Memo of Marketing Strategy Essay

Like water to fish, the basic reasons that determine the development of a company is called general environment, which includes: demographic reasons, cultural trends, economic climate, legal and political condition, specific international events, and technological change. General environment can be a threat or opportunity for companies, it depends on how deeply companies understand and make use of it. When companies can know the general environment they are facing, they will change their products and services in accordance with the culture they are facing. If companies do not understand the environment very well, they will lose a large sum of money. From my perspective, the three dimensions below are most vital. As for demographic reasons, it contains the attributes of individuals in terms of age, sex, marital status, income, ethnicity and other personal characteristics that may affect consuming patterns. In order to make money, knowing the demographic features of the areas are crucial. Since the new entrant Wall Street Deli is opening a few blocks away, it is necessary for us to keep our business information as a secret. Our advantage is that we have been in this area a long time, we know exactly what our customers’ attributes. Besides, economic climate has a remarkable influence on the business. American economy is in recession now, so Hometown Deli has to think of some ways to stimulate consuming. They can do some discounts like dinner specials or buy two and get one free. Next, the technology can be beneficial to firms but also creates threats, as technological changes force the restaurant to think of new technological strategies. When people are waiting in line, the restaurant can provide some services like upgrading customers’ electronic devices system. They can also provide some competitions for customers to play games in case they got bored. The Porter’s Five Forces Model indicates five most common threats faced by the firms in their local competitive environments. These are threat of entry, threat of rivalry, threat of buyers, threat of substitutes and threat of suppliers. Wall Street Deli is a threat of entry to Hometown Deli, the former may reduce the profits of the latter. In addition, when Hometown Deli cannot keep their competitive advantage and satisfy customers, Wall street Deli provides superior services, the former will lose as soon as possible. The rivalry influences Hometown Deli by fierce competitions and will reduce their profits. Plus, when the supplier Hometown Deli fails to satisfy buyers, customers will not consume and fire it. If the substitute Wall Street Deli offers approximately same or superior services and products than Hometown Deli, the former will not acquire their customers and profits. For Porter’s performance, Hometown Deli manages to use the cost of leadership strategy by gaining more market share in the price war. The firm sells their product either at average prices or lower prices than their rivals. They also use efficient distribution channels or mature services and products to make more profits. Another one is differentiation strategy. By creating unique products and services, the firms can attract more customers. They should be a leader of the scientific research, have a highly creative and skilled product development team, strong sales ability and influential reputation for innovation and quality. What is more, the strategy concentrates on achieving cost advantage and differentiation by developing their strengths and occupying narrow markets. By the way, it is not rational to exploit the three strategies at the same time, since no business can do everything well. Based on the markets and environment, firms should adopt different strategies. For Hometown Deli, it is essential to keep their recipe as a secret and provide same or even better services than they used to have.

Compare and contrast the attractions and facilities for visitors

Weston-Super-Mare and Brean Leisure Park are two different tourist sites near each other. * Compare and contrast the attractions and facilities for visitors to these areas * What impact does tourism have on the surrounding area? * Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Weston-Super-Mare Brean Leisure Park Introduction This project is based around tourism, we have been asked to answer a question that is about tourism in the two areas near to each other. These two areas are Weston-Super-Mare seafront and Brean Leisure Park. The question is first, to compare and contrast the attractions and facilities for visitors to these areas. Two, what impact does tourism have on the surrounding area? And three, do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? The first question is the main question, I think that it is asking me to find out which area is the best area for tourism, environmental issues, residential issues (what the locals think) and which area is the best to go to? The locations we are to investigate are; Weston Super Mare seafront and Brean Leisure Park, both of these locations are near each other on the south west coast of England, the areas we are covering are roughly the same size and are both roughly the same distance from any motorway or major road, this road is the M5 motorway. This will make the investigation slightly fairer between the two locations. Maps of the Region and Local Area The grid references for the two locations are: Weston-Super-Mare Seafront (Pier): 51à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20`51.50†³N + 2à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½58`54.97†³W Brean Leisure Park (Main Entrance): 51à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½17`07.28†³N + 3à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½00`40.79†³W Main Cities The main cities near to the two locations are Bristol, Bath, Swindon and Southampton, big towns would include Bridgewater, Minehead, Clevedon, Street and maybe Frome. Major Transport Link The most major transport link that is closest to Weston and Brean is the M5 running south past Bristol, Weston, Brean and Lympsham. Most tourists would use this route to get to the two areas. Also the M4 is linked to the M5. This is our sphere of influence, the area in which our tourism and advertisement will be most beneficial and listened to. The background of tourism in Weston is an old record, the original reason that Weston became a tourist town goes back to Victorian times, this is when British beach holidays became really popular, and therefore it has been a tourist centre for years and is still on top as one of the best places to go for a British holiday. It has many attractions such as a high street for shopping, an arcade town for gaming and the grand pier for more gaming; this makes it very popular for people to come to have a good time, either over the weekend or for a week. There are brilliant amenities such as a hospital, toilets, bins, restaurants and accommodation. On the other hand Brean has different types of attractions and amenities such as a Leisure Park and the beach, the amenities are almost the same as Weston except the accommodation is set up as caravan parks instead of hotels, Weston has no caravans but it has many hotels lining the seafront which I think may turn out to be a major difference in how much and what type of tourism each location gets. Brean in general started as a natural area full of historical value. The national trust took ownership and protected the Down (The Main Headland) from any building, although others started building around it, it apparently started interest when people began to come to the site for holidays and then found out about the Neapolitan Fort (also used in World War 2) and also the fascinating history of the headland. Overall people get attracted to this general region not only because of the beaches, even though it's the main popularity reason but also all around the area there are major shopping center's, entertainment in Bristol and also surrounding Weston and Brean are the Mendip hills, perfect for a walking and camping holidays.

Fords social media marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fords social media marketing - Essay Example Contemporary business strategies evolve along with the introduction of social media as a marketing tool. In their attempt to attain a distinct business edge, companies leverage social media to increase productivity and market appeal.Mangold and Faulds mention that social media marketing is a hybrid mix of various promotional methods, which includes personal selling, word-of-mouth advertising strategy, and consumer relations (358). For instance, social media allows customers to contribute insights for product development, comment on existing products, and recommend their preferred brands to their friends. Consequently, this benefits manufacturers in a way that they will understand the needs of the market, and have direct, virtual interaction with customers. To attain a comprehensive understanding about the use and impact of social media, this paper discusses Ford’s social media marketing strategies through Facebook and Twitter. Throughout this research, this paper hopes to disc uss the risks of Ford’s social media marketing method and identify specific points of development. Advertising Tools Facebook Dale Buss reports that Ford continues to partner with Facebook in advertising its products although the company will change its advertising strategy to address more profitable market trends such as customer support and interaction (paras. 1-3). For instance, Scott Monty, one of Ford’s senior executives, highlights the productivity of its Facebook ads such as paid advertising and integrated content while emphasising the profitability of extending Ford’s ads to allow more customer interaction (Buss paras. 9-10). Specifically, Ford uses Facebook’s advertising tools such as Logout Ads, Instagram, and Social Plugins. Using those Facebook tools allows Ford to increase its interaction with customers. For instance, with those tools, Ford will be able to share company updates with its customers, particularly those about the company’s latest promos, products, and events. Consequently, raising the brand awareness of customers advances the corporate image of Ford, which is also likely to increase sales. Twitter Aside from Facebook, Ford also advertises with Twitter through Promoted Tweets and User-Generated tweets that link to content articles about Ford’s products. In the report by Morrissey, he discovered the profitability of User-Generated tweets through linking one of Ford’s content articles with a third party blogger, Collier. Morrissey reports that Farley had linked one of his tweets to Collier’s article about saving funds through social media marketing; this results to the continued use of content integration between Ford-related contents with third-party bloggers. The profitability of this tool lies in its capacity to reach out to internet-savvy millennials, which comprise 55% of Twitter users (Slutsky paras. 1-2). It is also noteworthy to consider that the said number of Twitter users does not have cars, which makes the strategy a viable option in increasing Ford’s market reach. Consequently, using those tools helps Ford establish interaction with millennials and ensures favorable relations with customers through expanding the market’s avenues for expression. This may result to Ford’s accessibility to different market groups. Advertising Methods Halliday reports that Ford uses social media to strengthen its customer service, particularly in establishing active and profitable interactions with its customers (paras. 1-3). This advertising strategy also allows Ford to reach out to wider demographics, which will help determine and design specific brands that will attract various market groups. Specifically, Halliday reports that Ford maximises the profitability of social media through creating message boards and forums, as well as providing virtual troubleshooting assistance to cater customer queries and suggestions. In the marketing perspective , using social media to generate customer-related information is beneficial for the company,

Principles of Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Principles of Marketing - Essay Example Under this alternative, a company concentrates on extending an already existing brand name but focus on creating new flavors, colors, size, ingredients, as well as new forms of an existing product category. Most of the new products on the market today actually consist of line extension. A good example of line extension can be the make new flavors of Doritos products. A company can also opt to use multi-brands as a means of developing brands. As mentioned earlier, multi-brands entail a company introducing additional brands into the same product line or category. An example of developing brands using multi-brands is gamble and proctor markets which have a variety of different brands in every category of their products. Introducing new brands is another alternative that a company can choose from in developing new brands. Under this option, a company may be of the view that the strength of the already existing brand name is fading off, and the introduction of a new brand name is necessary. The introduction of scion by the Toyota Company for purposes of the millennial customers is a perfect example of new brands. Finally, a company has the option of developing brands through brand extension. Through this alternative, the company uses an established or existing brand name in designing new product lines. Ultimately, the newly designed product category to which the brand is created can be unrelated or sometimes related to the already established product categories. An example of a brand extension is the Nike brand which is renowned for shoe production; however, Nike has now extended to producing golf equipment, sunglasses, basketballs and soccer balls. An already established brand used in brand extension is known as a parent brand. Indeed when it comes to developing brands, a company has got four alternatives from which it can choose from.  

Customer Aquisation Versus Retention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Customer Aquisation Versus Retention - Essay Example Other statistics reason that a business’ 80% sales are just gotten from about 20%, which spells out the critical need for the business to maintain health relations with these loyal customers. It is easier for the retained relations to communicate over a business’ brands than new customers. They therefore play a critical role of tracking the progress of the business in terms of quality standards of commodities as well as the services. Moreover, findings from a report by Reichheld indicate that retained customers eventually buy a lot from this business and as a result, the business records higher profits. The operating costs in serving retained consumers tend to be lower than the costs for serving new consumers. Retained customers are also better placed to refer and bring other customers on board than is the case in new customers. Businesses therefore analyze the profitability of retaining all the customers but the cost effectiveness analysis dictates that a business shou ld strive to maintain the only segment of customers that prove more profitable than the rest (2001, p. 1). Nevertheless, globalization trends are seen to adversely affect the efforts of retaining customers as the internet has opened a whole view world of advertising and promotion. Via just a click of a mouse, it is possible to lose a retained customer. Therefore, the efforts of retaining a customer get more expensive and complicated. On the other hand, the supporters of the customer accusation reason that there is no more growth.... g one customer through promotional services and sales as to being ranging from six to ten times higher than the costs that the business would incur in retaining a customer. Other statistics reason that a business’ 80% sales are just gotten from about 20%, which spells out the critical need for the business to maintain health relations with these loyal customers. It is easier for the retained relations to communicate over a business’ brands than new customers. They therefore play a critical role of tracking the progress of the business in terms of quality standards of commodities as well as the services. Moreover, findings from a report by Reichheld indicate that retained customers eventually buy a lot from this business and as a result, the business records higher profits. The operating costs in serving retained consumers tend to be lower than the costs for serving new consumers. Retained customers are also better placed to refer and bring other customers on board than is the case in new customers. Businesses therefore analyze the profitability of retaining all the customers but the cost effectiveness analysis dictates that a business should strive to maintain the only segment of customers that prove more profitable than the rest (2001, p. 1). Nevertheless, globalization trends are seen to adversely affect the efforts of retaining customers as the internet has opened a whole view world of advertising and promotion. Via just a click of a mouse, it is possible to lose a retained customer. Therefore, the efforts of retaining a customer get more expensive and complicated. On the other hand, the supporters of the customer accusation reason that there is no more growth that can result from an already retained pool of customers than has already been met. This therefore

Visual Arts And Film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Visual Arts And Film - Essay Example The features of melodrama, according to Peter Brooks are several among them are that melodrama has a beginning and wants to end in innocence. Melodrama is also depicted as having victim-heroes whose virtues are upheld in the end. Melodrama borrows from realism to appear real. This is done so as to add action and passion in the film. With melodrama, there is pathos and action. Characters who represent good and evil are the main cast in the melodrama.The opening sequence of All About My Mother is serene and depicts the beginning of a rather emotional movie. The opening sequence of The Return is rather scary. The movie starts with slow music that makes it sound like a horror film. The opening sequence of Raise the Red Lantern depicts the traditional lifestyle of the Chinese and presents a Chinese aura about the movie. The opening sequence of Kung Fu Hustle is dramatic and serves to hold the viewer's attention towards the start of a dramatic movie. The opening sequence of The Maid is ent ertaining even with the starting music that seems to suggest the beginning of a comedy-like film. An example of self-reflexivity in the film is Attitude and ability for one to measure them. Also, one can self-learn instrumentally or socio-culturally. This is with the aid of personal actions or activities. The author of quote A is Samantha Lay. The author of the second quote is David Bordwell. The author of quote C is Cesare Zavattini. The author of quote D is Stephen Neale. The author of quote E is Raymond Williams.

Different type of market in oil & gas industry Essay

Different type of market in oil & gas industry - Essay Example The oil price dynamics in the global market are more likely to influence by a number of key factors ranging from balance amongst supply and demand; geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions; to the transitions in exchange rates of the dominant economies across the world. In this regard, changing conditions of the global financial markets has also been witnessed to have major influence on the oil and gas industry (Levy & Kolk, 2002). Although the continuous technological breakthrough has made the international producers and suppliers to effectively deal with the issues, but the oil and gas industry underpins major concerns for the nations in order to eliminate the prevailing challenges. This is owing to the fact that the industry is centrally driven by the wave of changing supply and demand along with the unabated financial challenges of the global nations (Sadorsky, 2001). The study emphasises on the key challenges and increasing numbers of threats from the different market challenges. In this context, the study aims to conduct a critical evaluation of the current oil and gas industry of China to determine whether the industry is monopolised by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which is one of the leading and dominant oil and gas corporations in the nation. In this essay, the discussion mainly focuses on developing relevant arguments or positions in relation to the literatures used in the previously developed articles. In order to claim appropriateness as well as validity of the research works, this essay tends to include a real example by elucidating the dominant performance of CNPC in the current oil and gas industry of China. In order to explore the market trends of the current oil and gas industry in China, the discussion critically addresses the present trend in microeconomic factors including the fashion of demand and supply in China. In addition to determine the current performance of CNPC, the discussion also incorporates a clear

Abortion in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Abortion in America - Essay Example The first instance was of Connecticut which criminalized abortion in the year 1821. Even in the cases of rape and incest, filing a police first investigation report was a prerequisite. However a woman with the name of Norma L. Mcorvay filed a petition against the abortion laws which fueled up the great debate of pro-life vs. pro-choice In June 1969, Mcorvay found out that she was pregnant with her third child and immediately decided to have an abortion. However due to its criminalization she could not get it done at any hospital. She was advised to register as a rape victim, however it did not happen there was no police report about the alleged incident. In 1970, two lawyers by the name of Coffee and Weddington filed a petition against the laws criminalizing abortion. The lawyers represented Mccorvay under the alias of Jane Roe while the Texas state was represented by Henry Wade (Mohr). Before the start of the legal proceedings, Roe conceded that she had not been raped and that case was actually meant as a plea to grant freedom to women regarding their personal choices. After multiple hearings a decision was finally announced on January 22, 1973. The court made abortion one of the fundamental rights under the US constitution, marking the beginning of a new era (Hoffer and Hoffer). There were many proposals including the proposal of viability which said that a woman can only have abortion until the fetus in her womb is not viable. By viable, it meant that the fetus could survive outside the mother’s body. However much of the freedom was granted to women and she could have an abortion after consulting a physician. . The case raised a fiery debate not only in the judicial circles but also among political and social groups. On one hand, the decision was heralded as a victory for women rights while on the other hand it came out as a blow to the believers of pro-life. The decision was controversial and still a large population of the country believes that it s hould be reverted. Perhaps the biggest shock to the whole pro-life vs. pro-choice debate was dealt by Mcorvay herself when she revealed in 1995 that she had become a proponent of pro-life (Bergel). Since then she has spoken openly against abortion and even filed petitions to overturn the decision, which did not yield any conclusive result. In the light of the above arguments, it can fairly easily be said that the matter is a very complicated one because abortion does not only affect the physical well-being of women but also psychological and emotional well-being. Therefore there needs to be a thorough study of the statistical data about people’s opinions as well as a sound scientific study before any further decision in this regard is taken. Although both sides of the debate has very strong points, I believe that abortion should not be legalized unless in the most extremes of cases. There are many forms of contraception available including, early morning pill and condoms; the refore unwanted pregnancies can easily be avoided if these contraceptive measures are taken. Legalization of abortion actually demeans the reproductive function of sex and projects it only as a means of having pleasure. This encourages unprotected sexual intercourse since unwanted conception can easily be aborted causing a greater number of people to be at a risk of contacting sexually transmitted diseases. Since legalization of abortion poses more of a threat rather than relief to the general well-being of women, it should only is legal in extreme cases. For example, in a situation like rape where the conception actually reminds the women of the trauma and puts a negative impact on her psychological well-being, abortion should be legalized. Also in some pregnancies, some extreme

Human genetic engineering Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Human genetic engineering - Research Paper Example s of an organism and can either be positive or negative where negative brings a subject up to par while positive modifies genetic material to bring it beyond normal limitations (171-175). However, it is important to note that amid arguments and hot debate regarding genetic engineering, it is ethical to use technology in particular cases including altering cells and DNA to minimize disease effects and combating other genetic disorders. This article provides argument regarding human genetic engineering. Biotechnology is the utilization of science and biology technology to alter the living or non-living materials for the production of knowledge, goods, services that are innovative and can improve people’s lives (Evans 44-48). It is a technology that uses living organisms to make superior products that meets life’s greatest needs in a careful and regulated way and serving the needs of scientists. It is worth noting that biotechnology has been in existence for quite a long time including preservation of dairy products and beer fermentation and forms a huge part of the daily life but it has now been to humans. According to Evans, biotechnology plays a major role in meeting human’s daily needs through resource efficiency, food security as well as modification of human genes (44-48). Various things including increase in yields characterize biotechnology as well as offering built in protection against insect damage, prevention of soil erosion, and eventually reduce po verty by increasing food security for a growing population (Gyngell 495-503). However, biotechnology has had serious effects on both human and enhanced climatic changes. Genetically modified humans and organisms are technologically altered through the process of modern biotechnology or gene technology. They are developed because they are perceived to super human who are capable of performing many things that cannot be performed by ordinary persons (Evans 52-59). It is important to note that human

Alexander Hamilton Essay Example for Free

Alexander Hamilton Essay There are four reasons why Alexander Hamilton argued in favor of the development of manufacturing. His first reason was that manufacturing would help the economy. The economy would grow financially and manufacturing would cause more trade. His second reason was that manufacturing would bring down tariffs, which would cause more trade and jobs. His third reason was that manufacturing would bring more immigration to the â€Å"Young America†. With the new population it will expand America and open more areas for trade. His last reason was employment. Having manufacturing would create more jobs through farming and factories. Alexander Hamilton’s way of helping the United States Government was very wise. Hamilton reasoned that helping the Government would secure American independence. He thought that the United States needed to have a sound policy of encouraging the growth of manufacturing and at the same time he wanted to make sure that the United States’ future was still strong. He argued for the development of manufacturing because he believed that he could achieve the subsidies of the economy by giving away tariffs. He thought that if the United States government gave high tariffs then no one would want to trade with the United States. He also believed that his polices would not only help trade but help other weaknesses of the economy such as employment and immigration. These policies would not only promote the growth of manufacturing but provide diversified employment opportunities and promote immigration into the â€Å"Young America†. They would also expand the applications of technology and science for all quarters of the economy, including agriculture. The Industrial Revolution was the most important development during the 19th century. It brought many changes towards American Life. A new class of industrial engineers organized the land, labor, mineral resources, and capital of the nation, to maximize both the production and profit. There were many new inventions in, transportation and communication, and in the use of the assembly-line techniques that made the growth of huge, nationally based industries with enormous financial and political influence. A group of small independent farmers, craft workers, and merchants became one big business for industrial centers. Immigrants and farmers alike poured into large industrial centers to compete for jobs.

Stanley Kubrick’s Movie ”Full Metal Jacket” Analysis

Stanley Kubrick’s Movie †Full Metal Jacket† Analysis Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction Section 2: Background Section 3: Main Section 4: Conclusion Section 4: Bibliography Section 1: Introduction There were always a lot of different wars going on and even more war stories written down. These stories are usually very complicated and involve many characters, feelings and struggles. They show the war from different sides, describing the moments of intense battle as much as moments of soldiers’ soul torments. War stories mostly include different combats, a dramatic plot, sometimes a love line, and almost always an emotional finale. Some of these stories are quite positive and have happy endings; others try to show the real war. The director Stanley Kubrick also made a war story and named it â€Å"Full Metal Jacket†. This story turned out to be very unconventional and unusual, because it follows the mental development of the soldiers and their emotions rather than concentrating on the war itself. Kubrick’s movie observes the marines’ motivations, relationships between each other and their attitude to the war. The motive for fighting is a very important part of any war story. People have very different reasons for a war, such as money, freedom, territory, power and so on. Mostly characters in war stories clearly define their goals in the battle, and the reasons for them to be there. They ask themselves why they fight, think about their life before they got where they are, and examine their feelings and motives for continuing, although â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† leaves motives of the soldiers uncertain. That brings the audience to the question: Are there any reasons for these soldiers to fight or the deaths of their friends were vain? Maybe the war was completely meaningless from very beginning? Section 2: Background The film â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† follows a Marine reporter nicknamed Joker through his initiation into Marine boot camp and his involvement in the Vietnam War which lasts from December 1956 up to 30 April 1975. Although the reasons for Vietnam War start appearing much earlier. The situation becomes tense in the time when Indochina is still a French Colony. Different nationalistic groups come together with communist Ho Chi Minh to overthrow the French rule and become independent. So they start First Indochina war, and in 1954 France suffers a major military defeat. Signed in 1954 Geneva Accords ends French rule and United Nations divide Indochina into Laos, Cambodia, North Vietnam, which was ruled by communists, and democratic South Vietnam. Nationalists’ forces want to unify Vietnam under the communist government and start the war which is now known as a Vietnam War. In the same time America tries to prevent the spread of communism through the world. They believed in domino theory which held that if a country goes communist the neighboring countries are likely to go communist also. So US feel that if they stop communism from taking South Vietnam it will also keep other countries from it. So they support South Vietnam in the war. On the time period from 1965 until 1972 the Vietnam War keeps escalating. US send to the war about a half a million of their troops. America is very close to victory, but North Vietnamese army succeeds in breaking the will of the American People. Their military does not know what are they fighting for anymore and does not want to sacrifice their lives. And as the war goes on, the cost in blood seems to be extreme and worthless, so in 1972 US signs valueless peace agreement with North Vietnam which allows the retreating of American forces. But the armed conflict in Vietnam continues and in a few years in 1975 the North Vietnam takes up South Vietnam. Defeat of South Vietnam causes a massive genocide in Southern Asia resulting in the death of millions, while America suffers major political loss.[1] The movie â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† is a war story about that part of history, about the Vietnam War. It was directed in 1987 and is based on Gustav Hasfords semi-autobiographical novel â€Å"The Short-Timers†. [2] The author of the book, Gustav Hasford, was a US Marine Corps veteran and went through a Vietnam War; his experience and his feelings on this war formed the basis of his book and therefore the movie.[3] Section 3: Main The story of the movie begins the United States Marine Corps Training Camp. A group of young recruits are having their heads shaved and being prepared for military basic training by their new senior drill instructor, brutal Gunnery Sergeant called Hartman, whose work is to weed out all non-hackers[4]. During the training the sergeant often degrades each recruit; he uses many different psychological attacks such as repeated chants in training or insulting their masculinity (calling them sweethearts or ladies). He also gives certain men a ridiculous nickname based on their actions or characters: the pragmatic man who talks behind his back got a name Joker[5], a man from Texas became a Cowboy[6] and finally, Leonard Lawrence, an over-weighed, tall, not intelligent recruit becomes Private Gomer Pyle[7]. Hartman focus his attention on him, because the corpulent recruit cannot keep up with the others in the grueling trainings. The viewer can observe a slow dehumanization of recruits that occurs during the training. American boys are humiliated and worked to death. Finally they become totally broken and reconstructed as the perfect marines; they are taught that they are nothing more than bald-headed weapons of mass destruction in uniforms. Some of them could not handle this and slowly go insane, what is perfectly shown on the example of Private Pyle. This training seriously dements Private Gomer Pyle up until he becomes demented, maniacal, and suicidal. The scene where he is talking to his gun[8] shows just how much some people can be dehumanized by the experience of basic training. Private Pyle takes so much glory in his rifle that it starts to bother everybody in the training camp. When he reaches the certain state, Pyle feels like he has to not only kill his sergeant, but to eliminate himself from this world as well, and commits a suicide, even his fellow recruit Joker cannot change his mind[9]. The second part of the movie takes place already on the war. Each recruit got a Military Occupational Specialty. Joker, which is the main character, now becomes a military journalist. In the first minutes of the second part, Private Rafterman grumbles to Joker, You know what really pisses me off about these people? We are supposed to be helping them and they shit all over us every chance they get. I just can’t feature that. Joker then replies, Dont take it too hard, Rafterman. Its just business.[10] The way he answers demonstrates to the viewer that marines honestly do not understand why Vietnamese people dislike them, even though Americans fight for their freedom and protect them from going communists. Next scene, Joker is on the newspaper staff meeting, and the superior officer looks through the offered articles to verify that all the material would create the desired effect on the readers. Joker and his fellow journalists are ordered to only write articles that show that United Stated are the winners in this war, even if it implies that they have to make up some details[11]. Before Joker realizes that this not faithful reporting isn’t a right decision, he agrees with it because the happy stories would keep the troops in a good mood. Afterwards Joker and Rafterman take a helicopter ride[12]. While flight, the helicopter’s door gunner starts to shoot Vietnamese villagers and soon Joker asks him, How can you shoot women and children?, and the soldier answers, Easy! You just dont lead ‘em so much! Aint war hell?[13] These men on the war are losing their morality; killing women and children became totally normal, the only difference is that you use fewer bullets on them. The marines in this movie have no idea what they are doing in Vietnam, they were told to kill Vietnamese people and that is what they do. Later, when Joker and Private Rafterman meet Cowboys platoon for the first time, Joker and the marine nicknamed Animal Mother have a dispute. In a second Private Eightball comes to Joker and says, Now you may not believe it, but under fire Animal Mother is one of the finest human beings in the world. All he needs is someone to throw hand grenades at him the rest of his life.[14] Sergeant Animal Mother appears to be an ideal soldier: a man who has become desensitized due to warfare. There is a memorable scene where members of the platoon are standing around their recently killed comrades[15]. The camera turns around, focusing on each of them one by one as they give a comment about their opinions on deaths. Some are confused, one marine wishes them to rest in peace, and the next one adds at least they died for a good cause. Someone asks What cause is that? and the soldier replies, Freedom. The important line comes when Animal Mother suddenly says You think we waste gooks for freedom? This is a slaughter. If I’m going to get my balls blown off for a word my word is poon-tang.[16] This shows viewers some kind of idea about the characters and their thoughts, but there is still no particular idea about what they are actually there for. One of the most important proofs that the soldiers do not know what they are fighting for appears when a news team interviews a platoon, and they share their experiences and opinion about the war[17]. The answers are uncertain and reduced to the fact that the soldiers are only here to kill â€Å"Vietnamese gooks†, as they were ordered. The marines speak very insecure with a lot of pauses unable to put the words right; they never thought about the reason to fight. In a few days, the troop goes out on another patrol, in the ruins next to the place where the US army believes enemy’s troops have hidden[18]. The sky on the background is foggy showing some kind of uncertainty in soldiers’ souls. While observing the place, the leader of the squad dies by stepping on a mine and Cowboy takes the leadership. Very soon their squad becomes lost in the ruins and the unseen sniper shoots one of the marines, private Eightball. The platoon argues if they should take risk and try to save him or leave the dying comrade. This scene shows who of them still have something humane and who already became a â€Å"killing machine† as they were taught to be. The viewer can see how these people cannot take the decision. Then one man decides to take the chance and goes there. After the second soldier being shot the third marine goes and sacrifice himself too. That is the cost of being humane on the war. Finally the viewer reaches the last minutes ofFull Metal Jacket, when the platoon finds the sniper and Joker faces death for the first time. As he looks down on the Vietnamese sniper, we understand that Joker has never really been on the battlefield, he has never needed to kill, but when he needed those were only darkened figures in the distance. For the Joker, war and death was something that happens somewhere at the distance to the other people. He never looked the enemy directly in the eye before pulling the trigger. Being shot and surrounded by the enemies the sniper starts to pray, and then she begs them to shoot her. The marines need to take a difficult decision: or they should leave her to die from a blood loss or save her from suffering by killing her. Animal Mother agrees on a mercy killing but only if Joker will do it[19]. Before that Joker asked the helicopter gunner â€Å"How can you shoot women and children?† Suddenly this question comes back to him as Joker stands next to an enemy sniper who is and woman, and a child. After some hesitation, Joker shoots her. His fellow marines sarcastically congratulate Joker with his first corpse while he stares into nothing, having finally gotten his own brutalized gaze. In this scene he looks very similar to the private Pyle in the end of the first part. All the military philosophy is shown in this one battle where a small marine troop is trying to win a Vietcong sniper to gain one tiny piece of land among the ruins by sacrificing their fellows. And this tiny piece of land is not even important for this war. â€Å"Full Metal Jacket†ends with Joker marching with other marines and singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song and then Joker narrates, â€Å"I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short. I’m in a world of shit†¦ yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid.†[20] He is called the Joker, and â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† is the story of his aging, the story of his transformation from an innocent child to the killing machine, real soldier. During this war, he finds nothing but madness and cruelness in everything around him, starting with his drill instructor, Sergeant Hartman, to the Vietnamese enemies and his fellows, so the film does not really take anybody’s side. It does not tell you who the antagonists and who the protagonists are. More than that, this movie has a lot of dualities: the helmet with the peace symbol on one side and â€Å"Born to Kill† written on the other, even Joker himself explained it as a duality of a man[21]. The tragic deaths at the end of each part of the movie. Joker’s own desires to â€Å"get into shit† and to avoid it as much as possible. Him, being a Leonard’s tutor and the one who beats Pyle the hardest in the same time. The music use in different situations. The music choice in the movie also says a lot about the meaningless of the war. For example taking a Mickey Mouse song in the end tells about the innocence of these soldiers many years ago, when there was no war going on. A period of time many years ago when they were all children, contrasted to fighting soldiers which they became now. Kubrick used music in a quite sarcastic, absurd and tragicomic way: The Mickey Mouse march, which is supposed to be entertaining and happy, becomes a dead march spreading above the land of destruction and death. The title of the movie â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† is also given to it for a purpose. The Full Metal jacket bullets are bullets designed not to expand at all, thus they are considered ‘humane’, because they are less likely to kill (although more likely to maim)[22]. That fits the movie in a sense of how the marines had a distorted notion about what is humane and what is not. They believed that they are being humane because they are killing Vietcong people, who are communist and therefore ‘the bad guys’, and no matter if those are innocent or not. They were told that it is the right way for everybody, while in the reality they were just as bad, cruel and ferocious as Vietcong. Section 4: Conclusion The inscription â€Å"Born to Kill† on Jokers helmet versus the Peace symbol perfectly summarizes this film. There were no answers to any questions in the Vietnam War, the brink of honor and justice was lost. The gallant soldier is mocking while shoots a machine gun at innocent women and children, and nobody can even understand what are they fighting and die for, although they know that killing is their responsibility and mission. There, in Vietnam, even a prostitute can turn up to be a Vietcong spy. There the difference, the advantage of women and children is that you use fewer bullets to kill them. There is no place for weak people or pacifists, and even if the soldier has a piece symbol on him, this is easily compensated with an inscription â€Å"Born to Kill† on the helmet, which is explained just by duality of a human nature. Everybody, who understood what a war is, tried to stay humane and alive at the same time, died and instead of the funeral, a funny song with terrible words sounded over their bodies. Full Metal Jacket is a movie of contrast, where each minute contradicts the previous and the main character himself. All his doubts and compassionate in the beginning replaced with coolness and confidence in his decisions at the end. And finally a Hartmans mission is completed. An army of demoralized people, who is only able to kill, will return back home, because it is too difficult to stay human on the war. The end of this transformation in the huge heartless machine is seen when Private Joker kills a sniper and destroy a pacifist in himself, symbolizing the final decay of the soul and the conversion into a monster. In any war, if you kill a person in front of you, you kill a person inside yourself. And Kubrick perfectly showed how meaningless is that war in his movie called Full Metal Jacket. Section 4: Bibliography Sanders, Vivienne, 2007, â€Å"The USA and VIETNAM 1945-1975† Kubrick, Stanley, 1987,â€Å"Full Metal Jacket† Wikipedia: Vietnam War Wikipedia: Full Metal Jacket Wikipedia: Gustav Hasford Wikipedia: The Short-Timers Wikipedia: Full Metal Jacket bullet [1] The information for these paragraphs is taken from: Sanders, Vivienne, 2007, â€Å"The USA and VIETNAM 1945-1975† and Wikipedia’s article about the Vietnam War. [2] Wikipedia: Full Metal Jacket [3] Wikipedia: Gustav Hasford [4] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:02:35-00:02:37 [5] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:03:42-00:03:49 [6] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:05:16-00:05:24 [7] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:06:10-00:06:15 [8] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:32:00-00:34:38 [9] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:44:11-00:45:15 [10] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:48:21-00:48:35 [11] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:49:05-00:52:20 [12] †Full Metal Jacket†: 00:58:40-01:01:05 [13] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:00:30-01:00:40 [14] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:07:30-01:08:44 [15] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:17:49-01:19:46 [16] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:18:33-01:19:03 [17] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:19:55-01:22:56 [18] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:25:35-01:51:05 [19] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:48:00-01:49:27 [20] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:51:05-01:52:53 [21] †Full Metal Jacket†: 01:04:32-01:05:12 [22] Wikipedia: Full Metal Jacket Bullets

Thermosyphons :: physics

Tasked with the quest to economically and efficiently extend civilization into the Northern regions, the construction industry has been hindered by the presence of perennially frozen ground. The thermosyphon is a device that facilitates the harmonious union of structure and ice. This paper will serve as a tutorial on thermosyphons, and present an exploration into the physical concepts that allow their operation. The physical concepts and phenomenon that enable the operation of thermosyphons can at times be complex-but don’t be scared. This tutorial will start with the most rudimentary explanation of thermosyphons, and proceed from there to deliver more in depth examinations in a step by step process. Let’s get right down to business. The steps in thermosyphon operation are: STEP 1-Heat flows into the thermosyphon, STEP 2-Heat flows through the thermosyphon tube, and STEP 3-Heat is released into the atmosphere. Simply stated, a thermosyphon is a device which moves heat from one place to another. There are different types of thermosyphons which are used for different applications, but for the purposes of this primer we will concentrate on thermosyphons used by the construction industry to stabilize frozen ground. For example, consider a road built over permafrost.. In this situation it is desirable to keep the ground from thawing, otherwise the road embankment will be destroyed. A thermosyphon â€Å"collects heat† from the frozen ground. This collected heat is brought to the top of the thermosyphon and the cooling fins, where it is released into the atmosphere. In this way, the ground remains frozen. Now, the thought of frozen soil warming the atmosphere may be hard to grasp. This brings us to an important point about the thermosyphon- they only work when the ambient air temperature is below the temperature of the soil (less than 31 degrees Farenheight). With this in mind, we can consider thermosyphons from a different perspective; a thermosyphon increases the exposure of sub-surface soil to freezing temperatures. Another thought, although not totally correct from a physical standpoint, is that the thermosyphon brings cold into the soil. Let’s examine the thermodynamic process by which a thermosyphon operates. This process is outlined below in a step by step chronology. Step 1-There is an accumulation of the working fluid in the bottom of the thermosyphon. The most important factor that governs the choice of a working fluid is that it must have an extremely low boiling point. Permafrost soil is typically at a temperature of 31F and consequently the fluid boiling point should be less than 31F.

The Red Room and The Judges House - Typical Nineteenth Century Ghost

The Red Room and The Judge's House - Typical Nineteenth Century Ghost Stories? Nineteenth century ghost stories are typical of the gothic genre. They are referred to as stereotypical, because in the period they were written in, it was the practice to include several distinctive elements which are now exclusively associated with this genre. 'The Red Room' by H. G. Wells (1894) and 'The Judge's House' by Bram Stoker (1891) will be discussed in this essay to assess them as distinctive examples of ghost stories. There are various elements which are distinctive of characteristics of a nineteenth century ghost story. The criteria used to determine 'The Red Room' and 'The Judge's House' are of nineteenth century ghost stories in this essay are, firstly, the setting. This is the background scenery to the story and is, typically of this genre, an isolated place or house. The second element is the inclusion of characters with a variable state of mind throughout the story. This could be a terrifying consuming fear or the complete loss of reason leading to insanity. The incorporation of characters which believe and do not believe in the supernatural is the third element. This allows a wider range of people to read the story and associate with the characters. The fourth criterion is an ancient prophecy or a history of disturbances surrounding the place where the story is set. The fifth element is light. Ghost stories make use of shadows, darkness, night-time, and the diffusive light of a candle to help develop tension and suspense. The final element is imagery used by authors. The images created tend to be appealing to the five human senses of touch, sight, taste, smell and hearing. I will compare 'The Red Room' and 'The Judge's House' base... ...t and inflamed', plus, 'red eyes'. This gives the sense of you being watched. The references to, 'monstrous shadow', 'grotesque custodians', and, 'the human qualities seem to drop from old people insensibly day by day', shows that they aren't like normal human beings and are out of this world. 'The Judge's House' is a perfect example of the three types of characters. Malcolmson obviously being the non-believer, Mrs Witham, Mrs Dempster and Dr. Thornhill are the believers. While the Judge's spirit is the supernatural. Malcolmson is also a rational person like the narrator of 'The Red Room'. He believes in knowledge not fictional stories. 'A man who is reading for the Mathematical Tripos', and, 'disturbed by any of these mysterious somethings'. It doesn't have many references to Malcolmson attitude to the Judge's house. But from this quote, we can see he is not afraid.

Hypotheses Of The Effects Of Wolf Predation :: essays research papers

Hypotheses of the Effects of Wolf Predation Abstract: This paper discusses four hypotheses to explain the effects of wolf predation on prey populations of large ungulates. The four proposed hypotheses examined are the predation limiting hypothesis, the predation regulating hypothesis, the predator pit hypothesis, and the stable limit cycle hypothesis. There is much research literature that discusses how these hypotheses can be used to interpret various data sets obtained from field studies. It was concluded that the predation limiting hypothesis fit most study cases, but that more research is necessary to account for multiple predator - multiple prey relationships. The effects of predation can have an enormous impact on the ecological organization and structure of communities. The processes of predation affect virtually every species to some degree or another. Predation can be defined as when members of one species eat (and/or kill) those of another species. The specific type of predation between wolves and large ungulates involves carnivores preying on herbivores. Predation can have many possible effects on the interrelations of populations. To draw any correlations between the effects of these predator-prey interactions requires studies of a long duration, and statistical analysis of large data sets representative of the populations as a whole. Predation could limit the prey distribution and decrease abundance. Such limitation may be desirable in the case of pest species, or undesirable to some individuals as with game animals or endangered species. Predation may also act as a major selective force. The effects of predator prey coevolution can explain many evolutionary adaptations in both predator and prey species. The effects of wolf predation on species of large ungulates have proven to be controversial and elusive. There have been many different models proposed to describe the processes operating on populations influenced by wolf predation. Some of the proposed mechanisms include the predation limiting hypothesis, the predation regulating hypothesis, the predator pit hypothesis, and the stable limit cycle hypothesis (Boutin 1992). The purpose of this paper is to assess the empirical data on population dynamics and attempt to determine if one of the four hypotheses is a better model of the effects of wolf predation on ungulate population densities. The predation limiting hypothesis proposes that predation is the primary factor that limits prey density. In this non- equilibrium model recurrent fluctuations occur in the prey population. This implies that the prey population does not return to some particular equilibrium after deviation. The predation limiting hypothesis involves a density independent mechanism. The mechanism might apply to one prey - one predator systems (Boutin 1992). This hypothesis predicts that losses of prey due to predation will be large enough to halt prey population

How My Optimism Helps Me Overcome Obstacles

Alyssa McCutchen Period 6 3/15/12 How My Optimism Helps Me Overcome Obstacles Optimism is such a funny thing. It has the capability to help you solve some of the most challenging and troublesome problems you’ll ever face in your entire life. This is exactly what optimism does for me. I have had some of the most challenging and troublesome things happen to me and using optimism during those times really helped me through them, and I honestly don’t think I would have made it through all of those times without using optimism.During those times optimism came to me in any and every way, shape, or form. It would come to me if the sun was shining outside, from a verse in a song, from a text I would get, or sometimes even from playing a silly board game to pass the time. All of these things helped me to learn that â€Å"can do† attitude. That attitude where you feel like you can fly if you want to, that you can reach the highest peak in the tallest mountain, or that no m atter how bad your situation may be it’ll get better. That attitude that shows optimism at it’s greatest.When I was a little girl, there was always this one specific person that made me such a positive, energetic, and hopeful little girl. That one person happened to be the one and only Dr. Seuss. He was such a motivational person to me as I was growing up and he still is today. Everything he said stuck to me like a magnet, and made me think long and hard about what he was saying and what it meant to me. There was this one quote he said that has stuck with me ever since I was little, and it goes a little something like this, â€Å"Now I’ve heard there are troubles of more than one kind.Some come from ahead, some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat, I’m already you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me. † When I hear that quote I feel like Dr. Seuss is trying to say get up! Wipe that dust off of your back, stand up str aight, and put a smile on your face. Look your obstacles in the eye and show them that you’re not going to back down. That you’re still as positive and strong as ever, and that you will never give up. Although a majority of that quote resembles perseverance, perseverance wouldn’t exist without optimism.Optimism is such a funny thing. It has the capability to put a smile on someone’s face, to put a spring in their step, and to overall brighten there day. My own mother is a prime example of this. My mom has what is called Congestive Heart Failure. Congestive Heart Failure is the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow. Because of this my mom happens to be disabled, and can’t work or do a lot of physical activity. Even though she has so many reasons to be negative about life, she refuses.Instead, she focuses on being a good, positive role model and mother to my Sister, and I. As Elbert Hubbard once said, â€Å"Optimism is a kind of hea rt stimulant- the diagnosis of failure. † Optimism has brought me through some many things in my life, and I’m sure it always will. Because I know this, no amount of obstacles can knock me down. The Greek philosopher once said, â€Å"Happiness depends upon ourselves. † As for me, I choose to be happy because I know I have optimism and that alone is more than enough.In the words of William Ward, â€Å"Every person has the power to make others happy. Some do it simply by entering the room, others by leaving the room. Some individuals leave trails of gloom, others trails of joy. Some leave trails of hate and bitterness, others trails of love and harmony. Some leave trails of cynicism and pessimism, others trails of faith and optimism. Some leave trails of criticism and resignation, others trails of gratitude and hope. What kind of trails do you leave? †

Chapter 2 Exercises & Case Exercises Essay

1. Consider the statement: an individual threat agent, like a hacker, can be a factor in more than one threat category. If a hacker hacks into a network, copies a few files, defaces the Web page, and steals credit card numbers, how many different threat categories does this attack fall into? a. Overall, I believe this attack falls into four major threat categories: deliberate acts of trespass, compromises to intellectual property, technical failures, and managerial failure. Furthermore, I believe this attack would be categorized as a deliberate act of theft/trespass which compromises intellectual property due to technical and managerial failures. b. It seems as this hacker was deliberately causing harm (i.e. copying files, vandalizing the web page, and theft of credit card numbers); due to their method of entry – hacking into a network – it leaves me to believe there were some technical failures, such as software vulnerabilities or a trap door. However, that is just one possibility as to what could have occurred. This could have also been a managerial failure; say the unknown hacker used social engineering to obtain the information to gain access to the network – proper planning and procedure execution could have potentially thwarted this hacker†™s attack. 2. Using the Web, research Mafiaboy’s exploits. When and how did he compromise sites? How was he caught? c. Michael Demon Calce, also known as Mafiaboy, was a high school student from West Island, Quebec, who launched a series of highly publicized DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks in February 2000 against large commercial websites including: Yahoo!, Fifa.com, Amazon.com, Dell, Inc., E*Trade, eBay, and CNN. Calce also attempted to launch a series of simultaneous attacks against nine of the thirteen root name servers. d. On February 7th, 2000, Calce targeted Yahoo! With a project he named â€Å"Rivolta† – meaning riot in Italian. This project utilized a denial of service cyber-attack in which servers become overloaded with different types of communications, to the point in which they completely shut down. Calce managed to shut down the multibillion dollar company and the web’s top search engine for almost an hour. His goal was to establish dominance for himself and TNT – his cybergroup. Over the next week, Calce also brought down eBay, CNN, Amazon and Dell via the same DDoS attack. e. Calce’s actions were under suspicion when the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police noticed posts in an IRC chatroom which bragged/claimed responsibility for the attacks. He became the chief suspect when he claimed to have brought down Dell’s website, an attack not yet publicized at the time. Information on the source of the attacks was initially discovered and reported to the press by Michael Lyle, chief technology officer of Recourse Technologies. Calce initially denied responsibility but later pled guilty to most of the charges brought against him – the Montreal Youth Court sentenced him on September 12, 2001 to eight months of â€Å"open custody,† one year of probation, restricted use of the Internet, and a small fine. It is estimated that these attacks caused $1.2 billion dollars in global economic damages. 3. Search the Web for the â€Å"The Official Phreaker’s Manual.† What information contained in this manual might help a security administrator to protect a communications system? f. A security administrator is a specialist in computer and network security, including the administration of security devices such as firewalls, as well as consulting on general security measures. g. Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. Since telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely linked with computer hacking. i. Example of Phreaking: Using various audio frequencies to manipulate a phone system. h. Overall, a security administrator could use this manual to gain knowledge of terms associated with phreaking and the in’s & outs of the process (i.e. how it is executed). However, the security administrator should focus on Chapter 10 – â€Å"War on Phreaking† – this section (pg 71-73) deals with concepts such as access, â€Å"doom,† tracing, and security. An administrator could reverse engineer this information to protect his/her systems from such attacks. 4. The chapter discussed many threats and vulnerabilities to information security. Using the Web, find at least two other sources of information on threat and vulnerabilities. Begin with www.securityfocus.com and use a keyword search on â€Å"threats.† i. http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability-threats ii. Dark Reading’s Vulnerabilities and Threats Tech Center is your resource for breaking news and information on the latest potential threats and technical vulnerabilities affecting today’s IT environment. Written for security and IT professionals, the Vulnerabilities and Threats Tech Center is designed to provide in-depth information on newly-discovered network and application vulnerabilities, potential cybersecurity exploits, and security research results j. http://www.symantec.com/security_response/ iii. Our security research centers around the world provide unparalleled analysis of and protection from IT security threats that include malware, security risks, vulnerabilities, and spam. 5. Using the categories of threats mentioned in this chapter, as well as the various attacks described, review several current media sources and identify examples of each. k. Acts of human error or failure: iv. Students and staff were told in February that some 350,000 of them could have had their social security numbers and financial information exposed on the internet. v. â€Å"It happened during an upgrade of some of our IT systems. We were upgrading a server and through human error there was a misconfiguration in the setting up of that server,† said UNCC spokesman, Stephen Ward. l. Compromises to intellectual property: vi. Today we bring news of action against a site that supplied links to films, music and games hosted on file-hosters all around the world. Authorities say they have charged three individuals said to be the administrators of a very large file-sharing site. vii. To get an idea of the gravity local police are putting on the case, we can compare some recent stats. According to US authorities Megaupload, one of the world’s largest websites at the time, cost rightsholders $500m. GreekDDL (according to Alexa Greece’s 63rd largest site) allegedly cost rightsholders $85.4m. m. Deliberate acts of espionage or trespass: viii. The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell. ix. Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organization – the NSA. x. Additional, interesting, read: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57600000/edward-snowdens-digital-maneuvers-still-stumping-u.s-government/ 1. The government’s forensic investigation is wrestling with Snowden’s apparent ability to defeat safeguards established to monitor and deter people looking at information without proper permission. n. Deliberate acts of information extortion: xi. Hackers claimed to have breached the systems of the Belgian credit provider Elantis and threatened to publish confidential customer information if the bank does not pay $197,000 before Friday, they said in a statement posted to Pastebin. Elantis confirmed the data breach Thursday, but the bank said it will not give in to extortion threats. xii. The hackers claim to have captured login credentials and tables with online loan applications which hold data such as full names, job descriptions, contact information, ID card numbers and income figures. xiii. According to the hackers the data was stored unprotected and unencrypted on the servers. To prove the hack, parts of what they claimed to be captured customer data were published. o. Deliberate acts of sabotage or vandalism: xiv. Fired Contractor Kisses Off Fannie Mae With Logic Bomb xv. Rajendrasinh Babubha Makwana, a former IT contractor at Fannie Mae who was fired for making a coding mistake, was charged this week with placing a â€Å"logic bomb† within the company’s Urbana, Md., data center in late October of last year. The malware was set to go into effect at 9 a.m. EST Saturday and would have disabled internal monitoring systems as it did its damage. Anyone logging on to Fannie Mae’s Unix server network after that would have seen the words â€Å"Server Graveyard† appear on their workstation screens. p. Deliberate acts of theft: xvi. Four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian have been charged with running a sophisticated hacking organization that penetrated computer networks of more than a dozen major American and international corporations over seven years, stealing and selling at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. q. Deliberate software attacks: xvii. China Mafia-Style Hack Attack Drives California Firm to Brink xviii. A group of hackers from China waged a relentless campaign of cyber harassment against Solid Oak Software Inc., Milburn’s family-owned, eight-person firm in Santa Barbara, California. The attack began less than two weeks after Milburn publicly accused China of appropriating his company’s parental filtering software, CYBERsitter, for a national Internet censoring project. And it ended shortly after he settled a $2.2 billion lawsuit against the Chinese government and a string of computer companies last April. xix. In between, the hackers assailed Solid Oak’s computer systems, shutting down web and e-mail servers, spying on an employee with her webcam, and gaining access to sensitive files in a battle that caused company revenues to tumble and brought it within a hair’s breadth of collapse. r. Forces of nature: xx. Websites Scramble As Hurricane Sandy Floods Data Centers xxi. The freak storm flooded data centers in New York City, taking down several major websites and services — including The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Gawker — that depended on them to run their businesses. xxii. Several websites stored their data at a lower Manhattan data center run by Datagram, whose basement was inundated with water during the storm, flooding generators that were intended to keep the power on. s. Deviations in quality of service from service providers: xxiii. China’s Internet hit by biggest cyberattack in its history xxiv. Internet users in China were met with sluggish response times early Sunday as the country’s domain extension came under a â€Å"denial of service† attack. xxv. The attack was the largest of its kind ever in China, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, a state agency that manages the .cn country domain. xxvi. The double-barreled attacks took place at around 2 a.m. Sunday, and then again at 4 a.m. The second attack was â€Å"long-lasting and large-scale,† according to state media, which said that service was slowly being restored. t. Technical hardware failures or errors: xxvii. A hardware failure in a Scottish RBS Group technology center caused a NatWest bank outage. xxviii. It prevented customers from using online banking services or doing debit card transactions. u. Technical software failure or errors: xxix. RBS boss blames software upgrade for account problems xxx. The boss of RBS has confirmed that a software change was responsible for the widespread computer problems affecting millions of customers’ bank accounts. v. Technological obsolescence: xxxi. SIM Cards Have Finally Been Hacked, And The Flaw Could Affect Millions Of Phones xxxii. After three years of research, German cryptographer Karsten Nohl claims to have finally found encryption and software flaws that could affect millions of SIM cards, and open up another route on mobile phones for surveillance and fraud. Case Exercises Soon after the board of directors meeting, Charlie was promoted to Chief Information Security Officer, a new position that reports to the CIO, Gladys Williams, and that was created to provide leadership for SLS’s efforts to improve its security profile. Questions: 1. How do Fred, Gladys, and Charlie perceive the scope and scale of the new information security effort? a. Charlie’s proposed information security plan aims at securing business software, data, the networks, and computers which store information. The scope of the information security effort is quite vast, aiming at securing each vulnerability – in addition to the aforementioned, the new information security plan also focuses on the company’s staff. Since extra effort will be required to implement the new managerial plan and install new security software and tools, the scale of this operation is quite large. 2. How will Fred measure success when he evaluates Gladys’ performance for this project? How will he evaluate Charlie’s performance? b. Gladys is appointed as CIO of the team, which is gathered to improve the security of the company due to virus attack that caused a loss in the company; I believe Fred will measure Gladys success by her ability t o lead, keep the plan on track (i.e. time management) and successfully sticking to the proposed budget. Charlie was promoted to chief information security officer, a new position that reports to the CIO; I believe Fred will measure Charlie’s success by his ability to implement the new plan, report his/their progress and the overall success of the new system. 3. Which of the threats discussed in this chapter should receive Charlie’s attention early in his planning process? c. Portable Media Management (Ex. USB, DVD-R/W) should receive Charlie’s attention early in his planning process

Reading journal- Parvana Essay

The book Parvana is about an 11-year-old girl living in Afghanistan, under the extreme Taliban regime. The Taliban ban women from going outside without a man and Afghan women are forced to wear the burqa at all times in public. Her family lost almost everything due to the bombings/wars in Afghanistan. Her father sells their remaining family items at the market place and offers his service of writing and reading and documents for people to make a living. The story takes a twist as Parvana’s father gets arrested and put in jail because he attended collage in England. Parvana is forced to change her appearance, to look like a boy and help her family buy products from the market and also take her father’s place in the market to earn the family some money. Characterisation- is the process of conveying information about characters. Characters may be presented by means of description, through their actions, speech, or thoughts. Details of characterisation might also include descriptions of what a certain character wears, looks like, and smells like and so on. Parvana- is the main character in this book. She is a teenage girl living a tough life in a country where women don’t have rights. Her father calls her his little ‘Malali’. Parvana is a confident girl who never gives up hope. Father- He is an educated man, working in the marketplace as a letter reader/writer. Father needs to be accompanied by Parvana, as a bomb blew off his leg. Mother- Her name is Fatana, she is a loving and caring person who looks after the whole family. She is also educated and used to work for the women’s Afghanistan association before the Taliban took over. Mrs. Weera- She is an old PE teacher who worked with Parvana’s mother. She is a great and very helpful woman who comes to live with the family. She is an independent woman who pushes the family to fight harder and often compares life to the hockey field, describing the family as a strong team. Shauzia- An eleven-year-old girl, who also works in the market place and becomes Parvana’s best friend. Homa- A shy girl that Parvana finds hiding in a bombed house. The Taliban murdered her family and she was left to die on the streets. Parvana’s family and Mrs. Weera adopt Homa, as she slowly recovers. Setting- The setting is where the events/ story takes place. There may be more than one setting in a novel. The time of an event is also considered as a setting. This book Parvana takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan Theme- the main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing This book is full of themes like courage, perseverance, friendship, adventure, and many others. But the most important theme in the entire novel is courage, As of Parvana’s determination and boldness that she is able to deal with the challenges she faces. It is hard to believe that the naà ¯ve eleven year old of the opening chapters becomes the courageous young adult that her family must rely on. This courage is first evident when Parvana decides to disguise herself as a boy and states, â€Å"In the end, it was really her decision†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœI’ll do it.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This shows us that Parvana realizes that her family is in desperate need and is willing to put herself in direct jeopardy for her family. Key concepts: Diaspora/Displacement- the voluntary or forcible movement of peoples from  their homelands into new regions Refugee / illegal migrants/ migrants/ asylum seekers- people who leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, natural disaster or just to live a better life. Emigrant/ immigration- an immigrant is someone moving into a country and an emigrant is someone moving out or away from a country. Dying or dead languages/ Mother Tongues- The Language that a person has grown up speaking from early childhood. Sub- cultures/ cultural landscapes- a cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger culture. Slavery- Slavery- is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Terrorism- the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Women rights- Women’s rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women an d girls of many societies worldwide Taliban- a fundamentalist Islamic militia; in 1995 the Taliban militia took over Afghanistan and in 1996 took Kabul and set up an Islamic government; â€Å"the Taliban enforced a strict Muslim code of behavior† People/ religion- the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Wars- a state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country. Reference: Definition of key concepts War – definition of war by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.. 2014. war – definition of war by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/war. [Accessed 18 March 2014].   Thinking about why we read literature Peer ‘Interview’ -Why bother reading books? Books are not only entertaining to read once you get the right one, but extend your skills in so many areas including grammar and punctuation and spelling. They boost your imagination and your creativity, and also, in my opinion, give you a different outlook on the world depending on the moral and/or plot of the story. -How would the experience of life be different without books? The amazing thing about books is the community that revolves around them, and now with social media, sharing great books has never been easier. Books give knowledge, skills and creativity, so a world without books would destroy a large community of book worms and less creativity in people would be evident, not to mention the grammar and punctuation. -What does literature bring to the human experience that other activities cannot bring? Once you get really into a book, there is really nothing like it. The only thing I could compare to the experience of a good book is a movie. When I read a really good book, I have a mental image, almost a mental movie, rolling in my head all the time. I block out distraction and find myself gasping at the ink on the paper. -What kind of books have you been reading over the past year? I have not read as many books as I would have liked to in the last year, mostly due to being busy, but the books I have read have been typically ones aimed at my age group, such as late-teen fiction, mostly action genre. -Do you enjoy reading? Why/why not? I only enjoy reading when I get immersed into a good book, if the book doesn’t really grab me early on, typically in the first half, I do not enjoy reading it. -Does reading literature have much value to most young people now? I think young people such as myself think literature is no value to them, but they really don’t understand how broad the word literature extends. Most things they read on the Internet is literature such as quotes they find relatable or the latest celebrity gossip. -Why do teachers push students into reading fiction rather than just non-fiction? Fiction is a fresh change from the reality of non-fiction. Fiction has much more versatility in the way it can let the imagination run free and create a story in which grabs the reader -Why do so many cultures place great value on â€Å"literature†? Literature is shared and passed around and down through the decades, this is the same across any culture around the world, whether it is through the Internet as previously stated, or through Aboriginal dreamtime stories. -Will books survive this decade? Why/why not? I think books will never go out of fashion; they will always be available whether through the physical paper format or the electronic format. They are too much of a unique experience when you get into one to not survive the current decade. EXPLORING TEXTS Book Ellis, D, 2002. Parvana. 2nd ed. Kabul, Afghanistan: Allen & Unwin. Journal Abirafeh, L, 2003. The Impact of Religion on Women in the Development Process. CriticalHalf Journal of Women for Women International , Volume 1, part 1, 37-38. Newspaper Bengali, S, 2014. Taliban threaten to attack Afghan presidential elections. The Guardian, 10 March. Website No choice for Afghan girls brought up as boys. 2014. No choice for Afghan girls brought up as boys. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/children/c-central-and-south-asia/children-in-afghanistan/2191-no-choice-for-afghan-girls-brought-up-as-boys.html. [Accessed 13 March 2014]. Other (Web article) Zavis, A, 2009. Taliban. Afghan corruption greases Taliban’s rise, [Online]. 1, 1. Available at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-11-21/news/0911210199_1_president-hamid-karzai-opium-trade-taliban [Accessed November 21, 2009]. â€Å"Once upon a time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Author of the book Parvana draws the reader into the book by putting them straight into the events of Parvan’s life. It makes the reader more and more  curious about her life and it makes the reader to read more. The story starts off at the market place where Parvana is whispering to herself â€Å"I can read that letter as well as Father can† (Pg9), she wouldn’t dare to say it out loud because the man next to them would not want to hear her voice nor doesn’t anyone else in the market! The Author then goes on to explain the harsh rules of the Taliban and how girls are not meant to be outside. The whole book is in a chronological order, it explains their history as we read. Where and when? The novel Parvana is set in Kabul Afghanistan. Afghanistan is located in the Middle East. Afghanistan has been at war since 1978, when American backed fighters opposed the soviet0backed government.  Before the U.S. invasion, before the Russian war, before the Marxist revolution, Afghanistan used to be a beautiful place.  One of a few American schools in Afghanistan shows just how stable the country once was.  The beautiful city of Kabul had become a city of ruins and bombed out buildings. Many buildings had become bricks and dust. The restaurants and stores were gone. The streets had many holes in them and caused people to fall. References How the city of Kabul changed . 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at: https://mkislibrary.pbworks.com/f/Breadwinner+questions.pdf. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Characterisation (who?) Parvana Beginning Middle End Bewildering Brave Relief Dissatisfied Courage’s Excited Intelligent Strong Safe Proud Determined Accomplished Truthful Adventures Joy Parvana is a very joyful and a strong girl. She is a 13-year-old girl and nothing can bring her down! She is also a determined, hard worker. If she has something to say she will say it, she demonstrates this as she stands up to the Taliban by saying, â€Å"stop! Stop it!† (Pg44) and she said this to protect her mother. Through out the book Parvana grows stronger as a person, she went from a girl who barley had the guts to talk, to a person who was the source to the family and took care of everyone. Before the wars Parvana and her family were living in a good and a peaceful life. When the Taliban took over, the whole country suffered. The family’s  house used to be nice, and the parents had come from respected Afghan families. The house was large with servants, and many rooms. A bomb had destroyed the first house, and the family had moved many times until finally they all lived in one small room. Parvana and her friend came up with an idea of a portable â€Å"shop† by using trays to move their items around. But Money to buy trays, they did something revolting. Parvana took the decision to dig up bones from a graveyard to earn money. There are many other events like this that took part in her life. She loves making her own decisions, as you can tell she loves adventures. She has achieved many things, one being working to take care of her family. Parvana is always willing to help out and she is a kind-hearted person. Plot construction (what happens? When? Why? How?) The Events are not really too different from really life, most of the events that take place in the book still happens in Afghanistan. Parvana is a brave girl who stands up to the Taliban, Parvana and her mum were beaten up by the Taliban just for standing up for their rights. An event similar to the story took place last year, a girl was shot by a Taliban for speaking out and attending school. Plot structure: Is the sequence of events that make up a story, the plot usually begins with an exposition,  Subplot: Is the secondary strand of the plot that is there to support the main plot. A subplot usually involves supporting characters, takes up less of the action and has less significant events occur. Crisis – Critical event or point of decision which, if not handled in an appropriate and timely manner, a turning point and may turn into a disaster or catastrophe.  Resolution – It is the point in the stories plot line where the original conflict is solved. The problem in the story is resolved. Complication- complication means to have a problem that makes you have a decision between 2 things. Flashback – recalling of a previous event or happening to clarify a current situation in a literary work. It is used to create suspense in the story.  Climax- the most intense, exciting, or important point of in a novel/story.  Coda- Is the very last paragraph of a story or a letter which puts the story to an end. Basically the concluding section of a story.  Timeline of events that occurred in the book Parvana Perspective The topic I’m going to discuss is when I broke my curfew and came home late. My perspective towards it was that I just couldn’t make it any earlier and I missed the bus that’s why I was late. But my mum’s attitude towards it was that I broke her trust and disobeyed her by not getting home in time. Her belief was that I don’t value her trust as much as she does. First person narration- A point of view in which a story is narrated by one character at a time, taking about themselves. First-person narrators usually use of the pronoun â€Å"I,† as they are talking bout themselves. Third Person narration – Third person is told from an outside narrator’s point of view and it uses pronouns such as â€Å"he† or â€Å"she.† Omniscient narration- All†knowing’ kind of narrator, mostly found in works of fiction written as third person narrative. The omniscient narrator has a  full knowledge of the story’s and the unspoken thoughts of the various characters. The one event from my book that I choose was when Parvana and Shauzia, see thousands of people huddle into the stadium and watch the punishment of thieves where they got their hands chopped off. Watching this event through Parvan’s eyes was terrific, scary and unbearable, as they are kids and it’s a very harsh punishment. Watching this through the other men in the crowd was no too bad because they are used to it, they are used to the Taliban scaring them with events like this as they probably have seen worse before. References Definitions Literature Glossary. 2014. Literature Glossary.   Available at: http://www.shmoop.com/literature-glossary/first-person-narration.html. [Accessed 19 March 2014]. Theme is what the main idea is in the story. It’s the subject of the novel. Plot is what a story is all about. It’s the general idea on what the readers or viewers must expect to happen in the story. Parvana is full of concepts like courage, kindness, perseverance, friendship, adventure, and many others. In this novel there are a number of themes, but there are three more significant themes than the others. Courage is one of the most important theme in this novel, the determination and boldness that Parvana is able to deal with challenges she faces. A young eleven-year-old girl becomes the courage’s young adult that her family must rely on. The first sings of courage is shown when Parvana decides to disguise herself as a boy and says. â€Å"In the end, it was really her decision†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœI’ll do it.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This shows us that Parvana realizes that her family needs her and they’re in desperate need. Parvan’s behavior is courageous, as she knows that if the  Taliban catches her, she shall be punished, but knows that it is necessary because she is supporting her family. The second most significant theme would have to be kindness. Parvana is a kind willing person she treats others kindly, this includes family, friends and strangers. An example of one of her act of kindness is that when her sister Nooria was going to another city she decided to buy her a pen as a gift even though she did not have much money. Parvana had to work very hard in the market to earn the money she made. This demonstrates her kindness. Parvana puts others before herself, another example of Parvan’s kindness is her generosity towards strangers. Parvana found a girl named Homa she looked depressed and homeless. Parvana took a Homa to her house and gave her food, provided shelter, and comforted her as much as she could. Not many people would’ve treated a stranger as kind as Parvana treated Homa. The last most important theme in this book is war, as Parvana and her family is living in an area where war is going on and the every choice they make are based on the fact that war is going on. War has destroyed their life and their house, the main aim in this book is to get away from war and live a peaceful life. Packaging for Publication The cover design of Parvana highlights the main theme and the setting of the book as you can see its set in a Middle Eastern country as the two ladies besides Parvana are wearing a burqa and she looks like she is hiding from something. When deciding what goes on the front of your book you take into condensation the main theme and the plot of the book and the message your trying to get across to the reader, it also needs to be catchy enough. It should get someone who is walking past take their time to stop and read that blurb at the back of the book. The back should also have pictures to keep it looking exciting and not bland Referencing Article about an afghan girl shot down by a taliban Pakistan BANS memoir by Malala, the girl shot by the Taliban for going to school | Mail Online. 2014. Pakistan BANS memoir by Malala, the girl shot by the Taliban for going to school | Mail Online. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2497630/Pakistan-BANS-memoir-Malala-girl-shot-Taliban-going-school.html. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Themes raised in Parvana What Are the Three Most Important Themes Raised by the Novel Parvana by Deborah Ellis? – College Essays – Kevinnathanael. 2014. What Are the Three Most Important Themes Raised by the Novel Parvana by Deborah Ellis? – College Essays – Kevinnathanael. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.studymode.com/essays/What-Are-The-Three-Most-Important-430531.html. [Accessed 18 March 2014]. Book review Home – The Breadwinner by: Deborah Ellis. 2014. Home – The Breadwinner by: Deborah Ellis. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ss-thebreadwinner.webs.com. [Accessed 18 March 2014].

Fast food restaurant Essay

In 1921, after World War 1, vehicles became more popular and more affordable for the middle class; therefore, drive-in restaurants were introduced. Founded by Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson, the American Company White Castle, is generally credited with opening the second fast food outlet and first hamburger chain. Walter Anderson had built the first drive-in restaurant in Wichita in 1916, introducing a low cost and high speed hamburger restaurant. White Castle was tremendously successful from the beginning and produced numerous competitors. Then, franchising was introduced by A&W Root Beer, which franchised its distinctive syrup. Howard Johnson’s first franchised the restaurant concept in the mid-1930s, formally standardizing menus, signage and advertising. Moreover, in 2006, the global fast food market grew by 4. 8% and reached a value of 102. 4 billion dollars. Shockingly, in India alone, the fast food industry was growing by 41% a year. Today, the United States has the main fast food industry in the world, having roughly 2 million U. S. workers employed in the areas of food preparation and food servicing. Leader in the Fast Food Industry: A&W, McDonalds, Subway†¦? The fast-food industry or quick service restaurants are thriving. The food industry is let by fast food restaurants which are responsible for 72. 8% of the whole food industry revenues. In North America, McDonald’s is followed by Subway, Burger King, Wendy’s, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts, Pizza Hut, KFC. All in particular order to the amount of sales in North America in 2010. McDonald’s is the industry leader, with revenues that are 3 times to the next on the list. They are very much concentrated on low prices and getting the customer as quick as possible out the door, which appeals a lot to families that want a cheap, fun and safe place to eat. In today’s modern society, time is a very essential and limited factor; society is very preoccupied with everything else going on, their eating habits become irrelevant. This is where fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, have a great success preparing their food in record time, making more time for other and more important tasks. Fast Food Trends Over the last decade there has been increased focus on the quality of food served in fast food restaurants. â€Å"New† fast food versus old fast food, which essentially means that throughout the past years, many fast food businesses started to develop. And two â€Å"leagues† of fast food restaurants have emerged. â€Å"Old† fast foods and â€Å"new† fast foods, the old fast foods consist of companies like McDonald’s and smaller companies like Burger King and Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Arby’s and Wendy’s). â€Å"New† fast foots are â€Å"Chipotle Mexican Grill†, â€Å"Panera Bread†, â€Å"Five Guys† and Oqdoba all owned by â€Å"Jack in the box† which is a member of the old fast food league. Both leagues have very similar attributes. They both serve inexpensive food in a casual matter while keeping a fast tempo. But the players in the â€Å"new† league have introduced higher-quality menu items, making the consumer’s experience more similar to a traditional restaurant dining casually at a table, rather than being in and out of the fast food restaurant with a greasy bag of food. Typically highly processed and industrial in preparation, much of the food is high in fat and has been shown to increase body mass index and cause weight gain. Popular books such as Fast Food Nation and documentaries like â€Å"Super Size Me† have amplified public awareness of the negative health consequences of fast food. These documentaries have had a huge impact on fast food restaurants who were indirectly obliged to respond to this trend if they wanted to keep most of their clientele. AMERICAN DIETARY TRENDS, BY DECADE | Historical Events| Food Trends of the Time| 1950–1959| – Mothers returning to the home after the war effort – Postwar baby boom – Construction of the national highway system| – Packaged meals available – First TV dinner (Swanson), 1953 – Rise of hamburger chains along highways; Oscar Mayer â€Å"Wiener-Mobile†| 1960–1969| – Growing middle class with money to spend. – Growing social unrest over the Vietnam War in late 1960s| – Introduction of Julia Child’s French cooking – â€Å"Hippies† bring back demand for unprocessed, made-from-scratch foods – Vegetarian trend starts| 1970–1979| – End of Vietnam War – Watergate scandal – Growing inflation – Major influx of Asians due to Immigration Act of 1965| – Continued demand for organic and fresh: â€Å"California Cuisine† – Elaborate dinner parties with ethnic dishes – Growing appetite for Asian cuisine| 1980–1989| – Stock market plummet of 1987| – â€Å"Nouvelle Cuisine† is the thing du jour–diners willing to pay more to eat less – Return to simplicity in late 1980s. – Exploration of different tastes (e. g. , TexMex, Ethiopian, Southwestern)| 1990–1999| – Introduction of the Internet puts foods at consumers fingertips| – Everything reduced-fat, low-fat, fat-free – Naturally healthy cuisines (Mediterranean) – New movement toward simplicity| Segments in Fast Food Industry When observing the fast food industry, it is obvious that restaurants specialize in certain fat foods. In fact, fast food restaurants can be divided in eight categories: Asian food, burgers, sea food, pizza/pasta, snacks, chicken, Mexican food and sandwiches. The different segments distinguishes the direct competitors such as McDonalds and Carl’s Jr. trying to sell/make the best burgers and the indirect competitors such as Quizno’s who specialize in sandwiches and Domino’s Pizza who focuses on promoting their delicious pizza but still tries to sell sandwiches. All fast food restaurants fiercely compete with each other to sell not only their speciality but have the most sales in general. In 2010, as being the leader of the fast food industry, McDonald’s was and is still at the top of the burger category, with more than $32 billion in system wide sales. The winners for the other categories were Taco Bell for the Mexican segment, KFC for the chicken category, Pizza Hut for the Pizza and Pasta brands, and Long John Silver’s winning the Seafood segment. The graph demonstrates the different segments of the fast food industry as well as the restaurants and their rankings. QSR 50 Rank| Company| Segment| 22| Panda Express| asian| 3| Burger King*2| burger| 23| Carl’s Jr. *| burger| 34| Checkers/Rally’s| burger| 33| Culver’s| burger| 16| Dairy Queen*| burger| 30| Five Guys Burgers & Fries| burger| 19| Hardee’s*| burger|. 45| In-N-Out Burger*| burger| 15| Jack in the Box| burger| 50| Krystal*| burger| 1| McDonald’s| burger| 10| Sonic| burger| 27| Steak N Shake*| burger| 4| Wendy’s*| burger| 25| Whataburger| burger| 40| White Castle*| burger| 31| Bojangles’| chicken| 41| Boston Market*| chicken| 11| Chick-fil-A| chicken| 26| Church’s Chicken| chicken| 38| El Pollo Loco| chicken| 9| KFC| chicken| 20| Popeyes*| chicken| 28| Zaxby’s| chicken| 18| Chipotle| mexican| 36| Del Taco| mexican| 44| Qdoba| mexican| 6| Taco Bell| mexican| 39| CiCi’s Pizza*| pizza/pasta| 12| Domino’s Pizza*| pizza/pasta|. 24| Little Caesars*| pizza/pasta| 35| Papa Murphy’s| pizza/pasta| 17| Papa John’s| pizza/pasta| 8| Pizza Hut| pizza/pasta| 43| Sbarro*| pizza/pasta| 14| Arby’s| sandwich| 48| Einstein Bros. Bagels*| sandwich| 42| Jason’s Deli| sandwich| 29| Jimmy John’s*| sandwich| 13| Panera Bread| sandwich| 21| Quiznos*| sandwich| 2| Subway*| sandwich| 47| Captain D’s| seafood| 32| Long John Silver’s*| seafood| 37| Baskin Robbins*| snack| 49| Cold Stone Creamery| snack| 7| Dunkin’ Donuts*| snack| 5| Starbucks*| snack| 46| Tim Hortons1| snack| Own A Fast Food Restaurant: a Bad or Good Idea? It is not a very good and viable industry for anyone to enter. The global economy shifts have been proven to highly affect certain fast food companies. Fast food companies were once thought to be immune to recessions, because of their low prices and fast service because logically in a recession, consumers have to cut spending. Many consumers â€Å"traded down†, from casual restaurants to fast food restaurants because of the cheap BigMacs, Whoppers and $1 value meals. As a result, fast-food chains have weathered the recession better than their pricier competitors. In 2009 sales at full-service restaurants in America fell by more than 6%, but total sales remained about the same at fast-food chains. In some markets, such as Japan, France and Britain, total spending on fast food increased. Same-store sales in America at McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food company, did not decline throughout the downturn. Panera Bread, an American fast-food chain known for its fresh ingredients, performed well, too: its boss, Ron Shaich, claims this is because it offers higher-quality food at lower prices than restaurants. Money can be a big problem in terms of starting a business in the fast food industry. Rising prices have also significantly affected many fast food franchises. With food and beverage inputs making up approximately 33% of costs, higher prices for livestock, corn, wheat and more have seriously shrunk margins over the past decade. In such a fiercely competitive space it is impossible to force a price increase on customers, so profit margins are often south of 10%. The recent economic recession did lower commodity prices, but the recession brought on its own complications, and now prices for commodity inputs are on the rise again. Direct and Indirect Competitors. Direct competitors in the fast food industry are the companies that produces and sells an almost identical product which they offer for sale within the same market as those produced by one or more other companies. McDonalds and Burger King compete directly with each other, Wendy’s and A&W also compete directly because they have a very similar product and service. If a customer really wants a burger and fries, he or she will not go at the other end of town just to get to their favorite burger place, they will settle for a very similar product within a closer proximity. Indirect competitors in the fast food industry are the companies or services that are not similar to each other and that share very different characteristics about their product or service. A good example of an indirect competition in the fast food industry could be restaurants such as Swiss Chalet or a sandwich shop and a Panda Express, both are fast food restaurants but they compete indirectly with each other because one customer may want to eat an Asian dish but not wanting to eat a sandwich, this leading to the customer going as far as it takes to go eat an Asian dish. All in all, fast food is not only about a fast service or eating fattening food , it requires a lot of knowledge and time to make these franchises work and make an ever growing profit. Over the past years and the years to come, McDonalds has and will obviously be the number one leader in the fast food industry because of their extraordinary service, delicious food and their 34,000 restaurants all over the world. However, as years go by, obesity is becoming a huge problem as thousands of kids and adults are attained of heart problems, therefore, decreasing the amount of clients who eat fast food yearly. Trends are changing and people are starting to eat a lot healthier realising how significant it is to take care of their body. In the next century, will fast food restaurants become a thing of the past or will they find a way to stay their clients number one’s solution when it comes to filling up their stomach? Only time will tell†¦