Heart Rate Variability ( Hrv ) - 1623 Words

Heart rate variability (HRV) is quickly becoming a â€Å"buzz word† in fitness, but in reality this is a very old technology. Dating back to at least 1948 (15) HRV has been a commonly used method in research and is an accepted diagnostic tool in several diseases/conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and type 2 diabetes (9, 23). HRV was, until recently, a tool that was confined to clinical and research settings, largely due to the prohibitively high cost of equipment. Recent advances in technology, particularly among heart rate monitors and smartphone-based apps, have now made this technology available to fitness professionals and health/fitness consumers. HRV is derived from mathematical properties of cardiac inter-beat intervals or what is referred to as a R-R interval. This inter-beat interval represents tiny changes in the timing (i.e. fractions of a second) from one heart beat to the next. Intuitively it would seem that a heart rate of 60 bpm would have exactly 1 second between each â€Å"beat.† It even seems reasonable that a very metronomic or steady heart rate would be indicative of health and/or fitness. In fact, just the opposite is true. A healthy cardiovascular control system will have a high level of complexity, or variability, while an aged, unfit or diseased system will show a loss of complexity or variability (21). HRV testing is an exquisitely sensitive tool that is capable of providing us with important health and fitness-based information acrossShow MoreRelatedHeart Rate Variability And Cognitive And Mind Body Therapies On Cardiovascular Conditions1514 Words   |  7 PagesHeart rate variability is defined as the variation in the interval between normal heart beats and provides an important non-invasive assessment of cardiac autonomic control. It is postulated to be the effect of the interplay between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system. The SA node receives different inputs from the SNS, PSNS and the humoral factors which cause the beat to beat variation in the heart rate. Heart rate variability is thus an important indicatorRead MoreThe Effect Of Biofeedback On Basketball Players And Effect On Their On Court Performance877 Words   |  4 PagesElectromyographic Biofeedback (EMG BFB) and Electroencephalographic Biofeedback (EEG BFB) and found correlations between improvement in performance and responsiveness to stimuli. However, there has not been an analysis of the use of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRV BFB) which measures an increase in the response time and attention deficit in athletes. The most important aspect of an athlete’s performance is the ability to tune out outside disturbances during a game or match. If an athlete canRead MoreAnalysis Of Truman State University s Campus2744 Words   |  11 PagesIntroduction Throughout the course of everyday life, variability of heart rate is present for each individual. As the college students on the campus of Truman State University go about their day-to-day lives, they too experience the phenomenon of heart rate variability. While resting and using little movement, many students spend a great number of hours each day studying - a period of time when the body requires a smaller cardiac output in relation to times of movement. However, during the courseRead MoreDiabetes Mellitus : Common Metabolic Disease Affecting 29 Million Americans1087 Words   |  5 Pagesoffspring. Dr. Landa also suggests that the monitoring of heart rate variability can be an important method for helping control which genes are expressed. She states that, â€Å"Because stress plays a role in which of your genes will express themselves, monitoring it is key. A way to do this is with heart rate variability (HRV) training. HRV measures the intervals between your heartbeats, and if you have a low HRV, it means your heartbeats lack variability— and you likely don’t get enough rest and relaxationRead MoreThe Human Heart Is A Muscular Organ That Provides A Continuous Blood Circulation1837 Words   |  8 PagesINTRODUCTION WHAT IS HEART? The human heart is a muscular organ that provides a continuous blood circulation through the cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body. The heart is divided into four main chambers: the two upper chambers are called the left and right atria and two lower chambers are called the right and left ventricles. There is a thick wall of muscle separating the right side and the left side of the heart called the septum. Fig 1: HUMAN HEART[10] HOW DOES BLOODRead MoreHeart Failures Of Heart Failure782 Words   |  4 Pages Heart failure describes a medical condition when the heart is unable to pump sufficient blood to the body [85]. While heart failure does not mean the immediate stopping of the heart, it is a serious and fatal condition. A study has found that the 4-year mortality rate for chronic heart failure was 43% for patients with preserved systolic function, and 54% for patients with reduced systolic function [86]. Heart failure is prevalent, with about 2-3% of adults worldwide showing signs of heart failureRead MoreStatistical Analyses And Its Effect On The Quality Of The Physiological Data1218 Words   |  5 PagesStatistical Analyses The following physiological measures were assessed for statistical significance: RMSSD, HF power, SBP, DBP and HR. A natural log transformation was applied to HRV measures prior to the analysis. Each measure was analyzed using a one-way repeated measures ANOVA across each experimental condition: baseline, stressor, recovery. The application of repeated measures ANOVA calls for the assumption that the dependent variables follow a normal distribution. In the context of this studyRead MoreViolent Video Games Should Be Banned Essay1432 Words   |  6 Pagesleast, most shockingly one is the heart rate variability(HRV). The danger violent video games bring to your heart. For example, this research was done by three universities in Sweden where they divided boys into two groups, age 12 to age 15. Same as last experiment, one group was given violent video games and another non-violent video games. After that the research shown the group of boys that played a violent video games have a higher heart rate variability(HRV) during and even hours after theyRead MoreAnalysis Of 10 Second 6-Lead ECG And Holter Monitoring1737 Words   |  7 PagesIn the present study, Analysis of 10 second 6-lead ECG and Holter monitoring over 24 hours were successfully performed in all rhesus macaques enrolled to the present study. HR, ECG patterns, the frequency and complexity of arrhythmias, and HRV parameters obtained from the 10 second 6-lead ECG and 24-hour Holter monitoring were compared between the rhesus macaques with and without LVH. In the standard 10 seconds 6-lead ECG, the duration of a QRS complex was significantly longer in rhesus macaquesRead MoreHow Does Meditation Change The Brain And Body1443 Words   |  6 Pagesthat may be included in both topics of brain and body relating to stress regulation, heart rate variability, and emotional responses. This research paper examines these articles and their studies in order to support the argument that meditation encourages positive changes within the brain and body. Literature Review Considering Shearer et al.’s (2016) article that reviews meditation and its effects on stress and HRV, the conclusion to their studies was that meditation (more specifically mindful meditation)

Gender Segregation Free Essays

Davis Anderson Sociology 3337 Prof. Korinek October 23, 2012 Group 7 Analysis of: Revisiting the Glass Escalator: The Case of Gender Segregation in a Female Dominated Occupation This critical examination and study, done by Karrie Ann Snyder and Adam Isaiah Green, dives into the data of a predominately women’s job, nursing, to find out if men really have a â€Å"glass escalator† when it comes to advancing up to top positions and dissects the notion of horizontal segregation. The glass escalator theory is one that assumes males in female dominated professions are pushed up the ladder to administrative and supervisory positions much easier and faster than women. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Segregation or any similar topic only for you Order Now Throughout the article, they explain the methods used to gather the data, both quantitative and qualitative and provide a plethora of information such as level of education, employment setting, number of years worked, personal interviews etc. They also break down the data and refute claims that although widely believed, may be false. It is somewhat ironic that the topic of this week’s thought-piece paper is on the sexual segregation of nursing. Just about a week ago I was sitting in the orthodontists office and I looked over at the staff photos on the wall. Dr. Pobanz was in the middle with about 10 ladies on each side of him. That made me go back and think, and I came to the realization that I have never seen a male besides the doctor working in a dentist or orthodontist office. Although it is not exactly a nursing position, it is a similar occupation and I would imagine has similar statistics concerning sex segregation. In my mind, it is just expected that most all nurses are female. It seems that back a few decades ago males were unheard of in the nursing field, but today they are becoming more common. It is interesting that this occupation is so stereotypical female that studies of this magnitude are conducted. So why is it that nursing is so dominated by females? Well, nursing is associated with caring for others, being affectionate, and serving under someone of higher ranking. Males face strong societal pressure that steer them from entering occupations such as this as they do not want to be perceived as feminine or gay because of the nature of their job. Only 5. 5 percent of nurses in 2000 were men, a very small minority. Many people think that of the few men that are in the nursing field, it is easier for them to move up to higher ranking positions. The face is that in administrative and supervisor positions women are just about as likely as men to hold those spots. The problem is that many people believe the societal stereotype that it is easier for men to gravitate toward the top positions, when in reality it is just about the same for both sexes. In the article, Carol Kleinman is referenced when she says that men, relative to women, enjoy systematic advantages in the nursing industry in terms of promotion and hiring (p273). The findings from this research suggest something very different than the assumptions of others. â€Å"As shown in Table 3, men do not receive higher returns for education, nor is there a significant interaction between years as a nurse and sex. These results suggest that, contrary to the glass escalator hypothesis, men are not promoted earlier in their career to top positions. (p281) The data suggests that rather than there being a segregation of male and females vertically among the sectors of nursing, horizontal segregation is much more likely, meaning grouping of gender in specialized areas is common. Certain areas seem to be made up of more of one gender than the other. For example, men are over represented in ICU, OR, and ER while women are over represented in outpatient, post anesthesia, labor/deli very, and general medical-surgical departments (p286). When interviewed about why they chose their specialization, men seemed aware of the gender connotations of their job, while women rarely mentioned it as a factor. This is a direct cause of why segregation across different areas of work is much more prevalent than segregation through the administrative ranks. The name nurse often carries with it negative connotations in the eyes of males. It is inherently feminine in its perception and plays a large role in scaring men away or causing them concern about what others think and leading them into positions that are thought of as more manly. Nursing is unique in the wide range of specializations that it offers, and that may play a part as to why horizontal segregation is so widespread as opposed to vertical. Oftentimes males seek positions of prestige and in nursing those desires may be filled by working in masculine roles as opposed to higher-ranking positions that would typically validate success in other professions. From the data gathered and personal accounts reviewed, it seems that men chose positions thought of as more masculine based primarily on fulfilling the conceptions of gender identity. Financial interests and personal desires do have an effect, but it seems that sticking to the gender â€Å"rules† is the largest factor in determining the careers of practicing male nurses. The data in this study is vast and complex. It is hard to determine the sole contributor to the occurrence of gender segregation in the nursing practices. So many factors play into every individuals decisions, but signs point overall to an adherence to gender norms and affirmation for males that their occupation is not completely a woman’s job. How to cite Gender Segregation, Essay examples

Tree Rings free essay sample

Hence it is essential for the tree to supply the water and nutrients to the leaves from the ground through the stem. A tree ring is simply a layer of wood produced during one tree’s growing season. A cross section of a tree often shows a distinct pattern of concentric tree rings. Each tree ring marks a line between the dark late wood that grew at the end of the previous year and the relatively pale early wood that grew at the start of this year. One annual ring is composed of a ring of early wood and a ring of late wood. The growth occurs in the cambium (the thin, continuous sheath of cells between bark and wood). In spring, the cambium begins dividing. This creates new tissue and increases the diameter of the tree at two places: 1. Outside the cambium. The outer cells become part of the phloem. We will write a custom essay sample on Tree Rings or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The phloem carries food produced in the leaves to the branches, trunk, and roots. Some of the phloem dies each year and becomes part of the outer bark. 2. Inside the cambium. The inner cells become part of the xylem. These cells contribute most of a trees growth in diameter. The xylem carries water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves. These cells show the most annual variation: * When a tree grows quickly, the xylem cells are large with thin walls. This early wood or springwood is the lighter-colored part of a tree ring. * In late summer, growth slows; the walls of the xylem cells are thicker. This late wood or summerwood is the darker-colored part of a tree ring. What Causes Variations in Tree Rings? When conditions encourage growth, a tree adds extra tissue and produces a thick ring. In a discouraging year, growth is slowed and the tree produces a thin ring. Much of the variation in tree rings is due to variations year-to-year in: * Higher springtime temperature. If spring starts early, the growing season is likely to be longer than usual, causing a tree to have a wider ring. * Lower springtime temperature. A late spring is likely to shorten the growing season, causing a tree to have a narrower tree ring. * Abundant rainfall increases growth, producing a wider ring. * Drought decreases growth, producing a narrower ring. * Species of tree do differ in their response to weather changes. One might respond strongly to changes in overall rainfall, another might be more sensitive to the amount of rain during the late summer, and another to a temperature change that alters the length of the growing season. * Crowding from neighboring trees. This causes a series of narrow rings. Crowding is suspected when the series of narrow rings is more than three, because droughts are usually only one to three years. * If the rings are narrow on one side of a tree with wide rings on the other, the tree was crowded on the side of the tree where the rings are narrow. A series of many narrow rings followed immediately by wide rings probably means that an encroaching neighbor died, releasing the crowded tree into a growth spurt. * Fire scars suggest past forest fires. The number of annual rings between fire scars shows the period between fires. * Scars due to insect plagues indicate insect infestations What Makes A Ring? Because trees live longer than most plants, their stems (trunks) gro w differently. Trees develop woody stems that contain two types of tissues: Primary tissues- The first tissues formed by a plant. Primary xylem and primary phloem Secondary tissues- Tissues generated by the growth of the cambium. Examples: secondary xylem and secondary phloem Secondary tissues are added each year. These additions cause something known as secondary thickening in the stems. This thickening is what makes a woody stem as woody stem. Its part of what makes a tree a tree. You can see evidence of stem (trunk) growth by looking at a cross-section of an older tree. Each ring shows one years worth of growth. But, what causes the rings? A young stem has bundles of vascular tissues (tissues that carry fluid). The bundles are made up of xylem, phloem, and cambium layers. As the tree ages, the cambium layers between the bundles come together. As the tree gets older, a vascular cylinder is formed. About a year after the vascular cylinder is formed, a trees first ring will appear. Remember, the cambium is a meristem a place of growth. Each growing season, new xylem cells are produced. These cells eventually clog and no longer transport sap. They become heartwood. These are the cells that make up the rings you see. Year after year, new layers of xylem tissue are added and year after year a new ring is produced.

Selling and sales management Essay Example

Selling and sales management Essay Select one company in your country or region that has a sales force. The company and/or the sales force can be real or a composite of several situations that you have heard or read about, or experienced. Apply principles that you have learnt In this subject to that companys sales function to Judge Its effectiveness about: How well It fits into marketing and other parts of an organization; Intelligence gathering Is Included within this function. How well It knows how consumers and organizations behave when buying goods and services. How well it knows and develops skills for two sales techniques such personal lulling, key account management, relationship selling, direct marketing and Internet and IT applications in selling and sales management; negotiation could be one of those techniques. The purpose of this paper Is to outline the selling and sales management that occurs at Rendition Trinidad. The paper first explains the difference between selling and sales management. It then looks at how the sales department fits Into the organization by Integrating with other departments such as the marketing department. It further Identifies how well the salespeople can establish consumer and organizational eying behaviors and the strategies the sales manager in collaboration with other use when attempting to make a sale. The paper will also go on by explaining how the firm manages its consumer and organizations buying behaviors and also strategies ND techniques the firm uses when engaging in selling and sales management. Who is Rendition? Rendition Pest Control is part of Rendition Initial ? one of the worlds largest providers of business services. Formed over 80 years ago in the I-J and more than 43 years ago here in Trinidad, the company has grown to become Trinidad longest-established, best known and most trusted pest control service provider (about Rendition). . 2 Company Background The company caters for residential and commercial customers by providing optimum pest protection nationwide. The orientation of the firm is an outside-in process, which is the emphasis on what the customer needs. Therefore the firm is considered being marketing oriented. Marketing orientation holds that achieving organization depends on identifying the needs and wants of customers and providing products and services t o satisfy them (BIB, Topic 1: Foundations of selling and sales management 2014). We will write a custom essay sample on Selling and sales management specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Selling and sales management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Selling and sales management specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Rendition sales department fits well integrated with the organizations other departments such as marketing, finance and human resource department as seen in Appendix 1 . The sales manager communicate well with other managers for example, he its sales manager works with the companys head accountant when dealing with sales forecasting and budging; the marketing manager to ensure that sales and marketing activities are integrated and also the human resource manager so that he or she would be aware of modern development for his or her sales force personnel. They also keep a close relationship with the firms technicians who deliver, install and Rendition sales force contributes to the market intelligence gathering. By collecting and analyzing data about the markets in which they are situated, companies gain liable insight into how to grow their business (Palermo 2013). The companys sales people are out daily meeting and building relationships with customers, therefore, the company sees its sales people as being a primary source of competitive information. Therefore a written report with suggestions is mandatory to be handed in to the sales manager who then forwards it to the respective managers of other departments. The sales people for example can find out what new products are introduced by competitors and what promotions and discount they currently have or may have. This information when forwarded to the marketing department, in accordance to an email sent by the lecturer, can assist the company in implementing the right strategy that will compete with its competitors in a timely manner. At Rendition Trinidad, because there are a number of important differences in emphasis between consumer and organization buying that has important implications for the marketing of goods and services, the sales department at the company is broken into two sections, residential and commercial as seen in Appendix 1 . These sub-divisions of the sales department comprise of specialized sales people who targets and study these buyers behaviors. When studying the companys BBC (business to consumer) buyers, the salespeople focuses on firstly who makes the buying decision. The company trains it salesperson to indemnify the decider, the individual with the power and/or financial authority to make the ultimate choice regarding which product to buy Cobber Lancaster 2012). They believe that the decider is the only person that is importance of closing the sale. They also know how important it is to explain to the consumer the need of the product. As for pest control and other services by the firm such as fly control and bird intro, the salesperson make clear the dangers associated with the problem and also give samples and a free trial period. In terms of information gathering, this is when both managers of the sales and marketing department come together. Rendition made the information of its products so pronounced that the company is the most recognized when dealing with pest control in the country. The information of the products can be found in magazines, newspaper and the internet. This helps the company when it comes to consumers evaluating alternatives that Rendition can be a first choice. 3. The Organization Buyer Organization buying is the decision-making process by which formal organizations establish the need for purchased products and services and identify, evaluate, and choose among alternative brands and suppliers (Webster Wind n. D). Firstly the firm knows how these organizational buyers behave by training its salesperson. This is a type of collaboration between the sales and human resource department. The salespeople at Rendition focuses on the decision making unit (DAM) because they are aware that in organizations the purchasing officer alone may not be the only person hat influences or actually have the finally say or authority in the ultimate decision. Therefore the task of the salespeople at the firm is to identify the key members in the decision making in order to convince them the worth of the product. The BIB has fewer buyers but these buyers are of great worth therefore the salespeople at the company make it compulsory to generate a close long-term relationship with these buyers. Also because the BIB buyer can be more complex and risky the salespeople are more advance in the commercial section of the department and it is considered a promotion from the residential section. To be effective, sales activities need to take place within the context of an overall strategic marketing plan. Only then can we ensure that our sales efforts complement, rather than compete with, other marketing activities Cobber Lancaster 2012). At Rendition the firm uses a STOW Analysis to develop its sales and marketing strategies. The companys STOW analysis is illustrated in Appendix 2. In order to determine the STOW Analysis for Rendition, the sales and marketing managers work with other departmental managers and brainstorm what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the organization. The information provided assists the sales managers in determining the most effective sales and marketing strategies in conjunction with the marketing manager. Some of the strategies that the company is currently working on are Enhancing promotions on strong, well established products, as well as new products. Developing infrastructures to market to Tobago and opening an emergency hotlist. The sales manager also works along with the finance manager or head accountant to help in budgeting these strategies. One of the most recent projects of the company ad to enhance marketing and sales was its Pasturage. The Pasturage which was titled Biting back at bugs to raise pest awareness is to offer consumers a unique dining experience of sweet and savory edible insects. The companys website stated that, The aim of Renditions Pasturage is to raise your awareness of common pest problems and demonstrate our commitment to professional pest control and innovation, helping us to stay one step ahead of the natural evolution of pests. A team of experts will be available to offer valuable advice and top tips on how to avoid pest infestation in your home or at work and answer any of your pest related concerns. This was a well thought out strategy that all managers came together to execute. Rendition salespeople undergo intense training to execute sales techniques. They learn how and who to target. This targeting strategy is done by using techniques direct marketing and the use of the internet. 5. 1 Direct Marketing Direct marketing the distribution of products, information and promotional benefits to target customers through interactive communication in a way which allows response to be measured Cobber Lancaster 2012). The companys sales department does this by direct mail; inserts, which are leaflets in magazines and newspapers and door to door leafleting. The firm knows how to manage its direct marking by launching a direct marketing campaign. There are five steps in a direct marketing guide. Firstly by indemnifying and understanding the target audience. Rendition sales manager and team do this by segmenting geographically areas that are most likely prone to pest infestation and the number of people being affected. Secondly, the team sets campaign objectives. One objective they recently used was immunization by creating awareness such as it Pasturage as mention before. The third step is creative decisions. Rendition produces a creative brief which is submitted to the Agency that will design their leaflets for guidance on the companys objectives in terms of capturing the right audience. It will entail what are the benefits of their products and messages need to be communicated in order to capture the prospective customers attention. The forth step is the media decision such as direct mail method the company uses and the final step is campaign execution of the action plan and evaluating the objectives. 5. 2 The Internet and I. T. Applications The second technique used by the sales department is the use of the internet. Online marketing is the fastest-growing part of direct marketing and direct marketing is the fastest growing form of marketing (Armstrong Kettle 2011). The salespeople develop skills for this type of method by outsourced special trainers in this type of field. This has a large impact on the sales force because it frees up salespeople from their desk which allows them to be on the road more meeting customers because of smart phones that are given to them by the company. The many website also allows potential and existing residential and commercial customers to produce their own quotations and visit the weapon Contact us seen in Appendix 3, to initiate a contact by Renditions personnel. This was developed for the customers convenience as well as ensuring of feedback on a timely basis. Salespeople at Rendition use social networks also to interact with customer and seek new ones. The company has its own faceable page www. faceable. Com/ reinterpretations where salespeople interact with potential and existing customers who they can try to close a sale with for example explaining to them about new and existing products. The page is also used as a tool to provide pertinent guidance to the public on Pest Hot Topics. This research paper concludes that Rendition Trinidad sales department is well integrated with the other departments of the company and all managers work together in efforts to meet objectives. It also shows that the company has a well trained sales force that understands consumers and organizations behavior when buying and the strategies the firm sales manager uses and techniques are well executed by its salespeople when meeting new, existing and potential customers. Although the company is seemed to be doing very well in Trinidad, it should take a few recommendations into consideration. Firstly, when the salespeople go out into the field meeting customers and obtaining market intelligence, this information can also be forwarded to the Research and Development (RD) department. When communicating with customers, salespeople can also find out what products or doing well and which should be discontinued. This department however is not situated in Trinidad but in the companys home country which is in England therefore the sales manager should report in information gathered to the general manager who should then forward it overseas to the home branch and into the respectful department. Secondly the company can use a next type of media as a sales technique, for instance telemarketing. Telemarketing is one of the best and the most efficient marketing tools for any business organization. If you are not using this, you are leaving a lot of money on the table Monsoons 2013). Therefore the company can obtain a toll free number which allow everyone to contact them without being charged which makes it easier and more convenient to keep in touch with new and existing clients.

Learning traditional Chinese with the MoE dictionary

Learning traditional Chinese with the MoE dictionary With access to the internet, students of Chinese have no lack of resources and tools to use, but sometimes it can be hard to find good resources for specifically for traditional characters. (Not sure about the difference between simplified and traditional Chinese? Read this!) While most resources provide both character sets, its obvious that many offer traditional characters as an after-thought or at least at lower priority than simplified characters. This means that the information about traditional characters less reliable and harder to access. Taiwans Ministry of Education Dictionaries to the rescue Fortunately, help is now available. Taiwans Ministry of Education has long provided various online dictionaries, but until recently, they were very hard to access and not well-adapted for the internet, making them less useful for foreign students. The current interface, however, is well-designed and easy to use. In this article, Im going to introduce some of all the available feature that are truly essential for students learning traditional characters. First though, heres a link to the main website: https://www.moedict.tw/ Note that theres also an app for Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, Android and iOS, which is very impressive. Its free, too, just, click the download links in the top-right corner! The main dictionary Searches on the front page will give you: Other search terms containing the query (left sidebar)Character with animated stroke order (click the character)Historical variants with animated stroke order (click æ ­ ·Ã¤ » £Ã¦â€º ¸Ã© «â€)Mark as favourite (click the star)Pronunciation (both Pinyin, Zhuyin and audio)Radical information (top right)Main reading with definitions sorted by word class (noun, verb, etc.)Additional readings with definitionsOther languages (usually Taiwanese, English, French and German) This is already very good for any dictionary, some functions are unique as far as I know (such as the historical animated stroke order). The only two problems for learners are that you need to have already reached a decent level to benefit from the Chinese-Chinese definitions and that the example sentences sometimes are historical and thus dont reflect modern usage. You dont want to uncritically add these to your spaced repetition program. Additional features The additional features are located in the navigation bar at the top of the page where it says Ã¥Å"‹è ªÅ¾Ã¨ ¾ ­Ã¥â€¦ ¸. For starters, you can access various kinds of idioms: æˆ Ã¨ ªÅ¾ (chà ©ngyÇ”), è « ºÃ¨ ªÅ¾ (ynyÇ”) and æ ­â€¡Ã¥ ¾Å'è ªÅ¾ (xiÄ“hà ²uyÇ”) by clicking 分é ¡Å¾Ã§ ´ ¢Ã¥ ¼â€¢ (fÄ“nlà ¨i suÇ’yÇ n) category index. The definitons are in Chinese, so this is again not suitable for beginners. There are also categories for loan-words (further divided into which kind of loanwords, which is hard to find elsewhere online). Further down, there are similar resources for Taiwanese and Hakka, but since this site is about learning Mandarin, they arent relevant right now. The last few menu entries are important, though, because they are some of the best resources available for Mainland and Taiwan differences in pronunciation, meaning and so on. Go down to å… ©Ã¥ ² ¸Ã¨ ©Å¾Ã¥â€¦ ¸ (liÇŽngn cà ­diÇŽn) two/both coasts (referring to Taiwan and Mainland China) dictionary and again use the category index. You now have: Ã¥ Å'Ã¥ ¯ ¦Ã§â€¢ °Ã¥   (tà ³ngshà ­ yà ¬mà ­ng) same thing, different names, listing words or phrases that mean the same thing, but are called different things on both sides of the Strait.   For example, internet (or network) is ç ¶ ²Ã¨ · ¯ (wÇŽnglà ¹) in Taiwan, but   ç ¶ ²Ã§ µ ¡ (wÇŽngluà ²) on the Mainland. Ã¥ Å'Ã¥  Ã§â€¢ °Ã¥ ¯ ¦ (tà ³ngmà ­ng yà ¬shà ­) same name, different things, listing words or phrases that look the same, but actually mean different things. For   instance, Ã¥Å"Ÿè ±â€  (tÇ”dà ²u) means potato on the Mainland, but peanut in Taiwan. è‡ ºÃ§  £Ã§â€ ¨Ã¨ ªÅ¾ (tiwÄ n yà ²ngyÇ”) Taiwanese usage lists words and phrases that are typically used in Taiwan, but not on the Mainland. Ã¥ ¤ §Ã©â„¢ ¸Ã§â€ ¨Ã¨ ªÅ¾ (dlà ¹ yà ²ngyÇ”) Mainland usage lists the opposite, i.e. language that is common on the Mainland but not in Taiwan. If you want to go back to check what you have looked-up before, just click the icon between Ã¥Å"‹è ªÅ¾Ã¨ ¾ ­Ã¥â€¦ ¸ and the cogwheels. Conclusion Overall, this dictionary easily beats any alternative when it comes to online information about traditional characters. The only drawback is that it isnt beginner friendly, but as a beginner, you can still find pronunciation and stroke order here. These are manually recorded, which means they are more reliable than any other online source. The example sentences arent perfect, but then again, there are no perfect dictionaries!

Red, White and Blue Electrolysis Chemistry Demonstration

Red, White and Blue Electrolysis Chemistry Demonstration Here is a perfect electrochemistry chem demo for the 4th of July or other patriotic holiday. Use salt bridges to connect three beakers of liquids (clear, red, clear). Apply a voltage and watch the solutions turn red, white and blue. Patriotic Colors Electrolysis Demo Materials 500 mL 1M potassium nitrate, KNO3 (make this)1 mL thymolphthalein indicator solution (make this)2 mL phenolphthalein solutionapproximately 2 mL 0.1M sodium hydroxide, NaOH (make this)approximately 1 mL 0.1M sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (make this)3 250-mL beakers3 8-mm x 200-mm carbon rods25-cm uninsulated 14-ga copper wire10-cm rubber tubing, approximately 5-mm outside diameter#6 rubber stopper, 1-hole2 U-tubes, 100-mm, 13-mm outside diameter4 cotton balls3 20-cm glass stirring rodsadjustable DC power supply that can produc 1 amp at 10 volts (e.g., automotive battery charger)clip leads Prepare the Red, White, and Blue Demonstration Pour 150 mL of 1.0M KNO3 into each of the three beakers.Line the beakers up in a row. Place a carbon electrode in each beaker.Wrap one end of the copper wire around one the carbon electrodes at the end of the row. Slip rubber tubing over the copper wire to cover the exposed wire that will be between the electrodes. Wrap the other end of the copper wire around the third carbon electrode, at the end of the row of beakers. Skip the center carbon rod and be sure no exposed copper touches it.Fill the two U-tubes with 1M KNO3 solution. Plug the ends of each tube with cotton balls. Invert one of the U-tubes and hang it over the rim of the left and center beaker. The arms of the U-tube should be immersed in the liquid. Repeat the procedure with the second U-tube and the center and right beakers. There should not be an air bubble in either U-tube. If there is, remove the tube and re-fill it with KNO3 solution.Place a glass stirring rod in each beaker.Make certain the power supply is off and t hen connect the positive () terminal to the central carbon electrode and the negative (-) terminal to one of the outer carbon electrodes. Add 1 mL of thymolphthalein solution to the beaker on the right and 1 mL of phenolphthalein indicator to each of the other two beakers.Add 1 mL of 0.1M NaOH solution to the middle beaker. Stir the contents of each beaker. From left to right, the solutions should be: clear, red, clear.These solutions may be stored in sealed containers and may be re-used to repeat the demonstration. If the colors become faint, more indicator solution may be added. Perform the Demonstration Turn on the power supply. Adjust it to 10 volts.Wait 15 minutes. Turn off the power supply and stir each solution.At this point, the solutions should now appear red, colorless and blue. You may wish to place a white sheet of paper or posterboard behind the beakers to display the colors. Also, this makes the center beaker appear white.You can return the solutions to their original colors by reversing the connections to the power supply adjusting it to 10 volts, and allowing 20 minutes before turning off the power and stirring the solutions.Another way to return the solutions to their original colors is to add 0.1 M H2SO4 to the beakers on the end until the liquids turn colorless. Add 0.1 M NaOH to the middle beaker until the liquid turns from clear to red. Disposal When the demonstration is complete, the solutions may be rinsed down the drain with water. How It Works The chemical reaction in this demonstration is simple electrolysis of water: The color change is a result of the pH shift accompanying electrolysis acting on the pH indicators, which were selected to produce the desired colors. The anode is located in the center beaker, where water is oxidized to produce oxygen gas. Hydrogen ions are produced, decreasing the pH. 2 H2O(l) → O2(g) 4 H(aq) 4 e- Cathodes are located on either side of the anode. In these beakers, water is reduced to form hydrogen gas: 4 H2O(l) 4 e- → 2 H2(g) 4 OH-(aq) The reaction produces hydroxide ions, which increase the pH. Other Patriotic Chem Demos Red, White and Blue Density ColumnColored Fireworks DemonstrationFireworks in a Glass - Safe Demo for Kids References B. Z. Shakhashiri, 1992, Chemical Demonstrations: A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry, vol. 4, pp. 170-173.R. C. Weast, Ed., CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 66th ed., p. D-148, CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL (1985).

Cultural Event Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Event Report - Essay Example The museum is located on 5th avenue in Manhattan, New York. We visited the museum on 1st October 2011 during the morning hour period. On arrival to the museum, I was immediately perplexed and remained rooted to a beautiful statue by the of the entrance, which could only have been made by non other than Michelangelo. The statue was of King David with the right hand holding the thigh and the left hand touching his shoulder. Even Monica who does not easily get excited was awash with a big smile on her face not believing that a fellow human being could have done such a statue. The most beautiful site we visited was the Temple of Dendur located in Sackler wing of the museum. We learnt that the magnificent artifact was built during the Roman Period in the days of Augustus Caesar and transferred from Egypt to the United States in 1965. Two years later, it was given to The Metropolitan Museum of Arts. At the base of the temple are papyrus carvings that look like they are growing from waters. The image of the sun can be seen from the top of the gates. On the way in, are images of the vultures with their wings spread out making the scene totally scintillating that left us simply amazed. The image of the king offering sacrifices and holding scepters is seen between the walls that separate the sky from the earth. The gods Isis and Osiris are crowned and with some writings by their figures. The believe within the temple of Dendur is that if a couple make love there, they will never part ways until death. This was good news for Monica and I since we have marriage p lans in the future but that was saved for another visit. We also visited the section where American art collections are stored. The most exciting scene was that of George Washington and his soldiers crossing the Delaware. Being a passionate lover of Africa, we could not leave the museum without visiting the African Art site, and I must say,

5S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

5S - Essay Example The lean philosophy has a number of processes that make it a good strategy to deal with modern issues in the construction industry. The philosophy looks to make sure that there are efficiencies in the workplace and that engineers avoid waste in construction projects. In the construction industry, the lean philosophy can be useful in avoiding two types of wastes. First, it can be useful in avoiding time wastage and materials wastage. This is when the firm follows the five codes of the 5S philosophy. In any construction site, order and standardization lead to less time wastage. Those working in the site are able to access the tools and the materials they need for a specific task in order to make sure that there is no wastage of material and time. The principle is that any unnecessary material and processes must be at minimum or eliminated from the site and the process of work. This helps in ensuring that there is no wastage of time as well as materials. In efficient management of the construction engineering, it is necessary for only the materials that are necessary for a project to be used in order to make sure that the construction workers can access these materials they require when they need them. This helps in tow major ways. To begin with, the unnecessary materials in any construction site are not there in two main ways. If the item being under construction does not need certain materials, these materials should to be included. For instance, with the use of reinforced concrete, the engineers are able to eliminate the use of excessive materials and this makes it easy for them to complete the project with minimal materials. This kind of minimalism is necessary for modern projects because materials are not only expensive but are also scares. As Ogunbiyi, Oladapo, and Goulding (2013) argue in their article, the modern construction engineer must be able to know that the sources of materials for construction is now a competition. With

A Christmas Carol Essay Example for Free

A Christmas Carol Essay Explore how Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family relationships in A Christmas Carol In the novel A Christmas Carol the atmosphere I receive from the book shows me that dickens cares deeply about children. There are many aspects of when Charles Dickens emphasises the importance of children and family in A Christmas Carol. There are A lot of scenes that show this: the first cratchit scene (pages 37-42) which is the main one, belle and her family (pages 29-30) and scrooge living at his school and his sister coming back (pages 21-23). First I will talk about the cratchit scene. It shows the cratchits celebrating Christmas. Dickens says, Heres Martha mother! , this helps to create an atmosphere of warmth and love. It works because of the explanation mark, it makes it seem that all the children are overjoyed about playing the joke on Mrs Cratchet. On the scene with the goose, Dickens uses the phrase, Universal admiration, to describe how the family feel about the goose. It shows that even though they havent got a real turkey they dont take anything for granted. The phrase implies that the whole universe admires it but in reality its just an average goose. The quote Bobs voice was tremulous when he told them this and trembled more, Tiny Tim is growing strong and hearty, is very ironic because Tiny Tim wasnt growing strong and hearty, this shows that Bob was always trying to look on the brightside of things, his main priority was to keep the family happy. The family mean the world to each other and they are trying to make it a Christmas to remember. After they had eaten the goose Mrs Cratchet was ready to give out the pudding, she was terrified it wouldnt be acceptable, Suppose it should not be good enough,Suppose it break turning out. Mrs Cratchet was going through every bad possibility, she was so nervous. Although it was a little small it never crept into any of the familys head that there wasnt enough. When Bob Cratchet told her that it was the biggest triumpth since there marriage she replied, Now the weight is off my mind, She was delighted that it was a success! In the scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back Dickens shows how your childhood can be so important. Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be. Scrooge was a very mean man and I feel that it was soley to do with his child hood, he wasnt short of luxurys but he was very lonely and he needed family. Scrooge obviously wasnt always a mean and a spiteful person, because whilst he is seeing all of his past he is experiencing a lot of feelings of how he used to be and what he had turned into. Scrooge has now realised what he has become, this is all because of his childhood. He said, There was a boy singing A Christmas Carol at my door last night, I should like to of givien him something. Scrooges childhood was so important for him because if his childhood had been different in anyway, for example; getting attention from his parents or feeling loved, he could of have been a totally different man. Before the ghost had shown Scrooge his chidhood or peoples familys he would not have given that Carol singer a second thought. ` In the scene with Belle and her family Dicken emphasises the importance of children and family by expressing how scrooge wants to be one of them. Scrooge said what would I not have given to be one of them! As a child scrooge was not allowed to have the fun and lafter that the children in this scene had, he was very enveous of the children, he wished he could of grown up in this family. He also said I should have dearly liked, i own,to have touched her lips or to have let loose waves of hair, i do confess to have the lightest license of a child. He so longed for frivolous childhood. To conclude I think that Dickens makes his readers aware of the importance of children and family by showing how Scrooge changes after seeing his and then other peoples childhood. The Cratchets show how they are so close and all pull together in good or bad times. The scene with Scrooge living at school and his sister coming back helps Scrooge realise what he had become as a result of his upbringing. The scene with Belle and her family show how much Scrooge envied a fun and happy childhood, to able to lark about and have games in a relaxed atmosphere. I feel that Dickens was a keen admirer of children and it was fitting how Tiny Tim ended the novel by sayin god bless us everyone!

Elvis Presleys Poor Acting Skills in Film Essay -- Celebrity Actor Ac

Elvis Presley's Poor Talents Paying Bills Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, is an American Pop Culture Icon who influenced his audience with his commanding voice and dazzling sex appeal. In the 1950's, Elvis devoted his career to singing and making music. In the sixties, however, he dedicated his time towards making movies and appearing in motion pictures. As many critics agree, Elvis had poor acting skills in his films, generally showing apathy and/or dull facial expressions. Yet, through entertainment media, Elvis was able to inspire a generation of youth to "take action" in American society from his "poor actions". Moreover, film in the age of mass media neutralized Elvis' "bad acting" by redirecting the audience's attention towards his dynamic singing and sexual physique, heavily appealing to the social trends of the 1960's decade. In the decade of the 60's, Elvis starred in over 34 motion pictures, averaging more than 3 films released per year. In these films, Elvis generally had the lead role, allowing the center of attention to fall on his shoulders. Unfortunately, Elvis had poor acting skills, usually displaying bland facial expressions or lethargy. According to the New Yorker magazine, Elvis' acting talents were thin: "Thicklipped, droopy-eyed and indefatigably sullen, Mr. Presley, whose talents are meager but whose earnings are gross" (Raaphorst). Thankfully, Elvis had extraordinary singing talents to make up for his poor acting skills. Knowing his strengths, Elvis and his producers began placing songs into his movies to gain a greater acceptance from his audience: "Statistically, he holds records for the most Top Forty hits (107), the most Top Ten hits (38), the most consecutive #1 hits (10) and the most w... ...ire a youth generation to take action in American society. By redirecting his movie audience's attention away from his common acting skills, Elvis was able to successfully increase his popularity from his dramatic singing roles, his sexual attractiveness and his rebellious attitude. Truly, mass media neutralized Elvis' "poor" acting skills and transformed them into a "rich" lifestyle, enabling Elvis Presley to still live large today in the entertainment capital of the world--Las Vegas, Nevada. Works Cited Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. Cleveland, Ohio. 01 November 1999. http://www.rockhall.com/induct/preselvi.html. Yahoo!: Geocities. TCB Ring, Elvis in Hollywood. 31 October 1999. http://www.geocities.com/~arpt/hollywood/nsindex.html. Yahoo!: Geocities. TCB Ring, Elvis in Hollywood. 31 October 1999. http://www.geocities.com/~arpt/hollywood/nsindex.html.

De Beers Analysis

STRATEGY: INDUSTRY AND COMPETITION Problem Set 3 1. Throughout the 1990s, several developments contributed to the loss of market-share of the Central Selling Organization, which inevitably led to diminishing profits for De Beers. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and this disintegration brought down the exclusivity that the CSO had enjoyed for so long. Indeed, the fall of communism made it difficult for the cartel to protect its trading agreements.As such, only limited shares of the Russian production reached the CSO, the rest being supplied to the competition by Alrosa (which became the worldwide dominant non-African producer) and other Russian enterprises. In 1996, as a consequence of the CSO’s reluctance to satisfy demand for very small stones, the Argyle mine in Australia (with a very distinctive rough production that De Beers had only a limited capacity to match), controlled by Rio Tinto – a multinational mining company and one of their main upstream competitors – became the first major producer to departure from its contract with De Beers.This disruption seriously compromised De Beers’ punishment capabilities through stockpiling. Additionally, in Canada, another major competitor arose (BHP). De Beers had a problem in these two markets. Unlike African countries, these are nations characterized by strong institutions, with a degree of bureaucratization and stability as well as cultural advancement that do not favor for the kind of â€Å"easy bribes† that had allowed the company to control the quantities sold worldwide.However, even in Africa other obstacles appeared. While Angolan and West African output were being diverted to other channels, the concerns about conflict diamonds – reaching their peak with outbursts in Angola through the 90s – also damaged De Beers’ image and only made it more difficult for those diamonds to be sold through the CSO. Finally, pressure from some African governments (Bot swana and Namibia, for example) inadvertently or purposely created internal competitors.Thus, De Beers saw its monopolistic position seriously threatened and since it could no longer control the diamond flow to the market, it was forced to practice a price closer to that of a competitive market, which meant lower profits. 2. Besides the increasing competition that was subject to in the last decade of the 20th century, De Beers also had to concern itself with the possibility of new entrants in the very market where it had prospered.Due to the compliance with the Global Witness proposal against conflict diamonds, De Beers saw the noose tightening around its operations and as a consequence the threat of new entrants surged, with several groups expanding aggressively on the continent. Perhaps the biggest of those threats was the business group controlled by Leviev, the world’s largest diamond cutter and polisher. One of his ideas was to integrate backward into marketing rough dia monds. Also, the pressures in Angola were putting in danger the marketing agreement the country had with the company.That agreement would eventually be terminated already in this century, being replaced with a single-channel marketing entity in which Leviev held a one-quarter interest. Obviously, these potential threats had a negative effect in De Beers’ profits, despite its strong Brand Image. 3. Traditionally, De Beers would buy the supply from other producers to control the market output. With the rise of competitors this became increasingly difficult. As alternatives to the cartel emerged, the bargaining power of suppliers grew. Argyle’s eventual withdrawal and Angola’s termination of the exclusivity with De Beers are clear proof of this growing power.Governments began to pressure the company as well. South Africa aimed to have more gems cut locally and other nations such as Botswana and Namibia sought to increase the value captured with the activities perfo rmed within their borders. Of course, for the company to grant this it would have to see its percentage of value retention lowered. In a climate of an undeniable backdrop, this was yet another factor that contributed to decreasing diamond earnings. 4. Although an increase in competition means that buyers will have alternatives (higher bargaining power), this was still an area (of the five forces) where the market remained attractive.Competitors did not have the level of expertise or the established supply chain that characterized a company with more than a century of market knowledge. The most relevant fact to mention on the buyers side is the Japanese recession of 1998. De Beers suffered severely from this downturn, after obtaining almost a decade of expansion in various Asian markets. Still, buyers in this industry are not just final consumers, but intermediaries as well. With the rising competition and consequent declining credibility, De Beers could not control sightholders, for instance, with the same discipline and efficiency as before.Leviev (a sightholder himself) is the perfect example of this reality. Of course the less control the company exerts, the lower its returns are. 5. Regarding substitutes, the closest product would be synthetic diamonds. Yet, these diamonds remained exclusive to industrial applications (to compensate for the scarcity of the others for these functions) and so natural diamonds were still a unique luxury. In spite of the social issues brought up by conflict diamonds, the product was still protected from substitution throughout the 1990s.The marketing efforts of the previous efforts (mainly represented by the campaign â€Å"Diamonds are forever†) continued to provoke the desired effect. By establishing them as a symbol of lasting love, power and wealth, De Beers had assured that nothing could be compared to a diamond, which translated in a he amount of profits throughout that century. On this area, the main challenge for the company presented itself in the early 1990s in the Chinese market. Not only were these consumers traditionally focused on gold and jade, while unfamiliar with diamonds, but also â€Å"white† color were thought to bring misfortune.This might seem trivial for a western consumer, but Chinese people were and are still today some of the most superstition nations on earth. The gold and jade products had certainly a negative effect on De Beers’ profits. Nevertheless, the company managed to overcome this paradigm by using Chinese beliefs to its advantage (the â€Å"red thread† ad is a perfect showcase for this idea). This advertisement strategy was very successful and by 2000, retail sales had reached $731 million. Duarte Costa, # 1284

Just A Pot Of Basil

At the age of eight one of my favorite things to do was dream about living in a time where gigantic beasts loomed over the earth. Form the gigantasaurus to the brontosaurus I enjoyed anything from the Precambrian period. I grew to appreciate the monstrous creatures even more after I took my first trip to the Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh. I had never seen such elaborate displays of marvelous full-scale dinosaurs, since I was accustomed to seeing them no larger than the height of a book or television screen. I recall roaming through the many displays pretending that I was one of them. Usually, I pretended to be the Troodon, a species that is thought to have the largest brain in proportion to the rest of its body. Even though I was smaller than the rest of the dinosaurs, I always knew that I could outsmart them if I was a clever Troodon. Of course I would forget that they had been extinct for millions of years, as the plaques in front of the enormous exhibits reminded those who were tall enough to read them. But I carried on in my world of dinosaurs while I was in the museum, free to dream as I cared to. The distance and time between the real dinosaurs and I disappeared when I was in the museum, in my little world. Therein lies the significant difference between seeing and imagining, and being told or influenced, that is, being mystified. Mystification, as the art critic John Berger in Ways of Seeing explains, is the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident (Berger 112). I was instantly captivated from the moment I saw the tied-together skeletons stretching as high as my own house; should I have cared about the petty details that would have distracted me from my own imagination? Original paintings are silent and still in a sense that information never is (Berger 125). The skeletal remains of ancient beasts strung up give only a portion of what such creatures really were millions of years ago. The color of their skin, the texture of their bodies, or even the size of their internal organs are just a few of the endless questions that remain unanswered, lost over time. But museums give something more than any book could ever tell, and that is the real life experience of seeing what could never be perceived otherwise. When life breathed through the dinosaurs they were never frozen into a perfect stance like they are portrayed in museums. Our imagination allows us to fathom what it really may have been like, but the past remains where it is, and can only at its best be relived in movies or museums or our imagination. Museums have never made me feel awkward or uneasy, they come as second nature to me. I enjoy being enveloped by a different emotion each time I look at the skeleton of a dinosaur, or see a mummified pharaoh, or even a beautiful painting of a landscape. I have always been able to let everything go, and be consumed by a striking or stunning image. The wonderful thing about museums is that every few feet there lies an artist waiting to draw you into their world. Artists and their works contained within a single building span over centuries and continents. All contain different points of view and expresses it to the best of their abilities. Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way (Berger 112). History meets in a museum, and constantly forms new accounts through time. Each day that passes we have gained something which may add to our overall perception of the world around us. This is why Berger claims that we see things differently and therefore there exists no definitive account of exactly the way things were at any specific moment in time. It is lost forever, and at best, can only be saved in an altered form. There is something magical about the power of the atmosphere of a museum. The silence is filled with a sea of thoughts running through viewers minds. When I first saw John White Alexander s painting Isabella and the Pot of Basil I was immediately captivated. Even my first glance told me that there was something more to the large pot in the painting than meets the eye. In a painting all its elements are there to be seen simultaneously (Berger 121). What the eye can perceive in an instant may take pages to explain. There lies the beauty of art. One glance at Alexander s work captivated me instantly. There lives some hidden secret inside the woman s soul that lay next to the pot. And sure enough, the small plaque beside the painting described a story that told me that my assumptions were correct. The painting was written as a reflection of a poem written by John Keats. Here, briefly, is the story of Isabella and the Pot of Basil. Isabella had two brothers that expected her to marry a well-endowed man so they could collect a significant dowry from her marriage. But Isabella never married, and fell in love with a carpenter named Lorenzo, who was working for brothers. The two were madly in love, and visited each other frequently whenever they were certain that no one could find them together. Soon though, a brother learned of their secret, and the two brothers took Lorenzo into the woods, killed him, and buried him in a shallow grave. One night while Isabella was wailing in bed over the mysterious disappearance of her supposed runaway love, Lorenzo’s ghost came to her and described the occurrences and location of Lorenzo s body. Isabella went to Lorenzo s grave, cut off his head, and took it back home with her where she put it in a big basil pot and covered it with moss, soil, and basil seeds. She watered the seeds with rose water and her own tears and talked to her basil until it grew incredibly lush. After her brothers stole her basil pot, Isabella died of misery and heartbreak, singing a song about the loss of her basil and love. Alexander was able to condense this entire love story into a single painting. Without having read the 500-line poem or at least having some knowledge of the story, the average viewer would never have guessed that her lover s head was contained in the pot. The emotions contained within Isabella and her sacred pot reach beyond words. The pain that she felt consumed her to the point of her own death, where no words can exist. Depicted in the painting is not just a sad woman, but a woman who is about to die, sick and miserable with heartbreak, love, and loneliness. The meaning of an image is changed according to what one seen immediately beside it or what comes immediately after it. [It] is distributed over the whole context on which it appears (Berger 123). Only after reading the small plaque beside the work and continued research after visiting completed my perception on the almost life sized piece of art. These important clues added to what I could deduce from the painting. Without them I would merely have seen just a pot of basil and a woman lying next to it. History is a mystery that is continually being investigated. Without knowing the past no deductions can be made of the present. Alexander captures Isabella in a moment of perfect stillness. Perhaps she is already dead in the artist s eyes, lying beside her love, their souls reunited. The barren space below the pot could contain the spiritual body of Lorenzo. Alexander seems to have purposefully left the open space on the right side of the painting for his spirit next to her. Isabella has her eyes closed and her hand is gingerly extended. Her two fingertips brush against the side of the pot, as if she s imagining the pot to be his face. Her neck appears slightly extended as if she were giving the curved pot a gentle kiss. The stench that must have emanated from the pot would have been almost unbearable to others, yet somehow the power of love caused Isabella to ignore all reason and sanity as her soul sought for her love and mercy. White flowers contrast with the overall melancholy of the image yet also add just the right touch of beauty, innocence, and peace. There are several of these flowers directly under the pot and another at the base of Isabella s feet. This white represents the purity of their love that was so terribly destroyed by her evil brothers. The tear of her garment on her right shoulder shows her distress and her apathy towards her self-appearance. Isabella s soul can be at ease once she is reunited with her beloved Lorenzo; her physical condition no longer matters. There are of course many other paintings depicting Isabella and the Pot of Basil, but none seemed to capture the emotion as well as Alexander does. His art is powerful, captivating, and entices the viewer to look deeper, to learn more, and to almost feel the emotions raging through the canvas. The moment I saw the painting, I knew that there was more to it. The stillness that Alexander recreates reaches beyond words, and required only the same silence in return. The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe When in love, the sight of the beloved has a completeness which no words and no embrace can match (Berger 106). Perhaps my heart goes out to Isabella, for I myself am in love and can reconcile with what she may have felt. Even if Isabella was just a fictional character for both Keats and Alexander the emotional consequence of such a painting is undeniable. The love between a man and a woman knows no end, and its eternity continues through people of all time and nations. Of course we are all granted different perspectives, but there lies a central burning passion about love which can only be depicted as a fraction of its entirety. Thus, love in fact, [closes] the distance between the painting of the picture and one s own looking at it (Berger 125). The research that I completed on Isabella and the Pot of Basil introduced a different and more in depth perspective on the work. Without reading the corresponding poem, I would perhaps have seen only a woman standing next to her favorite pot, and be left to imagine what more was involved. My intuition told me that there was more to the painting than what first met my eye. The observations and assumptions that I made based on the picture and poem are based completely my own deductions and learned assumptions that I have acquired throughout my life. Therefore, if John Berger had looked at this image in the same atmosphere as I did, he could have seen something completely different. Therein lies the truest beauty of art, for art is capable of capturing and recreating a moment lost in time without regard to the opinions of those who will see it. Art is beautiful often because we make it beautiful. Big ugly dinosaurs are certainly not beautiful to most, but to me as an eight-year-old, they most definitely were. Being told what is beautiful and what meaning lies behind a painting is the epitome of mystification. According to Berger this lends [undeserved] authority (121) to the artist. The image now illustrates the sentence (Berger 122). And thus, whatever thoughts a viewer has conjured about a painting or work of art are lost, negated, or skewed, yet it provides a strong basis for interpretation. The painting by Alexander exemplifies the poem by Keats. In many instances, poetry is associated with a visual image, but provides only the framework from which a perception of an image can be formulated. Words help set the tone, yet can never deter from the heart of work. I prefer to say that sentences help to illustrate an image. And John Berger would most certainly agree that there is much more to Alexander s work than just Isabella and a pot of basil.

Applications of Data Mining Techniques in Airline Industry Essays

Applications of Data Mining Techniques in Airline Industry Essays Applications of Data Mining Techniques in Airline Industry Essay Applications of Data Mining Techniques in Airline Industry Essay Purpose and Scope All around the universe, the air hose industry could be described in few words, which is intensely competitory and dynamic . The air hose industry generates one million millions of dollars every twelvemonth but still has a cumulative net income border of less than 1 % 1. Many Airlines are seeking to retrieve from deep debt. The grounds for these are multifold- fuel monetary values, high cyclicality and seasonality, ferocious competition, high fixed costs and many other issues related to security and riders safety. To guarantee for the best economic result, Airline companies are seeking with their most originative plus information. Datas used in concurrence with informations mining techniques allows comprehensive intelligent direction and decision-making system. Achieving these benefits in a timely and intelligent mode may assist in ensuing lower operating costs, better client service, market fight, increased net income border and stockholder value addition. This intent of this paper is to show the applications of informations mining techniques on multiple facets of air hose concern. For illustration, to foretell the figure of domestic and international air hose riders from a specific city/airport, to dynamically monetary value the tickets depending on seasonality and demand, to research the frequent circular database to fix for CRM execution, to makes the operational determinations about catering, forces, and gate traffic flow, to help the security bureaus for secure and safe flights for the rider specially after 9/11 incident. Predict the Number of Passenger by using Data Mining Technique Prediction is critical to any concern for planning and gross direction, particularly in the Airline industry, where a batch of planning is required to buy/lease new aircrafts, to engage crew members, to happen the new slots in busy airdromes and to acquire the blessings from many air power governments. In the instance of Air travel, batch of seasonality and cyclicality involved. Passengers are more likely to wing to some finishs based on the clip of the twelvemonth. Business travellers are likely to go weekdays than weekends. Early forenoon and eventide flights are desired by concern travellers who want to carry through a twenty-four hours s work at their finish and return the same twenty-four hours. To calculate the figure of rider, unreal nervous web ( ANN ) can be used. The intent of a nervous web is to larn to acknowledge forms in a given informations. Once the nervous web has been trained on samples of the given informations, it can do anticipations by observing similar forms in future informations. The growing factors which might act upon the air travel demand depend on several things. Mauro Calvano2 in his survey of conveyance Canada air power prognosis 2002-2016 considered 12 major socio-economic factors as follows: GDP Personal Disposable income Adult Populations US economic Mentality Airline Yield Fleet/route structure/Average Aircraft Size Passenger Load factors Labor cost and productiveness Fuel cost/Fuel efficiency Airline cost other than Fuel and Labor Passenger Traffic Allocation Assumptions New engineering Factors 1 to 5 are related demand side of the prognosis Factors 6 to 10 are related to operations and supply side Factors 10 and 11 represent the structural alterations This historical information is called the appraisal set. A fraction of the overall available information is reserved for formalizing the truth of the developed prognosis theoretical account. This reserved information set is called the prediction set because no information contained in it is used in any signifier during the development of the prognosis theoretical account. The information in the prediction set are used for proving the true extrapolative belongingss of the developed prognosis theoretical account. The appraisal set is farther divided into a preparation set and a testing set. Information in the preparation set is used straight for the finding of the prognosis theoretical account, whereas information in the testing set is used indirectly for the same intent. Figure1: Forecasting Process Model For a given ANN architecture and a preparation set, the basic mechanism behind most supervised acquisition regulations is the updating of the weights and the prejudice footings, until the mean squared mistake ( MSE ) between the end product predicted by the web and the desired end product ( the mark ) is less than a pre-specified tolerance. Nervous webs are can be represented as beds of functional nodes. The most general signifier of a nervous web theoretical account used in prediction can be written as: Y = F [ H1 ( x ) , H2 ( x ) , aˆÂ ¦ . , Hn ( x ) ] + U Where, Y is a dependant or end product variable, Ten is a set of input/ influencing variables, F A ; H s are web maps, and U is a theoretical account mistake. This input bed is connected to a concealed bed. Hs are the concealed bed nodes and represents different nonlinear maps. Each node in a bed receives its input from the predating bed through nexus which has weights assigned, which get adjusted utilizing an appropriate acquisition algorithm and the information contained in the preparation set. Figure2: ANN Architecture Abdullah Omer BaFail3 did the survey to calculate the figure of air hose rider in Saudi Arabia. He selected the most influencing factors to calculate the figure of domestic riders in the different metropoliss of Saudi Arabia. For Dhahran he selected factors like: Oil gross domestic merchandise for last 6 old ages, private non-oil gross domestic merchandise, Import of goods and services for last 10 old ages, and population size for last 2 old ages. The domestic and international existent and forecasted figure of riders for the metropolis of Dhahran for the old ages 1993 through 1998 is shown below. Prognosiss underestimated the existent travel. The Mean Absolute Percentage Error ( MAPE ) for domestic travel is about 10 % , while for international travel is about 3 % . Figure3: Forecasting consequences from Abdullah Omer BaFail3 The take away from the Abdullah Omer BaFail3 for me is that the efficient prediction theoretical account can be invented utilizing ANN if we utilizing the right influencing indexs. In this survey some indexs which influence are oil gross domestic merchandise and per capita income in the domestic and international sectors. In position of the fluctuating nature of the rider use of air hose services in Saudi Arabia, certain suggestions were made. Most of these recommendations were in order to better the flexibleness of the system to the fluctuations in demand and supply. Hub and spike theoretical account was besides suggested as solutions in certain sectors to increase the flexibleness in seting their capacity allotments across markets as new information about demand conditions become available. Application of Data Mining technique to foretell the Airline Passengers No-show Ratess Airlines overbook the flights based on the outlook that some per centum of engaged riders will non demo for each flight. Accurate prognosiss of the expected figure of no-shows for each flight can increase air hose gross by cut downing the figure of perishable seats ( empty seats that might otherwise hold been sold ) and the figure of nonvoluntary denied embarkation s at the going gate. Typically, the simplest manner is to travel for mean no-show rates of historically similar flights, without the usage of passenger-specific information. Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 in their research paper predicted the no-show rates utilizing specific information on the single riders booked on each flight. The Airlines offer multiple menus in different booking category. The figure of seats allocated to each booking category is driven by demand for each category, such that gross is maximized. For illustration, few seats can be kept on clasp for the last-minute travellers with high menus and figure of seats sold in lower-fare categories earlier in the engagement procedure. Footings and conditions of cancellation and no-show besides vary in each category. The no-shows consequences in lost gross if the flight departs with empty seats that might otherwise hold been sold. Near accurate prognosiss of the expected figure of no-shows for each flight are really much desirable because the under-prediction of no-shows leads to loss of possible gross from empty seats, while over-prediction can bring forth a important cost punishment associated with denied embarkations at the going gate and besides make client dissatisfaction. In the simplest theoretical account, the overbooking bound is taken as the capacity plus the estimated figure of no-shows. Engagements are offered up to this degree. No-shows Numberss are predicted utilizing time-series methods such as taking the seasonally leaden traveling norm of no-shows for old cases of the same flight. Figure4: No-show tendency over yearss to departure Beginning: Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 The simple theoretical account does non take history of specific features of the riders. Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 in his survey used categorization method, likewise Kalka and Weber5 at Lufthansa used initiation trees to calculate passenger-level no-show chances, and compared their truth with conventional, historical-based methods. I tried to sum up Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 attack and consequences briefly below. Whenever a ticket is booked the Passenger Name Records ( PNRs ) is generated and all the rider information is recorded. The PNR information includes, for each rider, particulars of all flights in the path, the engagement category, and rider specific information such as frequent-flier rank, fining position, and the agent or channel through which the engagement originated. Each PNR is besides specified whether the rider was a no-show for the specified flight. In the simplest theoretical account the average no-show rate over a group of similar historical flights is computed. The mean in bend used to foretell the figure of no-shows over all engagement categories. The passenger-level theoretical account given by can be implemented utilizing any categorization method capable of bring forthing the normalized chances. The PNR records are partitioned into sections, and separate prognostic theoretical accounts are developed for each section. In the passenger-level mold we characterize each utilizing the PNR inside informations. Let Xi ; one = 1aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦..I denote I characteristics associated with each rider. Uniting all characteristics yields the characteristic vector Ten = [ X1aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦Xi ] Each rider, n = 1aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦.N, booked on flight m is represented by the vector of characteristic values xmn = [ xmn, 1aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦ xmn, iaˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦.. xmn, I ] We know the predicted no-show rate from the historical theoretical account ; it is assumed the rider inherits the no-show rate. The rider degree prognostic theoretical account is so stated as follows: given a set of category labels cmn a set of characteristic vectors xmn and a cabin degree historical anticipation A µmhist predict the end product category of rider N on flight m: P ( C = cmn | A µmhist, X= xmn ) We are specifically interested in the no-show chance, cmn = NS, and compose this chance in the simplified signifier P ( NS | A µmhist, xmn ) The figure of no-shows in the cabin is estimated as a?‘ P ( NS | A µmhist, xmn ) The summing of chances for each rider in the cabin, gives no-show rate for the cabin. An correspondent attack can besides be used to foretell no-show rates at the fare-class degree. Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 comparison consequences computed utilizing the historical, passenger-level, and cabin-level theoretical accounts. The theoretical accounts were built utilizing about 880,000 PNRs booked on 10,931 flights, and evaluated against 374,900 PNRs booked on 4088 flights. The figure shows a conventional lift curve computed utilizing the three different executions of the passenger-level theoretical account. Figure 5: Addition Charts Beginning: Lawernce, Hong, Cherrier4 Each point on the lift curve shows the fraction of existent no-shows observed in a sample of PNRs selected in order of diminishing no-show chance. The diagonal line shows the baseline instance in which it is assumed that the chances are drawn from a random distribution. The three executions of the passenger-level theoretical account place about 52 % of the existent no-shows in the first 10 % of the sorted PNRs. This is one of the manner the Airlines can integrate informations excavation theoretical accounts integrating specific information on single riders can bring forth more accurate anticipations of no-show rates than conventional, historical based, statistical methods. Application of Data Mining technique to Strategies Customer Relationship Management In the current clip most of the industries utilizing frequence selling plans as a scheme for retaining client trueness in the signifier of points, stat mis, dollars, beans and so on. Airlines are a large fan of this Kingfishers Kingmiles, Jet Airways Jet Privilege, American Airlines AAdvantage, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, KrisFlyer Miles etc. they all seemed to hold carved their ain individualities. Frequent Flyer Program presents an priceless chance to garner client information. It helps to understand the behavioral forms, unveil new chances, client acquisition and keeping chances. This helps Airlines to place the most valuable and the appropriate schemes to utilize in developing one-to-one relationships with these clients. The aim of informations mining application over the frequent circular client informations could be many, but ideally it is as follows: Customer cleavage Customer satisfaction analysis Customer activity analysis Customer keeping analysis Some of the illustrations in each class are: Classify the clients into groups based on sectors most often flown, category, period of twelvemonth, clip of the twenty-four hours, intent of the trip. Which types of clients are more valuable? Do most valuable clients receive the value for money? What are the properties and features of the most valuable client sections? What type of run is appropriate for best usage of resources? What are the chances to up-selling and cross-selling, for illustration hotel engagement, ascent to following category, recognition card, etc. Design bundles or grouping of services Customer acquisition. Yoon6 designed a database cognition find procedure dwelling of five stairss: choosing application sphere, mark informations choice, pre-processing informations, pull outing cognition, and reading and rating. This survey refers to the Yoon procedure to cover with three excavation stages, including the pre-process, data-mining, and reading stages for air hoses, as illustrated in figure below. Figure 6: database cognition find procedure Beginning: Yoon6 Some straightforward solution can be implemented that can besides be scaled-up in future like K-means, Kohonen self-organizing webs and categorization trees. In the instance of K-means algorithm, it is applied on client informations, delegating each to the closest bing bunch centre. The K- means theoretical account is run with different bunch figure until K-means bunchs are good separated. In the instance of categorization trees ( C5.0 ) , we derive a simple regulation set to unambiguously sort the complete database. Again, we have to bring forth the properties, ensuing from the sequence of flight sections. The truth of the prognosis for each section is provided by equilibrating the preparation set harmonizing to every bit sized bunchs. We regulate the figure of subsequent regulations, while finding a minimum Numberss of records given within each subgroup. Maalouf and Mansour7 did the survey based on 1,322,409 client activities minutess and 79,782 riders for a period of 6 old ages. They prepared Data based on Z-Score Normalization and ran the multiple questions and transformed the informations to make the bunch input records. They used K-means and O-Cluster algorithms. The consequence generated by constellating provides client cleavage with regard to of import dimensions of clients demands and value. The tabular array below is the consequence is a sum-up of the profile produced by k-means constellating that includes: gross milage, figure of services used, and client rank period. Figure 7: Clustering consequence on Airline Customer Data Beginning: Maalouf and Mansour7 The consequences generated by k-means constellating are used as a footing for the association regulations algorithm. Two different scenarios have been applied. The first scenario is based on Financial , Flight , and Hotel activities with 1,896 records. The 2nd scenario is based on the flight activities particularly the sectors, with 1,867 records. Figure 8: Association regulations for best client activities Beginning: Maalouf and Mansour7 Some of the take manner from Meatloaf and Mansour7 survey. Clustering utilizing k-means algorithm generated 9 different bunchs with specific profile for each one. From the bunch analysis it can be found which are the best client bunchs ( higher milage per rider ) than other bunchs. Necessitate a keeping scheme for these bunchs. Cross Selling schemes can be formulated between the bunchs ( for illustration between: 15 and 11 ; 13 and 17 because they are close in services value. The bunch analysis provides an chance for the air hose to bring forth more gross from a client. For illustration, the air hose could use an up-selling scheme by selling a higher menu place depending on the bunchs. From the bunch analysis Airline may follow an enhanced scheme for clients in bunchs in order to increase services usage and gross milage per rider. Plan for marketing run or particular offers by analysis through association regulations, for illustration, the clients utilizing the Flight and Financial services neer use the Hotel Services and the clients utilizing the Flight and Hotel services neer use the Financial Services. By analysing the services used in different bunchs, Airline can qualify services integrating. It enables the air hose to function a client the manner the client wants to be served. Application of Data Mining Application technique to understand the Impacts of Severe Weather Severe conditions has major impacts on the air traffic and flight holds. Appropriate proactive schemes for different severe-weather yearss may ensue in betterment of holds and cancellations. Therefore, understanding en-route conditions impacts on flight public presentation is an of import measure for bettering flight public presentation. Zohreh and Jianping8 in their survey proposed a model for informations mining attack to analysis of conditions impacts on Airspace system public presentation. This attack consists of three stages: informations readying, characteristic extraction, and informations excavation. The information readying stage includes the usual procedure of choice of informations beginnings, informations integrating, and informations data format. Figure 9: Model proposed by Zohreh and Jianping8 He used three informations beginnings: Airline Service Quality Performance ( ASQP ) , Enhanced Traffic Management System ( ETMS ) , and National Convective Weather Forecast ( NCWF ) supplied by National Center for Atmospheric Research. He used NCWF informations from April through September 2000 to stand for the terrible conditions season. These data-sets included the scheduled and existent going and arrival times of each flight of 10 coverage air hoses, tail figure, wheels off/on times, cab times, cancellation and recreation information, planned going and arrival times, existent going and arrival times, planned flight paths, existent flight paths, and cancellations, flight frequences between two airdromes, intended flight paths between two airdromes, flight holds, flight cancellations, and flight recreations. The image cleavage stage resulted in a set of severe-weather parts. Then for each of these parts, a set of conditions characteristics and a set of air traffic characteristics are extracted. A twenty-four hours is described by a set of severe-weather parts, each holding a figure of conditions and traffic characteristics. As a consequence of this survey it was found that there is strong correlativity of out of use flights, # of bad conditions parts, bad conditions airdromes, blocked distance, bad conditions longitude, by base on balls distance, bad conditions latitude, # of bad conditions pels with flight public presentation. Similarly the bunch algorithms ( like K-means ) can be applied. The outlook is that the same bunchs have similar conditions impacts on flight public presentation. Zohreh and Jianping8 generated bunchs for the full air space It was found that a bunch with worse conditions about ever had bad public presentation. The bunchs with big per centum of out of use flights, beltway distance, and blocked distance had a worse public presentation. These consequences were promising and showed that yearss in a bunch have similar conditions impacts on flight public presentation Other informations excavation attack which can be applied is Classifications. Application of Classification can assist us detect the patterns/rules that have important impact on the flight public presentation. Discovered regulations may be used to foretell if a twenty-four hours is a good or a bad public presentation twenty-four hours based on its conditions. For illustration Rule for Good: if % BlockedFlights lt ; = xxx and BypassDistance lt ; = yyy so Good ( n, prob ) There can be different ways where we can use informations mining attack to analysis of upwind impact on air hose public presentation. It seems to be that consequences obtained from constellating and categorizations were really meaningful for air hose and riders to be after in front. Application of Data Mining techniques to guarantee safety and security of Airlines rider The reaction of the terrorist onslaught on 26/9 and 11/9 end point in addition Security at airdromes: It ends up leting merely ticketed riders past the security Gatess, screen carry-on baggage more carefully for possible arms. The inquiry is whether these stairss could hold avoided the onslaughts, the people involved in the onslaught had legitimate tickets, and transporting box cutters and razor blades ( like in any other normal individual would make ) . The uncommon was the combination of their features, like none were U.S. citizens, all had lived in the U.S. for some period of clip, all had connexions to a peculiar foreign state, all had purchased one-way tickets at the gate with hard currency. With the sum of informations available about the rider during fining, the can be reviewed to qualify relevant available rider information. Give a rider s name, reference, and a contact phone figure, assorted informations bases ( public or private ) can place the societal security figure ( SSN ) , from which much information will be readily available ( recognition history, constabulary record, instruction, employment, age, gender, etc. ) . Since there is big figure of features available on both single riders, it will be of import to placing signals within the natural variableness or noise . If predicted incorrectly, this may take to either falsely confining an guiltless rider or neglecting to confine a plane that carries a terrorist. The air hoses already collect much informations on assorted flights. When the informations come in the signifier of multiple features on a individual point, exploratory tools for multivariate informations can be applied, such as categorization, arrested development trees, multivariate adaptative arrested development splines/trees. The security of the air transit can be improved well through modern, intelligent usage of pattern acknowledgment techniques applied to big linked databases. Similarly Data excavation techniques can be used for the Safety of the rider. An air safety office plays a cardinal function in guaranting that an air power organisation operates in a safe mode. Currently, Aviation Safety offices collect and analyze the incident studies by a combination of manual and machine-controlled methods.. Data analysis is done by safety officers who are really familiar with the sphere. With Data mining one can happen interesting and utile information hidden in the informations that might non be found by merely tracking and questioning the information, or even by utilizing more sophisticated question and coverage tools. In a survey done by Zohreh Nazeri, Eric Bloedorn, Paul Ostwald10 it was found that happening associations and distribution forms in the informations, conveying of import interior. The other determination is Associating the incident studies to other beginnings of safety related informations, such as aircraft care and conditions informations, could assist happening better causal relationships. SumMRry Business Intelligence through efficient and appropriate Data excavation application can be really utile in the Airline industry. The Appropriate action programs from the information excavation analysis can ensue in improved client service, aid bring forthing considerable fiscal lift and set the hereafter scheme.

Giving It Away †Nothing for Nothing

Giving It Away – Nothing for Nothing I’m going to take a stance here that may rub some of y’all raw. Quit giving away your work. It’s an old mantra with me . . . one that FundsforWriters was founded upon. You cannot make a living giving yourself away. Doctors don’t give away their expertise. Lawyers charge for their services. So do teachers, plumbers . . . even hookers do it. But you need exposure, you may say. No you don’t. Not that kind of exposure. Do you know what you look like when you pitch an editor or agent and the only items on your resume are: 1) Your serial novel on your blog;2) Your articles on websites that do not pay;3) Your poetry for free on your website;4) Your free short stories on anyplace that will take them. But you keep trying to sell your work and nobody buys it. So you figure you’ll post it online and somebody might discover it. Here are the flaws in that logic. LOGIC A. The people hungry for your free work usually aren’t the type willing to pay. Think about it. They’re usually trolling for free work, and continually seek the good deal. They have no desire to pay full price for a book or subscription, maybe not even one copy of a magazine where your work appears, because there’s ample free material available. LOGIC B.Editors and agents do not visit those freebie places. Not unless you happen to be that one in a million writer who trends on Twitter or manages to garner tens of thousands of readers. Not hundreds†¦thousands. Your odds are better pitching to editors. LOGIC C. If you are publishing for free because you keep getting rejected, then your writing might need work. People willing to pay for writing expect to receive a good return for their investment, so your work has to be refined and polished to rate their hard-earned dollar. LOGIC DIf you are publishing for free because you don’t want to learn the ropes of how to submit to publishers and markets that pay, you might not be made of strong enough material to weather this business. Argue with me. Go ahead. Then tell me how much money you’ve made from that â€Å"exposure.† I’m all ears. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. On the contrary. I want you to make a buck at this business. But too many writers think that giving their work away is â€Å"exposure† or a means to â€Å"getting discovered† when in reality, they usually end up sitting in place and waiting for nothing†¦and doing it for a long time. It’s understandable you need to be proactive, but put that energy to good use in the right direction. 1) Improve your writing2) Sell your work3) Promote yourself. You don’t want to appear so desperate you give it away. In all aspects of your life, how much quality do you attribute to something that was given to you for free? If you give your writing away for free, you cant afford to remain a writer for long. Fight to stick around . . . get paid for your work.