Dog Saves Life Essay

I was very enthusiastic for my world adventure race and wanted to get in shape, therefore I decided to head out for a run. I took my dog, Tazz along who was my constant companion and was very energetic and playful. Moreover, the route I took was very rough and unstable, despite that I carried on with my run in the remote canyon. During my training run, fortuitously I slipped and plunged 60 feet on to the solid rock smashing my pelvis into pieces. I was dreadfully injured but still alive; it was an abominable pain and my next reaction was to get out of here, despite my broken pelvis I tried standing up but I failed. My legs couldn’t support my body and I was unable to walk, besides that I was separated from my dog which aggravated the situation. I was stranded alone in the barren wilderness and I was facing my worst nightmare. Furthermore, I started dragging myself inch by inch which was causing enormous pain and then suddenly my dog appeared and came to my rescue; I was no longer alone and that gave me a comfort. Since he came to me I knew there was a route out and so I followed him, over and above I was planning to get back to my truck however, the pain was augmenting. As the night arrived it was freezing cold and I struggled doing sit-ups to keep my body warm and prevent hypothermia; I was fighting for my life. I just had my dog that cuddled up next to me. The next morning I tried again to drag myself but I was unable to move any further because I had interior bleeding and I was in a critical situation. It was getting difficult to breathe as well as I was losing vision. Moreover, because of the appalling pain I started crying as well as losing hope that anyone would find me and then Tazz came over to me and saw my tears. I could see that he was also upset. Eventually my family members informed the police that I was not receiving the phone calls, therefore a search team mobilized and a local detective knew about my place where I often train, they came searching for me and found my truck. At that point I was dying and so I said to tazz that I’m hurt and he needs to find help; he turned around and took off which was very depressing because then I had to face death alone. Furthermore, tazz was seen by the search team as he found the way out of the canyon. Tazz ran towards them and starting barking thus, one of the officers followed him and eventually found me. I was thankful to God as my ordeal was over. They gave me water and the feeling of having gulps of water actually go down the throat was incredible. I was glad to be alive.

Student Leader Speech

Make it sound very persuasive. You need to make it seem like you are perfect for the job and have very formal. Practice it over again and again until you have perfect. Emphasize with italics at some parts, so if you're reading it aloud you can say it like that, and, if someone is reading it, they will know you're putting your voice in it†¦ Talk about issues concerning your school. Actual issues. Say why it is important to you and how you can make things better and jazz it all up. Find out from classmates what they really think the issues is. The point is to get people to listen to YOU and YOU only.You've got to be the center of attention when you're talking. Don't just read from the paper. Eye contact with many of who you're reading it to. It shows your dedicated and willing to go far. Tell your strengths. â€Å"I'd be good as Vice President of Student Council because†¦ (example) I'm a great leader, I have really great characteristics for it. I listen to the issues that my peers think should be brought up to the school. I want to make a difference so that I can make school a more enjoyable place. † Don't put ANYTHING down or bad about you in your speech.AT ALL. If you had something like â€Å"I'm a good worker but I tend not to listen well† then, I'm sorry, but you are out. Instead, say â€Å"I'm a good worker. † It shows up a lot better. Now, I know you asked for a main topic, so find out what the issues are in your school that are important to your peers AND some teachers. Once you have that, you can go straight from there. If you are really desperate and in need for a topic, write about this: â€Å"How I can make our school a better place and more enjoyable for everyone. † Just go from there, and good luck

Internet Marketing Essay

What is Marketing? Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. What is Internet Marketing? Internet Marketing is the process of building and maintaining customer relationships through online activities to facilitate the exchange of ideas, products, and services that satisfy the goals of both parties. Introduction Internet marketing, or online marketing, refers to advertising and marketing efforts that use the Web and e-mail to drive direct sales via e-commerce as  well as sales leads from Web sites or emails. Internet marketing and online advertising efforts are typically used in conjunction with traditional types of advertising like radio, television, newspapers and magazines. Internet marketing can also be broken down into more specialized areas such as Web marketing, email marketing and social media marketing: ï‚ §Web marketing includes e-commerce Web sites, affiliate marketing Web sites, promotional or informative Web sites, online advertising on search engines, and organic search engine results via search engine optimization (SEO) ï‚ §Email marketing involves both advertising and promotional marketing efforts via e-mail messages to current and prospective customers ï‚ §Social media marketing involves both advertising and marketing (includingviral marketing) efforts via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Digg. Objectives of online marketing †¢To inform users of your web presence and the benefit your website offers over its competitors. †¢To persuade users to use the services of the firm. This could be done by offering a discount for a limited time. †¢To make sure the business is listed in all the most popular search engines and directories. †¢Keep customers updated of any new products or changes to business services. †¢Make sure that customer have a pleasant website experience by continuously improving the navigation of the site. †¢To aim for sales of x amount and net profit of x amount in a given period. Objectives of a business having a retail outlet/ showroom. †¢To reduce costs by moving some of their operations online. †¢To integrate online and offline strategies to maintain and improve relationships with customers. This could be by offering reserve online and pick up in store strategies like some retailers do. †¢The company’s strategy should support the overall marketing objectives of the firm this maybe to increase overall market share or profit. †¢To promote both online and offline activities. Advantages of Internet Marketing[7][8][9] Internet marketing is important because it aligns with the way consumers make purchasing decisions. Studies by analysts such as Gartner indicate that increasing numbers of consumers use social media and research on mobile Internet to carry out preliminary product and price research before making final decisions. Internet marketing enables you to build relations with customers and prospects through regular, low-cost personalized communication, reflecting the move away from mass marketing. †¢Convenience. Internet marketing enables you to be open for business around the clock without worrying about store opening hours or overtime payments for staff. Offering your products on the Internet is also convenient for customers. They can browse your online store at any time and place orders when it is convenient for them. †¢Reach. By marketing on the Internet, you can overcome barriers of distance. You can sell goods in any part of the country without setting up local outlets, widening your target market. You can also build an export business without opening a network of distributors in different countries. However, if you want to sell internationally, you should use localization services to ensure that your products are suitable for local markets and comply with local business regulations. Localization services include translation and product modification to reflect local market differences. †¢Cost. Marketing products on the Internet costs less than marketing them through a physical retail outlet. You do not have the recurring costs of property rental and maintenance. You do not have to purchase stock for display in a store. You can order stock in line with demand, keeping your inventory costs low. †¢Personalization. Internet marketing enables you to personalize offers to customers by building a profile of their purchasing history and preferences. By tracking the web pages and product information that prospects visit, you can make targeted offers that reflect their interests. The information available from tracking website visits also provides data for planning cross-selling campaigns so that you can increase the value of sales by customer. †¢Relationships. The Internet provides an important platform for building relationships with customers and increasing customer retention levels. When a customer has purchased a product from your online store, you can begin the relationship by sending a follow-up email to confirm the transaction and thank the customer. Emailing customers regularly with special, personalized offers helps to maintain the relationship. You can also invite customers to submit product reviews on your website, helping to build a sense of community. †¢Social. Internet marketing enables you to take advantage of the growing importance of social media. An article on the Harvard Business School Executive Education website highlighted the link between social networking and online revenue growth. According to the article, a group of consumers that responded most strongly to the influence of social networks generated increased sales of around 5 percent. You can take advantage of this type of influence by incorporating social networking tools in your Internet marketing campaigns. Disadvantages of Internet Marketing[7][8][9] †¢Competition. Nowadays there is cut-throat competition among various companies. Online marketing gives you an opportunity to attract international audience but at the same time you are also inviting the international market competition for your business. †¢Online Illiteracy. A majority of people who don’t have any knowledge about the online marketing companies fail to make any impact. You have to be very wise while targeting the right audience for promoting your product online. †¢Changing Technology. Science and technology are doing wonders these days. People are changing with the technology and so do the online software. You have to keep in touch with the latest technology and adopt the necessary software which are quite costly. †¢Personal attention. There is lack of personal attention given to a customer when they are shopping online on your website. Some people love to take advice which is not possible in online marketing. †¢Maintenance. It is very essential for a website get upgraded after regular intervals. But this is not practically possible because reconstructing the websites consumes a lot a time. †¢Slow internet connections can cause difficulties. If the companies build too complex or too large websites, it will take too long for users to check them or download them and they will get bored eventually. †¢The e-commerce doesn’t allow the user â€Å"to touch† the merchandise before purchasing it. Because of this, some salesmen are starting to guarantee the possibility of returning the product. In Germany, where a law that regulates e-commerce and guarantees the customers the total refund of the money exists since 2000, the electronic commerce is very popular. †¢Other factor is the payment: many users still don’t trust in the electronic methods of paying and give up buying online because of this. †¢One of the major disadvantages may be the lack of trust of the users because of the constant virtual promotions that appear to be frauds. This is an aspect that deteriorates the image and reputation of quality and honest companies. †¢Other disadvantage is the cash on delivery system, since it doesn’t guarantee the 100% purchase of the product. This is also the case of thousands of users that dedicate themselves to daily mock big companies by ordering on the internet using false identities. The Questionnaire I sent out the questionnaire to friends and colleagues who work at advertisement and marketing agencies with a good client base. These companies deal in all kinds of marketing and not only online marketing. I got a lot of responses from them. These were the questions asked: How long has your company been making or trying to make money through online marketing? †¢Less than a month †¢1 month- 6 months †¢6 months- 1 year †¢1 year- 3 years †¢3 years+ How much money is your company earning online per month? †¢Not earning money †¢Rs 1000- Rs 5000 †¢Rs 5000- Rs 20000 †¢Rs 20000- Rs 50000 †¢Rs 50000+ What’s the most troublesome problem your company has about making money online? †¢Don’t have enough technology †¢Not enough time to focus only on online marketing †¢Not enough funds †¢Too complicated †¢Others What tools/ software (that would save time and effort) would you be likely to purchase to help assist in online marketing? †¢Traffic tools that help generate visitors †¢Content tools that help create fast content †¢Designing tools that help design good quality graphics †¢Research tools that help in research and gathering of data †¢Others The Results The results in a nutshell †¢More than 3/4th of the respondents have more than 1 year experience making money online, yet most have not earned any money yet, or at most Rs1000- Rs 5000 per month. †¢The 3 biggest problems that are preventing/hindering people from making money in online marketing are that they do not have the technical skills and that they find it a complicated task to get into online marketing on a large scale. Not enough technical skills – You don’t actually need to learn and master all the technical skills. If you do, then stop calling yourself an internet marketer and start calling yourself a programmer. You only need to learn basic technical skills such as using an FTP program, installing your Word Press blog, create a basic html page, connecting your domain and hosting together. These skills, like any other skills, can be learned. The question is: are you willing to? Not enough traffic – Traffic by itself is useless if you can’t convert them into money , or if you can’t convert them into whatever you’re trying to achieve. In other words, you need conversion to make your traffic worthwhile. Search engine optimization You can do some Search engine optimization to rank your  sites highly in the search engines. To get conversion, the best way is to target the right audience who are already searching for what you are selling (so you don’t need to educate them that they need your solution/product). Then build trusting relationships with them, and the first way to start doing that is to actually tell your audience who you are as an individual, and start giving instead of receiving all the time. Not enough money – This is a classic. Not enough money to make money online means you don’t have the money to pay for business expenses like domain, hosting, email auto responder services, legitimate and honest how-to courses, etc. The company can spend less money by writing, designing, or programming the online ad/ marketing strategy. †¢More people are into niche marketing (where you enter multiple niche markets) rather than into 1 or 2 markets where you go deep and establish yourself as an authority in the marketplace. In a few cases the companies have a very limited number o f clients. This helps them focus on the needs of selected companies and is able to provide good quality work. †¢In terms of tools/software that saves time and efforts by automating tasks, people preferred to use tools that help in designing graphics and tools that help generate visitors. Survey conducted by SEO Industries- A U.S based industry[5][6][10] I picked up a survey along with statistics that was conducted by SEO industries in 2012 and have compared it to their previous survey conducted in 2010. And have posted my conclusions at the end of each sub topic. A Typical Online Marketer So, what did a typical internet marketer in the 2012 survey look like? I know â€Å"typical† is a dangerous word, but just for fun, here’s a persona of our average respondent: †¢47%Based in United States †¢77%Male †¢46%26-34 years old †¢18%Works at 2-5 person company †¢23%3-5 years in online marketing †¢35%Started as an in-house marketer †¢46%Currently works as an in-house †¢19%Makes $30,000-45,000 Conclusion The US accounts for a large part of our audience. Female respondents increased slightly from the 2010 survey, from 20.6% to 22.7% – that’s 10.2% more women in the survey this year, but still a sizable gender gap. International Marketers 65 countries have been represented in the 2012 survey. Many people asked last time to see more than the top 10 countries, so here are the top 25, by % of respondents: †¢47.3%United States †¢12.9%United Kingdom †¢4.4%Canada †¢4.0%India †¢3.3%Australia †¢2.4%Germany †¢2.0%Netherlands †¢1.8%Spain †¢1.3%France †¢1.2%Romania †¢1.1%Brazil †¢1.1%Italy †¢0.9%Israel †¢0.8%India †¢0.7%Ireland †¢0.7%South Africa †¢0.6%Bulgaria †¢0.6%Denmark †¢0.6%Hungary †¢0.6%Pakistan †¢0.6%Philippines †¢0.6%Poland †¢0.5%China †¢0.5%New Zealand †¢0.5%Sweden Conclusion US representation decreased from the 2010 survey (53% to 47%), while the UK grew from 9% to almost 13%. Israel fell out of the Top 10 from the #4 position in 2010, and Brazil slipped to 11th, while Romania narrowly pushed its way into the #10 spot. Service Mix and Demand Not surprisingly, most respondents (92%) have SEO services as part of their mix. The rest of the top 5 breaks down like this (keep in mind that most respondents offer multiple services other than online marketing): †¢92%Search Engine Optimization †¢82%Analytics †¢71%Link building †¢71%Content marketing †¢70%Social Media and/or Community Management This matches up pretty well with perceived demand changes over the past year. These are the top 5 service areas that our respondents believe are growing (as % of respondents): †¢72%Social media and/or community management †¢71%Search Engine Optimization †¢65%Local SEO †¢56%Content marketing †¢54%Analytics Conclusion Topping the list of services with the biggest decrease in demand are – Event planning (67%), Offline marketing (51%), and PR (48%). Of course, it’s important to note that they have strongly focused on online marketing, so these decreases are probably just the natural evolution of our industry. Training and conferences Most of us still get our industry education online, but in-person events round out the top 5: †¢93%Online resources – blogs, websites, etc. †¢88%Hands-on experience †¢64%Read a book †¢53%Attended a conference †¢50%Attended training seminars/workshops Over half of respondents have attended a conference in the past two years (including local meet-ups). Here are the top 10 industry events for our audience: †¢18%Search Marketing Expo †¢14%Search Engine Strategies †¢11%Local Meet-ups †¢7%Pubcon †¢7%ad:tech †¢7%MozCon †¢6%Distilled’s Searchlove/Linklove †¢5%Google I/O †¢4%SXSW †¢4%WordCamp Conclusion It’s interesting to see the rise in smaller events. Individual VS Team priorities When we’re not learning, we’re spending our time in the trenches. These are the top 5 tactics that respondents said they spent their individual time on (as % spending more than half their time): †¢24%SEO †¢11%On-page Optimization †¢10%Link Building †¢8%Social Media Marketing †¢6%Copywriting/Blogging/Writing How did that stack up against where our teams (SEO’s teams) are spending their time? †¢18%SEO †¢14%Link Building †¢12%Copywriting/Blogging/Writing †¢11%On-page Optimization †¢10%Social Media Marketing Conclusion While people reported that their teams spent more time on link-building and writing/blogging while they personally spent more time on on-page tactics, it’s interesting to note that the top priorities are pretty similar. Online marketing is still a hands-on business, even at the upper levels. Spending and Budget In 2012, respondents reported the following budgets for consulting services, with over a third (34.4%) spending $1,000/month or more on consulting and outsourcing: The average monthly spend on tools and software was quite a bit less, with only about 17% of respondents spending more than $1,000/month: Ad spend is diversifying in 2012, although traditional PPC still leads the way. Following is a graph of ad spent by category (total respondents). Top tools used Top 5 analytics tools as % of respondents †¢93%Google Analytics †¢16%WordPress Stats †¢13%Omniture †¢9%CrazyEgg †¢7%Compete Not to exaggerate, but Google Analytics just crushes everything else. The 2nd place is internal WP stats. Omniture is back in 3rd. WebTrends is #8. It’s getting tougher for the big enterprise vendors. Top 5 keyword research tools †¢88.3%Google AdWords †¢58.6%Google Insights †¢20.2%SEMRush †¢16.7%Wordtracker †¢13.9%Raven Top 5 content marketing and outreach tools †¢74%Twitter †¢53%LinkedIn †¢45%Google’s Insights for Search †¢31%StumbleUpon †¢31%Google Reader Top 5 Conversion Rate Optimization and usability tools †¢73%Google Website Optimizer †¢18%CrazyEgg †¢16%Pingdom †¢11%ClickTale †¢8%KISSmetrics Paid VS Free Tools Focusing on SEO, there’s still a solid divide between paid and free tools. Almost 24% don’t use paid tools at all (and probably run with scissors), but we’ll get to that in a minute. The top 10 paid tools (as % of respondents) are: †¢55%Moz & Open Site Explorer †¢17%Majestic SEO †¢17%Raven †¢13%SEMRush †¢10%Screaming Frog †¢9%Market Samurai †¢8%Advanced Web Ranking †¢8%Link-Assistant.Com, Rank Tracker, etc. †¢7%Wordtracker †¢7%Spyfu In the last 12 months, here are the top 10 free tools you’ve used (* denotes tools that also have paid versions): †¢83%Google Webmaster Tools †¢47%Moz & Open Site Explorer* †¢42%Bing Webmaster Tools †¢41%Firebug †¢31%Majestic SEO* †¢28%Yahoo! Site Explorer †¢26%Xenu †¢22%SEOBook Tools* †¢19%Screaming Frog* †¢18%Hubspot Grader* Conclusion Free tools from search engines rank highly on this list; although, Yahoo Site Explorer was discontinued during the 12-month period. Social Media Tools Last but not least, the rise of social media is undeniable. There have been a lot of arguments for where we’re spending most of our time. Here’s what you had to say about the top 10: †¢88%Facebook †¢83%Twitter †¢55%Google+ †¢49%YouTube †¢47%LinkedIn †¢47%Blogging †¢21%Pinterest †¢9%StumbleUpon †¢5%Tumblr †¢5%Flickr Conclusion Not surprisingly, Facebook and Twitter still dominate the landscape. While Pinterest has come on strong, it still trails all of the big players, including YouTube. Literature Review  E International Journal of Business and Social Science- Vol. 1 No. 1; October 2010.[4] E-Marketing; in one hand, it is noticed that the number of studies conducted by researchers and practitioners in the field of E-Marketing from 2003 to 2010 is relatively limited. This can be justified by the relative novelty of EMarketing. This provides an indication that E-Marketing is relatively new for academics and practitioners and also provides reasonable expectations about the increase in number of studies related to E-Marketing in the near future. The total number of studies was 365 studies, 73 % of it was empirical and 27 % of the total number of articles was not. It is also noticed that the research activity output in E-Marketing had decreased significantly between 2003 and 2008 within the literature period. Although the published articles had covered the following research areas: E-business, E-marketplace, Electronic Commerce, Electronic platforms, ICT adoption, Internet marketing, On-line trust, B2B, Performance evaluation, The Web, Electronic marketing, E-mail Making, Ereadiness, E-relationships, E-security, E-service, E-supply chain management, Internet adaptation, Mobile marketing and some other research. Electronic Commerce was the major research area covered by the researchers in the field followed by Electronic Business and Internet marketing. Most of the empirical studies had been conducted in: the USA, Australia, New Zealand and the UK which was the biggest in number of studies conduct in the literature period. By analysing the articles conducted in the UK market it was noticed that these articles had covered the following research areas: E-business, Electronic  Commerce, Electronic marketing, Internet marketing, the web, ICT adoption, Business performance and some other research areas. On the other hand, most of the articles in the literature were published in the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development (27 articles) with a percentage of 7.4 % of the total number of studies conducted in the period of the literature. The next six top journals were: Internet research, Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Journal of Internet Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing and Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing. Based on the literature there are clear research gaps in the field of E-Marketing especially in the areas of EMarketing performance as well as E-Marketing adoption in Small Business enterprises (SBEs). To fill such gaps and extend previous studies there is a need for conducting more research to investigate the relationship between implementing E-Marketing and SBEs performance. Online Marketing; New models of advertising?- By Kim Eriksen, Claus Hemmingsen, John Kuada Supervisor- Aalborg University.[3] Throughout our search we discovered that it appears that the companies, have been, and still are using internet as a communication tool to a limited extent, i.e. one way communication to the consumers (as opposed to new marketing models). The literature provided us with some indication of why this is the situation. One can call it simplicity for the companies or lack of knowledge towards other ways of using the internet. Most important discovery is maybe the fact that the latter has been the trend and way to do business. Many companies have not been keeping track on the trends that have arisen in the past decade. So the answer to our first question is that, international oriented Danis h companies have alternative options available, and are not that far from being able to utilise these alternatives. With few correction and a little of extra resources it would be possible for most of them to gain a better use of the internet. Having analysed several company websites it is clear that parts of the theory behind the new marketing models are being used. Whether conscious choice, random chance or even a need to â€Å"follow suit†, most companies try to keep their sites easy to navigate, with focus on language and information. However several are not utilising items such as chat forums, direct service contacts and in general the two way communication to get closer to an enhanced use of their presence online. We  have examined the Internet users’ demands and needs online, and found that they only to a small degree ask for involvement. There are explicit demands for less advertising and simple and well structured websites, but when it comes to dialogue, and participation only a smaller part of our population asked for direct involvement. Login and personalisation are however in high demand, a relatively new tool, login have appeared on more and more sites, developed from extranets (dealer logins) to consumer login to remember setup, addresses and other information the consumer need to type each time a purchase is made. This leads us to conclude that over time the demand for further involvement will grow. One of the most important features the internet provides is communication, communication between themselves and their customers. Companies has for a long time been using the internet as advertising tools to promote their product. In other words, it has been a one-way communication. Chat and forums is one of the possibilities the internet provides. The focus has to take a turn in the consumer’s direction. So instead of one-way communication it should be two-way communication. Consumers want to able to identify themselves in the sites and product. This would be achieved through chartrooms and forums. Instead of being a visitor they would rather be participants on the sites. Conceivably more like Blogs and newsgroup provides. What we also found out, was that the entrance to a site has to be simple and direct. A concern that we were faced with, was the fact that only few companies has a list of contact persons for direct contact. Also, with larger companies a receptionist is available; why not make his/her presence available on the internet via the company website. A simple process that would start the dialogue with the visitor, perhaps reveal areas where the website are failing to meet the needs of the visitor. It would moreover be an indication that the companies involved the consumers/participants in the process. All in all we believe that in order to gain fully effect of the internet and thereby increase the sale it is more important to have 20 dedicated customers that uses the sites than 100 visitors that have no direct connection to the site and therefore do not purchase anything. Danish companies have to reorganise their homepages in a way that it becomes easy and simple to navigate through and the possibilities to communicate with the consumers. Recommendation[2][10] Your online marketing strategy is based on getting more potential customers to your site and converting them into paying customers. It really is that simple. Through using a wide variety of techniques you can pinpoint those customers and make sure that they find your business when they search online for products or services that you provide. When they find your website a variety of other online marketing tools will be waiting to convert them to buying customers. In order to do this effectively, most of the focus will be on two major aspects of the marketing plan: using keywords in all online content and creating as many links as possible to your website. The more backlinks you have, the better your site will place in search engine results and the more people will find your website. The more effectively you use keywords, the more search engine friendly your content is and therefore more likely to be ranked. The more visitors you get to your website will result in more new customers for you. New customers mean an increase in sales and profit just like we said when we talked about the potential for exponential growth with online marketing for your business. Techniques to Increase Your Business’s Profits: Whether you have suffered a downturn in your business, have never built it to the level you are aiming for or if you are just starting out, your goal needs to be using online marketing strategies to increase your profits. There are four basic ways to improve profits: 1.Increase customers 2.Increase traffic to increase customers 3.Add to product offerings to make them more compelling 4.Use PPC, SEO, local business results, article marketing, etc. 5.Increase number of transactions per customer 6.Build mailing list 7.Increase customer communications through auto responders, newsletters, broadcast messages 8.Offer them upsell opportunities—pitch something seasonal 9.Send out reminders for services and specials 10.Increase the average dollar amount per transaction 11.Offer bundle packages and upgrades, strong reasons to purchase 12.Decrease costs, finding free traffic, lowering cost per click 13.Increasing conversions, decreases costs. 14.Offer a bonus, change a headline, offer a free consultation. 15.Even converting from 1% to 2% is a 100% improvement and cuts costs for buying traffic in half—pure profit! By putting an online marketing plan in place and following through with it, you can achieve all of these goals. You can easily improve your profits through the strategic use of online marketing techniques that will increase customers, increase the number of transactions per customer, increase the average dollar amount per transaction and decrease costs while finding free traffic which leads to a lower cost per click. Conclusion[1] [2] Internet Marketing is Not Easy it is filled with many complicated challenges that can put you off track, confuse you, and prevent you from succeeding. Reports and eBooks that attempt to give you a one-size-fits-all approach tend to miss a very important point; successful internet marketing requires you to be a dynamic, intelligent, and flexible. So a set of static, unchangeable plans is unlikely to make you successful. Traditional marketing methods are still highly relevant in the networked economy, though firms must now consider a host of new and innovative marketing methods available online (e.g., dynamic pricing, online community) In contrast to the one-way mass promotion that characterizes modern marketing, Internet marketing enables firms to engage the individual in personalized dialogues Individualization and Interactivity are two forces that make online marketing different Marketing, and the relationships it creates, should be considered in the context of particular processes and stages Bibliography †¢Internet Marketing Report- University of International Business and Economics- HUA Ying[1] †¢Online Marketing; New models of advertising?- By Kim Eriksen, Claus Hemmingsen, John Kuada Supervisor- Aalborg University.[3] †¢E International Journal of Business and Social Science-Vol.1 No.1; October 2010. [4] †¢2012 SEO Industry Survey [5][9] †¢Best Retail Brands 2011- Interbrand Webliography †¢Onlinebusinessmarketing.ie[2] †¢Moz.com[6] †¢Wordpress.com[7] †¢Westcoastmarketing.com[8] †¢Startup Nation[10]

Review and evaluation of E-commerce solutions for SMEs Dissertation

Review and evaluation of E-commerce solutions for SMEs - Dissertation Example Apart from that SMEs have been also supported with financial assistance, management training, legislative & policy support, and counselling services. The SME sector of a country is considered as one of the pillars of the economic growth of a country. The statement SMEs are a major source of entrepreneurial skills and creativity and contribute to economic and social cohesion. They hold the key to innovation and are also emerging as global players, by participating in worldwide production and supply chains made by the Deputy Director- General for Enterprise and Industry clearly reflects the importance of SMEs in a country. According to reports SMEs contribute significantly towards the total GDP of a country and are also responsible for generating large number of employment opportunities. The definition of SME however differs from one country to the other. In simple terms the criteria for a company to fall in the category of SMEs differs from one country to the other (Asia Pacific Econo mic Cooperation, 2004). In order to ensure growth of this sector, government as well as the private sector played active roles. There have been several programs in the past initiated by different establishments to ensure growth of SMEs. In addition, adoption of different technologies by the SMEs is also another obvious factor. The latest to this is the implementation of e-commerce technology by several small and medium sized companies. The principal reason behind the implementation of this technology is to drive growth and profitability. However before getting further deep into the study, a brief overview of the e-commerce technology is provided below. ... In order to ensure growth of this sector, government as well as the private sector played active roles. There have been several programs in the past initiated by different establishments to ensure growth of SMEs. In addition, adoption of different technologies by the SMEs is also another obvious factor. The latest to this is the implementation of e-commerce technology by several small and medium sized companies. The principal reason behind the implementation of this technology is to drive growth and profitability. However before getting further deep into the study, a brief overview of the e-commerce technology is provided below. E-Commerce: A Brief Overview Over the past few decades, e-commerce has evolved as one of the fully functional application for carrying out business transaction through electronic medium. During the early days of internet commercialization, the data transmission speed used to be extremely slow. It used to be characterized with the slow dial up connections. At that time, Netscape came into light and changed the scenario of internet browsing. Along with increased data transmission speed, it also succeeded to provide great internet surfing experiences to the user. Thus, several eminent scholars and individuals of the online business industry consider Netscape as the reason for the arrival of this new business dimension. This development has also led to the concept of e-commerce, where people can carry out business transaction over the electronic network. Thus, e-commerce is defined as a system of conducting business activities with the help of internet and other information technologies (Zongqing, 2004). Moreover, considering the current business environments, a number of scholars believe that companies must

Build strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Build strategy - Assignment Example Several strategies can be undertaken by this institution to solve this challenge of staff shortages. Importance of building a strategy Strategic planning is vital to any business in order to realize success. A strategic plan incorporates the mission, vision, and creative thinking. It mainly gives a description of the where the company is headed to by giving the details of achieving it. Strategic plans are the expressions of the visions and dreams of successful outcomes (Kaplan & Norton, 2008). It serves as the design of how a company can achieve its strategic objectives. Strategic planning can be focused on the whole organization or a department (Williams, 2006). For a hospital such as Milton Keynes, the strategy of solving the problem of understaffing will be focused on the entre institution. Objective The objective of this assignment is to build a strategy that can be implemented by Milton Keynes hospital in order to solve the issues related to understaffing. The strategy that will be developed will help the organization solve its immediate staffing problems and ensure that it is sustainable in the long-run. The strategy must put into consideration the implications of the implementation on the hospital. Such implications include: effect on patient care, increased costs and the ability of the institution to meet nursing needs in the future. Description of the problem The problem of understaffing in hospitals in the United Kingdom is rampant with the nation hospital services naming 26 healthcare institutions as operating below the safe staffing levels. This problem is further highlighted by the failure of sixteen percent of these institutions to come up to the required levels (Swayne et al, 2008). One of the main contributions of those staffing shortages especially in the nursing profession is due to the aging of the nursing population and the unwillingness of the younger generation to join the nursing profession. Despite in increase of foreign-born professiona ls in the medical profession, this group cannot meet the rising demand for medical care. The demand for higher pay, a weakening economy and increased medical demand is straining the thin available labor force (Mireille, 2007). Analysis of the problem Difficulties associated with understaffing are worsened by changes in medical care for example novel medical technologies and a reducing average stay in hospital that have contributed to increase in the level of care demanded by patients while they are in medical institutions. Novel medical technologies facilitate less seriously sick patients to receive medical care in out patient environments instead of inpatient environments. Furthermore, patients who would have spent the early days of recovery in hospitals are being released to nursing institutions or to their homes. The result of these changes in hospitals is that healthcare institutions are experiencing an influx of more patients who require more care. Staffing of healthcare instit utions is an issue of concern because of its effects on quality of care and patient safety (Greener, 2009). Sensitive outcomes, especially those attributable to nursing are one signs of quality of care. It can be defined as the changeable patient or caregiver situation, condition or

Merger between the United and US Airways Term Paper

Merger between the United and US Airways - Term Paper Example (Continental, 2012). Under the United Continental Holdings – the parent company of Continental and United, its 4th quarter 2011 revenue was increased by 5.5% with annual profit of $840 million (Omaha World-Herald, 2012). The US Airways is â€Å"the 6th largest U.S. airline by traffic and 8th largest by market value in the United States† (Nolan, 2011; Fenske, 2008). Marketed under the brand name of US Airways Express, the PSA Airlines and Piedmont Airlines are two of US Airways’ wholly-owned subsidiaries on top of its other four airline subsidiaries (Polek, 2008). The US Airways has 341 mainline and 319 regional aircrafts across 200 destinations around North- and South America, Europe and the Middle East. The company is operating 629 daily flights throughout its 133 non-stop destinations (Portillo, 2011). Its annual net profit excluding net special charges was $111 million as compared to $447 million in the previous year (PRNewswire, 2012). After deducting the net special charges, the company’s net profit was $0.68 million as compared to $2.34 million during the previous year (BusinessWeek, 2012). Incentives to Consolidate Although the merger plan between the United and the US Airways has not been successful ever since the United decided to merge with the Continental last July 2010 (Breaking Travel News, 2010), potential merger between the United and the US Airways never died (Portillo, 2011). In fact, Derek Kerr – the Chief Financial Officer of US Airways stated that â€Å"consolidation is one of the major ways this industry can become profitable† (Chakravorty, 2010). Aside from economies of scale, most of the existing airline companies are merging to expand or dominate a busy hub. In other words, merger enables these airline companies to have a competitive advantage by investing on geographically differentiated routes. This explains why other major airline carriers such as Delta was eager to merge with Northwest wherea s the United with Continental (Portillo, 2011). Furthermore, Portillo (2011) explained that the hub of US Airways is the key to 90% of the airport’s flights. This aspect will give the United the incentive to decide and consider consolidating with the US Airways in the near future. Analyzing Firms within the Industry Strategies made by the firms within the U.S. airline industry can be well understood by conducting an industry analyzing using the Porter’s five forces framework. Based on this framework, it makes sense that the U.S. airline industry has a low barrier due to the increasing threat of new entrants (Ramon-Rodriguez, Moreno-Izquierdo and Perles-Ribes 2011). Ever since the Airline Deregulation Act was implemented in 1978, firms within the U.S. airline industry started experiencing the business consequences of a tight market competition. Even though the U.S. government removed the political restrictions over the U.S. domestic routes, schedules and domestic fares, some of the airport regulations, limited takeoff and landing slots and airline

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Why Has Essay

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Why Has Structural Adjustment implemented Proved so Controversial - Essay Example This has generated intense controversies on the effectiveness of the structural adjustment policies. This paper explores the controversies surrounding the effectiveness of the structural adjustments in the developing economies. Structural adjustments are measures formulated to facilitate and accelerate economic development in the targeted economies3. According Ahmed and Lipton structural adjustment polices are intended to rectify the structural imbalance in the foreign and public balances2. The policies could be initiated internally by the country concerned or external forces such the World Bank and the international monetary fund. The structural adjustments reforms endeavour to reduce and eliminate the various financial distortions, such as over valued exchange rate, huge monetary deficits and to restrict inefficient public services that hinder fair distribution of the resources in the economy of particular country1. 1I. Ahmed, and M. Lipton, â€Å"Impact of Structural Adjustment o n Sustainable Rural Livelihood: A Review of the Literature.† (1997), http://www.ids.ac.uk/files/Wp62.pdf Accessed 14 January 2012. 2 ibid., p25 3 F. Stewart, and A. Berry. â€Å"Globalisation, Liberalization and Inequality: Real Causes.† Challenge, February 2001, 45-86. In general, the structural adjustments are intended to minimise or eliminate the balance of payments and the public sector deficits, with an objective of stimulating high economic growth. In addition, the policies aim at achieving an appropriate structural change capable of sustaining a robust economic growth and a favourable monetary environment in a particular economy3. One of the major characteristic of the structural adjustments is promoting specialization where the targeted economy is influenced to produce commodities â€Å"tradable† in the global market and reducing factors that enhance production of commodities with no or little economic value especially in the public domain4. Enhancing the flexibility and adaptability of the targeted economy to the changing global economic environment is an important objective of the structural adjustments. This reduces the effects of adverse global economic changes on the economy of a particular country 3. Structural adjustment policies comprise of measures aimed at facilitating short-term economic stability and long-term adjustments3. Short-term stabilisation measures are usually intended to the improvement of macro economic balance and overall stability. In order to attain the envisaged stability, structural adjustments enforce measures aimed at reducing the cumulative demand 3. Therefore, the major segments targeted include reduction of expenditure accrued in the public sector, increasing taxes and interests rates on loans. Usually, short-term stabilisation measures combine monetary, fiscal reforms and devaluation of currency, which deflates the actual exchange rate. These measures influence the value of commodities traded in the international market in relation to those produced and consumed in the local market 3. 3 P. Agenor, P. â€Å"Macroeconomic Adjustment and the Poor: Analytical Issues and Crosscountry Evidence â€Å"(2002). www.worldbank.org accessed 14 January 2012. 4 Ibid., p 33 Measures for ensuring short-term economic stabilisation include credit restrictions or ceilings, adjustment of exchange rate, minimising expenditures in the public sector, high tax policies and reforming the pricing of commodities3. Greenaway and Morrissey argued that the short-term nature of the stabilisation measures makes such policies to rely heavily on the managing and controlling the demand of the targeted economy. Eventually, the economy adopts a tendency of monetary absorption in the

Stravinsky and Shoenberg's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stravinsky and Shoenberg's - Essay Example Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17, 1882, in Oranienbaum, Russia and died April 6, 1971, in New York. His father, a bass singer and his mother, a gifted pianist, raised him in St. Petersburg. Also, he was a citizen of the United States and France. After fathers death in 1902, Stravinsky decided to become a composer. And he really became one of the most famous genius composers of the 20th century. Igor is a key figure of such art direction, as modernism. His work has had a revolutionary impact on musical ideas during the First World War. Stravinsky created more than 100 works, executed by the Ballets Russes. One of his the most successful ballet works was "The Rite of Spring", which brought to him the extraordinary fame in the world of music. It was premiered in Paris in 1913. This musical work was created in the first phase of Stravinskys career, the so-called Russian period. In that time the composer often visited Paris for work. Nevertheless, Russia remained his home. (A&E Television Networks, 2015) The first performance happened at the Thà ©Ãƒ ¢tre des Champs Élysà ©es on May 29, 1913. It was one of the most famous exciting actions, which led to protests and disputes among the audience. In the history of musical theater it is one of the first nights of unrest. During the performance, the dancers could not hear the music, because people have created a very loud noise. Without a doubt, we can say that this composition was the original thanks to its bold, rough rhythms and unresolved dissonance. The Rite of Spring is a new musical concept, in which vary metric imbalances and rhythms. This work is accompanied by brilliant orchestration and sharply dissonant harmonies. The composers approach was empirical. He always wanted to test his musical materials and create something new, previously unidentified. He experimented with different chords, constantly playing the piano. Despite

September 11th Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

September 11th - Essay Example This paper aims to examine the historic yet much-disputed event in a perspective that delves into the purported causes, outcomes, interpretations and analyses by various authorities leading to solve its mystery and to substantiate that it is, in fact, a purposeful act of terrorism. A Day of Terror It was just a typical busy day for Manhattan’s financial district until loud explosions roared and alarms reverberated all at once. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were burning, initial reports said. Succeeding news items revealed that it was a series of airplane crashes that hit the two building buildings due to hijacking operations. Few minutes passed when live broadcasts broke another story that another passenger airline crashed into The Pentagon, and a fourth one plunged into a field in Pennsylvania (a failed attempt to hit the White House of the Capitol); conclusions were drawn that the progression of incidents was actually a terrorist attack by suicide bombers. Author ities reported that there were no survivors from any of the flights and that almost 3, 000 people died due to the incident, including the 19 hijackers. The number accounted for 836 firefighters and police officers who showed up for rescue that doubled after a week. Additionally, it was noted that most of the casualties were American civilians and nationals from almost 100 countries (â€Å"In-depth: September,† 2007). Horrible and piteous scenes documented by videos and photographs of the incident could hardly describe the total magnitude of the catastrophic event during ‘nine eleven.’ The whole scope of damage did not only encompass the targeted structures which were deemed as symbols of American supremacy, it also included several buildings on the site that were destroyed or severely weakened such as related financial and business complexes, media outlets, government offices, a hotel, a church and pedestrian bridges. Furthermore, the attacks generated widespread disorder among news agencies, airline companies and airport facilities, security personnel, law enforcers and political leaders around the globe. For three days, all international civilian flights were prohibited to land on the U.S soil. Aircrafts already in flight were either turned down or rerouted to other airports in nearby countries. Such was the paranoia of the American government and the people during the time. Subsequently, the suspected attackers, of various nationalities, were identified. The Federal Bureau of Investigation determined the personal information of the passengers that boarded the planes and reckoned their identities and capabilities to carry out the despicable assault. It was found out that they formally attended American aviation schools, which qualified them to deliver the attack. On board American Airlines Flight 11 were Mohamed Atta, Satam al-Suqami, Waleed Alshehri, Wail Alshahri and Abdulaziz Alomari. Marwan Al-Shehhi, Ahmed Alghamdi, Hamza Alghamdi, M ohald Alshehri and Fayez Rashid were in United Airlines Flight 175. In American Airline Flight 77 were Khalid Almihdhar, Majed Moqed, Nawaf Alhamzi, Salem Alhamzi and Ani Hanjour. While, Saeed Alghamdi, Ahmed Alnami, Ziad Samir al-Jarrah and Ahmed al-Naznawi were able to pass airport scrutiny by behaving like ordinary passengers and boarded United Airlines F

Final Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Final Exam - Essay Example Like men make no effort to prevent war and genocide, people need to increase public understanding (Cooper 2009). It is primarily because of men’s effort that war deaths declined so dramatically in the second half of the last century. Similarly, in her book The Girl with the Brown Crayon Vivian Paley represents black child, five year aged Reeny, and has the last say on what is good. In this light, there are important lessons that we discover from Paley’s pedagogy of equality when the reality that children along with teacher do not look alike introduces an obstacle to effectual instruction or an opportunity for teacher development. Paley clearly admires and teaches from Lillian Tully, an African American teacher, whose childhood stories in the segregated South form the core of her pedagogical approach. Any examination of Vivian Paley’s pedagogy of equality must give a well-known responsibility to her compositions as either a black children or white teacher, reflect ing the time Paley spent. Live The most Romantic Music Art chronicle that continues and discontinues from the classical to Romantic styles in art and music are found in live. As in the case in point, live describes how issues associated with romanticism, nationalism and environmentalism, have continued to be part of contemporary Western civilization’s intellectual heritage (Cooper 2009). Classical, romantic and contemporary music was a living organism both dynamic and diverse. Furthermore, music stretched from work songs and spirituals to protest commercial hillbilly and race recordings. Those who engaged in the art, therefore, believed in recording music that transformed access to authentic folk song. Part of a set of folklore is breathing, developing and changing thing, and a folk song sang through words and tunes, only symbolizes its exceptionally static fashion of a myriad-voiced reality of individual songs. It brought out a people’s way of life. The basement activ ities in which bands and crews were killing resulted in the most fascinating pieces of art. In fact, in the course of their preparation time, they thought that nobody will be concerned with hearing what they had prepared, but they were amazed to hear people singing part of their songs in holding hands and acting as the motivator for their freedoms (Cooper 2009). What individuals could hear, within this context, were the songs as they exist on the lips of the folk singers. Even as, Frederic Chopin promoted classical, romantic, and contemporary music as an ever-evolving genre, the entertainers insisted at the same time on the goal of authenticity. In performance style that meant the painstaking mastery of the skills displayed by the little-known geniuses on his library of congress recordings, but it also implied a level of commitment, an emotional investment. In my opinion, Frederic Chopin performing these pieces saw music as a living organism both dynamic and diverse. Furthermore, mu sic stretched from work songs and spirituals to protest commercial hillbilly and race recordings. The entertainers, with regard to the subject matter, believed in recording music that transformed access to dependable songs. At a quick glance, it appears that the Enlightenment, with its emphasis on rationalism, and Romanticism, with its stress on emotions, is

United 93 Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

United 93 Film - Essay Example United 93 Film The events in the movie are intended to be as truthful as possible, and it takes on the views and opinions of some of the family members of the victims. The movie begins with a scene of the hijackers praying in their hotel room. It then shows the four attackers leaving for Newark International Airport. Before they board the plane, a scene shows one of the hijackers calling his family members and saying goodbye. I was taken aback by this because I have always seen those people as terrorists and monsters, yet the seemed to be human just like me or anyone else during this movie. Once the plane is in the air, the scene is just like any normal morning domestic flight; people are laughing and joking around, sitting quietly in their seats, while others were just taking sips of coffee while admiring the view. While this flight is in the air, on the ground we can see the television coverage of the two planes crashing into the World Trade Center; the passengers on Flight 93 are oblivious to th e fact. Meanwhile, the terrorists are discussing among themselves when to start their operation. One of the hijackers assembles a fake bomb, while the other three storm the cockpit. The passengers begin to understand the events happening in New York and thus decide to retake the plane to prevent a similar event from occurring. They overpower the terrorist who claims to be holding a bomb, which later turns out to be a fake.

Love Is All About Sacrifices Essay Example for Free

Love Is All About Sacrifices Essay Love encourages people to sacrifice important things in their lives for others. Love can destroy or improve ones’ life. It once happen to a little country girl in the early days. Love totally changed her life both destroying it and improving it. This girl’s name was Kat and she was the mayor’s daughter who was advised by her father to marry a guy named Bruce. Bruce was kind of a nice guy, really successful, but very serious and didn’t have no time to have fun. He was very well liked by the whole town and all the girls went crazy when they saw him. Everyone thought it was a great idea if they got married. Although, on the other hand, Kat was a girl very high spirited and she had fun all the time. One windy and cloudy afternoon, Bruce asked Kat’s hand in marriage while talking to her father. Kat’s father was very happy about the news that he announced the request to the whole town. Kat rather seemed â€Å"okay† about the whole situation instead of being excited. That night she had a dream about a dart in a board spinning over and over again but instead of the spinning making her dizzy she was happy. It was a really strange dream and it kept repeating three nights in a row. Contrary to her strange dream, she went to seek advice from her grandma who was probably about 94 years old. She was so excited to see her granddaughter and listen to her. â€Å"I had a dream grandma, a very strange dream and I need you to tell me what you think it means† she said. â€Å"I’m all ears† said grandma. â€Å"Let’s hear it†. She explained the whole dream to her grandma and said â€Å" so what do you think it means? † Asked Kat. Grandma said â€Å"pumpkin this dream means you should follow your heart and instinct because something important is about to happen in your life†. With excitement she said â€Å" oh grandma, I love you, you always have answers to every question†. â€Å"That’s what I do†. So Kat decided to head towards home. On her way home she noticed a conveyance truck or moving truck parked in front of an old house. Due to curiosity, she neared and watched what was happening there. To her amazement, she saw a handsome spirited young man who was admiring the building. She asked â€Å"are you new in the neighborhood? † â€Å"Yeah I am, anyway I am Jason†. She stared at him for a while before answering† oh, I am Kat the mayor’s daughter and it’s nice to meet you† she finally said. I have to go, so I guess I would be seeing you around† she said. â€Å"Yeah â€Å"he answered. She looked so happy and relaxed on her way home. At her arrival at home her dad wanted to talk to her about Bruce but she said she didn’t like Bruce and wouldn’t marry him. Her father tried to convince her but she didn’t want to talk about it. The next day she went spying on Jason, she would get up early, go hide behind the house hoping to see him. This continued for many days until her best friend Tatiana followed her one day and found out she was spying on the â€Å"new guy in town† as she referred Jason to. During one morning, Tatiana went over to Jason’s house and told him all about what Kat did every morning. So he hid behind the house waiting for Kat to come. She did and was caught by Jason. He explained to her how he knew and that he also likes her but doesn’t spy on her behind her house every morning. Surprisingly, they started to go out for months during which Kat’s dad kept haunting her to marry Bruce. Six months later, they both expressed their feelings and decided to tell Kat’s dad that they are getting married. To their dismay , Kat’s dad did not agree with their decision and refused to give them his blessings. Out of love for Jason, Kat decided to leave her dad and the town to go get married to Jason in a different town or country. Before leaving she thanked her best friend Tatiana for being there for her and helping her. Also she invited her to be the brides maid at her wedding. Without her father’s acknowledgement she left the town, got married and had kids. Then he realized how happy his daughter is and began to regret not being there for her. So life can be real hard or easy but it all depends on the decisions made in our lives. Sacrifices made in our lives can result in pain or happiness. We should be wise and always make the right sacrifices!

Masculine And Feminine Roles In Relationships

Masculine And Feminine Roles In Relationships The transformation of masculine and feminine roles overtime is due to society, genetics, and families. Gender roles stand for the attitudes, behaviours, values, that cultures define as proper for males and females. A change in masculine and feminine roles has altered the perception of relationships in the 21st century. Masculinity and femininity determine the quality of relationships. According to Thornton, Axinn, and Xie the change of perception in gender roles in relationships is due factors such as the level of education, lifetime earnings, religious beliefs, and family history. Thornton, Axinn, and Xie observe that there are emerging cases where couples prefer cohabitation to legalised marriages based on their personal experiences, circumstances attitudes and family history (Thornton, Axinn, and Xie 36). Masculinity and femininity are socially determined components of gender. They define behaviours and characteristics observable in either male or female beings. Many times masculi nity is associated with maleness while femininity is associated with femaleness Masculinity and femininity being a component of gender is a complex issue. According to Lippa, the concepts surrounding the subject of masculinity and femininity transform over time. Some of the factors responsible for these changes include family influences, biological influences, social influences, cultural influences, peer influences and individual feelings and influences. There is proving that parental socialization of boys and girls in interaction with biological predispositions defines how boys and girls interact with their peers. These interactions determine the femininity or masculinity characteristics that children adopt during their development (Lippa 187). There has been a transformation in the social perceptions of what it means to be feminine. Traditionally femininity entails being nice, submissive, unengaged and reliance. Masculinity and femininity determine the interaction among peers. Masculinity and femininity has also been associated with personal interest. Accordin g to psychologists individuals who exhibit masculine characteristics tend to show interest in mechanical and scientific subjects whereas individuals exhibiting feminine characteristics enjoy cultural and art related subjects (Lippa 44). Lippa argued that there are arguments that femininity is considered good for men and masculinity is considered good for women. This concept stands to explain the evolving nature of masculinity and femininity into instrumental traits and expressive traits. Instrumental traits include independence, dominance, assertiveness, and leadership abilities whereas expressive traits include sympathy, warmth, sensitivity and compassion. The instrumental traits define masculinity whereas the expressive traits define femininity. The instrumental traits explain why there are women who take up huge roles like taking care of the family, pursuing competitive such as managerial positions and politics. Individuals with expressive traits are considered feminine (Lippa 45). Men who possess expressive traits tend conform to feminine roles. Men who possess expressive traits taking up careers that are considered feminine such as nursing, teaching, and art related careers. Men with expressive traits have no p roblem raising taking care of the family while their women work to provide for the family. Roughgarden states that culture and society are responsible for imposing on individuals the appropriate way of expressing their sexual identity. According to Roughgarden masculinity and femininity defines appearance, and behaviour humans. Roughgarden states that masculinity and femininity determines how an organism carious out a sexual role. Biologically masculinity and femininity differentiates the the characteristics possessed by males and females. However, Roughgarden points out the cross gender manifestation and behaviour is acceptable (Roughgarden 28). Roughgarden states that masculinity defines the physical appearance of male species as well as their behaviours. Roughgardens idea of cross gender manifestation suggests that if a female possesses male characteristics it is acceptable to refer to her as a masculine female. On the other hand, if a male possesses feminine characteristics it is acceptable to refer to him as a feminine male. The idea of cross-gender challenges the bio logical definition of gender based on male and female gametes (29). Bennetts looks at feminism in the traditional marriages where the role of a woman in the relationship was child rearing and taking care of household duties. The man on the other hand provided for the financial needs in the family. According to Bennetts, giving up ones career ambitions for motherhood is a feminine mistake. Bennetts explains that economic dependency is bound to hurt or destroy the relationship (Bennetts132). Bennetts explains that relationships suffer immeasurably in the event of a divorce, a spouses retrenchment, illness, or widowhood especially when one party was dependent on another. It is evident that there is an evolving social phenomenon of masculine and feminine roles in relationships. The transformation disregards the traditional concepts of gender roles and adopts an egalitarian structure to explain masculine and feminine roles in modern relationships. Roughgarden considers the responsibility of masculinity and femininity in facilitating gender sex roles. Roughgarden mention that social selection theory explains the success of sexual interaction among and between sexes. Roughgarden states that an effective social interaction depends on sexual play among or between sexes. According to Roughgarden behaviours such as promiscuity, cheating, competition, are all part of social selection. It is evident that cases of separation, divorce form part of social selection. Lippa explains that parents serve as role models to their children. According to Thornton, Axinn, and Xie children tend to marry early if their parents married early. It is evident that children cohabit if their parents at some point did cohabit (Thornton, Axinn and Xie 55). These observations point out the transformation of the western marriage. The rise in divorce cases, acceptance sexual minority group all point to the transformation in the society that explain the change in masculine and feminine roles in relationships. For example, the divorce cases result in a rise of single parent family structures where we have a single mother who takes up the feminine as well as the masculine role in the family. The woman becomes a caregiver, decision maker and financial provider in the family. On the other hand, if we have the father taking up the full custody of the children the father assumes a feminine role of being the caregiver, nurturer and at the same time, he retains his masculine r ole. Cultural models in the 21st century are transforming and homosexuality has gained acceptance in different societies. The gay, Lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups have societal support as well as federal protection that protects them from any form of harm. Desjardins considers same-sex marriage in the United States. According to Desjardins, the acceptance of same-sex marriage in the United States is evident from the wide support the issue has received from the public and politic figures. Desjardin states that there are states, for example, Maine where sex marriage is constitutionally accepted (Desjardins Snowe supports same-sex marriage). Lippa explains that the traditionally the feminine role in relationships involves the nurturing activities. Lippa considers masculine and feminine roles in homosexual relationships. According to Lippa, research shows that gay men exhibit feminine characteristics than heterosexual men. On the other hand, it is evident that lesbian women show masc uline characteristics when compared to heterosexual women (Lippa 41). According to Lippa, parents and the society are responsible for teaching children on gender roles and behaviours. Goldberg, Smith and Maureen state that same-sex marriages tend to shift the perception of masculine and feminine roles in relationships. According to Roughgarden, the existence of same sex relationships deviates from cultural conformation of gender relationships. However, Roughgarden mentions over 300 cases homosexual behaviours existent among animals. Roughgarden explains that competition in the animal kingdom explains the rise in cases of homosexual characteristics. It is due o such finding that we note that society has widened its definition of sexual orientation. According to Roughgarden the western society, acknowledge bisexualism, homosexuality and transgendering as normal sexual orientation. The acknowledgement of other forms of sexual orientation has led to the redefinition of masculine and feminine role in relationships. In some cases, men take up feminine roles and women take up masculine roles. In same sex marriages, adopting children to raise a family is a way of experien cing a normal life (Goldberg, Smith and Maureen 814). Research studies indicate that gay, lesbian; transgender, and bisexual parents adopt children to experience normal relationships like heterosexual families. Studies also show the same sex parents, for example, gay fathers exhibit better nurturing qualities than heterosexual fathers do. The same sex marriages provide good example of egalitarian family structures. Goldberg, Smith, and Maureen explains that same sex parents value equality and both parents work together, share responsibilities for the benefit of the family (Goldberg, Smith and Maureen 815). Lippa explains that there are women who take up masculine roles in modern relationships, for example, the case of single mothers, widowed women, lesbian and transgender relationships. In other cases, involving heterosexuals, lesbians, gay, transgender, and bisexuals egalitarianism plays a significant role in the definition of the masculine and feminine roles in the relationship. In such an arrangement, there is an equitable division of roles involving house chores, child rearing and income generation. Children learn marriage, social, and education values from their parents. Thornton, Axinn and Xie explain that studies confirm children learn and adopt values from the family, school and society (Thornton, Axinn, and Xie105). Children who grow up in a family where parents adopt egalitarianism as a means of raising their families will end up raising their families in the same structure. Bennetts explains that children who have both their parents working benefit from having a secured future in terms of finance and career (Bennetts 98). Bennetts criticises the decision of professional women to give up their careers for their traditional roles as nurturers, home keepers. According to Bennetts, women who give up their careers for the family end up suffering. On the other hand making a career come back is a greater challenge they face later in their lives (Bennetts 102). Traditional marriage set-ups required women to submit to their husbands wishes. However, this has changed with the empowerment of women society now produces women who have a better education, women who compete with men for top paying positions, and women participating in influential activities such as politics. Feminine roles change when women decide to pursue their career. Studies show that women who pursue careers have less time for relationships and families. Those who manage to raise families struggl e to balance their careers and being there for the family (Bennetts 125). Although the family benefits from financial security, the mother faces health complications resulting from stress especially if her husband is unsupportive in the provision of primary care giving. Research shows that women who take up masculine roles like providing for their families influence their family structures. Women who dedicate their time to build on their careers influence the size of their families. Bennet states that it is impossible for a woman to take care of a large family and at the same time pursue a successful career. According to Bennetts, women opt to sacrifice their careers to raise a family (Bennet 32). On the other hand, the role of fathers in the modern families has changed. The masculine role of aggressiveness has evolved to a compassionate and nurturing role. This is evident especially in same sex marriages involving gay adopting parents. In modern families, fathers desire to spend more time with their families. There is the evidence where fathers alter their work schedules to make them flexible in order to create time for their families. Another example of a change in masculine role is depicted in the media where we get examples of male resistance to job relocations this is to avoid separation of fathers from their families. It is common to families where the mother is the breadwinner and the father takes up the role of taking care of the home and rearing the children. Roughgarden offers a different perspective on the matter of family size form an evolutionary standpoint. According to Roughgarden, the female determines the family size depending on the parental investment she expects to provide. In this case, the female does not consider the male investment. This view deviates for the traditional view where a controlling male determined the family size. Roughgarden explains that a cooperative solution provides a reasonable means of determining family size (Roughgarden 119). A cooperative solution seeks to establish mutual trust among individuals in relations rather that display the masculine qualities of the controlling male. Modern families determine family sizes depending on a mutual understanding between the persons in the relationship. The mutual understanding evident in determination of family size proves the change in masculine and feminine roles in relationships. When women take up their positions in the work force, their children suffer. The masculine and feminine role of imparting social qualities upon their children is interrupted. It is important for women to perform their role of providing continuous affection and nurturing children at their early stage of development (Lippa 124). However, the womens fight for equality has rather reversed this role. Children in modern families tend to be left in the care of baby sitters. Lippa explains that parental rearing is important for children to understand socialisation and the differences regarding masculinity and femininity (Lippa 124). The absence of parents during the initial stages of socialisation the children can suffer from mental distress. Since 2010, there has been a rise of mens right movements in regions around Europe and the United States. These movements seek to advocate for the rights of fathers, and support the changing masculine roles in relationships. According to research studies, the women have outnumbered men in high paying jobs; it is evident that in the modern family set ups a large number of men are taking up the feminine roles. Women in modern relationships have become assertive and a significant number of men exhibit feminine characteristics. Goldberg, Smith, and Maureen mention cases of transgender who struggle to express their identity. Transgender male or female who get into marital relationships without confirming their identity suffer from the stress of struggling to lead a normal life in their secretive life. Disclosing ones identity enables once to take up the roles that conform to their identity (820). It is impossible to ignore the societal transformations that play a big role in transforming relationships. The concept that same sexuality destroys a couples role in breeding it is evident that same sex sexual orientation promotes friendship. Although sociologist consider homosexuality as a complex social behaviour they view that homosexuality, heterosexuality, transgendering and bisexuality represent diverse forms of human interaction. The modern family set ups provides a perfect example of the changing masculine and feminine roles. However, it is important to note that the masculine and feminine roles both play a significant role in the growth and development of children. Therefore, even with the changing roles it is important for families to maintain their roles as role models for their children. This prevents cases of mental instability that may arise when parents priorities their careers instead of their childrens needs. Goldberg, Smith and Maureen mention some positive parenti ng qualities that GLTB exhibit society can embrace this and learn on how to merge their masculine and feminine roles to benefit the family.

Fire Fighting Technology Essay -- Technology Technological Essays

Fire Fighting Technology Innovations in Communication Technology This 80,000 pound powerhouse was just purchased by the Swarthmore Fire & Protective Association. Equipped with a 100-foot aerial and a 2000 gallon per minute (gpm) Hale single stage pump, Tower 14 can knock down just about any fire. "The first five minutes after the first fire apparatus arrives on scene at a large-scale fire are coordinated chaos." Joe Lombardo of the Garden City Fire Department made it a point during fire school to emphasize that a good firefighter will always maintain a clear head even in the most harrowing of circumstances. This task may be difficult in situations where an enormous amount of information must be transmitted to effectively fight the fire. Recent innovations in fire scene communication technology have allowed for more information to be transferred to the appropriate firefighters before and during the initial attack. The following outline some of the more important innovations to fire communication technology: Communications between Incident Command and Firefighters on scene: Digital technology is rapidly becoming integrated into fireground operations because, in general, voice clarity is much better than conventional radio, because it is easier to encrypt than analog. Mary Jane Dittmar, of Fire Engineering magazine, describes the technologies as working by "converting a voice into binary information and then compressing it. Through modulation and encoding formats, the analog information is converted to digital data, compressed, and then converted back again, while still maintaining acceptable levels of voice quality. Digital technology is clearer and easier to understand than analog technology because background ... ...er units. All this information is now immedeately available to the first out engine so that the incident commander can come up with a plan of attack before even assessing the scene first hand. As such, the coordinated chaos may very well be sorted out before the apparatus even arrives on scene. Works Cited: Anderson, Leif. Using Technology to Manage the Information Overflow. "Fire Engineering." May 2002. Bachman, Eric. Pre-Incident Size Up: An Important Response Tool."Fire Engineering." April 2002. Cobb, Ralph. Benefiting from Military Technology. "Fire Engineering." May 2002. Dittmar, Mary Jane. Fireground Communications: Strategies for Meeting Today's Challenges. "Fire Engineering." May 2002. Hawkins, Clayton. A Model to Improve Emergency Management. "Fire Engineering." April 2002. http://www.nfpa.org/Home/index.asp (visited December 15, 2002)

Boy or Girl: Which Gender Baby Would You Pick? :: essays research papers

Boy or Girl: Which Gender Baby Would You Pick? By Bjorn Carey LiveScience Staff Writer posted: 23 March 2005; 6:27am ET When given the opportunity to choose the sex of their baby, women are just as likely to choose pink socks as blue, a new study shows. "Sex selection is a topic that’s almost taboo for physicians to talk about," said Tarun Jain, a reproductive specialist at the University of Illinois, Chicago. "Yet, it’s important to understand patient interest in non-medical sex selection and adequately address the ethical and social implications before the cat is out of the bag. Prior to this study, there has been no data to indicate what the demand might be." Of the 561 women who participated in the study, 229 said they would like to choose the sex of a future child. Among these 229 there was no greater for demand for boys or girls. However, the data showed that women who already had one or more children of one sex would prefer for their next child to be of the opposite sex to create gender balance within the family. Selecting for sex There are two methods of sex selection being used in the United States today. One is sperm separation – the concept being that sperm with an X chromosome (for girls) weigh a little more than sperm with a Y chromosome (for boys). Because of this slight difference, the sperm can be sorted out and prepared for a simple insemination procedure. Sex selection by sperm separation has a success rate of about 90 percent for girls and about 70 percent for boys. The other common method is pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, which is a form of in vitro fertilization, where embryos are prepared in a test tube before implantation in a woman’s uterus. Unlike traditional in vitro fertilization, doctors take a few cells from each prepared PGD embryo to determine its sex, and they only implant embryos of the desired sexes. This method has a success rate of nearly 100 percent, but is more expensive and much more physically intrusive for a woman compared to sperm separation, researchers say. Neither method will cause any harm to the developing baby, they say. "In our study, patients were about equal on which procedure they would prefer," Jian told LiveScience. "PGD is tougher, but maybe patients don’t want that slight uncertainty that comes with sperm separation." Banned in UK Sex selection for non-medical reasons is banned in the United Kingdom – a decision that was favored by 80 percent of the population – but there are currently no laws to stop American parents-to-be from employing the technology.

A Step Into The Unknown :: Literary Analysis, Dark Star

In his novel, Dark Star, Alan Furst creates an atmosphere that supports the depressed and beat down setting surrounding Europe before the onset of World War II. He is able to capture our attention by immediately creating anxiety in the depressed and broken down country of Belgium. Furst is able to draw us into the mind of Andre Szara as he enters Ostend, Belgium, describing the atmosphere as unpleasant and anxiety-driven. He presents this atmosphere through the old and rusted freighter, Nicaea, the setting in Ostend, and the assignments that Szara must complete while staying in Ostend. The thirty year old tugboat, Nicaea, represents an unforeseen road and ultimately places uncertainty in the eyes of Andre Szara. In the beginning, the atmosphere is immediately set with a dark and fearful outlook because of the depiction of the â€Å"tramp freighter† (Furst 3) that moves through the water with a distinctive roar of the engine, over powering the sound of clashing waves. The history of the Nicaea identifies the elements used by Furst to display atmosphere. It’s deep description indicates it has spent â€Å"blistering summers and drizzling winters† (3) over the years to be ruined by salt and rust. Old age has the ship â€Å"[creaking] and [groaning] sorrowfully† (4). The unhealthy environment creates an undesirable atmosphere that makes use of uncertainty as to whether the ship can carry on. Salame 2 The weather plays a major role in shaping the atmosphere in Ostend. The weather can be used effectively when presenting a certain atmosphere because it can dictate the mood. While travelling on the North Sea, Szara and Khelidze were accompanied by â€Å"rain† (3) and â€Å"darkness† (3), unaware of what lies ahead. With darkness, comes the idea of fear because its leading to the unexpected. The Nicaea has also been at sea for nineteen days through an â€Å"eternity of icy, seawater showers† (5). The weather foreshadows a dark future and maintains the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Equally important, Andre Szara is given an assignment but does not know why, further adding to the suspense and obliviousness for any consequences. Szara’s assignment is to find out where his fellow passenger on the tugboat, Grigory Khelidze, is staying in Ostend. Szara has no idea why he must find out where this man is staying, thus creating a sense of bewilderment. It is as if Szara has been set out on to a winding and unforgiving path that leaves no indication or signs as to where it will lead him.

Blink

Thin Slicing is a term used by psychologist and philosophers, but what does it mean? According to Malcolm Gladwell, â€Å"It’s the tendency that we have as human beings to reach very rapid, very profound and sophisticated conclusions based on very thin slices of experiences. † Blink is a book by Malcolm Gladwell explaining this theory of thin-slicing. In the book Gladwell tells us many different stories that have to do with thin-slicing. The book has examples of successful thin-slicing, examples showing how it works and what it accomplishes.It also has stories teaching us, the reader of thin-slicing and how it isn’t all that great and completely accurate as well. Some stories that can teach us lessons, which we can learn from not to make the same mistakes over and over. This book is about the unconscious mind and how we don’t know it but it affects us at every moment whether we notice or not. How the unconscious mind picks up patterns from small amount of information or experiences and we make snap judgments based on those patterns.Which most of the time we don’t notice, unless of course you have trained your mind to recognize these patterns, which there’s an example of in the book. All this thin-slicing has its pros and cons I believe Gladwell’s theory is correct; all his examples are backed up by his theory of thin-slicing. He gives evidence to how it works both positively and negatively. The theory of thin-slicing is that we have the ability as human beings to instantly identify specific patterns from within small amounts of experience or information, and we make instant or snap judgments based upon those patterns.What does this mean; it means that our unconscious holds on to information from previous events. From that information our unconscious recognizes certain patterns from the past and catches similarities in current experiences or events and reacts. This reaction although it may sound a bit complicated happens in mere seconds. We don’t recognize what is going on, it happens without us being able to explain it. The book defines it as, â€Å"the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. Its rapid cognition, the unconscious reacts from recognition to previous patterns in mere seconds; this is what makes it so amazing. At the same time snap judgments from thin-slicing can be very problematic, as we learn from the book in its examples. The first story in the book being a positive one teaches us how thin-slicing works instantly, without being able to explain it. The book starts off at the Getty Museum on its early days, when it was starting off. It wanted to gain some kind of recognition so it made its first big art purchase.It was a 10 million dollar purchase, so the museum took caution. They hired lawyers to check all the paperwork and records of the statue. This statue of a kouros was said to be thousands of years old. There was even a geologist who took samples of the statue and ran it through many different tests and machines. They all concluded that the statue was the real deal and made the purchase in the fall of 1986. This kouros was going to be a great occasion, with stories on the New York Times, and other magazines. A few weeks after the kouros was put on display was when the truth came out.One by one different art experts doubted the statue. They couldn’t explain why at the time, but their immediate reaction to the kouros was just a hunch that something wasn’t right. Why though? What did these experts see what all the other people missed when looking at the statue? They were all intuitively repulsed by this kouros at first sight of it. Eventually all the paperwork and records didn’t fit, they all came to the conclusion that the kouros was a fake. The art experts were taking part of thin-slicing.They knew something wasn’t right the first time they saw it, their hunch was that something wasn’t right, but they couldn’t explain what it was. This example of the Getty museum showed successful thin slicing. The â€Å"love lab† is John Gottman’s successful way of determining if a couple is going to be together 15 years from now. He does this by videotaping each person he just has them sit in a room; he measures their heart rate, movements, and has them have a conversation. He then analyzes these videos second by second, looking at every emotion.His method of determining such an important conclusion is based on SPAFF; it’s a coding system that has many categories corresponding to all emotions. His success rate is incredibly accurate, by analyzing a couple for an hour his prediction has 95% accuracy if the couple will be married 15 years later. If he watches them for 15 minutes his percentage is about 90%, and with only three minutes of analyzing the accuracy of his predictions are still very impres sive. The â€Å"love lab,† is an example of how thin-slicing works correctly.Our unconscious is Gottman analyzing those videos, second by second looking at every emotion in the couples. The only difference is that our thin-slicing is done unconsciously, automatically, and in mere seconds. Our unconscious finds patterns in very minute amounts of events or information. Just like with the â€Å"love lab† our thin-slicing has a high rate of accuracy. This process makes it possible to gather information to make an important decision in such a short amount of time, it’s almost instantaneously. Thin-slicing can also be wrong, which we’ll see in the following examples.The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an example of the dark side of thin-slicing. This test was made by psychologists. This test brought forth a profound observation, which was that we make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do betwee n pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us. The book gives us an example of the IAT tests, the gender and race ones. These tests use mental associations which we are used to and then flips it around, an example is the gender test, first it shows names of both sexes and you have to choose whether the name is a female or male.That part is easy enough and done pretty fast, it then gives you two more choices career or male and female or home then words which are associated to either list. Then the last part where it gets tricky is when it switches home and career, so the choices are male or home and female and career. This part of the test takes people a little longer to choose. This test also has a race version in which the choices are European American or bad and African American and good, then switches the good and bad. The results of the race IAT are that more than 80% have pro-white associations.Why is this so, and what does it mean? The book explains that our attitudes towards rac e and gender operate on two levels. First our conscious attitude which is what we choose to believe. What the IAT measures though is something else, it’s our second level of attitude on an unconscious level. On this level are our immediate, automatic association that just come out, we don’t even notice these. These unconscious attitudes weren’t chosen by us, we may not even be aware of these. This is data our unconscious crunches from past experiences or information we’ve seen on TV, book, movies, etc.From all this data we unconsciously form opinions of race and gender, which is what the IAT measures. This teaches us that thin-slicing can also have negative conclusions, and may not always be right. The IAT also discovered that the results mean we tend to act differently with certain races, its little things we don’t notice we do because they are done in an unconscious level. This is bad because it makes us discriminate, on an unconscious level, wit hout us even knowing so. Another example of thin-slicing reactions we don’t notice. The Millennium Challenge was a war game exercise by the U. S. n 2002 which cost 250 million dollars. This war was made up of blue team which was the U. S. and red team which was the enemy run by Paul Van Riper a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General. This war game was used by the pentagon to test new ideas about military organization and experiments. Blue team had greater intellectual resources they had an advantage over red team. In the end the winner was the red team. How did this happen, Van Riper didn’t have any advantage over blue team and their resources. He did however have his past experiences to help him. Blue team had all these resources, they had too many resources.All these resources which were supposed to be an advantage ended up being their demise, they were over thinking every move they made. On the other hand Van Riper acted instantly and won. The mistake blue team mad e was that they forced their commanders to stop and talk things over figure out what was going on. The war games didn’t demand for logic, it demanded for action. This is an example of the unconscious finding patterns in chaos and just reacting, thin-slicing in action. Thin-slicing might sound good for the most part, but there is also much wrong with thin-slicing.Not everything can be thin-sliced, and work out, an example of this in the book is a rock musician known as Kenna. He had a new sound and it was unlike anything ever heard before. People in the music business loved him, and recommended him he got a record deal and so on. The only thing left for Kenna was to have his music on the radio, sounds easy enough if musicians, producers, and people in the business liked his stuff. Kenna’s single was put through a test to see how people were going to react and if he would be successful. His song was tested with people, and ended up being a failure, no one liked him.This is thin-slicing gone wrong, where our first impression isn’t the right one. Kenna’s song was tested with people who only heard a clip of the song, not the whole song. Just a clip of something they had never heard before something completely new, it was something unrecognizable, and no one liked it. All the music pro’s on the other hand loved it; they were experts in music and knew that Kenna was something different. Just that thin-slicing never let Kenna be the star he could have been. Another lesson we can learn from thin-slicing comes from the shooting f Amadou Diallo. This man was shot down 41 times by 4 police officers. This took place in the Bronx after midnight, the event in the book is said to have only taken 7 seconds to happen. This is when snap judgments went wrong; these four officers reacted and killed an innocent man. These four officers were driving around patrolling as part of the Street Crime Unit. The thing is that they were driving around in an unmarked car in plainclothes. They saw Diallo standing outside his building and thought he looked suspicious so two got off and went to go talk to him.They went up to Diallo and he tried to go inside his building. They kept telling him to freeze and pointed their guns at him; he then reached into his pocket and pulled out something that one of the officers saw as a gun, which ended up being a wallet. So much went wrong here, these cops didn’t bother to see Diallo or as the book says read his emotions. This is something we, under normal circumstances, have the ability to read other people’s emotions through facial expressions. However we lose this ability under too much stress, pressure, or fear.Gladwell’s theory about thin-slicing indicates that it is not enough to make certain conscious changes in attitudes or values, but must also acknowledge the subtle influence that can alter our subconscious, thereby undermining our conscious attitudes. He argues that by t aking control of the environment in which thin-slicing happens, one can also control thin-slicing and prevent/lessen the mistakes made. He makes a good point of this throughout his book; he gives us many examples of how thin-slicing can work positively and negatively. He shows how it’s not always right, but how we can work on it to correct it.The aeron chair is an example of this, thin-slicing made people look at the chair and hate it. It was something new; they had never seen anything like it so they rejected it. Once they got to try the chair though they experienced it and found out that they actually really liked the chair. The same with Kenna’s music, thin-slicing made people dislike his music. Thin-slicing, snap judgments, all of this has its good and bad. Gladwell’s book shows how the theory of thin-slicing works, good and bad examples of it, and shows us how things can go wrong in the blink of an eye. How our unconscious affects us at all times whether we realize it or not.How we can notice when our snap judgments are wrong, and makes us realize we need to pay more attention to how we act. Our unconscious works in amazing ways and the process of thin-slicing only makes it a much more amazing thing. It can however be a bad thing as well. This book shows us how this is so, and how we unconsciously act a certain way, are attracted to certain things, and so on. Blinking like thin-slicing is done unconsciously but blinking unlike thin-slicing is noticed by us, but after this book I will try to notice my thin-slicing and try to notice when I unconsciously act.