Friday, August 21, 2020

Presentation notes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction notes - Essay Example In the cost strategy, deterioration is charged in the salary articulation against pay as a cost, and the estimation of the benefit in the wake of deducting devaluation is conveyed to the monetary record. In the revaluation technique, any expansion in future estimation of the advantage, is recorded in a critical position sheet and is perceived legitimately in value under the head revaluation excess. On the off chance that the future estimation of an advantage diminishes, at that point the abatement is recorded in the pay articulation as a cost thing. Representing the revaluation technique is helpful if the future estimation of the benefits increment since the incorporation of revaluation surplus will build revaluation hold, which will expand the estimation of value of an organization. Be that as it may, if the future worth is very nearly decline it is smarter to consider the cost technique rather than the revaluation strategy for the reason valuation of benefits on a drawn out premise . The motivation to this can be clarified with the assistance of a little model given beneath Question: A structure was bought by an organization on first January 2009 at an expense of $100million. The organization gauges the life-time of the advantage for be 50years, and in this manner the benefit is to be deteriorated over 50years. The organization chooses to utilize the revaluation for deciding the estimation of the structures toward the finish of 2015. The estimation of the structure toward the finish of 31st December 2015 was $80 million, as controlled by an effective valuer. Answer: Using the revaluation technique as picked by the organization Value of the structure on first January 2009= $100million Value of the structure on 31st December 2015= $80million Therefore, Accumulated Depreciation= $20million ($100million-$80million). Consequently the incentive at which the advantage is to be conveyed in a critical position sheet on 31st December 2015 is $80million. On the off chanc e that the organization had selected the cost technique for devaluation, at that point Value of the structure on first January 2009= $100million Life of the asset= 50years Therefore, Accumulated deterioration toward the finish of 6years on 31st December 2015= $100million/50years * 6Years = $12million. Hence the incentive at which the advantage is to be conveyed to be decided sheet on 31st December 2015 is $88million. Hence, from the above model it very well may be inferred that because of the utilization of revaluation technique, a revaluation loss of $8million was endured which is balanced against the current revaluation save of the organization. It additionally prompted the expansion in the estimation of deterioration and diminished the estimation of the benefit in a critical position sheet. Increment in deterioration will influence the pay antagonistically, as it will prompt a lessening of total compensation by $8million which will consequently affect the accounting report and wi ll likewise affect the investors. Thinking about the above delineation, it is prudent to utilize the cost technique to record the estimation of land and working of Rabbit Limited. In spite of the fact that revaluation strategy is considered to give a progressively exact record as far as part substitution and deterioration, yet it is censured in light of the fact that the measure of devaluation charged on a specific resource contrasts year to year however the advantage gives similar advantages, which make the bookkeeping framework complex and tedious, and here and there it is said to have odds of control. So as expressed by the chief of Rabbit ltd. that the costs of the estimation of land are very nearly diminishing, so it will be smarter to utilize the

Monday, July 13, 2020

Video Lesson Digital Footprint

Video Lesson Digital Footprint (0) Level: Middle school, High school, College Length: 2:04 Looking for more? Click here to see all of our video lessons and infographics. Tweeting, posting, tagging, sharing, and pinning are all social media related terms that are regularly used by the younger generation of today. It’s pretty amazing to think that even just 10 years ago, they weren’t household terms. The Internet allows us to create, share, and spread information and ideas with anyone in the world in just a matter of seconds. But do students ever think about what might happen to that information in one year, five years, ten years, or more from now? Every piece of information that is placed on the Internet becomes part of their digital footprint. A digital footprint is a trail of online information that is tied back to a specific person. It’s important for students to be mindful of the items they post online as their digital footprint paints a picture of who they are. As educators, we want our students to shine and be their best selves now and also in the years to come. So it’s important to promote proper digital etiquette, or “netiquette.” Use this Digital Footprints video in your classroom to provide: An introduction to digital footprints An explanation of the technology that prevents online information from being deleted Reasons as to why it’s important to think twice before posting Here are some discussion questions to pose to students, as well as extension activities, related to digital footprints: What do you find when you search for yourself on Google or another search engine? Name a few items you hope people would find out about you, either now or in the future, when they search for your name on the Internet. How can you prevent unwanted, negative items to appear when people search for your name on the Internet? What types of information do you believe digital devices track and store about you? Conduct a Google search for your favorite celebrity or historical figure. What items did you find about them that were positive? What items did you find about them that were negative? Besides job hunting, when do you think it would be beneficial to have positive, impressive information about yourself on the Internet? How can you add positive information about yourself onto Google or other search engines? Additional videos are  linked here.  Looking to learn more? Check out our EasyBib blog which regularly showcases articles and resources to use when teaching topics related to digital citizenship. We also have a variety of resources available that relate to citations, plagiarism, MLA format, APA format, and other information literacy skills.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Vygotsky s Play Theory On Human Development - 1089 Words

Vygotsky’s Play Theory Many researchers strongly believe on how important play on human development. A spontaneous play contributes to cognitive, social, emotional, physical and language in early childhood development. Plays promote social competence, creativity, language development, and thinking skills. The benefits of play that children use their creativity while developing their cognitive and social skills. Children learn best where the environment provides them an opportunity to create, explore, and discover the world around them. The undirected play allows children to understand the social interaction and interact with each other and learn to negotiate, resolve conflicts, cooperate, share, and self-advocacy skills. They display emotional and develop a sense of empathy through play. It also helps children to develop self confidence and resiliency they will need when facing challenges in the future. Play is essential to children development and one of the main ways in which children learn. In other w ords, children learn through play. Piaget and Vygotsky are the most recognized for their cognitive developed theories. They have significant contributions for understanding the relationship of child development and learning. This is a research on the similarities and differences in the theory of cognitive development between the two theorists. Piaget took a more cognitive constructivist view and focused on the reasoning ability of individuals and how individuals interpretShow MoreRelatedEducational Methods Influenced By Jean Piaget And Lev Vygotsky800 Words   |  4 Pagesand Lev Vygotsky. Both of these men provided influential theories, which had a significant impact on evaluating children’s learning styles and abilities. After years of research and observation, Piaget determined that intellectual development is the result of the interaction of individual and environmental factors. He felt that as a child develops and always interacts with the world around him, knowledge was established. Through his observations of his children, Piaget developed a stage theory of intellectualRead MoreOutline the main similarities and differences between Piaget‚Äà ´s and Vygotsky‚Äà ´s explanations for cognitive development in children1702 Words   |  7 Pagesfor cognitive development in children. Piaget and Vygotsky were both, looking into the same period of cognitive development in infants and children and sharing the same basic concerns. Piaget (1896-1980) developing his theory slightly earlier than Vygotsky (1896-1934) who worked to show that there were certain flaws in Piaget s theory of genetic epistemology. Vogotsky and his social-cultural theory of cognitive development might be seen as the Soviet counterpart to Piaget s western individualistRead MoreVygotsky s Theory Of Cognitive Development917 Words   |  4 Pagesand Margetts (2012) demonstrate that cognitive development is much more than the addition of new facts and ideas to an existing store of information - maturation, activity and social transmission influence cognitive development. One very respected researcher of cognitive development and, in particular, sociocultural effects on such development, was Lev Vygotsky, whose original Russian journal articles are now available in English. Vygotsky’s theory revolves around peer-mediated learning, and hasRead MoreSociocultural Theory And Social Rules1726 Words   |  7 Pagesassociated with these models, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which is based in his study of psychology, does not attempt to use culture to explain how language is acquired. Instead, Vygotsky identifies the relationship between language and culture as a dynamic, reciprocal and constantly evolving experience whereby language and culture are constituted in and of each other. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky developed what is now called The Sociocultural Theory in Russia during the 1920s and 1930s. The coreRead MoreJean Piaget And Vygotsky s Theory On Children s Cognitive Development1507 Words   |  7 PagesJean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, have shared their knowledge on children’s cognitive development. Both psychologists had their own vision of what stimulates and helps a child grow. Jean Piaget s theory was shaped through the thinking and understanding of how knowledge is built through a series of four stages; preoperational, sensorimotor, formal operational and concrete operational. He believed that the development was with the child themselves. On the contrary, Lev Vygotsky s theory is shaped throughRead MoreSocio-cultural Assessment1369 Words   |  5 Pagesexist. Berger (2005), states that human development results from dynamic interactions between developing persons and their surrounding society and culture. (p.45). Every child is influenced by their own individual socio-cultural and historical environments. Infants are by nature attuned to engage with the social and cultural environment of their family and the wider community they live in. All environments are culturally constructed, shaped by generations of human activity and creativity, and fashionedRead MoreChild’s Play is Serious Business Essay1611 Words   |  7 Pagesyoung children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same† (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognizedRead MoreTheories Of Lev Vygotsky1383 Words   |  6 PagesLev Vygotsky was a psychologist that emphasized that children learn through interactions with their surroundings. He was often referred to as the psychology of superman. Most of his work was in developmental psychology and he emphasized that interpersonal connections and the social environment had a lot to development. He had different theories on how biosocial development is an important aspect of a child’s development. Vygotsky felt that language and play had a lot to do with childrensRead MoreDevelopment Of A Child s Social And Emotional Development1377 Words   |  6 Pageschild development there have been many scientific studies which have formed our understanding of children’s social and emotional development, within this essay I am going to look at some of the theses developmental theories and how they have impacted modern day society in understanding the development of a child’s social and emotional development. Development is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan (Santrock, 2008, p.5) Emotional development is theRead MoreEssay on Lev Vygotsky and Social Development Theory1038 Words   |  5 PagesExplain Lev Vygotsky(1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who created the Social Development Theory/ Sociocultural Theory. Vygotsky believed that childrens mental, language, and social development is supported and enhanced through social interaction. Vygotsky also believed that beginning at birth, children seek out adults for social interactions and that development occurs through these interactions. The belief that social development sets a precedent for development(appeals to the nurture side

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Ethical Dilemmas And Ethics At Santa Clara University Essay

Business ethicist Kirk Hanson says that â€Å"ethical dilemmas are inevitable,† occurring more in the first year as a professional than in succeeding years (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, 2011, 0:55). As a business professional, it’s very likely that I will face an ethical dilemma, or even multiple ethical situations throughout my career. This is why, as Hanson explains, â€Å"you need to be aware of what your own values are† when confronting ethical dilemmas (Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, 2011, 1:15). It’s important for me to know my own values because they will provide a foundation for my decision making when involved in an ethical conflict. Currently, I have a short process that I regularly follow when making tough decisions. This process entails thinking about the people involved in the specific situation and how each of them will be affected by the decision I make. Next, I consider the pos sible actions I could take, and predict the outcome of those actions. Upon completion of this thought process, I typically know what has to be done. Prior to this course I would’ve said that my decision making process was good enough the way it was. Now, Dr. MacCammon’s discussion on ethics made me realize how important this process is, and it inspired me to strengthen my approach. Dr. MacCammon provided us with a document called A Framework for Thinking Ethically. The document states that â€Å"having a method for ethical decisionShow MoreRelatedWhy The Selling Of Customer Information At Outside Parties Creates An Ethical Dilemma1557 Words   |  7 PagesThis report is to evaluate and to make a determination on whether the selling of customer information to outside parties creates an ethical dilemma to an organization. It will investigate whether the implementation of this new method of revenue generation will create an ethical conflict with the website disclosure t hat â€Å"We will not sell our customer’s personal information to anyone, for any purpose. Period.† Introduction Companies have globalized, all over the world and social media has become aRead MoreEthical Decision Making Paper745 Words   |  3 PagesEthical Decision Making Paper What are ethics and how do they affect decision-making? According to the Santa Clara University, [Â…] [E]thics refers to well based standards of right and wrong [Â…]. Ethics are not the same as religion, but Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical behavior (Santa Clara University). What about the law? There can be a law in place, but that does not necessarily mean that the law is ethical. An example could be that SanRead MorePreparing for Ethical Challenges Essay776 Words   |  4 PagesPreparing For Ethical Challenges A survey by the Josephson Institute of Ethics polled more than 20,000 middle and high school students about moral standards. Almost half of these students reported stealing something from a store in the previous 12 months. In the same period, seven out of 10 cheated on an exam. There is more and more evidence of antisocial behavior than ever among our youth. Even our most academically talented students tend to let personal interest triumph over the common goodRead MoreProfessional Ethics : My Professional Ethical Model1388 Words   |  6 PagesProfessional Ethical Model Heather Youngs Eastern Washington University My Professional Ethical Model I have reviewed a few ethical models in formulating my own for my professional counseling practice. 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The Da Vinci Code Chapter 21-23 Free Essays

CHAPTER 21 The Mona Lisa. For an instant, standing in the exit stairwell, Sophie forgot all about trying to leave the Louvre. Her shock over the anagram was matched only by her embarrassment at not having deciphered the message herself. We will write a custom essay sample on The Da Vinci Code Chapter 21-23 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Sophie’s expertise in complex cryptanalysis had caused her to overlook simplistic word games, and yet she knew she should have seen it. After all, she was no stranger to anagrams – especially in English. When she was young, often her grandfather would use anagram games to hone her English spelling. Once he had written the English word† planets† and told Sophie that an astonishing sixty-two other English words of varying lengths could be formed using those same letters. Sophie had spent three days with an English dictionary until she found them all. â€Å"I can’t imagine,† Langdon said, staring at the printout,† how your grandfather created such an intricate anagram in the minutes before he died.† Sophie knew the explanation, and the realization made her feel even worse. I should have seen this!She now recalled that her grandfather – a wordplay aficionado and art lover – had entertained himself as a young man by creating anagrams of famous works of art. In fact, one of his anagrams had gotten him in trouble once when Sophie was a little girl. While being interviewed by an American art magazine, Sauniere had expressed his distaste for the modernist Cubist movement by noting that Picasso’s masterpiece Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was a perfect anagram of vile meaningless doodles.Picasso fans were not amused. â€Å"My grandfather probably created this Mona Lisa anagram long ago,† Sophie said, glancing up at Langdon. And tonight he was forced to use it as a makeshift code.Her grandfather’s voice had called out from beyond with chilling precision. Leonardo Da Vinci! The Mona Lisa!Why his final words to her referenced the famous painting, Sophie had no idea, but she could think of only one possibility. A disturbing one. Those were not his final words†¦ . Was she supposed to visit the Mona Lisa? Had her grandfather left her a message there? The idea seemed perfectly plausible. After all, the famous painting hung in the Salle des Etats – a private viewing chamber accessible only from the Grand Gallery. In fact, Sophie now realized, the doors that opened into the chamber were situated only twenty meters from where her grandfather had been found dead. He easily could have visited the Mona Lisa before he died. Sophie gazed back up the emergency stairwell and felt torn. She knew she should usher Langdon from the museum immediately, and yet instinct urged her to the contrary. As Sophie recalled her first childhood visit to the Denon Wing, she realized that if her grandfather had a secret to tell her, few places on earth made a more apt rendezvous than Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. â€Å"She’s just a little bit farther,† her grandfather had whispered, clutching Sophie’s tiny hand as he led her through the deserted museum after hours. Sophie was six years old. She felt small and insignificant as she gazed up at the enormous ceilings and down at the dizzying floor. The empty museum frightened her, although she was not about to let her grandfather know that. She set her jaw firmly and let go of his hand. â€Å"Up ahead is the Salle des Etats,† her grandfather said as they approached the Louvre’s most famous room. Despite her grandfather’s obvious excitement, Sophie wanted to go home. She had seen pictures of the Mona Lisa in books and didn’t like it at all. She couldn’t understand why everyone made such a fuss. â€Å"C’est ennuyeux,† Sophie grumbled. â€Å"Boring,† he corrected. â€Å"French at school. English at home.† â€Å"Le Louvre, c’est pas chez moi!† she challenged. He gave her a tired laugh. â€Å"Right you are. Then let’s speak English just for fun.† Sophie pouted and kept walking. As they entered the Salle des Etats, her eyes scanned the narrow room and settled on the obvious spot of honor – the center of the right-hand wall, where a lone portrait hung behind a protective Plexiglas wall. Her grandfather paused in the doorway and motioned toward the painting. â€Å"Go ahead, Sophie. Not many people get a chance to visit her alone.† Swallowing her apprehension, Sophie moved slowly across the room. After everything she’d heard about the Mona Lisa, she felt as if she were approaching royalty. Arriving in front of the protective Plexiglas, Sophie held her breath and looked up, taking it in all at once. Sophie was not sure what she had expected to feel, but it most certainly was not this. No jolt of amazement. No instant of wonder. The famous face looked as it did in books. She stood in silence for what felt like forever, waiting for something to happen. â€Å"So what do you think?† her grandfather whispered, arriving behind her. â€Å"Beautiful, yes?† â€Å"She’s too little.† Sauniere smiled. â€Å"You’re little and you’re beautiful.† I am not beautiful, she thought. Sophie hated her red hair and freckles, and she was bigger than all the boys in her class. She looked back at the Mona Lisa and shook her head. â€Å"She’s even worse than in the books. Her face is†¦ brumeux.† â€Å"Foggy,† her grandfather tutored. â€Å"Foggy,† Sophie repeated, knowing the conversation would not continue until she repeated her new vocabulary word. â€Å"That’s called the sfumato style of painting,† he told her,† and it’s very hard to do. Leonardo Da Vinci was better at it than anyone.† Sophie still didn’t like the painting. â€Å"She looks like she knows something†¦ like when kids at school have a secret.† Her grandfather laughed. â€Å"That’s part of why she is so famous. People like to guess why she is smiling.† â€Å"Do you know why she’s smiling?† â€Å"Maybe.† Her grandfather winked. â€Å"Someday I’ll tell you all about it.† Sophie stamped her foot. â€Å"I told you I don’t like secrets!† â€Å"Princess,† he smiled. â€Å"Life is filled with secrets. You can’t learn them all at once.† â€Å"I’m going back up,† Sophie declared, her voice hollow in the stairwell. â€Å"To the Mona Lisa?† Langdon recoiled. â€Å"Now?† Sophie considered the risk. â€Å"I’m not a murder suspect. I’ll take my chances. I need to understand what my grandfather was trying to tell me.† â€Å"What about the embassy?† Sophie felt guilty turning Langdon into a fugitive only to abandon him, but she saw no other option. She pointed down the stairs to a metal door. â€Å"Go through that door, and follow the illuminated exit signs. My grandfather used to bring me down here. The signs will lead you to a security turnstile. It’s monodirectional and opens out.† She handed Langdon her car keys. â€Å"Mine is the red SmartCar in the employee lot. Directly outside this bulkhead. Do you know how to get to the embassy?† Langdon nodded, eyeing the keys in his hand. â€Å"Listen,† Sophie said, her voice softening. â€Å"I think my grandfather may have left me a message at the Mona Lisa – some kind of clue as to who killed him. Or why I’m in danger.† Or what happenedto my family. â€Å"I have to go see.† â€Å"But if he wanted to tell you why you were in danger, why wouldn’t he simply write it on the floor where he died? Why this complicated word game?† â€Å"Whatever my grandfather was trying to tell me, I don’t think he wanted anyone else to hear it. Not even the police.† Clearly, her grandfather had done everything in his power to send a confidential transmission directly to her.He had written it in code, included her secret initials, and told her to find Robert Langdon – a wise command, considering the American symbologist had deciphered his code. â€Å"As strange as it may sound,† Sophie said,† I think he wants me to get to the Mona Lisabefore anyone else does.† â€Å"I’ll come.† â€Å"No! We don’t know how long the Grand Gallery will stay empty. You have to go.† Langdon seemed hesitant, as if his own academic curiosity were threatening to override sound judgment and drag him back into Fache’s hands. â€Å"Go. Now.† Sophie gave him a grateful smile. â€Å"I’ll see you at the embassy, Mr. Langdon.† Langdon looked displeased. â€Å"I’ll meet you there on one condition,† he replied, his voice stern. She paused, startled. â€Å"What’s that?† â€Å"That you stop calling me Mr.Langdon.† Sophie detected the faint hint of a lopsided grin growing across Langdon’s face, and she felt herself smile back. â€Å"Good luck, Robert.† When Langdon reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs, the unmistakable smell of linseed oil and plaster dust assaulted his nostrils. Ahead, an illuminated SORTIE/EXIT displayed an arrow pointing down a long corridor. Langdon stepped into the hallway. To the right gaped a murky restoration studio out of which peered an army of statues in various states of repair. To the left, Langdon saw a suite of studios that resembled Harvard art classrooms – rows of easels, paintings, palettes, framing tools – an art assembly line. As he moved down the hallway, Langdon wondered if at any moment he might awake with a start in his bed in Cambridge. The entire evening had felt like a bizarre dream. I’m about to dash out of the Louvre†¦a fugitive. Sauniere’s clever anagrammatic message was still on his mind, and Langdon wondered what Sophie would find at the Mona Lisa†¦if anything. She had seemed certain her grandfather meant for her to visit the famous painting one more time. As plausible an interpretation as this seemed, Langdon felt haunted now by a troubling paradox. P. S. Find Robert Langdon. Sauniere had written Langdon’s name on the floor, commanding Sophie to find him. But why? Merely so Langdon could help her break an anagram? It seemed quite unlikely. After all, Sauniere had no reason to think Langdon was especially skilled at anagrams. We’ve never even met.More important, Sophie had stated flat out that she should have broken the anagram on her own. It had been Sophie who spotted the Fibonacci sequence, and, no doubt, Sophie who, if given a little more time, would have deciphered the message with no help from Langdon. Sophie was supposed to break that anagram on her own.Langdon was suddenly feeling more certain about this, and yet the conclusion left an obvious gaping lapse in the logic of Sauniere’s actions. Why me? Langdon wondered, heading down the hall. Why was Sauniere’s dying wish that his estranged granddaughter find me? What is it that Sauniere thinks I know? With an unexpected jolt, Langdon stopped short. Eyes wide, he dug in his pocket and yanked out the computer printout. He stared at the last line of Sauniere’s message. P. S. Find Robert Langdon. He fixated on two letters. P. S. In that instant, Langdon felt Sauniere’s puzzling mix of symbolism fall into stark focus. Like a peal of thunder, a career’s worth of symbology and history came crashing down around him. Everything Jacques Sauniere had done tonight suddenly made perfect sense. Langdon’s thoughts raced as he tried to assemble the implications of what this all meant. Wheeling, he stared back in the direction from which he had come. Is there time? He knew it didn’t matter. Without hesitation, Langdon broke into a sprint back toward the stairs. CHAPTER 22 Kneeling in the first pew, Silas pretended to pray as he scanned the layout of the sanctuary. Saint- Sulpice, like most churches, had been built in the shape of a giant Roman cross. Its long central section – the nave – led directly to the main altar, where it was transversely intersected by a shorter section, known as the transept. The intersection of nave and transept occurred directly beneath the main cupola and was considered the heart of the church†¦ her most sacred and mystical point. Not tonight, Silas thought. Saint-Sulpice hides her secrets elsewhere. Turning his head to the right, he gazed into the south transept, toward the open area of floor beyond the end of the pews, to the object his victims had described. There it is. Embedded in the gray granite floor, a thin polished strip of brass glistened in the stone†¦ a golden line slanting across the church’s floor. The line bore graduated markings, like a ruler. It was a gnomon, Silas had been told, a pagan astronomical device like a sundial. Tourists, scientists, historians, and pagans from around the world came to Saint-Sulpice to gaze upon this famous line. The Rose Line. Slowly, Silas let his eyes trace the path of the brass strip as it made its way across the floor from his right to left, slanting in front of him at an awkward angle, entirely at odds with the symmetry of the church. Slicing across the main altar itself, the line looked to Silas like a slash wound across a beautiful face. The strip cleaved the communion rail in two and then crossed the entire width of the church, finally reaching the corner of the north transept, where it arrived at the base of a most unexpected structure. A colossal Egyptian obelisk. Here, the glistening Rose Line took a ninety-degree vertical turn and continued directly up the face of the obelisk itself, ascending thirty-three feet to the very tip of the pyramidical apex, where it finally ceased. The Rose Line, Silas thought. The brotherhood hid the keystone at the Rose Line. Earlier tonight, when Silas told the Teacher that the Priory keystone was hidden inside Saint- Sulpice, the Teacher had sounded doubtful. But when Silas added that the brothers had all given him a precise location, with relation to a brass line running through Saint-Sulpice, the Teacher had gasped with revelation. â€Å"You speak of the Rose Line!† The Teacher quickly told Silas of Saint-Sulpice’s famed architectural oddity – a strip of brass that segmented the sanctuary on a perfect north-south axis. It was an ancient sundial of sorts, a vestige of the pagan temple that had once stood on this very spot. The sun’s rays, shining through the oculus on the south wall, moved farther down the line every day, indicating the passage of time, from solstice to solstice. The north-south stripe had been known as the Rose Line. For centuries, the symbol of the Rose had been associated with maps and guiding souls in the proper direction. The Compass Rose – drawn on almost every map – indicated North, East, South, and West. Originally known as the Wind Rose, it denoted the directions of the thirty-two winds, blowing from the directions of eight major winds, eight half-winds, and sixteen quarter-winds. When diagrammed inside a circle, these thirty-two points of the compass perfectly resembled a traditional thirty-two petal rose bloom. To this day, the fundamental navigational tool was still known as a Compass Rose, its northernmost direction still marked by an arrowhead†¦ or, more commonly, the symbol of the fleur-de-lis. On a globe, a Rose Line – also called a meridian or longitude – was any imaginary line drawn from the North Pole to the South Pole. There were, of course, an infinite number of Rose Lines because every point on the globe could have a longitude drawn through it connecting north and south poles. The question for early navigators was which of these lines would be called the Rose Line – the zero longitude – the line from which all other longitudes on earth would be measured. Today that line was in Greenwich, England. But it had not always been. Long before the establishment of Greenwich as the prime meridian, the zero longitude of the entire world had passed directly through Paris, and through the Church of Saint-Sulpice. The brass marker in Saint-Sulpice was a memorial to the world’s first prime meridian, and although Greenwich had stripped Paris of the honor in 1888, the original Rose Line was still visible today. â€Å"And so the legend is true,† the Teacher had told Silas. â€Å"The Priory keystone has been said to lie’ beneath the Sign of the Rose.† Now, still on his knees in a pew, Silas glanced around the church and listened to make sure no one was there. For a moment, he thought he heard a rustling in the choir balcony. He turned and gazed up for several seconds. Nothing. I am alone. Standing now, he faced the altar and genuflected three times. Then he turned left and followed the brass line due north toward the obelisk. At that moment, at Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, the jolt of tires hitting the runway startled Bishop Aringarosa from his slumber. I drifted off, he thought, impressed he was relaxed enough to sleep. â€Å"Benvenuto a Roma,†the intercom announced. Sitting up, Aringarosa straightened his black cassock and allowed himself a rare smile. This was one trip he had been happy to make. I have been on the defensive for too long.Tonight, however, the rules had changed. Only five months ago, Aringarosa had feared for the future of the Faith. Now, as if by the will of God, the solution had presented itself. Divine intervention. If all went as planned tonight in Paris, Aringarosa would soon be in possession of something that would make him the most powerful man in Christendom. CHAPTER 23 Sophie arrived breathless outside the large wooden doors of the Salle des Etats – the room that housed the Mona Lisa.Before entering, she gazed reluctantly farther down the hall, twenty yards or so, to the spot where her grandfather’s body still lay under the spotlight. The remorse that gripped her was powerful and sudden, a deep sadness laced with guilt. The man had reached out to her so many times over the past ten years, and yet Sophie had remained immovable – leaving his letters and packages unopened in a bottom drawer and denying his efforts to see her. He lied to me! Kept appalling secrets! What was I supposed to do? And so she had blocked him out. Completely. Now her grandfather was dead, and he was talking to her from the grave. The Mona Lisa. She reached for the huge wooden doors, and pushed. The entryway yawned open. Sophie stood on the threshold a moment, scanning the large rectangular chamber beyond. It too was bathed in a soft red light. The Salle des Etats was one of this museum’s rare culs-de-sac – a dead end and the only room off the middle of the Grand Gallery. This door, the chamber’s sole point of entry, faced a dominating fifteen-foot Botticelli on the far wall. Beneath it, centered on the parquet floor, an immense octagonal viewing divan served as a welcome respite for thousands of visitors to rest their legs while they admired the Louvre’s most valuable asset. Even before Sophie entered, though, she knew she was missing something. A black light.She gazed down the hall at her grandfather under the lights in the distance, surrounded by electronic gear. If he had written anything in here, he almost certainly would have written it with the watermark stylus. Taking a deep breath, Sophie hurried down to the well-lit crime scene. Unable to look at her grandfather, she focused solely on the PTS tools. Finding a small ultraviolet penlight, she slipped it in the pocket of her sweater and hurried back up the hallway toward the open doors of the Salle des Etats. Sophie turned the corner and stepped over the threshold. Her entrance, however, was met by an unexpected sound of muffled footsteps racing toward her from inside the chamber. There’ssomeone in here! A ghostly figure emerged suddenly from out of the reddish haze. Sophie jumped back. â€Å"There you are!† Langdon’s hoarse whisper cut the air as his silhouette slid to a stop in front of her. Her relief was only momentary. â€Å"Robert, I told you to get out of here! If Fache – â€Å"Where were you?† â€Å"I had to get the black light,† she whispered, holding it up. â€Å"If my grandfather left me a message – â€Å"Sophie, listen.† Langdon caught his breath as his blue eyes held her firmly. â€Å"The letters P. S†¦ . do they mean anything else to you? Anything at all?† Afraid their voices might echo down the hall, Sophie pulled him into the Salle des Etats and closed the enormous twin doors silently, sealing them inside. â€Å"I told you, the initials mean Princess Sophie.† â€Å"I know, but did you ever see them anywhere else? Did your grandfather ever use P. S. in any other way? As a monogram, or maybe on stationery or a personal item?† The question startled her. How would Robert know that? Sophie had indeed seen the initials P. S. once before, in a kind of monogram. It was the day before her ninth birthday. She was secretly combing the house, searching for hidden birthday presents. Even then, she could not bear secrets kept from her. What did Grand-pere get for me this year? She dug through cupboards and drawers. Did he get me the doll I wanted? Where would he hide it? Finding nothing in the entire house, Sophie mustered the courage to sneak into her grandfather’s bedroom. The room was off-limits to her, but her grandfather was downstairs asleep on the couch. I’ll just take a fast peek! Tiptoeing across the creaky wood floor to his closet, Sophie peered on the shelves behind his clothing. Nothing. Next she looked under the bed. Still nothing. Moving to his bureau, she opened the drawers and one by one began pawing carefully through them. There must be something for me here! As she reached the bottom drawer, she still had not found any hint of a doll. Dejected, she opened the final drawer and pulled aside some black clothes she had never seen him wear. She was about to close the drawer when her eyes caught a glint of gold in the back of the drawer. It looked like a pocket watch chain, but she knew he didn’t wear one. Her heart raced as she realized what it must be. A necklace! Sophie carefully pulled the chain from the drawer. To her surprise, on the end was a brilliant gold key. Heavy and shimmering. Spellbound, she held it up. It looked like no key she had ever seen. Most keys were flat with jagged teeth, but this one had a triangular column with little pockmarks all over it. Its large golden head was in the shape of a cross, but not a normal cross. This was an even-armed one, like a plus sign. Embossed in the middle of the cross was a strange symbol – two letters intertwined with some kind of flowery design. â€Å"P. S. ,† she whispered, scowling as she read the letters. Whatever could this be? â€Å"Sophie?† her grandfather spoke from the doorway. Startled, she spun, dropping the key on the floor with a loud clang. She stared down at the key, afraid to look up at her grandfather’s face. â€Å"I†¦ was looking for my birthday present,† she said, hanging her head, knowing she had betrayed his trust. For what seemed like an eternity, her grandfather stood silently in the doorway. Finally, he let out a long troubled breath. â€Å"Pick up the key, Sophie.† Sophie retrieved the key. Her grandfather walked in. â€Å"Sophie, you need to respect other people’s privacy.† Gently, he knelt down and took the key from her. â€Å"This key is very special. If you had lost it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her grandfather’s quiet voice made Sophie feel even worse. â€Å"I’m sorry, Grand-pere.I really am.† She paused. â€Å"I thought it was a necklace for my birthday.† He gazed at her for several seconds. â€Å"I’ll say this once more, Sophie, because it’s important. You need to learn to respect other people’s privacy.† â€Å"Yes, Grand-pere.† â€Å"We’ll talk about this some other time. Right now, the garden needs to be weeded.† Sophie hurried outside to do her chores. The next morning, Sophie received no birthday present from her grandfather. She hadn’t expected one, not after what she had done. But he didn’t even wish her happy birthday all day. Sadly, she trudged up to bed that night. As she climbed in, though, she found a note card lying on her pillow. On the card was written a simple riddle. Even before she solved the riddle, she was smiling. I know what this is! Her grandfather had done this for her last Christmas morning. A treasure hunt! Eagerly, she pored over the riddle until she solved it. The solution pointed her to another part of the house, where she found another card and another riddle. She solved this one too, racing on to the next card. Running wildly, she darted back and forth across the house, from clue to clue, until at last she found a clue that directed her back to her own bedroom. Sophie dashed up the stairs, rushed into her room, and stopped in her tracks. There in the middle of the room sat a shining red bicycle with a ribbon tied to the handlebars. Sophie shrieked with delight. â€Å"I know you asked for a doll,† her grandfather said, smiling in the corner. â€Å"I thought you might like this even better.† The next day, her grandfather taught her to ride, running beside her down the walkway. When Sophie steered out over the thick lawn and lost her balance, they both went tumbling onto the grass, rolling and laughing. â€Å"Grand-pere,†Sophie said, hugging him. â€Å"I’m really sorry about the key.† â€Å"I know, sweetie. You’re forgiven. I can’t possibly stay mad at you. Grandfathers and granddaughters always forgive each other.† Sophie knew she shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help it. â€Å"What does it open? I never saw a key like that. It was very pretty.† Her grandfather was silent a long moment, and Sophie could see he was uncertain how to answer. Grand-pere never lies. â€Å"It opens a box,† he finally said. â€Å"Where I keep many secrets.† Sophie pouted. â€Å"I hate secrets!† â€Å"I know, but these are important secrets. And someday, you’ll learn to appreciate them as much as I do.† â€Å"I saw letters on the key, and a flower.† â€Å"Yes, that’s my favorite flower. It’s called a fleur-de-lis. We have them in the garden. The white ones. In English we call that kind of flower a lily.† â€Å"I know those! They’re my favorite too!† â€Å"Then I’ll make a deal with you.† Her grandfather’s eyebrows raised the way they always did when he was about to give her a challenge. â€Å"If you can keep my key a secret, and never talk about it ever again, to me or anybody, then someday I will give it to you.† Sophie couldn’t believe her ears. â€Å"You will?† â€Å"I promise. When the time comes, the key will be yours. It has your name on it.† Sophie scowled. â€Å"No it doesn’t. It said P. S. My name isn’t P. S. !† Her grandfather lowered his voice and looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. â€Å"Okay, Sophie, if you must know, P. S. is a code. It’s your secret initials.† Her eyes went wide. â€Å"I have secret initials?† â€Å"Of course. Granddaughters always have secret initials that only their grandfathers know.† â€Å"P. S. ?† He tickled her. â€Å"Princesse Sophie.† She giggled. â€Å"I’m not a princess!† He winked. â€Å"You are to me.† From that day on, they never again spoke of the key. And she became his Princess Sophie. Inside the Salle des Etats, Sophie stood in silence and endured the sharp pang of loss. â€Å"The initials,† Langdon whispered, eyeing her strangely. â€Å"Have you seen them?† Sophie sensed her grandfather’s voice whispering in the corridors of the museum. Never speak ofthis key, Sophie.To me or to anyone.She knew she had failed him in forgiveness, and she wondered if she could break his trust again. P. S. Find Robert Langdon.Her grandfather wanted Langdon to help. Sophie nodded. â€Å"Yes, I saw the initials P. S. once. When I was very young.† â€Å"Where?† Sophie hesitated. â€Å"On something very important to him.† Langdon locked eyes with her. â€Å"Sophie, this is crucial. Can you tell me if the initials appeared with a symbol? A fleur-de-lis?† Sophie felt herself staggering backward in amazement. â€Å"But†¦ how could you possibly know that!† Langdon exhaled and lowered his voice. â€Å"I’m fairly certain your grandfather was a member of a secret society. A very old covert brotherhood.† Sophie felt a knot tighten in her stomach. She was certain of it too. For ten years she had tried to forget the incident that had confirmed that horrifying fact for her. She had witnessed something unthinkable. Unforgivable. â€Å"The fleur-de-lis,† Langdon said,† combined with the initials P. S. , that is the brotherhood’s official device. Their coat of arms. Their logo.† â€Å"How do you know this?† Sophie was praying Langdon was not going to tell her that he himselfwas a member. â€Å"I’ve written about this group,† he said, his voice tremulous with excitement. â€Å"Researching the symbols of secret societies is a specialty of mine. They call themselves the Prieure de Sion – the Priory of Sion. They’re based here in France and attract powerful members from all over Europe. In fact, they are one of the oldest surviving secret societies on earth.† Sophie had never heard of them. Langdon was talking in rapid bursts now. â€Å"The Priory’s membership has included some of history’s most cultured individuals: men like Botticelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo.† He paused, his voice brimming now with academic zeal. â€Å"And, Leonardo Da Vinci.† Sophie stared. â€Å"Da Vinci was in a secret society?† â€Å"Da Vinci presided over the Priory between 1510 and 1519 as the brotherhood’s Grand Master, which might help explain your grandfather’s passion for Leonardo’s work. The two men share a historical fraternal bond. And it all fits perfectly with their fascination for goddess iconology, paganism, feminine deities, and contempt for the Church. The Priory has a well-documented history of reverence for the sacred feminine.† â€Å"You’re telling me this group is a pagan goddess worship cult?† â€Å"More like the pagan goddess worship cult. But more important, they are known as the guardians of an ancient secret. One that made them immeasurably powerful.† Despite the total conviction in Langdon’s eyes, Sophie’s gut reaction was one of stark disbelief. Asecret pagan cult? Once headed by Leonardo Da Vinci? It all sounded utterly absurd. And yet, even as she dismissed it, she felt her mind reeling back ten years – to the night she had mistakenly surprised her grandfather and witnessed what she still could not accept. Could that explain – ? â€Å"The identities of living Priory members are kept extremely secret,† Langdon said,† but the P. S. and fleur-de-lis that you saw as a child are proof. It could only have been related to the Priory.† Sophie realized now that Langdon knew far more about her grandfather than she had previously imagined. This American obviously had volumes to share with her, but this was not the place. â€Å"I can’t afford to let them catch you, Robert. There’s a lot we need to discuss. You need to go!† Langdon heard only the faint murmur of her voice. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was lost in another place now. A place where ancient secrets rose to the surface. A place where forgotten histories emerged from the shadows. Slowly, as if moving underwater, Langdon turned his head and gazed through the reddish haze toward the Mona Lisa. The fleur-de-lis†¦ the flower of Lisa†¦ the Mona Lisa. It was all intertwined, a silent symphony echoing the deepest secrets of the Priory of Sion and Leonardo Da Vinci. A few miles away, on the riverbank beyond Les Invalides, the bewildered driver of a twin-bed Trailor truck stood at gunpoint and watched as the captain of the Judicial Police let out a guttural roar of rage and heaved a bar of soap out into the turgid waters of the Seine. How to cite The Da Vinci Code Chapter 21-23, Essay examples

Thursday, April 23, 2020

What Makes An Effective Speaker Essays - Rhetoric, Loudspeaker

What Makes An Effective Speaker Day in and day out we are exposed to different types of speakers. On television we see reporters, announcers, and talk show hosts. At school we encounter guest speakers and professors. We may not be asking ourselves if he or she is an effective speaker but unintentionally we are. We need to have effective speakers in order for us to understand what is happening now and what has happened in the past. And also to learn about the old and the new. There are several things to look for in an effective speaker. Some characteristics are personal presentation, knowledge of material, use of language, clarity and projection, and the ability to connect with the audience. Consequently, all those characteristics have an association with one another. In almost every situation when you are presenting yourself, the first thing that an audience looks at is your appearance. The way you present yourself and the body language you use accounts for how the audience perceives you. For example, in the videotaped motivational speech viewed in class, the speaker was dressed in formal attire. If the speaker were wearing torn up denim jeans and a stained T-shirt, the audience would not have perceived him to be informative because of the unprofessional garments. Why would someone want to listen to a person who does not appear to know what he or she is speaking about? Being knowledgeable of the material is also essential to being an effective speaker. As mentioned before, no one wants to listen to a person who is not well informed. Giving speeches should add credentials to your character. One of the main objectives I learned in freshman composition was to identify whether or not the author was credible. The same procedure goes forth in defining an effective speaker. It is basically common sense, you cannot inform others if you do not fully understand what you are informing about. Language has a prominent role in deciphering what makes an effective speaker. Using various sentence structures, figures of speech, and vocabulary, are a few of the features speakers use to hook the audience into his or her speech. Using simple, compound, and complex sentences adds texture to a speech. Using repetition, similes, metaphors, anecdotes, and other figures of speech gives detail to ideas that are hard to explain by comparing it to every day ideas. Using a broad spectrum of vocabulary which has a sense of visual and acoustic involvement can aid the audience to better process your speech. The use of proper vocabulary helps your audience to clearly understand your thoughts. In high school, I was a cheerleader and understood the importance of clarity and projection. Cheering is not like giving a speech, but from a different perspective, a cheerleader and speaker are both trying get a message across to their audience. A speaker must also be clear and loud. When you give a spee ch and emphasize the words, the audience will understand that the information you are giving out is important. We enunciate and project our voices in a manner to specify what needs to be heard. The last and most important characteristic is having the ability to connect with the audience. When giving a speech, we are trying to communicate with a large amount of people with different backgrounds and beliefs. A previous professor my freshman spring semester did not seem to connect with our class. The language he used was complex and his tone of voice was dull. At times we thought he was teaching to himself aloud. On the other hand, from the videotaped presentation seen in class, the speaker used comedy, personal experiences and crowd involvement in order to attract the crowd and keep them attentive. These traits act as a common ground for the audience and the speaker. Every speaker needs to be able to identify a common ground and use that to capture the audience's attention. There are probably several more characteristics that make-up an effective speaker. We can identify that the audience connects all of the characteristics listed. Without having an audience that can understand, there is no reason to speak at all. If I were able to have one characteristic out of the five

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Eastern Hellbender essays

Eastern Hellbender essays The eastern hellbender is a very large species of salamander inhabiting the eastern mountains ranges of North America. These salamanders are completely aquatic and can grow to 30 inches in length from head to tail. In the wild, hellbenders inhabit the bottoms of pollution-free, free-flowing rivers and streams. They are mainly found in the Susquehanna River drainage in southern New York and Pennsylvania. Also they can be found in large portions of the Missouri, Ohio, and Mississippi River drainages from western Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, extreme southern Indiana, most of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, northern Alabama and Georgia, western North Carolina and Virginia. Hellbenders are nocturnal; they hide under large rocks, logs or other shelter during the day. So large flat rocks would be necessary for their zoo habitat. Also they need a somewhat large habitat; they are not usually found in small creeks and streams. They need a few feet of depth and a rocky bottom to live comfortably. Hellbenders live with many other animals. Fish, crayfish, turtles, snakes and insects are few examples, along with all the plant life and algae. If I were creating a habitat for a zoo that would include my animal, I would try to make it house as many animals as possible. All the animals that I listed above would work well. Even a few animals that use the land at times, as well as the water, could be part of the exhibit. I would make the barrier a simple rock wall on the backside and have glass on the front so that people could see in the water as well as above it. There would be a stream of sorts all the way through the exhibit that ran parallel to the glass so that people could see all along the water. There would be land on the far side of the stream that went up to the rock wall. A good size for the enclosure would be about 30 or 40 feet of a stream which is about 5 to 10 feet wide, and a few feet of land that slopes up to the rock. The ...

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Quotes on Funny Thoughts to Make You Smile

Quotes on Funny Thoughts to Make You Smile Have you ever had a funny thought pop into your brain? Maybe you put a couple of things together and realized it told a truth in a quirky way. Our brains often have a natural comedian deep inside and you might even make yourself laugh. Then when you stop and think about thinking, things start getting a little weird. Famous thinkers and witty people might seem to have more funny thoughts, but we have the benefit of only seeing their really good material. You might be inspired by a humorous remark, or hearing about an incident that causes you to giggle. Share your funny thoughts with others and see how you create a riot of laughter around you. If you need some help, read these funny thoughts of well-known people. Will Rogers Everything is funny, as long as its happening to somebody else.   Robert  Frost The brain a wonderful organ.  It starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office. Charles Schulz Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, Where have I gone wrong? Then a voice says to me, This is going to take more than one night. Friedrich Nietzsche All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not  truth. Miguel de Cervantes Sanity may be madness but the maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be. Norm Papernick Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad. Ethel Barrymore You grow up the day you have your first real laugh - at yourself.   Reba McEntire To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funnybone.   Isaac Asimov People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. Abraham Lincoln No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. Oscar Wilde The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius. The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing.   Victor Borge Santa Claus has the right idea - visit people only once a year. Edward Gibbon Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused. Quentin Crisp The trouble with children is that theyre not returnable. George Bernard Shaw Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else. Joe Namath Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was shut up. Mark Twain While the rest of the species is descended from apes, redheads are descended from cats. Ogden Nash Middle age is when youve met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else. The Cable Guy You know what the trouble about real life is? Theres no danger music.

Friday, February 14, 2020

STEP Analysis and Market Segmentations for a Motorola Company Essay

STEP Analysis and Market Segmentations for a Motorola Company - Essay Example It is stated that widely distributed sales and system integration teams of Motorola company collaborated by improvised phone, e-mail, and paper processes. Motorola consists of three businesses: Connected Home Solutions, Networks & Enterprise, and Mobile Devices. Connected Home Solutions provides a scalable, integrated end-to-end system for the delivery of broadband services that keeps consumers informed, entertained and connected. Mobile Devices designs, manufactures, sells and services wireless subscriber and server equipment for cellular systems, portable energy storage products and systems, servers and software solutions and related software and accessory products. Networks & Enterprise solutions include secure two-way radio, cellular and wireless broadband systems to meet the needs of public safety, government, private, and service provider and enterprise customer’s world-wide. The researcher then focuses on the analysis of Motorola’s RAZR phone, that is used in mul ti-national business, which is characteristic of a social and cultural worldview today. In relation to Motorola’s RAZR business goals to retain more consumers, it becomes important to look at the improvements and continuations of the company’s strategy. It is concluded then by the researcher of this essay that the Motorola RAZR has identified with innovation, being one of the highest selling products in mobile communications history, that maintain a connection with customer culture and time the release of new products.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

History of Florence italy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of Florence italy - Essay Example The popes encountered disagreements among themselves due to the difference in political alliances especially between the Italian and French popes who lived in Rome, and Avignon respectively. Any religious believer serving two popes, was intolerable and would be considered as a kin to being in hopeless/helpless passenger in an over speeding driverless automobile that would claim passenger’s life unsympathetically (Bonechi 43). The resolution to the pope issue was settled in a conference organized in 1409 which led to the appointment of a third pope, though the situation continued for a while till one pope settled on in 1417. The new pope led to resilience and creation of the papal state with the headquarters based in Italy. Due to the creation of a papal state all the tithes and funding directed to the church had to be channeled into one coffer, referred to as papal banker based in Florence (Bonechi 49). By the 15th Century Florence had already been famous and prosperous historically with fortunes in the banking industry and wool trades. However, the Black Death had wiped out the Italian population in the 14th century which resulted in bankruptcy of two banks. This led to occasional famine and civil unrest coupled with plague outbreak episodes and calamities which wobbled and shook Florence and its economy for a while (Bonechi 15). During the famine and economic strive, Florentines declined to be dominated by others, leading to repulsion of both Naples and Milan’s unwelcoming advancement. Due to the repulsion, Florence gained more power than it had during the pre- Plague forging ahead to secure Pisa as one of its port (this was a geographical item which Florence had not enjoyed previously) (Bonechi 38). During the third competition, the humanist believed that man was purportedly created in the image of God (Judea Christian) and given the ability to balance ideas in a meaningful manner.

Friday, January 24, 2020

Womens Behavior in Coleridges Christabel and Brownings My Last Duchess :: My Last Duchess Essays

Women's Behavior in Coleridge's Christabel and Browning's My Last Duchess      Ã‚   Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Browning wrote in two different eras.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Coleridge's "Christabel" and Browning's "My Last Duchess" both deal with   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   women's sexuality. The women of the poems are both presented as having   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   sinned. Christabel's own belief that she has sinned is based on how a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   woman of her time was supposed to behave. The Duchess's sin is that she   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   violates the code of conduct for a noble wife. Yet, can the modern reader   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   really feel these women did anything wrong? The only sin in these two   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   poems is that women are supposed to suppress their emotions. The real   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   problem is that they defied the idea that women are not supposed to be as   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   sexually open as men. A woman was only to behave as these two women did   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   towards their husband, and even with him do so behind closed doors. Women   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   were to serve as the "Angel in the House" both of these women defy that   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   image. That type of thinking is characteristic of Romantic and Victorian   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   standards of women. This is especially true of the upper classes to which   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Christabel and the Duchess belong.      Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Coleridge raises the question: "What happens to a woman's self-image when   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   she defies social expectations?" Christabel struggles with this question   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   throughout the poem because she defies the standards for how a woman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   should behave sexually. However, Coleridge is not trying to makes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Christabel a heroine for doing so. The poem has more to do with the effect   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of breaking rules on women. Coleridge depicts Christabel as a young woman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   discovering herself. She has no taste for convention, as one can see by   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   her wandering around in the woods at night. Apparently, this is not proper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   behavior, as the poet describes her action in a scolding tone, "What makes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   her in the woods so late, / A furlong from the castle gate?" (Coleridge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   25-26). The reader is given the idea from the beginning that Christabel is

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Edward Jones’ original business model Essay

Executive Summary This memorandum addresses some of the key issues with Edward Jones, which includes the lack of an online presence, possible cannibalization from larger firms, and the inability to manage funds from institutional investors. I conclude that the most effective of all of the theorized strategies would be a combination of Edward Jones’ original business model with an online platform. This plan would allow Edward Jones to stay true to its fundamentals, as well as attract new clientele and provide better service to its existing clients. Introduction Edward Jones has become the fourth largest brokerage firm in the United States. By holding on to a fundamental business strategy based on the core concepts of close client relationship and long-term investment focus, Edward Jones was able to offer excellent service and performance. However, with the industry rapidly changing, Edward Jones must evaluate its core values to sustain its competitive advantage but in a manner that will allow them to expand its services, and continue to compete with the top players in the industry. Key Issues and Problems When observing Edward Jones Financial, I found three critical issues and problems with the firm. Edward Jones built its business model around creating an environment that would allow entrepreneurs to thrive and run their own businesses to a certain extent. This is what originally led to Edward Jones’ success when the company first started; however, it is also the catalyst for the issues of the firm that were present in 2006. Edward Jones’ three main issues were the cannibalization of its business by bigger firms such as Merrill Lynch, customers leaving Edward Jones to manage their own money via online platforms such as E-Trade (MITR, 2014), and the lack of  ability to manage high net worth funds that are typically present with institutional funds such as pensions. Edward Jones built its business around meeting face to face with individuals in their homes and offices. This is a great model for an entrepreneur driven financial services firm. However, as the technology b ubble began to burst in the mid 2000’s, online brokerages such as E-Trade began to draw customers away from Edward Jones. The lack of an online presence on Edward Jones’ part made companies that offered this service more appealing due to lower fees (OBR, 2008). When examining Exhibit 5 (HBR,2007) , you can see that Edward Jones derived over 83% of its revenues from commissions and revenue from fees. Whereas, E-Trade generated only about 34% of its revenues from these categories. This shows that, online brokerage was advantageous to clients given that they could avoid expenses that were used to pay brokers, making it a significant problem for Edward Jones. The last major issue was that they were not suited to manage institutional funds. Despite building an excellent company around working with blue-collar individuals and families, it is clear that Edward Jones’ focus on the individual investor might have been a significant problem. By only working with individuals and not selling large amounts of stock and bonds to institutional investors, Edward Jones passed up significant amounts of manageable assets and subsequently, revenue. Exhibit 5 shows firms that were managing institutional investments such as pension funds had significantly higher profit margins than Edward Jones. In 2005 Edward Jones’ profit margin was 1.05%, while Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, were 27.8% and 26.33%, respectively. This also shows the average amount of assets in dollars per account at each firm. Edward Jones’ average assets per account were $45,556 while Merrill Lynch & Morgan Stanley was $163,667 and $137,111 respectively. Edward Jones leaves revenue on the table by not managing higher net worth institutional accounts. Available Strategic Options Edward Jones’ strategic direction in 2006 had to respond to competitors like Merrill Lynch if the partnership wanted to maintain its exceptional performance and growth. The first option focuses on staying true to Edward Jones’ small-town roots and demonstrating the value of strong personal relationships with one’s financial advisor in planning for the distribution  phase of life (Faux, 2014). FAs can take advantage of face-to-face interactions and close relationships to communicate to clients the importance of planning for the distribution phase as soon as possible and hopefully encourage client referrals. Also, a professional advisor who personally knows the clients and their needs provides critical support to keeping long-term retirement plans on track while still focusing on time-sensitive decisions. This defensive move could stunt the firm’s growth, and if it fails, could leave Edward Jones even more vulnerable to cannibalization. The second option shifts the company’s original policies of strictly face-to-face interaction to a hybrid model, which includes online account and portfolio tracking and current news and research. This option adds value for existing customers because they can view all of their financial information in one place at their convenience. Additionally, this technology offering creates a minimally viable product for mass affluent â€Å"delegator† and â€Å"validator† type investors, and then entices those clients with the added value of a personal financial advisor. This option also leverages the firm’s existing research efforts into growing the business. The final option calls for a rapid expansion to institutional clients in an attempt to compete directly with competitors such as Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Wachovia. The success of these firms indicates that expansion is possible. If Edward Jones does not expand, it will forgo potential market share and the attendant revenue. However, expanding as its competitors did would likely mean compromising many of the firm’s established values and beliefs. Recommendations I strongly recommend that Edward Jones shift to a hybrid model of face-to-face interaction combined with online account and portfolio tracking and access to current news and research in order to retain existing clients as well as attract new clients. This strategy enables the firm to stay true to its client-centric roots and positions the firm for growth. When clients have instant access to their financial information and the latest news and research, they feel better equipped to face complex distribution decisions. Potential clients in the post-Internet bubble world expect basic technology offerings but also appreciate the benefits of a personal financial advisor. Being competitive in the future requires embracing technology as well as  taking advantage of the firm’s close personal relationships with its clients. Works Cited â€Å"Online vs. Traditional Brokerage.† Money Is The Root. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. Faux, Zeke. â€Å"Edward Jones Trains Young Stockbrokers the Old-Fashioned Way.†Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 30 May 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. â€Å"Stock Broker Account Transfer Fees.† Online Broker Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014. Collins, David, and Troy Swith. â€Å"Edward Jones in 2006: Confronting Success.† Harvard Business Review. HBR, 21 Mar. 2007. Web.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

The Origins Of Nathaniel Witherell - 1402 Words

The origins of Nathaniel Witherell date back to 1903 when Robert Bruce donated 9 acres of land and 4 buildings to the town of Greenwich to build the â€Å"Greenwich Hospital† (Owned and Operated by the Town of Greenwich†). There claimed mission was committing the facility to â€Å"treatment of contagious diseases† such as the Smallpox, Tuberculosis, the Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria. Later on in 1917, on Perry Ridge road, a new â€Å"Greenwich hospital† was opened and the hospital on Parsonage road was renamed â€Å"The Municipal Hospital† (Owned and Operated by the Town of Greenwich†). Due to medical advancements, common chronic diseases can be treated and cured, therefore modifying the facility s purpose in a way that meets of need of the residents of the town of Greenwich. Today, the facility is named Nathaniel Witherell, and is a short term physically rehabilitation center, long-term patient care center and a certain area merely focused on taking care of residents with Dementia (Nathaniel Witherell, Short-Term Rehab and Skilled Nursing Center). The facility specializes in Person-Centered Care†, meaning that they provide certain services to accommodate to residents quotidian routines, regarding their diets and religious obligations (Nathaniel Witherell, Short-Term Rehab and Skilled Nursing Center). Most importantly, the facility works to develop a healthy and happy environment by enriching the relationship between the residents of the building and the staff members (Nathaniel