Sending Children by Parcel Post

Sending Children by Parcel Post Its never easy traveling with children and often it can be expensive. In the early 1900s, some people decided cut costs by mailing their children via parcel post. Sending packages via the U.S. Parcel Post Service began on January 1, 1913. Regulations stated that packages could not weigh more than 50 pounds but did not necessarily preclude the sending of children. On February 19, 1914, the parents of four-year-old May Pierstorff mailed her from Grangeville, Idaho to her grandparents in Lewiston, Idaho. Mailing May apparently was cheaper than buying her a train ticket. The little girl wore her 53-cents worth of postal stamps on her jacket as she traveled in the trains mail compartment. After hearing of examples such as May, the Postmaster General issued a regulation against sending children by mail. This picture was meant as a humorous image to the end of such practice. (Picture courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute.)

Cool Science Fair Project Ideas List

Cool Science Fair Project Ideas List Some science fair projects are just more cool than others. Heres a look at some cool science fair project ideas as well as a collection of reader-submitted cool project ideas. Can What You Eat Change Your Eye Color? Some claims have been made that what you eat can ​​change your eye color. You can test this hypothesis yourself. Is ESP Real? Some people claim they can tell who is calling on the telephone before they pick up the phone (and without consulting caller ID). Can they really do it? State a hypothesis and conduct an experiment to test whether your subjects have this form of ESP. Sparking Vegetables Some frozen vegetables have been shown to produce sparks when cooked in the microwave. What types of vegetables produce these sparks? Is spark production dependent on the initial temperature of the vegetables? Does the cooking container play a role in sparking? There is a lot of exploration possible here. Can You Decompose a Disposable Diaper? It is estimated that it will take hundreds or possibly thousands of years for disposable diapers in landfills to decompose. Can you find a way to decompose them? How long does it take a cloth diaper to decompose? Could Your Home Use Wind or Solar Energy? How much wind or sun does it take to use a wind or solar power generation system? How does that compare with the average number of windy or sunny days where you live? Investigate what it would take to start generating and using your own power.

Service facilities - service and process analysis Assignment

Service facilities - service and process analysis - Assignment Example The clinic uses the first come first serve basis to transform incoming patients to into served customers. The clinic is likely to be using the pull systems in its production process to transform incoming patients into served customers. In a typical clinical production process, tasks and operations are linked together into a series of production flow-charts without the patients having to waste time or delay while waiting to receive attention from caregivers. In the value stream indicated above, the clinic seems to be using the first-in-first-out (FIFO) method that links the processes into a pull system. When the patient arrives at the clinic, s/he is given a form to fill personal information and describe the ailment, the form is then time stamped and placed on a tray. After completing the form, the clerk attaches it to the patient file and arranged in a stack of files based on the stamped time. Subsequently, when a nurse finishes with the current patient, the next patient is selected from the stack of files in the order of arrangement. The goal of the FIFO pull system is to ensure that the patients waiting in the queue for services remain in the system and are served in the order in which they arrived the FIFO system. The FIFO system limits the number of patients who use the service based on the time and resources available. In an ideal situation, once the FIFO system is full, the first process of admission is stopped in order to avoid overwhelming the nurse practitioner in the diagnosis and treatment of the patients. However, this is difficult in this scenario, given that the patients walk into the clinics without appointments and reservations. The main factors that patients view as critical-to-quality (CTQ) when they visit the clinic include satisfaction with the treatment they receive from the hospital, high nursing response rate in serving the patient and time spend in the queues while waiting to receive treatment from practicing nurse or on duty MD. These

St. Bernard's Catholic Church Bazaar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

St. Bernard's Catholic Church Bazaar - Essay Example We have an outreach program there that works with the local missionaries." The health and well-being of the people of Haiti has become one of the Catholic Church's principle concerns in recent years. The annual bazaar's main event is the chicken dinner that is catered by JoJo's Bar-B-Que of nearby Linden. The menu offered both fried and baked chicken, side dishes, and deserts that were donated by the Women of St. Bernard's, a Catholic auxiliary group. Because of the record numbers that attended this year's event, there was a fear of running out of desert. However, Ms. Kiefer quickly organized a group that headed back home to put together some of the best homemade pies and cakes available anywhere. In keeping with its focus on children, the fair offered several unique activities to get the attention of the younger set. John Parker, a church member and Wabash College professor, put on several regular displays of the 'Wonders of Science'. The children were awed by his demonstrations that involved dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and static electricity. Though the shows were designed for children, the adults were equally impressed with the professor's shows. In addition to the science display, there were activities such as an art gallery, cake walk, musical chairs, and games where children could win prizes such as stuffed animals, books, and toys.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer Essay Example for Free

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer Essay Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer are the best of friends with remarkably different personalities. Each brings their unique characteristics into this comical friendship giving the novel numerous amusing passages. Throughout the tale, Tom is often the leader while Huck is the reluctant follower. It doesnt matter that Toms ideas are ridiculous and extravagant, and Hucks are simple and practical, together they always proceed with Toms imaginative plans. In contrast to Toms great imagination and creativity, Huck is humorless and literal minded. Toms imaginativeness comes only from knowledge he has gained through books. Huck, on the other hand, actually lives out the fantasies Tom can only imagine. Tom Sawyer, already civilized, follows the values and beliefs of society. Due to these convictions, Tom always abides by the laws. For these reasons, Tom would never have helped free Jim unless he knew that Jim had already been freed. Conversely, Huck Finn rejects the philosophy of political beliefs for the fear of becoming civilized. He usually runs away at the first notion of him becoming sivilized. Huck is able to function in any society with the help of his adaptability and survival skills. He is able to go from the freedom of the raft, to the perceived harshness of civilization, and back again with ease. Although Tom has been able to slip past Deaths grip so far, his chances of escaping may not always work out to his liking. Of the two, Huck will always be the survivor in life. Together this pair achieves their goals because of their intelligence and witty personalities. They have the ability to put the knowledge they obtain into their every day lives. They are two adventurous souls in search of fresh and exhilarating escapades. Their ages united with their exceptional education keeps them on their toes. Hucks humorless personality and Toms extravagance has made The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, a popular adventure for all ages. The American people have forever enjoyed this novel and have made it the American literary classic that it is today. So there aint nothing more to write about an we is rottin glad of it, because if wed a knowed what a trouble it was to make this essay, and, we wouldnt a tackled it, and aint a-going to no more. -Mark Twain pg. 283

How Food is Viewed in the American Culture Essay examples -- nutrition

Most people wouldn’t deny that food is vital to everyday life, but perhaps it has more importance than just simply nourishing our bodies. According to Carole M. Counihan, a doctor of anthropology, food is so important that society has constructed rules regarding its consumption. Counihan emphasizes in her 1992 Anthropology Quarterly article, â€Å"Food Rules in the United States: Individualism, Control and Hierarchy,† that these rules serve as the â€Å"means through which human beings construct reality† (Counihan, 1992, p. 55). Counihan advocates for the importance of studying food rules by explaining that knowledge about how food is viewed in our culture can do three things: improve understanding of other culture’s food rules, allow nutrition education programs to mesh with these rules, and reveal an aspect of society that helps maintain our current stratification system, which has not been thoroughly examined yet (Counihan, 1992). Through her study of f ood journals kept by American college students, Counihan argues that their adherence to food rules suggests that students strongly believe in self-control and individualism. Consequently, these beliefs reinforce our current social hierarchies, specifically classism, racism, and sexism. Counihan’s argument that our rules about food allow for the perpetuation of sexism is a compelling one that I very much agree with. I have personally seen my best friend plan her entire diet and exercise regimen based on what her boyfriend thinks. Although this article was written in 1992, I believe the message it conveys will still be applicable in years to come. Counihan’s argument is multifaceted: she explores a school of thought that college students follow certain rules about food that have been int... ... is important. But now that we have done so, it is even more important that we take steps to change what is happening. That’s why the recent focus on being healthy rather than thin and campaigns like the Dove Beauty Campaign where women are encouraged to see the beauty in how they currently are so monumental to changing what Americans value. Even though Counihan wrote this article eighteen years ago, it still has applications today. I do question her study methods. Using a small sample of food journals from students being taught to think anthropologically could skew results. I would be very interested to see a larger study done today, especially with some progress being made in the adaptation of America’s values. Works Cited Counihan, C. M. (1992). Food Rules in the United States: Individualism, Control, and Hierarchy. Anthropology Quarterly, 65(2), 55-66.

The implementation of balanced scorecard in a Chinese car insurance company

It was decided that the best tool to gather data about stakeholders’ thoughts with regard to the Balanced Score Card system in Tian-an Car Insurance Company would be through interviews. A detailed questionnaire and data on the findings is found in the Appendix. 4. 3. Findings. The researcher found out that the implementation of the Balanced Score Card system did not succeed in this company. The reason for failure was not due to the technical nature of the BSC as a system but rather due to how it was implemented.Of great interest were the comments from four of the Tian-an Car Insurance Company branch managers interviewed. Three of the managers interviewed work with the Shanghai branch and one manager with the We Zhou branch. From the managers’ responses it became apparent that there were serious inadequacies in the way the BSC system was implemented. The findings below are arranged in three parts. First, the question that was posed by the researcher, second the answers t hat the managers gave and finally an interpretation of the findings.The findings follow a certain sequence that is intended to reveal the order in which the change agent should have implemented the BSC system so as to attain success. It has been found that implementation should have started with a consideration of the company’s strategy, followed by acceptance by every player, training, motivation and communication. 4. 3. 1. The current status in the company with regard to the BSC: The researcher posed the following question: â€Å"Is the company currently using balanced scorecard as a performance measurement system†?A manager answered that Tian-an Car Insurance Company â€Å"started to use it in June 2008†, but somewhere along the way they started experiencing â€Å"some problems† which forced them to stop to using it. Reasons given for stopping were that; â€Å"we found it is not really suitable for us†, and that â€Å"the duration for implement ation was 8 months. † This finding reveals a lack of appreciation of the BSC system. The BSC as research has shown; is superior to ‘traditional financial performance measures that worked well for the industrial era.’ This is a holistic system that complements the financial measures with operational measures on customer satisfaction, internal processes, and improvement activities –operational measures that are the drivers of future financial performance. (Kaplan and Norton 1992) If the Japanese can successfully transplant their auto plants to America using processes that are superior to the ‘American’ way of doing things then there is no way that the BSC can be faulted in the Chinese business set-up. (Franchesco & Gold 2005) 4. 3. 2. How the BSC was introduced to the company:The response to the interview question: â€Å"Why would you choose it (BSC) as the performance measurement system at the beginning? † reveals a fundamental flaw that led to the failure of the BSC system in this company. The Car insurance sales manager (S) replied that one of their old customers who was employed in an agency that was applying the BSC successfully recommended it to Tian-an Car Insurance Company. S somehow convinced the other branch managers F and H most likely because the company did not have any performance measurement system.Management had a rosy idea of the BSC; that it was â€Å"successful and famous in the world. † They did not take time to figure out how to implement the system but rushed to poach the change agent who apparently lacked the professional ability to implement such a system in a brand new environment. A successful BSC system implementation requires that the spirit of the system be tuned with the business strategy. Before any action is taken top management must fall in love with the idea, and it has to be in sync with the mission and vision of the company.From the strategic level the change agent has to co nvince all stakeholders and through actively involving them in the formulation of divisional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) make every one to like and own the system. The managers do not even talk about how the employees fare with the system. This shows that information was not being shared from all sides in the company. 4. 3. 3. The BSC as a solution: Despite the management’s failure to implement the BSC system, when the question: â€Å"Why not to use it?† was posed, the We Zhou branch sales manager (O) opined that â€Å"we believed the balanced scorecard would increase our profit† though, he had â€Å"heard about some negative opinions about balanced scorecard. † This positive perception shows that there is hope that the BSC system can be properly implemented in the company. The fact that he associates the BSC system with â€Å"increase [in] our profit† shows that they are yet to grasp the basic BSC truth that; improved financial performance i s a product of a company that has worked on the following key BSC perspectives: innovation and learning, internal business processes, and customer care.(Kaplan and Norton 1992) 4. 3. 4. Training is core to a successful implementation of the BSC system: The training aspect of BSC is two pronged. A thorough knowledge and understanding of the how the system works is a must. Stake holders have to be trained on how to develop individual KPIs, how and individual employee’s efforts ultimately contributes towards the company’s bottom line and how the individual stake holder can benefit from adhering the BSC requirements. Secondly a key perspective of the BSC is innovation and learning.Employees have to be trained on the production processes, about new products and customer care. As some one put it ‘a knowledgeable employee is more productive because he has the tools and know-how, he deals better with clients, and he is more likely to come up with new product development ideas which are key to sustaining the profitability of the company. The honest answers three managers give in response to the interview question: â€Å"At the time you started using it did you have any training on this program? † shows that lack of training greatly contributed to the failure of the BSC system to take off.The Car insurance sales manager (S) admitted that management â€Å"did not set a particular training program† to educate all players about the BSC system. The â€Å"once-a-month-meetings and â€Å"booklets† are insufficient. The responses of the Human resources manager (H) show a common thread. That he has heard some negative tales about the BSC. This manager has ‘just seen’ the BSC booklet; and ‘thinks’ it’s a bright idea. This is not the right attitude! And coming from management for that! It just shows how the initial introduction was flawed. That ‘employee’ did not do a proper job as ‘chan ge agent’ in changing the mindset of the workers.That is why this manager feels that the company does not â€Å"have enough time to train [their] ours employee about the tool. † 4. 3. 5. A reward system must be embedded in the balanced scorecard system: When asked: â€Å"Do you have any reward system related to the balanced scorecard? † The Car insurance financial manager (F): replied that â€Å"Maybe, he thought the reward is about the target to set about each department. † The Human resources manager (H): candidly said â€Å"No, there is no directly reward system about balanced scorecard. † Absence of a reward system is yet another serious flaw revealed in this interview.As a best practices rule for BSC, the reward system should be embedded in the BSC. Every player in the system should know the rewards associated with achieving the goals outlined as well as the penalties for underperformance. When brainstorming on performance indicators consensus should be sought for rewards such as bonus, leave days, vacations, promotions, and so on for good performance on one side, and penalties such as warnings, fines and termination for poor performance. Added responsibilies and promotions and career paths are good rewards for good performers.4. 3. 6. As a performance measurement system, the BSC is rated as better than most others: Despite implementation problems, the managers gave very encouraging views when asked to rate the BSC in the following question: â€Å"In your experience, how do you feel about the balanced scorecard as a performance measurement system? † Advantages of the BSC system were outlines as follows: The Car insurance sales manager (S) correctly responded that: â€Å"it clearly gives detailed information of the company’s performance in both financial and non-financial areas.† â€Å"It shows the detailed strength and weakness of the overall company. The Car insurance financial manager (F): seconde d that with the BSC it is easy to pinpoint â€Å"what areas we need to focus on. † Because of its robustness; F also revealed that â€Å"our shareholders decided to use balanced scorecard to measure the performance instead of only looking at the financial figures. † Human resources manager (H) affirmed that he knew that the BSC â€Å"is a good tool to measure the performance† while O the We Zhou branch manager knows that this too has â€Å"a lot of advantages.† On the flip side the managers made the following comments against the BSC system: S said that â€Å"the target part makes our employees very dissatisfied. They feel it is not fair. † F did not see any â€Å"short-term benefits† accruing from application of the BSC system. H observed that â€Å"a lot of complaints had been raised by employees regularly. † O â€Å"thought† that he wouldn’t â€Å"recommend [the] company to apply BSC because the tools concept â€Å" is not mature in china. † The negativity stems from poor implementation.The reason why employees see the targets as too high to achieve and hence due to frustration â€Å"feel that it is unfair† is because their targets were apparently developed by management. Management wrongly uses the BSC as a ‘control’ tool instead of applying it as a performance measurement tool. If the users of the system are not allowed to choose the targets they can reasonably achieve BSC can change from a friendly system that urges employees to higher levels of achievement to a demanding beast that stresses and drains employees’ power.With so many multinationals relocating production plants to China and advancement in information technology turning the world into a global village, the opinion that the BSC concept is not mature in China doe not wash. 4. 3. 7. Company specific problems that lead to the failure of the implementation: Internal constraints that lead failure in im plementing the BSC system in Tian-an Car Insurance Company were brought out when the following research question was posed: â€Å"Why did you stop to use it, is there any disadvantages you can find?† Following is a raft of company specific difficulties that the company faced during implementation as per the responses of managers S, H, F and O. †¢ An excess of indicators: poor design of the BSC resulted to so many â€Å"indicators† that others were left unaccounted for. †¢ Due to inability to synchronize available resources with demand the company could not sufficiently satisfy the requirements of all the four perspectives. That is why one manager said:† We can not spend too much time on customers and employees’ investigation. †Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ The fear that questionnaire data collected by company employees from clients would be biased and not the true picture of the BSC perspective â€Å"how our Customers view us. † †¢ A completed balanc ed scorecard model for the business took too long. †¢ Expectation of Instant results: â€Å"The agent told us that it need spend some time to see the effect, I think BSC can not help in short-run decision making. † A manager said. The BSC is a performance measurement system that directs decision makers toward long-term value creating activities. It is not meant be a measure of dealing with emergencies.†¢ The problem of size: â€Å"our branch is not large enough, so the advantages were not clearly identified† Said F. â€Å"Comparing benefits against costs (to the agent fee), there was no â€Å"good value for money. † A unified approach would have given better results. The company has eight branches! †¢ Resistance: â€Å"I found that there were many complaints from our employees. Someone felt it waste their time to response each indicator† said H. A change management process would have sufficed. †¢ SBC used as a control tool: management ’s lack of knowledge on how to use the BSC led to strictly following â€Å"targets†, and decreasing staff bonuses.This made â€Å"others to doubt their ability† and increased complaints. This was a case of managing staff instead of managing processes. †¢ After applying the BSC manager O could not fins any noticeable â€Å"good performance in the period† 4. 3. 8. Communication is the life blood of a successful BSC system: That poor communication contributed to the failure to implement the BSC system in Tian-an Car Insurance Company is revealed by responses obtained from the question: â€Å"Do the managers and employees communicate regularly?† The Car insurance sales manager (S) said: â€Å"Not really, because our employees are really busy. But we have employees’ meeting in each Wednesday, we could communicate at that time. † The Car insurance financial manager (F) said: No, unless at employees’ meeting, but I just report so me targets and requires. Comments will not be reflected to me. † While the Human resources manager (H) said: â€Å"Yes, I communicate with employees regularly and they will have some complaints and suggestions. † This finding suggests that the communications structure in this company is flawed.It could just be that the company has a top-bottom but no bottom up, horizontal and diagonal communication. Additionally it is evident that complaints are only directed towards the human resource manager. 4. 3. 9. Tian-an Car Insurance Company management have no regrets and would consider implementing the system if given a second chance: The whole rounded nature of the BSC serves as an eye opener to any one who gets a chance to experience it. When a manager was asked: â€Å"After you quitted using the BSC, have you tried other performance measurement systems?† He answered: â€Å"No, I think BSC [introduced us to the world of] performance measurement systems. Our employees have increased their knowledge about management performance and when our company becomes large enough, we will consider using it again. † 4. 3. 10. Lessons Learnt: To appreciate the impact of implementing the BSC, Tian-an Car Insurance Company managers gave a raft of lessons learnt that shows the true extend of their new understanding of performance measurement. This was in response to the following question: â€Å"Any possible suggestions for using the balanced scorecard in your branch?† †¢ The Car insurance sales manager (S) said that: â€Å"I think each level of a company should understand their Key Performance Indicators and Targets. The training of balanced scorecard should not be neglected. †¢ Company Car insurance financial manager (F) responded: â€Å"Key Performance Indicators and Targets should be set properly† †¢ The Human resources manager (H) advised: â€Å"I think [a good] training on the balanced scorecard is more important than th e other [aspects of the system]. Companies should let their employees understand the whole [BSC] process first.They should [establish] a feedback [feature to facilitate communication from all directions] so that management and employees can discuss and adjust the targets immediately. † A proper appraisal mechanism should also be in place. † The above lessons learnt are excellent and are important ingredients for best practices in the implementation of the BSC system in any company. 4. 4. Conclusion What you measure is what you get. (Kaplan and Norton 1992) Effective managers understand that performance measurement systems that focus on only one aspect like finance and production are not good enough.They realize that no single measure can provide a clear performance target or focus attention on the critical areas of the business. The balanced score card allows managers to look at the business from four important perspectives: the customer, internal, innovation and learnin g and financial perspectives. This checks the company from having too many or too few measures. It is a superior system. It is recommended that the Tian-an car insurance company adopts the balanced Score Card system.

A Study of Aesthetics in the Call of Duty Franchise

Different but the Same: An Analysis of Aesthetics in the Call of Duty Franchise First Person Shooters (FPS) is one of the most famous genres within the gaming industry. It started with titles like Doom, Counter Strike, and now Call of Duty. Nowadays, console and PC gaming is a billion dollar industry. Multiple corporate and independent developers are working day in and day out to supply the market with better, bigger games. However, there are some titles which stand out from the rest, titles that always seem to be churning out one more instalment.One of these stand-out titles is the Call of Duty Franchise. Call of Duty is a series of games that at present, have nine main instalments, and another nine â€Å"lesser† titles to which the only difference is the console on which they are played. By â€Å"main† instalment, this means that the game was released on multiple platforms, which primarily includes PC, Playstation and the Xbox. It all started in October 29, 2003 with the release of Call of Duty. Since then, there has been a Call of Duty release every year, with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 being the most recent adaptation, which came out November 12, 2012.The researcher will limit the discussion to the Call of Duty franchise, on the PC platform. To be specific, the four most recent games which include: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The researcher aims to answer the question: Is Call of Duty overrated as a franchise? To answer the question, the researcher will analyze each game on eight components of aesthetics which include: Sensation, Fantasy, Narrative, Challenge, Fellowship, Discovery, Expression and Submission (Hunicke, LeBlanc and Zubek).In answering the question: â€Å"Is Call of Duty overrated as a franchise†, the researcher aims to educate both himself and his reader(s) on the importance of proper video game analysis. Nowadays, it is common to s ee a game receive a large amount of hype, such that gamers, who expected so much from a game, get disappointed and end up feeling like they wasted their money. It happened to Diablo III, where a sequel was created for the highly successful Diablo II, twelve years after it was released. Many gamers ended up disappointed with Diablo III, where changes to the core aesthetics of the game changed the way the game was going to be layed. These kinds of mistakes by the game industry, although excusable, could have been avoided. Likewise, the researcher will use Call of Duty as an example for this method for proper video game analysis. Hopefully, this will shed light on the matter, allowing both gamers and game developers to better understand the manner by which games should be measured. By analyzing on the different components of aesthetics, it would be plausible to define the franchise as â€Å"overrated† if they do not significantly improve in any one aspect and at the same time, d eliver the same kind of performance in each instalment.Before going into the full â€Å"meat† of the analysis, the researcher would like to delve a little into the components of Aesthetics that will be used in the analysis later on. The researcher wishes to stress that most of the analysis on each aesthetic is based on his opinions, based on the fact that he is a dedicated gamer himself. The nature of the analysis of game design using the MDA format is that it considers both the perspectives of the game developer and the player. A key concept of MDA is that the developer and player perceive the game through opposite ends of the spectrum (Portnow).The player would first experience the aesthetics of the game, the general reason that they are playing it. The developer on the other hand, due to the nature of his work, sees the mechanics of the game, and how they influence the dynamics, and eventually the aesthetics. In understanding the definition of these mechanics, dynamics, an d aesthetics, it could be said that a game is overrated when it may be different in mechanics but deliver the same performance in aesthetics. The First Aesthetic: Game as Sense PleasureThe first aesthetic is defined as the game’s ability to stimulate the senses (Portnow). Be it sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell, as long as the game is able to stimulate the senses of the player, this could be considered an aesthetic. For Call of Duty, the senses that are (if at all) stimulated are sight and sound. As a breakdown of sight, the most important parts is the gun itself, the enemies and the â€Å"set† or location. A breakdown of sound would be the general tone, and sound effects. For all four instalments of the game included in the research, the graphics were generally the same.Advances in technology, greater processing power of consoles as well as computers allowed game developers to create richer, more detailed and crisp visuals for the game. However with this in mind, t he modelling and texture of Black Ops 2 with respect to Modern Warfare 2 is significant. However, visuals are much more than the quality of the image, and have more to do with content. Content wise, there is no difference. The gun itself and other equipment are the same. Why? Because they use guns that actually exist in real life, which means that there is no deviation in model and texture.Since all four instalments are set in around the same time frame, the guns present inside are the same. The enemies inside do not differ as well. Generally speaking, enemies are dressed up to characterize them. This is obvious, but this also means that most enemies will be the same. For example, there are multiple instances resent in all four games that require the player to kill people from the middle-east. Scarves, light clothing and the trademark AK47 have become the definition of the terrorist. Sound, also does not differ since it is highly unlikely for the â€Å"sound† of a certain gun to change, because they are based on real-life guns.In multiplayer, the element of music is not as present as in the single player option. In the single player, key plot points and tense moments are always supported by a musical score, and this helps to set the mood. Be it the sad death of an ally or the intense run-and-gun moments, there is the right music for the right time. This would be a reason for a gamer to enjoy the game, but it is hardly different from one instalment to another. Therefore, Call of Duty does not change in this aesthetic. This is in fact due to the basis on real-life elements which actually help the game perform in the next aesthetic.The Second Aesthetic: Game as Make-Believe The paper on MDA defines the second aesthetic as fantasy. That is, the ability of the game to immerse the player in a role that normally he/she would not be able to partake in (Portnow). Call of Duty excels in their performance under this aesthetic. The paper on MDA explains that good g ames would be able to deliver on maybe one or two â€Å"core aesthetics† while great games deliver on three or four. These â€Å"core aesthetics† can also be defined as the primary emotive reasons that a player would want to play a certain game. Fantasy, is one of those core aesthetics when it comes to Call of Duty.Whether it’s being a marine, being a stone-cold killer or a patriot, there is a role that the player is immersed in, and the experience is fed to them in pieces during the experience of play. How this changes from game to game, is another matter altogether. Call of Duty excels in the immersive aspect of play, because of the authenticity of the places, and items inside the â€Å"Call of Duty Universe† and because that the first person point-of-view. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in itself is already very good at this immersive aspect, and the experience does not really change from one instalment to another.The game itself, and the developers of the game, seem to have found the magic formula for the immersive aspect. Some would argue that better graphics are part of the immersive aspect. Things that break the immersive aspect are things like bugs, or errors in shading. These break the player away from the experience, and remind him/her that they are only playing a game. In the opinion of the researcher, this is not true. Games predating Call of Duty prove that good graphics does not equal a complete immersive experience. They may help, but it is not the most important thing.Games like Counter Strike, Half Life, Halo, and even some Doom games manage to immerse the player in another role without â€Å"life-like† graphics. In terms of the second aesthetic, Call of Duty shines. Even in the multiplayer where the immersive aspect is not as great (due to the lack of context), the game play alone is enough to make the player feel like a soldier surrounded by enemies, armed only with his gun, and his skill. All in all, the ex perience remains the same. But since it has been said that graphics help marginally to improve it, each game could still be said to have been better than the last, even if it is just by millimetres.The Third Aesthetic: Game as Drama The third aesthetic is narrative. This means that the player is playing the game for the story. In the terms of Call of Duty this means one thing: the single player. Plot wise, the stories of all four instalments covered in this research are practically the same. A soldier is taken out of the â€Å"regular army† to join an elite, top secret team to undergo a save-the-world mission, against an extremist, usually Russian, or Middle-Eastern. That being said, narrative is not one of the core aesthetics of the Call of Duty franchise.However, it is interesting to say that narrative may be one of the reasons for the game developers to create another instalment. Just like movies, the story where the previous game left of, is picked up by the next game. Th e plot in itself is not great, however anyone who played the previous game could be interested in knowing how the story progresses. The narrative in the first three games, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Black Ops are player driven. In the game itself, the story will not progress until the player decides to move forward. Also, the game is linear and lacks depth.The player is given the â€Å"illusion of choice† through the tactical action of moment-to-moment decision, however in the end he/she has to kill their enemy to progress. Therefore, the player’s role as the main character is not to â€Å"make decisions† but to â€Å"stay alive†. This in my opinion can get old fast. A person who played Modern Warfare 2 and will play Modern Warfare 3 will know all they need to know, and have seen almost some variation of every part of the campaign. This however, changes in Black Ops 2. The campaign in Black Ops 2 is different from the first three games, and i s significantly better for doing so.Although still not having the â€Å"freedom of total choice† there are still moments in the game, subtle and otherwise, where the player is given the chance to change the plot. To go above ground or below, whether to spare a life or not, these are some of the examples of choice that the player will experience, and will feel a greater depth than ever found in the first three games. Having made an actual choice, a contribution to the plot, the player is excited to play on, anxious to see how his actions impacted the greater scheme of things. When it comes to narrative, the last game is improved significantly.The possibility of choice for the player is no small thing. With choice, came the aspect of â€Å"multiple endings†. In each ending, the player sees how he/she affected the world, and is given an overview of everything that has happened during the campaign. For this aesthetic, Black Ops 2 showed greater depth, and was better for do ing so. The Fourth Aesthetic: Game as Obstacle Course The fourth aesthetic is challenge. From the nature of the genre, First-Person Shooter, to the setting of the game, which are the Cold War and a fictional World War 3, it is obvious that the fourth aesthetic is a core aesthetic of the game.For the analysis of the fourth aesthetic, the researcher will divide the game into two categories: Single player and Multiplayer. This is because that the â€Å"enemy† of both is different, and highly changes the dynamic of play. First, the Single Player, where there is a focus on the one against many. The computer does not use tactically superior moves, but focuses on overwhelming the player with numbers. The â€Å"bad guys† hide in obviously tactical positions: behind the counter, around the corner, against the wall, always facing the player.This creates an obstacle course that the player has to go through, and although is a challenge, can get monotonous and repetitive. In the mu ltiplayer, there is more depth. Since other players online differ from one another, use different weapons and different tactics, this creates a dynamic that the player will require more skill to follow. The multiplayer in Call of Duty did not change much from game to game, if only in mechanics. In this way, it could be said that although challenge is a core aesthetic to the franchise, Call of Duty has already found its niche and no longer needs to change a large aspect of it.However it is still no progress, on the part of the developer. Insight would say that the challenge comes from the other players, and it would be logical to buy the new game if everyone is going to be playing it too. That being said, this is a special aesthetic where the game developer is not the one responsible for challenge, the player is. The Fifth Aesthetic: Game as Social Framework The fifth aesthetic, fellowship, is any game that allows the player to work cooperatively with others (Portnow). In the Call of Duty franchise, this is present in both the single and multiplayer.In the single player, the player is in a sense, part of the team. He/she may even form a connection toward other members, especially when the main character they are playing as holds them in high regard. The pair of Alex Mason and Frank Woods from the Black Ops series is comparable to a Han Solo and Chewbacca, and the player will cherish that bond. It is worth mentioning that the voice acting in Call of Duty is some of the best voice acting in the gaming industry, and this helps the player humanize the fictional characters in-game.In the multiplayer, as a flip side of the aesthetic challenge, bonds are formed in between team mates. Team work is always required for objective-based play, and for people with a good enough gaming set, people in game can talk to each other over the net. The players who experience this aesthetic most are people who enter the game as a group, and have friends with them to share the experie nce in. In this aspect, the game developer does not control much of it, and the players are responsible. For example, why would a person play Modern Warfare 3 when all of his/her friends are playing Black Ops 2?His/her friends are reason enough to but the new game. The Sixth Aesthetic: Game as Uncharted Territory The sixth aesthetic is discovery. Any player who plays the game to see what was previously unknown is a player who plays for discovery (Portnow). Again, this can be divided into the single and multiplayer, as the aspect of discovery is different for both. For the single player, discovery is not a large role to play. There aren’t many things to â€Å"unearth† and most things about the narrative are given to the player as a reward for beating the previous mission. This is true for the first three games, until Black Ops 2.With multiple endings, as well as the option to reset the story to a particular mission, the player was left with some sort of replay value: th e option to discover the alternate endings. This forced the player to do things differently to achieve them, and offered more depth. In the multiplayer, discovery comes through the form of a levelling system. Higher level players can use more things, and has access to more powerful guns and equipment. This made it so that the multiplayer experience was more of a journey than an arena, and kept the players interested longer.In a way, the multiplayer did not change from game to game. However, there is a significant improvement on the part of the single player in Black Ops 2. The Seventh Aesthetic: Game as Self-Discovery The seventh aesthetic is defined as expression, or the ability of the players to express themselves through the game. In Call of Duty, this is limited to the multiplayer. In the single player, the player is thrust into the shoes of a fictional character and therefore does not express himself. Expression in the multiplayer however, comes from the â€Å"Create your own Class† system. In other words, load out.The player gets to choose the primary weapon, secondary, as well as buffs to their character by way of â€Å"perks†. Whether the player is the run-and-gun type, or the silent sniper, these are all forms of expression. In terms of expression as an aesthetic, the game itself does not improve. Expression is something that is player driven, and can only be helped by more options for customization. As this game does not offer more customization from game to game, it could be said that it did not improve. The Eighth Aesthetic: Game as Past-time The eight aesthetic is called submission.This means that the player plays the game as a way to tune-out; much like reading a book or watching TV does (Portnow). It is difficult for the researcher to judge games on this aesthetic, seeing as the developers have no way to control this. People playing Black Ops 2 now, played Modern Warfare 2 before, and played Counter Strike even before that. Older g amers would be able to relate more games to their experience, and the researcher is speaking out of his own experience from playing first person shooters. Interestingly enough, the eighth aesthetic is aided not by the difference in games, but the similarity of them.People who have been playing the FPS as a genre for a long time would be able to enjoy this aesthetic more when the new games holds more similarities to old ones. In this way, developers are aiding their players by keeping the game relatively standard. In this, the game could be said to be the same for all four instalments, and does not improve. Of the eight aesthetics discussed, six are actually controlled by the developer. Of those six, the franchise as a whole has been seen to improve in three. That is half of those supposedly developer-induced aesthetics. Because of this, the game is judged to be not over rated.Small or big, there have been changes to the franchise with respect to the last four instalments with regard to the aesthetics. Whether these changes actually merit the game being â€Å"worthy† of being purchased, is in the opinion of the buyer. But as said before, there are another two aesthetics which are not developer-controlled. Which are the fourth and fifth. The players aid each other in these aesthetics by playing the game itself, and people seeking competition must go where competition lies. However, as said before, these games at most times changed marginally, and whether this deserves a $60 price tag is the player’s choice.As a researcher, the game is sound, and it is apparent that a lot of work went into the creation of these games. As a gamer, the researcher must implore other gamers to demand quality from their games. We as a culture, a society who enjoys this form of media have to be specific with what we want from the game developers. Do some small, arbitrary changes to the system deserve our money? If the next game is really the previous one with better graph ics, we should think about where we put our money and whether these games are worth buying. To conclude, Black Ops 2 picks up the slack of where the first three left off.Individually, these games deserve their standing, since all of them perform excellently in at least 4, maybe 5 aesthetics. As a whole, the franchise has found its niche. People are inherently intelligent, and will only buy when the price is right. It is the responsibility of the developers to improve, however their greatest responsibility will always be to satisfy the needs of the customers. Bibliography Ahearn, Nate. â€Å"Call of Duty: Black Ops Review. † 9 November 2010. IGN. 10 January 2013. Bozon, Mark. â€Å"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review. † 10 November 2009. IGN. 0 January 2013. Gallegos, Anthony. â€Å"CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 REVIEW. † 13 November 2012. IGN. 10 January 2013. —. â€Å"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review. † 8 November 2011. IGN. 10 January 2013. Hu nicke, Robin, Marc LeBlanc and Robert Zubek. â€Å"MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research. † 2004. 3 January 2013. . Portnow, James. â€Å"Extra Credits: Aesthetics of Play. † 17 October 2012. Extra Credits. 3 January 2013. Ryckert, Dan. â€Å"Call of Duty: Black Ops II. † 13 November 2012. gameinformer. 10 January 2013. Sicart, Miguel. â€Å"Defining Game Mechanics. † December

Under the Blood Red Sun Character Journal Essays

Under the Blood Red Sun Character Journal Essays Under the Blood Red Sun Character Journal Paper Under the Blood Red Sun Character Journal Paper Character Journal Billy’s mom I believe if you teach your children well, they will be good as well. At the same time let them know what the bad is, and why they shouldn’t follow it. I can see the Wilsons dislike the Japanese that live here, just like all the fellow Americans. I guess with me working at the hospital I have been able to speak and assist all types of people in need. A particular individual is not bad because of their race, but if they it is who they are of themselves not their country or color. I have never gotten mad at the types of friends my children have made. If my children do bring their friends over to this house, I make sure I treat them as a guest, and make them feel at home. How I treat them is how I would like my son as well to be treated as a guest in their homes. Keet I hate how the majority of the Japanese just come here and try to take over our land, they think they can do whatever they want. Tomi especially, thinks just because we allow him to live in our property they can live the way they do in their home in Japan the same way here. Don’t these people understand if you go to another country, you’re suppose to follow their rules. But instead they still fly their Japan flag with pride as if they need to show off that Japan can come here. Why do they always have to bow when they say hi? That’s not our custom.

Is the Banana Republic Credit Card Right For You Full Review

Is the Banana Republic Credit Card Right For You Full Review SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The Banana Republic credit card is a solid option for frequent shoppers looking to earn points, but like many store brand cards, it’s not without it’s pitfalls. You may be wondering: what are the pros and cons of the Banana Republic credit card? Do I have to be a frequent shopper at Banana Republic to reap any benefits? What do users say about this card, and how does it stack up against similar cards? Is this card right for me? In this post, we’ll answer all these questions and more, doing an in-depth review of the Banana Republic credit card so you can make a fully informed decision about whether or not to apply. What Is the Banana Republic Credit Card? First, let’s discuss the basics. Banana Republic is one of the brands under the Gap, Inc. umbrella, which also includes The Gap, Old Navy, and Athleta. There are technically two Banana Republic cards: the Bananacard and the Banana Republic Visa Card. When you sign up, depending on your credit, you'll be given one of them. If you have poor to limited credit, you’ll be given the Bananacard. The Bananacard is a basic store card. A store card works like a credit card except it can only be used at the brand or umbrella brands that issues it. It won’t work if you try to use it to purchase anything anywhere else. So the Bananacard can only be used in-store or at any of the other Gap Inc. brands. If you have good credit, you’ll be given the the Banana Republic card. The Banana Republic card is an actual Visa credit card, so it can be used at any of those stores but also be anywhere else Visa is accepted. It’s a chip card with standard fraud protection services, and the primary cardholder can add an authorized user. Regardless of the card you get, you will receive 20% off your first purchase at any Gap, Inc. store by signing up. In this post, we will focus on the Banana Republic Visa card and its upgrade, the Banana Republic Luxe card. If you love to shop at BR, this could be a great card for you- but there are a few caveats! What Are the Banana Republic Credit Card Features and Rewards? As stated above, when you open a Banana Republic Visa credit card, you will receive a 20% discount off the first purchase made with that card at a Gap-branded store. Beyond that, each purchase made by the credit card earns points. Cardholders receive: 3,000 bonus points (worth $30) when you make your first purchase outside the Gap, Inc. brands five points for every $1 spent at any Gap, Inc. brand, and one point for every $1 spent elsewhere. no annual fee for the card These points can be used on purchases made both online and in person. If you don’t use the points during the billing cycle you earn them in, they are rolled over into the next cycle for up to two years before they expire. In addition to points, cardholders also receive: access to exclusive sales and events throughout the year at Banana Republic and their factory stores birthday coupons every Tuesday, 10% off at every affiliated store except Banana Republic Signing up for email account updates will get you 500 bonus points, and opting in for paperless statements gets you another 500, for a fairly easy $10 back. One big benefit of the Banana Republic Visa card is the lack of an annual fee. The Banana Republic Luxe Upgrade If the cardholder meets certain criteria, they can upgrade to the Banana Republic Luxe card. These criteria are that the cardholder: must earn 5,000 reward points annually, ie, spend $1,000 or more with it per year, must keep the account in good standing, and must make the minimum payments due. Luxe Upgrade Benefits The Luxe card offers some additional benefits that the regular visa doesn’t, including: a quarterly bonus of 20% of the points earned that quarter (a three-month period, so four times a year), once per quarter, a choose-your-own-sale day in which triple the regular points (15 points per dollar spent or 15% back) are awarded, free three-to-five-day shipping of online purchases at any of the Gap, Inc. brands, and unlimited alterations of Banana Republic merchandise. You have to use your Banana Republic Luxe card at least once per year at a Gap, Inc. store to maintain Luxe status. There is no annual fee on the Luxe card either. Free shipping is a great perk of the Luxe card for online shoppers! What are the Downsides of the Banana Republic Visa Card? The Banana Republic Visa card does have several drawbacks. The biggest downside is that, like most store credit cards, there is a very high interest rate charged on Banana Republic Visa cards, and there’s no reduced rates initially. They have a 25.24% APR, which is actually even higher than the 23.88% average for store credit cards. This means that you absolutely shouldn’t hold a balance from month to month: you should pay off your balance in full each month to avoid very high fees. Secondly, it should be noted that the points do expire after twenty-four months. You also can’t redeem more than 25,000 points (up to $250) in a single billing period or more than three rewards earnings on any one purchase. Together, these limitations make it necessary to redeem your points very regularly in the small amounts allowed in order to maximize your benefits. They do this because this encourages more frequent shopping on your part! Moreover, there is a 3% foreign transaction fee, so this card would not be a good choice to use abroad. Another thing to consider is that some of the promotions and coupons that cardholders receive get â€Å"leaked† online, so you can search for, find, and use the codes pretty easily via sites like Retailmenot. Finally, the card is issued by Synchrony Financial, and customer reviews for Synchrony aren’t that great. Many cardholders report confusing contract terms, slow response times when fixing statement inaccuracies, and bad customer service. However, it’s hard to find good reviews of any consumer financial services company, so take this with a grain of salt. Lots of people open store cards around the holidays to try and save money on gifts! The Bottom Line: Is the Banana Republic Card For Me? If you are a frequent or even a semi-frequent shopper at Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, or any of the Gap, Inc. brands, this card has a very competitive rewards structure and would be a good choice for you. The 5% cash-back on all of their many brands combined with the lack of annual fee make it good for shoppers looking to save money. Plus, the free shipping and alterations for Luxe cardholders are an excellent perk. Families with children and parents who frequently the many Gap, Inc. brands will find this card especially helpful. However, you need to be able to pay the full balance on the statement every month. Otherwise, with its extremely high APR, it will become more expensive than it’s worth. If you rarely shop at Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Athleta, or any of the Gap, Inc. brands, this card isn’t for you. The 1% points deal on all other purchases is only about average for a credit card, and you should be able to get better deals depending on where your money does go. Note that most retailer cards also have a high interest rate and no annual fee, so these perks won’t help you decide between store cards. But if you don’t shop at Gap, Inc. brands or any other one store or company that often, it’s a better idea to go for a more general credit card anyway, which often offer better financing options for those who need to carry a balance- especially considering that the "point" reward system will not be useful to you, since it's different from cash back. If you're thinking about getting the Gap visa card instead, note that the two cards are almost identical in terms of costs and benefits (very literally- the Gap card has the exact same rewards structure and it also applies to all Gap, Inc. brands). The only exception being on the first Tuesday of every month, Gap cardholders get 10% off at Gap.com and in Gap stores.

Contemporary Relevance of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart Research Paper

Contemporary Relevance of Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart - Research Paper Example However, Mr. Poe’s narrator and many criminals today do not fall under the innocent by reason of insanity verdict. The problem becomes this narrator felt guilty about his actions. That rules out a by reason of insanity verdict. The human conscious makes sane people feel guilty about the act of unjustified murder. The narrator and the contemporary murders that felt guilt are to be judged sane. The insanity defense has been used for murder acquittal or an explanation for murder in the United States since Edgar Allan Poe’s time. Although many feel the insanity defense is a lighter sentence, Greene and Heilbrun in Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System points out that an individual found not guilty by reason of insanity will remain in a psychiatric facility longer than if sentenced to prison (213). Under U.S. law a person found not guilty by reason of insanity will remain in a psychiatric facility until doctors find them sane again. Andrea Yates is an example o f this. Maria Newman’s â€Å"Yates Found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity† states â€Å"Ms. ... The narrator would remain in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life, or until the noise got too much for him to bear resulting in suicide. Poe’s narrator believes he is mad or insane. In fact, the narrator embraces his madness. The narrator states in the first paragraph â€Å"but why will you say that I am mad? The disease has sharpened my senses---not destroyed---not dulled them† (Poe 3). The narrator cannot come up with any other reason for murdering the old man. He did not dislike him. The narrator admits â€Å"Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man† (Poe 3). In Poe’s time to murder without reason was to be considered quite mad. Today it is defined as a psychopath. It is not considered madness. However, that does not stop individuals like Andrea Yates or Jeffrey Dahmer, among a few, to try and explain their murderous actions by claiming insanity. The insanity of Poe’s narrator, like with anyone else, has to be questioned. The law and citizen alike are skeptical of the insanity defense. Greta Olsen’s article â€Å"Reconsidering Unreliability: Faillible and Untrustworthy Narrators† explains â€Å"Whenever an author conveys to his reader an unspoken point, he creates a sense of collusion against all those, whether in the story or out of it, who do not get that point. Irony is always thus in part a device for excluding as well as for including, and those who are included, those who happen to have the necessary information to grasp the irony, cannot but derive at least a part of their pleasure from a sense that others are excluded.† As a reader, Poe’s narrator in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† comes across honest in his madness. However, Olsen makes a good point. The narrator is colluding with the

Fundamental aspects of Program Evaluation and its difference between Essay

Fundamental aspects of Program Evaluation and its difference between pure research - Essay Example offer that view that the major purpose of evaluation is â€Å"to judge the merit or worth of the total program being evaluated, as well as the individual elements of that program." (Billings and Halstead, 2005, p. 543-544). On this basis, they state that the elements comprising program evaluation include weighing and interpreting data that is collected from multiple components of the program and then making judgments about the data that has been collected. When an effective evaluation process is carried out, then the people staffing the evaluation program document the impact that a program has on its participants, as well as the institutions that are participating in the program. According to Patton, program evaluation is the collection of information about the â€Å"activities, characteristics and outcomes of programs†, so that (a) it can form the basis upon which judgments are made about the program (b) the information and measures collected can be used to improve its effectiveness and (c) decisions about the future of the program can also be made (Patton, 1997, p 23). On this basis, it may be seen that program evaluation does not merely involve an assessment of how successfully a program achieves its goals. It also takes into account the manner in which the program is being implemented and the proceses being used to achieve this. Additionally, the program evaluation process must also introduce measures to deal with unexpected consequences and assess the potential long term implications of the program being evaluated (Patton, 1997, p 23). This is a particularly important aspect in program evaluation because the efficacy of a particular program will determine whether or not Government funding for that program will be continued. In the case of educational programs, learning is a critical component of program evaluation and is the main determining factor on how effective the program is. Therefore, the process of program evaluation must also pay close attention to