The History Of The Sewing Machine

The History Of The Sewing Machine The art of sewing was invented in the Paleolithic era, where early men used sharp pointed tools called awls to poke holes in pieces of leather and then thread a strip of leather or sinew through the leather to make coverings for cold weather. Then, the idea to make a notch at the end of the awl came about and it allowed the thread to be attached to the awl, this made sewing a lot easier and more efficient.  [1]  Since then, implements for sewing have been tremendously enhanced and refined, but the most significant improvement made to the process of sewing is the invention of the sewing machine. For this essay, I will focus on the introduction and the proliferation of the sewing machine for use in the household in 19th to early 20th century in Europe and America. I will also examine the role that it played in society and the various issues related to the sewing machine in this period of time. History Up to the early and mid 19th century in Europe, sewing was all done by hand, everything from clothing to bed linen and curtains had to be sewn by hand, usually by the women of the family, including girls. It constituted a large part of womens labour in the home. The skills of sewing and embroidery were taught to girls from a young age, and they were expected to be proficient at it. Even girls from rich families which could afford to hire seamstresses were expected to proficient in sewing. The sewing machine was significant enough such that in 1855, the influential and powerful magazine Godeys Ladys Book hailed the sewing machine as the The Queen of Inventions for the time and labour that it would save women.  [2]   The first viable, working sewing machine was invented by French tailor Barthà ©lemy Thimonnier in 1830. By 1841, he has produced eighty machines for use by the French military to sew uniforms. A group of tailors, being fearful of the new technology, broke into the factory and destroyed the machines as they were afraid that the machines would ruin their livelihoods. In 1846, America, a mechanic Elias Howe came up with another design for the sewing machine, using the lockstitch instead of Thimonniers chain stitch method. However, the machine was not well received in America and Howe travelled to England to seek financing for the production for his machine. Upon his return to America, he discovered that the inventors Isaac Singer and Walter Hunter had improved on his design, with a rigid instead of a vibrating arm, similar to the sewing machines that we have today. The machine they made had become a commercial success. After that, many sewing machine companies were set up and many peop le made improvements to the design of the sewing machine. To resolve patent issues, some of these companies came together to form the Sewing Machine Corporation. The next major improvement in the design of sewing machines with Singer Manufacturing Companys introduction of the electricity powered sewing machine.  [3]   Marketing the sewing machine One thing about the sewing machine which I found interesting was the way in which it was marketed and how the marketing of the sewing machine changes as peoples perception of the sewing machine changed. Some of the earliest French advertising material for sewing machines were targeted at men and showed a soldier at the sewing machine. From its introduction until the 1850s, the sewing machine was targeted at men and for industrial use, until it was suggested to Singer Sewing Company that they create a machine for domestic use. Henceforth, the advertising of the sewing machine was targeted at women.  [4]   The marketing strategy was altered to react to the changes of womens view on the increasingly common sewing machine. When the sewing machine was first made available, it was expensive and unaffordable and hence became a status symbol for the wealthier families. The time saved could be used for teaching their children or simply resting. From the 1850s to the 1870s, the sewing machine was also marketed as a piece of furniture, which led to some of the higher end sewing machines coming with cabinet cases that were rather elaborate and fanciful. The sewing machine continued to gain in popularity and by the 1890s, it was common enough for it to lose its association as a status symbol. This led to a change in the perception of the sewing machine. Instead of being something meant to be displayed, it was now a tool that was best hidden from view, even though it was still frequently used. This led to modifications in the new types of machines being introduced, such as the drop head model, whe re the machine could be folded into a table and out of sight after use.  [5]  ,  [6]   Another event that altered the role of the sewing machine was the rise of the ready-to-wear clothing industry in the 1920s. Unlike today, readymade clothing were of better quality but more costly compared to home sewn clothing as they were made by professional dressmakers. At this period of time, the sewing machine was marketed as a money saving tool, allowing women to save some money by sewing their own clothing and look as polished as if they were wearing ready to wear clothing. Advertising from a sewing machine company then claimed that with the help of Greist attachments, the items sewn at home have a finished look instead of a home-made look  [7]   Pioneering new forms of technology An idea in the marketing of the sewing machine which I found worthy of exploration was the idea of hire purchase that began in the 1890s. Clothing manufacturers were unwilling to invest in sewing machines as labour was both cheap and plentiful. Due to the abundance of labour, the wages of the working women were low and their work undervalued.  [8]  The working class women were the group of people that would benefit the most from owning a sewing machine of their own. However, few people from this class of society could afford to buy one, as a sewing machine could cost anywhere from a fifth to half of their yearly income. Owning a sewing machine would allow them to take on more pieces of work and possibly improve their standard of living, making the sewing machine a very attractive piece of equipment. Through the installment plans, women could possibly afford to purchase a machine  [9]  . Though the idea of hire-purchase did not originate from the sewing machine industry, it wa s one of the early pioneers of this method of purchase and the first industry to extend direct credit to the consumer. It was ingenious of the industry to recognize the potential of installment schemes back when such methods of payment were unheard. This is in contrast to todays world where there are hire purchase schemes available for most major purchases. The Sewing Machine and the Industrial Revolution One of the trademarks of the Industrial Revolution was the idea of standardized and interchangeable parts. This process was first utilized by the ammunitions manufacturing industry to produce multiple parts with great precision to produce weapons like muskets. The same level of precision was required in the manufacturing of sewing machines. Isaac Singer saw the potential in this process and his company was one of the first to take advantage of this manufacturing process.  [10]  Production by this method ensured that any two machines of the same type were identical and the quality of the machines remained constant  [11]  . This allowed the sewing machine to be produced on the assembly line, and in turn caused the cost of production to be dramatically decreased, allowing the company to pass the savings on to the consumers. Also, interchangeable parts allowed repairs to be made effortlessly should a part of the machine be broken as the manufacturer could simply send over another piece similar to the one that was broken.  [12]  This made the sewing machine more appealing to the customers especially when coupled together with the decrease in price. The sewing machine was one of the inventions among others that were created during the Industrial Revolution and led to changes in the role that women play in society. The introduction of machines such as the sewing machine, washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners saved women in the household much time and effort.  [13]  This allowed women to receive more educational opportunities and the ability to become a skilled worker and be engaged in occupations such as teaching or nursing where their labour is of value. Women were no longer tied up in the household carrying out household chores. Conclusion To conclude, I feel that the sewing machine is one of the more significant inventions to be made during the years of the Industrial Revolution. The the study of the sewing machines can help us understand world events and issues that took place during that period of time such as the Industrial Revolution, and the changes in the lives of women. Also, when compared to todays world, the role that the sewing machine plays in the society is vastly different than the role that it played back in the late 1800s. The domestic sewing machine is now something of a novelty. This is just another example to show that as society changes, the needs of the people changes with it. What was regarded as a necessity in the household back then is no longer a necessity today. Beaudry, Mary C. Findings. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Coffin, Judith G. The Politics of Womens work. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996. Connolly, Marguerite. The Disappearance of the Domestic Sewing Machine, 1890-1925. Winterthur Portfolio, 1999: 31-48. McClellan, James E.,and Dorn, Harold. Science and technology in world history:An Introduction. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2006. Zakreski, Patricia. Representing Female Artistic Labour, 1848-1890. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2006.

Bei Dao’s Poem ‘An End or a Beginning’ Essay

Bei Dao’s Poem ‘An End or a Beginning’ depicts the endless protestors ‘murdered’ by the cruelty of the Cultural Revolution and the continuity of life in search of hope after many lives taken away. The loss of hope looked for â€Å"In every dream† after every day, reinforces the everlastingly hunt of freedom and end of the Cultural Revolution even though it feels just out of grasp and the sacrifice to get there is unavoidable. The setting of the poem in nature where the â€Å"trees†, â€Å"clouds† and â€Å"stars† are, connotes the freedom of the outdoors with no restrictions contrasting with the people living under the unnatural aggression of the Cultural Revolution. The destruction of the people’s freedom is shown in stanza one where someone protests like â€Å"the sun rises† and â€Å"A heavy shadow, like a road Shall run across the land† will destroy the pureness of one’s courage. The sun is like a person’s boldness to ‘stand’ against the Cultural Revolution like the nature of the sun rising and the ‘heavy shadow’ looming over the sun darkens the atmosphere covering all hope and demolishes it like how nature is corrupted by roads built for the selfishness of man. The repeated anticipation of hope can be seen even after the brutality of oppression by the revolution. The persona’s personal response can be seen in stanza five to emphasize the search for the hope of new beginning. The repetition of ‘I look for’ portray the things dreamed for all of which are beautiful images of nature which connote freedom and places of no boundaries. Contrasting this ideal illustration, the actual land with â€Å"A heavy shadow†, â€Å"A sorrowing mist† covered with â€Å"wretched cigarette stubs† all convey negative images of a worn area. The structure of the poem follows similar lines in each stanza except stanza 4 where the word â€Å"towmen† is on its own near the middle of the paragraph. The diction â€Å"towmen† used all alone in one line emphasizes how people are pulled and manipulated by the communists who control the Cultural Revolution. The Yellow River mentioned before the â€Å"towmen† shows how much impact the communists has had as the Yellow River is a very important river in China. By asking if â€Å"even the ropes of the Yellow River† can be controlled is like questioning how the manipulators could be so powerful. As the Poem comes to the end, the stanzas very slightly diminishes to allow the reader feel a less abrupt ending which relates to the sadness of a dying end. Death throughout the poem is constantly mentioned to illustrate its recurrence. Diction such as â€Å"murdered†, â€Å"gone†, â€Å"forever† all convey the permanent lost of lives which cannot be stopped but only replaced and repeated due to the unforgiving violence of the Revolution. The hope of renewing the land can be seen in stanza six where Dao explains how â€Å"fresh blood† needs to be shed in order to help rebuild the land and create new life and hope â€Å"on tomorrow’s branches†. Branches, relating to trees display an image of life and growth which provide â€Å"The ripened fruit† which would mean the country being able to feed and look after itself because of the lives killed to make the land â€Å"fertile† and grow. Repetition is used a lot in the poem. The repetition of ‘Here I stand Replacing another, who has been murdered† represent all the protestors who stood up against the Revolution, died and then replaced and killed again. This is used to exemplify the problem which gives people â€Å"no other choice† but to keep doing it because there is no other way out and hope which is only â€Å"Stars† which â€Å"glimmer in the wind†. Wind being a powerful source contrasts with the small glimmering stars which connote hope emphasize how there is little chance of survival. ‘An End or a Beginning’ uses the strong image of nature to represent the freedom of which is natural with the dark gloomy illustrations of â€Å"clouds†, â€Å"mists† and â€Å"wind† to convey the dark disasters of the Cultural revolution causing devastation and â€Å"growing forests of gravestones† ending lives where hope is already slim increasing loss.

Children with Paid Work Essay

Nowadays, more and more children work for money. To some extent, paid work can help children to learn, to take responsibilities and have some extra money. However, it is also controversial to discuss whether or not children should get involved in money pursuit. To my mind, this really has some advantages and disadvantages. Paid work can bring children some income. Children are supposed to get money from their parents, which partly causes their parents some burden and make children annoyed when they cannot meet their essential demands. With some extra money, children and their parents might feel better. Children with paid work are likely to/ to be suppose to appear more responsible. They have to work seriously and efficiently, or they will be sacked. Their income really pays for their hard work; therefore, they seem to be wiser in spending money. Working can make children more experienced and well-disciplined. Children are also asked to be punctual if they work. They have to learn how to sell well, how to behave properly with customers, with their co-workers and with their boss. They also have to follow the working culture of the company. On the other hand, working might cause a lot of trouble to children. They might neglect in their study; they might feel too tired to do a good job in his schoolwork. More seriously, they might find it much better to work rather than to study or they might misrecognize that they do not need to study because they can earn money without studying further, which can harm much the future generation. In common, children can get engaged in some paid work, but they have to follow an appropriate plan so that they can learn to be responsible and do a good job as a student. Otherwise, they had better focus on only studying.

Copyright Infringement is Immoral - 1165 Words

The average person wouldnt even consider walking into a music store and stealing a CD, however, with todays technology getting music without paying for it is so easy it barely seems illegal. Copyright infringement is a huge ethical issue going on right now. From downloading movies and music from peer-to-peer programs as well as various websites to being able to stream a movie at the click of a button without a copy ever being saved on the computer its so simple, anyone could get addicted to doing it. For some of these reasons many argue that copyright infringement is a moral thing to do, but on the other hand others believe it is just as immoral as stealing. When comparing and contrasting reasons for why copyright infringement is moral and why it is immoral I think when it comes down to it it is stealing and would obviously be immoral. Before comparing the morality of copyright infringement it needs to be understood what copyright infringement is and how it is done. Coming directly f rom the United States Copyright Office. Copyright infringement is â€Å"when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner† (par 5). Its pretty obvious that downloading copyrighted music from a website for free without owners permission is copyright infringement, but there are other things that also constitute as infringement that many people havent even considered. For example:Show MoreRelatedCopyright And Copyright Of Copyright1097 Words   |  5 PagesMain heading: Introduction Content: Introduction Copyright †¢ What is a copyright †¢ Protection †¢ Registration †¢ Infringement Trademarks †¢ What is a trademark †¢ Trademark registration †¢ Trademark infringement Patents †¢ What is a patent †¢ Types of patents †¢ Patent registration References Main heading: Copyright Content: A Copyright is legal protection granted to original works, however it does not cover an idea in and of itself, it only covers the expression of it in a fixed or physical form. TheRead MoreThe Definition Of Illegal, Unethical And Immoral1152 Words   |  5 PagesThe Definition of Illegal, Unethical and Immoral Definitions are important in any piece of persuasive writing. In particular, it is important that both the writer and the reader understand the particular term that is being defined. This process makes sure that both the author and the reader have the same definitions. This paper attempts to provide definitions for three particular terms: illegal, unethical, and immoral and makes clear distinctions among them. According to the New Oxford AmericanRead MoreThe Morality Of Peer And File Sharing1231 Words   |  5 Pagesmy position with an appeal to law and an appeal to consequences. In the United States, it is illegal to make or download copies of copyrighted material. Argument The internet completely changed the business of copyright infringement. While the internet makes it easier to identify copyright violations, it also enables those same violators to a previously unprecedented degree. This is especially true of digital media: electronic copies of music or film. Digital piracy has moved from the world of highlyRead MoreEssay Forever 21: Too Good to Be True?1388 Words   |  6 PagesToo Good To Be True? 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Am I really hurting anyone?† you ask yourself. Peer-to-peer file sharing is nearly a 15 year old action that createsRead MoreIntellectual Property in Singapore Essay3319 Words   |  14 Pagesof Intellectual property are that business owners, they are given exclusive rights for the use of their trademark or even their identity, logo, which were originally established by them. Even for creative artistes like singers, artist are granted copyrights on their musical, drawings, artistic works for their creation. This would allow the artistes to protect their product from getting using by other people without claiming credits from the original owner while on a business perspective they are ableRead MoreCyber Ethics Should Be Addressed Sooner915 Words   |  4 Pageschecking social media, or accessing a wireless network. 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Product Risk And Uses Of Standard Deviation Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2614 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Risks and returns are the two most important concepts in the investing world. The concept of return, which is the profit on investment, is a very clear subject to many investors but the risk is often vague. Several approaches had been employed over times to measure the risks associated with investment portfolios. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Product Risk And Uses Of Standard Deviation Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Standard deviation is a popular basis for risk measurement used for investment purposes (Today Forward, 2010). Standard deviation hence helps to tell a story behind a data and the concept the normal distribution of data (Niles, 2010). This though has been a scary and sometimes complicated topic to people, students and practitioners as well (Niles, 2010; Williamson, 2010). Standard deviation was first discovered and used by a renaissance scientist in Victoria London, Karl Pearson in 1897 in his quest to help his friend Weldon to use the measure of variation to understand the evolution process and to use empirical evidence of natural selection to find out how new species emerged (Magnello, 2005). USES OF STANDARD DEVIATION Standard deviation is defined as a measure of dispersion of a set of data from its mean (Investopedia, 2010). It is calculated as the square root of variance. The more spread apart the data, the higher the deviation. It is also seen as a measure of variability among the values of a frequency distribution (Taylor Francis, 2009). Standard deviation, also known as historical volatility is also seen as the mean of the mean (Niles, 2010). However, in finance, standard deviation is applied to annual rate of return of an investment. This enables investors to measure and estimate the expected volatility of an investment over a period under consideration (Investopedia, 2010). The standard deviation is therefore given by the formula: where ÃÆ' Ãƒâ€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ = Standard deviation; ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å" = the sum of; and = means the mean (mathsrevision.net, 2010). Standard deviation assesses the degree of how the values are dispersed around the mean. It estimates the me an by assessing the error to which the mean of the sample is subject. In addition, it finds probability of events occurring in a given period (Manager-Net, 2008). In finance, the most common use of standard deviation is to the measure risk of holding a portfolio or security. It however, represents risk associated with a given security such as stocks, bonds, etc. Risk is an important factor used to determine how to efficiently manage a portfolio of investments as it determines the variation in return on the asset or portfolio and gives the investors a mathematical basis for investment decisions (Hedge funds Index, 2010). Standard deviation shows how close various values are clustered around the mean. When the standard deviation is small, the values are therefore tightly close together and the bell-shaped curve is steep. On the other hand, the bell curve is relatively flat when you have relatively high standard deviation. This is expressed graphically below (Niles, 2010). The re d area on the above graph represents one standard deviation from the mean and this account for about 68% of the people in this group. Two standard deviations from the mean are represented with green and accounts for about 95% of the people while three standard deviations from the mean are represented with blue and accounts for 99% of the people (Niles, 2010). STANDARD DEVIATION AS A RISK INDICATOR Standard deviation is also seen to have some outstanding qualities. Fitzgerald (1999) points out that standard deviation is used to estimate how accurate the sample mean is as an estimate of the population mean. In addition, it can also be used to convert scores which are calculated on different scales to scores on standard scale known as standard scores and this in turn gives an accurate idea of its relative importance or size. This, he said has several advantages for the decision maker. In statistical analysis, standard deviation is the most widely used measure of variation. Not only that, it is regarded as an excellent means of summarizing the extent of concentration of dispersion of values and it is relatively easy to use (Social Studies 201, 2006; Sharma, 2007). It also plays a very important role in comparing skewness and correlation (Sharma, 2007). Standard deviation also provides additional understanding of the future volatility of a funds performance, comparable to volatil ity of other funds in the sector or benchmark for the fund. The higher the volatility, the higher the average returns (CFP, 2005). In risk measurement, standard deviation is seen as important in modern portfolio theory and tin risk quantification by way of price volatility for asset classes and securities. In the measure of spread, standard deviation is very useful in that if the mean and standard deviation of a normal distribution are known, the percentile rank linked with any given score can be computed and it is also mathematically traceable (Hyperstat online contents, 2010). However, standard deviation also has its defects. It is believed to be difficult to calculate and interpret. It is also a mathematical construction which may be difficult to explain intuitively (Social Studies 201, 2006). More weight is however given to extreme values and less weight to those near the mean. (Sharma, 2007). Ibrahim et al, 2006, believes that standard deviation is influenced by extreme scor es. Arguably, while some critics believe that standard deviation offers a valuable tool for comparing one type of risk and is found useful in getting a general idea of available risks, others believe that it fails to reflect the true position of what happens in the capital markets in terms of how returns are distributed around the mean (JP, 2006). Standard deviation is also flawed in that in the calculation, it assumes a normal distribution and this normal distribution seems to work well in physics and general statistic and not risk. This is because it fails analysing the tendency of investment return to suffer fat tail distribution which constantly hunts the investment world. This simply means that less than normal events can and do happen once in a while and the basic concept of standard deviation does not cover this (JP, 2006; Glogger, 2008; JP Morgan, 2008/09). JP, 2006 also believes that standard deviation should neither be neglected nor used exclusively in risk measurement as the real world imperfections demand that a collection of flawed risk measures can be put together to outline the overall risk available. Carther, 2007 also points out the importance of standard deviation in reporting a funds volatility. It indicates a tendency of funds to drastically rise and fall in a short period of time. She however sees the calculation as intimidating though useful. There has been a contention however on the reliance of standard deviation as a measure of portfolio risk. This is because it is seen as being inconsistent. It is also said to assume symmetric distributions as it treats desirable upside movements as if they were as undesirable as downside movements (JP Morgan, 2008/09). This has called for alternatives in measure of risk. ALTERNATIVES TO STANDARD DEVIATION JP Morgan, (2008/09), sees Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR95) as it defines the average real portfolio loss (gain) in relative to the starting portfolio in the worst five percent of scenarios which is based on 10,000 simulations. Unlike standard deviation which sees risk as being only a one standard deviation event and fails to capture the fat left tail effects, CVaR95 is seen to have overcome this drawback as it captures both the asymmetric risk preferences of investors which is the fear of loss being greater than the gain and the incidence of fat left tails which is prompted by skewed return distributions (JP Morgan, 2009/09). The absolute mean deviation is regarded as the most direct alternative for standard deviation. This is the average of the absolute differences between each score and the overall mean. In a realistic situation where some of the measurements are in error, the mean deviation is seen to be more efficient than standard deviation. Though the standard deviation and mean deviation are not used for same measurement, standard deviation is always greater than the mean deviation, and there is more than one possible mean deviation to standard deviation and vice versa, the mean deviation is seen to be simpler to compute than the standard deviation (Gorard, 2004). Sharpe ratio derived in 1966 by William Sharpe has been popular in risk/return measures in finance. It is given by the formula; Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sharperatio.asp Gaurav and Kat (2002) point that one outstanding quality of Sharpe ratio is its simplicity in performance evaluation. This is done by calculating the highest expected return for a given standard deviation that is attainable which is the sum of interest rate and the product on the Sharpe ratio of market portfolio and standard deviation in question. An unlimited number of normally distributed funds can therefore be evaluated using this (Gaurav and Kat, 2002). Sharpe ratio also shows if a portfo lio return are due to result of excess risk of good investment decision, as the higher the Sharpe ratio, the higher the risk adjusted performance and vice versa (Vishwanath and Krishnamurti, 2009). Arguably, in as much as Sharpe ratio is simple, popular and easy to calculate, the drawback is that it is a restricted measure in the mean-variance frame work and it does not give a full picture of the fund performance (Jiang and Zhu, 2009.) It also assumes that the risk free rate is constant and this is not true. In addition, it can be problematic when it uses standard deviation to calculate the ratio of asymmetric return as standard deviation is most appropriately used to measure strategies that has approximate symmetric return distribution. In addition the Sharpe ratio is based on historical data and historical data are not reliable because past performance is not always an indicator for future results (Quantshare, 2010). Jensens Alpha is also an alternative measure of risk to stand ard deviation. It however, measures the degree to which a stocks average return exceeds the expected return, given the firms beta. Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/jensensmeasure.asp The outstanding quality of Jensens alpha is its ability to do a hypothesis test rather than comparison of the results (Beck et al, 2007). Similarly, the Treynor ratio looks like the Sharpe ratio, the difference being that the Treynor ratio uses Beta as a measurement of volatility. Treynor relies on Beta and this simply implies an assumption that non-systemic risk can be mitigated by diversification. As a result, the ratio has a limited utility in evaluating non-diversified portfolios. Treynors ratio is calculated as (Average Return of  the Portfolio Average Return of the  Risk-Free Rate)  /  Beta of the Portfolio Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/treynorratio.asp Comparatively, these measures are not suitable in all scenarios. Jense ns and Treynors ratio are not suitable for evaluation of hedgefunds as it gives no opportunity for the investment to be repriced and this, as a result can make investments appear less risky than they are. In addition, the rewards to risk ratios will most likely run for this portfolio in the premium collection cycle until a leveraged loss is sustained (Zigler, 2007). Conclusion Conclusively, in the investment world, risk is very important and cannot be separated from return and performance. Every investment, however involves some form of risk which can either low or high. Risk is therefore quantifiable both in relative and absolute terms and a good understanding of risk will help an investor or financial services make better financial decisions (Lamb, 2008). Beck, K and Niendorf, B. 2007. Good to Great, or Great Data Mining. (Online). Available from: https://69.175.2.130/~finman/Orlando/Papers/GreatDataMining.pdf. (Accessed 25th October, 2010). Carther, S. 2010. Understanding volatility measurements. (Online). Available from: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mutualfund/03/072303.asp (Accessed 15 October, 2010). Certificate in Financial Planning (CFP), 2005. CF2: Investment and Risk. London. BPP Professional Education. Gaurav, A and Kat, H M. 2002. Generalization of the Sharpe Ratio and the Arbitrage-Free Pricing of Higher Moments. ISMA Di scussion Papers in Finance 2002-15. (Online). Available from: https://www.icmacentre.ac.uk/pdf/discussion/DP2002-15.pdf. (Accessed 21 October, 2010). Glogger, M. 2008. Risk and Return. (Online). Available from: https://university.akelius.de/library/pdf/risk_and_return_martin_glogger.pdf (Accessed 12 October, 2010). Gorard, S. 2004. Revisiting a 90-year-old debate: the advantages of the mean deviation. Online. Available from: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00003759.htm. (Accessed 20th October, 2010). Graeme, P. 2010 Standard Deviation. (Online). Available from: https://moneyterms.co.uk/standard-deviation/. (Accessed 08 October, 2010). Fitzerald, J. (1999). The Uses of Variation. (Online). Available from: https://www.actualanalysis.com/vary.htm (Accessed 10 October, 2010) Hedge fund Consistency Index, 2010. Standard Deviation (Online). Available from https://www.hedgefund-index.com/d_standarddev.asp. (Accessed 10th October, 2010). Hypersat Online Contents, 2010. Standard Deviation and Variance. (Online). Available from: https://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/A16252.html. (Accessed 20th October, 2010). 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Racism s Impact On Our Society - 1625 Words

Racism’s Impact on Our Society In Kiese Laymon’s â€Å"My Vassar College Faculty ID Makes Everything OK†, he cites many examples of pieces of racism that he witnessed in Poughkeepsie, New York, a small town in New York on the Hudson River. This town is the last place where the stereotypes suggest racism lives, a wealthy small town in the northeast United States. Kiese Laymon looks at the experiences of black and brown people in America to highlight the effects of racism in their everyday lives. While Kiese Laymon is showing us that throughout his life he has experienced discrimination and racial profiling, these terrible experiences have helped him develop extraordinarily strong bonds with others who experience the same thing. Throughout this†¦show more content†¦Laymon also experiences racism in his own life as a professor who is treated quite poorly by his co-workers. Laymon is asked for his ID by security guards because they don’t believe that he works there and is talked down to b y professors and deans at Vassar College. Laymon writes, â€Å"I left that meeting knowing that there are few things more shameful than being treated like a nigger by †¦ intellectually and imaginatively average white Americans who are not, and will never have to be, half as good at their jobs as you are at yours† (Laymon, â€Å"My Vassar College ID Makes Everything OK†). This quote makes the reader critically evaluate those who are extremely successful and whether they could be as successful as they are if they were put in the disadvantageous position that Laymon is in. Laymon’s arguments cause his readers to think about their lives and how differently they could be if they were just born a different color. Not only does he divulge into his and other’s life experiences with racism, but he also looks at the instances where he intervened in this issues. Laymon comes to the defense of his wrongly accused and arrested students because he understands the terrible feeling that is accompanied by being racially profiled. Laymon writes, â€Å"Vassar College, ... a place so committed to access and what they call economic diversity, did its part to ensure that a black Poughkeepsie child, charged

Bill Gates Essay Research Paper William H free essay sample

Bill Gates Essay, Research Paper William H. Gates III and His Giant Bill Gates, cofounder of the Microsoft corporation, holds 30.7 per centum of its stock devising him one of the richest people in the United States. He was the selling and gross revenues strategist behind many of Microsoft # 8217 ; s package trades. Their package became the industry criterion in the early 1980s and has merely increased in distribution as the company has grown, so much that the Federal authorities is proposing that Microsoft has violated Sherman and Clayton antimonopoly Acts of the Apostless. Bill Gates # 8217 ; first involvement in computing machines began at Lakeside, a private school in Seattle that Gates attended. There he wrote his # 8220 ; first package plan when I was 13 old ages old. It was for playing tic-tac-toe # 8221 ; ( Gates 1 ) . It was at Lakeside that Gates met Paul Allen, who subsequently became cofounder with Gates of Microsoft. There they became friends and # 8220 ; began to mess around with the computing machine # 8221 ; ( Gates 2 ) . Back in the 1960ss and early 1970ss computing machine clip was expensive. # 8220 ; This is what drove me to the commercial side of the package concern # 8221 ; ( Gates 12 ) . Gates, Allen and a few others from Lakeside got entry-level package programming occupations. One of Gates early plans that he likes to boast about was written at this clip. It was a plan that scheduled categories for pupils. # 8220 ; I sneakily added a few instructions and found myself about the lone cat in a category full of misss # 8221 ; ( Gates 12 ) . In 1972 Intel released their first microprocessor bit: the 8008. Gates attempted to compose a version of BASIC ( Beginner # 8217 ; s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code ) for the new Intel bit, but the bit did non incorporate adequate transistors to manage it. Gates and Allen found a manner to utilize the 8008 and # 8220 ; started Traf-O-Data, a computing machine traffic analysis company # 8221 ; ( Clayton 452 ) It worked good nevertheless, marketing their new machine proved to be impossible. # 8220 ; No one really wanted to purchase the machine, at least non from a twosome adolescents # 8221 ; ( Gates 14 ) . Gates and Allen had more less successful enterprises in get downing a package company. In 1974 Intel announced their new bit: the 8080. The two college pupils sent off letters # 8220 ; to all the large computing machine companies, offering to compose them a version of BASIC for the new Intel bit. We got no takers # 8221 ; ( Gates 15 ) . While at Harvard, the cool thing to make was to slack off on categories for most of the semester and attempt and see how good the pupil could make at the terminal. Steve Ballmer and Gates # 8220 ; took a tough graduate- degree economic sciences class together- Economics 2010. The professor allowed you to wager your whole class on the concluding if you choose # 8221 ; ( Gates 40 ) . They did that, did non make anything for the category all semester, and studied and got A # 8217 ; s. During one of these slack off periods, Gates and Allen found a really little computing machine: the Altair 8800 # 8220 ; ( # 8217 ; Altair # 8217 ; was a finish in a Star Trek episode ) # 8221 ; ( Gates 16 ) . It had a few switches and visible radiations on the forepart that you could acquire to wink, but that was about all. This new bit had great possible, but there was no manner to plan it. After five hebdomads of non traveling to categories, non eating or kiping on a regular basis, their version of # 8220 ; BASIC was written- and the universe # 8217 ; s first personal computer package company was born. In clip we named it # 8216 ; Microsoft # 8217 ; # 8221 ; ( Gates 17 ) . Gates left Harvard on leave in 1975. Microsoft # 8217 ; s large economic interruption came in 1980 when # 8220 ; IBM- the computing machine industry leader- asked Gates to develop an operating system for its new personal computing machine # 8221 ; ( Clayton 452 ) . IBM normally did non utilize external aid in package design or hardware industry, but they wanted to let go of the first personal computing machine in less than a twelvemonth. # 8220 ; IBM had elected to construct its Personal computer chiefly from off-the-rack constituents available to anyone. This made a platform that was basically unfastened, which made it easy to copy # 8221 ; ( Gates 47 ) . IBM bought the microprocessors from Intel and licensed the operating system from Microsoft. Microsoft bought some work from another company in Seattle and hired its top applied scientist, Tim Paterson. The system became known as the Microsoft Disk Operating System, or MS-DOS. Now because of the licensing understanding between IBM and Microsoft, IBM had no control over Microsoft # 8217 ; s distribution of its MS-DOS to other companies who wanted to clone the IBM machine. This determination by IBM is still under great argument. Many industry analysts argue that IBM should hold waited for their ain package developers to develop an operating system or that IBM should hold purchased MS-DOS from Microsoft. However, from a more wide economic image of IBM # 8217 ; s determination, it may hold merely turned out for the good of Microsoft, IBM and the mean computing machine user. Microsoft # 8217 ; s # 8220 ; end was non to do money straight from IBM, but to gain from licencing MS- DOS to computing machine companies that wanted to offer machines more or less compatible with the IBM PC # 8221 ; ( Gates 49 ) . By leting Microsoft to sell MS-DOS to other companies, this made IBM # 8217 ; s Personal computer the industry # 8220 ; de facto # 8221 ; criterion. Wit h other companies scrambling to vie with IBM, Microsoft licensed MS-DOS to these companies and fulfilled one of Microsoft # 8217 ; s ends: # 8220 ; to make the criterion for the industry # 8221 ; ( Jobs 5 0 ) . Compaq Computer of Houston â€Å"launched [ the first ] ringer in 1982 and attained FORTUNE 500 position a light four old ages later† ( Schlender 42 ) . Hundreds of companies followed. MS-DOS dominated the market much like VHS beat out Betamax and how early Television gross revenues boomed. The more people bought the merchandise, the more companies produced it and with the telecasting, the more sets were sold, the more scheduling was available. This was a chief ground why Apple # 8217 ; s Macintosh merely controlled 9 % of the market ( Schlender 40 ) . # 8220 ; The Personal computer narrative would be far different if Apple had licensed its operating system package to other computing machine shapers early on # 8221 ; ( Cook 64 ) . In consequence, they had a monopoly on their ain system and package. Their deficiency of competition kept monetary values up and package choice down. Apple has merely late licensed some Macintosh runing systems to other companies. Microsoft has thrived on the ability to anticipate and understand the computing machine needs of the mean user. After Microsoft made their name with MS-DOS, they started work on a graphical based operating system much like Apple # 8217 ; s Macintosh computing machine. They called it Windows. Windows # 8220 ; swept the market # 8221 ; ( Clayton 452 ) . By 1993 it was selling over 1 million transcripts a month # 8220 ; and Microsoft runing systems ran about 90 per centum of the universe # 8217 ; s PC s # 8221 ; ( Clayton ) . Microsoft had good achieved their end of making the criterion for the industry ( Jobs 50 ) . However, because Microsoft enjoys a close monopoly, get downing in June of 1990, the # 8220 ; Federal Trade Commission, which portions antimonopoly legal power with the Department of Justice, took the first cleft, softly opening an enquiry # 8220 ; ( Cook 64 ) . Many other package companies have # 8220 ; cheered # 8221 ; ( Pain ) the authorities and offered a floo d of aid. One of the large ailments of computing machine makers is that they # 8220 ; must hold to pay package royalties # 8230 ; for every computing machine they ship, irrespective of whether the computing machine is sold with any Microsoft software. # 8221 ; It is # 8220 ; an all or nil trade # 8221 ; ( Rohm 92 ) . Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple and laminitis of Next, calls Microsoft the # 8220 ; # 8217 ; little opening # 8217 ; through which every other company must squash if it wants to take part in the Personal computer market # 8221 ; ( Schlender 41 ) . After two old ages of probe, # 8220 ; commissioners were deadlocked on whether to register an antimonopoly ailment # 8221 ; ( Cook ) . However, antimonopoly head Anne Bingaman continued the procedure with a high-profile probe. After roll uping information, carry oning interviews, and speaking to Gates, Microsoft signed an understanding that would necessitate Microsoft to do # 8220 ; minor alterations in the manner it licenses DOS and Windows to computing machine makers # 8221 ; ( Cook ) . Federal District Court Judge Stanley Sporkin rejected the proposed statement. Bingaman continued the instance. She hired Sam Miller, a test attorney from San Francisco jurisprudence house of Morrison A ; Foerster. Miller was to head up judicial proceeding against Microsoft. What will come of the case? If Microsoft agrees to the following colony, it will # 8220 ; level the playing field # 8221 ; ( Rohm 94 ) or they could stop up the following AT A ; T. It is up to those in Washington and at Microsoft. If Microsoft looses, # 8220 ; alternatively of merely DOS with its immense portion of the market, if you # 8217 ; ve got three or four runing systems each holding 25 or 30 per centum of the market, you # 8217 ; re traveling to supply a batch more inducement for those people to predisclose or unwrap interface operations to everybody # 8221 ; ( Rohm 94 ) said a attorney for the instance. The operating system that works with all applications and other runing systems wins. That is IBM and Apple # 8217 ; s Taligent and OS/2 # 8217 ; s scheme. Right now Bill Gates is constructing a multi million dollar H2O front place outside of Seattle, equipped with all the technological luxuries that a few old ages ago merely scientific discipline fiction authors could woolgather up, for he and his married woman, Melinda French. He has a 2.5 million dollar book trade that is selling now ( Lyall 20 ) . What is in Gates hereafter? He loves his work at Microsoft and continues to remain involved with running the company. He has gotten with Craig McCaw and announced programs to establish a 9 billion dollar satellite-communications by 2001. He is besides working with Sega, Time Warner and TCI merely to call a few. As for his monopolistic image in computing machine circles, merely clip will state. Cook, William J. U.S. News A ; World Report. # 8220 ; A Pain for Windows. # 8221 ; Feb. 27,1995 p64-66 Clayton, Gary E. Ph.D. Economics Principles and Practices. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 1995 Economist, The: The World This Week. March 26, 1994 p7 Economist, The: Business. January 22, 1994 p73 Fortune. June 28 1993 Gates, Bill. The Road Ahead. New York: Penguin Group 1995 Lyall, Sarah. Technos: # 8220 ; Are These Books, or What? CD-ROM and the Literary Industry. # 8221 ; Winter 1994 p20-23 Quittner, Joshua. The Seattle Times. Seattle, # 8220 ; Electronic Peek into the Future. # 8221 ; September 5, 1993 D1+ Rohm, Wendy Goldman. Wired: # 8221 ; Oh No, Mr. Bill! # 8221 ; April 1994. p90+ Schlender, Brenton R. Fortune. # 8220 ; Jobs and Gates Together. # 8221 ; Aug. 26, 1991 p50+ Schlender, Brenton R. Fortune: # 8221 ; The Future of the PC. # 8221 ; Aug 26, 1991, p40+