Thursday, October 31, 2019

Summary Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary Assignment - Essay Example There are many reasons why the government feels a need to preserve Canadian culture: geographic, economic, social, and nationalistic. I feel that these reasons have value and must be considered if Canada is to keep its culture intact. Because of Canada’s distinct geographic location, regular Canadians can be influenced by American lines of thought, which intrude on Canadian culture. The Canadian government has the right to feel concerned about how its culture is shaped. The norm used to be that Canadians would follow multimedia from Americans—radio and television.1 It is important though that the Canadian government takes on the opinions of its people to better understand how to implement productive cultural policies. Historically this has been done through Royal Commissions to better understand the demands of the public.2 These Royal Commissions made recommendations to the government on how to regulate radio broadcasting, arts and sciences, television broadcasting, and newspapers. I think that it is important to maintain a strong Canadian influence in the national media, but outsiders’ thoughts and opinions must be heard to present a balanced view. The government has found the right balance through policy instruments.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 91

Summary - Essay Example One does not have to complicate issues but rather perceive things as they are and slowly move to understanding the reason why they are as they are. The writer insists on keeping one’s eyes and mind open to diverse modes of reasoning. He explains that even in the darkness or blurriness of fog there seems to be specks of light. He states that in darkness there’s a great deal of light, the same lies for where there’s too much light. As he concludes, the writer describes the secret path to illumination. The writer talks about the ethics of journalism. This regards the type of imagery and language they use in describing events or people. He gave an example of black suspect whom the newspaper presumed guilty and as a result printed a photo that gave him a more sinister look that aimed at showing blacks are criminals. Ethics lay all round, including writing the truth in the newspapers and no amount of captioning can make a visual lie to be true. Disregarding the misrepresented information a lie still remains a lie. In conclusion, it is rather a question of ethical responsibility than just putting the message

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Exploring Alternative Filming Techniques

Exploring Alternative Filming Techniques Alice Boucher   Ã‚   Exploring alternative filming techniques in video for the production of short promotional clips with relation to food and advertising Mereki, R. (2016) EAT. Available at: https://vimeo.com/27243869 (Accessed: 1 December 2016). (Mereki, 2016) https://vimeo.com/27243869 Abstract Below you will find a formal proposal consisting of my ideas and intentions for the production of the final major project commencing 2017. For this I plan on exploring different videoing styles and techniques, with the potential of being used for promotional adverts within the genre of food and still life. This FMP proposal will be submitted with a research file, this file will collate different aspects of research that I have started to explore, such as where I found my inspiration and influence, how I aim to incorporate it, techniques I could adapt and how I will approach my FMP. Project Description As mentioned above I have decided that I will dedicate my FMP to the exploration of video technique and production of short promotional videos for the use of advertising, the main theme for this will be following on with food in advertising and commercial food advertisements, this is something that I explored in my HND FMP, however I now aim to explore cinematography in depth rather than a combination of both video and stills, as I did previously. With the aim of this proposed FMP being commercial advertisements, I need to be well aware of the target markets and how I would pitch this, therefor this may mean I could be shooting other objects in regards to still life such as, products. Therefor this proposed FMP is to develop and research the use of cinematography in commercial advertising. At this point I have started to explore different reading on the subject of advertising and how it is done successfully with the citation of books such as, Burtenshaw, Ken, The Fundamentals of Creative Advertisingand Barry, Pete. The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later: A Complete Guide to Creative Ideas, Strategies and Campaigns. New York: Thames Hudson, 2008.    Why do I want to shoot this? From typically shooting stills and my already existing qualifications and career up to this point being purely photography orientated, I have now chose to explore video and cinematography, the reason for this is because ideally I would like to work professionally and also specialize within an area of commercial advertising, therefore the FMP is a chance to practice and explore film and advertising fundamentals and techniques in preparation into a career, having briefly explored video in my HND FMP it gives me the option to expand from existing knowledge and previous work I have produced, in conclusion to this the FMP will be a personal, educational and professional body of work. How I could I shoot this? When shooting film there are several options that I need to consider and be aware of, such as shooting methods, equipment and also post-production. One of the important factors of this would be how I would like my end product to look initially? And where I would like this to be published? Thus being the consideration of target market, target audience, output and solutions. The equipment that I have considered and aim to use in the FMP will alternate between either the black magic 4K camera which is accessible via college or a DSLR capable of recording in high resolution, having previously shot with the 4K I am already aware of the basics on how to set up, control and shoot with the device however I have also decided to so more research on this documented in the research folder. An example of these considerations would be if I wanted my work to be viewed and a large cinema style screen as a sitting like a film opening, I should use the black magic 4K, this is because the camera shoots at ultra HD therefore will look much better on a larger screen, opposed to this if I want my work to be viewed on social media I should consider using a DSLR capable of shooting video, this would be because the file size and output would be a lot smaller for web use. Other Equipment Alternate equipment that I should also consider and have also researched for producing my FMP is a series of different accessories to accompany the camera to produce different video style and techniques, this is equipment such as dolling tracks, shoulder stabilizer, the possibility of a gimbal and also a selection of tripods, each of these mention will give my footage different aesthetics opposed to not using them. The reason that I plan to incorporate this equipment into my FMP research and shoots is so I have a broad range of equipment and techniques to explore, this will also enable different equipment experience when seeking a career. Shooting Methods When it comes to shooting video footage opposed to still, whilst the camera control and function may be the same but the methods are different, similar to photography the shooting methods are all dependent on the overall aesthetics. Due to being relatively new to shooting video I plan to dedicate a large proportion of my FMP to research and exploration, some techniques that are documented in my research file are methods such as stop motion, hyper stop motion, time lapse, match on action and pull focus. One of the techniques that I have already explored for this FMP proposal is stop motion conducting research into the likes of the production for Wallace and Grommit who use stop motion to and animation to produce films, stop motion is when you shoot several still images and put them in a sequence with little delay or loop to create the aspect of movement, below is my first attempt at producing stop motion with food to produce a recipe video, for this I used several techniques such as, Shooting the stop motion, editing in photoshop, adding animation and text to narrate the video, the contacts sheets from this can be found in my research file. https://vimeo.com/home/myvideos Inspiration and influence for shooting film. Below you will find my main source of inspiration and influence into shooting film, each contains a brief reason as to what it is, why it influence me and a link to where it can be found for viewing, please not none of the work shown below is my own and will be reference in the reading list. The Comfy Duck https://www.instagram.com/p/BCv3EdXN4q5/ This short video clip runs for approximately 9secs, combining bursts of short video and stills, I found this looking at different restaurants and photographers on instagram, this Is a promotional video for Lincolnshire based restaurant, unfortunately I am yet to find out who the videographer for this shoot was, however I am in touch with the stylist therefor I am hoping to get an insight. I love the whole aesthetic of this promo, all of the components e.g. the styling, the music, the clips all work together really well, this restaurant also sports really beautiful food photography too, for me this is the main inspiration and drive behind me wanting to explore film. Marks And Spencer https://www.facebook.com/pg/MarksandSpencer/videos/?ref=page_internal Another series of adverts that are appreciated by the masses and that have become very iconic is those of Marks and Spencer, all of there adverts are beautifully produced, however its the seasonal Christmas adverts that really stand out to me, they have got such a magical feel to them that itd be hard not to like them, something that I would definitely like to aspire too. Pret A Manger https://www.facebook.com/pretamanger/videos/ Another short video that Is very current that I appreciate is this from Pret A Manger, its a short promo of a reveal of a new product, for this rather than actual video footage and recording, they have used stills to create a video e.g. stop motion, sometimes stop motion can look a little amateur but I think for this it works really Head Shot Productions https://vimeo.com/119735260 Head Shot Productions are videographers and producers based in Moscow, the reason that I have decided to include these in my inspiration is because I think there actual shooting and technical ability is really strong, something that really stood out to me in this was the di erent transitions, the use of the pull focus, and the motion either used with a tracker or a gimble, either way they were all done with a subtle approach yet it looks great.   Ã‚   Magnum The reason that I have decided to look at the magnum advert isnt necessarily because I enjoy it or anything that I aim to, it is simply because this is a prime example of different conventions within video, such as the sexual objectification of women and the whole idea of phallic objectification and body forms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiCvL3arnps Areas of exploration and consideration: Above I have mentioned my project plan, areas I have explored, and other research and reading I can conduct on the subject matter as well as this I have made another list of research I have briefly explored but will do so more in the FMP such as considerations to objectivity, feminism, human needs, men and women, how men look at women, phallic, analytical, conventions, symbolism and audience consideration in film and advertising, a prime example of this is how women are depicted in film, one of the commercial ads that have become very famous for this is Cadbury Flakes, this became noticeably famous because of the use the chocolate being used as a phallic object, situated In a bath tub depicting the woman as having an orgasm, this apparently appeals to men and women alike and gave the Cadbury a selling point sex sells however a survey produced actually concluded that women react more negatively to this than men (Dahl, Sengupta, Vohs 2008). But what is it that makes sex sell? This is has a strong link to Maslows hierarchy of needs a theory of psychological review into the behavior of humans. This is an example of Maslows Hierarchy of needs, explored in depth in the research aspect of this proposal, but this basically is a review into the psychological aspects of humans, wants and needs to survive. Literature review and theory consideration Throughout the production of this research and proposal i have considered and selected specific readings and theory in relation to my FMP and subject area, now moving on from my initial proposal and plans to shoot film and driving this and future projects forward, I should also be aware of other literature and readings that will help develop my FMP, I will now create a literature review of the other research and readings I should consider and produce, these are split into three sections, overall film and technology, Sexual objectification, symbolisms and needs and also different creative marketing and advertising techniques, you will find a full report of reading and theory already researched and also future readings below with reasoning. Sexual objectification, symbolism and human needs in relation to media and advertising: This list of resources has helped me further my knowledge into sexual objectification and symbolism in the media and advertising as well as it linking to Maslow hierarchy of human needs, doing so has helped me conclude whether I will involve these aspects in my film productions and if so how I would involve this Reading List: A Test of Media Literacy Effects and Sexual Objectification in advertising A Test of Media Literacy Effects and Sexual Objectification in Advertising. Journal Of Current Issues Research In Advertising (CTC Press), 29(1), 81-92. The Medias Sexual Objectification of Women, Rape Myth Acceptance and Interpersonal Violence- The Medias Sexual Objectification of Women, Rape Myth Acceptance, and Interpersonal Violence. Journal Of Aggression, Maltreatment Trauma, 24(5), 569-587. Examining the influence of different levels of sexual-stimuli intensity by gender on advertising effectiveness- Examining the influence of different levels of sexual-stimuli intensity by gender on advertising effectiveness. Journal Of Marketing Management, 30(7-8), 697-718. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema- White, M. C. (2007). From text to practice : rereading Laura Mulveys Visual pleasure and narrative cinema towards a different history of the feminist avant-garde. Female Desires Coward, R. (1996). Female desire: Womens sexuality today. London, United Kingdom: HarperCollins Publishers. Creative Advertising and Marketing Techniques As part of my FMP I have also decide that a substantial amount of research and reading should include that of different advertising and marketing techniques, the reason for this is because my final outcomes and also career prospects would be for advertising purposes therefor this would be an appropriate area to explore, this research could consist of anything from how to produce advertising context? How to make advertising contexts successful? Or something along the lines researching marketing techniques, included below is a reading list of the literature I plan to study commencing the FMP each of the should help me build up knowledge around advertising and marketing. Reading List Ogilvy on Advertising- Ogilvy, D. (1995). Ogilvy on advertising. London: Prion Books. How to Make It As An Advertising Creative- Veksner, S. (2010). How to make it as an advertising creative. London: Laurence King Publishing. The Fundamentals of Creative Advertising- Burtenshaw, K., Mahon, N., Barfoot, C. (2006). The fundamentals of creative advertising (fundamentals) (2nd ed.). Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA. The Advertising Concept Book- Barry, P. (2008). The advertising concept book: Think now, design later: A complete guide to creative ideas, strategies and campaigns. London: Thames Hudson. Filming and Editing Equipment and Technique- Upon the successful completion of my FMP something else that I should considered reading into other than Sexual Objectification in the Media, Advertising and Marketing is Filming and Editing Technique, whilst at this point I should have already produced research into filming techniques and also editing further literate readings and knowledge must be accustomed, below are the references to different readings which will take place, ranging from Journals, Books and Websites. Reading List Film Art: An Introduction- Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., Bordwell, P. D. (2007). Film art: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill. How To Read a Film: The Art, Technology, Language, History and Theory of Film and Media- Monaco, J. (1977). How to read a film: The art, technology, language, history, and theory of film and media (4th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Edit DSLR Video- Incorporated, A. S. (2016, June 20). Edit DSLR video. Retrieved December 31, 2016, from https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/how-to/dslr-video.html?playlist=%2Fccx%2Fv1%2Fcollection%2Fproduct%2Fpremiere-pro%2Fsegment%2Fdesigner%2Fexplevel%2Fbeginner%2Fapplaunch%2Forientation%2Fcollection.ccx.js Learn five editing basics in Premiere Pro- Incorporated, A. S. (2016, November 2). Learn five editing basics in premiere pro. Retrieved December 31, 2016, from https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/how-to/easy-video.html?playlist=%2Fccx%2Fv1%2Fcollection%2Fproduct%2Fpremiere-pro%2Fsegment%2Fdesigner%2Fexplevel%2Fbeginner%2Fapplaunch%2Forientation%2Fcollection.ccx.js Try basic video editing techniques Incorporated, A. S. (2016, November 2). Try basic video editing techniques. Retrieved December 31, 2016, from https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/how-to/edit-videos.html?playlist=%2Fccx%2Fv1%2Fcollection%2Fproduct%2Fpremiere-pro%2Fsegment%2Fdesigner%2Fexplevel%2Fbeginner%2Fapplaunch%2Forientation%2Fcollection.ccx

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Olympic Games :: Olympics History Greek Olympia Essays

The Olympic Games The Olympic Games are an international sports festival that began in ancient Greece. The original Greek games were staged every fourth year for several hundred years, until they were abolished in the early Christian era. The revival of the Olympic Games took place in 1896, and since then they have been staged every fourth year, except during World War I and World War II. Perhaps the basic difference between the ancient and modern Olympics is that the former was the ancient Greeks' way of saluting their gods, whereas the modern Games are a manner of saluting the athletic talents of citizens of all nations. The original Olympics featured competition in music, oratory, and theater performances as well. The modern Games have a more expansive athletic agenda, and for two and one-half weeks they are supposed to replace the rancor of international conflict with friendly competition. In recent times, however, that lofty ideal has not always been attained. The earliest reliable date that recorded history gives for the first Olympics is 776 BC, although virtually all historians presume that the Games began well before then. It is certain that during the midsummer of 776 BC a festival was held at Olympia on the highly civilized eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula. That festival remained a regularly scheduled event, taking place during the pre- Christian golden age of Greece. As a testimony to the religious nature of the Games, which were held in honor of Zeus, the most important god in the ancient Greek pantheon, all wars would cease during the contests. According to the earliest records, only one athletic event was held in the ancient Olympics--a foot race of about 183 m (200 yd), or the length of the stadium. A cook, Coroibus of Elis, was the first recorded winner. The first few Olympics had only local appeal and were limited to one race on one day; only men were allowed to compete or attend. A second race--twice the length of the stadium-- was added in the 14th Olympics, and a still longer race was added to the next competition, four years later. When the powerful, warlike Spartans began to compete, they influenced the agenda. The 18th Olympics included wrestling and a pentathlon consisting of running, jumping, spear throwing, discus throwing, and wrestling. Boxing was added at the 23rd Olympiad, and the games continued to expand, with the addition of chariot racing and other sports. In the 37th Olympiad the format was extended to five days of competition. The growth of the Games fostered "professionalism" among the competitors, and the Olympic ideals waned as royalty began to compete for personal gain,

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Prestige Telephone Company Essay

PDS continuing to report operating losses due to some issues like delay of Equipment Deliveries, personnel commended higher salary than expected , Difficulties to find customers , Storage space which is used for keeping the equipment was high , high lease and equipment purchase cost , Limitation on service providing cost for parent company and charges which is given to the corporate service by the prestige Telephone Company . After analyzing the exhibits and the relation between the prestige telephone company and prestige data services I would recommend Mr. Rowe that Mr. Rowe should give some privilege to PDS in case of rent charges and the PTS should look over the facilities which provided by corporate services . PTC and PDS should manage their sales department together so it become easy for them to provide service to the clients in case of data maintaining, accounting so the individual cost will be limited. Secondly I would recommend Mr. Rowe regarding service providing hours as after analyzing the total revenue and total hours in report of first quarter there is a huge gap of hours in between these two’s If they plan to work around 550-600 hours in different shifts and maintenance of the computer is done on non-working days and utilize remaining hours for service providing they can increase their revenue hours per month. Regarding improved reporting / accounting format I would be preferring the graphical representation for revenue hours as it is easy to study graphically how many hours been actually utilize for intra company and for commercial purposes and on the other hand the financial report will be presented in percentage format as it will become easy to calculate some important figures and make some plan action upon that. As per the first quarter report on exhibit 1 the PDS showing some positive increment in their revenue hours as we compare month Jan and March this proves the company is efficient to provide good service as its bit difficult to get such a result at initial stages. So after seen such a improvement the company should get some more period of time to improve his performance and meet the revenue hours with total hours . And as the PDS is the parent company they should give some costing privilege in below cases they may overcome some losses in which they are invested in different sections like rent of the storage space and salary issues to the personnel and at other hand as the PDS is not in a public sector so they can increase their service charges and make some profit through it by providing efficient service to the clients .

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Physical Security in the Army

The Army regulation regarding Physical Security is AR 190-16 which states: That part of security concerned with physical measures designed to safeguard personnel, to prevent unauthorized access to equipment, installations, material and documents, and to safeguard them against espionage, sabotage, damage, and theft. The importance of maintaining accountability of your equipment as a U. S. Army As a Soldier is that I'm responsible for maintaining accountability for everything I am signed for. Meaning that I am to know where everything is that i'm signed for, and to ensuring that it is also secure. I should also be more cautious with Sensitive items such as my weapon, raido, body armor, kevlar, NBC Mask and so on. These are not just items for my personal use, they are a part of my combat uniform and necessary to complete my mission should it go down the shitter. Accountability of your sensitive items is important. To lose a sensitive item can be detrimental to the readiness of your unit in times of war or training. The consequences of losing sensitive items varies from item to item according to its value and importance. There are many other punishments such as life in prison. To lose a sensitive item can also be a violation of the army values. It violates the values of Duty and Integrity. It violates duty because without the proper equipment you cannot perform your duties. You also let down your platoon and/ or squad by not knowing where your items are. It violates the integrity of yourself by letting your platoon down. Your platoon counts on you to make sure you know where all your items are. If the enemy get a hold of them it makes for a very bad day. The enemy would like nothing more than to get a hold of or weapon systems and our radios. The enemy wants to know everything about how the militaryworks and about our operations. In times of war the more sensitive an item is the more the enemy craves the item. You should never leave equipment lyingaround. If you see that your battle buddy has leftany equipment lying around no matter what it is from patrol cap to an SKL Secure it and make sure you let them know off line the mistake they have made. It does not matter what rank they are. So, it is very important to secure all your sensitive equipment and items, and maintain accountability. The reason simply is to keep very important high costvalued items and equipment 700 accounted for so people all around you do not have to deal with the consequences of the lost item or equipment. Also every sensitve item or equipment is high dollar valued so if you lose it you will be hurting money wise by losing a grand or more easily right on the spot. And after that you can possibly do jail time from six months to a year and sure their will be rank taken away or something along those lines. You might even get an article fifteen after all that or maybe when you have to pay for the lost sensitive equipment or item so these should be a main priority to maintainand know where they are at all times and are accounted for either battle buddy. According to FM 7-21. 13 Chapter 3 on Duties and Responsibilities of the Individual Soldier: â€Å"Duties are general requirements to be performed. Duty begins with everything required of you by law, regulation, and ordersâ€Å", but it includes much more than that, a duty is a legal or moral obligation. Each soldier has a obligation to his/her team, to his or her section, and to the rest of his or her unit to keep constant accountability of their individually issued items. If these obligations were to be thwarted in any way, this would cost his or her unit time the length of time used in obtaining new equipment, personnel resources and manpower that could be utilized otherwise in accomplishing mission critical tasks, and financial resources at any costs incurred to the unit itself. FM 7-21. 13 also states that â€Å"responsibility is the legally established and moral obligation a soldier assumes for his or her own actions, accomplishments and failures. Every soldier is responsible for performing his or her duty to the very best of his or her ability and for trying to improve his or her performance. For example, soldiers are also responsible for their personal conduct and appearance. Also, every soldier is responsible for his or her own physical fitness. And just as personal fitness and appearance is the responsibility of every soldier, so should accountability of personal equipment. Every soldier in the Army assumed this personal responsibility when they took their enlistment oath.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Spanish Phrases Referring to Parts of the Body

Spanish Phrases Referring to Parts of the Body In Spanish, you can open your ears as well as your eyes, and something that fits perfectly is like a ring on a finger instead of a glove on a hand. The language has hundreds of phrases and colloquial expressions that include the names of body parts. Here are some of the most common or interesting; each phrase below is followed by a literal translation and then a common English translation followed by a sample sentence. Note that many of the sentence translations are not literal. Brazo (Arm) dar el brazo a torcer (to give ones arm to be turned) - to give up, to be persuaded - Era el equipo que no dio el brazo a torcer en busca del gol. (It was the team that never gave up in pursuit of the goal.)nacer con un pan bajo el brazo (to be born with a loaf of bread under the arm) - to be born with a silver spoon in ones mouth - La hija de los actores nacer con un pan bajo el brazo. (The actors daughter will be born with a silver spoon in her mouth.) Cabeza (Head) andar de cabeza (to be heady) - to be busy, to have a full plate - Solo son las 11 de la maà ±ana y ya ando de cabeza. (Its only 11 a.m. and already Im swamped with plenty to do.)andar mal de la cabeza (to be bad in the head) - to be crazy, to not think straight - Creo que yo no soy el que anda mal de la cabeza. (I know Im not the one who needs my head examined.)cabeza frà ­a (cool head) - said of someone who remains calm or rational - La expulsià ³n del jugador es totalmente justificada. Nunca tiene la cabeza frà ­a. (The players expulsion is totally justified. Hes always a hot head.)cabeza hueca (hollow head) - said of someone stupid - La persona de madurez no tiene la cabeza hueca. (The mature person isnt an air head.) One common synonym is cabeza de chorlito, equivalent of the English bird brain. Other synonyms include cabeza de melà ³n (melon head) and cabeza de calabaza (pumpkin head). Cerebro (Brain) cerebro de mosquito (mosquito brain) - bird brain, stupid person - Parece que tu cerebro de mosquito no te deja comprender lo que yo escribà ­.  (It seems that your bird brain doesnt let you understand what I wrote you.)cerebro gris (gray brain) - someone who is in charge behind the scenes. - El profesor niega ser el cerebro gris del presidente. (The professor denies being the hidden brains behind the president.)lavar el cerebro (to wash the brain) - to brainwash, although the Spanish term doesnt always come across as pejorative as the English one - Me lavà ³ el cerebro y me convencià ³ de irnos a festejar Aà ±o Nuevo. (She brainwashed me and convinced me to go with her to celebrate New Years.) Codo (Elbow) codo con codo, codo a codo (elbow to elbow) - side by side; in cooperation with others - Estudiaron codo a codo por una hora. (They studied together for an hour.)empinar el codo, levantar de codo (to lift ones elbow) - to drink alcoholic beverages - Despuà ©s de la pesca, empinaron el codo y se durmieron. (After fishing, they drank a few and fell asleep.) Dedo (Finger) chuparse el dedo (to suck ones thumb) - to be naive, foolish or unknowledgeable; to see someone else as such - No me digas que tu perro comià ³ tus tareas.  ¡No me chupo el dedo! (Dont tell me the dog ate your homework. I wasnt born yesterday!)como anillo al dedo (like a ring on a finger) - perfectly timed or perfectly suitable for the situation - La oportunidad vino como anillo al dedo. (The opportunity came to me at the perfect time.)no tener dos dedos de frente (to not have two fingers of a forehead; the phrase comes from a time when it was believed that the size and shape of the forehead was an indicator of intelligence) - to be stupid, to be as smart as a fence post, to not be the sharpest tool in the shed, etc. - El que se crea eso no tiene dos dedos de frente. (Whoever believes that isnt very bright.)sin mover un dedo (without moving a finger) - without lifting a finger - Es posible tener à ©xito en los negocios sin mover un dedo. (It is possible to be successful i n business without lifting a finger.) tapar el Sol con un dedo (to hide the sun with ones finger) - to ignore reality, to bury ones head in the sand - Tapa el sol con el dedo cuando trata de defender lo indefendible. (Hes ignoring reality when he tries to defend the indefensible.) Espalda (Back) cubrir las espaldas (to cover someones back) - to protect someone, to have someones back - Te cubro las espaldas. Todo est bajo control. (I have your back. Everything is under control.)volver la espalda (to turn ones back) - to turn ones back - No me respondià ³ antes me volvià ³ la espalda. (He did not answer me before turning his back on me.) Nariz (Nose or Nostril) darle en la nariz (to be given in the nose) - to be suspicious - Me da en la nariz que la respuesta de mi padre es no. (I have a suspicion that my fathers answer is no.)no ver ms all de sus narices (to not see beyond ones nostrils) - to not see beyond the end of ones nose - Esta generacià ³n de polà ­ticos no ve ms all de sus narices e intereses. (This generation of politicians cant see beyond their noses and own interests.) Oà ­do (Ear) abrir los oà ­dos (to open ones ears) - to pay attention - Los escolares abren los oà ­dos al cambio climtico. (Scholars are paying attention to climate change.)entrarle por un oà ­do y salirle por el otro (to go in one ear and out the other) - to go in one ear and out the other - Las palabras de su hermano le entraron por un oà ­do y le salieron por el otro, sin afectarla en absoluto (Her brothers words went in one ear and out the other without affecting her in the least.)prestar oà ­do (to lend an ear) - to pay attention - Elena no prestaba oà ­do a las disculpas. (Elena didnt pay attention to the excuses.) Ojo (Eye) costar un ojo de la cara (to cost an eye from ones face) - to cost an arm and a leg - Viajar al oriente del paà ­s te costar un ojo de la cara. (Traveling to the eastern part of the country will cost you an arm and a leg.)echar un ojo (to throw a look) - to take a look - Vamos a echar un ojo a lo que dice. (Were going to take a look at what hes saying.)en el ojo del huracn (in the eye of the hurricane ) - in the center of a controversy, in the center of the storm - Le diseà ±adora est en el ojo del huracn por la extrema delgadez de sus modelos. (The designer is in the hot seat because of the extreme thinness of her models.)tener ojo de lince (to have a lynx eye) - to have good vision, literally or figuratively; to have eagle eyes - Nuestro contador tiene ojo de lince para detectar pequeà ±as  irregularidades. (Our accountant has eagle eyes for finding tiny irregularities.) Pecho (Chest, Breasts) dar pecho, dar el pecho (to give the breast) - to breastfeed -  ¿Necesitan proteccià ³n institucional las mujeres que dan el pecho en pà ºblico? (Do women who breastfeed in public need institutional protection?)tener un corazà ³n que no le cabe en el pecho (to have a heart too big to fit in his/her chest) - to be big-hearted or generous - En ms de una ocasià ³n ha demostrado que tiene un corazà ³n que no le cabe en el pecho. (More than once she has shown herself to be very generous.) Pie y Cabeza (Foot and Head) de pies a cabeza (from feet to head) - from head to toe - Mi hijo est tatuado de pies a cabeza con varios diseà ±os. (My son is tattooed from head to toe with various designs.)sin pies ni cabeza (without feet nor head) - making no sense; without rhyme or reason - El puente a ninguna parte es un proyecto sin pies ni cabeza. (The bridge to nowhere is a senseless project.) Pierna (Leg) dormir a pierna suelta (to sleep with a leg that is free to move; the phrase comes from the days when prisoners would sleep better if their legs werent chained to prevent escape) - to sleep like a log - Nuestro bebà © dormà ­a a pierna suelta y no se despertà ³ nunca por el ruido. (Our baby slept like a log and never woke up because of the noise.)hacer piernas (to do legs) - to get exercise - Hace 15 aà ±os, cuando empecà © a entrenar, me dije, No necesito hacer piernas porque ya tengo mà ºsculos muy grandes. (Fifteen years ago, when I began training, I told myself, I dont need to exercise because I already have big muscles.)

Monday, October 21, 2019

Free Essays on Moral Isolationism

on innocent strangers in order to ensure that one swing of their sword that could decapitate a man. If a samurai went off to battle and could not decapitate his enemy’s head he would be a disgrace to his community. Midgley gives a few examples of how to go about judging this practice, which is seemingly condoned by ancient Chinese cultures. First, she claims that the â€Å"judge† must have knowledge of the event. When referring to an Indian who denounced western civilization after a two week visit to Brazil she states, â€Å"my own impression is that we believe that outsiders can, in principle, deliver perfectly good indictments-only, it usually takes more than two weeks to make them damming. Understanding has degrees†(Midgley, 78). This brings ... Free Essays on Moral Isolationism Free Essays on Moral Isolationism In Mary Midgley’s Trying Out One’s New Sword, she explains that moral isolationism â€Å"Consists in simply denying that we can never understand any culture except our own well enough to make judgements about it†(Midgley, 78). She goes on to state that, â€Å"those who recommend this hold that the world is sharply divided into separate societies, sealed units, each with its own system of thought†(Midgley, 78). Midgley also explains that the people who take up this idea of moral isolationism think that it is being respectful to other cultures and societies. Midgey does not agree with this idea. â€Å"Nobody can respect what is entirely unintelligible to them. To respect someone, we have to know enough about him to make a favorable judgement, however general and tentative. And we do not understand people in other cultures to this extent. Otherwise a great mass of our most valuable thinking would be paralyzed† (Midgley, 78). Midgley provides numerous examples to show the importance of analyzing other culture’s morals in order to form educated judgments about them. She gives an example of ancient Chinese samurai warriors whom before going off to battle would test the sharpness of their swords on innocent strangers in order to ensure that one swing of their sword that could decapitate a man. If a samurai went off to battle and could not decapitate his enemy’s head he would be a disgrace to his community. Midgley gives a few examples of how to go about judging this practice, which is seemingly condoned by ancient Chinese cultures. First, she claims that the â€Å"judge† must have knowledge of the event. When referring to an Indian who denounced western civilization after a two week visit to Brazil she states, â€Å"my own impression is that we believe that outsiders can, in principle, deliver perfectly good indictments-only, it usually takes more than two weeks to make them damming. U nderstanding has degrees†(Midgley, 78). This brings ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

African American Literature Essay Example for Free (#2)

African American Literature Essay African American (597) , African (466) , Short story (403) , American literature (133) , African american literature (7) company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints ? African American literature has a strong deeply rooted background in the history of America, thus giving the writers categorized in this genre a strong message to convey in any story they chose to tell. From tragic life moments to happy life moments, the writers have the ability to tell their story in a variety of methods. This canon of literature serves as a diary for the African American community. All of the literary works that compile this genre reflect the many twists and turns a collective group of persons must endure while struggling to achieve a place in history. The following discussion of three historically significant African American stories reflects the struggles one race of persons had to endure on their journey throughout various time periods in America. The Short Stories In the short story, My White Folks Treated us Good by Mariah Hines the author describes in first person account of a situation when African American slaves were treated well in comparison to the stories of abuse, rape, and neglect most persons are accustom to reading from this era. The slaves never went hungry, always had clothes to wear, were able to work under their own accord, always treated with respect, and were told to take Sundays off while also being encouraged to attend church on Sundays. The slaves were in fact treated so well that when they were free to leave, they choose to remain at their former master’s farm and continued working for him. Hines concluded the Master continued to support his former slaves. Hines stated â€Å"Master helped us much as he could. Some of us he gave a cow or mule or anything he could spare to help us (p. 34). † Moving forward in time, the short story Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston describes a situation of domestic abuse in a long term relationship between a wife, Delia Jones, and her husband, Sykes Jones. Sykes enjoyed torturing Delia, he would find ways to make her job as a washwoman more difficult by kicking the clothes across the room or by scaring her with ways related to her fear of snakes. Sykes enjoyed fighting; he in fact enjoyed it so much so that he intentionally picked fights with Delia. This type of torture strained their marriage to the point of near silence on a daily basis. Sykes thought it to be a good idea to bring a rattlesnake into their home. The rattlesnake got lose in the home, Delia was able to get outside the home but Sykes remained in the home and was attacked in their bedroom. Sykes yelled to Delia for help and comfort, but she was unable to come to him related to fear. Delia finally walked to the door, but due to the nature of his injuries and the distance to the doctor she understood he would not make it through this attack, therefore she allowed him to pass in their backyard. â€Å"She could scarcely reach the chinaberry tree, where she waited in the growing heat while inside she knew the cold river was creeping up and up to extinguish that eye which much known by now that she knew (p. 108). † This story shows how those who choose to abuse others always pay for those actions in the end. Alice Walker wrote the story Nineteen Fifty-Five, about a young white singer, Traynor, who purchased a song from a young African American woman, Gracie Mae, and went on to become famous after recording and releasing his own version. His version of Gracie Mae’s song continued to eat away at Gracie Mae for the rest of her life. It did not have the same meaning, nor was it loved by his fans for the same reasons she hoped it would be. The fans loved Traynor, not the song. Traynor continued to keep in contact with Gracie Mae throughout his time in the army, touring, marriages, and divorces. Then towards after many years, contact stopped and Traynor was found dead after 15 wives and a troubled road in the end. Gracie Mae lived vicariously through Traynor and his portrayal of her song. Gracie Mae herself lived quite happily through the birth of many children, the divorce and/or death of three husbands, the showering of gifts from Traynor, and his ultimate death. Gracie Mae did have a connection to Traynor that flowed deeper than her song. â€Å"One night I dreamed Traynor has split up with his fifteenth wife p. 297). † Due to the stereotypes and prejudices of this time period Gracie Mae and Traynor were never able to express the emotional connection they felt between each other. Common Literary Conventions Literary conventions and themes were similar in the stories; connotations, culture, undertones, and main characters were alike. The three stories were written in first person and portrayed a personal struggle endured by each main character. The main character was always female, strong, and independent in different way. The stories span three different periods of time, yet still reflecting similar struggles in very different settings. These conventions are important when connecting the messages of these stories. Each has a story of struggle, some are internal while others are outward, and each woman must find inner strength to change or cope with their situations. Beginning with My White Folks Treated us Good, this story was historically important in relation to conveying the happiness that could be found in such a dire situation as slavery. Hines showed not all slavery conditions were adverse or abusive; there was still the possibility of enjoying life, and gaining independence by getting the break needed, such as the freeing of all slaves, to make one’s own life better. In Sweat, Hurstson was able write a story about a woman able to persevere in a dreadful situation of both mental and physical abuse. During this time in history, women were not able to be independent and outspoken due to a fear of judgment or increased abuse. Delia was given the chance to be free from the abuses of Sykes and took that chance by allowing him to die from his injuries, thus resulting in her freedom. Following in the same suit, Nineteen Fifty-Five expressed the internal struggle of a woman’s desire to be understood and independent. Gracie Mae wanted to sing her own song and live her own life, without connection to a version of her song that did not represent the original intent. Gracie Mae was happy with her life, but was never free from what the release of her song brought to her life. Conclusion Culturally, these stories are important to all American’s. The historical significance of these stories and the emphasis on equality places a connotation of acceptance and availability of equal opportunity to all persons regardless of color, social class, age, race, gender, or personal situation. African Americans are able to tell their personal stories of struggles and triumphs through literature. This literature is a valuable tool for all persons wanting to educate themselves about significant times in American history. References Young, A. (1996). African American Literature: A brief Introduction and Anthology. New York, New York: HarperCollins College Publishers. African American Literature. (2016, Dec 18).

Friday, October 18, 2019

Destination Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Destination Development - Essay Example TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 4 2. Emergence of Destination Development 4 3. Concepts & Approaches 5 a. Stage of Development 6 b. Approach to Destination Management 7 c. System of Governance 7 d. Research Undertakings/Application of Research 8 e. Tourism Policy & Planning 9 f. Stakeholders 9 g. Forms of Tourism 10 h. Application of Sustainability Indicators 11 i. Competition And Collaboration 12 j. Destination Marketing 12 k. Tourism Trends 12 4. Findings 13 5. Conclusion 13 6. References 15 1. Introduction The recent surveys by the tourism department of France have clarified the fact that Paris is one of the most preferred travel destinations in the world. The city receives about 27 million visitors every year. Among them 17 million are international visitors. If the visitors in the surrounding regions are included then the number would read 44 million (Staab et al, 2002). There are about 3800 historical monuments in Paris and the surrounding areas along with four UNESCO World H eritage Sites. Furthermore, there are several famous attractions available in Paris, which include Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame de Paris, the Louvre, Basilique du Sacre-C?ur, Pompidou Centre, Arc de Triomphe and Musee d'Orsay. In Paris, many forms of public transportation are available, which include metro, bus and boats (Heath, 2002). Though there is evidence of Paris receiving the lowest level of rainfall in France, there are chances that tourists can experience some unexpected rainfall throughout the year. Hence, it’s evident that destination development pertaining to Paris will go a long way in making Paris even more tourist-friendly and popular in the coming years. 2. Emergence of Destination Development It is not possible for a destination to promote experiences and products that are not available. Destination development is a continuous process in which development and coordination of products, services, facilities and amenities take place (Poon, 1993). The continuous development helps enhancing the quality of experience of the tourists and visitors. Destination development is an important process in order to implement tourism management. In this process, the destination managers and stakeholders play an important role in prioritizing the strategies and plans which were developed during the destination planning process. It is important to inform the destination development process by the process of situation analysis and in the process planning phase (Crouch & Ritchie, 1999). The destination performance process needs to be monitored against the KPI’s that are clearly depicted and the tourism industry in Paris also follows the same (Staab et al, 2002). Beech and Chadwick (2006, p. 23) state ‘An important factor to take into account is the spatial dimensions of tourism. Any basic understanding of tourism shows a requirement for travel and, hence, consumption away from home where goods and services are usually purchased and used. Leiper’s (1979) landmark work usefully explains this difference by proposing three different ‘geographies’ or spatial components: (i) tourism in the generating or home region of the traveler; (ii) tourism at the destination region; and (iii) the transit routes – the ‘area’ or supply of travel and transport facilities between the two regions. While all three are naturally highly interconnected in terms of an individual’s trip, each of these ‘

Marketing led management(Apple's iphone) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing led management(Apple's iphone) - Essay Example The study will be focused upon the UK based company Telefonica,popularly known as O2.It has been in venture with Apple to promote iPhone in the UK market.The brand O2 caters the services in the telecommunication sector offering integrated mobile,fixed and broadband services in the UK,Germany,Ireland,Slovakia and Czech Republic In the year 2007, Apple launched its product iPhone with O2 in the UK market. Apple iPhone was offered in different tariffs with variety of handsets in the UK market (Guardian News and Media Limited, 2011). In order to launch iPhone in the European market, Apple needs to have a contract with the service provider. They had options in the European market. There were UK’s O2, France’s Orange and Germany’s T-Mobile. There were rumours regarding the revenue sharing percentage deal between Apple and others. After the plethora of negotiations, the UK’s O2 was finalised for the deal to market Apple’s product . Strategic Analysis The d eal was finalised between the UK’s O2 and Apple for the distribution of the Apple’s iPhone in the UK market. The deal concentrated upon the revenue sharing percentage that O2 would provide to Apple from the iPhone sales. The significance of the deal to O2 can be justified by the strategic analysis through the SWOT evaluation. SWOT Analysis Strengths O2 is known as the successful network operator in the UK market. The awareness of the brand is huge among the target customer group. There are more than 300 stores of O2 in the UK market (Franchise Development Services Ltd, 2011). Telefonica has been operating for more than 85 years in the UK telecommunication industry and has a consistency growth rate and is acquainted with their target consumers’ need and wants. By the year 2009 it had about 265 million customers operating in 25 countries. Telefonica provides integrated ICT solutions to all segments of customers that can be demonstrated in a graphical format below. Telefonica has diverse operations and generates revenue from different market operations, which build up a strong financial position of the company (Telefonica, 2010). (Telefonica, 2010). Telefonica has been able to increase its consumer base by 2009 and it is still on the rise. The company achieved a 9 % growth in the number of consumers by the end of 2009. The expansion in the consumer base will generate more revenues for the company. With the increasing number of consumers there is more possibility of increase in the sales of iPhone. This will generate more revenues for Apple (Telefonica Europe plc, 2009). Apple is one of the leading brands in the global market and is known for its iPhone. The newly launched product of Apple is the ‘iPhone 4’ in the UK market. O2 provides maximum advantage to every class of users at an affordable rate (PR Wall Street, 2010). The mobile network of Telefonica covers 99% of the UK populace. O2’s 3G network covers over 80% of the UK’s populace. The best selling device of Telefonica O2 UK is the iPhone that has more than 2 million sales (Telefonica, 2010). Weaknesses The UK consumers had the facility of 3G phones before the launch of the iPhone in the UK market. They were already using the 3G technology. There were problems related to the offering of the call rates. The call rates of the iPhone deal allowed 200 inclusive minutes for ?35 whereas the competitors provided 750 inclusive minutes with a free phone. The consumers were apprehensive about the contract related to iPhone. The main concern was regarding the up-gradation of the phone, the device itself as it has non-removable battery and limited battery life. The consumers wanted to upgrade their iPhone 3G as it faced the problem of battery life. This problem was a concern for Telefonica O2 UK against their endeavour to increase the sales and get

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Business - Assignment Example Currently, Coca Cola faces competition from other soft drink producers that is not all that substantial but the threat from substitute products is growing. These are only but a few o the challenges that the company may have to face – both now and in the future. The soft drink industry may be strong for now but this does not mean the consumers will remain marred to it. Coca Cola should pursue a strategy that will reduce the overall cost of its products. This strategy will give Coca Cola a much competitive advantage over its rivals who have already adapted methods of lowering the cost of their products. This is one of the many recommendations that the company should adopt if it has to enjoy continued success in the international market. International Business is the terminology that generally describes the business activities that occur across the boundaries of countries for both profit making and political reasons (Daniels & Radebaugh, 2007). This article will explore one such company doing business internationally namely the Coca Cola company, and identify a few significant issues related to its international operations. Coca Cola, which is the symbolic American soda company, is among the companies that have operated internationally for a lengthy time period, having first gone international in the year 1902. It is currently a market leader in terms of soft drinks sales worldwide given that its products sell up to one and a half billion servings on a daily basis. The company can also boast of having the world’s largest production, distribution and marketing system of syrup and non-alcoholic beverage which is in fact double in size of its nearest competitor. For numerous reasons, the Coca Cola Company holds the belief that it will maintain its international growth. Among these reasons are its rising disposable income and the global

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Motivation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Motivation - Essay Example Like other doctorate students, I joined the Walden University to pursue a doctorate in Business Administration-Healthcare Management. After my undergraduate studies, I thought that I had obtained all the knowledge that I needed to survive in the real world. However, I later realized that a single degree was not sufficient for me to handle the emerging and dynamic challenges of life. I realized that there were many concepts that were unfamiliar to me, and my desire for continued physical and intellectual stimulation was still hot in my mind. Further, there was a strong need to push myself beyond the limits by breaking through the challenges of doctorate education, and strengthen my coping capacities because education can become frustrating at times. According to Mujtaba et al. (2006), the comprehensive dissertation process and the complex exams are the climax of doctorate degrees. They consume a substantial amount of a student’s time and resources before successful completion. Doctorate studies increase the job potential of an individual  by orienting a student to research of high education, and business language and vocabularies (Mujtaba et al., 2006). Business administration course is a comprehensive field, which has many vocabularies and conceptual language that only experts can understand. Healthcare management is another complex field that requires people who are highly trained and competent professionals to run the activities in this field. My chief motivation for pursuing a doctorate in this field was the increasing demand for effective management of healthcare resources. This will ensure that citizens of this nation receive high quality health services, which will facilitate a decrease in the number of deaths caused by poor management. During the course of my study, I expect to gain sufficient insights into administrative concept like strategic planning, strategic production, distribution and

Reading respond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reading respond - Essay Example Question 2 A business organization brings together people from diverse backgrounds and with abilities that are uniquely different. Among other organizational management skills required for an efficient management organization is the need for an effective communication system. Such a system should recognize the different abilities shown by the staff. The imminent increase in diversity at places of work have had imminent influences on organizational set ups. This has been so irrespective in terms of communication and human behavioral adaptations. The aspect of communication also entails the aspect of giving what would be defined as nonverbal communication. In this sense, it is important to acknowledge that diversity at places of work have led to obvious issues which need to be addressed if the organization setup is to remain as conventional as would be suitable for everyone involved within the organization. A) Effect on communication The imminent issues that would arise from such event ualities affect communication. These are a myriad. However, the most evident would be based on the cultural differences that people inherently have. For instance, some people are from tolerant background while it is naturally anticipated that other people would harbor intolerable traits. In handling the diversities at the places of work, it is important to a strike a balance in making everyone be comfortable with one another irrespective of the cultural or even social background. Language is a tool of communication. In every communication, it forms an important aspect since it facilitates conveyance of message. Common issues that arise in workplaces with diverse personalities are language problems. This might come from persons having intolerable speech impediments or even plain miscommunications due to language issues. People need to be enlightened on the issues that exist in the workplace. Through that, prejudices and misconceptions would be overcome. Consequently, such moves would aid communication in immeasurable ways. B) Nonverbal communication entails using means or platforms which are not audible. These involve using platforms of communication which might be including signs, gestures, or even written notes. In an organization with a diverse background, there are bound to be issues in communication using the nonverbal platform. In such circumstances, communication might be hindered by such issues as levels of technological sophistication. This comes from the fact that there are those persons within the diverse workforce who might have least exposure to technology compared to others. For instance, the older generation would find it hard to communicate with the younger workmates through social media and other similar platforms. Consequently, it is important to bridge the gap between the two groups to aid effective coexistence and effective communication (Gibson 148). Other forms of communication such as gestures might be influenced by cultural backgrounds. This insinuates that people of different cultural backgrounds at a diverse place of work might have unique interpretations to different gestures. For instance, a facial gesture from one employee might insinuate a different meaning altogether to another employee. In such circumstances, such communication might be hampered. Besides, gender and religion also play an important role in gestures as forms of communication amongst the employees of diverse origin. For instance, a gesture to female employee

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

International Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Business - Assignment Example Currently, Coca Cola faces competition from other soft drink producers that is not all that substantial but the threat from substitute products is growing. These are only but a few o the challenges that the company may have to face – both now and in the future. The soft drink industry may be strong for now but this does not mean the consumers will remain marred to it. Coca Cola should pursue a strategy that will reduce the overall cost of its products. This strategy will give Coca Cola a much competitive advantage over its rivals who have already adapted methods of lowering the cost of their products. This is one of the many recommendations that the company should adopt if it has to enjoy continued success in the international market. International Business is the terminology that generally describes the business activities that occur across the boundaries of countries for both profit making and political reasons (Daniels & Radebaugh, 2007). This article will explore one such company doing business internationally namely the Coca Cola company, and identify a few significant issues related to its international operations. Coca Cola, which is the symbolic American soda company, is among the companies that have operated internationally for a lengthy time period, having first gone international in the year 1902. It is currently a market leader in terms of soft drinks sales worldwide given that its products sell up to one and a half billion servings on a daily basis. The company can also boast of having the world’s largest production, distribution and marketing system of syrup and non-alcoholic beverage which is in fact double in size of its nearest competitor. For numerous reasons, the Coca Cola Company holds the belief that it will maintain its international growth. Among these reasons are its rising disposable income and the global

Reading respond Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reading respond - Essay Example Question 2 A business organization brings together people from diverse backgrounds and with abilities that are uniquely different. Among other organizational management skills required for an efficient management organization is the need for an effective communication system. Such a system should recognize the different abilities shown by the staff. The imminent increase in diversity at places of work have had imminent influences on organizational set ups. This has been so irrespective in terms of communication and human behavioral adaptations. The aspect of communication also entails the aspect of giving what would be defined as nonverbal communication. In this sense, it is important to acknowledge that diversity at places of work have led to obvious issues which need to be addressed if the organization setup is to remain as conventional as would be suitable for everyone involved within the organization. A) Effect on communication The imminent issues that would arise from such event ualities affect communication. These are a myriad. However, the most evident would be based on the cultural differences that people inherently have. For instance, some people are from tolerant background while it is naturally anticipated that other people would harbor intolerable traits. In handling the diversities at the places of work, it is important to a strike a balance in making everyone be comfortable with one another irrespective of the cultural or even social background. Language is a tool of communication. In every communication, it forms an important aspect since it facilitates conveyance of message. Common issues that arise in workplaces with diverse personalities are language problems. This might come from persons having intolerable speech impediments or even plain miscommunications due to language issues. People need to be enlightened on the issues that exist in the workplace. Through that, prejudices and misconceptions would be overcome. Consequently, such moves would aid communication in immeasurable ways. B) Nonverbal communication entails using means or platforms which are not audible. These involve using platforms of communication which might be including signs, gestures, or even written notes. In an organization with a diverse background, there are bound to be issues in communication using the nonverbal platform. In such circumstances, communication might be hindered by such issues as levels of technological sophistication. This comes from the fact that there are those persons within the diverse workforce who might have least exposure to technology compared to others. For instance, the older generation would find it hard to communicate with the younger workmates through social media and other similar platforms. Consequently, it is important to bridge the gap between the two groups to aid effective coexistence and effective communication (Gibson 148). Other forms of communication such as gestures might be influenced by cultural backgrounds. This insinuates that people of different cultural backgrounds at a diverse place of work might have unique interpretations to different gestures. For instance, a facial gesture from one employee might insinuate a different meaning altogether to another employee. In such circumstances, such communication might be hampered. Besides, gender and religion also play an important role in gestures as forms of communication amongst the employees of diverse origin. For instance, a gesture to female employee

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The Nature Versus Nurture Debate Essay Example for Free

The Nature Versus Nurture Debate Essay What makes you who you are? This question is the essence behind the nature versus nurture debate. It is also a question that has plagued scientists for centuries, and philosophers before that. Recently, the debate has raged over which of two major factors has the biggest impact on one’s development. With advancements in genetics, such as the mapping of the human genome, scientists have a better understanding of what traits are inherited. Obviously, certain physical characteristics, such as hair, eye, and skin color, are defined by genes passed on from one’s parents. However, the line is not so clear when it comes to psychological conditions, behavior, and intelligence. The environment in which a child is raised also includes a number of influences, such as their parents (or lack thereof), relatives, socioeconomic status, and resources. The debate had centered on how much of those characteristics are determined by genetics or from one’s environment. Advances in modern science suggest neither nature nor nurture is exclusively responsible in favor of an interactive relationship between our genes and environmental influences. While this proposed compromise would be immensely complex, where one helps to shape the other in ways scientists have yet to completely understand, it would essentially end the debate once and for all. The term â€Å"nature versus nurture† was coined by Sir Francis Galton in 1871, but the debate actually dates back to ancient Greek literature and philosophers who questioned the nature of fate versus free will (Lewis). Galton referred to the phrase as a â€Å"convenient jingle of words, for it separates under two distinct heads the innumerable elements of which personality is composed† (M.  S. , M. B. ). The mindset of this phrasing stuck with the debate, carrying the notion of two separate and opposing scientific views, and extending his influence long after his controversial work had been published. Many of the theories Galton developed were heavily influenced by his cousin, Charles Darwin, whose works on evolution and natural selection were controversial in their own right. At the time, the most commonly held idea was that â€Å"a child was born into the world a blank slate, a ‘tabula rasa’ in the words of British Empiricist David Hume† (Lewis). This belief, also known as environmentalism, is synonymous with what became the nurture side of the debate. Galton’s Hereditary Genius became a source of controversy by resisting this notion and claiming that biodeterminism was responsible for the most eminent, or intelligent, men of his day. By applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human intelligence, Galton’s ideas gave birth to the debate as well as a number of other brands of science, such as genetics, psychology, and eugenics. With the scientific developments in genetics over the past century, the debate is cast in a much different light today. Although Galton and Darwin’s ideas were highly controversial and not well-received immediately, they grew in popularity towards the second half of the 19th century. Scientific understanding of genetics and inheritable traits grew over the next century with Abbot Gregor Mendel’s work establishing the principles of genetics (Lewis). Scientific development during this time laid the ground work for processes, such as genetic recombination and genetic mapping, which have become increasingly important in recent decades. The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003 by an international team of scientists, but there is still much to learn in the field of genetics. Scientists continue to study how genes interact with each other and influences from external stimuli and conditions. One such emerging, yet controversial, field in modern genetics is eugenics, or the ability to engineer a baby’s DNA to promote or suppress certain traits or inherited conditions. By the 1920’s, Galton’s ideas about eugenics had begun to gain considerable ground both here in the United States and in Europe. His claim about the inheritance of intelligence among the eminent men of society naturally led to plans to consolidate this genetic advantage in order to improve the human gene pool, falsely giving racism and discrimination some scientific backing. The culturally biased IQ testing of immigrants began to become more frequent. Essentially, the field could be divided into positive eugenics, which seeks to promote good genes, and negative eugenics, aiming to suppress less desirable genes. There were several horrific applications of negative eugenics during the early 20th century, most notably the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany sought to eliminate the entire Jewish people and pursue their version of a pure race. Today, negative eugenics has fallen out of favor, but genetic screening and engineering has given positive eugenics a new and growing application. In addition to the advent of genetics, psychology developed in order to study the behavioral and personality impacts from both genes and the environment. Perhaps the most controversial of Galton’s claims was that intelligence was an inheritable trait, and thus passed down from the elite of society. He conducted a number of surveys and studies to better understand human intellect and also coined the term mental test† (Lewis). This belief about intelligence, while not as prominent, still exists today in underlying notions about immigration policy and social discrimination. There are many who attribute up to 80 percent of an individual’s I. Q. o genetics, leading some to believe certain racial stereotypes about intelligence, while others attribute those trends to social inequalities (Glass). Today, scientists have made a great deal of progress in understanding how certain mental disorders and personality traits can be transmitted genetically or through environmental stimuli. However, there is still a great deal to learn about the causes of psychological disorders and conditions, including how to prevent them and wheth er nature or nurture is responsible. While developing from these relatively new scientific fields, the nature side of the debate has been promoted by those who believe heredity is ultimately responsible for an individual’s characteristics. Modern science has identified a number of physical characteristics which can be definitively tied to specific genetic phenotypes, or genetically-controlled trait, such as blood type and eye color. Those who adopt an extreme heredity position, or nativists, basically assume â€Å"that the characteristics of the human species as a whole are a product of evolution and those individual differences are due to each person’s unique genetic code† (McLeod). They believe that behavioral tendencies and personality traits that even emerge or mature later in life are merely the result of genetic expression tuned to a sort of biological clock, much like puberty in adolescents. This belief supports the notion that certain people are born not only susceptible to hereditary diseases but also behavioral or psychological conditions, such as alcoholism or violent tendencies. While this stance is controversial for many scientists and psychologists, it lends support for positive eugenics’ pursuit of identifying and eliminating these negative traits by genetic engineering means. In many ways, this view is the modern extension of ancient philosophers’ thinking about free will. It brings up a number of difficult questions about genetic fate with few or no clear answers. For example, how many of our everyday decisions are made of our own free will or just an expression of our innate genetic tendencies is a murky subject. Additionally, whether or not it is possible to overcome these influences is another gray area. If genes are solely responsible, then there exists a sort of genetic predetermination, in that who we become has already been determined before we exit the womb. Conversely, if the environment is solely responsible, then everyone starts essentially as the same blank slate and our unique experiences then make us who we are. At this other end of the spectrum is the nurture side, who believe that we are shaped by a number of environmental factors. Proponents of this approach are the environmentalists or empiricists â€Å"[whose] basic assumption is that at birth the human mind is a tabula rasa and that this is gradually ‘filled’ as a result of experience (e. g. behaviorism)† (McLeod). A person’s personality and any behavioral conditions are then acquired or learned from their surroundings. Perhaps the most important environmental factor in terms of influence on a child’s development is parenting. Many levels of infant development come from imitation of and response to its parent or guardian. For example, an infant forms an attachment in response to the love and attention it receives from its mother. Later on in life, broader cultural and social stimuli help shape children according to the norms of the society in which the child was reared. To learn more about the extent of these stimuli versus genetic influences, scientists have turned to a variety of studies and experiments. In order to learn more about the extent of genetic and environmental influences on one’s psyche, geneticists and psychologists alike have searched for a means to isolate one from the other. Identical twins provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of environment on a child’s development by serving as a control, in that their genes are constant. â€Å"When raised together, both identical and fraternal twins (who on average share only half their genes) come as close as any two people can to sharing the identical home environment† (Glass). However, when reared apart, they would share no environmental influences; therefore, any differences that develop between the genetically identical twins would be the result of the different postnatal environments in which they were raised. Theoretically, if there was a â€Å"well-authenticated case of identical twins reared apart between whom a dramatic difference appears should be enough to invalidate the hypothesis that ‘heredity is destiny’† (Gruber). However, finding such a definitive case has proven difficult for researchers, who have struggled to find significantly different environments and unbiased cases. Most separated twins come from low-income families and are often raised under similar socioeconomic conditions. There is also disagreement with what constitutes similarities in both qualitative and quantitative studies of the twins, such as personality and I. Q. tests. These difficulties have not stopped scientists from continuing to pursue research of identical twins in hope of finding conclusive evidence one way or the other. Some of the essential findings from the case studies on identical twins have revealed a number of expected tendencies, as well as a few surprising trends. Behavioral geneticist Nancy Sega has found that twins raised apart are just strikingly similar in personality to twins raised together, and that biological siblings reared apart are also more similar than adoptive siblings raised together (Glass). Julia Glass’s article references a famous long-term study of Minnesotan twins reared apart who shared almost bizarre similarities: Jim Springer and Jim Lewis, who met for the first time at age 39-and discovered they both drove the same type of Chevrolet, chain-smoked Salem cigarettes, and, as sports fans, liked stock-car racing and football. Both had married women named Linda and then, after divorcing, married women named Betty. One Jim had named a son James Alan; the other Jims son was James Allan. As kids, each of the twins had a dog theyd named Toy; as adults, each had vacationed at the same three-block strip of Florida beach, practiced woodworking in his basement, and put up a circular white bench around a tree in his front yard. Although this is a very unique and special case, some researchers would argue that some of their similarities are coincidental and overlook quite a few differences between the twins. Many critics point out that even identical twins raised together differ, sometimes significantly, especially in personality and temperament. Dr. Susan Farber believes this is a special process, known as twinning, which takes place in the unique environments that twins raised together create for one another. Often, twins deal with their unique identity problems by accentuating similarities and cultivating differences (Gruber). She also believes that twinning can occur between twins reared apart if they know of the others existence through letters or another means of communication. But even Dr. Farber has stated that the best case of twin studies leaves much to be desired in terms of conclusive evidence favoring either genetics or the environment. The studies likely have ruled out any complete responsibility from one side or the other in favor of a broader debate focused on how much each is responsible during development. While the debate has shifted from exclusive responsibility to degrees of influence, other scientists have been studying how genes and environmental factors may interact and influence each other. They have researched how the environment interacts with DNA, from drugs to psychotherapy, in order to determine whether someone will suffer from psychological disorders. This field, known as epigenetics, has finally begun to address gene interactions that were once against conventional biological wisdom. It was believed that such molecular changes occur in fetal cells but not in mature cells. Recent studies are starting to show evidence that certain environmental stimuli can lead to epigenetic changes that could trigger several psychiatric diseases (Steinberg). Understanding and measurement of these changes could eventually indicate how the environment influences the genetic chemistry that underlies many human behaviors and psychological conditions. The two major psychological disorders being studied in the field of epigenetics are schizophrenia and depression. These conditions have been known to run in families and typically arise in adults or adolescents after puberty, when a change takes place in how the responsible gene is expressed. What causes this change is still an unknown, early studies suggest a number of environmental influences may act as a trigger (Steinberg). Evidence has also shown physical changes in the brains of patients suffering from depression. Antidepressants have been developed to help counteract the chemical imbalances that result from these changes. However, there is still much about the treatment of psychological disorders using drugs that scientists do not fully understand. â€Å"Applying epigenetics to the brain is just beginning, but the field is ramping up as technologies to monitor molecular changes improve† (Steinberg). Ultimately, biology and genetics have proven that neither nature nor nurture is exclusively responsible for our development. While many physical traits have definitive genetic ties and growing up in a certain culture certainly has an impact on one’s personality, modern science has shown that the interactive relationship between these influences is extremely complex. Hans Kummer gave a great analogy of the debate by saying that â€Å"trying to determine how much of a trait is produced by nature/genes and how much by nurture/environment is as useless as asking whether the drumming we hear is made by percussionist or instrument† (M. S. , M. B. ). The majority of scientists have come to accept this notion of two intricate and inseparable influences that make us who we are. The historical nature versus nurture debate is over because science had proven the relationship to be far more complex than many scientists imagined and the phrase simply does not do that justice. The term itself has been outgrown by progress in genetics, and can no longer be simply separated into one versus the other. This lagging behind in the language of genetics has kept the futile debate alive for a long time, and often providing fuel for social agendas. Today, scientists hope that new language can better reflect modern science, and allow new questions to be presented in more productive ways.

Monday, October 14, 2019

The Classic Transportation Problem Computer Science Essay

The Classic Transportation Problem Computer Science Essay Classic Transportation Problem is a significant research issue in spatial data analysis and Network analysis in GIS; it helps to answer problems which relate in matching the supply and demand via set of objectives and constraints. The objective is to determine a set of origins and destinations for the supply so as to minimize the total cost. Geographic Information System (GIS) is an intelligent tool which combines characteristic data and spatial features and deal with the relationship connecting them. Although GIS application is extensively utilized in numerous activities, but in transportation its application is still rare. Basically, GIS is an information system which focusing on few factors which included the input, management, analysis and reporting of geographic (spatially related) information. Between all the prospective applications that GIS can be use for, issues on transportation have gained a lot of interest. An exact division of GIS related to issues on transportation has surfaced, which labelled as GIS-T. The Hitchcock transportation dilemma is conceivably one of the most solved linear programming problems in existence (Saul I. Gass, 1990). The addition of GIS into transportation (GIS-T) suggests that it is possible to integrate transportation data into GIS. Many research scholars have discussed computational considerations for solving the Classic Transportation problem (CTP): Shafaat and Goyal developed a procedure for ensuring an improved solution for a problem with a single degenerate basic feasible solution; Ramakrishnan described a variation of Vogels approximation method (VAM) for finding a first feasible solution to the CTP; and Arsham and Kahn described a new algorithm for solving the CTP. According to Brandley, Brown and Craves, 2004, practically the CTP is integrated in all texts on management science or operations management. In classic problem relating to transportation, particular objective for instance minimum cost or maximum profit will be the focus to integrate the GIS and the transportation data available. For example, (Jaryaraman and Prikul, 2001), (Jaryaraman and Ross, 2003), (Yan et al., 2003), (Syam, 2002), (Syarif et al., 2002), (Amiri, 2004), (Gen and Syarif, 2005), and (Trouong and Azadivar, 2005) had consider total cost of supply chain as an objective function in their studies. Nevertheless, there are no design tasks that are single objective problems. In this chapter, we present an in-depth computational comparison of the basic solution algorithms for solving the CTP. We will describe what we know with respect to solving CTPs in practice and offer comments on various aspects of CTP methodologies and on the reporting of computational results. In order to describe the core elements of the GIS transport model that is used to gain the solution to the CTP, it is essential to go over the different types of transportation models briefly, and elaborate on the application and issues of GIS in transportation. The chapter concludes with some final remarks. The Classic Transportation Problem (CTP) The Classic Transportation Problem (CTP) refers to a special class of linear programming. It has been recognized as a fundamental network problem. The Classic transportation problem of linear programming has an early history that can be traced to the work of Kantorovich, Hitchcock, Koopmans and Dantzig. By applying directly the simplex method to the standard linear-programming problem, it actually helps to solve it. Still, because of its very unique mathematical structure, it was acknowledged early that the simplex method applied to the CTP can be quite efficient on how to estimate the needed simplex-method information variable to enter the basis, variable to leave the basis and optimality conditions. Many practical transportation and distribution problems such as the fixed cost transportation, the minimum with fixed charge in logistics can be formulated as CTP. Mathematical formulation of the CTP There have been numerous studies conducted that focusing on new models or methods to verify the transportation or the logistics activities that can offer the least cost (Gen and Chen, 1997). Generally, logistics was defined as the quality of a flow of materials, such as the frequency of departure (number per unit time, adherence to the transportation time schedule and so on (Tilaus et al, 1997). Products can be assemble and sent to the allocation centres, vendors or plants. Hitchcock, 1941 has initiated the earliest formulation of a planar transportation model, which used to find an approach to transport homogeneous products from several resources to several locations so that the total cost can be minimized. According to Jung-Bok Jo, Byung -Ki Kim and Ryul Kim, 2008, the development of a variety of deterministic and / or stochastic models have been increased throughout the past several decades. The basic problem sometimes called the general or Hitchcock transportation problem can be known in a mathematic way as follows: Where m is the number of supply centres and n is the number of demand points. This is subjected to: Without loss of generality, it is assumed that, the problem is balanced, i.e. Total Demand = Total Supply Where; ai, bj, cij, xij à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0 (non negativity constants) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦2.4 All the parameters are free to take non negative real values. The ais are called supplies and the bis are called demands. For our discussion here, we also assume that the costs cij à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0. A number of heuristic methods to solve the classic transportation problem have been proposed. (Gottieb et el., 1998; Sun et al., 1998; Adlakha and Kowalski, 2003; Ida et al., 2004). According to Chan and Chung, 2004, in order to distribute problem in a demand driven SCN, they have suggested a multi- objective genetic optimization. They also measured minimization of total cost of the system, total delivery days and the equity of the capacity utilization ratio for manufacturers as objectives. Meanwhile, Erol and Ferrel, 2004, have recommended a model that assigned suppliers to warehouses and warehouses to customers. In addition, the SCN design problem was formulated as a multi- objective stochastic mixed inter linear programming model, which then was resolved by a control method, and branch and bound techniques (Guillen et al., 2005). Chan et al., 2004, stated that objectives were SC profit over the time horizon and customer satisfaction level and they also developed a hybrid approach regarding to genetic algorithm and Analytical Hierarch Process (AHP) for production and distribution problems in multi-factory supply chain models. Jung-Bok Jo, Byung -Ki Kim and Ryul Kim, 2008, has measured few objectives in their research namely; operation cost, service level, and resources utilization. In this project, it has been considered about the integration of the CTP into the GIS environment, which little or no research has been done into this line of study. Our formulation will be particularly concentrated on the use of several GIS software and procedures to see how the CTP problem can be solved in the GIS environment. In that note and as already stated in chapter one, in trying to integrate CTP into the GIS environment, two of the algorithm explained in this literature review will be used to solved the CTP problem to get the initial basic feasible solutions and one optimal solution method will be used to get the optimal solution that will be integrated into the GIS software environment to solve the CTP problem. 2.4 Methods of solving Transportation problems The practical importance of determining the efficiency of alternative ways for solving transportation problems is affirmed not only because of the sizeable fraction of the linear programming literature has been dedicated to these problems, but also by the fact that an even larger allocation of the concrete industrial and military appliances of linear programming deal with transportation problem. Transportation problems often occur as sub-problems in a bigger problem. Moreover, industrial applications of transportation problems often contain thousands of variables, and hence a streamlined algorithm is not computationally worthwhile but a practical necessity. In addition, many of linear programs that occurred can nevertheless be given a transportation problem formulation and it is also possible to approximate certain additional linear programming problems by such a formulation. Efficient algorithms existed for the solution of transportation. A computational study done by Glover et al. suggested that the fastest method for solving Classic transportation problems is a specialization of the primal simplex method due to Glover et al. Using data structured due to M.A. Forbes, J.N. Holt, A.M Watts, 1994. An implementation of this approached, is capable of handling the general transshipment problem. The method is particularly suitable for large, spares problems where the number of arcs is a small multiple of the number of nodes. Even for dense problems the method is considered to be competitive with other algorithms (M.A. Forbes, J.N. Holt, A.M Watts, 1994). Another consideration of the CTP model is the formulation made by Dantzigs, which is adaptation of the simplex method to the CTP as the primal simplex transportation method (PSTM). This method is known as the method-modified distribution method (MODI); it has also been acknowledged as the row-column sum method (A.Charnes and W. W. Cooper, 1954). Subsequently, another method calledthe stepping-stone method (SSM) has been developed by Charnes and Cooper which gives an option of determining the simplex-method information. According to the paper written by Charnes and Cooper which is entitled The stepping stone method of explaining linear programming calculations in transportation problems. The SSM is a very nice way of demonstrating why the simplex method works without remedy to its terminology or methods although Charnes and Cooper describe how the SSM and PSTM are related. Charnes and Cooper note that the SSM is relatively easy to explain, but Dantzigs PSTM has certain advantages for large-scale hand calculations (Saul I. Gass, 1990) However, the SSM, contrary to the impression one gets from some texts and from the paper by Arsham and Kahn, is not the method of choice for those who are serious about solving the CTP-such as an analyst who is concerned with solving quite large problems and may have to solve such problems repetitively, e.g. where m = 100 origins and n = 200 destinations, leading to a mathematical problem of 299 independent constraints and 20,000 variables (Saul I. Gass, 1990). In addition to the PSTM and the SSM, a number of methods have been proposed to solve the CTP. They include (amongst others) the following: the dual method of Ford and Fulkerson, the primal partitioning method of Grigoriadis and Walker, the dualplex partitioning method of Gass, the Hungarian method adaptation by Munkres, the shortest path approach of Hoffman and Markowitz and its extension by Lageman, the decomposition approach of Williams, the primal Hungarian method of Balinski and Gomory, and, more recently, the tableau-dual method proposed by Arsham and Kahn. (The early solution attempts of Kantorovich, Hitchcock and Koopmans are excluded as they did not lead to general computational methods.) (Saul I. Gass, 1990). The first papers that dealt with machine-based computational issues for solving the TP are Suzuki, Dennis and Ford and Fulkerson. Implementations of CTP algorithms were quite common on the wide range of 1950s and 1960s computers-a listing is given in Gass. CTP computer-based procedures at that time included Charnes and Coopers SSM, the flow (Hungarian) method of Ford and Fulkerson, Munkres Hungarian method, the modified simplex method of Suzuki, Dantzigs PSTM and Dennis implementation of the PSTM. The developers of these early computer codes investigated procedures for finding first feasible solutions such as VAM, the north-west corner method (NWCM), and variations of minimum-cost allocation procedures (Saul I. Gass, 1990). They also investigated various criteria for selecting a variable to enter the basis. Problems of realistic size could be solved, e.g. m + n The work of Glover et al. represents a landmark in the development of a TP computer-based algorithm and in computational testing. Their code is a PSTM that uses special list structures for maintaining and changing bases and updating prices. Glover et al. tested various first-basis finding procedures and selection rules for determining the variable to enter the new basis. They concluded that the best way to determine a first feasible solution is a modified row-minimum rule, in which the rows are cycled through in order, each time selecting a single cell with the minimum cost to enter the basis. The cycling continues until all row supplies are exhausted. This differs from the standard row-minimum rule, in which the minimum cost cells are selected in each row, starting with the first row, until the current row supply is exhausted. The modified row minimum rule was tested against the NWCM, the VAM, a row-minimum rule and a row-column minimum rule in which a row is scanned first for a min imum cell and then a column is scanned, depending on whether the supply or demand is exhausted (Saul I. Gass, 1990). Although VAM tended to decrease the number of basis changes to find the optimal solution, it takes an inordinate amount of time to find an initial solution, especially when compared to the time to perform a basis change (100 changes for 100 x 100 problem in 0.5 s on a CDC 6400 computer). We feel VAM should be relegated to hand computations, if that. Glover et al. tested a number of rules for determining the variable to enter the basis, including the standard most negative evaluator rule. Their computational results demonstrated that a modified row-first negative evaluator rule was computationally most efficient. This rule scans the rows of the transportation cost tableau until it encounters the first row containing a candidate cell, and then selects the cell in this row which violates dual feasibility by the largest amount. They also compared their method to the main competitive algorithms in vogue at that time, i.e. the minimum-cost network out-of-kilter method adapted to solve the TP, the standard simplex method for solving the general linear-programming problem and a dual simplex method for solving a CTP. The results of the comparison showed that the Glover et al. method was six times faster than the best of the competitive methods (Saul I. Gass, 1990). . A summary of computational times for their method showed that the median solution time for solving 1000 x 1000 TPs on a CDC 6000 computer was 17 s, with a range of 14-22 s. As the TP is a special case of a minimum-cost network problem (transhipment problem), methods for solving the latter-type problem (such as the out-of-kilter method) are readily adaptable for solving CTPs. Bradley et al. developed a primal method for solving large-scale trans- shipment problems that utilizes special data structures for basis representation, basis manipulation and pricing. Their code, GNET, has also been specialized to a code (called TNET) for solving capacitated TPs. Various pricing rules for selecting the incoming variable were tested, and a representative 250 x 4750 problem was solved in 135 s on an IBM/360/67 using TNET, with the number of pivots and total time being a function of the pricing rule. The GNET procedure has also been embedded into the MPSIII computer-based system for solving linear-programming problems developed by Ketron Management Science Inc.24 It is called WHIZNET and is designed to solve capacitated trans-shipment problems, of which the TP is a special case. A typical trans-shipment problem with 5000 nodes and 23,000 arcs was solved in 37.5 s on an IBM 3033/N computer (L. Collatz and W. Wetterling, 1975). Another general network problem-solver, called PNET, is a primal simplex method for solving capacitated and uncapacitated transhipment and TPs. It solved a TP with 2500 origins and 2500 destinations in under 4 min of CPU time on a UNIVAC 1108. It uses augmented thread index lists for the bases and dual variables. (Saul I. G ass, 1990). From the above, we see that the present day state-of-the-art for solving TPs on mainframe computers is quite advanced. With the advent of PCs, we find that a number of researchers and software houses have developed PC-based codes for solving TPs. Many of the codes were developed for the classroom and are capable of solving only small, textbook-size problems. For example, the TP procedure in Erikson and Hall (Saul I. Gass, 1990) is able to solve problems of the order of 20 x 20. A typical commercial TP program is that of Eastern Softwares TSP88 which can solve TPs with up to 510 origins and/or destinations. It is unclear as to what algorithms are used in the PC TP codes, but we hazard a guess that they are a version of either PSTM or SSM (Saul I. Gass, 1990). 2.5 Degeneracy in the Classic transportation problem Degeneracy can occur when the initial feasible solution has a cell with zero allocation or when, as a result of real reallocation, more than one previously allocated cell has a new zero allocation. Whenever we are solving a CTP by the PSTM or the SSM, we must determine a set of non-negative values of the variables that not only satisfies the origin and destination constraints, but also corresponds to a basic feasible solution with m + n -1 variables (Saul I. Gass, 1990). . For computational efficiency, all basic cells are kept in a list, with those cells forming the loop being ordered at the top of the list and with the entering cell being first in the list. The remaining cells in the loop are sequenced such that proceeding through them follows the loop. The use of the allocated cells easily handles degeneracy. The PSTM and the SSM do not use a representation of the basis inverse, as does the general simplex method. Instead, these methods take advantage of the fact that any basis to the TP corresponds to a spanning tree of the bipartite network that describes the flows from the origin nodes to the destination nodes (G.B. Dantzig, 1963). Thus, if one is given a basic feasible solution to a CTP which can be readily generated by, say, the NWCM and that solution is degenerate, then one must determine which of the arcs with zero flow should be selected to complete the tree. Having the tree that corresponds to the current basic feasible solution enables us t o determine if the current solution is optimal and, if it is not, to determine the entering and leaving variables and the values of the variables in the new solution (Saul I. Gass, 1990). The problem of selecting a tree for a degenerate basic feasible solution to a CTP was recognized early by Dantzig (G.B. Dantzig, 1963) who described a simple perturbation procedure that caused all basic feasible solutions to be non-degenerate. From our literature gathered from above, the computer-based CTP solution methods described above, degeneracy does not appear to be of concern. We gather that most computer- based methods for solving CTPs invoke some type of perturbation procedure to complete the tree. We note that the problem of selecting a tree for a degenerate basic feasible solution is really only a minor problem if the first basic feasible solution is degenerate. For this case, a perturbation scheme or a simple selection rule that selects a variable or variables with zero value to complete the tree can be applied. (L. Collatz and W. Wetterling, 1975) and (G. Hadley, 1962). As the selection of appropriate zero-valued variables is usually not unique, a simple decision rule is used to make a choice, e.g. to select those variables that have the smallest costs. Once a tree has been established for the first basic feasible solution, the SSM and PSTM prescriptions for changing bases will always yield a new basic feasible solution and corresponding tree, no matter how many degenerate basic feasible variables there are. Subsequent degenerate basic feasible solutions can be generated if there are ties in the selection of a variable to leave the basis. Dropping one and keeping those that were tied at zero level will always yield a tree. Again, a simple decision rule is used to determine which one is dropped from the basis (Saul I. Gass, 1990). Degeneracy can be of concern in that it could cause a series of new bases to be generated without decreasing the value of the objective function-a phenomenon termed stalling. In their paper, Gavish et al. (B. Gavish, P. Schweitzer and E. Shlifer, 1977) study the zero pivot phenomenon in the CTP and assignment problem (AP) and develop rules for reducing stalling, i.e. reducing the number of zero pivots (Saul I. Gass, 1990). For various size (randomly generated) problems, they show that for the CTP the average percentage of zero pivots to total pivots can be quite high, ranging from 8% for 5 x 5 problems to 89% for 250 x 250 problems which are started with the modified row-minimum rule for selecting the first basic feasible solution. They also show that the percentage of zero pivots is not sensitive to the range of values of the cost coefficients, but is sensitive to the range of values of the ais and bjs, with a higher percentage of zero pivots occurring when the latter range is tight. For the m x m AP, which will always have (m 1) basic variables that are zero, the average percentage of zero pivots ranged from 66% for 5 x 5 problems to 95% for 250 x 250 problems. Their rules for selecting a first basic feasible solution, the variable to enter the basis and the variable to leave the basis cause a significant reduction in total computational time (Saul I. Gass, 1990). In their paper, Shafaat and Goyal (A. Shafatt and A.B. Goyal, 1988) develop a procedure for selecting a basic feasible solution with a single degeneracy such that the next solution will improve the objective function value. There procedure forces the entering variable to have an exchange loop that does not involve the degenerate position with a negative increment (Saul I. Gass, 1990). The efficiency of their procedure in terms of computer time versus the small amount of computer time required to perform a number of basis changes (as noted above) is unclear. For large-scale CTPs, we conjecture that a single degenerate basic feasible solution will not cause much stalling, as the chances are that the entering variable will not be on an exchange loop that contains the degenerate variable. We note that a CTP or a linear-programming problem in general, with single degenerate basic feasible solutions will not cycle (Saul I. Gass, 1990). 2.6 Method of finding Initial Basic Feasible Solutions A basic solution is any collection of (n + m 1) cells that does not include a dependent subset. The basic solution is the assignment of flows to the basic cells that satisfies the supply and demand constraints. The solution is feasible if all the flows are non negative. From the theory of linear programming we know that there is an optimal solution that is a feasible solution. The CTP has n+ m constraints with one redundant constraint. A basic solution for this problem is determined by selection (n + m 1) independent variables. The basic variable assumes values to satisfy the supplies and demands, while the non basic values are zero. Thus the m + n equations are linearly dependent. As we will see, the CTP algorithm exploits this redundancy. There are five methods used to determine the initial basic feasible solutions of the classic transportation problem (CTP): these are listed below. The least cost method The northwest corner method The Vogels approximation method Row minimum method Column minimum method The five methods normally differ in the quality of the starting basic solution they produce and better starting solutions yields a smaller objective value. Some heuristics give better performance than the given common methods. The NWCM gives a solution very far from optimal solution. The least cost method finds a better starting solution by concentrating on the cheapest route. The Vogels Approximation method (VAM) is an improved version of the least cost method that generally produces better starting solutions. The row minimum method starts with first row and chooses the lowest cost cell of first row so that either the capacity of the first supply is exhausted or the demand at jth distribution centre is satisfied or both. The column minimum method starts with first column and chooses the lowest cost cell of first column so that either the demand of the first distribution centre is satisfied or the capacity of the ith supply is exhausted or both. However, among the five methods listed above, the North West Corner Method (NWCM), the Lowest Cost Method (LCM), and the Vogels Approximation method are the most commonly used methods used in finding the initial basic feasible solutions of the CTP. The NWCM gives a solution very far from optimal solution and Vogels Approximation method and LCM tries to give result that are often optimal or near to optimal solution. In a real-time application, Vogels Approximation Method (VAM) will yield a considerable savings over a period of time. On the other hand, if ease of programming and memory space are major considerations, the NWCM is still acceptable for reasonable matrix sizes (up to 50 X 50). However, the difference in times between the two loading techniques increases exponentially. (Totschek and Wood,2004). Another work presents an alternative of Vogels Approximation Method for TP and this method is more efficient than traditional Vogels Approximation Method (Mathirajan, Meenakshi, 2004). In this project however, we are making use of the Northwest Corner method (NWCM) and the Least Cost Method (LCM) to find the initial basic feasible solutions to the CTP. These solutions will then be used further to get optimal solutions to the CTP by using the Stepping Stone Method (SSM). The final answers will then be compared with the solutions procedures obtained from the GIS software environment to solve the CTP in a method other than the sophisticated mathematical solutions already explained in this literature. Methods of finding Optimal Solution of the CTP Basically two universal methods are used for finding optimal solutions. These are the Stepping Stone method and the Modified Distribution Method (MODI) method. Some heuristics are generated to getting better performance. Different methods are compared for speed factor. Transportation Simplex Method and Genetic Algorithms are compared in terms of accuracy and speed when a large-scale problem is being solved. Genetic Algorithms prove to be more efficient as the size of the problem becomes greater (Kumar and Schilling, 2004). Proposed digital computer technique for solving the CTP is by the stepping stone method. The average time required to perform an iteration using the method described here depends linearly on the size of the problem, m + n. (Dennis). The solution of a real world problem to efficiently transport multiple commodities from multiple sources to multiple different destinations using a finite fleet of heterogeneous vehicles in the smallest number of discrete time periods g ives improvement by backward decomposition (Poh, Choo and Wong, 2005).The most efficient method for solving CTP arises by coupling a primal transportation algorithm with a modified row minimum start rule and a modified row first negative evaluator rule. (Glover, Karney, Kligman, Napier, 1974) this has already been explained above. Application Software Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a field of with an exponential growth that has a pervasive reach into everyday life. Basically, GIS provides a mean to convert data from tables with topological information into maps. Subsequently GIS tools are capable of not only solving a wide range of spatially related problems, but also performing simulations to help expert users organized their work in many areas, including public administration, transportation networks, transportation networks and environmental applications. Below gives some of the software that has been used by many researchers in transportation modeling. Much software have been used to solve the CTP problem for example, the MODI Algorithm was coded in FORTRAN V, and further substantial time reductions may result by a professional coding of the algorithm in Assembler language. Zimmer reported that a 20-to-1 time reduction was possible by using Assembler rather than FORTRAN in coding minimum path algorithms. (Srinivasan and Thompson, 1973).One work investigated generalized network problems in which flow conservation is not maintained because of cash management, fuel management, capacity expansion etc (Gottlieb,2002). Optimal solution to the pure problem could be used to solve the generalized network problem. One work introduces a generalized formulation that addresses the divide between spatially aggregate and disaggregate location modelling (Horner and OKelly, 2005). In this research we are making use of ArcGIS Network analyst, together with ArcMap, ArcCatalog, VBA, Python, PuLP, GLPK (GNU Linear Programming Kit) and ArcObject software to design our model to solve the CTP problem. A detail solution algorithm is explained in chapter 4. The GLPK (GNU Linear Programming Kit) is an open source software package intended for solving large scale linear programming (LP), mixed integer programming (MIP), and other related problems. It is a set of routine written in ANSI C and organized in the form a callable library. The GLPK package includes the following main components: Primal and dal simplex methods Primal-dual interior- point method Branch and- cut method Application program interface (API) Translator for GNU Math Program Stand-alone LP/MIP solver PuLP is a LP modeller written in Python. PuLP can generate LP and MPS files and call GLPK, to solve linear problems. PuLP provides a nice syntax for creation of linear problems, and a simple way to call the solvers to perform the optimization. ArcGIS Network Analyst is still relatively new software, so there are not much published materials concerning its application on transportation problems. Only few researchers during the last years have reported the use of the ArcGIS Network Analyst extension in order to solve some transportation problems. ArcGIS Network Analyst (ArcGIS NA) is a powerful tool of ArcGIS desktop 9.3 that provides network- based spatial analysis including routing, travel directions, closest facility, and service area analysis. ArcGIS NA enables users to dynamically model realistic network con