Plutarch Describes the Assassination of Caesar

Plutarch Describes the Assassination of Caesar The Ides of March was the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in the year 44 B.C. It was one of the major epoch-changing moments in the history of the world.  The scene of the assassination of Caesar was pretty bloody, with each of the conspirators adding his own knife wound to the fallen body of their leader. Plutarchs Caesar Here are the words of Plutarch on the assassination of Caesar, from the John Dryden translation, revised by Arthur Hugh Clough in 1864, of Plutarchs Caesar, so you can see the gory details for yourself: When Caesar entered, the senate stood up to show their respect to him, and of Brutuss confederates, some came about his chair and stood behind it, others met him, pretending to add their petitions to those of Tillius Cimber, in behalf of his brother, who was in exile; and they followed him with their joint supplications till he came to his seat. When he was sat down, he refused to comply with their requests, and upon their urging him further, began to reproach them severally for their importunities, when Tillius, laying hold of his robe with both his hands, pulled it down from his neck, which was the signal for the assault. Casca gave him the first cut, in the neck, which was not mortal nor dangerous, as coming from one who at the beginning of such a bold action was probably very much disturbed. Caesar immediately turned about, and laid his hand upon the dagger and kept hold of it. And both of them at the same time cried out, he that received the blow, in Latin, Vile Casca, what does this mean? and he that gave it, in Greek, to his brother, Brother, help! Upon this first onset, those who were not privy to the design were astonished and their horror and amazement at what they saw were so great, that they durst not fly nor assist Caesar, nor so much as speak a word. But those who came prepared for the business enclosed him on every side, with their naked daggers in their hands. Which way soever he turned, he met with blows, and saw their swords leveled at his face and eyes, and was encompassed, like a wild beast in the toils, on every side. For it had been agreed they should each of them make a thrust at him, and flesh themselves with his blood; for which reason Brutus also gave him one stab in the groin. Some say that he fought and resisted all the rest, shifting his body to avoid the blows, and calling out for help, but that when he saw Brutuss sword drawn, he covered his face with his robe and submitted, letting himself fall, whether it were by chance, or that he was pushed in that direction by his murderers, at the foot of the pedestal on which Pompeys statue stood, and which was thus wetted with his blood. So that Pompey himself seemed to have presided, as it were, over the revenge done upon his adversary, who lay here at his feet, and breathed out his soul through his multitude of wounds, for they say he received three and twenty.

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author

Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, Jazz Age Icon and Author Born Zelda Sayre, Zelda Fitzgerald (July 24, 1900  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ March 10, 1948) was an American writer and artist of the Jazz Age. Although she produced writing and art on her own, Zelda is best known in history and in popular culture for her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald and her tumultuous battle with mental illness. Fast Facts: Zelda Fitzgerald Known For:  Artist, author of Save Me The Waltz, and wife of author F. Scott FitzgeraldBorn:  July 24, 1900  in Montgomery, AlabamaDied:  March 10, 1948 in Asheville, North CarolinaSpouse:  F. Scott Fitzgerald (m. 1920-1940)Children:  Frances Scottie Fitzgerald Early Life The youngest of six children, Zelda was born to a prominent Southern family in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father, Anthony Sayre, was a powerful justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, but she was the darling of her mother, Minerva, who spoiled young Zelda. She was an athletic, artistic child, equally interested in her ballet lessons and in spending time outdoors. Although she was a clever student, Zelda was mostly uninterested in her studies by the time she reached high school. Beautiful, spirited, and rebellious, Zelda became the center of her young social circle. As a teenager, she already drank and smoked, and enjoyed causing minor scandals by doing things like dancing â€Å"flapper† style or swimming in a tight, flesh-toned bathing suit. Her brash, daring nature was even more shocking because women of her social status were expected to be genteel and quiet. Zelda and her friend, future Hollywood actress Tallulah Bankhead, were frequently the topic of gossip. As a girl or a teenager, Zelda began to keep diaries. These journals would later prove to be the earliest signs of her creative mind, containing much more than a rote record of her social activities. In fact, excerpts from her early journals would eventually appear in iconic works of American literature, thanks to her relationship with a soon-to-be legendary novelist: F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Fitzgeralds In the summer of 1918, Zelda first met the 22-year-old Scott when he was stationed on an Army base just outside of Montgomery. Their first meeting, at a country club dance, would later be the basis for the first meeting between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Although she had several suitors at the time, Zelda quickly came to favor Scott, and they grew close over a shared worldview and their similarly creative personalities. Scott had big plans, and he shared them with Zelda, who became equal parts muse and kindred spirit. She inspired the character of Rosalind in This Side of Paradise, and the novel’s closing monologue is taken directly from her journals. Their romance was interrupted in October 1918, when he was reassigned to a base in Long Island, but the war soon ended and he returned to Alabama within a month. Scott and Zelda became deeply involved, and wrote to each other constantly after he moved to New York City in early 1919. They married in 1920, despite some objections from Zelda’s family and friends over his drink and his Episcopalian faith. That same year, This Side of Paradise was published, and the Fitzgeralds became notorious on the New York social scene, embodying the excesses and brilliance of the Jazz Age. In 1921, just before Scott’s second novel was finished, Zelda became pregnant. She gave birth to their daughter, Frances â€Å"Scottie† Fitzgerald in October 1921, but motherhood did not â€Å"tame† Zelda into a quiet domestic life. In 1922, she was pregnant again, but the pregnancy did not make it to term. Over the next couple of years, Zelda’s writing began to appear as well, mostly sharply-written short stories and magazine articles. Although she joked about her writing being â€Å"borrowed† for Scott’s novels, she did resent it too. After their co-written play The Vegetable flopped, the Fitzgeralds moved to Paris in 1924. Together in Paris The Fitzgeralds’ relationship was in a complicated state by the time they reached France. Scott was absorbed with his next novel, The Great Gatsby, and Zelda fell for a dashing young French pilot and demanded a divorce. Zelda’s demands were met with dismissal from Scott, who locked her in their house until the drama passed. In the months following, they returned mostly to normal, but in September, Zelda survived an overdose of sleeping pills; whether the overdose was intentional or not, the couple never said. Zelda was often ill around this time, and in late 1924, Zelda was unable to continue her traveling lifestyle and instead began painting. When she and Scott returned to Paris in the spring of 1925, they met Ernest Hemingway, who would become Scott’s great friend and rival. Although Zelda and Hemingway loathed each other from the start, Hemingway did introduce the couple to the rest of the Lost Generation expat community, such as Gertrude Stein. Increasing Instability Years passed, and Zelda’s instability grew – along with Scott’s. Their relationship turned volatile and more dramatic than ever, and both accused the other of affairs. Desperate for success of her own, Zelda took up the reins of her ballet studies again. She practiced intensely, sometimes for up to eight hours a day, and while she did have some talent, the physical demands (and the lack of support from Scott) proved too much for her. Even when she was offered a spot with an opera ballet company in Italy, she had to decline. Zelda was admitted to a French sanatorium in 1930 and bounced between clinics for physical and psychological treatments for around a year. When her father was dying in September 1931, the Fitzgeralds returned to Alabama; after his death, Zelda went to a hospital in Baltimore and Scott went to Hollywood. While in the hospital, however, Zelda wrote a whole novel, Save Me The Waltz. The semi-autobiographical novel was her biggest work to date, but it infuriated Scott, who had planned to use some of the same material in his work. After Scott’s forced rewrites, the novel was published, but it was a commercial and critical failure; Scott also derided it. Zelda didn’t write another novel. Decline and Death By the 1930s, Zelda was spending most of her time in and out of mental institutions. She continued to produce paintings, which were tepidly received. In 1936, when Zelda seemingly disconnected from reality, Scott sent her to another hospital, this one in North Carolina. He then proceeded to have an affair in Hollywood with columnist Sheilah Graham, bitter about how his marriage to Zelda had turned out. By 1940, though, Zelda had made enough progress to be released. She and Scott never saw each other again, but they corresponded until his sudden death in December 1940. After his death, it was Zelda who became an advocate for Scott’s unfinished novel The Last Tycoon. She was inspired and began working on another novel, but her mental health declined again and she returned to the North Carolina hospital. In 1948, a fire broke out at the hospital, and Zelda, in a locked room awaiting an electroshock therapy session, did not escape. She died at the age of 47 and was buried alongside Scott. Posthumous Discovery The Fitzgeralds had been on the decline when they died, but interest quickly revived, and they became immortalized as the icons of the Jazz Age. In 1970, historian Nancy Milford wrote a biography of Zelda that suggested she had been every bit as talented as Scott, but had been held back by him. The book became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and it heavily influenced future perceptions of Zelda. Save Me The Waltz subsequently saw a revival as well, with scholars analyzing it on the same level as Scott’s novels. Zelda’s collected writings, including the novel, were compiled and published in 1991, and even her paintings have been re-appraised in the modern era. Several fictional works have depicted her life, including several books and a TV series, Z: The Beginning of Everything. Although perceptions continue to evolve, the Fitzgerald legacy – of which Zelda is most definitely a huge part – has become deeply engrained in American popular culture.   Sources: Cline, Sally.  Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise. Arcade Publishing, New York, 2003.Milford, Nancy. Zelda: A Biography. Harper Row, 1970.Zelazko, Alicja. Zelda Fitzgerald: American Writer and Artist. Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zelda-Fitzgerald.

The Impact Of Globalization On The Economy Research Paper

The Impact Of Globalization On The Economy - Research Paper Example Globalization has helped the realization of the world economy characterized with various features although some factors are not exclusive; they are not present in every country on the globe. To help in gaining more understanding of globalization and the world economy, it is paramount to consider the case of Japan and the US economies. There is a considerably stable status of the world economy, with some economies such as Japan and US indicating an upward progression over the recent years’ time. More specifically America has registered a healthy economic growth rated at 3.5% in 2005 and 5% in 2006’s first quarter of the year. However, the healthy economic growth was hard to be sustained following the consistent increase in oil prices globally as well as the extensive Katrina’s hurricane devastation. However, the US government adopted immediate fiscal and monetary policies which had effective responses. The adopted measures helped in regaining the economic stabilit y of the US. The economy of Japan receives a substantial economic boost registering phenomenal progression rates following the country's continued trading with China. The continent of Europe has also indicated a marginal growth in the recent past. Several European Union countries have recorded unexpected growth rates economically. The establishment of the key free trade consensus including the "North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)" as well as South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in an effort of boosting globally exercised trade

Find out in great detail about the quotes Research Paper

Find out in great detail about the quotes - Research Paper Example Capa was urging photographers to get near and feel the energy of their subjects, which is likely to deliver a more intimate and emotional image with considerable impact to the viewer. In the same token as cultural objects, photographers derive meaning from their context with the most essential aspect in photography being to interact naturally with the subject (Marien 281). The composition of photography can be dictated by the photographer’s position relative to the subject. Indeed, up close snap shots isolates and puts emphasis on the subject, but the photographer should live room for cropping without distortion of the subjects and the surroundings. James Nachtwey James Nachtwey has covered stories from a war zone in places such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, and South Africa. The images of destruction and slaughter inspired James to become a war photographer. The quote expresses the significance of pictures in bearing testimony for the photographer and all humanity, and the events captured by the camera lens provide irrefutable evidence, especially during war times (Marien 289). Pictures provided a living proof of events and a permanent proof that cannot be forgotten. Pictures capture both good and bad times can be employed as an advocacy tool, especially highlighting things that cannot be forgotten, and which must not be repeated. ... Pictures offer inferential anchoring and representation to enable the audience the experiences depicted, besides acting as a testimony (Warner 86). Robert Frank Frank’s photography gained prominence at a time when the sphere of American existentialism and Beat generation hauteur was at its peak, at a time when there was an emphasis on cool, self-absorbed rebelliousness within the face of narrow social conformity. As such, Frank can be considered as part of a wide artistic resistance movement seeking to use photography as a vehicle that expresses their creative self (Marien 340). The quote emphasizes the role of individuals to exploit photography as a potent tool that photographers can exploit to exhibit their creative self, but the photographer is not truly alone but in the company of his or her subjects. Photography provides a process of self-discovery and introspection; moreover, photography provides individuals with a stage on which they can share intimate visual experience s with others. Indeed, photography is an intensely personal journey, whereby in creating an image and disclosing the images to others, individuals are also disclosing a part of what is inside them. The images and descriptions aids individuals to gain insight into their own potential for generating own potential for creative and highly personal image making. Duane Michals Michals argue that the best part of individuals is not what they see, but what they feel. Individuals are not their eyeballs but their mind; hence, people have the capacity to define their medium, instead of waiting for the medium to define them. The most powerful aspect of photographs lies in making people see things in new ways. Photographers should pave  the way  by

Test Dilemma Essay Example for Free

Test Dilemma Essay Q1) How would you characterize Timberland’s exercise of its corporate power in society? Is Timberland engaging multiple stakeholders in its business operations? If so, hw? Answer: I would characterize Timberland’s exercise of its corporate power in society as â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility†. That is, timberland is being socially responsible towards society and it is acting in a way that enhances society. By exercising its power, Timberland is practicing the â€Å"iron law of responsibility† which says that in the long run, those who do not use power in ways that society considers responsible will tend to lose it. Moreover, by acting in the general public interest, Timberland is following the â€Å"Stewardship Principle† Yes, Timberland is engaging multiple stakeholders in its business operations, starting from Timberland’s management (CEO- Jeff Swartz) who is has managerial duties at Timberland and he is personally involved in the social activities sponsored by Timberland. Timberland’s employees are main stakeholders who in addition to their job tasks at Timberland are participating voluntarily in its social activities. The community service organization (City Year) is another stakeholder which is supported financially by Timberland. Non-profit organizations which benefit from the grants Timberland makes annually are also stakeholders for the company. Other communities and society members who benefit from Timberland’s community services activities are another set of stakeholders to Timberland. Q2) Has Timberland balanced its economic and social responsibilities through its various programs, such the Path to Service program and sustainability goals?  Are the company’s programs examples of enlightened self-interest? Answer: Yes Timberland has balanced its economic and social responsibilities through its programs. Timberland holds accountable for its stockholders and at the same time recognizes its responsibility towards society and environment through the programs it implemented. This is clear in the statement of Timberland CEO â€Å"†¦While we are absolutely accountable to our shareholders, we also recognize and accept our responsibility. The programs implemented by Timberland are examples of being â€Å"enlightened self-interest†. Timberland recognizes the long-term rewards to the company from its global involvement through an enhanced reputation, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and global community support. That is, it is Timberland’s self interest to provide true value to its customers, to help its employees to grow and to behave responsibly as a global corporate citizen. Q3) What impact do you think the current economic recession may have on Timberland social programs? Answer: Probably the social programs will continue; however, with less grants and donation amounts and more careful expenditures on sustainability issues environmental programs.  Please note: the case is old and from my reading on the internet, it was mentioned that Timberland continued to give money and service work to City Year during the financial trouble. Q4) How would you improve Timberland’s corporate social responsibility program? Answer: †¢Create a set of Key Performance Indicators through which CSR can be measured. For example, employees’ satisfaction could be one measure of how Timberland is acting towards its environment. Another measure could be the gas emissions from their factory to see how they are affecting environment†¦etc. Improve communications with stakeholders, as an example, awareness sessions could be held with stakeholders to explain the importance and benefits of corporate social responsibility. †¢Involve stakeholders in the social responsibility programs and listen to their opinions on how to make it better. †¢Improve communications with employees, explicitly explain separation between layoffs and City Year donations, Improve internal affairs †¢Involve in some social programs targeting developed countries in the Middle East especially those which have just undergone backlash es and needs assistance to recover.

The Grapes of Wrath - Fear, Hostility, and Exploitation in Chapter 21 E

Fear, Hostility, and Exploitation in Chapter 21 of The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck's intercalary chapters in The Grapes of Wrath have nothing to do with the Joads or other characters of the novel, but help describe the story in different terms. They are similar to poems, offering different viewpoints of the migration, and clarifying parts of the story that the reader might not understand. An excellent example of this use can be seen in chapter 21, where an examination of the attitudes of migrant Okies and the residents of California reveals the changing nature of land ownership among the changing population of California and gives greater meaning to the fierce hostility that the Joads meet in California. The first section of chapter 21 explores the plight of the Okies, who are simple people forced to leave their homes when industrial change complicates their lives. Steinbeck writes, "Their senses were still sharp to the ridiculousness of the industrial life. And then suddenly the machines pushed them out and they swarmed on the highways." This statement relates the beginning of the novel, with particular emphasis on the death of Grampa and Granma. When industrial farming hits the agrarian midwest, the Joads are forced off their land and driven to migration, deserting the house in which they have lived for so long. Before long, Grampa dies of stroke. His life is tied to the land and cannot keep up with such rapid change, and when he dies Granma is sure to follow. The paragraph continues: "The movement changed them; the highways, the camps along the road, the fear of hunger and the hunger itself, changed them. The children without dinner changed them, the endless moving changed them. They were mig... ... and banks. The 'fermenting anger' which Steinbeck describes also relates to the novel's title, as grapes serve as a symbol of the migrants, and the wrath represents their anguish and hardship. The thin line between hunger and anger is broken by the changes in land ownership, and retaliation of the workers is the inevitable result. Within four pages, Steinbeck greatly clarifies and expands upon his story by examining the different emotions and reactions of his general character groups. He takes two sides of an argument and applies them to a third body rather than pit them against each other. By mastering the use of the intercalary chapter, he is able enrich his story with deeper thought and explore it outside the boundaries of his main characters. In this manner, Steinbeck is able to write a four-page chapter which holds great meaning to a 581-page novel.

Intangible and Tangible Assets

The value of intangible assets can be much more variable than tangible assets. This variability increases the likelihood of a discrepancy between book and market values. Learn about how investors deal with the differences between the book and market values of tangible and intangible assets. Tangible vs. Intangible Assets Financial statements are historical documents that show what a company was worth at one point in time. Because of standard accounting practices, an asset must be recorded at the value for which it was purchased.Changes in markets, currency, and economic conditions all contribute to discrepancies between book and market values. The longer an asset is held by a company, the greater the chance that discrepancies exist. One factor that affects the market value of an asset is intangibility. An intangible asset is one that does not have a physical form but provides value to the firm nevertheless. Examples of intangible assets include contracts and patents, i. e. assets tha t cost money to acquire but do not have easily-accessible markets through which to buy and sell them.Unlike tangible assets like machinery and automobiles, the lack of secondary markets increases the risk that the intangible asset can not be liquidated at a reasonable price. Assets that are not very liquid, such as plants and proprietary equipment, have secondary markets in which used assets can be sold. These assets typically suffer from low liquidity because there are costs, sometimes high costs, associated with their disposal in secondary markets. Liquidity is based on the ability to sell an item for cash if the need or desire arises.Definition of intangibles www. iprplaza. com Definitions of intangible assets from various perspectives Ads by Google An Example of the Value of an Intangible Asset Suppose a company purchases a patent from another company and for many years enjoys the right to build a product without any competition based on the design specified in the patent. Over time, the value of the patent diminishes because of changes in markets, technology, and processes. The cost of the patent as an intangible asset remains on the books at the cost that was paid for the patent.Throughout the life of the patent, this intangible asset became more valuable because it blocked competitors from developing the same product. However, near the end of the patent’s useful life, its market value falls to nearly zero. Throughout this rise and fall of the patent’s market value, its book value remained unchanged. See the complete Bright Hub Guide to Balance Sheet Basics  » Unlike automobiles which are depreciated using a regular schedule to estimate the asset’s worth, there is no real way to determine the actual worth of an intangible asset that companies investing in tangible assets enjoy.The variability and uncertainty as to whether a company can make valuable use of an intangible asset is what gives rise to discrepancies and the inability to determine the difference between their book and market values. Investors who ignore the value of intangible assets are removing from the valuation process important pieces of information that directly contribute to a company’s value. Unfortunately, valuing intangible assets is not an exact science.One of the best methods of valuing such as asset is to analyze what the company would look like if the asset were not owned by the company and the incremental increase in value by owning it is a reasonable estimate. However, this assumes that the company is using the intangible asset to its maximum potential. Other managers may have been able to exploit it for much more value. Identification o Tangible benefits are quantifiable: A precise amount can be placed on the benefit as a way to weigh its value. This value is almost always fiduciary.The value of the benefit depends on a person’s skill set. For instance, doctors get higher tangible benefits than a fast-food worker. On the other hand, intangible benefits are much harder to measure because of their subjectivity. Intangible benefits derive from how a person feels about their work. Job satisfaction is a main bench marker of an intangible benefit. 3 Tangible: Financial Pay and Benefits o Tangible benefits are those listed by the company in a quantifiable form. Such benefits are usually contractual in nature: Days off, insurance costs, salary and profit sharing are a few.Performing calculations and comparing these benefits with another business tend to be straight forward. When people first start looking for a job, they usually have a better idea of these tangible benefits than they do of the work’s intangible benefits. Steve Pogorzelski, author of the book, â€Å"Finding Keepers: The Monster Guide to Hiring and Holding the World’s Best Employees† also advises for corporations to tout tangible benefits such as gym partnerships to attract quality candidates. o Sponsored Links ? Trad emark Registration Efficient trademark registration services worldwide. www. egistertrademarks. net 4 Intangible: Job Satisfaction o Intangible benefits include all of the qualitative advantages of working for an organization. For instance, friendly coworkers, flexibility and a position that matches the worker’s skill set are intangible benefits. Johanna Schlegel, editor-in-chief of Salary. com advises workers to assess how they feel about the work they performed at the end of the day. Measuring the degree of commitment and agreement with corporate culture are additional ways Schlegel recommends gauging the intangible benefits derived from the job. 5 Considerations Some workers value tangible benefits over intangible benefits and vice versa. Decisions regarding employment typically depend on a worker’s situation. A father who wishes to stay at home with his children and telecommute places a premium on intangible benefits and may be willing to forego a higher salary. An other distinction of these two benefits is that intangible benefits may increase or decrease over time, whereas tangible benefits of a job tend not to fluctuate as much. If a worker tires of performing the same task repeatedly and sees no sign of advancement, her intangible benefits decrease.A business owner or manager incurs costs with nearly every decision. Tangible costs are calculated up front. They are the expected and quantifiable costs of running a business. Tangible costs typically include things a business can buy directly for specific costs, such as labor, materials and space. Other costs, called intangible costs, are harder to measure, but are nonetheless real and could be crucial to a business's success or failure. Such things as lost productivity, a drop in employee morale or a loss of goodwill in the community might count as intangible costs. Sponsored LinkDefinition of intangibles Definitions of intangible assets from various perspectives www. iprplaza. com Tangible C osts Tangible costs include the types of things a business writes checks for: salaries and wages, leases, operational inputs, employee medical benefits, transportation and commercial insurance. These costs have a clear place in the general ledger. The company cannot conduct business or produce a quality product without spending on tangible costs. They are also easy to quantify, so management tends to focus on the manipulation of tangible costs. Sources of Tangible CostsTangible costs consume much of a typical business's accounting efforts. The sources of tangible costs are documented with receipts, contracts or policies. The accounting department assigns tangible costs to specific cost categories, such as the cost of goods sold or overhead costs. Some tangible costs produce obvious benefits, such as the production of the company's product. Others, such as safety training or environmental controls, may produce benefits that are less easily measured, but the costs themselves are concr ete in the sense that they come straight out of the company's bottom line. Addressing Tangible CostsCompanies manage tangible costs by negotiating contracts for services and by getting multiple quotes for inputs and supplies. The purchasing department compares costs of buying or leasing equipment. A large corporation with multiple sites can transfer some pieces of equipment from one site to another. This prevents redundant spending on equipment such as scissor lifts or pressure washers that are only used occasionally. Some companies offer a bonus to department managers who reduce their department's spending. Companies may entice employees to cut costs by offering incentives and recognition to employees who have money-saving ideas.Intangible Costs Intangible costs are less easily measured. Some key and common intangible costs might include a drop in employee morale, dissatisfaction with working conditions or customer disappointment with a decline in service or product quality. Intang ible costs result from an identifiable source, but the costs are often not predicted. They may occur after a new practice or policy is put into effect, such as a cut in staffing levels or in employee benefits. Managers can try to estimate intangible costs as soon as they see a pattern of loss.This estimate will be the basis of a decision to either change or continue a practice that frustrates employees or customers. If a new procedure has injured an employee, the company may need to act quickly to avoid government fines and inspections. Sources of Intangible Costs Intangible costs are not always foreseen. For example, when corporate management puts a new program or policy into place that is not appropriate for a given location, unintended intangible costs may ensue because what works well at a work site in one part of the country may clash with the employee work culture at another location.For example, managed labor systems, which measure productivity automatically and chart it acco rding to a preset standard, may improve productivity at one facility but harm performance at another. A site where the employees take extended lunches and unauthorized breaks could benefit from this type of automated monitoring. The new system could actually improve the morale among conscientious employees who resent their co-workers' lack of effort. The same managed labor system could be a disaster at a site where employees work as a team and already watch their departments' speed and productivity.Workers may become anxious and confused over the new system and how it will affect their pay raises or continued employment. They may refuse to assist their co-workers, afraid that being off task will hurt their own productivity numbers. Addressing Intangible Costs After intangible costs are incurred, management must decide how to address the costs. In general, the company will either decide to absorb the cost or act to eliminate its source. This decision will be based on the best estimat e of the intangible cost management can come up with.The cost of training new employees after long-time employees have left for other opportunities is one variable used to estimate intangible costs. If a company decides to continue an unpopular policy, it may invite employees to informational meetings to reduce employee confusion and discontent. A change that has lowered the quality of customer service may require a public relations outreach to keep customer goodwill, or it may require the company to come up with some other customer benefit to replace what was lost. Sursa: http://smallbusiness. chron. com/tangible-costs-intangible-costs-51412. html Making Intangible Assets  TangiblePosted on December 24, 2011 by swaltersky In 2008, Paul D’Antilio, CEO of Future Point Systems  called to see if I would be interested in   consulting with his company about visual analytics. He had recently become the CEO and knew that we’d been successful commercializing a visual ana lytics product in Attenex Patterns (acquired by FTI Consulting). As it turned out when he called I was in Palo Alto, helping my daughter Elizabeth move to Stanford University to start her post doctoral research in cognitive psychology. We agreed to meet on a hot Bay Area Saturday morning at the Future Point offices in San Mateo, CA.As our discussion ensued it turns out he’d had a very successful career in software product development and was part of the development team at State Street Bank that had developed the mortgage backed securities and received one of the first software patents. As I presented the Attenex Patterns story and did a brief demo and shared how we’d used the tool in electronic discovery and patent analytics, Paul suddenly stood up and said â€Å"this is really interesting. When we did the mortgage backed securities at State Street Bank we were essentially taking a tangible asset and making it intangible and then trading it.What you are talking about is taking intangible assets like patents and making them tangible enough so that they can be traded. It’s the mirror image of what I’ve spent my career working on. † I stared at Paul for a moment as the thought of making intangible things tangible rolled around in my brain. I jumped up and exclaimed â€Å"You have the other half of the knowledge I didn’t know I’d been looking for the last ten years. You understand the valuing transforms back and forth between tangible and intangible assets. † We both knew in that moment that we’d discovered something important, but we didn’t know what to do with it.Paul realized that while it was a potentially big idea he had more urgent topics to deal with. So I agreed to consult with him at Future Point and see what we could do with the PNNL Starlight technology. After a few months we realized that there was not enough capital at Future Point to generate new product lines so we parted ways. H owever, the notion of making the intangible tangible enough to be identified, valued, monetized and traded is ever present in my thoughts. Over the last two hundred years, great wealth resulted from the systematic identification and monetization of new asset classes.The financial services industry has profited from taking tangible assets like mortgages and turning them into intangible assets that can be traded. In the music industry, David Bowie was the first artist to bundle together his future â€Å"hits† into a monetizable asset. In the wine industry, Joe Ciatti put together a REIT to invest in winemaking properties that raised a large fund, but ultimately failed at the execution level. In a different arena, Intellectual Ventures had raised billions of dollars to monetize patents rather than go through the long process of litigation.At the micro level, fine wineries are having difficulty monetizing their customer assets due to the difficulty of marketing their authentic di fferences and their lack of better business models and processes. Inventors face the same difficulties of matching their inventions to customers (enterprises or consumers) who could monetize their ideas. In the electronic discovery market, no lawyers, developers or suppliers view the problem as identifying the few â€Å"assets† in the millions of documents that will prove or disprove their case.Yet, each large scale complex matter is an exercise in systematically identifying the key document assets and then â€Å"monetizing† them by winning the case. The central observations about large scale customer problems are: †¢ The difficulty of recognizing a new asset class soon enough to create a market for it †¢ The focus of asset developers are to create an asset rather than on how that asset can be marketed and sold †¢ Few industries create â€Å"brokers† to trade bundles of assets until the industry matures.The experiences of using clustering and clas sifying mathematics in problems as diverse as mortgage backed securities, legal electronic discovery, patent brokering and licensing, and creating customers for life with biodynamic wineries suggests that there is a common solution to a diverse range of market problems that asset class monetization technology proposes to solve. The following diagram captures my current thinking on Asset Class Monetization. [pic] Asset Class IdentificationAt the core of the model is identifying new asset classes that are not yet recognized as being tradable and for which no â€Å"market† exists and no transparent information about the market exists. Clues to these asset classes are the difficulty in selling the asset or placing a value on the asset. Broad examples of difficult asset classes to value and sell are:   patents, enterprise software from new startups, and the selling of a startup for an exit opportunity. An example is the valuation and selling rocess for a biodynamic winery. Recen tly, a Southern Oregon Winery went through an assessment process to value their holdings after four years as a precursor to taking investment for expansion or sale. They required four different types of assessors (property, equipment valuation, agricultural value assessment, and quality and volume of the wine inventory) and financial experts. This assessment was time consuming (six months from start to finish), expensive, and not very accurate.The above assessment is further complicated by trying to assess the value add (or lack thereof) of the certified biodynamic component of the property. Is this a short term cachet or with the advent of a growing appreciation for authentic fine wine growing that represents the specificity of the place (terroir) and the accompanying slow food movement is this a long term trend? While a little more advanced in its evolution, the patent market appears to be moving from a very difficult arena to monetize using litigation or the very expensive sale p rocess of licensing to the attempt to create a market.Intellectual Ventures and Ocean Tomo are at the forefront of trying to create a market, but their efforts have been primarily aimed at acquiring patent assets or creating an auction for those assets. Little effort is spent at understanding how to value the assets and create a transparent information structure around those assets (like a Morningstar for patents). As a result, Intellectual Ventures is having a far harder time in licensing their patents than in acquiring them. Classification, Clustering, Segmentation and MatchingOnce an asset class is identified, sense must be made of the collection of assets. In most cases with complex assets, this process is expensive and highly dependent on experts. With the large scale adoption of the Internet, this process is now becoming routine, mathematical, automatic and highly scalable. Google Adwords and Adsense are great examples of both the power of the mathematics and on the ability to monetize the mathematics. Wired Magazine had an excellent article on â€Å"Googlenomics† showing how Google monetizes content through massive mathematics. [pic]Recent book length treatments of the processes, techniques and tools for classification, clustering, segmentation and matching are: †¢ Malcolm Gladwell, Tipping Point †¢ Winslow Farrell, How Hits Happen:   Forecasting Predictability in a Chaotic Marketplace †¢ Steven Levitt, Freakonomics:   A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything †¢ John Battelle, Search:   How Google and Its Rivals Rwearote the Rules of Business and Transformed our Culture †¢ Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers:   Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart †¢ Stephen Baker,   The Numerati Bill Tancer, Click:   What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters †¢ Jeff Hawkins, On Intelligence o Numenta is creating a new type of computing technology modeled on the structure and op eration of the neocortex. The technology is called Hierarchical Temporal Memory, or HTM, and is applicable to a broad class of problems from machine vision, to fraud detection, to semantic analysis of text. HTM is based on a theory of neocortex first described in the book On Intelligence by Numenta co-founder Jeff Hawkins, and subsequently turned into a mathematical form by Numenta co-founder Dileep George. HTM technology has the potential to solve many difficult problems in machine learning, inference, and prediction. Some of the application areas Numenta is exploring with their customers include recognizing objects in images, recognizing behaviors in videos, identifying the gender of a speaker, predicting traffic patterns, doing optical character recognition on messy text, evaluating medical images, and predicting click through patterns on the web. The world is becoming awash with data of all types, whether numeric, video, text, images or audio, making it challenging for humans to sort through it and find what’s important.HTM technology offers the promise of making sense of all that data. o Thomas Redman, Data Driven:   Profiting from Your Most Important Business Asset Redman describes the power of being data driven: â€Å"I find looking at an organization through the data and information lens to be extremely powerful. To do so, one examines the movement and management of data and information as they wind their way across the organization. The lens reveals who touches them, how people and processes use them to add value, how they change, the politics surrounding seemingly mundane issues uch as data sharing, how the data come to be fouled up, what happens when they are wrong and so forth. † â€Å"Data and information are most valuable when they are flying from place to place. † Ayres described how he used Google’s Adwords to come up with the book title Super Crunchers. For a fee of $100 in Adwords he saved himself the $50,000 of consulting fees to name the book: [pic] Connections The value of an asset grows as there are more connections to that asset.Whether we are talking about a product with a high sales volume, or a webpage on the Internet (Google Page Rank algorithm), the number of connections to an asset grows the value of that asset exponentially (see Metcalfe’s Law  as described in  Unleashing the Killer App:   Digital Strategies for Market Dominance by Larry Downes and Chunka Mui). 1. Introduction: In present scenario, despite the global change, Human Resource Accounting is major issue for research & analysis in management. Human resource has always been taken as a ‘soft & light issue’ whose contribution generally can not be measured in monetary terms.There is no role of recording investments, benefits rendered by employees, valuation & accounting of human resource in conventional financial accounting. human resources is not considered in the different balance sheet models, and only in the profit and loss statement    human resource costs / expenditure are taken in account, such as salaries and staff welfare expenses (including pensions). The number of employees classified in categories is mentioned only in the explanatory report, the same as the board of directors' payment.Recent literature has focused on a broader measurement, namely that of â€Å"intellectual capital. † Despite those who consider intellectual capital a new approach, it is really an extension of HR accounting since without the underlying concept of HR investment there can be no intellectual capital development. As human resource is being taken as intellectual asset of the organization and worth three or four times the tangible book value. Human capital also provides expert services such as consulting, financial planning nd assurance services, which are valuable, and very much in demand. As it is the combination of HR & Accounting, joint efforts of behavioral scientists, acc ountants and managements are needed for the working and development of HRA. Figure 1. 1 [pic] There are two reasons for including human resources in accounting [Ripoll and Labatut, 1994]. First, people are a valuable resource to a firm so long as they perform services that can be quantified. Second, the value of a person as a resource depends on how he is employed. So management†¦ [continues]

Case Study of Lipids

Lipid Panels Case Study Subject #1 This fifty year old man that has no apparent health problems has a low ‘HDL’ of 30mg/dl. That’s not a good thing because he’ll be more likely to develop heart disease or have a heart attack/stroke. Anything over 60mg/dl is considered to be optimal. He is border line high for LDL’s of 160mg/dl, the ideal number is 100mg/dl or lower. That number tells me he is at greater risk to heart disease and/or heart attack. Better diet and exercise would help him tremendously. He is also in the high range for triglycerides at 300mg/dl, considering anything under 150mg/dl is normal. He is at risk for high blood pressure and diabetes to name a couple things. Staying away from cigarettes, eating the right foods, and exercise would be ideal. After 150-199mg/dl it just goes to borderline, then high levels 200-499mg/dl, and then very high levels 500mg/dl or higher. Subject #2 Is a forty five year-old sedentary women who is 5’9† tall and weighs 170 pounds, with a history of hypertension. She has a ‘HDL’ level of 40mg/dl which is not very good it should be at or above 60mg/dl. She has a ‘LDL’ of 140mg/dl that is borderline high and her triglyceride level is at 250mg/dl which is high. She is high risk for heart disease, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and is at risk for metabolic syndrome. These can be greatly reduced by exercising 30 min a day for 4 days, eating healthier foods such as oily fish, fruits, and veggies. Subject #3 Is a sixty year-old sedentary who stands 5’9† tall and his weight is 230lbs. He has an ‘HDL’ level of 25mg/dl and that is low, it should be 60mg/dl or higher. Unfortunately a low (High-Density Lipoprotein) or ‘LDL’ puts you at risk of a heart attack, heart disease, or stroke. Eating less animal and partially hydrogenated fats along with exercise can help. This man has a (Low-Density Lipoprotein) or ‘LDL’ at 250mg/dl which is extremely high. He needs to try and eat more healthy foods like oily fish, veggies, fruits, whole-grains, high-fiber foods, and exercise as much as he can to try and bring that number down. Otherwise he will be more likely to develop heart diseases, stroke or a number of the bad things. And his Triglyceride level was at 115mg/dl, which is pretty good or normal I should say. High triglyceride levels could increase the risk of heart disease and might be a sign of metabolic syndrome. Resources http://circ. ahajournals. org/cgi/content/full/114/1/82 http://americanheart. org/

5 Types of Unnecessary Hyphenation

5 Types of Unnecessary Hyphenation 5 Types of Unnecessary Hyphenation 5 Types of Unnecessary Hyphenation By Mark Nichol The sentences below, each followed by a discussion and a revision, illustrate various ways in which a hyphen is used extraneously. 1. He adds that cities should be forced to follow a federally-defined law pertaining to what kinds of benefits restaurants should be required to provide to their employees. Because adverbial phrases such as â€Å"federally defined† (where the adverb federally modifies the adjective defined, which in turn modifies a noun) so closely resemble adjectival phrases such as â€Å"little known† (where the adjectives little and known combine to modify a noun), and phrases in the latter category are usually hyphenated before a noun, adverbial phrases are also often (incorrectly) hyphenated. Here, as in the case of all adverbial phrases ending in -ly, â€Å"federally defined† is not hyphenated: â€Å"He adds that cities should be forced to follow a federally defined law pertaining to what kinds of benefits restaurants should be required to provide to their employees.† (However, flat adverbs- those lacking the -ly ending- are hyphenated to an adjective when the adverbial phrase precedes a noun, such as â€Å"high ranking.† 2. Most of them are small- and medium-sized cities many people may never have heard of. Small is followed by a hyphen here as if it constitutes a case of suspended hyphenation, where a repetition (in this case) of sized is implied, but the two elements modifying cities are not â€Å"small sized† and â€Å"medium sized,† but rather small and â€Å"medium sized,† so the hyphen after small is erroneous: â€Å"Most of them are small and medium-sized cities many people may never have heard of.† 3. The film was among the highest-grossing that year. A phrasal adjective is generally not hyphenated when it follows the noun it modifies: â€Å"The film was among the highest grossing that year.† (Alternatively, retain the hyphen but insert a synonym for the noun after the phrasal adjective, as in â€Å"The film was among the highest-grossing releases that year.†) 4. The developers proposed to phase-in that part of the project over the course of several years. â€Å"Phase in† consists of a verb and a preposition, which have no need of a hyphen to signal their interrelationship: â€Å"The developers proposed to phase in that part of the project over the course of several years.† (This error likely exists as a result of a confusion of the phrase with its use as an adjectival phrase, where a hyphen is valid, and as the noun phase-in, similar to built-in.) 5. Jones is a past-president of the organization. In this sentence, past is an adjective modifying president, and as such, it should not be attached to the word it modifies: â€Å"Jones is a past president of the organization.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?"Gratitude" or "Gratefulness"?How to Treat Names of Groups and Organizations

Excuse me!

Excuse me! Excuse me! Excuse me! By Maeve Maddox Brad K brings up some interesting questions about three words used in a variety of ways: So, what is the choice, between Excuse me and Pardon me? I am looking for an alternative to a phrase I keep misusing, Im sorry, but . . .. Â  The part that bothers me is that I use this phrase even when I have been offended and am not sorry about interrupting or contradicting . . er .. someone. excuse (verb) early 13c., to clear (someone) from blame, from O.Fr. escuser, from L. excusare release from a charge, from ex- out, away + causa accusation, legal action NOTE: the s in the verb excuse is pronounced with the /z/ sound [Ä ­k-skyÃ… «z]. The s in the noun excuse is pronounced with the /s/ sound [(Ä ­k-skyÃ… «s]. pardon (verb) to refrain from exacting due punishment from someone sorry (adjective) Pained at heart; distressed, sad; full of grief or sorrow. All three terms are used with various meanings in different contexts, but in polite conversation they have the weakened sense of expressing a courteous apology for some minor social offense. Excuse me and pardon me are uttered for offenses that range from jostling someone to belching. They are also used when addressing a stranger, or when one hasnt understood something and wants it repeated. Im sorry can express mere sympathy or apology. Like the other two expressions, it can also be used to introduce a contradiction: Im sorry, but I cant agree that cats dont show affection. Ive recently developed an aversion to the use of Excuse me! spoken belligerently in the sense of How dare you say what you just said? A character in a TV drama I was watching the other night said the expression numerous times in response to remarks that he found insulting. It quickly became tiresome. The Online Etymology Dictionary offers this information about the three words: Excuse me: use as a mild apology or statement of polite disagreement is from c.1600 Pardon: weaker sense of excuse for a minor fault is attested from 1540s. Sorry: Apologetic sense (short for Im sorry) is attested from 1834; phrase sorry about that popularized 1960s by U.S. TV show Get Smart. The overuse of Im sorry as a form of self-effacement is not a good thing. But, like the dear in Dear Sir, these words dont have to signify an emotional or truthful engagement with the person addressed. They are lubrication words like please and thank youpolite words that grease the wheels of social interaction. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.What to Do When Words Appear Twice in a RowWhen to Spell Out Numbers

Statement of Purpos Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statement of Purpos - Essay Example I am interested in pursuing the Ph.D. Degree program with focus on clinical and experimental therapeutics which fits into my future vision of my career. I have particularly chosen to apply to your university because of the strong feedback I gathered about the program from previous alumni. The backgrounder information: â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the World† proclaimed Nelson Mandela. I wish to live through the essence of each and every word of this significant statement. My country, Saudi Arabia, emerged as a full-fledged Nation in the year 1932, but the place of women was confined within the four walls of the home, and they did not get their rights of education until 1956, when the first girl’s school was established. The traditions and societal conditions in Saudi Arabia were averse for the women to participate in public life, but some favorable developments have taken place in the recent times. Even now the topic of women rights is the hotly discussed topic from the various societal platforms and controversies of all sorts are raised to apply checks to the progressive rights of women. Such social imbalances and the lack of will power of the political decision makers to push through the reformations that are necessary for the welfare of women, have been bothering me since childhood that I need to do something tangible towards this end. The proclamation of Nelson Mandela has deeply impacted my thinking to make the world a better place for the Saudi women. The challenges for women as for issues of education, economic development, participation in democratic institutions and civil rights etc. cannot be achieved without access to knowledge which is possible through educating the girl child. The objectives that I aim to achieve: I have worked as a hospital pharmacist and I am pained to observe the misconception of the people of my country