The Behaviour of MNEs and of Global Supply Chains Essay

The Behavior of MNEs and of Global Supply Chains - Essay Example 15). It is the reason for this short conversation to investigate a portion of the more remarkable perspectives on business analysts on the conduct of MNEs and worldwide gracefully chains and how they influence the worldwide economy. Impact of MNEs in developing economies Theoretically, the MNEs satisfy a fundamental job in connecting economies with one another, through the exchange of monetary capital, information and abilities, thoughts and worth frameworks (Meyer, 2004). Contention joins in, in any case, the impacts of MNE exercises on the improvement of the neighborhood economy and the social government assistance of the host nation inhabitants. It is recognized that MNEs may move trend setting innovations and best practices to developing economies where it has auxiliary activities, while nearby firms may profit by positive information overflows from the tasks of MNEs. Information overflows are unique in relation to information moves in light of the fact that the last are purposef ul and are focused at the nearby auxiliary, while overflows are not conscious, and the recipients are the neighborhood firms other than the auxiliary. This positive improvement is tempered, however, yet the likelihood that the MNE may swarm out neighborhood firms, and cause a decrease in seriousness in the market. Moreover, MNEs may force their solid bartering position comparable to have nation governments, so as to get concessions which limit the social and monetary advantages which ought to have accumulated to have countries (Stiglitz, 2007; Bansal and Hoffman, 2012). Worldwide normalization versus national separation/fracture in the flexibly chain At the focal point of the discussion concerning MNE’s sway on have nations and their surroundings is the weight towards worldwide normalization as against the neighborhood propensity towards national discontinuity (Bansal and Hoffman, 2012). As indicated by the incorporation responsiveness structure created by Bartlett and Goshal (1998, 2002), MNEs are constrained to coordinate their tasks all inclusive in view of clients across various nations have basic needs, and it is by brought together dynamic and normalized items and practices that the MNE could all the more proficiently and monetarily fulfill the needs of its worldwide market. Among outer determinants of MNE worldwide normalization are home and host nation pressures just as those impacts that cross outskirts. Intricacies identifying with the differing accessibility of materials, innovation, gifted laborers, and different assets across nations impacts upon the choice of MNEs whether and how far to normalize and coordinate. From the get-go in the advancement of the worldwide economy, noteworthy heterogeneity of host nation guidelines constrained MNEs to receive various strategies to embrace to every nation and culture. All the more as of late, be that as it may, national governments have focused on drawing in remote direct ventures (FDIs), raising wor ries that creating nations would bring down their hindrances to exchange and FDI, and to keep ecological guidelines low to pull in MNEs to set up creation and imbue interest in the nation (Bansal and Hoffman

A Review of Multmodal Learning Styles Essay

Cara making, outllnes ana courses of events made, ana In tne cnolce 0T pnyslcal condition utilized for study. A read-compose student ingests data through composed structures: records, understanding writings or gifts, nitty gritty note taking, power focuses, and extra assets like paper or online articles about the subject. Understudy A likewise utilizes a portion of the methodologies of this style with the extra research on the theme, various editing of composed substance, and perusing of every appointed content or presents. Survey of the learning methodologies of both the read-compose and the inesthetic learning styles shows accommodating procedures not as of now utilized by Student A. This understudy can likewise profit by fusing a few taking in techniques from each style. The sensation system of relating the data to their own background and discovering genuine models would help Student A to hold and review data as it is appended to genuine references the understudy has just disguised. Utilizing the read-compose procedures of modifying data a few times and transforming the substance of a chart or outline into a composed rundown would help Student An explain and hold nderstanding of that content. Utilizing the VARK Learning Style Assessment is a useful apparatus for any student. It gives supportive data that permits the understudy bits of knowledge into how they learn and offers techniques to take advantage of that learning style and maintain a strategic distance from the issues that can be related with that style. It is additionally useful for an understudy to comprehend that there are other learning styles and know about the focal point of those learning styles. This guides in deciphering data given in another style in to the student’s style for ideal learning and furthermore helps the tudent make an interpretation of their style to suit the learning style of another when instructing data. References Deep and Surface Approaches to Learning. n. d. ). Recovered from http://trade. air conditioning. uk/learning-and-instructing hypothesis direct/profound and-surface-approaches-learning. html Fleming, N. D. , ; Mills, C. (1992). Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection. To Improve the Academy, 1 10, 137. Fleming, N. D. (2011). VARK: A Review of Those Who Are Multimodal. Recovered from http://www. vark-learn. com/english/page_content/multimodality. htm

Studying in China on MITs Budget a Guest Post by Saul W. 14

Studying in China on MIT’s Budget a Guest Post by Saul W. ‘14 Annas asked me to write for her blog. And, since this is Anna, there is some implicit obligation to be nice, or worse yet cheerful and upbeat. As you can see, this does not come naturally. She wants me to write about China, where Ive spent the last two summers and last two IAPs and where Ill be heading off to again sooner or later. The first three trips were for Chinese language (funded by the always-generous Global Education Office) and the last for research on village reconstruction projects (funded by one of my departments, Foreign Languages Literatures). The next year Ill spend at Peking University, funded by the Chinese government. One of the great perks of being at MIT is that all this stuff gets paid for, as Ill discuss more at the end of the post. There is some reasonable question why an MIT math major spends so much time on the other side of the world. The answer is that Im also an (er, the schools sole) Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies  major, half out of longstanding curiosity about the humanities and half as a coping mechanism to handle the eight humanities classes MIT requires. In this case Asia really means China, and I figure that if Im studying China I should really learn the language, too. And where better to study a language and a country than by being there? Given that I take a lot of photos in China and hate to see them go to waste, Im going to write this blog post as captions on photos. My first trip to China began by crossing the border from Hong Kong into Shenzhen, one of the first cities to open up to foreign investment in the 1980s. It changed wholesale my image of China. I had always thought of China as a developing country, both thanks to news coverage and my academic training. Shenzhen, then, came as quite a shock: it did not fit with my image of a developing country. This photo is from a hill overlooking downtown (well, one of the downtowns), where an enormous Deng Xiaoping looks out over this strange building. It is, of course, the local government headquarters. They tend to be big and fancy, but this takes the cake for creativity. From this view at least, urban China looks developed. It is not quite fair to those who label China as a developing country to leave it at a skyline photo. Chinese cities invest a great deal of effort and money in making their skylines look developed, and sometimes up close China is more legitimately a developing country. Shenzhen, which is itself at the highly developed end of the Chinese spectrum, is chalk full of urban villages, tenement housing crammed full of migrant workers. And although once you get off into the countryside, much of it still looks pretty developed thanks to migrants who invest heavily in their houses back home, there are serious exceptions where poverty prevails. Heres what goes on at street-level. (Shenzhen, again) One of the stranger forms of street activity is package delivery. Unlike in the US, where packages show up at your door, you get to go hunting for your stuff in China. You get a little slip telling you where it is, and then you find the appropriate street-side heap of boxes from which to collect it. (Beijing) And if youre going to do all this stuff on the street you also have to clean the streets… (Beijing) But cleanliness only goes so far. Chinese streets are pretty dangerous. Fortunately, there are normally lots of people who want to cross them, so one joins the pack, then hops across lane by lane. Hopefully, someone else gets picked off by the speeding car. So it works, and traffic lights become somewhat optional, but it can be a tad unnerving. Nobody takes the laws too seriously. Cars crowd into the buses only lane. Bus riders flout the wear-a-seatbelt rule, partly because they seem to think the contraptions a bit foreign. (I had to show one grandmother, who didnt even speak Mandarin, how to put one on.) The authorities respond by checking that the belts are on before you leave the bus depot (at least in Yunnan), so everyone buckles up for a minute and then unbuckles. Of course, there are some accidents… and then you get to see citizens arguing with the police. Still, most of the time the roads just work. Besides the lane-hopping pedestrians (e.g., me), they squeeze in cars and buses. And then there are the electric motorbikes… lots of cities have banned real motorbikes for environmental reasons, and regular bikes are just too old fashioned, but electric motorbikes are wildly popular in some places (although not up to Vietnamese standards, where traffic flow is essentially a fluid of electric bikes). And they can really kill you:  theyre quiet. They also can be pretty versatile… (Kunming) Notwithstanding Chinese planners best efforts, the cities are not quite entirely paved. Every city has oneor often a handful ofreally nice parks. These attract plenty of people out for a stroll, but they tend to be dominated by the elderly, who bring loud music and dance or practice taichi. They do this in city squares too. I love it, but it can drive the locals nuts: in fact, there have been a spate of violent rampages against too-noisy crowds of dancing seniors. (Cuihu, Kunming) Not all the seniors in the parks are dancing. They also have to do important business: finding their kids and grandkids spouses. Heres a collection of spouse-wanted posters, specifying the desired dimensions, employment, etc. (Chengdu) Although studying Chinese is something of a full time job, it really doesnt require being near the classroom. The vast majority of locals are only going to carry on a conversation in Chinese (some overzealous high-schoolers excepted). So sightseeing can legitimately be counted as studying. The big risk is that, if you venture too far out into the countryside, people wont even be speaking Mandarin, either. Traveling (for me at least) tends to start in a big train station. They arent normally as crowded as this one in Tianjintheyre universally brand new, and all enormouswere talking 20 to 30 tracks, rarely filled with trains. When I first was in China in 2012, almost all the stations I went to were deserted. Now theyre starting to get busier… you get used to big things fast in China, and you get used to change. And big things can also be quite pretty. Heres a snow sculpture from the annual Harbin Snow Ice Festival. And yes, those are people walking around on it. Harbin is about as far north as you can get without being in Russiaits north of Vladivostok (but south of Paris!)and indeed has been Russian (see the Russian Orthodox Church downtown, since converted to a museum after rather serious neglect during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution). Anyway, every year Harbin attracts Chinese tourists from all over the country to come and freeze looking at enormous snow sculptures, intricate ice sculptures, and a veritable city subdivision made of ice. Getting there was a bit of a pain for me. Chinese train tickets sell out quickly the closer one gets to Chinese New Year (this year I swear I saw a train sell out within 30 seconds of opening sales), tickets to Harbin kept selling out before I could get to the front of the ticket queue. I eventually bought them online… Getting off the train in Harbin I realized I might have made a mistake: my mustache froze as I encountered a 90 ºF temperature change from the train to outdoors. The rest o f my time in Harbin (low: -30 ºC) was cold, er, frostbitten. But well worth it. Even if the cabs there really try to swindle you. Skipping to the opposite corner of the (populated part of the) country, here are the Yuanyang rice terraces in Yunnan (????), about to fall over the border into Vietnam. So I visited them (with my dad) after some sightseeing in Vietnam. We woke up at the crack of dawn and headed for the Vietnam-China border, where we encountered some black-market money changers and a lot of merchants taking lychees and other fruits across into China to sell them wholesale on the streets to Chinese buyers. When the border crossing opened, they literally charged across to get first access to the market. We should have too. We almost missed our dinky twenty-seater bus, which (except for some rough patches through banana plantations and up mountains) cruised along big divided highways for much of the journey. This in the middle of nowhere: the infrastructure can be quite amazing. Yuanyang is part of an autonomous minority prefecture for the Hani and Yi peoples, and the center of the rice terraces tourist area is a former county seat that continues to serve as a major market town. So out in full force were crowds of locals in local dress, including plenty with live chickens. I stopped for the local rice noodles (??) at a little restaurant only to discover a couple of live chickens falling over my feet. Here they perch in someones basket. Some sights in China you might actually have heard of. Heres the GIANT Buddha at Leshan (??)keep in mind that those are full-grown trees on the walls. Just on the other side of the hill is a modern Buddha sculpture garden (mostly deserted) with only slightly smaller Buddhist statues mimicking those at other famous Chinese sites. Since its a major tourist site (and hence cram-packed with slow-moving people), getting there wasnt hard. Getting out was a tad more difficult, as I dawdled and treated myself to dinner at a local restaurant before trying to find the bus back to Emei (my bed). Fortunately, before I found the bus station, which closed well before dark, I found the public park, complete with huge crowd of dancers and a couple of girls giggling about the foreigner passing by. I somehow scared them into thinking I knew some Chinese, at which point I was roped into a photo and offered help getting back to Emei… so they negotiated a cab for me while I (the foreigner, a tempting t arget on whom to raise the price) hid in the background. Being a foreigner can be quite easy at times… Back to Yunnan for Puzhehei (???), where I ventured out on a weekend between classes. (This didnt afford much time to actually be there. I had to take a bus to the prefectural seat, sleep the night in a hotel that had run the internet wiring on the outside of the building, then another bus to the county seat, and a walka bus did existout to the village/tourist resort. Coming back I found myself on a bus armed with bedsfor a daytime ride. Quite awkward lying down. On my top bunk.) Puzhehei is a truly Chinese tourist town. I was the only foreigner I saw there (plenty of photos taken of me by people who thought I didnt notice), and the Chinese tourists were in standard form: they stayed at ground level on paved paths. Hence most people did not get to see this view. Also, as is typical in China, my hotel had a massage parlor complete with room service advertised by a photo of an almost naked-girl stuck next to my bed. On the door was the police sign admonishing visitors against prostitut ion. Speaking of signs, they are everywhere, and often pretty funny. The best are often what would in English just say Stay off the grass. (Runner up for this spot in the blog was BEWARE OF YOUR CHILDREN!) Not all signs are funny without context. My first summer in China, Beijing was hit by a record-breaking thunderstorm that resulted in significant flooding (and a few deaths), particularly in Fangshan ??, a district southwest of the downtown. Some western media implicitly forecast the impending fall of the regime based upon the loss of legitimacy traditionally implied by poorly handled natural disasters. The journalist-astrologers were proven wrong. But when I decided to spend an afternoon after class going to investigate, I got to see not only 750,000 year old Peking Man but also this streetscape. The sign, of the typical red banner variety, remarks that Communist Party members should stand at the forefront of flood recovery from start to finish. Not much news there. But whats the stuff in front of it drying on the street? Noodles. I kid you not. And as a parting gift… my favorite pedestrian overpass in Beijing. HOW THIS GOT FUNDED: Three of my four trips to China were for Chinese language classes: once in Beijing at CET, once in Tianjin at New Century, and once in Kunming at CET. These were all funded by the MIT Global Education Office, which I heard about through the rare useful piece of spam jammed into my inbox by the Math Department. They had me fill out a very short two page application, after which I was given funding for my airfare and tuitionif you ask, you can also sometimes get living costs covered. I repeated this for the next two trips. The fourth trip was for research, so some persistence won me departmental funding for the exercise. The next and fifth trip will be to study Chinese after I graduate. MIT is guaranteed four Chinese Government Scholarships to cover students who enroll in Chinese universities for degree or non-degree programs. Ill be enrolling at Peking University, and as the only person from MIT who bothered to apply, didnt have too much to worry about in terms of getting funding. In short, the humanities at MIT are not crowdedso you can get treated quite well financially!

Autism Spectrum Disorders Essay - 1734 Words

This paper will discuss the characteristics or Autism Spectrum Disorder, including its symptoms, treatments, and possible causes. This paper will also highlight the differences between Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) and Asperger Disorder(AD). Autism spectrum disorders effect one in 110 births in the United States. Autism spectrum disorders are severe, incurable developmental disorders whose symptoms, including impairments in social interaction and communication, emerge during the first two years of life. Asperger disorder distinguishes from Autistic disorder because its presence may not become clear until primary school, when its social and behavioral effects become problematic. Autism spectrum disorders, a research paper written by Bruce†¦show more content†¦Other times there is a plateau of development, which makes the autism more noticeable. Language and speech of those with autism is delayed. Most children say words by the time they are one, but children with autism may n ot speak until they are five to nine years old and some remain mute their entire life. Some with relatively good language skills speak like adults and are never able to master the language of their peers. Most of the time they have â€Å"Echolalia†, which the Merriam Webster dictionary defines as, â€Å"the often pathological repetition of what is said by other people as if echoing them.† While children without ASD also parrot what their parents say, their repetition stops by age three. Not only do they repeat words and phrases, they also practice repetitive behavior. People with autism frequently have repetitive motor mannerisms including hand flapping, finger flicking, and tiptoe walking. Repetitive behavior often appears in the form of obsessively learning about certain subjects like vacuum cleaners, train schedules, or coins. Often times they have a great interest in numbers, symbols, or science topics. Children with autism do not realize that other people feel dif ferently and have different priorities than them. They have a very difficult time understanding social cues. A simple wink or smile has noShow MoreRelatedAutism Spectrum Disorder And Autism Essay1393 Words   |  6 PagesAutism is a neurological disorder with many forms and severities, better known as autism spectrum disorder, that begins early in childhood and lasts throughout the individual’s life. Autism spectrum disorder is defined as developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges (CDC). Previously, autism was recognized in distinct groups and types. Now, autism is referred to as a spectrum because there is an overlap among all the different forms of autismRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder And Autism2594 Words   |  11 PagesAutism Spectrum Disorder is defined as a neurodevelopmental condition that is classified by a triad of impairments. These impairments are in communication, socialization, and repetitive patter ns of behavior (Wolf, 2004). Autism affects about 1% of the current population (Shishido, Branko, Norio, 2013). This disorder seems like a common diagnosis in the current day in age but the disorder was only discovered around sixty years ago. The two founding researchers that discovered the disorder are KannerRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder And Autism1827 Words   |  8 Pagesin the United States had one or more developmental disorders in 2006-2008. This can affect the person mentally, physically, emotionally, or a combination of the three. These range from something as simple as a speech delay to something as complex as cerebral palsy. One of these developmental disorders is autism. Autism can cause social, communication, and behavioral challenges. One in 68 children are affected by autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is 4.5 times more common in boys. One in forty-twoRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder ( Autism ) Essay1739 Words   |  7 Pagesconventions (Lai, 2014). These t wo observations would be the beginning of a disorder known as the Autism Spectrum Disorder. This developmental disorder, characterized by a range of deficits in different areas, is increasingly prevalent in society and in the media. While the exact numbers vary from country to country, according to Lai (2014), 1% of the general population is diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The range of this disorder has a detrimental effect on society, specifically the educationalRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder ( Autism ) Essay1858 Words   |  8 Pages Autism Spectrum Disorder affects various aspects of an autistic child’s life. Many children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder every year, while others go undiagnosed for an extended time, or even for their whole life. A child exhibiting delays in language benchmarks or showing little interest in the surroundings should be examined for possible ASD. Language is often impaired and although the level of impairment can range from severe too unnoticeable in each child, a child is likely toRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder1446 Words   |  6 PagesPublic Health Problem Autism or autism spectrum disorder ( ASD) is a developmental disorder that has been found world wide. However unlike many other disorders, autism is fairly new in the sense that there is no cure nor a set factor causing it. Today, the public is more aware of the disorder, yet there is still concern about how to treat autism in children as well as what risk factors are more likely to lead to autism. Autism has been around for the past hundred years, however previous to theRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder1409 Words   |  6 Pagesboys and 1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States (Autism Speaks, n.d.). Can be diagnosed in all racial and ethnic groups, as well as every age group. In the 2013 publication of DSM-5 diagnostic manual, Asperger syndrome, Autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder- not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) were merged into one category of ASD. This paper will explain what Autism Spectrum Disorder is, causes, signs and symptoms, diagnosisRead MoreAutism And Autism Spectrum Disorder1267 Words   |  6 Pages and the way he interacted with others, spoke to me on a profound level. I know autism when I see it. For those not familiar with autism, Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization, defines autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees (hence, a â€Å"Spectrum† that includes both low- and high-functioning individuals), by difficulties in socialRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder And Autism1401 Words   |  6 PagesIn America about one out of 88 children have autism spectrum disorder and about 36,500 in four million children are born with autism. Currently approximately 1.5 million adults are living with autism in the United States. The autistic brain is a complicated phenomenon, which has required many years of research in the biomedical field by institutes, organizations, and the government to comprehend the disorder. Depending on the severity of the disorder – low functionin g or high functioning – and theRead MoreAutism Spectrum Disorder And Autism Essay2049 Words   |  9 Pages Autism and Asperger’s are two syndromes that are now looked as being part of the ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder’. Asperger’s is on the high functioning end while Autism is on the low functioning end. Before the ‘autism spectrum’ was created, in nineteen forty-three and nineteen forty-four, a psychiatrist named Leo Kanner and German scientist named Hans Asperger discovered Autism and Asperger’s. Their research included looking at cases of children who were different and had qualities of aloneness, obsessiveness

Losing Weight Lifetime and Commitment Free Essays

Dieting Is a hard task to do If you do not have the right tools to accomplish It Besides there is so many diets and exercise regimes out there in today’s world that it is enough to confuse a person. It Is going to be a challenge and a personal goal for some people. How about you? Do you want to make a life time change to get your body, mind and soul on track and plus keep off for life, too? It is all about making a life change in helping people get control of there body and emotions and well-being. We will write a custom essay sample on Losing Weight: Lifetime and Commitment or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many overweight people have other deficiencies in there body for they are not eating he right foods and getting the right nutrients to satisfy there bodies. They are usually nervous, irritable, moody, depressed, and feel sluggish all the time of which makes them not think clearly and have little or no energy to do there dally tasks In life. When people do not have a balanced diet and exercise regime they are constantly hungry and feel sluggish. Remember you have choices In life so make the right choice. By making a life time change and commitment to change bad habits and exercise will help anyone have positive results as live longer and maintain weight. First, you need to have a goal as to how much weight you want or need to lose. So you need to set the goal but do not set a time limit and give your self adequate time to reach it. Take as many steps as possible to reach that ultimate goal. You and everyone else can do this if you Just keep your eyes focused on the goal. People should really go too quiet place and really search down deep in side your self if you have the guts to do it or not and the commitment in doing this for there body and mind and soul. So think about if you really want this and then go do it for yourself. It would not hurt togged kind of a support team to help keep you titivated and then when It gets rough sometimes and you want to quit you will have this and won’t give up. You could go to friends, loved ones, churches, diet groups and maybe come up with one but you do need to choose one. Choosing one will help give support when needed and enjoyment through your program that you chose. Rather a team Is better than one to help you reach your goals In life. Secondly, you need to choose a diet and exercise program to start to reach that ultimate goal. To find the right diet take a look at your body and analyze it to see what you need to work on In order to reach your goal. Do some research on it. Like look up different diets and chose one and same goes for the exercise program It Is actually what ever fits that person but to tell you the truth I personally found a diet after doing the Atkins Diet that really works and keeps you satisfied all day. I found that the Atkins Diet was high in fats that can raise your cholesterol and lead more to heart disease. It would keep your blood pressure up and definitely is not good for your body. We all know that none of this Is good for they don’t care about there persons or natural sugar that owe not harm you. These are suppose to work together for you to lose weight. Len the Atkins Diet you only lose up to approximately 10 lbs. A month compared to the Venetian Wellness Diet. The Venetian Wellness Diet where you can eat all day long and feel full and not be Irritable. It Is all with good wholesome food and filling content with it. You still eat protein, veggies, fruits, and not breads of pasta or rice not unless It Is brown. Most of the foods maybe organic It will give It a more natural 1 OFF feeling and better tort you to eat. The change is g tort the wellness tort your body. You limit your dairy and your portions are a filling size. You are choosing your foods in a differently manner. The pounds will soon start slipping off and you will start feeling different inside to and with incorporating a exercise regime into helping you lose weight you will be helping complete your goal. You might want to do some more research on exercise you are going to chose for you self to do. Maybe you can do aerobics, swim aerobics, walking or doing a little of everything put together at least three times to five times a week. So with these tools you will be able to keep the eight off and get there body in shape. Finally it is all about making a long life commitment and life change for yourself. The Venetian Wellness Diet will do Just that for you. You can eat all day and not feel hungry and with exercising you will have all the tools you need to achieve that life time goal and commitment for life. All of this will get your body in shape emotionally and psychologically balanced in your life. So lust don’t think you will have these tools your whole life to use and that meaner that you are making your body balanced and ready to fight the world out there with your new life commitment and change. After using this diet and exercise you will have a new level s of well-being in your life and energy you thought you never had before. With the Venetian Wellness Diet and the exercising regime that you chose you will experience this only if you commit too life change . Just watch you transform and with these tools you will be able to reach your goal. You have to be religious and passionate about yourself to do this. So make that life time long commitment and change to change your body for yourself and complete that goal. Get going now and make that change and commitment in your life for a lifetime. How to cite Losing Weight: Lifetime and Commitment, Essays

Analysis Short Story and Robin Black free essay sample

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived by Robin Black In this essay will I analyse and interpret Robin Blacks short story Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. I will focus on the structure and the use of symbols in the short story in a part of my essay. The short story Divorced, Beheaded, Survived is written by Robin Black in 2010. The short story is about a woman who thinks back of her childhood, where her brother still lived. She recalls how everybody started ignoring her and her brother when he got sick and died. In present her son loses his best friend and goes through the same type of sorrow. She thinks back at a stage play they used to act with some other kids in the back yard. The short story takes place on Manhattan in about 2004. The main character thinks back at her childhood in Massachusetts. In the present the main character lives with her husband, Lyle, and her two children, Mark and Coco, on Manhattan. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis: Short Story and Robin Black or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the past she lived with her parents and her older brother in a house. Her childhood home had a small yard with rosebushes and a Japanese maple. The main character is named Sarah. She went to high school and college. She has had a brief marriage with another man, but is now married to Lyle, whom she has two children with. Her to kids are 16 years old, Mark, and 12 years old, Coco. She had a brother named Terrance, called terry, who died in 1974, when he was about 14. Sarah was about 12 when he died. Sarah did not want her two kids to be closer at age, because she would not want them to be like her brother and her. But I put our second child off, and so my boy and girl were always Just a little different from the air we used to be (Page 2, line 63-64) Sarah tries to protect her children and her self from sorrow and from being frightened, by taking down the pictures of her dead brother. l was afraid my brothers face would become a fearful thing for them. And maybe for me as well, with kids of my own. (Page 4, line 139-140) She thinks a lot of the stage p lay she performed in her childhood home with her brother and some of the neighbours kids, and how her friends vanished when Terry got sick. She remembers how it felt and how hard it was to get trough, and she knows it will take Marks some time as well to get over his loss. And I know that he will. It Just takes time ( ) Itll take some more time (Page 4, line 152-153) The short story is written with a 1st person narrator. l dont think about Terry everyday, anymore (Page 4, Line 127) It is not an omniscient narrator, because we only get to now the main characters feelings and thoughts. The short story Jumps in time by the main characters thoughts. It begins with Sarahs childhood, where you near now it was betore Terry got sick and it switches to present atter we near he ied. As a reader you get thrown right into her present life, where she get a call regarding her sons best friends death. Just as she is about to tell her son, we are en the past again hearing about how the time was when Terry was sick. Through the whole story does Robin Black switch from past to present and reverse in exiting moments, which catches the readers attention. We alternate between hearing about how she was and how she is now. It is first in the very last part we hear how she got trough the rough period. Robin Black uses the tree words divorced, beheaded and survived, not only in the headline but more than one time in the story. The tree words are a symbol of the 3 periods you are going through, when a loved one gets sick and die. Divorced is the time where your friends start avoiding you, not because they do not love you, but because they do not know how to react. The second period is beheaded, where the loved one dies, which is the rough period. The last word is survived. Even though it has been hard, will there be light again. You will get trough it. In the beginning of the hort story Sarah remember how everybody wanted to be Anne Boleyn, the plum role, and how Terry was the best to play her. I think Terry is a symbol of Anne Boleyn. The people surrounding them admire both of them and they both die anyways. I think they are a symbol of how nothing comes easy and you should be happy for what you have. The main themes are sorrow, dealing with sorrow and how life goes on. Trough Sarahs thoughts we hear how you cannot be prepared to lose a person you love. Many people have a hard time dealing with death and do not know how to act. In . Divorced, Beheaded, Survived Robin Black describes how Sarahs friends quietly start ignoring her and the brother begins as well. She feels alone with her sorrow, which many people do. We had played together all our lives, and then it ended. There was no more ease between us. Not even between my brother and me. (Page 3, line 105-106) In the short story the main character is dealing with her sorrow by burying it. Silences, agreed to. Intimacies, put away. (Page 5, Line 173) Her friends who knew her brother were avoiding her, so she could not talk to them about her feelings.

The Effects of the Normandy Invasion free essay sample

The Effects of the Normandy Invasion On June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy, in France, was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. In this bloody battle, that took place over sixty miles of beachhead on the Normandy coast, Allied forces broke through those of Germany and opened the way for Europe to be liberated from Nazi rule. In the decade preceding the Normandy Invasion (or â€Å"D-Day†), Hitler and his government, the Third Reich, conquered much of Europe, spreading terror and suffering. One nation that was conquered was France. Conquered in 1940, France was one key member of the Allied forces, including Great Britain, the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. All of these nations were represented on that fateful day of June 6, 1944. At dawn, these allied troops, led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, headed onto the beaches, fighting their way through the German forces. The destruction was great. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects of the Normandy Invasion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The United States, alone, lost over three thousand soldiers in that battle. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. However, it was the Allied troops who prevailed. After over one month of fighting, the Germans finally retreated, and the Allies were able to make it safely into Paris. Victory, though costly, was theirs. ’ The Allies’ victory at Normandy opened the way for them to begin liberating the rest of Europe from Nazi occupation and oppression. After liberating France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and much of the Netherlands, the Allies pushed towards Germany, the dominating lion of Europe. As a result of their victories, Hitler, the Fuhrer of Germany, now had to fight on two fronts – the west and the east in Russia. This caused the Third Reich to become frustrated, andin a final attempt at conquering all of Europe, Hitler said, â€Å"All resistance must be broken in a wave of terror† (Beck 458). This led to the Battle of the Bulge, the final defeat of Germany by the Allies. And all of this was made possible because of the Allies’ victory at the Normandy Invasion. The goal of D-Day, to break German forces and open a way to defeat the Third Reich, was accomplished. Many lives, however, were lost in the cause. Many sons, husbands, and friends did not return to their homes after the invasion. This makes the Normandy Invasion important, not only because of its political significance, but also because of the legacy of those who fought in it.

Okc Murrah Building Bombing Essays

Okc Murrah Building Bombing Essays Okc Murrah Building Bombing Essay Okc Murrah Building Bombing Essay 4800 pounds of a common farm fertilizer, and fuel oil then was packed inside the rented truck. The most terrifying thing about the making of this bomb was that its ingredients were cheap and very accessible to the public. Most gardening stores sell 50 pound bags of ammonium nitrate for $10. The substantial destruction from the bomb was luck more than anything. Former FBI bomb expert Denny Kline commented that he made the biggest bomb he had accessible to him, placed the device outside, and hoped for the best, and in fact, it was the worst scenario (Camp, 1995). It blew off the front end of the building, blowing up ceilings and collapsing floors, and burying victims under an immense amount of concrete and steel (Camp, 1995) Just 90 minutes after the explosion, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate on his vehicle. By April 21st, the 27-year-old Gulf War veteran would be known as the main suspect for the Alfred P. Murrah Building bombing and would subsequently be charged for the devastating crime. At the same time, Terry Nichols, McVeighs old army buddy was wanted for questioning. Nichols turned himself in, in Herington, Kansas, and was also charged with the bombing shortly after. (Clark, 1995) There has been speculation that the bombing of the federal building was to demonstrate the anti-government feelings over the 1993 government raid of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco Texas. The Branch Davidians are a deeply religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists. They have many theological beliefs in common with Messianic Judaism. The Waco raid began because ATF (The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) agents were trying to arrest a man named David Koresh, the head of the Davidian Branch, and search the Davidian Compound. The feds believed that Koresh was illegally converting semi-automatic AR-15’s into the fully automatic machine guns that soldiers use. Both McVeigh and Nichols were once spotted at the compound in Waco and were openly supporting the other Branch Davidians. In 1993, McVeigh drove to Waco, Texas during the Waco Siege to show his support. At the scene, he distributed pro-gun rights literature and bumper stickers, such as When guns are outlawed, I will become an outlaw. The bombing occurred exactly two years to the day after the compound burned to the ground killing 80 men, women, and children after a 51-day standoff between the Branch Davidians and the FBI. The bombing definitely put the spotlight on other groups with anti-government sentiments. McVeighs trial was set for Denver, Colorado on March 31, 1997. On June 3rd 1997, the jury found McVeigh guilty of all 11 counts, including eight counts of first degree murder in the deaths of eight federal law-enforcement agents, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction of a federal building. The jury deliberated for 23 and a half hours before deciding the verdict. In the end, Timothy McVeigh was left all alone as dozens of former best friends and family relatives testified against him (Eddy et al. , 1997). On June 14th 1997, the jury sentenced McVeigh to death by lethal injection. Many of the victims families were ecstaticly over joyed with the decision, as many people could see it no other way than to put him to death for the horrible crime he had committed. However, there were some people who were very saddened by the whole trial. One observer claimed that its not going to bring back my wife and lessen my loss, said Mike Lenz, whose wife was pregnant when killed by the explosion. Another echoed his attitude toward the situation, I really did not want the death penalty, said James Kreymborg, who lost his wife and daughter. Ive had enough death. (Wilmsen Simpson, 1997). The evidence against McVeigh was overwhelming. According to testimony, McVeigh constructed himself a fake drivers license with the name Bob Kling. Someone matching McVeighs description rented a Ryder truck in Junction City, Kansas. That truck which was identified by the axle number found at the bomb site blew up in Oklahoma City. McVeighs fingerprints were found all over a receipt that showed the purchasing 2,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. He told his friend, Michael Fortier, that he planned to stash a getaway car in an alley near the federal building. The keys to that truck were found in the alley. In addition, testimony proclaimed that McVeigh was stopped 1 ? hours after the bombing; explosive residue was found on ear plugs inside his vehicle; he had an envelope packed with newspaper clippings and papers with revolutionary writings; he wore a tee-shirt with the slogan: The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. (Wilmsen Simpson, 1997). The trial for Terry Nichols had a different result compared to the one for McVeigh. Nichols trial took place after McVeighs trial. On December 24th 1997, the jury found Nichols not guilty in 10 of the 11 original charges against him. He was found guilty of one charge of conspiracy and eight lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter. The jury deadlocked as how to sentence Nichols and left it up to the judge (Gorov, 1998). On June 5th 1998 the judge, US District Court Judge Richard P. Matsch, gave the 43-year-old Nichols a life sentence for his role in the bombing (Haynes, 1998). The bombing was quickly solved, but the investigation turned out to be one of the most exhaustive in FBI history. No stone was left unturned to make sure every clue was found and all the culprits identified. By the time it was over, the Bureau had conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed some 43,000 investigative leads, amassed three-and-a-half tons of evidence, and reviewed nearly a billion pieces of information. In the end, the government that McVeigh hated and hoped to topple swiftly captured him and convincingly convicted both him and his co-conspirators. The relatives of the victims were able to have some redemption with the horrible tragedy that happened. The worst terrorist act on US soil was committed by two Americans, the least likely thought by government officials to contain such a hatred for the American government. The April 19th 1995 bombing was an unthinkable tragedy but also an important lesson for the United States: one should look to themselves before pointing fingers at others. Page Camp, J. (1995). Terror in the heartland. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/facts/Bombing/Terror5-4/index. html. Clark, T. (1995). The worst terrorist attack on US soil: April 19th 1995. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/daily/9512/12-30/index. html. No author (1995). The Bombing. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi. cnn. com/US/OKC/bombing. html. Eddy, M. , Lane, G. , Pankratz, H. , Wilmsen, S. (1997). Guilty on every count. The Denver Post: rickross. com/reference/mcveigh1. html. Gorov, L. (1998). No Nichols death penalty: Jurors deadlocked; judge will sentence. The Denver Post: rickross. com/reference/mcveigh5. html. Haynes, V. D. (1998). Nichols gets life for bombing role. The Denver Post: rickross. com/reference/mcveigh6. html. Wilmsen, S. Simpson, K. (1997). McVeigh receives ultimate penalty. The Denver Post: rickross. com/reference/mcveigh3. html. Oklahoma City Bombing. History. com. AE Television Networks, n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. N. p. , n. d. Web. 23 Feb. 2013. Terrorist Bombing, Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma, 1995. Oklahoma City Bombing 1995. N. p. , n. d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013.

Managing information risk and security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Managing information risk and security - Essay Example Information technology and systems have provided companies and organization such exceptional innovation in data and information management deemed essential for organizational capacity development and corporate business strategizing. However, as much as it has fared sophistication in this knowledge-based economy, organizations have likewise put up imperative measures to safeguard critical IS assets from system abuse and misuse by constantly upgrading and installing firewalls, anti-virus, use of encryption keys, protectors, use of comprehensive monitoring system, and of scaling control from access. IT-based corporation has also made it as standard policy to restrict employees from breaching organizational rules and requirements in the use of information systems and security policy (ISSP) to ascertain that their behaviours are also aligned on the need to secure company’s database. This paper will qualitatively discuss the importance of managing information risk and security using peer-reviewed journals and books from online sources. Researcher will attempt to bridge the theoretical constructs to advance the need of improving security management control to attain, prevent and protect internet systems from security threats and from cyber-criminalities. Recent research pertaining to internet study depicted information of data theft and establishment of malicious code to steal confidential information (Symantec Corporation, 2007). Most of these breached in the system were undertaken with gross negligence of employees in safekeeping the system. Computers and servers left open and accessible to those who have variant interests may make use of data base and information for negative actions. As IT has influenced business and government system in discharging their functions, the risks too doubled with the increasing number of hackers and cyber criminals. Cybercriminals refer to those web-based activities that include illegally downloading music files, stealing of mi llions of money from bank accounts, creating and distribution of viruses on other computers, and posting confidential information on internet, including sex videos that are illegally taped. The most modern form of cybercrime is identity theft where criminals use personal information from other users, including pictures. This is known technically as phishing  and  pharming (Techterms, 2013, p. 1). Criminals use others information to attract other users to fake websites appearing to be legitimate and where personal information are asked, such the use of usernames and passwords, phone numbers, addresses, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and other information criminals can use to "steal" another person's identity (Techterms, 2013, p. 1). Many of this information are circulated on emailing system, thus, thousands are victimized and were unfortunately advantaged by those who are unscrupulous in using technology (Techterms, 2013, p. 1). Easy preys are those people with comput ers lacking antivirus and are bereft of spyware blocking software (Techterms, 2013, p. 1). Cases of Cybercrimes Some of the cybercrimes are also undertaken to embarrass governments due to resource-based conflicts with other nations. In effects, a number of government websites are defaced by group of hackers to embarrass the IT security management of the state and to

Critical Response of Aflaq, al-Husri, Rida, Khalidi Essay

Critical Response of Aflaq, al-Husri, Rida, Khalidi - Essay Example This term simply refers to according much patriotism to one’s ethnic, as well as the tribal community, other than the government (Hobsbawn 48). Therefore, this script will keenly address the issue of protonationalism according to Hobsbawm. In addition, it will further illustrate the elements of protonationalism identified by Khalidi among Palestinians in 19th and 20th century, together with their contributions to their later nationalist identity formation. The paper will further examine the existence of a unified Palestinian peasant identity. In his endeavor to understand the issue of protonationalism among communities, Hobsbawm starts by wondering why such an association should occur in any given societal setting. For instance, he wonders, why people from a similar state ought to form some communities, as well as associations that make them view the rest as strangers. Hobsbawn explains the concept of protonationalism to have its origin from the existence of feelings resulting to the growth of interests that result to a feeling of a collective belonging (Hobsbawn 49). The current literature that explains the origin, the expansion, as well as the effects of protonationalism has identified two main distinct examples of the above concept. The first example of protonationalism, known as the Supra-local, does not entail the circles in which individuals from a given setting spend their lives. It goes beyond the family setting, and immediate towns, popular to a region’s inhabitants (Khalindi). The second type of protonationalism is the political bonds. Khali located several proto-nationalist elements among the Palestinians. For instance, he listed some of them as language, ethnicity, religion, icons, and awareness of belonging to a long-lasting political distinctiveness (Suleiman 206).Hobsbawn says that, â€Å"for language was merely one, and not necessarily the primary way of distinguishing between cultural communities† (Hobsbawn 58). A language is significant in the nationalist identity formation. First, it acts as an avenue of communication in both the political, as well as the cultural activism. In addition, Hobsbawn reveals ethnicity as another element of proto-nationalism. Hobsbawn say that, â€Å"ethnicity in the Herodotean sense was, is and can be something that binds together populations living on a large territories. ’’ (Hobsbawn 64). The identification of an individual with a certain ethnicity has a basis on assumed common lineage. Hobsbawn concludes that,â€Å" where an elite literary or administrative language exists, however a small number of its actual user, it can become an important element of proto-national cohesion† (Hobsbawn 59). The acknowledgment by others as a separate cultural group is often a contributing aspect to developing this link of recognition. Religion brings people to a common belief system. This is attributable to customs and beliefs that unite people and keep them at peace. Hobsbawn argues that, â€Å"religion is paradoxical cement for proto-nationalism and indeed for modern nationalism’’ (Hobsbawn 64). Ethnic groups are often united by universal culture, basis of social integration, social change, as well as the social control. It directs people towards a certain direction. It also provides conditions and restrictions that serve to limit people’s behavior. Therefore, people are limited in their actions because no entity is supposed to

How Does Corruption Effect International Development Politics Essay

How Does Corruption Effect International Development Politics Essay Corruption is omnipresent in society and is taking total control over the minds of citizens at an alarming rate. Even though actions are being taken worldwide, corruption is still a main issue of concern for world leaders and prestigious organizations like the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community. With reference to several surveys carried out by great economists, psychologists and watchdog bodies around the world, we have carried out this project to investigate how far corruption affects development and creates inequality in Mauritian society. However due to time and word constraints, we have preferred to focus on the Mauritian society. [Introduction] Corruption may be simply defined as The abuse of public or private office for personal gain (Prevention of Corruption Act 2002) or The abuse of authority for personal gain (Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong) Bribery, favoritism, helotism, extortion and embezzlement and use of influence are examples of acts of corruption. Corruption is omnipresent in the society. However, many people do not realize that corruption is having a great and deep impact on our Mauritian society. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider and wider with corruption and this is also hindering our economic progress. Corruption may thus be compared to a cancer which needs to be controlled at all cost before it spreads dangerously and threaten the very fabric of our democratic nation. As the saying goes, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, both public and private sectors in Mauritius or even worldwide should work together in the battle against corruption- a fight against corrupt individuals, practices and systems. This strategy will help to enhance good governance and transparency in the economical mechanisms throughout the world. Risks of bribery and extortion between the private and public sectors as well as private companies should be minimized. Each organization should establish its own anti-corruption policies and strategies; corruption-prevention checkups should be reinforced and systems improved. The help of foreign fraud specialists and consultants should definitely be solicited if positive results want to be seen. The Mauritian ICAC adopts a three-pronged strategy to fight corruption, namely, through law enforcement, education and prevention. Its vision: Mauritius-our home, clean and fair. ICAC needs support and cooperation and commitment of the national population to succeed in its fight against corruption. The ICAC acts independently, impartially, fairly and in the sole interest of the public. Such organizations are one major step in the cleansing process of the society; in eradicating corruption. Corruption prevention programs can help increase confidence in such organizations. They enhance integrity in the organization financial reporting and promote the development of an ethical culture while ensuring transparency and good governance. However, risks of corruption can rarely be completely eliminated. The boards of organizations, and not sole individual, must constantly be alert about these types of risks. Only then shall acts of corruption diminish and society progress. Chapter 1 [why corruption?] Ivan Pavlov, the Nobel Prize winner in Psychology or Medicine in1904, described the operant condition as the food of all corrupt acts. Pavlov suggested in 1904 that the corrupt man acts similarly to a trained dog. He answers to stimuli which trigger his memory. As such the memory is related to corruption. Actually, the need of prevailing over someone and gain power over him is what triggers corruption. A person compares himself with one of his fellow friend. The desire of seeing this friend unsuccessful triggers reinforcement for corruption- jealousy. Human psychology explains that since jealousy means not willing to abide by the success of someone, it forces the person to apply force so as to triumph over him. Such mediocre thoughts are the image of a mediocre mindset. Memories which trigger such acts are accumulated through a persons life- from childhood till death. The stimuli-response behaviour is so subconscious that we are not able to recognize it and take actions against it. Therefore, if the person gains profit when he abuses human relationships, his brain captures the situation and causes the person to act repetitively in this way. Thus corruption and lust for power makes a persons life immoral. When such a stage is reached, the person cannot go backwards. He finds pleasure in taking advantage of other persons to gain profit. He cannot do otherwise since he will fail and will eventually need to abide by corruption. Last time, when I took advantage of that gullible guy, I won that prize. So now I guess that I will win again. Why should he succeed? I cannot allow this. I shall do something!These are what might be passing through the mind of a person just before he commits an act of corruption: If I do that, I will be the one gaining profit from it. I shall do it. Then, only will people recognize me. I must attain that height, no matter what! I must do it! Let me bully that guy so that he does the dirty work for me. However, some people do not corrupt deliberately but instead they are forced to do so. Corruption consumes the person bit by bit until it becomes his way of living. This is a major psychological phenomenon prevailing in many countries. Corruption is triggered by many factors which cause the human mind to become feeble and rely on corrupt measures to earn a living. Such factors are listed below: Low wages Hope is all what a low-waged employee can have. However, as time passes, lust and impatience take over his mind. This is the beginning of corruption which eventually leads to the death of the society. Low wages pressurizes the person to obtain more money. Between his social status and familial pressures, he opts for corruption to seek for a better future. Since most of the employees in Mauritius earn a modest living, they will normally be tempted to easy-money. This scourge is spreading worldwide and the real root of this problem is none other than the merged action of a lack of meritocracy and an unprecedented rise in the standard of living. Weak sense of civilization So much is being said nowadays and so little is being done. After so much years of moral and social enlightenment, it is a matter of shame that the corrupt can still act blind in front of the suffering that he is both directly and indirectly inflicting to others. It is shocking to find that even highly educated persons and high dignitaries are implicated in fraud cases. Such a case to be noted is The Watergate Scandal in 1974. The President, Richard Nixon, governing over America then was arrested after having been proven guilty of stealing, abusing indulging in campaigns frauds, political espionage and sabotage, fund laundering, massive wire tapping and the list goes on. Such a high dignitary and he stooped so low. This shows the hypnotic power lust and materialism can have on the human brain. In President Nixons case, he did not even ponder on the feeling of betrayal the millions of Americans felt on the day they found out this scandalous truth. Indeed, corruption kills our inner self and makes us as death as a corpse. Culture In African countries, it has become a tradition that after rendering a service, the person should be rewarded in terms of gratuity or tip. This tradition is so intensely practiced in some countries that the glimpse of abolishing it might create a huge cultural rift. In Africa, the reward is usually to gift the chief special honours, and in this way, politicians accepting such honour and rewards are considered acceptable. As such some politician might take advantage of this tradition and render its value nil. They would ask for gifts and rewards for jobs. This type of corruption makes the society sick and even worse is when the whole society indulges in corruption, thereby leaving not a ray of hope for a reestablishment of law and order. Absence of institutional mechanisms In a country where there are no institutions, either internal or external, to investigate into complaints related to corruption, the tendency of people practicing corrupt acts is relatively high. This is so since the chance of getting caught is minute. The absence of watchdog institutions also minimizes the consequences if the offender is caught. Wisely, such institutions should be built. It will increase the countrys economic growth since less fraudulous trades will be done. As such the country will regain a better image in terms of financial security. This will furthermore increase the Foreign Direct Investments of the country which will be the start of an unprecedented rise in wealth and status for the country. Absence of rules and regulations and lack of transparency Rules and regulations should remain omnipresent in an organization so that the employees can behave and conduct themselves in an appropriate and acceptable way. Such limitations allow everyone to be treated and judged fairly and equally. The effectiveness of these rules depends on the way of communicating them to individuals so that they are implemented and followed. The presence of a clear policy and legislation, and a wide range of enforced rules and regulations and policies might help to decrease the level of corruption in an organization or even a country. On the other hand, the absence of transparency increases the risks of corrupt acts. Transparency, as such, means tasks and functions been conducted and are open for examination by the Government officers or the general public. Also, the media must have the right of freedom of speech so that the media can inform citizens about any act of corruption been reported to it. Corruption is deterred by a transparent system as civil servants remain constantly vigilant. Therefore, strict rules create the fear of been defame by the media if the act is reported. This can drastically decrease the rate of corruption in a country because every person cherishes most his status. Discretion and absence of accountability In every system, there should be a person or an authority to take decisions. Such a person or authority has the freedom to act within certain limits. Corruption can occur where public officials: Have immense authority, Are not accountable to anyone, and Have lust instead of the grey matter. An environment with more discretion and without accountability is more prone to be submerged by corruption. Public leaders and civil servants should be accountable to the general public in a democratic country. This means that they should be able to answer to people for the action taken if a question is raised on the topic in question. Lack of effective laws can cause corruption to flourish as people will be carefree and act as they want. Therefore accountability is definitely one of paths toward neutralizing corruption. Chapter 2 [trend of corruption in mauritius] Several studies have been carried out during the last decade about the opinions of Mauritians on the perception of corruption. The Research Institute Analysis carried a survey in 1998 by interviewing 500 people. The results obtained have been classified into 3 main categories: The Tolerance of Mauritian Towards the Perception of Corruption It has been concluded that Mauritians normally tolerate, or more specifically, favour corruption whenever they can benefit from it. Paradoxically, they are the first one to condemn acts of corruption. Thus, within 37% of managers interviewed within the private sector. Corruption is commonly accepted in businesses since it plays a vital role in ensuring the success of the enterprise and thus output a favourable profit. On the whole, 85% of the interviewed people agreed that they do not tolerate corruption while the remaining 15%confess that indeed corruption does affect their activities directly. In 2004, 58% of people questioned said they would report any case of corruption they witnessed. However 30% thought that in doing so they might create problems for themselves. The remaining 22% feared possible acts of vengeance. The Most Corrupted Sectors in Mauritius From the surveys carried out, The police sector and the National Transport Authority (NTA) have been considered as most corrupted in terms of awarding contracts to private enterprises. The politicians are the most cited among the most corrupted persons of the country. The general opinion of the public about the private sector is also pessimistic. According to a survey carried out by the ICAC in 2004, 28% of people questioned think that the private sector runs in a corrupt environment, while 54% think that the private sector operates in a clean atmosphere. The Effectiveness of Legal Measures In 2004, an interview revealed that: 29.5% of people queried believed that laws against corruption are efficient, 26% thought the opposite, 20% considered that laws are efficient but are unfortunately not applied effectively, 32.8% assumed that the power of the court as an institute is limited and insignificant towards high dignitaries (the part of the general public did not receive University Education). On an international ground, The Transparency International Corruption Perception Index has rewarded Mauritius as follows: Chapter 3 [corruption and development] Corruption has always existed. During recent decades, however, corruption has grown both in terms of intensity and geographic extent. Since the 1970s, it has infiltrated every country in the world. After the end of the Cold War, it was expected that political and economical restrictions would somehow reduce this trend. People hoped that the process of democratization and openness, resulting from political pluralism and freedom of the press, should mobilize efforts to overcome corruption. Unfortunately, emergent democracies are still delicate and seem to find the duty of tackling with corruption very difficult. Nowadays, it is seen that weakened state structures, such as inappropriate legislations, powerlessness on the part of the judicial system to fight against corruption, and pursuit of easy money, altogether contribute to aggravating the situation. Such a state of affairs surely has an effect on those who are involved and concerned by development issues. As such corruption is one of the major obstacles in a countrys progress and its effects on development are disastrous. On analyzing the effects that corruption has on development, we found out that corruption adversely affects development in the following ways: Corruption increases the costs of goods and services. Although there is 5% reduction in the profit margin, corruption levels of 10% to 20%, which is the price and will consequently, be paid for through the national or foreign resources of the country. Thus, it is the national economy that suffers the consequences of an unreasonable surcharge on the goods or services bought. Since such operations are normally financed by bank loans or by foreign parties, through concessional loans, corruption indirectly increases the country debts. Corruption affects the quality of services supplied to the public. The corrupt person is tempted to accept a substandard quality of service which increases his personal profit margin. Then, the complicity between the Government and the contractors may result in corner-cutting with regard to agreed quality standards so that the savings made may be shared out between the two parties. Corruption affects the conception of a project. In this section, we are referring to situations in which the real development priorities of a country are neglected in favour of operations which generate the greatest personal gain for the decision-makers. Corruption causes the Government to spend more on the construction of unwanted projects or on lower order investments in infrastructure rather than on social areas. In most corrupted countries, corrupt politicians tend to choose projects irrespective of their intrinsic economic factor but rather on the bribes and kickbacks that these projects offer which results in poor infrastructures leading to economic imbalance. Rise in the public burden. Due to corruption, many countries that borrow money to finance projects and are not able to satisfy their real needs will see their debt burden increase. The loss will be 100% if one views it in terms of the cost of the unproductive investment t the national economy. From the many researches we have carried out and investigated on, we have found out that political corruption is the main object of concern as far as development is affected. It is a fact that politicians are the one who control the whole development mechanism. This phenomenon is not present in every state but the moment its presence is confirmed, that state starts degrading. Political corruption takes place when decisions are made on the budget. This is the root of political corruption which accounts for a massive load of corruption across the world. As such, high rates of corruption divert resources away from their real functions and it also reduces the Government revenue. This decrease in income further decreases the resources available for public investment: development is eventually affected. High corruption rate is also associated with poor infrastructure; bodies are not working at full efficiency thus decreasing output. So, when corrupt politicians influence the approval of an investment project, the rate of return, as calculated by the cost-benefit analysis, is no more the criterion for project selection. A compilation of corrupt decision as such often fails to generate the wanted economic growth. Further on, negligible economic growth halts any type of social and infrastructural development. Corruption leads to tax evasion and poor administration. In many cases, tax collection is much less than estimated financial commitments: Pensions, Interest payments, Public debts, Salaries, and Subsidies. This was one of the major problems that Mauritius faced in the past years due to uneven governance from the various politicians in power. However, gradually politicians have become aware of the danger they are going to face in the near future. As remedial measures, they have taken long term effect measures to prevent any further misbalances to the economy. The positive results of these crucial but necessary measures can be perceived and yet many more are to come. Chapter 4 [corruption and inequality] Corruption and inequality are directly linked. There are two ways in which they are correlated: The change of economic inequality due to corruption, and Economic inequality as a factor of corruption. In other words, an increase in corruption due to economic inequality can produce additional drawbacks. Judicial corruption has also a very big hand in bringing economic inequality. The first example that can be taken is in terms of the tax system. Nowadays, due to corruption, we have a biased tax system where wealthy are favoured and become richer and the poor are marginalized and remain poor. The result of this favouritism leads to a defective tax administration causing an unprecedented increase in social inequality as the gap between the poor and the rich is maintained. Adding to this situation is the poor effective targeting of social programs which, due to corruption, are having a serious problem. Funds that are supposed to help in alleviating poverty are being shifted from trust funds to reach powerful individuals. This is really going to increase inequality in society as the poor people will not be able to enjoy their merits while on the other hand the rich people will continuously play with money. Poor people are the only victim of acts of corruption. Hence an increase in the rate of the perception of corruption will cause an increase in poverty, causing the regression of a country and ultimately the downfall of the world. It is true that when you invest in corruption, there is always the uncertainty that you will get what you actually wanted. The rules constantly change. Thus if a poor person invests in a corrupt plan, then the powerful and wealthy individuals might easily turn the tables and take all the profit. Therefore, inequality will always prevail amongst individuals as long as the barrier between the poor and the rich is not breached. Social trust also plays a fundamental role between equality and corruption. If politicians of one country will keep on trusting the population and vice-versa, then corruption will be totally eradicated. Rich and poor people will never be tagged. Thus, everyone will earn equal amount of money and eating the same quality and amount of food. However, it is all due to mans vile mind that social trust is gradually disappearing from the society. People tend to snatch others possessions and in trying to be like others, they simply crush the desires of others. This disease is due to social inequality and the materialistic barrier between the poor and the rich. Chapter 5 [government measures] Corruption has become one of the most serious problems in Mauritius. In order to fight this scourge, the leading Governments, over time, have taken several corrective measures: Strict Judiciary System Obligations Watchdog Body Strict Judiciary System With enforced laws and regulations, people caught practicing corrupt acts are dealt with more severely. Through time, much legislation has failed in their task of rendering justice and controlling the rate of corruption. In a more optimistic point of view, several legislations have been modified in order to adopt a more realistic and righteous approach to criminal acts- corruption. They have permitted through the years to bring development in the society and to help people stay within their limits. Watchdog Bodies The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established on the 1st April 2002 as the Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) 2002 was put into effect by official proclamations. The principal aim of the ICAC is to plan and implement the national strategy against corruption in the Republic of Mauritius. Its mission statement is: With the community, the ICAC is committed to fight corruption through effective law enforcement, education and prevention to help keep Mauritius fair, just, stable and prosperous. The ICAC is an independent body and acts impartially. The ICAC investigates all allegations of corruption that are reported in respect of both the public and private sectors and then takes appropriate remedial measures. For instance, the ICAC and the MQI launched the second edition of the Best Anti-Corruption Framework 2008 at the Rajiv Gandhi Science centre on Wednesday 7th May 2008. Its aim was to identify loopholes and weaknesses in enterprises that may give opportunities for corruption and initiate actions for fraud detection and prevention. In addition, the ICAC plays an important role in education whereby its goals are: Make educators more concerned about imparting knowledge Promote good control education Enhance professional and moral principles among teachers Provide strength and support to teachers to enable them to fight actively against corruption Boost up the inclusion of anti-corruption education in the school curriculum Obligations The Republic of Mauritius is growing day by day and in order to bring sustainable development, the Government is continuously making commitments with several high order organizations: The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, The SADC Protocol Against Corruption and The African Union on Preventing and Combating Corruption among many others. The fundamental raison dà ªtre of such obligations is to attract foreign investments to the country in order to have a positive economic growth and hence progress in the world. Chapter 6 [evaluation of measures] In this section we will be dealing with a local case and explain how the case in question affected development and created inequality in society. Also, we will try to find out what more can be done in order to prevent such situations in the future. 1 Mr. Robert Rivalland was prosecuted in this year for being part of a plot which was to the detriment of Air Mauritius. He was part of a money laundering case between 1982 and 1997, along with three other high officials of the Air Mauritius and The Rogers: the case was withdrawn from the three other partners. Robert Rivalland was the only one accused of having corruptly diverted about Rs. 85 million. His lawyer, Mrs. Yamilla Moonshiram, declared that the case of his defendant was stronger compared to one of the three other accused. Mr. Rivalland was finally condemned. Analysis: During this case, Mr. Rivalland seemed to be quite silent, especially during the case hearing. This may be seen in two ways: either he is truly innocent or he is really a culprit. Being part of the so called suspicious commission during 1982 and 1997 made it a hard attack against his defense in Court. As such, his name was mentioned several times when one of his fellow partners was accused: he was the one who approved the cheques which were diverted from the Air Mauritius account. During the 15 years of conspiracy, the Air Mauritius suffered a colossal loss. The Rs. 85 million could have been used in the expansion of the airport. This would furthermore enable a more massive flow of tourists in and out of the country. Since tourism is one of the pillars of the economy of our country, the whole nation would have benefited to a much larger extent. Moreover, the employees of Air Mauritius could have enjoyed a better salary which would have led to a higher standard of living and increase their productivity at work. The plot created a great disturbance in the Mauritian economy. The employees of Air Mauritius were marginalized. They could not benefit from any rise in their salaries and this further increased the gap between the rich and the poor in the society. The poor workers had to struggle to satisfy their needs which created a rift between their wealthier colleagues. Consequently, this increased social inequality. aaa Chapter 7 [recommendations] Mauritius is trying hard to polish its image around the world. Among poverty eradication and literacy, corruption is yet a problem that the Mauritian Government is facing. Some of the measures that can be implemented are: Keep the issue of acting against corruption under regular review. Collaborate with other countries and work together to devise strategies to counterattack corruption. Adopt the International Code of Conduct for Public officials. Hand over the power of a system to a Board of people rather to a single person. (Decisions that are voted by a Board are less doubtful compared to that made by a single person.) Abolish old and ineffective laws and establish new and stricter ones. Organize campaigns to both prevent and control corruption. Zero tolerance towards corrupt officials and high dignitaries (Through this measure, many high dignitaries were found to be implicated in corrupt acts in Zimbabwe- a member of the SADC. Since Mauritius forms part of this community, the same measure can be implemented to combat corruption). Sensitising workers on the causes, trend and impact of corruption Inculcating ethics and moral values as early as from primary schools so that children understand the implications of corruption. [conclusion] Ivan Pavlov rightly said that corruption is a conditioned-reflex action; a persons past corrupt gains boosts up his corrupt endeavours. Due to the innumerable factors discussed above, corruption has in fact become a vulnerable stage from which a feeble mind cannot abstain for long. Indeed, as several worldwide surveys have shown it, the scourge of corruption is a perpetual process that keeps on devouring a persons life. Once addicted to corrupt acts, it is nearly impossible for him to escape from the clutches of corruption. Nowadays, people of the higher hierarchy want to go ahead and earn even more money while on the other side, the poor remains unemployed and keeps on trying to meet the ends monthly. Both, corruption and inequality coexist in society and in order to eliminate one, we need to eliminate the other; they are mutually related. We should stop favouritism and start keeping faith in one another. Corruption will lead to nowhere while social trust will show the way to a country with a sustainable economy and hence a healthy population. We have, in the course of this project dealt with very resourceful information and have tried to bring forth the slowly emerging plague of the society- corruption- and we have also tried to suggest some recommendations. At the end of this highly resourceful project, we have realised that corruption is nothing more than the fruit of humans mind. We need to control it before it gets at arms length in the race of such a materialistic world. Facts and figures are the witnesses of its unprecedented rise. It is also a fact that people are becoming more aware of it but much remains to be done so as to eradicate corruption in not only Mauritius but in the whole world. Appendix The interview of Mr. Boodhoo, Chief Officer at the Corruption Prevention and Education Division on Monday 5th May 2008(10.00 a.m.) According to ICAC, how can corruption be defined? Corruption is an abuse of power or authority for personal gain. Now, according to the law and constitution of Mauritius, what is the definition of corruption? PoCA defines corruption as an abuse of power in the public and private sector for personal gain. What do statistics say about the trend of corruption in the Mauritian society? Corruption cannot be measured. It is impossible to measure corruption. It is a secretive activity. Nothing is gained from surveys about corruption. Only the perception of corruption is measurable. However, this is not 100% efficient. What procedure does the ICAC adopt to treat corruption cases? The complaint is directed to the board of ICAC. The board refers the matter for investigation if required. In terms of national and international relationships, how does corruption affect our countrys status? Investors will not be willing to invest if they perceive the country as corrupted. Knowing that for every business, bribes will be needed. Hence, there will be no Foreign Direct Investment. Laws and bills are still being voted in the Mauritian assembly. How far do you think that these measures are reliable and effective? We should know how far the laws are enforced. We should not only pass laws

History of human Essay

The whole history of humankind is inseparably linked to the changes in the dynamics of the population growth that consequently pushed the start of the process of migration. Since ancient times, humankind started to spread from its cradle across the world in quest for a better life. Just recall the Bible stories about the 40 year trip of the Sons of Israel headed by Moses across the desert in search for the land of promise. It might be a fairy tale, but nevertheless it could be the real prove that mass migrations of population have already occurred in those times. Due to absence of reliable information, it’s very hard to estimate the dynamics of people migration throughout the world up to the beginning of the XIX century. At that time European counties started to conduct population census relatively precocious to modern standards. But lets’ get back to the very term â€Å"migration†. Here’s the definitions given by the hyperdictionary. Migration: 1. [n] the movement of persons from one country or locality to another; 2. [n] the periodic passage of groups of animals (especially birds or fishes) from one region to another for feeding or breeding; 3. [n] (chemistry) the nonrandom movement of an atom or radical from one place to another within a molecule; 4. [n] a group of people migrating together (especially in some given time period). However, the definitions relating to the â€Å"people migration† is very brief and I would give the following definition to the term. Migration- is the movement of a person or a group of persons from one locality to other caused by different socioeconomic or other factors. We should differentiate between 2 main types of migration- internal- domestic (people move from one region to another within the borders of one country) and external-interstate migration (from one country to another); we also should discriminate between emigrants (leaving their homeland for a permanent settlement in oversees) and refugees-(those who seek escape from war and disasters, and those people fleeing from persecution based on political or religious beliefs). In last decades the number of people looking for a better life has drastically increased. Nowadays, at the beginning of the XXI century nearly 1 of 35 tellurians is a migrant. If all these people would live in one common state, then it would be the fifth biggest by its population country on the planet with approximately 175 millions of inhabitants. It testifies, that migration is one of the most substantial global sociological phenomenon of our times having a deep impact on the economies and societies ways of life. The last statement is completely proved by the history of the USA, the country that was founded by colonists or in other words migrants. Since the October 12th of 1492 when Columbus have discovered a New World, it became a tasty piece of pie for the European monarchies to bite- a perfect place to develop all the treasuries of new lands and spread the influence. But to conquer the New World, Old Europe needed to build settlements and it led to increase of migrants flow that went to America in hope to get richer, some to escape from never ending wars in Europe, from persecutions based on religious beliefs (Pilligrims), some to propagate Roman-Catholic Christianity. So, the conquest began, but it led to horrible results- many local ethnic groups were wiped out (South America, conquistadors). The whole territory of the New World was divided between the European powers; however the rivalry between them existed, as England was in a constant war with France and its allies. There were one more source for this tension not in Europe but in the New World- it was the population growth of the British continental colonies from 250 thousands people in 1700 up to 1. 75 million in the 1760s. Step by step England forced out France and Spain over the most territories of North America, so London had a vast territories with the population greatly spread over them to guard. With time, the colony was becoming more and more detached from the British Empire. Trying to stop this process, England tried to grab the control over the colony, but with every year the confrontation between colonists and English Parliament grew more and more, until in 1775 American revolution revolved. After gaining independence in 1783, the American society was a ethnic diversity –British (not English as migrants were arriving from all the regions of British isles), French, Spanish colonists, Africans (taken to the continent as slaves), and aborigines- Indian tribes (gradually driven out from their homeland by the colonists). So came the 19th century, the times, when all the circumstances favored the economic growth of the former colony, as there still were undeveloped and wealthy in natural resources lands. The unification of the States and abolishment of slavery favored the arrival of new migrants, so grow the labor force, and it must be added it was a cheap labor force. As a vivid example, is an American railroad system, in building of which Chinese immigrants took a great part (in fact it was build on the bones of the letter, ‘cause of the harsh conditions, absence of health security system and low pay). At those times, a domestic migration rates grew, caused by the well known discovery of gold in Alaska and California (Gold Fever). Poor people from all over the country rushed to those places in hope to find gold and get rich. By the end of 19 century the American nation still was not completely formed. It was rather a â€Å"pot mix† of nations than an ultimately formed nation. The flow of immigrants have not stopped, but received a new push after the beginning of WWI and with subsequent fall of European Empires (Austrian -Hungarian and Russian empire). In those and succeeding years, the number of emigrants from Europe, especially from former Russian Empire has drastically grown. Those emigrants helped to build the economy of the US, as many of them were not just simple unskilled workers, but in many cases intelligent persons. For example, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, a famous Russian-American aircraft designer, who was born in Kiev (Ukraine, state within the Russian Empire) and after the revolution immigrated to the USA. Altogether, with his friends and companion-who were also emigrants from Russia, he founded his company â€Å"Sikorsky Aviaengeneering† that some time later became a part of â€Å"United Aircraft† company. In 1972 he passed away being a honorable member of different scientific societies and having a lot of different awards. The man is gone long time ago, but still the design bureau bearing his name produce aircrafts. However, not always the migrants were warmly received. In last decades, many countries have made their policy line much tougher concerning reception and help given to refugees and immigrants. According to the UN statistics, such measures have shown themselves in increased number of refugee status accordance denial. The emigrants and refugees experienced and experience lots of problems beside the migration rules and regulations, but also the confront a much more serious problem, such as – xenophobia, a highly negative attitude of native population toward the comers There’re many reasons for such attitude (just recall Martin Scorsese’s â€Å"Gangs Of New York â€Å"). As usually migrants are coming from the poorer states and ready to work for less money then the native population. In most cases here, the natives are afraid that comers would take their job places. Moreover, illegal migrants may easily beef up the criminal lines, as in most cases they unqualified and unable to find job. There’s also a collision of cultures and mentalities. In such rugged conditions, the migrants start to consolidate and create detached groups, living on own principles, preserving their original way of life. It’s some kind of a protective mechanism against new socium. For example, in many American cities, there’re many culturally â€Å"detached† areas such as China Town and Briton Beach (Russian quarters in Big Apple) etc. In those places, the migrants preserving their native culture and customs, it’s a place where the migrants attempt to reproduce the things they had at homeland. Nevertheless, these days, immigrants constitute an important part of a labor –market in industrially developed countries. According to the statistics of OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), in many Western states, the interest for the labor potential of foreigners is on the rise. Here we could divide the demand for labor force into two categories- demand for unskilled and demand for qualified laborers. The developed countries are in a constant need for a cheap work force to work in some industries, where the local don’t want to work, for example building industry. So here help the migrant workers. These laborers in most cases work temporarily until their visa expire, then in some time they return back home otherwise become illegal immigrants. The qualified workers in most cases go to the developed countries for a permanent residence, called by the companies interested in their services. In most cases, these companies are working in the Hi-Tech sphere of business, and the latter is booming today, so there’s a lack of well qualified staff to fit the demand. As one of the examples was a problem of â€Å"Y2K†, when most of IT companies in the USA and other countries felt the need to increase the number of qualified personnel to fix the bug in computers before the upcoming of the year 2000. There’s another very interesting fact about the immigrants. It’s the money they send back home to families, they are of a great importance for developing countries economies. In values, such money transfers are taking the second place after the foreign investments as a source of oversees inpayments into the economy of developing countries. In 2002 the total amount of individual foreign transfers to developing countries constituted 72,3 billions dollars. The other important issue of that global community facing toady is illegal human trafficking. It’s not just illegal border crossing, but a very profitable business for the international crime syndicates, that proliferates prostitution, slave labor etc. This problem is or highest importance for the international community and today there’s an urgent need to consolidate all efforts of international bodies and of all the counties to stop this dirty business sucking huge profits from the eternal human strive to find a better life†¦ References 1. www. hyperdictionary. com 2. http://www. geocities. com/davidbofinger/vinland_h. htm 3. http://historicaltextarchive. com/sections. php? op=viewarticle&artid=651 4. http://historicaltextarchive. com/sections. php? op=viewarticle&artid=597 5. http://www. sikorskyarchives. com/indexlnk. html 6. http://www. un. org/popin/data. html 7. www. oecd. org 8. www. oecdobserver. org/

A Telephone Based Wireless Remote Controller

Abstract—A telephone based wireless system for the remote operation of the home appliances is proposed. The telephone, acting as a remote controller, generates a DTMF signal corresponding to each dialed digit which is converted to a BCD code by the Telephone interface circuit. This is given as input to the transmitter module which is then used to control various home appliances through a receiver module. Data processing stages of the transmitter and receiver modules have been implemented using digital components, thereby avoiding possible use of conventional devices like monostable multivibrators.Due to the fully digital nature, the proposed design is less complex and hence the implementation is cost effective. I. INTRODUCTION With the advancement in science and technology, human beings have developed a tendency to make their everyday life amply luxurious with the aid of technology. This has led to the development of many sophisticated gadgets and equipments that assist them p artially/fully in their daily activities. Operating all such electronic/electrical instruments in a modern house might be difficult for the elderly as well as disabled people.Our primary motivation to build a simple and low cost system which remotely operates all the home appliances stems from this point. We integrate our system with a standard telephone set so that the telephone can be used for the dual purpose of telephony and remote controller for various home appliances. The proposed system mainly consists of 3 modules, viz. , telephone interface circuit, transmitter and receiver. The transmitter module is in turn made up of a digital data processing block and a wireless (infrared) transmitter block and the eceiver module is made up of a wireless (infrared) receiver block, digital data processing block and a decoding block. In the scheme, a telephone receiver acts as a remote terminal to provide input Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) signals to the telephone interface circuit wh ich converts them to corresponding 4 bit Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) codes. The transmitter generates an 8 bit frame using this BCD code to facilitate asynchronous communication. The receiver decodes the received signals after checking for any transmission errors (single bit) in the frame. These decoded bits act as control signals for the operation of home appliances.The system employs an asynchronous type of communication [1] in which the transmitter and receiver clocks are independent. The receiver clock does not have any prior information regarding the phase of the transmitter clock [2]. This leads to the problem of choosing the correct sampling instants at the receiver [3]. Hence the data is transmitted in the form of frames instead of individual bits. Each such frame consists of start bits, information bits, and stop bits [1]. This is explained in detail in the subsequent sections. When the system is idle, the data processing block of he transmitter gives constant logical high o utput. Since the transmitter consumes more power in transmitting logical high than logical low, the output of data processing block is negated before transmission to save power in the idle state. The receiver module also senses this and remains idle whenever the transmitter is transmitting continuous logical low. The reception of a start bit changes the state of the receiver from an idle to an active state. It then has to sample the remaining data bits in the frame at proper sampling instants. Most of the standard hardware schemes involve the use of monostable ultivibrators at the receiver to recover the data bits following the start bit. The monostable multivibrators commonly rely on variable components such as resistance and capacitance values, as well as they often account for a major part of the propagation delays associated with the receiver. We have extended this treatment to a fully digital design that presents more challenging tasks including a digital output feedback. Moreo ver, use of all digital components in the data processing stages reduces the propagation delay considerably. The complete design outline of all the modules of the roposed system is presented in Section II. Results and discussions are given in Section III. Finally, we present our conclusions in Section IV. II. DESIGN OUTLINE The block diagram of the proposed telephone based wireless remote control system is shown in Fig. 1. In the proposed system, the telephone set performs the dual functions of telephony and remotely controlling various devices. The remote control mode of the telephone can be activated by pressing ‘#’ from the keypad of the telephone. After the desired tasks are accomplished, ‘#’ should be pressed again to deactivate the control system.This is one of the functions of the telephone interface circuit, which is discussed next. A. Telephone Interface Circuit The telephone interface circuit integrates the designed system with the standard teleph one system. As shown in Fig. 2, it basically performs the job of receiving the signals from the local loop and converting them to the standard digital signals in the BCD format. When any telephone button is pressed, a unique DTMF signal is produced for a short duration [4] which is converted to corresponding BCD code by a standard DTMF to BCD converter (KT-3170) [5].The dual tone frequencies and the BCD codes associated with each dialed digit are shown in Table 1. The system remains in the idle state until ‘#’ button is pressed which sets the telephone to remote control mode. This mode remains activated until ‘#’ button is pressed again. This is realized in the hardware by using the BCD code corresponding to ‘#’ as the clock to toggle the J-K flip-flop (74112). The flip-flop output toggles whenever the ‘#’ button is pressed and this is directly used to control the mode of operation of the telephone. The DSO output of KT-3170 [5] is used to generate a start it for the system as it is logical high whenever a received tone pair has been registered and the output latch is updated. As the latched 4-bit BCD code is directly available at the output of KT-3170, it is given as such to the data processing block of the transmitter. These data bits are then processed to facilitate asynchronous communication as explained below. B. Transmitter The 4-bit output of KT-3170 can not be directly transmitted as individual bits as the proposed system employs asynchronous mode of communication. The 4-bit BCD code is thus transmitted as frames for proper reception [1].We have chosen an eight bit frame for our system which consists of a start bit followed by four data bits, a parity bit and two stop bits. Parity bit enables the system to detect any single bit error during transmission. Stop bits mark the ending of the frame. The frame is then transmitted using infrared (IR) transmitter. As shown in Fig. 2, the transmitter mainly con sists of two blocks which are explained below. 1) Fully Digital Data Processing Block: This block performs the function of converting individual bits to 8-bit frames in order to carry asynchronous communication.First bit of the frame is the start bit (taken as 0) which is generated when any of the buttons is pressed. The succeeding 4 bits are the data bits (BCD code) generated by the telephone interface circuit as explained before. Next bit is taken as parity check bit generated by XORing the first 5 bits of the frame. Last 2 bits, termed as stop bits, are taken as 1. Following the generation of the start bit, the data bits are loaded in the parallel to serial converter (74165) using a D-type flip-flop (7474) and the frame is transmitted serially. 2) IR Transmitter Block: This module transmits the frames enerated in the previous section using an IR emitting diode. The data to be transmitted is modulated using Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) with a carrier square wave of 38 kHz. The tra nsmission range of the system is thus highly improved over the case when data is transmitted without modulation. As the data processing stage gives logical high output in the idle state, it is negated before transmission to save power. Thus, a logical low is actually transmitted whenever the system is in idle state. C. Receiver The receiver also has 2 working states, viz. , idle and active.It remains in the idle state until it detects a start bit. It then receives the frame starting from the start bit and checks for a single bit error. If error is detected, no action is taken and the information has to be transmitted again by the user. The received data bits are then decoded which act as control signals for the operation of various appliances. As is evident from Fig. 3, receiver circuit can be subdivided into 3 blocks which are explained below. 1) IR Receiver Block: This block receives the transmitted frames and converts the signal back to Transistor Transistor Logic (TTL) levels.A standard 38 kHz IR receiver (TSOP 1738) [6] is used for this purpose. 2) Sampling Clock Generator: The main function of this block is to generate a sampling instant at approximately the middle of the transmitted bit interval. The start bit activates this block and loads counter 1 (4-bit up-counter) with value ‘0’. The clock frequency of this counter is 16 times the bit rate. When the output of this counter changes from 7 to 8, the most significant bit changes from ‘0’ to ‘1’ and this rising edge is used as the sampling instant for the data.Start bit also loads the counter 2 (4-bit down-counter) with the frame size i. e. , 8. When this reaches the value ‘0’, the whole block is disabled and is reactivated only when next start bit arrives. 3) Data Sampler and Decoder: The serial input data is sampled according to the sampling instant generated in the previous stage and is converted to parallel form using serial to parallel converter ( 74164). This data is then checked for any 1-bit errors by XORing the bits. If error is found, no action is taken and the data has to be retransmitted. If no errors are found, the data is decoded using 4-16 decoder (74154) and he signal is given to the appliance for the completion of the corresponding task. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The proposed system has been fully implemented and successfully tested in the standard telephone local loop. The transmitter, kept near the telephone set, taps the DTMF signal from the local loop and transmits the corresponding data frame wirelessly. This signal is received by the receiver installed at the switch board. It decodes the data and takes the corresponding action. At least ten control signals, corresponding to each digit from 0 to 9, can be generated using a standard telephone set.The transmitter was previously implemented without a modulator where the IR LED was kept ON for transmitting logical high and OFF for transmitting logical low. Thi s limited the distance between the transmitter and receiver to a maximum of 30 cms for proper reception. The range of the wireless system has increased to several meters after modulating the data using 38 kHz square wave. This range also depends on the current flowing through the infrared diode which has to be properly tuned to maximize the range. A standard TSOP 1738 receiver is used in the proposed ystem, which requires a minimum burst length of 10 cycles for proper detection. This puts an upper limit on the data rate supported by our system which is practically observed to be 2. 8 kbps [5]. The IR transmitter is highly directional and requires the receiver to be in line of sight of the transmitter. The reception angle of the receiver is observed to decrease with increasing distance between the transmitter and receiver. This is because of the fact that the power is not uniformly distributed and is concentrated in narrow transmission angle.Moreover, the signal power reduces when th e distance between the transmitter and the receiver is increased. So, the receiver has to be highly aligned with transmitter when operating at some substantial distance from it. This problem is of not much concern for our system because the transmitter and receiver, being static in nature, can be properly aligned at the time of installation. The data processing blocks of both the transmitter and the receiver are fully digital in nature. This comprehensively reduces the propagation delays involved and increases the rate at which data can be processed in these blocks.Though, data rate is not very important in the present application but this feature makes the design of our data processing blocks suitable for high data rate applications which are commonly seen in wired communication. IV. CONCLUSIONS A wireless system has been proposed to operate the home appliances remotely using a standard telephone set. This has been successfully tested and is found to be working satisfactorily withi n a distance of 10 meters. The telephone receiver performs a dual-function of telephony and remotely controlling various devices with the help of its ‘#’ button on the keypad.The telephone interface circuit is easily integrated with the standard local loop thus avoiding any changes in the telephone set. Hence, the proposed system is compatible with any type of telephone working on standard local loop. The system employs asynchronous mode of communication which avoids the need to synchronize the transmitter and receiver clocks, thus making our system less complex and hence cost effective. The proposed fully digital innovative design of the data processing blocks reduces the propagation delay and makes them useful for even high data rate applications.Moreover, the system is capable of detecting the single bit errors occuring during transmission. The proposed system can be used in a wide range of practical applications such as speed control of motors, switching of applianc es, control of robots, etc. The above discussed characteristics like simple design, high practical utility and easy installation makes our system highly marketable. REFERENCES [1] Gorry Fairhurst. Asynchronous Communication [Online]. Available: http://www. erg. abdn. ac. uk/users/gorry/course/phy-pages/async. html. [2] D. Comer, Computer Networks and Internets with Internet Applications.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2004. [3] A. Subramanian, V. P. S. Makh and A. Mitra, â€Å"A New Digital Transceiver Circuit for Asynchronous Communication†, Enformatika Trans. , vol. 8, pp. 237-241, Oct. 2005. [4] DTMF Background [Online]. Available: http:// www. ece. utexas. edu/mason/codesign/dtmf. html. [5] Samsung Electronics Datasheet. KT3170 Low Power DTMF Receiver [Online]. Available: http://www. ortodoxism. ro/datasheets/SamsungElectronic/mXuusvq. pdf. [6] Vishay Semiconductors Datasheet. Photo Modules for PCM Remote Control Systems [Online]. Available: http://www. vishay. co m/docs/82030/82030. pdf