Outsourcing Information Systems †Current Issues Research Paper (400 Level Course)

Outsourcing Information Systems – Current Issues Research Paper (400 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Outsourcing Information Systems Current Issues Research Paper (400 Level Course) How many times have you heard about â€Å"the dangers of outsourcing†? However in reality it is nothing more than a beautiful campaign slogan because most of America would jump on your wagon and proclaim that you truly have the working man in your heart. However the federal government’s household survey shows more than 139 million Americans are working today and the unemployment rate is holding steady at a relatively low % 5.5, even with taking growth into account. So where are all the Americans that have lost their job to an over seas country that refuses to accept â€Å"level playing field†? The reality is that the playing field is tipped our way. The United States has the best educated, most productive, most adaptive workforce in the world. Because of this and our policy of free trade, â€Å"outsourcing† is actually far overshadowed by something we hear much less about, â€Å"insourcing.† Insourcing is the process by which foreign firms hire workers here in the United States. This is not just limited to the Honda workers in Ohio and BMW employees in South Carolina. But rather our entire GNP shows that without every country in the world wanting to do business in the United States we would not be the country we are. However the issue of outsourcing is more than a table conversation because it truly is a study of economics. First you must identify the costs advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing as it relates to your specific business or function within your business that could potentially be modified. Creativity mixed with a solid understanding of your business, clients, future, and growth is a must before you consider any option. Decide what to outsource, what should be kept in house, and how to select and manage suppliers and vendors effectively. Since outsourcing is fast approaching a $200 billion dollars business, executives are asking â€Å"Which skills should be outsourced and which should be kept in house?† Most experts provide advice on keeping in-house the high-value skills, or the processes that are important to the business, but they leave out specific details so these questions remain up to your specific business. Again, know your business, know your clients, and try to forecast your future in the market. Because this topic is so over analyzed and beat to death there is a tremendous amount of information on the subject. White papers on outsourcing, outsourcing literature, and a checklist based on several years of research are all easy to obtain. Try to avoid mistakes that other companies have made and many are still making but do everything to capitalize on the right decisions made by others. Furthermore understand the intricate networks of international suppliers, their strengths and weaknesses as well as their strategies and tactics. In addition, understand the political and cultural caveats that you are potentially introducing to your clients if part of your plan is to outsource a function that involves customer interaction. Research Papers on Outsourcing Information Systems - Current Issues Research Paper (400 Level Course)PETSTEL analysis of IndiaThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalTwilight of the UAWResearch Process Part OneDefinition of Export Quotas

Time Management in College Five Golden Rules [Guest Post]

Time Management in College Five Golden Rules [Guest Post] Do you like to learn? I do! Every hour spent at the university was great fun to me. I love to broaden my knowledge, acquire new skills and use them later in practice. However, mastering knowledge of all subjects is extremely time-consuming, especially when each of them refers to different issues, which not always overlap. Therefore, if students want to get good scores in many disciplines, they should admit that time-management in college is crucial! Meeting deadlines is one thing, and keeping the quality of the assimilated content high enough is another. Both issues are significant for students. The reason is that their combination is what makes students successful. I have to admit that I have experienced some slips in my life and terrible pangs of conscience due to the result not meeting my obligations frustrates me greatly because it conflicts with my inner need to be perfect in everything. Today, however, I am no longer the same person who started their adventure with studies. Today, I understand how valuable every minute of my day is. Thats why I try to use these 24 hours to the maximum, so as not to have any regrets that I wasted my time because I was too lazy. If you also want to boost your efficiency, check out five golden rules of time-management in college! #1 Learn to Say No Probably each of us at least once in their life found themselves in a situation in which the number of tasks to perform overwhelmed psych them out. Such moments particularly love to attract people who would like to have their project done by someone else as if those were walking with a loudspeaker and announcing they eagerly relieve their fellowmen in carrying out their duties. I am well aware that saying no is not the simplest thing to do; however, its paramount for time-management in college. We usually do not want to risk the consequences of refusing our help our college friends. After all, we may also need it one day, right? That is why the way in which we communicate this refusal is so crucial – find some practical advice on how to say no so that nobody will consider us to be a chuff! Believe me, if you finally start to devote 100% of your learning time to do your job, you will quickly feel the difference! It will allow you to focus as much as possible on what you can and take your exams without blinking an eye. #2 Do Not Distract Yourself Improving your skills of time-management in college is a challenge to many students. Lets face the truth: whenever we sit down to learn, everything starts to tempt twice as much. Social media, a book, an episode of a favorite TV series (especially when a difficult exam is approaching fast), even hunger starts to get worse than usual. I know it better than you think – as soon as you start learning, the sounds from the outside become much more intense and disperse the barely achieved concentration. Thats why whenever I start learning, I turn off my wi-fi and put my phone away at a safe distance, much longer than the length of my arm, and also behind my back. When someone calls, I have the opportunity to get up and move. Whats more, I no longer check my Facebook account compulsorily reading the same entry three times. This way it is reliable and the results, although difficult to achieve, are incredibly satisfying – I do not waste time on staring at my smartphone and consuming a million different pieces of information. I focus much better on the content to learn for a test or an exam, so I am also more satisfied with their results! Besides, I have learned not to check now and then if I have received a message. It was incredibly difficult for me because I try to answer my friends questions as soon as possible. From experience, however, I know that immediately after any distractions connected to the phone, it is the news that distracts me the most. #3 Prepare a List Of Tasks One of the most important principle of time-management in college is creating to-do lists. Did you know that we are doing much better when we stick to the established plan? Mastering the confusion is the easiest way to concentrate because knowing our next steps allows us to control the time we spend on it. Of course, chaos can also be creative and develop creativity, but unfortunately, this is not a good solution, not in the long run. By placing tasks in a more rigid framework, our efficiency is increased – and that is what it is all about! Here, I have something of a sub-item for you, that is, use tools!Task lists can be drawn up in many ways. The easiest way is, of course, to take a piece of paper and a pen, but I prefer the application for a smartphone. I have already tried Todoist, Asana, Trello, Podio, and TimeCamp, so I know exactly how much time I need to learn a particular subject or to complete another project. I also enter data regularly into my calendar (Calendar for Mac OS). On top of all I have a notebook at hand, which I use to note down some ephemeral ideas and thoughts. #4 Set Yourself a Time Limit When we learn or write some essays for classes, we often encounter the same type of tasks. Notes or scripts are usually of a similar size, so we can determine how long it will take us to prepare them, including any preparation – just as in the case of learning for a particular subject. Again, I will mention the time tracking tools, such as TimeCamp – just turn them on when you start learning, and the application will count the minutes and hours spent on that activity by itself. Doing so definitely makes it easier for students to manage their time because they are able to divide their day in such a way that any of their duties is fulfilled at the expense of the other. Imagine how lucky it will be to learn of three subjects instead of two? I would be proud of myself, would you? You should! Following the rules of time-management in college means no more missed deadlines. #5 Take a Break And the last but not the least rule of time-management in college is taking breaks! Our brain needs rest. Imagine working persistently out at a gym, putting yourself through the hoops there achieve the desired results. It is impossible for you to withstand it without even a short break! The same goes for the mind – it, too, needs rest to work correctly. That is why it is so vital to take a break from time to time while creating something, which is a typically intellectual effort. For me, it usually means two minutes spent with my eyes closed, preparing a meal or, more and more often, a series of simple physical exercises. These small pauses will allow you to enhance your focus and give you the strength to do more work so that you will finish it much faster! If youve missed our blog on helpful time-management activities for students, check it out now, so that you had a complete picture on how to manage your time. Author: Ola Rybacka Ola is a Community Manager at TimeCamp a time tracking software company  and a new media maniac. Shes a Ph.D. and speech therapy student, treats the university as the second home. Likes reading science fiction and fantasy books, prefers rock and celtic music, loves sitting in the kitchen and cooking for her friends and family.  Find her on Twitter here: @pidzuchna

Light and Telescopes and Gravity Research Paper

Light and Telescopes and Gravity - Research Paper Example Optics is a common term used to refer to the study of light and its interactions with matter. Reflection is the bouncing back of light on a surface, in most cases resulting in image formation. Refraction on the other hand denotes the bending of the rays of light when passing through one medium to another (124). The speed of light in different transparent materials with ordinary matter is lower than that in a vacuum. For instance, the velocity of light in water is 75% the speed of light in a vacuum. The behavior of light is dependent on its wavelength and like other electromagnetic radiations high frequencies translate into lower wavelengths and vice-versa. Light is made up of photons/ quanta of lower energy levels which evoke excitations (electronic) in the molecules it interacts with resulting in variations in the chemistry/ bonding of the molecule. In the lower portion of the spectrum of light, the radiation (infrared) is no longer visible as the quanta of these radiation lack energy sufficient to elicit variation in molecule retinal of the eye retina, hence no visibility (at least not via quantum absorption) (Walker, 418). Over the limit of visible light, UV radiation is not visible to human eyes because it is absorbed by the internal lens below 400nm and the cornea below 360nm. In addition, the human retina’s cones and rods cannot detect radiation of wavelength below 360nm and are destroyed by such radiation. The main source of light on earth is the sun with approximately half of the EMR from the sun in the visible light region. However, there are a plethora of other light sources and mechanisms of producing light such as bioluminescence, electroluminescence, sonoluminescence, scintillation, radioactive decay, triboluminescence, particle-antiparticle annihilation, chenkov radiation, and so on. Light is either measured via photometry or radiometry. Light applies physical pressure on objects along its path with its

Principales of Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principales of Economics - Research Paper Example On the contrary, microeconomic deals with economics concepts such as the way supply and demand relate in particular markets for goods and services. Essentially, the article clearly shows that macroeconomics focuses on matters that impact the economy as a whole (Romer, 2011). Microeconomics focuses on matters that have a direct bearing on companies and persons. Macroeconomics concepts concerns about how all the markets act together to produce the large phenomenon that is referred in economics as aggregate variables. The concept of microeconomics analyses a single market, for instance, the changes in prices of particular commodities or whether they are driven by the changes in demand and supply. In macroeconomics, the focal item of analysis is the government, in which the function it plays in contributing to the overall growth of the economic or in combating inflation. The articles points out that the macroeconomics also deals with international sphere due to the interlink between dome stic markets and foreign markets through avenues like trade, investments and flow of capital. Nevertheless, the microeconomic also incorporates some global components. It is concerned with transnational components because a single market is not confined to a specific nation. The economic concepts are outstandingly related and the two study issues that often overlap considerably (Baumol & Blinder, 2011). The areas in which the two have a common focus are inflation and the cost of living for a particular economy. Inflation is instigated by a number of factors that range from low rates of interest to expanding the supply of money. Whereas inflation looks like a solely macroeconomic field of study, it is the one crucial issue in microeconomics. Inflation leads to skyrocketing prices of services and goods and consequently causing a sedate impact for businesses and individuals. The effects of inflation have myriad impacts

Spaghetti and sausages Essay Example for Free

Spaghetti and sausages Essay This schedule is my average exercise per week. By following this schedule I can assure myself that I do at least five hours of exercise a week because I always walk to and from school. I can also guarantee that I will do an hour and a half of football training on a Wednesday and play the match on a Sunday even in the close season because I play for a summer team as well. My fitness is no longer jeopardised by injury as it was earlier in the year when I broke my right fibula and tibia during a football match. For my main stage fitness test I did:  A bleep test A bleep test is when you run from distance back to another repeatedly. I finished the bleep test with a score of 11.5  Cooper Run the Cooper run is when you run for twelve minutes around a 100 metre circuit without stopping. My number of laps was 27 which means that I did 2700 metres of running.  Harvard step test this is where you put one foot on a bench followed by another then take one foot off and take the other foot off. My pulse rates were:  Compared to the other people that are in my group I am a very fit person. This is because I do a lot of fitness training out of school and I need to keep myself in good shape because I have a strong passion for football. However, nobodys perfect and I am no exception. I feel that I can improve my balance because I often lose it at vital and unexpected times. What Would I like to Achieve?  The sport that I am going to improve my fitness for is football.  The different components of sport in order to play football are:  1) Speed You need this to outpace the opposition players with or without the ball.  2) Power Jumping to head a ball and the power in your leg muscles to kick the ball as hard as you want.  3) Agility Being able to move freely and turn with the ball when sharp movements are needed. 4) Flexibility When you stretch your leg or arm (goalkeeper) to reach for the ball.  5) Stamina Allowing you to last longer on the pitch without getting tired.  6) Strength The ability to outmuscle your opponent for the ball.  7) Balance Being able to stay on your feet in any situation with control over your body.  8) Co-ordination Needed for judging the flight of a ball and when you are in control of it so that you always know where the ball is. The thing in which I would like to improve is my strength. This is because for a footballer, you need to be strong and this is an area in which I am very weak. I will also work on my balance a little because sometimes I find myself falling over when running with the ball at speed.  How am I going to achieve this?  In order to improve my football skills and in particular my strength and balance, I will create a circuit with about eight stations designed to improve my overall skills in football. Over the six weeks the toughness and length of exercise will increase. My body will adapt to the training and my fitness level will slowly rise because my body will get used to the routine. I can do this by increasing the number of repetitions, adding more stations or even reducing the rest periods. My circuit will be completed 3 times a week and the results would be shown by measuring the heart rate of myself in a results table for each week. My circuit plan can be found on the next page followed by a diagram on the page next to that. Week 1 In the first week my heart rate worried me a little because at the start of the second session it raised and after the first session I expected it to be the same. This however was soon put to the back of my mind as on the third session it was back down to 68BPM and on the third session I found out that I had begun to improve my fitness because my heart rate after the exercise session was lower than the previous two sessions. Week 2 This week was another step closer to getting fitter as my third session of the week proved to be an improvement because my heart rate managed to stay the same as the second session. The after exercise heart rate showed me that I continued from the first week but the second session showed that I was not getting my heart rate back down to 71BPM. Like the first week I continued with the third session and I had been shown that I was not only back to where I should be but I improved yet again. Week 3 In week 3 I ended with an even lower heart rate of 66BPM. The second session showed me that my heart rate was one beat more than I expected but this has seemed to be a trend in my results. After 3 minutes of exercise I found my results worrying as I didnt make any improvement at all and in the first two sessions I got worse and worse but luckily was back at 70BPM by the third session. Week 4 This was a disappointing week for me and I clearly was slacking in my programme. My heart rate before exercise stayed at 66BPM for the duration of the week and my after exercise heart rate was higher and this stayed like this, as at the end of the week my heart rate 3 minutes after exercise was 71BPM whereas the week before it was 70BPM. Week 5 After the first session of week 5 I thought that I must have reached my maximum fitness level because it was still 66BPM but then realised over the next two sessions I could still improve as I had heart rates of 65BPM. My after exercise results also finally improved from 71BPM to 69BPM. This was a pleasing week for me as I used the overload tactic to get my heart rate down. Week 6 Finally my six week training program had come to an end. Pleasingly I made a final improvement and my final heart rate before exercise was 64BPM. Another thing that made me proud was that my heart rate 3 minutes after exercise had also improved and that ended with a final rate of 68BPM. Overall I improved my fitness by 4BPM.

Friendship, Life, and Nature: Of Mice and Men Essay -- literary Analys

John Steinbeck is an author that creates an illusion of life in animalistic terms. Throughout the course of the novella, animal characteristics are given to the character Lennie. The author compares the character to an animal along with explaining the physicality and interactive movement of the character. â€Å"These are made acceptable and indeed moving because of the genuine sweetness on feels in Steinbeck’s nature and because he sees these human beings as being at least as dignified as animals† (Allen 325). Human beings have instincts and behaviors that are similar to animals. Steinbeck’s personal interest of humans portray under the living qualities of animals. â€Å"Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Steinbeck 3). Steinbeck compares Lennie to a large animal in physical terms. Lennie’s hand represents the paw of the large animal. Overall, Steinbeck’s style of writing illustrates the lives of two men during the Great Depressi on and the strong connection of friendship they share through a struggle of life and the nature of being human. Protection of a friend depicts the American theme of two male counterparts. George watches over Lennie in protection of his safety and innocence. Taking the role of caring for Lennie after his Aunt Clara, George has to lead both himself and Lennie to their future destination. â€Å"†Hide till I come for you. Don’t let nobody see you. Hide in the brush by the river†Ã¢â‚¬  (Steinbeck 30). Consequently, George needs to monitor Lennie and keep him safe from peril. The George’ words reflect his feelings of dominance and protection over Lennie. George also protects Lennie from losing opportunities in the work force. â€Å"† Then why don’t you let him answer? What you trying to put over?†Ã¢â‚¬  (Steinbeck 22). George will a... ...he bond between George and Lennie, which goes back many years, is different† (â€Å"Themes and Construction: Of Mice and Men.† Exploring Novels. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center- Gold. Web. 26 Apr. 2010). Loneliness, class conflicts and Lennie’s mental disability describes the obstacles one may come across in life. Moreover, the nature of human instinct and behavior creates the backbone of the Steinbeck’s form of writing. â€Å" The novel is replete with references to traps and entrapment, and the frequent use of animal imagery serves as a point of comparison for understanding the emotional states of human characters within the work† (Beachman 3024). Survival of the fittest is influenced by both animal and human. John Steinbeck displays the role of a man’s life during the Great Depression and how extraordinary traits can lead to adverse event of what is to come.

Red Dead Redemption Analysis

Critical Analysis of a Game: Red Dead Redemption Professor Shawn Graham Jad Slaibeh 100804020 Submitted: Thursday February 7th 2013 The game I have chosen for my critical analysis is Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption was made, published, and engineered by a company called Rockstar Games (Rockstar Website). The major distributor of the game is a company who happens to own Rockstar, Take-Two interactive. Being one of the most successful video game developers to date, Rockstar is famous for creating the popular and controversial game series Grand Theft Auto.Rockstar differs very much from other video game developers because they are one of few who have grown and experienced the advancement of video games in terms of graphics and gameplay. Rockstar is known for revolutionizing the concept of having an open world in console video games. This was not originally the case and happened over years of expansion. Rockstar’s first game was released on the original PlayStation. The g ame is called Grand Theft Auto. Its camera was in a bird’s eye view with basic 3D graphics consisting of repetitive player movements. In comparison to today, the game was really quite simple in terms of graphics and game play.The game lacked a larger narrative. Its gameplay was based mostly around the options of stealing cars, doing hits for gang members, killing civilians, and evading the police. This lack of narrative and focus on violence may be one of the reasons why Rockstar dealt with a lot of controversy from the media. As Rockstar grew and released multiple titles, their video games utilized the advancement in technology to create a larger narrative. Using Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE), Rockstar developed third person 3D modeled sandbox game (Ogilvie, 2010). With this new open world, the game developers were able to explore more narrative options.Red Dead Redemption used their graphical improvements to allow for new historical representations such as: talking N PCs with their own ethnicity and culture and NPCs who show facial emotion and body language. This allows players to connect better with the world Rockstar has created because they represent what people are familiar with. Rockstar had greatly passed simple storyline of Grand Theft Auto. This is why I chose Red Dead Redemption. It excels in the ability of experiencing a fun and highly skilled game while having improved representations of people, stories, and histories.They do so through implementing character traits in certain NPCs. The NPCs are programmed primarily in two ways. One is to help the player in their quest by providing information to solve the main problem space. The other is to try and stop the player; this creates another problem space that the player must solve. The addition of these advanced NPCs really helped Rockstar deliver a story to their players. They force the player to constantly see familiar NPCs which creates a bond between them and the player. These NPCs fo rce you to make many moral decisions throughout the game.These moral choices the player has to make adds a great deal of advancement to the narrative because the game is programed to change based on these decisions. If the player was to help a gang of thieves raid a site in order to get money, civilians would remember due to the decrease in honour and news would spread. Decisions the player makes affect how NPCs, such as townsfolk or sheriffs, approach the player in the game. If the player was riding their horse along a prairie road and happened to see a gang of thieves taking someone hostage, the player could kill or hogtie the bandits and their honour meter would go increase.These decisions program NPCs to now feel safe around the player by cheering for them. These cheers can often make the player feel happier because of the heroic role they are playing. This social value is what makes Rockstar games a fan favourite. Another reason Rockstar advanced so quickly was the positive cha nge in hardware. The game was originally released on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 on May 18th 2010. I played the game on my Xbox 360 console. To capture the experience of the Wild West, Rockstar consulted some historical experts in the field, along with channelling a lot of time and money into the graphics of the game.According to a New York Times online article, Rockstar spent between 80-100 million dollars on developing the game (Schiesel 2010). I mention this statistic because this comes to show the new era of devotion Rockstar brought to video game production. In any video game, soundtracks can be an incredible boost in its overall character. The soundtracks in Red Dead Redemption are authentic; it gives the game historical flavour. What I mean by this is you truly get a feeling of the Western experience. Rockstar brought on composers Woody Jackson and Bill Elm.In a behind the scenes video, the composers explain that it is essential for them to â€Å"find a balance, paying hom age to what was there but also trying to add our stamp to the music† (GamerSpawn, 2010). Another interesting fact they mentioned was the ability for the game to launch certain lines of music to start based on your actions. For example, if you jump on a horse, a bass line rolls in. If the player is in a shootout, the music intensifies. The music helps reinforce the player’s connection with the historic west by creating familiar sounds associated with the Western era.Before I mention the problem spaces of the game, I would like to continue back to explaining some of the hardware information behind Red Dead Redemption. First we will talk about the controller/controls. Controls have the potential to play a big factor in how we experience a video game. The way the controls are programmed correlate directly with your character’s movement. This gives the player a bigger sense of control. This control makes for a better physical connection. Red Dead Redemption’s c ontroller functions do a great job in the ability to allow the player to become immersed in the game world.If you were not aware of the classic Xbox 360 controller, here is how it is laid out: Some basic controls of the game are: left stick controls which direction your character moves in, right stick controls which direction your character looks, pulling the right trigger will fire your weapon, and pulling left trigger starts the aim mode which makes it easier to hit your target. The Xbox 360 controller, along with the Red Dead Redemption controls, allow the player to control what we are familiar in our everyday lives For example, to shoot a gun in the real world you have to pull a trigger.This is emulated when pulling the trigger on the Xbox controller. When driving a vehicle and turning in a certain direction, we turn the wheel. This is emulated by moving the left stick in order to direct your character. This makes the experience more enjoyable and recognizable. Throughout the ga me you are only controlling one character, the protagonist. The name of this protagonist is John Marston. Marston is a former outlaw who makes a deal with the state to bring justice to his former gang of outlaws in order to get his family back.Upon Marston's attempt to find and capture his former gang members, the plan goes wrong for our protagonist and he is left for dead. Luckily, you are approached by a local ranch farmer, Bonnie Mcfarlane. Bonnie saves your life and brings you back to her farm. That is our initial problem space. The player is immediately placed into the world with a want to defeat our twisted former gang of outlaws and get our family back. This creates an immediate sympathy for our protagonist which adds even more of narrative. Because the game represents plausible situations, players are more likely to sympathize.Although we are placed in a world where there is only one end goal of killing the men who left you for dead and are in the way of getting your family; we have a wide variety of choices in the path of attaining this goal. This concept of beginning the game after being left for dead completely on your own creates an even bigger problem space. My big question was, what do I do first? The player has the ability to access this map in the start menu: [pic] In the Western era, maps would certainly be a way to represent space. Therefore the map gives us the ability to represent space in a way that people are used to.This adds a historical flavour to it because it represents history with adding its own personalized flavour. This map is a fictionalized/representational map of Canada, Mexico and the US. Much like the real world, each territory has its differences. For example: certain NPCs with ethnic representations are present in each area, certain animals are associated with familiar habitats in different territories, and territories such as Canada have more green lands where as Mexico is represented as more dry. To travel to these diffe rent lands, we are immediately handed a horse.When the player first gets their horse, it is quite slow. This is a problem and slow travel can become quite boring. Upon playing I thought there had to be some options to overcoming this problem. Like the real world, the player has the option of feeding their horse to increase its stamina. Another implementation is the trust bar that develops with the players’ horse. This trust bar adds narrative because we are familiar with gaining trust with living things in the real world. The longer the player has kept their horse, the faster it gets and the more risks it is willing to take to get you to your destination.The game specifically promotes value by rewarding the players for keeping the same horse. In doing so, the interface encourages the player to behave a certain way with this virtual animal, representing a relationship common to real life. Even though this horse is merely a program in a video game, the power of the game and the value I had onto it made me have a connection to it. Unfortunately, it is quite possible for the player’s horse to die. For example, upon passing by a poor woman being harassed by drunk men just before entering a town, one of the men shot my horse dead while attempting to hogtie them.After all the investment of money I had put into my horse to increase its stamina, the time spent together gaining trust, and the many missions we had completed together, my horse was now gone. Connecting to history, the video game allows the player to feel the pain that people must have gone through when their own horse died. Clearly their problem was much bigger than a video game can represent, but it once again brings out empathetic emotions. Although the game itself was not based off any real characters or real story lines, it still had the power to create a real connection.The game places the character in an age outside of their norm. If a car breaks down, that person now has the ability to take out a cell phone and call a friend to pick them up. If in 1900 someone’s horse died, that is that until a new horse is acquired. This was now part of my problem space. With these newly acquired problems that I did not have just thirty seconds earlier, I clearly had to deal with these men who altered my path for the negative. Due to this setback I had developed, I quickly hogtied the surviving men and placed their bodies on the train tracks for the upcoming train to deal with them.Although this was an act of immorality because the game gives you an option to return them to the sheriff’s station, I felt no sympathy for these men who, before shooting my horse, were attacking a lone woman. Looking at the game on a narrative level, this meant that a side of my true character was shown, one that let my emotions dictate my actions. At that exact moment the video game explained and taught me a lesson in morality. It also explained how, just like in the real world, others may have handled that same situation completely differently.Moving forward in the game, I was forced to purchase another horse and develop a new connection between us. Purchasing horses is one of the many ways that money is used to solve problems in the game. Money is quite similar to how it is in the real world. The player needs to do work and complete services in order to gain it. It is quite hard to gain money, unlike the other Grand Theft Auto games, which enforces the player to spend wisely. Some examples of situations where you need money are: to buy weapons, ammunition, houses (in order to have multiple save points), and medicine to heal.The player may also acquire money through selling items they find and doing favours and missions for locals and friends met along the way. There is one final question to be answered: was the game historically accurate? The answer to this question is: it depends what you classify as â€Å"historically accurate†. The term is thrown arou nd quite often. Unfortunately, based on the game play, there is far too much fantasy to consider it a game that accurately depicts the lifestyle that people lived in the early 20th century.The game is based off a completely fictional story with fake characters in a fake world. However, the game did a great job of showcasing some aspects of the time frame by utilizing: the advanced RAGE physics engine, the programmed NPCs with character traits, a familiar map system, the player’s horse that rewards you for your loyalty and protection, and the advanced controller settings. Overall, the narrative behind Rockstar Games’s Red Dead Redemption will be remembered in history as one of the most advanced video games for its time. Reference List: 1.Rockstar San Diego Official Website – Available from: http://www. rockstargames. com/reddeadredemption/ 2. Ogilvie Red Dead Redemption: All the RAGE – Available from: http://ca. ign. com/articles/2010/01/28/red-dead-redemp tion-all-the-rage Jan 28 2010 3. Schiesel Way Down Deep In the Wild, Wild West – Available from: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/05/17/arts/television/17dead. html? pagewanted=all=0 May 16th 2010 4. GamerSpawn Red Dead Redemption: Soundtrack Behind the Scenes – Available from: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=vEsknPy5rvg July 29th 2010

Preparation of Cyclohexanol

Introduction: Cyclohexanol is mainly used in the production of caprolactam and adipic acid that is a raw material of nylon 6 (Zhang, et al, 2002). Cyclohexanol can be produce through several methods, which include the oxidation of cyclohexane, the hydration of cyclohexene, or the hydrogenation of phenol (Zhang, et al, 2002). Problem with oxidation of cyclohexene is poor selectivity, extremely large recycles and explosion hazards. (Suresh, Sridhar, Potter, 1988). The purpose of this experiment was to synthesis cyclohexanol by hydration of cyclohexene using concentrated sulphuric acid as an acidic catalyst.In hydration reaction, C=C B bond is replaced by hydroxyl group (Hornback, 2006). Overall reaction: (McFadden, 2012) In the first step, the mixture of water, concentrated sulphuric acid, and cyclohexene was shaken vigorously until it became a homogenous solution. Followed by, the addition of water, and the distillation process lead to the hydrolysis of the alkene. Finally, addition o f diethyl ether to the mixture then distillation took place to be purified and to obtain the final product, cyclohexanol (McFadden, 2012).Diethyl ether was used to extract alcohol from salt-water mixture because diethyl ethers solubility in water is lower than cyclohexanol which helps remove alcohol from the salt-water mixture (Merzougui, A, et al. , 2011). (McFadden, 2012) Cyclohexene is added to water-acid solution, which formed two liquid phases were due to insolubility of cyclohexene in water-acid solution. It is very important that mixture is mixed well to make a homogeneous solution and allow reaction to complete. Cyclohexene was reacted with water and with sulfuric acid to form protonated cyclohexanol and cyclohexyl hydrogen sulfate.Protonated cyclohexanol and cyclohexyl hydrogen sulfate are soluble in water-acid solution (McFadden, 2012). When this mixture is heated, cyclohexyl hydrogen sulfate converts to protonated cyclohexanol which is equilibrium with cyclohexanol (McFad den, 2012). Moreover, distillation technique is used to separate components of a liquid mixture, where liquid is boiled to vaporize and then condensed back into liquid called distillate. Distillate components are collected with a lowest-boiling point to highest-boiling point.In this experiment, distillation is used to separate the organic compound from sulphuric acid solution; azeotrope of cyclohexanol and water is formed as distillate, it also contains some cyclohexene components. Azeotrope has a fix boiling point like a pure compound. Cyclohexanol is considerably soluble in water, so poor yield is expected (McFadden, 2012). Addition of sodium chloride to distillate solution improves the final product yield because it reduces the solubility of organic compound, and extracts cyclohexanol from aqueous phase. It is due to salt’s higher solubility than organic compound.Also, anhydrous potassium carbonate is used to absorb water and to neutralize any trace of acid. During distill ation of pure cyclohexanol, most of the product should be collected as temperature reaches 161? C (Weast, 1988). This experiment also introduces determination of the refractive index; it is one of the most convenient methods used to determine purity of liquid. It is a ratio of the sine of the angle formed when light ray is bent when passing from an air medium into a liquid medium; in other words it is a ratios of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed of light in the liquid medium.Refrective index (n) = C_vaccume/V_medium (McFadden, 2012). At 20Â °C, the expected refractive index of cyclohexanol is 1. 4641 (Weast, 1988). Procedure: The experiment was done in two parts. Part-A was hydration of the alkene, and Part-B was isolation and purification of the cyclohexanol. To perform hydration of alkene, 7. 0mL of water and then 14mL of concentrated sulphuric acid were added to a 125mL Erlenmeyer flask. After that, flask was placed in ice-bath until it was cold to touch. 16. 4g of cy clohexene was added to weighed 250mL round-bottom flask.In the same round-bottom flask, the chilled water-acid mixture was added. In order to mix the solution, the flask was vigorously shaken for 20 minutes. While shaking, regularly stopper was released to prevent any build-up of vapour pressure. After flask was vented and allowed it to stand without disturbing for about 5 minutes. Because two distinct layers appeared, continued shaking for extra 10 minutes until solution was homogeneous. Next, an additional 120mL of distilled water were added in homogeneous solution with addition of 3 boiling chips.The same round-bottom flask was then set onto a distillation apparatus, and started distillation. Distillate was collected into an 125mL Erlenmeyer flask, and boiling point range of azeotrope was noted. Subsequently, 25g NaCl was dissolved to the distillate, but not all salt was dissolved. After that, flask was covered with parafilm (McFadden, 2012). In the next lab, distillate mixture w as transferred to a separatory funnel. Distillation receiver flask was washed by 20mL diethyl ether, that diethyl ether was then transferred into the separatory funnel.Mixture was allowed to delayer for 3 minutes. Afterwards, bottom aqueous layer was drained into a aqueous waste beaker; and top ether layer was transferred in an another 50mL Erlenmeyer flask which contained 3g of anhydrous potassium carbonate, swirled and allowed the mixture to stand for 15 minutes. Next, no potassium carbonate but only liquid mixture was transferred to round-bottom flask for the distillation. Diethyl ether and cyclohexene were distilled and collected into a flask until it reached 120Â °C, and later discarded in an organic waste.As temperature reached 120Â °C, a clean, dry and pre-weighed flask was replaced to collect final product, cyclohexanol. As soon as flask was replaced, cold water was turned-off and hot water was turned on. Continued to distil until there was no liquid in the distillation fl ask, and boiling chips started to change colour. Small amount of residue was kept in distillation flask to prevent it from breaking. Finally, cyclohexanol was weighted and from small sample the refractive index was determined (McFadden, 2012). Result: Amount of cyclohexene used = 16. 40g = 16. 40g of C_6 H_10? 1/(82. 143 g/mol)=0. 9965=0. 1997mol of C_6 H_10 Limiting reagent is: Cyclohexene Bp range of azeotrope mixture: 85-95. 4Â °C Literature bp range of azeotrope mixture: 97. 8Â °C; edition: 53rd; page: D-16 Bp range of diethyl ether: 34. 6-41. 6Â °CLiterature bp range of diethyl ether: 34. 51Â °C; edition: 53rd; page: Bp range of cyclohexene: 82. 8-90Â °C Literature bp range of cyclohexene: 82-98Â °C; edition: 53rd; page: C-259 Bp range of pure cyclohexanol: 157-161. 0Â °C Literature bp range of cyclohexanol: 161. 1Â °C; edition: 53rd; page: C-257 Weight of pure cyclohexanol = 7. 1g Percent yield = (actual yield (g))/(theoretical yield (g))? 00%=7. 1g/20. 00g? 100%=35. 5 % Theoretical yield= (0. 1997mol of C_6 H_10)/? (1 mol of C_6 H_12 O)/(1 mol of C_6 H_10 )? (100. 158 g)/(1 mol of C_6 H_12 O)=20. 00g Refrective index of pure cyclohexanol: raw 1. 4643 at 21. 2Â °C Corrected 1. 4658 at 20Â °C Correcting refractive index: n_D^20=n_D^21+[0. 00045Â °C^(-1)? (21. 2-20Â °C)] =n_D^21+[0. 00045Â °C^(-1)? (1. 2Â °C) =1. 4643+[0. 00054] =1. 46484=1. 4648 Refractive Percent yield error: ((1. 4648-1. 4641))/1. 4641? 100%=0. 05% Literature refrective index of cyclohexanol: 1. 4641 at 20Â °C Edition of CRC: 53rd; page: C-257 Discussion:Before reaching a concrete conclusion, it is very important to interpret the result that was obtained in this experiment. In this experiment, cyclohexene was hydrated to produce cyclohexanol; because the direct hydration of cyclohexene is very slow, concentrated sulphuric acid as an acidic catalyst is used to speed up the reaction (McFadden, 2012). When cyclohexene was reacted with water and concentrated sulphuric acid, da rk homogenous solution was formed from colourless heterogeneous mixture. The reaction was cyclohexene ? protonated cyclohexanol + cyclohexyl hydrogen sulfate. Both of hese products were soluble in water-acid solution, therefore reaction could go to completion (McFadden, 2012). Moreover, azeotrope of cyclohexanol and water was a positive azeotrope which means boiling point of azeotrope was less than the boiling point of cyclohexanol and water. Moreover, distillation process can prevent side reactions and by removing the products it shifts equilibrium on right hand side to increase percent yield; however, it is not enough to improve percent yield. Cyclohexanol is soluble in water; so addition of NaCl forces cyclohexanol to leave aqueous phase into organic phase.By reducing its solubility in water, NaCl molecules were holding water molecules. It is due to NaCl’s stronger attraction to water than cyclohexanol; solubility of NaCl in water is 360g/L, and solubility of cyclohexanol in water is 36. 0g/L (Weast, 1988). It is a great way to separate azeotrope into different components. However, enough salt is necessary to make solution saturated to separate all cyclohexanol from aqueous solution; for example, 45. 72g of NaCl is needed to make solution saturated in 127mL of water. Required salt can be calculated by multiplying solubility of salt in water with given volume.In part B, there was cyclohexanol found in the condenser because temperature of water running in the condenser was low compare to melting point of cyclohexanol, which is 24Â °C; so some of the cyclohexanol was stuck on the inner-surface of the condenser. Cold-water was turned off, and hot-water turned on when cyclohexanol was collecting during distillation process to remove the cyclohexanol from the surface of condenser and used in the final product. The result shows that the percent yield is 35. 5%. As expected percent yield is low because the strong acidic conditions and solubility of cyclohex anol in water (Hornback, 2006).Observed reflective index is very close to literature value of reflective index of cyclohexanol, which tells that product is pure but there is still some impurities. The result is also due to inefficient experiment procedures. This experiment required precise measurements of data in order to obtain accurate results. But, there are many possible sources of experimental error when performing this experiment. Firstly, if water-acid solution was not cooled enough to add cyclohexene, then some of the cyclohexene have evaporated.Cyclohexene is a limiting reagent meaning it will affect the overall weight of cyclohexanol by reducing the amount. Secondly, not using properly clean and dried equipments may affect on reactants’ activities, such as a flask, beaker, graduated cylinders. Thirdly, solution was not homogeneous; in other words, failing to mix properly for the reaction to go to completion. It was hard to judge due to very dark colour of the soluti on. If reaction was not fully reacted means not all cyclohexene were reacted to form protonated cyclohexanol and cyclohexyl hydrogen sulfate.Fourthly, some potassium carbonate may have entered in distillation flask which resulted in reverse reaction causing to lose more cyclohexanol. Fifthly, a small amount of product might be lost when transferring from one container to another. Sixthly, some cyclohexanol was left in round-bottom flask in order to prevent the round-bottom flask from breaking due to over-drying or over-heating. There are a few methods that would improve the accuracy of the experiments, if considered and followed with care. While recording the volume from the graduated cylinder the goal is to look for at the curve on the top of a standing body of liquid.Before experiment takes place make sure to clean all equipments that are going to be used throughout experiment to avoid any beside reactions in the experiment that may affect the final result. When transferring from one flask to other, sometimes filter paper would be a better solution to prevent unwanted product from entering into a reaction flask, and to prevent any reverse reaction to occur, such as potassium carbonate. Conclusion: In this paper, distillation process for the indirect hydration of cyclohexene to cyclohexanol using sulphuric acid as an acidic catalyst is demonstrated.In the hydration process, double bond of cyclohexene is replaced by the hydroxyl group to form alcohol. Obtain reflective index of cyclohexanol is 1. 4648, and the literature value of reflective index of cyclohexanol is 1. 4641at 20Â °C; which shows that final product was very pure. The result also showed that the percent yield is only 35. 5%, it is due to the strongly acidic conditions and solubility of cyclohexanol.

6 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job By The End Of Summer

6 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job By The End Of Summer Rather than treating this summer as a slump season, or a time to shirk your duties a bit without getting in trouble, why not put the pedal to the metal and see about scoring big career-wise? Here are 6  things you can do to turn your career around and get your dream job by the end of the summer (if you work hard and start now).1. Be a leaderRemember that no one is in control of your career except you. If you start thinking and acting like a leader, people will take you seriously as one. Be confident and clear and start steering yourself in the right direction, rather than waiting to be pushed.2. Leave the family loopIt’s great to rely on friends and family for advice and counsel. But sometimes you can get better and clearer advice if you step out of your inner circle. You can get much better- and much more objective- feedback this way. Find yourself a mentor or a job coach who understands your particular strengths, weaknesses, and goals.3. Sort out your financesYou canâ€⠄¢t really take any risks or make any moves from tenuous financial ground. Use this summer to get your fiscal house in order. Assess your current situation. Figure out where you need to be, and how far you need to go to get there. Then come up with a concrete plan and implement it. Don’t forget to figure out what your must-haves are- and what your minimum salary would be in your new position.4. Get clear and communicate that clarityBe able to correctly describe your vision for your career. This will help you make more effective and efficient decisions as you move towards your dream. The key to this is to figure out exactly where your wheelhouse is, and aim for situations in which you can excel.5. Figure out your ideal cultureThe truth is you will do your best work if you’re in an environment in which you can be yourself and facilitate your own greatness. Ask yourself what conditions help you be your best self at work and make a list. Find a company (or companies) that focus on these conditions as part of their company culture and then move towards getting hired there.6. Self-assessDon’t just wait for your performance review to figure out how well you’re doing. Manage your own performance. Figure out where you’re weak and make a plan to improve. And take a moment to acknowledge your own strengths. These will help you in determining your plan to get into your dream position.

How to Teach Reported Speech to Students

How to Teach Reported Speech to Students Teaching students reported or indirect speech can be complicated by the all the changes that are required when moving from direct speech into reported speech. First off, students should understand that reported speech is quite useful in conversational English as relating what someone has said using quote and unquote is awkward at best. A further aspect of reported speech is encouraging students to use other reporting verbs beyond say and tell. Introducing the Concept to Students Start with Tenses Start with simple examples in which changes are only made in tense. For example: Write on the Board: Direct Speech Tom said, I enjoy watching action movies.becomes Indirect Speech Tom said he enjoyed watching action movies. Direct Speech Anna told me, I went to the shopping mall.becomes Indirect Speech Anna told me she had gone to the shopping mall. Move on to Pronouns and Time Expressions Once students have understood the basic concept of stepping one step back into the past when reporting in the past, they can easily begin to make the minor changes in pronoun and time expression usage. For example: Write on the Board: Direct Speech The teacher said, Were working on the present continuous today.becomes Indirect Speech The teacher said we were working on the present continuous that day. Direct Speech Anna told me, My brother Tom has been to Paris twice this year.becomes Indirect Speech Anna told me her brother Tom had been to Paris twice that year. Practice Provide students with a chart of the principal changes in reported speech (i.e. will - would, present perfect - past perfect, etc.). Ask students to practice the reported speech by beginning with a reported speech worksheet  or by asking them to change sentences from direct to reported speech. Once students have become comfortable with direct to indirect speech transformations, practice reporting through the use of interviews as in this reported speech lesson plan.As students become familiar with the reported speech, introduce a wider range of reporting verbs to help students move post say and tell. Advanced Issues Once the basics have been understood, there are a few more advanced issues to discuss. Here is a quick outline of some of the more problematic aspects of the reported speech that students might find confusing. Reporting Tense: Says instead of Said - Sometimes, in the moment of speaking a speaker may use the present tense to report what has been said. In this case, there is no change in the tense. However, changes in pronouns apply. For example:Teacher: Were going to work on the reported speech. Please turn to page 121 in your book.Student 1: I cant understand. What are we supposed to do?Student 2: The teacher says we are going to work on the reported speech on page 121.Tom: I think this is a great idea!Peter: Andy, I didnt understand.Andy: Tom tells us he thinks its a good idea.Other Reporting Verbs: Advise / Instruct / Etc. Infinitive of Purpose - A number of reporting verbs use the infinitive of purpose to express the idea, rather than using a transition of the tense. For example:Teacher: Were going to work on the reported speech. Please turn to page 121 in your book.Student 1: I cant understand. What are we supposed to do?Student 2: The teacher instructed us to work on reported speech and turn to page 121.Teacher: I think you should hurry up and finish the activity.Student 1: I didnt understand.Student 2: The teacher advised us to hurry up and finish the activity.

Illegal Immigration Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Illegal Immigration - Term Paper Example Certain individuals may be interested in settling within the US just so that they could benefit from the health and social facilities in the country. The essay shall look at the reality of free riders and how this is linked to illegal immigration. Some individuals argue that illegal immigration is becoming a very serious problem in the US. Some of them attribute this to the open border policies that the US has adopted. Others claim that the real reason why illegal immigrants enter the US is so that they could use up the country's resources and then leave it for dead. (Beck 94) These proponents assert that these immigrants have no intention of ever becoming US citizens or upholding the law. Instead, they enter the country to access easily available employment opportunities. Usually, these people come into the country so that they can offer cheap labor for those respective industries or people that need them. In fact, a number of immigrants enter the country in order to pack industry products or do such duties. (Shapiro A8) These proponents also believe that all the latter micro-economic arguments do not hold much water. According to them there is a need to revise the country's immigration laws because of the fact that citizenship is worth very little to these people. Most of them may be merely interested in getting whatever little they can and then send it back to their own countries. Since such individuals are not well documented, then they are usually not obliged to respect the constitution as much as other groups do. (Shapiro A8) Proponents of this argument also claim that many illegal immigrants do not play by the rules. Since they are not US citizens, then they are not required to contribute directly to the country. Additionally, most of them may not offer their services for the betterment of the US. This school of thought also puts forward the fact that many illegal immigrants are actually flooding the country and causing situations in which locals are running out of work. The following industries heavily rely on illegal immigration The restaurant industry Housekeeping Construction Truck driving etc These proponents argue that illegal immigrants who are coming in for a free ride (through the social amenities in the country) are actually harming locals who may be required to pay their dues while at the same time compete with some of these illegal immigrants. Proponents of these ideas cite a series of statistics to support their claim. For instance, in the New York Times, it was stated that illegal immigrants who enter the country for a free ride are actually ruining the opportunities for other types of workers especially those ones who may not be illegal. It has been shown that most janitors in Los Angeles get close to nine dollars per hours; in other parts of the country, it could be slightly higher but not so far from this figure. What has happened is that some of these illegal immigrants have ended up dominating the profession. Most employers these days prefer using such illegal immigrants because they are sure that they will save up on substantial wage costs. However, the overall effect of this rush towards illegal immigrants

Comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparison - Essay Example Her main focus was to provide rights to the Blacks and give them a representation in the society. She has a literature Nobel prize to her name, along with eight novels and over two hundred short stories to her credit. The other form of literature that will be scrutinized is â€Å"What it’s like to be a black girl?† a poem by the famous Patricia Smith. Smith, also an activist wrote this specific poem to explain the feelings of a black girl, growing up to be a woman in a time when blacks were despised severely. (What its like to be a black girl, Poetry - CollegeTermPapers.com, 2013; Post Colonial Analysis of "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer, 2013) â€Å"The Country Lovers† is a short story written by Nadine Gordimer, and it forms the second part of the story called â€Å"The Town and Country Lovers†. With the scene set in countryside, the story revolves around two protagonists namely: Thebedi and Paulus. Thebedi is a black girl and Paulus happens to be th e son of her white masters. Thebedi and Paulus have spent their entire childhood together; hence, when they grow up into teenagers, they get attracted to each other and fall in love. What they experienced cannot be typically termed as love, but they were physically involved and their love blossomed as they were over whelmed by the strength of emotions that they felt. Now in those times, interracial relationships were forbidden, which meant that it was close to committing a sin, hence, this whole relation was kept as a secret. Time passes with the way things are and Thebedi gets pregnant, but she hides this fact from Paulus. Paulus till such time was carrying on with his own life and Thebedi was getting married to a man named Njabulo, who had been in love with her for quite some time. When Thebedi gives birth to a daughter, her appearance raises questions because the girl, carrying her father’s genes is light in color and has colored eyes. Njabulo, being a sincere husband does not question this and treats the child like his own. As word travels, Paulus gets to know about the child and in an instance realizes the daunting truth. He pays a visit to Thebedi and asks her to five the child to someone else as it is a proof of their sin. On insisting, Thebedi leaves Paulus alone with the child and after a day, the girl dies. The matter is taken to court as Thebedi swears to confess that Paulus had poisoned her child. However, on the day of the trial, Thebedi fails to confess and says she did not â€Å"see† Paulus poison the baby. Hence, Paulus is freed without any charges due to the lack of evidence. (Country Lovers, 2013) This short story brings into focus the problems of being in an â€Å"interracial†, â€Å"forbidden† love. (Post Colonial Analysis of "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer, 2013) It not just explains the problems that the protagonists, especially the female encountered, but it also portrays perfectly the thinking of the peop le in those times. The story remarkably portrays the female as the vulnerable character as men mostly get away with their acts easily. As the story was staged for the 20th century, a time when racial discrimination was at its peak, the role of Thebedi shows the negatives of being a black and a woman at the same time. Her character was questioned when her child turned out to be light in colored. Paulus’s selfish act of saving his reputation from being damaged, and poisoning the child to