Contemporary American Television Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Contemporary American Television Drama - Essay Example 215). For instance, the CSI Miami production team show the season three episode â€Å"Lost  Son† under unfavorable weather (SPEIER, M., 2002, p. 33). However, photography heads managed to integrate rain in the episode’s narration and embarked on new measures to capture as much natural light as possible (Gray and Lotz, 2011, p. 31). The set design of CSI Miami organizes and personifies space to differentiate between scenes shot inside artificial set designs and those shot outdoors (Campaiola, 2008, p. 2). For instance, the â€Å"Lost  Son† shows a precinct within a stunning glass building where CSI investigators collect scientific proof and brainstorm to solve a crime. Here, every specialist is allotted his or her own special, calculated space for work (Fiske, 2010, p. 87). For instance, a coroner gets the freezing room because he deals with mostly dead organic matter that needs preservation, the detective gets a computer area or desk, and the DNA expert gets a lab (OWEN, 2003). Such set designs weave into the show’s narration almost perfectly since they organize character roles and facilitate their effectiveness (MCNUTT, 2011, p. 60). The outdoors set design for the same episode entails Miami city, a metropolitan that harbors many criminals and potential suspects (GELINEAU, K., 2005). Campaiola, JG 2008, â€Å"Why French Television Drama Lags Behind: A Multiperspectival Approach,† Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, TBA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online . 2014-11- 10

Investment in single company shares and gilts Coursework

Investment in single company shares and gilts - Coursework Example From the point of view of economics, the act of investment is related to saving or deferring consumption today for the purpose of a better or higher return tomorrow. Interest is the price paid to the investor for waiting or deferring consumption. As consumers, we may invest for a number of reasons. We may invest in a house because we want the comfort of a shelter and a place to hold our belongings, a car to drive us to work, or a beach house to spend the holidays. Investments are also made in financial instruments that have value such as shares, bonds and pension plans. The idea is that the investment should bring us a better level of return in the future. Investments may also be made by corporations of monies kept for the purpose of buying future assets or replacement of machinery etc. The investment made in different types of financial instruments will yield a rate of interest and may increase or decrease in value due to demand and supply or various other factors. Thus investment w ill give one more than one types of return- interest earned and capital gains. The Investment Climate in the UK The UK has a very active financial environment, as London has been one of the most important financial centers of the world for some time now. The main reasons for this are the availability of infrastructure in the shape of the equity and bond markets and money market for local and foreign currencies. The main offices of the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank and many other local and international banks are housed here too, much like Wall Street in New York, USA (Kindleberger, 17). There are thousands of trades done daily on the floors of these banks and exchanges. These trades are directly or indirectly related to trade and commerce and the flow of goods, services and money from one bank or country to another (Ross, 12). The activities in the equity and bond markets may be of primary or secondary nature. Primary activity means the issue of new shares or bonds, and secondary activity means the trading or reinvestment of previously issued shares or bonds. Under the corporate form of ownership, a company can raise capital from the general public by issuing a Prospectus in the newspaper stating the nature of its intended business, and viability and profitability of the same. It is left up to the general public to judge and decide for themselves whether or not to invest in the shares or ownership rights of the business. This is called an Initial Public Offering or IPO if the company is inviting the public to purchase its shares for the very first time. The same activity may be carried out in the bond market which is the market for the issue and trading of debt securities. Bonds signify the debt of a company, and the owners of bonds are called the creditors of the company. Previously issue bonds can also be re-bought or resold at the rates prevailing in the market. Bond and equity markets always travel in the opposite directions. If the equity market is up, the bond market would be down and vice versa (Thau, 3). While the owners of bonds, debentures or debt securities are assured an interest payment at a defined rate of interest, and the price of the market value of their bonds at any time they decide to liquidate their holdings, the owners of equity shares will get a dividend payment based upon the number and value of shares they hold at that point in time. This is usually declared by the Board of Directors based upon the profits made by the company in a particular year. They are under no obligation to declare a dividend and may alternatively decide to plough back the profits into the company, to reinvest in

Work Package Essay Example for Free

Work Package Essay What approach would you take to identify the activities needed to complete the work package? A work package is a portion of the WBS that allows project management to define the steps necessary for completing the project. (Ultimate Resource for PM) In my opinion, the activities should be divided into different levels. We should try to pick the most important activities and try to avoid the less-important ones. Put the feasible activities on the list and delete the impractical ones. How would you know that you have identified the right level of detail? To identify the right level of the details, we have to start from the first level. The first level should be a general idea of the activities and the main steps. The second level is the expansion of the first level. So is the third level. Form the top-down structure, the top level is always the conclusion and the basic level is the details. How would you prevent identifying ‘too much’ detail or too many activities that would it very difficult for you to manage? By identifying the details, we should try to take the details that build up the structure and work for the project. It should be a blueprint for the project manager to identify the activities clearly. So we should just keep the main steps on the list and try to avoid the unnecessary activities. Can you give an example of a Work Package or something similar (it can be a real life example) where you decomposed the deliverable (what is needed) into the activities that are needed to complete the deliverable? When I was in the former class, our team was to finish one project called developing new IPhone 5 market. So we tried to develop our WBS and the deliverables. Our team had thought of 3 main deliverables of producing, advertising and customer service. But we found out that actually, we needed to decompose the producing into producing, packing and transportation. Mailing new iPhone to different customers and stores is still a big activity we need to pay attention to.

Analysis of the telecommunications industry in China

Analysis of the telecommunications industry in China Vodafone is a London-based major telecommunication firm employing over 84,000 employees worldwide as of 2010. They are in more than 20 countries and have partnership in another 40 more for total revenue in 2010 of  £44 billion.  [1]  There focus is on RD and license management which make Vodafone a leader in new technology and product development. With this reputation, a lot of local companies can be interested in partnership with Vodafone in order to gain a technological boost which can help them overtake on the local competition. In 2000, Vodafone added CMHK (China Mobile Hong Kong) to his partner list by buying 2.19% of the company shares at a price of $2.5 billion. Two years later a second purchase of $750 million increased their share to 3.2%. By creating this partnership, Vodafone gained access to over 477 million subscribers in Hong Kong and China. From CMHK side, the alliance with the British firm set the table for a technological innovation campaign. The first remarkable output of this collaboration was JIL (Joint Innovation Lab), with the goal of accelerating the innovation process.  [2]   China and the WTO -How has Chinas entry into the WTO affected Vodafones development in China and Hong Kong? -How has it affected foreign telecommunications in general? C:UsersMYDocuments2011-1à ­Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ªÃ‚ ¸Ã‚ °Ãƒ ªÃ‚ µÃ‚ ­Ãƒ ¬Ã‚  Ã…“à ªÃ‚ ²Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¬Ã‹Å" Ãƒ «Ã‚ ¡Ã‚  china telecom statistics.jpg After almost 15 years of negotiation, China joined WTO as of 11 December 2001. Before the adhesion, Chinas policy protected the national emerging telecom industries  [3]  while allowing only foreign equipment vendors to invest in Chinas economy.  [4]  The new contract gave entry to foreign investment for up to 49% of one of the local companys share in the 17 largest cities in China.  [5]   As well as other markets, Chinas telecommunication market is expected to grow very rapidly especially if open to foreign service suppliers. The whole market generated over $130 billion in 2010 and is expected to grow by an average rate of 8.8% in for the next five years. Thus overtaking Japan and becoming the leader in the Asian market.  [6]  For foreign investors, those odds were quite attracting. The Reality -Why has Vodafone still held a minority stake in CMHK? -What factors do you think have inhibited Vodafones investment in the Chinese telecommunications market? Still, even after the entry in the WTO, Chinas telecommunication market stayed under the large influence of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). The maximum level of stake ownership was set up to 49% under WTO agreement but no foreign telecommunication companies got close to that number. Vodafone, for example, was planning to increase its share up to 20% by 2005; in 2009 the 3.2% was still the reality. The main problem in the Chinese market is a multitude of complex and multi-layered political, economic and cultural factors.  [7]  China is still operated with ancient art of Guanxi (network of contacts)  [8]  and MII is considered to be both regulator and party in Chinese telecommunication market. So even if the contract allows some expansion for foreign companies, the huge bureaucracy makes investing in China a long and laborious process. China Unicom and SK Telecom -What has China Unicom done in its attempt to remain competitive? What are the advantages and challenges of such a strategy, and how effective do you think it will be? In 2006, a few years after the entry of Vodafone in the Chinese market, SK Telecom of South Korea invested $1 billion in China Unicom. In total the South Korean firm received about 7% of the company shares in return of this investment. The great advantage for the Chinese giant was a possibility for a technological advancement. The two firms would now work together on handset development and IP sharing. China Unicom could then have a glance at foreign technology, just like their main competitor did 6 years ago with Vodafone. For SK Telecom, the transaction was also a great advancement. It allowed them to gain entry in the protected Chinese market and escape the South Korean saturated market. On the other hand, as part of the contract, China Telecom had to accept SK Telecom as the sole partner until the end of 2007.  [9]  In technology business, one year and a half tied to only one partner could hold you backward. Another foreign company could release a great new technological advancement and it would be impossible for China Unicom to get their hands on it. The Third Giant: China Telecom -What actions do you think China Telecom should take, given the competitive position of the CMHK-Vodafone and China Unicom-SK Telecom partnership? The telecommunication market in China has been quite homogeneous so far. Looking for foreign partnership could be a way to get a hand on advanced technology or management system that would give the firm a competitive advantage over their competitors, especially since the two other leading companies already stepped forward by accepting foreign investment. With that in mind, China Telecom should get into a serious search for a foreign partner in order to keep up with the competition. But what if those foreign partnerships were not as successful as planned? In fact, in September 2010, Vodafone sold their 3.2% stakes in China Mobile, pocketing $6.5 billion which is nearly twice the original investment4. After the sale, CMHK and Vodafone will continue to cooperate in areas such as roaming, network roadmap development, multinational customers, and green technology and so on  [10]  . Vodafone left with a profit and the alliance stayed but most of the cooperation died in the separation process. What about China Unicom and SK Telecom? Well in November 2009, the Korean firm sold the whole 3.8% stake of China Unicom to unknown buyer(s). SKT also earned more than 50% of their initial investment but abandoned their business plans in China. China Unicom dropped CDMA business, which was SKTs main strength, and absorbed China Netcoms GSM part and decided to focus on GSM. However, SKT is continuing cooperation in technology and conversion service area.  [11]   Accepting foreign investment is not a definite key to success. As said before, China used to be a quite closed and homogeneous market, so as the customers. Outsiders may have a hard time to understand how to conduct business in China and how to understand the needs of its people. In brief, the most important is for the host company to analyze how foreign firm could help them in their actual market and if the fusion can be done efficiently. Surely in a few years there will be a lot of success story in the telecommunication firm in China, but for now China Telecom is better not to jump on the first offering.

Belief systems :: essays research papers

Belief Systems The religious beliefs of people along the Silk Road at the beginning of the 1st century BCE were very different from what they would later become. When China defeated the nomadic Xiongnu confederation and pushed Chinese military control northwest as far as the Tarim Basin (in the 2nd century BCE), Buddhism was known in Central Asia but was not yet widespread in China nor had it reached elsewhere in East Asia. Christianity was still more than a century in the future. Daoism, in the strict sense of that term, connoting an organized religion with an ordained clergy and an established body of doctrine, would not appear in China for another three centuries. Islam would be more than seven centuries in the future. The peoples of the Silk Road in its early decades followed many different religions. In the Middle East, many people worshiped the gods and goddesses of the Greco-Roman pagan pantheon. Others were followers of the old religion of Egypt, especially the cult of Isis and Osiris. Jewish merchants and other settlers had spread beyond the borders of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judea and had established their own places of worship in towns and cities throughout the region. Elsewhere in the Middle East, and especially in Persia and Central Asia, many people were adherents of Zoroastrianism, a religion founded by the Persian sage Zoroaster in the 6th century BCE. It posited a struggle between good and evil, light and darkness; its use of fire as the symbol of the purifying power of good was probably borrowed from the Brahmanic religion of ancient India. The Greek colonies of Central Asia that had been left behind after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great had, by the 1st c entury BCE, largely converted from Greco-Roman paganism to Buddhism, a religion that would soon use the Silk Road to spread far and wide. In India, on side routes of the Silk Road that crossed the passes to the Indus Valley and beyond, the older religion of Brahmanism had given way to Hinduism and Buddhism; the former never spread far beyond India and Southeast Asia, while the latter eventually became worldwide in extent. Coming at last to China on our west-to-east survey of the ancient faith of the Silk Road, we .nd that rulers worshiped their own ancestors in great ancestral temples; they were joined by commoners in also worshiping deities of the earth, the four directions, mountains and rivers, and many others.

Civil War Reconstruction :: essays research papers

AP American History The President versus Congress The President and congress both had different reconstruction plans for the south. These different arguments were based on different beliefs and different self interests. The President firmly believed on a soft-on-south reconstruction plan while congress believed that the south should be economically, socially, and politically reconstructed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both President Lincoln and President Johnson both believed that the war was fought over the succession of the south and because the north won, the south never actually succeeded. This resulted in their reconstruction plan to be very kind to the south. They required for each southern state to have 10 percent of their voters pledge allegiance to the union. This plan allowed for the southern Black Codes. These were instituted to keep the blacks as a cotton labor force as well as an inferior race. If the south followed this plan then they would be rejoined into the union.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Congress’s reconstruction plan for the south was much more rigorous. The congress didn’t believe that 10 percent allegiance was enough, so they urged for that number to become 50 percent. Also, the republican dominant congress believed that the south’s reconstruction should give greater manhood suffrage towards blacks. Also, congress feared that now that the south had rejoined, republicans no longer would be the dominant political power in congress. Under the Presidents plan the southerners would have been allowed to rejoin congress, taking power away from northern congressman. So, to solve all of these problems congress instituted the 14th Amendment. In this Amendment ex-slaves were made citizens, states could no longer deny eligible citizens the right to vote, those who rebelled no longer could hold office, and debts incurred in aid of rebellion are void. Congress used this Amendment to deprive many southerners of political power as well as to try and reform the south socially. Also, congress planned their harsh reconstruction with the Reconstruction Act. This act split the south into 5 military districts headed by a Union general. Also, 10s of thousands of Union solders were disfranchised. Finally full manhood suffrage was part of this act. Fearing that one day the congress would be democratically controlled congress also created the 15th Amendment to give suffrage for blacks. This Amendment as well as all of the acts congress committed above were all ways in which congress attempted to socially reform the south.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reconstruction plan for the President and the reconstruction plan for Congress resulted in the two of them becoming involved in a conflict with each other. Civil War Reconstruction :: essays research papers AP American History The President versus Congress The President and congress both had different reconstruction plans for the south. These different arguments were based on different beliefs and different self interests. The President firmly believed on a soft-on-south reconstruction plan while congress believed that the south should be economically, socially, and politically reconstructed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both President Lincoln and President Johnson both believed that the war was fought over the succession of the south and because the north won, the south never actually succeeded. This resulted in their reconstruction plan to be very kind to the south. They required for each southern state to have 10 percent of their voters pledge allegiance to the union. This plan allowed for the southern Black Codes. These were instituted to keep the blacks as a cotton labor force as well as an inferior race. If the south followed this plan then they would be rejoined into the union.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Congress’s reconstruction plan for the south was much more rigorous. The congress didn’t believe that 10 percent allegiance was enough, so they urged for that number to become 50 percent. Also, the republican dominant congress believed that the south’s reconstruction should give greater manhood suffrage towards blacks. Also, congress feared that now that the south had rejoined, republicans no longer would be the dominant political power in congress. Under the Presidents plan the southerners would have been allowed to rejoin congress, taking power away from northern congressman. So, to solve all of these problems congress instituted the 14th Amendment. In this Amendment ex-slaves were made citizens, states could no longer deny eligible citizens the right to vote, those who rebelled no longer could hold office, and debts incurred in aid of rebellion are void. Congress used this Amendment to deprive many southerners of political power as well as to try and reform the south socially. Also, congress planned their harsh reconstruction with the Reconstruction Act. This act split the south into 5 military districts headed by a Union general. Also, 10s of thousands of Union solders were disfranchised. Finally full manhood suffrage was part of this act. Fearing that one day the congress would be democratically controlled congress also created the 15th Amendment to give suffrage for blacks. This Amendment as well as all of the acts congress committed above were all ways in which congress attempted to socially reform the south.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The reconstruction plan for the President and the reconstruction plan for Congress resulted in the two of them becoming involved in a conflict with each other.

Analysis of Robert Frost On A Tree Fallen Across the Road Essay

In Robert Frost’s English sonnet, â€Å"On a Tree Fallen across the Road†, Frost uses imagery, alliteration, metaphors, personification, and symbols to portray his theme. Frost uses all of these literate devices to bring out his point in the poem; overcoming obstacles. He believes that we will always face struggles in life and come across unexpected surprises that may or may not be good. This does not mean that this will stop us in our tracks, but will help shape us into better human beings by giving us choices. He also believes that as humans we have hidden in us the motivation to strive to get what we want in life and where we want to be by making these difficult decisions. The way Frost portrays this main theme in a 14 line poem about a fallen tree helps readers see that the poem is actually not about a tree, but overcoming life’s important decisions. In the first stanza Frost sets the setting with imagery of â€Å"The tree the tempest with a crash of wood† with alliteration in the words ‘tree’ and ‘tempest’. The imagery Frost conveys is of a fallen tree that has been knocked over by a violent, windy storm in which paints a picture in the head of the readers of a dirt road with a giant, dead oak tree strewn across it. The road symbolizes life and as you go through this path of life you are faced with these obstacles and choices of whether or not to change course or push through. The last line of the stanza is saying that these obstacles are not there to make us struggle, but they are there to help us find out who we are as people. I think that Frost used a tree as the main symbol for the poem because when people think of fallen trees they think of a giant tree that when it has fallen down it is hard to move or even get around without deciding what action to do next. That does not mean that it cannot be done though; just like our choices we face may seem impossible at the time, but when we just take a step back we can see that there is more than one option than just giving up. The second stanza goes on to explore the idea of how people are faced with tough decisions on a daily basis, but it is up to us to decide which path we take. Frosts uses the metaphor of Mother Nature, ‘she’, trying to halt our driving by putting a tree in the road, but in deeper meaning Frost is saying that there are many challenges out there that just show up in front of us and the only thing we can do is survive it. He also uses personification with that same line by introducing ‘she’, Mother Nature, will make things happen, but Mother Nature is not a real person and cannot do something like that. This adds to the sonnet by helping people connect and imagine a big snow storm that can temporarily stop someone in their tracks before it melts or someone clears the snow. Frost then goes back to the image of the tree â€Å"Debating what to do without an ax. †; the ax symbolizes a device that is not readily at your service. Whenever you come across a fallen tree there is no guarantee that you will have an ax with you, so you must improvise and decide how you will move past this tree. This is parallel to the idea of not having the best option presented in front of you when you are forced to make a choice, but if you dig deeper then you may find the best option that will work for you, just like finding a new path around the tree. During the last stanza Frost goes back to ‘she’, Mother Nature, â€Å"knowing obstruction† that the attempt is fruitless to stop the will of the people’s journey. This is where he backs up his whole idea of not being presented with a solution â€Å"We will not be put off the final goal We have it hidden in us to attain†, no matter what obstruction we are faced with, choice we have to make, or obstacle we are stuck with, we will always find a way to get past it because it is hidden in us. Another metaphor is used when Frost writes â€Å"Not though we have to seize earth by the pole†, not as in we literally need to grab the pole of the earth, but by grabbing life by the reigns and taking charge of your own life and steering it onto the path that you want. Frost uses the pole of the earth as an image for the readers to envision because the earth is massive compared to us and no matter the size of earth or the problem we can grab ahold of it and lead it in the direction that we want. Frost then ends his sonnet with a couplet that reiterates the idea of not giving up on overcoming the difficult obstacles. People get tired of going around in aimless circles, trying to find the best option and falling short of their goal, but what they really need to do is just focus on what is right in front of them and ‘steer straight’ as Frost would say. Sometimes people need to take a step back and actually look at the problem that is right in front of them because they can get too caught up in the idea of finding a solution and not thinking about the actual problem at hand. Frost uses multiple metaphors and imagery to help his readers envision exactly what he is trying to convey. Even the title â€Å"On a Tree Fallen across the Road† is imagery. As soon as readers read it they envision a giant oak tree blocking their path and their first instinct is to ask themselves, â€Å"What do I do now? † Some may cut it up and use the wood for other use and some might just turn around and find a different way to go to their destination. When you are faced with multiple different options it is hard to decide what to do, but Frost believes that no matter what Mother Nature throws at us we can handle it because we have the ability hidden in us that comes out when we need it to.