Deception Point Page 91

Rachel stood in silence as the Bathynomous pages rolled out of the printer. She tried to tell herself this was all an honest NASA mistake, but she knew it was not. People who made honest mistakes didn't try to kill people. The nasal voice of Corky echoed suddenly across the lab. â€Å"Impossible!† Both Tolland and Rachel turned. â€Å"Measure the damn ratio again! It makes no sense!† Xavia came hurrying in with a computer printout clutched in her hand. Her face was ashen. â€Å"Mike, I don't know how to say this†¦ † Her voice cracked. â€Å"The titanium/zirconium ratios we're seeing in this sample?† She cleared her throat. â€Å"It's pretty obvious that NASA made a huge mistake. Their meteorite is an ocean rock.† Tolland and Rachel looked at each other but neither spoke a word. They knew. Just like that, all the suspicions and doubts had swelled up like the crest of a wave, reaching the breaking point. Tolland nodded, a sadness in his eyes. â€Å"Yeah. Thanks, Xavia.† â€Å"But I don't understand,† Xavia said. â€Å"The fusion crust†¦ the location in the ice-â€Å" â€Å"We'll explain on the way to shore,† Tolland said. â€Å"We're leaving.† Quickly, Rachel collected all the papers and evidence they now had. The evidence was shockingly conclusive: the GPR printout showing the insertion shaft in the Milne Ice Shelf; photos of a living sea louse resembling NASA's fossil; Dr. Pollock's article on ocean chondrules; and microprobe data showing ultradepleted zirconium in the meteorite. The conclusion was undeniable. Fraud. Tolland looked at the stack of papers in Rachel's hands and heaved a melancholy sigh. â€Å"Well, I'd say William Pickering has his proof.† Rachel nodded, again wondering why Pickering had not answered his phone. Tolland lifted the receiver of a nearby phone, holding it out for her. â€Å"You want to try him again from here?† â€Å"No, let's get moving. I'll try to contact him from the chopper.† Rachel had already decided if she could not make contact with Pickering, she'd have the Coast Guard fly them directly to the NRO, only about 180 miles. Tolland began to hang up the phone, but he paused. Looking confused, he listened to the receiver, frowning. â€Å"Bizarre. No dial tone.† â€Å"What do you mean?† Rachel said, wary now. â€Å"Weird,† Tolland said. â€Å"Direct COMSAT lines never lose carrier-â€Å" â€Å"Mr. Tolland?† The Coast Guard pilot came rushing into the lab, his face white. â€Å"What is it?† Rachel demanded. â€Å"Is someone coming?† â€Å"That's the problem,† the pilot said. â€Å"I don't know. All onboard radar and communications have just gone dead.† Rachel stuffed the papers deep inside her shirt. â€Å"Get in the helicopter. We're leaving. NOW!† 109 Gabrielle's heart was racing as she crossed the darkened office of Senator Sexton. The room was as expansive as it was elegant-ornate wood-paneled walls, oil paintings, Persian carpets, leather rivet chairs, and a gargantuan mahogany desk. The room was lit only by the eerie neon glow of Sexton's computer screen. Gabrielle moved toward his desk. Senator Sexton had embraced the â€Å"digital office† to maniacal proportions, eschewing the overflow of file cabinets for the compact, searchable simplicity of his personal computer, into which he fed enormous amounts of information-digitized meeting notes, scanned articles, speeches, brainstorms. Sexton's computer was his sacred ground, and he kept his office locked at all times to protect it. He even refused to connect to the Internet for fear of hackers infiltrating his sacred digital vault. A year ago Gabrielle would never have believed any politician would be stupid enough to store copies of self-incriminating documents, but Washington had taught her a lot. Information is power. Gabrielle had been amazed to learn that a common practice among politicians who accepted questionable campaign contributions was to keep actual proof of those donations-letters, bank records, receipts, logs-all hidden away in a safe place. This counterblackmail tactic, euphemistically known in Washington as â€Å"Siamese insurance,† protected candidates from donors who felt their generosity somehow authorized them to assert undue political pressure on a candidate. If a contributor got too demanding, the candidate could simply produce evidence of the illegal donation and remind the donor that both parties had broken the law. The evidence ensured that candidates and donors were joined at the hip forever-like Siamese twins. Gabrielle slipped behind the senator's desk and sat down. She took a deep breath, looking at his computer. If the senator is accepting SFF bribes, any evidence would be in here. Sexton's computer screensaver was an ongoing slideshow of the White House and its grounds created for him by one of his gung-ho staffers who was big into visualization and positive thinking. Around the images crawled a ticker-tape banner that read: President of the United States Sedgewick Sexton†¦ President of the United States Sedgewick Sexton†¦ President of the†¦ Gabrielle jostled the mouse, and a security dialogue box came up. Enter Password:_ She expected this. It would not be a problem. Last week, Gabrielle had entered Sexton's office just as the senator was sitting down and logging onto his computer. She saw him type three short keystrokes in rapid succession. â€Å"That's a password?† she challenged from the doorway as she walked in. Sexton glanced up. â€Å"What?† â€Å"And here I thought you were concerned about security,† Gabrielle scolded good-naturedly. â€Å"Your password's only three keys? I thought the tech guys told us all to use at least six.† â€Å"The tech guys are teenagers. They should try remembering six random letters when they're over forty. Besides, the door has an alarm. Nobody can get in.† Gabrielle walked toward him, smiling. â€Å"What if someone slipped in while you're in the loo?† â€Å"And tried every combination of passwords?† He gave a skeptical laugh. â€Å"I'm slow in the bathroom, but not that slow.† â€Å"Dinner at Davide says I can guess your password in ten seconds.† Sexton looked intrigued and amused. â€Å"You can't afford Davide, Gabrielle.† â€Å"So you're saying you're chicken?† Sexton appeared almost sorry for her as he accepted the challenge. â€Å"Ten seconds?† He logged off and motioned for Gabrielle to sit down and give it a try. â€Å"You know I only order the saltimbocca at Davide. And that ain't cheap.† She shrugged as she sat down. â€Å"It's your money.† Enter Password:_ â€Å"Ten seconds,† Sexton reminded. Gabrielle had to laugh. She would need only two. Even from the doorway she could see that Sexton had entered his three-key password in very rapid succession using only his index finger. Obviously all the same key. Not wise. She could also see that his hand had been positioned over the far left side of his keyboard-cutting the possible alphabet down to only about nine letters. Choosing the letter was simple; Sexton had always loved the triple alliteration of his title. Senator Sedgewick Sexton. Never underestimate the ego of a politician. She typed SSS, and the screensaver evaporated. Sexton's jaw hit the floor. That had been last week. Now, as Gabrielle faced his computer again, she was certain Sexton would not have taken time yet to figure out how to set up a different password. Why would he? He trusts me implicitly. She typed in SSS. Invalid Password – Access Denied Gabrielle stared in shock. Apparently she had overestimated her senator's level of trust. 110 The attack came without warning. Low out of the southwest sky above the Goya, the lethal silhouette of a gunship helicopter bore down like a giant wasp. Rachel had no doubt what it was, or why it was here.

Superstition Essay

English Composition Dr. Linfoot 30 September 2010 Worried Sick Believe it or not most of us are affected by some form of anxiety in our everyday life. Weather it is being shy when talking in front of a large audience or worrying about a big paper you have to write for your English class. These are both common forms of anxiety related issues. Though neither is very severe both can be attributed to a manifestation of anxiety. It is believed that it is normal for everyone to experience a mild amount of anxiety during their lifetime. Common mild anxiety can be attributed to the stresses of everyday life. Anxiety diagnosis is at an all time high and is the number one mental health problem throughout the world. Anxiety affects more than twenty million people worldwide. The physical effects of anxiety and its disorders can range from being very mild such as being stressed out, all the way to severe and debilitating. Anxiety disorders can become so chronic and debilitating, that just getting out of bed in the morning can be difficult for a person suffering from a form of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety does not discriminate it affects every race, ethnicity, gender and social class. Nobody is immune to it. A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears† (qtd. In Root 1). Anxiety is an uncontrollable persistent feeling of dread, fear and worry. Anxiety can be attributed to a stressful or traumatic event that took place previously in a persons life. The early warning signs and symptoms of anxiety related disorders start with worrying excessively about minor matters. Mo re severe symptoms include muscle aches, tension and spasms along with shortness of breath and heart palpitations. People diagnosed with anxiety related disorders often experience other mental health problems such as depression. Depression caused by anxiety is often coupled with some form of substance abuse. Women are also statistically at a greater risk of developing an anxiety related disorder. There are six scientifically classified categories of adult anxiety related disorders. The most common anxiety disorder is known as generalized anxiety disorder. General anxiety disorder is usually developed before the age of twenty. Symptoms of this disorder include persistent uncontrollable worrying that lasts longer than six months at a time. Eighty percent of people with this form of anxiety are also diagnosed with depression as well. Panic disorder is another form of anxiety. Panic disorder is also known as panic attacks. During a panic attack a person feels an intense feeling of panic and apprehension. Panic attacks happen often but sporadically and usually do not last longer than ten minutes. It is medically unknown what triggers panic attacks in people. Anxiety researchers suggest â€Å"These attacks are typically experienced out of the blue, and are not precipitated by a situational trigger†(Crits et al. 16). The most diverse category of anxiety disorders are phobias. Phobias are inexplicable and illogical fears of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. People suffering from phobias worry about what will happen when they come in contact with that particular object, class of objects or situation. Phobias can range from the fear of heights, to the fear of a certain animals. Social anxiety disorder is also known as social phobia. People with this disorder fear social situations or interactions where they are the center of attention. They fear embarrassing themselves in front of others thus increasing their own anxiety levels. In a social setting people suffering from social anxiety disorder tend to sweat and become visibly flustered. People with this disorder try and avoid these social situations all together and are usually always self conscious type people. I think one way or the other we all have our own manifestation of social anxiety, I know I do. Presently there is a handful mainstream television shows dedicated to documenting people living with obsessive compulsive disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is type of anxiety disorder where a person experiences repeated involuntary obsessions and compulsions. Involuntary obsessions and compulsions such as distracting ritualistic thoughts and behaviors. People suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder often spend hours a day performing their individual rituals. In a small number of cases people only suffer from a compulsion and not an obsession or vice versa. It is believed that obsessive compulsive disorder can be linked to superstition. Like superstition people with obsessive compulsive disorder tend to perform certain rituals in hopes of preventing bad things from happening to them. If left untreated obsessive compulsive disorder is known to be the most physically debilitating of all known anxiety disorders. Today post traumatic stress disorder is the most highly publicized form of all anxiety disorders. There are numerous service members coming back from both the present wars and being diagnosed with this disorder. Post traumatic stress disorder occurs as a result of experiencing a highly traumatic event such as combat, death, rape, abuse and so on. People suffering from post traumatic stress disorder often have flashbacks of that traumatic event. Flashbacks can often be triggered by something that reminds them of that traumatic event. People diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder often feel helpless from preventing the same traumatic event from occurring again. Without treatment people diagnosed with anxiety disorders often have difficulty ever leading a normal life again. There are a handful of treatment methods used by different doctors to treat anxiety disorders, but not all have been proven to be effective. Medications and psychotherapies are the two different categories of treatment methods for anxiety disorders that have proven to be most effective. The main form of psychotherapy used to treat anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy uses either individual or group therapy sessions to gradually expose a patent to his or her fears, obsessions or anxiety provoking situations. It may take several sessions for a patient to see any progression toward their goal of overcoming their anxiety disorder. By the end of the scheduled treatment therapists ultimate goal is to try and prove to the patient that their dysfunctional thought processes are unrealistic. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a slow process but has been proven to be the most effective form f psychotherapy used to treat anxiety disorders. Medication is only used in treating anxiety disorders if the patient showed little or no progress with therapy. There are several different brands of medications doctors can prescribe to treat anxiety disorders. But all brands commonly fall into three classes. The first class of medication prescribed by doctors is called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have proven to be very effective. The medication helps raise the patients level of serotonin in the brain. With continued use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors the patients overall sense of anxiety is reduced, and sense of well being is highly elevated. If selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors do not work for a patient, doctors then prescribe Benzodiazepines. Benzodiazepines enhance the effects of natural neurotransmitters in the brain that calm and relax a person. Benzodiazepines produce a calm, almost sedative state. Benzodiazepines are highly effective but patients can become tolerable of the drug, therefore the drug is only used for less than two weeks at a time. The third category of medication is called Monoamine oxidase inhibitors or MAOIs. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are used by sufferers of anxiety disorders but only used in a medical setting. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are not intended for daily use. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are highly potent drugs and it is easy for a patient to overdose. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors require a strict diet and do not interact well with other drugs. Because of these restrictions and dangers monoamine oxidase inhibitors are not commonly used today. To me anxiety disorders are very similar to viruses like the common cold. Everybody gets them from time to time and they can be treated, but you are never completely cured from them. All the therapy and medication in the world will not help a person completely get over their anxiety disorder. But thankfully there is always help available. During the last forty years there has been significant progress in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety disorders. Today doctors are now far better able to diagnose and treat anxiety disorders. The number of people diagnosed with anxiety disorders has been skyrocketing over the last few decades. I am curious to know if the umber has been climbing because of better diagnosis methods, meaning in the past people went untreated. Or could it be because people are just fearful of where the world is possibly headed? Only time and more research will be able to tell. Even a small amount of anxiety if left untreated can build up and develop into a full blown disorder. Anxiety and its disorders need to be taken seriously. They are very serious illnesses and should always be addressed. Like I stated before, a small amount of anxiety from time to time is normal. It is how you deal with your anxiety that is most important. Works cited Crits, K. , Greg, J. , Efran, J. , Greunberg, A. , Felgoise, S. , Hayes, S. , . . . Lackie, B. (2007). Anxiety Disorders : A Practitioner's Guide to Comparative Treatments (Gosch & R. DiTomasso, Eds. ). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated. Retrieved from http://site. ebrary. com/lib/excelsior/docDetail. action? docID=10176162 Root, B. (2000). Understanding Panic and Other Anxiety Disorders (B. Root, Ed. ). MS: University Press of Mississippi. Retrieved from http://site. ebrary. com/lib/excelsior/docDetail. action? docID=10157894

Davis Humanics Case Essay

To: From: CC: Date: Re: DH Board of Directors Henry G Young James Barry 9/12/2010 CRM System In understanding that historically that all decisions re: capital investments were based on the ROI (Return On Investment) method. I asking the Board of Director to please see my attached outlined benefits and cost of implementation for the CRM System. While the results of my outlined benefits are calculated with a worst case scenario basis, I would request that the Board look at the long term gain for the company which is not only inclusive of the financial gains. DH use of the ROI method can be manipulated to suit those against or even for this system so this should not be the only method used for this project. The figures in the attached benefit and value proposal does indicate that the project will cost roughly $1,000,000. 00 – $2,000,000. 00 just to acquire the CRM system and another $1,000,000. 00 for all implementation, up-training , maintenance, etc. There are so many other methods that may be used whether it is a payback period or net present value or a net present value and payback period combined, the Board is encouraged to investigate or entertain future discussions on this matter until we can come to some agreement and move forward. In the meantime the company is growing and so are our clients acquisitions. DH closed $2 billion in sales with our 1000 employees using an inundated system last year. A CRM system this year would lend to efficiency, improved customer/client satisfaction and position in the marketplace. Henry Young Project Team Leader 1

Marketing strategies to attract buyers in times of financial crisis Essay

Marketing strategies to attract buyers in times of financial crisis - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to find out how companies in different parts of the world have responded to the global financial crisis in terms of changing their marketing strategies to address the changed needs and preferences of the customers during the financial crisis. Questions that are answered in this paper include; what are the patterns of change in the needs and preferences of the customers during the financial crisis? What are the principles of successful marketing during the times of financial crisis? What should be the companies’ focus during financial crisis to sustain their business and profitability despite the economic pressure? A lot of research has been recently made to study the effects of the recent global financial crisis on the companies as well as the consumers. During any financial crisis, consumers generally become worried about their future psychologically whether or not they have experienced the physical effects of the financial crisis in terms of lack or insufficiency of money themselves. This causes the consumers to become very much concerned about proper use of their money. The preferences of consumers change from luxuries to basic necessities, and they become very critical about the quality of products they purchase. This has many implications on the companies because they need to redesign their marketing strategies to address the changed needs and preferences of the consumers. Findings of this research and the topic of this term paper is of huge significance to the companies that are doing business in the contemporary age when the economy is recovering from the effects of the recent global financial crisis. Also, companies can benefit from these findings in the future during any possible financial crisis. Answers to the aforementioned questions have been found from a review of literature based on the findings of latest researches made to study the effect of the recent global financial crisis on the consumers’ behavior and the market strategies of the companies. 2. Current Research on the Topic 2.1 Effect of Financial Crisis on the Customers’ Behavior and Companies Market Strategies in Romania (Nistorescu and Puiu) conducted a qualitative study to study the way marketing strategies were adapted by the Romanian retailers to the changed buying behavior of the consumers during the global financial crisis. To accomplish this, (Nistorescu and Puiu) collected the empirical data from two companies, namely Carrefour and Real Hypermarket that belong to the Romanian retail sector. The researchers collected the primary data from the information shared on their websites, articles, as well as their annual reports. (Nistorescu and Puiu) observed the implementation of similar changes in the needs and preferences of their consumers during the crisis. Accordingly, both companies adopted similar marketing strategies during the financial crisis e.g. both used loyalty programs and in-store commercial to strengthe n their contact with their respective customers. 2.2 Effect of Financial Crisis on the Customers’ Behavior and Companies Market Strategies in Turkey (Koksal and Ozguk) conducted a quantitative research to examine the effect of financial crisis

Statistics in Business Decision Making Term Paper

Statistics in Business Decision Making - Term Paper Example As discussed in the introduction that this paper will attempt to describe statistical tools such as mean, standard deviation, variance etc. These statistical tools often come under the heading of descriptive statistics as they are the main tools used to collect data quantitatively and present in the more meaningful manner to draw some logical conclusions from the data collected. Once data is collected, it is nothing more than a raw set of data which may provide no clue about the potential information that they may provide. Thus one meaningful way of manipulating the data will calculate the mean or average of the data. It is also important to note that mean values may provide distorted information because of the outliers effect. One large observation value can distort the results and mean values may become more inflated due to the impact of outliers or larger values in the population.Mean value is considered as one of the most significant and important measures especially in finance. There are various uses of this measure in finance i.e. from measuring the average rate of return on an investment to calculating the weighted average rate of return of a portfolio.Similarly, average values are also calculated for studying the costs also as concepts such as average cost, average variable costs, average fixed costs are important concepts to understand in order to make important business decisions because controlling costs is one of the fundamental responsibilities of the managers.

Brand Portfolio Project (advertising) Case Study

Brand Portfolio Project (advertising) - Case Study Example In 1964, the first year of its operation, the company sold about1300 pairs of shoes generating revenues of about $8000 dollars. The company acquired a full-time employee in 1965, with an annual turnover of close to $20000. With the increased sales volume and growth in stock, the company opened its first retail store in 3107 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California in 1966. Because of the rapid growth in revenues and demand for the company’s products, the company in 1967 expanded its operations to the East Coast in Wellesley, Massachusetts. As the relationship between Blue Ribbon Sports and Onitsuka Tiger approached its final stages in the year 1971, Blue Ribbon Sports was preparing to launch its new footwear designed by Carolyn Davidson (Frisch 6). In June 1971, Blue Ribbon Sports, branded as Nike first used the Swoosh designed footwear, subsequently registering for a trademark and patents of the products. Over time, the company has grown tremendously due to the extensive us e of television advertising for their products. Getting into a number of partnerships with different individuals such as John Brown and partners and Wilden+Kennedy, the later who has remained the official advertising agency for the company, Nike has successfully managed to transform its operations from a small company to a multi-billion dollar enterprise (Google finance Web). In the fiscal year 2012, Nike managed revenues in excess of US $24.1 billion. With the increase in product quality and focus on customer satisfaction, the once small distributor of athletics wear and apparel currently has a market value of approximately $10.7 billion (Nike Inc. web). This makes Nike the biggest company in the sports and athletics brands, ahead of companies such as adidas. Nike’s Mission The company’s mission statement drives its growth and success, making it a profitable and high performing organization in the sports business. This forms the ultimate goal of its operations, gearin g its management and employees to work in an enthusiastic way. According to Nike inc. (web), the company’s mission is, â€Å"To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.† Objectives and Strategies Although initially the company used TV as the dominant advertising strategy, in the recent past a number of strategies drives the advertising campaign of Nike. Among the most significant advertising methods forming the company’s current advertising strategy, include internet marketing, email management technologies and broadcast, methods that the company believes directly influences its target customers. The ability of the company to select reliable media to convey its messages and sell its products to the right people is the main reason for its success. Additionally, the company creatively uses these media forms to complement each other, creating a bigger impact in the market than any other sports company does. As the world started embracing adve rtising and corporations started using internet as an advertising tool, Nike too launched its website in the year 1997 in a bid to market its products. As the company took its products to the internet-advertising platform, it adopted an email management system called EchoMail that integrated its emails into one database center. In order to offer its loyal customers personalized services, the company decided to

Intellectual Property Rights Infringement of TV Productions Essay

Intellectual Property Rights Infringement of TV Productions - Essay Example The UK law does not require copyright to be registered as trademarks, designs and patents. A copyright in UK is created automatically with the creation of the work. Therefore, it can be enforced in case of infringement without prior registration in UK. Conversely, the other member countries of the Berne Convention require that copyright should be registered to create evidence of original author of the work and the time of creation. This way it assists the courts in deciding copyright infringement cases. In UK, there is no such mandatory requirement to register for enforcement of copyrights in the courts. Likewise, the symbol  © is not required by law in UK to be used on the literary, artistic, musical, cinematographic, records and related rights either. It is understood that these works are copyrighted and protected under CDPA, 1988. On the other hand, there are countries and people in UK who still use symbol  © on their works to show that these are copyrighted works and in case of infringement can be fully enforced against the infringer. The law of copyright protection provides the exclusive protection to the author to make copies of the work, sell or license it and use it for any purpose whatsoever. It provides protection to the broadcasters and singers in the shape of exclusive rights to their broadcasted work to ensure that others do not infringe upon their rights. The law recognizes 50 years of protection to films and cinematographic works from the date of the manufacturing of the work (Copyright Service 2012). Likewise, the copyrights in the broadcast last for 50 years, starting from the end of the calendar year in which the broadcast was first made. The copyright in the work arises automatically... This essay discusses the copyright law of UK and intellectual property rights, that constitute transforming ideas into tangible products and services. The diversity in the ideas that give rise to products and services today, requires that there are different protections available for every different aspect of a product or service. Likewise, the concept of protection of these products and services was highlighted in 1886 and a treaty came into existence titled Berne Convention for the Protection of Copyrights and Artistic Works. It was realized that the intellectual property in the form of literary, musical and artistic works requires protection globally, and all countries which are members of the World Trade Organization shall become members of the Berne Convention. The UK law does not require copyright to be registered as trademarks, designs and patents. A copyright in UK is created automatically with the creation of the work. Therefore, it can be enforced in case of infringement wi thout prior registration in UK. The copyright in the work arises automatically as it is created with the work. It is not mandatory to register a copyright for a work. However, if registered, it can be easily proved in the courts of law in case any instance of infringement has occurred. According to the UK law on copyrights and related rights, the film and TV productions can be entirely covered under copyright protection. The copyright holder can either sell the rights in the film and TV production or license it to others to broadcast it.