Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Analysis Of `` Still I Rise, And Welty s `` A Worn Path ``

Literature offered an approach for African-Americans to demonstrate their humanity and an ability for creative invention and imaginary thought. Writing later developed into an instrument through which African-Americans could voice not only their rejection of institutionalized racism and slavery but also their desire for equality and freedom. African-American literature continues to be a method in countering the incompetence or misrepresentation of black people in history. Two prominent female writers during this era were Maya Angelou and Eudora Welty. Angelou was a civil rights activist and educator and expressed her emotions in her works. Her poem, â€Å"Still I Rise,† was written to describe her willingness to overcome oppression. Welty expressed black triumph through her character in her short story, â€Å"A Worn Path.† Although both works tells stories of racial and female empowerment, they express these ideas in distinctive methods. Angelou’s â€Å"Still I Rise† and Welty’s â€Å"A Worn Path† are both written during a time of racial and sexual oppression. Both authors were African-American females who grew up during extreme racial subjugation. Angelou speaks about overcoming oppression and prejudice in her poem, â€Å"Still I Rise†. She carries a confident tone, assuring that she will overcome her troubles, asserting, â€Å"Just like moons and like suns, / With the certainty of tides, / Just like hopes springing high, / Still, I’ll rise† (Angelou 10-13). In â€Å"A Worn Path,† the narrator, also anShow MoreRelatedThe Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost and A Worn Path, by Eudora Welty2347 Words   |  10 PagesThroughout this course, I have discovered that literature is more than just words being brought together by an author to form an emotionally charged story. Literature provides an engaging outlet into an imaginary realm to its audience. As the reader is captivated by the story, poem or play, a, emotional connection is established. By connecting, considering and concluding the response gained from literary works, the reader can obtain a deeper, analytical understanding of these techniques and toolsRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12166 Words   |  49 PagesA Worn Path by Eudora Welty Copyright Notice  ©1998−2002;  ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design ® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.  ©2007 eNotes.com LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storageRead MoreEudora Welty a Worn Path12173 Words   |  49 PagesA Worn Path by Eudora Welty Copyright Notice  ©1998−2002;  ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design ® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.  ©2007 eNotes.com LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storage

Monday, December 23, 2019

Cast Away - 760 Words

In the movie Cast Away, Chuck Noland says that to turn ones back on time is to commit a sin. In this movie, Chuck’s life revolves around time, and his ability to make more money is directly affected by time. This fact, however, is exactly what is related as a bad thing. Throughout the movie, capitalistic ventures, which require an extreme investment of time, are characterized as evil. The message sent in Cast Away is that we live in a corrupt and morally bankrupt society which is only concerned with the bottom line, but if we all â€Å"get back to the basics† and search our souls for what really matters in life, we may have a chance of turning out okay. Chuck Noland represents the United States in this movie, especially in the former†¦show more content†¦Since Chuck Noland represents evil in the form of a taskmaster of time, his punishment is to be sent away to solitude where time is not a factor. Before he arrives at his lonely island, Chuck is not good at dealing with people or emotions. He only gives his friend a phone number when his friend’s wife is dying of cancer. He offers no emotional support, and even tries to stay out of the conversation when the flight attendant is talking to his friend about it. Some other examples of this are the Christmas presents he buys Kelly (Cast Away). Even though they are gag gifts, it is still insensitive, and he did not think about how it would make her feel. He suffers a Satan-esque fall to this island where suddenly all the time and money in the world no longer matter. It is only after being stripped of these elements that Chuck is able to sort out what really matters in life. The fact that he does not open the package with the wings on it symbolizes that he is beginning to become more attuned to the elements of life that truly matter (Cast Away). He could have easily opened it, but he realized that respecting someone’s privacy, even on that remote island, was vitally i mportant. He also realized that having a companion was important in survival, and this is why he created Wilson (Cast Away). Wilson taught him that he was taking his friendships and relationships in his earlier life forShow MoreRelatedCast Away1205 Words   |  5 PagesCast Away Extra Credit * In comparison to his first few days on the on the island, what differences did you notice in Chuck Noland after he resided there for four years? What changes take place the longer that Chuck is on the island? --During the first few days of living on the island, Chuck tries to save the packages that he managed to save, but after a while of living on this island, he opens the packages in hope of finding something useful. This is the start of his shift into becoming disconnectedRead MoreThe Sounds Of Captivity : Music Often Supplements Movies1356 Words   |  6 Pagestypically use music throughout their movies to intensify the action and/or atmosphere. However, throughout the majority of Cast Away, director Robert Zemeckis gives the whispers of nature precedence over a film score; though unconventional, his use of sound efficiently enhances the film. In Cast Away, a time-obsessed FedEx employee named Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks) is cast from civilization when his plane crashes over the Pacific. Chuck and his companion--a volleyball he calls Wilson--surviveRead MoreCastaway Movie Analysis-Journeys1521 Words   |  7 Pagesdisappear in the mist as he rows away. Even without the visual we know that Chuck is now leaving the island. The lighting in ‘Castaway’ is central in showing Chuck’s isolation on the island. During storms, especially the initial one which causes Chuck’s plane to crash, lightning and moonlight is all the light used in the scene. The lightning during the storms is hard key lighting and creates a sense of fear danger on screen and amongst the audience. The shadows that are cast on Chuck’s face from fire lightRead MoreSymbolism In Cast Away1114 Words   |  5 PagesIn the movie Cast Away Tom Hanks plays the role of Chuck Noland an executive for Fed Ex who is obsessed with time. Chucks plane crashes over the Pacific Ocean during a storm leaving him stranded on an island. Chuck has to face many challenges through the years physically, mentally, and emotionally. Kelly his girlfriend is his biggest motivation for staying alive. Chuck eventually builds a raft and is rescued, only to find out that everything back home has changed. The theme of Cast Away is about lea rningRead MoreSymbols in Cast Away1090 Words   |  5 Pagesfor Cast Away Cast Away is a fantastic film that has many hidden meanings beneath the surface. Before being analysed, it seems like its simply about a man who experiences an adventurous journey after his plane crashes into the Pacific. After more thought was put into it, many symbolic meanings that demonstrated his human nature, mainly consisting his drive of survival, faith, hope, and morals, was revealed. I am able to arrive at the conclusion that yes, I do agree with the quote, Cast Away  deliversRead MoreAn Anaylysis of Cast Away3505 Words   |  15 PagesAn Analysis of Cast Away Gina M. Orlando ENG225: Introduction to Film (GSJ1115D) Instructor: Sharon Hanscom April 29, 2011 An Analysis of Cast Away In the 2000 film, Cast Away starring Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, as a â€Å"FedEx systems engineer whose ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ends when a harrowing plane crash leaves him isolated on a remote island† (Washington Post, 2000). Through analysis of this film, we explore how Chucks’ consistent existence in everyday life is dramaticallyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Cast Away1364 Words   |  6 PagesImagine you are stranded on an island, all by yourself. You have a few things left from the plane that crashed you there, but not nothing to help you get off the island. How are you going to survive? How are you going to stay sane? Well, the movie â€Å"Cast Away† gives us a scenario. Chuck Noland is flying across the ocean to get to work training, unfortunately, the plane malfunctions and he is stranded on an island with a few FedEx boxes he salvages. He learns how to deal with being alone, how to hunt forRead MoreCast Away Into Maslow s Hierarchy Of Nee ds1175 Words   |  5 PagesCast Away into Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs In our heads, we seem to think that extreme situations are one in a million, that it is impossible those things can ever happen to us, until it does of course. Such as tornadoes, plane crashes, horrific car accidents, and so on. They turn your world upside down and your life is never the same again once you ve experienced such trauma. You realize that everything in our everyday lives is taken for granted however once those simple everyday luxuries areRead MoreAppropriations Essay- Robinson Crusoe and Cast Away1833 Words   |  8 PagesRobinson Crusoe and Cast Away Question: â€Å"Texts are inevitably a reflection of their particular historical, social and cultural contexts.† Appropriation is the translation of elements of one text into another, in which the old elements are transformed to suit the responders of the new social context. Texts are inexorably a replication of their particular historical, social and cultural frameworks. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Robert Zemeckis’ film appropriation Cast Away (2000), illustrateRead MoreCastaway Movie Analysis : The Theme Of Cast Away830 Words   |  4 Pagesand later get off the island. Once he finds a way to get the island he is reunited with the real world and has a feeling of gratefulness for everything that he has. He realizes he needs to live every moment like if it was your last. The theme of Cast Away is that there is always a way to survive the difficulties in life whether it may be physical, mental or emotional obstacles. The movie portrays this through symbols, settings and character development. The angel wings that show on the fed ex box

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Benefits to Organisations from Cloud Computing Free Essays

string(80) " are certain specific software should be available for them accessing the data\." Benefits of Organization From Cloud Computing ————————————————- ABSTRACT In recent years, many organizations benefit from sharp development of cloud computing in terms of scalability, agility, automation and resource sharing. Especially for IT departments, cloud computing afford the most innovative technologies and resources for them to focus on applications development, which are the most beneficial for organization business. On the other hand, the Capital Operational cost can be reduced accordingly because of cloud platform. We will write a custom essay sample on Benefits to Organisations from Cloud Computing or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many IT giants such as Microsoft, HP and Dell have invested billions in developing cloud platform and cloud computing research. This paper reviews the concept of cloud computing and its state of the art, and concluded the benefits to organizations in perspectives of software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and datacentre as a service (DaaS). Keywords: cloud computing, software as service, architecture as a service, datacentre as a service Introduction The term â€Å"cloud† is used to represent the computer network of the internet. It depicts a diagram as the computer network is just like the cloud which is linked to every client via internet. With the support of high performance server, each single client is able to access their work files remotely and process them without preinstalling specific applications. Because of the development of virtualisation, end-users can work with their clients such as netbook, smart mobile or laptop in anywhere as the same as work in local as long as the internet is available. This paper work aims to explain the concept of cloud computing in state of the art and to discuss how organizations benefit from cloud computing in perspectives of SaaS, IaaS and DaaS, and future research is concluded in the end. Background In the word of McCarthy: â€Å"computation may someday be organized as a public utility. † The idea of cloud computing has been first opined in the 1960s. Later then, Douglas Parkhill (1966) has thoroughly explored almost all the modern-day characteristics of cloud computing in areas such as infinite supply, elastic provision, online etc. nd compared them to the electricity industry in his book, The Challenge of the Computer Utility. Meanwhile, other researchers were also proposing their ideas about cloud computing, the scientist Herb Grosch even postulated that in future the entire world communication services would be supported by about 15 huge data centres. Between the sixties and nineties, with the evolution of WEB 2. 0 being developed, the internet has started to offer a significant bandwidth which sharply increases the speed of cloud computing development. The first milestone was the arrival of Salesforce. om in 1999, which is the pioneer of creating a concept of running application over internet. It paved the way for both academia researches and industry professionals to deliver applications via internet which is the fountainhead of cloud computing development. The second milestone was Amazon Web Services in 2002, which offered a set of services such as storage and remotely computation based on the cloud through the Amazon Mechanical Turk. Later then in 2006, a commercial web service called Elastic Compute cloud (EC2) was launched by Amazon to run personal and specific applications for both individual and small and medium size enterprise. In 2009, another milestone came as the WEB 2. 0 hit its stride, pioneers such as Google started to offer browser-based services and applications via internet, so called Google Apps. This is decisive for users running reliable and easy-to-consume applications from leading technology giants such as Microsoft and Google. To date, many experts seem to agree that cloud computing can bring enormous benefits for business organizations and will ultimately transform the computing landscape. Even though there are still a lot of issues such as security, data privacy, network performance and economics which need to be concerned. Cloud Computing Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualisation, service-oriented architecture, autonomic, and utility computing. The term â€Å"in the cloud† indicates that end-users are no longer needed to be expertise, well trained in using computer, and even some of the cases have pointed out that future personal computer can be hard drive-less and web-browser only. To understand this in general, cloud computing is able to deliver services such as computation, software, data access and storage ver internet without requiring end-user information of physical location and configuration. Categories of Cloud Computing Cloud computing is able to offer several services, which can be categorized into different classes. The most prevalent classes are Software as a Service (SaaS), infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Datacentre as a Service (DaaS). Software as a Service (SaaS) Software as a Service provides pre-built application services with no ne of little customization such as ERP and CRM over the internet to the end user for dealing with complex business missions. As the most important and popular application service in cloud computing, it simplifies IT support and management by eliminating the need to install and run individual applications on PC. Most of the software are available to updated automatically through provision of the service provider, and because of the centrally management, the need for maintenance and support can be removed as well. Infrastructure as a Service Infrastructure as a Service renders a service over the internet for orienting computing resources such as hardware, networking components, data storage and servers. It is parallel to the Software as a Service in simplifying the management of computing components, the need of in-house datacentre can be removed, and the networking equipment can be eliminated as well. Form perspective of organizations, Infrastructure as a service is able to offer great elasticity and flexibility for scaling computing equipment whenever they are needed. Datacentre as a Service Datacentre as a Service, as a cousin of Software as a Service, can provide needs to the end-users regardless of geographic or organizational separation of provider and consumer. Those needs can be classified into both software and data. Traditionally, enterprises require self-contained repository for storing and organizing data of business, meanwhile there are certain specific software should be available for them accessing the data. You read "Benefits to Organisations from Cloud Computing" in category "Papers" Therefore, the concept of datacentre as a service is created for bundling both the needed data and software to interpret into a single package which can be offered to the enterprises at once. The most benefits of this paradigm to organizations are effective reducing of the data cost and usage of the specific software. Benefits to organisation Cloud computing offers a set of advantages to business organizations in many aspects. Traditionally, organizations require enormous budget for the procurement of hardware capacity with great cost potential and the recruitment of a big quantity of staff for managing equipment and running applications in order to deliver big project. Cloud computing revealing is significantly contributing on solving the existing issues, it allows end-users to access the hardware and software facility wherever and whenever without pre-built applications, local administration and hardware capacity. The costs can be sharply reduced because of the centrally management of the provider. The most significant benefits are: * Cost. The expense is always one of concerns while investing and developing an in-house infrastructure, especially for large business organizations. Cloud computing is able to remove the most of cost which spent on purchasing IT equipment, software and maintenance, and organization can therefore pay as they consume. * Reliability. In cloud computing, virtual servers as provided services for organizations instead of physical servers, and this solution is beneficial for the organizations in reliability. If the server or any hardware component is not able to perform their duty properly, the transition can sassily be deployed to any other available server. It creates a significant flexibility for server maintenance. * Manageability. The hardware and other IT facilities can be centrally management by provider, and this renders a great comfort for organization IT department in supporting and implementing. Maintenance is removed because the end-users can simply access their data and applications via user interface without pre-installation. Therefore, IT resources and capacity can be relocated and leveraged for focusing on innovation and core competencies. Nevertheless, besides those main advantages of cloud computing, there are many specific benefits to organizations in perspectives of software as a service, infrastructure as a service and database as a service. In perspective of software as a service As described in previous chapter, Software as a Service provides pre-built application services with none of little customization such as ERP and CRM over the internet to the end user for dealing with complex business missions. Its benefits to organizations can be discussed form both aspects of consumer and provider. For the consumer * Time of development is reduced. As opposed to a phased implementation which may takes months, the time can be decreased as potentially minutes. * No software installation and maintenance. The software application will be cutting edge and updated automatically by provider. * Global availability. Traditionally, software functions are available on-premise based on organization’s IT capacity. Now they are functional outside of premise and anywhere on the internet natively. * Service level agreement (SLA) adherence. Once the software incurs any bugs or errors while running applications, the provider will be noticed immediately and able to fix them in minutes with limited expense. * Constant, smaller and upgrades. With SaaS provider can constantly maintain performance of application and provide continuously application experiences. * Redistribute IT budget. Organization can focus on core competencies by outsourcing software functionality to a provider. This strategy can flat out save the cost of infrastructure requirements and IT personnel knowledge demands. For the provider * Aggregate operating environment. As a provider, the highest authority of domain management is decisive for accessing data and fixing problems. Therefore, provider is no longer required to send technicians to customize software or applications based on demands of clients, the configuration can be remotely set up in central management. Hereby the effects such as financial savings, time savings and labour savings are beneficial to the provider. * Predictable revenue stream. The provider is able to easily calculate the usage of clients for predictably management of the rest resources based on subscription model (Pay as they go). Focus on smaller improvements instead of monster patch rollouts. As providers, the concerns such as rollout logistics across all their clients’ sites and duplication of issues fixing or configurations can be removed. Providers can focus on fixing core application functionality and enhancing features in smaller incremental rollouts. In perspective of infrastructure as a service Infrastruct ure as a service is one of the main categories of cloud computing service. Its benefits to organization can be concluded below: * Allows IT to shift focus. Because of the quick availability provided by infrastructure as a service, organization hereby can leverage and emphasis on core competencies in bringing innovations in solutions. * Flexibility infrastructure. Each component in architecture can play a role as a service such as hardware as a service, storage as a service, server as a service etc. * Utility service. The service model running by Infrastructure as a service is pre-paid/pay as go subscription based model. This model allows provider effectively manage resources and capacity for leasing. Multiple tenets. Infrastructure as a service allows multiple users to access the same infrastructure. * Investment cap. Small and medium size companies with limited capital for investing in IT equipment can take advantage of the resource from provider. * Measureable cost. Infrastructure as a service usage can be measured and priced based on what have been used and when they have been used. * Green IT. Centrally management and outsourcing ca n reduce environment effect with IT resources and systems. In perspective of datacentre as a service Datacentre as a Service, as a cousin of Software as a Service, can provide needs to the end-users regardless of geographic or organizational separation of provider and consumer. Those needs can be classified into both software and data. Its benefits to organization can be listed below: * Fast execution. Due to centrally management offered by database, end-users are no longer requiring to purchase, install, maintain or upgrade software applications locally. The on-demand model of data as a service is not only used to remove the demands on IT department, but also enabling business analysts to access their data and analysis. This allows IT department can leverage resources to focus on core competencies. * Emphasis on innovation, not infrastructure. For big enterprises, data as a service can be used for cutting their cost of keeping their existing data warehouse or database up and running, and enterprises therefore will be able to focus on innovation rather than organizational infrastructure. The saved cost of originally maintain and upgrading system can be invested on developing and executing business decisions. * Low cost. As the same as the service provided by IaaS, the on-demand model is applied in data as a service as well. Organizations can consume data functionality based on their usage (pay as they go), and the time when resources have been used is measureable for pricing. * World-class security. The security of the data has been discussed as one of main concerns for many years since the service of outsourcing data is provided. For cloud computing, data as a service ensures organizations’ data is protected with first class despite in terms of physical security, data encryption, user authentication or application security. Conclusion As discussed in this paper, cloud computing as a cutting edge concept which is proposed and developed in this era, and certainly offers a set of significant benefits to business organizations. It is not only a leading technology for optimizing existing organization IT performance, but also a future development of organization movements. Form the perspectives of cost saving, resources relocating and distributing, and labour productivity improving, organization can be enormously beneficial by adopting cloud computing as one of the decisive role in IT development. This paper has reviewed the concept of cloud computing and produced a state of the art understanding in terms of software as a service, infrastructure as a service and data as a service. Those three main categories of cloud computing services have been articulated deeply as well. The core purpose of this paper is to analyse the benefits to organizations from cloud computing, specifically in aspects of software as a service, infrastructure as a service, and data as a service. These main advantages offered by cloud computing have been discussed from both technological and business point of view. The trend of cloud computing has been concluded in the end. Nevertheless, cloud computing is continually developing and it will indeed bring more magnificent benefits not only to organizations but also in other aspects. The services provided by cloud computing such as Software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-a-service and database-as-a-service are just the pioneers in cloud computing development. Based on requirements of end-users and business organizations in data processing, there will be more services unveiled in cloud computing to meet those demands and provide more comprehensive supports for both providers and end-users. Even in other areas such as building construction, manufacturing, education, and entertainment, cloud computing is also playing a vital role of productivity role. Its main strengths such as functionality, flexibility and sustainability will be significantly beneficial to those organizations, and those benefits will be explored from future research. * References 1) Gruman, Galen (2008-04-07). â€Å"What cloud computing really means†. InfoWorld. Retrieved 2009-06-02. 2) Cloud Computing Defined 17 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010. 3) Buyya, Rajkumar; Chee Shin Yeo, Srikumar Venugopal (PDF). Market-Oriented Cloud Computing: Vision, Hype, and Reality for Delivering IT Services as Computing Utilities. Department of Computer Science and Software 4) â€Å"Defining â€Å"Cloud Services† and â€Å"Cloud Computing†Ã¢â‚¬ . IDC. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 5) â€Å"Security of virtualization, cloud computing divides IT and security pros†. Network World. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 6) Zissis, Dimitrios; Lekkas (2010). â€Å"Addressing cloud computing security issues†. Future Generation Computer Systems. 7) Finland – First Choice for Siting Your Cloud Computing Data Center.. Retrieved 4 August 2010. 8) â€Å"Cloud Net Directory. Retrieved 2010-03-01†³. Cloudbook. net. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 9) â€Å"†IBM, Google Team on an Enterprise Cloud. † May 2008. Rich Miller Retrieved 2010-04-01†³. DataCenterKnowledge. com. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 10) Duffy, Jim (2009-05-12). â€Å"Cisco unveils cloud computing platform for service providers†. Infoworld. com. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 11) â€Å"The Emerging Cloud Service Architecture†. Aws. typepad. com. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 12) VOGELS, W. A Head in the Clouds—the Power of Infrastructure as a Service. In First workshop on Cloud Computing and in Applications (CCA ’08) (October 2008). 13) How to cite Benefits to Organisations from Cloud Computing, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Managing - Leading and Stewardship Management

Question: Write about theManaging, Leading and Stewardship for Management. Answer: Introduction In the assignment three, a self-reflective portfolio has been developed. It is an individual assignment related with collection of thoughts, concerns, ideas and reflection on our (students) learning as we take development journey over the course of the subject. In this assignment, we are asked to reflect on our assumptions and biases related with management, leadership and stewardship practices. In this reflective portfolio, we have to discuss about what we are learning, what are changing and how we put the learning into practices. This reflective portfolio serves as the base to recognize the significance and value of ongoing learning. This reflective portfolio has been divided into three major sections. They are such as pre-subject reflection, mid-subject reflection and post-subject reflection. All these sections are discussed below. Pre-Subject Reflection According to Bolton (2014), reflective practice can enable discovery of who we are and what we are and why we act as we do and how we can be more effective. It is the process of education related with perceiving and developing our own searching questions, rather than responding to responding given question. I know the main subject of the assignment is to analyze management, leadership and stewardship practices. As all of our team members have diverse background, we have diverse set of perspectives on leadership. In my point of view, effective stewardship practices can help a company to adjust and develop its business according to the ever-changing world. I understand that leadership is temporary role that is outlasted by lifespan of a company. Leaders can perform the act of stewardship when they start to focus on a companys future vitality. According to Brink et al. (2016), leaders are the stewards at the team level, when they ensures that individuals within a company interact or com municate properly with each other. A leader can become an effective steward by implementing appropriate management skills to control different aspects of various business operations. I have identified the major tension related with management, leadership and stewardship. It has been found that various organizations follow various questionable practices for various reasons (Mujtaba 2013). They often violate business ethics to increase productivity, efficiency and to gain higher market shares. Discrepancies and discriminations within the management of organizations often give rise to ethical issues related with business operation. Discrepancies and discriminations can also be found in small cases like handling a team to develop a project. I had also experienced this type of tension while developing a previous project. I acted as the team leader to conduct this project. I noticed that, due to discrepancies by some of our senior team members, most of the other team members were losing their motivation. For this reason, tension grew within the team and team spirit got hampered (Solomon et al. 2016). When as the team leader I tried to talk with them personality conflic ts (another tension) aroused. These issues have affected our performance severely. Hence, I believe that lack of motivation and team conflicts should be handled properly so that they can affect the overall team performance. In my point of view, development of effective communication system can help to decrease any kind of discrepancy or discrimination within the team. Team leaders must have the capability to motivate all the team members. They have to take care of all the issues faced by the team members. It will help a team leader to become an effective steward. According to Brink et al. (2016), stewardship starts with ensuring well-being of individual. In order to manage the team and its operation, a team leader needs to explain the mission or objective of a team. In addition, the team leader also needs to discuss why it is important for the team to achieve the target. It will in term increase the morale of the team, increase tem spirit and motivate them. Overall, it will increase the overall efficiency of a team. Mid-SubjectReflection In this section, I will discuss about the mid-subject learning. I learned about the changes occurred in this topic and the tensions arise in organizations from various in-class and out-class discussions, materials and experiences. In the in-class discussion our teacher told us about various questionable practices of different organizations and their reasons. For example, we learnt about supply chain and ethics of Apple and Foxconn. From the text book written by Ann Cunliffe, I came to know more about managing. According to Cunliffe, managing is ethical, reflective and rational process. I came to understand from in-class discussion that management is not just something we do but is more about who we are and how we are related with others. Our teacher showed us that life in organization is often become messy and complex due to their different interpretations. In-class discussion helped me to find out that managing is about connecting with different individuals, recognising and respecti ng their differences and developing meaning for them. Previously I think that management is all about how leaders can increase productivity and efficiency of team members. However, my point of view about management changed after the in-class discussion. We came to know about different management theories during the class. They were such as management by objectives, theory of constraints, Six Sigma, reengineering and group management theories such as Cogs ladder. From this discussion, I came to understand that management is a huge term, which is not only about increasing productivity and efficiency (Guardabassi and Prescott 2015). It is related with all the aspects of business such as employee motivation, conflict management and change management (Ha-Vikstrm and Takala 2016). Presently, due to the changing business environment management is divided into six major categories. They are such as human resource management, financial management, and information technology management, marketing management, operation / production management and strategic management (Sashkin 2014). Every category of management has different requirements. Understanding these requirements can help a leader to develop future growth plan for an organization (Barlam et al. 2016). It will help a leader to become a steward. I have integrated my knowledge from the in-class discussion and implemented them out-of-class peered discussion and role play. We have developed a role play on managing a restaurant. In this role play I acted as the general manager of the restaurant. There were four other team members participated in the role play. One of them was waiter, two of them were cook and one of them was head cook. In addition, three other team members played the role of customers. It had been found that conflict occurred between the head chef and the two cooks related with food quality and hygiene. Moreover, the waiter is not feeling well during the mid hours. However, as there was no other waiter hired in the restaurant, it was not possible for me (the general manager) to grant half-day leave for the waiter. In addition, I was also unable to solve the conflict aroused between the chefs. Ineffective communication system and inappropriate strategy of business operation had given rise to tension and conflict. After the end of the role play, we were engaged in out-of-class peered review. Form the discussion and role play we came to un derstand that theoretical knowledge about management, leadership and stewardship is not enough to solve real life conflicts and tensions. A manager must have to develop effective communication within the team and motivate employees to work hard. In addition to that, they have to take care of the welfare of employees as well. Post-Subject Reflection After completion of my learning about the topic management, leadership and stewardship practices, I came to understand that there are great, good and bad leaders. Stewardship is the common themes that can different good, bad and great leaders. Great leader often show high level of stewardship towards a company and the people who comprise it Knight and Landres (2013). On the contrary, in every case of bad leadership, we can likewise found the complete absence of stewardship gene. In my point of view Steve Jobs is the example of great leader, while Tim Cook is the example of good leader. However, there is still a question remained open. That is whether there is any basic difference can be found in good leadership and stewardship. In future, I will try to find out the answer of this question. I came to understand that there are various types of issues can arise while managing and leading a team. They are such as ethical issues, communicational issues, conflict development and lack of motivation. I came to understand from the role-play and out of class peer discussion that managing and leading a company towards success is not that easy as it looks like. A leader must have the motivation skill to inspire as the employees. Leaders often have to take critical decisions in emergency situations, considering the future vitality of the organization. In case of multinational companies (MNCs), managers and leaders have to develop a specific communication system within the team. In order to motivate employees, they have to remind them of their targets constantly and made them understand that they can achieve that target easily. I have also come to understand that rewards and recognitions can help to solve issues related with lack of motivation among employees. Conflict can be considered as another major issue in business management. Goetsch and Davis (2014) stated that, in an organization, different people come from different cultural background. For this reason, they often have different point of view about a certain topic, which can lead to conflict. From the in-class discussion I came to know that management is term related with various aspects of business such as employee motivation, conflict management and change management (Shin et al. 2015). I came to understand that, as a leader I have to respect the point of view of others. I have to listen to them carefully and consider all the options available. We need to take the best option, which is both beneficial for the organization and employees. Hence, in this way, conflict can be managed properly within a specific team. However, despite of all our efforts we will never be able to achieve 100% in business operation and we will not be able to make everyone happy. Despite of all our effor ts conflicts will still arise as the business environment is changing rapidly. It is the responsibility of the management team to cope up with the changing business environment. Conclusion After the completion of my learning related with management, leadership and stewardship practices, I have developed on action-guiding principle for myself. I understood that, it is the role of leaders and managers to increase efficiency and productivity of employees as well as taking care of their wellness issues. Hence, I have planned to follow democratic leadership style and try to always respect others while working with them. Reference List Barlam, T.F., Cosgrove, S.E., Abbo, L.M., MacDougall, C., Schuetz, A.N., Septimus, E.J., Srinivasan, A., Dellit, T.H., Falck-Ytter, Y.T., Fishman, N.O. and Hamilton, C.W., 2016. Implementing an antibiotic stewardship program: guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.Clinical Infectious Diseases, p.ciw118. Brink, A.J., Messina, A.P., Feldman, C., Richards, G.A., Becker, P.J., Goff, D.A., Bauer, K.A., Nathwani, D., van den Bergh, D. and Alliance, N.A.S.S., 2016. Antimicrobial stewardship across 47 South African hospitals: an implementation study.The Lancet Infectious Diseases,16(9), pp.1017-1025. Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014.Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson. Guardabassi, L. and Prescott, J.F., 2015. Antimicrobial stewardship in small animal veterinary practice: from theory to practice.Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice,45(2), pp.361-376. Ha-Vikstrm, T. and Takala, J., 2016. Knowledge Management and Analytical Modelling for Transformational Leadership Profiles in a Multinational Company.Successes and Failures of Knowledge Management, pp.151-174. Knight, R.L. and Landres, P. eds., 2013.Stewardship across boundaries. Island Press. Mujtaba, B.G., 2013. Managerial skills and practices for global leadership. Sashkin, M., 2014. Management and leadership in HRD.Handbook of human resource development, pp.62-79. Shin, Y., Sung, S.Y., Choi, J.N. and Kim, M.S., 2015. Top management ethical leadership and firm performance: Mediating role of ethical and procedural justice climate.Journal of Business Ethics,129(1), pp.43-57. Solomon, I.G., Costea, C. and Nita, A.M., 2016. Leadership versus management in public organizations.Economics, Management and Financial Markets,11(1), p.143.

Friday, November 29, 2019

60+ Psychology Research Topics Ideas to Explore (2019)

Choosing psychology research topics is not as easy as one might think. If you have to write a good research paper, choosing a good topic is the foremost step. You may have several ideas in your mind while thinking of a topic for the research paper. If you have chosen a broad topic, then you will have to do a lot of research and background study. It is better to choose a narrow topic so that you can focus on a particular subject while researching and writing. Quick Links 1. How to Choose a Topic? 2. Social Psychology Research Topics 3. Psychology Research Topics for College Students 4. Cognitive Psychology Research Topics 5. Developmental Psychology Research Topics 6. Abnormal Psychology Research Topics 7. Clinical Psychology Research Topics 8. Writing on Your Research Topic 9. Online Writing Help Psychology is a vast subject that discusses a lot of multidisciplinary issues and brings together a wide range of topics. You can conduct analysis and research before deciding your topic. This is the reason that it is better to go for a narrow topic. It is also easier for the researcher to research the topic and conduct analysis with proper details. 1. How to Choose a Topic You can choose a topic from any social branch related to psychology. You can also select a topic that is related to some sort of mental illness or mental disorders. The topic may be complex and require a lot of research and analytical study, but the writer can cover all the aspects if the topic is specific. Choosing a good topic is the most essential step when you start writing a research proposal. An interesting and new topic is what catches your teachers attention. And it gets your idea accepted, apart from of course, a well written proposal itself. Here is an insightful blog if you're interested in learning about writing an impressive research proposal. 2. Social Psychology Research Topics Racism and its effects Homophobia Social issues involving or related to culture What is social depression? What is social cognition? How does social anxiety affect people? Gender roles in our society Gender discrimination and its causes How does peer pressure affect teenagers? Effect of marital disputes on children How do violent video games affect children and their brain development? Effect of violent cartoons on children's behaviour and mental state. How does divorce affect the emotional development of a child? Social anxiety and social depression on an introvert child How does bullying affect the social interaction of teenagers in high school or college? Increasing violence among teenagers and children What causes bullying behaviour among children? Factors that can contribute to delay in the mental development of a child. The effect of romantic movies on a child Is single parenting suitable for a child's mental development? 3. Psychology Research Topics for College Students Psychological disorders Causes of Social anxiety Phobias and Paranoias Causes of increasing depression among the youth Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Panic attacks and anxiety disorder Schizophrenia What are the physical symptoms of a mental disorder? The effects of medication on your mental health Effects of depression on mental health Causes of antisocial behaviour among teenagers Long term effects of mental health issues How can drugs affect our youth's mental health in the long run? 4. Cognitive Psychology Research Topics What are the effects of attention deficit or hyperactivity disorder on the development of a child? Discuss the effects of Autism. How is color psychology effective in cognitive development studies? What is the attention span and how to measure it? Memory loss and different ways to recover it How memories affect the behaviour of individuals? Which factors can help improve problem-solving abilities in children? What is a speech disorder and how it affects cognitive development? What is critical thinking and how to measure its ability in cognitive psychology? How can subconscious effect decision-making ability? 5. Developmental Psychology Research Topics Bullying and its effect on mind development. The role of media and cartoons in increasing violence. How violent video games and cartoons can make children violent? Underlying causes that can create a serial killer Causes of increase in the psychopathic behaviour of teenagers and youth Stereotypes and gender roles in our society Abusive parents and child development Effects of child abuse on the mental development of a child Factors that can accelerate the ageing process Is psychology related to the ageing process? 6. Abnormal Psychology Research Topics What are the causes of increasing anorexia rate in children? Causes of anorexia in adults Causes of anxiety disorder and how to overcome it Why is there an increase in eating disorders among the youth? What are the factors that contribute to an eating disorder? Is lying related to the psychology of a person? Causes of the rise in teenage suicides Is asexuality related to the psychology of a person? Psychology and suicidal thoughts How to control anxiety and depressing thoughts regarding death? What factors can cause multiple personality disorder? Violent video games are a cause of mood disorder among children. Reasons for phobias and how to deal with them Causes of PTSD in offices or workplace Is stalking considered as a psychological disorder? 7. Clinical Psychology Research Topics Psychology can be used to get control of chronic pain. Recent studies suggest that anxiety and panic attacks can be treated using cognitive therapy. Is behavioural therapy effective to treat criminals? Antidepressants can be addictive and their usage should be avoided. Factors that contribute to post-traumatic stress disorder What are the therapy practices effective in dealing with depression? Effect of an abusive relationship on the psychology of the victim Are antidepressants effective as a remedy for therapy? Insomnia How to treat it in a clinical scenario? Which therapy practices are effective in treating addictions? Another easy way to choose psychology research paper topics for your research paper is to write about a famous historical person. The topic, as narrow as it is, allows the researcher to focus on specific areas. You can also choose to research and write about a psychology career. A case study on an individual by providing a detailed analysis using your research techniques. Here are some additional research paper topics to help you carry out a meaningful and interesting research. 8. Writing on Your Research Topic For writing a good research paper, you can follow certain ways. You can read a good academic journal or analyze an article or a book written by a famous psychological writer. You can also analyze the experiments and practicals performed by famous psychologists in the past. Study popular analysis by psychologists and add your opinion regarding them in your research paper. 9. Online Writing Help Not every student has the writing skills, or time to dedicate to a research paper. In this case, seeking help from professional writers is the best available option. 5StarEssays has a team of professional writers who can write high quality academic papers from term papers to custom essays. Our professional essay writers have exceptional writing skills and they can help you in writing assignments within your deadline. Contact us today and save tons of time and effort in exchange for a reasonable cost.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Raves and Drugs essays

Raves and Drugs essays Generally people associate raves(Underground Techno parties) with designer drugs like Ecstasy(MDMA), Speed(amphetamine) and other acids like LSD. These drugs are called the Techno Drugs for that reason and most of the time have uplifting and sensatory effects. To understand more clearly the relationship between the raves and these drugs, we first have to understand the philosophy behind the Techno era, and a little about the music. Techno, can lift the spirit and become a new world of freedom and peace"(D'Vox Magazine The first electronic music Magazine). Most raves are covered with propaganda about freedom, peace, spirituality and the like. It is no surprise why teens use these specific drugs at raves. "The effects of E, are like a journey to another world, a world of happiness, love and euphoria" (Ecstasy and Mental Health: Nerves or neurosis by Dr. Karl Jansen) These ravers, have many reasons to take E, for example " The music lends itself to the intake of drugs, drugs are co mmon in youth culture, teens need energy to dance all night, the rave scene is bombarded with all kinds of E" (Drug Information Database, www.pharmlink.org/designer/index.html/). "The media has given E and the rave scene a bad reputation, since 30 years ago music has been greatly united with drugs. For example Weed and Rock in the 60's and acid in the 70's." (E for Ecstasy by Nicolas Saunders, ch.1) Ecstasy is just a hard and dangerous as weed, "a drug that 1 out of every 3 highschool students in the American population have had experiences with." (Drug Information Database, www.pharmlink.org/stats/index/main.html/) "Why is E judged so harshly when the ecstasy related deaths can not compare with those related with legal drugs just like tabacco and alcohol." (E for Ecstasy by Nicolas Saunders, ch.2) Of course the media has a lot to do with it, the media takes all the negative effects and doesn't include the positive ones. " 29 volunteers w...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

What You learned in this class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

What You learned in this class - Assignment Example The grammar and referencing skills learnt in class remain fundamental in transforming my writing skills. The class was significant in enhancing my knowledge in MLA referencing and formatting style. MLA style gives the general guidelines for formatting academic papers and using English language in writing. MLA style enable writers to learn a system for referencing sources through thorough citation in their papers and inclusion of work cited pages. It was encouraging to learn the effective MLA formatting skills including the need for a cover page and inclusion of page numbers. In addition, formatting MLA papers entails good referencing of all information sources used. The use of MLA protects writers from accusation of plagiarism and demonstrates their liability to the source of material. Graduate students should use MLA style to reference their assignments. Understanding basic grammar mistakes, identification, and correcting them is essential in writing a good academic paper. A good academic paper remains void of grammar errors including spelling, punctuation, and use of tense. In addition, correct and good grammar is imperative in avoiding common mistakes and presenting understandable information. Fluency of an academic paper is indispensable in effective presentation of information to the reader. Besides, proper punctuation with appropriate use of commas and full stops is essential in excellent academic writing. Learning the aforementioned techniques of avoiding mistakes and writing appealing academic paper devoid of grammar mistakes was an imperious milestone in my career. Essentially, the class greatly perfected my writing skills. Business letter is a portrait of a company, thus it has to look distinctive and present the high-quality nature of the business. Business letters have a standard format and template. The most commonly used format is the block style with text in single space and double space between paragraphs. In

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

GENDER AND JIM CROW Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Essay

GENDER AND JIM CROW Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 18961920 - Essay Example The book revisits the history of oppression of blacks by white supremacy in the nineteenth century in the state of North Carolina and in the process makes many startling revelation hitherto either ignored or suppressed. Her theses is the emissarial role of contemporary African American women during 1896-1920 when their husbands, fathers ,brother and sons had been denied of surfage, in bringing out African American men and women to the main stream politics in North Carolina hitherto denied due to machinations of American white men. Gilmore reminisces as a young white North Carolinian girl her varied experiences and steps into the shoes of few African American women who had acted as ambassadors to their white male American counterparts by coming to the mainstream though not directly in politics but through academics, social organizations and other charitable institutions. The book which showed Gilmore as the historian in the making also was the precursor to her stream of further works on African Americans endless saga in the U.S. even today. It was by a chance discovery of discrete participation of African American women who were wives of the church leaders, or themselves teachers, college professors in finding a solution to overcome the supremacy of whites over blacks in North Carolina that prompted her to write this dissertation as conferred by her in the introduction pages of the book. I initially encountered this group of black middle-class women while investigating the 1920 election in North Carolina, the first in which women voted..That investigation of women's political culture soon doubled back on itself as I realized that gender and race were no less intertwined in men's politics than they were in women's.( Gilmore, 1996 p xvi) Kennedy in his review of the book says that Glenda Gilmore has re-examined the early period of Jim Crow and made known the to the world the efforts of middle-class African American women like Sarah Dudley Petty to bring about change in their social status by improving their standard of living, identifying opportunities for the both blacks and whites and most importantly changing the attitude of white toward the blacks in North Carolina. How the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) enabled the African American women of North Carolina to forge an interracial harmony and build strong communities is a case in point cited by him. The WCTU became a base for facilitating equality between whites and blacks in North Carolina. Thus when black men could finally vote, it was the white women who welcomed encouraged the activism of black women too. (Kennedy 2004) Judy(1997) whose grand father William J. Trent, finds a mention in Gilmore's book among so many others, writes how he must have felt having lost right to vote in 1900 in spite of going to college, learning languages like Latin. She is sure her grand mother Maggie Tate Trent must have also contributed a lot by joining the Salisbury Colored women's Civic League that toiled hard for getting African American women also secure voting rights. She agrees with Gilmore that down turn in the economy at that time that forced white men to compete with black men by bringing about repression of blacks and their disenfranchisement in 1900 and that it the was learned black women who became ambassadors of black community in North Carolina

Monday, November 18, 2019

Google Organizational Structure and Culture Essay

Google Organizational Structure and Culture - Essay Example The organizational design of Google is flatter with wide span of control, which signifies there are a few managers to whom all the subordinates report. Wide span of control is efficient because it is perceived to be both time and cost effective, as it involves a decentralized flow of information and requires comparatively few managers. They are associated with decentralization, which signifies that the decision-making authority is bestowed upon not only the top management but also it is provided to other members of the organization. As a result the supervisory power is somewhat minimal in the organization. The organization has 20,000 employees and has four hierarchical levels. CEO is in the top level; followed by CEO, there is Vice President of the company to whom every member of the individual departments of the organization reports. These departments include engineering, product, sales, human resource, and finance, legal and business strategy. The engineering heads maintain the dev elopment of all the products; product managers are involved in maintenance of products and handling the marketing staffs; sales department handles the entire sales of different region which is ultimately looked after by the regional head of the sales department. Human Resource department maintains all the manpower related records in the organization. The finance section involves in handling the financial works and maintaining the financial records of the company. Legal department is also involved in different legal procedures of the company and business strategy department takes the various strategies which may be required by the company in due course of time. The lower level workers of the organization are allotted in teams on the basis of the assigned works or assignments. In certain cases, teams are arranged from each and every functional areas based on the markets and products. The organizational culture is flexible and organic and is not much formal. The communication and inter action among the employees is carried out regularly on various issues and good interrelationship is prevalent among them (Griffin & Ebert, 2005). With reference to the above description of the organizational structure adhered in Google, a flow chart is presented below: 1.2. Google’s Organization Chart Figure 1: Organizational Chart of Google 1.3. Is The Organization Design Shown In Your Chart Appropriate For Google? Why or Why Not? The organizational design which is mentioned in the chart is suitable for Google as organizational hierarchy is clearly designed keeping in mind the flat structure of Google. There are various departments in the organization. All the departments of the organization are highlighted by a hierarchical design. Each departmental manager handles and maintains every functions of that department. In this chart, flat hierarchical structure is designed with CEO in the first level and under him the Vice President, who analyses all the departments such as engi neering, production, sales, human resource, finance, and legal and business strategy of the organization. But these departments have top managers to handle the subordinates (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009). Therefore, it can be established that the organizational structure is appropriate for Google. 2. What Type Of Global Organization Structure Is Google Using? In Your

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Compare And Contrast Ipv4 And Ipv6

Compare And Contrast Ipv4 And Ipv6 Before we discuss about how the IP works at the network layer to provide connectionless, best effort service to the upper layers, we should understand what the role of IP is. To help us more understand about the question. Below are a few explanation of the important role in the question. The Internet Protocol (IP) IP is a protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite, also referred to as TCP/IP, while the connectionless service is provided by IP version 4. IP version 4 is just design with limited lower overhead to ensure it deliver speed. The Network Layer -It is the 3rd layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. The network layer responds to service requests from the transport layer and issues service requests to the data link layer. Upper layer The last 3 layers of the OSI model, Session, Presentation and Application layer are referred to the Upper layers. These layers are responsible for applications communicating between hosts. None of the upper layers know anything about networking or network addresses. Connectionless/Best effort Service communication between two network end-user in which a message can be sent from sender to receiver without knowing of the receiver. The Internetwork Protocol (IP) provides a best effort network layer service for connecting computers to form a computer network. Each computer is identified by one or more globally unique IP address. The network layer PDUs are known as either packets or datagram. Each packet carries the IP address of the sending computer and also the address of the intended recipient or recipients of the packet. Other management information is also carried. The IP network service transmits datagrams between intermediate nodes using IP routers. The routers themselves are simple; since no information is stored concerning the datagrams which are forwarded on a link. The most complex part of an IP router is concerned with determining the optimum link to use to reach each destination in a network. This process is known as routing. Although this process is computationally intensive, it is only performed at periodic intervals. An IP network normally uses a dynamic routing protocol to find alternate routes whenever a link becomes unavailable. This provides considerable robustness from the failure of either links or routers, but does not guarantee reliable delivery. Some applications are happy with this basic service and use a simple transport protocol known as the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to access this best effort service. Internet Protocol provides in Version 4 (IPv4) is to ensure that the IP packet header is error-free through computation of a checksum at the routing nodes. This has the side-effect of discarding packets with bad headers on the spot, and cause the lost of data packet. The design of internet protocol is one of the reason cause connectionless services. It assumes that the network infrastructure is inherently unreliable at any single network element or transmission medium and that it is dynamic in terms of availability of links and nodes. Without any central monitoring or performance measurement facility exists that tracks or maintains the state of the network. So in order to easy the work, the intelligence in the network is purposely mostly located in the end nodes of each data transmission. Because of it, the network only can provide the best transmission and it was call the best-effort protocol. Advantages: They are stateless having no previously defined protocol. It is easily accessible. Fast deliver Speed Disadvantages: The lack of reliability allows any of the following fault events to occur: data corruption lost data packets duplicate arrival out-of-order packet delivery The primary goal of IP is to provide the basic algorithm for transfer of data to and from a network. In order to achieve this, it implements two functions: addressing and fragmentation. It provides a connectionless delivery service for the upper-layer protocols. This means that IP does not set up a session (a virtual link) between the transmitting station and the receiving station prior to submitting the data to the receiving station. It encapsulates the data handed to it and delivers it on a best-effort basis. IP does not inform the sender or receiver of the status of the packet; it merely attempts to deliver the packet and will not make up for the faults encountered in this attempt. This means that if the data link fails or incurs a recoverable error, the IP layer will not inform anyone. It tried to deliver (addressed) a message until failed. IP submits a properly formatted data packet to the destination station and does not expect a status response. Because IP is a connectionless protocol, IP may receive and deliver the data (data sent to the transport layer in the receiving station) in the wrong order from which it was sent, or it may duplicate the data. Again, it is up to the higher-layer protocols (layer 4 and above) to provide error recovery procedures. IP is part of the network delivery system. It accepts data and formats it for transmission to the data link layer. (Remember, the data link layer provides the access methods to transmit and receive data from the attached cable plant.) IP also retrieves data from the data link and presents it to the requesting upper layer (Naugle, 1999). Compare and contrast IPv4 and IPv6. Justify your answer. There are two version of the internet protocol are implemented in the network layer today, which is Internet Protocol version 4(IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6(IPv6). Today, most the internet are still implement the IPv4 but some of the internet are already move to IPv6, which is the newest version of the internet protocol. He also said that the Internet Protocol version 5(IPv5) is for experimental purpose, not for deployment purpose (White, 2009, p.348). There are differences between the current of IPv4 and IPv6. The main difference between the IPv4 and IPv6 is the addressing of the IPv4 and IPv6 that provided. White (2009, p.348) elaborate that there have only 32-bit addresses that used by IPv4, which means only support until 32-bit of the IP address that provide by IPv4. Forouzan (2007, p.549) argues with White that the IPv4 is 32-bit address, which mean the IPv4 address are unique, means the address are only one and universally when the connection between the source and destination. Forouzan also stated that the two devices cannot have the same internet protocol (IP) addresses when the connections are established between the source and destination. For example, if the source or destination at the network layer has m connections to the Internet, it will require having m address. In IPv6, there have 128-bits long address that provided by IPv6 compare to IPv4, which consist of 32-bits address, means that the IPv6 address consist 4 times to IPv4 address! Another difference between the current of IPv4 and IPv6 is the notation of the address that shown by the IPv4 and IPv6. Currently, the IPv4 addresses are being show as 32 bits in binary notation, which is support 1 and 0 only. 1 is represent hostid and 0 is represent netid, and also computer only can understand the language which the human cannot understand. Each 8 bits are representing 1 octet, mean the 1 octet are consist of 1 byte. That why IPv4 are only support to 32-bit of address or 4-byte address. The following to show the example of the IPv4 address in binary notations: 01110101 10010101 00011101 00000010 In order to make the human can understand and read the binary notation, the internet are converted the binary-notation into decimal and separating the byte by using dot. The following to show the example of the IPv4 address in dotted-decimal notation: 117.149.29.2 Refer to the figure 1.0, it represent that both the binary notation and dotted-decimal notation of the IPv4 address. Because each octet are represent 8-bits, the range of each octet are 0 until 255(Forouzan, 2007, p.550). Figure 1.0 Dotted-decimal notation and binary notation for an IPv4 address (Source: http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/linux/manual4/ipdecimal.html). Similar to IPv6, the IP address in IPv6 also represent in binary notation. Only different is the IPv6 are using the hexadecimal colon notation to make the address understandable and readable. Refer to figure 1.1, 128-bit are being divided into 8 sections in the hexadecimal colon notation. Each section has 2 byte and each 2 byte is requiring 4 hexadecimal digits (Forouzan, 2007, p.567). Figure 1.1 IPv6 address in binary and hexadecimal colon notation (Source: http://www.slideshare.net/WayneJonesJnr/ch19-3361671) Another the different between the IPv4 and IPv6 is the IP datagram format that represent by the IPv4 and IPv6. In IPv4, there are 15 fields in the IPv4 packet header. Refer to the figure 1.3, it show that the number of the field, the format of the IPv4. The Version field contains the version of IP, which is version number of the IPv4 is number 4 and ensures the device send the packet through to the internet from source to destination implement the appropriate various field. The Intermediate Header Length (IHL) specifies the size of the packet header, which the multiples of 32-bit words. If the options require in the datagram, it will require filling the padding bytes with unusual multiple of 32 bit. The Type of Service (TOS) fields allow the process to determine the precedence, which is relative priority of the application data and preferred attributes associated the following path. The Total Length (TL) or Packet Length (PL) field will display the whole packet size, including byte of header and data (Halsall, 2005, p.322). The Flags field consist three control flags, which is reserved control flags, Dont Fragment control flags and More Fragment control flags. Two control frags, which are Dont Fragment control flags and More Fragment control flags, use to control the fragmentation (The TCP/IP Guide, 2005). The Time-to-Live (TTL) field is to indicate the maximum the packet can be transmitted through the Internet. When the packet passes through the router, the TTL will decrement the number of transit of the packet remaining by one hop. When the TTL become 0, the packet will be discarded by the router. The Protocol field is enables the Network layer to pass the data to the correct upper layer protocol. The Header Checksum field is to identify the error at packet header. It also applied to protect from packet corruption during the transmission of the network. The Source Address and Destination Address field is containing the address where the packets send or comes from (Halsall, 2005, p.324). There are 5 fields in the options fields, which is copied fields, option class fields, option number, option length and option data. An option field is make all fragments of fragmented packets will save into the option if the option is being set by 1. Option class is define as a common option category, which 0 is represent control option and 2 is represent debugging and measurement option. The 1 and 3 is for reservation(Wikipedia,2010). Figure 1.3 IPv4 datagram/packet format and header fields (TCP/IP Guide, 2005) In IPv6, there are only 9 fields in the IPv6 packet header, means that the IPv6 field has been simplified compare to the IPv4, contains 15 fields, as shown in figure 1.4. The Version field contains the version of IP, which is version number of the IPv6 is number 6 and ensures the device send the packet through to the internet from source to destination implement the appropriate various field (TCP/IP Guide, 2005). The Traffic Class field is similar function as TOS in IPv4, which is allow the process to determine the different priority of the application data and preferred attributes associated the following path (Akashah, 2006). The Flow Label field is provided the additional support datagram delivery and quality of service (QOS) features with creating a large field. The Payload Length field is does not like the TL field from the IPv4, which is display whole size of packet but only display the payload byte number. The length of the extension header would be counted if the extension header will be included, means including the Hop-by-Hop Option, Routing, Fragment, Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP), Authentication Header (AH) and Destination Option. The Next Header field is to determine the first extension header of the next header in the datagram if the datagram contain the extension header. If the datagram contain only the main header and does not contain the extension headers, it will function as the IPv4 Protocol field. It also contain the same value, which the IPv6 version of the common protocol use though the new number. The Hop Limit (HL) field is similar function as TTL from the IPv4 field, which is remaining life of packet travel through the internet before discarded by the router while become 0. The purpose of the HL is preventing the packet infinite loop at internetwork. Before the packet send to the destination, the sending host will set the HL value. When the packets pass through the router, the router will decrease the HL value by 1 and until become 0, the packet will be discarded. The Source Address and Destination Address is similar function as the Source Address and Destination Address from the IPv4 field, which Source Address is contain the address where the packet are comes from. The Destination Address is contain the address that where the packet send to. Figure 1.4 IPv6 datagram/packet format and header fields (TCP/IP Guide, 2005) Section 2 Introduction of the chosen game. The three games that we choose is Peter Packet. Peter Packet is the education game represents the how the packets deliver through the internet. These games also represent how the packet can avoid from attacking virus and hackers. This game also can learn the lesson while the players play this game. How to play the chosen game? You may print screen the layout to support your reports. Here we have the instruction how to play the Peter Packet this game. This is Peter Packet. He is responsible to deliver the life packet through the internet. Figure 2.0 The screenshot is represent which difficulties you want to choose. Before you want to play this game, first you want to choose the difficulties of the game as show in figure 2.0. Figure 2.1 The screenshot is show which destination you want to choose After we choose the difficulties, then we choose which destination we want to proceed as shown in figure 2.1. This bar is show that the health status of the character.After we choose our destination we want, then we will show you the instruction how to play this game. Click the skip button to skip this section. The bar is show you that how many mission remaining you want to complete. Click the character if you want learn more about it. Press the back button if you want proceed to next section. Press the back button if you want back to previous section. Press the help button if you want to learn the tutorial again. Press the mute button if you want to silent or you want the sound. Figure 2.2 Speed up the character by using mouse right or press the right arrow Figure 2.2 is show that if you want speed up the character you must press the right arrow or move the mouse to your right. Figure 2.3 Slow down the character by pressing left arrow or move the mouse left The figure 2.3 is show that if you want to slow down the character, you must press the left arrow or moves the mouse to left. Get the encryption shields to protect from being caught Figure 2.4 Get the encryption shields that protect from caught by Hackers. Figure 2.4 shows that if you want get rid from the Hackers; you must to get the encryption shields to protect the character. Otherwise you will jump up by using up arrow or move up mouse to avoid being caught. Same as the virus, if you want to kill the virus, you must get the antivirus spray Figure 2.5 double click or pressing the up arrow twice if you want the character adds a flip. Figure 2.5 shows that if you jump not enough high, you can apply the flip for the character by pressing the arrow twice or double click. What are the benefits of playing this game to each of your groups member? Share your experiences and justifications. Leong Yun Siong The Benefit that I gain from playing this game is know how the internet play role important are, how the packet pass through the internet and the world started to emphasis the education, especially the women and the children from hardcore poor family and the personal hygiene. I also know how the router chooses the faster path of the network and also know how the electromagnet interference will interrupt the packet will cause the network congestion. I also know how the packet segmenting and reassembling. Phang Won Meng The Peter Packet is a funny game which contains a lot of useful information. By playing this game, we can understand there are many obstructers like hacker, Viruses and Route disruptions may occur when the packet are under the deliver. The game also provides and friendly user interface design with meaningful explanations and introduction to let player can learn more efficiency when playing the game. Inside the story of Peter Packet, Users can also find a lot of extra information like can learn information about social and environmental challenges in 3 countries that are Zimbabwe, Haiti and India in the developing world. Inside the story of Peter Packet, Users can also find a lot of extra information like that many people have died of AIDS and been exposed to HIV in Zimbabwe. Peter has the mission of helping to spread the word about this disease and get international aid. Players learn about the problems of lack access to clean drinking water in Haiti caused by years of environmental degradation from the harmful practice of intensive clear-cutting of trees, resulting in pollution and saltwater contamination. This useful information will help increase users knowledge and improve his moral.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

V5 Neuropsychology,Patient Impact And Family Considerations :: Biology Biological Research Papers

V5 Neuropsychology,Patient Impact And Family Considerations Neuropsychology After an individual damages the MT/v5 area of the occipital lobe, it can be very beneficial for the individual to go through neuropsychological evaluations to assess their perceptual and cognitive abilities post-trauma or surgery. A Neuropsychologist determines what tests are appropriate to adequately identify the extent of the cognitive and behavioral consequential effects associated with the damage sustained by the MT/v5 area. In the example of SF, the epileptic mentioned earlier by (Nawrot et al, 2000), SF had a series of motion perception test administered to determine the effects of her surgery. In the case of SF, pre and post-surgery tests were given to measure how the removal of the lesion in the MT+ area of her occipital lobe effected her perceptual abilities. The random dot cinematograms (RDC) test, was selected to measure SF perception and the consequential effects of damage sustained to her occipital lobe areas. After these tests were administered, the Neuropsychologist is able to rank the patients test score against the mean scores that represent normal performance range. In the case of SF, the perception tests were able to show the amount of time it took for her MT/v5 area to adapt to its new conditions. The Neuropsychologist then compares SF's perceptual performance to her pre-surgery ranges. These results helped (Nawrot et al, 2000) suggest that either dendritic sprouting or the opposite hemisphere compensation occurred in order to compensate for damage of SF MT/v5 area. The importance of these tests, are to help the Neuropsychologist determine the necessary steps needed for the rehabilitation of the patient. In the case of SF, these results helped conclude that the removal of lesion in the MT to reduce her seizures was worth it. The amount of seizures was greatly reduced post surgery and the visual and perceptual deficits experienced by SF after the surgery were short lived. Another example of the types of tests used by Neuropsychologist to identify the effects of head trauma, are illustrated in the case study of BC, a 45 year old women with visual-perceptual deficits. (Vaina et al, 2002, p. 465) The Performance part of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) was administered by the Neuropsychologist to assess BC's perceptual and cognitive abilities. Three tests in the Performance IQ set were administered, Picture Completion, Block Design, and Object

Monday, November 11, 2019

Night World : Huntress Chapter 17

Morgead's entire body jerked once and then went absolutely still. As if he'd been turned to stone. The only thing alive about him was his eyes, which were staring at Jez with shock and burning disbelief. Well, Jez told herself, with a grim humor that was almost like sobbing grief, I startled him, that's for sure. I finally managed to stun Morgead speechless. It was only then that she realized some part of her had hoped that he already knew this, too. That he would be able to brush it off with exasperation, the way he had the fact that she was a Daybreaker. But that hope was shattered now. It had been a stupid hope anyway. Being a Daybreaker was something that could change, a matter of confused attitude. Being vermin was permanent. â€Å"But that's-that's not-† Morgead seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. His eyes were large with horror and denial. â€Å"That's not possible. You're a vampire.† â€Å"Only half,† Jez said. She felt as if she were killing something-and she was. She was murdering any hope for what was between them. Might as well stomp it good, she thought bitterly. She couldn't understand the wetness that was threatening to spill out of her eyes. â€Å"The other half is human,† she said shortly, almost viciously. â€Å"My mother was human. Claire is my cousin, and she's human. I've been living with my uncle Jim, my mother s brother, and his family. They're all human.† Morgead shut his eyes. A moment of astonishing weakness for him, Jez thought coldly. His voice was still a whisper. â€Å"Vampires and humans can't have kids. You can't be half and half.† â€Å"Oh, yeah, I can. My father broke the laws of the Night World. He fell in love with a human, and they got married, and here I am. And then, when I was three or so, some other vampires came and tried to kill us all.† In her mind Jez was seeing it again, the woman with red hair who looked like a medieval princess, begging for her child's life. The tall man trying to protect her. â€Å"They knew I was half human. They kept yelling ‘Kill the freak.' So that's what I am, you see.† She turned eyes she knew were feverishly bright on him. â€Å"A freak.† He was shaking his head, gulping as if he were about to be sick. It made Jez hate him, and feel sorry for him at the same time. She scarcely noticed that hot tears were spilling down her cheeks. â€Å"I'm vermin, Morgead. One of them. Prey. That's what I realized a year ago, when I left the gang. Up until then I had no idea, but that last night we hunted, I remembered the truth. And I knew that I had to go away and try to make up for all the things I'd done to humans.† He put a hand up to press against his eyes. â€Å"I didn't just become a Daybreaker. I became a vampire hunter. I track down vampires who like to kill, who enjoy making humans suffer, and I stake them. You know why? Because they deserve to die.† He was looking at her again, but as if he could hardly stand to. â€Å"Jez-â€Å" â€Å"It's weird. I don't know about our connection†- she smiled bitterly at him, to let him know she knew all that was over now-â€Å"but I felt bad lying to you. I'm almost glad to finally tell you the truth. I kind of wanted to tell you a year ago when it happened, but I knew you'd kill me, and that made me a little hesitant.† She was laughing now. She realized she was more than a little hysterical. But it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered while Morgead was looking at her with that sick disbelief in his eyes. â€Å"So, anyway†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She stretched her muscles, still smiling at him, but ready to defend herself. â€Å"Are you going to try and kill me now? Or is the engagement just off?† He simply looked at her. It was as if his entire spirit had gone out of him. He didn't speak, and all at once Jez couldn't think of anything to say, either. The silence stretched and stretched, like a yawning chasm between them. They were so far away from each other. You knew all along it would come to this, Jez's mind told her mockingly. How can you presume to be upset? He's actually taking it better than you expected. He hasn't tried to tear your throat out yet. At last Morgead said, in a flat and empty voice, â€Å"That's why you wouldn't drink my blood.† â€Å"I haven't had a blood meal for a year,† Jez said, feeling equally empty. â€Å"I don't need to, if I don't use my Powers.† He stared past her at the metal wall. â€Å"Well, maybe you'd better drink some of your human friends',† he said tiredly. â€Å"Because whoever has us- He broke off, suddenly alert. Jez knew what it was. The van was slowing down, and the tires were crunching on gravel. They were pulling into a driveway. A long driveway, and a steep one. We're somewhere out in the country, Jez thought. She didn't have time for any more banter with Morgead. Although she felt drained and numb, she was focused on outside issues now. â€Å"Look,† she said tensely as the van braked. â€Å"I know you hate me now, but whoever has us hates us both. I'm not asking you to help me. I just want to get my cousin away-and I'm asking you not to stop me from doing that. Later, you can fight me or whatever. We can take care of that between the two of us. Just don't stop me from saving Claire.† He just looked at her with dark and hollow eyes. He didn't agree or disagree. He didn't move when she positioned herself to erupt out of the van as soon as the back door was opened. But, as it turned out, she could have saved her breath. Because when the door did open, letting in sunlight that blinded Jez, it was to reveal five vicious-looking thugs, completely blocking the entrance. Three of them had spears with deadly points leveled right at Jez. The other two had guns. â€Å"If anybody tries to fight,† a voice from around the side of the van said, â€Å"shoot the unconscious ones in the kneecaps.† Jez sagged back. She didn't try to fight as they forced her out of the van. Neither, strangely, did Morgead. There were more thugs standing around behind the van, enough to surround both Jez and Morgead with a forest of spears as they were led to the house. It was a nice house, a small sturdy Queen Anne painted barn red. There were trees all around and no other buildings in sight. We're out in the boondocks, Jez thought. Maybe Point Reyes Park. Somewhere remote, anyway, where nobody can hear us scream. They were shepherded into the living room of the house, and Hugh and Claire were dumped unceremoniously on the floor. And then they were all tied up. Jez kept watching for an opportunity to attack. But one never came. All the time she and Morgead were being tied, two of the thugs pointed guns at Claire and Hugh. There was no way Jez could disarm them both before they got off a shot. Worse, she was being rendered helpless by an expert. The cords were made of bast, the inner bark of trees. Equally effective against vampires and humans. When the guy tying her up was through, she had no use of her arms or legs. Hugh woke up, gasping with pain, when they tied his injured arm. Claire woke up when the werewolf thug who'd finished winding cords around her slapped her. Jez looked at that particular ‘wolf carefully. She was too angry to glare at him. But she wanted to remember his face. Then she looked back at Claire, who was staring around her in bewilderment. ‘I-where are we? What's going on, Jez?† Hugh was also looking around, but with much less confusion. His gray eyes were simply sad and full of pain. ‘It's all right, Claire,† Jez said. â€Å"Just keep quiet, okay? We're in a little trouble, but don't tell them anything.† She stared at her cousin, trying to will her to understand. â€Å"A little trouble? I don't think so,† came a voice from the living room doorway. It was the same voice that had given the order about shooting kneecaps. A light, cold voice, like an Arctic wind. The speaker was a girl. A very pretty girl, Jez thought irrelevantly. She had black hair that fell straight down her back like silk, and eyes that gleamed like topaz. Porcelain skin. A cruel smile. Lots of Power that surrounded her like a dark aura. A vampire. She looked perhaps a year older than Jez, but that didn't mean anything. She could be any age. And those eyes, Jez thought. They're vaguely familiar. Like something I've seen in a picture†¦. â€Å"I should probably introduce myself,† the girl said, looking at her with cold mockery. â€Å"I'm Lily Redfern.† Jez felt her stomach plummet. Hunter Redfern's daughter. Well, that explained a lot. She was working for her father, of course. And she was a powerful enemy herself, over four hundred years old. There were rumors that last year she'd been working the human slave trade, and making a lot of money at it. I should laugh, Jez thought. There I was telling Morgead that Hunter wanted to steal a march on the Council-and here he really did. Just not through me, of course. He's sent his only surviving child out to take care of us, to get Morgead to turn over the Wild Power. And that's why so many thugs-he can afford to buy as many as he needs. And the smooth operation-Lily's a born strategist. Not to mention absolutely merciless and cold as ice. She was right. We're not in a little trouble. We're in a whole lot. Somebody, Jez thought with a strange, quiet certainty, is going to die here. Lily was still talking. â€Å"And now let me introduce my associates, who've done so much to make this all possible.† She gestured at someone hidden in the hall to come forward. â€Å"This is Azarius. I think you've met.† It was the vampire Jez had fought on the platform. He was tall, with dark skin and a look of authority. â€Å"And this,† Lily said, smiling, â€Å"is someone you've also met.† She gestured again, and a second figure appeared in the doorway. It was Pierce Holt. He was smiling faintly, his aristocratic face drawn in lines of genteel triumph. He waved one slender hand at them, his eyes as cold as Lily's. Morgead gave an inarticulate roar and tried to lunge at him. He only succeeded in falling on the floor, a struggling body in a cocoon of bast. Lily and Azarius both laughed. Pierce just looked scornful. â€Å"You really didn't guess?† he said. â€Å"You're so stupid, Morgead. Coming out this morning to meet me, so trusting, so naive-I thought you were smarter. I'm disappointed.† â€Å"No, you're dead,† Morgead raged from the floor. He was staring at Pierce, black hair falling over his forehead and into green eyes that were blazing with rage. â€Å"You are dead when this is over! You betrayed the gang. You're complete scum. You're-â€Å" â€Å"Shut him up,† Lily said, and one of the thugs kicked Morgead in the head. He must really be out of power, Jez thought, wincing. Or he'd have blasted Pierce then. â€Å"I'm smart,† Pierce was saying. â€Å"And I'm going to survive. I knew something was fishy when she†- he nodded toward Jez without looking at her- â€Å"said she had a deal with Hunter Redfern. It didn't sound right-and then the way she was so worried about that vermin kid. So I made a few calls, and I found out the truth.† â€Å"You realize that your friend there is working with Circle Daybreak,† Lily interrupted. She was also looking at Morgead and ignoring Jez. â€Å"She lied to you and tricked you. She was trying to get the Wild Power for them.† Morgead snarled something inarticulate. â€Å"And she's not just a Daybreaker,† Pierce said. Finally he looked at Jez, and it was with venomous spite. â€Å"She's a mutant abomination. She's half vermin. She should have been drowned at birth.† ‘You should have been drowned at birth,† Morgead said through locked teeth. Lily had been watching in amusement, but now she waved one hand. â€Å"Okay, enough fun and games. Down to business.† Two of the thugs sat Morgead back up, and Lily walked to the middle of the room. She looked at each of them in turn, Jez last. â€Å"I've only got one question for you,† she said in her cool, quiet voice. â€Å"Which human is the Wild Power?† Jez stared at her. She doesn't know. She knows almost everything else, but not that. And if she can't find out†¦ Jez gave Hugh and Claire one long, intense look, telling them to keep silent. Then she looked back at Lily. â€Å"I have no idea what you're talking about.† Lily hit her. It was a pretty good blow, but nothing to compare with what Jez got when she was in a fight. Jez laughed, a natural laugh of surprise and scorn. Lily's hawklike golden eyes went icy. â€Å"You think this is funny?† she said, still quietly. â€Å"My father sent me to get the Wild Power, and that's just what I'm going to do. Even if it means tearing you and your vampire boyfriend to pieces, mutant.† â€Å"Yeah, well, suppose I don't know? Did you ever think of that? Then I can't tell, no matter what you and your little†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jez glanced at Pierce and Azarius. â€Å"Your little hobgoblins do.† Lily's porcelain skin was flushing with fury. It brought out faint scars on one side of her face that Jez hadn't noticed before, like mostly-healed burn marks. â€Å"Look, you little freak-† Then she turned to the thugs. â€Å"Teach her a lesson.† Things were exciting for a while. Jez could hear Claire and Hugh yelling and Morgead snarling while the hobgoblins beat her up. She hardly felt the blows herself. She was in a place where they didn't matter. When they finally got tired and stopped, Lily walked up to her again. â€Å"Now,† she said sweetly, â€Å"has your memory gotten any better.† Jez looked at her from under a swelling eyelid. â€Å"I can't tell you something I don't know.† Lily opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a new voice cut in. â€Å"She doesn't have to tell you,† Hugh said. â€Å"Ill tell you. It's me.† Lily swiveled slowly to look at him. He was sitting up straight inside his cocoon of bonds, his face calm under the dried blood. His gray eyes were clear and straightforward. He didn't look afraid. Oh, Hugh, Jez thought. Her heart was beating slow and hard and her eyes prickled. Lily glanced at Azarius. He shrugged. â€Å"Sure, it could be. I told you, it could be either of them. They were both at the station when the flash came and the train stopped.† â€Å"Hmm,† Lily said, a sound like a cat purring to dinner. She moved toward Hugh. He didn't look away from her, didn't flinch. But beside him, Claire gave a convulsive wiggle. She had been watching everything with a desperate, dazed expression. Jez was sure she didn't understand a quarter of what was going on. But now she suddenly lost the muddled look. Her dark eyes sparked and she looked like the Claire who'd taunted Jez a hundred times in the hallway back home. ‘I don't know what you're talking about,† she said to Hugh. â€Å"You know perfectly well it's me.† She turned to Lily. Tm the Wild Power.† Lily's mouth tightened. She put her hands on her hips, looking from Hugh to Claire. Then Jez heard the strangest sound of her life. It was laughing-a wild and reckless laughing. There was an edge almost like crying to it, but also something that was exhilarated, daredevil, free. â€Å"If you really want to know who it is,† Morgead said, â€Å"ifs me.† Lily whirled to glare at him. Jez simply stared, dumbfounded. She'd never seen him look so handsome-or so mocking. His smile was brilliant and flashing, his dark hair was falling all over his eyes, and his eyes were blazing green emeralds. He was tied up, but he was sitting with his head thrown back like a prince. Something tore inside Jez. She didn't understand why he would do it. He must know he wasn't saving her. The only people he might possibly save were Hugh and Claire. And why would he care about them? Besides, it was a futile gesture. He didn't realize that he couldn't be the Wild Power, that he hadn't been around when the train stopped. But-it was such a gallant gesture, too. Probably the most gallant thing Jez had ever seen. She stared at him, feeling the wetness spill from her eyes again, wishing she were telepathic and could ask him why in the worlds he had done it. Then his green eyes turned to her, and she heard his mental voice. There's just a chance they'll let one of them go with a beating. Just maybe-as a warning to Circle Daybreak not to mess with Hunter anymore. Especially if I convince Lily I'll work with her. Jez couldn't answer, but she shook her head very faintly, and looked at him in despair. She knew he could read that. Do you know what they'll do to you? Especially when they find out you're a fake? She saw his faint answering smile. He knew. What difference does it make? he said in her mind. You and me-we're lost anyway. And without you, I don't care what happens. Jez couldn't show any reaction to that at all. Her vision was dimming, and her heart felt as if it were trying to claw itself out of her chest. Oh, Morgead †¦ Lily was breathing hard, on the verge of losing control. â€Å"If I have to kill all of you-â€Å" â€Å"Wait,† Pierce said, his cool voice a striking contrast to Lily's strained one. â€Å"There's a simple way to find out.† He pointed at Jez. â€Å"Stake her.† Lily glared at him. â€Å"What?† â€Å"She's never going to tell you anything. She's expendable. And there's something you have to understand about the Wild Power.† He moved smoothly to Lily's side. â€Å"I think Morgead was right about one thing. I think the Wild Power isn't operating consciously at this point. It's only when the danger is greatest, when there's no physical way to escape, that the power comes out.† Lily cast a sideways look at Hugh and Claire, who were sitting tensely, their eyes wide. â€Å"You mean they may not know which it is?† â€Å"Maybe not. Maybe it's completely automatic at this point. But there's one way to find out. They all seem-attached-to the halfbreed. Put her life in danger, and then see which of them can break free and try to save her.† Lily's perfect lips slowly curved in a smile. â€Å"I knew there was a reason I liked you,† she said. Then she gestured at the thugs. â€Å"Go on, do it† Everything was confused for a bit. Not because Jez was struggling. She wasn't. But Claire was screaming and Hugh and Morgead were shouting, and Lily was laughing. When the worst of the noise died down, Jez found herself on her back. Azarius was standing over her, and he was holding a hammer and stake. â€Å"Isn't it interesting,† Lily was saying, â€Å"that a stake through the heart is the one thing that takes care of humans and vampires equally efficiently?† â€Å"And halfbreeds, too,† Pierce said. They were on either side of Azarius, looking down and laughing. â€Å"Lily, listen. Listen,† Morgead said, his voice hoarse and desperate. â€Å"You don't have to do this. I already told you, it's me. Just wait a minute and talk to me-* â€Å"Don't even bother, human-lover,† Lily said without glancing at him. â€Å"If you're the Wild Power, then save her.† â€Å"Don't any of you do anything!† Jez yelled. â€Å"Not anything, do you understand?† She was yelling it mainly at Claire-or was she? Suddenly Jez felt strangely uncertain. Her heart was beating very quickly, and her mind was racing even faster. Fragments of thought were glittering through her consciousness, like bits of melody almost too faint to catch. It was as if all the prophecies she'd heard about the Wild Powers were echoing, ricocheting around her brain at insane speed. And there was something about them, something that was bothering her. Something that made her wonder†¦ Could it be that Claire wasn't the Wild Power? Jez had assumed she was-but was it possible that she'd been wrong? Hugh had been on the platform, too, watching the train approach. Hugh had reason to be upset at having to watch Jez die. He cared about her. Jez knew that now. And Hugh was seventeen. Could Hugh be the Wild Power? He hadn't been in the Marina district-but he lived in the Bay Area; there was no reason he couldn't have been watching the fire just as she and Claire had. But there was still something nagging at her. The prophecies†¦ ‘two eyes are watching'†¦ ‘Four of blue fire, power in their blood†¦.' Lily was speaking. Jez heard her as if from a great distance. â€Å"Do it. Right beside the heart first.† Azarius positioned the stake. He raised the hammer. Morgead screamed, â€Å"Jez!† Jez shouted, â€Å"None of you do anything-â€Å" And then the hammer came down and the universe exploded in red agony.