How to Pronounce Chongqing, One of Chinas Major Cities

How to Pronounce Chongqing, One of Chinas Major Cities Learn how to pronounce Chongqing (é‡ Ã¥ ºâ€ ), one of Chinas major cities. Its located in South-west China (see map) and has almost 30 million inhabitants, although much less live in the urban center itself. The city is important because of its manufacturing and is also a regional transportation hub. In this article, we will first give you a quick and dirty way of how to pronounce the name if you just want to have a rough idea how to pronounce it. Then I’ll go through a more detailed description, including analysis of common learner errors. The Quick and Dirty Way of  Pronouncing Chongqing Most Chinese cities have names with two characters (and therefore two syllables). There are abbreviations, but these are rarely used in spoken language (the abbreviation for Chongqing is  Ã¦ ¸ . Heres a brief description of the sounds involved:   Listen to the pronunciation here while reading the explanation. Repeat yourself! Chong - Pronounce a shorter choo in choose plus -ngQing - Pronounce as chi- in chin plus -ng in sing If you want to have a go at the tones, they are rising and falling respectively. Note:  This pronunciation is  not  correct pronunciation in Mandarin. It represents my best effort to write the pronunciation using English words. To really get it right, you need to learn some new sounds (see below). Pronouncing Names in Chinese Pronouncing  names in Chinese  can be very hard if you havent studied the language; sometimes its hard, even if you have. Many letters used to write the sounds in Mandarin (called  Hanyu Pinyin) dont match the sounds they describe in English, so simply trying to read a Chinese name and guess the pronunciation will lead to many mistakes. Ignoring or mispronouncing tones will just add to the confusion. These mistakes add up and often become so serious that a native speaker would fail to understand.   How to Actually Pronounce Chongqing If you study Mandarin, you should never ever rely on English approximations like those above. Those are meant for people who dont intend to learn the language! You have to understand the orthography, i.e. how the letters relate to the sounds. There are many  traps and pitfalls in Pinyin  you have to be familiar with. Now, lets look at the two syllables in more detail, including common learner errors: Chà ³ng  (second tone)  - The initial is a retroflex, aspirated, affricate. What does that mean? It means that the tongue should feel like the tongue is slightly curled backwards as when saying right, that there is a small stop (a t-sound, but still pronounced with the described tongue position) followed by a hissing sound (such as when urging someone to be quiet: Shhh!) and that there should be a sharp puff of air on the stop. The final is tricky in two regards. First, English doesnt really have a short vowel in this position. Its reasonably close to choose but should be short. Second, the nasal -ng should be more nasal and further back. Dropping you jaw usually helps.Qà ¬ng  (fourth tone) -  The initial here is the only tricky part. q is an aspirated affricate, which means that its similar to the ch above, but with a different tongue position. The tongue tip should be down, lightly touching the teeth ridge behind the lower teeth. -ing should have the same nasal as above, too, but with an i and an optional schwa (roughly the vowel sound in English the) inserted after the i and before the nasal. The are some variations for these sounds, but  Chongqing (é‡ Ã¥ ºâ€ ) can be written like this in IPA: [ʈʂÊ °uÅ‹Â  tÉ•Ê °jəŋ] Note that both sounds have stops (the t) and that both have aspiration (the superscript h). Conclusion Now you know how to pronounce Chongqing (é‡ Ã¥ ºâ€ ). Did you find it hard? If you’re learning Mandarin, dont worry; there arent that many sounds. Once you’ve learned the most common ones, learning to pronounce words (and names) will become much easier!

Nick Stephenson on Reader Magnets and Amazon SEO Reedsy

Nick Stephenson on Reader Magnets and Amazon SEO Reedsy Reader Magnets and Amazon SEO - Nick Stephenson on Author Marketing Last update: 07/06/2017â€Å"You’ve got to think about what the benefit is for the reader.† This is what author marketing is all about, according to bestselling author Nick Stephenson, who we have the pleasure of interviewing today.We first reached out to Nick over a year ago, when he had started implementing this mindset and his reader magnets technique. In a year, he has built a hugely profitable business out of his writing career, hitting bestsellers lists, writing full-time, and now offering a premium marketing training program for authors: "Your First 10k Readers".He shares his insights on email lists, incentives (reader magnets), reviews, and Amazon search engine optimization. If you want 24 minutes of exceptionally condensed marketing advice, just hit â€Å"play† below. For the lovers of the written word, we also provide, as always, a nice, clean transcript. Enjoy! Hi Nick, great to have you here! You’re a UK bestselling indie author of crime and thrillers. Can you give us a bit of background on what your books are about?Thanks for having me. I write mystery and thrillers, the Leopold Blake series, and I write non-fiction as well: books specifically designed to help authors find their first 10,000 readers and build their platform.My fiction work is based on a modern-day Sherlock Holmes character and is great fun. It’s all based in the US, with American characters and American language. There are 6 books in the series; I’ve been publishing for about two years now and started seeing some amazing results about 12 months ago, when I started really focusing on building my marketing strategy and on what works. It’s been a very exciting year or so for me.I can imagine. And it’s actually a year ago that I first got in touch with you to present you the idea we had about Reedsy, so I’d say it’s been a gre at year for both of us!Absolutely, yes! It’s great to see so many emerging authors and services to help grow this industry, because it’s such a new market! It’s just great to see all this exciting stuff happening.Exciting is definitely the word! You also have a free webinar on the Your First 10k Readers website that I really enjoyed, especially the first video, because that video starts by effectively setting the right mindset for book marketing. I see many authors out there thinking â€Å"how can I sell my books†, when it should actually all be about adopting a reader’s perspective.Absolutely. I think the problem with a lot of authors, like you said, is that they see marketing as a problem, when marketing can be fun as well! Because when you’re building a real connection with your fans, you get to have that exchange of ideas. Getting emails from people telling you how much they love your books and how they can’t wait for your next on e, every day, is a wonderful feeling.And when you have a next book to launch, knowing that you can launch it into the top 200 on Amazon, go to the top of the charts on your bestseller lists, without having to pay for advertising, that is amazing, because you have this built-in platform that you have direct control over. Whereas if you’re relying on Amazon or other ebook stores, or even Facebook, to do that for you, the rules can change at any minute.That’s because you don’t own that platform: it’s their platform, so they can change the rules. But if you have your own platform, you don’t have to worry about that: you control it, and therefore control your career. So my premium training is all based around how to develop that for yourself and how to build that up, so you can take control over being an author.The webinar you mention are the free videos that I show to people to let them know exactly what they can do to get this process started. There a re currently 3 videos and you can sign up for them at Your First 10k Readers.The first one will essentially take you through how the online retailers work. And this is a big one because most authors think about marketing like old school, traditional marketing that publishers used to do (and some still do), where it’s all about the physical bookstores.It’s nothing like that, because Amazon and the other stores are really search engines. They’re like Google for products, Google for books. And if you don’t understand how a search engine works, how it indexes books and pages and how you can get to the top of those search results, you’re leaving a lot of visibility on the table. So I talk about exactly how to get that right mindset.So how can authors do SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? How should they, for example, decide which keywords to enter for their book?It’s difficult I think, because Amazon and the other retailers don’t publish th eir search traffic. If you’re on Google, you can go to the Google Keywords tool, type some keywords and see how much traffic they get, what the competition is like, etc. Amazon doesn’t do this, they keep it very much to themselves, so you’ve got to be manual about it - you have to use a bit of common sense.The easiest way to do it is to use the search bar at the top of the book page and start typing in some relevant search terms that you think might apply. Amazon will suggest some for you, so you just pick some suggested terms and check out whether the books listed under those terms are selling well. If they are, it’s a good keyword, so you have to determine whether you can compete at that level of sales. So if you’re currently selling one copy a day, you don’t want to be in a keyword pool of books that are selling hundreds of copies a day. It’s a lot of manual work, trial and error, but keywords are so important.Do your recommend cha nging them often and testing/iterating?It depends, I don’t change mine that often. If I see my sales drop, I’ll go back and check, but really there is no kind of set that you want to change them out, there’s no magic answer.One post I really liked on your blog was the one about readers magnets. Because often, I finish an indie book and I read something like â€Å"we indie authors rely on reviews/on our newsletter, so please leave a review/subscribe to my newsletter†, and that to me is not a real incentive. You, however, offer a real incentive. Can you tell us more about these reader magnets?Yes, you’ve got to think about what the benefit is for the reader. Because if you put a call to action at the end of your book like â€Å"buy the next book† or â€Å"subscribe to my mailing list† or â€Å"leave a review†, the reader’s thinking: â€Å"what’s in it for me? Why should I do that?†I mean, some people will do it, of course, but most people will just completely ignore that. What you have to do to get more results is offer the reader something for them, something of value, to get them to take action. And personally I’d rather have them subscribe to my mailing list than anything else. Because if you get their email address and get their consent for you to contact them in the future, you can ask them for reviews or sales later on down the line, when you’ve built up that brand and that relationship. And this is where reader magnets really come in.Reader magnets are basically something of value that you give to your readers in exchange for an email address.That has made a tremendous difference. We’re talking more than a 1000% increase in signups, just from doing that. I offer them a book as a magnet, a full book (either another book in the series, or a related book if it’s a non-fiction book), but you don’t have to offer a full book, you can offer bonus chapt ers, deleted scenes; or in non-fiction: cheat sheets, case studies, videos, anything you want as long as it’s related to the book that the reader has just finished.It just makes all the difference because with reader magnets you’re thinking about what is in it for your readers, not what’s in it for you.Exactly, I think that is definitely the key in marketing. And it’s funny because in January, we’ve seen a couple of indie author stars like Hugh Howey or Joanna Penn posting videos about their reading habits and how they find their next reads. It shows that they have this right mindset: they easily put themselves into their readers’ shoes because they are readers themselves.Absolutely, and they build a connection with their readers that way. I’m always going to make as much effort as possible to build a connection with readers, because from a reader’s point of view, you’ve got a book out there but they have no idea who you are, they don’t know what your life story is, what their personality is, all they know is your book.If you’re publishing videos like Joanna Penn and Hugh Howey, you really build that connection and readers start to understand who you are as a person. And then they’re much more likely to buy from you because they’re invested in your success: they feel like they know you.Another great thing about indie authors is the community they’ve built, and the collaborations that emerge between authors. You’ve been working very closely yourself with Matt Iden, another author in your genre, right?I think collaboration is absolutely key, because this kind of old school mentality of â€Å"book launch is the be all and end all† is gone, you know. It used to be that where your book didn’t sell 20 or 30 thousand copies in the first three months, your publisher would either drop you or reduce your advances, or be less invested in marketing your n ext book. The indie mentality is different because we don’t rely on huge sales in the beginning, we can be happy with a few hundred sales in the first month, or a few dozen, or even ten!We’re not â€Å"in competition†, because we don’t have to compete for shelf space with this or that bestseller during launch week: we’re available forever. So we can actually work with other authors to benefit everybody because in the end we all have the same objective, which is to reach more readers and get our work out into the world. And there’s no reason we can’t do that together: I email out my audience all the time, and if I’ve got nothing of my own to promote, I’ll recommend other authors’ books. I want my readers to trust me so if I can give them something good to read that’s a great way of doing it!Another thing I wanted to discuss was your brand, that you’ve built across the years, and that is particularly e vident in your covers. Would you say that branding is one of your selling points or is it just there to support your other marketing activities?Branding is very important because it basically means that your readers know what to expect. Your name is a brand, so if someone is going to read the next Nick Stephenson book, they should understand what that’s going to be like.From a visual point of view, having those covers, almost identical across the series, means that when they’re scrolling through a list of books, they immediately know it when they see a Nick Stephenson book. And if they look at it, they’ll see the â€Å"also bought† at the bottom of the page and there will be all my covers lined up. And on my website they can see them in a banner too. It creates a very strong visual trigger that gets people excited about looking at your books.One of the most important things you should do is have a nice, professional cover, and if you’re writing in a series, having those covers match as closely as possible can make a very big difference.Do you do â€Å"perma-free† on the first book in the series?Yes, I do, and there is a reason for this. We talked about ebook stores being like search engines, right? Well, this is like any other online business, you need two things: traffic, and conversion (turning traffic into customers).Perma-free is a wonderful way to get traffic, because you can get 50x to 100x more downloads on a book if it is free, compared to if it was even 99c. Then, if you’re smart about it, you can find ways to convert that traffic into paying customers (using reader magnets, typically).Even if you don’t do perma-free you can do regular free promotions if you’re enrolled in KDP Select, and use those 5 days every 90 days when your book is free to really promote it. You’ll get subscribers that way that you can then lead on to your other books. It just makes a huge difference.One thing I’ve noticed in the latest numbers you disclosed about your expenditures for your books, is that you’re not afraid to spend money as long as it brings more back. I’ve heard that you’ve even tried Facebook ads, is that right?Yes, I do, even if I didn’t include it in the breakdown (I’d only been doing it for a couple of months). It’s like anything, you know, if you want to take your business to the next level, you’re not going to be able to do it using free marketing tools, or a $5 add.I’m not saying that you cannot have sales without paid marketing, I’ve started making serious money from publishing without really spending that much money. But you hit a plateau pretty quickly. And if you want to go to the next level, you really need to think about how you can invest in your own business.Then, it’s not about cost, it’s about how much value that investment is going to bring. If it’s going to earn you money, save you money, or save you time, then it’s a good investment.Facebook ads have been absolutely incredible. Aiming it at my non-fiction author marketing side of things (and advertising my free Reader Magnets book), I’m getting subscribers through Facebook ads that cost me around a dollar, but they’re earning me around $15, so it’s just an incredible amount of ROI. I actually don’t think that will last forever, Facebook will catch on to how much money people are making through this, and prices will go up. But while it’s like that, it’s just fantastic!Thanks for these insights, Nick, and for your time!  For more insider tips on author marketing, check out our free Reedsy learning courses on marketing.How do you build your mailing list? Do you use any reader magnets? Leaves us your author marketing thoughts and tips in the comments below! And don’t hesitate to ask Nick Stephenson any questions!

Passive cooling and ventillation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Passive cooling and ventillation - Research Paper Example Structural designs that involved window designs, wall thickness and shading, roofing styles, low heat conductance material, external microclimate control, water bodies and structure stance characterized the era. The contemporary building designs should consider the historical strategies in order to utilize unharnessed resources and reduce energy consumption that leads to resource depletion (Santamouris and Kolokotsa 5). Heat is transferred through three ways, conduction, radiation as well as convention. The three form the basis for heat control ideologies. The construction engineers require having insight on the site’s climate and whether patterns to successfully employ the passive cooling techniques. Most important information they need include the sun’s positions throughout the year and direction of winds (Youtube 1). The wall and windows transfer heat across from the external environment to the internal environment through conduction. The choice of materials to compr ise the wall and windows determine the efficiency of the building in blocking out undesired heat. Use of a high R-value material for walls ensures minimal heat transfer thus maintaining the inner environment cool. A low U-value material for windows acts in a similar way. ... Another strategy is planting of vegetation on the roof. The plants absorb most of the heat and loose it through evapo-transpiration thus the building remains relatively cool. Alternatively, making the roof dome-shaped reduces the surface area for radiation. At least one side of the dome will be shaded at any time. Therefore, while the other side radiates heat into the doomed space beneath the roof the shaded side will be re-radiating the heat out to the atmosphere. The walls directly illuminated by sun radiate heat into the building too. The design should be such that sunshades cover greater surface of the wall to reduce radiation surface. Deep engravings on the wall increase shaded surface area thus reducing radiation area as well (Asif 11) Windows offer another media for heat radiation in and out of the building. Depending on the direction the wall faces, window-to-wall surface ratio optimization helps regulate heat transfer. The windows should comprise of material that allows in o nly visible light while reflecting back ultraviolet and infrared rays. Depending on the time of day and season, window shutters reduce the internal temperatures by hindering radiation (Asif 11). Heat transfer into or out of the building may be resultant of air mass movement. Gaps or openings on the walls and windows allow heat to seep into the building increasing the internal temperature. Gaps on walls should be located on sides that face away from the sun depending on geographical location. Sealing the openings between windows and walls appropriately reduces seepage of hot air into the building. However, the openings may act as a means of cooling the internal spaces

To what extent does Heidi Hartmanns metaphor of an unhappy marriage Essay

To what extent does Heidi Hartmanns metaphor of an unhappy marriage still characterise the relationship between Marxism and feminism - Essay Example She further asserted to the fact that the relationship that existed between feminism and Marxism is one that is similar. According to me, I think That Marxism was predominantly what made up feminism. This is from a line in her work in which she said, ‘Marxism and feminism are one, and that one is Marxism†. In her opinion, Hartman made it clear that a marriage needed to be healthy, failure of which a divorce was inevitable. The relationship that has existed between feminism and Marxism is characterized by tension. This is because the two theories of Marxism and feminism have an analysis that is radical (Yuval-Davi & Nira, 2006). However, in this article, I intend to bring out the aspect of there being an existence of a ‘healthier’ relationship between feminism and Marxism. There is the need to have a connection between the two divergent views. This is primarily because the Marxism analysis has in itself an analysis that presents insights that are essential in the historical developments vis-à  -vis those of capital particularly. Moreover, the arguments and fundamentals of Marxism are blind to sex. There is only a particular feminist analysis that clearly reveals the systematic character that exists between the relationship of man and woman. However, the feminist argument itself has been deemed to be inadequate as it does not consider historical facts and has materials that are inadequate (Brah, Avtar, Phoenix & Ann 2004). Looking at â€Å"The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism†, an article by Heidi Hartmann, many questions went through my mind. One is left wondering the relationship that exists between feminism and Marxism. I wondered where these two concepts agree and where they are in conflict. More interesting is looking at Hartmann’s metaphor of â€Å"unhappy marriage†, and to try to relate it with Marxism and feminism. The review of Hartmann and that of Rosemarie Tong never convinced me hence the urge and curiosity to

Red Bulls Market Essay Example for Free

Red Bulls Market Essay A Bulls Market the marketing of Red Bull energy drink Red Bull, Austrias biggest export since Arnold Schwarzenegger, has methodically created and dominated the energy drink category much in the way players of the board game Risk would defeat their opponents. Dietrich Mateschitz, the owner of Red Bull International, created the highly caffeinated beverage in 1987. Five years later, the drink spread into neighboring countries like Hungary and Slovenia, followed by Germany and Switzerland. In 1997, Red Bull prepared to storm the U. S. market. Today, the slinky 8-3-OZ can has completed its invasion into nearly every cold box in the United States. (Ohio, Tennessee and the Dakotas are among the few states without it. ) In less than three years, Red Bull singlehandedly established and then lifted the booming energy drink category from a base of $12 million in (wholesale) dollar sales to $42 million in 1998 and $75 million in 1999, per Beverage Marketing Corp. Others soon followed, building energy drinks to a $130 million business. Now Coke (KMX) and Anheuser-Busch (180) are jumping in. Last year, Red Bulls market share stood at 65%, while the company reportedly pulled in a cool $1 billion in worldwide sales. Just how Red Bull managed to accomplish so much, so quickly has become the stuff of mythology Some have written off the product by calling it a flash in the pan or derisively note that its handlers got lucky. A closer investigation of the companys strategy however, reveals that luck had little to do with Red Bulls success. The companys consistent battle plan has been to open up a market by securing unusual distribution. When Red Bull initially set up camp in Santa Monica, Calif. , it piggybacked on established distributors. Typically distributors will deliver a number of brands; a Pepsi house will handle Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew, and may even pick up a non-competing rival like Dr Pepper. Sales reps even greased the wheels by paying for their accounts promotional, advertising and sampling costs for three months. But as the drink caught on, the company began taking a more narrow approach. Now, a Red Bull sales rep will contact a small distributor and insist that he or she sell only Red Bull. Otherwise, Red Bull will set up a warehouse and hire kids to load up the vans and deliver product. These start-up distributors can focus their entire energies on getting Red Bull fully stocked in stores with prominent shelf placement. They generally break even within three months and are profitable within six. They buy direct from Red Bull. Theres enough margin and volume to make it work, said one Northeastern distributor. I wish theyd give it to me, but they have the kids with the vans doing it. Im looking forward to getting Snapples Venom [a new energy drink launching June 15] so I can compete with them. Next, the sales team visits key on-premise accounts: hot clubs and trendy bars. When owners begin buying a few cases, they receive a Red Bull branded cooler and other POP items. Thats when we start doing business officially, said Markus Pichler, evp-strategic planning, Red Bull North America. We go to on-premise accounts [vs. retailers] first, because the product gets a lot of visi bility and attention. It goes faster to deal with individual accounts, not big chains and their authorization process. Plus, on-premise provides fertile ground for new drink trends. In clubs, people are open to new things, said Pichler. The most important thing about [Red Bull] is, its working. If you had a tough week and want to dance, the product works. Perhaps a bit too well. Fueling Red Bulls growth is a mystique created by outlandish rumors about its contents: it is liquid Viagra; its secret ingredient is bulls testicles; someone overdosed from the drink because it has drugs in it. (The company shoots down these and other myths in an FAQ section on RedBull. com. Pichler wouldnt talk about Red Bulls natural fit with the speed crowd that frequents raves, taking designer drugs to stay awake for days at a time. Nor does the company endorse the mixing of Red Bull with vodka, Jagermeister or tequila-a ubiquitous bar call whose roots can be traced to Europe. From a sales perspective, Pichler acknowledged, [the mixability] is a nice side effect. Theres more to the guerrilla strategy than building buzz at clubs. Sales teams will open off-premise accounts at convenience stores near colleges, gyms, health-food stores and supermarkets. The company has divided the U. S. into eight decentralized sales units, each of which is handled on a city-by-city basis. One regional office in New York, for example, services Maryland, New Jersey Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Boston office handles the New England states and upstate New York. Each unit is responsible for creating distribution, making sales calls and developing targeted marketing plans. The mission: to find out where the target demo (men and women age 16-29) hangs out and what interests them. Its their job to get the message out to the right clubs and at the right events. While Red Bull relies heavily on bars and night clubs for its sampling events, alternative sports have also proven to be a successful product-trial arena. The company underwrites a number of extreme sports competitions and sponsors about three dozen alterna-athletes. Events include the Red Bull Huckfest, a ski and snowboard freestyle competition held in January in Snowbird, Utah; and the Red Bull Flugtag (German for flying day),premiering in the U. S. this fall. At the latter event, amateur pilots will create exotic flying machines and attempt to soar off the Santa Monica pier. The brand also employs teams of consumer educators, who roam the streets and dangle free samples. With California as its stronghold, Red Bull made its way into Oregon, Settle, Texas and ski resorts in Colorado. It next moved into the Midwest, targeting urban markets like Chicago and its environs. Soon it showed up on the East Coast in Miami and New York. (The Big Apple had a head start: Europe leaked the beverage into the city) Newer markets include the Carolinas, Virginia and Washington, D. C. In the antithesis of any majors marketing plan, Red Bull buys traditional advertising last. Only when a market is deemed mature does the company begin a media push. The idea is to reinforce, not introduce, the brand. Media is not a tool that we use to establish the market, said vp-marketing David Rohdy. It is a critical part. Its just later in the development. Current ads, titled Red Bull gives you wings, focus around an animated bull character. The initial spot is set in the Renaissance era, where an artist is telling the man who commissioned his painting that he has created the perfect piece of art: Red Bull. Itll give you wings, he said. Indeed, in another ad, an energized bull is shown leaping over a city. The ads have begun airing during late-night TV in New York, and radio programs including The Howard Stern Show. A Santa Monica-based shop, Lunch, handles ads and POP materials for the entire U. S. Red Bull typically creates two new TV spots a year and runs them in mature markets. The brand spent $100 million in the U. S. last year, according to the company Measured media spending was only $18. 9 million last year, up from $9 million in 1999, per Competitive Media Reporting. Red Bulls runaway popularity had given it easy entree into mass merchandisers. It is currently the No. 1 product in Store24, where it is now a bigger seller than beer, milk, water and soda. 7-Eleven is experiencing similar results. We have seen double-digit growth [in the non-carbonated segment]. Red Bull tops the list big time, said Jim Jackson, category manager for non-carbonated beverages at 7-Eleven, Dallas. [Their success is due to] their single-product focus, major advertising dollars and distribution. They create demand before they even get it to retail. The picture may yet change, as Red Bull is now facing more than a dozen imitators, most notably Cokes KMX and A-Bs 180. Knockoffs they may be, but distributors say they have been moving extremely well. Weve done a lot of the dirty work for them, Rohdy said. Pichler was a bit more engaging. Were a fan of competition. Its a positive for us, he said. It validates the energy drink category. Red Bull has already experienced the c opycat phenomenon overseas. The company doesnt appear to be concerned, however, having hit the $1 billion worldwide sales mark. Besides, observers have said the also-rans dont have a prayer. Red Bull seems to have a cooler in every bar in every city. The sales force, thats all they do, said one new age beverage executive. The big guys will not put that much energy into it and will lose interest when they dont make any headway. After conquering the U. S. , the Red Bull army plans to move on. It is currently making headway in Brazil and South Africa, though South America and Africa as a whole remain largely untapped. If history repeats itself, it wont be long before everyone on the planet gets their wings.

Crime and Punishment :: essays research papers fc

The Websters Dictionary defines degradation as a fall from higher to lower rank or degree(Websters, 205). Fyodor Dostoyevsky illustrates degradation of morals for several characters in Crime and Punishment. He links the quality of money or lack thereof to the their moral degradation to design complex characters. Dostoyevsky draws a picture of society that is similar to the society depicted in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. The poor become greedy and the rich become greedier. And, good moral decision making can be greatly overpowered by the need or want of more money.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The degradation of society and lack of money cause Raskolnikov to kill the greedy pawnbroker, Alyona Ivanovna and her sister Lizaveta. Raskolnikov believes that killing them for their money will be a great conquest for himself and society. After fighting with himself about whether or not he should commit the crime, he overhears someone talking about the same plan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives could be put on the right path, dozens of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  families rescued from poverty, from ruin, from collapse, from decay, from venereal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  wards of the hospitals-- all this with her money! Kill her, take her money, dedicate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  it to serving mankind, to the general welfare. Well --what do you think -- isn’t   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  this petty little crime effaced by thousands of good deeds? (63, part 1) Raskolnikov decides he must go against his good judgment and commit murder for the good of society and himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dostoyevsky also takes the character of Raskolnikov to the opposite extreme. After his mother sends him money, he uses it to help out the Marmeladov family in an act of pure charity. He comes across Marmeladov injured by a carriage and without hesitation offers to help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"I know him!† and he pushed all the way forward. â€Å"It’s the clerk, the retired titular   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  councilor, Marmeladov! He lives near here, in Kozel’s house....Somebody get a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  doctor! I’ll pay. Here!† he fished money out of his pocket and showed it to the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  policeman. (170, part 2) Dostoyevsky is showing how Raskolnikov’s decision making is effected by money or lack thereof.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Svidrigailov is a character who was poor and in jail. He was bought by Marfa Perovna and lived a good life off of her money. Unlike Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov’s moral degradation becomes worse with his increase of wealth. He cheats on his wife, causing her to eventually kill herself, and gets a fifteen year old pregnant. He then admits to Raskolnikov that he was in love with his sister, Dunya, but now just wants to sleep with her. â€Å"Secondly, I fancy you won’t refuse me a little help in a certain project of mine that

Argumentitive Essay on ‘the Case for Breaking Up with Your Parents” – Prof Terry Castle

————————————————- ————————————————- Why it is better for students to take the wheel â€Å"Parental engagement even in the lives of college-age children has expanded in ways that would have seemed bizarre in the recent past. (Some colleges have actually created a â€Å"dean of parents† position – whether identified as such or not – to deal with them. ) The â€Å"helicopter parents† who hover over nearly every choice or action of their offspring have given way to â€Å"snowplow parents† who determinedly clear a path for their child and shove aside any obstacle they perceive in the way. – Prof. Terry Castle, The case for breaking up with your parents As seen in Prof. Castle’s article ‘The Case for breaking up wi th your parents’ (The Chronicle Review, May 6, 2012), there are a few reasons why she is right when she says that the highly expanded parental engagement jeopardizes students’ intellectual and emotional freedom. They need to separate so that students will be able to engage in a kind of self-orphaning.First of all, the high involvement of parents is not advantageous at all by thinking that students are not even able to make their own choices – sometimes they would even do something just to make their parents feel satisfied. To prevent this, parents should really start to think about the abilities of their own child. Would they really not be able to make the right decisions? Of course, one has to overcome a few difficult steps in order to be able to make right decisions, but still, the students need to be given the chance to walk their own way to their future.It is apparent that these helicopter-parents are not inept parents at all, such parents are rather too car eful, well, maybe they care a little too much. Nevertheless, they do not have bad intentions so that is why students should start to talk about those involvement-issues with their parents. If they do not talk about it with their parents there would not be anyone else would convince them to stop doing so to their lovely children. Still, caring so much about their child is another reason to let them choose.If the parents love them so much, they should also love their preferences, or if they really disallow them, they can still advise them not to do so. This way, they can learn to guide themselves and still have the parents’ opinion at the same time. Breaking away from your parents? is not something easy to do. Some students do not know better than their parents’ conceptions, or at least, that is what they assume. That is why there is also a possibility that those students have unconsciously developed a fear of making own choices.Well, here again, this is another opportun ity to help your child to become more independent. As life is full of surprises, there will definitely be moments where your child will have no choice but to make a decision, and if it has never been done, it will also be very difficult. Caring parents would not want their child to be put in a difficult position, would they? Having said this, breaking away from such fanatical and willful parents would definitely be the best thing to do.It is high time for the student to overcome the possible fear of making own choices and one should be able to disassociate himself from his parents. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Self-orphaning – ‘The Case for Breaking up with your parents’ by Professor Terry Castle [ 2 ]. Helicopter-parents – ‘The Case for Breaking up with your parents’ by Professor Terry Castle ? Breaking away from your parents – as seen in ‘The Case for Breaking up with your parents’ by Prof. Castle

Administrative and Politics Dichotomy

For many years, the political-administrative dichotomy has been one of the most disputed theories of public administration. Despite serious debates and critiques, the differences between politics and public administration have been present over the past decades. The question still remains today whether or not politics and public administration can work together for one common good-to serve the people for which hey govern.Today, politics and administration are linked in many ways. A few examples are: administrators initiate policy, administrative acts have political consequences, and administrators shape policy after the fact and civil servants are not politically neutral. Skelley, B. D. (2008) Another aspect of the administrative-political divide is the philosophical ideals in the western culture of the Greek civic-culture (political) and political-administrative relationship has been an important question for over a century now. Skelley, B. D. 008) Woodrow Wilson, in his article â⠂¬Å"The Study of Administration† (1887), wrote of how to position public administration in relation to politics. His idea is the forefront to which the idea that public administration is somehow distinct from politics. Public administration is supposed to be the instrument used or the delivery vehicle for translating policies into action, while politics is about making the policies. Demir, T. & Nyhan, R. (2008) The dichotomy is still influencing public administration due to numerous public administrators are laiming neutrality from political influences.Neutrality refers to the ability to do government work, do it to the standard that has been set, rather than to one's own standard or for other loyalties or personal gain.

Free Essays on Belief

Day after day I sit and wonder how and why I exist. I try and find a meaning to life. I try and figure out what I believe in then emerges religion. Looking in my Webster’s dictionary I come upon the word â€Å"religion.† Not surprised, you come to find that the word religion has close to 8 definitions and I will not be shocked to find out that in 10 years a 300 page book would consist of all things religion. So, the truth shall set us free†¦ The one idea of religion is the questions people ask to feel good. People want to know what life is and why we want to live it. Religion gives those who come together a form of connection and unity. On the other hand, religion has caused wars, which have been carried out in God’s name. Religion causes countries to fight other countries and has a lot to do with politics. Religion remains a major part of society. People have a desire within to believe in something. Will this desire ever change? Society today places greater faith in themselves and the world around them rather than placing their faith in a religion. Religion in some ideals has become more materialistic and technology based, than it is fact and tradition. It is now being used to make money, mostly through scamming people. All of its meaning seems to have been lost and more and more people don’t know why they pray or thank God for. But†¦ Religion for me is what this paper was about. I have experienced, learned, wondered and always tried to solve several mysteries, but I cannot do so. Everyday my views about certain things always relay back to myself and how well I exist in society. I try and distinguish between wrong and right and then realize how everything around me will never be right – unless I believe. I have been through so many experiences that sometimes I feel as if I wasn’t meant to exist. Society is society, it will not fail to disappoint nor will it remain constant – exactly like me.... Free Essays on Belief Free Essays on Belief Day after day I sit and wonder how and why I exist. I try and find a meaning to life. I try and figure out what I believe in then emerges religion. Looking in my Webster’s dictionary I come upon the word â€Å"religion.† Not surprised, you come to find that the word religion has close to 8 definitions and I will not be shocked to find out that in 10 years a 300 page book would consist of all things religion. So, the truth shall set us free†¦ The one idea of religion is the questions people ask to feel good. People want to know what life is and why we want to live it. Religion gives those who come together a form of connection and unity. On the other hand, religion has caused wars, which have been carried out in God’s name. Religion causes countries to fight other countries and has a lot to do with politics. Religion remains a major part of society. People have a desire within to believe in something. Will this desire ever change? Society today places greater faith in themselves and the world around them rather than placing their faith in a religion. Religion in some ideals has become more materialistic and technology based, than it is fact and tradition. It is now being used to make money, mostly through scamming people. All of its meaning seems to have been lost and more and more people don’t know why they pray or thank God for. But†¦ Religion for me is what this paper was about. I have experienced, learned, wondered and always tried to solve several mysteries, but I cannot do so. Everyday my views about certain things always relay back to myself and how well I exist in society. I try and distinguish between wrong and right and then realize how everything around me will never be right – unless I believe. I have been through so many experiences that sometimes I feel as if I wasn’t meant to exist. Society is society, it will not fail to disappoint nor will it remain constant – exactly like me....

Genetic Variation Definition, Causes, and Examples

Genetic Variation Definition, Causes, and Examples Definition In genetic variation, the genetic makeup of organisms within a population change. Genes are inherited segments of DNA that contain codes for the production of proteins. Genes exists in alternate versions, or alleles that determine distinct traits that can be passed on from parents to offspring.   Genetic variation is important to the processes of natural selection and biological evolution. The genetic variations that arise in a population happen by chance, but the process of natural selection does not. Natural selection is the result of the interactions between genetic variations in a population and the environment. The environment determines which genetic variations are more favorable or better suited for survival. As organisms with these environmentally selected genes survive and reproduce, more favorable traits are passed on to the population as a whole. Key Takeaways: Genetic Variation Genetic variation refers to differences in the genetic makeup of individuals in a population.Genetic variation is necessary in natural selection. In natural selection, organisms with environmentally selected traits are better able to adapt to the environment and pass on their genes.Major causes of variation include mutations, gene flow, and sexual reproduction.DNA mutation causes genetic variation by altering the genes of individuals in a population.Gene flow leads to genetic variation as new individuals with different gene combinations migrate into a population.Sexual reproduction promotes variable gene combinations in a population leading to genetic variation.Examples of genetic variation include eye color, blood type, camouflage in animals, and leaf modification in plants. Genetic Variation Causes Computer graphic illustration depicting a point mutation. A point mutation is a genetic mutation where a single nucleotide base is changed.   Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Genetic variation occurs mainly through DNA mutation, gene flow (movement of genes from one population to another) and sexual reproduction. Due to the fact that environments are unstable, populations that are genetically variable will be able to adapt to changing situations better than those that do not contain genetic variation. DNA Mutation: A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence. These variations in gene sequences can sometimes be advantageous to an organism. Most mutations that result in genetic variation produce traits that  confer neither an advantage or disadvantage. Mutations lead to genetic variation by altering genes and alleles in a population. They may impact an individual gene or an entire chromosome. Although mutations change an organisms genotype (genetic makeup), they may not necessarily change an organisms phenotype.Gene Flow: Also called gene migration, gene flow introduces new genes into a population as organisms migrate into a new environment. New gene combinations are made possible by the availability of new alleles in the gene pool. Gene frequencies may also be altered by emigration of organisms out of a population. Immigration of new organisms into a population may help organisms better adapt to changing environmental conditions. Migration of organisms out of a population could re sult in a lack of genetic diversity. Sexual Reproduction: Sexual reproduction promotes genetic variation by producing different gene combinations. Meiosis is the process by which sex cells or gametes are created. Genetic variation occurs as alleles in gametes are separated and randomly united upon fertilization. The genetic recombination of genes also occurs during crossing over or the swapping of gene segments in homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Genetic Variation Examples A true albino squirrel photographed eating a nut in Companies Garden in Cape Town, Western Cape Province, South Africa.   David G Richardson/Getty Images Favorable genetic traits in a population are determined by the environment. Organisms that are better able to adapt to their environment survive to pass on their genes and favorable traits. Sexual selection is commonly seen in nature as animals tend to select mates that have traits that are favorable. As females mate more often with males considered to have more favorable traits, these genes occur more often in a population over time. A persons skin color, hair color, dimples, freckles, and blood type are all examples of genetic variations that can occur in a human population. Examples of genetic variation in plants include the modified leaves of carnivorous plants and the development of flowers that resemble insects to lure plant pollinators. Gene variation in plants often occurs as the result of gene flow. Pollen is dispersed from one area to another by the wind or by pollinators over great distances. Examples of genetic variation in animals include albinism, cheetahs with stripes, snakes that fly, animals that play dead, and animals that mimic leaves. These variations enable the animals to better adapt to conditions in their environments.

Land Rover Sustainability Accounting and Accountability Analysis Essay

Land Rover Sustainability Accounting and Accountability Analysis - Essay Example Sustainable development aims to fulfill the present needs without harming the possibility of not fulfilling the future ones. In today’s era, where companies give sole importance to economic growth the concept of sustainable growth becomes all the more important. As globalization continues to spread there is a steep rise in the ways through which companies and individuals can increase their profits. But the newly created opportunities are not evenly spread over the social strata. So there is always a dynamic instability which is making the environment volatile to some extent. Increase in technical knowledge has attributed to financial development, but it also has the ability to reduce the risks which threatens to harm the social and environmental sustainability .So sustainable development’s key feature encapsulates its promotion of out of the box thinking and selection of innovative choices. There is a need for transparency regarding a company’s economic, social a nd environmental impact and gradually this aspect has become an integral part of its relations with its stakeholders. Stakeholders expect a company to communicate to them the true picture of the company’s sustainability. This naturally led to the requirement of a globally recognized framework of rules, concepts and regulations. As a result the Global Reporting Initiative created the Guidelines for Sustainability Reporting. With the formation of the guidelines a transparency was achieved in the reports involving the sustainability of the company. These reports generated a lot of interest amongst the motley crew of stakeholders (Global Reporting, 2011). Sustainability reports disclose results that have happened in the reporting period. These reports are mainly used for: 1. Assessment of the sustainability performance of the company in accordance with the laws, performance standards and norms. 2. The extent to which the company influences and gets influenced by its surroundings. 3. To perform an intra and intercompany comparison over a period. Guidelines for Sustainability Reporting The reporting framework developed by GRI can be used by any company irrespective of its location, sector and size. The reporting guidelines ensure that the reports produced by the companies are up to the mark. These guidelines include: 1. Reporting Principles 2. Guidance 3. Standard disclosures. All the three elements are given equal weight age and importance. Reporting principles explain the results a report should able to convey, the selection and methods of reporting, along with the indicators and topics which will be included in the report. Each principle consists of definitions and a number of tests which help the company to decide the principles which it intends to use. The reporting guidance explains the actions that a company can take during the decision making process, and also helps in selecting the topics that will be included