History Event - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2192 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2018/12/18 Category History Essay Type Research paper Level High school Tags: World War 2 Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Over the past centuries in the World, quite a lot has happened. Whatever has happened in the past is often referred to as history. For our study purposes, we are going to consider a historical event which happened in the past. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "History Event" essay for you Create order Definitely these historical events affect the way people in the World behave and interact with each other. By this, I mean that the event has a psychological impact on the lives of the people who were affected by the said event. For some people fear is created, trauma, while to others the events create room for more coexistence between the involved parties. In some cases, these historical events have an underlying effect on the relations between various countries and their neighbors. About this, some historical events lead to greater interactions and relations between the involved countries, while to others increased enemity is created. This cant be blamed on the government of the day but on a historical event which led to strained relationships between the two. However, there is still room for countries which became enemies and foes due to a historical event to reconcile. On the other hand, we have to consider the impact of the historical event to the World. Would the World still be same as it is currently without the historical event? To better understand this, we are going to have a look at the impact of the historical event regarding economic impact, social relations, international relations, foreign relations, etc. Some historical events have greater impact compared to others. Based o the above introduction, I guess the reader is motivated to read the historical event Im about to introduce. In the mind of the reader, vivid pictures concerning the historical event have already begun being visualized. Just a preview of my historical event, it will cover a war which happened in the World in the 20th century. This event will be discussed and researched by scholars for years to come in the World. From my research, no historical event will even surpass this war. Other than the myths on creation and evolution which might compete for top position in this war, the rest are just lesser historical events. What Im talking about is the Second World War (Stuart 2012). Overview of the Second World War The Second World War is a war which happened in the World in the 20th century. It took place between the years 1939 to 1945. This marked six years characterized by bloodshed and property destruction. The war involved most countries of the World which were superpowers at that particular time. The war mainly involved over three countries which were assumed to be the most economically developed countries in the World. When it came to war technology, the countries were considered among the best. This is the reason why they were being referred to as the World Superpowers at that particular time. However, this doesnt mean that the rest of the countries in the World were not affected. In fact, almost all the countries in the World Produced some soldiers who were directly involved in the Second World War. For instance, during the war, most countries which had not been colonized were protectorates of the superpowers mainly involved in the war. Hence the colonizers took the soldiers of their subject countries and put them on the battlefield to fight on their behalf. This explains one of the reasons why the war is considered to be the greatest war ever experienced in the World. Secondly, the war is the greatest based on the number of the casualties and the property destruction. It is estimated that to the minimum 50 million people lost their lives and on the higher side 85 million people are assumed to have died. Most of those who died were civilians who were caught in the crossfire while the soldiers engaged each other. Other than the deaths most people have scars and health conditions which have been transferred over to the next generations genetically. Examples include those who were affected by the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Further, when it came to the destruction of property, some countries were wiped to dust. Considering that most of these countries were recovering from the effects of the First World War, now they were hit by another catastrophe in the name of the Second World War. It would take years for most of these countries to recover from the effects of the war. Most of the developed countries we are currently seeing were some of the most affected by the Second World War. Major Players in the War Though the Second World War began in 1939, it is often believed that instances leading to the war had begun as early as the year 1937. This marked two years where most countries were almost certain that a big military conflict was about to happen in the World but no country was willing to start the conflict. The war began in the current region of Asia and the Pacific region. During the 1930s Japan was the most economically developed and industrialized country in the region. China followed it. However, Japan wanted to be the undoubted supreme ruler of the Asian and Pacific regions. To achieve this, it had to eliminate competition from China. This could only be done through war, where Japan began attacking China in wars such as the Balkan War (Anthony 1994). However, the actual war began on the 1st day of September in 1939. It began with Germany attacking the country of Poland. Germany was under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. As a result of Germany attacking Poland, allies of Poland declared immediate war on Germany. These allies were first led by France which declared war on Germany immediately. France was backed by the United Kingdom and China. The countries behind Poland and France were referred to as the allied nations during the war. However, Japan attacked the US in the year 1941 marking the late entry of US into the war under the allied forces. With no time the US had taken control of leadership among the allied forces. On the other hand, Germany fought under the Axis forces umbrella. Germany got support from, Japan and Italy. Initially, the axis forces had gained more control in the European region. It was now becoming a reality that the Axis forces would emerge the eventual winners of the Second World War and assume superiority in the World. However, in 1942 the odds began to change when Japan was defeated in the Mid Way battle. On the other hand, Germany and Italy were defeated by the Allied forces in Africa. However, the war had to wait till 1945 for it to end. First, it began with the capture of Italy by the allied forces later followed the suicide of Adolf Hitler forcing Germany to surrender. However, it was not until September 2nd when Japan surrendered to the allied forces marking the end of the war. Also, this marked the win of the allied forces. In 1945, the US used atomic bombs on Japanese soil dropping them at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In history, this is the only time atomic bombs have ev er been used in the World (Charles 2012). Now from the chronological effects of the participants and their involvement in the Second World War, this is what has shaped the current political and economic position of the World. This has been achieved through some ways as we are going to see later in the following chapters of the paper. The War Led to the Formation of Various Bodies After the war ended, we had the formation of various bodies, both NGOs and economic-based bodies. Allegiance formed These bodies. Others were formed by agreements. Also, most of the trade forums in Europe are attributed to the Second World War. Lets have a look at some of the bodies formed. United Nations (UN) United Nations is arguably the largest Non Governmental organization in the World. UN has very many subsidiary bodies which include UNICEF, UNCTAD, etc. The major participants of the Second World War have the greatest membership when it comes to allocation of executive positions at the UN. They include US, United Kingdom, China, Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy, and France. The UN was initially formed to prevent another war as great as the Second World War from happening in the World. This explains why the UN is at the forefront when it comes to acting as a mediator in countries on the verge of experiencing war. On the other hand, the UN acts as a negotiator between fighting parties in the war to come up with a binding agreement and solution to the war. The UN also has a special branch composed of military personnel from almost all member countries. This military personnel is deployed to areas experiencing war to protect the citizens and bring a sense of calmness (Karen 2007). Further, the UN offers humanitarian aid to both soldiers and civilians affected by war. The resources used to cater for humanitarian aid are obtained from the member countries and other good wishers in the World. The special military branch of the UN also offers protection to those providing humanitarian aid to the victims. If not for the Second World War UN couldnt have been formed. Formation of the World Bank After the Second World War most countries were left struggling economically. These countries had limited workforce since most of their civilians had been killed or injured during the war. Further, the industries in most of these countries had been destroyed. In short, economically these countries were at their knees. An urgent solution was needed to bring the economy of these countries back to their feet. To achieve this, these countries required funds and capital to do so. Countries which had capital surplus came up together and pooled their resources in one common pool. From this common pool, countries largely affected by the war had to borrow from this pool to rebuild their economies. The common pool of resources is what was referred to as the World Bank. To date, the World Bank offers loans to countries which are in need of financial aid. Most of the aid is channeled towards development. The World Bank has also helped countries like Greece to recover from the recession. Formation of the Common Wealth After the Second World War, the United Kingdom saw the need of having a strong force to back it up in times of need. To achieve this, the country decided to bring all its protectorates together. Hence the Commonwealth is composed of countries which were colonized by the UK including the US. These countries are brought together with common agendas amongst themselves. The main agenda of the Commonwealth is to empower all its member states economically. Secondly, the Commonwealth comes handy to assist member countries which are experiencing an economic or political crisis. This explains why commonwealth is at the forefront in ensuring peaceful power transition in its member states. Creation of Trade Agreements and Economic Relations When it comes to trade agreements and relations, this topic should be approached with a lot of caution. This is the main reason which has created friendship and enemity between major players of the Second World War. Lets start with the trade relations between China and Japan. Since the Second World War, the relations between Japan and China have never been fully mended. To date, these two countries are experiencing some enemity between themselves. This has also affected the relationships between citizens of both countries. On the other side due to the Second World War relations between some countries were strengthened. A good example includes the relation between Japan and the US. Though these countries were fighting against each other during the war, after the war they became a great friend regarding foreign affairs and trade too. After the war, US took over control of Japan to disarm the country. However, this did not affect the relations between Japan and the US are currently in a strategic meeting on how to prevent the increasing threat posed by North Korea to the World security and Peace. Also economically US and Japan are major trade partners (Peter 1996). NB After the Second World War, most of the countries in the World reached an agreement that at no time in the World will atomic weapons be used again in war. This was based on the destruction witnessed at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. To date, no atomic weapons have been used again in war though Iran and North Korea are posing a threat to this. Conclusion From the above, one gets to see that the current position of the World has been largely influenced by events after the Second World War. If not for the limited number of pages I would have given more examples. References Stuart, D. The Soviet Japanese War of 1939. The Diplomat (2012). Charles, F. The Defeating of Japan. Palgrave Macmillan Press (2012). Antony, P. The Second World War in the Making. New York: Routledge Press (1994). Peter, L. Does Conquest Pay? Effects After the Second World War. Princeton: Princeton Press. (1996). Karen, A. United Nations Activities in the 21St Century. Westview Press (2007). ISBN 978-0-8133-4346-4.

Enron And Corporate Culture Of Enron - 1322 Words

Introduction In 1985 The Enron Corporation came into existence after a successful merger between two gas pipeline companies. The company nurtured a very competitive culture, which encouraged employees to win at any means necessary. Enron’s culture led employees to â€Å"cast loyalty and ethics aside in favor of high performance† (Ferrell, p. 494). The executives of Enron covered up their increasing debt by using special purpose entities. Meanwhile, Enron continued to report increasing profits to their investors, which led to more investors giving Enron their money. There were many factors that aided Enron in their demise, but the largest was the greed of Enron’s executives, the auditors, and the attorneys. The corporate culture of Enron, their auditors bankers and attorneys and their Chief Financial Officer played vital roles in the fall of Enron. How did the corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy? In its wake, Enron’s CEO, Ken Lay, wanted Enron to be a company which cultivated a culture that allowed employees the opportunity to reach their full potential. Lay wanted to make Enron a company that had high integrity and moral values, but as time progressed Enron became a company which pushed its integrity aside to engage in fraudulent behavior so that the executives could earn more profit (Ferrell, p. 487). Enron’s corporate culture would be best described as very proud and arrogant. The company even displayed a banner in their lobby which stated, â€Å"TheShow MoreRelatedThe Corporate Culture Of Enron1474 Words   |  6 Pagesthe corporate culture of Enron contribute to its bankruptcy? The Enron Corporation was an energy trading and utilities company that eventually failed due to the discovery that Enron was hiding large debts and losses in financial documents. â€Å"Through its subsidiaries and numerous affiliates, the company provided products and services related to natural gas, electricity, and communications for its wholesale and retail customers† (Ferrell, Fraedrich Ferrell, 2015, p. 486). A company’s corporate cultureRead MoreEnron: Corporate Culture3743 Words   |  15 PagesENRON Corporate Culture Q1: Analyse the corporate culture at Enron and its management’s behaviour. Include in your analysis, the normative theory of ethics which you would consider most relevant in driving the decision making at Enron. Enron began by merger of two Houston pipeline companies in 1985, although as a new company Enron faced a lot of financial difficulties in the starting years, though the company was able to survive these financial problems (Enron Ethics, 2010). In 1988 the deregulationRead MoreCorporate Culture Of Enron And Bankruptcy1327 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The case study is about Enron and about their biggest failure that lead the company towards bankruptcy. Enron got bankrupt to the extent that was no point of returning back and reversing its wrong doings. The only thing that the company had to think about was how to return the losses of its creditors. Enron Corp. was left with $12 billion in assets which was to be distributed among more than 20,000 creditors. Around 80% of creditors of Enron backed the long-awaited reorganization planRead MoreThe Failed Corporate Culture of Enron4805 Words   |  20 PagesThe Failed Corporate Culture of Enron High risk accounting, inappropriate conflicts of interest, extensive undisclosed off-the-books activity, excessive compensation Ââ€" these are some of the headings of the report prepared by the U.S. Senates Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations titled The Role of the Board of Directors in Enrons Collapse. (Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, 2002) In February, 2002, Enrons former Chief Executive Officer Jeffery Skilling had testified before membersRead MoreThe Impact Of Enron s Corporate Culture1950 Words   |  8 PagesVarying Impacts Enron’s corporate culture had a great deal to do with the benefits it gave to its employees as well as its top managers beginning with overlooking unethical behavior as long as it provided monetary value. Their corporate culture is described as arrogant, and rightfully so, by the end of 2000 Enron had become the sixth largest energy company in the world (United States Government Publishing Office, 2003, p. 67). This mindset of superiority and pride lead employees to believe they couldRead MoreFailure Of Responsible Management : Enron Corporation1645 Words   |  7 Pageswhich failure of responsible management. The Enron Corporation is an example, because Enron event is the typical case for organization failure of responsible management In the end of 2001, Enron scandal has been disclosure, Enron stock prices slumped, and its financial tricks was exposed. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began survey of company s records. Enron’s auditor ‘Arthur Andersen ‘destroys relevant documents. (Ailon, G. 2011) Enron was bankruptcy in December 2001, and became theRead MoreUniversity of Phoenix Organizational Culture1133 Words   |  5 PagesOrganizational culture can be defined as the system of attitudes, beliefs and values that are collectively expressed in support of organizational structure. Organizational culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that dictate the behavior of individuals within an organization. Culture determines which practices are appropriate and which are not, effectively developing standards, guidelines, and expectations for individuals within an organization. Although they work hand in hand, there isRead MoreEnron Corporation : The Biggest Gas Transmission System Essay1081 Words   |  5 Pages The Enron Corporation started in 1985 by Kenneth Lay and was the result of a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth Corporation (Madsen Vance, 2009). Enron had the biggest gas transmission system in the U.S which consisted of a network of 38,000 miles of pipeline (Giroux, 2008). After the addition of Jeffrey Skilling, Enron transformed itself from a producer and distributor of natural gas to a trading company (Chandra, 2003). Enron lobbied hard for deregulation and was capableRead MoreEnron, An American Energy Company1587 Words   |  7 PagesEnron Leadership One of the best examples recently seen relating to bad leadership is what took place within Enron. Throughout the late ‘90’s, Enron, an American energy company, was considered one of the country s most innovative companies; while the company continued to build power plants and operate gas lines, it became better known for its unique trading businesses (npr.org, 2014). It can be described as the ideal company for the dotcom-driven stock market boom of the 90s; Enron threw itselfRead MoreEnron’s Stakeholder Impact Case Analysis Essay1725 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction: Widely known as the champion of the energy industry, Enron is suddenly faced with a corporate crisis in the form of a scandal. This scandal involves not only Enron’s accounting practices but also its corporate governance and culture (Lawrence Weber, 2008). This report will recommend some potential strategies for Enron to move forward from the scandal. To do this, we must incorporate stakeholder theory, which â€Å"argues that corporations serve a broad public purpose; to create value

Malware Past - Present and Future

Question: Discuss about the Malware for Past, Present and Future. Answer: Introduction The selected topic in information security is Malware: Present, Past and Future. Malware is a vulnerable cyber-attack on information systems, networks and databases. It is a malicious software and refers to any program that is deliberately created to perform an unauthorized and harmful action. Malware consists of various categories such as virus, spyware, Trojan horses, backdoor etc. The threat of malware is considered most recent threat for security of information. It has potential to cause loss of billions of dollars. Due to these reasons, malware is considered so much vulnerable (Bull, 2017). To get rid of malware attacks, it is necessary to defend information systems, networks and databases from this vulnerable software. While defending against malware various challenges are faced by developers or security professionals that are listed as below: Encryption is considered most effective technique to save data from cyber-attacks. But to achieve this, it is necessary to use of encryption techniques properly by network security experts. The lack of encryption services is a big challenge to defend information against malware attacks (Symantec.com, 2017). Anti-virus is also an effective way to detect and scan malware or another viruses that are harmful for information systems and databases. No use of antivirus leads to heavy loss of information and enhance chances of malware attacks. It is also a main challenge to control malware and its vulnerable attack. The information stored into database is high affected by malware attacks. In this case, it is better to keep secure that information by taking its backup into alternative storage device. This backup can be used to restore information that has lost due to malware. It is also a way to get defense against malware. After knowing about these challenges to defend against malware attacks, now we will emphasize on problems that are faced by IT users due to malware attacks. Problems faced by users due to MalwareThe first problem is of hardware failure that is faced by computer users due to malware attack. Trojan virus which is type of malware has potential to open and close CD/DVD tray and it can easily spread into root files and folders of computer system. Another problem is of data loss or data theft. The attackers inject malware scripts into systems or databases to access data. It is a common way for hackers of data theft (Magento, 2017). As we have discussed above harmful impacts of malware on information security and it is necessary to resolve this problem of malware attacks to sustain information security for long time. Here are some relevant technologies that we have found while analyzing prevention from malware. The first technology is to keep secure system and database with advanced anti-virus. If anti-virus will be installed into system then malware can detect and remove. Another technology to get rid of malware attacks is to use firewall. Firewall is an in-built software into our operating system and it gives alert to users about entry of unknown entity into system and also block that entity. Encryption technique must be used by developers to store encrypted information into database, so that it cannot be understood by hackers. Applications of Technologies The above discussion relevant technologies have various applications. These technologies can be used in any system, database and network where their users have detected cyber threats. there are some vague points found in case of malware and these are in form of questions asked by IT users.l? Answer: In different ways, computer viruses are spread into system. Firewall is important for system but it is possible that computer viruses like malware can spread over local network (Ask-(leo.com. 2017). There is no doubt that firewalls and security packages are helpful to keep things secure. But they can add their own level of confusion (Heimdal Security Blog. (2017). The selected forum from which we have collected above discussed information regarding malware, its challenges and problems and vague areas, from that forum, we have also found issues of malware that are listed as below (Securelist.com, 2017).: The main issue received regarding malware is that it appears to collect information from different fields of the checkout process such as credit and debit card information. Another issue of malware is that attackers can use admin or database access to implement exploit. The specific information that is accessed by attackers by using malware is password, unpatched sites and accounts of admin. The given information in forum is accurate, but if we would contribute in this forum by posting essential information about issue of malware then we can understand malware and it effects in different areas in more appropriate way. Important Issue that not addresses in Forum In selected forum, some essential malware issues are discussed but one issue that we would like add into given issues is that malware can corrupt boot file of computer system and can damage whole information stored into database. It means if malware has installed into our system then its early solution is required to protect computer from other vulnerabilities. The above discussed malware issues are malicious enough and put harmful influence on our real life in following ways: The chances of less security and privacy of data increase and information becomes more insecure. Hackers can access authorized data from database anytime from remote locations. It will become difficult for users to send and receive data over network, if malware will be installed into database (Reilly, 2017). Most Important Lesson Learnt from discussion The most important thing that we have learnt from this discussion that malware is very much harmful for our computer systems and databases and can provide more vulnerable results if it will not be controlled on time. In above discussion we got to know essential challenges, problems and issues of malware that can damage information, files and folders from system. Therefore, all discussed prevention techniques should be used by every computer user to get rid of malware or any other attack (Cooney, World, 2017). Conclusion At last we conclude that most of the people work with computers and networks but a few of them take care about security of their systems by using security tools and techniques. Due to these reasons issues of malware attacks occur and increasing continuously. Therefore, every computer user should use security tools and techniques to reduce issues of malware. References Ask-leo.com. (2017). Viruses and Malware. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://ask-leo.com/viruses_and_malware.html Bull, D. (2017). The Past, Present, and Future of Phishing and Malware | McAfee Blogs. McAfee Blogs. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/business/security-connected/past-present-and-future-of-phishing/ Cooney, M., World, N. (2017). 10 common mobile security problems to attack. PCWorld. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://www.pcworld.com/article/2010278/10-common-mobile-security-problems-to-attack.html Heimdal Security Blog. (2017). 10 Warning Signs that Your Computer is Malware-Infected [Updated]. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/warning-signs-operating-system-infected-malware/ Magento.(2017). Important New Malware Issue | Magento. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://magento.com/security/news/important-new-malware-issue Reilly, A. (2017). The Challenges in Defending Against Malware - Smallbiztechnology.com. SmallBizTechnology. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://www.smallbiztechnology.com/archive/2011/09/the-challenges-in-defending-against-malware.html/#.WPdSJGclHIU Symantec.com. (2017). Malware Infection Vectors: Past, Present, and Future | Symantec Connect. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/malware-infection-vectors-past-present-and-future Securelist.com. (2017). Damage caused by malware Securelist Information about Viruses, Hackers and Spam. Retrieved 19 April 2017, from https://securelist.com/threats/damage-caused-by-malware/

The Big Chill Essay Example For Students

The Big Chill Essay The title of the movie The Big Chill is symbolic of the meeting of the group of adults who have not seen each other in years. It alludes to the circumstances which brought them together as well as their reaction to the meeting. The movie The Big Chill is about a group of adults who were once very close in the past but have drifted apart throughout the years. They are brought together under an unfortunate set of circumstances: One of the group, Alex, had committed suicide. This is the first instance in which the title, The Big Chill, is alluded to. It is symbolic of Alexs death, and the cold experience that was needed to bring the group together once more. We will write a custom essay on The Big Chill specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now The group had a reunion after his funeral, only to find out that nobody really knew each other since their college days. This is symbolic that their friendships had been frozen, or dead, perhaps, since the group broke up many years ago. Another possibility is that the title symbolizes each individuals stolid realization that a certain part of their lives was dead, or frozen. This could refer to Alex, who had killed himself. Or it could refer to their friendship, which pro bably dwindled down from an occasional phone call to a seasonal letter or card, and eventually to virtual non-communication. The title could even have yet another hidden meaning. It could refer to the groups total loss of communication with Alex. This could have led to the point where nobody was able to see anything wrong with him, because they just were not a round to. Chloe, Alexs girl friend, probably did not notice because she did not know him as well as the rest of the group. But the rest of the group unintentionally gave Alex the cold shoulder when he was in the greatest need of help. Another instance of The Big Chill was when Meg asked Sam to have her baby. Sam coldly refused. Meg felt a bit rejected, even though she knew Sam only said no because he respected her. Sam, however, was very surprised and probably flattered to be asked. Overall, the title of the movie The Big Chill is symbolic in many ways. All of these ways are important to the meaning of the movie, if looked at symbolically.

Case Study Research of SHRM (workforce planning) of Ramsay Health Care

Table of Contents Background information on the problem Company Analysis Issue of company workforce planning Recommendations Strategy Reference List Appendix Background information on the problem The problem of ageing workforce is becoming a critical issue of management in Australia. Most organizations in Australia are getting overwhelmed by the issue of a rise in the number of ageing employees. Approximately a third of Ramsay Health Care employees are over 50 years.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study Research of SHRM (workforce planning) of Ramsay Health Care specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This denotes the likelihood of the hospital having a relatively higher percentage of aged employees in a span of ten years. However, the organization has been at par with a range of activities that are meant to ensure that the employees who are over 50 years of age remain active and deliver for the organization. In August 2011, there was the introduction of a program known as Fifty Plus. The program entails an array of activities through partnership with other organizations. The program discharges a series of activities that make the employees who are over 50 to remain active and productive. Over 400,000 Ramsay employees who are at least 50 years of age have already enrolled for the program (Ramsay Health care 2012). Company Analysis Ramsay Health Care is a widely recognized organization in the capital of Australia. The organization began its operations in 1964. The organization has widely grown to become the biggest listed market hospital corporation in Australia. The fact that the company has operated for a long period of time gives it a market advantage over the other newly established health centres. The company operates under a decentralized structure, which enhances the rate at which decisions are reached and implemented. Ramsay, who is the owner of the organization, allows decisions to be made collectively (â€Å"Ramsay Health Care Main Page (1963-2005)† n.d.). The company is still listed as a private company. This emanates from the late 1990s development, which resulted in the re-acquisition of the organization by Ramsay as a way of saving it from collapsing. This prevents it to be listed on the stock market and gain from the sale of securities. While the company has a resounding record of employee retention, its policy of recruiting employees who are over 50 years is worrying (â€Å"Ramsay Health Care Main Page (1963-2005)† n.d.). Figure 1.0 in the appendix reveals the rate of absenteeism in the organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Issue of company workforce planning According to Boxall and Purcell (2011), workforce planning is a critical element in strategic human resource management, which is meant to ensure that a company imp lements a set of human resource functions that ensure delivery and sustainability of the workforce in the organization. Ramsay Health Care has been proactive in terms of deploying human resource strategies, which has enabled the company to attain the level of success that it celebrates today. However, there seems to be a smouldering problem in the organization concerning recruitment of employees in the company. While Ramsay Health Care has not attained any problems of employee turnover and retention, the organization is bound to face problems of delivery in the future due to the steps that have been taken to maintain employees who are 50 years and over. There is bound to be a problem of an ageing workforce in the company as a substantial number of employees in the company grow older and attain the retirement age, yet there is no group of employees to replace them. While the human resource practices in the organization denote the emphasis on a human resource program that is supposed to ensure that the ageing employees remain productive, one thing that is often forgotten is that there is need to develop a balanced workforce to ensure that the organization does not have a problem of generational differences in its workforce when more than a third of its employees who are over 50 years of age retire (Ramsay Health Care, 2012). Moseley and Dessinger (2007) observed that modern human resource managers are charged with the task of sustaining a workforce through the establishment of an environment that allows for the transition of skills from a given set of employees to the other. This helps in bridging the generational gaps in the organization and enhancing the rate of compatibility in the organizational workforce. As a way of motivating all the employees, including the employees who are under fifty years, it is important to establish programs that steer employee performance. However, this is a complex exercise and may result in increase in the cost of managing the e mployees. Recommendations There is need for Ramsay Health Care to engage in the incorporation of younger employees in its workforce to avoid the existence of a transitional gap when the ageing employees leave the organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study Research of SHRM (workforce planning) of Ramsay Health Care specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When embracing employee performance programs, the human resource team in the organization should consider the employees from the entire organization instead of focusing on a certain generation of employees. This may draw negative feelings and reactions from the other employees. Strategy Strategic human resource management entails a complex set of human resource functions that are meant to steer the performance of the employees and the performance of the organization. In strategic human resource management, the organization develops and deploys several stra tegies with the aim of improving the discharge of functions by the organizational staffs and the improvement of organizational outcomes. Each strategy is measured and linked to a specific goal or expected outcome. The pros and cons of the strategy must be explored in order to ascertain the worth or the level at which the strategy can sustain performance outcomes in the organization (Ehnert 2009). For instance, the strategy of maintaining employees who are over forty years by Ramsay Health Care is considered to be a strategic practice by the organization. However, the analysis of this strategy has revealed a number of weaknesses that are bound to emanate from the continued enforcement of the strategy. This implies that human resource strategies are not static. They can be altered, especially in times when they are seen to have the potential of bringing about maximum payoff to the organization. When weaknesses are detected, strategies have to be revised in order to capture the concern s that are raised to ensure sustained performance of an organization (Wu Zhao 2012). As observed earlier, strategic human resource management is a complex exercise. It, therefore, requires an inner look into the programs of an organization to be able to develop recommendations that can help the organization restructure its practices in order to attain desirable results. The validity and worth of the analysis of strategic human resource practices in an organization is determined by the nature of recommendations and the level at which the recommendations can help in solving the weaknesses in the strategies of an organization (Ehnert 2009). The recommendations made in the case are as a result of a limited analysis of the strategic human resource management in Ramsay Health Care and the development of recommendations to aid in improving the human resource practices in the organization. The recommendations made in this case are based on the main problem of human resource planning that i s facing Ramsay Health Care.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The first recommendation is based on the potential dangers of the prevailing strategies of the organization; employing and retaining employees who are over fifty years. The second recommendation is guided by research about human resource planning and the potential impacts of the strategies that are used in the organization to enhance human resource planning. Reference List Boxall, P Purcell, J 2011, Strategy and human resource management, 3rd ed., Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Ehnert, I 2009, Sustainable human resource management: A conceptual and exploratory analysis from a paradox perspective, Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg. Moseley, JL Dessinger, JC 2007, Training older workers and learners: Maximizing the workplace performance of an aging workforce, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, CA. Ramsay Health Care Main Page (1963-2005), n.d. Web. Ramsay Health Care, 2012, Human resource indicators. Web. Wu, C Zhao, S 2012, ‘Organizational learning and the complexity of strategic human res ource management’, Kybernetes, vol. 41, no. 9, pp. 1297-1304. Appendix Figure 1.0 Source: Ramsay Health Care, 2012. This essay on Case Study Research of SHRM (workforce planning) of Ramsay Health Care was written and submitted by user Marcus D. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Copyright Privacy in China essays

Copyright Privacy in China essays Copyright privacy pirating in China is just like the wild grasses in our backyards. We claim everyday to eliminate them, while they win the game at last all the time. Why do these wild grasses, which are heavily threatening the development of China ¡Ã‚ ¯s IT industry, have such an  ¡Ã‚ °invincible ¡ growing? I think it is China ¡Ã‚ ¯s government who should be responsible for that rich ground, and the situation will remain unchanged until more severe actions are taken. Two kinds of people directly result in the prosperity of copyright pirating. One is the supplier, including the illegal producer and some retailer, the other is the user, who eventually buys those pirate materials. Both of them can gain considerable profits by devoting to the illegal deal. It is completely a win-win situation except for the risk of being caught by the government. Then let ¡Ã‚ ¯s see the result, or something called punishment, of being caught due to copyright pirating. The suppliers may pay some penalties or be sent to prison for a couple of months, however, comparing to the great gains they may have, counting the low frequency and efficiency of the government ¡Ã‚ ¯s action, the job of copyright pirating in China is much safer than investing in the stock market. The other related group, end users, even didn ¡Ã‚ ¯t have to pay anything for their illegal actions some years ago. All the influence the government exerts on the violators is too tiny to force them to stop their  ¡Ã‚ °job ¡ on hand and turn to make a tradeoff. Although the government has realized their urgent central role in the protection of copyright privacy, their actions and the punishments are still far from enough. I believe only some stricter rules are worked out, will the copyright pirating in China be really prohibited in the end. ...

Contemporary Issue Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Contemporary Issue Analysis - Assignment Example ecific stages of education, and what they should be capable of doing, irrespective of socio-economic status, and other factors that contribute to inequality. It ensures equality and quality in education. Considering this description and the purpose of standardization to achieve appropriate outcomes, standardization of the curriculum is good. Standardization of the curriculum can happen at different levels, that is, at national, state, district and school levels. There is however standardization of the curriculum to fit all, which is not appropriate considering the current U.S education system. Standardization of the curriculum to fit all in this case refers to the current proposed national standards that are getting renewed as a way to reform the education system. This discussion provides reasons why the K-12 curriculum should not be standardized at the national levels. It explains the importance of standardization of the curriculum which supports standardization at state, district, and school levels, but argues against standardization to fit all. Standardization of the curriculum is good because it is a working framework for the teachers. There are different layers of standardization of the curriculum, for example, there are curriculum standards at the state level which specify the skills and content that the children are supposed to acquire at specific grades. There are standardized curricula at the local levels which are more specific, for example, that students in grade six should be taught about a specific disease’ management because of its prevalence in the district (Kendall, 2011). Standardization is important because it provides an effective way of learning; there are goals which guide the teachers, the students and the students in nurturing the society into what they want it to be. It is also beneficial to different populations; as described above, there are standardizations at different levels. It can, therefore, benefit the state, the districts, the

Branding - Facebook Development Opportunities Assignment

Branding - Facebook Development Opportunities - Assignment Example This is mainly because; the craze of online media is increasing at a rapid pace as compared to others. Among many other social networking sites, face-book is one of the most renowned and prominent site. It helps in attracting a large array of customers towards the brand thereby presenting various feedback, comments and likes. As a result, an entrepreneur or marketer attains the facility of obtaining numerous customers from a single site thereby amplifying the profitability and brand image of the product among others. Other than this, the amount of investment over promotion or advertisement also gets reduced to a certain extent, which is quite worthy for an organization. And so, the level of revenues and profit margin of the brand also gets enhanced to a significant extent thereby amplifying its dominance in the market. This is the prime reason for which, maximum extent of the marketers or entrepreneurs in today’s age desire to select online networking site Facebook for the pro motion of their products or services. The report is presented in two parts. The first part depicts the strengths and challenges faced by the social networking site, face-book in this globe among others. Along with this, it also includes the threats and weakness faced by the site, due to extreme bargaining power of the buyers and extensive rivalry among the existing parties. On the other hand, the second part resembles the planning part of the networking site, face-book. This part mainly reveals the need for repositioning of the site in the global market among other contending site. Part A- Report Overview of Face-book In order to cope up with the challenges of economic meltdown, promotion or advertisement is the most essential requirement. This is because, by promoting the effectiveness or features of a product or service, large array of customers might be attracted towards the brand. As a result of it, the demand and profit margin of the product might get enhanced thereby amplifying the reputation in the entre segment a mong others. However, this might be possible only with the help of a social networking site, face-book. It is recognised as the most essential and reputed site used for promotion of the products or services in this competitive age. As, maximum extent of the individual desire to visit this site for attaining valuable information and ideas, that might prove effective in future. So, if a single product is promoted in this site, huge traffic might be attracted within a very small time –frame as compared to any other advertisement media. Such a prominent invention came into limelight due to the extensive efforts of Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, Eduardo Saverin in the year 2004. Within next one year i.e. by the end of 2005, Facebook attained a user base of 1 million. And so, it became one of the prominent sites for the marketers to promote their products or services. By doing so, the demand and brand value of the product or services might also be enhanced to a significant extent among others such as bing, Google +, yahoo, rediff etc. So, the importance and efficiency of face-book enhanced to a significant extent as compared to others. Macro environmental Analysis of Face-book PEST analysis is recognised as

The importance of group work in educational process Essay

The importance of group work in educational process - Essay Example Summarizing is essential to any hand written essay when ever that essay is needed to help people learn about what one might have seen, read or heard. It is used by millions everywhere at every minute in all possible kinds of assignments. What needs to be understood about these summaries is that one needs to recognize when one has to go from explaining and describing to offer a better and a more complex analysis. The group was asked to write on their experience on the work they had done together. And on the time they had spend together as a group working on the assignment that they had been assigned. The few points that this report would signify are: The introduction The makings of a good group-essay A reflective essay Networking and mentoring The Introduction In the start the class was asked to divide into groups of preferably 4 to 5 people. This was the most optimal limit of the groups. The class was also asked to have different personalities in the group, as different personalities brought different aspects to the group. The members chose each other on the basis of nationalities. Though there were almost five different nationalities in the group, the mode of conversation was English as it is understood by most of them. They were Annette, Alan, Rinkesh, and Mohammed. This particular group had quite a few nations, like Hong Kong, India, Arabia, china so they all brought their culture and diversity to the group. The group went through four steps of group work. These four steps are described by Tuckan as ‘forming,’ ‘storming,’ ‘norming’ and ‘performing’ (Hingst & Lowe, 2008, 157-165). Accordingly the group came together and introduced themselves in the first stage of forming. In this stage the discussion was light hearted and the topic of the project was discussed. There was no hierarchy managed. Everyone was given an equal chance to speak and put forward their ideas. During this stage no real work was done. In the next stage, the stage called storming; the members were now more in the form of better ways and means of giving out their opinions. In this stage the members become more comfortable with each other and even start taking up different positions as the leaders or the followers. This stage had more acceptance than any of the other stages did. In the next stage (performing), the members became a lot more alert of their jobs and tried to stick to them more and more, they also tried to get more work done and as soon as possible too. In this stage the members had more conflicts and their resolution led to a better understanding between the members of the group. The makings of a good group-essay As the group was required to work on writing an essay, so they needed to identify what made an essay good and what took it beyond good. They learnt that essay marking is divided into five groups which are: 1. Pre-structural 2. Uni-structural 3. Multi-structural 4. Relational 5. Extended abstract The best essay belongs to the category of either Relational or the Extended Abstracts. A college essay is expected of these levels. In these categories the essay shows the high level of understanding which is demonstrated by the number of and method of collection of data/ideas. This is very much obvious from the way the students write, express and explain themselves and their ideas about any number of situations and scenarios. They also show how much they grasped from the theme of the topic by cross-questioning. Both these categories are awarded Distinctions, and high-awards. Unlike these categories the other essays belong to the first three categories which have essays which either dwindle ion the edge of the topic or are not even close to it. These essays show lack of understanding and comprehension and are usually covered up by mismatched points and stories. A reflective essay A reflective essay is one which describes ones communication experiences acquired during any group-work and helps one to put these experiences into practical use by matching them to the theories and concepts learnt in

Stephen Dedalus And Dorian Gray

Stephen Dedalus And Dorian Gray Stephen Dedalus from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man written by James Joyce and Dorian Gray from The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde, go through many life changes. These two stories are in a ways similar to each other. Where the two main characters go though crucial transformation and how they are influence by religion and peers. As well in the way the authors wrote the novels by using symbolisms to develop the characters throughout the novel also play a role in these two stories. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man tells a story of Stephen Dedalus how decides to cast off all his social, family, and religious constraints to live a life devoted to the art of writing. As a young boy he attends a strict religious boarding school called Clongowes Wood College. Stephen is lonely and homesick at the school but as time passes he finds his place among the other boys. He likes is visits home, even though family tensions run high after the death of the Irish political leader Parnell. As they had a Christmas diner the death of Parnell becomes the topic. Simon, Stephens father, is inept with money and the family sinks deeper and deeper into debt. Stephen realizes that his family cannot afford to send him back to Clongowes, and that they will instead move to Dublin. He attended a prestigious day school called Belvedere there is where he grows to do extremely well as a writer and as an actor in the student theater. His first sexual experience with a young Dublin prostit ute unleashes a storm of guilt and shame in Stephen. He ignores his religious education, throwing himself with morally wrong abandon into a variety of sins like masturbation and more visits to prostitutes. Then on a three day religious retreat, Stephen hears a tri of fiery sermons about sin, judgment, and hell. Deeply shaken Stephen resolves to rededicate himself to a life of Christian piety. Stephen begins attending Mass every day became Ming a model of Catholic piety abstinence and self denial. His religious devotion is so pronounced that the director of his school asks him to consider entering the priesthood. After a brief considering the offer Stephen realizes that priestly life is utterly incompatible with his love for sensual beauty. Awaiting news about his acceptance to the university Stephen goes for a walk on the beach, were he observes a young girl wading in the tide. He is struck by her beauty and realizes in a moment of epiphany, that the love and desire of beauty should not be a source of shame. Stephen moves on to the university where he develops a strong friendship with Cranly. In a series of conversation with his companions, Stephen works to formulate his theories about art. While he is dependent on his friends as listeners, he is determined to create an independent existence, liberated from the expectations of friends and family. Stephen becomes more and more determined to free himself from all limiting pressures, and eventually decides to leave Ireland to escape them. In the story The Picture of Dorian Gray tells a story of Dorian Gray a wealthy and beautiful young man who curses his fate and pledges his soul if only he could live without bearing the physical burns of aging and sinning. In the London home of his aunt Lady Brandon the well known artist Basil Hallward meets Dorian Gray. Dorian sits for several portraits and Basil often depicts him as an ancient Greek hero or a mythological figure. Basil painted a portrait of Dorian as he truly is but as he admits to his friend Lord Henry the painting disappoints him because it reveals too much of his feeling for his subject. Lord Henry enjoys scandalizing his friends by celebrating youth, beauty and the selfish pursuit of pleasure; he disagrees claiming that the portrait is Basils masterpiece. Dorian enters the studio and Basil introduces him to Lord Henry and he fears that he will have a damaging influence on the young Dorian. Lord Henry upsets Dorian with a speech about the transient nature of bea uty and youth. Dorian worries that his most impressive characteristics are fading day by day and curses his portrait which he believes will one day remind him of the beauty he will have lost. In distress he pledges his soul if only the painting could bear the burden of ageing allowing him to stay forever young. Lord Henrys influence over Dorian grows stronger. The youth becomes a disciple of the new Hedonism and proposes to live a life dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure. Dorian falls in love with Sibyl Vane a young actress who performs in a theater on Londons slums. Overcome by her emotions for Dorian, Sibyl decides that she can no longer act. She wonders how she can pretend to love on the stage now that she has experienced the real thing. Dorian who loves Sibyl because of her ability to act he cruelly breaks his engagement with her. After he leaves the theater he returns home to notice that his face in Basils portrait of him has changed. It is then when he fears that that his wis h for his likeness in the painting to bear the ill effects of his behavior has come true and that his sins will be recorded on the canvas. The following afternoon Lord Henry brings news that Sibyl has killed herself. At Lord Henrys urging Dorian decides to consider her death a sort of artistic triumph and to put the matter behind him. Meanwhile Dorian hides his portrait in a remote upper room of his house where no one other than he can watch its transformation. Lord Henry gives Dorian a book that describes the wicked exploits of the nineteenth century Frenchman it becomes Dorians bible as he sinks ever deeper into a life of sin and corruption. Dorian lives a life devoted to garnering new experiences and sensations with no regard for conventional standards of morality or the consequences of his actions. His peers nevertheless continue to accept him because he remains young and beautiful. The painting, however, grows increasingly hideous. One night Basil Hallward arrives at Dorians ho me to confront him about the rumors that plague his reputation. They argue and Dorian eventually offers Basil a look at his soul. He shows Basil the now hideous portrait and Basil horrified begs him to repent. Dorian claims it is too late for penance and kills Basil in a fit of rage. To dispose of the body Dorian employs one of his doctor friend how refuses to help Dorian but at the end he helps his because Dorian blackmails him. The night after the murder Dorian makes his way to an opium den where he encounters James Vane the bother of Sibyl and attempts to avenge his sister death. Dorian then escapes to his country state while entertaining guest he notice James Vane peering in through a window and he becomes wracked by fear and guilt. A hunting party accidentally shoots and kills Vane, Dorian feels safe again. He resolves to amend his life but cannot muster the courage to confess his crimes, and the painting now reveals his supposed desire to repent for what it is hypocrisy. He pi cks up the knife he used to stab Basil and attempts to destroy the painting. There is a crash, and Dorians servants enter to find the portrait unharmed showing Dorian as a beautiful young man. On the floor lies the body of their master an old man, horribly wrinkled and disfigured, with a knife plunged into his heart. First over the course of the novels this two characters went through several transformation. Stephen Dedalus first transformation was during his first years as Clongowes, he goes from a sheltered little boy to a bright student who understands social interactions and can begin to make sense of the world around him. The second occurs when Stephen sleeps with the Dublin prostitute he went from innocence to a sinner. The third transformation occurs when Stephen hears Father Arnalls speech on death and hell he went from an unrepentant sinner to a devout Catholic. Finally, Stephens greatest transformation is from near fanatical religiousness to a new devotion to art and beauty. That transformation took place in chapter 4 when he is offered entry to the Jesuit order but refuses it in order to attend university. Stephens refusal and his subsequent epiphany on the beach mark his transition from belief in God to belief in aesthetic beauty. This transformation continues through his college year s. By the end of his time in college, Stephen has become a fully formed artist, and his diary entries reflect the independent individual he has became. In contrast with Dorian Gray, he went through several transformations as well. Dorians first transformation to me was when he was introduce to Lord Henry he went from being this young beautiful boy, close minded person to a selfish person with an obsession towards his beauty. His second transformation was when he breaks Sibyls heart. She being torn it drives her to suicide herself. This is the point where Dorian first notice the portrait that Basil had painted of himself starts to change. Here is where Dorian reveals that his pledge of staying young forever and his portrait taking the side effects of ageing are becoming true. As Dorians sins grow worse over the years, his likeness in Basils portrait grows more hideous. He seems to lack a conscience but the desire to repent that he eventually feels illustrated that he is indeed human. Dorian third transformation would be when he murders his friend Basil. He is unable to distract himself from the dissipation of his soul. Although in th e past he has been able to be sweep infamies from his mind, he cannot shake the thought that he has killed his friend Basil. Dorians guilt tortures him relentlessly until he is forced to go away with his portrait. Throughout this transformation not both of the characters went through a good change. Stephen Dedalus transformation went for a good one, well at least for him. As for Dorians transformation it went all bad from the beginning to the end. Also these two characters have in common that they in their own way were influence and let themselves get influence by others. Stephen Dedalus was influence by his family, his Catholic faith, and Irish nationality. Brought up in a devout Catholic family Stephen initially ascribes to an absolute belief in the morals of the church. As a teenager, this belief leads him to two opposite boundaries. At first, he falls into the extreme of sin, repeatedly sleeping with prostitutes and deliberately turning his back on religion. Though Stephen sins willfully, he is always aware that he acts in violation of the churchs rules. Second, when Father Arnalls speech prompts him to return to Catholicism, he bounces to the other extreme, becoming a perfect, near fanatical model of religious devotion and obedience. Eventually Stephen realizes that both of these lifestyles the completely sinful and the completely devout are extremes that have been false and harmful. Dorian Gray influence are heavily mostly by Lord Henry believes and his yellow book given to Dorian by Lord Henry. The yellow book has a profound effect on Dorian, influencing him to predominantly immoral behavior. Reflecting on Dorians power over Basil and deciding that he would like to seduce Dorian in much the same way Lord Henry points out that there is something terribly enthralling in the exercise of influence. Falling under the wave of such influence is perhaps unavoidable but the novel ultimately censures the sacrifice of ones self to another. Basils worship of Dorian leads to his murder and Dorians devotion to Lord Henrys hedonism and the yellow book precipitate his own downfall. As this two characters go through influences they at a point break apart. Stephen Dedalus does not want to lead a completely debauched life, but also rejects austere Catholicism because he feels that it does not permit him the full experience of being human. He reaches a decision to embrace life and celebrate humanity after seeing a young girl wading at a beach. To Stephen the girl is a symbol of pure goodness and of life lived to the fullest. In comparison to Dorians influences it is little wonder in a novel that prizes individualism the uncompromised expression of self that the sacrifice of ones self, whether it is to another person or to a work of art, leads to ones destruction. The authors way on writing their novels with symbolism enables them to develop their characters. In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, Joyce uses several symbolisms to develop his character Stephen Dedalus. Stephen associates the colors green and maroon with his governess, Dante and with two leaders of Irish resistance, Parnell and Davitt. In a dream after Parnells death, Stephen sees Dante dressed in green and maroon as the Irish people mourn their fallen leader. This vision indicates that Stephen associates the two colors with the way Irish politics are played out among the members of his own family. Another symbolism that Joyce uses is Emma. Emma appears only in glimpses throughout Stephens young life, and he never gets to know her as a person. Instead, she becomes a symbol of pure love, untainted by sexuality or reality. Stephen worships Emma as the ideal of feminine purity. When he goes through his devoutly religious phase he imagines his rewards for his pie ty as a union with Emma is heaven. When he is at the university he finally has a conversation with Emma. Stephens diary entry regarding this conversation portrays Emma as a real, friendly and somewhat ordinary girl, but not as a goddess Stephen earlier makes her out to be. His view if Emma mirrors Stephens abandonment of the extremes of complete sin and complete devotion in favor of a middle path, the devotion to the appreciation of beauty. Joyce also establishes water as a twin symbol of birth and death. Water imagery in the Portrait my point toward pleasure or pain, life or death, or it may be used to suggest both at once. Stephen fears the sea since he views it as an emblem of his own futility but it is the seaside epiphany which awakens him to the demands of life. In chapter five it is where Joyce exploitss the antithetical value of water. Joyce wrote He drained his third cup of watery tea to the dregs and set to chewing the crusts of fried bread that were scattered near him, st aring into the dark pool of the jar. The yellow dripping had backed to his memory the dark turfcoloured water of the bath in Clongowes. Here the tone of the language has been radically changed, the symbolism reversed, and this abrupt reversal emphasizes the change in Stephens state of mine. As for The Picture of Dorian Gray the author Oscar Wilde also uses symbolism in his novel. Wildes uses the color white as Dorians path from figure of innocence to a figure of degradation. White connotes innocence and blankness, as it does when Dorian is first introduced. It was the white purity of Dorians boyhood that Lord Henry finds so captivating. Basil invokes whiteness when he learns that Dorian has sacrificed his innocence and as the artist stares in horror at the ruined portrait he quotes a biblical verse from the book of Isaiah Though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them as white as snow those day were over for Dorian innocence. When the color appears again in the form of James Vanes face like a white handkerchief peering in through a window, it has been transformed from the color of innocence to the color of death. It is this threatening pall that makes Dorian long at the end of the novel, for his rose-white boyhood, but the hope is in vain, and he proves unable to wash away the stains of his sins. Wilde also uses the opium dens as a symbol. The opium dens represent the sordid state of Dorians mind. He flees to them at a crucial moment. After killing Basil, Dorian seeks to forget the awfulness of his crime by losing consciousness in a drug-induced stupor. Although he has a canister of opium in his home, he leaves the safety of his neat and proper parlor to travel to the dark dens that reflect the degradation of his soul. Finally, Wilde uses James Vane as a symbol as well. James is less a believable character that an embodiment of Dorians tortured conscience. As Sibyls brother he is rather flat caricature if the avenging relative. Appearing at the dock and later at Dorians country estate, James has an almost ghost spectral quality. James appears with his face like a white handkerchief to goad Dorian into accepting responsibility for the crime he has committed. Overall these two novels A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and The Picture of Dorian Gray the main characters Stephen Dedalus and Dorian Gray undergo through life changes. Stephen Dedalus development throughout the novel went evolving to living a good life as he grow up he shut all his influences and develop his own taking him where he wants to be in life. As for Dorian Gray his development as he grows did not succeed. He was always influence throughout the novel he did not do anything to revel to the people he was being influence by and at the end it end it up in tragedy. Work Cited Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Viking, 1916 Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Oxford, 2006 Litz, A. Walton. James Joyce. Boston: Twayne, 1966

Dark count or Dark Current is one of the most important CCD specifications, :: Computer Science

Dark count or Dark Current is one of the most important CCD specifications, along with resolution, quantum efficiency and noise figure. Dark count or Dark Current is one of the most important CCD specifications, along with resolution, quantum efficiency and noise figure. Dark current causes an output to occur without the previous introduction of an input. This is caused by the thermal generation and then diffusion of charge. This Dark Current is generated at different locations in the CCD, but the cause of this charge generation is basically the same in all locations. This is because all cases are to do with irregularities in the fundamental crystal structure of the silicon present in CCDs. Examples of these irregularities include metal impurities such as gold, copper or iron, and crystal defects such as dislocations and stacking faults, all of which are known to be thermal generation sites of charge carriers in silicon. THE BEST EXAMPLE OF WHERE THIS DARK Current can be located is at the Silicon Oxide to silicon interface of the MOS capacitor (which is the main building block of a CCD) . This is due to the fact that this is where the largest irregularity in the silicon crystal structure occurs. However, it can also be located in the in the bulk of the silicon both inside and outside the depletion layer, which is defined by the CCD potential wells. To give an example of the amount of Dark Current, which is induced A Kodak KAF-0400 and KAF-1600 sensor is specified to have a Dark Current of 50 electrons being induced per second at 25 degrees c. Taking a one-minute exposure at this temperature would generate 3000 electrons of thermally induced charge, which is calculated by 60secs times 50 electrons. In theory the average Dark Current value can be subtracted from the output value to provide the signal due to photoelectrons. However in reality there are fluctuations in the Dark Current called Dark noise, and this cannot be accounted for in the same way. Noise occurs in different forms such as shot noise and trapping noise which both appear in the CCD channel. It also occurs at the input and output stages as KTC noise, but my main focus shall be on shot noise as it is closely associated with Dark Current. We know that the generation of Dark Current is a totally random process, due to the fact that the generation sites are randomly distributed and perhaps more importantly, the Dark Current generation process is random as a function of time. The number of electrons generated and then collected in a charge packet travelling through the

Prelude to Foundation Chapter 5 Upperside

TRANTOR-†¦ It is almost never pictured as a world seen from space. It has long since captured the general mind of humanity as a world of the interior and the image is that of the human hive that existed under the domes. Yet there was an exterior as well and there are holographs that still remain that were taken from space and show varying degrees of [devil] (see Figures 14 and 15). Note that the surface of the domes, the interface of the vast city and the overlying atmosphere, a surface referred to in its time as â€Å"Upperside,† is†¦ Encyclopedia Galactica 21. Yet the following day found Hari Seldon back in the library. For one thing, there was his promise to Hummin. He had promised to try and he couldn't very well make it a halfhearted process. For another, he owed something to himself too. He resented having to admit failure. Not yet, at least. Not while he could plausibly tell himself he was following up leads. So he stared at the list of reference book-films he had not yet checked through and tried to decide which of the unappetizing number had the slightest chance of being useful to him. He had about decided that the answer was â€Å"none of the above† and saw no way out but to look at samples of each when he was startled by a gentle tap against the alcove wall. Seldon looked up and found the embarrassed face of Lisung Randa peering at him around the edge of the alcove opening. Seldon knew Randa, had been introduced to him by Dors, and had dined with him (and with others) on several occasions. Randa, an instructor in psychology, was a little man, short and plump, with a round cheerful face and an almost perpetual smile. He had a sallow complexion and the narrowed eyes so characteristic of people on millions of worlds. Seldon knew that appearance well, for there were many of the great mathematicians who had borne it, and he had frequently seen their holograms. Yet on Helicon he had never seen one of these Easterners. (By tradition they were called that, though no one knew why; and the Easterners themselves were said to resent the term to some degree, but again no one knew why.) â€Å"There's millions of us here on Trantor,† Randa had said, smiling with no trace of self-consciousness, when Seldon, on first meeting him, had not been able to repress all trace of startled surprise. â€Å"You'll also find lots of Southerners-dark skins, tightly curled hair. Did you ever see one?† â€Å"Not on Helicon,† muttered Seldon. â€Å"All Westerners on Helicon, eh? How dull! But it doesn't matter. Takes all kinds.† (He left Seldon wondering at the fact that there were Easterners, Southerners, and Westerners, but no Northerners. He had tried finding an answer to why that might be in his reference searches and had not succeeded.) And now Randa's good-natured face was looking at him with an almost ludicrous look of concern. He said, â€Å"Are you all right, Seldon?† Seldon stared. â€Å"Yes, of course. Why shouldn't I be?† â€Å"I'm just going by sounds, my friend. You were screaming.† â€Å"Screaming?† Seldon looked at him with offended disbelief. â€Å"Not loud. Like this.† Randa gritted his teeth and emitted a strangled high-pitched sound from the back of his throat. â€Å"If I'm wrong, I apologize for this unwarranted intrusion on you. Please forgive me.† Seldon hung his head. â€Å"You're forgiven, Lisung. I do make that sound sometimes, I'm told. I assure you it's unconscious. I'm never aware of it.† â€Å"Are you aware why you make it?† â€Å"Yes. Frustration. Frustration.† Randa beckoned Seldon closer and lowered his voice further. â€Å"We're disturbing people. Let's come out to the lounge before we're thrown out.† In the lounge, over a pair of mild drinks, Randa said, â€Å"May I ask you, as a matter of professional interest, why you are feeling frustration?† Seldon shrugged. â€Å"Why does one usually feel frustration? I'm tackling something in which I am making no progress.† â€Å"But you're a mathematician, Hari. Why should anything in the history library frustrate you?† â€Å"What were you doing here?† â€Å"Passing through as part of a shortcut to where I was going when I heard you†¦ moaning. Now you see†-and he smiled-â€Å"it's no longer a shortcut, but a serious delay-one that I welcome, however.† â€Å"I wish I were just passing through the history library, but I'm trying to solve a mathematical problem that requires some knowledge of history and I'm afraid I'm not handling it well.† Randa stared at Seldon with an unusually solemn expression on his face, then he said, â€Å"Pardon me, but I must run the risk of offending you now. I've been computering you.† â€Å"Computering me!† Seldon's eyes widened. He felt distinctly angry. â€Å"I have offended you. But, you know, I had an uncle who was a mathematician. You might even have heard of him: Kiangtow Randa.† Seldon drew in his breath. â€Å"Are you a relative of that Randa?† â€Å"Yes. He is my father's older brother and he was quite displeased with me for not following in his footsteps-he has no children of his own. I thought somehow that it might please him that I had met a mathematician and I wanted to boast of you-if I could-so I checked what information the mathematics library might have.† â€Å"I see. And that's what you were really doing there. Well-I'm sorry. I don't suppose you could do much boasting.† â€Å"You suppose wrong. I was impressed. I couldn't make heads or tails of the subject matter of your papers, but somehow the information seemed to be very favorable. And when I checked the news files, I found you were at the Decennial Convention earlier this year. So†¦ what's ‘psychohistory,' anyway? Obviously, the first two syllables stir my curiosity.† â€Å"I see you got that word out of it.† â€Å"Unless I'm totally misled, it seemed to me that you can work out the future course of history.† Seldon nodded wearily, â€Å"That, more or less, is what psychohistory is or, rather, what it is intended to be.† â€Å"But is it a serious study?† Randa was smiling. â€Å"You don't just throw sticks?† â€Å"Throw sticks?† â€Å"That's just a reference to a game played by children on my home planet of Hopara. The game is supposed to tell the future and if you're a smart kid, you can make a good thing out of it. Tell a mother that her child will grow up beautiful and marry a rich man and it's good for a piece of cake or a half-credit piece on the spot. She isn't going to wait and see if it comes true; you are rewarded just for saying it.† â€Å"I see. No, I don't throw sticks. Psychohistory is just an abstract study. Strictly abstract. It has no practical application at all, except-â€Å" â€Å"Now we're getting to it. Exceptions are what are interesting.† â€Å"Except that I would like to work out such an application. Perhaps if I knew more about history-â€Å" â€Å"Ah, that is why you are reading history?† â€Å"Yes, but it does me no good,† said Seldon sadly. â€Å"There is too much history and there is too little of it that is told.† â€Å"And that's what's frustrating you?† Seldon nodded. Randa said, â€Å"But, Hari, you've only been here a matter of weeks.† â€Å"True, but already I can see-â€Å" â€Å"You can't see anything in a few weeks. You may have to spend your whole lifetime making one little advance. It may take many generations of work by many mathematicians to make a real inroad on the problem.† â€Å"I know that, Lisung, but that doesn't make me feel better. I want to make some visible progress myself.† â€Å"Well, driving yourself to distraction won't help either. If it will make you feel better, I can give you an example of a subject much less complex than human history that people have been working for I don't know how long without making much progress. I know because a group is working on it right here at the University and one of my good friends is involved. Talk about frustration! You don't know what frustration is!† â€Å"What's the subject?† Seldon felt a small curiosity stirring within him. â€Å"Meteorology.† â€Å"Meteorology!† Seldon felt revolted at the anticlimax. â€Å"Don't make faces. Look. Every inhabited world has an atmosphere. Every world has its own atmospheric composition, its own temperature range, its own rotation and revolution rate, its own axial tipping, it's own land-water distribution. We've got twenty five million different problems and no one has succeeded in finding a generalization.† â€Å"†¦ that's because atmospheric behavior easily enters a chaotic phase. Everyone knows that.† â€Å"So my friend Jenarr Leggen says. You've met him.† Seldon considered. â€Å"Tall fellow? Long nose? Doesn't speak much?† â€Å"That's the one.-And Trantor itself is a bigger puzzle than almost any world. According to the records, it had a fairly normal weather pattern when it was first settled. Then, as the population grew and urbanization spread, more energy was used and more heat was discharged into the atmosphere. The ice cover contracted, the cloud layer thickened, and the weather got lousier. That encouraged the movement underground and set off a vicious cycle. The worse the weather got, the more eagerly the land was dug into and the domes built and the weather got still worse. Now the planet has become a world of almost incessant cloudiness and frequent rains-or snows when it's cold enough. The only thing is that no one can work it out properly. No one has worked out an analysis that can explain why the weather has deteriorated quite as it has or how one can reasonably predict the details of its day-to-day changes.† Seldon shrugged. â€Å"Is that sort of thing important?† â€Å"To a meteorologist it is. Why can't they be as frustrated over their problems as you are over yours? Don't be a project chauvinist.† Seldon remembered the cloudiness and the dank chill on the way to the Emperor's Palace. He said, â€Å"So what's being done about it?† â€Å"Well, there's a big project on the matter here at the University and Jenarr Leggen is part of it. They feel that if they can understand the weather change on Trantor, they will learn a great deal about the basic laws of general meteorology. Leggen wants that as much as you want your laws of psychohistory. So he has set up an incredible array of instruments of all kinds Upperside†¦ you know, above the domes. It hasn't helped them so far. And if there's so much work being done for many generations on the atmosphere, without results, how can you complain that you haven't gotten anything out of human history in a few weeks?† Randa was right, Seldon thought, and he himself was being unreasonable and wrong. And yet†¦ and yet†¦ Hummin would say that this failure in the scientific attack on problems was another sign of the degeneration of the times. Perhaps he was right, also, except that he was speaking of a general degeneration and average effect. Seldon felt no degeneration of ability and mentality in himself. He said with some interest then, â€Å"You mean that people climb up out of the domes and into the open air above?† â€Å"Yes. Upperside. It's a funny thing, though. Most native Trantorians won't do it. They don't like to go Upperside. The idea gives them vertigo or something. Most of those working on the meteorology project are Outworlders.† Seldon looked out of the window and the lawns and small garden of the University campus, brilliantly lit without shadows or oppressive heat, and said thoughtfully, â€Å"I don't know that I can blame Trantorians for liking the comfort of being within, but I should think curiosity would drive some Upperside. It would drive me.† â€Å"Do you mean that you would like to see meteorology in action?† â€Å"I think I would. How does one get Upperside?† â€Å"Nothing to it. An elevator takes you up, a door opens, and there you are. I've been up there. It's†¦ novel.† â€Å"It would get my mind off psychohistory for a while.† Seldon sighed. â€Å"I'd welcome that.† â€Å"On the other hand,† said Randy, â€Å"my uncle used to say, ‘All knowledge is one,' and he may be right. You may learn something from meteorology that will help you with your psychohistory. Isn't that possible?† Seldon smiled weakly. â€Å"A great many things are possible.† And to himself he added: But not practical. 22. Dors seemed amused. â€Å"Meteorology?† Seldon said, â€Å"Yes. There's work scheduled for tomorrow and I'll go up with them.† â€Å"Are you tired of history?† Seldon nodded his head somberly. â€Å"Yes, I am. I'll welcome the change. Besides, Randy says it's another problem that's too massive for mathematics to handle and it will do me good to see that my situation isn't unique.† â€Å"I hope you're not agoraphobic.† Seldon smiled. â€Å"No, I'm not, but I see why you ask. Randy says that Trantorians are frequently agoraphobic and won't go Upperside. I imagine they feel uncomfortable without a protective enclosure†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Dors nodded. â€Å"You can see where that would be natural, but there are also many Trantorians who are to be found among the planets of the Galaxy-tourists, administrators, soldiers. And agoraphobia isn't particularly rare in the Outworlds either.† â€Å"That may be, Dors, but I'm not agoraphobic. I am curious and I welcome the change, so I'll be joining them tomorrow.† Dors hesitated. â€Å"I should go up with you, but I have a heavy schedule tomorrow. And, if you're not agoraphobic, you'll have no trouble and you'll probably enjoy yourself. Oh, and stay close to the meteorologists. I've heard of people getting lost up there.† â€Å"I'll be careful. It's a long time since I've gotten truly lost anywhere.† 23. Jenarr Leggen had a dark look about him. It was not so much his complexion, which was fair enough. It was not even his eyebrows, which were thick and dark enough. It was, rather, that those eyebrows were hunched over deep-set eyes and a long and rather prominent nose. He had, as a result, a most unmerry look. His eyes did not smile and when he spoke, which wasn't often, he had a deep, strong voice, surprisingly resonant for his rather thin body. He said, â€Å"You'll need warmer clothing than that, Seldon.† Seldon said, â€Å"Oh?† and looked about. There were two men and two women who were making ready to go up with Leggen and Seldon And, as in Leggen's own case, their rather satiny Trantorian clothing was covered by thick sweaters that, not surprisingly, were brightly colored in bold designs. No two were even faintly alike, of course. Seldon looked down at himself and said, â€Å"Sorry, I didn't know but I don't have any suitable outer garment.† â€Å"I can give you one. I think there's a spare here somewhere.-Yes, here it is. A little threadbare, but it's better than nothing.† â€Å"Wearing sweaters like these tan make you unpleasantly warm,† said Seldon. â€Å"Here they would,† said Leggen. â€Å"Other conditions exist Upperside. Cold and windy. Too bad I don't have spare leggings and boots for you too. You'll want them later.† They were taking with them a cart of instruments, which they were testing one by one with what Seldon thought was unnecessary slowness. â€Å"Your home planet cold?† asked Leggen. Seldon said, â€Å"Parts of it, of course. The part of Helicon I come from is mild and often rainy.† â€Å"Too bad. You won't like the weather Upperside.† â€Å"I think I can manage to endure it for the time we'll be up there.† When they were ready, the group filed into an elevator that was marked: OFFICIAL USE ONLY. â€Å"That's because it goes Upperside,† said one of the young women, â€Å"and people aren't supposed to be up there without good reason.† Seldon had not met the young woman before, but he had heard her addressed as Clowzia. He didn't know if that was a first name, a last name, or a nickname. The elevator seemed no different from others that Seldon had been on, either here on Trantor or at home in Helicon (barring, of course, the gravitic lift he and Hummin had used), but there was something about knowing that it was going to take him out of the confines of the planet and into emptiness above that made it feel like a spaceship. Seldon smiled internally. A foolish fantasy. The elevator quivered slightly, which remind Seldon of Hummin's forebodings of Galactic decay. Leggen, along with the other men and one of the women, seemed frozen and waiting, as though they had suspended thought as well as activity until they could get out, but Clowzia kept glancing at him as though she found him terribly impressive. Seldon leaned close and whispered to her (he hesitated to disturb the others), â€Å"Are we going up very high?† â€Å"High?† she repeated. She spoke in a normal voice, apparently not feeling that the others required silence. She seemed very young and it occurred to Seldon that she was probably an undergraduate. An apprentice, perhaps. â€Å"We're taking a long time. Upperside must be many stories high in the air.† For a moment, she looked puzzled. Then, â€Å"Oh no. Not high at all. We started very deep. The University is at a low level. We use a great deal of energy and if we're quite deep, the energy costs are lower.† Leggen said, â€Å"All right. We're here. Let's get the equipment out.† The elevator stopped with a small shudder and the wide door slid open rapidly. The temperature dropped at once and Seldon thrust his hands into his pockets and was very glad he had a sweater on. A cold wind stirred his hair and it occurred to him that he would have found a hat useful and, even as he thought that, Leggen pulled something out of a fold in his sweater, snapped it open, and put it on his head. The others did the same. Only Clowzia hesitated. She paused just before she put hers on, then offered it to Seldon. Seldon shook his head. â€Å"I can't take your hat, Clowzia.† â€Å"Go ahead. I have long hair and it's pretty thick. Yours is short and a little†¦ thin.† Seldon would have liked to deny that firmly and at another time he would have. Now, however, he took the hat and mumbled, â€Å"Thank you. If your head gets cold, I'll give it back.† Maybe she wasn't so young. It was her round face, almost a baby face. And now that she had called attention to her hair, he could see that it was a charming russet shade. He had never seen hair quite like that on Helicon. Outside it was cloudy, as it had been the time he was taken across open country to the Palace. It was considerably colder than it had been then, but he assumed that was because they were six weeks farther into winter. The clouds were thicker than they had been on the earlier occasion and the day was distinctly darker and threatening-or was it just closer to night? Surely, they wouldn't come up to do important work without leaving themselves an ample period of daylight to do it in. Or did they expect to take very little time? He would have liked to have asked, but it occurred to him that they might not like questions at this time. All of them seemed to be in states varying from excitement to anger. Seldon inspected his surroundings. He was standing on something that he thought might be dull metal from the sound it made when he surreptitiously thumped his foot down on it. It was not bare metal, however. When he walked, he left footprints. The surface was clearly covered by dust or fine sand or clay. Well, why not? There could scarcely be anyone coming up here to dust the place. He bent down to pinch up some of the matter out of curiosity. Clowzia had come up to him. She noticed what he was doing and said, with the air of a housewife caught at an embarrassing negligence, â€Å"We do sweep hereabouts for the sake of the instruments. It's much worse most places Upperside, but it really doesn't matter. It makes for insulation, you know.† Seldon grunted and continued to look about. There was no chance of understanding the instruments that looked as though they were growing out of the thin soil (if one could call it that). He hadn't the faintest idea of what they were or what they measured. Leggen was walking toward him. He was picking up his feet and putting them down gingerly and it occurred to Seldon that he was doing so to avoid jarring the instruments. He made a mental note to walk that way himself. â€Å"You! Seldon!† Seldon didn't quite like the tone of voice. He replied coolly, â€Å"Yes, Dr. Leggen?† â€Å"Well, Dr. Seldon, then.† He said it impatiently. â€Å"That little fellow Randa told me you are a mathematician.† â€Å"That's right.† â€Å"A good one?† â€Å"I'd like to think so, but it's a hard thing to guarantee.† â€Å"And you're interested in intractable problems?† Seldon said feelingly, â€Å"I'm stuck with one.† â€Å"I'm stuck with another. You're free to look about. If you have any questions, our intern, Clowzia, will help out. You might be able to help us.† â€Å"I would be delighted to, but I know nothing about meteorology.† â€Å"That's all right, Seldon. I just want you to get a feel for this thing and then I'd like to discuss my mathematics, such as it is.† â€Å"I'm at your service.† Leggen turned away, his long scowling face looking grim. Then he turned back. â€Å"If you get cold-too cold-the elevator door is open. You just step in and touch the spot marked; UNIVERSITY BASE. It will take you down and the elevator will then return to us automatically. Clowzia will show you-if you forget.† â€Å"I won't forget.† This time he did leave and Seldon looked after him, feeling the cold wind knife through his sweater. Clowzia came back over to him, her face slightly reddened by that wind. Seldon said, â€Å"Dr. Leggen seems annoyed. Or is that just his ordinary outlook on life?† She giggled. â€Å"He does look annoyed most of the time, but right now he really is.† Seldon said very naturally, â€Å"Why?† Clowzia looked over her shoulder, her long hair swirling. Then she said, â€Å"I'm not supposed to know, but I do just the same. Dr. Leggen had it all figured out that today, just at this time, there was going to be a break in the clouds and he'd been planning to make special measurements in sunlight. Only†¦ well, look at the weather.† Seldon nodded. â€Å"We have holovision receivers up here, so he knew it was cloudy worse than usual-and I guess he was hoping there would be something wrong with the instruments so that it would be their fault and not that of his theory. So far, though, they haven't found anything out of the way.† â€Å"And that's why he looks so unhappy.† â€Å"Well, he never looks happy.† Seldon looked about, squinting. Despite the clouds, the light was harsh. He became aware that the surface under his feet was not quite horizontal. He was standing on a shallow dome and as he looked outward there were other domes in all directions, with different widths and heights. â€Å"Upperside seems to be irregular,† he said. â€Å"Mostly, I think. That's the way it worked out.† â€Å"Any reason for it?† â€Å"Not really. The way I've heard it explained-I looked around and asked, just as you did, you know-was that originally the people on Trantor domed in places, shopping malls, sports arenas, things like that, then whole towns, so that (here were lots of domes here and there, with different heights and different widths. When they all came together, it was all uneven, but by that time, people decided that's the way it ought to be.† â€Å"You mean that something quite accidental came to be viewed as a tradition?† â€Å"I suppose so-if you want to put it that way.† (If something quite accidental can easily become viewed as a tradition and be made unbreakable or nearly so, thought Seldon, would that be a law of psychohistory? It sounded trivial, but how many other laws, equally trivial, might there be? A million? A billion? Were there a relatively few general laws from which these trivial ones could be derived as corollaries? How could he say? For a while, lost in thought, he almost forgot the biting wind.) Clowzia was aware of that wind, however, for she shuddered and said, â€Å"It's very nasty. It's much better under the dome.† â€Å"Are you a Trantorian?† asked Seldon. â€Å"That's right.† Seldon remembered Ranch's dismissal of Trantorians as agoraphobic and said, â€Å"Do you mind being up here?† â€Å"I hate it,† said Clowzia, â€Å"but I want my degree and my specialty and status and Dr. Leggen says I can't get it without some field work. So here I am, hating it, especially when it's so cold. When it's this cold, by the way, you wouldn't dream that vegetation actually grows on these domes, would you?† â€Å"It does?† He looked at Clowzia sharply, suspecting some sort of practical joke designed to make him look foolish. She looked totally innocent, but how much of that was real and how much was just her baby face? â€Å"Oh sure. Even here, when it's warmer. You notice the soil here? We keep it swept away because of our work, as I said, but in other places it accumulates here and there and is especially deep in the low places where the domes meet. Plants grow in it.† â€Å"But where does the soil come from?† â€Å"When the dome covered just part of the planet, the wind deposited soil on them, little by little. Then, when Trantor was all covered and the living levels were dug deeper and deeper, some of the material dug up, if suitable, would be spread over the top.† â€Å"Surely, it would break down the domes.† â€Å"Oh no. The domes are very strong and they're supported almost everywhere. The idea was, according to a book-film I viewed, that they were going to grow crops Upperside, but it turned out to be much more practical to do it inside the dome. Yeast and algae could be cultivated within the domes too, taking the pressure off the usual crops, so it was decided to let Upperside go wild. There are animals on Upperside too-butterflies, bees, mice, rabbits. Lots of them.† â€Å"Won't the plant roots damage the domes?† â€Å"In thousands of years they haven't. The domes are treated so that they repel the roots. Most of the growth is grass, but there are trees too. You'd be able to see for yourself if this were the warm season or if we were farther south or if you were up in a spaceship.† She looked at him with a sidewise flick of her eyes, â€Å"Did you see Trantor when you were coming down from space?† â€Å"No, Clowzia, I must confess I didn't. The hypership was never well placed for viewing. Have you ever seen Trantor from space?† She smiled weakly. â€Å"I've never been in spare.† Seldon looked about. Gray everywhere. â€Å"I can't make myself believe it,† he said. â€Å"About vegetation Upperside, I mean.† â€Å"It's true, though. I've heard people say-Otherworlders, like yourself, who did see Trantor from space-that the planet looks green, like a lawn, because it's mostly grass and underbrush. There are trees too, actually. There's a copse not very far from here. I've seen it. They're evergreens and they're up to six meters high.† â€Å"Where?† â€Å"You can't see it from here. Its on the other side of a dome. It's-â€Å" The call came out thinly. (Seldon realized they had been walking while they had been talking and had moved away from the immediate vicinity of the others.) â€Å"Clowzia. Get back here. We need you.† Clowzia said, â€Å"Uh-oh. Coming.-Sorry, Dr. Seldon, I have to go.† She ran off, managing to step lightly despite her lined boots. Had she been playing with him? Had she been filling the gullible foreigner with a mess of lies for amusement's sake? Such things had been known to happen on every world and in every time. An air of transparent honesty was no guide either; in fact, successful taletellers would deliberately cultivate just such an air. So could there really be six-meter trees Upperside? Without thinking much about it, he moved in the direction of the highest dome on the horizon. He swung his arms in an attempt to warm himself. And his feet were getting cold. Clowzia hadn't pointed. She might have, to give him a hint of the direction of the trees, but she didn't. Why didn't she? To be sure, she had been called away. The domes were broad rather than high, which was a good thing, since otherwise the going would have been considerably more difficult. On the other hand, the gentle grade meant trudging a distance before he could top a dome and look down the other side. Eventually, he could see the other side of the dome he had climbed. He looked back to make sure he could still see the meteorologists and their instruments. They were a good way off, in a distant valley, but he could see them clearly enough. Good. He saw no copse, no trees, but there was a depression that snaked about between two domes. Along each side of that crease, the soil was thicker and there were occasional green smears of what might be moss. If he followed the crease and if it got low enough and the soil was thick enough, there might be trees. He looked back, trying to fix landmarks in his mind, but there were just the rise and fall of domes. It made him hesitate and Dors's warning against his being lost, which had seemed a rather unnecessary piece of advice then, made more sense now. Still, it seemed clear to him that the crease was a kind of road. If he followed it for some distance, he only had to turn about and follow it back to return to this spot. He strode off purposefully, following the rounded crease downward. There was a soft rumbling noise above, but he didn't give it any thought. He had made up his mind that he wanted to see trees and that was all that occupied him at the moment. The moss grew thicker and spread out like a carpet and here and there grassy tufts had sprung up. Despite the desolation Upperside, the moss was bright green and it occurred to Seldon that on a cloudy, overcast planet there was likely to be considerable rain. The crease continued to curve and there, just above another dome, was a dark smudge against the gray sky and he knew he had found the trees. Then, as though his mind, having been liberated by the sight of those trees, could turn to other things, Seldon took note of the rumble he had heard before and had, without thinking, dismissed as the sound of machinery. Now he considered that possibility: Was it, indeed, the sound of machinery? Why not? He was standing on one of the myriad domes that covered hundreds of millions of square kilometers of the world-city. There must be machinery of all kinds hidden under those domes-ventilation motors, for one thing. Maybe it could be heard, where and when all the other sounds of the world-city were absent. Except that it did not seem to come from the ground. He looked up at the dreary featureless sky. Nothing. He continued to scan the sky, vertical creases appearing between his eyes and then, far off It was a small dark spot, showing up against the gray. And whatever it was it seemed to be moving about as though getting its bearings before it was obscured by the clouds again. Then, without knowing why, he thought, They're after me. And almost before he could work out a line of action, he had taken one. He ran desperately along the crease toward the trees and then, to reach them more quickly, he turned left and hurtled up and over a low dome, treading through brown and dying fernlike overgrowth, including thorny sprigs with bright red berries. 24. Seldon panted, facing a tree, holding it closely, embracing it. He watched for the flying object to make its appearance again so that he could back about the tree and hide on the far side, like a squirrel. The tree was cold, its bark was rough, it gave no comfort-but it offered cover. Of course, that might be insufficient, if he was being searched for with a heat-seeker, but, on the other hand, the cold trunk of a tree might blur even that. Below him was hard-packed soil. Even in this moment of hiding, of attempting to see his pursuer while remaining unseen, he could not help wondering how thick the soil might be, how long it had taken to accumulate, many domes in the warmer areas of Trantor carried forests on their back, and whether the trees were always confined to the creases between domes, leaving the higher regions to moss, grass, and underbrush. He saw it again. It was not a hypership, nor even an ordinary air-jet. It was a jet-down. He could see the faint glow of the ion trails corning out at the vertices of a hexagon, neutralizing the gravitational pull and allowing the wings to keep it aloft like a large soaring bird. It was a vehicle that could hover and explore a planetary terrain. It was only the clouds than had saved him. Even if they were using heat-seekers, that would only indicate there were people below. The jet-down would have to make a tentative dive below the banked ceiling before it could hope to know how many human beings there were and whether any of them might be the particular person the patties aboard were seeking. The jet-down was closer now, but it couldn't hide from him either. The rumble of the engine gave it away and they couldn't rum that off, not as long as they wished to continue their search. Seldon knew the jet-downs, for on Helicon or on any undomed world with skies that cleared now and then, they were common, with many in private hands. Of what possible use would jet-downs be on Trantor, with all the human life of the world under domes, with low cloud ceilings all but perpetual-except for a few government vehicles designed for just this purpose, that of picking up a wanted person who had been lured above the domes? Why not? Government forces could nor enter the grounds of the University, but perhaps Seldon was no longer on the grounds. He was on top of the domes which might be outside the jurisdiction of any local government. An Imperial vehicle might have every right to land on any part of the dome and question or remove any person found upon it. Hummin had not warned him of this, but perhaps he had merely not thought of doing so. The jet-down was even closer now, nosing about like a blind beast sniffing out its prey. Would it occur to them to search this group of trees? Would they land and send out an armed soldier or two to beat through the copse? And if so, what could he do? He was unarmed and all his quicktwist agility would be useless against the agonizing pain of a neuronic whip. It was not attempting to land. Either they missed the significance of the trees Or- A new thought suddenly hit him. What if this wasn't a pursuit vessel at all? What if it was part of the meteorological testing? Surely, meteorologists would want to test the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Was he a fool to hide from it? The sky was getting darker. The clouds were getting thicker or, much more likely, night was falling. And it was getting colder and would get colder still. Was he going to stay out here freezing because a perfectly harmless jet-down had made an appearance and had activated a sense of paranoia that he had never felt before? He had a strong impulse to leave the copse and get back to the meteorological station. After all, how would the man Hummin feared so much-Demerzel-know that Seldon would, at this particular time, be Upperside and ready to be taken? For a moment, that seemed conclusive and, shivering with the cold, he moved out from behind the tree. And then he scurried back as the vessel reappeared even closer than before. He hadn't seen it do anything that would seem to be meteorological. It did nothing that might be considered sampling, measuring, or testing. Would he see such things if they took place? He did not know the precise sort of instruments the jet-down carried or how they worked. If they were doing meteorological work, he might not be able to tell.-Still, could he take the chance of coming into the open? After all, what if Demerzel did know of his presence Upperside, simply because an agent of his, working in the University, knew about it and had reported the matter. Lisung Randa, that cheerful, smiling little Easterner, had suggested he go Upperside. He had suggested it quite forcefully and the subject had not arisen naturally out of the conversation; at least, not naturally enough. Was it possible that he was a government agent and had alerted Demerzel somehow? Then there was Leggen, who had given him the sweater. The sweater was useful, but why hadn't Leggen told him he would need one earlier so he could get his own? Was there something special about the one he was wearing? It was uniformly purple, while all the others' indulged in the Trantorian fashion of bright patterns. Anyone looking down from a height would see a moving dull blotch in among others that were bright and know immediately whom they wanted. And Clowzia? She was supposedly Upperside to learn meteorology and help t he meteorologists. How was it possible that she could come to him, talk to him at ease, and quietly walk him away from the others and isolate him so that he could easily be picked up? For that matter, what about Dors Venabili? She knew he was going Upperside. She did not stop it. She might have gone with him, but she was conveniently busy. It was a conspiracy. Surely, it was a conspiracy. He had convinced himself now and there was no further thought of getting out from the shelter of the trees. (His feet felt like lumps of ice and stamping them against the ground seemed to do no good.) Would the jet-down never leave? And even as he thought that, the pitch of the engine's rumble heightened and the jet-down rose into the clouds and faded away. Seldon listened eagerly, alert to the smallest sound, making sure it was finally gone. And then, even after he was sure it was gone, he wondered if that was just a device to flush him out of hiding. He remained where he was while the minutes slowly crawled on and night continued to fall. And finally, when he felt that the true alternative to taking the chance of coming out in the open was that of freezing into insensibility, he stepped out and moved cautiously beyond the shelter of the trees. It was dusky twilight, after all. They couldn't detect him except by a heat-seeker, but, if so, he would hear the jet-down return. He waited just beyond the trees, counting to himself, ready to hide in the copse again at the smallest sound-though what good that would do him once he was spotted, he couldn't imagine. Seldon looked about. If he could find the meteorologists, they would surely have artificial light, but except for that, there would be nothing. He could still just make out his surroundings, but in a matter of a quarter of an hour, half an hour at the outside, he would not. With no lights and a cloudy sky above, it would be dark-completely dark. Desperate at the prospect of being enveloped in total darkness, Seldon realized that he would have to find his way back to the crease that had brought him there as quickly as possible and retrace his steps. Folding his arms tightly around himself for warmth, he set off in what he thought was the direction of the crease between the domes. There might, of course, be more than one crease leading away from the copse, but he dimly made out some of the sprigs of berries he had seen coming in, which now looked almost black rather than bright red. He could not delay. He had to assume he was right. He moved up the crease as fast as he might, guided by failing sight and by the vegetation underfoot. But he couldn't stay in the crease forever. He had come over what had seemed to him to be the tallest dome in sight and had found a crease that cut at right angles across his line of approach. By his reckoning, he should now turn right, then sharp left, and that would put him on the path toward the meteorologists' dome. Seldon made the left turn and, lifting his head, he could just make out the curve of a dome against the fractionally lighter sky. That had to be it! Or was that only wishful thinking? He had no choice but to assume it wasn't. Keeping his eye on the peak so that he could move in a reasonably straight line, he headed for it as quickly as he could. As he got closer, he could make out the line of dome against sky with less and less certainty as it loomed larger and larger. Soon, if he was correct, he would be going up a gentle slope and when that slope became level he would be able to look down the other side and see the lights of the meteorologists. In the inky dark, he could not tell what lay in his path. Wishing there were at least a few sorts to shed some light, he wondered if this was how it felt to be blind. He waved his arms before him as if they were antennae. It was growing colder by the minute and he paused occasionally to blow on his hands and hold them under his armpits. He wished earnestly he could do the same for his feet. By now, he thought, if it started to precipitate, it would be snow-or, worse yet, sleet. On†¦ on. There was nothing else to do. Eventually, it seemed to him that he was moving downward. That was either wishful thinking or he had topped the dome. He stopped. If he had topped the dome, he should be able to see the artificial light of the meteorological station. He would see the lights carried by the meteorologists themselves, sparkling or dancing like fireflies. Seldon closed his eyes as though to accustom them to dark and then try again, but that was a foolish effort. It was no darker with his eyes closed than with them open and when he opened them it was no lighter than when he had had them closed. Possibly Leggen and the others were gone, had taken their lights with them and had turned off any lights on the instruments. Or possibly Seldon had climbed the wrong dome. Or he had followed a curved path along the dome so that he was now facing in the wrong direction. Or he had followed the wrong crease and had moved away from the copse in the wrong direction altogether. What should he do? If he was facing the wrong direction, there was a chance that light would be visible right or left-and it wasn't. If he had followed the wrong crease, there was no possible way he could return to the copse and locate a different crease. His only chance lay in the assumption that he was facing the right direction and that the meteorological station was more or less directly ahead of him, but that the meteorologists had gone and had left it in darkness. Move forward, then. The chances of success might be small, but it was the only chance he had. He estimated that it had taken him half an hour to move from the meteorological station to the top of the dome, having gone partway with Clowzia and sauntering with her rather than striding. He was moving at little better than a saunter now in the daunting darkness. Seldon continued to slog forward. It would have been nice to know the time and he had a timeband, of course, but in the dark. He stopped. He wore a Trantorian timeband, which gave Galactic Standard time (as all timebands did) and which also gave Trantorian local time. Timebands were usually visible in the dark, phosphorescing so that one could tell time in the quiet dark of a bedchamber. A Heliconian timeband certainly would; why not a Trantorian one? He looked at his timeband with reluctant apprehension and touched the contact that would draw upon the power source for light. The timeband gleamed feebly and told him the time was 1847. For it to be nighttime already, Seldon knew that it must be the winter season.-How far past the solstice was it? What was the degree of axial tipping? How long was the year? How far from the equator was he at this moment? There was no hint of an answer to any of these things, but what counted was that the spark of light was visible. He was not blind! Somehow the feeble glow of his timeband gave him renewed hope. His spirits rose. He would move on in the direction he was going. He would move for half an hour. If he encountered nothing, he would move on five minutes more-no further-just five minutes. If he still encountered nothing, he would stop and think. That, however, would be thirty-five minutes from now. Till then, he would concentrate only on walking and on willing himself to feel warmer (He wiggled his toes, vigorously. He could still feel them.) Seldon trudged onward and the half hour passed. He paused, then hesitantly, he moved on for five more minutes. Now he had to decide. There was nothing. He might be nowhere, far removed from any opening into the dome. He might, on the other hand, be standing three meters to the left-or right-or short-of the meteorological station. He might be two arms' lengths from the opening into the dome, which would not, however, be open. Now what? Was there any point in shouting? He was enveloped by utter silence but for the whistling of the wind. If there were birds, beasts, or insects in among the vegetation on the domes, they were not here during this season or at this time of night or at this particular place. The wind continued to chill him. Perhaps he should have been shouting all due way. The sound might have carried a good distance in the cold air. But would there have been anyone to hear him? Would they hear him inside the dome? Were there instruments to detect sound or movement from above? Might there not be sentinels just inside? That seemed ridiculous. They would have heard his footsteps, wouldn't they? Still- He called out. â€Å"Help! Help! Can someone hear me?† His cry was strangled, half-embarrassed. It seemed silly shouting into vast black nothingness. But then, he felt it was even sillier to hesitate in such a situation as this. Panic was welling up in him. He took in a deep, cold breath and screamed for as long as he could. Another breath and another scream, changing pitch. And another. Seldon paused, breathless, turning his head every which way, even though there was nothing to see. He could not even detect an echo. There was nothing left to do but wait for the dawn. But how long was the night at this season of the year? And how cold would it get? He felt a tiny cold touch sting his face. After a while, another. It was sleeting invisibly in the pitch blackness. And there was no way to find shelter. He thought: It would have been better if that jet-down had seen me and picked me up. I would be a prisoner at this moment, perhaps, but I'd be warm and comfortable, at least. Or, if Hummin had never interfered, I might have been back in Helicon long ago. Under surveillance, but warm and comfortable. Right now that was all he wanted-to be warm and comfortable. But at the moment he could only wait. He huddled down, knowing that however long the night, he dared not sleep. He slipped off his shoes and rubbed his icy feet. Quickly, he put his shoes back on. He knew he would have to repeat this, as well as rubbing his hands and ears all night long to keep his circulation flowing. But most important to remember was that he must not let himself fall asleep. That would mean certain death. And, having carefully thought all this out, his eyes closed and he nodded off to sleep with the sleet coming down.