The Systems Development Life Cycle

A structure that a business uses to collect, manage, store, process, retrieve, and report financial data to accountants, consultants, high ranking corporate officers, or tax agencies is the prime definition of an accounting information system. Accounting information systems are responsible for every facet of numerical data in a company and a malfunction could potentially cause a disaster within the corporation. Accountants have different roles in working with accounting information systems including design, implementation, usage, and ownership.These rolls help accountants keep track of a company’s budget and other financial documents such as quarterly reports. Accountants also use the different information technology systems in a company to put together reports to persuade investors to keep their money in the company stock or persuade potential investors why placing their money in this company is a good financial decision. Thoroughly studying a large accounting information sys tem can be a very tedious job; for this reason, companies put together teams to analyze and handle the development work implementations to the different information technologies in a corporation.Systems study groups begin with a formal analysis of the technology in order to see what issues are present in the software or hardware, what implementations need to take place, and how to proceed with the repair or update. This step is known as the planning and investigation stage and is the first stage when determining the route to take when working with the specific company technology. After this preliminary stage, and the systems study group is chosen, the analysis stage takes place to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the particular unit.The next stage, known in the book as â€Å"design,† is when the systems study group determines how to precisely remove a system’s weaknesses while maintain the system’s strengths. If I was working on a project for a company, I would follow this exact model in determining how to gain optimal output from an information system. The final stage in the systems development life cycle is implementation, follow up, and maintenance and in this stage the company periodically checks on the information system to make sure it is still performing optimally.After making sure the implementation is properly installed, I would do a follow up examination every six months to make sure the system in functioning properly and to determine if further implementation needs to take place to update the system. After the implementation is successfully installed and has been followed up on, the new mission is to locate further challenges the corporation may face, whether it be dated information systems, or the data produced by the information system that affects the company such as budgets and quarterly reports.Challenges that may face a company include: loosing capital on technology that is not the most efficient for the corporati on, loosing capital on an unnecessary implementation or company investment, internal fraud, unseen information system malfunctions. When a system study group is formed and the steering committee, high ranking group of top managers that lead the project or projects, determines the best route for the study group to proceed, data should be gathered to properly assess the situation.The five sources of data come from reviewing existing documentation, observing the current system in operation, using open and closed ended questionnaires, reviewing internal control procedures, and interviewing the different participants who have either worked with the system being implemented or done a similar job in the past. The data gathering and data analysis process can effectively reduce the chance of possible future challenges for the company or information system.Any system that is outdated, costing the company more money than necessary or malfunctions needs to be replaced or implemented. If a syste m is outdated, competitor companies who have the same technology will update their systems and be at an advantage thus, if the corporation I was working for had outdated software, I would recommend an upgrade or replacement. Some system operations fees have the potential to bankrupt a company, especially if the technology is drawing a large amount of energy.Malfunctions cannot be tolerated because they are a threat to important company data and financial paper work. The information held on an accounting information system is extremely important and any loss of documentation would result for a copious amount of which would have to be carried out by managers in the human and production resources department as well as a tedious job for the company team of accountants and executives.

Mental Disorder and Mental Health Problems Essay

This unit aims to provide the learner with knowledge of the main forms of mental health problems according to the psychiatric classification system. Learners also consider the strengths and limitations of this model and look at alternative frameworks for understanding mental distress. The focus of the unit is on understanding the different ways in which mental health problems impact on the individual and others in their social network. It also considers the benefits of early intervention in promoting mental health and well-being. Credit Level 3 3 Assessment criteria The learner can: 1.1 Describe the main types of mental ill health according to the psychiatric (DSM/ICD) classification system: mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, substance-related disorders, eating disorders, cognitive disorders 1.2 Explain the key strengths and limitations of the psychiatric classification system see more:psychiatric (dsm/icd) classification system 1.3 Explain two alternative frameworks for understanding mental distress 1.4 Explain how mental ill health may be indicated through an individual’s emotions, thinking and behaviour 2. Know the impact of mental ill health on individuals and others in their social network 2.1 Explain how individuals experience discrimination due to misinformation, assumptions and stereotypes about mental ill health 2.2 Explain how mental ill health may have an impact on the individual including: a. psychological and emotional b. practical and financial c. the impact of using services d. social exclusion e. positive impacts Learning outcomes The learner will: 1. Know the main forms of mental ill health 2.3 Explain how mental ill health may have an impact on those in the individual’s familial, social or work network including: a. psychological and emotional b. practical and financial c. the impact of using services d. social exclusion e. positive impacts 2.4 Explain the benefits of early intervention in promoting an individual’s mental health and well-being Notes for Guidance In learning outcome 1, assessment criterion 1, learners are asked to describe ‘the main types of mental ill health according to the psychiatric (DSM/ICD) classification system’. Learners should demonstrate knowledge of how types of mental health are categorised by their main signs and symptoms and how the system attempts to draw a line between mental health and mental disorder. Learners do not need to demonstrate detailed knowledge of each form of disorder within each category.

Audit Committee Effectiveness and Fees

The research is about gender and audit committee effectiveness and fees. The study will discuss the research topic in detail along with the views of other authors regarding the research topic. Apart from that, research questions are set for the research topic, which is considered as the base of the research process. The research proposal will describe a detailed conception about the gender representation in the audit committee effectiveness in controlling audit fees. The research methodologies that will be used in conducting the research are mentioned in the research proposal. A section of ethics is done so that the research maintains the ethical considerations. Data collection methods and data analysis methods that will be used in conducting the research process will be mentioned in the research proposal. The research outcomes are important while proceeding the whole research so that the conclusion can be derived easily. The research topic is gender representation in audit committee effectiveness and fees. It is an important topic for research, that has vital significance in the corporate world. Audit committee is present in every big multinational company. The role of audit committee is to control the internal functions of the company and management activities. The audit committee effectiveness depends on successful controlling the practices and policies that are used in controlling accounting, operations and regulatory compliance of business entity. The topic has significance because it is seen that if female corporate executives are included in the audit committee, then the result of the audit is more effective. There are many positive implications of female representation in the audit committee as it is related to produce a quality audit report in order to protect the auditors from reducing audit fees and audit time. However, it is seen that female audit committee representation has impacted on t he audit fees and audit quality. According to Harjoto et al. (2015), corporate governance in terms of audit has extensive impact on the determinants of the audit delays and audit fees as it focuses on the board diligence, characteristics and expertise. However, the authors support gender diversity in the effectiveness of the audit quality and the firms in Australia. The journal article suggests that ethnicity diversity and gender diversity influence the firm’s audit delay and audit fees. Female CEOs are more sensitive than male CEOs in the corporate executive board and in the audit committee. Therefore, it is responsible for women in some sensitive cases of market pressure and audit delay. As per Beck and Mauldin (2015), there are many regulations that are responsible for negotiating and determining the audit fees. The article illustrates that CEOs and other members of the audit committee irrespective of gender are in charge of controlling the regulations of the audit report formation. In the time of recession, it is seen that the audit fees are seem to be reduced in larger amount. CEO of a company and the audit committee members has more or less same power regarding the power of negotiation of audit regulations and audit fees. However, CEO has more power in some aspects in the perspective f rules and regulations (Sun and Liu 2014). As stated by Huang et al. (2014), the female CEO and higher executives that are associated with the audit committee of the organizations are recognized in terms of higher audit fees. It can be seen that CEO controls the implication of the policy in the effectiveness of the audit committee. However, female CEOs are though sensitive in many issues but are efficient in many activities of communicating with the employees before making an audit report. Many employees of the organizations support female executives in the audit committee for efficient audit report. According to Xiang et al. (2015), women who are associated in the audit committee and board of directors of Chinese organizations have significant impact on reducing the audit fees. The relationship of the gender diversity and the audit fees has a direct relationship that has a positive impact on the different activities of management. It is seen that when the management of the company is weak, then the gender diversity is associated with very less amount of fees. It can be said that audit committee is formed in a voluntary process that is different from that of developed countries of United States and United Kingdom. The cultural difference is a perspective where the developing countries are different from that of developed countries. There is a condition that the Chinese business women faces some issues while dealing with the internal business issues with the developed countries (Pucheta?Martà ­nez and Garcà ­a?Meca 2014). There are some limitations related to the research. The literature gap of the research is that the women in the business world face some issues in the audit fees in some aspects. However, the different views of the authors related to the gender biasness in the CFO level and in the CEO level are not sufficient to describe the fact of the equality in the audit committee. On the other hand, it can be said that the audit are important for multinational companies so that they can correct the wrong steps or the ineffective steps in the formation of audit committees. The research questions of the research are as follows: What is the impact of gender diversity in audit committee effectiveness? What is the impact of the female inclusion in enhancing the audit quality? What is the role of gender diversity in reducing the audit fees in the big multinational companies? Research methodology is defined as the theoretical analysis, systematic methods that are applied in the particular field of study. Research methodologies usually encompasses the analysis of principles of methods postulates and rules that are employed in the course of discipline of a research (Buckley and Waring 2013). There are different kinds of research such as applied research, basic research, problem solving, problem-oriented research, quantitative research, and qualitative research. In this research, quantitative research methodologies will be used for conducting the research regarding the gender inclusion in audit committee effectiveness (Coleman and Ringrose 2013). Quantitative research methodology is the best method of research that will yield to most effective result in this situation. Quantitative research methods include simple calculations, statistics of the data collected from different types of sources regarding the research topic. Inclusion of mathematical theories in the research methods will develop a relation between the empirical observations and the mathematical representation (Jonker and Kosse 2013). The use of statistics will increase the validity of the research outcomes that will be gained after conducting the data analysis and research process. Apart from that, secondary research methods will be used for completion of the research. It is seen that implementation of the proper research methodology will enhance the enrichment of the research outcomes (Takhar-Lail and Ghorbani 2015). Research process is defined as the process adopted the conductor of the research while conducting the whole research. Research process is a vital aspect that illustrates the way of completing the steps chosen for proceeding the research. After choosing the research topic, then the research methodology is selected. The research methodology suggests the process of data collection and analysis of the research. The data will be collected from secondary sources. It is very important to determine the research process so that the whole research can be checked in the process. There are four stages of research processes. They are inquiry, collection, organization and presentation (Buckley and Waring 2013). The process of searching the actual methods of research methodology is included in the category of inquiry. Collection includes the methods of data collection whereas the organization represents the data analysis process that is a vital aspect of the research process. It has to be kept in m ind that there should be no errors in the process of analyzing the data so that the research outcomes satisfy the purpose of the research and answer to all the questions of the topic. The last stage is presentation. It represents the presentation of the completed tasks in the whole research (Lewis 2015). Data collection is defined as the process of collection of data for conducting the research. There are many types of data collection methods that are used by the observers in order to collect credible sources. The quality of the research outcomes depend on the quality of the data collected for the research. In this research, secondary data collection methods will be implemented. Secondary data includes scholarly articles and journals. The research topic that is being chosen has immense importance in business research topic (Creswell 2013). However, conducting primary methods of data collection will be a constraint while proceeding with the research. Secondary data will provide credible data that will help in analyzing the data in order to reach at a conclusion. However, data collection will be conducted at a regular interval that can serve the management purpose. Primary research methods are also included so that it can validate the secondary data that is being collected from the dif ferent executives associated in the multinational organizations of Australia (Cohen et al. 2013). Apart from the data collection methods, data analysis of the research will be done by using the methods of quantitative analysis such as standard deviation, median and descriptive statistics. However, a new form of data analysis can also be used. The McKinsey consultants have developed an approach known as MECE principle or hypothesis testing can also be used for getting the answers of the research questions (Ã…kerlind 2012). The expected research outcomes will support the intervention of female executives in the audit committee effectiveness. Apart from that, the quality of the audit will also be enhanced if females are included in the audit committee in the big multinational organizations. If the research methodologies are implemented in the research process properly then it is expected that the research will provide an enriched analysis of the research topic regarding gender diversity in audit committee effectiveness and in audit fees (Sultana et al. 2015). The research process that is explained in the research process section is a vital aspect that will validate the research result. However, the expected outcomes of the research will support the gender diversity in formulating audit reports quality. The primary mentor or supervisor of the research is the teacher or guide in the university. The supervisor has chosen the research topic that will help the readers in order to gain an idea regarding the audit committee effectiveness and role of the female corporate executives in the audit committees of multinational organization. Apart from that, the supervisor has provided an ethical checklist that will maintain all the ethical considerations of the research process (Nicol?escu 2013). The research proposal for gender diversity is the in terms of audit committee effectiveness and audit fees are explained in detail. Various types of research methodologies that is present, among them quantitative research methodology is being selected for obtaining an enriched data regarding the topic. It is mentioned in the research proposal that the research will be conducted using the data collected from both primary and secondary sources. The credibility of the data depends on the sources that have been collected from trusted sources like Google Scholar. However, an ethical checklist is being filled so that they can fulfill the ethical considerations that are compulsory for conducting the research. It will be filled in the Appendix section of the study. Ã…kerlind, G.S., 2012. Variation and commonality in phenomenographic research methods.  Higher Education Research & Development,  31(1), pp.115-127. Beck, M.J. and Mauldin, E.G., 2014. Who's really in charge? Audit committee versus CFO power and audit fees.  The Accounting Review,  89(6), pp.2057-2085. Buckley, C.A. and Waring, M.J., 2013. Using diagrams to support the research process: Examples from grounded theory.  Qualitative Research, p.14. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K., 2013.  Research methods in education. Routledge. Coleman, R. and Ringrose, J. eds., 2013.  Deleuze and research methodologies. Edinburgh University Press. Creswell, J.W., 2013.  Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Harjoto, M.A., Laksmana, I. and Lee, R., 2015. The impact of demographic characteristics of CEOs and directors on audit fees and audit delay.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  30(8/9), pp.963-997. Huang, T.C., Huang, H.W. and Lee, C.C., 2014. Corporate executive’s gender and audit fees.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  29(6), pp.527-547. Jonker, N. and Kosse, A., 2013. Estimating cash usage: The impact of survey design on research outcomes.  De Economist,  161(1), pp.19-44. Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches.  Health promotion practice, p.15. Nicol?escu, E., 2013. Developments in corporate governance and regulatory interest in protecting audit quality.  Economics, Management, and Financial Markets, (2), pp.198-203. Pucheta?Martà ­nez, M.C. and Garcà ­a?Meca, E., 2014. Institutional investors on boards and audit committees and their effects on financial reporting quality.  Corporate Governance: An International Review,  22(4), pp.347-363. Sultana, N., Singh, H., der Zahn, V. and Mitchell, J.L., 2015. Audit Committee Characteristics and Audit Report Lag.  International Journal of Auditing,  19(2), pp.72-87. Sun, J. and Liu, G., 2014. Audit committees’ oversight of bank risk-taking.  Journal of Banking & Finance,  40, pp.376-387. Takhar-Lail, A. and Ghorbani, A., 2015. Market Research Methodologies: Multi-Method and Qualitative. Xiang, R., Qin, M. and Peterson, C.A., 2015. Gender Diversity of Audit Committees and Audit Fees: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies.  Asian Journal of Finance & Accounting,  7(2), pp.239-254.

Analyzing aspects of the employment process Essay

Analyzing aspects of the employment process - Essay Example ying weaknesses and strengths as well as opportunities for improvement and skills development" (Introduction: Performance Appraisal). Hence, the importance of performance evaluation becomes obvious and can be applied to our organization through various methodologies including graphic scale, checklist, forced choice, ranking, paired comparison, forced distribution, MBO, and BARS (Dessler, 2000) as well as with the aid of incentives, bonuses and word of appreciation and a pat on the back. Research by Luis et al. (2001) suggests that performance evaluation when applied adequately can reap massive fruitful results including improved customer satisfaction diffusing from employee satisfaction, ameliorated work performance and product quality, ease in retaining trained and diligent work force and so on and so forth. Planning and strategic decisions about recruiting include both internal and external recruiting. There are various internal sources of recruiting that work effectively to accomplish the targeted organizational goals. As Buford, Bedeian & Lindner (1995) & Zoller (1996) define, "recruiting is the process of generating a sufficiently large group of applicants from which to select qualified individuals for available jobs" and apart from the external sources including media advertising, walk-ins, public and private employment agencies, educational institutions, state agencies, government programs, direct recruiting (Lindner & Zoller), there are internal sources that are effective. These internal sources of recruiting include employee referrals and internal job postings (Lindner & Zoller). Good, experienced, trained and hard working employees when make referrals, organizations must feel obliged. This is because, employee referral is one internal source that has so far proved quite effecti ve in the recruiting procedure worldwide. Employee referrals minimize the work load and share the responsibility with the management which otherwise remains solely responsible for recruiting the right people at the right time (Lindner & Zoller). What makes this internal source effective is the reason that those applicants that are referred by the working employees have a clearer picture of the organizational expectations, aims and vision and can shape their expectations from the organization and their duties accordingly in a better fashion than applicants that are recruited directly through other sources (Lindner & Zoller). Another very effective internal source of recruiting is internal job postings. Vacancies year round can be filled in by the working as well as the deserving employees that can be found, located and analyzed internally through the application of performance appraisal. "These vacancies may represent promotions (upward moves) or transfers (lateral moves). Posting an d circulating notices of vacancies maximizes employee awareness of job openings. The notice should include such items as title, department, job summary, qualifications, and salary and should be placed on bulletin boards,

Business Research for Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Business Research for Decision Making - Essay Example both of his sons are not keen to follow in his footsteps and the debate ensues over the implications of family control on the overall performance of the Larouche Candy Company (Bougie and Sekaran, 2013). For this reason, they hired an external consultant, Paul Thomas Anderson, to conduct a business research on the company. A business research is a process that is objective and systematic where one gathers record and analyzes data with the aim of making an informed business decision. The project done on the company is a research project because it will study the pros and cons of running a family business. Paul will provide evidence to show the difference in performance between family owned business and non-family owned business. The truth is that family owned businesses still remain competitive in the market and their performance is almost similar to the other businesses (Barontini and Caprio, 2005). It is good that they decided to hire an external consultant to research on the Larouche Candy Company. External consultants are able to give an informed decision that is not biased. Luc can provide data on the business performance in the years it has been handed down the generations. This will assist Paul as he compares the data with other competing businesses. The basic research can help Paul solve the problem in the company. This is because research shows that family owned businesses perform when the family member does not hold an executive position (Allouche, 2008). Therefore, one of Luc’s sons can take control over the business, but let another person make decisions about its

Budgetary control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Budgetary control - Essay Example Therefore, the primary function of budgetary control is provide a benchmark for making continuous comparison of the budgeted activity with the actual performance to ensure that the budgeted results are achieved or an appropriate action is taken when there are deviations in performance. This paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of budgetary control to a business (Libby & Lindsay, 2010). One of the most important strengths of budget control is that it is based on numerical data from the financial statements and existing budgets of the company (Van der Stede, 2001). Therefore, this ensures there is consistent with decision making by following trends and previous periods performance. Moreover, in event that the data used in establishing the budgets is correct, managers will be able to make sound decisions for their units, which will eventually, translate to better performance of the business as a whole (Frow, Marginson & Ogden, 2010). That notwithstanding, budgetary control is based on budgets that are time bound. Budgets are usually prepared for a given financial period. Therefore, they enable managers to monitor actual performance by comparing it continuously with budgeted results for that period (Montana and Charnov, 2000). For instance, the production manager can compare the sales units quarterly with the production units to determine if there are deviations in terms of sales units and units produced so that an appropriate action is taken (Dunk, 2011). If for example, the production manager realizes that the units produced are much more than the demanded units, he/she can take action by reducing the units produced and noting the necessary adjustment to be made in the product budget. Therefore, this provides a benchmark for determining the validity of the numerical data and reports used in the preparation of the budgets for the purpose of budgetary

Cultures of the United States and Saudi Arabia Essay

Cultures of the United States and Saudi Arabia - Essay Example In effect, these factors essentially make the behaviors of human beings different, which essentially bring cultural differences in various societies. It may be stated that each country around the world has its own unique culture. However, there are also some similarities in some country's cultures. There are characteristic cultural differences and similarities between the Americans and the Saudis. However, in general, it is obvious that the differences in culture are way more than the similarities. For example, the Saudis believe that the religion is essentially the most important part in their daily lives. Americans do not attach a significant value to religion in their daily lives. Also, the Saudi government mainly depends on the religion as a constitution to lead the country. Because of all that, in this paper I will be focusing on the most important culture differences and some common similarities and of the United States and Saudi Arabia. Differences The following are the various cultural differences between the American and the Saudi societies. Collectivism The Saudi society is considered to be more collective in its cultural aspects than the American society. This can be attributed to the fact that collectivism is given more importance in Saudi than in America. People in Saudi Arabia prefer group work. That is, they favor undertaking their work in companies as a group rather than working alone. For instance, the Saudi people would prefer funding a business rather than looking for people to invest in it. Similarly, Saudi people think of themselves as members of one group hence they work together to effect things for each other according to Sam and Berry (2006). They also base their decision on group basis as opposed to Americans who mainly base decisions on personal thoughts. Power distance In Saudi Arabia, there is higher power distance as compared to America. The lack of development in Saudi followed by the belief in old customs has led to higher power distance in the country. This can be attributed to the fact that Saudi men have mor e authority than women hence women cannot make any decisions without the approval of men. On the other hand, in America, the man and the woman share in decision making hence there is almost no power distance. Uncertainty Avoidance Among the Saudi, the society is considered close minded while in America, the society is open minded. As a result, the Saudi people have uncertainty avoidance as opposed to their America counterparts, as they try to keep away from the unknown. For instance, in Saudi, the employees in a company are always opposed to change in procedures while in America the workers are more open to any change in company procedures according to Kleypas and McDougall (2011). Moreover, in Saudi, the people’s emotions at work are important hence good relations are ensured among workers. On the contrary, In America, work itself is the most important aspect at work as people do not allow personal relationships to interfere with their work. Nepotism Nepotism is considered a positive thing among the Saudi people and most family members succeed through family businesses. Men shake hands in meetings while good friends shake hands and kiss in Saudi. Similarly, men are free to approach fellow men in Saudi. This is however not the case when dealing with Saudi women. However to the American culture people are free to approach each other. To the Americans, this is an issue of freedom as opposed to Saudi where this is a matter of respect. Similarities Despite the above

Cases of Age Discrimination in the Workplace Case Study

Cases of Age Discrimination in the Workplace - Case Study Example The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 is legislated in order to protect the rights of the employees against discrimination on the basis of age. As defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, â€Å"age discrimination involves treating someone less favorably because of his age†. In accordance with this legislation, the employers must be careful in handling their staff and take into consideration this law particularly when hiring, firing, paying, giving particular work tasks, granting promotions, etc to the employees. Another related law is the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990 which particularly protects the rights of the employees to acquire their benefits from their employers.Criswell and Starley, the plaintiffs, filed complaints against Western Air Lines arguing that the airlines’ standard requiring under-age-60 qualification for their pilots violated ADEA. Both the plaintiffs after celebrating their 6oth birthdays applied for rea ssignments as flight engineers the application was denied due to the reasons that the plaintiffs were members of Western Airlines’ retirement plan. In the jury, the defendant attests the complaint explaining the standards as based on BFOQ or bonafide occupational qualification. The airline argued for Western’s enterprise for their passengers’ safe transportation. However, the court’s verdict favors the complainants stating that Westerns’ BFOQ is insufficient as basis of the standard.... In the jury, the defendant attest the complaint explaining the standards as based on BFOQ or bonafide occupational qualification (procon.org). The airline argued for Western’s enterprise for their passengers’ safe transportation. However, the court’s verdict favors the complainants stating that Westerns’ BFOQ is insufficient as basis of the standard. Western Airline appealed again and so the Supreme Court granted review of the case. The hearing follows as the jury reviewed petitioners appeal as backed up by the said company’s intention public safety. In the end however, the petitioners’ claim for implementing under-age-60 standard was regarded reasonable and thus, the case became a landmark for revising ADEA adding BFOQ as exception to the age discrimination act (procon.org). In this case, we see that the court has carefully weighed the respondents and the petitioners claim regarding Age Discrimination Act of 1967. Thus, I agree to the decisi on of evaluating the Airline as exempted kind of business in implementing ADEA. Hazen Paper v. Biggins The plaintiff named Walter Biggins filed a suit against his employer and its two owners accusing them of age discrimination as grounds for his termination (91-1600), 507 U.S. 604 (1993). Biggins, a sixty-two year-old employee, was fired by Hazen Paper Company after almost ten years of employment. Biggins claimed that his termination was clearly unlawful as he was seemingly fired intentionally just weeks before his tenth anniversary in the company; thus, consequently denying him of the company’s pension benefits. In order to prove Beggins’ claim of disparate treatment, he must provide evidence that he was terminated due to his age. However, the

Compare between contrast system software and application software Essay

Compare between contrast system software and application software - Essay Example The computer programming tools include, but are not limited to the debuggers, linkers, compilers, Microsoft software development tools and Java development tools. The document focuses only the system and application software and provides their detailed comparison. The initial section of the document contains a description of the system and application software, however, it proceeds with the comparison and contrast between the system software and application software. The system software is developed specifically for the computer systems so that the computer system starts and runs the application software. After successful installation of the system software in the computer systems is able to run separately as well as over the computer network. There are different types of system software include: operating systems, device drivers, firmware, Graphical User Interface (GUI), Middleware and free system software. Initially, the operating system(s) (type of system software) are installed on the bare hardware of the computer system to provide an interface to the computer users for provision of computer services. The prominent examples of the operating system include: the Microsoft Windows OS, LINUX, UNIX and Mac OS. Once even one of the operating systems is installed in the computer systems enable the computer user to install various computer utility software to fulfill particular requirements of the computer users. However, the Middleware (type of the system software) can also be installed in the computer system to get functionalities that are even not provided by the operating system. Usually, the Middleware system software is used by the software developers so that they can get an interface to communicate with the computer hardware. It is pertinent to mention here that overall the system software is used for the specialized purpose by the

Coffee Benefits Essay Example for Free

Coffee Benefits Essay Several studies comparing moderate coffee drinkers (about 2 cups a day) with light coffee drinkers (less than one cup a day) found that those who drank more coffee were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimers disease later in life. [2][3] [edit] Reduced risk of gallstone disease Drinking caffeinated coffee has been correlated with a lower incidence of gallstones and gallbladder disease in both men[4] and women[5] in two studies performed by the Harvard School of Public Health. A lessened risk was not seen in those who drank decaffeinated coffee. [edit] Reduced risk of Parkinsons disease A study comparing heavy coffee drinkers (3. 5 cups a day) with non-drinkers found that the coffee drinkers were significantly less likely to contract Parkinsons Disease later in life. [6]. Likewise, a second study found an inverse relationship between the amount of coffee regularly drunk and the likelihood of developing Parkinsons Disease. [7] [edit] Cognitive performance Many people drink coffee for its ability to increase short term recall and increase IQ[8]. Likewise, in tests of simple reaction time, choice reaction time, incidental verbal memory, and visuospatial reasoning, participants who regularly drank coffee were found to perform better on all tests, with a positive relationship between test scores and the amount of coffee regularly drunk. Elderly participants were found to have the largest effect associated with regular coffee drinking. [9] Another study found that women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on cognitive tests if they had regularly drunk coffee over their lifetimes. [10] [edit] Analgesic enhancement Coffee contains caffeine, which increases the effectiveness of pain killers, especially migraine and headache medications. [11] For this reason, many over-the-counter headache drugs include caffeine in their formula. [edit] Antidiabetic Coffee intake may reduce ones risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 by up to half. While this was originally noticed in patients who consumed high amounts (7 cups a day), the relationship was later shown to be linear. [12] [edit] Liver disease Coffee can also reduce the incidence of cirrhosis of the liver[13] and has been linked to a reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, a primary liver cancer that usually arises in patients with preexisting cirrhosis. [14] The exact mechanism and the amount of coffee needed to achieve a beneficial effect are as yet unclear. [15] [edit] Cancer Coffee consumption is also correlated to a reduced risk of oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer. [16][17] In ovarian cancer, no benefit was found. [18] In the Nurses Health Study, a modest reduction in breast cancer was observed in postmenopausal women only, which was not confirmed in decaffeinated coffee. [19] [edit] Cardioprotective Coffee reduces the incidence of heart disease, though whether this is simply because it rids the blood of excess lipids or because of its stimulant effect is unknown. [citation needed] [edit] Laxative/diuretic Coffee is also a powerful stimulant for peristalsis and is sometimes considered to prevent constipation; it is also a diuretic. However, coffee can also cause loose bowel movements. Practitioners in alternative medicine often recommend coffee enemas for cleansing of the colon due to its stimulus of peristalsis, although mainstream medicine has not proved any benefits of the practice. [edit] Antioxidant Coffee contains the anticancer compound methylpyridinium. This compound is not present in significant amounts in other food materials. Methylpyridinium is not present in raw coffee beans but is formed during the roasting process from trigonelline, which is common in raw coffee beans. It is present in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and even in instant coffee. [20] http://ezinearticles. com/? Coffee-and-Its-Antioxidants-Healthier-Than-You-May-Realizeid=1235899 Did you know that coffee is chock full of antioxidants, an anticancer agent? If youve always thought coffee is bad for you, think again. Aside from keeping you alert and awake, coffee can also keep you young and fighting cancer. So, continue reading for answers to some frequently asked questions about coffee and its antioxidants. What are antioxidants? Antioxidants are any vitamin or nutrient that can help prevent cancer or damage to the heart and other tissues caused by free radicals. By neutralizing free radicals, they prevent cell degradation. Antioxidant rich foods include blueberries, raspberries, dates, chocolate and, of course, coffee. What type of antioxidants are in coffee? The antioxidants found in coffee are called polyphenols. More specifically, the compound is methylpridinium. The antioxidant isnt present in raw, green coffee beans, but is actually created during the roasting process. How much coffee is enough? Research has shown that people who drink one to two coffees a day have half the risk of developing liver cancer when compared to people who didnt drink coffee. Meanwhile, drinking 4 to 6 cups of coffee can reduce your risk for type-2 diabetes by as much as 50 percent. However, despite the reduced risk for these diseases and other cancers, like oral, esophageal, and pharyngeal cancer, doctors dont recommend you start drinking 10 cups a day. Coffee is still a stimulant and a diuretic and if drunk in excess can cause heart problems, anxiety and possible dangerously elevated blood pressure. Can I get these antioxidants from other sources? The specific antioxidant compound of methylpridinium is only found in substantial amounts in coffee. While other food sources like cranberries, dates and other antioxidant-rich foods contain different types of antioxidants, coffee is the primary source for this particular compound. (For other sources of antioxidants try bananas, dry beans, blueberries, pomegranates, lychees and the other foods listed above.) A recent study also found that the vast majority of North Americans get most of their antioxidants from beverages and, in particular, coffee. The average adult takes in about 1300 milligrams per day through coffee and the next source is tea at a mere 294 milligrams per day. Again, while coffee is one of our highest sources of antioxidants a great cancer-fighting and prevention agent coffee drinkers should always practice moderation. A cup or two a day may keep a number of common diseases away, but too much coffee can also cause problems. So balance is always a necessity.

Looking At Port Scanning Techniques Information Technology Essay

Looking At Port Scanning Techniques Information Technology Essay This article gives you an in-depth knowledge on some of the commonly used TCP port scanning techniques along with the pros and cons associated with each of the port scanning technique. Apart from the TCP based port scanning, it also briefly explains the different port scanning techniques available to scan the non TCP ports. Index Terms three-way handshake, open port scanning, stealth scanning, half open port scanning, Ident scanning, FTP bounce scanning, Decoy scanning, UDP scanning. In this paper firstly we will see an overview of port scanning, which includes what it is, why it is used, how it can be used and what are its effects. The second section explains in details about the various port scanning methods. This section includes detailed description on each of the port scanning methods based on TCP and some of the other port scanning methods, including the advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods. This section also contains information on the TCP connection establishment, which would be helpful to have a better understanding on the various port scanning techniques. Overview on Port Scanning Before start discussing about the actual topic port scanning, first lets see what a port is, how it is used and what its functions are. The Transmission Control Protocol and User Datagram protocol are used for communication over the internet. Each of this protocol contains 65536 ports (from 0 to 65535). Each port has an associated service running. The first 1024 ports are the reserved/privilege ports which runs the dedicated service defined by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) (for example port 80 is reserved for HTTP service, port 21 for FTP, port 23 for telnet access and etc.) and these ports are known as well-known ports. The remaining are called registered ports (from 1024 to 49151) and dynamic and/or private ports (from 49152 to 65535). So, the applications in the computer use its specific port for communication with the server or with another computer. Now lets discuss about port scanning. Port scanning is a technique used to uncover the port details in a computer. Details like whether the port is open/listening or not, if it is open/listening which service is running on that port, etc can be obtained by scanning the ports. Port scanning is mainly used to find if there is any security risk involved in the computer and also to check for its weaknesses. Port scanning is done by sending messages to all the ports of the computer, and based on the response from each of the ports we can check whether the computer is prone to attacks. This technique is used by the network administrators to check for vulnerabilities in the network, like if a port is unused and it is open, then it should be closed immediately, because open ports will listen to the incoming messages which could me malicious. This could be a useful technique for the network administrators to secure their network. Also it would be good to port scan our own computers periodical ly, so that we will be able to find out what are the unwanted process and some of the malwares running in our own computer systems. Having said this, we should also be aware of the fact that, the port scanning methods will be known to the hackers too, who will try to break into the network/computer to steal the vital information. Using this technique the hackers will try to get a list of unused open/available ports. The hackers will then try to probe these ports for additional information and weakness. Using these results the hacker will try to exploit and will gain access to the computer. The operating system in the target computer will have the knowledge of logging the request that is used for port scanning activities. So the hacker will use an effective method to perform port scanning else the hacker can be easily identified. Port Scanning Methods The port scanning technique can be classified into three main types, they are Open scanning This type of scan opens a full TCP connection with the targeted host. Half-open scanning In this type of scan the client terminates the connection on receiving a response from the targeted host. Stealth scanning This type of scan prevents the connection request to the targeted host to be logged. All the above mentioned scanning types are used by a hacker to get the list of open or closed ports in the server. Among the three the open scanning technique gives accurate information about the state of the port, but it is easily detectable. Stealth scan technique can fool some of the basic Intrusion detection systems and some of the basic firewall rule sets. Before explaining in detail about each of the port scanning technique lets look into the steps involved in establishing a full TCP connection and the usage of each of the flags in the TCP message [Marco, Eddy, Germinal, Gabriela, 1999]. This is because most of the port scanning methods are based on the TCP connection and the functionalities of each of the flags bits in the TCP message. Following are the list of flags used in the TCP message and its functionalities. SYN This flag is used to initiate a TCP connection. FIN This flag specifies that the sender has finished sending the entire data. RST This flag is set to reset the connection. ACK This flag is set to acknowledge for the request. URG This flag is set to indicate that the urgent pointer is valid. PSH This flag is set to indicate that all the data should be pushed to receiver immediately without waiting for the additional information. The TCP connection establishment consists of three steps hence it called as three-way handshake. First the client will send a TCP message with SYN flag set with an initial sequence number to the targeted host. The second step is that, if the respective port in the target host is open then the target host will acknowledge the clients SYN by incrementing the clients initial sequence number by 1 and sends back to the client along with its own initial sequence number with the SYN message. Third step, the client on receiving the target hosts TCP message with SYN flag set it will send an ACK message and the target hosts initial sequence number incremented by 1 to the target host. This is how the TCP connection will be established between two hosts. Shown below is the pictorial representation of three-way handshake TCP connection. SYN, Clients ISN (initial seq. num) Client Target host SYN, Target hosts ISN (initial seq. num) Clients ISN + 1Client Target host ACK, Target hosts ISN + 1 Client Target host Having the basic knowledge of TCP connection and the functionalities of each of the flags in TCP message we will discuss in detail in each of the port scanning techniques. Open Scanning Technique: The open scanning technique will try to establish a full TCP connection with the target host. Based on the response from the target the client will decide whether the port in the target host is open or closed. This technique is slower when compared to other two techniques, since it involves in establishing a three way connection with the target. Also this technique is easily detectable and can be filtered easily. Described below is one of the open scanning methods. TCP connect scan method: The TCP connect scan method uses the connect() method in the operating system to establish a three-way connection between the target host [Dethy, 2001]. Client will send Æ’Â   SYN Server will respond with Æ’Â   SYN, ACK Client will respond with Æ’Â   ACK In the above three-way handshake the server responds with the SYN message which means that the listening port in the targeted host is in the open state. Client will send Æ’Â   SYN Server will respond with Æ’Â   RST, ACK Client will respond with Æ’Â   RST In this case, the server responds with the RST message to the request. This shows that the listening port in the targeted host in the closed state. By this way a list of open or closed ports in the targeted host can be obtained. The advantages of this scanning method are that it is fast, accurate and does not require extra user privileges. The disadvantages are this method is easily detectable and could be logged. Half Open Scanning Technique: In the half open scanning technique the client will terminate the connection even before the three-way handshake is completed. Two types of scanning methods come under the half open scanning technique. They are 1) SYN scanning and 2) IP ID header or dumb scanning. SYN scan method: This method is similar to the full connection/TCP connect scan method. The difference is that when the client receives a SYN message from the target host it will close the connection by sending a RST message to the target machine. This is because the SYN message from the target host is enough to know that its listening port is in open state. If a RST message is received from the target host then it means that the listening port in the target host is in closed state. Thus a three-way handshake is restricted in this type of scan method. The pictorial representation of which is shown below [Dethy, 2001]. Pictorial representation if the port is in open state, Client will send Æ’Â   SYN Target will respond with Æ’Â   SYN, ACK Client will respond with Æ’Â   RST Pictorial representation if the port is in closed state, Client will send Æ’Â   SYN Target will respond with Æ’Â   RST, ACK The advantages of this method are it is fast, accurate and it is less frequently logged when compared to open scan method. The main disadvantage is that for this type of scanning the sender or client needs to customise the IP packet which requires special user privileges, and this is the case for almost all of the operating systems. IP ID header or dumb scanning method: The basis of this scan method is similar to the SYN scan method but the difference is that IP ID header or dumb scanning method uses a third host to scan the target host, and based on the id value in the IP header field this scan method will decide whether the listening port in the targeted host is in open or closed state. The third host should be identified in such a way that it should send very little amount of traffic or preferably no traffic, hence this type of host is said to be silent or dumb host. It requires lots of effort to identify this type of host. In this scenario, there will three different host. One is the attacker host (A), second is the silent host (S) and third is the target host (T). First A will send consecutive ping packets to S, this is to analyse the id value in the IP header field. Each time the silent host will increment the id value by 1 in its response. An example of which is shown below, 60 bytes from AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD: seq=1 ttl=64 id=+1 win=0 time=96 ms 60 bytes from AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD: seq=2 ttl=64 id=+1 win=0 time=88 ms 60 bytes from AAA.BBB.CCC.DDD: seq=2 ttl=64 id=+1 win=0 time=88 ms Now using the source address of host S, host A will send a spoofed SYN message to the host T. The host T will respond to host S with either SYN message or the RST message based on the listening ports state. Now the host A will examine the ping responses from the host S to check the id value in the IP header. If the id value is more than 1 then it shows that the respective port in the host T is open, because only when the host S will respond back to host T and increments the id value. That is the host T would have responded to the host S with the SYN message for the spoofed SYN message from the host A. If the value of id is 1 then it indicates that the respective listening port in the host T is in closed state. Stealth scanning technique: The stealth scanning technique is a technique used to avoid the logging of port scan performing in a host and to break into the basic filters and firewalls implemented. This technique slows the scan due to which the ports are scanned over a long time period. Thus it restricts the target host to trigger an alert. In this section we will discuss about four types of stealth scanning techniques. FIN scan method: As the name implies this method uses the FIN flag in the TCP message to identify the list of open or close ports in the target host. That is the attacker will send a TCP message with FIN flag set to target host. Based on the response from the target the attacker will determine whether the listening port in the target is open or closed. If the listening port in the target is closed then it will reply back with the RST message. The negotiation is shown below, Attacker will send Æ’Â   FIN Target will respond with Æ’Â   RST If the listening port is open then the target will not send any response back. The negotiation is shown below, Attacker will send Æ’Â   FIN Target response Æ’Â   none The advantages of this method are it can bypass many intrusion detection systems and these scans are not logged. The disadvantage is that at times it can produce false results. NULL scanning method: The null scanning method will send a TCP message to the target without setting any of the six flags in the TCP message. Based on the response from the target the attacker will generate a list of open ports. If the response from the target is RST then the listening port in the target host is said to be in closed state, else if a there is no response from the target then the port is open. The advantages of this method are it can bypass many intrusion detection systems and these scans are not logged. The disadvantage is that at times it can produce false results and it can be used only in UNIX systems. XMAS scanning method: The implementation of XMAS method is exactly opposite to the NULL scanning method. That is, the Xmas scanning method will send a TCP message with all the six flags set. If the response from the target is RST then the listening port in the target host is said to be in closed state, else if a there is no response from the target then the port is open. The advantages and disadvantages of this method are same as that of the NULL scanning method. TCP fragmenting method: The TCP fragmenting itself is not a port scanning method; instead it is used to improve the other stealth port scanning methods like FIN, NULL, and XMAS [Marco, Eddy, Germinal, Gabriela, 1999]. This method splits the TCP header into smaller fragments such that it is not easily detected by the firewalls and other intrusion detection systems implemented. All the above discussed port scanning techniques are specific to the TCP ports. There are other port scanning techniques available for scanning non TCP ports, some of which are explained below. UDP scanning technique: The UDP scanning technique is used to get a list of available/open DUP ports in a target host. The method sends a UDP message to the target, and based on the response from the target the attacker will determine whether the port is open or closed. If the response from the target host is a UDP message then the port is open. If the response from the target is an ICMP port unreachable [Dethy, 2001] message then the port is closed. If the response is some other ICMP unreachable message then the port is filtered. If there is no response from the target host then the listening port is either open or filtered. The advantages are, it is used to scan non TCP ports and it is not restricted by TCP Intrusion detection system. Its disadvantages are it is easily detectable and requires root access. Ident scanning technique: The scanning methods that we have discussed so far is used to get a list of open/available ports, but the Ident scanning technique is used to get the information about the owner of the process running in those available/open ports. This method uses the insecure issue in the Identification protocol to uncover the owner details of the process running in the listening ports. This technique can be employed only when the target host is running the identd service in port 113. FTP bounce scanning technique: This technique uses an option in the FTP protocol to perform port scanning. That is, this method uses proxy ftp servers to communicate with the target host and to perform port scanning in each of its ports. For this the proxy functionality in the ftp server should be enabled. In this method, first the attacker establishes ftp connection with the proxy FTP server. Then using the port and list commands it tries to scan each of the ports in the target host. If the listening port is open then the server will send 150 and 226 response codes to the attacker, else if the port is closed the server will respond with the 425 reply code to the attacker. Decoy scanning technique: The decoy scanning technique sends several packets to the same port in the target host. All of these IP packets contain spoofed IP address except one of the packet. That is, one in a several packets holds the actual attackers IP address. Thus this method makes sure that at least one response from the target host is sent to the attacker. The advantages of this method are that it is extremely hard for the administrator to identify the exact scanner/attacker and the result obtained from this method is accurate. The disadvantage of this technique is that, since it sends several packets to the same port the flow of traffic will be high. Conclusion The different types of port scanning techniques are explained in detail along with their advantages and disadvantages. We have seen that most of the port scanning techniques are based on the TCP protocol, but other port scanning techniques are available to scan the non TCP ports. At present numerous software tools are available to perform an effective port scanning in the local host or the remote host to check for the existing vulnerabilities and ways to fix them. Some of the popular tools are SATAN and N-Map. Port scanning techniques are not only used by the attackers to break into the computer/network, it can also be used to check our own computers for vulnerabilities and to take preventive actions for those vulnerabilities.

Maintaining the Audiences Interest in Talking Heads :: Talking Heads Alan Bennet Essays

Maintaining the Audience's Interest in Talking Heads One character talking to a camera for half an hour, Do you call that drama? How does Alan Bennet try to maintain the audience’s interest in his Talking Heads? In A Lady of Letters, Patricia Routledge plays the part of Irene Ruddock, who is a very lonely woman that has an obsession with writing letters to everyone to complain about the smallest of things. She lives by herself, and has done since her mother died. A Lady of Letters is a drama because it includes different amounts of lighting at certain points of the video. Routledge also acts when she is speaking to the camera, for example she gets very upset at some points e.g. when she talks about when the police told her the little boy over the road had died of leukaemia. She also expresses herself well by her actions. At first Irene seems like a very highly classed woman, very respectable and knows what is wrong and right. She also appears to be a very respectable lady. We know this because in the video, it shows her having her tea and biscuits with a napkin. However, throughout the video, we see some changes to Irene; we see that she might not be as respectable as we first thought. One of these reasons is because when she goes to the doctors, she says â€Å"I said I was getting upset, like I did before†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This indicates that she may have been ill because of certain happenings which were probably to do with the letters which she writes. Shortly after this, she lets us know about when the vicar came around, talking to her about god. She then tells us about how she is an Atheist. We do not expect this because you would have thought someone as respectable as Irene would believe in God and go to church every Sunday morning. â€Å"They don’t expect you to be an atheist when you’re a miss†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows that because she told the Vicar that she was an atheist, he did not know what to say, because he like us expected her to believe in God and go to church like every other respectable lady like her. Next we hear about her visit from the Police, which is where we find out what she really is like. At first, the male police man talks about the different types of letters which she had wrote in the past, and then we find out that she has been told to keep the peace by the courts. At this point, we finally realise that she isn’t that

Machiavelli Essay -- essays research papers

"The term Machiavellian refers to someone who is unscrupulous, cunning, cynical, and unprincipled"(Goods 1998). Many scholars agree that this particular adjective would have dismayed Niccolo Machiavelli, the man from whom the term is derived. In reality he has been attributed as being one of the brightest lights of the Italian Renaissance through his works as not only a writer, but also as an influential philosopher of history and political thought. His most famous work The Prince has been misunderstood due to the motives discussed and the blatantly honest language used. Many of his critics have condemned him for his pessimistic outlook of man as a whole and in doing so try to negate the bulk of his work. Yet even after over 470 years his works are still thought provoking and influential in the political arena. This paper looks at some of the influences that may have created such a man. Machiavelli was born in Florence on May 3, 1469, a time of political upheaval and a strong political influence from the Roman Catholic Church. Although Machiavelli was never what would today be considered middle class, he himself states â€Å"I was born poor and learned earlier to stint myself than to prosper†(Gilbert 1961, 102). While the extent of this poverty is not known, it is known that his family owned land and was able to pay for his education. In fact, through some of his father’s letters we learn that he had an excellent education in Latin, arithmetic, history, and poetry, but that he was not well off enough to afford other more expensive forms of training (Gilbert 1961, 56). However, his financial hardship from earlier on seems to display itself in his cautious approach to most of his political activities. In fact, the lessons Machiavelli learned early on set a precedent of conservatism that carried on throughout his life. Machiavelli’s first position in government was given to him in 1498 at the age of twenty-nine. His position was that of Second Chancellor or Secretary and was the second most important paid position in the city (Gilbert 1961, 12). This position was advantageous in the fact that it provided him with experience dealing with both international negotiations and domestic business within the city. These early experiences were evident influences in his political beliefs and he himself commented on them occasionally. It was these early lessons in ... ...61, 141) while describing to a friend his daily activities. It can be argued that this type of leisure activity may have been part of his informal training into the realm of philosophy. It was during this time that he composed some of his more famous works, but he also composed a comedy called The Mandrake that displays the less serious and rigid side of Machiavelli. Although he does show himself to be as much of a dreamer as he was a politician, Machiavelli believed knew that emotion held no place in politics. He himself stated that in order to fairly rule â€Å"†¦calculation of what must be done in a given situation being unduly affected be passions or the contemporary conventions and ideals of right and wrong† (Fleisher). Through personal experiences, education, and the lessons learned from the past Machiavelli was able to influence the world for generations with his political insights and theories. Even after 470 years his works still inspire and create debate as to the true nature of politics and the behavior of those that rule. While the true contributors to the development of these beliefs may never be truly known, the impact that they have had upon the world cannot be denied.

Bad Day Dawning :: essays research papers

That we can learn a lot about a man from the books and films he chooses is borne out by Timothy McVeigh. One of his favorite films: the 1984 Patrick Swayze epic Red Dawn. It follows a group of small town teens' conversion to guerilla fighters when a foreign army invades America. Like McVeigh, the teens stock up on survival gear - mainly guns and ammo - in order to defend their country from annihilation. And one of McVeigh's favorite books: The Turner Diaries written by former American Nazi Party honcho William L. Pierce, under the pen name Andrew Macdonald. Its hero - Earl Turner - responds to gun control by making a truck bomb and blowing up the Washington FBI Building. Two scenarios - all too familiar. It was April 19, 1995 - a perfect, sun-drenched Oklahoma morning in springtime. Against a perfect blue-sky background, a yellow Ryder Rental truck carefully made its way through the streets of downtown Oklahoma City. Just after 9 am, the vehicle pulled into a parking area outside the Alfred P. Murrah Building and the driver stepped down from the truck's cab and casually walked away. A few minutes later, at 9:02, all hell broke loose as the truck's deadly 4000-pound cargo blasted the government building with enough force to shatter one third of the seven-story structure to bits. Glass, concrete, and steel rained down. Indiscriminately mixed in the smoldering rubble were adults and children alive and dead. The perpetrator, twenty-seven-year-old Timothy James McVeigh, by now safely away from the devastation was convinced he acted to defend the Constitution, for he saw himself as crusader, warrior avenger and hero. But in reality, he was little more than a misguided coward. He never even heard clearly the sound of the initial sirens of emergency vehicles rushing to the scene. Because, blocks away, he was wearing earplugs to protect himself from the roar of a blast so powerful it lifted pedestrians off the ground. One Japanese tourist no stranger to powerful earthquakes called the blast "worse than the worst quake. Because there was no initial warning, no noise to say 'something terrible is going to happen'; it just hit." When it did, a massive ball of fire momentarily outshone the sun and the north side of the building disintegrated. Traffic signs and parking meters were ripped from the pavement. Glass shattered and flew like bullets, targeting and maiming pedestrians blocks away. Inside the broken building, survival depended on location at zero hour.

Empowering Women

The roles of women are gradually evolving to embrace what modern society offers them. Women are becoming empowered through education, jobs, promotions, through law and many other forms. It is not only seen in developed countries, it is also seen in developing countries as in the Pacific. Women are progressively being empowered to hold positions other than their traditional ones. Women being empowered have many advantages and disadvantages but it all comes down to three things: economic, social and political advantages and disadvantages.Firstly, the economic advantage of empowering women is that it helps improve their families’ living standards. Whether married or single, empowering of women, through an education or other means, helps to improve their family’s economic and financial standing. For example, according to Leach (1986, pp. 55-56), an estimated one-third of global households are headed by women, and they are responsible for feeding their families. Empowerment in the form of an education can secure for them a job, and hence ensures the continuance of their households.It is therefore clear that an empowered woman is important for the vitality of her household. Furthermore, empowered women are socially advantaged because it upgrades their social standing in society. In many countries, women are thought inferior to men, especially in developing countries. For example, â€Å"Swargo nunut neroko katut† means â€Å"Going to heaven or hell, a woman will merely go along with her husband† (Chrysanti 1998, p. 87). From this Javanese saying, it is possible to say that a married woman is limited by having no say in matters of the Javanese society, as even to the afterlife she is to follow her husband.Their being empowered may allow people in their society to seek advice from them, as they may be considered higher in standard by others. It is then safe to say that when women are empowered, they may have a higher standing in society than if they were not empowered. Moreover, involving women in politics is advantageous as women may provide fresh views. Politics is generally â€Å"male dominated† and decisions made are predominantly from a male point of view.A male cannot hold both male and female opinions and it is best that both genders be present in politics. For example, empowering women has provided for the need for equality to be heard. In the past, female doctors were unheard of and as time passed, the gradual empowering of women has led to women triumphing in medicine as doctors, nurses, lab technicians and so on. Once again, it is an advantage to a country and its citizens to promote female politicians in the government for the balance between views and opinions of males and females.However, being female disadvantages women economically as â€Å"women’s nature† may hinder success. A â€Å"woman’s nature† is generally thought of as emotional and hormonal, and, although not tr ue for all, it may be for some. For example, Chrysanti (p. 93) says that a typical Indonesian woman [manager]†¦ does not rely on her gut feeling and is uncomfortable with taking risks. Chrysanti further says â€Å"While this may serve her well in most instances, she would probably find it harder to make quick, aggressive decisions†.This implies that risks and aggressive decisions may do well to save companies, however the typical Indonesian woman might not take risks and her decisions might cost her and her company. So in order for a woman to succeed economically, she may have to put aside her emotions. Although empowering women may uplift them socially, discrimination from males is still evident. As aforementioned, women may be highly regarded in society due to their empowerment but due to male discrimination, it may be difficult socially.History has proven that only the male had paid jobs, whereas the female performed domestic duties. As Moengangongo (1986, p. 88) stat ed, â€Å"The traditional ideal is that the male has always been the provider and the female the homemaker†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and this is a common understanding in many countries, making it harder for women to be employed or empowered, and if they did, some men may make it hard for them at the work place. As Kibel (2012) reports, â€Å"Certain forms of discrimination against women remain widespread. Out of 121 countries covered in the 2012 SIGI, 86 have discriminatory inheritance practices or laws. This thus proves that male discrimination is still evident today. So although women are gradually being empowered, men become obstacles in their empowerment. Additionally, there is a lot of competition in politics making female empowerment difficult. Since politics is male dominated, there is already existing competition between male politicians; women entering politics can be sure of an abundance of competition, and as the saying goes â€Å"whatever women do, they must do twice as well [as men] to be considered half as well [as men]†.For example, in Tonga, women rarely hold high positions in the government because numerous male competitors prevent it. ‘Alisi Taumoepeau is an example of a rare successful woman in politics, and this may only have been due to her doubled efforts. Therefore, no matter how qualified or empowered a woman may be, she will still face competition and she may have to work twice as hard to even be considered in politics. To conclude, there are many advantages and disadvantages of being empowered as a woman, the three main reasons being economically, socially and politically.As can be seen, empowering of women helps financially; it helps women gain respect and gives women a voice. We can also see that although empowering women is widely promoted, there are still many obstacles for women to overcome. It is strongly suggested that each country have or support programs that are dedicated to empowerment of women, so that women can be emp owered for benefits of home and country. A country with empowered women is compared to a household headed by an empowered woman: wealthy, organized and cooperative. Empowering Women Abstract This essay will discuss the empowering women and consider its disadvantages and disadvantages. Firstly it will state the disadvantages of empowering women. Some of the disadvantages discussed in this essay are competition, moral problems and family problems. Furthermore, the essay will discuss some of the very important advantages of empowering women. Some of the important advantages are gender equality, leadership and education. Finally the essay will conclude with a thought that despite the advantages of empowering women, there are also some disadvantages that need to be considered.Essay 1: Empowering women Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of empowering women so that they can hold other positions apart from traditional ones. Empowerment is vital to sustainable development and the human rights of all. Empowerment is an important aspect of every woman’s life. According to the â€Å"Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary† this the term empowering women is t he breaking of personal limitation. Women empowerment is very important for the progress and development of any nation.The empowerment of women can take place through education that is enabling women into workforce. Empowerment also takes place by creating awareness programmes. This essay will discuss on the disadvantages of empowering women. To begin with, one of the disadvantages of empowering women is competition in the workforce between men and women. Competition enables women to enter the workforce. As most of the women are now educated they are likely to get employed. These women are more likely to get job which was dominated by men in traditional times.When women are empowered they are more likely to be powerful than men. Thus, this will create more competition in the workforce for the same amount of jobs and possibly the rate of reproduction. Problems that arise due to competition in the workforce are that there is too much stress and work pressure affects health of workers. Thus, competition has a fundamental disadvantage because it will create problems in the workforce. Moreover, empowering women also leads to family problems. Many women do not have a proper understanding about empowerment.As women are empowered and have a full control of their own self, they forget the responsibilities and they get so absorbed in learning new things that they their family. Women most of the times are out of house instead of spending time with family. Children are looked after by someone else and do not get sufficient love from parents. Therefore, this leads to increase in the rate of divorce because of the misunderstanding between the couples. Thus, empowering women is indeed a disadvantage. Furthermore, moral problem is also a disadvantage of empowering women.This is because when women are empowered there attitude changes compared to the attitude when they were not empowered. When they were empowered they do not care about the moral values. This leads to moral prob lems. This problems occurs because women are educated and employed, they try to rule the entire family. This leads to moral problems such as that they do not have respect for the elder ones. This empowered woman often talks back to their husband and also to other family members. Through this attitude the image of the family is gone bad.Therefore, empowering women does not show only the rights of the women but also responsibilities come with the rights. This essay has considered on the disadvantages of empowering women and now it will look at the advantages of empowering women. The advantages of empowering women are important because women has recognised as the central issue in determining the status in women. The advantages discussed about empowering women are gender equality, leadership and education. For once, one of the advantages of empowering women is gender equality.A critical aspect of gender equality is the empowerment of women, with a focus on identifying and redressing pow er imbalances and giving women more autonomy to manage their own lives. Gender equality helps in the development of Fiji through education, economically, access to resources and decision making. Gender equality is important for Fiji in the political arena not only at the national level but internationally as well. To gain equal rights, men and women should work side by side so our children who are our future would grow up in a secure environment free from violence.It leads to happy, loving and respectful families which lead to a better society as gender equality allows for sharing of powers within a family. While practising gender equality, people gain each other’s respect. Moreover, leadership is a very important advantage. Empowering women as leaders support women in achieving success through scholarships as well as mentoring and networking with other female professionals. Women leaders are the most untapped competitive edge for the future global economy. The most astute or ganizations know that women have unique strengths and perspective.Research has shown that having significant numbers of women in leadership positions encourages and sustains other women. Women gain leadership in politic areas, for instance, in 2012, women make up twenty four percent of elected positions in the house of representatives and thirty two percent of the senate. Thus, women joining in leadership are indeed an advantage of women empowerment. Furthermore, education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process.Education is important for everyone, but it is especially significant for girls and women. It is not only because education is the door to other opportunities, but also because the educational achievements can have ripple effects within the family and across generation. Investing in girl’s education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty . When women are empowered, whole Families benefit from them. This is because when girls are educated they have one thing at the back of their mind that after studying they have to support the family. Thus, education indeed is a very important advantage.Based on the evidence presented in this essay, one can conclude that it is vital to recognise the disadvantages and advantages of empowering women. Empowering women gives the opportunity for better education and it decreases the fertility rate. As the women are educated, they understand the importance of small family which helps in decreasing the fertility rate. Empowering education increases women’s access to educational opportunities, especially those in decision making process. Today many women are yet to step out of their domestic world; some have gained high position in their societies.University of the South Pacific UU114 English for academic purpose ASSIGNMENT 1 Name: Ashmeeta Nandini Id Number: S11096592 Due Date: 23rd March 2013 Plan Title: discussthe advantages and disadvantages of empowering women so that they can hold other positions apart from traditional ones Introduction Context: women Subject: empowering women Limited subject: Disadvantage and advantage Issue: it is important to recognize that empowering women not only presents some Advantages, but also it presents some of the very important disadvantages which should be taken into consideration.Thesis: this essay seeks to discuss the disadvantages of empowering women. Main idea one: disadvantages a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Competition– work pressure -too much stress b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Family problems  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ conflicts arise -family breakdown c)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moral problems  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ no respect for the family members Transition paragraph  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the essay considered the disadvantages – Will now look at the advantages of empowering women Main idea two: advantages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a) Gender equality- development through education Equal rights between men and women b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leadership-   Ã‚  women have unique roles and perspective -they encourage and sustain other women. c)   Education- educational achievement – Skills and self confidence –  creates employment Conclusion Restatement of thesis- disadvantages of empowering women   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ competition     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  -family problems -moral problems advantages of empowering women – Gender equality -leaderships – education Implication – give opportunity for better education      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Decreases the fertility rate Recommendation  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ increases women’s areas to educational opportunities e specially in decision making process   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thought– many women are yet to step out of their domestic world, some have gained higher positions in their societiesBIBLIOGRAPHY  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚     Ã‚  ? Pasoni, D. 2012,†Empowering women†, The Fiji Times, 7th April, p. 7. http://www. empowerment. com Santiago,M. I. 1996, †Violence against women†, in E. Friedlander (ed) Look at the world through women’s eye, NGO forum on women, Beijing, pp. 179-180 ?Eagly, A. H. and Karau, S . J. (eds) 2002, The female leadership advantage, North-western University, Evanston. Lipi, 2009 Women Empowerment: Globalization and Opportunities, New Empowering Women The roles of women are gradually evolving to embrace what modern society offers them. Women are becoming empowered through education, jobs, promotions, through law and many other forms. It is not only seen in developed countries, it is also seen in developing countries as in the Pacific. Women are progressively being empowered to hold positions other than their traditional ones. Women being empowered have many advantages and disadvantages but it all comes down to three things: economic, social and political advantages and disadvantages.Firstly, the economic advantage of empowering women is that it helps improve their families’ living standards. Whether married or single, empowering of women, through an education or other means, helps to improve their family’s economic and financial standing. For example, according to Leach (1986, pp. 55-56), an estimated one-third of global households are headed by women, and they are responsible for feeding their families. Empowerment in the form of an education can secure for them a job, and hence ensures the continuance of their households.It is therefore clear that an empowered woman is important for the vitality of her household. Furthermore, empowered women are socially advantaged because it upgrades their social standing in society. In many countries, women are thought inferior to men, especially in developing countries. For example, â€Å"Swargo nunut neroko katut† means â€Å"Going to heaven or hell, a woman will merely go along with her husband† (Chrysanti 1998, p. 87). From this Javanese saying, it is possible to say that a married woman is limited by having no say in matters of the Javanese society, as even to the afterlife she is to follow her husband.Their being empowered may allow people in their society to seek advice from them, as they may be considered higher in standard by others. It is then safe to say that when women are empowered, they may have a higher standing in society than if they were not empowered. Moreover, involving women in politics is advantageous as women may provide fresh views. Politics is generally â€Å"male dominated† and decisions made are predominantly from a male point of view.A male cannot hold both male and female opinions and it is best that both genders be present in politics. For example, empowering women has provided for the need for equality to be heard. In the past, female doctors were unheard of and as time passed, the gradual empowering of women has led to women triumphing in medicine as doctors, nurses, lab technicians and so on. Once again, it is an advantage to a country and its citizens to promote female politicians in the government for the balance between views and opinions of males and females.However, being female disadvantages women economically as â€Å"women’s nature† may hinder success. A â€Å"woman’s nature† is generally thought of as emotional and hormonal, and, although not tr ue for all, it may be for some. For example, Chrysanti (p. 93) says that a typical Indonesian woman [manager]†¦ does not rely on her gut feeling and is uncomfortable with taking risks. Chrysanti further says â€Å"While this may serve her well in most instances, she would probably find it harder to make quick, aggressive decisions†.This implies that risks and aggressive decisions may do well to save companies, however the typical Indonesian woman might not take risks and her decisions might cost her and her company. So in order for a woman to succeed economically, she may have to put aside her emotions. Although empowering women may uplift them socially, discrimination from males is still evident. As aforementioned, women may be highly regarded in society due to their empowerment but due to male discrimination, it may be difficult socially.History has proven that only the male had paid jobs, whereas the female performed domestic duties. As Moengangongo (1986, p. 88) stat ed, â€Å"The traditional ideal is that the male has always been the provider and the female the homemaker†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and this is a common understanding in many countries, making it harder for women to be employed or empowered, and if they did, some men may make it hard for them at the work place. As Kibel (2012) reports, â€Å"Certain forms of discrimination against women remain widespread. Out of 121 countries covered in the 2012 SIGI, 86 have discriminatory inheritance practices or laws. This thus proves that male discrimination is still evident today. So although women are gradually being empowered, men become obstacles in their empowerment. Additionally, there is a lot of competition in politics making female empowerment difficult. Since politics is male dominated, there is already existing competition between male politicians; women entering politics can be sure of an abundance of competition, and as the saying goes â€Å"whatever women do, they must do twice as well [as men] to be considered half as well [as men]†.For example, in Tonga, women rarely hold high positions in the government because numerous male competitors prevent it. ‘Alisi Taumoepeau is an example of a rare successful woman in politics, and this may only have been due to her doubled efforts. Therefore, no matter how qualified or empowered a woman may be, she will still face competition and she may have to work twice as hard to even be considered in politics. To conclude, there are many advantages and disadvantages of being empowered as a woman, the three main reasons being economically, socially and politically.As can be seen, empowering of women helps financially; it helps women gain respect and gives women a voice. We can also see that although empowering women is widely promoted, there are still many obstacles for women to overcome. It is strongly suggested that each country have or support programs that are dedicated to empowerment of women, so that women can be emp owered for benefits of home and country. A country with empowered women is compared to a household headed by an empowered woman: wealthy, organized and cooperative.

Most Valuable Things

The first thing valuable to me is God, he gives me the strength to get up everyday and want better, he gives me health, a wonderful life, a blessed mother and family. He also valuable, because he watches over me everyday and makes sure I’m ok, he made very unique and I thank him everyday. The second thing valuable to me is my mother. She motivates me to get a education and want to become a better person. She is one person that I can rely on to get anything I need and everything I want. The third thing valuable to me is phone, I love my phone with all my heart. I don’t know why my phone is so interesting but it is I can rely on my phone to tell me the truth, even though sometimes we have some difficulties we still all good. Candice Wilson 2nd Period May 1, 2011 The first thing valuable to me is God, he gives me the strength to get up everyday and want better, he gives me health, a wonderful life, a blessed mother and family. He also valuable, because he watches over me everyday and makes sure I’m ok, he made very unique and I thank him everyday. The second thing valuable to me is my mother. She motivates me to get a education and want to become a better person. She is one person that I can rely on to get anything I need and everything I want. The third thing valuable to me is phone, I love my phone with all my heart. I don’t know why my phone is so interesting but it is I can rely on my phone to tell me the truth, even though sometimes we have some difficulties we still all good. The first thing valuable to me is God, he gives me the strength to get up everyday and want better, he gives me health, a wonderful life, a blessed mother and family. He also valuable, because he watches over me everyday and makes sure I’m ok, he made very unique and I thank him everyday. The second thing valuable to me is my mother. She motivates me to get a education and want to become a better person. She is one person that I can rely on to get anything I need and everything I want. The third thing valuable to me is phone, I love my phone with all my heart. I don’t know why my phone is so interesting but it is I can rely on my phone to tell me the truth, even though sometimes we have some difficulties we still all good.

Preferred language style: English (U.S.) Essay

First, you should read these key documents relating to the definition and expression of usability. As you read, try to define for yourself as specifically as possible how you would assess usability. Remember, usability matters, because time matters — the argument for usability is heavily based on efficiency, not on aesthetics or people’s rights not to be put upon. Jakob Nielsen, Kara Pernice Coyne, and Marie Tahir, Make it Usable. PC Magazine 02. 06. 01. [Available at http://www. pcmag. com/article2/0,4149,33821,00. asp] Jakob Nielsen (2003) Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. Alert box, August 25 http://www. useit. com/alertbox/20030825. html The Web Style Guide (2nd Edition) available at http://www. webstyleguide. com/index. html Usability First [available at http://www. usabilityfirst. com/] Then comes the experiential component of the case. It shouldn’t take you to long and will give you a point of reference for what the debate is all about. Take the Web Usability Quiz — free and online at http://www. humanfactors. com/training/webquiz. asp You might actually want to try the quiz before you do the reading to check your prior knowledge. However, since your score is just between you and the machine, it`s up to you. But you`ll get more out of it if you do take the quiz. Then, in a 3-5 page paper, discuss the following questions: What do you believe are the appropriate criteria for assessing usability? Who should make such judgments? How should disagreements about usability be resolved? Usability plays a very important role in determining the efficiency of a website, and suggests the ability of the customer to use the website (Neilson, 2001). It is a quality component and determines the easiness and the convenience in using the website (Neilson, 2003). The customer should find the website user-friendly and interesting (Neilson, 2001). In this article, the importance of usability to websites is mentioned, but it could be applied to any area. As there are countless number of websites providing relevant information, people have several options. Hence, if a website is badly designed, it would suffer from not being visualized by the customer. The customer has to be involved during the construction stage itself to ensure that the website can be designed in the most appropriate manner. Another fact which should be noted in this regard is that a customer would not return to the website if it is bad, as a negative impression would already have been generated in the mind (Neilson, 2001). Before the website is launched, a sample of the potential customers should provide feedback. Studies have shown that these potential users have provided appropriate feedback which was utilized and helped to improve the quality of the website. Many web-designers have made huge amount of corrections within a very short period of time, and with a little investment after taking advice from the sample of the customers. Usually customers were lost right from the start of the homepage, were a registration of the customer was required (Neilson, 2001). Usability is also required for the website surviving in the market. Customers would leave the website at any given point of time, if it is difficult to use. Any information put in a difficult to read manner would also have the same consequence. It is very important that the website answers the questions of the user promptly (Neilson, 2003). Hence, the information presented should be very relevant and specific. In the industry of web designing, usability suggests that the designers are very efficient at the construction of a website. At the moment about 10 % of the construction of websites costs is spent on determining and improving the usability (Neilson, 2003). It is one of the areas a website production unit would be spending more compared to other quality areas (Neilson, 2003). There are several criteria for assessing usability. These include:- 1. Efficiency – The ability of the user to perform the activities mentioned, once they have learned the website. 2. Learnability – The ability of the user to perform the activities easily, once they are able to enter the website. 3. Satisfaction – The pleasure derived in using the website. 4. Errors – The chances of committing errors on the website, and the extent of these errors along with the ease in which they can be corrected. 5. Utility – The ability to function in an appropriate user-friendly manner, (Neilson, 2003). 6. Accessibility – The customer should be provided with access to appropriate information in the website. This is one of the most important criteria a website should follow (Lynch and Horton, 2002). 7. User-friendly design – The graphics and the texts available on the website should be balanced and prepared in a well-balanced manner. It should encourage good flow of information. The website should provide content and should be user-friendly for only the target audience group. The navigation aids present on the website should be accessible. Sometimes, the user may require additional information, and in such circumstances an access link should be available. This access links should always be functional (Lynch and Horton, 2002). 8. Relevant information – The website should provide relevant and current information. Sometimes, further details about the source from where the information is derived, would also be required. 9. Author’s name and the Credentials of the author – The website should be providing the author’s name and the credentials of the author, so that the customer can also weight the accuracy and genuineness of the information provided. Judgments to improve the usability should be made by the potential customers. They should be called in at the designer’s office. The correction would be occurring in a process, which include:- 1. Determine the objectives and the activities of the representative user – At first, the users should be told the objectives of the website and they should be given sufficient information to proceed on to the next task. Each representative tasks should be written on a separate page, and once the user finishes with one age, he/she could move on to the next page (Neilson, 2001). 2. The people testing the usability of the website should be placed in real-life instances. Their profile should suit that of the relevant audience the website wants to target. To test a particular site, 5 people should be utilized. The time each tester should spend ranges from 20 minutes to about 2 hours (Neilson, 2001). 3. The test sessions should be performed in a serene and a quiet environment. Usually, testing should be performed at one person at a time. However, if one tester cannot observe or disturb the other tester, the process can be done for several individuals at a time (Neilson, 2001). 4. The areas the testers experience certain difficulties should be observed immediately, and efforts should be made to correct them. The feedback and responses supplied by the testers is very important and should be utilized appropriately (Neilson, 2001). 5. Besides actually following the feedback and reactions of the user, several other issues can be sorted out by the designers to ensure that the usability of the website can be improved. Frequently, surveys may not convey precise information, and a lot depends on following the observations of the user. The information provided by a survey may frequently be misleading (Neilson, 2001). 6. During the process of testing, the designers should be quiet and observe what the representative user does or say. Anything said by the designers would affect the outcome of such a procedure (Neilson, 2003). Problems that could arise during testing:- 1. The results obtained from one user may be similar to another user. In such a circumstance, it would be better to conduct the entire procedure individually for each user or place them in rooms where one user cannot disturb another user (Neilson, 2003). 2. Frequently, the outcome of a testing may not be useful if people not belonging to the target group are selected for testing. In such a circumstance, it would be better to select individuals (at least five of them belonging to the target group) (Neilson, 2003). 3. Users should not be told anything during the testing. Instead most of the talking should be done by the user. If too much talking is done by the testers, the users would get influenced, and real-life simulation would not be possible (Neilson, 2003). References: Foraker Design. â€Å"Usability in Website and Software Design. † 2002. Usability First. 2 Jun 2007 http://www. usabilityfirst. com/ Human Factors. â€Å"Web Usability Quiz. † 1996. Human Factors. 2 Jun 2007 http://www. humanfactors. com/training/webquiz. asp Jakob Nielsen, Kara Pernice Coyne, and Marie Tahir, â€Å"Make it Usable. † 2001. PC Magazine. 2 Jun 2007 http://www. pcmag. com/article2/0,4149,33821,00. asp Jakob Nielsen, â€Å"Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. † 2003. Alert box. 2 Jun 2007 http://www. useit. com/alertbox/20030825. html Patrick Lynch and Sarah Horton. â€Å"The Web Style Guide, Second Edition. † Web Style Guide. 2 Jun 2007 http://www. webstyleguide. com/index. html