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Saturday, August 31, 2019

Chaucers View

It is said that Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the greatest English writers of all times. With Chaucer's straight forward personality, it is not shocking that he would express his arguments or beliefs through his work. One main points he made apparent in his writing was corruption going on in the Catholic Church During Chaucer's time, indulgences were of great controversy and Chaucer, along with many other people, were against them. He took this time to voice his feelings about the situation and wrote one of his most famous works; The Canterbury Tales.The Canterbury Tales is a series of tales, told by pilgrims on their journey to the shrine of Saint Becket. Many thought that Chaucer was simply telling a story, but little did people know he was criticizing the Catholic Church. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church. Within The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the tales of certain characters t o symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins and corruption. The fabliau, as it took new form under Chaucer's compelling interest in characterization, brought him up against problems of mortality that were to become basic in the developed Canterbury Tales† (Owen 226). He uses tales such as The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Pardoner's Tale, The Reeve's Tale, and The Parson's Tale which was a sermon itself. Notice he uses characters such as the pardoner and parson; members of the clergy to show that sinning was taking place in a holy place like the Catholic Church. Chaucer makes sure that he displays all the Seven Deadly Sins in his tales and some tales represent more than one of the sins.The Seven Deadly Sins consist of Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Anger, Jealousy, and Pride. According to New Advent, Lust is the inordinate craving for, or indulgence of, the carnal pleasure which is experienced in the human organs of generation. Sloth is said to be the disinclination to labor or exertion. Gluttony means excessive indulgence. Avarice is the inordinate loves for riches. Anger is defined as the desire of vengeance. Jealousy is a sorrow which one entertains at another's well-being because of their view that one's own excellence is in consequence lessened.Lastly, Pride is the excessive love of one's own excellence (Delany). Everyone of these sins are used in the following tales. One of the first tales in The Canterbury Tales to symbolize the Seven Deadly Sins was The Knight's Tale. In The Knight's Tale, Duke Theseus of Athens, is on his way home from attacking Scythia. While he was there, he wins over a wife and what now is a sister-in-law; Emily. Along the way, Theseus runs into a group of crying women. They beg Theseus to take revenge on Creon, the King of Thebes, because he refuses to bury their husbands.The oldest women stated â€Å"Their bodies were dragged out onto the plain into a heap, and there, as we have learnt, they neither may have burial nor be b urnt, but he makes dogs devour them, in scorn† (28). Theseus decides to fight Creon, and beats him. After winning against Creon, he takes two of his men; Palamon and Arcite to be servants for his castle. The servants are thrown in the tower to work without ransom. Over time, they both fall in love with Emily after watching her through the tower window. One day Arcite is let go, but with the promise of never returning.Arcite is envious of Palamon being able to see Emily everyday. On the other hand, Palamon was envious of Arcite being able to form an army to get Emily back. Arcite comes back in disguise and Palamon escapes, they run into one another and decide to fight over Emily. Arcite wins the battle, but with complications that caused death. Emily ends up marrying Palamon in the end, â€Å"That is called matrimony, also marriage, by counsel of the Duke and all his peerage. And thus with every bliss and melody Palamon was espoused to Emily† (86). The sins associated wi th this tale are Lust, Anger, Sloth and Jealousy.Since the characters in the tale did wrong and committed these sins, they had consequences. When Arcite and Palamon both Lust over Emily, it makes tension among them and makes it harder on themselves because they have no way of showing her affection. When Creon refuses to bury the bodies of the husbands, that shows Sloth, because of this Creon and Duke Theseus fight. Jealousy shows when Arcite and Palamon envy one other for being able to see Emily, this leads to them being angry at each another which eventually leads to greater problems. Anger shows up when Arcite and Palamon fight over Emily, which ends up with Arcite dying.This shows that with sinning, comes consequences. The next tale that Chaucer uses to preach is The Miller's Tale. The Miller's Tale is the tale of a carpenter, his young wife and two students. To make money, John rents rooms in his house to a boy named Nicholas. Nicholas soon has his eye set on Alison. Another boy in town, Absalon also has his eye on Alison. The trouble begins when John leaves home on a trip. While John is out, Nicholas and Alison have an affair. Not much longer after the affair, Alison goes to church where she is hit on by Absalon. She shows no affection towards him because she is in love with Nicholas.Alison and Nicholas think of a plan to trick John so they can have more alone time. Nicholas convinces John that God is sending a flood. â€Å"Rain is to fall in torrents, such a scud it will be twice as bad as Noah's Flood. This world,' he said, ‘in just about an hour, Shall all be drowned, it's such a hideous shower, and all mankind, with total loss of life† (97). He says that God told him they should hang three large buckets from the ceiling to sleep in and when the water got high, they would cut the ropes. John believes him and goes along with the plan.John thinks his wife is in her bucket, but little does he know that she is with Nicholas. Later that night, Absalon comes to the window and asks Alison to give him a kiss Instead of her lips, she sticks her butt out the window. Angry, Absalon gets a hot brand to brand Alison, but Nicholas sticks his butt out. Absalon brands Nicolas and he yells out â€Å"Water. † John thinks the flood is here and cuts his rope. The whole town hears about the situation and makes fun of John. The two sins tied into this tale are Lust and Anger. Lust is shown when both Absalon and Nicholas lust over the young wife of John.Since Nicholas lusted over her, it caused them to have an affair and Absalon lusting over made him go to the bedroom window which caused more problems. Anger sets in when Alison sticks her butt out of the window instead of her lips, when Absalon realizes, he turns angry and gets the hot brand and ends up branding Nicholas instead. This makes Nicholas yell out and than John cuts the ropes and makes a mockery out of himself by the town. Chaucer did not stop at just one or two tales, he decided to take it even further and use The Pardoner's Tale to help further his voice.In the Pardoner's tale, he starts off by going on a rant about young Flemish people who spend their time drinking, gambling, and swearing. He than starts back to his story. Three rioters are drinking and talking about a friend who was killed earlier by a thing called Death, â€Å"Many and grisly were the oaths they swore, tearing Christ's blessed body to a shred; ‘if we can only catch him, Death is Dead† (251). Outraged about their friend dying, the men go on a hunt to find and kill Death. On their way, they run into an old man who tells them that they can find Death underneath an oak tree. Pleased, the men rush to the tree to only find gold.They plan to steal the gold, but wait until night. During the wait, they send one man to go get wine and bread. While he is gone, they plot to kill him in order to split the gold. The man who went to fetch the bread, and wine was also thinking sim ilarly. He poisons the other two's wine and heads back to the tree, but to only get killed when he arrived. Excited about the gold, they drink the dead man's poisoned wine and they soon die. He goes to end his story, but forgets he had pardons and relics in his bag and asks for contribution. There are both Avarice and Gluttony take place in the Pardoner's Tale.We see Avarice take place when they set their eyes on the gold, all men are eager to get all the gold and in the end, their greed kills them all. We also see Gluttony, it takes place when the pardoner starts off talking about the Flemish boys, we also see it when the men are drinking too much in the bar. Them drinking too much in the bar, lead to them making stupid plans to kill Death. In the end they end up dead because of greed and a little too much to drink. The Reeves Tale's is yet another tale used by Chaucer to preach. The Reeve's Tale is about a miller named Simpkin who likes to fight and enjoys wrestling.Most people do n't talk to him and he cheats his customers by robbing corn from them. He also â€Å"paddles† their flour cheap substances. When the manciple of a school gets sick, the miller takes the opportunity to cheat the school even more. Two students, Alan and John are sent to do it for the school so they will not be cheated. When they arrive at the mill, Alan and John tell Simpkin that they will watch the corn being ground so they are not cheated. Simpkin gets angry and he unties their horses. When they find out the horses are missing, they go looking for them, giving Simpkin time to steal flour from them.He later has his wife bake a cake with it. Having wasted the whole day, Alan and John decide to stay the night at Simpkin's house Alan sneaks and has intercourse with Simpkin's daughter. John does the same with Simpkin's wife. He does this by moving the cradle to her bed to his so she will climb in with him. When Alan goes to bed he mistakes the cradle and goes into bed with Simpkin . Thinking he is John, Alan tells Simpkin that he had intercourse with the miller's daughter. Enraged, Simpkin rises out of bed and punches Alan in the nose. Alan and John beat Simpkin up, then run away picking up the cake made of their robbed flour on the way out.In the Reeve's Tale, there are many sins. We see Avarice, Anger, and Pride. We see avarice when the miller robs all the corn and flour, which results in the boys sleeping with his daughter and wife. We see Anger when the boys find out about the miller robbing them and anger when the miller finds out about the boys sleeping with the women, which causes a fight. We also see pride when Alan brags about sleeping with the miller's daughter to which he thought was John, which caused the miller to throw the first punch. â€Å"Chaucer had in mind the other Tales, when he finally conducted the Parsons through his against the Vices they illustrate?To me the conclusion seems unavoidable that this division of the Parson's sermon is b ut the culmination of the frequently recurring motifs of the Seven Deadly Sins† (Tupper 117). The Parson splits his sermon up into the three parts. He speaks of contrition, he talks of confession and he goes into depth about each of the seven deadly sins. Throughout the tale, the Parson recites several passages from the Bible. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in order to preach a sermon against the Seven Deadly Sins due to its corruption in the Catholic Church.It is obvious that he used tales such as the Knight's tale, the Miller's Tale, the Pardoner's tale, the Reeve's tale and especially the Parson's tale to get his point across. Even though The Canterbury Tales was never finished by Chaucer, it was a strong enough work to make people ask questions and think about the corruption going in the Catholic Church. Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffery. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Penguin Classics, 1997. Delany, Joseph. †Anger. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New Yor k: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/01489a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Avarice. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Gluttony. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/02148a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å" Jealousy. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/08326b. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Lust. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. rg/cathen/09438a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. â€Å"Pride. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/12405a. htm;. Delany, Joseph. †Å"Sloth. † The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 13 Mar. 2013 ;http://www. newadvant. org/cathen/14057c. htm;. Owen, Charles A. Jr. â€Å"Mortality as a Comic Motif in the Canterbury Tales. †Ã‚  National Council of Teachers of English. 16. 4 (1955): 226-232. Print. Tupper, Fredrick Jr. â€Å"Chaucer and The Seven Deadly Sins. â€Å"Modern Language Association America. XXIX. 1 (1914): 117. Print.

Commonly Confused Words

Accept / Except Affect / Effect A Lot / Alot Allusion / Illusion All Ready / Already Altogether / All Together Apart / A Part Ascent / Assent Breath / Breathe Capital / Capitol Cite / Sight / Site Complement / Compliment Conscience / Conscious Council / Counsel Elicit / Illicit Eminent / Immanent / Imminent Its / It's Lead / Led Lie / Lay Lose / Loose Novel Passed / Past Precede / Procede Principal / Principle Quote / Quotation Reluctant / Reticent Stationary / Stationery Supposed To / Suppose Than / Then Their / There / They'reThrough / Threw / Thorough / Though / Thru To / Too / Two Who / Which / That Who / Whom ACCEPT-to receiveex: He accepts defeat well. EXCEPT-to take or leave outex: Please take all the books off the shelf except for the red one. AFFECT-to influenceex: Lack of sleep affects the quality of your work. EFFECT-n. , result, v. , to accomplishex: The subtle effect of the lighting made the room look ominous. ex: Can the university effect such a change without disruptin g classes? A LOT (two words)-many. ALOT (one word)-Not the correct form.ALLUSION-an indirect referenceex:The professor made an allusion to Virginia Woolf's work. ILLUSION-a false perception of realityex: They saw a mirage: that is a type of illusion one sees in the desert. ALL READY-preparedex: Dinner was all ready when the guests arrived. ALREADY-by this timeex: The turkey was already burned when the guests arrived. ALTOGETHER-entirelyex: Altogether, I thought that the student's presentation was well planned. ALL TOGETHER-gathered, with everything in one placeex: We were all together at the family reunion last spring.APART-to be separatedex: The chain-link fence kept the angry dogs apart. OR My old car fell apart before we reached California. A PART-to be joined withex: The new course was a part of the new field of study at the university. OR A part of this plan involves getting started at dawn. ASCENT- climbex: The plane's ascent made my ears pop. ASSENT-agreementex: The martian a ssented to undergo experiments. BREATH-noun, air inhaled or exhaledex: You could see his breath in the cold air. BREATHE-verb, to inhale or exhaleex: If you don't breathe, then you are dead.CAPITAL-seat of government. Also financial resources. ex: The capital of Virginia is Richmond. ex: The firm had enough capital to build the new plant. CAPITOL-the actual building in which the legislative body meetsex: The governor announced his resignation in a speech given at the capitol today. CITE-to quote or documentex: I cited ten quotes from the same author in my paper. SIGHT-visionex: The sight of the American flag arouses different emotions in different parts of the world. SITE-position or placeex: The new office building was built on the site of a cemetery.COMPLEMENT-noun, something that completes; verb, to completeex: A nice dry white wine complements a seafood entree. COMPLIMENT-noun, praise; verb, to praiseex: The professor complimented Betty on her proper use of a comma. CONSCIENCE-s ense of right and wrongex: The student's conscience kept him from cheating on the exam. CONSCIOUS-awakeex: I was conscious when the burglar entered the house. COUNCIL-a group that consults or advisesex: The men and women on the council voted in favor of an outdoor concert in their town. COUNSEL-to adviseex: The arole officer counseled the convict before he was released. ELICIT-to draw or bring outex: The teacher elicited the correct response from the student. ILLICIT-illegalex: The Columbian drug lord was arrested for his illicit activities. EMINENT-famous, respectedex: The eminent podiatrist won the Physician of the Year award. IMMANENT-inherent or intrinsicex: The meaning of the poem was immanent, and not easily recognized. IMMINENT-ready to take placeex: A fight between my sister and me is imminent from the moment I enter my house.ITS-of or belonging to itex: The baby will scream as soon as its mother walks out of the room. IT'S-contraction for it isex: It's a beautiful day in th e neighborhood. LEAD-noun, a type of metalex: Is that pipe made of lead? LED-verb, past tense of the verb â€Å"to lead†ex: She led the campers on an over-night hike. LIE-to lie down (a person or animal. hint: people can tell lies)ex: I have a headache, so I'm going to lie down for a while. (also lying, lay, has/have lain–The dog has lain in the shade all day; yesterday, the dog lay there for twelve hours).LAY-to lay an object down. ex: â€Å"Lay down that shotgun, Pappy! † The sheriff demanded of the crazed moonshiner. ex: The town lay at the foot of the mountain. (also laying, laid, has/have laid–At that point, Pappy laid the shotgun on the ground). LOSE–verb, to misplace or not winex: Mom glared at Mikey. â€Å"If you lose that new lunchbox, don't even think of coming home! â€Å"LOOSE–adjective, to not be tight; verb (rarely used)–to releaseex: The burglar's pants were so loose that he was sure to lose the race with the cop chas ing him. x: While awaiting trial, he was never set loose from jail because no one would post his bail. NOVEL-noun, a book that is a work of fiction. Do not use â€Å"novel† for nonfiction; use â€Å"book† or â€Å"work. â€Å"ex: Mark Twain wrote his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn when he was already well known, but before he published many other works of fiction and nonfiction. PASSED-verb, past tense of â€Å"to pass,† to have movedex:The tornado passed through the city quickly, but it caused great damage. PAST-belonging to a former time or placeex: Who was the past president of Microsquish Computers? x: Go past the fire station and turn right. PRECEDE-to come beforeex: Pre-writing precedes the rough draft of good papers. PROCEED-to go forwardex: He proceeded to pass back the failing grades on the exam. PRINCIPAL-adjective, most important; noun, a person who has authorityex: The principal ingredient in chocolate chip cookies is chocolate chips. ex: The principal of the school does the announcements each morning. PRINCIPLE-a general or fundamental truthex: The study was based on the principle of gravity. QUOTE-verb, to citeex: I would like to quote Dickens in my next paper.QUOTATION-noun, the act of citingex: The book of famous quotations inspired us all. RELUCTANT-to hesitate or feel unwilling ex: We became reluctant to drive further and eventually turned back when the road became icy. RETICENT-to be reluctant to speak; to be reserved in manner. Note that The American Heritage Dictionary lists â€Å"reluctant† as a synonym for â€Å"reticent,† as the third definition. For nuance and variety, we recommend â€Å"reticent† for reluctance when speaking or showing emotion (after all, even extroverts can become reluctant). ex: They called him reticent, because he rarely spoke.But he listened carefully and only spoke when he had something important to say. STATIONARY-standing stillex: The accident was my fault becau se I ran into a stationary object. STATIONERY-writing paperex: My mother bought me stationery that was on recycled paper. SUPPOSED TO-correct form for â€Å"to be obligated to† or â€Å"presumed to† NOT â€Å"suppose to†SUPPOSE-to guess or make a conjectureex: Do you suppose we will get to the airport on time? When is our plane supposed to arrive? We are supposed to check our bags before we board, but I suppose we could do that at the curb and save time.THAN-use with comparisonsex: I would rather go out to eat than eat at the dining hall. THEN-at that time, or nextex: I studied for my exam for seven hours, and then I went to bed. THEIR-possessive form of theyex: Their house is at the end of the block. THERE-indicates location (hint: think of â€Å"here and there†)ex: There goes my chance of winning the lottery! THEY'RE-contraction for â€Å"they are†ex: They're in Europe for the summer–again! THROUGH-by means of; finished; into or out ofex: He plowed right through the other team's defensive line.THREW-past tense of throwex: She threw away his love love letters. THOROUGH-careful or completeex: John thoroughly cleaned his room; there was not even a speck of dust when he finished. THOUGH-however; neverthelessex: He's really a sweetheart though he looks tough on the outside. THRU-abbreviated slang for through; not appropriate in standard writingex: We're thru for the day! TO-towardex: I went to the University of Richmond. TOO-also, or excessivelyex: He drank too many screwdrivers and was unable to drive home. TWO-a numberex: Only two students did not turn in the assignment.WHO-pronoun, referring to a person or personsex: Jane wondered how Jack, who is so smart, could be having difficulties in Calculus. WHICH-pronoun, replacing a singular or plural thing(s);not used to refer to personsex: Which section of history did you get into? THAT-used to refer to things or a group or class of peopleex: I lost the book that I bought la st week. WHO-used as a subject or as a subject complement (see above)ex: John is the man who can get the job done. WHOM-used as an objectex: Whom did Sarah choose as her replacement? Back to ‘Commonly Confused Words' or ‘Clarity and Style'Copyright 2010

Friday, August 30, 2019

What Is Meant and How Can Government Attempt to Correct It?

What is meant by market failure and how can government attempt to correct it? Market failure occurs when there is no economic efficiency within a market. Whereas government intervention is put in use when a market may not always allocate scarce resources efficiently in a way that achieves the highest total social welfare. Monopolies are one of the main causes of market failure. Monopolies are firms whom have eliminated all, if not, most competitors within that market leaving them with most control within that market.The main reason why monopolies are negative within the economy is because they dictate pricing. After having eliminated most competitors, they then can start to charge whatever price they want for a product as the consumers can’t go elsewhere. As well as having increased the price of a product, they now have caused a limit in choice for the consumer. This is because the consumer can’t go for a cheaper product within that market as the monopoly has gotten rid of competition, thus leaving the consumer with high prices to pay at a limited choice.Another reason is because monopolies only have profit maximisation in mind. Profit maximisation is when a firm determines the price and output level that returns the greatest profit. Although the firm is maximising its profits, monopolies are allocatively inefficient. Monopolies tend to become complacent over time because pricing power, not gains from efficiency or innovation, drive profits. This means that due to the fact that they have stripped consumer surplus and experiencing vast profits, they are simply not allocating resources efficiently simply to do with its size.As a firm gets larger, it is more difficult for managers to be on top of every single thing that occurs within the company. Unnecessary waste could be caused meaning they aren’t allocating the finite resources efficiently, which isn’t beneficial in any economy. Due to a lack of innovation and efficiency, this also c auses allocative inefficiency as they now have to competition to compete on efficiency and new technology, which affects markets in negative manors.Walmart invested over one billion dollars to lose within the first year, by making prices of products incredibly cheaper than its competitors which drove them out of business, then increased prices in order to make back the losses and make huge profits whilst having removed all if not most competition. This is known as predatory pricing and is now very difficult to achieve because the governments noticed what had happened within that market and had to intervene in order to control market share within markets.Governments have now set a limit of 25% market share so that monopolistic behaviour doesn’t occur within a market, thus allowing other smaller business to compete or even simply enter for new businesses to enter. This is beneficial because firms will now have to compete on efficiency and innovation, so the push of new technolo gy through research and development creates a higher efficiency within a market as firms will now try to keep costs low instead of taking consumer surplus like monopolies. Inequality plays a large factor within causing market failure.This is because differences in wealth and income of different groups lead to a wider gap in living standards between households. Thus the division of rich and poor. Society itself may not find too much inequality acceptable. Those who are born into a rich background are more likely to be rich later in life, whereas some who are born into a poor background are a lot more likely to live a life of poverty. This is because those with richer backgrounds will have better education and up bringing thus increasing the chances of success later in life. In a free market, this isn’t the case.It is thought that all individuals have the opportunity to succeed. But, because of misallocation of resources in a free market economy this isn’t always the cas e. The way the government try to tackle this issue and making the gap smaller is normally by imposing a larger tax on the rich and create government programs which transfer this income to the poor. These are normally known as welfare benefits, unemployment benefits, public schools, NHS and some sort of support for economic development in poorer communities where unemployment and poverty is very high.Welfare benefits are very beneficial in spreading income to poorer people as they now have money to spend and inject back into the economy which also stimulates it but also increases their opportunities in life as they can afford things like gym memberships which make for a healthier and fitter labour force. However, nowadays, people have gotten lazy and inherited this life of living on benefits. This isn’t beneficial for the economy in the slightest as they are people who are capable of working and add to the labour force but choose not to as they believe they ive an easier life by given money for free by the tax payer. Public schools are put in place because it gives those with a poorer background a chance to be educated and more possibilities for the future. This increase in possibilities could lead to them from escaping a life of poverty, thus decrease gap between rich and poor. NHS is also one of the best health care systems devised, because it gives the chance for those who cannot afford to pay for doctors and hospital bills if anything were to happen, which leaves the economy with healthier people or simply people who can be treated when ill for free.However, this comes out of the tax payers pocket and seems very unfair for those who pay and never need to use NHS whereas there are some who don’t work and choose to, you can almost say ‘milk it’. Even though some choose to abuse it, NHS has had more positive outputs into the economy as it keeps the labour force treated of any injury or illness making for a more efficient labour force thus preventing market failure. A market may fail due to externalities.Externalities are benefits or costs which come from economic activity and affect someone other than those who are actually engaged in that economic activity and are not taken into account fully in the price we pay. Due to the fact that they aren’t taking into account of the price they are a form of market failure because the amount of the activity carried out, if left to the free market would not be an efficient use of resources.One of the main negative externalities which affects is pollution, for example, a city where manufacturing industries are based would be the cause of the pollution and poor environment as they pollute the air which we breathe, the rivers by dumping chemical waste and kill wild life. If a government weren’t to intervene then these externalities would become so severe that our atmosphere and environment could come to be so polluted that people become ill and die. These people are the labourers of that economy and if work force starts dying out this leads to a loss in production as people would need to be treated.Thus, eventually leading to market failure. One way the government can resolve this is by setting regulations for example, a ban. Another way is by determining whether it’s a negative or positive externality, and if it’s negative, impose a tax, if positive, a subsidy. A tax on negative externality would correct market failure as the cost for it is now being taken into account in the price. Overall, as we can see the government has devised many different forms of policies in order to prevent market failure.Monopolies, inequality and externalities are some of the main reason to explain why market failure occurs, however the government has overcome this. For example, with monopolies, they realise one business having most percentage of market share wasn’t beneficial to the market and consumers as there simply wouldn’t be any competition and an exploitation by that firm so they set a maximum of 25% market share so that there would be fair competition and competing with prices in order to offer the consumer the best possible price and product.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Nature Of The Human Soul Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Nature Of The Human Soul - Term Paper Example type of approach used 2. mortality status 3. purpose 4. knowledge 5. types or parts of the soul 6. distinguishing characteristics 7. relation between body and soul 8. origin Plato takes a spiritual approach to understanding the nature of the soul. He sees the soul as an immortal being, whose origin is in a spiritual world of perfect forms. He contrasts this with the physical world, which is a mere imitation of this perfection (Page, 2003). There are three phases of the soul, relative to humans. There is a prenatal phase, the embodiment phase, and a postmortem phase. Plato believes that reason, emotion and desire comprise the soul (Velitchkov, 2009). They function with sequential differences from the womb, through life and after death. The purpose of the soul, from Plato’s perspective, is to carry knowledge to the body, but its duration there is of little meaning, since true meaning can only be in the spiritual world of perfect forms, not in this imitation world. In fact, Plato feels that the soul is distinct from the body, pre-dates and outlasts it, is imprisoned by the body, and achieves liberation only at death. Conflicts arise among human thoughts (connected to upper body tension), spiritual experience (connected to the chest area), and desires or appetites (connected to the lower region of the body) (Page, 2003). Knowledge is not so much transmitted as it is remembered, since the soul carries knowledge from one incarnation to the next, Plato’s version of anamnesis (Kowalczyk, n.d.). I support Plato’s spiritual approach. The soul cannot be measured by science, as it is apparently not bound by the laws of physics, the way the body and physical world are. I also support Plato’s theory that the soul is immortal, that it belongs to a world of spiritual perfection, of which our physical reality is a substandard imitation. At night, when I dream, I experience myself flying and changing physical reality with focused intention. I do not c onsider this to be my imagination, but rather my soul’s memory and deeper understanding of reality and thought. I believe that experience of freedom from the body is real, more real than body reality. Not only in dreams, but also in hypnosis, or with the inspiration of hallucinogens, or in a near-death experience, or other out of body experience, one can remember and appreciate freedom from the body. I support Plato’s contention that the soul carries all knowledge across incarnations, and brings it to the body in each current incarnation, so that it must be remembered and not re-learned (anamnesis) (Kowalczyk, n.d.). I believe this because of my own experience. For example, sometimes a friend or even a stranger approaches me and begins to outline a deep problem or confusion they are struggling with. I cannot possibly have all the answers, based solely on current life experience and education. Yet, once a deep rapport is established, my soul speaks. Of course the sound is my voice and comes from my body, and what I say is embroidered with my own thoughts. But the essence that flows freely is my soul, and not my body. Of this I am certain. I have had the experience of driving a car and becoming lost in thoughts, having no knowledge of where I am, passing my destination by miles. At such times, it seems clear to me that I am not in a safe state to be driving, since I am

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Transport Issues in Developing Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Transport Issues in Developing Cities - Essay Example It addresses the similarity and differences that exist between the transport situation in Lagos being a city from a lesser developed nation and the situation as portrayed by New York and London being cities from the developed nations of the world. Further analysis is presented herein in relation the extent to which logos city might benefit from the experiences of the cities from developed nations that is New York and London. Â  Over the years since 1995 Lagos is city characterized by complexity with a wide range of economic activities taking place. It is the largest urban center in Nigeria. The population of Lagos is approximated to be roughly 17.8 million (Oni 2004, p.35). In most cases when a city is large and as continues to acquire growth and development it becomes more and more complex having increased potential for diverse disruptions especially in relation to the transport network hence the need for the manager of the complexity in an effective manner. In addressing the similarities and differences in transportation in the cities mentioned it is quite crucial to note that the productivity of urban centres is highly dependable on the effectiveness and efficiency of the centre’s system of transportation to facilitate movement of labor, that of consumers as well as freight from one destination to another (National Transport Policy for Nigeria 2003, p.54). In addition, important terminals of t ransportation for instance airports, rail yards, and ports that are located within urban cities are known to be contributing factors leading to transportation problems. Â  There is quite a wide range of similarities that exist between the situation of transport in Lagos and that of New York and London since 1995.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Climate Change Effects on Operations of Saint Lucie Reactor Case Study

Climate Change Effects on Operations of Saint Lucie Reactor - Case Study Example From this paper it is clear that the recent accidents at Chernobyl, Three mile islands and Japan have opened the eyes of the global public and currently many studies are going on to assess the climate change effects on operations of nuclear reactors. â€Å"The threat of global climate change has pushed governments around the world to consider alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy. As the interest in nuclear power increases, serious discussions on safety must resume before moving forward†. St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station located on St. Lucie County in Florida. It is a twin unit commissioned in 1976 and operating with pressurized water reactors. This nuclear power plant is located near the ocean and has two nuclear reactors. The current nuclear reactor accidents caused in Japan due to tsunami attack have raised many concerns about the effects of climate changes on Nuclear power plants such as St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. This paper analy ses the possible climate change effects on St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. From the above statistics, it is evident that St. Lucie nuclear power station consists of two pressurized water reactors each having electrical output of 839MWe. Pressurized water reactors are normally comes under the light water reactor (LWR) category. In all forms of pressurized water reactors, water is used as coolant which is pumped at a high pressure to the reactor’s core in order to convert it into heated water using the heat energy liberated by the fission reaction or chain reaction. It should be noted that the high pressure helps water prevents the water from becoming steam at this juncture.  

Monday, August 26, 2019

Managing Creativity and Change in Organizations Essay

Managing Creativity and Change in Organizations - Essay Example The organizations with the right ideas and concepts are more likely to create an advantage for penetrating in an industry. In line with this idea, the work at hand discusses the statement â€Å"In the future, hierarchical management structures will be less evident. The management of intellectual capital will require skills that nurture creativity and innovation in workforce rather than compliance as in the past.† To start with this, a good starting point will be to consider the case of Apple Incorporated and how it deals with creativity, innovation and manage its intellectual capital. The case of Apple Incorporated as an example The case of Apple Incorporated is sheer evidence that hierarchical management structures will be less evident in the future. Instead, nurturing creativity and innovation in the workforce will be a must rather than doing a requirement of compliance for hierarchical management. What Apple exactly did is a depiction of innovation, a significant change tha t opens the door for more innovative business approach in the future. Apple Incorporated has primarily dealt more with specialisation, leading to the progress of its product offerings in terms of technological advancement. However, what is clear in its case is the ability to promote creativity and innovation concerning the skills of the manpower to develop something new. At Apple Incorporated, it does not matter who the boss is, for as long as everybody has something new innovative to offer that is in line with the firm’s vision to go for change and lead in the industry. Aside from the fact that Apple has been producing new innovative products in the market and has become the leader in its industry due to this approach, it has also successfully made an innovation in its business model, and together these have called for effective management of skills prior to creativity and innovation. In other words, the company’s business culture is more of a deviation from the tradi tional business model. The old traditional model of hierarchical management Hierarchical management is the old way of conducting or doing business. It is survived by the ability of the entire workforce to adhere to bureaucracy and maintain the harmonious implementation of the chain of command (Farrel, 2011). This adheres to the authority of the higher-ranking officials and their tendency to implement anything that will go for the act of subordination. This means that a certain component or department in an organisation, except one, is subordinate to the other (Zhou et al., 2011). There must be evidence of hierarchy especially in the organisational structure. There is an inclusion of different levels of management, power and authority within the hierarchy and this is what commonly applies to majority of corporations, government and religious groups today. However, it is important to understand the remarkable implication of this structural model in an organisation. It is good to under stand that a hierarchical management structure may limit the creativity and innovation capacity of a certain department or the human resource (Daft and Marcic, 2011), because the entire workfo

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Archimede's Constant in Everyday Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Archimede's Constant in Everyday Life - Essay Example Originally, according to the Webster Dictionary, π is the 16th letter of the Greek Alphabet series. The constant π is called so because it is the first letter of the Greek Letter word perimeter. The first person to use this Greek letter word for the denoting the value of pi was William Jones. In-plane geometry, the constant pi shows the relationship that exists between the circumference and diameter of a circle, regardless of its size. This constant remains the same regardless of the size of the circle. So, π = C/d serves as the basic relationship. Further modification can also help to rewrite the relationship as π = C/r2. The number is also transcendental; it is a number that is not a root of any polynomial with rational coefficients, or it is not an algebraic number of any degree. The value of pi is 3.141519...The origin of this constant can be traced back to the times of 400 BC in ancient Greece; this was the first time there has been evidence of recording the cons tant pi by a mathematician. Greeks, especially ancient Greece has been known for making giant leaps in the field of geometry and the identification of this constant does not come as a surprise. In later years of 200-300 BC, it was Archimedes who was able to approximate the figure of 22/7 for pi, for the first time ever. After Archimedes’ death, the Romans took control over the world. They are not known for the mathematical achievements and research into this wonderful constant was next to zero at this time.After the dark ages of the Roman invasion, pi gained activity again in the Renaissance period in Europe. In the 1700s, after the invention of the calculator, the fastest calculation method for pi was developed by Leonhard Euler. Now that we have the facility of supercomputers it has been found that the constant goes up to 206, 158, 430, 000 digits and counting!

Saturday, August 24, 2019

New technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

New technology - Research Paper Example 2. New Technology for Blind Individuals There are many individuals in the world who do not have the power of sight. This loss makes visually impaired individuals dependent on others for their daily routine activities like making a trip to the grocery store, visiting a friend etc. Technology has contributed its part in the development of new techniques to make life better for individuals who have low sightedness or blindness. The technology that has been chosen for analysis helps blind individuals find their way around the streets and neighborhoods without any supervision. Blind people tend to be comfortable in the vicinity of their homes since they are well-acquainted with the placement of objects and the structure of the premises. On the contrary, they feel threatened to get out in the real world on their own due to the unknown directions and locations. The fear of getting lost also ceases such independent trips. Modern technology has successfully provided blind people with effectiv e devices to overcome the previously stated fears. An innovative technology has been invented that guides the blind person about the directions that are required to be taken to reach a specific direction. The device is known by the name of ‘Intersection Explorer’ and it has been released by Google in 2010 (Google Inc.,). Intersection Explorer includes a touch screen which is provided with a virtual map of any desired location in the world. The blind user can select the map of his neighborhood to explore the region and seek directions for a desired place. Google maps is incorporated in the device due to which the blind person cannot get lost; Google maps provide extensive mapping features, coupled with the local business information, for example, all restaurants can be listed on its search features that would be located in a certain region or city (Google Maps). This device is also based on GPS technology that is defined as the global positioning system (Purewal); GPS de termines the position of a user with the help of satellites maintained in the space (Lammertsma). The blind person does not have to type anything in the device to get directions; rather it is operated by touching the screen of the device. The aspect of touch operations makes the technology even more convenient for blind users since they take longer periods of time to type (as compared to sighted individuals) and require special keyboards with Braille display to input their desired text. The user browses his finger around the screen of the device and gets audio feedback about the place where his finger is pointed. The person gets notified about his position as he crosses different streets. This feature ensures that the user does not get lost and is aware about his current position at all time, for example, â€Å"Moved 70 meters towards Park Lane† (Raman). Figure 1: Intersection Explorer displaying nearby streets and intersections. The red spot indicates the position of the use r [1]. The most interesting feature of this technology gets revealed when the user gets the feeling of being lost. The user can trace his finger on the screen in a circle and the device will provide feedback about all the streets that have been crossed. This information can highlight any wrong directions that might have been taken in the respective path. The operations of this device are not very complex therefore any person with minimal computer

Friday, August 23, 2019

Will the Protests known as the Arab Spring bring Democracy to the Research Paper

Will the Protests known as the Arab Spring bring Democracy to the Middle East - Research Paper Example These countries are Yemen, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. These protests have shared methods of civil resistance in campaigns involving demonstrations, rallies, marches, strikes, and use of the social media. The Arab spring protestors comprise of youths (Mair, 45). Most demonstrations of the Arab Spring have met violent responses from the authorities in power and counter-demonstrators. Arab Spring protestors desired to bring down regimes of corruption and dictatorship so as to build regimes of democracy that are corruption free (Manhire, 23). This assignment will discuss whether the Arab Spring protestors will bring democracy to the Middle East through looking at the pros and cons of the protests. Pros of the Protests The protests have helped in clarification of what Middle East scholars have discovered about principal political schism in the Middle East. The protests have made the voice of the mass, which was irrelevant before, vital in the state politics. The leaders of the protests com prise of young, skilled individuals, who appreciate the use of technology and social media in conveyance of messages and arrangement of rallies. The protestors involved in the protests and demonstrations use relevantly little violence to make their demands heard by those in power (Pollack, 89). Bringing down of at least four dictatorship political governments has adhered to their policy of bringing down regimes and promoting democracy, which can be emulated by the counter-demonstrators. Cons of the Protests There is uncertainty about the extent to which these protests will continue, spread or be sustained in the Middle East countries. Youths lead the protests and although they are pushing for democracy, youth movements are void of organization leadership and policy platforms which will continue to press their agenda. The protests have had profound impacts on the political settlements in assorted nations of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region but they have failed in bringi ng out any key change in the regional power structures (Prashad, 87). Formulation and lack of economic reforms are considerable challenges to the group; given their agenda of bringing down regimes. The protests pose a new security challenge to the region; the threat of sectarian conflicts remains at large in the region. The protests have assisted in clarifying what the Middle East scholars have understood for a remarkably long time. According to the scholars, the principal political schism in the Middle East is not between the Anti-Western and Pro-Western forces or between Arabs and Jews but it is the vast gulf which separates authoritarian regimes from the people that they rule. Hence, the protests have promoted this understanding to all nations. Initially, the voice of the people in the Middle East region did not matter in the western policy, but with the protests, the voice of the people can now be listened to by the policy makers. Although the voice seemed too fractured and poli tically immature, it has become relevant through the protests, which is an indication of democracy. The skillful, youth leaders who lead the protests appreciate the use of collective media and expertise in their communication. Use of the social media and technology helps in reaching a vast number of people within a remarkably short time. This helps the protestors in informing and educating the mass on the need to have these protests, in gaining democracy. Through these communication tools, the protestors can organize individuals to fight for democracy within a short time. The protests involve the use of relatively little violence. Through the protestors using relatively less violence, they show a high level of maturity for fighting corrupt and dictatorial regimes. This increases

United States in the 1960s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

United States in the 1960s - Essay Example The Civil rights act was meant to solve discriminatory issues and practices in segregated areas of the USA. The act enabled the term extension of the Civil rights Commission (which was previously a two year fixed term), to ensure proper oversight of the registration and voting practices (DeKoven, 2004). President Dwight Eisenhower signed the act into law, and it eliminated legal loopholes found in the 1957 Civil Rights Act. Post modernism during the late 20th century entailed movements in the criticism, arts and architecture that departed from modernism. Postmodernism entails skeptical interpretations or analysis of architecture, literary criticism, culture, philosophy, history, arts, economics and fiction. Postmodernism is at times associated with several movements that acted against tendencies of modernism, and are generally marked by historical elements (Palmer, 2009). For example; Jane Jacob’s book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities published in 1961, represented a critique of urban planning. This is because the book was written within modernism, and illustrated change form modernity to postmodernism in urban planning issues. Part of the cold war phase was experienced in the 1960s in the USA; for example the duration after the Cuban Missile crisis towards the end of 1962, and the beginning of the dà ©tente duration in 1969. The USA engages in cold war with the Soviet Union in the 1960s, despite internal issues like John Kennedy’s assassination, anti-Vietnam war movements, and the civil rights movements. In 1968, Czechoslovakia started reforms; however, the reforms halted when the Soviet Union invaded the country. The cold war led to division in the third world. Governments like Libya supported the soviets; on the contrary, governments like Saudi Arabia supported the west were USA is represented (Heale, 2005). The USA economy started the 1960s with a recession. In 1961, the unemployment

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Alzheimer s Disease Paper Essay Example for Free

Alzheimer s Disease Paper Essay Alzheimer’s is a disease that causes memory loss and cognitive decline. It is a neurological disorder and a neurodegenerative type of dementia due to the disease getting progressively worse. From a study done in the Unites States in 2010, researchers came to an estimated 4.7 million people, who were 65 years or older, had Alzheimer’s disease. The a 2013 statistical report, by the Alzheimer’s Association, just over 1/10th of people 65 years or older have Alzheimer’s. When you are 85 years or older, the proportion jumps to about 1/3rd of people in the United States. The disease is caused by brain cell death. At first a few brain cells die, but over time it gets progressively worse and many brain cells die. Scientists believe that for most people, Alzheimers disease results from a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over time. It is said that less than 5 percent of the time, the disease is caused by specific genetic change in a person. We know that Alzheimer’s kill brain cells, but as more of the brain cells die, the disease will lead to significant shrinkage of the brain. When scientists examine an Alzheimer’s brain, inside they find two types of abnormalities. These are considered the hallmarks of the disease. They are called Plaques and Tangles. Plaques are found between dying cells in the brain. They are a buildup of protein called beta-amyloid. Tangles are found within the brain neurons. They are a breakdown of a different protein called tau. These proteins however cannot be seen or tested in a living brain and can only be tested when the brain is dead. Genetics are the only way you can get early-onset Alzheimer’s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s is typically seen between the ages of 30 and 60 and this is due to one of three genes that are inherited and not something caused by your environment. Early-onset is very uncommon and that is why it only accounts for 5% of Alzheimer’s cases. One ways to avoid getting Alzheimer’s, unless you inherit the gene, is to Eating healthier. This is because some factors that can increase the chances of getting Alzheimer’s are getting diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar. These factors not only increase your risk of getting Alzheimer’s but they also increase your risk of getting a stroke which can cause other types of dementia. They suggest using your brain as much as possible and not let your brain do nothing when you get older. Avoid getting any brain injuries, the best that you can. There are  three different stages of Alzheimer’s. The first stage is Preclinical which is before you are aware that you have the disease. The second stage is Mild cognitive impairment which is when you realize that you are having trouble remembering things. The last stage is Dementia which is where you are now have trouble remembering many things and will get worse and worse over time. Unfortunately there are no cures yet but there are treatments that can help with the process. Things such as medicine can help with your memory. Other things such as homes that will help you with coping with the disease. Overall there is not much that you can do to help with the disease. Work Cited: http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/guide/alzheimers-disease-treatment-care http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/159442.php

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Penfolds Wine Porters Five and SWOT Analysis

Penfolds Wine Porters Five and SWOT Analysis Penfolds is one of the oldest Australian wine brands, founded in the mid-19th century by the English immigrant and medical doctor Rawson Penfold. Starting with wine growing for medical purposes and the production of fortified wines and brandies, the business has developed very quickly and by 1920, the company already had a 50 per cent market share in Australia. After World War II the company has changed its direction and started producing red table wines with the commencement of white production in 1990. In the same year, the company has been acquired by Southcorp, which made the company the biggest Australian owned wine producer as well as the fifth largest producer in the world. In 2005, Fosters acquired Southcorp. (Calkins, 2005). The analysis of the case study should address the issues that Penfolds is faces and provide recommendations for a marketing strategy to overcome these issues. 1.2 Economic background South Australia has the fifth largest population as well as the fifth largest economy in Australia. As for the wine segment of the economy, the wine cluster, South Australia is the largest producer and exporter of wines in Australia (Nipe et al., 2010). From the 1990s, the wine sector has been growing steadily due to the strong exports. Nevertheless, the rising number of competitors in the low-cost wine segment and the worldwide recession in the recent years challenges the industry. Simultaneously, dominant supermarket giants have gained enormous market power reducing the power of the industry. Furthermore, the changing preferences of consumers and a huge oversupply of wine grapes is a major problem for the wine industry. The oversupply in wine grapes has reduced prices, lowered the profit margins and even got many wine producers to leave the market (Dobie, 2012). The exports have dropped for e.g. in 2010-2011 to 747 million liters compared to 788 million liters in the year 2009 2010 (Figure 1). On the other hand, the demand for wine in the domestic Australian market has been growing steadily since over 20 years and domestic producers mainly supply the market. The imports of wine have risen by 4.2 %, to 67 million liters in 2010-2011 (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2012). However, to be prepared for the future, the Australian wine sector has to undergo some changes, to stay competitive on the domestic market and to start growth on the export market again. Therefore, the sector has to deal more effectively with the oversupply of grapes and the quality of low cost wines in the key export markets, which has affected the reputation of Australian wines in a negative way (Dobie, 2012). 2. Analysis of the Case study 2.1 Porter five forces analysis The Porter five forces analysis was introduced by Michael E. Porter, which helps to identify and to analyse the competitiveness, profitability and the attractiveness of an Industry (Investopedia, 2012). Therefore, this model should be used for the Penfolds case study to assess the wine industry in Australia and to able to place give adequate recommendations on Penfolds future marketing strategy. Threat of Entry: The threat of entry for new wine producers in Australia is quite high, especially from large global liquor companies (Pugh Fletcher, 2002). Nevertheless, there are some barriers for new entrants in place, as for example the price of land and the high capital investments that are needed for the equipment. Another barrier is the time component, as newly planted wines need several years to grow mature and to be able to be brought to the market on a profit-making basis. This barrier makes the return on investment quite slow and it is only possible by big companies, who can afford waiting on their return (Adamo, 1997). Government regulations on alcohol, like licencing and taxes, existing distribution channels and already existing brands with high loyalty users, are also barriers for new entrants to the wine market in Australia. However, the high profit margins, low entrance costs due to a large number of substitutes will still attract some new producers, although only on a small scale (B lees at al., 2003) Industry Rivalry: The Australian wine industry is subject to high competition with a high number of competitors, which implies that also the price competition is very high. In Australia, there is also a high consolidation of the large brands, which are mainly bought by large global liquor companies, which helps these producers to use their power to undermine the small manufacturers (Pugh Fletcher, 2002) Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes in the wine industry is very high as there is a high amount of other alcoholic beverages on the market. Nevertheless, wine is still the fastest growing segment in the alcohol market. Compared to the rest of the world, Australia has an advantage in the ability to produce innovative high quality wines and to attract new consumers on the export market, as wine can be consumed regardless its aging (Wood and Anderson, 2002). The biggest problem in the area of substitutes is the absence of brand loyalty in the wine industry as most of the beer producers can count on. Therefore, the high amount of other alcoholic products which are more often cheaper in price and an assumed rise of health concerns by the consumers create a high threat of substitutes for the wine industry. Bargaining power of buyers: The wine industrys buyers are categorized into two groups: the distributors and the retailers. Supermarkets, restaurants and clubs most likely represent the buyers of wine. Although this buyer group is able to change their offered brands quite easily, the change is offset by the acquisition of a large product palette from the seller of the company as it ensures lower prices and because the buyers have to be prepared on the various consumer preferences (Adamo, 1997). Nevertheless, the bargaining power of the buyers is relatively high, because the whole market is well crowded, and the securitization of the distribution is even more problematic for the producers when major liquor chains and large supermarkets dominate the major distribution channels in overseas markets (Pugh Fletcher, 2002). Bargaining power of suppliers: The suppliers in the wine industry are the wine growers with their vineyards. Their bargaining power is very low as the global market has been flooded with grapes from different regions of the world and mostly with cheaper grapes than they can be produced in Australia (Davis, 2005). Consequently, there is a very high competition on the grapes market and the oversupply of grapes has given the Australian wineries the opportunity to produce cheaper wine with high quality. (Wood and Anderson, 2002) Because of the absence of differentiation on the raw materials, wine producers have decreased the bargaining power of suppliers significantly. 2.2 SWOT analysis The following SWOT analysis reveals the strengths and weaknesses and well as the external factors for opportunities and threats for Penfolds, which has a major problem as stated in the Case study in the shrinking of the profit and the poor financial return over the last years. Strengths: Penfolds strength is its long lasted reputation for the high standard quality red wine, with a high range of vintage red wines that are very popular among its consumers and which gives the company an overall good reputation for its wine making (Veseth. 2007). The ultra-premium wines are a result of a long lasting tradition of allowing their winemakers to experiment and to research new vines and new wine styles. Moreover, the success in the premium segment is the outcome of a unique style of multi-regional vineyard blending, which means that the development of Penfolds wines is the blending of different wines from different vineyards across South Australia (Caillard, 2007). The company invented a so-called star-system to classify the vineyards and the grape quality of the vineyards, which helps to identify the best blend for a certain category of wine. This system also ensured to solve the principal agent problem, by handing out bonuses to wine growers in line with the quality of thei r grapes (star system) (Wood Andersen. 2002). This unique blending, gives the winemakers more opportunities to broaden the companys portfolio and to differentiate the wines into different categories of wine quality and price. This ensures a high standard of quality and provides the company with an overall market advantage (Caillard, 2007). Weaknesses: The weakness of the Penfolds Company is the affordable and cheap wine section. Especially the cheap wine segment has a poor quality in taste (Calkins, 2005). This triggers the reputation of the whole company into a negative direction and damages the reputation especially in the overseas market, which affects the exports of the company. Moreover, the high competition in the cheap wine segment is reducing the profit margin of the company. The premium red wine section has also weakened in recent years, as it has not the same cachet as it used to have among the premium wine producers (Caillard, 2007) Opportunities: As Penfolds wine portfolio is much focused on the red wines, the opportunities that the company has for the future is to broaden their white wine and sparkling wine portfolio. This would ensure a broader consumer base. This portfolio enlargement would also mean to improve the wine making techniques for the white and sparkling wine. However, not only the white and sparkling wine section needs improvement, but also the winemaking techniques for red wine should be improved to ensure the high quality standard in the premium segment of the wine industry (Wood Andersen, 2002). The biggest opportunity that the company faces at the moment is the market expansion into China. Especially the premium and ultra-premium wine market is well demanded in China and Penfolds already makes the lion share in this market segment (Shaw, 2012). Therefore, the opportunity lies in the expansion of this market and also to build up reputation in one of the biggest economies in the world. The built-up reputatio n could help in the future to export not only the premium wines but also the cheap and affordable wines into China. Threats: The probably biggest threat to Penfolds is the very high competitiveness in the South Australian wine regions, especially in Riverland where low quality wine is produced. Recession makes the ultra-premium wines less affordable and the high Australian dollar makes exports less competitive (Barrett, 2011). Another threat is the current structural oversupply of wine in Australia and therefore low prices, which makes the brand less attractive with its high price level (due to brand name) (Dobie, 2012). The changing consumer preferences can also be a threat to the company especially if it does not react with a broadening of their portfolio, especially in the cheap wine segment. 3. Issues and Problems of Penfolds in the market Derived from the Porters five forces and SWOT analysis it can be said that Penfolds major problems and issues in the Australian and the global market is its segmentation of wine, the world economy and the consumer preferences change. As seen in the SWOT analysis one weakness of the company is the poor quality and the easy substitution of bulk wine, which is due to the fact that the wine demand is relatively elastic. Especially in times of economic instability and a worldwide recession with falling incomes, people tend to switch their preferences towards cheaper products and substitutes for the more expensive premium wines. Penfolds portfolio is now targeted more towards the high-income consumers who can afford a bottle of red wine for $30 or more. The great focus on the US and UK export markets are affected mainly by the worldwide recession and therefore by the change of the consumer preferences in these export markets. In addition, there seems to be a problem with their selection an d grading star system, which leads to bad opinions about the quality of the wine. As mentioned in the SWOT analysis the cachet of some red wine series seem to have lost the cachet of the older wine series. There is no other conclusion to this problem than that the company lacks in their selection process for their wine blends. 4 Alternative Evaluation and Recommendations Concluding the issues and problems of the company, there can be made some recommendations towards a future marketing strategy of the company. First, the company has to broaden their wine portfolio significantly. This recommendation is probably the least problematic as the company already is in the market and just needs to focus in another direction. Another recommendation for Penfolds would be a high promotion of their premium wines in life style magazines or magazines in the business class of airlines. Further, they should focus on a one on one marketing strategy with their current clients. All this would ensure that the company would gain more customers, especially those that are willing to pay more for a bottle of wine. For the premium and ultra-premium wines, the company should try to reduce the supply to the market, so that their product will not become a usual commodity. The prices for the premium wines should also be kept high to ensure the high premium range of the brand. Als o DR should be highly supported from the organization to secure a constant grow of new innovations and technologies. Higher advanced innovations and techniques can help Penfolds in the future to achieve higher margins and better reactions to changing weather conditions without the scarifying the quality of the wine/grapes. In my opinion this strategy of a promotion and DR mix is the most valuable, as it attracts new customers and enhances the wine quality without spending too much of their resources. The problem of Penfolds with the affordable and bulk wine market is that it is not the focus of the company. In order to gain market shares in this segment the company should try to acquire a rival that has a good reputation among the cheap wine segment. In this way, Penfolds would gain more knowledge about this segment and would also have one competitor less. Further, Penfolds would not need to print their brand name (which stands for premium wines) on a bottle of cheap table wine (Halliday, 2012). However, the profit would be Penfolds. By acquiring another rival the company would be also able to be more focused on only one segment of the market and therefore ensure better quality of the high premium wines. This option of a strategy will be the most expensive and probably the least likely, as it needs too much resources in times of a recession and financial problems of the company. Therefore, in my opinion the best strategy to enhance profits and to resolve the issues that Penfolds has is to have a mix of different promotions coupled with a DR enhancement strategy and the exclusion of their bulk wine segment under the brand name of Penfolds.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Objectives Of File Management Systems Information Technology Essay

Objectives Of File Management Systems Information Technology Essay In linux everything is treated as a file. A user frequently interacts with files directly or indirectly. They need perform various operations such as create, edit, delete etc on the files. To perform these activities, operating systems provide file management systems. The services required by file management system are provided by operating system. File management system is a collection of software that provides services to application and users. It facilitates the communication between user application and files. This relieves user from developing the software for each application. Objectives of File Management systems: Guarantees data in the file is valid Optimizes performance in terms of throughput response time Provide I/O support for storage device type Provide I/O support for multiple users Meet user requirements for data operations [1] FILE System architecture: Figure 1: File System Architecture. [1] As depicted in the figure the device drivers interacts with the peripherals. The function of device driver is to start the I/O operation complete the request. These device drivers are considered as a part of operating system. Above the device drivers there which is also called as physical I/O. Main function of file system is to deal with the is basic file system data from disk systems place them on secondary storage. Also it manages buffering of these blocks on to the main memory. It doesnt care about data inside the file. The next level is Basic I/O supervisor. The function of this layer is I/O initiation termination. At this level control structures deals with file status, scheduling, I/O. The device on which file I/O is to be performed selected by I/O supervisor based on particular file selected. Logical I/O enables users application to accept records. The logical I/O module deals with file Records. Logical I/O maintains basic data about the files. Access system is the file system closest to the user. The main function is to provide interface between file system applications. File Management Functions: Figure 2: File Management Functions [1] Application programs Users interact with the file system to create and delete files and for performing operations on files. File system first identify and locate the selected file before performing any operation. Directories are used to describe location of all files their attributes. Most shared systems implements access control policies. Only authorized users can have access to particular files. The basic operations that a user or application may perform on a file are performed at the record level. The file is viewed by user as structure of records. Access methods are used to map user commands into specific file manipulation commands. I/O operation is done on block basis. The records are organized as a blocks of output. In order to perform the operation files must be allocated to free blocks on the secondary storage. Also free storage must be managed so as to know what blocks are available for new files and growth in existing files. File Organization: Several criteria affect the selection of file organization. Some of these factors can be listed as follows. The suitability depends on the application which will be using the file. Economy of Storage Short Access time Reliability Simple maintenance [1] Original file system: Physical disk in Linux is divided into logical disks. It is called as partitions. Each partition is treated as a standalone file system. Each device is assigned with major device number and the partitions are assigned with minor device number. The device driver refers to these numbers to access raw file system. Major number acts like a index to switch table minor number will recognize specific instance of device. [3] Physical location of file data block: Placing the data blocks in a contiguous manner will improve the performance but will lead to inefficiencies in allocating space. User may need to specify the file of size at the time of creation. Linux file system allocates block one at a time from pool of free blocks[3]. File blocks are scattered randomly on physical disk. Inodes: inode contains key information related to files required by the OS. A single inode may point to several file names but the active inode is associated only with one file. Inode stores attributes, permissions other control information related to the file. The information contained in the inode is  ¬Ã‚ le ownership indication à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ File type à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ File access permissions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Time of last access, and modi ¬Ã‚ cation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Number of links (aliases) to the  ¬Ã‚ le à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Pointers to the data blocks for the  ¬Ã‚ le à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Size of the  ¬Ã‚ le in bytes (for regular  ¬Ã‚ les), major and minor device numbers for special Device [3] Figure 3: Inode structure [4] Inodes has pointers to data block. Each inodes contain 15 pointers. First 12 pointers will point directly to data blocks. 13th pointer will point to indirect data block.14th pointer points to doubly indirect data block. Similarly, 15th pointer will point to triply indirect block. Advantages: 1] Very little space wasted. A disk can be filled completely. 2] Indirect block points many data blocks so larger files can be efficiently accessed. 3] Simultaneous operations can be performed. One read operation fetches the inode another will fetch first data block. Disadvantages: 1] may lead to poor performance Directories: Directory provides information about file location, file ownership its attributes. A directory is itself a file which is accessible to file management routines. The Directory structure can be shown as below Figure 4: Linux Directory Structure [5] As shown in the figure linux organizes directories in hierarchical fashion. The root lies at the top of the tree and it is denoted by /.Every directory in the linux system is under root directory. The various directories under root directory are Boot : The information required for booting is stored in this directory. This may consist of files used by LILO, Bootstrap loader. This is the place for kernel image. etc: configuration files of machine installed software are stored here dev: device files for devices such as disk drives, serial ports are stored here. Usr : it consists of all man pages, games, commands, static files for normal operations. Sbin :It consists of system admin commands. Home: This is the place where user will keep his own files. It contains users home directory for each user on the system. Root: This is the home directory for root user. File sharing: To share files a special group is created for the set of users who intend to use that files. Directory is created with ownership of that group. The permissions are set such that all users within the group can create files. We can also set group ID so that all the files created in it will automatically have group ownership its parent directory has. Access control in linux: Terms related to ACL A] User class: There are mainly three user classes owner, owning group other users. To allow permission three bits read(r), write (w) and execute (x) can be set. B] Access ACL: It determines group user access permissions for file objects. C] Default ACL: These can be only applied to directories. It decides permissions for file object when it is created. D] ACL entry: ACL is a set of ACL entries. An ACL entry contains a type (see Table B.1 on the following page), a qualifier for the user or group to which the entry refers, and a set of permissions There are 3 basic sets associated with linux file object. These sets are used to grant permissions read(r), write(w), execute(x) for 3 user groups, file owner others. We can also set group id, user set id for special cases. Access control list (ACL) allow the assignment of permissions to individual users or groups even if these do not correspond to the owner or the owning group [6] There are mainly two categories of ACL namely minimum ACL extended ACL. Minimum ACL only consists of entries for owning group, owner other which are associated with conventional permission bits for files directories. Extended ACL has mask entry entries for named group named user types. ADD NFS, VFS. Linux virtual file system: Figure 5: Virtual file system Figure 6: Linux virtual file system concept [1] In linux file management is done with the help of Virtual file system (VFS).T o user process it appears as a single, uniform file system interface.VFS treats files as a objects stored in mass storage area. Files can be identified by their symbolic names. A file has a attribute such as access protection, ownership etc. A mapping is required by file system to map real file system characteristics into Virtual file system characteristics. User process issues a file system call using VFS.VFS converts this call into kernel file system call which is then passed to mapping function for particular file system. Sometimes mapping function may result into complex operations. In many cases directories are not files, VFS may need to convert file corresponding to some directories. The original user file system call is translated into native call to the target file system. The requested function on a file or directory is performed by invoked file system software. The results of the operation are routed back to the user in a similar manner. As VFS is object oriented they are imlemented as a data structures using C,C++.Object consists of pointers which points to the file system functions.These funtions will operate on data. The four objects are Superblock object: Represents a specific mounted file system Inode object: Represents a specific file Dentry object: Represents a specific directory entry File object: Represents an open file associated with a process Third Extended (EXT3) File System: Journaling: EXT3 is third extended file system. It is journaling extension to EXT2.It is 100% compatible with all utilities designed for ext2 file system.Ext3 shares ext2s well-known robustness, but also adds extra features such as extended attributes, H tree.[7] The journaling approach used in EXT3 will greatly reduce the time spent for recovering file system after system crash. This will help to minimize system restart time file system inconsistencies after unclean shutdown. After rebooting a system mount program first checks the Journal. If it finds ay unchecked changes, it applies the changes to the file system. Thus we can say mount program provides consistency to the system. The mount program takes care of all the consistency the system doesnt need to check the consistency hence the computers using journaling are available within short duration after reboot.[8]. Ext3 allocated area called as journal in which it records the changes made to files directories ahead of time. If the system is crashed the recovery simply involves reading the journal from file system replaying the changes. [9] Journaling modes in EXT3 : The classification is made based on the fact that whether journaling makes log changes only to metadata or to all file system. There are three journaling modes Journal: It will record both metadata file system data changes. In this mode there is lowest chance of risk. This journaling mode minimizes the chance of losing the changes that have been made to any file in an ext3 file system. [10]It is the slowest mode. The risk associated with it is lowest. Ordered: It will record the metadata but not the file contents. It is the default ext3 journaling mode. In this mode there is possibility that one may end up with the file in the intermediate stage. The risk associated with this mode is at medium level. Writeback: In this mode only metadata is journaled file contents are not[11]. It allows showing up old data into the file after a crash. It ensures that on reboot all garbage due to unwritten data be zeroed out. Major Advantages of ext3: Data Integrity: If there is any unclean, improper system shutdown ext3 guarantees data integrity. We can set the level of protection. It prevents the writing of garbage data to the disk after a crash. Generally we keep the data consistent with state of file system.[10] Availability: The amount of time system will take to check the consistency after unclean shutdown depends on the size of file system. Larger the file system larger the time. Ext3 will not require such consistency check .recovery time in ext3 does not depend on the file system size or the number of files. It depends on size of journal. So there is faster availability. It only takes few seconds to recover Easy Transition: we can easily make transformation from ext2 to ext3 without reformatting. We can add journal to ext2 with the help of tune2fs program. Speed: though ext3 writes data more than once its faster than ext2. This is because journaling increases speed of head motion of hard drive. Because of its broad cross-platform compatibility it can be used on both 32 bit 64 bit architecture. As there is no need of any core kernel changes ext3 requires no new system calls.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Nokia Phones :: Cell Phones Communication Technology Essays

Nokia Phones At the beginning of 2002 when I use to commute from Des Moines , I was driving up I-235 heading to school in the breakdown lane at about 70 mph, with my Donuts coffee, trying to tune in that static filled sports radio channel that never comes in right, while I was trying to look for my friends phone number from an ISU web directory in my hp, and dial that number on my cell phone then I started asked myself â€Å"Have the mobile device geeks integrated all these features in one unit yet?† My search then began. I am a Nokia fan. I have used many Nokia phones my most recent former was a 7160. The 9290 is a logical upgrade. I use the built in cell phone modem feature on the Nokia phones and the interface with Outlook 2000 to turn the Nokia into a PIM, email appliance. I really like being able to receive and send faxes on this phone. It is about the size of cell phones from 3 years ago and I now do not have to carry my laptop on most out of campus short trips. For long trips, I still have to bring the Laptop. If all you need is a phone, this is overkill. If you need a portable office with full communication abilities, this is a great choice. It also has a speaker phone function and you can switch from regular handset held to your ear to speaker phone and back just by opening the clamshell case. The PIM is fully accessible while you are on speaker phone. I just love this Phone. It’s slim and not bulky like I thought. Yes it's larger than most phones, but most phones don't allow for wide screen Internet, voice recording, faxing, emailing, video playback, infra red transfer and the list goes on and on. One of the coolest things is simply the fact that if you have it closed and are on the phone, you can open it and it switches to speaker phone allowing you the option to surf. The battery is amazing too. I can use it for 3 days and still being fully charged. The reception on the phone is awesome. I have been told that people thought I was on a land line. I was torn between the Nokia 6800 because it is small, and flips open to become an Internet surfing phone.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Ellisons Invisible Man: Invisibility, Vision, and Identity as Motifs E

Ralph Ellison incorporates many symbols into this novel, each providing a unique perspective on the narrative and supporting the themes of invisibility, vision and identity. These themes can many times generally symbolize the strength of the subconscious mind. In this novel I think that there are several visions that symbolize the narrator’s escape from reality, seeking comfort in memories of his childhood or times at the college, often occurring as he fades into his music. Ellison coincidences dreams and reality to redefine the surrealistic nature of the narrator’s experience and to showcase the differences between the realities of black life and the myth of the American dream. ? One thing I saw a lot of in this novel is people willfully looking past instead of confronting the truth. The narrator repeatedly states people’s inability to see what they don’t want to see, their inability to see what their prejudice doesn’t allow them to see, has pushed him into a life of effective invisibility. But prejudice against others is not the only kind of blindness in the book. Many characters also don’t acknowledge truths about themselves or their communities, and this refusal is shown in the imagery of vision and invisibility. For example, the boys who fight in the â€Å"battle royal† wear blindfolds, symbolizing their powerlessness to recognize their corruption at the hands of the white men. The Founder’s statue at the college has empty eyes, signifying his failure to see the racist realities. Blindness also afflicts Rev Homer A. Barbee, who romanticizes the Founder, and Brother Jack, who is missing an eye which he conceals by wearing a glass eye. The narrator himself experiences blindness, such as in chapter sixteen when he addresses the ... ...judices of others. He has followed the ideology of the college and the ideology of the Brotherhood without trusting or developing his own identity. Now, however, he has realized that his own identity, both in its flexibility and authenticity, is the key to freedom. Rinehart, a master of many identities, first suggests to the narrator the limitless capacity for variation within oneself. However, Rinehart ultimately proves an unsatisfactory model for the narrator because Rinehart’s life lacks authenticity. The meaning of the narrator’s assertion that he is â€Å"an invisible man† has changed slightly since he made the same claim at the beginning of the novel: whereas at the outset he means to call attention to the fact that others cannot not see him, he now means to call attention to the fact that his identity, his inner self, is real, even if others cannot see it.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Overcoming Obstacles

Overcoming Obstacles What is life? Life consists of experiences, challenges, and achievements; all of which are building blocks that essentially create ones path to success. In one’s lifetime they can experience tough and difficult challenges. Sometimes these challenges become unbearable, especially when the odds are against you. However, going against all odds is something everyone is capable of doing, and to overcome these challenges everyone needs to have a â€Å"never quit† attitude in life. If we develop it, we'll overcome quite a bit.Many people all around the world face challenges and obstacles every day in their daily lives. One man in particular is Nic Sheff; a man who was a drug addict and wrote an autobiography called â€Å"Tweak†. In this book, Nic describes himself as a drug addict who spends all his money on drugs instead of food and bills. The main person that had a bad influence in his life was an older woman named Zelda. Nic liked being with her because he saved her from her ex-husband. However, at the end of the book, Nic’s parents made a decision for him to go back into rehab in Arizona.Nic always said that he has done a twelve step programs and went into rehab so many times that nothing changed. But at the last program, it was different, Nic turned into whole different person, finally loving him and life. Also, in the book Nic explains how he faces different obstacles and has an extremely difficult time staying sober. But in the end, because he didn’t give up it did pay off in his future. He became a more successful person and a writer who now shares his experiences of his childhood to prevent other teens into getting into the kind of lifestyle he did.Nick isn’t the only one who faces these kinds of problems and challenges. About 570,000 people die annually due to drug abuse. Illegal use of drugs is most common among young adults who are ages 18 to 25 years old and that can change who they are as the y grow up, financially and mentally. After a person takes drugs and are addicted to it there are certain thoughts and views that society has of them. Society doesn’t usually think of drug addicts as â€Å"good people† and they end up losing their respect and reputation as they grow up.If these teens and young adults don’t change who they are when they are young, they won’t be able to fix themselves as they grow older which can be a bad influence. Bad habits start as a kid and if you don’t change those habits you won’t be able to when you get older! Many people face challenges and obstacles at a very young age and that can change who they are as they grow up. My grandma faced a very harsh and unfortunate childhood. Her father died when she was 17 and that changed her life and her future. It meant she was given many responsibilities since she was the eldest out of her siblings.She had to do many house chores such as cooking, washing the clothe s and dishes and waking up early in the morning to get water from a nearby well every day! This placed a very large obstacle in her life at a very young age. She had to leave school at a very young age because of all the responsibilities she was given and had to overcome these obstacles and face them with great integrity. But due to these obstacles that she has overcome, it has changed who she is now. She struggled in life right from when she was just a little kid. But if she hadn’t overcome these obstacles she wouldn’t have been a very independent woman like she is today.If her father hadn’t died when she was young, she probably would have had a completely different future and lifestyle, not worrying about anything and going to school and having a better education. Lastly she overcame these obstacles and that changed her attitude and her character. All the experiences of my childhood have shaped me into the person I am today. I wouldn't have been the same kind of person I am today if it wasn't for all the challenges and obstacles I faced and overcame. Fortunately for me I didn’t have wake up every day concerned about what I'm going to eat and make money and survive another day.Some unfortunate people struggle in their daily lives just to just to survive! Those people definitely would have different characteristics than me because I don’t have to work right now, instead just focus on my education, go to school and depend on my parents for getting my things I need and providing the basic survival needs and fulfilling my wants. I face challenges in my life too. An example is waking up early in the morning to get ready for school, even though it’s a very minor thing, it can sure have a huge impact. It impacts my life because then I wouldn’t be ready for school on time and I would be late for class very day and miss the beginning on class which slowly can add up and bite me on a test or assignment. We all face many different challenges and obstacles and we have to overcome them in order to make ourselves a better person. Even if it’s very easy to overcome, you must be determined to succeed. As a little kid I always did my homework. As soon as I got home I would finish my homework before doing anything but after a few years, that wasn’t the case anymore. I would usually procrastinate and leave my homework till the last day and I usually wouldn’t do a good job.As my report cards arrived I got an â€Å"S† in the homework section meaning satisfactory. My parents were furious because they trusted me and believed I would finish my homework but then found out I was actually wasn’t and not doing a very good job on it. For the next few years it impacted my life because my parents would check my agenda every day and sign off to indicate to my teacher that parents saw my homework and checked that I actually did it. This was an obstacle in my life because I would have to finish my homework and then I was allowed to watch T. V or go out.I didn’t like this at all but in order to overcome this obstacle and gain my parents trust back, I would have to do my homework. So after that day I always did my homework and eventually got an â€Å"E† in the homework section indicating excellent and gaining back my parents trust. If I had given up, I would have this obstacle hurting me like a needle for a few more years and my parents would constantly be watching me and making sure I was doing my work and I was on task, which isn’t a good thing. Also I wouldn’t be able to change as I grow older because if you don’t get rid of bad habits they can last forever.In conclusion, it is very important to overcome obstacles because if you don’t, it could have a negative impact on who you are. Life is like a rollercoaster, you will never know what challenges and obstacles you will face in life but you have to hold and make sure you o vercome these obstacles without giving up! Live has its ups and downs, but hold your head high and face those obstacles and overcome them with great determination. There are many trials ahead, be a person who had indwelling desire to succeed, and believe failure was not and never could be an option. Overcoming Obstacles Overcoming Obstacles What is life? Life consists of experiences, challenges, and achievements; all of which are building blocks that essentially create ones path to success. In one’s lifetime they can experience tough and difficult challenges. Sometimes these challenges become unbearable, especially when the odds are against you. However, going against all odds is something everyone is capable of doing, and to overcome these challenges everyone needs to have a â€Å"never quit† attitude in life. If we develop it, we'll overcome quite a bit.Many people all around the world face challenges and obstacles every day in their daily lives. One man in particular is Nic Sheff; a man who was a drug addict and wrote an autobiography called â€Å"Tweak†. In this book, Nic describes himself as a drug addict who spends all his money on drugs instead of food and bills. The main person that had a bad influence in his life was an older woman named Zelda. Nic liked being with her because he saved her from her ex-husband. However, at the end of the book, Nic’s parents made a decision for him to go back into rehab in Arizona.Nic always said that he has done a twelve step programs and went into rehab so many times that nothing changed. But at the last program, it was different, Nic turned into whole different person, finally loving him and life. Also, in the book Nic explains how he faces different obstacles and has an extremely difficult time staying sober. But in the end, because he didn’t give up it did pay off in his future. He became a more successful person and a writer who now shares his experiences of his childhood to prevent other teens into getting into the kind of lifestyle he did.Nick isn’t the only one who faces these kinds of problems and challenges. About 570,000 people die annually due to drug abuse. Illegal use of drugs is most common among young adults who are ages 18 to 25 years old and that can change who they are as the y grow up, financially and mentally. After a person takes drugs and are addicted to it there are certain thoughts and views that society has of them. Society doesn’t usually think of drug addicts as â€Å"good people† and they end up losing their respect and reputation as they grow up.If these teens and young adults don’t change who they are when they are young, they won’t be able to fix themselves as they grow older which can be a bad influence. Bad habits start as a kid and if you don’t change those habits you won’t be able to when you get older! Many people face challenges and obstacles at a very young age and that can change who they are as they grow up. My grandma faced a very harsh and unfortunate childhood. Her father died when she was 17 and that changed her life and her future. It meant she was given many responsibilities since she was the eldest out of her siblings.She had to do many house chores such as cooking, washing the clothe s and dishes and waking up early in the morning to get water from a nearby well every day! This placed a very large obstacle in her life at a very young age. She had to leave school at a very young age because of all the responsibilities she was given and had to overcome these obstacles and face them with great integrity. But due to these obstacles that she has overcome, it has changed who she is now. She struggled in life right from when she was just a little kid. But if she hadn’t overcome these obstacles she wouldn’t have been a very independent woman like she is today.If her father hadn’t died when she was young, she probably would have had a completely different future and lifestyle, not worrying about anything and going to school and having a better education. Lastly she overcame these obstacles and that changed her attitude and her character. All the experiences of my childhood have shaped me into the person I am today. I wouldn't have been the same kind of person I am today if it wasn't for all the challenges and obstacles I faced and overcame. Fortunately for me I didn’t have wake up every day concerned about what I'm going to eat and make money and survive another day.Some unfortunate people struggle in their daily lives just to just to survive! Those people definitely would have different characteristics than me because I don’t have to work right now, instead just focus on my education, go to school and depend on my parents for getting my things I need and providing the basic survival needs and fulfilling my wants. I face challenges in my life too. An example is waking up early in the morning to get ready for school, even though it’s a very minor thing, it can sure have a huge impact. It impacts my life because then I wouldn’t be ready for school on time and I would be late for class very day and miss the beginning on class which slowly can add up and bite me on a test or assignment. We all face many different challenges and obstacles and we have to overcome them in order to make ourselves a better person. Even if it’s very easy to overcome, you must be determined to succeed. As a little kid I always did my homework. As soon as I got home I would finish my homework before doing anything but after a few years, that wasn’t the case anymore. I would usually procrastinate and leave my homework till the last day and I usually wouldn’t do a good job.As my report cards arrived I got an â€Å"S† in the homework section meaning satisfactory. My parents were furious because they trusted me and believed I would finish my homework but then found out I was actually wasn’t and not doing a very good job on it. For the next few years it impacted my life because my parents would check my agenda every day and sign off to indicate to my teacher that parents saw my homework and checked that I actually did it. This was an obstacle in my life because I would have to finish my homework and then I was allowed to watch T. V or go out.I didn’t like this at all but in order to overcome this obstacle and gain my parents trust back, I would have to do my homework. So after that day I always did my homework and eventually got an â€Å"E† in the homework section indicating excellent and gaining back my parents trust. If I had given up, I would have this obstacle hurting me like a needle for a few more years and my parents would constantly be watching me and making sure I was doing my work and I was on task, which isn’t a good thing. Also I wouldn’t be able to change as I grow older because if you don’t get rid of bad habits they can last forever.In conclusion, it is very important to overcome obstacles because if you don’t, it could have a negative impact on who you are. Life is like a rollercoaster, you will never know what challenges and obstacles you will face in life but you have to hold and make sure you o vercome these obstacles without giving up! Live has its ups and downs, but hold your head high and face those obstacles and overcome them with great determination. There are many trials ahead, be a person who had indwelling desire to succeed, and believe failure was not and never could be an option.