International Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Banking - Essay Example investments can also be facilitated and banks where they act as agents to customers. If for one reason or the other, a bank is unable to meet this statutory obligation, the resultant is a banking crises, the banks are then said to have failed. Another terminology that requires definition is credit risk. This can alternatively be referred to as Expected Loss and is a product of Probability of default, Exposure of default and loss given default. These three factors which are considered in credit risk all have standard measurement yardsticks against which they are calculated. Probability of default (PD) is measured using statistical data (past default rates, external and internal ratings together with credit scoring. Exposure at default (EAD) takes into consideration remaining outstanding debt alongside other forms of credit like guarantees, commitments e.t.c. Loss given default in its own case is measured considering the amount and values of the security on ground. Other kinds of risks that have contributed in one way or the other to past banking crises are as follows In the 1970's Western European and American banks were involved in credit risk and its attendant problems when they loaned out deposits of oil- rich OPEC countries to oil-poor undeveloped countries. The expected profits form these loans never materialised because the borrowing nations defaulted in payment. To further complicate the issue some banks within the period made out loans to just one nation that amount to a substantial past of their assets. In the events of a default in payment by this nation, the bank in question is sure to incur such a loss capable of precipitating financial crises. In modern day banking, banks try to minimise losses by greatly dispersing their credit risk. It could be by arranging it in such a way that the risks are not concentrated in country or by spreading risk over different sectors of an economy. This is an improvement of what obtained in the past. Risks, nowadays, are spread to withstand world shaking defaults. Risk Management is the process of reducing the threat of loss due to uncontrollable events. There has been a continued improvement in Risk management over the years with four major approaches being adopted. The first approach is Risk Avoidance, and this approach may be adopted when the risk involved in a particular venture far outweighs whatever gains that might result. Depending on the risk management team, credit facility may be denied the seeker on account of the risk level. The second approach is to minimise losses through sound management principles and techniques, properly

Accounting information system Essay Example for Free

Accounting information system Essay An entity relationship (ER) diagram is a documentation technique used to represent the relationship between entities. Entities are physical resources (automobiles, cash, or in-ventory), events (ordering inventory, receiving cash, shipping goods), and agents (sales-person, customer, or vendor) about which the organization wishes to capture data. One common use for ER diagrams is to model an organization’s database, which we examine in detail in Chapter 9. Figure 2-14 shows the symbol set used in an ER diagram. The square symbol represents entities in the system. The labeled connecting line represents the nature of the relationship between two entities. The degree of the relationship, called cardinality, is the numerical mapping between entity instances. A relationship can be one-to-one (1:1), one-to-many (1:M), or many-to-many (M:M). 2 If we think of entities in the ER diagram as files of records, cardinality is the maximum number of records in one file that are related to a single record in the other file and vice versa. Cardinality reflects normal business rules as well as organizational policy. For instance, the 1:1 cardinality in the first example in Figure 2-14 suggests that each salesperson in the organization is assigned one automobile. See more: Unemployment problems and solutions essay If instead the organization’s policy were to assign a single automobile to one or more salespersons who share it, this policy would be reflected by a 1:M relationship. Similarly, the M:M relationship between vendor and inventory in Figure 2-14 implies that the organization buys the same type of products from one or more vendors. A company policy to buy particular items from a single vendor would be reflected by a 1:M cardinality. System designers identify entities and prepare a model of them, similar to the one presented in Figure 2-15. This data model is the blueprint for what ultimately willa

Comparing Early American Colonies Essay -- American History

The beginning of the Americas America was a place for dreams, a new beginning, religious freedom and rights. For the people of Europe the Americas was a place to prosper, worship in there own way, and expand there kingdoms. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies grew differently in various ways, but each with the same state of mind, â€Å"do it our way†. Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different in religion, government, and ways of expansion. New England was started for the search of religious freedom from persecution. England’s government required a strict attendance to the Anglican church. If a person were to refuse, holding separate services, they could be imprisoned and or fined! If the people didn’t take oath of supremacy to the king, they could be jailed for life. Since Charles I was head of the Anglican church what he said went; Charles removed all puritans ministers from his their pulpits. The puritans got fed up with all this persecution and as there ministers left to the new world they followed. One of the New England colonies was Rhode Island. After Roger Williams, a minister, challenged the Massachusetts policy time after time he was eventually banned from this land. In 1636 he purchased land in Narragansett bay and establishes providences. He created this society based on religious tolerance, separating state from church. After four more settlements were established Roger went to England, they got a charter, and established Rhode Island. His government was based on the principle of freedom of worship. Connecticut u can say was an unexpected colony. It started off just as a tra... ... 100 acres of land to each adventurer. He also distributed 50 acres to each person who paid his or her own way and 50 acres more for each additional person they brought along. This was known as the Virginia â€Å"headright† system. They decide to start growing tobacco a huge cash crop, but cant because the lake of labors. The Indians which seemed to have quieted down rows up and massacres huge number people, thus ending the company and the charter being revoked. There are clearly many similarities and differences in overall religious, economical, and governmental origins in American colonies. Many colonies were founded for exclusive religious freedom However, many came to be motivated in by economy and profit. Also, the American colonies evolved from non-representative and elitist governments into a more democratic system, which is closer to the pure democracy of today.

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 23~25

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Clair Stirs a Brainstorm For all his admiration for the field biologists he'd worked with over the years, secretly Clay harbored one tiny bit of ego-preserving superiority over them: At the end of the day, they were going to have only nicked the surface of the knowledge they were trying to attain, but if Clay got the pictures, he went home a satisfied man. Even around Nathan Quinn he'd exercised an attitude of rascally smugness, teasing about his friend's ongoing frustration. For Clay it was get the pictures and what's for dinner? Until now. Now he had his own mysteries to contend with, and he couldn't help but think that the powers of irony were flexing their muscles to get back at him for his having lived carefree for so long. Kona, on the other hand, had long paid homage to his fear of irony by, like many surfers, never eating shark meat. â€Å"I don't eat them, they don't eat me. That's just how it work.† But now he, too, was feeling the sawtoothed edge of irony's bite, for, having spent most of his time from the age of thirteen knocking the edge off his mental acuity by the concerted application of the most epic smokage that Jah could provide (thanks be unto Him), he was now being called upon to think and remember with a sharpness that was clearly painful. â€Å"Think,† said Clair, rapping the surfer in the forehead with the spoon she had only seconds earlier used to stir honey into a cup of calming herbal tea. â€Å"Ouch,† said Kona. â€Å"Hey, that's uncalled for,† said Clay, coming to Kona's aid. Loyalty being important to him. â€Å"Shut up. You're next.† â€Å"Okay.† They were gathered around Clay's giant monitor, which, for all the good it was doing them, could have been a giant monitor lizard. A spectrogram of whale song from Quinn's computer was splashed across the screen, and for the information they were getting from it, it might have been the aftermath of a paint-ball war, which is what it looked like. â€Å"What were they doing, Kona?† Clair asked, spoon – steaming with herbal calmness – poised to strike. As a teacher of fourth-graders in a public school, where corporal punishment was not allowed, she had years of violence stored up and was, truth be told, sort of enjoying letting it out on Kona, who she felt could have been the poster child for the failure of public education. â€Å"Nate and Amy both went through this with you. Now you have to remember what they said.† â€Å"It's not these things, it's the oscilloscope,† Kona said. â€Å"Nate pulled out just the submarine stuff and put it on the spectrum.† â€Å"It's all submarine,† Clay said. â€Å"You mean subsonic.† â€Å"Yeah. He said there was something in there. I said like computer language. Ones and ohs.† â€Å"That doesn't help.† â€Å"He was marking them out by hand,† Kona said. â€Å"By freezing the green line, then measuring the peaks and troughs. He said that the signal could carry a lot more information that way, but the whales would have to have oscilloscopes and computers to do it.† Clay and Clair both turned to the surfer in amazement. â€Å"And they don't,† Kona said. â€Å"Duh.† It was as if a storm of coherence had come over him. They just stared. Kona shrugged. â€Å"Just don't hit me with the spoon again.† Clay pushed his chair back to let the surfer at the keyboard. â€Å"Show me.† Late into the night the three of them worked, making little marks on printouts of the oscilloscope and recording them on yellow legal pads. Ones and ohs. Clair went to bed at 2:00 A.M. At 3:00 A.M. they had fifty handwritten legal-pad pages of ones and ohs. In another time this might have felt to Clay like a job well done. He'd helped analyze data on shipboard before. It killed some time and ingratiated him to whatever scientist was leading the project he was there to photograph, but he'd always been able to hand off the work for someone else to finish. It was slowly dawning on him: Being a scientist sucked. â€Å"This sucks,† said Kona. â€Å"No it doesn't. Look at all we have,† said Clay, gesturing to all they had. â€Å"What is it?† â€Å"It's a lot, that's what it is. Look at all of it.† â€Å"What's it mean?† â€Å"No idea.† â€Å"What does this have to do with Nate and the Snowy Biscuit?† â€Å"Just look at all of this,† said Clay, looking at all of it. Kona got up from his chair and rolled his shoulders. â€Å"Mon, Bwana Clay, Jah has given you a big heart. I'm goin' to bed.† â€Å"What are you saying?† Clay said. â€Å"We got all the heart we need, brah. We need head.† † ‘Scuse me?† And so, in the morning, with the promise of a colossal piece of information for barter (the torpedo range) but without a true indication of what he really needed to know in return (everything else), Clay talked Libby Quinn into coming to Papa Lani. â€Å"So let me get this straight,† said Libby Quinn as she paced from Clay's computer to the kitchen and back. Kona and Clay were standing to the side, following her movement like dogs watching meatball tennis. â€Å"You've got an old woman who claims that a whale called her and instructed her to have Nate take him a pastrami sandwich?† â€Å"On rye, with Swiss and hot mustard,† Kona added, not wanting her to miss any pertinent scientific details. â€Å"And you have a recording of voices, underwater, presumably military, asking if someone brought them a sandwich.† â€Å"Correct,† said Kona, â€Å"No bread, or meat, or cheese, specified.† Libby glared at him. â€Å"And you have the navy setting off simulated explosions in preparation to put a torpedo range in the middle of the Humpback Whale Sanctuary.† She paused meaningfully and pivoted thoughtfully – like Hercule Poirot in flip-flops. â€Å"You have a tape of Amy doing a breath-hold dive for what appears to be an hour, with no ill effects.† â€Å"Topless,† Kona added. Science. â€Å"You have Amy claiming that Nate was eaten by a whale, which we all know is simply not possible, given the diameter of the humpback's throat, even if one were inclined to bite him, which we know they wouldn't.† (She was just a deerstalker, a calabash, and a cocaine habit short of being Sherlock Holmes here.) â€Å"Then you have Amy taking a kayak out for no apparent reason and disappearing, presumed drowned. And you say that Nate was working on finding binary in the lower registers of the whale song, and you think that means something? Have I got that right?† â€Å"Yeah,† said Clay. â€Å"But you have the break-in to our offices to get the sound tapes, and you have my boat being sunk, too. Okay, it sounded more connected when we were talking about it last night.† Libby Quinn stopped pacing and turned to look at both of them. She wore cargo shorts, tech sandals, and a running bra and appeared ready at any moment to just take off and do something outdoorsy and strenuous. They both looked down, subdued, as if they were still under the threat of Clair's deadly spoon of calm. Clay had always had a secret attraction to Libby, even while she'd been married to Quinn, and it was only within the last year or so he'd been able to make eye contact with her at all. Kona, on the other hand, had studied dozens of videotapes on the lesbian lifestyle, especially as it pertained to having a third party show up in the middle of an intimate moment (usually with a pizza), so he had long ago assigned a ;hot; rating to Libby, despite the fact that she was twice his age. â€Å"Help us,† Kona said, trying to sound pathetic, staring at the floor. â€Å"This is what you guys have, and you think because I know a little biology I can make something of all this?† â€Å"And that,† said Clay, pointing at the now arranged and collated pages of ones and ohs on his desk. Libby walked over and flipped through the pages. â€Å"Clay, this is nothing. I can't do anything with this. Even if Nate was on to something, what do you think? That even if we recognize a pattern, it's going to mean something to us? Look, Clay, I loved Nate, too, you know I did, but –  » â€Å"Just tell us where to start,† Kona said. â€Å"And tell me if you see anything in this.† Clay went to his computer and hit a key. A still of the edge view of the whale tail from his rebreather dive was on the screen. â€Å"Nate said that he had seen some markings on a whale tail, Libby. Some writing. Well, I thought there was something on this whale, too, before it knocked me out. But this is the best shot of the tail we have. It could mean something.† â€Å"Like what?† Her voice was kind. â€Å"I don't know what, Libby. If I knew what, I wouldn't have called you. But there's too much weird stuff going on that almost fits together, and we don't know what to do.† Libby studied the tail still. â€Å"There is something there. You don't have a better shot?† â€Å"No, this is something I do know about. This is the best I have.† â€Å"You know, Margaret and I were helping a guy from Texas A&.M who was designing a software program that would shift perspective of tail shots, so edge and bad-angle views could be shifted and extrapolated into usable ID photos. You know how many get tossed because of bad angles?† â€Å"You have this program?† â€Å"Yes, it's still in beta tests, but it works. I think we can shift this shot, and if there's something meaningful there, we'll see it.† â€Å"Cool runnings,† Kona said. â€Å"As far as this binary thing, I think it's a shot in the dark, but if it's going to mean anything, you're going to have to get your ones and ohs in the computer. Kona, can you type?† â€Å"Well, on ones and ohs? I shred most masterful, mon.† â€Å"Right. I'll set you up with a simple text file – just ones and ohs – and we'll figure out if we can do anything with it later. No mistakes, okay?† Kona nodded. Clay finally looked up and smiled. â€Å"Thanks, Libby.† â€Å"I'm not saying it's anything, Clay, but I wasn't exactly fair to Nate when he was around. Maybe I owe him one now that he's gone. Besides, it's windy. Fieldwork would have sucked today. I'm going to call Margaret, have her bring the program over. I'll help you if you promise that you'll put all your weight into stopping this torpedo range and you'll sign Maui Whale on to the petition against low-frequency active sonar. You guys have a problem with that?† She was giving them the â€Å"spoon of death† look, and it occurred to both of them that this might be something that was innate to all women, not just Clair, and that they should be very, very afraid. â€Å"Nope,† said Kona. â€Å"Sounds good to me. I'll put on a pot of coffee,† said Clay. â€Å"Margaret is absolutely going to shit when she hears about the torpedo range,† said Libby Quinn as she reached for Clay's phone. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Orientation to the Blues A small explosion went off over his head, and Nate dove under the table. When he looked up, Emily 7 was bent over staring at him with her watery whale eyes and a mild expression of distress, and Nu;ez was crouched at the other end of the table smiling. â€Å"That was the blow, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"A little more intense than the humpback's, huh? These ships act like real whales, remember. The blowhole is right above our heads. Vented to the rest of the ship, but, you know, every twenty minutes or so it's going to go. You get used to it.† â€Å"Sure, I knew that,† said Nate, crawling out from under the table. He'd been out off of Santa Cruz searching for the blues. You usually found them by the sound of their blows, which you could hear up to a mile and a half away. He looked up, expecting to see sky through the blowhole, but instead he saw just more smooth whaleskin. â€Å"They behave like whales, but the physiology is completely different to allow for the living quarters. I don't really understand it, but for instance the blowhole is vented down the sides somewhere to some axillary lungs that do the oxygen exchange with the blood. I don't know how they got us electricity at all. I mean, I said I wanted a coffeepot, and they put in an outlet. There are circuits all over the bridge for our machinery. The other bodily functions seem to be handled by smaller versions of liver, kidneys, and so forth around the outside of the cabins. The main spine runs over the top of the ship. There's no digestive system. The ship's digestive system is at the base; it hooks up and pumps nutrient-rich blood into the ship, which stores enough energy in blubber to run it for six months at sea, or around the world at least once. We can cruise at twenty knots as long as no one is watching.† â€Å"What do you mean, ‘no one is watching'?† â€Å"I mean you guys. Biologists. If one of you guys is watching us, we have to slow it down after a couple of hours. Especially if we're tagged.† â€Å"This ship has been satellite-tagged? What do you do?† â€Å"We go to silent running for a while. Then we dive, and one of the whaley boys goes outside and pulls the tag off. We've been tagged twice by that Bruce Mate guy from Oregon State. That guy's a menace. Probably has a satellite tag on his wife to track her trips to the can. If they'd asked me, he'd be the one riding with us now.† â€Å"You know who he is?† Nate was aghast. As a scientist, you were always fighting being overwhelmed by what you don't know, but the magnitude of this whole operation – it was too much. â€Å"Of course. Since commercial whaling backed off, cetacean biologists have been the main focus of our intelligence program. Why do you think you're here?† â€Å"Okay, why am I here?† â€Å"I don't know the whole story, but it's something to do with the song. Evidently you were a little too close to finding our signal in the song, so they yanked you.† â€Å"The aliens were that interested in what I was doing?† â€Å"What aliens?† â€Å"These aliens,† Nate said, nodding toward the pilots and Bernard and Emily 7, who had moved to another table on the other side of the corridor. â€Å"The whaley boys aren't aliens. Who told you that?† â€Å"Well, Poynter and Poe implied that they were.† â€Å"Those jerks. No, they're not aliens. They're a little weird, but not from-another-planet weird.† Bernard looked up from what appeared to be a chart of some sort and gave a half-assed signature raspberry. â€Å"They do that a lot,† Nate said. â€Å"If you had a tongue four inches wide, you'd do that a lot, too. It's sort of a display move with them, like the penis waving that Bernard was doing.† â€Å"Like male killer whales do.† â€Å"Bingo. See, a guy with your background, this is easy to explain. I didn't understand squat at first.† â€Å"I'm sorry, but I can't believe that this ship, the whaley boys, the whole perfection of the way they work, could possibly be products of natural selection. There had to be a design. Someone made all this.† Cielle nodded, smiling. â€Å"I've known a number of scientists in my lifetime, Nate, but I'm sure this is the first time I've heard one arguing in favor of a grand designer. What's that called, the ‘watchmaker argument'?† She was right, of course. It was an accepted premise that intelligent design in nature was not necessarily a product of intelligence, but merely the mechanism of natural selection of traits for survival and really, really long periods of time for the selections to assert themselves. Nate's life's work had been built on that assumption, but now he was giving Darwin the old heave-ho simply because his – Nate's – mind was too small to adapt to the idea of this craft. Well, yes, damn it. Screw Darwin. This was too strange. â€Å"I'm sorry, I'm just having a little trouble getting my head around this. I don't know how you take to being a prisoner, but I don't care for it. On top of that, I could barely sleep on the humpback with the blow going off every few minutes, and I haven't eaten anything but raw fish and water for about five days. I'd be addled even if this didn't seem impossible.† Bernard made a whimpering noise, and Skippy and Scooter followed along in a moment until they sounded like a basketful of hungry puppies, and then they all broke out into wheezing snickers. Emily 7 frowned at them. â€Å"Of course, I understand, Nate,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"Maybe you should finish up your coffee and go to your quarters. I have a few sports shakes in my cabin that will get some carbohydrates to your brain, and I can get you something to help you sleep – the ship's doctor has a full stock of Pharmaceuticals.† She patted his hand maternally. Nate felt a little ashamed for having complained. â€Å"You're not the only human on this ship, then?† â€Å"No, there are four humans and six whaley boys on board. The others are in their quarters. But they're all excited to meet you. Everyone's been talking about it for weeks.† â€Å"You've known for weeks you were going to take me?† â€Å"Well, sort of. We were on standby. We just got the go-ahead the day before we took you.† â€Å"And you, and the rest of the crew, you're prisoners, too?† â€Å"Nate, every person on this ship, on any whale ship, has been pulled out of a sinking or sunken ship, a plane crash at sea, or some other disaster that would have killed them. This is a gift of time, and frankly, once you accept where you are and what you're doing, I'm going to ask you where you'd rather be. Okay?† Nate searched her face for any sign of sarcasm or malice. All he found was a gentle smile. â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"You go to your quarters now. I'll send around your supplies in a bit. Bernard, would you show Dr. Quinn to his quarters?† â€Å"I'm not really a doctor,† Nate whispered. â€Å"Take whatever respect you can get from them, Nate.† Bernard waited at the entry to the corridor, rubbing his shiny-smooth stomach and grinning. A white coffee mug stood out in contrast against Bernard's abdomen, suspended as it was in the grasp of his penis. â€Å"I've always wanted to do that,† said Nate, deciding that he wasn't going to let the whaley boy get the satisfaction of intimidating him. â€Å"Would be really handy for driving.† Nate bowed toward the corridor. â€Å"Lead on, Bernard.† Bernard skulked down the hall in what would have been a full pout posture, had he any lips to do the actual pouting. He spilled a trail of coffee along the way. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE The Inner Secrets of Cetacean Sluts Nate was just settling into the idea of the organic bunk he was going to be sleeping on before actually settling into the bed. He was not a God kind of guy, but he found himself thanking one nonetheless for the crisp cotton sheets and pillowcase on a feather pillow. He didn't think he really wanted to sleep with his face against whaleskin. There was a soft whistle outside the portal, and the great flap of skin retracted to open to the corridor. Emily 7 stood there with a tray that held two cans of protein shake, a glass of water, and a single small pill. She grinned but did not try to step into the cabin. The small portal required a bit of a crouching and climbing action for Nate to enter, so he guessed she'd dump the tray trying to get through. Then again, she might just be trying to be polite. She waited while Nate took the cans from the tray and set them on the low table, then swung around to take the pill and water from her. Emily 7 whistled and gave him a sidelong glance, causing her right eye to bulge out at him, as he'd actually seen humpbacks do when checking out a boat at the surface. She gestured for him to take the pill. â€Å"You're not leaving until you see me take my medicine?† Emily 7 nodded. â€Å"Well, I guess if you guys wanted to get rid of me, it would have been a lot easier to kill me without bringing me all the way out here to poison me.† Nate took the pill, downed the water, and opened his mouth to show that the pill was gone. â€Å"That okay, nurse?† Emily whistled and nodded, then gently took the empty glass from Nate's hand. She reached up to hit the node, and the portal closed between them. Nate heard her whistle the first few bars of a lullaby. She's sweet, Nate thought, in a tall, malevolent rubber-puppet sort of way. For almost a week the only sleep Nate had been able to get was while he was restrained in the chair in the humpback, and even then it was restless – with the ship blowing every few minutes and the whaley boys whistling communications – so, despite the blow of the blue-whale ship, he fell into a deep sleep filled with vivid dreams. He dreamed of himself and Amy, their naked bodies entwined, slick with sweat under soft candlelight. Strangely, even as he dreamed, he had the semilucid thought that before, whenever he'd taken a sleeping pill, he didn't remember ever dreaming. But that thought was pushed away by the feel of Amy's smooth skin, his fingers softly caressing her muscular legs, her four long, webbed fingers wrapped lovingly around his – â€Å"Hey!† Nate opened his eyes. A softly lit fence of spiky teeth smiled over at him, steamy fish breath washed over his face. â€Å"Uh-oh,† said Emily 7, her voice high and rasping, verging on duck-speak. Nate leaped out of bed and bounced off the wall on the other side of the cabin. Emily 7 pulled the sheet up over her head and burrowed against the wall, digging her melon under the pillow. Then she lay still. Nate stood trying to catch his breath. As soon as he'd hit the floor, the biolighting had come up to high. He pushed back against the flexible wall, then suddenly became self-conscious and pulled his T-shirt off the back of the chair to cover his erection, which was rapidly losing its will to live. She was just lying there. â€Å"Hello? I can see you.† Curled up. Not moving. There under the sheets. All whaley. â€Å"You aren't fooling anyone. You're bigger than I am. You're not hidden.† Just the soft sound of her blowhole opening and closing. Nate realized that it might be easier to hide under the covers if one had a blowhole, as one could cover one's mouth and face and still breathe. Addled by sleep deprivation, residual sleep medication, two cups of coffee, and now a few endorphins, he started to speculate on how a creature might adapt for hiding under the covers, then shook off the biologist rising up in him. â€Å"Come on, we're different species and stuff. That's creepy.† Now a bit of a squeak, more like a whimper, followed by a tiny â€Å"Uh-oh,† like a small elf had been mashed under the covers with a heavy book and had uh-ohed its last pathetic gasp. â€Å"Well, you can't stay here.† He remembered how he'd felt when Libby had left him and by way of explanation she'd said, â€Å"Nate, I don't know, I don't even feel like we're the same species.† At the time he'd felt as if his stomach were being turned inside out. It had ruined him socially for more than a year. Longer than that if he counted the fiasco attraction to Amy. He stepped over to the bunk. Emily 7 scrunched into the corner between the wall and the bed. Nate worked the edge of the sheet loose and cautiously slid one leg under the covers. The lump that was Emily 7's head moved as if she was listening. â€Å"You have to stay on your side, okay?† â€Å"Okay,† wheezed Emily 7 in the mashed-elf voice. Nate awoke to the exhultations of killer whales – high-pitched hunting calls. The pod seemed to be gleefully celebrating a hunt, or at least calling another pod to come along and help. It occurred to him that he was actually riding in a craft that qualified as food for the orcas, and the ship might be in danger of attack. He'd have to ask Nuà ±ez about that. He swung his feet off the bunk, and the lights came up. He realized that he was alone and sighed with relief. There was a fresh set of khakis hung over the chair and a bottle of water on the table. There was a small basin on the wall opposite the bunk, no bigger than a cereal bowl and made out of the same skin as the rest of the ship. He hadn't even noticed it the night before. There were three lit nodules above the basin, like those used to activate the portals, but Nate could see nowhere for the water to come out. He pushed one of the nodules, and the basin started filling from a sphincter in the bottom. He pushed another, and the water was sucked out the same orifice. He tried to foster scientific detachment toward the whole thing but failed miserably: He was creeped out. Nate desperately needed a shave and a shower, but he didn't want to try to wash his whole six-foot-two-inch body in an eight-inch bowl with a†¦ well, a butt hole at the bottom. He'd had just about enough of advanced poop-chute technology, thank you. He splashed some water on his face and dressed in the khakis, wonde ring as he did if the whale ship could actually grow a mirror for him to shave in if he needed it. The whole crew appeared to be up and milling about the bridge when Nate came in. There were four whaley boys at the table with the charts to the right of the hatch, the two pilots at their consoles. Nuà ±ez stood by the table to the left of the hatch, where there were seated a blond woman in her thirties and two men, one dark, perhaps in his early twenties, and one bald and gray-bearded, a healthy fifty, maybe. Not a very military-looking bunch. Everyone turned when Nate came in. All conversations – words or whistles – stopped abruptly. The echo of killer-whale calls bounced around the bridge. Emily 7 turned away from Nate's gaze. Nuà ±ez was leaning against the wall near the nook that housed the coffeepot, actively trying not to look at him. â€Å"Hi,† Nate said, catching eye contact with the bald guy, who smiled. â€Å"Have a seat,† said the bald guy, gesturing toward the empty seat at the table. â€Å"We'll get you something to eat. I'm Cal Burdick.† He shook Nate's hand. â€Å"This is Jane Palovsky and Tim Milam.† â€Å"Jane, Tim,† Nate said, shaking hands. Nuà ±ez smiled at him, then looked away quickly as if the coffeepot needed some immediate attention or she was going to crack up – or both. Everyone at the table nodded, sort of staring at the spot in front of them, like So here we are on a giant blue-whale ship, hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, with killer whales calling about us, and Nate fucked an alien, so†¦ â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate said to the whole bridge. â€Å"What?† said Jane. â€Å"Your quarters satisfactory, then?† asked Tim, an eyebrow raised. â€Å"Nothing happened,† Nate repeated, and even though nothing had happened, from the tone of his voice he wouldn't have believed it either. â€Å"Really.† â€Å"Of course,† said Tim. All of the whaley boys except Emily 7 were snickering. When he looked around, all the males were waving their willies back and forth in time in the air, as if swaying to a pornographic Christmas carol. Emily 7 put her big whaley head down on the table and covered it with her arms. â€Å"Nothing happened!† Nate shouted at them. Silence again on the bridge, just the echo of killer-whale calls. â€Å"Are we in danger?† Nate asked Nuà ±ez, trying desperately to change the subject. â€Å"Are they going to attack the ship? Those are feeding calls, right?† Often, when killer whales found a whale that was too big to be taken by their family pod, or when they happened on to an especially rich school of fish, they would call to other pods for help. Nate recognized the calls from some work he'd done with a biologist friend in Vancouver. â€Å"No, these are residents,† Nuà ±ez said. â€Å"They're just excited about a bait ball they've found. Probably sardines.† Resident killer whales ate only fish; transients ate mammals, whales and seals. Over the last few years scientists tended to refer to them as completely different species, even though they appeared the same to the layman. â€Å"You know what they are by their call?† â€Å"More than that,† Cal said, â€Å"we know what they're saying. The whaley boys can translate.† â€Å"All killer whales are named Kevin. You knew that, right?† said Jane. She had a slight Eastern European accent, Russian maybe. She looked a little amused, her blue eyes dark under the yellow cast of the bioluminescence, but she didn't appear to be joking. She patted the seat next to her, indicating that Nate should sit down. â€Å"Like all the pilots are named Scooter and Skippy?† Nate said. â€Å"Actually, they have numbers like Emily – their choice, by the way – but since there are never more than one pair of them on a ship, we don't bother with the numbers.† Nate suddenly realize that in all his time on both of the whale ships, except when one of the pilots had gone outside to catch fish, the pilots always seemed to be at the controls. â€Å"Don't they ever sleep?† â€Å"Sure,† said Jane. â€Å"We're pretty sure they sleep with half their brain at a time, like whales, so between two of them the ship always has a full pilot. Without one of them at the controls, it's basically a big lump of meat.† â€Å"You said that you're pretty sure. You don't know?† â€Å"Well, they don't know for sure,† said Jane, â€Å"and they're not very excited about our doing experiments on them. Now that you've joined us, though, maybe you'll be able to figure out what's going on with them. We sort of play it all by ear. The whaley boys and the Colonel run things. Cielle, you didn't tell him all this?† â€Å"He was pretty beat,† Nu;ez said. â€Å"I tried to get him settled in as soon as I could.† Nate wanted to protest the â€Å"settled in† comment. After all, he was a prisoner here, but these people didn't behave at all like captors. They immediately impressed him as having the same dynamic that he'd seen in research teams, a â€Å"we're all in this together, let's make the best of it† attitude. He didn't want to yell at these people. Still, it made him a little uncomfortable that she was so forthcoming with information. When your kidnappers showed you their faces, they were giving you the message that you weren't going home. Nu;ez set a plate down in front of him. It had a salad of mixed seaweeds, carrots, and mushrooms, a piece of cooked fish, which looked like halibut, and what appeared to be rice. â€Å"Eat up,† she said. â€Å"A couple of nutrition drinks aren't going to get you back up to speed. We do eat a lot of raw fish, even on the blue, but you need some carbs until you adjust to this diet. There's plenty of rice when you finish that.† â€Å"Thanks.† Nate dug in while the others, all but Cal, excused themselves to work in other parts of the ship. The older man had obviously been charged with Nate's second orientation lecture. Cal scratched his beard, looked around at the pilots, then leaned over to Nate and spoke in a lowered voice. â€Å"They're very promiscuous. You know how dolphin females will mate with all the males in the pod so no one can be assured of who the father of her calf is? They think it keeps the males from murdering her calf when it's born.† â€Å"That's the theory,† Nate said. â€Å"They're sort of like that, and back at base you have a big pod to deal with. You start down that path†¦ well, you've got a lot of whaley boys to sex up.† â€Å"I didn't sex her up,† Nate hissed, spraying rice out over the table. â€Å"I'm not sexing up any whaley boys†¦ er, girls – ; â€Å"Whatever. Look, they're very close. Here on the ship they don't have separate quarters – they share one big cabin. Sex is very casual with them, but they understand that we're a little more hung up about it. Some of them seem to affect human shyness. We generally don't mix sexually with them. It's not forbidden, but it's†¦ you know, frowned upon. It's only natural for a guy to be curious –  » Nate put down his fork. â€Å"Cal, I did not have sex with anyone – I mean, anything.† â€Å"Right. And be careful around the males. Especially if you're in the water with them. They'll bung-hole you just to watch you twitch.† â€Å"Jeez.† â€Å"I'm just telling you for your own good.† â€Å"Thanks, but I'm not going to be around long enough to worry about it.† Might as well throw it in their faces, Nate thought. The older man laughed, almost shooting coffee out his nose. When he recovered, he said, â€Å"Well, I hope you mean you plan on dying soon, because no one ever leaves.† Nate leaned into Cal's face. â€Å"Doesn't it bother you, that you're a prisoner?† â€Å"There's not one of us here who wouldn't be dead if the whaley boys hadn't picked us up.† â€Å"Not me.† â€Å"Especially you. You were always twelve hours from dead since we started watching you. Certainly it had to occur to you how much easier it would have been just to kill you?† Nate just stared for a second. Actually, it had occurred to him, and he didn't see the logic in keeping him alive if all they wanted to do was stop his research. He wasn't going to make that argument verbally, but still†¦ â€Å"Don't overthink it, Nate. If you ever doubted that life was an adventure, it definitely is now.† â€Å"Right,† Nate said. â€Å"But before you ask me where I'd rather be, let me remind you that there's a sphincter in the bottom of my sink.† â€Å"You haven't seen the shower, then? Just you wait.† After he ate, Cal loaned him a copy of Treasure Island to read, but when Nate returned to his cabin, he could barely concentrate on the book at all. Funny what you learn about yourself in a short conversation. One, that he would rather have been accused of having sex with another species than with another male (even of another species). Interesting prejudice. Two, that he actually was grateful, not only to be alive, but grateful to be having completely new experiences every moment, even as a prisoner. Three, that learning was still a high, but he burned to share it with someone. And finally, that he was feeling a little jealous, a little less special, now that he knew that Emily 7 was having sex with all the male whaley boys on board. That fickle little slut. He dozed off with Robert Louis Stevenson on his chest and the sound of killer whales calling in the distance. Outside, the pod of twenty killer whales, most the sons or daughters of the matriarch female, were calling frantically to each other as they worried away at a huge bait ball of herring. Biologists had long speculated on the incredibly complex vocabulary of the killer whale, identifying specific linguistic groups that even  «spoke » the same dialect, but they had never been able to put meaning to the calls other than to identify them as â€Å"feeding,† â€Å"distress,† or  «social » noises. However, had they had the benefit of translation, this is what they would have heard: â€Å"Hey, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Fish! I love fish!† â€Å"Look, Kevin, fish!† â€Å"Mmmm, fish.† â€Å"You, Kevin, take a run down that trench, fake left, go right, hit the bait ball, nothing but fish!† â€Å"Did someone say ‘fish'?† â€Å"Yeah, fish. Over here, Kevin.† â€Å"Mmmmm, fish.† And it went on like that. Actually, orcas aren't quite as complex as scientists imagine. Most killer whales are just four tons of doofus dressed up like a police car.

Outline the relative strategic positions of Netflix and Blockbuster. What are the key factors that explain the ultimate Blockbuster demise? Essay

Outline the relative strategic positions of Netflix and Blockbuster. What are the key factors that explain the ultimate Blockbuster demise? (as of the time of the case) In the following assignment I will begin by giving the relative strategic positions of Netflix and Blockbuster as of January 2007. I will then outline what I believe to be the top three key factors that explain the ultimate Blockbuster demise. Strategic Positions Netflix – An outside-in company At the time of the case, Netflix was a perfect example of an outside-in thinking company. Netflix‘s strategy was very straight forward – it was to allow the best home video viewing for its customers. This was a simple and clear strategy. This strategy meant Netflix could adapt and change its model of allowing the best home video viewing for its customers as its customers habits changed. By January 2007 Netflix was fulfilling this strategy via its DVD home delivery service. By the end of 2006 we are told in the case study that Netflix had 6.6 million subscribers, a library of 70,000 different titles which were held on over 55 million DVD’s, revenues of nearly one billion and free cash flow of $64 million. The company could deliver to 90% of its subscribers within a single day. Netflix demonstrated that it listened to customer feedback from very early on. When something didn’t work they changed it until the results showed that the replacement service was working. They changed their charging model from a per-movie price to a monthly subscription, they improved their delivery service through opening more distribution centres to allow for quicker delivery and therefore improving customer service, the range of movies on offer was not being limited to new releases but was instead being broadened to offer its customers more of what they liked, the tailoring of movies to the individual and finally carefully considered partnerships and alliances to increase their customer portfolio. At the time of the case Netflix had a sound business model however the CEO, Reed Hastings, could see large-scale change was imminent and he did not want to be left behind. He could see Video-On-Demand was the future and he wanted to be ready for it. The company had already been investing tens of millions in cash in VOD for several years. This demonstrated their desire to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Netflix was evolving to meet its customer’s desires. Blockbuster – An inside-out company At the time of the case Blockbuster were playing catch up. They had spent the recent past in a very dominant and comfortable position with almost 50% of the home rental market. During the period of dominance their model worked. They were in a position which was similar to that of Kodak at the time of the early introduction of digital cameras which ultimately saw the end of Kodak’s dominance in the photographic market. (Johnson, Whittington & Scholes, 2011, pp. 308). They had been very much in the position of an inside-out company whose success had been built around â€Å"depth of copy†. (Ritson, 2010, pp. 62) The only evidence of a strategy was to copy and try to improve upon models which had already been developed by its competitors. Blockbuster did not identify any threats to its market position until it was too late, and when they did recognise the threat their response was to copy, not to innovate. Blockbuster first dismissed the concept of online rentals in 2002, but went on to launch a version of their own in 2004. Key Factors in the ultimate demise of Blockbuster 1 – Blockbuster did not take its competitors seriously. Ritson tells us that a key factor in the demise of Blockbuster was one of ignorance and arrogance. Blockbuster ignored a tiny upstart with a new business model (Netflix) which began in 1999. In an interview with Fortune magazine in 2003, Blockbuster senior management were openly dismissive of the threat posed by Netflix. They stated that their customers were more â€Å"spur of the moment renters who did not necessarily plan their movie watching in advance†. Blockbuster viewed itself as a rental outlet and Netflix as a delivery service. It did not consider Netflix as a competitor. (Ritson, 2010, pp. 62) 2 – Blockbuster was always playing catch-up. Blockbuster saw itself as competing in a different market. Ritson states that if Blockbuster had realised early enough that it was in the entertainment business instead of the home rental business it could have launched a competitor service to Netflix or perhaps even acquired Netflix. (Ritson, 2010, pp. 62) In the case study we are told that Hastings stated in 2005 that, â€Å"we’re just thankful Blockbuster didn’t enter four years ago†. Again from the case study detail we can see that when Blockbuster did eventually start competing with Netflix in 2004 it launched similar products to its competitor and tried to differentiate itself through price. In the article, â€Å"Reinventing your Business Model† we are told that, â€Å"pursuing a new business model that’s not new or game changing to your industry or market is a waste of time and money†. (Johnson, Christensen & Kagermann, 2008, pp. 56) Blockbuster missed an opportunity to leap frog its opponents and instead of trying to break new ground they simply followed what was already working for its competitors. Meanwhile its competitors were already moving on. 3 – Blockbuster did not listen to its stakeholders or strategise. Blockbuster did not listen to what its stakeholders were saying and doing. The article â€Å"Strategic Management of Stakeholders: Theory and Practice†, tells us that by â€Å"attending to important concepts emerging from the stakeholder literature†, it is possible that â€Å"top management teams can increase the robustness of their strategies†. (Ackermann & Eden, 2010, pp. 179). The article goes on to demonstrate that by mapping their stakeholders in the following way companies can see very quickly who has the relevant interest and power to influence the company’s strategic direction. Stakeholder mapping diagram Keep satisfied Manage Closely Monitor Keep informed The lack of a strategy at the time of their dominance saw Blockbuster having to give up revenue when trying to imitate their competitors – $600 million forgoing late fees to match the Netflix model as well as spending heavily on advertising when taking their version of their competitor’s products to market. This money could have been diverted early on to innovate and to remain dominant in the home entertainment market. (Pugatch, 2007, pp. 43). BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Ackermann, Fran & Colin Eden. (2011) ‘Strategic Management of Stakeholders: Theory and Practice’, Long Range Planning 44, pp.179–196. 2. Johnson, Gerry, Richard Whittington & Kevan Scholes. (2011) Exploring Strategy, Text & Cases, Ninth Edition. Harlow: Prentice Hall Financial Times. 3. Johnson, Mark W., Clayton M. Christensen & Henning Kagermann. (2008) ‘Reinventing your business model’, Harvard Business Review, December 2008, pp. 50–59. 4. Pugatch, CB. (2007) ‘Rent this’ (Online). Available at: http://www.response-digital.com/response/200707/?pg=42#pg42 (Accessed 19th June 2013). 5. Ritson, Mark. (2010) ‘This Blockbuster is one you mustn’t miss’ (Online). Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/this-blockbuster-is-one-you-mustnt-miss/3018752.article (Accessed 19th June 2013).

An Evolution of the Human Brain

An Evolution of the Human Brain Human organs, much like the human heart, have changed and evolved over the history of time. The human brain is no exception to this natural phenomena. Based on Charles Darwins idea of Natural Selection, species that had larger brains capable of complex functioning seemed to be a favorable adaptation. The ability to take in and understand new situations proved invaluable to the survival of Homo sapiens. Some scientists believe that as the environment on Earth evolved, humans did as well. The ability to survive these environmental changes was directly due to the size and function of the brain to process the information and act upon it. Early Human Ancestors During the reign of the Ardipithecus Group of human ancestors, brains were very similar in size and function to those of a chimpanzee. Since the human ancestors of that time (about 6 million to 2 million years ago) were more ape-like than human, the brains needed to still function like that of a primate. Even though these ancestors tended to walk upright for at least part of the time, they did still climb and live in the trees, which requires a different set of skills and adaptations than that of modern humans. The smaller size of the brain at this stage in human evolution was adequate for survival. Toward the end of this time period, the human ancestors began figuring out how to make very primitive tools. This allowed them to begin hunting larger animals and increase their protein intake. This crucial step was necessary for brain evolution since the modern human brain requires a constant source of energy to keep functioning at the rate it does. 2 million to 800,000 Years Ago Species of this time period began moving to different places across the Earth. As they moved, they encountered new environments and climates. In order to process and adapt to these climates, their brains began to get bigger and perform more complex tasks. Now that the first of the human ancestors had begun to spread out, there was more food and room for each species. This led to an increase in both body size and brain size of the individuals. Human ancestors of this time period, like the Australopithecus Group and the Paranthropus Group, became even more proficient in tool making and got a command of fire to help keep warm and cook food. An increase in brain size and function required a more diverse diet for these species and with these advances, it was possible. 800,000 to 200,000 Years Ago Over these years in the history of the Earth, there was a large climatic shift. This caused the human brain to evolve at a relatively rapid pace. Species that could not adapt to the shifting temperatures and environments quickly went extinct. Eventually, only Homo sapiens from the Homo Group remained. The size and complexity of the human brain allowed individuals to develop more than just primitive communication systems. This allowed them to work together to adapt and stay alive. Species whose brains were not large or complex enough went extinct. The different parts of the brain, since it was now large enough to not only accommodate instincts necessary for survival but also more complex thoughts and feelings, were able to differentiate and specialize in various tasks. Parts of the brain were designated for feelings and emotion while others stayed with the task of survival and autonomous life functions. The differentiation of the parts of the brain allowed humans to create and understand languages to communicate more effectively with others.

How to Write Faster 10 Effective Strategies Finally Finish Your Book

How to Write Faster 10 Effective Strategies Finally Finish Your Book How to Write Faster: 10 Effective Strategies Finally Finish Your Book Learning how to write faster has many uses, whether youre writing a book or just want to get ahead in another writing field.â€Å"The faster I write, the better my output. If I’m going slow, I’m in trouble. It means I’m pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.†Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Raymond ChandlerWe’ve all been there: You finally squeeze in some writing time in between all your commitments but rarely have a solid writing habit built into your busy life.However, when you sit down to write, something odd happens. These are our strategies for how to write faster:Write every dayUse an outline to write fasterAvoid editing as you goResearch laterPractice your typing speedSit up properly to write fasterUse talk-to-textDo writing sprintsGet accountability buddiesChallenge yourselfYou thought that a torrent of words would flow out - after all, you haveso much to say.Yet, each word that comes out of you is dragged out. Writing feels less like fun, and more like bleeding.At the end of the hour, you find youve only written 100 words, and not the 500 words you budgeted.Any writer understands how frustrating it is to make time for writing, but to have almost nothing to show for that time. How to Write Well FastTheres a great debate over whether or not doing something quickly produces good quality. After all, fast food restaurants and known for their low-quality food being unhealthy.However, writing is not like the food industry.In fact, we have plenty of tips for maintaining that quality while learning how to write faster.So can you write well while doing so quickly?The answer is yes, and heres howHow to Write a FasterI have some good news: This doesnt have to be the case.You can set up your writing process in such a way that its guaranteed youll find your writing flow and have words stream out of you faster than you can catch them.You can make sure that your writing session is as efficient and effective as possible so that not a single minute is wasted.Writing faster will not only mean that you finish your book’s first draft, which can be a life-changing achievement, it’ll also mean that you’ll be quicker at anything you write.Your blog posts, emails, letters, and even your social media updates will be written faster.Here are all the practical tips Ive gathered over the years to help me and my students learn how to write a book in less than 30 days.NOTE: We cover everything in this blog post and much more about the writing, marketing, and publishing process in our VIP Self-Publishing Program. Learn more about it here#1 Write Every DayI’m going to start with an essential tip: If you want to write faster, you have to write every day and make that your primary writing goal.Writing, like any craft, gets better the more you do it. The more you practice your writing skills, the faster the words will come to your mind and your fingertips.You’ll get better and quicker at connecting diff erent pieces of knowledge, forming new ideas and improving your natural storytelling abilities.You’ll also get quicker at the mechanical process of writing. Youll develop muscle memory for your keyboard and your writing speed will go up. Soon you’ll wonder how you could have ever survived at your slower words-per-minute speed.What to write? You could update your WordPress blog every day, or a chapter of your book every day. It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re writing. How to Write Faster Action Step:1 Choose what you’re going to write about every day, whether it’s blog articles, chapters of your book or even a personal journal.2 Set your word count goal for each day.3 Track how many words you are writing per hour or day.However, even writing every day won’t stop you facing that feeling you get when you see a blank page. To avoid that and guarantee your words flow every time you see a new page you need to create an outline.#2 Crea te an OutlineHere’s the writing world’s worst-kept secret: outlines work to help you write faster!To achieve any goal, you need to plan first. The same can be said for writing.Even if you’re able to crank out 3000 words an hour, it won’t matter much if your content lacks direction, as readers will get confused and drop your book.A solid outline gives you the direction you need to keep your readers engaged and it also allows you to plan roughly how many words are in your novel, working backward from how many chapters and how many words in each chapter.This ensures you can plan and create your writing goal to succeed. Writing a book is a lot of work, but we can cut out a ton of obstacles with a well-written book outlinethat builds passion and purpose into your writing.Here’s how an outline can double or even triple your writing speed:1. Outlines Eliminate Writer’s BlockOne of the reasons writers experience  writer’s block is by not ha ving an outline, or having a poorly written outline. If your outline is well-organized and fleshed out with all the ideas, chapters, and sections flowing in a logical sequence, chances are writer’s block won’t be an issue.When you have to stop to think about what comes next, you’re no longer in writing mode. Instead, you fall into confusion and frustration and then default to book research mode.â€Å"I know I can get through this if I just it look up†¦Ã¢â‚¬ You start doing everything else but writing. The next time you hit a wall,check the flow of your outline. Revise what you need to and keep moving forward. Be sure to do as much research as you can before the initial writing begins.2. Outlines Provide an Organized Framework for Your Book’s StructureYour outline is the roadmap for your book, a place where your story structure is laid out in front of you. Without it, your writing time is slow and grueling, like running up a mountain with a ball and chain. Sounds tough, right?A well-organized outline boosts productivity throughout the writing phase.The secret to completing any big project, like a novel, is to break it into small manageable chunks, and an outline breaks this marathon project into small manageable writing tasks.You’ll write much faster when the chapters flow from one to the next and ideas are combined and clustered. When your outline flows with a well-organized structure you don’t have to stop to think about what to write next. Your fingers can keep moving in flow with the plan you created.3. Outlines Give You a Bird’s Eye ViewWhen you can see your book in its entirety on the page, you feel compelled to write as much as possible. Think of it as a race. You’ll perform much better knowing the exact distance you have to run - especially as you near the finish line and you have the  end in sight.Behind every great post and book is a bulletproof outline. Here are some steps you can take today to get started with this process. How to Write Faster Action Step:1 Spend some time today and go back and revise your book outline. If you don’t have one, make one.2 Look at areas that could be better researched. Review the chapters that have ideas that require deeper development.3 The aim is to make your outline the best it can be. Revise your outline as you go, but make sure your words keep hitting the paper.For other writing:Commit to this rule whenever you’re writing anything: Five minutes of outlining for every 500 words of content. Writing a 1,000-word article? Spend 10 minutes developing an outline.Writing a 100-word email? Spend a minute outlining your points. Every minute you spend outlining will save you a heap of time later.#3 Dont edit as you goWant to write better quality stuff? Then youre going to have let go of your inner perfectionist and stop your self-editing.Hemingway is often attributed with the quote, write drunk, edit sober. While Im no t advocating you become an alcoholic to produce content, you can adopt the figurative meaning of the quote.The largest obstacle to entering that zen state where the words zip out of us effortlessly is our tendency to censor ourselves. We continuously correct what were about to say before we put the words on the page.Us writers tend to be perfectionists, yet this self-criticism gets in the way of our creativity.A better strategy is to write a rough draft first. Think B- quality instead of A+. This is what Hemingway means when he says to write drunk. During the drafting phase you let go of caring about thequalityof your work, but instead focus on thequantity.Aim to finish your daily writing goal, no matter how bad the draft is. The goal is not to have a perfect manuscript.Once youve finished, then and only then, begin the â€Å"edit sober† phase. Here you can engage your inner critic. You can cut what doesnt work and polish what does. Its best to begin the editing phase with a fresh set of eyes, usually after youve taken a break.If its a short article, then sleep on your draft before editing.If its a book draft, then take at least a week off the project before looking back on it.Its hard to let go of that inner judge when drafting our work, but once you do, youll write significantly faster. Often when you look back on the draft that you thought was horrible, youll find its better than you thought. Not perfect, but better than you imagined.Youll also see that there were some ideas you put in there that couldnt have happened if you were writing as a perfectionist.Also, if youre still worried about the quality of your book draft, remember that youll hire an editor to polish your book to be the best it can be. How to Write Faster Action Step:1 When you begin writing a piece, throw perfection out of the window and aim for a rough draft. Think B- work and not A+.2 If you find it hard to lock up your inner perfectionist, set yourself a challenge to write a wor d count in a set time, like 500 words in 30-minute chunks.3 After you finish your draft, put it away for a bit of time before you begin editing.#4 Write Faster First, Research LaterHeres a piece of great advice many journalists receive: write first and research your book later. It might be counter-intuitive, but before you close this page and think I’m crazy, hear me out.When you begin writing you have one mission: enter flow. This is the state where the words come out of you effortlessly and you lose awareness of time flowing by. This is the key for quality and effective writing.Once you enter flow, your mission is to stay there.A sure way to get thrown out of the zone is to stop mid-sentence to find the capital of that countryyou want to reference, and then get sucked down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.Instead of interrupting your flow of writing, use a writer’s tip I’ve talked about before: TK your research point.TK is short for â€Å"to come† and is a han dy placeholder to use for research points you want to look up later. There are barely any words in the English language that have those two letters next to each other, making it easy to use the Command+F function to find these placeholders.For example, lets say you were writing about the Golden Gate bridge and couldnt remember the date it opened and its length. If that were the case, this is what your draft would look like and doing a quick command+f (for mac) will help you fill in these gaps later:The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in TK and was the longest bridge with a main span of TK.This takes 10 seconds to write, and you can stay in your flow and move on to the next sentence.If you had Googled each of those facts, the sentence would have taken you 60 seconds and taken you out of your flow.After you finish the draft, you can go back in and fill in the blanks:The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in1937and was the longest bridge with a main span of4,200 feet. How to Write Faster Acti on Step:1 When drafting, if you cant remember a piece of detail, put TK as a placeholder, instead of going to Google.2 During your editing phase, use Control+F to search for TK and replace each result with the relevant piece of research.#5 Schedule Brief Typing Practice SessionsThink of your typing speed as the bottleneck between your brain and your piece of content, like the narrowest part of the road that’s causing a traffic buildup. Your fingers simply can’t type as fast as your mind is working.Unfortunately, technology hasn’t yet progressed to the point where we can think of the words and they magically appear on the page, but with the help of a few fun and simple online games we can improve our typing speed.I’ll share a secret with you: I used to not be able to type very well. I was like someone from the early 20th century, using two fingers to pound out my content. My typing speed was barely above 30 words per minute. Yet, writing was important t o me, like it is for you, so I worked at it.Even now, for ten minutes a day I play online typing games to test my writing speed and provide feedback on how efficient I am a typist. It’s a great way to master the skill of getting your word count up. Check out 10FastFingersor Key Hero.# 6 Use Proper Sitting PostureThe position of your body has a lot to do with typing speed and efficiency.If you slouch in your chair you’ll cramp up and find it hard to concentrate.Here is how you should position yourself:Make sure that you are sitting up straight - don’t lean or hunch over towards the desk.Position your elbows at right angles to the keyboard - avoid bending your arms upwards or downwards.Properlyposition your fingerson the keyboard.You can even buy a standing desk to help your posture.It’s scientifically proven that thestanding deskhas major benefits for your health. Standing gives you higher energy levels and better blood flow. But that’s not all! It also boosts productivity and makes us more efficient when typing.#7 Use talk-to-textOne of the greatest parts about the advancement in technology is the fact that there are now options to use talk-to-text to even write a book, and not just compose a text message.Google docs has a fantastic diction program that allows you to speak your words onto the page.Heres how you can use diction on Google docs:Open a new doc in Google DocsGo to ToolsSelect voice typingMake sure your microphone is workingPush the microphone that pops up on the left side of your doc and start speakingThats all there is to it. This way, those of you who can speak faster than you type and are audible people in general (usually you extroverts!), you can write a book faster with this method.#8 Do writing sprints to write fasterWriting sprints are one of the best ways to write faster.Theres an entire community of writers (typically found on Twitter using the #WritingSprint hashtag) who write their entire books by using sprints.A writing sprint is when you set a certain amount of time on the clock (15 minutes for the first, then 25, then 10 minutes) and you write as fast as you can for that amount of time.The goal with writing sprints is to NOT edit, not go back and read, just write.Heres an example of the writing community on Twitter doing their sprints:#9 Get an accountability buddyOne of the best ways to write and finish a book faster is utilizing accountability partners in order to keep you on track.Here at Self-Publishing School, we help students find accountability partners in our Mastermind Community on Facebook. This is largely responsible for students finishing their drafts faster.These are some benefits and reasons having an accountability partner can help you write faster:Someone else can keep you accountableThey can help lift your spirits if youre feeling down (which usually prevents writing)They can talk through writers block with you to get rid of itYou can do writing sprints togetherUltimately, youll only benefit from having a writing buddy on-hand to keep you on pace to finish your book faster.#10 Challenge YourselfWriting faster will not only allow you to finish your books first draft faster, it’ll make you quicker at all forms of writing. You’ll be speedier at composing emails, recommendation letters, cover letters, social media posts and articles.Writing is also closely related to thinking. Being a faster and clearer writer will make you a faster and clearer thinker.Follow the above tips on your next greatarticle idea or book chapter and see how many words you can get out in a timed writing session. Youll be amazed at the difference in your writing speed.Instead of your draft taking months to produce, you might find that youll be able to pound out full-length novels on the weekends.What to do NextIn order to write faster, it helps to be fully informed. That way, youll spend less time clicking open another tab and more time writing.Her es how you can do that.

Is LinkedIn Job Seeker Premium Worth the Price One Womans Story...

Is LinkedIn Job Seeker Premium Worth the Price One Womans Story... Many people approach me to ask whether it’s worth the price to subscribe to LinkedIn Job Seeker Premium.   One of my subscribers, Susan Poseika, signed up for the one-month free trial and was kind enough to share her evaluation of the service.   Her experience is anecdotal only one person’s experience and does not necessarily predict what anyone else will experience. Still, I thought it would be valuable to share. As background, I invite you to read an article I wrote about LinkedIn’s Job Seeker Premium.   You might also want to view LinkedIns VIDEO about the service, available HERE. LinkedIn claims the following advantages of Linkedin Job Seeker Premium on the subscription page: Get noticed by recruiters and hiring managers with a JobSeekers Badge Zero in on $100K+ jobs with detailed salary information Move to the top of the list as a featured applicant Contact anyone directly through InMail response guaranteed See who has viewed your profile with details Get introduced to the companies you are targeting Let recruiters message you for free through OpenLink Get Priority Customer Service Below is what Susan reported as her experience with Job Seeker Premium: Get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters with LinkedIn badge: I did not notice a difference with this feature. Recruiters had contacted me when I did not have the badge; however, during the month I had the badge, there was nothing. After I took the badge off (after the free month) I still did not see any change. Move to top of the list as Featured Applicant: I did not notice a difference from this feature. InMail: With InMail, Linkedin members can contact anyone without knowing their contact information or going through introductions from other LinkedIn members. However, if you get a deep enough network, there would be a way to connect with the same people, if not through direct invitations, then through introductions. Note from Brenda:   Two other ways to connect with people you don’t know are 1) by joining a group where you are both members 2) by looking for the person’s email address, either in the person’s profile (many members include their email address) or by searching the web.   If you know a person’s company then often you can figure out their email address.   For instance, if you are looking for Peter Cantor who works at samplecompany, go to samplecompany.com and find an email address.   If you find sarahj@samplecompany.com, then you have a good chance that Peter’s email address is peterc@samplecompany.com. Who has viewed your profile: With the Free version, you can see who has viewed your profile over the last week only. With Premium, however, you can see who has viewed your profile over the last week, last month, or more. In both cases, you can view a trend chart  of profile viewing. The trend chart is an excellent feature that allows you to see whether profile viewing is going up or down. For those job seekers who check once a week, the Premium account won’t really give you anything you don’t already have. Note from Brenda:   With the paid service, you can see the full list of the people who viewed you. With a free account you can only see the most recent five viewers.   Whether you have a paid or free account, you can see the names of your viewers IF they set their privacy settings to allow you to see them. Otherwise you will get only a description of their industry. Get introduced to target companies: With the Free version, you can get introduced, through one of your contacts, to up to a maximum of five targeted companies. With the Premium version, you have the potential of twenty-five. OpenLink Networker: I did not notice a difference with this option. Back to Brenda: Where I’m left with all this is that if you can afford it and you are targeted in your job search, you may as well use the enhanced service.   One thing Susan didn’t mention is that the service provides tools to help keep your job search organized.   She tells me she did not have a chance to test-drive that aspect of the service, and believes it would be quite useful over time. â€Å"If you can,† recommends Susan, â€Å"take advantage of any free one-month offer, have a targeted strategy, and use the service to its maximum potential. By doing so, you should see this feature leading to off-line/personal contact, which is the goal of using of Job Seeker Premium.† I couldn’t agree more.   And if you have a story to share about LinkedIn Job Seeker Premium, you might be featured in a future blog! Need Linkedin profile writing or strategy assistance?   Contact The Essay Expert for a 15-minute consultation.

Critical thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Critical thinking - Essay Example The problem, is that the law seems to have been misused by some Floridians like George Zimmerman against Trayvon Martin. According to David Simmons, co-author of the state bill in his opinion article titled â€Å"Without Stand Your Ground, Attacker can Have Advantage†, the Castle Doctrine was revised to become the â€Å"Stand Your Ground Law† in order to prevent such incidents from happening. Under the doctrine, the victim, who, if carrying a gun, was first expected to flee the scene and try to de-escalate the situation before opening fire. The problem with that scenario, is that the victim more often than not does not have a chance to run away from the attacker. Hence the need to revise the law. I fully understand and support the â€Å"Stand Your Ground Law† because I have to live every day of my life in a world where I never know who is going to attack me. One can never be too sure as to when a situation might call for a â€Å"Stand Your Ground† response. It is always nice to know that I can defend myself whenever necessary without having to open myself to an all out attack in the first place. Sen. Simmons had his heart in the right place when he agreed to co-author this bill together with Rep. Dennis Baxley in 2005. I am quite sure that the law has saved many innocent lives since it was enacted into law in 2006. Even the safety measures to ensure that the law would not be used to turn Florida into a Wild West state were truly logical. That is why it saddens me that there are people who oppose the law simply because it has become tainted with racial discrimination accusations. The Trayvon Martin case has placed the â€Å"Stand Your Ground† law in the national spotlight because the person who was shot happened to be a young African American and the shooter, was a White male. The law is not as simple as â€Å"shoot first, ask questions

Principles of management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Principles of management - Essay Example In 1948, they reorganized that their business as a hamburger stands using production line principles.   Ray Kroc  joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.[ McDonalds vision is to be the worlds best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile. Below is the content of the McDonalds Vision Statement which is detailed with their outlook of the future. This mission is an effective and successful statement which is powerful, compelling, conveying confidence and inspiring views of the future. The importance of these types of statements is not being underestimated but to describe the values, services and vision for the future. McDonalds brand mission is to provide customers with favorite place and way to eat and drink. Their worldwide operations are aligned around a global strategy which is referred to as Plan to Win, which center on an exceptional customer experience of People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. They are committed to continuously improving their operations and enhancing their customers experience. The McDonalds headquarters is in the McDonalds Plaza which is located in  Oak Brook at Illinois. Its site is on the former headquarters of Paul Butler the founder of Oak Brook.  McDonalds moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office of the  Chicago Loop  in 1971. McDonalds was involved in a number of  lawsuits  and other legal cases which involved  trademark  disputes. His company had been threatened by many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the Mc or Mac from trading names. . The McDonalds company has defended itself in several cases that involve  workers rights. In 2001, the company was fined  £12,400 by British magistrates for employing illegally and

Define and evaluate the major geostrategic challenges the EU will face Essay

Define and evaluate the major geostrategic challenges the EU will face in the coming decade - Essay Example 67). However, the EU member countries are fighting to alleviate the union from these challenges. The members’ main concern is the economic, security, and power balance challenges. The union intends to resolve its economic challenges by boosting trade through sharing the gross domestic product as well as to increase trade and investment and finally developing defense and aid spending on areas that they will feel affected. Nonetheless, other than the unions own intended resolutions, the essay will also suggest, at different points, the possible solutions to the highlighted EU’s geostrategic challenges. EU’s problems are associated with the growing differences in the political ideologies and foreign policies among member countries. These elements have led to geostrategic challenges including hierarchy of nations, fall or collapse of the EU economic power, power of populations, leadership issues, political ideologies, war threats, dwindling unity, Security and welfare, maritime security challenges, cyber domains and the maritime environment, and balance of management power on fundamental of EU’s assets. Other challenges include continued fall, fail, and collapse of the Middle East states, increasing trend of recruitment of the terror group, transnational crime, and Environmental security. The geopolitical analyses are concerned with the political dynamics that tends to interfere with the international relations. Some member nations are considering themselves more economically and politically powerful than other member nations (Howorth, 2007; Pg. 126). This has swayed nations’ capacities and attributes that have led to hierarchy of nations among the EU members. The â€Å"great power† notion that emerged in the ninetieth century has since made some nations within the EU powerful in terms of policy formulation, decision making, and

Analysis of Democratization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Democratization - Research Paper Example Freedom of self-expression has a great relation to the freedom of speech, together of which enables individuals to air their views and criticize unethical proceedings in the given society. Freedom of self-expression is, in fact, the foundation of every other form of democracy (Camp 16). With self-expression, individuals are able to rebuke tyrannical leadership and rules that apply immense force in handling citizens’ affairs. Freedom to self-expression is an empowering tool to enable the individual citizens overcomes any form of discrimination that has a direct or indirect effect on their personal developments. Inglehart and Christian describe that with the freedom to self-expression, individuals can also raise alarm over economic inequalities that are particularly detriment to their individual developments and society as a whole (20). Freedom to self-expression enables individuals discloses any forms of corruption that occurring in a given society and threatening to corrode th e resources of the victim society. The developmental process of the individuals’ democracy also requires assurance of freedom of association. Freedom of association empowers individuals to decide and interrelate with groups of their individual choice. As illustrated by Camp, freedom of association helps individuals form strategic movements tasked with purposes of ensuring collective representation of ideas and views of a given group that feels underserved and unrecognized by the ruling authority in a given society (21). Furthermore, freedom of association as a tool towards democratization helps individuals with lower say in a given society team up and form groups capable of challenging a given repressive rule or leadership in a particular society. Individual democratization process that defines the whole democracy has to encompass and cover religious rights (Inglehart and Christian 24). Allowing individuals’ freedom of religion ensures the spiritual development of the given individuals in the most appropriate direction. Freedom of religion is a tributary to freedom of association as it advocates for allowing individuals to initiate and interrelate with groups of their personal choice. The democratization process also has to take into consideration the economic equality among individuals of a given country. Economic issues and gaps have been the epicenter of wars in various societies and particularly among individuals. Ensuring economic equality will empower individuals to have a say on the manner of handling a country’s resources for the best of developing the entire society or community. Institutional democratization stems and develops from individual democratization. Democracy in institutions starts with freedom of self-expression among constituent employees and parties. With self-expression, individuals within a given institution have the power to share their views and even spell out dissatisfaction with managerial techniques and proces ses (Krishna 16). Allowing freedom of self-expression to individuals, institutions are likely to benefit from innovation and creative ideas exhibited by individuals in a particular organization. Institutional democracy has to base on the freedom of association among the constituent employees and parties. Institutional democracy also needs to take into consideration gender issues. Many organizations have faced problems compounded by disparities in gender biases and inequality.

Ukraine. United States Minitary Involvement Research Paper

Ukraine. United States Minitary Involvement - Research Paper Example However, due to the presence of common interest regarding the perpetuating and maintenance of International concord and the agreement to mutually fight terrorism has enabled the establishment of military cooperation. The fate of Ukraine is quite critically related to the security of the countries formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and this has been responsible for the U.S. interests in Ukraine. On the other hand, it has been the intention of the defense policy of Ukraine to amalgamate with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other similar Euro-Atlantic organizations, and this intention has been largely responsible for Ukraine’s appeasement to U.S. military involvement. Therefore, the United States of America has been actively taking part in supporting Ukraine in its journey towards the transformation into a strong nation. The U.S. Ukraine military relations have been quite beneficial and have enabled Ukraine to learn diverse defense approaches and techniques which have culminated in strengthening its position in the entire zone formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Office of Defense Cooperation of the U.S. works mutually with the Ukraine ministry of Defense to strengthen Ukrainian military by empowering it with latest military equipment and superb training. Ukraine was designated as an independent country on 25th of December 1991. The History of Ukraine dates back to approximately about 5000 BC and it is the largest of all the European nations with respect to territory. Ukraine has an ideal strategic location due to its position between the borders of the European Union on the east, border of Russia on the west, to the north it has the Belarus border and on its south The Black Sea. Ukraine has the longest border with Russia which is about 2063 kilometers long, and the shortest border with Slovakia which is merely 98 kilometers long. Ukraine is a united country in terms of political issues, and is a parliamenta ry presidential republic. In accordance to Ukrainian constitution, Ukraine is a democratic and a law abiding country. The constitution of Ukraine is the country’s fundamental law and like all democratic states, Ukrainian government consists of various political parties, the freedom of speech, an elected president, prime minister and a parliament. Only, the Ukrainian Parliament has the right to change an existing constitution or to adopt a new one. Before, June 1995, the fundamental law of Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic was its Supreme Court but after June 1995, a constitutional agreement was signed by President Leonid Kuchma, until a proper constitution could be formulated. Therefore, in June 1996, first Ukrainian Constitution was adopted. Major adversary – United States of America is the major adversary for Ukraine in many ways. The national security of Ukraine is practically manhandled by United States military force. Latest military equipment used in Ukraine is a lso provided by the US and Ukraine receives a large amount of aid from the United States. Moreover, Ukraine receives Freedom Support Act assistance from the US. Since, the independence of Ukraine, it has received more than $3 billion dollars as aid from the US and this aid is used by Ukraine for economical, as well as political development. In December 2006, Ukraine signed a $45 million Threshold Program agreement with the United States.

Analysis of Democratization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of Democratization - Research Paper Example Freedom of self-expression has a great relation to the freedom of speech, together of which enables individuals to air their views and criticize unethical proceedings in the given society. Freedom of self-expression is, in fact, the foundation of every other form of democracy (Camp 16). With self-expression, individuals are able to rebuke tyrannical leadership and rules that apply immense force in handling citizens’ affairs. Freedom to self-expression is an empowering tool to enable the individual citizens overcomes any form of discrimination that has a direct or indirect effect on their personal developments. Inglehart and Christian describe that with the freedom to self-expression, individuals can also raise alarm over economic inequalities that are particularly detriment to their individual developments and society as a whole (20). Freedom to self-expression enables individuals discloses any forms of corruption that occurring in a given society and threatening to corrode th e resources of the victim society. The developmental process of the individuals’ democracy also requires assurance of freedom of association. Freedom of association empowers individuals to decide and interrelate with groups of their individual choice. As illustrated by Camp, freedom of association helps individuals form strategic movements tasked with purposes of ensuring collective representation of ideas and views of a given group that feels underserved and unrecognized by the ruling authority in a given society (21). Furthermore, freedom of association as a tool towards democratization helps individuals with lower say in a given society team up and form groups capable of challenging a given repressive rule or leadership in a particular society. Individual democratization process that defines the whole democracy has to encompass and cover religious rights (Inglehart and Christian 24). Allowing individuals’ freedom of religion ensures the spiritual development of the given individuals in the most appropriate direction. Freedom of religion is a tributary to freedom of association as it advocates for allowing individuals to initiate and interrelate with groups of their personal choice. The democratization process also has to take into consideration the economic equality among individuals of a given country. Economic issues and gaps have been the epicenter of wars in various societies and particularly among individuals. Ensuring economic equality will empower individuals to have a say on the manner of handling a country’s resources for the best of developing the entire society or community. Institutional democratization stems and develops from individual democratization. Democracy in institutions starts with freedom of self-expression among constituent employees and parties. With self-expression, individuals within a given institution have the power to share their views and even spell out dissatisfaction with managerial techniques and proces ses (Krishna 16). Allowing freedom of self-expression to individuals, institutions are likely to benefit from innovation and creative ideas exhibited by individuals in a particular organization. Institutional democracy has to base on the freedom of association among the constituent employees and parties. Institutional democracy also needs to take into consideration gender issues. Many organizations have faced problems compounded by disparities in gender biases and inequality.

Trying to "get tough" on gun crimes, especially through Essay

Trying to "get tough" on gun crimes, especially through mandatory prison sentences, will not reduce gun related crime - Essay Example In 2012 FBI statistics showed that a total of 8855 homicides were caused by firearms and from the total, 6371 were committed using handguns. On the contrary, 40% of the deaths were also attributed to gun related suicides. Last year, gun related violence accumulated to 16,829 (Webster and Jon 76). Usually the gun related violence is common in the poor-urban areas and is mostly linked with gang violence. Majority of the violence is frequently caused by the youths commonly attributed by the males. Several legislations have been instituted at the state, federal and the local level in an effort to prevent gun violence. Gun purchasing restrictions, law enforcement systems, prison sentencing, community-outreach and education programs are some of the many measures to prevent guns possession. Over the past decades the common prison sentencing has not yielded much in the prevention of gun related crimes. The crimes continue to happen even with frequent arrests of the criminals due to their easy acquisition of firearms. The main idea is to stop the gun possession at inception in order to prevent gun related crimes in the nation. Hence, among the strategies to be used will be the use of gun control mechanism to prevent crime (Webster and Jon 34). During the 19th century, firearms violence contributed a big part in the civil disorders for example the Haymarket riots. During this period, the gun related homicide rates in the cities were much lower than in the current times. Between the periods of 1980 and 1990, homicides caused by the use of handguns during this period increased significantly while the usage of other weapons declined proportionately. The firearms homicides were mostly associated with the unemployed male persons who had low incomes. The majority of the offenders include the youths and the African American US citizens where the deaths and injuries numbers tripled in the black

Agriculture in the Uae Essay Example for Free

Agriculture in the Uae Essay Agriculture in the UAE Lying in the heart of the worlds arid zone, the UAE has little rainfall and one would expect it to be a barren place. Barren places there certainly are, but the process of desertification has very largely been arrested in the country. It is now possible to see forests, fields of grass and wheat where once there were only desert sands and winds. The UAE has a long tradition of agriculture in its oases where crops have been grown for 5000 years. Underground water was chandelled to palm groves and small fields and the technique is still used today. Since the formation of the UAE in 1971, this small scale traditional farming has been complemented by investment that has seen thousands of hectares being cultivated. In the past 25 years, the countrys population has increased ten-fold and agricultural production has kept pace with this growth. The country is self-sufficient in salad crops and poultry for much of the year and even exports crops to markets in Europe. Most of the UAEs agricultural production comes from four areas: from in and around Al Ain, from a narrow but fertile strip along the east coast, from the oasis of Dhaid east of Sharjah and from the gravel plains in Ras al Khaimah. According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, agricultural production stands at over Dh 2 billion per year. An average crop season yields over 600,000 tons of crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, lettuce, cabbage and animal feed. Studies have shown that much of the countrys soil can be cultivated provided there is water and as a result, there has been an extensive programme to drill water wells. The government will prepare land for local farmers which they are then given free along with seeds, machinery and advice on pest control. There is also government-funded research on different crops to see how they adapt to the local climate. In an attempt to conserve and use as much water as possible in as many ways as possible, the government has embarked on a three-part programme designed to make the most advantageous use of this scarce resource. First, farmers are given advice on how to reduce their consumption of water, mainly through trickle irrigation. Desalinated water as well as recycled and purified sewage effluent is used. Second, with the help of the United States Geological Survey, the government is searching for ew aquifers and monitoring current rates of extraction. Third and last, to prevent the waste of valuable rainwater, retention dams have been constructed in many areas. These store the water until it can be used for irrigation. Tens of millions of gallons of rainwater are being retained by the dams already built throughout the Emirates. In the long run, of course, it is realized that desalinated water will provide the bulk of agricultural water. There is more to agriculture than simply growing crops. One area that has seen dramatic growth is the keeping of poultry for meat and eggs. The same is true of dairy products. Herds of imported cattle have adapted to the climate and are now producing milk, cheese and yogurt for the local market. The presence of trees and gardens in the UAE is always noticed and commented upon by visitors. Over 10 million trees have been planted plus more than 18 million palm trees. In all the cities and towns of the UAE, there have been beautification campaigns with the creation of parks and gardens for the local people. Any householder, even those in flats, can get free plants from the Municipality under a programme that distributes thousands of plants annually. Besides the greening of the cities and towns there has also been a massive programme in the desert and it is here that most of the trees have been planted. Flying over the desert, one now sees great patches of green where formerly there was only sand. All kinds of arid region plants, both local and imported, have been planted and as they grow to maturity, their roots reach down to the natural water supply. When this happens, they will be able to survive with little care and attention. The face of the land and the environment too have been changed. Wildlife flourishes as do native plants and animals. The UAE was never purely and simply a desert. Today it has become a place where greenery can be seen in both urban and rural areas. Twenty years of dedicated commitment have made the point that the process of desertification is reversible. And given time and money, that is exactly what has happened and is continuing to happen.