Black Holes Essays (593 words) - Black Holes, General Relativity

Black Holes Black holes are one of the more bizarre and intriguing predictions of Einstein's theory of gravity. Surprisingly, there is now a great deal of observational evidence that black holes do exist, both in binary star systems and at the center of most galaxies, including our own. Although we are gaining more knowledge of black holes, they still remain one of the strangest things anyone has ever heard of, and we may never know what exactly one of these things are and can do. It is impossible to manufacture black holes in a laboratory. The density of matter required is too great. In order to make a black hole the size of a baseball, you would have to pack all the matter in and on the Earth into a volume the size of a fist. Nature can make black holes, however. Matter naturally collapses unless there is some other force to hold it up. The objects in a room are kept from collapsing by electromagnetic forces. The gas in an active star is held up by thermal pressure. However, once a star uses up its thermonuclear fuel, it starts to collapse, and if there is enough mass to overcome other, microscopic forces, it collapses into a black hole. According to Einstein's theory, if we could pack enough matter into a small enough volume, the thing created inside will get so deep that the matter inside can never escape. A circle of no return forms. Any matter that passes the point of no return can no longer escape to the outside world. It necessarily keeps collapsing, moving towards the center. It gets deeper and deeper until finally a hole is literally torn in the fabric of spacetime: the density of matter at the center becomes essentially infinite. Thus, what is meant by "a hole in the fabric of spacetime" is: a tiny region of space where the known laws of physics break down. A black hole is a region of space so tightly packed with matter, that nothing, not even light can escape. Hidden at its center is a tear in the fabric of spacetime. Stephen Hawking showed in the mid-seventies that black holes aren't actually black. They glow in the dark. They emit radiation via microscopic processes that occur just outside the horizon. This means black holes ultimately evaporate. In reality, though, a solar mass black hole will take many times the lifetime of the Universe to evaporate. In some sense, a black hole marks a boundary to spacetime: a horizon beyond which no one can see without travelling through it. This radius of no return is called the event horizon of the black hole. All the bumps and wriggles of the matter from which they were formed are smoothed out as the matter contracts, so that the final shape of the horizon is always perfectly smooth and round. This is where everything gets really weird. To a distant observer, events near the horizon appear to slow down. If you drop a clock into a black hole it appears to tick more and more slowly as it approaches the event horizon. Time actually appears to stop right at the horizon. The clock's motion towards the black hole also slows down and to a distant observer it takes literally forever to fall through. If you fell in the event horizon with the clock, you would be sucked into the singularity in no time. As you fall, time and space become jumbled, and you can't control your falling to the center as much as you can't help yourself falling into the future. Black holes are definitely one of the most bizarre things anyone has ever heard of. We will never totally understand everything about them. They make up only a small part of our mysterious universe, though.

Nuclear Stalemate essays

Nuclear Stalemate essays The biggest problem facing the world today is solely the fact that giving up all nuclear weapons is virtually impossible. If attempts were made at mutual disarmament three problems would occur. One being that, ists and ist nations are seeking to acquire nuclear weapons for ist acts. Another being that, a stalemate has developed between the superpowers, in which if one country attacks another then they are assured mutual destruction. Lastly, if one is needed tactically none are available to prevent more shed. Lets say there was an agreement for mutual disarmament. Russia, China, England, the U.S. and every other nuclear power gave up there weapons. All those superpowers did was make themselves vulnerable to the ists that have no desire for peaceful disarmament. ists defiantly would not give up their nuclear weapons. Then it would be impossible to disarm them. We have them, not to use them. They on the other hand, would have them to use them. Because ists dont care whether or not they live, giving them the advantage in nuclear power would threaten the defenseless superpower greatly. Shortly after WWII, five countries obtained nuclear capability and the arms race began. With the threat of total destruction, due to armament of superpowers, an unwritten understanding between superpowers came about that nuclear weapons wouldnt be used tactically, but they would only be used strategically. They wouldnt be used tactically, meaning, they wouldnt be used in conventional warfare. They would be used strategically, meaning, I wont blow you up if you dont blow me up. This created a stalemate that, if disrupted, could create mass destruction. If we study history, we can observe that it tends to repeat itself. Millions of lives were saved by the tactical use of nuclear in Japan at the end of WWII. If this hadnt been done, millions of Ja...

OD Intervention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

OD Intervention - Essay Example The business has proven itself to be viable in the market evident with its regular success over the years. Sales increased exponentially and growth seemed unstoppable. Ritchies Supermarket’s growth however stifled in the last five years. Since then, sales has been in precipitous decline and if not arrested would surely plummet the family business in bankruptcy. II. Environmental Analysis The decline of the company begun when big retailers entered into the market. Along their entry into the market were their efficient operations that enabled them to slash prices deeply that blunted Ritchies Supermarket competitiveness. Competitors such as Walmart, TESCO has also the advantage of scale and technology that ultimately reflect in the price tags which is considerably lower than Ritchies Supermarket. In addition, these big retailers have forged relationships with their suppliers and make their own brand which allows them to have discounts which Ritchies Grocer do not enjoy. Their was tage and spoilage is also minimal because of their efficient inventory system wrought by their advance technological structure. Ritchies Supermarket thrived on its relationship with its customers which it has established over the years. It boasts itself as a mom and pop Supermarket that capitalizes on its bond with its customers. But this relationship proved to be fragile especially when assaulted with discounted prices which big retailers such as Walmart and TESCO can afford that chipped away Ritchies Supermarket’s market share. Ritchies Supermarket’s shrinkage of its market share was significant during the recent 2008-2009 financial crisis where customers became sensitive with prices and this prompted a mass exodus of its customer base to big retailers to the point that it threatened its viability as a business. III. The Need for change The recent development in the market only tells that the old business model that made Ritchies Supermarket a success is no longer ap plicable. It has to adapt to the new market reality or otherwise perish. The necessity of implementing change in the company is now an imperative if the company is to survive. Parties affected by change It is a given that change is needed for the business to survive. The owners and its shareholders want it to keep the business a going concern and to ensure the continuous inflow of profit from the business. Not all parties may be enthusiastic with the necessary change in the business. Employees may not want it having been comfortable and accustomed to the the old business practice of the company. Management has to anticipate that in implementing change, resistance is often common. Resistance however fizzles out when the change is properly communicated among the employees. Second, the organization itself may not be able to adapt to the new system that is being introduced by change. Such, retooling may be necessary to enable the workforce to adapt to the new organizational change. This can be done through trainings and workshops. A follow through is necessary to ensure that the introduced change will be embedded as a new organizational culture. Reinforcement mechanisms must also be in place that will facilitate the assimilation of the change in the organization. IV. Implementation of change The premise of change The need to align product and service delivery in accordance to

Household Cleaners Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Household Cleaners - Lab Report Example Rub the hand with the cleaning agent for 18 seconds according to step 2. 6. Wash off the cleaning agent with 400ml of distilled water respectively. 7. Dried off with a kitchen cleaning paper. 8. Swab subject's left palm. The area of swabbing should be around 5x5 cm (square in shape). 9. Repeat with subject's right palm using a new swab. 10. Follow the steps as in the graphic (Merck, 2007) and measure the relative light unit by using the luminometer. 11. Record the reading on the luminometer. Result The purpose of the experiment is to determine the most effective agent to clean off germs on hand. Results collected will be tabulated as in table 1. Average and standard deviation are determined. Table 1: Tabulation of result. Cleaning Agent Subject Handwash shampoo Detergent Dish Cleaning Liquid Lemon juice 1 Left Right 2 Left Right 3 Left Right 4 Left Right 5 Left Right 6 Left Right 7 Left Right 8 Left Right 9 Left Right 10 Left Right Average Standard Deviation Then, the average RLU value of this will be plotted on graph as followed (figure 1). The higher relative light units reflect a higher bacteria count on the hands. The almost linear relationship between the relative light units and the total number of counts were proven by Merck (2007). Figure 1: Relative Light Units on hands after washing hands with different cleaning agents. The lemon juice might be the least effective cleaning agents among all cleaning agents. That is because it does not contain any antibacterial properties. But for handwashing shampoo, detergent and dish cleaning liquid, they contain -hydroxy-2',4,4'-trichlorodiphenyl ether (commercially known as triclosan), a common...This compound inhibits fatty acid synthesis in bacteria, thus preventing the reproduction of the bacteria. Fatty acids are needed in the synthesis of bacteria cell membranes. In conclusions, the result is estimated to refute with the hypothesis. Lemon juice is the least effective cleaning agent during handwash. The most effective would be detergent. This is due to the concentration of the active antibacterial compound in the cleaning agent. Lemon juice does not contain any antibacterial compound. It just bring down the pH of the surface and suppress growth of bacteria but do not kill them. Meantime, the RLU values would give a reliable result on the effectiveness of the cleaning agent. Other than using a luminometer, another way would be to determine the number of bacterial growth by microbiological plating method. This methodology however would take more than one day time to obtain the result. The advantage over a luminometer is that it can identify the type of microorganisms found on the hand after washing. This can be done by biochemically testing the colonies grown on the agar plates. Anyhow, the design of this experiment does not reflect the effectiveness of all types of similar products. It only gives a general idea.

Change is a consistent issue for the modern organisation. Discuss the Essay

Change is a consistent issue for the modern organisation. Discuss the various ways in which the employee may offer effective resistance to this change - Essay Example Because both of these forces, inertia and change forces, are necessary and inevitable, both forces are intrinsic to change management equations and need to be managed well. The paper examines the roles that collective resistance, the resistance of key employees in influential positions, and disparate resistance, apathy and cynicism among employees play in successful efforts to thwart and resist organizational change. The paper examines the literature and finds that those factors or forces do make up the very ways that employees are able to resist external pressures to change with much success (Hodgkinson 1999; Singh and Dixit 2011; Visser 2011; Brown and Cregan 2008; Godin 2001; Hannan and Freeman 1984; March 1981; Judge 2001; Taylor 2013; March 1981). The paper aims to discuss the ways that employees may effectively resist change in modern organizations, as detailed in the academic literature. The paper looks at the academic literature to gain a broad perspective of the nature of change in general, and of the way change is inherent in the very nature of organizations of all kinds and of the environments in which those organizations operate. In essence because change is an inherent aspect of life, it is true too that change is an inherent aspect of organizations and the environments that organizations move in. The same holds for the various stakeholders of those organizations, with employees being one of the most vital stakeholder groups in organizations. The paper also looks at the psychology of organizational change and of inertia on the part of organizations and its employees, and why that inertia leads to employees resisting change. Along the way the paper traces the roots of that inertia to natural processes that enshrine est ablished ways of doing, via processes, groups, and practices that become embedded in the standard way of doing things in organizations, because those

Importance Of Java To The Internet Computer Science Essay

Importance Of Java To The Internet Computer Science Essay At the beginning Java was known as oak but it was renamed as Java in 1995. The main aim of this language was to provide platform independent language that could be used to create software to be embedded in various consumer electronic devices. Features of Java Java is a programmers language. Java is cohesive and consistent. Except for those constraints imposed by the Internet environment Java gives the programmer full control. Java is to Internet programming where C was to system programming. Importance of Java to the Internet Java has had a profound effect on the Internet because it allows objects to move freely in Cyberspace. In a network there are two categories of objects that are transmitted between the Server and the Personal computer. Passive information Dynamic active programs The Dynamic Self-executing programs cause serious problems in the areas of Security and probability. But Java addresses those concerns and by doing so has opened the door to an exciting new form of program called the Applet. Java can be used to create two types of programs Applications: An application is a program that runs on our Computer under the operating system of that computer. It is more or less like one creating using C or C++. Javas ability to create Applets makes it important. Applet: An Applet is an application designed to be transmitted over the Internet and executed by a Java compatible web browser. An applet is actually a tiny Java program, dynamically downloaded across the network, just like an image. But the difference is it is an intelligent program, not just a media file. It can react to the user input and dynamically change. Features of Java Security Every time you that you download a program you are risking a viral infection. Prior to Java, most users did not download executable programs frequently and most users were worried about the possibility of infecting their systems with a virus. Java answers both these concerns by providing a firewall between a network application and your computer. When you use a Java-compatible Web browser, you can safely download Java applets without fear of virus infection. Portability For programs to be dynamically downloaded to all the various types of platforms connected to the Internet, some means of generating portable executable code is needed .As you will see, the same mechanism that helps ensure security also helps create portability. Indeed Javas solution to these two problems is both elegant and efficient. Java Virtual Machine (JVM) Beyond the language there is the Java virtual machine. The Java virtual machine is an important element of the Java technology. The virtual machine can be embedded within a web browser or an operating system. Once a piece of Java code is loaded onto a machine, it is verified. As part of the loading process, a class loader is invoked and does byte code verification makes sure that the code thats has been generated by the compiler will not corrupt the machine that its loaded on. Byte code verification takes place at the end of the compilation process to make sure that is all accurate and correct Java Architecture Java architecture provides a portable, robust, high performing environment for development. Java provides portability by compiling the byte codes for the Java Virtual Machine, which is then interpreted on each platform by the run-time environment Compilation of code When you compile the code, the Java compiler creates machine code (called byte code) for a hypothetical machine called Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JVM is supposed to execute the byte code. The JVM is created for overcoming the issue of portability. The code is written and compiled for one machine and interpreted on all machines. This machine is called Java Virtual Machine. Simple Java was designed to be easy for the Professional programmer to learn and to use effectively. If you are an experienced C++ programmer, learning Java will be even easier. Because Java inherits the C/C++ syntax and many of the objects oriented features of C++. Most of the confusing concepts from C++ are either left out of Java or implemented in a cleaner, more approachable manner Object-Oriented Java was not designed to be source-code compatible with any other language. This allowed the Java team the freedom to design with a blank slate. One outcome of this was a clean usable, pragmatic approach to objects. The object model in Java is simple and easy to extend while simple types such as integers are kept as high-performance non-objects. Robust The multi-platform environment of the Web places extraordinary demands on a program, because the program must execute reliably in a variety of systems. The ability to create robust programs was given a high priority in the design of Java. Java is strictly typed language; it checks your code at compile time and run time. Java virtually eliminates the problems of memory management and de-allocation, which is completely automatic. In a well-written Java program, all run time errors can -and should -be managed by your program. SERVLETS Introduction The Java web server is JavaSofts own web Server. The Java web server is just a part of a larger framework, intended to provide you not just with a web server, but also with tools. To build customized network servers for any Internet or Intranet client/server system. Servlets are to a web server, how applets are to the browser. About Servlets Servlets provide a Java-based solution used to address the problems currently associated with doing server-side programming, including inextensible scripting solutions, platform-specific APIs, and incomplete interfaces. Servlets are objects that conform to a specific interface that can be plugged into a Java-based server. Servlets are to the server-side what applets are to the client-side object byte codes that can be dynamically loaded off the net. They differ from applets in that they are faceless objects (without graphics or a GUI component). They serve as platform independent, dynamically loadable, pluggable helper byte code objects on the server side that can be used to dynamically extend server-side functionality. For example, an HTTP Servlets can be used to generate dynamic HTML content. When you use Servlets to do dynamic content you get the following advantages: Theyre faster and cleaner than CGI scripts They use a standard API (the Servlets API) They provide all the advantages of Java (run on a variety of servers without needing to be rewritten) There are many features of Servlets that make them easy and attractive to use. Easily configured using the GUI-based Admin tool Can be loaded and invoked from a local disk or remotely across the network. Can be linked together, or chained, so that one Servlets can call another Servlets, or several Servlets in sequence. Can be called dynamically from within HTML pages, using server-side include tags. Are secure even when downloading across the network, the Servlets security model and Servlets sandbox protect your system from unfriendly behavior. Advantages of the Servlet API One of the great advantages of the Servlet API is protocol independence. It assumes nothing about: The protocol being used to transmit on the net How it is loaded The server environment it will be running in Features of Servlets: Servlets are persistent. Servlet are loaded only by the web server and can maintain services between requests. Servlets are fast. Since Servlets only need to be loaded once, they offer much better performance over their CGI counterparts. Servlets are platform independent. Servlets are extensible. Java is a robust, object-oriented programming language, which easily can be extended to suit your needs Invoking Servlets A Servlet invoker is a Servlet that invokes the service method on a named Servlet. If the Servlet is not loaded in the server, then the invoker first loads the Servlet (either from local disk or from the network) and the then invokes the service method. Also like applets, local Servlets in the server can be identified by just the class name. In other words, if a Servlet name is not absolute, it is treated as local. A client can invoke Servlets in the following ways: The client can ask for a document that is served by the Servlet. The client (browser) can invoke the Servlet directly using a URL, once it has been mapped using the Servlet Aliases section of the admin GUI. The Servlet can be invoked through server side include tags. The Servlet can be invoked by placing it in the Servlets/ directory. The Servlet can be invoked by using it in a filter chain. Java Database Connectivity What Is JDBC? JDBC is a Java API for executing SQL statements. (As a point of interest, JDBC is a trademarked name and is not an acronym; nevertheless, JDBC is often thought of as standing for Java Database Connectivity. It consists of a set of classes and interfaces written in the Java programming language. JDBC provides a standard API for tool/database developers and makes it possible to write database applications using a pure Java API. Using JDBC, it is easy to send SQL statements to virtually any relational database. One can write a single program using the JDBC API, and the program will be able to send SQL statements to the appropriate database. The combinations of Java and JDBC lets a programmer write it once and run it anywhere. What Does JDBC Do? Simply put, JDBC makes it possible to do three things: Establish a connection with a database Send SQL statements Process the results. JDBC versus ODBC and other APIs At this point, Microsofts ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) API is that probably the most widely used programming interface for accessing relational databases. It offers the ability to connect to almost all databases on almost all platforms. So why not just use ODBC from Java? The answer is that you can use ODBC from Java, but this is best done with the help of JDBC in the form of the JDBC-ODBC Bridge, which we will cover shortly. The question now becomes Why do you need JDBC? There are several answers to this question: ODBC is not appropriate for direct use from Java because it uses a C interface. Calls from Java to native C code have a number of drawbacks in the security, implementation, robustness, and automatic portability of applications. A literal translation of the ODBC C API into a Java API would not be desirable. For example, Java has no pointers, and ODBC makes copious use of them, including the notoriously error-prone generic pointer void *. You can think of JDBC as ODBC translated into an object-oriented interface that is natural for Java programmers. ODBC is hard to learn. It mixes simple and advanced features together, and it has complex options even for simple queries. JDBC, on the other hand, was designed to keep simple things simple while allowing more advanced capabilities where required. A Java API like JDBC is needed in order to enable a pure Java solution. When ODBC is used, the ODBC driver manager and drivers must be manually installed on every client machine. When the JDBC driver is written completely in Java, however, JDBC code is automatically installable, portable, and secure on all Java platforms from network computers to mainframes. Two-tier and three-tier Models The JDBC API supports both two-tier and three-tier models for database access. In the two-tier model, a Java applet or application talks directly to the database. This requires a JDBC driver that can communicate with the particular database management system being accessed. A users SQL statements are delivered to the database, and the results of those statements are sent back to the user. The database may be located on another machine to which the user is connected via a network. This is referred to as a client/server configuration, with the users machine as the client, and the machine housing the database as the server. The network can be an Intranet, which, for example, connects employees within a corporation, or it can be the Internet. JAVA Application JDBC DBMS Client machine DBMS-proprietary protocol Database server Java applet or Html browser Application Server (Java) JDBC DBMS Client machine (GUI) HTTP, RMI, or CORBA calls Server machine (business Logic) DBMS-proprietary protocol Database server In the three-tier model, commands are sent to a middle tier of services, which then send SQL statements to the database. The database processes the SQL statements and sends the results back to the middle tier, which then sends them to the user. MIS directors find the three-tier model very attractive because the middle tier makes it possible to maintain control over access and the kinds of updates that can be made to corporate data. Another advantage is that when there is a middle tier, the user can employ an easy-to-use higher-level API which is translated by the middle tier into the appropriate low-level calls. Finally, in many cases the three-tier architecture can provide performance advantages. Until now the middle tier has typically been written in languages such as C or C++, which offer fast performance. However, with the introduction of optimizing compilers that translate Java byte code into efficient machine-specific code, it is becoming practical to implement the middle tier in Java. This is a big plus, making it possible to take advantage of Javas robustness, multithreading, and security features. JDBC is important to allow database access from a Java middle tier. JDBC Driver Types The JDBC drivers that we are aware of at this time fit into one of four categories: JDBC-ODBC bridge plus ODBC driver Native-API partly-Java driver JDBC-Net pure Java driver Native-protocol pure Java driver

Exploring Personal Choices in Toni Morrisons Beloved Essay -- Toni Mo

Exploring Personal Choices in Toni Morrison's Beloved At the climax of her book Beloved, Toni Morrison uses strong imagery to examine the mind of a woman who is thinking of killing her own children. She writes, "Because the truth was simple, not a long-drawn-out record of flowered shifts, tree cages, selfishness, ankle ropes and wells. Simple: she was squatting in the garden and when she saw them coming and recognized schoolteacher's hat, she heard wings. Little hummingbirds stuck their needle beaks right through her headcloth into her hair and beat their wings. And if she thought anything, it was No. Nono. Nonono. Simple. She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that were precious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through the veil, out, away, over there where no one could hurt them. Over there. outside this place, where they would be safe. And the hummingbird wings beat on." (163) A full analysis of the book, or even of this passage, would be more extensive than is justified by the constraints of this paper. To a large extent this book is about the victims of the system of slavery. However, Morisson uses this and other passages to comment on issues that are still present even after significant changes in social and economic systems. One statement Morisson is making here is that there is a dichotomy between what we should do to obey our personal spiritual laws and what we should do to exercise "common sense" or "be normal." Also that often neither of these is what we actually do nor what we want to do as a person trying to live life. She makes it implicitly clear in this sentence, as she does in other parts of the novel, dealing with other characters. It is va... ...uate all the options we have for dealing with it. Perhaps Toni Morrison wrote this book to explore choices that we all have made between what is right for the "reasonable man" and what is right for us in the context of what we believe and feel, and how we reconcile those things as we deal with society afterward. God judges the heart of every person, but other people can only judge and deal with us on the basis of what they see and hear us do and say. That is a major challenge for each person: expressing his or her true feelings clearly, before and after the action, and expressing them to a sympathetic person who is also able to parse that expression. Perhaps the "hummingbirds" in this passage were all the reactions by people who closed Sethe in rather than allowed her to express herself openly. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Plume, 1997.

How do Owen and Auden convey the negative effects of war in their poems ‘Disabled’ and ‘Refugee Blues’’?

In the poems Disabled and Refugee Blues, the writers, Owen and Auden respectively, convey the negative effects of war in a variety of ways. Through the use structuring, literary and figurative devices, Auden subtly shows the negative effects of war, whereas Owen does this it more explicitly, showing the de-humanizing, gruesome effects of war. In the poem Disabled, Owen displays the more gruesome, horrendous reality; he does this in a variety of ways.Firstly he uses a randomized stanza structure, the stanzas do not have a consistent amount of lines. The stanza structure is emphasizing how the soldier’s think, because most soldiers act upon their animalistic instinct, Owen has used this idea rely on instinct to create his structure, not only does this confuse the reader but Owen also tries to emphasize on how the war has affected the soldiers.Owen also uses a lot of different literary devices to help him, metaphor is used throughout the poem to help develop the poem, â€Å"Voic es of boys rang saddening like a hymn†, the voices of boys made the soldier feel sad; they make him remember his childhood, it was not long ago that he was like those boys, running freely, however it seems like a distant memory.Owen is emphasizing that the war robbed the soldier of his innocence and naivety, he is also a little jealous of them, they still believe in fairy tales and happy endings, whereas the soldier understands the true colors of reality. â€Å"In the old times, before he threw away his knees/All of them touch him like some queer disease† these two quotes, emphasize on the fact that the soldier threw away his legs when he enlisted in the army, if he didn’t sign up he wouldn’t be disabled and the girls would still be flirting with him.The girls do not want to be with someone who is crippled; heroes do not get injured. It seems like he has given up on life as much as life has given up on him, he has succumbed into the idea that he is not a r eal man anymore; others can sense this about him and stay away because they do not want to be dragged down by his self-pity. Granted, the women could be touching him in disgust, it is also likely that it is him who is projecting his own feelings of disgust on them.The war can affect both the social life and the personal life negatively, thus creating a very negative atmosphere in the stanza. Owen also makes effective use of alliterations, â€Å"Legless, sewn short at elbow†, not only does this quote tell us the exact extent of the soldiers disability, but during World War I it was common practice to sew shut pant legs and sleeves when someone is missing the limb or appendix, the quote makes us pity the soldier, moreover it is also common that soldiers lose a limbs during war, creating a very brutal and negative view upon war.Another alliteration that has been used, â€Å"And a leap of purple spurted from his thigh†, a leap of purple could relate to blood or bruises, th is quote indicates the severity of his injuries, although it was a large injury, the poem portrays it only as a ‘leap of purple’, this makes the injury seem small and insignificant, and which was likely how the government and the higher-ups viewed the disabled soldiers. Although W.H Auden wrote Refugee Blues half a year before World War II broke out, the Nazi’s (Nationalists) have already been hunting Jews and ‘exterminating’ them, Refugee Blues is a Jewish perspective on the war. W. H. Auden has structured his poem into tersets, and each stanza proposes a different theme and part of the Jewish refugees life, it also isolates the stanza, emphasizing each negative point Auden has made.Auden uses very effective metaphors to convey the different negative effects of Hitler’s rein, â€Å"Saw a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin, /Saw a door open and a cat let in:/ But they weren’t German Jews, my dear, they weren’t German Jews. à ¢â‚¬  In this quote, W. H. Auden was comparing the Jewish with a poodle and a mere street cat, not only does it emphasize how un-wanted the Jews were, Auden himself degraded the Jewish into something that was utterly despised and negatively viewed.

Franz Kafkas The Judgment Summary

Franz Kafka's The Judgment Summary Franz Kafka’s â€Å"The Judgment† is the tale of a quiet young man caught in an outrageous situation. The story starts off by following its main character, Georg Bendemann, as he deals with a series of day-to-day concerns: his upcoming marriage, his family’s business affairs, his long-distance correspondence with an old friend, and, perhaps most importantly, his relationship with his aged father. Although Kafka’s third-person narration maps out the circumstances of Georg’s life with considerable detail, â€Å"The Judgment† is not really a sprawling work of fiction. All the main events of the story occur on a â€Å"Sunday morning in the height of spring† (p.49). And, until the very end, all the main events of the story take place in the small, gloomy house that Georg shares with his father. But as the story progresses, Georg’s life takes a bizarre turn. For much of â€Å"The Judgment†, Georg’s father is depicted as a weak, helpless man- a shadow, it seems, of the imposing businessman he once was. Yet this father transforms into a figure of enormous knowledge and power. He springs up in fury when Georg is tucking him into bed, viciously mocks Georg’s friendships and upcoming marriage, and ends by condemning his son to â€Å"death by drowning†. Georg flees the scene. And instead of thinking over or rebelling against what he has seen, he rushes to a nearby bridge, swings over the railing, and carries out his father’s wish: â€Å"With weakening grip he was still holding on when he spied between the railings a motor-bus coming which would easily cover the noise of his fall, called in a low voice: ‘Dear parents, I have always loved you, all the same,’ and let himself drop† (p. 63). Kafka’s Writing Methods As Kafka states in his diary for 1912, â€Å"this story, ‘The Judgment’, I wrote in one sitting of the 22nd-23rd, from ten o’clock to six o’clock in the morning. I was hardly able to pull my legs out from under the desk, they had got so stiff from sitting. The fearful strain and joy, how the story developed before me as if I were advancing over water†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This method of rapid, continuous, one-shot composition wasn’t simply Kafka’s method for â€Å"The Judgment†. It was his ideal method of writing fiction. In the same diary entry, Kafka declares that â€Å"only in this way can writing be done, only with such coherence, with such a complete opening out of the body and soul.† Of all his stories, â€Å"The Judgment† was apparently the one that pleased Kafka the most. The writing method that he used for this bleak tale became one of the standards that he used to judge his other pieces of fiction. In a 1914 diary entry, Kafka recorded his â€Å"great antipathy to The Metamorphosis. Unreadable ending. Imperfect almost to its very marrow. It would have turned out very much better if I had not been interrupted at the time by the business trip.† The Metamorphosis was one of Kafka’s better-known stories during his lifetime, and it is almost without a doubt his best-known story today. Yet for Kafka, it represented an unfortunate departure from the method of highly-focused composition and unbroken emotional investment exemplified by â€Å"The Judgment.† Kafka’s Own Father Kafka’s relationship with his father was quite uneasy. Hermann Kafka was a well-off businessman, and a figure who inspired a mixture of intimidation, anxiety, and grudging respect in his sensitive son Franz. In his â€Å"Letter to My Father†, Kafka acknowledges his father’s â€Å"dislike of my writing and all that, unknown to you, was connected with it.† But as depicted in this famous (and unsent) letter, Hermann Kafka is also canny and manipulative. He is fearsome, but not outwardly brutal. In the younger Kafka’s words, â€Å"I might go on to describe further orbits of your influence and of struggle against it, but there I would be entering uncertain ground and would have to construct things, and apart from that, the further you are at a remove from your business and your family the pleasanter you have always become, easier to get on with, better mannered, more considerate, and more sympathetic (I mean outwardly too), in exactly the same way as for instance an autocrat, when he happen to be outside the frontiers of his own country, has no reason to go on being tyrannical and is able to associate good-humoredly with even the lowest of the low.† Revolutionary Russia Throughout â€Å"The Judgment†, Georg mulls over his correspondence with a friend â€Å"who had actually run away to  Russia some years before, being dissatisfied with his prospects at home† (49). Georg even reminds his father of this friend’s â€Å"incredible stories of the Russian Revolution. For instance, when he was on a business trip in Kiev and ran into a riot, and saw a priest on a balcony who cut a broad cross in blood on the palm of his hand and held the hand up and appealed to the mob† (58). Kafka may be referring to the Russian Revolution of 1905. In fact, one of the leaders of this Revolution was a priest named Gregory Gapon, who organized a peaceful march outside the Winter Palace in  St. Petersburg. Nonetheless, it would be wrong to assume that Kafka wants to provide a historically accurate picture of early 20th-century Russia. In â€Å"The Judgment†, Russia is a perilously exotic place. It is a stretch of the world that Georg and his father have never seen and perhaps doesnt understand, and somewhere that Kafka, consequently, would have little reason to describe in documentary detail. (As an author, Kafka was not averse to simultaneously talking about foreign locations and keeping them at a distance. After all, he began composing the novel Amerika without having visited the United States.) Yet Kafka was well versed in certain Russian authors, particularly Dostoevsky. From reading Russian literature, he may have gleaned the stark, unsettling, imaginary visions of Russia that crop up in â€Å"The Judgment.† Consider, for instance, Georg’s speculations about his friend: â€Å"Lost in the vastness of Russia he saw him. At the door of an empty, plundered warehouse he saw him. Among the wreckage of his showcases, the slashed remnants of his wares, the falling gas brackets, he was just standing up. Why, why did he have to go so far away!† (p. 59). Money, Business, and Power Matters of trade and finance initially draw Georg and his father together- only to become a subject of discord and contention later in â€Å"The Judgment†. Early on, Georg tells his father that â€Å"I can’t do without you in the business, you know that very well† (56). Though they are bound together by the family firm, Georg does seem to hold most of the power. He sees his father as an â€Å"old man† who- if he didn’t have a kind or pitying son- â€Å"would go on living alone in the old house† (58). But when Georg’s father finds his voice late in the story, he ridicules his son’s business activities. Now, instead of submitting to Georg’s favors, he gleefully reproaches Georg for â€Å"strutting through the world, finishing off deals I had prepared for him, bursting with triumphant glee and stealing away from his father with the closed face of a respectable business man!† (61). Unreliable Information, and Complex Reactions Late in â€Å"The Judgment,† some of Georg’s most basic assumptions are rapidly overturned. Georg’s father goes from seeming physically depleted to making outlandish, even violent physical gestures. Georg’s father reveals that his knowledge of the Russian friend is much, much deeper than Georg had ever imagined. As the father triumphantly states the case to Georg, â€Å"he knows everything a hundred times better than you do yourself, in his left hand he crumples your letters unopened while in his right hand he holds up my letters to read through!† (62). Georg reacts to this news- and many of the father’s other pronouncements- without any doubt or questioning. Yet the situation should not be so straightforward for Kafka’s reader. When Georg and his father are in the midst of their conflict, Georg seldom seems to think over what he is hearing in any detail. However, the events of â€Å"The Judgment† are so strange and so sudden that, at times, it seems Kafka is inviting us to do the difficult analytic and interpretive work that Georg himself seldom performs. Georg’s father may be exaggerating, or lying. Or maybe Kafka has created a story that is more like a dream than a depiction of reality- a story where the most twisted, overblown, unthinking reactions make a kind of hidden, perfect sense. Discussion Questions Does â€Å"The Judgment† strike you as a story that was written in one impassioned sitting? Are there any times when it doesn’t follow Kaka’s standards of â€Å"coherence† and â€Å"opening out†- times when Kafka’s writing is reserved or puzzling, for instance?Who or what, from the real world, is Kafka criticizing in â€Å"The Judgment†? His father? Family values? Capitalism? Himself? Or do you read â€Å"The Judgment† as a story that, instead of aiming at a specific satiric target, simply aims to shock and entertain its readers?How would you sum up the way Georg feels about his father? The way his father feels about him? Are there any facts you don’t know, but that could change your views on this question if you did know them?Did you find â€Å"The Judgment† mostly disturbing or mostly humorous? Are there any times when Kafka manages to be disturbing and humorous at the same moment? Source Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis, In The Penal Colony, and Other Stories. Paperback, Touchstone, 1714.

7 Surprising Facts About Homeschooling

7 Surprising Facts About Homeschooling If youre new to the idea of homeschooling, you may think its just like traditional school, but without the classroom.  In some  ways, youd be right -  but there are many important differences. And those differences make homeschooling the best choice for many families.   Whether youre a new  homeschooler  or are just curious about how it works, here are seven facts about homeschooling that may surprise you. 1. Homeschoolers Dont Have to Do the Same Work as Kids in School In some states, public school students have the option to  do their work at home online. Because theyre still enrolled in the public school system, those students follow the same curriculum as kids in school. But in general, homeschoolers also have the option to create their own curriculum -  or not use a curriculum at all. Often they choose lots of hands-on activities and ​learning resources other than textbooks. So instead of trying to keep up with what students in their grade are doing, homeschooling students can study Ancient Greece while their peers study the Civil War. They can  explore states of matter with dry ice  or go  in-depth on evolution  while kids their age are memorizing the parts of a flower. The freedom to follow childrens interests is one of the aspects of homeschooling many families like best. 2. Homeschooling Parents Stay up to Date on How Children Learn and Grow To keep their teaching license current, classroom teachers may be required to attend professional development workshops. At these workshops, they study the latest information and strategies about how children learn. But research on education topics like learning styles, brain development, and the links between physical activity and memory can be found in books, magazines and websites available to the public as well. Thats why even homeschooling parents who dont have teaching degrees are familiar with the latest information on how to be a better teacher. Whats more, experienced homeschoolers -  including those with a professional background in education or child development - are very willing to offer support to other homeschoolers, whether online or at  parent meetings. So the knowledge base within the homeschool community is vast and easily accessible. 3. Its Not Unusual for Classroom Teachers to Homeschool Their Own Children Nobody knows how schools really operate better than classroom teachers. So its not surprising that  many licensed, trained, experienced public school educators decide to homeschool their  kids. As they will tell you, homeschooling lets them use their skills and experience without a lot of  red tape. At home, dedicated professional teachers can create the kind of  learning environment every child should have. 4. Were Still Waiting for a Good Study of Homeschooling You may have  read articles that claim homeschoolers do better than average on standardized tests, come from wealthier families, and homeschool mainly because of religious beliefs. None of the conventional wisdom about homeschooling is backed by rigorous scientific research, however. Most of the statistics you read were collected by groups with a vested interest in proving  that either homeschooling is a cure-all for American education or the end of civilization as we know it. The true answer is more complicated and yet to be reliably studied. 5. Lots of Homeschooling Parents Are Also Working Parents Along with the idea that homeschooling families are wealthier than average is the notion that teaching your own children means one parent must be home full time  and not working. This is not true. Homeschoolers come up with many creative ways to balance work and homeschooling. 6. Homeschoolers Dont Need a High School Diploma to Get into College Colleges have come to recognize that homeschool students are as well prepared as traditionally-schooled students for college life. Thats why they often have a special application process for  college-bound homeschoolers  that takes into account their varied backgrounds. Some homeschoolers also get around requirements for standardized tests like the SAT by taking enough community college classes while in high school to apply as transfer students. 7. Homeschoolers Can Get Many of the Same Educator Discounts as Classroom Teachers Classroom teachers know that national chains and local stores that carry school supplies, art materials, books, and teaching aids often offer educator discounts. In many cases, homeschooling parents can get these discounts too. Stores that have offered discounts include Barnes Noble and Staples. Special educator discounts extend to field trips as well. Museums, summer camps, amusement parks and other educational and recreation venues have learned that offering special events and programs for homeschoolers can boost business during slow periods. For instance, Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, the Colonial-era living museum, has run popular Home School Days for several years. Some national companies also include homeschoolers in competitions and incentive programs aimed at school kids. For example, homeschoolers can earn rewards for reading from the Six Flags chain of amusement parks and Pizza Hut restaurants. Policies change, so its always a good idea to ask. You may also want to be prepared to show proof that you homeschool, such as  a letter from the school district or your  homeschool group membership card.

Has Realism got the big things right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Has Realism got the big things right - Essay Example In relation to international politics or international relations (IR), realists are of views that states are the main actors reflecting the actions of the world. The states are meant to be sovereign actors thus meaning that there would be no other actor or regulator above the decisions of the states. All other organizations are hence supposed to follow the rules and regulations set by the individual states. The activities of different states lead to inter-state relations. According to realism, the nature of humans tends to be selfish and thus when the concept of international politics is concerned, it represents a struggle between the different states, each trying to make the most of their own interests Realism in relation to politics reflects the study and practice of international politics. Generally it discusses on the roles of the different states in a nation. It also assumes and makes statements on the states being concerned with their national interests and hence are carried away by these interests towards their individual actions. Thus according to realism, all states are concerned about their individual status in the world politics as well as their territorial reliability. Besides these, according to realists, the interests of the states may vary depending on their needs and circumstances. As far as neorealism and classical realism is concerned, there are certain differences between the two concepts. While classical realists are of the view that the reasons for international conflicts and wars are the imperfect behaviors and nature of the societies or the individual states, on the other hand, the neorealists have their belief in the anarchic system of international relations. According to the belief of classical realists, the state is considered to be more advanced against the entire system, while the neorealists believe that agencies hold greater space in the system than the states. Neorealists are of the view that the individual states act as unitary actors, on the other hand, classical realists make a distinction between powers of the status-quo and revisionist powers. Another difference between the neorealists and classical realists is that neo-realists make efforts to put up a more thorough and methodical advancement to the study of international relations, profou ndly predisposed by the â€Å"behaviourist revolution of the 1960’s while classical realism confine its analyses to subjective valuations of international relations† (Pashakhanlou, 2009). Realism and International Relations: Considering the relation of realism and international relations, there are four fundamental assumptions that realists have made for the international relations. Firstly, they assume that â€Å"the state is the most important actor in international relations† (Realism, n.d.). This reflects that the most important role in these states is that of the individual governments,

Marketing strategies of Apple Inc Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing strategies of Apple Inc - Term Paper Example It's products and services include Macintosh (Mac) computers, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Xserve, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems, third-party digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings† (Corporate Information, 2011, p. 1) With the rich legacy and tradition that has revolutionized computer technology of the 20th century, Apple Inc. has been revered by contemporary organizations as an icon of global technology. In this regard, the current research aims to proffer pertinent information that highlights the marketing strategies employed and implemented by Apple Inc. in its journey towards exemplary performance and financial success. Products Apple’s products are categorized into personal computers (PCs), to operating systems (OS), peripherals and the latest non-PC product lines (iPod, iPhone, among others). A quick view of the offic ial website’s product images and information classify their offers as: iPad and iPhone; Mac; iPod and iTunes; and iCloud; with specified retail stores for these products (Apple Inc., 2011). The slump in the technology industry, particularly in terms of trends in personal computers in the 2000s shifted Apple’s focus in the digital technology market that enabled them to recover from financial distress. The innovative strategy of designing iPhone was another instrumental investment that paid off for Apple. Having capitalized on the increasing proliferation of mobile phones, the technology of uniting the features offered in iPod to mobile technology attained the object to reinventing the phone to what emerged as the iPhone. As advertised in their website: â€Å"iPhone 4 features a durable glass design, the remarkably high-resolution Retina display, FaceTime video calling, a 5-megapixel camera with HDR capability, and HD video recording. It’s the biggest thing to ha ppen to iPhone since iPhone† (Apple Inc., 2011). Marketing Strategies The success of Apple Inc. has been attributed to their expertise and competitive advantage of knowing their products and scanning for opportunities in their external environment. As revealed by Vertygo Team (2011), â€Å"Apple has been so successful in these last years thanks to the fresh, imaginative way to think and do its business: a winning combination of exceptional products, great style and design, great strategy, innovative marketing, sleek and enticing communications† (par. 1). Apart from these, Apple’s competitive advantages could be summed as follows: (1) possesses strong corporate position and image as a pioneer manufacturer and marketing of easy-to-use computer for a wide range of customers; (2) positioned itself as an established manufacturer of high quality products: (3) exhibited exemplary competence in both hardware and software applications; (4) invested considerably and strate gically in research and development paving the way for the discovery of new product designs deemed to be more versatile than competitors and creation of innovative applications; (5) possesses the ability to employ strong leaders with vast professional experiences; (6) offered products packaged in strategic designs to focus on the products’