ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Dziga Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera (1929) is traditionally viewed as one of the most vivid examples of the database films. The concepts of the ‘database’ and ‘algorithm’ in relation to the media began actively developed by Lev Manovich in his work (Manovich, 2000). The detailed examination of these concepts is possible with the focus on the actual examples of database films. This essay discusses how Vertov’s Man with a Movie Camera can be analyzed in terms of such Manovich’s concepts as ‘database’ and ‘algorithm’ because Vertov’s film can be viewed as challenging the tradition of relying on the sequential or logical presentation of ideas and the narrativity. In his essays, Manovich (2000, 2001) introduced the concept of the database connected with the media. Manovich noted that the computer era influenced the development of the media while giving the origin to the database concept. Thus, a database can be discussed as a collection of different objects and items that are equal in their significance and that are not connected or organized thematically (Manovich, 2001, p. 39). A database is not narrative, and it cannot tell a story because of the lack of logical connections in items. However, a person can manipulate a database for the certain purpose while searching it (Manovich, 2000, p. 177). In addition to the concept of a database, Manovich (2000) also introduced the idea of an algorithm. Thus, an algorithm is the set of rules and principles according to which the logical sequential can be created (Manovich, 2000, p. 179). From this point, an algorithm is developed by a person who chooses to work with a database, reorder, and manipulate it. While applying the concepts of database and algorithm to Man with a Movie Camera, it is possible to state that this film addresses both theories. The film ignores the narrative tradition, and it depicts how people can work with a database while choosing and arranging shots from it according to their needs and purposes. In addition, the shots in the film are usually not ordered. Manovich (2001) claims in his essay that Man with a Movie Camera “is perhaps the most important example of database imagination in modern media art” (p. 56). The result of applying the database concept to the film is the representation of the life from the social perspective as a set of illustrations that are hardly connected in terms of the causal relations (Undervoid, 2013). However, the film can also be viewed from the point of adopting an algorithm. Man with a Movie Camera relies on the certain algorithm adopted for the film. While working on the film, Vertov seems to choose not all shots in their sequence to represent the real
Marketing strategy sometimes appears to be not enough when it is based primarily on particular business characteristics. Environmental exogenous factors often tend to have a significant effect on the success of a marketing campaign. These factors influence all the organizations on a larger scale, so it is vital to keep track of them. Careful analysis of the environmental factors allows to predetermine and affect the company’s performance through a tailored marketing strategy. Macro environmental factors affect all the organizations on a global scale in a long-term perspective and include political, social-cultural, economic, ecological, and technological categories. Economic factors define the public spendings; political ones form the attitudes; social ones regulate the public values; and technological ones generate the findings to solve the problems (Mbithi, Muturi, and Rambo, 2017, p. 200). Relating to a particular company, they determine how specific macroeconomic conditions affect the company’s performance (Maqin and Hendri, 2017, p. 72). They may deal with production, spending, and overall price level in the economy. The company may also heavily depend on these factors in a cyclical or finance industry. The macro-environment often influences the success of a particular marketing strategy and the organization’s performance. The global economy state predominantly affects the consumers’ willingness and ability to spend, so the marketing should focus on portraying the necessity and accessibility of the product when the market falls (Hudrasyah et al., 2019, p. 83). Luxury goods industries may be specifically impacted by the fluctuations in consumer behavior (Hudrasyah et al., 2019, p. 80). High inflation and low employment level change the target audience, product positioning, and promotion strategy or platform. Analyzing these factors is an integral part of the marketing manager’s job in forming a strategy. The macro-environment affects all industries in one way or another. A thoughtful marketing manager should be able to identify and analyze the changes on political, economic, socio-cultural, and technological levels to convey a proper marketing strategy. Macro environmental factors affect consumer spending, political moods, and overall values, which predetermine the product they need and can purchase. Keeping track of them is an essential factor in ensuring a successful marketing campaign.
Background Siemens AG is a German company with a long history of success and a good reputation in the technology industry (Ma 2012). It is also one of Europe’s largest technology firms with a revenue base of over $77 billion according to Fernando, Purkayastha, and Bellamkonda (2010, p.2). In addition, the company has over 430,000 employees. However, the reputation that Siemens has built for several years was brought into question in 2006 after being caught engaged in a series of corruption scandals (Biegelman and Biegelman 2010, p.59). In the first incidence, Siemens was caught having bribed foreign officials in a bid to win contracts and create a slush fund (Ma 2012). In another case, Siemens was alleged to have bribed the officials of the labor representatives of the supervisory board in a bid to win their support over the policies that Siemens intended to implement (Brooks and Dunn 2009, p.15). Immediately after the whistle had been blown on the scandal, a team of investigators was appointed which immediately raided Siemens’ offices in Germany and other countries in the world, such as the U.S., Italy Greece, and Switzerland in a bid to unearth the alleged corruption scandal (Neelankavil and Rai 2009, p.56). The raid led to the arrest of five Siemens workers, who were then taken to custody for involving in corruption. The forensic audit conducted on Siemens financial statements found that about €420M payment could not be accounted for, which investigation later revealed that the money had been paid to foreign purchasing officials in different countries such as the U.S., Italy, Greece, and Puete Rico (Phillips and Gully 2011, p.32). It was at the time that Siemens acknowledged that some of its employees were indeed involved in the alleged fraud. Twomey and Jennings (2010, p.16) reveal that the scandal led to the prosecution of Siemens’ chief executive Kutschenreuter after being found guilty of involvement in the corruption scandal. In this regard, “apart from being placed on probation for two years, he was also fined €160,000 for admitting to cover up the bribes and slush fund payments” (Fronz 2011, p.41). Other officials found guilty of the scandal included Hans-Werner Hartmann, the manager in charge of accounting of the telecommunication department of the company (Lawler 2012, p.92). Apart from being suspended for 18 months, Hartmann was also fined €40,000 according to Lawler (2012, p.92). The report indicates that Siemens used these funds to bribe government supervisory board officials in a bid to win lucrative contracts in Nigeria and Russia as noted by Hoskisson, Hitt, and Ireland (2008, p.17). Impacts of the scandal Mele (2009, p.34) reveals that German law prohibits any official or citizen in the country from engaging in a corruption scandal. This is the general law in mo
Introduction Walmart is a multinational retail corporation based in America and operates a chain of large warehouses and discount department stores around the world. The company was established in 1962 by Sam Walton and became fully incorporated in 1969. The company operates in 27 countries, with approximately 11,000 stores. Although it only operates under the name Walmart in the US, it has different other names for each of its operations in other parts of the world. This paper examines the environmental and organizational pressures, which the company is facing, and how the company is dealing with them. Table 1.1 Walmart’s Pressures. Organizational Pressures          Environmental Pressures        1. High-Performance expectations  1. Pollution issues            2. Pricing Challenges             2. Wastes                      3. Low Number of Workers          3. Use of High Level of Energy  Organization Pressures High-performance expectations Walmart is among the organizations which are highly pressured to produce high-performance results to respond to the expectations of customers, highly skilled and experienced employees, and organizational changes (Lynn, 2006). Due to its growing influence, the number of Walmart’s customers continues to rise daily, hence putting pressure on the company to produce more. Impact on the Company It, therefore, translates that the company has to produce more and work harder in order to cater to the needs of increasing customers. With high-performance, Walmart’s financial performance also increases drastically, since more goods are produced, and the same is sold. Impact on Employees However, for a high-performance level to be achieved, a lot has to be done, and the people who do all these are the employees. This, therefore, means that employees have to work hard and extend to extra hours so that the set target for a particular day is achieved. This affects the employees immensely since they do not get enough time to rest or sleep, and this could constitute to poor health and low motivation among them. Walmart’s Response One of the strategies, which Walmart is employing in achieving its performance expectations, is opening up more and more branches in order to share the workforce and reduce pressure. Price Challenges Walmart has, over the years, received many accusations mainly from its competitors, all basing their case on Walmart selling their products at a very low price. This has resulted in some of its competitor’s suing the corporation for what they term as predatory pricing. Predatory pricing is a term used to refer sell of products cheaply in order to force competitors out of the market (Keil & Spector, 2005). Effect to the Company The high number of legal cases has consequently affected the company’s financial aspects in negative ways. This is because the company has to hire the best lawyers to ensure that they win such cases. Effect on Employees On the other hand, employees are affected by the low pricing because it reflects in their pay. Company strategy Walmart believes that by offering goods at lower prices, its sales increase drastically. Mor
Stop and shop’s humble beginnings can be traced back to 1914 when the Rabinovitz family founded the Economy Grocery Stores Company in Somerville, Massachusetts. After 4 years of the grocery’s opening, Sidney Rabb came up with a new retail idea of having a self-service supermarket. The concept was new and enticing that time thus the store flourished by 1947 with 86 shops opened and the company decided to change the name to Stop and Shop, Inc. The grocery continued to expand and by 1996 it was obtained by the biggest food retailer in the industry, Ahold, hiring an approximate of 450,000 employees and servicing 40 million customers in 28 countries (Stop and Shop, 2011). Stop and Shop had been suffering negative media attention when employees’ contracts expired and the company decided to alter health care benefits (Bartomioli, 2007). This paper recommends needed modifications in Stop and Shop’s employment benefit packages for the improvement of the improvement of the relationship of employees with the management especially in 3 store branches namely New York, Serbia and Deep Caverns. The first alteration in the payment package is the improvement of employment benefits and compensations. In the last negotiation of Stop and Shop and its 5 unions, the grocery giant has agreed that “All full-time workers will receive an increase of $25 per week retroactive to February 17, when the previous contract expired; then another $20 weekly increase in March 2008 and March 2009, the second and third years of the contract. Part-timers receive an immediate 35¢-an-hour increase, also retroactive, and 35¢ yet again in years two and three of the contract. On the issue of health care, full-time workers who are single must now contribute $5 per week toward their health insurance premiums; married workers with spouse must pay $10, and a worker with a family $15. Part-time workers will make no contributions toward health care premiums, retaining the current practice which covers union workers’ health insurance entirely except for co-payments and deductibles” (Appel, 2007). It would be ideal if the company would increase the amount of pay to employees by 5% annually or depending on evaluation reports based on performance. The company must also lower down co-payment of healthcare benefits to those employees who will renew their contracts upon expiration. For employees who perform well, additional rewards should be given to them such as stock options if they are able to stay with Stop and Shop for more than 5 years. This benefit can only be given on the employees 6 th year in the company. This may serve as a gratitude to the employees who have served with loyalty and faithfulness in the company. Adjustments on the compensation packages, employee benefits especially in healthcare and the addition of giving out stock options to good perform
The City of Baltimore Police Department The Baltimore Police Department is one of the largest municipal police forces in the US, and its website is the most user-friendly and visually appealing out of the three websites analyzed (About Us, 2014, para. 1). The website has a navigation bar on top, which provides access to pages such as About Us, News, Contact Us, and others. The navigation is two-step: if the visitor clicks on Contact Us, a sub-menu appears with links to Email Directory, Facebook Updates, Email Alerts, and other relevant pages. There is a search bar on top of the page, which helps to quickly find information buried under the two-step navigation bar. There is a hamburger icon next to the search bar which opens a menu with links to the official City of Baltimore website. On the front page, there is a row of colorful buttons that let the visitor instantly file or request a police report, provide feedback, access frequently asked questions, or contact their district. Color is used to help focus the viewer’s attention on these elements and makes it easy for visitors to get assistance (Cannon, 2012, para. 11). Below these buttons, there are links to social media accounts. The Baltimore Police Department chooses clean, readable fonts which are of adequate size, and the icons are fairly big and accurately represent their purpose. All in all, the website is well-designed, and the choice of fonts, colors, and icons pose no difficulties for people with a poor vision on the desktop. Although the website provides a lot of information, the simple two-step navigation, and clean design makes it easy to navigate. Some of the essential information, such as the department’s address and emergency and non-emergency phone numbers is duplicated at the bottom of the page. The Baltimore Police Department website is available in six different languages courtesy of Google Translate. Although this fact does make the website more victim-friendly, the quality of the automatic translation is sub-par. When the visitor attempts to change the language, a pop-up appears with a disclaimer that the translation may not be accurate. In addition, certain buttons with rendered text are not translated at all. In order to serve visitors who speak different languages better, all buttons on the website should be translated in accordance with the selected language. The website has a mobile version, which loads fast and retains most of the functionality of the website. The mobile version generally scales down well, but some compromises are evident, and certain areas need improvement. The navigation bar is collapsed on mobile, thus adding another hamburger icon next to the one with link
Pets are an important part of the life of any animal lover. They provide unconditional love and affection that can brighten our mood on the worst days. However, many pets do not get to know the joy of companionship and comfortable living. They are left on the streets or in pet shelters, and can even be euthanized if an owner cannot be found in time. In this context, preferring to buy pets from breeders is irrational and unnecessary. First of all, people’s beliefs that a pet from a breeder be healthier and behave better than a shelter animal because it is purebred are misguided. There are many genetic illnesses that are common in purebred cats and dogs but are not prevalent in mixed breeds. A review published in Scientific American (Maldarelli, 2014) confirms that mixed breed dogs are often healthier than purebreds. The vast majority of animals in shelters are not purebred, and thus adopting a pet will help the owner save on veterinarian bills and ensure that their companion lives longer. With regards to behavior, there is no scientific consensus on behavioral differences between purebred and mixed breed cats and dogs. Some research studies found an increased likelihood of misbehavior in mixed breed dogs (Pendergrass, 2017). Still, people should not refrain from adopting pets from a shelter because shelter staff always ensure that the animal is well-trained and not aggressive. Hence, behavior and health should not be used as arguments to opt for purebred animals instead of shelter pets. Secondly, supporting dog and cat breeders by buying animals from them is widely considered unethical. To gain more profits, breeders often disregard the living conditions of adult animals and their puppies to the point of breaking animal protection laws. For example, an article by Eglot and Harvey (2018) reports on unethical puppy and kitten mills in England, where hundreds of animals were kept in poor conditions and received no proper care and nutrition. The problem of unethical breeding is also prominent in the United States. Recently, the state of California passed legislation prohibiting pet stores from selling animals from breeders, which is a first step in addressing the issue (Hauser, 2019). Buying pets from breeders support the business, making it harder for the government to improve the situation, and is thus unethical. Adopting a shelter pet, on the other hand, is a rewarding and ethical decision. Most of the pets who stay in shelters are perfectly healthy and well-behaved, yet they still wait for years to find their owner. Some shelters are required to euthanize animals who have not been adopted within a specific time frame because the capacity of shelters is limited and there are more pets in need of urgent help. Although staff in shelters take action to socialize animals and care for them, they cannot provide enough love and affection to each animal. As a result, pets who are used to human contact become depressed, reject food and water, and develop health issues (Kavin, 2016). Like children in foster care, animals in shelters need a caring home and an owner who will love them. Adopting one pet from a shelter will make at least two creatures
The army of a country can be defined as the military unit charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the country’s land and air borders. The army is the unit used by a state to safeguard its sovereignty. It includes land based operatives who carry out field and combat operations and air based operatives through its air force branch. The unit conducts regular training to recruit new personnel to help build and sustain its capacity base. The trainings are carried in extreme conditions that characterise the harsh circumstances that successful soldiers will face on ground and thus prepare them for field operations. Reporting is the bringing to light or forefront of an issue or information. It helps in the exchange of useful information from one person or unit to another. Just like any other successful functioning organisation, there needs to be exchange of information between all individuals in the army. Army officials are better suited to understand soldiers within their platoons based on the information they get from or reported to them by their respective platoon members. A number of issues can arise if accurate and adequate information is not shared between soldiers and their officials. The main concern of not reporting is the deployment of soldiers who are not 100% fit to field operations. In any combat that a platoon faces, the fitness of all its members determines how effective the platoon will be. If there exists a soldier who is not fit prior to deployment and this condition is not reported to the officials, he or she will not only be a weak point of the platoon but will also make the platoon members have diverted attention from the combat at hand. He/she will have to be given care meaning that the platoon will fall short of one or two of its members who will be responsible for availing the care. Such unfit soldiers will lower the mobility of the platoon. The army’s priority is to ensure national security of a nation. If an army official or any other person within the country has knowledge of information that could compromise national security and he or she fails to report this matter to the defence department, detrimental consequences might result there after. If the country’s security apparatus could have had access to this information, these consequences can be avoided. Terrorism is best fought by exchange of vital information between various international security agencies in collaboration with the defence departments of respective states. Army officials need to have access to information on how the department administers its duties. Programmes need to be initiated for community participation in information gathering by the defence department. This information can be used to evaluate how the department performs its duties and develop new strategies of performance in instances where service provision by the department is poor. If such useful information cannot be availed, the manner in which the defence department carries out it