Communicating change Essay Example for Free

Communicating change Essay When an organization is undergoing changes, the management must communicate to employees to ensure they support the decision. Changes in an organization may cause conflicts especially when all stakeholders are not aware the new aspects to be adopted. To communicate to employees about the changes when an organization is relocating to another state requires the managers to provide the strategies being adopted to safeguard the interests of employees. The management should consider the welfare of the employees by maintaining the employees while the organization is undergoing change. When an organization relocates its operations from one region to another, the management should support the employees to understand the new systems. Management strategies should be changed to match the current needs of the employees (Burke, 2002). When changes are communicated to employees, they may react to support or reject the new policies. When employees accept change, the management should change its management style by adding more opportunities to improve their morale. When employees reject change, the management should adopt a persuasive strategy where they will influence them to adopt the new policies. Some changes may be compulsory for the management to implement and in such cases, there is no option but to influence employees accept the new strategies. Managers should interact with employees to determine their needs so as to implement acceptable strategies. Teams within the organization should be created to create synergies among the employees during the change process. Team leaders should be elected to support other employees. All members of the organization should hold a general staff meeting to discuss about the new systems to be adopted. The organization should be prepared to provide resources to employees to relocate to the new offices. For example, the costs of carrying out the entire process can be covered by the management (Burke, 2002). Reference Burke, W. W. (2002). Organization change: theory and practice. ISBN 0761914838, Sage.

How Music Can Portray Emotions

How Music Can Portray Emotions Torey A. Brooks   Abstract Music listeners of all ages have seen many studies questioning whether music can consistently express emotions. Far less attention has been devoted to the actual content of the musics communicative process for our emotions and the way it makes us want to move to the beat. The research will take into consideration whether music can possibly convey emotional content. Layers of various harmonies give listeners the ability to perceive more intricate emotions; though the expressions are less cross-culturally invariant and more dependent on the social context and/or the individual listener (Juslin, 2013). These emotions are expressed in ways like laughing, crying, or physical movements which as well as the music, also stimulates our brain. Keywords: music, emotion, expression, communication, movement Introduction Music affects everyone on some level. Some listen to it routinely whereas some only listen occasionally. We hear music in our cars, in elevators, at the doctors office, or while we are on hold; it is an integral part of our lives whether we think about it or not. There are many things that excite our brains reward centers, among them are our emotional responses to music and how that music makes us want to shake our bodies. While we can experience a temporary thrill from a high-speed car chase on a movie screen, a piece of music can cause varying emotions depending on its meaning for us on any given day. It is thought that the creation of music was done through rhythmic movements such as the tapping of feet. Pleasure centers of our brain are connected to our motor sensory. Watching others dance, not only affects our wanting to move, it brings about a euphoric appeal to the music because it is affecting us emotionally. Music not only brings about deep expressive experiences, it causes us to want to move to the beat and whether we can openly acknowledge it or not, uplifts our souls as is evidenced by the millions of videos of individuals who post their singing and moving adventures related to the music they listen to. Evidence In one sense, musicians are not necessarily expressing their own emotions as most music is written by other artists; they are feeling as well as expressing the musics emotions. Per Why do we like to danceAnd move to the beat? (2008), the term emotional expression typically means that listeners perceive the musics emotional meaning. Music is a way for humans to express their lifes current state of mind. While a listener could perceive any emotion in a piece of music, not all perceptions are going to be the same which is why there are numerous styles of music available. Evidence suggests that sensory experiences are also motor experiences (Why do we like to danceAnd move to the beat?, 2008). So, it is noticeable that while someone is watching another person dance, our brains movement areas are being unconsciously activated and we are predicting how a dancer will move based on how the music makes us feel. As noted by Juslin (2013) there is some minimum level of agreement among different listeners regarding the expression, presumably because there is something in the music that produces a similar impression in many listeners. When a composer writes music, he does so hoping that the listener will find an intrinsic value and enjoyment so they will continue to listen to the music. While there might be a specific reason behind the music composition, the music can mean way more to many listeners than the composer who wrote it. The term basic or discrete emotions occurs frequently in the music psychology field today, typically referring to certain emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, and fear, but without any deeper consideration of the theoretical basis of the concept (Juslin, 2013). Music that was written with emotions beyond those Juslin noted, are written for the personal experiences that the composer has felt in his own life and appear to do well with regards to being listened to or requested for play on the radio. Music that has a catchy tune, yet does not t ouch us emotionally fade quickly into what are known as one hit wonders. Most musicians try to compose their music around life situations that have affected them in an emotional way. They hope to convey those emotions to others who can share in the same feelings or at least empathize with them. Music that touches our emotions of love, loss, healing, or whatever we look for in music, is music that will always touch our hearts. Studies regarding how music taps into our emotions rank the top ten emotion terms as happiness, sadness, anger, fear and love, tenderness, and this tendency was similar across the three data sets, despite differences in samples (musicians vs. students, various countries) and selections of emotion terms (ranging from 32 to 38 terms) (Juslin, 2013). When I began this paper, I actively kept a count of how many times I heard music throughout the day that I did not initiate; it averaged thirty-two occasions in one day. After that test, I began to look at how the music affected me on these noninitiate occasions. It was at the bank and lobby music was playing or I was waiting in line for my lunch and they had music playing in the background. Unconsciously, I caught myself humming or signing along and if the time was long enough, I caught myself moving to the hits. Standing in the bank humming brought me to a time years ago when I used to volunteer in a childrens ministry. I can remember assisting in childrens church and regardless of the childrens attitude upon arrival, the moment we all began singing and playing musical instruments, everyone could visibly see the calming changes in a room of 40, 3- and 4-year-old children; they became more peaceful, complete. They were more amiable to sit through a lesson and their parents noticed t hat they were more apt to fall asleep on their way home. While this is not a controlled experiment, the children spent 10 minutes singing and dancing and the ripple effects lasted for 6 hours. Conclusion As I felt calmed in the bank with my humming and swaying, singing with movement calmed the childrens souls and gave them an emotional outlet for the experiences in their small worlds. I do not believe they consciously understood the benefits of the music and movement, they just truly enjoyed it. Music and dance may just be particularly pleasurable activators of the sensory and motor circuits. So,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦humans like watching others in motion (and being in motion themselves), adding music to the mix may be a pinnacle of reward. (Why do we like to danceAnd move to the beat?, 2008). Therefore, it is true that music can bring about deep emotional experiences and it can cause us to want to move with the beat as it uplifts our souls. Regardless if we listen to music casually or unfailingly, it can move our souls in ways unimaginable. References: Juslin, P. N. (2013). What does music express? Basic emotions and beyond. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764399/ Why do we like to danceAnd move to the beat? (2008, September 26). Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/

The Evolution Of Basic Flight Instruments History Essay

The Evolution Of Basic Flight Instruments History Essay In the pioneering days of aviation, flight was restricted to times of good visibility and good weather. In early flight operations, the pilot maintained visual contact with the ground below him at all times and used it as a reference point for executing all maneuvers. The design of most early aircraft positioned the pilot in the front of the aircraft affording him a high degree of visibility. Currently, there was little thought regarding cockpit design, and the pilot was just seated on the aircraft in a completely open fashion. This open design allowed the pilot to receive full sensory input from the chill of the blowing wind, the exhaust of the turning engine, and even the vibration through the seat of his pants (Siberry, 1974). He was in an ideal position to make use of his only flight instrumenthis body. These perceived sensory inputs superimposed on the visual backdrop of the earth combined to form the early pilots mental model of reality. Two broad cognitive principles that nega tively affected the pilots mental model require definition at this point. Spatial disorientation (SD) and Loss of Situational Awareness (LSA) are both difficult concepts to define. Both involve a degraded awareness of reality resulting from the mismatch between the pilots mental model and the visual backdrop used to create his perception of the environment. Unfortunately for the pilot SD and a LSA can result in the generation of misinterpretation and faulty prediction about his current situation often resulting in disastrous flight control inputs (Boers, 1996/97). SD is the faulty perception of position, direction of travel, or speed relative to the ground. LSA is closely related to SD, but deals with the pilots more specific confusion over his actual geographic location at a specific point in time (Mortimer, 1995). Now that the cognitive principles of SD and LSA have been defined, let me return to the discussion of the pilots use of his body as an exclusive sensor for environmental inputs, and the inherent limitations of this practice. Under visual flight rules (VFR) conditions, the early aviator was able to extract enough input from his senses to adequately pilot the aircraft. However, during continued experimentation with flight, poor visibility and poor weather conditions often were encountered. Pilots were robbed of their conventional sensory inputs under these conditions and many aircraft accidents resulted. Reliance on visual, vestibular, and seat of the pants acuity to control the aircraft was a major weakness and it prompted flight instrument development. Equipment designed to display aircraft heading, speed, and altitude information quickly evolved to counter mans sensory vulnerabilities. INSTRUMENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS Heading The compass was one of the first flight instruments used by early aviators (Allstar, 1995/00). Aviators quickly took advantage of the magnetic compass to overcome their past reliance on visual cues for establishing a heading. Compasses in use today are of two basic types, magnet, and gyro-magnetic (USCGA, 00). Both types can trace their ancestry back two thousands year to Chinese magicians. By accident, these magicians had discovered the properties of magnetism while playing a board game similar to chess. Unknowingly they had constructed their game pieces from metal containing lodestone, a natural magnetic ore. When they started their game by dropping the pieces on to the board, they noticed that they would spin and align themselves in the same direction every time. Quickly realizing the potential of their discovery, the magicians employed the magnetic properties of the lodestone to develop a liquid filled compass similar to the ones in use today (A History of the Compass). Advanceme nts in steel casting methods a thousand years later made permanent magnets possible by enabling compass needles to stay magnetized making the compass more practical and reliable. Early pilots simply made use of borrowed land and sea navigational compasses in their cockpits. However, liquid filled compasses were not perfect instruments. Steep turning and diving maneuvers caused the compass to present inaccurate heading information. In addition, metallic objects in the aircraft created magnetic interference that could corrupt the compass heading display. Some pilots made use of small magnets of opposite polarity positioned near the compass to counteract this harmful interference. Another solution for overcoming the interference was provided by the compass correction card, and it is still in use today (Gum and Walters, 1982). The card displayed magnetic headings from zero to 330 degrees, at 30-degree intervals. Underneath the magnetic heading readings were the appropriate corrected ste ering headings that compensated for the magnetic interference. Although the compensations were only minor, the pilot needed to ensure they were made as they could result in a LSA, as the magnitude of error would increase with the distance traveled. In addition, pilots occasionally failed to compensate for geographic differences in magnetic variation and this caused further cases of LSA. Fortunately, compass accuracy and stability took a leap forward on September 24, 1929, when Lt. James Doolittle performed a successful test flight of a directional gyro manufactured by the Sperry Company (Allensworth, 2000). Gyrocompasses combined the gyroscopic phenomenon that keeps a rapidly spinning wheel stable in space, and the property of magnetic polar attraction to overcome the limitations of the purely magnetic compass. Pilot alignment and compensation input requirements, that could be subject to human error, were required less often for the gyrocompass and this positively impacted flight safety. Today, the development of laser and other technologies have led to refinements in the basic gyrocompass enhancing its performance. Despite these advancements, a heading instrument of any type is a valuable tool for preventing pilot LSA. However for it to be effective its limitations must be known and observed. More importantly, to be effective it must be used. The collision between a Korean Air Line (KAL) DC-10, and a Piper PA-31 on a foggy runway in Alaska highlights this point. Lacking SA the KAL pilot continued to taxi to what he believed was runway 32, and began his takeoff roll. Sadly, the DC-10 pi lot had been fooled by his sense of direction, and struck a Piper aircraft holding for take off on runway 6L/24R. If the KAL pilot had only compensated for his lack of visual perception by confirming his runway heading with a compass (NTSB 1983) the accident could have been avoided. Obviously the compass has proven to be a vital resource for pilots and the development of speed measuring instruments would prove to be just as significant. Speed Knowing exactly how fast you are traveling is important for many reasons. Most importantly, the passage of air over the wings of the aircraft generates lift, and to remain airborne the pilot needed to maintain a minimum speed, or the aircraft would stall, ceasing to create lift. Additionally, you need the ability to measure speed, to make use of the navigational technique known as dead reckoning (DR). DR could greatly increase pilot SA by providing him a reliable indication of his location based on his rate of travel in conjunction with the passage of time and heading information. Unfortunately, the human body is poorly equipped for this task. Using his vestibular sense, the pilot had a rough feel for changes in speed due to acceleration and deceleration. Visual acuity also afforded him a limited sense of speed based on his perceived rate of closure with distant objects. However, poor weather, darkness, and visual illusion further degraded both these senses. A speed-indicating instru ment immune to all these factors was required to improve pilot SA and make DR navigation a reality. Early airspeed indicators were of two types mechanical and differential. Some mechanical devices were very simple producing only limited information, much like the mechanical stall warning indicators in use today on small private aircraft. Other mechanical airspeed indicators grew to be quite elaborate and their evolution started on a beach in North Carolina. Orville Wright held in his hand a mechanical anemometer on the first heavier than air flight. As Orville flew, Wilbur recorded his flight time with a stopwatch (Hunt and Stearns, 1923). Using the distance measurement from the anemometer, and the elapsed time from the stopwatch, they were able to calculate their speed. Strapping the anemometer to the wing of the aircraft further refined this speed measurement technique. Rubber tubing was then used to connect the anemometer to an indicator in the cockpit known as an air log. Variable suction was produced based on the anemometers speed of rotation. The resulting suction deflected the needle inside the air log to produce a reading. Unfortunately, the reading it produced was not airspeed. Separate elapsed time measurements still had to taken and combined with the air log reading to calculate air speed. Airspeed would not be readily calculated until new equipment using a commutator-condenser was devised. The new equipment employed a commutator-condenser unit that worked similar to an electrical motor, only in reverse. By connecting it to a spinning anemometer, varying levels of current were produced that could be displayed on an ammeter. Improvements to this technology was made by incorporating a timing signal with the electrical output to produce a true measurement of air speed (Beij, 1933). In fact, this measurement was still not a true measure of air speed but a measure of indicated airspeed. To measure true air speed, accurate compensations for altitude and temperature needed to be made, and differential speed measurement instruments would be better suited to this task. Worldwide experimentation with measurement instruments that collected air pressure to determine airspeed had begun. The most common system designs used funnel like collectors known as pitot tubes positioned facing forward on the aircrafts wing to collect the maximum amount of air possible. Care was taken to ensure the pitot tubes were placed away from any propeller generated air stream disturbances that might corrupt their air collection. An additional air collection device named a venturi was positioned perpendicular to the forward flow of air to capture the ambient or static air pressure (Hunt and Stearns, 1923). Both of the separate pressure inputs were routed via metal tubing to an indicator gauge that subtracted the static pressure from the pitot pressure to produce a dynamic pressure (Siberry, pg. 49). The resultant dynamic pressure inside the gauge actuated levers, and wheels to drive an indicator needle. A measurement scale was drawn on the face of the indicator and the speed of travel could be found by reading the needles position against the scale. These systems were known as differential for their subtraction of the static and dynamic pressures. Furthermore, they proved to be a great improvement over early anemometer based measurement instruments because of their flexibility. Eventually, scales were devised that allowed the pilot to calculate appropriate altitude and temperature offsets to produce true airspeed readings (TAS) (Hunt and Stearns, 1923). Once the offset was found it could be dialed in to airspeed indicator to display TAS. Certainly the airspeed indicator has greatly improved the pilots ability to navigate at night and during periods of poor visibility by making use of DR. Nonetheless; one should not become complacent to the measurements they provide. Today with the advent of integrated systems that arbitrarily use airspeed data provided to them to calculate flight control inputs, it is even more important for the pilot to challenge instrument readings that fall outside expected limits. Undoubtedly the airspeed indicator provides vital information to pilots about the aircrafts ability to maintain lift and has had a dramatic impact on flight safety. Moreover, the airspeed indicator has proven to be a valuable tool in the prevention of pilot SD. Its ability to detect increases in airspeed is far superior to that of any pilot relying on perception alone. Today, precision flight instruments are a reality, and yet pilots still suffer from SD, primarily from their inability to use them. Being without flight instruments and being unable to use them are one in the same. Therefore, the importance of past instrument development can be inferred from a recent study. The study involved accidents from 1987-1996 that implicated spatial disorientation as their cause, and it revealed that 90 percent of them resulted in fatalities. As a rule, these accidents involved non instrument-rated pilots caught in instrument meteorological conditions that became disorientated and lost control of their aircraft. This loss of control resulted from their inability to use their flight instruments and over come their LSA (Air Safety Foundation, 1999). Without doubt, heading and airspeed instruments combined with adequate training to use them are critical to pilot safety and the prevention of LSA. To further safeguard pilots from LSA, instruments that could accurately indicate altitude were required. Altitude The early pilots only tools for estimating his height above the ground was his eyes. He made use of the eyes ability to detect changes in the size of objects as he flew to estimate his altitude (Hawkins, 1987). In addition, the eyes capability for detecting subtle changes in the texture of the landscape below provided him with altitude clues, also the eyes inherent binocular nature afforded him a certain degree of depth perception. Unfortunately, for these techniques to be remotely accurate perfect weather conditions and daylight were needed. Flying in the darkness and relying on bonfires, and beacons for navigational cues was a difficult task. Subsequently, focusing on the distant flickering lights against a black background could result in vertigo and cause LSA (Haines, 1992). An altitude indicator, resistant to mans sensory flaws was required to further combat pilot LSA. Like the compass, altitude-measuring equipment were also used in a variety of fields before the first heavier-t han-air flight. Subsequently, the first altitude-measuring instruments used by aviators were adaptations of the aneroid barometer used by meteorologists. These early altitude indicators were of two types barograph, and altimeter (Hersey, 1923). The barograph was a precise instrument that contained a gradually rotating cylinder with paper on it. Changes in atmospheric pressure would force a pen attached to the aneroid to move up and down in relation to the pressure changes. The changes in pressure would then be recorded by the pen throughout the flight (Williams, 1999). It is no surprise that the barograph did not catch on as a permanent flight instrument and was primarily used to test and calibrate more practical altitude indicators like the altimeter. Early altimeter were nothing more than a modified aneroid barometer, displaying altitude rather than air pressure. Following in the footsteps of pioneering balloonists aviators simply changed the scale on the barometer from a measure of pressure to a measure of height above the ground, subsequently giving birth to the first aviation altimeters in the process. Bimetallic strips were incorporated inside the sealed unit of the altimeter to compensate for changes in temperature that could cause inaccurate readings. Later the simple dial and needle style altimeters grew more complex. Some made use of movable dials to compensate for daily variations in atmospheric pressure, and others allowed the pilot to input a pressure compensation factor (Mears, 1923). However, the overall indicator design changed very little-a simple rotating needle from zero to the maximum operating altitude of the aircraft, or the current theoretical safe maximum altitude. The pilot now had a tool that could be used in any weather and at any time of day accurately to indicate his altitude. For example, the altimeter in conjunction with navigational charts dramatically improved the pilots SA by making him ware of potential collision hazards. As aircraft engines became more powerful, and airframe construction materials improved, high altitude flights became more frequent. The single needle display of the altimeter evolved to one that used three pointers to better cope with the range of higher altitudes. The longest of three pointers indicated hundreds of feet, the medium one indicated thousands of feet, and the smallest one indicated tens of thousands of feet (Siberry, pg. 60). The new device was intended to improve pilot SA by making it easier for him to read a broader range of altitudes and readily identify possible hypoxic environments. Despite the good intentions of its designers, the three-pointer altimeter became a liability. The mingled hands of the indicator was difficult to decipher, and in environments that would not allow the pilots eye to linger over any one instrument for too long, mistakes were made. A P-47 pilots testimony from a combat mission dramatically emphasizes this point. I was flying at 25,000 feet on my first combat mission, but had mistakenly read the hands on my altimeter and was under the impression that I was at 35,000 feet. I called in some unidentified aircraft which were level with our formation and, consequentially, actually at 25,000 feet. Since I mistakenly reported them at 35,000 feet, they were believed to be enemy aircraft à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a good deal of confusion resulted. I believe some improvements could be made in our present altimeter (Sinaiko, 1961). His words proved to be very profound. However, the three-pointer and other altimeters relying on multiple pointers were in use for over 50 years before safer ones that incorporated drums or digital displays numerically to represent the altitude replaced them. Altitude indicators have proven to be a useful addition to the pilots arsenal in his battle with SD and LSA. Nonetheless, the altimeter was not a cure-all for overcoming mans sensory deficiencies. Just like the early compass, and airspeed indicators the re sulting benefits of the altimeter must be contemplated. CONCLUSION Without doubt, the evolution of basic heading, speed, and altitude indicating instruments has had a positive impact on pilot SD and LSA. Even today, this group of three instruments is of great importance for conducting safe flight operations under VFR conditions, and subsequently is the legal minimum requirement established by the Federal Aviation Administrations for private aircraft. At times, pilots have become complacent by placing total faith in their instruments, and have flagrantly refused to believe their own sensory inputs telling them that their equipment has failed. In addition, poor design has hindered the pilots ability to maximize their benefits. Although these occurrences are rare, grounds for concern exists when safety is at stake. However, these concerns should not overshadow the rewards brought by the evolution of cockpit instrumentation, and the rewards have been numerous. For example, aviation reaped the rewards of instrumentation and became a competitive mode of t ransportation with the advent of around-the-clock all weather flight capability. Additionally, the process of refining the integration between the pilot and these early instruments in the fledgling airborne environment served as catalyst for subsequent Human Factors research and development. Not only has this research positively impacted aviation safety, it has also contributed significantly to technological advancements gained refining SHEL model interfaces in other fields tackling man-machine integration dilemmas (Edwards, 1972). Today, problems still exist in mans ongoing marriage with machine but fortunately, they can, and will be reconciled with further application of human factors engineering intervention.is

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

T.S. Eliot once wrote, "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." Every landmark in our lives will end but there is always a beginning to an end. As each new path ends a new one begins. Graduation marks the end of a path but as it ends a new path begins. Life is an adventure. We started out by walking on a winding path as we entered the destination of kindergarten. As our lives ventured on down the winding path, we met new friends and new life experiences along the way. As the path widens, we see ourselves on a country road. We started elementary school and we constantly gained new knowledge to help us progress in our journey. As we continued along in our journey we entered a paved path in middle school. As ...

Due Diligence is Necessary When You Buy a Website :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Due Diligence is Necessary When You Buy a Website Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com According to industry statistics, nine out of ten people who begin the search to buy a website never complete a transaction. While there are many reasons for this dismal figure, a lot has to do with the inability of people to "pull the trigger". This gun-shy reaction is due to uncertainty: if you have not gathered the right information or failed to investigate the website thoroughly you will not be 100% certain of what to do. Due diligence is probably the most critical stage in the website buying process. Many prospective buyers incorrectly identify this period as strictly a financial review. However, an effective due diligence goes far beyond the numbers. Due diligence is the complete investigation and review of a website. One of the keys to buying a good website comes from your ability to learn the intimate details of it. It is imperative that you identify the strengths, weaknesses, growth opportunities and areas of concern with each website. If you don't do a flawless job of gathering information, you will not be able to pull the trigger and complete the transaction since you'll be uncertain about too many components of the website. The investigation process must begin the moment a website becomes of interest. Your goal is to be certain that you uncover everything about any website before you buy it. You don't have to communicate with the seller for your research to begin. The Internet is an incredible tool that will allow you to investigate the website, the industry, the competition, the marketing, the suppliers, and on and on. The importance of beginning your investigation early cannot be emphasized strongly enough. This way, you'll position yourself to ask the seller the right questions. Once you progress to the stage of an accepted offer, you will commence the financial due diligence. This period usually lasts 10-30 days. This is the time when you'll have access to all of the website’s books and records. Once you begin looking at a particular website, you'll find a thousand things crossing your mind regarding the acquisition. Keep a notepad handy at all times and log your thoughts. Don't trust your memory; these little things are the ones that can and will come back to haunt you down the road. Begin to put together your checklist of what you need to investigate and how you're going to do it along with the materials you require from the seller to accomplish it. Due Diligence is Necessary When You Buy a Website :: Sell Websites Buy Websites Due Diligence is Necessary When You Buy a Website Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com According to industry statistics, nine out of ten people who begin the search to buy a website never complete a transaction. While there are many reasons for this dismal figure, a lot has to do with the inability of people to "pull the trigger". This gun-shy reaction is due to uncertainty: if you have not gathered the right information or failed to investigate the website thoroughly you will not be 100% certain of what to do. Due diligence is probably the most critical stage in the website buying process. Many prospective buyers incorrectly identify this period as strictly a financial review. However, an effective due diligence goes far beyond the numbers. Due diligence is the complete investigation and review of a website. One of the keys to buying a good website comes from your ability to learn the intimate details of it. It is imperative that you identify the strengths, weaknesses, growth opportunities and areas of concern with each website. If you don't do a flawless job of gathering information, you will not be able to pull the trigger and complete the transaction since you'll be uncertain about too many components of the website. The investigation process must begin the moment a website becomes of interest. Your goal is to be certain that you uncover everything about any website before you buy it. You don't have to communicate with the seller for your research to begin. The Internet is an incredible tool that will allow you to investigate the website, the industry, the competition, the marketing, the suppliers, and on and on. The importance of beginning your investigation early cannot be emphasized strongly enough. This way, you'll position yourself to ask the seller the right questions. Once you progress to the stage of an accepted offer, you will commence the financial due diligence. This period usually lasts 10-30 days. This is the time when you'll have access to all of the website’s books and records. Once you begin looking at a particular website, you'll find a thousand things crossing your mind regarding the acquisition. Keep a notepad handy at all times and log your thoughts. Don't trust your memory; these little things are the ones that can and will come back to haunt you down the road. Begin to put together your checklist of what you need to investigate and how you're going to do it along with the materials you require from the seller to accomplish it.

Detective Fiction Essay

The famous horror writer ‘Edgar Allen Poe’ first introduced detective Fiction in 1841 with ‘murder in the rue morgue’. Although Mr Poe was the creator of detective Fiction, he was not the one to make it as popular as it is today. Readers were more intrigued by Poe’s creative genre ‘Horror’. Poe’s ‘murder in the rue morgue’ had also introduced the five traditional elements, the most important of all was ‘the superior detective’ known as ‘C. Auguste Dupin’, he had a method of deduction and was very eccentric. Now in every detective Fiction story or TV programme their contains the Five traditional elements ‘the perfect crime, the wrongly accused suspect, superior detective, dim witted police and the surprise ending, each one more essential than the other. Detective fiction was at its peak during the late nineteenth century for that was the time of ‘Jack the Ripper’, a cunning murderer who was never found. The mobs were intrigued by this whole situation, how it started and how it ends. To quench their appetite for mystery and suspense they would read detective fiction books. The most popular out of all the writers would have been ‘Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’. His stories had a different focus point. While other writers are focusing on the plot, Sir Doyle would have been showing of his detective’s intelligence. The superior detective would have solved impossible cases, have ridiculous and controversial theories, suspect clues with little or no evidence but at the end of the day he was the one to catch the criminal. The superior detective was known as ‘Sherlock Holmes’ with his right hand man Dr Watson. In any one of Sherlock’s stories Sir Doyle would have focused his attention on Holmes, the story would revolve around him on his thoughts and actions. One of Sir Doyle’s famous stories was the ‘Speckled Band’ that was about a young woman who died in a perfectly humane situation however there is little evidence to who or what did it. The ‘Speckled Band’ contains all the essential criteria, the perfect crime. Etc. The perfect crime committed was the death of Julia Stoner. Their was very little evidence of murder and how it could have been committed, For example her bedroom door was locked, her windows were barred and their was no sign of blood, bruises or any other form of violence. The Superior detective was clearly stated after making remarks to Dr Grimsby Roylett about the ticket leaning over his pocket and the state of his coat. This gives us an example of Sherlock’s excellent observational skills and his superiority.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm of your left glove.† From observing this Sherlock realises that he arrived here on public transport. In my view the wrongly accused suspect were the Gypsies and the sister of Julia. The reason for the Gypsies is because they are complete strangers to the family, who knows what they were capable of doing. The reason for Julia’s sister is because when she was speaking to Sherlock, he found her to be tense and he had the feeling as if she was hiding something from him. â€Å"†¦Have you told me all†. Sherlock had found her tense by observing her body language. This also shows us the intelligence of Sherlock. The ending came to quite a surprise, however I wasn’t completely shocked to hear that the culprit was â€Å"†¦a swamp adder†. I knew that Dr Roylett kept exotic animals and I also thought Dr Roylett did it. My theory was correct about it being the Dr, but not completely. The snake killed the girl but the mastermind behind the death was the Dr.  Although the story did not contain any police, the story itself states police as dim witted for example Julia’s sister goes to Sherlock to solve the crime. Here she knows the police haven’t got the intelligence to solve the crime. Doyle’s rural setting of where the incident happened was colourful and natural. You would never think anything sinister could happen however when setting eyes on the location of the death, there was a huge contrast. Watson describes the setting â€Å"†¦there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest upon which were engaged†. The surrounding was very colourful, no prisons, no insane asylums, there were no sinister vibes except for the ones coming from the house. I suppose the setting makes it to be a perfect crime but when Sherlock and Dr Watson set their eyes on â€Å"Stoke Moran† it would of narrowed down the suspects to those in the house. Although the outside atmosphere was pleasant Watson felt a huge contrast between both. † The building was of grey †¦two curving wings†¦in one of these wings the window was broken, and blocked with wooden boards†. Stoke Moran seemed to be mysterious but the only thing about unusual about it was the presence of that Dr Roylett who was a strong bitter man who kept wild animals in his premises. Another one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books was the ‘the blue carbuncle’. In this Sir Doyle emphasizes a great deal on Sherlock, his predictions and theories. When reading ‘the blue carbuncle’ you get so much information from one piece of evidence that story loses the plot. When Sherlock is examining the evidence Sir Doyle is trying to tell the readers that Sherlock is so intellectual there is nothing he can’t solve. The piece of evidence Sherlock was examining was a hat, although to a normal intellectual being like Dr Watson you wouldn’t find any clues about that hat. Sherlock came up with a great deal of conclusions and suggestions from a plain black top hat. Some of the conclusions made towards the hat by Sherlock would now be very controversial â€Å"†¦it came right over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose†. Here Sherlock suggests that he is an intellectual man just by the size of his head â€Å"†¦It is a question of cubic capacity†¦a man with so large a brain must have something in it†.  There were also suggestions about the hat that were more believable and more obvious to see â€Å"†¦ goes out a little, middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream† but even Dr Watson failed to see these clues when glancing at it, first time.

Ancient Greek Deities and Their Human Characteristics Essay

The ancient Greek Gods and their myths have existed in the human imagination and spirit for as long as man has had the ability to pass down their fables. Since before the dawn of recorded events, when man was limited to oral communications, the people of ancient Greece recounted to each other and to succeeding generations a variety of myths and legends surrounding the everlasting anecdotes of these magnetizing heroes. Some of these stories were told for pure entertainment as shepherds would do to pass the time while tending to their flock. Others were etiological in nature, as renowned philosophers, such as Socrates and his prize student Plato, would discuss; debating their meaning or interpretation of life, love, and existence. There are even present day university courses being held in order to discuss the lives of these supernatural beings. These deities have been passed around for thousands of years, and have yet to cease capturing the interest of the human spirit. Man has always been fascinated by these great immortals and moreover by the stories surrounding them, and since universities based their coursework on the Latin and Greek, it was natural for psychoanalysis and medical diagnoses to create names from these fables. Their charm and allure is accentuated by their recognizable human attributes. Ancient Greek Gods, like man, have been known to love and lust, to be jealous and seek revenge, to be bitter and even petty, characteristics common to everyday man, making them memorable. The Greeks would relate the stories of these omnipotent entities who act capriciously, frivolously, and even immorally, making them unforgettable, their legends transcended time and culture. They were nothing like any deity known to man then or now. The ancient Greeks would seek haven and ask for forgiveness from these familiar sorts of Gods because the Gods understood the problems that plagued man. They assumed that if a mere mortal succumbs to the seduction of revenge, and seeks refuge in the Gods and Goddess, the Gods would have nothing but understanding since they themselves made the very same mistakes. The ancient Greeks began using the stories as an explanation for man’s eccentric and erratic behavior; using stories such as Pandora to explain evil in the world, and woman’s inherent curious nature. Though they lack the religious seriousness one might expect from a god, the sort of seriousness found in the Judeo-Christian’s image of God, they are nonetheless still omnipotent, in the eyes of ancient Greece. Of course the Judeo- Christians believed in one god, monotheism, while the ancient Greeks believed in many, polytheism. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, are three of the oldest, and most popular religions in the world today. The majority of the world’s view on how a deity would or should behave comes from these three faiths. These religions are monotheistic, believing in one and only one God. These religions are also considered to be Abrahamic, explained by the Encyclopedia Britannica to mean that all three identify with and emphasize that they trace their common origin back to Abraham, or recognize a spiritual tradition identified with him. The majority of the world’s population, 54% according to the ranking of the world religions by Preston Hunter (Hunter) identify with these religions, they believe in the scriptures brought down by their creator, and related back to them by a prophet, or in certain sects of Christianity, the Lord himself. In every one of these scriptures God is described as pure, divine, all knowing, all seeing, and moreover, unlike any human, God is not petty or jealous. His love for his creation is merely platonic, the way one might love a creation of his own. There is no gender; God is not male, nor female. In both Judaism and Islam, the word â€Å"God† is replaced by the genderless form â€Å"Allah† or â€Å"Ellah†, both meaning â€Å"The One†. He has no flaws, or errors, he does not mingle or mix with lessor beings, most of all he does not procreate with his creations. In some sects of Christianity, God has a son, Jesus, but even then it was defined as a conception like no other; from the womb of the Immaculate Conception (Mary, daughter of Amram) herself, and only to prove His existence and platonic love for His creations. â€Å"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.† John 3:16. – King James Bible Islam and Judaism argue that He has no family, no sons (except a Trinity-form Jesus), no daughters, no mother, and no father. There is none that came before Him, and none shall come after him. He is the one and only creator of the Heavens and earth. The Torah, the Hebrew bible bestowed upon Moses, the leader (and prophet) of the chosen people of Israel, mentions in chapter 45 verses six through seven: â€Å"I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord, that does all these things.† (Is. 45:6-7) Also described in chapter 112 verses two through five, of the Quran, the holy scripture of the Islamic faith sent down upon Mohammed [peace and blessings be upon him] the last prophet, â€Å"Say: [Oh Mohammed] He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten; and none is like Him.† (Surah 112 Ikhlas – Unity – vs. 2-5) In all of these religions the theory of God is that he is alone, without gender or partner, but in ancient Greece, the gods were many and of both genders, every aspect of the heavens and the earth were split among twelve deities. Some overlapped, sometimes causing feuds; while others were alone in their ruling. Before the twelve Olympians ruled there were other gods, and a beginning before the beginning. The mystery of how the universe was created is a challenging question that has been puzzling man since man first pondered upon it. Various explanations have been given throughout ancient times. Rhoda A. Hendricks, author of several books on classic civilization, recounts Hesiod’s (a Greek oral poet thought to have been alive between 750 – 650 B.C.) Version which closely resembles Gneisses â€Å"First of all Chaos came into being, and then Gaea, the broad Earth, the ever certain support of all the deathless gods who dwell on the summit of snowy Olympus, and also dark Tartarus in the innermost part of the broad-path earth, and also Eros, the fairest of the immortal gods, who relaxes the limbs and overpowers the resolution and thoughtful determination in the hearts of all the gods and all mankind† Gaea, Earth, united with Uranus, heaven, creating the Titans, six gods and Goddess. Among them was Cronus, their youngest son and the cause of the Titan’s downfall. Destroying his father and taking the crown Cronus became the supreme ruler. With his sister Rhea as his new bride, Cronus fathered six of the major Greek deities – Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, and Hestia. The tradition for takeover was set, for Zeus followed in his father’s steps of killing the current ruler, Cronus, and marring his sister, Hera. From Hera and Zeus came Ares, the God of war, Hephaestus, the god of fire, and metal work, and Hebe, the Goddess of Youth (Hendricks). Being the philanderer he was known to be, Zeus had father many other Gods, and Goddess. Though the Greeks say Chaos was put in order, and the Earth was settled, I believe it had only begun, for these twelve Olympians (two more to be born later from Zeus) would create chaos like no man has ever known. Being Gods, supreme rulers of all that is supernatural and earthly, one would assume that humans were beneath them, but that was not the case for some of the gods. Instead of being above mankind they acted as though they were among the vulnerable; constantly battling each other in petty contests, than seeking a mortal’s approval. They would meddle and mingle with the fate of man just to satisfy their egos. For example the story of Helen of Troy was set off by a chain of events caused by the Gods being petty and narcissistic. Some might think of the downfall of Troy with the Trojan horse was the fault of Paris for being selfish, taking Helen away from Sparta and back to Troy with him. But poor Paris had no control of fate, but Zeus did. The story of Troy and also the beauty contest is a good example of how the human-like behaviors are involved. Helen of Troy was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, an earthly woman married to the king of Tyndareus. Zeus, the king of the Olympians and ancient Greece’s very own Casanova, was infatuated with this magnificent woman. Ignoring the fact that she was married, and that he would be committing adultery, Zeus came down from Mount Olympus in the form of a swan and took advantage of unsuspecting Leda. From that night she bore his half-immortal children, one of which was Helen. Helen was said to be a beauty that no man had ever seen. She was compared to Aphrodite herself, the Goddess of love and eternal beauty; being part immortal didn’t hurt either. She was the bride of Menelaus the king of Sparta, and she was soon to be the love interest of Paris. But Paris wouldn’t have been able to take Helen from Menelaus if not for Aphrodite’s assistance. Paris, Prince of Troy, was asked by Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite to judge a beauty contest. Again this was the doing of Zeus, for he had instructed Hermes, the messenger to the gods, to lead the Goddess to Paris to be the judge. Each of the Goddess promised him a reward if they chose them as the winner. Hera offered to make him the ruler over all man if she were chosen; Athena ensured him victory in all his battles, but it was Aphrodite’s offer that had won him over. The Goddess of beauty had promised the hand and heart of another beauty, Helen. And so as the story goes, Paris sweeps Helen off her feet and brings her home to Troy, focusing Menelaus to seek his brother’s aid in avenge his honor and reclaim his bride. The story does not end there, the Gods continue to meddle in the lives of their subjects; Athena, Hera and Poseidon frequently helped the Greeks, while Aphrodite and Ares defended the city of Troy (Hendricks), but sadly Troy is defeated in the end. In that one story along, we find the Gods behaving in petty and vengeful ways. They’ve ruining the lives of hundreds to satisfy their own selfish psyche. Zeus takes his way with Leda, knowing fully what this will cause. Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena put Paris in a predicament he cannot win, and later Athena and Hera go against him and his people for simply disagreeing with them. At times the gods were simply selfish, and other times they were genuine. Some gods honestly and truly loved the mortals that prayed to them. These sympathetic gods would defy their elders and find ways to make their love immortal so they may join them in Mount Olympus. In the story of Psyche and Eros, (Cupid) Eros fell in love with Psyche, a mortal princess whose astounding beauty earned the anger of Aphrodite. Cupid, the son of Aphrodite and Ares (the god of war), was the god of desire, affection, and erotic love. Annoyed with Psyche, Aphrodite sent Cupid to prick her with one of his arrows which would have forced her to fall in love with the most hideous man in all of Greece; this only shows another great example of the god’s petty jealousness. Cupid went to do as he was instructed, but instead of putting Psyche under a spell, he accidently pricks himself and he is bound by the love spell of his own arrows. Aphrodite had forbidden Eros to be with mortal woman, which was hypocritical considering she herself had many affairs with mortal men, and so had her father Zeus. Of course Eros defies his mother and goes off to see Psyche anyways. The myths and legends from those times had done more than fascinate man; they inspired us to name medical and psychological terms after them. Things like phobia, which is usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in order to avoid their fear. Typically this was disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. A famous and common phobia is arachnophobia, the fear of spiders and other arachnids, such as scorpions. This came from the story of Arachne and Athena. Arachne was a great mortal weaver who boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy. Arachne refused to acknowledge that her knowledge came in part from the goddess. Offended by Arachne’s arrogance, Athena set a contest between the two weavers. According to the recordings by Ovid, a Roman poet and collector of classic ancient Greek myths, the goddess was so envious of the magnificent tapestry and the mortal weaver’s success, and perhaps offended by the girl’s choice of subjects (the loves and transgressions of the gods), that she destroyed the tapestry and loom and slashed the girl’s face. The brown haired goddess Raged at the girl’s success, struck through her loom, tore down the scenes of wayward joys in heaven. Ultimately, the goddess turned Arachne into a spider. A commonly used term of psychology is narcissism, the love and interest of only one’s self. This comes from the story of Echo and Narcissus as it is written in Thomas Bulfinch’s Stories of Gods and Hero’s. Narcissus was a handsome Greek youth who rejected the desperate advances of the nymph Echo. As punishment, he was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Unable to consummate his love, Narcissus â€Å"lay gazing enraptured into the pool, hour after hour† (Graves), and finally changed into a flower that bears his name, the Narcissus. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, narcissistic personality disorder is defined as â€Å"an individual who is excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity.† In other words can’t see anything past one’s own problems. Thanks to the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the story of Oedipus has become one of the most widely known psychological Greek myths in the modern world. However, because of Freud’s ‘Oedipus Complex’, many modern readers focus on his apparent love of his mother and hatred for his father; this in fact is not true to the Greek mythological tradition of Oedipus. As told by Robert Graves in The Greek Myths part II, Oedipus’s birth father Laius was married to Iocaste and ruled over Thebes. Grieved by his prolonged childlessness, he secretly consulted the Delphic Oracle, which informed him that this seeming misfortune was a blessing, because any child born to Iocaste would become his murderer. In an attempt to prevent this prophecy’s fulfillment, upon the birth of the boy Laius had his ankles pinned together so that he could not crawl ( causing his ankles to swell and giving him his name Oedipus, translated to be swollen ankles); he then gave the boy to a servant to pass onto a shepherd from Corinth and then to another shepherd so on till he was in Polybus. Eventually Oedipus was adopted by the King and Queen of Polybus; because they two were childless they decided to raise him to be their own. Several years later Oedipus left Polybus in search of his birth place and parents. Soon he came upon a road and was rudely told off by his biological father, which he had no knowledge of at the time. The two engaged in a battle resulting in the death of Laius, unintentionally fulfilling the prophecy of his father’s death. Upon arriving in the city of Thebus after solving the sphinx’s riddle Oedipus was crowned king and was given the mourning queen as a bride He again unaware of their biological connection. He continues to rule as the King of Thebus, but once he found out that he married his mother and killed his father, he gouged his eyes out and wandered the desert for ages. As the story goes on we find elements of psychological disorders but, Oedipus himself did not suffer from Sigmund’s theory of what Oedipus complex was. In all this one can find the contrast between the Greek deities and the Abrahamic Gods. The contrast between the Abrahamic and the Greek gods has been shown to be extreme . The Abrahamic religions had the monotheistic God who was all-powerful and all-knowing. Although the Torah and Bible describe him as â€Å"jealous,† it was seen as meaning that he expected a strict following of the laws that he gave to the people. The Abrahamic God’s reasons behind the love and punishment were unclear to the followers, this was a test of their faith. God was not understood completely but was followed wholeheartedly. The Greek gods had behaviors that were very easily understood by the people. They acted in very human ways, although the â€Å"lightning bolt† of Zeus could not be defended against. Their stories relay their human like personalities. They would get angry over insults made by their subjects (Athena); they let their lusts carry them away (Aphrodite, and Zeus); they engage in petty feuds with one another (Aphrodite, Athena, Hera). Moreover, the Greek gods appear to humans and mingle with them, helping or hindering them and at times, making love with them. The Olympic Gods had the same physical and emotional characteristics as us. Mortal women could compare to Aphrodite’s beauty and Zeus could be out witted and fooled. Jealousy, anger, bitterness as well as love and compassion were signature characteristics of the God’s personalities. WORK CITIED: SOURCES 1. According to Greek Mythology: Pandora