Compare and contrast male and female perspectives, and the Essay

Compare and contrast male and female perspectives, and the encompassing cultural prejudices and presumptions which define and determine the analyst's analysis o - Essay Example Despite the significance of the case with hindsight, the analysis was never completed, and many see this case history as an example of the way in which Freud misinterpreted the problems which his patients had, instead forcing their case to fit his theories, and not the other way around. It is clear, although again with the benefit of hindsight, that in the case of Dora, Freud was seriously mistaken about the situation she found herself in. He may even have willfully interpreted her very real sufferings at the hands of her father, and his friends, the ‘K’s as imagined in order to treat her symptoms as hysteria. The event which triggers Dora’s unhappiness, and which leads to her analysis by Freud, concerns Dora and one of her father’s friends, and man named ‘Herr K’ by Freud. There are two versions of this event; in Dora’s version, the man accosts her by the lake, and makes sexual advances. According to Dora, this is the second time that Herr K had pressed himself upon her; on the first occasion, she was fourteen, and the friend of the family had first tricked her into meeting her alone, and then kissed her. Although modern society will understand the girl’s revulsion, Freud says â€Å"the behavior of this child of fourteen was already entirely and completely hysterical† (Freud, 1990, page 59). Herr K and, after initial belief, Dora’s father, rubbish the story; Herr K even suggests that she has read too many books on sex, and had been ‘over-excited’ in Freud’s phrase. Dora’s father agrees: It seems very strange that Dora’s own father should take the word of a man whom he does not hold in high regard, above that of his only daughter. As the case history unfolds, we can see clearly that Herr K is a womanizer and a liar, as well as a cuckold. Dora is a young, intelligent and truthful woman from a good family; yet her account of the event by the lake is dismissed in favor of the man’s version.

End of Year Speech Essay Example for Free

End of Year Speech Essay Good evening everyone. I hope everyone is having a good time, and has eaten their fill. Please eat all the food, we’ve spent a lot of money on that to be put to waste, and you’ll make the caterers job a lot easier (if the food is catered) Ladies please, help yourselves. Come on, it’s the end of the year, you’ll have a whole year ahead of you to start your diet†¦anyway Vegas buffet rules apply ladies and gentlemen, NO TAKEOUTS! So please keep your Ziplocs where they are. (of course parts like these are jokes and should be said well, as a joke). But seriously, good evening everyone and welcome to our year end dinner. It has been another successful year for us. Thanks mainly to the summer blockbuster heroes, in a sense, they did save our lives, well, at least made our company earn more money, thanks also to the mom and dads that keep bringing their kids in our store, may they be blessed with more kids, and of course, kudos to all of you for helping make another year a successful one. It has been another heroic year for us, both for the toys that we have sold and our efforts to make our company better. First we were introduced to a wealthy scientist turned super hero, who would have thought that the cousin of the tin-man would be a successful toy. Yes, Iron Man is one of our most successful toys this year, if not all of all time. The fact that Iron Man is a robot,( well, technically a bionic suit, but that’s how Iron Man is perceived) makes him subject for a lot of modifications, and thus a lot of action figure variants. Seven year old kids were just half of the market of Iron Man, toy collectors of all ages had a field day hoarding Iron Man toys from our store. Action figures sales have never been higher since the come back of comic book adaptations into the silver screen. Thank you Stan Lee! You made a lot of toy companies such ourselves very happy, we hope for more new movies and sequels to your comic books. I hope I can say the same to your reality show. Batman’s appeal has not dropped, Batman Toy’s have virtually not stopped production since the franchise came to being way back. I think only X-men and Spider Man toys have achieved a similar feat, which makes Batman the most successful comic book hero without having any super powers. Spider Man was bitten by a radio active bug, and the X-Men are mutants. Batman is just a plain dude with a fancy belt, well, a dude that can kick all our butts in one passing. If I was a kid, I would definitely be a good boy (at least for a while) to get the latest Batman action figure. I bet if we just sold action figures of Batman or an equally popular comic book superhero, we wouldn’t go out of business and still keep the store. That’s how big these toys have become, and how big they’ve been to our company’s progress. What would be a hero without an arch enemy? Not only do the heroes need a bad guy to beat up, toy companies also need villains as a source of income. Chances are, when kids buy their action figures, they want something to tests its weapons on something, might as well be the actual enemy of the hero. The Joker has been the most popular action hero as of late, thanks to the films success and all these talks about the death on Heath Ledger, the actor that played Joker in the Dark Knight. This toy has suddenly become a limited edition because it is one of the last characters the actor has played before he died, for some reason, I don’t think Mattel would buy the idea of making an action figure out of Brokeback Mountain, but that’s just me, I’ve seen stranger toys made it into production. Spider – Man toys have been around almost as long as Batman toys, especially after the new Spider Man films came out. They did not leave our shelves even if the franchise has been on a hiatus from the silver screen for a while. Actually there have not been a major Spider – Man film until the recent films and yet Spider Man toys are one of our popular toys of all time After I thank the toys, sorry guys, they do come first you know, these toys pay our bills. I would like to thank the staff of our company for doing a job well done throughout the year. Our company would be nothing if not for your efforts. Thank you for maintaining a harmonious working environment and for keeping our customers happy, your service is much appreciated. Thank you also for an outstanding team performance in all departments. It is always good for any company to work together as a team. More than working as a team, we’ve worked together, and treated each other as family. I’m not saying exactly who the mom and dads are, let’s just say we are all the children of the company okay? Special thanks to the marketing people for actively promoting our products to the buying public. They managed to sell our toys to kids who, for some reason did not go to the toy store with a particular toy in mind. Their persuasive skills have managed to squeeze some extra cash out of mommy and daddy to spend on their kids toys. Now, if they can only sell our (name unpopular toy) we would give them a big fat raise! On a serious note, thank you guys for a job well done and keep up the good work, we’ll talk about that raise deal later okay? (of course with still a sense of candidness) This party would not have been possible if had not worked hard last year. So if you guys still want the free food, we have to do just as well next year or even better. Either way, we would still have a party for sure, but our party would definitely much better if we raise our bar even just a little. So I encourage everyone to work just as hard or even harder this coming year and I promise you, our hard work would be rewarded if we have good sales next year. Incentives and other privileges would be available for us if we exceed what is expected of us, so let’s keep it up guys! The boss expects nothing less than what has already been established this year. I know we have done a good job this year but why aim for good when we can do better? The boss expects for exciting and new ideas from our staff, especially from the marketing department. Don’t be afraid to pitch in ideas even if you are not from the marketing department or if you think your ideas are too crazy. We all love new ideas. Again, thank you everyone for being part of this end of the year party and for a job well done this year. More fruitful years to come for our company! Cheers, and enjoy the rest of the evening. Let’s give a hand to ourselves! Thank you.

Hamlet and The Lion King :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Hamlet and The Lion King Many perceive The Lion King, Disney's most successful movie to date, as Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. This, however, is not the case. While The Lion King seems not to be beased on a fairy tale, it is in fact strongly based on the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Disney writers cleverly conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. To the seasoned reader, however, Hamlet comes screaming out of the screenplay as obviously as Hamlet performed onstage. The characters in The Lion King closely parallel Hamlet. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, embodies Hamlet, He is the son of the King and rightful heir to the throne. The King of the Pridelands, Mufasa, parallels Hamlet Senior, who is killed by the uncle figure. In The Lion King, the uncle is Scar, and in Hamlet, the uncle figure is Claudius. Laertes, the henchman and right-hand man of Claudius, becomes, in the movie, the Hyenas, Bansai, Shenzi, and Ed. The Hyenas collectively act as hero-worshippers to Scar, loyal subjects, and fellow doers-in-evil. They support Scar completely, just as Laertes supports Claudius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are the comic reliefs of Hamlet, and in The Lion King, this role is fulfilled by Timon and Pumbaa, who are a meercat and warthog, respectively. Both sets compliment each other, complete each other's sentences, act as caretakers to Hamlet/Simba, and are comical to the point of being farcical. The role of Horatio, Hamlet's right-hand man, is fulfilled in The Lion King by Nala. Nala concentrates on the aspect that Simba is the rightful King and that it is his responsibility to ascend to the throne. She is his best friend and someone whom he trusts. Just as Horatio loyally follows Hamlet, Nala is completely loyal to Simba. Not only are there ties of friendship, but there is also an element of respect and reverence in both friendships. Horatio and Nala both know that they are friends and loyal followers of the rightful king. In The Lion King, the plot mirrors the plot of Hamlet as well. In the very beginning, Hamlet Senior is poisoned by Claudius, who then ascends to the throne and marries Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Similarly, Mufasa is thrown to his death by Scar, who goes on to become King of the Pridelands and leader of the pack, thus "marrying" Simba's mother, Sarobi.

Local Taxidermy Essay

What is taxidermy? Well should I say what is stuffing? Taxidermy is really a big thing in this small world. Taxidermy has been around for a very long time, it takes many difficult steps to becoming a good taxidermist, all the different types of taxidermy, therefore it will take carefulness, time and patience for me to mount a deer head for my product. When taxidermy first came around it was used by the Indians for clothing and even used for shelter. In this research paper you will find that taxidermy is very important to the human life, because even today people still wear clothing that is made from animal skin. Taxidermy is a general term showing the many methods of reproducing a life-like three dimensional representation of an animal for permanent display. The actual skin from an animal (including the fur, feathers or scales) is took and mounted over an artificial armature. In other cases, the specimen is completely done with man made materials. Taxidermy is derived from two ancient Greek words: taxis, Meaning movement, and derma, meaning skin. Therefore translated, taxidermy means the movement of skin. Taxidermy can be done on all species of animals including humans. A brief history of Taxidermy, Thousands of years ago when man first hunted for his food, he found that the skins of his prey, when treated with certain substances, could be preserved and used for clothing and shelter. The first taxidermists were primitive hunter-gatherers who crudely formed animal skins over mud and rock for use in their hunting rituals. Over the years, as methods increased these skins improved and the need for tanned skins increased, the tanner became one of the most important members of the tribe. Without him there would be no clothing. As the demand for quality leather and skins increased, the methods became more and more sophisticated. By the 1700s almost every town had a tannery business. In the 1800s, hunters began bringing their trophies to upholstery shops, where the upholster would sew up the animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton. That’s where the term â€Å"stuffing† or a â€Å"stuffed animal† evolved from this crude form of taxidermy. This practice produced some terrible looking mounts and gave taxidermy a bad reputation which still haunts the industry to this day. Professional taxidermists still shudder and take offense at the term stuffing, the perfered word is mounting. In the early 20th century, taxidermy began to evolve into its modern form under the leadership of great artists such as Carl E. Akeley, William T. Horneday, Coloman Jonas and Leon Pray. These and other talented pioneers developed anatomically accurate mounts which incorporated every detail right down to each muscle and tendon of the animal. In artistically pleasing poses. They invented new techniques for mounting that allowed them to portray animals with lifelike accuracy. They created mounts in realistic settings and poses that were more appropriate for the species. This was quite a change from the crude, snarling caricatures that were popularly offered as hunting trophies. To actual trophies that show exactly the realistic look of the animal. Taxidermy in the latter part of the twentieth century has developed into a full-fledged form of wildlife art, and the successful taxidermists of today must also be considered as very fine artists in their own right. There are many different methods used today for producing mounts of different species. The taxidermist today can take pride in their works as their work is just as nice as the paintings that hang on house holds. To becoming a non forgettable taxidermists it takes practice. The modern practice of taxidermy incorporates many crafts, such as carpentry, woodworking, tanning, molding and casting. It also contains artist talent, so it takes someone that will put their time into something that they won’t except till it reaches their high explatations. In a deer head mount, the only natural parts of the animal are the antlers and the skin, the teeth can be used if they are in good dental shape, but most are artificial. The other organs are shaped by the taxidermists materials. The eyes are made from glass, the eyelids are sculpted from clay, the nose and mouth are made from epoxy or wax. The form is made from polyurethane foam. To practice taxidermy one must be extremely familiar with anatomy, dissection, sculpture, and painting as well as tanning. Today most of the parts used are not even from the real parts of the animal at all. They are completely recreated from man made materials. This is for those who that believe in the catch and release. This is usually done on fish, the only thing they are required to do is take a picture and take some measurements of the fish. Then take the picture and the measurements to a local taxidermy, the taxidermy will then take the materials and sculpture a real life like mount of the fish, Some even say that if you take the artificial fish and set it beside a real one and you wont even tell the difference. But the good thing is the hunter or fisherman can feel good about what he has done because the fish that he caught is still living plus he has a trophy on his wall that reminds him of what he caught. A taxidermy will first take the trophy and freeze it until it is time to be mounted. The taxidermist the removes the skin, to be tanned and treated for later use. The remaining muscle fibers and bones are measured and posed. The carcass is then molded and plaster. The carcass is then removed and the mold is used to produce a cast of the animal called a mannequin. Mannequins can also be made by sculpting the animal first clay. There are many companies that produce stock forms in many sizes that can be used. Glass eyes are then usually added to the display, and possibly also artificial teeth, depending on the subject’s original dental condition. An increasingly popular trend is to freeze dry the animal. This can be done with reptiles, birds, and small mammals such as cats, large mice and some types of dogs. Freeze drying is expensive and time consuming. The equipment is expensive and requires much upkeep. Large specimens can be required to spend as long as six months in the freeze dryer, although is the preferred technique for pets. There are many different types of taxidermy, for instant a Rogue taxidermy is the creation of stuffed animals which do not have real, live counterparts, be of the taxidermists’s imagination, or be endangered or extinct species. They can be made from the parts of mythical animals or they may be artificially created. Rogue taxidermy is often seen in side shows and dime museums among genuine freak animals. The other type of taxidermy is known as Anthropomorphic taxidermy its where stuffed animals are dressed as people or displayed as if engaged in human activities. This style was popular in Victorian and Edwardian times but can still be found today. The style was popularized by Human Plouequet, taxidermist in Stuttgart. Germany, when he exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Just where can you see taxidermy at? Well taxidermy is everywhere they are displayed in museums, educational institutions, businesses, restaurants, and homes. Therefore to become a taxidermist you must need some experience, you can gain this experience threw schooling. From there you will learn the basics of taxidermy, like how to measure the different parts of the animal, how to be accurate at ordering the right size form for the species. You will also learn how to tan a hide and learn the steps to putting the cape on the form. This is all important because you want to make sure that the specie looks very life like. Which if you like to rush threw things and be able to finish them without the hassle of waiting then taxidermy is not for you. Taxidermy takes patience and time, it can take a taxidermist up to six months to finish a trophy. Of course a taxidermist could do it a lot faster if they didn’t care what it looks like at the end but no they want their work to look as life like as possible. Because anyone that is a hunter or fisherman knows that having something to remind them of there trophy is a memory that will always stick with them. So when they pay a very large amount of money to get their trophy done they would expect it to look life like and give them that memory of the day it was taken or caught.

Liberal Arts vs Science Essay

Liberal arts deal with the sections of education that specialize in imparting general knowledge to learners. This is usually meant to build a strong intellectual capacity on general subjects that would not require technical or even professional skills. The sections of arts that are basically seen as to be in this category include languages, philosophy, music, basic arithmetic and history. In as much as humanities are considered to be part of liberal arts, they my lean towards scientific processes like those in geography and research sciences. On the other hand, sciences are based on technical subjects like physics and chemistry. Scientific knowledge is specific and can be based on a plethora of scientific specialties. Some examples may include biology, physics, engineering and medicine. Other areas in sciences that are specific can include actuarial science and applied mathematics. Developments in the current world of education indicate that more and more students are being encouraged to specialize on sciences than liberal arts. Does this signal that liberal arts are dead and everything is now about science and technology? Specialists in many quarters have advanced arguments that point to the fact that liberal arts are dying fast. Reasons include the fact that more professionals in sciences receive better compensation packages than their counterparts in liberal arts. The idea that liberal arts are a dying section of education is supported by facts. This is due to the fact that more and more people are embracing education in sciences that seem to be generally more appealing. The Industrial Revolution experienced in the world over seemed to emphasize the fact that the world would lean more towards technical aspects of education than on the arts. During the onset of this revolution in the late nineteenth century, inventions in sciences drove many to pursue technical subjects as they seemed to be leading to the most lucrative jobs. Examples lay in the engineering and other technological fields that had strong foundations in sciences. As such, many institutions that were recruiting prospective employees developed pay packages that were tailored to be better than those for employees in the liberal art field. Other factors that point to this being true include the declining budgetary allocation in universities that specialize in liberal arts. This was aggravated by the recession experienced during the period 2008-2009. A study showed that most students who had degrees in the fields and disciplines in liberal arts suffered job cuts and lay-offs during this period (Cook 1) (The Death of Liberal Arts: How the Recession and Unemployment are making Schools and Students Rethink the Value of an Education in The Humanities 1). The numbers of tertiary institutions that offer courses in these fields have declined by nearly a hundred since the early nineties to date. Despite this trend in developments, there are facts that point towards this being the truth and there are some others that seem to dispute this idea. Current job markets indicate that every employee has to have at least some basic technical knowledge. This may mostly lie in the knowledge of Information Technology (IT). It is prudent to observe that in the modern world, nearly all organizations insist on recruiting employees who have basic knowledge on how to process data using computers. This may be in writing documents or even manipulating data to obtain a desired result. Therefore, most organizations recruit prospective employees with basic computer proficiency skills. These skills are deemed to be mandatory in communication and other day-to-day activities in the office. On the other hand, most companies that are recruiting prospective employees are insistent upon the ability of employees to integrate with the community. This would include the immediate community living within the precincts of the location of such companies or even the prospective customers. To have such abilities, one needs to have studied some form of psychology or even sociology. These form part of the liberal arts. Consequently, these companies recruit employees who have studied in these fields and hence have the abilities to mingle with the said people. This knowledge might be important in marketing or even companies that deal in communications and customer care. Therefore, there are job market patterns that may seem to suggest that liberal arts may not be totally dead. Kathleen Haney, a professor of Philosophy of Education in the University of Houston-Downtown, opines that in the view of a layman, liberal arts are dead. She observes that liberal arts are mainly important in the formative years of education such as the elementary and secondary education. Later on, when a student needs to become more skilled in specific subjects, he may need the knowledge acquired in the elementary and secondary that dealt more on liberal arts. Such skills might include languages so as to communicate with others well. However, in â€Å"The Liberal Arts and the End of Education†, she explains the need for everyone to view liberal arts as losing its shine due to the influence of development. Development, she insists, impresses upon scholars the need to embrace more technical subjects. This she attributes to the need by more organizations to employ people who have knowledge in practical-oriented subjects like sciences. In as much as her works seem to approve of this as the trend, she however goes ahead to implore us to change our mind-frame so that we can see liberal arts as pivotal in enabling us to be able to be proficient in these practical subjects. She insists that the more technical subjects would need the services of liberal arts to survive. This she subtly alludes to when she says that languages are the essence of understanding and communication. Therefore, she agrees to the fact that liberal arts are losing their shine due to the current patterns in job markets. She however does not encourage this as it might be of detriment to ignore important sections of liberal arts like languages. The trend that she observes goes way back in time and is founded from the early times. The enthusiasm with which liberal arts were embraced before the Industrial Revolution has considerably gone down due to the mentioned facts. There seems to be a number of reasons that have been fronted for this kind of happening. It is only natural that for this, there has to be some form of consequences. The future generations face a more challenging task of trying to ignore or even do without an important part of education. As a matter of fact, the consequences might have very heavy repercussions on education in general. The main factor that will contribute to this is the need for people who can efficiently communicate in certain settings. For instance, when languages are abolished in the curriculum, students will need extra efforts to learn foreign languages so that they can earn whole-some multi-cultural competency. An example is when a company needs to venture into a foreign market and it requires one of the staff members to be able to communicate to the natives in their language. This would mean that the staff will be required to learn the native language of the people residing in the area. This might be expensive to undertake as the only other option is to employ a native. Many people have come up with arguments in support of the notion that liberal arts are dead. However, there are some writers who have come up with opposing arguments that seem to be water-tight. The American Council of Learned Societies has come up with issues that seem to show that the liberal arts are still popular in colleges. It discusses the importance of liberal arts in communication and the full understanding of human nature (American Council of Learned Societies 1) (Liberal Arts in American Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities 1). It is subjects like philosophy and psychology that enable scientists like doctors and psychiatrists to understand how to deal with illnesses of the human mind. Coupled with this, the languages help in comprehension of several issues. Their argument is based on the fact that liberal arts build a comprehensive understanding of the human being. This seems to be a very convincing argument since most of sciences deal in the physical part of a human being but not on the moral, spiritual and social part. In the international arena, the science vs. art debacle has taken various forms depending on situations. For instance, many parents still insist on their children taking more professional courses as opposed to them having to take courses in liberal arts. It is of interest to note that many writers attribute this to the different priorities that people in the different social classes have. For instance, many students in the upper middle class will not feel pressured to earn degrees in the professional courses that are not seen as art-based. On the other hand, students who have to work to earn money for their fees have always chosen professional courses over the liberal arts. This has been attributed to the fact that the students from affluent families have no worries about fees and which college they feel they want to attend. Their schooling is a matter of choice as opposed to students with limited financial abilities who will be restricted to their budgets due to financial constraints. In conclusion, it has been shown that liberal arts are losing attention as an important part of education. Many factors have pointed to this. It is important to note that the need to study other technical subjects important in scientific development have led this. It is also important to note that the foundations of basic education are laid through the use of liberal arts like languages. Therefore, it is pragmatic to stop this trend before it leads to harm. The fact that more and more institutions are beginning to lower the budgetary allocations on liberal arts is worrying. It is worth noting that the recession exposed the weakness in the humanities sector of education as professionals in this field suffered more job cuts. This would actually lead to anyone conclusively saying that the liberal arts are actually dead. However, many a writer has sufficiently come up with arguments that signify the importance of liberal arts in the current and future settings. Therefore, while it is important to note that liberal arts are dying, it is a task set upon us to develop curricula that will ensure that the sections that liberal arts cover in education are taken over by an equally fulfilling branch of education. References Cook, N. The Death of Liberal Arts: How the Recession and Unemployment are making Schools and Students Rethink the Value of an Education in The Humanities. (5th April, 2010). Newsweek Web Exclusive. Web. America Council of Learned Societies. Liberal Arts in American Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities. 2005. American Council of Learned Societies. Print.

Knife and Dangerous Driving Crimes The WritePass Journal

Knife and Dangerous Driving Crimes 1.1 Introduction Knife and Dangerous Driving Crimes : 200). It is difficult to offer a valid sentence to cases involving serious injury and death due to small culpability involved. More so, cases usually involve momentary concentration loss as well as large degree of harm. Accident victims are also faced with life changing harm and injuries. Knife crime offenses will also feature any form of harassment, threat or possession of dangerous objects. The present has argued for and against the new offense proposal and highlighted some of the benefits. Thus, knife crime and dangerous driving cases should be handled with caution due to the newly introduced offenses. 1.2 Summary The government believes that dangerous driving should be dealt with appropriately and criminal law should be fully implemented. The proposal will greatly influence the statutory obligations as outlined in Equality Act 2010 (UK Government 2010). The proposal will apply to everyone in UK for dangerous driving. This implies that there is no direct discrimination in the 2010 Act. The new proposal will also apply both to those with a shared protected characteristic as well as those who do not share a certain protected characteristic (UK Government 2012). In analysis, individuals who share a set of characteristics are more likely to be convicted than those who do not share certain characteristics. The proposal has also considered differences in sex, race and age. The new proposal ensures that there is a proportionate response to address cases of dangerous driving in an effective manner. The proposal also includes the disabled with no serious adjustments. The main aim of the proposal is to include all the parties indiscriminately. The type of sentence for the disabled will solely depend on the seriousness of the injury as it may elicit positive effect on the disabled due to their actions (Shapland and Bottoms 2009: 90). More so, the new proposal is not an avenue to victimization and harassment. The government is satisfied with the changes to the offenses as it will reflect equality and foster good relations. 1.3 Benefits of the proposal Increasing the sentence term to 5 years will empower the judges to reflect on serious impacts of dangerous driving. The families and victims of serious accidents may be relieved by the changing trends in dangerous driving cases. More so, the society may feel relieved by the level of punishment fostered by the CJS (Shapland et al 2013: 190). It implies that the number of offenses will reduce due to deterrent effect. The scale of deterrent effect is mixed as well as the existing evidence. This has therefore hindered the quantification of the offense. The new proposal will not victimize drivers who have not committed any dangerous driving offense. The offenders in the new proposal will be entitled to three main verdicts. The verdicts are categorized into options. The first option prescribes no action on the offenders (UK Government 2010). This implies that there will be change under this option. The costs incurred and the benefits accrued from the option will be zero. In addition, option 1 is mandated to create a novel offense by inflicting injury due to dangerous driving. The creation of a new offense will automatically lead to extra cost with creation of a new offense of serious dangerous driving. It is difficult to identify number of cases that have resulted to serious injuries. The proposal has alluded to charges s.20 Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH) which estimates the number of serious dangerous driving cases (UK Government 2010). For instance, there were 20 cases involving GBH and dangerous driving where the defendants were charged accordingly. Serious injuries were caused as exemplified by introduction of GBH charges. The su ccess of conviction in this case is limited by the level and intent of carelessness. The level and intent of carelessness does not affect the new offense thus it is estimated that 20 cases will be convicted every year. The cases will lead to increase in the number of prisons from a sentence period of 1 year to 3 years (Shapland 2010: 343).   This implies that the marginal cost on MOJ will be  £ Im. The creation of the novel offense will imply that the sentence term increase from 2 years for dangerous driving and 14 years for causing death. This will imply that the courts will effectively deal with dangerous driving cases. The new offense will allow courts to exercise justice and end spectrum of careless and dangerous driving (UK Government 2010). The courts will instill a feeling of relieve on the victims of dangerous driving and their families. The new proposal will increase the term jail from a maximum of 2 years to 5 years for dangerous driving. It is evident that increasing maximum term sentence will generally drag sentences in the scope of dangerous driving as the courts will perceive that seriousness of the offences have increased. This will also imply that a significant increase in sentence term will increase demand for more prison places. However, the new offense will allow the courts to account for serious injuries caused by dangerous driving. 1.4 Knife crime The novel proposal has amended the offenses against threatening and possession of a pointed or sharp article. The law does not grant an excuse to anyone found in possession of a bladed or sharp article. The new proposal also seeks to clearly express that offense lobbied against possession will act as an alternative if the defendant is acquitted of the offense (Shapland 2012: 78).   The new proposal ensures that any person in possession of a knife is acquitted despite threatening or endangering others. 1.5 Mitigation and justification The purpose of these amendments is to ensure that the resultant impacts are justified in a proportionate manner to achieve the legitimate aim of the law. The law aims at effectively addressing consequences related to dangerous driving. However, increase in term sentence would not be appropriate as it will bear more physical injury on the offenders (UK Government 2010). The new offense will also apply to those already convicted of the charges. In any case offenders may be punished in form of consortium, fines or imprisonment. Punishment can also occur in three stereotypical forms of fines, prison and probation. The Federal sentencing Act justifies utilitarianism where punishment is a form of social goal or serves a certain purpose (UK Government 2010). Retributive theory justifies punishment for the committed immorality. The new proposal acts in accordance with retributive and utilitarian theories as the offense provide three options of charges based on the seriousness of the crime. Punishment in knife crime and dangerous driving is justified as the prosecution will weigh the intensity of the crime and the carelessness of the driver.   The prosecution also considers the fate of the victims and their families. 1.6 Conclusion There are several changes in knife crime and dangerous driving crimes. The changes have adhered to the retributive and utilitarian theories. The new provision has offered three options of charges on the offenders in these cases. The changes will greatly impact the prisons. The novel provisions will also instill discipline among drivers as the charges are non-discriminatory. The changes will also provide a sigh of relieve to the victims and their families. Execution of the new offenses will also empower judges due to increase in term sentence. Generally, knife and dangerous driving crimes will effectively bring normality on the roads. Bibliography Shapland, J. (2010) ‘Reflections on Social Values, Offending and Desistance Among Young Adult Recidivists’, Punishment and Society, 15(2). Shapland, J. (2012). The Quality of Probation Supervision-A Literature Review. Sheffield: Centre for Criminology Research. Shapland, J. and Bottoms, A. (2009).Steps towards Desistance: the Potential Role of Criminal Justice Support.Paper to the European Society of Criminology conference, Liege. Shapland, J., Robinson, G. and Sorsby, A. (2013) Restorative Justice in Practice.London: Routledge. UK Government. (2012). Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. Norwich: The stationery Office.

Corporate finance and Volatility

Corporate finance and Volatility Introduction Stocks’ beta expresses how much the stock prices may change as a result of changes in the financial market prices. A stocks beta of 1.06 indicates that for a 1% change in general market prices, the price of the particular stock will change by 1.06%. Such a stock price is considered to be less volatile.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Corporate finance and Volatility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Assets’ beta is the average of the different sources of finance that a firm chooses. The assets’ beta for a company that has been financed without debts is equal to equity’s beta. Weighted cost of capital represents the least amount of return that an investment can offer stakeholders. When the expected rate of return from a project is lower than WACC, it is considered unviable. Managers may consider those that break-even because of the economic level of returns. However, a proj ect must have a higher rate of return than WACC before wealth is created for holders of securities. A majority of firms uses debts to finance growth rather than wait for the profits. Fabozzi et al. (2008, p. 507) discuss that when a firm has no debt, â€Å"the beta of its equity is the same as its assets’ beta.† They also note that it is very rare for a company to operate without incurring some debts. Using debts makes a company’s equity riskier. Fabozzi et al. (2008, p. 507) explain that financial leverage causes â€Å"the market risk of a company’s stock to be higher than its asset’s risk.† In that case, equity’s beta exceeds assets’ beta. When the firms choose to fund assets by a combination of equity and debts, the risk involved is shared between the two groups of stakeholders. Fabozzi et al. (2008, p. 508) discuss that the â€Å"asset market risk is the weighted average of the company’s debt beta and equity beta be cause the asset’s risk is shared between creditors and owners.† In simple terms, the asset beta = debts beta (fraction of assets from debts) + equity beta (fraction of assets from equity). The equation of assets’ beta average is true because the variations from equity’s and stocks’ betas are correlated. The effect on one source of capital influences the chance of the other sources volatility.  Corporate taxable income is generated after deductions of interest paid on loans. The effect reduces what a firm pays as tax which makes their burden less. On the other hand, interest received by creditors is taxed after it is paid to them.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As a result of interest on debt being deductible, debts beta in most cases is assumed to be negligible.  WACC is used to â€Å"evaluate the impact of debt-financin g on risk and returns to investments† (Geltner et al. 2010, p. 307). Leverage is a term used to describe the common practice used by firms to fund their projects from debts, and equity. The WACC is derived from the formula of basic holding period return (HPR). The formula expresses assets as a sum of debts and equities. It also equates property cash flow to the sum of debt cash flow and equity cash flow. The returns received are shared by holders, and creditors. It is derived from the returns to capital generated by the firm. WACC represents the least rate of return on a project that evaluators consider before allowing a business plan to be implemented. The formula for WACC as presented by Hawawini Viallet (2011, p. 410) is shown below. In this case, kE represents cost of equity and kD is the cost of debt before taxation. Bierman (p. 195) discusses that WACC can be interpreted as â€Å"the cost of both current capital and an additional dollar of new capital if the existing capital structure is maintained†. The existing capital structure refers to the percentage of debt and securities that have been used to finance a project. Debts tend to reduce WACC because of tax deductions. As it can be seen in the formula â€Å"1 – tax rate† has a lesser effect on WACC compared to equity when the cost of capital is considered equal for both equities.  WACC includes returns to creditors and shareholders. Baker and Martin discuss that WACC is the â€Å"cost of raising funds to the firm† (2011, p. 192). On the other hand, it is the rate of return that investors consider before lending a firm. Creditors receive interest on money owed to them. Shareholders expect dividends, and gains in market value. The gains in market value are only possible if the firm chooses growth opportunities with higher rates of return than WACC. A firm can only add value to its capital after exceeding the rate of return owed to investors. The investors evaluate th e firm’s strategy, opportunities of growth, and risk.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Corporate finance and Volatility specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When a business opportunity promises slow growth, investors consider it as a high risk investment. Slow growth reduces a firm’s ability to repay its debts. For this reason, investors may require higher interest rates which may make a project unviable. The rate of return expected by investors also depends on what other financial assets receive as returns. Firms choose to finance their assets with a mixture of debt, preference shares and common equity. They choose a mixture that optimizes the price of their stock. Besley and Brigham (2009, p. 485) discuss that WACC â€Å"represents the minimum return the firm must earn on its investments to maintain its current level of wealth†. Besley and Brigham (2009) provide the formula below for calculati ng WACC. The WACC of most companies represents the average cost of its capital. Lumby and Jones discuss that the WACC of most companies may not be used to rate individual projects because most companies have their investments diversified (2003, p. 427). The WACC in most cases reflects the â€Å"average level of systematic risk throughout all its operations† (Lumby and Jones 2003, p. 427). Companies consider diversification as a means of reducing risk. The volatility of an individual project carried out by a company is unlikely to be represented by WACC because most companies calculate the overall value. The returns expected from different securities vary. Different capital sources carry different weights. Lumby and Jones (2003, p. 748) explain that â€Å"changing a firm’s capital structure changes its WACC†. Debts are an obligation. They are considered before financial assets. Dividends and other benefits are paid to preference shares before common shares.Adver tising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Importance of WACC A higher WACC will require that the performance must be higher before generating wealth for stakeholders. Megginson Smart discuss that firms use WACC to value the amount of effort needed before the firm can actually generate returns for shareholders (2010, p. 420). The firm’s market value declines if its WACC increases as a result of factors that the firm cannot control. Megginson Smart discuss that when a firm’s WACC is increased by an event it cannot address â€Å"its existing assets and its prospective investment opportunities become less valuable† (2010, p. 420). Such an effect can be expressed through a drop its market value. Such investments may go for a long period without dividends. Calculating the cost of capital Cost of capital involves what investors are willing to receive regularly as a result offering finances. Benninga Czaczkles discuss that the present value of stock can be obtained from the discounted annuity values using an ticipated growth in dividend streams (2000, p. 28). They give an example in which the expected growth of dividends is 10%. The following year, the dividend received on each share is $3. The present value of each share (Po) can be expressed as shown below. In this case, rE is the cost of equity/discount rate. D1 is used to represent the expected dividend, and g to represent the expected dividend growth rate. According to Benninga Czaczkes (2000, p. 29), the formula is summarized as shown below. This formula holds only for firms with normal growth. This is the Leonhard Euler derivation. For supernormal growth where g rE, the Gordon Model is applied. The formula for the Gordon Model which has been discounted over five years can be expressed as shown below. According to Benninga Czaczkes (2000, p. 31), the cost of equity under Gordon Model is expressed as shown below. Considering that anticipated dividends can be expressed in terms of the dividends received in the current year (Do ). The formula for the cost of equity is expressed as shown below. In the classic SML (Security Market Line) model, the formula for calculating the cost of equity is expressed as shown below (Benninga Czaczkes 2000, p. 35). In this case, rf represents the rate at which investment is considered safe, and E(rM) represents the interest rates that the financial market are expected to generate. The risk-free rate of return is reflected in financial assets with the least amount of risk such as interest rates on securities issued by government (Bennninga Czaczkes 2000). Treasury bills are considered risk-free indicators because governments are unlikely to default. When the expression is adjusted to integrate corporate tax, the expression becomes as shown below (Benninga Czackles 2000, p. 36). TC is the corporate tax rate. The cost of newly issued stock is expressed as shown below (Calculating the Cost of Capital n.d., p. 3). The cost of retained earnings is expressed below using ris k-free rate, market expected rate, and stocks beta (Calculating Cost of Capital n.d, p. 2). using the discounted cash flow approach. Cost of debt The cost of debt has different approaches. Benninga Czaczkes (2000) discuss that the cost of debt can be estimated using a firm’s existing average cost of debt even though it is not an accurate measure. The cost of debt is expressed as shown below (Calculating Cost of Capital n.d., P. 1). rd is the rate of return expected by investors to be paid on debts. Cost of preference capital Preference capital is associated with preference shares. Debts reduce the amount of corporate tax that a firm is entitled to pay. Khan Jain (2007) discuss that preference share differs from debts because payments on preference shares are made after tax deductions. Some preference shares are redeemable at maturity while others do not have a fixed maturity date. Both types receive annual fixed rates of return. Khan Jain (2007, p. 11.10) express the co st of irredeemable shares in two expressions as shown below. In this case, kp represents cost of preference capital, Dp is the fixed dividend, Po is the expected preference share price, f is the floatation costs expressed as a percentage of share price, and Dt is the tax rate on preference shares dividend. Preference shares that have a maturity date and a stream of earnings are discounted to a present value. Khan Jain (2007, p. 11.10) express that the cost of preference shares with a maturity date â€Å"is the discount rate that equates the net proceeds of sale of preference shares with the NPV of future dividends and principal repayments†. This means that capital gains that an individual obtains today from sales are compared to the gains of holding the preference shares to maturity. The cost of preference shares with a maturity date is expressed as shown below. Po represents share price, f is the flotation cost expressed as a percentage of share price, Dp is for dividend, and Pn is the amount paid at maturity. Kumar (2010) gives a more simplified formula for the cost of redeemable share capital as shown below. D represents dividends, M.V is the value on maturity, N.P is the net streams gains received on preference shares, n is the number of years. Using the average cost of 25% tax, the asset beta can be calculated using the formula below. The asset beta is expressed as: asset beta= Equity beta/ (1 + (1 – tax) D/E) (Asset Beta n.d.). D is the percentage of financing received from debts, and E from Equity. Asset beta = 1.06/ (1+ (1 – 0.25) 0.35/0.65)) = 0.755 However, since the tax rate is still unknown, the cost of equity can be estimated using stocks’ beta and market rate of return. The WACC is then used to express the volatility of expected returns. From this formula equity beta can be generated as follows: cost of equity = risk free rate of return + beta (market rate of return – risk free rate) Cost of equity = 0.0395 + 1.06 (0.0601 – 0.0395) = 0.061336 KE is the cost of equity and KD is the cost of debt before taxation The value of Equity/ total capital can be expressed as: Equity = 45/60 * 100% = 0.75 The value of debt as a fraction of the total capital is represented as: Debt = 15/60 * 100% = 0.25 WACC = (0.75 * 0.061336) + (0.25 * 0.0485) = 0.046002 + 0.012125 = 0.058127 This is approximately 0.058. The WACC estimates the least returns expected from investments. It influences the volatility of stock prices. From the expression in the question: This indicates that the assets’ beta can be calculated from the sum of the product various sources of capital and their beta. Asset beta = (0.75 * 1.06) + (0.25 * 0.058) = 0.795 + 0.0145 = 0.8095 Asset beta = 0.8095 The volatility of the stock market is derived from the asset beta. A value of less than 1 indicates that the assets are less volatile. b) The same formula is applied to calculate the asset value of Coral Gambles’ Asse t beta by first calculating the WACC. This is used as an estimate of the debt beta. From, the explanations above, the debt beta is always close to zero. WACC = (0.65 * 0.061336) + (0.35 * 0.0545) = 0.0398684 + 0.019075 = 0.0589434 WACC value of 5.9% (0.0589) indicates that an additional unit of capital may cost the firm 5.9% interest. The firm must invest in projects that generate above the 6% rate of return for shareholders to get capital gains. Asset beta = (0.65 * 1.06) + (0.35 * 0.059) = 0.689 + 0.02065 = 0.691 According to Bragg (2012, p. 142), the cost of common stock is â€Å"risk-free return rate + beta (average stock return – risk free return†. From this formula, it can be derived that stock beta = (cost of stock – risk-free rate) / (expected market return – risk-free rate) Cost of stock = 0.0395 + 0.691 (0.0601 – 0.0395) = 0.054 Coral Gambles’ Stocks beta = (0.054 – 0.0395) / (0.0601 – 0.0395) = 0.0145/ 0.0206 = 0.703 9 The common stock’s beta indicates the value by which the firm’s stock price changes as a result of variations in the general stock prices. A value of 0.7039 indicates that when the market value changes by 1%, the stock price of Coral Gambles varies by 0.7%. This shows that Coral Gamble stock price is less volatile that the overall market prices. WACC = (0.65 * 0.0601) + (0.35 * 0.0545 (1 – 0.25)) = 0.039065 + 0.0143 = 0.053365 From this calculation, it can be interpreted that investments must generate above the 5% rate of return for the project to add value to shareholders. The least acceptable cost of capital is 5%. This is the point where the firm operates at break-even. Conclusion The market stock’s beta of the similar company is more volatile than Coral Gamble stocks or the general market price. Coral Gamble stock price is less volatile than the average market prices. The WACC for both companies indicate that the CFO needs to search for growth oppo rtunities that generate more than 6% rate of return. Investors may consider interest rates that are close to 5%. The price (Po) generated in the calculation of share price is the discounted value of the current share price, and expected income streams. The income streams are paid to shareholders as yield per share or dividends. The assets’ beta indicates less volatility than stocks’ beta. However, the stock’s beta generates its volatility from assets’ beta. The Coral Gamble assets’ beta indicates that the firms assets are more stable than shifts in market prices, and interest rates. The asset beta has been calculated as a sum of the impact caused by the volatilities of different sources of capital. It can also be calculated from the equity beta, ratio of debts to equity, and tax rate. Equity beta is the beta quoted by financial reports as stock price volatility. Assets’ beta is equal to equity in situations where a firm has not used debts to finance its assets. The impact of debts’ beta on asset beta is reduced by the fact that it reduces corporate tax. Reference List Asset Beta n.d. Web. Baker, H, Martin, G 2011, Capital Structure and Corporate Financing Decisions: Theory, Evidence, and Practice, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken. Benninga, S, Czaczkes, B 2000, Financial Modeling, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Besley, S, Brigham, E 2009, Principles of Finance, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason. Bierman, H 2010, An Introduction to Accounting and Mangerial Finance: A Merger of Equals, World Scientific Publishing, London. Bragg, S 2012, Business Ratios and Formulas: A Comprehensive Guide, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken. Calculating the Cost of Capital n.d. Web. Fabozzi, J. F, Drake, P. P, Polimeni, S. R 2008, The Complete CFO Handbook: From Accounting to Accountability, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken. Geltner, D, Miller, N, Clayton, J Eichholtz, P 2010, Commercial Real Estate Analysis Investments, Ceng age Learning, Mason. Hawawini G, Viallet, C 2011, Finance for Executives: Managing for Value Creation, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason. Khan, M, Jain, P 2007, Financial management, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. Kumar, V 2010, Cost of Preference Share Capital. Web. Lumby, S, Jones, C 2003, Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason. Megginson, W, Smart, S 2010, Introduction to Corporate Finance, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason.

Sui Dynasty Emperors of China

Sui Dynasty Emperors of China During its short reign, Chinas Sui Dynasty reunited northern and southern China for the first time since the days of the early Han Dynasty  (206 BCE - 220 CE). China had been mired in the instability of the Southern and Northern Dynasties period until it was unified by Emperor Wen of Sui.  He ruled from the traditional capital at Changan (now called Xian), which the Sui renamed Daxing for the first 25 years of their reign, and then Luoyang for the last 10 years. Accomplishments of the Sui Dynasty The Sui Dynasty brought a great number of improvements and innovation to its Chinese subjects.  In the north, it resumed work on the crumbling Great Wall of China, extending the wall and shoring up the original sections as a hedge against nomadic Central Asians.  It also conquered northern Vietnam, bringing it back under Chinese control. In addition, Emperor Yang ordered the construction of the Grand Canal, linking Hangzhou to Yangzhou and north to the Luoyang region.  Although these improvements may have been necessary, of course, they required a huge amount of tax money and compulsory labor from the peasantry, which made the Sui Dynasty less popular than it might otherwise have been. In addition to these large-scale infrastructure projects, the Sui also reformed the land-ownership system in China. Under the Northern Dynasties, aristocrats had amassed large tracts of agricultural land, which was then worked by tenant farmers.  The Sui government confiscated all of the lands, and redistributed it evenly to all of the farmers in what is called the equal field system.  Each able-bodied male received about 2.7 acres of land, and able-bodied women received a smaller share.  This boosted the Sui Dynastys popularity somewhat among the peasant class but angered the aristocrats who were stripped of all their property.   Mysteries of the Time and Culture The second ruler of Sui, Emperor Yang, may or may not have had his father murdered.  In any case, he returned the Chinese government to the Civil Service Examination system, based on the work of Confucius.  This angered the nomadic allies that Emperor Wen had cultivated, because they did not have the tutoring system necessary to study Chinese classics, and thus were blocked from attaining government posts. Another cultural innovation of the Sui era as the governments encouragement of the spread of Buddhism.  This new religion had recently moved into China from the west, and the Sui rulers Emperor Wen and his empress converted to the Buddhism before the conquest of the south.  In 601 CE, the emperor distributed relicts of the Buddha to temples around China, following in the tradition of Emperor Ashoka of Mauryan India. The Short Run of Power In the end, the Sui Dynasty only held on to power for about 40 years.  In addition to angering every one of its constituent groups with the different policies mentioned above, the young empire bankrupted itself with an ill-planned invasion of the Goguryeo Kingdom, on the Korean Peninsula.  Before long, men were crippling themselves to avoid being conscripted into the army and sent to Korea.  The huge cost in money and in men killed or injured proved the Sui Dynastys undoing.   After Emperor Yangs assassination in 617 CE, three additional emperors ruled over the next year and a half as the Sui Dynasty crumbled and fell. The Sui Dynasty Emperors of China Emperor Wen, personal name Yang Jian, the Kaihuang Emperor, ruled 581-604Emperor Yang, personal name Yang Guang, the Daye Emperor, r. 604-617Emperor Gong, personal name Yang You, the Yining Emperor, r. 617-618Yang Hao, no era name, r. 618Emperor Gong II, Yang Tong, the Huangtai Emperor, r. 618-619 For more information, see the complete list of Chinese dynasties.

LAN and LAN to WAN Infrastructure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LAN and LAN to WAN Infrastructure - Essay Example Adequate internet security is one of the major challenges faced by businesses in today’s economy and the world at large. Vital information transferred over internet applications and networks on which governments and businesses depend on is usually facing unauthorized access. The process of organizing, gathering, finding, analyzing and managing of vital business information is crucial to the survival and success of a business. In 2003, computer viruses caused 55 billion in losses to businesses worldwide. In 2011, a solitary instance of unauthorized access cost Sony more than $170 million. On the other hand, Google suffered a $500,000 loss in 2005 as a result of hacking. According to King, single hacking instances can cost a firm or organization as much as $7 million a day. However, this also depends on the company’s revenue. In addition to the financial cost, hacking leads to time wastage. This is because employees remain idle while the systems are down.King implied that while big organizations have the financial capacity to absorb the costs emanating from such events /attack and revenue can be quite detrimental to operations of small firms. In this regard, a firm or business is often faced with a lot of vulnerabilities. Design flaws, incorrect implementation, poor security management, social engineering, and IT vulnerability are among the major sources of security weakness in an organization.

Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 12

Art History - Essay Example The pieces of art portray the intersection between the cultural history of the artists and the immediate societies, the respective histories, medium, as well as the specific geographical locations. The Ajanta art, for instance, portrays the Indian culture before 1200. This art was started in the 2nd century B.C. It was nevertheless given up in by the 7th century A.D. This art is a product of its context considering that pieces of art, in this case, have been considered the finest instances of Indian art based the Buddhist religious art. Buddhism as a religion was a very important part of the Indian culture during that time. It was thus essential for the religion and its values to be presented in a visual way (Kleiner 433). In light of the religious importance, the art shows figures of Buddha as well as a depiction of the Jataka tales. Using carvings was particularly a great way of ensuring that the message portrayed could last for a very long time and be passed from one generation to another. A useful example of the Ajanta art is painting of Padmapani as shown in fig.1. Another example of art is the Fresco Painting from the Romanesque Europe created during the early Medieval Europe. The method used to produce this art was mural painting, which involved the use wet lime plaster. Water was used for the pigment in merging with the plaster. Upon setting the plaster, the painting was then integrated to the wall. This type of art is attributed to the later Byzantine period (Kleiner 409). It depicts a lot regarding the mobility of techniques and styles of art. A good example is the Chora Monastery restoration and decoration, which depicts the Byzantine artists’ great skills and versatility. The context in which the art was created was religious since a cycle of Life of the Virgin as well as Christ’s Infancy and Ministry of are shown. These religious incidences

Debate between "bar code labeling" and " radio Assignment

Debate between "bar code labeling" and " radio frequency identification " - Assignment Example However, with the sole intension of enhancing the company’s supply chain even more, I want to present an in-depth comparison between the bar code labeling and the RFID to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each. It is my hope that this comparison will led to an informed recommendation regarding which among the two technologies the company should adopt. Before going into the advantages and disadvantages of each of the two technologies, it is important to have some background information about them. Both the barcode and RFID are technologies used for data collection. Therefore, they perform primarily the same functions. Additionally, the barcode technology came before the RFID. With this in mind, let me now focus on their advantages and disadvantages based on various aspects. 1. Read Rate – with regard to the reading rate, the barcode reader is slower than the RFID (Campbell Para7). The barcode technology depends on manual reading, which implies that it the reader can only scan one tag at time. However, the RFID can scan over 100 tags simultaneously. In this regard, the RFID technology is better than the barcode labeling. 2. Human Involvement – with the barcode technology, human intervention is required because the scanner has to be manually directed towards the tags (Campbell Para 7). However, with RFID, human intervention is not required because the technology is completely automated (Adaptalift Hyster n.p.). Therefore, the RFID technology will reduce the amount of labor required by the company. 3. Line of Sight – this is the main difference between the two technologies. With the barcode reader, the scanner has to face the barcode directly to read it. However, the RFID technology does not have to face the tag directly but can read within a broad range (Campbell Para 7). 4. Functionality –

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction Term Paper

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction - Term Paper Example The big question that remains begging for answers, therefore, is as to why Haiti had so many casualties as compared to San Francisco. Joyce (2010) of NPR news agency observed that â€Å"most buildings hardly met engineering standards and were significantly fragile to withstand an earthquake of such a magnitude.† Then why did the Haitians, and more so their government, allowed such buildings to be constructed? The answer is simple; most Haitian and low-income earners and can barely afford to build similar to those found in San Francisco or New York, for instance. Effective architectural design, proper choice of structural components, and adherence to construction code of ethics guarantee the development of affordable earthquake resistant buildings that are less affected by earthquakes.Earthquakes refer to sudden movements or shaking of the earth surface. It could be man-made, for instance, those caused by heavy machinery, or natural that are often caused by geological process o ccurring from within the earth surface. When it occurs, weak structures end up being destroyed. There are several reasons that cause building to fail in the event of an earthquake. For example, at the instance that an earthquake strikes, the vertical and horizontal movements cause the building to shift from its position of rest. However, due to forces of inertia, the building's weight somehow changes and, hence, causing failure of the building. Also, the material used in the construction of the building contributes to this failure.

Marketing Communication Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Communication - Research Paper Example The researcher states that some of the main benefits of an effective marketing campaign include market penetration, increased market share, increased market share, increased competitive advantage, and increased awareness among customers about the products of the company. However, in every marketing campaign, managers need to focus on finding an appropriate marketing mix in order to make the campaign successful and profitable for the company. In this, we will discuss the importance of the role of the marketing mix components in the success of businesses operating in today’s competitive business environment. Implementation of an effective marketing communication plan and taking steps to monitor the actual performance of the plan are of significant value for any company to succeed in a competitive business environment. In order to successfully monitor and control the working of the marketing communication plan, companies use the marketing mix as one of the main marketing tools. A s Belohlavek states, â€Å"The objective of a marketing mix is to establish the successive and simultaneous actions to influence the consumer’s or user’s purchasing decision†. Finding the right marketing mix holds the central value for the success of any marketing campaign. Marketing mix helps managers in determining the best way to market their products and services. As Varey states, â€Å"The marketing mix is seen as a collection of tools to be used to elicit desired responses from target markets†. It helps a company in finding the target market, as well as in determining the price of the product by considering various external business factors, such as the price being offered by competitors, similar products being offered by competitors, and buying the power of people living in any specific geographical location. Proper analysis or evaluation of all components of the marketing mix, which include price, place, product, and promotion, plays a key role in making the marketing plan successful for the company. As McDaniel and Gates state, â€Å"The mix is the unique blend of product, price, promotion, and place (distribution) designed to reach a specific group of consumers† (3). Companies usually develop their marketing strategies depending on the needs of the public and the market in which the product is to be placed. In highly competing firms, such as cell phone and automobile companies, the strategy regarding use of the marketing mix components does not remain the same forever. Managers of such companies review and change the nature of their marketing strategies continuously depending on internal and external business environments. For high profile brands, companies usually focus more on the promotion component of the marketing mix instead of price. Similarly, for a product which is to be placed in a market where there is a lot of competition, the company focuses more on price instead of promotion because customers like to b uy products of such companies that offer superior quality at a relatively low cost. Managers of high profile companies also analyze their marketing mix frequently in accordance with the level of customer acceptability regarding their product in order to make the required changes in the marketing strategies if needed.

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction Term Paper

A Research On Earthquake Resistant Building Construction - Term Paper Example The big question that remains begging for answers, therefore, is as to why Haiti had so many casualties as compared to San Francisco. Joyce (2010) of NPR news agency observed that â€Å"most buildings hardly met engineering standards and were significantly fragile to withstand an earthquake of such a magnitude.† Then why did the Haitians, and more so their government, allowed such buildings to be constructed? The answer is simple; most Haitian and low-income earners and can barely afford to build similar to those found in San Francisco or New York, for instance. Effective architectural design, proper choice of structural components, and adherence to construction code of ethics guarantee the development of affordable earthquake resistant buildings that are less affected by earthquakes.Earthquakes refer to sudden movements or shaking of the earth surface. It could be man-made, for instance, those caused by heavy machinery, or natural that are often caused by geological process o ccurring from within the earth surface. When it occurs, weak structures end up being destroyed. There are several reasons that cause building to fail in the event of an earthquake. For example, at the instance that an earthquake strikes, the vertical and horizontal movements cause the building to shift from its position of rest. However, due to forces of inertia, the building's weight somehow changes and, hence, causing failure of the building. Also, the material used in the construction of the building contributes to this failure.

Analysis of architecture work and theory of Peter Esienman Essay

Analysis of architecture work and theory of Peter Esienman - Essay Example A series of deconstructivist rectilinear box like houses designed as experiments in geometry and philosophy, were known initially only by numerals (I to X). Eisenman predominantly used grids as an organizing principle in this set of his earlier work. He experimented and investigated a variety of theoretical ideas including the notion of deep structure, a proposition that there is a universal, underlying ordering device that is the natural and logical generator of a design. The later larger design compositions reflect geometries derived from historical references or from circumstances of the building site. The Wexner Center for the Arts (1983-1989) at Ohio State University is a remarkable example for this. The House VI displays unclear structural functions. The house was designed primarily as an exercise in geometric autonomy. It represents efficient method of construction but labeled by many critics as having futile construction elements. The house is constructed using primarily a post and beam system, with box beams and large dimension timbers forming the major elements of the structural system. The building is a study in the relationships between the actual structure and the architectural theory. Many of the forms that appear structural are actually included to reinforce the concepts behind the design and not essentially for the purpose of providing structural strength and stability to the building. The design displays non practical and philosophical use of structural elements such as an exterior column that does not reach the ground and a linear design element in the bedroom floor which created practical problems and disallowed the owners to use it in a desirable manner. The spatial organization of spaces also displays antagonistic planning. He practiced the philosophy of "post-functionalism" in architectural designs of the houses in which he added the element of function after the completion of design and the celebrated thinking of ‘form follows the

Importance of black church Essay Example for Free

Importance of black church Essay One of the primary institutional foundations of the black community is the Black church. It is necessary to evaluate the role that has been played by the Black church in response of the abovementioned needs and negative impacts of the black youth today. In this regard, a total of 635 Northern churches were surveyed by the Black Church Family Project. The North Central comprises of 320 churches, while, Northeastern United States comprises of 315 churches. Youth support programs were regarded during the existence of the churches. Adolescent nonmembers of the church were targeted by at least one program in one hundred and seventy-six churches. Low-income homes were most of the targets, as suggested during the study. â€Å"Many have sought to account for the distinctive features of black religious life by focusing major attention on the distant past. They have been preoccupied with African roots rather than with the American experience out of which the black churches emerged† (1983, 157). A variety of sources was used by the Black Church Family Project for the identification of the targets, as black churches were not having any comprehensive list of their churches. Official denominational lists, the National Urban League, as well as, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s local chapters were included in these sources. In addition, local ministerial alliance’s list, and data from the universities were also included in the sources. The executive offices of the mayors and county executives were also inquired for any valid information during the study. Funeral directors, telephone directories, and black churches, as well as, the denominations were also included and regarded in the sources during the assessment of sources as maximum as possible. The Lincoln and Mamiya study that was done in the year 1990 was focused during the study, and its seven historically black denominations were focused as a goal during the study. Eight historically white denominations and several other black denominations were also used for the maximum collection of information regarding the subject. Several noteworthy limitations have been confronted during the study. First, no previously developed or verified resources were benefited by the designing of the project-sampling frame due to the non-availability of the national roster of black congregations. The identification of the sampling universe was the first major problem of the study. The actual number of the black churches across the country was unknown, although, 65,000 to 75,000 was the estimated number of black churches in the United States, as agreed by the religious scholars of the country. Identification and location of some churches were not possible due to their faith traditions and churches with no permanent addresses and telephone numbers. Therefore, the sample excluded and underrepresented these entities. Thirty-nine percent of the churches provided the greatest interest regarding the teen-support programs among the 176 churches, in which, youth programs were organized. Christian fellowships, seminars group, workshops discussions, rap sessions, counseling, and ministry were consisted in these programs. Sports activities were the second most prominent offering in these churches. Athletic camps, teams, and martial arts classes were provided by thirty-one percent of the churches. Three percent of the churches provided youth AIDS support programs, while two percent of the churches offered youth health-related services, which were among the least common programs. Persons with AIDS were given with financial support, counseling, classes, and seminars by the former one. Health clinics, screening of health problems, and seminars were included in the latter one. However, it should be noted that fifteen percent of the churches offered substance abuse programs. Counseling for drug and alcohol, seminars for drug abuse preventive measures, and various workshops were included in these substance abuse programs of the churches. Additionally, sixteen percent of the churches offered college student financial support services, which included emergency financial assistance, and scholarships. Parenting and sexuality issues were handled by fifteen percent of the churches. These churches offered counseling, classes, workshops, pregnancy preventive measures, seminars, and support for teen parents. Issues regarding the youth at risk were dealt by fourteen percent of the churches. Counseling, delinquency prevention, and delinquent youth residence issues were included in these offering. Role modeling was reported by eight percent of the churches, which included mentors, and foster grandparents. Employment and job readiness was reported by seven percent of the churches, which included summer employment opportunities, job training, and career/job fairs. Other youth support programs were listed by fourteen percent of the churches. The importance of human resources and leadership was suggested by another finding. The more youth programs were found, when the clergy was paid more. Youth programs were offered by only sixteen percent of the churches with no paid clergy. However, one paid clergy was found in only twenty-nine percent of the churches, and two or more paid clergy were found in forty-nine percent of the churches during the study. The youth programs were also depended on the number of paid staff in the churches. In this regard, youth programs were offered by only eighteen percent of the churches, which were not having any paid staff. The youth programs were existed in a number of characteristics of the churches. Methodist, middle-class, older, and larger membership churches were found to be more interested in organizing youth programs in their communities. In addition, owned or mortgaged, and churches with more staff and paid clergy were also appeared to be having greatest interest in youth programs. Youth programs are not offered by most of the black churches, even with the availability of such characteristics and resources. For instance, some types of family-oriented community outreach programs are offered by two-thirds of black churches in Northern regions, the specific youth programs are addressed by only a quarter of these churches. In addition, some variations were also noted among the churches during the study. Considerable potential for expansion is suggested, as youth programs have been engaged and organized by only a quarter of black churches.

Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyw

Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyw 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT OUTLINE The title of the project chosen by the author is â€Å"Study on the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices† which simply means that the author analyzes the topic through an empirical study. The study focuses on the factors that influence Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices. Computers and mobile devices are widely used; they are used to access the internet, while everyone wants to acquire the internet in todays world. While technology advances, so are the criminal activities on the technology. When talking about computer crime, the first thing that comes to mind is spyware. Spyware is so big of a crime that millions of dollars are lost annually due to it. Hackers use spyware to still private information from the users like credit card information and so on. Although spyware has been here for a long time, it is computer crime with no legal consequence. Users have little or no knowledge about what spyware is and what it can do to them and their machines (computers and mobile devises). Even though virus has been around longer than spyware, but spyware is beginning to make its mark with computer security breaches. Spyware can collect personal data from a users computer. If not taken care of spyware can cause delayed processing of many of your applications. Below are the brief descriptions of each chapter: Chapter one: Introduction This chapter provides a brief overview of the project. It provides the reader with the background information about spyware and the problem statement. The research questions, limitations and methodology are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter two: Literature Review This chapter mainly deals with the pertinent literature of the spyware and discussion on the various types of spyware effect and the comparison between the mobile spyware and the computer spyware. Lastly, the chapter will also discuss about the factors enhancing spyware growth. Chapter three: Research Framework and Hypotheses Development In this chapter, the author is going to propose the research framework/model and hypotheses to explore the users perception about privacy, self efficiency, security, legal framework, spyware knowledge and self-efficiency, trust and cost. Chapter four: Research Methodology This chapter will describe the research design that is used during the research. The chapter will discuss the overall research process. The chapter will also include information on data collection, sampling plan and questionnaire development. Chapter five: Data Analysis and Findings This chapter will outline the data collected through questionnaire and interviews by making use of the appropriate software and analysis of the study. The chapter will also provide discussion of the research findings. Chapter six: Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter will discuss about the result of the previous chapter the contribution of the study to the body knowledge. Conclusion along with future enhancement will also be discussed in the chapter. This chapter concludes the research. 1.2 INTRODUCTION This chapter is meant to give the user/reader helpful idea and an insight to the whole research. Most readers will like to get a grasp of the main ideas of a research paper before actually proceeding to read the whole research. This chapter clearly states the primary objective of the research and the main problem which is been researched. The backgrounds and nature of the study are also highlight the purpose of the research. Several books and journals have been read by the author so as to have foundation knowledge on the concept of spyware. Spyware is a significant problem to most computer users today. The term â€Å"spyware† describes a new class of computer software. This software tracks users activities online or offline, provides targeted advertising, and engage in other types of activities that the user does not desire or the user may describe as invasive to them. Analysis suggests that these types of programs may reside on up to 90 percent (%) of all the computers connected to the internet (EarthLink 2005). Frequently, programs bundle spyware with freeware or shareware, though it can also arrive via email, instant messages or web downloads. While the magnitude of the spyware problem is well documented, even do recent studies have had only limited success in explaining the broad range of user behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of spyware. Unlike viruses and other malicious code, users wont even know that spyware is installed in their systems. This is because some spywares cannot be detected by most anti-viruses and anti spyware that we have today. Anecdotal evidence suggests, and our study confirms, that some users are willing to install spyware when the desired application is of perceived high utility and a comparable product without spyware is not available or known to the user (Michelle Delio, 2004). The authors goal in this study is to understand the factors and users decision making process that leads to technical defensive measures. During installation, users are presented with notices such as software agreements, terms of service (TOS), end user licensing agreements (EULA), and security warnings. Based on information in these notices, users should, in theory, be able to make a decision about whether to install the software and evaluate the potential consequences of that decision. However, there is a general perception that these notices are ineffective and users often dont even read the software agreement, terms of service, end user licensing or security warnings. One software provider included a $1000 cash prize offer in the EULA that was displayed during each software installation, yet the prize was only claimed after 4 months and 3,000 downloads of the software (PC PitStop 2005). 1.3 BACKGROUND STUDY Spyware has existed at least since the late 1980s when some Keyloggers where discovered in some university computers. â€Å"The word spyware was first used in publicly in October 1995. It popped up on Usenet (a distributed Internet discussion system in which users post e-mail like messages) in an article aimed at Microsofts business model† (Shanmuga 2005). Over the years, there has been a steady growth in the use of spyware by online attackers and criminals to execute crime against individual, companies and organisations. In the span of just few years, spyware has become the internets most popular download. During the years, the anti-spyware was developed to tackle this problem. The anti-spyware was meant to find, detect and remove the spyware. But even with the development of anti-spyware, spyware still continues to grow every day. One of the factors that aid this growth is the lack of standard definition of spyware. Jerry Berman, President of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), explained in testimony to the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in March 2004 that â€Å"The term has been applied to software ranging from keystroke loggers that capture every key typed on a particular computer; to advertising applications that track users web browsing; to programs that hijack users system settings.† (CDT 2004) He noted that what these various types of software programs â€Å"have in common is a lack of transparency and an absence of respect for users ability to control their own computers and Internet connections† (CDT 2004). Different anti-spyware companies and organizations use different definition which makes even difficult for the users of computers and mobile dont even know what spyware is, as such how can they know the threat of it and the harm it those to their devices 1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT The problem statement of this research study is â€Å"does the hypothesized factors influence and positively affects the users attitude towards spyware?† Even do spyware has been here for over two decades, it still does not have a standard definition. This makes it harder for users to understand what spyware is and how it affects their system, and how deep is the level of impact (Norbert 2007). Past studies have been done to study the development of spyware and its growth, how it affects the businesses, privacy and other personal informations of the users, and disrupts the performance of the users machine, and the factors that influence the growth. While the magnitude of the spyware problem is well documented, these studies have had only limited success in explaining the broad range of user behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of spyware. Unlike virus and other malicious codes, users often have the choice to whether they want to install this spyware or not. This situation often arises as a result of users not reading the software agreement, term of service or the end user licensing agreements. While other users install it with other programs without knowing. Nonetheless, only very few studies focus specifically on the factors influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices, and most of them were carried out in the United States of America USA. Addressing this problem is a very big issue, because users dont want to spend two to five minutes of their time to read the terms of service. The software producers often put in a lot of information in the terms of service there by making the user not read because it is too lengthy. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS With reference to the Problem statement, the author suggested the following questions: What are the factors influencing Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware among users? What are the theoretical models used and extended in previous research studies of spyware? What are the users reactions towards spyware? How will the research result affect the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware on computers and mobile devices? 1.6 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES With reference to the research questions, the author developed the following research objectives for the study: To identify the factors influencing Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware among users. To study and discuss the theoretical models used and extended in previous research studies of spyware. To better understand the users reaction towards spyware. To discuss the empirical result and the suggestion to promote and reduce the growth of spyware. 1.7 NATURE OF STUDY The author is studying about the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in both mobile devices and computers, and he will generate some questionnaires which he will use to gather information from the general public. This study was design in such a way that the author and other practitioners will answer questions based on their perspective view. The conceptual model was based on extensive literature review of various theoretical models that is aligned with the technological, network, economical, business and some other dimension. The conceptual model is then converted into research model for validation and testing using data collected from the general public and some network specialist. 1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY This study presents two main implications, the theoretical contribution and the practical contribution. The developed model in this study consists of six constructs; they are spyware knowledge, perceived privacy control, security effect, self efficiency, legal framework, and trustworthiness and trust in vendors. This model is tested empirically to explain what will lead the users to take technical defensive measures. In practical contribution, the result of this study will also benefit the software vendors, the users of computers and mobile devices, and any other institution will be able to apply the key factors obtained from this research to meet their institutional, organizational or personal needs. This study will benefit in term of providing the users point of view and it will also contribute to administration decisions as the finding of the research help direct them to the area of focus. The findings will make the contribution in term of creating an understanding on the factors influencing technical defensive measures. 1.9 METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW This research is design in such a way that it was divided in two adopted steps. The steps are the pre-test study and the main study. The pre-test study was the study that was done in the early stages of the research. This involves the literature reviewing of type of spyware, impact of spyware, how spyware affects the machine and so on. The pre-test was conducted to gain a greater understanding about spyware. The pre-test study helps in understanding the topic there by producing the main research questions. The main study will be conducted based on a survey, a questionnaires conducted among users, corporations and some top school in Malaysia. The questionnaire will be use to collect data on some of the identified problems. The collected data will then be analyzed using the appropriate statistic tools. 1.10 CONCLUSION In conclusion, this chapter introduces the research to the reader by bringing out the background of spyware, the primary objective of the research, also stating the main questions of the research. It also discusses the methodology in summary. In short, this chapter will provides the reader will hopeful idea about the research. The following chapters will further provide the literature review on the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in our machines and devices. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will provide an in-depth detail on spyware as well as the types of spyware. The chapter will also bring out all the possible definitions of spyware, the overview of spyware. The chapter will bring out the possible ways in which spyware operates and it will talk a little about the target victims of the spyware. The chapter also talks about mobile device spyware and how it is different of compute spyware. The chapter will also analyze the infection methods of spyware and so on. 2.2 DEFINITION It is not easy to bring out a standard definition on spyware, which makes it much harder to understand. But the author will bring out all the definitions he can find and also propose/bring his own definition based on his understanding of the spyware. In the definition of spyware, two particular issues must be included for the definition to be complete. But research shows that users only stick to either one of the two when defining spyware. This two issues are always been contested by the users. The two particular issues contested are the range of software behaviour and the degree of user consent that is desirable. Firstly, some users prefer the narrow definition which focuses on the monitoring (Surveillance) aspects of spyware and its ability to steal, communicate and store information about users and their behavior. Others prefer the broad definition that includes adware, toolbars, search tools, hijackers and dialers. Definitions for spyware also include hacker tools for remote access and administration, key logging and cracking passwords. Second, there is limited agreement on the lawfulnessof spyware that engages in behavior such as targeting advertisements, installing programs on user machines and collecting click stream data. Users consider a wide range of programs that present spyware-like functionality unacceptable. To complicate the definition, certain software behaviors are acceptable in some contexts but not others. Furthermore, there is concern over user notice and consentrequired during an installation process. The practice of bundlingsoftware, which merges spyware with unrelated programs, also heightens this concern. Jerry Berman, President of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), explained in testimony to the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in March 2004 that â€Å"The term has been applied to software ranging from keystroke loggers that capture every key typed on a particular computer; to advertising applications that track users web browsing; to programs that hijack users system settings.† (CDT 2004) He noted that what these various types of software programs â€Å"have in common is a lack of transparency and an absence of respect for users ability to control their own computers and Internet connections† (CDT 2004). The author will also like to propose his definition of spyware based on his understanding of the matter. Spyware is a program that is installed in the machine with or without the permission of the user, and it can monitor the activities of the user, steal valuable information from the user and send to a third party and disturb/regulate the functionality of the machine like speed, stability and internet access efficiency. 2.3 OVERVIEW 2.3.1 Types of spyware Basically any software that can be installed in the users machine which is used to obtains information from their computer or mobile device without their knowledge can be termed as a spyware. There are many types of spyware that are doing the rounds on the Internet, but in technical terms, you can classify them into two broad categories namely, Domestic Spyware and Commercial Spyware (UpickReviews 2007). 2.3.1.1 Domestic spyware Domestic spyware is software that is usually purchased and installed by computer owners to monitor the Internet behaviour on their computer networks. Employers usually use this software to monitor employee online activities. Some family members use domestic spyware to monitor other family members, while parents and guardians often use this kind of software to monitor the activities of their children online. Some people use this kind of softwares to spy on their friends and girl friend. In America, many couples often install this kind of software on their partners mobile phone in other to monitor their call. This usually happens when one party thinks the other is cheating on them. A third party can also install domestic spyware without the knowledge of the computer owner on their machine or mobile device. Law enforcement officials have often used domestic spyware to monitor suspected criminal activity and criminals have used domestic spyware to siphon personal information from private computers in order to steal assets (TopTenReviews 2003). Domestic spyware is one of the most common spyware used on mobile devices. This is done to monitor the activity of the target victim i.e calls and SMS. 2.3.1.2 Commercial spyware. These types of software systems are often used by third parties to monitor and record the browsing behaviour of the user. The main purpose of it is to monitor the online habits of the user and sell the gathered information to anyone who might be interested. It is often online businesses that buy the information and use it to hit the user with targeted advertising, i.e. advertisements that relate to your usual Internet browsing habits. Advertisers often use commercial spyware simply because it is far simpler, economical and faster than collecting information through legal means such as contests, questionnaires, registration surveys and the likes. It is also because information gathered by spyware is far more reliable because users often dont cooperate when it comes to filling questionnaire sincerely, while some may accept to do it but they will not give true information when it comes to their private things. Since it represents the users true browsing behaviour, the advertisers go for it. You may take your pick while filling out an online registration form, but you just cannot cheat a spyware because it simply monitors and records all your activities. In the past marketers had to bribe their way to learn the users preferences through contests, registration surveys and the like. Those methods of gaining the users personal information still exist, but in those cases you have the power to read the fine print to learn the fate of your data and so could choose to consent or refuse There are many types of spyware that are classified under commercial spyware. They are: Browser hijackers, adware, Malware, dialers, Trojans and viruses, Worms, etc. 2.3.1.2.1 Adware Adware is the most common type of spyware available. They are cookies which hide on your computer waiting for you to go online. The cookies often get into your computer through popup that you open. Once the adware detects that youre connected to the Internet it starts sending you popup, pop-over, pop-under ads, and some sort of advertisement for anything from airline tickets to porn site membership. Not only that but even information on your viewing habits is tracked and stored. This data is then sold on to marketing companies who will be sending you more junk email and popup ads (Spam-site 2006). 2.3.1.2.2 Dealers Software that gets installed on your computer that has the ability to make phone calls from your computer, though a phone-connected modem, without your knowledge. These programs will connect to other computers, through your phone line, which are usually porn sites. These numbers are pay per minute call though, so you get charged for the amount of time your computer is connected to it. ile dialers do not spy on users they are malevolent in nature because they can cause huge financial harm to their victims. It is mostly used by porn sites. They can also be classified as hijackers (Abrams 2009). 2.3.1.2.3 Malware Malware is malicious software designed specifically to damage users machine. But Malware is typically not self-replicating or designed for PC-to-PC distribution (Pareto 2009). 2.3.1.2.4 Trojan Trojan is a program that contains hidden functionality, often posing as useful applications yet performing Spyware or Adware functions and facilitates unauthorized access to the users computer system. The term ‘Trojan horse was found from the mythical wooden horse that carried hidden Greek soldiers into Troy (Pareto 2009). 2.3.1.2.5 Worm Worms are self-replicating, fast-spreading Internet threats that are more like viruses than Spyware. They differ from viruses in that they can replace entire files on the host computer. Both viruses and worms attempt to spread to as many computers as possible, using e-mail, the Internet, and file-sharing networks as methods of distribution (Pareto 2009). 2.4 OPERATIONS OF SPYWARE The usual method for a spyware to operate is to run secretly in the background of the users computers (McCardle 2003). The reason behind this concealing of processes is commonly argued as that it would hardly be acceptable, e.g., if free file-sharing software kept stopping to ask the user if they are ready to fetch a new banner or a pop-up window (Townsend 2003). Therefore, the client/server routine of spyware is normally executed in the background. In practice, there would be nothing wrong with spyware running in the background provided that the users know that it is happening, what data is being transmitted, and that they have agreed to the process as part of the conditions for obtaining the freeware. However, most users are unaware that they have software on their computers that tracks and reports information on their Internet usage to a third party. Typically, a spyware program secretly gathers user information and spreads it without the users knowledge of it. Once installed, the spyware monitors, e.g., user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to third parties, such as advertising companies. In reality, spyware run constantly, even when their carrier program, e.g., a file-sharing tool, has been terminated. A more or less legal grey area is utilized by the spyware actors, since in most program licenses they specify that information may be gathered for corporate purposes. However, the usual model is to collect more information than they have asked for (Townsend 2003). Besides this, most license agreements are been formulated in such a way that the reader finds it extensively hard for users to understand. 2.5 SPYWARE INFECTION METHOD Spyware infects its victims through many different ways. The most common of these ways include drive-by download, P2P wrecks havoc, free software download, social engineering and vulnerability route. 2.5.1 Drive-by downloads This is a program that is automatically downloaded to users computer, often without the users knowledge. The download may be initiated when the user visits a website or by another application. Drive by downloads can also be initiated by Mouse Over downloads, requiring a user to run the mouse over a malicious Pop-up ad or malicious pop-up window. Another scenario is when the user visits a website that pops up a window with a message like in order to properly view this website you must install this program. The FTP / HTTP Get request will initiate the download of the software onto the client machine. Installation will be performed by the user and during this installation they will be asked permission to install the malware as well as the software. Internet Explorer uses ActiveX controls for installing legitimate plug-ins like Flash, to enhance the browsers functionality and provide interactive programs for Internet Explorer. When misused, it provides a means for installing spyware such as dialers, browser hijackers, and other types of malware. ActiveX programs can automatically download to a users computer, often without users knowledge. It can be invoked from web pages through the use of a scripting language or directly with an HTML OBJECT tag. On execution by a web browser, it has full access to the Windows operating system and does not run in a â€Å"sandbox. Depending on browser security settings, the browser application may display a security warning to either stop or continue the installation. The warning may not offer a proper description of the program, and usually is misleading or could be masked by other deceptive dialog boxes. Sometimes â€Å"No† is not taken for an answer, and repeated attempts are made to get the user to approve and download the application. ActiveX controls can be signed or unsigned. Signed ActiveX controls are automatically installed while browsing the web, and are used by spyware applications. A signed ActiveX control only verifies that the code or control was from the signer and that it has not been altered; however, it may still be malicious (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.2 P2P Wrecks Havoc Most of the spyware comes bundled with other popular programs that are that are free, also through most of the peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa, Bearshare, Limewire among others. They install malware in the machine as part of the P2P installation process. The P2P application may not function if these components are not installed. These â€Å"free† versions generate ad revenue for their publishers, causing pop-ups and sending information to affiliate networks for data aggregation or data mining. Applications such as Cydoor, New.net, TopText, SaveNow, Webhancer, VX2, CommonName, GetNet/ClearSearch, IncrediFind and OnFlow are among the few applications that are installed this way and may serve up ad banners and ad messages, or track your Internet surfing habits. Unfortunately, the makers of the host programs try not to advertise their programs hidden payloads. Reading the licensing agreement (carefully) during installation will often reveal embedded licenses for the piggybacking adware (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.3 Software free web download Some of the softwares that they claim is free in the internet, when you download and install them, at the same time you will be installing a secondary program. This secondary program is a spyware. It will monitor your activity and report to a third party or a central database. If the user notices the spyware and deletes it, but didnt delete the software, whenever the system online, the software will download the spyware application and install it again. This kind of infection often occurs when the use fails to read the license agreement. In other cases, the license agreement is twisted in such a way that the user will not understand it (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.4 Social engineering Sometimes when users browse the web, they may receive offers for corrective programs or special plug-ins that may be described as necessary for viewing the site. These voluntary but covert and unintentional installations are one source of spyware. Some of these offers are made to appear like a Windows alert from Microsoft or an anti-spyware application to tricks users into downloading and installing them (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.5 Security holes in internet explorer Another method of infection is by exploring the security holes in internet explorer. Internet Explorer has had multiple security vulnerabilities, some of which are disclosed by Microsoft with downloadable updates and patches. Some spyware applications take advantage of these holes and install Trojan droppers, which redirect the browser to portal sites. CoolWebSearch (one of the most notorious pests in recent times) and many other spyware are known to take advantage of Internet Explorer security holes. KeenValue, and InternetOptimizer are examples that use Trojan downloader (Shanmuga 2005). 2.6 MOBILE DEVICE SPYWARE Since 2004, spyware has been observed to spread among mobile devices through Bluetooth, infrared, and other forms of connections like wireless network. According to F-Secure, the number of spyware known to target mobile devices are approximate 100 (Hypponen, 2006), as of then. However, others like (Dagon, Martin, and Starner, 2004) believed that spyware will inevitably grow into a serious problem in the future. There had already been some complex, blended spyware threats on mobile devices. Within a few years, mobile spyware have grown in sophistication in a way reminiscent of 20 years of PC spyware evolution. Unfortunately, mobile devices ware not designed for security and they have limited defenses against continually evolving attacks. Mobile devices are attractive targets for several reasons (Hypponen, 2006a). This is because mobile devices have progressed far in term of hardware and communication. Mobile phones have grown from simple organizer/ communication device to a mini computer with their own operating system (like palm, windows mobile, google phone and so on) that can download and install applications. Another reason for the mobile device attack is because they are well connected. They are capable of internet access for Web browsing, facebooking , emailing, charting and applications similar to those in the PCs. They can also communicate by cellular, IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN, short range communication like Bluetooth and infrared for shorter range communication, and multimedia messaging service (MMS). Another reason for mobile spyware attack is the size of the target population. Such large target population is attractive for the spyware and malware writers who want to maximize their impact. 2.6.1 Differences to computer spyware There are three important difference of mobile device security compared to personal computer security (Becher and Freiling 2008). A first difference is the inherent possibility for Spyware to generate costs for the user and revenue to the Spyware author. This problem existed previousl Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyw Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyw 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT OUTLINE The title of the project chosen by the author is â€Å"Study on the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices† which simply means that the author analyzes the topic through an empirical study. The study focuses on the factors that influence Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices. Computers and mobile devices are widely used; they are used to access the internet, while everyone wants to acquire the internet in todays world. While technology advances, so are the criminal activities on the technology. When talking about computer crime, the first thing that comes to mind is spyware. Spyware is so big of a crime that millions of dollars are lost annually due to it. Hackers use spyware to still private information from the users like credit card information and so on. Although spyware has been here for a long time, it is computer crime with no legal consequence. Users have little or no knowledge about what spyware is and what it can do to them and their machines (computers and mobile devises). Even though virus has been around longer than spyware, but spyware is beginning to make its mark with computer security breaches. Spyware can collect personal data from a users computer. If not taken care of spyware can cause delayed processing of many of your applications. Below are the brief descriptions of each chapter: Chapter one: Introduction This chapter provides a brief overview of the project. It provides the reader with the background information about spyware and the problem statement. The research questions, limitations and methodology are also discussed in this chapter. Chapter two: Literature Review This chapter mainly deals with the pertinent literature of the spyware and discussion on the various types of spyware effect and the comparison between the mobile spyware and the computer spyware. Lastly, the chapter will also discuss about the factors enhancing spyware growth. Chapter three: Research Framework and Hypotheses Development In this chapter, the author is going to propose the research framework/model and hypotheses to explore the users perception about privacy, self efficiency, security, legal framework, spyware knowledge and self-efficiency, trust and cost. Chapter four: Research Methodology This chapter will describe the research design that is used during the research. The chapter will discuss the overall research process. The chapter will also include information on data collection, sampling plan and questionnaire development. Chapter five: Data Analysis and Findings This chapter will outline the data collected through questionnaire and interviews by making use of the appropriate software and analysis of the study. The chapter will also provide discussion of the research findings. Chapter six: Conclusion and Recommendation This chapter will discuss about the result of the previous chapter the contribution of the study to the body knowledge. Conclusion along with future enhancement will also be discussed in the chapter. This chapter concludes the research. 1.2 INTRODUCTION This chapter is meant to give the user/reader helpful idea and an insight to the whole research. Most readers will like to get a grasp of the main ideas of a research paper before actually proceeding to read the whole research. This chapter clearly states the primary objective of the research and the main problem which is been researched. The backgrounds and nature of the study are also highlight the purpose of the research. Several books and journals have been read by the author so as to have foundation knowledge on the concept of spyware. Spyware is a significant problem to most computer users today. The term â€Å"spyware† describes a new class of computer software. This software tracks users activities online or offline, provides targeted advertising, and engage in other types of activities that the user does not desire or the user may describe as invasive to them. Analysis suggests that these types of programs may reside on up to 90 percent (%) of all the computers connected to the internet (EarthLink 2005). Frequently, programs bundle spyware with freeware or shareware, though it can also arrive via email, instant messages or web downloads. While the magnitude of the spyware problem is well documented, even do recent studies have had only limited success in explaining the broad range of user behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of spyware. Unlike viruses and other malicious code, users wont even know that spyware is installed in their systems. This is because some spywares cannot be detected by most anti-viruses and anti spyware that we have today. Anecdotal evidence suggests, and our study confirms, that some users are willing to install spyware when the desired application is of perceived high utility and a comparable product without spyware is not available or known to the user (Michelle Delio, 2004). The authors goal in this study is to understand the factors and users decision making process that leads to technical defensive measures. During installation, users are presented with notices such as software agreements, terms of service (TOS), end user licensing agreements (EULA), and security warnings. Based on information in these notices, users should, in theory, be able to make a decision about whether to install the software and evaluate the potential consequences of that decision. However, there is a general perception that these notices are ineffective and users often dont even read the software agreement, terms of service, end user licensing or security warnings. One software provider included a $1000 cash prize offer in the EULA that was displayed during each software installation, yet the prize was only claimed after 4 months and 3,000 downloads of the software (PC PitStop 2005). 1.3 BACKGROUND STUDY Spyware has existed at least since the late 1980s when some Keyloggers where discovered in some university computers. â€Å"The word spyware was first used in publicly in October 1995. It popped up on Usenet (a distributed Internet discussion system in which users post e-mail like messages) in an article aimed at Microsofts business model† (Shanmuga 2005). Over the years, there has been a steady growth in the use of spyware by online attackers and criminals to execute crime against individual, companies and organisations. In the span of just few years, spyware has become the internets most popular download. During the years, the anti-spyware was developed to tackle this problem. The anti-spyware was meant to find, detect and remove the spyware. But even with the development of anti-spyware, spyware still continues to grow every day. One of the factors that aid this growth is the lack of standard definition of spyware. Jerry Berman, President of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), explained in testimony to the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in March 2004 that â€Å"The term has been applied to software ranging from keystroke loggers that capture every key typed on a particular computer; to advertising applications that track users web browsing; to programs that hijack users system settings.† (CDT 2004) He noted that what these various types of software programs â€Å"have in common is a lack of transparency and an absence of respect for users ability to control their own computers and Internet connections† (CDT 2004). Different anti-spyware companies and organizations use different definition which makes even difficult for the users of computers and mobile dont even know what spyware is, as such how can they know the threat of it and the harm it those to their devices 1.4 PROBLEM STATEMENT The problem statement of this research study is â€Å"does the hypothesized factors influence and positively affects the users attitude towards spyware?† Even do spyware has been here for over two decades, it still does not have a standard definition. This makes it harder for users to understand what spyware is and how it affects their system, and how deep is the level of impact (Norbert 2007). Past studies have been done to study the development of spyware and its growth, how it affects the businesses, privacy and other personal informations of the users, and disrupts the performance of the users machine, and the factors that influence the growth. While the magnitude of the spyware problem is well documented, these studies have had only limited success in explaining the broad range of user behaviors that contribute to the proliferation of spyware. Unlike virus and other malicious codes, users often have the choice to whether they want to install this spyware or not. This situation often arises as a result of users not reading the software agreement, term of service or the end user licensing agreements. While other users install it with other programs without knowing. Nonetheless, only very few studies focus specifically on the factors influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in Computers and mobile devices, and most of them were carried out in the United States of America USA. Addressing this problem is a very big issue, because users dont want to spend two to five minutes of their time to read the terms of service. The software producers often put in a lot of information in the terms of service there by making the user not read because it is too lengthy. 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS With reference to the Problem statement, the author suggested the following questions: What are the factors influencing Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware among users? What are the theoretical models used and extended in previous research studies of spyware? What are the users reactions towards spyware? How will the research result affect the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware on computers and mobile devices? 1.6 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES With reference to the research questions, the author developed the following research objectives for the study: To identify the factors influencing Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware among users. To study and discuss the theoretical models used and extended in previous research studies of spyware. To better understand the users reaction towards spyware. To discuss the empirical result and the suggestion to promote and reduce the growth of spyware. 1.7 NATURE OF STUDY The author is studying about the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in both mobile devices and computers, and he will generate some questionnaires which he will use to gather information from the general public. This study was design in such a way that the author and other practitioners will answer questions based on their perspective view. The conceptual model was based on extensive literature review of various theoretical models that is aligned with the technological, network, economical, business and some other dimension. The conceptual model is then converted into research model for validation and testing using data collected from the general public and some network specialist. 1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY This study presents two main implications, the theoretical contribution and the practical contribution. The developed model in this study consists of six constructs; they are spyware knowledge, perceived privacy control, security effect, self efficiency, legal framework, and trustworthiness and trust in vendors. This model is tested empirically to explain what will lead the users to take technical defensive measures. In practical contribution, the result of this study will also benefit the software vendors, the users of computers and mobile devices, and any other institution will be able to apply the key factors obtained from this research to meet their institutional, organizational or personal needs. This study will benefit in term of providing the users point of view and it will also contribute to administration decisions as the finding of the research help direct them to the area of focus. The findings will make the contribution in term of creating an understanding on the factors influencing technical defensive measures. 1.9 METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW This research is design in such a way that it was divided in two adopted steps. The steps are the pre-test study and the main study. The pre-test study was the study that was done in the early stages of the research. This involves the literature reviewing of type of spyware, impact of spyware, how spyware affects the machine and so on. The pre-test was conducted to gain a greater understanding about spyware. The pre-test study helps in understanding the topic there by producing the main research questions. The main study will be conducted based on a survey, a questionnaires conducted among users, corporations and some top school in Malaysia. The questionnaire will be use to collect data on some of the identified problems. The collected data will then be analyzed using the appropriate statistic tools. 1.10 CONCLUSION In conclusion, this chapter introduces the research to the reader by bringing out the background of spyware, the primary objective of the research, also stating the main questions of the research. It also discusses the methodology in summary. In short, this chapter will provides the reader will hopeful idea about the research. The following chapters will further provide the literature review on the Factors Influencing the Technical Defensive Measures on Spyware in our machines and devices. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter will provide an in-depth detail on spyware as well as the types of spyware. The chapter will also bring out all the possible definitions of spyware, the overview of spyware. The chapter will bring out the possible ways in which spyware operates and it will talk a little about the target victims of the spyware. The chapter also talks about mobile device spyware and how it is different of compute spyware. The chapter will also analyze the infection methods of spyware and so on. 2.2 DEFINITION It is not easy to bring out a standard definition on spyware, which makes it much harder to understand. But the author will bring out all the definitions he can find and also propose/bring his own definition based on his understanding of the spyware. In the definition of spyware, two particular issues must be included for the definition to be complete. But research shows that users only stick to either one of the two when defining spyware. This two issues are always been contested by the users. The two particular issues contested are the range of software behaviour and the degree of user consent that is desirable. Firstly, some users prefer the narrow definition which focuses on the monitoring (Surveillance) aspects of spyware and its ability to steal, communicate and store information about users and their behavior. Others prefer the broad definition that includes adware, toolbars, search tools, hijackers and dialers. Definitions for spyware also include hacker tools for remote access and administration, key logging and cracking passwords. Second, there is limited agreement on the lawfulnessof spyware that engages in behavior such as targeting advertisements, installing programs on user machines and collecting click stream data. Users consider a wide range of programs that present spyware-like functionality unacceptable. To complicate the definition, certain software behaviors are acceptable in some contexts but not others. Furthermore, there is concern over user notice and consentrequired during an installation process. The practice of bundlingsoftware, which merges spyware with unrelated programs, also heightens this concern. Jerry Berman, President of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), explained in testimony to the Subcommittee on Communications of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee in March 2004 that â€Å"The term has been applied to software ranging from keystroke loggers that capture every key typed on a particular computer; to advertising applications that track users web browsing; to programs that hijack users system settings.† (CDT 2004) He noted that what these various types of software programs â€Å"have in common is a lack of transparency and an absence of respect for users ability to control their own computers and Internet connections† (CDT 2004). The author will also like to propose his definition of spyware based on his understanding of the matter. Spyware is a program that is installed in the machine with or without the permission of the user, and it can monitor the activities of the user, steal valuable information from the user and send to a third party and disturb/regulate the functionality of the machine like speed, stability and internet access efficiency. 2.3 OVERVIEW 2.3.1 Types of spyware Basically any software that can be installed in the users machine which is used to obtains information from their computer or mobile device without their knowledge can be termed as a spyware. There are many types of spyware that are doing the rounds on the Internet, but in technical terms, you can classify them into two broad categories namely, Domestic Spyware and Commercial Spyware (UpickReviews 2007). 2.3.1.1 Domestic spyware Domestic spyware is software that is usually purchased and installed by computer owners to monitor the Internet behaviour on their computer networks. Employers usually use this software to monitor employee online activities. Some family members use domestic spyware to monitor other family members, while parents and guardians often use this kind of software to monitor the activities of their children online. Some people use this kind of softwares to spy on their friends and girl friend. In America, many couples often install this kind of software on their partners mobile phone in other to monitor their call. This usually happens when one party thinks the other is cheating on them. A third party can also install domestic spyware without the knowledge of the computer owner on their machine or mobile device. Law enforcement officials have often used domestic spyware to monitor suspected criminal activity and criminals have used domestic spyware to siphon personal information from private computers in order to steal assets (TopTenReviews 2003). Domestic spyware is one of the most common spyware used on mobile devices. This is done to monitor the activity of the target victim i.e calls and SMS. 2.3.1.2 Commercial spyware. These types of software systems are often used by third parties to monitor and record the browsing behaviour of the user. The main purpose of it is to monitor the online habits of the user and sell the gathered information to anyone who might be interested. It is often online businesses that buy the information and use it to hit the user with targeted advertising, i.e. advertisements that relate to your usual Internet browsing habits. Advertisers often use commercial spyware simply because it is far simpler, economical and faster than collecting information through legal means such as contests, questionnaires, registration surveys and the likes. It is also because information gathered by spyware is far more reliable because users often dont cooperate when it comes to filling questionnaire sincerely, while some may accept to do it but they will not give true information when it comes to their private things. Since it represents the users true browsing behaviour, the advertisers go for it. You may take your pick while filling out an online registration form, but you just cannot cheat a spyware because it simply monitors and records all your activities. In the past marketers had to bribe their way to learn the users preferences through contests, registration surveys and the like. Those methods of gaining the users personal information still exist, but in those cases you have the power to read the fine print to learn the fate of your data and so could choose to consent or refuse There are many types of spyware that are classified under commercial spyware. They are: Browser hijackers, adware, Malware, dialers, Trojans and viruses, Worms, etc. 2.3.1.2.1 Adware Adware is the most common type of spyware available. They are cookies which hide on your computer waiting for you to go online. The cookies often get into your computer through popup that you open. Once the adware detects that youre connected to the Internet it starts sending you popup, pop-over, pop-under ads, and some sort of advertisement for anything from airline tickets to porn site membership. Not only that but even information on your viewing habits is tracked and stored. This data is then sold on to marketing companies who will be sending you more junk email and popup ads (Spam-site 2006). 2.3.1.2.2 Dealers Software that gets installed on your computer that has the ability to make phone calls from your computer, though a phone-connected modem, without your knowledge. These programs will connect to other computers, through your phone line, which are usually porn sites. These numbers are pay per minute call though, so you get charged for the amount of time your computer is connected to it. ile dialers do not spy on users they are malevolent in nature because they can cause huge financial harm to their victims. It is mostly used by porn sites. They can also be classified as hijackers (Abrams 2009). 2.3.1.2.3 Malware Malware is malicious software designed specifically to damage users machine. But Malware is typically not self-replicating or designed for PC-to-PC distribution (Pareto 2009). 2.3.1.2.4 Trojan Trojan is a program that contains hidden functionality, often posing as useful applications yet performing Spyware or Adware functions and facilitates unauthorized access to the users computer system. The term ‘Trojan horse was found from the mythical wooden horse that carried hidden Greek soldiers into Troy (Pareto 2009). 2.3.1.2.5 Worm Worms are self-replicating, fast-spreading Internet threats that are more like viruses than Spyware. They differ from viruses in that they can replace entire files on the host computer. Both viruses and worms attempt to spread to as many computers as possible, using e-mail, the Internet, and file-sharing networks as methods of distribution (Pareto 2009). 2.4 OPERATIONS OF SPYWARE The usual method for a spyware to operate is to run secretly in the background of the users computers (McCardle 2003). The reason behind this concealing of processes is commonly argued as that it would hardly be acceptable, e.g., if free file-sharing software kept stopping to ask the user if they are ready to fetch a new banner or a pop-up window (Townsend 2003). Therefore, the client/server routine of spyware is normally executed in the background. In practice, there would be nothing wrong with spyware running in the background provided that the users know that it is happening, what data is being transmitted, and that they have agreed to the process as part of the conditions for obtaining the freeware. However, most users are unaware that they have software on their computers that tracks and reports information on their Internet usage to a third party. Typically, a spyware program secretly gathers user information and spreads it without the users knowledge of it. Once installed, the spyware monitors, e.g., user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to third parties, such as advertising companies. In reality, spyware run constantly, even when their carrier program, e.g., a file-sharing tool, has been terminated. A more or less legal grey area is utilized by the spyware actors, since in most program licenses they specify that information may be gathered for corporate purposes. However, the usual model is to collect more information than they have asked for (Townsend 2003). Besides this, most license agreements are been formulated in such a way that the reader finds it extensively hard for users to understand. 2.5 SPYWARE INFECTION METHOD Spyware infects its victims through many different ways. The most common of these ways include drive-by download, P2P wrecks havoc, free software download, social engineering and vulnerability route. 2.5.1 Drive-by downloads This is a program that is automatically downloaded to users computer, often without the users knowledge. The download may be initiated when the user visits a website or by another application. Drive by downloads can also be initiated by Mouse Over downloads, requiring a user to run the mouse over a malicious Pop-up ad or malicious pop-up window. Another scenario is when the user visits a website that pops up a window with a message like in order to properly view this website you must install this program. The FTP / HTTP Get request will initiate the download of the software onto the client machine. Installation will be performed by the user and during this installation they will be asked permission to install the malware as well as the software. Internet Explorer uses ActiveX controls for installing legitimate plug-ins like Flash, to enhance the browsers functionality and provide interactive programs for Internet Explorer. When misused, it provides a means for installing spyware such as dialers, browser hijackers, and other types of malware. ActiveX programs can automatically download to a users computer, often without users knowledge. It can be invoked from web pages through the use of a scripting language or directly with an HTML OBJECT tag. On execution by a web browser, it has full access to the Windows operating system and does not run in a â€Å"sandbox. Depending on browser security settings, the browser application may display a security warning to either stop or continue the installation. The warning may not offer a proper description of the program, and usually is misleading or could be masked by other deceptive dialog boxes. Sometimes â€Å"No† is not taken for an answer, and repeated attempts are made to get the user to approve and download the application. ActiveX controls can be signed or unsigned. Signed ActiveX controls are automatically installed while browsing the web, and are used by spyware applications. A signed ActiveX control only verifies that the code or control was from the signer and that it has not been altered; however, it may still be malicious (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.2 P2P Wrecks Havoc Most of the spyware comes bundled with other popular programs that are that are free, also through most of the peer-to-peer networks like Kazaa, Bearshare, Limewire among others. They install malware in the machine as part of the P2P installation process. The P2P application may not function if these components are not installed. These â€Å"free† versions generate ad revenue for their publishers, causing pop-ups and sending information to affiliate networks for data aggregation or data mining. Applications such as Cydoor, New.net, TopText, SaveNow, Webhancer, VX2, CommonName, GetNet/ClearSearch, IncrediFind and OnFlow are among the few applications that are installed this way and may serve up ad banners and ad messages, or track your Internet surfing habits. Unfortunately, the makers of the host programs try not to advertise their programs hidden payloads. Reading the licensing agreement (carefully) during installation will often reveal embedded licenses for the piggybacking adware (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.3 Software free web download Some of the softwares that they claim is free in the internet, when you download and install them, at the same time you will be installing a secondary program. This secondary program is a spyware. It will monitor your activity and report to a third party or a central database. If the user notices the spyware and deletes it, but didnt delete the software, whenever the system online, the software will download the spyware application and install it again. This kind of infection often occurs when the use fails to read the license agreement. In other cases, the license agreement is twisted in such a way that the user will not understand it (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.4 Social engineering Sometimes when users browse the web, they may receive offers for corrective programs or special plug-ins that may be described as necessary for viewing the site. These voluntary but covert and unintentional installations are one source of spyware. Some of these offers are made to appear like a Windows alert from Microsoft or an anti-spyware application to tricks users into downloading and installing them (Shanmuga 2005). 2.5.5 Security holes in internet explorer Another method of infection is by exploring the security holes in internet explorer. Internet Explorer has had multiple security vulnerabilities, some of which are disclosed by Microsoft with downloadable updates and patches. Some spyware applications take advantage of these holes and install Trojan droppers, which redirect the browser to portal sites. CoolWebSearch (one of the most notorious pests in recent times) and many other spyware are known to take advantage of Internet Explorer security holes. KeenValue, and InternetOptimizer are examples that use Trojan downloader (Shanmuga 2005). 2.6 MOBILE DEVICE SPYWARE Since 2004, spyware has been observed to spread among mobile devices through Bluetooth, infrared, and other forms of connections like wireless network. According to F-Secure, the number of spyware known to target mobile devices are approximate 100 (Hypponen, 2006), as of then. However, others like (Dagon, Martin, and Starner, 2004) believed that spyware will inevitably grow into a serious problem in the future. There had already been some complex, blended spyware threats on mobile devices. Within a few years, mobile spyware have grown in sophistication in a way reminiscent of 20 years of PC spyware evolution. Unfortunately, mobile devices ware not designed for security and they have limited defenses against continually evolving attacks. Mobile devices are attractive targets for several reasons (Hypponen, 2006a). This is because mobile devices have progressed far in term of hardware and communication. Mobile phones have grown from simple organizer/ communication device to a mini computer with their own operating system (like palm, windows mobile, google phone and so on) that can download and install applications. Another reason for the mobile device attack is because they are well connected. They are capable of internet access for Web browsing, facebooking , emailing, charting and applications similar to those in the PCs. They can also communicate by cellular, IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN, short range communication like Bluetooth and infrared for shorter range communication, and multimedia messaging service (MMS). Another reason for mobile spyware attack is the size of the target population. Such large target population is attractive for the spyware and malware writers who want to maximize their impact. 2.6.1 Differences to computer spyware There are three important difference of mobile device security compared to personal computer security (Becher and Freiling 2008). A first difference is the inherent possibility for Spyware to generate costs for the user and revenue to the Spyware author. This problem existed previousl