Charlemagne Essays (1049 words) - 1st Millennium, European People

Charlemagne Charlemagne Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe. Charlemagne was born in 742 A.D., to a very famous and well-known family. Charlemagne's grandfather was Charles Martel, the man who was responsible for the defeat of the Saracens. Charlemagne was also the eldest son of Bertrade (also known as Bertha Greatfoot) and Pepin the Short, the first to become king of the Franks. With the almost full extinction of schools in the 8th century, many historians say that Charlemagne received very little education, but did learn the art of reading from Bertrade. The one thing that kept Charlemagne motivated throughout his entire life was his deep devotion to the church. Charlemagne was a tall young man with light blond hair, and was described by his secretary as stately and dignified. Charlemagne had great wit, but was stern at times. He had simple and moderate tastes; he enjoyed hunting, riding and swimming. Charlemagne had a large wardrobe with many Frankish dresses, linen shirts and breeches, silk-fringed tunics, hoses wrapped with bands, and for the winter he had coats made of otter or marten skins. Charlemagne asked his people to improve their lifestyles, but he divorced two of his four fives without any given cause. In 768 A.D., Charlemagne at the age of 26, along with his brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of Franks. However, in 771 A.D. Carloman died, making Charlemagne the sole ruler of the kingdom. At this time the northern part of Europe was out of order and unruly. In the south, the Roman Catholic Church was asserting itself alongside the Lombard kingdom in Italy. While in Charlemagne's own kingdom, the people were becoming and acting as barbarians and neglecting education and faith. But Charlemagne was determined to make his kingdom as strong as possible. In 772 A.D., Charlemagne put forth a 30-year campaign to conquer and Christianize the extremely mighty Saxons in the north. He charged over the Avars, a large tribe on the Danube. He forced the Bavarians to surrender to him. When possible Charlemagne attempted to settle his conflicts peacefully. However, he was forced to use brute in some situations. For instance, Charlemagne offered to pay Desiderius for the return of lands to the pope, but after Desiderius refused, Charlemagne seized the kingdom of Desiderius and restored the Papal States. The most important aspect of Charlemagne's conquests was his uncanny ability to organize. Charlemagne sent out more than 50 military missions during his time in power and he led the missions as commander more than half of the time. He was able to lead his troops through vast lands in unprecedented times, but his every move was planned ahead of time. Before every crusade, he informed all those involved the number of men needed, the weapons required, and he even went as far as to tell what should be in the supply wagons. These tactics were later studied and used by another great man, Napoleon. One of the smallest campaigns undertaken by Charlemagne became on of the most well known. In 778 A.D., Charlemagne led his troops into Spain and laid an attack on Saragossa. The movement failed and upon their recoil they were attacked from the rear and Count Roland one of the leaders of the group was killed in that battle. Roland went on to become a hero in medieval songs. By 800 A.D. Charlemagne was the sole ruler of Western Europe. His immense kingdom included what are now France, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It also covered half of present-day Italy and Germany, part of Austria, and the Spanish March. This Spanish March stretched to the Ebro River. Through his establishment of a single government over the entire Western Europe, Charlemagne re-established much of the old Roman Empire, which paved the way for the progress of present-day Europe. It was on Christmas Day in 800 A.D. that while praying in St. Peter's in Rome, Pope Leo III approached Charlemagne with a golden crown and placed it on the head of the king. Charlemagne was a very noble man

Teaching English to a beginner class overseas Essays

Teaching English to a beginner class overseas Essays Teaching English to a beginner class overseas Essay Teaching English to a beginner class overseas Essay Good Evening William, I will be making my comments in blue tonight. Part One: Question 1 In point one, Marco and Kumiko expect to learn different things in relation to their environment. Marco, the engineer, would expect to learn English for special purposes. This is because he needs to communicate well with the other Engineers on issues of both professional and social nature. By the end of the course, he expects to be able to talk about the details of the project with appropriate English. He should also be able to communicate with his superiors and the clients using fluent English. Kumiko’s interest in English is for academic purposes. She would expect to be able to read write and listen any English related materials without difficulty. Since she is in an English speaking country, her classes will be taught in English. She expects to follow her classes with no difficulty by the time she finishes her course. She will also expect to interact with her peers with ease. I agree with you regarding both students. Here are some other points to consider. Let us assume that Marco is at the Intermediate level of English in all four areas, i.e. reading, writing, speaking and listening. This means that he is already able to communicate fairly well with others in English and can make himself understood as long as the topic, or the task is not to complicated or too technical. Marco is an engineer and is going to China to work with other engineers from other countries. They all have English as a common language. Marco needs to be able to communicate effectively with the other engineers, so he will need to learn: How to read and understand very specific material written in English that is related to the engineering project he will be involved with. ( specific vocabulary and style of writing unique to the genre ) How to prepare and present a report or an update on the work he is doing. How to have a discussion and express agreement or disagreement How to interrupt politely and turn taking in a meeting. How to express an opinion and support it with facts. How to express and resolve a complaint. How to ask and give advice. Kumiko would need to have a very comprehensive level test done in order to determine what kind of English she would need to study. The level test would need to focus on English for Academic Purposes. What level is her reading and writing? Would she be able to do the assignments given to her by her teachers? Is she ahead or behind in the curriculum to be taught? She would need to be tested for Classroom English; her ability to understand instructions, directions and explanations from her teachers. She would also need to have her English speaking ability tested to determine if she could communicate with the teachers and other students. She would benefit greatly if she attended an international school where there were other students in her same situation. The school would have an ESL/EFL program in place in order to help her get up the same level as the other students. The sixth point elaborates on motivational factors. Students in an ideal classroom will most likely perform better as compared to students in an average or a poor classroom (Fayton, 2002). My ideal classroom had walls that were decorated with charts and pictures that were both entertaining and educative. The wall color was cream. The lighting was good (not too bright and not too dull) as the class had large windows that enabled most of the natural light to penetrate. The window blinds prevented the burning rays of the sun from reaching the students. The reading materials brought in a touch of ‘fun’ in what would have otherwise been a dull class. One of my favorite teachers taught me when I was in elementary school. She made one feel as though the topic being taught was the most fascinating topic one could ever learn. If one looked distracted, she would create time for the specific student. This included asking them whether they had any problems outside the classroom. She also went of her way and talked to parents in order to make sure that the students’ environments at school and home were conducive for learning. I thought I would add a few of my own ideas on the subject. My ideal classroom would have bulletin boards on the walls so students could post their work. This would allow other students to see what their friends were doing and hopefully give them new ideas of their own. It would be a version of brainstorming. I would also have one section of the classroom for pictures. Students could draw something that relates to the lesson and put it up for others to see. Visualizing helps students to remember things better. Color also stimulates the brain and makes it easier to remember. I remember a teacher named Mr.Massengale. He was a teacher of mine in junior high school when I was around 13 or 14 years old. He was the first African American I ever met. He was kind, strong and always encouraging. I remember he told me I could be anything I wanted to be, but first I had to decide what that was going to be. He was honest, direct and open. I could ask him anything about anything. He was very relaxed, confident and knew his subject. He taught geography. The seventh point can be used to elaborate on ways of introducing the more communicative approach to students who are used to the traditional approach. Most students will be conservative during the first few lessons. They may just sit there and look at the teacher, fail to understand what the teacher is trying to do, or simply find the class difficult. However, the teacher can start by asking the students which way they were taught in their previous learning experiences (Hinkel, 2004). The teacher can try to illustrate in order to encourage students to interact. In order to introduce the role-play, the teacher may start by asking the students to talk about themselves. This will encourage them to be open. Then he/she can ask simple questions that need direct answers. Instead of approaching the topic directly, the teacher can start by talking about issues relating to the topic thus encouraging students to participate. The students will feel free to think and contribute (Hinkel, 2004). The teacher should make sure that the students are corrected in the right way in case of any mistakes. This particular point to consider applies directly to my own teaching situation so I would like to share a few thoughts with you. A teacher trying to use purely communicative activities for the first time in this kind of class would be greeted with stunned silence. If students have always had a teacher-fronted class, then the teacher has been doing all of the talking and has been the main focal point of the class. In a communicative class students would feel bewildered if they were expected to say or do something. They expect the teacher to be the authority, the source of knowledge in the classroom and expect him/her to do all of the talking and they would feel lost if they were suddenly expected to participate. They would feel shy and embarrassed because they might give the wrong answer. They wouldn’t understand that in a communicative language class, there is no wrong answer, because if you are not making mistakes, it means that you are not trying hard enough. We learn from doing and learn from our mistakes. If you wait until you can say it perfectly, you will never say it. Another point that might inhibit students from speaking is that traditionally, students get into trouble if they talk in class and that is precisely what you are asking them to do in a communicative language class. It would be a good idea to start slowly with simple communicative activities, such as pair work. That way if students make a mistake when they speak, they only say it to their partner. To ease into pair work, the teacher might start the class by presenting the language function for the lesson, let’s say Describing Yourself and then the target language, adjectives, such as tall, thin, pretty handsome, black hair, short hair, long hair etc., the correct use of the verb to be or have, and common nouns such as body parts and clothes. The teacher would go around the class and ask students words that describe themselves. If the class is a low level beginner class, the teacher would supply the adjectives and nouns by looking at students in the class and then writing them under the correct column. Adjectives Verbs Nouns Tall to be hair Short have shirt Black wear nose I am _________________ I have________________ She is________________ He has________________ Tom is wearing______________________ So far the activity has been 70 / 30 teacher fronted. Now the teacher can bring up two students in front of the class and demonstrate how to do pair work. The students can look at the board and find a word or words that describe themselves, e.g. I have black hair. Their partner can say, ‘ I am thin’. The students can take turns until they have described themselves. Now all of the rest of the students can simply turn in their chairs and describe themselves to the person next to them. As time goes on, and students become more comfortable to talking to other student in class, they can move their chairs, or move around the room describing themselves to many students. This can be expanded into asking questions about what their partner looks like as well. Once students have gotten used to pair work, role-plays could be introduced. It would be good for the teacher to present the language focus of the role-play and write it on the board, such as Giving Directions. The teacher would then introduce the target language that students would need in order to achieve the goal, giving directions. The teacher would then hand out pre-made example conversations for students to read to their partner. This would get them more comfortable with how a real conversation is supposed to sound like. On another handout, key words or grammar points could be left out, so that students would have to fill in the blanks. This can be done gradually, removing easy words at first and then moving on to harder ones. Eventually, students could write their own simple conversations, tell them to their partners and later present them to the class. Part Two: Question 1- Students’ Questionnaire Where (Country) are you from? Which is your native language (first language)? What level of English are you currently at? Tick one: (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) Why are you in this country? What do you plan to achieve by the end of this course? Have you had any previous learning experiences even in other subjects/courses? If yes, how long was the experience? How did the teacher teach you? Did you have class discussions or did she/he do most of the talking? Describe one of the classes you attended (color of the class, lighting, materials in the class, etc). Describe one of your favorite teachers. What made his/her classes interesting? What interests you most when learning? What motivates you to take this particular course? These are some good questions that would help you determine their learning style and level of English ability. Here are some others to consider. Does your native language interfere with your learning of English? If so, how? ( explain ) What is the most difficult part of learning English? ( be specific and explain ) How many years of English instruction have you had? Have you ever experienced role-plays, pair or group work or made oral presentations in an English class before? If yes, were these methods of learning English helpful? How? How do you currently study English when you are out of class? ( be specific ) How would you rate your English ability? ( poor/fair/good/excellent ) Reading ____________ Writing____________ Speaking___________ Listening___________ Why are you taking this course? ( explain ) What do you hope to learn in this course? ( be specific ) How do you plan to use English in the future? In terms of your career, where do you see yourself in 5 years. ( explain ) How will proficiency in English help you achieve your career goals? ( explain ) In one paragraph, describe the perfect job and why. Part Three: Question 1 The lesson plan on dating is meant for students learning the general English. This can be foe personal or social purposes. This class mostly comprises of teenagers, youths or young adults. Either the students might be mixed in gender or the class could have the girls as the majority. The students are at the intermediate level. The students are from a country that has been influenced by westernization. Dating is very popular among the young and the middle-aged people. It is a social event and a very fascinating topic among the young people. The main need of these students is to learn English for social and interaction purposes. The young people are also particularly fond of pop music. The girls are very fond of the boy-bands. Incorporating the materials brought forth by the teacher will also attract maximum attention and concentration. It will also make the class more interesting as compared to teaching about dating without either of the materials. Since the country has been influenced by westernization, the dating topic is not a taboo and the pop music from the boy band is not considered as inappropriate music. A teacher should be careful in choosing songs they use to study because some pop songs use ‘bad’ language, glorify sex and violence, and can be racially insulting. Some cultures find this kind of music offensive. The last thing a teacher needs is to get into trouble with the school for teaching students something culturally unacceptable. Having said that, if a teacher can find a song that is suitable and acceptable. I think that it would be useful to pre-teach slang words that are in the lyrics, as well as idiomatic expressions. The teacher could also show how song lyrics are modern day poetry in that they have rhyming words and rhythm. In the election lesson plan, the students are from learning English for special purposes. They are at the advanced level. The students in this class are from the age of thirty years. The students may have more men than women. This is because the political interest is more in men than it is in women. The national elections and the recent CNN extracts will enable students to discuss the issue professionally. They may be learning English in order to carry out a particular survey in the host country or they may be learning it in order to follow up on the political issues of the host country. Since this class is full of professionals and adults of an advanced age, the materials to be used are of a professional nature. These extracts will enable the advanced learners to enhance the vocabularies, and they will enable hem to communicate professionally better. It would be extremely important to make sure that discussing politics is acceptable in the country you are teaching in. In any class, you will have students who take political issues and their candidates very seriously. Discussions could get very heated. The teacher must also be careful not to take sides or express their own personal views on the issues and candidates for fear of alienating students who disagree. The lesson on the little red riding hood is for a class that is at the beginners’ level. Most of the students in this class are below the age of ten years. The English being learnt at this level is for academic purposes. The students expect to read, write, listen and speak using the Enlish language. The students may also take and English exam so their interest would also be to pass their exams. The song is meant for young children. It helps the children to learn basic vocabulary while enjoying the lesson. It is also meant to build up the basics of the English language in these students. Through this lesson plan, the students will also know how to use the language to entertain others as they remember the basic things they have been taught. Younger students like to hear and read stories about characters their own age. The stories are interesting and entertaining. Stories like this one can be read aloud to the students or students can read it silently. Students can be pre-taught key vocabulary items as well as how to use simple conjunctives and temporal markers as these help move a story along. They can be taught how verbs change to talk about different periods of time, in this case the past tense or past continuous. Students can be encouraged to write their own short stories or draw picture stories. Part Three: Question 2 â€Å"HIV and AIDS condition†- We could discuss what this means or what they stand for. We could also discuss the causes of the condition, its prevention and the condition’s cure. If not, we could discuss its control. We could also discuss the people whose bodies are at risk of acquiring this condition. Language functions would include cause and effect (It is caused by†¦because of†¦). Another function is communicating opinions (I think, maybe). â€Å"Literature†- We could read a story from a book and then tell to summarize the story verbally and then ask the students to summarize each character in the story. After this exercise, we would come up with the best character in the story. Language functions would include relating/retelling the events (use of past tense). The other describing function (good, evil, merciful). â€Å"The internet†- We could discuss both aspects of it in form of a debate. We could talk about its effect on the society. We could also discuss what effect the internet has on the young people. Language functions may include expressing of possibility (may, could). There could also be comparative function (It is good†¦unlike, it is better than). It would be important to make sure that this topic would be acceptable to the DoS. Some cultures do not approve of open discussions of homosexuality and it could cause some serious problems for the teacher. William, please scroll down to the end of the module and read my comments for Part 4 Q1-Q3. Part Four: Question 1 By the end of this course, the class will have improved on their weak areas. They will also have developed good vocabulary in order to express themselves in a clearer manner. This having the proper knowledge of the language functions in reading, writing and in speech. Activities such as explaining the culture differences between the students’ culture and the host country’s culture can be used. Job description, resolving conflicts between co-workers, talking about the current affairs in the host country or the home country, interviewing and hiring, amongst other activities can be used in order to develop their interaction and their professional vocabulary using the language functions. Part Four: Question 2: Language Functions Explaining/Describing- The students can describe the areas the areas that are most suitable for putting up the project. They can pick the two most suitable sites. Each should give reasons that make one site better than the other does. For example, site A is in an area that is not economically active. Clarifying/asking questions- students should engage in the ‘what’ questions, focusing on work related areas. For example, what can be done in order to reduce the overwhelming costs being incurred? What are the chances of failing to complete the project? Cause and Effect- The students should be to express the cause of something and then explain the effect as far as work is concerned. For example, delaying the project will lead to an increase in the project related costs. Evaluating- The students should be able to use this language function in order to evaluate certain things at the workplace. For example, what are the pros and cons reporting to one manager as compared to reporting to diverse managers? Expressing likes/needs – Students should be able to express their preferences. I like to work with co-workers who communicate. Drawing conclusions- the students should be able to draw conclusions from the presented issues at the work place. For example, This site is the best because†¦ Describing actions – The students should be able to describe the various activities that might take place in a site or office. For example, the structure will first be built up to the sixth storey within the first six months and then the rest will be finished later. Making predictions – The students should be able to make predictions in anticipation of future results related to the project. For example, the cost of materials will have increased by the time we are half through to finish the project. 1. Change – develop. Maybe have them try to persuade each other as to which location is best suited for the project and why. 2. Change- develop You need to have a work related lesson focus. Questions about what? You need to drop the part about ‘social questions’. They can already perform that language function. 3. Change –replace. Select a new lesson topic and a new language function if you use ‘Persuading’ in #1. 4. Change – replace. This one is OK, but develop it further. 5. Change – replace. It is not work related. 6. Change – replace They can already perform this language function. 7. Change – replace It is not work related. 8. Change-replace. Making predictions is a good language function, but how does it relate to their needs on the project? Part Four: Question 3 Class: Engineers (Tuesday 4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 1 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Explaining/Describing Activities: Introduce scenario: possible sites that the project can be put up. Describe each site stating its pros and cons. Give handouts with sentences of a descriptive nature. For example, site one is on wet, flat land. Site two, is too hilly, etc. By the end of the discussion, the students should be able to come with the best site for the project. Materials: Three sites appropriate for the project Class: Engineers (Tuesday 4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 2 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Clarifying/asking questions Activities: Introduce scenario: Students to form two groups. They should discuss on the things that can be done in order to make sure that the project runs smoothly (e.g. What can be done in order to make sure that the costs are reduced? What are the managers doing in order to increase efficiency? What can be done in order to ensure that each worker performs his/her role?). The necessary corrections will be done by the other group. Materials: The two groups, each member taking up a character (e.g a head engineer, a worker, a human resource manager, etc). Class: Engineers (Tuesday 4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 3 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Cause and Effect Activities: Introduce scenario: The students should pick up a number of actions and then explain their cause and effect. For example, the students can discuss issues such as uncorporating workers, poor human resource management, poor site, amongst others. They may also choose to discuss the opposite of each issue. For example, cooperating workers, good human resource management, a good site, etc. Materials: A chart containing the diverse issues. Class: Engineers (4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 4 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Evaluating Activities: pick a major project in the host country that is of interest to students. Ask the students to evaluate the project, stating the compliments, the weaknesses and recommendations. Materials: the site with the project of interest. Class: Engineers (4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 5 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Expressing likes/needs Activities: Introduce scenario: the site of the project. Students can come up with different activities that might take place in a site. For example, there might be a group of engineers evaluating the grounds, the might be other workers looking at the project charts. The students should use phrases and terms that express their feelings (e.g. I like efficient workers. I wish the human resource department could appoint more managers.) Materials: The site of the project can be introduced in form of a picture. The people might be doing different activities. Class: Engineers (4 -5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 6 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Drawing Conclusions Activities: Introduce scenario: Students should come up with different activities taking place while people are working on a project. The students should then make conclusions from these actions. For example, if the workers are not increased, the project will take longer than expected. The project will not become a success if the manager will not be changed. Materials: Chart with activities. Class: Engineers (Tuesday 4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 7 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate Target Language: Describing Actions Activities: Introduce scenario: The students can watch a short documentary incorporating workers/engineers working on a different project. The students will be asked to describe the activities taking place in the documentary. They can also describe the activities that are more popular than the others are. Materials: A documentary Class: Engineers (Tuesday 4- 5.30 p.m.) Lesson: 8 of 8 Level: Upper-Intermediate: Target language: Making predictions Activities: Introduce scenario: The students can evaluate a project of interest and make predictions of what would take place if certain actions were taken. Words such would, can or may, should be used. The costs may reduce if the efficiency is improved. Materials: A project of interest. References Feyton, C. M. (2002). Teaching ESL. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice-Hall. Hinkel, E. (2004). Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and grammar. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates. Part 4 Q!-Q3 William, many of my students have a problem with this part of the module. The key is being aware of their level of English (upper – intermediate) and making sure that what you would teach them would be relevant for a group of engineers going overseas where the common language will be English. This group of students is at the upper-intermediate level of English. As such they can already have discussions about international politics, the world economy and a variety of social issues. For this reason, the lessons must be at an appropriate level and they must also be relevant to work. Here are a few ideas other students have used to develop great lessons. Take a look. 1. Describing jobs and discussing the role of each person on the project. 2. Cultural differences – the do’s and don’ts in the host country. 3. Conflict resolution between co-workers. 4. Current affairs in the host country that might impact the project. 5. Interviewing and hiring local workers for the project. Please go back and make changes to the following lessons for both Q2 and Q3. They must match. Also make sure you also change Q1 so that the ‘outcomes’ cover the target lessons in Q2 and Q3. 1. Change – develop. Maybe have them try to persuade each other as to which location is best suited for the project and why. 2. Change- develop You need to have a work related lesson focus. Questions about what? You need to drop the part about ‘social questions’. They can already perform that language function. 3. Change –replace. Select a new lesson topic and a new language function if you use ‘Persuading’ in #1. 4. Change – replace. This one is OK, but develop it further. 5. Change – replace. It is not work related. 6. Change – replace They can already perform this language function. 7. Change – replace It is not work related. 8. Change-replace. Making predictions is a good language function, but how does it relate to their needs on the project? The, overall, you have done an excellent job on this module. I am very pleased with your work. Your writing is clear and to the point. You have a solid understanding of what the module is trying to get across to you and present your ideas in a thoughtful and well organized fashion. I just need you to go back and make the changes I have requested for Part 4 Q1-Q3. Remember, keep the lessons focused on the students’ work related needs. I’ll keep an eye out for your resubmission. Keep up the good work. You are doing a great job. Really! Cheers, Scott Grade: None yet ( As with all ICAL assignments, a pass mark is 16/20. If you grade less than this you are allowed to re-work and re-submit assignment as many times as you wish to reach a pass mark. If your grade 16 or above then you move automatically on to the next module.)

An essay to appraise a research study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

An to appraise a research study - Essay Example Based on that definition, the pilot study by van der Riet et al. (2015) can be categorized as qualitative research. Caldwell, Henshaw and Taylor (2005) articulate the need for a viable framework to critique research in health sciences. According to Caldwell, Henshaw and Taylor (2005) health care is a multi-disciplinary field and involves diverse approaches. Furthermore, there is a wide range of research conducted in health care field, hence the necessity for a workable framework for critique. The critique will adopt the framework by Ryan, Coughlan, and Cronin, (2007), as outlined in Lipp and Fothergill (2015). Ryan, Coughlan and Cronin (2007a, b) outline a two-section framework applied in the critique of qualitative research. The framework will be applicable to the study by van der Riet et al. (2015). Section one of the framework explores features that influence believability of the research. It includes the writing style, author, report title and abstract. Section two explores eleme nts that show the robustness of the research. The section includes statement of the phenomenon of interest, the study’s significance, literature review, theoretical framework, sample, ethical considerations during the research, data collection and analysis, findings and discussion, conclusion and references. The research is well-written and concise. Grammar use in the research is standard and plausible. There is no use of jargons in the language. The language is academic and serves well to communicate aspects of the research to readers. Its organization is great and conforms to conventional standards of research layouts. It has sub-sections that articulate different aspects of the study. The authors should possess credible educational background in the area under study (Ryan, Coughlan & Cronin, 2007). The research is a work by five authors and all have credible

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Design description - Essay Example A spanner or wrench is a hand tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects such as nuts and bolts. The figures below show the designs and the explanations thereunder. In the original design shown in the above diagrams, the design is shown in figure 1 (a) and the stress distribution in figure 1 (b). Stress is concentrated around the grip edges, and at the ring end of the wrench. There is also concentration of von misses stress along the axis of the wrench. From the figure 1 (b), the red color shows regions that are heavily stressed whereas the blue color indicates regions with minimal stress. From the summary at the top left the same figure indicates the extent to which the von misses stresses are distributed within the wrench body. In the modified design, shown in the diagram above, the over stressing of the same region is eliminated. Stress is redistributed and is only excess at the collar of the wrench. In this design, stress has been managed well and is uniform almost throughout the entire figure. The contours show the von misses stress

Factors Contributing to Road Accidents

Factors Contributing to Road Accidents Road accident is the global tragedy with ever-raising trend. In Malaysia, it represents a major public problem because of the high number of victims involved and also the seriousness of the consequences for the victim themselves and to their families as well. There are many factors that can contribute to the road accidents. Some researchers have made several researches and agreed that the major factors that contributing to the road accidents is because of the bad weather, condition of road, human behavior when driving, condition of the vehicle and the leniency of the law enforcement. Relating to the previous researches, the focus of our study is to identify the trend of road accidents in Shah Alam and the factors that contributing to the accidents. Besides that, the study also focuses on the strategies and ways to reduce the rate of road accidents in Shah Alam. The study will be conducted in Shah Alam which the respondents are among the road users including pedestrians, motorcyclists, car drivers and etc. Contributing Factors Bad Weather According to a report from the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) in Netherland, the term weather can be described as the state of atmosphere in term of air pressure, temperature, humidity, clouds, wind and precipitation. The weather conditions will affect the accident rates and exposure to the traffic hazards. A layer of water on the road surface due to rain can cause the vehicles to lose contact with the road surface and to skid. Besides that, Ellinghaus (1983) has stated that the object carried due to the strong wind, fallen trees and broken branches can also cause the traffic disturbance. Gusts of wind can push the high vehicles such as busses and vans especially when they are on the bridges. A study from Saudi Arabia (Al-Ghamdi, 2009) reports the number of crash being higher during the fog compared to the other weather condition. The crash happened because of the limited visibility during driving due to the fog. In a fog, the droplets of water are so small and light that they remain floating in the air. This will lead to limited visibility to the drivers because the light is diffused by the fog droplets. As a result of  bad weather, road surfaces may become slippery or slick. Accumulation of water, slush, ice and snow can present hazards to motorists. The manner in which other drivers react to the weather, whether through an extreme excess of caution or a disregard of the dangers posed by the weather conditions, can also contribute to the probability of an accident. When weather conditions render driving unsafe, drivers should attempt to find a safe place to get off the road and wait for the weather to improve. If you are driving at a time of year when you are likely to have your windshield splattered with dirty water, mud, slush, or salt, before driving make sure that you have a good supply of windshield solvent. In Malaysia, The majority of the investigated cases occurred during fine weather. The proportion of investigated cases during fine weather for 2008 is over presented, with more than 70%, and is significantly higher than those that occurred in any other weather condition, especially in 2009 and 2010. Based on MIROS the data in terms of lighting condition show that for the total number of investigated cases from 2007 through 2010, crashes that occurred during daylight, when it is safe to say that visibility is not a major concern. However, crashes during dark condition and without lighting, which is related to the said issue, are also significant and come in second place after daylight in all four years in terms of the number of investigated cases. Through report by MIROS, the KSI and fatality indexes according to the environmental components of the crashes, namely the vicinity area, weather conditions and lighting conditions. In terms of the environmental components of the crashes, fatality index is recorded highest for crashes happening at agricultural areas (2.86), during drizzling condition (4.84) and when the surrounding is dark without any lighting (2.67). Meanwhile, KSI index is highest for crashes that occurred at agricultural areas (3.97), during rainy day (7.56), and during dawn or dusk (7.44). This shows that bad condition of weather and surrounding may affect the driver view which can make a higher tendency of accident to occur during that particular situation. Driving attitude Whilst commercial vehicles have frequently been found to have high accident involvement rates, only one commercial driver training program has been identified so far in this Asia region. As part of the two year input in Pakistan funded by DFID in the early 1980s, a two week bus driver re-training program was provided. Bus driving standards are observed before and after the course and while bus driving standards showed improvement when drivers knew they were being observed, this improvement did not carry over to other times. This demonstrated the difference between driving skill and driving behavior and the need of enforcement and incentive schemes to encourage good driving standards. Surveys in driver knowledge and driver behavior were undertaken in several countries worldwide including Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Driver behavior was assessed at pedestrian crossing, traffic signals and priority junctions. As a follow up driver knowledge surveys were conducted in Pakistan and Thailand and both these studies have been published as separate Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) reports. While the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) also worked on the area of private knowledge with drivers surveyed on sign comprehension and traffic awareness, the CRRI has spent much effort in developing a driver reflexes testing system (DRTS) which seeks to eliminate human bias and includes psycho physical tests. Work in this area has continued over the past decade with a few DRTS systems in use in India. Human errors play an important role in contributing to the increasing numbers of accident rates. People keen to ignore this factor as they feel they can handle the situation and avoid accidents. There are many types of human errors during driving such as excessive speeding and deviant behavior, taking alcohol during driving and failed to obey the rules and regulations of the road. All of these can be categorized as the risky driving attitudes which may cause road accidents. Many of accidents that were reported are caused by human errors. According to Nasasira (2009), there are about 80% of the road accidents reported in Uganda are related to the attitude and behavior of the drivers. This data shows that the driving attitude is the major cause of road accidents. According to Sabey and Taylor (1980), 95% of the accidents caused by the human factors. Driving attitude was identified as the most central of these factors. Besides that, research by Jashua and Garber (1992) also stated that the most common accident type have resulted from drivers faults. Driving attitudes also include the behavior to excessive speeding. Vehicle speed is often credited as being an important cause and contributory factor of road accidents. This behavior may cause danger not only for the driver himself but also for other drivers. Most drivers tend to speed exceed the limit fixed by the government. For example, the National Speed Limits is 90km/h but drivers tend to speed exceed the limit which may cause danger to themselves and others. According to Solomon (1964), Munden (1967) and Bohlin (1967), all claimed that the probability of serious injury or death are greater at high impact speeds. This shows that the impact of excessive speeding may not only cause accident but may also cause a serious injury and death. Road Condition Geometric design standards are often taken from motorized countries and thus are not always appropriate given the presence of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users and non-motorised vehicles in the road traffic stream. There has been much effort in safety engineering research to minimise the risk of accidents and DFID sponsored the development and publication of Towards Safer Roads (TSR) which was the first major manual to address safety engineering and planning in developing countries. TSR also introduced the practice of safety audits (a standardized procedure for checking the safety concerns of road projects from the feasibility stage through to final construction and operation). Formal safety audits have also begun to be used recently in Nepal, Malaysia, Fiji and a number of other developing countries including Bangladesh. Identifying safety impacts of geometric design modifications was a research focus in PNG and was recently reviewed for the latest version of the Highway Design and Maintenance Programme (HDM4). Recent research funded by Sweroad included the development of a traffic safety effects catalogue to include the various findings of the impact of geometric design and traffic control features on road accidents and accident rates. Several projects both on implementation and the research side have focused on traffic engineering and traffic management issues with applied road safety benefits. For example, Australian Aid projects in Papua New Guinea and Western Samoa follow this pattern as does the past research in CRRI on roadside development and road signs. The research recently started on the design and implementation issues of median installation for example are illustrative of the types of research being undertaken in this area. In Malaysia, it was reported that many of the cases of road collision involve the vehicle leaving the roadway and hits the fixed objects along the roadside such as the trees and guardrails. This may cause by the slippery road due to the rain and even because of the poorly designed and constructed roads. Most of the roads in Malaysia are pavement designed. In pavement design, there are several characteristics that need to be considered such as skid resistance and the texture depth. These characteristics will determine the condition of the road whether it is risky or not. According to Davis (2001), the moisture on the pavement surface may prevent vehicle tires from making adequate contact with the road surface. This will increase the level of slippery on the road which may cause road accident. Vehicles condition Vehicles are one of the factors which can contribute to the road accidents. This is because the vehicle that we ride is a medium for us that put us in the road and if the vehicles itself are not in a good shape and condition, the tendency for the accident to occur is more likely compare to a well manage vehicle condition. A well-designed and well-maintained vehicle, with good brakes, tires and well-adjusted suspension will be more controllable in an emergency and thus be better equipped to avoid collisions. Based on the statistics which have been produced by MIROS, during 2007-2010, the brake defects in vehicle have recorded 20 cases while tires defect have recorded 14 cases. So, that is why some mandatory  vehicle inspection  schemes include tests for some aspects of roadworthiness have been conduct by the JPJ in order to make sure that the vehicles that is going to be used are in a good condition, The design of vehicles has also evolved to improve protection after collision, both for vehicle occupants and for those outside of the vehicle. For example, in modern day car, a lot of safety features have been include likes Anti-lock braking system (ABS)  to prevent skidding allowing the driver to remain in control. The vehicle stops more quickly as theres more friction between the road and tires, traction control  to prevents skidding while accelerating so the car can quickly escape a dangerous situation and safety cage  to strengthens the cabin section to protect people in a roll-over accident. Much of this work was led by automotive industry competition and technological innovation. Some crash types tend to have more serious consequences,  Rollovers  have become more common in recent years, perhaps due to increased popularity of taller  SUVs,  people carriers, and minivans, which have a higher  center of gravity  than standard passenger cars. Rollovers can be fatal, especially if the occupants are ejected because they were not wearing  seat belts  (83% of ejections during rollovers were fatal when the driver did not wear a seat belt, compared to 25% when they did).   After a new design of  Mercedes Benz  notoriously failed a moose test (sudden swerving to avoid an obstacle), some manufacturers enhance suspension using  stability control  linked to an  anti-lock braking system  to reduce the likelihood of rollover. After retrofitting these systems to its models in 1999-2000, Mercedes saw its models involved in fewer crashes. Now about 40% of new US vehicles, mainly the SUVs, vans and pickup trucks that are more susceptible to rollove r, are being produced with a lower  center of gravity  and enhanced suspension with  stability control  linked to its  anti-lock braking system  to reduce the risk of rollover and meet US federal requirements that mandate anti-rollover technology by September 2011. According to the research by Chin Shu Pei (2009), she has stated that the relationship between the road surface and the type of tire, tread pattern, tire pressure and tire condition may affect the road surface friction and cause the vehicles to skid off the road. She also added that tires in poor condition will not have adequate braking friction on any pavement surface. Motorcyclists have little protection other than their  clothing; this difference is reflected in the casualty statistics, where they are more than twice as likely to suffer severely after a collision. In 2005 there were 198,735 road crashes with 271,017 reported casualties on roads in Great Britain. This included 3,201 deaths (1.1%) and 28,954 serious injuries (10.7%) overall. Of these casualties 178,302 (66%) were car users and 24,824 (9%) were motorcyclists, of whom 569 were killed (2.3%) and 5,939 seriously injured (24%). In Malaysia, it is recorded that  4,067 motorcyclists died in 2010 by MIROS. This represents about 60 per cent of the 6,745 road fatalities. In 2008, 3,898 motorcyclists were killed out of a total of 6,527 fatalities. Motorcyclist deaths on average accounted for 60 per cent of the total road fatalities in the last decade. MIROS  road safety  engineering and environment  research  director, Jamilah Mohd Marjan said the spike in deaths was due to  the rise  of the  number of riders. As we can see in the another country where both Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in United Kingdom and Indian Institute of Technology (ITT) IN India have conducted a research into vehicle design and injury control. In Papua New Guinea the MAAP system identified many casualties occurring in run-off accidents in open top pickups. Open top pickups are a common public transport mode and are often heavily loaded with passengers in Papua New Guinea. TRL concluded research into vehicle design to minimize such injuries. IIT have modeled crash impacts of bus fronts and three wheeler motorized scooter taxis to determine how the design can be altered to reduce injury severity to pedestrians hit by buses and the Three Wheeler Scooter Taxi (TST) drivers, passengers and pedestrians in TST crashes. TSTs are found to be unsafe for all three user groups (drivers, pedestrians and passengers at velocity impacts as low as 15 to 20 kilometers per hour). Minor modifications were found to make a significant difference in the safety to all three user groups in crashes up to speeds of 25 to 30 kilometers per hour. IIT research also identifies structural weakness in motor cycle helmet design. Earlier work had identified a majority of head impacts and two wheel crashes to be sustained on the side of the head yet VIS standards did not include a side impact test. IIT devised and implemented a side impact test and when all helmets in general were found to be inadequate in side impact, BIS amended the motorcycle helmet standards. Delhi Police have sponsored this research and later publicized the findings and distributed guidelines for customers and the relative rankings of the different helmets. Around the same time that ITT was studying the relative safety of motorcycle helmets in Delhi, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) was also studying the use of motorcycle helmets and conducting opinion surveys on the use of motorcycle helmets in several metropolitan cities where motorcycle helmet usage was mandatory. These studies all helped to influence road safety policy in India. Leniency of the Law Enforcement While most if not all countries in Asia and Pacific have revised their road regulations in the past 15 years, little bilateral technical assistance seems to have been provided in this sector nor does there seem to have been local research effort in such countries despite many countries sharing the same base for road regulations (The British Motor Vehicle Code 1939). Little exchange of information and experience has occurred and traffic regulations have generally been revised individually by each country. No regional manual has been produced similar to such manuals that exist in Africa and other regions of the world. Traffic Police training programmes have been developed by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) with sponsorship from the Ministry of Surface Transport. National workshops on traffic police training were also organised in 1992 and 93. Traffic police from 23 metropolitan cities were trained before the project was discontinued. Ongoing at the same time was CRRI research project analysing the past 10 years of traffic violations from Delhi covering 1980 to 1990. The analysis revealed misguided priorities with administrative violations being enforced more frequently than the more dangerous moving violations. Highway patrolling was quite effective when it was introduced in Pakistan in the early 1980s as it discouraged overtaking and targeted road safety parking, both of which were known to contribute to road accidents in Pakistan.

Symbols and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the theme revolves around a sin that has been committed. It takes places in the seventeenth century in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Hester Prynne, who had an affair with the local Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, commits the sin. Roger Chillingworth is Hester's husband while the affair is taking place. Because of the affair, Hester and Arthur have a daughter named Pearl. The sin that Hester commits is adultery. Hawthorne uses a variety of symbols throughout The Scarlet Letter, and he symbolizes the scarlet letter "A" in several ways. In the Puritan community, "A" is a sign of punishment, and the red "A" is worn on the chest of the offender's clothing. The "A" may mean adultery, Angel and Able. Hester, after years of helping, serving and sympathizing with the townspeople, was viewed by the Puritans to mean Able rather than adulteress; "A" meant Able; "so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength" (186). For example, when Hester has won some respect from the Puritans, "Such helpfulness was found in her, -so much... that many people refused to interpret the scarlet "A" by its original signification" (186). To the Puritans the letter "A" also symbolizes an Angel. "A great red letter in the sky, Ñthe letter A..." showed up at Governor Winthrop's death in the sky" (182). "For, as our good Governor Winthrop was made an angel this past night..." (182). The meaning of the "A" is also different to each of the characters. To Hester it is a constant reminder of humiliation and of the sin that she committed. Dimmesdale believes that the "A" reminds him of his own guilt, and there is no way that he can forgive himself. The "A" to Pearl, a young girl, is a bright and mysterious curiosity. Hester Prynne is an English woman who is punished by having to wear the embroidered scarlet letter "A" on the breasts of her clothing receives public humiliation by standing in front of the townspeople of Boston. The "A" that Hester wears is "... in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread..." (58). Hester Prynne, through the eyes of many Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

UNC Conboy

An International trade theory, grounded In the work of Adam Smith and David Richard, that focuses on the Importance of comparative advantage obtained through differences in natural or acquired economic advantages is referred to as: a. Classical trade theory b. Factor proportion theory c. Product life cycle theory d. Competitive advantage theory 2. Paul German's â€Å"realist† perspective embraces which of the following conclusions: a. Countries compete with each other much like companies compete with each other ND must therefore engage in similar strategic behaviors b.Government intervention in the market Is often essential due to imperfections that allow for the formation of monopolies and oligopolies In lucrative Industry segments c. Economic growth In one country must come at the expense of economic growth in another, therefore countries must protect domestic Industry in many instances d. Market imperfections due in fact exist, but the prospects for improving the situation through strategic trade policy is overstated by those in favor of government intervention 3.Cluster theory suggests that companies obtain resources as a result of geographic proximity to other related and supportive Industries primarily as a result of: a. Information spillovers b. Lower shipping costs c. Region specific subsidies d. Access to a common labor pools 4. A theory of Internationalization, observed In the wine Industry In the assigned readings, that focuses on the development of relationships between producers, suppliers, competitors, and government to obtain information and resources necessary to complete globally is referred to as: a. Pascal model b. Network model .Innovation model d. Leverage model 5. Michael Porters Diamond Model focuses on all of the following, EXCEPT: a. The Importance of International competition to drive technological Innovation b. C. Sophisticated domestic demand that encourages new product and service development d. The presence of related and su pportive industries in the domestic market 6. Mercantilism refers to policies and practices designed to: a. Encourage international trade through the creation of innovative products and services b. Remove regulatory and economic barriers to international competition c.Create a trade surplus by subsidizing domestic firms and limiting foreign competition d. Discourage all international trade to promote national independence and self- sufficiency 7. An international trade theory, grounded in the work of Wassail Limonite, that focuses on trade cycles emerging from production initially by a parent company, then by a foreign subsidiary, and ultimately by foreign competitors is referred to as: a. Classical trade theory d. Competitive advantage theory 8. Advocates of Porter's Diamond Model believe governments should support mommies industries by engaging in which of the following activities: a.Subordination of industries of national importance to improve their competitive position b. Imposi tion of barriers to prevent foreign competitors from entering domestic markets c. Provision of supportive public infrastructure and education needed to support emerging industries d. The government should play no role in supporting or developing domestic industries 9. Cluster theory focuses primarily on the creation of competitive advantage through: a. Ongoing investment in research and development to encourage innovation b.Intense price competition designed to bring down the cost of products and services c. Transportation costs associated with bringing goods and services to market d. Interactions between geographic concentrations of interconnected companies 10. The case study of wine clusters indicates that firms in this industry located in both Brazil and France have effectively leveraged which of the following cluster resources to facilitate the internationalization process: a. Affordable input costs b. Regional reputation and culture c. Manufacturing expertise d. Labor spillover s

Social Engineering

Identity Theft: Social Engineering December 5, 2011 Daniel Sama & Stacey Smith Sr Computer Ethics CIS-324, Fall 2011 Strayer University Identity Theft: Social Engineering December 5, 2011 Daniel Sama & Stacey Smith Sr Computer Ethics CIS-324, Fall 2011 Strayer University Abstract Social Engineering from the outset may seem like a topic one might hear when talking about sociology or psychology, when in fact it is a form of identity theft. To an information technology (IT) professional, Social Engineering is a form of voluntary, unintentional identity theft. Many victims fail to realize they are being victimized until it is too late, while many others may never know. This paper will provide a definition of social engineering as it applies to information technology while introducing some the pioneers of social engineering; those who have, essentially, written the book on social engineering. We will provide real world examples of how social engineers apply their trade and provide important points to consider with regards to social engineering attacks. In conclusion we will propose counter-measures, which individuals and organizations should take in order to guard against social engineering. Social Engineering as defined by IT professionals is the practice of deceiving someone, either in person, over the phone or using a computer, with the express intent of breaching some level of security, either personal or professional (Ledford, 2011. ) Implementing quality risk analysis solutions while maintaining data integrity is a crucial element of successful system modeling; within the context of social engineering in the workplace, there are several factors that can make implementing those solutions rather challenging. Social engineering is a type of intrusion, which relies heavily on human interaction and usually involves the tricking of other people to break normal, everyday security policies. Social engineers (SE) often prey on the natural helpfulness of other people. When analyzing and attempting to conduct a particular attack, a SE will commonly appeal to vanity or authority as well as simple eavesdropping to acquire the desired information. Social engineering, in a nutshell is a hacker’s clever manipulation of the natural human tendency to trust. This will provide the unauthorized access to the valued information, system or machine. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake† (Bonaparte, n. d. ) This is a mantra for all successful SE’s, as they take any and all information about and from a target for later use against said target. The SE will gather as much information as possible about their target in advance, most of which is readily available online, usually , with just a few keystrokes; anything from hobbies to their favorite lunchtime meal. This information helps build a connection and instills trust with the target. With this trust, seemingly innocuous information will come flooding out of the target. Akin to fictional spies like James Bond and Michael Weston, SE’s assume a persona that is not their own and attempt to establish with their target a reasonable justification to fulfill a request. The aforementioned tactics allow the SE to maintain the facade and leave an out to avoid burning his or her information source. Bottom line; a good SE is a good actor. â€Å"All of the firewalls and encryption in the world will never stop a gifted social engineer from rifling a corporate database or an irate employee from crashing the system,† says pioneer Kevin Mitnick, the world’s most celebrated hacker who popularized the term. Mitnick firmly states in his two books The Art of Deception and The Art of Intrusion that it’s much easier to trick someone into giving a password for a system than spending the time using a brute force hack or other more traditional means to compromise the integrity of sensitive data. Mitnick who was a world famous controversial computer hacker in the late 1980’s was sentenced to 46 months in prison for hacking into the Pacific Bell telephone systems while evading the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The notorious hacker also allegedly wiretapped the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), compromised the FBI and Pentagon’s systems. This led Mitnick to spend the majority of his time incarcerated in solitary confinement due to the government’s fear of him attempting to gain control of more sensitive information. Mitnick states in both of his aforementioned books that he compromised computers solely by using passwords and codes acquired as a result of social engineering. As a result, Mitnick was restricted from using any forms of technology upon his release from prison until approximately 5 years ago. Kevin Mitnick is now the CEO of Mitnick Security Consulting, a computer security consultancy. Social engineering awareness is a being addressed at the enterprise level as a vital corporate security initiative. Security experts advise that a properly trained staff, not technology is the best asset against social engineering attacks on sensitive information. The importance placed upon security policies is imperative when attempting to combat this type of attack. Combat strategies require action on both physical and psychological levels. This form appeals to hackers because the Internet is so widely used and it evades all intrusion detection systems. Social engineering is also a desirable method for hackers because of the low risk and low cost involved. There are no compatibility issues with social engineering; it works on every operating system. There’s no audit trail and if executed properly its effects can be completely devastating to the target. These attacks are real and staggering to any company, which is why strong corporate policies should be measured by access control and implementing specific procedures. One of the advantages of having such policies in place is that it negates the responsibility of an employee having to make a judgment call or using discretion regarding a social engineer’s request. Companies and their subsequent staffs have become much too relaxed as it pertains to corporate security initiative. These attacks can potentially be costly and unnerving to management as well as the IT department. Social engineering attacks commonly take place on two different levels: physical and psychological. Physical settings for these attacks can be anything from your office, your trash, over the telephone and even online. A rudimentary, common form of a social engineering attack is social engineering by telephone. Clever social engineers will attempt to target the company’s help desk while fooling the help desk representative into believing they are calling from inside the company. Help desks are specifically the most vulnerable to social engineering attacks since these employees are trained to be accommodating, be friendly and give out information. Help desk employees are minimally educated and get paid a below average salary so it is common for these individuals to answer one question and move right along to the next. This can potentially create an alarming security hole when the proper security initiative is not properly set into place. A classic example of this would be a SE calling the company operator and saying something like â€Å"Hi, I’m your AT&T rep; I’m stuck on a pole. I need you to punch a few buttons for me. † This type of attack is directed at the company’s help desk environment and nearly always successful. Other forms attack target those in charge of making multi-million dollar decisions for corporations, namely the CEO’s and CFO’s. A clever SE can get either one of these individuals to willingly offer information pertinent to hacking into a corporation’s network infrastructure. Though cases such as these are rarely documented, they still occur. Corporations spend millions of dollars to test for these kinds of attacks. Individuals who perform this specialized testing are referred to as Social Engineering Auditors. One of the premier SE Auditors in the industry today is Chris Hadnagy. Hadnagy states that on any given assignment, all he has to do is perform a bit of research on the key players in the company before he is ready to strike. In most cases he will play a sympathy card, pretending to be a member of a charity the CEO or CFO may belong to and make regular donations to. In one case, he called a CEO of a corporation pretending to be a fundraiser for a charity the CEO contributed to in the past. He stated they were having a raffle drawing and named off prizes such as major league game tickets and gift cards to a few restaurants, one of which happened to be a favorite of the CEO. When he was finished explaining all the prizes available he asked if it would be alright to email a flier outlining all the prizes up for grabs in a PDF. The CEO agreed and willingly gave Hadnagy his corporate email address. Hadnagy further asked for the version of Adobe Reader the company used under the guise he wanted to make sure he was sending a PDF the CEO could read. The CEO willingly gave this information up. With this information he was able to send a PDF with malicious code embedded that gave him unfettered access to the CEO’s machine and in essence the company’s servers (Goodchild, 2011). Not all SE attacks occur completely over the phone. Another case that Hadnagy reports on occurred at a theme park. The back story on this case is he was hired by a major theme park concerned about software security as their guest check-in computers were linked with corporate servers, and if the check-in computers were compromised a serious data breach may occur (Goodchild, 2011). Hadnagy started this attack by first calling the park posing as a software salesman, peddling newer PDF-reading software which he was offering free on a trial basis. From this phone call he was able to obtain the version of PDF-reader the park utilized and put the rest of his plan in action. He next headed to the park with his family, walking up to one of the employees at guest services asking if he could use one of their terminals to access his email. He was allowed to access his email to print off a coupon for admission to the park that day. What this email also allowed was to embed malicious code on to the servers and once again gained unfettered access to the parks servers. Hadnagy proposes six points to ponder in regards to social engineering attacks: * No information, regardless of it personal or emotional nature, is off limits for a SE seeking to do harm. It is often the person who thinks he is most secure who poses the biggest vulnerability to an organization. Executives are the easiest SE marks. * An organizations security policy is only as good as its enforcement. * SE’s will often play to the employees good nature and desire to be helpful * Social Engineering should be a part of an organizations defense strategy. * SE’s will often go for the low- hanging fruit. Everyone is a target if security is low. The first countermeasure of social engineering prevention begins with security policies. Employee training is essential in combating even the most cunning and sly social engineers. Just like social engineering itself, training on a psychological and physical basis is required to alleviate these attacks. Training must begin at the top with management. All management must understand that social engineering attacks stem from both a psychological and physical angle therefore they must implement adequate policies that can mitigate the damage from an attacker while having a robust, enforceable penalty process for those that violate those policies. Access control is a good place to start when applying these policies. A competent system administrator and his IT department should work cooperatively with management in hashing out policies that control and limit user’s permission to sensitive data. This will negate the responsibility on the part of an average employee from having to exercise personal judgment and discretion when a potential attack may occur. When suspicious calls for information occur within the company, the employee should keep three questions in mind: 1. Does the person asking deserve this information? 2. Why is she/he asking for it? 3. What are the possible repercussions of giving up the requested information? If there is a strong policy in place with enforceable penalties in place, these questions will help to reduce the potential for a SE attack (Scher, 2011). Another countermeasure against a social engineering attack is to limit the amount of information easily available online. With Facebook, Twitter, Four-Square and the like, there is an overabundance of information readily available at any given moment online. By just drastically limiting the amount of information available online it makes the SE’s task of information gathering that much more difficult. Throughout all of the tactics and strategies utilized when cultivating social engineering expertise, it’s extremely difficult to combat human error. So when implementing employee access control and information security, it is important to remember that everyone is human. This type of awareness can also be costly so it’s important to adopt a practical approach to fighting social engineering. Balancing company morale and pleasant work environment is a common difficulty when dealing with social engineering prevention and awareness. It is vital to keep in perspective that the threat of social engineering is very real and everyone is a potential target. References Bonaparte, N. (n. d. ). BrainyQuote. com. Retrieved December 6, 2011, from BrainyQuote. com Web site: http://www. brainyquote. com/quotes/authors/n/napoleon_bonaparte_3. html Goodchild, J. (2011). Social Engineering: 3 Examples of Human Hacking. Retrieved November 28, 2011 Retrieved from www. csoonline. om Web site: http://www. csoonline. com/article/663329/social-engineering-3-examples-of -human-hacking Fadia, A. and Manu, Z. (2008). Networking Intrusion Alert: An Ethical Hacking Guide to Intrusion Detection. Boston, Massachusetts. Thompson Course Technology. 2008. Ledford, J. (2011). Identity Theft 101, Social Engineering. Retrieved from About. com on December 1, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www. idtheft. about. com/od/glossary/g/Social_Enginneering. htm Long, J. and Mitnick, K. (2008. ) No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving and Shoulder Surfing. Burlington, Massachusetts. Syngress Publishing Inc. 2008. Mann, I. Hacking the Human. Burlington, Vermont: Gower Publishing, 2008. Mitnick, K. and Simon, W. The Art of Deception. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc. 2002. Mitnick, K. and Simon, W. (2006. ) The Art of Intrusion. Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc. 2006. Scher, R. (2011). Is This the Most Dangerous Man in America? Security Specialist Breaches Networks for Fun & Profit. Retrieved from ComputerPowerUser. com on November 29, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www. social-engineer. org/resources/CPU-MostDangerousMan. pdf

Greek and Latin Elements essays

Greek and Latin Elements essays When given an assignment to make-up a word for a Latin Elements class, one would think that the assignment could be very stressful. When sitting down and trying to accomplish it, you can see it is fun and enjoyable. The word Propassible is a word that you will not see in the English Dictionary, for is one that was put together, based on real life experiences. The word Propassible means to be able to endure. Its etymological history is as follows. The prefix, Pro comes from the Latin word Pro. The base, pass, comes from the Latin word Passus. The suffix, which is ible, comes from the Latin word. The meanings of these elements are as follows: The base Pro means to be for something. The base pass means to endure or suffer. The Suffix ible means to be able to. There are many ways in which this word may be used in context. It can be used when describing someone that was able to go through life, getting passed a lot of things that life gave to them, such as dealing with Cancer. This is a great word to be used when describing someone having an illness and that person being able to deal with it. When somebody is diagnosed with an illness, one that is also treatable, although they know and realize that they will be OK. They also must know that there are boundaries that they are going to have to go through before they get well again. So you can see how this word can tie into everyday life. Its obvious where this word may not be able to be used. In cases where someone that goes through a traumatic time, but at the same time, all that one did was complain and give off negative energy based on whatever it was that they were going through at the time. There are many sentences that may be looked at in which you are able to see the word in context. One would be: Susan became a very propassible person after her illness. You are able to see in this sentence how the word, is being used. For one, it doesnt sound...

The surface below Ai's handcuff Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The surface below Ai's handcuff - Essay Example The â€Å"Jade Handcuffs† represents superb creativity and aesthetic taste of Ai, but more significantly, it is a powerful indictment to the injustice imposed on him by the government that suppresses liberty and democracy. The complex issues behind the simple-looking craftwork are noteworthy and deserve to be reflected upon. Ai Weiwei was born in 1957, Beijing. He is always recognized as a reputable artist who has been crafting a variety of art works throughout his career and also a cultural arbiter in terms of his heavy condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party by the public media. â€Å"The Jade handcuffs† is fairly small in scale, has nine serrates, and it was carved out from black Jade stone. According to Lisson gallery, this art piece was initially sold for 70,000 Euros in 2013 and subsequently made its debut in Ai’s first retrospective show: According To What? This craftwork signifies Ai’s 81 days in detention by Chinese government in 2011. After his release, he used the exact image of the handcuff used on him in jail to create this piece which was carved from jade stone which is a precious Chinese material that is often used as family heirlooms in ancient China. Jade is also a symbolic stone because it is used to represent and reminiscent of the prosperous and China’ s imperial past. The sublime quality of black jade gives the artwork a warm smooth touch. His brilliant choice of medium recalls an ancient artistic heritage while at the same time referring to the repressive nature of the current political system.2 Regardless of the simple appearance of Ai’s handcuff, the craftsmanship involved in its production is quiet complicated. Ai worked with a highly skillful carver while making his handcuffs. The carvers’ skill is particularly evident in the interlocking rings that form the chain, which were neither joined nor glued, but rather cut of the same single

Technologies for Business Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technologies for Business - Research Proposal Example 5. It is critical to note that success and failure of such technologies also depends upon the way you project yourself and your company. Normally, small and start up businesses are largely dependent upon the person who is running the whole show therefore the business vision as well as strategic direction of the company which it is going to take. 6. The available technologies which can serve the basic purpose functionality as well as advanced functionalities for the firm include operating systems, PHP, .NET, Java Beans, J2EE, Java Scripting, FLASH, MySQL, ORACLE, SQL SERVER, SAAS and AJAX. 7. These technologies are easily available at relatively low expect few technologies such as Oracle etc. Start up businesses can easily integrate them into viable information technology solutions to remain competitive. 8. It is also important to note that these technologies offer different opportunities however, on the other hand there are associated risks with using such technologies also and start up businesses, due to their lack of expertise in each area, may find it difficult to utilize all such technologies to their fullest advantage. "The purpose of an operating system is to organize and control hardware and software so that the device it lives in behaves in a flexible but predictable way."(http://computer.howstuffworks.com).1 There are normally two types of operating system which are in use. These are: MS -Windows Operating System 1. Microsoft Windows Operating system is one of the most widely used operating systems in the world. 2. It is used in more than 90% of the computers in use. 3. It is based on graphical user interface technology. 4. There are different versions of this operating system as from time, Microsoft has made changes to its system in order to accommodate new and more demanding technological requirements. 5. It is not that much costly and can run on any machine regardless of hardware configuration. Other operating systems such as Apple Mac can only run on the PCs made by Apple itself. Linux 1. Linux is the only open source freeware operating system in the world which is easily available. 2. It is technically one of the most sophisticated operating system and is mostly run on the servers meant for networking and storage requirements. 3. Linux is based on UNIX based operating system and support different programming languages. 4. This operating system however would be only suitable if business is willing to run some online services and require on-going server support. Other Technologies PHP 1. PHP is one of the scripting languages which are used for writing dynamic and interactive websites. 2. PHP is highly flexible and robust and can be imbedded into HTML. 3. This is an easy to use language and can be used for developing dynamic websites such as online web stores, shopping carts etc. 4. One of