What Is True Love Essays - English-language Films, Fiction, Film

What Is True Love? Rough Draft Brooke Gladstone 5/17/2000 Period #3 What is true love? The quality of true love is highly debated among different people. Some people believe true love relies on rules or that it simply does not exist. However, true love is an unconditional love between two people, when two people love each other for who they are. In Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations there are many different situations where true love become relevant. First of all, there is a gentle giant by the name of Joe is Great Expectations. He is Pip's brother-in-law. Joe is a very peaceful man, but by looking at him you would be scared. He is a very large man and the blacksmith of the town. In the beginning of the book he is married to Mrs. Joe Gargery (Pip's sister). Joe loves Mrs. Joe very much, and in the book he states that she is a, ?Fine figure of a woman,? (Dickens, pp. ). In a scene in the novel he discusses with Pip how he is happy with his life, but on the opposite Mrs. Joe is not exactly on the same term. She is very unhappy with her life, and she believes that she ?deserves? better than Joe, or a blacksmith. Dickens' portrays Mrs. Joe as a bitter woman, but the audience can see the love she has for Joe, even if she is not satisfied with her marriage to Joe. At a later time in the book Mrs. Joe sadly passes away, and you can feel the sadness Joe has towards her death. A few years later he marries Biddy. Biddy has always been around the family to help in the house while Mrs. Joe was sick. The friendship between Joe and Biddy eventually became a loving relationship and Joe purposed to her. Obviously Joe may had loved Mrs. Joe very dearly, but he shortly recovered from his lost and married Biddy. Mr. Pocket, Pip's roommate, is a friendly man whom Pip meets while he moves to London. Mr. Pocket is very proper and teaches Pip about posture, manners, and eating habits. Mr. Pocket proposes to a lady named Clara. Pocket describes Clara as a gentle, kind lady who he is in love with. He talks of her much in Pip and his conversations. It seems as if he loves her very much, but their relationship has just begun and their love is still growing towards each other. The audience may not feel the love between the two as much as other relationships. On the other hand, Miss Havasham's relationship with her fiancee was horrid. It turned out to be a terrible nightmare. Compeyson was Miss Havasham's fiancee who left her at the altar. Miss Havasham dreads this day in the novel. Pip visits Satis House and she is wearing her wedding dress, she has the wedding cake on the dining room table, and the clock is stopped at the time she was left at the altar. It is obvious that she loved Compeyson very much, but doing what he did she now hates men. Because of this she raises Estella to hate men and torture them. Estella tells Pip later in the book how she wouldn't want to marry Pip because she doesn't want to hurt him. Finally, Pip's relationship with Estella. Although there is no such thing, Pip loved Estella very much. Above true love is described as an unconditional love between two people, so according to that definition this relationship would not be considered true love. Pip has a very strong and indescribable love towards Estella, but the passion is not returned. Estella plays with Pip as if he is a yo-yo. One moment she mentions something that may make Pip believe that she does love him, and another she is upset with him for thinking she admired him. In conclusion, true love is perceived many different ways. In the novel Great Expectations there are many different relationships which display different levels of love and romance. There is a relationship where one of the members passed away, another where the relationship is so young the love has not blossomed and two relationships where the love is not returned from the other member of the relationship. All in all, Charles Dickens never places a relationship where true love is evident. Bibliography none Book Reports

New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics The WritePass Journal

New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics Abstract New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics ).   Others argue that remote servers have the capacity to increase security in several cases using emerging technology in order to better serve consumers (Reilly, Wren, and Berry 2010). Cloud computing allows users to keep information and data, of all varieties, on remote servers.   Cyber criminals are turning to these areas more and more in their efforts to co-opt personal information in the pursuit of crime (Accorsi and Ruan 2012). Cloud server companies often dispute the claim of vulnerability and cite increased security statistics (Reilly, Wren and Berry 2010). The combined elements of cost reduction and ease of access are driving the industry to expand at a very challenging rate for digital forensics to match. The drive to implement a standard for oversight and enforcement is a significant challenge for digital forensics (Accorsi and Ruan 2012).   Many who argue for the standardization cite the reduction in safety concerns as decreasing overall implementation cost (Reilly, Wren and Berry 2010).  Ã‚   Others demonstrate that a standard system is increasingly vulnerable to risk factors (Accorsi and Ruan 2012).   Each unique server and company will have the responsibility to upgrade their elements in order to aid in the digital forensic requirements of the modern and emerging era (Reilly, Wren, and Berry 2010).   This leads to the recognition of larger issues that must be dealt with in order to achieve progress. Another field of digital forensic challenges rests in the sheer quantity of data that must be analysed in order to justify the expense of resources (Garfinkel 2013).   As the global market for electronics continues to grow and become incorporated into daily life, the number of opportunities for cyber-crime will climb. However, many companies cite the presence of emerging technology has being able to cope with the mass of information (Accorsi and Ruan 2012). The area of machine learning in computers has the potential to alleviate much of the tedious work that digital forensics entails (Ariu, Giacinto and Roli 2011). However, machine learning has been argued to produce security issues that could further complicate the digital forensics task at hand (Garfinkel 2013).   Much of the issues of security have the potential to be resolved with the implementation of a wide ranging standard (Ibid). A published standard is argued to be more vulnerable and predictable than the piece meal appr oach used today (Casey 2004). While a good idea a standard substantially increases the overall risk factors. As opposed to the area of cloud computing the areas of quantity and network forensics stands to become a primary area of concern as companies and individuals employ the technology for gain (Pilli, Joshi and Niyogi 2010).   The development of Network Forensic Analysis Tools, or NFATs, is a challenge that must be met by regulators and oversight entities in order to minimize the fundamental impact of cyber-crime.   Others illustrate that these same tools hold the potential to be turned against a standardized system (Ariu, Giacinto and Roli 2011).   There needs to be a balance between oversight and individual freedoms as regards privacy and security. Conclusion The area of digital forensics is facing many new challenges going into the next generation.   There is a need to balance the rights of the individual with those of the enforcement agencies. Further, the lack of a standard regulation around the world makes any long term enforcement prospect dim.   At the same time, any implementation of a wide ranging standard runs the risk of becoming easy to corrupt, thereby raising even more digital issues. The area of Cloud Computing, due to the low cost to consumer and easy accessibility is a primary concern for the area of digital forensics. With challenges ranging from the acquisition to the processing to the legalities of the use of the data acquired form this market, there is a real sense of urgency in the drive to rein in cyber-crime. Each of these factors makes the market attractive to cyber-crime and a continuous challenge for digital forensics. Further areas of development and increasing challenge rest in the processing of high quantities of data and the accompanying levels of security present on any single network.   In each case of computer forensics in these areas there is a critical need to continuously update or risk the threat of being overrun by the sheer numbers.   There is a need to innovate in order for computer forensics to recover and utilize evidence in the face of an ever increasingly complex digital world. References Accorsi, R. and Ruan, K. 2012. Challenges of Cloud Forensics: A Survey of the Missing Capabilities.  Cybercrime, p. 32. Ariu, D., Giacinto, G. and Roli, F. 2011. Machine learning in computer forensics (and the lessons learned from machine learning in computer security). pp. 99104. Casey, E. 2004.  Digital evidence and computer crime. London: Academic Press. Crime-research.org. 2013.  Computer Crime Research Centre Daily news about computer crime, internet fraud and cyber terrorism. [online] Available at: crime-research.org/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. F3.org.uk. 2013.  F3 – The First Forensic Forum | Uniting digital forensic practitioners. [online] Available at: https://www.f3.org.uk/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. Forensics.nl. 2013.  Computer Forensics, Cybercrime and Steganography Resources. [online] Available at: forensics.nl/ [Accessed: 10 Dec 2013]. Garfinkel, S. 2010. Digital forensics research: The next 10 years.  Digital Investigation, 7 pp. 6473. Garfinkel, S. 2013. Digital Forensics Modern crime often leaves an electronic trail. Finding and preserving that evidence requires careful methods as well as technical skill.  AMERICAN SCIENTIST, 101 (5), pp. 370377. Pilli, E., Joshi, R. and Niyogi, R. 2010. Network forensic frameworks: Survey and research challenges.  Digital Investigation, 7 (1), pp. 1427. Reilly, D., Wren, C. and Berry, T. 2010. Cloud computing: Forensic challenges for law enforcement. pp. 17. New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics Abstract New developments in digital crimes and the challenges to computer forensics , p52) claims that the cyber criminals continuously create new methods of circumventing forensic and security techniques through different means like quickly embracing new technologies, targeting outdated or emerging technologies before their weaknesses are noticed and corrected. The contemporary cyber criminals have even gone further to devise anti forensic techniques that may at times require the forensic experts to carry out endless investigations into the attacks but still fail to generate enough information for generating meaningful inferences. These criminals have also noticed that the forensic officers often rely so much on windows operating system and have switched to using other operating systems like Mac OS and Linux to make it more difficult for the forensic officers to unearth their activities (Ec-Council2009, p98). The over reliance on Windows by the forensic officers is weakening the power of forensic officers in investigation other non-Windows systems and in the proces s giving the criminals an upper hand in continuing with their unlawful activities.   This is the reason why computer forensics should embrace new better ways of investigation using all types of operating systems to ensure that the criminals are dealt with in the best way possible. Conclusion Computer forensics is a very important field as it plays a critical role in mitigating and investigating criminal activities. However, there are very many different challenges facing the forensic officers in the modern society as highlighted in the paper. This calls for quick adoption of new, better ways of dealing with the cyber criminals to regulate their activities in good time before the whole situation spins out of hand. These new challenges can be addressed by pursuing an active approach to forensics and not allowing the cyber criminals to act first before moving in to generate solutions. The forensic officers should fully liaise with the manufactures of new devices and work together in tackling any use of such gadgets in unlawful activities. Computer forensics is an important field that should be enriched so as to not only mitigate the effects of cybercrime but also punish the criminals heavily to deter the criminals and other similar minded people from committing crimes. Bibliography Ec-Council (2009).Investigating Networking Intrusions and Cybercrime.Course Technology Ptr. Kruse, W. G., Heiser, J. G. (2003).Computer forensics: Incident response essentials. Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. Maras, M.-H. (2012). Computer forensics: Cybercriminals, laws, and evidence. Sudbury, Mass: Jones Bartlett Learning. Mohay, G. M., Anderson, A., Collie, B., Vel, O. ., McKemmish, R. (2003).Computer and intrusion forensics. Boston, Mass: Artech House. Newman, R. C. (2007). Computer forensics: Evidence collection and management. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications. Phillips, N., Enfinger, S. (2009). Guide to computer forensics and investigations. Clifton Park, N.Y: Delmar. Sheetz, M. (2007).Computer forensics: An essential guide for accountants, lawyers, and managers. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Shinder, D. L. (2002).Scene of the cybercrime: Computer forensics handbook. Rockland: Syngress Media. Solomon, M., Rudolph, K., In Tittel, ., Broom, N., Barrett, D. (2011). Computer forensics jumpstart. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Vacca, J. R. (2005). Computer forensics: Computer crime scene investigation. Hingham, Mass: Charles River Media. Volonino, L., Anzaldua, R., Godwin, J. (2007).Computer forensics: Principles and practices. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

American Constitution Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

American Constitution - Research Paper Example The details of this amendment make it necessary for a search warrant to be issued before the personal life of any American citizen is subject to view. These search and arrest warrants also have to abide to certain requirements to make them plausible and usable. Not only do they require judicial approval but the warrant must also have a suitable cause initiating the search or arrest. Thus, these warrants are created according to the knowledge of a specific person, mostly a law enforcement officer, who have sworn to it and are therefore responsible and accountable for it to the issuing court. In 1885, the Murray v Hoboken land law determined that the fourth amendment applied only to criminal law and not any kind of civil law (Encyclopedia Britannica). The federal government then ensured that areas like narcotics were also included in the realm of criminal jurisdiction. However, the Supreme Court soon ruled that some searches and seizures were violating the Fourth Amendment despite the warrant carrying a probable cause and a limitation in scope (US Supreme Court 1967). Yet, at the same time the Court has also allowed innumerable seizures and searches to be carried out without any form of warrant, only because they feel a probable cause to exist that a criminal offense has been or is being committed (US Supreme Court 2004).This a clear portrayal of how the reasonableness and issuing of the warrant are often vastly different. The ACLA v NSA case relates back to the creation of a classified foreign intelligence program, now known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program. This agency could intercept international telephone and internet communications from numerous persons and organizations without needing to issue a warrant. The plaintiff in this legal case included, ACLA, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Greenpeace along with five individuals who are authors and journalists. These included Christopher Hitchens, James Bamford, Tara McKelvey Larry Diamond: a democracy scholar of Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, and Barnett Rubin: an Afghanistan scholar of New York University. All these individuals claimed to have a history of communicating with people located inside or from the Middle East. They held the opinion based on a secure belief that their communications had been targeted by the TSP. This idea was because of the public kn owledge that had been attained by the workings of this program. ACLA v NSA was one of the first lawsuits produced that challenged the Terrorist Surveillance Program (Hibbits 2006). The District Court presented its own opinion. Judge Taylor wrote a forty-four page and eleven part opinion which was responsible for examining the defendant's claims over the part played by the NSA in this movement. It was discovered that according to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act the NSA violated that laws that had been decided. According to FISA, the Terrorist Surveillance Act was passed in 2006 through which President Bush gave additional power to the authorities to conduct electronic surveillance on suspected terrorists in the United States subject to the view of the Congress. Judge Taylor also felt the NSA responsible for violating not the fourth

HIV1-Infection Drug Resistance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HIV1-Infection Drug Resistance - Essay Example Antiretroviral therapy is the only existing response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The disease has already and continues to kill so many people in the world. The virus mutates to thrive in antiretroviral conquered environments. This is an obstacle as it will make scientists stop focusing on coming up with a cure and start thinking of fighting this resistance. There is the need, therefore, to understand why the virus mutates and consider the strength of second-line regimens treatments as an alternative. The middle-income countries face the most challenges in trying to solve the virus’ resistance to ART. There is need for independent organizations from developed countries to carry out researches to explain these Assumptions The paper makes the general assumption that, in all low and middle-income countries, the resistance and rate of spread are the same. The opportunistic infections are the same in the people living with the disease in the low and middle-income countries. In additio n to that, the assumption in this paper is that the resistance to antiretroviral therapy is due to mutation of the virus, and no other factors result in the case. Limitations The paper is limited in explaining the factors that contribute to the resistance observed in emerging cases. The reason or reasons as to why the virus mutates once it gets in new environments are not explained. Preview and Methodology The literature review in this paper looks at three different reports analyzing the emergence of the virus and its resistance nature.

Global Business And Culture Analysis Of Croatia Cultural Studies Essay

Global Business And Culture Analysis Of Croatia Cultural Studies Essay The analysis of the cultural perspectives of doing business in this paper is concentrated on the outline of the culture of graduate students taking Business Administration in Croatia an U.S as this group is the one that will gradually assume the leading role in the Croatian and American economy and business community. The research gives comprehensive understanding of dimensions and elements of culture in Croatia and America, how these elements and dimensions are integrated by locals conducting business and lastly the implications of US businesses that wish to conduct business in Croatia. In order be unbiased in the generalization of the findings, simple random sampling was used to select the respondents for this study. Comparison of cultures has been done through measuring their magnitude (Hofstede, 2001). Nevertheless, the magnitudes used to weigh against cultures are usually not physical dimensions but, rather are dealings of the attitudes and values that dissimilar cultures contain. Some of the dimensions of culture were those developed by Ali Alshawi (2005) which include: (1) Uncertainty avoidance (2) Power Distance (3) Masculinity/femininity (4) Individualism/collectivism (5) Confucian Dynamism (6) Universalism- Particularism, (7) Neutral vs. Emotional Relationship Orientations(8) Achievement vs. Ascription (9) Conservatism vs. Affective/intellectual autonomy (10) Hierarchy vs. Egalitarian (11) Harmony vs. Mastery (13) Communal Sharing Relationships (14) Authority Ranking Relationships (15) Equality Matching Relationships (16) Market Pricing Relationships. Investigation was conducted to establish the measurement of the customs which resulted in momentous level of sway in the viewpoints of conducting trade. The report of graduate scholars who are enrolled in Business Administration might not necessarily signify a real picture of the typical or universal outline of the business customs in Croatia, hence becoming a constraint to the study. The paper concludes by proposing the right moves in business that can be made in order to make a successful transaction. Key words Culture, cultural dimensions, business environment Introduction Culture can be defined as the way of life of people including language, sciences and art, their interaction, spirituality as well as their social activity, convections, protocols and their negotiations (Shahla, 2002). In order to make sure that people work together proficiently and together towards business objectives in a positive and motivating environment, they need to be aware of the existence and importance of both a corporate culture and international culture. In foreign countries, getting everybody to work together might not be very easy. Apart from language issues, different countries have different approaches to work. Some cultures take offense of certain comments. A Christmas party might not be seen too keen by non-Christian religions. Cultural sets of beliefs and differences cannot be easily changed or overcome (Hofstede, 1991). But it is important for any business owner or manager to be aware of them and how they impact their business. This will help to adjust to them and improve efficiency, profitability and success of business. Problem statement Culture is defined as the standards and manners of a group of people or community. Culture also determines how a country does business that. Understanding the difference in cultures of different county is a step in succeeding business in a foreign country. This research paper was aimed at establishing different cultural perspectives of doing business in Croatia. Objective The main objective of the research was to ascertain the cultural perspectives of doing business in Croatia. This objective was achieved through the following specific research objectives. To determine the major elements of dimensions of culture in Croatia. To ascertain how dimensions of culture are integrated by locals in business. To assess the difference in Croatian and US culture and Business. To determine the implication of US business wishing to be conducted in Croatia. Significance of the study The study provided an understanding of Croatian culture which is indispensable when it comes to successfully running business in Croatia. Limitation of the study As far as this study is concerned the challenge presented here in is that the profile of the scholars may not give a real scenario of the business as far as culture is concerned in America and Croatia (Hofstede, 2001). Financial constraints led to selection of a small sample size which might not be an entire representation of the entire population. Literature review Culture defined From the perspective of a humanist, the one Mathew Arnold used the word culture to pass on to an ideal of individual human refinement, of the finest that has been thought and said in the world.  This idea of culture is comparable to the  German concept of  building: According to an anthropologist Kroeber and Kluckhohn culture can be defined as: Consisting or else being made up of implicit as well as explicit patterns, and behavior transmitted and acquired through symbols with different achievements from groups of human beings (McCoy, 2003).   As a replacement for defining culture as a kind of knowledge, McGrew suggests that Culture can be looked into as a number of steps which may include the following (i) a novel prototype of performance is made-up, or else one which is already existing is modified. (ii) Modernizer transforms this prototype to another one. (iii) A kind of the prototype is steady across and within players, conceivably even in terms of identifiable features considered stylistic. (iv) One who obtains the prototype keeps the capability to do it long post acquiring it. (v) The prototype extends across units which constitute a population e.g. troops, clans, or bands just to mention but a few. (vi) The prototype bears transversely generations There exist three kinds of culture which are of great significance according to Ali Alshawi (2004a). They include; national culture which includes several core values meant to shape the individuals behavior and the entire society not forgetting organizational culture (Adler 1997; Bagchi and Cerveny 2003). Finally, there exist a level of individual culture according to Dorfman and Howell (1988). Their study shows the impact of national civilization on the behavior of an individual. The business civilization of a particular country is as a result of a number causes from its present and past which are so abnormal such that they can never be finally and fully explained or understood. Overview of Croatian culture Croatia became a constituent republic of the Federative Popular Republic of Yugoslavia after the Second World War, which inherited the ex-Yugoslav kingdom with art governed by the canon of socialist realism and science and education governed by the canon of dialectic and historical materialism. Self-management system was introduced in 1950s. Cultural and other public domains were decentralized and regulated on the level of the six constituent republics. Modernization and the global openness of the country brought various cultural influences. Ideological control over culture loosened, followed by a national movement in which cultural and educational institutions played a visible role. Despite the ensuing political repression the public policies led to greater autonomy of the republics in the federation. The current government was appointed in 2009, after the political shifts caused by resignation of the former prime minister (2004-2009). Greek, Roman and Byzantine are the blends of Croatia, the majority of the population is Croats. Minorities include Serbs, Hungarians and Gypsies. Although Croatia is a sovereign nation, it has a unique culture that has been driven numerous civilizations and empires. It is well known for the rich culture it has, natural beauty, and many national parks and successful tourism industry. Ethics Ethics is the common agreed upon practice of different moral principles or values. It concentrates on the general nature of morals and the specific moral choice an individual makes in relationship to others. It represents the rules and/or standards governing the conduct of the member of a profession. The context of this inquiry will be ethics applied to business. Business ethics in Croatia is perceived as good. In business operation, the regulations are not violated massively, especially in transactions with domestic partners. As far as the accomplishment of contract obligations are concerned, the impression is good. Religion Croatians are mainly Roman Catholic, with small percentages of Uniates (Eastern Orthodox Christians, recognizing the pope), Protestants, and Muslims. Some pre-Christian essentials have been included into Christian practices and beliefs. Other influences on Croatian religious beliefs and practices have come from European and Near Eastern cultures, from rural and urban traditions alike, resulting in an amalgam of different heritages. Sacred and religious aspects of traditional culture were neglected during the Socialist period because religion was relegated solely to the private sphere of life. Catholic Church has a role to play as far as Croatian society is concerned. The pastor participates significantly in the countrys culture as well as education education. Croatians are particularly loyal to Blessed Virgin Mother Mary. There exist asylums all over the nation state put up in her honor. Every town and village has a supporter saint and that saints feast day is distinguished with a ch urch and parade rite. Some of the rural communities still do have a conventional beacon on their supporter saints day. Many specialized persons also do have their own supporter saint. Religious conviction is a key in uniting the culture of Croatian, greater part of the Croatians is subscribed to Roman Catholic. During a Roman Catholic holiday, commercial activities close. Patrons of each and every town and city in Croatia lead the celebration of saints holiday. The Catholic Church has for ages aided the development of Croatias history and culture, it carrys on to be seen in everyday Croatian life. National Pride Croatians love their heritage and country and when criticized they take it very personally. Hence, Croatians at one time can be seen as being proud, pretentious and may seem haughty to foreigners. Nationalists Croats can be considered as extremely self-important of their custom and ethnicity and hence are considered to be staunch nationalists. Croats refer their nation as Our Beautiful Homeland (Lijepa naÃ…Â ¡a).This emerges that it is the same title as that one of the national anthem of their country. The intellect of patriotism emerges both from their extended and wealthy civilization as well as a inheritance of foreign control and invasion. Folklore plays an important part in culture preservation. Life understanding is transformed into poetic songs, verse, fairy tales, melodies, symbolic rituals, costumes, dance, music as well as jewellery just to mention but a few. Poems and Folksongs frequently show to the feeling and consider between members of the family. Social structure In as far as this society is concerned; the family still remains to be the basic unit of the society. Extended family is also recognized in this society and the members remains very close to each other. Basic commodities as well as security to some extent, is provided by the family to its members. Weekends are well thought-out as time meant to be spent by the members of the family together. This society values family to an extent that they will not allow business matters to interfere with their family lives. Dimensions of culture According to McCoy (2003), the highly considered concept of culture is the dimensions of culture by Hofstede. An all-encompassing dimensions of culture were projected by Alshawi and Ali (2005) using a normative review of literature in the field of culture. These dimensions are labeled: (1) Uncertainty avoidance (2) Power Distance (3) Masculinity/femininity (4) Individualism/collectivism (5) Confucian Dynamism (6) Universalism- Particularism, (7) Neutral vs. Emotional Relationship Orientations(8) Achievement vs. Ascription (9) Conservatism vs. Affective/intellectual autonomy (10) Hierarchy vs. Egalitarian (11) Harmony vs. Mastery (13) Communal Sharing Relationships (14) Authority Ranking Relationships (15) Equality Matching Relationships (16) Market Pricing Relationships. Hofstede identified four dimensions: Uncertainty avoidance (UA) Vagueness evasion echoes or rather shows a cultures acceptance of vagueness and reception of menace. Degree to which community in a nation state prefers prearranged over formless situations: from relatively flexible to extremely rigid. Power Distance (PD) Power distance refers to the sharing of power within a society. Extent of disparity in the midst of people, which the inhabitants of a nation state do consider as normal: from relatively equal to extremely unequal. Masculinity/femininity (MF) The masculinity femininity measurement does explain the extent to which cultures overriding values are nurturing or assertive. Individualism/collectivism (IC) Extend to which persons in nation gain knowledge of acting as an individual instead of collective members of a cluster, moving to individualist from collectivist. Referred in this dimension is how individuals identify and relate with others. Individual attention compared to group interests dominates in an individualistic culture. It is therefore evident that the links in between are very tight. Communities ensure that they do take care of entire community. That is the elderly and the young. Masakazu (1994) defines modern individualism as a vision of humankind that gives good reason for internal unilateral self-assertion and beliefs, as well as antagonism based on these. In a communalist society, the considerations of the group triumph upon the attention of the personality. People are incorporated into strong and cohesive in-groups that carry on throughout a life span to defend in exchange for unthinking loyalty. Variation is displayed in who is considered when goals are set. In nonco nformist societies, goals are set with negligible deliberation given to groups other than possibly your direct family. In communalist societies, other crowds are taken into consideration seriously when goals are set. Individualist societies are freely incorporated; communalist societies are strongly incorporated (McGrew, 1998). One tends to define people by what they have done, their accomplishments, what kind of car they have. The question is do we function in a group or as individuals? Cultures of communitarism stress common goals and collective work (teamwork), while cultures of individualism value more individual success and creativity. Confucian Dynamism The fifth dimension of culture was acknowledged by Bond and Hofstede (1984). It is also tagged as long term vs. short term life orientations. This dimension portrays cultures that vary from values that have a short duration in relation to customs and reciprocity in relations in the society to values that are persistent and order a relationship on the criteria. The extent to which, communities or rather citizens promote collective harmony and welfare, resulting in psychological collectivism. Trompenaars (1993) defines the following dimensions: Universalism-Particularism The extent to which, communities or rather citizens weigh against generalist rules about what is right with more situation-specific relationship obligations and unique circumstances. In the context of business, what is of importance is regarded to be individuals behavior Particularism is the lower level in this type of dimension which implies giving inclination to an approach that is flexible for each specific problem Whereas universalism is the higher level of this dimension, it has the meaning of being strict in observing rules and other set standards. Neutral vs. Emotional Relationship Orientations The extent to which, communities or rather citizens weigh against objective and detached interactions with interactions where emotions is more readily expressed. In the neutral concept, emotions are barred from being displayed or shown. Where as in the effective concept, displaying emotions in a business relationship is acceptable Specific vs. Diffuse Orientations The extent to which communities in are engaged in a business relation and encounters are marked and set apart both in private and work. What matters is the acceptance of specific responsibilities assigned. The higher level of this dimension is diffuse where various relations interwoven compared to the lower level specific in which there is little intermixing of private relations Achievement vs. Ascription The extent to which, communities or rather citizens consider individual achievements as a measure with those where an individual is give specific status on the basis of membership to a group or birth grounds etc In the concept of achievement, status is got when an individual shows competence unlike in ascription where its achieved though a recognized status in title, gender, age, hierarchy, etc Schwartz (1994), defined the following dimensions: Conservatism vs. Affective/intellectual autonomy It is the extent to which citizen insist on maintaining the initial status (conservatism) or intellectual autonomy gaining pleasure and a life that is exiting Culture Dimension Definition Hierarchy vs. Egalitarian It is the extent to which individuals consider equality and freedom as a distress to others (Egalitarian), vs. Hierarchy This emphasizes on the genuineness of flat resources and responsibilities Harmony vs. Mastery It is the extent to which citizen concerned with conquering impediments in a societal setup mastery versus the distressful point of view regarding unity with the natural set up and harmoniously being fit in the environment These dimensions were emphasized by Fiske (1992): Communal Sharing Relationships This perception is related to Hofstedes opinion of collectivism. It is the extent to which citizen see the members of a given cluster as equal and at times are quite unreceptive to those coming from outside of the cluster. Authority Ranking Relationships It is the extent to which citizen involve linearity in relationship ordering with higher ranking individuals who have the rights to make decisions, enjoys privilege and are responsible for individuals at the bottom in the hierarchy. According to Schwartz (1994), this idea does not correspond with Hofstadters conception of power distance Equality Matching Relationships It is the extent to which citizens emphasize on social equalities in relations. The community has knowledge of the inequalities. Market Pricing Relationships It is the extent to which individuals have their mentality fixed to investments and Perception of dominant business culture It was examined with Trompenaars replica of four different cultures. This included a framework built on two dimensions i.e. (1) Task orientation versus person and (2) Centralization or hierarchy versus decentralization or egalitarian implying power, role, project and fulfillment orientations Research Problem Following the Trompenaars model of four diversity cultures this study aimed to ascertain the cultural perspectives of doing business in Croatia. Research Methodology Probability sampling approach was used as the research method. This method had the advantage of non biasness in generalization of findings. The research used simple random sampling; the instruments for data capture were open ended questionnaires formulated using interpretive approach to look at cultural occurrences through Trompenaars model. Research Questions The research questions were how and in what ways might the cultural dimensions, and their elements of Croatian locals affect their perspectives of doing business and the implications of US businesses wishing to be conducted in Croatia. Research hypothesis Instead of developing a hypothesis, the research was underpinned to determine different perspectives of culture in the Croatian community in relation to doing business, Research sample To define the case, the research unit of analysis was the cultural perspectives of doing business in graduate students taking Business Administration from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana in Croatia and Stanford Graduate school of Business Sample size University Sample Size Percentage University of Ljubljana 68 61.81% Stanford Graduate school of Business 42 38.19% Total 110 100% Answer to research Questions Question 1: what are the major elements and Dimensions of Culture in Croatia? For Universalism versus Particularism dimension: Croatians are individualistic, a practice that results in lack of understanding when relating in an organization and dealing with clients. Also, Croatians are used to television and other forms of media than reading magazines and the internet; this is as a result of their system of education. In the dimension Individualism vs. Communitarism, The cultural dimension affects the organizational staffing (organizations) more than people in the society. For Uncertainty avoidance dimension: Croatians have a need to work hard, provision of rules and regulations and observe punctuality For Power Distance dimension: the Croatian community have a view that is more power with those at senior most management levels ; although the organizational culture would have a view different from the insight of power distance This affect how clients are having their issues resolved since the rely on individuals high ranking in an organization as they are considered to be powerful For Masculinity/femininity dimension, Croatians are inclined to having very affectionate relationship which cultivates a tight association with family members and acquaintances which from time to time make them reliant on each other in making decisions. It has got the advantage or remaining in contact for a long time. For Confucian Dynamism Dimension: The Confucian work dynamism is now refereed to as long term orientation versus short term orientation to life. This dimension encompasses such principles as frugality, perseverance, having a sense of embarrassment, and an ordered relationship. Confucian work dynamism attributes to committed, aggravated, accountable, and knowledgeable people with a sense of dedication and organizational uniqueness and fidelity. Example of countries where long term orientation supports prudence, reservations, perseverance in achieving results and being willing to lessen oneself for a reason are South Korea, Japan, and Singapore On the other hand a short term orientation is in line with the expenditure to uphold the pressure from the society, less reservations, preferring immediate results and apprehension with a face Croatians build on the welfare of their family unit and that is the strongest affiliation according to their perception (Yin, 1994). Croatians in a working environment are inclined to have a high turn over, particularly in the private sector of the economy, since there is deficiency in competent staff. As a result it rises the cost incurred in staff training. For the Neutral vs. Emotional Relationship Orientations dimension: this dimension mostly influences the satisfaction of customers Croatians are inclined to be more emotional, and allow some space for mastery so that they can be contented when they feel happy and get concerned for; this is more connected to the treatment and at what time they feel that they are special to the organization. For the Specific vs. Diffuse Orientations dimension: Since Croatia is switching from an economy based on public sector to more private organizations, which have an effect on how Croatians perceive and their expectation regarding the quality or service. For the Achievement vs. Ascription dimension, Croatians have a propensity to try to get to a superior societal level as the traditions and norms give people more esteem according to which societal class they are from or have attained. For the Market Pricing Relationships dimension: Croatians are vigilant to prices and to them it is most important thing while considering a product being produced or services being offered For Structured or organized vs. unstructured or unorganized behavior: Croatians have a propensity to have a formless approach in their every day life; they like to adjust all the time even when it is coming to regulations and procedures in a working environment Regarding candidness to Others cultures, they show an open approach to acceptance of other peoples cultures and other principles and traditions. For the Internal vs. External (locus of control) dimension, Croatians have a strong attitude that they can have control over their destiny, which is without doubt consistent with the high levels of masculinism present in their culture Question 2: How are dimensions and elements of culture integrated by locals conducting business in Croatia? In doing business, Croatians integrate their culture in the following ways: They have long meetings which do not follow specific agenda Relationships are build only after negotiating business matters Chatting and any other form of small talks only surface after all negotiations in a meeting. Personal relationships in business is not encouraged hence an appropriate relationship that incorporates professionalism must be maintained. Education, experience that comes with status, knowledge and confidence are respected by Croatians. Superiors which are authoritative are highly valued. Success and major decisions an be made by an individual. No single person accepts the responsibility that is accompanied by failure. Decisions can be made without appropriate consultations. Flexible deadlines. Managers do not need to account for how and why decisions were reached. Question 3: What is the Comparison between the Croatian and US business Culture? The following differences arise between the Croatian and American cultures. In American culture: Meeting are short and with specific agenda Democratic leaders are valued Individuals accept responsibility of failure Consultation must be done before decision making Managers are accountable for decisions made Deadlines are strict In both cultures: Relationships are build only after negotiating business matters. Chatting and any other form of small talks only surface after all negotiations in a meeting. Personal relationships in business is not encouraged hence an appropriate relationship that incorporates professionalism must be maintained. Education, experience that comes with status, knowledge and confidence are respected. Question 4: What are the implications for US businesses that wish to conduct business in that region? In order to successfully do business in Croatia: Show respect to everybody. In addressing a colleague use the title and the first name. Avoid talks about money and problems as it depicts weak behaviors. Allow personal space. Speak directly and authoritatively. Do not criticize a Croatian but you can make suggestions. Religion war and ethnicity is never discussed. In summary cultural values are relatively stable in Croatia, for a foreigner in Croatia, the first impression is conveyed starting with courtesies and the first greeting. Frustration is avoided by knowing how and when decisions are made; acquainting one self with the outcomes of a meeting and understanding how women are engaged in into the business framework. Of importance is networking and Personal contacts in Croatian business culture than formal marketing techniques.

Keeping God in the American Culture as Depicted in the Audio Adrenaline

Keeping God in the American Culture as Depicted in the Audio Adrenaline Song, Can't Take God Away Music has always been a big part of our culture. People sing and listen to songs for entertainment and for encouragement. Explore folk songs or Negro spirituals for instance. Many slaves sang spirituals for encouragement and hope to carry them through the rough times they experienced. Even today, most people enjoy listening to music because they can relate to the things about which the artists sing. Often artists sing about things that either upset or please them. These days, much of American music exposes problems in our society. In a song entitled, Can’t Take God Away, the Christian rock group Audio Adrenaline sings about how God is being taken out of various aspects of the American culture more and more, but nothing can take Him out of the singer’s life. This song is an accurate assessment of the nation today. The song deals first with education when it explains, "You can take God out of my school/You can make me listen to you/You can take God out of the pledge" in lines 1-3. It used to be that there was daily prayer in our nation’s schools. At one time, students learned about God there. In recent years, though, God has been taken out of school as much as possible. Some people have even gone as far as taking the "under God" clause out of the Pledge of Allegiance. I agree with this portion of the song. Every day, I attend a school where I’m taught that my beliefs are just as good as yours - if you think something’s right, you are justified in doing it, even if I believe it’s wrong. I am forced to listen to the concepts of evolution that say we came from essentially nothing. Rather than learning about God, we learn about how... ...o tell you something you need to understand CHORUS You can't take God away from me You can take my life, my land, my liberty Lock me up, I'll still be free 'Cause you can't take God from me You can take God out of the law You can make me listen to ya'll You can take God out of the start But you can't take God out of my heart Listen to me closely, lend me your ear The substance of my statement lets you know I'm sincere Government officials, shapers of the land I've got to tell you something you need to understand REPEAT CHORUS BRIDGE You can't take God, you can't take God away You can't take God, you can't take God away You can't take God, you can't take God away You can't take God, you can't take God away REPEAT CHORUS Copyright  © 1993 Gotee Music/BMI/Up In The Mix Music (A Division of The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.)/BMI

Abstract and Executive Overview of Y2K

What is the Y2K issue? This paper will describe the problems associated with Y2K and how Industry, Government, and Small Businesses are handling the problem. The first chapter introduces the Y2K issues. Chapter 2 will define how this affects the different businesses and Government agencies. Chapter 3 will develop an overall plan on how to attack the problem and recommendations. The majority of this paper will develop a plan on how each of the businesses and Government agencies should attack the Y2K problems. There should be a logical approach to planning how to investigate, test, validate, and if required, develop a contingency plan for Y2K. The job is to either form a team of personnel or hire a consulting firm to assess your situation. The team should employ the following steps: assess the system, renovate the system if necessary, validate the renovation if necessary, implement the renovation if necessary, test the renovation if necessary, and finally have a contingency plan in the event that renovating the system is not feasible and/or is too late. The only necessary or required action is to assess the system. This will be discussed in detail in my paper. The real issue is that less than a year remains before the year 2000 problems are here. The recommendation is to begin working this issue now. It may be too late, but that is when the contingency plan comes in handy. 2. What impacts are they†re to Government, Industry, and Small Business? 3. What can Government, Industry, and Small Business Do to Combat the Y2K Issues? There are actually more dates than just the year 2000 date. There are dates that can impact the leap year algorithms; Julian dates, fiscal year dates, calendar dates, and ASCII code dates. The top dates that need to be checked are: 1. 9 September 1999. This date can be read in code as 9999. In computer language, specifically ASCII code, this translates into a request for the processor to stop processing. 2. 1 October 1999. This is the start of the new Fiscal year for the Government (FY00). The algorithm for this may not be able to go from FY99 to FY00. 3. 31 December 1999. At midnight, the date rolls over to 1 January 2000. This problem can exist in two areas. The first is in the BIOS†s that exist for most desktop machines. The BIOS†s normally contain the clock and date data. The operator updates this data, when the system is first turned on and is continuously updated by the computer from then on. The problem is that older versions of BIO software recorded the date in two year digits (99, instead of 1999) so that once the date rolls into the year 2000, the BIOS†s can not understand the rolling of the year and moves it back to 14 Jan 80, the default year date. The other problem is in the application software that uses the two-year date. The application software uses algorithms to roll over the dates and can not roll to the year 2000 date. It normally has to be manually input to get to the new date. 4. 28 February 2000. At midnight, the date should roll over to 29 February 2000. This is determined in the software by an algorithm that checks to see if the current year is a leap year. If it is a leap year then it should roll to 29 February 2000, if it can not determine the leap year, then it will jump to 1 March 2000. 5. 29 February 2000. This is almost the same problem as 28 February 2000. It will try to calculate the fact it is a leap year and roll the date to 1 March 2000. If it can not determine that it is the leap year, it will either go to 2 March 2000 or it will provide an incorrect date. There are several other dates that are important, based on each application software package, and needs. Examples are, a bank computer uses COBOL software that does not calculate the dates well, FORTRAN software used in scientific research does not do dates well, and older versions of Microsoft software used the two-year digit dates. The different application software packages that are available for computers are beginning to fix the year 2000 problem in the next revision and/or update. The problems that are being encountered are that the updates may not be compatible with the data that goes with the application software. An example is that Microsoft Access 2.0 is not year 2000 compliant. To upgrade to a compliant version, the original data associated with Access 2.0 will not run on the upgrade version. In addition, the upgrade Access will not operate on the old versions of Microsoft Windows. Therefore, additional problems are beginning to come into focus with the year 2000 issue. Another issue is all the databases that are used. Relational databases use date fields as part of wildcard actions, used as sorting identification, as grouping actions, and as part of daily identification. Some specific examples are: simple databases, such as the window explorer allow you to view and sort files in a date/time field. If this date field were only two digits, then it would incorrectly sort the files (year 00 would be first rather than last). Another example is a large database that is used to match names with addresses and billing statements. This database would need to flag dates with the billing statements. If the dates were incorrect or not sorted correctly, then the billing statements would be invalidated. As discussed, there are several issues when dealing with Y2K. These issues have a direct impact on both Government and Industry. What impacts are they†re to Government, Industry, and Small Business? There are several impacts to Government, Industry, and Small Business. Dates that can impact the leap year algorithms; Julian dates, fiscal year dates, calendar dates, and ASCII code dates. These dates were discussed in chapter 1. Now we will discuss the ramifications to the new dates. For the Government, the dates will have a major impact across the board. Every Government agency, from Federal to City, will be impacted. The Federal Government uses computers on a daily basis and without them, the Federal Government would not be able to operate. Some specific examples are in the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice. The Department of Commerce utilizes computers to run the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) systems that are used to chase Hurricanes. The problem is that several of the computers are used to log different data and use date/time stamping with that data. This data is later analyzed to try and map hurricanes for the future. If the Y2K issues are not resolved, important data will be lost. The Department of Defense also uses computers to a very large extent. This is especially true for the DOD large complex machinery used to defend the country. There are very few parts of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines that do not use computers. Computers are the backbone to DOD and without them, there is a real fear that our armed forces would not be able to defend this country. The Department of Justice has an even worse problem. They are charged with keeping track of criminals and federal indictments across the country. Because of the complexity of the laws, if the computers used to keep track of indictments and criminal records are not Y2K compliant, then the Justice system could have criminals cleared of any wrong doing because of a simple date issue. It is well known that if the date or address were wrong on an indictment or a search warrant, anything found because of the indictment or warrant would not be used in court. Industry has the same basic problems that the Government would have. They rely on computers in almost every aspect of the business. From robotic assembly lines to employee payroll, all of industry relies on the computer to run its day to day operation. The problem that both industry and Government have is that there was no contingency to the Y2K issue. Both industry and Government have several backup systems. An example is that major banks will have the main frame computer in one location and a hot backup in a totally different location. Take Nations Bank. Nations Bank may have its primary mainframe computer, for all its checking accounts, here in town. There is a hot backup (a hot backup is a main frame computer that records the same exact information that the mainframe computer is recording, but it does not handle any transactions, just records the information) that is located in a different part of the country, say Colorado. In this way, if a major hurricane were to devastate Tampa, the hot backup would come on line take over the responsibility of the mainframe. In this way, vital information would not be lost. This was all thought out years before, but not Y2K. Y2K would impact both mainframes (the primary and the backup) and all the data would be corrupted. The problem with small business is that it relies on the computer to do many of its tasks that employees used to do. In small business, people were employed to handle payroll, marketing, office management, files, record keeping, and profit/loss ledgers. These people were replaced with the advent of the computer. Now any small business could operate without minimal employees. The office manager could now handle payroll, marketing, files, records, and ledgers right on the computer. The computer became the key piece of equipment for the small business. Without the computer, small businesses could not stay in operation. Look at a small business that provides hearing aids to the general public. Besides the payroll, this small business will keep all its customers accounts in a simple database. This database will be used to notify the business when the hearing aid needs servicing, additional hearing tests should be done, replacement batteries, and payment schedules. This is just the tip of the database. The database would also be used to send out flyers on new technology, discounts, and will serve as the business mailing lists. Without this computer, the small business would need to hire additional personnel and return to paper and pencil to operate. What can Government, Industry, and Small Business Do to Combat the Y2K Issues? For both Government and Industry, it will not be a problem to combat Y2K. There is work already being done to correct the problems. Both agencies, through consulting agencies and internal working groups, have developed a series of plans to combat the Y2K issue. The standard procedure is to first do an inventory and assessment on the agency. After the assessment is done, a renovation plan is developed to renovate the different systems. After renovation is completed, the system is placed into the validation phase, where it is tested using the different Y2K dates to ensure that no problems are encountered. After the testing is completed and the validation is verified, then the implementation phase is started. The implementation phase is to implement the system into action, and begin watching the system during the actual crossover dates. The cost to perform all of the plans and phases are high. On most major DOD systems, the cost ranges from $100 Thousand to over $5 Million. For industry, their costs are about the same. It does not matter if the agency does it internally or hires consultants to perform the work. The costs are normally high. These costs are absorbed in industry and/or in the Government by the consumer and/or taxpayer. Industry will pass the costs to the consumer by increasing its price on the product. The Government will either increase taxes or modify the budget to get the necessary funds to ensure Y2K compliance. The real problem lies with small business. The plans and phases that were developed by industry and Government must also be accomplished by small business. The problem is that small business does not have the money to expend on the Y2K issue. Small businesses do not have the overhead or capital to afford to test its systems and ensure that Y2K problems do not exist in its machine. Since most small businesses do not rely on consultants and do not have a computer expert on the payroll, then small businesses must rely on the software companies to ensure that the computer is Y2K compliant. Since they do not have the funds to try and make their systems Y2K compliant, then the small business must rely on Macintosh, Microsoft, and other large software companies to ensure that the software is compliant. This becomes a real issue for the small business. The major software companies have problems with ensuring that the software they are selling is Y2K compliant. An example is that Microsoft Windows 98 may be compliant, as far as the Y2K issue is concerned. But any other application software that is used with Windows 98 may not be compliant, making the system non-compliant. Microsoft can not be held responsible for other software packages built by other software companies. In addition, most software companies will not support older versions of its software. An example is that Microsoft will not support Windows version 3.1. This is based on the availability of newer versions of Windows being available to the consumer. So where does this leave the small business? The small business is in a delicate situation. The recommendation for small business is to work through the chamber of commerce and pool the resources that each small business has to get the support it needs. There is Federal and Local assistance available to help small business ensure that the Y2K issue is resolved prior to the actual dates. The real problem is that if the small business does not recognize that it has a problem, then it will not work to fix the Y2K issue in time. By combining their resources and working with the local chambers, a network of consultants could work together to fix the problem before the actual Y2K dates have come. The only other option would be to spend the money to go through the same plans and phases that the Government and Industry goes through to fix the Y2K issue. This cost would be too high for small business. The final option would be for the small business to cross his fingers and hope for the best. This would be the last option for the businessperson to work with.