Month: December 2017

Long Term Capital Management and the Hedge Fund Industry

| Long Term Capital Management and the Hedge Fund industry| | | | | | Introduction The Hedge fund industry is surrounded by much controversy and debate; and that for many years. Lack of oversight, excessive returns, unclear impact on the market and more, are all subjects of concerns for market participants and the public. According to Priya Jestin on Hedge Fund Street, “on an average day, between 18 and 22 percent of all trading on the New York Stock Exchange is related to hedge funds”.

The increasing role that hedge funds are playing in the market is a source of the debate surrounding them, fearing that the” too big to fail” problem arises in the hedge fund industry as well. With low regulatory oversight, the hedge fund industry worries financial professional and small investors who do not know how to accurately assess the risks associated with hedge funds. Indeed, although hedge funds are mainly operating like mutual funds, the managers do not. Low regulation and oversight, even from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allow them to not make public information on their investment strategies or profits and losses.

Another controversy is the market capacity. Alpha has become rarer and that is mainly because of the volumes traded that reduced market irregularity. Hedge funds rely much on volumes to achieve profits and their reduced performance lead the managers to increasingly rely on the remuneration model. Since 1998, systemic risk became a major part of the debate. The Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) disaster showed the huge amount of risk that hedge funds can use to achieve the required return. The latter increases systemic risk and can negatively affect the real economy too.

Fortunately, LTCM was bailed out and the series of falling dominos was aborted. Although the bailed out happened, the LTCM episode shook the industry and opened the curtain on some of the problems in the hedge funds industry, demystifying the high return, low risk legend. Clearly, the hedge fund is a complex industry, misunderstood by some, feared or revered by others. This paper will first explain in detail the hedge fund industry and its specificities. Second, it will cover the hedge fund LTCM and how it collapsed.

Finally, the major impacts on the hedge fund industry brought by the LTCM disaster will be covered. I. The Hedge Fund Industry A) Organizational structure and legal environment of a hedge fund A hedge fund is an alternative investment vehicle trading in securities and other financial instruments. For example, a hedge fund can invest in options, convertible debt, exchange traded futures, forwards, swaps, stocks, fixed income securities, foreign currencies and so on. Hedge funds are privately organized and usually administered by professional investment managers.

Because of the nature of the investors hedge funds are looking for, and at the same time limited too, they are not open to the public like mutual funds are. Indeed, the “typical” hedge fund investor would be either a wealthy individual or an institutional investor. It is common to find hedge fund managers who would invest a part of their own money; with the purpose of “keeping skin in the game”, to show to their investors that they are doing their job seriously by having a stake in the fund too. Hedge funds are different from other financial organizations.

Most hedge funds are organized as Limited Liability Companies (LLC) so that the money invested belongs to the partners of the company. Clearly, as mentioned earlier, the purpose is to limit the nature of the investors to sophisticated ones who will understand the risks associated with investing in such investment vehicles. As a result, unlike mutual funds, hedge funds are allowed to use leverage as they see fit, to use short selling, and to enter positions that would be considered as risky if taken by an institutional fund manager.

Another common feature of hedge funds is their redemption policy. Indeed, investors have some restriction to follow when it comes to withdrawing their funds from a hedge fund. Usually, redemptions are quarterly or even yearly with a notice period. In doing this, hedge fund managers can vary their strategies by investing in illiquid assets since they can hold onto their investors’ money for a longer and predictable period. Last but not least, the fee structure of hedge funds is quite unique. The fees are much higher than regular institutional fund managers.

The administrative fee usually range from 1 % to 2% of the assets under management (AUM) and the incentive fee, the large one, ranges from 15% to 20% of net new profits. The latter fee is subject to a condition. The “high watermark” provision requires a hedge fund managers to make up for incurred losses, if any, before receiving any incentives; which would happen only after the returns are back to the previous levels. B) Trading practices Nowadays, hedge funds have developed the trading practices to a level never imagined before.

Indeed, in order to keep investors interested in using the alternative investment world as a better strategy to achieve profits, hedge fund managers keep finding new innovative ways to achieve alpha. Investment strategies and styles are very diverse and adapted to the different risk profiles of investors; some of which are quantitative while others are more qualitative in their approach. For instance, global macroeconomic funds take positions based on their forecasts of global macroeconomic events while event-driven funds do based on time specific events such as bankruptcies or mergers.

Hedge funds are also diverse in the type of financial instruments they use. They used a wide array of instruments to hedge their portfolios or to exploit market inefficiencies. They are very active in their use of derivatives and, unlike mutual funds, have the right, and largely use it, to enter short positions. Despite their difference in investment styles and strategies, hedge funds do have common features. They are similar in their use of mark-to-market discipline, leverage, and active trading. a) Mark-to-market

Even if hedge funds are subject to less regulatory requirements, they are still counterparties to others. As such, hedge funds need to periodically value their positions at current market prices. They have to do so because of internal risk management and also for counterparties’ valuation of trading risks and collateral. This practice is useful in avoiding the cover-up of losses and encouraging problems’ resolution. Furthermore, mark-to-market is used for managing margin’s variation to decrease credit risk which can lead to liquidity restrictions or even dry up.

The latter can be, as proven later, a severe event for a highly leveraged firm, especially in extreme price volatility environment. b) Leverage Leverage is one of the most common and used tool in the hedge fund world. It allows the funds to magnify their returns by extending their positions and hence their risks. In accounting terms, leverage can be defined as being the ratio of assets to net worth. But it can also be explained in terms of risk as being a measure of risk relative to capital.

The choice of investment is highly influenced by the leverage’s availability; and it the alternative investment world, the higher the leverage is, the higher the risk and return are. As mentioned, hedge funds are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as other regular trading institutions. Consequently, hedge funds are not required to respect regulatory capital requirements that would constrain their leverage level. The only limits they have are the willingness of their counterparties and creditors in providing leverage.

In addition, they have various ways of obtaining leverage; through the use of repurchase agreements, short positions, and derivative contracts. As mentioned earlier, the use of leverage can be dangerous for hedge funds. Indeed, even if other institutions such as trading desks of banks might use similar investment strategies; they or their parent company have the liquidity safety net needed to survive through a liquidity shock. The latter not being the case for hedge funds that use excessive leverage with no capital requirement that would decrease the riskiness of their positions.

For instance, according to September 1998 CPO filings, “at least ten hedge funds with capital exceeding $100 million leveraged their capital more than ten times. At the extreme, the most leveraged hedge funds in this group levered their capital more than thirty times”. c) Active trading The very nature of hedge funds and their activities make them trade in high volumes with a high frequency; that is active trading. It is done this way to insure a desired risk and return ratio as the market prices change.

C) Growth of the industry The hedge fund industry has known a tremendous growth attributable to its attractive performance and also to the demographics of the potential investors. According to the Journal of Economic Perspectives, 80 percent of hedge funds investors are high net worth individuals and their numbers have grown, and still growing, rapidly. Those sophisticated investors expect not only double digit returns but also a low correlation with the market. There are possible explanations for hedge funds high returns.

Hedge funds managers possess better skills in stock picking, and they are better motivated by the incentive fee they get after making profits. Also, they take advantage of the price inefficiencies, especially in foreign markets. Markets in those countries are in a primary state, so price inefficiencies are captured by those skilled hedge funds managers. Finally, with high returns come high risks; hence explaining the unusually high incentive fees that hedge fund managers get. This risk consideration becomes greatly relevant when considering a common measure for risk called the “Jensen alpha”.

It is the amount by which the average return on the asset exceeds what would be predicted by the capital asset pricing model. According to Edward and Liew (1999), 40 percent of hedge fund had positive alphas. In sum, hedge funds have become an attractive investment approach for many investors. Unfortunately, the year 1998 was a wakeup call for those who thought that high return with low risk was now possible. Long Term Capital Management (LTCM), a giant hedge fund, in size and reputation in the industry, collapsed. But who was LTCM? And what did really happen? II.

Long Term Capital Management A) Background LTCM, formed in February 1994, started with an initial capital stake of $1. 3 billion. Although LTCM was a Delaware limited partnership, the fund it was operating (Long-Term Capital portfolio, L. P) was a Cayman Island Partnership. LTCM’s principals were individual with a solid reputation in the financial industry and especially in economic theory. Thanks to that and to its large capital stake, LTCM had a considerable position in the hedge fund world. It had net of fees returns of 40 percent in 1995-1996 and around 20 percent in 1997.

By late 1997, LTCM’s principals decided to return $2. 7 billion to their investors, claiming that the investment opportunities were scarce. The hedge fund was following a market neutral strategy. It was holding long positions in undervalued bonds and short positions in overvalued positions. LTCM’s bread and butter business was based under the assumption that the yield spread between high and low risk bonds was going to narrow. Nevertheless, the Fund was active in many other markets, such as OTC derivatives or Exchange Traded Futures (ETFs).

According to the Report of The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets: The LTCM Fund took part in diverse fixed income markets, such as corporate bonds and emerging bond markets. Also, it held long and short positions in these markets, and maintained those positions with repurchase agreements (repo) and reverse repo and securities lending agreements with a large number of counterparties. Among other positions, the LTCM fund invested heavily in futures on multiple international exchanges; two areas were targeted: interest rate futures and equity index futures.

OTC derivatives transactions were also conducted and included swap, forward, and option contracts, and were predominantly focused on interest rates and equity markets. In addition, LTCM participated in the foreign exchange markets to support its trading activities in other national markets. Even though the hedge fund held open foreign exchange positions, it was not engaged in those markets to profit from foreign exchange variations. B) What happened? In following its strategies in diverse manners, like replicating them with derivatives contract, LTCM used an increasing amount of leverage.

Indeed, in 1998, with $5 billion in equity and $125 billion borrowed, the leverage ratio of the hedge fund was 20 to 1, unusually high even by the standards of the hedge fund industry. By 1998, the Asian collapse became more serious and many banks started unloading their illiquid positions by fear of what would happen in the markets. At that time, LTCM’s derivatives positions amounted to $1 trillion. With the leverage ratio used, either LTCM wins the lottery or it loses everything. In August 1998, Russia defaulted on its sovereign bonds. The markets got scared and there was a flight to quality.

Consequently, yield spreads rose by 17. 05 percentage points above Treasury rates. This matter of fact was the exact opposite of LTCM’s bet. The hedge fund lost $4 billion and its equity dropped to $600 million. With a liquidity crisis on hand and margin calls to make, LTCM was going to be forced to put assets on a fire sale which directly could lead to a fatal decrease of securities prices in the whole market. This situation could have been a disaster because of the high systemic risk associated to it. The Federal Reserve (Fed) was contacted by LTCM in early September 1998.

The Fed arranged meetings with executives from the top investment banks to arrange the purchase by those banks of 90% of equity stake in LTCM. III. The hedge fund industry after LTCM The hedge fund industry was shaken by the LTCM collapse. Policy issues were raised after 1998. Did the LTCM collapse point out the industry’s weaknesses? Was it a proof of need for more regulation? A) Government regulation in market discipline of risk taking In a market based economy, government oversight and regulation is maintained to a minimum and risk taking is left to the markets counterparties.

Indeed, creditors are in fact responsible for assessing through due diligence the creditworthiness of its counterparties and allow them to take on more risk through amplified leverage. Any financial counterparty, such as a hedge fund, will think twice about increasing leverage if the cost of fund rises. As such, the constraint on leverage imposed by creditors through credit terms can be a powerful weapon in mitigating risk by reducing leverage. In trading relationships, due diligence of creditors is essential. Unfortunately, in the LTCM case, none of its creditors played its role well.

Truly, such market discipline, controlled by creditors, has to be based on some kind of incentive; but when high profits are mirrored, creditors turn a blind eye. When such incentives do not exist, or if hedge funds are able to obtain financing from unsophisticated investors, accurate risk exposure to any counterparty is not well assessed and the effects on the economy can be disastrous. Hence, it is advised that market discipline of risk taking and government regulation should be tightly related. In other words, it becomes necessary to have, as the economist Keynes said, an “invisible hand”.

Government regulation becomes necessary if market failures leading to impacts on the real economy are foreseen. Nonetheless, in a market based economy like the U. S. ’s, regulation should be clear to avoid any loopholes, which are always taken advantage off. B) Correlation of the economy relative to the financial markets In 1998, Alan Greenspan testified before Congress arguing that the LTCM bailout helped avoiding a “systemic meltdown in the global financial system”. The Federal Reserve believed that financial markets were in a weak tate and that any shock would end up in a disaster; hence inaction was not an option. The Russia default was a trigger and the investor community inexplicably asked for high premia for all emerging markets related securities, even if they were not related to Russia, even by far. The involvement of LTCM and hedge funds as a whole in derivatives contracts is a major concern. Indeed, there are clauses in those contracts allowing one party to terminate the contract and liquidate the position in case the other party is defaulting.

This matter of fact is problematic when dealing with an off balance sheet and none regulated market. The counterparty risk is unclear, and in the event that the previously mentioned clause is used, a series of dominos can start to fall and affect diverse banks, creditors, financial institutions, and lead to a full scale blow to the markets. In this case, clearly a bailout was a timely and needed solution. The problem with that is that the issue of moral hazard is raised. Is it an extension of the safety net offered by the Fed to certain banks? How is the financial market going to react?

Is everyone going to think that a bailout will occur anyways and start taking unconsidered risks? The answer is probably not. The lender-of-last-resort imposes high cost of borrowing on banks that have taken uncalculated risks and that creates incentives for banks to try to make markets less fragile through better due diligence and risk assessment of counterparties. Unfortunately, with LTCM’s success and unexpected high returns, banks started copying the hedge fund’s strategy which created an unprecedented correlation of the banking industry with the hedge industry and global markets.

Clearly, oversight should be put on those practices that increase systemic risk. IV. Conclusion The hedge fund industry is indeed a controverted and subject to much debate industry. Whether it is about more disclosure, regulation, reducing leverage or indignation about hedge fund managers’ fees; the industry is surrounded by much “heat”. The public debate should actually be directed toward more pressing concerns such as how to avoid in the future systemic risk, exposing the entire economy.

The LTCM disaster exposed how financial markets were tied to the economy and how much banks are tightly entangled with the health of the big hedge funds. Risk management was weak and the financial system underestimated the usefulness of that discipline, putting at risk global financial markets. Much has been proposed as reforms and solutions to the problems exposed by the LTCM collapse. Some asked for the release of useful and reliable information on hedge funds including disclosure of financial institutions of their exposure to highly leveraged companies.

Also, even though not mandatory, capital requirement levels should be encouraged in an effort to avoid a catastrophe. Nowadays, with hindsight, after the financial crisis of 2008, the hedge fund industry has tried to regulate itself by being more careful in the investment strategies used and the leverage level tolerated. But because of the relative size of that industry and the sophistication of the investors nothing has really changed in terms of regulating the hedge fund industry. References Barboza, David and Jeff (1998) “On Regulating Derivatives” New-York Times December 15, p.

C1 The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets, (April 1999), “Hedge Funds, Leverage, and the Lessons of Long-Term Capital Management” Edwards, Franklin R. , (Spring 1999) “Hedge funds and the Collapse of Long Term Capital Management”, Journal of Economic Perspectives Born B. , Interview with FRONTLINE, (August 2009) “Where’s The Heat On Hedge Funds” (June 2006 ) http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/06_25/b3989062. htm Needham, A. W. and Brause C. , “Tax Management Portfolio”, Hedge Funds, No. 73

Case Study to Dell Leadership Style

Michael Dell, a gifted entrepreneur at the age of 13 began a quest to make money through stamp collecting and trading then expanded to a national catalog business that earned him close to $2000 per month. Not knowing at that time that by 1984 he would be starting his own company with as little as $1000 in startup capital and would go on to grow his own business with a gross profit of $11,671 million as of February 2008.

In 1984 Michael Dell founded his company on a simple concept of selling computer systems directly to the customers, he felt that he could best understand the needs and provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs. He registered first started his business under the name of PC’s Unlimited, a company first in the industry to sell custom-built computers directly to the customers. With Dell’s first computer system of its own design in 1985 and by offering risk-free returns and next-day, at home product assistance, Dell was ableMichael Dell has done in as the company CEO and, more recently as Chairman?

What grade would you give him for his leadership of the company over the past 20 years? Has he done a good job performing the five strategy-making/strategy-executing tasks described in chapter 2? I was impressed with what Michael Dell has done for the company. Dells first company, PC’s Ltd. had a strategy of selling PC computers which mimicked IBM, except for a few minor components, were being sold to price conscientious consumers, about 40 percent below the price of the best selling IBM.

By selling the computers below market price, and generate rapid revenue growth for Dell. Michael Dell put tremendous effort into his company, working 18 hour days, and employing more than 40 people. I found it astonishing that at the end of that year, sales had reached 33 million. He later renamed the company in 1987, Dell, Inc. while seeking to refine the company’s business model, and production compactly, while focusing on…

Balance Sheet and Fair Value

Financial Accounting Easy: 1. Which of the following is usually considered cash? a. Certificate of deposit b. Checking account c. Money market saving certificate d. Postulated Check 2. In preparing the August 31, 2011 bank reconciliation, Apex Company provided the ff. information Balance per bank statement 1,805,000 Deposit in transit 325,000 Return of customer’s check for 60,000 Insufficient fund Outstanding checks 275,000 Bank service change for August 10,000 On Aug 31, 2011, what is the adjusted cash in bank? a. 1, 855, 000 b. 1, 795, 000 c. 1, 785, 000 d. 1, 755, 000 . Credit balances in Accounts Receivable shall be classified as a. Current Liabilities b. Part of Accounts Payable c. Long-term Liabilities d. Reduction from accounts 4. Which of the following is not an acceptable lasts for valuation of inventory? a. Historical Cost b. Current replacement cost c. Prime cost d. Current selling price less cost of disposal 5. Capetown Company began operation on Jan. 1, 2011 Capetown has found that its estimated bad debt expense has been consistently higher than actual bad debts. Management proposes lowering the percentage from 3% of credit sales to 2% .

Credit Sales for 2011 totaled P5,000,000, and accounts written off as uncollectible during 2011 totaled P550,000. What is the bad debt expense for 2011? a. 150,000 b. 100,000 c. 550,000 d. 240,000 6. Where there is a production cycle of more than one for a biological asset, PAS 41 encourages separate disclosure of a. Physical change only b. Price change only c. Total change in value d. Physical change and price change 7. Financial accounting is the area of accounting that emphasizes reporting to a. Management b. Regulatory bodies c. Internal auditors d. Creditors and investors 8.

An investor purchased a bond as a long term investment on January 1. Annual interest was received in December 31. The investor interest income for the year would be higher if the bond was purchased at a. Par b. Face value c. A discount d. A premium 9. Donated equipment for which for fair value has been determined shall be recorded as a debit to the equipment account and a credit to a. Other comprehensive income b. Retained earnings c. Share Capital d. Income 10. Depreciation is best described as a method of a. Asset valuation b. Current value allocation c. Cost allocation d. Useful life determination Average 1.

The following information is available for Tonette Company for the current year: Net Sales3,600,000 Freight in90,000 Purchases discounts 50,000 Ending inventory240,000 The gross margin is 40% of sales. What is the cost of goods available for sale? a. 1 680 000 b. 1 920 000 c. 2 400 000 d. 2 440 000 2. Raiza Company acquired a financial asset at its market value of P3 200 000. Broker fees of P 209 000 were incurred in relation to the purchase. At what amount should the financial asset initially be recognized respectively if it is classified as at fair value through profit or loss or as a available for sale? a. 3,400,000 and 3,200,000 b. ,200,000 and 3,200,000 c. 3,200,000 and 3,400,000 d. 3,400,000 and 3,400,000 3. On August 1, 2011, Bameo Company purchased a new machine on a defereed payment basis. A down payment of P100,000 was made and 4 monthly installments of P250,000 each are to be made beginning on September 1,2011. The cash equivalent price of the machine was P950,000 . Bameo incurred and paid installation costs amounting to P30,000. What is the amount to be capitalized as cost of the machine? a. 950,000 b. 980,000 c. 1,100,000 d. 1,130,000 4. Jazz Company purchased land with a current market value of P2,400,000. The carrying amount of the land was P1,305,000.

In exchange for the land, Jazz issued 20,000 ordinary shares with par value of P100 and market value of P140 per share. The shares are traded in an established stock exchange . What amount should Jazz record as cost of the land? a. 1,305,000 b. 2,000,000 c. 2,400,000 d. 2,800,000 5. On January 1,2011 Lem Company bought machinery under a contact that required a down payment of P100,000 plus 24 monthly payments of P50,000 each for total cash payments of P1,500,000. The cash price of the machinery was P1,100,000. The machinery has a useful life of 10 years and residual value of P50,000. Lem was straight line depreciation.

What amount should Lem report as depreciation for 2011? a. 105,000 b. 110,000 c. 125,000 d. 130,000 6. Zola Company had the following long term debt: Bonds maturing in installments, secured by machinery1,000,000 Bonds maturing on a single date, secured by reality1,800,000 Collateral trust bonds8,000,000 What is the total amount of debenture bonds? a. 2,000,000 b. 1,000,000 c. 1,800,000 d. 0 7. If the fair value less cost to sell cannot be determined a. The asset is not impaired b. The recoverable amount is the value in use. c. The net realizable value is used. d. The carrying value of the asset remains the same. . Mill Company sells washing machines that carry a three year warranty against manufactures defect. Based on the entity’s experience, warranty costs are estimated at P300 per machine. During the current year, Mill company sold 2,400 washing machines and paid warranty costs of P170,000. In its income statement for the current year, what amount should mill company report as warranty expense? a. 170,000 b. 240,000 c. 550,000 d. 720,000 9. A brand name that was acquired separately shall initially be recognize at a. Recoverable amount b. Either cost or four value at the choice of the acquirer c. Fair value d. Cost 10.

It is an arrangement whereby one party sells a property to another party and then immediately leases the property back from its new owner a. Sale b. Lease back c. Sale and leaseback d. Operating lease Difficult 1. Tobin Company incurred P1,600,000 of research and development costs to develop a product of which a was granted on January 1,2011. Legal fees and other costs associated with registration of the of patent totaled P300,000. On March 31,2011 ,Tobin paid P450,000 for legal fees in a successful defense of the patent. What is the total amount that should be capitalized for the patent through March 31,2011? . 750,000 b. 300,000 c. 2,050,000 d. 2,350,000 2. Which statement is correct if there is inability to determine the fair value of an investment property reliably? I. PAS 40 mandates that the entity shall measure such disposal of the investment property. II. The residual value of such investment property shall be assumed zero under such exceptional circumstance a. I only b. II only c. Both I and II d. Neither I nor II 3. The cash account in the current assets section of the statement of financial position of Tawiran Company consisted of the following Bond sinking fund1,500,000 Checking account in FEBTC3,150,000 P320,000 check is still outstanding per bank statement) Currency and coins awaiting deposit 1,135,000 Deposit in a bank closed by BSP 500,000 Petty cash fund (of which 10,000 is in the form of paid vouchers) Receivables from officers and employers50,000 175,000 6,515,000 What is the amount of cash to be reported under current assets? a. 4,444,000 b. 4,330,000 c. 4,830,000 d. 5,830,000 4. A 90-day 15% interest-bearing note receivable is sold to a bank with recourse after being held for 30 days. The proceeds are calculated using a 12% interest rate. The note receivable has been I. Discounted II. Pledged a. I only b.

II only c. Both I and II d. Neither I nor II 5. The following information applied to Fenn Company for the current year: Merchandise purchased for resale 4,000,000 Freight in100,000 Freight out50,000 Interest in inventory loan200,000 What is the inventoriable cost of the purchase? a. 4,280,000 b. 4,030,000 c. 4,080,000 d. 4,130,000 6. Which statement is true about financial instrument? I. Transaction costs of issuring equality instruments are charged against income. II. The components of a compound financial instrument are classified separately in accordance with their substances. a. I only b. II only c. Both I and II d.

Neither I nor II 7. Which type of expenditure is included in the term “exploration and evaluation” of mineral resources. I. The extraction and processing of mineral resources for transport to market. II. The commercial review of possible areas for mineral extraction before bidding for the legal rights to explore a specific area. a. I only b. II only c. Either I or II d. Neither I nor II 8. On July 1,2011 Bellirose Company purchased P1,000,000 face value 8% bonds for P910,000 plus accrued interest to yield 10% the bonds mature on January 1,2018, pay interest annually on Januaty 1, and are classified as trading securities.

On December 31, 2011 the bonds had a market value of P945,000. On February 13, 2011 Bellirose Company sold the bonds for P920,000. On December 31,2011 what amounts should be reported for short-term investments in trading debt securities? a. 910,000 b. 920,000 c. 945,000 d. 950,000 9. Which of the following would not be included in the cost of work in process inventory? a. Cost of electricity to operate factory equipment b. Maintenance cost of factory equipment c. Depreciation on office equipment in the sales manager’s office. . Depreciation of factory equipment 10. Joan Company provided the following data: Value of biological asset at acquisition 600,000 Cost on December 31,2011 Four valuation surplus on initial700,000 recognition at fair value on Dec 31,2011 Change in fair value to December 31, 2012 due to growth 100,000 And price fluctuation Decrease in fair value due to harvest90,000 What is the carrying amount of the biological asset on December 31, 2012? a. 1,400,000 b. 1,310,000 c. 1,300,000 d. 1,490,000

Life in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s

Main household Appliances: The appliances found in houses between 20-50 years ago were a primitive version of what we have today. For example; T. V’s when they first came out were huge, chunky and were only in black and white. There were vinyl records that were large and required a record player to play. I think technology has stayed within the same concept, but has gotten smaller, smarter and more efficient. Size of houses: It was not uncommon to have extremely large families in only one bedroom or two for the wealthier families.

To have four children was considered a small family, whilst in modern times that many children would be considered a large family. Family activities/traditions: The communities and way people were treated were very different in the past couple of generations. For instance, women were often payed less if they could even get a job, and as soon as they got married they were fired because they knew they would have to be off all the time to care for their children. They believed a woman’s purpose was just to stay home, look after children, cook and clean.

Families were a lot closer and children had more freedom and independence mostly because crime was a lot less common so children could walk the streets and visit neighbour’s kids all day without fear. Methods of Travel: There was a lot of public transport such as buses and trains. Only wealthier families could afford a car, as compared with today as almost every family has at least one car. Public Facilities: Sport was as common a thing then as it is now. Public facilities were gyms, swimming pools, sporting facilities such as basketball courts, and footy ovals, as well as having parks and fairs.

We have much the same things today. But when it comes to roads and lighting, we have a lot more freeways and highways. I know from my grandparents who have lived in the same house since they were 20 that where huge areas of bushland were 50 years ago there are now highways and houses. The roads are also very well lit as compared to back then. Types of Entertainment: T. V’s were in their primitive stages but were still available for wealthy or middle-class citizens. Radio shows were common and people would go to watch the cricket or footy often.

Today we have too much entertainment, in my opinion. In the children of today’s world, small children often have phones, iPods, computers and gaming consoles. When even in my generation’s early childhood those things hardly existed. I believe that this form of entertainment for young children ruins their childhood. They miss out on the fun of using their imagination to create games and activities for themselves. They are also exposed to the negative things that the media pushes today at a young age.

While the entertainment and technology can be a good thing, as it is easier to find information and such, it causes more complication as people often can’t go a day without checking facebook for example. Religion: From what I’ve learnt, almost every family went to church and religion often competed with each other. Catholicism and Protestants hated each other and were not allowed to marry. But religion or at least church was a common and normal thing for those times. Health Standards: People were often a lot fitter those days as there wasn’t as much vehicles and T.

V and jobs often required more physical activity. Though hygiene was poor; you were lucky to get a bath once a week and would only wash your face or knees each day. There weren’t the same kind of toilets back then either. There were outhouses or ‘thunderboxes’ that you seldom accessed at night. Instead, if you need to go in the middle of the night you would ‘go’ in a bucket that you left under you bed until morning. Anyone would agree that this is disgusting and unhygienic but that is all they had back then. Smoking was also a common and accepted habit.

People would say that it would kill you, but since it was a slow process, they didn’t listen to them. Teens would also smoke as well. It’s only been recognised as dangerous and prohibited in public in the last decade or so. Education and Punishment: Schools often hit children if they misbehaved or didn’t do their homework. While if you did that today, you would probably end up fired and in jail. It was one method of disciplining children, but teachers shouldn’t have been able to smack kids especially with sticks and rulers on their backsides.

Also, children with special needs were not recognised and seen to be naughty or plain stupid. Therefore, the schooling standards have greatly increased in the past few decades. Crime: Crime was seldom 20-50 years ago. It was almost perfectly safe for children to play on the streets all day without fear of being kidnapped. If there was violence it was often related to drunken scuffles, and drugs were either not as common or more hidden then they are today. Medicine: There was a fair bit of Polio and TB in the past few decades. There wasn’t many medical treatments as there are today.

Now, you can get vaccinated against things such as hepatitis, tetnis, chicken pox, measles etc. And there are many more and better ways to treat diseases and illnesses. Morals: As I mentioned previously, most families went to church. The main religions were Catholism and Protestants. They kept away from each other and were not allowed to get married. Also, you often got married at a younger age like 16-18. If you hadn’t found someone by your early twenties it was unusual. My guess is that there was hardly any pre-marital sex or related things.

Most families had a religious background and frowned upon things such as homosexuality, whilst today if you disagree with that you are labelled a homophobe. After talking about the above topics, I can now answer these questions: •Were the Olden days better? In some ways, yes, they were. For one, crime and violence was seldom and uncommon. Children appeared to have more fun using their imagination and times were simpler and more family-orientated. Though, hygiene was poor and women had little rights. If we could find a balance between now and then, I think life would be perfect. •Is it better to have less?

Less is more, as my father says. If you let your life become consumed with T. V and games, what do you have to live for? It is nice to have the luxuries of today and I’m not complaining. But often I wish we could go back to the basics. Then you have more time to spend with actual people other than T. V and computer screens. •Did people co-operate better? Well, yes and no. Women couldn’t work if they were married (unless they had no children) and teachers seemed to enjoy hitting children but in the means of neighbourhood communities, people seemed to get along better and were more friendly.

Today, or at least in the city, people keep away with each other and don’t get involved with other people’s lives unless they’re close friends or family. •Was life more enjoyable then? For some yes, but if you were poor, no. I would have loved to have a childhood where I could go out with friends all day without a worry and not constantly fight with siblings at home. The technology we have today is a form of escapism and often becomes an alternate reality. Video games provide another world to escape into and you often get caught up in reality T.

V shows and almost forget it’s not real. We have too much today that makes us become anti-social. But I can’t find a definite yes or no answer for this question. •Is quality better than quantity? I definitely believe quality it better than quantity. At the end of my life I would like to look back and think “wow I really had a wonderful, happy life and helped a lot of people” other than “look at my bed and clothes made of money and my 36 cars in my hugely massive garage”. Which Era Do You believe was Better?

This is a difficult question for me to answer. A few decades ago, life was hard but often simple and enjoyable. Today, life is complicated and full of stress but we have the comforts of T. V, music and games to escape into. I think maybe 10-20 years ago would be a better era. There was still primitive versions of the stuff we have today, like huge desktop computers, brick sized mobile phones. 8-bit games, walkmen etc but it was safer and simpler and women had rights to work etc.

I just think that life today is too complicated and electronic. I see 6 and 7 year olds with phones and iPods and talking about sex when I didn’t even know those things existed until I was 12. Also, things such as pollution and climate change weren’t as prominent as they are today. Today we still have people in developing countries dying of poverty, starvation and disease. With all this technology, couldn’t we have focused on helping these innocent people born into poverty?

The production of goods and services keeps business and the economy alive, but doesn’t help issues such as these as much as it could. With the way were are heading now, I can imagine in 50-200 years people not even talking to each other and being transported around in little vehicles staring at a screen all day. We need to work on progressing as humans, not robots… So I’m going to say that the previous generations were better. Yes, it was harder and not as luxurious but people had actual friendships and were closer with their families. I wish life was a lot simpler.

Plot Twist

A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation. Some “twists” are foreshadowed and can thus be predicted by many viewers/readers, whereas others are a complete shock. When a plot twist happens near the end of a story, especially if it changes one’s view of the preceding events, it is known as a twist ending.

Revealing the existence of a plot twist often spoils a movie, since the majority of the movie generally builds up to the plot twist. A device used to undermine the expectations of the audience is the false protagonist. It involves presenting a character at the start of the film as the main character, but then disposing of this character, usually killing them. It is a red herring. Example of a plot twist

An early example of the murder mystery genre[1] with multiple twists[2] was the Arabian Nights tale “The Three Apples”. It begins with a fisherman discovering a locked chest. The first twist occurs when the chest is broken open and the dead body is found inside. The initial search for the murderer fails, and a twist occurs when two men appear, separately claiming to be the murderer. A complex chain of events finally reveal the murderer to be the investigator’s own slave.

A flashing arrow is a metaphorical audiovisual cue used in films to bring some object or situation that will be referred later, or otherwise used in the advancement of plot, to the attention of the viewers. The device is not introduced into the plot or the dialogue, but is something peripheral; however made obvious (hence the name) by a particular camera shot or background music. An example of this device is a camera close-up in a horror movie that suggests information like danger from an unlocked door.

A literal flashing arrow was used in the 1981 film Student Bodies to mock this cliched use. [1] The use of flashing arrows and that particular joke were both mentioned in Everything Bad is Good for You, where the authors says works that have little use of this and require figuring things out yourself have a more deductive viewer base. Another example of a literal flashing arrow can be seen in the Ouran High School Host Club. This device is used several times throughout the anime—for instance in the first episode, a flashing arrow and high-pitched beeping oise indicate a vase that a character breaks later on in that scene. Red herring is an idiomatic expression referring to the rhetorical or literary tactic of diverting attention away from an item of significance. [1] For example, in mystery fiction, where the identity of a criminal is being sought, an innocent party may be purposefully cast in a guilty light by the author through the employment of deceptive clues, false emphasis, ‘loaded’ words or other descriptive tricks of the trade.

The reader’s suspicions are thus misdirected, allowing the true culprit to go (temporarily at least) undetected. A false protagonist is another example of a red herring. In the comic book fan community, the apparent death and subsequent return of a long-running character is often called a comic book death. While death is a serious subject, a comic book death is generally not taken seriously and is rarely permanent or meaningful. At least three comic book deaths are well known.

The first two are the 1980 “death” of Jean Grey in Marvel’s Dark Phoenix Saga and that ofSuperman in DC’s highly-publicized 1993 Death of Superman storyline. There is one major distinction between the two, however – whereas it was never intended that Superman’s death be permanent, and that he would return to life at the conclusion of the story,[3] Jean’s passing (one of many temporary deaths among the X-Men) was written as the true and permanent death of the character,[citation needed] only to beretconned a few years later to facilitate her return.

In more recent history, the death of Captain America made real-world headlines in early 2007[4] when he met his apparent end, but Steve Rogers returned in Captain America: Reborn in late 2009. Usually more subtle, foreshadowing works on the symbolic level. For example, if a character must break up a schoolyard fight among some boys, it might symbolically foreshadow the family squabbles that will become the central conflict of the story.

Other times, it is seemingly inconsequential, with the goal of having the audience be surprised by the story’s climax and yet find it justified. If a character learns that a certain man was a regular at the diner where her mother worked many years before, it helps to justify the events later in which she learns that the man is her biological father. If foreshadowing is not done carefully, the common experiences of life can make the foreshadowing too obvious and allow the audience to predict the outcome of the story.

Example: a character behaves in an odd and erratic fashion and complains continuously of a headache, then later is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Foreshadowing can also be used dishonestly in a mystery, where a series of events which points to a conclusion is later found to be composed of unlikely coincidences which have been “dishonestly” added to the story by the author in an artificial way, with the sole purpose of drawing the audience into an incorrect expectation. In such cases, the audience feels manipulated, and the story may be less satisfying.

The Effect of Online Games to the Academic Performance of First Year Students of Smcl in Year 2010-2011 (Completed from Chap. 1 to 3)

CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1. 1 Introduction As time passes by, technology continues to evolve. Because of technology, new things were created that sustains and lightens human work. Computers were created because of technology. Computers were the greatest things ever invented by man itself. In the modern age, computers have become a part of man’s life. Computers with the aid of modern machines made almost all the things around us. From the edited books, computers made all design, special effects in movies, and televisions etc.

Along with the evolution of technology, computers continue to upgrade as well until the time that computer has now become a part of man’s everyday life that are hooked to computers. Computers can now edit documents to your PC, play mini games, search information you need using the internet, save documents to your PC and play online games. It’s like an all-in-one gadget that can do all the things you want anytime you need it. Based on the facts on Wikipedia, from 1990 to the present year, online games had a big impact to us especially teenagers.

Online games have many genres, including FPS games, MMORPG, Casual games and multiplayer games. A game will become an online game if it involves in using a computer or a series of computers with one player in each computer to battle it out with other players using the Internet depending on the game genre. According to Wikipedia, an online game is a game played over some form of computer network. Online games can range from simple text based games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. Many online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity.

Beyond single player games. That’s why online games are addictive to teenagers. This research focuses on how online gaming affects the academic performance of first year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011. In here, we will know the effects of online gaming to first year students of SMCL to their studies. 1. 2 Problem/Purpose The problem is to study on how online gaming affects the academic performance of first year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011’ This research aims to study if online gaming does a positive or negative effect on first year students.

The purpose of the research is to get responses from first year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011 to get proofs and ideas on how online gaming affects their academic performance, whether it is positive or negative. 1. 3 Conceptual Framework This research’s framework covers about the effects of online gaming to first year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011 in their academic performance. By getting responses to first year students, data is gathered. The research is illustrated using flowchart and explained using IPO method. The Input is the first step to conduct the research.

It is enclosed in an oval. The arrow next to it is called flow lines. It indicates the next step to be executed. The Process in the flowchart is enclosed in rectangular boxes. This is the step-by-step method to collect information needed for the research. The process is divided into five rectangular boxes with flow lines indicating the next step to be doned. The Output is the last step if the research. After collecting information from correspondents, data is gathered about the effect of online games to the academic performance of First year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011 and encoded to computer. . 4 Significance of the Study The study is conducted to collect information on first year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011 regarding the effects of online games in their academic performance. This study is very helpful because those who responded to the survey can help relate their thoughts and ideas to the ff: To College Students: College students that do not play online games can get tips and ideas about how online gaming affects the academic performance of students.

To Readers: Readers can get information about how online gaming affects the academic performance of first year students of SMCL in the year 2010-2011 To Teachers: Teachers will become more conscious about their students’ academic performance. 1. 5 Scope and Delimitation This study is limited only to first year students if Saint Michael’s College of Laguna. It will be only conducted inside the school/college premises. 1. 6 Definition of Terms The terms that are familiar to this research are listed below. They are sorted in alphabetical order: Academic- scholarly of learning.

Computer- a device that accepts information (in the form of digitalized data) and manipulates it for some result based on a program or sequence of instruction on how the data is to be processed. Internet- is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite. (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks. Online game- is a game played over some form of computer network. Research- systematic investigation to establish facts. Student- person who is studying esp. at a place or higher or further education.

Survey- a gathering of a sample of data or popinions considered to be representative of a whole. Technology- the Brach of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This research contains related literature that will support the facts about the study. Review of related literature is divided in 4 parts; foreign literature, local literature, foreign studies and local studies. . 1 Foreign Literature I. History of Online Gaming According to Aradhana Gupta, online games really blossomed after the year 1995 when the restrictions imparted by the NFSNET (National Science Foundation Network) were removed. This resulted in the access to the complete domain of the internet and hence multi-player games became online ‘literally’ to the maximum possible degree of realism. Today, most of the online games that are present are also free and hence they are able to provide ample resources of enjoyment without the need to spend a single penny.

According to Dachary Carey, the history of online gaming includes contributions by many different companies and entities. Online gaming began as multiplayer gaming, but has evolved to include online gaming servers and massively-multiplayer online gaming setting. 1. Multiplayer games started in 1972 with PLATO PLATO was a joint project of the UNIVERSITY of Illinois and Control Data Corporation, which enabled students to interact with other terminals for the purpose of education and computer aided learning.

In 1972, new interfaces enabled students to begin creating games, and the world of multiplayer gaming began. 2. MUD was the first network game MUD in 1978 spawned a genre of network based games, enabling players on the network to interact and explore the MUD game world. MUD games ultimately paved the road for MMORPGs, with the concept of a shared world. 3. MAD on BITNET was the first worldwide multiplayer game In 1984, MAD appeared, and it was the first game to enable worldwide connectivity.

MAD was a MUD accessible to anyone on the worldwide computer network, and it lasted for two years. 4. Maze War fueled development of server-host gaming Simultaneously to the development of MUDs and BITNET, a game called Maze War, which originated with NASA in 1973, was helping to fuel development of server-host gaming. Maze War paved the way for two computers connecting directly in a peer-to-peer connection, computers connecting to a server and games hosting on the server with local workstations. 5. Neverwinter Nights was the first graphical MMORPG

Launched to AOL customers in 1991, Neverwinter Nights was the first graphical MMORPG. It was integral to the development of future MMO games. 6. Doom paved the way as a first person shooter multiplayer game Doom made major landmarks as a first-person shooter game with multiplayer capabilities in 1993. You should connect and play with others via local network, or you could direct dial to other folks via your modem. Dom also spawned the creation of DWANGO, an independent service that matched players up online to promote multiplayer gaming. . Quake paved the way for modern multiplayer gaming Quake was similar to and followed Doom in 1996, but it was revolutionary for the development of one extremely important bit of technology: client-side prediction. Quakeworld introduced the concept of client-side prediction, which drastically reduced lag and made it possible for multiplayer to game simultaneously without significant server delays. 8. Ultima Online was the beginning of MMOs Massively multiplayer online games really took off with the release of Ultima Online.

Quakeworld refined the technology, and Ultima Online introduced game world where players could freely interact and pummel each other. Today’s online gaming owes much to these predecessors. II. Effects of Online Gaming According to Science Daily (Oct. 22, 2007), Joshua Smyth, Associate professor of psychology in The College of Arts and Sciences of Syracuse University, recently conducted a randomized trial study of college students contrasting the effects of playing online socially interconnected video games with more traditional single player or arcade-style games.

Smyth’s research found that online, socially integrated multiplayer games create greater negative consequences (decreased health, well-being, sleep, socialization and academic work) but also garner far greater positive results (greater enjoyment in playing, increased interest in continuing play and a rise in the acquisition of new friendships) than do single-player games.

Based on the facts of Searle Huh of University of Southern California and Nicholas David Bowman of Michigan State University in April 26, 2008, with the growing popularity on online video games, there have been anecdotal reports suggesting that these games are highly addictive, with some gamers spending in excess of 40 to 5 o 50 hours per week playing. Thus, research into individual characteristics that lead to excessive play is warranted.

Computer games as a leisure activity have become an ever-increasing part of many young people’s day-today lives (Griffiths &Davis; Durkin, 2006). More recently, with the rapid diffusion of broadband Internet services and high-end graphic cards for computers and console systems, online videos-games—games played over a certain online networks- have become more popular and attractive than ever before (Sherry & Bowman, in press).

In the history of online gaming, Aradhana Gupta stated that online games blossomed after the year 1995 while Dachary Carey stated that the history of online gaming includes contributions by many different companies and entities In the effects of online gaming, based on the facts of ScienceDaily in October 22, 2007, Joshua Smyth found out that online socially integrated multiplayer integrated multiplayer games create greater negative consequences but also garner far higher good results than do single player games, while Searle Huh and Nicholas David explained that online games are highly addictive.

This shows that online gaming is really addictive, especially to students. 2. 2 Local Literature According to Philippine Communications Today by Maslog C. of 1998, one social problem that has been observed is that the Internet cafe observed is that the Internet cafe has become mainly game centers. About one-half to m two-thirds of the computer in a typical Internet cafe, according to one study, are devoted to games (violent and gory games).

The use of the remaining computers was roughly split between browsing, email, online chat, word processing and research. The Internet cafes have become not just game centres. They are becoming centres of addiction among the youth, mostly boys, including elementary school pupils. According to one concerned Internet cafe entrepreneur, “Internet cafes are seducing youths to a new form of addiction, one which may not destroy their bodies as drugs do, but, which is certainly twisting their minds. To the young, play is reality and reality is play”. . 3 Foreign Studies According to Helsingin Salomat, a cross-national World Health Organization study carried out in 2002 and published in June shows that around 20% of Finnish boys between the ages of 13 a and 15 spend more than three hours a day at the computer playing online games. The figures for “heavy user” girls in the same age group are only between 2% and 3%. In terms of the large gender difference, Finland was among the most striking examples in the entire study. Based on the facts of J.

A Jacko in 2009, according to the empirical evidence, researchers found out a sense of presence, commonly defined, as “sense of being there” is an important factor for the online game users. Both studies stated that online games are really addictive to anyone who are hooked here. 2. 4 Local Studies Based on the facts of Justin Visda, Heinson Tan and Bryan Yaranon, online games are hard to resist, particularly if it’s only around our environment. Students find it happy and enjoyable and they eventually forget their tasks and problems, but it does a bad effect to them, which is called addiction.

According to them, addiction is too much playing, and it cannot be resisted because most of the youth tells that they are bored with their everyday lives, especially to their studies. That’s why online games is addictive and it gives them enjoyment. CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY According to Garcia, the methodology is the chapter 3 of research papers. From all the short research papers, the methodology is already stated at start and other additional details about the methods used are only stated in the appendix. But from one scientific research statement, the methodology is one of the most important chapter that contains methods used in researching.

According to Bernales, this chapter is divided into one of the following parts: 3. 1 Research Design The research design clearly states what kind of research is conducted on the present study. He stated that the most common and simple kind of research which is known as descriptive-analytic which is a kind of research design for data gathering and information relating to the factors of the research topic. The researcher will use a descriptive-analytic research for it involves the present time of today’s society.

The researcher chose this kind of research design because the study does not require complicated statistical explanations and it is the most commonly used research design which is very easy to handle. 3. 2 Sampling Design According to Bernales, sampling design refers to the correspondents of survey if how many are they and why they are chosen. The researcher will choose the first year students of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna in year 2010-2011, as the primary respondents. These first tear students are divided into five courses: ACT-1, BSED-1(regardless of major), BSN-1, AHRM-1, and BSBA-1.

The researcher will get 10 correspondents from each of the five courses for data gathering. The researcher chose them as correspondents for the research because most first year college students are hooked into online gaming. 3. 3 Research Instrument According to Garcia, in this part, the researcher explains the details and methods used in data gathering which is needed and used in order to solve the problems stated in the study. Its content must fit to the kind of research that issued in the study. The researcher will use survey questionnaires as an instrument for data gathering.

Correspondents that are covered by data gathering are ten students from each first year college course of Saint Michael’s College of Laguna in the year 2010-2011. the researcher will be able to gather data if the correspondents have free time to fill up the survey questionnaires. It’s not going to be easy for the researcher to gather data from correspondents because not every time the correspondents are around inside the campus. 3. 4 Statistical Treatment of Data According to Bernales, treatment of data explains what statistical plan is used in order for the numerical data is stated.

Since this is a research paper only, according to Bernales, it doesn’t need to use complex statistic treatments. It is enough to get the percentage after tallying all the answers from the questionnaire from the correspondents. After the researcher gathered all the data from the respondents, data will now be treated and process. The researcher will use a simple statistics that will be used for tallying the percentage of certain topic from the questionnaire which is written below. Count of chosen answers from the questionnaire Number of respondents

The statistics which is written above will be applied after the data is treated and processed. ———————– %= INPUT Gather information using survey questionnaire Generate survey questionnaires for thesis statement Distribute survey questionnaire to correspondents PROCESS Correspondents fill up survey questionnaires Retrieve filled-up survey questionnaires from correspondents Get related ideas and topics on survey questionnaires Information about the effect of online games of First year students of SMCL in year 2010-2011 are now gathered and encoded to PC OUTPUT

Cell Phone: Advantages and Disadvantages

dvantages and disadvantages of cell phone Has it happened to you that sometimes you go out but forgot your cell phone at home and so you’re not feeling complete. There’s a feeling somewhere inside that you’re missing something, a sense of insecurity sometimes prevails… welcome to the world of cell phone addiction! Cell phones are having a great influence in our live and are very convenient to keep with us. Cell phones are a faster and more effective way to transfer information. Indeed, it is a resource that gives its user’s great advantages.

They say, if something is of great utility (usage, etc), it will surely have its own problems as well; cell phones are no exception. In earlier times cell-phone used to be a craze, symbol of money and success but nowadays even kids find it a neccessity of life. I would want to list some quick good and bad things about a typical cell phone. The list is not typical to any phone, just a generalization. Advantages : • The more you talk, the more you know how to talk and the better your communication skills become.

This is applicable if you’re a sensible person and keep note of your interacting habits over the phone. It can be a communication tutorial! • Nothing more than a cell phone comes to great help in emergency. You are driving by the freeway and the vehicle jams and cell phone comes to your rescue. You are stuck in a lone place, again call somebody and ask for directions. • Parents can be a little less worried about their kids by being in constant touch with them. • If you’re a net-savvy, you can have Internet handy all the time and anywhere the signal of your cell phone provider can reach. Trendy and stylish cell phones can be used as a bait to receive attention. It can be part of fashion and styling. • From the industy and economy point of view, cell phone companies (communication industry) is florishing with market capital in billions. This is a good thing for the economy to be smooth and healthy. • Companies find it yet another medium to advertise their products; so another medium to reach the consumers. • Nowadays, cell phones are not just phone calls; they’re about messaging, vidoe, songs, games, alarm clock, notes, calendar, reminder, etc.

So one equipment, lots’ of uses! • Although cell phone use can be dangerous while driving but sometimes it can be a time-saver – you are driving and simultanesouly discussing some urgent matter as well. A sensible and only urgent usage during driving can be a great help at times. Dis-advantages : • Some people (especially teens) get so much addicted to cell phones for talking, video, messaging, games, etc that they forget the real purpose of the phone and waste large part of their time in unnecessary interaction over their cell phones. Nothing more can be a distraction for a teached in the classroom, when a student’s phone rings. Cell phones are increasingly becoming a problem for the schools during classroom hours and are becoming a means of cheating during examinations and other kinds of ability tests. All this is really bad and does hurt the future of the student, who doesn’t realize that he/she is him/her-self responsible for it. • Health of those living in the vicinity of cell phone towers is becoming a growing concern.

Towers result into an area with concrete development along with destruction of natural features (vegetation etc) around the place. The towers also emit strong electromagnetic signals, which can be health hazard for those living nearby and who are getting exposed to strong radiations continuously during a good span of their lives. • While remaining in touch is good thing but sometimes it becomes annoying to have to deal with continuous incoming phone calls. You are on a vacation and your boss calls up, how does that sound! • Cell phone monthly bills are usually more than a landline bill.

Sometimes, we may not require to have a cell phone but we still buy one and start paying monthly bills; so it increases our monthly/recurring expenses. • Use of hands-free (wired/blue-tooth) can at times pass on loud sounds to our ears which can result in weakening of ear-drums. Nowadays, one can download lot’s of songs, so keeping the hands-free glued inside your ears for long hours can really affect the sensitivity of ears in the long run of life. • There have been cases of cell phone blasts, due to the excessive heating up of it’s battery. This can be a fatal issue; although rare. No joke, the surface of a cell phone has millions of bacteria and virus on it and that can be a strong reason of immediate skin problem on face or can result into other internal infections wherein the microbes creep inside the body through mouth or other openings. • Some use the keypad excessively; due to size restrictions the buttons and keypad of the cell phone are not natural for human hands; so excessive and prolonged typing can be an issue for fingers and finger joints. • The continuous exposure of signal to and from our cell phone can be a cancer concern, although to a meagre amount- research is still going on.

However, the mobile phone industry has long resisted any suggestion of a link to cancer, though it accepts that mobile phone radiation does affect the electrical activity in the brain. • The battery parts and other electonic parts of a cell phone can be environmental hazard if not disposed off properly through approved means. • A cell phone can be helpful while driving and talking in case of urgent matters but increasingly it is becoming cause of accidents because it deviates the attention of a driver; human brain can do only one thing at a time (however small span of time it may be). It can be a big time distraction and nuisance in calm and silent places like libraries, cinemas, restaruants, etc. Some cell phone users lose the sense of deciding when and where they can talk on the cell phone and where they can’t, without slightest consideration for the fellow beings around. • The mobile phone advertisements through messages are becoming a pain for the cell phone users. • Your SIM can be exploited as tracking device and if you’re an important person then that can be a big concern for you. Having said all about cell phones, I think they are one of the biggest boons humanity ever had.

If used properly and sensibly, cell phone can be a wonderful piece of utility in life and most of its disadvantages will simply be insignificant. Mobile Phones – a great invention? Mobile Phones — A Flawed Invention? Mobile phone is a good technology which is not lacking from our lives. This report will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile phones. > Delete > See? We are trimming words already Today, mobile phone has become popular to everybody since it is very convenient. > phoneS have > popular FOR everybody > since THEY are gt; delete “very” Because of their convenience, mobile phones have become universally popular. The most advantage of having a mobile phone is you can communicate to your family and your friends no matter what where you are. For instance, you can contact easily to your friends by calling or sending messages everywhere without electricity. It is maybe the main reason why almost all people today choose to own a mobile phone. > Reduce the word count by deleting the repetition of the same idea. > You have used all these words to point out that mobile phones are mobile.

With them we can call anyone at any time, independent of a landline connection. From the customer’s point of view, it is obvious that mobile phones assist you in business a lot, such as, make schedule of working, surf the internet, and keep in touch with their companies. > “assist you in business a lot, such as,. . ” should be “assist you in business by . . ” > Don’t shift from “we” to “you” ; “make schedule of working” does not really carry a meaning ; Surfing the internet belongs in the next sentence Our cellies keep us in constant communication with our families, our friends, and our businesses.

Moreover, you can relax with mobile phone’s applications, for example, play games, listen to music, or chat with your friends. We also use special apps for listening to music, playing games, surfing the net, and text messaging. It’s hard to picture life as it was before the mobile phone. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages. > Don’t say both “on the other hand” AND “also” But there are disadvantages to the use of mobile phones. Using a lot mobile phone can harm your brain, particularly teenager and children who are under 16 years old. gt; using mobile phones a lot can harm your brain ; spell out the number 16 as a word Using mobile phones is said to be harmful to the brain, especially for those who are under the age of sixteen. If you use mobile phones too much, you will get bad effects like dizzy, blood-brain barrier, or ears problems. ; Blood-brain barrier is not a harmful effect. It is a part of the body. Excessive use of mobile phones has been accused of causing dizziness, (NOTE: Connect this sentence with the one after the next) In addition, when you use mobile phones while you are driving, you will get an accident. gt; get IN an accident (NOTE: Move this part to after the next one) And drivers distracted by talking on their cell phones are more likely to get into car crashes. Moreover, “radiations emitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum”, has proved by many scientist. ; It has not been proved by many scientists. and “radiations emitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum,” says (person’s name and title. ) (NOTE: Attach this after the word “dizziness” in the sentence above) It is essential not good for you and others.

Owning a mobile phone in your hand is you can solve many issues and hold most of information around the world. Even though is not good for your health and you have to protect yourself from bad effects of mobile phones if you choose to have one. > This little summary is disorganized and poorly thought out. Mobile phones solve problems and provide new channels of communication. We can access all the world’s information no matter where we are, just by using a device small enough to fit into one hand. But be careful — mobile phones might also be bad for you!

P/s: Plz help me to correct this essay since next week i’m going to do final exam. How can i reduce this essay because i should write from 150 to 180 words and this essay has about 291 words. Thank you for helping me. I ran this through a Word doc to get a word count. This comes in at 190 words. Because of their convenience, mobile phones have become universally popular. With them we can call anyone at any time, independent of a landline connection. Our cellies keep us in constant communication with our families, our friends, and our businesses.

We also use special apps for listening to music, playing games, surfing the net, and text messaging. It’s hard to picture life as it was before the mobile phone. But there are disadvantages to the use of mobile phones. Using mobile phones is said to be harmful to the brain, especially for those who are under the age of sixteen. Excessive use of mobile phones has been accused of causing dizziness, and “radiations emitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum,” says (person’s name and title. And drivers distracted by talking on their cell phones are more likely to get into car crashes. Mobile phones solve problems and provide new channels of communication. We can access all the world’s information no matter where we are, just by using a device small enough to fit into one hand. But be careful — mobile phones might also be bad for you! Most of the problems with this essay are not related to the grammatical use of English. That is fine. It’s not uncommon for people to revert to babytalk and infantile ideas when they are aware that their vocabulary is limited.

Resist that tendency. This essay was not worth reading, and only partly because the assigned topic makes it hard to come up with anything worthwhile to say. It makes it hard — but not impossible. You should have done more work to express these banal ideas in a more appealing way — varied sentence structure, maybe, and a spicier vocabulary. Almost everybody has a mobile phone. But is it a great invention? I think there are both advantages and disadvantages. > This is a poor intro. It has no life, no “snap. ” It doesn’t draw the reader in.

It is plodding, obvious, and dull. ; For a tiny piece like this one, the opening sentence should be what is called a “hook. ” A hook grabs the reader’s attention and makes him want to read the following passage. > Until you do the mental work to come up with an intro that is a “hook,” don’t bother to write one at all. A bad intro is worse than none. ; Delete these sentences Today, mobile phones have become popular to everybody since they are convenient. ; It’s not easy to come up with something interesting to say when the material is self-evident. gt; But don’t make it worse by using the most stodgy and boring sentence structure available. Because of the great convenience of mobile phones, they are now a modern-day must-have — the 21st century equivalent of a businessman’s fountain pen. The most advantage of having a mobile phone is you can communicate to your family, your friends, and your business no matter what where you are. > If you must say the self-evident, at least try to make the expression fresh or lively. Jetting to Europe or stalled in traffic, with your mobile phone you’re always in touch with your family, your friends, and your business.

We also use special applications for listening music, playing games, surfing the net, and texting messages. ; The problem with writing down something that everyone already knows is that it makes it sound like you are writing a story for people who are six years old. ; It is crucial that you remove that problem by saying these infantile things in a spicy or interesting way. Special apps for texting, listening to music, playing games, and surfing the web keep our phones plugged into our heads around the clock. Besides that, ; “Besides that” means “in addition to that” gt; You use “besides that” when you are going to add more of the same ; But in this case, you are not adding more of the same ; You are turning the direction of your remarks around ; For that use, the correct conjunction is “but” But there are lots of disadvantages. ; This ends rather abruptly ; for a better transition, add something more be careful. There are also some disadvantages to using our beloved cellies. Using mobile phones can harm our brains, especially for those who are under the age of sixteen. ; Unless “we” are all under the age of 16, it is better to refer to it as “the brain,” rather than “our brains. > Since this is far from a known fact, it is better to place the data in the opinions of SOME people Some researchers have claimed that mobile phones are harmful to the brain, especially for children. Excessive use of mobile phones has been accused of causing dizziness, and “radiations emmitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum” , say many scientists. > “Many” scientists do not say this, and it is no doubt scientifically false > ONE scientist said this > He even used a slang expression in his quote: “dead harmful” is not standard English; it is a personal idiosyncrasy of speech. gt; The remark is in quotation marks, which means that it is a direct quote directly from the mouth of a specific person > “Many scientists” did not stand up all at once and chant this line, so you can’t attribute a specific utterance to a group. > If you don’t know his name, you can write “according to a publicity-seeking quack quoted in a tabloid journal of bad repute” or something like that > “emitted” is spelled wrong Excessive use of mobile phones has been accused of causing dizziness, and “radiations emitted from the phone are dead harmful for the eardrum,” according to one researcher in the field.

In addition, when we use mobile phones while we are driving, we will get in an accident. > This is logically false, and the ridiculous and simplistic nature of statements like this contribute to making this piece infantile > Using cell phones probably increases the risk of accidents > It is now considered un-PC to call them “accidents” on the grounds that they are caused by avoidable driver misconduct > traffic accidents are now called “car crashes”

In addition, using a mobile phone while driving hikes the risk of getting into a car crash. In summary, mobiles are a great invention but they still have many issues. You have to protect yourself from the bad effects of mobiles if you choose to have one. > Just delete this on the grounds that it is not adding a single thing that would repay the reader the trouble of seeing it. > It is not interesting, amusing, entertaining, informative, new, or any of the millions of other reasons why we might read something. gt; Do some mental work to think of “What would be good to say in conclusion? What can I say to wrap this up that would be good to read? ” > A teeny piece like this, with almost no ideas in it, does not need a “summary. ” > You might give it a “conclusion” just so it doesn’t end so abruptly > But a conclusion is not just a dull repeat of the self-evident and dull stuff that we JUST HEARD 15 SECONDS AGO!!! > Not unless you are writing for people who are 6. > You can’t say “they have issues. ” It’s ridiculous.

Erosion of Trade Union Power

The erosion of trade union power since 1979 Trade unions in Britain have existed for over two hundred years. In the early 19th century, trade unions were outlawed for being anti-competitive but by the early 20th century there were two million trade union members and this rose to a peak of over thirteen million in 1979. However, in the 1980s there was a sharp fall in the number of trade union members. There are a number of possible explanations for this radical change in trade union membership in the 1980s but I feel that there are three main reasons.

Firstly, the recession of 1980-82 led to an increase in unemployment of nearly two million and the unemployed tend to let their trade union membership lapse. It is interesting to note, however, that the rise in employment in the late 1980s did not lead to a corresponding rise in trade union membership. Secondly, the 1980s saw a radical restructuring of British industry as employment in manufacturing, a sector which was very highly unionised, fell significantly.

The new jobs that were created tended to be in the service sector of the economy, which is traditionally far less unionised than manufacturing. Thirdly, the 1980s was a decade in which the government showed a marked hostility to trade unions. This affected the willingness of workers to join unions and increased the confidence of those employers attempting to reduce or eliminate trade union activity in their workplaces.

Trade unions have to work within a legal framework and this started in Britain when they gained the right to organise in 1824 with the repeal of the Combination Acts and their right to strike without being sued for damages by an employer was enshrined in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1906. During the 1960s, however, there was a growing feeling that trade unions and their members were using their power in a way which was damaging to the economy as a whole.

The Labour government of 1964-70 shelved plans to introduce trade union reforms in the face of union opposition, but Edward Heath’s Conservative government of 1970-74 did take action. The Industrial Relations Act (1971) was highly controversial, met substantial opposition from the trade union movement and failed to reduce their power effectively. It was repealed in 1974 when a new Labour government came into office and trade union rights were extended by various pieces of legislation in the following two years. The 1980s, arguably, saw a transformation in the climate of industrial relations in Britain.

The Conservative government, instead of introducing large scale legislative reform, passed a number of acts each of which restricted union power at the margin. By 1990 secondary picketing had been made illegal; trade unions had to hold a secret ballot and gain a majority of the votes cast to call an official strike; social security benefits were withdrawn from the dependants of striking workers; union officers had to be elected by secret ballots and closed shop agreements were restricted and greater opportunities were given to employees to opt out of closed shops.

Power within the trade union movement has also shifted because before 1979, small groups of workers who were willing to take unofficial strike action and certain militant trade union leaders tended to dominate at least the newspaper headlines and the policy decisions and activities of their branches. The reforms of the 1980s made it more costly and more difficult for workers to take widespread unofficial action and the power of trade union leaders to call strikes was curbed because workers now had to be balloted on strike action.

Moreover, the democratisation of union voting procedures made it much more difficult for militant trade union leaders to get elected to key posts within trade unions. The government also shrewdly distanced itself from the prosecution of trade unions. Previous legislation had concentrated on criminal law, where offenders were prosecuted by the state and could be fined or imprisoned and as a result government always risked creating trade union “martyrs”. Much of the union legislation concentrated on civil law and so employers were given powers to sue trade unions for breaches of the law.

For instance, if a trade union called a strike without holding a secret ballot, it was the employer affected that sued the trade union for damages. The government has no power to prosecute the union. This means that the trade union risks losing considerable sums of money if it does not comply with the law, but individual trade union members cannot gain public sympathy by being sent to prison as they could in theory under the 1971 Industrial Relations Act.

Not only has the government considerably reduced the ability of trade unions and their members to take industrial action, it also, during the 1980s, took a strong stance with public sector trade unions. The most important trade union defeat in the public sector was the breaking of the miners’ strike in 1984-5. Furthermore, the government completely cut off the trade union movement from decision making at a national level. This contrasted with the 1960s and 1970s when governments, both Labour and Conservative, would often consult trade union leaders before making important decisions.

To say whether the reduction in the trade union movement is a propitious development or not, a definition of what trade unions are needs to be obtained. Beatrice and Sidney Webb’s definition of a trade union as “a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their working lives” is still very apt today. For many important players in the economy, such as this Government, the Institute of Directors and the CBI, the decline of the unions is seen as a propitious development.

They blame Britain’s trade unions for pushing up wages, applying restrictive controls to work and thwarting management’s ability to plan and innovate and as a result are the “prime factor in economic crisis”, as McIroy puts it. The Right also emphasise the role of trade unions in creating inflation and cramping productivity. They tend to believe that employees are self-regarding individuals, who have less need than in the past to organise themselves collectively to defend or promote their interests in the workplace.

While some of these arguments can be seen as being true in the 1970s, when trade union power arguably got out of control, these views carry less weight today because of the decline of union power. Other factors must be taken into consideration when looking at Britain’s economic problems. There is the view that there is a debilitating split between the interests of the financial world and the industrial world. In other words borrowing, lending and currency speculation have taken precedence over what is really important as the basis of a thriving economy, building factories and producing goods.

Others claim that incompetent management, the fragmentation of the economy into small units, or the tendency of capitalists to put consumption and dividends before investment, or investment overseas before investment at home is equally to blame. I feel that there is still a need for trade unions as they provide several important functions for the majority of workers. For a start there is and always has been an unequal relationship at work. In other words, the employee as an individual in the workplace suffers from having an unequal relationship of power with his or her employer.

It is only when the employees decided to join together collectively, that they can create enough united strength to have a strong and credible voice to counter that of the employers. Unfortunately, the main feature of today,s labour market is its insecurity and lack of certainty. As a result a great fear for the future exists among employees. This insecurity is no longer confined to unskilled manual workers but has spread to all sections in the British workforce. As John Monks, General Secretary of the TUC said, “There are no steady jobs. They are here today, gone tomorrow jobs with no security, no pension, no sick pay and no paid holidays. Trade unions at least go some way in trying to redress this balance. Recent years have seen the rise of a divided workforce because the British labour market is not just deregulated but it is also becoming increasingly segmented. The growth of part-time employment has strengthened the sense of employee insecurity. Problems are caused for employees because part-time workers have no legally enforceable employment protection like those who are employed in full-time jobs. Even with trade union representation, employees, especially in retailing, find their working lives unstable, insecure, low paid and under valued.

Without trade unions all the evidence suggests that their situation would be even more impoverished than it is at the moment. The government’s own commissioned Workplace Industrial Relations Survey carried out in 1990 indicated just how vital trade unions are. Its findings revealed “repeatedly how much worse off employees who do not enjoy the protection of collective bargaining are. They are, on average, less favoured in terms of pay, health and safety, labour turnover, contractual security, compulsory redundancy, grievance procedures, consultation, communication and employee representation.         The power of the British trade union movement has certainly been significantly reduced since 1979. While I think that the trade unions were getting too big and powerful and as a result were causing more bad than good in the 1970s, their rapid decline in the 1980s was not a propitious development. This is because employers now do not need to adopt basic recognised fair standards of labour practice because of the lack of legal regulation. This, combined with workplace insecurity and evidence of a squeeze on living standards has made conditions in the labour arket ripe for trade union protection. Workplace conditions and terms of employment will only detriorate further if trade union power and influence, responsibly used, is not allowed to continue. Bibliography British Trade Unionism c. 1770-1990 K. Laybourn 1991         Trade Unions WEJ McCarthy 1972 Trade Unions In Britain Today J. McIlroy 1988         Trade Unions. Public Goods or Public C. Robins 1981 ‘Bads’? The Future of the Trade Unions R. Taylor 1994         The History of Trade Unionism S&B Webb 1922

Advertising Is Legalised Form of Lying

Advertising, generally speaking, is the promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, usually performed by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion. Advertising involves the process where in a massage is designed so as to promote a product, a thought, an idea or even a service. The concept of advertising has assumed a dynamic form with the use of the various mediums of communication.

From the newspaper, magazines, posters, neon and fluorescent signboards, billboards to the commercial on TV, laser shows to inflated high-rise figures and objects, advertising has come a long way. The work is formidable as it spearheads a process intended to attract, modify, change and influences public opinion. Modern advertising really began in the middle of the century. World War II had taught Americans plenty about propaganda and new technologies had erupted, offering both increased production and more ways to propagate a media message. They combined to create the modern ad.

In addition to stating the facts somewhere in the fine print, advertisers began to lace their ads with ideas designed to appeal to the senses of the reader, as well as the deeper, more emotional self interests of love, sex, anxiety, fear, alarm, ambition, envy, indulgence and especially vanity. And to discover which appeal would work best, advertisers began to develop more and better research techniques — and act upon the results. Someday, they’d call it “target marketing,” but for now, they were content with being able to select the right message to transmit and then aim it at the right receiver in the market.

What sounds obvious now was in fact not recognized in the 19th century. Advertising was a print medium at first, and primarily followed the basic rules of decorum and factual reporting of the journalism of the day. Thus, a Sears And Roebuck catalogue from the 19th century offered Underwear For Fat Men with a line drawing a hefty, older fellow with a distended belly trying on a pair of longjohns (Sears & Roebuck, 1879, p. 6). In addition to such straightforward advertising, there were rules which limited the effectiveness of print advertising as a visual medium in many venues.

Ads were kept in the back in the early 19th century, and only moved across to the front of magazines and newspapers in the 1890s. Line drawings and other artwork was introduced, but the copy remained relatively staid and straightforward. Print advertising today is far different. Incredible graphics, manipulative copy and inserts, Aadvertorials@ (ads disguised as articles) and coupons make up the bulk of newspaper and magazine advertising. Of course, the old style of print ads remain as well. There are still classified ads in the back of nearly every magazine, and line drawings grace the ads in many newspapers.

Nobody sells Aunderwear for fat men@ any more though. Bills, or bulletins, are also still common in the 1990s. Most urban centers have huge sections of walls and public space taken over by row after row of bills, huge print ads. In these days of media saturation, it is not surprising to see many layers of bulletins atop a wall or on a construction site. Bulletins were started in the 1890s as well. ARagged bills hawking everything from Tutts Pills and St. Jacob=s Oil to Battle Ax Plug, Hood=s Sasparilla, and Official Five Cent Cigars fluttered from every fence, lamppost and curb. (Starr and Hayman, p. 25). In both centuries, bulletins are most often Asniped@ or posted up without the permission of property owners. The final form of outdoor advertising is the billboard or display. Displays are three-dimensional, huge mockups of products or events. The first billboards were painted bulletins, permanently covering the side of a building and often identifying the businesses within. Later, around the end of the 19th century when most major cities had electricity to spare, these billboards were lighted so that they would be visible at night.

It wasn=t long before the Aspectacular@ was born. Spectaculars are bright, lighted billboards made of many bulbs (the slogan or logo is often spelled out in light) which often contains some three-dimensional elements. The first spectaculars debuted at the end of the 19th century, along with the first lighted marquees. At the end of the 20th century, spectaculars have become even more important, becoming landmarks in places like New York City and Las Vegas. However, outside of the landmark status of some spectaculars, outdoor advertising is very limited.

The largest differences between the advertising of the 1890s and the 1990s are the sheer number of media available and what can be called the culture of Acool. @ The 1990s has radio, television, ads before motion pictures and videotapes, Internet advertising of various types (email Aspam@ banner ads), direct mail advertising, blimps and cropdusters to add to the arsenal of outdoor advertisement and concentrated target marketing. More important than the available media is the net effect of advertising. Advertising is now totalizing, both the dominant culture and counterculture are appealed to.

Instead of simply announcing the existence of a product, advertising works to create a culture of consumption for everyone. Advertising’s images of consumption evolved from phony promises of a better life for white, nuclear families to the hip-based brand of product cool that still exists today. (Frank, 1997). Everything from youth rebellion to counter-hegemonic violence to law breaking has been commodified. Advertising today seemingly encourages people to break the rules, to tell the world to Akiss off@ and to be an individual.

Beneath this surface rebellion though, people are trained to buy, to tie their emotions to consumption, and eventually, to discard the old with disappointment and embrace the new, in order to rebel again. The greatest difference between the advertising of the 1890s and the 1990s is that instead of buying underwear, one buys the feeling of being cool. This paper is meant to explain some concepts of advertising in cortese s Provocateur. Three basic concepts I will explain, as well as show examples of, are Body Clowning, Body Chopping and Subconscious Seduction. These three concepts are widely used in the advertisement business today.

I will be providing and referring to some advertisements, out of magazines, to show these methods. This should further help the understanding of the material being covered. The first method advertising I will be discussing is Body Clowning. Body Clowning is a technique used to show a happy or entertaining side of the product at hand. In this type of advertising there are usually a man and a woman. The man is being portrayed as very powerful, secure and seductive. Even if they are wearing next to nothing the men are still looking very powerful and intelligent.

While the men are being portrayed as the higher power in the ad, the woman are acting very playful and are shown to be almost childish. Some describe them as acting like clowns, hence the name Body Clowning. Now that we are in the 1990 s we have started to change the role of this. The woman is the more serious one, {as in ad #1}, and the guy is acting more playful. This ad shows a man in a football uniform jumping around while the woman is holding a cake and having excellent posture and acting incredibly lady like. Though I could not find any advertisements on the traditional and more popular roles of this topic, there are many out there.

This type of advertising, if it is done correctly, can be incredibly affective. Body Chopping is another advertising concept that is incredibly effective in the modern advertising business. This technique is used in a lot of clothing, cologne/perfume ads and make-up ads. Body Chopping is when a certain part of the body is photographed and shown in the advertisement. This method is supposed to focus on the sexy side in the human body. It is commonly said by critics that it is degrading to women because it makes it seem that a woman s body is more important than her mind.

This is mainly used with woman but it is also used with men every once and a while. You can t even flip through a magazine without seeing this method. This is effectively shown in ad number 2. As you can see, the face is the only part of the body being shown in this ad for Revlon. It shows the sexy, full and luxurious lips of a woman. This is supposed to make ladies feel that if they used this brand of make-up than their lips will look as good as the woman s in the ad. In ad number 3 you can see that the persons tongue is in focus. This ad is for the candy Spree.

The phrase at the bottom of the page reads It s a kick in the mouth. Now this obviously is saying that this candy will make your mouth feel very good as well as taste terrific but will it really taste like that? You will never know until you try it. This whole point of the ad is to make you want the candy and make you feel like you have to go out right now and buy it. This is made possible by the close up view of the tongue. That is why the method of Body Chopping is so successful. Out of all the advertisements we see in a day very rarely do we sit down and try to analyze them.

If we did do this however, we would find a good bit of subliminal massages inside of an advertisement. Now these are really not very easy to see but they are very catchy to the human eye. These stand out but at the same time have a very different meaning. This is done because the average person looks at an ad for two seconds. This is not leaving a whole lot of time for the ad to make you want to have the product advertised. That is why they put these messages in that stick out, so you can see this and relate to the mood of he ad and want the specific product.

We all do this with out even thinking about it, leaving it the name of subconscious. Here are some examples of some subconscious seduction techniques: In lipstick ads the lipstick is usually a symbol for oral or anal sex. Though we are not sure why this is it is proven that it is, oddly enough, a good symbol for this. This actually does sell a lot of these products thought this method. In conclusion, I hope that these examples have greatly increased your knowledge of at least three of the techniques used by advertisers today in their ads.

There is a lot to be said about these advertisements, but they can be very tricky to read and see at the same time. Now that you have been informed on these points, you should be able to pick these things up and understand the advertisements better. Just as there is to everything else in life, there are costs and benefits to advertising. Advertising plays a major role in our lives. Everywhere you turn there is some form of advertising taking place. Companies spend outrageous amounts to get the attention of the viewer and hold it long enough to increase sales of there product. An example of this is a Chevy truck commercial.

They use a more masculine approach to make you believe the truck gives off the same idea. The costs of advertising are many. For one the increase in advertising raises consumer prices. The company needs to pay for it somehow so guess who the cost is pushed on? The consumer. Another bad point in advertising is that it often makes you buy things you don’t need or didn’t even want. The worst aspect of advertising is probably the fact that it controls the media. Think if a radio station is sponsored by dorittos it is unlikely they would ever negatively refer to the product. People protect their advertisers.

Its power has a majority of the media wrapped around its finger. The benefits of advertising are many as well. Advertising can give you price information, availability of it, and improvements that may have been made on a product. Without advertising compassion would be slim. Advertisers try to impress the consumer and draw them in. If one product is more appealing advertisers work on launching a bigger and better campaign to make their product appear to be better. Without advertisements paying for radio and many news papers it is possible that we wouldn’t be so informed on breaking news and public issues.

I was impressed by the truck commercial because it targets more to a male audience. It makes the truck seem like the high point of being a man. Without the truck it seems like they are trying to say you are not as much of a man. Most likely I wouldn’t by something just because of a commercial. Trucks are nice and maybe they do make you appear to be more manly, but if I was to buy a truck its quality and care it had received would rank above its affects on my image. Ring around the collar,” “Once you pop, you can’t stop,” “Just do it. ” Television viewers today are ombarded with increasing commercial content. From the barrage of 15-second commercials every seven minutes, to product placement, to infomercials, when the viewer watches television, they are constantly exposed to some form of advertising. Beyond the minor annoyance, very few people think that much is wrong with advertisements. What viewers do not realize is how much advertising influences the content of television, often in a negative manner. In his article Conscientious Objections Neil Postman states “The anarchy in television news is a direct result of the commercial structure of broadcasting. When the Government granted television stations the right to broadcast over American airwaves, there was an agreement that stations would serve the public interest. Slowly but surely, things have changed. Television no longer serves the public, what goes on the air is now determined largely by advertisers. Many of the changes in television occurred because of the government deregulation of television in the 1980s, when the head of the Federal Communications Commission under Reagan rolled back the principle components of broadcast regulation.

Two major components of the deregulation where the elimination of the “three-year rule,” which stated that broadcast entities could not be sold for three years after the date of purchase; as well as allowing more commercials in a broadcast hour. The deregulation changed the television industry forever. The three-year rule had ensured that a station remained viable and intact. The deregulation changed the status of many television stations. In the article Consumer Culture and TV Programming, Robin Andersen writes: “Before deregulation, corporate speculators did not purchase stations solely for the purpose of commodity trading.

After deregulation, however, speculators who had no interest or experience in the media bought and sold stations simply to make a profit. Corporate investors would often cut corners to make a profit, this included cutting news departments, and giving in to many advertiser demands. ” (Andersen, 19) The other major step taken during the deregulation of the 1980s overwhelmed viewers with advertising, and diminished advertising s effectiveness. Before the deregulation, advertising had a firm grip on viewer attention. Viewers watched advertisements with vigor, and research revealed that they remembered a great deal of what they saw.

Along with more commercials per hour, the standard 30-second commercial gave way to more short 10- and 15-second spots. After the deregulation the number of commercials on network TV in an average week tripled to more than 5,000. (Andersen, 20) Just as viewers were being bombarded with commercials in the 1980s, remote-control technology showed viewers an escape route. With the help of the remote control, viewing habits changed. Audiences began to change the channel, mute, or fast-forward their recordings during television advertisements.

Advertisements lost a great deal of the persuasive power when viewers began to disregard them. Since then, marketers have searched for ways to bring back advertising s persuasive power. One result of this search has been increased demands that programming content supports and reinforces advertising messages. Another consequence has been the advent of subtle advertisements that disguise their promotional character such that viewers will be more accepting of the persuasive messages. A good example of one such practice would be product placement, in which brand names are strategically placed into the television program.

As advertisers became more demanding of television support of advertising, television became dependent on advertisers financial support. Andersen states that in the 1980s, the costs of prime-time programming escalated, while revenues plateaued. This led to forcing all programs to become more cost efficient. At the same time, the advent of cable television in the 1980s gave advertisers more channels in which they could run their commercials. Therefore, networks had to lower their advertising costs to compete with the cable stations.

With cheaper advertising, stations became increasingly dependent on ad revenues for their livelihood. With stations more dependent on advertising dollars, and advertisers more desperate to reach viewers, big business advertisers gained more influence into the content of the media. Advertisers would refuse to advertise during shows that were not “receptive to advertising. ” With slim budgets, stations could not afford to cross these advertisers. Therefore, any content to which certain advertisers might take offense with was often omitted from television programs.

News and public affairs directors are made aware that advertisers are monitoring their programming and that to contradict corporate sponsors or their advertising messages would have a negative financial impact on the station and their jobs. Because of this pressure the media must tiptoe around any issues advertisers may find offensive. In his article Censorious Advertising Milton Glaser exposes Chryslers advertising policy which requires that magazines submit articles in advance for screening by Chrysler to determine whether they contain any editorial content that may be construed as provocative or offensive.

Censorious policies such as Chryslers are not at all uncommon in the advertising business. In her article Sex, Lies, and Advertising, Gloria Steinem chronicles her experiences as head of Ms. magazine. In her article she gives examples of many companies with advertising policies similar to Chryslers. For example S. C. Johnson & Son orders that its ads “should not be opposite extremely controversial features or material antithetical to the nature/copy of the advertised product. Procter & Gamble states that advertisements for its products were “not to be placed in any issue that included any material on gun control, abortion, the occult, cults, or the disparagement of religion. Caution was also demanded in any issue covering sex or drugs, even for educational purposes. ” (Steinem, 226) Advertisers have made the message clear that they want the media to be as non-controversial as possible, in order to maintain an optimal consumer environment. Although Steinem’s particular situation involves print media; there are many similarities between the two genres.

In her aforementioned article, Andersen cites this example of advertiser influence: When CNN s Capitol Gang was summoned to carry out a mock program in front of a group of advertisers, the producers and commentators were sent a clear message, namely, that the programs content will be monitored with great interest. Under these circumstances it is unlikely that information unacceptable to CNN advertisers will be included. (Andersen, 24) With such a clear message sent to the cast of Capitol Gang, it is obvious that advertisers have a substantial influence on the programs content. Advertising power can be especially damaging to news content.

In 1994, ABC news reported on Philip Morris’ manipulation of tobacco levels, an issue that had been advanced by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. Although the information was true, Philip Morris brought a $10 billion libel suit against ABC. Philip Morris, through its Kraft Foods, is a major advertiser. Not wanting to lose precious ad revenues, ABC apologized on air for telling the truth. (Andersen, 27) The threat of libel suits, and the withdrawing of advertisement is a powerful one that prevents many newscasts from airing controversial material involving large advertisers. As the late dvertising executive Howard L. Gossage stated “[Advertiser] control is not by intent, but through the simple ability of advertising to bestow or withhold favors. ” (Lowenstein and Merrill, 77) It is painfully clear that advertising can have a negative influence on television content, but is there a solution? Gloria Steinems solution for Ms. ‘ problems was to become commercial-free. After having tried various methods of dealing with advertising, to no avail, Ms. magazine became a commercial free publication. PBS also operates as a commercial free entity, being partially funded by the U. S. Government. The U. S.

Government partially funds this form of Public Television. PBS represents an alternative in the television media system, and at a low cost for taxpayers. The author of The Future of Public Television argues that the media must be democratized. He believes that Public Broadcasting is an important step in the democratization process. “In important respects, particularly its partial removal from market forces and the early articulation of its commitment to diversity, our current system of public television provides a concrete example of both the vast potential and the increasing necessity of a more democratic mass media. (The Future of Public Television, 167) Unfortunately, Steinem and PBS’ solutions are not viable for most forms of television media. In order to maintain television as a “free” service to the viewers, stations need advertiser support. It is unlikely that the government would be able to fund such a large number of stations. Lowenstein and Merrill offer a different solution than Steinem and Miller, stating that advertisement has a right to broadcast its message. The authors state that the broadcaster has an “obligation to provide a program at the lowest possible cost to the consumer. However, Lowenstein and Merrill state that Government agencies must regulate advertising s misleading and unfair policies. The authors believe that only through government intervention can the effects of advertising be controlled. The current media system needs to be repaired. However, as the author states, changes in the media system “Certainly will not be completed overnight ” (The Future of Public Television, 167). Solutions such as Steinems and PBS’s are not feasible at this point. Commercial television is a multi-billion dollar business.

Many jobs depend on this enormous industry, and to transform television to a commercial free format would cause economic problems. Renovating the media system is unfeasible because of its large size. The system is too complex to be drastically changed. A small step must be taken first, I propose that a government agency should be created to oversee and regulate advertising. This agency would look into advertisers to make sure that program content was not subverted, that deceptive advertising did not happen, and that advertisers would not be allowed to preview programs before deciding whether or not to advertise.

These steps will diminish the influence which advertisers have on television broadcasters. In order to keep advertisers and broadcasters from breaking these rules, this agency would be given the power to fine any corporations and broadcasters that did not follow the rules. This government agency would be the first step in freeing the media from advertiser influence. Although it may not cure television of all advertiser influence, it is the first step towards that goal.

Rajinikanth

Iam a die hard fan of Rajnikanth since childhood.. Even today i never miss to watch his films on the first day of release. If you turn the pages of this person’s life… you will get to know that his superstardom is no cake walk.. He struggled his way to succeed in his life. He suffered humiliation, defamation, ill -treatment in the beginning…. But, used all the stones thrown at him to build his own empire. The Carpenter-turned-Coolie-turned-conductor-turned Super Star says: “I couldn’t have asked God for more”. Ego and starry airs are unknown to Rajinikant.

During breaks he hardly ever rushes to his air-conditioned makeup room. Instead, he prefers to sleep on the sets, even without a pillow, merely covering his eyes with a wet cloth. He never comes to functions with a retinue behind him and even  prefers to drive his own car. You can always see him wearing dhoti and white shirt or kurtas whilst attending functions, never uses gold.. He always wears a copper bangle and an ordinary wrist watch. Such a simplicity!! He regularly visits [pic]Himalaya to rejuvenate himself. He is so spiritually inclined and believes that whatever he is now is because of GOD.

An avid devotee to Shri Raghavendra Swamy. Even today he makes it a point to visit mantralaya in karnataka once in a year. There are three important aspects that differentiate a normal man from a yogi. A true yogi has no ego. He is one who follows the path of love. Above all, he surrenders himself unto God by putting him before all else – success, power, money. Considering these things, Rajinikanth  is a yogi. He has all these three qualities that spiritual gurus say make a yogi. He was actually quoting this in a function about AR. Rahman. But, this is also applicable to rajinikanth himself.

He is a real yogi who never cares about his image or fame. Just behaves like a common man and above all success has reached his heart, not head. I admire him a lot. I do not know as to whether it is a coincidence, but i should say there are few similarities between me and rajinikanth… I also wear a copper bangle from child hood, iam a devotee of raghavendra swamy and i never like to wear gold. I may not reach his level in life;  i will be happy if can reach at least 50% of what he has achieved in his life. When telling this, iam not talking about money, iam talking about the goodwill and respect in the society.