Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Cyberculture and the Future of Print :: Technology Writing Technological Papers

The innovation that is accessible to the open today is marvelous. In the course of my life alone, I have seen astonishing innovative improvement: from the home PC to the DVD player, to really dreamlike clinical advancements. Another period is grabbing hold of society. We are quicker, better taught, more extravagant, and livelonger. These things can be credited to the innovative advances that have happened inside the most recent fifty years. Because of the â€Å"modern marvels† within recent memory, we can observe big-screen quality motion pictures in our own homes, blend a great cup of French coffee without leaving the kitchen, and cooler stillâ€communicate with somebody in China, while never getting the telephone or utilizing a pen. Albeit electronic mail (a.k.a. email) is for the most part utilized, at any rate in social orders recognition, for â€Å"quick† (and subsequently not appallingly significant) discussions, I accept email has a significant job exactly in light of the fact that it disposes of the snappy and irrelevant subtleties before up close and personal correspondence can occur. Permitting the up close and personal correspondence to concentrate more on critical issues. Erin Karper, an alumni understudy at Purdue University, composes this about a meeting she led with a kindred understudy: Indeed, I think [email] is significant. I imagine that it permits us to get ready ahead of time for up close and personal gatherings by permitting individuals to enter the discussion in a composed mode, maybe more cautiously and very much expressed contrasted and the time-restricted, continuous, eye to eye bunch talk. Along these lines, what I am saying†¦I think email is significant in light of the fact that it takes into consideration pre-meeting correspondence that is of an alternate sort as far as turn taking, fleetingness, etc. This distinctive nature takes into account more investment and progressively various methods of correspondence focusing upon a given issue. I am not a learned client of innovation; nor would i be able to try and guarantee to be a proficient one, yet some innovation I concede I can’t live without, for example, Microsoft word and, my closest companion, emailâ€though I use it for individual and instructive correspondence; not close to as extravagant as Erin and her partners. I’m a bustling individual, and don’t possess energy for eye to eye correspondence with my loved ones, and I unquestionably don’t have the opportunity to compose and mail a letter. Email is an astounding choice to vis-à-vis gatherings, calls, and letters. I can depict significant subtleties of my day to individuals who mean the most to me, or I can refresh a cohort on forthcoming assignments.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Lifetime Health and Fitness Essay Example

Lifetime Health and Fitness Essay Wellness has consistently been a piece of my life. I am not going to mislead anybody, I struggled with it during my more youthful years. I was what individuals call a â€Å"fat center schooler† in light of the fact that when I was 12 years of age, I weighed 150 pounds. In any case, the catch was, I was still extremely athletic. I played games all year like soccer, banner football, and generally b-ball, every physical game, yet at the same time couldn't free the weight. My mother, much the same as each other mother who wouldn't like to offend their , consistently disclosed to me I was not fat, simply enormous boned. This obviously didn't support the slightest bit. I realized I was fat and there was no way around it. In the long run my weight got insane. I was 15 years of age and weighed 165 pounds. Enough was sufficient. Luckily, I had a genuinely fit more established sibling whom I turned upward as well. I implored him to show me how to get â€Å"fit† in light of the fact that I detested the amount I was getting ridiculed by different children in school. So he helped me by setting off to the exercise center and eating the correct sort of food with the goal that my gut would fall directly off. Also, he was correct. In around a quarter of a year, I went from an overweight multi year old, to a truly fit multi year old. At the point when I returned to class after the 3 months off for summer, nobody remembered me. It was astonishing. Starting there on, I guaranteed I would not let my body look as awful as it backed at that point. We will compose a custom article test on Lifetime Health and Fitness explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom article test on Lifetime Health and Fitness explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom article test on Lifetime Health and Fitness explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer Presently, the explanation I am disclosing to you this is on the grounds that these were the crucial structure squares of my physical wellbeing and wellness, which obviously is the explanation we take this class. From this class, I truly loved that we got down to the point, got precisely what we had to know, and was not astonished with what was on the tests. What I didn't care for about the class was the brief introduction since it just appeared to be excessively long and a large portion of it was about the data we had just gained from the class. One thing I would transform from the class was the brief introduction. I would transform it to a brief introduction and give the understudies a rule on what the instructor needed explicitly. In general, this was one of two classes I anticipated going to.

Friday, August 21, 2020

My First Visit

My First Visit I realize that some of my readers may not have had the opportunity to visit MIT yet. They may never walk the tunnels before they decide to apply. A brave few will not even be able to visit until they set foot on campus as a freshman. While reading these blogs is a great alternative, it certainly cannot substitute for the real experience of being on MITs campus. So the story that follows is about my first visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The context of my trip: New York City is a few hours away from MIT by road. My family has limited funds and no car, so I was very lucky to find out that my high school sponsors college trips for juniors. So I coughed up some cash and shuttled between nine different colleges in the Northeast over three days. At the time, I was fairly undecided in which colleges I wanted to apply to. All I wanted to do was get far away from home. They told us they splash acid over the buildings to corrode them and make them look older. / THIS IS NOT MIT. February 5th, 2005. My mind was still raving about the previous day, when I realized Yales campus was full of ugly old buildings (see above) and SO MUCH SLUSH. Now I was in the State of Massachusetts for the first time. A inch or two of snow still covered the ground. Our bus pulled up directly to 77 Massachusetts Avenue. A giant staircase and columns!Admissions herded us into some classroom where we got the spiel. Then off to the tour! We started in Lobby 7. Walking down the long hallway called the Infinite Corridor which comprises many of MITs classroom buildings, the first door to the right is a mens bathroom. My friends Steven and Brendan asked if I could wait for them, so I kept watch on our tour as it quickly made its way down the hall. The group quickly became a meandering blob. Five to ten minutes later, the boys came out of the bathroom. Wheres the tour? I dont know You were supposed to keep watch! I WAS. We walked around but found no one from our group. I wanted to cry. MIT seemed like a cool place and all but were *lost*! This was before I ever had a cell phone. Luckily, the boys used their cell phone networking magic to track down other people on the tour, and some long time later we rejoined the tour. Here are some random photos to prove it! []Part of West Campus, featuring the undergraduate dorms McCormick and Baker (left and right), with female graduate housing in the center thats now undergraduate sorority housing. This shot of a sculpture in Barker Library (thats the main engineering library) looks very cool, though weird for a *library*.. []Classic picture of the great dome from Killian Court. Inside of one of the athletics buildings.That night we stayed at the Marriott Hotel on MITs campus. We were given some free time before our curfew at 11PM, so just for fun we went back to MIT! At the Student Center we bought candy and played video games. I showed off my pool and air hockey skills and we all had a great time. My two guy friends who got lost in the bathroom are hard at work.So my visit happened to be awesome, although the more awesome bits happened outside the tour. All the while, I saw lots of random little things around campus that made me very happy and I suppose pushed me to apply. Here is my favorite picture from this whole weekend:

My First Visit

My First Visit I realize that some of my readers may not have had the opportunity to visit MIT yet. They may never walk the tunnels before they decide to apply. A brave few will not even be able to visit until they set foot on campus as a freshman. While reading these blogs is a great alternative, it certainly cannot substitute for the real experience of being on MITs campus. So the story that follows is about my first visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The context of my trip: New York City is a few hours away from MIT by road. My family has limited funds and no car, so I was very lucky to find out that my high school sponsors college trips for juniors. So I coughed up some cash and shuttled between nine different colleges in the Northeast over three days. At the time, I was fairly undecided in which colleges I wanted to apply to. All I wanted to do was get far away from home. They told us they splash acid over the buildings to corrode them and make them look older. / THIS IS NOT MIT. February 5th, 2005. My mind was still raving about the previous day, when I realized Yales campus was full of ugly old buildings (see above) and SO MUCH SLUSH. Now I was in the State of Massachusetts for the first time. A inch or two of snow still covered the ground. Our bus pulled up directly to 77 Massachusetts Avenue. A giant staircase and columns!Admissions herded us into some classroom where we got the spiel. Then off to the tour! We started in Lobby 7. Walking down the long hallway called the Infinite Corridor which comprises many of MITs classroom buildings, the first door to the right is a mens bathroom. My friends Steven and Brendan asked if I could wait for them, so I kept watch on our tour as it quickly made its way down the hall. The group quickly became a meandering blob. Five to ten minutes later, the boys came out of the bathroom. Wheres the tour? I dont know You were supposed to keep watch! I WAS. We walked around but found no one from our group. I wanted to cry. MIT seemed like a cool place and all but were *lost*! This was before I ever had a cell phone. Luckily, the boys used their cell phone networking magic to track down other people on the tour, and some long time later we rejoined the tour. Here are some random photos to prove it! []Part of West Campus, featuring the undergraduate dorms McCormick and Baker (left and right), with female graduate housing in the center thats now undergraduate sorority housing. This shot of a sculpture in Barker Library (thats the main engineering library) looks very cool, though weird for a *library*.. []Classic picture of the great dome from Killian Court. Inside of one of the athletics buildings.That night we stayed at the Marriott Hotel on MITs campus. We were given some free time before our curfew at 11PM, so just for fun we went back to MIT! At the Student Center we bought candy and played video games. I showed off my pool and air hockey skills and we all had a great time. My two guy friends who got lost in the bathroom are hard at work.So my visit happened to be awesome, although the more awesome bits happened outside the tour. All the while, I saw lots of random little things around campus that made me very happy and I suppose pushed me to apply. Here is my favorite picture from this whole weekend:

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Hawksbill Sea Turtle Facts

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricate) has a beautiful carapace, which caused this turtle to be hunted nearly to extinction. Here you can learn about the natural history of this species.   Hawksbill Turtle Identification The hawksbill turtle grows to lengths of 3.5 feet long and weights of up to 180 pounds. Hawksbill turtles were named for the shape of their beak, which looks similar to the beak of a raptor. The hawksbill was prized for its shell, which was used in combs, brushes, fans and even furniture. In Japan, hawksbill shell is referred to as bekko. Now the hawksbill is listed under Appendix I in CITES, which means that trade for commercial purposes is banned. In addition to its beautiful shell and hawklike beak, other identifying features of the hawksbill turtle include overlapping scutes, and 4 lateral scutes on each side of its carapace, a narrow, pointed head, and two visible claws on their flippers.   Classification Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ReptiliaOrder: TestudinesFamily: CheloniidaeGenus: EretmochelysSpecies: imbricate Habitat and Distribution Hawksbill turtles occupy a large range that stretches throughout all but the worlds coldest waters. They travel hundreds of miles between feeding and nesting grounds. Major nesting grounds are in the Indian Ocean (e.g., Seychelles, Oman), Caribbean (e.g., Cuba, Mexico), Australia, and Indonesia. Hawsbills  forage around  coral reefs,  seagrass beds, near  mangroves  and in muddy lagoons. Feeding A study by Dr. Anne Meylan of the Florida Marine Research Institute showed that 95% of a hawksbills diet is made up of sponges (read more about hawksbill diet). In the Caribbean, these turtles feed on more than 300 sponge species. This is an interesting food choice - sponges have a skeleton made of needle-shaped spicules (made of silica, which is glass, calcium or protein), which essentially means, as James R. Spotila said in his book Sea Turtles, a hawkbills stomach is filled with small glass shards. Reproduction Female hawksbills nest on beaches, often under trees and other vegetation. They lay about 130 eggs at a time, and this process takes 1-1.5 hours. They will go back out to sea for 13-16 days before laying another nest. Hatchlings weigh .5 ounce when they hatch, and then spend their first 1-3 years at sea, where they may live on rafts of Sargassum. During this time they eat algae, barnacles, fish eggs, tunicates and crustaceans. When they reach 8-15 inches, they move closer to shore, where they eat primarily sponges as they grow larger. Conservation Hawksbill turtles are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Redlist. The list of threats to hawsbills is similar to that of the other 6 turtle species. They are threatened by harvesting (for their shell, meat and eggs), although trade bans seem to be helping the population. Other threats include habitat destruction, pollution, and bycatch in fishing gear. Sources CITES. Status of Trade in Hawksbill Turtles (Online). CITES Web Site. Accessed February 20, 2011, as of August 2015, no longer accessible.Mortimer, J.A Donnelly, M. 2008. Eretmochelys imbricata (Online) IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Accessed on February 20, 2011.NOAA Fisheries. Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Accessed August 10, 2015.Spotila, James R. Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to Their Biology, Behavior and Conservation 2004. The Johns Hopkins University Press.Turtles.org The Atlantic Green Turtle (Online). Accessed February 16, 2011.Waller, Geoffrey, ed. SeaLife: A Complete Guide to the Marine Environment. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C. 1996.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Operation FEMA Camps Essay - 907 Words

Operation FEMA Camps On October 1, 2013 Obama had signed a law passing the Obama Care to help people with healthcare, but in fact forced the government to shut down and eliminate food share to help pay for the Obama care. Due to the fact that many people rely on the government’s food share to help them survive, thousands of people were declined from Obama care and therefore had no healthcare and no food to help them survive. The Government shutdown is the beginning of Homeland security’s â€Å"ENDGAME† plan of taking away citizens’ rights and starting the martial law to have the military take over and place citizens into FEMA centers. On January 30, 1933, â€Å"Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party, was named†¦show more content†¦Then the more that Jessie asks Steve Cohen question, the more Cohen started stuttering and turning red. During the Interview, Jessie shows Cohen the HR 645 section of the bill which l ays out the construction of six FEMA camps. Cohen Replied â€Å"I do now recall reading something about this, they are not â€Å"Death or anything like that. They are centers in case of a natural disaster or any type of mass outbreak† with a different tune and stuttering. Our congressman’s are our signing away our rights without any citizens knowing about it. Homeland security was created after September 11, 2001 for the safety of the citizens from terrorist attacks, or any threat to the United States of America, They can tap into your personal files, into NASA projects, Nearby Police Departments, GPS etc. or any electronic devise you have to locate everything about you and find out all your personal information for our â€Å"protection†. Homeland Security is in violation of the fourth amendment which protects and guarantees the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is not for our â€Å"protection† in fact this is one of the ways that Homeland security is slowly stealing away our rights and gathering information about everyone from every source in preparation for the â€Å"ENDGAME†. Halliburton is a partner company that has been making black, 9 feet plastic coffins withShow MoreRelatedConspiracy: The United States is Making Concentration Camps Essay756 Words   |  4 PagesConspiracy: Unit ed States Are Making Concentration Camps The United States have withheld information to the public all the way back to the founding fathers. There are camps that the United States have created called FEMA camps otherwise known as Federal Emergency Management Agency that are similar to the ones used in World War II. The government has passed a law called Martial law where they can impose the law for a temporary period to maintain order, security, and power to the central governmentRead MoreHurricane Katrin Disasters And Disasters909 Words   |  4 Pagesand medical supplies for the survivors at the superdome. More than one million people in the Gulf region were displaced by the storm. At their peak hurricane relief shelters housed 273,000 people. FEMA had camps set up thorough out New Orleans and later, approximately 114,000 households were housed in FEMA trailers. Many of the survivors were displaced and choose to stay wherever they were able to find shelter. 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Several of the governmental agencies who responded to the disaster were the department of defense, and FEMA. Department of defense dispatched 10,000 National Guard troops into Louisiana and Mississippi. National Guard troops quickly began to help operations along the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast after Katrina made landfall. Once the levees fizzled in New Orleans, dynamic obligation troops were assembled to support theRead MoreThe Bombing Of Oklahoma City Bombing1461 Words   |  6 Pagesnearby, state, government, and overall offices in the wake of the bombing, and considerable gifts were gotten from the nation over. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, comprising of 665 salvage laborers who helped with salvage and recuperation operations. Inside a hour and a half of the blast, McVeigh was halted by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a tag and captured for unlawful weapons ownership. 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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Unbiased Report Exposes the Unanswered Questions on Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics

Unbiased Report Exposes the Unanswered Questions on Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics The Fight Against Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics Mark 16 May, 2018 Essay Writing 2 Comments If you're in two minds about which essay writing service to pick for your tricky essay, then be concerned not, we've got a plethora of choices for you. Completely free examples to essay an approach. Boom Essays are a worldwide company based in the usa. If you ask us for help, you may rest assured your essay is going to be written by real professionals. The fantastic thing about Boom Essays is that they just provide one off, custom essays to each customer. If you discover yourself here, you're probably searching for some essay paper help. Obviously, the ideal means is to order an essay online. With us, you may rest assured you will receive an ideal essay for appropriate money. The distinction is in our very best custom writing assignments. Our company employs writers that are English native speakers so they can help you in writing custom research papers that will help you. One of the principal explanations for why college students should not be concerned about writing quality college essays is the simple fact that help with writing is already a service that's easily available and accessible nowadays. Academic writing is the simplest thing to delegate. Only the best essays writing service groups can hit each of their deadlines. Writing essays is something we're proficient in and we would like to share our abilities and knowledge with each student in need. Utilizing a writing service is the perfect approach to have a well-written essay to use as a guideline to guarantee the essays you write are hitting all the vital points and are at the appropriate depth needed for your academic grade. EssayBox writing service gives an opportunity for contacting your author straight from the website to be able to clarify necessary details of a purchase. Any customized paper writing service has to fulfill these fundamental standards until they earn an area in our top-quality list. On-time shipping guarantee You will get your research paper even before you're the essential moment. Our writing system is the very best location where you should purchase custom research papers. Top 10 Best Essa y Writing Topics Secrets The prices of our very best essay writing service aren't the highest and not the lowest on the marketplace. Read my essay writing service reviews and my guide to selecting the ideal service for everything you will need to understand about how to pick the best writing businesses. The best writers are not ready to work for clients without feedback, since they're not sure they will find the payment. Always make sure that you have a look at the review my essay section of any writing service website you're thinking about using. What Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics Is - and What it Is Not It's important to research into any customized essay writing services before you even look at placing an order with them, which explains why we review writing services in the very first spot. It's extremely important to read carefully essay services reviews, because you wish to prevent low superior services. Essay box is pleased with its highly professional customer care team. Trained writers aren't only trained in writing, but additionally in adhering to the site's guidelines as soon as it comes to supplying services to clients. Students who want custom services ought to be keen with internet services simply since there are some writing sites that are not genuine with services they offer to students. Whatever They Told You About Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics Is Dead Wrong...And Here's Why When you're trusting a writing service by means of your dissertation grade, you're also trusting they are really talented. As there's a choice to find the best essays online, students from all over the globe benefit from it. If you're a student who desperately wants an expert paper writing service, we promise to assist you in your endeavors. Many students return time and again since they realize our essay services cannot be bettered anywhere else. Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics Ideas You have the advantage of time. The questions from decision making proved quite tough and complex to address. There are a fantastic number of essay writing companies springing up to cater for the requirements of students, all claiming to supply a wonderful service at unbeatable rates. Selecting a writing service might seem simple, but it's everything but as there are a lot of things to take into account. Whispered Top 10 Best Essay Writing Topics Secrets Needless to say that a few folks are prepared to do anything rather than writing an academical paper. When searching for somebody to compose your essay, having someone who's an expert work on it's critical. As a student, you're below a lot of stress. Not the ideal reason, really.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Market Research Of Fashion Preference - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theMarket Research Of Fashion Preference. Answer: Introduction As time goes by and new generations coming, fashions are also changing with time to fit the desire of the current generations. Australia is experiencing a rapid fashion wear style change that are made in a manner that they can stand distinct from the European fashion wear. Culture is a big influence in the transformation of the fashions as considered by Australian designers (Weller, 2013). The research was therefore conducted to check on the market requirement and what is preferred by the Kent Institute students to avoid having a lot of dead stock. From the responses from the students, the information can be transmitted to the designers so that whenever they are designing a new fashion they should consider the preference of the students. The aim of every producer have been to have their products bought at the shortest time possible so that they can produce more and maximize their sales and so to the profits (Nagurney, 2010). Starting up a fashion wear shop around Kent institution tar geting the students as the potential customers need the supply of the fashions that are most preferred by the students. Taste and preference of people vary from one individual to another, but through carrying out a research, the market research results can be useful to identify the common preference of the students. As being one of the factors to consider, population is fundamental for it is associated with the number of possible customers that would be shopping from the business. The business is to be located at a strategic location adjacent to the institution so that the students can easily access the shop. We targeted a population of over 7000 students. Out of that population, a sample size of 20 respondents was taken to participate in the research process. The sample size was made as small to suit and reduce on the expenses that would be incurred should the researcher engage a larger proportion or the entire population. Business technology have rocked all the forms of business and the business management is tending to shift to cope up with the current changes. Social media has formed a platform where the business personnel and their customers interact on a daily basis concerning the products supplied or sold by the business (Trainor et al, 2014). As a result therefore, the fashion wear business management wished to venture into online selling and among the objectives being; To determine the correlation between expenses of an individual per month with their gender. To determine if there exist relationship between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shop online. To meet these objectives, questions on the questionnaires were structured to aim at answering some of these questions by the respondents. Methods of data collection There are several methods that can be used by the researchers to collect data from the respondents. In this market research, questionnaires were preferred. Questionnaire is a set of structured questions interrogating the respondents about a certain subject of study that is filled by the respondents themselves (Scheidt-Nave et al, 2012). The question types that were used in the questionnaire structure were closed ended questions that were specifically for quantitative and qualitative data. This is far much different from interviews where the enumerator ask questions to the respondents directly. The questionnaires used in this case were handed to the respondents directly one on one. Regular and routine data were aimed at being collected concerning the fashion wear as used by the respondents. Questionnaires are known for their advantages of providing the participants with ample time to respond to the questions thus giving them confidence of providing reliable information. The questions structure were made short and easy to understand to avoid the problem of skipping some of the questions by the respondents when responding to the questions. The questions outlined in the questionnaire covered both the qualitative and quantitative data. Every selected participant was required to respond to all the questions as outlined on the questionnaire and then hand it back to the researcher when it is filled with answers. At some points, interviews were incorporated with the questionnaires for clarity pf the questions the respondents found unclear so that the correct responses were provided. From the population of over 7000 students, the sample size that was preferred for use was 20. The participants were selected at random by applying the probabilistic methods such as the simple random sampling so that the participants are not only collected from one part of Kent institution but is spread to cover all parts of the entire institution. This helped to deal with biasness in the collected data and ensuring the correctness of the data. Though small sample size is known for its unrepresentativeness of the population, it was preferred due to some of the advantages it has (Cattaneo et al, 2015). One of the major advantages was that it was pocket friendly and unexpansive not to forget that it also did not consume a lot of time as compared to when the sample size is big. Summary of the dataset Gender Age Frequency Exp/month Fashion Color Preference Material Shopped online Frequency online Female 23-27 Weekly 100 Shoes only Blue Casual wear Leather shoes Yes 5-10 times Female 18-22 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Red Casual wear Synthetic leather shoes Yes Male 28-32 Once 20-50 Clothes and shoes Black Official wear Synthetic leather shoes No 5-10 times Female 23-27 Five times and more 100 Clothes and shoes White Casual wear Rubber shoes No 5-10 times Male 23-27 Twice 51-100 Clothes only Blue Official wear Leather shoes Yes 5-10 times Male 23-27 Once 20-50 Clothes and shoes Black Official wear Leather shoes No 5-10 times Female 18-22 Weekly 100 Shoes only Maroon Casual wear Leather shoes Yes Male 23-27 Twice 20 Clothes and shoes Red Official wear Synthetic leather shoes No 5-10 times Female 23-27 Weekly 20-50 Clothes only Purple Casual wear Rubber shoes Yes Male 32 Once 20-50 Clothes only Green Official wear Rubber shoes Yes 5-10 times Male 28-32 Twice 20 Shoes only Black Casual wear Synthetic leather shoes Yes 5-10 times Male 32 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Blue Casual wear Synthetic leather shoes No 5-10 times Female 23-27 Five times and more 51-100 Clothes and shoes Black Casual wear Leather shoes Yes Female 32 Weekly 100 Clothes and shoes Yellow Casual wear Leather shoes Yes Male 23-27 Once 20-50 Shoes only Green Official wear Rubber shoes Yes 5-10 times Male 28-32 Twice 20 Clothes only Black Official wear Rubber shoes Yes 5-10 times Male 23-27 Twice 20 Clothes only White Casual wear Rubber shoes Yes 5-10 times Female 18-22 Weekly 20-50 Clothes only Maroon Casual wear Rubber shoes Yes Female 23-27 Twice 51-100 Shoes only Red Official wear Leather shoes Yes 5-10 times Female 23-27 Weekly 100 Shoes only Purple Casual wear Leather shoes Yes Table 1: Gender of the respondents Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Male 10 50.0 50.0 50.0 Female 10 50.0 50.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 The presented table above represents the gender of the students who were sampled to take part in the data collection process. As seen, equal number of males to that of females represented by 50% was sampled. Gender equity was opted for to avoid one gender dominancy. Demographic information are some of the important data in the market research since the characteristics of the targeted population can be easily understood which can be important in the business decision making. Table 2: Frequency of buying fashion wear per month Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Once 4 20.0 20.0 20.0 Twice 8 40.0 40.0 60.0 Weekly 6 30.0 30.0 90.0 Five times and more 2 10.0 10.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 The frequency at which the customers buy products from the market is one of the key aspects to be considered when carrying out market research. In this case, since the business to be opened was dealing with the fashion wear, the respondents were required to state their frequency of buying the fashion wear products. 20% of the respondents responded that they only buy fashion wear once, 40% responded that they do buy the fashion wear twice per month, 30% responded that they bought fashion wear on weekly basis and lastly only 10% of the respondents responded that they would buy fashion wear five times or more in a month. Table 3: Preferred Colors by the respondents Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent White 2 10.0 10.0 10.0 Black 5 25.0 25.0 35.0 Green 2 10.0 10.0 45.0 Yellow 1 5.0 5.0 50.0 Blue 3 15.0 15.0 65.0 Maroon 2 10.0 10.0 75.0 Red 3 15.0 15.0 90.0 Purple 2 10.0 10.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 Taste of the customers vary from one customer to the other. The taste vary from color to other aspects. 10% of the respondents preferred white color, 25% preferred black, 10% preferred green, 5% preferred yellow, 15% preferred blue, 10% preferred maroon, 15% preferred red and lastly 10% preferred purple for their fashion wear. In this case, supply of the fashion wear has to consider those color taste whenever they are placing order of the fashion wear to be supplied to have customers demands met. Table 4: Students Expense per Month Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 20 4 20.0 20.0 20.0 20-50 6 30.0 30.0 50.0 51-100 5 25.0 25.0 75.0 100 5 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 Twenty percent of the sampled students responded that they did spend less than 20 dollars per month on fashion wear, 30% responded that they did spend 20-50 dollars per month, 25% of the sample responded that they did spend between 51 and 100 dollars on fashion wear per month and another 25% responded that they did spend over 100 dollars per month. From this, it can be seen that majority of the students were spending relatively substantial amount on fashion wear per month. This can be taken into consideration by the business management and decision makers to decide on what amount of goods to supply and how frequent to do that should the spending behavior of the students remain this way. Table 5: Do you Shop online? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes 15 75.0 75.0 75.0 No 5 25.0 25.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 To the question of whether the sampled students shopped online, 75% of the sample responded that they do shop online against 25% of the students who responded that they do not shop online. This showed that high number of were online shoppers and this could lead to the possibility of engaging in online business to sell the fashion wears to the students when making business decisions. Table 6: Frequency of Shopping online Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 7 35.0 35.0 35.0 5-10 times 13 65.0 65.0 100.0 Total 20 100.0 100.0 For the students who ever shopped online, 35% of the sample responded that they did shop less than 5 times online in a year while the remaining 65% of the respondents responded that they did shop 5-10 times in a year. Despite the growth of technology and interaction between the business and the customers, the internet coverage in almost all over the places, people were still not shopping online at high frequency in a year. Thinking of incorporating online shopping in this case would still be a good idea that would be beneficial in the future as people change from physical shopping to online shopping with time. Figure 1: A graph of Expenses per Month by Gender From the sample, 2 males had their expenses below 20 dollars, 5 male students had their expenses between 20 and 50 dollars, 2 had their expenses ranging between 51 and 100 with only one male student responding that his expenses were more than 100 dollars. On the other hand, 2 female students responded that their expenses were less than 20 dollars, 1 had expenses between 20 and 50 dollars, 3 had their expenses between 51 and 100 dollars and finally 4 had their expenses above 100 dollars. It can therefore be concluded from the data that most of the female students had higher expenses on fashion wear than their male counterparts. Figure 2: A Graph of Age by Gender Only one male student from the sample had 18-22 years of age, 5 of the males had their ages at 23-27 years, 3 had 28-32 years and lastly another one male had over 32 years. On the other hand, 2 female students had their ages between 18 and 22 years, 6 had 23-27 years and the other 2 had their ages above 32 years. Their seemed to be a balance in terms of age for both genders but most of the students had their ages ranging between 23-27 years. Data analysis Table 7: Descriptive Statistics for Quantitative Variables N Mean Std. Deviation Variance age 20 24.05 4.322 18.682 exp_month 20 82.15 47.472 2253.555 Valid N (listwise) 20 The participants average age in the process was 26.05 years with the variance of 18.682 and standard deviation of 4.322. Expense per month for sampled individuals had a mean of 82.15 dollars, variance of 2253.555 and the standard deviation of 47.472. it can therefore be seen from the above table results that students expenditure on fashion wear was below 100 dollars per month. Hypothesis testing Table 8: Correlations Between Gender and Expense per Month gender exp_month gender Pearson Correlation 1 .700** Sig. (2-tailed) .001 N 20 20 exp_month Pearson Correlation .700** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .001 N 20 20 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Hypothesis H0: There is no correlation between expenses of an individual on fashion wear per month with their gender. H1: There is correlation between expenses of an individual on fashion wear per month with their gender. In the market research, one of the key objectives was to determine the correlation between expenses of an individual per month with their gender. From the correlation test table the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was .700 meaning that the correlation was positive and strong between the expenses per month of an individual with their gender. The expenses of an individual were most likely to be affected by the gender of an individual as they showed strong correlation. As a result therefore, we reject the null hypothesis since significance value is less than P-value (.05) and conclude that there is a correlation between expenses of an individual on fashion wear per month with their gender. Table 9: shopped online * frequency online Cross-tabulation frequency_online Total 5-10 times shopped_online Yes Count 7 8 15 % within shopped_online 46.7% 53.3% 100.0% No Count 0 5 5 % within shopped_online 0.0% 100.0% 100.0% Total Count 7 13 20 % within shopped_online 35.0% 65.0% 100.0% Forty six point seven percent of the sampled students responded that they shopped online in less than 5 times per year against 53.3% of the respondents who responded that they did shop online at a frequency of between 5 and 10 times per academic year. This showed that the majority of the students were online shoppers at a relatively higher frequency in each academic year. Table 10: Correlations between Shopped online and Frequency of Shopping online Shopped online Frequency online Shopped online Pearson Correlation 1 .424 Sig. (2-tailed) .063 N 20 20 Frequency online Pearson Correlation .424 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .063 N 20 20 Hypothesis H0: There is no relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shop online. H1: There is relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shop online. Since the significance value (i.e. .063) is greater than P-value (.05), we fail to reject the null hypothesis and make a conclusion that indeed there was no relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which students shopped online. This means that being that the students shop online would not be enough to determine the number of times they would be shopping online. From this therefore the business decision makers are supposed to take into account that they should not only rely on the fact that large number of the students were shopping online but the frequency of shopping also matters and which the test has determined to there being no relationship. Conclusion In conclusion, from the result we have found out that the mode of expenses of an individual is directly related to gender of an individual in response to buying fashion wear. Also, it can be concluded that there is no relationship existing between online shoppers and the frequency at which they shop online. It is therefore recommended that the business purchase department to consider the varied preferences of the students so that the fashions supplied best suit students desire. Reference Cattaneo, M.D., Frandsen, B.R. and Titiunik, R., 2015. Randomization inference in the regression discontinuity design: An application to party advantages in the US Senate.Journal of Causal Inference,3(1), pp.1-24. Nagurney, A. 2010. Supply chain network design under profit maximization and oligopolistic competition.Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review,46(3), 281-294. Scheidt-Nave, C., Kamtsiuris, P., Gwald, A., Hlling, H., Lange, M., Busch, M. A., ... Hapke, U. 2012. German health interview and examination survey for adults (DEGS)-design, objectives and implementation of the first data collection wave.BMC public health,12(1), 730. Trainor, K. J., Andzulis, J. M., Rapp, A., Agnihotri, R. 2014. Social media technology usage and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination of social CRM.Journal of Business Research,67(6), 1201-1208. Weller, S. 2013. Consuming the city: Public fashion festivals and the participatory economies of urban spaces in Melbourne, Australia.Urban Studies,50(14), 2853-2868.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Discrimination In America Essays - Human Behavior, Personal Life

Discrimination In America America is very unique in many ways to other countries of the world for many reasons. But one of the most important reasons, is that we have the freedom to express ourselves and the freedom to practice our own ideas, as granted to us by our Constitution. Two hundred years ago, our fore fathers sought a place where they could practice their religion freely and not be persecuted by those who discriminated against them. Today that freedom is very much still alive, but because of the norms of our time, some people are conveniently forgotten when it comes to their rights as citizens. These people, including homosexuals and even Black Americans, are always fighting for their freedom. We are guaranteed freedom: but why do these rights disappear whenever someone different is involved? We all have the right to be free, but our human nature often gets the best of us. Our world is made up of so many people who are each singular in their ideas and values, but America has always been a place where anyone could practice these ideas freely and without intervention. But it has always been that some people, who have conflicting ideas, are discriminated against. The worst cases are homosexuals. According to our Constitution, they should have every bit a right to express their sexuality publicly: but realistically, can they? I believe the answer to this is no. Too many times this has happened. One incident that has occurred is that of Matthew Sheppard, a homosexual. He was a student at the University of Wyoming, and allegedly was tricked into believing he was going with a few strangers who were homosexuals as well, when things went wrong. According to reports, the teenagers drove Matthew to a deserted part of a long road, and once there preceded to beat him unmercifully and leave him there for dead. Unfortunately there was no hope in saving him, his skull bashed in, his clothes ripped apart, and his bones broken. Matthew had every right to express his beliefs, and every right to have his own sexual preference, but that was all taken away because we think that those that are different don't apply to the constitution. But the sad part is that we as humans have become so desensitized to these acts that no one will take any action. Then, we are too afraid to be labeled as a homosexual ourselves if we try do defend them. So in the end, we have a country that promotes unity and the ability to think freely, but the reality is that we have neither. Another case study is that of Black Americans. The most profound proof is that of a court case in 1896 concerning the idea of Blacks as being separate from us but equal. In this case, Plessy versus Ferguson, the supreme court-the part of our government that is supposed to interpret our laws-publicly and forcefully stated that Blacks were separate from the Whites, but they were technically equal. A part of our government, which our fore fathers helped create, completely and totally went against the Constitution. The courts interpreted it a certain way, and because at the time the norm was White people, the Blacks had to suffer. Because of this ruling, so many institutions were set forth that turned a once thriving and wonderful Southern United States into a death trap for all Black Americans. Separate facilities for white and blacks became a basic rule in the southern society. President Johnson made a famous speech about his beliefs on Black Americans. He stated that all men are thought to be created equal, but many do not experience equality. He also said that we as human beings have many unalienable rights that can't be taken away, yet many do not enjoy these rights. Our ancestors fought bravely and encountered so many hardships so that they could create a place of hope and joy where you were unimpeded in your efforts to practice your own beliefs: but what do we have here. The very government that has given us so much-and when I say us, it's hard to imagine with whom I am referring to, either Whites or Americans in general-directly and openly took away the hopes and dreams of an entire people in one fell swoop. Thankfully norms change, and the decision was reversed. Today Blacks enjoy a multitude of freedoms-but like homosexuals, they too are often discriminated against even today. I relish in the fact that my options in life are

Sunday, March 8, 2020

2000 Presidential Election Reactions †Political Science Essay

2000 Presidential Election Reactions – Political Science Essay Free Online Research Papers 2000 Presidential Election Reactions Political Science Essay After viewing both Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election and Searching for the roots of 9/11, Ive come to many realizations as to how politics may have an effect on my life. Witnessing both videos, as well as, personal reflection has driven me to wonder the likelihood of my future ballots being counted, how natives of other countries will view me, as well as, how I myself view my own country. As one of the newest members on the delayed entry program for the United States Army, I need to put serious thought into all three issues. A new concern for my future voting ballots has arisen ever since the scandals of the 2000 presidential election. This year I will be able to vote at the polls, but I fear that in my future, while in the army, I may have to vote using many absentee ballots. Judging by the number of absentee ballots that was never accounted for in the 2000 election, it forces me to wonder whether or not my ballot may also be overlooked when it comes time to decide the next president. I would like to think that as a soldier of this country, my vote would be an essential voice for the masses, as well as, for the country I am deployed to. We are not only voting for ourselves, but for others across the globe. This leads me to my next major issue. Another concern of mine is what the natives of other countries, particularly in the Middle East, might think of me, as a soldier, after our own reactions to 9/11. It would make the lives of our heroic soldiers much safer if the natives of other countries thought of them as heroes as well. We cannot be the only ones worldwide to think we are doing what is just and right. To achieve this would prove to be extremely difficult, but if everyone, inside and outside the US, would be more open-minded to other cultures and even perhaps sympathetic towards their needs, then wed be well on our way. Global peace must first be presented by example, and that will become possible when the foundations of our country (ie: the citizens) are not shaking with doubt. My own beliefs for my country have recently gone through questioning due to recent US actions following the 9/11 attacks. I for one, am all for patriotic beliefs and attitudes. Yet there is, and always has been, a fine line between patriotism and racism. We can ill afford showing the world that we have no care for their needs and cultures. Thinking we are superior to all others because of our economic and political stature is not only wrong but an open invitation for all others to resent us. As the only superpower, if any, in the world, we must stand as examples and helpers to those in need of assistance. Looking poorly on others and turning the other way because it does not effect us is naivety at its best. The conclusions I have come to after viewing both eye opening films should be evident not only to myself, but others should be as enlightened as I have. All future voters must show some concern for their ballot if they truly wish to ensure their say in the future president, we must also be sensitive to those natives of all foreign countries, as well as, truly re-evaluating whether or not our country is in the right, or the wrong. Research Papers on 2000 Presidential Election Reactions - Political Science EssayAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeQuebec and CanadaCapital PunishmentHip-Hop is ArtThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraPETSTEL analysis of IndiaEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Ethical argument-Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical argument-Abortion - Essay Example Ethical claims and principles suggest that women should have a right to abort a fetus because pregnancy and child birth is a personal matter and only a woman has a right to decide her destiny. The issue of moral choice centers on the factor of meaningful human life or personality. From the biological perspective, the fertilized egg is not a human being yet. The concept of individualization is not identified until the first stages of cell division are completed. So, fetus is not an individual and a woman does not violate human rights and does not 'kill'' a baby (Colker, 3). From the religious point of view, beginning with the premise that God infuses the soul at the moment of conception, church maintains that every unborn child must be regarded as a human person. The main controversy of his argument is that at what point it is morally wise to charge fetal life as human life. Too much stress on the fetus can lead to an abstracting from the important role the woman's body plays in the d evelopment of a child. In speaking of the view of convinced critics that the status of the child is the most important issue to resolve in the abortion controversy, Marquis gives examples of pain on animals (Stetson 101). The second controversy is that Marques states: "Presumably abortion could be justified in some circumstances, only of the loss consequent on failing to abort would be at least as great" (Marquis). He does not take into account that women should have a right to abort a fetus as a preventive measure not to born cripples (physical or mental). In reality, nobody will benefited from this new life: a mother will suffer all her life raising up a disabled creature, a parasitic twin will not become a society member able to work and lead an independent life. In this case, a fetus does not possess psychological characteristics and is not entitled to have full moral status, and should be aborted (Kramlich 7830. Therefore, pro-choice advocates like Warren and Thomson believe that banning abortions without any exceptions is a cruel and unjustifiable practice. Probably, Marcuqy would respond that abortion is also very bad for the morality of society as a whole. Abortion is an easy way out, so it encourages promiscuity and unprotected sex. The very notion of abortion is immoral because it ruins the whole concept of responsible parenthood. The society has the duty to protect the life of its citizens. The right to life has been the foundation of the civilized society. It seems that the most persuasive argument of the pro-choice lobby is that sometimes pregnancy occurs due to rape or incest. The most appropriate answer to this problem is the state taking a firm ground with a view to decrease the rate of rape and incest. And, in fact, not all rape and abortion victims want abortion. On the one hand, the opponents state that if humans are killed before birth, they are the same person as the other hu man beings (Stetson 32). The concept of killing contradicts with all existed religious and moral practices. Some people are content to continue with the moral traditions in which they were raised, while others are drawn toward systems of belief that they find match their needs and perceptions of this spiritual dimensions. "Fetuses seem to be like arbotraroly chosen human cells on some respects and like

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Ec3002 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ec3002 - Essay Example in several distinct ways: they increase the flow of Foreign Direct Investments, speed up the internationalization of knowledge transfer, improve and increase international trade and globalize R&D activities. Generally, a multinational enterprise â€Å"that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and owns or, in some way, controls value-added activities in more than one country† (Dunning & Lundan 3). This definition, however, is subject to considerable criticism, for scholars in economic studies seek to distinguish between multinational enterprises that participate in â€Å"foreign-owned production and those that have increased overseas commitments† (Dunning & Lundan 3). Nevertheless, these deviations in the definition of multinational enterprises does not have anything to do with the role which MNEs play in the processes of globalization. It would be fair to say that MNEs have already turned into the essential components of the daily economic routine. MNEs play one of the dominant roles in competitive markets and are not the last drivers of globalization in the world. MNEs increase and speed up globalization via increased foreign direct investments (FDI), increased know ledge transfer, growth of the international trade, and internationalization of R&D activities. Foreign direct investments (FDI) have already become an essential feature of the deepening economic globalization. The integration of global markets and the growing number of MNEs reflect in ever rising FDI flows (Markusen & Venables 185). The second half of the 1980s was marked with the rapid advancement of the international FDI opportunities which, obviously, became the starting point of what we currently know as globalization (Markusen & Venables 186). During the six consecutive years, the worldwide stocks of FDI almost doubled and continued to grow during the 1990s (Markusen & Venables 187). Such increase in FDI is easy to explain by the growing number of MNEs, which seek to invest their resources

Monday, January 27, 2020

Advantages Of Human Resource Planning Business Essay

Advantages Of Human Resource Planning Business Essay Human resource planning is really important that without this all planning will finally end up as a mere guess work. Even if the predictions or forecast is not always successful, it is still needed because the forecasts can be quite useful which will give a basis. Upon this basis it is able to avoid ad hoc problems to an extent. Therefore human resource planning should be articulated along with the organisational planning. A dearth of particular category of employee or particular kind skills will affect the organisation in achieving its goals. Rapid changes in technology, marketing, management etc., will result in need of particular category an skilled persons. Changes within an organization in its design and structure will affect manpower demand. Demographic changes like the altering profile of the manpower in terms of age, sex, education etc. The Government policies in regard to reservation, child labour, working conditions etc. Different labour laws affecting the demand and supply of labour. Pressure from trade unions, politicians etc. Advantages of Human Resource Planning: Human Resources Planning (HRP) expects not just the needed quality and quantity of employees instead decide the accomplish plan for all the occasions of human resource management .The major advantages of Human resource planning are: It assures the corporate plan of the firm. The HRP elucidates doubts and alters to the upper limit potential and enables the organization to have right kind of people at right time in right place. It allows background for progress and growth of employees through training, development etc. It aids in anticipating the cost of salary increasing, improved benefits etc. It also helps to predict the cost of pay offs, incentives and all other cost of human resources which facilitates the formulation of budgets in an organization. To forecast the changes in abilities, aptitude and attitude of personnel. It results in the advancement of different origins of human resources to encounter the organizational goals and objectives. It also aids in taking measures to amend human resource shares in the form of enhanced output ,business turnover etc It facilities the control of all the functions, operations, contribution and cost of human resources Planning as an organisational business strategy: Planning process in a strategic way is often accomplished by networking with in and outside the organisation. The focus is therefore on strengthening the networking with the internal human resource professionals and external human resource persons which will be rooted in sharing information, technology, tools necessary for planning and development of personnel. The outcome depends on effective implementation of the developed tools and resources needed. Out of these a sustainable and feasible strategy has to be formulated. The most important thing to be noted here is that the strategy formulated should be articulated with the overall business strategy of the organisation. For this they will consult different human resource managers and all the line managers in the organisation. In order to ensure highest possible utilization of the tools they will work in close conjunction with the managers. This will be aimed in creating a sound personnel data base and tools for the line managers. Long term planning for success in short term: Though long term planning is advised the daily operational pressures would cause the long term planning to give way to short term planning. This might cause the plans ultimately to be less successful. It can be very expensive too. Quite lot of lead time is needed for recruiting, developing talented personnel. This will require long term economic plans. For a successful planning, all the factors need to be interconnected. The impact of short term planning will be to rely on current work force for all the organisational activities. But so as to achieve long term goals of an organisation it must have some changes made in the current human resources. It should be able to foresee the future needs of the organisation even in worst external scenario. Now the focus has been shifted from long range planning to strategic planning. What long range means is to predict for a particular time in future the amount of demand of an organisations services and to analyse in what area that demand will occur in future. This is often used to determine the demand in certain situations like expansion, adding of more services to the existing situation, capital needs etc. But later when the industries became volatile and the external scenario became dynamic the long range planning was replaced by strategic planning. The idea behind long range planning is that the firm will continue its rendering of services so as to match with its demand. But the idea underlying behind the strategic planning is that there are lot of economic, social, political, technological and competitive changes happening. By understanding all these changes to analyse whether the organisation will be able to provide services that would meet these challenges or whether it should m ove to further new services and products. Though it will take considerable time to evolve a strategy, time span is not the important focus here. It might even take generations to evolve and implement a strategy. Therefore it is better to use long term and short term to describe the time that it will take for a strategy to implement. CHAPTER 2 Literature Review: Human beings are the most important assets in hospitals. Machines and other equipments which are integral parts of delivering health care require the human touch, expertise, and commitment for their full utilization and application in delivery of health care. Therefore planning of human resources is the key to any health care provision. The objective of human resource (HR) policy is to attract, recruit, retain and develop competent personnel and Create a continuously learning health care organisation. (B.Ray) Human resource planning is the projection of the number of people required and the type of people in terms of skill mix required for the organisation so as to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the organisation. This means that human resource planning is an important add on to the strategic plans. But evidence shows that the connecting bridge between human resource planning and strategic management is not stressed in practice (Baird et al.1983, De sancto-1983; Ohan Rynes-1983). Reason to this non utilisation is found in focus of human resource planning literature. Almost all the research focuses on human resource supply and demand forecasting (Zedeck Casci-1984). Extra care may be taken in developing a statistical model of manpower planning, but little care is given to gaining managerial acceptance of such plans. Thus there exist a huge gap between available techniques and their use because important organisational realities are not projected in to the models (Zedeck Casc io,1984) Rapid environmental change, globalization, innovations to provide competitive products and services, changing customer and investor demands have become the standard backdrop for organizations. To compete effectively, firms must constantly improve their performance by reducing costs, enhancing quality, and differentiating their products and services. To improve firm performance and create firm competitive advantage, HR should focus on better and new set of priorities. These newly set priorities should be more organisational, business and strategic oriented and less focussed towards old traditional HR functions like staffing, training, appraisal and compensation. Business strategic priorities include team-based job designs, flexible workforces, quality improvement practices, employee empowerment and incentive compensation (Jing and Huang 2005). SHRM was designed to diagnose firm strategic needs and planned talent development which is required to implement a competitive strategy and achieve operational goals (Huselid et al., 1997). Apart from report proof on the strategic importance of human resource planning, studies of organisation practices give an indication of its arousing grandness for strategic applications. A study interviewed human resource executives from 137 companies to describe the reasons why their companies were following human resource forecasting, which an important part of human resource is planning. The most important three reasons were for bringing up their human resources (77.6 percent), for avoiding personnel shortages (73.1 percent), and to collect information for decisions (73.1 percent). Another set of reasons for human resource forecasting included the following: optimistic action efforts (63.6 percent), budgeting (62.1 percent), and career planning (59.7 percent)

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Essay --

Statistical Interpretation of United Arab Emirates Trading Patterns I have chosen to research the trade patterns of United Arab Emirates because, in my view, it is one of the most important players in the world in terms of trade. Furthermore, trade has influenced the living standard in this area, such that, the standard of living in Dubai, for example, has increased comparably. United Arab Emirates has mostly developed due to the petroleum and natural gas exports. In the following paragraphs I will present statistics and data regarding not only oil and natural gas trading patterns, but also commodities. The United Arab Emirates is one of the 10 largest oil and natural gas producers in the world, and is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). The UAE has had a great impact on oil trade because of its natural endowments. According to OPEC, its share of world reserves is of 8.1%. The most abundant factor of production, oil, has brought them a comparative advantage and specialization, which contributed to the country’s development. According to the data presented by Central Intelligence Agency, United Arab Emirates was ranked on the 24th place in the world in terms of total Imports and 19th place in total exports in 2012. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html In the WORLD FACTBOOK it is said that the UAE has an open economy with high per capita income. In recent years, successful efforts have been made regarding economic diversification and nowadays, the GDP based on oil and natural gas output has decreased to 25%. Since the discovery of oil 30 years ago, UAE has been through important transformations and h... ...in 2012, a 38% increase since 2011. However, imports to the US from the UAE have remained approximately the same, at over $2 billion. The data can be found on the website of the US Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5200.html#2010 As a conclusion, I believe that United Arab Emirates are focusing more and more on diversifying their exports and not depending so much on the oil ones. As far as their partners are concerned, I believe that in the future India will continue to be the top trading partner of UAE, being followed by China and Japan. China is in need of more and more oil because it has recently been ranked as the World’s top importer of crude oil. Japan, on the other hand, continues to depend on the Middle East countries for oil imports, being the world’s third largest net oil importer. (US Energy Information Administration).

Saturday, January 11, 2020

‘In what ways is “Pride and Prejudice” a Cinderella story?’ Essay

Cinderella stories, of one type or another, have remained enduringly popular for hundreds of years. There are Cinderella tales originating from every culture and every time period up to the present day. They reflect the ‘rags to riches’ fantasies of storytellers from all around the world. But what constitutes a Cinderella story? Even though they exist in a vast variety of forms, most have a very similar basic plot. Firstly, there is always a heroine, whose fortunes are to be the focal point of the tale. She is naturally innocent, kind, gentle and beautiful, and always has hardships to bear. For example, in the French version, upon which the Disney animated film is based, Cinderella lives with her weak-willed father and her ‘evil’ stepmother and stepsisters who treat her appallingly; she is forced to act as a servant to them and is dressed in rags. Very often in these stories, there are a number of magical animals that help Cinderella in some way, and along with Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, enable her to go to the ball, which invariably she has been prevented from attending by her cruel family. At the ball, Cinderella and Prince Charming meet and fall in love instantly, but Cinderella forgets her Godmother’s deadline, and has to rush off suddenly, unintentionally leaving behind only one clue as to her true identity for the love-struck hero. After one final setback, usually resulting from Cinderella’s interfering and vain stepsiblings, the Prince and his love are re-united and go back to the Palace to be married immediately. Cinderella forgives her family, and they join the happy couple at court and all live ‘happily ever after.’ This is the most well known of the â€Å"Cinderella† plots, but as I have said, other versions exist such as â€Å"Katie Woodencloak† and â€Å"Cindermaid†. â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, Jane Austen’s classic novel, was first published in January 1813. It was designed to appeal to the fashionable novel-reading public of the day, and it was an instant success for its author, and has remained consistently so. With the pretty and likable Elizabeth Bennet marrying the rich and handsome Mr Darcy at the end of the book, at first glance, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† seems like a typical Cinderella tale. In this essay, I will be investigating the similarities and differences it has to the Cinderella story I have outlined above. For me, Elizabeth is the first obvious ‘Cinderella’ in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†. She is one of five Bennet sisters, intelligent, witty and impetuous with an independent streak in her, as we find out when she insists that she walk to Netherfield to visit her ill sister. Elizabeth, like Cinderella, has a family who can make life very difficult for her at times. Her father is loving, but like Cinderella’s father, is weak-willed; â€Å"Her father, contented with laughing at them, would never exert himself to restrain the wild giddiness of his youngest daughters.† (Chapter 37.) This trait in her father’s disposition allows Lydia to elope with Mr Wickham from Brighton. Elizabeth’s mother and sisters also inhibit her, not by being malicious or unkind, as with Cinderella, but by their rudeness and hysterical behaviour; â€Å"†¦and in the unhappy defects of her family a subject of yet heavier chagrin. They were hopeless to remedy.† (Chapter 37.) â€Å"Her mother would talk of her views in the same intelligible tone. Elizabeth blushed and blushed again with shame and vexation.† (Chapter 18.) These unattractive qualities in her relatives, as well as her family’s lower social status, prove to have an unfavourable effect on Mr Darcy’s feelings towards her, even though he admits he loves her. Mr Darcy believes Lizzy’s connections to be ‘inferior’; â€Å"He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed†¦His sense of her inferiority†¦of the family obstacles which judgement had always opposed to inclination were dwelt on with warmth.† (Chapter 34.) Although Elizabeth does not suffer the deprivation that Cinderella does (dresses are no problem for Lizzy as they are for Cinderella), and in fact lives comfortably, the Bennets live under the threat that when Mr Bennet dies, they will lose their home Longbourn, because there is no male heir to the estate. So Cinderella’s ‘poverty’ situation could, theoretically affect Elizabeth at some point in the future. Therefore, it is very important for the five Bennet daughters to marry well, to ensure the family’s future security and status. This fact differentiates Cinderella from Elizabeth, as she is fiercely discouraged from going to the ball by her by her jealous stepsisters, where as Elizabeth (and her sisters) are actively encouraged to look for husbands with good fortunes by going to dances. Cinderella spontaneously falls in love with Prince Charming – she had only desperately wanted to go to the ball, and nothing more. But Elizabeth must be convinced of the true goodness of Mr Darcy’s personality before she will overcome her prejudices and dislike of him. Elizabeth’s opinion of Mr Darcy is changed by her hearing his housekeeper at Pemberley speak of how good and kind he really is, and also when Mr Darcy sends a letter to her explaining the misunderstandings about Mr Wickham and the Jane-Bingley affair. It is only after realising her actual feelings for him, and being attracted by his large estate, that Lizzy is prepared to love and marry Mr Darcy. Cinderella is a servant in her household, and although Elizabeth is certainly not a servant, she does aid and support her difficult family, along with her sister Jane, through use of her intelligence and sensibility. Of course, the main reason Elizabeth can be compared to Cinderella is that she is the disadvantaged heroine who marries her Prince and is taken off to his palace in a fairy tale ending; â€Å"‘Good gracious! Lord bless me! Only think! Dear me! Mr Darcy! Who would have thought it! And is it really true? Oh! My sweetest Lizzy! How rich and how great you will be!'† (Chapter 59.) Elizabeth’s family, like Cinderella’s family, also benefit from this happy ending – the Bennets often visit Lizzy at her new home, and Mr Darcy’s wealth means that they never need worry about losing their home or status again. Mrs Bennet is especially thrilled by the match. Another Bennet sister can be successfully compared with Cinderella – Jane. She is the eldest daughter, and like Cinderella, is very kind, but also little naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve; â€Å"What a stroke this was for poor Jane! Who could willingly have gone through the world without believing that so much wickedness existed in the whole race of mankind†¦Most earnestly did she labour to prove the probability of error, and seek to clear one, without involving the other.† (Chapter 40.) She also marries a ‘Prince Charming’ with whom she is truly in love, Mr Bingley, who has a ‘palace’ and holds a ball there early in the novel. One thing that makes Jane even more similar to Cinderella in my opinion is that she falls in love with Mr Bingley straight away, even though his meddlesome sisters, Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, as well as Mr Darcy, try to stop affections developing between them. This reminds me of the way Cinderella was prevented from trying on the glass slipper by her stepsisters. Unlike Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley has no qualms about Jane’s lower standing in society, and immediately allows himself to fall in love with her, like Prince Charming does with Cinderella at the ball. Similarly, it is at the Netherfield ball, held by Mr Bingley, where Jane and he first display a fondness for each other. Although Jane is like Cinderella in all these ways, she cannot be directly linked with her, as she is not the leading character in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† like Elizabeth. Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley are the two men who are most comparable to the Prince in Cinderella. They are both rich men with large estates and good breeding who marry ‘below themselves.’ Mr Darcy is a proud and arrogant man, who we find out later in the book, actually has a compassionate and generous personality. At first, Mr Darcy does not feel it is appropriate for him to marry into a lower class, but he cannot contain his love for Elizabeth, and this love eventually conquers his pride as I have detailed above. This is unlike Prince Charming because in â€Å"Cinderella†, the Prince does not mind when he finds out that his unidentified ‘Princess’ is really a poor servant girl – Cinderella’s status doesn’t matter to him at all. Mr Bingley, on the other hand, is like Prince Charming in that he doesn’t care about Jane’s background, and loves her anyway. Mr Bingley’s character is summed up by this quote; â€Å"‘He is just what a young man ought to be,’ said she, ‘sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners! – so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!’ ‘He is also handsome,’ replied Elizabeth, ‘which is what a young man ought likewise to be, if he possibly can. His character is thereby complete.'† (Chapter 4.) For Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy, as with Prince Charming, it is love at first sight with Jane and Elizabeth at the Meryton ball, even if Mr Darcy dare not admit his feelings for some time. When Mr Darcy does propose to Elizabeth, she turns him down, but he remains persistent in trying to assure Lizzy of his good nature, and in the same way as the Prince tracks down Cinderella, Mr Darcy proposes for a second time and Lizzy accepts. It was the letter that Mr Darcy gave to Elizabeth at the Collins’ that revealed his true character to her and this enabled her to accept and love him. In the same way, Cinderella’s glass slipper allows the Prince to find her. It could be concluded that these objects provide the key to identifying the suitors in their true light and make it possible for the characters to eventually marry. I think that there are several people in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† who could be considered either ‘stepsisters’ or a ‘stepmother’ to Lizzy or Jane. Evidently their own mother and sisters have some qualities similar to those in â€Å"Cinderella.† Mrs Bennet, though inadvertently, hinders any marriage between her daughters and ‘respectable’ men through her inappropriate and embarrassing manner – she is chaotic and thoughtless and gives her family a bad reputation. Jane and Lizzy’s sisters, particularly Lydia and Kitty, are also shallow, selfish and silly young women, only interested in chasing after soldiers and visiting Meryton; â€Å"The two youngest of the family, Catherine and Lydia, were particularly frequent in these attentions; their minds were more vacant than their sisters†¦They could talk of nothing but officers.† (Chapter 7.) â€Å"Catherine, weak-spirited, irritable†¦and Lydia, self-willed and careless.† (Chapter 37.) Lydia’s disastrous elopement with Mr Wickham endangers the anticipated marriage between Jane and Mr Bingley because it disgraces the family. Through this, Lydia is unintentionally like Cinderella’s stepsisters, as she causes a last-minute hitch, which could ruin her sister’s hopes of happiness. In Cinderella, this hitch is the stepsisters preventing Cinderella from trying on the glass slipper by hiding her from the Prince ‘below stairs’. Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, Charles Bingley’s sisters, are also like the ‘evil stepsisters’, only more so, in my estimation, than Mrs Bennet and her younger daughters, because they deliberately try to stop the marriages between the Bennet sisters, their brother and his friend taking place. It is revealed that Miss Bingley would like Mr Darcy for herself, and that she is jealous of Lizzy. They also try to persuade Mr Bingley that Jane does not love him in the hope he will forget about her when he is in London. Miss Bingley sends a letter to Jane, which convinces her that Mr Bingley does not care at all for her, which is not true. This, along with Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst’s officious airs, make them ‘stepsisters’ not only to the Misses Bennet but also to their brother. Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the cold and obnoxious aunt of Darcy, is also a ‘stepmother’ to Elizabeth because she severely disapproves of the marriage between her and her nephew, Mr Darcy, and therefore tries her hardest to thwart their plans. She believes that Lizzy is of a lower social class and not ‘good enough’ for her nephew. Also, she wants to see Mr Darcy marry her daughter, the sickly Anne de Bourgh; â€Å"‘Let me be rightly understood. This match, to which you have the assumption to aspire, can never take place. No, never. Mr Darcy is engaged to my daughter’†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢True, you are a gentleman’s daughter. But who was your mother? Who are your uncles and aunts? Do not imagine me ignorant of their condition.'† (Chapter 56.) Even so, Lady Catherine does not successfully stop Elizabeth and Mr Darcy from marrying, and neither do Lizzy’s family or Miss Bingley, just as the stepsisters fail to stop Cinderella from marrying her Prince in the end. It is not explicitly apparent that there are any ‘Fairy Godmothers’ in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice,† but I think that Mrs Gardiner, Elizabeth’s aunt, can be regarded as aiding Lizzy throughout the novel. As well as the Gardiner’s help to the Bennets through their troubles with Lydia, Mr and Mrs Gardiner make it possible for Elizabeth to go to her ‘palace’ (Pemberley) for the first time, by taking her with them to Derbyshire. (The Fairy godmother in â€Å"Cinderella† also enables Cinderella to go to the palace.); â€Å"With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.† (Chapter 61.) Perhaps Jane in her continuing support of Lizzy and the Bennet family could also be seen as a ‘Fairy Godmother’ to them all. Another similarity between â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† and â€Å"Cinderella† is that the heroines in both stories go to at least one ball where they meet their future husbands. In â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, there are two balls – the Meryton Ball and the Netherfield Ball, but in contrast with â€Å"Cinderella†, the future spouses do not immediately get on as well as Cinderella and Prince Charming do! – At the Meryton Ball Lizzy overhears Mr Darcy snubbing her whilst talking to Mr Bingley; â€Å"‘Which do you mean?’ and turning around, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till catching her eye, he withdrew his own and coldly said, ‘She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me.'† Both stories highlight the importance of ‘the ball’ as a major social event; very often it was the only opportunity for people to meet and socialise. At her ball, Cinderella has a curfew to comply with – she must be home by midnight or else her magical clothes and coach will turn back into rags and a pumpkin. There is no literal deadline in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, but time is running out for the women in the novel, as they must marry well, while they are still potentially ‘desirable’ wives, if they want to be secure and assured of a future free from want. This fear is shown in the story by the plight of Charlotte Lucas, who marries the repellent Mr Collins because she knows it will probably be her last opportunity to gain a husband and therefore a house of her own; â€Å"Mr Collins was neither sensible nor agreeable; his society was irksome†¦But still he would be her husband†¦and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.† (Chapter 22.) An important component of the â€Å"Cinderella† fairy tale is magic, and magical animals, and as I have found neither one of these in â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, it is almost certainly one of the biggest differences between the two stories. This shows us that Austen’s novel is not a fable but that the events in the book could have actually occurred in early 19th century society. From examining the text of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† and several â€Å"Cinderella† tales, I have found many similarities, and some differences between the two narratives. I conclude that although Jane Austen did not intentionally design her novel to be like a fairy tale, there is a definite resemblance to â€Å"Cinderella†. The plot and subplots of the novel are clearly more complex than in â€Å"Cinderella†, but most of the individuals have counterparts in the other story. As I said at the beginning of this essay, the main heroine, whether you consider her to be Elizabeth or Jane, ‘gets her guy’. In both stories, the wedded couple and their families are more happy and secure than at the start of the tale – they all ‘live happily ever after’, with Lizzy moving to Pemberley, just as Cinderella moves to the palace. Some people may regard the ending of â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† as the most unrealistic and ‘fairy story’ part of the book. In reality life was very hard, even for the rich, at this time. For example, Elizabeth, like many young women at that time, may have died in childbirth a year later, or perhaps Mr Bingley may have been badly injured a month after the novel finishes in a hunting accident. In my view, â€Å"Pride and Prejudice† is simply a daydream; a world into which the reader can escape to avoid the unpleasantries which no doubt occurred in the Georgian period, but which Jane Austen chose to ignore. By doing this, Austen created one of the best-loved and most interesting â€Å"Cinderella† stories to date.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Timeline of the Medieval Traders on the Swahili Coast

Based on archaeological and historical data, the medieval period of the 11th through 16th centuries AD was the heyday of Swahili Coast trading communities. But that data has also shown that the African merchants and sailors of the Swahili Coast began to  trade in international goods at least 300-500 years earlier. A timeline of the major events on the Swahili coast: Early 16th century, the  arrival of Portuguese and the end of Kilwas trading powerCa 1400 start of Nabhan dynasty1331, Ibn Battuta visits Mogadishu14th-16th centuries, a shift in trade to the  Indian Ocean, the heyday of coastal Swahili townsCa 1300, the  start of Mahdali dynasty (Abul Mawahib)Ca 1200, first coins minted by Ali bin al-Hasan in Kilwa12th century, a rise of Mogadishu11th-12th centuries, most coastal people converted to Islam, a shift in trade to the  Red Sea11th century, start of Shirazi dynasty9th century, slave trade with the  Persian Gulf8th century, the first mosque built6th-8th centuries AD, trade established with Muslim traders40 AD, author of Periplus visits Rhapta The Ruling Sultans A chronology of ruling sultans can be derived from the Kilwa Chronicle, two undated medieval documents recording an oral history of the large Swahili capital of Kilwa. Scholars are skeptical of its accuracy, however, particularly with respect to the semi-mythical Shirazi dynasty: but they are agreed on the existence of several important sultans: Ali ibn al-Hasan (11th century)Daud ibn al-HasanSulaiman ibn al-Hasan (early 14th c)Daud ibn Sulaiman (early 14th c)al-Hasan ibn Talut (ca 1277)Muhammad ibn Sulaimanal-Hasan ibn Sulaiman (ca 1331, visited by Ibn Battuta)Sulaiman ibn al-Husain (14th c) Pre  or Proto-Swahili The earliest pre or proto-Swahili sites date to the first century AD, when the unnamed Greek sailor who authored the merchants guide Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, visited Rhapta on what is today the central Tanzanian coast. Rhapta was reported in the Periplus to be under the rule of Maza on the Arabian Peninsula. The Periplus reported that ivory, rhinoceros horn, nautilus and turtle shell, metal implements, glass, and foodstuffs were imports available in Rhapta. Finds of Egypt-Roman and other Mediterranean imports dated to the last few centuries BC suggest some contact with those areas. By the 6th to 10th centuries AD, people on the coast were living in mostly rectangular earth-and-thatch houses, with household economies based on pearl millet agriculture, cattle pastoralism, and fishing. They smelted iron, built boats and made what archaeologists called Tana Tradition or Triangular Incised Ware pots; they obtained imported goods such as glazed ceramics, glassware, metal jewelry, and stone and glass beads from the Persian Gulf. Beginning in the 8th century, the African inhabitants had converted to Islam. Archaeological excavations at Kilwa Kisiwani and Shanga in Kenya have demonstrated that these towns were settled as early as the 7th and 8th centuries. Other prominent sites of this period include Manda in northern Kenya, Unguja Ukuu on Zanzibar and Tumbe on Pemba. Islam and Kilwa The earliest mosque on the Swahili coast is located in the town of Shanga in the Lamu Archipelago. A timber mosque was built here in the 8th century AD, and rebuilt in the same location, again and again, each time larger and more substantial. Fish became an increasingly important part of the local diet, consisting of fish on the reefs, within about one kilometer (one-half mile) from the shore. In the 9th century, connections between Eastern Africa and the Middle East included the export of thousands of slaves from Africas interior. The slaves were transported through Swahili coastal towns to destinations in Iraq such as Basra, where they worked on a dam. In 868, the slave revolted in Basra, weakening the market for slaves from Swahili. By ~1200, all of the large Swahili settlements included stone built mosques. The Growth of Swahili Towns Through the 11th-14th centuries, the Swahili towns expanded in scale, in the numbers and variety of imported and locally-produced material goods, and in trade relationships between the interior of Africa and other societies around the Indian Ocean. A wide variety of boats were built for sea-going trade. Although most of the houses continued to be made of earth and thatch, some of the houses were built of coral, and many of the larger and newer settlements were stone towns, communities marked by elite residences built of stone. Stonetowns grew in number and size, and trade blossomed. Exports included ivory, iron, animal products, mangrove poles for house construction; imports included glazed ceramics, beads and other jewelry, cloth, and religious texts. Coins  were minted in some of the larger centers, and iron and copper alloys, and beads of various types were produced locally. Portuguese Colonization In 1498-1499, the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama began exploring the Indian Ocean. Beginning in the 16th century, Portuguese and Arab colonization began to decrease the power of the Swahili towns, evidenced by the construction of Fort Jesus in Mombasa in 1593, and the increasingly aggressive trade wars in the Indian Ocean. The Swahili culture fought variously successfully against such incursions and although disruptions in trade and loss of autonomy did occur, the coast prevailed in urban and rural life. By the end of the 17th century, the Portuguese lost control of the western Indian Ocean to Oman and Zanzibar. The Swahili coast was reunited under the Omani sultanate in the 19th century. Sources Chami FA. 2009. Kilwa and the Swahili Towns: Reflections from an archaeological perspective. In: Larsen K, editor. Knowledge, Renewal and Religion: Repositioning and changing ideological and material circumstances among the Swahili on the East African coast. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitututet.Elkiss TH. 1973. Kilwa Kisiwani: The Rise of an East African City-State. African Studies Review 16(1):119-130.Phillipson D. 2005. African Archaeology. London: Cambridge University Press.Pollard E. 2011. Safeguarding Swahili trade in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries: a unique navigational complex in south-east Tanzania. World Archaeology 43(3):458-477.Sutton JEG. 2002. The southern Swahili harbour and town on Kilwa Island, 800-1800 AD: A chronology of booms and slumps.: Uppsala University.Wynne-Jones S. 2007. Creating urban communities at Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania, AD 800-1300. Antiquity 81:368-380.