Specific events over the past years that have affected the stock Essay

Specific events over the past years that have affected the stock market - Essay Example Prices remain steady and predictable and investors are confident in the market remaining steady. Markets respond to changes in the economy and a major change in the economy often results in major shifts in the stock market. Market crashes are precipitate by something occurring within the economy or war (or the threat of war). The stock market (New York Stock Exchange) responds to changes by gaining value or losing value. Markets losing value are not good. Changes in the economy can be real or perceived (the belief that something bad is going to happen). The NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) has responded in the past to changes (some perceived, some real) in the economic environment. Careful study of the stock markets since 1900 shows several events that affected the markets. Crashes in the market were swift and often lasted more than a year before the markets recovered. The most recent stock market crash was from January of 2000 to October 2002. During this time frame the markets were affected by the bursting of the 'tech bubble'. A lot of small '.com' start-ups went out of business and their investors incurred great losses. Also, during this time frame the twin towers were toppled by a terrorist attack (September 11th 2001). The instability this caused was reflected in market performance. The market dropped 37.8% before it recovered. According to Brenda Spotten, Associate Professor ... other symptoms of financial instability may adversely affect the real economy if they impair the ability of the financial markets to provide funds and hence transfer command over resources."(Spotten, B p1) In essence, a perceived inefficiency in the market can affect the economy and vice versa. Recently another 'bubble' burst. The housing market currently is in a slump. Good advice for investors would be to not invest in trendy new investments like 'tech bubble' start-ups. Investing in funds that are market resistant (such as a diversified fund) would provide some protection from market instability. Changes in the Federal Reserve lending rate can cause ripples in financial markets. Sometimes investors watch closely when the Federal Reserve changes interest rates for overnight lending (for banks). In 2004 investors were relieved when then Chairman, Alan Greenspan, raised the interest rate by 2.5%.(Ip, G p1) The markets continued to remain stable. Between November of 1973 and December of 1974 the market lost 45% of its value before recovering. During this time frame the Vietnam campaign was winding down. The retreat of American forces from Vietnam and the Watergate investigation had the affect of reducing consumer confidence in the market. Going back further in history finds another stock market crash that was the result of events in history. During 1939 and 1942 the United States grappled with entering World War Two. During this time frame the stock market lost 40% of its value. The attack on Pearl Harbor cemented the United States' entry into the war. As wartime production increased, the markets recovered. Prior to the United States' commitment to the war, politics, and fear of war, fueled the market crash during this period. The early American

Education Essay Example for Free

Education Essay The most prominent example of a formal setting in the book is school. However, Scout does not learn much from school. This can be examplified by the fact that when Scout is able to read better than the teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher had expected, Miss Caroline Fisher told her to tell her father to stop teaching her how to read. Instead of helping Scout to improve her reading, Mrs Fisher is impeding Scouts learning process. This shows that schools do not cater to children of different abilities and Scouts learning is restricted in school. Hence, school is not the only place where a child learns. Jem and Scout learn moral values from Atticus. This is examplified by the many values Atticus teaches them such as moral courage and to stand up for what one believes is right. Atticus brought his children up to treat the blacks and the whites as equals. When Scout tells Atticus to send Calpurnia away, Atticus told Scout that they could not survive a day without Calpurnia and he told Scout to mind her. Scout learnt that she had to treat Calpurnia (a Negro) like how she would treat a White and to be respectful towards Calpurnia. Jem looks up to Atticus and tries to emulate him. This is because Atticus is a good role model and a good father. Jem learns from Atticus to have the moral courage to fight for what is right. This is evident as Atticus went all out to fight for Tom Robinson as he believed that Tom was innocent. Atticus did this although he knew that he would face severe criticism from the people in Mycomb and that he would put his life and his childrens at risk. From the example he sets, Jem is able to learn to have the moral courage to fight for what is right. Hence, Jem and Scout do learn in informal settings. Jem also learnt to have the courage to do what one decides to do. This is evident from Jems encounter with Mrs. Dubose. Mrs Dubose is a morphine addict and she tried very hard to get rid of her addiction. Mrs. Dubose sets an alarm clock and made Jem read to her as he was angry at what she said and cut off the top of her bushes. When the alarm clock rings, it would mark the end of Jems reading time. During this period of time when Jem is reading, Mrs Dubose will refrain from taking morphine. She used this method to try and get rid of her morphine addiction. To further elaborate, Mrs. Dubose was very courageous to try and get rid of her morphine addiction as it was a very painful process. Mrs. Dubose was almost dying but she wanted to leave the world beholden to nothing so she tried her very best to get rid of her addiction and displayed a strong sense of courage. Jem learnt from Mrs. Dubose that no matter how painful the process is, one should have the courage and determination to accomplish it. Hence, Jem do learn in an informal setting. Jem and Scout also gained knowledge from a new experience that Calpurnia showed them. This is evident as Calpurnia showed them how it was like in a Negro church. By visiting their church, they learnt about the difference in the conditions of the Negroes church and their church. They also learnt more about Tom Robinsons case when Scout asked Calpurnia why the pastor demands a donation from everyone to help Tom Robinsons wife provide for her kids. From these, the children were somewhat more aware of the discrimination happening in Maycomb.

Descriptive Essay: Grandpas Place -- Descriptive Essays, Observation

Grandpa's Place I know to take one last breath of fresh, clean air before I open the front screen door and then the faded, chipped white wood door. I walk in, and the blend of the aroma of apples and old people suffocates me. As I walk in, the same two-year old cat food is right where it has been for the last six months: in front of the front door on the cold faded tile floor. The cat disappeared four months ago, but I guess there is still hope that he will come back one day. I approach the sliding wooden door to enter the front living room and see some bird feed on the floor that must have been spilled the previous week along with a stack of news papers. This single story brick house was purchased by my Grandma and Grandpa twenty years ago. Ever since, the house has been filled with nothing but love and laughter. Behind the house, there are five or six tall, skinny trees that have died from disease but haven't fallen to the grass covered ground. Near the loose clothes line in the back yard, there are four rose bushes that need water. Dead daises and pansies from the previous summer are the main attraction in the front yard along with a five foot high metal windmill stuck in the middle of a flower garden that needs grease. The two car garage houses a huge '78 black Buick. The ol' Buick hasn't been driven in a while, but my Grandpa claims that it is still in top shape. I guess my Grandpa just keeps it around to remind him of my Grandma. Next to it is a green John Deere tractor with a ripped black seat that has a flat left rear tire, but my Grandpa claims, "It still runs like a champ." Next to it is the push lawnmower. Before I open the door, I can hear the Bronco game being televised on my Grandpa's 36"... ...the same story about so and so and how their daughter's husband's brother did this and that. All this time, I just sit there and watch my Grandpa be happy telling me this story while he slops stuff out of his mouth and onto his already stained clothes. Eventually, we finish our dinner, and I clean up the kitchen. I get all of my stuff together, make a final check that everything is good to go, and sit on a kitchen chair. My Grandpa asks sadly if it is time to go, and I say, "Yeah," with a quivering voice. So, I get up, give my Grandpa a hug and head out the door. I hate leaving this place more than anything. I hate leaving my Grandpa in that house by himself. I push open the front door and breathe in the fresh night air. As I pull out of the narrow leaf covered driveway, I look back to see my Grandpa waving at me through the dirty storm glass windows.

Environmental factors effecting motor skill development Essay

Child development is defined as to how a child ables itself to complete more difficult tasks as they grow in age. Development is often confused with growth, which refers to a child’s tendency to grow bigger in size. Parents can become concerned easily when a child’s developmental skills take longer then the â€Å"normal† or when pressures of milestones are not satisfied â€Å"on time†. Developmental milestones are functioning tasks or skills that should occur at specific ages. Observing what specific environmental factors influence the development of motor skills in the infant and toddler stages and how that compares to my findings of the children I personally documented, is what will be discussed. I searched for other scholars who have current information and academic research of similar topics finding information that was both, similar as to my own research concluding a main point that the environment of these children have an effect on how they will lea rn. A common topic that has been analyzed in these journals is Gross motor skill development. It is a specific factor that plays a crucial role in the child’s overall development and of course combined with the environment in which the child is confined to has a profound effect to the development of these motor skills (newton 2008) . The aim of this study was focusing on the two main environmental factors affecting children motor development. Looking over the articles it reveals that there are many particular factors within the family details such as socioeconomic status, mother’s educational level, relationships with family and the existence of siblings can also affect a child’s motor ability, Preschools also have became an infuencial part of development for all children but also can be a detriment to a child’s development by not attending, due to the simple fact that nowadays large amounts of time children spend at them so by not having a child go through li fe with preschool would set them back as far as motor development goes. The social-cultural background where a child is brought up from, creates specific demands for his/her motor behavior. Read more: Influences that affect children’s development essay This thought can go with the fact that movement programs are very important for the development as well, such as physical education, especially if the social-cultural environment that the child is in does not require them to be very active. If the child is not pushed or has no motivation to do these  obstacles, that are often taken for granted, then can cause a long term even life altering issue down the road. These are all the â€Å"social norms† nowadays with children. It is becoming incredibly competitive to get into colleges and other type of educational programs and it all starts from these crucial infant years where all these environmental factors that the family contributes too have a say in what a child will be like as it develops. Many of these environments are expected and often not over looked or analyzed by parents due to the reason that the child is so young that these things don’t have an impact on them yet. That is false, the first five years of a child’s life are the most important in developing these motor skills for the rest of their life, and that is a fact that is not looked at close enough by parents. This is a huge developmental problem that has been happening for ever and now that there is studies and documentation proving that this here is correct, it needs to be and is being put into action. All of the environmental factors have some way played a role in the children I observed lives but because of the limited length of paper I will discuss the two most obvious influences. This purpose of this paper is to document the environment that infants and toddlers are in and describe how these environmental factors have affected them. To begin I observed a toddler and an infant but both of the same family. The two children are different ages but similar environments and upbringings. I observed the children in there home environment looking at the situation as a Mother-child interaction first then I observed the sibling vs sibling interactions that the children tended to take a like too. I continued to follow the children on and off for two weeks at different locations and got the opportunity to observe the toddler and infant in both of these settings. At each observation site I sat with a notepad and jotted down how they interacted under these three circumstances and noted of the surroundings environments each time I observed. At the end I had a lot of notes and information to choose from, but the way that I chose what information to use was by organizing my no tes into my three main cases then divided them into infant and toddler. All the situations that most frequently happened for each child i used as conclusive information and discarded the minor details. The majority of the two weeks of observing the infant under these two cases my evidence appeared to be quite on point with other researchers studies. To begin, the mother-infant relationship (parent-child). WIthin my study I found when playing with each other the infant was much more responsive to this one on one play then a group of people. What I noticed was the child did not do as much looking and observing like statistics show or as he did in the other cases. seven out of fifteen times the mother demonstrated what I wanted the infant to do, that involved a motor skill, most of the time picking up a block or a toy car, the child attempted the action after watching the mother demonstrate. What I noticed of those fifteen times all seven of the successful tries were because it was right in front of him. if it was far away he would try with a different object that was closest to him and wouldn’t even notice that he was using a different toy. As for the toddler he payed much closer attention but on the contrary of his fifteen attempts he actually cared that he used the same exact object as his mom. For him I used a test involving throwing of a ball. His mother would throw the ball using different styles such as over the head, two hand, one had, and under arm. Eight of the fifteen attempts the toddler successfully mimicked the motor skill of which hand to use and the style in which the mom threw it, which was very surprising in this case for the reason that this usually does not develop until five or six years of age. The next case I observed was the sibling vs sibling. typically we think of the mother to be seen as the leader to specific child development. However, when the child has siblings the situation becomes much more influenced. (circirelli 1975). A child’s position in the family or sex even of the sibling has a huge influence on the interactions they have. The environment used was once again the home setting but the family has there own jungle gym outside in the backyard. I used this play set to see if these sibling influences can play a role in development of specific skills . Studies have shown that, irrespective of the age difference among the children of the family, the elder siblings lead the youngers’ behaviour (circirelli 1975) and those in turn imitate elders’ movements (abramovitch et al. 1979: Lamb 1978). As I continued my research outside I watched and studied how they  were interacting. The younger infant, surprisingly can walk at his age of sixteen mont hs old. There was a set of stairs that the toddler was walking up to get to the top of the gym and eventually slide down the slide to only continue the process over and over again. The infant continued to watch and observe for about fifteen minutes with no signs of him motivated to make a move or give it a try. To our surprise the infant began pointing and mumbling as if he wanted to make an attempt. He was brought over to the play set, climbing up the steps and eventually we got him to go down the slide. He held his hands on the railings same position as where she did as if he was copying her techniques exact and the influence of his big sister took effect. This whole process took about twenty- twenty five minutes but once he tried it one time, the infant, like his toddler sister continued to doing the routine using similar if not the same route. All in all he was hesitant, the infant waited, studied, and then slowly analyzed the process as he did it for his first time, and then continued to go on with the process as his big sister had been. The infant and the toddler both have demonstrated there developing gross motor skills. These skills are coordinated with many other parts of the body such as the legs and arms and the ability to notice what one is doing and mimic the other is all part of the development of the these physical abilities of large body movements ( Berger, 2009). Reference section 1.) kambas, A. (2009). environmental factors affecting preschoolers motor development. 2.) Infants learn about objects from statistics and people. By: Wu, Rachel, Gopnik, Alison, Richardson, Daniel C., Kirkham, Natasha Z., Developmental Psychology, 00121649, 20110901, Vol. 47, Issue 5 3.) Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 4.)nicholson, T. (2010, june 2). What can a one year old do?. Retrieved from http://t-nicholson.suite101.com/what-can-a-one-year-old-do-a244085 5.)Developmental Science; Nov2009, Vol. 12 Issue 6, p1060-1069, 10p, 3 Charts, 4 Graphs

Examine Marxist views of the role of the family Essay

Marxist is a perspective view that society is built as class conflict between the Capitalist who own the means of production and the working class. Capitalists believe that there is are three functions of the family: Inheritance of property; ideology functions and unit of consumptions. Marxists say that the family benefits capitalist. Marxists say that one role or functions of the family is inheritance of property. The Bourgeoisie own the means of production whereas the working class just work for the capitalist and own no means of production. The Capitalist want to keep control of the means of production and the only way they can do this is by inheritance of property, which means that all the property is handed down to the first son. A Marxist sociologist, Engles, says this explains the rise in monogamist marriages as marriage makes sure there is a legitimate heir. This is why families are important as it helps maintain a capitalist society. Another role or function the family has i s an ideology function. Ideology function means a set of beliefs and ideas that the capital is a dominant class and that the equality is right and just. The family helps keep this idea by primary socialisation of the young and children being brought up learning these ideas that Capitalism is right. This helps maintain capitalism because children will eventually become the next labour force for capitalists. The last role of the family is that it is a unit of consumption which means that Capitalist own the production and the working class are wanting for Capitalist as well as buying from them. This helps maintain capitalism, which is a family’s main role or function, because they are buying from capitalism and they would benefit. Feminist would criticise Marxist by saying that the family benefit men and men only, causing aoppression for women. Functionalist would criticise the Marxist view that the family benefits Capitalist. They believe that society is based or a value consensus. And that the family benefits society as well as its individual members.

Systems and Operations Management

Systems and Operations Management Executive Summary The vital improvements in companies have been the change of roles of operations managers who have become innovators of systems and continuous developers of the daily running of the systems of the company. Companies have realized that to have a competitive edge the operations systems, development of capabilities is key to their success.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Systems and Operations Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Increasing the reliance of their systems is solely the focus of their marketing and delivery of services and products. (Slack et al, 2010). Therefore, improvement of their information systems enhances the effectiveness of their operations thereby giving them the capacity to satisfy their customers who in turn continue to buy their products. Improving new processes of technology brings in new methods of controlling the market thus the companies are also able to manag e their internal affairs and management of operations. It is in these new developments that the company is able to deeply delve into the knowledge that allows operations to adapt flexibly in reaching out effectively to their customers (Bic Alan, 2003). Therefore, internal auditing of their running is everyday managed properly in a more advanced way by information systems. Recent management trends of information systems points out that technological change has become a vital means towards company managing resources and facilities. This is true in the sense that many companies have been forced to adapt to the new system technology to earn a position in the competitive world (Stallings, 2008). As the companies expand in various ways, they realize that they need to adapt to their growing need to become more effective in their operations. This therefore, has led to many companies introducing systems that make them practice best management methods in their production and delivery of thei r services (Checkland, 1999). However the increasing importance of information systems among companies has highlighted the current demand for an increased need to be flexible and to adapt to various methods of management.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This has brought about the effective means to production and service delivery as a way to respond to the growing demand in the market. This involves having a broad based information system that allows the flow of data in the company to allow efficient running of their systems and production efficiency. This paper thus explores approaches used by the company to address this trend and also how it has adapted to the new changes in their use of the information technology. It reviews how the suggestion of introducing this new system to the company is improving its operations in accomplishing its market goal and targ et market. The paper also proposes some recommendations after the analysis. Building from this, it proposes some principles for the regular development of information systems and points out the path to model the progress in an adaptable and flexible way. Introduction Atokowa being a major influence in the market of stationery and office supplies give them an advantage among other businesses and organizations. This is due to the fact they deliver their products directly to their customers and in addition, own various retails outlets. The business idea came from an Australian called Lachlan who started his own photocopying business when he purchased a machine thereby printing various jobs for the company (Adler, 1992). This in history was the first photocopying machine where his work extended immensely in Australia. In the process, he started other outlets extending the small enterprise to a big business. The business had a reputation of giving high quality services therefore it conti nued to grow immensely. This led the owner to develop a vision that his would be the only business that would offer stationery and office supplies and thus expanded his spectrum to other cities in which he stocked his premises with all sorts of stationery and office materials. In the later years, the owner retired and passed on his business to his son who changed the vision to focus on technology and started selling various computers of the time (Laudon, Kenneth Jane, 2009). This selling of items integrated or involved the use of information technology leading to more expansion to other cities and hence the son followed the footsteps of his father.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Systems and Operations Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The method will give the staff an opportunity to understand the role of systems and operations management and its integration into efficient and effective running of b usiness. It took a practical approach which will give the staff a good understanding of better business practice within the global organization. The soft systems approach of the company’s systems development was be used to analyze and define business requirements. People and management issues will be reviewed with emphasis on communication, teamwork and effective leadership. Quality management and business excellence focusing on customer relations will be considered. The staff will develop an understanding of analysis process and its improvement to reflect on business process in introducing the information system using rules and analysis to examine costs, allocation of resources, and efficiency related to the delivery of goods and services. The method will consider the impact of operations systems and management in the wider social-economic environment. The skills in operations management therefore become an important requirement of employers in many areas of business. Develo pments of operation systems therefore become practical as employees learn and employ professional skills which in turn maximize profit. In systems operation management, the directors of businesses have to be knowledgeable and understanding to the role of strategies in integrating this in their businesses and in examining the quality involved in managing their business and products. In addition, the practical aspects of their skills are challenged by the intellect transferring this role into their management and operation systems. Thus in this, Laudon and Laudon (2011) highlight that retailers’ understanding of growth in productions is as a result of using proper ways of keeping their data and knowing what needs to be implemented in the shortest time possible. This is made possible by introducing systems that allow flexibility in their access to the customers and making sure they satisfy them. In using a good information system, the company will avoid lagging behind in their a im to deliver as much efficiently as possible thus making sure the needs of the clients are taken care of.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In order to do this, the company has to progressively track its transactions and analyze its efficiency by properly following up their daily interactions with those they serve. The company plans to contract with as many as possible of their customers in developing their continuous influence through information systems. This will keep them on the market as the customers rely more on their systems thus permanently gaining the trust thus continue being long-term clients (Adler, 1992). To remain competitive in the market, the company has to review its products with the changing needs of the clients and use their adaptive nature to inform their market of the various developments of their products. Thus in using quality control tools, the need for product development will be realized. In conclusion, the company’s operation process has to take root in the human resource to transform the entire operations department (Jacobs and Chase, 2011). This will lead to questioning the entire o peration systems in determining when and how to operate and who to manage in these circumstances. How was this analysis undertaken? The analysis was done in a manner that reviewed the company’s foundation and how it grew to expand in many other cities which operated independently without major supervision. This led to the elder son to appoint other people to help him run the company. In the five stages, each manager ran the business separately and thereby reporting whatever was happening to the main branch. In the process of running the outlets in this manner, it was deemed as difficult because it involved the employees counting every stock in the end of the day. It was then that one of the managers thought and suggested for the implementation of integrating electronic points of sale system thereby making the company stock be tracked by a bar code. Thus by this suggestion, the owner asked the person who suggested his ability to manage the design and implement the Microsoft Ac cess database whose operation’s success was based mainly on its simplicity. In its application, each outlet became equipped with standard Window’s computers which were connected over a simple local area network. The structure of the following report is one that focused on the organisation which questioned the effectiveness of the system introduced for their daily accounting and stock taking. Thus, the report looks at the information system and how it led to solving the cumbersome tedious process of taking their stocks every day. It also recommends the action that looks at the solution to their business expansion. The company therefore used the following: Analysis of Current Systems and Operations In analyzing the current system, we look at all the transactions that go all the way until the processing stage. Here, the product is usually scanned into the data bases which are summed and payment is taken. After the payment, each product sold is to be written in the transac tion table of the database and whenever any transaction in the outlets was done, this was recorded in a different table thereby helping the manager to know and maintain the stock efficiently. In the latter process of stock taking, the manager was unsure of what really had taken place because he only had to trust that his co-managers would give an account of their daily sales or he would personally supervise by travelling to the various outlets which is inefficient and takes much valuable time. But with the new system, the manager had access to the daily running of the business and would follow each transaction to their designated customer. By doing this, the manager could make any changes or suggestions that he saw fit to increase the efficiency of his business if he predicted that certain outlets needed more stock or they were overstocked. This is a very effective way of management because time which is essential is used wisely and the business is run in a coordinated manner unlike before. In overseeing the stocks in the warehouse, the manager would be able to audit unusual requests thereby avoiding theft and errors in that if the warehouse had items ready for sale; they would authorize the selling at that point without sending it to the particular outlet thus reducing time and increasing efficiency and accountability. Structured analysis The company came up with a structured method to analyze it systems which one of the managers saw as the right way of solving the problem of taking stocks. This was possible because he was having the know- how of how to handle information systems and understood its mechanisms. He therefore, used simple technical techniques which could be understood by all the people who would use the new systems. Use of experienced staff and inexperienced staff By asking the right question to solve a problem, the structured method did not isolate the experienced staff from the inexperienced ones, but rather made sure everyone in the company h ad the opportunity to learn and be able to use the new that was system introduced. This was done by using the experienced staff to guide the ones who were lagging behind. Improving the control and planning of the company The approach used to introduce and implement the new system was made more effective by dividing the company into stages in that the introduction and implementing of the new system was introduced in stages thus giving all major outlets time to sieve in their data and be able to connect with the central management point. The quality of the system The quality and effectiveness of the system was determined by ensuring that the structured method was also flexible to suit the various states according to their operation. This was done by reviewing the daily use of the system as the members participated in the change of how things were to be run. Thereafter the system was developed in another level allowing progress of effectiveness thus meeting the user’s requiremen t when it was operational. Business system designed This proved to bring out the required factors that would broaden the specifics of the stages of analysis. In this part various solutions are evaluated on the basis of meeting the required expectations from the suggestions of a technical professional like the one who saw the need for pushing for changes in the company. The evaluator has to understand the business therein making specific recommendations of what is best to deal with the problem and offer a solution. Physical design The theoretical design has to be transformed or converted to the actual practical sense in dealing with the problem. In the case of the company discussed, one member came up with the idea which led overall manager to accompany him and thus appoint him as the one to manage and maintain the data system. This involved specifications of duties and tasks needed to make sure that the new system kicked off. Transition In moving from one point to the next, planning is needed before implementation. This will mean that the company had to move from the old systems to the new ones. This isn’t an easy task as all required personnel have to come to the understanding that the system being introduced was known and explained to everyone; otherwise the company would go backwards and regress. Therefore installations of nearly all major equipments had to be taken into consideration and also the training of those who are going to use the equipments has to be budgeted and put into consideration. In doing this, the implementation stage has to come in when all participants are in tune to start using the new system. Evaluating the system In the process of use, the system has to be review and maintained through the phases of implementation. This is because the system has to be developed every now and then in order to improve its performance and usage among both the clients and employees (Silberschatz et al, 2008). Conclusion In many organizations, infor mation systems have been realised to be effective means to success of the businesses. In realising this, many businesses have invested broadly in strategic planning in using systems that would develop their businesses as they expand. This is often as a result of analysing the present position of the company by observing and listening to the users of their products and also their employees. It is therefore prudent to have the following analysis before introducing any new system. Feasibility study This helps in deciding whether the company is able to technically have a new system that would be introduced in their running of their daily businesses (Silberschatz et al, 2008). Thus considering their financial and social justification is vital to understanding whether the organization will be resistive or accepting to the new system. Systems analysis In analysing the present ways of running the company, we note that the current one is to be analysed in detail to determine the extent to wh ich the new system needs preparation or resources. Therefore, system analysis has to provide the environment in which the results of the company’s research have adopted the recording and analysing position. Computer based production planning and control systems Computer based control systems allowed the company to handle various difficult factors that cropped up in their daily transactions. Therefore in using the computer based system in their running of the business, the production advanced thus reduced inefficiency resulting from human error. In overall with proper management, theses parts of the system became productive thereby making the business more profitable and a leading entity. In using computer based analysis, the company became more flexible and wholly integrated in their operations. O’Brien (1999) says that in doing this the business has more control to increase their production sector with a well structured system that predicts their success. Thus in comb ining all these systems the staff became very much aware of how information systems can be integrate production and databases which all have to be functional and assist in proper coordinated systems. In accomplishing this, the level of responding to the customer’s needs became highly competitive and flexible. This highlights the important role of computer technology and information systems’ operations (AdlerWinograd,1992). Recommendations The following are some suggestion of how to improve the operation system of the company. Operational Data Store analysis This as viewed by Auslander (2011) will maintain a larger data on the systems thus accommodating access to information and allowing effectiveness of viewing various transactions in their daily stock taking. This therefore when reviewed will serve as a data store allowing the manager to view all that was takes place in the various outlets thereby improving daily operations. Initial State Service This mechanism is bas ed on the customer or client being able to get and view information of products available and update them on the development of the company products (Pant Hsu, 1999). In employing this type of system, the client would be able to access information and orders from various points and the results would register in the main system thus making the manager assess the demand of particular products and services. In integrating computer based control and operating systems in manufacturing and production, increased delivery and success will be observed.This is deemed to bring in a competitive advantage to the company because it will enhance faster means to reaching the clients and also increased production and sales. Therefore, when properly organized, the system would offer designs and productions that will be automatic and thereafter, able to be traced when transactions takes place. In applying technology based systems, the company will be able to specifically meet the individual needs of their customer’s thus increasing demand and credibility. This in return will allow flexibility and will increase the quality and efficiency thus making the company earns the reputation it deserves. In conclusion, many of the operation systems within and without are to be tracked often for effectiveness. Thus in being more flexible, the process of change will introduce better effective systems enhances growth and efficiency of the company. This will look at the factors that lead to growth and the means with which to continue developing the process of growth. By doing this, the company will consider various aspects that invites them to take on technology for the betterment of their operation systems. Therefore operation systems need to be reviewed regularly to ensure that the company benefits. References Adler, P Winograd A1992, The Usability Challenge. Usability: Turning Technologies into Tools, Oxford University press, New York. Adler, P 1992, Technology and the Future of Wo rk, Oxford University Press, New York. Auslander et al 1981, The evolution of the MVS Operating System, IBM, New York. Bic, F Alan C 2003, Operating Systems, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Checkland, P1999, Systems thinking, systems practice: with a 30-year retrospective, John Wiley, Chichester. Deitel, H et al. Operating Systems. Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Jacobs, R Chase, B 2011, Operations and supply chain management, (13th ed.), McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York. Laudon,KLaudon,J2011,ManagementInformationSystems, Prentice Hall/CourseSmart, New Jersey. Laudon, C Laudon, P 2009, Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Prentice Hall/CourseSmart, New Jersey. O’Brien, J 1999, Management Information Systems – Managing Information Technology in the Internetworked Enterprise, Irwin McGraw-Hill, Boston. Pant, S Hsu, C 1995, Strategic Information Systems Planning: A Review, Information Resources Management Association International Conference, May 21â€⠀œ24. Silberschatz et al 2008, Operating Systems Concepts, John Wiley Sons, New York. Stallings, W 2008, Computer Organization Architecture, Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi.

Index Number Essay Example

Index Number Essay Example Index Number Essay Index Number Essay CPI (Consumer price index) A consumer price index (CPI) measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI is a statistical estimate constructed using the prices of a sample of representative items whose prices are collected periodically. GDP deflator In economics, the GDP deflator (implicit price deflator for GDP) is a measure of the level of prices of all new, domestically produced, final goods and services in an economy. GDP stands for gross domestic product, the total value of all final goods and services produced within that economy during a specified period. WPI (whole sale price index) The abbreviation for Wholesale Price Index, which is an index of the prices paid by retail stores for the products they would ultimately resell to consumers. The Wholesale Price Index, abbreviated WPI, was the forerunner of the modern Producer Price Index (PPI). The WPI was first published in 1902, and was one of the more important economic indicators available to policy makers until it was replaced by the PPI in 1978. The change to Producer Price Index in 1978 reflected, as much as a name change, a change in focus of this index away from the limited wholesaler-to-retailer transaction to encompass all stages of production. While the WPI is no longer available, the family of producer price indexes provides a close counterpart in the Finished Goods Price Index. PPI – Producers price index Producers price index focuses on prices of goods and services that are received by the producer. This is different from the retail prices, which include shipping costs, taxes and other levies Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) is designed to assess price movement of essential consumer items at short intervals (on weekly basis) so as to take corrective measures. Laspeyres . This compares the price of the old basket of goods for the old and new prices. Paasche . This compares the price of the new basket of goods for the old and new prices. variables| price| quantity| CPI| Fixed (Laspyere price index)| | GDP deflator| | Fixed| PPI| Fixed (Laspyere price index)| | SPI | Fixed (Laspyere price index)| | WPI| Fixed (Laspyere price index)| |

One, 2, III Using Numbers in Academic Writing - Proofread My Paper

One, 2, III Using Numbers in Academic Writing - Proofread My Paper One, 2, III: Using Numbers in Academic Writing No matter what you’re studying, at some point in your academic career you’ll find yourself using numbers in your written work. This might not seem too problematic, but there are important differences between using numbers in formal academic writing and in everyday life. Numerals or Words? The biggest question when it comes to numbers in academic writing is whether to use numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) or words (one, two, three, four, etc.). The general guideline is to write smaller numbers up to ten as words, with numerals saved for larger numbers. Annoyingly, there is no consensus on this. For instance, the APA Style Guide recommends using numerals for ten and up (or â€Å"10 and up,† if we’re doing this the APA way). But the Chicago Manual of Style suggests spelling out all numbers up to one hundred. The important thing is to check your school’s style guide and use a consistent system throughout each paper you write. Roman Numerals You may also need to understand Roman numerals. These aren’t so common these days, but you do see them in things like copyright dates (MCMLXXXVI = 1986) and the names of monarchs (Queen Elizabeth II). Big Numbers Despite the above rule, some bigger numbers are expressed either as words or as a combination of words and figures. For example, it is to say: The Earth is 4.542 billion years old. But writing this out in numerals is a bit confusing, as there are many zeroes: The Earth is 4,542,000,000 years old. Commas and Hyphens Punctuating numbers correctly is also important. When expressing a number over one thousand, for example, it’s common to separate the thousands with a comma: One thousand = 1,000 One hundred thousand = 100,000 One million = 1,000,000 Hyphens, meanwhile, should be used either when expressing a number with more than one word (e.g., twenty-two) or when as part of an adjectival phrase modifying a noun (e.g., â€Å"I’m holding a seven-year-old grudge†). Dates, Years and Centuries Dates (e.g., 06/12/2013 or 6 December 2013) and years (e.g., 1948, 300-250 BCE) are usually written using numerals. Centuries, however, should be written out in full (i.e., â€Å"eighteenth century† rather than â€Å"18th century†). Technical Numbers In technical writing, such as in the sciences and math, it’s more common to use numerals than words. This is especially true when a number is followed by a unit of measurement. So, for instance, the weight â€Å"four grams† could be expressed as â€Å"4 g† or â€Å"4 grams.†

Commercial agency agreement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Commercial agency agreement - Essay Example The intended parties to the Agreement will no doubt have meetings first to discuss the terms for the appointment.' It is suggested that they reach some "Heads of Terms" first and that those are then transferred over to the Agreement. It is likely that the terms agreed by the parties and set out in the Agreement will be covered by the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (Brown, 2006), as amended.' These Regulations deal with the rights and liabilities of parties who have entered into a commercial agency, and deal with such matters as the remuneration to be paid,' the period of notice to be given and the entitlement of the agent in some cases to compensation on the agency being terminated. The Establishment of Agreement covers activities or services that Cockatoo SA provides during the development stage of the partnership. The proposal and development agreements may be carried out by Cockatoo SA directly, or by Consultants and Contractors employed by Cockatoo SA. The Products provided includes the Children's wear provided by the company. The establishment of the agreement is based on Cockatoo SA's provisions, managing and marketing strategies of the selling of the Product. Where the Reseller at this point also intends to undertake meetings and deliberations with its consultants for the possible offer from Cockatoo SA to provide for the Customers demand as reflected on the terms necessary. In addition, the parties may have other terms to agree about this.' It is obviously unlikely that the Agent would agree to the Principal having complete freedom to sell in competition with the Agent. Clause 4 - Terms of Agreement The agreement provides for reasonable and proper costs (including costs of risks not contracted out, insured or covered through the Regulations) to be passed through to the Partnership on an emerging cost basis. If reselling constraints or other concerns mean that the Investor requires greater certainty over costs, it may be possible to offer a fixed price as proposed in the Agreement. However, it is not possible to fix some elements, such as the costs of store enhancements, and a fixed price at this stage will not mean that the costs of the Manufacturing can be fixed. The Principal will have to draw up an account in order to calculate the Commission.' It may be appropriate to add further provisions here as to how the account is to be prepared. Capitalised terms used in these guidance notes are defined in the agreement. This clause includes general provisions as to consents including the fact that Cockatoo SA retains sole discretion in relation to its directives on the Reseller. In

Finance for manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance for manager - Essay Example In the initial three (3) year period the market will be restricted to only a few suppliers but this will change thereafter as the market will be opened to other suppliers. This means that care should be taken to ensure that the company does not invest in too large a capacity which may not be necessary later. There are two options available to Steelbeam. The company can either choose option 1 – which involves investing in capital with a limited capacity to produce a maximum of 1,000 units (small capacity) or option 2 with the capacity to produce a maximum of 4,000 units (large capacity). These alternatives have different variable cost per unit with the large capacity project having the lowest variable cost per unit and the small capacity project the highest variable cost. In assessing the two options the company has to pay attention to the contribution that both projects make to fixed cost as well as the break even point in units. Additionally, every capital budgeting decision requires the use of capital budgeting techniques in order to make a determination of which option is more advantageous to the company. The techniques available to your company include: ENPV is calculated using the figures obtained from the pessimistic, most likely and optimistic market forecast while applying the formula used in project evaluation and review technique (PERT). This technique assumes that the estimates of sales and demand activity follow a probability distribution (See Heizer and Render 2006). The expected sales and demand are found through the application of weights to the three estimates in each case – of demand and sales, as follows: The information arrived at from the computations suggests that the expected annual demand is 6,333 units and the expected selling price per unit - Â £12,167. These figures can be used to determine which option is better for Steelbeam PLC. Each option will be assessed to determine its

REFLECTIVE LEARNING JOURNAL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

REFLECTIVE LEARNING JOURNAL - Essay Example However, I was surprised to realize that it is not the faculty decision to change the evaluation methods. The decision is up to the dean of The Applied Medical Science who is not even a nurse. I think having such a bureaucratic system decreases innovation and creativity in a nursing college. It was great to know that yyyy University has modified its curriculum. More Nursing courses have been added to the program and include Nursing Informatics, Care of Older Adults, Principles of Education for Nurses, Counseling, Epidemiology, Nursing Theory, and Genetics for Nurses. I think adding these courses is a great move forward because it happens after hiring new faculties who get their PhDs in education from developed countries. This change makes me feel better about the future of nursing in Saudi Arabia because there is apt of improvement that just needs passionate personnel. The faculties were very welcoming and they accepted my ideas and me. Additionally, they were very encouraging especi ally because some of them had been my instructors when I was undergraduate student. They were also very proud of my accomplishments. That made me happy and more excited to go back to Saudi and contribute to the improvement of nursing education and ultimately nursing care in my country. I also feel grateful because I contributed to changes at Yanbu College in Yanbu city in Saudi Arabia. My brother is an associate professor at Yanbu Collage and teaches chemical engineering. I discussed with him the teaching pedagogies, the assessment, and evaluation methods I learned at xxxxx. At that time, I realized that having a PhD in a field does not mean that you can teach well. This is because my brother has a PhD in Chemical Engineering but he did not know how to be an effective educator. I was very excited telling him everything I could possibly remember from NUR 504, NUR 528, and NUR 600 courses. He liked the flipped classroom strategy

The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Radicalism of Osama Bin Laden - Case Study Example Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi citizen, was born to a self-made Saudi construction billionaire.   His family life was somewhat unstable as evidenced in the fact that his mother was his father’s tenth wife and was divorced early in his childhood.   With three half brothers and sisters from his mother’s side and over fifteen from his father’s, it would be hard to assume that he benefited from a stable home environment. Nevertheless, while his family life may have been unstable, familial wealth afforded him countless opportunities and experiences.   These included education in the best private schools in Saudi Arabia, education in Europe and the United States as well as unlimited world travel and contact with the global economic and social elite (Jacquard, 2002). Despite these and countless other opportunities, Bin Laden exhibited a persistent tendency towards religious fanaticism and upon the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, joined the mujahedeen forces. Born in 195 7, Bin Laden’s childhood period coincided with the collapse of colonialism and the rise of Arab and Islamic nationalism. His childhood and youth, therefore, unfolded during a period of politically inspired religious and nationalistic fervor. The degree to which the stated influenced him is amply evidenced in his response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As Gunaratna (2002) explains, bin Laden immediately responded to the United States’ call for the liberation of Afghanistan, a Muslim territory, from the atheistic communist forces headed by the Soviet Union and joined the ranks of the mujahideen. During this period he was exposed to extremist Islamic ideology and, according to Gunaratna (2002, p. 21), was afforded the opportunity to establish â€Å"close relationships with several religious authorities,† most of whom like Omar Abdel Rahman, were living in exile having The times into which Osama Bin Laden was born and the way he interacted with and responded to them determined his evolution into a terrorist. It is within the context of these times that the events of September 11th assume a type of inevitability.

Lessons from the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lessons from the Cold War - Essay Example The United States is widely considered to be the â€Å"winner† of the Cold War for several reasons. Firstly, there is simple geography: if you look at a map, the United States exists now exactly as it did during the years of the Cold War (in fact, it actually grew somewhat during the conflict, adding Hawaii and Alaska as states as opposed to protectorates or territories), whereas the Soviet Union dissolved as a political entity, becoming Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and several other smaller states between the Black and Caspian Seas (Brooks 450). More importantly, however, was the fact that the political ideology of Russia shifted – the one-party, the communist government ended, the economy was capitalized, state-run corporations became privately owned and so on. So, the state of the Soviet Union and the form of government and economy that it represented both ended, while the United States remained the lone Superpowe r. There are various explanations of how the Cold War was â€Å"won† or â€Å"lost† without recourse to a nuclear war. One of the major theories is that the United State’s more efficient and productive economy simply outpace the Soviet one, leading the Soviet government to either fall behind militarily or socially – both of which would have led to the downfall (Brooks 449). The classic explanation can be summarized as ‘the United States could make tanks and cars, the Soviet Union, one or the other.’ Any explanation that fails to take into account Soviet leadership, however, is somewhat naà ¯ve. The fact is that Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, genuinely sought openness and freedom for his people, and allowed them the freedom to choose what type of economy they wanted, which allowed the Soviet Union to fall without violent backlashes towards either the United States or its own populace (Brooks 454).

Strategic Management Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategic Management Accounting - Essay Example Current Situation Electronic Boards plc is electrical engineering company and it has been in the business since 1970’s. Company has almost 200 employees and it has been profitable over the last several years. Since establishment to 1985 company has been conducting operations without maintaining true accountancy systems. However, financial crisis has hit the company and it recorded a loss of ?1.7 million. This loss also had an impact the liquidity position of the company. The company’s management director Jack Watson has recently decided to develop the management accounting system for the firm to keep the track record of entire operations and to make sure that the company is able to understand how different products are performing. This report will analyze and outline the main factors that the company needs to consider in establishing a useful management accounting function within the company. ... Investing In Different Projects It has been found that the company directly purchases new technology or equipment in order to improve the productivity without analyzing the cost and benefit ratio of the investment. Therefore after establishing accounting system, the management would be able to make decisions by analyzing the cost and return of the investment and thus it can be helpful in increasing the profitability as only profitable investment will be accepted and others will be rejected (Jaffe, 2007). Moreover, it will be helpful in reducing the interest charges and high bank charges as the company will not be investing in every other technology that comes up. Identifying Areas Of Improvements As the company will have proper management accounting system, so with this the company will be able to identify areas where it can reduce costs and thus it can be helpful in increasing profitability. CONCLUSION Management accountings system, once developed, will provide more insight about th e current status of business and would enhance its capacity to ability to develop and enhance its capacity to compete and forecast its future needs. Moreover, the company would be able to improve its profitability and at the same time manage situations like recession in a better way. References Jaffe, J. (2007). Corporate Finance, Pashupati Printers Pvt Ltd: Delhi. Keown, A., Martin, J., & Petty, J. (2011). Foundations of finance (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Prentice Hall. Johnson, G., & Scholes, K. (2001). Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. 6edition, Prentice-Hall:

Lessons from the Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lessons from the Cold War - Essay Example The United States is widely considered to be the â€Å"winner† of the Cold War for several reasons. Firstly, there is simple geography: if you look at a map, the United States exists now exactly as it did during the years of the Cold War (in fact, it actually grew somewhat during the conflict, adding Hawaii and Alaska as states as opposed to protectorates or territories), whereas the Soviet Union dissolved as a political entity, becoming Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, the Baltic States, Belarus, Ukraine, and several other smaller states between the Black and Caspian Seas (Brooks 450). More importantly, however, was the fact that the political ideology of Russia shifted – the one-party, the communist government ended, the economy was capitalized, state-run corporations became privately owned and so on. So, the state of the Soviet Union and the form of government and economy that it represented both ended, while the United States remained the lone Superpowe r. There are various explanations of how the Cold War was â€Å"won† or â€Å"lost† without recourse to a nuclear war. One of the major theories is that the United State’s more efficient and productive economy simply outpace the Soviet one, leading the Soviet government to either fall behind militarily or socially – both of which would have led to the downfall (Brooks 449). The classic explanation can be summarized as ‘the United States could make tanks and cars, the Soviet Union, one or the other.’ Any explanation that fails to take into account Soviet leadership, however, is somewhat naà ¯ve. The fact is that Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, genuinely sought openness and freedom for his people, and allowed them the freedom to choose what type of economy they wanted, which allowed the Soviet Union to fall without violent backlashes towards either the United States or its own populace (Brooks 454).

Internal Cash Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Internal Cash Control - Essay Example On the other hand, both the purchasing agent and treasurer issue check disbursements for expenses without each other’s accountability there is a likelihood of fraud taking place because only one person grants authority for payments. Q4.5 (b) memo indicating recommendations for improving company procedures From: Your NamesXXX To: Idaho Company Management Subject: Internal Cash Control Weaknesses Date: 23 April, 2012 With the existing gap in the internal cash control of the organization, there is a need to introduce internal control principles of cash management to increase accuracy in the flow of cash and close the gap that exist. Because of the lack of a safe place to keep the company checks, it is necessary to introduce a new safe file cabinet that is lockable with access by only the treasurer or the purchasing agent. In addition, cash registers to record the checks issued in order of the numbers in the checkbook should be introduced to avoid problems with numbering of checks issued and received (Kimmel, Weygandt & Kieso, 2011). Above all, different individuals should authorize, issue and verify checks so as to avoid fraud committed when issuing checks for expenses therefore, the treasurer and the purchasing agents should not be the only one’s authorizing, signing and issuing checks for expenses incurred. ... As a result, Guard Dog Company has managed to initiate the internal control principles in its purchases and payment. There are five principles of the cash disbursement including the establishment of responsibility in within cash disbursements as the designated personnel that include the treasurer, and assistant treasurer is authorized to handle checks (Kimmel, Weygandt & Kieso, 2011). In addition, there are different individuals including the treasurer and assistant treasurer who approve the payment of the expenses through checks as they hold them and stamp the invoices once paid. There is segregation of duties between purchasing agent, receiving department supervisor, treasurer and assistant treasurer because there is no approval of payment in checks without their authorization. Finally, Guard Dog Company has kept in place the physical, electronic and mechanical controls in place (Kimmel, Weygandt & Kieso, 2011). This is because, there is safe storage of checks in the safe whose par ticulars are limitedly held only by the treasurer and assistant treasurer and they use cash registers to register the issuance of the numbered checks that are used. In addition, the fact that the assistant chief accountant carries out the reconciling of checks ensures transparency. Q4-2A. Indicate the weaknesses in internal accounting control in the handling of collections. In the handling of church collections, several weaknesses exist in the procedures followed as the ushers who assist on a voluntary basis do not guarantee the fact that they cannot take some of the church collections. In addition, the head usher who counts the offering alone and works on a voluntary basis is also likely to commit fraud by taking some of the collections without anybody’s knowledge (Kimmel, Weygandt &

20 Years Ago India Essay Example for Free

20 Years Ago India Essay Twenty years ago this weekend, three top Indian officials burned the midnight oil tearing up old import controls and preparing a package of economic reforms that would slowly lead to the booming India that is widely admired today, with growth of 8-9%, 300-350m people enjoying the benefits of a consumer economy, and businessmen operating internationally. But India seems to be in no mood to celebrate that momentous event, just as it wasn’t at India’s 50th anniversary of independence in 1997 when the feeling was downbeat. People then were unsure of what to celebrate, since so little had been achieved in terms of economic development, care for the poor, and industrial efficiency since the British left in 1947. Ten years later, that had changed because of the economic boom of the intervening years. But the 1997 mood is now back again. People are aware that, despite all the economic and business successes, 800m people are still desperately poor and under-nourished, with poor access to clean water and health and education services. Public infrastructure and services are crumbling, national security and defence preparedness is woefully inadequate, and governance is sliding into a greedy, corrupt and inefficient abyss with no bottom in sight. Popular contrasts of India’s elephant and China’s tiger economies are being trotted out in various articles and studies, as they have been for 20 years. But the contrast is simplistic because India has its tiger industries such as information technology (IT), autos, pharma, and mobile telecoms that have been spurred by entrepreneurial drive and technological change. There are also rapidly industrializing states – notably Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (despite its political corruption). These are taking the place of India’s earlier internationally lauded cities, Bangalore and Hyderabad, the capitals of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh that have been swamped by the greed and corruption of politicians and businessmen in areas such as land acquisition, mining and real estate. (The Karnataka chief minister is this week accused of facilitating multi-million dollar illegal mining). India’s blundering elephant is the government establishment that has refused over the past 20 years to change the way that the country is run. The 1991 whittling-down of the government’s role has not been followed through. The government still controls the mostly unreformed banking and defence sectors as well as the vast array of public sector industries and, in various ways, land useage and licensing, especially in the corrupt telecom sector. Such government controls skew development. When the current United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in 2004, led by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, reforms were initially held back by Communist-led Left Front that supported the government. Since the 2009 general election, reforms have been blocked by the disproportionate power of other coalition partners that have 20 or fewer MPs out of the coalition’s total of 262. The main problem however is that Sonia Gandhi, who heads the Congress Party, is not a firm enough believer in reforms to push Singh and his government into a tougher line, and Singh is too cautious. Consequently, a raft of reforms have been delayed including divestments of stakes in public sector businesses, increasing FDI in various sector such as defence, insurance and retail, and – most important of all – curbing subsidies. Montek Ahluwalia, whose Planning Commission is currently finalising a new five-year plan, argues that the future focus should be on three more urgent areas that would otherwise block economic progress – the use of energy and water, and urbanisation. These areas need changes of action by the central government, and even more by state governments, that has eluded India for the past 20 years. It is hard to see how India can tackle these issues, given that failure since 1991. People who are well off will of course do better, and the 300-350m people now enjoying varying levels of consumerism will increase in number and satisfaction. Companies will become more profitable and will become more internationally active. But social tensions will increase, with growing battles over the use of land and other scarce resources. Major reforms will be needed to reverse the trend of bad governance and corruption. It is an irony that, though the past 20 years began and now end with Manmohan Singh, he was neither in charge at the beginning, nor is he at the end. That is not a criticism, but in the early 1990s he could only do what he did courtesy of Narasimha Rao, and now he cannot do what he doesn’t do courtesy of Sonia Gandhi and the UPA’s coalition partners. Something surely needs to change.

Flannery OConnors Good Country People Essay -- essays research paper

In Flannery O'Connor's short story "Good Country People," Hulga is a woman who lives with her mother, Mrs. Hopewell, and has an artificial leg. Mrs. Freeman is a lady who was hired by Mrs. Hopewell to work around her property. A theme that seems to recurr in "Good Country People" is lying that becomes harsher each time. Mrs. Freeman works on tricking Mrs. Hopewell into leaving Hulga alone. She is constantly telling Mrs. Hopewell about each of her daughters and always gossiping. Perhaps she occupies Mrs. Hopewell because she does like her company. On the other hand, Mrs. Freeman could have felt sorry for Hulga and tried to get and keep Mrs. Hopewell's attention so that Hulga could have a temporary reprieve fro...

The Psychological Affects of the Holocaust :: European Europe History

The Psychological Affects of the Holocaust The Holocaust was a tragic point in history which many people believe never happened. Others who survived it thought it should never have been. Not only did this affect the people who lived through it, it also affected everyone who was connected to those fortunate individuals who survived. The survivors were lucky to have made it but there are times when their memories and flashbacks have made them wish they were the ones who died instead of living with the horrible aftermath. The psychological effects of the Holocaust on people from different parts such as survivors of Israel and survivors of the ghettos and camps vary in some ways yet in others are profoundly similar. The vast number of prisoners of various nationalities and religions in the camps made such differences inevitable. Many contrasting opinions have been published about the victims and survivors of the holocaust based on the writers' different cultural backrounds, personal experiences and intelectual traditions. Therefo re, the opinions of the authors of such books and entries of human behavior and survival in the concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe are very diverse. The Survivors of the Holocaust: General Survey Because the traumatization of the Holocaust was both individual and collective, most individuals made efforts to create a "new family" to replace the nuclear family that had been lost. In order for the victims to resist dehumanization and regression and to find support, the members of such groups shared stories about the past, fantasies of the future and joint prayers as well as poetry and expressions of personal and general human aspirations for hope and love. Imagination was an important means of liberation from the frustrating reality by opening an outlet for the formulation of plans for the distant future, and by spurring to immediate actions. Looking at the history of the Jewish survivors, from the beginning of the Nazi occupation until the liquidation of the ghettos shows that there are common features and simmilar psychophysiological patterns in their responses to the persecutions. The survivors often experienced several phases of psychosocial response, including attempts to actively master the traumatic situation, cohesive affiliative actions with intense emotional links, and finally, passive compliance with the persecutors. These phases must be understood as the development of special mechanisms to cope with the tensions and dangers of the surrounding horrifying reality of the Holocaust. There were many speculations that survivors of the Holocaust suffered from a static concentration camp syndrome.

Computer Data Storage Essay

Computers have brought about a revolution across all industries. They have changed the face of society. They are no longer specialized tools to be used by specially trained people. They are ubiquitous and used in almost every sphere of life. Computers have changed the way we work, be it any profession. Therefore, it is only natural that the role of computers in education has been given a lot of importance in recent years. Computers play a vital role in every field. They aid industrial processes, they find application in medicine; they are the reason why software industries developed and flourished and they play an important role in education. This is also why the education system has made computer education a part of school curriculum. Let’s look at what role computer technology plays in the education sector. The advantages of computers in education primarily include: * Storage of information * Quick data processing * Audio-visual aids in teaching * Better presentation of information * Access to the Internet * Quick communication between students, teachers and parents * There are tools like spelling and grammar checker, thesaurus and dictionary, installed in the computer. Thus, it takes less time to proofread a written document * Also, there is no need to open up a dictionary book to look for meanings of words. * Typing is much faster than writing on a paper. * If there is a need for reorganizing the sentences or paragraphs, one can cut and paste and make the necessary changes. * In schools, computer education has been made compulsory to spread awareness about computers. As a matter of fact, computers have become a learning tool for children. Computers are a brilliant aid in teaching. Online education has revolutionized the education industry. Computer technology has made the dream of distance learning, a reality. Education is no longer limited to classrooms. It has reached far and wide, thanks to computers. Physically distant locations have come closer due to Internet accessibility. So, even if students and teachers are not in the same premises, they can very well communicate with one another. There are many online educational courses, whereby students are not required to attend classes or be physically present for lectures. They can learn from the comfort of their homes and adjust timings as per their convenience. Computers have given impetus to distance education. Computers facilitate effective presentation of information. Presentation software like PowerPoint and animation software like Flash among others can be of great help to teachers while delivering lectures. Computers facilitate audio-visual representation of information, thus making the process of learning interactive and interesting. Computer-aided teaching adds a fun element to education. Teachers hardly use chalk and board today. They bring presentations on a flash drive, plug it in to a computer in the classroom, and the teaching begins. There’s color, there’s sound, there’s movement – the same old information comes forth in a different way and learning becomes fun. The otherwise not-so-interesting lessons become interesting due to audio-visual effects. Due to the visual aid, difficult subjects can be explained in better ways. Things become easier to follow, thanks to the use of computers in education. Computers enable access to the Internet which has information on literally everything. Computers enable storage of data in the electronic format, thereby saving paper. Memory capacities of computer storage devices are in gigabytes. This enables them to store huge chunks of data. Moreover, these deveices are compact. They occupy very less space, yet store large amounts of data. Both teachers and students benefit from the use of computer technology. Presentations, notes and test papers can be stored and transferred easily over computer storage devices. Similarly, students can submit homework and assignments as soft copies. The process becomes paperless, thus saving paper. Plus, the electronic format makes data storage more durable. Electronically erasable memory devices can be used repeatedly. They offer robust storage of data and reliable data retrieval. Computer hard drives and storage devices are an excellent way to store data. This was about the role of computers in education. But we know, it’s not just the education sector which computers have impacted. They are of great use in every field. Today, a life without computers is unimaginable. This undelines the importance of computer education. Knowledge of computers can propel one’s career in the right direction. Computers are a part of almost every industry today. They are no longer limited any specific field. They are used in networking, for information access and data storage and also in the processing and presentation of information. Computers should be introduced early in education. I don’t think I am making an overstatement in saying that computer education is as fundamental as learning English. Yes, it is. Conclusion: Computers have come a long way since the first unit was invented. With the advancements of hardware as well as software, we can now accomplish many, tasks such as typing papers, watching TV, editing videos, learning online and gaming. The world of computing has made our lives a lot more convenient. Without the invention and deployment of computers, there would be no social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Econometric Methods Essay

Part A. Multiple choice questions Answer each question by circling one and only one answer. Each question is worth 3 marks (total 30 marks). 1. When estimating a linear probability model using OLS: a. The estimators are biased because errors are necessarily heteroskedastic b. The slope coefficient estimates cannot measure changes in the predicted probability of Y=1 c. The estimators can be asymptotically normally distributed d. All of the above 2. When internal validity is violated: a. OLS coefficients no longer measure the partial correlation between the explanatory variable and the dependent variable b. The population error terms cannot be normally distributed c. The dependent variable necessarily becomes skewed d. None of the above 3. Which of the following dependent variables is least like a limited dependent variable? a. Wages b. Net assets of a household (total assets minus debts) c. Number of visits to the dentist in a year d. An index of happiness where happiness is rated 1 to 10 4. A variable Y is a Bernoulli variable a. Its distribution has the usual 2 independent parameters representing the mean and the variance b. Its expected value equals the ratio of the probability of Y=0 to the probability of Y=1 c. Its variance equals the product of the probability of Y=0 and the probability of Y=1 d. All of the above 5. In the probit model seen in class a. The variance of the error term depends on the vector of explanatory variables b. The variance of the error term is assumed to be 1 c. The variance of the error term does not need to be specified because of the normality assumption d. The variance of the error term can be estimated from the variance of the estimated residual 6. In panel data, the problem of attrition refers to a. The presence of large measurement error in key variables b. The correlation of measurement errors with explanatory variables c. The misclassification of key dummy explanatory variables due to measurement error d. None of the above 7. In the probit model a. The partial effect of a single continuous explanatory variable X on the predicted probability has the same sign as the estimated coefficient on X b. The test statistic constructed by the ratio of the estimated coefficient to its standard error is normally distributed because we are using the normal distribution to model the expected value of the dependent variable c. The partial effects of an explanatory variable are quantitatively close to zero when the standard error of the coefficient on this variable is very large. d. All of the above 8. You have data on a sample of 95 managers working in large firms in Australia. You estimate a logit model of Y= 1 if earning >$500,000 per annum using as explanatory variables: F=1 if the manager is female (0 otherwise); PHD=1 if the manager has a PHD (0 otherwise); an interaction variable FPHD=F*PHD; TEN=tenure with the firm measured in years (a continuous variable). You find the following estimates: Indexi = 0.053 – 0.095 Fi + 0.020 PHDi + 0.007 FPHDi + 0.0015 TENi (0.002) (0.011) (0.009) (0.003) (0.0005) where the standard errors are denoted in parenthesis. You want to test H0: tenure has no effect on the probability of earning >$500,000 per annum versus H1: tenure has a positive effect on the probability of earning >$500,000 per annum. You will use a 5% level of significance to conduct this test. You get an asymptotic t-stat equal to 3.0. Using the tables provided at the end of the exam, choose one of the following as an appropriate critical value to conduct this test: a. 1.662 b. 1.645 c. 1.987 d. 1.960 e. 5.0239 9. Refer to the model and estimates in the previous question. Ceteris paribus, according to these estimates (and ignoring statistical significance): a. Women without PHDs have a higher probability of earning >$500,000 than men without PHDs. b. Men with PHDs have a lower probability of earning >$500,000 than men without PHDs. c. Women with PHDs have higher probability of earning >$500,000 than women without PHDs. d. Women with PHDs have higher probability of earning >$500,000 than men with PHDs. 10. Refer to the model and estimates in the previous question. You want to test that ceteris paribus, men and women have the same probability of earning >$500,000. Under the null, the Wald test statistic is asymptotically chi-squared distributed with a. 1 degree of freedom b. 90 degrees of freedom c. 93 degrees of freedom d. 2 degrees of freedom e. 3 degrees of freedom PART A. Multiple Choice 1. C 2. D 3. B 4. C 5. B 6. D 7. A 8. B 9. C 10. D SOLUTIONS Part B. Problem (Total 30 marks) Equity of access is a primary goal of many health systems. Determining whether Australia’s system (Medicare) meets this goal is an important research question. Consider the case of access to general practitioners (GPs). The probit results presented below in Table 4 are part of an analysis aimed at answering whether there is equitable access to GP services where access is defined on the basis of health needs rather than ability to pay. The data consists of a sample of 3207 single females who were surveyed throughout Australia in 1995. The â€Å"dependent variable† for the study was VISIT, an indicator variable that was equal to one if the women had visited a GP in the last two weeks and zero otherwise. The sample has been divided into two subsets depending on whether the women are less than 40 years old (the â€Å"young† sub-sample) or whether they are greater than 40 years old (the â€Å"old† subsample). Table 4 presents estimation results (variable defini tions follow the table). Young Old Table 4: Probit estimates for visit to GP* Variable Intercept -0.7910 (0.1602) -1.1570 (0.2495) AGE -0.0060 (0.0064) 0.0055 (0.0033) HEALTH 0.3930 (0.0687) 0.6131 (0.0746) KIDS 0.1651 (0.0881) -0.1479 (0.1159) INCOME 0.0003 (0.0032) -0.0052 (0.0037) TERTDUM 0.0120 (0.1042) 0.0844 (0.1509) TRADEDUM 0.1842 (0.0884) 0.2399 (0.1013) DIPDUM 0.0077 (0.1281) 0.0478 (0.1422) PHI 0.0258 (0.0783) 0.1781 (0.0768) Observations 1717 1490 Log-likelihood -935.52 -892.24 PART B. i. (8 marks) Discuss the effects of PHI on the probability of visiting a GP and compare these effects for the two subsamples of young and old women. Repeat the exercise for the KIDS variable. Do you think that these variables are likely to violate the zero conditional mean assumption? Discuss PHI: In both subsamples, the estimated coefficient on PHI is positive; ceteris paribus the probability of visiting a GP is higher for those with PHI than without. The size of coefficients may be discussed using the rule of thumb but these must not be confused with partial effects. The effect is statistically significant among the old while the opposite is true for the young. In the young subsample, the coefficient is insignificant at any conventional level (t statistic for testing irrelevance of PHI against the 2-sided alternative is 0.3295 < 1.645) whereas in the old subsample it is significantly different from zero at the 5% significance level (t statistic = 2.319 > 1.96). The sign is as expected since PHI makes it cheaper to use GP services and women who expect to visit GPs more often are more likely to purchase PHI. The latter implies that ZCM may be violated due to a selection effect. KIDS: In the young subsample, the coefficient on KIDS is positive and statistically different from zero at the 10% level (t statistic = 1.874 > 1.645); the probability of GP visit is higher for those with dependent children. In the old subsample, the sign of the coefficient indicates that the effect is negative but the coefficient is statistically insignificant from zero at conventional levels (t stat = 1.276 < 1.645). A priori, the expected sign is ambiguous; women may visit GPs for children’s medical care as well as their own (positive) but at the same time they may become busier due to child rearing (negative). For the old sample, KIDS may be older and hence mothers no longer visit GPs for the children’s health. Other reasonable explanations are acceptable. You can argue both ways on the ZCM assumption: for example, you can argue that fertility decisions are exogenous to GP visits. You could also argue that there is an omitted variable bias (KIDS is picking up some unobserved component – e.g. better health measurement – than what is being captured by the existing explanatory variables). Also if the true underlying relationship depends on the number of resident dependent chi ldren, KIDS is top-coded at 1, causing the ZCM assumption to fail due to a measurement error correlated with this variable. Additional material: You could also earn marks (lost elsewhere in the question) by discussing the size of the effects. For example, the effect among the young seems non-trivial in the sense that the coefficient’s magnitude is slightly over 40% of that of the coefficient on the poor health indicator (HEALTH) while for the old, the variable seems far less economically relevant relative to HEALTH. ii. (5 marks) If there is equity of access then variables related to income, education and private health insurance should not affect visits to GPs. When the models are re-estimated without these variables (i.e. with only AGE, HEALTH and KIDS included) the log-likelihood values are – 937.92 for the young sub-sample and –898.63 for the old. Using these results evaluate the null hypothesis of equity of access. Statement of the hypotheses: Calculated statistics: LR test statistics: LLRYOUNG = 2(-935.52+937.92) = 4.8; LLROLD = 2(-892.24+898.63) = 12.78. Distributions of the test statistics and critical values: They are asymptotically chi-squared distributed with 5 degrees of freedom under the null. The appropriate 10% and 5% critical values are 9.2364 and 11.0705 respectively. Decision rules and conclusions: Since LLRYOUNG < 9.2364, we fail to reject the null at 10% level in the young subsample; there is not enough evidence to conclude that income, education and PHI variables affect young women’s GP visits. Since LLROLD > 11.0705, we reject the null at the 5% significance level in the old subsample and conclude that there is some evidence against equity of access among the old women. iii. (4 marks) Consider two types of women: type #1 where AGE = 20, HEALTH = 1, INCOME = 20 and all other variables = 0; type #2 is identical except that AGE = 60. Write down the equation(s) you would use to compare the probability of visiting a GP for these two types of women. Using the probit results can you determine which of these two types of women are more likely to have visited a GP in the last two weeks? If your answer is yes then make the comparison, if your answer is no then explain what information you would need to make the comparison. One possible answer is to use the index and argue that the ranking by the probabilities will be the same as that provided by the index: Index for type #1 = -.791 + -.006*20 +.3930 + 0.0003*20 = -.5120 -.51 < Index for type #2 = -1.1570 + .0055*60 +.6131 – 0.0052*20 = -.3179 -0.32 Since the standard normal CDF increases in the probit index, type #2 woman is more likely to visit GPs than type #1 woman. Another possible answer is to write down the normal CDF for the two types and argue that the equation for type 2 will be greater than type 1. Additional material: You could also earn marks (lost elsewhere in the question) by calculating the difference in the probabilities using the table on p.10 of the exam paper; i.e. the difference in the predicted probabilities can be evaluated as (.5-.1255)-(0.5-.1950) = 0.0695 .07 higher for type 2. iv. (6 marks) In determining the sample to be used for estimation, any individual who did not report their income or reported zero income was deleted from the analysis. Do you see any real or potential problems with this modelling decision? Can you provide an alternative method to deal with this problem? Likely problems (one of the following or another sensible problem): -The potential selection bias which arises when the decision to report zero income or refuse reporting any is correlated with the decision to use GP services. For instant, top income groups may be more jealous of their income information and at the same time more likely to be health conscious and visit GPs in consequence; excluding the said individuals would affect all coefficient estimates as the model would have to predict a lower probability of GP visit on average. -The decrease in the sample size and the resulting increase in standard errors. The incomplete cases may still provide useful information on the effects of other variables on GP visits and the researcher has discarded this information. Alternative solutions (one of the following or another sensible solution): – Use other information to impute the missing information – Use dummy variables for missing income. – More sophisticated imputation methods – Estimate a selection model (this is covered in more detail later in the class but you may know about it from reading or elsewhere) v. (7 marks) Explain how you would construct and use a hit and miss table to compare the performance of the models for the two subsamples of women (young and old). (You do not have to actually construct a table.) Step 1. Calculate a predicted probability for each person in the relevant subsample. Step 2. Obtain a predicted binary outcome for each person using a classification rule: if person i’s predicted probability exceeds c, the predicted outcome is 1 and otherwise 0. It is ok if you use 0.5 or the sample mean. Step 3. For each subsample, tabulate frequencies of predicted and actual binary outcomes in the following form: Predicted 01 Observed 0 A B 1 B’ A’ where: A (A’) = the total number of women whose predicted and observed outcomes are 0 (1) B (B’) = the total number of women whose observed outcome is 0 (1) but the predicted outcome is 1 (0). Step 4. Now, compare the relative frequencies of correct predictions for each subsamples; i.e., compare (A+A’) / (A+B+A’+B’) across the subsamples. This tells us how well one model performs relative to another in terms of predicting the observed outcomes. It is ok to describe the comparisons of the predicted 0’s separately from the predicted 1’s (ie the comparisons of A / (A+B) and A’ / (A’+B’) across subsamples) but this is not needed for full marks.

Backstage View of ‘the Avengers’

CMT 2325 PROJECT 3 – ESSAY Backstage view of ‘The Avengers’ The primary objective of this essay is to elaborate on the creation of the different special effects in a movie. I chose the movie â€Å"The Avengers† to research and report on which is an American superhero fiction movie directed by Joss Whedon. The criterion on which I selected this movie was because it is a recent movie using all the latest techniques of cinematography and graphics.Plus, since it is a superhero fiction, there are a number of scenes, particularly the stunt scenes which need to be executed using features like CGI VFX, green/blue screens and edited using software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium, Adobe illustrator etc. which have been discussed further in the essay. Green screens are being used extensively in almost all movies these days. â€Å"The technique is called Chroma Keying, where someone is filmed standing in front of a gr een screen and any green colors are digitally filtered out and replaced by the desired video.   (Green Screen: Environmentalism and Hollywood Cinema, David Ingram). One of the many logistical challenges on the production of The Avengers involved dealing with the multitude of main characters. Each actor had specific needs in regards to blue or green screen. The character that played Black Widow is red hair, Thor is blonde, and Captain America's costume was almost chroma blue. Thus, there were a variety of different requirements for each. The scenes were worked out with both green and blue screens and the lesser of two evils were taken for the final shoot.Example in the movie – For hulk’s punch to Thor, they put Chris Hemsworth(Actor playing Thor) in front of a bluescreen standing on top of a real section of a downed Leviathan that they built. And they attached Hemsworth to a cable pull that they retimed, so he could look like he was knocked sidewise. They then replace d the blue screen with the apt background for the final look. They also cut a few frames out of the footage, so it looks like Hulk's punch has â€Å"instant impact†. The movie had an extraordinary job of making the CGI (Computer-generated Images) realistic and incredibly clever.ILM played an important role in contributing to the visual effects of The Avengers. They were responsible for creating many of the film’s digital assets – from the Helicarrier, to New York streets and buildings, to digi-doubles of the characters, plus the Hulk and Iron Man. (Creating A 3D Animated CGI: by Michael Scaramozzino)The surprise of many perhaps the scene stealer of the film is the Hulk played by Mark Ruffalo. This is due to the less than fully successful earlier attempts at digital Hulks.Ang Lee’s 2003 Hulk and Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk both failed, for many people, in producing a Hulk that could walk the digital tightrope of impressive near undefeatabl e strength, huge body mass, fast agile movement, raw anger and likable performance. ILM did a lot of animation work in terms of selling the weight and that was hard slog to get it right and to get all the pieces working together to make his mass believable, beyond that they did several rounds of simulation as far as the muscle dynamics and the skin – to help make that all work together.To achieve this ILM deployed advanced motion capture and a new facial animation system. The face of the Hulk was built out from a life cast / scan of actor Mark Ruffalo’s face. It was then modified in ZBrush to become the Hulk, while still retaining an essence of the original actor. They also studied simian motions for the Hulk — and when Mark Ruffalo came to the studio to experiment with different motions in the mo-cap suit, he started to tend to go towards more apish motions, giving him that animalistic quality that gives you a feeling that he's not quite in control. ( http://la tino-review. om/2012/04/05/avengers-cgi-ruffle-hulk/) For the creative director, graphics ; HUD supervisor, and the screen designer/animator, the most challenging on-screen graphics job was the creation of the heads-up displays (HUDs) in the film, used for two versions of Iron Man's suits. The team also created the on-screen graphics to fill in countless digital computer screens throughout the movie. Simultaneously they created the two Iron Man HUDs (the Mark 6 and the Mark 7) and ended by animating and compositing all the final 2D and stereo comps for the HUD interior shots and the POVs.The new HUD had to look and feel like previous Iron Man HUDs, but with amplified sophistication and detail. The designing of all the widgets, icons and panels was done on Illustrator, converted to layered Adobe Photoshop files and then brought into After Effects for animation. (http://provideocoalition. com/adobe/story/Marvels_The_Avengers_Taking_the_HUD_to_new_heights/)The Avengers was the first ti me the HUD had been done in stereo. On the previous Iron Man films, there was a lot of blurred graphics for depth, but in stereo depth of field doesn't work as well.They focused a lot of time on how widgets and graphics would actually function because everything was clearly readable. Everything in the HUD, even down to the tiny micro-text, relates precisely to the current story-point. A system was devised and rig on Iron Man 2 that was upgraded for stereo within After Effects. It utilized a virtual representation of the character's head in a 3D environment surrounded by the HUD graphics. Once we got the footage, we tracked it in 2D using the point tracker in After Effects.We put point trackers on the inside corners of both of his eyes and the end of his nose. From that, we averaged those tracks and shifted out the average in z space to get rotational values. The movie The Avengers has used numerous animation and graphic techniques which have opened up a whole new realm of exciting o pportunities for future work; the creation of the Hulk character being my personal favorite. The recreation of a computer model of New York City using a huge number of photographs edited was done amazingly as well.Also the camera shots, angles, lighting, and editing, all aid into the brilliant cinematography of  The Avengers. REFRENCES 1. http://latino-review. com/2012/04/05/avengers-cgi-ruffle-hulk/ 2. http://www. studiodaily. com/2012/05/previs-techvis-and-postvis-on-the-avengers/ 3. http://provideocoalition. com/adobe/story/Marvels_The_Avengers_Taking_the_HUD_to_new_heights/ 4. Green Screen:Environmentalism and Hollywood Cinema: by David Ingram 5. Creating A 3D Animated CGI: by Michael Scaramozzino