49 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth Essay Example for Free

49 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth Essay Some of them, with their complicated timers and instant start-up features, constantly consume small amounts of electricity. (Even the TV? my wife asks. Good thinking, I tell her.) 3. SEPARATE YOUR GARBAGE. At our house we have separate garbage cans for glass, paper, plastic, aluminum, wood, organic matter, natural fabrics, synthetic fabrics, and rubber. (We split the work—my wife does the separating, I drop everything off at the recycling center.) 4. USE LESS WATER. We have two bricks in our toilet tank. But theres a much simpler way to save water: Dont flush every time! (Dont take the sports section in there with you! is my wifes tip. A sense of humor isso important.) 5. DONT MOW THE LAWN. Let it grow. Naturally. Like a meadow. (Like a dump! jokes my wife.) See more:  Perseverance essay 6. DONT SHAVE AS OFTEN. I shave once a week. (If its good enough for Don Johnson, I quip. That was passà © years ago, my wife informs me.) 7. DRIVE SLOWER. I try to maintain a nice, steady 40 miles per hour, the legal minimum on most highways. Also, I roll up the windows. It reduces wind resistance and noise. (You cant hear those horns? my wife asks, incredulous.) 8. SHOP WITH A RE-USABLE SHOPPING BAG. And, if you can, walk to the store. (Itll do wonders for your figure, I mention casually to the missus.) 9. BOYCOTT! Boycott polluters, or anyone who sells any product that can cause pollution, or any product that might contain an ingredient that can cause pollution. (What does that leave? my wife asks. Just the good stuff, I reply.) 1 0. DO YOUR LAUNDRY BY HAND. It may be drudgery of the lowest order to have to hand-launder your clothes and hang them on a clothesline, but it saves water and energy. (Whistle while you work, I kid my wife. Hitler is a jerk, she continues. Id forgotten that verse!) 11. TURN DOWN THE HEAT. Especially the water heater. (They take cold showers in Sweden, I like to hint. Go to Sweden!—my wife.) 12. TAKE FEWER SHOWERS. But dont share them, even if its been touted, albeit humorously, in other x-number-of-simple-things-you-can-do-to-save-the-earth books. Why? It uses more water. Figure it out for yourself. Better would be to take a bath in recycled bath water. Best: An occasional sponge bath. (No, Im not kidding, I tell the wife.) 13. REPLACE METAL DOORKNOBS. During the winter, when its very dry, touch a metal doorknob and you get a little shock from the static electricity. Thats wasted electricity, I figure. Weve replaced all our metal doorknobs with ones made of non-conducting rubber, wood or glass. (Youve got a screw loose, my wife points out. And shes right!) 14. GO SOLAR. For a small investment of about ten thousand dollars you can convert your house to solar energy. Itll pay for itself in twenty years, I estimate. (What next? my wife wonders, as we all do.) 15. MOUNT A WINDMILL ON YOUR ROOF. Its cheap—about eight hundred dollars—and easy to install. (A little more to the right, I yell up to her.) 16. MAKE YOUR OWN HONEY. In addition to producing delicious honey, our beehive is a real conversation starter. (We have to talk, my wife says. See?) 17. WORK AT HOME. Recently, I quit my job of twenty years to become a full-time writer. I write at home, on a computer. Im not using up any gasoline or motor oil, Im not wearing out any clothing or shoes. To put it simply: Im not a drain on the environment. (You dont move, my wife observes, exaggerating slightly.) 18. BOARD UP THE WINDOWS. Windows are nice, but they either let in too much heat, or let out too much, or vice versa. (This is better than mini-blinds! I shout to the wife, who can barely hear me over her own hammering.) 1 9. GET RID OF THE TELEPHONE. Think you cant live without a telephone? Think again. Weve done fine. (Who would call us? my wife rationalizes.) 20. GET RID OF THE BED. Many leading chiropractors say that sleeping on the floor, with no mattress or cushion, is the best way to sleep. (We certainly havent needed a bed much lately, my wife confides to a mutual friend.) 21. GET OUT AND ORGANIZE. At my wifes suggestion, I got out of the house and into the community—to organize. Now I work with a diverse group of community activists and we meet four times a week—at our house. (Whoare these people? my wife asks. They are the people, I tell her proudly.) 22. BAN ALL CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS. Not just spray cans, but the refrigerator and the air conditioner. Get rid of them! We now have ice delivered to our house every day. (Youre crazy! my wife shouts from the kitchen. So was Van Gogh! I shout back.) 23. TREAT WOUNDS NATURALLY. If youre injured, cut on the head, above the eyebrow—from a sharp piece of ice, lets say—treat it naturally. Salt and lemon juice is the combination my wife favors. (I want a divorce, she says, pouring salt on my wound. Ouch! I say.) 24. KNOW THE LAW. And know a good lawyer. (My wife does.) 25. WHEN YOU MOVE, BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR. Having recently relocated to a smaller environment—an apartment—I can empathize with anyone who has had to go through a moving experience as I call it. Remember, along with a new habitat come new co-inhabitants. Get to know them. They are your neighbors and, as simplistic as this sounds, they are the keys to your survival. (When I explain this simplistic theory to one of my new neighbors, shes fascinated. Maybe the beard works!) 26. CARPOOL. At my new part-time job I carpool with a couple of the ladies from the office. Were saving gas, money, and were getting to know each other better. (He used to have a fear of intimacy, my wife tells the judge. On the advice of Barry, my lawyer, I can say nothing.) 27. MAKE LOVE, NOT WAR. I know, I know. But, if I could just use one earth-saving tip to draw your attention to the beautiful and cosmic experience of making love with a truly giving and understanding sexual partner. (Takethat, you lying, blood-sucking witch!) 28. SHARE YOUR SHOWERS. Ive done a complete one-eighty on this one. Use a kitchen timer. (Or Ravels Bolero!) 29. WOMEN! Or should I say, women judges! (This just in: She gets the car, the house—everything except the profits from this book, Dear Reader.) 30. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. When someone (especially someone much younger and less experienced than yourself that you only met two weeks ago) tells you that one person cant make a difference—that no matter how much shouting and yelling and whining and complaining one person does nothing will change, that youre too old to be acting that way, that you should settle down and focus on one thing and do that well—when someone lays that trip on you, its time to split. (I can make a difference! I tell her, gathering my things.) 31. BUNDLE AND RECYCLE NEWSPAPERS. Sorry, I lost sight of what were trying to do here, which is save the earth. Take all your old newspapers, bundle them together, and bring them to a recycling center. Theyll give you a few bucks, which is nothing to sneeze at. (What happened?) 32. BUY A RECYCLED CAR. There are some good deals in used cars—if you take the time to look. (I didnt, and boy am I sorry.) 33. DONT LITTER THE HIGHWAYS. Be considerate. There are laws, but theyre rarely enforced. (Except in my case, of course. I told the officer I wasnt living in my car—it had broken down, I was tired—but: A $100 fine for vagrancy, a night in jail, a towing charge of $75, and a ticket—Im getting rid of this damn car!) 34. KEEP FIGHTING. Thats right. No matter how tough it gets, the fight to save the earth will go on, with or without you. (Right now its without. Im back to my old habits again—smoking, drinking, and hanging out with a bunch of losers. One of them is a real nut, calls himself The Master.) 35. DONATE OLD CLOTHING. There are people out there who can get some good use out of your old moth-eaten sweater or sports jacket or worn-out pair of shoes. (Im a 41 short.) 36. FOLLOW THE MASTER. The Master has forged an alliance with the human spirit that allows him to speak directly and simultaneously to every living thing on this planet. (Follow The Master.) 37. THINK FOR YOURSELF. Take it from someone who, after having his self-esteem obliterated by a persuasive con man and his gang of sycophants, escaped on foot—with nothing to eat for nine days but wild berries and mushrooms—and lived to talk about it! (You might have seen the story in the papers—DAZED FOLLOWER OF DIZZY GURU FOUND ON FREEWAY) 38. HI, HOW ARE YOU? I knew it was her before I picked up the phone. (The cobwebs that covered the receiver were now sticking to my face. Fine, I said.) 39. DONT BE FOOLED. A wise consumer is a protected consumer. (I told my ex this when we got together for some Irish coffee at the mini-mall, near the old house. She ended up selling that barn for—get this—$650,000! Honey, it seems like old times! I whooped.) 40. RECYCLE! REVIVE! RERUN! Excuse my exuberance, but something is finally happening out there—something positive, something good. People are separating their garbage. Theyre using biodegradable, ecologically safe, recyclable and reusable materials. Everything old is new again! (When my ex-wife and I decided to re-marry, I suggested a Save the Earth clause be added to our pre-nuptial agreement. We have to talk, she said, showing great interest at the time.) 41. MOVE TO THE COUNTRY. Inherit the land again. Thats what we did. Bought forty-three acres in Upstate New York. Its a working farm, where my wife can go out to the barn and milk the cows, pick out the freshest eggs and knit our clothes from the wool she shears from our very own sheep. (And I can finish this book!)

Socially Responsible Marketing

Socially Responsible Marketing Drawing on the readings below and your own literature review outline and discuss the concept of social marketing. How does this differ from societal marketing or socially responsible marketing?. Provide examples of each of the three approaches to marketing and comment on the extent to which these represent a departure from traditional marketing practice. Social marketing Nowadays, social marketing is very common in lots of places, for example government agencies, private nonprofit organizations, private for-profit firms and university. However, many people dont know what does social marketing is and how it differs from similar fields such as communications and behavior mobilization, it is being confused with generic marketing like societal marketing and socially responsible marketing. There are some practitioners are doing social advertising but they think they are doing social marketing. Even some of the literature has defined social marketing improperly. Social marketing is to understand how to influence peoples behavior in a good way and make better standard of living for human, so it is necessarily to make all these marketing concept clear and to understand them more deeply. To discuss the concept of social marketing, we first have to know the definition of it, there are different versions of definition of social marketing, the original one defined it as: the design, implementation and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution and marketing research. (Kotler and Zaltman, 1971), then, there is a revised definition is proposed by Alan R. Andreasen, he proposes the following definition: Social marketing is the adaptation of commercial marketing technologies to programs designed to influence the voluntary behavior of target audiences to improve their personal welfare and that of the society of which they are a part. His definition let the social marketers focus on the result that they influenced and keep the discipline of social marketing distinguishable for the others and also separate social marketing from the areas that is easy to fail. The idea of social marketing is to use the same marketing principles to propaganda ideas, attitudes and behaviors as that were being used to sell products to consumers. There is confusion whether social marketing was limited to public and nonprofit marketers. Actually, they are not necessarily social marketing, this can be very important that public sector bodies to improve the promotion of their relevant services and organizational aims by using standard marketing approaches, it influence social behaviors not to benefit the social marketer, but to benefit either individuals or society as a whole in long run. There are also some private sector hold many activities aim to change beliefs, attitudes and values, but the only reason they are doing that is to increase sales by prevent change e.g. customers switching to another brand. Social marketing can improve the behavior and life style of the public to achieve a social good, but there are some difficulties while doing it, the problem is not the lack of information that people receive but the confusion of getting too much different information from different sources which are inconsistent or uncoordinated. For some small firms, their managers think that they are also part of the social marketers, then it will be difficult for them to keep their eye on the bottom line to change behavior, and also some firm get into trouble because they see the action side of social marketing instead of the planning side and also social marketing effectiveness may be limited if the marketer apply the concept wrongly, and people may blame the social marketing for failures. To apply the social marketing concept, social marketers also need to know the key features and the 4Ps (product, price, place and promotion) in order to help them achieve their social marketing goals. Key features: Customer orientation A key element of all forms of marketing, understand the situation of the target customer, where they start from, their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, also their background of where they live and work. It can make the progress easily and smoothly. An exchange Defined as an exchange of resources or values between two or more parties with the expectation of some benefits. Social marketers really have to know what is being expected of people and what is their cost to exchange, otherwise, there may be no one are willing to exchange and lead to failure of social marketing. Long-term Planning Approach Continuing programs for a long time instead of one-off campaigns, it should be strategic rather than tactical. Starts and finishes with research and use a long time to plan, because we have to know that behavior is not easy to change, people are used to it in their daily life, so we need to understand why people act as they do and therefore how best to support them in their life choices, therefore, we can reeducate them to change their mind. Moving Beyond the Individual Consumer It will be pointless if we change the behavior or lifestyle of an individual consumer if they are still operating in the same environment, so, it might be very useful to change a group of people or the entire society to achieve the aim of social marketing. How does social marketing differ from societal marketing or socially responsible marketing? Many people confuse the meaning of social marketing, societal marketing and socially responsible marketing. Social marketing is more difficult than generic marketing, because it involves changing intractable behaviors. To make it easier to distinguish social marketing from societal marketing and socially responsible marketing, it is better to know more about them. Societal marketing Societal marketing is a different concept for a different topic, it is an approach that company stake when they are socially responsible, they make good marketing decisions by considering first, the potential clients wants or needs, second, their companys philosophy and spend and the third is at approach of launching products or services in marketing be socially responsible. It is closely linked with the principles of corporate social responsibility and of sustainable development. Societal marketing and social marketing should not be confused. The societal marketing concept was a pioneer of using commercial marketing strategies from sustainable marketing in integrating issues of social responsibility. On the other hand, social marketing uses commercial marketing theories, tools and techniques to social issues. Societal Marketing actually included the concept of sustainable development and Corporate Social Responsibility, so the companies will go beyond delivering their work and products for the benefit of the consumers and the society and it is more than just having an exchange relationship with customers. Socially responsible marketing Socially responsible marketing is a marketing philosophy; it suggests that a company should considerate what is in the best interest of society in the present and long term. Socially responsible companies should produce desirable products fervently. Consumers immediate gratification can obtain from this kind of products and this kind of product can also benefit consumers and society in the long term. Special features of social marketing There are some special features to distinguish social marketing, it is the systematic application of marketing along with other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good, it is an over-simplification although it sometimes seen only as to achieve non-commercial goals by using standard commercial marketing practices Social good is the primary aim of social marketing and it is its first outcome while financial is the primary aim in commercial marketing. But social good can still be contributed to achieve by commercial marketers. Gradually, people describe social marketing as having a social parent which is social sciences and social policy, and a marketing parent which is commercial and public sector marketing approaches. Kotler and Andreasen define social marketing as differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Example of social marketing Social marketing applies a customer orientated approach, it can be applied to promotion by making the society to buy merit goods and dissuade the use of demerit goods and also to tell the society that they consider the societys well-being as a whole, for example ask people not to smoke in public areas, reducing cigarette smoking, ask people to use seat belts, prompt them to follow speed limits, encouraging condom use etc. Social marketing knows that commerce brings many benefits, but it can cause harm to individual and society. Tobacco is an extreme example of this, it kills half of its long term users, as Wiebe famously argued, you can sell brotherhood like soap. So, social marketing can do the reverse like tobacco company use marketing to encourage people smoke. Health-related social marketing is widely used in this marketing concept, it is systematical, the behavioral goal is to improve health and reduce health inequalities. There is a specialistÂÂ  team in the Department of Health.ÂÂ  The Social Marketing and theÂÂ  team have been established to support work to integrate a social marketing approach in key work streams.ÂÂ  For example: Health Trainers NHS LifeCheck Health Literacy Skilled for Health Drug Misuse Alcohol Misuse Tobacco Sexual Health Nutrition Physical activity 5 A Day Obesity Health Inequalities Healthy Schools and Children and Young Peoples Public Health Example of societal marketing Nowadays, many organization such as MacDonalds, Unilever and Procter gamble are following the societal marketing concept, they can give out positive message to the government, public, partners, stakeholder and their customer that they are not only working for the profits but also for the well-being of the society. For example: McDonalds: McDonalds stop using their one time innovative Styrofoam packaging and replaced it with a more environmentally paper packaging and bring the message that they are environmentally aware, by using their various forms of packaging to remind us not to litter and be environmental friendly. British American tobacco Company: BAT participates in many society activities all around the world. Their societal marketing strategy is tree plantation. Body Shop: Body Shop is a cosmetic company. All of its products use vegetable based materials. It is also against animal testing, supports community trade, activate self-esteem, defend human rights, and overall protection of the planet. It is a company that completely follows the societal marketing concept. Societal marketing has become more and more important and profitable marketing strategy for companies. It often focused on environmental issues, but it can also focus on promoting healthy behavior while discouraging unhealthy behavior Example of socially responsible marketing An example of socially responsible marketing would be the advertising of alcoholic drinks when there are no rules or regulations. If a beer company is following the socially responsible marketing concept, it would avoid advertising its products to young person under the drinking age, they can advertise their products on TV at late night or in adult magazines, then minors are less likely to see them. Another example of socially responsible marketing is that a catalogue company uses recycled paper to make its catalogues, then this can be shown in the catalogue and it could help persuade customers that the company is environmentally conscious. By doing this, the company can gain market share by differentiate themselves from their competitors. Social marketing represent a departure from traditional marketing practice To a large extent social marketing is different from traditional marketing, it is depend on the type of target audience that social marketers would like to convey their message to. Following are some of the main differences between traditional marketing and social related marketing. Improved response time in social marketing. There is no real contact between customers and the company in traditional marketing, so if the customer got any inquiries, the company needs to go through few parties to get the answer and it lead to a slow responses but in social marketing, they usually response very quickly and some of them use auto-responders to answer customer. Content availability. In this modern world, it is very easy to use the internet to access information about anything and obtain any answer that consumer wants to know. In traditional marketing, the information available is only provided by the distributor from the company, and it might be fabricated. Price Social marketing is much cheaper than traditional marketing, because social marketing can use countless resources from the internet and different ways to advertise, educate and communicate people but traditional marketing have to pay for every single minute of every type of media such as TV advertisements, newspaper and magazines etc. A more level playing field. In social marketing, any company in any size can compete for client with any larger company which is very difficult for traditional marketing to do so, because in social marketing there are no restriction and it is just a matter of using available resources. The ability to changing. It is very In social marketing, it is very easy and cheap to change your message or to provide additional information regards to the product, but in traditional marketing, it is not easy for the television and radio commercials to change. Conclusion In conclusion, social marketing is a very innovative and good idea to promote any idea in a good way, so I think government and health organization should use it more often, but government should also set up more rules and regulations of using social marketing, because there are some company use social marketing to increase their sales by encourage customers buy demerit goods e.g. make people think smoke is healthy.

Evaluating The Hci Developments Over Recent Years Computer Science Essay

Evaluating The Hci Developments Over Recent Years Computer Science Essay In the following assignment I will be talking about how interfaces have improved along the years in products and computer systems, with relation to GUI (Graphical User Interfaces) and the contrast of using non graphical interfaces. For the Distinction criteria, I will explain on the improvement of using interfaces within gaming and how this has been improved with the world of motionless gaming such as Kinect. For the final Distinction criteria I will compare my interfaces with real life interfaces and talk about how they relate and how they contrast. I will conclude the assignment with my main points and any potential summaries I have. The GUI: History of the GUI: In the computing and technical world, the graphical user interface has sharpened the way we as humans have designed and improved technology over the recent years and decades. Interfaces allow the end user to look at a graphical representation on their actions which cannot be shown in real life. For example, surfing the internet and viewing landscapes that are on the other side of the world would not be possible in a real life visual perspective. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) was implemented into the Apple Lisa computer in January 1983. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak purchased the GUI technology from a corporation called Xerox at their research centre called PARC (Palo Alto Research Centre) and used the technology in the Apple Lisa computer which since then started the revolution of interfaces within technology devices. 1 The Apple Lisa Computer Before a Graphical User Interface was implemented, a fellow competitor called Microsoft developed a CLI (Command Line Interface) that resembled the name MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) on IBM Computers in 1981. IBM (International Business Machines) is a large international company which supply computer hardware and software. They used MS-DOS on their computer systems to provide an interface that required the knowledge of commands and complex wording. This limited the market to a small amount, only professors and students was able to operate it with prior knowledge. But with the release of Apple Lisa, this broadened the audience to allow less technical people to operate a computer. 2 Image displaying the MS-DOS which was used on IBMs computers Advancements With the ongoing progress of developing interfaces and applying them to a variety of screens such as LCD and LED monitors, this has allowed technical manufacturer to explore the interface and include ways of familiarising the user with HCI (Human Computer Interaction) elements. Elements such as proximity, the ability to group similar icons together to make the human think the buttons are related. Another important element of HCI is continuity. Continuity is used in most operating systems to keep the familiar colour schemes and desktops without a drastic change. This will allow users to become familiar to the interface without the need to learn to use it again. Some more advances of interfaces over the years is the technology of 3D imagery and gaming. Games such as RTS (Real Time Strategy) Starcraft II can be played with the aid of Nvidias 3D GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) series. This allows 2D content to be rendered with 3D physics and displayed using glasses. 3 With the technology of 3D arriving in the current technological world, interface design has changed in a way that humans perceive the experience. Such so that other projects have included the 3D technology such as theme park rides, 3D computer systems, computing gaming and television. This has revolutionised the way we, as humans interact with everyday devices. A large proportion of society uses technology in their everyday lives, from checking their email, surfing the internet, checking their bank balance at an ATM machine etc. Technology has been integrated into culture so deeply, that as a society we all cannot communicate and work efficiently without it. Mobile Devices and Development: In modern technological news, mobile platforms and gaming has developed on a large scale over the current years. The idea of playing simple games on a wireless mobile device anywhere started a revolution for the gaming industry, the development of computer games and interface design. In my opinion, the first major mobile platform for gaming was Snakes. Introduced to arcades in the mid 1970s. Its sequel Snakes II was eventually introduced on the Nokia 3310 in the year 2000. This successful handset was hinting game developers to in cooperate different interface design into a smaller handset device, rather than an arcade or gaming console. 4 The above image is an example of many different interfaces that Snake has been developed into. Since the thought of how to place simple gaming projects into smaller handsets and mobile phones, arguable the Smartphone and touch screen devices provided a firm platform for developers and many game companies to work with. An example of this would be the iPhone handset. The iPhone handset (iPhone 2 Generation) was implemented by Apple on January 9th 2007 and announced to the public. It was one of the most successful Smartphones and PDA (Personal Digital Assistance) integrated together. Users had the ability to surf the internet, download application to run on their handsets, make calls, take pictures and send them to another handset or computer etc. The icons were smaller, controls and commands were made for touch and point, interface design that was new to the market. 5 Current iOS interface during writing the assignment The main differences from any phone during that time, was the complexity and power of the iPhone applications and development area. Apple provided the App store to sort all applications into a centralised place for users to download and interact with. The applications correspond of utilities and maps to gaming and various map searching apps. Over the constant development of iPhone handsets it was labelled as one of the major device for mobile gaming, a label which changed the way gaming and interfaces were developed. Now devices have the ability to run high end graphics and with the iPhone 4 device, retina display was introduced (960ÃÆ'-640) and has the smallest pixels ever to be introduced on a Smartphone device. With mobile development and gaming changing the way we use interfaces, the ability to scrap the interface from touch and use our current movement was recently introduced by Microsoft, this was known as Kinect. Project Natal (Kinect) was created by Microsoft recently in late 2010 as a motion controller for gaming.  [6]  You are the controller. No gadgets, no gizmos, just you! The quote basically means that the controller is the user, and no touch or physical contact will be needed. The technology of recording motions and gestures is proving successful; with regards to future gaming it will shape the future of interfaces. 7 Mention Holograms potentai future. Comparision of Intefaces

Westward Expansion Essay -- essays research papers

Book Review – Westward Expansion 1807 - 1880 THESIS: After the War of 1812 much of America's attention turned to exploration and settlement of its territory to the West, which had been greatly enlarged by the Louisiana Purchase. SUMMARY: Families of pioneers swept westward and founded new communities throughout what is now the Midwest, and between 1816 and 1821, six new states were admitted to the Union. The land boom was fed by encouragement from the federal government and the actions of land speculators, who bought up large tracts of land in order to sell it in parcels to farmers at exorbitant prices. These farmers did not mind high prices and high interest on loans due to the growing success of American agricultural products. Most western farmers became cash croppers who sometimes neglected subsistence farming in order to focus on marketable commodities. Soon the farmers' dependence on distant markets caught up with them, however, as the state bank system that had sprung up to support speculation collapsed, dragging agricultural prices and land values down with it. Many western settlers suffered greatly during the Panic of 1819, but most survived and continued the conquest of the West. A major aspect of the conquest of the West was the removal of the Indians who dwelled there. Under the leadership of President Andrew Jackson, the Indians who remained East of the Mississippi were cruelly and violently driven from their homes and concentrated in reservations in what is ...

Legend of the Body in the Bed Essay -- Urban Legends

Body in the Bed The legend of the â€Å"Body in the Bed† has been retold over and over again for years. It is a very popular story, usually taking place at a hotel or motel in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, or in a remote location in the desert nearby (â€Å"Strange Smells from the Hotel Bed†). Various â€Å"spin-offs† and variations to the legend have arisen since its inception, believed to be in the early 1990s. Many examples supporting the legend have come to the surface over time. They provide a possible explanation to the origin of the legend. The version I collected was told to me by my girlfriend, on March 29th. She has been fascinated by urban legends since as far back as she can remember. Although she recounted several legends to me, I chose this particular one because it was my favorite. Before retelling the legend, she told me that I could easily find this story online. However, I told her that I would prefer if she retold it in the manner she first heard it. Her version of the legend goes as follows: A man traveling on a business trip arrived at a motel, checked in, and proceeded to his room. Once he got in, he became aware that the room had a very foul smell, practically unbearable. He called the desk clerk asking for another room, but there were none available. The desk clerk sent over a maid to clean the room and try to get the smell out while the man went to dinner. When he returned, he didn’t smell the foul smell. He showered, settled in, and went to bed. After some time, the man awoke to the horrible smell again. It was too late to call the desk clerk, so he began looking around, trying to figure out where the smell came from. He searched everywhere, but found that the smell was strongest around the bed. Finally... ...tivity would not agree with what goes on during the course of the honeymoon period. This legend plays upon all of the factors to warn against these â€Å"sinful† activities. It reminds us that we should not partake in activities out of lust or greed, for it may take over our lives and change who we are. It warns us to not seek these pleasures blindly, for we may be missing what is really going on directly under our noses. Works Cited Mikkelson, Barbara (2 November 2006). â€Å"The Bawdy Under the Bed.† Retrieved March 30th, 2007 from http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/bodybed.asp. Murphy, Autumn. â€Å"The Body in the Bed-An Urban Legend.† Retrieved March 30th, 2007 from http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/classics/Classics.htm. â€Å"Strange Smells From the Hotel Bed.† Retrieved March 30th, 2007 from http://www.halloweenghoststories.com/legends/strange1-2.html.

Hando :: Interview Dialogue Essays

Hando "Is it on?" "Yes, Mr....ah..." "Hando, you can just call me that." "Of course, Hando. Well, just start whenever you’re ready." "I hate being recorded, but we might as well get it over with. I am getting a check for this, right?" "Yes sir. Your story will be a great contribution to the civilization of Zyemlya and a wonderful edition to our magazine. It really is quite remarkable after all." "Yeah, well, whatever. As long as I get my check. Social Security just doesn’t cut it these days. Seems if my story was so remarkable, this ungrateful generation wouldn’t have stuck me in this home, after all I’ve done." "Most have forgotten. Maybe you’ll get the respect you deserve after your story is published." "Maybe. Just maybe." "What exactly is it you did?" "Well, I’ll get to it. You want something to eat? Nothing but hospital food, but what can you do?" "No thank you." "Suit yourself. Let’s see, where to begin. We obviously won the Conflict, since we’re here talking to each other right now. After that victory, there were lots of questions about what to do now. There were only about 4 or 5 hundred of us left. Thousands had died off, most of the population of Zyemlya. They resisted the change. Most of them still couldn’t believe what was going on, even after all that happened. They didn’t actually die; it was more that they faded out with the Being. We all lost loved ones; I lost a sister and a groundhog, but we knew it was necessary to destroy the Being. "We had never had our own world before, our own will, our own lives. The Being had made sure of that. We never really knew exactly what it was, or where it came from, or if it even was an "it." We just knew it was there, and what it was doing. "I’ll take credit for that one though. That was a long time ago, and me with my slipshod memory, I don’t know how well I can recount it all. Now you young whippersnappers come in here and want to scoop out my brains to put in your magazine. The way things work around here, this will probably turn into a half page section in some fifth grader’s textbook. "I guess I’ll start with the dreams. I hadn’t always had them; they started when I was about 16. Hando :: Interview Dialogue Essays Hando "Is it on?" "Yes, Mr....ah..." "Hando, you can just call me that." "Of course, Hando. Well, just start whenever you’re ready." "I hate being recorded, but we might as well get it over with. I am getting a check for this, right?" "Yes sir. Your story will be a great contribution to the civilization of Zyemlya and a wonderful edition to our magazine. It really is quite remarkable after all." "Yeah, well, whatever. As long as I get my check. Social Security just doesn’t cut it these days. Seems if my story was so remarkable, this ungrateful generation wouldn’t have stuck me in this home, after all I’ve done." "Most have forgotten. Maybe you’ll get the respect you deserve after your story is published." "Maybe. Just maybe." "What exactly is it you did?" "Well, I’ll get to it. You want something to eat? Nothing but hospital food, but what can you do?" "No thank you." "Suit yourself. Let’s see, where to begin. We obviously won the Conflict, since we’re here talking to each other right now. After that victory, there were lots of questions about what to do now. There were only about 4 or 5 hundred of us left. Thousands had died off, most of the population of Zyemlya. They resisted the change. Most of them still couldn’t believe what was going on, even after all that happened. They didn’t actually die; it was more that they faded out with the Being. We all lost loved ones; I lost a sister and a groundhog, but we knew it was necessary to destroy the Being. "We had never had our own world before, our own will, our own lives. The Being had made sure of that. We never really knew exactly what it was, or where it came from, or if it even was an "it." We just knew it was there, and what it was doing. "I’ll take credit for that one though. That was a long time ago, and me with my slipshod memory, I don’t know how well I can recount it all. Now you young whippersnappers come in here and want to scoop out my brains to put in your magazine. The way things work around here, this will probably turn into a half page section in some fifth grader’s textbook. "I guess I’ll start with the dreams. I hadn’t always had them; they started when I was about 16.

Barriers To Goal-Setting And Planning

Planning is a good process for a company because it helps management think through all the issues in advance. It gives them an opportunity to work with co-workers, employees, investors and family and to make use of all their ideas, resources and perspectives. And it sometimes, when one is lucky, it helps to discover hidden traps that one might otherwise have stumbled into had one not had the foresight to plan ahead. But planning itself can be a trap of nearly fatal effect.Many people (and companies) spend so much time planning, so much time getting ready, so much time finding things that have to be done, have to be discovered, decided—that they never actually do anything. A company may have so much time planning and budgeting that by the time they decide to do the product, it was already too late. There are competitors, and their new, wonderful precisely planned feature set and product introduction are too little. The amount they had spent on planning, considering, staff meeti ngs and worrying was more than they would have spent to launch the product and see how the market would respond.A major opportunity lost to analysis paralysis. Planning and organizing projects usually entails working with employees to clarify broad objectives, discuss resource allocations and agree to completion dates. Thus, Lew Platt, of Hewlett-Packard describes what his workday is like as he puts it this way, â€Å"Basically, the whole day comes down to a series of choices. † To help him hone his planning and administration competency, Platt hired a consultant to analyze his day and help him reshape his management approach.Platt instinctively knew that information gathering, analysis and problems solving are important and that customers are a rich source of useful information—but they can easily eat up a whole day. The consultant helped him understand that some types of customer phone calls were something he could delegate in order to leave 20 percent of his time fo e meeting directly with customers. For instance, in Australia, there is a present need to respond to the increased demands of consumers.There is also a need to control costs to be competitive, and the need to reduce risks including price, quality and quantity of products included in giving incentives for the establishment of the agribusiness chains. This is the new era in doing business. Australian companies are now very conscious about the increasing international competition and the need for real planning and goal setting. But in wanting to be competitive, the coordination, goal setting and planning must be well executed in order for companies to succeed. The Australian agribusiness sector lacks these skills and is obliged to change their business ways (Sainsbury).In this business, there is a need for planning and organizing which usually means that employees must be assisted in clarifying broad objectives and resource allocations. (Sainsbury). Planning is a task. Managers are ass igned to detect and identify areas that are in need of a revamp, and then to successfully implement a program that will address the perceived gap. Although it sounds quite simple and perfunctory, Jones, Aguirre and Calderone (2004) suggested that the reality is far from easy, as every attempt to plan and do goal setting instigates â€Å"people issues† in the political realm of the workplace.Because of the ubiquitous presence of managers who proffer their expertise to organizations, planning and goal setting has also become an area of professional practice. These experts follow principles and theories; they developed their know-how after studying the actualities of the organization. Hence, planning is a body of knowledge. Planning is a control mechanism because it entails the application of certain processes and procedures. An effective planning is governed by standards that need to be accomplished (Nilakant & Ramnarayan, 2006). Every organization needs to sustain its competit ive advantage in order to survive.According Don Hellriegel and John Slocum (1996) companies such as Handy Dan Home Improvement Center, Grey Hound, Pan Am, Herman’s Sporting Goods, and a number of savings and loans corporations were bankrupted and cleared out of the competition because of the failure to adapt to changing market demands. They were the leaders in their fields once, the paragon of success for succeeding corporations but they failed to maintain their winning edges when they did not listen to the market’s call for new approaches or for novel commodities. Complacency has its price.Simply, a company cannot live long enough while immobile in a single spot. They need to plan their company objectives. There must always be a movement to grow, to expand, and most especially, to innovate. The seed of change is inherently embedded in every organization, even in bureaucratic ones. Leaders only need to be sensitive to the extant trends in the organization, and more imp ortantly, to the budding threats and opportunities. Unlike the companies mentioned earlier, organizations the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Merck and Compaq are constantly releasing new products in the market, (Hellriegel and Slocum 1996).They exemplify the aphorism, â€Å"internal stability spells disaster† (Nickols, 2006). Every innovation project of these companies is a part of a strategy for planned change. The planning process is the place to start assessing one’s status. The key is not to get paralyzed in the planning process. One must try to avoid making everything dependent on one or two deductions. The barriers to goal setting and planning are some of the following: – The plan is so general and there are no directions. One way to remedy this is to break plans into phases and rather than doing one sweeping plan, managers must do a lot of little plans.One must determine a general direction, then sit down and plan in tiny chunks. Then, when one is finished, a small chunk-plan, one can begin executing it. There is no reason one cannot execute one miniplan while planning the next phase. – Time element – If one is an obsessive planner, one may find that the only way to get beyond the planning stage is to set a deadline. Or example, one must give himself one full month to do planning. Then, when that month is over, regardless of how finished, the plan is to get started on making things happen. One can always refine the plan as he goes.– No planning sessions – If one goes through planning withdrawal, one must allow a small, regimented time period for planning. A good way to do this is to schedule a day off-site for senior managers once every quarter. Communication among the parties will improve, one will get a change of scenery, those who are obsessed with planning can get a regular fix and short regular planning sessions allow one to change, duck, and weave according to market conditions. – Not recognizing unknowns. Many plans would be completed much earlier except planners wanted to make sure every issue was examined and every possibility accounted for.Sometimes, plans are never valid for more than a few minutes after they are completed. So, instead of trying to resolve all unknowns in the plan, one can just make a list of what one does not know, consider that list to be a part of the plan and move on. (Stalker). Planning is also like change management because it deals with the why and how of organizational changes, management of innovation â€Å"refers to the understanding of the way innovation processes develop within organizations and the creation of conditions to support these processes† (Institute for Governance Studies, IGS n.d. ). Therefore, if change management is concerned with the conception, development and implementation of change, management of innovation tackles the same processes but in relation to innovation instead of change. Further, management of innovation aims to discover how to create the conditions conducive to innovative practices. Management of innovation is a handy know-how for managers when there is an effort to develop new products or services, new production and service processes and organizational conditions.The first condition is called â€Å"product or service innovation,† the second is â€Å"process innovation† and the last is broadly referred to as â€Å"organizational innovation† (IGS, n. d. ). In this regard, it can be seen that goal setting involves tools to keep the organization from becoming stagnant or stunted. Indeed, this is necessary for growth. Innovation is a form of change. The only difference between these two is that change may be any alteration in the organization either as a response to a threat or opportunity or as an anticipatory move to a future change.It is a simple transition or movement from one point to another, regardless of the direction. Innovation, on the other hand, is an activity that requires â€Å"creative capacities† to deliberately invent new ideas (Van de Ven, Angle & Poole, 2000). New products, processes and approaches are all forms of change, but most importantly, they are innovations. They are the outcomes of unique or creative ideas that were developed and implemented by designated individuals to achieve a desired outcome (Van de Ven, Palley, Garud, & Venkataraman 1999).In this regard, it can be seen that goal setting involves tools to keep the organization from becoming stagnant or stunted. Indeed, this is necessary for growth. Innovation is a form of change. The only difference between these two is that change may be any alteration in the organization either as a response to a threat or opportunity or as an anticipatory move to a future change. It is a simple transition or movement from one point to another, regardless of the direction.Innovation, on the other hand, is an activity that requires â€Å"creative capacities† to deliberately invent new ideas (Van de Ven, Angle & Poole, 2000). New products, processes and approaches are all forms of change, but most importantly, they are innovations. They are the outcomes of unique or creative ideas that were developed and implemented by designated individuals to achieve a desired outcome (Van de Ven, Palley, Garud, & Venkataraman 1999). Innovation, like change, may also be threatening.It can be remembered that during the industrial revolution era when the assembly line was just newly developed, some workers were against further mechanization and automation, fearing that they would lose their jobs. Yet management of innovation, like change management, must also replace employee resistance with acceptance and participation. It would be helpful to remember the idea developed by George Stalker and Tom Burns (1994) that â€Å"technical progress underlies every kind of change in the social order† and alternatively, â€Å"technical progress is the outcome o f changes in the institution of society.† Because of the fast-paced world of business and enterprising, organizational leaders must always be set to implement changes and to innovate for their organization’s betterment. Implementing policies regarding change and innovation, however, must be properly planned and must aptly consider the human side of change. Change management and management of innovation are related to each other primarily because both are tools that an organization can use to address pertinent issues.These two management styles are both expected to deliver results in that the old system is replaced with a better one, or where a novel product, process or culture is enforced to bring about positive outcome to the organization. Further, these two management styles are also the necessary ingredients to continuously promote growth within the company and to prevent stagnation and degradation. Uncertainties in the environment, however, make people generally app rehensive of change and innovation. Their stable niches and comfort zones are threatened.It is human side of management, therefore, that must handle the resistance of the people. There are several ways of controlling and directing the reactions of the employees, but what is importantly is that they would all eventually become a part of the proposed change so that they can become fulfilled and appreciated members of the organization. Indeed, mapping out all the changes that will be necessary to complete the reinvention process is often impossible, especially since planning needs to go on every day, for the rest of the life of the company, But it is possible to outline goals and guidelines governing reinvention.One should be careful about how to set goals and guidelines. Some goals are highly subjective, almost ethereal and certainly long term. Others are tangible, tomorrow-oriented goals. During its start-up phase, the primary business goal is simple: consistent solvency. It is a sim ple goal, but it allows one to understand that the mission, initially was to get the company running and keep it running. There are no fancier goals for many years. REFERENCES Change management. (2007, January 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 1, 2007 at:http://en.wikipedia. org/w/ index. php? title=Change_management&oldid=101816085 Hellriegel, D & Slocum, J (1996). Management. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western College. Hine, Alison. Mirroring effective education through mentoring, metacognition and self Reflection. University of Western Sydney, Nepean School of Teaching and Educational Studies Retrieved April 1, 2007 at: http://www. aare. edu. au/00pap/hin00017. htm Sainsbury, John. Cooperating to Compete in the Global Environment. Retrieved April 1, 2007 at: http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:6ccSQXBzoF8J:www. affa. gov.au/corporate_docs/publications/rtf/social_science/countrymatters/sainsbury. rtf+barriers+planning+and+goal-setting+in+Australian+compani es&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=12&gl=ph Nickols, F. (2006). Change Management 101: A Primer. Distance Consulting. Retrieved April 1, 2007 at:from http://home. att. net/~nickols/change. htm Nilakant, V. & Ramnarayan, S. (2006). Change Management. Sage. Stalker, G. M. & Burns, T. (1994). The Management of Innovation. New York: Oxford UP. Van de Ven, A. H. , Angle, H. L. & Poole, M. S. (Eds). (2000). Research on the Management of Innovation. New York: Oxford UP.