The Enemy Within

Juan Conde Professor Muniz 19 November 2012 English 67 The Enemy Within Throughout life everyone is forced to face their own worst enemy and will have a lot of trouble confronting and dealing with them that worst enemy will always be themselves. This enemy brings many problems and inner conflicts that are difficult to solve. Everyone has their own way of coping with these problems, some more critical than others. In the book Drugstore Cowboy, by James Fogle, the main character Bob deals with this dichotomy in different was throughout the book and his two sides are very easily differentiated.Throughout the book Bob is faced with difficult decisions and has the choice of either being that humane and caring man or the cruel and manipulative man that he can be. As he is making these decisions Bob has to not only think of the situation but also make sure that his crew is safe or if he needs to use them. Bob is a very complex individual with two conflicting sides to him, one that is used t o show his humane and caring nature and the other is used to intimidate or manipulate people. Deep down, Bob is a caring and humane man.He protects his crew with his life; he puts himself on the line for his crew and for the people he cares about like his mother and Diane. This side of Bob is made very clear when he visits his mother and shows her nothing but respect and he even shows some humility when speaking to her. When Bob’s mom exclaims that Bob is a thief he replies, â€Å"Jesus, Mama, when have I ever stole anything from your house? Name me one thing I ever took from you without telling you? Just name me one thing? † (Fogle58). The way he replies and speaks to his mother shows that he has the outmost respect for her, his way of talking to his mother shows humility.When speaking with his mother he always calls her mama or mom; he never called her by her first name or by anything else. Bob also shows a lot of submissiveness when he is with his mom, it seems like he still feels like a little kid when he talks or confronts her. Bob would do anything for his wife, Diane. Bob loved Diane; when he first met her he felt like she wasn’t like other woman. Bob took Diane cross-roading but had the intentions of stealing her car, instead he fell for her. Fogle comes to explain how Bob felt about Diane, â€Å"Bob loved Diane body and soul by then.Even narcotics had never brought him the pleasure and satisfaction that Diane did back then â€Å"(166). It seems like Bob is truly a caring and humane person because of how he felt and still feels about Diane. Bob seems to put Diane before himself subconsciously he might not want people to see how much he really cares about her but deep down she means everything to him, he will defend her as much as he can. It also seems that Bob only wants to keep Diane happy but he thinks that the only way he can do that is with narcotics.Bob seems to always try to hide how he feels about the people close to him b ecause he is scared that something might happen to them and he just wants them to be safe and out of harm’s way; he is truly a caring and protective individual. On the other hand Bob can also be a very maniacal and manipulative, he can even seem inhuman and cruel; he uses any means necessary to obtain what he is after, he finds a way to manipulate and control people to make his plans go how he wants. Bob will use people to control a situation to go in his favor without any resentment about what happens to the other people.Bob show his manipulative side when he told his crew: â€Å"I just wrote the narcos and anonymously told them that the reason they could never catch Bob Hughes for possession of narcotics was that he had an arrangement with the guy that lived on the north side of him†(Fogle 82). Bob doesn’t seem to have any problem using people to get what he wants he doesn’t seem to have a conscience. Most of Bob’s actions show how he is a manipu lative man, he uses people in order achieve what he wants. Bob would go through any means necessary in order to get whatever he wants.Through Bob’s actions it seems that he is nothing but a selfish man that only cares about what he will receive from the situation. It seems that Bob only wants to do only what he will benefit from; he doesn’t seem to care about anything or anyone else. Bob is also cruel and inhumane towards his own crew. When Bob walks into the room after an attempt to get drugs he sees Nadine’s dead body and a hat on the bed; he then pays more attention and is more worried about having a hat on the bed than Nadine being dead. After seeing Rick balling and crying over her â€Å"Bob shook his head in disgust. ’She beat you, man.Your own woman beat you out of part of your own cut on a score. She got what she deserves’† (Fogle 134). This shows how Bob not only doesn’t care about what happened to her, but also he has been d esensitized to death, he only cares about the fact that she wasted the drugs and left them with the burden of having to get rid of a dead body. Bob only sees that because he feels like she cheated them out of the drugs and they can’t do anything about it. Bob also seems to react this way because of how Nadine has acted in the past, she would complain a lot and always wanted more than she could handle.Throughout the book Bob shows that he can and will use and manipulate people into doing what he wants so that he gets what he wants and whatever it is he has been working for. In both scenes Bob shows how he can get into people’s heads and make sure that they do whatever he wants them to do to achieve whatever he wants. Life is full of nothing but conflicts and difficult situations and everyone has their own way of dealing with them. Throughout the book, Drugstore Cowboy, Bob is put through various difficult situations which he handles in one of two ways: being a humane an d caring man or being a manipulative and maniacal man.Bob is depicted as both a caring and maniacal man in the sense that he cares a lot about his crew but also if the situation calls for it he will not care at all for them. Bob will manipulate anyone who gets in his way of obtaining what he wants, but he cares for those close to him but will sometimes even use them in order to get what he wants. Bob has a very complex way of living and thinking and it is showed in various ways throughout the book. Work Cited Fogle, James. Drugstore Cowboy. New York: Dell Publishing, 1990. Print.

Forever New Case Study Essay

Indian Retail Sector India is one of the most desirable retail destinations in the world. India’s twin growth engines of economic growth and demographic profile set it apart from other nations and present a compelling business case for global retailers looking to enter the market. PwC research indicates that India’s retail sector is worth US$ 350 billion and has a low organised retail penetration of 5 to 8%. Modern trade emerged during the 90s, primarily in the food and grocery sector, and is now growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15 to 20%. A large market potential for a range of categories is indicated by low ORP, increasing urbanisation, growing incomes, increasing consumer confidence, etc. India’s retail sector comprises organised and unorganised participants. Given the size of the country’s retail market, PwC research and other reports suggest that the 12 million mom-and-pop stores comprising India’s unorganised market can co-exist with modern trade players. Recognising the long-term growth potential of India’s retail market, some of the country’s largest conglomerates have allocated billions of dollars to launch large scale retail initiatives that span cash-and carry, food and grocery, books, music and leisure, gems and jewellery, footwear, apparel, accessories, etc. India-based retail incumbents are expanding their presence across a range of categories, experimenting with formats, launching private labels, strengthening supply chain systems and more. Global retailers are also assessing the Indian market with keen interest. They have recognised that the next wave of growth in terms of generating revenues, reaching new customers (including the large number of middle-class consumers) and harnessing research and development (R&D) and innovative skills. An aspiring middle-class of 300 million consumers, a large demand-driven population of 500 million young consumers and a relatively untapped rural population of 700 million people constitute the growth story. Besides, a strong GDP growth, rising consumer confidence, consumption-based behaviour, increasing incomes and a large pool of consumers have made India one of the world’s most attractive retail destinations. Major demographic groups are driving purchases across categories: Sources: PwC analysis Capgemini, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management India’s Retail Fundamentals: Market Size Compound Annual Growth Rate Unorganised Sector Organised Retail Penetration Retail Density Contribution to GDP US$ 350 Billion 15-20% 12 million mom and pop stores 5-8% 6% 14% Indian economy displays resilience in the midst of global crisis. Source: Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, Government of India Demand drivers Demanding consumers: Indian consumers are demanding access to products and services that delight and excite them, are of good quality, and provide value for money. Increasing incomes: Strong GDP performance, capital market growth and the emergence of new industries are creating new millionaires and boosting income levels. This acts as an incentive for consumers to spend more on products. They are also experimenting with brands, trying new products, etc. Evolving consumption patterns: Traditionally, the focus of Indian consumers was on saving. However, positive macro-economic fundamentals, an evolving retail market, lifestyle influencers, etc. are ensuring that consumers spend more across categories. Other aspects, like the emergence of double-income households, easier access to credit and society’s acceptance of self-indulgence, are changing purchasing habits. Supply drivers Expansion: The growth of modern trade and expansion plans are enabling consumers to easily access retail products and services across urban, Tier II and Tier III cities and towns. Growth opportunities: Some high growth categories in the retail sector include children’s wear, accessories, consumer durables, leisure, apparel and footwear. New entrants: Some of the world’s largest and most prestigious brands and retailers have a presence in India. Those who have not yet entered India are assessing the market with interest. The central government recently took a decision to allow up to 51 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail and raise the limit for overseas investment in single-brand retail to 100 percent. Benefits of FDI Consumers: plethora of options with better quality. Government Exchequer: Payment of indirect taxes through the supply chain by the modern trade players, primarily service tax. Farmers/Producers: Establishes efficient supply chains that links farmers and small manufacturers directly with retailers which maximises value for stakeholders. Together with back-end infrastructure, this will minimise wastage (especially of fresh foods and vegetables), increase farmers’ realisations, encourage best practices in crop management and improve food safety and hygiene. Unorganised Trade: Mom-and-pop stores can exist alongside modern trade players and can explore partnership models (e.g., sourcing, franchise partners) in a rapidly changing retail environment . India’s retail sector is an evolving market. The sector will grow and develop over the next four to six decades, since consumers will earn more, those below the poverty line will cross over, the gains from economic growth will be felt more inclusively, etc. Pune Retail Scenario The retail sector in Pune was earlier confined to a few markets which were unorganised, chaotic and crowded. In the last two years, however, the rise in modern retail outlets can be seen across the city. Koregaon Park Plaza, Inorbit, Phoenix Market City, Pulse, Kumar Pacific Mall and Amanora Town Center are the new ones that have joined the already existing malls like S.G.S Mall, Mariplex and Central to name a few. Source: CBRE India Retail Market View 2011 Source: CBRE India Retail Market View Source: CBRE India Retail Market View Pune has come a long way in recent times. The IT market, automobile boom, student community, thriving service sector, robust real estate market and increase in the number of professionals have led to an expansion of the city. This rapid urbanisation, and the new demands of Pune’s global citizens, has led to a rise in the number of malls, offering high-end brands. Introduction Forever New is a fashion clothing and accessories brand founded in Melbourne, Australia. It was started by Dipendra Goenka and Amanda Goenka, an Indian-South African couple in 2006. The brand celebrates the feminine beauty of women, a signature style flowing through every creative element. Collections are inspired by global trends in art, film, music and theatre as well as haute couture runway shows in Paris, London, Milan and New York. It was started as Dipendra Goenka saw an obvious gap which was not only restricted to the Australian market but all over the world. With Forever New, the Goenka’s targeted daughters who are willing to shop with their mothers, a group that flies well under the cultural radar. Normally it gets very difficult for a woman who is on her far side of 40s to struggle with hot pants and play suits of her daughter’s choice, and hence Forever New is a one of a kind store which makes women of all age groups comfortable and creates an environment for all ages groups who prefer ethereal to edgy range. Forever New has created a fashion empire based around the frilly and feminine It is one of the fastest growing Australian brands, Forever New emerged in late 2006 as a start up retailer and now trades over 250 stores in 11 countries globally. The company was restructured in 2010 to support it’s growth which values it at about $108 million, although the ownership remained unchanged. While Forever New is best known as an Australian retailer, the 250-store chain already includes outlets in China, India, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey. While Forever New’s restructure meant that it was impossible to say how much the chain made in 2011. Accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showed that between June 25 and July 31 in 2011 it cleared $480,000 profit on about $1.9 million worth of sales. It had assets of almost $50 million and employed about 700 people. Forever New in India Forever New was launched in India soon after it was launched in Australia. It has its head office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It also has its branches in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning In the Indian scenario the segment for Forever New will be women of almost all age groups starting from 15 years. They can be teenagers or college going students, fashion conscious girls, celebrities, elite class of women or house wives involved many in social activities etc. The target audience for frilly, ultra feminine products of forever new ranges from 15 to 60 years as the designs are on the classics edge. Along with that it does make collections inspired from the runway for the fashion conscious women. For the teenagers it has edgy, cute and girly designs. It has different price ranges for women of the elite class and celebrities and provides them with luxurious fabrics and designs. For the women aged 40-60 it has frilly, elegant clothes with a soft pastel palate so that it suits their age and style and doesn’t look flashy. Overseas it positions itself as a middle range brand which caters exclusively to women of all age groups primarily from 15 to 60, but in India generally after the age of 30-35 women do not prefer it. Hence in India it has positioned itself as a very chic, feminine, high fashion expensive brand which caters to women of age group from 15 to 35. The Marketing Mix Product: The products of Forever New are exclusively for women and have a wide variety under them. Under the clothing section they have dresses, tops, pants, skirts, denims, shorts, knitwear, coats and jackets. They widen their range with a beautiful collection of bags, sunglasses, shoes, jewellery, hats, belts, scarves and gloves. The products are very feminine, frilly, and classy and generally have soft colours. The quality of the products is very good especially the choice of fabrics or materials for each piece. Design-wise the products are according to the latest fashion forecasts or they are just plain simple classics. Price: Different products have different price ranges, starting from Rs 800 to Rs 15,000. Promotions: Forever New in India promotes itself through hoardings in malls. It also gives away its products for shoots in fashion magazines for which it gets due credit, hence displaying its latest collection through print media. Exhibitions are put up in Mumbai to create brand awareness. They also do mobile marketing by sending an SMS to every customer informing them about their new offers and sales. It gives away free catalogues to people who enter their stores to increase its brand awareness. It has an online shopping website which displays and sells the latest collections. Place: It sells through 2 different channels. Stores and Online. In India Forever New doesn’t have stand alone stores. They are located in malls. The head office is in Noida but the inventory is shipped from Australia to each store in India separately, even though the products are manufactured in China. Forever New, Pune Forever New is located in 2 different malls in Pune: ï‚ · Town Centre Amanora, Hadapsar Town Centre Amanora in Pune is a lifestyle retail centre, spread across 20 lac sq. ft. It is set according to world class standards, it is destined to be the retail and cultural epicentre of Pune, catering to both Western and Indian sensibilities, it has everything from premium to mass retail, cinemas, quick service restaurants, cafe’s and fine dining options. Town centre is destined to get a steady stream of customers, keeping them engaged throughout the day and create a profitable equation for retail partners. The location is an advantage for Forever New as it has almost all kinds of people coming to the mall out of which a majority are young women from the age group of 15-35 because the mall is situated right at the entrance of Amanora Township spread across 450 acres and is near the Magarpatta area, the hub of IT professionals. ï‚ · Koregaon Park Plaza Koregaon Park Plaza built on European concept, launched on 2nd March 2012 is a world class attraction with a premium retail mix and the epitome of â€Å"shop entertainment† where visitors will find a host of wonderful, engaging activities. The retail positioning of the mall is mirrored by its location in the heart of Pune, at Koregaon Park. This combination of centralised location and the mall’s world class architectural features positions Koregaon Park Plaza as an appealing destination for tourists & shopaholics of Pune. The location should’ve been an advantage for Forever New had the mall been as successful as promised but unfortunately Koregaon Park Plaza is not doing so well, but loyal and regular customers of Forever New do visit often and shop from there. Since the mall is isn’t doing well, it is very difficult to form new customer relationships leading to less brand awareness. Forever New in Town Centre Amanora, Hadapsar It is a small store in a rectangular format. Size: 375 sq ft. Approximately. The customers that come to this store are mostly young girls (teenagers), IT professionals or housewives of the upper middle or high class. Store Layout: The store in Town Centre Amanora is a small, congested store. It has very less space to move around. The focus does not go on the primary wall. The nesting table at the entrance takes up too much space. The trial rooms are big and well accommodating. There is no proper defined space for accessories. There is no defined path for the customer Forever New in Koregaon Park Plaza This store is in rectangular format with a fairly good size. Size: 400Sqft Approximately. The customers that visit this store are mostly loyal customers and are located far away from the Magarpatta area. It also has college going girls coming in to store. Women/girls from upper middle class or high class also come here to shop. Store Layout: The store in Koregaon Park Plaza is comparatively bigger and spacious. The store provides a well defined path for the customer. It has been put up in such a way that the focus goes on the right places. The store is very spacious and welcoming. It attracts attention. Common Features: Almost all the International stores have a Visual Merchandising guideline from their country head office that they have to follow. Some of them are: ï‚ · The collection stories and their display criteria. For instance, the way the story for is be spring it collection has to Tropical Fantasy and the displayed on the primary wall is already decided and ï‚ · ï‚ · The sent window by the display Australian head office. design too comes from the Australian head office. The basic store characteristics, like the humungous beautiful mirror behind the cash counter, the chandeliers, the white walls, the fixtures, nesting tables, trail rooms with maroon curtains, the chic and fun soundtracks, the comment book, the catalogues etc. Whatever things do not get sold off after a particular period of time are sent back to Australia. The collection is updated every month. Everything each store. Sales happen twice a year. This brand wants to ensure that the customer have a first class experience while visiting their store. So that when they walk out they form an image of the brand in their head and position it as a classy, feminine and delicate place. comes from the Australian head office directly to Brand Portfolio Like mentioned before, Forever New is an exclusive women’s wear brand. It has an ultra feminine style and the designs are inspired by classics and latest runway shows of New York, Paris, Milan and London. In India it is considered as an expensive brand. It uses expensive and delicate fabrics like silk and lace for its products. It provides a good visual experience when one enters its store. groups of women. The products are like the brand itself, delicate and beautiful. It has a wide variety of products and sizes for all the age Sizes Women’s Sizing Chart Measurement Point Bust Circumference Waist Circumference Hip Circumference 4 74 57 83 6 79 62 88 8 84 67 93 10 89 72 98 12 94 77 103 14 99 82 108 16 104 87 Clothing International Size Conversion XS S M L 4-6 8-10 12-14 16 Footwear International Size Conversion Australia US UK Europe 5 5 3 36 6 6 4 37 7 7 5 38 8 8 6 39 9 9 7 40 10 10 8 41 Ring Size Guide (measurement is the diameter of the ring) S/M M/L 17mm 19mm Product examples: Dresses: The stores comprised of almost 25 different types of dresses: Some of them were: 1. Cassie Embellished Strap Dress 2. Yvette Skater Dress 3. Ella Low Back Dress 4. Poppy Strapless Waterfall Dress The dresses had a very wide price range starting from Rs 2000 to Rs 15,000. The sizes varied from the kind of dresses available. In general the fastest selling sizes were 6 and 8. The slowest selling sizes were 12 and 16. Tops: The store comprised of almost 45 different kinds of tops Some of them were: 1. Trixie High Low Top 2. Koko Studded Pocket Tee 3. Chelsea Printed Tank 4. Mackenzie Roll up sleeve The prices of the tops ranged from Rs 1200 to Rs 6000. The sizes varied according to the different kinds of tops. The fastest selling sizes were 8, 10, 12 and 14. The slowest selling size was 4. Pants The store comprised of almost 20 different kinds of bottoms: Some of them were: 1. Isobella Draped Pant 2. Leya Casual Skinny 3. Arla Tuxedo Shorts 4. Oslo Piped Pocket Jegging The prices of the pants ranged from Rs 1200 to Rs 4000. The sizes varied according to the different kinds of pants. The fastest selling sizes were 8, 10 and 12. The slowest selling sizes were 6 and 16. Bags The store comprised of almost 15 different kinds of bags: Some of them were: 1. Lori Satchel 2. Ava Grace Small Bag 3. Ariela Hard Case Clutch 4. Lucy Stud Coin Accessories The store comprised of a lot of accessories: Some of them were: ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · Tilly Pearly Statement Ring Heather Beret Vanessa Lace Scarf Jaylyn Enamel Torque The store comprised of almost 15 different kinds of shoes: Some of them were: 1. Prianne Platform 2. Sonia Embellished Sandal 3. Candice Diamente Pump 4. Lolita The prices of the pants ranged from Rs 2500 to Rs 6000. The sizes varied according to the different kinds of shoes. The fastest selling sizes were 6, 7 and 8. The slowest selling size was 10. After studying the assortment of both the stores, it can be concluded that: The size 4 clientele in the Pune sector is less. The most common sizes are 8, 10 and 12. Oversized people generally do not prefer Forever New for dresses and shoes but they prefer the tops. Competitive Analysis According to the Pune Retail Scenario, the direct competitors of Forever New would be: ï‚ · ï‚ · Mango Zara Even though they have different styles and they all are from different parts of the world still in the Indian market these brands are competing against each other. Mango: Mango clothing is a Spanish multinational based in company Barcelona. It designs, manufactures and markets clothing garments and accessories for women and men. Mango opened its first shop in 1984. What started out as a small team began to grow as a result of an ambitious production system based on the philosophy â€Å"justin-time†, which defined product concepts, store design, quality standards, price and brand image. This solid approach has turned Mango into a Spanish fashion leader. Mango can be differentiated for having a highly-defined concept. The Mango concept is based on an alliance between a quality product, with an original design and a coherent and unified brand image. Dressing the modern, urban women for her daily needs is the formula they have analysed, adapted and applied in all the countries in which Mango is present. Zara: Since the moment the first Zara store’s doors were opened in 1975, the growth of the Zara fashion line has built a been unstoppable. In Zara famous the has brand competitive successfully clothi ng industry, worldwide thanks to their premium locations as well as a unique management system of design, production and supply chains. Unlike other fashion brands, it takes Zara only 10 to 14 days from the time they design new clothing until it arrives in stores. This â€Å"fast fashion† concept and operation allow Zara to always provide the most fashionable clothes to their customers, and the ever-renewed collections definitely help build brand loyalty. Brand Positioning: Factors Quality Variety Sizes Assortment Value for Money Price Design Style Forever New Good Fair Good Poor Fair High Good Good Mango Good Poor Fair Good Fair High Fair Poor Zara Poor Good Poor Good Poor Medium Good Good Mango in Pune has established itself only as a women’s wear brand. Unlike Forever New it has a very good assortment of products. It has a category of products which can be affordable by middle and upper middle class women and another category which can be affordable by elite classes. It has better quality but less variety. Zara in Pune opened up recently in 2011. It has great style and is up to date with fashion, but unlike Forever New it has sizing issues and most of their products are sold out or not available in proper sizes. It has poor quality goods when compared to Mango or Forever New. It is cheaper than both the brands but it doesn’t provide value for money. Forever New SWOT Analysis Strengths ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · ï‚ · Filled in the brand gap of mother daughter shopping together. Unique Products Brand name Customer Loyalty Online Market Weakness lot of Indian consumers are not able to relate with the brand. Very expensive Weak Promotion Strategies Less brand awareness Emerging Markets Increasing Economy New Products Innovation New Technology Threats Intense Competition Substitute Products Substitute Market Losses due to low acceptance rate of consumers Strengths Forever New is a big brand name and a lot of consumers will be directed towards it cause of that. It has a USP of filling in the gap of mother daughter shopping together. It has exclusive products for women. It has high customer loyalty rate. Forever new has established itself in the online market which is the latest trend in the retail business. It ships to India free of cost which adds on to the rest of the advantages. Weakness A lot of Indian ‘mothers’ who go out shopping with their daughters won’t be able to relate to the brand. Another weakness is that due to the high prices of the products a lot of people do not prefer buying from there. It has poor promotional strategies and hence the consumers don’t notice it much and hence less brand awareness. Opportunities With the new technology coming in it would be easier to design and produce goods leading to faster innovation and new products. The economy is increasing and hence more and more people will be willing to spend on such brands. Threats There is intense competition from a lot of International brands as they are also looking forward to invest in the Indian Retail Sector. Substitute products and substitute markets at better deals will pose a threat to Forever New. Since the Indian consumers are not accepting the brand properly the company might go into a loss. Data Analysis and Interpretation Why do people shop from Forever New? Sizes Quality Pricing Design Style 0 Why do people shop from Forever New? 2 Style 12 4 Design 9 6 Pricing 1 8 10 Quality 5 12 Sizes 1 14 A majority of people shop from Forever New because of its style followed by its designs. Preferred Mall 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Town Centre Amanora Koregaon Park Plaza Preferred Mall According to my sample size the mall preferred to visit Forever New is Koregaon Park Plaza. What do people prefer buying? Tops Bottoms Dresses Shoes Accessories 3% 13% 37% 34% 13% Almost 37% of people buy tops from Forever New which is closely followed by Dresses (34%). How often do people visit Forever New? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Weekly Fortnight Monthly Once in 6 months Yearly How often do people visit Forever New? According to my sample size a majority number of people visit Forever New monthly while hardly anyone visits it weekly. How much do people spend? 9% 18% 500-1500 1500-2500 32% 2500-5000 5000-10000 41% In this sample size 41% of people spend Rs 1500-2500 and 32% spend Rs 25005000 on Forever New. Which other brand do you prefer? 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Mango Zara Promod Other Which other brand do you prefer? Maximum number of people prefer Zara if not Forever New. Problems faced 4% 4% 8% Style Designs Pricing 46% 38% Quality Sizes Other 0% According to this sample size the major problems faced in Forever New are sizes and prices. Preferance: Store or Online 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 Preferance: Store or Online 0 Online Store Many people prefer visiting stores over online shopping. Membership Card? 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Yes No Membership Card? A majority of people prefer a membership card for Forever New. Recommendations and Conclusion Forever New is moving at a very slow rate in Pune. It caters only to a limited clientele and many people are not aware of it as a brand. People who are aware of this brand and shop from it are not very happy with the sizes and the prices it offers to them. Along with that a lot of people complained that it has limited variety and goes out of stock fast. Despite all these issues, Forever New does have a brand loyalty and some people do follow it regularly, generally on a monthly basis because of its designs, style and quality. A lot of people are not aware about the online shopping facility of this brand and hence do not take advantage of it. The major backing of the online shopping market is that people prefer going to stores because they like the overall experience of actually touching the product and then deciding on whether to buy it or not. International Brands like Forever New are currently going through a bad phase in Pune because consumers are still in the middle of accepting such expensive brands. Growth Opportunities Even though the women’s wear apparel is booming right now, it still is a little congested. But if there is a proper gap like mother daughter shopping together in one store (similar to Forever New), it can easily fit in the Indian scenario, one just needs to work on the styles and sizes a bit so that the Indian mothers accept it more openly. Indians as consumers are still not ready to shell out a lot of money on apparels so if one can work on the prices and they come down a bit for a brand like this, it will be successful in the Indian market. References and Bibliography Winning in the Indian Retail Sector Indian Retail Report: Opening more Doors CBRE India Retail Market View 2011 http://www.forevernew.com.au/ http://www.canalwalk.co.za/shop.htm?shopMGID=35523 http://www.waterfront.co.za/shop/shopcontent/Pages/ForeverNew.aspx http://www.google.co.in/search?rlz=1C1LENP_enIN472IN472&sourceid=chrome&i e=UTF-8&q=globalhttp://www.zendesk.com/why-zendesk/customer/forever-new http://pune.mallsmarket.com/malls/koregaon-park-plaza-pune http://pune.mallsmarket.com/malls/town-centre-amanora-hadapsar

Having Virus Protection software ensures security of the data Essay

Inline with the growth of internet, is the growth of security threats from malwares (viruses, spywares and adware) that comes from the vast interconnect of the word wide web. As new technology comes to provide more security to your PC, new technology are also added that provides vulnerabilities to malicious codes. A malicious code could be inserted from downloaded files of un-trusted origins. Other sites trick you to download what they claim as useful file but instead it is either a virus or worm. You will only learn later after clicking it that your PC security has been compromised. On other worst cases, this malicious code can delete or corrupt your important data. â€Å"It is estimated that PC Viruses cost businesses approximately $55 Billion in damages in 2003† (Security Stats, 2000). There are a number of ways to protect your PC from viruses, spywares, and adwares. This includes activating your firewall, limiting the access rights, or installing an virus protection software. Normally, it includes the combination of all in order to secure your PC from harmful malwares. Having a virus protection is almost used by everyone to protect their PC. Although a majority of these people using virus protection software knows only a little of the details of protection they get from this software. They are often captured by expensive well known virus protection software when all they need are found on cheaper or free virus protection software. Statement of the Problem The purpose of this document is to explain the importance of having virus protection software. It also goes further by analyzing and providing data as to how effective and to what extent are these virus protection software effective in protecting important data. The document provides arguments to the quality of virus protection software that you need. Forms of Malwares Viruses A virus is a man made program that is loaded into your PC and does things that are not your intent. In most cases, a virus can replicate itself either by staying resident in memory or relying on user actions to spread from one PC to another. Viruses can be transmitted via the network, PC to PC connection, emails, floppy disks, pen drives and other means of physical data transfer. Variants of viruses are classified as Trojans, Worms and Macro-virus. Trojans are malicious code embedded within another program so that when the program is run, the Trojan is also run. Trojans are often used by hackers to gain access to your PC through backdoors aided by Trojans. Trojans may also be embedded through emails as executable attachments with single or double extension files. Worms are small programs that replicates over a network. They normally cause a lot of trouble such as freezing of processes due to their unwanted use of resources. An example of a worm is â€Å"the Sasser worm that tries to contact hosts repeatedly in a short time period at the same port† (Harder et al, 2005). Macro-viruses are embedded as macro-commands for word or excel documents. Microsoft word and excel allows power macro to be embedded within the document. A virus can be made from these macro and turn into a deadly virus. Spyware Spywares are programs that are loaded into your PC and are used specifically to secretly obtain information from your PC that are transmitted to advertisers, hackers or other interested parties. Spywares are the greatest threat to privacy in the internet. Adware Adware are programs that are added to most freeware and shareware programs you download from the web to serve pop-ups and banners. Normally they produce very annoying pop-ups and consume some of your PC resources resulting into a much slower system. Possible Consequences of Infected PCs Malwares in general slows down your PC because they take up computer resources when running. Some worms take up so much of your resources that the PC becomes too slow to be even useful. Other viruses can lead to data loss due to direct deletion of files or by corruption of storage devices due to the uncoordinated process that they perform. In some cases, the formats and partitions of storage devices gets damaged by viruses leaving your data unusable. Spywares and other virus can lead to identify theft due to the information they secretly extract from your PC. This can lead to serious problems such as identity theft of your web based accessible bank accounts or email accounts. Hackers can access your web based accessible bank accounts if they can obtain sufficient information and transfer your money to their accounts. Virus can also corrupt your operating system due again to the uncoordinated process or deletion of system files. An infected PC can infect more PC within the network or infect storage devices that are temporarily attached to your PC such as ped drives, floppy disk or external drives. Analysis of Virus Protection Software Attacks Prevented by Virus Protection Software Most virus protection software protects you from viruses whose signatures are already included in the virus definition file. Virus protection software periodically scans files and memory for known virus signatures. The user may also invoke virus protection software to scan certain folders anytime the user deem necessary. Virus protection software also â€Å"monitors files as they are opened or created to make sure they are not infected† (Get Safe Online, 2007). Most virus protection software also scans emails to insure there are no viruses attached. Virus protection software can either delete, repair or quarantine files infected by viruses. In most cases, it is best to delete infected files if the files can be deleted. Most virus protection software are also able to detect spywares and adwares that are introduced by virus program to install into your PC. Attacks Not Covered by Virus Protection Virus protection software are not able to protect you from new viruses whose virus definition file are not yet included in the software’s date. They are also not able to protect you from most spyware and adware programs. Most spyware programs are spread through the internet via infected servers. Infected servers redirect good sites to fraudulent sites that install malicious code into your PC. An example were the servers found in Russia that worked by infecting some Web sites so that when Net surfers visited those sites, they were redirected to the Russian server, which downloaded software onto surfers’ PCs (Lemos, 2004). Virus protection software cannot also protect you from most installation software that contains malicious code. Hackers that attack your PC without the use of Trojans are also not detected by virus protection software. Virus protection software are also not able to stop spammers from flooding your inboxes. When you go online and access web sites, a virus protection software is also not able to protect you from phishing sites. Phishing sites are fraudulent sites that obtain personal information to gain access to your PC or for advertising purposes. Some phishing sites are redirected from good servers that are infected by malicious code that redirects you to a fraudulent site. You give up personal information thinking that you are still in the intended site that you are accessing. Quality of Virus Protection Software The effectiveness of virus software depends primarily on the number of virus definition file that it contains and how updated these signatures are. It is not very much dependent on what type of antivirus software you have. Therefore, it is not very advisable to purchase expensive virus protection software. What is important is that you can get a continuous update when you connect to the internet. Most virus that cause major havoc are those viruses that are not yet included in the recent virus definition file. Therefore whether the virus protection software is expensive or not, if the virus is very new, then none of the virus protection software can detect it until it can be included in the signature file. Presently, the methods of virus protection algorithm are almost similar using a set of signature to detect viruses. So it is advisable to choose only those that you can update the virus definition as often as possible, do not base it on the price of the antivirus software to guage the quality of virus protection software. Most virus or malwares in general exploit weaknesses within the system or application to spread the malicious code. For example in 2004, â€Å"security researchers are seeing the first signs of a large-scale virus attack taking advantage of a known flaw in the way JPEG images are processed in Microsoft Windows products† (Naraine, 2004). This vulnerability is due to the way GDI, which is included in the GDIplus. dll, processes JPEG files. Since its detection, Microsoft immediately released a patch for it and a scanning tool to determine if the GDI+ library needs a patch or not. So that a virus protection is only secondary to this type of prevention, the operating system must be updated from security threats. This again does not make virus protection software the ultimate protection and therefore it is not advisable to buy them if free virus protection software is available. Virus protection software are also not able to recover severely damaged files, they can only protect your PC from the spread of viruses. Virus protection software are only best for detection so that the spread can be prevented but not in cleaning infected files and most anti-virus package, even the free are able to perform virus detection. Again it is still best to delete infected files and replace them with fresh from installers not merely removing the infected portion because the file may already be damaged beyond the normal repair. So that since most free antivirus software are able to perform the detection and deletion of infected files, they are sufficient to protect your PC. What else should be done? Aside from having a virus protection, it is necessary to get updates of security patch of your operating system to prevent virus exploits of these vulnerabilities. Care must be taken in downloading files from the internet. It is important that you read user feedback of the authenticity of web files before using them. When receiving emails, be sure to delete files that are from unknown origin. Do not use full privileged account such as administrator account when visiting websites. Use limited or guest account to prevent viruses from altering your system files. Make sure that your firewall is up when surfing the web to prevent pop-ups and other malwares from being able to enter your PC. Read resources that provide details of virus protection mechanism so that you will know how to protect your PC. When your PC is not in need of internet connection, please â€Å"disconnect it from the Internet to avoid hacker attacks† (Information Technology Services Centre, 2004). Since virus protection normally do not protect you from spyware, it is also necessary to install spyware protection software. Do not rely heavily on virus protection software alone, they are necessary to ensure security of data but they are not the ultimate solution to protect your PC. The most effective solution to protect your data is back-up regularly to other physical storage devices such as recordable CD, recordable DVD, pen drives or other external drives. So that when a virus destroys your data, you can still recover it from your backup. Conclusion Virus protection software is very important in securing your data. Although it is not necessary that you purchase expensive virus protection software, what is important is that you can get a constant update of the virus definition file for it. Since virus protection cannot protect you from all forms of malware and new viruses, it is necessary that you exercise other forms of security measures. This includes firewall, limited access account for surfing the net, connect to the internet only when necessary, install anti-spyware, regular backup of data, and continuous update of system security patches. References Unknown. (2000). Virus Related Statistics. Security Stats Inc Website. Retrieved April 25, 2007 from http://www. securitystats. com/virusstats. html Harder, U. et al (2005). Observing Internet Worm and Virus Attacks with a Small Network Telescope. Department of Computing, Imperial College London. Retrieved March April 25, 2007 from http://pubs.doc.ic.ac.uk/network-telescope/network-telescope.pdf

Breach of Contract and Informed Consent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breach of Contract and Informed Consent - Essay Example ding to the facts of the case, Harvey suffered from carotid artery blockage and while his doctor recommended a surgical procedure, Harvey signed a consent form that restricted use of blood or blood products on his body. He acknowledged potential health risks to his condition. He confirmed this in another agreement a day before the surgery. The surgery appears successful until a blood clot was realized and he suffered a stroke. His mother, who was also listed as the next of kin, then offered consent for subsequent operations and procedures, some of which involved blood transfusion because Harvey lost lots of blood and was at risk of heart attack and death. Harvey later recovered and sued. One of the principles that guide the case is existence of a contract and its terms, and an agreement between Harvey and the doctor prior to the initial surgery identifies this. Consequently, any surgical procedures ought to have been conducted within the terms of the agreement. The agreement was further based on the patient’s informed consent as he acknowledged possible consequences on his decisions on the surgical procedure. This is because the initial agreement that existed in writing identified â€Å"disclosure,† â€Å"comprehension,† â€Å"voluntariness,† â€Å"competence,† and â€Å"consent† (Kennedy, 2008, p. 83). The informed consent was further consistent with statute law on autonomy and informed consent that grants a patient right to information and allows a patient to refuse treatment (Rutgers, n.d.), and case law as was argued in the case of Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital, as the patient reserved the right applicatio ns in the surgical procedures (Albert, 2000). There are however exceptions to the doctrine of informed consent that are applicable to the case and undermine Harvey’s chances of winning. Emergency is an example and defines need for an immediate action with the aim of preserving a patient’s life. This means that delays in a surgical action can

Discovery rules Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discovery rules - Research Paper Example Although this e- discovery technique strategic move is to be implemented, it does not entirely represent a complete turn from the digital forensic but rather it is a way of natural merger scheme. Thus, this strategy involves the utilization of both techniques to achieve a more effective strategy. This will enable a complete focus on the law, policy enforcement as well as the forensic examination. The European Union needs the implementation of strategies that prevent and further control organized crimes for the future development of the union and its member states (Brown, 2003). Discussion The necessity for apt identification, analysis and significant investigation of electronic media has never been extra vital. The forever-changing risk environment accessible by cyber illegally and technical advances has essential modern analytical processes to impact on scene forensic. Investigators encounter a lot of confrontations for confining unpredictable data, conserving possible evidence and upholding the reliability of the electronic offense sight while guaranteeing the record remains feasible and available for more analytical efforts. The accomplishment of these procedures is calculated in minutes and not days. The Cyber Forensic ground procedure recommends onsite or ground advancement for supplying the identification, investigation and interpretation of digital verification in a small moment, without the prerequisite of having to acquire the scheme back to the laboratory for a thorough inspection or attaining an absolute forensic representation. The proposed form sticks to normally held forensic ethics, and does not counteract the capacity that once the original field trial is accomplished, the system storage device is to be transported back to a laboratory setting for a more systematic assessment and analysis. The CFFTPM has more over been regarded to be successfully employed in diverse genuine world cases and its analytical significance and practical approach has a lso been sufficiently verified. Furthermore, the derived proof from these cases has not yet been confronted in the court procedures where it has been initiated (Blakeslee, 2010). The forensic information is collected using the device SSD. This device utilizes silicon chips to store the forensic data of an individual. Furthermore, the machine is accountable for the dispensation data using its individual processor. For the forensic field, this device has a great impact because it can start running software routines on the data stored when supplied with power. Additionally, the device is very fast in implementing its task. It further has got more immunity to the shock and also the magnetism effect. The data can further be used as proof throughout court investigation. This device further ensures easy and quick delivery of the records to the required destination. It further guarantees safety and confidentiality of the forensic data. The procedures followed during the collection of the fo rensic data, its preservation and moreover its transportation follows a set of policy and regulation. Thus, it guarantees confidentiality and privacy as it moves from the EU to United States (Roper & Jopling, 2010). Meanwhile,

Macro-environment challenges of Tesco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Macro-environment challenges of Tesco - Essay Example Tesco launched the different programs to ensure customer satisfaction, and loyalty. During 2006/07, Tesco: launched their Fruit and Veg Pledge - they offered at least five fresh fruit and vegetable products at half price every week during the whole of the year; extended their range ofwhole foods to include an even wider choice of pulses, beans, dried fruit and nuts, breads, oils, cereal bars, breakfast cereals and cooking oils; posted nutritional signpost labelson 6,600 of their own-brand products, making it easier for customers to understand, and ispractical to use; made organic products more affordable, selling them alongside the standard ranges, on the same shelves, instead of in a separate section; increased a range of Value non-food products to make setting up home cheaper; halved the price of energy-efficient light bulbs making them even more cost-effective than traditional light bulbs over their life-span; offered a range of Healthy Living non-food fitness equipment such as skipping ropes, pedometers, exercise bikes and rowing machines to make keeping fit more affordable. Some of the details employed by Tesco on the aspect of effective communication with the customers: Tesco listens to people - It is the largest private sector employer in the UK with over 260,000 staff. The people make Tesco a success and their feedback is very valuable. Tesco listens to suppliers - it takes a partnership approach and believes that open and constructive relationships with suppliers are key to a strong and sustainable supply chain. Tesco listens to communities - Tesco aims to improve the way they consult local communities before building new stores so that they can be sure that they have understood local issues and concerns. (Tesco website) Scenario planning Tesco's... Tesco’s share data sometime showed that there was a sharp increase in the sales of flowers and wine for one week at the start of the summer.   An analysis of their Clubcard data showed that the majority of customers buying these items were families with school age children.   Parents were buying these products for their children to take to school and give to their teacher at the end of term.   With this conclusion, Tesco people were able to ensure that there was a plentiful supply of flowers and wine in their stores at the end of the school term.   Using external research, they found an opportunity to improve the range.   The research told them of a rapidly growing need for Polish & Eastern European products and their growing number of excellent Polish staff helped confirm their beliefs.   As a result of this, they appointed one of their Polish executives who began by listening to customers and held their first ever Polish ‘Customer Question Time’ (in the Polish language) to find out which kinds of products their customers would like to buy.   After talking to Polish customers, they finalized their product selection then sourced the products from a new supplier.Tesco has implemented the in-store TV network in its stores, which is known as the TESCO TV.   Various programs are shown like news and entertainment, as well as promotional information on both Tesco’s own products and suppliers’ branded products.   The suppliers pay to promote their products on TESCO TV as with any advertising medium.  

Choose the topic based on the description Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Choose the topic based on the description - Essay Example The official website of the project emphasizes on the economic opportunity that the project can bring about. It says the British Columbians, Albertans, Canadians, aboriginals, communities and landowners are benefited from it. It provides with education and training opportunities and also improves the safety and integrity of gas transport and operations in the country (Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeilines, n.d). An in-depth analysis will show that the claims made by the government and the company behind the pipeline are nowhere near facts. A vast portion in the proposed route of the pipeline is passing through the traditional lands of many aboriginal groups like Yinka Dene. This also turns out as a menace for the natural habitat of wild salmon. Enbridge is trying to tackle the situation by offering a 10 percent equity stake for aboriginal groups in 80 kilometres of the line. But this can only be regarded as a business minded approach to secure the first nations’ support. Such an offering cannot make up for the loss that the proposed project can bring about. Robyn Allan, an economist and CEO of former Insurance Corporation of BC, in a report specifies that the proposed pipeline can adversely affect non-oil industries. Continual increments in oil prices are inevitable for the success of the project, and therefore it will be a blow for the common man in the country. Family purchasing power will decline; production cost in oil based industries will increase, and the eventual outcome will be abatement in GDP. Enbridge’s history in installation and maintenance of gas pipelines is not worth in giving it a ‘trustworthy’ label. Many NGOs (as cited in Financial Post, 2012) point out incidents of gas leakages and oil spills in pipelines built by them; and 190,000 litres of oil spilled in Wisconsin in July, 2012. As per reports (Financial Post, 2012), there was a 230,000

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that Essay

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact - Essay Example The governments across the world have been instrumental in alleviating poverty. They have introduced various measures that are aimed at enabling people to create employment. However, there are other challenges that are dragging the success of these interventions. This paper will analyze the merit of claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact (Wright-Revolledo, Greeley, Brody, & Copestake 2005). Over the past five decades, the financial institutions have become very critical in financing people to initiate various projects that are very significant in alleviating poverty. However, majority of the people in developing countries do not have collaterals to enable them to get access these funds (Shaw 2004). For instance, in Asia and Africa, many governments are yet to establish effective structures to enable people to have the required collaterals in order to get access to loans. This has made it hard for the banks and other financial institutions to reach the common citizen who is highly affected by the poverty levels. Agriculture is one of the sectors that are associated with poor people in these regions (HamzeÃŒ  2001). Many poor farmers rely on rain fed agriculture in order to grow their food. This is because they do not have collaterals such as title deeds to enable them get access to the funds. In addition, banks are not willing to give them loans because the sector is v ulnerable especially from the vagaries of nature such as drought, floods, etc. This has exposed these people to extreme poverty. However, microfinance institutions are able to offer poor people with loans that enable them to start small and medium enterprises, an aspect that has contributed immensely in reducing the poverty levels. Because majority of these people lacks the skills and experience on how to handle such enterprises, the microfinance institutions have even gone ahead to train the

Express your own views about issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Express your own views about issues - Essay Example Customers are the consumers of the end product of a given company. For many organizations to provide quality product and services, they should consider meeting the wishes of the customer. Customers demand will drive the company in making sure that the end product is of good quality. Customer’s tastes and preferences should be the major concern in an organization. For example, if the LCD televisions set are in high demand, the manufacturing industry should produce such type of television (TV) that is of good value. The TV set should be of the standard that is required by the customers as this will influence its sale. Many customers will buy that product because it has been manufactured according to their standards. Customer’s satisfaction is also another consideration for a good project quality management. If the company wants to manufacture a certain product or provide services to customers, it should consider what customers are in need of at that particular time. Many companies do produce one item for a long period of time of which sometimes that product is of no importance to the customer. For instance, when a company is planning to come up with another project, it would be best to research first on the kind of products or services that customers in certain areas are in need of. This will aid the firm in achieving its goals, thus becoming successful. During manufacturing of certain products or services in a company, employees should do the right thing. This will produce an end product that is original. Unlike if an employee does some mistakes in the process of manufacturing. In repeating the process, it means some stages had been skipped by the worker and the final product will not be of the same value if he or she had followed the procedures well in the first attempt. This will result in several problems and might be one of the failures by the company of not producing good quality

Falconry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Falconry - Essay Example Therefore, what I learnt from young age is how to take care of the birds of prey, especially the Saker Falcon, since it was the type of bird that we used often, as well as learning how to feed the bird. In addition, I learnt more about the health problems and diseases that affect birds, especially the birds of prey that has changed their natural habitat from wild birds, to become bred at home. We used to treat the bird when they would show some symptoms of sickness, and then feed and rest them until they recovered fully. The experiences I obtained from the game is that; hares and Stone-curlews mostly inhabit the arid or semi-arid areas, where camping was also convenient. The game was most enjoyable here, due to the full uninterrupted view of the falcons hunting the hares or the birds even over long distances. The game has impacted me through making me develop love for birds, such that I have learnt the care and feeding for different varieties of birds, and the methods of training and treating the

Technology in Hotels Essay Example for Free

Technology in Hotels Essay With the rapid pace of technological advancements and the fast rate of implementing it into everyday life, people need the latest IT facilities. They demand this from hotels as well. But the industry has always been lagging behind the needs, not being able to offer the latest advances in technology. Now management has started to take note of the guest’s needs and is aware that technology is a very competitive advantage and is starting to adjust their strategies in consequence. Boutique hotels offering sci-fi levels of technology are starting to emerge and may be prefiguring the future of hospitality as a whole. I Introduction With technology advancing now faster than ever before, everyone needs and demands using the latest technological means just to survive. Such is the case in the hotel industry too, especially in the upper-class and boutiques hotels area of the market. With hotels always lagging behind other sectors in adopting new IT systems ( PLUGGED IN, 2009; Buick, 2003), keeping the pace with customers’ demands becomes a pressing issue to hospitality providers. This problem is acknowledged by the players in the industry, being debated in trade-specific publications, conferences and academic literature. There are two sides of the use of technology in hotels: â€Å"back of house† systems (property management systems, revenue management systems, internal control instruments etc.) and technology that is used directly and mainly by the consumers. The following review aims to put the current technological state, future trends and most pressing issues of the hotel and hospitality industry i nto perspective. II Literature review The newest trends in the hospitality industry show an emphasis on the experience delivered to the customer and not so much on the tangible aspect of the product. With the service sector beginning to dominate the world’s economies, there is a growing concern on delivering meaningful, memorable customer experiences (Meyer and Schwager, 2007). This can be seen from a practitioner’s point of view with The Ritz-Carlton Hotels Company, which prides its self with becoming an â€Å"experience and memory creator† (Nixon and Rieple, 2010). The next generation of clients demands continual technological updates for every business and personal user and hotels often can’t keep up the pace. Property owners are understandably reluctant to renovate as often as needed to support the latest technology, meaning major renovations never happen often enough to keep the tech-crazy guests satisfied (Russ, 2008). No longer are people going to hotels to experience something new, but hoteliers are looking at guests as technology consumers and supply little more than the average customer demands (Freed, 2010). The use of modern technology can help hotel employees deliver a service of better quality and also enhance the stay for guests by satisfying their needs, thus creating a better all-round experience. This view, however, is not unanimous across the whole of the industry. Even though 82.4% of managers believe that IT is important for increasing customer satisfaction (Brewer et al, 2008), they also worry that the benefits provided by investments in technology are not as high as expected (ITGI, 2007). Research shows that companies around the world are losing out on their investments because they can’t derive sufficient value from these investments in IT (Bowen, Cheung and Rhode, 2007; ITGI, 2007). Value from IT can be defined as a function whose primary focus is delivering the promised benefits (Mathe, 2009) and as a provider of strategic, informational and transactional benefits (Gregor et al, 2006). Therefore, all definitions show that value added by IT leads to successfully achieving business goals and strategies. So a contradiction appears between managers’ beliefs and actions. The majority is certain IT helps their organization but has failed to fully take its benefits yet. Customer satisfaction with the hotel begins shaping before the service is provided, with the process of making the reservation preceding it. The new trends using of mobile platforms such as smart phones, tablets and laptops for shopping (Gupta, 2012) dictate that these means of communication should be targeted by hoteliers. The number of mobile users researching travel options on their mobile devices is expected to grow by 51% in 2012 and another 15% by 2013 (Saio, 2012). A market study by Reuters Synovate Global (plugged in) shows that 47% of potential clients demand the latest technology from the hotels they choose. Also, one third of guests assess a hotel by its website and 50% do research and comparisons online, before making their choice. The same report found that seven out of ten consumers would rather stay in a less expensive hotel and that hi-tech facilities are the top criteria in choosing a hotel. The latest study conducted by Motorola Solution, Inc. (2011) concludes that information technology (IT) spending in the hospitality industry is expected to have increased in 2011, with guest experience being the primary driver for investments. And yet, 57% of the industry’s leaders admit they don’t know how to launch, track and achieve mobile platform success (Eyefortravel, 2012), proving the same contradicting views towards technology. This proves one of the critical challenges for hotel technology managers is convincing upper management to approve investing in the latest technology (Petiza, 2011). According to Gregor et, al. (2006) the failure to measure the value added by IT is due to measurement errors, management practices and time lags between the investment and ROI. The alignment of IT with business strategy and its use may allow competitive advantage to be achieved (Levy and Powell, 2005; Peppard and Ward, 2004). The same opinion is presented in a study conducted by Amadeus (2011), which states that if hotels are to secure growth in the next three years they must align strategy and IT priorities. Peppard and Ward (2004) suggest that IT has become pivotal to the existence of most organisations and that should the technology used by organisations come to a halt, they would cease to function. Now that the importance of using technology is recognized unanimously there are two schools of thought emerging: the first believes that IT should be present to aid the guests inconspicuously from the shadows and the other approach that puts technology in the forefront of the operations and makes it the core theme. Choosing one or the other dictates the whole strategy of the hotel or company. Some guests are not comfortable with technological changes in the lobby, in the room or when trying to make a booking (Withiam, 2007). Others, as shown above, need and demand hi-tech facilities from their hotels. After choosing the market you target, the strategy should be adjusted in consequence. A tool for creating market segments based on consumers’ opinion on technology is a so-called Techno logy Readiness Index (TRI) (Verma et al., 2007). This is a 10 question survey that guests should fill in (Appendix 1). This measures their view of technology on four dimensions: optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity. Tech-focused individuals are usually thought of in terms of their willingness to innovate, but the research behind TRI measures the extent to which people think IT helps improve their life (optimism), or if they feel overwhelmed by technology (discomfort) or whether they don’t trust devices to operate correctly (insecurity). The over-technologic approach can be best seen in boutique hotels. Taking the forefront in this arms race is somewhat easier with smaller, non-chain, exclusive hotels because they don’t have to maintain the same standards in thousands of rooms across hundreds of hotels around the world. An article by Myers (2011) showcases the latest boutique hotels that offer now desk-free check-in aided by tablet PCs, hybrid cars with Wi-Fi for the guest, 42 inch LCD TVs (The Upper House Hotel, Hong Kong), retina scans just to enter the room (Nine Zero Hotel, New York), touch-screen room controls and bedside iPads (Establishment Hotel, Sydney) or Wii exercise rooms where guest can play virtual tennis (Le Parker Meridian, New York). The latest trends in hotel technological development include converging technologies that complement each other to reach the common goal of customer satisfaction. The hotel room would automatically set itself up to the guest’s unique tastes, based on the pervious information provided through guest profile forms. When the front desk clerk checks-in the guest or the guest checks-in using the self service kiosk in the lobby, the lights in the room automatically turn on and the thermostat sets itself to the users preferred temperature. The entertainment system turns on, playing the guest’s favorite music, TV program or radio station. These services would please the guest but also reduce energy costs by keeping everything turned off when the guest is not using the room. The list of computer operated can include such luxurious services like automatically drawing a bath to be ready at a certain time or automatically open the drapes in the morning in order to wake the guest with natural light and not the old fashioned wakeup call. (Russ, 2008) In order to offer a variety of payment options, some hotel managers have adopted cashless payment systems via the use of radio frequency identification (RFID). RFID utilizes computer chips and antennas, allowing the chips to wirelessly communicate with a receiver. In the hotel industry RFID systems are being integrated with POS systems to process credit card and debit account transactions (Kasavana, 2005). Some hospitality companies even accept biometrics, such as fingerprints, iris scans, facial scans or hand geometry analysis systems to increase physical or data security. III Conclusion Customers are more demanding from hotels in terms of technology than ever. They need it for entertainment, business, communication and socialization. And with technology advancing in a rampant pace, people more aware of the latest gadgets and devices and techno-fear decreasing as new generations come along using technology from infancy, hotels are being pressed into making monumental investments more often just to cater to the technological needs of the guests. Added to these there are the other investments to be made in â€Å"old fashioned† hotel operation, property management systems etc. Studies show that even though customers demand it and managers recognize its importance the hotel industry is still lagging behind in offering the latest IT facilities. However, there are innovative boutique hotels that have reached an almost sci-fi level of technology. These hotels are shaking the position of the big hotel chains and are attracting more tech-crazy guests. On the other side there are hotels that focus more on the environment, nature with a more traditional approach. Both have their own well established market segments that usually don’t overlap because of being on different ends of the spectrum. Only the future can say of this arms race to demand and provide more and more technological means will prove effective. It is commonly known that too much of something can become harmful.

The Beauty and Complexity of Minimalism Essay Example for Free

The Beauty and Complexity of Minimalism Essay Today’s modern world is often complex, colorful, noisy and fast-paced. When I am engaged in art, I frequently look for works that allow me to escape from my hectic lifestyle. Clean lines and use of space appeal to my senses and calm me. Sometimes, what is not stated says more than what is stated. I have learned from my study of Japanese art history this semester that simplicity seems to be a common theme in many of the artworks produced throughout Japan’s rich history. Of course, this is not always the case; there are plenty of works that are colorful and loud. Use of color, in fact, seems to be an appreciated value in much of the art I have seen. However, there seems to a simplistic nature in even the most complex of Japanese artwork. This minimalism appears to be an appreciated Japanese aesthetic. Two works of Japanese art stood out to me this semester, precisely for their minimalistic nature: Pine Trees by Hasegawa Tohaku from the late 16th century Momoyama period, and a Shoki-Imari sake bottle from the 17th century Edo period. While there are many differences between these two works, they appear to complement each other. Each of these works has a rich history behind its creation and they both convey a sense of complex simplicity. Before diving into the two works of art presented in this essay, a brief overview of the periods that spawned these artworks is necessary; specifically the relationship of the Momoyama and Edo periods with painting and ceramics, respectively. 1. Momoyama Background Artistically, the Momoyama period (1568-1615) was the most important half-century period in the history of Japan (Swann 211). Momoyama means â€Å"Peach Blossom Hill,† and the period drew its name from the flowering peach trees, over-looked by the great Fushimi Castle, which was frequented by the local residents of the prefecture (Hickman 19). Hickman states, â€Å"[The term, Momoyama] seems appropriate†¦ for the vision of a brilliant cloud of evanescent peach blossoms serves well as an evocative visual metaphor for the period, a ‘golden age’ of short duration but memorable accomplishments,† (19). The period was fraught with intense warfare between clans, and the emperor remained powerless, but the Momoyama laid the foundation for a modern Japan that would experience over two hundred and fifty years of peace in the Edo period. Momoyama’s art was defined by color and movement that took the place of previously used monochrome and stillness (Swann 215). Artists suddenly felt free of restraint and were free to breath new life into old themes and form original interpretations (215). Color, gold and silver were frequently used in art. The Kano school style of painting gained prominence. Folding screens, covered in paper with bold paintings, became increasingly popular. â€Å"Perhaps [The Momoyama’s] most important product is among the most conspicuously decorative works ever produced†¦ a movable and flexible wall of dubious utilitarian value, but perhaps the most significant creation of the Japanese decorative style,† (qtd. Swann 216). The large area of the folding screen lent itself to broad, sweeping brushstrokes and immense designs. The Momoyama period attempted to bring nature into the household. 2. Hasegawa Tohaku Hasegawa Tohaku (1539-1610) was born in Nanao in the province of Noto (Tazawa 83). He was a painter of the Momoyama period who was able to paint in both Chinese and Japanese styles (Swann 219). Before he took the name Tohaku, he went by the name Shinshun and mainly produced portraits and Buddhist paintings (Tazawa 83). Hasegawa Tohaku was highly skilled and studied the works of Sesshu, Shubun, Kanga, the Kano school and Song and Yuan Chinese dynasty painters (83). Much of his work represented the style of the Momoyama period – flowering trees, flowers, and bright colors. However, his most famous paintings, like Pine Trees differ greatly from the typical Momoyama style (Seiroku 107). . Edo Background The Edo period (1615-1868) is distinguished by the long rule of the Tokugawa clan and an era of political stability. The period is called Edo since the capital was moved from Kyoto to the small village of Edo, which later became Tokyo. Two important developments influenced the subsequent artistic developments of the Edo period. First, in the Edo period Japan beca me completely isolated from the rest of the world by closing its borders to foreigners (with a small exception to some Dutch and Chinese near Nagasaki) and prohibiting foreign travel (Swann 239). Since the Chinese had historically influenced the Japanese, artists were now able to move towards the rejection and free adaptation of Chinese influences (Watson 260). The closed borders also removed the Western and Christian influences which had been slowly filtering in through the Dutch. As feudalism declined in the West in favor of the creation of parliamentary systems, Japan feverishly worked to pursue, â€Å"pleasure and extravagance which is most vividly reflected in the arts,† (Swann 240). The pursuit of the arts gave way to the second major Edo development the rise of the merchant class, which affected the artistic patronage and ushered in the Edo artists. New patrons allowed art to flourish in the Edo period. The new city of Edo helped create this new class of merchants that were able to supply not only the samurai, but themselves as well. This opened new and wider markets for the creations of artists and craftsmen (Swann 243). 4. Shoki-Imari ware One of the greatest influences to Japanese ceramics was Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s invasion of Korea at the end of the Momoyama period (Watson 260). The Japanese still wanted to produce ceramics that represented the greater Asiatic cultures, so the returning Japanese armies brought back Korean potters (Sanders 44). This led to a tremendous advance in ceramics of the early 17th century, allowing for the proliferation of porcelain (Watson 260). There were several innovations of porcelain throughout the Edo period, but for the purpose of this paper, only the Shoki-Imari ware will be discussed. Arita became a town in the Saga prefecture of Japan known for porcelain production after a discovery by a Korean potter in the early 17th century (Sanders 44). The earliest porcelains, called Shoki-Imari, were made out of a poor quality clay, with a high iron content (Watson 261). These Shoki-Imari were typically decorated with an underglaze of cobalt oxide, which had a bluish tinge. The decorations were often flowers or landscape of Korean influence (261). However, the Japanese still envied the enameled porcelain of the Chinese Ming Dynasty and finally by the mid 17th century the Arita potters learned how to use an overglaze to produce that effect. Both the underglaze and the overglaze porcelains were able to proliferate to Europe through the very limited trade with the Dutch. . Pine Trees and the Shiko Imari sake bottle The first thing one notices about Hasegawa Tohaku’s screen painting, Pine Trees, is that the entire painting is monochromatic and you can easily see how little of the canvas is used. There is more space than ink, or in terms of the environment, more mist than trees. This presents a sense of openness, almost an empti ness in the painting. According to Tazawa, â€Å"In no other work, perhaps, has the poetic quality inherent in Japanese style ink painting been so successfully realized,† (84). The same sort of feeling of Pine Trees is immediately seen in the Shoki-Imari sake bottle. The sake bottle is also monochromatic and the porcelain gleams all around the sparseness of the landscape presented. It has the same sort of emptiness as Pine Trees. This emptiness is interesting in the sake bottle because the use of the open space makes the bottle seem empty inside. Both pieces of art are similar in the sense that they present a landscape, which is a common Japanese aesthetic, especially of those time periods. The artist of the Shoki-Imari bottle is unknown, but it is clear that he was familiar with the environment he was painting. Both pieces of art make the viewer feel they are inside the painted scene, even if one piece is small and the other is large. Both works create environments that are simple and direct in their reference to an ageless Japanese reality (Seiroku 107). One element the sake bottle presents that Pine Trees does not is the bottle uses a man-made element it its scene; the sake bottle has a pagoda painted on it. This element causes the viewer to feel as if man had been inside the portrayed environment where Pine Trees does not. Pine Trees leaves the viewer feeling that no one had ever been inside the forest. The use of the mist helps enforce this feeling. It gives it a haunted, untouchable feel. The sake bottle landscape makes the artwork feel approachable. Another difference is that the techniques used in Pine Trees are distinctly Chinese. The techniques used in the creation of the Shoki-Imari Sake bottle were Korean. However, since the Japanese wanted to create ceramics in the manner of the Chinese, the underglaze was painted on in a Chinese style. This specific Shoki-Imari piece however, was not part of the first Shoki-Imari created, since it was formed sometime between 1650 and 1660 (Watson 267). It is in the style of the first porcelains exported by the Dutch, but was created later for the international market; Arita had already ceased production on poorer quality Shoki-Imari ceramics (267). Since the Japanese had already mastered overglaze technique by this time, this bottle was made purposefully with underglaze. The blue and white design was an aesthetic of the Chinese the Japanese were trying to master and created this vase to replicate earlier Chinese models (267). The painting styles of the two pieces of artwork are similar and different. In Hasegawa Tohaku’s Pine Trees, the ink was skillfully applied with â€Å"varying degrees of thickness to create the effect of pine trees partly hidden in mist, the work as a whole giving a strong sense of economy, vividness, and clarity of conception,† (Tazawa 84). Some of the ink of the trees is so dark that some individual branches are indistinguishable, yet they seem closer and more clear than those painted lightly. In some parts of the painting, there is nothing painted at all, but it is still clear that the forms of the trees are still there, even if only implied. For the most part, the use of hue in Pine Trees is not the same as the Shoki-Imari sake bottle. Some parts of the trees are painted darker than others, but only to give the individual trees added detail. There are some varying hues of the mountains and land in the bottle, but not in the same sense as Pine Trees. The mountains are not painted in detail either; they are only outlines, leaving the inside hollow. The lightest object on the entire bottle is, surprisingly, the man-made pagoda. The lightness of the pagoda assumingly expresses the Japanese respect for a nature. Each piece of artwork has something in common and something different in the way they portray the tree branches. In Pine Trees, Hasegawa Tohaku curves the branches, sloping toward the ground. But at the same time, there is a slight element of the Ma-Yuan Chinese influence on Japanese painting. The trees have a slight angular nature to them. It is not something that is noticed at a mere glance, but upon further study, you can see the implied angular nature of an older style of painting. He clearly studied the style and made it his own. The brushstrokes imply a hidden angularity in the forest. The Shoki-Imari sake bottle does not use any angularity, but it has another interesting element. The two trees in the foreground sit at an angle and curve with the roundness of the bottle. The mountains also protrude into the neck of the bottle. This method of following the lines and curves of the bottle makes the environment seem more real by conforming to the three dimensional object. Another element that the two pieces of art have in common is depth. The Shoki-Imari sake bottle certainly does not use a thickness in the brushstrokes to convey this. It conveys depth by the placement of the objects. The mountains are painted above the tree line with little overlap. A river flows from the base of the mountains to the middle of the bottle where the pagoda is located in the middle of the tree. The tree come up from the ground at an angle and curve to either side so that they have varying heights. The combination of each of these elements puts the trees in the foreground and the mountains in the background, with the pagoda and some vegetation in the middle. This creates a sense of depth, which was a newer element in Japanese art. Each of the brushstrokes on the bottle is deliberate and creates line for the eye to follow. Hasegawa Tohaku’s painting creates depth, if not more so than the bottle, but by using a different technique. The varying levels of ink he applied to the trees and the lack of ink used in the midst creates an intense depth. It is presumable that all of the trees are planted at the same relative level, but by having the darker trees at varying heights and painting the other trees at varying hues, he created an incredible amount of depth on a flat surface. He created a forest from a row of trees. 6. Conclusion The Shoki-Imari sake bottle and Hasegawa Tohaku’s Pine Trees are obviously very different pieces of art. Pine Trees is ink, black and white, large, on a folding screen and from the Momoyama period. The Shoki-Imari sake bottle is porcelain, underglazed, small, blue and white and from the Edo period. They were created roughly fifty years apart. However, they both express a minimalism that reflects an essence of Japanese aesthetic. Both pieces of art say more with what is understated. They are simple pieces; but the history behind these works and the processes involved are incredibly complex. I find both them both incredibly powerful, peaceful and refreshing.

Essay on Cloud Computing

Essay on Cloud Computing Abstract This paper explores cloud computing and its merits and de-merits which may help an organization in taking a wise decision either in favor of it or against it. Cloud computing is the buzz word now in the field of information technology. It is the concept of where an organization has its data and application hosted on a third party infrastructure. Sometimes the applications are designed and developed by the service provider and the company using it uses that application against its own data. There are several factors for deciding in favor of it as well as several factors that raise strong questions for its acceptance. It is totally based on the need of the organization, whether it leverages cloud computing or not. What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is Internet-based utility computing, basically shared resources, software and information that are used by end-users hosted on virtual servers. Some people term anything beyond a companies or users personal firewall to be in cloud (Knorr, Gruman, n.d., para. 2).Personal computing has evolved in three phases. The first phase was where the data and application was stored on a local desktop. The second phase is where the applications reside on a local server and utility software on the desktop along with the internet to provide valuable information. The third phase is where most of the data and software will reside somewhere on the internet. This phase is identified as cloud computing. Although more than 80% of world-wide computational data is being predicted to move into clouds in the next five to ten years, there are a number of unanswered questions which will decide the speed of development in this arena (Nelson, 2009, para. 1). It is a new concept in the field of inf ormation technology still trying to get acceptance, where-in the technological services/ applications are provided by a third-party. Cloud Computing Nomenclature From the days when use of internet started becoming popular, the network architecture diagrams show internet as cloud to hide the complexities from the end-user hence the name cloud computing. The applications/ software are provided as services which reside in data centers with server farms and redundant storage. End-users can access them via web browsers in laptops or hand-held devices. Google Apps, Facebook and salesforce.com are examples of cloud computing which are becoming very popular especially with the younger generations. A very basic example of cloud computing is a web-based email service like Gmail where the complexity of storage and presentation of user data is provided by a third party, and users are leveraging them by means of web browsers(Nelson, 2009, para. 12). Benefits of Cloud Computing Cloud Computing is a totally different paradigm of personal as well as corporate computing which drifts away from the traditional software business model. There are several positive factors for deciding in favor of moving to cloud computing. Some of the important favorable factors are discussed below. Entry cost for a business to set itself up in cloud is much less compared to traditional setup. Cost for running Information Technology (IT) business in cloud world can be visualized as operational cost. Organizations no longer need to shell out big amounts for hardware and software upgrades (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 3). They no longer need to worry about end of life for hardware/ software. Companies no longer need to spend huge amounts on buying new hardware for scalability. In short, infrastructure costs to get in to cloud are much lower than that for the traditional model. Pricing is generally based on usage options. Organizations do not need to maintain a workforce of IT people and can focus on strengthening their business domain knowledge. Organizations can use only applications which are suited for their need and not pay huge amounts on licenses for using a software suite. Most of the time buying a software suite is of lesser worth from the business perspective as only few features of the suite are really used and the cost associated with upgrades and licenses are expensive. With canned applications in cloud, business can decide and pay for only the applications that they need. Using virtualization as the main technology, additional computing resources can be added dynamically without having any downtime. By monitoring peak load and server usage, an application can be dynamically switched over to a virtual machine with greater computing speed or the current virtual machine can be augmented with more computing resources (Zhong, Wo, Li Li, 2010, p. 2). The organization using the application does not need to pay extra for the scalability feature. In virtualization, high performance servers are split into multiple machin es catering to different customers. Some of the popular products are VMware and XEN. With the infrastructure being located in multiple data centers and huge server farms, users can be productive anytime from anywhere in the world using web-browsers in laptops, desktops or hand-held devices. Business executives travelling to client locations need not carry hard copies and everything with them, as with a simple click of the mouse they can reach the information gateway. With infrastructure being maintained at multiple redundant sites, it gives more confidence to business organizations in regard to business continuity and disaster recovery. Nowadays in the industry, one of the buzz words is collaboration. Tools like sharepoint are becoming very popular where multiple people can work on the same document and access them without having to store the document locally and work on it and send it via email for edits by other users. With web 2.0 where everything is going to be on the internet, collaboration will be very easy and simple (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 4). Since the infrastructure for cloud computing is centralized and the client is a thin client like a web-browser or a WAP browser, the upgrade and maintenance of the system is much easier compared to the system where we require a desktop client connecting to a server where each client desktop needs to be upgraded when the server version is getting upgraded (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 3). Concerns with Cloud Computing As there is darkness after light similarly with the benefits discussed in the earlier sections there are a few concerns floating around with the acceptance and utilization of cloud computing. With the applications provided as service and being used by different customers, personalization seems to be one limitation. The characteristics are similar to a COTS product but if proper negotiations are made, product-based companies most of the time do allow customization. There is a serious concern with data being centralized and out of business control. Sensitive data will now be under the control of a third-party and according to some experts this is a compliance issue and some feel that this is probably going to be the end of confidential records management (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 7). When it comes to the disclosure policies, some people do not know where to draw the line and knowingly or unknowingly share vital information and with data out on the third-party space that concern be comes even more critical. With everything accessible through internet, business will be totally dependent on the network and the service providers infrastructure. Business will come to a halt if the network/ internet are down. As illustrated by Patrick Cunningham in his article (2009), currently in the IT world when we need to troubleshoot an issue, one advantage in our favor is that the application logs and the database are within the premises of the enterprise. With the shift to cloud, this aspect will be lost and thus special support or contract binding needs will be there between the service provider and the business for e-discovery. With business sensitive internal data being maintained by the vendor the dependency on the vendors unique API and proprietary interfaces could create a possible lock-in with the vendor. If under some circumstance the business is dissatisfied with the vendor, moving to a new vendor means data needs to be reformatted and converted which can be time co nsuming and expensive (Brandel, 2009, p.1). Return on Investment By moving to cloud computing companies can save huge amount of money. As illustrated by Raichura (2009), in couple of online articles please find below charts showing examples of savings that an organization can achieve by moving to the cloud. The first table illustrates the difference in cost of having infrastructure on premises versus having it in the cloud. The second table illustrates the cost saving considering storage, service, infrastructure and platform in the cloud. Conclusion After having discussed the merits and de-merits it clearly stands out that there is no one clear answer in favor or against of cloud computing. So far it seems that is going to be a hybrid solution from the corporate standpoint. Some critical, business sensitive applications will continue with the traditional business model till the concerns about privacy and legal matters are cleared from cloud computing whereas simple canned applications will become more and more popular in the cloud space. The concept and technology is here to stay but it still in its infancy and there is a long road ahead to get to maturity. References: Brandel,M.(2009).The Trouble with Cloud Vendor Lock in. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/488478/The_Trouble_with_Cloud_Vendor_Lock_in Cunningham, P. Wilkins, J. (2009). A Walk in the Cloud. Information Management (15352897), 43(1), 22-30. Retrieved from Computers Applied Sciences Complete database. Erdogmus, H, (2009). Cloud Computing:Does Nirvana Hide behind the Nebula? Knorr, E. Gruman, G. (n.d). What cloud computing really means. Retrieved from http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031 Nelson, M. (2009). The Cloud, the Crowd, and Public Policy. Issues in Science Technology, 25(4), 71-76. Retrieved from Computers Applied Sciences Complete database. Raichura, B.J. (2009). The cloud ROI Framework. Retrieved from http://www.infosysblogs.com/cloudcomputing/2009/06/the_cloud_roi_framework.html Raichura, B.J. (2009). The Economics of cloud computing. Retrieved from http://www.infosysblogs.com/cloudcomputing/2009/06/the_economics_of_cloud_computi.html Zhong, L., Wo,T, Li, J. Li,B. (2010). A Virtualization-based SaaS Enabling Architecture for Cloud Computing.2010 Sixth International Conference on Autonomic and Autonomous Systems. pp.144-149.

Turbo Or Nitrous :: essays research papers

Turbo or Nitrous   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As you are driving, you see many cars going over the speed limit. Many of the drivers are into racing and modifying their cars. In most cars there are two major modifications that can be done, they are; turbo kit, or a nitrous kit. Both increase horsepower dramatically, but one is instant and the other goes into effect after a certain rpm.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turbo, is a turbine that is connected to your engines air intake that spins to create explosive power at high rpm's. This is something that with minor modifications can be done to almost any car in the market. Turbo comes in many different sizes depending on the type of engine you have and how much power you want. When a turbo is installed in a car it is considered a difficult upgrade but an upgrade that will make you car run better and faster. It also doesn't shorten the life of your engine if done properly. The only problem with a turbo is the price. Turbo's range anywhere from 2,000 dollars to 5,000 dollars and many other minor modifications must be made which also increase cost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nitrous, is something totally different from turbo. Nitrous is a gaseous mixture that is either directly injected into your engine's pistons or into you intake manifold. Nitrous is cheap and gives you a lot of power. It costs about 500 dollars and depending on how much you want to spray is how much horsepower your engine will receive. A 50 shot of nitrous gives you about 45 more horsepower. What is impressive about nitrous, is that you only use it when you want because all you have to do is flip a switch and then it works. The down side of nitrous is that it burns your engine, and if used frequently it will damage your engine beyond repair.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While turbo gives you horsepower at high rpm's, nitrous is instant at anytime. Turbo is very costly, while nitrous is extremely cost efficient. Nitrous can be temporary and turbo is permanent. Turbo requires many minor modifications and nitrous doesn't require any.