Piper Alpha Disaster Essay Example for Free

Piper Alpha Disaster Essay Followed by steps and improvement which is done after the incident to prevent such disaster to happen again. The case study is concluded with the safety precautions should be installed and practised in the platform. IntroductionThis is a case study about the Piper Alpha disaster, on the management operations and structures, the objective of the management, the industrial process of the platform, the causes of the accident together with the consequences of the accident and case study on the improvement and the prevention of such disaster again. Piper alpha was a  sea  oil production platform  operated by  Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. [1]  The platform began production in 1976,[2]first as an oil platform and then later converted to gas production. An explosion and resulting fire destroyed it on 6 July 1988, this catastrophic event killed in total of 167 men, [3] with only 61 survivors. The death toll includes two crewmen of a rescue vessel who tried to save the victims of the fire. [4] Total insured loss was about ? 1. 7 billion (US$3. 4 billion). The moment of the disaster the platform was accounted for nearly ten percent of  oil  and gas production, and was the worst offshore oil disaster in terms of lives lost and industry impact. [5] Some evidence says the new gas pipeline was built in the weeks before the 6 July explosion, and while this work disrupted the normal routine, the platform was operating as normal. The discovery of a small gas leak is usual and not a concern at the platform at that time due to carelessness the platform was completely destroyed and caused life of 167 en on the platform, and many of those involved died, analysis of events began. [6] 2. 1 Management and OperationsAn  oil and gas platform is a large structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process  oil  and  natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing. Mostly the platform has facilities to house the workforce crew as well. Depending on the circumstances, the p latform may be  fixed  to the ocean floor, may consist of an  artificial island, or may  float. 2. 1. Management and Structures Piper Alpha receives and sends to the shore the oil and gas production of a group of platforms, Tartan and Claymore. These how the incident took place[1]  : -As the Piper Alpha platform was at the hub of a network of platforms interconnected by oil and gas pipelines. The leak of the gas lead to the initial explosion and ruptured oil lines on Piper Alpha. Managers on other platforms was aware of a problem on Piper Alpha but not its severity, assumed that they would be instructed to shut down their operations, if necessary. However, the explosion interrupted communications from Piper Alpha for minimum of (30 to 60 minutes intervals) passed before these other platforms were closed. As series of explosions occurred as the fires on the platform weakened natural gas riser pipelines on Piper Alpha the intensity of the fires prevented rescue efforts, either by helicopter or by ship which led to 165 workers and 2 rescue personnel killed. The RV job was completed by the end of the shift. The permit to work (PTW) system was often not implemented as according to, for example: Omissions of signatures and gas test results were common. Operations representatives regularly did not inspect the jobsite before suspending the permit at the end of the shift, or closing the permit indicating the work had been completed. The lead safety operator task is to monitor the PTW system process regularly there was no problem indicated, the mishap and the lack of information and work ethics. The management assumed the system working at full efficiency and didn’t check it independently. These led to miscommunication and lack of knowledge and information when the fire began. 4. 1. 2Design Factor -The diesel powered water pumps were set to manual mode, therefore incase of fire the personnel has to reach the pump to start it though the 1983 fire audit report has recommended this practice is discontinued. The sprinkler head were known to be plugged and corroded. -The structural steel on the platform was not alloyed to be fireproof or withstand high intensity of fire. 4. 1. 3Roots Factor The root of the cause was that most of the personnel who had the authority to order evacuation were killed when first explosion destroyed the control room. This was due to the platform design defect, including the absence of blast walls. Another contributing factor was the nearby connected platforms Tartan and Claymore continued to pump gas and oil to  Piper Alpha  until its pipeline ruptured in the heat in the second explosion. Their operations crews did not shut off the production due to lack of training and communication with the management, even though they could see that  Piper Alpha  was on fire. [7]   4. 1. 3. The wrong management decision. The lack of information and adequacy of checking the PTW system process led to wrong decisions and lack of communication during the leak.

Approaches to the Study of Political Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Approaches to the Study of Political Philosophy Essay Approaches to the Study of Political Philosophy Problems and Challenges of Interpretation *Notes compiled from David Boucher Paul Kelly’s ‘Introduction’ in Political Thinkers: From Socrates to the Present, and Terence Ball’s ‘History and the Interpretation of Texts’* Political thought is thought about the State, its structure, nature and purpose. It is concerned with the moral elements of human behaviour in a society. Differentiating between the purpose of political life and life itself is difficult as it involves considerations of the conceptions of right and wrong, which differ from person to person and time to time. Political thinkers/philosophers have attempted to explain institutions practices, advise rulers, defend certain values or principles, and criticized the existing world around them. They have focused broadly on the character of society or people and narrowly on institutions of government, law making the exercise of coercive power. At the most general level, political thought converges with present understandings of ethics moral philosophy as well as sociology and theological disciplines. The sheer variety of plurality of styles, approaches, and presuppositions has made political thought an exciting intellectual pursuit. Approaches to theorizing politics differ, and so do accounts of how and why political thought should continue to be studied. When studying political philosophy and the texts of the various historic philosophers, different factors tend to influence one’s understanding. Broadly, there is a text and a context to the text, and the study of classical political philosophy should ideally take into account both, in order to fully understand various nuances of every thinker. Philosophical Considerations: Political philosophy first began to emerge in histories of philosophy and general literature. By the 19th century, philosophical idealism was taking precedence and emphasis was on the coherence theory of truth. Under this view, the history of political thought was largely seen as a precursor to formulating one’s own philosophy. Viewing the history of political thought as a stimulus to philosophy was not confined to idealists though, and most recent and distinguished exponents of this view include Leo Strauss and Eric Voegelin. In essence this approach focused on the text and emphasised the timelessness of the ideas put forth therein. Political Thought as History: This view concerned itself with the issue of what properly constituted a historical study. Cambridge School of the 1960s and after, whose principal exponents were J. G. A Pocock and Quentin Skinner, argued for the disciplinary integrity of the historical study of political thought. This view, largely contextual in nature, stresses â€Å"the historicity of the history of political theory and of intellectual history more generally†, in the words of Skinner. For Pocock it was the historian, not the philosopher, who was the guardian of the truth. The text of historic philosophers is thus understood in context of its historical time. Both Skinner and Pocock posit a linguistic context as the appropriate unit of analysis that elicit the types of meaning that the historian makes intelligible. Political Thought and the Claims of Science: There was a demand for the discipline to conform to scientific modes of explanation. History for its own sake was viewed as a mere collection of facts and these facts needed to be subjected to scientific considerations in order for them to be considered credible. Frederick Pollock attributed ‘patient analysis and unbiased research’ as core signs of scientific analysis, according to which Machiavelli can be considered the greatest contributor to the dispassionate scientific study of politics. This view largely emphasised the objectivity of the inquirer and the need to formulate generalizations that might be of use to a political scientist. Political Thought and Practice: It is considered difficult, even undesirable, to separate practical from philosophical considerations. Political questions are intensely practical and political opinions potentially divisive and emotive. This view focused on importance of bridging the divide between theory and practice and maintained that the study of the past must have practical value for the present; trying to establish the possibility of normative political theory. According to R. G. Collingwood, theory and practice overlap, and all philosophical problems arise from practical problems, and their solutions return to practice. This view embodies the recognition that first order political theorizing cannot emerge from nowhere, but is a constructive enterprise which involves building, expanding and developing the vocabularies that are inherent in great political texts. The Straussians have vociferously advocated the importance of classical authors and their texts, and contended that it is our duty to take their claims to truth seriously. However, one does not have to be Straussian to defend the value of studying the value of classical texts. Even defenders of disinterested historical inquiry under the heading of the Cambridge School do not avoid drawing substantive, albeit negative, lessons from the contemplations of classical thinkers. Political philosophers can be classified in different ways with respect to their opinions or beliefs on such concepts as that of the State and its importance, or of the nature of humans. Conceptions of the State and why men obey it are largely of two types: 1. Organic State: The idea that the State is and organism of which men themselves are parts. This means that the state is larger than the men who make it; it is real and they are merely abstractions. This idea was brought forth by the Greeks, and the Stoics applied it to humanity as a whole. Consequently, it was taken over by Christianity and reigned supreme throughout the Middle Ages, until it was finally challenged at the time of the scientific revolution of the 17th century. This led to the second conception. 2. Mechanic State: The idea that the state is a machine which men create for their own purposes. Men are real; the state is merely a device. This view held its own throughout the Enlightenment of the 18th century. Subsequently, both the conceptions were generally accepted at different periods in history, one or the other assuming prime importance at some time. A further classification allots political thinkers to three different traditions: 1. Rational-Natural Tradition: Society and the state can only be understood when related to an absolute standard, which exists in nature and is thus outside human control. 2. Will and Artifice: Society and the state are artificial and not natural and that not the Reason but the Will of man is required to produce the State. Man’s Will has the power to alter society. 3. Historical Coherence: Rejects both the previous traditions as defective. Attempts to fuse Reason and Will, emphasises the importance of historical growth and denies that absolute standards exist. Believers of the Mechanic State belong to the Will and Artifice tradition, while those who believe in an Organic State can be from either Rational-Natural or Historical Coherence traditions. Perennial Problems: Students of political thought are aware of the variety of attitudes one may adopt towards the past and the study of classical texts. The so called New Historians pressed the claims of history as an autonomous discipline distinct from the philosophical character of its subject matter. George Sabine epitomized the basic assumption involved in positing the existence of perennial problems by reiterating that ‘political problems and situations are more or less alike from time to time and from place to place’. Quentin Skinner maintained that understanding the arguments of the political philosophers entailed reconstructing the language context in which they were formulated. He associated the idea of perenniality and timelessness with what he called the ‘textual’ approach. He argued that to concede that the ‘social context is a necessary condition for an understanding of the classic texts’ constitutes a denial that they ‘contain any elements of timelessness or perennial interest’. Most historians however, did not distinguish between textualist and contextualist interpretation. In fact, many argued that the social context help provide a clearer understanding of the meaning of a text. Despite differences of emphasis, most historians of political thought tend to agree that history is self-knowledge of the mind (Collingwood). Skinner also held the view that studying how past thinkers have dealt with political concepts could enable us to see our way round seemingly intractable conceptual problems in the present. The Art of Interpretation Hermeneutics The study of political thought or theory, involves out of necessity, attempts to understand messages or ideas sent to us by thinkers who are long dead, and whose works we read and reread in order to derive their meaning. Thus political theory can be called a backward – looking enterprise. Interpretation of the works of the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli to Mill, becomes a necessary process for the meaning seeking creatures that we are. Naturally, therefore, there exist a number of ‘schools’ of interpretation, the chief tenets of which will be highlighted further, and so will the interpretive controversies between and among them. It should however be made clear that not all interpretations are equally valid or valuable and that they are rationally criticisable. The vocation of political theory is in large part defined by its attention to the ‘classic works’. These authors and their works comprise an important aspect of our political tradition, which we renew and enrich by reading, reflecting upon and criticizing these classic works, the concepts, and context of which are largely unfamiliar to our modern understanding. A good interpretation is one that diminishes the strangeness of the text, making it more familiar and accessible. There is no neutral standpoint from which to interpret any text, the vantage point can differ. This can be seen through the following ‘Schools’ of Interpretation. 1. Marxian Interpretation: According to Marx, â€Å"the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas†, i. e. the dominant or mainstream ideas of any era, are those that serve the interests of the dominant class, thereby legitimizing its position of power in society. For example, slavery is portrayed as normal by Aristotle, who belonged to the slave owning society of Greece, where slavery was the norm, while in capitalist societies, free market is portrayed by mainstream media to be the best form of economic organization. Thus, for Marx, the point and purpose of any ideology is to lend legitimacy to the rule of the dominant class or social order; they serve as smoke screens, hiding the underlying reality from the public and presenting a superficial false picture of a just society. For a Marxist, the task of textual interpretation is to uncover this obscured reality and expose the illusion of that epoch. This approach is sometimes known as ‘the hermeneutics of suspicion’. It is a highly cynical approach that undermines the importance of ideologies. It takes no statement at face value, and performs the function of ‘ideology critique’ focusing on delving deeper to expose realities. An example of such an interpretation is Macpherson’s critique of Locke’s justification for private property, making him out to be a propagandist for the emerging capitalist order at the time. The Marxian approach encounters certain difficulties: According to the Marxist assumption that ruling ideas serve the ruling class, this should hold true even for Marx himself, as he was not part of the working class that he championed. By his own argument, his ideas should then be serving the interests of the ruling capitalist class, not the labouring proletariat. How their own theorizing is exempted from being interpreted as an ideological mask as opposed to all other ideologies is not explained. This approach gives the interpreter a pre-existing notion that he/she will find ideological trickery, which hampers pragmatic interpretation free from bias. 2. Totalitarian Interpretation: Rice of fascism and communism in the 20th century marked an era of the prominence of totalitarian regimes. The totalitarian school of textual interpretation anchors these ideologies to the thinking of early political theorists, going as far back as Plato, iterating that when their theories were put into modern practice, they produced Hitler and Stalin. Once one tries to attribute pro-totalitarian tendencies, they seem to be everywhere. Plato’s perfect republic ruled by a philosopher king who employs censorship and ‘noble lies’ becomes a blueprint for a Nazi regime ruled by an all knowing Fuhrer. The same might be said about Machiavelli’s ruthless Prince and Rousseau’s all-wise Legislator in The Social Contract. Sir Karl Popper was among the most prominent representatives of the totalitarian approach. His The Open Society and Its Enemies traces the roots of modern totalitarianism to the ideas advance by the ‘enemies’ of ‘the open society’ from Plato through to Marx. However, such interpretations of classic texts suffer from misreading of meanings, without placing the statements in their proper context. Further, an interpreter who stitches together statements taken out of their textual and linguistic context, in order to prove his pre-set idea of an underlying totalitarian theme, does not do justice to either the text or to himself. 3. Psychoanalytic (Freudian) Interpretation: This approach is based on Sigmund Freud’s famous argument that our actions are often motivated by our wishes, desires or fears of which we are not consciously aware. These interpretations (like the Marxian ones) also fall under the hermeneutics of suspicion. One can supply psychoanalytical interpretations of all sorts of texts, including those in political theory. This has been done in the case of Machiavelli, Edmund Burke, Mahatama Gandhi and J. S. Mill among others. Bruce Mazlish’s psychoanalytic interpretation of themes in the work of John Stuart Mill is an important example. In Mill’s On Liberty, he argues in favour of a very wide sphere of personal freedom to live one’s life as one wishes, without undue interference from others. As Mill’s autobiography tells us, he had a much regimented upbringing by his stern Scots father James Mill, which took its toll on young John who suffered from a mental breakdown at the age of 20, from which he recovered slowly and in part by reading the romantic poetry of Coleridge and Wordsworth. Subsequently, J. S. Mill ceased to be his father’s intellectual clone and became a thinker of his own, more prolific and famous than his father. Now Mazlish interprets On Liberty less as a work of liberal political theory, and more as a declaration of personal independence that is more autobiographical than analytical. According to the Freudian theory, Mazlish suggests that Mill was locked in an oedipal struggle with his father, whom he ultimately defeated in argument. While this may seem at the onset a rather suggestive and maybe insightful interpretation, such interpretations face stiff evidentiary challenges. This school faces criticisms of being too speculative, impressionistic and non-falsifiable. They are said to mistake coincidences for causes. 4. Feminist Interpretation: A feminist perspective puts gender issues at the forefront, and has had a lasting impact on the way we study and interpret works. It introduces a strong sense of scepticism into the study of ‘classic’ works. According to Susan Okin, ‘the great tradition of political philosophy consists, generally speaking, of writings by men, for men, and about men’. The feminist perspective highlights the extent to which civic and legal status of women was long considered a subject unworthy of theoretical treatment. This approach began in the 1960s, when women were looking for a history that connected present struggles with previous ones largely neglected by mostly male historians. Feminist historians of political though sought those who had championed the cause of women’s rights and related causes. Men like Friedrich Engels and J. S. Mill were placed in the feminist pantheon. Jeremy Bentham was honoured as ‘the father of feminism’. This transgender popular front was however, short lived. It turned out that the difference between outright misogynists like Aristotle and Rousseau and their more enlightened liberal brothers (above) was simply in matters of degree, not kind. By and large, male theorists marginalized women and placed them outside the public or civic sphere in which men move and act politically. In an angrier second phase, feminist scholars set out to expose and criticize the misogyny lurking in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Bentham, Mill and Marx among others. They dismissed public/private dichotomy and the concept of consent in liberal theory as a sham, the social contract as a ‘fraternal’ construct, and the modern welfare state as a covertly patriarchal institution. A third phase turned ostensibly civic virtues of men into vices and coined the term ‘maternal thinking’ to cover ‘nurturing’ women’s gently militant momism. However, this phase of valorisation of the private realm, found many critics, even feminists like Mary Dietz, who instead held out the prospect of an active engaged civic feminism. It turns out that feminists must try and engage in more nuanced textual analysis and historical interpretation. The Western political tradition is not reducible to a sinkhole of misogyny and other vices; it can, if understood properly, be a wellspring of political wisdom. 5. Straussian Interpretation: This view is of the followers of Leo Strauss, and they claim that a canon of works by Plato and other authors contains the Whole Truth about politics, one which is eternal, unchanging and accessible only to a fortunate few. Strauss was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, who detested modern liberalism and distrusted liberal democracy. He saw the history of modern Western liberal political thought as a story of degeneration and enfeeblement; modern liberalism was according to him a philosophy without foundations. Strauss announced, ‘the crisis of our time is a consequence of the crisis of political philosophy. ’ His and his disciples’ historical inquiries and textual interpretations attempted to trace the origins and diagnose the multiple maladies of liberalism, relativism, historicism and scientism that together contributed to ‘the crisis of our time’. He criticises liberal modern thinkers such as Hobbes/Locke for negating the ‘older’ concepts of Natural law and instead propagated concepts of self- interest and security. Of course, like every other approach to interpretation, Straussian’s have also faced their share of criticism, mainly on the ground that they rely on a supposed ‘insider’s knowledge’ for their interpretation, which remains an ambiguous concept. 6. Postmodernist Interpretation: This perspective arises out of ‘the postmodern condition’ of fragmentation and the failure of systematic philosophies or ‘grand metanarratives’ like Hegelianism or Marxism. Post-modernism is not a single unified perspective; nor is it a systematic philosophy shared by all postmodernists. The postmodern sensibility is not a single stable thing. There are two main versions of postmodernist interpretation: Foucauldian Approach, derived from Nietzsche and Foucault, which seeks to criticize the myriad ways in which human beings are ‘normalized’ or made into ‘subjects’. They portray the classic thinkers as villains promoting a surveillance state, and postmodernists like Nietzsche as heroes who dared to resist. Derrida’s version, where the aim of interpretation is to expose and criticize the arbitrary character of claims to truth or knowledge. A process that Derrida calls ‘deconstruction’. He argues that all attempts to ‘represent’ reality produce, not knowledge or truth, but only different ‘representations’. The main criticism against this school of interpretation is that it is constitutionally unable to distinguish truth from falsehood and propaganda from fact, which makes this perspective unsatisfactory from both epistemological as well as moral points of view. 7. Cambridge ‘New History’: Since the 1960s, the Cambridge ‘new historians’ have advanced a distinctive programme of historical research and textual interpretation. The likes of J. G. A. Pocock and Quentin Skinner provided deflationary critiques of traditional ‘textbook’ approaches to the interpretation of works of political theory. According to them, most of what had till then passed as the history of political theory has been insufficiently historical, i. e.concerned with the context situation in which earlier thinkers found themselves and the problems with which they dealt. They viewed works of political theory as forms of political action, with words that are intended to produce certain effects in the reader – to warn, persuade, criticize, frighten, encourage, console etc. Textual interpretation thus becomes largely a matter of restoring a text to the historical context in which it was composed and the questions to which it was offered as an answer. CONCLUSION – Pluralist Problem Driven Interpretation Terence Ball thereby concludes that no single method will suffice to answer all the questions we wish to ask of any work of political theory. Therefore, a plurality of approaches and methods is preferable to a more confining mono-methodology that restricts the range of questions we can ask and address. He also agrees with the Cambridge new historians about the importance of intellectual, political and linguistic contexts within which theorists write. His view further states that since our interpretive inquiries are largely problem driven, we are likely to be less interested in authors or contexts, than in particular problems that might arise as we attempt to understand the former. In sum, the historical study of political theory is a problem solving activity. It takes other interpretations as alternative solutions to a problem and goes on to assess their adequacy vis-a-vis each other. Therefore, the activity of rereading, reinterpretation, and reappraisal is an indispensable, rather defining, feature of this craft.

Business Strategies for Technical Progress

Business Strategies for Technical Progress The modern world is getting progressively mobile. The penetration of mobile devices in the market has been extremely rapid and overwhelming. Mobile technology influenced and changed the way people live, work and entertain, and have completely revolutionized the way companies conduct business. Nowadays many activities are carried out on the move- socializing, business, learning etc., because many business process can be extended to mobile ones, and nearly every activity can be turned into mobile application. Due to the widespread of mobile technology, people are always online, they can talk and hear regardless of the place where they are. Mobile communications are based on wireless solutions, transparent and cheap, and in the course of time it has a real potential to replace traditional computers (Deibert and Rothlauf, 2006). Business strategies have evolved vastly together with the rapid technical progress of mobile technologies. The organizations are using mobile technology to function better and smarter. The swift development of mobile devices and integration of technological tools in the business operations have allowed new opportunities for improving the performance of a company, by making the processes simpler and more effective. Mobile devices have become an internal part of our lives and made distance and location factors increasingly irrelevant. The impact of mobile technology on places of work and the business environment is visible. Business systems can take advantage of mobile technologies to improve their productivity and efficacy in many ways. It is now feasible for people to perform business operations from almost anywhere. The ability to access Internet through their phone allows the executives to gather real-time data that can help them with taking informed business decisions (Cellary and Iyengar, 2002). Furthermore, the recent developments of mobile technology have created a countless benefits for businesses and led to tremendous improvements in many business areas. Below are presented several examples of how mobile technology make a true impact on business communication. Improved customer support Mobile technologies are playing a vital role in improving customer-satisfaction and social impact in business. The ability to convey issues and feedback to employees about a product or a service at any time makes an important improvement to customer service. In addition, the increasing number of users using Internet on their smartphones for various services has led to the boom of social media apps, and consequently many businesses begun investing in making their social media platforms responsive to customers (Smith, 2016). In this way people can connect with the brands through online messaging options and get an instant response to their inquiries. Better sales performance One of the major tools for sales personnel is to know their customers. By using mobile phones, sales representatives can access the customers record and get up-to-date information about his essential needs and preferences, sales and inquiries prior to the meeting, and thus be prepared to offer him appropriate solutions. Furthermore, sales executives can track the inventory, obtain sales reports and status of orders in real-time, and inform the clients by email or phone in order to speed up the process and hence bring customer satisfaction (Mincey, 2016). Enhanced collaboration Smart mobile devices enable all employees to join regular meetings and colleagues to collaborate with each other from anywhere in the world via Internet. Whether it is a web conference, video call or online meeting, this mobile phone service allows the team members to contribute to the discussion and exchange viewpoints, which can prevent any delays in work and helps increasing the team motivation and productivity. Optimized operations With the evolution of mobile technology, business operations have been carried out simpler and quicker. For example, cloud computing allows employees to easily access important files from anywhere using mobile phones with Internet connection. They can also retrieve sales records and any other needed data from the databases, and thus provide accurate and quick service to the customers. The Sage Mobile Device Survey, which was conducted in April-May 2014, examined 1,090 U.S. small and medium sized enterprises about the way mobile technologies impact both their business and society. Two organizations stood out with their approach of using innovative technology tools for achieving economic empowerment and generate value for society. Good World Solutions organization implemented a mobile-based program called Labor Link that is helping business to acquire feedback from employees about the working conditions and also are providing them with information on health care and education. Marks Spencer company have used the program to help for the improvement of financial literacy among Indian factory workers. They have distributed a simple survey through their mobile phones and thousands of workers took part in it. The results helped Marks Spencer to generate information that allowed them to adapt its training according to the specific needs of the workers, and also have contributed by educating them to save, as the number of workers having bank accounts is reported to have increased with 33% after the first part of the survey. Grameen Foundation is providing for organizations working to prevent poverty by supplying them with products and services that can increase their efficiency. TaroWorks is a product of theirs, a mobile enabled tool with a cloud-based back end. It is often used by workers on the field, who submit real-time information through a mobile phone. VisionSpring is another company that uses TaroWorks for the purpose of improved business operations and social assistance. The business is selling eyeglasses to poor people, in order to alleviate poverty by encouraging them to learn and work. In the past VisionSpring was not able to obtain information about its customers because it was expensive and complicated, but now with the use of TaroWorks and mobile phones the company is collecting vital information that will help adapting its products. (Adesnik, 2013) In spite of the positive impact that mobile technology have on the success in business in our world, there are many companies which do not understand the benefit they would gain from adapting such technology in their business. A study released by business and accounting software provider Sage North America in 2014 have found that 77% of the companies do not intend to invest in mobile technology. The study revealed that only 5% of the businesses have planned a budget specifically for mobile devices, and also that the percentage in employers who provides their employees with a mobile phones have dropped with 14% since the last year (Angeles, 2014). Mobile technology is enriching our lives. It is helping us to work on what is both good for business and good for the world.ÂÂ   It is making communication between people possible, anywhere in the world, for everyone with access to Internet. Mobile technology have great power and strong impact on businesses that are using mobile enabled tools and devices to collect information and use it to make informed decisions. The fast progress of mobile technology does not seem to slow down, and if a business is striving for success, it should apply the mobile advancements in order to use them as an advantage.

Macbeth :: essays research papers

Macbeth Throughout the play, there are several occasions which may either be interpreted as manipulation of Macbeth’s character, or more dramatically as prophecies of his inevitable destiny. The most important of these elements are the supernatural witches. When Macbeth first meets the Witches (I.iii.) – seemingly by accident – they call him titles which have not yet been bestowed upon him. It is unclear whether the Witches plant the idea of earning these titles by foul play to Macbeth’s head, or whether it is a prophecy of future. Either way, their words eventually become reality. The further encounters with the Weyward Sisters and Hecate strengthens the idea of a preset destiny. The three apparitions summoned by the witches (IV.i.) and the prophecies that go together with them are all visions of the future. Unfortunaly for Macbeth he manages to read these manifestations of his destiny all wrong. Another important ’fatal’ element for Macbeth is Lady Macbeth. She is also heavily manipulating Macbeth (II.ii.), although she does not have the supernatural qualities of the Witches. She is clearly a woman driven by an infinite lust for power. However, the only way for her to fulfill her personal agenda is through her husband, Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s character can be easily interpreted as a manifestation of the darker side of the human mind, an instrument between Macbeth and the realization of his inevitable destiny. When Macbeth has become King and felt power, he doesn't want to give it up. At first he wasn't at peace because he wanted the throne, but hesitated to carry out the murder. Now that he has the throne, he loses his peace with the prospect of losing the crown. His only choice now is to kill Banquo and Fleance. He is trying to work against prophecy – the third apparition – something he never learns not to do. While Macbeth carries out his dark deeds, he becomes a somewhat different person; he no longer possesses control over his destiny. His head becomes filled with images of murder, ghosts and other signs of a disturbed mind. The vision of the dagger (II.i.) is the earliest example of the duality and unstability of his character. Macbeth’s mind is contemplating the murder of Duncan, but he clearly hasn’t come to terms with it. After he has carried out the murder, Macbeth is able to keep a mask of innocence. When he has the doubtful Banquo murdered, and his ghost appears to haunt him

The Death Penalty Essay -- capital punishment, death penalty

As of January 1, 2010, 3,261 people live on death row (â€Å"Death†). Fewer than 3,261 people live in my small town of Belle Plaine, so to me this number is outrageous. Inmates that wait on the death penalty jail create a problem for everyone in the country. If we would put these inmates through the death penalty quickly, we could take the problem away from the country. Why do we keep murderers and criminals on death row around? People argue the controversial topic of the death penalty very thoroughly, and address all sides. On one side people argue that we would save money and the death penalty sets an example for other criminals, while on the opposition people argue that life without parole is cheaper, capital punishment is morally wrong, and innocent people mistakenly are killed. The United States abolished the death penalty, also called capital punishment, in 1963. Throughout the 1960s, the Supreme Court battled many cases involving whether the death penalty should be allowed. The Supreme Court finally ruled in 1976 that the death penalty be enforced by the states that wanted it and not enforced by those who do not want it. Currently in the United States, thirty-five states have the death penalty, while fifteen do not. Even though some states have the death penalty, seven states have not performed any executions. Seventy percent of the public approves of the death penalty to be enforced throughout the states (Robinson). I also support the death penalty, and I think the death penalty should be enforced for many cases. Capital punishment would save money throughout the nation. Ten years ago, the average cost for an inmate was $22,650, and now ten years later the cost has only risen. (Stephan). This $22,650 may not... ... Richard Dieter. Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., 2010.Web. 28 April 2011. â€Å"Death Row Inmates by State.† Chart. DeathPenalty.org. N.p., 20 September 2010. Web. 25 April 2011. Feingold, Russ. â€Å"Irrevocable Mistakes.† ProCon.org. 7 Feb. 2007. Web. 28 April 2011. â€Å"Number of Executions.† Chart. DeathPenalty.org. N.p., 20 September 2010. Web. 28 April 2011. Sharp, Dudley. â€Å"Cost of Death Penalty vs. Life in Prison.† ProCon.org. 1 Oct. 1997. Web. 26 April 2011. Robinson, B.A. â€Å"Part 1: Death Penalty Data.† ReligiousTolerance.org. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance., 7 Dec. 2009. Web. 25 April 2011. Stephan, James J. â€Å"The High Cost of Imprisonment in America.† Noor’s List. Tina Dorsey and Tom Hester., June 2004. Web. 26 April 2011. â€Å"Top 10 Pros and Cons: Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?† ProCon.org. N.p., 14 April 2009. Web. 26 April 2011.

Free Process Essays - How to Procrastinate :: Free Expository Process Essays

How to Procrastinate Have you ever heard friends or family members brag about how productive they were that day, or week, or month? Those people really bother me. And it's because I can never get anything done; it takes me a long time to accomplish the simplest tasks. I pride myself in being a grade A procrastinator. My three specific examples will help anyone perfect the arts of wasting time and procrastination. Then you can brag about how extremely unproductive you were today. I am not a super messy person, but I don't necessarily keep my room clean all the time, either. Many a time I have opted to put away my clothes, clean out my binder and my backpack, make my lunch for the next day, and/or take a shower before I get to my homework. Doing all these activities takes a while, and I usually end up doing all of them on nights when I have a lot of homework, or if I have a test the next day. Any type of cleaning or household chore would work, though, such as scrubbing the shower, vacuuming, or dusting. Another great way to waste time is to daydream. I can sit for fifteen minutes or more before I realize that I should be doing something else. I usually think about something that happened that day, and then imagine an alternate ending. Or I will imagine calling someone on the phone, and play out the entire conversation in my head. Sometimes I look out the window and look at all the trees, clouds, squirrels, or even the grass in my backyard. This is a great procrastination method when combined with a simple cleaning task, like cleaning out a backpack. The best way to procrastinate is to interact with other people. That way you can lay part of the blame on someone else: "Well, Mom was talking to me about something important. I couldn't just walk away." I prefer to talk on the phone to friends who go to schools far away. We usually don't talk too often, so when we do, we have to make it count. For those that who don't want to spend a mountain of money on phone bills, any kind of messaging system on the Internet is a great way to communicate.

Narrative on `The Dream of the Rood`

As the first known â€Å"dream poem† in English literature, â€Å"The Dream of the Rood† has stood as one of the most celebrated and profound works in verse around the world. Along with a penetrating, mystical vision of Christian spirituality and illuminating Biblical allusion, the poem offers a diverse and inspired form and diction to match its powerful theme and images. â€Å"The Dream of the Rood is best understood as an imaginative re-enactment of a private penitential experience[†¦] This critically acclaimed, dramatic Old English poem is the first dream-vision in English, and its most enduring features are a startling use of language, powerful prosopopoeia, and striking imagery.† (Butcher) Along with religious imagery which overtly signals the spiritual and penitential themes of the poem, â€Å"The Dream of the rood† extends truly original diction and meter to propel its impact. The basic â€Å"story† of the poem may have been drawn from earlier sources, poems which utilized the same theme: â€Å"an older poem describing the crucifixion of Jesus which may possibly have been written by Caedmon or one of his school, and which Cynewulf took up and worked at in his own fashion, adding to it where and how he pleased, and changing its mode of presentation — making it, for instance into a dream, and adding the personification of the Tree. (Brooke 438) Using the theme of   Christ’s crucifixion allowed the poet to soar into inventiuve language and word-choice, to establish poetry which addressed the spiritual and religious impulses of the Anglo Saxon world: â€Å"More explicitly in what is perhaps the most famous of the Anglo-Saxon Christian poems, The Dream of the Rood, the poet represents the Crucifixion as a physically active and heroic act.† (Crafton 214) This basic story is both straightforward and mystical: â€Å"the speaker tells of his swefna cyst, best of dreams, in which he sees the cross of the crucifixion, alter nately bejeweled and bloody, in the sky. The cross then speaks, giving its own first person account of the Passion of Christ, and encouraging the dreamer to spread the message of the cross to his contemporaries.† (Dockray-Miller)  Ã‚   In order to capture the luminous and exalted feeling of inspiration and religious intoxication which permeate the poem, the poet engaged in the use of language which is both striking and deeply connotative. In generating the â€Å"narrative† of the poem, the poet resorted to the use of gender-charged or gender-specific language, to â€Å"personify† and attribute qualitites to  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the elements of the poem which would enable its message to emerge powerfully.†Particularly concerned with how language could be used to signal a status of power, the poet of â€Å"The Dream of the Rood† used masculine- and feminine-coded language to signal a change in the status of power-figures.†Ã‚   (Hawkins) Evidence of controlled and inspired diction is obvious from the poem’s opening lines: â€Å"the poet announces he will recount the â€Å"swefna cyst,† or ’best of dreams,’ the first-time reader thinks nothing of the phrase except that it signifies excellence in dreaming, perhaps; however, on second and third passes through the poem, the reader becomes aware that this diction deserves close scrutiny[†¦] the poet is establishing that both his narrator’s dream and the tree in that dream are the â€Å"best†; that is to say, they are ultimate truth.†Ã‚   (Butcher). Likewise, the tree, described first in the poem’s fourth line as â€Å"â€Å"syllicre tr?eow’, an absolute use of the comparative â€Å"syllicre,† meaning â€Å"a tree more marvelous [than any other tree].† Syllic is a variation of the adjective seldlic, from which our seldom comes. Thus, â€Å"syllicre tr?eow† can also be translated â€Å"rarest tree.† Immediately, the poet has established the exceptional nature of his subject.† (Butcher). Works Cited Brooke, Stopford A. The History of Early English Literature: Being the History of English Poetry from Its Beginnings to the Accession of King Aelfred. New York: Macmillan, 1892. Crafton, John Michael. â€Å"11 Epic and Heroic Poetry.† A Companion to Old and Middle English Literature. Ed. Laura Cooner Lambdin and Robert Thomas Lambdin. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002. 210-229. Dockray-Miller, Mary. â€Å"The Feminized Cross of ‘The Dream of the Rood.'.† Philological Quarterly 76.1 (1997): 1+. Hawkins, Emma B. â€Å"Gender, Language and Power in â€Å"The Dream of the Rood†.† Women and Language 18.2 (1995): 33+. Butcher, Carmen Acevedo. The Dream of the Rood and Its Unique, Penitential Language 1+ www.carmenbutcher.com 2-5-07.