Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The Crucible Essays - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, Tituba

The Crucible Essays - Salem Witch Trials, The Crucible, Tituba The Crucible The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It begins with a sense of witchcraft in the air, when we find out that Reverend Parris (the town minister) and the town are concerned about Betty, Parris' daughter, who has fallen "a victim of witchcraft." We find out that Betty, her cousin Abigail, Tituba, a slave, and other girls in the town had been cavorting and practicing witchcraft, naked in the woods, the night before. Since this occurred, Betty had been in a coma-like trance that was suspected to be caused by witchcraft. We soon find out that Abigail has control over the other girls and blackmails them into lying which eventually leads to unnecessary murders of innocent people throughout the book. We also find out that Abigail worked for John and Goody Proctor, but was fired after she had an affair with Mr. Proctor. Since then, Abigail has had it out for Goody and was attempting to kill her with witchcraft that night in the woods. Her devious and obviously insane state of mind makes the ?if she can't have him, no one can theory' come into effect, until it suddenly changes into if ?she can't have him, she'll make his and everyone else's lives miserable'. Also, a vicious circle of paranoia and self centeredness comes into action, which also leads to the many unnecessary deaths, when one by one, the innocent are accused, tried, and killed for being witches, even though there is no evidence to support any of the cases, except for the reactions of Abigail and the other girls in the courtroom. The play ends with John Proctor being tried and hung for suspicions of witchcraft, even though he is obviously not a witch. Their reasoning is that all of the others were unjustly killed, so he had to be killed also. It also says that Abigail leaves town and was rumored to have become a prostitute.

Friday, November 22, 2019

3 Clarifications Thanks to Commas

3 Clarifications Thanks to Commas 3 Clarifications Thanks to Commas 3 Clarifications Thanks to Commas By Mark Nichol The omission of commas in a sentence can damage its comprehensibility. Employed according to the statement’s structural requirements, they clarify the syntax and therefore the meaning. Here are three sentences repaired with the assistance of one or two of these punctuation marks. 1. â€Å"Egyptian boys held posters of Ahmed Hussein Eid who was fatally stabbed by three bearded men during his funeral procession.† One might misread this photo caption and come away with the impression that the victim was stabbed during his funeral procession. However, the subject of the image is boys in a funeral procession carrying posters of the victim; the explanation of the victim’s fate is parenthetical nonessential to the sentence and should thus be set off by commas: â€Å"Egyptian boys held posters of Ahmed Hussein Eid, who was fatally stabbed by three bearded men, during his funeral procession. 2. â€Å"Several job schedulers like Quartz and Flux are available on the market.† This sentence reads as if Quartz and Flux have already been mentioned, which is not the case. Because they are being introduced, the phrase in which they are mentioned should be parenthetical: â€Å"Several job schedulers, like Quartz and Flux, are available on the market.† Better yet, though like is often interchangeable with â€Å"such as,† in this case, the latter choice is the preferable one. 3. â€Å"The State Senate voted 29 to 5 to approve a revised version of the deal, and a few hours later, the State Assembly also passed the updated legislation by a vote of 54 to 12.† This sentence is contradictory: It states that that one legislative body passed a bill by a particular vote, and then adds that another group did the same thing passed a bill with a certain split of yes and no votes but then provides a different vote result. The statement thus needs to be amended to indicate that the simple outcome passage of the bill was replicated, but that the initial vote was not. The solution? Insertion of a comma that changes the meaning by setting the second vote count off from the rest of the sentence: â€Å"The State Senate voted 29 to 5 to approve a revised version of the deal, and a few hours later, the State Assembly also passed the updated legislation, by a vote of 54 to 12.† Or, more elegantly, transform the appended parenthetical phrase into an interjected one by moving it to an earlier position: â€Å"The State Senate voted 29 to 5 to approve a revised version of the deal, and a few hours later, the State Assembly also passed, by a vote of 54 to 12, the updated legislation.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsConfusing "Passed" with "Past"Epidemic vs. Pandemic vs. Endemic

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Rview of Financial Statements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rview of Financial Statements - Essay Example Accountants keep track of the financial activity of a company by recording journal entries. The eight steps of the accounting cycle are: record transactions in journal, post transactions to ledger, prepare adjusting entries, prepare summary of account balances, prepare income statement and revenue and expense accounts, close revenue and expense accounts to retained earnings, prepare post closing summary of account balances, prepare balance sheet and statement of cash flow. Once the accountants of Lowe’s and Home Depot complete the accounting cycle the financial statements are ready. The income statement is a statement that states the profitability of a company. At the top of the statement the revenues of the company are expressed. The costs of goods sold are subtracted to arrive at the gross profits. Then the operating expenses and taxes are subtracted to obtain the net income of the firm. The revenues and net income of Lowe’s in fiscal year 2009 were $47.22 billion and $1.783 billion (Annual Report: Lowes, 2009). In 2009 Home Depot’s performance was better. Home Depot in 2009 had revenues of $66.18 billion and net income of $2.66 billion (Annual Report: Home Depot, 2009). The balance sheet is a financial statement that reflects the financial position of a company at a specific point in time. The basic elements of the balance sheet are the assets, liabilities, and stockholder’s equity.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

3 works of art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

3 works of art - Essay Example The gown looks like the nun uniform and she is lazily enveloped into the reverie or dream about the angel. This is an epitome of the spiritualism that an image can depict. Moreover, the environment that hooks up the angel and St.Teresa looks dreamy, implying the supernatural feeling that the paint is showing. In this paint, Caravaggio is showing a pretty realistic image of St.peter being crucified. He is keen on the posture of the people and the wood used to make the crucifix. It is a paint that shows the crucifixion of St.Peter as he asked people to do. He is crucified upside down as a symbol of not imitating his Lord Jesus Christ. The painting is so real that it shows the cloth that is wrapped around him to conceal his loins, the people lifting the cross and the obscurity of their faces in the shadows. The picture arouses feelings of sadness by looking at the way St.Peter has left his mouth open with his long beard and dully eyes, showing so much pain. The people lifting the crucifix are also showing fatigue since it is clear that they are straining to life the crucifix to its intended right position. This paint is a fascinating image that describes the evolution of the Catholic Church by Peter Paul Rubens. He is so artistic in the painting of women and men in their full physical features laying on each other in various postures. There is also the presence of leopards in shady trying to roar at the infants on the ground. This is a description of the spread of Catholic Churches across the world and the numerous challenges it has faced, behind the leopards, the adults and the infants is a dark blue sky that is not fully clear. It shows the beautiful sky, symbolizing the hope and feasibility of the Catholic Church

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Developmental Psychology Essay Example for Free

Developmental Psychology Essay Cognitive development involves developing concepts of thought, problem solving and memory (Green. 2002). Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) were both psychologists, which focused on cognitive development and the way in which childrens thought and reasoning developed as they matured. This assignment shall begin by describing and evaluating the theories put forward by Piaget and Vygotsky referring to research evidence and providing a conclusion. Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology during the 20th century and a as biologist was interested in the way in which organisms adapt to their environment this was described by Piaget as intelligence. He viewed behaviour or the adaptation to the environment as being controlled through mental organisations known as schemes that the individual uses in order to represent the world. Piaget suggested that adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment, which is known as equilibrium (Huitt. 2003). Within Piagets research and writings on cognitive development he suggested that childrens thoughts are not only less sophisticated than adults but they are also qualitatively different and this is due to less knowledge (Jarvis. 2000).   It was considered by Piaget that the interaction between the child and their environment was the main factor of influence on their cognitive development. Piagets view of children is that they are scientists and that they should be left to explore their surroundings giving them the opportunity to interpret the world in their own way. The active involvement in their own learning is described as a series of schemas and that these schemas would change and develop through each stage through the process of assimilation or accommodation (Green. 2002). Piagets theory is based on stages of development in which he believed that all children develop at the same age. There are four stages to his development theory, which are sensorimotor (0-2 years) and the view that infants are developing their first schemas (Meggitt. 2000). Object permanence is the main focus within this stage and the assumption by Piaget that children aged five or six months old could not understand that an object, which was covered, still exists.  An experiment showed that a child of five or six months showed no interest once the toy was covered whereas a ten month old would reach out for the toy and seem to become agitated. Piagets interpretation of this was that the child of ten months had reached object permanence and now has a schema for the object. In contrast to this Tom Bower and Jennifer Wishart (1972) argued that objects do still exist in babys minds although they have been covered. To support their theory an experiment was undertaken using an infrared camera. An object was offered to the baby and as they reached out to grab it the lights were switched off. The results showed that the baby was still attempting to reach for the toy although they were unable to see it and so an explanation for Piagets theory was that by covering the object the baby was distracted and not necessarily that they had forgotten about it. The second stage is pre-operational stage (2-7 years). Egocentric thinking predominates the child (Huitt. 2003) within this stage and they do not have the ability to understand things from another persons viewpoint according to Piaget. In order for this to be confirmed he set up an experiment. Three mountains were set in front of the child and a doll was placed in different seats around the table. Photographs, which had been taken, were then shown to the child and they were asked to point to the picture that the doll would see. As Piagets findings showed that most four or five year olds pointed to photographs which represented their view of the mountains he concluded that they were egocentric. Most children aged seven that was asked to do the same task correctly identified the photograph strengthening Piagets theory. Although it was then argued by Martin Hughes (1975) that the task was much too complicated for the child and therefore devised his own experiment, which would contradict Piagets findings. His experiment involved a model with two intersecting walls, two policeman figures and a figure of a boy. After having a trial using one police figure and the boy to ensure the child understood the task Hughes began his experiment. It was found that most children could successfully take account of two different viewpoints. Therefore it could be said that Piagets experiment may have been too difficult for the child to understand rather than the child being egocentric.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

To Kill A Mocking Bird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, an imaginary district in southern Alabama. The time is the years of the Great Depression in the United States. The mood of the novel is mostly light and humorous, especially when talking about the children’s antics. However, another mood throughout the novel is somber and calm, because come important issues are being valued and dealt with. Atticus’ dealings with the blacks, the negative attitudes of some other members of the community, the trial of Tom Robinson and his gruesome end, depicts a seriousness and a grave reconsideration of accepted beliefs, which is expected of the readers by the author. Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, is a highly respected and responsible citizen of Maycomb County. An attorney by profession, he has always tried to instill good values and a sense of moral in his children. Jem is a true brother to Scout, helping her out of scrapes, escorting her to school and back, guiding her at times and comforting her in general. When he is given money to buy something for himself, he buys a gift for Scout too. When he finds out that Scout has eaten the gum found in the knothole of the oak tree, he insists that she gargle her throat. When she muddles up her role in the pageant and is mortified, Jem is the one to console her. He displays much genuine concern and consideration in dealing with his unruly sister. Scout, because of her age, and being the youngest in the family, is impulsive by nature and extremely emotional too. She unthinkingly rushes into fights and scrapes, cries when her ego is hurt and is generally is rash in her actions. Conflict- The protagonist of the novel is Atticus Finch, who is the prime initiator and coordinator of various events in the novel. In his involvement with the poor whites of the community, like Walter Cunningham, as well as the deprived blacks, like Tom Robinson, he is portrayed as a just, sincere and a greatly considerate human being. He has clear-cut values and beliefs, and it is his sincere wish that his children too grow up with a broad outlook and an unprejudiced way of thinking. He is indifferent to what others have to say or think about his actions, and he is steadfast in his beliefs of equality and liberty. Bob Ewell serves as the antagonist villain in the novel, with his laid-back way of living and the utter disregard he has for other human beings.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Blaine Case

Executive Summary: In summary, recommendation by the banker to buy back 14 million outstanding shares of Blaine Kitchenware with $ 50 million debt and $209 million cash in hand would result in following financial metric changes: * Increase the value of the firm through the benefit of tax shield from current $960million to $1. 063billion. * The offer results in 3% increase in EPS from $0. 91 to $0. 93 based on 2006 financial numbers. * An increase of 7. 3% on ROE from 11% to 18. 3% based on 2006 financial numbers. * After adjustment, share prices will be $18. 0. Proposed Buy-Back Plan Analysis:Although Blaine’s current financial situation is sound with no debt, its current balance sheet is under levered and over liquid compare to its peers. The current financial structure earns little return on the short-term assets while does not allow the firm to benefit from any debt interest tax shield. The proposed capital structure will benefit the company by levering its balance sheet. I t will provide an interest tax shield for the income thus increasing the value of the firm for the shareholders. Because interest on debt is a tax-deductible expense, taking on debt will effectively lower the taxable income allowing the firm to pay less tax.The current large cash and short-term marketable securities on the balance sheet make Blaine an attractive target for a take-over. The large cash on balance sheet could effectively be used as a collateral to finance a take-over or merger of Blaine. Such characteristics attract private equity firms in which can utilize the over-liquid situation to their advantage. The current mature nature of business also requires a levered capital structure. A firm in this situation should not follow a pecking order, as it would hold down the value of the firm while making it attractive for a take-over or merger.Less cash in balance sheet also reduces agency cost by forcing managers to invest only in opportunities that are aligned with sharehold ers vision and interest therefore reducing wasteful investments not benefiting shareholders. As for the future acquisitions, Blaine can either use debt or issue stocks when appropriate. Furthermore the proposed share buy-back will give more control to family investors. Since initial IPO and previous acquisitions has diluted the shares, family control in Blaine has been on decline and a source of concern.The proposed share buy-back will return more control into family shareholder hands further solidifying their support for the new capital structure. The repurchase offer would affect both income statement and balance sheet of the firm. In the balance sheet debt is increased by $50 million, cash is reduced by $209 million while equity is reduced by $259 million. The remaining cash can be used to fund seasonal peak operation in combination with additional short-term debt should it be needed. Our EPS will increase by 3% to $0. 93 from current $0. 91 and our ROE will see a large increase from 11% to 18. % further bringing Blaine closer to its competitors. The result of additional debt in the balance sheet will increase the value of the firm from current $960million to $1. 063billion while adjusted share prices will rise to $18. The increase in share value is due to increase in the value of the firm from $960million to $1. 06billion because of levering up the firm since value of any levered firm is its unlevered value plus its tax rate multiplied by its interest bearing debt. The $18. 50 offer holds a premium over adjusted future share price of $18 therefore making the proposed capital structure attractive to shareholders.The debt to equity ratio of 2. 5% is still conservative and aligned with the vision of the company not to over utilize debt in its capital structure. Furthermore the increase in Enterprise Value to EBITDA ratio from 9. 9% to 14. 8% will make the firm more costly to be acquired thus less attractive for a take-over. A dividend policy in place of the s tock repurchase will not provide the same value for the company and its shareholders. Dividends are subjected to higher tax rate compare to capital gain increased due to share buy-back.This discourages shareholders from desire to receive high dividends in place of higher capital gain as share values increase. A comparison is made below between the proposed capital structure and dividend policy. | Share buyback| One-time special cash dividends| Pros| Increase EPS/ROE, pos. sign of future earnings, Lower tax rate compare to div policy| Happy shareholders, positive sign of future earnings, | Cons| Limiting liquidity, opportunity cost | Limiting liquidity, opportunity cost, higher tax rate compare to capital gain policy| Share outstanding| Decrease| No change|EPS| Increase| No change| ROE| Increase| Increase| In summary we recommend the share buy-back plan, as it will increase the value of the firm, shield part of income from taxes, increase return on equity and lowers agency cost. The increase in value of the firm and lower cash in hand also makes the firm less attractive target of a take-over. Supporting Material: Case Exhibit 1 Income Statement| | | | | | With Repurchase Option| | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | |Operating Results:| | | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2006 | | Revenue| | | | 291,940 | 307,964 | 342,251 | 342,251 | | Less: Cost of Goods Sold| | | 204,265 | 220,234 | 249,794 | 249,794 | | Gross Profit| | | 87,676 | 87,731 | 92,458 | 92,458 | | Less: Selling, General & Administrative| 25,293 | 27,049 | 28,512 | 28,512 | | Operating Income| | | 62,383 | 60,682 | 63,946 | 63,946 | | Plus: Depreciation & Amortization| | 6,987 | 8,213 | 9,914 | 9,914 | | EBITDA| | | | 69,370 | 68,895 | 73,860 | 73,860 | | Â  | | | | | | Â  | Â  | |EBIT| | | | 62,383 | 60,682 | 63,946 | 63,946 | | Plus: Other Income (expense)| | 15,719 | 16,057 | 13,506 | 0 | No marketable security income| Less Interest| | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,375 | Tax shield amount| Earnings Before Ta x| | | 78,101 | 76,738 | 77,451 | 60,571 | | Less: Taxes| | | 24,989 | 24,303 | 23,821 | 18,629 | | Net Income| | | 53,112 | 52,435 | 53,630 | 41,942 | | Dividends| | | | 18,589 | 22,871 | 28,345 | 22,167 | Assume same 53% div policy| Â  | | | | | | Â  | Â  | | | | | | | | Â  | Â  | | Margins:| Â  | |Revenue Growth| | | 3. 2%| 5. 5%| 11. 1%| 0. 0%| | Gross Margin| | | 30. 0%| 28. 5%| 27. 0%| 27. 0%| | EBIT Margin| | | 21. 4%| 19. 7%| 18. 7%| 18. 7%| | EBITDA Margin| | | 23. 8%| 22. 4%| 21. 6%| 21. 6%| | Effective Tax Rate (1)| | | 32. 0%| 31. 7%| 30. 8%| 30. 8%| | Net Income Margin| | | 18. 2%| 17. 0%| 15. 7%| 12. 3%| | Dividend payout ratio| Â  | Â  | 35. 0%| 43. 6%| 52. 9%| 52. 9%| | Case Exhibit 2 Balance Sheet| | | | | | With Repurchase Option| Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | | Assets:| | | | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2006 |Cash & Cash Equivalents| | | 67,391 | 70,853 | 66,557 | 21,866 | Marketable Securities| | | 218,403 | 196,763 | 164,309 | 0 | Accounts Receivabl e| | | 40,709 | 43,235 | 48,780 | 48,780 | Inventory| | | | 47,262 | 49,728 | 54,874 | 54,874 | Other Current Assets| | | 2,586 | 3,871 | 5,157 | 5,157 | Total Current Assets| | | 376,351 | 364,449 | 339,678 | 130,678 | Â  | | | | | | Â  | Â  | Property, Plant & Equipment| | 99,402 | 138,546 | 174,321 | 174,321 | Goodwill| | | | 8,134 | 20,439 | 38,281 | 38,281 |Other Assets| | | 13,331 | 27,394 | 39,973 | 39,973 | Total Assets| | | 497,217 | 550,829 | 592,253 | 383,253 | Â  | | | | | | Â  | Â  | Liabilities & Shareholders' Equity:| | | | Â  | Â  | Accounts Payable| | | 26,106 | 28,589 | 31,936 | 31,936 | Accrued Liabilities| | | 22,605 | 24,921 | 27,761 | 27,761 | Taxes Payable| | | 14,225 | 17,196 | 16,884 | 16,884 | Total Current Liabilities| | | 62,935 | 70,705 | 76,581 | 76,581 | Other liabilities| | | 1,794 | 3,151 | 4,814 | 4,814 | debt| | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50,000 |Deferred Taxes| | | 15,111 | 18,434 | 22,495 | 22,495 | Total Liabilities | | | 79,840 | 92,290 | 103,890 | 153,890 | Shareholders' Equity| | | 417,377 | 458,538 | 488,363 | 229,363 | Total Liabilities & Shareholders' Equity| 497,217 | 550,829 | 592,253 | 383,253 | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | Â  | EPS | Â  | Per Outstanding Shares of| Before| $0. 908 | 59,052,083 | After| $0. 931 | 45,052,083 | Improvement| 2. 51%| | ROE| Â  | @ Book Equity| Before| 10. 98%| $488,363 | After| 18. 9%| $229,363 | Equity Value| Â  | Vu| $959,596 | VL| $1,063,196 | New Share Prices| $18. 00 | Case Exhibit 3 – Peer Comparison | Home ; Hearth Design| AutoTech Appliances| XQL Corp. | Bunkerhill, Inc. | EasyLiving Systems| | Blaine Kitchenware| Blaine Kitchenware After Repurchase| | | | | | | Â  | | | Revenue| $589,747| $18,080,000| $4,313,300| $3,671,100| $188,955| | $342,251| 342251. 25| EBIT| 106,763 | 2,505,200 | 721,297 | 566,099 | 19,613 | | 63,946 | 63945. 5| EBITDA| 119,190 | 3,055,200 | 796,497 | 610,399 | 23,356 | | 73,860 | 73,860 | Net income| $53,698| $1,416,012| $412,307| $335,073| $13,173| Â  | $53,630| 41941. 55799| | | | | | | | | | Cash ; securities| $21,495| $536,099| $21,425| $153,680| $242,102| | $230,866| 21,866 | Net working capital*| 54,316 | 1,247,520 | 353,691 | 334,804 | 21,220 | | 32,231 | – | Net fixed assets| 900,803 | 7,463,564 | 3,322,837 | 815,304 | 68,788 | | 174,321 | 174,321 | Total assets| $976,613| $9,247,183| $3,697,952| $1,303,788| $332,110| Â  | $592,253| 383,253 | | | | | | | | | |Net debt (1)| $350,798 | $4,437,314 | $950,802 | $238,056 | ($64,800)| | ($230,866)| 28,134 | Total debt| 372,293 | 4,973,413 | 972,227 | 391,736 | 177,302 | | – | 50,000| Book equity| $475,377 | $3,283,000 | $2,109,400 | $804,400 | $94,919 | Â  | $488,363 | 229,363 | | | | | | | | | | Market capitalization| 776,427 | 13,978,375 | 5,290,145 | 3,962,780 | 418,749 | Â  | 959,596 | 1063196. 354| Enterprise value (MVIC)| $1,127,226 | $18,415,689 | $6,240,947 | $4,200,836 | $353,949 | Â  | $728,730 | 1,091,330 | | | | | | | | | | E quity beta| 1. 03| 1. 24| 0. 96| 0. 2| 0. 67| | 0. 56 | 0. 7| | | | | | | | | | LTM Trading Multiples| | | | | | | | | MVIC/Revenue| 1. 91x| 1. 02x| 1. 45x| 1. 14x| 1. 87x| | 2. 13x| 3. 19x| MVIC/EBIT| 10. 56x| 7. 35x| 8. 65x| 7. 42x| 18. 05x| | 11. 40x| 17. 07x| MVIC/EBITDA| 9. 46x| 6. 03x| 7. 84x| 6. 88x| 15. 15x| | 9. 87x| 14. 78x| Market/Book equity| 1. 63x| 4. 26x| 2. 51x| 4. 93x| 4. 41x| | 1. 96x| 4. 64x| | | | | | | | | | Net Debt/Equity| 45. 18%| 31. 74%| 17. 97%| 6. 01%| -15. 47%| | -24. 06%| 2. 65%| Net Debt/Enterprise Value| 31. 12%| 24. 10%| 15. 23%| 5. 67%| -18. 31%| | -31. 68%| 2. 58%|

Saturday, November 9, 2019

HR manager

As the Assistant to the HR manager, I would make a mandatory requirement that all incoming employees must complete a new program that was created by me with in their first 90 days. This program would be designed to ensure that our new talent understands the importance of working together. My program would include these three key principles of working together. The first principle would be on how to effectively communicate as a team. It Is very Important when working together as a team that all vital information Is communicated amongst each other In a clear positive manner.The next principle I would focus on In my program would be having ur Incoming employees work on a group trust exercise. To ensure a high performance team when working together, the team members must be able to trust all the Individuals In the group. The last principle I would Implement Into my program as the assistant to the HR manager would be a diversity workshop. This workshop will prepare Incoming employees to e ngage creatively, and work out difficult situations with peers of many different backgrounds. ncoming employees will find out immediately that there is a major focus on team work throughout their training. In their first week I would have them focus on how to effectively ommunicate to their peers in the workforce. I would set them up in groups, and have them start with ice breakers, then move on to a small collaborative project. I hope that they learn that effective communication is very important, not only to share the proper amount of information, but by also knowing how to talk in a professional manner.You always want to avoid talking down, and barking orders to your co- workers when working together. Effective communication is not possible if you do not talk to your team members in professional manner. Once the new incoming employees have learned how to communicate effectively when working together, I ould then have them participate in trust building exercises. We all know that trust is the building blocks behind any good relationship, and I would want our new incoming employees to have a good working relationship, and to have trust amongst each other.Some of these trust building exercises would include group projects. These projects are to be designed to have each member of the group to complete a certain task. To accomplish the end result, the overall goal everyone will need to play apart. Groups that complete the project will see that their trust and teamwork lead them to their completion. The other groups that did not finish will also see how Important trust and teamwork is to their success. The last key principle I would Implement in my program for new Incoming employees Is a diversity workshop.Diversity In the workplace has many benefits to It! Some key points that I would want my Incoming employees to get from the workshop will be working together with other cultures to foster a more creative and Innovative workforce. Multicultural employees bring a variety of bring new Ideas, and suggestions to the table. Many Ideas that are refreshing, and sometimes very Innovating. I would want the Incoming employees hat are hired for leadership or managerial posltlons to really focus on diversity when Interviewing, and recruiting talent.Recrultlng from a diverse pool of candidates means a more qualified workforce. A diverse and inclusive workforce also helps Duslnesses av010 employee turnover costs I do believe that my program that will be rolling out to our incoming employees will not only be beneficial to their personal professional development, but also to our organizations. The three key principles listed in my program will have our staff prepared to work together as a highly motivated efficient team!

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Battle of Loos in World War I

Battle of Loos in World War I The Battle of Loos was fought September 25-October 14, 1915, during World War I (1914-1918). Seeking to end trench warfare and resume a war of movement, British and French forces planned joint offensives in Artois and Champagne for late 1915. Attacking on September 25, the assault marked the first time that the British Army deployed poison gas in large quantities. Lasting nearly three weeks, the Battle of Loos saw the British make some gains but at an extremely high cost. When the fighting ended in mid-October, British losses were around twice those suffered by the Germans. Background Despite heavy fighting in the spring of 1915, the Western Front remained largely stagnant as Allied efforts in Artois failed and the German assault at the Second Battle of Ypres was turned back. Shifting his focus east, German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn issued orders for the construction of defenses in depth along the Western Front. This led to the creation of a three-mile deep system of trenches anchored by a front line and second line. As reinforcements arrived through the summer, the Allied commanders began planning for future action. Reorganizing as additional troops became available, the British soon took over the front as far south as the Somme. As troops were shifted, General Joseph Joffre, the overall French commander, sought to renew the offensive in Artois during the fall along with an assault in Champagne. For what would become known as the Third Battle of Artois, the French intended to strike around Souchez while the British were requested to attack Loos. Responsibility for the British assault fell to General Sir Douglas Haigs First Army. Though Joffre was eager for an assault in the Loos area, Haig felt the ground was unfavorable (Map). The British Plan Expressing these concerns and others regarding a lack of heavy guns and shells to Field Marshal Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Haig was effectively rebuffed as the politics of the alliance required that the assault proceed. Reluctantly moving forward, he intended to attack along a six division front in the gap between Loos and the La Bassee Canal. The initial assault was to be conducted by three regular divisions (1st, 2nd, 7th), two recently-raised New Army divisions (9th 15th Scottish), and a Territorial division (47th), as well as to be preceded by a four-day bombardment. Field Marshal Sir John French. Photograph Source: Public Domain Once a breach was opened in the German lines, the 21st and 24th Divisions (both New Army) and cavalry would be sent in to exploit the opening and attack the second line of German defenses. While Haig wanted these divisions released and available for immediate use, French declined stating they would not be needed until the second day of the battle. As part of the initial attack, Haig intended to release 5,100 cylinders of chlorine gas towards the German lines. On September 21, the British began a four-day preliminary bombardment of the assault zone. Battle of Loos Conflict: World War I (1914-1918)Dates: September 25-October 8, 1915Armies and Commanders:BritishField Marshal Sir John FrenchGeneral Sir Douglas Haig6 divisionsGermansCrown Prince RupprechtSixth ArmyCasualties:British: 59,247Germans: around 26,000 The Attack Begins Around 5:50 a.m. on September 25, the chlorine gas was released and forty minutes later the British infantry began advancing. Leaving their trenches, the British found that the gas had not been effective and large clouds lingered between the lines. Due to the poor quality of British gas masks and breathing difficulties, the attackers suffered 2,632 gas casualties (7 deaths) as they moved forward. Despite this early failure, the British were able to achieve success in the south and quickly captured the village of Loos before pressing on towards Lens. In other areas, the advance was slower as the weak preliminary bombardment had failed to clear the German barbed wire or seriously damage the defenders. As a result, losses mounted as German artillery and machine guns cut down the attackers. To the north of Loos, elements of the 7th and 9th Scottish succeeded in breaching the formidable Hohenzollern Redoubt. With his troops making progress, Haig requested that the 21st and 24th Divisions be released for immediate use. French granted this request and the two divisions began moving from their positions six miles behind the lines. Corpse Field of Loos Travel delays prevented the 21st and 24th from reaching the battlefield until that evening. Additional movement issues meant that they were not in position to assault the second line of German defenses until the afternoon of the September 26. In the meantime, the Germans raced reinforcements to the area, strengthening their defenses and mounting counterattacks against the British. Forming into ten assault columns, the 21st and 24th surprised the Germans when they began advancing without artillery cover on the afternoon of the 26th. Gas attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt, October 1915. Public Domain Largely unaffected by the earlier fighting and bombardments, the German second line opened with a murderous mix of machine gun and rifle fire. Cut down in droves, the two new divisions lost over 50% of their strength in a matter of minutes. Aghast at the enemy losses, the Germans ceased fire and allowed the British survivors to retreat unmolested. Over the next several days, fighting continued with a focus on the area around the Hohenzollern Redoubt. By October 3, the Germans had re-taken much of the fortification. On October 8, the Germans launched a massive counterattack against the Loos position. This was largely defeated by determined British resistance. As a result, the counter-offensive was halted that evening. Seeking to consolidate the Hohenzollern Redoubt position, the British planned a major attack for October 13. Preceded by another gas attack, the effort largely failed to achieve its objectives. With this setback, major operations came to a halt though sporadic fighting continued in the area which saw the Germans reclaim the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Aftermath The Battle of Loos saw the British make minor gains in exchange for around 50,000 casualties. German losses are estimated at around 25,000. Though some ground had been gained, the fighting at Loos proved a failure as the British were unable to break through the German lines. French forces elsewhere in Artois and Champagne met a similar fate. The setback at Loos helped contribute to the downfall of French as commander of the BEF. An inability to work with the French and active politicking by his officers led to his removal and replacement with Haig in December 1915.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

String Types in Delphi

String Types in Delphi As with any programming language, in Delphi, variables are placeholders used to store values; they have names and data types. The data type of a variable determines how the bits representing those values are stored in the computers memory. When we have a variable that will contain some array of characters, we can declare it to be of typeString.  Delphi provides a healthy assortment of string operators, functions and procedures. Before assigning a String data type to a variable, we need to thoroughly understand Delphis four string types. Short String Simply put,  Short String  is a counted array of (ANSII) characters, with up to 255 characters in the string. The first byte of this array stores the length of the string. Since this was the main string type in Delphi 1 (16 bit Delphi), the only reason to use Short String is for backward compatibility.  To create a ShortString type variable we use:   var s: ShortString; s : Delphi Programming;​ //S_Length : Ord(s[0])); //which is the same as Length(s) The  s  variable is a Short string variable capable of holding up to 256 characters, its memory is a statically allocated 256 bytes. Since this is usually wasteful - unlikely will your short string spread to the maximum length - second approach to using Short Strings is using subtypes of ShortString, whose maximum length is anywhere from 0 to 255.   var ssmall: String[50]; ssmall : Short string, up to 50 characters; This creates a variable called  ssmall  whose maximum length is 50 characters. Note: When we assign a value to a Short String variable, the string is truncated if it exceeds the maximum length for the type. When we pass short strings to some Delphis string manipulating routine, they are converted to and from long string. String / Long / Ansi Delphi 2 brought to Object Pascal  Long String  type. Long string (in Delphis help AnsiString) represents a dynamically allocated string whose maximum length is limited only by available memory. All 32-bit Delphi versions use long strings by default. I recommend using long strings whenever you can.   var s: String; s : The s string can be of any size...; The  s  variable can hold from zero to any practical number of characters. The string grows or shrinks as you assign new data to it. We can use any string variable as an array of characters, the second character in  s  has the index 2. The following code   s[2]:T; assigns  T  to the second character os the  s  variable. Now the few of the first characters in   s  look like:  TTe s str....Dont be mislead, you cant use s[0] to see the length of the string,  s  is not ShortString. Reference counting, copy-on-write Since memory allocation is done by Delphi, we dont have to worry about garbage collection. When working with Long (Ansi) Strings Delphi uses reference counting. This way string copying is actually faster for long strings than for short strings.  Reference counting, by example:   var s1,s2: String; s1 : first string; s2 : s1; When we create string  s1  variable, and assign some value to it, Delphi allocates enough memory for the string. When we copy  s1  to  s2, Delphi does not copy the string value in memory, it only increases the reference count and alters the  s2  to point to the same memory location as  s1. To minimize copying when we pass strings to routines, Delphi uses copy-on-write technique. Suppose we are to change the value of the  s2  string variable; Delphi copies the first string to a new memory location, since the change should affect only s2, not s1, and they are both pointing to the same memory location.   Wide String Wide strings  are also dynamically allocated and managed, but they dont use reference counting or the copy-on-write semantics. Wide strings consist of 16-bit Unicode characters. About Unicode character sets The ANSI character set used by Windows is a single-byte character set. Unicode stores each character in the character set in 2 bytes instead of 1. Some national languages use ideographic characters, which require more than the 256 characters supported by ANSI. With 16-bit notation we can represent 65,536 different characters. Indexing of multibyte strings is not reliable, since  s[i]  represents the ith byte (not necessarily the i-th character) in  s. If you must use Wide characters, you should declare a string variable to be of the WideString type and your character variable of the WideChar type. If you want to examine a wide string one character at a time, be sure to test for multibite characters. Delphi doesnt support automatic type conversions betwwen Ansi and Wide string types.   var s : WideString; c : WideChar; s : Delphi_ Guide; s[8] : T; //sDelphi_TGuide; Null terminated A null or  zero terminated  string is an array of characters, indexed by an integer starting from zero. Since the array has no length indicator, Delphi uses the ASCII 0 (NULL; #0) character to mark the boundary of the string.  This means there is essentially no difference between a null-terminated string and an array[0..NumberOfChars] of type Char, where the end of the string is marked by #0. We use null-terminated strings in Delphi when calling Windows API functions. Object Pascal lets us avoid messing arround with pointers to zero-based arrays when handling null-terminated strings by using the PChar type. Think of a PChar as being a pointer to a null-terminated string or to the array that represents one. For more info on pointers, check:Pointers in Delphi. For example, The  GetDriveType  API function determines whether a disk drive is a removable, fixed, CD-ROM, RAM disk, or network drive. The following procedure lists all the drives and their types on a users computer. Place one Button and one Memo component on a form and assign an OnClick handler of a Button: procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); var Drive: Char; DriveLetter: String[4]; begin for Drive : A to Z do begin DriveLetter : Drive :\; case GetDriveType(PChar(Drive :\)) of DRIVE_REMOVABLE: Memo1.Lines.Add(DriveLetter Floppy Drive); DRIVE_FIXED: Memo1.Lines.Add(DriveLetter Fixed Drive); DRIVE_REMOTE: Memo1.Lines.Add(DriveLetter Network Drive); DRIVE_CDROM: Memo1.Lines.Add(DriveLetter CD-ROM Drive); DRIVE_RAMDISK: Memo1.Lines.Add(DriveLetter RAM Disk); end; end; end; Mixing Delphis strings We can freely mix all four different kinds of strings, Delphi will give its best to make sense of what we are trying to do. The assignment s:p, where s is a string variable and p is a PChar expression, copies a null-terminated string into a long string. Character types In addition to four string data types, Delphi has three character types:  Char,  AnsiChar, and  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹WideChar. A string constant of length 1, such as T, can denote a character value. The generic character type is Char, which is equivalent to AnsiChar. WideChar values are 16-bit characters ordered according to the Unicode character set. The first 256 Unicode characters correspond to the ANSI characters.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

MARKETING REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

MARKETING REPORT - Essay Example In the last two years, the tourism revenues of the state have decreased especially that of Gold Coast City because of decrease in the number of tourists. The financial crisis that rooted from US and now influencing other countries of the world including Australia is posing great threats to the economies. The aim of the Australian tourism industry is to promote tourism by introducing innovative and effective marketing strategies. The Australian tourism target was $ 6.3 billion for 2014 as compared to $ 3.7 billion in 2002 and it requires the growth rate of 6% to achieve this level. However, there is a gap produced between the targeted and actual level. Although number of visitors is increasing because of the increasing corporate events however; the challenge is to close this gap by increasing the length of stay along with number of tourists. Government has planned to invest $410 million in the tourism industry of Australia in the next three years; however, the need of products and ser vices with effective marketing strategies to attract the tourists is not ignorable. Our proposal is to introduce Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) service which will not only provide the corporate customers an opportunity to attend the corporate events in a more luxurious manner, but it will also enhance their social network by enhancing their interactions with each other and creating a linkage among them through online database. We have high expectations from our proposal because it will attract the corporate people by fulfilling their needs and meanwhile it will also improve tourism industry and investment opportunities in Australia. Australian Tourism Industry has been facing many challenges for the last two years because of financial global crisis. This project sets out the strategies of Australian Tourism and introduces a new tourism service. The topic area of this project is to research the