Ikea Global Marketing Essay

IKEA crossing cultural boundaries to furnish the globe 1. How has IKEA successfully sold its home furnishing products in so many countries around the world? Do global customer segments truly exist? Ikea targets consumers who tend to have a young ‘mental age’ — that is, people who have a youthful outlook regarding the design of home furnishings. Industry analysts have described IKEA’s approach as targeting middle-class consumers including first-time home buyers, young families, and people renting their homes that transcend global needs. However, students may argue for forces against global segments, such as resistance to international brands in favour of local brands and anti-western sentiments. Students may also note cultural/attititudal differences in various product categories that make targeting global segments difficult. 2. How important in its marketing is the role of IKEA’s Swedish brand image? What are the implications for marketing? Students should answer the question in relation to the role of country-of-origin effects. These country-of-origin effects influence how consumers rate quality, and sometimes, which brands they will ultimately select. Consumers tend to have an established attitude or even a preference when it comes to a particular product being made in a particular country. This attitude might be positive, negative or neutral. This plays a critical role in IKEA’s marketing strategy, serving to differentiate its value proposition from its competitors and position its brand clearly in the minds of consumers. (Hint: Elaborate on how Ikea utilizes its C-O-Effect in its marketing efforts) 3. To what extent has IKEA practised a standardised strategy versus an adapted strategy in its global strategy? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach? IKEA’s products are manufactured, packaged, and positioned the same way regardless of the country in which they are sold to a global segment. However, IKEA localises its advertising to consumers where absolutely necessary for various country markets, and has created different versions of their products to appeal to cultural preferences. The major advantages of IKEA’s global standardised strategy are: 1. Cost savings/Mass Production 2. The design and implementation of a standardised marketing mix. 3. Branding control. The major disadvantage are: 1. Unable to fully localise its product range to meet the specific cultural needs and sensitivities of different markets. 2. Limited selection of advertising appeals for some markets to arouse the attention of local consumers. 4. Some say communications, especially the internet and television, enable a global culture to be broadcast to all societies. Are the cultures of the world becoming more similar or more different? Discuss. Global marketing, travel, pop music, popular culture, networked news media and the internet are all forces pushing the world into a more global culture resulting in similar consumer behaviour. Students could discuss the increasing role of technology as a driver of global media with global television networks and the internet, enabling the transfer of cultures across boundaries and acting as important global promotional tools for global brands.

Accounting Theory And History Accounting Essay

Accounting has evolved since it was foremost developed and has continued to germinate. The purpose of this essay is to research and discourse why accounting, both fiscal and direction has changed over the last millenary. In order to accomplish this purpose an in-depth attack will be taken into the beginnings of accounting, its intent and demand. This will intend analyzing history documents which are evidence-based but are intertwined with value opinion. Many alternate theoretical and practical accounts are offered in literature for the development of accounting over clip. These class literatures will be evaluated and there theories will later be accepted or rejected. In order to research the inquiry and because the definitions provided by accounting organic structures are themselves are capable to alter, it is important to first define accounting and its intent. The intent of accounting is to supply information based on relevant informations that aids users in doing economic determinations. Fiscal accounting is designed chiefly to bring forth fiscal studies which provide information sing the house ‘s public presentation to external users such as Tax governments, Investors, Customers and Creditors. Financial Accounting is extremely regulated in order to guarantee they have certain features. These features enhance the utility of the fiscal studies to users. These features are relevancy, comparison, seasonableness, equity and objectiveness. Management accounting is used to fix histories and studies that provide accurate and up to day of the month information that allows direction to do determinations. Accounting developed as people needed a method of entering their assets and belongings. If belongings was recorded and accounted for, it would be easy to turn out legal ownership. Accountancy has been around for 1000s of old ages. Professor L. Plunkett of the College of Charleston calls accounting the â€Å" oldest profession † In this millenary at that place have been infinite alterations and developments in accounting. From more crude methods of simple accounting for belongings and assets, in order to enter for grounds of legal ownership to a complex regulated signifier. Management Accounting â€Å" British Entrepreneurs and Pre-Industrial Revolution Evidence of Cost Management † a paper by Richard K. Fleischman and Lee D. Parker examines the usage and developments of cost accounting in 1760 to 1850. The four chief countries looked at in cost direction will be: cost control techniques, accounting for overhead, bing for modus operandi and particular determination devising, and standard costing. These houses used cost informations to command natural stuff input stuffs. The Fe houses broke down costs utilizing natural stuff controls, whilst taking into history the differential costs of excavation and smelting. Textile houses were concerned about the profitable natural mixtures and the cost of natural stuffs input. Marshall fabric house employ the practise of utilizing public presentation cards, which is an effectual method and is still used by houses today. Performance cards are used daily to supervise and command expenses.. These direction accounting practises benefited the concern greatly. It allowed marshal to be cost effectual and efficient by understating costs. Gregs was another fabric house which kept pay and disbursal books to cipher control costs. This helps to place tendencies, failings and countries for betterment. For illustration they experienced losingss in 1829 and where able to place and impute these to heightened production costs and out-of-date machinery. The fabric and Fe houses were in a extremely competitory market, and so dependent on a market-driven pricing construction. This bit by bit changed as with houses utilizing merchandise bing to assistance in finding the optimal degree of end product. Boulton & A ; Watt and Wedgewood were able to cipher operating expenses such as mill costs, fixed costs and selling disbursal. This enabled them to factor these costs into their merchandising monetary values. â€Å" Industrial Revolution entrepreneurs employed cost analysis to back up perpendicular integrating and merchandise line determinations † ( Fleischman 1990, P367 ) Decisions such as capital equipment purchases and mineral field rentals where taken after careful consideration of costing of options. This enabled them to warrant and do potentially better determinations as the quality of information on which to establish the determination on was better. â€Å" The usage of standard costing was associated with an consciousness of the cost salvaging available from appropriate stock list control processs. † ( Richard K. Fleischman et la 1990 ) Standard bing saved the clip of really holding to roll up existent stock list costs. This is good for houses as they can make standard costs, which allow the concern to: place and extinguish disused points, budget and comparison with existent costs, gauge a monetary value more easy than ciphering a monetary value based on existent cost, create prognosiss for production. An Archivist responds to the New Accounting History: The Case of the U.S. Men ‘s Clothing Industry is a paper by Thomas Tyson that uses factual grounds on the history of accounting to analyze the alterations. It focuses chiefly on the work forces ‘s vesture industry. Miller and O'Leary ( 1987 ) implied that â€Å" the rule of criterion costs made it possible to attach to every person within the house norms and criterions of behaviouraˆÂ ¦ Standard costing and budgeting made possible a pinpointing of duty for preventable inefficiencies at the degree of the really single from whom they derived † this is true to an extent and can be seen in the British Railways Industry ‘s costing system. BRM failed to budget or utilize standard bing boulder clay they were forced to make so as a consequence of worsening net incomes. This fail mean preventable inefficiencies were non prevented. Hopper and Armstrong province the ground for these alterations to direction accounting being due to the direct consequence of houses fighting. â€Å" Accounting controls were non a effect of economic or technological jussive moods, but instead were rooted in battles as houses attempted to command labour procedures in assorted eras of capitalistic development. † ( H & A ; A 1991, P. 405 ) Along with alterations in accounting, there came alterations in inventions in direction. â€Å" Scientific direction sought to set up itself a right to interfere in people ‘s lives. This right was finally to be taken over by an ground forces of techniques of societal and economic life of the enterpriseaˆÂ ¦ the undertaking of scientific direction helped to render evident and remediable the waste lying deep within the every move of the worker. † ( Tyson. T, an archivists response to new accounting history ) it is by and large considered that Tysons paper is flawed. Cost accounting in the ship building, technology and metals industries of the West of Scotland, â€Å" The Workshops of the Empire † , C1900-1960 is a paper by A.I.M. Fleming, S. Mckinstry and K. Wallace. The paper examines the nature and developments of bing systems employed in the ship building, technology and metals industries of the West of Scotland between the old ages c1900-1960. These developments can be seen as a patterned advance from the cost direction practises employed in fabric and Fe plants examined in the old paper, adapted to different industries. There were developments necessitated by the fact that most work was contract-based or occupation based and so required a different method of cost accounting. Standard costing and budgetary control were rejected as a consequence of agnosticism over the relevancy of Taylorism and scientific direction to the country ‘s industries. As many of the occupations and contracts were alone, this may non hold been a bad thing. The ship edifice industry split the ships costs into three chief constituents, Hull, Boilers and Engine. Each had a separate cost-book which recorded direct rewards and stuffs. This system allowed a comparing between the estimated direct costs and existent direct costs. A elaborate pay analysis book was kept, dividing pay cost for the three chief constituents ( hull, engine and boiler ) . The pay measure for each constituent was besides split into separate classs e.g. direct workers, category of workingman, patch work-based etc. This allowed them to maximize efficiency in footings of labor costs as staff and stuffs were already supervised. This besides reduced the hazard of larceny. â€Å" There hence existed a system that enabled the trailing of costs versus estimation at premier cost degree on a progressive footing as contracts proceeded. † ( K.Wallace & A ; Parker 2000, P363 ) The British Railway Industry tended to sell in fixed monetary value contracts. The Cost and Weight Book recorded the cost associated with each of the major constituent of the locomotor e.g. Boiler, firebox etc. This book had a rigorous templet each major constituent was printed on the left and separate costs where printed at the top. This format allowed comparing between different contract cost and comprehensibility. It besides allowed for good appraisal for future contract costs. This format has changed little in modern direction accounting. A failure of the company was to non to the full use this valuable information as they did non utilize budgeting, standard costing or fringy costing. â€Å" Costss were non analysed by section or plants. † ( K.wallace and Parker 2000 ) Not until the house began to worsen in 1960 did they present a signifier of â€Å" simple † budgeting. This failure to budget was a failing that was finally addressed but cost the house potency cost s alvaging efficiencies. â€Å" The Industrial Revolution versus the Managerial Revolution: Distinguishing Difference in Accounting Practices † a paper by Keith Hoskin and Richard Macve discusses the function of accounting as a manufacturer of Modern Managerialism. â€Å" The accounting practises of authorship, analyzing and rating came to construction human activity for those who learned to larn under them, it is apprehensible how accounting could detect a new function in the concern context. † ( Hoskin & A ; Macve, 1993, p 9 ) This statement indicates an evolving function of accounting in concern and act uponing the structuring of human activity. This theory was seen being employed at Springfield Armoury. The armory generated a big measures of accounting information â€Å" costs were tracked, records of production were kept, full-cost estimations made for pricing determinations, including the application of charges for involvement and depreciation. † ( Hoskin & A ; Macve, 1993, p 9 ) T his was done in order to organize a â€Å" complete system of answerability. † This was an of import measure along with the debut of charges for involvement and depreciation. This paper relates to economic rational theory which can be used to explicate the developments in direction accounting. Peoples make picks based on their â€Å" rational mentality, available information and yesteryear experiences. † ( Investopedia online, hypertext transfer protocol: //www.investopedia.com/terms/r/rationaltheoryofexpectations.asp # axzz1g2suXeki ) As the consequence of extremely competitory markets and lifting labor costs reduced net incomes, houses developed cost direction techniques, such as: cost control to command and interrupt down the cost of single stuffs used, accounting for operating expenses which allows houses to factor costs such as fixed and mill costs into the merchandising monetary value and criterion costing which allows budgeting and comparing with existent costs. An illustration of economic rational theory is the British Locomotive Company who learned from past experiences of losing cost salvaging for non utilizing budgeting, standard costing or fringy costing and as a consequence they introduce a signifier of â€Å" simple † budgeting. Economic rational besides drove the alterations in cloistered houses. Changes were introduced after rational mentality, failings and past weaknesss were identified were taken into history. Albion Motors and Monastic houses and Estates have besides made alterations based on their economic rational. These alterations represent the development of direction accounting over the last millenary. In the paper â€Å" The Industrial Revolution versus the Managerial Revolution † we see important alterations to direction accounting because of a demand to command labor and maximize labour efficiency. This is because of the abolishment of bondage which means that employees must be paid. This means employees must maximize labour effectivity and efficiency. This led to the managerial revolution. Springfield armory used labour control to increase productiveness and cut down costs. We see a development in cost direction practises in the in â€Å" British Entrepreneurs and Pre-Industrial Revolution Evidence of Cost Management † paper. Fleischman states the drawn-out period of diminution of market monetary values that affected the Fe industry houses from 1808 to 1830. â€Å" The battle to get by with falling market monetary values caused houses in the industry to set about careful probes of their iron-making costs † ( K.wallace and Parker 2000, P368 ) The diminution motivated these developments in cost direction. They were brought approximately by a demand to accommodate to other alterations in the market and economic system at the clip. The practises in usage at the clip were unequal and out-dated. The developments allowed them to break identify failings, which had the consequence of increasing production, efficiency, diminishing waste and assisting put a better merchandising monetary value. In Cost accounting in the ship building, technology and metals industries of the West of Scotland, â€Å" the Workshops of the Empire † , C1900-1960 we see farther development of cost direction system. The ground for these specific developments was that ship building and railroad occupations where contract based and so it would non be ideal to utilize standard costing. It was necessary to utilize another method of cost accounting. Fiscal Accounting The first paper that will be discussed is â€Å" The development of fiscal direction and control in cloistered houses and estates in England c.1200-1540 † by Alisdair Dobie. The alterations focus chiefly on the internal map of a monastery. These alterations are necessitated by â€Å" altering influences and force per unit areas, economic and spiritual which arose from 1200 onwards. † ( Dobie, 2008 P.2 ) Cloistered houses where non all the same, there were different orders. Each was governed by different sets of regulations. New orders were formed when there were perceived failings in established orders. These new orders introduced extra sets of regulations. â€Å" Each Benedictine house was to a big extent independent and responsible for its ain personal businesss. â€Å" ( Dobie 2008, P3 ) . This statement indicates a grade of answerability within the houses. As a consequence of weaknesss due to Benedictine self-regulation, new orders emerged which lead to each house organizing a subordinate portion of the whole order. This meant that each separate house was capable to review, ordinance and control from the order as a whole. These reviews were a signifier of audit from the order on the house. â€Å" Changes in direction might change from order to order and house to house, depending upon single state of affairss, relevancy and demands. † ( Dobie, 2008 P2 ) Changes were intr oduced after failings were identified, in order to go on betterment and convey together all houses from the same orders to utilizing the same set of regulations. Fiscal direction and control alterations can be broken down into three classs: the safeguarding of the assets of the house ; the development of its resources ; and, the attempts to guarantee that all resources were used efficaciously and expeditiously. Safeguarding the assets of the house meant physically procuring and keeping them against for illustration â€Å" invasion, decline or disaffection. † ( Dobie, 2008 P4 ) Exploitation of resources meant doing full usage of land and estate. This was a response to neglecting grain monetary values and lifting labor costs. Efficiency and effectivity referred to the â€Å" efficiency and effectual usage of resources by the house. † Other major developments during this clip were the standardization of histories which allowed comparison and relevancy, accounting was besides taught at university from the 14th century onwards. A important development in the early millenary is seen in Renaissance Italy. There was a rise in trade and banking. A signifier of double-entry book maintaining was already being used by Bankss to maintain path of debitors and creditors. Luca Pacioli, the Perfect Accountant is a paper by Dr F G Volmer, University of Limburg, which discusses the life and plants of Luca Pacioli. Pacioli ‘s work has had a great influence on accounting. His publication â€Å" Summa De Arithmetica † was widely recognised as a elephantine leap forward for double-entry book maintaining. Pacioli ‘s Summa was a conceptual model of best accounting and concern patterns. Summa was written in Tuscan and Venetian idioms. Pacioli used these alternatively of Latin to let the educated and non-educated to profit every bit from his work. Pacioli ‘s conceptual model is really similar to the FASB ‘s 1976 conceptual model. † the rules of systematicalness, consistence and dependability so emerge. â€Å" Every point must be consistently and carefully recorded in the stock list with all countermarks, full names and in every bit much item an as possibleaˆÂ ¦ † ( Volmer P7 ) 200 old ages before Pacioli Italians bargainers began utilizing Arabic numbers in order to maintain path of net incomes alternatively of Roman numbers. This was an of import alteration. Arabic numbers were easier to understand and easier to utilize in an accounting format. This alteration is a measure in the way of modern twenty-four hours direction accounting where English Numberss which are similar to Arabic numbers are used for clerking. Rouse and Rouse sum up Pacioli ‘s inventions under different headers: The usage of alphabetical order â€Å" as a agency of set uping words and thoughts † This development of a new visually orientated layout created an easy to utilize and understand templet for dual entry. â€Å" Pacioli ‘s fully-developed double-entry system, with bi-lateral layout and systematic cross-referencing of debit and recognition, was a peculiar signifier of the new general textuality. † This bi-lateral layout of the double-entry system is still in usage to this twenty-four hours. It allows cross-referencing of credits and debits which is peculiarly utile for to Bankss. This partly answers the chief inquiry as to why direction accounting has changed over the last millenary. Pacioli ‘s influential work resulted in necessary positive alterations in accounting. He introduced three books of record: the leger, the memoranda and the diary. These needed debit and recognition minutes s to be balance. Books that did non equilibrate normally indicated an mistake. Dowlais Iron Company: Accounting Policies and Procedures for Profit Measurement and Reporting Purposes by J. R. Edwards and C. Baber is a paper that shows development in both fiscal and direction accounting. DIC implemented a robust system of direction accounting. Book-keepers were employed by DIC to keep the books of accounting on a rigorous dual entry footing ( a double-entry system developed by Luca Pacioli ) . This was a household concern, but the concern was treated as a separate legal entity. This is common in modern concerns as it allows limited liability for the proprietors. This can besides be seen when personal non-business minutess undertaken by proprietors were decently accounted for through the relevant spouse ‘s current history. DIC adhered to three out of the four chief cardinal constructs of accounting when fixing fiscal statement. These were prudence, traveling concern and consistence. Less accent was placed on the usage of the accumulations concept, â€Å" particularly in its application to the intervention of capital outgo † ( Edwards and Baber 1979 P142 ) This is non unusual for concerns in the 1800s and was chiefly due to a perceived struggle between the accumulations and prudence constructs, with the prudence construct being considered more good. This contrasts with a more balanced usage of both constructs presently used today. The usage of these constructs shows a development of fiscal accounting within the administration. DIC ‘s system of capital accounting is said to hold helped the house successfully turn to an huge size. This was funded through internal finance. The trust on internal finance led to jobs during the 1850s. A sequence of trading losingss drained the modesty financess. This led to DIC reorganizing the Works and turn to external finance. Net income returned to acceptable degrees in the mid-1860s We see in the private legers that there were drumhead balance sheets till 1861 this suggested that there was information that the direction was trying to conceal. From 1861 onwards the company comptroller adopted the policy of adding the relevant narrative explicating each sum. This policy is still in usage today and shows further development in fiscal accounting at the clip. Companies summarise and unwrap important and relevant information associating to the figures in histories in the notes. This would hold been done to heighten the understandibility, leting for sums to be broken up and examined. The fiscal coverage practises of British municipal corporations 1835-1933: a survey in accounting invention by Hugh M Coombs and John Richard Edwards is a paper in which we see the authorities carry throughing the function of a regulative organic structure. Developments were chiefly in response to â€Å" turning cardinal authorities concern with corruptness, misdirection and deficiency of answerability. † ( Combes & A ; Edwards, 1995 P2 ) This in short led to the debut of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. This act attempted to guarantee proper ordinance of municipal corporations. â€Å" The borough hoarded wealths was obliged to: do â€Å" true histories † of all minutess, make books available for review by the council members, to fix an history for the council as and when required, to subject histories to hearers elected by the ratepayers, to subscribe and do to be printed a full abstract of his histories ‘ , and to do the histories available for review by ra tepayers. † ( H. M. Combes et La, 1995 ) This shows a fastening up of ordinance and an addition in answerability. It is a important development in fiscal accounting. During this clip we besides see a move off from hard currency accounting to accumulations. The accumulations construct had antecedently been viewed with agnosticism as seen in Dowlais Iron Company as it conflicted with the prudence construct. Cash-based accounting was at times restrictive and its disadvantages far out manner its advantages. Accumulations based accounting on the other manus: â€Å" protects against carelessness and abnormality by entering every measure of a dealing, enables the statement of an entity ‘s net income and loss and fiscal place ; it records values ; and it provides a stable and homogeneous footing for statistics. † ( Combes & A ; Edwards, 1995 P2 ) The 2nd development during this clip was the usage of the dual accounting system of fiscal coverage. â€Å" This system is able to unite the properties of charge/discharge accounting with commercial accounting. † ( Combes & A ; Edwards, 1995 P3 ) It is a combination of stewardship orientation and net income computation orientation. The advantage of this system is that it would forestall anyone from being misled into presuming a connexion between outgo looking debited in the capital history and the existent value of plants associated with that outgo In the paper â€Å" Engineering civilization and accounting development at Albion Motors 1900- c.1970 † by Sam McKinstry we see the relationship between Albion Motor ‘s accounting systems and its engineering-orientated civilization. This paper shows alterations in both fiscal and direction accounting. Albion motors used a well-developed dual entry system, a system no uncertainty derived from the work of Pacioli. Depreciation was besides charged on machinery, by measuring at that place utile life. Depreciation ranged from between 10 % and 33.3 % . Albion motors besides used one of the first houses to utilize full accumulations accounting, which is a clear alteration as houses had antecedently preferred to us prudence. Full histories were merely produced every fiscal twelvemonth, as was a full stock-taking. A works registry was kept and maintained by the technology section. This allowed for answerability and reduced the opportunities of fraud in the terminals. Albion motors employed a extremely skilled but unqualified a company secretary and teller, although this was non uncommon at the clip when they became a public company they employed a hired comptroller. This is a important development as the qualified comptrollers ‘ engagement reinforces the respectability of the company ‘s fiscal histories. It is now indispensable for the public company accounts to be produced by person who is qualified to make so, as non to make so would take investors to oppugn their truth. The non-qualified employee responsible for all accounting from 1914 until 1950 was succeeded by a hired comptroller. This emphasizes the repute and influence of the profession of accounting. It is about 1950s that there is seen the outgrowth of the fiscal comptroller. The demand of the users of fiscal information is altering, the outgrowth of this new official function show that clearly. Investors ‘ assurance in fiscal studies is dependent on fiscal informatio n holding features which are discussed in IAS 1. Fiscal information must be relevant, up to day of the month, dependable and free from prejudice. The fiscal comptroller is qualified to bring forth fiscal information that abides by these standards. â€Å" Christie Malry ‘s ain dual entry † by B.S. Johnson: An reading as foucauldian disclosures a paper by Sam McKinstry that examines the work of the novelist B.S. Johnson. This paper discusses the thought that accounting can be used to convey certain information to certain people. In this instance the issue that the Double-entry system merely â€Å" favors specific involvements in society and disadvantages others. † ( McKinstry 2006 P990 ) This straight disagrees with public involvement theory which states that â€Å" ordinance is ab initio put in topographic point to profit society as a whole. † ( C. Deegan & A ; J Unerman 2006, P 65 ) This paper besides takes into history and makes mention to the work of Luca Pacioli in dual entry clerking. Malry adapts the dual entry system, change overing state of affairss in his life into pecuniary values and inputting these values as either debits or credits. This version was peculiarly of import in the context of British political relations and Industrial dealingss at the clip. â€Å" these and other developments recharged and remorilised capitalist economy and retooled societal democratise political orientation and its political relations. † ( McIlorys and Campbells 1999, P 93 ) . Jointly these developments in fiscal accounting over the last millenary have resulted in fiscal accounting as we know it today. These alterations where brought approximately by a alteration in the demands of users of fiscal information and the identifying of failings. We see many alterations in the fiscal direction of cloistered houses and estates at the start of the millenary. â€Å" The early Time period of rapid growing in footings of new foundations was over, and the ulterior Middle-ages witnessed the response of administrations in their age of adulthood endeavoring to keep their intent and place. â€Å" ( Dobie, 2008, P 3 ) Monasteries changed in order to accommodate and last the economic and faiths force per unit areas. These changed allowed them to keep their places survive the times. We see the debut of an audit map and the changing of ordinance to cover with the designation of failing. Other factors such as the Black Death epidemic which impacted on the economic system every bit good as the population influenced developments at the clip. Luca Pacioli developed the double-entry system used at the clip by bargainers after placing room for betterment this system is similar to the 1 used today. He besides developed a conceptual model of accounting best practises. Its influence can clearly be seen in today ‘s IASB and FASB conceptual models. In Dowlais Iron Company we see the implementing of a sophisticated fiscal coverage and direction accounting system which complimented the fiscal accounting system. These systems allowed them to the size and success that they did. â€Å" it is improbable that any house would hold grown to the size and achieved the significance of DIC in the absence of a satisfactory system for entering both influxs and escapes of hard currency and other plus and motion of resources within the house † ( Edwards and Baber 1979 P139 ) The Financial coverage practises of British municipal corporations in 1835-1933 show developments in the ordinance, revelation and controls in order to cover with corruptness, misdirection and deficiency of answerability in municipal corporations. Political factors triggered by the two major wars impacted on both fiscal and direction accounting. This can be seen in â€Å" Engineering civilization and accounting development at Albion motors † a paper by Sam Mckinstry. World War 2 led to the debut of a War pension strategy, which is accounted for utilizing IAS 19. We besides see in 1950 the development of the function of the fiscal comptroller. The function of the fiscal comptroller is created chiefly to supply credibleness and reassurance to fiscal histories. The fiscal accounting is qualified to bring forth histories in conformity with ordinances, to give a true and just position of the house ‘s fundss in order to keep investor assurance. This is a part factor in accounting being the reputable profession it is today. This is unfastened to debate as it can be argued that this lone gives the semblance of respectability. As seen in the prostration of Enron the fiscal studies approved by the fiscal comptrollers did n' t give a true and just position of the administration. Possible theories into grounds for these alterations are given in the demand for and supply of Accounting Theories: The Market for Excuses a paper by Ross L. Watts and Jerold L. Zimmerman. The paper discusses the inquiry of why accounting theories are preponderantly normative and why no general theory is by and large accepted. â€Å" It is by and large concluded that accounting theory has had small substantial, direct impact on accounting practise or policy formation despite half a century of research † ( R. L. Watts 1979, P 1 ) the theory of political procedure is one theorises the thought that persons with power in authorities will try to derive wealth through the influence and prescribe accounting processs that are in their ain best involvements. There is besides the thought that as persons have different involvements there will be a figure of different accounting theories on a individual issue. This â€Å" prevents general understanding on accounting history. † ( R. L. Watts 1979, P 273 ) This theory can be proven by looking at the recent dirt affecting MP ‘s disbursals. MPs influenced the ordinances on disbursals in their ain favor, in an effort to derive wealth. There was besides the issue that these single disbursal claims were non made public but were leaked. This shows that revelation demands were unequal, as a consequence of the designation of this failing ordinances have been tightened up. Another illustration of this is Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair holding tax-payers wage for his security when he travels the universes for his ain fiscal additions. Blair ‘s constitutional reform of the Human Rights Act 1998 when he was in power gives him this right. â€Å" The demand for â€Å" public interest-orientated accounting theories depends on the extent of the authorities ‘s function in the economic system. † ( R. L. Watts 1979, P 275 ) a clear illustration of this is the adjusting of involvement rates in order to assist economic growing. Another illustration of this is the fiscal coverage practises of British municipal corporations 1835-1933, where there was corruptness, misdirection and deficiency of answerability. The authorities gave the semblance of moving in the public involvement but from farther analysis it can be seen that this statute law was a response to public protest. We can see that there was a grade of opportunism involved. The motive for all the developments of in fiscal accounting can be examined utilizing Self-interest theory. In the narrative of Christie Malry the author kills himself because of a deficiency of acknowledgment of his work. Another illustration of this is Luca Pacioli work which benefited accounting greatly. His motive for this work was to have acknowledgment. An statement for Pacioli utilizing the Tuscan and Venetian linguistic communications in his book was that this would take to more acknowledgment for his work as more people could understand it, this is self-interest. This can besides be seen in the accounting organic structures who work to stay reputable and influential. For illustration the ACCA and CIMA offer their ain peculiar makings in accounting. Why is at that place a demand for these makings when there have been comptrollers around for 100s of old ages without these makings? These administrations work to advance their ain importance and respectability and as a consequence the makings add importance and respectability to persons that gain them. Influencing the development of accounting ordinance examined through gaining control theory. This is where the regulated seeks to â€Å" gaining control † the regulative organic structure, therefore act uponing the ordinances to their ain advantage. This poses a menace to the independency of the regulator. Capture theory links in with the demand for accounting theories â€Å" the lone accounting theory that will supply a set of anticipations that are consistent with ascertained phenomena is one based on opportunism † ( W & A ; Z 1979 P. 301 ) This is Watts and Zimmerman ‘s statement, that it comes down to self-interest and other theories are at that place to supply the semblance of respectability. In decision it can be seen that the development of both fiscal accounting and direction was down to many grounds. Changes where chiefly instigated by the designation of failing, a demand to accommodate and last, alterations in the economic system and jurisprudence. But the motive to do these developments was a consequence of opportunism and economic rational. For illustration Pacioli ‘s part to accounting came from a thrust for acknowledgment. Another illustration is the alterations cloistered houses whish were a consequence of mainly economic rational. Developments in accounting increasingly reflect the altering demands of users, economic, technological, cultural, societal and political environments

Avocado Leaf Plasticity Essay Example for Free

Avocado Leaf Plasticity Essay INTRODUCTION: Phenotypic plasticity, or differing phenotypes from one genotype in different environmental conditions, is a way for sessile organisms to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Valladares et al., 2007). Plasticity was expected to be abundant, however, it did not occur as often in nature due to resource limitations and environmental stress (Valladares et al., 2007). An experiment by Matos tested the phenotypic plasticity to light availability in shade and sun leaves of coffee trees (Matos et al. , 2009). Their research indicated that â€Å"compared [to] sun leaves, shade leaves had a lower stomatal density, a thinner palisade mesophyll, a higher specific leaf area, and improved light capture†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Matos et al., 2009). The sun leaves were described as â€Å"generally thicker with an enhanced quantity of palisade mesophyll† (Matos et al., 2009). Our objective was the presence of phenotypic plasticity in avocado trees based on the differences in the morphology of shade and sun leaves. In our study, we asked whether there is a difference in surface area, length-to-width ratio, mass, specific leaf mass, and color between shade leaves and sun leaves in avocado trees. We hypothesized that there would be no significant differences in surface area, length-to-width ratio, mass, specific leaf mass, and color between shade leaves and sun leaves. METHODS: We collected our seventy samples of avocado tree (Persea americana) leaves, in equal amounts of sun and shade leaves, at an avocado tree grove located north of Building 3 and University Drive at Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 9:00 am. They were randomly and interspersedly collected throughout the grove. We split the grove into five areas, split into five teams of two, and was assigned to one of the five areas. Each team picked a number for the trees in their region and a random number was selected from a random number table to select a tree corresponding to that number. A random number table was used to pick the corresponding quadrant, branch, and leaf.  This process was done twice on each tree in the understory for shade leaves, and in the canopy for sun leaves. Each leaf was measured for its surface area, length-to-width ratio, mass, specific leaf mass, and color. Surface area was measured by a leaf area meter in squared centimeters. Length-to-width ratio was measured by measuring the length (vertically along the bridge of the leaf) and the width (horizontally on the widest part of the leaf) with a ruler in centimeters, and dividing the length by the width. Mass was calculated by a balance in grams. Specific leaf mass (thickness) was measured by dividing the mass by its surface area in grams per squared centimeter. Color was measured by having three reference leaves provided by the instructor, indicating light (L), medium (M), and dark (D) leaves and compared our collected leaves. After recording all of the data, these data were then input into a statistical program called StatCat to determine normality through a normality test. The data for surface area, length-to-width ratio, mass, and specific leaf mass for sun and shade leaves were both normal, therefore, we chose a paired sample t-test for all of them. A normality test was not needed for color for sun and shade leaves due to it being a nominal scale data. The number of light, medium, and dark shade leaves were tallied up according to color, and the same was done for the sun leaves. A contingency table was made in Excel, and used in StatCat to test our hypothesis. The paired sample t-tests were also done through StatCat, which then gave us the appropriate results to test our hypotheses. RESULTS: Shade leaves had a significantly larger surface area than sun leaves (t = -3.7313, P = 0.00069; Table 1). Shade leaves had a significantly larger length-to-width ratio than sun leaves (t = -2.7162, P = 0.01031). Shade leaves had no significant difference in mass than sun leaves (t = -1.4871, P = 0.1462). Shade leaves had a significantly smaller specific leaf mass than sun leaves (t = 5.82093, P = 1.5Ãâ€"10-6). Shade leaves were significantly darker than sun leaves (X2 = 18.417, P = 0.0001). Avocado Leaf Plasticity. (2018, Oct 27).

Article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Article review - Essay Example Examples of new media include but are not limited to the Internet, computer multimedia, and CD-ROMS. Television programs, books, and movies are not included in the new media until they allow digital interactivity. New media in general and the Internet in particular is the most important and frequently used source of information in the contemporary age because of many reasons; Availability of information is 24/7, there is a wide variety of sources of information including journal articles, blogs, and threads, Internet is one of the cheapest sources of information, and the content can be retrieved, used, and sent to the desired destination all at the same time. New media is frequently accused of many negative effects in our life in terms of obesity, wastage of time, and much more, which is not right. Saying that new media has had only negative effects on people is not only a very broad generalization of its effects, but also very reckless approach towards the analysis of its effects. C ritics accuse new media of spreading obesity among the teenagers and young adults whereas the real responsibility to keep themselves smart rests with the very teenagers and young adults. They need to manage their time better so that they do find time for some physical workout. Accusing new media of causing people to waste time is also wrong. Critics say that people spend hours and hours on social media websites, which breaks their connection with the physical world. This is so untrue! In fact, to much an extent, the activities people used to do in the physical world are now performed in the virtual world which actually saves their time. Before, people needed time to hang out with friends to socialize with them. Nowadays, all they need is a computer with an Internet connection to chat with their friends on daily basis. All the extra time wasted otherwise in going out is saved and may be put to positive use. New media is accused of causing social exclusion in people as they donâ€℠¢t find time to socialize with others. The reality is exactly the opposite of this. New media has actually served as a platform to promote social networking and relations. People make new friends and can chat with them 24/7 irrespective of the geographic distances. In his article, Andrew Keen says that Google is not our friend and the rationale he puts forth to support his opinion is that it is protruding too much into our life. Most of the literature that criticizes Internet for creating negative effects in our life plays with words. For example, Andrew Keen says in his article, â€Å"Having successfully become our personal librarian, Google now wants to be our personal oracle. It wants to learn all about us, know us better than we know ourselves, to transform itself from a search engine into a psychoanalyst's couch or a priest's confessional† (Keen, 2007). In thus sentence, Andrew Keen has projected Google as a noun, like it is a person who is manipulating our life. Google is just a search engine that cannot possibly want or learn like living beings do. If there are articles on Google that dictate us what to do throughout the day, it is our choice to read them or not, or even use the information in our everyday life after reading it. Michael Gerson says. â€Å"in the online world of Second Life, many people prefer to take the shape of

Comparing between (Mercedes vs Lexus) companies in the 4 ps(place, Essay

Comparing between (Mercedes vs Lexus) companies in the 4 ps(place, price, promotion and product ) - Essay Example In Japan 1926, Sakichi Toyoda founded Toyota Company. In 1989, Fiji Toyoda introduced Lexus as a part of their company owner Toyota. LS 400 were the first car model created by Lexus in Japan (Adler, 2006). This brand has international services around the world while Mercedes – Benz is a Germany company for cars. It was established in 1926. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler are the founders for this company. They have many tips of luxury vehicles and trucks (Hodge & Schachter, 2006). Marketing promotion of Mercedes Benz is outdoor with a blue sky. According to the design of the color, it is made such that the cars may sell to men for use. The place for advertisement has dark green trees and dark green lawns. This indicates that the product is high price as dark symbolizes money. The product is linked to red which means that it is of energy, passion and strength. Mercedes Benz is a car designed for the rich as it is brought out. The richness is through the use of a beautiful rich lady in its advertisement also indicating that it is a modern car and not traditional. The company offers range of products such as ES, GS, and LS luxury. There have been increases in the ranges that are offered by the company. The company has extended to offer sport models. Many models of the car can still be offered as hybrid. Promotion of the car is through consideration of demographics, geography, behavior and psychograph. Promotion is done on TVs as they are the powerful media to show the product (Mahler & Potter, 2004). Through the consideration of geography, Mercedes Benz sells all over the world. This makes the product be sold all over the word. Demographics promotion of the product brings it to be sold to different age, sex and income. Pricing of the product is high. The price of E350 is about 800,000 RMB. The pricing of the product focuses on the young successful customers. The style of the cars is high due to the high price

The evolution of writing and reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The evolution of writing and reading - Essay Example The earliest form it was developed out of pictographic symbols of objects, which we call pictographic writing. These Egyptians and Mesopotamians pictograms were just mere representations of the objects drawn, reading these symbols was only recognizing the representations of the objects. However, pictographic writing was independently developed in China during 1500 B.C. Later on, this form of writing slowly developed into ideograms (Gaur 16). Ideographic writing system is more of an abstract representation rather than a clear picture of objects. Unlike the earlier system, pictogram, ideograms represented images that had conventional meanings (Daniels and Bright 12). For instance, with the pictographic system, a picture of a star meant a star in the sky while in the ideographic system, a picture of a starry sky meant darkness because stars were normally seen at night. This development in the history of writing could be taken as an improvement in the development of the human intellect. When our ancestors invented writing, it was only a mere representation of objects but since the emergence of the ideographic writing system, they began thinking beyond what they saw. The earliest development of ideograms was in the East during the Bronze Age between 2500 B.C. and the first century B.C. During this development, experts found out that unlike the earlier form pictogram when our ancestors used their hands to draw symbols, they began using a wedged-shaped object in imprinting their writings in soft clay tablets (Daniels and Bright 15). In regards to the development of the human intellect that was shown through the emergence of ideographic writing that housed objects' abstract meaning, the use of a stylus was another notch higher than the earlier â€Å"handprint† style. This innovation showed progress in terms of how our ancestors before wanted to leave a more concrete proof of development in writing. â€Å"Sacred writing† or better known as the Egyptian hie roglyphic was the combination of the two earlier writing systems plus their sounds. Looking at in from today, the chronological order of our progress in writing seemed to be a systematic process of the development in the human brain. We may ask the reason behind it being not in a different order. Is this a natural way of development, considering that we, of course, learned sounds first before images? According to archeologists, anthropologists and other scientists, images were easier to express in writing than sounds even if oral communication was a natural instinct (Stuart 33). Another development in writing is logogram, which is the further progress towards figures. This form's graphemes represented words and was best known from the Japanese and Chinese systems. If we notice, this system is more complex than the other earlier forms of writing, which means that the human intellect again, indeed progressed. The emergence of the logogram can be seen as the basis of the modern alphabe t that we use today. How it has Changed? The emergence of technology surely made a big difference in our ways. Machines, automobiles, washing machines, computers, and the likes, seriously made a big impact in changing the lives of the people enslaved to them. The electronic mail or better known as email for instance, sends mails to other people across the globe in a snap. Unlike before, after the alphabet was invented, we used to write in scrolls and

U3 Discussion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

U3 Discussion - Coursework Example One can include or remove numerous group members, define various characteristics, configure exchange attributes and do bulk import from a CSV file at a single case. To comprehend the essential standards of access control, it is important to see how the accompanying terms are characterized in the setting of the right to gain entrance control model for Windows XP Professional. Each record is issued a SID when it is made. Access control instruments in Windows XP Professional recognize security principals by SID as opposed to by name. Data that depicts a specific security centrals character and abilities on a machine. In Windows XP Professional, all clients in an association exist in a particular security connection that is reclassified each time they log on. The security subsystem utilizes the security setting to figure out what a methodology and its strings of execution can do to protests on the machine, and who will be considered responsible for what they have done. An information structure containing the SID for a security vital, Sides for the gatherings that the security primary fits in with, and a rundown of the security chiefs rights on the nearby machine. A right to gain entrance token is made for each security central that logs on provincially at the machine or remotely through a system association. Each one procedure has an essential access token that it inherits naturally from its making methodology. The right to gain entrance token gives a security connection to the security centrals activities on the machine. It additionally gives a security setting to any application strings that follow up for the security chiefs benefit. Amasses that can be utilized to arrange clients and space objects, along these lines streamlining organization. Security gatherings permit you to allot the same security consents to substantial quantities of clients, for example, workers in a

Information Technology Project Research Proposal

Information Technology Project - Research Proposal Example Being an IT student, keeping only objectives in hand don't completes my traits. Though it is the world of proofs and proving objectives with the presentations and documentations. Every deliverable clutches some fundamentals of this project. Deliverables till the end of the project will be as per defined: This is the first deliverable that embrace the contents about Information Technology. What is Information Technology When it is started Since then how it is improved What is the status of Information Technology now days What kinds of projects and their importance in real world Etc. This document is a small thesis on Information Technology with a little introduction to the real topic. This deliverable accomplish first three above-mentioned objectives of the project. A sample of professionals is gathered to have a little talk upon the topic. Few famous and well-known software houses are being listed. Moreover to reach these software houses and contact the entire professionals, references are gathered. This list along with the professional names holds their contacts, their references and name of people they are reference by. Reason to make them our samples. This deliverable, strengths up our project research and help in the accomplishment of our forth above mentioned objective. Questionnaire For IT Professionals This deliverable is a complete document carrying related questions focusing the topic and finding what may be the reasons or strategies to avoid projects to be failed. This deliverable is submit to get the approval from the supervisor for proceedings. The questionnaire holds both close-ended and open-ended questions related to their experience and professionalism. Interview Details With Project Managers A detail interview is held with different project managers of different software houses who talk about different strategies to manage a project and keeping things sufficiently arranged that it wouldn't cause a failure. This is all documented and is shown to the supervisor so that they also can agree with the conclusion at the end comes out. List of samples; Questionnaire, and this document; all three helps to achieve successfully the fourth objective. Analysis Report It includes the combine result that can be concluded from the questionnaire and interview statistically. They are represented graphically in charts and add it with their details. Thesis Last but not least, a document prepared after a complete research from interviews, questionnaire, Internet and book on the reasons for and strategies of avoiding project failure. This document includes objectives in detail, all research work, and how each and every objective is

Sustainable Management Futures. Free Markets and Governments Essay

Sustainable Management Futures. Free Markets and Governments - Essay Example Some scholars go to the extent that the government shouldn’t even engage in public spending on health, education and other necessities. ( Reisman, J., 1998) With such a non-egalitarian orientation, the government’s role in a free market system is confined to the role of a spectator while the market ensures that the efficient businessmen are rewarded with profits. -THE SOCIAL COSTS OF THE INVISIBLE HAND Classical economists such as Adam Smith claim that a free market is bound to create growth, that the invisible hand in an unregulated market fosters growth of efficient market mechanisms. Even after almost three centuries having passed by after the evolution of this notion, the free market is still deemed as an ideal model, but its promised benefits to society are now being viewed as rather utopian in nature. The dynamics of an unregulated free market are seen as quite reminiscent of Social Darwinism. The market favors the efficient few who own the means of production. ( Stiglitz, J., 2011) The free market functions in such a way that formation of separate classes is inevitable. Much attention has been paid to the rise of the industrial bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The former owning the means of production and making profits, while the former providing labor and earning wages. While the free market is said to have provided opportunities for both, the sheer magnitude of the unequal share of rewards has raised skepticism to the social benefits of a free market. -FREE MARKETS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD The recent global economic crisis is said to have been the result of unregulated free markets. The role of governments is now being brought into perspective again, as the government is the very entity that is assisting in stabilizing the markets with massive bailout packages. The enormous growth rates exhibited during the pre-recession period were phenomenal, but a retrospective analysis suggests that they were unsustainable. The major fuel for recent economic growth has been the availability of capital. Lenient credit policies have paved way for expanding markets but not much attention has been paid to the costs of such confidence based growth. The common man, encouraged by growth-driven corporations has increased consumption, with the assumption that incomes will rise simultaneously. This spiral might exist for a limited time, but when it stops, the market eventually collapses. Unregulated economic growth has led to the resurfacing of a plethora of subprime lending and major Ponzi schemes. (Stiglitz, J.,2011 ) Economic growth does in fact lead to improving social indicators. Ever since capitalism has become the popular form of economic governance around the world, per capita inflation-adjusted income has risen from $5,400 in 1980 to $8,500 in 2005. (Shleifer, A., 2009) While educational and health figures have improved, the north-south orientation of this growth has been noticed as well. While social indicators have improved i n some areas and strata of the population, other portions remain unaffected. For instance, the top 1% of the income earners in United States have 24% share in the overall incomes generated. (Timothy, N. 2010) -THE NEED OF A MEDIATOR- THE GOVERNMENT: The concept of a welfare state arises from the notion that the

Data communications and neetworks Essay Example for Free

Data communications and neetworks Essay What is signalling? Signalling is a term used for the use of data being transmitted or carried across a medium for example in a network this could be a cat 5 cable. There has to be a way also for the receiver to interpret the data being sent and this is controlled by whats called encoding however the word modulation also means the same thing. The signal that is sent it modified in a way for it to signify data. There are different types of transmission methods which differ from what type of medium you are using for example cables or wireless there are four which are listed below: 1. Electrical uses your cables to transport data between nodes 2. Radio Waves this would be your wireless networks and could also include Bluetooth devices. 3. Light this would use fibre optic cabling to send high speeds of data 4. Microwave Analogue Digital Signalling There are two different types of signalling and these can be done in Analogue which means it changes all time in both amplitude and frequency. For example an analogue clock which has its hands moving all the time is changing the time all the time. Whereas with digital signalling which are representations of discrete time signals. For example a digital clock shows the minutes and not the seconds. When the information is being sent over a network when communicating, the information can travel in two forms, these are analogue and digital. The difference between the two is simple that analogue signalling never stops, and the information is being sent continuously, a good example of this signalling is clocks. An analogue clock will never stop, as the second hand is always ticking, therefore one can record an accurate reading of the time to the second, or even millisecond. For example, 1 hour 15 minutes and 24 seconds. Appose this to digital signalling where one can not get an accurate reading of a clock as it will only show the minutes. And therefore is not continuous. This is because the data is consisting of separate states, which are on or off. Sine Wave This type of wave has two properties a Amplitude Frequency, the amplitude represents the strength of the signal which would be the volume of a sound for example somebody talking. If the amplitude is stronger than it will travel further. The frequency of a Sine Wave is the rise and fall of the wave from the zero to the top and then back to the zero this is known as a cycle and is measured in Hz. The higher frequency the more cycles and therefore the lower the frequency the lower the cycles. Analogue The image below shows the analogue type of signalling its constantly changing and represents all the values in the wave range, there is always a value in between a value and another. http://moodle. derby-college. ac. uk/mod/resource/view. php? id=2346 Digital With digital signalling there are no in betweens like there in analogue its simply either 1 or 0, digital represents separate states and the change between these are practically unnoticeable. http://moodle. derby-college. ac. uk/mod/resource/view. php? id=2346 Asynchronous Transmission Asynchronous transmission is when signals are not sent at regular intervals. A good example of this would be a user using a keyboard attached to a computer. The characters are sent irregularly however the bits must be sent at known intervals. This is done by having accurate clocks at both ends of the link. The receiving clock starts when it receives the first bit from the transmitter, this is also known as the start bit. The receiver then expects to receive a known number of bits every tick of the clock. When it has received these bits the clock may stop; the last bit is known as the stop bit. Synchronous Transmission However when large volumes of data are to be transferred, the waste of the stop and stop bits with every character means that asynchronous transmission is not an efficient method. With high-speed devices, and buffered low-speed devices, data can be transmitted in large, timed, synchronous blocks. The clocks, in the receiver and transmitter, are kept synchronised by sending regular groups of special characters called SYN characters. Each time one of these groups is detected the receiver re-sets its clock, the data apart from this, its transmitted in exactly the same way as for asynchronous transmission. We can visualise the data as follows: Bit Synchronisation In a digital signal, as well as on occasion, an analogue one, all the different devices must know how often the signal varies along the transmission medium. For example, if the speed of the changes goes faster then the rate at which the device checks for changes, there will be a few of the bits missed between samples. If then sampling rate goes faster then the rate at which the transmission goes, the same bit will be used for a different sample a second time. To combat this fact, the devices are made to a universal standard so that they can work together in harmony, and there are set systems in place to allow the data to be transferred correctly. A lot of the current technologies use asynchronous serial transmission. This transmission method is used when data is not sent at regular intervals, but the bits themselves have to be sent with regularity, some examples of these are keyboard, mice or even modems. During the spans of time that no signal is sent, the line or other medium is in what is called an idle state. This is defined by the constant 1 signal being sent. One there is a packet of data that needs to be sent, for example, a key on the keyboard is pressed, the receiver first gets a start bit, a 0 state instead of a 1 to define the beginning of a piece of data now being sent to the receiver, it is then sampled and at the end of the data transmission, the signal returns to the original constant 1 state. Encoding Methods Encoding simply means that the information is converted from one format to another format. This is a process that the data needs to have done to it before the computer can understand it and process it. There are different types of encoding which are   Manchester Encoding is a data communications line code which provides a way of encoding binary data sequences. Each bit is related to by at least one voltage level transition. Manchester encoding is said to be self clocking this means that synchronisation of a data stream is possible. Huffman Encoding is another algorithm used for data compression; the coding uses a specific method for choosing the representation for each symbol. Unipolar Encoding This type of encoding has 2 voltage states, one of these states is zero and because of this its also know as Return to Zero (RTZ) Unipolar encoding is used in computers logic and an example of where its used in computers is the TTL logic. Polar Encoding Polar encoding is when the digital encoding is on a level with zero volts for example the RS232 standard interface uses Polar encoding and unlike Unipolar the value doesnt return to zero, its either a positive or negative voltage. With polar encoding it reduces most of the residual DC problem.

Right to Die Legislation Cases

Right to Die Legislation Cases Fermin Flores The Declaration of Independence gave us the freedom of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now there are some times when these freedoms are placed into the hands of another for example a judge. A policy that brought the attention of Americans in the late 1900’s. Various court cases have been brought about to the public of several people who were in critical conditions and may not make it or could not recover, one of which where a man with locked-in syndrome, which paralyzed one’s muscles and brainstem, wanted to end his life. The right to die is a case where one chooses to die whether they were told that they had a certain amount of time left to live. Also, if they are in critical danger and someone chooses that choice for that person who can’t do it themselves. Choosing when one must die or live goes against the 14th amendment which gave every American the full and equal benefits of the laws. Having the choice of choosing whether someone lives or not ties in with abortion. One mother choosing over if a baby should live or not. The right to die is an issue which some still discuss today through if one has a choice or not. Society today has been leaning more towards helping those who are severely ill and cannot recover to give them the choice of ending it. Back then this was different, Americans and government did not acknowledge the right to die choice. The Supreme Court declared that the constitution did not mentioned â€Å"suicide† and plenty of Americans were uncomfortable. (http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/10/right-die). At least 20% of Americans who attend church believe that one must not suffer from a serious condition with irreversible effects. The reason why we think this way is because some may have experienced this first hand or have thought of the feeling of being in critical condition not being able to do almost anything without the help of a machine or someone else. Oregon voters passed a law in 1994 and went into effect into 1997 that gave anyone the option to end their life through medication. This was called the Death-With-Dignity law which allowed mentally competent, terminally ill adults to hasten their end which later Washington and Vermont adopted. (http://www.deathwithdignity.org/access-acts) In 1983, a woman by the name of Nancy Beth Cruzan was gravely injured from an automobile accident (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1989/1989_88_1503). She was taken to the hospital where she had to be sustained by artificial feedings. Her parents, whom saw no other possible way of recovery for their daughter, wanted to terminate her life-support system. The hospital declined their attempt without the approval of a judge. The Missouri Supreme Court declared that there had to be â€Å"clear and convincing† evidence to which the patient wanted a decision like this to be made. Nancy’s co-workers were brought together by her parents and they all announced that she would not want to be sustained in a disabled condition. The Supreme Court took this as evidence and let Nancy go. Back in 1975, 21 year old Karen Ann Quinlan collapsed and fell into a coma (http://www.ncll.org/liberty-centers/center-for-life-defense/cld-articles/57-how-the-right-to-die-came-to-america) and was placed into the hospital with a ventilator. She was unable to eat nor breathe on her own to the point where her parents wanted to remove her from the artificial life support. As a hospital’s policy, they denied their request and later was taken into court which they ruled in favor of Ann’s parents. Karen was removed from her ventilator in 1976 but miraculously started breathing on her own again. Choosing the right to die for someone else who is in critical condition will be difficult for the hospital and the family. In order for one to make a life or death choice for someone in critical condition, some requirements must be met: The patient must no longer be competent to make the choice themselves, meaning they have no knowledge of what’s happening. Also, the patientâ⠂¬â„¢s conditions must be that he or she cannot recover. Another case of the right to die, 57 year old Paul Lamb was caught in a car accident 23 years ago which paralyzed him from his neck down. With the help of his daughter and the wife of a previous paralyzed man named Tony (who fought to end his life but the court didn’t allow him) Paul, followed Tony’s legacy, and took his battle to the court just to end up losing on July 30th, 2013. The court did allow, however, for a third man to appeal for the right to die, but the law did not make it clear whether the doctor or nurse will be prosecuted by the government if they helped in the procedure. In one of the most recent news, a woman by the name of Brittany Maynard was diagnosed with brain cancer which gave her only six months to live. She thought of ways to give herself and her family the least amount of pain possible. After researching, she found Death-with-Dignity and moved to Oregon, one of five states that allow Death-With-Dignity. (http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/07/opinion/maynard-assisted-suicide-cancer-dignity/) Within the news, she mentioned â€Å"I do not want to die. But I am dying. And I want to die on my own terms,† she wanted the choice to die in peace and surrounded by her loved ones than to die in pain, alone in a hospital. One must consider how painful it would be to stay in the bed for the rest of their life due to a serious accident. Letting the people you love the most go with the consent of the judge is one of the most heartbreaking event a relative can experience. In the year 1947, only 37% of the citizens felt that doctors should be legally permitted to end a patient’s life if there was no way for them to get cured. Fast forwarding 55 years later, the government placed the same poll again hoping for different results. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/6265/right-die-dead-rights.aspx) That year, in 2002, 72% of Americans now felt that doctors should help end a patient’s life. Without a doubt, one should cherish every single moment they spend with a certain person like as if it’s the last time you may see them. Whether you think nothing will happen wrong or that they are safe from any harm, live your life out. You don’t know if one may get diagnosed with a serious life-threate ning or get attacked until it happens. With all said, if all of the states decide to adopt the Death with Dignity law, new opportunity will be open to those who are severely ill. This can have two results, one of which will result in new arguments. It will open the gate for those with suicidal thoughts and may think they have a chance to get a law passed to allow those who feel â€Å"alone† to end their life. On the other hand, it gives those with severe issues to have their easy, unpainful way out.

Hoovers Relief Efforts Essay -- essays papers

Hoovers Relief Efforts In the early years of the Great Depression, before 1932, President Herbert Hoover was faced with a terrible problem. The entire country, and to a large degree the entire world, was in the midst of one of the worst economic recessions in current history. All around the country, people were out of work, down on their luck, and starving. One in every six American males was unemployed, and the future outlook was not much better. In 1930, drought struck Arkansas, worsening the already terrible conditions under which the poor sharecroppers and landowners lived in. The Depression had already been had on these farmers, who had seen the market value of their produce dwindle significantly. As conditions worsened, it soon became common for entire families to go without food for several days. President Hoover, aware of the terrible conditions, decided to turn the relief effort over to the Red Cross because he believed in private charities, and in self-help, rather than giving public money directly to individuals. This particular policy proved to be ineffective, and had terrible results. The Red Cross asked the landowners to look over their sharecroppers and determine which ones were in need of subsistence. This would have worked fine, except that the landowners were afraid that free food would cause the sharecroppers to not work as hard, and reported false figures. The other problem was that the Red Cross qui ckly ran out of resources when faced wit...

My Power of Prayer :: Autobiography Essay, Personal Narrative

The power of prayer is an amazing thing. In sports it is not uncommon to see someone pointing to the sky after a touchdown, or a team prayer before a big game. While I was running cross-country in high school I came across many obstacles. I had to ignore people telling me, â€Å"cross-country’s not a real sport,† or â€Å"why don’t you do a real sport like football?† I did not have much experience in cross-country running; therefore, I experienced doubt and lack of self-confidence at some points. I started running when I was a senior in high school. I made it through the first couple of races all right, but began to get angry at myself because I was not improving at the rate I had wanted to. I was very excited for the season and often found myself distraught when I did not do well and I could not understand what the problem was. I always assumed that if a person runs fast one day, he/she should run faster the next day. In addition to the internal pressure I put on myself during my tenure as an athlete, I felt a lot of outside pressure. My uncles, who are currently high school coaches near me, were high school standouts in the sport and ran extremely well in college. I always thought that if I did not perform at the level that was expected, I would be looked down upon. Of course that was not the case, but I always wanted to impress them. I remember running in one invitational which both of them attended. I put such a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to perform that I ended up getting a cramp in my side, causing me to run one of the worst races of my life. I found myself asking why this would happen. Therefore, I decided to start training very hard for my next race, even though it was only a small race against a weaker team. I found myself very relaxed and ran a comfortable race. I finished with amazement, because I had dropped my best time by about twenty seconds. For the first time, I had broken the seventeen-minute mark for a five kilometer race. I immediately thought of my uncles; how great would it be to tell them about the race?

Free Narrative Essays - Dodging Bullets -- Example Personal Narratives

Dodging Bullets It was a warm fall day in early October, a day that I recall quite vividly. The smells of the transition from summer to fall were in the air, accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. It was on this beautiful day that my existence was almost terminated. After school on this day, a friend and I decided to go hunting before our evening basketball practice. I really don't know why we called it hunting, because we didn't have an idea exactly what we were hunting for. We had forty acres of my backyard to do our merciless killing of defenseless animals. We were two ignorant kids with semi-automatic and lever-action .22 caliber rifles. As we strolled into the woods to see what terror we could create for the creatures of the forest, we noticed a large abundance of squirrels. They seemed to be dancing around as if they were gathering there before us in groups--laughing at us, begging us to shoot them. We had to keep walking, for we were still too close to the neighboring houses to be shooting these rifles. So we trudged along, occasionally commenting on how the leaves crunching beneath our feet would scare off the squirrels, as if we were some fierce snipers in desperate need of stealth. At last we made it to an area far enough from the houses. My friend was the one with the semi-automatic, and he immediately started unloading his clip on everything in sight. The sound of the bullets being propelled from the barrel echoed throughout the woods. After his barrage of shots, I noticed a large oak tree with squirrels in i... ...e to dodge bullets. I felt that I could see those bullets in their spiraling motion coming at me. This idea made me laugh, but I didn't engage it for long, for I was still shaken by the event. What if I'd been hit by the onslaught of bullets and turned into a bloody piece of Swiss cheese? Worse yet, I could have been killed. I lay there for what seemed to be a short eternity until the shadow of my friend appeared over me. "I ran out of bullets," he said in a relaxed tone. After I voiced a few choice words to my companion, he helped me up, and I slowly but surely went home. Naturally, neither of us mentioned this scenario to our parents. Later that evening, I decided that playing video games was a safer way to kill time before practice. It was quite a while before we went hunting again.

Gender Identity Essay

Gender identities are determined by biological, social and cognitive learning factors, these occur overtime and more times than most gender identity is determined in childhood and usually by the age of six to seven years of age. Biological factors can play a big role in shaping a child’s physical development, some researchers suggest or believe that the same sex hormones enable sexual organ differentiation in utero of which triggers puberty, later on other gender identity factors are social and environmental factors, some believe a child’s gender identity is affected by the way they are raised and their social environment. These factors can determine a child’s gender identity and whether they become bisexual, heterosexual or other factors and identities. Gender roles and sexism can be identified by social identity like the expectations of a person by what sex they may be like male or female some countries believe women stay home and take care of their husbands and children and stay hidden and silent , other countries like the us women and men are equal and both have basically the same types of careers such as construction workers, and most careers are not limited to gender identity , examples of these concepts is like the middle east women are not allowed to be seen or heard unless spoken to and in no such terms are they permitted to speak to or look at other men for these laws being broken they are punished severly. in the us women and men treat each other equally and women have the same legal rights as men, women are not treated as children were treated back years ago , women in the US live their lives as men do equally. So gender roles depend on what culture you live in. Differences in men and women in social environments and cognitively are very different, and in some cases are the same, men can go to a restaurant or a social club and take considerable risks where a women will be more shy and timid, as for problems when these arise men most likely look for solutions to their problems before talking to a friend or family member about them where a women will contemplate and look for answers with the family or friends they speak to. Men and women’s intelligence levels are basically the same and as for environment men and women’s biological differences may be due to the influences they are around like men watching football together or women at a needlepoint club, and their gender developments, as well as where they socialize men and women are distinctively different and the same but different due to the regulation of their hormones and the way their systems are different and the difference in their brain functions, men and women’s e motions are mechanically different. One biological perspective or evidence suggest that differences in verbal and spatial abilities memory, and aggression are linked, to differences in hormones secretions between males and females this claims gender identity as being influenced re all research by hormonal imprinting before birth, a person’s masculine or feminine traits can be described by whether a person see’s themselves as a man or a women and how society perceives them whether it be stereotyping, or social differences. The masculine and femininity continuums characteristics are defending an opinion or beliefs, being a provider, sexually aggressive, unemotional, logical, rational, intellectual, and stoic adventurous, and competiveness. Being a leader, and being self-sufficient and an organizer and being independent these are the ways of masculinity or feminism traits continuum, these can be described to fall into felinity as well as masculinity these are added traits to the continuum, caring for a child and other people, being empathetic or being indecisive, caring and affectionate, the way females and males differ in many ways men and women are the same, In conclusion to gender identity masculinity and feminism are described as degrees but are not absolute in all people there is no such thing as one hundred percent female or one hundred percent male, this is all a myth we all basically fall in both categories and our gender identity is not decided for us.

Twilight 8. PORT ANGELES

8. PORT ANGELES Jess drove faster than the Chief, so we made it to Port Angeles by four. It had been a while since I'd had a girls' night out, and the estrogen rush was invigorating. We listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about the boys we hung out with. Jessica's dinner with Mike had gone very well, and she was hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first-kiss stage. I smiled to myself, pleased. Angela was passively happy to be going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. Jess tried to get her to confess who her type was, but I interrupted with a question about dresses after a bit, to spare her. Angela threw a grateful glance my way. Port Angeles was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. But Jessica and Angela knew it well, so they didn't plan to waste time on the picturesque boardwalk by the bay. Jess drove straight to the one big department store in town, which was a few streets in from the bay area's visitor-friendly face. The dance was billed as semiformal, and we weren't exactly sure what that meant. Both Jessica and Angela seemed surprised and almost disbelieving when I told them I'd never been to a dance in Phoenix. â€Å"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?† Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store. â€Å"Really,† I tried to convince her, not wanting to confess my dancing problems. â€Å"I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much.† â€Å"Why not?† Jessica demanded. â€Å"No one asked me,† I answered honestly. She looked skeptical. â€Å"People ask you out here,† she reminded me, â€Å"and you tell them no.† We were in the juniors' section now, scanning the racks for dress-up clothes. â€Å"Well, except for Tyler,† Angela amended quietly. â€Å"Excuse me?† I gasped. â€Å"What did you say?† â€Å"Tyler told everyone he's taking you to prom,† Jessica informed me with suspicious eyes. â€Å"He said what?† I sounded like I was choking. â€Å"I told you it wasn't true,† Angela murmured to Jessica. I was silent, still lost in shock that was quickly turning to irritation. But we had found the dress racks, and now we had work to do. â€Å"That's why Lauren doesn't like you,† Jessica giggled while we pawed through the clothes. I ground my teeth. â€Å"Do you think that if I ran him over with my truck he would stop feeling guilty about the accident? That he might give up on making amends and call it even?† â€Å"Maybe,† Jess snickered. ‘†If that's why he's doing this.† The dress selection wasn't large, but both of them found a few things to try on. I sat on a low chair just inside the dressing room, by the three-way mirror, trying to control my fuming. Jess was torn between two – one a long, strapless, basic black number, the other a knee-length electric blue with spaghetti straps. I encouraged her to go with the blue; why not play up the eyes? Angela chose a pale pink dress that draped around her tall frame nicely and brought out honey tints in her light brown hair. I complimented them both generously and helped by returning the rejects to their racks. The whole process was much shorter and easier than similar trips I'd taken with Ren? ¦e at home. I guess there was something to be said for limited choices. We headed over to shoes and accessories. While they tried things on I merely watched and critiqued, not in the mood to shop for myself, though I did need new shoes. The girls'-night high was wearing off in the wake of my annoyance at Tyler, leaving room for the gloom to move back in. â€Å"Angela?† I began, hesitant, while she was trying on a pair of pink strappy heels – she was overjoyed to have a date tall enough that she could wear high heels at all. Jessica had drifted to the jewelry counter and we were alone. â€Å"Yes?† She held her leg out, twisting her ankle to get a better view of the shoe. I chickened out. â€Å"I like those.† â€Å"I think I'll get them – though they'll never match anything but the one dress,† she mused. â€Å"Oh, go ahead – they're on sale,† I encouraged. She smiled, putting the lid back on a box that contained more practical-looking off-white shoes. I tried again. â€Å"Um, Angela†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She looked up curiously. â€Å"Is it normal for the†¦ Cullens† – I kept my eyes on the shoes – â€Å"to be out of school a lot?† I failed miserably in my attempt to sound nonchalant. â€Å"Yes, when the weather is good they go backpacking all the time – even the doctor. They're all real outdoorsy,† she told me quietly, examining her shoes, too. She didn't ask one question, let alone the hundreds that Jessica would have unleashed. I was beginning to really like Angela. â€Å"Oh.† I let the subject drop as Jessica returned to show us the rhinestone jewelry she'd found to match her silver shoes. We planned to go to dinner at a little Italian restaurant on the boardwalk, but the dress shopping hadn't taken as long as we'd expected. Jess and Angela were going to take their clothes back to the car and then walk down to the bay. I told them I would meet them at the restaurant in an hour – I wanted to look for a bookstore. They were both willing to come with me, but I encouraged them to go have fun – they didn't know how preoccupied I could get when surrounded by books; it was something I preferred to do alone. They walked off to the car chattering happily, and I headed in the direction Jess pointed out. I had no trouble finding the bookstore, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The windows were full of crystals, dream-catchers, and books about spiritual healing. I didn't even go inside. Through the glass I could see a fifty-year-old woman with long, gray hair worn straight down her back, clad in a dress right out of the sixties, smiling welcomingly from behind the counter. I decided that was one conversation I could skip. There had to be a normal bookstore in town. I meandered through the streets, which were filling up with end-of-the-workday traffic, and hoped I was headed toward downtown. I wasn't paying as much attention as I should to where I was going; I was wrestling with despair. I was trying so hard not to think about him, and what Angela had said†¦ and more than anything trying to beat down my hopes for Saturday, fearing a disappointment more painful than the rest, when I looked up to see someone's silver Volvo parked along the street and it all came crashing down on me. Stupid, unreliable vampire, I thought to myself. I stomped along in a southerly direction, toward some glass-fronted shops that looked promising. But when I got to them, they were just a repair shop and a vacant space. I still had too much time to go looking for Jess and Angela yet, and I definitely needed to get my mood in hand before I met back up with them. I ran my fingers through my hair a couple of times and took some deep breaths before I continued around the corner. I started to realize, as I crossed another road, that I was going the wrong direction. The little foot traffic I had seen was going north, and it looked like the buildings here were mostly warehouses. I decided to turn east at the next corner, and then loop around after a few blocks and try my luck on a different street on my way back to the boardwalk. A group of four men turned around the corner I was heading for, dressed too casually to be heading home from the office, but they were too grimy to be tourists. As they approached me, I realized they weren't too many years older than I was. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other's arms. I scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as I could to give them room, walking swiftly, looking past them to the corner. â€Å"Hey, there!† one of them called as they passed, and he had to be talking to me since no one else was around. I glanced up automatically. Two of them had paused, the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavyset, dark-haired man in his early twenties, seemed to be the one who had spoken. He was wearing a flannel shirt open over a dirty t-shirt, cut-off jeans, and sandals. He took half a step toward me. â€Å"Hello,† I mumbled, a knee-jerk reaction. Then I quickly looked away and walked faster toward the corner. I could hear them laughing at full volume behind me. â€Å"Hey, wait!† one of them called after me again, but I kept my head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief. I could still hear them chortling behind me. I found myself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of several somber-colored warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south side of the street had no sidewalk, only a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard. I'd wandered far past the part of Port Angeles that I, as a guest, was intended to see. It was getting dark, I realized, the clouds finally returning, piling up on the western horizon, creating an early sunset. The eastern sky was still clear, but graying, shot through with streaks of pink and orange. I'd left my jacket in the car, and a sudden shiver made me cross my arms tightly across my chest. A single van passed me, and then the road was empty. The sky suddenly darkened further, and, as I looked over my shoulder to glare at the offending cloud, I realized with a shock that two men were walking quietly twenty feet behind me. They were from the same group I'd passed at the corner, though neither was the dark one who'd spoken to me. I turned my head forward at once, quickening my pace. A chill that had nothing to do with the weather made me shiver again. My purse was on a shoulder strap and I had it slung across my body, the way you were supposed to wear it so it wouldn't get snatched. I knew exactly where my pepper spray was – still in my duffle bag under the bed, never unpacked. I didn't have much money with me, just a twenty and some ones, and I thought about â€Å"accidentally† dropping my bag and walking away. But a small, frightened voice in the back of my mind warned me that they might be something worse than thieves. I listened intently to their quiet footsteps, which were much too quiet when compared to the boisterous noise they'd been making earlier, and it didn't sound like they were speeding up, or getting any closer to me. Breathe, I had to remind myself. You don't know they're following you. I continued to walk as quickly as I could without actually running, focusing on the right-hand turn that was only a few yards away from me now. I could hear them, staying as far back as they'd been before. A blue car turned onto the street from the south and drove quickly past me. I thought of jumping out in front of it, but I hesitated, inhibited, unsure that I was really being pursued, and then it was too late. I reached the corner, but a swift glance revealed that it was only a blind drive to the back of another building. I was half-turned in anticipation; I had to hurriedly correct and dash across the narrow drive, back to the sidewalk. The street ended at the next corner, where there was a stop sign. I concentrated on the faint footsteps behind me, deciding whether or not to run. They sounded farther back, though, and I knew they could outrun me in any case. I was sure to trip and go sprawling if I tried to go any faster. The footfalls were definitely farther back. I risked a quick glance over my shoulder, and they were maybe forty feet back now, I saw with relief. But they were both staring at me. It seemed to take forever for me to get to the corner. I kept my pace steady, the men behind me falling ever so slightly farther behind with every step. Maybe they realized they had scared me and were sorry. I saw two cars going north pass the intersection I was heading for, and I exhaled in relief. There would be more people around once I got off this deserted street. I skipped around the corner with a grateful sigh. And skidded to a stop. The street was lined on both sides by blank, doorless, windowless walls. I could see in the distance, two intersections down, streetlamps, cars, and more pedestrians, but they were all too far away. Because lounging against the western building, midway down the street, were the other two men from the group, both watching with excited smiles as I froze dead on the sidewalk. I realized then that I wasn't being followed. I was being herded. I paused for only a second, but it felt like a very long time. I turned then and darted to the other side of the road. I had a sinking feeling that it was a wasted attempt. The footsteps behind me were louder now. â€Å"There you are!† The booming voice of the stocky, dark-haired man shattered the intense quiet and made me jump. In the gathering darkness, it seemed like he was looking past me. â€Å"Yeah,† a voice called loudly from behind me, making me jump again as I tried to hurry down the street. â€Å"We just took a little detour.† My steps had to slow now. I was closing the distance between myself and the lounging pair too quickly. I had a good loud scream, and I sucked in air, preparing to use it, but my throat was so dry I wasn't sure how much volume I could manage. With a quick movement I slipped my purse over my head, gripping the strap with one hand, ready to surrender it or use it as weapon as need demanded. The thickset man shrugged away from the wall as I warily came to a stop, and walked slowly into the street. â€Å"Stay away from me,† I warned in a voice that was supposed to sound strong and fearless. But I was right about the dry throat – no volume. â€Å"Don't be like that, sugar,† he called, and the raucous laughter started again behind me. I braced myself, feet apart, trying to remember through my panic what little self-defense I knew. Heel of the hand thrust upward, hopefully breaking the nose or shoving it into the brain. Finger through the eye socket – try to hook around and pop the eye out. And the standard knee to the groin, of course. That same pessimistic voice in my mind spoke up then, reminding me that I probably wouldn't have a chance against one of them, and there were four. Shut up! I commanded the voice before terror could incapacitate me. I wasn't going out without taking someone with me. I tried to swallow so I could build up a decent scream. Headlights suddenly flew around the corner, the car almost hitting the stocky one, forcing him to jump back toward the sidewalk. I dove into the road – this car was going to stop, or have to hit me. But the silver car unexpectedly fishtailed around, skidding to a stop with the passenger door open just a few feet from me. â€Å"Get in,† a furious voice commanded. It was amazing how instantaneously the choking fear vanished, amazing how suddenly the feeling of security washed over me – even before I was off the street – as soon as I heard his voice. I jumped into the seat, slamming the door shut behind me. It was dark in the car, no light had come on with the opening of the door, and I could barely see his face in the glow from the dashboard. The tires squealed as he spun around to face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving toward the stunned men on the street. I caught a glimpse of them diving for the sidewalk as we straightened out and sped toward the harbor. â€Å"Put on your seat belt,† he commanded, and I realized I was clutching the seat with both hands. I quickly obeyed; the snap as the belt connected was loud in the darkness. He took a sharp left, racing forward, blowing through several stop signs without a pause. But I felt utterly safe and, for the moment, totally unconcerned about where we were going. I stared at his face in profound relief, relief that went beyond my sudden deliverance. I studied his flawless features in the limited light, waiting for my breath to return to normal, until it occurred to me that his expression was murderously angry. â€Å"Are you okay?† I asked, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded. â€Å"No,† he said curtly, and his tone was livid. I sat in silence, watching his face while his blazing eyes stared straight ahead, until the car came to a sudden stop. I glanced around, but it was too dark to see anything beside the vague outline of dark trees crowding the roadside. We weren't in town anymore. â€Å"Bella?† he asked, his voice tight, controlled. â€Å"Yes?† My voice was still rough. I tried to clear my throat quietly. â€Å"Are you all right?† He still didn't look at me, but the fury was plain on his face. â€Å"Yes,† I croaked softly. â€Å"Distract me, please,† he ordered. â€Å"I'm sorry, what?† He exhaled sharply. â€Å"Just prattle about something unimportant until I calm down,† he clarified, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. â€Å"Um.† I wracked my brain for something trivial. â€Å"I'm going to run over Tyler Crowley tomorrow before school?† He was still squeezing his eyes closed, but the corner of his mouth twitched. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"He's telling everyone that he's taking me to prom – either he's insane or he's still trying to make up for almost killing me last†¦ well, you remember it, and he thinks prom is somehow the correct way to do this. So I figure if I endanger his life, then we're even, and he can't keep trying to make amends. I don't need enemies and maybe Lauren would back off if he left me alone. I might have to total his Sentra, though. If he doesn't have a ride he can't take anyone to prom†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I babbled on. â€Å"I heard about that.† He sounded a bit more composed. â€Å"You did?† I asked in disbelief, my previous irritation flaring. â€Å"If he's paralyzed from the neck down, he can't go to the prom, either,† I muttered, refining my plan. Edward sighed, and finally opened his eyes. â€Å"Better?† â€Å"Not really.† I waited, but he didn't speak again. He leaned his head back against the seat, staring at the ceiling of the car. His face was rigid. â€Å"What's wrong?† My voice came out in a whisper. â€Å"Sometimes I have a problem with my temper, Bella.† He was whispering, too, and as he stared out the window, his eyes narrowed into slits. â€Å"But it wouldn't be helpful for me to turn around and hunt down those†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't finish his sentence, looking away, struggling for a moment to control his anger again. â€Å"At least,† he continued, â€Å"that's what I'm trying to convince myself.† â€Å"Oh.† The word seemed inadequate, but I couldn't think of a better response. We sat in silence again. I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It was past six-thirty. â€Å"Jessica and Angela will be worried,† I murmured. â€Å"I was supposed to meet them.† He started the engine without another word, turning around smoothly and speeding back toward town. We were under the streetlights in no time at all, still going too fast, weaving with ease through the cars slowly cruising the boardwalk. He parallel-parked against the curb in a space I would have thought much too small for the Volvo, but he slid in effortlessly in one try. I looked out the window to see the lights of La Bella Italia, and Jess and Angela just leaving, pacing anxiously away from us. â€Å"How did you know where†¦ ?† I began, but then I just shook my head. I heard the door open and turned to see him getting out. â€Å"What are you doing?† I asked. â€Å"I'm taking you to dinner.† He smiled slightly, but his eyes were hard. He stepped out of the car and slammed the door. I fumbled with my seat belt, and then hurried to get out of the car as well. He was waiting for me on the sidewalk. He spoke before I could. â€Å"Go stop Jessica and Angela before I have to track them down, too. I don't think I could restrain myself if I ran into your other friends again.† I shivered at the threat in his voice. â€Å"Jess! Angela!† I yelled after them, waving when they turned. They rushed back to me, the pronounced relief on both their faces simultaneously changing to surprise as they saw who I was standing next to. They hesitated a few feet from us. â€Å"Where have you been?† Jessica's voice was suspicious. â€Å"I got lost,† I admitted sheepishly. â€Å"And then I ran into Edward.† I gestured toward him. â€Å"Would it be all right if I joined you?† he asked in his silken, irresistible voice. I could see from their staggered expressions that he had never unleashed his talents on them before. â€Å"Er†¦ sure,† Jessica breathed. â€Å"Um, actually, Bella, we already ate while we were waiting – sorry,† Angela confessed. â€Å"That's fine – I'm not hungry.† I shrugged. â€Å"I think you should eat something.† Edward's voice was low, but full of authority. He looked up at Jessica and spoke slightly louder. â€Å"Do you mind if I drive Bella home tonight? That way you won't have to wait while she eats.† â€Å"Uh, no problem, I guess†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She bit her lip, trying to figure out from my expression whether that was what I wanted. I winked at her. I wanted nothing more than to be alone with my perpetual savior. There were so many questions that I couldn't bombard him with till we were by ourselves. â€Å"Okay.† Angela was quicker than Jessica. â€Å"See you tomorrow, Bella†¦ Edward.† She grabbed Jessica's hand and pulled her toward the car, which I could see a little ways away, parked across First Street. As they got in, Jess turned and waved, her face eager with curiosity. I waved back, waiting for them to drive away before I turned to face him. â€Å"Honestly, I'm not hungry,† I insisted, looking up to scrutinize his face. His expression was unreadable. â€Å"Humor me.† He walked to the door of the restaurant and held it open with an obstinate expression. Obviously, there would be no further discussion. I walked past him into the restaurant with a resigned sigh. The restaurant wasn't crowded – it was the off-season in Port Angeles. The host was female, and I understood the look in her eyes as she assessed Edward. She welcomed him a little more warmly than necessary. I was surprised by how much that bothered me. She was several inches taller than I was, and unnaturally blond. â€Å"A table for two?† His voice was alluring, whether he was aiming for that or not. I saw her eyes flicker to me and then away, satisfied by my obvious ordinariness, and by the cautious, no-contact space Edward kept between us. She led us to a table big enough for four in the center of the most crowded area of the dining floor. I was about to sit, but Edward shook his head at me. â€Å"Perhaps something more private?† he insisted quietly to the host. I wasn't sure, but it looked like he smoothly handed her a tip. I'd never seen anyone refuse a table except in old movies. â€Å"Sure.† She sounded as surprised as I was. She turned and led us around a partition to a small ring of booths – all of them empty. â€Å"How's this?† â€Å"Perfect.† He flashed his gleaming smile, dazing her momentarily. â€Å"Um† – she shook her head, blinking – â€Å"your server will be right out.† She walked away unsteadily. â€Å"You really shouldn't do that to people,† I criticized. â€Å"It's hardly fair.† â€Å"Do what?† â€Å"Dazzle them like that – she's probably hyperventilating in the kitchen right now.† He seemed confused. â€Å"Oh, come on,† I said dubiously. â€Å"You have to know the effect you have on people.† He tilted his head to one side, and his eyes were curious. â€Å"I dazzle people?† â€Å"You haven't noticed? Do you think everybody gets their way so easily?† He ignored my questions. â€Å"Do I dazzle you?† â€Å"Frequently,† I admitted. And then our server arrived, her face expectant. The hostess had definitely dished behind the scenes, and this new girl didn't look disappointed. She flipped a strand of short black hair behind one ear and smiled with unnecessary warmth. â€Å"Hello. My name is Amber, and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get you to drink?† I didn't miss that she was speaking only to him. He looked at me. â€Å"I'll have a Coke.† It sounded like a question. â€Å"Two Cokes,† he said. â€Å"I'll be right back with that,† she assured him with another unnecessary smile. But he didn't see it. He was watching me. â€Å"What?† I asked when she left. His eyes stayed fixed on my face. â€Å"How are you feeling?† â€Å"I'm fine,† I replied, surprised by his intensity. â€Å"You don't feel dizzy, sick, cold†¦ ?† â€Å"Should I?† He chuckled at my puzzled tone. â€Å"Well, I'm actually waiting for you to go into shock.† His face twisted up into that perfect crooked smile. â€Å"I don't think that will happen,† I said after I could breathe again. â€Å"I've always been very good at repressing unpleasant things.† â€Å"Just the same, I'll feel better when you have some sugar and food in you.† Right on cue, the waitress appeared with our drinks and a basket of breadsticks. She stood with her back to me as she placed them on the table. â€Å"Are you ready to order?† she asked Edward. â€Å"Bella?† he asked. She turned unwillingly toward me. I picked the first thing I saw on the menu. â€Å"Um†¦ I'll have the mushroom ravioli.† â€Å"And you?† She turned back to him with a smile. â€Å"Nothing for me,† he said. Of course not. â€Å"Let me know if you change your mind.† The coy smile was still in place, but he wasn't looking at her, and she left dissatisfied. â€Å"Drink,† he ordered. I sipped at my soda obediently, and then drank more deeply, surprised by how thirsty I was. I realized I had finished the whole thing when he pushed his glass toward me. â€Å"Thanks,† I muttered, still thirsty. The cold from the icy soda was radiating through my chest, and I shivered. â€Å"Are you cold?† â€Å"It's just the Coke,† I explained, shivering again. â€Å"Don't you have a jacket?† His voice was disapproving. â€Å"Yes.† I looked at the empty bench next to me. â€Å"Oh – I left it in Jessica's car,† I realized. Edward was shrugging out of his jacket. I suddenly realized that I had never once noticed what he was wearing – not just tonight, but ever. I just couldn't seem to look away from his face. I made myself look now, focusing. He was removing a light beige leather jacket now; underneath he wore an ivory turtleneck sweater. It fit him snugly, emphasizing how muscular his chest was. He handed me the jacket, interrupting my ogling. â€Å"Thanks,† I said again, sliding my arms into his jacket. It was cold – the way my jacket felt when I first picked it up in the morning, hanging in the drafty hallway. I shivered again. It smelled amazing. I inhaled, trying to identify the delicious scent. It didn't smell like cologne. The sleeves were much too long; I shoved them back so I could free my hands. â€Å"That color blue looks lovely with your skin,† he said, watching me. I was surprised; I looked down, flushing, of course. He pushed the bread basket toward me. â€Å"Really, I'm not going into shock,† I protested. â€Å"You should be – a normal person would be. You don't even look shaken.† He seemed unsettled. He stared into my eyes, and I saw how light his eyes were, lighter than I'd ever seen them, golden butterscotch. â€Å"I feel very safe with you,† I confessed, mesmerized into telling the truth again. That displeased him; his alabaster brow furrowed. He shook his head, frowning. â€Å"This is more complicated than I'd planned,† he murmured to himself. I picked up a breadstick and began nibbling on the end, measuring his expression. I wondered when it would be okay to start questioning him. â€Å"Usually you're in a better mood when your eyes are so light,† I commented, trying to distract him from whatever thought had left him frowning and somber. He stared at me, stunned. â€Å"What?† â€Å"You're always crabbier when your eyes are black – I expect it then,† I went on. â€Å"I have a theory about that.† His eyes narrowed. â€Å"More theories?† â€Å"Mm-hm.† I chewed on a small bite of the bread, trying to look indifferent. â€Å"I hope you were more creative this time†¦ or are you still stealing from comic books?† His faint smile was mocking; his eyes were still tight. â€Å"Well, no, I didn't get it from a comic book, but I didn't come up with it on my own, either,† I confessed. â€Å"And?† he prompted. But then the waitress strode around the partition with my food. I realized we'd been unconsciously leaning toward each other across the table, because we both straightened up as she approached. She set the dish in front of me – it looked pretty good – and turned quickly to Edward. â€Å"Did you change your mind?† she asked. â€Å"Isn't there anything I can get you?† I may have been imagining the double meaning in her words. â€Å"No, thank you, but some more soda would be nice.† He gestured with a long white hand to the empty cups in front of me. â€Å"Sure.† She removed the empty glasses and walked away. â€Å"You were saying?† he asked. â€Å"I'll tell you about it in the car. If†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I paused. â€Å"There are conditions?† He raised one eyebrow, his voice ominous. â€Å"I do have a few questions, of course.† â€Å"Of course.† The waitress was back with two more Cokes. She sat them down without a word this time, and left again. I took a sip. â€Å"Well, go ahead,† he pushed, his voice still hard. I started with the most undemanding. Or so I thought. â€Å"Why are you in Port Angeles?† He looked down, folding his large hands together slowly on the table. His eyes flickered up at me from under his lashes, the hint of a smirk on his face. â€Å"Next.† â€Å"But that's the easiest one,† I objected. â€Å"Next,† he repeated. I looked down, frustrated. I unrolled my silverware, picked up my fork, and carefully speared a ravioli. I put it in my mouth slowly, still looking down, chewing while I thought. The mushrooms were good. I swallowed and took another sip of Coke before I looked up. â€Å"Okay, then.† I glared at him, and continued slowly. â€Å"Let's say, hypothetically of course, that†¦ someone†¦ could know what people are thinking, read minds, you know – with a few exceptions.† â€Å"Just one exception,† he corrected, â€Å"hypothetically.† â€Å"All right, with one exception, then.† I was thrilled that he was playing along, but I tried to seem casual. â€Å"How does that work? What are the limitations? How would†¦ that someone†¦ find someone else at exactly the right time? How would he know she was in trouble?† I wondered if my convoluted questions even made sense. â€Å"Hypothetically?† he asked. â€Å"Sure.† â€Å"Well, if†¦ that someone†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Let's call him ‘Joe,'† I suggested. He smiled wryly. â€Å"Joe, then. If Joe had been paying attention, the timing wouldn't have needed to be quite so exact.† He shook his head, rolling his eyes. â€Å"Only you could get into trouble in a town this small. You would have devastated their crime rate statistics for a decade, you know.† â€Å"We were speaking of a hypothetical case,† I reminded him frostily. He laughed at me, his eyes warm. â€Å"Yes, we were,† he agreed. â€Å"Shall we call you ‘Jane'?† â€Å"How did you know?† I asked, unable to curb my intensity. I realized I was leaning toward him again. He seemed to be wavering, torn by some internal dilemma. His eyes locked with mine, and I guessed he was making the decision right then whether or not to simply tell me the truth. â€Å"You can trust me, you know,† I murmured. I reached forward, without thinking, to touch his folded hands, but he slid them away minutely, and I pulled my hand back. â€Å"I don't know if I have a choice anymore.† His voice was almost a whisper. â€Å"I was wrong – you're much more observant than I gave you credit for.† â€Å"I thought you were always right.† â€Å"I used to be.† He shook his head again. â€Å"I was wrong about you on one other thing, as well. You're not a magnet for accidents – that's not a broad enough classification. You are a magnet for trouble. If there is anything dangerous within a ten-mile radius, it will invariably find you.† â€Å"And you put yourself into that category?† I guessed. His face turned cold, expressionless. â€Å"Unequivocally.† I stretched my hand across the table again – ignoring him when he pulled back slightly once more – to touch the back of his hand shyly with my fingertips. His skin was cold and hard, like a stone. â€Å"Thank you.† My voice was fervent with gratitude. â€Å"That's twice now.† His face softened. â€Å"Let's not try for three, agreed?† I scowled, but nodded. He moved his hand out from under mine, placing both of his under the table. But he leaned toward me. â€Å"I followed you to Port Angeles,† he admitted, speaking in a rush. â€Å"I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before, and it's much more troublesome than I would have believed. But that's probably just because it's you. Ordinary people seem to make it through the day without so many catastrophes.† He paused. I wondered if it should bother me that he was following me; instead I felt a strange surge of pleasure. He stared, maybe wondering why my lips were curving into an involuntary smile. â€Å"Did you ever think that maybe my number was up the first time, with the van, and that you've been interfering with fate?† I speculated, distracting myself. â€Å"That wasn't the first time,† he said, and his voice was hard to hear. I stared at him in amazement, but he was looking down. â€Å"Your number was up the first time I met you.† I felt a spasm of fear at his words, and the abrupt memory of his violent black glare that first day†¦ but the overwhelming sense of safety I felt in his presence stifled it. By the time he looked up to read my eyes, there was no trace of fear in them. â€Å"You remember?† he asked, his angel's face grave. â€Å"Yes.† I was calm. â€Å"And yet here you sit.† There was a trace of disbelief in his voice; he raised one eyebrow. â€Å"Yes, here I sit†¦ because of you.† I paused. â€Å"Because somehow you knew how to find me today†¦ ?† I prompted. He pressed his lips together, staring at me through narrowed eyes, deciding again. His eyes flashed down to my full plate, and then back to me. â€Å"You eat, I'll talk,† he bargained. I quickly scooped up another ravioli and popped it in my mouth. â€Å"It's harder than it should be – keeping track of you. Usually I can find someone very easily, once I've heard their mind before.† He looked at me anxiously, and I realized I had frozen. I made myself swallow, then stabbed another ravioli and tossed it in. â€Å"I was keeping tabs on Jessica, not carefully – like I said, only you could find trouble in Port Angeles – and at first I didn't notice when you took off on your own. Then, when I realized that you weren't with her anymore, I went looking for you at the bookstore I saw in her head. I could tell that you hadn't gone in, and that you'd gone south†¦ and I knew you would have to turn around soon. So I was just waiting for you, randomly searching through the thoughts of people on the street – to see if anyone had noticed you so I would know where you were. I had no reason to be worried†¦ but I was strangely anxious†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He was lost in thought, staring past me, seeing things I couldn't imagine. â€Å"I started to drive in circles, still†¦ listening. The sun was finally setting, and I was about to get out and follow you on foot. And then -† He stopped, clenching his teeth together in sudden fury. He made an effort to calm himself. â€Å"Then what?† I whispered. He continued to stare over my head. â€Å"I heard what they were thinking,† he growled, his upper lip curling slightly back over his teeth. â€Å"I saw your face in his mind.† He suddenly leaned forward, one elbow appearing on the table, his hand covering his eyes. The movement was so swift it startled me. â€Å"It was very†¦ hard – you can't imagine how hard – for me to simply take you away, and leave them†¦ alive.† His voice was muffled by his arm. â€Å"I could have let you go with Jessica and Angela, but I was afraid if you left me alone, I would go looking for them,† he admitted in a whisper. I sat quietly, dazed, my thoughts incoherent. My hands were folded in my lap, and I was leaning weakly against the back of the seat. He still had his face in his hand, and he was as still as if he'd been carved from the stone his skin resembled. Finally he looked up, his eyes seeking mine, full of his own questions. â€Å"Are you ready to go home?† he asked. â€Å"I'm ready to leave,† I qualified, overly grateful that we had the hour-long ride home together. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him. The waitress appeared as if she'd been called. Or watching. â€Å"How are we doing?† she asked Edward. â€Å"We're ready for the check, thank you.† His voice was quiet, rougher, still reflecting the strain of our conversation. It seemed to muddle her. He looked up, waiting. â€Å"S-sure,† she stuttered. â€Å"Here you go.† She pulled a small leather folder from the front pocket of her black apron and handed it to him. There was a bill in his hand already. He slipped it into the folder and handed it right back to her. â€Å"No change.† He smiled. Then he stood up, and I scrambled awkwardly to my feet. She smiled invitingly at him again. â€Å"You have a nice evening.† He didn't look away from me as he thanked her. I suppressed a smile. He walked close beside me to the door, still careful not to touch me. I remembered what Jessica had said about her relationship with Mike, how they were almost to the first-kiss stage. I sighed. Edward seemed to hear me, and he looked down curiously. I looked at the sidewalk, grateful that he didn't seem to be able to know what I was thinking. He opened the passenger door, holding it for me as I stepped in, shutting it softly behind me. I watched him walk around the front of the car, amazed, yet again, by how graceful he was. I probably should have been used to that by now – but I wasn't. I had a feeling Edward wasn't the kind of person anyone got used to. Once inside the car, he started the engine and turned the heater on high. It had gotten very cold, and I guessed the good weather was at an end. I was warm in his jacket, though, breathing in the scent of it when I thought he couldn't see. Edward pulled out through the traffic, apparently without a glance, flipping around to head toward the freeway. â€Å"Now,† he said significantly, â€Å"it's your turn.†