Home sweet home Essay -- essays research papers

â€Å"Home Sweet Home†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are hundreds of people, young and old that live in my apartment complex and each of them have a different and unique story to share. My story is that I come from the typical middle-of -nowhere suburbia, where the grass is always green, and all of the houses look the same. In that community it is easy to become too comfortable, and forget that things aren’t so â€Å"perfect† in the rest of the world. When my step-dad past away, we sold the house and moved into town changing the way I lived my life. The city feels like a different community and it seems to have a different atmosphere than the one where I came from. While writing this paper, it is my objective to become comfortable with my surroundings, and accept this community as mine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The typical stereotype for apartment complexes is the children are constantly running around causing trouble and the walls are so paper thin that everyone knows every aspect your life. Here at Village at Van Mall, that couldn’t be any further from the truth. The children are confined to one area and the only time you hear from your neighbors is if you happen to run into them on your way out. The quiet community is tucked away in a hollowed out forest just off of Van Mall Drive. The towering evergreen trees provide a pleasing shade and from time to time a () rejuvenating breeze sweeps through the complex. The individual apartments are stacked two high and two across...

A Case Study About Google Essay

DECLARATION The work contained in this assignment is my own and that all materials and sources used have been acknowledged. I/We have not copied or colluded in part or in whole, or otherwise plagiarised the work of other students. This assignment has not been submitted for previous assessment in any other subject or to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other unit, module, degree or diploma of a university or any other institute, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text. I/We confirm that I/we have read, understood and followed the guidelines for assignment submission and presentation provided by the lecturer. I/We understand that this assignment may be retained on the database and used to make comparisons with other assignments in future. I/We have made a copy of my assignment This work may be photocopied and/or communicated for the purpose of identifying plagiarism. I/We give permission for a copy of this marked assignment to be retained by the faculty of Business Management for the purpose of course reviews by external examiners and to be used as a resource by Majan College. I/We understand that unauthorized late submission without a valid written extension will be marked as per the college policy mentioned in the students handbook page 18 section 18.5. Introduction Google was founded in 1995 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and it was the first popular search engine in the world. They created this search engine so that users can find any website or document on the web based on keyword or exact searches. Google provides free services for their users. Other than the search engine, they can also search books on Google Book Search, news on Google News, videos on Google Video (YouTube) and maps on Google Maps Google has changed the way people look at and share information. This has made them a leading search engine on the web and a global technology leader. Back in the mid 90’s Brin and Page, Stanford University graduates, worked on developing this unique technology. Since then, Google has grown to become one of the most recognized brands in the world as well as one of the top Internet destinations. As of 2013, Google has 16800 employees working in more than 70 offices in more than 40 countries around the globe. Their headquarters is located in Mountain View, California, USA. Strategic management has many benefits to an organization. A company’s vision, mission and future goals are set from the strategic process. In addition, strategic management gives managers an advantage in allocating resources efficiently. Moreover, these strategies help give the firm a competitive advantage in the market. Statistics show that, on average, companies using strategic management are more successful. This assignment will aim to clarify the concept of strategic management in the global sense as well as focus on Google’s strategic management. In addition, the report will identify and explain the internal and external environmental analysis of Google. This means, PEST analysis, SWOT analysis and Porters Five Forces will be  explained in details. Literature Review Strategic management is defined as the process by which managers of the firm analyze the internal and external environments for the purpose of formulating strategies and allocating resources to develop a competitive advantage in an industry that allows for the successful achievement of organizational goals. Strategic management has an impact on initial goals, actions and recourses. Goals are set by managers to be completed within a certain period of time. Action plans must be clear to the group and they should start working on their targets accordingly. Recourses cannot be managed and allocated without proper understanding of goals and actions. Strategic decisions are taken by managers to help an organization reach its goals in the short term and long term development and future direction of the company. There are two processes that help the organization in evaluating their position in the market. Internal environment i.e. SWOT analysis (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threa ts) is used to analyze the internal processes and structures of a business. Its implemented after the external environment (PEST analysis) are analyzed and clarified. External environment processes include the porter’s five forces that analyze the nature and extent of the competition within the industry. Macro environment are the changes in the industry in regards to political-legal, economic, technological, and social systems. Google’s business strategy has been proven to show that they follow the strategic management process and they are extremely successful at it. High brand value, high market share and complete control over the market show that Google’s business strategy should be a role model to all other companies. PEST Analysis of Google Inc. PEST analysis is used to determine the political, economical, social and technological factors in an external environment of an organization. These factors affect an organizations activities and performances. After researching Google’s macro economical factors using the PEST analysis model, the following was concluded: 1. Political Factors: Government stability is one of the major aspects in Google’s strategy. If the  market is stable, governments help businesses and so these businesses advertise more on Google, hence, benefitting Google. In addition, most of the governments do not have identified laws for online information sharing, thus, giving Google the opportunity to manipulate laws. However, China has created a barrier for Google by adding regulations that forbid Google from operating on their terms. For example, according to UKessays (2013), â€Å"Chinese Government launched a surveillance system called Golden Shield for monitoring civilian use of Internet.† On a positive note, most of the political factors affect Google negligibly. Some of these factors are taxation polices, employment laws and environment protection laws. 2. Economic Factors: Gross domestic products (GDP) have been on the rise since a very long time. They are increasing annually at the average rate of 3.20% reaching a high level of 17.20% at times. Countries like South Africa, India, China and United Kingdom have had increases in their GDP each year since the 70’s and this is a positive factor on Google. With the stable and continued growth of those countries, Google’s internal and external investments will always be high in numbers. Users search more; hence more advertisements are put on Google’s search engines. The amount of users around those counters can impact on Google positively and lead them to establish better services and more products for their users leading the it being a strength to Google economically. Interest rate can have a positive or negative impact on any organization. These impacts are decided depending on a company’s dealings. Google is a company that relies on investments, this means when interest rates i ncrease gradually in a country, Google benefits. In UK, the rate average is set to about 8.2%, in USA it stands at 6.1%, in South Africa at 13.3%, in India at 6.6% and in China at 6.4%. These numbers mean that companies in that region of the world will be able to take out loans and invest or support their company. The more companies have money, the more they will be willing to spend on advertisements; hence doing that through Google. This increases opportunities for Google in these markets. Inflation rate is a problem for the customers or buyers. However, companies benefit from it and it increases their overall income. In the past few years, USA, UK, India, China and South Africa have all recorded an average increase in  inflation rate of 2.5-9.5% annually. This means that raw materials in these countries are becoming more expensive every year. This causes the companies to increase the prices of their products and getting more cash out of it. This causes Google’s advertisements to increase as well as the number of clicks for each ad. The result is more profits for Google from these countries. 3. Technological Factors: In analyzing the technological factors affecting Google, the key aspects to consider are the level of basic infrastructure, rate of technological change, new discoveries and development, government spending on research, access to newest technology, technology incentives and technology legislations. Google is described as a technological company that helps innovate and improve the world with its new development. Technological factors play a major role in a company like Google and it is part of the company’s competitive strategy. Google is not only a search engine; it also provides many services, tools and products free of charge through www.google.com. Google’s IT infrastructure is a closely guarded secret because it is one of the company’s competitive advantages. Google has up to 450,000 servers spreads over at least 25 locations and it uses a customized version of Linux operating systems to give them control and flexibility in finding new discoveries. The success of Google is mainly due to its innovative concepts and technologies such as Pagerank in their search engine, Adwords as advertising system, AdSense program, Gmail, Google Spreadsheets & Docs, Google Map, Google Froogle, Google Analytics, Google Desktop, Google Earth, Google Gear, Google Page creator, Google groups, Google talk, Picasa and more. All these services and tools are proposed for free with the aim to make a users life easier, efficient, practical and entertaining. In order to remain the best in the field of technology, Google has bought a great number of start-up companies (131) that allows it to benefit from the dynamism and creativity that these companies bring. These companies range in variety of fields such as security, advertising, video, file sharing, shopping, mobile technology and many more. 4. Socio-Cultural Factors: Knowledge and information is a key factor of human development. Google is a  leader of society that is more and more global because its mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to everyone. Socio-cultural factors for Google’s PEST analysis include traditions, values, societal trends, and society expectation of businesses. These society expectations can be grouped into: population demographic, income distribution, lifestyle change and level of education. Google is not limited to a certain demographic population; Google is a global company that offers global users with global services and global knowledge for free with only one condition of being connected to the Internet. Therefore there is no restriction on any specific demographic, culture or specific income distribution. This gives Google a very strong advantage in the market. Its tools are offered to everyone and hence anyone, anywhere in the world can advertise o n Google and increase their profits. Majority of third world countries that are prevailing with extreme poverty have access to Google through their mobile applications. Google’s culture is to offer users access to the world through a simple finger tap and this information offered by Google does not have a culture or a tradition to follow. This information can be good and helpful to one person while useless or offensive to others. This could be a negative aspect for Google. Google always strive to keep up with the social trends and lifestyle changes of its users in order to entertain and capture their attention with its services and tools while promoting customized advertisement. Google’s infrastructure is built to identifying its users’ trends and habits as well as the use of information to customize their search experiences with related results based on their habits and history. Google’s application memorizes all the data entered when searching for a something and saves personal information for 24 months. In reality, Google sells some information to advertising companies. Globalization of information has a negative impact on societies concerned about protecting their private data. Google has been highly criticized by Privacy International Association and accused of harmful acts towards people’s privacy. In the sense of politics, the preservation of information could lead to Google having better relationships with countries who do not like their privacy being violated; hence, more business and profits. In regards to social factors, Google’s tendency to sell out their customers may harm some of them. At the moment, Google is surviving, but the human race is  ever changing and if people are accepting the privacy violation now, they might not in the future. This could be a threat leading to a weakness in the future. Porters Five Forces for Google Inc. Porters five forces is a key model when trying to determine an organizations opportunities and threats. It is considered to be a tool when trying to analyze a company’s microeconomics. This is the internal affair related to an organization. The competition and power an organization has or can have in an industry. Porters’ five forces are heavily used when someone wants to buy a company and needs to understand the market in which the company operates. Supplier Power In this case, Google has an advantage as it operates regionally and has more than one supplier, if the relationship with one deteriorates the other can take its place. In addition, Google has eliminated competition by gaining the trust of Microsoft. All its tools are operated on its biggest competitor Microsoft systems. However, Microsoft and Apple could change their operating systems so that it does not support Google anymore leading to Google tools not working properly and causing a threat of forward integration. In this case, is it concluded that the supplier power is relatively low due to most of the information on the net being free. Barriers to Entry Niu, Zitong et al. (2012) defines the threats by explaining that in the search engine business, only hardware have switching costs while the service itself has absolutely no switch cost. In addition, Yahoo and Microsoft could stop using Google’s toolbars in their products and rather use their own. This and the fact that a better search engine could be developed and is not out of the question. However, all these negative aspects still do not change the high barriers to entry as all competitors in the market, especially Google, are in a very strong position financially. Competitive Rivalry In this type of rivalry, Zitong et al. (2012) mentions that brand identity can play a huge role in maximizing profits. Google has succeeded in this as their name â€Å"Google† has been added in dictionaries. Adding to advantages of Google, there are no defined government regulations as of yet and so  political environment can easily be manipulated to satisfy their wants. Yahoo and Microsoft are the only other major players and market shareholders. Hence, there is a rivalry between these three players. However, the UN or countries could start making trade restrictions to avoid having an oligarchy. Moreover, rivals in the search engine industry have similar technology and IT specialists in these companies and all around the world are always trying to improve search engine technologies in order to get ahead of the best, Google. Threat of Substitutes No switch costs and buyers preferences to the faster/more accurate search engines are two of the threats Google face. In addition, users are demanding more and better services for free to be loyal to Google. Advertisement revenues depend completely on number of clicks on a certain ad. If the number of loyal customers decreases, the total revenue decreases. Moreover, intelligent employees are rare in the market and losing one to the competition could affect Google negatively. However, these are all threats that are not able to affect Google because as of now all search engines have similar functions and are not considered a substitute product. Buyers Power According to Techwyse (2013), Google are the market shareholders. The pie chart below shows the market share as of July 2013. Graph 1: Search Engines Market Share/2011 The graph shows that Google have more than 75% of the market. In addition, Google is bringing to their users all their demands and for free. In this situation, however, the buying power is medium due to high demand on search engines and due to users relying heavily on search engines in their daily lives. SWOT Analysis of Google Inc. Strengths Google’s brand value stands at $55.317 million as of 2012 and they hold a high market share of 66% in the same year. These numbers, along with their various free services offered to customers, gives them a strong brand image that contributes to its strength. Google’s Strong financial position is shown in their yearly growth in revenues and cash flow. This strengthens  Google because it attracts investors to invest in the organization. In addition, they have many products that are also considered as an asset. The following graph shows the revenue growth of Google between 2003 and 2007: Graph 2: Google’s Revenue Growth Weaknesses On the other hand, in 2012 97% of Google’s revenues come from Advertisement. The lack of income diversification is considered as a weakness. Moreover, Google’s faces many lawsuits and the cost of dealing with those suits is a weakness. Oracle filed copyright infringement in 2010 and MastersObjects vs. Google in 2011 are some of these suits. These cause a decresase in the financial power of Google as well as reduce firm value. Opportunities Google practices forward and backward integration of companies. This means that Google buys out and adds companies to their portfolio. In 2011 alone, the added companies stand at around 25. Also, Google has a huge opportunity of taking over the mobile advertisement market and they have already started by buying out Motorola Mobility. Threats The high intensity of competition from Yahoo, Microsoft as well as traditional advertisement agencies like TV, radio and newspapers is considered as a threat to Google. In addition, Google could face the threat of being out casted by countries due to privacy issues. Conclusion All in all, Google has won countless awards, has maximized on profits, improved services, introduced new developments, eliminated most of the competition and dealt with their weaknesses. It is safe to say that Google’s business strategy is sophisticated but has come out with fruitful results. Although the world is not perfect, Google has more strengths and opportunities than threats and weaknesses. This is even proven on the Internet as someone has joked about Google by saying: â€Å"Only thing Google has failed to do, so far, is fail.† (N/A) References Blatstein, I.M. (2012). Strategic Planning: Predicting or Shaping the Future? Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 Issues 2, pp. 32. Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/topics/strategic-management-planning.html#benefits (Accessed on 27 November 2013) StudyMode (2009). Business Analysis of Google Co. Available at: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Business-Analysis-Of-Google-Co-191594.htm (Accessed on 1 December 2013) Cox, M. Z., Daspit, J., McLaughlin, E. and Jones III, R.J. (2012). Strategic Management: Is It an Academic Discipline? Journal of Business Strategies, Vol. 29 Issue 1, pp. 27-28. Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/topics/strategic-management-planning.html#benefits (Accessed on 27 November 13) UK Essays. 2010. A SWOT and PESTEL analysis of Google. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/a-swot-and-pestel-analysis-of-google-inc-marketing-essay.php. [Accessed 29 November 13]. BBC News. 2006. Google censors itself for China. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4645596.stm. [Accessed 29 November 13] Google Inc. 2013. Google Inc. Anno unces Third Quarter 2013 Results. [ONLINE] Available at: http://investor.google.com/earnings/2013/Q3_google_earnings.html. [Accessed 01 December 13] Matt Krantz. 2013. Investing: Who wins, loses with higher rates. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/06/15/higher-interest-rates-stocks-invest/2400513/. [Accessed 02 December 13]. Niu, Z. et al, 2012. Google Inc. Krause Fund Research, [Online]. 1/1, 1-10. Available at: http://tippie.uiowa.edu/krause/spring2012/goog_sp12.pdf [Accessed 02 December 2013]. Techwyse, (2013), Search Engine Market Share July 2013 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.techwyse.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/SEMS-pie-Juily.png [Accessed 03 December 13]. Ovidijus Jurevicius. 2013. SWOT analysis of Google. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/google-swot-analysis.html. [Accessed 28 November 13]. SquareSpace, (2007), Google Revenue Growth [ONLINE]. Available at: http://static.sq uarespace.com/static/4f35ce92cb1268ecfa7f8e07/t/4f9eb00de4b006f3923a4e25/1335799822004/google_revenue_growth.jpg?format=750w [Accessed 03 December 13].

Informative essay on obesity and weight loss surgery Essay

Weight loss surgery or ‘bariatric surgery’ are procedures which change the manner in which the digestive system functions, helping to limit the food consumed and in this way lower the weight of the individual along with lowering the risk of associated medical problems (NIDDK 2009). In certain cases, bariatric surgery also interferes with the manner in which nutrition is absorbed into the body. Individuals who undergo bariatric surgery may also have to ensure certain changes in their lifestyle such as regular exercise, dietary changes and avoiding certain other risks. One of the most frequently performed bariatric surgeries is gastric bypass in the US. Compared to other bariatric surgeries, gastric bypass is much safer, has lesser complications and can provide long-term results. However, there are also certain risks associated with the procedure, along with changes in diet, lifestyle and behavior. A lot depends on the patient for the success of the treatment (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). Indication Gastric bypass surgery is required in obese and overweight individuals who are unable to reduce their weight through diet and physical activities. As the BMI ratio is between 35 and 39 (obesity) and above 40 (severe obesity), the health related risks are higher and the individual can be affected with diabetes, hypertension, heart disorders, etc. However, gastric bypass surgery may not only be required alone, but along with it, exercise, dietary changes and lifestyle changes to ensure that the results of the gastric bypass are satisfactory (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). Bariatric surgery can also be performed if other methods of conservative treatment fail for obesity. The patient has to be properly informed about the details of the procedure, along with the benefits, risks and alternatives, so that an informed decision can be made (Medline Plus, 2010). The patient would have to give an informed consent for the procedure. The patient should also be committed to lifelong changes with diet, physical activity, behavior, medical monitoring and medication therapy. Insurance would be applicable for Bariatric surgery only if it has been medically indicated due to an obesity related cause, rather than cosmetic. Bariatric surgery may be indicated for adolescents only if other conventional methods have failed for about 6 months. Newer studies have demonstrated that gastric bypass may actually be ideal for adolescent obesity (NIDDK 2010). Procedure The entire procedure is done under general anesthesia, and the patient would require preparing for tests, dietary changes, X-rays (for planning the surgery), medications and hospitalization (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). In the US, 4 types gastric bypass are performed. These include biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch (BPD-DS), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), adjustable gastric band (AGB), and vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). AGB involves placing a band around the top portion of the stomach to reduce the size of the stomach pouch to ensure that the food intake is reduced. In RGYB, involves placing a gastric band and also by bypassing the food directly from the pouch to the small intestine. In BPD-DS, a large portion of the stomach is removed, bypassing the food from the stomach to the small intestine and re-routing the bile and digestive tract juices, so that food is not absorbed and digested properly. In VSG, a portion of the stomach is reduced to ensure that the quantity of food consumed is reduced (NIDDK 2009). After the procedure, the individual should not consume anything for the next 24 hours. Following this, a special diet needs to be consumed, which includes liquids, soft foods and slow progress towards solid food. Following this, the indvidiaul needs to consume reduced quantity of food. There may be certain side-effects of the procedure (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). Results Weight loss surgeries basically work by reducing the amount of food being consumed or the amount of food being digested. Some surgeries bypass a majority of the food consumed resulting in reduced amount of absorption of nutrients. Along with dietary and lifestyle changes, loss of body weight can be achieved. However, there are also a few risks associated with weight loss surgeries. The individual may lose about 50 to 60 % of the excess body weight within 2 years of the surgery. However, exercises, lifestyle changes and diet need to be included in the plan (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). The risk of several health disorders such as diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, heart disease, infections, and cancer can be reduced (Daniel Jones, 2010). Complications In recent years with improvement in the surgical technique, there has been a reduction in the rate of complications from the year 2006, by about 21%. The rate of readmissions has also been under a decrease (NIDDK 2009). Some of the early complications related to gastric bypass include bleeding, infection, leakage of intestine, damage to the intestines, heart attacks, blood clots in the legs, emboli, etc. The other complications that can develop include malnutrition, (such as beri beri, pellagra, etc), strictures, hernias (includes internal hernias and intestinal hernias), pneumonia, nausea, vomiting, hypoglycemia, gallstones, kidney stones, dehydration, etc. If the contents from the stomach move very quickly, it can result in dumping syndrome causing nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In patients with poor general health and with serious medical conditions, fatal outcomes may be a risk, but very rare (Mayo Clinic Staff 2009). In some patients further surgery may be required (Daniel Jones, 2010).

Free Essays on Ego-Boundary Thinking

to explain things that displease you. But I do hear things, under cover of darkness, what our country says in grief for this girl: that no one is more innocent, no death more awful, no deeds more noble than hers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (833-839) But King Creon is so stubborn and proud that he fails to realize what his son is saying. Instead Creon is focusing on the image he must portray to keep order in his kingdom, his is not about to allow a woman to disobey a law and get away Scot-free. This single-mindedness is what makes Exterior-Thinking so bad, people get so focused on what the outside world will think of them when the make decisions. King Creon thinks that his kingdom will think that he is weak if he doesn’t punish Antigone. What he doesn’t realize is that his people sympathize with Antigone and if Creon were to let her go the people would think more highly of him. Haimon comes back to his father to make a second plea for Antigone’s life. He reminds his father of his love ... Free Essays on Ego-Boundary Thinking Free Essays on Ego-Boundary Thinking Part 1 Ego-Boundary is a form of thought that combines an individual’s moral view with his/her view of the outside world. This combination allows the individual to make uninfluenced decisions. I believe that Ego-Boundary thinking allows you the freedom to slip back and forth from both Interior-Thinking and Exterior thinking. It is hard to limit yourself to one particular type of thinking because every situation calls for a different reaction. Using a balanced approach allows the individual the opportunity to avoid being heavily influenced by a particular way of thinking. Haimon is able to balance his personal feelings for Antigone (Interior thinking) and the voice of the people (Exterior thinking) In Antigone, Haimon uses Ego-Boundary thinking to try and convince his dad, King Creon, that he is wrong to punish Antigone. He tries to convey to Creon what the people are saying: â€Å"Because, for the common man, your gaze is terrible. He can’t find words to explain things that displease you. But I do hear things, under cover of darkness, what our country says in grief for this girl: that no one is more innocent, no death more awful, no deeds more noble than hers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (833-839) But King Creon is so stubborn and proud that he fails to realize what his son is saying. Instead Creon is focusing on the image he must portray to keep order in his kingdom, his is not about to allow a woman to disobey a law and get away Scot-free. This single-mindedness is what makes Exterior-Thinking so bad, people get so focused on what the outside world will think of them when the make decisions. King Creon thinks that his kingdom will think that he is weak if he doesn’t punish Antigone. What he doesn’t realize is that his people sympathize with Antigone and if Creon were to let her go the people would think more highly of him. Haimon comes back to his father to make a second plea for Antigone’s life. He reminds his father of his love ...

How to Start Green Fire With a Drop of Water

How to Start Green Fire With a Drop of Water You dont need a match to start a fire. In this project, start a fire by adding a drop of water to a dry chemical mixture. The best part? The flames will be green! Fire Safety You should be able to tell from the premise that this  is an adult-only project, best performed by someone with prior pyrotechnic project experience. Follow the instructions carefully to minimize the risk of a fire. Youre using water to start a combustion reaction, so keep your materials away from moisture, soft drinks, perspiration, etc. Got it? Green Materials Instant cold pack (3 grams ammonium nitrate)7 grams zinc filings or powder1/2 gram table salt (sodium chloride)Mortar and pestle If you dont have a cold pack, you can use pure ammonium nitrate, which is available online. You can buy zinc filings or powder online or you can sand a galvanized piece of metal from a hardware store to get the element. If you have to file or sand the zinc, its a good idea to wear a mask, such as the kind used for home repair,  so you dont inhale zinc particles. Procedure for Starting the Green Flames Open the cold pack. Remove and discard the bag of water. Open the bag of ammonium nitrate. Measure out 3 grams of the granules and put them in the mortar.Add 1/2 gram of sodium chloride (salt).Use the pestle to grind together the salt and ammonium nitrate to form a powder.Carefully grind the 7 grams of zinc powder into this mixture. Water can ignite the mixture at this point, so dont spill your drink or drip sweat into the powder. Its a good idea to wear disposable plastic gloves, because you dont want the final mixture reacting with water on your hands.Transfer the mixture to a metal or otherwise fire-proof container. Take it outdoors to start the reaction. Use a pipette or other long-handled dispensing device to add a few drops of water. The reaction can be spectacular, so move back immediately. Another reaction you can do using these materials is to mix ammonium nitrate with zinc and initiate combustion by adding a few drops of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid. Disclaimer: Please be advised that the content provided by our website is for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Fireworks and the chemicals contained within them are dangerous and should always be handled with care and used with common sense. By using this website you acknowledge that ThoughtCo., its parent About, Inc. (a/k/a Dotdash), and IAC/InterActive Corp. shall have no liability for any damages, injuries, or other legal matters caused by your use of fireworks or the knowledge or application of the information on this website. The providers of this content specifically do not condone using fireworks for disruptive, unsafe, illegal, or destructive purposes. You are responsible for following all applicable laws before using or applying the information provided on this website.

Max Weber Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Max Weber - Research Paper Example The major thesis of concern was the Protestant and the Spirit of Capitalism where he discussed economical sociology and sociology of religion. This thesis dealt with ascetic Protestantism as one of the main â€Å"elective affinities† which relates the rise of Western market which was driven by capitalism and rational-legal national-state. Weber emphasized on cultural influences as the bedrock of capitalism (Kalberg, 2002). In search for religion insight, Weber’s publication of protestant ethics, he was able to identify the non-development of capitalism in the societies: ancient Judaism, religion of China and religion of India and was able to analyze the social stratification of such societies. Weber’s methodological works were influential in launching the self-identity in modern social science as a field of inquiry. Empirical positivists and hermeneutic detractors got their inspiration from Weber. The most important of Weber’s work are the â€Å"Protestant Ethic thesis† which was about a non-Marxist genealogy of present capitalism and â€Å"Rationalization thesis† which talked about the analysis of the dominance of west in the present times. On top of these two works, his contribution to politics is only comparable to that of Machiavelli and Hobbes. Weber entered politics after the World War 1 and ran for a seat in parliament which he failed to capture. He served as an advisor to the ill-fated democratic draft of 1919 that is Weimar Constitution. His work was cut shot by the untimely death which occurred at a tender age of 56 in 1920. He contacted a Spanish flu and died of pneumonia. Weber was the eldest of the Max Weber Sr. born in 1884 in Erfurt, Thuringia. Weber sr. was a prominent civil servant and wealthy. He was the National Liberal Party member and married to Helene who was from French Huguenot and had strong ethical absolutist

Analysis of Direct Costs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis of Direct Costs - Assignment Example Direct Labor: is the labor or employees who convert materials into the company’s products. The cost of direct labor can be traced directly to the finished products.† (Horngren, Harrison, & Oliver, 2009). All other costs charged under the categories Overhead Costs and General and Administrative Costs are indirect costs. These include indirect labor, repair, maintenance, utilities, rent, insurance, property taxes and depreciations. Direct material cost is the cost of significant materials that are used in the manufacturing of a product or that are used up in providing a service. Direct material costs are specifically identifiable to the contract. FAR regulations also provide provision for trade discounts, refunds, credits for scrap, salvage, and returns to vendor, to be adjusted to the direct material costs. Priced Bill of Sales, has detailed list of all materials needed to produce the required product or service is used for estimating the direct cost. To analyze estimated costs of materials, the factors in review focus are: Are the items quantities and costs of materials correct? Are making or buying decisions are appropriate? Is the material purchased efficiently and competitively? (Murphy, 2009). Direct labor cost is cost of labor specifically identified with a particular contract that a company is doing. Following are three types of direct labor: Labor directly associated with the work being produced, labor readily identified with a particular objective such as a contract, and labor important enough to warrant identifying and measuring so we can keep up with its cost. In general approach to analyze direct labor cost is to examine each element of proposed cost. The contracting officer should usually request analysis of cost or pricing proposals by asking requirements logistics, or other appropriate personnel to review and assess the need for the number and kinds of