14 Popular Fantasy Tropes (and How to Revitalize Them)

14 Popular Fantasy Tropes (and How to Revitalize Them) 14 Popular Fantasy Tropes - And How to Make Them Feel New Again Fantasy tropes, like any other type of literary trope, are recurring images, themes, or devices that are used to the point of being common conventions amongst its genre.When writing a genre  such as fantasy  (with such well-known concepts), authors often feel the need to straddle a fine line: include too many tropes and readers will get  dà ©j vu; don’t include a single clichà © and you risk losing readers who have come to expect certain themes and touchstones from a fantasy novel.The thing is, conventions commonly crop up in stories because most of them contain some element of universal relatability - and people enjoy the familiar. Even the best fantasy novels make use of tropes.So embrace the balancing act by acquainting yourself with some of the most popular fantasy tropes out there, and by learning how to prevent your characters, plots, and worlds from becoming a complete clichà ©. 14 popular fantasy tropes - and how to make them feel new again. Character tropesAt their heart, all stories are about characters who represent some aspect of human nature - and fantasy is no exception. Many novels in this  genre feature  archetypes, which is not necessarily a bad thing - so long as your characters' development aligns with the narrative arc and doesn't rely on clichà © pitstops.Tropes: we love to hate them and hate to love them. What are some of your favorites, or most eye-roll-inducing fantasy novel conventions? Let us know in the comments below!

typology of violent men essays

typology of violent men essays Reading A Typology of Men Who Are Violent Toward Their Female Partners: Making Sense of the Heterogeneity in Husband Violence was quite an enlightening experience. This essay was the first exposure that I have encountered that had to do with research of the way psychological matters, such as batterers, should be analyzed and examined. There are so many ways to view things that sometimes researchers do not really become aware of the best way to view them until more research is done. This article is a perfect instance of this type of research. Much of the existing information pertaining to husband violence has been gathered in research comparing violent with nonviolent models of men; in such studies, batterers are customarily treated as a homogeneous group. However, reviewing this article proved that this conception of researching is no longer valid. Instead, batterers should be explored by systematically examining variability among violent men alone, by way of significant hypothetical dimensions of interest. This manner of research will help distinguish the diverse pathways to violence. I believe that thoroughly understanding this concept will, in the long run, help one to solve the problem of violent men. Furthermore, in this examine, I recognized that the subgroups that were identified among violent men varied along descriptive proportions. Antisociality and borderline features were results that came to be particularly essential for understanding the heterogeneity in violent husbands. It is clear that extensive researches in this area are very important. Societal and interpersonal causes of violence and the interactions at these differing levels of analysis are just as important as the intraperosonal causes of violence that are analyzed in this particular study. Overall, what I believe to be the most important learning experience from this article is that researching psy...

An individual report auditing the management of innovation in a Essay

An individual report auditing the management of innovation in a nominated organisation - Essay Example How the innovation management process is different for the two types of innovation selected 11 5. Conclusion - The key learning experiences of the respective innovation examples 12 References 12 Appendix 13 1. Introduction The identification of effective strategies is a key challenge for managers in all firms worldwide. Most commonly, specific criteria are set for ensuring the alignment of organizational practices with the market trend and the consumer preferences. Still, in practice it has been proved that even when these criteria are met, the competitiveness of organizations involved may remain at low levels. The management of innovation in modern organizations is examined in the specific study. Reference is made to two particular firms: Microsoft and Alcoa. The first of them, Microsoft, has become popular mostly because of the development of Windows, an operating system that has been characterized as highly innovative. According to Chu (2010, p.2) ‘product innovation is tech nological upgrading of existing product or developing a new product technology’. On the other hand, Alcoa has introduced a unique process for refining aluminium; the above process meets the requirements of innovation process, which has been defined as ‘the usage of new or improved production technology’ (Chu 2010, p.3). ... On contrary in Alcoa emphasis is given more on long-term growth rather on the achievement of significant benefits in the short term. As a result, the perspectives of innovation in Microsoft are different than those of Alcoa, an issue analytically explained below. 2. Management of Innovation – theoretical perspectives The successful management of innovation in industries of different characteristics is based on specific terms. At a first level, organizations that are interested in promoting innovation have to be quite competent in managing knowledge (Mothe and Foray 2001, p.28). According to Mothe and Foray (2001) the promotion of innovation within organizations does not necessary requires the establishment of new vision and mission; rather, it can be achieved even in the context of the existing mission and vision under the terms that the relevant mission and vision are flexible enough so that they can be alternated for supporting plans focusing on innovation. At the same time, King (2009) notes that the tools available to managers of modern organizations for promoting innovation can highly vary; reference is made to for example to ‘the strategic positioning of personnel or the implementation of user innovation communities’ (King 2009, p.198). Moreover, Tidd et al (2005) emphasize on the following fact: the management of innovation in modern organizations can be a demanding task. The use of models and frameworks that have been extensively tested in the empirical research could help managers to minimize risks in regard to the particular activity (Tidd et al. 2005). The above researchers refer, as an example, to the Innovation Process model (Figure 1, Appendix).

Leadership as Defined by Subcomandante Marcos and Martin Luther King Essay

Leadership as Defined by Subcomandante Marcos and Martin Luther King Jr - Essay Example For others, it may have a much more negative meaning: treating others as though they are you underlings while you bully, boss and take advantage of them; gaining at the expense and through the work and efforts of those who are your "inferiors." The latest definition of "leadership" is fast becoming a clich: the ability to motivate and direct people around you, within a business relationship. Subcomandante Marcos has a very real aura of mystery around him. Although many suspect (with good reason) that his real identity is that of Rafael Sebastin Guilln Vicente, this has not been established as completely true. Marcos purposely obscures his face, at least partially, from public view. During his entire existence as a civil rights leader, he has championed the cause of indigenous people of Mexico. Unbeknownst to many North Americans, the native people of Mexico are treated questionably by their government, with regard to their human rights. Marcos works closely with the Zapatistas, a group that disagrees with and rebels against the official Mexican government. Together, they openly find fault with the way the people of Chiapas, Mexico (an area that borders Guatemala) are treated by the Mexican government. Marcos and the Zapatistas believe that the natives of Chiapas are very repressed in terms of expressing and identifying with the culture and customs of their ancestors. In general, the basic philosophy of Marcos, as well as the Zapatista army, is that equal rights should be extended to all, irrespective of race, nationality, gender, sexual preference, political affiliation or religious beliefs, and that these equal rights entail no special treatment towards anyone concerning economic or educational opportunity, or the freedom to express oneself, provided it does not interfere with the personal liberty of another. This philosophy is what has spurred Marcos to dedicate his time and energy towards both drawing attention to the struggle of the inhabitants of Chiapas, as well as to insist that these people be respected and recognized by the Mexican government. Marcos, who is rumored to possess a university degree centered on philosophy, employs traditional democratic processes (petitioning, garnering public support and attention, political discussion and humor) as well as less orthodox methods (inclusion within the Zapatista military.) Marcos has clearly succeeded as a leader, in one respect; he has obviously persuaded people to trust and follow him, but is his cause worthy of that trust His expressed motives convince us that he is, in fact sincere. He simply wishes to give equality to those who are suffering without it. Martin Luther King, Jr. had many similarities to Marcos; he also believed in equality towards all, while combating racial injustice towards the black people within his country. Likewise, his target group for whom he was fighting were oppressed economically by society and treated like second-class

Why was America taken by surprise on 11 September 2001 Essay

Why was America taken by surprise on 11 September 2001 - Essay Example On the morning of September 11, 2001 four commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. The number of terrorists was expected to be around 19 that carried suicide attacks in three different places. The first two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the third destructed a part of the Pentagon while the fourth crashed in a field of Pennsylvania. This was a massive and atrocious attack on the land of America causing immense collateral damage.2 Who would have expected the day when America crippled into the depths of shock and horror with strong defensive shields mentioned above. A major chunk of the American economy flourishing in the WTC was deflated. The Pentagon that is the central decision making body of the country was so vulnerable and the trans-border security on the airports was so weak that no one could keep a check on any unusual activities. All of these loopholes resulted in the death of more than 3000 civilians3 on 9/11. When the episode of 9/11 is dug deep, one comes across a lot of questions. For instance, why did a non-state actor attack America? How did it get the capability to penetrate inside the country? Was there an insider involved? Does it prove the failure of President George W. Bush’s administration or was it another excuse to wage war like the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941? All of these questions have affected the lives of Americans itself. Right after the country was attacked, President George W. Bush declared war on terror and put forward a proposal of â€Å"either you are with us or them (terrorists)† before the world making states choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. President Bush invested heavily to wage the war against Osama Bin Laden, the culprit responsible for planning and executing the attacks. He started off with bombarding Afghanistan in 2001 which hasn’t stopped yet even after a decade. The attacks had

Reconfiguration of 11KV Feeder

Reconfiguration of 11KV Feeder Introduction CE 2.1 I did this project as a graduate Electrical Engineering while pursuing my Bachelor of Engineering in the field of Electrical Engineering from Balochistan University of Engineering and Technology, Balochistan. I wanted to conduct a project that would be challenging and would involve how to improve the existing power grid by helping the current or load at a given time. I wanted to create a system by improving the power factor or changing the conductor size or substituting the cables with conductors. I was able to improve my written and oral presentation skills as well as my interpersonal skills by the successful completion of this project. Background CE 2.2 For this project as an undergraduate student in electrical engineering, I wanted to start working on a project that would be challenging. I wanted to learn about the different and commonly used electrical/electronic components, the working mechanism and the implementation in a common every-day system. Feeder configuration is a very important step to enhance the quality and reliability of a distribution system. During my studies, I had learned that traditionally, in Pakistan, the feeder configuration is done by opening/closing or tie sectionalizing the switches in order to alter network map and thus the flow of power from substation to customers. I had studied during my bachelors that the reason Feeder configuration is done is to reduce system power loss and also for load balancing. As the loading conditions change, it is important to reconfigure it to reduce power losses in the network. And it is due to this reason that I selected the Reconfiguration of 11KV Feeder for my project. CE 2.3 The objective of my project is to design a system to reconfigure the network for loss reduction for 11KV feeder. Or the reconfiguration of the distribution network under normal operation to reduce active losses and to balance loads in the system. CE 2.4 CE 2.5 I first had to conduct a detailed literature review to find the best applicable approach to this system for reconfiguration. I decided to use Branch exchange and Loop cutting methods along with a theoretical Heurestic approach to achieve my objectives. I used the computer software for ELR to analyse the feeder and to calculate the results. I initially, used an existing configuration based on actual data to calculate the current Energy Loss Reduction (ELR) I then tabulated all the results and obtained a schematic diagram to show my results. I completed the project within the time frame specified by the university. I presented my findings to my supervisor. Personal Engineering Activity CE 2.6 I approached a senior professor with an idea of conducting a project about the power grid. Along with my group members, I had a lot of brainstorming sessions and review meetings with my project supervisor to select a suitable topic. I suggested that I work on a project that was concerned with restructuring the power grid to minimize distribution losses and we suggested that we select a suitable location for this project to be carried out and thus the topic Reconfiguration of 11KV feeder came in to being and the supervisor agreed to this and asked us to begin working on this by first conducting a literature review on all the components we would require and the working of this project and to start working on this project. CE 2.7 I decided to select a Surab Town feeder of 11KV which starts from the 132KV Pakistan Railway Grid Station. I found that this grid has two transformers connected in parallel having a capacity of 10/13MVA each and 132/11KV. This particular feeder provided power of mixed loads to residential, commercial, agricultural and gas power plants. I carried out the Physical Survey of the existing 11KV Surab Town Feeder and plotted a Single line diagram of existing Surab town feeder. I calculated the energy losses and voltage drop of existing distribution system keeping in view the QESCO requirements. The length of feeder is 42.62km with annual energy loss 457898.1kWH and maximum percentage voltage drop is 6.5%, which is beyond the specified limit of QESCO i.e. 5.0% and is not acceptable as shown in the table below. Month Max Hour KWH Reading in Year-3 (KWH) Units Sent in Year-3 (KWH) Units Sold in Year-3 (KWH) Losses KWH % January 0920108 0922574 1954326 1020746 933580 47.8 February 1809123 1811499 1504110 785804 719490 47.8 March 2577218 2580502 1233398 1324005 -90607 -7.3 April 2944920 2946703 1695002 1472175 223911 13.2 May 4197868 4199507 1758256 1693000 65256 3.7 June 4483081 4485732 1472868 1392621 84892 5.8 July 5663010 5665217 1452128 1146852 303276 21.0 August 6179532 6174379 1272432 1263513 8919 0.7 September 72162 76150 1636414 5107276 129138 7.9 October 1747258 172496 2070467 1654039 418057 20.2 November 4868322 4873227 2704009 1584898 1119111 41.4 December 6046270 602780 3086286 1626763 1459523 47.3 I used the following simple algorithm for the algorithm: Start with an existing configuration. Read Input data..Run ELR program..Display results..Compare KWH losses, If KWH loss CE 2.8 My test system is a high loss, problematic distribution feeder of QESCO. In first, the existing Grid and feeder data are collected from Surab grid station. The data made run in ELR Software, which results high losses due to overloads. As the ampere load accedes then 300 amp on main Dog conductor , To overcome these overloads we recon figurate the feeder by using three different methods i.e. Branch Exchange Method, Loop Cutting Method and then we applied bifurcation method to isolate the existing feeder into two parts. I collected data from the Head office QESCO in Quetta, Pakistan and found that the monthly Peak Load is between 600-700 Amps and the off peak load between 5-90 Amps with the lowest being in November. I conducted a Load flow analysis was done using ELR Program with the following input Parameters at 5% annual Load growth rate Load in Amp.=395 Amp @ 5% for 5 years Bus Voltage=11KV Feeder load factor=6.29% Existing power factor=0.78% Proposed power factor=0.79% Capacitor installed=2Nos. I proposed the following one line diagram of QESCO feeder as prepared on the basis of field visits is shown below in figure. This figure clearly shows the difference between actual and proposed configuration of the feeder. In this figure 154 node are shifted. Also the route of power flow has been changed there by feeding all the consumers. This configuration has reduced the line losses too as evident from the load flow analysis. The details are feeder given below. Power T/F # ÃŽâ„ ¢ÃƒÅ½Ã¢â€ž ¢ Feeder code 020201 Power T/F capacity 10/13 MVA Number of node 92 Number of transformers 66 Number dog conductor 18 Number rabbit conductor 73 Total length of line 18.42 KM Total KVAS 5350 KVA I also proposed and conducted a Load flow analysis using ELR Program with the following input Parameters at 5% annual Load growth rate. Load in Amp= [emailprotected]%for 5 years Bus Voltage = 11KV Feeder load factor= 6.29% Existing power factor = 0.78% Proposed power factor = 0.95% (Improved Due to capacitor Placement) CE 2.9 I conducted this project successfully and found that the ELR program could be used sappropriately and properly to find the optimal configuration of 11KV feeder, demonstrating the feasibility of such an approach for the solution of this problem. However, refinements to the algorithm may be necessary in order to achieve satisfactory performance on large, real-world systems consisting of thousands of buses. The following were my results: Losses (KWH) minimized from 457898 to 332944 Voltage drop improved from 6.5% to 4.4% Power Factor improvement from 0.78% to 0.95% (Result of proposed configuration) B/C Ratio is 24.25 CE 2.10 My contribution during this project was: Gathering Exact Grid data on realistic approaches. Gathering feeder data, one line diagram preparation physically through field visits. Exact measures and distances of node-to-node and exact electrical parameters informations. Keeping in view different constraints, like Cost, Obstacles, Load. Losses, Environmental / social constraints, Betterment of WAPDA as well as general public. Re-notification of existing configuration and finding the optimal configuration by repetition the results obtained after execution of ELR Program. Removing haphazard road crossings and reducing the length of feeder. Load Balancing. Placement of Capacitor at best locations for obtaining best results. Summary CE 2.9 I successfully completed the project titled Reconfiguration of a 11KV Feeder along with my team members. I learned how to reconfigure a 11KV feeder and about the different approaches by execution of the ELR program I learned how to gather Grid data for realistic approaches to improve loading. By the successful completion of this project, I was able to improve my written, oral and interpersonal skills. I was also able to improve my team work. The main objective of this research is to develop methodology and guide lines for distribution engineers to show that by reducing the energy losses of distribution system, available capacity of the system may be conserved without putting up additional capacity. A generalized computer program is used to evaluate any given HT/LT system and propose capacitor banks at different points, different conductor sizes in different portions of system. This results in improving the stability as well as energy handling capacity of the system at minimum cost.

Cisco Products and Specific Customer Groups

In August of 2001, just months after Cisco System reported its first loss a a public company ($ 2. 7 billion), John Chambers, president and CEO, announced a major restructuring that would transform Cisco from a decentralized operation organized around customer groups to a centralized one focused on technologies. This restructuring not only risked destabilizing the large, complex organization during an economic downturn, but more importantly, threatened Cisco’s ability to remain customer-focused, a hallmark of the company’s culture and success since its first product was created in 1986.In order to maintain communication and stimulate ongoing collaboration among the newly independent functional areas, Cisco introduced coordination mechanisms that enable the companies to remain customer-focused. Introduction John Chambers became president and CEO of Cisco Systems in 1995. Over the course of the next several years, the decisions he made and the changes he implemented chall enged traditional business practices, and resulted in incredible growth for the company. When Chambers first started, Cisco was generating annual revenues of $2. 2 billion; just six years later, the company was generating annual revenues of $22.3 billion.All of those results, however, were threatened in the 2001 market downturn. Earlier in the year, the explosive growth in the sales of hardware supporting the Internet began to show serious signs of slowing down, and Cisco Systems, like the rest of the technology industry, was facing the repercussions of the demise of the Internet boom and the first economic downturn in more than a decade. Start-ups, which had enjoyed the benefits of a buoyant stock market, and telecommunications companies began cutting back their overextended IT and network budgets.As a result of the falling demand, Cisco announced its first loss as a public company ($2. 69 billion) in the fiscal quarter ended April 28, 2001 and cut 18% of its workforce. In August, Chambers announced a major organizational restructuring that would transform Cisco from a decentralized operation focused on specific customer groups to a centralized one focused on technologies. While recognizing that a centralized, functional structure was necessary to avoid product and resource redundancies, Chambers also realized that it risked making the company less customer-focused.At the time of the announcement, Chambers asserted that Cisco’s customer-centric culture would offset this drawback, but he knew that more needed to be done to ensure that an organization as large as Cisco would remain customer-focused—technology companies simply could not afford to lose 1 sight of the customer. Chambers knew then that he needed to implement a formal, crossfunctional structure that would keep the company in touch with its customers. Chambers found himself considering an ambitious idea that, if executed, could transform both his company and conventional organizational strategy.He asserted that if Cisco implemented a crossfunctional system of executive-level committees, or councils, that fostered a culture of teamwork and collaboration that the company could scale beyond what anyone else thought possible. The benefits were clear—the cross-functional councils would bring the leaders of different functions together to collaborate and focus on the needs and issues of specific customer groups. Cisco could enjoy the benefits of being a functional organization while retaining its customer-centricity. Still, implementing such a system would be difficult.Many other companies had previously failed at facilitating collaboration across functions, especially large organizations such as Cisco. Chambers began asking himself questions. Would Cisco’s employees, many of whom were accustomed to a command-and-control system, accept a more collaborative model? Could they function in such a system, even with training? Would a cross-functional system work in such a large functional organization? Furthermore, if Cisco moved forward with this idea, how many councils should be formed? How large should they be? Who would sit on and chair them?Where would the decision making power reside? And finally, how could a system be implemented without creating a matrix organization that would impede decision making and generate conflict? These were all important questions, many of which for Chambers did not yet have answers. They were also questions that would discourage most executives from taking the chance. Still, Chambers understood Cisco’s employees and knew what they were capable of. He also knew that if they could succeed, the company would become even stronger financially and organizationally.With 2002 approaching, and the organizational restructuring already being implemented now was the time to act. Market Transformation Despite the challenges presented by the 2001 market downturn, Cisco overcame the sudden drop in product demand . In fact, the company became even stronger after the downturn. By the end of July 2007, Cisco was generating more than $30 billion in revenue and employing 61,535 employees worldwide. Cisco’s total revenue for FY 2007 ($34. 9 billion) was an increase of approximately 23% over FY 2006 revenue’s of $28. 5 billion.Net Income was $7. 3 billion GAAP and $8.4 billion non- GAAP, while Earnings per Share was $1. 17 GAAP (increase of 31% year over year) and $1. 34 non-GAAP (increase of 22% year over year). Part of Cisco’s post-downturn resiliency and success was the result of a transformation in its market focus and product offerings. Signs of this transformation were evident shortly before the downturn, when Cisco invested in its first comprehensive advertising campaign, including television and print, that asked the question, â€Å"Are You Ready? † with the goal of raising consumer awareness of its networking-equipment business and its plans to connect Internet users with its routers and switches.Because Cisco realized that it could not solely rely upon existing demand, the company began diversifying the products it offered and who it was selling those products to. By 2007, Cisco had successfully expanded into advanced technologies such as unified communications, wireless local area networking, home networking, application networking services, network security, storage 2 area networking, and video systems. These advanced technologies resulted in the growth of Cisco’s enterprise (large business) and service provider segments.For instance, by 2007, more than 8 million unified IP phones had been installed worldwide (Cisco was the market share leader in the enterprise voice marketplace); Cisco’s Catalyst 6500, a highperformance modular switch that converges data center, campus, and wide-area network in a single system, surpassed $20 billion in sales; and Cisco’s enterprise customer installed base recently surpassed the 3 million wireless access points milestone. 3 Cisco was also able to successfully integrate the aforementioned advanced technologies with its core routing and switching technologies in products such as its Integrated Services Routers.Additionally, Cisco announced in June 2007 that it had shipped 900 of its Carrier Routing System (CRS-1), which provided continuous system operation to telecommunications service providers and research organizations, since its introduction in 2004. Cisco claimed that customers understood the leadership, total cost of ownership, flexibility, and investment protection advantages they would receive when they installed a Cisco product, which was designed to allow customers to easily and cost-effectively add marketleading voice, data, security, wireless, and other capabilities to their existing Cisco networks.This strategy differentiated Cisco from many of its competitors, which are usually present in only one or two product categories or customer segments, an d often do not integrate their products from an architectural perspective. In a conference call discussing Q4 and FY 2007 financial results, Chambers commented on the importance of this balance and integration: â€Å"We believe that there are a number of factors that are unique to Cisco’s ability to grow.First is our unique balance across over two dozen product areas, four customer segments, and across major developed and emerging countries†¦From a product perspective, we approach the market with an end-to-end architecture where the products are first loosely then tightly integrated together, rather than focusing on individual routers, switches, security, wireless, storage, unified communications, or other standalone products. In addition to diversifying its product and service offerings, Cisco transformed its market focus by finding new growth opportunities in developing economies.Because Chambers knew these opportunities would not get the attention they needed from st andard geographic sales coverage, he created a new sales â€Å"theater† called Emerging Markets, which included 138 countries around the world, regardless of location. Instead of every theater having several emerging markets in their portfolio viewed as low priorities, all the emerging markets were unified into one theater with the same resources and expectations of the other theaters. While several sales leaders functioned throughout the emerging markets, one sales senior vice president (SVP) was ultimately responsible for each theater.Members of the Emerging Markets sales team met with government and business leaders in various countries to discuss â€Å"how Cisco could help their countries develop a stronger economy through Internet access to education, healthcare, and business opportunities†. These and other efforts throughout the theater paid off—growth for FY 2007 in Cisco’s Emerging Markets theater was 40%, the highest growth rate of all five theat ers (e. g. North America; Europe; Asia Pacific; Japan; and Emerging Markets).This performance made Chambers even more confident about the value of emerging markets. â€Å"Our architectural strategy in emerging markets is working extremely well,† he said in the conference call. â€Å"Barring some major economic or political surprises across many of these emerging countries, I would expect this theater to have the potential to grow more than twice the average growth rate of the other four theaters, if we execute effectively. † 3 2001 Organizational Restructuring Cisco also transformed and expanded its market focus through acquisitions.Before the downturn (1993–2000), Cisco was known for its acquisitions; it acquired 71 start-up companies that specialized in both its core and advanced areas, with 41 of those acquisitions occurring between 1999 and 2000. While emerging markets and acquisitions were key in helping Cisco survive the downturn, the company’s 2001 organizational restructuring played an even more important role. In its early days as a start-up, Cisco Systems was organized as a centralized engineering organization. As the company grew rapidly after going public in 1990, it adopted a business unit structure that was organized around primary product groups.This structure lasted until 1997, when the company reorganized itself around three semi-autonomous lines of business, each focusing on a distinct customer type: service providers, large enterprises, and small and medium-sized businesses, which Cisco characterizes as the â€Å"commercial† segment. Within this structure, each of the three lines of business developed and marketed its own products to its specific customer groups. This decentralized organization was created to meet the differing requirements of service providers and SMBs, two groups of customers that were growing rapidly at that time.By creating separate business units, Cisco attempted to meet the needs of e ach without compromise. However, as the market downturn brought about slowing demand and falling revenues, the negative aspects of the segment-centric grouping became clear. Organized behind lines of business focused on the different segments, redundancies in technological development were certainly not surprising—coordination across all technologies relevant to a customer group came at the expense of replicating technology development across customer groups.Still, redundancies became more noticeable at Cisco in the harsh economic environment faced by the company. Each business unit designed and sold its own products to customers in a particular industry, even though each business line produced some similar, if not interchangeable, products. Moreover, differences between customer segments had begun to blur: some enterprise business products suited service provider needs, but the service provider business lacked knowledge of, and access to, them. In some cases, each line of bu siness had a different technology or solution for the same problem.By summer 2001, for example, Cisco had eight different teams developing technology to transmit telephone calls over Internet protocol (IP) networks. As one manager stated, â€Å"Before, we had a service provider customer, enterprise customer, and SMB customer, and we built a complete product line for that customer set. What that did cause was a great deal [of] redundancy of engineering and innovation†¦we had to build the same thing three times over and make things that are 80% the same three times over to satisfy the three requirements. † Facing the realities of the market downturn, Cisco made a change.On August 23, 2001, the company announced a major restructuring that, CEO John Chambers enthused, would bring Cisco closer to its customers, encourage teamwork, and eliminate product and resource overlaps. Cisco shifted from a decentralized operation focused on specific customer groups to a centralized one focused on technologies. Engineering was reorganized around eleven technology groups: Access, Aggregation, Cisco IOS Technologies, Internet Switching and Services, Ethernet Access, Network Management Services, Core Routing, Optical, Storage, Voice, and Wireless.Although the product groups were divided based on 11 technologies, Cisco retained three sales groups based on customer type. Between the technology and sales groups, a central marketing organization was installed to integrate products and technologies into solutions for the customer. A cross-functional â€Å"solutions engineering team† was charged with bringing the 4 different technologies together in a lab, testing them to ensure integration, and then creating blueprints that the customer would use to implement the solution.Marketing and engineering—previously segmented by customer type—were centralized under the chief marketing officer and the chief development officer, respectively. Cisco also expected the new structure to promote more rapid technical innovation by eliminating overlap in R&D. The old structure inhibited the exchange of ideas because engineers worked in separate silos—a solution in one area might have suggested a solution in another, but, claimed one executive, â€Å"You might not hear about it for six months if you are in another business unit.†Implementing the Reorganization While a centralized, functional structure would help Cisco avoid product and resource redundancies, it also carried the risk of making the company less customer-focused because the company was organized around product, and not customer, groups. Whereas before each of the three lines of business developed and marketed its own products to its specific customer groups, each functional unit was now committed to a specific technology, which entailed the risk of dismissing the customer.Despite this risk, however, Cisco moved forward, trusting that its customer-centric approach would offset the effects of a functional structure. Customer advocacy had been imprinted on the company during its founding, when Cisco engineers were building customized products for end users with fairly idiosyncratic needs: â€Å"When we started, we made routers, which were basically software devices, and the sales people would literally go out, talk to the customer, the customer would say ‘I need this protocol,’ and they’d say, ‘We’ve got that.We’ll get the code to you in a week. ’ They would go back, tell the engineering guys that they had to develop it, and the engineers would do it,† said a senior manager. â€Å"That kind of stuff really sets the culture of the company; your job is to figure out what problem you are solving for the customer. And what you do everyday, setting up your activities, your tasks, your programs, your projects, your priorities, is in alignment with that notion of solving the customer’s problem.â € The goal was to try and preserve this customer-focused culture that had been engrained in Cisco ever since its founding. However, managers realized even at the time of the 2001 reorganization that maintaining the same level of customer focus would become increasingly difficult as Cisco grew larger in size. Because the reorganization threatened to push the company away from the customer and towards a more functional structure, Chambers knew that Cisco could not lose its customer-centricity.When asked in 2007 how Cisco was able to maintain its customer focus through the reorganization, he said, â€Å"[Customer focus] has been deeply embedded in our DNA since I came here almost seventeen years ago, and while I’m a very collaborative leader, there are certain aspects of our culture, our vision, our strategy, which are non-negotiable, and customer focus is one of them. † To ensure that this culture would not change, Cisco responded in various ways during the reorganiza tion.

A Separate Peace Themes

A Separate Peace by John Knowles concerns itself about a young adult named Gene who decides to visit his old school Devon years after the war and recollects his memories of his friend, Phonies. Most of the story is a flashback about the hardships Gene and Phonies had to face growing up in high school during a war. During this flashback, Gene grows through the phase where he must let go of his childhood and mature to adulthood. Throughout the book, Phonies symbolizes childhood and innocence, revealing the main theme of the book: innocence versus maturity.Gene's Journey through his years at Devon shows how he matures and gains a bigger understanding of the world around him. At the beginning of the book, both Gene and Phonies were childish at the beginning of the book. For example, Phonies would wear pink clothing and a school tie as a belt to a headmaster's gathering. â€Å"In his haste that morning Finny had not unexpected used a tie for a belt. But this morning the tie at hand had b een the Devon School tie† (20). This shows a level of disrespect of self-image and school-image that usually rash, young children have.Phonies even believes that the war is Just a scam made up by adults to get a profit. There's the bad, there's the good; Just pure black and white. He was even able to rationalize this illogical belief to Gene, and Gene easily gives in. Just like how a child sticks to her favorite blanket or comforting teddy bear to protect her from the nasty in life, Phonies is Gene's way of clinging on to a more immature view to explain life simply. As Gene begins to mature through his years at Devon, he loses Phonies for a while as Phonies recovers from his leg injury.This opens the door to Gene as he sees a new view point on life. He has a sense of guilt that he was the one who trounced Phonies out of the tree, but cannot explain his actions. This new sense of guilt make question if he is truly evil or still innocent. It raises the question that there may be something more than Just cruelly evil or purely good that Phonies seemed to believe earlier. However, Phonies, symbolizing Gene's childhood, tries to pull Gene back to a world of innocence with winter carnivals and games – games where there are no losers and everyone wins.Affected by Phonies' tempting simple ideals, Gene finds himself hard to let go of the innocent outlook on life. Still, this prodding question further develops when Gene meets Leper after the effects of the war. â€Å"The army has the perfect word for everything, did you ever think of that? †¦ And the perfect word for me†¦ Psycho. I guess I am. I must be. Am I though, or is the army? Because they turned everything inside out† (141 , 149). This quote summarizes the scene when Gene learns about harsh cruelties of war, and begins to realize that the world is bitterer than he had originally thought.Human beings can be evil. This completely transforms his original innocent view on the world. At t he end of the novel, when Gene is of age to be recruited into the war, Gene has learned much about the harsh truth of reality. He begins to move into an acceptance state. When Phonies realizes that it was Gene who had originally trounced the branch, Gene is able to explain that there are certain evils, certain impulses that earlier in the novel. â€Å"No, I don't know how to show you, how can I show you, Finny? Tell me how to show you.It was Just some ignorance inside me, some crazy thing inside me, something blind, that's all it was† (191). Gene accepts that humans are neither fully good nor evil, but normal beings with natural impulses. Knowles shows throughout the book that as one ages and matures, one must lose that innocent childish mentality. Gene slowly pulls apart from Phonies' ideals and moves onto a more complex understanding of human behavior. However, as Gene reaches young adulthood, Knowles cleverly has Phonies pass away, as only to show that in order for Gene to fully mature and reach adulthood, the innocent childhood must completely disappear. Did not cry then or ever about Finny†¦. ‘ could not escape a felling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case† (186) The quote even shows that Gene feels that Phonies was part of himself. This is referring to the naive childhood part of Gene. Knowles consistently expresses the theme of innocence versus maturity. He tells us that in order to achieve maturity and achieve the fuller, complex view on life, one has to lose the innocent outlook that usually the young has. Gene moved from a young naive child to a developed young adult.

Love and violence in romeo and juliet essays

Love and violence in romeo and juliet essays Romeo and Juliet, a play by William Shakespeare, is often referred to as the greatest love story of all time. It presents love and hate as equally potent forces of nature. The powerful nature of love can be seen in the way it is described, or more accurately, in the way descriptions consistently fail to capture it in its entirety. Juliet says of love, But my true love is grown to such excess I cannot sum up half of my wealth (3, I, 33-44) In other words, love is too powerful to be so easily contained or understood. This play portrays the chaos of being in love. However, the play also combines extreme images of violence and death. For instance, the Capulet and Montague families have held a long-time grudge against each other that is assumed to have existed for hundreds of years, and is the impetus of what strives to keep Romeo and Juliet away from each other. This paper seeks to examine what is achieved by the connections between love and violence. For clarity, I will be including death as a measure of violence, because death by violence is violence in its most potent form. Throughout the play, love seems to push the two lovers closer to violence, not further away from it. Love and violence are intertwined from the first moment Romeo and Juliet are together at the Capulets party. Romeo has crashed the party hoping to see his beloved Rosaline, but catches a glimpse of Juliet instead, and falls instantly in love with her. Oh she that doth teach the torches to burn bright... The measure done, Ill watch her place of stand, And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. (1, v, 42-51) However, only a few lines later sees Tybalt and intends to kill Romeo, the very moment he sees him at the party: This by his voice should be a Montague. ...

How to Separate Salt and Water

How to Separate Salt and Water Have you ever wondered how you could purify seawater to drink it or how you could separate salt from water in saltwater? Its really very simple. The two most common methods are distillation and evaporation, but there are other ways to separate the two compounds. Separate Salt and Water Using Distillation You can boil or evaporate the water and the salt will be left behind as a solid. If you want to collect the water, you can use distillation. This works because salt has a much higher boiling point than water. One way to separate salt and water at home is to boil the salt water in a pot with a lid. Offset the lid slightly so that the water that condenses on the inside of the lid will run down the side to be collected in a separate container. Congratulations! Youve just made distilled water. When all of the water has boiled off, the salt will remain in the pot. Separate Salt and Water Using Evaporation Evaporation works the same way as distillation, just at a slower rate. Pour the salt water into a shallow pan. As the water evaporates, the salt will remain behind. You can speed up the process by raising the temperature or by blowing dry air over the surface of the liquid. A variation of this method is to pour the salt water onto a piece of dark construction paper or a coffee filter. This makes recovering the salt crystals easier than scraping them out of the pan. Other Methods To Separate Salt and Water Another way to separate salt from water is to use reverse osmosis. In this process, water is forced through a permeable filter, causing the concentration of salt to increase as the water is pushed out. While this method is effective, reverse osmosis pumps are relatively expensive. However, they can be used to purify water at home or when camping. Electrodialysis can be used to purify water. Here, a negatively-charged anode and a positively-charged cathode are placed in water and separated by a porous membrane. When an electric current is applied, the anode and cathode attract the positive sodium ions and negative chlorine ions, leaving behind the purified water. Note: this process does not necessarily make the water safe to drink, since uncharged contaminants may remain. A chemical method of separating salt and water involves adding decanoic acid to salt water. The solution is heated. Upon cooling, salt precipitates out of the solution, falling to the bottom of the container. The water and decanoic acid settle into separate layers, so the water can be removed.

MHealth applications. Mobile Health PowerPoint Presentation

MHealth applications. Mobile Health - PowerPoint Presentation Example Patients should have absolute assurance that, during the medical process they are safe and cannot contact any communicable malady that would worsen their state. This is regardless of any incidences, which might lead to the loss of former medical records. In most cases, this might prompt the medical staff to guess for alternatives (PR, 2011). Primarily, this act as a relief to those ailing while waiting for meticulous check ups, which ought not to be medically especially among the chronic patients. Since, this may worsen their state and result to irredeemable stages that might require extra, expensive involvement. Additionally, the medical experts ought to ensure that, there is adequate agreement with a one’s responsible people prior administering any medication. This ensures there are no conflicting issues that would yield to lawsuits if an adverse result erupts or a patient unknowingly abuses the drugs (Bluestein, 2012). Medical staff prior anything ought to establish adequate and reliable consultations with family constellations to those individuals who seem to have no reliable very close relations especially the destitute. 2. The future of mHealth(Mobile Health) Presently, mHealth has made remarkable advances that has prompted numerous studies contend its continued immense progress in the future (PR, 2011). This is via the progressing trend of technology that has boosted its existence by easing communication and accessibility of the necessary diverse ailments’ information by the patients.... This is via the progressing trend of technology that has boosted its existence by easing communication and accessibility of the necessary diverse ailments’ information by the patients. Current studies argue that, by 2015, 500 million people globally would have access to mHealth applications. However, this comparison to the global population and its pace exemplifies slow motion, but all these noticeable changes are not only affecting healthcare, but also interrelated sectors (Bluestein, 2012). This encompasses making the healthcare both reachable and affordable to people especially in the upcoming states. Since comparing to instituting new facilities, it is pricey than implementing the new technology, for illustration, smart phone or tablet. This is because mHealth entail a reliable controlling center where the personnel would be convening to harmonize their ideas and act as informational central unit. Judging from the current healthcare situation, numerous people prefer the mH ealth; owing to its unique, interactive interface (Bluestein, 2012). Patients are able to access their private and tailored services according to their needs coupled with high convenience. Hence, an indication that, mHealth will have a heightened trend in the future due to its acceptance, which numerous practitioners are predicting currently (PR, 2011). The continued application of mHealth it will be more reliable especially to the chronic aged people who contrary to the current state they will not be in need of going to the care centers. Since, those who are not much advanced in years and able to use the mHealth applications would be adequately reporting their wellbeing (PR, 2011). Additionally, they will be able to access adequate information regarding their condition and

University of Miami Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

University of Miami - Essay Example As a function of this, UAVs operating in various places throughout the world, namely Iraq and Afghanistan, began to suffer a high attrition rate due to the icing of the wings that invariably occurs at high attitudes. As such, this represented a primary design flaw in that the UAV manufacturers had not foreseen the fact that due to the pilotless nature of the aircraft, it would be nearly impossible for a UAV pilot to notice and infer that icing was taking place; let alone seeks to counteract such an eventuality by employing countermeasures. Moreover, the analysis will look at the use of FEA as a means of solving the complex problems that the engineers were faced. In order to rapidly and cost effectively integrate such a level of changes, the engineers went back to the proverbial drawing board and utilized CAD (Computer Assisted Design) to seek to draw a further level of inference upon the issue at hand. Mainly, these tools were used by the analysts to seek to determine the CFD properties that the wings exhibited. The CFD, or Computational Fluid Dynamics, was a way that the engineers could seek to provide the wings and surface areas of the associated aircraft with the highest level of protection against the accumulation of ice without having the cover the entire aircraft in costly, heavy, and ultimately ineffective de-icing mechanisms. The overall importance of seeking to maximize the level of â€Å"bang for the buck† with relation to where the de-icing systems were ultimately installed centered upon the fact that the sheer nature of the jobs which the UAV’s perform and support require that they remain aloft for extraordinarily long periods of time. As a function of this, it is necessary for these aircraft to be as light, and as fuel efficient as possible. Likewise, seeking to utilize CAD and CFD to determine what aspects of the aircraft lay at the greatest degree of risk with