Free Essays on Sickle Cell Anemia

There have been many researches and tests done on the genetic causes of Sickle Cell Anemia and how it developes, as well as it’s effects on the circulatory, muscular, and respiratory systems, as well as it’s effects on the joints and other systems of the body, and the complications associated with them. Most of the research has been done to explore on the reasons why it mostly effects the African-American community and people who are from the West Coast of Africa. It has also been known that Sickle Cell Anemia also effects people from the Mediterranean countries (Wethers, 2000) Sickle Cell Anemia is a the most common single gene disorder found mostly among Black Americans (Wethers, 2000). According to scientific research, it affects approximately one in 375 persons of African ancestry. According to one researcher, â€Å"Sickle Cell conditions are also found to be in persons from Mediterranean countries also, such as Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, and the Indian subcontinent†( Wethers, 2000, p.1014). Extensive research has also proved that Spanish speaking persons in the United States, plus people from the Caribbean and South and Central America, are also effected by Sickle Cell Anemia (Wethers, 2000) The first case of Sickle Cell Anemia was first published in 1910 by scientists, and has since then been followed by at least six decades of many observations, which include genetic, molecular, and pathologic observations (Wethers, 2000) Large bodies of clinical data has on the evolution of Sickle Cell Anemia from birth has been gathered on studies of children since the 1970’s (Wethers, 2000) The United States has studied 3,500 patients Page 2 with the Sickle Cell disease, and based on these studies, the longevity and quality of life of these patients have greatly improved (Wethers, 2000). It has been researched and proven that Sickle Cell Anemia have come from mutations within the human genes that is associated with being imm... Free Essays on Sickle Cell Anemia Free Essays on Sickle Cell Anemia Sickle cell anemia is an autonomic recessive disorder in which abnormal hemoglobin leads to chronic hemolytic anemia along with periodic episodes of pain. The mutation in hemoglobin sickle cell anemia is a blood condition primarily affecting people of African ancestry. It has been researched and proven that the error in the hemoglobin gene results from a genetic mutation that occurred many thousands of years ago in people in parts of Africa, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and India. It is associated with being immune to malaria, a parasitic blood disease that is carried and contracted by infected mosquitoes. Since malaria is mostly found in hot, moist areas in West Africa and the Mediterranean, people originating from that area produced an immunity to towards malaria, but with consequences (Bloom). The individual will not contract malaria because the mutation in his/her genes quickly fight off the disease by changing the shape and composition make-up of the blood cell so the parasites will not be able to survive in it (Van Cleve, Lemerond). The consequence of this is that because the individual’s blood cells mutate and become misshaped, becoming â€Å"moon crescent† or â€Å"sickle-shaped†, the blood cells then grows and becomes to big to pass through most blood vessels, mostly capillaries and veins, which causes it to form a clumped together mass. The blood vessel where this happens is mostly associated with the joints and the lungs. Unlike normal red blood cells, which last about 120 days in the bloodstream, sickled red cells die after only about 10 to 20 days. Because they cannot be replaced fast enough, the blood is chronically short of red blood cells, a condition called anemia. When this happens, the child or adult experiences great amounts of pain, making it almost impossible for them to ambulate. The joints get swollen and red. Another condition is that the clump of misshaped blood cells still can travel ... Free Essays on Sickle Cell Anemia There have been many researches and tests done on the genetic causes of Sickle Cell Anemia and how it developes, as well as it’s effects on the circulatory, muscular, and respiratory systems, as well as it’s effects on the joints and other systems of the body, and the complications associated with them. Most of the research has been done to explore on the reasons why it mostly effects the African-American community and people who are from the West Coast of Africa. It has also been known that Sickle Cell Anemia also effects people from the Mediterranean countries (Wethers, 2000) Sickle Cell Anemia is a the most common single gene disorder found mostly among Black Americans (Wethers, 2000). According to scientific research, it affects approximately one in 375 persons of African ancestry. According to one researcher, â€Å"Sickle Cell conditions are also found to be in persons from Mediterranean countries also, such as Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, and the Indian subcontinent†( Wethers, 2000, p.1014). Extensive research has also proved that Spanish speaking persons in the United States, plus people from the Caribbean and South and Central America, are also effected by Sickle Cell Anemia (Wethers, 2000) The first case of Sickle Cell Anemia was first published in 1910 by scientists, and has since then been followed by at least six decades of many observations, which include genetic, molecular, and pathologic observations (Wethers, 2000) Large bodies of clinical data has on the evolution of Sickle Cell Anemia from birth has been gathered on studies of children since the 1970’s (Wethers, 2000) The United States has studied 3,500 patients Page 2 with the Sickle Cell disease, and based on these studies, the longevity and quality of life of these patients have greatly improved (Wethers, 2000). It has been researched and proven that Sickle Cell Anemia have come from mutations within the human genes that is associated with being imm... Free Essays on Sickle Cell Anemia Sickle cell anemia is an autonomic recessive disorder in which abnormal hemoglobin leads to chronic hemolytic anemia along with periodic episodes of pain. The mutation in hemoglobin sickle cell anemia is a blood condition primarily affecting people of African ancestry. It has been researched and proven that the error in the hemoglobin gene results from a genetic mutation that occurred many thousands of years ago in people in parts of Africa, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and India. It is associated with being immune to malaria, a parasitic blood disease that is carried and contracted by infected mosquitoes. Since malaria is mostly found in hot, moist areas in West Africa and the Mediterranean, people originating from that area produced an immunity to towards malaria, but with consequences (Bloom). The individual will not contract malaria because the mutation in his/her genes quickly fight off the disease by changing the shape and composition make-up of the blood cell so the parasites will not be able to survive in it (Van Cleve, Lemerond). The consequence of this is that because the individual’s blood cells mutate and become misshaped, becoming â€Å"moon crescent† or â€Å"sickle-shaped†, the blood cells then grows and becomes to big to pass through most blood vessels, mostly capillaries and veins, which causes it to form a clumped together mass. The blood vessel where this happens is mostly associated with the joints and the lungs. Unlike normal red blood cells, which last about 120 days in the bloodstream, sickled red cells die after only about 10 to 20 days. Because they cannot be replaced fast enough, the blood is chronically short of red blood cells, a condition called anemia. When this happens, the child or adult experiences great amounts of pain, making it almost impossible for them to ambulate. The joints get swollen and red. Another condition is that the clump of misshaped blood cells still can travel ...

A Brief History of Chinese Opera

A Brief History of Chinese Opera Since the time of the Tang Dynastys Emperor Xuanzong from 712 to 755- who created the first national opera troupe called the Pear Garden- Chinese opera has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country, but it actually started nearly a millennium before in the Yellow River Valley during the Qin Dynasty.   Now, more than a millennium after Xuanzongs death, it is enjoyed by political leaders and commoners alike in many fascinating and innovative ways, and Chinese opera performers are still referred to as Disciples of the Pear Garden, continuing to perform an astonishing 368 different forms of Chinese opera. Early Development Many of the features that characterize modern Chinese opera developed in northern China, particularly in the Shanxi and Gansu Provinces, including the use of certain set characters like Sheng (the man), Dan (the woman), Hua (the painted face) and Chou (the clown). In Yuan Dynasty times- from 1279 to 1368- opera performers began to use the vernacular language of the common people rather than Classical Chinese. During the Ming Dynasty- from 1368 to 1644- and the Qing Dynasty- from 1644 to 1911- the northern traditional singing and drama style from Shanxi was combined with melodies from a southern form of Chinese opera called Kunqu. This form was created in the Wu region, along the Yangtze River. Kunqu Opera revolves around the Kunshan melody, created in the coastal city of Kunshan. Many of the most famous operas that are still performed today are from the Kunqu repertoire, including The Peony Pavilion, The Peach Blossom Fan, and adaptations of the older Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West. However, the stories have been rendered into various local dialects, including Mandarin for audiences in Beijing and other northern cities. The acting and singing techniques, as well as costumes and makeup conventions, also owe much to the northern Qinqiang or Shanxi tradition. Hundred Flowers Campaign This rich operatic heritage was almost lost during Chinas dark days in the mid-twentieth century. The Communist regime of the Peoples Republic of China- from 1949 to present- initially encouraged the production and performance of operas old and new. During the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956 and 57- in which the authorities under Mao encouraged intellectualism, the arts and even criticism of the government- Chinese opera blossomed anew. However, the Hundred Flowers Campaign may have been a trap. Beginning in July of 1957, the intellectuals and artists who had put themselves forward during Hundred Flowers period were purged. By December of that same year, a stunning 300,000 people had been  labeled  rightists and were subjected to punishments from informal criticism to internment in labor camps or even execution. This was a preview of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution of 1966 through 1976, which would imperil the very existence of Chinese opera and other traditional arts. Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution was the regimes attempt to destroy old ways of thinking by outlawing such traditions as fortune telling, paper-making, traditional Chinese dress and the study of classic literature and arts. An attack on one Beijing opera piece and its composer signaled the start of the Cultural Revolution. In 1960, Maos government had commissioned Professor Wu Han to write an opera about Hai Rui, a minister of the Ming Dynasty who was fired for criticizing the Emperor to his face. Audiences saw the play as a critique of the Emperor- and thus Mao- rather than of Hai Rui representing disgraced Minister of Defense Peng Dehuai. In reaction, Mao performed an about-face in 1965, publishing harsh criticism of the opera and of composer Wu Han, who was eventually fired. This was the opening salvo of the Cultural Revolution. For the next decade, opera troupes were disbanded, other composers and scriptwriters were purged and performances were banned. Until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, only eight model operas were allowed. These model operas were personally vetted by Madame Jiang Qing and were entirely politically innocuous. In essence, Chinese opera was dead. Modern Chinese Opera After 1976, Beijing opera and the other forms were revived, and once more placed within the national repertoire. Older performers who had survived the purges were allowed to pass on their knowledge to new students again. Traditional operas have been freely performed since 1976, though some newer works have been censored and new composers criticized as the political winds have shifted over the intervening decades. Chinese opera makeup is particularly fascinating and rich in meaning. A character with mostly red makeup or a red mask is brave and loyal. Black symbolizes boldness and impartiality. Yellow denotes ambition, while pink stands for sophistication and cool-headedness. Characters with primarily blue faces are fierce and far-seeing, while green faces show wild and impulsive behaviors. Those with white faces are treacherous and cunning- the villains of the show. Finally, an actor with only a small section of makeup in the center of the face, connecting the eyes and nose, is a clown. This is called xiaohualian, or the little  painted  face. Today, more than thirty forms of Chinese opera continue to be performed regularly throughout the country. Some of the most prominent of which are the Peking opera of Beijing, Huju opera of Shanghai, the Qinqiang of Shanxi, and Cantonese opera.   Beijing (Peking) Opera The dramatic art form known as Beijing opera- or Peking opera- has been a staple of Chinese entertainment for more than two centuries. It was founded in  1790 when the Four Great Anhui Troupes went to Beijing to perform for the Imperial Court. Some 40 years later, well-known opera troupes from Hubei joined the Anhui performers, melding their regional styles. Both the Hubei and Anhui opera troupes used two primary melodies adapted from the Shanxi musical tradition: Xipi and Erhuang. From this amalgam of local styles, the new Peking or Beijing opera developed. Today, Beijing Opera is considered  Chinas  national art form. Beijing Opera is famous for convoluted plots, vivid makeup, beautiful costumes and sets and the unique vocal style used by performers. Many of the 1,000 plots- perhaps not surprisingly- revolve around political and military strife, rather than romance. The basic stories are often hundreds or even thousands of years old involving historic and even supernatural beings.   Many fans of Beijing Opera are worried about the fate of this art form. The traditional plays make reference to many facts of pre-Cultural Revolution  life and history that are unfamiliar to young people. Furthermore, many of the stylized movements have particular meanings that can be lost on uninitiated audiences. Most troubling of all, operas must now compete with films, TV shows, computer games, and the internet for attention. The Chinese government is using grants and contests to encourage young artists to participate in Beijing Opera. Shanghai (Huju) Opera Shanghai opera (Huju) originated at about the same time as Beijing opera, around 200 years ago. However, the Shanghai version of opera is based on local folk-songs of the Huangpu River region rather than deriving from Anhui and Shanxi.  Huju  is performed in the Shanghainese dialect of Wu Chinese, which is not mutually intelligible with  Mandarin. In other words, a person from Beijing would not understand the lyrics of a  Huju  piece. Due to the relatively recent nature of the stories and songs that make up  Huju, the costumes and makeup are comparatively simple and modern. Shanghai opera performers wear costumes that resemble the street clothing of ordinary people from the pre-communist era. Their makeup is not much more elaborate than that worn by western stage actors, in stark contrast to the heavy and significant grease-paint used in the other Chinese Opera forms. Huju  had its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the stories and songs of the Shanghai region show a definite western influence. This is not surprising, given that the major European powers maintained trading concessions and consular offices in the thriving port city, prior to World War II. Like many of the other regional opera styles,  Huju  is in danger of disappearing forever. Few young actors take up the art form since there is much greater fame and fortune to be had in movies, TV, or even Beijing Opera. Unlike Beijing Opera, which is now considered a national art form, Shanghai Opera is performed in a local dialect and thus does not translate well to other provinces. Nevertheless, the city of Shanghai has millions of residents, with tens of millions more in the near vicinity. If a concerted effort is made to introduce younger audiences to this interesting art form,  Huju  may survive to delight theater-goers for centuries to come. Shanxi Opera (Qinqiang) Most forms of Chinese opera owe their singing and acting styles, some of their melodies, and their plot-lines to the musically fertile Shanxi province, with its thousand-year-old Qinqiang  or  Luantan  folk melodies. This ancient form of art first appeared in the  Yellow River  Valley during the  Qin Dynasty  from B.C. 221 to 206 and was popularized at the Imperial Court at modern-day  Xian during the  Tang Era, which spanned from 618 to 907 A.D. The repertoire and symbolic movements continued to develop in Shanxi Province throughout the  Yuan Era  (1271-1368) and the Ming Era (1368-1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Shanxi Opera was introduced to the court at Beijing. The Imperial audiences so enjoyed Shanxi singing that the form was incorporated into Beijing Opera, which is now a national artistic style. At one time, the repertoire of Qinqiang included over 10,000 operas; today, only about 4,700 of them are remembered. The  arias  in Qinqiang Opera are divided into two types:  huan  yin, or joyous tune, and  ku  yin, or sorrowful tune. Plots in Shanxi Opera often deal with fighting oppression, wars against the northern barbarians, and issues of loyalty. Some Shanxi Opera productions include special effects such as fire-breathing or acrobatic twirling, in addition to the standard operatic acting and singing. Cantonese Opera Cantonese Opera, based in southern China and overseas ethnic Chinese communities, is a very formalized operatic form that emphasizes gymnastic and martial arts skills. This form of Chinese Opera predominates in Guangdong,  Hong Kong, Macau,  Singapore,  Malaysia, and in Chinese-influenced areas in western countries. Cantonese Opera was first performed during the reign of the Ming Dynasty Jiajing Emperor from 152 to 1567. Originally based on the older forms of Chinese Opera, Cantonese Opera began to add local folk melodies, Cantonese instrumentation, and eventually even Western popular tunes. In addition to traditional Chinese instruments such as the  pipa,  erhu, and percussion, modern Cantonese Opera productions may include such Western instruments as the violin, cello, or even saxophone. Two different types of plays make up the Cantonese Opera repertoire- Mo, meaning martial arts, and  Mun, or intellectual- wherein the melodies are entirely secondary to the lyrics.  Mo performances are fast-paced, involving stories of warfare,  bravery  and betrayal. The actors often carry weapons as props, and the elaborate costumes may be as heavy as actual armor. Mun, on the other hand, tends to be a slower, more polite art form. The actors use their vocal tones, facial expressions, and long flowing water sleeves to express complex emotions. Most of the Mun stories are romances, morality tales, ghost stories, or famous Chinese classic tales or myths. One notable feature of Cantonese Opera is the makeup. It is among the most elaborate makeup systems in all of Chinese Opera, with different shades of color and shapes, particularly on the forehead, indicating the mental state, trustworthiness, and physical health of the characters. For example, sickly characters have a thin red line drawn between the eyebrows, while comic or clownish characters have a large white spot  on  the bridge of the nose. Some Cantonese Operas also involve actors in open face makeup, which is so intricate and complicated that it resembles a painted mask more than a living face. Today, Hong Kong is at the center of efforts to keep Cantonese Opera alive and thriving. The Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts offers two-year degrees in Cantonese Opera performance, and the Arts Development Council sponsors opera classes for the citys children. Through such concerted effort, this unique and intricate form of Chinese Opera may continue to find an audience for decades to come.

Research and journalism Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Research and journalism - Article Example Research on the other hand is a more long term longitudinal study based on foresight regarding future trends or events over a period of time. This is one of the most basic differences that makes journalism and research take on divergent roles. The collection of data is crucial to both journalism and research. According to Sedlmeier et al (1989), research is not a copy of record, as opposed to journalism. Here, it may be seen that journalism acts as a record of facts on which public opinion is molded and set forth. Yet, research is based on longitudinal studies that depend on the careful selection of subjects as well as focus groups upon whom analysis is conducted for a logical conclusion. To begin with, one has to understand research design in context of philosophy as a style of writing or expressing ideas. This has a nexus with positivism as well as interpretivism in understanding how knowledge is gathered and used. Johnson et al's text (2000) starts with a study of innate notions. This portion of the book is a study of the elements that lead to speculation and a subsequent formation of perspective. This points to positivism. Throughout this part, the authors have managed to hook the reader on to the idea that speculation is an element that must be used in very discreet doses as more of it can damage the practical side of things in one's mind. (Johnson et al, 2000) As a philosophical notion, this is an ideal that is true to writing. In writing, it is imperative to stick to a certain balance between factual information and a small amount of speculation. This holds on to people's imagination and memories. Therefore, in this part of the book, the authors have merely de scribed a style of writing that has to do with organising ideas and information or interpretivism. This sets the stage for understanding and differentiating between epistemology and ontology. Further into the book, one will find ideals that are connected with principles in the mind. The mind is an organ that churns out thoughts and expressions of the same. These expressions are a part of the basic mental setup of the person concerned. This quality, in turn, springs from an ability to form a successful marriage between imagination and the overall truth surrounding a person. Therefore, these principles work towards defining a certain kind of writing and research design that can be applied by any person for means of appropriate self expression. (Johnson et al, 2000) The second part of the book is about Ideas, which relates to journalism rather than research. Journalism is a field where ideation is an important phase before one begins to actually put the ideas down on pen and paper. Where does this ideation happen' It happens during one's life experiences. These life experiences revolve around the garnering of values and ideals in life. One's writing often depicts the state of one's belief system. Thus, in describing ideas, Locke has managed to show what a person's preliminary research in writing is based on. This preliminary research comes from what is within oneself. (Locke, 2007) Therefore, as far as data collection is concerned, positivism is the approach used by research, while interpretivism is the appr

I need an essay about comparison and contrast under this topic (an

I need an about comparison and contrast under this topic (an online class compared to a traditional class ) - Essay Example Whether a person achieves a good learning experience or not is determined by the factors that affect the employment or administration of teaching, since educational instruments are normally tangible and accessible to students with whom a specific knowledge or training is communicated. At this stage, the widespread technology logically plays the key role in educating people, for the modern age has proven to have used and modified technology in almost everything that drives our living. It is, however, essential to determine which between an online class and a traditional class delivers the intended results of a quality learning. While classes held online offer learners the convenience to access a wide variety of virtual materials from a range of readable to audio-visual files, how can such setting guarantee focus and diligence with the desired output among the users? On the contrary, though traditional classes facilitate the advantage of enabling students to experience the real environment of proper education in the presence of a teacher and classmates with whom to interact, how would this ensure constant availability of up-to-date academic resources? Comparing these modes of learning is like running through a number of advantages and disadvantages that must be rea lized in considering either preference. Through an online community, a learning individual finds oneself in control of one’s pace in coping with studies under the flexibility of accomplishing tasks at the comfort of personal time and place. There is barely a need to rush on reading and responding to assignments based on the required modules or set of online curricular activities. In this manner, students gain knowledge with confidence, aware that the freedom of studying within a comfort zone allows more room for fluid thoughts and thus, better ways by which to express views or insights. This is truly a convenient

Security Requirements & Possible Risks Essay Example for Free

Security Requirements Possible Risks Essay Huffman Trucking, an established trucking company since 1936, has recently requested the implementation of a new Benefits Elections System to assist management in tracking and reporting the benefits of both union and non-union employees. A database system will be utilized to store critical data such as employee information, along with the benefit package of their choosing. Storing such information requires necessary security measures to be in place to ensure the total protection of the data within. The risks associated with storing critical information must also be thoroughly addressed so Huffman Trucking can develop effective action plans to prevent potential threats from harming the organization. Regardless of the storage method when handling critical information, security measures must be implemented to effectively protect the data, as well as the company assets from potential threats such as theft or litigation. Security Requirements When it comes to effectively protecting company data, any organization has the great responsibility to identify as well as implement security policies, values, strategies, processes, procedures, and best practices to fully ensure data protection, as well as ensure that organizational goals and objectives are continually being met (Reiner, 2008). The information that will be stored within the Huffman Trucking database will include: employee names, social security numbers, birthdates, etc. The loss of such data can ultimately not only harm the employee, but the organization as a whole. In an effort to reduce and/or eliminate such risks, security requirements for the Benefits Elections System should include: firewall security, encryption, and password protection and renewal. Firewall security is an absolute necessary security requirement to effectively protect the database from malicious attacks such as hackers. Firewall security refers to a network device that will block certain types of network traffic, forming a barricade between a trusted and an untrusted network (â€Å"Dell†, 2013). The purpose of this security measure is to prevent the spread of computer attacks by blocking access to information from unauthorized sources. Due to the amount of sensitive data that will be stored within the system, it is recommended that the firewalls should be configured to support the default-deny policy, in which the allowed network services are listed, and everything else is denied (â€Å"Dell†, 2013). The use of encryption will also enhance the security of the information that will be stored within the Benefits Elections System. Encryption is a simple security measure that will distort the information contained within an employee file so that it can be viewed only by the authorized users who have the proper encryption key to decipher it. Much like firewall security, it will block unauthorized users from accessing confidential information by making the data impossible to view. Password protection and renewal are crucial security measures that must be enforced by Huffman Trucking to ensure the protection of data stored within the Benefits Elections System. Authorized users should protect their passwords at all costs; unprotected passwords leave critical data vulnerable to access by unauthorized users. Recommendations to ensure a password is protected include: * Password length: A password should always be at least eight characters long. * Complexity: Make a password as complex as possible by using a variety of letters, numbers, symbols and punctuations. The more complex the password, the better protected it is. * Variation: Change a password at least every three months, if not more. * Variety: Use different passwords for different accounts. Never use the same password for everything. * Confidentiality: Never share or write down a password. Writing down or sharing a password leaves critical data vulnerable in ways that most people can never imagine. The ability of an organization to renew passwords frequently is a significant step towards enhanced data protection (Brown, 2010). To enhance the effectiveness of password renewal, system users should not have the ability to use previous passwords when renewing the current ones. Implementing password renewal on the Benefits Elections System will ensure security measures are continually enforced, especially in the event that if an unauthorized user were to gain access to the system, the password would only be good for a specific length of time before it will be changed. Possible Risks â€Å"Risk† is a term that most people, as well as organizations, are familiar with. Risk can be defined as the probability of any possible threat turning into a disaster, which is why significant measures are often taken to reduce and/or eliminate such possibilities. By utilizing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), Huffman Trucking can effectively determine the vulnerabilities associated with implementing a Benefits Elections System, and develop action plans to correct the vulnerabilities to prevent the risks from becoming reality. Several risks are often associated with the implementation of a new system, however, the main risks that must be considered by Huffman Trucking include: database corruption, human error, and hacking and other malicious attacks. Database corruption is likely the most common cause of data loss within an information system (Mulvey, 2006). Database corruption damages the database and impairs functionality. Memory errors, network errors, power glitches, PC crashing when the database is open are all examples of incidences that can lead to database corruption. Data corruption is unfortunately inevitable; however, there are several practices that can be done to avoid such a threat. These practices include, but are not limited to: * Ensuring the network is set up properly. * Running Scandisk and Defrag often to ensure hard disk functionality. * Refraining from using databases during thunderstorms to avoid power glitches. * Ensuring the database is implemented correctly, and is ready to be utilized by all system users. Human error is perhaps one of the biggest threats that can lead to data corruption. It is important to keep in mind that the greater the number of system users of the Benefits Elections System, the more chances there are for crucial information to be leaked or mishandled. Taking the proper precautions to safeguard the data (this should include a thorough training after system implementation) to ensure the information is appropriately handled at all times is vital to the well-being of both the employees, as well as the organization. Given the amount of sensitive information that will be stored within the Benefits Elections System, it is obvious that Huffman Trucking must be aware that cyber-criminals will try to gain access to such data should it be left unprotected. Breaking into information systems for malicious intent is something that has made security what it is today: thorough and inflexible. Hackers are smart nowadays; they can make use of a number of tools and techniques to grant them access to information, which can have damaging effects on the victim(s). The possibilities of what a cyber-criminal will do once he or she has access to sensitive information are endless; however, one thing is for sure: the victim(s) could virtually lose everything. Without the proper security measures that were previously mentioned in place, the Benefits Elections System will be vulnerable to hackers and other malicious attacks. Thoroughly examining the potential risks with the implementation of any information system will allow an organization to effectively develop action plans and enforce the necessary security measures required to reduce and/or eliminate such risks. A thorough and effective risk analysis will demonstrate how firewall security, encryption, and password protection can reduce the risks of database corruption and malicious attacks. Like any information system, the Benefits Elections System will prove to be vulnerable to potential threats if not protected at all costs. References Brown, T. (2010). Protecting Organizations’ Most Critical Data with Privileged Password Management. New York, NY: Auerbach Publications . Dell. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.secureworks.com/resources/articles/other_articles/firewall-security/ Mulvey, A. (2006). QA Database Corruption. Retrieved from

stereotypes :: essays research papers

Listing Agreement (now called a service provisions agreement) 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A type of employment agreement between a principal and a agent 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It authorizes the broker to try to find (procuring cause) a ready, willing and able buyer on terms acceptable to the seller. Parties 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seller is the principal 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The broker is the agent 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salespeople are the sub-agents of the seller 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooperating broker is the agent of the listing broker and the sub-agent of the seller 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salespeople in the cooperating brokers office are agents of their broker Requirements 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Names of all parties 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Accurate description; does not have to be the legal description. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Terms and conditions (i.e. FHA or VA sales) 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Commission 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asking price 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Items included or excluded (i.e. Stove refrig) 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Signature Responsibilities to the principal C - Confidentiality L - Loyalty O - Obedience T - Trust D - Do care/ do diligence A - Accounting/ accountability D -Disclosure Responsibilities to principal 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensees must Represent the general public fairly 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without deceit or fraud 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duty is over and above a fiduciary duty to the principal 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Broker should never accept a fiduciary duty that conflicts with his/her duty to the general public 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reason for the rule is to be certain the public is protected A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Patent defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A defect plainly visible or as would be disclosed by the exercise of ordinary care 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You do not have a duty to disclose a visible defects B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Latent Defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A licensees must reveal all known hidden defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is hidden or concealed one that could not be discovered by reasonable inspection Puffing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An opinion not made as a representation of fact but in tended to enhance the value of property Selling Disclosure Statement 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Took effect Jan. 1994 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Requires seller of one to four family residential properties to disclose defects in the structure in writing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Filled out by the seller at the time of taking a listing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensee should not participate or help to fill this form out 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensee should encourage the seller to be truthful 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  licensee is required to provide a copy to prospect before presenting the offer 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  if the buyer does not get a copy they have the right to resend the deal until the deed is conveyed Types of Listing Agreements Exclusive right to sell listing Property listed with only one broker however, seller promises to pay commissions no mater who finds the buyer during the listing period. Exclusive Agency Property listed with only on broker however, seller reserves the right to find own buyer and not pay a commission Open listing (Pocket Listing) Property may be listed with more the one broker however, the owner reserves the right to find their own buyer and not pay a commission. stereotypes :: essays research papers Listing Agreement (now called a service provisions agreement) 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A type of employment agreement between a principal and a agent 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It authorizes the broker to try to find (procuring cause) a ready, willing and able buyer on terms acceptable to the seller. Parties 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Seller is the principal 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The broker is the agent 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salespeople are the sub-agents of the seller 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooperating broker is the agent of the listing broker and the sub-agent of the seller 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Salespeople in the cooperating brokers office are agents of their broker Requirements 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Names of all parties 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Accurate description; does not have to be the legal description. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Terms and conditions (i.e. FHA or VA sales) 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Commission 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Asking price 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Items included or excluded (i.e. Stove refrig) 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Signature Responsibilities to the principal C - Confidentiality L - Loyalty O - Obedience T - Trust D - Do care/ do diligence A - Accounting/ accountability D -Disclosure Responsibilities to principal 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensees must Represent the general public fairly 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Without deceit or fraud 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Duty is over and above a fiduciary duty to the principal 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Broker should never accept a fiduciary duty that conflicts with his/her duty to the general public 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Reason for the rule is to be certain the public is protected A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Patent defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A defect plainly visible or as would be disclosed by the exercise of ordinary care 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You do not have a duty to disclose a visible defects B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Latent Defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A licensees must reveal all known hidden defects 0.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is hidden or concealed one that could not be discovered by reasonable inspection Puffing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  An opinion not made as a representation of fact but in tended to enhance the value of property Selling Disclosure Statement 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Took effect Jan. 1994 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Requires seller of one to four family residential properties to disclose defects in the structure in writing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Filled out by the seller at the time of taking a listing 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensee should not participate or help to fill this form out 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Licensee should encourage the seller to be truthful 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  licensee is required to provide a copy to prospect before presenting the offer 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  if the buyer does not get a copy they have the right to resend the deal until the deed is conveyed Types of Listing Agreements Exclusive right to sell listing Property listed with only one broker however, seller promises to pay commissions no mater who finds the buyer during the listing period. Exclusive Agency Property listed with only on broker however, seller reserves the right to find own buyer and not pay a commission Open listing (Pocket Listing) Property may be listed with more the one broker however, the owner reserves the right to find their own buyer and not pay a commission.

Obtaining Mental Health Services

Being a probation officer is not easy.   It requires a lot of knowledge, skills, and experience to be an effective probation officer.   Having a golden heart is fine – believing that these offenders can change their lifestyle, supporting them in their intention to function in the community, and making sure that the people within the community where these offenders are staying would be safe from any danger.   However, objectivity should always come first since many lives are dependent on the probation officer’s ability to supervise and monitor these offenders’ performance. A probation officer also uses his resources in the community to assist his client, the offender in seeking employment or services such as medical care, alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, and the like.   The probation officer explains all the terms to the offender’s temporary release and the consequences for violating them under probation.   Everything is made clear. In the case of this 22-year-old man who have been convicted four times in two years straight for driving while under the influence of alcohol, thorough investigation should be done.   This man may be telling his substance abuse counselor that he is clean.   He may be present in all his counseling appointments.   Nevertheless, these claims do not prove that he has stopped alcohol consumption.   Furthermore, having eccentric ideas and opinions – this man telling you that his neighbors are monitoring his breathing through the television – proves that there is something terribly wrong about this person.   So, what do I plan to do about the matter? First, researching and investigating about this man’s personal history , such as his family to start with, would be a good start.   Knowledge about his childhood, his relationship with his co-family members, and his plight during his growing-up years are vital information in knowing how and why he acquired such behavior, vices, and even beliefs that he still carry on up to this day. A background check of his life three to five years prior the present date could also come in handy.   Past relationships usually contribute to a person’s perspective and sanity.   Another background check would be his scholastic and interpersonal performance in school given that he went into one.   Based from his interaction with these people, I might find clues to some grounds as to why and how this person came to be the way he is. Second, talking with this man would give me hints and clues about the way he thinks, the way he answers questions – may it be rational, practical or not, and the way he views the world.   Upon acquiring his personal background, a brief interview about his family and previous relations with others would somehow prove if this man is reliable or not.   This would be necessary because inconsistencies on his statements would prove irregularity of his character, therefore making him a threat, somehow, to the community. Third, I would discuss with his substance abuse counselor all my findings so we could come up with proper procedures needed to prove his mental capability or incapability.   I would suggest that the substance abuse officer gives my client some intellectual tests because my client is showing signs of a paranoid schizophrenic or of a person just having paranoid reactions that may be due to depression or trauma Fourth, I would require my client to undergo not only the psychological tests that his substance abuse counselor would give him but also a series of physical exams for instance urinalysis, blood tests, and the like to see if he really is clean or if he went back to alcohol or worse took other substances and mixed it with alcohol altering the effects of the alcohol-intake alone. Fifth, I would reiterate to my client the sanctions that he might be subjected to if his tests prove that he is positive of alcohol and/or substance intake.   Such are necessary actions for me to accurately and objectively assess him and propose certain measures. References Civil Service Associations, Inc. (August 2000). Examination Preparation Booklet.. Principles and Practices in the Treatment of the mentally Ill/Emotionally Disturbed, Problems of the Mentally Ill/Emotionally disturbed, booklet #10. pp. 4-5. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://www.csea9200.com/pdfs/TestPrepBks/TreatMIllBook10.pdf Court and Community.   (January 2003). Probation Officers. p2, numbers 4 – 6 . Retrieved October 10, 2007, from

HR management Essay

HR management forms a valuable and effective administration concerned mainly with working category. It evaluates the steps to be implemented to make the working category into further industrious, satisfied and happy. As an integral fraction of society of human resource management policies, the team have supported that the strategies need to encourage the companies to provide pioneering and flexible plans that are highly benefit. The work-life policies laid forward by the SHRM proved to be highly beneficial to employees. However, there are several human resource factors, which influence an organization to adopt the work-life plans as a vital division of SHRM practices and plans. Majority of the factors that stressed upon work life policies incorporates the demographic variation occurring with the prospective workforce, variation in social characteristics, role and responsibility changes in organizations and other governmental factors. Women make an essential part of almost all types of organization in the most modern era. Most of the working class woman wishes to conjointly take the responsibilities of their family as well as the employment terms. This was considered as an apparent factor that resulted in the emergence of family friendly plans. This plan was further termed as work life policies and rapidly gained importance in the area of SHRM. The next vital factor associated with demographic variation forms the ageing employees that raised the value of the work life policies. As per the plan, the aged workgroup may remain in the organization. However, they only need to work for very few hours or may change their shift timings as per their comfort. Most of the working people hold the responsibilities for bringing up their kids and take equal responsibilities for their aged parents. The plan allows even the aged people to support their children with their responsibilities. With the advance of modern technology, the labor market gets tightens and requires more and more skilled laborers. The organization needs to implement the work life policies to influence and regain employers who might have left the organization previously due to some or other cause. As per a study conducted by IRS, the most important motive behind the management to initiate the work life plan is strongly associated with recruitment of staffs as well as retention. As majority of leading organizations work on a 24 hour per day basis, increasing the working hours. However, there is strong requirement of flexible plans to cover these elaborated hours with efficiency. Surveys shows that adaptation of faster work pace has lead to organizational stress and most of the workers experience severe problems such as anxiety, stress, workload and inadequate personal time. These variations make the organizations to breach the government induced rules. Evaluating with respect to a legal outlook, all the working categories have a role on self care and protection and work life policies influence this particular concept. With the policies of work life, every employee may endorse a healthy and happy job environment and understand more about their social errands as a working personality. Thus, the policies offer high benefits to the employees as well as appropriate guidance with proper management to the employers.

CA Prop 187 essays

CA Prop 187 essays In 1997, the voters of California passed proposition 187 with a nearly 60% majority. The controversially initiative that would bar illegal immigrants from all state services, was soon attacked by partisan opposition. The legal initiative ended up in the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but even before it was debated in court, Governor Gray Davis was already eclipsing the legal process. Aside from the gubernatorial situation, proposition was already a hotly contested issue among the populous. When passed, then governor, Pete Wilson supported the issue, but then Gray Davis was elected and he decided to put his foot in the door. Davis put his attorney general to work to try and settle the lawsuit out of court, and immediately took the position that the proposition was unconstitutional. Not only did Davis set is lawyer forth on the measure, he then proceeded to shortcut the legal process. Davis suggested mediation as an alternative to the suit, creating a forum for the Proposition to be silently killed. Davis seems have almost been pushing the issue away as mediation is a middle of the road path. Mediation will mute the issue to achieve what his constituents in the anti-prosition-187 camp want while leaving those who voted for the proposition with little recourse. What Davis is doing is protecting himself from vocal opposition in the hopes that things will quiet down and he can be re-elected. It is surprising how similarly Davis handled a consumer-rights bill in the fall of 2001 by quietly storing it away. Governor Davis has been contradicting the will of the people of California instead of fostering it. It seems that if Davis subdues proposition 187 the voters have lost. ...

Harry Bingham A Man Who Said No To the Worlds Biggest Publisher

Harry Bingham A Man Who Said No To the Worlds Biggest Publisher Saying "no" to the world’s biggest publisher - An interview with Harry Bingham For many first-time authors, indie publishing is rapidly becoming a natural decision when it comes to publishing their first book. But what happens when an experienced author who has published thirteen books with four traditional publishing houses decides to go it alone? Harry Bingham is one such author. Harry was first published by HarperCollins back in 2000 and over the last fifteen years has witnessed the all the excitement of the publishing evolution. In 2015, he decided to self-publish the US release of his latest book The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths. Now, for the first time he has written about his experiences in Big Publishing and Me on his blog.Harry is also founder of The Writer’s Workshop - the world’s leading consultancy for first-time writers - and Agent Hunter - a comprehensive database of literary agents. He has also written books on Getting Published and How to Write among several others.With his unique experience, we had no choice: we simply had to talk to him. This morning Harry was kind enough to talk to him  about writing his latest book, his approach to marketing and the benefits of self-publishing. I’m very pleased to be interviewing Harry this morning and to ask him some questions about his latest book and his publishing process. So Harry, if you wouldn’t mind starting off by giving us a little teaser about your latest book.It’s called The Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths and it’s the third in the series I’ve been writing for a while. She’s a young Welsh detective who works in Cardiff, but that’s not really the USP. The USP is that she’s a really unusual person: the whole thing is written first person in her voice. She had a breakdown when she was a teenager and suffered from a real-life condition called Cotard’s Syndrome. In Cotard’s Syndrome, the sufferer believes themselves to be dead. So she’s a detective who spent two years thinking she was a dead person. And she’s got an interesting relationship with corpses and an interesting outlook on life, let’s put it that way†¦Sounds ama zing, wow! Written in the first person, how did that work?Yea, well the question I’m asked most actually is â€Å"You’re writing in the first person as a woman, don’t you think that’s quite hard?† I’m thinking, actually you know, I’m married to a woman, I know quite a lot of women and there are quite a lot of women in the world. Surely the question is: â€Å"You’re writing in the voice of somebody who used to think they were dead!† Isn’t that the bigger trick?In the end, writing fiction is make-believe and if you’re good at it, you should be able to make-believe. Of course, you should be able to write as a woman, or a man, or as people with weird conditions. Although this woman is very different from me, and she has a strong, emphatic voice of her own, I’ve never felt more comfortable writing everything, so what that says about me I don’t know!The most immediately striking thing about the book is the cover - it’s absolutely stunning. Can you tell me a little more about how you went about that?It’s slightly more complicated because I’m published all over the world. It’s published in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, America and other places too. Every publisher in their own market chooses their own cover and Orion in the UK has got a very strong look for the book and you can definitely tell there’s a series of books going on. In US I was published with Random House and I had a terrific editor there - the same editor who publishes Lee Child. Their cover for the book was fine, but not really stand out. Then for various reasons we will probably get into later, I started self-publishing in US - whereas I’m conventionally published everywhere else - and I commissioned that cover myself.I went to an outfit called 99 Designs, where you can put the design out to a large number of designers and people compete for a prize that you off er. I looked at literally dozens of high-quality designs, any of which could have graced the cover of any one of my books. The one I ended up picking is very striking: it works really well in thumbnail and it’s different - it doesn’t look like everything else there. Given that readers are looking at pages of Amazon thumbnails when they’re figuring out what next to buy, it had to work particularly well in that smaller size.Your publishing story is really fascinating. You’re clearly published with many traditional houses around the world and now this one’s partly self-published. How is it going, how are you finding the process?It’s early days. The minimal threshold for me is that I wanted to be able to publish the book properly, commission a good cover design, do some copy editing work and get the book properly formatted. I used proper professionals, I wasn’t using a â€Å"friend of my brother’s who knows something about photosh op†. By making the book available for sale before launch, I built up hundreds of pre-orders and the result was that on the day of publication I had paid off all my costs. So what I’m looking at now is how much money I make. It’s selling 20-30 copies a day, I’d like it to be selling 2-3 times that in due course.Readers don’t care when a book was published, so whereas in the print market you’re only on the shelves of the retailer in a prominent position for maybe 3-4 weeks, so that early window is everything for a regular publisher. Outside that window, you effectively get very little support from your traditional publisher. If you’re self-publishing, there is no window. The book is eternal and if I completely neglected the book for a year and then put some marketing energy behind it, no-one would particularly care. So it is early days and I’m not attaching too much significance to that early window, and at the moment things are g oing fine.You’ve written in your blog posts recently about how some books are very successful and that some can be published well and be great books but don’t work at all. Your attitude seems to be that â€Å"you can only do so much† since there are so many complex forces at play.Yes, to give it some background, I’ve been more-or-less a full time writer for 15 years or so. Not to boast, but in that time I have had significant relationships with significant publishers - I’m probably now on my fifth six-figure book deal with a conventional publisher, so I’ve played the big game with some big boys. As you know from my blogs, some of those things have worked out well, and some have been absolute car crashes. There is no certainty in this game. If you have a conventional deal with a publisher, you will get your advance, so in that sense there is certainty to traditional publishing. But the sales outcome is really a total unknown. I’ve had some absolute car crashes in traditional publishing, including instances where I’m certain I could have sold more copies of the book myself than via a traditional publisher. So there’s a roulette-wheel quality to the game, no matter if you self-publish or conventionally publish.One of the beauties of self-publishing is a) you retain control and b) if the first thing doesn’t work and the second thing doesn’t work, you can go onto the third and fourth thing - it never runs out like that. So at this stage I’m relaxed.Do you mean that in terms of retaining financial control, or creative control - which one is more important?Just everything! Certainly the book cover. Supposing I were to get negative feedback from readers on the cover, heck I could just change it! I wouldn’t have to be lobbying my publisher to do it, and my publisher would be intensely resistant because of the costs involved. Or if I needed to rewrite the ending I could do that. O r if I decided I was going to slash the price and put it out for free, or for 99c on Bookbub, I can do that and I can go on tweaking things whenever I want.Again one of the big tools in online promotion of any sort is email lists. Conventional publishers - I’ve really no idea why - but they make very little use of those things. With every book I’m selling, I’m asking people â€Å"If you enjoyed this, add your name to my email list.† I’m not going to fill their inboxes with corporate nonsense, but a couple of times a year they’ll get an email that a new book is coming out and if you’d like to buy that book, terrific.It’s those sorts of things that I can do. I can adjust my strategy and I don’t have to go through some sort of complicated corporate process to make those things happen. And the truth is, the author is largely outside that corporate process so that an author’s ability to impact on those things with a co nventional publisher is pretty restricted.Yes, a lot of what we’ve been trying to do at Reedsy is to make that process easier and to provide tools that will make the process of creating the book so much easier, so that authors can edit and have that flexibility.Exactly. At the moment there are three types of authors: conventionally published authors who are happy with the way things are - absolutely fine. There are indie-types who relish the process of designing covers and editing manuscripts - they like the entrepreneurial quality of all that. Then there’s definitely a group in the middle who think, logic says self-publish, but they don’t know how to put the whole package together and there will be services like yours who offer to integrate those in a pretty simple way, so that that blockage that is stopping some people making the leap, will become smaller.What is it that really lies behind your excitement for what you call the current â€Å"era† of publ ishing? Is the flexibility and freedom the biggest part, or is there more?I think often-enough big publishers have taken their authors for granted. Sure, they compete for them at that really early stage when a literary agent takes a book out for auction. But once that deal has been done, it’s pretty rare for authors to jump publisher unless something has gone badly wrong, which means the publishers can take their authors a little bit for granted.Some of the treatment I’ve had has been very very good indeed. Some of the treatment I’ve had from publishers has been not so good. And there’s never been a meaningful alternative to those Big-5 type publishers for the certain sort of books that I write. Just the existence now of self-pub, which really is only going to work for genre-type authors at the moment - there aren’t many signs it’s going to work for literary fiction yet - but for genre-type authors, we now for the first time have a meaningfu l alternative to just going with a regular publisher. Now there is another negotiating presence in the room: I don’t have to take your offer, there is an alternative. That has really not been present before, and I think that’s a fabulous thing for all authors, whether they take the self-publishing route or whether they don’t.From your position it’s interesting, because you’ve already established yourself for many years as an author working with traditional houses, your route to self-publishing means that you already have a name behind you. I think it will be interesting to see how authors who go straight into self-publishing establish a name for themselves: that is really interesting to me.Yes, and I think the emerging model of successful self-publishing is first of all, you probably need to be a genre author, secondly you need to be quite prolific, and third you need to apply the â€Å"write, publish, repeat† model. It’s possible, bu t not likely that your first book becomes a big viral hit, but let’s face it, loads and loads of good books never become viral hits: even though in principle they could, it just doesn’t happen. No one will ever be able to trace the reason why it doesn’t happen - in fact, the rule is that it doesn’t happen, it’s just that occasionally it does!So the â€Å"write, publish, repeat† model is incremental. It means your readership grows. Jumping from traditional publishing to self-publishing, yes sure I’ve got more interest in my books and more book reviews and so on than I would have otherwise. But in many ways it’s the same: I’m creating my email list from scratch and those things will just take time to build.The presence of an author’s back-catalogue online, that doesn’t disappear, means it’s much easier to bring back an older one, and a book that has been published previously could find an author that t hey’d not previously had.My first book The Moneymakers was published in the UK in 2000; I never sold the US rights. And I never sold the ebook rights, because no-one sold ebook rights back then. So, I retained the rights to that book, and I no longer had a manuscript because I’ve been through multiple computers since then. I sent the hard copy of the book off to a place in London that scans there things for  £10. They send me back a word document - that has some typos, so needs some careful copyediting. But for  £10 and a day of my time, I had a typescript of my original manuscript, popped it up online on Amazon and I make a couple of hundred quid a month. That’s not astonishing money, but hey, it’s a couple of hundred quid that I wasn’t getting otherwise.Exactly, your content goes so much further. How are you engaging with other online communities - what’s your approach?There’s an infinite amount of stuff that one could do. I thi nk there is relatively little evidence to suggest that Facebook and Twitter and that kind of thing is really a strong way of promoting books. There will be exceptions to every rule, but most books I don’t think achieve many sales like that. I have a couple of books-related websites: The Writer’s Workshop, which helps first time writers with their skills and Agent Hunter, which helps writers find literary agents. Between those two platforms, I’ve got websites that have traffic of 70-80 thousand visitors a month. I’ve got mailing lists of probably 15-20 thousand names. All of these people are writers, but therefore also presumably interested in reading books.I’ve used those things a bit, but not much: I don’t expect to get significant sales from them. It’s partly because I don’t want to contaminate those brands, but it’s also that I think people don’t like being marketed at and the online platforms that work well, w ork when there’s a really natural synchronicity between people’s interests in coming to the site, and the product you’re developing.So that means, if you like being active on Goodreads for example, that seems to me a really natural way to spend time. I don’t particularly enjoy it: that means I’m never going to be that committed to it, that probably means that’s not the right marketing route for me. But there are no general rules here: it really depends on each author and their own individual preferences, their own particular book, and what kind of existing digital presence they already have.It’s about authors remaining true to themselves.Yes! You can’t fake it can you? There are people who enjoy engaging in Twitter: they’ll make friends, engage in conversations, and when they do have something to market, they have a community of people who don’t feel they are being exploited for their wallets. They are Twitter fri ends and have been over the months and years. I’m just not like that. I hate Twitter. I use it as little as I can. I do pump stuff out now-and-again because I kind of think I have to, but it’s never going to be a strong channel for me. But there are online communities of every sort.And new ones which will develop in the future. The beauty of publishing is that so many different types of authors will find so many different types of routes: not just through various distribution channels, but routes that can create a much closer fit with online communities.Yes, in the end it’s always going to be a word-of-mouth thing. There will come a point where you might be able to initiate a fire, but in the end it’s going to come from readers, talking to friends about books they’ve recently enjoyed.You might be able to take sales from 2-3 a day to 20-30 a day, by really pushing the marketing routes that you have, but to achieve sales beyond that point, youâ€℠¢ve actually got to get a community of people going â€Å"Hey this book is great!† and they are talking about it with their friends and book groups. That’s how any viral process - whether traditionally or self-published - is created.Thanks so much. I think this is going to be of great help to so many of our readers on Reedsy.Just to end on a note that would be positive to both you and your community, which is, there is still a perception of self-publishing as â€Å"I wasn’t good enough for traditional publishing, so I’m self-publishing† and that perception has certainly changed, but there’s no question it’s still there. I am a conventionally published author and I’ve had some terrific book reviews, and I’m self-publishing because I want to, and for me it really isn’t because â€Å"I couldn’t cut it with the big boys†, but actually that I wasn’t prepared to take what the big boys were offering me. I didn’t want it.I preferred the risks and the rewards and the opportunities of self-publishing to working with what is the world’s biggest publisher. I’ve definitely hedged my bets, because I’m still conventionally published here in the UK, but I love this model of being a hybrid author and I think people will go both ways: successful self-pub authors will become hybrids in the other direction. I do think it’s a new world we’re now living in.That’s a very inspiring message to pass on to our readers. Thank you very much and best of luck with it all!Follow Harry and Reedsy on TwitterDo you think it’s better to be self-published today, or to go with a traditional publisher?

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Human resource management - Essay Example One such academician is Caroline Lloyd. In her article "Training and development deficiencies in high skill sectors" (2002), Lloyd raises concerns over the lack of training and development, and its impact on the UK’s competitiveness in the new knowledge economy. How grave the situation is, and what implications do Lloyds concerns have on the future of the UK labour market shall be analyzed in the following discussion. In Lloyds article, she presents the thesis that there is an acute need for emphasising on centrality of skills and training for the UK to compete in the new knowledge economy. Companies need to create learning environments so that employees will be able to adapt to the changing work requirements. This can be achieved through internal training and continuous vocational training. However, the current work environment does not meet these requirements. There are two explanations for the lack of training and development in organisations. Lloyd claims that one reason could be the market failure to provide individual training. This could be improved by providing a central incentive program for training employees, motivation for employers to develop their human capital and set up of best practice to influence employer behaviour. The second reason, as other academics provide, is because the UK is a relatively low skill economy. Employers are not competing in high end products in standardized markets. For this reason they are not motivated to develop their workers for higher progression. To alter this status quo of skill deficit, the government needs to implement policies to restructure the market and industries By using two companies from high value-added product markets, Lloyd establishes that despite the companies success in their product markets, they are constrained by their industrial environment. They are not motivated to invest in training and development, or set best practice standards in