Things Fall Apart Precis Chapter 1-13 Essay Example

Things Fall Apart Precis Chapter 1-13 Essay Chapter 1 Okonkwo is the wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. He defeated Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match and brought honor to his village. Amalinze was undefeated for 7 years, so the win caused some attention towards Okonkwo. The thing was that Okonkwo’s father Unoka, was the total opposite. Unoka feared the sight of blood; however he was a skilled flute player, and had a love for language. Chapter 2 The town crier rings the ogene and asks for all of the clansmen to gather in the market in the morning. At the gathering Ogbuefi Ezeugo announces that someone from the village of Mbaino murdered the wife of an Umuofia tribesman. Everyone was as mad as can be. So Okonkwo travels to Mbaino and delivers a message saying that they must hand over to Umuofia a virgin, and a young man. If Mbaino doesn’t cooperate, the two villages must go at war. It sounds good for Umuofia, knowing that they have a good reputation for its skill in war and magic. Mbaino later agrees to Umuofia’s terms and hands over what they want. Since Umuofia didn’t know what to do with the fifteen year old boy, so they handed him to Okonkwo. Okonkwo has three wives and eight children, an obi (a hut) and can support all of them. Okonkwo fears weakness, which he associates with his father and women. He also constantly beats and nags his son, Nwoye because he finds him lazy. Chapter 3 Okonkwo talks about his childhood, and on how he was never able to have a successful harvest. Unoka, his father had bad fortune and died of an illness which caused swelling of the limbs and stomach. We will write a custom essay sample on Things Fall Apart Precis Chapter 1-13 specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Things Fall Apart Precis Chapter 1-13 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Things Fall Apart Precis Chapter 1-13 specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Ani the earth goddess didn’t find that death acceptable so therefore his body could not be buried and was sent to the Evil Forest to rot, making Okonkwo more ashamed. People donated many seeds to Okonkwo when he was preparing his first farm in yams, but the growing season later turned into a disaster as well as for other farmers in the village. The village suffered first a big drought, then next endless rain and floods. Chapter 4 The clan decides that Ikemefuna will stay with Okonkwo. Ikemefuna is homesick and wants to go back at first, but Nwoye’s mother treats Ikemefuna like her wn, and gets popular with Okonkwo’s kids. Ikemefuna knows many stories the children didn’t know, and has a talent for making flutes out of bamboo sticks, and setting traps for bush rodents. Ikemefuna becomes comfortable enough to call Okonkwo â€Å"father. † Okonkwo also beats his youngest wife, because she got her hair braided without cooking. The priest demands Okonkwo t o pay a fine and sacrifice a nanny goat and a hen for his actions. It was the Week of Peace when that happened and after that villagers began to clear the land in preparation for planting their farms. Nwoye and Ikemefuna help Oknonkwo with the deeds but are criticized in doing so. Chapter 5 Before the harvest, the village holds the Feast of the New Yam to give thanks to the earth goddess (Ani). All the old yams left over from the old year must be thrown away. Okonkwo invites his wife’s relatives. While everyone seems happy about the coming festival, Okonkwo knows he will get tired of it and would rather stay on his farm. Ekwefi, Okonwo’s second wife admits to taking some leaves from his banana tree, so Okonkwo beats her also tries to shoot her but misses. Chapter 6 Second day of the festival and everyone gathers at the village playing field to watch the wrestling match between men of the village and neighboring one. The wrestling ends with a rematch between Ikezue and Okafo, just when people thought that it was going to be another draw a second year in a row, Okafo throws him and wins. Then the villagers sing a song of praise to Okafo. Chapter 7 Nwoye and Ikemefuna spend all their time together like brothers. During the evenings, they both sit next to Okonkwo in his hut and listen to stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye still likes his mother’s stories, but he acts like he doesn’t like them, so it can show Okonkwo he’s masculine. Ogbuefi Ezedu, the oldest man in the village, needs to have a talk with Okonkwo. He needs to speak to Okonkwo privately. Ogbuefi Ezeudu talks about how Ikemefuna needs to be killed as part of retribution to the killing of a woman three years back in Mbaino. Ogbuefi tells Okonkwo not to kill Ikemefuna, since the boy calls him father, but eventually Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna with his machete to make him not appear to be weak. Chapter 8 Okonkwo now goes into depression mode. He feels pretty weak, and can’t really sleep or eat. Okonkwo doesn’t eat anything for two days and just drinks palm wine. Nwoye is now scared of his dad, because of the killing and now tries to avoid him. Okonkwo asks Ekwefi to make him a dish, and does it in his favorite way and has Ezinma bring the food to him. Okonkwo repeatedly wishes that Ezinma was a boy, because she has â€Å"the right spirit. † Okonkwo wants some work to distract himself, but he’s out of luck because the down farming season. When Okonkwo meets his best friend Obierika, he goes on and on about Nwoye being soft and calls him out for not coming with him to kill Ikemefuna. Then all of a sudden, news comes in saying there has been a death of the oldest man in a neighboring village, shortly after his wife dies. Okonkwo then sits with Obierika to bargain his daughter’s brideprice with the family of her suitor. Chapter 9 Okonkwo can finally sleep well again, and feeling like his old self. Just as he’s feeling good, he is woken up in the morning to Ekwefi pounding his door, and trying to tell him that Ezinma is dying. Okonkwo then runs immediately to Ekwefi’s hut. Ekwefi’s relationship between Ezinma is very close because that’s her only child, while her nine other children died in infancy. Okonkwo leaves and returns to gather herbs to heal his little daughter. After he’s done boiling the herbs, he forces Ezinma and forces her to sit over the pot of medicine covered by a blanket. Though she complains and struggles to be let loose, she is held down. When Okonkwo is done and releases her, she’s drenched with sweat and falls asleep. Chapter 10 The village holds an interesting ceremony which draws the attention of a large crowd. The clan’s ancestral spirits, which are known as egwugwu, emerge from a secret house that no woman whatsoever is allowed to step in. The egwugwu take the form of masked men, but everyone suspects that Okonkwo is one of them. This makes the women and children fearful. Chapter 11 Ezinma survived her fever, and she and Ekwefi take turns telling each other folktales. Then Chielo in her role as priestess informs Ekwefi that Agbala, Oracle of Hills and Caves wishes to see Ezinma. Chapter 12 After Chielo took Ezinma away, Okonkwo was not able to sleep. He made several trips to the cave before he finallyfound and joined Ekwefi waiting outside the cave. When Chielo came out of Agbala’s cave, she returned her to the hut safely sound asleep. The following day the village celebrates on the marriage of the daughter of Obierika. Chapter 13 Drums and cannons sound for the death of the oldest man in the village, Ezedu. His funeral was a big deal because he was one of the head honchos of the Umuofia. But during all this an accident occurred. Ezedu’s sixteen year old son has been shot and falls dead. It was Okonkwo who did it and he had to leave the village for 7 years.

Court Reporting and Legal Journalism Writing Guide

Court Reporting and Legal Journalism Writing Guide So youve been to court, taken good notes on a trial, done all the necessary interviews and have plenty of background. Youre ready to write. But writing about the courts can be challenging. Trials are often long and almost always complex, and for the beginning court reporter, the learning curve can be steep. So here are some tips for writing about the courts: Cut out the Jargon Lawyers love to spout legal terminology - legalese, for short. But, chances are, your readers wont understand what most of it means. So when writing your story, its your job to translate legal jargon into plain, simple English that anyone can understand. Lead With the Drama Many trials are long periods of relatively boring procedural stuff punctuated by brief moments of intense drama. Examples might include an outburst by the defendant or an argument between an attorney and the judge. Be sure to highlight such moments in your story. And if theyre important enough, put them in your lede. Example A man on trial for allegedly killing his wife during an argument unexpectedly stood up in court yesterday and shouted, I did it! Get Both Sides Its important in any news article to get both - or all - sides of the story, but as you can imagine its especially crucial in a court story. When a defendant is charged with a serious crime, its your job to get both the defense and the prosecutions arguments into your article. Remember, the accused is innocent until proven guilty. Find a Fresh Lede Everyday Many trials go on for days or even weeks, so be sure to follow the recommendations for follow-up stories when you cover a long one. Remember, the key is to take the most important, interesting, and newsworthy testimony of any given day and build your lede around that. Work on the Background While the top of your story should be the trials latest developments, the bottom should include the basic background of the case - who is the accused, what is he accused of, where and when did the alleged crime occur, etc. Even when covering a highly publicized trial, never assume that your readers will know all the background of the case. Use the Best Quotes Good quotes can make or break a trial story. Jot down as many direct quotes as you can in your notebook, then use just the best ones in your story.

Assessment of the Progression of the Withdrawal of Weapons and Military Forces in the World

Assessment of the Progression of the Withdrawal of Weapons and Military Forces in the World This is my research paper on disarmament. It contains breifly all the important steps taken in the feild of disarmament till recently. Introduction Prof. Lincoln P. Bloomfield aptly remarked that, A visitor from another, more advanced planet would find many paradoxes on earth, but surely the most extraordinary would be the fantastic destructive potential of nuclear weapons which contrasts starkly with the primitive and near impotent institutions of global peacekeeping. He might marvel that a breed capable of producing the wealth for a 185 billion armory of lethal devices let alone the technology for killing several hundred in a single exchange of weapons had not produced a workable international order capable of regulating such apocalyptic man-made power. . Also no such International Order exists today and the prospects are not encouraging that it will exist within the foreseeable future. Dr. Hambro has also rightly remarked The armament race comes as close to collective insanity as anything in the history of mankind and it is, to my mind, surprising that public opinion is willing to take it. Disarmament has become a more urgent and complicated issue with the rapid development of nuclear weapons capable of mass destruction. Since the explosion of the first atomic bombs in 1945, the previous contention that armaments races were economically inexpedient and led inevitably to war was replaced by the argument that the future use of nuclear weapons in quantity threatened the continued existence of civilization itself. It was understood that war was unnecessary and nations of the world also understood the urgent need to part with these deadly weapons. The League of Nations writes Philip Noel Baker, is the first attempt in history to furnish the international society of nations with the permanent and organic system of international political institutions. This attempt was an outcome of the world war. In the post-World War II period, there were discussions at several levels with a view to the limitation and control of armaments. Efforts ranged from continuous talks at the United Nations to such discussions among nuclear powers from the SALT era to the START era and it still continues What is Disarmament? Disarmament is defined as the act of laying down arms, especially reduction or abolition of a nations military forces and armaments. It is not a new concept. It has been discussed for several centuries even before the formation of League of Nations. The idea of disarmament can be traced from the writings of Sully, William Penn, Rousseau and Kant. But plans for its implementation have failed because no State was willing to pay the price that was required (i.e. to reduce there armaments and military force). The proposal of Russian Czar to Lord Castlereagh of Great Britain in 1816, however, was the first practical attempt to achieve quantitative disarmament. French monarch also made similar proposals in 1831 and on several other occasions, but with no success. The International Peace Conference at Hague in 1899 is the first great landmark in the field of disarmament because it invoked for the specific purpose of limiting armaments by national agreement. Yet another landmark was the treaty of Versailles, which drastically reduced the German armaments. Thus during 19th century and down to the time of the First World War, numerous efforts were made to achieve the limitation and reduction of national armaments by international agreements. Although there had been a great number of discussions, conventions and proposals for disarmament, the ones that claimed success were few. It had been rightly observed by an eminent author: Disarmament efforts have been many, the successive few and limited. There has never been an approach to what Cohen calls effective disarmament. Disarmament and The League of Nations The Covenant of League of Nations was adopted as a part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. It came into existence on January 10 1920 with 18 member states. According to Philip Noel Baker, the League of Nations is the first attempt in history to furnish the international society of nations with the permanent and organic system of international political institutions. This attempt was an outcome of the world war. As the League was adopted just after the world war, the framers selected achievement of widespread disarmament as its fundamental goal. Finally, the Disarmament Conference met on February 2, 1932, in Geneva. The representatives of 61 States, who participated, agreed on necessity of arms limitation, of international supervision of the arms business and of publicity of arms budget. Though the Conference failed in reconciling the French demand for security and German demand for status of equality with other European nations, it proved to be useful in solving some technical problems of the disarmament. It also became evident that the concept of security was of greater than the concept of limiting arms i.e. to say disarmament must follow rather than precede security. However the League of Nations was considered unsuccessful in achieving the concept of widespread disarmament. The efforts of the League failed on multifarious grounds. Some of the reasons of the failure of League in achieving widespread disarmament are as follows: League of Nations was not universal. It was limited to a few nations. It didnt have any effective enforcement body. The Conference for disarmament was held too late under very hostile conditions. The major reason however was that there was no unity between the nations which were members of the League. They were hostile towards each other. The rise of Hitler and the efforts of Germany in re-arming proved that League was a failure in achieving Disarmament and peace. Finally, the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946. Disarmament and The United Nations Inefficiency of the League of Nations led to the Second World War in 1939, which was the most destructive among the two. The result of the Second World War compelled the nations to establish an international organization so that mutual disputes could be resolved peacefully and peace be restored in the world. This lead to the establishment of United Nations Organization in 1945. United Nations was far more effective and efficient in promoting widespread disarmament as compared to League. It also had a greater number of member nations and a better enforcement body. The Charter of the UN provides for the regulation of armaments. The provisions of disarmament in the UN Charter are as follows: The Charter empowers the General Assembly to consider the general principles of co-operation in the maintenance of the peace and security, including the principles governing disarmament and the regulation of armaments. The Assembly can also make recommendation with regard to such principles to the Members of the Security Council. Secondly, it is further provided that in order to promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion to armaments, the Security Council with the assistance of the Military Staff Committee (referred to in Article 47) can formulate plans for regulation of armaments. Thus the Charter aims to provide security along with the regulation of armaments by granting military powers to the U.N under Article 43. However it has to be noted that the special agreements in the Article 43 have not materialized till today. The Military Staff Committee has ceased to function and hence it never dealt in regulation of armaments. Thirdly, in order to enable the U.N. to take urgent military measures, the Charter enjoins the members to hold immediately available national air force contingents, for combined international enforcement action. However the first important step of the U.N in the field of Disarmament was of adopting a resolution on January 24, 1946, which established the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission. The function of this Commission was to regulate and reduce nuclear weapons. On June 24, 1946, United States presented a plan known as the Baruch Plan to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission. This plan envisaged the establishment by treaty an International Atomic Development Authority which was to own, operate, manage and license all facilities for the production of atomic energy. The aim of the United States by this plan was to establish a control system independent of the Charter and the Atomic Energy Commission, which included inspection and verification of weapons especially nuclear weapons before taking major steps towards Disarmament. But this was opposed by the Soviet Union, which stuck firmly to the original Charter. The Soviet Union insisted for prior outlawing of atomic weapons and reduction of all weapons without effective international control by means of inspection. Consequently, a compromise was made by laying down certain principles, which governed the general regulation and reduction of armam ents. However when the US monopoly of nuclear weapons ended in 1949, Baruch Plan lost its importance. So a need was felt to form a body for regulation of weapons that too mainly nuclear weapons. This need led to the establishment of Disarmament Commission by the 6th General Assembly in 1952. This consolidated the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission and the U.N. Commission for Conventional Armaments. Soviet Union and the Western Allies constituted the five-power sub-committee of Disarmament Commission. Also in October 1956, another body namely International Atomic Energy Agency was established. The Agency aims to seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world. It comprises of three organs namely General Conference, A Board of Governors and Staff headed by the Director General. The most important and difficult task faced by it is inspection and safeguarding of fissionable materials. The Agency is neither related to U.N. nor is an independent inter-governmental organisation. It has a special status under the aegis of the U.N. Disarmament Efforts from 1960 to 1970 Though 15 years had passed after the establishment of the United Nations, there were no significant or important steps taken for the purpose of Disarmament till 1960. The year 1960 witnessed a turning point in the disarmament debates when there was a thaw in the relation between the two super powers namely United States of America and The Soviet Union. The consequence of this thaw was the signing of four important treaties, which dealt with Disarmament. These treaties were as follows: Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963) On 5th of August 1963, The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), also known as Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) was signed in Moscow by the United States, United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Finally 113 Countries became part to it, which included India, Italy etc. However, France and China did not sign this treaty. The treaty required the Parties to prohibit, prevent, and abstaining from carrying out nuclear weapons tests or any other nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, in outer space, under water, or in any other environment, if such explosions cause radioactive debris to be present outside the territorial limits of the State that conducts an explosion. However this treaty does not provide for international verification and it is understood that each party may do so by its own national technical means. Outer Space Treaty (1967) The Legal Subcommittee considered the Outer Space Treaty in 1966 and agreement was reached in the General Assembly in the same year. The Treaty was opened for signature by the three depository Governments (the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) in January 1967, and it entered into force in October 1967. The Outer Space Treaty provides the basic framework on international space law, including the following disarmament principles: States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner. The Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; States shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies. 98 States have ratified, and an additional 27 have signed the Outer Space Treaty The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (1967) The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (also known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco) obligates Latin American parties not to acquire or possess nuclear weapons, nor to permit the storage or deployment of nuclear weapons on their territories by other countries. This Treaty was signed on February 14 1967, at a regional meeting of Latin American countries at Tlatelolco, a section of Mexico City. Non Proliferation Treaty (1968) The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also referred to as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), obligates the five acknowledged nuclear-weapon states (the United States, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, France, and China) not to transfer nuclear weapons, other nuclear explosive devices, or their technology to any non-nuclear-weapon state. Non-nuclear-weapon States Parties undertake not to acquire or produce nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices. They are required also to accept safeguards to detect diversions of nuclear materials from peaceful activities, such as power generation, to the production of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. This must be done in accordance with an individual safeguards agreement, concluded between each non-nuclear-weapon State Party and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under these agreements, all nuclear materials in peaceful civil facilities under the jurisdiction of the state must be declar ed to the IAEA, whose inspectors have routine access to the facilities for periodic monitoring and inspections. If information from routine inspections is not sufficient to fulfill its responsibilities, the IAEA may consult with the state regarding special inspections within or outside declared facilities. The Treaty was opened for signature on 01 July 1968, and signed on that date by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and 59 other countries. However, India refused to sign this treaty on the ground that it was discriminatory and unequal. Disarmament Decade (1970 -1980) The decade of 1970 was declared by the United Nations as the Disarmament Decade. The U.N. Agency that has been mostly involved with the goal of Disarmament was the 26 Nations U.N. Conference on the Committee on Disarmament. It celebrated its 10th anniversary in March 1970. It was very heartening to note that the U.Ns Disarmament Decade began auspiciously with the coming into force on 5th March 1970 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The decade also witnessed the signing of a number of treaties. They are as follows: Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof. This treaty was opened for signature at London, Moscow and Washington from 11 February 1971 and it came into force on 18 May 1972. The Treaty read as follows The States Parties to this Treaty undertake not to implant or emplace on the seabed and the ocean floor and in the subsoil thereof beyond the outer limit of a sea-bed zone, any nuclear weapons or any other types of weapons of mass destruction as well as structures, launching installations or any other facilities specifically designed for storing, testing or using such weapons. However it has to be noted that the treaty prohibited only the placement and fixation of weapons on the seabed and is silent about mobile launchers and submarines, which are likely to remain a principle means of nuclear warfare. Thus it is evident that treaties dealing with nuclear disarmament that were made by U.S.A and Russia had the aim of preventing the non-nuclear countries from acquiring atomic weapons, rather than to regulating and giving up of their own armaments. Hence India did not sign this treaty, which was one-sided. In-spite of all this limitations, this treaty succeeded from barring nuclear weapons from 70% of the earths surface, which was a significant contribution towards disarmament efforts. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Strategic Arms Limitation Talks took place between U.S.A and the Soviet Union on May 1972. The aim of these talks was to find a way for both sides to agree on plans that would limit and perhaps some day reduce their vast nuclear arsenals. However this agreement permitted both the countries to replace existing offensive nuclear missiles with more sophisticated weapons as technological advance permits. Hence it was said by the Chinese Chief Mr. Chiao Kua Hua that Soviet American agreement to limit Strategic Arms be in no way regarded as a step towards nuclear disarmament. On the contrary, it marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Soviet American arms race. Convention on the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapon and on their Destruction. This convention was drafted by the conference of the committee on Disarmament and was commenced by the General Assembly on December 16 1971. On April 10 1972, it was opened for signature with a special request of the then Secretary General Kurt Waldheim that the convention may be signed and ratified as early as possible. The aim of the treaty was to promote general disarmament and for that purpose, it prohibited development, production and stockpiling of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons. Geneva Disarmament Conference (1974) It began on 17 April 1974 with 25 nations participating. The aim of this conference was to prohibit the use of nuclear weapons under the ground. It also dealt in making an agreement regarding Chemical Weapons. Special Session of General Assembly on Disarmament (1978) The Special Session on Disarmament was held by the General Assembly from 23rd May to 1st July 1978 at United Nations Headquarters. Before the end of the session, a Final Document consisting of an Introduction, a Declaration, a Programme of Action, and Recommendations concerning the international machinery for disarmament negotiations. Under the Programme of Action, the Assembly set out a series of suggestions for negotiation and in Declaration, which is the part of the Final Document, it urged that the resources released through disarmament be used to promote the well being of all peoples and to improve the economic conditions of developing countries. The main aim of this Session was to strengthen the international disarmament negotiating machinery. Disarmament Efforts after 1980 After 1980, there was a revolution of technology. It affected almost all the fields including the field of armaments. With the development of technology, new types of weapons with immense destructive capacities were invented. Hence it was necessary to promote disarmament and regulate the creation of these armaments. Following are the important developments in the field of disarmament, which took place after 1980. Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons that may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (1981) It dealt with the prohibition of very harmful conventional weapons. These included prohibition of weapons that emitted radiation harmful to human body, prohibition and regulation of mines, booby traps, incendiary weapons (weapons that cause fire when used) and blinding laser weapons. Rarotonga Treaty (1985) In 1983, 16 years after the Treaty of Tlatelolco was opened for signature, Australia proposed to establish a nuclear weapon free zone in the South Pacific. As a result of the negotiations between the concerned States, a treaty was signed on August 6, 1985, in the city of Rarotonga, capital of the Cook Islands, establishing the proposed zone. Treaty on Open Skies (1992) The Treaty on Open Skies entered opened for signature on 24 March 1992, currently has 34 States Parties. The Treaty established a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the entire territory of its participants. The Treaty was designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. Treaty on Open Skies is one of the most wide-ranging international efforts to date to promote openness and transparency of military forces and activities. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (1995) Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was adopted as a result of the Geneva Conference, which took place in June 1995. This treaty was adopted with the view of removing the shortcomings of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It contained a comprehensive plan to prohibit nuclear tests. However, it was silent on the question regarding the destruction of already existing nuclear stockpiles. However this treaty was flouted by America by developing a super nuclear weapon capable of destroying targets placed under the ground. On the one hand, America has been pressurizing other countries to sign the treaty and on the other hand, it has been developing destructive nuclear weapons. These types of stand taken by America were severely criticized by many countries including India. Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (1997) This treaty is also known as Ottawa Treaty and was proposed by Canada. The main aim of the treaty was to destroy all types of Anti Personnel mines. The treaty also required that besides stopping the production and development of mines, a party to the treaty must destroy all the mines in its possession within 4 years. Just a small number of mines are allowed to remain for training (mine-clearance, detection, etc.). India and Disarmament Since Independence, India has consistently pursued the objective of global disarmament based on the principles of universality, non-discrimination and effective compliance. Given the horrific destructive capacity of nuclear weapons, India has always believed that a world free of nuclear weapons would enhance both global security and Indias own national security. Thus India has always advocated that the highest priority be given to nuclear disarmament as a first step towards general and complete disarmament. In 1978, India proposed negotiations for an international convention that would prohibit the use of threat of use of nuclear weapons. This was followed by another initiative in 1982 calling for a nuclear freeze i.e. prohibition on the production of fissile material for weapons, on production of nuclear weapons, and related delivery systems. At the special sessions of the United Nations General Assembly on disarmament, India put forward a number of serious proposals including the 1988 Comprehensive Plan for total elimination of weapons of mass destruction in a phased manner. It was a matter of regret that the proposals made by India along with several other countries did not receive a positive responsive and instead, a limited and distorted non-proliferation agenda, meant above all to perpetuate nuclear weapons was shaped. India didnt sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty because India considered these treaties as discriminatory and unequal. Both of these treaties were put forward by the nuclear power U.S.A, which later flouted these treaties. Thus according to India, these treaties were the ways designed by the nuclear powers to keep away nuclear know-how from non-nuclear states. However India has signed and ratified other treaties and conventions like Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention etc. This shows that India is an active country, which supports and takes actions for the promotion of disarmament. Conclusion Thus to conclude, it can be said that disarmament process is a very difficult one, but is very important in promoting international peace and security. However, complete disarmament can be obtained only if there is no threat to security of a nation or an individual and to achieve this task, there should be a strict and organized international order and absence of terrorist organizations. Unless this is achieved, the concept of disarmament will remain as the monopoly of the powerful nation to suppress other nations. The U.S attack on Iraq is a fresh example of this.

Bernini in france Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Bernini in france - Essay Example It also reveals the confrontation between the king and the artist of italian orgin.He was in Paris for few months and presented some designs for the east front of the Louvre. But his desgns were rejected by the French court. His only notable work was a bust of Louis XIV which was regarded as a standard in royal portaiture during the era. Berninis projects in France were turned down by the court in favour of the stern and classic propasals of Frerch architect Claude perrault(Harrison, Wood& Gaiger).. It is an irony of history that Bernini’s plans were never realised. All his plans failed to please the kings powerful minister, Colbert. Moreover he encountered considerable opposition from local sculptors because of pure jealosy (Harrison, Wood& Gaiger). Bernini did not have much regard to french culture and Frrench artists. During his short stay in Paris he had many disagreements with them. He did not waste a single oppurtunity is degrading them too. The journal by Chantolou depicts that Bernini often had a prejudice against French culture and society. He regarded French artists inferior from their Italian counterparts. He often had heated discussions with French artists , namely Charles Perrault, Jean Warin and Louis Le,Vau who was Colberts chief architect(Wolfe). During his childhood days, the young Bernini visited visited Saint Peters. He wished to built a mighty throne for the apostle. In 1626, he received patronage from the Pope Urban VII and worked for the basilicca for 50 years. Berninis work at the bascillica include the baldacchino, the chapel of the sacrament, the plan of the niches , loggias in the piers of the dome of the bascillica and the chair of Saint Peter(Lavin). The first work baldacchino was a bronze masterpiece. It was thirty meters tall and claimed to be the largest bronze piece of art in the world. Bernini also built new structures and made modifications and extensions to

Articles about Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Articles about Economy - Research Paper Example Given the inelastic nature of the supply curve, the impact of a negative demand shock had been rather hard for the market. The result of this oversupply was a depreciation in house price by 45% from what it had been in 2008. In Dubai alone, the fall in equilibrium demand price had been as much as 58%, owing to a sharp fall in the number of tourists. Falling demand for houses is also evident from depreciation in the amount of rents being paid on houses; statistics show this fall amounting to 10% in 2010 from what it had been in 2008. An even more pestering issue is that the nation had invested so much into high-end ventures, that there arises no question of turning back which is why the UAE housing market is preparing to introduce another 26,000 units by 2011 (Menon, â€Å"More sharp falls ahead for UAE house prices†). 3 The stock market of UAE, for example, is a market that follows a competitive structure. Similar to the traits of a monopolistically competitive market, the stocks are found to be somewhat different in their innate features, either due to the brand names that are associated with them or due to the different rates of return that they offer. However, while the former is an apparent factor, dependent upon the perception of the investor, the latter is a variable one. In fact, it is the returns that a stock offers which determine the popularity of the same; the moment a rumour hits the market about a possible downfall, the demand for such a stock falls simultaneously. Hence, competitive market forces are the reason why there are any absences of barriers preventing the economic units to act according to the market moves. For instance, the global financial meltdown resulted to a downward revision of the UAE stock indices as was the case for almost every other nation around the world. Such a development resulted to a reduction in the number of investors in the UAE

Time and Mary Essay Example for Free

Time and Mary Essay Mary has been working for a university for almost 25 years and is now approaching retirement. She wants to address several financial issues before her retirement and has asked you to help her resolve the situations below. Her assignment to you is to provide a 4-5 page report, addressing each of the following issues separately. You are to show all your calculations and provide a detailed explanation for each issue. Issue A: For the last 19 years, Mary has been depositing $500 in her savings account , which has earned 5% per year, compounded annually and is expected to continue paying that amount. Mary will make one more $500 deposit one year from today. If Mary closes the account right after she makes the last deposit, how much will this account be worth at that time? Future Value of Annuity = P (1+i)n – 1 i = $500 (1. 05)20 – 1 .05 = $500 (1. 653) (0. 5) =$500 x (33. 065) =$16,533 Issue B: Mary has been working at the university for 25 years, with an excellent record of service. As a result, the board wants to reward her with a bonus to her retirement package. They are offering her $75,000 a year for 20 years, starting one year from her retirement date and each year for 19 years after that date. Mary would prefer a one-time payment the day after she retires. What would this amount be if the appropriate interest rate is 7%? Present Value of Annuity = P 1 – (1+i)-n i = $75,000 1 – (1. 07)-20 .07 = $75,000 0. 741 .07 =$75,000 x (10. 594) =$794,550 If Mary was to receive a one-time payment the day after she retires, she would receive $794,550. But if she takes $75,000 a year for 20 years it would equal to $1,500,000 ($75,000x20yrs) Issue C: Mary’s replacement is unexpectedly hired away by another school, and Mary is asked to stay in her position for another three years. The board assumes the bonus should stay the same, but Mary knows the present value of her bonus will change. What would be the present value of her deferred annuity? Payment will be deferred for 3 years. Present Value = FV 1 (1+i)n= 794,550 1 (1. 07)3 = 794,550 x 0. 816 = $648,590 Issue D: Mary wants to help pay for her granddaughter Beth’s education. She has decided to pay for half of the tuition costs at State University, which are now $11,000 per year. Tuition is expected to increase at a rate of 7% per year into the foreseeable future. Beth just had her 12th birthday. Beth plans to 1 / 2 start college on her 18th birthday and finish in four years. Mary will make a deposit today and continue making deposits each year until Beth starts college. The account will earn 4% interest, compounded annually. How much must Mary’s deposits be each year in order to pay half of Beth’s tuition at the beginning of each school each year? Future Value = PV (1+i)n = 11,000 (1+. 07)10 = 11,000 x 1. 967 = $21,639 Present Value = FV 1 (1+i)n= 11,000 1 (1+. 04)10 = 11,000 x 0. 675 = $7,425 Mary must deposit $7,425 each year in order to pay half of $21,639; which will be Beth’s overall tuition for college. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Charlie Chaplin Essay -- essays research papers fc

Charlie Chaplin did not use sound to communicate to the audience in his movies. Despite the fact that there was no spoken language, his movies were sensational and the audiences loved them. Chaplin was thought of as cinema’s first genius and has been called the single most-influential artist in the history of motion pictures. I am researching Charlie Chaplin to learn how he became a sensational comedian and one of the best actors of all time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chaplin is considered as one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood. He lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. Charlie Chaplin is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular â€Å"Little Tramp† character; a man with a toothbrush mustache, derby hat, bamboo cane, and a funny walk (â€Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England, on April 16th 1889. Charlie inherited natural talents from his parents. He took to the stage to help him start a career in acting. Charlie’s first stage appearance was at the age of five, when he had to fill in for his mother at a music hall performance (â€Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin†). He joined a juvenile tap-dancing group called â€Å"The Eight Lancashire Lads† at the age of eight where he quickly won popularity as a topnotch tap-dancer (â€Å"Biography of Charlie Chaplin†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At eleven, he appeared in â€Å"Giddy Ostende† at London’ Hippodrome (â€Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charlie’s parents, Charles Chaplin Sr. and Hannah Harriett, got married on June 25, 1885. His father was a versatile vocalist and actor. His mother, who performed under the stage name Lili Harley, was an attractive actress and singer who gained a reputation in the light opera field. The two also performed in music halls where she would play piano and he would sing ballads (â€Å"Charles Chaplin† 100).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charles Chaplin Sr. died on May 9th, 1901 because of unknown causes. On May 5th, 1903 his mother was thrown into a mental institution and committed as a lunatic. Charlie and his half-brother, Sydney, quickly found themselves without a home or parents The boys were put in an orphanage where they were often cold and hungry. After spending two years in the orphanage, they were ... ...is eight children from his last marriage with Oona O’Neill, and one son from his brief marriage with Lita Grey. The grief didn’t stop with his poorly-timed death. In 1978, Chaplin’s corpse was stolen from his grave and not recovered for three months (â€Å"Biography of Charlie Chaplin† ; â€Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Charlie Chaplin was considered one of the greatest actors of all time. Even more impressive was that he did it without the use of verbal communication. Instead, he communicated to his audiences with his actions and emotions, which he acted out so well. His films show, through the Little Tramp's positive outlook on life in a world full of chaos, that the human spirit has and always will remain the same (â€Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin†). Works Cited â€Å"Charles Chaplin.† Current Biography Yearbook. 1961 ed. â€Å"Charlie Chaplin.† The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1981 ed. â€Å"Charlie Chaplin.† The World Book Encyclopedia. 2001 ed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Biography of Charlie Chaplin.† 27 Sept. 2004. Online posting. Available: .   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Biography for Charles Chaplin.† 27 Sept. 2004. Online posting. Available: .

Richards Story

Apart from disfigurement, other psychosocial issues Richard might face include but are not limited to sleep disorder, fear and anxiety around open flames, depression, loose of self-esteem and PTSD. Additional precaution needs to be taken to make sure Richard maintains some functions in his burnt fingers. Some of these precautions should be occupational therapy and physical therapy. Due Richard was burnt in the face, other systems may be compromised. The systems that could be affected are the respiratory system (because his nose could be burnt), the digestive system (because if his mouth is affected, then his ability to eat, chew or drink might be impeded. ) and ofcourse his nervous system as the nerves in his face will be dead. Based on the fact that Richard is losing a lot of body fluid his nutritional needs are high protein food, water, high calorie drinks, fruits and vegetable, and fatty food because fat is a readily available source of energy. Partial thickness burn is extremely painful because most of the nerve endings which detect and interpret pain and sensation are located in the dermis where partial thickness burn occurs. Partial thickness burn would heal faster because it is not as deep into the skin and therefore skin rejuvenation is more possible. Functions compromised by the burn on Richard’s skin are the ability to secret sweat, the ability to convert sun to vitamin D, ability to protect against infection, ability to regulate temperature and the ability to protect against infection. Other skin functions that should be a concern to the medical staff is that Richard’s skin will lose the ability to store blood and there will be no tissue growth. His skin will also lose the ability to maintain water and salt balance. It is unlikely for Richard to grow hair to cover the scars on his chest because his hair follicles in the burnt area are damaged and there can be no more hair growth because of this. Also the scar tissue is covering the pores from which hair sprouts. During the first phase of wound healing, inflammation takes place first. Blisters orm on the outer edges of the burns as the wounds begin to form scabs. Formation of granulation tissue will not lead to normal appearing/ formation of skin as Richard heals. This is because granulation tissue is scar tissue and scar tissue does not appear normal or allow hair growth or normal skin function. Some long term consequences include the inability to regulate temperature and feel pain because of the dead nerve endings at the site of the burn. Numbness may occur, his body will not be able to secret sweat and he might gain weight because of this.

Reputation: Advantage or Disadvantage Essay

Reputation can make or break an individual. It determines how people view one another and it also decides how people treat and react to each other. In Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the monster, Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza face struggles with their reputation and how it defines them. Also, in Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago, Othello and Desdemona are presented with similar struggles to the ones the characters in Frankenstein face. The presentation of reputation in both works allows the readers to understand how the characters interpret each other, how reputation can cause an inner struggle within a character and how reputation can cause a characters ultimate downfall. Reputation plays a large role in how the characters interpret each other. In these particular works, reputation gives a false understanding of two specific characters. In Frankenstein, the monster is completely misunderstood by the people around him. His grotesque appearance gives him a violent reputation, which even the monster himself recognizes. The monster says, â€Å"I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man† (Shelley, 119). Although the monster does display acts of violence during the duration of the novel, killing William Frankenstein for example, it is because he was thrown into a world with no one similar to him. He doesn’t understand how to act, and also he doesn’t seem to understand the concept of right and wrong. The monster just hopes for understanding, love and attention from anyone, but especially from his creator. When the monster says, â€Å"Cursed, cursed creator? Why did I live? Why in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of life which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not† (Shelley, 137), it becomes visible to the audience that the monster is aware the he is unnatural and it displays his confusion towards his own creation. A being with a truly evil nature would and could not wonder why they were created. Additionally, if he was indeed evil, he would not be pitying himself or feelings remorse about anything. Another character that is misunderstood because of his reputation is Iago. In this case, Iagos false reputation is what causes him to be so successful in his mission to take down Othello. Othello repeatedly refers to Iago as, â€Å"most honest† (2. 3. 6), which the audience knows to be incorrect. Othellos belief in Iagos so called honest nature and their friendship is what leads Othello to be blinded by the tricks Iago is playing. Iagos true nature is pure evil. He is constantly referred to as Devil Incarnate because he is conniving, vindictive, and he is able to commit terrible acts without feeling remorse. Iagos deception ignited Othellos doubts in Cassio and Desdemona. In addition, he has directly caused Roderigos death and he is indirectly the cause of Desdemonas death. At the start of the play, Iago says, â€Å"Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty / But seeming so for peculiar end† (1. 1. 60-61). He’s saying that he does everything for himself, not for Othello and that his actions are not to be mistaken for love and respect of duty. Othello is supposedly his best friend, yet Iago goes against him anyways. Emilia, Iagos wife, is stabbed by her own husband because she knows the truth about his tricks and he cannot risk the truth getting out. When it comes to power, Iago will stop at nothing to attain it. Along with interpretation, reputation can also have an enormous contrast with a characters personality. Through the use of his reputation, the readers see Victor Frankenstein change immensely. Victor holds a reputation of being a kind man with an overwhelming intelligence. He says, â€Å"curiosity, earnest research to learn rapture, as they were unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensations I can remember† (Shelley, 25). He’s always had a passion to learn and this is where the theme of danger of knowledge can come into play. Victor begins to struggle with his behaviour in comparison to his reputation. He tries to play God by putting together body parts from different users and it fails miserably for him. When Victor sees the monster he has created, he says, â€Å"the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart† (Shelley, 49). Only when he sees the monster does Victor realize the error of his ways. He believes that by pretending that the monster was never created, that he will essentially go away, but that is not the case. The monster begins to wreak havoc in an attempt to get the attention he craves from his creator. The creation and the acts of rebellion from the monster cause Victor to become ill and that’s how Robert Walton finds him in The Arctic, which the readers learn in the letters Walton sends to his sister, Margaret. Victor faces an internal battle between his actions, his conscience, and his reputation, which causes his illness and his death at the end of the book. Othello also faces the struggle with his reputation. Othello is introduced as a confident, well spoken, and well respected character. Every other character in the play, even Iago can agree that Othello is, â€Å"of a free and open nature† (1. 3. 390). Iago is commenting on Othellos personality and he’s basically saying that Othello is very straightforward. Othello is appointed Governor of Cyprus and is responsible for keeping up with the expectation everyone has of him. The first signs of his inner struggle are seen when he begins to believe what Iago is telling him. Othello orders Iago to gather more information about Cassio and Desdemona. Othello begins changing the moment Iago mentions a possible relationship between Cassio and Desdemona. Othello is skeptical at first, but becomes convinced when Iago tells him that Cassio has Desdemonas handkerchief, which was Othellos first gift to her. He then begins to become more observant of what Desdemona does, and eventually, he starts to plan Cassio and Desdemonas demise. Othello ends up killing Desdemona and that’s when Lodivico and Gratiano compare him to his reputation. Lodivico says, â€Å"O, thou Othello, that wert once so good† (5. 2. 288). This testimonial from Lodivico shows the readers that Othello has completely changed and lost against his struggle. His reputation and his personality are now polar opposites. Othello has lost the respect of his peers and his position as Governor of Cyprus. Lastly, in both works, reputation is responsible for causing two characters downfalls. Elizabeth Lavenza is the type of stereotypical woman that is kind and would do anything for her husband. Elizabeth has always been considered to be beautiful and her beauty can be seen as an advantage and a disadvantage for her. The Frankenstein family picked Elizabeth out of many children at the adoption agency because of her image and her image has also gotten her into a relationship, and soon to be marriage with Victor. Even though her beauty has helped her, Elizabeth has been nothing more than just, â€Å"a pretty present for Victor† (Shelley, 24). Elizabeth is the type of wife that supports everything her husband does and she would never go against him. Towards the ending of the book, the monster kills Elizabeth on the night of her marriage to Victor. The monster does this as a form of punishment for Victor, since he destroyed the female monster. The monsters gives Victor a warning by saying, â€Å"I shall be with you on your wedding night† (Shelley, 173), and Victor misunderstands the warning. He believes that the monster is coming after him and because of that, he leaves Elizabeth unattended and vulnerable to the monster. Elizabeth and Victor knew each other since childhood, and not once did Elizabeth over step the boundary of getting into Victors personal business. Elizabeth died because of the man she would do anything for. She died because she fits the reputation of a blinded woman in a relationship. Desdemona is also a woman who is seen as a personal possession. At first she belonged to her father, Brabantio, and the readers see an example of this when Iago and Roderigo tell Brabantio that he’s been robbed of something, which is his daughter. After Othello marries Desdemona, she is considered his. Although Othello treats Desdemona with love and respect, her reputation is still a wife that is considered an object, and a wife that would never go against her husband. Desdemona obeys every command she is given. An example of this is Othello telling Desdemona to go to her bed chamber and send away Emilia, and after Desdemona does what he says, she tells Emilia that, â€Å"It was his bidding; therefore good Emilia/ Give me my nightly wearing and adieu/ We must not displease him† (4. 3. 15-17). This specific example is about something as minor as sleep, but Othello also commands her about more serious things. Although Desdemona is the same as her reputation for majority of the play, there is one time where she isn’t. She asks Othello to give Cassio another chance even when Othello tells her that he doesn’t wish to speak with Cassio. This one difference from her reputation is the start of her downfall. Othello becomes sure of the love affair between Desdemona and Cassio and he begins to plot her death and then eventually murder her by suffocation. Even in death Desdemona stays true to her reputation. When Emilia asks Desdemona who is responsible for her murder, she says, â€Å"nobody; I myself† (5. 2. 125). Othello just committed the ultimate betrayal by causing her passing and she still defends him. Desdemona attempts to protect Othellos reputation by clinging to her own. In both works studied, reputation can be used to a characters advantage or disadvantage. Iago benefits from his reputation, while the monster gets pushed into isolation and more violence. The contrast between Othello at the end of the play and his original reputation cause his struggle, while Victor’s actions cause his illness. Additionally, both Elizabeth and Desdemona die because of the reputation that is put onto them. Although sometimes reputations can be viewed as a good thing, more often than not, they bring more trouble than good.

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like CoSchedule (+ Free Template) - CoSchedule Blog

How To Plan Your Product Roadmap Like (+ Free Template) Blog We just completed our second ever product roadmap summit  here at .  This is where a group of us spends a full day locked in a conference room fighting relentlessly for the features that you need and deserve in your favorite editorial calendar. During this process, we review recent (and some older)  feature requests, balance maintenance needs, and read through our ever-growing wish-list of features for . The goal? Decide what were going to build over the next six months. It’s sort of like decide who we want to be when we grow up twice a  year. For us, it follows a simple 6-6-6 framework. This covers planning in three timeframes after  the day of the summit: 6 weeks, 6 months, and 6 years. We hold product roadmap summits twice per year and use them to think about our future (6 years), our next two quarters (6 months), and some of our immediate goals (6 weeks). How To Plan Your #ProductRoadmap Like (+ Free Template)So, why do we do this? If there is only one truth in business, it’s that there is never a shortage of ideas. Plus, our customers are awesome and send us a ton of ideas that we usually love and want to build immediately. But, alas, there are only 25 of us. We just can’t do it all. With so many inputs, its important that we balance the things that we  could do, to actually realize the things that we can do. And so, we have a product roadmap summit and  pick a handful of things that will bring the most results. We all need a system for prioritizing our work. This is how we do it at . Its important to balance what you could do, to realize what you can do.Get Your Free Product Roadmap Template To Plan Now This blog post walks you through the exercises that work for choosing the ultimate best features for you to plan into your project development roadmap. Get your free kit now to plan your roadmap as you read this post. Your kit includes: Product roadmap summit Word doc template to help you run an efficient planning session with your team. Product roadmap template Excel spreadsheet to help you prioritize the projects you choose to tackle in the next six weeks to  six months. Step #1: Establish Your BHAG (6-Year Goal) BHAG stands for big, hairy, audacious goal. It’s  an idea from the book, Built to Last  by James Collins and Jerry Porras. According to Collins and Porras, a BHAG is a long-term goal that changes the very nature of a business' existence. At the beginning of every product roadmap summit, we start with this goal. We review the BHAG from the previous summit and do a few brainstorming exercises. We allow for general team discussion about the goal. Does this still reflect where we want to go? We brainstorm some of the big things that we will need to accomplish in order to reach our BHAG. We list the threats that will prevent us from ever reaching our BHAG. The entire goal here is to set the stage for our roadmap planning by considering where we want to go and working backward. It’s a favorite strategy of mine. Deciding WHAT NOT to do is way easier than deciding WHAT to do. Say no, then work backwards from there. #startup pic.twitter.com/2RTWsO1fgI Garrett Moon (@garrett_moon) June 24, 2016 The hope is that by bringing this goal to mind, we will continuously refer back to our BHAG as we do our planning. You should always  be using your BHAG to evaluate the things you're doing in the present. Are you doing what you need to do to get there? Step #2: Put It All On The Table The next, and most exciting, portion of our product roadmap summit includes the airing of many grievances, err†¦ feature requests! The goal here is to get everything on a Post-It note on the wall so you can see it together. We like to have one person from each of our core teams (product, marketing, and success) share a list of feature requests, customer comments, growth opportunities, and smart things that we could build. Let every idea be a good idea as you brainstorm.Here’s how it works: Lance from our customer success team shares the list of feature requests from our customers. This list is pre-sorted by the entire customer success team and should show us the key areas where our customer would like to see us improve. Next, we have Justin, our CTO, share a list of platform and maintenance projects that need to be completed in order to maintain the quality of service that our customers demand and deserve. This list usually includes foreign sounding things like database maintenance, spindle logs, and very excited engineers. We don’t always understand it, but we do love it. The third thing we cover is sales and marketing needs. These are usually covered by myself and usually include improvements that we want to make to our billing system, onboarding/first-run experience, or other areas that are related directly to our core business metrics like trial to paid conversions, user churn, and product growth. The fourth thing we like to cover is our feature backlog. This backlog is lengthy and includes a mixture of features that we want to see and ideas from one of our previous summits that had to go on the back burner. During this phase, it's important that you don’t get carried away categorizing and prioritizing things. There will be time for that later. Just get it out there, let every idea be a good one, and move forward. Step #3: Team Lunch Next, lunch. There are usually only two rules for team lunch. Leave the meeting room behind. We think it's important to get out of the building to  clear our heads for a bit. You don’t have to talk about business. It doesn’t mean you can’t, but we like to allow the conversation to take us wherever it goes. It’s a good way to break up a busy day. Step #4: Prioritize This is the hardest part of the process. This is when we take all of the ideas on the table, evaluate them against the BHAG, and prioritize them based on what we would like to accomplish in the next six  months. We use several methods for breaking things down. We break things down into roadmaps. Rather than trying to prioritize apples against oranges, we like to break things into a few different groups. For us, this means that we build three distinct roadmaps for our team: Features, Success, and Platform. Each of these roadmaps has their own goals. We are only trying to figure out what to build next in each of these categories. We prioritize ideas based on potential customer value.  We like to place each feature idea on a simple X/Y table that looks like this: In this example, the Y axis represents the amount of value we believe that a feature or idea can bring our users. The X axis represents the total number of users, or percentage of users, who will be able to take advantage of the mentioned improvement. Plotting this out is usually the most taxing part of our entire day. For every single Post-It note, we debate and decide where the idea falls in the spectrum. We try not to overthink it, but it can still take awhile. Plot ideas on an X/Y table to choose features with the best value for the  most users.The efforts always result in a ton of useful dialogue and debate across our team. This process  also weeds out any â€Å"pet features† that someone on our team may have. The more we concentrate on user value, the less likely we are to make a call based on personal bias. When we are done, it will look something like this. In this case, one thing is for sure, the customer is always right! Step #5: Assemble The Product Roadmap Once everything is plotted out, we draw a (figurative) line across the X/Y axis. Anything that falls below or to the left of the line probably won’t get done. One thing that I want to emphasize is that this doesn’t mean those items aren’t important, or that they will never get built. It simply means that they aren’t important in relation to the other items on the list. We always re-review the cut ideas at the next product roadmap summit. At this point, we begin dividing things in to 6-week and 6-month groups. What things do we want to get done right now (six weeks), and what things needs to get done soon, but not right away (six  months)? There is plenty of additional discussion at this point, but by and large, most of the team will be on the same page because of the previous exercise that ranked features by user value. While I am not going to go too far into it here, we also use a point system to define how large a feature is, or more importantly, how much time and resources it will require to develop. For us, this is a simple 1, 2, 3 point system. You could adapt them for your team as needed. And that’s how we plan features at ! When it’s all said and done, we have a product roadmap, a happy team, and customers who are getting the features that will help them the most! Before I wrap things up, I want a cover a few additional things just in case you decide to try and hold your own roadmap summit. Lessons Learned From Successful Product Roadmap Summits Quick Tip #1: Our Roadmap Summit Has Some Rules We use a few basic rules to ensure that we stay focused and on topic. You can add/remove as necessary, but here are the rules we use: We are brainstorming projects of the purpose of the product team, no other team projects can/should be added. All ideas are necessary for good brainstorming. Avoid shooting things down. Keep laptops closed and phones down. No email, HipChat/Slack, or Snapchat allowed! Someone should be designated to write things down. Don’t get too deep into features. We’re not building them here. Quick Tip #2: Everyone Has Veto Power During roadmap planning, we give everyone veto power. If they are absolutely convinced that a feature should not be completed, or want to call shenanigans on the group, they can. While Justin and I tend to use this rule more than others (oops!), it applies to everyone on the team equally. Quick Tip #3: Bring Snacks We like to leave a few piles of red starbursts on the tables for added sugar, but we also provide fruit, snacks, and refreshing drinks to keep everyone going. Quick Tip #4: Leave Time To Retro The last two things that we do after any roadmap summit are related to review and reflection. First, we spend at least 10 minutes reviewing our newly formed product roadmap against our BHAG and our earlier discussions. This is designed to ensure that we will actually be executing against the goals that we outlined. Is everything on our roadmap necessary in order to reach our BHAG? Is it in alignment with where we want to go? If it isn’t, now is the right time to reflect and adjust our plan. The second thing we do is an immediate retrospective on the meeting itself. The goal here is to identify potential improvements that we can implement to make to the process better during the next summit. We like to cover three questions: What went well? What didn’t go so well? What can we do to ensure things go (even) better next time? Best of luck to you and your team at your own product roadmap summit! If you give it a try, please let us know how it goes in the comments.

A summary on the Article Bare, Bones and a Few Stones Essay

A summary on the Article Bare, Bones and a Few Stones - Essay Example Their minds and brains were not developed as Ehrlich describes, ‘they grabbed for roots, grabbed for an occasional mouthful’. What the author wants to discuss here is how our ancestors used the bigger brains to evolve the general kinds of nature that we have today and how they spread from Africa to all over the planet. He also points out that bones, skeletons and the stones brought about certain but not conclusive evidence of the evolution process. Ehrlich describes the genus, Homo used the forelimbs to carry and use tools and weapons. The early human beings were the original makers of the stone tools. The author expresses doubt if this is correct. Uncertainties remain with the human fossil record. From the samples it is not possible to draw conclusions about how many species of homos were there long ago. The evolutionary process, the physical appearance, the shape and size of the teeth, the jaws, all had a definite function and changed as human beings evolved from one stage to another. The teeth was used as a tool while the hair provided protection against insects. Our ancestors had the manual dexterity to produce tools and the foresight that these would be needed. Research suggests that technology differed from place to place, which depended on the environment as well as the skills of the homos making the tools. Human nature too differed geographically. Ehrlich suggests that although people share a common genetic code, the human nature is not a result of genetic coding. Cultural conditioning and environmental factors influence it. The molecular biologists are able to determine the sequence of molecular building blocks in Mitochondial DNA. MtDNA is passed from the mother to the child. These energy producing organs are present in the eggs and not in the sperm that penetrates the eggs. Analysis of mtDNA helps determine when two different populations of people last had a common ancestor. It is difficult to imagine how genes

Social Performance,Part 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Performance,Part 1 - Essay Example Primary stakeholders are the people who stand directly to be affected either positively or negatively by the company’s actions. The Alabama company primary stakeholders include it customers, and suppliers. Customers have played a very vital role to the success of Alabama Power Company. They have been the main source of funds running the company’s operations (Atkins, 2006). Through the money paid by customers in their monthly payment of their electricity bills, Alabama Power Company has been able to meet over three quarters of its financial obligations. It is estimated that 80% of the funds used by Alabama power company comes from customers either paying their electricity bills or entry of new customers who come to seek the help of Alabama power company in case of power failure in their houses. Suppliers are also key primary stakeholders who heavily facilitate the functioning and effective running of Alabama power Company. Southern Company is the main suppliers of all the necessary equipments necessary for the generation of electricity by Alabama Power Company (Atkins, 2006). Finally the other key primary stakeholders of the Alabama power company are the employees. Alabama company employees have for long been the backbone towards the success of the company. They always utilize their technical and technological skills in their daily duties to ensure the company operations are successful. They have always provided necessary help to customer on behalf of the company. Some of the secondary stakeholders of Alabama Power Company include the government, the general public, and the media. For instance, the state government has in many occasions helped the Alabama power company to operate even in case of financial difficulties. To some extent, the government has severally exempted the company from taxes during economic downturn periods (Atkins, 2006). This has helped the company to continue being operational even in times of