Wednesday, December 25, 2019

The Principles And History Of Phrenology - 1055 Words

The Principles and History of Phrenology Emily Ryhal Palo Alto University Abstract Franz Joseph Gall created the main principles of phrenology, which was the first scientific theory of brain localization. His theories were based entirely on observation and natural philosophy. Phrenology was the study of associating an individual’s personality characteristics and mental abilities based on the shape of their skull. It was incomparably influential throughout the first half of the 19th century thanks to Gall and his many successors. Some of the main tenants of phrenology were later confirmed by scientific experiments and technology. The Principles and History of Phrenology Franz Joseph Gall created the first comprehensive theory of brain localization in 1796. Phrenology is a pseudoscientific theory that asserts an individual’s personality and mental capacities can be determined by the shape of their skull (Cooter, 1984). â€Å"Organology† was the original term that Gall used to describe his science; it was Gall’s follower, T.I.M Forster, who coined the term phrenology (Van Wyhe, 1999). Gall’s contemporary, Joseph Franz Spurzheim, was responsible for the dissemination of Gall’s ideas to the United Kingdom and the United States (Selby, 1993). Gall inspired many â€Å"egotistical† men to promulgate phrenology, and it â€Å"attracted such men because of its promise of superlative intellectual authority with minimal effort† (Van Wyhe, 1999). PhrenologyShow MoreRelatedBiological Determinism And Crime Of Criminology1595 Words   |  7 PagesBiological Determinism and Criminality Throughout the history of criminology, each theory dominates and gains support than others though different period of time. This essay will first discuss the argument for biological determinism which mainly focuses on phrenology. The idea of Darwinism also links to Lombroso’s idea that a person’s bad behavior can be predicted and should be eliminated will also be discussed. The second part of the essay will emphasis the classical theory and how in contrastsRead MorePsychology Is The Study Of Behavior And Mental Processes972 Words   |  4 Pagesif people study and understand psychology, people will show a great more deal of sympathy for others and the hard comings in their lives. Along with all the benefits of studying psychology, it also has a very interesting history with many significant figures throughout history. Psychology derives from Greek roots, meaning study of the psyche, or soul (Puskhe, â€Å"breathe, spirit, soul† and -logia â€Å"study of†). Philosophers were the first to think and unknowingly come up with the backdrop of psychologyRead MoreThe Age Of New Imperialism1944 Words   |  8 Pagesthe root. These pseudo-sciences were constructed to rationalize the imperialism during the 19th century. This paper will discuss some of the most influential sciences produced during the late 19th century, including social Darwinism, eugenics, and phrenology, that were used to justify British Imperialism and how they supported imperialism. White is the supreme race, non-White people are inferior, White people are the ones with all the achievements in the world – these ideologies and theories, thoughRead MoreLast Week, Pbs Broadcast â€Å"Birth Of A Movement,† A Film1435 Words   |  6 Pagesto give an address in Boston. The pivotal conflict of his career, however, was his attempt to prevent Griffith’s ode to the Ku Klux Klan from being shown in the city. â€Å"Birth of a Nation† was not simply the first blockbuster in American cinematic history; its racialist propaganda inspired a rebirth of the K.K.K., which had all but died out prior to the film’s release. It was screened in the White House, reportedly to accolades from Woodrow Wilson himself. Trotter found himself caught between the FirstRead MorePositivist Approach And Human Social Behavior1275 Words   |  6 Pagescriticism. Understanding the basic assumption and logic of the positivist paradigm is by knowing what it means. positivism means a perspective on knowledge and reality that assumes human behavior can be studies and explained by utilizing the same principles and practices used to study natural environment. â€Å"Other doctors at the time were using many strange methods to treat patients who were depressed or mentally ill† (Howard Fleming, 2007).Sociologist will use scientific methods to the study the humanRead MoreWhy Psychology Is Important For Mental Health Professionals2300 Words   |  10 PagesThe Importance Understanding the History of Psychology Psychology is an ever evolving field of study that is truly just in its infancy. Although tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of behavior, cognitions, emotions and brain functions, it has only been in the last 130 years that psychology has been studied as a science (Goodwin, 2015, p. 4). It is important for mental health professionals to understand the history and evolution of psychology because it is difficult, if not impossibleRead MoreScience Of Improving A Human Population3058 Words   |  13 Pagesreason.†- C.S. Lewis, Essays on Theology and Ethics. Eugenics is the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable hereditary characteristics. The eugenics movement was prominent in American history. It was backed by many influential members and organizations, ranging from the Carnegie Institute to John D. Rockefeller. It was studied in prominent institutions such as Harvard and Cornell, and it laid the groundwork for the Nazis and the Ku KluxRead MoreCompare Beccaria and Lombroso Essay2327 Words   |  10 Pagesrational rules. All social action should be directed by the aim of achieving happiness for the greater number, and the avoidance of unnecessary pain or suffering (Hale et al, 2009). These principles guided by Beccaria formed what is now referred to as Utilitarian thinking. Beccaria proposed a corpus of principles that authorities could follow and make their rule more rational and more effective. His system of legal reforms had clearly written laws, a restrained judici ary, with the abolishment ofRead MoreEssay about Rendezvous Disciplines2796 Words   |  12 Pageswith criminal activity. As provided by Heidensohn (1989) ‘Lombroso asserted that criminal women were amoral throwbacks, to whom prostitution was the equivalent of male crime’. Cited in Heidensohn (1989) Leonard (1982) is quoted: ‘Dismal, is the history of the sociological study of female crime’. Even though his work is still considered, Lombroso gathered some weighted dispute over the results he published. Examples of his un-reputable work, as distinguished by Williams are; ‘His willingnessRead MoreNot for Ourselves Alone Essay2590 Words   |  11 Pagesbeing accomplished, marital equality and idyllic child-raising would gradually approach her dream of utopia. Mild amendments along the way support her broad tolerance for the modifications in society. Amid suffrage were the theories of eugenics, phrenology, and anticlericalism; her tendency to leap from one unmentionable interest to another left most advocates confused and irritated; some Cady Stanton enthusiasts, however, applied her views to their budding beliefs. Only eighteen years after her

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

T.S. Eliots The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock Essay

T.S. Eliots The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock Works Cited Not Included The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, a poem by T.S. Eliot, provides an abundant source of material for applying Freudian analysis.[1] Specifically, it is the character Prufrock who supplies this rich source. Although many Freudian themes could have been addressed in relation to Prufrock, in this paper it will be narrowed to the prevalent themes of ambivalence and cultural frustration found in Freud#960;s work and the contributing role the super-ego plays in their occurrence. In fact, Prufrock exemplifies ambivalence and its necessary conditions so well that Freud himself would have probably labeled him a neurotic. Before†¦show more content†¦#8805;(They will say: à ¥But how his arms and legs are thin!#960;)#8804; (44). Yet, the best example of his extreme social anxiety is when he describes how he feels when in social settings. And I have known the eyes already, known them all – The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall. (55-58) The allusion made is a reference to bug collecting where the insect is pinned down and further inspected. Prufrock feels he is scrutinized in such a way that he cannot escape, hence his being pinned to the wall. He stills wriggles because he is uncomfortable, but it is to no avail. Due to this severe social anxiety, allowing even one person to know of the extreme vulnerability he exposes through the thoughts in the poem would be too stressful for him. The only person who Prufrock could be certain would never betray these thoughts is himself. Thus, the text of the poem represents his own stream of consciousness. Despite the fact that Prufrock appears to refer to another person in lines one, 11, 31, 78 and 90, it could be argued that this is a rhetorical method employed by him to express his thoughts. It is as if another person were listening. Acknowledging this as true further explains his solitude, for it displays his longing to express these feelingsShow MoreRelated T.S Elio t’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examples1059 Words   |  5 PagesT.S Eliot’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examples of modernist poetry which illustrate the concerns of modernist poets. Explain how the poetry you have studied reflects some of the major concerns of its context? In your answer refer closely to two poems by T.S. Eliot. T.S Eliot’s Preludes and The Love Song of J.Alfred. Prufrock, are examples of modernist poetry which illustrate the concerns of modernist poets. The modern era, which lasted between 1885 to 1940Read MoreThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay1524 Words   |  7 Pageshistorical context of a particular poem Poem: T. S. Eliot, ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The context of any given text whether poetry, novels or a movie is always integral to its understanding. Social and historical context of not only the given text, but the writer’s context and reader’s context play an important role in the interpretation and understanding of the major ideas, issues, values and beliefs within the text. T.S (Thomas Stearns) Eliot was one of the twentieth century’s majorRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Love Song Of J.alfred Prufrock 1559 Words   |  7 Pagesmodern individual from the self and their surroundings as a direct cause of their socio-economic circumstance. T.S Eliot’s poetry established him as one of the most eminent modernist poets; attempting to free himself from the constraints of the Victorian movement which pre-dated him, this is evident in the free verse and stream of consciousness narrative style of ‘The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock’. In doing so, Eliot turned his attention towards the pligh t of the individual, opting for the ambiguousRead MoreT.S. Eliot - The Waste Land Brief Analytic Essay633 Words   |  3 PagesT.S Eliot’s The Wasteland, whilst being laden with rich cultural references and allusions, is a confronting representation of re-establishment and rejuvenation across the entirety of a European post-war society. Eliot addresses the cyclical nature of life and death, encompassed by carefully crafted language and structure designed to disorientate the reader. The reader is offered an interpretation of human behaviour which is akin to all beings across the cohort of society, regardless of ethnicityRead MoreThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock1729 Words   |  7 PagesThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The dramatic monologue â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock was written by Thomas Stearns Eliot and published in June of 1915. Eliot was born in St Louis, Missouri on September 26, 1888, where he grew up and lived until the age of eighteen. After high school, Eliot studied at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA and the Sorbonne in Paris, France. Eventually, Eliot ended up in England where he married his wife Vivien and spent the remainder of his lifeRead MoreThe Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock Essay1362 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock launched T.S. Eliot’s status as the influential poet of the twentieth century. The poem narrates the self-analysis of a man, Prufrock, who exposes the void and soulless quality of the modern world through his experiences. The morbid outlook of his life stems from his inability to find meaning in his existence. He is entrapped in a constant cycle of overwhelmingly negative emotions -- anxiety, hopelessnes s, and despair -- haunted by his fears and regrets. Prufrock’sRead MoreThe Lovesong Of J. Alfred Prufrock Critical Analysis1643 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å" The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock† by T.S. Eliot’s persona is a middle-aged male who has an unpromising physical environment and will. Much of the poem consists of Prufrock contemplating whether to go forth with a daring act, but to the reader’s dismay this daring act he speaks of is talking to a woman who he seems to have feelings for. Eliot began to write The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock in 1909, and ending at the peak of his first published book, Prufrock and Other Observations, publishedRead MoreThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: A Good Example of Modernism1066 Words   |  5 Pagesdefamiliarization,rhythm,irresolution(Childs12 They call this movement as a ‘’ revolution of the word’’.T.S Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot is a good example for Modernism. It represents its aspects successfully. It is a poem about a man who has some problems in life.Even though the narrator of the poem is a middle-aged man; the poem is obviously written by a young man.( T.S. Eliot himself ). Eliot in his real life probably share Prufrock’s moods,feelings or anxieties aboutRead MoreLove Song of J.Alfred Prufrock : Representation of Modern Man1827 Words   |  8 PagesTHE LOVE SONG OF J.ALFRED PRUFROC Often called the first Modernist poem, â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock† was published in the prestigious American journal Poetry in June 1915. About the Poem: The poem centers on the feelings and thoughts of the eponymous speaker (the somewhat neurotic Prufrock) as he walks through the streets of London route to meet a woman for tea. He is considering a question (perhaps, broadly, the meaning of life, or, more narrowly, a proposal of marriage). Far more thanRead MoreAnalysis Of John Greene s Our Stars971 Words   |  4 PagesHazel Grace, wakes up in the middle of the night feeling extreme pain, She describes the feeling as being on the shore of a vast body of water, With waves crashing overhead but being unable to drown. Drowning also appears in T.S. Eliot’s poem,†The Love Song Of J.Alfred Prufrock† that Hazel recites for Augustus â€Å"Gus† Walters, During their dinner in Amsterdam over a bottle of champagne. She says the concluding lines of the poem: â€Å"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By sea-girls wreathed with

Sunday, December 8, 2019

The Credits of Continuing Education

Question: Continuing education is a requirement of certification for laboratory scientists. Why do you think this is required, and how does it benefit the clinical laboratory? Answer: The credits of continuing education are mainly provided by clinical and laboratory standards institute. Continuing education benefit the clinical laboratory as the participants gain confidence in the quality of the program with this permitted educational session (Merriam MacKeracher, 2013). The professional knowledge is mainly enhanced with the help of continuing education. Continuing education acclaims in the course of hundreds of quality agendas on topics of decisive interest (Rosen et al., 2012). References Merriam, S., MacKeracher, D. (2013). The new update on adult learning theory. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education.Instructor. Rosen, M. A., Hunt, E. A., Pronovost, P. J., Federowicz, M. A., Weaver, S. J. (2012). In situ simulation in continuing education for the health care professions: a systematic review.Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions,32(4), 243-254.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Training Needs Analysis free essay sample

Co. Pte Ltd has been established since 1970s and is one of the top five trading companies in the Asia Pacific (covering North and South Asia) region. The organization consists of eight major departments namely, Iron Steel, Foodstuff, General Merchandise, Chemical (Organic Inorganic), Machinery Electronics, Information Technology, Finance Accounting and Human Resource/Administration. Each individual department is headed by a Department General Manager, who in turn reports to the President of the organization. The company staff strength is around 120 employees. The organization basically diversifies its portfolio of business in terms of trading in various products. 2. 1VISION To be a Leading Global Integrated Solutions Trading Company 2. 2MISSION Partnering Globally to Generate Progress and Prosperity 2. 3BUSINESS STRATEGY We aim to enhance and strengthen our business strategy by actively seeking new and innovative ways to create value in every business venture. †¢ Develop Winning Proposition by Interfacing Partners Globally †¢ Diligence in Executing Inventions as Growth Drivers †¢ Deliver Integrated Solutions to Propel Progress 3. We will write a custom essay sample on Training Needs Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 0WHAT IS TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS? Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is the formal process of identifying needs as gaps between current and desired results, placing those needs in priority order based on the cost to meet each need versus the cost of ignoring it, and selecting the most important needs (problems or opportunities) for reduction or elimination. It incorporates two critical dimensions, namely priority of importance of needs and costs of fulfilling or ignoring those needs.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Psychology Papers

Psychology Papers Psychology Papers Psychology Papers: How to Make Them Good? There may be different kinds of psychology papers that you may be provided with if you study psychology. But whether you have to write an essay or a research paper or some other assignment paper in psychology, you should take into account the following points:Any of psychology papers should contain the deep analysis of the issue it is written on; It is should be written clearly and have the logical structure; A psychology paper should be free of any mistakes as any other assignment paper. In what way can you meet these requirements? On making this question clear you will master the art of writing of psychology papers. Writing psychology papers: constituent parts of the processIt goes without saying that your writing should begin with the thorough study of your paper topic. Papers psychology suggests the deep analysis of phenomena of the human life. So, if you have to discuss, for example, alcoholism or panic disorder in your pap er, you should study the reasons of the phenomenon in question, its influence on the human life and activity, its presentation and consequences. That is why to make strong research you should find as much informational materials on the topic as possible. You may make use of different books on psychology, articles or other papers. When studying necessary informational sources it is necessary for you to make notes. Write down some information (statistical data, quotations) that you may use in your psychology paper. Making a thesis statement is peculiar to psychology papers as well. Moreover, a thesis statement will play an important role in your writing. In what way? It will be much easier for you to write and for reader to read. Firstly, a paper thesis statement puts your research into certain frameworks. Thus, you have no need to switch from one aspect to another and may concentrate your attention on a certain point. Secondly, a thesis statement is presented at the beg inning of your paper. Thus, your audience may find out what your paper is focused on. How to put all the ideas together in the logical order? This is an important question in writing of any assignment papers and in particular psychology papers. The success of a paper depends on its structure considerably. To make your paper well-structured, first of all, you should make an outline. State the points you are going to discuss in your paper. do not forget that it should conta

Friday, November 22, 2019

Dam and Damn - Commonly Confused Words

Dam and Damn - Commonly Confused Words The words dam and damn are homophones: they sound the same but have different meanings.The noun dam refers to a barrier that holds back water. As a verb, dam means to hold back or confine. As a verb, damn means to criticize or to condemn as bad or inferior. As an interjection, damn is used to express anger, frustration, or disappointment. As an adjective, damn serves as a shorted form of damned. Examples Are you that little Dutch  boy with the finger in the dam trying to prevent the wall from coming down and the water from flooding your valley?  (Jeanette C. Morgan, The Voice That Must Be Heard. Tate, 2010)The Boers were unsuccessful in their efforts to dam up the Klip River in order to flood the town.Damn them, he cursed inwardly, years of bitter resentment welling up inside him. Damn them for laughing, damn the driver for swearing at him! Damn the whole town.(James Herbert, The Fog. Pan Macmillan, 1999) Practice The man could be concealing the fact that his stones were enchanted by black magic, helping to _____ the person who used them.  (Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse. Del Rey Books, 1983)Waves were crashing against the _____ in front of us, and we were drenched by the wild spray.There was a treaty that said the Indians could always fish the falls. But the government wanted to build a _____ to generate electricity for the cities and store water for the farmers.  (Craig Lesley, Winterkill. Houghton Mifflin, 1984) Answers to Practice Exercises The man could be concealing the fact that his stones were enchanted by black magic, helping to  damn  the person who used them. (Piers Anthony,  On a Pale Horse.  Del Rey Books, 1983)Waves were crashing against the  dam  in front of us, and we were drenched by the wild spray.There was a treaty that said the Indians could always fish the falls. But the government wanted to build a  dam  to generate electricity for the cities and store water for the farmers.   (Craig Lesley,  Winterkill. Houghton Mifflin, 1984)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Amputation Mishap Negligence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Amputation Mishap Negligence - Essay Example A malpractice on the other hand occurs when a doctor, a hospital, or any other medical professional, causes an injury through omission or negligence to a patient. Malpractice can also be viewed as professional negligence, where a surgeon or any other professional testifies that his colleagues would regard his practice as not proper. All malpractice may involve negligence, although all negligence may not be malpractice. If a nurse fails to present medications as prescribed, and consequently the patient’s condition gets worse or results in death, the nurse will be indeed negligent. In cases where a nurse fails to pay attention to his or her tasks or has inadequate skills, it may lead to a suit of negligence to one who does not give approved care standards (Helm, 2003). Good nurses know their obligations and communicate well with their patients and physicians. Such nurses are aware of board practices and regulations within legal guidelines. Most nurses have no issues with committ ing negligent acts provided and they adhere to the confines of required practices, protocols, and legal hospital guidelines. I do agree with the article that what was practiced by the doctor, the hospital management, and the neighboring staff is total negligence. It is man’s nature to make errors at times, but mistakes that lead to harm on individuals could be perceived as negligence. In the Neighborhood newspaper, Mr. Benson’s amputation was an irreversible act. The doctor amputated the wrong leg, a fact that still remains a dream to Benson. The dilemma is whether the doctor was negligent in his practice or not. Here, the doctor was definitely negligent. This is due to the reason that the surgeon did not act exactly the way any other surgeon would have acted if in the same practice. Worse of all, not all the measures were considered to make sure that the right leg be amputated. Several cases of the same type have happened in history and procedures invented so this mis take would not occur again. Surgery is to be carried out after the right procedures have been put in place. Staff members in the operating room have to take time in ensuring that the correct patient is in the room awaiting the right surgery. In Benson’s case, the nurses at the neighborhood hospital kept quite on the case. If the nursing staff and the doctors in the operating room were keen on the practice, then this incident could not happen (Oberman, 1996). Quality documentation is vital in providing care and due to the present healthcare system; patients who claim to have sustained psychological or physical harm resulting from the negligence of their health providers can bring their lawsuits and claims to recover damages. A medical record acts as a legal document to be used by the injured patient for other legal proceedings or against other personnel since it is a permanent record. Correct documentation in the medical records develops legal data which completely and accurat ely reflect the care offered to the injured patient. In a court of law, it acts like a witness who gives facets about the events. If there is no evidence from the records then it is assumed that the negligent act never happened. Documentation is also important to the health providers; especially in civil litigation where there is alleged nursing malpractice or negligence it can

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Final paper - Essay Example In our own argument we thought that was not well since beef is a delicious meal. However, after a reading in class, we realized the concept and notion of cultural relativism which stipulates that each and every culture is unique in its own way and there is no absolute or universal culture in the world.in brief the conversation in rhetoric form was as follows. The next day, we resumed the discussion about other cultures in other countries and realized that somewhat our culture was superior in way. This was so because the things that we do in our cultures we perceive them to be the best and highest in the society. However, the reading we did in class that previous week dispelled our notion and opinion which stipulated that we were ethnocentric. The term ethnocentrism in the simplest and most basic sense refers to the instance and situation whereby an individual elevates his or her own culture over and above the cultures of other people (Perne 23). For instance, when a person believes that the things that happen in his or her life are the best and others are inferior constitutes ethnocentrism. In rhetoric

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Legislation and Regulatory Bodies Essay Example for Free

Legislation and Regulatory Bodies Essay Children Act 1989 This act acknowledged that children have rights and that their needs are paramount. Children Act 2004 This act was written as a result of the death of a child due to neglect. The act expressed that every child matters and identified outcomes for all children to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing. Although every child matters there is no longer an official programme there are no plans to repeal the legislative framework behind the outcomes. Childcare Act 2006. This is important to home based child care and has presented a number of changes. These are: †¢ The Early Year’s Foundation Stage †¢ Ofsted registers †¢ Children centres and extended schools. †¢ Duty of local care authorities to ensure adequate childcare and information †¢ Free early years 3 4 year old funding. Equality act 2010 This brought together all earlier acts concerning equal opportunities. This guarantees that different groups of people are treated fairly .This includes men women, people of different races, disabled people, people with different religions or no religions, people of different ages, Lesbian gay and bisexual straight people and people who have changed their sex. It also ensures that child minder’s anticipate the needs of the families in their care and make sensible adjustments to ensure disabled children and their families can access their service. The Data Protection Act 1998 outlines the rules which protect the personal data of an individual and prevents information being passed on without their consent. In the case of children, their parents must give consent. Riddor 1995 This specifies that certain accidents and injuries must be reported by law. The main purpose of the regulations is to put together reports to the health and safety executive and to local authorities. Home based child minders have a duty to report deaths, major illness, reportable diseases And dangerous incidents Regulatory Bodies All child minders have to be registered with Ofsted. Ofsted are the regulatory body for child care education. They register and inspect all child care providers. Home based childcare (includes) †¢ Child minders †¢ Home based carers †¢ Nannies †¢ Childcare on domestic premises. Ofsted will carry out check on child minders and any person over the age of 16 years who live on the premises. They also carry out checks on child minder’s and their service, investigate following any complaint or concern and enforce action against child minders that do not meet the level of required standards of registration and action could be taken. Child minders caring for children from birth to 31st August after their fifth birthday will be placed on the Early Years Register which means they will be inspected against the welfare requirements of the EYFS; they are inspected within the first seven months and have inspections every three years. Child minders who care for children from 1st September following their fifth birthday up to the age of 8 will be placed on the compulsory part of the Ofsted childcare register. This means the child minders will be randomly chosen for inspection, Ofsted will inspect the child minder if they receive a complaint, they will be given little or no notice of these inspections and they will be inspected against the conditions for the childcare register. The early year’s foundation stage EYFS sets the standards all early years providers must meet to guarantee that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It encourages teaching and learning to ensure children’s school readiness. This gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provides the right foundation for a good future progress through their school life

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Firewalls VS Nudity :: essays research papers

Starbuxman (11:45:02 PM): trying to defend firewalls should be a crime ELITE BOO (11:46:17 PM): im not defending them, its only the facts. plus if you try to make that a crime, the world of computers would just laugh at your face ELITE BOO (11:48:02 PM): btw, trying to download from nbci was a bitch, i had to create my own html file to link to them, twice! Starbuxman (11:48:40 PM): the facts are a simpler, cleaner system is the way to go. Virus protection, firewalls and other idiocy only inhibit progress. and the firewall would indeed inhibit an installation if it were one of the many programs/crap/variables free on the internet. Each time i send someone on AIM a file, they have to disable the firewall. This is lost time. Starbuxman (11:48:58 PM): And NBCI isn't a bitch (or if it is, dont say it) rthey use PHP, atfer all Starbuxman (11:49:08 PM): and sexy apache ELITE BOO (11:50:24 PM): ive always had a firewall on while you sending me something through aim and never had to turn it off, shows how much you know about the ELITE BOO (11:50:25 PM): m Starbuxman (11:50:52 PM): hey senor i know plenty. kevin has a firewall. he has to turn it off. ELITE BOO (11:51:01 PM): without having a firewall installed on your pc is a perfomance of idiocy ELITE BOO (11:51:27 PM): kevin's firewall therefor sucks or he has not configured it properly Starbuxman (11:51:49 PM): and youre the one who uses it -- youre te one whos lacking in knowledge. performance - another reason why firewalls can suck it -- theyre one more thing that inhibits my computers performance ELITE BOO (11:51:58 PM): firewalls dont only come in the form of software niether, they are more common as hardware ELITE BOO (11:52:41 PM): if a firewall lacks your computers perfomance so much that you notice it, then its quite obvious that your computer sucks Starbuxman (11:52:59 PM): my old computer did suck. Starbuxman (11:53:01 PM): and in those cases theyre not only all of the above, theyre expensive. basically theres not a single reason to use firewalls but to protect you from yourself. Starbuxman (11:53:14 PM): hardware. oy. Starbuxman (11:53:29 PM): now youre making it an expense too. no thanks. ELITE BOO (11:55:33 PM): of course there expensive, but its a single payment of 24hr protection... and how the hell can you say the only use of a firewall is to protect

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Computer Architecture Essay

1. Describe Von Neumann architecture and explain why it is important. The Von Neumann architecture explains the architecture of an electronic computer. It is attributed to be root of every electronic computer that has ever been made. According to Von Neumann architecture an electronic computer has Control Unit, Arithmetic Logic Unit, Memory & Input / Output Devices. The following diagram shows this architecture:- Memory: – Memory holds both data and the instructions. Control Unit: – The Control Unit manages the movement of data and instructions in and out of the memory and also deals with sequential carrying out of the programs. Arithmetic Logic Unit: – Carries out all the calculations on the data. Apart from operations like addition, subtraction etc, ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ etc would also be provided. Input / Output: – Input/output devices to feed into the data and take out the data. This component served interaction with the human who was operating the device The most basic principle of development of Von Neumann architecture was that it not just stored the data and the computation that was involved; it also stored the set of orders and instructions that had resulted in the computation. The entire set of instructions were stored in what is called as ‘registers’ and the control unit used to process this in a sequential manner – which means one at a time. In this architecture the instructions were encoded into numeric form and the data as well as the instructions were then stored in the memory. The Von Neumann Architecture is important because it led to the development of the earliest computers. Even the computers we see today, that are fifth generation and have a drastically different architecture, draw their parallels from Von Neumann Architecture. Obviously there has been lot of improvements. However, the base of having memory, control unit, input / output devices still remains integral to all the machines. Von Neumann architecture can hence be easily regarded as mother of all computer architectural designs. 2. Explain what a system bus is and why it is needed. The system bus is the pathway over which the data travels between the CPU and the rest of the components on the motherboard. The system bus speed is defined as the capacity to move the data through the system, as it is the speed that connects the different parts of the system. The front-side bus (FSB) is that part of the bus which is responsible to carry the data between RAM and the CPU. FSB is the part that usually has the greatest effect on the performance of the system. A system with high-performance processors and components would need to have a fast front-side bus. Bus speed is quite important and can have a significant impact in the performance of the machine. The data in a system is stored, manipulated and processed in the system memory. The system needs to move this information in and out of memory, and at the same time, a track of which data is stored at which location need. This entire info travels using the system bus. If the bus speed is low, there will be a very low transmission data speed, leading to the computer working very slowly. We know that in all the modern systems that we use, the processor is running at a speed that is much faster than the memory bus. If we compute the ratio of processer speed to bus speed (something called as bus multiplier), we will find that the lower the multiplier the better it is. If the multiplier is large, it would mean that the bus speed is slow as compare to the processor speed, in which case the processor will remain idle. On the other hand, if the bus speed is higher, then more data can be fed to the processor resulting in lower latency (time to start a request). 3. Summarize the use of Boolean operators in computer-based calculations. Boolean Operators are the most popular operators used for computer based calculations. Boolean operators are simple words (AND, OR, NOT or AND NOT) which are used to carry out these calculations. Together, these keywords help in finding, joining or excluding a particular keyword in a search and hence arrive at results efficiently. These operators and their use can greatly help in saving time by doing searches for getting to ‘on-target’ results – which are more relevant and accurate to the questions/needs that are posed. Every different search engine makes use of Boolean operators in varying fashion. While doing Boolean based calculations, a lot of proximity operators can be used to combine strings which can then help with the search. A brief overview of various operators is given below:- AND This Boolean operate requires both the terms to be in each item returned. For example, if only one of the term is contained in the document and the other is absent, the item is excluded OR This Boolean operator would return either term (or even both the terms) NOT While using this Boolean operator, the first term is searched, and then any records containing the term after the operators are subtracted from the results. Using Parentheses to include different strings will help in giving more customized and accurate results for the operation. 4. Categorize the various types of memory and storage. Computers need to have a storage space and memory units to store information and to run programs. There are various types of memory and storage, with various specifications and different purposes. These different types of memory and storage are:- Random Access Memory (RAM) RAM stores the data on a temporary basis, and as such it can be quickly/promptly accessed by the processor. This information, which includes both the application data and the data related to operating system, is loaded from the hard disk of the computer. The catch however is that as soon as the system is switched off, all the stored information is lost. Read Only Memory (ROM) Unlike RAM, ROM is active, even if the system is turned off – thus making it somewhat a permanent non-volatile storage memory. The contents of ROM cannot be modified. ROM has all the data which should be present so that the computer can carry out the normal functions.. Cache Cache is a more responsive memory than RAM. The CPU, in case of Cache, for finding the required information the CPU first searches the cache memory before searching the central memory storage area Computer Hard Drive This has a set of devices that are integral components of data storage components in the CPU. This particular memory has different ranges and a particular user may chose the size of the memory. The hard disks can store a very large amount of information, including photos, videos, music, documents, programs and more and this memory remains even after your computer is turned off. External hard disks An external hard disk is a great way to store more digital photos, videos, music, and other large files. It can add huge volume to the storage space on your computer’s internal hard disk. Flash Memory Unlike the other storage and memory options, this is a portable storage and felicitates a convenient data transfer between two computers. Easy deletion and re-programming of data is possible as per the user’s requirements. References Backus, J. 1978. Can programming be liberated from the von Neumann style? A functional style and its algebra of programs. Communications of the ACM 21, 8, (August), 613-641. Myers, G. J. 1982. Advances in Computer Architecture. John Wiley & Sons, New York. von Neumann, John (1945), First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, retrieved August 24, 2011 Linda Null; Julia Lobur (2010). The essentials of computer organization and architecture (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 36,199–203. ISBN 978-1-4496-0006-8.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Cdr Professional Engineer

PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER Summary Statement These are the competency Units and Elements. These elements must be addressed in the Summary Statement (see Section C). If you are applying for assessment as a Professional Engineer, you will need to download this page, complete it and lodge it with your application. Competency Element |A brief summary of how you have applied the element |Paragraph in the career episode(s) | | | |where the element is addressed | |PE1 KNOWLEDGE BASE | | | |PE1. Knowledge of science and engineering | | | |fundamentals | | | |PE1. 2 In-depth technical competence in at least | | | |one engineering discipline | | | |PE1. Techniques and resources | | | |PE1. 4 General Knowledge | | | |PE2 ENGINEERING ABILITY | | | |PE2. Ability to undertake problem identification,| | | |formulation, and solution | | | |PE2. 2 Understanding of social, cultural, global, | | | |and environmental responsibilities and the need to| | | |employ principles of sustainable development | | |PE2 . 3 Ability to utilise a systems approach to | | | |complex problems and to design and operational | | | |performance | | | |PE2. Proficiency in engineering design | | | |PE2. 5 Ability to conduct an engineering project | | | |PE2. 6 Understanding of the business environment | | | |PE3 PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES | | | |PE3. Ability to communicate effectively, with the| | | |engineering team and with the community at large | | | |PE3. 2 Ability to manage information and | | | |documentation | | | |PE3. Capacity for creativity and innovation | | | |PE3. 4 Understanding of professional and ethical | | | |responsibilities, and commitment to them | | | |PE3. Ability to function effectively as an | | | |individual and in multidisciplinary and | | | |multicultural teams, as a team leader or manager | | | |as well as an effective team member | | | |PE3. Capacity for lifelong learning and | | | |professional development | | | |PE3. 7 Professional Attitudes | | |

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Domestic Violence Essays - Behavior, Human Behavior, Misconduct

Domestic Violence Essays - Behavior, Human Behavior, Misconduct Domestic Violence Why ask women when they only need to be told? Why ask women when they hope to be takenfeelings, moods, and attitudes rule a woman, not facts, reason or logicThe acquisition of knowledge or responsibility does not lessen womens need for support, guidance, and control. Quite the contrary. This attitude justifies the so-called need for men to correct their wives misbehaviour. It perpetuates the idea that women must need a man who can guide, protect and provide for them. These perceptions have been notable throughout history (Re: the rule of thumb) and it has only been in the last few decades in North America where women have been more given rights and freedoms. Yet, physical abuse still exists. The women stay and the men continue their cycle of violence while society quietly waits for the last tragic blow. Domestic violence occurs all over the world. Canada is not immune to this social problem that plagues many developing countries. In the past few months there have been numerous cases of domestic violence leading to murder and suicide in Southern Ontario. The media has shone light on this once private matter and revealed that the problem still exists. Violence against women by their spouses is a life-threatening situation that is not treated seriously by the legal system or by society in general. It often takes a tragedy for corrective action to be taken and stricter laws to be made. On July 24, 2000 an article appeared in the Toronto Star entitled, Victim of Acid Attack had been Abducted. A 27-year-old woman was abducted for several hours one week before her boyfriend (and childs father) splashed her with sulphuric acid in her Scarbourough home and she didnt report the incident to police. Police said the acid burned the woman's face and 80 per cent of her body after it ate through he r clothes. Nigel Carrington, has been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, dangerous driving, theft and mischief. In the wake of recent cases of domestic violence that have ended in deaths, McQueen ( a Toronto police officer) made an appeal for the public to be vigilant' in reporting incidents at their early stages. This case capped it off for me, McQueen said. Here I am finding out about a kidnapping, previous assaults and other things And when do I find out about it? On the day she almost loses her life. Some women do leave their abusive relationships. Battered women are not always passive victims who merely accept the abuse. They want to stop the violence and protect their children. Sometimes battered women deny or minimize the abuse as a coping strategy to reduce the psychological impact of the abuse. The fact that a battered woman may not leave may reflect the fact that our society has not provided sufficient supports for the victims of violence to be able to leave. A woman often stays because she hopes that her partner will change, and that the battering will stop. When the abuse continues she may well try to leave or get help. She may be threatened with even more violence if she leaves and she knows that her partner is capable of carrying out those threats. Many batterers threaten to get a court order for custody of the children if she leaves. There are many obstacles that a woman faces if she tries to leave. There is a lack of support and practical help (family and friends dont support her or are afraid to get involved) and a lack of information (she becomes isolated and unaware of her options). There is also limited protection options (the justice system cannot guarantee protection for women, and court protection orders are frequently broken). For many battered women, the choice is to stay with the abuser and try to avoid being battered, or to leave and face a life of poverty and uncertainty for herself and her children. There are other reasons why women choose to stay such as: fear of not being believed, feels as if she has created the problem and that she is the one who should change her behaviour. She is unable to escape her abusers control (including finances) and does not have another

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Pornai - The Prostitutes of Ancient Greece

Pornai - The Prostitutes of Ancient Greece Pornai is the Ancient Greek word for prostitute (porne, in the singular). It may also be translated as a â€Å"buyable woman.† From the Greek word pornai, we get the English word pornography. Ancient Greek society was fairly open to the practice of the world’s oldest profession. Prostitution was legal in Athens, for example, as long as the workers were slaves, freed women or Metics (foreigners in Ancient Greece who had limited rights, not unlike legal residents in the U.S.) These women had to register and were required to pay taxes on their earnings. The Sex Workers of Ancient Greece Pornai were generally the ordinary sex workers, from those who worked in brothels to streetwalkers who advertised their services out in the open. How open? In one innovative marketing strategy some pornai wore special shoes that imprinted a message in soft ground saying, follow me   Male prostitutes were called pornoi. These sex workers were typically clean-shaven, and though they did sleep with women, they primarily serviced older men. Sex work had its own social hierarchy in Greek society. At the top were hetaerai, which means â€Å"female companion.† These were beautiful, often educated and artistic women who were essentially high-class courtesans. Greek literature has numerous references to famous hetaerai who cast their spells. One reason for the prevalence of sex worker aside from the existence of slavery, which meant women could be forced into prostitution was that Greek men married comparatively late in life, often in their thirties. This created a demand, as younger men sought sexual experience before marriage. Another factor was the fact that adultery with a married Greek woman was considered a high crime. So it was far safer to hire a pornai or a heaerai than sleep with a married woman.   Source: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek law, by Michael Gagarin, David J. Cohen.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Messoud Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Messoud - Assignment Example There were several research papers written in this regard. One of the significant literatures in this case was that of Beverley R. Lord, titled as â€Å"Strategic Management Accounting: The Emperor’s New Clothes?† The title itself is a strong evidence of what the literature is actually aiming at. Inclusively, Beverley R. Lord in her literature intended to evaluate the theoretical aspect of the concept and compare its effectiveness with few real life examples. This was due to the fact that the author realised that despite numerous journals, essays and literatures based on the concept there were only a handful of examples related to the implication of the concept. Strategic Management Accounting with its given attributes, uniting the theory of management accounting with strategic planning makes it a complex and debatable concept. Thereby, gathering all the features of the concept and relating it with its implication in a single literature is indeed difficult. However, in the literature, the author, Beverley R. Lord has tried to bring all these aspects together (Lord, 1996). Advantages and limitations of any paper, especially research paper highly depends on the personal knowledge and belief of the author(s). In this context, the author, Beverley R. Lord is a professional acquiring the position of the Department Head of Accounting and Information Systems in the University of Canterbury. Her research interests are concentrated on the issues related to fresh management accounting approaches, the accounting techniques used in different organisations along with the history and education of the accounting concept. Her few recent publications include, ‘Assessing the Implementation of Institutional Change in Local Government: Christchurch City Council and the Long Term Community Council Plan’, ‘Management accounting change in a Chinese state-owned enterprise: an

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Weekly Business Review #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weekly Business Review #2 - Essay Example Though this strategy means additional costs, the sales made will cover this cost. Nevertheless, according to the customer survey our services are good, so is our coffee, and our prices are rated as fair. Therefore, the management decision to adopt the cost leadership strategy is worth. According to Kazmi (2008, p.225), when a business adopts the cost leadership strategy, it automatically achieves differentiation in its services, in relation to price. The management has decided not to add on any extra costs in advertising, thus sticking to the previous mode of advertising in order to reduce additional costs. The daily receipt indicates that 1500 cups are being served on a weekly basis resulting to $4,055 in cash. We would like to increase the amount of coffee being served, and the hiring of an additional server to assist in serving all the customers will increase our sales. The local labor reports states that the average turnover rate has risen to 14% as compared to the previous week, which was at 12%. This could be due to workload and demotivation, thus, hiring an extra server is a great move. The management’s decision of not allowing any waste of coffee saves on costs incurred. In addition, the decision of not relying on fair trade advertising is a wise decision, as the newspapers have already advertised, hence saving on costs. Nevertheless, we have decided to replace light bulbs for $100 as a green initiative, other than replacing toilet, which would cost $600. The cafà © business is faced by the challenge of long queues, which is viewed as an advantage in some businesses but which could also limit the number of customers due to the time factor. In order to curb this problem, an additional server will be hired but time will tell. Nevertheless, the cafà © needs to make more profits and as a result, there is need to increase on sales. Therefore, with time, the management may result to increasing the small cup of coffee by a dollar to amount to $3 while

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

HR-Faculty of Business Environment and Society Essay

HR-Faculty of Business Environment and Society - Essay Example The multinational corporations operate from their branches and headquarters spread all over the world to expand and enlarge their reach worldwide. And all these initiatives by the business firms have been supported and encouraged by the gifts of modern technology. This global presence of companies is essentially accompanied by the global presence of their human resource or rather the presence of a workforce that comprises people from different parts of the world. The functions of human resource management become more varied and complex when employees are located around the world. Apart from the factors such as technology, economic systems, legal frameworks and industrial relations, the cultural factors also assume great importance in the managing of a global workforce. And the most prominent manifestation of the cultural challenge is the diversity of modern workforce. The US workforce, for instance, has been increasing day by day in terms of its diversity. More and more women are joi ning the workforce. The majority of the existing workforce is gradually nearing old age. The number of immigrants has increased manifold over the past few years. People from different racial and religious background have come to form a part of the ever-increasing workforce of the USA, thus adding to its ethnic diversity. Thus the human resource in all transnational business endeavors has become increasingly diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, culture, political views, physical abilities and psychological orientation. This paper aims to explore the different styles of managing and leading such a diverse workforce in the light of international human resource management. The term diversity used with respect to a workforce simply implies that the working population at the workplace is a heterogeneous mix of people in terms of age, gender, race, religion, culture, education, physical abilities and psychological make-up.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal: Quality Management

Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal: Quality Management Executive Summary This report is prepared to study the issue Facebook recently faces. It is in news because of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in which the personal information of Facebook users have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica – a data mining and political strategy firm. When the scandal exposed the CEO and Chairman of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg had to apologize publically for the data breach and said that it was a mistake made by Facebook for not designing a process to restrict third party developers to work on Facebook API. He also pledged to make changes in the design and reform the privacy policy. This study gives an understanding of loopholes in Facebook’s quality management system and how it could have been prevented if they have followed the theories of quality management gurus. By understanding different theories described by these gurus, a strong quality management system can be placed from the design stage itself. It also states that customer loyalty is a very important value which can be gained by continuous improvement in quality management system. A poor system result in loss of company reputation, customers and monetary value. 1.0 Introduction Facebook is an American social media company providing social networking services to people around the world. It was founded in 2004. Mark Zuckerberg is the Chairman and CEO of the company. It has more than 2.2 billion active users. People use Facebook to stay connected to their friends and family and to share and express their views. 2.0 Issue of data breach Recently Facebook’s data privacy scandal came into limelight where Facebook members’ data were improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a data mining and political strategy firm.   These data were accessed during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Cambridge Analytica accessed the data for more than 2 years. This is the biggest public relation crisis Facebook has faced. In April 2010, Facebook launched a platform called Open Graph to third party apps. This allowed the external developers to reach out to Facebook users and request permission to access their personal data  (CNBC, 2018). In the year 2013, Cambridge University’s researcher named Aleksandr Kogan created an App called â€Å"thisisyourdigitallife†.   The app prompted users to answer questions for a psychological profile. About 270,000 people downloaded the ‘app’ and shared their personal information. This gave Aleksandr Kogan to access data of not only Facebook users but also of the users’ friends. These information were shared with Cambridge Analytica and used to know about the personality of the people and to effectively target political advertising on people. Cambridge Analytica obtained the information in total violation of Facebook’s rule and didn’t tell anybody that the data will be used for political campaigning.   (Casey, 2018) In the same year Facebook was made aware about this violation of accessing data of not only who installed this app but also of their friends. Facebook demanded Cambridge Analytica to delete all the data and they agreed to delete all the data. Aleksandr Kogan in reality never deleted the data and later on Facebook never investigated whether they have deleted the data as promised (Casey, 2018). In 2014 Facebook changed their rules for external developers and restricted them from accessing user’s friends’ data without taking permission from them. With the approaching 2016 Presidential elections, Cambridge Analytica did not have time to create its own data for election campaign. It went to Aleksandr Kogan who created Facebook app that paid users to take a personality test  (The Guardian, 2018). In the year 2016 â€Å"The Guardian† reported that Cambridge Analytica is helping Ted Cruz’s presidential election by sharing psychological data based on their previous research. Facebook waited for more than two years before suspending Cambridge Analytica even after knowing about the data breach.    In mid March 2018, this scandal was exposed by The Guardian and The New York Times. Facebook admitted that it did not read the terms of the app that accessed the data of 87 million people and apologised for the â€Å"breach of trust†.   Facebook’s CTO Mike Schroepfer told U.K. lawmakers that Facebook did not notify the U.K.s data protection watchdog after it learned of the sharing of data with Cambridge Analytica and it was their mistake. (Ryan, 2018). According to U.K.’s data protection law, sale or use of personal data without user’s consent is banned. In 2011, after Federal Trade Commission complaint, Facebook agreed to get clear consent from the users before sharing their data. The FTC now started investing whether Facebook violated privacy protection of their users. The U.S.A. and U.K. lawmakers are investing in their own way. Mark Zuckerberg apologized on behalf of Facebook by publishing a personal letter in all major newspapers and make changes and reform the privacy policy to prevent such kind of breaches. By doing this Facebook has breached the trust of users and privacy policy law.   A customer or user shares information with a company trusting that personal details are safe. A company’s name and reputation makes people to trust on them.   Quality of the brand is very important in building and growing a company. Facebook is a very well know networking site and it has monopoly in the market. People joined Facebook and disclosed their personal details knowing that whatever information they share about themselves and their friends will be confidential and will not be disclosed anywhere outside without their consent. 3.0 Referring to statements made by Quality management Gurus It is very important for a company to have a well defined quality management system in place. For a company like Facebook, where the personal data of people are at risk, there is a continuous risk of hijacking the data for misuse. How a good quality management system can be placed, has been described by many Quality management gurus. Mentioned below are some of the points stated by these gurus: According to quality management guru W. Edwards Deming there are seven deadly diseases that are described as barriers in understanding the basic quality management system statistical principals. One of the diseases says that – A company runs on visible figures only. Deming argued that apart from the visible figures there are many costs and figures that are not know and cannot be calculated.   Customer loyalties gained as a result of continuous quality improvement are the numbers that are unknowable and management has to consider this  (Deming, 2012). It is also very important to gain confidence of the customers by building trust. In case of Facebook data breach scandal, it was very important for the company to monitor and improve the system. Once Aleksandr Kogan accessed the data of the Facebook users and their friends, it was important for Mark Zuckerberg to monitor and improve the system putting a barrier for third party developers to access data. This would have resulted in maintaining the confidentiality of the users’ data. Based on the quality management guru J M Juran’s trilogy, it is very important to plan, improve and control quality. Quality Planning A proper quality plan should be in place. This involves creating a process that will be able to meet the goals .Once the process is in place it will not be difficult to respond to customer needs. Quality Improvement It is important to continuously improve the quality and run the process with optimal effectiveness. Quality Control – To control and maintain good quality it is important to create a process that required minimal monitoring. This will help in running the operations in accordance with quality plan (Juran, 1986). Facebook should have created a process to maintain the privacy of their users’ information. This process should have barred the third party developers to run their app in Facebook API. Quality guru Genichi Taguchi emphasized on improving the quality of the product and process at the design stage rather than achieving quality through inspection. Taguchi also developed a concept of quality loss and worked on it rather than just quality.   He defined quality loss as loss to the company cost such a reworking on design, scrapping and maintenance and also loss to customer through poor product or service and low reliability. (Taguchi, n.d) After the scandal exposed, Facebook has faced huge loss in terms of its reputation, breaking customers’ trust and monetary value. Many users deleted their Facebook   Ã‚   account feeling that their personal information are not secured and can be misused by the company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4.0 Conclusion It is very important for a company to develop a quality system at its designing stage and to control and improve the quality system with minimal inspection requirement. It is also important to know and understand the unknown costs and figures like customer loyalty that can be gained by continuously improving quality. A proper system should be in place with zero defects. A poor quality management system will result in loss of reputation, customers and monetary value. 5.0 References: (2018, March). Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/facebook-data-cambridge-analytica-privacy-breach (2018, April). Retrieved from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/facebook-cambridge-analytica-a-timeline-of-the-data-hijacking-scandal.html Casey, N. (2018, April). Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/10/17165130/facebook-cambridge-analytica-scandal Deming, E. (2012, Janauary). Retrieved from https://www.qualitymag.com/articles/88324-quality-management-2-0-deming-s-7-deadly-diseases-of-management Juran, J. (1986, May). Retrieved from The Quality Trilogy: http://app.ihi.org/FacultyDocuments/Events/Event-2930/Presentation-16071/Document-12762/Tools_Resource_C7_Juran_trilogy1.pdf Ryan, B. (2018, April). Retrieved from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/26/facebook-cto-admits-firm-didnt-read-terms-of-aleksandr-kogans-app.html Taguchi, G. (n.d). Retrieved from British Library: https://www.bl.uk/people/genichi-taguchi

Friday, October 25, 2019

Integration between the Christian Creation Story and the Scientific Big

Integration between the Christian Creation Story and the Scientific Big Bang Theory In our modern age of scientific revolution there seems to be a growing tension between the scientific and religious understanding of this world. This tension is not surprising as the two worldviews exist on different realms in many ways. The Christian faith, grounded in the revelation of God through Christ for humanity’s salvation, clashes with science on many levels especially concerning human nature, as well Divine authority, as compared to the scientific rational and mechanistic understanding of matter. However in this age of scientific revolution there has been a more concerted effort to develop ways to integrate the scientific and Christian worldviews. This is necessitated by the fact that a wholesome picture is generated by an integration of the meaning and purpose given by Christianity and the scientific mechanistic description of processes. The Christian Creation story and the scientific Big Bang theory are two key spheres of integration due to their centrality to an u nderstanding of something as fundamental as existence of all things. The Christian story is primarily concerned about the purpose of existence as science deals with the mechanisms leading to existence. The Christian faith is built on belief in an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent and benevolent God, embodied in the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christianity stands out from a lot of other religions due to God’s personal nature to humanity through the incarnation of Christ. Faith in Christ’s redemptive death and resurrection offers salvation to the faithful. The Bible is very central to Christian faith as it is viewed to be God’s word and revelation to mankin... ...inue since both provide very plausible views of this world that do not necessarily have to contradict each other. Concerning the Big Bang and Creation, the purpose of the two stories should shed more light in providing a better effort of integration. The Big Bang theory primarily provides a description of the mechanism employed in creation whilst the Creation story gives meaning and purpose by attributing God as the cause behind all creative acts. A holistic picture is created by a worldview that gives precedence to both the actual processes, to the cause and to the meaning behind it all. Bibliography: 1) Barbour, Ian; Religion and Science; Harper Collins Publishers; San Francisco; 1997. 2) Sidney Liebes, Elisabet Sahtouris, Brian Swimme; A Walk Through Time; John Wiley & Sons Inc; Toronto; 1998. 3) Armstrong, Karen; A History of God; Ballantine Books; 1993.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Indentured Servants Essay

Indentured servants were an important piece of establishing colonies in North America. They first arrived in America in the decade following the settlement of Jamestown by the Virginia Company in the sixteenth century (PBS, n.d.). The growth of tobacco and other crops created a tremendous need for labor in the early colonies. With this need came many changes, problems and unintended consequences of using indentured servants. The Beginning Indentured servants were colonists that exchanged several years of labor for the cost of passage to America and the grant of land (Tindall & Shi, 2013, p.38). The idea of indentured servants was born when colonists realized that they had a tremendous amount of land to care for, but no one to care for it. This became very prevalent when tobacco became profitable, as it was labor intensive and the need for servants was rapidly growing (PBS, n.d.). At this time the European economy was depressed, which left many laborers looking for work. The opportunity of new life in America offered hope; which explains how one-half to two-thirds of the immigrants who came to the American colonies arrived as indentured servants. (PBS, n.d.). Typically, an indentured servant would work for several years. This was in exchange for room, board, passage and freedom to America. Work as an indentured servant could be harsh, but if they survived they would receive â€Å"freedom dues† set by custom and law. This included money, tools, clothing, food and occasionally small tracks of land (Tindall & Shi, 2013, p. 75). Changes, Problems and Issues with Indentured Servants Indentured servants brought challenges to colonists from several prospective. First, simple supply and demand created issues with indentured servants – if the demand for labor grew, so did the cost of the servants.  These servants were not always brought willingly, so you dealt with the struggles of runaways and kidnappings. The servant’s masters would often whip them for bad behavior. There were high death rates, due to disease and exhaustion. Many servants did not live to the end of their terms. The ones that did live posed the most substantial issue for many colonists. When the indentured servants were free they posed unintended consequences for the already established colonists. They demanded political recognition, and land. (Tindall & Shi, 2013) They eyed and moved to the indigenous land that caused trouble for the colony, as that land was inhabited by the Indians. They started their own farms or pursued a trade, which allowed them to acquire servants of their own. Many colonists also felt threatened by freed indentured servants as they were competition for the land and future wealth for their families. The Decline When the prospects for upward mobility dimmed, indentured servants were willing and ready to participate in violent rebellions and to demand wealthier colonist’s property. The threat posed by the increasing number of indentured servants might have been one of the reasons this type of servitude diminished. (Dictionary of American History, 2013) Another reason for the decline of indentures servants what that many farmers and plantation owners began to rely on the labor of enslaved Africans. Slaves were more costly than servants, but they served for life and by the 1660s colonial legislative assemblies had legalized lifelong slavery (Tindall & Shi, 2013, p.75). Conclusion Indentured servants were an integral part of the early colonies. They provided a means to aid the farmer’s in providing labor to produce an abundance of crops such as tobacco, rice and indigo. Although, the job proved harsh, it provided an opportunity for depressed European’s to start a new life in the Americas. References Dictionary of American History. (2013). Indentured Servants. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Indentured _servants. aspx PBS. (n.d.). History Detectives Special Investigations. Indentured servants in the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/ Tindall, G. & Shi, D. (2013). America: A Narrative History. (9th ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Customer Behavior in Fast Food Industry Essay

Recently a customer behaviour survey was undertaking among fast food giants like Hungry Jacksâ„ ¢, K.F.C.â„ ¢, Mc Donald’sâ„ ¢, and Pizza Hutâ„ ¢ Much has been written and said about cleanliness in restaurants. Every now and then people vindictively drool over a story about a restaurant not being up to health regulation standards. Customers complain about waitresses handling money and then serving food without washing their hands. Sometimes they take a glimpse into the kitchen and are horrified at the cooks personal hygiene. But how often are customers scrutinized for their filthy habits? Their nose picking antics and then a serve of pizza straight after, or a visit to the toilets without washing hands. How have customers been getting away with these unclean habits for so long in a society where cleanliness should be a priority? What shall restaurant managers do about these peculiar people who come and drag them through court because of food poisoning? Was it really the food or was it their grubby hands which fingered the food after they came from the toilet or from their habitation? Some Eastern customs have a sweet smelling, hot or cold finger bowl on the table. Often the food is not served until all have dipped their fingers in this, really, disinfectant solution. In aeroplanes, sometimes hot, disinfectant face washers are handed out before a meal is served. Maybe restaurant proprietors ought to take note and introduce something similar. Society’s cleanliness has degraded over the years, people have become lazy, nonchalant about cleanliness and laugh when something is said about personal hygiene. Watch out sickness is on the rise! Germs are gaining in numbers, beware lest they consume you in your ignorance! Questionnaire Restaurant Proprietors Answered 1: Do customers wash their hands before they sit down and dine-in? No, not generally. Actually, I have never seen anybody do it yet. 2: Do adults make more mess than children? Yes, definitely. It’s surprising, but they do. 3: What is the general behaviour of adults like? Ok†¦ I guess 4: Do they speak quietly, noisy or outright rudely and loud? Most people behave politely but when you have a group of teenagers they are often very noisy, rude and offensive to other customers as well as the staff. 5: Are adults more polite and friendly to staff than teenagers? A lot of teenagers are generally polite and friendly but some adults are more rude than teenagers. 6: Do customers have respect for the furniture, crockery, glassware etc? Yes, usually they’re pretty good. 7: Do they steal anything like salt and pepper shakers, cutlery etc? Theft is high with cutlery, desert bowls and anything smaller than the dinner plate. 8: Do most pay their bill without grumbling? Yes, they don’t have much choice. Do they? 9: In places where you can eat as much as you like, are customers wasteful? Absolutely! The gross amount of waste is shocking.   With so much poverty and starvation in the world it is sometimes sad to see good food going to the dump. 10: Do customers touch food on self-serve salad bars and put it back? Children and teenagers are the worst offenders. Adults also have a habit of fingering foods and not consuming it. A bad habit if they haven’t washed their hands. 11: Would you like to see a better dress standard for customers that dine here? No, we would loose a lot of customers if we did. We’re a family restaurant. People drop in and out all the time. 12: Do customers who use toilet facilities wash their hands after use? Can’t really tell. I would like to think they do. 13: In what state do they leave the toilet facilities after using them? No worse than any other public toilet facility. 14: Does management get many complaints from customers? Occasionally, we try to sort out any loud gatherings before they get out of hand. Most people are satisfied with the quality and quantity of food we prepare every day†¦.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Recipe for murder literary analysis Essay Example

Recipe for murder literary analysis Essay Example Recipe for murder literary analysis Essay Recipe for murder literary analysis Essay The text presents a blend Of a detective Story, as it deals with murdering, and a story of characters, as it depicts meaningful characters (the typical clever and restrained police inspector and la femme fatal). To my mind, Recipe for murder embraces the principal theme of the criminal investigation and the theme of men-women relationship. The rival theme is mastery of murdering, by-themes are the spouses relationship and French cuisine. The text touches upon eternal concepts of collisions between harassers, flirt, men-women relations and love-hate relationship. Compositionally the text falls into 3 logical parts. In the exposition, the narrator sets the action in the define time: in the middle of the 20th century. The author directly points at the dates (deceased January 1939/ deceased May 1946). We can judge about the place by the names of the characters (Madame Callahan, Lucrative, Jean-Marie Villagers, etc), the titles Madame, Monsieur, the names of dishes and drinks (diminuendos Force ax Maroons, Omelet en Surprise a la Nonpolitical, Outbound etc), the name of the town (Avalanche) and eventually, by the phrase, where the character directly points at her citizenship: Murderess I may be, Inspector, but also a French woman. In the second part of the story Madame Callahan narrates about her background and in the third we can meet the charming and promising denouement of the story. The general atmosphere is strain, provocative, gripping and mistrustful. The author introduces to us a place of murdering, which, nevertheless, looks like a dream place: Guilt, clamorous with flowers, the cobalt blue of the Mediterranean twinkling outside the tall endows of the salon where they sat, Through the open window a vagrant whiff of air brought him the scent of her. Or was it the scent of the garden? These theatrical descriptions, full of epithets which brighten up the scene of action, make an antithesis with the story and create a quite ambivalent atmosphere. There are two main characters in the story: Madame Callahan, in her forties, a rich widow, who lost her husbands, and Inspector Minor, about 44, from the Paris police. Thus, we can imagine the hunter-prey relationship, but we cant be sure, which one of them is the hunter. It is a little action story, s the plot is centered round one event -? murdering. It is chronological, because all the events are presented in their logical order. Inspector Minor pays a visit to Madame Callahan, who is suspected of murdering her two husbands, to reveal her. During the conversation Madame Callahan confesses to having committed the crime. Charmed by her wisdom and finesse beauty, Inspector invites her to the casino. The climax lies in the episode, where the emotional strain reaches the peak: I forced them to gorge to bursting, sleep, gorge again; and drink too much wine that they might gorge still more. How could they, at their ages, live -? even as long as they did? A silence like the ticking of a far-off clock. Inspector Minor stood up, so abruptly that she started, whirled. She was paler. You will come with me to Nice this evening, Madame Callahan. It is followed by the surprising and unpredictable denouement, where the author gives us grounds for suspense: To the police station, Inspector Minor? To the Casino, Madame Callahan. For champagne and music. We shall talk some more. The ending is half-opened and needless to say, the writer gained by ending the story where he does. The story is narrated from the third person. The story is filtered and reflected through the prism of his mind and eye, we can easily trace where his sympathy lies with the help of his interpretations, suggests, judges. In addition, we plunge in thoughts and reasoning of the inspector and see Madame Callahan through his eyes. It provides our taking into the story, feeling ourselves as the characters. There is one main conflict in the story: between the inspector and Madame Callahan. Major characters are masterly depicted with different methods of presenting. Madame Callahan, at forty, fitted no à ©tagà ¨re of murderers; she was neither Cleopatra nor blamed with the litotes in this sentence the author reflects inspectors embracement and apprehension. He doesnt know what to expect, therefore he sizes her up very guardedly. With the help of the allusion the author helps us to form the opinion of this woman. Then he uses the antinomian and the allusion A Minerva of a woman to hint us about her wisdom. Indeed, she is wise, she is cool-blooded, she is prudent She attacks first to become the master of the situation. It is obvious in her phrases with the epithets: With a tiny smile now: You have called about my poisoning of my husbands, she stated flatly. Madame! Again he hesitated, nonplussed. Madame, You must already have visited the Prefecture. All Avalanche believes it, she said placidly. In addition to it, her self-confidence is proved in her words about her fellow-countrymen and other inspectors who suspect her in murdering quite depreciatingly. It is well-reflected with the metonymy: All Avalanche believes it. Her manner to speak (flatly, placidly, her tone, just short of caressing) reflects her good breeding and noble background. For he space of the story we come across inspector Morons jerky, but careful glances at her: Whose large, liquid eyes were but a shade lighter than the cobalt blue of the Mediterranean. She raised the small glass to her full Madame Callahan went to the window, let her soft profile, the grand line of her bosom be silhouetted against the blue water. The bosom swelled with her long breath. To my mind, this method of describing her appearance is the perfect way to combine both stepwise made impression of Madame Callahan and inspector Morons charming and confusing near this gorgeous woman. She flirts with the inspector in a very refined and s killful way. Her statements with litotes: l refuse the attitude of the man, not the law. She raised the small glass to her full lips. L shall not refuse you, Inspector Minor. Her eyes were almost admiring and descriptions with the epithets just prove it. Returning to inspectors glances, we can notice that Madame Callahan can definitely sell herself in the most benefit way. There is no denying, she enchanted and defeated the inspector. Speaking about her actions, We can make a conclusion that she is an eccentric and strong-willed person. Her confession of murdering and trying to argue her crime let us make a conclusion, that she counts herself as a sort of a judge or even an avenger. She believes that she has a right to kill somebody disgusting for the common good: M. Wiser, I learned within a fortnight, was a pig a pig of insatiable appetites. A crude man, inspector; a belcher,14 a braggart, cheater of the poor, deceiver of the innocent A gobbler of food, an untidy man of unappealing habits. Murderess I may be, Inspector, but also a French woman. So I decided without remorse that Callahan should die, as Wiser died. Her first cue is full of emotionally colored words and epithets to highlight her hatred and irritation towards her ex-husbands. The author used the metaphor and the hidden simile in the statement M. Wiser was a pig for the same purpose. The antithesis reflects her confidence in being right. Thus, the description of her husbands, full of metaphors, epithets, climax reflects her erudition and sophistication. These stylistic devices also reflect her effort to acquit herself, because despite being self-confident and self-restrained she worries about inspectors judgment and decision. Her reaction, described with emotionally colored words, betrays her true feelings: Inspector Minor stood up, so abruptly that she started, whirled. She was paler. In spite of everything, I feel sympathy for her wisdom, resolute, contradictory and strong-willed nature. I do not presume to judge her as Im charmed by her exactly like the inspector. Another reason for it is that she possesses the character traits that I evaluate in every person. This woman-enigma, a very much woman definitely is a brilliant character, one Of the most impressive and flawless that Ive ever read bout. The second main character, inspector Minor, is a bachelor of forty- four, not too bad to look at, he has been told. . We have no direct descriptions of his appearance as the author focuses on the Madame Callahan. Owing to such obscuration of him, we can feel at his place and see the situation inside-out. His occupation type is the true detective: smart, reserved, attentive, intent and prudent. Let me prove it with the quotes: It was neat. Too neat? A dangerous woman. A consumedly dangerous woman. the repetition, rhetorical question and the climax here points out his incarceration and professionalism. It also reflects the density between the characters. The way he speaks characterizes him as an attentive, unflinching, self-confident man (he said forcefully/ regarded her closely). These traits are also typical for the people of this profession. His vigilance and watchfulness, appropriate for the true detective, are also shown it the way how he resists Madame Salons enticement in the beginning: You are most flattering. In the scene when Madame Callahan, suspected in the poisoning, offers him vine, the author demonstrates us this character showing overstraining and losing intro for a moment with the help of the epithets: His reflex of hesitation lit a dim glow Of amusement in her eyes, which her manners prevented from straying to her lips. Thank you. Annoyed with himself, he spoke forcefully. Madame! Again he hesitated, nonplussed. Madame, I He adjusted his composure to an official calm. But soon after he comes to himself. It makes the reader think that the inspector is a bit sensitive man, because its easy to unsettle him. At the same time, we can say that he is a strong-willed person, as he is able to take control over the situation. The features mentioned be fore and another example vivified with litotes, hyperbole and metaphor of Madame Salons husbands: l am not a great catch, but still, not one to be despised : l wish to die. Let us make a conclusion, that he is as well-educated and finesse as Madame Callahan. Thus, we can say that they are really match each other and see how the author conveys his idea about men-women relationship. Ellipsis in his statements (To the Casino,20 Madame Callahan. For champagne and music. We shall talk some more. Listen to me, Madame. I am a bachelor. Of forty- four. Not too bad to look at, I have been told. Have a sum put away. ) not only fleet his excitement, but also characterize him as a man of action.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Definite Articles in Spanish

Definite Articles in Spanish A definite article, called an artà ­culo  definido  in Spanish, makes a noun refer to a particular item or items of its class. In English, the definite article  is the. In Spanish, there are five ways to say the. The four most common Spanish definite articles are  el, la, los and las in Spanish. A fifth, less frequently used definite article,  lo,  is sometimes appropriate. Definite articles are also sometimes referred to as definite determiners.  Spanish and English have different rules as to when a definite article is needed or can be omitted. In general, Spanish often uses a definite article in cases where English does not. For example, the English sentence, Mr. Brown is rich, does not have the definite article the. The same sentence translated into Spanish would be, El  seà ±or Brown es ​rico.  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹In Spanish, the definite article, el, is used. Agreement in Number and Gender In Spanish, number and gender make a difference. Is the word plural or singular? Are you referring to a male or female or masculine or feminine word? The Spanish definite article must agree with the gender and number of the noun that follows it.   Masculine Form of The The masculine form of the is el if referring to one item, the singular form of the word. For example, the cat is el gato. The masculine and plural form of the, if referring to more than one item, would be los libros, meaning, the books. Feminine Form of The To say the when referring to a singular item that is considered a feminine word, for example, the word door in Spanish is considered a feminine word, puerta. A  speaker would say, la puerta, for the door. To pluralize the word, when referring to more than one door, the proper form of the definite article is, las  puertas. Use of Lo to Mean The Lo  can be used as a neuter, meaning not gender specific, definite article before an adjective to make an abstract noun.  For example,  lo  importante, translates to mean, the important thing, or that which is important. Contraction Using El English has many uses of contractions, such as isnt for is not   or theyre for they are, blending two words together to impart meaning. In Spanish there are only two official contractions in the entire language and they both involve the definite article, el.   The words a el form the contraction al.   For an example, Ella va al auto, means, She is going to the car. A Spanish speaker would literally say, Ella va  a el auto. The contraction al works more smoothly in this case. The words de el form the contraction  del. An example,  El libro es del profesor,  which literally translates to mean, the book is of the teacher, or more smoothly translated, the book is the teachers. The contracted form of  al  usually means to the and  del  usually means of the.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Afghanistan Country Facts and History

Afghanistan Country Facts and History Afghanistan has the misfortune of sitting in a strategic position at the crossroads of Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East. Despite its mountainous terrain and fiercely independent inhabitants, the country has been invaded time after time throughout its history. Today, Afghanistan is once more embroiled in war, pitting NATO troops and the current government against the ousted Taliban and its allies. Afghanistan is a fascinating but violence-wracked country, where East meets West. Capital and Major Cities Capital:  Kabul, population 3,475,000 (2013 estimate) Kandahar, population 491,500Herat, 436,300Mazar-e-Sharif, 375,000Kunduz, 304,600Jalalabad, 205,000 Afghanistan Government Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic, headed by the President. Afghan presidents may serve a maximum of two 5-year terms.  Ashraf Ghani was elected in 2014.   Hamid Karzai  served two terms as president before him. The National Assembly is a bicameral legislature, with a 249-member House of the People (Wolesi Jirga), and a 102-member House of the Elders (Meshrano Jirga). The nine justices of the Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama) are appointed to terms of 10 years by the President. These appointments are subject to approval by the Wolesi Jirga. Afghanistan Population The population of Afghanistan is estimated at 32.6 million. Afghanistan is home to a number of ethnic groups. The largest is the Pashtun, 42 percent of the population. Tajiks make up 27 percent, Hazaras  8 percent, and Uzbeks 9 percent, Aimaks 4 percent, Turkmen 3 percent and Baluchi 2 percent. The remaining 13 percent are tiny populations of Nuristanis, Kizibashis, and other groups. Life expectancy for both men and women within Afghanistan is 60 years. The infant mortality rate is 115 per 1,000 live births, the worst in the world. It also has one of the highest maternal mortality rates. Official Languages Afghanistans official languages are Dari and Pashto, both of which are Indo-European languages in the Iranian sub-family. Written Dari and Pashto both use a modified Arabic script.Other Afghan languages include Hazaragi, Uzbek, and Turkmen. Dari is the Afghan dialect of the Persian language. It is quite similar to Iranian Dari, with slight differences in pronunciation and accent. The two are mutually intelligible. Around 33 percent of Afghanis speak Dari as their first language. About 40 percent of the people of Afghanistan speak Pashto, the language of the Pashtun tribe. It is also spoken in the Pashtun areas of western Pakistan. Religion The overwhelming majority of Afghanistans people are Muslim, around 99 percent. About 80 percent are Sunni, and 19 percent Shia. The final one percent includes about 20,000 Bahais, 3,000-5,000 Christians. Only one Bukharan Jewish man, Zablon Simintov, remained by 2005. All of the other members of the Jewish community fled when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Until the mid-1980s, Afghanistan also had a population of 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs. During the Taliban regime, the Hindu minority was forced to wear yellow badges when they went out in public, and Hindu women had to wear the Islamic-style hijab. Today, only a few Hindus remain. Geography Afghanistan is a land-locked country bordering on Iran to the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, a tiny border with China at the northeast, and Pakistan to the east and south. Its total area is 647,500 square kilometers (almost 250,000 square miles). Most of Afghanistan is in the Hindu Kush Mountains, with some lower-lying desert areas. The highest point is Nowshak, at 7,486 meters (24,560 feet). The lowest is the Amu Darya River Basin, at 258 meters (846 feet). An arid and mountainous country, Afghanistan has little cropland; a scant 12 percent is arable, and only 0.2 percent is under permanent crop-cover. Climate The climate of Afghanistan is very dry and seasonal, with temperatures varying by altitude. Kabuls average January temperature is 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), while noon temperatures in July often reach 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit). Jalalabad can hit 46 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) in the summer. Most of the precipitation that falls in Afghanistan comes in the form of winter snow. The nation-wide annual average is only 25-30 centimeters (10 to 12 inches), but snow drifts in the mountain valleys can reach depths of over 2 meters. The desert experiences sandstorms carried on winds moving at up to 177 kph (110 mph). Economy Afghanistan is among the poorest countries on Earth. The per capita GDP is $1,900 US, and about 36 percent of the population lives under the poverty line. The economy of Afghanistan receives large infusions of foreign aid, totaling billions of U.S. dollars annually. It has been undergoing a recovery, in part by the return of over five million expatriates and new construction projects. The countrys most valuable export is opium; eradication efforts have had mixed success. Other export goods include wheat, cotton, wool, handwoven rugs, and precious stones. Afghanistan imports much of its food and energy. Agriculture employs 80 percent of the labor force, industry, and services 10 percent each. The unemployment rate is 35 percent. The currency is the afghani. As of 2016, $1 US 69 afghani. History of Afghanistan Afghanistan was settled at least 50,000 years ago. Early cities such as Mundigak and Balkh sprang up around 5,000 years ago; they likely were affiliated with the Aryan culture of India. Around 700 B.C., the Median Empire expanded its rule to Afghanistan. The Medes were an Iranian people, rivals of the Persians. By 550 B.C., the Persians had displaced the Medians, establishing the Achaemenid Dynasty. Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded Afghanistan in 328 B.C., founding a Hellenistic empire with its capital at Bactria (Balkh). The Greeks were displaced around 150 B.C. by the Kushans and later the Parthians, nomadic Iranians. The Parthians ruled until about 300 A.D. when the Sassanians took control. Most Afghans were Hindu, Buddhist or Zoroastrian at that time, but an Arab invasion in 642 A.D. introduced Islam. The Arabs defeated the Sassanians and ruled until 870, at which time they were driven out again by the Persians. In 1220, Mongol warriors under Genghis Khan conquered Afghanistan, and descendants of the Mongols would rule much of the region until 1747. In 1747, the Durrani Dynasty was founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an ethnic Pashtun. This marked the origin of modern Afghanistan. The nineteenth century witnessed increasing Russian and British competition for influence in Central Asia, in The Great Game. Britain fought two wars with the Afghans, in 1839-1842 and 1878-1880. The British were routed in the first Anglo-Afghan War but took control of Afghanistans foreign relations after the second. Afghanistan was neutral in World War I, but Crown Prince Habibullah was assassinated for purported pro-British ideas in 1919. Later that year, Afghanistan attacked India, prompting the British to relinquish control over Afghan foreign affairs. Habibullahs younger brother Amanullah reigned from 1919 until his abdication in 1929. His cousin, Nadir Khan, became king but lasted only four years before he was assassinated. Nadir Khans son, Mohammad Zahir Shah, then took the throne, ruling from 1933 to 1973. He was ousted in a coup by his cousin Sardar Daoud, who declared the country a republic. Daoud was ousted in turn in 1978 by the Soviet-backed PDPA, which instituted Marxist rule. The Soviets took advantage of the political instability to invade in 1979; they would remain for ten years. Warlords ruled from 1989 until the extremist Taliban took power in 1996. The Taliban regime was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001 for its support of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. A new Afghan government was formed, supported by the International Security Force of the United Nations Security Council. The new government continued to receive help from  US-led NATO troops to battle Taliban insurgencies and shadow governments. The US war in Afghanistan was officially ended December 28, 2014.