The Kason festival of watering the Sacred Bodhi Tr Essays

The Kason festival of watering the Sacred Bodhi Tree, symbolizing the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha is an important Buddhist event throughout Myanmar. The full moon day of Kason is the Buddha Day, celebrated by the Buddhist faithful throughout the world. This year, the event is held on May 25th. On this day Dipankara Buddha prophesied to the hermit Sumedha that he would become Gotama Buddha, the latest one in this Baddha World, who again on suchlike days was born, attained Enlightenment (i.e., became the Buddha), and entered Parinibbana (i.e., passed away). The Buddha Day is the most significant day in the Buddhist world. It is a day four times blessed which is deeply intertwined with the milestones in the Buddhas life. The festival is also known as Vesak Day in other Buddhist countries, or the festival of pouring water on the Bodhi tree. The Bodhi tree ( Ficus Religiosa ), under which former prince Siddhattha attained Enlightenment, is held sacred. Hence the act of pouring water on it is an expression of piety and respect shown to him. Participants carry pots of water and Eugenia springs and flowers. Then comes chanting of Paritta verses, a brief explanation of the rites, and recitation of poems praising the Lord Buddha. Finally, water is poured at the foot of the Bodhi tree. Buddhist people would march in a grand procession to the Bodhi tree or to the pagodas to pour scented water. Every pagoda in Myanmar worth its salt has a sacred site complete with a Bodhi tree in its precincts. Yet festive atmosphere is not lacking: light refreshments are served accompanied by music and dance performed by amateur merry-makers. -- ( ) ( ) / / - -

Mythological Approach.

Mythological Approach. A mythological critic examines a work for repeating patterns that show thereasoning for various aspects of human life. In other words, upon analyzing a piece ofliterature, one will discover the "why's" of the human race. This could be anything frombirth and death to defeating death itself.A story that contains these aspects would be "Young Goodman Brown" byNathaniel Hawthorne. In this story, Goodman Brown has to take a spiritual journey on awalk through the forest. He encounters the Devil and he tempts Brown with all sorts ofways to 'leave the path.' The exact opposite of the Devil is represented in Brown's wife,Faith. Faith represents Brown's faith in God.An excerpt that best represents the Mythological Approach to Criticism is asfollows: "'Dearest heart,' whispered she, softly and rather sadly, when her lips were closeto his ear, 'pr'y thee, put off your journey until sunrise, and sleep in your own bed to-night. A lone woman is troubled with such dreams and such thoughts, that she' s afeard ofherself, sometimes. Pray, tarry with me this night, dear husband, of all nights in theyear!(2186)" This is a prime example of Faith's relying on premonitions.An example of the use of Archetypal Approach to Criticism would be the pinkribbons found in Faiths hair. There is a point in the story where Brown can't turn backfrom his journey, and because of this, Brown sees Faiths' ribbons fall from the sky."There was a scream, drowned immediately in a louder murmur of voices, fadinginto far-off laughter, as the dark cloud swept away, leaving the clear and silent sky aboveGoodman Brown. But something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on thebranch of the tree. The young man seized it, and...

Process of Elimination on the SAT 11 Key Tips

Process of Elimination on the SAT 11 Key Tips SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips With the guessing penalty eliminated for the redesigned SAT, you should guess on any question you can’t answer, because you won’t be penalized for wrong guesses. However, that doesn’t mean that guessing completely randomly is a good idea. You should always use the process of elimination as much as you are able to increase your chances of getting the right answer. In this article, I’ll explain how eliminating incorrect answers helps you, and then go over some specific strategies you can use to eliminate wrong answers on Reading, Writing, and Math. How Eliminating Incorrect Answers Helps You The guessing penalty may be gone, but that doesn’t mean you should throw careful thought to the wind and randomly choose an answer on any question you are remotely stumped on. If you guess randomly on an SAT multiple-choice question, which has four choices, your chances of guessing the correct answer are 25%. If you can eliminate one wrong answer, those chances jump to 33%. If you can eliminate two, those chances jump even higher, to 50%. This means that even if you can’t definitively identify the correct answer, eliminating wrong answers will be a huge help. In the next sections, I’ll present some strategies on eliminating wrong answers for each of the multiple choice sections- Reading, Writing and Language, and Math.Math actually has two multiple choice sections- no-calculator and calculator- but the elimination strategies are pretty much the same for both. Every practice problem comes from this free practice test released by the College Board. Look there for the complete passages for the Reading and Writing sections. STRATEGY! 4 Strategies to Eliminate Wrong Answers on Reading Here are four main strategies to eliminate wrong answers on Reading: plugging answers into the passage, honing in on modifiers, applying abstract answers to the passage, and leveraging â€Å"find the evidence† question pairs. For each strategy, I’ll present a practice question with an explanation to show the skills in action. Strategy #1: Plug It In You’ve probably heard â€Å"plug it in† most commonly as an elimination strategy for math tests. But you can do it on other kinds of multiple choice questions, too.For Reading, this strategy comes into play for any question that asks you to define a word or phrase in the passage. You can replace the word in question with each of the answer choices in turn- essentially plugging the answers back into the passage in place of the original word or phrase- and then eliminate the ones that don’t make sense in context. Example: The short paragraph that contains line 2 reads, â€Å"Akira came directly, breaking all tradition. Was that it? Had he followed form- had he asked his mother to speak to his father to approach a go-between- would Chie have been more receptive?† If we replace â€Å"form† with choice (A), â€Å"appearance,† we get, â€Å"Had he followed appearance.† This clearly doesn’t make sense. How do you â€Å"follow† appearance? Eliminate it. If we replace â€Å"form† with choice (B), â€Å"custom,† we get, â€Å"Had he followed custom.† This sounds much better; â€Å"following custom† is a logical phrase that refers to sticking to tradition. Keep it. If we replace â€Å"form† with choice (C), â€Å"structure,† we get â€Å"Had he followed structure.† How do you â€Å"follow† structure in this context? He’s not building anything; he’s asking for Naomi’s hand in marriage. Eliminate (C). Finally, if we replace â€Å"form† with (D), â€Å"nature,† we get â€Å"Had he followed nature.† This doesn’t make sense, either- not only is it an awkward-sounding phrase, it doesn’t make sense in the context of the passage. There’s nothing â€Å"natural† about marriage customs; they are created by people. Eliminate (D). By â€Å"plugging in† the answers, we can eliminate the wrong choices one by one and determine that (B) is actually the only choice that makes sense. This is a strategy that works for any reading questions that ask you to define a word or phrase in context. Plugging it in: the next best thing when you don't have a dictionary. Strategy #2: Hone in on Modifiers and Descriptors Answers on SAT reading questions often contain descriptive modifiers, seen in phrases like â€Å"impassioned plea,† â€Å"desperate request,† and so on. It might be tempting to sort of gloss over the sea of modifiers when you are scanning responses, but don’t! You can use these modifiers to help you eliminate incorrect answers. The modifiers are often what most differentiates one answer choice from another. Example: As you can see, there are all kinds of descriptive modifiers in these answers. Choice (A) has â€Å"careful,† â€Å"traditional; (B) has â€Å"detailed,† â€Å"meaningful,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (C) has â€Å"definitive,†; and (D) has â€Å"cheerful† and â€Å"amusing.† Let’s hone in on the modifiers in the above question for practice. Choice (A) describes the development of the passage as a â€Å"careful analysis of a traditional practice.† Certainly a â€Å"traditional practice†- using go-betweens to propose marriage- is a major subject of this passage. But is there careful analysis of this practice? â€Å"Careful† implies that the analysis is methodical or systematic, while this passage is only concerned with relating one anecdote. This is not â€Å"careful.† We can eliminate (A) based on this modifier. In answer (B), the passage is described as a â€Å"detailed description of a meaningful encounter.† The description here can definitely be described as â€Å"detailed.† The conversation is brief, but the passage is over a page long. It’s also about a marriage proposal, which is usually significant and emotional, so it seems reasonable to describe the encounter as â€Å"meaningful.† Let’s keep (B) in the running. Choice (C) describes the passage as â€Å"a definitive response to a series of questions.† Well, one question is definitely being asked here- Akira is asking for Naomi’s hand. But is there a definitive, or final, response? Chie gives no answer, so no. (C) can be eliminated. In choice (D) the passage is termed â€Å"a cheerful recounting of an amusing anecdote.† This passage concerns a serious matter, that of a marriage that could involve Chie’s daughter moving to another continent. So it’s not really appropriate to call this anecdote â€Å"amusing† or the recounting of events â€Å"cheerful.† Eliminate (D). By focusing on the modifiers and descriptors, we can eliminate answers in turn until we are left with the correct answer, (B). It’s important to pay close attention to these words since they are often what really separates the answers from each other! Don't let modifiers cloud your judgment- use them! Strategy #3: Apply an Abstract Answer to the Passage What do I mean by this? Well, lots of SAT reading questions have answer choices that are written in the abstract: instead of identifying a specific character, answers will say â€Å"one character,† or â€Å"a character†; instead of identifying a specific event, answer choices will say â€Å"an event,† or â€Å"a moment,†; and so on. The general, vague-sounding way these answers are phrased can make it hard to confidently eliminate answer choices. You can get around this problem by explicitly applying the general, abstract statements in the answer choices to concrete elements of the passage. This makes it much easier to spot answer choices that don’t fit. Example: In this question, all of the answer choices are presented as abstract statements, describing â€Å"one character† and â€Å"another character† without linking these pronouncements to specific characters that appear in the passage. If you can apply these vague, nonspecific answer choices explicitly to elements in the passage, in this case by identifying which characters are being referred to, it will be much easier to spot incorrect answers. Answer choice (A) says that, â€Å"one character argues with another character who intrudes on her home.† Well, the scene takes place in Chie’s home, and the only character who does not live there is Akira. We could rewrite this choice, then, as â€Å"Chie argues with Akira, who intrudes on her home.† But they don’t argue, and Akira is hardly an intruder- he is announced with a calling card, and Chie goes to meet him. So we can eliminate choice (A). Answer choice (B) says that one character receives a surprising request from another character. Who makes a request in this passage, and of whom? Well, Akira requests Naomi’s hand in marriage from Chie, her mother. So we could rewrite this answer as â€Å"Chie receives a surprising request from Akira.† This seems reasonable; we will keep this choice in mind. Answer choice (C) says that â€Å"one character reminisces about choices she has made over the years.† Since â€Å"she† is used, it would have to be either Chie or Naomi reminiscing. Naomi is only 18, so it wouldn’t make much sense for her to be reminiscing about her choices â€Å"over the years.† That leaves Chie. So stated in concrete terms, choice (C) would read, â€Å"Chie reminisces about choices she has made over the years.† But that’s not a good description what happens in the passage- it doesn’t mention either Akira or Naomi at all, who are also key players here. (C) can be eliminated. Answer choice (D) states, â€Å"One character criticizes another character for pursuing an unexpected course of action.† Well, from the passage we know that Akira is doing several unexpected things. He shows up at a time when he is not expected, and he is going to America, and he is asking for Naomi’s hand.So he may be â€Å"pursuing an unexpected course of action.† The only character he interacts with substantively in the passage is Chie, so we would have to rewrite this answer choice as, â€Å"Chie criticizes Akira for pursuing an unexpected course of action.† But Chie doesn’t really criticize Akira- the only things she says to Akira are to congratulate him for his position in America and to ask whether Naomi knows he wants to marry her. (D) can be eliminated. With that, we’ve eliminated every answer but (B). (I swear it’s only a coincidence that all of these sample questions have B answers!) By rewriting answer choices that are offered in general or abstract terms so they are more concretely linked to the passage, we can more easily eliminate wrong answers. SAT Reading: the floral edition. Strategy #4: Leverage "Find the Evidence" Question Pairs "Find the Evidence" question pairs are a new question type on the revised SAT. These question pairs will first ask you something about the passage and then to find evidence that supports your previous answer in a follow-up question. Sometimes you can leverage these â€Å"find the evidence† pairs to eliminate wrong answers. Because you know that the answers have to go together, you can eliminate from the first question question answers that don’t have a corresponding piece of evidence in the second question. Example: To make explaining this example a little clearer, here are the complete â€Å"evidence† answer choices for question 14 written out: Many relish the opportunity to buy presents because gift-giving offers a powerful means to build stronger bonds with one’s closest peers. People buy gifts that recipients would not choose to buy on their own. Research has found that people often struggle to take account of others’ perspectives. Although a link between gift price and feelings of appreciation might seem intuitive to gift-givers, such an assumption may be unfounded. If you’re stumped by the first question in an evidence pair, try to match answers from the first question to â€Å"evidence† answers from the second question in the pair. If there’s no matching evidence in the second question, you can confidently eliminate the answer from the first question. You may not always be able to eliminate all answers this way, but all eliminations help! Let’s work through the above example. In question 13, answer choice (A) states that people value gift-giving as a â€Å"form of self-expression.† Is there any matching evidence in question 14? Answer choice (B) says that gift-givers buy gifts that recipients might not buy on their own, but that’s not the same thing as a gift functioning as â€Å"self-expression.† Similarly, for choice (C), the fact that people â€Å"struggle to take account of others’ perspectives† doesn’t necessarily mean that people are expressing themselves when they buy gifts. There’s not really matching evidence in question 14, so we can eliminate choice (A) from question 13. Moving on to the next answer choice for question 13, choice (B) says that people value gifts as â€Å"an inexpensive way to show appreciation.† Are there any answers in question 14 that support this? None of the answer choices mention price except for (D), which says that gift-givers assume price and level appreciation expressed are linked. The idea that gift-givers give more expensive gifts to show more appreciation directly contradicts the idea that people use inexpensive gifts to show appreciation! So there’s no evidence to match (B) and we can eliminate it from the running for question 13. Question 13’s choice (C) suggests that people value gifts because givers are required to reciprocate. There’s nothing about reciprocating, or giving gifts in return, in any of question 14’s evidence answer choices. Eliminate (C). This leaves us with choice (D) for question 13, which states that people value gifts as a means to strengthen relationships. When we scan question 14’s answers, we can see that answer choice (A) states that people value gift-giving as a chance to build stronger bonds. This matches up perfectly with answer (D). So (D) for question 13 and (A) for question 14 are the correct answers! It might seem a little tedious to use this matching strategy, but it pays off: we got two "sure bet" right answers this way! Note that you won’t always be able to eliminate all wrong answers with this strategy- sometimes the question writers like to have a couple of matching evidence pairs to stump you. Elementary, my dear Watson. That sums up my four helpful strategies to eliminate answers on the SAT Reading section: plugging in the answer choices when you are asked to define a word or phrase, honing in on descriptive modifiers, linking abstract answer choices to specific characters and moments in the passage, and leveraging evidence-based question pairs. Note that you might sometimes want to use a combination of strategies to eliminate answers for a given question if it’s appropriate to do so. Now on to Writing! Three Strategies to Eliminate Wrong Answers on Writing Because good things come in threes, I have three helpful strategies to eliminate wrong answers in writing. First up is my perennial favorite, plugging in the answer. Then I’ll cover spotting common grammatical errors, and finally, using topic sentences. Once again, you can (and should!) use multiple strategies to eliminate wrong answer choices on the test. I’ll mostly focus on one strategy per example question, but occasionally I might mention another strategy in my explanation where appropriate. Strategy #1: Plugging in the Answer It’s our favorite strategy, plugging in the answer! Yes, this is going to appear as an elimination strategy for all three SAT section types. That’s because it’s effective for any question where you can replace something in the passage (or question) with each of the answer choices and see how it works out. This strategy is helpful for tons of questions on writing: not just on questions where you need to choose the correct word or phrase to complete a sentence, but also on paragraph completion questions where you need to choose where it makes the most sense to place a sentence. It’s a very versatile technique. Example: The sentence that goes with the above question is â€Å"Because consumers reap the nutritional benefits of Greek yogurt and support those who make and sell it, therefore farmers and businesses should continue finding safe and effective methods of producing the food.† We don’t need to â€Å"plug in† answer choice (A), NO CHANGE, as it’s already plugged in to the sentence, but we can read it aloud to ourselves to see how it sounds. It’s very awkward to have â€Å"therefore† in the middle of the sentence. If it sounds awkward, it’s usually wrong. Even if you don’t know the specific grammatical rule at play, you can always be sure that the SAT prioritizes writing that is clear and straightforward. So if something sounds weird to you, odds are it’s a wrong answer. Eliminate (A). If we plug answer choice (B) into the sentence, we get, â€Å"Because consumers reap the nutritional benefits of Greek yogurt and support those who make and sell it, farmers and businesses should continue finding safe and effective methods of producing the food.† This sounds pretty natural and clear. On SAT writing, if it sounds natural, there’s a decent chance it’s the correct answer. (If you do know the grammar, you’ll know that this sentence is correct because we have a dependent clause beginning with â€Å"because† linked with a comma to an independent clause, starting with â€Å"farmers.†) Either way, keep (B). If we plug in answer choice (C), we get, â€Å"Because consumers reap the nutritional benefits of Greek yogurt and support those who make and sell it, so farmers and businesses should continue finding safe and effective methods of producing the food.† This one sounds awkward, too. â€Å"Because† beginning the sentence and then â€Å"so† right in the middle of the sentence sounds redundant and weird. Get rid of it! Eliminate choice (C). With answer choice (D) plugged in, the sentence reads as, â€Å"Because consumers reap the nutritional benefits of Greek yogurt and support those who make and sell it: farmers and businesses should continue finding safe and effective methods of producing the food.† This sounds sort of okay. Let’s keep it for now. After plugging in answer choices we’ve eliminated choices (A) and (C) since they sound awkward right off the bat. So now we have answers (B) and (D) left to choose from. To get the right answer here, it would be helpful if we knew the rules for colon usage: colons should only be used to separate two independent clauses where the second one logically follows the first, or to begin a list. So answer choice (D) doesn’t qualify; this leaves (B) as the only viable answer choice. But even if we didn’t know that, if we could determine that choice (B) definitely made a correct sentence, we could be pretty sure that it was the correct answer. There is only ever one indisputably correct choice on the SAT, so if one answer is definitely right, all the other answers have to be wrong. Plug in those answers like your electric guitar! Strategy #2: Spotting Common Grammatical Errors If you have a solid understanding of some common grammatical errors, you can often eliminate at least some answers to any question on the writing section easily because they contain a common error. Example: We don’t even need to look at the sentence in the passage this question is referring to in order to start eliminating answers: choices (B) and (D) both use apostrophes improperly in a plural word. Apostrophes are only appropriate to indicate possession (like â€Å"Cady’s bike†) or create contractions (like â€Å"can’t† and â€Å"won’t†). By knowing this common grammatical error and being able to spot it, we just upped our chances of guessing the correct answer from 25% to 50% in one fell swoop. We’re now left with (A), â€Å"No Change,† and (D), â€Å"could have polluted waterways.† We can plug these last two choices into the sentence to find the correct answer. With choice (A), the sentence reads, â€Å"If it is improperly introduced into the environment, acid-whey runoff can pollute waterways, depleting the oxygen content of streams and rivers as it decomposes.† This sounds pretty good. Let’s leave choice (A) in the running. What about if we plug in choice (D)? Then we have the sentence, â€Å"If it is improperly introduced into the environment, acid-whey runoff could have polluted waterways, depleting the oxygen content of streams and rivers as it decomposes.† If this sounds awkward, it’s because it is. This is the wrong answer because it introduces a new, non-matching verb tense into the sentence. But what you mostly need to know is that it sounds awkward and wrong, which in writing is generally a good reason to eliminate an answer. Goodbye to (D)! This leaves us with (A), â€Å"No change,† as the correct answer. Hurrah! In addition to improper apostrophe use, some other common grammatical errors you might use to eliminate answers on the writing section include: Incorrect idiom phrases (like â€Å"could of† instead of â€Å"could have†) Incorrect pronoun usage (phrases like â€Å"whom goes† instead of â€Å"who goes†) Modifier errors: adjectives/adverbs appearing in the wrong place in a phrase and/or in the wrong form (like â€Å"teach in a way more effectively† instead of â€Å"teach in a more effective way† or even just â€Å"teach more effectively†). Hopefully there's not an explosion every time you find an error. Strategy #3: Using Topic Sentences On questions that are primarily about argument quality or the structure of a piece, topic sentences are your best friends. They help clue you into the structure of a written piece and help you know what details are most important. You can use these clues to eliminate answers. Example: This question is asking us to choose the sentence part that will provide the most relevant detail. For a detail to be relevant, it needs to be related to the topic of the paragraph it’s contained in. How do we know what’s most relevant to a particular paragraph? The topic sentence. So scan back up to the topic sentence of this paragraph: â€Å"The main environmental problem caused by the production of Greek yogurt is the creation of acid whey as a by-product.†This paragraph, then, is about environmental problems associated with the whey by-products of Greek Yogurt. Do any of the answers seem relevant to this topic? With choice (A), â€Å"No Change,† the complete sentence reads, â€Å"They can add it to livestock feed as a protein supplement, and people can make their own Greek-style yogurt at home by straining regular yogurt.† Well, making your own yogurt might have something to do with sustainability, which might be relevant to environmental problems. We’ll leave this answer in for now. Choice (B) discusses converting Greek Yogurt by-products into gas to use as fuel. This seems like it could be related to the environment because it’s about recycling the whey by-products. Leave in (B). Choice (C) mentions that a different kind of whey is more desirable for human consumption. Does this have anything to do with the environment? Nope. Say goodbye to (C). Choice D) just further elaborates on the nutritional value of the yogurt-based supplement for livestock. That’s not particularly relevant to our overall topic of the whey by-product and the environment. Eliminate (D). We are now left with two answers: choice (A), which discusses people making their own Greek yogurt, and choice (B), which discusses some further options for Greek yogurt whey by-product disposal. If we look at the sentence that comes before this one in the passage, it says, â€Å"To address the problem of disposal, farmers have found a number of uses for acid whey.† People making their own yogurt, as in (A), doesn’t seem as relevant to alternate uses for acid whey as using the whey for electricity. So we can eliminate (A), leaving us with (B) as the best answer. Thus, topic sentences are a key tool to highlight what’s most important in a given paragraph when we are trying to eliminate wrong answers. Thanks, topic sentences! This delicious yogurt has a dark secret...dastardly whey by-products! Four Strategies to Eliminate Wrong Answers in Math Math is the subject where you may feel the most lost on questions if you don’t have any idea what the answer is. But you can guess effectively even if you don’t fully understand a question. My four strategies for eliminating answers on SAT Math questions are plugging it in (of course!), testing the models, replacing variables with real numbers, and paying close attention to signs. Strategy #1: Plug It In Ah, yes, the mother of all answer-eliminating strategies when you are stumped on an algebra-related problem on a math test.Take the given answer choices and plug them back into the equation(s) to see if they work. Example: This one has two equations, but don’t be stumped by this. The solution has to work in both equations, so plug the values into the top equation first. If it doesn’t work there, eliminate the answer choice; if it does, move on to the bottom equation. Let’s try answer choice (A), in which $x=-5$ and $y=-2$.Plugging these values in to the first equation gives us: $$3(-5)+4(-2)=$$$$(-15)+(-8)=-23$$ That matches the top equation’s solution of -23, so we’ll move on to the bottom equation.In the second equation, we get: $$2(-2)-(-5)=$$$$(-4)-(-5)=$$ $$(-4)+5=1$$ That does not match the bottom equation’s solution of -19, so we can eliminate (A) as a choice. On to answer (B), in which $x=3$ and $y=-8$.Plugging these values in to the first equation gives us: $$3(3)+4(-8)=$$$$9+(-32)=-23$$ This matches the top equation’s solution of -23, so we’ll move on to the bottom equation.In the second equation, we get: $$2(-8)-(3)=$$$$-16-3=-19$$ That does match the bottom equation’s solution of -19. (B) is the correct answer!If you want to double-check, you could plug in the next answers to make sure they are wrong. I won’t go through that here, though. So you can see that just so long as you know where to put the numbers, plugging the answer choices back into the equation is a very effective answer-eliminating strategy. Where do all the numbers go? Strategy #2: Test the Model On the revised SAT there are a variety of questions about mathematical modeling- creating and understanding equations that model real-world situations. On these questions, you can often use the model to eliminate incorrect answers (and/or to find the correct answer). Example: You don’t actually need to understand exactly what the different terms in the model mean to answer this question, you just need to be able to plug numbers into the model and identify the resulting pattern. Since you are trying to find the estimated increase of the boy’s height every year from 2 to 5, just â€Å"run† the model from years 2 and 5 and see what the height increase is from year to year. At year 2, that would be $h=3(2)+28.6$ or $34.6$ At year 3, that would be $h=3(3)+28.6$ or $37.6$ At year 4, that would be $h=3(4)+28.6$ or $40.6$ At year 5, that would be $h=3(5)+28.6$ or $43.6$ See a pattern? Every year, the boy’s height is increasing by 3 inches. So the answer is (A), 3. You can eliminate all the other answers. Of course, if you understand the way the model works, you’ll know that the boy’s average estimated height increase per year is 3 because 3 is the coefficient in front of $a$, the boy’s age. But even if you don’t, you can still answer this question with math answer-elimination techniques! Go math go! Strategy #3: Replace Variables With Real Numbers Replacing variables with real numbers in math problems often makes them easier to conceptualize. Obviously, you can’t do this when you are solving an algebra problem with a specific solution, but if you’re working with an expression, it’s a solid strategy. Note that it’s best to pick an easy-to-manipulate number that’s not 0 or 1. Example: For this problem, the first part says that $x3$. So be sure to pick a number greater than 3 to represent $x$! We need to find the answer that is equivalent to the expression Let’s pick the number 5 to stand in for $x$. Then we have $${1}/{1/(5+2)+1/(5+3)}$$ which simplifies to $${1}/{1/7+1/8}$$ which further simplifies to $${1}/{15/56}$$ which = $$56/15$$ Given that this term simplifies to $56/15$ in fractional terms, we can eliminate answers (C) and (D) without testing them because those clearly won’t equal $56/15$ if we substitute 5 for $x$. That leaves us with (A) and (B) to test. If we replace $x$ with 5 for answer (A), we get $${2(5)+5}/{5^2+5(5)+6}$$ which = $15/56$. This isn’t quite right- we are looking for $56/15$! We can eliminate choice (A). But answer (B) is just answer (A) with the numerator and denominator flipped. So that would be $56/15$ with 5 standing in for $x$. That’s our answer! (In an unrelated note, I’m apparently really, really good at picking sample questions with (B) as the answer.) Thus, replacing variables with real numbers can help you choose an answer if you are having trouble manipulating the variables. Just be sure you choose a number that makes for relatively easy math and that you’re internally consistent- i.e. don’t start out substituting 10 for $x$ and then start substituting 8 for $x$ later in the same problem. Illuminate the answer by plugging in some real numbers! Strategy #4: Pay Close Attention to Signs Paying close attention to positive and negative signs is hugely important when you are trying to eliminate answers that are clearly wrong on the Math test. Example: Let’s say you have no idea how to approach $i$ even with the helpful info that it is the square root of -1. That doesn’t mean all is lost on this question! You can see from the answers that the first term of the answer is either -1 or 15.You are trying to add $(7+3i)$ and $(-8+9i)$. Even if you have no idea how to deal with the imaginary number terms, you know you have a positive 7 and a negative 8! Would it make sense for $7+(-8)$ to lead to a first term of positive 15? no! The 7 is positive and the 8 is negative, so how would you reach 15? You can eliminate the answer choices that start with 15, choice (C) and choice (D). This leaves you with choices (A) and (B).So how to choose between them? Well, you have a positive $3i$ and a positive $9i$. Does it make sense for these to add up to $-6i$, like in (B)? Do two positives ever add up to a negative? No! Eliminate (B). This leaves choice (A) as the answer. By thinking carefully about the positive and negative signs in the question and our answer choices, we were able to eliminate answers without needing to understand what $i$ meant at all! Follow the signs. That wraps up my math answer eliminating strategies: plug in answers, test models, replace variables with real numbers, and pay attention to signs! Key Takeaways With the guessing penalty gone, you should answer every multiple-choice question on the SAT. But don’t just guess randomly- guess smart! These are my best answer-eliminating strategies for each section: Reading Plug the answer choices into the passage Hone in on modifiers Link abstract answers to concrete elements of the passage Leverage â€Å"find the evidence† question pairs Writing Plug the answer choices into the passage Spot common grammatical errors Use topic sentences Math Plug the answer choices into the problem Test the model(s) Replace variables with numbers Pay attention to signs! With these elimination strategies in mind, you can up your guessing game so instead of picking random answers, you’re guessing strategically when you don’t know the answer to a question. What's Next? Wondering what to expect on SAT test day? Let us tell you! If you're worried aboutSAT Math, see our key tips for success.More concerned about SAT Reading? See our 5-step process.If SAT Writing is your primary concern, see our key tips for SAT Writing and Language. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We have the industry's leading SAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today:

Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation

Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation By Maeve Maddox One of my college professors insisted that quote is a verb and quotation is a noun and never the twain shall meet. For example, a writer quotes from an author, but the quoted material is a quotation, never â€Å"a quote.† Although I still observe the distinction in my own writing, I have become aware that both the OED and Merriam-Webster recognize the use of quote as a noun. Most English words ending in -tion have French cognates, for example: information, confirmation, and position. Such words came into English in the Middle Ages from French. In M.E. the ending of these French borrowings was spelled -cioun; later the ending came to be spelled -tion in both languages. Through the centuries, many -tion words have lost their endings, and more are in the process of doing so. English words ending in -tion tend to lose the suffix when the first part of the word retains the word’s meaning without it. Here are some shortened -tion nouns that have become accepted into standard English: quote from quotation ID or I.D. from identification insert from insertion Here are some that the OED still labels colloquial or slang: invite from invitation info from information admin from administration prep from preparation promo from promotion (in the sense of publicity) ammo from ammunition NOTE: M-W does not agree with OED on all of the shortened -tion words. For example, while M-W labels the noun invite â€Å"chiefly dialectal,† it admits ammo as a standard word. OED does not have an entry for specs with the meaning specifications, but M-W has. Many speakers cringe when they hear or read invite used as a noun, but the tendency to drop -tion when the rest of the word is sufficiently meaningful without it, is strong in English. I may not like hearing invite used as a noun, but enough speakers use it that way for it to make a comeback. Yes, comeback: 1659  Ã‚   H. LEstrange Alliance Divine Offices 326  Ã‚   Bishop Cranmer..gives him an earnest invite to England. OED documentation. A second tendency with -tion words that I find it difficult to accept with equanimity concerns verbs. The function of the suffix -tion is to change a verb into a noun: examine/examination, locate/location, converse/conversation, interpret/interpretation. Some speakers, however, perhaps because they are not familiar with the underlying verb, create a new verb via back formation. For these speakers, orientation become orientate; interpretation becomes interpretate, and conversation becomes conversate. NOTE: Back-formation is the formation of what looks like a root-word from an already existing word which might be (but is not) a derivative of the former. Of the words I just listed, orientate has become standard in British English, but it is still regarded as nonstandard in American English. Interpretate does appear in the OED, but it is labelled â€Å"rare or obsolete†; the most recent example of its use is dated 1866. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesDoes "Mr" Take a Period?20 Ways to Cry

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis Coursework

Threats And Vulnerabilities Analysis - Coursework Example As the result, it is upon the institution to implement policies that would serve best in physical, technical and administrative safeguards of the system. The following section lists a number of policy statements that give the narration of the information security controls that could be used by the institution to implement recommendations for protection. The recommendations focus on major areas of the institutional operations including Institutional Information, Information Systems, Computerized Devices, And Infrastructure Technology. The policy statements are applicable across all departments within the organization and they are categorized in terms of Information Security Plan, Physical Controls, Monitoring Controls, Technical Security and Access Controls, General Operational Controls, and Account and Identity Management Controls.Policy statements Information Security plan The top management is responsible for documenting and overseeing implementation of an Information Security plan . This would help in securing the system and protection of data within the system, thereby thwarting intentions by any intruders. The Plan includes the following: 1.The Security Plan shall delegate and plan responsibilities across the organization to the appropriate people. For instance, this shall cut across system owners and system operators. This way, there will be proper engineering of the system’s operation thereby avoiding vulnerabilities such as poor administrative procedures.

Intercultural Communication in Phoenix Management Services Essay

Intercultural Communication in Phoenix Management Services - Essay Example The Foreign Service Institute was then in charge of handling cultural information in the United States. Intercultural communication did not have any resources for use in the 1960’s (Condon & Yousef, 1975). It is in the 1970’s that sources,  journals  and societies specializing in intercultural communication emerged. Hall looked at communication using the concept of low and high context messages depending on the importance of the context of the message. In a low context  message  the information in the message is explicit with no unspoken or implied information. While in the high context message most of the meaning is understood and passed on by the circumstances, relationships and  non-verbal  messages (Hall, 1976, Habke &  Sept,  1993). In the low context cultures, everything is communicated by explicit information while in a high context culture communication depends on the subtleness and circumstances. This theory by Hall lowers the chances of causing offense in intercultural communication for if one has a view of a culture; they are able to take measures to adjust to another culture thus improving the chances of precise communication (Hall, 1976)Other researchers who have contributed to the intercultural communication theory are William Gudykunst and Young Yum Kim. As a  navy  specialist deployed in Japan, Gudykunst came up with  he  theory on intercultural communication while training others.  

How the Industrial Revolution, post 1865, influenced migration and Research Paper

How the Industrial Revolution, post 1865, influenced migration and expanded civilization - Research Paper Example In this second industrial revolution, discovery and invention, acting as the catalysts played a major role in industrial and economic growth of the nation. These developments coupled with the developments in transportation and communications were responsible for the formation of organized industries with the emergence of big business empires in various industrial sectors such as steel and oil. Consequently the markets grew deep and wide for catering to the needs of the suppliers and consumers. These developments resulted into migration of people from different parts of the country to the urban industrial centers and different parts of the world to the US with the urban growth taking place at a rapid pace. These migrations were responsible for the diverse cultural background in the society. Industrial development The growth of industries was very fast during this period. The consumption of steel is an indicator for industrial development. The consumption of steel in the industrial and construction sector increased during this period and fuelled the growth of steel industry. The mass production of steel through innovative methods introduced by Carnegie made it cheaper and the demand for steel increased exponentially. This has accelerated construction of railroads across the country which stimulated the growth of business and industries by rendering mobility to the goods manufactured for reaching the customers throughout the country. Similarly, the growth of oil industry has changed the way the people were living in the US as its consumption was closely linked to general industrial growth, transportation and social life. Invention of telephone and telegraph aided industrial and economic growth further. â€Å"†¦the most dramatic improvement in the speed, breadth and reliability of news cov erage came with Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph. Newspapers became the major customers of the telegraph companies, and the cost of telegraph transmissions led to the formation of wire services like the Associated Press, which was founded as a cooperative venture by New York newspapers in 1848† (Stephens). Freedoms to press, free market economy and the capitalist system of the country encouraged entrepreneurship, and it attracted people from all over the world to the US. The opportunities available in the industrial centers for employment, profession or education caused migration of people to urban areas. The new techniques used in agriculture have increased productivity. The proportion of people employed in agriculture has come down. The agricultural laborers from rural areas migrated to cities in search of employment. Steckel states, â€Å"The importance of migration to urban growth is also indisputable. Because birth rates were low but death rates were high, migra tion fueled urban growth during the 19th century. Indeed, many cities and towns would have declined in size without an inflow of people that replaced the excess of deaths over births† (p. 1). Capital formation and emergence of corporate companies Referring to New York Stock Exchange, Teweles & Bradley says, â€Å"The vast development of the railroads was particularly important to the Exchange since those corporations were the chief issuers of securities in the trading market. About 70,000

Milgram Study findings and importance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Milgram Study findings and importance - Essay Example Milgram experiment involved three main characters, namely the experimenter (E), the subject or the teacher (T) and the learner (L). The experimenter (authority) and the recipient or the learner plays some secret roles, not to be known by the subject. The subject is made to believe that for every wrong answer the recipient is subjected to some electric shock, however, in reality; the learner was never subjected to such punishments. The learner who should be an actor plays some pre-corded sound to convince the subject that he/ she actually receives the electric shock. The teacher and learner are put in two separate rooms where they do not see each other, but can communicate to each other. The teacher is provided with some words to teach the learner. The teacher was made to read the initial pair of words then enables the learner to predict the possible match, the teacher also reads for possible answers; then the learner gave his/ her feedback by pressing a certain button to select the correct answer. The teacher would then execute some electric shock to the learner, for every wrong feedback, the shock increased by about 15 volts as the test progressed. However, could the learner give the correct answer, the subject moved to the next question (Walton, 2009). The learner could complain about the heart condition to convince the subject that he/she is receiving an actual electric shock. Furthermore, he banged the wall as a response to the shock stimuli. A subject was expected to stop the test after subjecting about 140 volts to the learner. It was at t his juncture that the subject would actually inquire what the experiment was about. Some subjects offered to continue with the test only after assurance that they would not be held accountable for all the damages on the learner, some laughed it off while some were stressed or depressed on learning that the learner is actually hurt. At some point, the subject wished to stop out of moral belief that the learner was in actual pain, but the experimenter or the authority would order him/her to continue. However, the experiment was stopped should the subject make four or five successive attempts to stop or after subjecting 450 volts of electric shock to the learner, on three successive operations. The experimenter would always assure the subject that the learner would not suffer any permanent tissues damage; hence he was to continue until the learner learnt all the words. To ascertain the result of the experiment, Milgram selected about 100 senior psychology students to determine the response among the 100 subjects or hypothetical teachers. It was found that only three su bjects out of the hundred would continue with the experiment, until the maximum voltage of 450volts was executed to the learner (Moore, 2004). Milgram also selected about forty psychiatrists who ascertained that majority of subjects would quit the test after subjecting the learner to a ten successive shock executions. They also found out that after reaching 300 volts, most subjects would stop the test once requested by the learners, and only three out of the hundred subjects would continue with the test even after the learner stopped responding to the questions, out of the pain from electric shock. It was clear the very few subjects were willing to execute full voltage to the learner, out of moral beliefs. Furthermore, at some point majority of subjects inquired the implication of the experiment, and were willing to give back the amount they were paid. This was out of pity or remorse to the inflicted learners. Subjects demonstrated some degree of stress and depression during the exp erimental session. The majority was sweating, groaning, biting their lips

The Role of the State in the Marxist Point of View Essay

The Role of the State in the Marxist Point of View - Essay Example For further clarification and exploration, it will also compare Marx's ideal government with that of the Luddites and utopian socialists. The paper will conclude with its findings. The Communist Manifesto which was published in 1848 documents the struggle of two major opposing social classes-the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. According to Marx (1), bourgeoisie refers to the "class of modern capitalists, owners of the means of social production and employers of wage-labour" while proletariat refers to the "class of modern wage-labourers who, having no means of production on their own, are reduced to selling their labor power in order to live." In order to fully understand the role of the government in the societal context of Marx, this paper will first look at the social structure and their implications in the society. The power struggle between these two social classes is justified by their opposing interests. The proletariat is portrayed as a utility maximizing entity because he seeks to maximize the value of his resource, his labor power, in return for higher wages. The bourgeoisie, on the other hand, is a profit maximizing entity because he seeks to minimize the cost of production by keeping wages for workers low (Marx 2). It should be noted that in Marx society, costs of production are allocated to fixed costs such as rent and interest. Wages, being the most variable and controllable, is kept at minimum. The bourgeoisie also aims to generate the most efficient productivity from the proletariat as this will also increase his profits. In this case, we see an antagonistic and contradictory relationship between the working class and the owners of capital. Therefore, in Marx's definition of proletariat, we see that the working class is portrayed as an exploited segment of the society. The relation ship between the two major classes also documents that power is concentrated on the hands of those who own the means of production. The working class, as implied by the definition of Marx (7), is seen by the bourgeoisie as a factor of production together with land and capital: "He becomes an appendage of the machine, and it is only the most simple, the most monotonous, and most easily acquired knack, that is required of him." This view of the society emphasizes the presence of social equality. The bourgeoisie uses their access of capital in order to exploit the proletariat. In this context of Marxist capitalist society, the state appears to be instrumental in preventing the existence of social equality. Marx recognizes that the state is mainly "a product and a manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms" (Lenin 2). When the struggle between classes in the society cannot be objectively reconciled, the state is created. Conversely, the existence of the state is a manifestation that the class antagonisms in the society cannot be reconciled. Thus, the state only comes into existence when the society is divided on class lines. As the creation and existence of the state is due to the antagonism between two social classes, the state in the Marxist context is created for a certain function that is, the resolution of the class struggle. It is, then, the utmost goal of the government to serve the interest of both parties and

Critical Observation Essay Example for Free

Critical Observation Essay The aspect of psychological basically relates the scientific explanation regarding the behavioral characteristics and personality issue of an individual as a human being. In this field, the critical aspects of personality development and behavioral characteristics of each person as unique and individual beings are explored relating to their social action and behavior. Included in this approach are the study of the significant issues and elements relating to the development and the establishment of the behavior and personality of each person particularly on the critical conditions such as abnormalities and psychological problems. Indeed, the psychological field discusses the human psyche and the establishment of the characteristics and qualities relating to the biological and physiological basis of their personality and behavior. There are several important issues and elements that are critical in the study of the psychological aspect of each individual particularly on the focusing of explaining his or her present condition or behavioral characteristics. On this aspect, a specific approach in line to the psychological research is employed to determine the relevant elements, contributory factors and the influential system to the present behavioral characteristics of each person. Several of the common approaches to this research aspect are the observation method, profiling, interview and others in which the researchers try to uncover and determine the possible cause and contributory element explaining the present behavioral characteristic and psychological problem of the subject. Through determining the primary root and the possible influences to the manifestation of the problem, further understanding can be facilitated which promotes awareness to the psychological characteristic of the involved person. As an actual example of the aspect of psychological research, consider the exercise conducted by the author of this paper wherein a specific approach were used to determine, understand, and explain the possible causes and the significant influences to the development of certain behavioral issue of a chosen subject. The subject established in this exercise is a female classmate of the researcher that displays a certain critical behavioral condition namely the alcoholism and smoking problem of the said person. As the person of this exercise, the researcher wishes to determine and the primary causes and specific influences to the development of this personal issue which is manifested in her social interaction. As a primary approach, the researcher first resorted to observation method and background profiling wherein she learned that the behavioral problem of the subject is commonly displayed when she is with peers of her social group. As observed, the likely need for the said behavioral issue only comes or is displayed when the subject is socializing, bonding with friends, and during social events. It is also noted that the subject spends most of her time for the said activities making the manifestation of her behavioral problems to be common in her daily routine and contributing to the development of this psychological issue. Proceeding after the observation is the interview approach wherein the researcher will evaluate the said psychological issue through based on the exposition and perspective of the subject. As she relates, the said issues namely the alcoholism and smoking have already became a habitual act on her part. It first started as her medium to deal with her personal problems and as a bonding grounds for her peers and friends which eventually developed into a behavioral routine. She also expressed that the said actions and issues are only exhibited while she is engage to social interaction and activities and are only passive when she is alone. Another particular element she expressed emphasis on her story is the issue of her family situation wherein she must also deal with the separation and certain conflicts between her parents. Living under these conditions, she started to resort to external means to adapt to her situation and gain stability over her problems. Based from the facts and factors gathered through the different approaches employed in determining the nature of the behavioral condition and issue of the subject, a form of evaluation will be conducted to determine the possible nature of the said issue. As based from the observation and interview, the alcoholism and smoking problem of the subject is mainly attributed to two specific condition namely her personal family situation and her social characteristics. First, the behavioral problem of the subject manifest as her form of her adaptation process to her situation particularly with the separation of her parents. It is also established that the behavioral problem of the subject also started during this period making this among the primary causes of her problem. Second, is her social characteristic wherein the problem manifests as her approach of socializing, interacting and bonding with her friends who also share the same behavioral condition. It is likely that the subject learned the said behavior from her social group. Also, the constant practice and involvement of the subject of the said behavior with her social group led to the routinary development of the said act leading to its integration to her personality. Leading up to the possible solution, two particular approaches are important to address this behavioral problem effectively namely, to tackle her family situation and address the parental guidance crucial to her withdrawal and the change of her environment particularly separation from her social group who also practice the said problem. These two particular issues are the main causes of her behavioral problem as established from the conducted critical observation research. From the determination of the primary causes and the significant contributory elements, an effective approach to address the problem can be created through tackling the fundamental factors leading to the development of the general issue. Indeed, as displayed in the result of the conducted critical observation research, the application of the said aspect in the field of psychology promotes critical understanding and effective intervention measures for the behavioral issue and problems involved. Through determining the possible causes, the related circumstances, the contributory factors as related from observation, profiling, and interview, the involved researcher can draw an effective approach to intervene and address the problem at hand towards the development of a positive and healthy behavioral characteristic for the subject of the matter. Bibliography American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. 5th Edition. ISBN-10: 1557987912. Clark-Carter, Da (1997). Doing Quantitative Psychological Research: From Design To Report. Psychology Press, U. K. 1st Edition. ISBN-10: 0863777880. Grych, John H. Fincham, Frank D. (2001). Interparental Conflict and Child Development: Theory, Research and Applications. Cambridge University Press. 1st Edition. ISBN-10: 0521651425.

Digital Encoding Technique Of Scrambling Computer Science Essay

Digital Encoding Technique Of Scrambling Computer Science Essay Scrambling is a digital encoding technique that is used in modern data communication schemes and can principally provide aid in retrieving information from received data enhancing synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver. In digital systems it is common to encounter long sequences of 1s and 0s making it difficult for the receiver to retrieve timing information [01]. As a result, the input device randomizes data but the receiver fails to obtain them in their consistent countenance. Adaptive equalization, clock recovery and variations of received data are difficulties that can be eliminated if the bit sequence is randomized and that is a procedure that a scrambling device can guarantee. Scrambling techniques can be divided into two classes; additive scrambling and multiplicative scrambling. In the first case scramblers tend to use modulo-2 addition in order to transform the input data stream and attain synchronization of both ends by using a sync-word. A specific pattern is placed at the beginning of each frame thats being sent and can be decrypted only by the receiver [googlebook]. On the other hand, multiplicative scramblers are named that way because they implement a multiplication between the input signal and the scrambler transfer function. This class of scrambling is also referred as self-synchronizing scrambling because they dont need a sync-word for synchronization [googlebook]. Scramblers are used in a variation of applications. In security systems for example, they can encrypt data and send them into a channel sequence with safety. That way they cant be intercepted on the way to the receiver and can be decrypted by the descrambler installed at the terminal. The main purpose of scrambling devices in data communication systems is to make sure that information from data that has been received from a terminal include timing material that aid the synchronization of both ends such as two modems [01]. 2. Understanding scrambling Accuracy in data communications is highly considerable as otherwise could lead to data loss. For example, a huge network malfunction could take place considering modems scramblers in the infrastructure of a countrys stock market were data must be represented live. This failure could be catastrophic considering the fact that data is being transmitted and received from all over the world. Thus, an errorless communication system is essential with quite accurate timing devices appended to it. This could be easily feasible if communication networks were simply constructed but at present numerous devices are being attached and large data sets are being processed in complex communication grids making it difficult to achieve or even approach the objective of punctual contact. 2.1 Additive (Synchronous) scrambler Data scrambling basically uses fixed binary sequences that mostly resemble a random signal. Feedback generates and provides shift registers with these sequences that afterwards are being exploited by modulo 2 adders. Shift register consists of flip-flops which are placed in a specific order in which they receive the bits and gradually forward them to the next flip-flop in a cascade formation [DTS]. Feedback connections in some stages include taps in which the tapped signals are added modulo 2 and fed back to the first flip-flop. In figure 1 flip-flops 2 and 5 are mod-2 added, flip-flops 1 and 2 are shift to 2 and 3 until they gradually land at flip-flop 4 and 5 and mod-2 output reverts back to flip-flop 1. The result of this shift register will go through thirty-one different states and then it will repeat this process of incoming bits from scratch. This outcome sequence might look fortuitous at first sight but taking under consideration the shift register, length and taps one can pe rceive the exact bits of the fed sequence [DTS]. Following, a simple example of the scramblers operation is comprehensively explained. Paradigm copes with an additive scrambler were an input bit sequence is exploited to fit the modulo 2 logic addition of a pseudorandom sequence. As shown in figure 1 a sequence is granted from a pseudo-random sequence generator and is composed of a 5-bit non zero seed. This sequence of bits (s1) is brought to the scrambler which are summed modulo 2 of locations 2 and 5 in the shift register.. Before the data transmission begins, bits are shifted up one stage as follows: 5 shifts to channel, 4 shifts to 5, 3 shifts to 4, 2 shifts to 3 and 1 shifts to 2. After this procedure takes place, sequences next bit is imported and this process is repeated. When data transmition (s2) arrives the descrambler, bits are summed in to modulo 2 sums at the stages of 2 and 5, just like the values given in the in the primary phase of scrambling. The first bit of the incoming sequence results from this sum and the contents at the registry are shifted up one stage as follows: 5 shifts to receiver, 4 shifts to 5, 3 shifts to 4, 2 shifts to 3 and 1 shifts to 2. This procedure is then repeated. Looking up to the beginning of the paradigm, it should be mentioned that scramblers structure is identical to the one that descrambles the data of the outgoing frame. Therefore, any optimization of the scramblers circuit must be implemented on both ways in order to carry out an accurate scrambling and descrambling action [02]. Suppose that the channel hasnt enticed any bit errors a successful scramble and descramble is being performed regarding that s1 = s2. Going even deeper with the scramblers action, a moreover examination of the example above should take place considering the circuits application. The basic characteristic of scrambling is the use of Galois Theory on polynomials which finds implementation in the afore mentioned example in the following equation: s2 = 1 + D2s2 + D5s2 (1) Where D is a unit delay operator representing the delaying sequence by one bit. Thus, D2s2 and D5s2 refer to the equivalent bits of the scrambled sequenced that is transmitted into the channel as represented in figure 1 and the binary X-OR operator taking place between them. Taking all terms of s2 in one side of the equality the following equation is obtained: [1 + D2 + D5] s2 = s1 (2) or, regarding the transfer process: s2 = [ 1 / (1 + D2 + D5 )] s1 (3) As for the descramblers equation approach, it is reflected as follows: s3 = [1 + D2 + D5] s2 (4) All the above circuits in depth approximation can be generally represented form the following equations: s2 = F(D)s1 (5) and s3 = G(D)s2 (6) which, in the scrambling and descrambling pair procedure are used as: F(D)G(D) = 1 (7) Thus, any receiving or transmitting connected shift registers that indulges Equation 7 are proper for use as a scrambler and descrambler pair. Furthermore, it is now clear that data can be scrambled for many reasons but in order for a terminal to receive these data and modify them into a distinctive countenance a descrambling device is necessary. Descrambling is the inverse of scrambling and its purpose is to restore the signals data state as they were originally supplied to the coupled scrambler [descrambler]. Descrambling is accomplished through using the exact algorithms that were implemented at the initial scrambled signal. Any other use of algorithms at the descrambler doesnt cohere to the complete scrambling and descrambling procedure. 2.2 Multicapitave (Self-synchronizing) scrambler Self-synchronizing scrambling operation acts in two modes. First mode is called start-up and copes with data which are placed to a coupled scrambler and descrambler. This specific seed of information is similarly stored on both ends. After a predestined time interstice, the first mode is terminated and the second one initiates a procedure were information that is stored on both end devices is used to form key signals [03]. This technique deals successfully with randomizing bits by using a logic addition of delayed digits from the source sequence. While in this steady-state mode, errors cannot affect the data as they are already loaded in the devices before the descrambling initiates. Figure 2 represents an indiscriminate scrambler and descrambler that contains M stages and output is given by the following equation: in which + (X-OR) and ÃŽÂ £ denote modulo addition. Shift register of the descrambler receives the M error-free scrambled bits and initiates decoding after affirming that they are identical to the ones transmitted by the receiver [DTS]. Descramblers decoding equation is familiar to the one of scramblers and favors the following: Figure 2 Block diagram of Self-Synchronizing Scrambler and Descrambler [DTS]. Guided scrambling In data communication systems where scrambling contains bit stream transmissions, an improved method of self-synchronizing technique can be applied. Guided scrambling is accepted to be an extension of multicapitave scrambling and its basic principle is based on a refined encoding technique which provides an enhanced transmission [06]. Analytically, this method exploits the drawback of a single source bit affecting many other quotient bits. For example [06], if 01001010001001010100101 is the source sequence, the scrambled should be: 01000000001000000100000 which is an unbalanced sequence presenting only a few alterations. The most significant bit of this sequence is 0 but if an altered quotient required this bit to be 1 the new sequence would be: 11010110010111000010111 This sequence, with the alteration of only one bit, carried in the modulo-2 scission process, plainly depicts better transmission attributes. Guided scrambling is widely implemented in fiber optics communications and assures balanced, efficient transmission with high transition density. 3. Data scrambling in the employment of security Since the amount of digitalized content increases rapidly, data protection becomes a great issue to deal with, as important as encoding techniques implemented to achieve desirable security [MIS]. Scrambling is greatly well-known and effective security technique as its applied on most communication forms [AMIP]. Encryption is the formal name of the scrambling process which applies the function that alters the scope of data in order to be protected before transmitted [SC]. Modern encryption involves algorithms that are based on complex mathematical functions making difficult or in some cases impossible to reverse the scrambled data. Confidentiality is clearly the need that encryption is called to fulfill. However, integrity is also a great issue that data encryption successfully faces. For a long time it has been believed that the feature where one can copy and distribute content freely is advantageous but apart from reading data one can easily change them in a meaningful manner [AMIP]. Furthermore, data scrambling and encryption are fundamental components of protocols that enable the provision of security while executing a system, network or communication task [SC]. 4. Implementation of scramblers in 56kbps V.92 modems V.92 modems are almost extinguished since broadband internet has been solidly established all over the world, but its quite interesting to investigate the implementation of the scrambling and descrambling technique on this device because this is where it was elevated. Wherever GSTN and PSTN are the only communication networks infrastructure, this type of modem is the state of the art. Data rates of a V.92 modem are 56kbps for downstream when in use from server to client connection and 48kbps for upstream when in use from client to server. Term modem emanates from the words modulation and demodulation which basically refer to the main process executed by this specific device: turning to account of the analog signal carried by telecommunication network for data transmission and elaboration. Scrambler in this case guarantees sufficient transitions in the transmitted data for clock extraction and avoids a continuous stream of ones and zeros using an algorithm to alter the data sequence [DCCN]. In order for a modem to perform a one to one mapping between bits and encoding procedure of another modem device it must also be equipped with a descrambler. Data communications very often transmit idle characters, particularly when paired modems make no use of the transmission medium for a relatively long period [DCCN]. Initiating a data transmission again could evoke a data blast with repeating errors presented at the beginning of data. This error occurs because clock phases pattern is quite sensitive but can be overcome from scramblers ability to randomize data before their transmission [DCCN]. Figure 3 Scrambler block diagram [MATLAB] A scramblers block diagram is characteristically represented in Figure 3. As mentioned before, all adders perform a modulo-2 addition and switches in the schematic are defined by the implementing polynomial. In the case of a 56kbps modem the polynomial in use is: y(x) = 1 + x-18 + x-23 which reflects a self-synchronizing scrambling procedure yet bearing a feature of creating the handshake between the terminals. If transmission in the communication network is errorless then the descrambler will be able to translate the signal using the same polynomial contrarily. 5. Application of Matlab to simulate a 56kbps modems scrambler Matlabs Simulink toolbox can fulfill the potential of simulating a scrambler with all the adjustments required. Figure 4 enacts a full scrambling procedure from the signal generation to the scrambling feature and after that to the scope function. Figure 4 Scrambler simulation on Simulink Going deeper in this scheme analysis, a signal generator is situated at the beginning of the diagram. Bernoulis Binary Generator is using a distribution to produce a sequence of random 0s and 1s. In addition to that, a probability of P is applied to produce 0s and 1-P for 1s. The scrambler feature is using a scheme like the one represented in Figure 3 for its fundamental use and utilizes all polynomials capabilities. For example if the polynomial is y(x) = 1 + x-6 + x-8 then the data to be imported are: p = [1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1] and p = [0 -6 -8] [MATLAB]. Last, but not least, the scope widget where conclusive measurements can be extracted from all the previous signal processing. The most common test to be implemented in this simulating scheme would consider time and the input value of P. Particularly, P configures the quantity of 0s and 1s that will shape the outgoing stream of the binary generator. Speed of the user on the other hand in comparison with the real speed of the 56kbps modem is quite low, resulting a long stream of idle status or 0s. In the subsequent examination P will be given the value of 0.9 in order to have maximum possibilities for this stream to appear. Using the spectrum analyzer from Matlabs Simulink the following results of Figure 5 appeared.

Comparing Death in D.H. Lawrence’s The Horse Dealer’s Daughter and Kath

Comparing Death in D.H. Lawrence’s The Horse Dealer’s Daughter and Katherine Mansfield’s The Garden Party Controlling the movements of the short stories, death is a regnant theme in D.H. Lawrence’s â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter† and Katherine Mansfield’s â€Å"The Garden Party.† Death brings forth consciousness and it excites the need for an epiphany within the protagonists. To a lesser extent, death creates tremors in the worlds of the antagonists. Death furthermore makes the indifferences of the secondary characters more pronounced. Affecting the lives of the protagonists, the antagonists, and the secondary characters of these two short stories, death plays an integral role in the themes of these works. Lawrence’s â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter† was originally called â€Å"The Miracle,† marking the protagonist’s rebirth of love out of death. Mabel, the twenty-seven year old spinster, is revived physically and spiritually after her submergence in the â€Å"dead cold pond† (2337). For a decade, Mabel played housekeeper for her â€Å"ineffectual brothers† and although she was not happy, the â€Å"sense of money†¦kept her proud, confident†(2334). After the death of Mabel’s father, the family’s horse-dealing business collapses and Mabel becomes â€Å"mindless and persistent, [enduring] from day to day† (2335). Distant from her brothers and receiving no visitors other than dealers and â€Å"coarse men† (2334), Mabel concludes that her life is like a barren field. Even though Mabel reassures herself that she â€Å"would always hold the keys of her own situation† (2335), she has a lready died a spiritual death – a death that is mirrored by the imageries of the desolate house and the â€Å"sloping, dank, winter-dark fields† (2334). Mabel does not have any hopes for ... ... resonates throughout both short stories and it spurs the growths of the protagonists and antagonists, characters who reach new heights of understanding about themselves and others. These characters are also able to resolve the peace with death, the purgative process that transforms them. The secondary characters in these two stories are unfazed by death, thus uncovering their insensitivity towards the loss of others. Albeit tragic in many ways, â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter† and â€Å"The Garden Party† reveal glimmers of hope and humanity in the shadow of death. Works Cited Lawrence, D.H. â€Å"The Horse Dealer’s Daughter.† 1922. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 2: 2330-2341. Mansfield, Katherine. â€Å"The Garden Party.† 1921, 1922. Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7th ed. 2 vols. New York: Norton, 2000, 2: 2423-2433.

Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises Essay -- Small and Medium Enter

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) are broadly defined as manufacturing, manufacturing-related services (MRS) and agro-based industries that employ around 200 full-time employees or have annual sales turnover of not more than RM50mil (Chermaine, 2013). Besides, the term also refer to enterprises in the services, primary agriculture and information and communication technology industries with not more than 75 full-time employees or annual sales turnover of not more than RM20mil. According to the SME Annual Report 2012, small and medium enterprises represent 98.5% of the approximately 78,000 companies in Malaysia, with the remaining 1.5% made up of multinational and public-listed companies. In many developed nations, SMEs are thought to contribute between 40% and 60% to gross domestic product and 60% and 70% of the employment, but the SME sector in Malaysia has not reached the mark yet. The core purpose of Web services is to create an exchange of data and information between businesses in real time via the Internet, and thus can be shared with customers, suppliers and other business partners of all the information needed. It is resemblance of the business model for example e-commerce or e-business that required transaction, product catalogue, and so on between supplier, company and customer. The complex e-commerce is becoming trend as Amazon.com and eBay started it to encourage other Website within other companies using it. From that, the growing of the new software, function and features will be invented. Furthermore, the rise and development of technology and communication by using the Web to conduct business is on the rise as well. Therefore, when applied to any organization that uses web services to automatically increase the value of the market, because right now, all the benefits of working on the line will help the company in its growth There are some of those benefits that will increase the value of business. An easier and efficient e-business or e-commerce application is one of the benefit can be gained by the company which is the efficiency and the easy access of business will make business flowing good and flawless. In addition, the company or organization would be able to go in the global market. As the purpose of the company want to expand their businesses, this e-commerce will help the organization going global business as the main function is online and everyone can buy it from their home as long as the customer meets the term and condition. Finally, invented the new way to do business, as this e-commerce will allow other business sector at all fields will do the same. From this, the growth of the economics and the customer will be enjoy of the variety of product that can be bought. There are a lot of benefits of Web services to Amazon, eBay and their developer partners. The first one is it allows an explosive business growth in globally because it is not only on domestic as Web services are invented for organization to go global market. This will encourage other organization will do the same method to increase their profit. Secondly, Web services help these companies to expand their market reach as promotional activities for customer to get to know the product. Target market reach will be able for the company to find their potential customer to buy their product. Thirdly, it will give users the ability to act on information any time, any place, and from any smart device. It covers up almost everything that is available t... ...e services providers begin and other competitor have no choice to lower their price in order to compete with U Mobile and it is long debate to be spot on. Back to the topic, in Aroma Hijrah itself is the new entrant in the market. So far, NSK has to compete with new retailer which are more convenience and cheap. The price wars and offering better product and services are needed. Thus, NSK came out with an idea to cover themselves from threat of new entrant. First of all, they provide a membership cards that the customer can get 1 point in every Rm1 they spend. Once they collected at some limit, NSK will provide the customer with the special gifts and the membership also allows the customer to get member prices that is lower than non-member price. Also, NSK provide N-Card Kiosk in order to check and verify their cards and its collected points. Based from my observation, NSK tend to open their store nearest factory and industry location rather than open area for business, and this probably they want attract nearest people that do not want to go out the place to shopping. . It is cleared that, NSK and Econsave are ultimate rivalry based on their current business operation and profitable. However, only one company will always be a winner and NSK is capable on this competition as they brave enough to do a 24-hour store opened located in Selayang that could capture more customer nearby and during festive season. They also brave in reduce some price of their products in order to attract the customers. Works Cited Chermaine Poo (2013). Financing for SMEs. The Star Online. http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/SME/2013/09/27/Financing-for-SMEs/ Muhyiddin Yassin (2013). SMEs. Berita Harian Online. www.beritaharianonline.com

Hrm and Technology

1. 0 Introduction In today’s rapidly changing business world, the need has arisen to harness the resources to its optimum use in order to gain success in the business arena. Technology plays a vital role as this applies to the most valuable resource of Human resource too. Technology has greatly influenced the transformation from traditional and personal management to a more strategic human resource management approach. The ongoing technology improvement has paved the way for quick access to obtain the preferred resource regardless of geographical and environmental barriers. The extent of technology use across various activities of HRM, especially in recruiting and selection covers from advertising positions, receiving applications, initial screening to final section. This particular search can be for entry level, middle level and high level position as appropriate, according to the external and internal factors of an organization. Huge cost reductions in HR have also been experienced through technology application, while, they have also led to adverse impacts such as redundancies and lay-offs. Communication development technology contributes furthermore, from the recruitment process to career development process through training and development, and creates resource personnel in the organization. Computer based testing leads to unbiased selections, arbitrating to effective and efficient Human Resource Management. Access to Human Resource Information systems (HRIS) has also helped to automate most of the functions of HRM to a greater extent and allows the HR activities to run in a less cumbersome and efficient manner. This report further outlines the adoption of virtual work and outsourcing as a result of modern technological evolution, and the benefits and impacts that technology has embraced towards Human Resource Management. 2. 0 DISCUSSION 2. 0 What is Human Resource Management? According to Samson & Daft, â€Å"Human resource management refers to the activities undertaken to attract, develop and maintain an effective workforce within an organization†. In other words HRM is the function dealing with managing people within the employer – employee relationship (Stone, 2005). HRM function involves the productive use of people in achieving the organisation’s strategic business objectives and the satisfaction of individual employee needs. HRM is closely related to other management aspects, as its main objective is to improve the productive contribution of people. Human Resources Management encompasses a wide range of activities inclusive of identifying and deciding on staffing needs, hiring, recruiting and training the most suitable employees, ensuring and evaluating their performance, , and ensuring that the personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. It also includes activities relating to managing approaches for employee issues such as benefits and compensation, safety, employee records and personnel policies. (Snell & Sherman, 2004). Human Resource managers plan, administer and review activities relating to staff selection, training and development, conditions of employment and other human resource issues within organizations (Peters, 2004). 3. 0 Objectives of using Technology in HRM The study of HRM describes what human resource managers do and what they should do. While there are many definitions of HRM, its primary purpose is to improve the productive contribution of people within an organization. Until the last few years the discipline was known as personnel  management. (Eddie & Smith, 2004). Now the term ‘human resource management' is increasingly used in recognition of the importance of an organization’s workforce in contributing to the goals of that organization. Today's human resource issues are enormous and appear to be ever expanding. The human resource manager faces a multitude of problems ranging from a constantly changing workforce to coping with ever increasing government rules and regulations. Because of the critical nature of human resource concerns, they are receiving increased attention from upper levels of management. It used to be rare to see job advertisements for human resource managers. Now such advertisements are very common and encompass significant organizational responsibilities. People are the common element in every organization. From an organization’s perspective, its staff is its human resources. It is people like you who produce the goods and services that create wealth. It is these goods and services that contribute to our standard of living. (Collins, 2005). There are many challenges facing organizations today. The better our organizations work, the easier it is for society to meet the present and future threats and opportunities. It can be said that the central challenge we face in society is to continually improve the performance of our organizations in both the private and public sectors. Part of this improvement will come from organizations becoming more efficient and effective. This requires the effective management in these organizations. 4. 0 Technology in the modern business An Organization’s Technology is the process by which inputs from an organizations environment are transformed into outputs. This model integrates organizational  level technology research with human resource management strategies. (Robert, Mathis, John Harold 2006). The model relates dimensions of technical processes to human  resource practices, focusing on practices used to develop employees. These relationships are mediated by the type of skills employees  use. An empirical study of 139 employees found support for two  hypotheses developed from the model. Results suggested that  technology and HRM activities are connected through the level  of cognitive skill complexity and the amount of support employees  receive in developing new skills. Due to changes in the way  decisions are made in organizations today (for example, making  more decisions at lower levels) the connection between the work  process, the skills employees need, and the emphasis on developing  employees will become increasingly important. 5. Impact of Technology in HRM The technology has radically changed the way employees and managers access human resource data, and the use of online HR solutions has expanded rapidly over the past year. (Collins, 2005). Self-service and online tools have become important in the continuing effort to improve the management of HR functions and to drive competitive advantage, the survey found. â€Å"As the lines blur between HR data and that used by the rest of the enterprise, organizations find it makes sense to consolidate all employee data using a corporate portal. The importance of HR self-service is increasing, especially those applications that improve employee performance. â€Å"We're seeing the strongest growth among applications focused on managing and enhancing worker skills and productivity–no surprise given that up to 70 percent of an enterprise's expenses are people-related. _New skills required: As new technologies are developed and implemented, there is an Urgent need to upgrade existing employee skills and knowledge if the organization wants to survive and flourish in a competitive world. Additionally there will be growing demand for workers with more sophisticated training and skills especially in emerging ‘hot’ sectors like telecommunications, hospitality, retailing, banking, insurance, biotechnology and financial services. For example, services. For example, service sector employee requires different skills than those utilized in manufacturing. (Peters, 2004). They need strong interpersonal and communication skills as well as the ability to handle customer complaints in a flexible way. _ Downsizing: New Technologies have decimated many lower end jobs with frustrating regularity. Increased automation has reduced employee head counts everywhere. The pressure to remain cost effective has also compelled many a firm to go lean, cutting down extra fat at each managerial level. The wave of merger and acquisition activity, in recent A time has often left the new, combined companies to downsize operations ruthlessly. The Positions that have been filled up with workers possessing superior technical skills and Knowledge has also tilted the poser base ( in many emerging industries) from management to technical workers. It is not uncommon today for managers to have limited understanding of the technical aspects of their subordinates’ work. Managing the expectations of knowledge workers is going be major area of concern for all HR Managers in the years ahead. (Akin, Norton, Peg, 2004) _ Collaborative work: Technological change has resulted in hierarchical distinctions being blurred and more collaborative teamwork where managers, technicians and analysts work together on projects. Team based incentive plans have also made it necessary for all classes of employees to work in close coordination with each other. Telecommuting: The rapid advances in technology have led to the relocation of work from the office to the home. Telecommuting has become the order of the day where employees work at home, usually with computers and use phoned and the Internet to transmit letters, data and completed work to the home office. Companies have been able to increase their applicant pool through this mode and empl oyees have also been able to live further away from cities and gain considerably due to savings in rents, transportation etc. _ Internet and intranet revolution: Internet and information technology have enabled companies to become more competitive by cutting costs. Manufacturers, bank, retailers, and you name anything have successfully harnessed computer technology to reduce their costs and deliver want satisfying goods and services to customers at an amazing speed. Even in HR, internets and intranets are being used to handle training, benefit administration, performance management and out placement functions, in recent times. (Peters, 2004). The cumulative impact of new technology is so dramatic that at a broader level, organizations are changing the way they do business. Use of the internet to transact business has become so commonplace for both large and small companies that e-commerce is rapidly becoming the organizational challenge of the new millennium. Managing virtual corporations and virtual workers in this technology driven world is going to pose tough challenges for HR Managers in the years ahead. _ Role of HR in a virtual organization: A virtual organization is network of companies or employees connected by computers. Virtual workers work from home, hostel, their cars, or wherever their work takes them. The human resources function plays a unique role in a virtual organization: i. Psychological fit: The lack of face-to-face interaction in virtual organization, virtually compels HR professionals to determine the psychological fit between different units initially. (Collins, 2005). ii. System alignment: Given the lack of physical proximity, it becomes even more critical that the organization’s mission, vision and measures be aligned and that all parties are familiar with these issues, the HR function can play an important role in this task. iii. Reconsider rewards: In a virtual unit. Very few permanent exit. In many cases, the organization will be staffed with workers having different motivational forces. So rewarding each entity in an effective way becomes an important job. iv. Reconsider staffing needs: In a virtual organization, most employees work on a contractual basis. Finding people with requisite skills, a knowledge and motivation level becomes an important activity. v. Build partnerships: Virtual, teams have to be built from scratch paying attention to their unique requirements. The concept of employment needs to be replaced by the concept of ‘partnership’ especially when most tend to work independently away from the permanent employees or owners of the organization. vi. Develop leaders: Leaders become the major forces for building trust, creating a mission and instilling a sense of belonging to the organization HR can play a major role in ensuring that leaders assume these responsibilities and meet them in an effective away. (Collins, 2005). 6. 0 Technology in HR Activities A human resources officer develops, advises on and implements policies relating to the effective use of personnel within an organization. HR personnel work comprises a number of different but related policies, all of which are required by organizations that employ people, whatever the size or type of business. These cover areas such as working practices, recruitment, pay, conditions of employment and diversity. HR staffs need to ensure that the organization employs the right balance of staff in terms of skills and experience, and that training and development opportunities are available to employees to enhance their performance in order to achieve the organization’s objectives. Collins, 2005). Typical work activities As a human resources (HR) officer they must have a clear understanding of their organization’s business objectives and be able to devise and implement policies which select, develop and retain the right staff needed to meet these objectives. (Farquharson, 2006)The exact nature of the work activities varies according to the organization, but is likely to include: working closely with departmen ts, increasingly in a consultancy role, assisting line managers to understand and implement policies and procedures; †¢ promoting equality and diversity as part of the culture of the organization; †¢ liaising with a wide range of organizations involved in areas such as disability, gender, age, religion and health and safety; †¢ recruiting staff – this includes developing job descriptions, preparing advertisements, checking application forms, short listing, interviewing and selecting candidates; †¢ developing policies on issues such as working conditions, performance management, equal opportunities, disciplinary procedures and absence management; †¢ advising on pay and other remuneration issues, including promotion and benefits; †¢ undertaking regular salary reviews; negotiating with staff and their representatives on issues relating to pay and conditions; †¢ administering payroll and maintaining records relating to staff; †¢ interpretin g and advising on employment legislation; †¢ listening to grievances and implementing disciplinary procedures; †¢ developing HR planning strategies with line managers, which consider immediate and long-term staff requirements in terms of numbers and skill levels; †¢ planning and sometimes delivering training, including inductions for new staff; †¢ Analyzing training needs in conjunction with departmental managers. (Farquharson, 2006) When considering all the above accepts of a human resource manager, they must allocate much and more time and energy on selecting the right candidate to the right position. The technology can be used on Selected HRM activities such for Employee recruitment, employee selection, training and development and performance appraisals 6. 1 Recruitment & Selection The HR manager faces the main challenge when it comes to Recruitment and selection the manager has to be much more careful when choosing the right candidate. A recent study showed that the correlation between the ability to deliver well in a job interview and the ability to do well on the job is just 14 percent, or one good employee out of every seven people you hire. (Okpara, 2006). If you or your recruitment agency has found itself in a similar position, there are proven methods to improve this average. The same study considered these methods. Background Checks  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ According to (Okpara, 2006). The 14 percent increases to 26 percent if the candidates passes a series of  employee background checks like falsified educational credentials and other serious liabilities, background checks only reveal information when an individual has been caught being lying. Of equal or greater value are underlying attitudes, as well as actions at which an applicant has not been caught, to most fully protect the organization against negligent hiring lawsuits and to assure the organizations are hiring reliable, ethical, hard-working employees. Knowing this information about the people the company hire is absolutely essential because a business can be held liable for accidents and crimes committed by its employees. Personality Tests  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ consider traditional assessment tools used in the hiring process. These assessments measure personality characteristics. Personality tests  raised the rate of success in hiring to around 50 percent positive. (Okpara, 2006). Many employers want to know a candidate’s aptitude and personality type to ensure an appropriate job match. Some want to know it before they hire a candidate, some before they promote an employee, and some before they create work teams. In an effort to learn more about an employee, employers today administer personality tests. There are many kinds of personality tests available, but in the workplace a validated and reliable occupational assessment is critical to success on the job. (Okpara, 2006). Those professionals do not pass or fail but should be selected for the job that matches their individual personalities. Abilities Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ When applicants were tested for both abilities and personality, employers found they were hiring the right people just over half or about 54 percent of the time. (Times, 2006) After managers have used to identify their employee’s strengths and areas for development, they can use the Series to software’s available to develop the competencies that are most important to their professional growth and success. (Okpara, 2006). The software’s are conveniently located on the Internet, making it easy to implement and execute. These systems help managers to keep doing the things they do well, stop doing those things that interfere with their effectiveness, and start doing things that will improve their performance. These systems encourage managers to perform their jobs better. It gives emphasis to the importance of managers to the organization and its goals and pays big dividends in the form of improved productivity, fewer â€Å"people problems,† increased employee retention, and greater profits. It is an ideal method for managers to improve their leadership and management skills. It can be used anywhere and at any time because it is on the Internet. After responding to questions and doing online exercises, it gives managers the tools they need to maximize their strengths, become better managers, and lead more effectively. Interest Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ To take it one step further, the study considered  interest assessments, an even more sophisticated tool. It measures the job-related qualities that make a person productive – Thinking and Reasoning Style, Behavioral character, and Occupational Interests. These systems were used for placement, promotion, self-improvement, coaching, succession planning, and job description development. (Okpara, 2006). It is a flexible management tool that develops Job Match Patterns that can be customized by company, department, manager, position, geography, or any combination of these factors. Job Match  Assessments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The study found that the most impressive and successful assessments are integrated measures of a combination of factors, and also include the concept of  job match. They use cutting-edge technology combined with empirical data to evaluate the candidate against employees who are exemplary in performing their duties. Okpara, 2006). These recruitment assessments increased an employer's ability to identify excellent candidates more than 75 percent of the time. Hiring top performing employees may be one of the most valuable activities you can do for your business. This system combine tested and reliable data derived from pre-emp loyment screening assessment system, with a customized job analysis survey to create a benchmark by which the manager can hire an employee who best fits for the job and company. Employee Selection Process By including job match as a key factor in your employee hiring process, allocation of human capital will be significantly more effective. Most employee hiring decisions are made with inadequate information, but Profiles International assessments will deliver the information that the manager need to know before tendering a job offer and making a hiring mistake. 6. 2 Performance Appraisal Technology may contribute to performance management and thus to appraisal satisfaction in two primary ways. First, technology may facilitate measuring an individual’s performance via computer monitoring activities. This frequently occurs as an unobtrusive and rote mechanical process that relies on minimal input from individuals beyond their task performance. Jobs that incorporate this type of appraisal technology are frequently scripted or repetitious and involve little personal judgment or discretion. Working in a call centre or performing data entry are examples. (Peters, 2004). In this instance, the very act of performing a job simultaneously becomes the measure of how well a jobholder accomplishes it. Keystrokes, time on task, or numbers of calls made are recorded and at once become both job content and appraisal content. A second approach to technology and performance management changes the emphasis so that technology becomes a tool to facilitate the process of writing reviews or generating performance feedback. Examples here include multi-rater appraisals that supervisors or team members generate online, as well as off-the-shelf appraisal software packages that actually construct an evaluation for a manager. (Peters, 2004). This particular technological approach occurs more often in the ontext of jobs that involve personal judgment, high discretion, and open-ended tasks for which real-time performance monitoring is not an option. 6. 3 Training and Development The activity of Training and development has been made more efficient from the implementation of technology to it. Organizations now use computer based training sessions which use a visually demonstrated and presentation oriented training programme for the employees. (Peters, 2004). Programmes are stored in computers which reduce the necessity of getting trainers to repeat the training programme over and over again. The employees are also equipped with software’s which enable them to re-check and use as manuals for the work they perform, thus influencing a cheaper mechanism of Self Training. (Peters, 2004). Errors and omissions are eliminated in the training programme, making the employees to understand their job processes more efficiently. 6. 4 Reward System The revolution is being driven by new technologies and by the major social and political changes that have led to the globalization of business and to the increasing numbers of democratic, capitalist countries. Billions of people have recently entered, or are about to enter, the capitalist world. (Collins, 2005). A smaller but very significant number have entered the world of electronic connectedness as a result of the growing popularity of the Internet, satellite TV, cellular phones, and videoconferencing. The combined effects of technological and political change on organizations are enormous and multifaceted. Increasingly, organizations are finding that in order to be competitive in the new global economy they have to reinvent themselves in important ways. This is true of their basic organizational structure, their global reach, and their use of information technology. (Collins, 2005). It is also true of their reward systems. The old reward practices and systems that worked well in nationally focused, bureaucratic, capital-intensive, hierarchical, steady-state, near-monopoly corporations. Dramatic change is needed, and it is not difficult to identify what the key theme of today's reward systems should be: a focus on rewarding excellence. Many factors argue for excellence being the number-one focus of any organization's reward system, including the ability to attract and retain the best people and to motivate the kind of performance that an organization needs in order to succeed in the new economy. Creating reward systems that focus on excellence and treat employees as human capital investors requires a major change in the way most systems operate. (Collins, 2005). Reward systems typically treat employees as job holders who are rewarded according to the size and nature of their jobs and how well they perform their jobs. Viewing them as human capital investors suggests a different approach to rewards in two respects. First, it suggests basing rewards on the value of the human capital that people bring to the organization. What their job is at a particular moment is much less important than the value of their knowledge and skills. Second, it suggests rewarding people according to how effectively they use their human capital-their knowledge, skills, and competencies to help the organization improve its business performance. Creating reward systems that recognize the value of human capital and reward performance excellence is not easy. It requires a careful articulation among an organization's reward system, business strategy, organization design, information systems, and employees. (Collins, 2005). I will begin our discussion of how it can be done by considering how reward systems impact organizational effectiveness. 7. 0 HRIS Human resource ‘info system’ The Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is a program or software or online issue solving method for the data entry, data tracking, and data information needs of the Human Resources, payroll, management, and accounting functions within a business. (Stone, 2005). In general packaged as a data base, hundreds of companies sell some form of HRIS and every HRIS has different capabilities. It is very important to select the HRIS carefully based on the capabilities you need for the organisation. Benefits of a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is no longer a â€Å"nice to have,† but a necessity to help HR manage both a sea of information and the money spent on benefits plans, as HR faces limited resources and constantly changing data. (Stone, 2005). As a result the HRIS that most effectively serves companies tracks: Pay raises and history, pay grades and positions held †¢ Performance development plans, training received †¢ Disciplinary action received, personal em ployee information †¢ High potential employee identification, and applicant tracking, interviewing, and selection. An effective HRIS provides information on just about anything the company needs to track and analyze about employees, former employees, and applicants. Your company will need to select a Human Resources Information System and customize it to meet your needs. 8. 0 Benefits of Technology in HRM Technology is changing the way we work, the roles we undertake, and the interactions through which work gets done. (Peters, 2004). Companies are leveraging to manage the complexity of the global HRM and to deliver high-quality service. Companies use either a common system universal to all location For a example, HSBC uses people soft Ids to identify all the employees dispatched globally. SAP is the system that is used in MAS Holdings Globally, which enables the employees, suppliers and the management and the higher management to make Operational, analytical and strategic decisions, or a set of non standard system in unique to a each location to handle their HR programs and informational needs. The problem with the latter is that data are often late, incomplete and/or inaccurate. However because the time and cost factors they are the most commonly used. To reduce the negative impact of such problems some companies are developing service centers utilizing self service technologies and HRIS databases to eliminate routine work and to push delivery point back the employee or line management. With an appropriate use of HRM technology Human Resources staff enables employees to do their own benefits updates and address changes (example: by creating a data entry format , uploading it to the intranet and later program the filled data to be store into a central location), thus freeing HR staff for more strategic functions. Additionally, data necessary for employee management, knowledge development, career growth and development, and equal treatment is facilitated. (Farquharson, 2006). Finally, managers can access the information they need to legally, ethically, and effectively support the success of their reporting employees. 9. 0 Conclusion Technology and Human Resource have brought about a radical change in meeting with the strategies, policies and implementation of the corporate planning of an organization. In other words, it has become the nucleus of an organization, which caters to the requirements of selecting the right candidate for the suitable job, training and coaching them to develop and achieve the desired levels to maximize objectives and to create a competitive edge in the industry and ultimately sustain them in the organization with a career development plan. In this process, opportunities will be given to those who are really in need of a specific exposure in another country so as to acquire the required skills. This so called valuable resource will be able to cater to the demand with a long-term view, by adopting the right technology advancement at the right time and improve the overall operation of the organization with a clear vision and hence contribute to the bottomline which will enhance the share value and satisfy the shareholders to achieve satisfaction. 10. 0 Reference ? Stone, J, R. (2005). Human Resource Management. (5th Ed. ). John Wiley and sons, Australia ? Anne Osborne Kilpatrick, James A. Johnson, 2004. Handbook of Health Administration, Co. CRC Press ? Collins, M. (2005). Professional recruitment: Journal of proquest education, p. 32. ? Eddie, C. & Smith. (2004). Human Resource and Personnel Management: Text and Cases, Co. Tata-Mcgrawhill, p. 87-89. ? Farquharson, M. (2006). Performance appraisal: Journal of proquest education, p12. ? Grey. . (2005). Human resource planning: Journal of proquest education. ? Robert L. Mathis, John Harold Jackson, 2006. Human Resource Management, Co. Thomson South- Western ? Okpara, J. O. (2006). Job satisfaction: American journal of academy of business, p81. ? Peters, L. (2004). five keys to effective recruiting: Ivey business journal, p 21-24. ? Snell & Sherman, 2004, managing human resource 12th edition