Management Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Journal - Essay Example The big question will be how to allocate the available time, say twelve hours and the activities of the day. Theoretically, management can be a cheap course but it is more interesting in a real life situation as the application of the effective concepts of management to actual personal and societal needs and wants (Mejia & Cardy, 2008). We shall analyze management in real life and how proper management or mismanagement is a cost to both the individual and society at large. Management and Planning Our day to day lives involves a lot of activities from waking up, preparing breakfast, going to work, attending social functions etc. Considering the limitation of time in a day, that is, twenty four hours a day and you subtract the medically recommended resting hours, we are left with sixteen hours. The big puzzle is how to attend to all these functions and activities still maximizing their benefits and these calls for planning. This would involve listing down the activities of the day in t heir order of priority and try to allocate appropriate time and resources so as to achieve the desired objective. In real life situation, we will find that during the week some activities will not be of great importance on weekdays and can be scheduled for the weekends. Planning will be of a paramount goal so as rule in the objectivity of an activity and its corresponding returns to you as a person and to the society. Management and Organization After planning your activities and the functions of the day or week, how do you organize them for smooth transfer? As discussed above planning will curtail the order of priority of activities of the day. Organizing these activities is of the paramount importance so as save time and foresee the accomplishment of each one of them. For instance, if on a given day you are supposed to report to work, take your child to the school and visit your bank or financial broker, then you can organize these activities in relation to the length of time allo cated to each activity and the convenience involved. It will be prudent if you first report to work, and then finish our morning duties at work, take the child to the school and finally you can visit the broker in the evening or afternoon. At this juncture, reporting to work and taking the child to school will require the opportunity cost involved such that if the kid is supposed to be in school in the morning, then you can opt to be late to work for a few minutes but first take the child to school. Management and Control In real life situations we are faced with activities which tend to pull us away from the expected or targeted objective. These are short term positive and luring incidences which are too sweet to ignore but they carry a substantial drag of our objectives. For instance, you have a long term goal of saving one million dollars to finance the purchase of a house. After evaluating all of your income sources, factoring out the basic necessities and outsourcing the extra funds, your final plans shows a period of five months to achieve the objective. During this time period, unnecessary opportunities may arise which may require you to withdraw some of the saved income or at the same time divert the monthly saving to cater for â€Å"short- term† that opportunity which in most case they do not bring forth returns so you end up making losses in the venture. Effective management and a solid ground, will allow you to control your spending so as to achieve the intended goal. Management and

A Brief History of Operating Systems Essay Example for Free

A Brief History of Operating Systems Essay A History of Operating Systems To understand and to be prepared for the future of computer support it helps to know the history of operating systems. The operating system is the software that links the user to the computer’s hardware. Early mainframes (the predecessor of the personal computer) did not use an operating system. Programs were loaded onto the mainframe by paper punch cards, magnetic or paper tape. The user would start the program and wait for the program to complete, or crash. Debugging of the program was often done by adjusting banks of switches. With every new mainframe shipped, the operation and usability would change. There were no standards. As early operating systems were developed they were generally only designed to operate on that customer’s specific unit. With the development of mass produced microprocessors, computers become more common and more affordable. With the number of computers sold each year increasing there became a need for a standardized operating system. In the beginning there were many companies fighting to produce a viable operating system for the masses. The two most prominent were Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft’s first entry in the operating system foray was MS-Dos or Windows 1. 0 in 1985, a command line operating system that was not the simplest to use but for its time was pretty user friendly. Of course as computing power advanced so did Microsoft’s operating systems. In 1987 Windows 2. 0, then in 1990 there was Windows 3. 0, the first OS that had a desktop and icons to start programs. At this point Microsoft began to separate their operating systems into home user oriented and business oriented. In 1993 Microsoft released Windows NT 3. 1, the first fully 32 bit operating system, it featured better networking support and the NTFS file system. NT progressed through 4. 1 then to Windows 2000. These operating systems were geared toward corporate users and were slightly more robust. On the home front in 1995 Windows 95 was introduced and it was the first version to have the taskbar and the start button. The next version of the home OS was Windows 98, then 98SE followed by Windows ME. The next iteration of Windows was XP; this version of Windows was unique in a couple of ways. XP was the first OS to include activation, which linked the hardware in the pc where it was installed to a unique ID number. The other thing that made XP unique from previous versions of windows was that it came in several versions from home use to corporate use. Windows Vista followed Windows XP but was met with much scrutiny because of its lack of support for legacy devices and software and it’s lackluster performance. Windows 7 followed quickly behind and addressed most of these shortcomings. There are several other choices for operating systems, although none have been able to maintain a sizeable amount of the market share due to the compatibility and popularity of the operating systems offered by Microsoft. Some of the other offerings are Mac OS from Apple, UNIX, Linux (an open source OS based on Linux), Android and IOS just to name a few. While most of these do not offer the support and compatibility that you would find in operating systems from Microsoft, they are quickly gaining ground and acceptance in use from desktop pc’s to handheld devices.

A Feminist Perspective of Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour Essay

A Feminist Perspective of Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin employs the tool of irony in "The Story of an Hour" to carefully convey the problem inherent in women's unequal role in marital relationships. Chopin develops a careful plot in order to demonstrate this idea, one not socially acceptable at the end of the 19th century, and unfortunately, a concept that still does not appreciate widespread acceptance today, 100 years later as we near the end of the 20th century. Louise Mallard's death, foreshadowed in the initial line "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with heart trouble" takes on quite a different meaning when the plot twists and the context of her sudden death is presented unexpectedly, not upon her shock at her husband's death, but instead in her inability to endure the fact that he lives. While Chopin's employment of irony presents a socially unaccepted concept in a more acceptable format, it is the author's use of perspective that increases the impact of her message. Chopin's point might be lost, perhaps entirely, if the reader were not informed from Louise's viewpoint. While the other characters are oblivious to her actual joy in death, although it is described as such "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills," their definition of this joy equates to her love for her husband. In contrast, because Chopin writes from the perspective of Louise, we understand that the intermittent love she feels for her husband, love itself dismissed as the "unsolved mystery," pales in comparison to the joy she feels upon the discovery that she can now live with the "possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being." .. ...for his wife Louise, Chopin writes to stress the problematic assumption inherent in an unequal relationship in which one individual exercises their "powerful will" to bend others. Louise Mallard finds personal strength in her husband's death, ready to face the world as a whole person "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday (prior to her husband's death) she had thought with a shudder that life might be long." The strength conveyed in the image of Louise carrying "herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory" is unmistakable. However, the irony that her husband lives, and therefore, she cannot, conveys the limited options socially acceptable for women. Once Louise Mallard recognizes her desire to "live for herself," and the impossibility of doing so within the bounds of her marriage, her heart will not allow her to turn back.

Storytelling and its contribution to organizational theory

The storytelling approach towards the knowledge sharing is explored in detail. The story telling can be used to elicit tacit knowledge and can be used to flow the knowledge about previous events in the organization and any other work related knowledge in an interesting and effective manner. Since emotions are attached to the stories, they narrate the much value to the listeners and the listeners tend to keep what they have heard. In this sense, organization memory is created by the anecdotes of the stories being told.The lessons learnt from the past experiences are label to the employees working now. It is also studied the negative stories have much impact on the listeners. The story telling has the potential to capture tacit knowledge and how it is done in the context of IBM is explained. Moreover, the story telling in the organizations can be enhanced by the use of IT tools like intranet, emails and other knowledge management systems which helps employees to create platform to shar e their stories and communicate the values of the organization.This values and the knowledge base of the organization helps to form the organization memory. Table of Contents Introduction Storytelling is one of the approaches towards knowledge capture and codification, the first phase of KM cycle. This is used to elicit tacit knowledge, towards creation of new knowledge and to organize the content in systematic manner. In knowledge capture phase, the distinction between the capture of existing knowledge and the creation of new knowledge has to be made. Mostly, only existing knowledge is set into the pattern, which only forms the explicit knowledge.There is huge pool of knowledge, which needs to be captured towards generating the new knowledge and that knowledge is mostly tacit in nature, which resides within the heads of knower. Every organization also has a memory. The embodiment of the organizational memory is the experience of its employees, tangible data and knowledge stores in the organization (Walsh and Unison, 1991). The value of knowledge is increased when it is transferred otherwise the uncultured knowledge is devalued and ignored with time. In today's fast-paced economy, an organization's knowledge base is quickly becoming its only sustainable competitive advantage.This competitive advantage is owned by utilizing the organizational knowledge, the individual skills, thoughts and ideas. So Tacit knowledge management is must to capture the experience and expertise of the individual in an organization and making it available to anyone who needs it. Once the tacit knowledge becomes explicit, it needs to be organized in a structured document that will enable multipurpose use. The KM tools help to create knowledge and then leverage it across multiple channels, including phone, email, discussion forums, Internet and any new channel that come online.Story telling is one of the best KM tools to capture tacit knowledge. Organizational story can be defined as pa st management actions, employee interactions or other key events that have occurred and that have been communicated informally (Swap et al, 2001). The stories provide a rich context making it interesting for the listeners and also remains in the conscious memory longer. Stories reinforce organizational learning and communicate common values. The core capabilities of an organization are built by critical skills of employees, management systems and organizational values.This capability can be transferred in formal and explicit way. However much knowledge articulacy knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred internally through processes of colonization and initialization. Story telling is one such transfer mechanisms that can leverage the tacit knowledge of the organization. Literature Review The use of the stories and storytelling may provide a powerful practice as a part of efforts by individuals, groups or organizations to share what they know. It breaks away from the tradi tional means of communication and adds new dimension to the knowledge management tools.Deeding, in his article â€Å"Telling Tales† tries to convey hat the age-old practice of storytelling is an effective method to be used as knowledge management tools but the stories told should match the situation and conditions in the organization. Storyteller as a leader should influence the listeners and the story should have enough detail to be intelligible and credible. Different narrative patterns like Sparking Action, Communicating who you are, Transmitting value, Fostering collaboration and Taming the grapevine can be used.Snowman's article titled â€Å"The new simplicity-context, Narrative and Content† focuses on the need f knowledge management to go beyond the boundaries of using best practices into the realms of uncertainty. Since both the human behavior and system are complex, the cause and effect of the system and the interacting agents can't be separated; the contextual stimulation is needed to capture the knowledge. The decision making pattern is important. Narrative is emerging as one of the most exciting approaches to knowledge management.It involves going and finding a person to ask questions whenever faced with the new task or encounter a problem and get context-sensitive answers. In short, stories allow the communication of complex ideas in a simple, memorable form. Karakul Shaffer B Kali in his research on â€Å"Transfer knowledge Using Stories: A Malaysian University Case Study † attempts to explore the usage of knowledge-embedded stories in a Malaysian institute of higher learning and will consider the understanding of organization members concerning storytelling in the organization.It provides insights on the culture of storytelling as a method of knowledge transfer medium and explores the practicality of using stories in the organization and the employee's perception of the usage of stories to transfer knowledge. This case reveal s that story telling is regarded as an acceptable approach in knowledge transfer. Mostly gathering sessions in the university stimulated storytelling. The case also presented the factors that influence the KM storytelling.The factors are an extension of the existing knowledge transfer factors mentioned in literatures, which do influence KM storytelling. Walter Swap, Dorothy Leonard, Mimi Shields and Lisa Abram in their research â€Å"Using Mentoring and Storytelling to transfer knowledge in the Workplace† explains that the knowledge with rich tacit dimensions is transferred informally through processes of colonization and naturalization. They have focuses on two transfer mechanisms mentoring and storytelling.Most stories told informally in organizations are negative. Therefore managers interested in how knowledge accrues in the organization cannot ignore these important transmitters. Stories that dramatist or illustrate managerial systems, values, norms are more likely to be believed and acted upon than mere statements of policies and norms. Finally, the use of information technologies can enhance the story telling. The effect of verbal storytelling can be enhanced through the use of multimedia.Consistent with the elaboration effect, seeing and hearing the storyteller can add weight and detail to the story as can visual about the environment in which the story occurred. Story-telling-a technique to capture tacit knowledge In KM, the knowledge capture and creation may be done by the individuals who work for the organization or a group within that organization, by all members of a community of practice (COP), or by a dedicated COP individual.So the creation, capture and the codification of the information is done at the personal level while performing activities at Job. Within the firm, individuals share perceptions and Jointly interpret information events and experiences (Cohen and Leviathan, 1990) and at some point, knowledge acquisition extends beyond the individuals and is coded into corporate memory (Napkin, 1995; Spencer, 1996; Monika and Takeouts, 1995). Unless knowledge is embedded into corporate memory, the firm cannot leverage the knowledge held by individual members of the organization.Knowledge acquisition from individuals or groups can be characterized as the transfer and transformation of valuable expertise from a knowledge source (human expert, documents) to a knowledge repository (organizational memory, facts and rules). Explicit knowledge is already well described but we need to abstract and summarize this content. Tacit knowledge capturing needs various techniques of which story telling is the one. Stories involve the detailed narrative of management actions and decision-making styles, employee activities and interaction and other events within the division that are communicated informally within the organization.A story can be defined as telling of a happening or a connected series of happenings whether true or fi ctitious (Deeding, 2001). This involved the group interaction and collaboration for story telling. The SEC' model developed by Knock and Takeouts also supports that story telling or narratives can be used to bring out tacit knowledge. Fig 1 :SEC Model by Monika and Takeouts Here, colonization process is involve which emphasizes the tacit knowledge exchange through Joint activities such as gathering, spending time together, informal talks and living and working in the same environment rather than through written or verbal instructions.The process of transferring one's ideas or images directly to colleagues or subordinates means to share personal knowledge and create commonplace or Baa. During extrapolation process, an individual commits to the group and thus becomes one with the group. The individuals' intentions and ideas merge and become integrated with the group's mental world. This involves the expressing of ideas or images as communicable manner such as metaphors, analogies, eve nt description or narratives. A number of conditions must be in place, however, in order to ensure that storytelling in its various enacted forms creates value in a particular organization.Sole and Wilson (2002) argue that although all stories are narratives, not all narratives are good knowledge-sharing stories. As an example, they cite movies, which tell stories designed primarily to entertain and therefore need not necessarily be authentic-?or even believable. In contrast, in organizational storytelling, stories are often used to promote knowledge sharing, inform, and/or prompt a change in behavior, as well as communicate the organizational culture and create a sense of belonging.In order to achieve these organizational objectives, knowledge-sharing stories need to be authentic, believable, and compelling. Stories need to evoke some type of response, and, above all, they need to be concise Deeding, 2001), so that the moral of the story or the organizational lesson to be learned c an be easily understood, remembered, and acted upon. In other words, organizational stories should have an impact: they should prevent similar mistakes from being repeated, or they should promote organizational learning and adoption of best practices stemming from the collective organizational memory.Deeding (2001) describes the power of a springboard story, knowledge that has been captured in the form of a brief story that has the ability to create a strong impact on its audience. He outlines a number of key elements required to use stories to encapsulate valuable knowledge, such as: The explicit story should be relatively brief and detailed Just enough that the audience can understand it. The story must be intelligible to the specific audience so that they are â€Å"hooked.The story should be inherently interesting. The story should spring the listener to a new level of understanding. The story should have a happy ending. The story should embody the change message. The change mes sage should be implicit. The listeners should be encouraged to identify with the protagonist. The story should ell with a specific individual or organization. The protagonist should be prototypical of the organization's main business. Other things being equal, true is better than invented.One should test, test, and test again Story telling and KM processes involved in context of MM. IBM has leverage on the power of story telling at the daily work place to enhance the employees' performance. IBM has a four-stage storytelling approach. 1 . Anecdotal elicitation through interviews, observation and story circles 2. Anecdotal deconstruction to analyses cultural issues, ways of working, values, rules and beliefs to lied the story's key messages 3. Intervention / communication design with a story constructed or enhanced 4.Story deployment Story telling workshops can be run to elicit the knowledge and cultural values of an organization as well as both its best and inhibitors to sharing and identifies business issues. Values, rules and beliefs of organization were identified. Storytelling provides the platform to the employees to share experiences and build social capital and networks and most importantly it achieves agreement among the participants The knowledge management framework developed by Olivia and Lieder (2001 a) is based n the view of organizations as â€Å"knowledge systems†.According to this view, organization consists of four knowledge processes Creation Storage / Retrieval Transfer Application Here in case of MM, knowledge creation process takes place by the creation of anecdotes, which are captured as tacit knowledge, and they are stored in a repository and aligned with communities, processes and subject areas. This shows the knowledge storage process.Then the knowledge transfer takes place through support discussion forums (lunch and learn), databases, intellectual capital, management systems (training), document management systems, bulletin boa rds, inline chats, portals (community kick-off days) and intranets. Ultimately, the people who make communities do the knowledge application process. The effective communities have valuable stories. Practice of dedicated Story Telling Sessions The practice of dedicated story telling sessions in some organizations have proved the increased level of knowledge exchange among employees.For example, NASA, Deducted and Malaysian university have Km initiative in form of story telling sessions. The ITEMS (Information Services and Media Services) Department has its own storytelling sessions. There are two storytelling session ITEMS Sharing Session- It involves the staffs from whole ITEMS department and it is conducted once a week to share the stories on the problems encountered and the solutions. Toolbox Session-alt only involves the units in ITEMS department. It gathers the support unit employees to share their stories on the problems raised.They have one program to stimulate KM storytellin g called Buddy program. In Buddy program, two employees from different department are paired together to work as a single department. Junior staff is paired with senior academic acting as mentor. Conclusion Stories are powerful conveyors of meaning and tacit knowledge and been in use from ancient times. It helps to share knowledge with context and emotion. It triggers the listeners to respond with other stories building new understanding.Stories can capture and hold the attention increasing the likelihood of hearing and listening. Story telling is very valuable in story telling network. Any organization has a set of its memories embedded from the time of its inception. These memories are the skills and knowledge of its employees while in an organization over the years of operation. So, the organizational memory has its role on forming the knowledge base of the organization. Employees can use the organization memory to learn and improve the effectiveness of their work.Employee's know ledge can be stored and then information and knowledge can be shared by KM. Organizational memory is one of intangible assets of one organization; it stores past experiences and knowledge, supports organization strategy and improves organization effectiveness. Accordingly, it is important to establishment and development of organizational memory for KM. Organizational culture can be stored by story, and it is one of retention facilities of organizational memory.The idea, spirit, and culture of organizations can be passed down by storytelling. Through storytelling, organization members emotionally connect to their organization and then identify their organization. Storytelling can store organizational culture, convey experience and knowledge, and improve acquisition, retention, and maintenance of process of organizational memory management. Organization value and spirit can be conveyed effectively by storytelling.

Impact of Computer on Our Society

Ilorin Being a paper presented at the closing ceremony of the 1st computer training and issuance of certificate by Ascetic Computer Centre on the 15th September 2007 Introduction At this closing ceremony of the 1st computer training and issuance of certificate by Ascetic Computer Centre, let us lift our eyes toward the challenges that await us in the years to come.It is our great good fortune, as organisers, that time and chance have put us not only at the edge of a chapter in the lives of these graduands, but on the edge of a bright new prospect in their affairs —a moment that will define their course, and their character, for many years to come. Guided by the ancient vision of a promised future, let us set our sights upon a set of graduands of new promise. However, our march to this new future seemed less certain than it did yesterday. We must vow to set a clear course to renew our generation.We should thank the organisers for their vision towards the creation of new Nigeria ns who will appreciate problems, exhilarated by challenges, and strengthened by achievements, Nigerians with better employment opportunities, who will be job creators. Computer is gaining vast popularity globally in recent years. Its use, which extended information-processing capabilities, are influencing organizations of all types and sizes bringing about changes in institutional goals, relations and operations.A large percentage of the activities in any institution or organisation comprise the processing of communicating information in the production and distribution processes. In the developing countries, computers are becoming part of everyday activities because of the kind of information they generate and their speed of delivery (Award 1988). 1 What is a Computer A computer is an electronic device, which accepts and processes data by following a set of instructions (PROGRAM) to produce an accurate and efficient result (INFORMATION). Since the ultimate aim of computer is to prod uce information, the art if computing is often referred o as information processing. The values of the computer lie solely on its high speed (due to its electronic nature), ability to store large amount of data, the unfailing accuracy and precision. These account for its supremacy over manual computation. The computer industry began in the late forties with a very small initial investment, and has been increasing both in strength and importance. When one looks back with analytical mind, we can conclude that computer technology keeps on advancing with remarkable increase in speed, accuracy and reliability.Computing in whatever field, science, business, and industry is reaching directly or indirectly into various aspects of our society thereby, without loss of generality has shrunk the world into such a compactness that no part can afford to lack behind or live in isolation. The advent of electronic computer was hailed by the world as a great revolution, like any industrial revolution , it promised to free man from simple routine jobs of repetitive nature by providing computing power. The first to have exploited this facility was the search for scientific enquiries.This was not unconnected with the fact that the designers of these systems were scientists themselves. Several problems have been eluding satisfactory solutions, though numerical methods of solutions exist but involved a very huge accomplished. Not only did computer make reliable solutions possible it equally opened new application methods or areas. To quote but a few are the optimization techniques of Operations Research (OR), the awe-stricken field of space research, the molecular restructuring in Biochemistry etc. It would have been tedious inexhaustible, incomplete and inaccurate to list all the possible applications of computer. There is no limit tot he uses and applications of computer; hence there is hardly a branch of science that can resist computer invasion.After science was business. Because of the natural conservatism, oppressive and exploitative nature of this class coupled with their cautions approach to things, did not deem the computing machine fit until its worth and capabilities had been proved. What came to be recognized and embraced by this class was the importance of computer for decision aking and data processing, for these reasons, elaborate mathematical tools like Operations Research (OR), Critical Path Method (CPM), and Program Evaluation and Review Techniques (PERT) which were developed in the early fifties attained respectable height in the eyes of this class. Common examples of data processing are payroll, accounting, inventory management, banking, airline seat reservation etc. These required a lot of input and output and relatively little computing. Hence the costs of computing in such areas tend to be closely bound by inputting the data and outputting the results.Some applications like airlines seat reservation, banking business and inventory control , call for real-time systems, which are dedicated to a particular application. They furnish â€Å"immediate† responses to input signals. For examples, it is easier today for one to know his statement of account in a bank the moment signals for such requests are sent to the computer. Similarly debited or credited accounts are updated almost immediately for further transactions. The Need for Computer Most of our national projects could better be accomplished with the use of computers.Consider the registration of voters for election, common entrance examination into Nigeria Secondary Schools and conducting head counts (census) to mention only a few. These involve a huge volume of data, and would naturally be unwise if accomplished manually as it would be tiring, inaccurate and full of errors. 3 Going through the history/evolution of computers, the search for a realistic head count by the United States census bureau in 1890 led to the development of an electro-mechanical machine that helped greatly during the census by cutting down the man-hour required for the processing of the census data.The accuracy of computer cannot be over-emphasized and it conforms to the objective of using the computer. A cashier in a departmental store would definitely find life boring if all calculations, issuance of receipts and giving of change would be done manually for each customer after each transaction. But with the aid of an adding machine the job is done accurately and he feels relieved. Going from the adding machine to the computer itself, the ability of the computer to perform repetitive tasks makes things easier.Once the computer is programmed using the adequate software the whole job is done with ease. The need for computer in our banking system cannot be underrated because of the huge amount of transactions and the accuracy desired. Similarly in the data processing environment where the bulk of the job is either sorting, merging files, updating information, searchin g for a particular key in a pile of data etc. , all these the computer does with ease and accurately too. In a developing economy like ours, the speed of the computer is again one of the distinguishing factors that make it inevitable.From the saying that â€Å"Time is Money†, speed is equally synonymous to time, and since computers work as a phenomenal speed coupled with its ability to access records or information directly from remote locations, efforts should be directed towards introducing computer into every facets of human endeavour. Computer and Unemployment The extent to which the computer has come to permeate all levels of our society is immeasurable. In fact, it does not matter, what you plan to do for a living, you will encounter the computer.Its impact is analogous to that of the automobile and television. Things could be quite different with computers, but it has become part 4 of our society. The automobile is largely responsible for the air pollution and congesti on of our cities today. The television has been accused of literally â€Å"rotting our minds†. Technology is usually a bit of mixed blessing and the computer is no exception. There is a popular slogan and fear that computer causes unemployment. From a professional point of view, it is untrue.The problem therefore is the ability to distinguish between unemployment and job displacement. Hence with a thorough distinction between the two, computer should be seen as a saviour from slavery. Before considering the question of displacement and unemployment, it might be necessary once again to define computer. Computer as earlier defined, is an electronic device or machine, which accepts data, following some sets of logical instructions to produce the needed results. Therefore we have to ask ourselves, can this so-called computer operate without the full assistance of human being?Can we just go to the computer for a complaint and have our problems solved without having to call on some pre-written programs meant for specific assignments, and written by programmers of course? The answer to these questions is NO. It is true that behind every successful man there is a woman, also behind the successful operations of computers there is a brain (the man). Computer on its own is just an empty box or a junk, and can in no way do any intelligent job, but with programs written the jobs are done.Therefore if a computer is given a job with the logical step to follow, it can do it better, faster and more accurately than human beings and these are some of the advantages. Consider the developed countries like Japan, USA, UK etc. , where their industries are filled with Robots. The word Robot means labour. Robots are no human beings but rather are machines that can be programmed to carry out complex and tedious task without getting bored or tired. Robots are blind, deaf and have no sense of touch. Therefore jobs that are hazardous, tedious, that could be left undone are done by these Robots.Considering an assembly plant where the 5 only thing a man does in such a plant is just to take the assembled goods out of the plant to give chance for the Robots to start assembling another. What a miracle it is to know that if a Robot breaks down in the course of its duty, almost immediately a fellow Robot (Doctor Robot) will attend to it to put it back to work. Think of the most dangerous tasks, which for the love of our dear lives we cannot do, these Robots do them. Ample examples are, blast furnace, disaster area (caused by poisonous gas) marshy areas etc. of course Robots do these jobs not thinking of any relations or parents and in fact, at a faster speed enhancing productivity. How does computer displace people and who are those displaced? As earlier mentioned, computer can only do a routine job and cannot think in any form. Now come to think of some well-structured organizations, UAC, SCOA and Leventis etc. , there are skilled personnel and unskilled workers/cl erks. The daily job of these unskilled workers are mere routine jobs like accounting procedures, oading and assembling goods which can be taken over by computers that will do it better, faster and in fact, more reliable thereby enhancing greater productivity. These labourers so displaced by computer can be taken to such areas as sales since more articles are produced. These workers should go out soliciting for markets. While the managers, engineers and technician can not be displaced because they as skilled in their job, they do real thinking. Therefore to supplement these greater efficiency and productivity of the computer, these skilled workers should be kept in an airconditioned office, and in fact, think of things yet to happen.No wonder the United States of American sees nothing left on earth again and hence proceeded to exploit the outer space. With these productive forces in operation, the prices of goods and the workers conditions of service would be improved. 6 Recently, th ese big time companies embarked on agriculture. These unskilled workers could be better utilized there, and more of them is needed for such jobs. In Africa, there are popular terms like laziness, redundancy, unproductively, etc. These are happening because there are no challenges to face.What we do mostly are routine jobs which could be boring thereby creating unhappiness and in such a situation we become less productive. The routine jobs should be given to computers while a conducive atmosphere be created for the skilled workers to think of ways of making the continent self reliant. Computer and Job Creation Let us consider a particular case study of an information system, the effect of computer and how it helps creating jobs. An information system means the collection and processing of data to yield useful information for decision making.To collect data, enumerators are needed to actually go to the field for data collection, typist are needed too and other people employed in the c ourse of recording the data and finally statisticians computer operators use the computer for processing the data to give useful results (information). Again think of the case of our consultancy services. Any company going into such ventures like agricultural business needs a consultant having in his service Agricultural scientists, soil scientists and host of other professionals in allied discipline to perform the feasibility studies.They give useful information to customers are regards the type of crops to plant, the planting seasons, the fertilizers to apply and when, the type of pests attracted by such plants etc. , all these lead to greater productivity and this is one of the things the attention of our professionals should be directed to. Come to think of the perennial problems of Cancer, AIDS and some other deadly diseases, which we have no solutions to. Our scientist and medical personnel should use most of their time addressing their minds through intensive research towards providing a remedy to such ills of the society while the computer is left to do their routine jobs for them. History has it that the early jobs where computers were employed were in accounting, payroll, ledger etc. , all of which had fixed procedures or routine hence it was easier to computerize these systems to enhance productivity and save workers from boredom. However, it must be recognized that computer requires lesser number of personnel, it can produce more and it is not likely to go on maternity leave, nor go on strikes, nor demand overtime or old age pension etc.Also the use of computer creates more jobs such as consultancy, developing and selling of software and hardware while the displaced workers could be trained as salesmen to market the goods or taken to such areas like agriculture where they can serve humanity. Therefore computer will lead to re-arrangement in the organizational set up and this will lead to greater productivity. Conclusions Computer offer innumerable benefits in enriching the quality and quantity of goods and services in any organisation.Despite the prevalent nature of computer in virtually every aspect of human endeavours, it has not been widely integrated into the production and distribution processes in Nigeria. Its integration will not only revolutionize the economy, it will engender the development of individual’ innate scientific inquiry mind and their critical thinking abilities. COMPUTER PROVIDES LONGER LIFE, REDUCES WORKING HOURS AND GREATER REMUNERATION IN RETURN.REFERENCES Ayo, C, K. (1994). Computer literacy: Operations and appreciation. Egbe: Alanukitan Press Walton, D. (1984). Blob (Computer Program): Applied system knowledge (ASK). London: Unwin Ltd 8

Blood makes it all go away essays

Blood makes it all go away essays Enraged, sad, lonely, stupid, worthless, irrational, crazy. I can't stand what I think because I sound like such a whiner, so self-involved. During I feel very focused and full of anticipation. I purposely hold my breath as I cut and let it out when I'm through, so I breathe out as the blood runs out. I feel so calm. All the noise and stupidity in my head is gone, I feel like I'm floating... I feel stupid because I feel like I don't have a reason to do it. That's why I keep it to myself. [female, age 15, 1 yr SIB, HS] (Martinson). In a world where stress is relieved by simple things like screaming, and crying lays another form of relief. This form helps the people who do it detach from everything else, and really feel. Self mutilation is a form of addiction just like drugs and alcoholism, and like all others stems from a variety of cultural and psychological factors. Although the aspect of self mutilation makes some cringe, some are pleased at the sight of their own blood. To fully understand this, is too know what self mutilation really is. Its defined by Deb Martinson as the act of attempting to alter a mood state by inflicting physical harm serious enough to cause tissue damage to your body. This can include cutting (with knives, razors, glass, pins, any sharp object), burning, hitting your body with an object or your fists, hitting a heavy object (like a wall), picking at skin until it bleeds, biting yourself, pulling your hair out, etc. By doing this brings their levels of psychological and physiological tension and arousal back to a bearable baseline level almost immediately (Martinson). People who self injure could be anyone, male, female, gay, straight, a high school student, rich, poor, teachers, or anyone around the world. The incidence of self-injury is about the same as that of eating disorders, but because it's so highly stigma tized, most people hide their scars, burns, and bru...

7 Research-Based Learning Tricks for Lefties

7 Research-Based Learning Tricks for Lefties As a left-handed person, you’ve probably got used to the many annoyances that living in a right-handed world has created for you. You are used to bumping elbows at dinner, smudging your writing, and awkwardly using scissors that don’t quite work. But, did you know that your unique brain also means that you learn in a different way? In fact, there are several tricks that you can learn now that will give you an advantage in your college setting. Focus on Location In a 2010 study in Pediatrics, researchers found that those with mixed-handedness or left-handedness are more likely to suffer from ADHD or dyslexia. And, even if you are not diagnosed with either of these, your brains ability to quickly shift from brain hemisphere allows for attention gaps that could make it harder to focus. Be proactive by choosing seats at the front of the class where you’re less likely to be distracted by other students. Also, you can choose a study area that is free from additional distractors like music, or side conversations. Manage Your Fear The research by Queen Margaret’s University described in an article by Jennifer Hong showed left-handed individuals are more mentally compromised by fearful or highly stressful situations. Participants were asked to watch a terrifying video and recall their experience. Left-handed participants misremembered details twice as often as their right-handed counterparts. What that means for you is that being afraid of your first days at college might make it much more difficult for you to keep up with your new classes. In order to mitigate your fear, take a few minutes at the beginning of each day (especially before big tests) to do some relaxation exercises. You’ll feel better and have a better chance of remembering important information. Use Your Creativity In a study by the Georgetown University Medical Center, left-handed learners were shown to be able to hear and understand rapid speech more distinctly than right-handers. Because of this ability, sitting in lecture halls with a slow-talking professor might make you bored and tuned out. Instead of randomly doodling during your classes, take this time to creatively organize new information. You might write a song about what your teacher shares in class, making sure to highlight the most important points. Or, take notes graphically, drawing pictures of the concepts, ideas, and vocabulary you will need to know later. This keeps you engaged in class and uses your natural left-handed inclination towards creativity. Grab Memories In a left-handed person’s brain, the right side of the brain encodes new memories, while the left side of the brain reactivates those memories. In the article for TIME Maia Szalavitz mentions the interesting research study by Montclair State University, which proves that clenching your fist while learning a new fact allows you to better â€Å"grab† the information. Then, clenching your right fist activates your left brain, making it easier to recall the information you previously â€Å"grabbed.† Make Connections One thing that lefties are incredibly good at is making unique connections. Studies from the University of Michigan show that, while right-handed students’ brains are more likely to specialize or compartmentalize information, left-handed students’ brains easily shift from logical to creative. This means that when you’re learning new information, your brain is much more likely to make random connections that might help you to learn and remember. In order to maximize this natural gift, don’t just write down the notes from your classes, write down the unique connections that your brain makes with that new information. You’ll be much more likely to remember how the information impacted you, which makes it easier to recall for a test. Get Enough Sleep Although you may not know it, you need more rest than a right-handed person. As published in Chronobiol, a study was conducted that showed left-handed people slept an average of 30 minutes longer than right-handers. What this means for you is that rest is a vital part of your brain makeup. In order to do the best on your exams, you need to wake refreshed and with your brain in good working order. Plan on getting a good eight hours of sleep in order to be at your mental peak. Color Coding Scientists from the University of Abertay found that lefties are less likely to engage in risky behavior. Although this was a broad finding, lead researcher Lynn Wright also found several study techniques that helped these individuals make good choices. She said, â€Å"They [left-handers] like to color-code things, they like to write lists. It’s almost a way to alleviate their stress.† So, if you’re feeling stressed out about a particular class or study topic, create a color-coding system to help you organize your material. Or, write a list of the things you need to know that you can easily check off as you study. You’ll feel more in control and be more focused on success.