Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Synovate Survey Shows Ascending Singaporean Spending Power free essay sample

Synovate survey shows ascending Singaporean spending power. Synovate, a leading global market intelligence company, today released information from the 2005 Synovate PAX media survey that showed rises in wealth, product and service ownership and improvements in lifestyle across Singapores affluent residents. The Synovate PAX survey tracks media, prosperity and influence in eleven markets across the Asia Pacific region – Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, India, Australia and Japan. Wanda Gill, Media Director for Synovate in Singapore said that the affluent of Singapore were enjoying high confidence and spending power. In just the last few months, our constantly-updated tracking has enabled us to watch Singapores ever–increasing confidence translate into higher product ownership, increasing purchase intentions and improving lifestyle. The Synovate PAX results for 2005 show that the average monthly household income of the Lion Citys affluent residents has risen from US$4,826 to US$5,456 – a 13% relative change. With greater household wealth, these Singaporeans are rewarding themselves with purchases of top tier luxury and consumer items and steady increases in property ownership and investment, Ms Gill said. We will write a custom essay sample on Synovate Survey Shows Ascending Singaporean Spending Power or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Synovate PAX survey allows marketers to get a full picture of Singapores affluent consumers – what they watch, read, buy and how they feel about advertising and branding – enabling them to target their marketing efforts. Ms Gill said that the 2005 results painted a picture of Singapore as the quiet powerhouse in relation to other markets in the region. While Hong Kongs wealthy are conspicuous consumers and buy items for their fashion status, Singaporeans tend to be more considered in distributing the fruits of their labours. Singapores elites still spend – and spend a lot – but our data shows they wont get their wallets out on a whim. Marketers must appeal to this lack of pretension and realise Singaporeans are not as status-conscious as people from Hong Kong or as acquisitive as the wealthy of other South East Asian economies which are less mature. Singaporeans are comfortable in their skins and are more likely to buy to make their lives easier, Ms Gill said. The Synovate PAX survey delves into peoples attitudes to brands and advertising via a series of psychographic statements. Some of the findings for Singapore were: * 11. 5% of Singapores elites agreed with the statement that they are among the first to buy a new product or gadget. This is below the regional average, showing that Singaporeans are less in a rush than other markets, waiting to see if the item fits into their lifestyle. More than two thirds of Singaporeans agree that paying for quality is worthwhile. * 46. 9% wealthy Singaporeans prefer to buy well known brands, well over the regional average of 41. 1%. * Singaporeans show a focus on lifestyle with 41. 5% agreeing that a home with modern appliances is important to them – this compares to the regional average of 38. 7% and 28. 9% in Hong Kong. Theres an indulgent streak across affluent Singaporeans, with one of the highest levels of agreement to the statement I sometimes like to treat myself to something special. 8. 2% of PAX respondents agreed in Singapore, with only Sydney-siders more indulgent (62%). The regional average is 48. 5%. Synovate PAX also covers product and service ownership, purchase intention over the twelve months to June 2006 and lifestyle. * As a major regional business hub of Asia, it would be expected that a great deal of business travel originates here. However, from June 2004 to June 2005, we have seen a 22% increase in Singapores affluent taking off on one or more business trips. Around 28% of these PAX respondents travel for business. But Singapores elite still find time to relax – more than 50% have taken one or more leisure trips in the year to June 2005 too. * An all-time high number of 38. 6% of affluent Singaporeans now own laptops or notebooks, up from 31. 9% in June 2004. * Likewise, ownership of a mobile phone with Internet access hits an all-time high – it stands at 37. 7% and shows steady increases for every quarter measured. This continuing trend is good news for mobile manufacturers and 3G networks and service offering planners. Indeed, more than 92% of affluent Singaporeans own a mobile with or without Internet access – they are here to stay and all these people will upgrade as mobile content becomes more and more compelling. * Digital dominance seems more and more inevitable as we observe relentless increases in Singaporean ownership of devices like MP3 players (up to 23. 1%, a rise of a quarter over the year before), digital video cameras (43. 7% now own these, up from 35. 9%) and digital still cameras (more than half of affluent Singaporeans own these an increase from 41% in 2004). Indeed, the love ffair with digital is truly blossoming. * Its fair to say that the marketers of LCD or plasma televisions have enjoyed a good year. They close to doubled their market size, with the number of wealthy Singaporeans already owning one of these TVs rising from 7. 6% to 12. 7%. And theres still a great deal of upside, with 10% expressing the intention to purchase this top tier item in the next 12 months. * Car ownership impressively jumped for the second consecutive year. At the end of June 2005, 60% of cashed up Singaporeans owned one, up from 56. 6% at the same time last year. This is an especially good sign of confidence in this very expensive place to own one – the reduction in COEs would play a significant role in this as well. And indicating that the trend is set to continue, 11. 7% of respondents intend to purchase a private vehicle over the next twelve months. * Singapores love affair with football / soccer continues – a third of PAX respondents read about it, watch it or attend games. This is up from 29. 5% last year. In fact, Singapore is really getting sporty tennis, badminton, basketball and golf all showed higher levels of interest too. With more disposable income, Singaporeans have also been getting cultural. More people have attended a concert, opera, ballet, live theatre, art gallery and museums. * The interest in quality wine continues to gain momentum. Spending on quality wine has dramatically increased from US$144 in 2004 to US$223 in 2005. This is a massive 55% relative increase. * The number of elites of the island state who own a second property is up to 10. 6%. Increases in people living in an owned property have been registered as well – 22. 9% of PAX respondents own their homes.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Has Television had a Detrimental Effect on Your Generation, essays

Has Television had a Detrimental Effect on Your Generation, essays There are some things in life that you cannot live without; for example, air, food, shelter and clothing are the ones that may first come to your mind. But have you ever thought that some goods may have become your necessarily without you even realizing it. One of these kinds of good that comes to my mind is Television. The first thing I do when I go home is to turn on the television. For children and teenagers watching television may be one of their best entertainments. From children watching  ¡Sesame Street ¡ to teenagers watching  ¡Friends ¡. Statistics show that American children and adolescents spend 22-28 hours per week viewing television more than any other activities (except sleeping). I think that television have a detrimental effect on my generation. For children they are young and innocent they will learn everything in school, from their parents and on whatever they see the most, which is television. They may not see any violence in school or from their parents but there is a big chance that they will see violence in television. When children have finished their homework their parents may let them watch television as entertainment. As they turn on the television, they may come across many programs that may contain violent scenes. For the first time they see violence on television, they may be scared or even think that it is cruel, the second time they see violence they may not be as frighten since they have seen it before and so on. Until one day the child may not feel anything at all when they see violence on television. Another way television shows can influence children is when they see that violence can be used to solve problems. Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic frequently repeated or un punished are more likely to imitate what they see. Television has even more influence on teenagers. As teenagers enter high school they make new friends and they learn new ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

You choose the topic Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

You choose the topic - Research Paper Example Rare earth elements are not rare as suggested by the name but are abundant in the earth’s crust even more than some metals (see table 1). However, they are dispersed and their concentration on the earth’s crust is very low and therefore they cannot be easily exploited. In addition, each rare earth deposit is unique and contains different ore bodies which contains several rare earth elements in varying proportions. Rare earth elements do not occur naturally in elemental state as most metallic elements but are found in a large number of minerals types including halides, oxides, carbonate, phosphate and silicate (Eriksson and Olsson 5). In this project we want to address beneficiation as one of the aspects of chemical process of obtaining rare earths form the naturally occurring ores. Beneficiation is the second step of mining after the ore is removed from the ground. Beneficiation process is divided into two steps i.e. physical beneficiation and chemical beneficiation. Chemical beneficiation is applied after the physical beneficiation. Depending on the composition of the ore, different chemical techniques can be applied to separate the rare earth elements from other minerals contained in the ore. There are various types of ore bodies which include; monazite, euxenite, gadolinite, xenotime, bastnasite, and Elliot lake uranium (Gupta and Krishnamurthy149). Different ore bodies have different compositions and hence different chemical beneficiation processes. There are two different chemical beneficiation ways of obtaining rare earth elements from monazite ore. This difference comes from the fact that either sulphuric acid or hydroxide can be used to first attack the ore (Gupta and Krishnamurthy 149). Acid treatment. In this treatment (see fig.1), concentrated sulphuric acid is used to heat the monazite sand up to a temperature of between 120 and 150Â °C ( Bongaerts 67). Both thorium and

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Creation of a Teaching environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Creation of a Teaching environment - Essay Example Each learning experience is unique and necessitates different needs, and so they may need a different rubric to address these unique needs of the student. The designing of a rubric can be cumbersome task but at the same time a rewarding and useful experience to nurse educators. Nowadays, health care environment is becoming more complex and diverse. There are an increasing number of patients from at-risk populations as well as an increase in the number of chronic diseases that need to be managed in a community setting. This complex and diverse scenario makes it mandatory on the part of the nurse educators to ensure that their graduates have the skills necessary to be leaders in this healthcare environment (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2008). The utilization of innovative strategies will assist the nurse educators to apply various teaching methods to facilitate learning to ensure core competencies attainment amongst the students, as well as during teaching and mentoring newer nurses. (Billings & Halstead, 2009). This paper will examine the core competencies needed by graduates of today’s nursing programs and how nurse educators can facilitate learning and attainment of these competencies needed for safe evidence-based practice. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has formulated nine essentials competencies that graduates should posses by the end of their various nursing program. These competencies are stated in a different manner by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) as well as various other stakeholders of nursing education, but they fully support it. (Billings & Halsted, 2009; The National League for Nursing, 2005). This paper will discuss the core competencies of scholarship for evidence based practice, inter-professional communication/collaboration skills, the use

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Economics - Discussion for online class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Economics - Discussion for online class - Essay Example In terms of simple economic principles, satisfied customers would lead to greater demand or essentially an increase in demand. However, surveys indicate that retailers operating with Groupon do not plan to issue similar deals for another six months or so once they have allowed one deal package (Sloane, 2012). From Groupon’s perspective this means one thing only – a noticeable decrease in demand once retailers have used Groupon as a fast marketing tool. Essentially Groupon has the resources to galvanize large numbers of customers since it is connected to those customers. Retailers working with Groupon utilize this power of Groupon by using flash marketing by allowing deals to take place. Careful buyers will be expecting more deals in order to shop more but retailers will never be ready to sell their goods or services at discounted prices repeatedly. Hence, this would lead to a demand decrease on the part of the retailers for Groupon’s services. This decrease in demand has affected Groupon’s business the most since supply is still available though at unfavorable price

Friday, November 15, 2019

Bartok And His Musical Language Film Studies Essay

Bartok And His Musical Language Film Studies Essay Bartoks music showed signs of a rejection of traditional tonality and growth in his individual harmonic language, giving a new rendition to tonal principles. This characteristic was very much due to the influence of Debussy, and also affected other composers such as Stravinsky. Additionally, after his several years of studying the German tradition at the conservatory in Budapest, he had picked up a manneristic sympathy towards this German late-Romantic style of composers like Wagner, Richard Strauss and Brahms. His earliest works show several stylistic influences present, for example his Piano Quintet (1904-5) which has a finale unquestionably modelled on that of Brahmss Second Piano Concerto. In time, Bartoks music was somewhat liberated from such influences due to his encounter with Magyar folk music in 1905. In spite of this, some influences remained, like the discovery of new harmonic possibilities in Debussys music which came about in 1907. Bartoks researches, which eventually encompassed the folk music not only of Hungary but the Slavic regions, Turkey, and North Africa, convinced him that the essential folk traditions were those having frequent contact with other cultures, allowing a mutually enriching exchange of ideas1. Bartoks compositional style reveals this outlook, which draws upon various, even seemingly contrasting, sources yet he manages to integrate them within a fully coherent frame while keeping in touch with his personal expression. 4.1.1 Tonal Language in his Piano Music 1 Morgan, Robert P. Twentieth-Century Music (W.W.Norton Company Inc., 1991). p.109Works like the Fourteen Bagatelles and Ten Easy Pieces were described by Bartok himself as experimental, reflecting this influence and revealing a certain affinity with Debussy like the use of parallel dissonant chords; except that the quality and colour of the dissonances in Bartoks music differs significantly from that of Debussy. Moreover, the Fourteen Bagatelles and the Ten Easy Pieces, small and early composed as they are, show stylistic homogeneity within each of the pieces and are more adventurous than, for example, the Debussy Preludes. The first composition which brings to light Bartoks research on folksong is shown in his series of piano pieces called For Children, based on Hungarian and Slovakian folksongs. Harmonies are usually simple but never predictable and conventional, making use of Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian and Mixolydian melodies, pentatonic and other modal tunes. Bartok comp osed three Burlesques, all of which were composed in different years, and these bring out the typical style of his development. They are slightly unpleasant in mood, with harsh clashes of dissonance and bizarre accents. In his Allegro Barbaro, he had established a complete assimilation of folk elements with authentic Magyar style, unrelated to the pianism of Hungarian characteristics found in Liszt and no signs of the impressionist keyboard music like Ravels. This work had brought out an immensely percussionistic sound through the martellato chords and the hammering rhythms. It marks Bartoks becoming of age, from whence his stylistic progress is outspoken, without trial and no going back to the earlier style in his music. He had recognized the piano as a percussion instrument, with works such as the Sonata, his Concertos, and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion abiding by this idea. In his answer to a questionnaire about the Piano problem (1927), Bartok had stated the following : The neutral character of the piano tone has long been recognized. Yet it seems to me that its inherent nature becomes really expressive only by means of the present tendency to use the piano as a percussion instrument. Indeed, the piano always plays the part of universal instrument. It has not lost its importance for concert performances.2 4.2 Mikrokosmos Bartok was quite the innovator when it comes to writing what he wanted on the score, and in his Volumes of the Mikrokosmos, one might encounter special musical notation which indicate a specific sound that he had in mind such as newly devised key signatures (also including the use of two different key signatures at the same time), use of  ½ pedal, and the use of the  ¯ for the effect of harmonics, an effect generated by playing the selected keys without sounding them and producing harmonics as the other notes are played. Figure 4.1 First 10 Bars from No.102, Vol.4 2 Bartok, Bà ©la. Bà ©la Bartok Essays ed. Benjamin Suchoff. (University of Nebraska Press, 1976) p.288The first four books of the Mikrokosmos were specifically written for pedagogical reasons as they propose specific tasks which should prepare students as they take on new problems step by step in their first years of learning. Albeit this, Benjamin Suchoff had stated that: Evidence indicates that the Mikrokosmos was not conceived of as a piano method in 1926, the year of its origin, but as recital pieces to fill the need Bartok had of such material due to the increase in his concert bookings3. The exercises are supposedly put in progressive order according to technical and musical demands, although this order might be manipulated by the tutor with each individual student according to their abilities. Despite this, the value of these volumes lies not so much in the technical demands themselves, but it provides the opportunity for the player to encounter essential characteristics of twentieth-century music, for instance, harmonic practices like: bitonality, whole-tone scale, chords in fourths and major and minor seconds, or counterpoint methods such as: inversion, mirror and free canon, not to mention other devices like syncopation and irregular rhythms. 4.3 Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm Bartok ends his 153 pieces called Mikrokosmos with a set of six dances which he composed and dedicated to the British pianist Miss Harriet Cohen. As the title suggests, they are comprised of dances with folk flavour dominant throughout, containing a variety of rhythms commonly found in Bulgarian folk music. Bartok had already made use of the Bulgarian elements in No.113 and No.115 from the fourth Volume of Mikrokosmos, and he aptly named them Bulgarian rhythm I and Bulgarian rhythm II. This rhythm is frequently found in folk music from Bulgaria, and refers to a rhythm in which the beats within each bar are of dissimilar length, so that the subdivisions of each beat change in number. This set, all composed with quavers as the main beat, would therefore represent the Bulgarian rhythm grouped like this: qzzz qz qzz- corresponding to the time signature of 4+2+3/8, although the whole set of these last six dances exhibits a wide variety of possible groupings. The different rhythmic groupin gs give each of the dances a contrasting character, but still give a sense of a unified work, mostly due to a chromatic characteristic appearing in each piece and the fact that all six dances are full of energy. Figure 4.2 3 Suchoff, Benjamin. History of Bela Bartoks Mikrokosmos from the Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Sage Publications Inc., 1959) p.196The first dance opens with a mildly temperate mood, but still full of life as it introduces the main theme. The dance is polymodal, based mainly on the E-Phrygian/Lydian scale, occurring in the two main elements present, which are the melody (Fig. 4.2) using notes of the E-pentatonic scale and the accompanying scalar ostinato passages based on the E major scale (Fig. 4.3). Figure 4.3 This first dance makes consistent use of the 4+2+3 Bulgarian rhythm throughout the piece, and is the only work from the set of six that has the most distinct tempo changes. A variation of the main folk motif (Fig. 4.2) occurs in the slower section marked Meno Vivo (Fig. 4.4), which builds up towards a transitional energetic area, leading to yet another calm variation of the main theme with a sense of direction leading towards the closing of the dance which is contrastingly loud and decisive in mood compared to the previous soothing variations, but it rounds off the dance bringing it well into balance and aims directly towards the complementing second dance. Figure 4.4 Variation of the main melodic motif is marked with the brackets The second dance is lively and bright in mood, introducing itself with the main rhythmic element appearing throughout the piece which is based on the 2+2+3 meter (Fig.4.5). Figure 4.5 Bb.1-3 The first three bars of ostinato-like chords are immediately followed by another motif (Fig. 4.6a) containing a syncopated melody on the C-pentatonic scale which repeats soon afterwards; this time it is transposed a 4th higher on F-pentatonic scale and it is half the length of the previous phrase, almost as if it is getting slightly impatient and increasing in tension (Fig. 4.6b). Figure 4.6a Figure 4.6b Figure 4.7Subsequently, running scales appear (Fig. 4.7), which give a reminiscing sense of some parts from the first dance. This is followed by developing material of both the initial melodic material and of the running scales once again. The scale passages keep occurring against a thick chordal bass until eventually coming to a halt and transitioning to the coda which concludes with the introductory dance rhythm, slowly drifting away to the last to chords. The third dance acts like an extension to the second dance, with a similar energetic drive but with more added force to it. Its meter is marked as 5/8 and the rhythm is subdivided into two groups: 2+3. The first rhythmic motif is divided as shown (Fig. 4.8), using notes from the E-Lydian pentachord with a minor and major seventh degree4. Figure 4.8 The second thematic material that follows is based on a symmetrical 3-bar phrase:  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ±. |  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚ ± |  Ã‚ ±Ã‚ Ã‚ ±. lasting until Bar 19, leading to four bars of ostinato rhythm using chords a 5th apart, based on the dominant (V) of the A-major pentachord5, employed in the second thematic material. Variations with development on both first and second motifs appear following each other with chromatic elements throughout, leading to the close which starts off with the same introduction as the beginning, followed by a short closure using the main dance rhythmic theme, rounded off by the concluding chord (Fig. 4.9). Figure 4.9 The next dance is more upbeat and cheery in mood compared to the previous dances. It has the form of a rondo-variation with the parts generally subdivided into four-bar sections. According to Bartok, this piece is Very much in the style of Gershwins tonality, rhythm, and colour. The American folk song feeling.5 The additive 3+2+3/8 meter grouped as such (Fig. 4.10), occurs in the first movement, second theme, of Gershwins Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra as 4/4  Ã‚ ¥ q  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ¥.6 The first theme (Fig. 4.10), consists of harmonies from the C-Lydian/Phrygian polymode, and the motif is soon repeated an octave higher. The same ideas soon answer in different registers transposed into the left hand almost upside down. Figure 4.10 In discussion to the Gershwin-related tonality as described by Bartok himself, there is a section in this dance where the same melodic motif appears in a slower area (as indicated by the composer; Meno mosso) with a jazzy colour added to it, accompanied by triads ascending in stepwise motion (Fig. 4.11). This area is followed by a brief recapitulation of the melodic introductory motif played in octaves with a small ritardando at the end of the phrase which jumps to a short but very energetic Coda that concludes the dance. 6 ibid. 5 ibid. p.158 4 ibid. 3 Suchoff, Benjamin. Bartoks Mikrokosmos: Genesis, Pedagogy, and Style (Rowman Littlefield, 2004) p.157 Figure 4.11 The fifth Bulgarian dance has a more varied rhythmic schemata, in the sense that it has at least three different sections which consist of diverse rhythmic groupings (Fig. 4.12a; 4.12b; 4.12c), but all under the same meter i.e. 2+2+2+3/8. Figure 4.12a i.e. qz  Ã‚ ±z  Ã‚ ±z  Ã‚ ±zz Figure 4.12b i.e.  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ¥ Figure 4.12c i.e.  Ã‚ ±zzz  Ã‚ ±  Ã‚ ±zz Like the second dance, it has brisk, light steps, but is more playful, slightly more colourful in tonality but less ostentatious in character. The introductory material starts with a short passage of alternating chords between the two hands, eventually leading to a clearer melodic line in bar 7 which serves as the basic material for the entire piece. The middle section consists of brief dense phrases occurring in between short staccato areas, with the thick areas having a fundamental chromatic melodic line which corresponds to the whole element of the six dances. The sixth and final dance of the whole Mikrokosmos automatically shoots off with a jump start as a kind of reaction to the strong intervallic ending of the previous dance. The chordal motifs reflect a Debussy-like influence, with the striking rhythmic elements proving the underlying thoughts of having the piano regarded as a percussive instrument. The chords against a repeated 3+3+2 quaver movement grouped as such: qZZ qZZ qZ switch hands, increasing in thickness of sound the third time it appears, due to the lower register of the keyboard. The chords are the holders of the main melodic line in this dance. Repeated eighth notes occur throughout most of the dance with abrupt accentuated phrasings. Corresponding to the chromatic element of the whole set which links them together is an area full of melodic motifs displaying chromatic movement in both hands, with the phrases running on top of each other constantly, keeping a rhythmic flow (Fig. 4.13). Figure 4.13 The only section in this piece where there are not any running rhythms is in the extremely aggressive chordal area marked fortissimo (Fig. 4.14), halting abruptly on a dissonant chord which is followed by several bars of repeated notes, soon to have the other voice join in once again, both charging towards the flamboyant ending of the piece. Figure 4.14

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Kafka

This simple yet ingenious quote by Kafka does make one stop and think, is life really that meaningless? How can one concur if life is meaningless or not? Before these questions can be answered, one must ask, what is meaning? Amazingly enough, meaning is something we create ourselves. We attach meaning to everything around us whether it be language, a person, an item, or even a pencil.Meaning comes from within us, making us the sole contributor to our own existence. Therefore, nothing has meaning unless one was to ttach meaning to it, and to attach meaning to anything proves one has created an identity, and that identity allows one to exist. Mortal life by definition comes to an end whether one likes it or not, and because of this, we are always facing the pressure of extinction. The way we cope with this pressure is by giving meaning to the things we do, the things we love, and all the other things which matters in ones life.To give ourselves an identity in which we exist in this wor ld and to leave behind a trace of our existence. Although it is truly evident that meaning comes from within the individual, others might think differently. One of the main arguments against meaning coming from the individual is that we were already given meaning since birth, given a set of beliefs and morals to follow, so how does one create meaning if it was already given to us from generation through generation?What they do not know is that meaning is something we gain through experience, and experience is not something we have from birth. Another valid argument would be that this universe does not need meaning and therefore it is not important to have meaning or create meaning. However, meaning is all around us and whether one likes it or not, we were built to reate meaning in order for us to exist, and for us to be able to create an identity. Before we dive deeper into the topic of how we gain meaning, we first have to question what is meaning?Clare Carlisle quotes Kierkegaard and explains, â€Å"Even though all sorts of things exist, for Kierkegaard the word â€Å"existence† has a special meaning when applied to human life. This meaning arises from the fact that we always have a relationship to ourselves. † (Carlisle, What does it mean to exist? ) To go into more thorough detail, meaning is the stem of everything human. Meaning come rom us because like stated above in the quote by Kierkegaard, we are the only ones can have a relationship to ourselves.Humans only truly exist through identity, identity is gained through experience, and experience is what use to create meaning. Many other individuals would like to believe that meaning does not come within us, but rather given to us, passed down to us from our past generations. For an example, Annie Druyan, wife of astronomer/philosopher Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996) remembered a conversation her husband had with a young man and it goes, â€Å"At the end of it, a young man came up to him and he said: What do you give us in return? Now that you've taken everything from us?What meaning is left, if everything that I've been taught since I was a child turns out to be untrue? Carl looked at him and said, ‘Do something meaningtul. ‘ † (Sagan. ) Without meaning this world would b complete chaos. A person needs to grow up with meaning as a supporting factor, or else their world would become chaotic and by definition, meaningless. The young man in the flashback is a person who struggles with the belief that he grew up with meaning given to him and therefore once he comprehend the truth and reality of it all, there would be no significance left.Carl Sagan tries to make this young man understand that in truth, meaning is something we can create anytime, anywhere, and anyplace. Sagan's simple and brief quote ‘Do something meaningful' gives us hope because it illustrates that meaning does not stem from the beginning of our lives, but something we have to exp erience and something we have to do in order to gain meaning. Although there are many others out there like the young man depicted in Annie Druyan's flashback, they would have to know that meaning is not something in which they are given, but is gained through their Journey and understanding of life.This is significant because it is imperative for ones knowledge to understand that no matter how lost or confused one might be, they could always create their own meaning instead of relying or is biased on the thought that meaning was created for us. If one was to be biased on that thought, their total reliance on the meaning at which was given to them would collapse when they learn the undeniable truth that meaning has always been within their reach. Although meaning is a controversial and conflicting topic to discuss, some might argue that meaning is something we shouldn't try to understand at all.Alex Percival as a strong opinion towards meaning and how he believes the universe does n ot need meaning at all. He states in his own words, â€Å"With modern discoveries, we have found that the meaning of life itself is pointless, but we are extremely lucky to be here because the probability that any one of us being in existence is next to 0%. † (Percival. ) In truth, meaning does matter in this world that we live in. Without meaning we would be lost with no identity, and would have no proof of our own existence.It is important for humans to make meaning for themselves because we want to exist and therefore we should exist. Meaning is not pointless at all, in fact meaning is apart of ones soul, apart of us. Meaning is a tool we strive and depend on to survive, because without it we would feel worthless and needless to say, useless. Despite the many oppositions against the interpretation of meaning, language is one of the many factors in which humans attach meaning to. One blogger give their thoughts on how meaning relates to language and states, â€Å"Language communicates meaning, and the origin of meaning is relationship.In fact; if we use the idea that â€Å"relationship is the origin of meaning† as our lens, it opens up a whole new world eyond the narrow definitions that confine meaning to traditional ideas of language. † (The Wisdom of Life. ) Language in fact does relate to human relationships. To be able to communicate and articulate our thoughts gives us meaning. Without language, humans would not be able to express their thoughts and empty their minds and this is an important process to meaning because how can one attach or create meaning if they cannot express themselves.It is crucial to understand that language does not get it's meaning from others but it is something we attach to it. For n example, as Professor Jacoby has mentioned in class, â€Å"A chair does not have meaning unless we give it meaning. The word chair to another person could mean something much more significant or it could mean nothing depending who this person is and what significant attachment they have given to the chair. † (English 205 Lecture. ) Anyone can give meaning to anything as long as there is a special significance to it.This is how we gain existence and gain identity. It comes through our experience and how we see things in our own eyes and not through what has already been defined for us. When one speaks about language, often we question what is the significance of many languages in this world. As Noam Chomsky says in We Still Live Here, â€Å"A language is not Just words. It's a culture, a tradition, a unification of a community, a whole history that creates what a community is. It's all embodied in a language. † (Chomsky. Language is no longer Just words or different types of languages that people speak around the world, it is what set us apart from others. It is what defines us as a people, it gives us meaning. With many languages around the orld, one could feel lost or troubled because they a re afraid they could lose their identity. Although that is definitely not the case, language could preserve ones true identity because with language comes a culture, a tradition, a community, and a whole history. With all these factors combined, one can find their identity and create meaning to their lives in their own ways and form.To find ones own identity is truly important in terms of existence, and the only way to find ones identity is through finding meaning within themselves. Meaning also attaches itself to forms of exceptionalism, how we interpret and ruly follow this ideal belief is entirely up to the person. In one article by The Globalist, they proclaim, â€Å"And Americans can only be exceptional if we are well informed and willing to make hard choices and take risks. Apathy, ignorance and risk aversion are the death sentence of the American experiment. (The Globalist, The Idea of American Exceptionalism. ) This is not only true to Americans, but also other cultures aro und the world as well. To make one self â€Å"exceptional† the person needs to be able to make well informed decisions on their own accord and take risks by the ips of the their own fingers. This connects to meaning because the only way we can make our own decisions and take our own risks is by attaching our own meaning to what all of these things mean. To be exceptional does not necessarily translate to ignorance, it could also mean it is their only form of survival.To any culture around the world, their identity is found through their culture, history, tradition. They rely on these factors because it is what makes them special, unique, and superior from others. Just like how each of them have their own language, tradition, and beliefs, hey want to preserve this by giving it a name, American Exceptionalism, British Exceptionalism, and Greek Exceptionalism. This way, they have given meaning to these terms which in return protect their identities. As individuals we all have a specific responsibility to be fulfilled once we take our first breaths in this world.One specific sentence which caught my attention in the article by The Globalist was, â€Å"As citizens, we have a sacred duty to conserve government by the active † not passive † consent of the governed. † (The Globalist, The Idea of American Exceptionalism. Even if we are a citizen of American or not, it does not matter, because every human in this Earth has a specific duty, which is to do something meaningful so that can be remembered for what theyVe done. The government is depicted as powertul, and because we see them as powertul, we believe that meaning comes from the government.The governments rules and laws seem to constrain us, but in reality it's constrictions is what tests our understanding of what meaning is. For an example, in The Trial, a relatable quote from the conversation between K. and the doorkeeper goes as this, â€Å"Everyone strives to reach he Law,† sa ys the man, â€Å"so how does it happen that for all these many years no one but myself has ever begged for admit-tance? † The doorkeeper recognizes that the man has reached his end, and to let his failing senses catch the words roars in his ear: â€Å"No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you.I am now going to shut it. † (Kafka 256. ) In The Trial, it is Kafka's intentions to make the court look so powerful, because in this way, K. is forced to look for meaning and search for his own identity instead of trying to search for significant meaning in others. In fact, the court is so powerful that they have already planned everything out for K. K. ‘s future was in their hands and yet he barely even realized this because he was transfixed on trying to get everyone else to help him when the answers was within him.This message is of vital importance to comprehend, because one must know that no matter how powerful the barrier maybe be tween the person and their journey to gain meaning is, their duty as a human allows them to conquer those obstacles and face their own challenges. In The Trial it is evident from the very beginning K. ‘s thoughts were always ethered to what others thought about him and his need to find meaning through them instead of himself. Whenever K. spoke, he would always pay close attention to others, as though their opinions and thoughts were crucial to him, † ‘Intrusive, thoughtless people! ‘ said K. s he turned back into the room. The supervisor may have agreed with him, at least K. thought that was what he saw from the corner of his eye. But it was Just as possible that he had not even been listening as he had his hand pressed firmly down on the table and seemed to be comparing the length of his fingers. † (Kafka 17. Throughout the Trial, K. is repeatedly focusing on what others think of him, how others does not give him attention, and how others gave him mean ing. His mind was constantly affected by the whispers around him and it affected him to the point whereby he was utterly dependent on other people.Kafka's mission was to make us understand that K. was trapped in the wrong place the whole time, in someone else's mind. When a person is trapped in someone else's thoughts, it would be hard for them to understand how important meaning is if they are constantly looking for meaning in the wrong place. One of the great meanings behind Kafka's works was to question one specific word, â€Å"Meaning. † In the text, K. ‘s conversation with the Priest demonstrates how Kafka views the word meaning, miou look for too much help from people you don't know,† said the priest disapprovingly, â€Å"and especially from women.Can you really not see that's not the help you need? † (Kafka 252. ) Kafka used K. as a guide to help him search for or make meaning. K. is constantly seeking and depending on others to be able to survive an d to exist in this world that the meaning to his life soon became xactly that; his reliance on others became his meaning of survival, to exist. Kafka wants us to know that meaning was not already given to us, but we make meaning. We give meaning to people, things, and everything around us so we can feel special, unique, and most importantly to teel I ike we exist.Katka also wants us to know that K was looking for meaning in all the wrong places and to learn from K. ‘s mistakes. K. looked for meaning through his reliance on others, when he was supposed to create meaning within himself. To exist, we first have to rely on our own thoughts and our own ideas. This significant because our thoughts and our own ideas is how meaning is created. If we do not create meaning through our own minds, we do not exist according to Kafka, and that is why K. ies (Kafka 271) at the end because he was not able to realize his whole life depended on someone else, and his sense of meaning came from t he people around him as well which is what makes one exist. Although, this leads to the quote which was stated in the beginning of the essay, â€Å"The meaning of life is that it ends. â€Å"-Franz Kafka. No matter how a person tries define meaning or try to apprehend it, life does end. So why is meaning so important? Meaning not only gives us a sense of security and comfort from the chaotic world we live in, but it also serves as a backbone to our identity and our existence.By us giving meaning to anything and everything, it gives us a sense of comfort knowing that it is significant or in some ways meaningful to us therefore making us feel as though we exist because we gave meaning to something which never had meaning before it came into our lives. To exist, to give meaning, and to gain an identity is all part of what it means to be human. Meaning nowadays is interpreted in many different ways, but one theory seems to tand out more than the rest, and it's that meaning comes from within each individual and not from an external source.We use meaning to create ourselves, find our identities, and sustain our existence through our lifetime. In these modern times, the word meaning has been modified to each persons own interpretations of what meaning is. The problem is, would meaning ever be completely defined? Or is it a word that us humans can attach our own meaning to? It is definitely something to think about as we progress further into the world of constant change and start to lose the roots of our identity and even our existence.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Imposed in ederly driver

Should special conditions be imposed on elderly Victorian There have been four high-profile traffic accidents Involving older drivers In the past few days. As we known, Victorian Is the only Australia state which does not have compulsory testing of driving license held by older motorists. However, it does not mean that mandatory testing should be imposed on elderly driver in Victorian due to mandatory testing does not make the road safer, older drivers are more cautious and elderly driver promotes economics development. Firstly, mandatory testing of older driver does not make the roads safer.Most of the states have the restrictions for elderly drivers except Victorian. For example, According to Australia government, In New South Wales drivers aged 75 and over must pass an annual medical examination or pass a practical driving test every second years. In Queensland, drivers over 75 must only drive with a medical certificate issued by a doctor. However, according to the Victoria, Vic h ad the lowest older driver crash rate per number of license Issued by comparing the crash rates of elder driver across the country which surprised audience about the statistic.The statistic shows audience older driver in Victoria without legal equipment did not increase the crashes rate however it is safer compare to the other states in Australia. Secondly, most of the drivers are more cautious and therefore there are safer than younger driver. Not only Judith Carlton writes that ‘older drivers actually aware of their own limitations'. For example, by choosing easy-to-manage driving environments or by choosing not to drive at night. T also professor Raphael Criticize from Transport and Road Safety unit at nun of news satisfying people just don't have a perception of risk, in terms of driving skills, in terms of crashes. The media affect our decision. The contrast of two opinions is obvious that older driver are more careful than younger drivers. Thirdly, allowing driver to dri ve will promotes economic development. According to Victoria seniors over 70 had 10 percent of Victorian licenses In 2012 and worse still. Australian the proportion of people over the age of 65 will increase from 11. Recent in 2001 to 24,2 percent in 2051 which means there are more elderly driver in the road. If special condition imposed on elderly Victorian motorists. Many elder drivers will be taken licenses away . Then, it is hard for them to go out and spending money on shopping centre coffee shops and so on because these are away from uptown which also prevent economic development. On the other side, society think of older people do not need cars to travel or to work, public transport is available for older driver.Even though Victoria has a extensive and safe public transport system. Older driver can not easily travel for routine travel to shop and for social reasons because number of run relatively little especially on the weekend, It runs every one hour and finishes earlier w hich means It is Last but not least, driving a car is right of older driver. Forbidden to drive due to the age is unfair. Should older drivers stay on the road will be a serious problem due to aging population. The government needs to work out a good way to help them driving safely.

Friday, November 8, 2019

The Poor and the Rich Essays

The Poor and the Rich Essays The Poor and the Rich Essay The Poor and the Rich Essay Name: Instructor: Course: Date: The Poor and the Rich The book â€Å"Nickel and Dimed† was written by Barbara Ehrenreich from a real life experience as an undercover journalist who decided to investigate the impacts of the 1996 welfare reform Act on the working class in the United States. In contrast, much of Barbara’s ideas in this book revolve around the societal aspects. The dominant themes include working class mentality, poverty as well as the ivied between the rich and the poor. Barbara draws out her experiences from working casual jobs in Florida, Maine up to Minnesota to come up with first-hand stories of the real conditions that most wage workers go through in America. Barbara starts her quest to discover the wageworker livelihood in Key West, Florida where she worked as a waiter in a diner-style restaurant. She also got a rental trailer to live in. Soon, she discovered that the salary at the restaurant could support her rent pushing her into taking a second job as a hotel house cleaner. The workload became too much to handle forcing her to quit the hotel job just as fast as she had taken it but things became unbearable even at the diner, forcing her to quit her second job before the month was over. She then moved to Portland in Maine where she again took up a job as a house cleaner but now with a residential housekeeping service. Her experiences at making ends meet in Florida prompted her to take another job as a dietary aide in a nursing home. Here, Barbara worked all the days of the week, draining her physically and paying her peanuts. Lastly, she moved to Minnesota to work in Wal-Mart but again faced the challenge of getting affordable, good re ntal houses. The Personal responsibility Act of 1996 was expected to boost employment among the jobless as well as giving federal cash assistance to the poor. It was intended to end welfare and support struggling citizens in their attempts at seeking jobs. Class awareness in America is mainly defined by the income brackets of the citizens. Such criteria create the lower, middle and rich class. The promotion or demotion from one class to another depends on many factors but a dominant one is the obtaining of necessary skills to perform important work. In the process, one achieves a substantial income as well as influence that place them in a higher class than before. The class divisions result in class cultures. These are clearly displayed in the way different social classes run their businesses, educate their children culminating in even their choices of places of residences. A good example is the lower class live in the projects, which are in reality, government subsidized houses, or in very inha bitable conditions. Houses do not meet health and security in addition to other state standards. The middle class can afford to live in urban apartments, which have proper housing while the rich class possesses huge villas that occupy large tracts of land and access to public goods. (Ehrenreich 87) Belonging to a certain social class in America especially in the mid 1970’s had many consequences. The rich, upper class consisted mostly of wealthy families earning over $250,000 who owned most of the corporate America while exercising indirect power through the investment of capital. Most of the upper class also had inherited privileges .In addition, this class was the best compensated as compared to the three. The middle class consisted mainly of high-salaried workers who went to prominent universities and earned from around $40,000 to $180,000 or thereabout. Lastly, the lower class consisted of jobless or low wage earning workers who took home the least incomes of up to $7 a day. These class differentiations in America set the main theme in the Nickel and Dimed. Barbara Ehrenreich attempts, largely, to illustrate the similarities and differences between classes. During her time experiencing different jobs, she describes her findings satisfactorily enough to describe the state of affairs in the labor sector as well as the class differences in America. Barbara brings out the differences between the lower class and the upper class by illustrating the housing problem in America. She talks of dwindling housing opportunities especially for low-income workers as inevitable. The rising rent rates only served to worsen the situation, as the rise in pay was not as steep. The managers of many firms, who were mostly upper class, intentionally used various methods to keep wages low while lowering the dignity of their workers to keep them coming back. Barbara also described how the lower class had little privileges as opposed to many disadvantages therefore making it hard for them to progress along their careers or business ventures. Where she worked, the lower class had very few options, little education and transport problems, all of which served to entrench their position at the bottom of the food chain. This is opposed to the rich categories that have access to business information alongside capital to grow financially. They also have access to the best state services like sanitation, transport amid other public amenities. (Ehrenreich, Bait and Switch 87) Within the world today, the divide between the rich, upper class in relation to the lower class continues to grow. Globally, the class divide has distinguished the Western countries, which continue to live comfortable lives from the Southern countries that continue to languish in poverty, diseases and poor leadership. The promise to eradicate poverty by the state through the Welfare Act is just one of the many promises that are made by the government even today. However, it is clear that the interests of the poor, lower class plus the lower middle class are not really the priority of the government or any other body for that matter. In conclusion, the â€Å"state of emergency’ suggested by Barbara has finally come into realization in the 21st century. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bait and Switch: The (futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2005. Print. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (not) Getting by in America. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2001. Print.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Exceptions in the Rules of Hyphenation

Exceptions in the Rules of Hyphenation Exceptions in the Rules of Hyphenation Exceptions in the Rules of Hyphenation By Mark Nichol After thumbing through the dictionary or perusing a usage guide, you’d think that the trend in American English and, to a lesser extent, in British English is to omit hyphens from words consisting of a prefix attached to the root word. But reality begs to differ. Mail sent from nonprofit organizations invariably features the word non-profit in the upper right-hand corner, where a stamp would normally be placed. (By contrast, the US Postal Service, on its Web site, correctly styles the term nonprofit but the Internal Revenue Service employs the hyphen, as do many such organizations.) Commercial Web sites and product catalogs invite customers to plan ahead, using the word pre-order, though the dictionary listing is preorder. And many print or online references to peace movements feature the term anti-war, despite the designation of the standard form in virtually all writing resources as antiwar. So, why do descriptivist and prescriptivist handbooks alike exhort readers to close the gap, when so many people who use the English language to communicate in writing ignore or are ignorant of the authorities’ citations? The natural trend in associating words or parts of words is to first combine them in open compounds, later hyphenate them as they become more established, and finally convert them into closed compounds when familiarity is thoroughly achieved (though many compounds remain open or hyphenated long after these evolutionary stages seem overdue). But most writers seemingly a majority of amateurs and definitely too many professionals don’t pay attention to such details, though the standard is easily ascertained by a glance in a dictionary or another resource. The exceptions to the preponderance of closed prefixes are relatively few and more or less simple. Retain a hyphen in the following cases: When the root word is a proper noun (post-Depression) or a number (pre-1914) When the prefix precedes an existing prefix (non-self-governing) When the prefix precedes a proper open compound (â€Å"pre-Civil War†) in such a case, the symbol should technically be an en dash, to help clarify that pre- modifies â€Å"Civil War,† not just the word it is actually attached to, but many publications, print and online, use a simple hyphen When two instances of the letter i or the letter a are adjacent (anti-intellectual, extra-action), or another combination of letters could hamper reading (pro-labor and many other pro- constructions) When a prefix is repeated (anti-antibody) When suspensive hyphenation is employed (â€Å"over- and understimulation†) Also, some people find it awkward to close up co- and a word starting with c (they prefer co-chair to cochair), with o (co-owner is preferred to coowner), or even with any word (coworker, instead of co-worker, annoys many writers). In addition, there are isolated illogical exceptions. For example, why close up reentry but hyphenate de-emphasis? And an otherwise superfluous hyphen is often inserted to distinguish homographs (as with re-count, â€Å"to tally again,† as opposed to recount, â€Å"to narrate†). Some writers ignore this seemingly overcautious strategy, though a clear context doesn’t necessarily obviate it. (Sometimes, the distinction does seem unnecessary: How many people write recreate as the verb form of recreation compared to using the prevalent usage, meaning â€Å"to create again†? But, oddly, the dominant homograph is given the hyphenated form.) Despite this apparent multitude of deviations from the norm, there is a norm: An overwhelming majority of prefixes are closed. But if you’re ever in doubt, just consult your dictionary. 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 Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Spelling Test 15 Brainstorming Strategies for Writers20 Names of Body Parts and Elements and Their Figurative Meanings

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Application Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Application Letter - Essay Example They are also a new working opportunity where one gets to meet people in the field of one’s career, get references from them boosting your resume, and even get new contacts that will enrich your career by being mentors or guides to landing that dream job. Also, internship is a field opportunity to apply knowledge previously acquired in class in an actual real life setting. This is a worth proving process on an individual’s qualifications assessed by ability to perform the various tasks given. Internship also plays a major role in the building of an individual’s confidence. Many PLATT departments must provide compliance training to keep PLATT employees up to date with new and changing laws and regulations. These departments have turned to Information Services (IS) department to develop a solution for efficient and cost effective method of providing online training videos to a wide audience as well as small target audiences. In order to avoid silo solutions, IS plans to implement a solution that could in the future, integrate into a broader Learning Management System. I would like to apply for a job at CISCO because currently, many departments provide live presentations of compliance training material to educate employees on recent laws and regulations but lack enough and qualified people to do the work. I will ensure that to cover the entire PLATT staff, they must present this material by attending numerous meetings across three different sites. It is significant to note that conducting live training is not the good way of using departmental resources. In addition, the inaccurate trackings of resources have made it difficult to determine which staff members have not been covered. Further, not all researchers attend presentation meetings thus making it difficult train all PLATT staff. In order to achieve efficiency, it is important for PLATT to adopt a more efficient and effective method of training

Friday, November 1, 2019

Counterterrorism and Intelligence Framework Essay

Counterterrorism and Intelligence Framework - Essay Example uct a counterterrorism and Intelligence Framework that will create the most â€Å"robust† intelligence system and strategically efficient counterterrorism operations, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency must co-work to help combat terrorism. As much as this may not seem an easy task, it may be accomplished by setting new policies to govern the single body of different agencies, which will in turn govern the integrated agencies. Discussed below, are the anti-terrorism agencies, how they work and their functions. The FBI or the Federal Bureau of Investigation is a major branch on the United States department of justice. It is and intelligence-driven and a threat-focused national security organization that comprises of Federal Criminal Investigations and internal intelligence agency or counterintelligence responsibilities. Their mission is to protect and defend the United States of American against the terrorist attack and foreign intelligence threats. Additionally, they ensure that the criminal laws of the United States are implemented. Moreover, it gives leadership and criminal justice to society. The second agency is the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which is an independent US Government agency that provides national security intelligence to senior US policymakers. Its sole mission is to eliminate threats and enhance national security objectives by safeguarding the secrets that help keep the U.S. nation safe. With an agency that works solely for the president, it analyzes information from all sources as directed by the president. The agency is portioned into five major departments of divisions. Finally, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is a counterterrorism agency that gives intelligence to military warfighters, defense policymakers, and force planners in the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. In addition, it offers support to U.S. in military planning and operations