The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove Chapter 14~15

Fourteen Molly Pine Cove was a decorative town – built for show – only one degree more functional than a Disneyland attraction and decidedly lacking in businesses and services that catered to residents rather than tourists. The business district included ten art galleries, five wine-tasting rooms, twenty restaur-ants, eleven gift and card shops, and one hardware store. The position of hardware clerk in Pine Cove was highly coveted by the town's retired male population, for nowhere else could a man posture well past his prime, pontificate, and generally indulge in the arrogant self-important chest-pounding of an alpha male without having a woman intercede to remind him that he was patently full of shit. Crossing the threshold of Pine Cove Hardware and breaking the beam that rang the bell was tantamount to setting off a testosterone alarm, and if they'd had their way, the clerks would have constructed a device to at-omize the corners with urine every time the bell tolled. Or at least that's the way it seemed to Molly when she entered that Saturday morning. The clerks, three men, broke from their heated argument on the finer points of installing a wax toilet seal ring to stare, snicker, and make snide comments under their breath about the woman who had entered their domain. Molly breezed past the counter, focusing on an aisle display of gopher poison to avoid eye contact. Raucous laughter erupted from the clerks when she turned down the aisle for roofing supplies. The clerks, Frank, Bert, and Les – all semiretired, balding, paunchy, and generally interchangeable, except that Frank wore a belt to hold up his double knits, while the other two sported suspenders fashioned to look like yellow measuring tape – planned to make Molly beg. Oh, they'd let her wander around for a while, let her try to comprehend the arcane func-tion of the gizmos, geegaws, and widgets binned and bubble-wrapped around the store. Then she would have to come back to the counter and submit. It was Frank's turn to do the condescending, and he would do his best to drop-kick her ego before finally leading the little lady to the appro-priate product, where he would continue to question her into full humili-ation. â€Å"Well, is it a sheet metal screw or a wood screw? Three-eighths or seven-sixteenths? Do you have a hex head screwdriver? Well, then, you'll need one, won't you? Are you sure you wouldn't rather just call someone to do this for you?† Tears and/ or sniffles from the customer would signal victory and confirm superior status for the male race. Frank, Bert, and Les watched Molly on the security monitor, exchanged some comments about her breasts, laughed nervously after five minutes passed without her surrender, and tried to look busy when she emerged from the aisle carrying a five-gallon can of roof-patching tar, a roll of fiberglass fabric, and a long-handled squeegee. Molly stood at the counter, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Bert and Les squinted into a catalog set on a rotating stand while concentrating on sucking in their guts. Frank manned the register and pretended he was doing something complex on the keyboard, when, in fact, he was just making it beep. Molly cleared her throat. Frank looked up as if he'd just noticed she was there. â€Å"Find everything you need?† â€Å"I think so,† Molly said, taking both hands to lift the heavy can of tar onto the counter. â€Å"You need some resin for that fiberglass fabric?† Les said. â€Å"And some hardener?† Bert said. Frank snickered. â€Å"Some what?† Molly said. â€Å"You can't patch a trailer roof with that stuff, miss. You live down at the Fly Rod, don't you?† They all knew who she was and where she lived. She was often the subject of hardware store gossip and speculation, even though she'd never set foot in there before today. â€Å"I'm not going to patch a roof.† â€Å"Well, you can't use that on a driveway. You need asphalt sealer, and it should be applied with a brush, not a squeegee.† â€Å"How much do I owe you?† Molly said. â€Å"You should wear a respirator when you work with fiberglass. You have one at home, right?† Bert asked. â€Å"Yeah, right next to the elves and the gnomes,† Les said. Molly didn't flinch. â€Å"He's right,† Frank said. â€Å"Those fibers get down in your lungs and they could do you a world of harm, especially with those lungs.† The clerks all laughed at the joke. â€Å"I've got a respirator out in the truck,† Les said. â€Å"I could come by after work and give you a hand with your little project.† â€Å"That would be great,† Molly said. â€Å"What time?† Les balked. â€Å"Well, I, um†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I'll pick up some beer.† Molly smiled. â€Å"You guys should come along too. I could really use the help.† â€Å"Oh, I think Les can handle it, can't you, Les?† Frank said as he hit the total key. â€Å"That comes to thirty-seven sixty-five with tax.† Molly counted her money out on the counter. â€Å"So I'll see you tonight?† Les swallowed hard and forced a smile. â€Å"You bet,† he said. â€Å"Thanks then,† Molly said brightly. Then she picked up her supplies and headed for the door. As she broke the doorbell beam, Frank whispered â€Å"Crazy slut† under his breath. Molly stopped, turned slowly, and winked. Once she was outside, the clerks made miserable old white guy attempts at trading high-fives while patting Les on the back. It was a hardware store fantasy fulfilled – much better than just humiliating a woman, Les would get to humiliate her and get her naked as well. For some reason they'd all been feeling a little randy lately, thinking about sex almost as often as power tools. â€Å"My wife is going to kill me,† Les said. â€Å"What she don't know won't hurt her,† the other two said in unison. Theo Theo actually felt his stomach lurch when he went into his victory garden and clipped a handful of sticky buds from his pot plants. They weren't for himself this time, but the reminder of how much this little patch of plants ruled his life made him ill. And how was it that he hadn't felt the need to fire up his Sneaky Pete for three days? A twenty-year drug habit suddenly ends? No withdrawal, no side effects, no cravings? The freedom was almost nauseating. It was as if the Weirdness Fairy had landed in his life with a thump, popped him on the head with a rubber chicken, bit him on the shin, then went off to inflict herself on the rest of Pine Cove. He stuffed the marijuana into a plastic bag, tucked it into his jacket pocket, and climbed into the Volvo for the forty-mile drive to San Junipero. He was going to have to enter the bowels of the county justice building and face the Spider to find out what he wanted to know. The pot was grease for the Spider. He would stop by a convenience store on the way down and pick up a bag full of snacks to augment the bribe. The Spider was difficult, arrogant, and downright creepy, but he was a cheap date. Through the safety-glass window, Theo could see the Spider sitting in the middle of his web: five computer screens with data scrolling across them illuminated the Spider with an ominous blue glow. The only other light in the room came from tiny red and green power indicator lights that shone through the darkness like crippled stars. Without looking away from his screens, the Spider buzzed Theo in. â€Å"Crowe,† the Spider said, not looking up. â€Å"Lieutenant,† Theo said. â€Å"Call me Nailgun,† the Spider said. His name was Irving Nailsworth and his official position in the San Juni-pero Sheriff's Department was chief technical officer. He was five-foot-five inches tall, weighed three hundred and thirty pounds, and had taken to wearing a black beret when he perched in his web. Early on, Nailsworth had seen that nerds would rule the world, and he had staked out his own little information fiefdom in the basement of the county jail. Nothing happened without the Spider knowing about it. He monitored and con-trolled all the information that moved about the county, and before anyone recognized what sort of power that afforded, he had made himself indis-pensable to the system. He had never arrested a suspect, touched a firearm, or set foot in a patrol car, yet he was the third-highest-ranking officer on the force. Besides a taste for raw data, the Spider had weaknesses for junk food, Internet porn, and high-quality marijuana. The latter was Theo's key to the Spider's lair. He put the plastic Baggie on the keyboard in front of Nails-worth. Still without looking at Theo, the Spider opened the bag and sniffed, pinched a bud between his fingers, then folded the bag up and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. â€Å"Nice,† he said. â€Å"What do you need?† He peeled the marshmallow cap off a Hostess Sno Ball, shoved it into his mouth, then threw the cake into a wastebasket at his feet. Theo set the bag of snacks down next to the wastebasket. â€Å"I need the autopsy report on Bess Leander.† The Nailgun nodded, no easy task for a man with no discernible neck. â€Å"And?† Theo wasn't sure what questions to ask. Nailsworth seldom volunteered information, you had to ask the right question. It was like talking to a rotund Sphinx. â€Å"I was wondering if you could come up with something that might help me find Mikey Plotznik.† Theo knew he didn't have to explain. The Spider would know all about the missing kid. The Spider reached into the bag at his feet and pulled out a Twinkie. â€Å"Let me pull up the autopsy.† His fat fingers flew over the keyboard. â€Å"You need a printout?† â€Å"That would be nice.† â€Å"It doesn't show you as the investigating officer.† â€Å"That's why I came to you. The M.E.'s office wouldn't let me see the report.† â€Å"Says here cause of death was cardiac arrest due to asphyxiation. Suicide.† â€Å"Yes, she hung herself.† â€Å"I don't think so.† â€Å"I saw the body.† â€Å"I know. Hanging in the dining room.† â€Å"So what do you mean, you don't think so? â€Å"The ligature marks on her neck were postmortem, according to this. Neck wasn't broken, so she didn't drop suddenly.† Theo squinted at the screen, trying to make sense of the data. â€Å"There were heel marks on the wall. She had to have hung herself. She was depressed, taking Zoloft for it.† â€Å"Not according to the toxicology.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"They ran the toxicology for antidepressants because you put it on the report, but there was nothing.† â€Å"It says suicide right there.† â€Å"Yes, it does, but the date doesn't corroborate the timing. Looks like she had a heart attack. Then she hung herself afterward.† â€Å"So she was murdered?† â€Å"You wanted to see the report. It says cardiac arrest. But ultimately, cardiac arrest is what kills everyone. Catch a bullet in the head, get hit by a car, eat some poison. The heart tends to stop.† â€Å"Eat some poison?† â€Å"Just an example, Crowe. It's not my field. If I were you, I'd check and see if she had a history of heart problems.† â€Å"You said it wasn't your field.† â€Å"It's not.† The Spider hit a key and a laser printer whirred in the darkness somewhere. â€Å"I don't have much on the kid. I could give you the subscription list for his paper route.† Theo realized that he had gotten all he was going to get on Bess Leander. â€Å"I have that. How about giving me any known baby-rapers in the area?† â€Å"That's easy.† The Spider's fingers danced over the keyboard. â€Å"You think the kid was snatched?† â€Å"I don't know shit,† Theo said. The Spider said, â€Å"No known pedophiles in Pine Cove. You want the whole county?† â€Å"Why not?† The laser printer whirred and the Spider pointed through the dark at the noise. â€Å"Everything you want is back there. That's all I can do for you.† â€Å"Thanks, Nailgun, I appreciate it.† Theo felt a chronic case of the creeps going up his spine. He took a step into the dark and found the papers sitting in the tray of the laser printer. Then he stepped to the door. â€Å"You wanna buzz me out?† The Spider swiveled in his chair and looked at Theo for the first time. Theo could see his piggy eyes shining out of deep craters. â€Å"You still live in that cabin by the Beer Bar Ranch?† â€Å"Yep,† Theo said. â€Å"Eight years now.† â€Å"Never been on the ranch, though, have you?† â€Å"No.† Theo cringed. Could the Spider know about Sheriff Burton's hold over him? â€Å"Good,† the Spider said. â€Å"Stay out of there. And Theo?† â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Sheriff Burton has been checking with me on everything that comes out of Pine Cove. After the Leander death and the truck blowing up, he got very jumpy. If you decide to pursue the Leander thing, stay low-key.† Theo was amazed. The Spider had actually volunteered information. â€Å"Why?† was all he could say. â€Å"I like the herb you bring me.† The Spider patted his shirt pocket. Theo smiled. â€Å"You won't tell Burton you gave me the autopsy report?† â€Å"Why would I?† said the Spider. â€Å"Take care,† Theo said. The Spider turned back to his screens and buzzed the door. Molly Molly wasn't so sure that life as Pine Cove's Crazy Lady wasn't harder than being a Warrior Babe of the Outland. Things were pretty clear for a Warrior Babe: you ran around half-naked looking for food and fuel and occasionally kicked the snot out of some mutants. There was no subterfuge or rumor. You didn't have to guess whether or not the Sand Pirates ap-proved of your behavior. If they approved, they staked you out and tortured you. If they didn't they called you a bitch, then they staked you out and tortured you. They might release starving radioactive cockroaches on you or burn you with hot pokers, they might even gang-rape you (in foreign-release directors'cuts only), but you always knew where you stood with Sand Pirates. And they never tittered. Molly had had all the tittering she could handle for the day. At the pharmacy, they had tittered. Four elderly women worked the counter at Pine Cove Drug and Gift, while above them, behind his glass window, Winston Krauss, the dolphin-molesting pharmacist, lorded over them like a rooster over a barnyard full of hens. It didn't seem to matter to Winston that his four hens couldn't make change or answer the simplest question, nor that they would retreat to the back room when anyone younger than thirty entered the pharmacy, lest they have to sell something embarrassing like condoms. What mattered to Winston was that his hens worked for minimum wage and treated him like a god. He was behind glass; tittering didn't bother him. The hens started tittering when Molly hit the door and broke titter only when she came to the counter with an entire case of economy-sized Neosporin ointment. â€Å"Are you sure, dear?† they kept asking, refusing to take Molly's money. â€Å"Perhaps we should ask Winston. This seems like an awful lot.† Winston had disappeared among the shelves of faux-antidepressants when Molly entered the store. He wondered if he should have ordered some faux-antipsychotics as well. Val Riordan hadn't said. â€Å"Look,† Molly finally said, â€Å"I'm nuts. You know it, I know it, Winston knows it. But in America it is your right to be nuts. I get a check from the state every month because I'm nuts. The state gives me money so I can buy whatever I need to continue being nuts, and right now I need this case of ointment. So ring it up so I can go be nuts somewhere else. Okay?† The hens huddled and tittered. â€Å"Or do I need to buy a case of those huge fluorescent orange prelubricated condoms with the deely-bobbers on the tip and blow them up in your card section.† You never have to get this tough with Sand Pirates, Molly thought. The hens broke their huddle and looked up in terror. â€Å"I hear they're like thousands of tiny fingers, urging you to let go,† Molly added. Between the four of them it only took ten minutes more to ring up Molly's order and figure her change within the nearest dollar. As Molly was leaving, she turned and said, â€Å"In the Outland, you would have all been made into jerky a long time ago.† Fifteen Steve Getting blown up had put the Sea Beast in a deep blue funk. Sometimes when he felt this way, he would swim to the edge of a coral reef and lie there in the sand while neon cleaner fish nipped at the parasites and algae on his scales. His flanks flashed a truce of color to let the little fish know that they were safe as they darted in and out of his mouth, grabbing bits of food and grunge like tiny dental hygienists. In turn, they emanated an electromagnetic message that translated roughly to: â€Å"I won't be a minute, sorry to bother you, please don't eat me.† He was getting a similar message from the warmblood that was ministering to his burns, and he flashed the truce of color along his sides to confirm that he understood. He couldn't pick up the intentions of all warmbloods, but this one was wired differently. He could sense that she meant him no harm and was even going to bring him food. He understood that when she made the â€Å"Steve† sound, she was talking to him. â€Å"Steve,† Molly said, â€Å"stop making those colors. Do you want the neighbors to see? It's broad daylight.† She was on a stepladder with a paintbrush. To the casual observer, she was painting her neighbor's trailer. In fact, she was applying great gobs of Neosporin oint ment to the Sea Beast's back. â€Å"You'll heal faster with this stuff on you, and it doesn't sting.† After she had covered the charred parts of the trailer with ointment, she draped fiberglass fabric on as bandages and began ladling roof-patching tar over the fabric. Several of her neighbors looked out their windows, dismissed her actions as more eccentricities of a crazy woman, then went back to their afternoon game shows. Molly was spreading the roofing tar over the fiberglass bandages with a squeegee when she heard a vehicle pull up in front of her trailer. Les, the hardware guy, got out of the truck, adjusted his suspenders, and headed toward her, looking a little nervous, but resolved. A light dew of sweat shone on his bald head, despite the autumn chill in the air. â€Å"Little lady, what are you doing? I thought you were going to wait for me to help you.† Molly came down from her ladder and stood with the squeegee at port arms while it dripped black goo. â€Å"I wanted to get going on this before dark. Thanks for coming.† She smiled sweetly – a leftover movie star smile. Les escaped the smile to hardware land. â€Å"I can't even tell what you're trying to do here, but whatever it is, it looks like you mucked it up pretty bad already.† â€Å"No, come here and look at this.† Les moved cautiously to Molly's side and looked up at the trailer. â€Å"What the hell is this thing made of anyway? Up close it looks like plastic or something.† â€Å"Maybe you should look at it from the inside,† Molly said. â€Å"The damage is more obvious in there.† The hardware clerk leered. Molly felt him trying to stare through her sweatshirt. â€Å"Well, if that's what you think. Let's go inside and have a look.† He started toward the door of the trailer. Molly grabbed his shoulder. â€Å"Wait a second. Where are the keys to your truck?† â€Å"I leave 'em in it. Why? This town is safe.† â€Å"No reason, just wondering.† Molly dazzled him with another smile. â€Å"Why don't you go on in? I'll be in as soon as I get some of this tar off of my hands.† â€Å"Sure thing, missy,† Les said. He toddled toward the front door like a man badly in need of a rest room. Molly backed away toward Les's truck. When the hardware clerk laid a hand on the door handle, Molly called, â€Å"Steve! Lunch!† â€Å"My name isn't Steve,† Les said. â€Å"No,† Molly said, â€Å"you're the other one.† â€Å"Les, you mean?† â€Å"No, lunch.† Molly gave him one last smile. Steve recognized the sound of his name and felt the thought around the word â€Å"lunch† Les felt something wet wrap around his legs and opened his mouth to scream just as the tip of the serpent's tongue wrapped his face, cutting off his air. The last thing he saw was the bare breasts of the fallen scream queen, Molly Michon, as she lifted her sweatshirt to give him a farewell flash before he was slurped into the waiting maw of the Sea Beast. Molly heard the bones crunch and cringed. Boy, sometimes it just pays to be a nutcase, she thought. That sort of thing might bother a sane person. One of the windows in the front of the dragon trailer closed slowly and opened, a function of the Sea Beast pushing his meal down his throat, but Molly took it for a wink. Estelle Dr. Val's office had always represented a little island of sanity to Estelle, a sophisticated status quo, always clean, calm, orderly, and well appointed. Like many artists, Estelle lived in an atmosphere of chaotic funk, taken by observers to be artistic charm, but in fact no more than a civilized way of dealing with the relative poverty and uncertainly of cannibalizing one's imagination for money. If you had to spill your guts to someone, it was nice to do it in a place that wasn't spattered with paint and covered with canvases that beckoned to be finished. Dr. Val's office was an escape, a pause, a comfort. But not today. After being sent in to the inner office, before she even sat down in one of the leather guest chairs, Estelle said, â€Å"Your assistant is wearing oven mitts, did you know that?† Valerie Riordan, for once with a few hairs out of place, rubbed her temples, looked at her desk blotter, and said, â€Å"I know. She has a skin condition.† â€Å"But they're taped on with duct tape.† â€Å"It's a very bad skin condition. How are you today?† Estelle looked back toward the door. â€Å"Poor thing. She seemed out of breath when I came in. Has she seen a doctor?† â€Å"Chloe will be fine, Estelle. Her typing skills may even improve.† Estelle sensed that Dr. Val was not having a good day and decided to let the assistant in oven mitts pass. â€Å"Thanks for seeing me on such short notice. I know it's been a while since we've had a session, but I really felt I need to talk to someone. My life has gotten a little weird lately.† â€Å"There's a lot of that going around,† Dr. Val said, doodling on a legal pad as she spoke. â€Å"What's up?† â€Å"I've met a man.† Dr. Val looked up for the first time. â€Å"You have?† â€Å"He's a musician. A Bluesman. He's been playing at the Slug. I met him there. We've been, well, he's been staying at my place for the last couple of days.† â€Å"And how do you feel about that?† â€Å"I like it. I like him. I haven't been with a man since my husband died. I thought I would feel like, well, like I was betraying him. But I don't. I feel great. He's funny, and he has this sense of, I don't know, wisdom. Like he's seen it all, but he hasn't become cynical. He seems sort of bemused by the hardships in life. Not at all like most people.† â€Å"But what about you?† â€Å"I think I love him.† â€Å"Does he love you?† â€Å"I think so. But he says he's going to leave. That's what's bothering me. I finally got used to being alone, and now that I found someone, he's going to leave me because he's afraid of a sea monster.† Valerie Riordan dropped her pen and slumped in her chair – a very unprofessional move, Estelle thought. â€Å"Excuse me?† Val said. â€Å"A sea monster. We were at the beach the other night, and something came up out of the water. Something big. We ran for the car, and later Catfish told me that he was once chased by a sea monster down in the Delta and that it had come back to get him. He says he doesn't want other people to get hurt, but I think he's just afraid. He thinks the monster will come back as long as he's on the coast. He's trying to get a gig in Iowa, as far from the coast as he can get. Do you think he's just afraid to commit? I read a lot about that in the women's magazines.† â€Å"A sea monster? Is that a metaphor for something? Some Blues term that I'm not getting?† â€Å"No, I think it's a reptile, at least the way he describes it. I didn't get a good look at it. It ate his best friend when he was a young man. I think he's running away from the guilt. What do you think?† â€Å"Estelle, there's no such thing as sea monsters.† â€Å"Catfish said that no one would believe me.† â€Å"Catfish?† â€Å"That's his name. My Bluesman. He's very sweet. He has a sense of gallantry that you don't see much anymore. I don't think it's an act. He's too old for that. I didn't think I would ever feel this way again. These are girl feelings, not woman feelings. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to have his grandchildren.† â€Å"Grandchildren?† â€Å"Sure, he's had his days with the booze and the hos, but I think he's ready to settle down.† â€Å"The booze and the hos?† Dr. Val seemed to have gone into some sort of fugue state, working on a stunned psychiatrist autopilot where all she could do was parrot what Estelle said back in the form of a question. Estelle needed more input than this. â€Å"Do you think I should tell the authorities?† â€Å"About the booze and the hos?† â€Å"The sea monster. That Plotznik boy is missing, you know?† Dr. Val made a show of straightening her blouse and assuming a controlled, staid, professional posture. â€Å"Estelle, I think we may need to adjust your medication.† â€Å"I haven't been taking it. But I feel fine. Catfish says that if Prozac had been invented a hundred years ago there wouldn't have been any Blues at all. Just a lot of happy people with no soul. I tend to agree with him. The antidepressants served their purpose for me after Joe died, but I'm not sure I need them now. I even feel like I could get some painting done – if I can find some time away from sex.† Dr. Val winced. â€Å"I was thinking of something besides antidepressants, Estelle. You obviously are dealing with some serious changes right now. I'm not sure how to proceed. Do you think that Mr., uh, Catfish would mind coming to a session with you?† â€Å"That might be tough. He doesn't like your mojo.† â€Å"My mojo?† â€Å"Not your mojo in particular. Just psychiatrist's mojo in general. He spent a little time in a mental hospital in Mississippi after the monster ate his friend. He didn't care for the staff's mojo.† Estelle realized that her vocabulary, even her way of thinking, had changed over the last few days, the result of immersion in Catfish's Blues world. The doctor was rubbing her temples again. â€Å"Estelle, let's make another appointment for tomorrow or the next day. Tell Chloe to add it on at the end of the day if I'm booked up. And try to bring your gentleman along with you. In the meantime, assure him that my practice is mojo-free, would you?† Estelle stood. â€Å"Can that little girl write with those oven mitts on?† â€Å"She'll manage.† â€Å"So what should I do? I don't want him to go. But I feel like I've lost a part of myself by falling in love. I'm happy, but I don't know who I am anymore. I'm worried.† Estelle realized that she was starting to whine and looked at her shoes, ashamed. â€Å"That's our time, Estelle. Let's save this for our next appointment.† â€Å"Right. Should I tell the constable about the sea monster?† â€Å"Let's hold off on that for now. These things have a way of taking care of themselves.† â€Å"Thanks, Dr. Val. I'll see you tomorrow.† â€Å"Good-bye, Estelle.† Estelle left the office and stopped at Chloe's desk outside. The girl was gone, but there were animal noises coming from the bathroom just down the hall. Perhaps she had caught one of the oven mitts on her nose ring. Poor thing. Estelle went to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. â€Å"Are you okay in there, dear? Do you need some help?† The answer came back in high moan. â€Å"I'm fine. Really fine. Thanks. Oh my God!† â€Å"You're sure?† â€Å"No, that's all right!† â€Å"I'm supposed to make an appointment for tomorrow or the next day. The doctor said to pencil it in late if you have to.† Estelle could hear thumping noises coming from the bathroom, and it sounded as if the medicine cabinet had dumped. â€Å"Oh wow! Wow! Oh wow!† The scheduling must really have been tight. â€Å"I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore. Call me to confirm, would you, dear?† Estelle left Valerie Riordan's house even more unsettled than she had come in, thinking that it had been quite some time, half a day anyway, since she had had her skinny Bluesman between the sheets. Dr. Val Val had a break between appointments, time in which to reflect on her suspicion that by taking everyone in Pine Cove off antidepressants, she had turned the town into a squirrel's nest. Estelle Boyet had always been a tad eccentric, it was part of her artist persona, but Val had never seen this as unhealthy. On the contrary, the self-image of an eccentric artist seemed to help Estelle get over losing her husband. But now the woman was raving about sea monsters, and worse, she was getting involved in a relationship with a man that could only be construed as self-destructive. Could people – rational adult people – still fall in love like that? Could they still feel like that? Val wanted to feel like that. For the first time since her divorce, it occurred to her that she actually wanted to be involved again with a man. No, not just involved, in love. She pulled her Rolodex from the desk drawer and thumbed through it until she found the number of her psychiatrist in San Junipero. She had been in analysis all through med school and residency, it was an integral part of the training of any psychiatrist, but she hadn't seen her therapist in over five years. Maybe it was time. What sort of cynicism had come over her, that she was interpreting the desire to fall in love as a condition requiring treatment? Maybe her cynicism was the problem. Of course she couldn't tell him about what she had done to her patients, but perhaps†¦ A red light blinked on the tiny LED panel on her phone and the incoming call, screened by Chloe, who had obviously taken a short break from her self-abuse, scrolled across the screen. Constable Crowe, line one. Speaking of squirrels. She picked up the phone. â€Å"Dr. Riordan.† â€Å"Hi, Dr. Riordan, this is Theo Crowe. I just called to tell you that you were right.† â€Å"Thank you for calling, Constable. Have a nice day.† â€Å"You were right about Bess Leander not taking the antidepressants. I just got a look at the toxicology report. There was no Zoloft in her system.† Val stopped breathing. â€Å"Doctor, are you there?† All her worries about the drugs, this whole perverse plan, all the extra sessions, the long hours, the guilt, the friggin' guilt, and Bess Leander hadn't been taking her medication at all. Val felt sick to her stomach. â€Å"Doctor?† Theo said. Val forced herself to take a deep breath. â€Å"Why? I mean, when? It's been over a month. When did you find this out?† â€Å"Just today. I wasn't given access to the autopsy report. No one was. I'm sorry it took so long.† â€Å"Well, thank you for letting me know, Constable. I appreciate it.† She prepared to ring off. â€Å"Dr. Riordan, don't you have to get a medical history on your patients before you prescribe anything?† â€Å"Yes. Why?† â€Å"Do you know if Bess Leander had any heart problems?† â€Å"No, physically she was a very healthy woman, as far as I know. Why?† â€Å"No reason,† Theo said. â€Å"Oh yeah, I never got your thoughts on the information I shared at breakfast. About Joseph Leander. I was still wondering if you had any thoughts?† The whole world had flip-flopped. Val had stone-walled up to now on Bess Leander because she had assumed that her own negligence had had something to do with Bess's death. What now, though? Really, she didn't know much about Bess at all. She said, â€Å"What exactly do you want from me, Constable?† â€Å"I just need to know, did she suspect her husband of having an affair? Or give you any indication that she might be afraid of him?† â€Å"Are you saying what I think you are saying? You don't think Bess Leander committed suicide?† â€Å"I'm not saying that. I'm just asking.† Val searched her memory. What had Bess Leander said about her hus-band? â€Å"I remember her saying that she felt he was uninvolved in their family life and that she had laid down the law to him.† â€Å"Laid down the law? In what way?† â€Å"She told him that because he refused to put the toilet seat down, he was going to have to sit down to pee from now on.† â€Å"That's it?† â€Å"That's all I can remember. Joseph Leander is a salesman. He was gone a lot. I think Bess felt that he was somewhat of an intrusion on her and the girls' lives. It wasn't a healthy relationship.† As if there is such a thing, Val thought. â€Å"Are you investigating Joseph Leander?† â€Å"I'd rather not say,† Theo said. â€Å"Do you think I should be?† â€Å"You're the policeman, Mr. Crowe.† â€Å"I am? Oh, right, I am. Anyway, thanks, Doctor. By the way, my friend Gabe thought you were, uh, interesting, I mean, charming. I mean, he enjoyed talking with you.† â€Å"He did?† â€Å"Don't tell him I said so.† â€Å"Of course. Good-bye, Constable.† Val hung up and sat back in her chair. She had unnecessarily put an entire town in emotional chaos, committed a basketful of federal crimes as well as breaking nearly every ethical standard in her field, and one of her patients had possibly been murdered, but she felt, well, sort of excited. Charming, she thought. He found me charming. I wonder if he really said â€Å"charming† or if Theo was just making that up – the pothead. Charming. She smiled and buzzed Chloe to send in her next appointment.

A Whole New Mind – Essay

A Whole New Mind Almarene Lowndes EDL 546 – Summer 2012 May 31, 2012 A whole new mind is a must read for ALL teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders. This book has inspired me to seriously think about my own teaching practices as I strive to prepare my students and I for professional success. After reflecting on the concepts in Daniel Pinks’ book I have asked myself if my school District and I are effectively preparing my students for the future?With budget cuts, high stakes testing, and pressure to raise student test scores have we failed to foster activities that enable students to utilize their brains right hemisphere ultimately, leaving them unequipped for our future? We have reduced the amount of time elementary students spend in Art, Music, and PE. In my own Kindergarten classroom I often struggle with allowing my students to build their creativity because of the pressure of time constraints and adhering to learning schedules/pacing guides.In the introduc tion, Pink gives background knowledge on the functions of the left and right hemispheres of the brain and clears up misconceptions that many people hold. Pink tells us that the left and right hemispheres of the brain work together. However, the left hemisphere is sequential which gives it the capability to analyze details and the right hemisphere is simultaneous which aids in synthesizing the bigger picture. This information can easily be related to teaching. When teaching my kindergarten students concepts of print, phonemic awareness, and phonics I am tapping into my students left hemisphere.For example, teaching my kindergarteners that we read from left to right, learning the alphabet, and decoding are activities that utilize their left hemisphere. The use of lower to higher level questioning requires students to utilize their left and right hemisphere as well. For example, after reading a story to my class, we discuss and answer questions about the texts we have read. When I ask my students to recall information from a story the left hemisphere is more active. However, when I ask my students higher-level questions that require them to think beyond the story their brains are eliciting help form the right hemisphere.Examples, of these types of questions are: how do you think the character feels, what is the most important part of the story, and what personal connections can you make to the story? Even things such as speech, fluency, and cadence of a story require students to utilize their brains right hemisphere. In a cleverly titled section called: Fear and Loathing in My Amygdales n Pink describes, â€Å"the two almond-shaped structures that serve as the brain’s Homeland Security. † They are called amygdalas. The function of these structures is to process emotions particularly fear.He explained that the left hemisphere is more active in processing this information. I found it interesting when he stated that the right amygdala is stimulated whe n processing faces. It is able to analyze the parts of a face as a whole to come to a conclusion about how one feels. Pink mentioned that this idea transcends to any culture. As an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) certified teacher, I most often receive students who do not speak the English language. One strategy that I use is facial expressions to convey meaning which I now know requires support from our brains right hemisphere.According to Pink our culture has always held L-Directed Thinkers such as lawyers and engineers in high esteem. He points out that now value is being placed on the R-Directed Thinkers such as artist, counselors, and inventors. While I would argue, that both types are thinkers are needed. In my own classroom I would like to make a conscious effort to foster both types of thinkers so that my students can successfully integrate both ways of thinking into their lives. According to Pink teachers live R-Directed lives. However, in my organization I f eel our way of thinking is not supported in the way that the school system is currently structured.There are some key points that I feel our school system should adopt. Furthermore, these same themes can be used in my own classroom to produce learners who are L and R- Directed Thinkers. The themes that resonate with me the most are: Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. â€Å"Symphony†¦ is the ability to put together the pieces. It is the capacity to synthesize rather than to analyze; to see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields; to detect broad patterns rather than to deliver specific answers; and to invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to pair. Empathy is defined as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Play is the idea that work is not just about being serious it is about play as well. Meaning focuses on seeking purpose and the greater good. I would like to think of myself as a sympathetic teacher like Mr. Bomeisler. I am very encouraging as I touch every child while I am working. In my own classroom I strive to help my students reach the highest level of learning, which is synthesizing. Conversely, I have fallen short because while I help my students see relationships between related fields, I need to strive to help them see the relationships between unrelated fields.In many ways I have missed those opportunities to help my students develop their powers of Symphony through simple tasks like drawing, listening to classical music, and celebrating amateurness. I feel that many K-12 teachers struggle with this in their teaching. An example of this is in team teaching. In team teaching a group of teachers, working together, plan, conduct, and evaluate the learning activities for the same group of students. In practice, team teaching has many different formats but in general it is a means of organizing staff into groups to enhance teaching.Teams generally comprise staff members who may represent different are as of subject expertise but who share the same group of students and a common planning period to prepare for the teaching. To facilitate this process a common teaching space is desirable. Team teachers and teachers alike must begin to see the connections between subject areas themselves in order to help students to achieve this. Most often you will hear someone who teaches Science say, â€Å"I do not teach Reading. † This as you may of guessed is untrue since teaching Science is teaching the components of nonfiction text.I also feel, that most schools don’t allow teachers the opportunities to plan together and discuss the relationships between their fields. Many administrators are not empathetic to the idea that if we really want students to be successful they must allow us the time to engage in conversations and planning with each other. Most often team teachers as is the case at my school do not even have the same planning time. We can improve this at my school by al lowing time for us to plan together not only as teammates but as grade levels. In our mailroom it would be cool if we had an inspiration board.This simple idea will help us to expand our minds. Lastly, I suggest that we read and discuss books as grade levels such as: Dialogue, Metaphors We Live By, and No Waste. We always are given professional development books to read when we are given the time to get together. How powerful would it be for the R-Direct Thinkers in my organizations if we were allowed the opportunity to read and discuss these books? You would think that in my organization everyone is empathetic and in turn teaches students to empathize with one another.I am very empathetic and must say that I do wonderful job of guiding my students as they develop relationships with one another. I model this as I develop relationships with not only my students but my parents as well. On the other hand it saddens me to say that every teacher is not empathetic. My mom always told me t hat, â€Å"students don’t learn until they learn that you care. † When you build valuable relationships with students and parents it increases students achievement. In my school environment I feel that we should start with being empathetic with each other.Very few principles show empathy for their employees, which make it hard to foster caring relationships with colleagues at work. Recently, school climates have shifted from working together to competing against each other. As odd as it may sound I would argue that many teachers do not even trust each other. For example, First grade teachers do not trust that Kindergarten teachers have effectively taught their students. Second grade teachers do not trust that First grade teachers have done their jobs. This trend goes from grade to grade.As a result, teachers spend valuable instructional time re teaching information to students. Instructional time should be fun to students. At times I often forget this simple concept. A s a teacher I have found it my personal goal to find creative ways to put the fun back into teaching and learning. On my quest to fulfill this goal there are several suggestions from Pink that I will use to do this. One thing that my group members at JU and I are studying is how can we use gaming to increase students’ achievement? According to Pink, gaming plays a significant role in learning.James Paul Gee argues that games can be the ultimate learning machine. I might also add that games are fun and engaging for students. Next year, I plan to bring my Wii to school and allow students to play games such as Reading Rabbit and Sesame Street in my classroom. Another way that my organization and I can foster the idea of play is being humorous with our students and us. The pressures of high stakes testing, time management, and top bottom pressure exerted on teachers have caused us to become less and less humorous and joyful.There are things that we can do to bring humor and joy i nto teaching. Some immediate ideas that come to mind are simply playing with our students. It is so fun to play on the playground with my students. Not only does this bring me joy but also it brings my students an equal amount of joy and humor in watching me do things that are out of the box for adults. Not only should we play with kids but we should also play with each other. I remember one year some colleagues and I decided to form a kickball team to play on this kickball league one of us had heard about.Not only did allow me to forget about the pressures of teaching it allowed us to empathize with each other through the simple act of playing. Which in turn made us more pleasant at work. Another idea that the educational organization should adopt is getting our â€Å"game on. † Not only should we utilize gaming in the classroom we should participate in gaming ourselves. Lastly, I feel that administrators and facilitators should start meetings by dissecting jokes. This is so mething that I can immediately implement when I facilitate myself.I can also do this with my kindergarteners by using simple jokes starting with knock-knock jokes. Developing happiness through play can add meaning to not only learning but our jobs as well. It is said, that we â€Å"are born for meaning† and live for self-expression and an opportunity to share that which we feel is important. I believe that at some point in time every teacher is passionate about his or her job and are often looking for the opportunity to share his or her expertise. Somehow this passion fades as we stop looking inside ourselves to make meaning out of our jobs.Something that my grade level has done to build meaning is utilizing teardrops. Every teacher on my grade level purchased a small pail to place teardrops in. Each of us was given paper made teardrops that we use to show our gratitude for things that we have done, or modeled, or shared with one another. For example, I was once given a teard rop for staying late to help the people who were new to my grade level fill out student snapshots after I was already done. I gave a tear to another teacher for allowing me the gift of observing her teach a lesson to her students on connections.In my opinion this simple act can add a sense of purpose to our job. This can be implemented on all grade levels and adapted to our students. Pink states that Right-Brainers will rule the future. As teachers we can equip our students for this new era. Administrators can help R-Directed thinkers such as ourselves by creating an environment that is conducive to the way that we think. By implementing simple strategies suggested in A Whole New Mind we can once again find joy in teaching as we strive to increase student achievement.There are many pearls that I have taken from this book. One of the pearls I have taken from this book is that the simple act of empathizing can help to increase student achievement. Another is the idea that play is esse ntial to my classroom and environment as it brings happiness and joy. Also, it is important to look at things from the bigger picture and lastly, seeking purpose and the greater good seems to define us uniquely as humans. Reference: Pink, D. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York: The Penguin Group.

Business Entrepreneurial Rhetoric

Apple Inc is considered as the most popular technological panies globally. The iPhone is one of the primary products of the pany which has over 42 million users globally (Bonk, Celine). There is huge demand for this product and the brand has a dedicated base of loyal customers. The phenomenal success of this brand is dependent on several factors including the business model. A parison is being done with the existing market research and the article presented by Yuan and Langesen named â€Å"What factors contributed to the success of Apple iPhone?† This report would discuss the various factors that have led Apple iPhone to be one of the market leaders. It describes the innovative approaches adopted by the pany. The article by Yufei Yuan and John Laugesen gives an in-depth analysis of the success factors of iPhone (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). It has focused on the â€Å"user acceptance† aspect of the success factors. This implies that the pany is able to understand the customer preferences. Apple has successfully identified the needs of the target market and fulfilled their expectations based on culture, demographics and behavioral aspects (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). It has also paid attention to the environmental factors such as â€Å"mobile data services† that are essential for iPhone (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). The article has proposed an innovative success model and almost all the factors are being tapped by Apple. The first group of factors deals with consumer factors such as demographics, user preferences and culture. The brand targeted the young population who are technology savvy and demonstrated high dependency on smartphones (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yua n). The brand also focuses on the user preferences such as entertainment services and designed its products accordingly. The pany tries to satisfy the cultural niches through the utilization of content as well as software (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). The second group of factors deals with the corporate factors such as business model, technology, marketing, branding, content providers and network operators. Apple has business models which are based on its core petence (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). It has adopted the â€Å"device centric† business approach which is considered as one of the most important factor for the brand’s success (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). The pany also engages in extensive marketing tactics and provides customization of their products based on the customer needs. It maintains control through distribution and content access (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). The pany depends on the third parties for the development of application and their content. It aims to increase the value chain by improving the core petencies of the firm. The third group of factors prises of the environmental factors such as regulatory norms and the infrastructure. The pany has focused on the regulatory aspects required during the launch of the services as well as products (Laugesen, John and Yufei Yuan). The pany believes that it is important to coordinate well with the regulatory authorities so that there is smooth launch of the iPhone. Apple has focused on the improvement of the infrastructure of the different countries. It has focused on enhancing the user experience and has tapped the current technologies available in the mobile industry. According to Davila et al., Apple has focused heavily on the innovative aspects of their products. It has created innovative product lines such as iPod, iTunes, iPhone, Apple Stores and App Exchange. The innovative product has helped the pany to retain its topmost position in the market. This is the primary reason behind the extreme popularity of the brand. The second important reason for the success of iPhone can be attributed to the advertising and the differentiation aspects of the brand (De Mooij, Marieke). It has created innovative advertisements that capture the target markets well. The campaigns involving the â€Å"Super Bowl mercials 1984† and â€Å"iPod People† were popular among the masses (De Mooij, Marieke). The third most important reason is the extensive distribution and retail networks of the pany. It has been established that Apple has one of the largest distribution network in the United States (Homburg et al.). The distribution of the products of the p any is done through retail stores, online stores, direct sales channels and third party resellers (De Mooij, Marieke). This makes the product readily available at all times and the customers can choose their convenient distribution channels. The fourth important factor deals with the customer service (Bone et al.). Apple strives to provide excellent in store experiences as well as after sales service. It strives to enhance the customer satisfaction level of the consumers (Bone et al.). The problem underlined in the report prises of the wide variety of alternatives available to the target audiences. This is determined by the market research. The problem was quantified by consulting with several journal articles (Bone et al.). The iPhone has satisfied the requirements of the target market and this is one of the primary solutions to the problem (Bone et al.). The iPhone has fulfilled the customer requirements and this has been proved by the parative analysis. The economic model showcases that iPhone has benefitted the target market which has increased the sale of the products. It has led to increased revenue for the pany which has resulted in the greater profit generation (Bone et al.). It is clear that Apple Inc. receives high benefit from the greater purchase of iPhones. The roadmap is concerned with the distribution channels that are used by the pany in order to make sure that its products reach the target audience. The storyboard presents the events undertaken by Apple Inc. which is related to the conception, launch, promotion and marketing of iPhone. It prises of several rubrics such as problem rubric, solution rubric, economic rubric and roadmap rubric. The problem rubric identifies the target market and the various alternatives they are looking for in order to satisfy their preferences. The solution rubric shows the launch of iPhone which solves the worry of the customer. The economic rubric shows the increase in sales of the pany due to the launch of iPhone. The roadmap rubric shows the marketing approach that should be adopted in the pany for the future. The article has strong impacts on the issue and enumerates the reasons for strong foothold of Apple. It discusses the appropriate reasons that drive Apple for achieving more success. The parative analysis method is used for the purpose of paring the current market research along with the provided article. This parison is useful in understanding the factors contributing to the success of iPhone. This report would broaden the understanding of the topic and would also facilitate further research on this topic. Bone, Sterling A., et al. "How customer participation in B2B peer-to-peer problem-solving munities influences the need for traditional customer service."  Journal of Service Research  18.1 (2015): 23-38. Bonk, Celine. "The impact of Apple's munication and French and Finnish consumers' product perceptions: case of the iPhone product." (2015). Davila, Tony, Marc Epstein, and Robert Shelton.  Making innovation work: How to manage it, measure it, and profit from it. FT press, 2012. De Mooij, Marieke.  Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. Sage Publications, 2013. Homburg, Christian, Josef Vollmayr, and Alexander Hahn. "Firm value creation through major channel expansions: evidence from an event study in the United States, Germany, and China."  Journal of Marketing  78.3 (2014): 38-61. Laugesen, John, and Yufei Yuan. "What factors contributed to the success of Apple's iPhone?."  Mobile Business and 2010 Ninth Global Mobility Roundtable (ICMB-GMR), 2010 Ninth International Conference on. IEEE, 2010.

Teaching of Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Teaching of Psychology - Essay Example To understand the mind and its complications is not simple. But there have been attempts and many successful ones. In fact, the interpretation of the psyche has developed as a formal academic discipline - 'Psychology'. Psychology is an extensive field amd its ambit is an amalgam of research and teaching. Teaching of psychology becomes very significant in the contemporary individualistic and collective notions of this multi-cultural global society. Teaching is a very responsible activity. The teacher's words can make or mar perspectives. Therefore it requires a thorough expertise on the subject matter as well as the ability to put across the subject effectively. In the area of psychology, the teacher generally has to balance between his/her role of a psychologist and a teacher. The 'how of learning' becomes very important in the teaching of psychology. This is because it has to tread the path of commonalities differences, the impact of culture as well as the benefits and challenges that human diversity brings to relationships and communities. Psychology teaching should be a journey of insight, emotions and imagination. It is very important for the teacher to foster the development of independent, critical thought, evaluative skills, depth of learning, to explore ideas and questions. Teaching of psychology is better performed through demonstration.

World War 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World War 2 - Research Paper Example Whereas this is wide topic, the author’s initial thoughts were based upon the developments and problems that were going on in Germany during this six years period of war. The researcher assesses the development of the two opposing military groups, that is, the Axis and the Alliance. In this paper, the writer also underscores the unity between these two opposing military camps along side their military science. Furthermore, the writer examines the economic status of Germany at the commencement of the war and how it declined as the war intensified, an idea that has parallel significance to United States economy before Invasion of Iraq and the way it has declined as the Iraq war progressed. The fact that Germany was the precursor of the war upon her invasion of Poland made the author to develop interest in this country and how Hitler dealt with the scientific military developments and problems associated with this war in Germany.... nd joined the military alliance.4 With these two military opposing camps, coupled with the arms race, the entire world was littered with bayonets with a catastrophic death toll of the known-unknown over 50 million people. The last nail in the coffin of this war was the defeat and surrender of the Axis especially the Germany and Japan in 1945 by the Allies. The researcher was interested in this area because Germany was a major power in the Axis and sparked off the military campaign during World War II.5 The advancement of military technology was another development in Germany ignited by the arms race. This development facilitated military logistics and transportations. Under the Chancellorship of Adolf Hitler, Germany Manufactured weapons such as â€Å"military tanks, air craft, assault rifle, Gewehr 43 rifle, Sturmgewehr 44 rifle, MP40 rifle, submachine guns, military tanks like Tiger II† which were major modern means of weaponry . Among the numerous aircraft developed include d the â€Å"Junkers Ju 87 planes used for psychological war fare† and the â€Å"Messerschmitt Me 262† jets. They also manufactured missiles like â€Å"cruise missiles (V-1), rocket- ballistic missiles (V-2)†, war ships, trucks and so many other military vehicles. During this period, Germany had the best â€Å"world rocket scientists† such as von Braun.6 This triggered off an arms race between the Axis and the Alliance. At the onset of the war, these military weapons were more powerful than those of the alliance. As this technological armament continued unabated, the global war drums were consequently inevitable. The purpose of this authorization by Hitler to manufacture weapons was to produce an equal measure weapon that Germany and her allies would use against the military alliance. Due to the early

Research Proposal on 'Development Aid and Governance' Essay

Research Proposal on 'Development Aid and Governance' - Essay Example Bibliography Background/Problem Statement The effectiveness or lack of aid has been a rather recurring issue/terminology in the glossary of the development aid industry in recent times. Contrastingly, two decades ago, development donors or aid donors would not hesitate to provide funding to governments and organisations for developmental purposes (De Haan, 2009). Among those who benefitted during this past period of improved donor and aid activities were third world and developing countries in regions such as Africa and Asia in which countries such as Zaire under Mobutu and Philippines under Marcos benefitted. With this level of funding, these beneficiary regimes started to mismanage these aids to hitherto unseen corruption levels. These high levels of bad governance and corruption have made donors such as financial institutions and industrial powers to refrain from funding development projects in excessively corrupt governments, countries, and groups (De Haan, 2009). Aid donors have since recognized and established that giving aids to governments with ineffective policies is a practice that is rather wasteful. Instead, more efforts and emphasis have been directed at countries and regions with sound domestic reform policies. Nonetheless, donors’ narrow political objectives still feature in most of the aid decisions in the contemporary society. There is, thus, the need for the official donor aid community to commit to the improvement of aid effectiveness by establishing more proficient and standardized coordination mechanisms. Fortunately, some forums such as the Aid Effectiveness High Level Forum (HLF) in Rome in 2003 and the Paris Declaration in the second HLF in 2005 were moves in the right direction for aid governance. Although these forums focused on donor coordination and harmonisation, the issues of governance, public management, and corruption also featured prominently during the deliberations (Stokke, 2009). In regard to aid management, the suppl y side featured prominently in relation to public finance management and country procurement systems. It was not only corruption, which was mentioned as a problem, but commitments were also made on transparency and accountability by both donors and recipients. Poor governance, corruption, and bad public management of finance and procurement are thus among the major challenges that the aid industry has encountered for quite some time and mechanisms and strategies to counter their influence are in order (Lancaster, 2006). Research Objectives This research, therefore, sets forth several objectives, including the need to address the rampant corruption and mismanagement that hamper the successful implementation and realization of donor aid projects. The research seeks solution to the derailing progress in realising mutual accountability by both donors and recipients in aid-project implementation. Addressing the issue of commitment by donors and recipients in the aid effectiveness agenda is the other objective of this research. An improvement on the wanting coordination capacity of recipient governments is the other objective of this research. Moreover, this research also seeks to emphasize the central role that commitment on transparency, in conjunction with sound governance and anticorruption, plays in the aid industry. Finally, this research aims at highlighting the effects of the failure by stakeholders to address the developmental aid problems associated with bad governance and corruption on aid management.

Malta in World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8500 words

Malta in World War II - Essay Example However after Benito Mussolini came to power, these relationships deteriorated as Italy clandestinely supported conflicts in British territories in the Mediterranean from the late 1920s onwards (1). Owing to the strategic location of Malta it was an important stronghold for either the Axis or allied powers - particularly, the island is at the heart of the Mediterranean between Libya and Italy. It had been, ever since 1800, after two years of Napoleonic invasion, a division of the British Empire, its geographical significance had been recognized by Britain for the whole occupation. It was for this reason used as a major military and naval fort throughout this time. Malta occurred to be the only military headquarters between Gibraltar and Egypt. In spite of its position, the British had shifted the headquarters of Mediterranean Fleet Navy from Valletta, Malta in the mid-1930s to Alexandria, Egypt. Despite the fact that there were apprehensions that the island, a long way from Britain and near Italy, could not be protected, British Government resolved in July 1939 to raise the number of anti-aircraft guns and fighters on Malta (2). British government had other worries about whether to retain the island in May 1940 when the French Prime Minister, Paul Reynaud, stated that the state of affairs in France was horrible, however that Italy might be pacifies with the surrendering of Malta. After some deliberation, Winston Churchill persuaded the British War Cabinet that no surrendering should be made (3). Nevertheless, while Britain itself endangered, Malta was not the main concern for the British, so Malta was under-resourced when Italy declared war on Britain on 10 June 1940. At that time only 4,000 troops and a few outdated bipl anes were based on the island, with 5 weeks' of food. However, the island was a strategic danger to Italy and the Axis powers. Malta's anti-shipping squads and Royal Navy submarines were a prospective danger to supply and communications between Europe, Italy and North Africa. During most of the siege William Dobbie was Governor of Malta. Whilst in Malta, he was criticized for his attitude to organization in the siege and for what opponents claim to have been an objectionable holdup in the establishment of bomb shelters in addition to employing effective food-rationing and creating an efficient civil-defense system. Issues surrounding the delivery of armaments were also a condemnation. In May 1942 Field Marshal the Right Hon. John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort removed Dobbie. First Phase of Siege of Malta On 11 June 1940, the day after Italy declared war on Britain and France, airplanes of the Italian Royal Air Force attacked Malta. Most of its land forces had been placed for the imminent invasion of Greece, so Italy employed airborne offensive to check Malta from being a danger. On the first day, ten Italian Cant bombers dropped bombs on Grand Harbour, Hal Far, and Kalafrana. In seven attacks, 11 civilians and 6 soldiers were killed. As well, about 130 civilians and some troops were wounded. At the time, the combatant aircraft in Malta comprised a few outdated Gloster Sea Gladiator biplanes. A common legend is that the air

Assignment 4 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

4 - Assignment Example It is vital during data collection for the researcher to perform the criteria to know the best languages to be during the interview. Conversely, it requires translator, who are difficult to get. Psychological analysis is a way of measuring ones performance on a job in a standardized and objective manner. It uses a test score used to establish an individual’s performance, for instance, an examination for students. The advantage of the process is that the assessment enables the researcher to determine the abnormal and normal personality. On the contrary, there are individuals who can perform a duty so well without being subjected to such tests when it comes to practicality. Questionnaires are applicable in scenarios that require sentences response to an event or an utterance’s interpretations that are contained in the description of the event. Its advantage is that it is not so expensive and can quickly be direct to many participants (Schauer, pg 8). Its disadvantage is that only written and specific instructions can be to the participants, which also rely on the participants’ imaginations. It is the use of surveys or questionnaires to examine attitudes in individuals as various measures are used to determine what causes likes and dislikes in people. Its merit is that it provides designed portfolios with additional information on how to check on attitudes. On he other hand, its demerit is that its accuracy will only depend on the collected data even if it’s a false statement. Oral discourse elicitation is a data collection technique that allows researchers highly to control the context type of events they intend to extract as they research on data that is oral. Elicited imitation includes role-plays and conversations. The merit of conversations done orally is that they provide data orally. On the other hand, role-play is advantageous in that the participants are the events’ details. Their main demerit is that they don’t

Managing Communications in the Garden Company Assignment

Managing Communications in the Garden Company - Assignment Example The Garden Company needs to upgrade its communication processes as well as its information and knowledge collection strategies. This can be done through the systematic evaluation of its key strengths and weaknesses. Basically, this paper has based the management of communications, knowledge, as well as information about the centre of focus being landscaping/gardening business. The Garden Company is the business title in this case. A number of decisions are needed in the organization in order to achieve long-term growth and profitability. These decisions should start with the need to enhance the communication processes in the organization. Communication processes should be able to use a number of strategies that can help to achieve the long-term goals within a short period of time. Furthermore, the goal should be to achieve the long-term strategic advantage with an emphasis on innovation. Communication processes should be strengthened for the benefit of the employees and the customer segments of the organization. Another critical area where decision making is required is that the information collection and management processes must be strengthened to ensure that customer loyalty can be attained. The organization must be able to devise a collaborative strategy for success (Gary, 2002: p. 4). The organization needs to have information regarding its critical goals and objectives. This is an important part of the decision making process. Furthermore, it needs to develop an institutional structure that can help to attain the critical goals within a short period of time. Planning and appraisal is another key area where success can be attained by the organization. Monitoring and evaluation are helpful in decision making as it helps to ensure the success of long-term strategies. These approaches should be based on a careful understanding of the external and internal environments. The external sources of information for the organization come by tracking the feedback obtained from the customers.  Ã‚  

Hamlet is known to be the most popular play written by Shakespeare Essay Example for Free

Hamlet is known to be the most popular play written by Shakespeare Essay Hamlet is known to be the most popular play written by Shakespeare. It is also, by a significant margin, the longest of Shakespeares plays. It has been translated to many languages and has become the subject of excited and critical debate more than any other work of literature. The play was written around 1602 or 1603 at a period of time when Elizabethan London was a melting pot of unique intellectual and artistic ferment. For Shakespeare at the turn of the century, when he addressed himself to the Hamlet story, contradiction and the uncertainty of attitude towards revenge would have been part of the air he breathed. He must also have been familiar with a considerable body of literature in which revenge was a central concern. Hamlet must have been written shortly after Julius Caesar (1599), another revenge play. At two moments in Hamlet the killing of Caesar is remembered. Julius Caesar had contained a vengeful ghost. Hamlet complicates the story by directing attention to three linked father-and-son pairs: old Hamlet and the prince who has inherited his name but not his kingdom, old Fortinbras and a son whose situation is similar to that of Hamlet but whose character is very different, Polonius and Laertes. All three fathers die by violence. All three sons feel responsible to take revenge, but the response of each to his task is completely different. There is also the absorbing debate about sexuality and sexual morality. As society continues to change the nature of that debate shifts but the basic issues dealt with in Hamlet remain fundamental to man and this is perhaps the reason why a four hundred year old text in Elizabethan English continues to excite people from so many different cultures and ideologies. Act 3 Scene 4 takes place in Gertrudes closet. Here a series of fast paced events takes place. Hamlet speaking daggers to his mother, Polonius murdered accidentally, Hamlets second and final meeting with the ghost, the re-joining of the mother-son bond all fall under this scene. Shakespeare makes this scene very important through the use of language, style, setting etc. This scene follows the play within a play performed by the players in Act 3 Scene 3. Hamlet had used the play to catch the conscience of the King. Hamlet aims to get both the King and Queens conscience through the play. He gets her by questioning Madam, how do you like this play? showing how he wants to make her feel guilty. Act 3 Scene 4 is somewhat a continuation of his quest to free his mother from her incestuous sin. It also follows Claudius plotting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to kill Hamlet in England and Polonius plan to spy on Hamlet when he approaches his mother in the closet. The scene begins as a kind of dramatic parallel to Act 3 Scene 1: Polonius eavesdropping, Gertrude speaking to her son. As before with Ophelia Hamlet comes face to face with somebody to whom he was once close to but from whom he has been deliberately separated. The murder of King Hamlet and the marriage of Queen Gertrude all are the cause of this break-up. The discussion between mother and son, the only extended one in the play, concentrates upon how her sexual lust has led her to leave her wholesome brother for a mildewed ear. This is the only scene where mother and son are alone (excluding Polonius). Hence Shakespeare is able to bring out Hamlets feelings and opinions about his mothers incestuous crime. His opening lines itself show his mockery of the rhythm and the words of her reprimand. Hamlet turns the finger of accusation to her; he turns the tables on her through his language. Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended. Queen: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. Hamlet: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. Hamlet also makes his purpose clear: You go not till I set you up on a glass where you may see the innermost part of you.

The Relationship Between Feminism and Anthropology

The Relationship Between Feminism and Anthropology The relationship of feminism and anthropology can bring a new development to the way ethnographies are written and done. Lila Abu-Lughods statement feminist ethnography is an ethnography with women at the centre written for women by women can be seen as an effort to find a distinct way of doing and writing ethnography. In this essay I will look at the roots of feminism and feminist anthropology. I will then discuss Abu-Lughods statement and try to explain how her statement is beneficial to anthropology and whether it is possible to do research her way. I will secondly look at the advantages and disadvantages of the statement. I will focus on notions of partial identity and objectivity. Finally, I will conclude by discussing some of the issues surrounding the empowerment of women, and that although Abu-Lughods statement does have some benefits it misses the important point. I will argue that feminist ethnography should be used as a political tool for disadvantaged women and it should reflect a collective, dialectical process of building theory through struggles for change (Enslin:1994:545). Feminism can be defined as both a social movement and a perspective on society. As a social movement, it has challenged the historical subordination of women and advocated political, social, and economic equality between the sexes. As a social and sociological perspective, it has examined the roles that sex and gender play in structuring society, as well as the reciprocal role that society plays in structuring sex and gender (Oxford dictionary 2007). There are three main categories in which the different waves of feminism can be divided. Among the first one which was from 1850 to 1920, during this period most research was carried out by men. Feminists aimed to bring the voice of women in ethnography, they gave a different angle on experiences of women and the surrounding events. This brought a new angle because male ethnographies only had the opportunity to interview other men e.g. what were women like. Important figures during this period were P.Kayberry who worked with B.Malinowski at LSE. She focused on religion but she examined men and women in her work. Moving on to the second wave of which was from 1920s to 1980s, here the separation between sex and gender was made by important feminists. Sex as nature and gender as culture. This takes us to the nature culture dichotomy which is important when we are focusing on the subordination of women in different societies. The dichotomies between sex/gender, work/home, men/women, and nature/culture are important in social theory for raising debates. Important figures in the second wave feminism were Margaret Mead she made a lot of contribution in her work on the diversity of cultures here she helped to breakdown the bias that was based on concepts of what is natural, and she put more emphasis on culture in peoples development. Most important works of Mead was Coming of Age in Samoa (1928). Another important figure was Eleanor Leacock who was a Marxist feminist anthropologist. She focused on universality of female subordination and argued against this claim. This second wave of feminism was influenced by a number of events in history, the 1960s was closely linked to political ferment in Europe and North America, like the anti-Vietnam war movement and the civil rights movement. Feminism was something that grew out of these political events during the 1960s. Feminism argued that politics and knowledge were closely linked with each other so feminists were concerned with knowledge and we have to question the knowledge that was being given to us. Feminism during 1960s called for the establishment of womens writing, universities, feminist sociology and a feminist political order which would be egalitarian. Feminists became interested in anthropology, because they looked to ethnography as a source of information about whether women were being dominated everywhere by men. What are some of the ways that women are living different societies, was there evidence of equality between men and women. Did matriarchal societies ever exist and to get the answers to such questions they turned to ethnography. This takes us to the issue of ethnography and what we understand about women in different societies. It became obvious that traditional ethnographic work neglected women. Some of the issues surrounding women are; ethnograhies did not talk about womens worlds, it did not talk about what went on in womens lives, what they thought and what their roles were. When we discuss the question are women really subordinated, we realize that we do not know much about women in different societies. B.Malinowskis work on the Kula did discuss the male role in the exchange of valuables. But during the 1970s Anette Weiner (1983) went to study the same society and she found out women are playing an important role in Trobriand society too. Their involved with the Kula, exchanges, rituals etc but Malinowski never wrote about it. Female anthropologists of the 1970s would go and look for important men, and then they would study their values, their societies, what was important to them. These anthropologists assumed, that men followed male logics in this public/private divide in line with this divide between the domestic and public sphere. They would also assume that what went on in the public sphere, economy, politics was more important the domestic side. The concept of objectivity came to be regarded as a mode of male power. Feminists claimed that scientific ideals of universality, timelessness, and objectivity were inherently male-dominated and that the more feminist attributes of particularism, empathy and emotionality were devalued (Abu-Lughod 1990). Feminists argued that to take over male domination these female attributes had to be given more importance and made clear. Abu-Lughods ideal way of doing research is when a female ethnographer takes part in the ethnography, rather then removing herself, who listens to other womens voice and gives accounts (Abu-Lughod 1990). The female ethnographer is able to do so because although the women studied differ from the ethnographer, she shares part of the identity of her informant. The female researcher therefore has the appropriate tools to understand the other womans life (Abu-Lughod 1990). this is why according to Abu-Lughod female ethnography should be an ethnography with women at the centre written by and for women. Abu-Lughod says that early feminist anthropologists did not really do anything about knowledge. They had good intentions but they didnt do much as they were trapped in ways of thinking that had been given to them by the masculine nature of the academy. Let us now discuss the first part of Abu-Lughods statement, whether feminist ethnography should be an ethnography with women at the centre written by women. Abu-Lughod claims that women understand other women in a better way. The female researcher shares some form of identity with her subject of study (Abu-Lughod 1990, Caplan 1988). For example some women have experience of form of male domination which puts the researcher in a good position to understand the women being researched. At the same time, the researcher keeps a certain distance from her informant and therefore can both have a partial identification with her subject of study, so blurring the distinction between the self and other, and still being able to account being able to account for others separateness (Strathern view in Caplan 1988). In a Weberian sense, the female researcher can use herself as an ideal type by analyzing the similarities and differences between herself and other women. According to Abu-Lughod, this i s the best objectivity that achieved (Abu-Lughod 1990, Weber 1949). Pat Caplan (1988) offers a good example of partial identity and understanding between women. According to Caplan the most important task for an ethnographer is to try and understand the people whom she is studying. Caplan writes about the research she did in Tanzania, East Africa. In her twenties, the women in the village were happy, satisfied and free but when she went back ten years later she realized the problems women were facing daily. While Caplan could not empathise with her informants at an earlystage of her life, because their identities were too different, she could atleast do in her thirties. In comparison a male ethnographer would probably never have realized the difficulties women are facing in their society (Caplan 1988). There are two criticisms to this argument. Firstly, to understand women, the female ethnographer has to take men into account as well because as it has been argued in the second wave of feminism the relationship between men and women is an important factor to understand society. So the partial identity between women that gives Abu-Lughods statement its importance but it loses it when a man enters the stage (Caplan 1988). Secondly, there is a danger to feminist ethnographers who only base their studies on women, treating women as the problem or exception of anthropological research and writing monographs for a female audience. In the 1980s feminist writers have argued that the construction if only two sexes and genders is arbitrary and artificial. Peoples sexual identities are infact between the two extremes of male and female. By only looking at womens worlds and dealing with an limited female audience, feminist ethnographers, even though stressing the marginalized part of the dualis m, enforce the traditional categories of men and women rather then allowing for a plurality of gender of genders (Moore 1999, Caplan 1988). Nancy Hartstock says why is it that just when subject or marginalized peoples like blacks, the colonized and women have begun to have and demand a voice, they are told by the white boys that there can be no authoritative speaker or subject (Abu-Lughod, p.17). To be in favour of Abu-Lughods argument it can be said that maybe the putting forward of this kind of ideal types, or points of reference, of men and women is what we need in order not to fall victim to daunting relativity and imprecise ethnographic work ( Moore 1999, Harraway 1988). For Abu-Lughod it is important for the ethnographer to be visible, this is because the reader can contextualize and understand the ethnographer in a important way. Whether the ethnographer is a woman should also be made clear. The ethnographer would also have to tell the reader about all of her background e.g. economic, geographic, national so the reader can properly understand the research. By only saying that the ethnographer is female and that sh e is doing research about women for women, the differences between all these women are overlooked. For example what would a white middle-class American single woman have in common with a poor Sudanese woman from the desert who has seven children, than she has in common with a middle-class Indian businessman who flies to San Francisco atleast twice a year? (Caplan 1988). Women are different everyone in the world and they come from different cultures so how can a ethnographer even if shes female say that she can write ethnographies about women and for women in general? It is unlikely that a non-western, non-middle class, non anthropologist will read the female ethnography written by a feminist scholar (Abu-Lughod 1990, Caplan 1988). There is a danger to implicitly apply Western stereotypes of feminity when doing research on women in parts of the world where the idea of being woman might be very different from the one we are familiar with (Abu-Lughod 1990). This criticism, is not totally dismissing Abu-Lughods statement because the anthropologist explicitly talks about partial identity not absolute identification or sameness. Abu-Lughods theory is strong in a way also, because she emphasizes particularity rather than universality and generality. In Donna Haraways words, The only way to find a larger vision, is to be somewhere in particular (Haraway 1988, p.590). Abu-Lughod focuses on stopping the male-centeredness in human science. This, as has been argued, is not enough: If women truly want to counter the male-centeredness in ethnographic writing, they not only have to get rid of the fact that it is mostly written by men for men, but should also counter all the other aspects of alleged scientific ideals such as universality, objectivity, generality, abstractness and timelessness. Female ethnographies, in that sense, do not have to be about women only in order to be distinct from conventional or male ethnography (Lutz 1995). On the other hand, feminist scholars have argued that male researchers tend to ignore womens lives and accounts, regard it as inappropriate to write about them or find it unnecessary to deal with their issues (Caplan 1988). In that sense, in order to compensate this imbalance, someone, i.e. the feminist scholars, has to do the job in order to give more power to women (Caplan 1988, Haraway 1988). The participation of women in public life has changed specially after the second world war, but there are still differences: womens voices are considered as being less competent, irrational, emotional and not worthy (Lutz 1995). Feminist scholars have also faced difficulties in the professional world, they might not have faced prejudice against their theories but situations like finding publishers for their research, less job opportunities (Caplan 1988). Feminists in return have reacted to this by adopting a tactic of resistance, rather than assimilating to masculine topics or styles of writing, they have stressed and looked for their distinct feminist ethnographic style (Lutz 1995). Abu-Lughod has therefore by bringing up her theory given power to anthropological feminists she has given them a tool to reflect different realities in a female way. This argument raises another question of who is actually being empowered by a feminist ethnography. Is it the women who are being studied? Or the feminist ethnographers themselves? What should matter more than reflexive ethnography or a feminist style of writing. What should matter more than the way an ethnography is constructed, or the way it is seen by the reader; what should matter more is the conclusions the researcher draws from ethnographic work and how it its put into praxis and used to empower the informants themselves. This applies more to a female ethnography that needs to counter the discrimination of women all over the world (Enslin 1994). It is important to give women their voice by writing about them but also accounts of marginalized women by themselves (e.g. autobiographies of black non-western women) remain marginalized, even in the field of womens writing or studies: feminist ethnography in Abu-Lughods terms thus undermines the agency of the women who are being studied (Enslin 1994). Female ethnographic writing has also been criticized for being exploitative. When a female researcher tells personal life stories and problems of the women whom sh e is studying, the researcher tends to give more intimate details than more positivist masculine researchers do, for her own academic purposes she is misusing her informants (Enslin 1994).

Story Truth Vs. Happening Truth Using Tim Obriens work Essays -- Tim

The Effect of "Story Truth" vs. "Happening Truth" Literature is such a beautiful thing because it does not give us an answer to it's questions. There are so many iffy spots that leave us to develop our own thoughts and feelings toward the piece of work. This is an interesting factor because at many times it affects us in a different way and can develop us as an individual. When reading a piece of literature, one person can interpret it in different ways than another person reading the same piece of work. I remember analyzing poems with my English class in the previous years and when we were asked to interpret it, we all had different answers. Sometimes what I got out of the poem didnÂ’t even go close to the direction that my classmate was going in. However, when I saw it from her view I saw more of where they were coming from I learned more about them. I read, "The Things They Carried," in last year's English class. I think that this is the only book that my class as a whole read, which means a lot coming from a class where spark notes was their way out. The way Tim O'Brien wrot...

Semiconductors: The Silicon Chip Essay examples -- science

Semiconductors: The Silicon Chip Silicon is the raw material most often used in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. It is the second most abundant substance on the earth. It is extracted from rocks and common beach sand and put through an exhaustive purification process. In this form, silicon is the purist industrial substance that man produces, with impurities comprising less than one part in a billion. That is the equivalent of one tennis ball in a string of golf balls stretching from the earth to the moon. Semiconductors are usually materials which have energy-band gaps smaller than 2eV. An important property of semiconductors is the ability to change their resistivity over several orders of magnitude by doping. Semiconductors have electrical resistivities between 10-5 and 107 ohms. Semiconductors can be crystalline or amorphous. Elemental semiconductors are simple-element semiconductor materials such as silicon or germanium. Silicon is the most common semiconductor material used today. It is used for diodes, transistors, integrated circuits, memories, infrared detection and lenses, light-emitting diodes (LED), photosensors, strain gages, solar cells, charge transfer devices, radiation detectors and a variety of other devices. Silicon belongs to the group IV in the periodic table. It is a grey brittle material with a diamond cubic structure. Silicon is conventionally doped with Phosphorus, Arsenic and Antimony and Boron, Aluminum, and Gallium acceptors. The energy gap of silicon is 1.1 eV. This value permits the operation of silicon semiconductors devices at higher temperatures than germanium. Now I will give you some brief history of the evolution of electronics which will help you understand more about semiconductors and the silicon chip. In the early 1900’s before integrated circuits and silicon chips were invented, computers and radios were made with vacuum tubes. The vacuum tube was invented in 1906 by Dr.Lee DeForest. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, vacuum tubes were used to conduct, modulate and amplify electrical signals. They made possible a variety of new products including the radio and the computer. However vacuum tubes had some inherent problems. They were bulky, delicate and expensive, consumed a great deal of power, took time to warm up, got very hot, and eventually burned out. The first digital computer c... ..., the second mask pattern is exposed to the wafer, and the oxide is etched away to reveal new diffusion areas. The process is repeated for every mask - as many as 18 - needed to create a particular IC. Of critical importance here is the precise alignment of each mask over the wafer surface. It is out of alignment more than a fraction of a micrometer (one-millionth of a meter), the entire wafer is useless. During the last diffusion a layer of oxide is again grown over the water. Most of this oxide layer is left on the wafer to serve as an electrical insulator, and only small openings are etched through the oxide to expose circuit contact areas. To interconnect these areas, a thin layer of metal (usually aluminum) is deposited over the entire surface. The metal dips down into the circuit contact areas, touching the silicon. Most of the surface metal is then etched away, leaving an interconnection pattern between the circuit elements. The final layer is "vapox", or vapour-deposited- oxide, a glass-like material that protects the IC from contamination and damage. It, too, is etched away, but only above the "bonding pads", the square aluminum areas to which wires will later be attached. Semiconductors: The Silicon Chip Essay examples -- science Semiconductors: The Silicon Chip Silicon is the raw material most often used in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. It is the second most abundant substance on the earth. It is extracted from rocks and common beach sand and put through an exhaustive purification process. In this form, silicon is the purist industrial substance that man produces, with impurities comprising less than one part in a billion. That is the equivalent of one tennis ball in a string of golf balls stretching from the earth to the moon. Semiconductors are usually materials which have energy-band gaps smaller than 2eV. An important property of semiconductors is the ability to change their resistivity over several orders of magnitude by doping. Semiconductors have electrical resistivities between 10-5 and 107 ohms. Semiconductors can be crystalline or amorphous. Elemental semiconductors are simple-element semiconductor materials such as silicon or germanium. Silicon is the most common semiconductor material used today. It is used for diodes, transistors, integrated circuits, memories, infrared detection and lenses, light-emitting diodes (LED), photosensors, strain gages, solar cells, charge transfer devices, radiation detectors and a variety of other devices. Silicon belongs to the group IV in the periodic table. It is a grey brittle material with a diamond cubic structure. Silicon is conventionally doped with Phosphorus, Arsenic and Antimony and Boron, Aluminum, and Gallium acceptors. The energy gap of silicon is 1.1 eV. This value permits the operation of silicon semiconductors devices at higher temperatures than germanium. Now I will give you some brief history of the evolution of electronics which will help you understand more about semiconductors and the silicon chip. In the early 1900’s before integrated circuits and silicon chips were invented, computers and radios were made with vacuum tubes. The vacuum tube was invented in 1906 by Dr.Lee DeForest. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, vacuum tubes were used to conduct, modulate and amplify electrical signals. They made possible a variety of new products including the radio and the computer. However vacuum tubes had some inherent problems. They were bulky, delicate and expensive, consumed a great deal of power, took time to warm up, got very hot, and eventually burned out. The first digital computer c... ..., the second mask pattern is exposed to the wafer, and the oxide is etched away to reveal new diffusion areas. The process is repeated for every mask - as many as 18 - needed to create a particular IC. Of critical importance here is the precise alignment of each mask over the wafer surface. It is out of alignment more than a fraction of a micrometer (one-millionth of a meter), the entire wafer is useless. During the last diffusion a layer of oxide is again grown over the water. Most of this oxide layer is left on the wafer to serve as an electrical insulator, and only small openings are etched through the oxide to expose circuit contact areas. To interconnect these areas, a thin layer of metal (usually aluminum) is deposited over the entire surface. The metal dips down into the circuit contact areas, touching the silicon. Most of the surface metal is then etched away, leaving an interconnection pattern between the circuit elements. The final layer is "vapox", or vapour-deposited- oxide, a glass-like material that protects the IC from contamination and damage. It, too, is etched away, but only above the "bonding pads", the square aluminum areas to which wires will later be attached.

Essay --

Products and service are created to appeal to a certain market. Creating a strategy with consumers in mind is a target market. To take marketing a step further market segmentation can be utilized. Target marketing is the term for directing marketing endeavors toward consumers. Breaking down of the market into smaller groups with intention of promoting products or services is identified as market segmentation. Market segmentation divides broad markets into smaller segment groups such as female, male, adult or children. Market segmentation occurs using factors that fit into four categories such as; geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral. Nescafe a product of Nestle started as far back as the 1930. Brazil had a substantial supply of coffee and needed assistance with preserving. This was the start of the partnership between Brazilian government and Nestle. The name originated from the first three letters of Nestle and cafe put together. Nescafe was first introduced in Switzerland during the late 1930 and was expected to be a success throughout Europe. However, because o...