Beverly Cleary Childrens Book Author of Ramona Quimby

Beverly Cleary, who turned 100 years old on April 12, 2016, is the beloved author of 30 childrens books, some published more than 60 years ago, all still in print, along with two autobiographies. She was honored by the Library of Congress in 2000 as a Living Legend and has won numerous awards for her childrens books, including the John Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. Childrens books by Beverly Cleary have delighted children, particularly 8 to 12-year-olds, for several generations. Her humorous, yet realistic, childrens books about the ordinary lives of children, along with such appealing characters as Ramona Quimby and Henry Huggins, have captured the interest of children around the world. Beverly Cleary has written 30-plus books, including three about a feisty mouse. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. In addition, Ramona and Beezus, a movie based on Clearys Ramona Quimby and her older sister, Beatrice Beezus Quimby, was released in 2010. Beverly Cleary and Her Award-Winning Childrens Books Beverly Bunn was born April 12, 1916, in McMinnville, Oregon and spent her early years in Yamhill where her mother started a small library. Thus began the authors lifelong love of books. Her family moved to Portland when Beverly was six years old; she was delighted to find a large public library. Beverly went on to study library science at the University of Washington in Seattle and became a childrens librarian. In 1940, she married Clarence Cleary. Beverly Clearys first book, Henry Huggins was published in 1950 and was inspired by a boy who complained to the librarian that there werent any books about kids like him. It, and the other books about Henry Huggins and his dog Ribsy remain popular today. Her most recent book, Ramonas World, was published in 1999 and features one of her most beloved characters, Ramona Quimby. The first movie based on Clearys Ramona Quimby, Ramona and Beezus, centers on grade schooler Ramonas relationship with her older sister, Beatrice. This relationship is a part of all of the Ramona books, but most particularly in the book Beezus and Ramona. Beverly Cleary has won numerous awards, including the John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw.   Two of her books about Ramona Quimby, Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were designated Newbery Honor Books. Cleary also received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in honor of her contributions to childrens literature. If thats not enough, her books have also won about three dozen statewide childrens choice awards and she won the National Book Award for  Ramona and Her Mother. The Klickitat Street Books of Beverly Cleary When she was a child, Cleary noticed that there didnt seem to be any books about children like the ones who lived in her neighborhood. When Beverly Cleary began writing childrens books, she created her own version of Klickitat Street, a real street near her childhood neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. The children who live on Klickitat Street are based on the children she grew up with. Fourteen of Clearys books are set on Klickitat Street, beginning with her first book, Henry Huggins. While Henry was the focus of the first books, a number of Beverly Clearys books also highlighted Beatrice Beezus Quimby and Beezus little sister, Ramona. In fact, Ramona has been the title character in the last seven of the Klickitat Street books. The most recent Ramona book, Ramonas World, came out in 1999. HarperCollins published a paperback version in 2001. With a fifteen-year break between Ramonas World and the last previous Ramona book, you might be a little apprehensive about a lack of continuity.  But in ​Ramonas World, as in her other books featuring Ramona Quimby, Cleary is right on target as she addresses, in typically humorous fashion, the vicissitudes of the life of Ramona Quimby, now a fourth grader. Beverly Clearys books have remained popular because of characters like Ramona. If your children havent read any of her books, nows the time to introduce them to Clearys books.   They might also enjoy the movie version, Ramona and Beezus.

Obtaining a Sustainable Society Free Essays

There is a time where people wonder what the world is going to come to. Is there going to be a time where we run out of resources, or will we run out of room and become over populated? It is natural to wonder these types of questions. So we as humans need to come up with a solution on how we can maintain what we have now before it is gone and we have no future to look forward to. We will write a custom essay sample on Obtaining a Sustainable Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now By doing this we can ensure that our children and our children’s children. In order to obtain a population that can be sustained, whether you live in an over populated area or you live in low population where no one wants to have children. There needs to be some kind of order established to control population anywhere. A country such as Italy has low birth rates; in order to bring them back up incentives need to be put in place to insure that people will want to have children. Another country with a problem with low birth rates is Germany. Us as a world need to find some kind of happy medium, where the policies are not to strict for people with lots of children and not as lenient and glorious to those who only have one. There are many ways Italy and Germany can bring up their population, offer more incentives to married couples that want to have more children. You might want to offer cheaper health care. Cheaper or no cost health care would be ideal for just about anyone. It think this could be the best and the worst thing to do. There would have to be strict rules and regulations upon receiving this type of health care. Free or little no cost health care, would need to be monitored for fraud and so some people could not purposely repopulate without concern for over population. Some people may even have children just knowing of all the benefits they will receive. I think that is just wrong. Another way to be able to raise birth rates would be to abolish abortions, nless it was going to be a medically necessary. I know a few people that would use abortion just as birth control and that is wrong. Not only are you killing God’s master piece, but you are disgusting. In my honest opinion, I think that abortion needs to be looked at more carefully in our own country. I think that there should be a medical reason to why someone may or may not need an abortion. There are struggling couples and countries that want to have children, and then you have the people who use it just because they are not ready or may be too young. Another thing to avoid low birth rates in Italy and Germany would be to make sure married couples make time to procreate. I know that sounds vial and a little bit forward but, if couples can’t make time to take care of their personal lives then how can you make a population grow. Sure there is the use of sperm banks and the use of fertility drugs but, nothing compares to good old fashion procreation. Not having time to reproduce can be affected by a decreasing in the economy and in the loss of jobs. I am not sure how the job market is over in Germany or Italy but, here it’s a little on the slow side. In conclusion, there are so many different reasons why a country will have low birth rates. Any one of these reasons can make any city or country crumble. I think that every man and woman should do their part to repopulate. I also think that certain people don’t need to have any more children. Like for instance, a person who has three to four children should not be able to receive assistance for all those children. In a highly populated area, a person should only receive benefits for a certain number of children. For a country with low birth rates, certain incentives should apply to a couple that wants to have more children. How to cite Obtaining a Sustainable Society, Papers

Establishing an Internet Cafe @ Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol free essay sample

Introduction The first computer network was used by the U. S military in the year 1960. It was used for command and network with only one central authority to convey message from one place to another. However, its usefulness was limited as to its capacity to transmit. It took several years to develop powerful and sophisticated computers until it became what it is today. In the 70’s and 80’s, many group of people possessed computers. There were already network which became public domain and it came to be known as the internet. The fast changing technology that people embrace encourages them to avail the benefits of Internet services for their day to day activities. People tend to depend on convenient means of doing things with the aid of internet as life becomes more complicated. Internet changes our lives enormously. In fact, according to Internet World Stats, the estimated internet users worldwide are 2,405,518,376 as of June 30, 2012. The estimated number of users represents 34. 3% of the world’s population. In the Philippines, the internet connection began on March 29, 1994. The growth of internet in the country was very significant. However, there were many obstacles associated with the growth of internet including inequity in the distribution of internet throughout the country and corruption in the government. But these did not hinder the Filipinos to stop the internet. As years passed by, many Filipinos became users, which is a proof of the continuing development of the Internet connection in the country. Majority of the total population in the Philippines are netizens. According to Internet World Stats, the estimated users in the Philippines are 33,600,000 which represent 32. 4% of its total population. Being a developing country, not all can afford to have their own computers with internet access. Many would prefer to visit internet cafes to avail their services because it’s basically and practically cheaper than acquiring personal computers and laptops. In the province of Bohol, many people are users of the internet. It is evident because of the increasing number of Internet shops in the province. However, most of the Internet shops are located in the city thus, very limited to nearby barangays and towns. Only a few engages in internet shop businesses in municipalities or towns because of the risk of having no customers which will then result to unprofitable investment. We, the researchers of this study, therefore, agreed to make a research to determine the marketability, feasibility and profitability of establishing an internet cafe at Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol. Another is to determine the internet cafe product and services that will yield a better return on investment. Review on Related Literature The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to serve several billion users worldwide. It is a network that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support email, and peer-to-peer networks (www. myenglishpages. com). The Internet, for some people, is the way to live. With a diverse source of information and access to the latest breaking events in the world, knowledge can be attained with a simple click. The Internet, undoubtedly, has profound potential. The global linkage allows us to connect with other individuals and share our thoughts and ideas. Social networking sites are one of the available means for global linkage like Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler and Multiply. This trend started with the rise of forums, chat services and file and media sharing sites, and combining these elements to create an integrated experience (Narciso, 2012). As Computer World Philippines magazine cited, the world becomes smaller because of Internet that connects people. The birth of various social networking sites made this possible. A smaller world also means faster information dissemination. In Asia, Social networking and gaming are very popular in the Internet Cafes. This popularity has helped create a strong demand and sustainable revenue model among most Internet Cafes. In the Philippines, the number of Filipinos who are using Internet is increasing each year. More and more Filipinos preferred to use Internet as a means of obtaining news and information rather than listening to radio or reading newspaper and magazines, according to a study conducted by TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres), a global research company. Recently, â€Å"TNS Digital Life 2012† showed that 45% of Filipino respondents connected to the Internet compared to 36% who listened to radio, 12% who read newspapers, and 4% magazines. The study was based on interviews with 72,000 consumers in 60 countries worldwide from November 2011 to January 2012. With the tremendous consumption of internet, it has a major impact on every Filipino’s social life. They spend more time behind the PC either at home or at Internet Cafes than interacting with physical human beings face to face. They would rather sit online than get out for fresh air and exercise and instead of going to libraries, they just go â€Å"Google it† and any problem can be catered and solved. In addition to the study conducted by TNS, it also showed that majority of Filipinos accessing the Internet were children, teens and young adults. Debell and Chapman (2006) concluded that Internet use promotes cognitive development in children, specifically the area of visual intelligence, where certain computer activities-particularly games-may enhance the ability to monitor several visual stimuli at once, to read diagrams, recognize icons, and visualize spatial relationships. According to a series of benchmarking studies, academic achievement among poor rural students lags drastically behind their urban counterparts. However, currently very few poor rural schools have functioning computer facilities. With this, establishing an Internet Cafe could be of a great help as long as the place can be reached by the Internet Connection. As cited in in a website, one of the tips subsequent to assessment whether the place is good site to put-up with a signal and prior to establishment, is to ensure that there must be a maximum of 2 internet cafe in the target rural area (www. icafeproject. com). With all the consideration to the above requisites, we conclude that this study would be feasible in our target area, Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol for there was no existing Internet Cafe in the said place. Statement of the Problem This study entitled â€Å"Establishing an Internet Cafe at Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol† is primarily conducted to determine the profitability of this kind of business in the municipality. We take the opportunity to make this study because of the fact that this town is still untouched in terms of internet businesses. This study also considers the fact that the town is far from the city where most of the internet shops are located, thus giving the local members of the municipality an easier access to the internet. And finally, this study is necessary to determine the chances of success or failure of this kind of business for those aspiring to establish this business in the town of San,Isidro, Bohol. This study specifically sought to answer these sub-problems: Management Aspect: How would this business be managed and maintained? Marketing Aspect: What will be the approach to obtain target buyers? Technical Aspect: What is the best location and computer technology to be acquired in order to satisfy the increasing demand of customers? Financing and financial Aspect: What are the ways in which the business can maximize profit at the same time minimize its cost? Socio-economic Aspect: What are the ways in which the community members especially the students as well as the municipal government can benefit this business? Significance of the Study This study serves as a preparation for the effectiveness of establishing an internet cafe at Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol. It signifies the accumulation of different factors that contribute the profitability of this project proposal, obtaining reliable resources and sufficient knowledge to satisfy the needs of the public. Internet cafe, as proposed, will be established in the heart of the municipality to provide the awaited service to the people. This cafe is said to be the first ever cafe established in the municipality, hence, there are lots of benefits it may contribute: providing the people internet access to different social networking sites; efficient and easy connections; modern way of enjoyment as provided by different online games; encoding and printing documents; effective and reliable way of doing business transactions and others. The establishment of this proposal also caters not only the services it provides but the outcome of this project also increases the income of the government by way of paying taxes and licenses, employment opportunities and like. For better planning, this study provides the proper allocation of what particular field we invest a big attention for the different areas: management, marketing, technical, financing and financial and socio-economic to satisfy customers and to be more profitable. Research Design Research Methodology and Data Gathering Procedure The research method used in conducting the feasibility study is the descriptive research method. This research method provides a comprehensive in-depth analysis of the business being studied and it serves as a fact-finding tool that permits adequate interpretation of the results of the survey conducted by the researchers. It is a kind of research method that gives information about the present situation particularly on the feasibility of the said business. Research Environment Poblacion is one of the twelve (12) Barangays of San Isidro, Bohol. It is located at the heart of the Municipality. It is composed of 1,684 residents, divided into 15 puroks. The area has few commercial establishments: school, church, market and municipal hall. Most of the residents’ sources of living are from white-collar jobs and agriculture. Most of the high-income earners in the said municipality are living in the Poblacion. Sources of Data The primary sources of data used in this study are the questionnaires and interviews from the people of Barangay Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol. These questions and interviews are essential in obtaining valid and accurate data which is not found in books, magazines, periodicals, and others. The secondary sources of data used in this study include books, some internet provided information, dictionaries, magazines and other feasibility studies related to the topic and statistical data coming from the local government of Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol . Research Subjects The researchers randomly selected the people of Barangay Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol as respondents of this study. This is because the proponents of this feasibility believes that those chosen respondents can give the most appropriate information’s answers about the proposed business in relation to the present condition of the business industry. Sampling Technique Used The sampling technique used by the researchers is the Cluster Sampling Technique. The researchers divides the population into separate groups called clusters, then a simple random sample of clusters are selected from the population. The population of the selected Barangay is broken down into clusters by purok. Poblacion, San Isidro, Bohol is composed of 15 Puroks. 50% of the Puroks will be chosen through Lottery Sampling. In order to get an accurate representative sample size, 12 members will be selected from the chosen puroks through assignment of first number. Using the Slovin’s Formula having a margin of error of 10% the following were computed: n=_ N___ 1+N? 2Where: n=sample size N=total population ?=margin of error N= 1,684______ 1+ (1,684*0. 102) = 1,684_ 1+16. 84 =1,684_ 17. 84 =94. 39 or 94 Research Instruments The research instruments used in gathering data includes the use of questionnaire, interview and some library techniques. Questionnaire is the most common method of collecting data and serves as a written reference of the actual information necessary for the study. It consists of sets of questions in written form. Other library techniques were used such as the use of related books, magazines and related feasibility studies. Along with the survey questionnaires is an actual interview to provide first hand information from the respondents to better assess and analyze the present situation. Observation of some internet businesses was also done to gain more ideas regarding our proposed project. Operational Definition of Terms 1. Netizens A person who is a frequent or habitual user of the Internet. 2. TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol, it is arguably the single most important computer networking technology. The Internet and most home networks support TCP/IP as the language computers use to find and connect with each other. 3. Hypertext-the presentation of information as a linked network of nodes which readers are free to navigate in a non-linear fashion. It allows for multiple authors, a blurring of the author and reader functions, extended works with diffuse boundaries, and multiple reading paths. 4. TNS (TAYLOR NELSON SOFRES) PHILIPPINES, INC. -TNS Philippines is part of Kantar, one of the worlda s largest insight, information and consultancy groups. It currently stands as the leading customised marketing research company in the Philippines offering full service operations covering all aspects of marketing research and consulting, as well as in-house field and data processing. Our focus is to understand our clientsa marketing problems and design researches that make sure our analysis and recommendations are relevant and actionable for marketing decisions. 5. Cognitive development refers to the development of the ability to think and reason. Children (6 to 12 years old) develop the ability to think in concrete ways (concrete operations), such as how to combine (addition), separate (subtract or divide), order (alphabetize and sort), and transform (change things such as 5 pennies=1 nickel) objects and actions. They are called concrete because they are performed in the presence of the objects and events being thought about. 6. Optical networking uses thin glass or plastic optical fiber to transmit information in the form of light pulses. It is far more reliable and offers greater transmission capacity than conventional copper-wire networks. 7. SONET and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) the most common optical transport protocol standards used in optical networking. They both meet the needs of traditional voice traffic, where all traffic is high-priority and patterns are generally predictable. 8. Facebook an online social networking service. Its name comes from a colloquialism for the directory given to students at some American universities. [5] Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University studentsEduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. [6] The founders had initially limited the websites membership to Harvard students, but later expanded it to colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before it opened to high-school students, and eventually to anyone aged 13 and over. Facebook now allows anyone who claims to be at least 13 years old to become a registered user of the website. [7] 9. Twitter an online social networking and microblogging service that enables users to send and read tweets, which are text messages limited to 140 characters. Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Users access Twitter through the website interface, SMS, or mobile device app. [10] Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco and has offices in New York City, Boston, San Antonio and Detroit. [ 10. Tumblr stylized in its logo as tumblr. , is a microblogging platform and social networking website founded by David Karp and owned by Yahoo! Inc. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Users can follow other users blogs, as well as make their blogs private. [4][5] Much of the websites features are accessed from the dashboard interface, where the option to post content and posts of followed blogs appear. 11. Internet a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. According to Internet World Stats, as of December 31, 2011 there was an estimated 2,267,233,742 Internet users worldwide. This represents 32. 7% of the worlds population. 12. Multiply a social networking service with an emphasis on allowing users to share media – such as photos, videos and blog entries – with their real-world network. The website was launched in March 2004 and is privately held with backing by VantagePoint Venture Partners,Point Judith Capital, Transcosmos, and private investors. [2] Multiply had over 11 million registered users. The company was headquarterd inBoca Raton, Florida but moved to Jakarta, Indonesia early in 2012 and recently announced intentions to switch to e-commerce, dropping the social networking aspect entirely. Quantcast estimates Multiply had 2. 47 million monthly U. S. unique visitors at their peak on July 30, 2012the quality, state, or capability of being connective orconnected ; especially : the ability to connect to or communicate with another computer or computer system 13. Computers the ability to link to and communicate with other computer systems, electronic devices,software, or the Internet: This laptop has limited connectivity. 14. Connectivity- the means by which individual terminals, computers, mobile devices, and local area networks connect to the global Internet 15. Network a group of two or more computer systems linked together. 16. Computer- is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a set of arithmetic or logical operations. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem. 17. Social networking service- an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. 18. Social network- is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations) and a set of the dyadic ties between these actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for analyzing the structure of whole social entities as well as a variety of theories explaining the patterns observed in these structures. The study of these structures uses social network analysis to identify local and global patterns, locate influential entities, and examine network dynamics. 19. Electronics-deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies. 20. Google- is an American multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products. These include search, cloud computing,software, and online advertising technologies. [6] Most of its profits are derived from AdWords.

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb

All About Mettre - Irregular French Verb Mettre, which means to put, is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.Using mettreMettre means to put:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis les livres sur la table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put the books on the table.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il faut mettre sa famille avant son travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You have to put your family before your work.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettez les mains en lair.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put your hands in the air.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il veut mettre de largent dans votre affaire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He wants to put money into your business.Mettre has various other meanings as well.1. to put on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tu dois mettre un pull.  Ã‚  Ã‚  You need to put on a sweater.2. to spend time on  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis deux semaines le faire.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I spent two weeks doing it.3. to turn on, activate  Ã‚  Ã‚  Peux-tu mettre la radio  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Could you turn on the radio?4. to suppose  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mettons quil a raison....  Ã‚  Ã‚  Supposing / Lets just say that hes ri ght....Mettre noun infinitive means to put something up/out/on to do something:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jai mis de leau bouillir.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I put some water on to boil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Il doit mettre le linge sà ©cher.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He has to put (hang) the laundry up to dry.Se mettreSe mettre also has many different meanings.1. to put oneself  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mets-toi cà ´tà © de ton frà ¨re.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put yourself next to your brother, Go sit/stand next to your brother.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je dois me mettre lombre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have to get into the shade.(figurative)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je ne sais pas oà ¹ me mettre.  Ã‚  Ã‚  I dont know where to look / what to do with myself.  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre dans une situation dà ©licate  Ã‚  Ã‚  to put/get oneself into a delicate situation2. to become (weather)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il va se mettre au froid demain.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its going to get/turn cold tomorrow.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest mis au chaud.  Ã‚  Ã‚  It got hot.3. se mettre - to start, set to, take up  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il sest enfin mis au travail.  Ã‚  Ã‚  He finally started working.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Je vais me mettre la danse.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Im going to take up dancing.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Quand vas -tu te mettre à ©tudier  ?  Ã‚  Ã‚  When are you going to start / set about studying?Expressions with mettre  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre lessai - to put to the test  Ã‚  Ã‚  mettre en relief - to accentuate, bring out, emphasize  Ã‚  Ã‚  Il y a mis le temps  ! - He took his sweet time about it!  Ã‚  Ã‚  se mettre au rà ©gime - to go on a diet  Ã‚  Ã‚  More expressions with mettreConjugationsPresent tense  Ã‚  Ã‚  je mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  tu  mets  Ã‚  Ã‚  il met  Ã‚  Ã‚  nous  mettons  Ã‚  Ã‚  vous  mettez  Ã‚  Ã‚  ils  mettentAll tenses

The eNotes Blog Wonderful Wanderlust Books that Make You Want to goPlaces

Wonderful Wanderlust Books that Make You Want to goPlaces Travel is one of the most wonderful experiences granted to us what other creature can say (relatively on a whim) that they want a change of scenery and to experience something new? With the potential exception of migratory birds, not many. So what influences us to want to see the sights? Often, its hearing about grand adventures or seeing pictures of some far-off land. But there is another medium that gives us an itch to get going:  literature, books, stories, etc. Reading the story of a life somewhere far, far away makes  us  yearn to see the places the author describes. That being said, it is important to note that not everything  happening in all countries is  peachy. Many books (set in the U.S. and around the world) focus on the strife and turmoil happening within those borders, and its relatively impossible and perhaps irresponsible to make a booklist that ignores drama and conflict. So please, enjoy the following list, make some travel plans, learn some stuff, and stay safe out there! Inferno  by Dan Brown Inferno is the fourth installment in  Browns series following the fast-paced, crazy life of Harvard professor Robert Langdon. Really, all of the Langdon books (actually all of Browns books),  take place in international  locations, and Browns knowledge and use of  language does a beautiful job detailing these countries. This story in particular takes place in Florence, Italy. Langdon wakes up  in a hospital room with no recollection of how he got there. In almost no time at all, he and the young doctor, Sienna Brooks, are fleeing through the streets of Florence  and  running from an unknown enemy.  Inferno takes its reader on a detailed tour of Florences beauty and historical influences all the while teaching a thing or two about one of Florences most famous people, Dante Alighieri. Wolf Dreams  by Yasmina Khadra This story  gives you a picture of the modern chaos happening at the moment (good for your political knowledge), and it lends itself to the beauty of alternative culture and the landscape within the country.  The book follows the life of Nafa Walid, the so-called heart throb of the Casbah, as he evolves, with terrifying seamlessness, from desiring a life of cinematic fame and fortune to being a member of the Islamic Fundamentalist Movement, committing murder with relative abandon. Wolf Dreams isnt exactly a travel guide, but it  is rich in imagery and cultural awareness. Shantaram  by Gregory David Roberts Shantaram  is just one picture  of India, but it is a pretty  fascinating  one. Based on the life of the author,  Shantaram details the life of a heroin addict/armed robber who escapes from the clutches of an Australian prison and flees to Bombay  before settling in a slum. While in Bombay, our man manages to open a free health clinic, get involved with the mafia, and meet the love of his life. Not bad for a convict on the run. While its not the most glamorous story, you do get a rugged picture of a very real area of India, and depending on what kind of traveler you are, that may be exactly what youre looking for. One Hundred Years of Solitude  by Gabrà ­el Garcà ­a Marquez This is a truly complicated story from start to finish but absolutely worth the effort you put into reading it. The book is set in South America, but with a great deal of influence via magical realism. We follow the multi-generational story of the Buendà ­a family, starting with the foundation of the mythical city Macondo by the familys patriarch, Josà © Arcadio Buendà ­a. Josà © is said to have originally dreamed of a city surrounded by water and filled with mirrors (hello, magical realism, good to see you), and eventually establishes such a place between riverbanks. Throughout the novel, the emerging generations of Buendà ­as suffer various tragedies but refuse to leave the land of their ancestors. Full of magical elements and beautiful descriptions of South America (particularly Colombia and its surrounding areas),  One Hundred Years of Solitude has been translated into 37 languages and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide- for good reason. The Valley of Amazement  by Amy Tan Life as a  courtesan in 20th century China was certainly a difficult one. Following the life of Violet Minturn,  The Valley of Amazement tells the story of a young girl forced to separate from her mother and become a virgin courtesan in the city.  The story  spans over fifty years, and we see Violets evolution from scared, young girl to savvy and sharp businesswoman- but to anyone with knowledge of her past,  her success is a mask for some major  inner turmoil. Through it all, in spite of the emotional rollercoaster youre invited to ride, readers are also treated to an accurate rendering of life and culture in 20th century China, and thats a beautiful thing. The Alchemist  by Paulo Coelho As one of the most read books in recent times, you can expect  The Alchemist to be an incredible book- and it really is. In essence, this is a story about following your dreams. We follow the life of a young shepherd boy as he travels from Spain to Egypt (and we mean travels the old-fashioned way- not just hopping on the nearest plane and landing in Cairo) in search of fulfilling his dream of discovering hidden treasure. Throughout his journey, our shepherd boy learns the true meaning of love, friendship, and happiness in the midst of, lets say difficult, scenarios. If youve heard the quote, if you can concentrate on the present, youll always be happy, then you should know that it comes from this book. Seven Ages of Paris  by Alistair Horne If youre interested in France, particularly Paris, Seven Ages of Paris could be exactly what youre looking for to enhance your historical knowledge and give  you the  satisfaction of reading a great story. The book itself jumps around quite a bit, as it spans (through a series of flashbacks) the course of French history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Horne has clearly done an incredible amount of research on his subject matter and provides readers an incredible image of what France was like during each time period.  As Hywell Williams said in his  Guardian  review, he is, in the best sense of the word, an amateur of Paris past and present- informed, reliable, enthusiastic. He knows where the Parisian bodies are buried, and he also knows the cost of the lives of both the obscure and the grand people that went into the making of a city, (Williams)   No arguments there, Williams. Its a love story  with  violence, lots of  drama, and some history- something for everybody. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants  by Ann Brashares To end this list on a positive, happy note, take a look at the  Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series- all in all, there are five of them. The series is based on the lives of four girls who have been friends quite literally since birth. As they separate for the first (and eventually second, third, fourth, etc. times), the girls find  a pair of pants that fit all of them, in spite of their very different sizes. So why is this series included on a list about wanderlust? Well, thats because each book makes you want to change your life through travel, and because thats what they do every summer. (It will make you jealous.) For example, in the first book, Lena travels to Greece,  Bridget goes to California  and  Mexico, and  Carmen goes off to South Carolina. And thats just the first book! It isnt just that these characters go to amazing places, but also that Brashares is such a talented writer that she makes her readers feel as if they are also embarking on these adventures.  If you want wanderlust without the political influences, this is the series for you. Happy reading (and wanderlusting)!

What is the impact of SOA in industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is the impact of SOA in industry - Essay Example oach that asserts the intention to build software assets in an organization in order to improve the organization efficiency in meeting its needs (Marks, 2013, p.98). In this context, the term service refers to a unit of functionality that is self-contained like doing and online shopping or a retrieval of a bank statement in the internet. It is as a result of SOA that computer that are interconnected in an organization are able to cooperate, with adoption of the SOA rapidly gaining some popularity in the modern world especially in the large businesses and centralized organizations. Service-oriented architecture creates a situation whereby every computer in the network can perform indiscriminate number of services while still capable of exchanging different information in an easy way. Exchange of information between the various computers that are interconnected is made possible without any need for human interaction or change in the primary program .Application of SOA is associated with numerous advantages that make it appear like it is the dominant form of enterprise architecture in the modern world. One of this key advantage that has made the system become popular is the ability of the system to allow continuous use and easy-sharing of data between various programs vendors without necessarily having to buy an additional program or make changes to the services. Moreover, in most cases the services provided by the system are reusable, a factor that lowers the total cost in terms of the development and maintenance cost, while at the same time providing much valu e after the development and testing of the service. However, SOA is not likely to make any difference or be beneficial to a business organization especially if the organization adopting is small (does not have two or more primary systems that require a degree of integration), or the organization is large but is far much decentralized. Despite the above-mentioned benefits of using SOA in an organization, there

Environmental Scan Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Environmental Scan - Research Paper Example With strong engineering capabilities, Ford has highly skilled managers and workers to manufacture automobiles meeting stringent needs of the market. The company's brand name has evolved over time for last several decades and it is known as the reliable auto-manufacturer among customers. It has well-established R&D facilities to develop fuel-efficient engines that can meet the most stringent norms of the market in terms of flue gas emissions. As per company's website information, total 77 units – either full-fledged assembly lines or component manufacturing units are in operation globally. At least one-third of these installations are in the US alone (List of Operations Worldwide, 2013). It is pertinent to note that Ford continues to attract committed workforce with diverse background that include ethnicity, race, culture, age, religion, and gender and the company puts considerable efforts in imparting training to their workers for the organization development (Diversity, 2013) . External Environment of Ford External environment of Ford Motors is quite challenging. ... Source: http://corporate.ford.com/microsites/sustainability-report-2011-12/blueprint-strategy Its recently launched model ‘Fusion’ with an array of technology features that matches with the luxury features of the Aston-Martin – a luxurious sports car has been able to grab one of the top slots in prestigious markets of California. Its sales are up significantly in North California replacing Toyotas and Hondas of customers (Ramsey, 2013). Current trend is towards developing and offering smart gadgets to consumers and accordingly, Ford has tied up with Microsoft to develop a â€Å"Smart Car’ with some fancy features that are not available anywhere so far. Since early 2012, Ford Motors' business strategy lies in implementing its 'ONE Ford Plan'. It essentially consists of four-point business plan for achieving success in the market place and they are restructuring operations aggressively to meet needs of the market; developing new models/products as per the ne ed of customers; directing workforce to work effectively as one cohesive team and working towards improving the company’s balance sheet. ‘ONE Ford Plan’ encourages teamwork, brings focus on its objectives with a single global approach. Much of the emphasis has been put on working as a single team to achieve business leadership. ‘ONE Ford Plan’ is supported by a set of behaviors that govern all employees of the organization. Strategic success is measured through satisfaction levels of customers, employees, and associates such as dealers, suppliers, investors and the communities in which the company operates. ONE Ford decides about goals and expectations of employees regardless of which global plant they work at. The focus is on behaviors and skills that all workers must demonstrate to