The Birth of Computer Programming Ada Augusta Byron King Countess of Lovelace :: Essays Papers

The Birth of Computer Programming Ada Augusta Byron King Countess of Lovelace In a world of men, for men, and made by men, there were a lucky few women who could stand up and be noticed. In the early nineteenth century, Lovelace Augusta Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, made her mark among the world of men that has influenced even today’s world. She was the â€Å"Enchantress of Numbers† and the â€Å"Mother of Computer Programming.† The world of computers began with the futuristic knowledge of one Charles Babbage and one Lady Lovelace, who appeared to know more about Babbage’s Analytical Engine than he himself knew. At the time of Lovelace’s discoveries, women were only just beginning to take part in the scientific world, and her love of mathematics drove her straight into the world of men. Her upbringing, her search for more knowledge, her love of mathematics, and her inherited writing abilities brought to life what we know today as computer programming or computer science. Lovelace Augusta Byron was born to the famous British poet George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron), and Anne Isabella Milbanke on December 10, 1815. Her parents marriage lasted the short time of one year, and one month after Lovelace was born, Lord Byron left. From that point in time until her death, Lovelace’s life was governed by her domineering mother. As a child, Lovelace’s tutors and governesses were all instructed to teach her the â€Å"discipline† of mathematics and music in such a way that Lovelace would never find the love of writing that her father possessed. For fear that Lovelace would develop the same mood swings and torments that her father had, Lovelace was not allowed to really read her father’s poetry. There were claims that Annabella, as her mother was called, kept Lord Byron’s poetry in a case that Lovelace could access at anytime. She was even encouraged to read the poetry later on in life, but the â€Å"discipline,† as An nabella called it, of mathematics had been instilled into Lovelace and her spark for poetry was smothered. It was by smothering Lovelace’s tendencies towards poetry that she ended up studying the women’s forbidden subjects of mathematics and science. â€Å"Undoubtedly, Lovelace was better off not attending a school where she would have been obliged to follow the typical curriculum for young ladies of her class.

The Joy of Corporate Profits :: Corporate Profits Pay For Universities

Whether it's Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan leading the Million-Man March, anti-WTO protesters or AIDS activists, we're frequently treated to the chant demanding "People Before Profits." Since profit demagoguery is a deceptively appealing tool used by scoundrels everywhere, let's de-mystify the concept of profits. Let's first get its definition out of the way. Profits represent the residual claim earned by entrepreneurs. It's what's left after all other costs - wages, rent, interest - have been paid. The entrepreneur is generally seen as the person who takes risks, innovates and makes decisions. It's important to recognize that profits are a cost of business just as are payments to labor, land and capital. If wages, rent and interest are not paid, labor, land and capital will not be offered; similarly, if profit is not paid, entrepreneurs wouldn't be seen either. Roughly six cents of each dollar companies take in represent after-tax profits. By far, wages are the largest part of that dollar representing about 60 cents. As percentages of 2002 national income, after-tax profits represented about 5 percent and wages about 71 percent. Far more important than simple statistics about the magnitude of profits is the role played by profits, namely that of guiding resources to their highest valued uses, determined not by some tyrant but by ordinary people's wants and desires. Let's discuss just a few examples. When Coca Cola introduced the "new" Coke? Pepsi Cola president Roger Enrico called it "the Edsel of the 80's," representing one of the greatest marketing debacles of the 1980's. Who made Coca Cola Company bring back the old Coke? Was it congress, the courts, the president, or other government officials who claim to have our interests at heart? No way. It was the specter of negative profits (losses) that convinced Coca Cola to bring back the old Coke. Thus, one role of profits is to discover what consumers want and if producers make mistakes, correct them. After the 1992 massive destruction caused by Hurricane Andrew, South Florida stores sold sheets of plywood for twice the price it had sold for prior to the storm. Escalating plywood prices brought charges of price-gouging and prosecutory threats. But look what higher prices and the potential for windfall profits did. Plywood destined to be shipped to the Midwest, West and Northeast suddenly was rerouted to South Florida. Lumber mills increased production. Truckers and other workers worked overtime so as to increase the availability of plywood and other construction materials to Floridians.

Managing Culture Essay

A central issue in management of organizational culture is how to overcome the Principle-Agent Problem and how to deal with the institutional theory. If a business is to effectively deal with an expanding government, it must make sure that its culture is well managed. To do so, organizational managers must learn how to prevail over the Principal Agent problem and the institutional theory. The Principal Agent problem is a description of a conflict of interests; that the principle (principle stakeholders, shareholders, etc. ) earns profits on the performance of the organization whereby the agents (employees) usually earn unconditional wages. They are parallel but conflicting wants; the principle seeks the greatest return for the least pay whereby the agent seeks to do the least work for the greatest pay. The Principle-Agent Problem is found in many employer/employee associations especially when stakeholders employ top executives of corporations (Jackson and Carter 2000). The principle must always settle conflicts between organizational objectives and the incentives of the different subgroups within the organization. Good managers employ incentives, commands, and organizational culture to make sure that this is achieved. On the other hand, institutional theory deals with the deeper and more flexible features of social structure. It lays emphasis to the procedures through which structures, regulations, norms, and customs develop as reliable guiding principles for social behavior. It finds out how these elements are developed, diffused, implemented, and adapted in an organization. The notion of Institutional theory and organizational culture is important in organizations. The building blocks of institutions and cultures have the capacity of carrying with them different meanings even in a single organization or culture. Differences in interpretations of mutual symbols support the multiplicity on which cultures flourish and institutions rely. In the theory of organizational culture, issues of diversity are mainly dealt with through studying the different subcultures while institutional theory deals with diversify in institutional logistics (Jackson and Carter 2000). Therefore, the management has a role to play in mediating between these two issues (Principle-Agent Problem the institutional theory). This essay develops the argument that organizational culture can and should be managed in corporations in five sections. Section 1 defines the meaning of organisational culture †¢ Section 2 outlines the importance of organisational culture †¢ Section 3 describes how organisational culture can be managed †¢ Section 4 describes Culture and Management of Organizational Change Section 5 describes the implications for culture management This essay will thus show that organizational culture should be managed since it leads to improved coordination and integration in organizations with the result being improved organizational effectiveness. What is Organizational Culture? Organizational culture refers to the set of mutual values, beliefs and expectations that govern the way members of an organization approach their duties in the work place and interrelate with one another. Research shows that organizational culture is quite different from other world cultures. It lays emphasis on how workers describe their colleagues and the kind of stories they share with one another. According to Schein 1980, organizational culture is â€Å"a pattern of shared basic assumptions that organizational members learn as it solves its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that works well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems† (Schein 1980:12). The figure below shows that organizational culture is divided into five levels, that is, fundamental assumptions, values, behavioral norms, pattern of behavior and Artifacts and Symbols. [pic] Figure 1: Levels of Organizational Culture (Adapted from Schein 1980) Importance of Organizational Culture Literature on organizational effectiveness shows that organizational culture plays a significant role in motivating and augmenting the value of intellectuals particularly the employees. The concept of organizational culture is important in knowledge intensive corporations. This paper makes it clear that culture is an essential factor in organizations and helps maximize the value of human resources. Schein 1990 advocates that organizational culture is even more significant in contemporary organizations than it was in the past. Organizational culture leads to improved coordination and integration in organizations with the result being improved organizational effectiveness. Through organizational culture, an organization is able to process invention and the capacity to successfully bring in new technologies. Organizational culture also enables organizations to effectively control dispersed work units and augment employee diversity. It also allows for cross-cultural management of international ventures and multi-national corporations. Besides the greater need to cope with the external and interior factors, organizational culture has become increasingly important since, for many organizations, intellectual assets now comprise the major source of value. Augmenting the value of workers as intellectual assets calls for a culture that encourages their intellectual participation and, eases both personal and organizational learning. It also calls for the creation and application of new knowledge and the readiness to share new ideas with others (Sennet 1998). Managing Organizational Culture With the fast changing environment and ongoing insights into organizational efficiency, business organizations are seriously rethinking how they should manage their cultures to achieve their goals and objectives. It is necessary for these organizations to identify the type of culture that is necessary to accomplish their goals and objectives and make certain the successful execution of the required changes (Ogbonna and Wilkinson 2003). Culture extends over the range of management thinking and corporate culture has been one of the most continuing catchphrases of organizational management. The appeal of the context is that corporate culture is ostensibly unifying and this clearly appeals to management’s involvement in forecasting an image of the corporation as a community of people’s interests. Possibly, culture penetrates to the core of an organization-it is almost similar to the context of personality regarding an individual and the critical sense of what defines an organization; its mission and core values. As a result, the management of culture should become a critical area of management competency in organizations. It should, however, be noted that adoption of the best culture is a prerequisite if an organization is to succeed. Managers should determine the most efficient culture for their organization and, if need be how to effectively change these cultures. The success of contemporary business organizations could be highly attributed to corporate culture. Research shows that organizational culture is a major pointer to organizational performance and this culture can be managed to enhance an organization’s competitive advantage. Organizational culture is a good image for an enterprise whose top management would like to develop. The image of a corporation differs in terms of how one views the organization. Research shows that even organizations with strong cultures have a broad social distance between senior management and employees. Organizational culture is barely planned or predictable; it is the ordinary results of social interrelations and, therefore, evolves and emerges with time. As a result, this should be managed to fit certain strategic ends since organizations have the ability of transforming themselves and the management of culture is such a good way of avoiding such incidents. According to Ogbonna and Wilkinson (2003), organizational culture should be managed as a device for augmenting company effectiveness (Ogbonna and Wilkinson 2003). Management of organizational culture can be more readily enumerated and empirically evaluated based on the interpersonal and symbolic features of management. This requires deep qualitative management of the organizational lives of every employee. Managers while managing organizational culture should put into consideration certain factors such as change-oriented culture, education culture, inventive culture and project-oriented culture. Management of organizational culture should identify and develop an organizational culture that allows for agility, encourages alliances, companionships and networks; promotes knowledge management; promotes corporate responsibility and proper integrity and incorporates diversity. Culture and Management of Organizational Change If real change is to take place in corporations rather than short-lived change, then it has to take place at the cultural perspective. Organizational culture has many strong attractions as a facilitator for change. Firstly, cultures can be plainly created-managers need to be aware of what is needed to change an already existing culture. The capacity of organizations to be culturally inventive is associated with leadership. The top management in any organization must be responsible for developing powerful cultures. This is because organizational leaders develop the social reality of a corporation; they shape organizational beliefs and deal with the drama and visualization of the corporation (Mir and Mir 2009). Research shows that culture is often counter posed to prescribed rationality- In this sense culture is significant in resolving the predicaments associated with bureaucracy in an organization; formal procedures are vital for organizational integrity though they also restrain autonomy and invention. Today, organizations are growing in an uncertain manner and the adoption of adaptable cultures that are receptive to change to deal with the changing environment and crises has become essential. Ackroyd and Crowdy, (1990) focus on the relationship between culture and the management of organizational change through the cultivation of friendly interactions at all levels, the amalgamation of individuals with shared goals and dependence on employee responsibility (Ackroyd and Crowdy 1990). Implications for The Management Of Culture In an Organization Research shows that there are two fundamental approaches to the management of culture in organizations and, by implication, this include strategy conforming (upholding order and continuity) and transforming (altering and breaking already existing patterns). As demonstrated by the successive poor performance of many companies, the efficiency of the selected approach to corporate culture and strategy depends on the conceptual factors relating to both the inner and the exterior business environment. Thus, organizational culture needs to be managed though the adopted strategies are highly determined by the prototype and prospect subscribed to by the manager. In coping with the management of organizational culture, it is important to identify as much as possible the features of the present or new target culture; the illusions, symbols, customs and assumptions that add force to the culture. Consequently, action can be initiated in any of the key areas listed below: †¢ Enrollment, selection and substitution- Culture management can be influenced by making certain that appointments make the existing culture stronger or encourage a culture shift; removal and substitution may be used to significantly change the culture of an organization. †¢ Socialization- stimulation and successive development and training can lead to acculturation to an already existing or new culture. This can also enhance interpersonal exchange of ideas and team work, which is vital in fragmented corporate cultures. Performance management/compensation systems- This can be used to encourage preferred behaviors, which may result to changed organizational values. †¢ Leadership- Managers can strengthen or assist in the abolishment of existing illusions, symbols, behaviors, and beliefs. †¢ Participation- of all corporate members in cultural rebuilding or management activities and related inputs, decision-making and improvement activities is important if long-term cultural change and management is to be achieved. Interpersonal communication- Meeting the needs of interpersonal interactions is vital in promoting an existing corporate culture and integrating organizational members into that culture. †¢ Effective teamwork- This encourages change and developments in cultural communication. †¢ Structures, principles, processes, and resource allocation- This need to be compatible with the culture of an organization (Boston, Istensaker and Falkenberg 2007). The above represent several strategies that can be used in corporations to manipulate it in terms of the cultures and subcultures that make it up.  The management of organizational culture is based on a complicated comprehension of the tacit and explicit features that make up the already existing culture. Conclusion This essay has shown that organizational culture can and should be managed. What makes up organizational culture and its alleged role in corporate success are contested, resting on prospects of culture either as traditionally based, change resilient, deep societal system which emphasizes all company strategies and activities. Organizational culture should thus be managed to provide for organizational success.

Development /Diffusion of Early Human Societies Essay

The world’s longest river; The Nile, is considered Egypt’s lifeline. This significant physical geographic factor, has contributed to the development of the ancient Egyptians. This country which is located in Africa’s northeast corner, receives very little rainfall throughout the year. As a result, Egypt has relied on the Nile River for its economy. Each year, the Nile floods due to upstream rain, depositing a type of rich black soil called silt, along the river banks. The silt at the river’s mouth forms into a triangular shape, which creates a delta. Most of Egypt’s population clustered in the Nile’s river valley and delta. This river’s yearly floods made these regions so fertile that ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet, or the Black Land. (Bednarz, 2008) Ancient Egypt, one of the world’s first great civilizations, arose along the banks of the Nile. For centuries, geography kept Egypt isolated. Six high waterfalls calle d cataracts, and rapids make the Nile hard to navigate in the south. Desserts surround the Nile in the west and east, and the Mediterranean Sea borders Egypt to the north. People created farming villages along the Nile by about 4000 B.C. Eventually these villages became two kingdoms, Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt at the Nile delta. The Nile Valley provided various grasses and reeds used for huts, sandals, baskets, simple boats, and other products. Ancient Egyptians also dug canals to irrigate their fields and channel the Nile’s water. Each June, floods would leave behind silt in a narrow strip along the flood plain and at the delta. Today, the Aswan High Dam controls the Nile’s flooding and provides year-round irrigation. Since the Aswan High Dam opened in 1970, Egypt has doubled its agricultural production. (Bednarz, 2008) Over the centuries, religions have spread from their points of origin to the rest of the world. All of the world’s major religions began in Asia, and moved to other continents. At first, religious beliefs were carried to different places by followers of the religion or traders. In some lands, traditional religions have been practiced for as long as people have lived in a culture group. The development and spread of beliefs by Egyptian religion, provides an example of the process of diffusion between early human societies. Ancient Egyptians worshiped several deities (gods or goddesses), and considered their pharaoh leaders to be earthly versions of them. During the New Kingdom period of Egypt, a pharaoh known as Akhenaton, promoted the worship of only one deity, the sun god Aton.

Ex- football player Kavin Plank Essay

Under armor was founded by American ex- football player Kavin Plank in 1996. Its headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Plank started the business in his grandmother’s basement. The word of mouth publicity brought revenue and ultimately in two years time Plank started reaping profit. The main objective of the company was to design a superior quality t- shirt which instead of absorbing sweat, provides perspiration and compression. But it ended up producing various other sports products such as footwear, apparel and accessories. Armor happens to be the designer of performance apparel which it claims would maintain body temperature and improve performance. (Under Armour  ® 2010) Under Armour UA’s mission is to make the customer feel comfortable while wearing its products. Its aim is to make all athletes feel better in their uniforms with the help of science and innovation. Providing comfort to the customers is the first and foremost priority of UA. For that purpose, Heat Gear and Cold Gear products were introduced which would serve the purpose of ease and satisfy the athletes during the calisthenics, practice or course of game. (Under Armour  ® 2010) Products, goods and services The products range from t-shirts to footwear and accessories. These categories are further extended to all types of sportswear. You name the sport (from baseball to hunting) and you can find the custom design outfits and footwear along with accessories required for that sport. The company introduced Heat Gear, Cold Gear and AllseasonGear products and various other products to entice the customers. (Under Armour  ® 2010) Marketing Strategy and Position in the market Under Armour understood the market at the start of the business. The word of mouth publicity at small scale to ignite the marketing process for a relatively new company was good enough to bring in customers. Till date the company sponsors events such as Under Armour High school All- American Football Game and Senior Bowl. (Ayala 2008) Under Armour also sponsored the ESPYs. At the event, the company also managed to get leads on a pilot and two movies as well. It sponsors various college teams for publicity. The commercials and punch line are catchy and attract many customers. Under Armour products could also been in Video Games. In Flight Night 3, Dallas Cowboy player and spokesperson Eric ‘Big E’ was among the Fighters game players could choose to be. Their marketing strategy is strong and has provided them powerful position in the market. (Walker 2008) Competitors The company saw downfall in 2008. According to today’s financial news the company’s competition is sinking. In 2009 UA made Fiscal Fourth Quarter results’ announcement that are down nearly half of where they were this time next year. Shares of Gilden Active wear and Lululemon went down by 30% and 20% respectively. (Financial news 2008) Luckily, today they are flourishing at increasing speed. The competition and hard time was beneficial in this regard. Their hard work is paying them off. The biggest competitors of UA are Colm and Nike. UA is increasing pace to reap as much revenue as Nike is. Its revenue was calculated to be approximately $885 million a year in contrast to Nike’s $19 billion this year. (Wikinvest 2010) Bibliography About Under Armour, Underarmour. com, Under Armour  ®, 2010, web, July 18, 2010 from http://www. underarmour. com/shop/us/en/affiliate-home Ayala, V. ‘Under Armour: Solid Growth Story’, Seeking Alpha, July 2008, web, July 18, 2010 http://seekingalpha. com/article/87622-under-armour-solid-growth-story-more-visibility-needed ‘Under Armour’s competition sinks’, Today’s Financial News, December 11, 2008, web, July 18, 2010 http://www. todaysfinancialnews. com/us-stocks-and-markets/under-armours-nyseua-competition-sinks-6437. html Walker, K. Andrea, Commercial Alert, ‘Under Armour in public eye’, July 24, 2008, web , July 18, 2010, http://www. commercialalert. org/issues/culture/product-placement/under-armour-in-public-eye Under Armour (UA), Wikinvest. com, Wikinvest, 2010, web, July 17, 2010 from http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Under_Armour_(UA)

Minimum age for social networking sites Research Paper

Minimum age for social networking sites - Research Paper Example In this case, â€Å"inappropriate† means that the dangers outweigh the benefits of having an account on one of these sites. There are many dangers associated with these SNSs. One of the dangers is that these social networking sites often display sexual content. A content analysis of MySpace in 2006 found that 59% of the profiles on that site had photos that were sexual or risque, while 56% of the profiles had at least some profanity in them (Nyland, et al., 2007). Moreover, there is a general fear that sexual predators are lurking on-line – a 2008 study revealed that 4% of young people encountered unwanted sexual advances on an SNS (Ybarra & Mitchell, 2008, p. e350) - although at least one commentator believes that this fear is overblown, and that tech-savvy teenagers have found ways to thwart these predators by adjusting their privacy settings and their on-line behavior (Tynes, 2007, p. 582). Cyberbullying, which is defined as repeated harmful contact that is perpetrated by cell phone, e-mail or through an SNS, is another danger that young people may face on these sites (Mesch, 2009, p. 288). At the same time, there is evidence that young adults – ages 18 through 25 – benefit greatly from these websites. Research indicates that this is the period of life where long-term social skills are developed, skills that are essential to develop relationships and find careers. SNSs are important in this development, as they help the young person find new relationships and strengthen existing ones (Steinfeld, et al., 2008, p. 435). These relationships are integral in attaining â€Å"social capital,† which refers to the benefits an individual receives from his or her social connections, and develop psycho-socially (Steinfeld, et al., 2008, p. 435). Part of this development is the fact that shy young people often do not feel the same sense of awkwardness and shyness on-line that he or she feels in the

Tintern abbey ireland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tintern abbey ireland - Essay Example Indeed, one's uninvited thoughts can express themselves as beautiful, nostalgic, lyrical recollections as is the case with William Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey," a poem inspired by the thoughts which came to his mind upon his visitation and re-visitation of Tintern Abbey. Reading through the poem, one feels that Wordsworth is leading one by the hand, taking one on a walk through the abbey grounds and, more so, through Wordsworth's life and his thoughts - the thoughts which had crept unbidden into his mind when gazing upon, and walking through, Tintern Abbey. Halfway through the poem, midway through this guided tour, however, I realized that I did not need to take the "walk" with Wordsworth, because I had been on the walk myself. I decided to scour my computer for images from my senior trip to Ireland and was delighted when I uncovered the photos of my experience buried deep within the cavernous depths of a black hole I call my MacBook. I then continued reading the rest of the poem as I glanced up every so often at the image plastered on my glass screen. In my dim dorm room, the image seemed to emerge out of the screen and back into my mind. I could actually see Tintern Abbey the way I saw it that day in Ireland. Over a year later, Wordsworth's poem a nd the photos of my trip brought the feelings I had felt and the thoughts I had thought of that day as I gazed upon Tintern Abbey and walked through its grounds, to mind; thoughts and feelings which had been buried deep under more recent ordeals and experiences, came rushing to the fore. Wordsworth's words had not only drawn me into his mind and his feelings but had forced me to recall my own memories of that day. In so doing, I found myself questioning the purpose of this poem. What is it that Wordsworth wanted us, his readers to see, think of and experience Did I, just over a year ago, experience the same walk which Wordsworth had almost five centuries ago Was time repeating itself and were experiences being replicated across the centuries The answer to these questions lay hidden in Wordsworth's poem and in my own memories. I, therefore, had to examine both, much more critically than I had been doing. "Composed A Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798" is divided into stanzas that I believe manifest Wordsworth's thought process as he sorts through memories and new revelations when in Tintern Abbey. Wordsworth begins the poem after revealing that it has been five years since his last visit to Tintern. Yet, it is evident that the memory of every sight, sound and smell he experienced that day were still fresh in his mind and were brought to the fore during this second visit: "Once again do I behold these steep and lofty cliffsthe landscape with the quiet of the sky." (Lines 3-5) Wordsworth is not writing of new experiences but is recollecting thee past through the present. As Wordsworth recollects his memories of Tintern Abbey, I gaze at my photographs and recall my own. I can see the rolling hills and cliffs as I saw them that day, and through Wordsworth's words I can distinctly remember the calm of the sky and quiet aura that flooded the ancient arches of the Abbey. To be completely honest, at first I could only remember my personal feelings about