Monday, September 30, 2019

How Do Men and Woman Communicate Differently?

How do men and woman communicate differently in relationships? Monique Giresi Professor Martin Analytical Reading 81148 I. A. How To Stay Married Anne Kingston Magazine Article B. He Said, She Said Deborah Tannen Magazine Article II. A. The magazine article titled, â€Å"How to Stay Married,† begins with a story about a 68-year old woman named Cynthia. The article has a narrative style of writing in the beginning, however as one reads on, the style converts to expository. Anne Kingston, the author, begins to teach the reader by using examples of others and personal experiences to support her point.B. The magazine article titled, â€Å"He Said, She Said,† is an expository piece of writing. Deborah Tannen, the author, is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, and the author or several books; proving that Tannen is very knowledgeable on this subject. Throughout the article there are many examples (such as pre-school children conversing) in which Tannen uses t o as proof, to show that man are more interested in hierarchy, and woman are more interested in equality. III. A. How To Stay Married * Stability 1. â€Å"†¦better health, a rich shared history, the comfort of having omeone who has your back, and personal and economic stability amid global uncertainty. † (p2) 2. Stability- To have a solid and strong balance or partnership. 3. Having my boyfriend by my side as a person to talk to when I was upset, gave me a great sense of the stability. * Amid 4. â€Å"†¦better health, a rich shared history, the comfort of having someone who has your back, and personal and economic stability amid global uncertainty. † (p2) 5. Amid- During a course of something. 6. I know that I’ll always have my family for support amid the stressful school year. * Rampant 7. †¦sexual secrecy in marriage is rampant, from a woman buoyed by the memory†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p4) 8. Rampant- Uncontrollable rage. 9. When sitting in class during a discussion, it is rampant that I respond my opinion. * Infidelity 10. â€Å"Not that Krasnow is advocating infidelity, though flirting is fine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p4) 11. Infidelity- Adultery; cheating on your spouse. 12. In my house, we don’t believe in divorce, nor do we believe in infidelity. Therefore, we get married at an older age so we are sure the man/woman is worth the marriage. * Extramarital 13. â€Å"Unlike husbands, wives are driven to extramarital affairs†¦ (p4) 14. Extramarital-Having sexual intercourse with someone other than your spouse. 15. It is wrong in many religions for one to include themselves in extramarital affairs. ————————————————- B. He Said, She Said * Innumerable 16. â€Å"†¦sheds a light on innumerable adult conversations – and frustrations. † (p3) 17. Innumerable- Incapable  of  being  counted;  countle ss. 18. Some art has innumerable opinions on its meaning. * Fathom 19. â€Å"†¦he did exactly what she requested and cannot fathom why she would keep talking about a problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p3) 20.Fathom- To understand; discover the meaning of 21. Many people cannot fathom the reasoning of some criminal’s actions. * Commiserate 22. â€Å"in other words, â€Å"topping† each other can be another way to commiserate† (p4) 23. Commiserate- To feel or express sorrow or sympathy for. 24. Everyday my mother calls my aunt and asks how she is feeling. She doesn’t do this because she should, she does it to commiserate my aunt. * Interplay 25. â€Å"How does this way of talking reflect the interplay of connection and hierarchy? † (p5) 26. Interplay- Circumstances, events, or personal relations. 7. How does practicing a sport from a young age reflect the interplay of performance later in life? * Inextricably 28. â€Å"The two are not mutually exclusive bu t inextricably intertwined. † (p7) 29. Inextricably- Extremely involved. 30. I am inextricably concerned with my schoolwork. IV. A. The magazine article titled, â€Å"How to Stay Married,† is written in a cause –effect pattern of organization. Authors who use the cause-and-effect approach don’t just tell what happened; they try to explain why it happened too. In this article, author Anne Kingston uses various examples of cause-and-effect.One sample from Kingston’s article is, â€Å"it’s precisely the disconnect between that expectation that husband and wife be everything to one another and the reality of marriage that causes women to keep secrets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p3) Here Kingston begins her statement with the effect and concludes it with the cause of women keeping secrets. B. The magazine article titled, â€Å"He Said, She Said,† is written in a comparison-contrast pattern of organization. Authors who use the comparison-contrast approa ch both; compare and contrast two things throughout the argument. In this article, author, Deborah Tannen uses several examples of comparison-contrast.One illustration from Tannen’s article is, â€Å"her point of view, asking directions means making a fleeting connection to a stranger and getting where you are going without losing anything. From his perspective, he would be putting himself in a one-down position to a stranger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p4). Here Tannen shows how opposite men and women think sometimes. V. C. How To Stay Married * Facts 1. â€Å"And what their stories reveal is that marital longevity requires wives to establish strong, separate identities from their husbands through creative coping mechanisms, some of them covert. (p2) Fact because there is proof within the book â€Å"The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What Its Really Like To Stay Married. † That book shares stories from different women, all proving this statement to be true. 2. â€Å"Both th e marriage rate and divorce rate are dropping. † (p3) Fact because the evidence to this is created from true statistics. D. He Said, She Said * Facts 3. â€Å"†¦men’s talk tends to focus on hierarchy†¦whereas women’s tends to focus on connection†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p2) Fact because earlier the author explains that she has collected and analyzed thousands of men and women interacting for over three decades.Her gathered information has led her to this conclusion. 4. â€Å"†¦I have a brother named Benjamin and a brother named Jonathan†¦I have a brother named Benjamin and a brother named Jonathan, too†¦why she would say such a thing. † (p3) Fact because the father is explaining a conversation that really happened. VI. E. How To Stay Married * Opinions 5. â€Å"Divorce fractured families. † (p3) Opinion because there are cases in which a divorce can help the family. Sometimes it may decrease arguments and stress. 6. †¦couples sh ould give each other ‘space’ for marriage to thrive†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p3) Opinion because some couples may feel that for a marriage to thrive the couple should be together as much as they could and share new experiences together as a whole, as one. F. He Said, She Said * Opinions 7. â€Å"†¦actual sibling relationships are defined not only by the connection of shared family, but also by the hierarchy of birth order. † Opinion because this is not true with every family. For example, I’m the youngest and my sibling and I feel equal among each other. We don’t see one another as higher, lower, better or worse. 8. Sisters often feel acutely competitive about who knows what about family member’s secrets-or who knows what first. † (p6) Opinion because this isn’t true for every sister relationship. For example, in my family we don’t have a preference with who knows what first, as long as eventually we all get to know the informa tion. Every family is different and every sister relationship is not alike. VII. G. The magazine article â€Å"How to Stay Married† by Anne Kingston discusses women’s role in modern marriages. There are several examples taken from the book â€Å"The Secrets Lives of Wives: What It Really Takes to Stay Married. This article also shares some stories of women committing adultery and Kingston provides some advice on the type of person one should marry. H. The magazine article â€Å"He Said, She Said† by Deborah Tannen discusses the different conversation styles of men and women. There are various examples proving that men’s discussion focuses more on hierarchy, and woman’s dialogue emphasizes more on connection. Some samples throughout the article include; a man and woman lost-wondering if they want to ask a stranger for directions or not, preschoolers playing with classmates, and sibling relationships.VIII. How Do Men And Women Communicate Differentl y In A Relationship? To start, men and women communicate differently in, or out, of a relationship. This is proven by Deborah Tannen in the magazine article â€Å"He Said, She Said. † Tannen explains that â€Å"†¦men’s talk tends to focus on hierarchy – competition for relative power – whereas women’s tends to focus on connection – relative closeness or distance†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p2) Tannen enforced her statement by filming preschoolers and proving the same conclusion. From this, we learn that these characteristics within us humans are not learned.Instead, they are with us from our childhood and throughout life. Sometimes these opposite perspectives create conflict within a relationship. For example, if a couple is lost and in need of directions; the male would prefer to figure it out on his own and the women would wish to get to the destination as soon as possible. The man will feel overpowered by a stranger who knows where to go, while the woman would feel it’s reasonable to ask someone, in order to save time. In addition, women expect too much from their relationship.Sometimes they rely on their husbands for happiness. However, in the magazine article, â€Å"How to Stay Married† Anne Kingston explains, â€Å"wives who don’t rely on their husbands for happiness end up having the happiest marriages. † (p2) When women don’t feel the passion from their husbands they begin to feel lonely, and this leads to the unfortunate, adultery. Kingston reveals, â€Å"it’s precisely the disconnect between the expectation that husband and wife be everything to one another and the reality of marriage that causes women to eep secrets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p3) For example, if women were to talk about a problem she is having, she is looking for comfort, but the man may interpret that she is looking for a solution. Tannen explains, â€Å"†¦a man may well misread her conversational gambit as a r equest for help solving the problem. The result is mutual frustration: she blames him for telling her what to do and failing to provide the expected comfort, whereas he thinks he did exactly what she requested and cannot fathom why she would keep talking about a problem if she does not want to do anything about it. (p3) The communication difference between the opposite genders is inevitable. As Kingston writes, â€Å"you should marry someone who is flexible, confident and trusts you: if you can’t count on your husband or wife in a crazy unstable world then you’re marrying the wrong person. †(p5) IX. Works Cited Kingston, Anne. â€Å"How To Stay Married. † Maclean’s 10 October 2011: 6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 October 2011. Tannen, Deborah. â€Å"He Said, She Said. † Scientific American Mind May/June 2010: 8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 October 2011.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

E Fraud Essay

An e- fraud is considered to be an electronic crime that affects not only individuals businesses and governments but also allows for very negatively intelligent people and hackers to use their intelligence to log into other’s accounts use their credit card numbers and banking password and transact huge amounts of trade and money . it has been seen that e fraud is on the increase and this is because of the low levels of awareness, the inappropriate counter measures that are ineffective to handle this kind of fraud has led to e frauds being on the increase . The only area that has been actively involved in reducing the impact of fraud is the technical side leaving the other so many variables out of the purview of the e fraud scenario. This has made e fraud even more easier because there have been no mechanisms to reduce these occurrences and even if there are there has been limited penalties issued to the frauds that happen on the cyber space. Introduction: The complexity of modern enterprises, their reliance on technology, and the heightened Interconnectivity among organizations that is both a result and a driver of e-business these are rapidly evolving developments that create widespread opportunities for theft, fraud, and other forms of exploitation by offenders both outside and inside an organization â€Å" (KPMG 2000) The paper tries to assimilate and analyze the strategies that can be adopted by everyone who deals on the cyber space to protect their information and finances securely. This paper also tries to analyze why such frauds occurs and what can be done by stakeholders to minimize the occurrences and is it worthwhile an attempt to bring in a global governance ordinance which could help businesses and agencies nab the criminals . It is recorded that global e commerce sales are steadily growing and with this the e commerce fraud too. The eco system which has promoted the concept of ecommerce streams from the millions of shoppers and customers who use their debit and credit cards . Though online shopping is projected to be a very safe way of shopping and bank transactions through secured payment modes, frauds have been continually on the increase . It has been objectively researched that e commerce transactions have to be highly secured . Every transaction has to be screened for the following inputs . 1. Risk based authentication should be enabled for every transaction and to prove the integrity of the user. 2. Card holders‘s data has to be tokenized so that consumers identity can be authorized and protected. . Reputed brands should shut down phishing and Trojan attacks that make easy e commerce frauds. Some practical applications for reducing e commerce brands: Fraud detection and prevention by addressing the critical needs of the entire credit card eco system. Evaluating transactions for the risk and balancing risk activities in cards . High transaction abandonment rates that results from poor user experience . Reducing the compliance costs so that we e commerce frauds commitment costs become high . The following diagrammatic representation shows how the personal data ecosystem is subject to hacking by very professional hackers. (source:Google. com) Credit card fraud The credit card industry reports huge frauds conducted over the internet in the US alone, in the year 2010, $8. 6 billion card frauds occurred (Aite Group study). With worldwide electronic information sourcing and data storage and the thousands on online purchasing that is going on, the frequency of card usage has increased and this has resulted in financial institutions and cardholders becoming victims of e fraud . Countries worldwide have set up agencies to monitor e fraud and have their own agencies to take care of such crimes especially those related to the cyber space and those which happen on cyberspace and in ecommerce space . E commerce sales is expected to total almost $1 trillion by 2013. Ecommerce fraud is also growing along with this. Fraudulent transactions rose from 2. 7 billion in 2010 to $3. 4 billion in 2011 and are expected to grow exponentially. The use of internet has made these frauds possible. There are many reasons why these frauds occur. . The increasing complex software that is now being used to relay ecommerce has made the systems vulnerable to attacks . 2. There are thousands of malicious codes and other tools that help hackers and attackers . 3. The increasing use of high speed internet at homes with very little security makes attack much easy . 4. The rate at which technology is changing and the ease of adaptation to the new technology and the users rather slow pace in adopting to good computer security practices is another compelling reason for fraud . . the hidden costs that are involved in an ecommerce portal goes unnoticed because the security systems that have to take care of this and when systems are set up, there is always the likelihood that ambitious technology experts give least preference to securing the information site and privacy conditions People and business which conduct business online do not inform people of the expected frauds that could occur due to ecommerce transactions, because of this frauds happen . The lack of proper governance and regulation regarding type of penalties and punishments that would be given to fraud committers is rather slack . There are no world wide global laws to tackle such frauds and hence frauds that are committed online find no jurisdictional limits and so governments do not know how to pin point the responsibility . This loop hole has been used by fraudsters . The online world is full of pseudonyms and pseudo identities . Hence tracking such frauds also becomes very difficult. There are no experts who could be given the responsibility of tracking and strategizing how such frauds occur . Though technology now is slowly trying to understand the macro environment of the fraud related scenarios, the risk and costs associated with bringing in security is very high and hence the adaptability of such scenarios cannot be done by all firms who have e commerce portals . Stakeholders involvement in the vulnerability that exists across the value chain is seen as the most critical issue in a fraud . Crime congress global: This is an imitative taken by the agency to help stakeholders and victims of e commerce fraud to find effective solutions. This proves information security in all countries of the world to meet the challenges arising from e commerce. This agency prominently uses technology and provides technology solutions in partnership with the business community to prevent frauds through information security technology and information risk management, forensics, investigations, audit, risk, compliance and fraud. This agency has been conducting global awareness programs for reaching out to institutes, businesses and government to partner in helping reduce ccurrences of e fraud to strategic and technological challenges. This is a strategic initiative involving al stakeholders to proactively reduce the risks of ecommerce frauds and to defend IT systems from those threats which are emerging and to comply with relevant legal and regulatory laws . this initiative is a step towards combating the threat of the increasing cases of fraud. This partnership brings out very important initiatives to protect not only customers but a lso business houses from succumbing to the increasing menace of hackers. Technology solutions and other security solutions are placed in a consultative approach towards tackling this . If an international business committed copyright infringements then legal action under Criminal Jurisprudence legal action can be resorted to under Article 61 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) where the loser has got legal recourse to his stolen property by means of criminal sanctions and which will thereby allow for legal and criminal punishment of the infringement and the infringer . t has been felt that all types of infringement should be punished with criminal sanctions. People can appeal under this act for legal action or they can hotlist an organization under cyber space if there are cases of patent stealing and web site hacking. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 also known as the CDPA can be used in cases where infringement has taken place. If an international business committed copyright infringements or steals a pa tent then as a victims we can take recourse under the above mentioned acts which give protection to IRP which are stolen and pirated and copied.. Early referral is said to be the best away to ensure that the evidence is properly secured and that all the investigative revenues are fully explored with the possible undercover law enforcement activities. Perhaps, communication with the law enforcement activities allows the victim to coordinate civil proceedings with the possible criminal enforcement. Though legally recourse is available it is easy to settle out of court because protection of copyright is a prelude to production of the material or product. People who invent need to protect their patents. Once the patent is protected then it cannot be copied or pirated as punishments are very severe in such cases. With so many innovations taking place in the US especially with cyber technology there has been very serious issue of pirating software and the Beijing convention has called for all member countries to come out with anti pirating laws which could effectively punish those who are caught. USA will have to worry about the number of infringements that are taking place. It has admitted legal course in serious cases but USA is neither able to gun down the culprit nor is it able to find means of putting an end to it because of the geographical distance which makes it impossible to monitor the use of technology. USA is very careful in dealing with countries where incidences of Infringement are very high and tries to bring in severe legal clauses to protect their interests. Computer forensics investigator and other laws A computer forensics investigator works with a pre determined notion of computer crimes. But that is not a sufficient coverage that should be catered. A computer forensics investigator looks upon other law system too such as data protection, data integrity, data control, audit of data components, investigation around the computer and etc. A forensics investigator moves with an initial priority of computer crime. But he should be well governed with other laws. This helps him to establish himself more concretely on the crime scene. He is prepared with the notion of covering up the areas totally in order to fully satisfy himself on the grounds that nothing is left behind. He checks into the data system, recovers the data, checks the integrity of the data, protects the data, looks for evidences around the computer, checks the network system of the accused person, goes more deeply with the computing system to enable him searching beyond the computers to narrow down his investigation procedure. Some other laws such as, human rights, digital rights, information system laws, computer laws are of special interest to him. This gives him the power to deal with any case that involves ethical computer crime. He is much more developed investigator if he is well adverse with the above law system. E – Discovery E Discovery or Electronic Discovery refers to discovery in civil litigation. This discovery process deals with the exchange of information in the electronic format. Electronic Discovery is pretty useful for the forensics analysis. We know that Forensics analysis deals with the investigation of crime scene involving computer and cyber crimes and evidence is the prime source of investigation that leads to a successful procedure. Hence the investigator is pretty much confident about the E Discovery System. The investigator with the help of E Discovery processes such as Electronic messages, voicemail; smart phones etc recover every bit of information that is required in the gathering of evidence required for the forensics investigation. The whole process of collection data through E discovery and jotting it down to the report makes it much easier for the investigator. The E discovery has led to new developments and changes in the investigation system of the cyber crimes. With latest e discovery modes as mentioned above, an investigator is much more confident about its movement into the IT system of the accused criminal, and supporting the cause with rather strong and reliable evidences gathered. E discovery is a radical change in the process of investigation and has led to much more focused and integrated system of computer investigation. Conclusion The whole conclusion is based on the cyber crimes and the enacting system of law prevailing. The cyber crimes have increased in geometric progression over the years which have led to many disasters and crimes. With the increased number of crimes taking place day in day out, the laws have been made much stricter in order to ensure that the numbers of crime taking place gets minimized and there is a fear of messing up the computer system. The laws have addressed the message of intent of distorting computer systems which will constitute a crime. Many forensics investigators have been seen in the picture off late which governs the system of computer crime. These investigators are well adverse with the system laws and crime scenes. They effectively handle the situation and get to the desired results enabling quick and accurate reply to crime involved. Thus the laws have been successful over the years in minimizing computer threats and crimes. Ecommerce has revolutionized trade in many ways and consumers have also been cheated in ways that were unknown in traditional sales. In order to protect the consumers, traders on the internet and operators in the cyber space have got together to form associations and laws that would protect the consumers in the text of ecommerce. Though every country has passed consumer protection acts which are rules and regulations to protect the consumers from fraudulent trade practices in the market. There laws were enacted to protect the consumers and give them rights to ensure that they obtain truthful information and right products as so designed by the seller. The laws have been designed to protect consumers from businesses indulging in unlawful and unfair practices . The governments of all countries have passed regulations to protect the rights of consumers especially in those products where health and safety are chief ingredients. Consumer protection is also in the form of consumer rights which consumers can exercise through redressal grievance and consumer courts. This is the history behind the concept of consumer protection. In direct contrast to the traditional business where the buyer and seller are in direct contact with each other and the buyer can inspect the goods before buying, in ecommerce the communication is only through an electronic form and business is conducted in a paperless environment. More importantly the internet or e transactions play a very important role in helping buyers and in assisting in choice comparisons and locating a product on the internet. (http://www. apec. rg/apec/apec_groups/som_special_task_groups/electroniccommerce. html. Accessed on 13/2/04) Consumer concerns in e commerce starts form the point of instance as the buyer is not known to the seller and vice versa and hence the privacy and confidentiality aspect of a trade which has to be concluded needs authenticity. Consumers are worried about 1. The unfair marketing practices that sellers resort to on the web. 2. The terms of sale, refunds, cancellation of orders, warranty conditions 3. Enforceability of the contract, performance and non performance. . Delivery time, late deliveries and no delivery verification. 5. The most illegal use of information available on credit cards payment made for online purchases. 6. Fraud and cheating because transactions are not authenticated by any physical source. 7. unsafe products not confirming to safety standards. 8. Misuse of personal information for other purposes. Since majority of e commerce transactions lead to the buyer being put to a disadvantage the Issues relating to consumer disputed have to be minimized and arbitrated. t is all the more difficult because the sellers are beyond national jurisdiction as it happens on cyberspace and SO the risks that arise out of such trade has to be taken care of and the consumers have to be suitably protected. a landmark development n the form of the E -Commerce group otherwise known as The Electronic Commerce and Consumer Protection Group is constitute d by leading companies on the net like America Online, AT&T, Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Network Solutions and Time Warner. These companies predominately deal in online sales of their products and so recognize the growing need of consumer protection and have addressed issues regarding consumer protection as best practices of industry and have created an environment which would allow consumers to resolve disputes arising on cyber space. The American Bar Association Task Force on E-commerce and Alternative Dispute Resolution is one of the best reference guide to consumer protection on the cyber space. This organization was asked to suggest workable guidelines that parties dealing in online transactions can use for ODR’s (online dispute redressal) . the complexity further arose from the fact that there was multijurisdictional disputes arising from B2B and B2c businesses. (THIS IS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND IS REFREED TO IN EXACT TEXT) To quote the words of the task force of the Ecommerce group â€Å"that there are many ways to help prevent as well as to help resolve disputes or complaints that arise from e-commerce transactions, the Task Force makes the following recommendations and observations: 1. E-commerce businesses should place an enhanced emphasis on all stages of dispute prevention, complaints handling, and effective methods of redress through ADR and ODR. 2. Internet merchants, governmental and nonprofit entities should place a greater emphasis on consumer education and the prevention of e-commerce disputes. 3. Protecting consumers requires adequate standards and codes of conduct for ecommerce businesses. 4. Internet merchants should be encouraged to participate in and subscribe to relevant e-commerce codes of conduct and trust mark programs. 5. Internet merchants should develop or continue to improve on their in-house complaints handling mechanisms, and educate consumers as to how to use these in-house procedures effectively. 6. For consumers, recourse to in-house complaints mechanisms is normally the first and best means to obtain redress from reputable merchants. Accordingly, consumers should be encouraged to utilize the in-house complaints handling mechanisms offered by reputable Internet merchants before resorting to third party dispute resolution mechanisms. 7. at present, the lack of ODR does not appear to be a material impediment to the growth of B2C e-commerce. . At present, ODR is subsidiary to other higher priority consumer protection activities, including consumer education and use of measures that help prevent or decrease the incidence of fraud in Internet transactions. 9. Recognizing that enforcement of outcomes and decisions reached through ODR may be difficult, consumers should be encouraged to consider using other dispute prevention mechanisms such as escrow services and credit card charge back mechanisms when transacting online. 10. Rather than create a code of conduct for ODR Service Providers, the Task Force has drafted Recommended Best Practices by ODR Service Providers. 1. The Task Force recommends the creation of a new informational entity (referred to as the ADRCenter) that would provide information about ODR in an effort to educate and familiarize consumers, businesses, lawyers and other professionals with this new type of service. 12. For the advancement of ODR as an effective and efficient means of cross-border dispute resolution for both B2B and B2C transactions, there needs to be an appropriate emphasis on the development of interoperable communication and data-sharing platforms. 3. The Task Force believes that much of the education that will be useful for consumers will also be useful for businesses – especially small to medium sized enterprises and those who are ne w to the Internet marketplace and to cross-border transactions. ( Task force quoted verbatim) among all of ecommerce frauds the greatest of consumer complaints arose from identity thefts. The Federal trade commission has released statistics stating that out of 2004,000 complaints received from consumers 42% elated to fraud and identity of the seller, followed by internet auctions which constituted 10%,followed by other non performances like non delivery of goods, inferior quality goods, trial offers from the net, shop at home offers and so on. This only reiterates that consumers have to be protected and laws of cyber space have to be strictly regulated to afford consumer protection. Consumer protection measures were seen very importantly in the light of an interactive poll which shows the increased awareness of consumers against online frauds . They were dissuaded by online shopping and cited some of the reasons why they had not shopped recently. 57% said that they were worried about their credit card number being stolen,57% were worried about confidentiality measures being violated,38% doubted the integrity on the seleers,26% wanted some personal attention to be given while they shopped,37% doubted the reliability of the sellers,47% said that wanted to physically inspect the product and 25% cited many unknown reasons. source: Harris interactive)It was increasingly felt that consumer education will be able to help protect consumers better. It also shows increased concerns about consumers not knowing how to transact online. It is suggested that traders using the electronic media need to given all information that is required for consumers to feel safe about shopping online . Quoting Internet merchants association ,† Merchants need to have greater and enhanced disclosure on their websites as well as heightened compliance with relevant consumer protection law. † Another pertinent consumer protection data and study conducted by a New Zealand organization on 700 web sites explicitly brought out the consumers heightened awareness of ecommerce frauds and consumers came out with their reasons of the need for protecting their rights against fraudulent organizations. They said that 50% of the vendors had not installed security measures on the payment options, 62% did not speak of refund policies, 78% said that the vendors did not advice customers of how to lodge complaints,90% said that they did not know about laws pertaining to consumer redresses and 25% said that the vendors did not show physical address. Despite all this majority of consumers preferred to shop online so laws pertaining to consumer protection need to be implemented in its fullest sense. Consumers International released its Privacy@ net study in which it concluded: that though almost all the traders online collected data regarding the personal information of the buyers very few of them institutionalized a privacy policy regarding the use of the information that the buyer gave. Though these were correct measures to provide security, majority of these proved meaningless to the buyers. it was very common in the US and Europe to find traders giving scant respect to global standards on data privacy. Even the basic principles of informing the customers of how the data will be used, how the firm will access the data , how the consumer can use the data and how the security of the data is sought and maintained is not disclosed. A comparative study of the sites of USA and UK are no different with regard to privacy policy as both played on the information made available to them. The US online trading sites set decent privacy policies which looked good enough to follow. In The European trading sites the consumers had the law backing them up and the presence of an ombudsman and a government representative in the form of a data protection officer took care of the consumer rights and protection if breached. He also intervened to speak on behalf of the consumers if the law was tampered with . in fact it is sad to know that both the countries have left little choice to consumers in terms of data protection.. † This was a comparative study of the European merchants and the USA merchants. But both of them accepted the fact that consumer protection was a must if their sales and revenues had to increase. As a step towards greater protection measures to consumers the task force on ecommerce and protection said that various disputes redressal mechanisms have to be introduced in the form of dispute prevention like education of consumers, feedback collection from consumers, ombudsman appointments, negotiations, mediation, arbitrators, and assessment of valid consumer grievances.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Link Between Academic Success and a Students Perceived Self-worth Essay

Link Between Academic Success and a Students Perceived Self-worth - Essay Example There is a vast body of research on the intricate link between academic success and a student’s perceived self-worth. There is also a large amount of research detailing how the dynamics of student-teacher interactions play a key role in the formation of self-worth by these same students. However, Fay and Funk (1995) point out that educators only have access to the formation of such perceptions when providing feedback to behavior. Schroeder (n.d.) points out that feedback also involves the methods by which the educator communicates correctness of student responses to academic questions. Jim Fay’s (1995) discussion of three major teaching styles reminders readers that feedback sends not only the overt message of the words used but the covert messages of tone, actions and general body language. Of the three teaching styles - helicopter, drill sergeants, and consultants – it is the consultant teacher who embodies the overt and covert â€Å"messages of personal worth , dignity, and strength† (Fay & Funk, 1995, p. 197). When looking to the strategies employed by consultant teachers, it becomes obvious that these can be used with all teaching styles to provide corrective feedback in a whole instruction setting. First, educators should make sure the questions being asked are of appropriate difficulty and cognitive levels while being stated as clearly as possible. Schroeder (n.d.) suggests that questions dealing with new material should be such that 80% of the responses given are correct and 90+% for review materials. Educators may find that low-level questions that ask what, where, and who are best for this. Such pedagogical procedures will promote self-esteem as well as momentum needed to progress with instructional activities. Students will then be more willing to work for answers to higher order questions dealing with the why and how. Secondly, teachers should react to responses in such a way as to encourage student answers. Quick, certain responses that are correct need only affirmation that they are indeed correct. Correct but hesitantly given responses need the affirmation of correctness as well as praise and perhaps a short review of why the response is correct. Incorrect responses that are due to a careless error need only a quick reference to the error and time for the student to be allowed to provide the correct answer. Incorrect answers based on a lack of knowledge should be met with prompts and hints that may engage the needed information. Clarifying, rephrasing, or even changing the difficulty level may also assist these students (Schroeder, n.d.). Educators should provide students with every opportunity to get a correct answer but should not prolong the experience once it becomes obvious that the student lacks the knowledge needed. Third, instead of issuing orders teachers should present expectations as a challenge of something the student can and will do - positive expectancy. There are many procedures that will engender such an atmosphere. However, students sometimes resist the challenge even though a sense of positive expectancy has been created. Effective teachers will continue to work with the student and try to help him identify how to meet the expectation.Such teachers are engaging in tenacity (Saphier & Gower, 1987). Tenacious teachers engage in a "no excuses" policy. In this procedure the teacher will ask why the student is unable to meet the expectation. She will then refuse to accept such excuses. Work may be sent back to be done over; supplies may be procured and provided to the student; help and individual instruction may be offered more often; and eventually the consequences of the performance - superior, adequate, or poor - will be given without anger (Saphier & Gower, 1987).

Friday, September 27, 2019

Tax Accounting Article Research and Synopsis Writing Essay

Tax Accounting Article Research and Synopsis Writing - Essay Example The authors are concerned with the tendency to pay extremely low salaries to shareholder-employees. The IRS sternly educated S corporations on the proper levels of compensation, and the distinguished tax law as applied to S corporations vs. partnerships. The courts tended to rule in favor of raising shareholder-employee wages. When S corporations are found guilty of shirking salary payments, the IRS may subsequently collect recovered FICA and FUTA taxes, interest, failure to file penalties, late deposit penalties, and negligence penalties for failing to try hard enough to adhere to the Tax Code. The point of contention in these cases hinges upon how the term 'wages' is defined. Taxpayers have give themselves too much latitude in this area. When discussing these cases, the courts felt a duty to examine their financial "substancerather than their legal form." Fellows and Jewell emphasized that deviations from equitable salary payments to S corporation shareholder-employees will no longer be tolerated. Although the Revenue Reconciliation Act provided an amended approach to tax calculation, Cash and Dickens point out that its repercussions are not all favorable to corporations. This tax amendment required that beginning in 1990, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would be figured from adjusted current earnings, rather than regular taxable income. Further, taxpayers must figure Adjusted Current Earnings (ACE) each year as a prerequisite to applying the AMT. Deductions to Adjusted Current Earnings that decrease profits and earnings, such as federal taxes and dividends, are disallowed because they are not subtracted when AMTI is calculated. An alternative minimum tax depreciation calculation depends on several factors, such as when a particular item was first used. Two methods used are the 150% declining balance technique and the double declining technique. Cash and Dickens emphasize that depreciation is the most important "special rule" in figuring Adjusted Current Earnings. The Alternative Depreciation System (ADS) is used for all three of "regular tax purposes," Adjusted Current Earnings and Alternative minimum Tax. Choosing the Alternative Depreciation System can be a boon to corporations who are required to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax every year. ADS is also helpful to those companies who do not possess the time or money to make complex alternate calculations. Deferring taxes and accelerating deductions are both desirable privileges for corporate taxpayers, for obvious reasons. It seems counterintuitive, but the authors suggest reversing these behaviors. Income should be declared in years qualifying for a 20% tax rate, and deductions put off until the corporation reaches a 38% tax rate. On the whole,

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Cost-Benefit Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Cost-Benefit Analysis - Assignment Example The company should limit access to sensitive information and, as a result, prevent any leakage (Gantz & Philpott 4). Another threat is software attacks. The company may produce software that is vulnerable to certain software. People may decide to purchase alternative software if the problem persists. Trojans, worms and viruses that significantly affect the working of the software, may attack the software. Operating system update is instrumental in dealing with malicious software. Hardware encompasses the threat of theft. The theft of the hardware may be through employees or strangers who visit the various companies. The theft can occur during civil disturbances where there is no guarantee of security. Hardware can also be damaged when in transit or at the shops. Checkpoints and increased surveillance of premises are necessary where any suspicious activity is not instantly and dealt with immediately (Gantz & Philpott 4). The assumptions on asset value were based on their current values in the market, value to competitors, the replacement of an asset if lost and any compromising issues arising from external forces. The effects of liabilities in case of a compromised asset were put into consideration. I had to make the assumptions because hard data is not easily available though one could quantify the assets efficiently based on the expensive technological products. The frequency of the threats would be a challenge though in the technical business companies deal with similar products and therefore software violations can occur. The challenges were many as the determination of the many controls in the market and their differing prices. The choice of an effective control like setting up firewall was challenging since most of the products offer similar services but have different prices. The choice of an effective control like setting up a

How YouTube Can Affect Media and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How YouTube Can Affect Media and Society - Essay Example For example, Comedy Central asked the video-sharing company to remove clips of their copyrighted clips such as South Park and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Noguchi and Goo). On the other hand, some companies like NBC see YouTube as a powerful promotion tool which can help generate buzz for their shows, at no cost! In the same article, the authors quoted NBC Executive Vice President Rick Cotton when he said, â€Å"This medium is at the cutting edge†¦I think our creative executives feel that ‘The Office’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ benefit from the significant attention we’ve gotten online† (as quoted in Noguchi and Goo). Yet, Cotton says that in order to use YouTube effectively, one has to know where to draw the line. In line with this statement, Cotton revealed that around 1,000 clips were removed from YouTube in 2006, particularly those which had entire show episodes. In its early years, YouTube’s mechanism for deleting copyrighte d shows allowed it legal immunity but searching the site for TV show episodes is a job allotted to the company owning the copyright. Needless to say, it was a tedious job, and many of the copyrighted video clips were left posted on the site. Today, however, YouTube has the Automated Content ID in place in order to prevent copyright infringements. With this new technology, major US network, movie studio and record label can earn extra income through YouTube’s monetized view feature. From its humble beginning, YouTube has singlehandedly changed the web from static pages to an interactive web eco-system. Thanks to the conscientious development of video sharing technology, YouTube is now an important aspect of advertising. Major corporations such as Nike and Chrysler use YouTube to promote their ad to more audiences. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that many companies are bypassing the TV networks and are broadcasting their advertisements directly to YouTube (Rosenblum). In the a rticle, the author says â€Å"increasingly, YouTube is the go-to place for video, and it seems some companies have decided to bypass the broadcast first rule entirely†¦It’s a sign that true video (as opposed to repurposed an afterthought) is beginning to enter mainstream thinking† (Rosenblum). As many companies start to produce videos for the web alone, YouTube is becoming a go-to source for almost any kind of information – from entertainment to politics, how-to videos, film animation and many others. The importance of YouTube is so widespread that Mashable expresses three important developments in the media industry: (1) the next TVs will have internet connectivity and it will be able to access YouTube XL, a version optimized for the big screen; (2) YouTube can be easily accessed through mobile phones; (3) the ability to create live video streaming (Ostrow). In his 2009 article, Adam Ostrow hails YouTube as the embodiment of social media since its inceptio n. In his words, â€Å"YouTube is the innovation that touched the most lives, became a driving force for change around the world, and ultimately ends the decade with an opportunity to be as disruptive in the next 10 years as it was in the past four† (Ostrow). Thanks to its embeddable content, videos posted on the site can be viewed on websites and other social networking sites.  

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

To what extent does the internet represent a more democratic medium of Essay

To what extent does the internet represent a more democratic medium of information - Essay Example The concept of democratic media is also in contrast to state-run operations in which the media embodies the value system of the state itself. As such, democratic media can be highlighted by its structure and roles. With regard to structure, democratic media is essentially organized and overseen by ordinary citizens or their grassroots organizations; in terms of functions, democratic media, as a matter of priority, pursue serving the informational, cultural, and other communication needs of members of the public from which the media constitute or represent (Gaur 2006, p.6). Majority of the world media, today, can be regarded as embroiled in a hyper-commercialized agitation. In most countries, fewer than ten transnational media conglomerates control much of the media with almost every aspect of media culture under commercial exploitation right from sports, education, and arts. For some, this trend of concentration of media power and the resultant commercialization of public discourse s pells a disaster. An informed and active citizenry relies on the media in exercising its public service role and popular government need popular information, or ways of attaining it to be considered democratic (Bennett 2007, p.22). The case for media rests on two broad propositions: first, media play critical roles in social, political, economic, and cultural functions within contemporary democracies. In such societies, media can be regarded as the principal source of political information and admittance to public debate, and the platform to an informed, participating, self-governing citizenry (Gaur 2006, p.7). Democracy necessitates a media system that avails the masses with a wide range of opinion and analysis and debate on critical issues, mirrors the diversity of citizens, and fosters public accountability on the premise of powers-that-be and the powers-that-want-be (Bennett 2007, p.24). Second, media structuring, as exemplified by patters of ownership, subsidy, management, and regulations, are a critical determinant of media content. Given the non-competitive nature of media markets, the assertion that the media in contemporary society â€Å"gives people what they want† is unconvincing, to the exception of one media-the internet. Most media firms possess enough market power to dictate the content that can be perceived as most profitable to them (Cohen 2005, p.3). An easy route to this end (profitability) features increasing commercialism facilitated by a large number on ads, enhanced influence by advertisers over the non-advertising content, programming that yields to merchandising, and all forms of cross promotions with non-media forms. For any media to be considered democratic, it must wean itself the negativities associated with media ownership, regulation, management, and subsidy (Hoggart 2004, p.2). As such, the media system must eliminate the enormous power held by selected corporations and advertisers that dictate the media culture. The rece nt success witnessed by the commercial media can be attributed to a number of factors: commercial media operate at all geographical levels as highlighted by the Intra and inter-corporate connections exchange content. Commercial media all collectively and individually lobby to bring strategic influence to bear on

Monday, September 23, 2019

International Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

International Business - Essay Example Our baby foods will include fruits, vegetables, meat, chicken and rice. They would all be full of nutrition and will fulfill baby’s body growth needs. The company will have 3 main units; the baby food unit, clinical nutrition department and the research and development department. They all will work simultaneously analyzing the market needs and improving the product. European Union; which is the union comprised of 27 member states of Europe has set rules and policies for the business which have to be adhered by the company. The company has devised few strategies which would help it in the stage of final implementation of the project. The company’s aim is to manufacture and sell the baby food for the baby’s from age 4 months to 2 years. Our intention is to produce premium quality food which fulfills the hygienic standards and is full of nutrition’s for the baby, keeping in mind his growing needs. It will be a new experience for the company to enter into a new market, thus realizing its needs it has signed partnership agreement with local manufacturers Mr. Z and Mrs. Z who will help in implementing appropriate strategies, plans and provide necessary knowhow to the company about the local market. The profits will be shared in the ratio of 20:80, 20 % to Mr. and Mrs. Z and 80% to the company. Furthermore the company will finance the projects and Mr. and Mrs. Z will aid in selling the products to local retailers. The company will require setting up its factories in Europe in order to manufacture baby food, thus it has decided to enter Europe in 2 countries; United Kingdom and Spain. It has planned to establish its factories in London and Madrid respectively. As being capitals these two places are easily accessible with transport facilities and there is ease of goods availability. In addition they are busy cities and will attract

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Childhood events about helping others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Childhood events about helping others - Essay Example ly happy., the good feeling that a person can have from doing good things, the good deed that you do, and these thing can be passed on from generation to generation, teaching your children the good thing that they can do for other and how they can benefit form it also in return the good feeling they have. This essay is about parent who tech their children good thing to do in their life. What I learned from all this now is I teach my children to do the same thing I did "give, love and share" At that time, this may not have been understood, but as we grew, we found out how important these actions were and willingly, gave our belongings to others. Every year before Christmas, it was customary for my parents to ask us to give some of our toys, clothes, and anything that we wanted to give away to the homeless and poor children who did not have the lives that other children were privileged to. They taught us to love people no matter how poor, rich, greedy, big, and/or small they were. Sharing and giving was a great event in our family. We learned what giving meant, when we shared and gave away those items that we might have cared for or simply had no use for, but others could care for and/or treasure. There is a saying that what is junk for someone, is a treasure for someone else. More importantly, was to give away some of the items we dearly wanted to keep, since this meant more than those we did not want to stay with. This was a more meaningful action, according to our parents. It meant that we were not giving away the leftovers. I grew to learn and understand the importance of living with people of different walks of life, appreciate the similarities and differences, and learn to help humankind. I learned that although some people may lack material things, they are as important as those that are fortunate to have more. My parents taught us about brotherhood and sisterhood, to be able to live in peace within the community, and to cherish and appreciate that which we

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Hard Times Essay Example for Free

Hard Times Essay Mr Gradgrind says is it satisfactory to me to know that you do not come to the consideration of that question with the previous habits of mind, and habits of life, that belongs to many young women in reference to fancy and emotion when deciding whether to marry Mr Bounderby or not. Later on in the page we are told that Louisa was compelled to throw herself upon his breast and give him the pent-up confidences of her heart. However this doesnt happen because Mr Gradgrind fails to see it. This is because of the artificial barriers that have been set up between him and his daughter and these barriers are primarily fact and his utilitarian views. It is a utilitarian view because he believes the decision should not be made based on the individual happiness of Louisa but on what will be best for everyone and therefore looking past her. It also is criticising Utilitarians and Mr Gradgrind through the use of dramatic irony in the sense that we see that Loo yearns to talk to her father but he doesnt and we are criticising his inability to see it. The barriers being set up are metaphorical barriers he has put between himself and his daughter emotionally to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. The barriers are themselves blocking out subtle essences of humanity with reference to fancy. By saying that fancy is an essence of humanity in accompaniment with Gradgrinds will to get rid of fact we see that Dickens is showing us that utilitarian principles strip us of these essences of humanity and therefore de-humanises us. Furthermore it is a very human ideal for a daughter to confide with her father or parent in general but here Louisa has been stripped of that showing us even more then de-humanising qualities of fact. Dickens then goes on to say that these subtle essences of humanity will elude the utmost cunning of algebra until the last trumpet blow even algebra to wreck saying to us that fancy and emotion will always beat fact. The last trumpet is judgement day so Dickens is saying that fancy will win until the end of eternity. This passage clearly shows Dickens preferences to emotion and how he feels it is superior although he does give fact some credit when he says blow even algebra as if algebra is a tough subject to blow. Then dickens talks about how with his utilitarian face he hardened her again telling us that utilitarianism is hardening Loo. First of all this builds sympathy for Loo because we were told earlier that Loo wanted to throw herself upon her father but she cant because of the barriers and is hardened again and secondly builds up our dislike for Gradgrind and utilitarianism more because of its hardening qualities.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Development of Cooking Methods and Techniques

Development of Cooking Methods and Techniques Introduction The revolution of cooking has evolved massively so has the methods of cooking too .Cooking has been practiced since ages. Earlier the ancient man ate only raw food, once accidently a piece of meat fell into the fire and it got roasted. The man ate the piece and liked it. Thus the process of cooking began and started evolving. Cooking food is important because it makes the food easy to digest, cooking improves the appearances flavor colour texture and taste of food, it also adds variety to the meal, cooking helps the food to stay longer and last and the most important is cooking makes the food safe. (Home science , 2014) Cooking also involves knowledge of ingredients as well as equipment, the skills and techniques also ability to plan and organize food preparation within time constraints. Not to forget the classic methods of cooking are far better as well as healthier as compare to new methods like microwave. (Home science , 2014) Cooking techniques There are some food items which have lots of moisture in them like vegetables which are leafy like spinach and fenugreek. These items are cooked using technique that makes use of this moisture. But food items like rice, wheat and pulses are comparatively low in moisture content therefore these ingredients are cooked by adding extra water(moisture). There are also methods where no water is involved in the process of cooking; in fact these methods help the food to remain crisp on completion. Therefore the methods of cooking are classified into the following: (Nestle professional nutrinal, 2014) Cooking by moist heat: The method includes boiling, simmering/stewing, steaming pressure cooker, poaching and microwave cooking. Cooking by dry heat: This method includes baking, roasting and grilling. Cooking by frying in oil or ghee: Includes methods like deep frying, shallow frying or pan fried and stir frying. (Nestle professional nutrinal, 2014) Boiling: It is the method in which the food is cooked in sufficient quantity of water. For example potatoes, hard vegetables like cauliflower, carrots broccoli and more, eggs, rice and pulses. Vegetables such as green peas and green beans are boiled by additional of small quantity of water whereas while cooking rice and other pulses large amount of water is needed to cook. This is because vegetables already contain higher water content. There are some important points which shall be kept in mind while boiling which are firstly boil the water and then put the food secondly the water should cover the food fully. Do not over boil food longer than needed and once it is tender and soft take it off from the fire as if the food for too long it loses its shape and colour. Lastly overcooking also destroys its nutritive value. (The daily meal, 2014) Simmering/Stewing: Stewing is a method where the food is cooked in small quantity while a small amount of water is kept below boiling point for a long time. After boiling starts the flame is simmered and the food is allowed to cook slowly. When it is cooked it is served together with the liquid. The advantage of this cooking technique is that the juices of the food are retained as well as the food tastes good. (The daily meal, 2014) Steaming: It is the process where the food is cooked with the heat generated from water vapours. It also shortens the time of cooking and also helps to conserve the nutritive value, colour, flavor and palatability of food. Steamed food is also light and easy to digest. These types of food are especially good for people who are weak or sick and also good for elders and young children. (The daily meal, 2014) Pressure cooking: the process of cooking in a special type of utensil which permits cooking with lots of steam under a certain pressure. These cookers are made of steel or with a mixture of aluminium and other metals and can bear high pressure. The steam which is produced is confined inside the cooker thus increasing the pressure and temperature more than 100 degree Celsius. All kinds of pulses, rice, and meat are cooked well under pressure cooker in shortest possible time. Advantages of this type of cooking are that it kills all types of bacteria and hence the food is safe to eat. Fastest method of cooking almost one third time compare to boiling. It also saves gas. It is important to immerse food in water while preparing and this reduce the loss of soluble vitamins as well as minerals. (The daily meal, 2014) Poaching: It is also a type of moist heat cooking method which involves cooking by submerging in a liquid like water, stock, wine and more. It is differentiated from other methods like boiling and simmers as the temperature is relatively low which makes particularly suitable for food like fish and eggs. (Nestle professional nutrinal, 2014) Microwave cooking: Cooking with electromagnet waves, either with or without addition of liquid. The food can be browned and also can be given crustiness only if it combined with dry heat method such as grilling. Basically microwave is used for reheat the food. (Nestle professional nutrinal, 2014) Baking: The method in which the food is prepared by assigning it inside a heated closed box called an oven. The air inside the oven get hot due to the fire which is lit at its base or with electricity and the food gets prepared with the hot air when placed inside the oven. The food which is cooked using this type of method adds variety to the plate. (Home science , 2014) Roasting: One more method of cooking food with the help of dry heat is roasting. While roasting the food is put directly on a griddle and cooked. Vegetables like potatoes, eggplants are roasted so as grains like maze and chickpeas. The food is tastier when prepared by this method. It also adds a change to the meal. (The daily meal, 2014) Grilling: A method of cooking over glowing fire and more uses of indirect heat and is slower compare to roasting. The food is held on an iron grid over the fire. The grids are brushed with oil to avoid sticking and can be heated by charcoal, gas or even electricity nowadays. The food which is prepared gives a distinctive flavor. (The daily meal, 2014) Deep frying: It is a method where the food is completely submerged in hot fat like oil. It is usually prepared in deep fryer industrially. It is classified into dry cooking as there is no water used also the time taken in cooking this method is also quick. Shallow frying: In shallow frying the food is not completely submerged but only a part of it is submerged in fats like oil/butter. The advantage of shallow frying is that the food life stays longer compare to deep frying. How food cooks Rapid movement of molecules heats the food. The movement is so fast that their temperature rises. There is three ways to cook the food Conduction Convection Radiation Conduction-is when the food is in direct contact of the heat source. Cooking in a pan is conduction process. Heat is transferred from burner to the pan, and then it is passing to the food. First the surface of the food becomes hot then the interior. Heat passes from the center by moisture and fats. Convection- is the process in which the heat is carried to the food by some source like air, water etc. Cooking food in the oven is convection cooking. Gas grills are the perfect example of convection cooking. A convection oven has a fan that flows the heat in the oven. The moving heat cooks the food more rapidly than the still heat. Convection method of cooking cooks the food 25%to 30% faster. Radiation-is the process in which the food is cooked by the energy transformed by waves of heat. For e.g. put a food on a hanger and hold it to the side of the fire, the food will be cooked using radiation process. The charcoal grills works with radiation cooking. Excitation-is microwave cooking. Microwave pierces the food and beats the molecules inside the food and makes it warm without heating the air around it. Induction-stove tops works under induction cooking method. Induction cooktops or cooking vessels must be made of cast iron or stainless steel. The element electronic charges the coil that produces high frequency electromagnetic field. The field vibrates the bottom of the vessel and sets up a circulating current that generates heat. The heat then transferred to food. The main benefit of induction is that, it provides faster and consistent heating than other methods. The induction automatically shuts down if there is no container. It is easy to clean because of flat cooking surface.it is more energy efficient than other flame burners as it allows instant control of cooking powers. Other methods of cooking that uses flame have higher loss to ambient whereas induction directly heats the pot. Advanced cooking methods Cooking is the procedure of changing the chemistry of food by transferring energy to the food to make it safe and eatable and to get the desired flavor, texture and nutrition. Culinary equipment’s and implements have travelled a long way from ancient times when the only medium to cook is open fire to the modern methods of cooking. Ovens were among the first advance brought by civilization. Early oven were designed to trap the heat in the walls of oven.in 20th century, inventors had developed gas and electric ovens that allow far greater control of heat. Yet, for all the modern features on today’s oven- broilers, forced convection, self-cleaning cycles etc. they still work on the principle of controlling heat. Another important aspect of cooking is humidity. The ability to manipulate moisture, both outside the food as well as inside, is the defining difference that set modern oven technology apart from earlier methods. Water-vapor ovens and combi ovens control the water content of the heated air; microwaves exploit the moisture content of the food to heat it. They both are the perfect examples of modern approaches of the history’s most ancient tools. When people are busy making jams and chutneys one London based chef is busy in making soups and stews in the glass jars. Chef Vincent dury has developed a new cooking method known as heat preserving method. Using this method beef stew can be cooked in a jar inside a water-filled, hermitically sealed pressure cooker. It is somewhat similar to ‘appertisation’ i.e., a method of treating vegetables that leads to canning. The term derives from Nicolas Appert, who invented the first process for using heat to sterilize food. One such technique which is becoming famous is pit baking.it is one of the oldest cooking methods but it is becoming famous because of its modification .an earth oven is created by digging hole in the ground and slow cooking is done by heating stones in the fire. People also start cooking using ash; the perfect example of ash cooking is the â€Å"ash baked vegetables† served in the restaurants like The Ledbury and The Roganic in London. In this technique â€Å"the vegetables are first cooked on a barbecue for 4 to 5 hours then the ash from the celeriac skin is used and blended with salt and sugar to make it a sprinkling dust, which is used as a seasoning†.it is one of the oldest method that is now becoming popular due to its modification . There are different methods in different countries which are not becoming so popular but they need to for example there is the different method to cook egg in Jewish kitchen in which the eggs are cooked on a very low heat with onion skins and coffee grounds for several hours, then gently tapped to create a beautiful marbling effect. It is called Sephardic cooking but it is limited to only Jewish kitchen only. The scientific method of cooking Have anyone wondered why grilling meat taste good and broccoli that goes along with the meat will go dull if it not shocked well. Chemistry piles itself into the many ways you can cook food and each of these methods work in a different way and affect the tastes of the vast display of food that we create and consume. Maillard reaction-It is a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars that helps to give browned foods the accurate flavor and color. It is discovered by Louis Camille Maillard a French Physician. Meats (such as steak and roasts), vegetables, chocolate and potatoes are the example of foods that goes through this reaction. In these types of food, the reaction begins with a carbohydrate molecule and an amino acid. These two molecules create an unbalanced midway particle which changes till the brown color and desired flavor have been reached. This happens because during the reaction elements, such as nitrogen and sulfur, are added to the mixture of mostly carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Brining-This method is somewhat similar to marinating.in this chicken or meat is soaked in brine before cooking. This method was first used in Scandinavian cuisine.in this method the meat is soaked in brine for some time (depends upon the thickness of meat) and then cooked, it gives juicier dish. Brine is a mixture of salt and water. When the meat is put in brine the proteins are dissolved in it and interacts with salt which results in the capacity of muscle cells to hold more water. After the brining process the meat is seared in the frying pan and cooked in the oven. The meat was juicer and pinker and saltier than the rest. Modern cooking methods As the food advances its method also advances. Everybody wants a less time consuming methods and wants more healthier and flavorful food.so there are many modern cooking methods invented that provides the same thing. Sous Vide Cooker-In this food is sealed in the zip lock bag, set the temperature, and put the bag in the water and the timer. The food not gonna lose it nutrients, flavors in the bag. It is similar to poaching; the main difference is that in this the food is kept in plastic bag to keep the nutrients and flavors. The main advantage of using this method is that in this method the food can’t be overcooked because if the food is placed in the water, the temperature is set then the food can’t be cooked more than the set temperature .whereas if the food is cooked using roasting or grilling there is a chance of over-cooking or under-cooking of food. This method is important from culinary point of view as it allows the food to store; sealed and refrigerated which is important for catering industry. This method is used by famous chef like Heston Blumenthal, Paul Bocuse, Thomas Keller and many other famous chefs. This method is also used in train Acela express for serving meals on the trains. This method was developed in mid 70s by Georges Pralus for keeping the fat in foie gras but it was not that popular or successful at that time.it again came into existence when a French scientist, Bruno Goussault modified it with different flavor profiles for the French railway company. French railway wanted a method in which the food can be cooked easily and evenly without getting it overcooked. Air fryer- it is an equipment to cook the food without oil .it uses hot air to cook the food rather than using the oil.it circulates air up to 200c around the food which results in giving them nice brown crust with 80 per cent less fat.it shaped like rice cooker which consists of a removable tray.it can cook the food in 12 minutes.it provides the healthier food with nice brown and crispy finish. Critical analysis Food has evolved rapidly over the last few centuries that what chefs use to prepare has also changed. Earlier chefs used to serve huge portions nowadays chefs are preparing bite size food. So by time chefs are changing the methods of cooking dishes also which are health beneficial as well as the consumption of resources are also low. People have shifted to microwave cooking rather than bakery as the bakery products contents huge amount of fat in them. The chefs are also using sous vide to cook products like vegetables and meat which require no fuel to cook. They cook the items with the help of electricity. Similarly with air fryer the products which are cooked are 90 percent fatless compare to products which are fried in a deep fryer or shallow fried. The consumption of steam products are more consumed as they are health friendly. Even in big restaurants and in industries chefs are more emphasis on these types of cooking. There are many restaurants which also practice molecular gastr onomy cooking in which chefs are trained to use chemicals like lecite and more to cook. Therefore the methods of cooking as we saw are drastically changing as in earlier centuries the mode of cooking was only with the contact with fire. Later on our ancestors practiced and started cooking with the help of water which became methods like boiling and poaching. And nowadays chefs are shifting more towards electric cooking as it is more health friendly. Scientists are also working with today’s chefs in preparation of a capsule which will help the astronauts to live in the outer planets. The capsule will provide them with the same amount of nutrients as well as taste the same which a normal food will contain. These capsules will be available by 2020 in every store. Hence to conclude we would like to say that without the help of earlier methods of cooking the new methods of cooking would not come. Conclusion Through the following project we can conclude that there are many other techniques in which food can be prepared for example like Air fryer where the mode of cooking is the same but with a very little fat which is good for the body with no impact on taste. Less use of fat means less fat in the body which is good. People are making more these types of machines as they are more accepted in today’s generation because people are turning more health conscious. People are also working with a new method known as capsule cooking.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Crucible: Hysteria And Injustice :: Essay on The Crucible

The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance. Also important to the play is how Arthur Miller depicts how one selfish, evil person like Abigail Williams can bring others down and make others follow her to commit evil acts. These evil acts affect even the most honest people in the town like John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse who cannot fight the accusations made against them by those following Abigail. Those following Abigail are considered to be holy men that are full of honesty and justice, but the play shows that even those who are thought to be respectable and right, like people of government or community leaders can bring death to innocent people if they are driven by something wrong. II. Plot: The plot begins with the inciting incident where Rev. Parris finds his niece Abigail Williams and his daughter Betty along with his slave Tituba doing some dance in the forest. Right when he finds them, Betty becomes sick and won't talk or open her eyes, about this time other people's daughters become sick too. Rumors spread that witch craft is involved in Betty's illness and the development of the plot begins. Important to the major development of the plot is the fact that in the forest, Abigail and the others were just playing like witches. But they were following Abigail because she wanted to try to put a curse on a lady named Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail was in love with Mrs. Proctor's husband, John Proctor, and she wanted to some how get rid of Elizabeth. The problem was that as the rumors spread about the devil Abigail went along with it and blamed the slave woman Tituba for forcing her to join the devil. The rising action begins when Tituba out of fear of death starts naming people that she says were with the devil when the devil came to her. This is all a lie though because once Abigail blamed Tituba she did not want to turn the story around and admit that she was lying in the first place because one, she was

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

The Kathmandu Valley and the Constant Terror of Earthquakes Essay

The Kathmandu Valley and the Constant Terror of Earthquakes One important climatic feature that plagues the South Asian region of the Kathmandu Valley is earthquakes. A few severe earthquakes have taken place in the country's history and caused many deaths and nearly irreparable damage to impoverished Nepal. The residents of the Kathmandu Valley experience small tremors nearly every day, whether they can feel them or not. The world and the nation is waiting for the 'next big one' to terrorize the small country. The Kingdom of Nepal is a landlocked nation that geographically lies between India and China. The narrow country also located at the boundary between the Indian and Tibetan tectonic plates and is thus extremely susceptible to earthquakes.[1] The entire kingdom falls into highly seismic zones, including the mountains. The Himalayan mountain range was even formed by the collision of the Asian and Indian plates that started about 50 million years ago, and ended with the subduction of the Indian plate underneath Tibet.[2] The Universities of Alaska and Colorado, in order to help these poor nations, have made precise measurements in both the Nepal Himalayan range and Tibetan Plateau since March of 1991.[3] The researchers have discovered that the Indian plate moves 53-63 millimeters closer to Asia at the same time as Tibet moves the same direction by 34-39 millimeters each year.[4] Therefore, Nepal is rowed about 19-24 millimeters per year.[5] As these steady movements have continued throughout the years, and slip events have also occurred causing great earthquakes on a north-sloping surface underneath the Himalayan mountains.[6] And as lakes long ago occupied the Kathmandu Valley,... ...ismological Centre. [9] GeoHazards International: A Nonprofit Working Towards Global Earthquake Safety. ÒA Nonprofit Organization Kathmandu Project.Ó http://www.geohaz.org/contents/projects/kathmandu.html. [10] GeoHazards International. [11] GeoHazards International. [12] National Seismological Centre. [13] National Seismological Centre. [14] Shakya, Naresh Man. [15] GeoHazards International. [16] GeoHazards International. [17] Shakya, Naresh Man. [18] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. ÒChapter 3: Nepal.Ó National Society for Earthquake Technology- Nepal (NSET). 2003. [19] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [20] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [21] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [22] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [23] Asian Disaster Reduction Center. [24] Asian Disaster Reduction Center.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Free Essay on Hecabe :: Hecabe Essays

Free Essay on Hecabe Euripides' play Hecabe, produced in 425 b.c.e., begins with an introduction from the ghost of Polydorus -- Priam and Hecabe's youngest son who was sent away with treasures to stay with a family friend, Polymestor, in Thrace for safekeeping. Troy has fallen now, and when news reached Polymestor, he killed Polydorus and flung his corpse into the sea. It's due to float ashore today. Meanwhile, the ghost of Achilles has appeared to the Greeks and demanded sacrifice: Polyxena, another daughter of the former Trojan royal couple. Priam is dead. His widow has much to bear soon. Hecabe has dreamt of these two children and bad omens. A Chorus of Trojan women, now slaves of Agamemnon, reports of the demands of the dead Achilles and the recent Greek debate. A woeful Hecabe informs Polyxena but the girl seems more sorry for her mother's grief than for the loss of her own life. Odysseus arrives and Hecabe appeals to his sense of honor: she reminds him that she alone recognized him in his disguise when he sneaked into Troy once but did not rat him out. So take her, Hecabe, instead of the girl. Odysseus employs some sophistry to weasel out of such a deal. He and Polyxena exit. The Chorus speculates on where it will end up now. Thessaly? Athens? A Greek herald, Talthybius, wonders, "is all our belief in gods a myth, a lie / Foolishly cherished, while blind hazard rules the world" (77). He has the lamentable duty to inform Hecabe of Polyxena's noble death, who "even as she died, took care to fall / Becomingly, hiding what should be hidden from men's view" (79). Now Hecabe must prepare the body for funeral rites. She sends an old attendant to fetch a jar of sea-water. Polydorus' corpse is discovered, and Hecabe requests from Agamemnon the right to have vengeance against Polymestor. Agamemnon thinks that "women -- can't do anything" (89), but whatever. Polymestor is sent for and brings his two young sons. He puts on a hypocritical yet cursory display of sympathy. "The gods dispose our fortunes / This way and that in sheer confusion, so that we / May reverence them through fear of the unknown" (92).

The Symbolism of House Plants

Literary devices are used by authors to unite a common theme within their work. The device providing the most unity within the play â€Å"A Raisin in the Sun† by Lorraine Hansberry is the houseplant Lena Younger, or â€Å"Mama†, so adamantly protects and nurtures throughout the play.The symbolism associated with this plant provides insight into Mama’s attitudes toward her family and her belief that they can succeed in their dreams.The plant’s continual appearance shows how necessary this symbol is to provide unity in the play. The symbolism behind the plant takes on many layers, but it always connects back to Mama and her love for her family.In the first scene of the play, Mama is depicted as nurturing her house plant. Even in the opening scenes, she is drawn to care for the plant, much as she is drawn toward caring and protecting her family.Mama is always the caregiver in the play. She is the powerful matriarch that gives strength to the family. Much like the plant is the unifying symbol of the play, Mama’s power often makes her the unifying force within her family. Mama’s power is established through a variety of sources. She is the family elder.After the death of Mr. Younger, Mama is Walter and Beneatha’s lone surviving parent, but she is also the economic center of the family. After years of hard labor, Mr. Younger’s death has provided his family with an insurance settlement of ten thousand dollars, which the entire family wants, but Mama holds firmly in her hands.Mama’s complaints that the plant would do so much better if it only had a little more light, echo her beliefs that her family would prosper if allowed to escape the suffocating environment of their cramped apartment. Mama never stops believing in the potential for the plant to grow and thrive, just as she never stops believing in her dream for her family.Even when Walter does the unthinkable and loses Mama’s money in a financial gamble, Mama never stops believing. Her family has gone through too much, and she refuses to be forced into submission.Leaving the apartment now becomes risky, the family does not have all the money to guarantee an easy transition, and Mama is forced on many occasions to reconsider to family’s move. Mama’s dreams are inevitably too strong, and the family eventually moves in to their new home regardless of the risk.The theme of overcoming resistance in pursuit of a dream is continued when Mr. Lindner visit the family. Even though he suggests that their family may not be wanted in Clybourne Park because of its racial segregation, Mama is convinced that her family must escape the confines of their apartment in order to prosper.Because of her belief in her family’s ability to grow, she leads the family in turning down Mr. Lindner’s monetary offer. Mama believes that the plant, like the family, simply needs a little more room to grow. Like the plant, Mama alw ays encourages her family to grow.She supports her family various dreams, and consistently empowers them so that they will be able to reach them. She even violently apposes the idea of Ruth having an abortion because, like the plant, killing one of the family’s members would, in essence, destroy the plant.Mama’s plant is practice for her dream of a home with a garden and a yard. Even her moderate success with the houseplant is enough to convince Mama that she will be a successful gardener. Similarly, her success with her children encourages Mama that her family will continue to be a success, if given the right environment.The plant itself becomes fuel for Mama’s passionate pursuit of her dream for herself and for her family. As the play closes, Mama symbolically returns to the apartment, rescuing the plant its imprisonment there. The play is left open-ended.No precise details are given concerning the family’s decision or their pursuit of their goals.   The reader is, never the less, left believing that the plant and the family will thrive in their new home because of Mama’s belief in them.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Energy Sources and Alternative Energy Essay

Experiment 1: The Effects of Coal Mining Table 1: pH of Water Samples Water Sample Initial pH Final pH (24-48 hours) Pyrite 5 5 Activated Carbon 5 7 Water 5 5 POST LAB QUESTIONS 1. Develop hypotheses predicting the effect of pyrite and coal on the acidity of water? a. Pyrite hypothesis = If pyrite is added to water, it will make the water more acidic. b. Coal hypothesis = If the activated carbon is added to the water, it will make the water more acidic. 2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept each hypothesis that you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this. a. Pyrite hypothesis accept/reject = The hypothesis was rejected as no change occurred in pH levels after testing the sample with a pH strip b. Coal hypothesis accept/reject = The hypothesis was rejected as the pH level rose  from 5 to 7 after testing the sample with a pH strip, which would indicate a rise in alkalinity. 3. Based on your data, what effect do you predict coal mining has on the environment? Answer = Based upon the data collected, there does seem to be a small effect on the environment, however, based upon knowledge of the subject, coal mining can and does have a significant adverse effect on the environment. 4. What can be done to prevent mine drainage from damaging the ecosystem? Utilize at least one scholarly resource to support your suggestions. Answer = Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the more serious environmental problems in the mining industry. AMD is the major pollutant of surface waters in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States (US EPA, 2006). The formation of AMD is a very complex chemical and microbial process, and usually occurs where deep excavations, such as those associated with coal mining, expose unweathered pyritic materials. Water contaminated by AMD on permitted sites where mining has occurred must be treated to remove dissolved metals and raise pH. Millions of dollars are spent to treat this water and the interaction of these metals with each other and their removal from water are important areas of study (US EPA 2006). Water is the basic transport for contaminants, and consequently most measures at limiting acid formation use migration control and are concerned with the control of water flow (EPA 2006). To help out local ecosystems, water entry into the site of acid formation may be controlled by: 1. Diversion of surface water flowing towards the site of pollution; 2. Prevention of groundwater infiltration into the pollution site; 3. Prevention of hydrological water seepage into the affected areas; and 4. Controlled placement of acid-generating waste. (EPA 2006). Experiment 2: Solar Energy Table 2: Solar Energy Experiment Results Environmental Descriptor/Variable Observations (Each should be compared against direct subnlight) Weather of the Day Mostly Sunny with some clouds Motor speed in direct sunlight Very Fast Motor speed at 45 degree angle Very Fast Motor speed under reflectors Very Fast Motor speed with 25% shaded Very Fast Motor speed with 50% shaded Medium to fast Motor speed with 75% shaded Very Slow Motor speed under red filtration Fast Motor speed under blue filtration Fast Motor speed under green filtration Fast Motor speed under yellow filtration Fast Post-Lab Questions 1. Develop hypotheses predicting the efficiency of solar energy from direct sunlight against the 4 variables tested? Direct vs indirect hypothesis = If exposed to direct sunlight, the motor will move faster than indirectly exposed Direct vs reflected hypothesis = If exposed to reflected sunlight, in addition to direct sunlight, the motor will move faster than only exposed directly Direct vs shaded hypothesis =Upon shading the solar panel, the more than panel is shaded, the slower the  motor will move (EX. At 25% shaded the motor will go slower than completely exposed-medium, at 50% shaded, the motor will go slow, at 75% shaded the motor will go very slow Direct vs filtered hypothesis = Upon filtering the motor with the different shades of cellophane, the motor will go slower 2. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept each hypothesis that you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this. Direct vs indirect accept/reject =Rejected. The motor was just as fast when the solar panel was set up at a 45 degree angle Direct vs reflected accept/reject = Accepted. When the foil was reflected at the solar panel, the motor moved faster. Direct vs shaded accept/reject = At 25% shading-Rejected-The motor moved just as fast as when the solar panel was completely exposed to sunlight. At 50%-Accepted-The motor moved slower than when the solar panel was completely exposed to sunlight (speed medium to fast) At 75%-Accepted-The motor moved very slow compared to when the solar panel was completely exposed to sunlight (Very slow) Direct vs filtered accept/reject = Rejected-Upon being covered by the red, yellow, green, and blue cellophane, the motor moved the same as in direct sunlight 3. Does increased exposure to the sun’s light produce more current? Explain how you know this based on your data. Answer = YES. The more exposure the solar panel had to the sun, the faster the motor moved. Through a variety of trials with the solar panel and exposure to the sun, it was determined that the more exposure the solar panel had, the faster the motor moved. 4. How could you increase the electricity generated by a solar cell during the day, when the sun’s angle is constantly changing? Answer = One could increase the electricity generated by a solar cell during the day while the sun’s angle was constantly changing would be either to move the panels (use ones that can be adjusted) to coincide with the movement of the sun, use adjustable mirrors or other reflective devices to  reflect directly on the solar cells, or both of these options. 5. Based on your data, could adding filters to solar panels increase the solar energy produced? Explain how you know this. Answer = Upon the data I collected, none of the filters actually INCREASED the amount of solar energy produced, so I would say no. References. Acid Mine Drainage. (2006). EPA. Retrieved August 2, 2013, from http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/acid_mine.cfm

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Cultural Diversity in Afghanistan Essay

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. It is divided into different regions where people manifest their own culture and beliefs. Though Afghans dwell in same country yet they practiced different cultures because of their regions’ location and tradition. What is applied to a certain region of Afghanistan may not be applicable to the other regions of the country. This would only show that there is a cultural diversity amongst regions of Afghanistan. Moreover, Afghanistan is located in south-central Asia. The encyclopedia of Islam stated that: Afghanistan has borne that name only since the middle of the 18th century, when the supremacy of the Afghan race (Pashtuns) became assured: previously various districts bore distinct appellations, but the country was not a definite political unit, and its component parts were not bound together by any identity of race or language. The earlier meaning of the word was simply â€Å"the land of the Afghans†, a limited territory which did not include many parts of the present state but did comprise large districts now either independent or within the boundary of Pakistan† (see â€Å"Afghanistan†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. November 15, 2006). The northern part of the country is bordered by the Soviet Union and on the northeast; it is bordered by China and Kashmir, on the west side is bordered by Iran and on the east and south it is bordered by Pakistan. Every citizen of the country is called as Afghan though the country is composed of various ethnic groups. One of these ethnic groups is the Pashtun (it is also be spelled as Pakhtun, Pathan, Pushtun, and Pukhtun) which makes up about 60 percent of the population. They are from the Caucasian origin and dwelt in Afghanistan in not less than 1, 3000 year. Normally, they are recognized and acknowledged as the â€Å"true Afghans†. Pashtuns are separated into numerous tribes and sub-tribes, followed an ancient code of conduct called as Pashtunwali. The second most populated group is the Tajik, who were also come from the Caucasian origin (see â€Å"Afghanistan†. New Standard Encyclopedia. Volume 1, Pp. A-91, A-93, 94). The intent of this paper is to describe the different cultures in Afghanistan. II. Discussion As I have mentioned earlier, there are two ethnic groups who dwelt in Afghanistan. These groups practiced different cultures. Moreover, different cultures are practiced in Afghanistan because there are numerous ethnic groups that are smaller in number who are scattered throughout the country. Nuristanis is another ethnic group of Afghnistan. They dwell in the secluded mountains of the northeast of Kabul, near the Pakistan border. The Nuristanis claimed that they are the descendants of Alexander the Great. Before they were converted into Islam, Nuristanis had statue of wooden idols and ancestral images sculpted by them and these are well-preserved in the Kabul Museum. Several of these were possibly used to venerate dead ancestors and used in healing rituals or ceremonials (see â€Å"Other Minority Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan†. 2002). Moreover, life in the Afghan home is upholding high values because they really defined the roles of the men and women. These roles are very different from any culture around the world. The women’s lives only revolve in their home and to their children; thus, this practice is in line with their Muslim beliefs. Starting from late 1950s, the urban women who belonged in a well-off family were allowed to find their work far from their homeland and had opportunity to study on higher education. But these privileges were not enjoyed by all women because women who dwelt in the rural areas or amongst nomadic tribes are not given these opportunities. Everyday, Afghan women supply their families with two meals, together with snacks. Their traditional meals are pilau which has meat or vegetables, poultry or wild game kebabas, mutton, yogurt, hot soup and nan which a flat bread. In addition, Afghan has different ways when they engage in marriage. A man and a woman are united in marriage through an agreement made by both parents by settling financial commitments or also called as the â€Å"marketplace† or â€Å"dowry†. In their culture, marriage is considered as a deal between families not just by individuals and it includes financial commitments on both families. The groom will give a dowry to the family of the bride. The dowry comprises of decorative and functional items that are necessary for establishing a household. It comprises goods like beddings, utensils, clothing, jewelry, fans and hangings. The men who attend the weddings are given presents like embroidered handkerchiefs or turban caps. The process in assembling a dowry involves a long period of time and much effort and it is usually started while the girl is still young. The relatives of the females help in the wedding preparations (see â€Å"Afghanistan†). III. Conclusion Truly, the cultures in Afghanistan are one of a kind. Afghan women are just like precious stones because they are well taken care by their parents. During in their younger years, parents set an arrange marriage for their daughter and ask for a dowry to the male’s side. References 1. â€Å"Afghanistan†. New Standard Encyclopedia. Volume 1, Pp. A-91, A-93, 94. 2. â€Å"Other Minority Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan†. 2002. http://www. afghan- network. net/Ethnic-Groups/other-groups. html 3. â€Å"Afghanistan†. http://146. 186. 95. 23/mat_mus/Tour/t_afghan. htm 4. â€Å"Afghanistan†. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. November 15, 2006. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Afghanistan#_note-4