ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Rationale After reading the novel The Green Mile written by Stephen King and watching the movie of the same name directed by Frank Darabont, the decision to develop an imaginary interview with the author of the work regarding its adaptation as a movie came to my mind in several seconds. It was evident that it is not enough to understand the main message of the author in a literary work. It is interesting and educative to compare the story offered in the book with the story that is observed on the screen. The Green Mile is a novel that touches many topics like power, pride, political relationships, honor, and trust. It discusses them in the most unexpected way, describing the moment when the line between life and death becomes invisible. It is a real challenge and pleasure to compare these two strong works and learn the lessons from The Green Mile . I cannot help but agree with this fact because this powerful combination of the novel and the movie helps to understand each character better, develop a personal attitude to the author of the novel, and share all my feelings and emotions about the role of the Green Mile in the life of every person. Written Task Interviewer: I would like to thank you for taking some of your time off from your schedule to talk with me. Your experience and knowledge, as well as your literary works, are priceless, and it is my lucky chance to discuss one of your stories’ adaptations with you directly. Stephen King: It is my pleasure to give you such a chance. I.: Can you please tell me about your personal attitude to The Green Mile ? Do you have any favorite characters? Have you taken them from real life or is it all your imagination only? S.K.: As a matter of fact, I admire everything in The Green Mile . It is not only a story of one or two people. It is a description of what people can get but can never understand or accept in their lives. I wanted to create a story for each character because all of them, without exception, deserved the right to have the past, the present, and the future. As you may know, in the beginning, there were six impressive volumes in The Green Mile . I cannot even imagine if it could be possible to create a movie regarding the material I offered. As for my favorites… I do not know… I like all of them. It is impossible to overlook the “wouldn’t hurt a fly Brutal or a poor Del, a friend of a mouse. It is hard to forget the role of Mr. Jingles, that intelligent mouse that fulfilled the last days of several “dead men” on the Green Mile. The relations between Paul Edgecombe and John Coffey, “like the drink only not spelled the same way”, are full of empathy and regret with the help of which human life can be assessed and understood. In some way, I also like that sadistic poor young man Percy Wetmore because, each time he tries to demonstrate his power and confidence, he fails due to his pride and weakness. Unfortunately, these characteristics are inherent in millions of people in the real world. I hope, the people from the Green Mile can help someone to ove
Situation Analysis and Industry Analysis of Costco Costco is the largest discount warehouse in America, with several overseas branches in Canada, and Europe. It also has interests in the discount warehouse business in Mexico where it has a fifty percent stake in the Mexican Costco. Discount warehouses are a special kind of retail business where customers buy an annual membership in order to enjoy special discounts on all products. Most of them operate on volume basis hence they generate income based on the sale of high volumes of the products in stock. Costco, unlike many retail outlets such as superstores and supermarkets, keeps a small inventory to simplify its business system, which requires high levels of efficiency in order to work as planned. The existence and growth of the discount warehouses in the retail segment shows that it is a business model that is able to weather the storms of economic downturns such as those that the world has dealt with in the last five years. The trend that the segment possesses shows that there is still a huge potential for its growth, not just in North America, but also in the entire world. The normal trend for businesses is to diversify in order to have a strong portfolio and to keep abreast with changing patterns as a way of assuring long-term profitability. The three key players in the segment each has its own competitive advantage and it should not be surprising if more players with experience in the retail segment jump in to cash in on the discount warehouse segment as part of their diversification strategy. Problem Statement and Strategy Analysis There are several lessons to learn from Costco’s business strategy. In order to decipher the elements of its business strategy, there is a need to look at its operational and management models. These two parameters will provide the basis for understanding the company’s strategy. Efficiency is the critical component behind Costco’s operations. The business seeks to provide its members with the best prices based on low operating costs achieved by efficient operations. The company sets its markup at about fourteen percent, compared to other wholesalers and retailers who set theirs at between twenty to fifty percent. This nature of pricing requires the stocking of products that the company can sell at significant discounts. As a strategic consequence, Costco can only stock a limited range of products, which meet this criterion. The third element of Costco’s pricing is treasure hunt merchandising, which is the short term stocking of unique goods when available. This strategy serves to increase the urgency with which shoppers appr
Introduction This advocacy plan proposes an institutional-level change that is aimed at the improvement of Canadian media literacy curricula. It includes preliminary research, assessment of powers, opportunities, and threats, and provides an overview of the goals, strategies, and tactics that can be identified at this stage of the plan development. Research In this section, the results of an initial campaign research are presented. They should be expected to be further expanded, and the research should remain an ongoing process since the developments in the political and social environment might affect the advocacy (Minieri & Getsos, 2007). Problematizing the Issue: Scientific Evidence The media has a very significant impact on people, especially children and youngsters, who are not yet taught to assess the presented imagery critically. As a result, the issue of objectification and sexualization in the media is concerned with the effects that it has on people’s minds since childhood. The fact that media imagery can have negative effects has been well-documented and proven by experimental evidence (Dakanalis et al., 2014). The most typical outcomes include self-objectification (thinking about one’s body from an onlooker’s point of view) and the internalization (adoption) of the appearance ideals witnessed in the media. This combination of effects may later lead to dissatisfaction with one’s appearance, self-esteem issues, and harmful dietary habits. For example, in Canada, girls’ self-esteem experiences a noticeable drop between the 6 and 10 grade; 60% of girls who are objectively too thin believe that they are too fat (Canadian Women’s Foundation, n.d., para. 1), which, in turn, can result in the mentioned negative outcomes. The media
Cyber democracy How scholars thought the Net would affect democracy and politics In the early years of the internet, there were mixed views in the society about how the internet would affect democracy. However, a majority of the people had one view, and that was optimistic. The early scholars had a view that the internet would change the way democracy was handled and overly they viewed it as an engine of fairness. The early scholars also saw the internet as a forum through which they would be able to speak freely of the ideas that they had as if it were a town hall. How Cass Sunstein and other scholars see the Internet’s effect on political discourse Cass Sunstein and other scholars of recent times have had a change in the way that they view the internet’s effect on the political discourse. The scholars have come out with the idea of group polarization concerning the internet in which like-minded people in a group usually create views that in the end come out as extreme positions when every member reinforces the other member’s views. Therefore, this creates political ideas that are led by ideas of an isolated group that believes in one idea or the other. Did they view the Internet as a positive force or a negative force on political discussions? The scholars viewed the internet as a negative force on political discussions as it does not encourage democracy since individuals are forced to follow the ideas of a group as opposed to the ideas that they may hold personally. Online forums In my view, online forums are quite effective since they allow people to come out with ideas that they have openly, and in the process, they can mix their ideas with those of other people. However, when not practiced wisely, online forums may create the aforementioned group polarization. Therefore, they sometimes degenerate to name-calling whilst sometimes they help to play healthy politics, but it is variable. One example of the websites that help to exchange ideas but negatively is the (republic.com) What are the public policies in conflict here? In the real sense, there several public interests in conflict when the information about the funding of a politician is disclosed or not disclosed. The major public policy that conflicts is the right to information. Generally, the public needs to know the organizations that fund and organization so that they can know as to what the intentions are. When the information is not disclosed, the public policy generates conflict. Additionally, according to democracy, when an individual wish to run for whatever post, he or she is usually inclined to give out information as to how he or she got his or her money, and this then means that transparency is an issue. Why shou
Although various scholarship programs aim to alleviate the disparities that exist in accessing education among socioeconomic groups, the structure of the programs could affect the achievement of such a goal. Contributing to such an observation, Kash and Lasley (2011) examined how demographic and socioeconomic factors affect the utilization and retention rates in merit-based scholarships. The study arose from criticism, cited by the authors in their literature review, that such merit-based programs could have a retrogressive effect in addressing the existing inequality in accessing higher education among different socioeconomic groups. Accordingly, the authors hypothesised that the decline in socioeconomic status of schools would be positively associated with the level of utilization and retention rates in a broad merit-based scholarship program. To test this hypothesis, the study used a convenience sample based on the data from the Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship (KEES) awards. KEES uses two measures for assessing a student’s eligibility to receive initial and subsequent scholarship awards – “a base amount that is calculated from students’ high school GPAs and a supplemental amount based on students’ ACT scores” (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 44). The study’s independent variables included socioeconomic status of the schools (evaluated by the percentage of students receiving free lunches), race and gender. The authors hypothesised that changes in such independent variables would explain the changes in the two dependent variables (utilization and retention rates). Utilization was defined as the number of students who claimed their scholarship in the initial year of eligibility, while retention was the number of such students’ who obtained the scholarship in subsequent years. The study’s results indicated that socioeconomic status was positively correlated with utilization and retention rates of KEES awards. The utilization and retention rates of KEES declined significantly for students from schools with a low socioeconomic rating when compared with those with a high socioeconomic rating (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 50). Race and gender also influenced utilization and retention rates with Caucasian and female students having higher rates as compared to minority races and male students, respectively (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 50). Following such observations, the authors concluded that merit-based scholarships enhanced the inequalities that existed in accessing higher education am
Abstract This is a research paper that is based on a case study. The paper seeks to explain the compensation strategies in a company and how they impact on the culture of the organization. Microsoft Corporation is used in this case. The paper establishes the link between organizational culture and compensation policies. It justifies in the explanation how these components of organizational health impact on each other. The compensation and reward system of Microsoft has been identified and analyzed. Each side of this component has been included in the analysis. In the final analysis, the paper links the compensation and reward system to the prevalent organization culture of Microsoft. Introduction Organizational culture is built on a number of things, one of them being the reward system. This is a crucial exercise because it improves the performance of employees in an organization (Heneman, 2002). Research has revealed that many companies have been working on setting up compensation systems. Compensation is one of the prevailing demands of the business environment in the modern business scenario. However, many firms keep failing in implementing the compensation systems because there are problems in the payment systems (Driskill & Brenton, 2010). Compensation systems and organizational cultures are inter-linked. The ways in which compensation programs are structured and implemented have a direct impact on the culture of an organization. On the other hand, the already established organizational culture determines how the compensation programs or systems will be enforced in the organization (Gómez-Mejía, Berrone & Franco-Santos, 2010). With highly skilled workforce, Microsoft has a compensation system, which has experienced sharp criticism in the recent times. In this article, the author looks into the compensation system of Microsoft Corporation. The author discusses the benefits and shortfalls of the compensation system, and how it affects the development strategy of the company (Zobal, 1999). Methodology The information used in the analysis has been sourced from academic sources, like books and journals. Non-academic sources, like company websites, have been used to supply pertinent information. Analysis has been based on knowledge and concepts from academic sources. Linking compensation to organizational culture Many people have the assumption that true culture of an organization is portrayed in its reward and compensation system. Indeed, compensation has been termed as a core function of human resource management. When it is implemented in its true sense and meaning, compensation can reinforce the key values and culture of an organization. It can also gear the organization in achieving its strategic business objectives. The major objective of compensation is to attract and maintain the desired mix and quality of workers (Kuhn, 2009). Compensation has a direct impact on prevailing conditions employees in an organization. Compensation systems convey powerful messages concerning the practices and values of an organization towards it
The Federal Reserve System (FED) has price stability, high employment, economic growth, financial market and institution stability, interest rate stability, and foreign-exchange market stability as its monetary policy goals (Mishkin, 2007). The main challenges the FED faces in achieving these goals include the diverse effect that achieving one goal can have on another one, the inability of FED’s tool to achieve all its monetary policy goals directly, and the timing difficulties in achieving those goals (Mishkin, 2007). The first challenge might be overcome through either putting FED’s goals by the accessible means of their achievement or through the determination of the most important goal at the moment. The second challenge can be faced by the modified tools designed specifically for achieving the FED’s goals. The third challenge demands restructuring the FED’s work to enable it to achieve monetary policy goals as soon as they are established. Open market operations (OMO) constitute one of the tools the FED uses to achieve its monetary policy goals. However, OMO affects the banking system of the country in three major ways as the FED buys and sells securities issued by the banks (Mishkin, 2007). The first way the FED affects the banking system is the impact OMO by the FED has on the growth of banking deposits that either grow or decrease depending on interest rates established by the FED. The second effect of the FED’s OMO is the very level of interest rates that banks have to attach to their loans and borrowing based on the FED’s instructions (Kohn, 2008). The third way the FED affects the banking system lies in the fact that banks are thus controlled by the FED that buys or cells their securities and can dictate their will to the banks around the country (AmosWeb, 2009). Reserve requirements state that every bank or any other depository institution in the United States must hold a certain amount of its funds, whether it is money, securities, che
Whole Foods, is a natural and organic food retailer, which was started its operations in 1980, in Austin, Texas. It is now the largest natural and organic foods retailer in the world, and has stores in the United Kingdom and throughout North America. The company has been involved with a lot of mergers and acquisitions since it started its operations. In fact, much of the company’s growth has been achieved through the acquisitions and mergers. The company developed this strategy in order to expand its market, since the companies they have partnered with, are spread in many parts of the world. Initially, the company was called SafeWay, and it was founded by John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy. After running for about 2 years, SaferWay merged with Clarksville Natural Grocery, which resulted to the establishment of the Whole Foods Market in 1980. Since then, the company has been extensively employing this strategy, and it has formed mergers with companies such as Wild Oats© Markets, Fresh & Wild, Select Fish, Harry’s Farmers Market, Food for Thought, Nature’s Heartland, WholePeople.com, Allegro Coffee, Merchant of Vino, Amrion, Bread of Life, Fresh Fields, Mrs. Gooch’s, Bread & Circus, and Wellspring Grocery. This paper will focus on the market, industry and the marketing strategies employed by Whole Foods. Discussion This retail company operates in the food industry. This is an industry which mostly depends on agriculture. In other words, agriculture is the key source of products in the industry which Whole Foods operates in; hence changes in climatic conditions directly affect the industry. The type of market structure in this industry is a rapid growth structure. This is because the use of organic food products is on the increase in the modern world, as people are increasingly being affected by foods that contain chemicals. Due to this, many people want natural foods and this is why the market for the industry in which this firm operates in, is experiencing rapid growth (Kotler & Keller, 2009). The change agents in this industry include societal/demographic trends and technological trends. When demographic trends change, the food industry is affected because changes in perception and way of life are directly related to food consumption. Technological changes also affect the food industry because they affect production, quality and distribution of food products, hence directly affecting the food industry market. Threat of new competition There are many firms selling organic food products such as Wal-Mart, Trader Joe’s and Safeway among others. Therefore, Whole Foods faces a threat of new competition as
Meeting illness with empathy is a crucial principle that can be embedded in healthcare practice when approaching the treatment of patients. It entails the understanding and the identification of an emotional state of another person, which can have a positive influence on establishing significant interactions between patient and physicians. In order for healthcare providers to be empathic, they should convey the understanding of their patients’ mental state and observe the influences that could have contributed to such a state. One of the examples of approaching illness with empathy is to consider the alternative perspective on healthcare and scientific rigor to find what makes a patient feel his or her best (Campo 18). Language is used as a form of healing, with the approach dating back to Ancient Egyptians who gave their dead a book to guide them in the afterlife (Campo 32). Thus, healing can take the role of art, with such forms as poetry being used to transcend the traditional understanding of healing and treatment. Another example is the capacity to resolve the bio cultural approach to healing through poetry, allowing to provide a sense of relief and introspection not offered by traditional medicine (Campo 21). Campo’s work has had a tremendous impact on the understanding of poetry as a healing tool because the cases that the author described signified an overall positive reception of patients. The contribution of the author showed that poetry was essential in allowing to explore the inside experience of illness, enabling patients to be attentive to what they feel internally (Campo 25). Using poetry as a supportive tool may be helpful for physicians to approach illness with empathy by allowing their patients to reflect and heal emotionally. Work Cited Campo, Rafael. The Healing Art: A Doctor’s Black Bag of Poetry. W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.