...Not Everything is Within our Control The afternoon knows what the morning never expected. – Swedish (Swedish, "Nature Sayings and Nature Quotes | Wise Old Sayings") It is an irrevocable fact that we are not in control of everything that happens. We would like to believe that we are and we do everything in our power to get as close to full control as possible, but the truth of the matter is that as the starting quote say’s “ The afternoon always knows what the morning never expected”. There are many things in our lives that are out of our control, like other people’s feelings and unforeseen unmanageable circumstance, for me this inability to always be in control is a difficult concept. You see, I am an ex-professional athlete in a high-risk sport, motocross. In motocross we like to believe that as we train and prepare we gain control of all situations and when things go north this preparation will allow us to control the uncontrollable. The difficult truth to accept is that although preparation diminished unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances, it doesn’t eliminate them and when something goes wrong. It goes really wrong. I, like many people will never come to accept that we can’t control certain circumstances and will continue to prepare ourselves and to train ourselves in hopes of controlling the uncontrolled. As crazy as this may seem however, it is people like us that develop equipment, strategies, movements and technology to get us closer to control. It is...
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...Criminal Law August 12, 2013 Texting and Driving: It Can Wait Leslee’s life changed forever on March 4th. Leslee Henson and her husband David were involved in a terrible pedestrian-motor accident. They were not driving a car; they were simply going for a walk on a Monday morning in their neighborhood when tragedy struck. The motorist that was guilty of texting, rear ended another vehicle that struck the pedestrians. David shielded his wife, Leslee and took the death for her. In other words, he pushed her out of the way and he died while she survived and has to endure more than 5,000 stitches and staples on her head and neck. Bones in Leslee’s neck and back were broken. She had bleeding in her brain. Her shoulder was injured. The woman that caused the accident was 50 years old, late for work and was texting with her head down. In addition to all these factors, she did not have insurance which leaves Leslee with the medical bills. The car that she rear ended was being driven by a man named Fred, who witnessed David pushing his wife out the way and taking the blow for her. 1 So many individuals’ lives will never be the same because that lady chose to send a text. It has not been revealed what the message entailed but if it was that pertinent, than as a mature person she should have pulled over and taken precautionary measures. David was an amazing father, husband, uncle, and grandfather to 10 darling grand kids. Leslee did go home, two and a half weeks after the accident...
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...You can create art and beauty on a computer. Computers can change your life for the better. Like Aladdin's lamp, you could get it to do your bidding. Hackers operate by these principles whether anyone gives them permission to or not. For example, they have no compunction about taking information whether it is offered as free or not. However, they make a concerted effort to make information free to everyone. Hackers were the driving force behind the free software movement, which resulted in concepts such as "freeware" and "shareware," as well as the open source movement, in which source code is made available for everyone to use and adapt for their own purposes, without cost (Poynder). The GNU project was started in 1984 to develop a complete UNIX-like operating system that is free software; "GNU," which stands for "GNU's not UNIX," is based on the kernel Linux is sponsored by the Free Software Foundation and is widely used ("Free as in Freedom"). When hackers execute a hack, it is usually fueled by the desire to understand something more fully, and "hack value" is "the notion among hackers that something is worth doing or is interesting," so therefore hackers rarely bother hacking something that does not hold intrinsic interest for them ("Hack Value"). A classic hack has hallmark characteristics of its own, as well: 1. Simplicity: the act has to be simple but impressive. 2. Mastery: the act involves sophisticated technical knowledge. 3. Illicitness: the act...
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...Epidemiology Paper Epidemiology has become the method of choice for public health research. The patterns and trends and cause and effects of health affecting phenomena identified by epidemiology are instrumental in predicting risk factors e.g.; development of treatment strategies to prevent or contain diseases. Epidemiology estimates have changed over time related to changes in the definition and diagnosis of diseases. Epidemiology is practiced as a broad scientific discipline that addresses occurrences of diseases and distribution of health status of populations. Integration of casual concepts at the clinical, social and environmental levels will allow faculty to work to maintain an intellectual environment that will facilitate the integration of biological, social and, analytical approaches of epidemiology. This type of environment allows faculty and students to develop the knowledge to fully appreciate the complexities of biosocial system to understand, modify, and use this information to maximum potential. The focus of this paper will be on immigrant/migrants as a vulnerable population with emphasis on infectious disease a major health concern. The paper will define epidemiology and identify steps and methods of the type of epidemiology and examines relationships of illnesses and education related to infectious diseases. Epidemiology defined Stanhope & Lancaster (2008) defines epidemiology as “the study of the distribution and determination of health- related states...
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...M Infrastructure Optimization Driving Down Costs of the Business Desktop Abstract Deployment and management costs of PCs and the infrastructure that supports them use up 30 to 45 percent of most organizations’ IT budget. However, increasingly complex IT environments often incur increased costs and require service level compromises. This paper presents the results of surveys and analysis conducted during 2005 at 14 private enterprises. These organizations used best practices and management software technologies to optimize their organization’s IT infrastructure and reduce PC management costs. Results of this study indicate a direct correlation between the number of best practices adopted, the management technologies used, and the positive impact on reducing PC-related labor costs. Technical decision makers, especially those responsible for desktop PC environments, will gain insight into how they can better manage their IT environment with fewer financial resources. April 2006 William Barna, MBA Senior Program Manager Windows Enterprise Management Division The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft or its respective suppliers cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the...
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...were controlled, and the facts that might cause terrorism, such as religion, insurrection, political disagreements, typically led to an open warfare during earlier times of civilization. By the time kingdoms turned into nations, they had sufficient reasons to enforce their authority and repress activities such as terrorism. According to the webpage Terrorism Research, “The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words "Terrorist" and "Terrorism". The use of the word "terrorism" began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government.” In other words, the agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that administered and enforced the policies of "The Terror" were called 'Terrorists". The words terrorist and terrorism can cause an immediate effect in people’s minds. People often just relate terrorism to power and politics, but what is the real meaning of Terrorism? Every time I hear the word terrorism, I unconsciously think of Religion and Arabian countries. However, those are just labels that were built up in my mind by what surrounds me. In this research paper, I will explain what terrorism is and its effect in international relations, the terrorist organizations most heard of such as Al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood, and how international organizations are controverted and are...
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...Table of Contents Availability Bias 2 Overreaction Bias 6 Research Report Analysis 8 Illustrations 12 Conclusion 14 Bibliography 15 Availability Bias Availability bias is a human cognitive bias that causes us to overestimate probabilities of events associated with memorable or dramatic occurrences. A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. A cognitive bias can also be explained as a flaw in judgment which is caused by memory, social attribution, and statistical errors. Since, memorable events are further magnified by coverage in the media; the bias is compounded on the society level. Two well-known examples would be estimations of the probability of plane accidents and the kidnap of children. Both events are quite rare, but the huge majority of the population outrageously overestimates their probability, and behaves accordingly. In reality, one is more likely to die from an auto accident than from a plane accident, and a child has a higher risk of dying in an accident than the risk of getting kidnapped. Availability bias is at the root of many other human biases and culture-level effects. Availability bias is a cognitive illusion. The availability biasis a mental shortcut that occurs when people make judgments about the probability of events by how easy it is to think of examples. The availability bias operates on the notion that, "if you can think of it, it must be important...
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...Pranay Bhardwaj Disaster Recovery Planning Introduction Hurricane Sandy is regarded as one of the most devastating natural disasters to strike the city of New York. People have different recollections of that time period, with some who recall the catastrophic damage done to their home, while others remember the 4 hours of wait just to fill up their cars with gas. For financial institutions, such as Citi bank, it was a time for the management team to pat themselves on the back and breathe a sigh of relief for being able to secure important data centers and keep bank operations running. All this was a result of successful implementation of Citi’s “Disaster Recovery Plan”. What is a Disaster Recovery Plan? Just like the disaster discussed above, every week, month, and year, companies are exposed to risks of potential disasters that can affect the continuation of vital business processes. When critical processes and applications are lost, the company can incur damages ranging anywhere from $5,000- $5,000,000 per minute, depending on the size and function of the company. Some companies never recover from the excessive damage they incur during the time of the disaster, and may be forced out of business. To avoid such a situation, companies, particularly banking institutions, are heavily encouraged to have a disaster recovery plan in place. A disaster recovery plan is a powerful tool that allows companies to shield itself from any calamity that occurs, be it natural...
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...Argumentative writing Planning Stage For an argument essay to be effective, it must contain certain elements. For this reason, you must take a few minutes to plan before you jump into writing an argument essay. Find a Good Topic To find good topic for an argument essay you should consider several issues that will have two conflicting points of view or very different conclusions. As you look over a list of topics you should find one that really sparks your interest. While a strong interest in a topic is important, it's not enough. You next have to consider what position you can back up with reasoning. It's one thing to have a strong belief, but when shaping an argument you'll have to explain why your belief is reasonable and logical. As you explore the topics, make a mental list of points you could use as evidence for or against an issue. Consider Both Sides of Your Topic and Take a Position Once you have selected a topic you feel strongly about, you should make a list of points for both sides of the argument. One of your first objectives in your essay will be to present both sides of your issue with an assessment of each. Of course, you will conclude that one side (your side) is the best conclusion. In the planning stage you will need to consider strong arguments for the "other" side. Then you'll shoot them down! Gather Evidence When we think of arguments we might picture two red-faced people speaking quite loudly and making dramatic gestures. But that's because...
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...kind of system being characterized, or perhaps the disciplinary perspective being brought to bear. The purpose of this paper is to gather and organize different views of complexity, as espoused by different authors. The purpose of the paper is not to make judgments among various complexity definitions, but rather to draw together the richness of various intellectual perspectives about this concept, in order to understand better how complexity relates to the concept of engineering systems. I have either quoted directly or done my best to properly paraphrase these ideas, apologizing for when I have done so incorrectly or in a misleading fashion. I hope that this paper will be useful as we begin to think through the field of engineering systems. The paper concludes with some “short takes” -- pungent observations on complexity by various scholars -- and some overarching questions for subsequent discussion. AUTHOR A THEORY OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS Edward O. Wilson Herbert Simon SOURCE Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge “The Architecture of Complexity”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 106, No. 6, December 1962 as cited in Daniel Katz and Robert Louis Kahn, The Social Psychology of Organizations Kenneth Boulding DEFINITIONS OF COMPLEXITY Joel Moses Eberhardt Rechtin and Mark Maier Peter Senge “Complexity and Flexibility” (working paper) The Art of System Architecting The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization Dealing with...
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...American International Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 4 No. 1; January 2014 Kenya’s Social Development Proposals and Challenges: Review of Kenya Vision 2030 First Medium-Term Plan, 2008-2012 Ezekiel Mbitha Mwenzwa Department of Social Sciences Karatina University P. O. Box 1951, Karatina, Kenya. Joseph Akuma Misati Department of Sociology Maasai Mara University P. O. Box 861 20500, Narok, Kenya. Abstract Kenya faces several development challenges including poverty, disease, unemployment, negative civic engagement among others. The development bottlenecks worsened following the introduction of the IMF/World Bank-propelled Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) of the late 1970s and early 1980s. While the SAPs had envisaged benefits, they largely became part of the problem rather than the solution to development in Kenya. Accompanying these were negative civic engagements, particularly, ethnic conflict and political maladministration especially after the re-introduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s. These drawbacks notwithstanding, development planning went on culminating in the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERSWEC) 2003-2007 in 2002 and its successor, the Kenya Vision 2030 in 2007. While the former was implemented, the latter is on course with the First Five Year Medium-Term Plan running from 2008 to 2012 recently concluded. The blueprint is driven by three pillars, namely; The economic, social and...
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...University of Edinburgh, UK Corresponding Author: Rachel A. Howell, Centre for the study of Environmental Change and Sustainability, School of Geosciences, The University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, UK. Email: r.a.howell@sms.ed.ac.uk Investigating the LongTerm Impacts of Climate Change Communications on Individuals’ Attitudes and Behavior Rachel A. Howell1 Abstract To assess the effectiveness of climate change communications, it is important to examine their long-term impacts on individuals’ attitudes and behavior. This article offers an example study and a discussion of the challenges of conducting long-term investigations of behavioral change related to climate change communications (a vital and underresearched area). The research reported is a longitudinal panel study of the impacts on UK viewers of the climate change movie The Age of Stupid. The heightened levels of concern, motivation to act, and sense of agency about action that were initially generated by the movie did not measurably persist over the long term. The results also show that behavioral intentions do not necessarily translate into action. Data analysis raised issues concerning the reliability of participants’ causal attributions of their behavior. This and other methodological challenges are discussed, and some ways of avoiding or lessening problems are suggested. Keywords climate change communications, proenvironmental behavior, behavioral change, behavioral intentions, public attitudes Article...
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...Research Paper Matthew Emery memery@capella.edu BUS3004 Developing a Business Perspective Lynn MacBeth 08/12/2012 Too Big to Stay Introduction A financial institution so interwoven in the fabric of the national economy that its failure could cause a massive ripple effect is deemed “too big to fail”. Unfortunately for the taxpayers, their hard earned dollars are the only thing between salvation and failure for these companies. Poor management or industry instability can ruin any business, but the larger an institution gets, the larger the collateral damaged induced by their failure will be. It is the duty of a responsible government to never leave their citizens vulnerable to such a catastrophe. The goal of this paper is to prove that too big to fail policy is what turned a period of stagnant growth into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It is a well known fact that the housing market and therefore the United States economy started slipping in late 2007. As the economy was faltering, it still managed to not slip into recession status until September 2008. It is lees than coincidental that America's fifth largest financial institution, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, the very same time the economy plummeted. The instability of the market led to runs on banking institutions, which in turn led to more bank failures, which led to massive bailouts. These bailouts, while helpful at the time, lead to unprecedented...
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...Middle adulthood is the time period from 35 years of age until 64 years of age. It is the midpoint of a person’s life. Many people have achieved happiness at this point in their lives, but there are some who feel like they are that much closer to death without accomplishing anything. Just like any other point in life this time period brings about many changes and stresses to deal with daily. How a person handles these issues determines if he or she achieves total happiness with their own self. Webster defines middle as “equal distance from the beginning to the end” (Dictionary, 2010). It also states that the word adult is a person who is “fully grown or developed” (Dictionary, 2010). Basically by combining these two words a person is half way through with his or her life. There is not a magic crystal ball that can 100% correctly predict when a person’s ticker will stop beating. Researchers did a study and came up with an approximate life expectancy of women. These researchers took an average of women in 17 different countries and came up with a life expectancy of approximately 82 for the year 2000 (Bongaarts, 2009). There are many factors to be considered that could change these numbers significantly. This number is just an educated guess of women who are in good health and get the proper amounts of nutrition and exercise. Most people probably would not want to know an exact time that their life will end. If people live a good lifestyle then their life expectancy is much longer...
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...break from the traditional self-reliant way of doing business. Outsourcing arrangements are technologically and organizationally complex, and present a variety of challenges to manage effectively. Outsourcing benefits include cost savings, quality improvement, and the ability of the organization to concentrate time and resources on its core business. Outsourcing trends change from year to year, and usually involve changes such as progressive outsourcing, cloud sourcing, mergers between organizations from different parts of the world and protectionism. In this paper we will look at a few of these areas such as the how in recent years the business practice of outsourcing jobs has been considered both a blessing for American business and a concern for the American worker, the amount of outsourcing being done and why, the affect on the economy in the United States, and the role government plays in outsourcing. The paper concludes, however, that the trend is just beginning and how our country can and should responsibly move forward on this issue. Outsourcing: The Government, the People and the Companies Do you work for a company that has employees outside of the United States of America? Well the fact of the matter is that many of us work for companies or states that has or will outsource work. Some may see this as a problem on many different levels and other might see it as...
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