Pre-Attack Techniques Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pre-Attack Techniques - Coursework Example Unnecessary software and daemons should be deactivated and disabled given that they are most vulnerable for attack. Constant patching to system application and software should be done in order to eliminate the gaps and security holes that exist. Installation of new updates and new versions of existing application will ensure heighten and improved security. Constant updates ensure that al the patches are fixed thus eliminating system vulnerabilities (Scambray, 2009). Both hardware and software application forms of firewall such Symantec-Axents Firewall/VPN 100 Appliance and Zone Alarm can be installed in an organization’s system and network. Firewall installation discriminate against access request from unknown and unauthorized sources that may be of potential threat to computer systems and network. Network security assessment is done in order to see and expose the vulnerability that exists within a network and a system. Port scanning an organizations network will reveal the exposed services. Running a vulnerability scanner against an organization’s servers ensures that all the vulnerabilities are exposed and necessary actions taken to eliminate them in order to secure servers. Most of these pre-attack techniques and method for preventing hack attack against an organization are controllable from an organizations perspective. It is up to an organization to put up measures and install the necessary application in order to ensure the security of its systems and information including the network.

The Impact Of Advertising On The Mass Media Media Essay

The Impact Of Advertising On The Mass Media Media Essay With the social and economic development and frequent international cultural exchange, the traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television are going through a increasingly stable development in recent years. With the rapid development of high technology, Internet media is emerging as the fourth. These resulted in more frequent exchange of social information, and now advertisers have more convenient channels for their goods and services promotion. Mass media has become a major promotional platform for advertising; both news and advertising are interdependent and mutually compete for the TV broadcast time and newspaper pages published. Advertising development is bound to have increasingly important influence on the development of mass media. Firstly, this paper will outline the research background and rationale. Following this, it will explain the intention and the importance of the research. Then, it will explain the aim and the objectives of the research. Next, the paper will review previous literatures which are related to this study. This is followed by the methodology of the research. The paper will explain the resource, sampling and ethical considerations of the study orderly. Finally, it will make out the conclusion of the study. Background and research rationale Advertising is a particular need, since the production and exchange of goods, advertising had began to be used in the life. The worlds first ad is conducted by voice, also known as oral advertising, which is the most primitive sell advertising, which is characterized by simple forms of advertising in particular. Back in the early slave society of ancient Greece, people do the slave and livestock trade by public advocacy and yelling out the rhythmic ads. The invention of the printing press created a new era of advertising. In 1473, Britains first publisher, William à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Kanke Si printed a lot of publicity religious content of the print ads and posted them in the many streets in London; this is the first Western print advertising. In 1622, Nicholas Brown and Thomas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ke Qieer, who were both from the UK, founded the first English newspaper ¼Ã…’which was named Weekly News and was published in London. Since then, newspaper has become a main carrier of advertising. To the end of 1830, America has had about l200 pieces of newspapers, and 65 species of them are daily newspapers. Most or first full-page edition of many newspapers is advertising. 1830 -1850 is the penny press era, because the price is a penny foe each piece of newspaper. Due to the low price, the sales had increased, and the effectiveness of advertising had also been increased. While popular in the newspaper ads, magazine ads are increasing, and a large amount of advertising agencies and advertising companies showed up since then. With the development and popularization of radio and television, they became a major carrier of advertising, because they have benefits of quick spread, vivid images and a wide range covering, which are more easily to attract the attention of consumers. After the 1980s, with the rapid development and popular of electronic media, computer began to be used for advertising design and planning. With high-tech, advertising has become part of the information dissemination activities in our lives. Inevitably, the development of advertising caused a lot of impact on mass media, both positive and negative. Aim and Objectives The aim of this study is to find the impact of advertising on the development trends of mass media, there must be a very complicated relationship between advertising and news in the mass media, and as all known, news provide real and quick information to people, but the function of advertising is totally different, which will lead different impact on the mass media. This research is aimed to find out all the elements which cause these differences and the result in the final. This study will firstly introduce the original and historic development of advertising which takes the mass media as the major carrier, and then analyze the relationship between news and advertising on the aspects of their differences and common points, and find out how they influence mass media in different ways. In the following this study will explain the impact of advertising on the development trends of mass media, from both positive and negative aspects. Following suggestions which aim at improving the development of mass media will be given in the end of this study. Literature Review In the study The impact of Advertising on media bias, Esther Gal-or, Tansev Geylani and Tubapinar Yildirim (2010) investigated how and in what extent the advertising affected the extent of bias in the media. They believed that, when making choices on which media to do the advertising and how much they would like to pay for it, advertisers would evaluate both the size as well as the composition of the readership of the different medias, in this way, when the total ad spending to a fixed advertising costs, it can be used as a reference value, according to advertisers strengths and weaknesses to make the final choice. They stated that, Reasons for the existence of media bias range from journalists desire to enhance their career opportunities to medias incentive to increase audience ratings. In a recent paper by Mullainathan and Shleifer, a link is established between subscription fees and media bias. There are some people doubts the objectivity of the mass media when they are purchasing economic benefit. Serge Kasper (2008) pointed out in his weblog The Impact of Advertising on Society that, Critics has accused advertising companies of falsely using the power of sound and visual to convince unsuspecting buyers to purchase products that dont offer what they promise. John Harms from Southwest Missouri State University and Douglas Kellner (1990) from the University of Texas at Austin had cooperated a study Toward A Critical Theory of Advertising, in which that pointed out that The studies such as what stated before have explore how the mass media influenced by advertisers and business, which is reflected in news and cultural differences.. According to these previous studies, this point is almost inevitable. Chuck, Blore (2000), who is one of the partners of the advertising firm Chuck Blore Don Ruchman said that Advertising is the art of arresting the human intelligence just long enough to get money from it. And this determined that the advertising is totally different from news in the function and purpose when they are televised or published. Shah (2008) stated that, Since the emergence of mass media, business is very natural to take them as channels and platforms to the promotion of products and services, there is nothing wrong in this point, because it makes the share of information and innovation come true and influence peoples daily life. Methodology Data Collection This paper studies the impact of advertising on the development trends of mass media, which requires doing some analysis on a common phenomenon for many advertising sector of media, and drawing basic conclusions. If only concrete on individual cases, apparently, the conclusion can not be representative of all media in common. In this article, I will collect enough detailed information, and the questionnaire will help the final conclusion to a large extent. All the previous studies about advertising and media, as well as their relationship will be taken as useful data, and they will be collected and analyzed in a scientific way. Questionnaire Interview In order to collect quantitative data for this study, this paper will use structured, close ended and five-point method to design questionnaire according to previous literatures. Before carrying on the questionnaire, this paper will try to summarize as more as possible previous study on the relevant topic, and analyze the information from different angles. A set of questions will be distributed to 10 people whose jobs are relevant to media or advertising and to another 10 who are common audiences and readers. Also there would be 2 open-ended questions and some interviews to those recipients. Through the questionnaire and interview, those aims are expected to be realized: 1. Is the advertising also an important information resource in the daily life? 2. Do people believe what the advertising tells about? 3. When the mass media provide time and space for the advertising, are they only pursuing economic benefit? 4. Will the advertising have negative influence on the reliability of mass media? 5. Is it reasonable to separate news and advertising in the media? All these questions above will be put into the questionnaires in detail, and the feedback will be gathered after the interviewees answering them, then the data will be summarized and the analysis will be make out, which will be helpful to the research of this topic. Timescale This study will be carried on from XXX. The total term approximately will be XXX weeks. The following will the various stages schedule of the work which is going to be done in the future. It will design the questionnaire of this study according to previous related literature from XXX to XXX. Moreover, this dissertation will implement pre-investigation to research the questions brought out in the above. It will implement converting data according to questionnaire, analyzing data, describing the results of analysis in XXX. It will gather all data together and write the draft of this study by the end of XXX. It will implement rectifying the dissertation and editing it according to standard format from XXX to XXX. Following this, it will make the final amendments and print the dissertation from XXX to XXX. This dissertation will be finished on XXX, 2010. The schedule arrangement will be carried on critically according to timescale.

Essays --

Recently, one little girl managed to light up national news and melt the heart of the public. A video of a kindergarten Christmas program has gone viral due to 5 year old Claire Koch of Clearwater, Florida. Instead of just singing along with the other kids, Claire did something else; she also signed the entire program in American Sign Language so her parents, who are deaf, could enjoy the program as well. Claire is a CODA, or child of deaf adult. Her parents have used ASL in the home since before she was born, and the little girl can now sign fluently. (Jernigan) As we learned in class, CODA is a term used in the hearing community; in the Deaf community, they are more likely to be referred to as â€Å"Mother Father Deaf.† 90% of deaf parents have hearing children (Moore & Levitan). A large percentage of CODAs have both deaf parents, because approximately 90% of Deaf people marry another Deaf person. (Filer, and Filer) When a hearing child is born to deaf parents, they are considered to be part of both hearing culture and deaf culture. They also are viewed as bilingual usually (if the deaf parents indeed use sign language). However, there are times where Deaf parents will not sign with their child. The reasons vary; some do it so they will not rely on their child later in life to be an interpreter for them, others may actually view sign language negatively. (Singleton & Tittle) Deaf parents raising hearing children can sometimes be thought of as them raising "foreign" children. The idea behind this is the fact that just because they were born to Deaf parents does not mean they will automatically inherit the Deaf culture. The children will grow up to know that, technically speaking, they would be share more with the hearing world. T... ...unity. (Preston) To those who were not previously fully immersed to a large degree in the hearing community, it can be a real shock. Being a child of Deaf adults is by no means easy. From the short time I spent talking to Jeremy back in October, I can tell that there is some definite frustrations sometimes. The idea that young children are sometimes the one link that Deaf parents have to the hearing world can be challenging to grasp. I myself probably would have gone along with having a child interpret for me if a situation warranted. Now that I have looked into the life of CODAs and know enough American Sign Language to have basic conversations, hopefully it will never come to that. I think if there was a little more effort by both the hearing community and Deaf community to come to a better understanding of the other, there might be less strain on these children.

Advertisement Is Manipulation

Advertising: Information or Manipulation? (Argumentative essay) [pic]Advertising is a way of getting a product or an idea to the general public to advertise the positive aspects of it. Advertising is a good way of  persuading  the people to purchase a product or believe in an idea that the advertisement presents. Advertising has many forms. They come in  propaganda or in mass media. (Television commercials) Traditional advertising is meant for  persuasion and is made to give off positive aspects (information) about a object or specifically a product to make them purchase or believe in the ideas that the  advertisement provides.This is not true present day. The present day advertisement evolved and now brainwashes the people to buy or believe in the things in the advertisement. Advertisement is made for persuasion but people have used this tool to actually control the thoughts of many people. For example, subliminal messages are contained in many different advertisements ava ilable today. Subliminal messages are very unethical. These messages are hidden in words or drawings to control the people. Subliminal messaging is one unethical way of advertising.Following ethics decides whether the ad is made for information or manipulation. If the ad contains unethical ways of persuasion then it is made for manipulation. The quote â€Å"if we follow ethics we face negative consequences† explains the ads that are available today. Many companies threw ethics out of the window. following ethics means less sales and less effectiveness. For the huge benefit they crave, they threw ethics and joined the dark side. Now advertisement are  solely  made to persuade people to pay more money than the actual cost of the product or an idea.These ads (most of them today) are mainly legal scams pasted in the window of your nearby super market. Is advertising the definitive way to make us informed in our daily decision making or is it just an exceptionally authoritativ e kind of mass deception that companies use to persuade their consumers and prospects into buying their services or products that they (buyers) do not need? In the global market, consumers have been exposed to ever ever-increasing amounts of advertising message.Consequently, the openings geared towards advertisement by firms have been on the rise to make sure that the buyers get the information. The paper presented here will carefully examine whether advertising is aimed at provision of information to the general   public and passing useful information to the customers or just to manipulate them and lure them into buying. Advertising can be used interchangeably with the word marketing. Talking of marketing draws our minds initially to money, services, goods and more importantly consumers.The role of advertising should be to help the society and the public at large through adequately correctly providing information concerning services and products that are produced. Advertising is a kind of communication that is untended to persuade people; readers, viewers and listeners to take some action. Another definition of advertisement as described by various researchers is; the non- personal communication of information concerning products, ideas or services in a normally persuasive way which is paid for by the sponsors and passed on through various mass media.On the other hand, the term manipulation has a meaning of giving malicious/ false information on a particular issue with an intention of achieving ones objectives. Manipulation basically makes use of lies to bring about benefits. There is a risk here though as if all the companies engage in spreading lies or false information about there products, the consumers will discover the truth and eventually the companies’ integrity in the eyes of the people will be lost, a fact that makes them to be extra smart in their manipulation undertakings.Advertising can be categorized into two throughout this research. O ne category is the innocent way of giving information to customers concerning a given product or service while facing them. There is a second category of that has a manipulative outcome on people. In all circumstances, people exposed to one or another kind of advertisement are driven in to purchasing products purchasing they may not really have needed. This is the image of manipulation in advertisement that makes consumers more commodity fetishists.

What Are the Strengths and Challenges of Teams at Work

What are the strengths and challenges of teams at work? Team work has been the biggest development In management of human resources for organizations In the past few decades (Norman, Cohen and Norman, 1995). It has been implemented in a wide variety of spheres and the growth of the popularity is still ongoing. It is obvious that these changes have not happened without a reason, there is something to team work that is attracting every manager like kids to an ice- cream car. Before I continue, I want to state some things so there would not be any misunderstanding further on the essay.First, I do not want any confusion when it comes to defining a team and a group, because I understand that there is not much of a difference (Ouzo, 1996) between these terms. The only thing that I want to state is that team always has an interdependent nature; they perceive themselves as a whole unit. Second, as the topic is about teams In general, the evaluation Is quite superficial and It will not be val id for every team. The way team performs depends on the size of the team, the management of It and of course the working environment It Is In.So every team has to be evaluated Independently to give an objective report. I will describe aspects that stand out amongst the others and are present for most of the teams. My goal in this essay is to evaluate teams at work environment drawing on theory and research. I am going to point out the strengths of a team-based work from member's point of view and challenges that team members have to face. Eventually, what I am trying to state is that people (managers, leaders etc. Who are leaning towards team work as the best way of getting things done have made this assumption based on feelings they have towards team-work rather than researching hurry and experiments made on the approach to get the bagger picture of what team-work consists from and what are the actual drawbacks. I am basing my work on the paper about ‘romance of teams' (Allen and Yecch, AAA) taking some Ideas from the paper, but putting them Into my own perspective. I am going to start with the most obvious strengths that teams has, because those are the ones that people are most aware of.Followed by additional strengths, that according to researches lies in our sub consciousness. After that I will describe the biggest challenges teams have to face. Strengths A team consists of several people and each one of them has their own skills, characteristics, gender, age and perception of things in general (Britton et al. , 2010). There are several definitions of a team, but this one serves the best for my purposes – ‘A group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, Job, or project' (Chicken, 2009).Indeed each one of us Is unique and by coming together and supplementing each other we form a living organism called ‘team'. Knowledge, opinion, experience and personal views can be shared in this living mind', in this way implying additional strengths. Maybe these are not the strengths that people will mention the most when speaking about pros of teams, but they exist and they do form our feelings towards teams. I would like to continue by focusing on strengths of teams that people are unaware of or they are aware of them subconsciously.Every team is a social formation; accordingly it includes interaction with others, whether it is Just a chat that started with â€Å"how are you doing? † or a discussion about the subjective they are trying to achieve or a social evening to bring he team closer together, it does not matter. The thing that matters is that team gives you a wide range of opportunities to satisfy your social needs; it gives you a feeling of belonging (Godard, 2001 a).Alongside, comes the feeling that overtakes you, that gives you the idea that you want to be a part of a team, which is natural, because people are creatures that has been living in groups since the beginn ing of time and social desires has developed naturally and is a part of our lives. The thing is that, not everyone is aware of this phenomenon, so this is where unconscious strengths appear. To continue, I would like to introduce a research made by Diddle and Strobe, 1991.This research states that individuals perceive working in group activities to be more fun and enjoyable than working alone and that time is perceived as passing more quickly when working in a group (Allen and Yecch, Bibb). Moreover, some researches shows that working in a team can increase your mental well-being and state of mind in general (Carter, 2000). Teams provide a benefit like reduction of stress (Godard, 2001 b) which mostly comes from the fact that teams reduces uncertainty about particular situations and verifies member's beliefs and ideas (Hog and Mulling, 1999).As all the facts that are mentioned before comes together, it is only obvious that teams do paint a really nice picture about themselves in our minds. Additionally, the way how people actually perceive themselves in a group is different from the way they do outside of one. Researches have shown that people tend to take less responsibility for failures of the team and in the same time more responsibility for success of the team (Schlesinger, 1975), which is kind of illogical, but in the nature f any human being.It is much easier to assign blame to others in that way preserving your own feeling of competence, rather than admitting that you are the one to blame, and when being in a team you have the opportunity to do that, because who will possibly forbid you, except yourself. The perception of team as a unit working together plays a big role here, because in your mind you do understand that you are not the only one who is in the team, so if the team fails or succeeds then the whole team does that.To add to this idea, people tend to evaluate their own reference higher when working in a team rather than working alone, both, th eir actual expectations and conclusions, of their performance in the team has been recorded to be of a higher value (Phallus et al. , 1993). This all can be very misleading, but as long as we – human beings – will not change our nature and start seeing things as they actually are, these will be some of the most mind impacting benefits towards teamwork.Challenges The point about the diversity of a team and different people coming together that When people with different ideas and different views on life come together and has o work as one and unbreakable unit, arguments between them are inevitable. That is why certain roles have to be assigned and a specific structure formed, so the team would manage to work productively. Size and composition of a team has an influence on individual behavior, on decision making (Kooks-De Bode et al. 2008), if these aspects are not sorted out in a timely manner then one of the biggest strengths of a team can turn into a drawback and then it is Just matter of time when the team will collapse. Another challenge for a team is goal setting, which is a really important aspect when it comes to whether the work is going to be smooth and whether it is going to be without misunderstandings. Goals has to be set at the very beginning and they have to be defined very clearly to everyone in the team, so everyone would really understand what the team is trying to achieve.If this is not done, then there is a possibility that team members start to head in different directions. An equally significant set of challenges comes from too much of dependence on your teams decisions. Researches made by Stanley Amalgam, 1973 shows that when decision has o be made, team members tend to follow the point of view that is presented by others or by most members of the team, that way actually not expressing their own thoughts. Besides that, these researches shows that people tend to follow the leader of a team even if the things that are being don e are against their principles and are morally wrong.Justification to these kinds of decisions comes from the fact that any decision made in a group actually is a group decision and therefore made by several people, accordingly the responsibility is being shared amongst all of the group embers. This results in poor decision-making process, which can further result in serious damage made to the work-group itself or to the possibility of achieving the goal that has been set out. Hence, the challenge for a team is to set certain norms.Norms about how the work has to be led, to what extent members should follow their leader and what are the social, moral, ethical and physical norms that should not be crossed. To sum up the challenges, team work has to be well balanced and well organized; it has to be like a machine that does not work if one of the parts is broken. To do that you have to take in consideration a lot of aspects, starting with leaders role and importance, ending with team m embers moral and physical needs. Everything has to be balanced and managed smartly and efficiently (Allen, 1996).That is the hardest challenge to deal with in team-work and it becomes even harder if the person who is in charge of the team does not know about these elements. Before I draw the conclusion I would like to remind the fact that the Judgments being made in this essay is superficial and regards the general population of people included in teams. Therefore, I am not stating that it is true for every person. To summarize, I have stated the strengths that in my mind form the feeling towards team-work inside a person's mind. I hope that others reading these points will be able to relate to them as well.

Teaching English Classroom Management Skills H1

Teaching English Classroom Management Skills H1 Classroom management in the ESL / EFL classroom can be challenging at times because of a number of variables in English classroom management. However, one key element of classroom management remains the same: The desire to communicate in English. This article discusses the challenges of classroom management that occur in one form or another in most ESL / EFL settings. Also provided are a number of suggestions to deal with these issues. There is also an opportunity for teachers to learn from each other by contributing your own experiences in classroom management, as well as tips for effective classroom management. Classroom Management Challenges Common to Most ESL / EFL Settings 1. Classroom Management Challenge: Students find it difficult to participate because they dont want to make a mistake. Classroom Management Tips: Give examples in (one of) the native languages of the students. Youre sure to make some mistakes and use this as an example of willingness to make mistakes. This classroom management technique should be used with care because some students might wonder at your own language learning capabilities. Break students up into smaller groups rather than conducting discussions as a large group. This approach can lead to more classroom management issues if the classes are large - use with care! 2. Classroom Management Challenge: Students insist on translating every word. Classroom Management Tips: Take a text with some nonsense words. Use this text to illustrate how you can discern general meaning without having to exactly know each and every word. Conduct some consciousness raising about the importance of context to language learning. You can also discuss how babies absorb language over time. 3. Classroom Management Challenge: Students insist on being corrected for each and every mistake. Classroom Management Tips: Establish a policy of correcting only those mistakes that are relevant to the current lesson. In other words, if you are studying the present perfect in that particular lesson, you will only correct mistakes made in present perfect usage. Establish a policy of certain activities which are correction free. This needs to be a class rule so that students dont begin correcting each other. In this case, youll have another classroom management issue on your hands. 4. Classroom Management Challenge: Students have varying levels of commitment. Classroom Management Tips: Discuss course objectives, expectations and homework policies at the beginning of each new class. Adult learners who feel this is too demanding can make their objections known during this discussion. Do not go back and repeat information from previous lessons for individuals. If you need to do a review, make sure that the review is done as a class activity with the objective of helping the entire class. Adult English Classes - Learners Speaking the Same Language 1. Classroom Management Challenge: Students speak in their own language during class. Classroom Management Tips: Use a donation jar. Each time a student speaks a phrase in his / her own language, they contribute to the fund. Later, the class can go out together using the money. Give students some of their own medicine and shortly instruct in another language. Make a point of the distraction this causes in class. 2. Classroom Management Challenge: Students insist on translating each phrase into their own tongue. Classroom Management Tips: Remind students that translating places a third person in the way. Instead of communicating directly, each time you translate into your own language you need to go to a third party in your head. There is no way you can keep up a conversation for any length of time using this technique. Take a text with some nonsense words. Use this text to illustrate how you can discern general meaning without having to exactly know each and every word. Conduct some consciousness raising about the importance of context to language learning. You can also discuss how babies absorb language over time.

Narrative in Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Essay Example

Narrative in Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Essay Example Narrative in Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Essay Narrative in Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Essay Essay Topic: Hilarious Narrative Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is an American motion picture directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 of stolen cash by a diverse and colourful group of strangers. Even before its release in 1963 it was well established as comedy caper, with a huge ensemble cast of some of the eras finest comedians and comic actors. Due to the changes made in cinema over the last four decades a modern day audience may not understand many of the verbal-jokes, and yet it is obvious through many of the visual-gags that this film played on many comedic techniques, as well as influencing other movies to this day, such a Rat Race, and most likely any modern day caper one can think of. There are three ways to categorize film genres; setting, mood, and format. The films location is defined as the setting; the emotional charge carried throughout the film is known as its mood; the film may also have been shot using particular equipment or presented in a specific manner, or format. However, there is much controversy as to whether film genre identifies merely the general overtone of the film or defines the films style. Some have argued that genre needs to be distinguished from film style. A films style concerns the choices made about cinematography, editing, and sound, and a particular style can be applied to any genre. Whereas film genres identify the manifest content of film, film styles identify the manner by which any given films genre(s) is/are rendered for the screen. Style may be determined by plot structure, scenic design, lighting, cinematography, acting, and other intentional artistic components of the finished film product. Others argue that this distinction is too simplistic, since some genres are primarily recognizable by their styles. Many historians debate whether film noir truly is a genre rather than a style of film-making often emulated in the periods heyday. The opening credits of the movie are animated, which was not uncommon for the period in which it was made, especially for comedy movies. This establishes the films genre before an actor has even crossed the screen, as it relies on the audiences previous knowledge of what might be expected from such a film with an animated opening. The animation is essentially a visual representation of the title, as it shows a globe being distorted and manipulated in various ways which mirror certain events of the movie. This animation is actually a 3 minute round up of the movie, as it displays key events in chronological order and gives the audience a sneak preview of some of the hilarity that will ensue come the start of the movie. As well as the small tidbits of prophetic animation, absurdist humour is also something used throughout this movie; present from the opening credits, and continued into the very narrative of the film. This surrealism is carried over to cinematographical, performance and editing aspects of the movie. This can be described as form-imitating-meaning, in the sense that the movies bizarre premise, of four complete strangers looking for the buried three-hundred and fifty gees of a crazed old man they find dying near the road, is reflected in the canted camera angles, the alternating of fast and slow shot changes and the manner in which the four men speak. This form of outlandish and slightly eccentric comedy was common in the 1960s, and was copied relentlessly with movies such as Help! This queer manner of presenting a movie proved popular with audiences, as it lent itself to heightening the humour present in the more conventional gags of 60s slapstick comedy. Contradictions are frequently used throughout this film, both verbal and visual, and are integral to the overall narrative of the piece, as they reflect the madness the title is referring to, as well as adding to the absurd and illogical atmosphere. Lines such as I am a liar and The only thing you are sure of is that nothing is sure are frequently used in this movie, marking the instances where deception and dishonesty occur. This adds to the comedy on numerous levels, as no character within the movies immediately catches on to the betrayal at hand when such a contradictory line is said, despite it being made painfully obvious the audience. This form of humour, where a character misses or misunderstands a situation, and ends up in some form of hilarious predicament is a staple mark of slapstick comedy caper m ovies, going hand in hand with the humour associated with a characters ignorance. One must remember the era of film production this was created in, as many of the jokes used in this movie are now considered to be clichà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, and act almost as stereotypes for a comedy movie. However, at the time humour like this was considered to be highly sophisticated, and often reflected the comic-styling of whom ever was portraying a certain character The film opens on a stretch of curved, winding road somewhere in the Southern California desert. The camera follows the progress of a black car as it haphazardly weaves in between the truck and three cars that are driving ahead of him, as he does this car horns and loud, screeching tires can be heard. This gives the impression that the occupant of the black car has little regard for other drivers, and is either driving at breakneck speed to get somewhere soon, or he is being chased. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the movie, starting as they mean to go on, as it were. This opening shot establishes the movie to have a theme of fast, dangerous car chases with highly comical consequences. The shot cuts to one inside the black car, shot from the backseat, so only the back of the driver can be seen; his rigid stance, with his elbows sticking out and his knuckles white over the driving wheel, coupled with his continuous honking of his horn are very telling to the viewer rega rding what this character is like and solidifies the previous assumption that he is in fact running away from something. The very fact that the camera is only focusing on the black car and its occupant tells the audience that he is an important character to the plot. Following this, we see the black car and its driver veer off the road and over a small cliff. At this point many techniques which are more commonly associated with action films are utilized, such as rapid zoom in, slow motion and viewing the car from multiple angles as it flies off the road. It can be easily argued that this is an example of satire, as the techniques used seem to be highly exaggerated; with the slow motion descent of the car being incredibly lengthy, and changing shot angle and perspective no less than 15 times. Satire is something common in all forms of comedy, and generates response in a movie as it allows a viewer to relate what theyve just seen to the original format; these mental comparisons expand the sense of surrealism already present in the movie, and show how important that sense of strangeness is vital to the movie. Perhaps this movies most obvious comic device is the use of visual metaphors; when the man in the black car is dying; with his last breath he quite literally kicks the bucket. This technique is used over and over in the film, using physical slapstick comedy to provide an unspoken narrative which is easily understood and greatly enjoyed by the audience. Overall, I believe this movie uses its style to effortlessly convey its meaning and narrative. However, I believe it would be unfair to say that this movie used generic genre conventions, as there were none at the time of its creation. If anything, this movie started certain generic genre traits, and influences many films even to this day.

Green Rust - Interesting Iron Chemistry

Green Rust - Interesting Iron Chemistry Rust is the name given to a collection of iron oxides. Youll find rust in all situations where unprotected iron or steel is exposed to the elements. Did you know rust comes in colors besides red? There is brown, orange, yellow and even green rust! Green rust is an unstable corrosion product typically produced in a low-oxygen environment, such as on rebar in the chlorine-rich environment of seawater. The reaction between seawater and steel may result in [FeII3 FeIII (OH)8] [Cl ·H2 O]-, a series of iron hydroxides. Depassivation of steel to form green rust occurs when the ratio of concentration of chloride ions to hydroxide ions is greater than 1. Therefore, rebar in concrete, for example, may be protected from green rust if the alkalinity of the concrete is high enough. Green Rust and Fougerite There is a natural mineral which is the equivalent to green rust called fougerite. Fougerite is a blue-green to blue-gray clay mineral found in certain wooded regions of France. The iron hydroxide is believed to give rise to other related minerals. Green Rust in Biological Systems The carbonate and sulfate forms of green rust have been identified as by-products of ferric oxyhydoxide reduction in iron-reducing bacteria. For example, Shewanella putrefaciens produces hexagonal green rust crystals. Scientists speculate green rust formation by bacteria occurs naturally in aquifers and wet soil. How to Make Green Rust Several chemical processes produce green rust: Electrochemically oxidizing iron plates can form a green carbonate rust.Green rust may be prepared by bubbling carbon dioxide through a suspension of iron(III) hydroxide  Fe(OH)3  in  iron(II) chloride FeCl2.Green sulfate rust may result from mixing FeCl2 ·4H2O and NaOH solution to precipitate Fe(OH)2. Sodium sulfate Na2SO4 is added and the mixture is oxidized in air.

Week 1 Discussion Question Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 1 Discussion Question - Article Example However, the most used theory and much discussed in the other readings and videos for the class is the Realist Perspective theory, which talks about THE STATE BEING THE MOST CENTRAL IN THE WORKINGS OF THE SOCIETY, AS WELL AS THE UNIFYING BODY WITH REGARDS TO THE INTERNAL WORKINGS OF THE STATE OR SOVEREIGNTY (Cohn 57). In the exit speech by former US President Dwight David Eisenhower, he discussed the possible EFFECTS THAT COULD HAPPEN SHOULD THE STATE BEFALL UNDER NEGATIVE INFLUENCES including the endangerment of liberty and security, thus the need to enhance both the state’s economic and military defenses (Eisenhower). Karl Marx was also able to explain this kind of centralization of power in smaller terms, such as the case of the capitalist or company-owner and the company’s employees. In the condensed version of Marx’s Das Kapital in Spark Notes, it was explained that THE CAPITALIST HAS THE UPPER-HAND WITH REGARDS TO THE HANDLING OF THE RAW MATERIALS AS WELL A S THE LABOR COSTS, ALLOWING HIM THE ABILITY TO DICTATE BOTH THE PRICE AND THE WAGES OF THE WORKERS (Marx). Mick Brooks also explained the circumstances on how capitalism relies on the realist approaches, such as THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARDS TO BOTH THE INCOME-GENERATING METHODS OF COMPANIES AS WELL AS THE INCREASE IN THE GAP BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR (Brooks). The same was also mentioned by Marilyn Waring in a short film, wherein THE POLITICAL PARTIES GET DICTATED BY THE LARGER COMPANIES IN DOING THEIR BIDDING DUE TO THE SUPPORT THAT THE SAID COMPANIES PROVIDE TO POLITICAL PARTIES, and instead of being able to read what the public wants, the laws mostly cater to the companies and subsequently, the rich folk (Who’s Counting?). Lastly, the same centralization of power in the form of the TEAM-UP OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE RICH LAND GRABBERS ROBBED THE NATIVE INDIANS IN WHITE EARTH SETTLEMENT OF THEIR OWN LANDS, WHICH IN TURN

Writing letter, Memorandum and email Assignment

Writing letter, Memorandum and email - Assignment Example eedom of speech, and to showing all sides of an issue make it troubling to print a retraction of the article, or to publish an apology, as you suggested in your own letter. If we were to retract the article, Blaze’s readership would no longer trust the other articles we print, and our circulation would plummet. This would not only have a negative effect on the quality of our journalism, as we would be unable to retain top writers, but would create a deep reduction in the efficacy of our advertising. However, you will be pleased to know that your view is by far the majority. Blaze received many letters over Mr. Smith’s article on vaccines, and fully two-thirds of them did not agree with the author. If your company would like to draw up an equally objective article in response to Mr. Smith’s, Blaze would be more than happy to run it in the next issue, along with a selection of letters from readers who both agreed with and disagreed with his assessment. This will allow your company to properly address its complaints without sacrificing the objectivity and engagement with debate that our readers have come to expect from Blaze Magazine. In closing, please know that we do understand the situation that this puts you in as our advertiser, and deeply regret this. We thank you for supporting Blaze over the years, and hope that this matter can be resolved to ensure that our mutually beneficent relationship lasts for as many more. Yesterday, I had the alarming experience of finding several participating year 9 students in a state of intoxication in the boys’ toilets. Upon being questioned, these students revealed that they had been passing around and smoking Kronik, which they said they had purchased from one of the university students on duty at the facility. After making sure the boys were not in immediate danger, my course of action was to determine whether their account of how they acquired the Kronik was accurate or not. I left the boys in the care of

Automatic Number Plate Recognition System Essay

Automatic Number Plate Recognition System - Essay Example Mean while, there are two main issues that root vis--vis the existence of privacy laws on one hand, and the security policies on the other. For one, there are ethical issues which attempt to uphold the individual rights to privacy. Another is the question on whether a security measure does not, in anyway violate, a particular individual rights. This paper presents an analysis of the ethical and legal issues involved in the implementation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR). Specifically, an analysis is given from the ethical and legal perspectives. The Automatic Number Plate Recognition System (ANPR) is a security measure adopted in the UK vis--vis traffic control monitoring (National Policing Improvement Agency, 2009), yet extending its use to check on any illegalities associated with the use of a certain vehicle by enabling the machine to read and record 50 million plates a day (Adaptive Recognition Hungary, n.d.). This extension o its functionality brings forth questions on whether the implementation of the system is a violation of citizens' rights to privacy. ... Analysis from the view of the UK Data Protection Law of 1998 Plate numbers are defined by the UK Data Protection Law of 1998 as private data (Information Commissioner's Office, n.d.). There are legal provisions that vary from the specific rights of the data owner, to the obligations of the data controller regarding data protection, etc. It may be helpful to note here a legal right of the data owner as provided for by the DPA 1998, which may be in conflict with how the authorities intend to use the data. The law states that the owner of data can request the halt of data processing when the act of it causes the owner a certain degree of distress. A review of the national security goals of the authorities justifying the implementation of the ANPR system makes it difficult to see how authorities would concede to requests by the data owner in reference to the cessation of data processing. For one, the use of data can extend to investigative purposes, which is pre-empted by the vehicle's inclusion to some crime or illegal activities. The subjects of investigation would always include the vehicle's owner, regardless of the fact if he has been directly involved or even aware of the vehicle's inclusion to a particular event. This results to a circumstance where an ordinary citizen, innocent of any crime, is being linked with the commitment of crime or illegal activity through a material possession. In cases wherein the owner is included among subjects to be investigated chances are, the individual right to request termination of data processing as provided for by the DPA 1998 is denied. This becomes more difficult when the system ha s faulty

What I Learned from Getting Knocked Around by Steve Macone Essay

What I Learned from Getting Knocked Around by Steve Macone - Essay Example Reducing a conflict into bits of a puzzle allows the parties understand it more and construct a conclusion from such a conflict. As such it requires the reader to ask themselves exactly what the arguments are and how the arguments are put together in the conflict. Steve Macone’s piece â€Å"What I learned from getting knocked around† alludes heavily to his profile history and background. The subject and thesis is curved from an almost too popular topic of football a game that is not just a national sport but a source of entertainment for many across the globe. It is a symbol for society and common uniting factor for most audiences. This makes it an even broader thesis and serves to offer a wide background for the interplay of conflict and the presentation of ideas. He presents the subject with a resounding naivity and allows the piece to grow the subject from ground zero letting us through a trip into the world of football. The subject is discussed in the simplicity of the occurrence of the events from a naà ¯ve and unfamiliar perspective leaving out the specific expert details and rules. It is an innocent bystanders approach and explanation of football that gives an account of what football is all about. The purpose of the article falls back to the authors profile and history as an entertainer and comedian. He is in a strict sense and with regard to his accomplishments a crowd pleaser and therefore consciously or subconsciously reaches out to the audience beyond the normal impressive facts about football to the exciting and thrilling experiences of a player. This has the effect of growing multiple intentions and creating mixed reactions on the true purpose of the article. From a conscious stand one would draw a critique of the safety and actual rationale of the game beyond the impressive running and locking of horns between players. he introduces the piece with a rather fragile platform of argument â€Å"I’d known there was hitting in football but

Economic Development in the Persian Gulf (Saudi and Iran) Essay

Economic Development in the Persian Gulf (Saudi and Iran) - Essay Example It also proposes strategies that should be adopted by both the countries so as to pave way for economic growth. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two remarkable producers of oil in the region but have failed to utilize this wealth of natural resources towards economic development of the country. It is a tragedy of oil-based economies that they fail to reap the benefits of this rich and valuable resource. There may be several reasons behind this fact viz. extreme reliance on oil export for revenue generation and political instability etc. Regional instability is also one of the major phenomena that strike the oil rich countries in the Persian Gulf region. The fear of neighboring rivalries and potential threats keep these countries engrossed in spending thriftlessly on defense and military buildup, which has been on an ever increasing trend in the Persian Gulf region. Billion and Khatib also say that "the economy and politics of oil-dependent states are also affected by their propensity to spend more on defense" (113). Ever since the Iranian revolution, Saudi Arabia has considered Iran as a severe threat to its political structure. Consequently, both the countries, in particular Saudi Arabian government allocates heavy budget to arms accumulation and military buildup rather than on economic development. Saudi Arabia happens to ... er producer, a fourth of the world's known reserves lie beneath its soil; the reserves of Russia, Nigeria, and Alaska together do not match the desert kingdom's" (23). Despite that, the country's economic growth and stability seems to be deteriorating in the recent times. Like most of the oil-based economies, the country's economic condition is bound to improve with a rise in oil price and decline with a fall in oil price. The economy of Saudi Arabia has moved drastically over the past two decades with the movements in oil price. The rich Arab country is now falling short of enough funds to finance its major public and welfare expenditures mostly because of the events that took place over the last few decades. Saudi government had to bear extraordinary expenses during the Gulf War at officially disclosed $55 billion and then due to provision of financial support to Iraq during the Iran invasion amounting to $26 billion. Furthermore, the fluctuations in price of oil over the last 20 years from $40 per barrel in 1981 to below $20 per barrel until the late 90s have affected the cash flowing in the country. Saudi government has also failed to stabilize its expenditures based on oil prices despite its ever increasing reliance on oil to finance these expenses. Because of this reliance on oil, the oil price crisis in 1998 profoundly affected the Saudi economy and increased the level of domestic and internati onal debt leading to a financial crisis (Gause 82-83) The Saudi economy is under the serious threat of unemployment due to inability of the government to provide employment to an increasing number of educated youth. Public sector of the economy is already confronting with high salaries burdening the fiscal budget whereas the private sector is more willing to employ

The Problem of Induction by David Hume Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Problem of Induction by David Hume - Essay Example I however, do not believe this response is an argument, and the problem of Induction maintains it’s force as a theoretically worry to serious philosophers. Furthermore Hume offers a solution to theoretical skepticism by distinguishing between the type of skepticism inquired about by philosophers, and the skepticism you should engage in in everyday life. In other words, Hume admits this problem is theoretically unanswerable, but practically speaking, is unlivable. By making this distinction, I believe that Hume makes the skeptical problem of induction less worrisome, while preserving its theoretical significance. Before going into any solutions Hume provides, we should first explain the basics of Hume’s argument from induction. The conclusion of Hume’s argument about the limitations of inductive reasoning, is that we have no basis to conclude that the future will resemble the past. The idea of cause and effect is not grounded in experience, because we cannot see c ause and effect. For example, Hume points out that we cannot conclude that fire causes burns simply from putting our hand in the fire and noticing that it burns. We only are brought to believe this through repeated attempts, and a hypothesis that we should not try it in the future. Nor are our conclusions from experience based upon human understanding or reason, because that would rely on the false implicit assumption that nature always continues uniformly. That is, we cannot legitimately conclude that things in the past will continue to follow that path out of necessity. Hume comes to these conclusions through a complex explanation about how humans come to understand things through experience. A beginning point in Hume’s skepticism about empirical and inductive reasoning, is that forming any argument about experience relies on the assumption that the future will resemble the past. He states, â€Å"In reality, all arguments from experience are founded on the similarity which we discover among natural objects, and by which we are induced to expect effects similar to those which we have found to follow from such objects (Hume, 27). In other words, arguments from experience require that we assume what we have seen in the past will happen similarly in the future. However, this premise could never be proved deductively, because that would require believing any event is absolutely necessary, but it is always possible for things to happen otherwise. It also cannot be proved causally, because that would beg the question. In other words, such an argument would assume the existence of causality, which cannot be proved, because it is the very thing in question. Hume further points out that what we immediately learn from the senses does not always lead us to discover the true underlying properties of nature. For example, simply by observing and tasting bread, we do not arrive at the conclusion that bread nourishes. The only way we know bread nourishes, is by consu ming it, and realizing that effect: Should it be said that, from a number of uniform experiments, we infer a connexion between the sensible qualities and the secret pow- ers; this, I must confess, seems the same difficulty, couched in different terms. The question still recurs, on what process of argument this infer- ence is founded?...It is

Economic Development in the Persian Gulf (Saudi and Iran) Essay

Economic Development in the Persian Gulf (Saudi and Iran) - Essay Example It also proposes strategies that should be adopted by both the countries so as to pave way for economic growth. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two remarkable producers of oil in the region but have failed to utilize this wealth of natural resources towards economic development of the country. It is a tragedy of oil-based economies that they fail to reap the benefits of this rich and valuable resource. There may be several reasons behind this fact viz. extreme reliance on oil export for revenue generation and political instability etc. Regional instability is also one of the major phenomena that strike the oil rich countries in the Persian Gulf region. The fear of neighboring rivalries and potential threats keep these countries engrossed in spending thriftlessly on defense and military buildup, which has been on an ever increasing trend in the Persian Gulf region. Billion and Khatib also say that "the economy and politics of oil-dependent states are also affected by their propensity to spend more on defense" (113). Ever since the Iranian revolution, Saudi Arabia has considered Iran as a severe threat to its political structure. Consequently, both the countries, in particular Saudi Arabian government allocates heavy budget to arms accumulation and military buildup rather than on economic development. Saudi Arabia happens to ... er producer, a fourth of the world's known reserves lie beneath its soil; the reserves of Russia, Nigeria, and Alaska together do not match the desert kingdom's" (23). Despite that, the country's economic growth and stability seems to be deteriorating in the recent times. Like most of the oil-based economies, the country's economic condition is bound to improve with a rise in oil price and decline with a fall in oil price. The economy of Saudi Arabia has moved drastically over the past two decades with the movements in oil price. The rich Arab country is now falling short of enough funds to finance its major public and welfare expenditures mostly because of the events that took place over the last few decades. Saudi government had to bear extraordinary expenses during the Gulf War at officially disclosed $55 billion and then due to provision of financial support to Iraq during the Iran invasion amounting to $26 billion. Furthermore, the fluctuations in price of oil over the last 20 years from $40 per barrel in 1981 to below $20 per barrel until the late 90s have affected the cash flowing in the country. Saudi government has also failed to stabilize its expenditures based on oil prices despite its ever increasing reliance on oil to finance these expenses. Because of this reliance on oil, the oil price crisis in 1998 profoundly affected the Saudi economy and increased the level of domestic and internati onal debt leading to a financial crisis (Gause 82-83) The Saudi economy is under the serious threat of unemployment due to inability of the government to provide employment to an increasing number of educated youth. Public sector of the economy is already confronting with high salaries burdening the fiscal budget whereas the private sector is more willing to employ

Human Genetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Genetics - Essay Example Conducting methodical investigations in human genetics would therefore help scientists or researchers understand how diseases are caused, how they spread, and subsequently form the foundation for the creation of new drugs to treat various medical conditions. There are many reasons why this topic is worth my research. In the contemporary world, the human race has been faced by many health problems many of which have no cure. For instance, there are no known cures for diseases such as HIV/AIDS and chronic cancers. Conducting more research in the field of human genetics can help understand these diseases more and therefore help in the development of new drugs to cure them. My current comprehension on this topic include basic concepts on heredity particularly how genes are passed from one generation to another. In addition, I have an understanding of the human DNA and its importance in genetic research. Since there has been a lot of advancement in the field of human genetics, one of the issues this research would focus on include the contributions of modern technology in genetic research, and the degree of genetic differences in human beings, as well its significance. Subsequently, how genetics cause ill health among individuals would also be discussed in the research. Australian Law Reform Commission. The Regulation of Human Genetic Research: The Importance of Human Genetic Research. n.d. Web. 22 April. 2014.

The Differences Between CMM And CMMI

The Differences Between CMM And CMMI The recent attitude of the organisations to make the products complex in order survive the competitors, made them to employ software in their organisations. However, the community of information systems known for its poor product quality made them to research the methods to improve its efficiency. This led them to discover that the focus was needed more on the processes which in turn led to improve the quality of the software products. The process when used it an efficient way can make the organisations maintain the consistency and help to achieve their mission. Many models and programmes described the ways to improve the product quality. Of those, The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) found by SEI, in 1984, gave a clear sight to the organisations the efficient way to improve the process. Later, it was found that it can be employed in other fields too and thereafter it was employed to improve business processes. However this method had some drawbacks and those were superseded by the Ca pability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). This essay portrait the key differences between these models and describes the effectiveness of using CMMI. 2. Differences between CMM and CMMI 2.1 CMM Overview The first CMM, developed in 1990, was developed for the purpose to improve the process in software development [1]. This model proved to be a successful one and thereof, it became a generalised model for improving the processes other than SW development process like software engineering, system engineering, software maintenance, software management, risk management and also being employed in other industries, governments, organisations and also for business process improvement [1]. Fig.1 CMM Maturity Levels [2] The CMM for Software (SW-CMM) is a framework that provides the way to manage a process effectively. It is a stair-cased structure wherein each step is a maturity level describing the current capability of the process. It tells where the processes are. The CMM scales the organisation from 1 to 5 based on the KPAs achieved by the organisations. Fig. 2.2 Structure of the CMM [3] As shown in the figure 2, each maturity level defines the process capability at that stage and contains (other than Initial) Key Process Areas (KPA) defined of goals to be achieved. Each KPA has certain key practices that are to be strictly followed to achieve the goals. These key practices are arranged as groups (Common features) consisting infrastructure and implementation. 2.2 CMMI Overview à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance. CMMI can be used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organization.à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  [4]. Both CMM and CMMI have the same five maturity levels. In CMMI, each process area has specific goals and generic goals that define the generic and specific practices respectively. Fig.3.1 CMMI Structure [5] There are two types of approaches à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ staged and continuous. In the case of the staged approach, KPAà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s are defined and then based on it the maturity level structure is drawn whereas in the continuous approach, a specific KPA is chosen and then it is relatively improved by using the capability levels [6]. The CMMI too scales the organisation from a scale of 1 to 5 based on the KPAs. It also provides an appraisal which focuses on improving the plans for the organisations. There are three classes of appraisals, namely class A, B and C [7]. 2.3 Key Differences The factors that distinguish CMM and CMMI during implementation are: 1.integration, 2.KPA, 3.approach and 4.paperwork [8]. 2.3.1 Integration: The CMM has individual models for each function. But when the individual processes when integrated led to few discrepancies like model overlapping, contradiction and each model had its own maturity level which lead to a confusion. This led to the increase in the costs of the companies that were put in training. But CMMI employs models that are classified on the basis of specific areas of interests. These models are those employed by industries successfully. To employ CMMI in an organisation, it must choose a model form the available 22 models wherein each module covers all the functionalities. 2.3.2 KPA: Both CMM and CMMI have 5 maturity levels. But there are differences in the KPAs of each maturity level. The differences in each model are as follows: 1. Initial: In both models, it covers the organisations without defined processes, having dynamic changes (ad-hoc) and undocumented. 2. Repeat: In CMM, the companies that seem to do the same process periodically attain this level. In CMMI, it requires a planned and defined ways of managing the requirements by estimating cost, time and resources. 3. Defined: CMM requires a standard, well-documented and consistent process with few degrees of changes to be followed. CMMI requires the process to be standardised, methodical and procedural with the use of tools. 4. Manage: CMM requires companies to quantitatively measure and monitor process thereby reducing risks. CMMI, n addition identifies and monitors the sub processes that contribute to overall efficiency. 5. Optimized: In CMM, the process is continuously improved by following the best software engineering practices but here the measures are taken simultaneously as the goals are satisfied. In CMMI, behaviour is selected and goals are set to support it. Behaviour is selected on the basis of goals and measures. 2.3.3 Approach CMM is an activity based model. It aims only in the completion of the process and does not care about the desired result and hence it does not motivate the company to make the necessary changes. But CMMI is a result oriented based on key performance areas and thereof it is a best practice for the companies and helps to avoid the possible risks at a very early stage. 2.3.4 Paperwork Both CMM and CMMI documentation has paperwork and meetings that leads to waste of effort and time of the personnel. However, in CMM is process-oriented whereas the CMMI is a goal-cum-result-oriented approach. 3. Benefits of adopting CMMI The organisations that adopted the CMMI reported the following benefits [9]: 3.1 Cost: The CMMI adoption led to reduced defect fix cost, reduced overhead rate, reduced cost of poor quality and increased the average cost performance index with decline in variation. 3.2 Schedule: It led to reduction in release turnaround time, reduction in average number of days late, increased percentage of milestones met, increased throughput that led to more releases per year, improvised and stabilised schedule performance index with decreased variance and increased time delivery accuracy. 3.3 Quality Reduction in software defects (KLOC), errors caused in the source code and the post-release defects and increased focus on quality by developers was observed after using CMMI. 3.4 Productivity Productivity was measured in metrics like number of statements produced per month, comparing the various builds, number of releases per year, software production etc, Productivity of the companies also increased. 3.5 Customer Satisfaction The customer satisfaction, measured using ratings and awards fees, increased since the time of delivery mentioned was accurate and also it was defect free. 3.6 Return on Investment (ROI) ROI ratio measured based on the defects that are overcome, the degree of automation activities and quality and process improvement, seemed to be on the positive side that motivated the organisations to employ CMMI. 4. Case Study of companies switching over to CMMI from CMM The following three points are the detailed reports [10] of the companies that evolved from CMM to CMMI which depicts the improvements and results of doing so. 4.1 Lockheed Martin M DS Initially, the organisation was assessed CMM level 2 in 1993. But later, in 1996 it moved to CMM Level 3 and then evolved to CMMI Level 5 in 2002 in integrating SE-CMM and SW-CMM. As a result of this, improvements in the customer satisfaction, productivity and the product cost were noted leading to the conclusion that the process improvement that lasted for nearly 10 years proved fruitful. Between 1996 and 2002, process improvement was continual and the company increased its productivity by 30% and decreased unit software cost and defect costs by 20% and 15% respectively. The customer satisfaction was achieved as there was an increase in percentage of the available award fees [10]. 4.2 Accenture Accenture, one of the reputed organisations, had a transition from the SW-CMM to the CMMI between May, 2001 and May, 2002. It attained the CMM Level 3 initially and when they moved to CMMI, during which they acquired CMMI Level 3. During the CMMI, the organisation focussed mainly on the processes related to the Measurement and Analysis, Decision Analysis and Resolution, generic goals and Integrated Product and Process Development (IPPD). As a result of the transition, improvements in the costs of quality and ROI ratio were captured. The ROI ratio achieved was 5:1 in the quality [10]. 4.3 Boeing Limited, Australia The Boeing Limited process performance was not up to the mark. Initially they were using CMM and Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA 731). Thereof, they decided to improve the process by adopting CMMI so as to 1. Integrate SE and SWE 2.Universal acceptance by customers and suppliers and 3.Risk analysis using Defence Material Organisation (DMO) strategy. There were improvements seen in the product cost, schedule/cycle time and the product quality. The results of adoption made defect fix costs, turnaround time and test audits (pre and post) decrease by 33%, 50% and 60% respectively and product quality increase to a major extent [10]. 5. Factors that have major impact From the case studies it is clearly evident that the integration, approach styles and the need for continuous improvements of the process by the organisation led to the organisations to move from CMM to CMMI. However there are many organisations like Bosch Gasoline Systems, Thales Research Technology, Sanchez Computer Associates Inc, still are using the CMM and reporting benefits thereof. 6. Conclusion CMMI models should be still integrated and developed such the costs involved and the efforts are reduced.

Recession :: essays papers

Recession Despite all the recession talk recently, the economy apparently isn't doing so badly. The Commerce department today (4.27) announced that GDP grew at a 2.0% annual rate in the first quarter. This was up from 1% in the final quarter of 2000. The 2% rate is still slower than this time last year, but it seems as though a recession has been avoided for another quarter. (A recession is often defined by 2 or more quarters of negative growth, click here for more on the definition of a recession). This means that the current expansion has lasted for an even ten years - the trough of the recession in the early 1990's came in March of 1991. Caution: Revisions The number that was released is the "advance GDP report" and is subject to revision. In the last two quarter of 2000, the final release was slightly lower than the advance number - so it's possible - but very unlikely - that we will be dipping below the zero mark. On average preliminary real GDP is revised by 0.6 points to reach the final measure - in 90 percent of the cases the revision (advance to final) was between - 0.9 to 1.3. (See table) Revisions to Real GDP Average 2/3 of revisions 90% of revisions Advance to preliminary 0.5 -0.5 to 0.7 -0.9 to 1.2 Advance to final 0.6 -0.6 to 0.9 -0.9 to 1.3 Preliminary to final 0.3 -0.4 to 0.4 -0.5 to 0.6 Advance to latest 1.

Money Cant Buy Happiness Essay -- Happiness Essays

â€Å"The Seven Social Sins are: Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Knowledge without character. Commerce without morality. Science without humanity. Worship without sacrifice. Politics without principle." -- Mahatma Gandhi   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Kingdom of Bhutan is pursuing a bold new social experiment. They want to demonstrate that a spartan rural society join the high-tech world without surrendering its soul. [1] Bhutan is an extraordinary place; seemingly untouched through the course of time. Resting in the heart of the Himalayas, it has remained in self-imposed detachment for centuries, apart from the rest of the world. "Since its doors were cautiously opened in 1974, visitors have been mesmerized: the environment is pristine, the scenery and architecture are awesome, the people are hospitable and charming, and the culture unique in its purity." [2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "Despite the huge potential of its natural resources, Bhutan emerged as one of Asia's poorest countries, shunning the 'profit at all costs' mentality of the rest of the world. With one foot in the past and one in the future, it strolls confidently towards modernization, on its own terms, fiercely protecting its ancient culture, its natural resources and its deeply Buddhist way of life." [3]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For the most part, the Kingdom of Bhutan has had remarkable success with its transition to becoming a relatively technological society. It is a nation which has also retained it culture and way of life in the process. Some scholars feel that in the United States, we have lost the more positive aspects of our culture, and thus, our "gross national happiness." This loss, apparently, is the cost of being a highly technological and consumption driven society. Americans are, by many measures, the most successful people ever known. Our enormously productive economy affords us luxuries beyond the wildest dreams of previous generations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, this prosperity brings evidence of a different story. Our rising standard of living has not always resulted in a higher quality of life. Indeed, in many ways there has been an erosion in our sense of well-being, both for us as individuals and for us as a people. Our wealth has come with unforeseen costs: personal, social and environmental. We must ask ourselves, "Is this really the American dream?"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The traditional American dream of opportunity, progress, ... ...ow Much is Enough," in Lester R. Brown et al,  State of the World 2010 (New York: W.W. Norton and Co. Inc., 1001) 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alan L. Otten, "Young Adults Now Are More Pessimistic," Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2014. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Cunniff, "Would You Believe These Are the Good Old Days?",   Seattle Times, September 19, 2014. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Social Problems on Rise, U.S. `Health Check' Shows," Seattle Post - Intelligencer, January 14, 2014. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Barbara Benham, "Why Have We Lost Confidence?". Investor's Business Daily, June 12, 2014. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2014 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) p. 2. 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Richard R. Wilk, Emulation and Global Consumerism, in Paul C. Stern, Thomas Dietz, Vernon W. Ruttan, Robert H. Socolow, and James L. Sweeney, editors, Environmentally Significant Consumption (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2012) p. 110. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wackernagel et al. National Natural Capital Accounting with the Ecological Footprint Concept, Ecological Economics, Volume 29, Number 3, June 2014, pp. 375-390. 13.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ramon C. McLeod, "Baby Boomers Seek `Meaning'," San Francisco Chronicle, February 13, 2014.

Resource Management Plan for the Wash Sector in Kenya

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE WASH SECTOR IN KENYA Institute: Institute OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ADAPTION Introduction The Republic of Kenya is located in East Africa at latitudes of 5 ° South and 5.5 ° North and longitudes 34 ° East and 42 ° West surrounding Somalia to the East, Ethiopia to the North, democracy of South Sudan to the North West, Uganda to the West, Tanzania to the South West and the Indian Ocean to South. [ 1 ] Harmonizing to the AEA Technology Plc. clime alteration projections for Kenya up to 2100 include:Rise in the mean one-year temperature by between 1 °C and 5 °C typically 1 °C by 2020s and 4 °C by 2100 ;Possible displacement toward a wetting agent clime in both showery seasons peculiarly in the short rains OND ( October, November, and December ) . Most projections indicate a alteration in heavy precipitation events for Kenya ;Rainfall seasonality indicate that the short and long rains seasons will stay the same ;More utmost rainfall events during the wet seasons by 2100, potentially doing more frequent and terrible inundations ;The happening of drouths likely wi th current frequence but greater badness associated by temperature additions ;Sea degree rise globally by 18 to 59 centimeter at the terminal of the century harmonizing to the IPCC 2007.All these projections have an impact on the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH ) sector particularly utmost events such as inundations and drouths where theoretical accounts indicate intensification of heavy rainfall in the wet seasons, particularly in some parts therefore increasing likeliness of inundation hazards and events. [ 2 ] There is an increased likeliness of drouths but theoretical accounts vary on this projection, some theoretical accounts project intensification of drouths while others indicate a decrease in badness of drouths. With this in head it is of import to pull off H2O sustainably to run into today’s demands and increasing future demand. Water supply crises have been identified in legion studies by experts from different Fieldss. It is estimated that over 1.7 billion people live in river basins H2O usage exceeds recharge which leads to devastation of rivers and depletion of groundwater systems. As states are developing and populations grow and urbanisation additions H2O demand is expected to increase by 55 % by 2050. [ 3 ] If this form continues two tierces of the world’s population will confront acute H2O emphasis. The state of affairs is of concern as Kenya is already rated by the United Nations as holding one of the lowest natural H2O refilling rates in the universe. Aim This brief proposal will look into Incorporate Water Resources Management as key in accommodating and extenuating against the debilitating effects of clime alteration on the WASH sector. For the WASH sector in Kenya over abstraction of fresh water for multiple utilizations, coupled with non-point beginning pollution from agribusiness and ill designed sanitation installations, or deficiency of sanitation installations is a important menace to sustainability of H2O beginnings and ecosystem services ( ESS ) provided by H2O resources. [ 4 ] The Resource Management Model for the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH ) sector will look at H2O as the cardinal resource IWRM and H2O usage efficiency. Rationale To understand the demand for usage of Integrated Water Resource Management ( IWRM ) as a resource direction scheme it is cardinal to look into Kenya’s current H2O state of affairs and clime alteration projections for Kenya as the WASH sector is reliant on H2O as a natural resource. To better understand the demand for IWRM it is cardinal to understand two cardinal facets with respects to Kenya these are: Overview of Kenya’s Water Resources Kenya is classified as a inveterate H2O scarce state. The country’s’ natural gift of fresh water is limited by an one-year renewable freshwater supply of merely 647 three-dimensional metres per capita. Harmonizing to international criterions a state is categorized as â€Å"water stressed† if it’s renewable fresh water supplies are between 1000 to 1700 three-dimensional metres per capita. [ 5 ] By comparing Kenya’s neighbours have one-year per capita renewable fresh water supplies of: Uganda 2,940 three-dimensional metres per capita per twelvemonth and Tanzania 2,696cubic metres per capita per twelvemonth. [ 6 ] Extent of Kenya’s exposure to inundations and drouths as anticipated by clime alteration projections Water exposure in Kenya arises from both a combination of limited natural H2O gift, high variableness of one-year rainfall happening, heavy economic dependance on H2O resources and unequal readiness for repeating clime dazes to the economy.6 This is farther exacerbated by failure of development of surface and groundwater resources increasing the country’s exposure. Further compounded by small stored H2O per capita therefore during drouths H2O storage countries are quickly drawn down.6 Kenya’s H2O exposure is further increased by extended debasement of H2O resources and weak H2O resource direction with the minimum Government outgo on H2O resource care and operation.6. Erosion due to heavy rainfall as a consequence of low forest screen and hapless agricultural patterns lead to siltation and loss of H2O storage capacity in dikes and pans that the state is to a great extent dependent on. Public wellness of which sanitation falls under is besides extremely vulnerable. Deluging leads to damage of drinkable H2O supplies coercing communities to obtain H2O from insecure H2O beginnings taking to exposure to H2O borne infections.Morbidity forms indicate that 60 per centum of top 10 diseases in Kenya are H2O borne or sanitation related.6 During drouths H2O supplies are restricted and monetary values are increased. To get by with these boreholes are drilled and old 1s are deepened as a response to acute H2O deficits. This state of affairs leads to coerce on already worsening H2O tabular arraies, therefore taking to increasing the cost of pumping restricting hereafter options for valuable H2O resources.6 Incorporate Water Resources Management ( IWRM ) Extenuation and version can non be achieved if there is a continuance of sabotaging sustainability of critical H2O resources base embracing sectors that are dependent upon it. Coping with clime variableness requires improved H2O resources direction as the first line of defence. [ 7 ] International energy wonts are the focal point of extenuation attacks, H2O direction and H2O usage efficiency is the way that the universe should follow with respects to version. It is apparent that clime variableness is amplified in the H2O rhythm and therefore Governments particularly the Government of Kenya should acknowledge and move on this. Policy models being formulated, physical substructure and planetary ends and marks must be adapted to run into future needs.7 The Integrated Water Resources Management ( IWRM ) theoretical account is inspired by the Dublin rules adopted during the International Conference on Water and the Environment. Harmonizing to the Global Water Partnership IWRM can be defined as â€Å"a procedure, which promotes the co-ordinated development and direction of H2O, land and related resources, in order to maximise attendant economic and societal public assistance in an just mode without compromising the sustainability of critical ecosystems.† [ 8 ] IWRM seeks to carry through three key aims which are:Efficiency to do H2O resources go every bit far as possible ;Equity in the allotment of H2O across different societal and economic groups ;Environmental sustainability, to protect the H2O resources base and associated eco-systems.A cardinal rule of IWRM is inclusion of H2O and ecosystems as portion of the direction agenda.8 IWRM provides a good footing for betterment of direction of H2O resources instead than creative a ctivity of separate models and establishments. 8 IWRM provides watershed coordination linking regional watershed direction to local activities act uponing and profiting from ecosystem services ( ESS ) . IWRM policies are sick equipped to cover with pull offing support to ESS, which extend beyond spacial and temporal graduated tables of IWRM administration. Rather, IWRM policies are suited in pull offing many commissariats including cultural considerations and ordinance of ESS.An illustration is the Waza logone flood plain in Cameroon that is a clear illustration of benefits accrued from leting deluging to take topographic point, to refill wetlands, deposits and other critical resources, being more valuable than barricading the flow of water.8 IWRM is a god attack for regulating the complex kineticss of upstream- downstream water- dependant ecosystem services as H2O is a nexus between multiple ecosystems services and users. Integration of Climate Change in WASH Sector Management Harmonizing to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD ) it is projected that the figure of people populating in earnestly H2O stressed river basins will duplicate between 2000 and 2050 to make 3.9 billion people. There is a turning concern on the relation between H2O and catastrophe peculiarly enhance by increasing clime variableness. Climate alteration is doing changes to the hydrologic rhythm, endangering fresh water and marine ecosystems every bit good as human H2O security in many parts of the universe particularly Kenya and Sub Saharan Africa. [ 9 ] It is cardinal for the WASH sector through the Government of Kenya through line ministries to develop national and where appropriate, trans boundary version programs of action which incorporate sustainable direction of H2O ; national and county trans boundary eventuality programs ; present clime proofing, and new substructure where needfully peculiarly concentrating on integrated inundation direction to complement IWRM and its benefits with respects to hazards posed by clime alteration and future clime projections for Kenya. It is cardinal for the Government of Kenya to look into climate sensitive policies which targeted all H2O related sectors which is cardinal in turn toing utmost events and increasing clime alteration and variableness. Climate Change exacerbate s the complexness of H2O issues, particularly through its impacts on the hydrological rhythm in countries of high H2O emphasis, every bit good as increased incidence of inundations. It is of import to observe that traditional cognition can non get by with these alterations at that place need to be an accent on new cognition systems to supply better information to all, including husbandmans, pastoralists and local communities.7 Mentions Bonnardeaux, D. ( 2012 ) Associating Biodiversity Conservation and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Experiences from sub-Saharan Africa. Conservation International and Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group. Washington, D.C. , USA. International Institute for Sustainable Development. ( 2013 ) .Summary of the High-Level Meeting of the Global Thematic Consultation on Water in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Post-2015 Development Agenda Bulletin, Volume 28 figure 8. Retrieved from: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.iisd.ca/post2015/water/hlcw/html/crsvol208num8e.html Ministry for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030. ( 2012 ) .Kenya T21 theoretical account.Report on Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Integrated Climate Change Adaptation and Comprehensive National Development Planning in Kenya.Kenya: Office of the Prime Minister. Mogaka, H. , Gichere, S. , Davis, R. , & A ; Hirji, R. ( 2006 ) .Climate Variability and Water Resources Degradation in Kenya: Improving Water Resources Development and Management. Washington, D.C: World Bank. OECD. ( 2012 ) .Environmental Outlook to 2050. Paris: OECD. Stockholm Environment Institute. ( 2009 ) . The Economics of Climate Change in Kenya. December 2009. Project Report. Nairobi: Embassy of Denmark. UNEP. ( 2012 ) .Let go ofing the Pressure: Water Resource Efficiencies and Gains for Ecosystem Services. Capital of kenya: UNEP. United Nations Environment Programme. ( 2012 ) .GEO5 Global Environment Outlook: Environment for the Future We Want. Malta: Progress Press. World Bank. ( 2000 ) .World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. Washington, D.C: World Bank

Customer Relationship Management and Support Related Cost

1. Discuss briefly the factors that drove Harrah’s customer relationship strategy. 2. Discuss briefly the integration between Harrah's patron database and the marketing workbench. 3. Discuss briefly whether Harrah’s business and IT strategies were aligned, and what factors contributed to or detracted from achieving alignment. 4. Does Harrah's have a sustainable competitive advantage? Can other companies duplicate what Harrah's has done? 5. What are the lessons you learn from the experiences at Harrah’s that can benefit other companies embarking on a customer relationship management initiative?In Old costing system , material realted overhead cost was divided into 3 categories1)Material related 2)Production related 3)Support relatedThe support related cost were allocated based on sum of direct material , direct labor costs , material overhead and production overhead. Compared to old costing system, in PROKASTA 2 additional cost pools (Order processing and special components related cost) to allocated support related costs. This strategy was in line with management belief that support cost was more driven by number of orders of motors and number of special components required to process the order instead of machine hours and labor hours required to process the orderWith PROKASTA , the cost of base motor and cost of custom component using old costing system but support related cost pool (pre-PROKASTA) unit cost . Then PROKASTA cost elements were then added. It allowed the firm to relate cost and product mix strategy With new costing system , firm was able to determine proper cost of each order and the profitability of the order it received. Based on the PROKASTA the manager were able to identify which orders were profitable and which were not . It also allowed to determine price at which motors were transferred from EMW toto the sales Division3.Do you agree with Siemens’s decision to set up both sales and EMW as profit Centre? What are the cost and benefits?Siemens was a decentralised organisation with 7 major groups and 5 corporate divisions. The firm is required to identify the profitability of each and every division to evaluate peromonce and make proper divsions. So in this regards it makes sense to set up both sales and EMW as profit centreBenefits : 1)Decisions are better and more timely because of the manager’s proximity to local conditions 2)Managers will have more control over resultsCosts: 1)Insufficient information available to top management; increased costs of obtaining detailed information. 2)Lack of coordination among managers in different parts of the organization.4.Do transfer pricing system make sense? Why do you think so? Yes , I think transfer pricing makes sense. †¢Transfer pricing will help Generate separate profit figures for each division and thereby evaluate the performance of each division separately. †¢Transfer prices make managers aware of the value that goods and servi ces have for other segments of the firm and will help in determining sales and pricing decisions †¢It will also affect the allocation of an organization’s resources

Importance of Water Essay

In order to fulfill his desires, man exploits the environmental factors to a greater extent, by which the environment loses its natural capacity for self-stabilization. The impact of man’s various activities that are detrimental to the environment are: * Increase in population density. * Rapid urbanization * Massive industrial growth * Inadequate food and * Depletion of resources. To meet the increasing demands of time, human beings deliberately exploit the natural environment to improve their quality of life. Unknowingly, different environmental activities such as construction of roads dams, airports, buildings, irrigation projects, power plants and industries have some negative repercussions on the environment in which man lives. Thus, the developmental activities are unsustainable for global ecosystem. But we cannot stop these activities. For the development of the nation, these activities are essential. Industrial growth is directly related to nation’s economy. Construction of major and minor irrigation projects and development of new power plants must not be frozen. Hence at the present context, when man has reached at twenty first century, no body would want for technological stagnation. On the other hand, excessive exploitation of the environment through these technological implications leads to disaster. Hence, there is the problem of one word â€Å"pollution. † So what is needed is the environmental management and sustainable development. â€Å"Sustainable development is implied to regulate the demands of man in such a manner that the ability of the same environment to sustain his development will remain un-repaired,. — is the version of Bindu N. Lohani. Hence much emphasis is given on environmental management and sustainable development. â€Å"It is as a discipline by itself is growing rapidly and no way it proposes to halt economic growth and to stop technical development; rather it aims at achieving that sustainable rate of economic growth which is necessary to meet man’s material needs whilst conserving scarce natural resources and protecting both the external and the internal environments,† says Dr.  Uma Shankar, senior faculty member of Management Development Institute, New Delhi. Hence, sustainable development and environmental management are essential for improvement both the quality of the environment and the quality of human life. For that source areas are identified to give utmost priorities.

Cuban Revoultion and Cuban Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cuban Revoultion and Cuban Film - Essay Example Cuban women in this rural peasant society were expected to marry at an early age and usually to an older man who would be dependent on her work in the fields, as well as the work of the offspring she would bring him. She was about 14 when she was married to an older man, and not long after that had a child. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 gave birth to a fresh and vital national cinema that had not been seen in Cuba previously. The ICAIC (The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry) was created. Less than three months after the Batista regime was overthrown. Influenced by Contemporary, auteur-led film-making from the French New Wave to Brazilian Cinema Novo, a new generation of young, dynamic film-makers led to a creative explosion of challenging films and documentaries. The ICAIC became a haven for Non-conformist film-making and Latin American directors seeking refuge from political repression. Three of the most significant and internationally acclaimed of these new directors were Toms Gutirrez Alea, Santiago Alvarez (a documentary film-maker) and Julio Garca Espinosa. Alea is best known for his feature Memories of Underdevelopment (1968), a portrait of the bourgeois Sergio - a would-be writer who is alienated from post-revolution Cuba due to his former status. As he observes the new changes, both political and cultural, his distance forces him to confront the prejudices of his class and himself. It was this same year that Espinosa presented his manifesto 'For an Imperfect Cinema' when he argued that it was more important to make gritty, honest films that tried to create a dialogue with the audience rather than wash over them with high, glossy production values. The first feature by Humberto Sols was also a defining film in Cuban cinema from the 60s. Lucia (1968), is a trilogy of stories based on women named Lucia at different points in history: 1895, 1933 and the 60s. It may be deemed an example of Feminist film-making as each tale examines the changing roles and attitudes of Cuban women. One Way or Another (1974), by Sara Gmez, was one of the most Revered, quasi-documentary films studying gender relations and the survival of Machismo. Her untimely death (from an acute asthma attack in 1974) was a great loss for Cuban cinema. Portrait of Teresa (1979), by Pastor Vega, continued this Feminist exploration with the gritty portrayal of the demise of a marriage and it proved to be Cuba's most controversial film in twenty years. Lucia is actually three films in one, a historical survey of three periods in the modern day history of Cuba, seen from the perspective of three different women with the same given name who participate in the struggle for liberation which characterized these periods. In 1895, Lucia is seduced into betraying Cuban forces led by her own brother during the war for independence from Spain. In 1933, Lucia leaves her upper middle-class family and becomes involved through her lover in the overthrow of the Cuban dictator Machado and the ultimate betrayal of that revolution by the "pseudo-democracy" then established; a betrayal which leads ultimately to the establishment of the Batista dictatorship of the early 50's. In the 1960's, Lucia is taught how to read and write during Cuba's literacy campaign, and in the process she learns of her own rights as a woman under the new socialist dispensation, leading to a confrontation with her husband's