The Death and Journey of the Egyptian Soul

No other country- not even China or India had such a long history as Ancient Egypt. For nearly, 3,000 years before the birth of Jesus, the Egyptians had already a high developed civilization. The Egyptians lived in an orderly government; they built great stone structures; most of important of all they established an acquired religion. For the Egyptians there was no break between their religious beliefs and their daily life. Even their culture would all lie at the bottom compared to their religious beliefs. For an example, Egyptian art was never reflected as a representation; however, it was a sense of symbolic pictures that spoke of the life of the gods and the hope of eternity to come. This desire for the renewal of life, and the creative urge to ensure it by ritual and symbolism existed in Egypt from the earliest times of the Neolithic Era. Archaeologist were able to uncover clay figurines of Osiris laced with sprouting corn. As the corn grew the model would open, as an image of life-in- death. Archaeologist were also able to find that their people also liked to keep the dead close to them. The Egyptians soon came to believe deeply that the good administration of the dead, just like the management of the Nile†s water could lead to an everlasting life. Many think of the Ancient Egyptians as a morbid, death-obsessed people. We think of this because all of what we have uncovered is mummies, tombs, and graves. However, we know more about the Egyptians in death than what we know about their lives. Since, the earliest times the Egyptians were very passionately concerned with the continued existence of their loved ones and their souls. The idea that Osiris had passes through death and risen into a new life was deeply rooted in the Egyptian consciousness that Osiris had to struggle against the forces of evil. So did the human soul now following him to gain eternity. By 2,500 BCE, helpful instructions, known as the pyramid texts were carved or painted on tomb walls to help the soul act in the various trials of it journey in the Netherworld (also referred to as the Under World). A thousand years later, in the New Kingdom, these instructions had been formalized into The Coming into Day, or The Egyptian Book of the Dead. This magical text for the underworld journey was a set of spells, incantations, and mummification techniques designed to help the dead person resurrect into a glorious afterlife in â€Å"heaven, † or â€Å"The Hall of the Two Truths. † These mystical texts are from the New Kingdom. The similar ones that were found in the pyramids from the Old Kingdom, and the coffins were from the Middle Kingdom. One can imagine these text by thinking about how church rituals are run. One goes to church, and the rituals are holy texts that come from a book known as the bible or genesis. In Ancient Egypt, these burial rituals are not read from a book. At first, they are read directly off of the wall in inner chambers of a pyramid; later they were read directly off sides of the coffins. The Coming into Day, which was from the New Kingdom, was read off of papyrus sheets, much as religious rituals are today as they are read out of books. The Book of the Dead was to be relatively cheap to purchase. As an Egyptian that had more riches in the New Kingdom, one would be able to buy a copy that would have blanks where the names go. A scribe would be hired to insert the name in all those blank spots. In the text, the blank spots were the name of the deceased. The letter â€Å"N† indicates it. If there were no name to be put in it they would refer to the Dead person as â€Å"N†. Wealthy Egyptians had a personalized version prepared before their death so many versions have been discovered. One of the most famous one was created for Ani, a Royal Scribe, who lived during the nineteenth dynasty, and died in 1250 BC. If one were to die or a loved one dies, one would be buried with the papyrus scroll. As a result, a few of these texts survived. In the book the body was represented as the Ka. The Ka was the spiritual body that everyone had, which was the mirror image of the physical body. When a person died it was the Ka, which lived on in the underworld. The Ka was not trapped inside a material body but lived symbiotically with it. This was why it was so vital to preserve the bodies of those who were believed to be living in the future world. In many of the great Egyptian tombs, spare heads and hearts were buried with the mummified body in case the mummy should be damaged. Many of the spells in the book for the dead are for protecting the physical body so that the Ka body could live free and happy in the Underworld. One of the most well renowned parts in the book of the dead is the Hall of Maat, which is first introduced in the book. The Hall of Matt is where the judgement of the dead was preformed. The goddess Matt stands for truth, justice, morality and balance. The symbol that was used to shows one†s innocence was the â€Å"heart†. The Egyptians believed the heart was one of the most sacred parts of the body. In the Book of the Dead, it was the heart that was weighed against the feather of Maat to see if an individual was worthy of joining Osiris in the afterlife. In the book Anubis, the Jackal god of embalming leads â€Å"N† to the scales of Maat to be weighed. Anubis then weighs the heart against the feather to see if it is worthy. As, Thoth, the god of wisdom is right next to the scale recording the results. If passing this test one will be brought by Horus to meet Osiris, the king of the dead. To claim the purity and the principles of a sinless life is known as â€Å"The Declaration of Innocence. Here during the Declarations of Independence, â€Å"N† (the deceased one) must claim his innocence. Much of this declaration was based on causing human suffrage and about taking care of everything that surrounds them. Many of these ethical laws pertain to the work social and personal goals according to Truth. It was important for â€Å"N† to declare innocence because nothing evil shall happen to go against â€Å"N† because â€Å"N† has proven innocence. After the declaration of innocence it was vital for â€Å"N† to know the name of the Gods. It was important for the deceased to know these names because the Gods lived on Truth. Hail to you, O you who are in the Hall of Justice who have no lies in your bodies, who live on truth and gulp down truth in the presence of Horus who is in his disc. † Since the Gods lived on Truth it was up to the Gods to save and protect the soul of the deceased. That was the start of the introductory hymns to the Gods, which took up the first few chapters. One in particular is the Re, the Sun God. The ancient Egyptians considered Re as the creator of people. That is conceivably why Re is the first God mentioned in the Book of the Dead. Another God in the first few chapters is Osiris. Osiris is the god of death and re-birth, underworld and earth. Primarily in the first few chapters are hymns and praises to Gods. The beginning of the book is a transition to what I feel is the most important part, the afterlife rituals. Starting at chapter†s twenty-one and twenty-two, the giving to obtain an afterlife begins. One that stuck out to me was chapter two. This chapter is for out into the day and living after. â€Å"O you Sole One who shine in the moon, O you Sole One who glow in the sun, may Ani go forth from among those multitudes of yours who are outside, may those who in the sunshine release him†¦ This section from the chapter means that the Sole One, you; is being freed into the daylight. An additional chapter that was very interesting was chapter seventy-four. This chapter talked about being swift-footed when going out from the earth. Part of the chapter reads, â€Å"I shine in the sky, I ascend to the sky. † This means to me that your passage to afterlife should be buoyant and easy. Many of the chapters were alike to one another in the middle of the book; however, each had a very distinct difference from one another. The book it seems to refer to how to obtain an afterlife. That starts out with the process of giving a mouth, magic, heart, or etc†¦ for Ani begins. One part of the body that is given is the mouth. The mouth would be open by Ptah, who was the human god the creator of Memphis would open the mouth. This part was fairly important in the book because â€Å"N† would be able to speak in the presence of the Gods. By this it also protects â€Å"N†. â€Å"As for any magic spell of any words which may be uttered against me, the gods will rise up against it, even the entire Ennead. † Another section of the book that was fascination was the chapters about transformation. These began and lasted from chapters seventy to eighty. One of the main chapters in the section was the transformation from human to a divine falcon. In the chapter it indeed depicts the actual transformation from the entry to the passage out. In this chapter there was also a real dialogue between character, which I found to be odd considering it was only the second dialogue was used besides the beginning of the book. The falcon must be one of the most important creatures in ancient Egypt because of its mention if the Book of the Dead and it†s use in the Egyptian writing, hieroglyphics. Another transformation is from human to crocodile. That is very interesting because there is also a transformation into a swallow. The connection between both is somewhat odd because a crocodile is supposed to evil and a swallow is a symbol of innocence. Those transformations are quite the opposite. The chapters were very interesting on the transformations because it was uncanny to see what the Egyptians thought of some of the animals and birds. My favorite chapter of the whole book was the Hall of the Two Truths. The Hall of Two Truths is where a person†s would and actions from their life get weighed. If the balance is even between good and evil, the soul is sent to an afterlife. If the evil side over weighs the good side, then the person is sent to a bad place. The person must actually ask, â€Å"Do you know the names of the upper and lower portions of the doors? † This I think means have you weighed my good and evil. Then the person says, â€Å"Lord of Truth, Master of his Two Legs† is the name of the upper portion; ‘Lord of Strength, the One who commands the Cattle is the name of the Lower. â€Å"† These I think means did my good outweigh my evil. This chapter was the most interesting to me because it really described what happens at the hall of the Two Truths. The lives of the ancient Egyptians were based upon religious gods and texts. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was perhaps the most important written record of the importance. It was essentially a book of praises and hymns to the Egyptian Gods. This book was one of the many ways to enter a complete afterlife. The Egyptian society heavily believed and based their lives on the Book of the Dead is on it phrases and hymns to the ancient Egyptian Gods and afterlife passage. The rest of the book just ends with what it started out with, which were eulogistic praises to the Gods. Reading the Book of the Dead made me think more about how religious the Egyptians truly were. I think the Book of the Dead was in fact the key of their whole culture. If they hadn†t believed so strongly in something their purpose of living might have ceased to exist because afterlife is what made them go on with their lives and essentially the Book of the Dead was the passage to their blissful afterlife. The Egyptians probably had one of the most influential civilizations in all of history and the Book of the Dead was one of the key elements that made Egyptians have such a strong era.

Electronic Intelligence Versus Human Intelligence

It seems that nowadays people pay too much attention to technological advancements that promote information and interpersonal communication. In The Poet and the Computer, Norman Cousins argues that the â€Å"problem of technology is not solely to be more productive and comfortable, more content, but how to be more sensitive, more sensible, more proportionate, more alive. † According to Cousins, the real problem of technology is whether it makes easier or harder for human to know who they are, to identify their real problems.From my point of view, although technology allows people to live easily and efficiently, it cannot inspire people's imagination, nor can it enrich human spirit. Computers can help people access all the information they desire-?new and old, however, as Cousins wrote, â€Å"electronic brains can reduce the profusion of dead ends involved in vital research, but they cannot eliminate the foolishness and decay that come from the unexamined life. † It is u ndeniable that computer made a huge progress in human proficiency, but it also has limitations.People cannot expect electronic brains to help them prevent failures, reflect failures n their lives. Electronic brains know how to decrease â€Å"the profusion of dead end†, but they never reflect those dead ends. Electronic brains are designed to provide the right answers. However, people should not only be satisfied with the results, but also the process. In Chinese schools, teachers often tell students that † failure is the mother of success, you should not be afraid of making mistakes, but you have to learn something from failure, then to prevent it in the future. Therefore, solely depending on technology can only solve issues at hand, being reflective and inconsiderate is the key for human society to make progress. Computers can provide material to get people involved, but they do not identify with the real meaning of the information and stories that they produced. Many people believe that computers can provide the correct answers in the most convenient way. However, sometimes computers cannot process and analyze information to assist people in better understanding.It can also lead to a dead-ended search in some way. Consequently, it is impossible to expect technology to answer the questions that people are filled with. Computer cannot replace human intelligence because technology serves as a medium to assist people in gaining information all over the world. How to further develop the information and to apply it in real lives are the main concerns that need human inputs. Even though technology helps people overcome the obstacles of time and space, it cannot tap into human emotional field.As Cousin states in his article, â€Å"technology cannot connect a man to the things he has to be connected to-?the reality of pain in others; the possibilities of creative growth n himself; the memory of the race; and the rights of the next generation. † In a â€Å"computerized time†, technology allows people to keep in touch anywhere any time, hence many people consider that social media such as Faceable and Twitter are appropriate for communication. Many of them even have become addicted to social networking. They spend hours looking through pictures, answering comments under each post, and chatting with different strangers.Because social networking is so distracting, people often forget to communicate in the most influential way, which is face-to-face communication. Faceable does affect face-to-face communication because it often takes the expression and emotion out of communication. The Joy of actual seeing someone is crying or laughing is being taken away. A person can put his or her pictures of smiling faces on Faceable, but can others feel his or her emotion simply through that photo? People will become gradually disconnected if they spend too much time on social network rather than emotionally, personally connect with f amily and friends.In modern days, people tend to believe that they can automatically get pleasure and enjoyment whenever they want. However, humans need emotional connection and face-to-face communication in order to experience others' feelings and emotions. Technology has a negative effect on humans because it gives people a sense of accomplishment easily. People will indulge in the acceptability; hence decrease the ability to think by themselves. The main reason for this is technology gives people the opportunity to find answers that others have found before us.People will be satisfied with the answers that was already given instead of coming up with new ideas on their own. As Cousins states, â€Å"The computer knows how to vanquish error, but before we lose ourselves in celebration of victory, we might reflect on the great advances in the human situation that have come about because men were challenged by error and dealing with it. † Therefore, people should be aware that even though we are now able to access information rapidly and easily through the Internet than before, it is necessary for us to develop our own thinking ability to meet different challenges.Without the process of struggle and dealing with difficulties, people will easily lose and forget the truths discovered by homeless. Once people start to solely rely on technology, the process of human society will move gradually slowly. Technology is a tool to help people perceive knowledge; and people cannot simply rely on it to solve all kinds of problems. For instance, Google translation is useful software for people to translate different languages. However, it can turn out to be a big problem if people use it in an improper way. In my seminar class, our professor talked about a story, which was related to the technological translation.One of his students once used his mother's engage to write a paper, and then translated it into English by Google's translation. Unfortunately, Google's tran slation could only translate the paper word by word, so that every sentence in the paper was broken. Later on, the student admitted that he translated his paper through Google translation. From this example, it is generally believed that people cannot predominately rely on technology. People should keep a skeptical eye towards the information, which is provided by technology, and then divide the information into useful and useless categories.As Bacon said, â€Å"If we begin tit certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and we are patient with them, we shall end in certainties. † Consequently, people should not be satisfied with the certain answers produced by technology. It is necessary for people to get rid of the strong feeling of self-achievement which technology directly provides. Life is not the extension of technology, thus the primary purpose of technology should not be replacing human intelligence, but rather, facilitating human society progres s. Technology will always serve as a tool for human intelligence no matter how powerful and strong it becomes.Because humans have their own brains, they can create their own reality through imagination. According to Cousin, â€Å"The poet-?and I use the term to include all those who have respect for and speak to the human spirit-?can help to supply the subconscious with material to enhance its sensitivity, hence safeguarding it. † Cousin uses poet to represent humans own imaginative thinking and creativity. He believes the human inputs should be kept as its original form. Therefore, it is important for humans to keep their own spirit and create their own reality, which technology can never replace.We are now experiencing a time when people are easily overwhelmed and distracted. It is generally considered that technology has a negative influence on humans imagination and creativity. It detaches us from others' pain and sorrow, and continuously spread a feeling of instant grati fication. People should be able to use technology for facilitating themselves instead of replacing themselves.

Heart and Conscience in Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” Essay

Mark Twain considered his novel â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† as â€Å"a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat.†Ã‚   This claim is valid, as the story showed the title character in several situations wherein he was bothered by his conscience yet he chose to act according to his emotions.   Indeed, the book â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† exhibits the triumph of the heart over a conscience. In the book, there are three major instances wherein there was conflict between the heart and the conscience.   In these situations, the conflict was caused by the issue of slavery as Huck was often forced to choose between his heart and conscience when it came to matters concerning the black slave Jim. The first instance is found in Chapter XVI, when Huck was disturbed by his conscience about assisting Jim in his escape.   Huck was deeply bothered by the fact that while he was not responsible for the escape itself, he did not do anything to prevent it.   He was most concerned about Miss Watson, who was Jim’s owner.   Huck is guilty because he let her slave run away from her when she was nothing but nice to him.   In the beginning, it seemed like his conscience has won because he finally resolved to disclose Jim’s whereabouts. However, he changed his mind at the last minute.   Jim called Huck his only friend and the only white man who kept his promise.   Huck said, â€Å"I was paddling off, all in a sweat to tell on him; but when he says this, it seemed to kind of take the tuck all out of me† (Twain).   Jim’s words appealed to Huck’s emotions, and the latter’s feelings prevented him from doing what his conscience told him to do.   Hence, the heart succeeds over the conscience for the first time. The second instance again finds Huck struggling between telling others about Jim and keeping his escape a secret.   The conflict between the heart and conscience continues in Chapter XVI as Huck encounters a boat with two men in search of escaped slaves.   The men asked Huck if the man he was with was white or black. Huck clearly wanted to expose Jim as his conscience intended him to do, but he ended up lying to hide the slave.   After the men left, Huck mused: â€Å"s’pose you’d a done right and give Jim up, would you feel better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad† (Twain).   In the end, it became obvious that Huck’s decision was a result of his feelings.   He did not choose to do the right thing because he would feel bad about it.   Again, the heart prevails over the conscience. The third and last instance in Chapter XXXI proved to be the most significant, as Huck finally gave up listening to his conscience and resolved to follow his heart.   Because he had been bothered by conscience for awhile, Huck decided to do what he thought was right and write a letter telling Miss Watson of Jim’s whereabouts. After he wrote the letter, Huck thought of Jim’s kindness towards him.   As he held the paper, Huck said: â€Å"I was a-trembling, because I’d got to decide, forever, betwixt two things, and I knowed it† (Twain).   In the end, Huck tore up the letter and even considered liberating Jim from slavery in the future.   Huck said, â€Å"All right, then, I’ll GO to hell!† (Twain).   The conscience dictates that it was a sin to keep a slave away from its owner.   However, Huck preferred to sin and go to hell rather than betray his friend.   Thus, the heart finally wins over the conscience. In Mark Twain’s â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,† there exists the conflict between the heart and the conscience.   In three instances in the story, the title character disregards his conscience by letting his emotions influence his decisions.   In the end, the heart is victorious over the conscience as Huck chose the former to dictate his actions. Work Cited Twain, Mark. â€Å"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.† The Literature Network Web Site. 1885. Jalic, Inc. 6 April 2009

WITH REFERENCE TO TWO AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE DISCUSS THE WAY IN WHICH Essay

WITH REFERENCE TO TWO AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE DISCUSS THE WAY IN WHICH SHARED KNOWLEDGE CAN SHAPE PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE - Essay Example Shared knowledge is structured and systematic in its nature and it is an outcome of more than one individual. Shared knowledge is bound together in more or less distinct sections of knowledge, for instance, familiar groups of subjects studied in undergraduate program. Whereas individuals contribute to the distinct areas, shared knowledge does not depend only upon the contributions of a given individual. There are chances for other individuals to check and implement individual contributions and add to the body of knowledge that already occurs. For, instance, Chemistry is a subject with knowledge that is shared. Many individuals have access to it and can contribute proficiently to it. Teams of people, building on existing knowledge, undertake the great work. Despite the individual contribution to the body of knowledge, their work is subject to group processes such as review and replication of results of experimental results before it becomes the final paper. The building of computer al so requires shared knowledge. It is surprising to have individual who has the knowledge of constructing a compute from scratch. That is, not assembling it from pre-constructed components. Though we know how to assemble computers. The product of computer is because of a complex worldwide cooperative effort. Shared knowledge evolves over time due to the continued applications of the methods of inquiry; all processes covered by the framework of knowledge. For instance, applying the methodology that belongs to an area of knowledge changes the existing idea that we know. The changes might be slow or incremental; the areas of knowledge contain certain stability over a given duration. The changes might also be sudden or dramatic; revolutionary swing in knowledge because an area of knowledge responds to new experimental results. Therefore, shared knowledge allows

Essay Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Proposal - Essay Example Sims (71-2) observes that androids are so human like in tehir behaviour that they cannot be distinguished by a naked eye. The probelem is that we may have androids that mimick human behaviour and may be used for destructive purposes. This is perharps what Winkler (517) and Forrester (51) had in mind when he observed that almost all of the American heroes in folrklore were dubious charcters and it is shuddering to think of what such charecters can do if they had the power, considering that we have no control over how they may turn out. Having the ablcne of power in the circumstances partially aided by ‘tools’ that can kill quicky, and the circumstances, they find themselves in position of influence. But it is perharps the story of the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ that should warn us given that holders of technology may rarely be challneged, and infact may be trusted by those they want to destroy (Perrault). But technology is niot all that bad. While Sutton and Sutton (231) observes that science represents man’s curiosity about his destiny, something he wishes it to occur, and indeed, through technogy that brings out the creativity in man, his dreams about his destiny become achieveable (Barlow 108). Barlow, Aaron. "Loss in the Language of Tomorrow: Journeying Through Tuscon on the way to Usher II." Gloria, McMillan, Donald Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan. Orbiting Rays Bradburys Mars: Biographical. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Inc, 2013. 105-116. Sims, Christopher A. "The Danger of Individualism and the Human Relationship to Technology in Philip K. Dicks Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." Science Fiction Studies (2009): vol. 36 no.1 pgs.

How can Human Resources protect an organization from the risks and Essay

How can Human Resources protect an organization from the risks and liabilities associated with HR Technology and Digital Communications - Essay Example Human resource management is a company’s first contact point with its employees because it is the arm of the company that recruits and as such it is in a good position to train them on how to use its technology and digital communications responsibly. User training is important in protecting organizations from the risks and liabilities associated with human resource management technology and digital communications because many of these risks arise from their inappropriate use (Baldwin, 2010). The human resource department should train employees on the organization’s acceptable-use policy for its digital machines and software applications. Important areas that this training can touch on include proper use of the email system, password administration guidelines, login requirements and desktop security. Some of the training activities that can help protect against risks and liabilities associated with human resource management technology and digital communications can include sensitizing employees about policy changes, in-person seminars and web-based courses. Requiring employees to sign a security awareness agreement at the end of every training session enhances employees’ adherence to policies on human resource technology and digital communications security policies (Kerr et. al., 2011). The human resource department should adopt mechanism that can help detect user violations of responsible and acceptable use of human resource technology and digital communications which can bring risks and predispose the organization to liabilities. Timely detection of such violations enables timely mitigation of risks and the management of the things that damage a company’s reputation and brand. The human resource department should require auditors to assess for the effectiveness and adequacy of IT security policies and procedures to protect against risks and

Predictably Irrational Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Predictably Irrational - Research Paper Example As a philosophical example, one could agree that there are many religions. Most all of them profess faith in God or a god, and yet none of them can completely agree on a universal doctrine which clearly expresses shared values. If that is not an example of people being predictably irrational, there are certainly more examples to follow. However, that is just an idea to illustrate the point that there can be many different viewpoints, but only one truth viewed from multiple avenues. These truths certainly stem from pluralism, as, we live in a pluralistic society to be sure in the 21st century all around the globe. Also, the fact that Cartesian dualism plays a major role in making this cliche of â€Å"predictably irrational† a phrase which some people may regard with diffidence—one naturally distrusts conflicting ontological meanings, when they can coexist together as a phrase and make sense. II. Thesis (90 words) No doubt, it is difficult to accurately pinpoint this seem ingly cliche phrase describing someone who is predictably irrational. Although somewhat of an unusual phrase, one person can completely be irrational as well as predictably so. This extended definition, if you will, is going to be broken up into manageable sections t oread. Predictable irrationality will be proven by: giving an extended definition of predictability; what predictability is not; what irrationality is; what an extended definition of rationality is; and, finally, what is the definition of someone who is predictably irrational. III. The Nature of Predictability Part I (115 words) To introduce the idea of predictability, predictability is usually the assumption that a pattern is set. People count on predictability—the prediction that the stock market will rise, that the sun will rise in the east and set in the west, and that they will have three square meals per day. Predictability governs the land. Schedules, timetables, and clocks dictate where we are and what we do, most of the time. Predictability itself is cliche. â€Å"[W]e might adjust our definition and instead term cliche a predictable or unoriginal turn of phrase or action.†1 This is why predictability would fit in so well with the idea of irrationality—but more on that point later soon ahead. IV. The Nature of Predictability Part II (85 words) Another issue that concerns predictability is that something or someone predictable is never vague or indeterminate. â€Å"The existence of widespread predictability is a potential embarrassment to claims of radical indeterminacy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 2 Thus, the very nature of predictability is one’s ability to describe what is going to happen when. Predictability directly contradicts unpredictability precisely because of the fact that it leads to concrete evidence of forming types of patterns. When something is unpredictable, it has the tendency to be vague. This leads us to our next point. V. The Nature of Unpredictability (10 0 words) Unpredictability is, by its very nature, in contra of predictability. However, by studying what unpredictability is, we can find out more about predictability. Unpredictability is precluded by the inability to be predictable. Thus, surprises become commonplace. There are no patterns, everything is in flux, constantly. Now, if everything was that unpredictable in the world, think about how horrible

Restoration & Recovery Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Restoration & Recovery Plan - Essay Example These directives and orders are part of Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning is required for Federal Government Agencies. PDD 63 or the Critical Infrastructure Protection directive and FPC 65 summarize the requirements for COOP information system infrastructure and emergency measures. FPC 65 stipulates that federal agencies are required to get back into operations within 12 hours from any kind of service collapse. OMB CircularA-130 prescribes continuity of operations planning which includes emergency procedures and policies for immediate operations recovery and restoration as well as long-term mitigation of potential services interruption of critical operations (EMC Corporation, 2006). In any kind or emergency, police and emergency services are the most essential. Therefore, the integrity, restoration and recovery of information systems in these branches of government should be the utmost priority. Florida is one of the states that have had to be vigilant regarding these concerns since the 1990's (Mittler, 1995). The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office is no exception to these circumstances. Palm Beach's experience with Hurricane Katrina emphasized not only the need to be prepared for the disasters and the essential role that police and emergency services have to play in recovery (Kam & Gomez, 2005). Restoration and Recovery of Information Systems and Data Breakdowns of information systems and data loss are not limited to the event of disasters. Natural disasters may impact systems extremely and can impair critical functions when they are needed the most but system attacks, hacking and other related crimes that is becoming the most urgent. Restoration of Information System Operations According to the National Security Agency (NSA), through the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), information assurance refers to procedures designed to safeguard and secure information and information systems against failure, collapse or attacks. Part of this program is the re-establishment of information systems by the development of security, response and resolution competencies into the system (2006). These standards govern feral information systems and have been adopted by industry as well. These measures include providing for restoration of information systems by incorporating protection, detection, and reaction capabilities. Public sector agencies and departments must comply within the prescribed recovery period and point service levels depending on the significance of their operations and information. They have to take into account considerable quantities of paper and electronic data, data storage distribution, necessity for nonstop operations and high data security and integrity measures (EMC Corporation, 2006) Recovery of Data Data backup and replication are the underlying concern in restoration and recovery. The primary factors considered are cost, management, reliability and security Effective back up strategies limit the need to reinstall programs and regenerate data in the events of data loss. However, data loss over a long period of time either by malicious acts or because of inadequate systems is more difficult to salvage and may go unnoticed (Ginty, 2005).

Career Exploration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Career Exploration - Essay Example Changes are inevitable. Nevertheless, a career change requires a thorough and critical thinking. This paper explores the necessary credential in the success of my chosen career plan. Also, it tackles the steps in achieving my goal relative to time. Further, this paper discusses the pay ranges, career change, and support system characterized in the three positions that I have personally chosen. Credential Perhaps a Master’s Degree is essential as a strong credential prior to entering the work force in the realm of education. In the success of my career plan, an MA degree might be helpful. According to Kaplan (2008), there are over a million of people in the United States who annually enroll in the graduate programs (p. 3). One of the reasons why people take up an MA/PhD degree is because it provides them the greater advantage over others in the competitive job market. What Kaplan (2008) calls â€Å"career advancement,† persons who have a Master’s Degree possess th e advantage of gaining career position and/or promotion against those people â€Å"with only a bachelor’s degree† (p. 4). The drawback, however, is that a Master’s degree is far from the assurance that one can land a good job or be promoted to a much higher position. Plus, pursuing a graduate program is a difficult and tremendous task. In fact, Peters (1997) compares the students in the graduate school as adults who are â€Å"judged by the standards of the adult world† (p. 6). To my mind, the notion of the â€Å"adult world† as understood by Peters is far from the ideal, child-like, or Utopia-like realm. From here, I seem to perceive it as something monstrous and hideous. In time and with perseverance, nevertheless, I might be able to cope up the challenges salient in the graduate program. And I might land a good job of my liking. Pay ranges The three positions, which I have chosen as my alternative careers in the field of education, have different pay ranges. In the primary education, on the one hand, a teacher receives an annual salary ranging from $30,719 to $54,000 (Bernstein, 2003, p. 466). Meaning to say, a teacher who is teaching in the primary school, particularly in the public school, receives from the minimum monthly pay of roughly $3,000 to the maximum monthly salary of approximately $4,500. In special education, on the other hand, a teacher gets a yearly salary ranging from $33,770 to $ 78,980 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005, p. 297). Finally, a guidance counselor in the field of education receives an annual pay from $25,200 to $71,900 (Bernstein, 2003, p. 394). As a whole, the teacher’s pay greatly varies on his or her academic background (e.g., with an MA degree) and years of teaching. In spite of their differences in pay range, all these positions in the realm of education widely receive similar benefit plans such as paid vacation and sick leave (Eberts & McGowan, 2000, p. 41) Steps to follow In ord er for me to be more fruitful in my career goals, I will take several rational steps. By and large, these practical steps will be either short-term or long-term. In the short-term goal, specifically in one-year plan, I will study and learn the fundamentals associated to my chosen career path. Example of which is the appropriate method in the practice of teaching. In the special education, in particular, teaching methodology is obviously distinct to, say, 5th-grade education. In the long-term goal, specif

Bluetooth technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bluetooth technology - Essay Example For example, through Bluetooth technology, one is able to talk on a mobile phone via a wireless headset, update an appointment on a friend’s PDA calendar from personal PDA or operate a computer via a wireless keyboard. Bluetooth enabled devices are equipped with their own complete software framework and protocol stack that enable them to disseminate data to other devices within a close range (Minoli 308). History of Bluetooth Technology The origin of Bluetooth can be traced to 1998 when the Bluetooth Interest Group (SIG) was created and Bluetooth adopted as the official name of the resulting technology. In 1999, Bluetooth Specification 1.0 was released leading to declaration of Bluetooth as the Best of Show Technology by COMDEX (Minoli 308). Shortly after in the year 2000, the first Bluetooth enabled mobile phone, PC card, headset, laptop, and mouse as well as USB dongle prototype were launched at COMDEX. The following year, the Bluetooth SIG Inc was established and followed i mmediately with the launch of the first hands-free Bluetooth enabled car kit. This was followed by the launch of the first Bluetooth enabled digital camera and the first GPS receiver in 2002. In the same year, the IEEE (Palanivelu and Nakkeeran 180) approved 802.15.1 specification for Bluetooth. The first Bluetooth based MP3 was unveiled in 2003, the same year when the FDA gave the green light for Bluetooth controlled medical system. The Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) was adopted in by the SIG Inc, in 2004 alongside 250 million Bluetooth embedded devices and stereo headphones. The greatest breakthrough came in 2006 when Bluetooth was installed in over one billion devices. Contemporary research focuses on employing the advantages of the Bluetooth technology in the healthcare domain, whereby individuals will be able to rely on Bluetooth enabled wireless devices to keep track of their body temperature, metabolism rate and pressure count (Palanivelu and Nakkeeran 180). These devices will thro ugh Bluetooth transmission collect important health information from patients then share them with a doctor through a PC or a cellular phone. Goals of the Bluetooth Technology Bluetooth technology was intended to provide solution to the problems inherent in infrared systems that was already in use in most television remote sensing control systems. While infrared is reliable and fairly less costly, the devices rely on line of sight technology requiring the receiver device to be within a pointing range (Palanivelu and Nakkeeran 181). This means that infrared cannot be used across walls or to control devices in different rooms even if they are all within a sensing range. There was therefore need for a wireless technology that could be relied on to operate several devices simultaneously in the absence of line of sight, which made Bluetooth more appropriate. Additionally, the Bluetooth technology was the most ideal technology that would provide wireless interactivity/connectivity between two paired devices at low frequency and with minimum interference (Palanivelu and Nakkeeran 181). Other significant goals for devising the technology included managing cross device communication at low power, low cost and dynamic networking for mobile devices How Bluetooth Works Bluetooth networking system transmits data through low power radio waves, enabling communication at a remote frequency of about 2.45gigahert. The low frequency

Media and Language Essay Example for Free

Media and Language Essay The article discusses about how Facebook is really affecting one’s feeling of being lonely. It also states the different sources or causes for a person to be like one. Facebook is said to be an instrument to increase a person’s social life and interaction with others but for most researchers, it is also a source of loneliness. Yvette Vicker’s death was connected to a heart attack which was reportedly caused by loneliness. She called distant fans before her death rather than her family and friends. Loneliness and being alone is not the same thing. Being lonely is a psychological state while being alone is an external condition. Loneliness can be measured through the UCLA Scale. Researchers found out that as time goes by, the number of people who feel lonely increases. Professional carers is widely needed because of the alarming number of lonely beings which are then had become a public health issue. It can lead to certain illness like dementia, insomnia, obesity, hormonal imbalance, etc. Many like to be alone or independent because they get some satisfaction over that kind of system but what they don’t know is that their exposing themselves into a world of pure loneliness. Family traits are changing because of the changing world. Some engage into social networking because of the urge to belong to a social group. This may be because of a poor household interaction between families. Scanning through others posts may lead to loneliness because people would tend to realize why other people have this and that while they do not. Why people experience this and that and they do not. Facebook draws a person into a world of illusion instead of being able to realize reality. It can be helpful if one can use it as a tool to engage social gatherings or interactions and not a substitute to one. Technology may be helpful or not to improving one’s life but it is for the user to limit its usage, maybe for better or for worse. The author concluded that connection is not the same as bond. People let themselves be drawn into a connection which is not forever connected and a form of disintegration from this connection may lead to a worse scenario. So the text talks about the relation of loneliness to Facebook. I am a vivid Facebook user and yes, I felt lonely at some times. When I do not know what else to do, I try to scan through my wall and see some posts there about other people’s lives and how they feel and even what is currently happening to them. Some of those posts appeal to my senses. I feel envy of what other people have, in the material and social aspect. I am not into social interaction with those who I do not really know and from what I have observed, those people who talk to others via social networking sites are one those who are popular in reality and I also think that they are sometimes being plastic to others. Many admire their popularity and because of that, admirers always make a way to interact with them and also, the ones who are being admired are feeling good about it. That is only my opinion but I do not mind them. Also, I do not use social networking just to seek importance from other person like others do. I use it for communication and entertainment purposes only. I just want some communication with my friends and family and that is all I need to live a not so noticeable yet a full life. So I agree at some points of this article. It is the people who should control technology and not the technology who should control the person.

Bond Valuation Essay Example for Free

Bond Valuation Essay Discuss the impact of Standard Poor’s downgrading the U.S. credit rating in 2011. Address current and likely future impact on U.S. business, individuals, the global economy and current financial practices. Provide specific examples to support your response. The impact of Standard Poor’s downgrading the U.S. credit rating in 2011 shows us as consumers and investors that we should keep watch on all aspects of the government’s spending. A persistent crisis of confidence in the stock market could put the economy in a tailspin. The impact it would have on current U.S. business, individual global economy and current financial practices in nothing new that this country does not already know or should have seen in the past several years. Businesses have either gone belly-up or merged with another company to save what was left. An example of this is the health care system where a small privately owned practice is unable to carry on with the demands of running its own business and in order to save his business they are able to sign under a local hospital entity and continue on as usual not feeling much of the effects outside of possible changes in company policies and who is now actually paying the bills. The individuals effected is such a rating are those trying to establish a goal of retirement or credit building on their own and is forced to dig into their own savings in order to make ends meet due to the increasing tax demands taking what was once available to them. Globally this impact could result in outside investors not willing to extent already past amounts for the U.S. and further loans and cause the U.S. to grab what little the smaller businesses, families, and financial institutions are able to squeeze and cause more unemployed, closed companies and a downfall of the presumption that the U.S. is the country where dreams are made†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦of course all this won’t happen overnight but if things do not change, this is what we could be facing.

Real Time Video Processing and Object Detection on Android

Real Time Video Processing and Object Detection on Android Real Time Video Processing and Object Detection on Android Smartphone Abstract – As Smartphone is getting more potent, can do more superior stuffs that previous required a computer. For employing the high processing power of Smartphone is mobile computer vision, the ability for a device to capture; process; analyze; understanding of images. For mobile computer vision, Smartphone must be faster and real time. In this study two applications have been developed on Android platform using OpenCV and core library called as CamTest with own implemented algorithms. Efficiency of two Android applications have been compared and found that OpenCV performs faster than CamTest. The results of examining the best object detection algorithm with reverence to efficiency shows that FAST algorithm has the finest blend of speed and object detection performance. Next projected object recognition system using FAST algorithm, which uses SVM, BPNN for training and validation of object in real time. The application detects the object perfectly with recognition time arou nd 2 ms using SVM and 1 ms using BPNN. Keywords—Android; Video Processing; object detection; SVM; FAST corner detector; BPNN I. INTRODUCTION As Smartphone is the perfect combination of personal digital assistant, media player, camera and several other stuffs. It has entirely changed the past about mobile phone. In the early days of Smartphone application development only mobile company was able to develop. After the introduction of Android OS in 2007, Smartphone application development is high in demand. Android was developed by Google with Linux core kernel and GNU software stuffs. [16]. The introduction of Smartphone with camera Real Time video processing becomes very trendy now and having most critical computation tasks. Nearly all Smartphone applications uses a camera to use mobile computer vision technology [2]. Mobile computer vision technologies playing vital role in developing our day to day activities applications [1].This technology having many objectives like object finding, segmenting, location recognition [2]. As Smartphone processors such as MediaTek, ARM, NVIDIA Tegra, and Snapdragon are achieving more computation capability showing a fast growth of mobile computer vision applications, like image editing, augmented reality, object recognition. Long processing time due to the high computational difficulty averts mobile computer vision algorithms from being practically used in mobile phone applications. To overcome this problem, researchers and developers have explored the libraries such as OpenGL and OpenCV [2]. Application developers will face lot problems as he does not having basic idea to process real time video. OpenCV library is the solution which is written in C, C++ language, reduces the complexity for development and research [17] [2]. Real-Time recognition and detection of objects is complex and favorite area for research in the today’s fast growing mobile computer vision technology. Applications like machine vision, visual surveillance; robot navigation are the best examples [4].Object detection and recognition consist of three steps basically, first is the feature extraction, second classification and third is the recognition of object using machine learning and several other technologies [3]. Due to the growth of Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT)[10], the object detection method using matching filter changed to key point matching based object detection method [8] [10].SIFT is more focusing on invariant key point matching. On the similar concept new algorithms were born such as the Speeded-Up Feature Transform (SuRF)[11],Center Surrounded Extrema (CenSurE)[22], Good Features to Track (GFTT)[26], Maximally-Stable Extremal Region Extractor (MSER)[24], and Oriented Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features (ORB)[21], and Features from Accelerated Segment Test (FAST)[12] [4] [6] [8]. In this paper, real time video processing efficiency was find using OpenCV [17] and CamTest with support of core library. Next analyze best object detection algorithm with respect to efficiency in support with OpenCV library. Projected real time object recognition system using FAST algorithm [12], SVM [15] and BPNN [25]. All the stuffs have been conducted on LG Optimus Vu Smartphone with Android 4.0.4 OS. II. ANDROID ARCHITECTURE The Android operating system is like other Smartphone OS, with stacked structure [2][16]. Android operating system stack consist on several layers such Kernel Layer,System Libraries,Dalvik Virtual Machine layer (i.e Android Runtime layer),Application Framework layer and on top Applications layer [2][16].The Kernel gives basic funtionalities like network management memory management, process management, device management. Libraries are used for different oprations like internet security [2][16].Android Runtime consist of Dalvik Virtual Machine which is optimized for Android and provides core libraries.The Application Framework layer gives services to the installed applications in the form of Java Class Library. [2][16].Application developers takes the services of this layer for application development [2][16].Application layer is the top layer in the stack where your application will get install [2][16]. III. OPENCV IN ANDROID The OpenCV library was officially developed and introduced by Intel in 1999 to enforce CPU and GPU exhaustive application [17]. The earlier version of OpenCV was written in C[27]. From the edition 2.0 OpenCV provided both C and C++ interfaces[27]. In the next edition of 2.2 they had introduces Android port with some sample applications of image processing. Currently it has several optimized methods with the version OpenCV 2.4.9[27] [17]. IV. real time video processing methods To find and compare the efficiency of OpenCV and CamTest, each processing method of mobile computer vision was applied and average value was calculated [2]. The input format of video frame should be in standard form such as RGB space[2][27]. The input video frame to RGB conversion is done by following relation [28] R = 1.164(Y 16) + 1.596(V 128) G = 1.164(Y 16) – 0.813(V 128) – 0.391(U 128) B = 1.164(Y 16) + 2.018(U 128) (1) Each pixel of video frame is threshold with a constant number T. If it is greater than T, pixel will be set 1, otherwise 0. g(x,y) = 1, if f(x,y) > T = 0, otherwise (2) Where f(x, y) is the original frame and g(x, y) is the threshold frame. The descriptions of processing methods are shown in Table I. TABLE I. FRAME PRCESSING METHODS AND ITSDESCRIPTION V. METHODOLOGY First designed application layout using JAVA and XML. Then, the processing methods and object detection algorithms are written using JAVA and OpenCV. The tools used for designing and programming are Android SDK [16], OpenCV [17] and JAVA SDK.Application file is then installed to the LG Optimus Vu. If there are no errors, then started to measure the result regarding frame processing rate. After all the data had been collected, and the result is analyzed and compared with the theory. The Application flow is shown in Fig.1.0 and Fig.1.1 A) System Flow of Real Time Video Processing and Object Detection Algorithms No Yes Next Real Time Video Frame z Fig. 1.0: Real time video processing flow B) System Flow of Real Time Object Detection Algorithms No Yes Next Real Time Video Frame Fig. 1.1: Real time object detection algorithms flow. VI. EXPERIMENT RESULTS A) Performance of Real Time Video Processing Methods For the calculation of processing efficiency of OpenCV and CamTest is calculated by following formula. (7) The unit of FPR is frames processed per second i.e. fps. If the value of Frame Processing Rate(FPR) is high for the particular processing metohd then theat method is more efficient. Higher the value of FPR represents the method is more efficient. Table II. Shows real time video processing methods and frames processed per second by CamTest, OpenCV test. TABLE II. REAL TIME VIDEO PROCESSING METHODS AND FPS OF CAMTEST AND OPENCV TEST Frame Processing Ratio is as follows, FPR Ratio = (OpenCV FPR – CamTest FPR)/OpenCV FPR (8) As from Table II, FPR shows significant differences between OpenCV and CamTest.If there is Positive FPR ratio value e.g N, then OpenCV is 1/N times better than CamTest.If there is Negative FPR ratio value e.g –M,then CamTest is 1/M times better than OpenCV.As shown in Table III, Frame Processing Rate Ratio(average) is 0.64,leads to a conclusion that OpenCV (1/0.64 times) 1.56 times faster and better than CamTest. TABLE III. REAL TIME VIDEO PROCESSING METHODS AND FPR RATIO Fig. 2.0: Frame processing rate using CamTest and OpenCV test for eight image processing methods. B) Performance of Real Time Object Detection Algorithms TABLE IV. REAL TIME OBJECT DETECTION ALGORITHMSAND THEIR FPS Fig. 2.1: Frame Processing Rate for object detection algorithm. As shown in Table IV and Fig. 2.1, FAST algorithm is having the highest fps value and 10 times faster as compare to SIFT and SURF.The minimus fps for real time object recognition should be at least 15 fps and FAST achieves the almost same thing. So that FAST is having optimum performance in real time scenario while executing real time object detection operation. VII. APPLICATION As from experimental results shown above in Table IV, we concluded that FAST algorithm [12] is almost several times faster than other algorithms. To recognize the object in real time video FAST algorithm almost achieves 15 fps. As FAST algorithm extracts the corner features accurately and it requires less time for it. So proposed a Real Time Object Recognition system using FAST algorithm is as follows. A) System Flow of Real Time Object Recognition As shown in Fig. 3.0 Input object image is captured by Smartphone camera and it is saved to internal storage. FAST corner detector [12] algorithm is applied on the captured image to extract the features. The extracted features should have the same number and location as the viewpoint and corner changes. So the extracted features should be adjusted to the same number and it called as normalization. After the features are adjusted to the same number, weight is calculated for SVM [15] and BPNN [25] for training the features. After that feature database will get created. After the preparation of database object will get recognized in real time video via SVM [15] and BPNN [25]. As system recognizes the object it shows the feature count and recognition time on the display of Smartphone. No Input Database Yes Fig. 3.0: Real Time Object Recognition Flow A) Results The Real time object recognition system shown above in Fig. 3.0 was developed for LG Optimus Vu and Android platform 4.0.4. The development environment consist of Microsoft Windows 7 with Intel Core i3,2GB RAM,Android SDK,NDK and JAVA SDK.The object used for training was Hand Watch and training time was 102 ms using SVM and 1115 ms using BPNN.The Table V presents the recognition time for object (Hand Watch) using FAST corner detector, SVM and BPNN. TABLE V. RECOGNITION TIME FOR HAND WATCH OBJECT VIII. CONCLUSION As per the above experimentation and results, Most of the real time video processing methods executed using OpenCV having high performance with respect to efficiency than the CamTest. OpenCV gives more attention towards the efficinecy than the CamTest.As per the result obtained from the real time object detction application, FAST algorithm achieves high efficiency, almost 15 fps compared to other algorithms.For the futurescope, like to enhance the FAST algorithm in terms of accuracy.The proposed real time object recognition system gives faster and accurate recognition of object(Hand Watch) on the Smartphone using SVM and BPNN. In future would like to introduce multi object recognition, location tracking on Smartphone platforms,also like to introduce the concept like GPU and parallel computing with OpenCL. REFERENCES [1] Nasser Kehtarnavaz and Mark Gamadia, â€Å"Real-Time Image and Video Processing: From Research to Reality†, Synthesis Lectures On Image, Video and Multimedia Processing Lecture 5, 2006. [2] Khairul Muzzammil bin Saipullah and Ammar Anuar, â€Å"Real-Time Video Processing Using Native Programming on Android Platform†, 8th IEEE International Colloquium on Signal Processing and its Applications, 2012. [3] Kanghun Jeong and Hyeonjoon Moon, â€Å"Object Detection using FAST Corner Detector based on Smartphone Platforms†, First ACIS/JNU International Conference on Computers, Networks, Systems, and Industrial Engineering, 2011. [4] Paul Viola, Michael Jones, â€Å"Robust Real-time Object Detection†, Second International Workshop on Statistical and Computational Theories of Vision, July2001. [5] L. Zhang and D. Yan, â€Å"An Improved Morphological Gradient Edge Detection Algorithm†, IEEE International Symposium on Communications and Information Technology (ISCIT), Vol. 2, pp. 1280-1283, 2005. [6] O. Folorunso, O. R. Vincent and B. M. Dansu, â€Å"Image edge detection, A knowledge management technique for visual scene analysis†, Information Management and Computer Security, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 23-32, 2004. [7] D. G. Kamdar and C. H. Vithalani, â€Å"Simulation and Performance Evaluation of Edge Detection Techniques in Differential Time Lapse Video†, IEEE International conference on Computational Intelligence and Computing Research (ICCIC), 2012 [8] David G. Lowe, â€Å"Object Recognition from Local Scale-Invariant Features†, the Proceedings of the Seventh IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision, pp. 1150-1157, 1999. [9] Clemens Arth, Christian Leistner, â€Å"Robust Local Features and their Application in Self Calibration and Object Recognition on Embedded Systems†, Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 2007. IEEE Conference, June 2007. [10] D. G. Lowe, â€Å"Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Key points†, International journal of Computer Vision, 60(2), pp. 91-110, 2004. [11] H. Bay, T. Tuytelaars, L. V. Gool, â€Å"SURF: Speeded Up Robust Features†, Proceedings of the European Conference on Computer Vision, 2006. [12] E. Rosten and T. Drummond, â€Å"Machine learning for high-speed corner detection†, European Conference on Computer Vision, Vol. 1, pp. 430-443, 2006. [13] E. Rosten and T. Drummond, â€Å"Fusing points and lines for high performance tracking†, Tenth IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV05), Vol. 2, pp.1508-1515, 2005. [14] Y. Hirose, K. Yamashita and S. Hijiya, â€Å"Back-Propagation Algorithm Which Varies the Number of Hidden Units†, Neural Networks, Vol. 4, pp.61-66, 1991. [15] E. J. A. K. Suykens and J. Vandewalle, â€Å"Least Squares Support Vector Machine Classifiers†, Neural Processing Letters (ICCV05), Vol. 9, pp. 293- 300, 1999. [16]K. Owen, an Executive Summary of Research in Android Integrated Development Environments, April 2011. [17]OpenCV, Open source Computer Vision library. In http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/, 2009. [18] Edward Roston and Tom Drummond, â€Å"Machine Learning for high-speed corner detection†, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, UK. [19] Y. Khairul Muzzammil bin Saipullah and Ammar Anuar, â€Å"Coparision of Feature Extractors for Real-time Object Detection on Android Smartphone†, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, Vol. 47, 2013. [20] Y. Khairul Muzzammil bin Saipullah and Ammar Anuar, â€Å"Analysis of Real-time Object Detection Methods for Android Smartphone†, 3rd International Conference on Engineering and ICT (ICEI2012), 2012. [21] Ethan Rublee Vincent,Gary Bradski, â€Å"ORB: an efficient alternative to SIFT or SURF† [22] Agrawal M,K. Konolige,â€Å"CenSurE: Center Surround Extremas for Realtime Feature Detection and Matching†, Computer Vision – ECCV, Springer Berlin/Heidelberg,vol.5305,pp.102-115,2008 [23] Calonder M,V.Lepetit, â€Å"BRIEF:Binary Robust Independent Elemetary Features†, Computer Vision – ECCV, Springer Berlin/Heidelberg,vol.6314,pp.778-792,2010 [24] Donoser M,Bischof H, â€Å"Efficeint Maximally Stable External Region(MSER) Tracking†, IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, pp.533-560,June 2006 [25] Y Hirose,K. Yamashita, â€Å"Back-Propagation Algorithm which varies the Number of Hidden Units†, Neural Networks,vol 4, pp.61-66,1991 [26] Shi J,Tomasi C, â€Å"Good Features To Track In Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition†, CVPR 1994,pages 593-600,1994 [27] Amar Anuar,Khairul Muzzamil Saipullah, â€Å"OpenCV Based Real-Time Video processing Using Native Android Smartphone†, International Journal of Computer Technology and Electronics Engineering(IJCTEE),Vol 1,Issue 3 [28] Khairul Muzzamil Saipullah ,Amar Anuar, â€Å"Measuring Power Consumption For Image Processing On Android Smartphone †, American Journal of Applied Sciences,pages 2052-2057,2012

The Social Security Crisis :: essays research papers

The Social Security Crisis   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Presidential election will be coming up this November and the question that many of Americans have on their mind is what are you going to about the Social Security crisis? This question has our nation divided between generations. The elder people of our nation (ages 50 and up) fell confident that Social Security will be there for them and that it should be left alone. On the other hand the Baby Boomers (ages 31-49) and Generation X (ages 18-30) lack this confidence fearing that they will never receive Social Security, and the money they put in would be a waste. Many politicians are afraid to touch this issue because the elder still make a large number of the voting block. Speaking as a member it is our duty to vote for change in Social Security to ensure we will have something to look forward to when we retire. We can not wait any longer to defeat this crisis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For those who don't know the Social Security crisis is the threat that Social Security may go bankrupt. Well its more than just a threat its the reality. The common belief is that Social Security is a saving fund where the government takes a certain percentage out of our weekly pay. Then that money is put into a savings fund where it is held until you retire. When they retire money is returned to them in monthly checks plus the interest. This is where they are wrong. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system where the current workforce pays for the present retirees, and then when they retire they will depend on the workforce and so on and so on. Which is fine when you always have more workers then retirees. This is the problem the government will face when the Baby Boomers retire in the year 2010. In 1950 there were 7.2 workers for each retiree. Today there are 3.2 workers for every retiree, an by the year 2020 there will only be 2.

The Future of Education Essay -- Teaching Education Essays

The Future of Education In about thirty years, I will probably be sending off a child of my own to a university. There will be many changes in the way a public university will operate in three decades. These changes will be similar to the ones that occurred from the time my parents attended college to the time that I am now furthering my education at college. The same basic format of living on campus, going to classes, and partying will be followed, but getting the instruction and getting to college will go on in a different manner. The main areas of change that I foresee will be in the process of how students get to college, on-campus living, and the most, in use of technology. More and more students are now pursuing a post-high school education. This is going to be a continuing trend that will be made possible by increasing efforts from high schools, federal, state, and local governments, and the universities themselves. High schools will create more college preparatory curricula that will reach all students so that they will have the opportunities to apply and be accepted to a university. With an increased number of applicants, universities will have to build more residency halls, and create more classrooms and resources to accommodate the larger amounts of students. Universities will offer a wider scope of types of scholarships and financial aid to make sure they can reach every prospective student in need. The governments will also have a larger quantity of revenues that will be used for educational purposes including various kinds of grants, scholarships, and loans to meet all students’ needs. There will be larger push on the whole from the public to assist students further their education instead of goin... ...rking out of problems. Technology will never replace the university wholly either. There is an additional education to just academics and athletics that takes place on a college campus. Many lessons and experiences that are crucial to life are found in the university. These changes are the same that my parents are seeing now as they watch me attend the same university from which they graduated. I imagine similar changes will be seen by my children sixty years from now, when they possibly send off their own children to a public university. In general, public universities will always be in a campus setting, with old buildings and large classes, but the campus and classes will change in the same ways they have already been changing. Works Cited Hanck, J. Andrew. â€Å"Future of the University† Carroll, J. Ryan. â€Å"How My Children Will Get Their Education†

U.S. and Global Media Perspectives on Afghanistan: Evaluating the Roles of the United States and the United Nations in Preserving World Peace :: Essays Papers

U.S. and Global Media Perspectives on Afghanistan: Evaluating the Roles of the United States and the United Nations in Preserving World Peace I. Intro Afghanistan was a neutral country in the 20th century, receiving aid from the United States and Soviet Union until the 1970s. In the 1970s, Afganistan’s King Muhammad Zahir Khan was forced to deal with serious economic problems caused in large part by a severe national drought. These economic problems caused a general unrest among the people of Afghanistan, and in July of 1973 a group of young military officers took things into their own hands. King Zahir Khan was unseated, and this group proclaimed Afghanistan to be a republic with Zahir Khan’s cousin, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Daud Khan, becoming president and prime minister. Daud’s reign was short-lived; in Afghanistan’s coup d'Ã ©tat of 1978, Daud was deposed by a group led by Noor Mohammed Taraki, who instituted Marxist reforms and aligned the country more closely with the Soviet Union. These events marked the beginning of what would become known as the Afghanistan War, a devastating conflict between anti -Communist Muslim Afghan guerrillas (mujahadeen) and Soviet forces and Afghan government. Mohammed Taraki was killed in September of 1979 and Hafizullah Amin took power. With Amin taking the throne, the USSR did not hesitate to send troops into Afghanistan and had Amin executed, with the Soviet-supported Babrak Karmal becoming president. The United States, along with China and Saudi Arabia, channeled funds through Pakistan to the mujahadeen. The civil war ensued, and through the course of this war over six million people of the Afghanistan population fled the country, giving it the largest refugee population of any country in the world. By 1991-92, the US finally reached an agreement with the USSR that neither would continue to supply aid to any faction in Afghanistan. Out of these previously US funded factions rose the Taliban, an armed Aghan faction which apparently was an Islamic movement. The Taliban, funded by the CIA during this war, fought with other factions for supremacy following the departure of Soviet troops; as history would show, the Taliban became the dominant force in Afghanistan in the 1990s. The Taliban did not really exist as a coherent politico-military faction or movement before late 1994; prior to this time, they were members of other factions such as Harakat-e Islami and Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi, or operated independently without a centralized command center.

Au Bon Pain Case Study Essay

Business Strategy: Au Bon Pain (ABP) is an upscale French Bakery chain restaurant that competes with other fast food restaurants. They would like to go from a â€Å"Cycle of Failure† to differentiating themselves from their competitors by improving their customer experience. Alignment: Au Bon Pain wanted to differentiate themselves from other fast food chains by increasing the customer experience so that there would be more repeat customers and a consistent income stream. This meant improving relationships with customers which would increase if they had positive experiences and name recognition by staff. ABP had to decrease turnover of staff and increase autonomy at local stores to create the experience that they wanted for their customers. They did this by creating the Partner/Manager Program, which created Partner Managers at stores who were more autonomous in the day-to-day decision-making, and in turn, shared in profits. The program meant that Partner Managers now shared in 35% of the profits, Assistants shared in 15% of the profits, which was a significant increase in the reward/compensation structure at the company. By changing the reward structure, PM and Assistant Managers took on more responsibility for their individual store which changed their role to include things like ordering, staffing, and store aesthetics. During the trial of the Partner/Manager program, the two stores that volunteered to participate both had managers from different backgrounds who were very driven, independent, and creative. ABP central management hoped that a program like the Partner/Manager Program would help them to recruit more staff that espoused these characteristics, which they viewed as vital to their success and growth. Application: ABP changed the reward structure to increase productivity. This is consistent with the Expectancy Theory in which employees figure in Expectancy (the belief that effort will lead to results, in this case increased compensation), Instrumentality (the belief that a desired outcome will come from performance, in this case increased store profits will lead to increased personal compensation), and valence (the outcome, in this case  increased compensation). The effort of the PM and Assistant Managers increased because their expectation of compensation was directly related to the profits of the store, which meant that the desired outcome of the company and employees were aligned and profits increased. The profit-sharing compensation method used by ABP is similar to the method that Whole Foods uses. The difference is that ABP only involves the Partner/Manager and Assistant Manager in profit sharing while Whole Foods shares profits with all employees through their â€Å"Gainsharing† Program. While at ABP the Partner/Manager Program increases the dedication, productivity, and hopefully decreases turnover of those involved in profit-sharing, it does not do anything for the hourly employees who have a high turnover rate and are the ones that actually have the direct customer interaction at the registers, cleaning the stores, and making the food. This could lead to problems for ABP since the hourly employees are directly related to the consumer experience that the ABP is trying to improve, and this program does not address them. Exhibit: Roles: With the introduction of the Partner-Manager Program, Au Bon Pain looked to transform the roles of District Manager, create a Partner Manager and Assistant Manager who shared in the profits, and increase autonomy in each store. In the old system, the District Managers micromanaged their stores, but in the new system they were given more stores and had to focus on the big.

Nostalgia in Advertising

As consumers the advertisements we view daily have increased tremendously. From the Internet, to mobile, to video advertising; the World Wide Web is taking over. Consumer behavior is based on a large variety of details and cannot be simply described in one word. There are a variety of approaches to reaching consumers in the advertising of a product. As humans we all have a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past. This statement simply defines nostalgia. Marketers and Advertisers use nostalgic advertising to connect with their consumers.The use of nostalgia as an advertising approach has been pushed by numerous trade publications as an extremely effective and persuasive advertising tactic. Advertisers connect their brands by using words, pictures, music or scenes with a by-gone era to remind viewers of their promotions. With this, they hope these nostalgic feelings can reminds consumers in a positive way and affect their attitudes and buying behaviors. A var iety of marketing research studies do show that the use of nostalgia in advertising does stimulate attention, is entertaining, is persuasive, and reminds nostalgic reflections in consumers.Not only do the ads create positive emotions, consumers recall mental images of former situations and experiences. In comparison studies, nostalgic advertising induces more positive emotions and more intensive mental images than non-nostalgic advertisements. (http://dmn3. com/_blog/DMN3_Blog/post/hh/) The combination of emotions and images brought to the consumer’s attention by the ad generates a positive resonance toward both the ad and the product being advertised. Nostalgic advertising has been a common trend in companies, and it appears to be a popular theme during economically troubling times.When the recession began in 2008, and continued to take a toll on the economy marketers used the approach of tapping into fond memories to help sell what few products shoppers were still buying. I n using this tactic the hope is that warm, fuzzy feelings about the past will help make people feel better about the present and future. Reviving vintage slogans and jingles as well as package designs, bringing back familiar products and menu items to stores and restaurants and bringing back moments from pop culture are certain ways companies have approached nostalgic advertising. The merchants of nostalgia nd these tactics include well known company names like Coca-Cola, General Mills, McDonalds, MillerCoors, Target, Unilever, and Toys ‘R’ Us. These companies have such a history of advertising, that sometimes the best way to reach out to a consumer is to give them a little reminder of what they were missing. Advertisers and marketers have to remember that as times are changing the generation they previously reached is getting older, however they still remember those moments that touched them as children. Memories are a huge part of our brain, and sometimes a small remi nder of such an emotion can go a long way.One specific nostalgic advertisement I am going to focus on was this Christmas when Toys ‘R’ Us took a different approach towards their holiday advertising. They brought back two commercials; Both commercials feature the brand character Geoffrey the Giraffe and one of them includes the familiar jingle written by the advertising executive Linda Kaplan Thaler that begins, â€Å"I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid. † Toys ‘R’ Us was huge when I was a kid, I can almost remember singing the theme song â€Å"I don’t wanna grow up†.The return of these commercials was to reach the generation of kids who grew up with the Toys ‘R’ Us brand. It may not have specifically made me go out and purchase toys from the store, however it hit home and reminded me entirely of my childhood. Marketing research has shown a postivie resonance with both nostalgic ads and th e products advertises, it even shows more persuasive influence on consumers. However, with the lack of clear correlation to either purchase intent or actual purchase of the products advertised, they must trust that the positive resonance towards the ad and products will translate into an increase in sales.

French Toast

French Toast GENERAL PURPOSE: To inform on how to make French Toast. ————————————————- SPECIFIC PURPOSE STATEMENT: After listening to my speech, the audience will ————————————————- have learned that there are different kinds of French Toast. ————————————————- INTRODUCTION I. Attention-getter:Did you know there are different kinds of French Toast then just our regular cinnamon French Toast? According to incredibleegg. org there are five other ways to make French toast. II. Credentials: One of my breakfast foods is French toast.I am always finding new ways on how to â€Å"spice it up†. I like to cook, but I am mostly a baker when it comes to food. A nd when it comes to the holidays like this time of year my family is all about baking and cooking. But what family isn’t. III. Thesis statement:French toast is a great breakfast food but can be messy when making it. But it is all the more fun when you are making it as a family. IV. Preview of main points:Today I will be talking about an easy way how to make French toast and two other ways to make French toast that are fun and enjoyable during the holidays. BODY I. Main Point:Easy French Toast Recipe.According to culinaryarts. bout. com this is how to prep for making French toast in the oven. A. Supporting point- Ingredients: 1. 4 eggs 2. 1 cup half and half 3. 2 tsp sugar 4. 8 slices regular white bread 5. ? tsp pure vanilla extract 6. 2 Tbsp butter B. Supporting point- Preparation: 1. Pre-heat oven to 200 °F. 2. Beat eggs thoroughly. Whisk in sugar, half and half and vanilla. 3. Pour the custard mixture into a shallow glass dish. An inch deep should be fine. 4. Heat your g riddle to medium-low, and melt the butter on it. 5. Soak a couple of slices of bread (but only as many your griddle can accommodate at once) in the custard while you count to ten.Flip them over and repeat. 6. Carefully remove the soaked slices from the custard, letting the excess liquid drain into the dish, and transfer the bread to the griddle. Flip when the bottoms are golden brown. When the other sides are also golden brown, remove from the griddle. 7. Serve French toast right away, or transfer it to a dish in the oven to keep warm. This makes about a serving for four people. II. Main Point: Make Ahead Stuffed French Toast According to incredibleegg. org here is another way to French toast. A. Supporting point- What You Need 30 to 36 | | thin French bread or baguette slices, 1/2† slices (12 oz)| 4 | | oz. ream cheese, softened| 1| | cup strawberry preserves| 8| | EGGS| 1-1/2| | cups milk| 1| | can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, undrained| ?| | cup orange juice| 2| | tsp. freshly grated orange peel| 1| | tsp. vanilla| ?| | tsp. salt| B. Supporting point- Here’s How 1. HEAT oven to 350 °F. 2. SPREAD 1/2 of the bread slices with cream cheese and strawberry preserves and TOP with remaining bread slices to make little sandwiches. ARRANGE sandwiches in greased 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish. 3. WHISK eggs in medium bowl until foamy. STIR IN milk, pineapple, orange juice, orange peel, vanilla and salt.SLOWLY POUR egg mixture over bread; press bread into egg mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. 4. BAKE in center of 350 °F oven until puffed, golden and knife inserted near centers comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. III. Main Point: Mini Orange-Maple French Toast Breakfast Casseroles According to incredibleegg. org here is another way to French toast. A. Supporting point- What You Need 4 | oz. mascarpone cheese OR cream cheese, room temperature| 4| EGGS| 2/3| cup milk| 1/3| cup orange juice| 1/4| cup maple-flavored pancake syru p| 1/2| tsp. freshly grated orange peel| 3| cups bread cubes (1 inch) (about 4 slices)|B. Supporting point- Here’s How 1. HEAT oven to 350 °F. WHISK cheese in medium bowl until smooth. ADD eggs, 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. STIR IN milk, orange juice, syrup and orange peel until smooth and blended. 2. DIVIDE bread among four greased 10-ounce ramekins or custard cups. SLOWLY POUR a generous 1/2 cup egg mixture over bread in each cup; press bread into egg mixture. PLACE cups in baking pan. 3. BAKE in center of 350 °F oven until custards are puffed and knife inserted near centers comes out clean, about 30 minutes. CONCLUSION Thesis Statement / Review: Now you know some other ways to make French toast.Closing statement: I how you enjoyed what you have learn on making French toast. I hope it has encouraged you to go home and try to make it†¦Works-Cited using APA format Incredibleegg, (ND) â€Å"Make Ahead Stuffed French Toast† http://www. incredibleegg. org/recipes-and-more/recipes/make-ahead-stuffed-french-toast Incredibleegg, (ND) â€Å"Orange-Maple French Toast Breakfast Casseroles† http://www. incredibleegg. org/recipes-and-more/recipes/mini-orangemaple-french-toast-breakfast-casseroles culinaryarts. about, (ND) Danilo Alfaro â€Å"Easy French Toast Recipe† http://culinaryarts. about. com/od/griddledspecialties/r/frenchtoast. htm

A Perspective of Leadership Through the Eyes of a Great Leader

Abraham Lincoln had a distinct way of elevating people. This is evident in one of his leadership techniques as pointed out by Donald Phillips in his book, Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times. This, he had done by recognizing his subordinates, his people as equals.More importantly, it is by not failing to remember that he, as a President acted not as a Chieftain but as representative of the people who elected him; and it is from this people, his power as Chief Executive emanated. In the same way, there are leaders who act based on the same principle as Abraham Lincoln. Take for example, Nelson Mandela.The latter’s leadership although may be viewed very differently from that of Lincoln is characterized by the similar principles in leadership as Lincoln’s. Like Lincoln who is a master of active passivity, Mandela offered only passive resistance against efforts that put the Blacks in the position of permanent servility (Brink, 1998).Like Lincoln who preached vi sions, in his case, through the Gettysburg Address, Mandela preached visions as a mode of getting across ideas that would set forth the movement towards his objectives. According to him, â€Å"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.† (Brink, 1998). Also, like Lincoln, Mandela showed integrity even with his failures which he considered not as such but as blessings which â€Å"enhance rather than diminish his personality (Brink, 1998).†1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In your opinion, what were Lincoln`s most important attributes or traits?It is not proper to say that Abraham Lincoln had a most important l eadership attribute for it is only when his traits are seen as a whole that his leadership can be qualified. Saying that one trait is more important than the other means elevating one and subordinating the rest. Surely, it is not only just one or a few leadership attributes which can carry or distinguish Lincoln as a leader from the others.According to Donald Phillips (1992), â€Å"’During his four years as president, Abraham Lincoln spent most of his time among the troops.’ He visited key individuals in government, members of Congress, toured hospitals to visit the wounded, etc. He was a natural wanderer. As a lawyer, he went out to discover the facts first hand.†Still, it cannot be said, for example that Lincoln’s consideration of â€Å"getting out of the office and circulating among the troops† distinguished him over the others because there were leaders who valued such in their leadership too. Princess Diana was considered as a prime figure dur ing her days because she showed empathy to the people and in Phillips’ words, she ‘got out’ in public to experience the people first hand and not only through the eyes of third observers.The same goes with Pope John Paul II who was renowned for his frequent tours among Catholic nations. He was not the Pope who sat down his Papal Chair as he observed the world through his accolades. He went out, shook hands, waved and hugged the people whom he led in faith. Both leaders value â€Å"reaching out to their people† as prime necessity in effective leadership.Having said this, it is the combination of Lincoln’s leadership traits that made him a distinguished him from the others. It is the right amounts of humility, foresight, patience, tact and eloquence that made him one of the supreme leaders not only in the history of the United States but in the history of the world.

Airasia

Yield and profitability would decrease for AirAsia if fuel prices become too high. Overall, although such economic events are unavoidable, the opportunities outweigh the threats, presenting AirAsia opportunities to expand its business: during times of economic downturns, demand for affordable low fares would increase amongst budget-conscious travelers, especially from leisure and corporate travelers. 3. Political/Legal Globalization saw a trend of increased privatization and deregulation of governments across the world, which resulted in the ongoing consolidation of the airline industry.As governments were important drivers of airline success in Asia, most airlines in East and Southeast Asian countries had full or substantial state ownership, management, and control, often subsidized and protected by the governments from competition; with the pursuit of non-business goals, profits were often sacrificed for the sake of national objectives. Privatization and deregulation of governments presented opportunities for new routes and airport deals through open-skies agreements between countries, or the permission of the entry of private airlines, reducing the constraints for international airlines. For instance, in 1997, Malaysia signed an â€Å"open-skies† agreement with the United States; such deregulation present new airlines (i. e. AirAsia) with the opportunity to access domestic routes. Having access to domestic routes could lead to the trial of long haul flights to attain and penetrate an undeveloped market share (i. e. new routes to utilize its new aircraft). However, globalization can also result in global uncertainty (i. e. accidents, terrorist attacks, and disaster), which can affect customer confidence. Once customer confidence is affected, AirAsia would face the threat of losing its profitability, or even bankruptcy.Being a low-cost carrier, AirAsia is subjected to subjected to aviation regulations, government policy and government restraints (i. e. government protection in favor of full-service airlines), and dependent on the geography and infrastructure of Asia, and the travelling preferences of customers. 4. Sociocultural In recent years, rapid economic growth resulted in a burgeoning middle class within Asia’s large population. Together with increased in trade and tourism within and into Asia, demand for air travel increased; more people were willing to compromise on food and other services in exchange for lower prices.The attractiveness of budget airlines is primarily their low ticket prices, which can be as low as 10-20% of those charged by full-service airlines. This presents AirAsia with opportunities to differentiate itself from competitors by adding customer services or operation as full service airline with low fare, giving it a competitive advantage (i. e. provision of in-flight food and drinks, and online sales of hotel, car, and holiday reservations, as well as travel insurance), and corporate travel services, with its own branded credit card; further increasing brand awareness and value for customers.However, if AirAsia is not careful in its implementation to differen tiate itself from competitors, it could incur an (unnecessary) increase in operation cost in producing value-added services. Overall, the social/cultural aspect presents AirAsia with more opportunities than threats, as long as it does not unnecessarily increase operation cost in producing value added services. 5. Technological Global By utilizing information technology, AirAsia was able to the first airline in Southeast Asia utilize e-ticketing and bypass traditional travel agents.This enabled the airline to save on the cost of issuing physical ticket (i. e. estimated at US$10 per ticket), and eliminated the need for large and expensive booking and reservation systems, and agents’ commissions. If not handled properly (i. e. backup systems and maintenance), there would be risk of system disruption due to heavily reliance on online sales. Hence, the technology aspect would pose to be a threat if AirAsia’s systems are not properly backed up and maintained (i. e. contingency plan in the event of a system disruption). 6. Physical EnvironmentThe physical environment segment refer to potential and actual changes in the physical environment and business practice that are intended to positively respond to and deal with those changes. To sustaining the quality of the physical environment Industry Analysis 1. Threat from New Entrants: Low The airline industry requires high capital. The cost of setting up an office, purchasing or leasing aircrafts, hiring pilots and other staffs such as air stewardess and etc incurs a high start-up cost. Hence, the threat of new entrants is low for Air Asia. Strict government regulations.Every potential entrant is required to obtain license and permit before it is allowed to be operated. This is because the airline industry in Malaysia is already highly competitive. As a result, the government needs to protect the interest of its national airline, Malaysia Airlines (MAS), where MAS has been operating on losses a few years back. Apart from offering air transportation service, Air Asia also offers affordable tour packages. Air Asia has been establishing good relations with hotels and tourism companies around Asia, therefore, it is hard for new competitors to compete.Most of Air Asia customers have high brand loyalty towards Air Asia because of its widely known ? one of the low-cost airlines that continues to offer the lowest possible price?. 2. Bargaining Power of Supplier: High Overall, power of supplier is high as there are limited and just availability of suppliers, the switching cost is high (i. e. airplanes and their maintenance are costly), and there are few substitutes for airplanes (i. e. air travel covers longer distances in a shorter period of time). Limited number of aircrafts supplier.There are only two aircrafts supplier companies in the world, which are Air bus and Boeing. Compared to Boeing aircrafts, Airbus aircrafts is the most advanced in technology, hence, Air Asia must rely on the Airbus engineers to do maintenance on the aircrafts and seek advices. 3. Bargaining Power of Buyer: High The internet has allowed customers to have access in aviation market information, mainly, the price of air transportation ticket charged by different airline companies, where price comparison can be made. Low switching cost for customers.Customer’s priority is to look at price and flight schedule that suits them best when purchasing air transportation tickets. As mentioned earlier, customer’s main purpose of using the airline service is to get to their intended destination. Therefore, customers can switch to other airline easily. As there are almost no switching costs for customers switching from one budget airline to another, the bargaining power of buyer is moderately high. Moreover, customers are able to compare prices of budget airline via the Internet, giving them more choices 4. Threat from Substitutes Product/or Services: LowAlthough there are several substitutes (i. e. trains and ships), the geographical structure of Asia has made air travel an efficient, viable, and convenient mode of transportation. Hence, threat from substitutes is moderately low. Compared to other modes of transportation, the archipelago geographical structure of Asia made air transportation the most viable, convenient and efficient mode of transportation. However most of the low-cost airlines only fly domestic routes within the country of origin, while only a few operate international routes connecting nearby countries.Hence, customers will always look for alternatives. The prices of substitutes are about the same with Air Asia. Some of the airlines offers cheaper price to achieve profitable passenger loads. The price offered depends on the time gap between the booking date and flight date. The longer the date, the cheaper the price. If the air transportation tickets are purchased last minute, the price will be about the same with premium airlines such as MAS and Singapore Airlines (SIA). Therefore, in this situation customer would switch to the premium airlines. . Rivalry among Competing Firms: High Intensity of rivalry is moderately high due to the increased competition (with more competitors wanting a part of this growing lucrative market), and high exit cost. Exhibits 8 and 9 provide information on low-cost carries in Asia: from 1 budget airline (Cebu Pacific Air) in 1996 to 16 budget airlines by 2005, the entry of more low-cost airlines dramatically increased competition. AirAsia also faced competition from a broad range of airlines, ground transportation, and sea services.The airline industry offers similar service. Customer’s main purpose of using the airline service is to get to their intended destination. Though Air Asia offers additional services such as hotel booking and tour packages, it is subject to its customers’ choice. An industry with similar products and/or services offered is highly competitive. The airline industry incurs high fixed cost. In order to cover the fixed cost, the airline companies have to gain more market share.As such, constant price reduction is done to compete with others. Hence, the rivalry is strong. Low switching cost for customers. Customer’s priority is to look at price and flight schedule that suits them best when purchasing air transportation tickets. As mentioned earlier, customer’s main purpose of using the airline service is to get to their intended destination. Therefore, customers can switch to other airline easily, which makes the industry so competitive. The airline industry incurs high exit cost.In order for an airline company to exit the industry, it needs to pay its loans and staffs retrenchment as well as refund the flight cancellations, which all incurs high cost. Even making losses, the airline company has to get running to cope with fixed costs. There are approximately 45 low-cost airlines in Asia. Some of the airlines do not compete directly with Air Asia, but they compete indirectly in routes that Air Asia does not fly. Thus, the higher the number of competitors, the fiercer the competition.