HP computer Marketing Concept

A Brief History of the Doomsday Clock

A Brief History of the Doomsday Clock In June 1947, almost two years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs, the first issue of the magazine Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was printed, featuring a stylized clock on its cover. The clock displayed the time seven minutes to midnight, a symbolic representation of how close humanity was to destroying itself in a nuclear war, at least according to the judgment of the Bulletins editors. Since then, the Doomsday Clock has been an ever-present fixture on the world stage, set back when nations behave reasonably, set forward when international tensions wax, a constant reminder of how close we are to catastrophe. As you can probably infer from its title, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was created by, well, atomic scientists: this magazine started as a mimeographed newsletter circulated among the scientists working on the Manhattan Project, an intensive, four-year effort that culminated in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (The Bulletin is still published today, no longer in print form, since 2009, but on the web.) In the 70 years since its appearance, the mission of the Doomsday Clock has been slightly tweaked: it no longer refers specifically to the threat of nuclear war, but now signifies the likelihood of other doomsday scenarios as well, including climate change, global epidemics, and the unforeseen dangers posed by new technologies. The Ups and Downs of the Doomsday Clock One common misapprehension about the Doomsday Clock is that its updated in real time, like a stock-market ticker. In fact, the clock is only changed after meetings of the Bulletins advisory board, which happen twice a year (and even then, the decision is often  taken to keep the time as it is). In fact, the Doomsday Clock has only been set forward or back 22 times since 1947. Here are some of the most notable occasions when this has happened: 1949: Moved up to three minutes to midnight after the Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. 1953: Moved up to two minutes to midnight (the closest the Doomsday Clock has ever reached this mark) after the U.S. tests its first hydrogen bomb. 1963: Moved back to 12 minutes to midnight after the U.S. and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty. (One interesting side note: the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 started, and was resolved, in between meetings of the Bulletins advisory board. One imagines that if the clock had been reset during these seven tense days, it would have displayed a time of 30 or even 15 seconds to midnight.) 1984: Moved up to three minutes to midnight  as the Soviet Union is mired in war in Afghanistan and the U.S., under Ronald Reagan, deploys nuclear-tipped Pershing II missiles in western Europe. The international social fabric is further weakened by the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games and the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games. 1991: Moved back to 17 minutes to midnight (the farthest away the clocks minute hand has ever been) after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 2007: Moved up to five minutes to midnight after North Korea tests its first atomic bomb; for the first time, the Bulletin also recognizes global warming (and the lack of firm action to counter it) as an imminent threat to civilization. 2017: Moved up to two  and one-half minutes to midnight (the closest the clock has been since 1953) following Donald Trumps tweets touting the U.S. nuclear arsenal  and the prospect of decreased legislative action to slow global warming. How Useful is the Doomsday Clock? As arresting an image as it is, its unclear just how much of an effect the Doomsday Clock has had on public opinion and international policy. Clearly, the clock had more of an impact in, say, 1953, when the prospect of a Soviet Union armed with hydrogen bombs conjured up images of World War III. Over the ensuing decades, though, one can argue that the Doomsday Clock has had more of a numbing than an inspiring effect: when the world is constantly a few minutes from global catastrophe, and the apocalypse never quite happens, most people will choose to ignore current events and focus on their daily lives. In the end, your faith in the Doomsday Clock will depend on your faith in the Bulletins high-powered advisory board and its network of professional experts. If you accept the evidence in favor of global warming and are alarmed by nuclear proliferation, youre likely to take the clock more seriously than those who dismiss these as relatively minor issues. But whatever your views, the Doomsday Clock at least serves as a reminder that  these problems need to be addressed, and hopefully soon.

Mills Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mills Paper - Essay Example The subject has widespread causes, which may range from sexual abuse and trafficking to deprivation of basic rights like education. The condition of women in most of the countries worldwide is pathetic and the surveys conducted worldwide supports the view. Their own family members, referring to honor killings, murder Five thousand women every year. Trafficking of women and even girls below the age of maturity is widespread in all countries of the world. The girl children are susceptible to sexual abuse. Violence against women results in serious health concerns and consequences leading to injuries and death. In the less developed countries, women do not have access to basic rights of education and health. The violence may be at a personal level or at a social level. In the social level, the women are at risk in countries where the women do not have respect in the society and there is general autonomy of the male community. (WHO). The malpractices harm the dignity and pride of the women, which may have serious consequences in the social life. Though the women have made tremendous progress in the economic fields in the developed countries, their condition in the developing and the underdeveloped countries is poor. They still lie at the bottom of the social structure and their importance in the society is much lesser than that of the men. This paper deals in this socially relevant issue and tries to find out the personal and public issues of the violence. The paper also points out the solutions to the problem and underlines the methods of addressing the situation depending on the nature of the issues. The personal and public matters of trouble depend on the outlook. For example, if we take the institution of marriage, there may be certain amount of indifferences between the husband and wife. This is the personal view of the trouble. However, if the amount of divorces and separations increase to a certain extent,

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Social Media - Essay Example This is a basic principle in the Internet, and the advent of social networking sites operate on the same idea. People can get connected with each other no matter what because lines are redundant. The Internet has since been given away by the military for civilian uses, for free and it is now a highly-evolved network. Businesses previously reluctant to put up a digital presence had been encouraged to put their own Web sites because of vast improvements in Internet technology primarily those dealing with secure on-line financial transactions. The introduction of the SSL or secure socket layer technology enabled people and business firms to conduct transactions in safe and secure manner, and this in turn gave birth to electronic commerce (e-commerce). A potential buyer can browse a Web site, and see high-definition graphics or video of a product or service. The latest phenomenon on the Web today is the new way of marketing to people, who can be reached anywhere. This vast potential cust omer base gave birth to social media marketing (SMM). This paper examines some of the relevant issues associated with the rise of SMM. Discussion Social media marketing is simply the practice of applying the principles of marketing or advertising to the digital world or cyberspace. In other words, advertising and marketing in those traditional media like print, television, and radio have been adapted to the social networking sites in which potential buyers and existing consumers of a product or service can interact with each other through that site, by registering as members of the site and using their comments, opinions, recommendations, and referrals give everyone on the site additional information to make buying decisions intelligently, like offering product choices or other alternative services. Social media marketing (SMM) is not to be confused with social marketing. The latter is using marketing techniques to promote desired behaviors or highlight a social advocacy, such as an ti-smoking campaigns, the dangers of alcohol abuse, environmental protection, promote a proper diet through better nutrition, reduction of waste, mitigate the effects of climate change, or other social changes to encourage healthy living. SMM, on the other hand, is a powerful tool for marketeers and advertisers if done correctly. In the proper hands, social media marketing helps to build up a brand and encourage customer loyalty over a much wider potential consumer base. It is a main reason why big and reputable multinational corporations, especially those in fast-moving consumer goods, engage in SMM today. It is cost-effective in terms of ad spending, it is interactive by which customers can exchange their views with the seller or manufacturer, it can easily be updated to reflect the latest product developments, and it provides a better content and context for what is being sold in that Web site. SMM provides many advantages or benefits, but on the other hand, there are also legal pitfalls for those who are not careful on its use. In this regard, a legally-astute social media marketing managers takes cognizance of the four components necessary to engage in e-commerce but mitigates the risks of

Breaking The Television Watching Habit

Breaking The Television Watching Habit For most of you, as it was for me, I grew up watching three, four and even five hours of television a day. It was a part of my daily routine and it wasnt easy for me to break. I managed to do it when my family and I moved to a small city in the west. After we moved in we found out that you had to buy cable if you wanted to have television. So we attempted a little experiment. We decided that we were not going to get cable and just tough it like the good old pioneers. This was partly because we couldnt afford it after the great expense of buying a new house and out of the wishes of my wise mother. So the family tuned out and switched off. It was nuts for a while but then I began to notice some changes taking place in my family and myself. I started to realize that television increased violence and aggression in my siblings and I, detracted from the way our family interacted and finally I noticed its adverse effects on all of our school scores. I plan to show that these adverse effects of television are reason enough to give your TV to the neighbor. Now your probley saying that people are naturally violent. Look at Gengis Kahn and Adolph Hitler . None of them grew up with television and they were still killing innocent people. From what I can tell if TV had been around they would have been a whole lot worse. In the book Televisions Effects, a government study compiled by George A Comstock , It states on page twenty five, that children who had viewed violent programming exhibited more aggressive behavior than children who had viewed a sports program. In the study they were able to tell which children would exhibit this behavior this shows a correlation between violent programming and violent behavior. Even if a naturally violent nature is the root of the problem we also need to recognize that the television is making those naturally aggressive and violent children even more so. We need to realize that these people have a hard time distinguishing between right and wrong. We need to help correct this problem by total abstinence to television. In the book The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn, a book about the ill effects of television on the different aspects of human life, it states It is particularly hard for parents to buy the Idea that television instigates aggressive behavior when its function in the home is so different, television keeps children quiet and passive, cuts down on loud and boisterous play, prevents outbursts between brothers and sisters. The sad fact of the matter is, parents sometimes have to work and are not able to spend nebulous amounts of time with their children. We need to stop allowing our children to be exposed to the violent distortion of reality that TV proje cts, Our children should be out playing sports or just romping around in the backyard. Activities that are proven to wear kids out and dont bombard them with all kinds of extremely violent stimuli. By destroying TV we can increase productive family time. Stop desensitizing our children to violence and begin to reteach our children good manners and good morals simply by our example. In a story by Ray Bradbury called The Veldt. We see the extreme end of this TV addiction when the existence of the childrens parents is of less importance than continued access to the TV room. Parents you need to let TV be a tool instead of a replacement. We must take up the reigns again raise our future generations the right way, by good old human contact. Now youre probably thinking to yourself, how am I supposed to live without television. Its the peacemaker in our home. When its on the children stay out of my hair and they stop fighting with each other. Anyway its the only time that the family really gets together. It really helps our family get along. You see not only have we replaced the parent with TV we have replaced the good old-fashioned family as well. I think the effects of television on the family and person are best stated in a quote by Urie Brofenbrenner Like the sorcerer of old the television set casts its magic spell , freezing speech and action, turning the living into silent statues so long as the enchantment lasts. The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces although there is danger there as in the behavior that it prevents: the talks, the games, the family festivities and arguments through which much of a childs learning takes place and trough which his character is formed. Turning on the television set can turn off the process that transforms children into people. We neglect our responsibilities as parents and families to build children and future generations with character and moral values. When the TV is on we subject our children to the values of the world. We see TV as the fix all for the evening problem. Instead of playing, nurturing and loving we use the TV as the escape hatch. It lets the adults, the rolemodels, have their time and gives the children the necessary attention that they need. While at the same time allowing the parents to keep some semblance of sanity. You see why it is so easy for us to justify TV as a necessity. The bad thing about this is that children spend very little time interacting with adults and their other family members. All they ever see are two-dimensional flashes of lights and sound, merely impressions of a human soul. So good is TV at tricking the mind that we dont even realize that children are lacking something they desperately need, a strong family. In the LDS church families are a very important thing. The LDS church encourages families to take at least one night of the week and set it aside for just the family. This time is spent singing songs, playing games, and doing small acts of service. A lot of good television free family time results on this night and many needed skills like cooking and cleaning are taught to sons and daughters. We need to stop letting TV be our social outlet. It just isnt the same. We are so addicted that without it for even a short period of time we go stir crazy and have no idea how to entertain ourselves. We have forgotten how to enjoy ourselves and our own family members. We need to unplug and tune out. Read a book or even play a game of Monopoly with a younger sibling. We have lost the arts of interaction. We waste our lives away trying to escape, not realizing what we have around us, always wanting the next Scooby Snack, exploding truck or funniest home video. The worst place that TV beats us upside the head is in the learning department. Its like letting Dirty Harry put a big 44 round trough your skull. Now your probley going to try and tell me about good educational programs like Bill Nye and Sesame Street. We cant forget the Discovery channel. Yes, these are the rare jewels of television programming. We need to concentrate our viewing time in these areas. Television despite what programming may be on is an inefficient way to learn. TV is so easy to use and it is so easy to change to a totally different program if it becomes disinteresting or boring. I personally have noticed that whenever I get the remote in my hand I have to switch channels constantly. I think if you asked me what I saw on TV I could only tell you selected parts of the last five minutes. In a study conducted by Canadian researchers three towns were surveyed. One had no TV capabilities. The second city had only one channel. The third city had many channels. When reading score were compared between the three town they found that the highest scores were from the city with no TV. The next highest from the city with one channel and tailing closely behind the second city was the third in last place with many TV stations. Now you might be thinking that this study is not so great because they didnt take into account income and education of the people studied. The thing that make this study so intriguing is that the same group was able to go back into the city that had no TV after it had television for about two years. They found that the scores in the first city had dropped down with the scores of the other two cities. A sad testimony to the ill effects of television. One thing we fail to realize is that little things count when it comes to TV and how it relates to school performance. Things like reduced sleep time caused by late television viewing. Loss of productive play and self-learning time and a reduction of time spent on school work and studying. TV is like a drug, it acts like a good emotional and mental laxative. It lets us forget the things that we dont want to deal with and allows us to take the back seat and partake of the action guilt free. All the while we let our school books rot and our lessons pile up until we have no way to make up for the lost time. This wasted time is hard to fathom. Millions of man-hours wasted on what, a useless story, a few loud explosions and a dead policeman. We should be spending this time on reading, writing, arithmetic, and maybe even some thing we could turn into a career. You dont see an awful lot of people getting paid to watch television. An interesting comparison was done of SAT test score before and after the introduction of television. They found that between the years of 1964 and 1981, The exact years when children who had been exposed to large doses of television during their language learning years came up to take the SAT challenge the researchers witnessed a steep decline from the years before television. I can see how this wasted time that was before used on studying and hobbies was now channeled into six and seven hours of viewing a day. (Plug-In Drug) Could mean the difference between Harvard University and Southern Utah University. Television has proven to be one of the most effective drugs in human history. We can learn to live without it and we can learn to enjoy our families more. We must separate ourselves from that great monster. We must do as my family did and eliminate the need for television. I can honestly say that my grades went up. I had more time to read. We started to do things together as brothers and sister. Now we just have long conversations with each other. If you would like to see the good changes it can make in your life and the numerous benefits that abstinence provides then join me. Throw you TVs in the street.

Can compositional success be tied to advanced training Essay

The simple fact that practice makes perfect proves that compositional success is tied to advance training. The goal of the person playing the piece of music is to make it sound the best he/she possibly can while looking like minimal effort is put in. To achieve that, advanced training is required. Also just like anything in life the more training and practice you put into something the more successful your outcome is. In any popular type of music you can always find a blend of technique and inspiration. For example, salsa music is famous for its unique technique in dancing, and the dance can even be very inspirational. However, I don’t believe you need an actual specific blend of technique and inspiration. If you have a unique or different technique I think the inspiration will just simply follow. The source of an artistic inspiration is a very broad subject. So many things inspire so many artists. Sometimes even the most unusual or little things can be so inspiring. To answer the question, â€Å"What is the source of artistic inspiration?† I would say that question is too general. There are just so many sources that can inspire an artist. For example, if a painter discovers a really great sunset then he/she will most likely be inspired to paint it. So if a musical artist creates a new tune or melody then that could be his/her source and inspiration to creating a new piece of music. Just like anything you do in the world, you must have knowledge to be successful. For example, an engineer must have a good basis on all types of math just like a musician must have a good basis on all types of music. Also history is important in no matter what you do. History is the basis of everything. I am almost positive that every successful composer has a strong grasp on music history. History shows the steps that were took to modern music. SOURCES: www.google.com www.wikipedia.com http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/intro.htm

Patagonia Another Way of Doing Business Essay

1Introduction Patagonia was founded in 1957 by Yvon Chouinard who defines himself as a reluctant business man. He started his business as a way to climb and surf year long, seeking to build the best product to satisfy his passion. â€Å"Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. † –Patagonia’s Mission Statement Patagonia grew out of a small company that made tools for climbers. Alpinism remains at the heart of a worldwide business that still makes clothes for climbing as well as for skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling and trail running. Customers are willing to pay a premium for the Patagonia brand and environmental ethic. The company’s goal is as simple as it is challenging: to produce the highest-quality products while doing the least possible harm to the environment. Yvon Chouinard founder and owner of Patagonia has done business differently since the beginning of the company, placing environmental sustainability and social welfare of his employee before profit. Three examples of the company practice will show how marketing and business can meet ethical behavior. Patagonia: a different workplace environment Patagonia is hiring only passionate people (friends, family†¦) who are also product user so they don’t have to understand the customer because they are the customer. Patagonia has developed the Let My People Go surfing flextime policy to cope with the employee passion (surfing, backcountry skiing†¦). There are no private offices and the architectural layout keep communication opens. The cafeteria where employees can gather throughout the day serves healthy, mostly vegetarian food. The company has also an on-site child care center, the presence of children playing in the yard, or having lunch with their parents in the cafeteria helps keep the company atmosphere more familial than corporate. Patagonia has a program that allows employees to take off up to two months at full pay to work for environmental groups. Patagonia fosters creativity and authenticity through its work environment and hiring process enabling the development of original products. 3Patagonia: The 1% for the Planet Initiative Since 1985, Patagonia has devoted 1% of its sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. The company has awarded over $46 million in cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental. In 2002, founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, created a non-profit corporation to encourage other businesses to do the same. 1% For The Planet is an alliance of businesses that understand the necessity of protecting the natural environment. As of today 1401 companies are members of the 1% for the Planet Initiative and donate 1% of their sales to a network of 2,735 environmental organizations worldwide. More than a marketing campaign, The 1% for the Planet Initiative is a really strong statement from Patagonia (no matter what are the financial results 1% of its sales will serve the environmental cause every year), it has reinforced the company corporate social responsibility and ethical image, hence the loyalty of its core customers. 4Patagonia: The Common Threads Initiative This marketing program first asks customers to not buy something if they don’t need it, then if they do need it, Patagonia ask that they buy what will last a long time and to repair what breaks, reuse or resell whatever they don’t wear any more. And, finally, recycle whatever’s truly worn out. Patagonia with The Common Threads Initiative is the first private company launching a marketing campaign telling its customers to buy less or to buy used gear. In September 2011 Patagonia launched an online marketplace in collaboration with eBay for customers to sell and buy their used Patagonia products. This feature is displayed on the homepage of patagonia. com. Recycling is what we do when we’re out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first. That’s why I am so impressed with Patagonia for starting its Common Threads Initiative with the real solution: Reduce. Don’t buy what we don’t need. Repair: Fix stuff that still has life in it. Reuse: Share. Then, only when you’ve exhausted those options, recycle (Leonard, 2011). This new marketing campaign was unveiled at the New York fashion week as an experiment. Only a private company without public shareholder and a charismatic leader with strong belief can promote such a different business attitude. 5Conclusion Patagonia has always done business and marketing differently. In the seventies Chouinard Equipment had become the largest supplier of climbing hardware in the U. S. It had also become an environmental threat because its gear was damaging the rock. Yvon Chouinard and his partner decided to phase out of this business even it if was the main source of revenue for the company, it was the first environmental step for Patagonia. Instead of focusing on profit the company took a big risk by discontinuing a successful line of products to promote an alternative solution (aluminum chocks) for climbers. It became a success because Patagonia crafted the right product with the right message and stayed true to its core values. Today with the Common Threads Initiative they are pursuing the exact same philosophy and trying to push the industry to adopt more ethical business behaviors. Patagonia’s highly public search for a new way of doing business implies a new kind of relationship with customers, reinforced by unconditional guarantees, extremely high product quality and an explicit commitment to ethical codes of behavior (Reinhardt, 2000).