ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Misconceptions About Seasons One of the most commonly spread misconceptions about the change of seasons relates to the mistaken opinion that seasons occur because of the Earth’s distance from the Sun. What is interesting is that people of all ages make the same mistake. Because many think that the temperature on the Earth fluctuates depending on its distance from the Sun, it is presumed that seasons change because of such a change in distance. However, in reality, the distance from the Earth to the Sun does not change because the orbit is almost a perfect circle with the smallest difference of two percent between the closest and the farthest points (Lambert & Sundburg, 2010). Reason for Seasons The real explanation for why there are four seasons on the Earth is the fact that the planet’s axis is not straight and is titled to one side. Therefore, the Earth rotates on its axis and rotates around the sun, while the planet’s axis always points to one direction. It is also important to remember that the Earth has a Southern and a Northern Hemispheres. Thus, in winter (December) the Sun shines straight on the Southern Hemisphere while in summer (June) the Sun shines directly at the Northern Hemisphere. Seasons on Other Planets Apart from the Earth, three other planets, namely Neptune, Mars, and Saturn also have an approximate twenty-degrees tilt, and, similar to our planet, also have different seasons. However, because they are farther from the Sun, warm seasons are much colder and much longer there. According to Nelson (2005), summers on Mars are twice as long as on the Earth; summer is forty years on Neptune and seven years on Saturn. On the other hand, there are planets such as Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, which have almost no tilt, and therefore, cannot experience the changing of the seasons. Among these planets, it is worth to mention Venus that has a tilt of 177.4 degrees, which means that it is located almost upside down in comparison with other planets. Moreover, the atmosphere of Venus, which is very high in carbon dioxide, also contributes to the fact that there is no change of seasons on the planet since the average temperature on Venus is twice as hot as the maximum setting in the regular kitchen oven. Lastly, there is no specific place on the planet where the heat can escape at any time of day (Maness, 2006). Contrast to the environment on Venus, Mercury manages to capture much more sunlight and has a much thinner atmosphere, which can let out some heat. Also, the planet’s orbit is not a perfect circle; thus Mercury experiences more heat in those instances when it is closer to the Sun (Nelson, 2005). The Oddest Planets It is commonly said that Pluto and Uranus are the oddest planets in our solar systems. For example, the tilt of Uranus is ninety degrees and is lined up with its orbital plane. Thus, when the planet makes its way around the Sun, one of its poles is pointed directly at the Sun while another is pointed directly away. This means that half of the way around the Sun one hemisphere of Uranus is in complete darkness while another is exposed to the Sun. Pluto is very far away fro
Introduction Due to civil and international pressure, modern nations tend to enact various laws that recognize and protect some rights of the civil society. In particular, the worker’s rights are important in modern economies (Williams, 2008). Although it is considered as socialism, most European nations lead to establishing and implementing social security acts within their jurisdictions. However, for the United States to copy this lesson from Europe and other areas, it is necessary to consider the foreseen and expected impacts of such legislation on the society and the economy. Arguably, social security act empowers people with rights to benefit, which help to reduce their economic productivity, increase wage demands and high levels of voluntary and involuntary unemployment. Therefore, social security act will be responsible for a reduced economic growth. The negative impacts of social security Social security funding is likely to produce negative impacts on the national economy in three major forms. First, it will provide social security funding to the unemployed and employed individuals. The unemployed people will benefit from social security funding, yet they do not contribute to its creation. In this way, the society will be divided into two groups such as the working group, which provides social security funding to the whole population, and the
Introduction Social networks such as facebook, twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn have affected the performance and productivity of employees both negatively and positively. Some of these social networks are purely chatting sites where employees waste valuable working time on. On the other hand, these sites are source of information where employees can acquire information from hence gain more knowledge. Let us look at both sides of the coin before concluding anything i.e. both the advantages and disadvantages of allowing employees to have access to the social networking sites during working hours. Information resource and Fast communication medium It is believed that most of the very successful businesses have the best and fast communication mediums. These forms of communication devices allow employees to surf the internet a high speeds allowing them access to information that in one way or another assist them in solving some of their work problems. Also their access to some social networks e.g. LinkedIn may help them meet new professionals form different fields who can assist them in solving some problems. This is most commonly done by posting questions of any kind and the people involved in those fields responds to them at no cost, one can also view previously answered questions (Reinhild 16). This would be cheaper than contacting a specialist for some advice. Social networks help in improving communication between employees, suppliers, and customers. Communicating through the social networks helps in reducing the workload of some employees for instance if customers and the employees communicate through them the overload on emails would be greatly be reduced and the employees would be able to filter the information by their relevance. In other words, it is easier to retrieve only the information that is relevant if you are communicating through social networks than if you are communicating with e-mails (Reinhild 16). Team work Building According to a research conducted by AT&T enterprise, social networks help in building and encouraging teamwork in a firm. This is due to the increased collaboration between colleagues who can easily communicate to each other from their working positions. The idea of having something in common in this case a social network account helps in strengthening employees’ inter personal relationships. This can be directly interpreted to better performance and productivity by the employees as a result of good working conditions which the employees are happy about (At&t Enterprice 4-6). Advertisements and purchases Most social networks contain links to software application and other websites that may be beneficial to firms. Let us first talk about software applications and tools that are advertised on the social networks websites. Most software vendors usually offer an initial free trial version of the application. This allows a company to download the application at no cost. The employees also get a chance of familiarizing themselve
What are the current strategies of Illy (business, corporate, and global), and is their competitive position sustainable? One of the business strategies applied by Illy is pricing. Since the company provides a unique blend of coffee drinks and positions them as a product of premium quality, the price is also premium. However, increasing sales prove the efficiency of the selected strategy. The company manages to target its particular niche in the market and satisfy the demand of the customers for a premium product. Another specific strategy typical of Illy is to focus on quality. The company is known for its quality obsession and skillful use of innovative design. Innovation and quality are connected in the technological process of selecting the best coffee beans. For example, electronic photographs of beans are made to compare their color and detect those that do not suit the standards. The company also applies a direct marketing strategy. It presupposes direct communication between the company and the target consumer. Illy provides direct sales through the official page of the company on the internet. The corporate strategy of Illy is based on the value of quality and excellence. Being a family company, Illy preserved this value through generations. Also, the company values its employees, and they respect the corporate traditions and make efforts to provide customers with the product of high quality. The global strategy is applied by the company in the market entry process. The application of diverse expansion approaches, such as direct franchising, master franchising, area franchising, multi-unit franchising, joint venture, and others, empowered the spread of the company over the world to more than 140 countries. Judging by the increasing sales of the company, it can be stated that its competitive position is sustainable. According to the company data, sales volume increased even in countries with big competitors such as India and Brazil. Moreover, the increase was record
The Civil War in America was the ensuing consequence of the opposition between the South and North. The main cause of the war was slavery, which decelerated the development of the economy. The War resulted in the Reconstruction of the whole economic system of the United States with the indispensable condition of slavery abolition. The works by Jordan, Johnson and Zinn helped to make a notion of the historical importance of Reconstruction. Using the documentaries, it is on the point to define the results of the Civil War and Reconstruction. In the middle of the nineteenth century slavery in the South hampered the economical and social development of the country. In the North there was a rapid growth of capitalism, the industrial revolution reached the crucial phase, embracing all main branches of industrial production. But the South remained to be a backward slavery region. “In the South, only minorities of white people were slave owners, but many poor whites were persuaded that their future also depended on the maintenance of slavery. Some Southern whites volunteered, and others were drafted” (Zinn, 197). The alignment of class forces changed to this period. While the old trade bourgeoisie, bankers, and cotton manufacturers were economically tied with the South, the new industrial bourgeoisie faced planters about customs tariff and financing of the railway building, channels and harbors. The capitalistic development demanded the formation of the single national market, and the transition from slave labor to wage labor. Zinn notes, “It was the classic situation, the onset of war spurring demands for national unity, though in reality the nation was divided between rich and poor” (Zinn, 198). A significant role in the growth of the revolutionary movement was played by the armed revolt of a farmer and abolitionist, John Brown. Civil War resulted in the victory of the North, abolition of slavery and reconstruction of the whole economic system in the country. Jordan quotes President Jefferson, “The essential principles of our Government… form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation” (Jordan, 184). The bourgeois-democratic reforms applied to the South in the first place. Reconstruction touched the North farming indirectly, as they were satisfied by The Homestead Act. Free Negros, fighting for soil and civil rights, became the main revolution power. “Most had retained control of their land, but with slavery gone, they now had to bargain for the labor of their former slaves” (Johnson, 396). In the labor organization there raised the question of the equality of whites and blacks. But a lot of Negros and white poor men occupied the position of sharecroppers. As a result of four years of war and a period of Reconstruction, the political and economical system of the USA was greatly developed for benefit of free States. Slavery was abolished, Negros were free
If you were a shareholder in J/Boats, what would keep you up at night? If I was a shareholder at J/Boats, there would be several things which I would concentrate on: First, I would concentrate more on finding ways of reducing both the fixed and the operating costs involved in making a boat. This would either be by looking for cheaper sources of raw materials or avoiding and eliminating any avoidable costs. As a result, this would lead to a reduction in the costs involved thus reducing the amount of money our customers would have to pay for our products (boats). With the advancement in technologies and the world becoming a global village, technology is advancing at an alarming rate. It would thus be important also for the company to put more on modern innovations which seek to reduce costs on the side of the customer. For example by making boats that are faster, lighter, and more fuel-efficient compared to the old models. This would make sure that our customers feel that we had them in mind when we were designing and making our products as a result, more customers would love and be proud to be associated with us leading to increased sales. Other than making our products more cost-efficient on both our side and that of our customers, as a shareholder, I would also concentrate on ensuring that that our boats perform to the expected standards as well as ensuring that during the design and making of our boats, all safety measures are taken into consideration eliminating any chance of engineering errors which would endanger the lives of our customers as they use our products. In any market, if the company succeeds, its rivals are likely to copy their ideas. The likelihood of our rivals in the market copying our ideas (design and models) would be another thing that I would check on. I would thus encourage our model developers to design and create unique products that are hard to be copied by our rivals and which our customers would be able to easily identify and relate to. Finally, though our sales have not been that poor, with the reputation our company has achieved, it should be making more than the current sales. To make sure our rivals never get anywhere near us, as a shareholder, I would embark on pressing our market dealers to be more aggressive when marketing our products. If they can’t, we would then search for new marketers who can ensure that our products are well known in the market and even those who cannot afford our products knows if a chance arose and they were to afford a boat, they would ask for our products. If you had to divide J/Boats value into two separate pieces, how much value would you say is “on the book” and how much value would you say is intangible or “off book”? If I was to divide the company values both “on the book” and “off-book”, I would give the company a 70 % value “on the book” and a 30% value “off-book”. The reason behind giving the tang
Abstract The theory of institutional racism is frequently used in the field of sociology to explain any type of system of inequity that is based on race. The theory explains how race is used to differentiate society, particularly the institutions of government, private enterprises and institutions of higher learning, such as universities and colleges. An activist group led by Stokely Carmichael, referred to as Black Power, first used institutional racism in 1960s. A report investigating the death of a black citizen defined institutional racism as the collective failure of an organization, particularly governmental organizations, to offer adequate and specialized services to citizens mainly because of their skin color, civilization and ethnic background. Since then, sociologists have used the theory to establish the effects of ethnicity in society. For instance, material and social resources are distributed based on racial lines, something that hinders the fulfillment of goals and objectives among a section of the population. In 1990s, the theory took a new shape when blacks and other minority groups pressurized the government to exercise fairness in the labor market. Currently, the theory is used to explain racial injustices in organizations, given the fact that institutions have failed to stem out racism. This paper will attempt to analyze how institutional racism affects an individual’s opportunities in life. This means that the theory influences other subjects, particularly economics. The paper will go ahead to explain how the theory is used in the field of political economy. Introduction Institutional racism can be defined as the degree of difference to access of goods, services and opportunities in society. In the American society, the practice is common in the institutions of government, making it hard to rectify the mess. The situation is worsened by the acts of conformers and newcomers since they do not think of other strategies that would help stem out the vice. In the American society, the government cannot claim to fight racism, given the fact that a single or identified perpetrator cannot be traced. Therefore, it could be concluded that racism has turned out to be a collective action of the American society. Scholars observe that three forms of racism exist, including personally mediated racism, internalized racism and institutionalized racism. Mediated racism consists of specific social pe
Forming a positive perception on consumers for the products you are launching in the market, is what a good marketing campaign should be all about. But this is no easy task to achieve. In fact, you have to consider the variance in background among different consumer communities. A marketing manager has to take into consideration various factors when constructing his marketing plan, from the psychological background to the socio-cultural features of that particular consumer group (Hollensen, 2007). This is why the companies need to develop complex marketing strategies that will target specific customer groups which they intend to transform into their customers. This is done through the process of value creation. This is precisely what they have been doing at Apple, Inc. Their latest product release, the iPad, was developed with the specifications of various customer groups in mind. At Apple they understood that customer wanted a product that embeds all the features of a laptop, an iPod, an eBook reader, etc. That is why they brought all the possible multimedia features into one single product, the iPad. Nevertheless, when marketing in Australia they should base their strategy on different principles than in the US. Especially they should pay attention to their value positioning on the marketing process before product and services development (Kotler & Keller, 2006). We are talking about a customer target group with different characteristics than the US counterpart. Australians tend to favor certain features and Americans others. In the US the market segmentation process made Apple to focus mostly on customer who wanted a product that focused on email and internet surfing, music videos and DVD playing. The categories of people mostly targeted by the iPad were the actual ‘followers’ of the iPod, iPhone or iMac. We are talking about youth with a general liberal attitude of life and of business people who required an easy to use and light sort of tablet PC on which they can also use different features. Meanwhile they will have to base their branding strategy and the subsequent advertising campaign on different viewpoints in Australia. This society tends to be more sort of conservative when coming to family values and the youth groups tend not to have such a laissez faire attitude. Thus, running a campaign based on individualism, societal anti-conformism style, etc. could result inadequate in Australia. They should base their product launch and advertising campaign in focusing features of the iPad like the family photo storing, the iBook reading features, the easiness of jotting down notes and writing to a friend or family an email through its huge screen.
The field of anthropology experienced several changes that shaped its research approach. Such changes occur whenever a prominent figure in the field of anthropology proposes a new way of looking at the world and its past. One of the most significant theories of the modern era was Claude Levi-Strauss. His theories became some of the most important for the concept of structural anthropology and structuralism as a whole. This paper will provide his brief biography, the historical context in which his theories were created, his educational background, influences, contemporaries, and how his theory is applied in the field of anthropology. Biography Claud Levi-Strauss was born in Brussels, Belgium on November 28, 1908. His early life was spent in Paris. When the First World War began, he moved to his grandfather on his mother’s side. Levi-Strauss’s grandfather was a rabbi of a synagogue in Versailles. After the war, he began to study law at the Sorbonne University but changed his focus to philosophy instead. In the first half of the 1930s, he worked as a teacher. However, an opportunity to join a cultural mission to Brazil presented itself, and Levi-Strauss decided to go with it. During the mission, he was performing the duties of a sociology professor. He lived there until 1939. This time was very formative for his understanding of ethnography due to the expeditions that he was a part of. He studied various tribal societies that were present in the region (Kurzweil, 2017). After returning home to Paris, he assisted the war effort on the Maginot Line. However, the county soon capitulated, which left him in a dangerous position due to his ethnic background. His citizenship was taken away by the Vichy government, but he stayed in the country for some time and assisted the French resistance. He eventually escaped the country and gained employment at the New York New School for Social Research. While living in New York, he established Ecole Libre des Hautes Etudes, a collective of academics that were exiled from France during the occupation. This time in his life also contributed greatly to his outlook on anthropology. He began to shape his theory of structural anthropology. Since the 1940s, he began publishing books where he described a new approach to anthropology based on the idea of kinship and structure. His publications were met with a very positive response (Pace, 2015). He began to be highly regarded in the professional circles which in 1959 earned him a position as a professor of social anthropology at the College de France. He continued his work late into his life until passing away in 2009 at the age of 100 (Kurzweil, 2017). Historical Context He began to develop his theories of structural anthropology during a difficult time in his life. The Second World War caused Levi-Strauss to leave his home country, which put him in touch with some of the most prominent academics of the era. At the time, families were seen as self-contained units, with their other relatives being considered less relevant for analysis. However, Levi-Strauss found this to be false and presented his point