights help to anchor this meaning), but it is possible to decipher alternate readings of her: certain comparisons can be drawn between the actions of 50 Cent and herself. She and he are the first people we see in the video, and she appears immediately after the artist announces himself: â€Å"50† and â€Å"Ferrari F-50†. The setting she is in is almost identical to that of 50 Cent's. At times her dance moves mirror the lyrics of his, for example at â€Å"You fear heights when I'm high hell yeah I go low†, she can be seen to do exactly this. In another shot she briefly does a boxing punch, followed by a similar view of 50 Cent looking macho. At the lyrics â€Å"yeah it's like that† she mimes as though saying the words herself. In this sense she is the female counterpart to 50 Cent, and could be said to hold the power, in that she has little direct engagement with the audience, while Curtis has to explicitly put on an act to keep is position as an entertainer. This could allow women to from the perspective of her instead of the rapper, and thus 50 Cent himself becomes the object of the video instead of the subject. As previously discussed, the initial purpose of this media text is to sell 50 Cent's music, and this is done by providing the audience with representations they are familiar with: a stereotypical ‘gangster', highly sexed girls, and also to be considered is the artist's own sex appeal. Firstly, the subject of the song itself is 50 cent inviting girls (the audience) to attend his â€Å"amusement park†, and the lyrics describe the activities available to those who go, thus partially placing him as the object of desire. He is shown later in the song without a shirt on, with lighting focused in such a way that highlights his muscular physique. An important issue is that of whether hip hop should be censored, else voluntarily toned down. In April 2007, a controversial incident occurred, involving Don Imus, the presenter of his radio show, which already had a reputation for its crude humour. In discussing a black female basketball team, he referred to the players as ‘nappy headed hos'. After floods of outraged complaints, his show was permanently removed from air, prompting wide discussion over the standards in the media, often with reference to hip hop. 0 Cent himself was involved in the subsequent discussion, but refused to agree to clean up his lyrics, using a politician involved in adult dating websites to make comparisons between standards in hip hop and that in supposedly higher society. While this may be true to some extent, it firstly does not provide a justification in itself; but also it is debatable as to how much of what he said was his own opinion and how many were prearranged arguments by his managers (in the video he can be seen grinning in long pauses after phrases such as â€Å"I personally believe†). On the subject of Master P, who made the decision to stop using sexist and violent lyrics, he replies â€Å"Well Master P doesn't sell CDs anymore†7. From this, and other interviews where he has put the focus on that of entertainment, one could draw the conclusion that the artist in fact, as Amusement Park suggests, concerned with little other than the money involved in the business. In defence to his own lyrics, 50 Cent has also expressed his irritation of apparent double standards in the media, in reference to Britney Spears' single ‘Gimme more'8 beginning with the lyrics ‘it's Britney, bitch'. While it may appear to be merely a sore complaint, it is certainly valid to discuss the treatment of women in other areas of the media, and by women themselves. The music video of the song in question consists of Britney Spears, wearing little more than underwear, dancing round a poll in a seedy setting. Similarly, in ‘Dip it Low' by Christina Milian, the artist is seen allowing herself to have black paint poured over her semi-clothed body, whilst a group of men stand at the side watching and jeering: the presentation of women apparent in male hip hop videos is not a unique one. In all aspects of the media girls are presented, more than anything, by their sexuality and appearance, which can be found in adverts in women's magazines, stereotypes in film and television (a notable example being Desperate Housewives), car adverts, drink adverts. Although elevated within the genre, this representation could be described as a reflection of attitudes prevalent in both the media and in society and therefore not so shocking to audiences. Another issue described by an internet blogger9 is that by shutting sexism and violence portrayed in hip hop music, it is shutting off a fundamental way of keeping these issues in the eye of the public. He quotes that the leading killer of African Americans is homicide; and that males are five times more likely to be killed than their white counterparts. These issues will still exist even in the absence of offensive hip hop. While this certainly an interesting point, hip hop paradoxically glorifies the very things which it makes an issue of. While artists like 50 Cent may primarily be driven by selling as many records as possible, he still in one sense continues to represent issues which would otherwise be forgotten, if only in a postmodern way. Therefore, in order for hip hop to serve this purpose, it is essential that audiences neither directly embrace the values shown in the videos, nor take it as purely entertainment, as Amusement Park evidently does allow us to do. However, audiences could be said to be becoming increasingly desensitised to these things, with violent films and video games and the huge availability of pornography through the internet, which would make this reading more difficult to achieve. Whether or not the sexism and violence in hip hop is justified or not, if audiences were to take a more active role in their media, it would simultaneously prevent potential influence from such songs, and also make thorny issues in black society more accessible to deal with.