Thank You for Smoking Review Essay Example

The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

The Things They Carried Essay 1. Jimmy’s love for Martha is in an undeniable and exacting sense in his psyche. This adoration was built to a limited extent from a concise experience they had before and set up and explained on, by his depression and fight weariness welcomed on by the war. I accept he has developed this relationship with her along these lines. It’s not so much clear in the story if his affection is authentic or simply an impetus or interruption to ship him away from the world he presently lives in, where there is no adoration or profound quality just demise, agony, and obliteration. 2. Jimmy appears to for the most part consider Martha when he is feeling alone, when things have gotten still, or the war has gotten excessively and he needs to get away. This is the reason when his detachment part is in the passage, he thinks about her since he knows the spot he is in and the peril he could confront. Everything turns out to be excessively and Jimmy needs to escape for a period. 3. Ted Lavender’s passing could be portrayed because of lack of regard. Possibly in the story he is depicted of being frightful to the point he was self sedating to numb himself to the truth that encompassed him. Then again later in the story the creator dispensed with the reality of â€Å"in times of war men will now and then do anything escape†, possibly in some regard Ted was welcoming demise as methods for alleviation. 4. I trust Jimmy utilizes this reason to legitimize activities and conduct of normal men and once in a while even boy’s place a phenomenal and extraordinarily distressing circumstances. It pardons him since he falls into a similar class of every other person in a similar circumstance. There are times when men paying little heed to contrasts can meet up on the grounds that they all comprehend an ongoing theme. Then again Jimmy’s positioning of Lieutenant places him in a place of administration and the tie that holds and secures the lives of other and must disassociate himself from reasons to do this. 5. The officers poke fun at the war to minimalize what's going on. On the off chance that you can chuckle about something it can't be that terrible. It is additionally a type of comradely and departures. 6. The writer utilizes and builds up the thought and depictions of loads in this story to pass on to the peruser the weight both exacting and mental the warriors needed to persevere. Since the writer really expounds outlining to the peruser you can nearly feel it upon yourself. 7. Jimmy forfeits his heart from the outset for uneven love then his obligation as a pioneer and defender of his men. I figure he does this since he is human and searching for something very similar every other person is, a feeling of home and commonality. 8. Jimmy changes toward the finish of the story by relinquishing something that had been weighting him down, professes to see the adoration for somebody who didn't live him back, and has acknowledged the reality of this circumstance. It appears he has lost his break in adoring Martha yet has increased a feeling of conclusion and will likely assist him with sparing his rational soundness and permit him to be a superior trooper and pioneer. 9. I figure the war will appear to be all the more genuine to jimmy now since he is completely drenched in it. He no longer has that place he can go to, to get away. Considering Martha and lovely things and times encompassing her permitted him to be spared from the regular burdens catastrophes, dehumanization’s, and damnation of the universe of war surrounding him.

mbrace

mbrace INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi. Today we are in  Berlin  with mbrace. Jan, who are you and what do you do?Jan: Hi. Welcome. My name is Jan, Im the co-founder of mbrace, responsible for marketing and growth. The company kicked off last summer. We are building social discovery apps and we have a team of 16 people now and we are looking forward to expand.Martin: What did you do before you started this company?Jan: Before I joined mbrace as a co-founder, I work for HitFox for 2 years. It is a local incubator where I also met my co-founders Ruben and Lukas. HitFox basically, initially was a group on for games model and then evolved into a game focused incubator for high tech companies.Ruben and Lukas worked in one of the portfolio companies for browser games and I was responsible for mobile. Just before I came back to  Berlin, I lived in  San Francisco  for about a year to build an office for AppLift which is their portfolio company.Martin: What did you do in the Silicon Valley and what are the m ajor differences between Berlins entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem in the  Silicon Valley startup system?Jan: Silicon Valley  in itself, first of all was an  enlightening  experience. You meet vast amount of inspiring  and really passionate people. The biggest distinction I found was that people are more experienced in setting up companies, like from very junior beginning of their 20s to older people that have been through several iteration of setting up a company. Either failing after a year or actually have some other the big plans. So people are much more experienced, theyve learnt more lessons, they know how to take struggles and know how to take pitfalls and downfalls, and just more experienced in setting up companies.In general, Silicon Valley and  San Francisco  in particular is an amazing place to go and spend time as I think for every founder. And the amount of passion you take, the amount of speed get, the amount of execution knowledge you get, in particular in the l ocally strong industry for mobile and tech, fintech, software as a service, mobile payment.It was just fascinating and this is always fun, if you walked down the street and basically look at the door signs and you know basically  every single company that you read about on tech launching event before. So it was a very high density. Even if you go to a bar and talk to anybody, theres a chance that he/she works for Facebook, Google or just be setting up their own companies. If you like, everybody there is just craving for fun ideas and setting up a company.Martin: So was it easy to get in touch with the people?Jan: Very easy. I found also much easier than in  Berlin. People are just more interested in general and also much more open to network. They, I think part of the reason they are not afraid to share ideas or to share secrets and how each other out. They just know that good ideas are not really worth anything, or tell how to grow a company is not really worth anything.While the G ermans here in Berlin, people are a little bit more enclosed and a little bit shy to tell everything they know and basically help each other out. Thats probably one of the things that will come also when  Berlin goes  for more iterations of companies.And the network to talk to relevant people in  San Francisco  is much denser, so there are thousands of angels, hundreds of VCs. So there would be 500 people  relevant  for you, if you are in a very niche market. Just software as a service for whatever game company or business, but for that you would already have like 50 angels who do nothing else but this, and probably 2 VCs to do nothing else but this. So its very dense. Very interesting.BUSINESS MODELMartin: Lets talk about the business model of mbrace. How does it work and did you already change it? And what are your future plans in terms of iteration?Jan: So the initial idea to start mbrace last year was really to build an innovative, very unique social discovery application. To ma tch how its happening in real life, to build a better way software supported to meet new, interesting people. But it turned out to be a very complex to start, so we start to kick off with a dating focus product, mbrace 1.0.So we had the first basic concept ready in June, July last year, formed the company in August and the beta version live in October to show the working proof of concept, the concept we have is working. So a very simple product, just a simple HTML5 based and working across all platforms. With that proof of concept we were able to raise a 7 digit in rounds in December from three local VCs. Then apps live around February, March, and its catering to 6 countries.Now with all these learnings we make, to understand how the users flow, how do they receive the app, what is the stance we take to find a product market fit,  the critical challenges in growing an app. Growing from traction to growth, so the different stages.We now believe that we are ready to take the next ste p with the initial area, we have to really build a mobile support, mobile helper, and youre on the phone youre connected with the relevant people around you to get the benefit out of it.Martin: And how is the current matching process working of people with several interests and what make this change in the future?Jan: As now since it tends towards dating, we make it as simple as possible to break ice between 2 people. So there are several factors going into the algorithm is location, age, common interests, common friends, common events you went to, etc., etc. And then you have this mutual interest, so if I show interest in you and you show interest in me, and we have a match and we can start chatting in the app.We introduced the second ice breaker, which is a challenge. Basically that the local guy can post to me, so Okay if you want to talk to me, tell me a secret, make me laugh, tell me a joke in different language, what would you cook for me in our first meeting, tell me about th e most experienced travel or trip you did. So its a bit more, not just like spray and pray, and its like every girl that I see around, but really if Im interested I put a little bit more effort.First theres the ice breaker, and second already tells you a little bit more about the other person, so what type of answer she has. So it was very successful.  The feature was very well perceived, since it adds more personal level to the new interaction of somebody new. This is also learning that now will be taken to the new social discovery app. So thinking a lot about the question, like what is it called common interest or common denominator or the core contact that would make sense to connect these 2 people.There are some apps of course, a lot of apps with social discovery. The most social discovery apps are dating apps because it sells better, but you should be careful. But if you look at  app  highlight for example, which is a bit similar to our vision and mission. They would just say: Hey, as Jan is working downstairs, hes working in startup, I think we should meet, which is nice, instead of knowing nothing about him. I believe, that really still doesnt have enough context for me to really go down and meet somebody.So we try to make it to the next step and really establishes common excuses, common denominator, that really make sense for both parties involved to meet each other.Martin: How do you feed in the data? Is it the users that is entering all the data, I was there. How do you connect all the space or sources for getting a common data set?Jan: There are several sources, of course. You have to rely on what the users want to give us and thats normal. We still use also Facebook login, since its very convenient for the users and it gives us a good basic data set to know basically who you are and what you like.And then the context as location data and a data that we have from several sources. So the event you went to we use from APIs. We build a lot on  iBeacon  infrastructure that we know whos currently where. So we just try to add several sources that would enrich users experience for you.Martin: Is it true that you currently mainly rely on Facebook data for creating your algorithm?Jan: Yes, we do it on purpose. Because it make sense for the dating focused apps, just to avoid spam. I mean, most dating social discovery app will spam profiles, partly on purpose because they need contents. But we decided that the quality of the user base and the authenticity of user base is critical to a long term success. And Facebook is the easiest way to do this. So when we introduce it, its basically on Facebook, the first its convenient for its users, but for us, we can checked how many friends that he/she has, if they really exist, etc.Martin: When you go from the dating app to a more social discovery app, what is the current revenue model and how might it change?Jan: Since we all came from mobile games, so marketing mobile games are the most competit ive category for 2 years. So, we basically know all sorts of different ways to monetize the app. We specifically took on the VC money, so we have enough time to build and grow first, and then introduce the monetization model later on.In general, and we have all sorts of options available and one of the most number one would be freemium. So we look for really power users or for involving external parties, you can have all the function for free but if you want to have them better, more extreme, more frequent experience, you should pay for small features. And we can involve external parties, event organizers or companies that might be interested to incorporate with us. And there are several successful tests we did to monetize.Advertising is the least priority. We think that is sponsored user experience that is currently not a truly native ad format that people would use in the app. But we shifted or we place the focus on what iteration and need to monetize after we get the first tracti on for the new product or towards the end of this year.We will test. And in the end, we test everything. So we A/B test the product, design, features, communications and every test monetization, to see which base to seek best by its user. Its the only way to really go bottom up and understand what the users accept and we optimize it for us to make enough to cover all cost. But its not how it used to be a year ago, where we can just basically force them to pay or show ads in the app if it  doesnt  want it  and then go. Theres much competition.Martin: Jan, you are the Chief Marketing Officer here at mbrace. Can you tell us a little bit more about how you acquire customer especially as you currently only focus on 6 countries?Jan: So one of the critical disciplines we have to master is how to overcome the cold start, which is a chicken egg problem. If we can get enough users, we can get enough users to have a great new users experience in the app, so we have to overcome the network effe cts.Partly we do that by a variety of channels, we can basically switch on and off and scale depending on the usage. We have so, we did a lot of performance based advertising where we basically agree on fixed  CPI  and the use of Facebook, Twitter or affiliate networks and media buyer to give us traffic of a certain category in a certain location, which is basically an on and off switch to scale. And the long term, we have build and significant traction in-house through social media digital content marketing.So really getting in front of the user base, potential user base and convince them that we have a really cool product and communicate the added value we have through app and through content marketing we do. The third is a very local event marketing as well. Especially where we launch hub by hub,  Berlin,  Munich,  Hamburg,  Singapore,  Amsterdam, etc etc.And we host events, we partnered with local companies. For example in  Germany  its Red Bull, where we really stage events in the target audience to try basically to get lots of signups  in a short amount of time.Whenever we see traction basically, then we switch on with the performance marketing as to support traction and make sure that we have enough installs and signups for certain period of time until we hit a percentage benchmark, say 25 22 % of the target audience is in the app, and from there normally  the app loads okay. So its a step by step process and we have basically a mix of 6 to 7 channels, and we basically see whats working and then we switch on and off.Martin: Okay. In the current version of mbrace, you use this kind of virality because its invite only. What have been your major learnings about how to increase virality?Jan: Increasing virality is critical and I think for any mobile apps. We have to find features that basically trigger the users to really wanting to invite friends. So, the app itself has to add more value whenever you have friends or the people in the app that you know.Thi s is critical for K-factor, that is how we measure virality. In one of the first steps, we did that and to get the initial traction was the exclusiveness or the invite only. And that is also part that again, we want to have a super high quality user base.So that the user can decide: Hey, this makes sense, I would like to meet it person, yes or no. And it was just important  if you have so many signups that you cant really  distinguish. If you involve external parties to do acquisition for you, they will always be a lot of spam, a lot of good users that would just basically destroy the user experience. So the exclusiveness or the invite only was the mix of hey, I can invite my friends and also the strongest way to keep people having high quality.Martin: So what you recommend everybody to ask community to start with this approach?Jan: No. I think cant be said that way. Its one interesting tool and that you can use but its also one of many tools that just have to make sense for the use case. For us, we tested it and it made sense, it worked great, and gaining growth first but for other community it wouldnt make sense at all. It depends.It depends on also what’s your strongest denominator in the community. If the community is based on general content, then that wouldnt make sense to basically limit the exclusiveness of the users. Then it would make more sense to limit maybe who can post or who can contribute contents.A bit like what Medium did for example in the first month. Everybody could read and join Medium, but only handful of people could post on product. And in the community everybody can join, as long as you cant do damage, it doesnt really make sense to limit who can join. So right now they have like 50 60 people who post product ideas and soon it probably open up to market.But in our case, in social discovery app, where the focus is on people, the people are of course also the content. So what you see in the app is the people, so there was a part to e ducate  very-very high quality, and therefore it make sense to ask you to introduce exclusive only.Martin: Understood.CORPORATE STRATEGYMartin: In terms of corporate strategy, competitors like Lovoo or Tinder. How do you plan to be unique in this kind of market?Jan: Uniqueness I think derives from added value. Tinder and Lovoo, we dont see as competitors. They are strong in their market niche for dating and for hookups which we believe is one interesting segment of a market to meet new people but we believe there is much-much more.Even if we only look at the dating value chain: there are some people who are happy to use dating apps; there are like 80% of all singles who dont want dating apps; and theyre like most of the people who already have a partner who would still like to meet people. These hookups or dating apps only cover the tip of the iceberg.We always see it as a comparison to real life. I mean how many people would go to a single party. People go to a party of course to meet new people, but most people I know wouldnt go to a single party. And we believe that 100% focus dating apps more like single parties in real life and we want to go for the segment that really the way you meet and interact with new people in real life, out of contents, out of added values, through social and recommendations or through your social friendship. That can also be done better or with more fun.Martin: As currently, you mostly depended on Facebook data, how do you plan to diversify this data sources so you dont risk your business model?Jan: Its a step-by-step approach. At the beginning, theres a risk of Facebook is also very German-centric and all other countries we didnt really have any issue at all, people who are asking for us to implement a Facebook login. So the dependence on Facebook data is more the first step to create traction and afterwards well have our own data source, also think about own ways to aggregate the data, of course. But to build that already at t he beginning would just add more complexity and would make us slower to get the traction.Martin: Understood. So you would plan to build your own data source not adding other data sources?Jan: Yes, I think in the end you have to. At least as a stock and then depending on whats the users want, user preferences, you can feed in more data sources. Right now we see a lot of from people who like to integrate Instagram or Twitter or any other social networks that would tell something about them thats interesting. That would just be just added step-by-step. In the end, we will always try to be as close as possible to our users, so we set a certain concept that has to be done for the concept to work. But then what we would add or take out or try is basically based on the users feedback.MARKET DEVELOPMENTMartin: Lets understand the market development. Can you tell us a little bit about the history of social discovery apps and also in terms of user sizes, market sizes and maybe even try to seg ment it?Jan: I think it is important to make distinction between social discovery and dating, because most dating apps call themselves social discovery apps.For looking at the dating market is a strong segment in meeting new people of course, it was a big shift from very annoying and old fashion websites 2 3 years ago, shifting to mobile. As the location based information become apparent on the smartphones, people will use it when they have a smartphone 24/7 and to see who is around. Location of course is very important if you would like to meet somebody, I like to meet somebody for a coffee.So that basically was a trigger to shift a lot of people from the very serious like 70 page questionnaire, 50€ a month web dating portals into the more casual. Very similar to what happened in gaming as well. So the gaming, browser games were basically very stiff and then through the mobile device, having it 24/7 added value for the mobile platform. Then basically it moved into mainstream tha ts more casual, which is the same as dating.But this is not our focus. We focus on social discovery and social discovery that are only a handful of true apps who try to tackle what we are doing. So we add a significant value to your real life not replacing your real life, not replacing what you do in your life but just making it better or making it more fun to meet new people.Sonar was one, but they failed. Some have been struggling, so a lot of these apps have been founded for 4, 5, 6 years  ago. But back then, you didnt have the data and you need to add the unique user experience. So there are more concepts coming out now to really foster context based information, context based interaction between people in a certain location. And just because now especially with iOS 8, we have a lot of locations and context data about the user that really add value to whats happening in your real life.So market size is for, so again for the first part of the dating are going heavily: 2-digits de pending on the country and the platform. But the shift is very strong especially with apps like Tinder, making it very mainstream, especially for people who are skeptics before just giving it a try. Its a bit hype, its down a bit now or but at least its like have to wait for more people, for more apps to come into this niche and pick up where Tinder  left off.It was just interesting, social discovery in  Germany,  its a new topic. Like the word itself or the decline itself is still new and most people still link it to dating. In other countries,  US  for example, we had a lot of tech coverage, its very innovative, very interesting concepts.So basically both segments grow on a 2 digit level per year. Especially in the very young emerging markets  Eastern Europe,  Brazil, Asia,  China,  India,  South East Asia. Thats really a lot.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURS In Berlin, we interviewed Jan Tillmann, the co-founder and CMO of mbrace.Mbrace is a social discovery app which matches people by their interest in order to bring them together. Jan talks about the business model of mbrace, its corporate strategy and market development, and shares several advices for first time entrepreneurs.Transcript of the interview is provided below.INTRODUCTIONMartin: Hi. Today we are in  Berlin  with mbrace. Jan, who are you and what do you do?Jan: Hi. Welcome. My name is Jan, Im the co-founder of mbrace, responsible for marketing and growth. The company kicked off last summer. We are building social discovery apps and we have a team of 16 people now and we are looking forward to expand.Martin: What did you do before you started this company?Jan: Before I joined mbrace as a co-founder, I work for HitFox for 2 years. It is a local incubator where I also met my co-founders Ruben and Lukas. HitFox basically, initially was a group on for games model and then evolve d into a game focused incubator for high tech companies.Ruben and Lukas worked in one of the portfolio companies for browser games and I was responsible for mobile. Just before I came back to  Berlin, I lived in  San Francisco  for about a year to build an office for AppLift which is their portfolio company.Martin: What did you do in the Silicon Valley and what are the major differences between Berlins entrepreneurs and the startup ecosystem in the  Silicon Valley startup system?Jan: Silicon Valley  in itself, first of all was an  enlightening  experience. You meet vast amount of inspiring  and really passionate people. The biggest distinction I found was that people are more experienced in setting up companies, like from very junior beginning of their 20s to older people that have been through several iteration of setting up a company. Either failing after a year or actually have some other the big plans. So people are much more experienced, theyve learnt more lessons, they know ho w to take struggles and know how to take pitfalls and downfalls, and just more experienced in setting up companies.In general, Silicon Valley and  San Francisco  in particular is an amazing place to go and spend time as I think for every founder. And the amount of passion you take, the amount of speed get, the amount of execution knowledge you get, in particular in the locally strong industry for mobile and tech, fintech, software as a service, mobile payment.It was just fascinating and this is always fun, if you walked down the street and basically look at the door signs and you know basically  every single company that you read about on tech launching event before. So it was a very high density. Even if you go to a bar and talk to anybody, theres a chance that he/she works for Facebook, Google or just be setting up their own companies. If you like, everybody there is just craving for fun ideas and setting up a company.Martin: So was it easy to get in touch with the people?Jan: Ver y easy. I found also much easier than in  Berlin. People are just more interested in general and also much more open to network. They, I think part of the reason they are not afraid to share ideas or to share secrets and how each other out. They just know that good ideas are not really worth anything, or tell how to grow a company is not really worth anything.While the Germans here in Berlin, people are a little bit more enclosed and a little bit shy to tell everything they know and basically help each other out. Thats probably one of the things that will come also when  Berlin goes  for more iterations of companies.And the network to talk to relevant people in  San Francisco  is much denser, so there are thousands of angels, hundreds of VCs. So there would be 500 people  relevant  for you, if you are in a very niche market. Just software as a service for whatever game company or business, but for that you would already have like 50 angels who do nothing else but this, and probably 2 VCs to do nothing else but this. So its very dense. Very interesting.BUSINESS MODELMartin: Lets talk about the business model of mbrace. How does it work and did you already change it? And what are your future plans in terms of iteration?Jan: So the initial idea to start mbrace last year was really to build an innovative, very unique social discovery application. To match how its happening in real life, to build a better way software supported to meet new, interesting people. But it turned out to be a very complex to start, so we start to kick off with a dating focus product, mbrace 1.0.So we had the first basic concept ready in June, July last year, formed the company in August and the beta version live in October to show the working proof of concept, the concept we have is working. So a very simple product, just a simple HTML5 based and working across all platforms. With that proof of concept we were able to raise a 7 digit in rounds in December from three local VCs. Then apps l ive around February, March, and its catering to 6 countries.Now with all these learnings we make, to understand how the users flow, how do they receive the app, what is the stance we take to find a product market fit,  the critical challenges in growing an app. Growing from traction to growth, so the different stages.We now believe that we are ready to take the next step with the initial area, we have to really build a mobile support, mobile helper, and youre on the phone youre connected with the relevant people around you to get the benefit out of it.Martin: And how is the current matching process working of people with several interests and what make this change in the future?Jan: As now since it tends towards dating, we make it as simple as possible to break ice between 2 people. So there are several factors going into the algorithm is location, age, common interests, common friends, common events you went to, etc., etc. And then you have this mutual interest, so if I show inter est in you and you show interest in me, and we have a match and we can start chatting in the app.We introduced the second ice breaker, which is a challenge. Basically that the local guy can post to me, so Okay if you want to talk to me, tell me a secret, make me laugh, tell me a joke in different language, what would you cook for me in our first meeting, tell me about the most experienced travel or trip you did. So its a bit more, not just like spray and pray, and its like every girl that I see around, but really if Im interested I put a little bit more effort.First theres the ice breaker, and second already tells you a little bit more about the other person, so what type of answer she has. So it was very successful.  The feature was very well perceived, since it adds more personal level to the new interaction of somebody new. This is also learning that now will be taken to the new social discovery app. So thinking a lot about the question, like what is it called common interest or common denominator or the core contact that would make sense to connect these 2 people.There are some apps of course, a lot of apps with social discovery. The most social discovery apps are dating apps because it sells better, but you should be careful. But if you look at  app  highlight for example, which is a bit similar to our vision and mission. They would just say: Hey, as Jan is working downstairs, hes working in startup, I think we should meet, which is nice, instead of knowing nothing about him. I believe, that really still doesnt have enough context for me to really go down and meet somebody.So we try to make it to the next step and really establishes common excuses, common denominator, that really make sense for both parties involved to meet each other.Martin: How do you feed in the data? Is it the users that is entering all the data, I was there. How do you connect all the space or sources for getting a common data set?Jan: There are several sources, of course. You have t o rely on what the users want to give us and thats normal. We still use also Facebook login, since its very convenient for the users and it gives us a good basic data set to know basically who you are and what you like.And then the context as location data and a data that we have from several sources. So the event you went to we use from APIs. We build a lot on  iBeacon  infrastructure that we know whos currently where. So we just try to add several sources that would enrich users experience for you.Martin: Is it true that you currently mainly rely on Facebook data for creating your algorithm?Jan: Yes, we do it on purpose. Because it make sense for the dating focused apps, just to avoid spam. I mean, most dating social discovery app will spam profiles, partly on purpose because they need contents. But we decided that the quality of the user base and the authenticity of user base is critical to a long term success. And Facebook is the easiest way to do this. So when we introduce it, its basically on Facebook, the first its convenient for its users, but for us, we can checked how many friends that he/she has, if they really exist, etc.Martin: When you go from the dating app to a more social discovery app, what is the current revenue model and how might it change?Jan: Since we all came from mobile games, so marketing mobile games are the most competitive category for 2 years. So, we basically know all sorts of different ways to monetize the app. We specifically took on the VC money, so we have enough time to build and grow first, and then introduce the monetization model later on.In general, and we have all sorts of options available and one of the most number one would be freemium. So we look for really power users or for involving external parties, you can have all the function for free but if you want to have them better, more extreme, more frequent experience, you should pay for small features. And we can involve external parties, event organizers or companie s that might be interested to incorporate with us. And there are several successful tests we did to monetize.Advertising is the least priority. We think that is sponsored user experience that is currently not a truly native ad format that people would use in the app. But we shifted or we place the focus on what iteration and need to monetize after we get the first traction for the new product or towards the end of this year.We will test. And in the end, we test everything. So we A/B test the product, design, features, communications and every test monetization, to see which base to seek best by its user. Its the only way to really go bottom up and understand what the users accept and we optimize it for us to make enough to cover all cost. But its not how it used to be a year ago, where we can just basically force them to pay or show ads in the app if it  doesnt  want it  and then go. Theres much competition.Martin: Jan, you are the Chief Marketing Officer here at mbrace. Can you tel l us a little bit more about how you acquire customer especially as you currently only focus on 6 countries?Jan: So one of the critical disciplines we have to master is how to overcome the cold start, which is a chicken egg problem. If we can get enough users, we can get enough users to have a great new users experience in the app, so we have to overcome the network effects.Partly we do that by a variety of channels, we can basically switch on and off and scale depending on the usage. We have so, we did a lot of performance based advertising where we basically agree on fixed  CPI  and the use of Facebook, Twitter or affiliate networks and media buyer to give us traffic of a certain category in a certain location, which is basically an on and off switch to scale. And the long term, we have build and significant traction in-house through social media digital content marketing.So really getting in front of the user base, potential user base and convince them that we have a really cool product and communicate the added value we have through app and through content marketing we do. The third is a very local event marketing as well. Especially where we launch hub by hub,  Berlin,  Munich,  Hamburg,  Singapore,  Amsterdam, etc etc.And we host events, we partnered with local companies. For example in  Germany  its Red Bull, where we really stage events in the target audience to try basically to get lots of signups  in a short amount of time.Whenever we see traction basically, then we switch on with the performance marketing as to support traction and make sure that we have enough installs and signups for certain period of time until we hit a percentage benchmark, say 25 22 % of the target audience is in the app, and from there normally  the app loads okay. So its a step by step process and we have basically a mix of 6 to 7 channels, and we basically see whats working and then we switch on and off.Martin: Okay. In the current version of mbrace, you use this kind of vi rality because its invite only. What have been your major learnings about how to increase virality?Jan: Increasing virality is critical and I think for any mobile apps. We have to find features that basically trigger the users to really wanting to invite friends. So, the app itself has to add more value whenever you have friends or the people in the app that you know.This is critical for K-factor, that is how we measure virality. In one of the first steps, we did that and to get the initial traction was the exclusiveness or the invite only. And that is also part that again, we want to have a super high quality user base.So that the user can decide: Hey, this makes sense, I would like to meet it person, yes or no. And it was just important  if you have so many signups that you cant really  distinguish. If you involve external parties to do acquisition for you, they will always be a lot of spam, a lot of good users that would just basically destroy the user experience. So the exclusiv eness or the invite only was the mix of hey, I can invite my friends and also the strongest way to keep people having high quality.Martin: So what you recommend everybody to ask community to start with this approach?Jan: No. I think cant be said that way. Its one interesting tool and that you can use but its also one of many tools that just have to make sense for the use case. For us, we tested it and it made sense, it worked great, and gaining growth first but for other community it wouldnt make sense at all. It depends.It depends on also what’s your strongest denominator in the community. If the community is based on general content, then that wouldnt make sense to basically limit the exclusiveness of the users. Then it would make more sense to limit maybe who can post or who can contribute contents.A bit like what Medium did for example in the first month. Everybody could read and join Medium, but only handful of people could post on product. And in the community everybody can join, as long as you cant do damage, it doesnt really make sense to limit who can join. So right now they have like 50 60 people who post product ideas and soon it probably open up to market.But in our case, in social discovery app, where the focus is on people, the people are of course also the content. So what you see in the app is the people, so there was a part to educate  very-very high quality, and therefore it make sense to ask you to introduce exclusive only.Martin: Understood.CORPORATE STRATEGYMartin: In terms of corporate strategy, competitors like Lovoo or Tinder. How do you plan to be unique in this kind of market?Jan: Uniqueness I think derives from added value. Tinder and Lovoo, we dont see as competitors. They are strong in their market niche for dating and for hookups which we believe is one interesting segment of a market to meet new people but we believe there is much-much more.Even if we only look at the dating value chain: there are some people who are happy to use dating apps; there are like 80% of all singles who dont want dating apps; and theyre like most of the people who already have a partner who would still like to meet people. These hookups or dating apps only cover the tip of the iceberg.We always see it as a comparison to real life. I mean how many people would go to a single party. People go to a party of course to meet new people, but most people I know wouldnt go to a single party. And we believe that 100% focus dating apps more like single parties in real life and we want to go for the segment that really the way you meet and interact with new people in real life, out of contents, out of added values, through social and recommendations or through your social friendship. That can also be done better or with more fun.Martin: As currently, you mostly depended on Facebook data, how do you plan to diversify this data sources so you dont risk your business model?Jan: Its a step-by-step approach. At the beginning, theres a risk of Facebook is also very German-centric and all other countries we didnt really have any issue at all, people who are asking for us to implement a Facebook login. So the dependence on Facebook data is more the first step to create traction and afterwards well have our own data source, also think about own ways to aggregate the data, of course. But to build that already at the beginning would just add more complexity and would make us slower to get the traction.Martin: Understood. So you would plan to build your own data source not adding other data sources?Jan: Yes, I think in the end you have to. At least as a stock and then depending on whats the users want, user preferences, you can feed in more data sources. Right now we see a lot of from people who like to integrate Instagram or Twitter or any other social networks that would tell something about them thats interesting. That would just be just added step-by-step. In the end, we will always try to be as close as possible to our use rs, so we set a certain concept that has to be done for the concept to work. But then what we would add or take out or try is basically based on the users feedback.MARKET DEVELOPMENTMartin: Lets understand the market development. Can you tell us a little bit about the history of social discovery apps and also in terms of user sizes, market sizes and maybe even try to segment it?Jan: I think it is important to make distinction between social discovery and dating, because most dating apps call themselves social discovery apps.For looking at the dating market is a strong segment in meeting new people of course, it was a big shift from very annoying and old fashion websites 2 3 years ago, shifting to mobile. As the location based information become apparent on the smartphones, people will use it when they have a smartphone 24/7 and to see who is around. Location of course is very important if you would like to meet somebody, I like to meet somebody for a coffee.So that basically was a trigger to shift a lot of people from the very serious like 70 page questionnaire, 50€ a month web dating portals into the more casual. Very similar to what happened in gaming as well. So the gaming, browser games were basically very stiff and then through the mobile device, having it 24/7 added value for the mobile platform. Then basically it moved into mainstream thats more casual, which is the same as dating.But this is not our focus. We focus on social discovery and social discovery that are only a handful of true apps who try to tackle what we are doing. So we add a significant value to your real life not replacing your real life, not replacing what you do in your life but just making it better or making it more fun to meet new people.Sonar was one, but they failed. Some have been struggling, so a lot of these apps have been founded for 4, 5, 6 years  ago. But back then, you didnt have the data and you need to add the unique user experience. So there are more concepts coming out now to really foster context based information, context based interaction between people in a certain location. And just because now especially with iOS 8, we have a lot of locations and context data about the user that really add value to whats happening in your real life.So market size is for, so again for the first part of the dating are going heavily: 2-digits depending on the country and the platform. But the shift is very strong especially with apps like Tinder, making it very mainstream, especially for people who are skeptics before just giving it a try. Its a bit hype, its down a bit now or but at least its like have to wait for more people, for more apps to come into this niche and pick up where Tinder  left off.It was just interesting, social discovery in  Germany,  its a new topic. Like the word itself or the decline itself is still new and most people still link it to dating. In other countries,  US  for example, we had a lot of tech coverage, its very innovative, ve ry interesting concepts.So basically both segments grow on a 2 digit level per year. Especially in the very young emerging markets  Eastern Europe,  Brazil, Asia,  China,  India,  South East Asia. Thats really a lot.ADVICE TO ENTREPRENEURSMartin: So we always try to teach people a little bit of what they shouldnt do when they start a company, and what they should do. What had been your major learnings over the last years and also from the time that you work at HitFox for example?Jan: I think, HitFox was an incredible time and I probably have no idea right now how much I learnt.  So if you knew, if you havent set up your own company yet, it really pays off to work with super smart founders for a year or two. The amount of lessons you learnt is just incredible.So basically 2 years ago, I made a decision, I set up a company now and just learn everything myself, or do I still work with an incubator with very smart founders. Some people prefer to set up their own company, but for me, Im very happy that I did the other way and learnt a lot from great people.The HitFox is a very rapid execution driven company, so very smart business model, the concept you just go out and execute.And the part two to go out and get market feedback is super important.  And there is tendency as  a founder to lock yourself in, because youve read so much, youve talked so much, there are so many ideas, you lock yourself in the meeting room, you write all the walls and basically come out with a golden bullet, where you think this is the best concept. But as soon as you talked to the first 5 people, you feel it doesnt make sense. Users dont want it, its perfect in my head but it doesnt make sense on paper or life at all.  So this is going out part and starting to execute is very important.And then build a team who has this passion for startups and entrepreneurship, who can then also iterate and basically navigate the challenge along the way.But the going out parts and really focusing on the e xecution is very important. And that focus, I think is something that people learn, what really important, what is important right now in the step from experienced founders whos just been there, setting up one or two companies, ideally also failed one or two. That was a great experience at HitFox.Specifically at mbrace, we were to build our own  B2C app. We helped to market most successful  B2C  apps  before, but then building your own is really a different story. Very interesting, very challenging, and we decided after, as a first concept we also did basically top down. We locked ourselves in, we make the concepts that we are going to take real life risk. It worked goods and greats but it didnt go crazy, because we always cater for a lot of people but not for all of them. Thats why now we switch on to make a more bottom up, so it means lean startup methodology that we basically derive from and hypothesis that we tested every week.We believe that this feature and the app would lead to this outcome. And only if its answered yes by all the people we want to answer yes, and its done in the app. So, its a different approach, it takes a bit longer, but you basically make sure that all of the team is constantly testing on the street, talking to people, to our talent group and getting feedback.There was, I think, especially need of close product market fit. And the environment where it has to be the best fit is definitely  B2C app the competition is so dense. If you look at your smartphone, you probably have 80 90 apps installed, but you only use 10. Out of these 10, already 5 are used by Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook, maybe Twitter and maybe two more. So basically in the end you only compete for 5 or 6 spots on the smartphones against all mobile games, all productivity apps, all other social discovery apps, or media apps, or use apps. Its a very fierce competition. So you don’t only compete against your close competitor. So also do what you do, but you also compe te against all other companies who want to get under thumb screen and thats why the product market fit needs to be perfect.Martin: Okay. Thank you very much.Jan: Youre welcome!

Where Is Phosphorus Found On The Periodic Table

Biopsychosocial And Diathesis Model Theory - 968 Words

Introduction This essay will answer many question concerning biopsychosocial and diathesis. This essay will explain the model theory. This essay will also give you the definitions of biopsychosocial. What three factors does the biopsychosocial (BPS) model propose play a significant role in human functioning? The three factor According to Gardland, E (2016) Model 3 [class handout] â€Å"the biopsychosocial model(Engel,1977) is a general model or approach that states that biological, psychological (which entails thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), and social factors (abbreviated â€Å"BPS†) all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness.† The biopsychosocial model is a broad view that attributes or disease outcome to the intricate, when dealing with the human being is extremely complicated process. On the other hand, the development of psychology, biology and sociology contributed consistently to understand about the process of human development. It very important to address every situation with ample opportunities to develop physically, psychologically and socially. According to Gardland, E (2016) Model 3 [class handout] â€Å" the biopsychosocial model implies that treatment of abnormal behavior, for example, depression, requires that health care team address biological, psychological and social influences upon a patient’s functioning.† Why is the traditional biomedical model seenShow MoreRelatedWhat Three Factors Does The Biopsychosocial Model?904 Words   |  4 Pagesfactors does the biopsychosocial (BPS) model propose play a significant role in human functioning? The three factor According to Gardland, E (2016) Model 3 [class handout]. â€Å"the biopsychosocial model(Engel,1977) is a general model or approach that states that biological, psychological (which entails thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), and social factors (abbreviated â€Å"BPS†) all play a significant role in human functioning in the context of disease or illness.† The biopsychosocial model is a broadRead MoreMajor Types Of Major Depressive Disorder1112 Words   |  5 PagesProposed causes include psychological, psycho-social, hereditary, evolutionary and biological factors. Long-term substance abuse may cause or worsen depressive symptoms. Psychological treatments are based on theories of personality, interpersonal communication, and learning. Most biological theories focus on the monoamine chemicals serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine, which are naturally present in the brain and assist communication between nerve cells. This cluster of symptoms was named, describedRead MorePsy Chological And Social Factors1698 Words   |  7 Pages It has been accepted that health is predicted by biological, psy-chological and social factors; a theory widely used in the 1940s. Thus disproving the original medical definition that health is simply the absence of disease. The World Health Organisation defined health as â€Å"the state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease and in-firmity in 1948† (WHO, 2006). Schizophrenia According to WHO (The World Health Orangastion Schizophre-nia is definedRead More Personality Disorders Essay example3944 Words   |  16 Pagesprofessional functioning is negatively affected, or which lead to personal unhappiness and problems (Louw, 1990). Discuss this statement from a biopsychosocial frame of reference and refer to one personality disorder in any cluster to illustrate your answer. The Biopsychosocial model: ========================== The biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1980, cited in Paris, 1993) suggests an integrated approach that understands psychopathology in terms of multiple causes, noneRead MoreThe Silver Linings Playbook: Clinical Diagnosis of Pat Solitano2727 Words   |  11 Pagesfrom a multifaceted interaction of genetic and environmental factors (Demjaha, MacCabe Murray, 2011) in sum, several things are said to be correlated with origin and maintenance of Bipolar disorder. This literature review will examine the biopsychosocial model approach. Examining biological, environmental and psychological under pinning’s in the diagnoses and classification of mental illness. Many researchers have conducted family studies to determine that bipolar disorder is drawn via genetic endowmentRead MoreAbnormal Psychology (Uop) Test #22076 Words   |  9 Pages | |c. |the stress in the diathesis-stress explanation for the PTSD. | |d. |the stress in the diathesis-stress explanation for the PTSD. | ANS: B 15. Both biology and psychology are involved in the manifestation and form of a disorder. This belief is consistent with the: |a. |biopsychosocial model Read MoreRole of Ministry of Health in Malaysia6759 Words   |  28 Pagesdisease STDs, cancer and exposure to toxins. Recently mens reproductive right with regards to paternity have become subject of debate in the U.S. The term Male abortion was coined by Melanie McCulley, a South Carolina attorney, in a 1998 article. The theory begins with the premise that when a woman becomes pregnant she has the option of abortion, adoption, or parenthood; it argues, in the context of legally recognized gender equality, that in the earliest stages of pregnancy the putative (alleged) father

Industrial Location Model by Phunziro Mphwina Free Essays

A TOPIC REVIEW ON INDUSTRIAL LOCATION MODEL BY ALFRED WEBER. Geography despite being defined as a science it has a vast area of concern, whereby some of these areas touch the economic grounds a field which others identify not as a science. In geography Spatial science is the field that holds some of the economic aspects this is so as it looks at the economic functions of space. We will write a custom essay sample on Industrial Location Model by Phunziro Mphwina or any similar topic only for you Order Now Krugman (1991:p6) defines spatial science as a geographical science that is concerned with the organization of things according to space. This is to say that the arrangement and distribution of things in line with space has a lot of effect on the efficiency of other economic processes. This led to the development of Alfred Weber’s â€Å"Industrial location model† in 1901 (McCann Shaffer, 2004: p8). Where by Weber argued that the location of an industrial plant is determined the factors of transport costs, labor costs and agglomeration (Barnes, 1984: p1). This is the model which this essay intends to make a review on. |Adopting some of Weber’s factors as basis of their arguments Christaller and Losch thus the Central place theory and Von Thunen’s land use theory these theorists argued in similar vain as Weber. Weber assumed that there is an uneven distribution of natural resources. Thus raw materials are in not equal existence elsewhere, (Bradford Kent, 1977: p43). Lokman (2003: p1) justifies Weber’s factor of resource distribution by relating it to one of Christaller’s assumptions that there is a homogeneous disperse of resources where he says one would choose to place his industry at location A which is 3 kilometers away from the market or location B which lies 5 kilometers away from the markets. Since there is an even existence of resources people would not be limited by resource availability an assumption which is very unreal. Weber disagrees to such a presupposition by bringing in reality where he says there is an uneven distribution of material thus raw materials, fuel, and water needed for industrial production may be found only in particular locations. Consequently people would prefer to locate to the areas close both to the market and resources in order to minimize transport costs. Thereby distribution of raw material determining the location of an industry. Weber also continued to assume that the size and location of centers of consumption of the industrial products are given. This means that producers cover different sizes of land for their Industrial activities. This determines the location of the industry in that land as we enclose the market place tends to be costly this is so as it is more expensive because the producer would have low transport costs but pay high rent compared to other’s who located away from the market place but cover huge land that would let them cover up for the transport costs. (Barnes, 1984: p16) This assumption differs from that of Christaller and Von Thunen which assumes that there is an isotropic (all flat) surface. Therefore difference in land size determining location of an industry. In terms of labor Weber assumed that there are several fixed locations of labor where given rates operate, this is to say labor is immobile and unlimited at these locations (Bradford Kent, 1977: p43). This is to say that since there area differences in distribution of raw materials which is one of the determining factors in the location of the industry. This means some locations could have increased access to labor and this means there would be law labor costs at such places other than in location that have low labor experiences whereby those employed would have to work extra hours which would result into extra labor costs. Therefore access to labor determining industry location. Despite the fact that most of Weber’s assumptions deviate from the Christaller and Thunen’s, he agrees with both of the, on the idea that all entrepreneurs work on minimizing the cost of production and maximize their profits. (Calvert, 2010: p 45) describes some of the ways that these entrepreneurs adopt in order to elevate their profits. One of the ways is by investing in fields that are not faces with harsh government policies that lead to losses, the other solution to these losses is by going by transport systems that are cheap and efficient. In contrast Weber identified the three general regional factors that affect the costs of production namely, cost of raw materials, cost of transporting the raw materials and the cost of labor. These have been advanced by the assumptions. In terms of raw material cost Weber argues that raw material value determines their cost thus there are other material which are hard to get (Bradford Kent, 1977: p43) give an example of mines where cost of mining some of the minerals outwits the cost of selling the minerals themselves, they also say these variations in mining difficulties prompts the reflection based on the transport and labor costs. Weber on the other hand identified agglomeration which is the effect produced when two different firms operate in the same area and tend to pull losses against each other. This is an economic situation where individual firms would suffer great losses for similar services. Weber suggests that these two firms can work hand in hand and access the desired services at a lower cost. This determines the location of an industry in that, one would choose a location where he will be able to link with other firms in order to access services at a more reasonable cost other than working individually (McCann Shaffer, 2004: p10). Revisiting the cost of transporting the raw materials Weber differentiated two different types of raw material. He specifically explained that there are other materials that are used to the fullest thus upon extraction and processing there is a reasonable mass that is lost other than that which remains for full use. This means that the unneeded mass that as transported along with the end product just added extra costs other than the cost for transporting the real raw material. For example a company transports 5 kilos of iron ore for K2000. The ore from which 2 kilos is going to be extracted from, this is to say 3 kilos will be taken as wastes thus cost approximately K1000 which is a loss. This can be modified by adopting a different transporting system or changing the investment field. All in all Weber’s model though it was developed in the old days when technology had not fully sprouted it serves a great deal to the economic world, under the factors that have been discussed above. REFERENCES Bradford M. G. Kent W. A (1977) Human geography theories and other applications Vol. 5 of Science in Geography, United Kingdom; Oxford University press. Barnes T. J. (1984) The place of locational analysis: a selective and interpretive history. Canada; University of British Columbia. Calvert L. (2012) Nature’s metropolis: The ghost dance of Christaller and Von Thunen. PDF. Krugman P. (1991) Urban concentration: The role of increasing returns and transport costs. International Regional Science Review 19 Lokman O. (2003) Criticism on Christaller: PDF McCann P. Shafer D. (2004) Regional Science: Location, agglomeration and infrastructure. United Kingdom; University of Reading press. ————————————————- CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI ———————————————— ————————————————- FACULTY OF EDUCATION —â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- ————————————————- DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY ————————————————- COURSE TITLE. ————————————————- SPATIAL ORGANISATION ————————————————- COURSE CODE ————————————————- GEO 2203 ————————————————- ——†”—————————————- TO ————————————————- Mr. GONDWE ————————————————- FROM ————————————————- PHUNZIRO B. M. MPHWINA, BAED 15/02/11 ————————————————- ASSIGNMENT 1 ————————————————- ————————————————- ASSIGNMENT TITLE ————————————————- C HAPTER REVIEW ON INDUSTRIAL LOCATION MODEL. ————————————————- ————————————————- DUE DATE: 19/04/12 How to cite Industrial Location Model by Phunziro Mphwina, Papers

Legalization of Guns Speech free essay sample

Guns don’t kill people, people kill people† is probably one of the dumbest quotes I have ever heard in my life. For those of you who disagree with me. Imagine this, you are in a room by yourself with a psychopath who is armed with a gun, and then imagine you are in the same room with a normal, mentally sane person with a gun, both would be scary but which situation would you feel safer in? Well to be honest, neither. At any moment, both the psychopath and the normal being could fire one bullet and end your life forever. NOW, do you think its people who kill people, or guns that kill people†¦? No matter what situation, a gun’s job is to kill, and it is has never changed and has always been that way. Guns can’t choose its targets, the power of the gun is that it has the capability to kill. We will write a custom essay sample on Legalization of Guns Speech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As you may have already guessed, my topic is about guns†¦and why they should be banned in the US. This, for me seems like a topic that shouldn’t even be bothered to be discussed. The statistics say it all: According to the Washington Post: The United States has the highest gun ownership rate in the world: 89 guns for every / 100 Americans. Multiply that by the number of Americans and that gives us 280, 488, 411 legally held guns (two hundred eighty million, four hundred eighty eight thousand, four hundred eleven guns). As you can see, there is very little gun control in the US, almost anybody can legally buy a gun, although there are thousands of illegal guns in circulation plus illegally stolen legal guns. With that, the total deaths through use of guns in 2011 were 9484. And 8 583 of guns deaths were murders. From a study in July of 2012 done by the magazine Mother Jones, ? f the fire arms used by the killer in mass murders since 1982 were held legally. Here are some of them: San Ysidro McDonalds Massacre, 1984, 41 Victims, Sockton Schoolyard Shooting, 1989 35 Victims Royal Post Shooting 1991,10 Victims, weapon legally purchased @ a local gun store Virginia Tech 2007, Open fire on campus, 56 victims Tucson Shooting, 2011, 19 victims Aurora Theatre Shooting 2012, 70 victims, weapon legally purchased @ Bas Pro Shop in Denver Colorado Sikh Temple Shooting 2012, 10 victims And the infamous Newtown School shooting in 2012, with 30 victims But that’s not all on why I think guns should be banned; the Harvard School of public health did a study in 2012 of February which found that States and Regions with higher levels of household firearm ownership resulted in more children between the ages of 5 – 16 dying from accidental homicide and suicide. A couple of months ago a 7 year old boy was fatally shot in the chest when his father’s gun went off in a parking lot. Many accidental deaths like these are tragedies that could have easily been avoided. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution Bill of Rights quotes â€Å"Being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed†. The Second Amendment was written 200 years ago, when the conditions of the United States were very different. Then, American citizens were fighting in war and the right to bear firearms was for men to fight for their country. Now these conditions are different from the ones now in 2013. When Americans are asked why they feel the need to carry guns with them in the present, they said that they needed to feel safe against other people with guns. But, hold up a second†¦if there were no guns at all why would anybody need guns to protect themselves from other people carrying guns. Furthermore, who said guns were the answer? Guns are illegal to carry in some places, but your body is not. Why not take up a self defense class, or carry tazers or bear mace that temporarily stun your attacker rather fatally shooting them. Banning guns in the US would limit the murders, accidental shootings causing deaths, mass murders of innocent people, and it would make it a lot harder to purchase a gun, therefore making crime rates go down. Americans are so caught up with their â€Å"right to bear arms† argument, that they ignore the obvious of the â€Å"right not to be shot†. A gun surely has the power and capability to kill. What are guns for if not for killing? Is the right to bear arms really the right to kill?

Ceremony By Leslie Marmon Silko Essays - Ceremony, Laguna Pueblo

Ceremony By Leslie Marmon Silko Essays - Ceremony, Laguna Pueblo Ceremony By Leslie Marmon Silko Title: Ceremony Author: Leslie Marmon Silko Introduction: Ceremony is a novel written by Leslie Marmon Silko. It deals with the gender roles of three women are significant to the development of a character namedd Tayo who is half-white and half-Indian. These three women are Tayo's birth mother, Auntie, and Old Grandma. His mother left him when he was four years old and that began his sense of emptiness and abandonment. She could not bear to raise a child that brought the reservation shame by her mistake. Summary: Auntie raised Tayo and was the mother figure he lacked. She had no problem accepting to take him, but only to conceal the shame of her younger sister. Auntie was always hesitant toward Tayo as he was not her real son and was also a half-breed. For Tayo, this only added to his feeling of displacement and emptiness. She would give her affection and attention to her real son Rocky, but would let Tayo just sit there alone. After the war Auntie nursed him because he was all she had left after Rocky got killed. He would wake up crying after dreaming about how much Josiah had loved him and always hugged him when he was a littlt child . Now he realized that there was no place left for him and he would never find peace. Auntie may have been a mother figure to him, but to Tayo she was just someone who looked after him. Old Grandma, unlike Auntie, does accept Tayo and wants what is best for him. When Auntie rejected the idea of a medicine doctor because he's not full blood, Old Grandma got angry and said that he was her grandson and why should she care what they say anyway. She has been around for many years and doesn't worry about what other people will say about Tayo or about their family. The significance of Montano to the novel, Ceremony is very powerful and vital to the recovery of Tayo. She lives up in the rim rock and is in touch with the earth and her surroundings in every way. Being torn between the white world and the Indian world is what leaves Tayo feeling invisible and hollow inside. Montano helps him to become more in touch with his Indian side and to feel the strength and power from the earth. She teaches him the importance of certain plants, flowers, and ceremonies and how they are significant to Indian culture and survival. Tayo falls in love with her, and through his love, he begins to feel alive again. He realizes that he does have a place and that he is not invisible to everyone and to his surroundings. When he is not with her, instead of the nightmares, she fills his dreams. He woke up one night and thought about the overpowering love he felt for her. He shed tears filled his eyes and the ache in his throat ran deep into his chest. Tayo no longer feels like a walking shadow, but finally a real person with feelings and emotions. It is through Montano that he discovers himself and ultimately is able to deal with being a half-breed in a changing world. When she finally leaves him, he is able to go on living and remembering all that she taught him. Conclusion: I really enjoyed this story. It was a great portrayal of how family might mistreat you just because you are a little different than them. Sometimes people cant deal with the fact that a family member is only half of the race that they are. I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially to anyone who feels that they are secluded and have no friends just because they are bi-racial.

Winter Skate Characteristics and Information

Winter Skate Characteristics and Information The winter skate (Leucoraja ocellata)  is a fish - a type of  cartilaginous fish that has wing-like pectoral fins  and a flat body. Skates resemble a stingray, but have a thicker tail that doesnt have any stinging barbs. The winter skate is one of dozens of species of skates.  . Description: Skates are a diamond-shaped fish that spend most of their time on the ocean bottom. Their gills are on their ventral side, so they breath through spiracles  on their dorsal side. Through the spiracles, they receive oxygenated water. Winter skates have a rounded appearance, with a blunt snout. They look similar to little skates (Leucoraja erinacea).  Winter skates can grow to about 41 inches in length and up to 15 pounds in weight. On their dorsal side, they are light brown with dark spots, and have a lighter, translucent patch on each side of their snout on front of the eyes.   Their ventral side is light with brown blotches. Winter skates have 72-110 teeth in each jaw. Stingrays can protect themselves with stinging barbs on their tail. Skates do not have tail barbs, but have thorns in various places on their body. On young skates, these thorns are on their shoulders, near their eyes and snout, along the middle of their disc and along their tail. Mature females have large thorns on the posterior edge of their dorsal fins and spines on their tail, along the edges of their disk and near their eyes and snout.   So although skates cannot sting humans, they must be handled with care to prevent being punctured by the thorns. Classification: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Elasmobranchii Order: Rajiformes Family: Rajidae Genus:  Leucoraja Species:  ocellata Feeding: Winter skates are nocturnal, so they are more active at night than during the day.   Preferred prey include polychaetes, amphipods, isopods, bivalves, fish, crustaceans and squid.   Habitat and Distribution: Winter skates are found in the North Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland, Canada to South Carolina, U.S., on sand or gravel bottoms in waters up to 300 feet deep. Reproduction: Winter skates are sexually mature at 11-12 years. Mating occurs with the male embracing the female.It is easy to distinguish male skates from females because of the presence of claspers, which hang down from the males disk on either side of the tail. These are used  to transmit sperm to the female, and eggs are fertilized internally. The eggs develop in a capsule commonly called a mermaids purse - and then are deposited onto the ocean floor.   Once eggs are fertilized, gestation lasts for several months, during which time the young are nourished by the egg yolk.   When the young skate hatch, they are about 4-5 inches long and look like miniature adults.   The lifespan of this species is estimated at about 19 years.   Conservation and Human Uses: Winter skates are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. They take a long time (11-12 years) to become old enough to reproduce and produce few young at a time. Thus their population grows slowly and is vulnerable to exploitation.   Winter skates are harvested for human consumption, but are usually caught when fishermen are targeting other species.   References and Further Information: Bester, C. Winter Skate. Florida Museum of Natural History: Icthyology. Accessed February 27, 2015.Coulombe, Deborah A. 1984. The Seaside Naturalist. Simon Schuster. Kulka, D.W., Sulikowski, J. Gedamke, T. 2009.  Leucoraja ocellata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3.  Accessed February 27, 2015. Packer, D.B., Zetlin, C.A. and J.J. Vitaliano. Winter Skate, Leucoraja ocellata, Life History and Habitat Characteristics.  NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-NE-179. Accessed February 28, 2015.NOAA FishWatch. Winter Skate.  Accessed February 27, 2015.

Analyze the relationship between humans and technology in the novel Essay

Analyze the relationship between humans and technology in the novel and in the present - Essay Example But amidst the shining avenue of technological advancement, human civilization forgets the curse that it brings with it. The dark abbeys lying behind the gleaming and shining pavement of human civilization is casted with curse, tears, agony and bloodshed of million innocent people who become mere scapegoats and prey in the hands of lured and power hungry class who tear asunder the faith and the dreams of numerous innocent faces for their own interest and power play. The novel ‘Fail Safe’ by Eugene Burdick, throws light on the darker side that the technological glitch brings and discusses about the apocalyptic attitude which Americans possessed during the peak hours of the Cold War. This feeling and foreboding eclipsed the entire American society and pervaded throughout the nation. First introduced in the year 1962 to its readers, the novel ‘Fail Safe’ was written when entire America was still staggering from the Cuban missile crisis. At such point of time ‘Fail Safe’ was written to portray the fact that more the countries would indulge into the development of nuclear capabilities, more the potential for newer enemies would prowl on their horizon. ‘Fail Safe’ is written against the background, when disaster would have trucked any moment and during the period of political doldrums â€Å"Fail Safe† continued to deliver powerful response through the issues captivated within the periphery of the novel. Before trying to relate the difference of relationship between the humans and technology in the novel and the similar articles during the contemporary time, it is quite essential to note and understand the background of the write-up. Analyzing the background of the write-up essentially and poignantly involves the background of the creative mind behind the framing of the plot. The background of the writer who yields various documentations in the form of hypothesis or direct testimony of his experience or recorded experience

Literature review Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Literature review - Research Paper Example Accordingly, the managers and administrators of an organization are necessitated to acquaint themselves with the required competencies that are of extreme importance for the success of the organizations. This indicates that the respective managers and administrators of various organizations globally should acquaint themselves with the latest knowledge, managerial attitudes and skills and other forces for enabling the organizations to manage the changes and also at the same time stand out in this competitive market. Thus, for achieving successful results and remaining competitive in the modern dynamic world, the organizations focus on several organizational developmental (OD) practices. The OD practices are built on unique core values and philosophies that ultimately guide the organizations’ actions and behaviors. The practices are considered value-based principles and include the five most important values. The first value is that of inclusion and respect of the opinions and b eliefs of each and every individual for taking up decisions. Secondly, OD practices include collaboration that enhances the organizations’ cohesion with clientele in a comprehensive client system. The OD practices also accounts for authenticity and strive for congruence to enhance qualities of the clients. Self-awareness is another important OD practice influenced by the organizations which is aimed towards development of interpersonal skills along with self-awareness. Finally, the OD practice includes the aspect of empowerment that concentrates on helping every individual in the client organization with the objective of enhancing their empowerment and self-sufficiency that can transform the workplace into productive and satisfying working conditions (Sheldon, 2010). 2. Purpose/Problem Statement In the present paper, the role and the function of the OD practices in the successful performance of an organization will be invested with respect to various researches performed on t he current scope of the organizational development. It is hypothesized that the organizations that concentrate heavily on the OD practices are more likely to achieve success than the organizations that follow traditional trend and does not consider the current dynamic environmental nature. The action plan for examining the hypothesis will be broadly discussed in the methodology section of this research paper and the findings from various researches involved will be presented in the next section. This hypothesis has been specifically chosen for the present research because OD is believed to be focused on transfer of knowledge and skills to the organizations so that the organizations become more capable of managing the future anticipated development (Cummings, 2004). This statement of the nature of OD instigated the notion of examining the effectiveness of OD and this is presumed to be accomplished by reviewing the performance of those organizations which undertake the practices in OD . 3. Methodology The examination of the hypothesis will be undertaken through review of six important literatures based on researches conducted by researchers during the past. The six important literatures have been collected through the help of scholarly articles. These produce significant literatures with presentation of the respective literatures’

Overcoming the Barrier Essay -- Analysis, Helen Reddy

Overcoming the Barrier Helen Reddy in I am a Woman sings, â€Å"You can bend but never break me, 'cause it only serves to make me, More determined to achieve my final goal, And I come back even stronger.† In the plays Antigone, by Sophocles, and A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, two strong women are restricted by the time and society in which they live. In Antigone, the main character, Antigone from Thebes, is faced with a choice of following the laws of man, or the laws of the gods in burying her deceased brother. She felt that her choice was right even with the penalties it costs her, while arguing with the king who felt his way or no way. As the play progressed, it seemed that the more Creon, the king, and Antigone argued, the more confident in the choice she made she became. In A Doll’s House, Nora was a woman who cared deeply about her husband who would soon be faced with death if not sent to a warmer climate. Unheard of from a woman, Nora took a money loan from the bank without s aying a word to her husband, Torvald. Using a corrupted lawyer, Krogstad, gave easy access for blackmail which could end her marriage if revealed. During the times in which these plays were written, the relationship between a man and woman is definitely patriarchal. Men have major dominance and the woman just follows. It was believed that a woman was to have no opinion nor be smart enough to have their own opinion. In both plays, Sophocles and Ibsen show how controlled yet bold, women had to be in society through demonstration of submission to men, the expectations placed upon a woman, and their search for a voice. There is a saying that all habits start in the household and that is no exception for the way woman are treated. Whether it’s a husband or... ...oldly demonstrate the strength and power women needed to become their own person. With barriers blocking the path, the choices each woman had to face was like an obstacle course. By being undermined by the opposite sex, females were not given much thought unless the subject had to do with the raising of children and up keeping of a household. Being a part of society came with expectations of how a family should look and act, especially for the women who are merely â€Å"dolls† for men to control. Therefore, having to surrender to the male influence, society’s pressure, and the quest for identity, women still are able to stand firm and strong in the end. Over many years women have come a long way with rights and responsibilities but it was no walk in the park. It has been a curvy road and there are still more hills to come but with a positive light shinning at the end.

Christian life Essay

Father Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) presents a deeply spiritual and insight book with Reach Out. He presents a Christian approach to living with a systematic form of spiritual life, occurring in three defined steps; loneliness to solitude; hostility to hospitality; and illusion to prayer. Through each step Nouwen encourages a person to question themselves, and to seek an â€Å"ascent† to a higher way of being that achieves unity with God. His presentation of his message however is not an attempt to â€Å"bible bash† the reader, rather he uses the Bible as a filter to draw analogies to his interpretation of a meaningful life. Nouwen’s defined categories distinguishes the stages of the journey of Christian life as he sees it, basically reaching out to; the innermost self, to the rest of humankind; and to God. In itself the book is a beautiful rendition of a way of living that focuses on humankind as a community, and as sharing in their experiences of emotional states. It provides the reader with practical methods to apply change to their lifestyle that will cultivate a greater sense of peace and contentment. The phrasing and choice of words in titles and headings has been carefully considered and in themselves transports the reader to a place of reflection and prayer. The strength of Nouwen’s book is his ability to question his own values, decision-making and actions. He has gone to places of hardship in his experiences of loneliness, hostility and illusion and returned with treasures to share. Nouwen uses the movement between emotional states to provide a systematic process for the living the Christian life, which completes modern day values of systems thought, and critical analysis. However, the writer presents his material also in a highly capitalistic manner, in that emotional states are basically divided into two distinct forms: positive (winning) and negative (losing) and ignores the possibility that each state may not actually be so absolute; a milestone on the continuum of what it is to be human. The dichotomy he sets up may in itself be the cause of internal conflict for people, as Western societies value distinct black and white boxes in which to place information; Nouwen maintains this cultural value in his differentiation of distinct categories, and the application of a model of â€Å"ascent† for emotional states. The book is richly spiritual and helpful in learning to cope with loneliness, anger and misperceptions, and Nouwen’s voice tends to be presented as one of experience, that has gone to the depths of each of these states. His approach implies that all people feel loneliness, illusion or hostility and that â€Å"you like to stay away from†. The Bible describes many experiences of Jesus, prophets and other of the Lord’s people being tested, polished like jewels, or smelted like pure gold and other metals. The message is that if we are not prepared to undergo hardship how can we expect to lose ourselves of that which is not important? Nouwen encourages the reader to cultivate their faith and sense of hope by allowing ourselves to experience a forward movement into a more spiritual and subsequently balanced life. 2. Concrete Responses A Suffocating Loneliness is the title of Chapter One and for me came across as quite visceral terminology. It conjured up feelings of confinement that implies that Nouwen has really been there himself. I imagined the soul suffocating, unable to breathe, speak, communicate, or reach out because it was focused solely on survival. The title made me think about what it is to be alone and to have something happening to you beyond your control; a life threatening experience. Another heading, Between Competition and Togetherness, cam across to me as being very Zen, as the juxtaposition of words threw my mind off its track trying to hold an image of both concepts at once. Not unlike those silhouette pictures of the vase which is a face, or is it the other way around! The phrase further implies that there is a point between the two which each of us are at; though this point is unlikely to be static-given the human experience and we are dynamic beings. Nouwen encourages the reader to find a point of balance between these two concepts, and in my minds eye I saw a see-saw and a set of scales, and wondered to myself whereabouts on the continuum I was today (N. B. , near the competitive edge as I have a game of bingo in an hour). I believe I noticed these words because I have chosen the spiritual life for myself, and live my life to cultivate a sense of personal control as well as acceptance for that which I cannot change, as well as harmony and balance. Like Job and Jonah I let myself be smitten or swallowed by the beast when I perceive it to be the time in my life cycle to let go, fall apart, draw away from others, and to suffer hardship. Like these two men I come through stronger and wiser about myself, my place in this world, and with a deeper meaning of what is important – to keep on going, never give up on one, and to be there for others. I am also a writer and sometime poet and delight in the juxtaposition of words and the images that they provide which take me to places within myself that may have ever undiscovered. And the use of words in new ways helps me to see the world from another perspective, which is always a discovery. 2. Concrete responses A Suffocating Loneliness is the title of Chapter One and for me came across as quite visceral terminology. It conjured up feelings of a time for me when I felt confined by my problems and unable to reach out for concrete help from others – no one seemed to understand where I was, what I was trying to communicate to them. I imagined at the time my soul suffocating, unable to breathe, speak, communicate, or reach out because it was focused solely on survival. The title made me think about those times when I have felt absolutely alone and separated from all others, and that life was completely beyond your control; a life threatening experience. The juxtaposition of words in the chapter heading threw my mind off its track trying to hold an image of both concepts at once. I believe I noticed these words because I have chosen the spiritual life for myself and live my life to cultivate a sense of personal control as well as acceptance for that which I cannot change. Like Job and Jonah I let myself be smitten or swallowed by the beast when I perceive it to be the time in my life cycle to let go, fall apart, draw away from others, and to suffer hardship. Like these two men I come through stronger and wiser about myself, my place in this world, and with a deeper meaning of what’s important – to keep on going, never give up on one, and to be there for others. I have in the past drawn on Bible accounts of suffering and grief to understand the experiences of difficulty I have (do) have. The phrasing of many of the Biblical passages, such as those in Proverbs, are easy to â€Å"write upon one’s heart† and Nouwen’s voice has a similar effect in his blending and weaving of words and phrases. 3. Reflection I wonder why the author portrays loneliness as a negative and unwanted state, particularly as he is a Christian. Many verses in the Bible, in fact the whole book of Job, contends that pain such as that felt in loneliness is necessary to â€Å"remove the dross† form a person’s soul. Going into the crucible of fire, such as the suffering of loneliness may cultivate, is a way that many mystics, monks, prophets and medicine women and men claim is the path to become more the person that â€Å"God†/we want us to be. Loneliness is an emotion, and so by virtue of the Christian teachings that emotion is also God, as our emotions are the flux of hormones, neurotransmitters and bioelectric currents, tangible substances which omnipotent God intrinsically exists within; God is everywhere at once. Also, God created all, so all emotions can be sourced from God; humans are made in his image, suggesting that God has knowledge of what loneliness is. It perplexes me that a state of loneliness is seen by Father Nouwen as the â€Å"bottom rung† in his ascent model; John the Baptist lived in the desert and has been often described as experiencing intense loneliness; Jesus spent 40 days and nights alone in the desert; Moses was alone with his â€Å"crazy† dream of the chosen people, and Mary mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene suffered deep loneliness many times during their lives. 4. Action I will facilitate a counselee to find more functional ways to experience loneliness and to keep on going and not give up on themselves or humankind. I will also encourage them to consider the concept of living a more spiritual life and achieving a union with God; for me God is the unity of all things (omega and beta) so that I am never truly alone as all is from God and in God. So that loneliness for me is a temporary state when one forgets that we are all interconnected. Alternatively, Nouwen approaches loneliness, hostility and illusion as purely negative states and provides of all things an â€Å"evolutionary† model to explain â€Å"developing from† each state to another state. Firstly, I do not agree with this form of development as it certainly implies ascent from a lesser (primitive) quality to a higher (civilized) quality. Instead I would encourage the counselee to embrace their diversity and variability in experiencing their emotions. Movement away from a particular emotion is illusory, as our emotions are a continuum like a circle or a ring; we can move to another state but all are parallel, none higher or lower than others. I intend to start a reflective journal of my values, interpretations, decision-making and actions to learn more about myself, and to find the balance across my emotional states.

The Clique by Lisi Harrison Essay - 1040 Words

Character- Massie- Massie is a rich 7th grader that really isnt that nice of a person. She only is nice to her posse and does not include anyone else into her little clique. Massie is the leader of her social group.†Kristen: Do we like her? Massie: No!†(41) This shows that Massie is the leader because her friends do whatever she says. Massie one day basically decides that Claire, the new girl in town, will be her target. She will embarrass her and torture her and do whatever she wants to her because Claire has no friends yet and isnt really the typical girl around all these rich girls. Massie thinks that she isnt hurting Claire enough and she isnt getting any reaction out of Claire really so Maisie gets her friends to tear her down†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"It meant that she got updated before anyone else, and that seemed to be really important to her.† (41) This shows that to the girls getting updated is a pretty big and important deal for them because they want to know whats all going on in the world. Expensive- Denotative- Very high priced Connotative- Worth a lot of money Since Massie and her friends are very rich they like to buy very expensive clothing and they care a lot about how they look. So this is important because this shows how Massie is. â€Å" How could a top thinner than toilet paper be that expensive? she thought. The girls were too busy accepting Massie’s floor and held it up to her face. It said seven hundred and eighty dollars.† (42) This is important because the girls bought Massie a get well gift and it was 780 dollars and that was just a get well gift so they would probably pay more for a regular shirt. Also the more expensive the more fashionable you get so the more popular you get. Fashionable- Denotative- Observant of or conforming to the fashion Connotative- Cute style Again this is important because they care so much about if they are in fashion or not and if they are they will get new clothing to be in fashion and look good. â€Å" â€Å"Yeah, why not? The girls at this school hardly go looking for last year’s clothes.†Ã¢â‚¬  (65) This says its important for the girls at ODC, the school, to stay fashionable and up to date with