Pvsyst Tutorial

PV-SYST Tutorials All the tutorials in this series will teach you how to use the basic functions of PV-SYST to design a PV system. This set of tutorials works through how to use the software in both preliminary and project design modes. The basis for this tutorial will be to design a PV system that fits on the area defined by the LDK roof of the model used in the Ecotect_Tutorial. A 30 day full functioning demo version of the program can be downloaded from the PV-SYST website.Figure 1 presents the opening screen for PV-SYST upon starting the program. From this initial window you can choose whether to undertake an analysis via â€Å"Preliminary design† or â€Å"Project design† mode. Figure 1: Opening screen for PV-SYST1. Start PV-SYST from Start>>All Programs>>PV-SYST. The icon for PV-SYST is presented to the right.2. Select â€Å"Preliminary Design† from the available options. This will bring up a new panel called â€Å"System†.3. Select â€Å"Grid-Connec ted† in the System panel. Then select OK to continue.4.A new pop-up window titled â€Å"Grid system presizing project† will appear, as presented in Figure 2. Click on the â€Å"Location† button to continue.5. A 2nd pop-up window will appear called project’s location. In the Project name call the file â€Å"PV-SYST tutorial location Melbourne†6. Under the â€Å"Location† heading change the â€Å"Site† entry to â€Å"Melbourne Meteonorm†.7. Leave the other default parameters, and click OK to continue. Note: In this preliminary design we are going to assume that there is no near or far shading on our designed PV system.8.In the â€Å"Grid system presizing project† window select the â€Å"System† button.9. This opens another pop-up window titled â€Å"System Specifications† Note: In preliminary design mode you have three options to design the system.System size can be set by 1) Active area; 2) Nominal Power or 3 ) Annual yield.Figure 2: Pop-up window Grid system presizing project 10. 11. 12. 13. Select Active area (m2) as the method to determine the system size. This will bring up a field titled â€Å"Area† enter the area 54m2. This is the area of the LDK roof. Enter 3 ° for tilt and 180 for Azimuth, i. e. ndicating that the roof is sloping towards south. Click the â€Å"Next† button to continue. Note: Within the â€Å"System Specification† window you can quickly view how your system causes losses in comparison to a system with optimum tilt and orientation.In this scenario the loss with respect to the optimum is 12. 2%. 14. In the next window of the â€Å"System Specification† wizard select the module type and specifications. For this tutorial select: a. Module Type: Standard b. Technology: Polycrystalline c. Mounting disposition: Facade or tilt roof d. Ventilation property: Ventilation . Click OK to continue. This will take you back to the â€Å"Grid system p resizing project window† 15. Select â€Å"Results† in the â€Å"Grid system presizing project window†. A new pop-up window titled results will appear. 16. The default results page appears as presented in Figure 3. From this window you can see the nominal power and annual yield from the system. 17. Click on the third graphical icon button (which looks like a table) located down the left hand side of the results page, as highlighted by the blue circle in Figure 3. This will bring up the results in table format. 18.The results page should now display the results on a monthly basis, for the level of insolation falling on a horizontal plane and on the tilted plane that you designed your system on (i. e. 3 ° sloping facing south). 19. The results also present on a monthly basis the output of the PV system. Note: the results for a PV system designed on 54m2 area at 3 ° sloping facing south achieves annual output of 6835 kWh. However an optimally designed system at 3 0 degrees tilt facing north can achieve an annual output of 7787 kWh for the same array area. Therefore our system has a loss of 12. % compared to optimal tilt and orientated system. Figure 3: Results page for â€Å"Preliminary Design† mode Project Design 1. Upon opening PV-SYST select the â€Å"Project Design† option under the â€Å"Option† heading. Note: If you are continuing from the following tutorial, close all the open windows to return to the main PV-SYST window that was presented in Figure 1. 2. Select â€Å"Grid-Connected† under the â€Å"System† heading and click â€Å"OK† to continue. This will bring up a new pop-up window pictured as presented in Figure 4. 3. If you wish to save a copy of your file, click on the â€Å"Project† button and fill in the respective details.For this tutorial we will not worry about saving any details. 4. Click on the Project Button then click on the â€Å"Site and Meteo† button. This will bring up a pop-up window titled â€Å"Project: Situation and Meteo†. Make the following adjustments: a. Country: Australia b. Site: Melbourne Meteonorm c. Meteo File: Melbourne_syn. met: Melbourne, Synthetic Hourly data. d. Click â€Å"Next† to continue. Then click â€Å"Ok† in the new pop-up window that appears e. Finally click â€Å"Back (Calculation)† to return to the main window. Figure 4: Project window for â€Å"Project Design† mode. 5. Click on the â€Å"Orientation† button 6.Within the Orientation pop-up window change the following parameters a. Plane tilt: 3 degrees b. Azimuth: 180 degrees c. Field Type: Fixed Tilted Plane. d. Leave the other parameters at default settings and click OK to continue Note: The horizon tool is used to designate shading elements that appear off in the horizon that will block out access to the sun. For example a hill or mountain may block out all the afternoon sun. For this tutorial there is no Horizon s hading. 7. Click on â€Å"Near Shading†. This element defines elements that are close to the PV array which can cause shading on the system. 8.In this tutorial we will construct a 3D scene to indicate the shading surrounding the PV system we want to put on the LDK roof of the Ecotect tutorial house. 9. Click on the â€Å"Construction/Perspective† button. This will bring up a drawing window as presented in Figure 5. 10. First we will draw a rough version of the LDK zone to place the PV plane. Select Object>>New>>Elementary Shading Object from the main toolbar menu. 11. Under the Parameters heading change the following elements: e. Shape type: Select â€Å"House, asymmetric roof† from the drop down box f. Width (DX): 8. 1m g. Length (DY): 7m h. Height at top: 2. 9m i.Roof 1 tilt angle: 3 degrees j. Roof 2 tilt angle: 3 degrees k. Roof 1 ratio: 0 m l. Click Ok to continue. This will put the building we just dimensioned in the modelling window. Figure 5: Constructio n/Perspective drawing window Note: You always need to check the orientation of any plane or building you draw. The building you just drew will have the slope pointing in the west direction. Click on the element you want to adjust, then select Object>>Position in scene from the main toolbar menu. This will make an object positioning toolbar active in the top right hand corner of the modelling window as presented in Figure 6.Figure 6: Building object in modelling window with object positioning toolbar active. 12. Within the â€Å"Object Positioning† toolbar change the Azimuth entry from zero to 90 degrees. 13. Next we will include the tree that causes shading. Select â€Å"Object>>New>>Elementary shading object† from the main toolbar. 14. Under the Parameters heading change the following elements: m. Shape type: Tree n. Medium-point height: 2. 7m o. Medium height: 2. 7m p. Low part height: 2m q. Trunk height: 2m r. Medium diameter: 4m s. Trunk diameter: 0. 5m t. Click OK to continue u. Move the tree position 11. 5m in the north direction and 3. m in the east direction 15. Next we will include the Neighbouring buildings that may cause shading. Select â€Å"Object>>New>>Elementary shading object† from the main toolbar. 16. Under the Parameters heading change the following elements: v. Shape type: Parallelepipede w. Width (DX): 11. 3m x. Length (DY): 11. 5m y. Height: 5m 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. z. Click OK to continue aa. Move the neighbouring building 12. 8 m east and 3. 4m south Repeat and create a second neighbour building 3m high, 10. 2m wide, 14. 1m long and offset 26. 77m west and 12. 3m south. Next we will draw in the PV Surface plane.Select â€Å"Object>>New>> Rectangular PV Plane† Under the collector plane heading change the following elements: bb. Nb. Of rectangles: 1 cc. Plane Tilt: 3 degrees dd. Width: 8. 1m ee. Length: 7 ff. Click OK to continue Adjust the Positioning of the PV plane to: gg. Tilt: 3 degrees hh. Azimuth: 180 degr ees ii. West: 7m jj. Height: 2. 5m Now you have detailed the plane the PV is located on and the elements that can possibly cause shading. Your drawing window should appear as presented in Figure 7. Figure 7: Shading scene for PV located on 3 degree sloping facing south 22. Select File>>Close.This will return you to the near shading window Note: If you already have a built shading file you can load it directly into the â€Å"Near Shading† window by clicking the â€Å"Open† button under the model library heading, and selecting the near shading scene. Only files that are located in the file location C:Program DataPV systDataShadings can be opened. 23. Select the â€Å"Table† button to generate the shading factors calculated from the model just built. Once generated close the window. 24. You can view the effects of the shading on an Iso-shading curve by selecting the â€Å"Graph† button located under the â€Å"Linear (rough) Shading Factor† heading.Fig ure 8 presents the results. 25. In the Near shading pop-up window select Ok to continue. Figure 8: Iso shading diagram from PV-SYST for the shading model built 26. In the Project window now select the â€Å"System† button. This will open up the â€Å"Grid system definition window† 27. In the â€Å"Grid system definition window† select â€Å"†¦or available area† as the method to define the system size. Type in 54m2. 28. In the â€Å"Project Design† mode you have the ability to select the actual brand, type and size of module you want in your system. 29. For this tutorial select â€Å"Sort Modules† by â€Å"Power†.The PV Modules are then ordered by Watt peak output and voltage. You can choose which ever module you would like to test for your system. For this tutorial, let’s select the SunPower 200Wp 34V Si-mono Modules. 30. The next step is to select the inverter. Sort the inverter list via Manufacturer and scroll down to th e top of the available Sun Power inverters. Note: PV-SYST can automatically determine the number of modules in series and the number of strings per inverter, and the number of inverters required, based on your module and inverter selection.It should be noted however, that the majority of combinations are not compatible. PV- SYST has a grey indicator box, as highlighted by the green square in Figure 9 that provides detail about your chosen combination. For example, if a message in red text is displayed, the combination chosen is not viable, i. e. The Sun Power models we chose in combination with 30kW 420-800V Sunways inverter achieve a message that reads â€Å"The inverter power is strongly oversized†. If a message in orange text is displayed, the combination is potentially viable, but there are likely to be better combinations. . e. The SunPower models we chose in combination with the 3. 3kW 195 550V SunPower inverter achieves a message that reads â€Å"The inverter power is slightly oversized† or with the 5. 2kW 240-450V Sun Power inverter achieves an orange message that reads â€Å"The array Vmpp at 60 °C is lower than the inverter minimum operating voltage†. The best combinations of PV modules and inverters occur when no message is received. For example the combination of the Sun Power modules we chose with the 4kW 195-550V Sun Power inverter. 31.Choose the Sun Power inverter that is rated at 4kW 195-550V SPR-4000x 32. This combination of PV modules and inverter results in a system that requires two inverters, with 7 modules in series and six strings. 33. Select OK to continue 34. In the Project window select the â€Å"Simulation† button. This will open the Simulation pop-up window. 35. Accept the default parameters and click on the â€Å"Simulation† button to begin the calculation process. 36. Click the OK button once the simulation calculation process is complete. This will bring up the Results window

Business information system Essay

1. What might have happened to Apple if its top executives had not supported investment in iPads? If the top executives had not supported investment in pads, the new product will be known by less people. Without investment in iPad, people will not receive the information of new technology. 2. Why would it be unethical for Apple to sell its iTunes customer information to other businesses? The customer’s information is about personal privacy, any company can’t sell customer’s information without their permit. 3. Evaluate the effects on Apple’s business if it failed to secure its customer information and all of it was accidentally posted to an anonymous website. The customers will not trust apple again, and they will not leave personal information on iTunes. This will influence Apple that people will not use apple store for purchasing. If the security problem let customer’s credit card information been stolen, Apple will response for that. 1 Do you agree or disagree that Apple’s iTunes, iPhone applications and iPad applications give the company a competitive advantage? Be sure to justify your answer. Yes, I agree with that. One of the main factors that brought Apple back from near oblivion was its ability to produce, market, and sell IT products such as the iPod, iPhone, and customer developed applications. If Apple’s top executives did not have the foresight to view the MP3 players as a competitive advantage, then chances are the company would not have made a strong comeback in the highly competitive electronics market. People who got iPhone, iPad, they will go to Apple’s store to download and buy the application. Other company can only develop application to Apple; they can’t sell or provide their application to customer directly. This is a big advantage for Apple. 2 Why are data, information, business intelligence and knowledge important to Apple? Give an example of each type in relation to the iPad. Data are raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event or object. Before the information age, managers manually collected and analysed data, a time-consuming and complicated task without which they would have little insight into how to run their business. Lacking data, managers often found themselves making business decisions about how many products to make, how much material to order, or how many employees to hire based on intuition or gut feelings. In the information age, successful managers compile, analyse, and comprehend massive amounts of data daily, which helps them make more successful business decisions. Examples include: Sales date, Quantity sold, Cost, Sales price, Total profit, Shipping address, Customer address, Wireless type, Memory amount, Colour. Information is data converted into a meaningful and useful context. Having the right information at the right moment in time can be worth a fortune. Having the wrong information at the right moment; or the right information at the wrong moment can be disastrous. The truth about information is that its value is only as good as the people who use it. People using the same information can make different decisions depending on how they interpret or analyse the information. Thus information has value only insofar as the people using it do as well. Business intelligence (BI) is information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors, partners, and industries that analyses patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making. BI manipulates multiple variables and in some cases even hundreds of variables including suc h items as interest rates, weather conditions, and even gas prices. For instance, BI can predict inventory requirements for a business for the week before the Super Bowl if, say, the home team is playing, average temperature is above 80 degrees, and the stock market is performing well. This is BI at its finest, incorporating all types of internal and external variables to anticipate business performance. Knowledge includes the skills, experience, and expertise, coupled with information and intelligence that creates a person’s intellectual resources. Knowledge workers are individuals valued for their ability to interpret and  analyse information. Today’s workers are commonly referred to as knowledge workers and they use BI along with personal experience to make decisions based on both information and intuition, a valuable resource for any company. 3 Analyze Apple using Porter’s Five Force model. Apple’s buyer power was low when it first introduced the iPod since it was first to market with the product. Now, there are many competitors to Apple’s iPod and its buyer power is increasing since customers can choose from many different manufacturers of MP3 players. Apple’s supplier power was high and now it is decreasing since buyers have many choices of whom to buy from. Apple can use environmental scanning, or the acquisition and analysis of events and trends in the environment external to an organization, to analyse rivalry. Apple can use environmental scanning to analyse everything from competitor strategies to understanding new and shifting market trends to determining the strategic placement of Apple stores. Without watching its environment and understanding what its competitors are doing and where the market is headed, Apple will have a difficult time setting its strategic direction, as Steve Jobs determined when he thought he had missed the MP3 bandwago n. 4 Which of the three generic strategies is Apple following? Apple follows a focused strategy. 5 Which of Porter’s Five Forces did Apple address through its introduction of the iPhone? Apple decreased the power of its buyers and increased its own supplier power by introducing the iPhone. Since the iPhone was the first to market with an internet access, data storage, MP3 player, etc., its buyers had no power and no choice but to purchase the product from Apple. Unfortunately, Apple could not create an entry barrier and soon many other companies began offering integrated cell phones, which increased buyer power and reduced supplier power. 6 Which of Porter’s Five Forces did Apple address through its customer-developed applications? Apple decreased the power of its buyers and increased its own supplier power by introducing customer developed applications. Since the iPhone was the first to market with an internet access, data storage, MP3 player, which could all accept customer developed applications, its buyers had no power and no choice but to purchase the product and the applications from Apple. Unfortunately, Apple could not create an entry barrier and there are more and more companies offering customer developed applications such as Google and its Android operating system.

Meaning of life †Human Essay

?According to Albert Camus â€Å"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life. † People can define happiness in various ways, for ones it means achieving their set goals while for others happiness means serving for society, and finally some people interpret happiness as finding the meaning of their life. People can spend their whole time only searching for the meaning of life, and they forget or ignore the life and real time that passes by. Unfortunately, you can search for the meaning of life and still not find it, or it can come to you with age. Significant events such as surviving the airplane or car crashes or losing the important people in one’s life, force humans to reconsider their values or beliefs, and can help to find the true meaning of life. Meaning of life is something that comes with the age, wisdom or experience. It is also hard to define what the meaning of life is, for it can be easily misinterpreted with the goals or values. I do not have my own meaning of life yet, for I am young, I have not so much experience in my life, and I cannot actually define what the meaning of life is. To begin with, I am not fully mature as a person because I am only twenty years old and my life has just started. Consequently, wanting to enjoy all the charms of my young life I try not to think about difficult topics such as meaning of life. I value my time that I have now, so I want to spend it learning and gaining an experience. The only thing I can figure out in this research on meaning of life, is that people value one thing – time. Having time we can find something or someone, develop ourselves and etc. Theoretically, we can do everything when we have time, but when we have time and do not have someone for whom we can spend it – our life becomes meaningless. Life becomes meaningful when we can spend time on objects and subjects that are important for us. As I am living with my parents, I do not even think about how to earn money, rise future generation and become independent person. I do not have to be a breadwinner at home, and I do not have to work yet. I do not have children, so I do not take the responsibility for treating my children right. However, it would be helpful to find out the meaning of life before I become a parent, for it would help me to raise my children right. My life is easier now, so I do not stop to think about the meaning of my life. Although I am dependent on my parents because they give me shelter, food and opportunity to get an education, I feel that being independent also would lead to thoughts about the meaning of life. Being a young adult give me the opportunity to gain an experience that could help me find the meaning of life. I am learning at the LCC university where professors from different countries tell their stories about their own life experience, and it seems that the person should have an experience in order to have a meaning of life. The experience of meeting different people, being introduced to different cultures, beliefs and values, and seeing the real adult life, all these experiences bring an insight about the meaning that the person can find in life. It is very difficult to find the right definition of meaning of life. When persons speak about creation of family or being a successful in work, it seems like goals and it is, but some people see it as the meaning. I can also assume that being happy and appreciative person has the real meaning in life, but is it the meaning of life? Maybe we should find the meaning that would lead us to feel happy and appreciative. I think that meaning of life does not even exist. There are only purposes. Love, family, friendship – are only purposes, and purpose is not the meaning. Why? Because they answer the question of approachability, we can reach it or not. Theoretically, if these things were meaningful, life would end when we reach all of them. Meaning is sort of general idea, which is accessible and equal to all. It cannot answer the question of feasibility. Actually, the meaning of life should by absolute verity. Overall, this is the topic that brings many thoughts to my mind. For now I can say that I do not have any specific meaning of my life so far. I am young, rebel, adventure seeking person, and the spirit that now lives in my soul gives me the opportunity to live and enjoy the fruits of my young adulthood years, and I rarely stop to think about the real meaning of life. I do not know whether it is right or wrong that I do not pay much attention for such topic. I believe that people become wiser with years, and that wisdom would bring the need to evaluate the life and to seek and find the meaning of it. I also cannot actually define what the meaning of life is, and I think that some people cannot find out it through their life. Overall, life is already meaningful as the person lives and breathes.

Brand House Services Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Brand House Services Company - Assignment Example On the basis of the discussion, relevant conclusions about the subject of concern will be drawn. Recommendations will be also provided on the basis of the findings. The second section of the study will encompass discussion about the research topic chosen during the first assignment of this study. Hence the topic of discussion will be how does Brand House manage constant change within its organization? This research question or the research topic will be addressed through the help of qualitative research methods. It should important to note that each of the sections in the study will cover the six learning goals mentioned initially during the beginning of learning framework. However, to cover these sections, assistance and theories of some of the notable and eminent scholars such as Schon’s (1983), Kolb’s (1984) and Belbin (2010) will be taken. In addition, some of the common frameworks and models such as AREA model and ITAC model will be used for the purpose of accompli shing the objectives of the study. The application of these theories and frameworks will certainly increase the credibility of the study. The study will also attempt to validate the use of these theories and models in the context of this study and alongside its relevance in this field will also be established. It should be also noted that this study will make use of a number of academic resources so as to shed light on the knowledge driven learning goals in a more comprehensive way. However, the most important and significant part of the study is to carry out a critical reflection of the learning experience at the CPO through the work based learning (WBL) framework and theories. This will also help in justifying the lessons learned by me during my tenure with the Brand House Advertising Services Company. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Section 1- My Workplace Experience 6 Section 2 – Discipline Topic 17 References 23 Introduction Various definitions about ‘reflective learning’ can be found in the books and academic journals stated by eminent authors of the world. Apart from mere definition, much has been written about it and is often dubbed as a critical subject of assessment (Brooksbank, 1994). Reflection or reflective learning is generally described as the ability to look back at the previous experiences and segregate it into relevant aspects such as the factors directly impacting the success and failure (Enwistle, 2001; Ferdinand, 2004; Forbes, 2012). In addition, some of the experts have stated that it is a means of learning by making a link between the learned theory and practice (Botan & Hazleton, 2006; Breslin, 2008). In the similar manner, reflective learning is also highlighted as a way of improving the performance, by making use of the learning and improvising on the future practices. Hence, it is obvious that a number of definitions and meaning of self learning exists. As a result of that reflective learning is also mentioned as a way of transforming surface learning into deep learning (Beaulieu, 2009; Blanchard & Waghorn, 1997). (Source: Gans, King, Stonecash & Mankiw, 2008) Reflective learning greatly helps an individual to develop self-awareness, critical thinking and analytical skills (Duff, 2000; Elving, 2005). This is important for both students as well as for the professionals. Till now it is believed that the reader has understood the core theme of this piece of work, which is reflective learning. This piece of work is the last installment of the assignment and hence it will be somewhat inferential in nature. Thus, making the readers aware about the background of

Business Writing week one discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Writing week one discussion - Assignment Example Listening with an open mind isnt always easy, but its the only way to make sure you really hear what people are telling you† (Bovee 38). Rather than approaching the communication situation with an open mind, they brought in preconceived notions. The conversation advanced with them continuing to advance the narrative that they had devised in their minds. The text indicates that communication prominently involves listening, as it is impossible to properly disseminate information without having a back and forth discussion. Ultimately, the communication event would have been more successful if my supervisor had been a more active listener and constructed her knowledge based on the conversation. My name is Birgit. I have a large number of hobbies. Undoubtedly, one of my most frequent hobbies is personal fitness. Throughout high school, I participated in a number of team sports and sort of got in the habit of being physically active. Since graduating from high school, I’ve kept up my physical activity through running every day. I also occasionally play basketball and volleyball with friends. In addition to physical activity, I am an active reader. I recently purchased an iPad so I would have to stop buying so many print books; so far I’ve read the Hunger Games trilogy and the latest Harry Potter novel. I also regularly enjoy cooking, particularly pasta. My greatest communication challenge would definitely have to be public speaking. While in front of certain audiences I am able to be engaging, in most instances I find that I am incredibly shy and slightly anxious. Another communication challenge I face is verbal tests; similar to my fear of public speaking, these instances make me highly nervous. The most effective communicator I know is my uncle. Currently, he is the general manager of a hotel in Los Angeles, California. I have visited him and witnessed how he interacts

Reflective report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflective report - Essay Example The essay drew positive feedback from my tutor and earned a good grade. I attribute this success to the extensive research that I got involved in and comprehensive analysis of the literature materials therein. Taking into account that employees’ job satisfaction takes variations, the essay had to be well planned in different parts to ensure that all the aspects were dealt with. The authenticity of the essay was definitely incredible. In the essay, I recognized other authors’ work that I cited and ensured that the work was free from any plagiarism. Essay 2 The second essay had the question â€Å"How can performance of service be achieved without compromising on the satisfaction of employees?† this was majorly based on finding ways in which the satisfaction of employees is achieved without necessarily compromising on the quality of product and service delivery. The essay tackled service delivery and product quality extensively. The intrinsic and extrinsic employee motivation was also explored as a way of improving the service delivery. This essay is by and large a supplement for the first one. I thought that the first essay was more leant on dealing with the satisfaction of the employees as opposed to the improvement of service delivery and the production of quality products. ... was because the first essay tackled the employees’ aspect while this second one made a bridge between the employees and the quality of products and service delivery. During the April viva, I am certain that the panelists would want me to explain the choice of my topics and the push that I had in the subject matter. Carrying out a research is always tasking and I am sure that they will want me to explain to them how I managed my research, how I got my materials and the general ups and down that characterize research work. The panelists will also want to know my organization in as far as the research work is concerned and want to know how different it is from the usual course work. Eventually, they will seek to know the relevance and my reasons for having the second essay. During that time, I will get an opportunity to prove myself and to elaborate how well I have the grip on the content matter of the topics that I chose. Course reflection Reflecting on my research, there are a lot of positivity in the work I did though I realized that there are certain things that I would have done better. My organization during the research was good. I ensured that I searched for the relevant materials and did extensive research. In the first essay, I was very keen not to have repetitions that are unnecessary. I had a lot of materials that were enough to back up the items that I discussed. The better part of the organization of my research was as a result of adequate use of the research log. Throughout my sourcing of materials, I was keen to keep track of the materials that I came by so as to give me an easy time during the actual and final compilation of the research. The research techniques that I used were adequate and helped me in compiling the content of the first essay. The

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) Essay

Information System Engineering (Case Study about system requirement) - Essay Example The purpose of this report is to elaborate the system design features for its better implementation. The Children Support Agency (CSA) has emerged as a national charity based organization for the betterment of the UK’s young people. This organization has aimed to facilitate young people of UK for their career and support them for spending their lives effectively. CSA has developed their setup very effectively and they have their central office in London. Recently they have moved their two main offices, a small one in London and a larger one on the South Coast of England in Brighton. In this situation this organization has running lot of projects on diverse domains, for the management of these projects and better information transfer in the overall organization structure is really essential. There is need of some distributed information management system that is able to handle the overall organizational information and have the capability to tenser the data and information to each client. CSA has initiated the development of the central information management system that will help the head office to monitor projects. The system will offer the effective tools to help regional directors, area managers and lead workers to manage their work. At the heart of the system will be the recording and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the projects managed by CSA. Each department at head office should be able to see information as it relates to their department. Equally, the Regional Directors will need to see the data for their region, Area Managers for their area and Team Leaders for their project. This section will provide the deep insight into the kind of activities for this project to the developer. The developer first analyzes the project requirement. Then he will sort out the workable requirements. After that the developer will draw out the basic system development

Individual reflective assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual reflective assessment - Essay Example many skills and the module ‘Academic Skills for Accountancy’ has helped me a lot in developing some of the skills required for the profession of auditing. Following are skills related to accounting that I have developed throughout the module. One of the most important skills for an auditor is to be able to critically evaluate the audit evidence obtained as a result of the audit procedures which include inquiries from the management, observation of the procedures done by management and inspection of accounting records. Through this semester, I have developed this skill significantly. The course has introduced me to specifics of the skills required for critical evaluation of evidence. For the forthcoming year, I plan to develop this skill by conducting further research on the audit and by studying practical examples regarding audits of significant entities. One of the most important areas that would be focused would be of professional scepticism. Professional scepticism is the ability of an auditor to keep a questioning mind and this attitude helps the auditor not to generalize the results of the evaluation of evidence obtained. I would learn how to develop professional scepticism. An ability every accountant must have is the ability to analyse the information provided and to draw conclusions with sufficient rationalization. The same skill is also important for an auditor because it is the responsibility of an auditor to analyse the evidence obtained and to provide a reasonable assurance backed by rationalized conclusions. The semester helped me significantly in improving this ability (Cottrell 2008). In accounting, each transaction has a dual effect therefore if any one part of the transaction is not recorded, it can be traced from the other part. Thus, everything in the financial records becomes linked and the missing links can be found by analysing the recorded information. The same skill is also highly important for the profession of auditing. Since this is

Question 1 If you want your employees to increase their level of Essay

Question 1 If you want your employees to increase their level of performance, you must create high levels of job satisfaction - Essay Example The main focus of the myriad of researches that have been conducted in relation to this subject has been on attempting to identify exactly what is the main factor that causes employees to increase their level of performance. The relationship between job performance and job satisfaction has not been an easy one for most researchers to establish, although the relationship between the two variables is often seen to be quite logically convincing due to fashion in which it fit into the human relations value system, it was not always easy for some researchers to exactly define what exactly job satisfaction and performance were. This is mainly due to the established fact that if organizations intend to generally improve their employee performance, it is vital that they first ensure that they first create some degree of job satisfaction in order to satisfy their employees, on the other hand, performance is an integral requirement for the creation of job satisfaction. ... Job performance essentially consists of a set of three key interrelated elements, these elements are mainly the context, the activity and the individual. In order for one to effect some degree of improved job performance, it is essential that change takes place in one or a combination of these three elements (Rothswell and Kazanas, 2003). In order to establish what job performance is; it is of critical importance to first have an appropriate conceptualization of what exactly is performance. Without the establishment of what does or does not happen to rightfully constitute of job performance in any given context, it will not be possible to provide any job performance ratings. Some of the more historical pointers used in rating an individuals job performance have been seen to include diverse judgments on aspects such as job behavior, job outcomes and results as well as the person’s own individual traits. In the establishment of a persons job performance ratings, the use of behav ioral measures has been proposed by several researchers providing the most accurate results for the proper indexing of an individual’s job success as compared to the use of results measures (Hersen and Thomas, 2003). Although the establishment of performance ratings has long been mainly based on the rater’s personal judgment of the perceived typical or average performance of the target, it has been noted by some appraisal scholars that performance can be regarded as a dynamic criterion that tends to exhibit various intra-individual variables over a given time (Hersen and Thomas, 2003). When establishing an employees job performance ratings, it is possible to obtain more information if the rating

Analysis of a Leader Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of a Leader - Research Paper Example Tutor Signature: Date: Introduction The following article includes the analysis of a well known business leader Bill Gates who is the Chairman, cofounder and chief software architect of Microsoft, which is among the most successful software company around the globe. The analysis starts with a brief about leader, leadership and the leadership theory which Bill Gates followed in his life. The discussion would include skills, traits, behavior, influence process and relevant aspect of the situation which made Bill Gates successful enough to be famous. The strength and weaknesses of Bill Gates are part of the analysis to give a clear insight of ups and downs in his career. Issues of ethical leadership have also been discussed. Leader and Leadership Leader may be defined as a person followed by others. He/ she are the one to lead thus motivating others to follow, while leadership is the process of influencing others to accomplish organizational goals. Hence, a leader is someone in the posi tion of leadership who motivates and inspires a team towards achievement of common goal. Analysis of the reasons why the leader was famous William Henry Gates III which is also commonly known to be as Bill Gates is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist born on October 28, 1955, in Seattle Washington. Bill started showing interest in programming at an early age while studying in Lakeside school. This is where Bill gates met Paul Allen who is the co founder of Microsoft. They together through technological innovation, aggressive competitive tactics and keen business strategy build â€Å"Microsoft†, world’s largest software company. Gates because of his interest in programming didn’t plan to study further and dropped out of Harvard to start a company. Bill Gate’s career story shows influence from various leadership theories namely task oriented leadership, autocratic style, laissez faire leadership etc (Bill Gates biography, 2012). Traits Since childho od Bill was intelligent, ambitious and competitive. He believes if you know how to apply your intelligence then you can achieve anything and everything. He was passionate about software, coding and technology. This passion made him the richest man in the world. Bill Gates was a risk bearer who dropped out of Harvard in order to allocate his full energy and time to Microsoft, a company he started with his school friend Paul Allen. He believes in continuous learning which makes him a great leader (Lesinski, 2008). Skills Bill Gates quotes his success to hard work. Since the beginning of his life he is a hard worker dedicating the entire night working on computer in his college days and then sleeping only for 6 hours when he started Microsoft. The entrepreneurship in Gates has kept him focused towards his goal. He knows managing his work well and is a creative person. He was always confident of hid dream of becoming successful. With focus on goals Bill Gates efficiently managed all are as of the company. Because of great convincing skills he has made lot of successful deals in his career, IBM one of them though (Strother, 2007). Behavior Bill Gates is a determined person. Whenever he starts something new he would continue doing that project and won’t start another unless done with the first one. Gates never stopped trying when he was in process of making new software’s. He’s full of courage and never hesitates in taking risk. Once when he was about to lose lot of profit from

Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Research Methods - Essay Example This would enable profiling the stress factor among the various groups. Since the impact of stress levels on family life and health is being studied, the employees with more than 3 years of work experience would ideally be considered for the interview. Those from both government and private organizations will be included in the interviews. This makes the sample representative (Ejaz et al., 2008). Since the respondents are busy, they would be approached after the office hours and their appointment would be obtained keeping their convenience in mind (The Wallace Foundation Knowledge Center, 2013). An orientation regarding the subject, time requirements and general outline of the questions will also be given to the respondent, prior to getting their consent for the interview. This drives away the fear of unknown from the respondent and also helps in establishing a rapport with the interviewee (Megafon, 2013). The purpose and idea will be explained and confidentiality of data would be assured to them. This step would ensure honesty of responses. Their permission would be sought to record the interview (Crawford, 1997). The topic of study is sensitive. So, the respondents will be interviewed individually, outside their office premises. 5. Have you ever experienced any of these problems recently: memory problems, anxiety, inability to concentrate, loneliness, depression, dizziness, mood swings, short-temper, insomnia, lack of interest in food, overeating, unexplained aches and pains? The Wallace Foundation- Knowledge Center (2013). In-depth Interviews. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/after-school/collecting-and-using-data/Documents/Workbook-E-Indepth-Interviews.pdf. [Last Accessed 26 February

Speak Essay Example for Free

Speak Essay A Voice for the Hurt High school is supposed to be a fun, new, and exciting experience. The novel Speak is about a social outcast named Melinda and her struggles to fit in in high school. She doesnt have any true friends because no one stays around long enough to hear her story. The book is written by Laurie Halse Anderson. Throughout the novel Melinda shows her emotional discomfort through actions instead of speaking out. In the end she speaks up for herself and she finds a happier state of being. In the beginning of the novel Melinda enters high school being shunned by all of her ld friends and even people she has never met before because she called the cops at a party at the beginning of the summer. Melinda hides her feelings and doesnt speak out about what really happened that night. Instead of speaking she silences herself by her actions. An example of this is how she constantly bites her lips. The fist example of this is right in the beginning of the novel when Melindas ex best friend mouths l hate you, to her from across the room. Melinda bit her lip and tried not to think about it (Anderson 5). She continues to do this to remind herself to stay silent hroughout the novel. Melinda silences herself many other ways too. One of the most intense ways of this is when she cut herself with a paper clip. She says, l open up the paper clip and scratch it across my left wrist. Pitiful. If suicide is a cry for help, then what is this? A whimper, a peep? (Anderson 65) When her mom sees the cuts all she says is that she doesnt have time to deal with it. This shows how Melinda is trying to speak through cutting herself doesnt help. Her mom doesnt care. Her whimper for help is not heard. She needs to speak up about how she was raped. At the end of the novel Melinda finds a happier state of being when she decides to finally speak. There are many factors that lead her to speak. One of ways she finds her voice is by standing up to Heather. Also she tells Rachel about how Andy Evans had raped trying to protect her, but Rachel doesnt listen to her. After she wrote in the bathroom stall other girls also wrote about how much of a creep Andy is. This gives her confidence to speak out about Andy because she knows that she isnt the only girl going through what she went through. At the very end of the novel when Andy tries to rape her again she finds her voice and says no. Once others hear about what happened they understand her story. In art a seniors asks her if she id 0K and says way to go (Anderson 197). Speak is a powerful novel about a young girl who was raped. Melinda silences herself through her actions. She bites her lip as a constant reminder not to speak out. Also she cut herself with a paper clip as a whimper for help instead of Just telling her parents and friends the truth. In the end she finds her voice and simply speak. Speak Essay By JJkatemull

International Business And Organizational Factors Apple Inc Smartphones

International Business And Organizational Factors Apple Inc Smartphones Global marketing is perhaps one of the most significant factors in todays business world since it has made tremendous changes in the way the business is carried out around the world. Globalization and international business have been central to the developments and radical changes in the recent years and it has deeply affected people, management processes, business and economy. A large number of companies went global to utilize marketing opportunities for the realization of their business potential by successfully establishing sustainable competitive advantages and better marketing position where as many firms have failed in their international expansion efforts as they didnt heed the basic tenets ingrained in the critical business environments. In todays increasingly competitive and international free market economy contexts, transnational exchanging of technology, infrastructure and demographic movement have become increasingly important (Johnson and Turner, 2003, p. 1). The ultimate outcome of this growing importance of international business is that a customer, no matter whether he lives in Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia, will be familiar with a large number of world-class brands like Apple, Cadbury, Coca-cola, Dell, Ford, HP, Nestle, Nokia, Toyota and so on. The effect of globalization is that new brands are seemingly born global, For this research paper, Apple Inc- specifically its Smartphone sector- has been chosen to conduct detailed analysis on the literature related to the international business and organizational factors. This research paper presents an analysis on internal and external environment of the chosen organization- Apple Inc and examines its strategies for international marketing in terms of effectiveness and usefulness for its international operation. International Business: The case of Apple Inc Apple inc, founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in the 1970s is one of the most internationally influential and highly successful companies of today. It is an American multinational company that designs, makes and markets PCs, portable music players, cell phones, software, computer peripheral and services. It markets through its own retailing, online stores and third party sellers (Sander and Slatter, 2009, p. 81, Linzmayer, 2004). Apple was the first mainstream marketer for personal computers and is still an important market player worldwide and it has become a niche player by setting the pace for ease of use, innovative design and customer loyalty. Apples story is that one off-hobby machines that a most talented electronic expert made for himself has eventually become the core of the global marketing of one of the most successful companies of all times (OGrady, 2008, p. 1) Most of high tech companies focused only on a particular line of product whereas Apple made it different that it manufactured personal computer, created an operating system that can run in it and designed various application and software programs that fits it, and more over discovered and established market for digital music players and Smartphone. Apple is not confined in a particular market; instead, it plays significant roles in various high competitive markets like PC, software, operating system, digital music player and Smartphone. With innovative design and product differentiation strategy, it has so far produced a number of various unique products including iMac, iLife, iTunes, iPad, iPod, iPhone and 3G iPhones. Apple is better known for its wise and visionary strategic thinking that has helped it overcome marketing and competitive issues. For instance, when it experienced significant financial loss of around $45 million in 2002, Apples visionary management took effective competitive strategies that could help it stay strong in the market. The strategic thinking of Apples management has always guided it to create a focal point for decision making to help it protect the organization from the ambiguous and uncertain situations (Walker, 2003, p. 4). Apples recent developments -iPhone and 3G iPhone- became some of the most discussed new technology outcomes of the recent generation throughout the world. Its strategies of ease of use, simplicity, efficiency and fun are the major factors that helped it make its Smart phones seem to be different species than that of its competitors (Newsweek, 2007) Tilmann (2010) reported that Apples share in the worldwide PC market is constantly increasing. It has become the fifth largest PC seller in the US market for the first quarter of 2010, shipping 1,398 milion Macs computer machines. Apple is the seventh largest cell phone marketer, holding 2.7% market share in the worldwide cell phone markets, having a 112.2% increase in mobile devise sales. Apple is the third largest Smartphone marketer in the world during the first quarter of 2010. (Gartner, 2010) Apple is going to release its iPhone OS and therefore it is expected that second quarter of 2010 will be a very important one for Apple (Gartner, 2010). Apple is spending huge on RD in order to provide its customers with products and services, made up of latest technology and innovation, with supreme quality and reliability. Carson (2008) reported that more than 500 million subscribers were offered a legitimate iPhone deal in the beginning of 2008, with a target of big gains from its international marketing. The launch of iPhone had thus created a massive global footprint. Apples international marketing of iPhone has been first channeled through SingTel of Singapore, Bharti Airtel of India, Globe Telephones of Philippines and Optus of Australia, adding 100 million potential customers to its brand. International marketing has been highly significant for Apple in recent years. Its global sale of PCs and digital music players have contributed major share of its total revenues. For instance, Apple posted revenue of $9.6 billion and a net quarterly profit of $ 1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2008, showing a gross margin of 34.7% from the 31.2% figure of the year of gross profit. International sales accounted for 45% of its total revenues (OGrady, 2008, 162). International Business Environment of Apple Inc This section of the research paper analyzes micro and macro environments of Apples international business. The SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis are considered in this section to analyze international business environments both micro and macro levels. SWOT analysis of Apple Inc Analyzing both internal and external environments is vital in strategic planning because it can help management take decisive actions regarding resources allocation, measuring efficiency of operation and evaluating the productivity of employees. SWOT is a very useful technique for analyzing both micro and macro environments of a firm drawing together key strengths and weaknesses as presented internal (micro) analysis and opportunities and threats as presented external (macro) analysis (Beamish and Ashford, 2007, p. 42). Internal Environment: Strengths According to Datamonitors (2010) report, Apples total revenue has been increased to the highest record figure of $ 42,905 million in 2008 from 2007 total revenue of $24,578 million. This growth shows that its annual growth rate is 32.15% which is an outranking performance as compared to many other firms playing in the same market. Apple has very recently reported that its financial performance for the 2010 first quarter has been increased to $15.68 billion (Apple.com). When it comes to its focus on innovation, technology and RD, it is obvious that its focus on RD and its thrive on innovation has been a critical factor behind its success. Its RD spending for 2009 only was accounted to be $1,333 million (Datamonitor, 2010). Apple is highly rewarded for its unique brand success and brand loyalty. Datamonitor (2010) reported that Apples brand image has been im porved to the 20th position in 2009 from the 24th position of 2008 and 35th position of 2007. With a number of unique names, Apples products like iTunes, iLife, iMac, iPad and iPhone are not attributable to any brand other than Apple. This brand image and loyalty remains to be its major strength in its international markets. Internal Analysis: Weaknesses Design and manufacturing defects are major risks that many high tech electronic companies often face from its corporate customers and end users. As Apple is dealing with innovative products and advanced technology, any defects in its products can adversely affect its international business. For instance, Apple faced risks of defects with Ultracompact USB in 2008 causing it to exchange every components for new redesigned adapters (Datamonitor, 2010). Similarly, patent infringement seems to another risk, as common for high tech and Multinationals. In 2007 alone, Apple had to spend huge amount only for defending more than 47 patent infringement cases (Datamonitor, 2010). External Environment: Opportunities When it comes to Apples international business, the main opportunity that it enjoys is its growing market-share Apples Smartphone. It is still expected to grow further in the years to come. Apples Smartphone market has been valued as 15% of the total mobile market of 2009. It is estimated that Apples Smartphone market is likely to account 35% of the worldwide mobile market in 2012. Apart from this, touch screen device has been a trend among customers that in turn will be another opportunity for Apple in its global marketing (Datamonitor, 2010) Apples mobile PC is another species that recently attracted greater number of customers. The market for mobile PCs also is expected to increase in the coming years. Apples mobile PCs sales have been found to be increased by 15% in 2009. Both Smartphone and mobile PCs give greater opportunities for Apple and therefore it can grab the slices of these emerging hot markets by further enhancing quality, diversity, technology, innovation and designs. External Environment: Threats Self reliance for components is always a positive point for a manufacturer especially when it goes global. As far as Apples case is concerned, it is depending on third party components like DRAM, NAND and flat panel displays, that in turn not only bring chances of causing cost disadvantages but also raises issues of liabilities and components defects (Datamonitor, 2010). The competition in the worldwide market for PCs, software, digital music players and cell-phones is extremely rigorous. Apple is playing in such an environment where large multinationals like HP, Dell, Acer, Microsoft, Nokia, Fujitsu, Sony Ericsson are major competitors and going head on head with them is extremely challenging. PEST analysis of Apple Inc A better organization is one, which easily gets accustomed with changing business contexts. Changing business environments can be evaluated and understood only if effective analysis can be carried out. PEST analysis is an invaluable tool for analyzing external (macro) environment of a firm including competitors, suppliers and customers. PEST analysis divides a firms overall environments in to four, political, economic, social and technological (Gregory, 2000, p. 49). Apples external environments are detailed below: Political Environment Shenkar and Luo (2004) emphasized that the political processes faced by an MNE, let it be compliance, evasion, negotiation, cooperation and coalition building, are more difficult and problematic than that in domestic operation. It is mainly because; the number of political constituencies including government, union, political parties and interested groups are multiplied in international business environments (p. 175). As far as Apples case is concerned, its marketing in countries like China, India and other Asian countries are more likely to be affected by any changes in political and government policies can have significant impact on its business. Economic Environment When Apple chooses a specific entry mode to enter in to a country, it has to consider a number of economic and other factors. Economic factors in other countries like financial strength, exchange rate fluctuations, Foreign direct investment and related policies and other economic variables can also have significant influence on Apples international business. The growth of Apples market share in Smartphone and other sectors shows that it has been less affected by the worst financial downturn of the recent years as compared to other firms. Social Environment The significance of social and cultural factors to a firms international business cannot be overestimated. Consumers worldwide tend to become more attracted to Smartphone and touch screen devices. Even though the general social factors are positive for Apples Smartphone market in other countries, various other social factors like attitude towards foreign products, cultural entities and social values can up to an extent create challenges on its business (Shenkar and Luo, 2004, p. 150). Technological Environment Apples relentless focus on technology and innovation is its major strength that helps it gain better competitive advantages. Apples technology is its another positive factor because people worldwide tends to embrace latest technology quicker. Apple is introducing its 4G iPhone which is now expected to gain good sales across other countries as well. International Strategies of Apple Inc This part of the research paper relates to the major international business strategies of Apple inc. Apple strategies Innovative product design, Brand loyalty, Own store strategy and education sales are detailed below. Its strategies like complete solution and Product differentiation are intentionally omitted because, the specified sector for the research is Apples Smartphone sector. Innovative Design strategy Apples products like iPod and iPhone became widely known for its excellence in innovative product design and development. Apple was not a technology follower until 1990s. Steve Jobs realized that technology creation is critical to stay for long in a market and thence he made significant changes of Apples products lines after 1997 (Betz, 2002, p. 194- 195). This is how Apple has eventually become a technology creator and now created success stories of iPhone throughout its worldwide markets. When companies like HP and other players in hardware and software markets focused on lower costs and high volume sales, Apple focused on technology and product differentiation (Hoskisson, Hitt and Irelandl, 2008, p. 133). Apples international business is committed to bring high quality mobile communication, digital music players and video experience to its worldwide customers. Its business strategy is its effort to design and develop its own hardware products like iPhone with its own software, ease of use and innovative design being its major features (Apple Annual Report, 2009). Brand Loyalty Strategy Apple brand is one of the strongest in todays international market. A number of products like iPad, iPhone, iMac, iLife, iTunes and iDvd are clearly positioned in customers mind with Apple brand. Its strategy to design and develop innovative products have been closely related with its digital hub and thus to have gained a unique successful brand position among its customers. Apples brand personality is created with an emphasis on emotion, touching customers lifestyle, imagination, innovation, dream and aspiration (marketingminds.com). Apples brand is likely to change the lifestyle the people listen music, use mobile for communication and music needs etc (Cuneo, 2003). According to Keates and Clarkson (2003) Apples strong brand image and its loyalty only were the factors that saved Apple from being fully wiped out form the market when its managerial mistakes caused it to be closer to be bankrupted in 1990s (p. 43). When it comes to the brand positioning, Apple gains 50%. ADWEEKs (2009) study concluded that some customers are found that they couldnt live without Apples brand as it is highly inspiring to them. Readers brand choice was 50% Apple, 26% Google and 4% Starbucks (Brand of the Decade, 2009). Apples own store strategy Apple has been creating its own stores for the international marketing of its products including its Smartphone. Apart from online selling and third part sales force, Apple has used own store as a strategy for enhancing better distribution and by facilitating its customers enjoy music and other products and services. Its own stores are friendly places where customers have easy access to play and experience new technologies (insidecrm.com). Apple opened 34 its own stores in 2005 for a total of 135 and dramatically its international business by opening stores in Canada, three stores in UK and in Japan as well (OGrady, 2008, p. 129). Its own store strategy helps it gain more customers, attract them towards its products and technologies, provide better direct services and collect more accurate information from its customers. Education Sales Apples another strategy for its international business was education sale by focusing on selling its products and services to schools and universities and thus to spread its technology to the new generations. Students by seeing Apple products at schools or colleges become highly attracted to using or owning one for them and this is how Apple has been using education sale strategy for its marketing (insidecrm.com). Effectiveness of Apples Strategies This section of the research paper uses Porters generic Strategy (given in the appendix) to determine the effectiveness and success of Apples international business, mainly focusing its Smartphone market. The attractiveness of the firm and its position in industry are major factors that determine effectiveness. Apples case shows that it has been able to boost its market share for Smartphone in recent years. According to Porters generic strategy, cost advantage and differentiation are two major factors that determine strength of a firm. Apple has remained far positive with its market shares and larger number of shipping, and when considering Smartphone market, the market share was highly impressive. Apples RD is its main power that is a critical factor behind its differentiation; innovative design and technology focus strategies as well. Apart from its differentiation strategy, the major points to look at are 1) brand loyalty and 2) its iPhone buzz across the world. These both are major success factors of Apple Inc. Brand loyalty remains to be a strong advantage because it can help the company stay very strong in its international market. Similarly, the iPhone buzz throughout the world also has been a success factor that shows how far Apple has been gaining the international business and competitive advantages. Evaluative Conclusion and Recommendations Apart from the above-discussed Apples strategies, this part of the research paper recommends Customization facility and direct marketing as other two important strategies for Apple. Customers are different in tastes, requirements and lifestyles. They require different products at different features. A customer may require an iPhone with camera facility whereas the other may require it with additional inbuilt memory to store more songs. It goes like it. By facilitating customization, customers will be able to access Apple website, design their own products, select features for it, add specifications and finally order the goods. It will not only help increase the number of its customers, but also add more customer loyalty and satisfaction as well. Secondly, I would recommend that Direct marketing, by directly selling its products to the international customer, will be helpful to reduce middlemen costs and extra inventory handling too. It will help the company to make its products ultimately cheaper to the customers This research paper has highlighted the literature related to the Apples international business, mainly regarding it Smartphone sector. The paper has presented detailed analysis on the micro and macro analysis of Apples international business environment by using appropriate tools of SWOT and PEST analysis. The international business strategies of Apple are detailed in this paper, drawing the effectiveness of its strategies and operation.

Google And Yahoo Search Engine

Google And Yahoo Search Engine Web search engines are keys to the immense treasure of information. Dependency on the search engines is increasing drastically for both personal and professional use. It has become essential for the users to understand the differences between the search engines in order to attain a higher satisfaction. There is a great assortment of search engines which offer various options to the web user. Thus, it is significant to evaluate and compare search engines in the quest of a single search engine that would satisfy all the needs of the user. The main problem is facing by people, which search engine is very useful for finding reliable, relevant and fresh results. There are plenty of search engine are available for searching but, this dissertation will cover which technology are running behind Google and Yahoo!! search engine. Google and Yahoo! have their own algorithm for indexing the website. Introduction of Search Engine: In simple words a Search engine is software that searches through a database of web pages or web resources for a piece of information, keywords, concepts etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ There are many types of Different Search Engine available in Market. for example msn, Google, Yahoo!, ask etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ C:UsersJIMIT DOSHIDesktopnew dwnlddifferent-types-of-search-engines_4823.gif.jpg Figure: 1 Different Search Engine To define the concepts more descriptively we can say that Search engine is a computer program that searches for documents containing words or phrases of interest to users .The search engine itself is a virtually powerful workstation-class machine that searches a database of information collected from the Internet. Primarily software program called robots or spiders that crawl through all the files on the Internet and download them into a searchable database .These works as indexes to the literature available on the network. In the context of the Internet, Search engines usually refer to the World Wide Web and not other protocols or areas. Search engine is helpful for identifying sources, establishing notability, checking facts, and discussing what names to use for different things. There are a number of search engines available on the web. Most of the Search engines provide website reviews and homepage services in addition to keyword searches. But, in this present study two most popular search engines have been studied in terms of its available web resources with reference to Physics-India in Google and Yahoo!. Introduction of Google Google is one type of web search engine. When user wants to find something around the world using internet at that time Google comes into the picture. Google Search is the most-used search engine on the World Wide Web. So Google provide the entire information base on keyword which is put by the user in to search box of Google search engine. When user entry any keyword for search Google display all the related result of the keyword. Introduction of Yahoo! Yahoo! is one of the best known and most popular Internet portals. Originally a subject directory of sites, it now is a search engine, directory, and portal. To go to the Yahoo!! portal and main starting point, use www.Yahoo!.com. For direct access to the search engine, usesearch.yahoo.com and for the directory use www.dir.yahoo.com. This review primarily coves the search engine features. Use the table of contents on the left to navigate this review. Literature review and proposed overview: Search engine technology has had to scale dramatically to keep up with the growth of the web. In 1994, one of the first web search engines, the World Wide Web Worm (WWWW) [McBryan 94] had an index of 110,000 web pages and web accessible documents. As of November, 1997, the top search engines claim to index from 2 million (WebCrawler) to 100 million web documents (from Search Engine Watch). It is foreseeable that by the year 2000, a comprehensive index of the Web will contain over a billion documents. At the same time, the number of queries search engines handle has grown incredibly too. [1] In March and April 1994, the World Wide Web Worm received an average of about 1500 queries per day. In November 1997, AltaVista claimed it handled roughly 20 million queries per day. With the increasing number of users on the web, and automated systems which query search engines, it is likely that top search engines will handle hundreds of millions of queries per day by the year 2000. The goal of our system is to address many of the problems, both in quality and scalability, introduced by scaling search engine technology to such extraordinary numbers.[2] With the explosive growth of World-Wide-Web (WWW), publishing document on Internet has become more popular.But how to locate what we need in the ocean of information is an increasingly important and urgent problem. To simplify the problem of getting relevant results based on the search query, the Internet search engines were created that allowed searching a lot of information from the World-Wide-Web in the form of Web pages [3]. Search engines are among the most successful application on the Web today. They act as a system for searching the information available on the Web by automatically searching the contents of other systems and creating a database of the results [4]. The most famous search engines include AltaVista, Infoseek, Google, and MSN. They provide good searching ability by indexing more pages on the Web and maintaining the updated indices in their databases. Despite so many search engines are available to help user in finding the information of their interest, searching on the Web is not an easy task. The problem is due to the vast amount of data on the Web and its rapid updating and growth[5]. History of Search Engine The first Web search engine was Wandex, developed by the World Wide Web Wanderer in 1993. Another very early search engine, Aliweb, also appeared in 1993 and still runs today. One of the first engines to later become a major commercial endeavor was Lycos, which started at Carnegie Mellon University as a research project in 1994. Soon after, many search engines appeared and vied for popularity. These included WebCrawler, Hotbot, Excite, Info seek, Inktomi, and AltaVista. In some ways they competed with popular directories such as Yahoo!!. Later, the directories integrated or added on search engine technology for greater functionality. In 2002, Yahoo!! Acquired Inktomi and in 2003, Yahoo!! Acquired Overture, which owned AlltheWeb and AltaVista. In 2004, Yahoo!! Launched its own search engine based on the combined technologies of its acquisitions and providing a service that gave pre-eminence to the Web search engine over the directory. Before the advent of the Web, there were search engines for other protocols or uses, such as the Archie search engine for anonymous FTP sites and the Veronica search engine for the Gopher protocol. Recent additions to the list of search engines include a9.com, AlltheWeb, Ask Jeeves, Clusty, Gigablast, Ez2Find, Teoma, WiseNut, GoHook, Walhello, Kartoo, Snap and Mamma . Market Cover of different Search Engine :C:UsersJIMIT DOSHIDesktopnew dwnlduse of search engine chart.gif Figure: 2 search engine market As per above figure: 2 Google and Yahoo! cover most of the market of the world. Both have more popularity then other search engine. Google beat the Yahoo! at some level History of Google Search Engine: Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were doing their Ph. D. at Stanford University in 1998 and was officially launched in the fall of 1999. This is a straightforward engine that does not support advanced search syntax making it very easy to use and retrieves pages ranked on the basis of number of sites linking to them and how often they are visited, indicating their popularity (ibid). It claims that 97% of the users find what they are looking for. C:UsersJIMIT DOSHIDesktopnew dwnldgoogle snapshot.png Figure:3 Google home page overview Its success was based in part on the concept of link popularity and PageRank. How many other web sites and web pages link to a given page is taken into consideration with PageRank, on the premise that good or desirable pages are linked to more than others. The PageRank of linking pages and the number of links on these pages contribute to the PageRank of the linked page. This makes it possible for Google to order its results by how many web sites link to each found page. Googles minimalist user interface was very popular with users, and has since spawned a number of imitators. Google has been estimated to run over one million servers in data centers around the world, and process over one billion search requests and about twenty-four petabytes of user-generated data every day Instead of ranking pages, this technology uses an algorithm that follows links on a webpage to find other pages that link back to the first one and so on from page to page. Features: Google includes the following most important features: Cached page archives. Result clustered by indention. Result displayed option, from 10-100. Google Search Supports: Implied Boolean (+)sign, (-) sign. Double quotes () for phrases. Stop words. Other Search Options Available with Google: I m Feeling Lucky (goes directly to top ranked site in query) Google scout (bring up list of related sites) Uncle Sam (Searches govt. and Milsites) Search within results option Field searching with link only. History of Yahoo! Search Engine: Yahoo! was co-founded by Stanford University Graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo in January of 1994.Yahoo! is a subject Directory and also a commercial portal compiled by human. It is oldest as well as largest directory on the web. C:UsersJIMIT DOSHIDesktopnew dwnldsnapshot of yahoo.gif Figure: 4 Yahoo! search engine Yahoo! allows the user to put a search query, its strength lies in the categories and each that can lead a user step-by-step to the desired subject category. Structure: Yahoo! is hierarchically organized with subject catalogue or directory of the web which is browseable and searchable. Links to various services are accomplished in two ways such as by users submissions and through robots that retrieve new links from known pages. Yahoo! indexes web pages, UseNet and e-mail address. Features: Topic and region specific Yahoo! Automatic truncation. No case sensitivity. The syntax that Yahoo! follows for searching is fairly standard among all search engines. Search Option: Users can browse Yahoo!! Simply by clicking on the various categories listed on each page, or can search Yahoo!! By entering a word into the search box that appears on every page in the directory. Again one can combine the two strategies and can browse and then search or search and then browse. Other Search Options: Yahoo!! News User may combine any of the query syntax as long as the syntax is combined in the proper order, which is +, -, t: , and *. If Yahoo! does not find any matching entries, pertaining to a query, in its main database, the query will automatically be transferred to the Inktomi database, a search engine that automatically crawls the text of the entire web. Inktomi database contains results for literally millions of individual web pages. Yahoo! thus looks for information in: Yahoo!! Categories. Websites listed in Yahoo!. WebPages indexed by Inktomi. Working of Google Search Engine: google_search_strategy1_thumb.png Figure: 5 how work Google search engine Google Search (or Google Web Search) is a web search engine owned by Google Inc. Google Search is the most-used search engine on the World Wide Web, receiving several hundred million queries each day through its various services. The order of search results on Googles search-results pages is based, in part, on a priority rank called a PageRank. Google Search provides many options for customized search, using Boolean operators such as: exclusion (-xx), alternatives (xx OR yy), and wildcards (x * x). The main purpose of Google Search is to hunt for text in Web pages, as opposed to other data, such as with Google Image Search. Google Search provides at least 22 special features beyond the original word-search capability. These include synonyms, weather forecasts, time zones, stock quotes, maps, earthquake data, movie showtimes, airports, home listings, and sports scores. There are special features for dates, including range, prices, temperatures, money/unit conversions, calculation, package tracking, patents, area codes and language translation of displayed pages. Data about the frequency of use of search terms on Google (available through Google Adwords, Google Trends, and Google Insights for Search) have been shown to correlate with flu outbreaks and unemployment levels and provide the information faster than traditional reporting methods and government surveys. PageRank Googles rise to success was in large part due to a patented algorithm called PageRank that helps rank web pages that match a given search string. When Google was a Stanford research project, it was nicknamed BackRub because the technology checks backlinks to determine a sites importance. Previous keyword-based methods of ranking search results, used by many search engines that were once more popular than Google, would rank pages by how often the search terms occurred in the page, or how strongly associated the search terms were within each resulting page. The PageRank algorithm instead analyzes human-generated links assuming that web pages linked from many important pages are themselves likely to be important. The algorithm computes a recursive score for pages, based on the weighted sum of the PageRanks of the pages linking to them. PageRank is thought to correlate well with human concepts of importance. In addition to PageRank, Search Results: The exact percentage of the total of web pages that Google indexes is not known, as it is very difficult to accurately calculate. Google presents a two-line summary and also a preview of each search result, which includes a link to a cached (stored), usually older version of the page. Googles cache link in its search results provides a way of retrieving information from websites that have recently gone down and a way of retrieving data more quickly than by clicking the direct link. This feature is still available, but many users are not aware of this because it has been moved to the previews of the search results presented next to these. Non-index able data: Despite its immense index, there is also a considerable amount of data available in online databases which are accessible by means of queries but not by links. This so-called invisible or deep Web is minimally covered by Google and other search engines. The deep Web contains library catalogs, official legislative documents of governments, phone books, and other content which is dynamically prepared to respond to a query. Google Optimization: Since Google is the most popular search engine, many webmasters have become eager to influence their websites Google rankings. An industry of consultants has arisen to help websites increase their rankings on Google and on other search engines. This field, called search engine optimization, attempts to discern patterns in search engine listings, and then develop a methodology for improving rankings to draw more searchers to their clients sites. Search engine optimization encompasses both on page factors and Off Page Optimization factors (like anchor text and PageRank). The general idea is to affect Googles relevance algorithm by incorporating the keywords being targeted in various places on page, in particular the title element and the body copy (note: the higher up in the page, presumably the better its keyword prominence and thus the ranking). Too many occurrences of the keyword, however, cause the page to look suspect to Googles spam checking algorithms. Google has published guidelines for website owners who would like to raise their rankings when using legitimate optimization consultants. Functionality: Google search consists of a series of localized websites. The largest of those, the Google.com site, is the top most-visited website in the world. Some of its features include a definition link for most searches including dictionary words, the number of results you got on your search, links to other searches (e.g. for words that Google believes to be misspelled, it provides a link to the search results using its proposed spelling), and many more. Search Syntax: Googles search engine normally accepts queries as a simple text, and breaks up the users text into a sequence of search terms, which will usually be words that are to occur in the results, but one can also use Boolean operators, such as: quotations marks () for a phrase, a prefix such as + , - for qualified term or one of several advanced operators, such as site:. The WebPages of Google Search Basics describe each of these additional queries and options . Query expansion: Google applies query expansion to the submitted search query, transforming it into the query that will actually be used to retrieve results. As with page ranking, the exact details of the algorithm Google uses are deliberately obscure, but certainly the following transformations are among those that occur: Term reordering: in information retrieval this is a standard technique to reduce the work involved in retrieving results. Stemming is used to increase search quality by keeping small syntactic variants of search terms. There is a limited facility to fix possible misspellings in queries. Working of Yahoo! Search Engine: Yahoo!! Search is a web search engine, owned by Yahoo!! Inc. and was as of 2009, the 2nd largest search directory on the web. Yahoo!! Search, originally referred to as Yahoo!! provided Search interface, would send queries to a searchable index of pages supplemented with its directory of sites. Yahoo! does not use Web Crawling for retrieving the results. It uses Inktomi for getting results of keywords which are not found by the Yahoo! In 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a deal in which Bing would power Yahoo!! Search. Search Technology Acquisition: Seeking to provide its own search engine results, Yahoo!! acquired their own search technology. In 2002, they bought Inktomi, a behind the scenes or search engine provider, whose results are shown on other companies websites and powered Yahoo!! in its earlier days. They purchased Overture Services Inc., which owned the AlltheWeb and AltaVista search engines. Initially, even though Yahoo!! owned multiple search engines, they didnt use them on the main Yahoo!.com website, but kept using Googles search engine for its results. In 2003, Yahoo!! Search became its own web crawler-based search engine, with a reinvented crawler called Yahoo!! Slurp. Yahoo!! Search combined the capabilities of all the search engine companies they had acquired, with its existing research, and put them into a single search engine. The new search engine results were included in all of Yahoo!!s sites that had a web search function. Yahoo!! also started to sell the search engine results to other companies, to show on their own web sites. In 2007, Yahoo!! Search was updated with a more modern appearance in line with the redesigned Yahoo!! home page. In addition, Search Assisst was added; which provides real-time query suggestions and related concepts as they are typed. In 2008, Yahoo!! Search announced the introduction of a new service called Build Your Own Search Service, or BOSS. This service opens the doors for developers to use Yahoo!!s system for indexing information and images and create their own custom search engine. Study of Web Resources of Google Search Engine: Below Table gives a description of Web resources on Physics India retrieved through the Google Search out of 100 links. The following figure shows the Graphical representation of Web resources. Result: The analysis of the data available with the below table shows that most of the Web resources under the search term Physics India retrieves the pointer pages (links to websites on the same subject) and achieves 67% among all the other kinds of resources. Secondly, relates to the journal articles by 26% of retrieved output. And the lowest percentage of search results deals with research news, news clips, databases and conference papers .Above table shows the graphical representation of the retrieved output through Google. Table of Web resources v/s. frequency of their occurrence per search Figure: 6 number of Google search result Figure: 7 Google web resources versus frequency distribution for Google Study of Web Resources of Yahoo! Search Engine: Below Table shows the ratio of Web resources on Physics India retrieved through the Yahoo! Search. The Figure provides the graphical representation of the frequency of occurrence of various kinds of Web resources. Result: The analysis and interpretation of the data available in the table reflects that most of the retrieved results provides pointer pages with a percentage of 27% and second comes the web directories as 18% and it provides lowest percentage of retrieval rates of Journal articles. Table of Web resources v/s. frequency of their occurrence per search Figure: 8 number of search of Yahoo! Figure: 9 Yahoo! web resources vs frequency distribution. Study of Domains of Google Search Engine: Similar to the above classification of domains and the frequency of occurrence of the sources, the Table shows the major domains and the frequency of occurrence of the resources on those things. Figure: 10 Serial number of search of Google Result: The data from the above table reflects that most of the resources on the physics are available in commercial domains and secondly on organizational domains of India. And very lowest percentage indicates to the government sites. Figure provides the graphical representation of the frequency of occurrences Study of Domains of Yahoo! Search Engine: Similar to the above classification of domains and the frequency of occurrence of the sources, the Table 6.4 shows the major domains and the frequency of occurrence of the resources on those things. Figure: 11 serial number of search of Yahoo! Result: The data from the above table reflects that most of the resources on the physics are available in commercial domains and secondly on organizational domains of India. And very lowest percentage indicates to the government sites. Figure provides the graphical representation of the frequency of occurrences. Figure: 12 domain frequency of Yahoo! Study of File Formats of Google Search Engine: While carrying out the study we found that there are two main file formats on which almost all of the resources on Physics are available on the web retrieved through Google and Yahoo!. Thus Table indicates the file formats and the frequency of the resources on that and Figure shows the graphical representation of the frequency distribution. Figure: 13 file format and frequency distribution of Google Result: Above data indicates that maximum resources on physics retrieved through the Google are available in PDF (Portable Document Format). Study of File Formats of Yahoo! Search Engine: Table indicates the file formats and the frequency of the resources on that and Figure shows the graphical representation of the frequency distribution. Figure: 14 Yahoo! search serial number Figure: 15 Yahoo! search engine frequency Result: Here from the above data it is clear that most of the web resources on Physics India retrieved through Yahoo! search is on HTML format. Comparison of Google and Yahoo! Search Engine: Title g1.jpg yahoo-logo_2.gif Rating Rating: 3.9/5 (232 votes) Rating: 3.6/5 (200 votes) Mail Yes (unlimited storage) Yes (unlimited storage) Stock price $677.14 (17th Aug 12) $16.03.4 (17th Aug12) Search Yes Yes Slogan Don`t be evil Do you Yahoo!? Website www.Google.com www.search.Yahoo!.com Founded 1998 1995 About Google is an American public corporation, which is specialize in search engine, and today it is worlds no. 1 search engine. Yahoo! is an American public corporation and the internet service provider for news, emails, Yahoo! directory, search engine etc Founder Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were doing their Ph D at Stanford University Yahoo!! was founded by Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo in January of 1994 CEO Larry Page Marissa Mayer Industry Internet, Computer Software Internet, Computer Software Search Engine Ranking No. 1 in US (with market share of 58.5% in Oct07 as per comScore research) No. 2 in US (with market share of 23% in Oct07 as per comScore research) User generated video Yes (Google Video and YouTube) No Products Google AdWords, Google Search engine, Youtube video service, Google forum, Gmail, Orkut, Google earth, Google labs etc. Google maps, Picasa, Google books, Google Scholar, Google Docs Yahoo!! mail, Yahoo!! directory, Yahoo!! answers, Yahoo!! search, Yahoo!! messenger, Yahoo!! 360 °, Yahoo!! sports, Yahoo!! finance, Flickr, Yahoo!! Cricket, Yahoo!! News Site No Yes ( Hot Jobs) Headquarters Mountain view, California, USA 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, California, USA Table: 1 Google Yahoo! Comparison (A.) Similarities of Google and Yahoo! Search Engine Several similarities of Google and Yahoo! Search engines are found after visiting both websites and testing with a query. First of all, both search engines give great advantages for users; they provide optional tips or techniques to help users search efficiently. Some similar tips are found. The first technique is using specific and unique words to describe what we are looking for. If the keywords are more general or ambiguous words, the large number of irrelevant feedback documents will be retrieved. Another technique is using quotation marks around keywords so that the searchers can find the exact words and narrow the number of search results. There are several techniques to narrow the search results, including (1) limiting sites/domain as .com, .edu, or .gov, (2) specifying types of files to .htm/.html, .pdf, .doc, and .txt, (3) using operator (-) before the word that we do not need it appears in the search results, (4) using operator (+) before the word that we do need it in the search results, and (5) using Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT to specify searching terms. The other techniques are using additional options to get more relevant search results. For instance, users can specify updated files, countries, languages, and number of results per page. These techniques from both search engines are very helpful for users to retrieve more precise results. For example, giving the query like swine flu + unt , both search engines returned many web pages about swine flu with the word unt, which is the University of North Texas. This can reduce not only the time process the search engines, but also the time to fine the best precise search results. The second similarity of these search engines is that they provide many categories for the search results, such as web, images, videos, shopping, news, and sports. With selecting a specific category like images, a user can retrieve only images on the webs. Users can also define specific type of file like .pdf, .doc, and .jpg, which helps users to get more precise and reduce time process. Third, when typing the keywords, Yahoo! suggests the full key words as well as Google. This helps users to select the full query as fast as possible. Suggesting the full keyword is a smart task for both search engines because it is an Artificial Intelligent part, which tries to guess users what the next word of the query is. For example, when typing swine, both search engines suggested the word flu as the next word. Next, the search results of both engines are quite similar patterns, which show the title in the first line, the brief description of webpage in the next several lines, and the URL or webpage s address. This snippet for each web result is enough information that a user can quickly scan and move to find information from other web pages in the ranked results. Last but not least, after submitted a query, both search engines immediately returned the relevant results, along with the large total number of websites retrieved. This shows the ability and efficiency of both search engines. Obviously, with these advance tips for both search engines provided on their web interface, they become the most top-two popular use over the others in the world. These are the great search engines that people use to find enormous information on the Internet since they provide the ways to retrieve more relevant search results. (B.)Contrast between Google and Yahoo! Search Engine Interface, Design, and Layout : The most obvious difference between these two Web sites is about the Interface, Layout, and Design of the pages. Google offers a very Clean and simplistic interface, whereas Yahoo!!s is busy and cluttered. Simple design should always be used to avoid complexity and confusion to the user. When a user is not required excessive text and images, they will feel more at ease and comfortable while using your Web site. Ultimately, a simplified interface means that the Web site will be accessible to all types of people with different skill levels, thus increasing the potential for a significant user return. Another key aspect of Design and usability is defining or understanding the purpose of the Website. Due to the simplistic nature of the Google Web site, it is quickly apparent to the user that the

When Armpit Hair Grows :: essays research papers

What happened to wanting to grow up? Where did all my sports and hobbies go? Why is it I have to take showers daily now? I woke up this morning and I was eighteen. I absolutely hate being eighteen. I am expected to be an adult now and forget about having fun. If this is the path of what growing up is going to be like, then I QUIT! Bring me back to twelve I want to be young again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The irony, when I was twelve I could not wait to be eighteen. The thought of being able to do what ever you want seemed so appealing to me. Little did I realize that being eighteen has plenty of downfalls. I remember thinking eighteen year olds were so cool. They were able to buy the coolest things, cigarettes, scratch tickets, and porn. Now eighteen I don’t buy any of these items because; A) I don’t smoke; B) I never win on scratch tickets, and C) I now know I can get porn free on my computer. My idea of eighteen seemed much more glorious than what it is. Being eighteen went far past the ability to buy the coolest things. Someone must have forgot to tell me that I now need to work to live, that I need college to work, and that I need to grow up to go to college. Someone forgot to tell me it sucks being eighteen. I use to be an active kid. I was outside everyday, rain or shine. Nothing would stop me from doing what I loved to do. Everyday after school I would go out dirt biking, skateboarding, or bicycling. Some times you might have found me thirty feet up in a tree building a fort. I was always far from being board. My imagination was incredible. I would be able to play Ninjas with my buddies, holding paper towel rolls as swords. Now my imagination is consumed with ways to make money so I can pay bills on time. Now everyday after school you’ll find me working at a local package store in Leicester. Sometimes you might find me sleeping in bed, making up for the lack of sleep I don’t get throughout the week. The only time you’ll see me out side now is when I’m on my way to the car or walking to the mailbox.