Information Security Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Information Security Planning - Essay Example The company needs to be prepared to combat virus attacks, ingress of unsolicited visitors and possible attacks by competitors on the company's information bank. To provide a safe and working repository of information, it is essential that the company has a well planned security policy in place. 2. The information security should be compliant to IS 17799 standards. This would bring about periodic security audits and would also ensure that there is a clear security policy in line with the objectives of the company. 3. To ensure that there is well defined acceptance criterion and milestones for every security measure and that this adhered to. And that these criterion and the mile stones are in line with the cost and budgeting dictated by the management of the company and to develop a comprehensive information security education policy. 4. To ensure that the company is in a state of readiness to combat potential disasters. Prevention and identification of crime, fraud and theft in the work place by ensuring both physical and logical security. A security review or audit is done to identify the existing security, the degree of protection needed, locate the weaknesses in the system and recommend security steps that are needed. This should also throw out information that has to be secured. Out of the list of jobs that need to be done for the security betterment a priority list is to be made in order of importance for security and the tentative cost for effecting the same. Priorities are laid down based on the company objectives and policies that are critical to company targets. In some of the locations, virus attacks could be frequent and these need to be countered on a priority basis may be because they are eating out on the productive time of the employees of the company and data get lost. In some cases, it might be that the data is getting out of the company through physical means in the form of CDs or flash drives. 3 Establish the feasibility of implementing. A comprehensive list of jobs that has to be carried out and their feasibility in the company needs to be established and accordingly 'what-is-possible' list is produced. 4 Identify whether the planned actions will fit into the budget. Based on the priority and the feasibility list the plan is further fine tuned with another constraint namely, the budget. If the budge should allow then the needed actions may be done, else they get pruned. 5 Need for security is to be fixed. Based on all these factors, the needs for the security is finally fixed and then the requirements are made into one single list. 6 Fix the responsibility for implementing. Using this list, it is important that the responsible person for each activity is fixed and the same is implemented through that specific person. 7 Train the people in the company and create a secure culture. In order to ensure that the implemented security measure continues to bear fruit, the employees of

Evolution of Community Kitchens

Evolution of Community Kitchens Abstract Community kitchen, as a concept is critical for ensuring the food security of the vulnerable population. It is a gathering point where groups of people come together to pool their resources to cook large quantities of food. The main focus of this research thesis is to understand the concept of community kitchens and their operation in different social settings. This research also aims to understand the role of the government agencies (if any) in ensuring the food security for the communities (which is their primary responsibility). In the changing context of state relegating to a secondary position, initiatives by such private actors assume significance. By highlighting on two different case studies of organizations, we tend to unravel the process of community kitchens in separate social environments. With the help of participant observation, focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews, this research is an exploration of the possibilities of food security through the c oncept of community kitchens. Introduction Community kitchen is an institution where food is prepared by the members of a community in a collective manner. There are different models of community kitchens that exist around the social space. Generally it is observed that members of a community who prepare food are also the consumers of the same meals cooked collectively. However there are other models like Akshay Patra (our case study in the present study) where food is collectively prepared but distributed among the non preparers of the food cooked. Community kitchens aid the community in preparing affordable meals through a self sustaining institution. The purchase, preparation and consumption are more often than not done in a collective manner which makes the enterprise a cost effective and time efficient in nature. While meeting a communitys social needs, collective kitchens are a mechanism which provide financial, social and food security to the community members. Community kitchens are socially rooted institutions, they help in increasing the solidarity among the members of the community. Grace Campbell states The formation and operation of community kitchens varies widely across communities and cultures and is largely dependent on the membership, yet each organization requires a well-equipped kitchen, willing participants, and initial capital. Food security is a modern day challenge, which needs to be addressed at all levels of society. Community kitchens at local level provide access to affordable and nutrition rich food to the members of a community, which goes a long way in ensuring food security. Globalization, inflation, increasing gap between the haves and have nots, are the major reasons which are keeping an average man food insecure. In such a scenario, this research aims to explore food security through the concept of community kitchens. Food security Food security is a condition in which all people at all times can acquire safe, nutritionally adequate and personally acceptable foods that are accessible in a manner that maintains human dignity.[1] The four components of food security, as described in the literature, are the quantitative, the qualitative, the social, and the psychological. The quantitative component describes what is traditionally known as hunger, not having enough to eat at the individual level, or not having food in the house at the household level. The qualitative component concerns the quality of the available food (its nutritional adequacy, safety, and variety). Individuals often compromise on food quality to cope with a lack of funds to purchase suitable foods. The psychological component includes the fears and decreased feelings of self-worth associated with dealing with the lack of funds to purchase sufficient, quality food, whereas the social component describes many of the coping strategies used to acquir e food when funding has run out, such as charity, stealing, and buying on credit. [2] In the 21st century disparities in economic growth have questioned the socio-economic and environmental sustainability. The issue of food security has now become a global concern. Notwithstanding the technological and scientific developments in the area of agricultural productivity, hunger and malnutrition continue to be a threat to the humanity. Access to food is still perceived by many as a privilege, rather than a basic human right, and it is estimated that about 35 000 people around the world die each day from hunger. An even larger number of people suffer from malnutrition. [3] UNFAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) defines food security as Food security is food available at all times; that all persons have means of access to it; that it is nutritionally adequate in terms of quantity, quality and variety; and that it is acceptable within the given culture. Only when all these conditions are in place can a population be considered food secure. Based on the UN definition research world over emphasizes on four main components of the issue of food security those being availability to provide sufficient food to all, equal accessibility to nutritious food, acceptability of food based on local traditions and cultures and lastly adequacy which emphasizes on sustainability of production and distribution of food. Food security in India Food security has been a major development objective in India since the beginning of planning. The achievements of green revolution have somehow failed to reach the bottom of the pyramid. Chronic food insecurity remains at an all time high. Over 225 million Indians remain chronically under nourished. The state of Indias food security is worsening by the year.[4]The cost of food items is increasing rapidly, making them unaffordable to a majority of the people. In recent years, there has been a state policy focus towards household level food security and per capita food energy intake is taken as a measure of food security. The Indian government has been implementing a wide range of nutrition intervention programmes for achieving food security at the household and individual levels. The Public Distribution System (PDS) supplies food items, such as food grains and sugar, at administered prices through a network of fair price shops. There have been a range of food-for-work and other wage employment programmes. Another approach adopted by the government is to target women and children directly. This includes the mid-day meal programme for school going children, supplementary nutrition programme for children and women and Right to Food bill. [5] The Right to Food Bill introduced in the parliament in 2009 insists on the physical, economic and social right of all citizens to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with an adequate diet necessary to lead an active and healthy life with dignityWith the Right to Food campaign, hunger and food insecurity have come in the center of development discourse in India. Notwithstanding all these developments, our country is a habitat of people with unconscionable level of malnutrition and hunger. Malnutrition levels among the children and women are even higher than the overall average. Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council for Medical Research) estimates that nearly 40% of the adult population in India has a Body Mass Index of less than 18.5, which implies chronic energy deficiency of epic proportions, bordering on a national humanitarian crisis. [6] Since food security of the vast majority in the region is at stake, addressing such a wide range of issues demands community value-system based participatory approaches to ensure involvement of all the stakeholders. The various government schemes may serve as immediate means for dealing with food insecurity but shall be of ultimate irrelevance, until we work on developing our local community based food systems strong.[7] One of such means is through the institution of community kitchens. Community kitchens in their historic perspective Community kitchen as a concept is old, dating back to the late 15th century, which has undergone change over the years and the current form seems to be involving the community to address larger social issues like food security. In India, Sikhs have a history of providing food along with every worship service, ceremony, or event, and when Gurus gained popularity, people traveled from far of distances and gathered in groups to hear them preach the principles of equality and humanity. It was in the late 15th century that Guru Nanak dev ji, the founder of Sikhism, started the institution of Langar (community kitchens). Langar is a Persian word meaning an alms house, an asylum for the poor and the destitute.[8]Langar upheld and reinforced the Sikh principles of service to mankind, equality of all and humility. Although the institution was begun under aegis od Guru Nanak, it was institutionalized by Guru Amar Das, who sought to encourage a tradition of eating together that had begun with Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Langar is the collective kitchen which is run in the Gurudwara. The institution feeds all who come, regardless of their religion, caste, gender or creed. Sikh devotes are involved in each stage from the food preparation, to feeding and to cleaning of the utensils. Today, this institution of Langar is cornerstone of Sikh religion, encouraging the discipline of service and a spirit of co-operation, philanthropy, equality, the ideas and practices deeply imbedded in the community kitchen movement. The practice and its origin must be seen in the light of its contradiction to the Hindu and Muslim custom at the time, which separated people on basis of caste (social ranking) or purdah (seclusion of women). In the recent past various moments around the concept of community kitchens can be seen across the world. In the nineties of the last century community kitchen was seen as a movement in Nicaragua, when Sandinista government lost power. The fall of the government put the nations food security policy in turmoil. It was then that community kitchens were set up all across the country to address the issues of hunger and deprivation. Similarly in Abkhazia, after the end of war between Georgia and Abkhazia (1994) community kitchens were established to provide food to the vulnerable populations of the country. The focus of the state sponsored community kitchens were women, children and elderly. Self sufficiency and sustainability were attained by purchase at local level and secondly by employing the local community. In America too, we see the moment of community kitchens. A not for profit body called Second Harvest was a pioneer to work in the area of food security in USA. Extensive community kitchens were set up to create hunger free America. The programme was unique as it involved students in the food preparation and distribution process. This led to skill enhancement and job training for the unemployed youth. History also holds evidence of collective kitchens operating in San Francisco. Community kitchens were set up there to meet the need of the immigrants and other discriminated sections of the population. These kitchens continue to encourage community unity through resource pooling, cultural exchange, and social interaction. Although in most of the cases the community and collective meal programmes were primarily organized to address financial challenges, many kitchens now focus on expanding social circles, multicultural interaction, address the challenges of hunger, dealing with food insecurity, and building community capacity. Food security and community kitchens Collaborative solutions that will make our communities resilient in the 21st century dont need to be at vast scales alone. Efforts at local community, household and individual levels play an important role to deal with the issue of food insecurity. One such model of community kitchens is a smart, practical program that has the ability to promote local food security. This model not only ensures that the participants have access to affordable food, but also in a sustainable and cost efficient manner. These are resilience building institutions, and work on principles of shared equality and mutual benefit. This local level initiative has the ability to grow across a wide range and make an impact on the global food security level. Community kitchens as alternate means of livelihood Community kitchens can serve as means of alternate livelihood to women of the marginalized sections, unemployed youth, local unskilled labor and other marginalized communities like sex workers. Community kitchen has the ability to provide the financial means whereby a group or a community can live a dignified and sustainable life. Sex workers face continuous social exclusion and are in a constant search for a stigma free means of livelihood as a pre-requisite for a dignified and better tomorrow. Initiation of community kitchens provides as a means of employment for many unskilled and semi-skilled workers thus ensuring a livelihood to the community. Collective kitchens serve to reduce vulnerability of marginalized sections of the society. It provides source of income as well as a sense of ownership and possession to the members of the community. Sex works lead a life of stigma and discrimination. The degree of stigma is higher among male and transgender sex workers. As members of the society it is their right to be a part of the normal social life, without any marginalization. Especially sex workers facing stigma of HIV Aids have a natural right to live in supporting environments free from social stigmas. United Nations Community based programs like community kitchens have a crucial role in assisting communities to identify and change stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV and sex work and to foster a spirit of tolerance and inclusion. Community kitchens provide meaningful and comprehensive set of alternatives and meaningful economic options to sex work. Hunger, food productivity and illiteracy: establishing the link While talking about building community capacity the children of the community must remain the central focus. Children, who come from remote rural areas, work so hard at the household level that going to school remains no priority for them. It is a well established fact that knowledge has the ability to transform society. Education to these children can serve as a force which can liberate the coming generations from the clutches of abject poverty. Children living in vicious circle of hunger and illiteracy require special attention by the government and society, in form of new schools, better learning facilities, learned teaches, and locally relevant syllabus taught in their local language. Have we ever wondered why the hungry are always also illiterate? A study by World Bank states that the people who are undernourished and the adults who are illiterate are mostly the same people, mainly the poor in rural areas. Illiteracy and hunger thus are cause and effect of one another, making it a vicious cycle of poverty. Collaborating the solution of the issues of education and hunger represents an important step forward, it has led to the creation of a new partnership initiative called mid day meal scheme in India. Hunger among children leaves them with very little energy to attend school and learn effectively. Medical research proves that hunger impairs both mental and physical growth of children. If millions of hungry children cannot learn, or are forced to work instead of attending school we will not reach the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education. Offering incentives like noon meal encourages children to attend and their parents to send them to school and such initiatives could have a major impact on child nutrition, school attendance and social equity. Universal and nutritious mid-day meals would be a significant step towards realization of the right to food.[9] National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE), popularly known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme, was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the country. The mid day meal scheme aims to ensure food security among the school going children in India. Under the aegis of the scheme the school going children in all government schools are to be provided with free lunch. Midday meal scheme began as a strategic program to address two most pressing problems in India: hunger and education. The government of India had made education for children between the age group of 6-14. Hunger obstructs the process of holistic education, as children are forced to leave schools and take up menial jobs. Lack of education curtails opportunities for development and leads to vicious circle of poverty and hunger. Midday meal programs (school lunch) emerged to address the multiple challenges of poverty, hunger, and access to education. Rationale behind the mid day meal scheme is firstly, to protect school going children from chronic hunger. Secondly to attain advancement in school attendance and enrollment rates. Thirdly, enhance socialization and feeling of oneness among students, thus breaking the schakels of gender, race, class and caste. Supreme Court of India passed an order on November 28, 2001, which mandated Cooked midday meal is to be provided in all the government and government-aided primary schools in all the states. This order expedited the implementation of the scheme. Mid day meal scheme was soon extended across the nation and across all government schools, government aided schools and for children in anganwari centers. The allocation and off take of food grains under the scheme during the 10th Plan and the first two years of the 11th Plan 2007-08 2008-09is presented in Table 1. The table 1 summarizes the allocation of funds in terms of food grains each year, from 2002-03 to the last financial year. The allocations have risen considerably over the years, both in terms of the rice and wheat food grains. It is seen from the table that allocations from the central government have been more than the off take or utilization of the food grains in the implementation of the scheme. The summary of subsidies in different states, as on November 2009, is listed below: The table 2 shows a comparative analysis of how the central government is contributing in terms of money and food grains for the smooth running of the mid-day meal scheme. It can be seen that in Karnataka the subsidy varies with three grade levels. Subsidy in terms of money is same for the level 1 to 5 and from 6 to 7, however it increases from 1.80 rupees to 2.20 per child per day when students reach grade 10. The grains available for children below grade 5 are 100 grams per child per day, which increases to 150 grams of grains per child per day from grade 6 onwards. On an average all states are providing 100 grams of grains per child per day in lower primary level and 150 grams per child per day in the upper primary level. Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh provide highest amount of monetary subsidy per child per day that is 3.00 rupees. Karnataka state shows the lowest figures (1.80 rupees) in terms of monetary subsidy. It must also be borne in mind that higher subsidy does not necess arily correspond to better performances. We shall look into the state of Karnataka in detail in section three. The scheme has a long history especially in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it was introduced by K. Kamraj government in 1960s and expanded by M.G Ramachandran in 1982. Ever since it has been adopted by most of the states in India after the landmark directions by the Supreme Court of India. The purpose behind the judgment was to enhance enrolment, retention, and participation of children in primary schools, simultaneously improving their nutritional status. The judgment aims to cater to the nutritional needs of low-income groups in both rural and urban areas (Planning Commission, 2007).[10] As per the programme the Government of India provides grains free of cost and the States will provide the costs of other ingredients, salaries and infrastructure. By January 2004, nearly 50 million children received midday meals provided either by the Government or by NGOs working in partnership with the government.[11] However, inconsistent food quality, occasional food poisoning, poor hygiene, and operational concerns were among the complications to the provision of government-sponsored midday meals. The meals were prepared by teachers, who cooked the same meal every day: ghoogri, gruel made of boiled wheat. Children reported that that they grew tired of eating the same food daily, they did not like the taste, and it often made them feel sick. In 2004, a fire accidentally started by a teacher cooking the midday meal killed 90 children in Tamil Nadu, an event which underscored the safety issues inherent in meals prepared in makeshift kitchens based on school sites. Given the scope of hunger in India and the difficulties faced by the government programs, the task of feeding school children was still a significant challenge. Public private partnership implementation As the research is based on two organizations located in the state of Maharashtra, the following section analyses the public private partnership model used to implement the mid day meal scheme in the state. The State of Karnataka introduced the provision of cooked meals in June 2002 which saw a successful private sector participation in the programme. One such initiative was Akshaya Patra, which started with leadership from ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness). The programme has evolved into a movement where by children in the government schools are provided with cooked lunch on all working days. The state and the central government support the Foundation in the execution of the programme. Hence the programme runs a collective kitchen based on a public-private partnership. The Akshay Patra program is conducted in partnership with the various State Governments and Central Government. All of these governments provide a subsidy to support about 55% of the running cos t of the Akshay Patra program. The Central Government support is routed through the respective State Governments. The meal includes a nutritious mix such as sambar, rice, vegetables and some curd on most days. Since the success of this programme there has been an in the private sector participation in India. The partnerships in execution of the programme are not limited to rural areas but also major urban centers like Delhi, and Hyderabad.[12] About the study Statement of the problem In the Indian context both GDP and food grain production have risen at a faster growth rate than growth in population over the past 50 years. Yet our country faces chronic hunger and starvation among large sections of our population. There has been declining calorie consumption especially in the bottom 30% of the pyramid. Attempting policy reforms in an era of overall weakening governance and state commitment in social sectors seems a challenge. In this background, concept of collective and community kitchens have evolved and grown acquiring various dimensions in the past few years. This research aims to explore the possible link between community kitchens and food security. The research revolves around the idea of community kitchens being the possible means to attain an end of food insecurity examining the models of Ashodaya Samiti and Akshay Patra in the Indian scenario. Ashodaya Samiti is a sex workers organization working for HIV prevention since January 2004 in Mysore district of Karnataka. In 2004 University of Manitoba was directly implementing the HIV prevention project ably supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations Avahan project.[13] The organizations collectivization and formal registering as Ashodaya Samithi was done in December 2005. Community mobilization since then has today resulted in the formation of the community based organization to take ownership of HIV awareness, prevention care, support activities and beginning of an entrepreneurial venture in the form of community kitchens. The second organization under study is Akshay Patra. Children from economically weaker sections are forced to seek work in place of education. Some of those who do manage to attend the school drop out to feed themselves and their families while others are known to perform poorly because of short attention spans and extreme hunger. Realizing that a nutritious school meal is an effective means of gettingunderprivileged childrencome to school and complete their education, Akshay Patra was formed as a not-for-profit organization in June 2000. The purpose of the organization in their words is to provide unlimited food for education, through modern community kitchens, thus freeing children from the vicious cycle of poverty and ensuring them an education.[14] Objectives of the study The main objectives of the current study are to Understand the evolution of the concept of community kitchens in India Provide a socio-economic profile of the respondents who are engaged in community kitchen in both settings (of the cases undertaken) Analyze the implementation of community kitchen undertaken by different organizations namely Ashodaya Samiti and Akshaya Patra Study how community kitchen is serving as a means to break social barriers (as demonstrated by Ashodaya Samiti). Understand how community kitchen could be a potential mechanism for eradicating hunger among school going children in the context of mid-day meal programme of Akshay Patra. Analyse the constraints in mobilizing the resources to keep the community kitchen a sustainable enterprise. Methodology Data collection for the research was done in two major organizations, Ashodaya Samiti in Mysore and Akshay Patra in Bangalore. The period of data collection was from 10.02.2010 to 22.02.2010. The data collection involved personal visits to both the organizations, interviews, focus group discussions and -participant observations. The current exploratory study attempts to understand the functioning of the community kitchens. Both primary and secondary sources of data have been collected for the study. The secondary data for the study came from annual reports of the organizations, websites, documentaries and media reports that have been provided by the organizations. The primary data for the study was collected from a diverse group of individuals engaged with both the organizations. In Ashodaya Samiti focus group discussions were carried out with the 20 sex workers who are the key in managing and operating the community kitchen. Individual in dept interviews were also carried out with 2 senior officials of the organization. The interview schedule consisted of open ended questions to include more information, their feelings, attitudes and understanding of the subject of community kitchen. In Akshay Patra data was collected through participant observation and interview schedules. Interviews were carried out with the workers in the kitchen to understand the mechanization of the operations. In-debt interviews were also carried out with the media spokesperson of the organization and the programme director. Visits to the kitchen on daily basis allowed an in-depth investigation of the process of food preparation and its distribution among the schools across the city. In this study in depth interview was useful in understanding the concepts related to community kitchens. The tool was helpful as it ensured that I received detailed information which helped me in exploring the idea to its depth. Focus group discussions were used as a form of qualitative research in which a group of people which included male, female and transgender sex workers of Ashodaya Samiti were asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards sex work as their livelihood, need to collaborate at community level, evolution of the organization from heath interventions to community kitchen, empowerment through community kitchens and their future expectations from the project. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants were free to talk with other group members. Participant observation which has its roots in the traditional ethnographic research was used a qualitative research strategy. Participation and observations were carried to varying degrees to study the communitys daily activities in both the cases (Ashodaya Samiti and Akshay Patra). Participant observation took place in the community settings, in locations like the sex workers day care centers, the Ashodaya hotel, community kitchen of Akshay patra which had direct relevance to the research questions. Engagement was done in such a manner such data could be collected by observing what life is like for an insider while remaining, inevitably, an outsider. While in these community settings, careful, field notes were made to record all observations. Data Analysis The current section provides an overview of both the organizations included in the study i.e. Ashodaya Samiti and Akshaya Patra. Ashodaya Samiti: Community kitchen used to break social barriers The first case that is presented in this section is the Ashodaya Samiti. The history of Ashodaya Samiti has to be seen in the backdrop of project Avahan. In the year 2003 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded an India Aids initiative to reduce the spread of HIV in India under the project AVAHAN. Avahan was set up as a far ranging Aids prevention project, and has been a success story since its inception. Under the aegis of the project aids prevention work is carried out in six major sates in India. Within these states, it provides, prevention services to nearly 200,000 female sex workers, 60,000 high-risk men who have sex with men, and 20,000 injecting drug users, together with 5 million men at risk. [15] In 2003, UNAIDS studies reported that Asia presented the greatest risk of expansion of the global epidemic. The HIV cases have been on a continuous rise since the past decade. The major reasons for that are high prevalence of unsafe sex work and injecting drug users. Initial inter ventions by Avahan indicated that HIV transmission in south India was primarily sexual, and in the north-east mainly related to injecting drug use.[16] The Indian national response had a sound strategy for addressing high-risk groups. However, coverage of these groups was variable across the states and national average strikingly low.[17] [18] The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation designed a programme with help of technical experts to look into the HIV and aids prevention strategies. The project began with full co-operation from the Indian government. Avahans aim was to help slow the transmission of HIV to the general population by raising prevention coverage of high-risk and bridge groups to scale by achieving saturation levels (over 80 percent) across large geographic areas. Considering the scale of the country the project was magnanimous in its objectives. To avoid any complications the project began with local level involvement in operations and planning. Avahan in Karnataka As mentioned earlier, the project was started in six high prevalence states namely Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland. The prevalence in the first four states was predominantly due to male, female and transgender sex workers. In the other two states there were high incidences of the spread of virus due to injecting of drugs among the people. In Karnataka, University of Manitoba took the initiative to take up the project in the 18 of the 30 districts. Among the 18 districts, in 16 districts the i

the significance of the lemon law act Essay -- essays research papers

It happens many times. A person finds the car of their dreams. They drive it around for a few weeks when it happens. The car will not start, it makes a funny noise, or the breaks just will not do anything while stepping onto the pedal. Does the person have to pay for the repairs all by themselves? And if so, what happens when the exact same problem happens more than 3 times? It is just not fair to pay all this money on your brand new affordable car. But, one should not worry. There is a solution to all these annoying questions one just does not know how to answer. This is how the Magnuson –Moss warranty act comes into this situation. The â€Å"lemon law† is a subdivision of this act. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act, when tied with the ‘lemon law,’ helps a person of the purchased new car, ensure that they will have the rights to have a properly functioning car. The following will explain what exactly this law is and how it is applied to the state of Nebraska . What exactly is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act? Cartalk explained that the act can be defined as the following. For any product that has a written warranty, if the product or any part thereof contains a defect after reasonable number of attempts, by the warrantor to repair the defect, the warrantor must either provide a refund for or replacement of the product. Autopedia explained that this is applied to any product that one can buy that does not perform, as it should. They went on to say that the magnuson-moss federal law protects the buyer of any product that costs more than $25 and comes with an express written warranty. This law can be incorporated with cars very easily. When the magnuson-moss warranty act and the lemon law tie together, the results greatly effect the rights of a car buyer. This statement was expressed both by Autopedia and Cartalk. This law guarantees a car buyer that a certain minimum requirements of warranties must be met, and provides for disclaimer of warran ties before purchase, told by Autopedia. The Magnuson-Moss not only plays a role within cars, but other products as well. However, with the cars, it helps a lot when one purchases a deficit car. The lemon law basics set many standards for car owners in Nebraska. The majority of states follow the same basic rules, but when going into detail, states vary in many ways. One major common rule upon all the states is that the manufactu... ... with new cars. People must always think about the warranty and other factors that will help them, if the car is a lemon. With all the information given, one can make the conclusion that a lot of cars are lemons. A lot of times, they are not dealt with properly. With the help of the Magnuson-Moss warranty act, and the lemon laws, people can be ensured that the car they have bought is safe. And if it is not, with a careful statement and good record keeping, one will be dealt with fairly. The consequence from having so many lemon cars and the dealers selling them, is that more and more people can be injured from bad selling. Hopefully, people will be able to get the cars fixed properly. With this, both consumer and manufacturer will lose less money. Bibliography 1. Siegal,Nina. Putting the squeeze on lemon dealers. Regulating the sale of defective automobiles. Vol.62, The Progressive, 2-01-1998, pp36. 2. Author Unknown. Keep Good records if you think that car’s a lemon., The Arizona Republic, 07-31-1999, ppB5. 3.Michael Ferry; Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Some help when buying cars., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 04-22-1995, pp07D 4. WWW.Cartalk.com 5. WWW.Autopedia.com

Mathematics in Cryptology

Cryptology is the procedure of writing by means of a variety of methods to keep messages secret and includes communications security and communications intelligence. The cryptologic (code making and code breaking) and intelligence services provide information to both tactical forces and Navy commanders. Shore-based intellect and cryptologic operations engage the compilation, handing out, analysis, and reporting of information from a lot of sources, from communications intelligence to human intelligence. This information is used to assess threats to the Navy and to the protection of the United States. Tactical intelligence, more often than not provided by ships, submarines, and aircraft, gives combat commanders indications and warning of impending opponent activity and assessments of ongoing hostile activity and capabilities.The start of the 21st century is a golden age for applications of mathematics in cryptology.   The early stages of this age can be traced to the work of Rejewsk i, Rozycki, and Zygalski on breaking mystery. Their employment was a breach in more than a few ways.   It made a marvelous realistic input to the conduct of Word War II.   At the same time, it represented a major increase in the sophistication of the mathematical tools that were used.   Ever since, mathematics has been playing a progressively more important role in cryptology.This has been the result of the dense relationships of mathematics, cryptology, and technology, relationships that have been developing for a long time. At the same time as codes and ciphers go back thousands of years, systematic study of them dates back only to the Renaissance.   Such study was stimulated by the rapid growth of written communications and the associated postal systems, as well as by the political fragmentation in Europe. In the 19th century, the electric telegraph provided an additional spur to the development of cryptology.The major impetus, despite the fact that, appears to have come with the appearance of radio communication at the beginning of the 20th century. This technical development led to growth of military, diplomatic, and commercial traffic that was open to non-intrusive interception by friend or foe alike.   The need to protect such traffic, from interception was obvious, and led to the search for improved codes and ciphers.   These, in turn, stimulated the development of cryptanalytic methods, which then led to development of better cryptosystems, in an endless cycle.   What systems were built has always depended on what was known about their security, and also on the technology that was available.Amid the two world wars, the need for encrypting and decrypting ever-greater volumes of information dependably and steadily, combined with the accessible electromechanical technology, led many cryptosystem designers towards rotor system.   Yet, as Rejewski, Rozycki, and Zygalski showed, the operations of rotor machines created enough regularities to enable effective cryptanalysis through mathematical techniques.   This was yet another instance of what Eugene Wigner has called the â€Å"unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics,† in which techniques developed for abstract purposes turn out to be surprisingly well-suited for real applications.The sophistication of mathematical techniques in cryptography continued increasing after World War II, when attention shifted to cryptosystems based on shift register sequences.   A quantum jump occurred in the 1970s, with the invention of public key cryptography. This invention was itself stimulated by technological developments, primarily the growth in information processing and transmission.   This growth was leading to explosive increases in the volume of electronic transactions, increases that show no signs of tapering off even today, a quarter century later.The large and assorted populations of users that were foreseen in developing civilian settings were leading to probl ems, such as key management and digital signatures that previously had not been as severe in smaller and more tightly controlled military and political communications.   At the same time, developments in technology were offering unprecedented possibilities for implementing complicated algorithms.   Mathematics again turned out to provide the tools that were used to meet the challenge.The public key schemes that were invented in the 1970s used primarily tools from classical number theory.   Yet as time went on, the range of applicable mathematics grew.   Technology continued improving, but in uneven ways.   For example, while general computing power of a personal computer grew explosively, there was also a proliferation of small, especially wireless devices, which continued to have stringent power and bandwidth limitations.   This put renewed emphasis on finding cryptosystems that were thrifty with both computation and transmission.At the same time, there was growth in th eoretical knowledge, which led to breaking of numerous systems, and required increases in key sizes of even well trusted schemes such as RSA. The outcome of the developments in technology and science is that today we are witnessing explosive growth in applications of sophisticated mathematics in cryptology.   This volume is a collection of both surveys and original research papers that illustrate well the interactions of public key cryptography and computational number theory.Some of the systems discussed here are based on algebra, others on lattices, yet others on combinatorial concepts.   There are also some number theoretic results that have not been applied to cryptography yet, but may be in the future.   The diversity of techniques and results in this volume does show that mathematics, even mathematics that was developed for its own sake, is helping solve important problems of our modern society.   At the same time, mathematics is drawing valuable inspiration from the p ractical problems that cryptology poses.The recent breakthrough discovery of public key cryptography has been one (but not the only) contributor to a dramatic increase in the sophistication and elegance of the mathematics used in cryptology. Coding theory enables the reliable transmission and storage of data. Thanks to coding theory, despite dramatic increases in the rates and volumes of bits transmitted and the number of bits stored in computers or household appliances, we are able to operate confidently under the assumption that every one of these bits is exactly what it is supposed to be. Often they are not, of course, and the errors would be catastrophic were it not for the superbly efficient detection and correction algorithms clever coding theorists have created.Although a number of incessant mathematics has been employed (notably, probability theory), the bulk of the mathematics involved is discrete mathematics. Nevertheless, in spite of the strong demonstration that cryptolo gy and coding theory provide, there is little understanding or recognition in the mainstream mathematics community of the importance of discrete mathematics to the information society. The core problems in applied mathematics after World War II (e.g., understanding shock waves) involved continuous mathematics, and the composition of most applied mathematics departments today reflects that legacy.The increasing role of discrete mathematics has affected even the bastions of the â€Å"old† applied mathematics, such as the aircraft manufacturers, where information systems that allow design engineers to work on a common electronic blueprint have had a dramatic effect on design cycles. In the meantime, mathematics departments seem insulated from the need to evolve their research program as they carry on providing service teaching of calculus to captive populations of engineering students.However, the needs of these students are changing. As mathematicians continue to work in narrow areas of specialization, they may be unaware of these trends and the appealing mathematical research topics that are most strongly connected to current needs arising from the explosion in information technology. Indeed, a great deal of important and interesting mathematics research is being done outside of mathematics departments. (This applies even to traditional applied mathematics, PDE's and the like, where, as just one example, modeling has been neglected.)In the history of cryptology and coding theory, mathematicians as well as mathematics have played an important role. Sometimes they have employed their considerable problem-solving skills in direct assaults on the problems, working so closely with engineers and computer scientists that it would be difficult to tell the subject matter origins apart. Sometimes mathematicians have formalized parts of the problem being worked, introducing new or classical mathematical frameworks to help understand and solve the problem.Sophistica ted theoretical treatments of these subjects (e.g., complexity theory in cryptology) have been very helpful in solving concrete problems. The probable for theory to have bottom-line impact seems even greater today. One panelist opined, â€Å"This is a time that cries out for top academicians to join us in developing the theoretical foundations of the subject. We have lots of little results that seem to be part of a bigger pattern, and we need to understand the bigger picture in order to move forward.† However, unfortunately, the present period is not one in which research mathematicians are breaking down doors to work on these problems.Mathematicians are without a doubt needed to generate mathematics. It is less clear that they are indispensable to its application. One panelist pointed out that there are many brilliant engineers and computer scientists who understand thoroughly not only the problems but also the mathematics and the mathematical analysis needed to solve them. â€Å"It's up to the mathematics community,† he continued, â€Å"to choose whether it is going to try to play or whether it is going to exist on the scientific margins.The situation is similar to the boundary where physics and mathematics meet and mathematicians are scrambling to follow where Witten and Seiberg have led.† Another panelist disagreed, believing it highly desirable, if not necessary, to interest research mathematicians in application problems. â€Å"When we bring in (academic research) mathematicians as consultants to work on our problems, we don't expect them to have the same bottom-line impact as our permanent staff, because they will not have adequate knowledge of system issues.However, in their effort to understand our problems and apply to them the mathematics with which they are familiar, they often make some unusual attack on the problem or propose some use of a mathematical construct we had never considered. After several years and lots of honing of the mathematical construct by our ‘applied mathematicians,' we find ourselves in possession of a powerful and effective mathematical tool.†During the late 1970s, a small group of bright educational cryptographers proposed a series of elegant schemes through which secret messages could be sent without relying on secret variables (key) shared by the encipherer and the decipherer, secrets the maintenance of which depended upon physical security, which in the past has been often compromised. Instead, in these â€Å"public key† schemes, the message recipient published for all to see a set of (public) variables to be used by the message sender in such a way that messages sent could be read only by the intended recipient. (At least, the public key cryptographers hoped that was the case!)It is no exaggeration to say that public key cryptography was a breakthrough â€Å"of monumental proportions,† as big a surprise to those who had relied on conventional cryptog raphy in the sixties as television was to the public in the fifties. Breaking these â€Å"public key† ciphers requires, or seems to require, solutions to well-formulated mathematical problems believed to be difficult to solve. One of the earliest popular schemes depended on the solution of a certain â€Å"knapsack† problem (given a set of integers and a value, find a subset whose constituents sum to that value).This general problem was thought to be hard (known to be NP- complete), but a flurry of cryptanalytic activity discovered a way to bypass the NP-complete problem, take advantage of the special conditions of the cryptographic implementation and break the scheme, first by using H. Lenstra's integer programming algorithm, next using continued fractions, later and more effectively by utilizing a lattice basis reduction algorithm due to Lenstra, Lenstra and Lovasz.Although many instantiations of public key cryptographies have been proposed since their original discov ery, current cryptographic implementers seem to be placing many of their eggs in two baskets: one scheme (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman, RSA), whose solution is related to the conjectured difficulty of factoring integers, the second, (Diffie-Hellman, DH), which is related to the conjectured difficulty of solving the discrete logarithm problem (DLP) in a group. The discrete logarithm problem in a group G, analogous to the calculation of real logarithms, requires determination of n, given g and h in G , so that gn = h.Each of the past three decades has seen momentous improvements in attacking these schemes, although there has not yet been the massive breakthrough (as predicted in the movie â€Å"Sneakers†) that would send cryptographers back to the drawing boards. The nature of these attacks leads some to suspect that we may have most of our eggs in one basket, as most improvements against RSA seems to correspond to an analogous idea that works against the most common instantiations of DH (when the group is the multiplicative group of a finite field or a large subgroup of prime order of the multiplicative group) and vice versa.Asymptotic costs to attack each scheme, although each has declined as a consequence of new algorithms, continue to be comparable. These innovative algorithms, along with improvements in computational power, have forced the use of larger and larger key sizes (with the credit for the increase split about equally linking mathematics and technology). As a result, the computations to implement RSA or DH securely have been steadily increasing.Recently, there has been interest in utilizing the elliptic curve group in schemes based on DLP, with the hope that the (index calculus) weaknesses that have been uncovered in the use of more traditional groups will not be found.It is believed, and widely marketed, that DLP in the group of points of non-super singular elliptic curves of genus one over finite fields does not allow a sub-exponential time solut ion. If this is true, DH in the elliptic curve group would provide security comparable to other schemes at a lower computational and communication overhead. It may be true, but it certainly has not yet been proven. There are connections between elliptic curve groups and class groups with consequences for the higher genus case and extension fields. In particular, Menezes, Okamoto and Vanstone showed how the Weil pairing gave a better method for solving DLP for a particular class of elliptic curves, the supersingular ones.These are curves of order p+1, and DLP is reduced to a similar problem in GF(p2), where it can be more effectively solved. Work continues in an effort to extend these results to the general curve group. A related problem in elliptic curve cryptography focuses attention on another possible exciting interplay between theoretical mathematics, computer science (algorithms) and practical implementation. Calculation of the order of the elliptic curve group is not straightf orward. Knowing the order of their group is very important to DH cryptographers, since short cut attacks exist if the order of the group factors into small primes.Current elliptic curve cryptosystem proposals often employ a small class of curves to circumvent the counting problem. Even less progress has been made on the more general problem of whether there exist any groups whose DLP is exponential and, if so, characterizing such groups. Another interesting problem is whether solving DLP is necessary as well as sufficient for breaking DH. There are some groups for which this is known to be true, but determining whether this is true for all groups, or characterizing those groups for which it is true, remains to be done. A third interesting general DH problem is â€Å"diagnosis† of the DH group (when one has intercepted both ends of DH exchanges and does not know the group employed).For this reason, cryptology is a traditional subject that conventionally guaranteed (or sought t o undo the guarantee of) confidentiality and integrity of messages, but the information era has expanded the range of applications to consist of authentication, integrity and protocols for providing other information attributes, including timeliness, ease of use of service and protection of intellectual property. Cryptology has at all times been a charming and an exciting study, enjoyed by mathematicians and non-mathematicians the same.

Letter to the George Bush Team to Visit City Florence

Dear Sir, It is great honor for me to be a guide for George Bush in Florence. I will do my best to ensure that he remembers Florence as the most beautiful place on Earth and realizes why this city is literally a magnet attracting tourists from the most remote areas. Every person who is fond of art needs to visit this gorgeous spot at least once in his life. Florence gets visited by tourists in the millions because it offers them an astonishing variety of scenes. Even though one day of being in Florence is by no means enough to grasp the whole feeling of the city, it can still create an overwhelming delight in the person’s heart, and make him thirsty to see more during the following visits. It is my goal to help George Bush get immersed into Florence’s atmosphere from the very first minutes of the visit. He will be able to understand why Florence is one of the world’s most enjoyable cities. He will never forget this beautiful experience and keep desiring to return here many times in the future. Due to the short length of the visit, I have decided to pick out the most interesting sites for the President. We will have time to visit only three places of interest, but I can assure you that they will all tell a great deal about the history of Florence and its uniqueness. In our city, we have enough monuments to keep a tourist occupied for years, but even a day is enough to understand that there is no similar place on Earth to Florence, no matter how much you look. I want to organize this excursion in such a way that George Bush realizes why Florence is considered the cradle of Renaissance. Many people know that Florence was the Italian city which gave birth to Renaissance, but very few of them can actually explain why. In order to be able to answer this question, one needs to get acquainted with the masterpieces of Renaissance artists. They do not have any analogues in the world; they are absolutely unique. Every piece of art created during that epoch breathes with the feeling of freedom and unlimited inspiration which knows no borders. I want to show such pieces of art to George Bush so that he hears them talk to him through ages. The first place of interest which we are going to visit will be The Casa Buonarroti, the house in which outstanding artist Michelangelo lived; then we will proceeded to Romanesque baptistery which is famous for scenes from Old Testament created by Lorenzo Ghiberti on its doors; and finally we are going to visit Brancacci Chapel the frescos of which were gradually painted by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, the most famous Renaissance artists. All of these places are very unique, and they can tell a great deal about the Renaissance epoch. The Casa Buonarroti is going to be particularly interesting for the President because this is the place where Michelangelo lived and created his masterpieces. There can be nothing more extraordinary than starting to visit to Florence from visiting the house of the perhaps the most outstanding artist of Renaissance. Even though Michelangelo did not step in his house for many centuries, it is possible to feel his presence there many years after. The house was transformed into a museum by one of Michelangelo’s relatives, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, in 17th century. The museum not only has created work of Michelangelo, but also painting of other famous artists depicting the scenes from his life and his virtues. It is impossible to avoid visiting this museum during the visit to Florence. Romanesque baptistery is going to impress George Bush due to many reasons; first, it is one of the oldest buildings in Florence and thus tells a lot about its history; second, it would appeal to the President’s interest in religion; third, it has scenes from Old Testament created by famous Lorenzo Ghiberti on its doors. Lorenzo Ghiberti is one of the most famous sculptors of his time. It is common truth that these days, some people would pass by this legendary building even without stop. Some young people do not appreciate these masterpieces as much as they should. However, Romanesque baptistery needs to be noticed and remembered by everybody because nothing can compare to Lorenzo Ghiberti’s creative work on its panels. The gates which he created into the baptistery were called â€Å"gates to paradise† by his contemporaries. One can easily tell which scenes from Bible the artist depicted. He worked most of his life on these pieces of art, and they impress tourists until these days. In the middle panel there is a scene of Jacob and Esau depicted. All of the characters of the Bible are painted in such a way as if they are alive and are almost going to jump off the panels. The last site which we are going to visit is Brancacci Chapel. It has very unique architecture and it famous for the frescos gradually painted by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi. The history of painting frescos for this chapel is really impressive. In the beginning of 15th century a Florence ambassador to Egypt commissioned Masolino to paint the frescos for the cathedral. After completing some work, the famous artist charged his student Masaccio with this task, and Masaccio brilliantly coped with the part of the work which the master assigned to him. However, Masolino did not have a chance to finish the work entirely due to his death, therefore, the frescos remained unfinished until Filippino Lippi, another famous artist, added the last strokes to the paintings in the end of 15th century. This chapel will be particularly interesting for George Bush because it will tell him very much about the differences of styles of one of the most famous Italian painters of all times. One can easily capture slight differences between the strokes done by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi because each of them had his own unique style. However, the frescos turned out completely extraordinary as the result of their combined work. I very much hope that the visit of George Bush to Florence turns out very enjoyable. All of the sites which I picked out for him are going to let him fall in love with Florence during one day, and look forward to going back soon. Bibliography. Art History Gardeners Art through Ages. Volume 2. Becker Marvin B. Florence in Transition – Vol. 1. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1967. Cornelison Sally J. A French King and a Magic Ring: The Girolami and a Relic of St. Zenobius in Renaissance Florence. Renaissance Quarterly 55. 2002. Cornelison Sally J. Art Imitates Architecture: The Saint Philip Reliquary in Renaissance Florence. The Art Bulletin. Volume: 86. Issue: 4. 2004. Gani Martin.   The Gems of Florence. World and I. Volume: 13. Issue: 9. September 1998. Holmes George Florence, Rome, and the Origins of the Renaissance. Clarendon Press, 1986 Picano Felice.   Forever Florence: Felice Picano Rekindles the Forbidden Passion and Unmatched Glory of Tuscany's Perpetually Blooming Flower. The Advocate. August 17, 2004. Richard C. Trexler, â€Å"Ritual Behavior in Renaissance Florence: The Setting,† Medievalia et Humanistica 4. 1973.

Secrets to Creating a Compelling Book Title

Secrets to Creating a Compelling Book Title Lets face it, a book is judged by its cover and its title. Authors and publishers work hard to come up with their title to convey a specific feeling, and that feeling needs to fit within its genre. If it doesnt, then the book wont perform the way that it needs to on the market.Titles are an important part of the creative process and having a title that pops will help your book sell better and make it so that the publisher doesnt want to change it during the publishing process. Plus, having a title that is compelling completes the writing process and makes it feel more finalized. It will help build your confidence and ensure the ability to market your book better to agents and publishers.The title should convey the genreRachelle Gardner wrote a blog post about the topic of creating a compelling title. One of the first things she says is that shes seen many titles that dont fit within their genre. The title should convey the genre. Gardner said shes seen titles that were too serious fo r comedic books, contemporary titles that screamed historical romance, and so on. If someone reads the title, they should know what theyre in for, and it should give them the feeling of the genre. Theres nothing worse than a book that suffers from an identity crisis that starts with the title.Once the genre is firmly identified, which is probably something that should happen before even writing the novel, then think about the tone and feel the title should convey to the reader. Is the book serious? Is the book funny and witty? Is the book erotic? Who is the intended reader? These are all questions that can be used to hone the tone the title will convey to the reader.If youre not sure what the tone of your book is, then spend some time reading through it to see if you can pick up where on the spectrum it falls. A campy horror novel shouldnt have an overly serious tone to the title, and a serious contemporary novel about loss shouldnt have a snarky title that has the tone of a comedy. Readers make their choice about a book based on the tone the title sets and that can be something that makes or breaks their choice to look into your book. After the tone is determined, then its time to do some research.Determine the tone of your book before determining a title. Photo by Amy Shamblen on UnsplashConsider other authors habitsAuthors shouldnt be afraid to look at what other authors are doing. We mimic writing styles, ideas, marketing, and tropes. Titles are part of that process. Something to do is look up books in the same genre as your book. You can find any many as you want, but for the purpose of this exercise, it should be at least ten and no more than twenty. Think about how each title makes you feel. Write down your thoughts and feelings about each title. Next, write down how you think each title fits into the genre. Do they use similar words that are specific to the genre? Is there a trope they play off of that is genre specific? Is there anything else in their title that conveys a clear genre and tone?One of the final exercises is to make a list of similar words, tones, and feelings that all of the titles youve chosen use. As youre doing that, think about how your novel fits into the genre and what you can do to make a similar compelling title. Is there an expectation that the readers of the genre have for their genre? Is that related to the title? Once you feel that you have enough words (around 100) that convey the feelings and tone of your book, you can start drafting titles for your book.Begin with single-word titlesStart off with creating single-word titles. Remember, there are many books with single-word titles that do well. Some of the best are Carrie, Christine, Cujo, Jaws, and so on. Theyre simple and they convey what the book is going to be about, but they dont overplay their hands to the reader.We know that Jaws is going to be about a shark because of the cover art, but the title also elaborates on that concept. The others let the reader know that theyre about people, animals, or things with those names and the cover art supports the titles to deepen the readers understanding of the genre. Theyre horror, but they hold so much in that single word that it invites the reader to at least read the synopsis. Thats already a major part of the battle to get someone to pick up the book.Move on to combinations if neededIf single-word titles arent working for you, then start to combine the words from the list. Nothing is off limits at this point and break out a thesaurus if need be to find more words. Try for as many titles, combinations, and so on as you can. It can be adj-verb, noun-verb, or other combinations. The titles can be long, or they can be a few words, but they should evoke something and say something about your book.Some great two-word books are Animal Farm, The Alchemist, and The Help. Longer titles that do well are all of the Harry Potter novels, and most of the novels written by Robert Jordan, speci fically his Wheel of Time series. Though, they all have the same genre in common. Theyre all fantasy novels, and readers of that genre do expect a level of flair and length to the novels and their titles. The only bad idea is the one that isnt put into the list. Once you feel that youve made a hefty list of titles, try to pick out twenty possible titles, then put that list away for at least a day.Now, mull it overCreating this list and putting it away for at least a day allows you to mull things over in your mind as youre working on other books, your life, or just vegging out. The other thing that happens is that you come back to the list with an open mind and fresher set of eyes. This helps to add more combinations to the list and then will allow you to reduce the list to about five or fewer titles.Now comes the harder part, which is to ask others what they think about the titles youve come up with. The great thing about asking for an opinion is that its helpful to see what others think about the titles. The bad thing is that sometimes people are all over the place with which titles they like, and it can clutter things in your mind. Write down what people say or have them write down their impression of the titles youve created. By doing this, you can get a better sense of what your titles convey to your readers.With the list of other book titles, see if any of the titles youve created could fit on that list. Use that list along with the impressions that people had about your titles to start narrowing down the titles over a couple of days or more. This should not be a quick process, and sometimes it could result in going back through the process again to create more titles.Determining your books title is not a quick process. Photo by Filios Sazeides on UnsplashFinally, narrow it downOnce youve narrowed your choice down to a couple of titles, then you can start asking yourself some additional questions. Some of these could be, does the title convey the same ton e as the book? Does the title convey the correct genre? Does the title match the period of the book? Does the title pop? Would people be attracted to it if they saw the spine of the book? And one of the most important questions, would the reader have an idea of what the book is about just from the title of the book?The last thing that you should do with your title or titles is make sure that the title isnt too similar to the titles on your list or too generic. Having a title thats too similar to other titles could create confusion among readers. That is the last thing a new author needs, or even an established one. You dont want your title being confused with another and having people start reading your novel expecting something completely different. Or, that they dont pick your book up because they think that its something that its not.As far as a generic title, they dont sell well. They lack the wow factor that causes them to fly off the shelf or become the biggest download for eB ooks. People arent going to be drawn to something that sounds too generic because it wont spark their interest. Titles are the start of the reading process, and they need to motivate the reader to pick up the book.Once youve answered all of the questions and made sure that the title isnt too similar to other titles or too generic, then you have a title. Take time to celebrate your accomplishment because this isnt a simple process to go through. Working titles are great, but its better to start off the search for a publishing house or an agent with a well-thought-out title that speaks to the heart of the book. The closer a book is to completion, the more likely agents and publishers are to accept it.

Essay about Breyers History

Essay about Breyers History Essay about Breyers History Breyers History The ice cream brand Breyers was founded by William A. Breyer in Philadelphia in 1866 just after the United States has recovered from the Civil War. The original flavor of Breyers ice cream is composed of cream, pure cane sugar, fruits and nuts. Mr. Breyer started the business by selling his home-made ice cream to his neighbors. As Breyer’s ice cream was became the first choice of ice cream in Philadelphia, Mr. Breyer registered the name â€Å"Breyers Ice Cream† and opened the first retail shop in 1882. Breyer continued delivery of his ice cream with a horse-drawn wagon and opened up several more different retail stores. As Breyer grew in popularity, so did the number of retail stores. 30 years after the first ice cream was sold, Breyers Ice Cream got their first ice cream manufacturing plant in 1896. Consumption of Breyers Ice Cream went over a million gallons in 1918 with 3 states combined (New York, New Jersey, & Washington D.C.). Breyers has been a part of Unilever since 1993 (Unilever acquired Breyers from Kraft). Why Breyers? Breyers’ wide range of ice cream related products makes the brand the most appealing amongst its competitors for a differentiated ice cream product. In addition to having more than ten categories of ice cream including Breyers Gelato, 1/2 The Fat, Gluten Free, Fat Free, CarbsmartTM and many more products to make the ice cream experience delectable, Breyers’ innovative ice cream related recipes for a gourmet dessert experience make it

Best Character Analysis Myrtle Wilson - The Great Gatsby

Best Character Analysis Myrtle Wilson - The Great Gatsby SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In most books and movies, the â€Å"other woman† – the woman having an affair with a married man – is often painted as a villain. But what about in The Great Gatsby, a novel in which both married women (Myrtle Wilson and Daisy Buchanan) are having affairs? Especially given that one (Daisy) ends up killing the other (Myrtle), is Myrtle just a one-note â€Å"other woman,† or is there more to her? Myrtle’s role in the story isn’t as large as Daisy’s, Gatsby’s, or Tom’s. However, she is crucial to the plot of the story, and especially to its tragic conclusion. Find out more about Myrtle’s role in Gatsby in this guide! Article Roadmap Myrtleas a character Physical description Myrtle's history before the novel begins Actions in the novel Character Analysis Myrtle quotes Common discussion topics and essay ideas Quick Note on Our Citations Our citation format in this guide is (chapter.paragraph). We're using this system since there are many editions of Gatsby, so using page numbers would only work for students with our copy of the book. To find a quotation we cite via chapter and paragraph in your book, you can either eyeball it (Paragraph 1-50: beginning of chapter; 50-100: middle of chapter; 100-on: end of chapter), or use the search function if you're using an online or eReader version of the text. Myrtle Wilson's Physical Description Then I heard footsteps on thestairs and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smouldering. She smiled slowly and walking through her husband as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. (2.15) Unlike Nick’s description of Daisy, which focuses on her voice, mannerisms, and charm, and unlike his description of Jordan, which focuses on her posture and athleticism, Nick’s description of Myrtle focuses almost entirely on her body itself. Perhaps this fits with her role as Tom’s mistress, but it also indicates Nick sees little in Myrtle in terms of intellect or personality. This description also speaks to the strong physical attraction between Tom and Myrtle that undergirds their affair. This attraction serves as a foil to the more deep-seated emotional attraction between Gatsby and Daisy, the novel’s central affair. Myrtle Before the Novel Begins We don’t know a ton about Myrtle Wilson’s background except what we can gather from the passing comments from other characters. For example, we get the sense Myrtleloved her husband when they got married, but has since been disappointed by his lack of cash and social status, and now feels stifled by her twelve-year marriage: "I married him because I thought he was a gentleman," she said finally. "I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn't fit to lick my shoe." "You were crazy about him for a while," said Catherine. "Crazy about him!" cried Myrtle incredulously. "Who said I was crazy about him? I never was any more crazy about him than I was about that man there." She pointed suddenly at me, and every one looked at me accusingly. I tried to show by my expression that I had played no part in her past. "The only crazy I was was when I married him. I knew right away I made a mistake. He borrowed somebody's best suit to get married in and never even told me about it, and the man came after it one day when he was out. She looked around to see who was listening: " 'Oh, is that your suit?' I said. 'This is the first I ever heard about it.' But I gave it to him and then I lay down and cried to beat the band all afternoon." "She really ought to get away from him," resumed Catherine to me. "They've been living over that garage for eleven years. And Tom's the first sweetie she ever had." (2.2-7) She begins her affair with Tom Buchanan after he sees her on the train and later presses against her in the station: I was going up to New York to see my sister and spend the night. He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes and I couldn't keep my eyes off him but every time he looked at me I had to pretend to be looking at the advertisement over his head. When we came into the station he was next to me and his white shirt-front pressed against my armand so I told him I'd have to call a policeman, but he knew I lied. I was so excited that when I got into a taxi with him I didn't hardly know I wasn't getting into a subway train† (2.120). Myrtledesperately wants to come off as sophisticated and wealthy despite herhumble roots. Nick finds her efforts tacky and vulgar, and he spends a lot of time commenting on her clothes, mannerisms, and conversational style. She is oblivious about upper-class life: she tells her sister at one point Tom doesn’t divorce Daisy because Daisy is Catholic. This is a small inside joke on Fitzgerald's part - since Tom and Daisy are part of the community of uber-WASPy residents of East Egg, there's almost nochance that Daisy could be Catholic. That Myrtle thinks accepts Tom's lieshows that she is not a well-schooled as she thinks she is about the life and customs of the elite class she wants to be a part of. Still, before the novel begins, Tom has gotten comfortable showing Myrtlearound in popular restaurants and doesn’t hide the affair. Perhaps this causes Myrtle to misunderstand what she means to Tom: she doesn’t seem to realize she’s just one in a string of mistresses. To see Myrtle's life events alongside those of the other characters, check out our timeline of The Great Gatsby. Want to get better grades and test scores? We can help. PrepScholar Tutors is the world's best tutoring service. We combine world-class expert tutors with our proprietary teaching techniques. Our students have gotten A's on thousands of classes, perfect 5's on AP tests, and ludicrously high SAT Subject Test scores. Whether you need help with science, math, English, social science, or more, we've got you covered. Get better grades today with PrepScholar Tutors. Summary of Myrtle's Action in the Novel The idea of Myrtle Wilson is introduced in Chapter 1, when she callsthe Buchanans’ house to speak to Tom. We get our first look at Myrtle in Chapter 2, when Nick goes with Tom to George Wilson’s garage to meet her, and then to Myrtle’s apartment in Manhattan for a party.On that day, she buys a dog, has sex with Tom (with Nick in the next room), throws a party, and is fawned on by her friends, and then ends up with a broken nose when Tom punches her after she brings up Daisy. This doesn’t prevent her from continuing the affair. Later on, in Chapter 7, George starts to suspect she’s having an affair when he finds her dog’s leash in a drawer at the house. He locks her upstairs in their house, determined to move out west once he gets the money from the car sale he’s waiting on from Tom. Myrtle glimpses Tom, along with Nick and Jordan, as they drive up to Manhattan in Gatsby’s yellow car. Myrtle and George fight later that evening, and Myrtle manages to run out of the house after yelling at George to beat her and calling him a coward. Just then, she spots the yellow car heading back for Long Island. Thinking it’s Tom, she runs toward and then out in front of the car, waving her arms. But Daisy is driving the car, and she decides to run over Myrtle rather than get into a head-on collision with an oncoming car. She hits Myrtle, who dies instantly. Myrtle’s death emotionally and mentally devastates George, which prompts him to murder Gatsby (who he mistakes for both his wife’s killer and lover), and then kill himself. The death car. Key Myrtle Wilson Quotes Mrs. Wilson had changed her costume some time before and was now attired in an elaborate afternoon dress of cream colored chiffon, which gave out a continual rustle as she swept about the room. With the influence of the dress her personality had also undergone a change. The intense vitality that had been so remarkable in the garage was converted into impressive hauteur. Her laughter, her gestures, her assertions became more violently affected moment by moment and as she expanded the room grew smaller around her until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy, creaking pivot through the smoky air. (2.56) Here, we see Myrtle transformed from her more sensuous, physical persona into that of someone desperate to come off as richer than she actually is. Wielding power over her group of friends, she seems to revel in her own image. Unlike Gatsby, who projects an elaborately rich and worldly character, Myrtle’s persona is much more simplistic and transparent. (Notably Tom, who immediately sees Gatsby as a fake, doesn’t seem to mind Myrtle’s pretensions – perhaps because they are of no consequence to him, or any kind of a threat to his lifestyle.) "Daisy! Daisy! Daisy!" shouted Mrs. Wilson. "I'll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai" Making a short deft movement Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. (2.125-126) Here we see Myrtle pushing her limits with Tom – and realizing that he is both violent and completely unwilling to be honest about his marriage. While both characters are willful, impulsive, and driven by their desires, Tom is violently asserting here that his needs are more important than Myrtle’s. After all, to Tom, Myrtle is just another mistress, and just as disposable as all the rest. Also, this injury foreshadows Myrtle’s death at the hands of Daisy, herself. While invoking Daisy’s name here causes Tom to hurt Myrtle, Myrtle’s actual encounter with Daisy later in the novel turns out to be deadly. "Beat me!" he heard her cry. "Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!" (7.314) When George confronts his wife about her affair, Myrtle is furious and needles at her husband – already insecure since he’s been cheated on – by insinuating he’s weak and less of a man than Tom. Also, their fight centers around her body and its treatment, while Tom and Daisy fought earlier in the same chapter about their feelings. In this moment, we see that despite how dangerous and damaging Myrtle’s relationship with Tom is, she seems to be asking George to treat her in the same way that Tom has been doing. Myrtle's disturbing acceptance of her role as a just a body - a piece of meat, basically - foreshadows the gruesome physicality of her death. Michaelis and this man reached her first but when they had torn open her shirtwaist still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored so long. (7.317) Even in death, Myrtle’s physicality and vitality are emphasized. In fact, the image is pretty overtly sexual – notice how it’s Myrtle’s breast that’s torn open and swinging loose, and her mouth ripped open at the corners. This echoes Nick’s view of Myrtle as a woman and mistress, nothing more – even in death she’s objectified. This moment is also much more violent than her earlier broken nose. While that moment cemented Tom as abusive in the eyes of the reader, this one truly shows the damage that Tom and Daisy leave in their wake, and shapes the tragic tone of the rest of the novel. The graphic and bloody nature of Myrtle's death really sticks with you. Common Essay Topics/ Areas of Discussion You will most likelybe asked towrite about Myrtlein relation to other characters (especially Daisy), or in prompts that ask you to compare the â€Å"strivers† in the book (including also Gatsby, George Wilson) with the old money set (Tom, Daisy, Jordan). To learn how best to approach this kind of compare and contrast essay, read our article on common character pairings and how to analyze them. It’s less likely, but not impossible, that you will be assigned a Myrtle-specific essay. In either case, Myrtle’s most important chapters are 2 and 7, so close read those carefully. When writing about her, pay close attention to Myrtle’s interactions with other characters. And if you’re writing an essay that discusses Myrtle as someone trying to live out the American Dream, make sure to address her larger influences and motivations. We’ll take a look at some of these strategies in action below. Why Do Tom and Myrtle Get Together? What Do They See in Each Other? For readers new to Gatsby, Tom and Myrtle’s relationship can seem a bit odd. There is obvious physical chemistry, but it can be hard to see why the classist, misogynist Tom puts up with Myrtle - or why Myrtle accepts Tom's mistreatment. For Tom, the affair – just one in a string he’s had since his honeymoon – is about taking and being able to get whatever he wants. Having an affair is a show of power. Especially since he’s been taking her around popular restaurants in Manhattan (2.4), it’s clear he’s not exactly hiding the relationship – instead, he’s flaunting it. He’s so assured of his place in society as a wealthy man, that he’s free to engage in some risky and socially inappropriate behavior – because he knows no one can actually touch his wealth or social position. For Myrtle, the affair (her first) is about escape from her life with George, and a taste ofa world – Manhattan, money, nice things – she wouldn’t otherwise have access to. It’s clear from how Myrtle moves and speaks that she’s confident and self-assured, and assumes that her relationship with Tom is a permanent ticket into the world of the wealthy – not just a fleeting glimpse. The fact that Tom sees Myrtle as disposable but Myrtle hopes for more in their relationship is painfully apparent at the end of Chapter 2, when she insists on bringing up Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking Myrtle’s nose. But despite this nasty encounter, the two continue their relationship, suggesting that this kind of abuse is the norm for Tom’s affairs, and Myrtle is too eager to stay in the new world she’s found – or even believes that Tom will still leave Daisy for her – that she stays as well. By the end of the novel, Myrtle doesn't seem to have been completelymistaken about Tom's affection for her. After all, Tom says he that he â€Å"cried like a baby† (9.145) when he found dog food for the dog he's bought her in Myrtle’s apartment. Of course, since it's Tom, his grief is probablyself-pitying than selfless. Either way, their relationship is indicative of both their values: Myrtle's ambition and Tom’s callousness. What Does Myrtle’s Life (and Tragic Ending) Say About the American Dream? Myrtle, like George and Gatsby, was obviously not born into money, and instead is relying on her own wits to make it in 1920s America. In a manner quite similar to Gatsby’s, she consciously adopts a different persona to try and get access to a richer circle (while George seems to be the only one relying on honest work – his shop – and honest relationships, through his loyalty to Myrtle, to improve his lot in life). But Myrtle aims too high, and ends up killed when she mistakes Gatsby’s yellow car for Tom’s, and runs out in the road assuming the car will stop for her. In the same way that Gatsby overestimates his value to Daisy, Myrtleoverestimates her value to Tom. Even if Tom had been driving the car, and even if he had stopped for her, he would never have whisked her away from George, divorced Daisy, and married her. Furthermore, the fact she assumed the garish yellow car was Tom’s shows how little she understands the stiff, old money world Tom comes from. Myrtle’s complete misunderstanding of Tom, as well as her violent death, fit the overall cynical message in the book that the American Dream is a false promise to those born outside of the wealthy class in America. As hard as anyone tries, they don’t stand a chance of competing with those in America born into the old money class. They will never understand the strange internal rules that govern the old money set, and will never stand a chance of being their equal. How Does Myrtle's Home Reflect Her Character, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values? This is a prompt that you can obviously use for any of the characters, but it’s especially interesting in Myrtle’s case, since she has two residences: the house above the auto shop that George owns, and the apartment that Tom Buchanan rents for her in the city. Myrtle'shome with George is a dark, hopelessimage of working class life in America: it's an apartment above a baregarage, nestled in the dreadful Valley of Ashes. George is utterly mired in this home, even coated with a thin layer of ash from the factories outside. In contrast, Myrtle is vivacious and free of the ash, which gives her a layer of separation from her actual home. Myrtle’s apartment with Tom is overstuffed and gaudy, and she seems much happier and more at home there. The mix of high-brow pretension in the decor with her low-brow entertainment speaks to how Myrtle values the appearance of wealth and sophistication, but doesn’t actually understand what upper-class taste looks like the way Tom and Daisy Buchanan do. So while the Wilson’s garage is a testament to the struggle of the working class in American in the 1920s, Myrtle and Tom’s apartment is a physical representation of the airs Myrtle puts on and the appearances of wealth she values. Myrtle's taste in decor overlaps quite a bit with King Louis XIV's. Why Exactly Does Myrtle Run Into the Road? One of the novel’s most important events is also one that can be confusing for students: namely, Myrtle’s death at the end ofChapter 7. How exactly does she end up in the road? What does it have to do with her strange encounter with Tom, Nick, and Jordan in the garage earlier in the day? The incident is confusing because we come at it from many narrative angles: Setup from Nick's point of view Michaelis’s inquest testimony about the accident Nick'sdescription of the accident sceneright after Myrtle's death Gatsby's explanation of the accident to Nick after the fact Additional information from Michaelis in Chapter 8 about George’s actions both before and after Myrtle’s death A final revelatory confession from Tom about his role in George's violence in Chapter 9 Piecing together these three takes on the incident, this is what happens, in order: Before the accident, George has begun to suspect Myrtle's affair. George locks Myrtle up above the garage, saying "She’s going to stay there till the day after to-morrow, and then we’re going to move away† (7.3). Michaelis, uncomfortable, finds an excuse to leave. Tom, Jordan, and Nick driveup to the gas station in the yellow car. Tom brags that the car is his. Myrtle looks downstairs and concludes two things: first, that Jordan is Tom’s wife, and second, that Tom owns the yellow car. Later that evening, Myrtle fights with George about being locked up. We don’t see much of this fight. All we know is that she cries â€Å"throw me down and beat me!† (7.314) to George. Meanwhile, Gatsby and Daisy are driving back from Manhattan to East Egg after the Plaza Hotel showdown. Myrtle runs outside. Outside, Myrtle sees the yellow car and assumes it’s Tom on his way back to Long Island. Myrtle runs out to the car, waving her arms, likely because she thinks Tom will stop for her and rescue her from George. At the same time, another car is driving in the opposite direction towards Manhattan. When Daisy sees Myrtle in the road, she has to make a quick decision: either run over Myrtle, or swerve into the oncoming car to avoid Myrtle. Daisy first drives toward the oncoming car, but at the last second, turns back into her own lane and hits and kills Myrtle instead. What’s Next? Still a bit confused about the climax of the novel? Get a detailed recap of Chapters 7,8and 9 to understand exactly how the three deaths play out. Learn more about Myrtle’s marriage and her relationship with Tom over at our post about love and relationships. Still a bit confused about the old money/new money/working class themes? Read about social class in the novel in our post on the role of social classes in this novel. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Sustainble business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Ousmane Sembene's cinema Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

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