Sunday, January 26, 2020

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay eBay is known all over the world as the leading online Marketplace which came in to life in 1995,eBay Inc, was founded by Pierre M. Omidyarand its headquartered in San Jose, California, TM (2002). eBay created a special platform for the sales of goods and services by a passionate village of individuals and business. On days there are millions of items across thousand of categories for sale on eBay just like Half.com, eBays site dedicated to fixed price trading. eBay allows trade on a Local, National and International basis, with customize site in marketing all over the world. eBay, together with its sub-visions, bring online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, online payment services, and online communication offerings to a diverse community of individual and business in the USA and Internationally. The company operates in three Intentions: eBay Marketplace, Payments, and Communications. The eBay Marketplaces: This platform provides infrastructure to enable online commerce in a variety of formats, including the traditional auction platform; and its other online platforms, such as Rent.com, Shopping.com, Kijiji, mobile.de, and Marktplaats.nl. Its services include trust and safety programs, reply forum, safe chanel program, eBay standard purchase protection program, customer support, tools and services. The Payments segment: Feeds a product for small businesses, online sellers, and individuals that enables them to send and receive payments online. Its services include joining the network, crosscheck of its PayPals account holders, withdrawing funds. The Communications segment: provide voice over Internet protocol calls between Skype subscribers, also provides connectivity to traditional fixed-line and handheld telephones. The company also provide online apartment rental services and comparison shopping resource service, as well as provides an Internet payment platform that allows merchants to process, and manage online payments. 2. MISSION STATEMENT OBJECTIVE eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay brings together millions of people every day on a local, national and international basis through variety of websites that focus on commerce, payments and communication. This has also help the company in various ways between their numerous customers worldwide. They have engaged in the method stated below. A Place to Buy. You can get almost anything item you need or want at very low deal better than you can find at any traditional brick and mortar, even online stores. But caution should be taken because of rotten or fake items deals on eBay. A Place to Sell. No matter the size of our product or services, eBay has various categories channels to sell items. eBays global reach can even move unusual items that are not in demand in our own neighborhood in to cash. A Place to Shop. Large variety of items can be found for sale on eBay, many members have discovered that eBay is one of the best place in the world to window or comparison shop. These items include photos, detailed descriptions, and owner experiences. Because you see lots of the same items side by side in various conditions and know what each one sold or selling for, eBay gives you insight into the real market value of most types of goods around the globe. A Website: With no physical building eBay store, Founded in San Jose but now carry out daily activities from various cities, eBays service exist basically online apart from the delivery of bought and sold items every other network of the business are handled through eBay website. Socially Responsible: eBay with its B2C way of handling business has lower the barriers to buying and selling, these bring a massive global awareness to it business. It also fosters new economic opportunities to developing areas and brings cultural understanding between different populations. This has made eBay one of the worlds most interesting and exciting trans-national ambassadors. 3. THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON EBAY eBay is a cutting edge in commence by selling almost everything be it of what nature with its presence in every corners of the globe with no physical store, with limited staffs but satisfy it numerous customer worldwide. But how is this possible? Social Media Marketing: Recent addition to organizations plans. Integrated marketing communications is a practice organization follow to connect with their target markets. Integrated marketing communications coordinates promotional elements, advertising, personnel selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing and sale promotion. Increasingly viral marketing campaigns are also grouped into integrated marketing communications for eBay. The growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate, the internet provide set of idea which enable persons to develop social and business platform, share knowhow and collaborate on project online. Cell Phones: Usage has also become a benefit for eBay media marketing. Today many cell phones have social networking capabilities, individuals are notified of any happenings on social networking  sites through their cell phones in real-time. This constant connection to social networking sites means products and companies can constantly remind and update followers about their capabilities, uses, importance, etc. Since cell phones are connected to social networking sites, advertisements are always in sight. Computers: The use of computer has come to stay in our daily life be it at home, offices, school, this is one of the basic tools used by eMarketers worldwide, eBay uses the help of computer since they dont physical store to carry out their daily business and this is done by logging into their website by typing in the URL address with an access from ISP provider. Once logged in, you see various categorizes of product, prices, description of items and options of payment of items bought. Buying of items online and shipping to every part of the globe is an everyday activity at just by the use of a computer, Newsweek (2004) Internet Marketing: eBay use the internet known as digital marketing, web marketing, and online marketing is the marketing product and services over the internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless  media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing. This market joins the vast idea and technical background of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales.  Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing on specific websites. 3.1 THE USE OF THE INTERNET BY eBay The internet as change the landscape of the world in every way things are done in every way things are done globally. Never before have people been able to interact in such a cost effective and comfortable way. The business world as seen a better new of doing its daily activity, business now are done in very short span of time even without the presence of both party at the same place or time. Now it is possible for you to establish your own company with a very small financial investment or in some cases even without any start-up capital. eBay use the internet in carrying of its daily business to meet target market and satisfy its customer at a very low cost and maximizing profit. Information: People worldwide are using the internet on a regular basis, with email and search engines as the most popular services. Information is power. People are able to influence, direct, convince, educate and manipulate others through one single tool: The distribution of information. Email and discussion forums allow people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with other people from all corners of the world. Within a relatively short period of time the Internet and its communication channels will be part of our daily lives as are running water and electricity. Cost Effectiveness: The internet is by far the most effective communication tool. If you want to send a letter via conventional or so-called slow mail, it will cost at least around $1 assuming you restrict yourself to two single sheets of paper. Sending the same amount of information via email will be up to 100 times cheaper with immediate delivery. In addition to this, email with its numbers of advantages over the slow mailing system of delivery of messages, sending and get a reply on the spot. Online Auction: In this massive marketplace, eBay rules the auction sites. According to the Nelison Rating, eBay is among the top ten most trafficked sites on the internet. eBay leads the online auction industry with a more than 60 percent share of the market, its closest competitors, Yahoo! Auctions, is only half its size followed by Amazon.com, all these are done with the help of the internet and makes eBay smile to the bank on daily basis. Low Cost Operation: Running business requires tons of capital no matter the size of the outfit, the business has to pay for rental shops, offices, motor vehicle, staffs, before it can think of making its profit which is the primary idea of the business, but doing online business you cut down your expenses to a very little amount of capital and that is the edge eBay is use to run its operations and has really help the business since it does not have physical presence anywhere, it does its business around the globe and sell lots of items to its customers worldwide. The internet helps eBay in an immeasurable way of cutting down cuts of operations and get to all part of the world without even being there in presence. 4. INTERNET AS A MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS Public relations is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial  relationships between an organization and the public upon which its success or failure depends. Whereas advertising is a  one-way communication from sender to the receiver, public relations considers multiple audiences and uses two way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its messages and the organizations actions maximum benefit. The internet is used as a tool in Public Relations and has replaced the use of paper form of notifications and is carried out in method stated below. Tweeter: Social media is a great way to have a conversation with your market and manage connections with prospects, customer, bloggers. Even if you dont join Twitter you can monitor what people are saying company, trends, friends and products. This is quite useful from a marketing and PR standpoint. Tweeter has a search engine that let you post any information and can be linked to eBays platform. Facebook: Business firms states their URLs on cable Tv commercials, were friends and followers can join them on Facebook. This is sharp method way of internet PR, youre a startup entrepreneur, you could start a group to help entrepreneurs connect and exchange ideas. Search to make sure one doesnt exist already in your area. Your friends on your facebook will have first hand information of what is happening around you and your business and will also pass to from friends to friends if even they are not yours. eBay is linked to facebook which acts as an indirect form of PR, Instant message could also take form by chatting on both platform. Email: This is the fastest, stress less and cheapest form of PR and e-marketing with the use of the internet, when searching for information or to joint an organization like eBay, Amazon you go through a process of filling and providing certain information about yourself and your preference requirement, all these information is kept in their database and at the end you provide your e-mail. The organizations use their database information to communicate with you, through this medium you are updated with the latest information relating to previous request. As you change your preference change it is also updated in their database. eBay use this form of PR to promote their product to you and information is sent to you in respect of delivery of the item you paid for. Website Feedback: Various website use a page known as website feedback as a form PR tool to give a comments, complain or report on your experience you may have after buying a product or trial of certain items in other for them to know how their customer feel about product bought from them. 5. EBAY SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGHT: The Company use the advantage of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Both parties (Buyers and Sellers) subscribe with the company and information needed by eBay on dealers. This is known as Business2Consumer (B2C) of their business. With the strong customer and dealer relationships are based on Consumer2Consumer (C2C) business platform, where good business relationships occurs, where buyers and sellers interchange feedback for each other for the next transaction to take place. WEAKNESSES: Organizations works painfully to limit fraud. eBay platform of business is very open to fraudulent activities. But the company act with the issue very quickly. These includes inferior goods being marketed to unknown and suspecting eBayers. Other forms of theft could include redirection of stolen goods. Make it known that fraud and theft are problems with outsiders not eBay. The weakness is that mischievous individuals can exploit the C2C business platform. Many companies, systems breakdowns could disturb the trading transaction of eBay on daily bases. eBay and Paypal have suffered shutdowns and total breakdown. As technology improves for the better weakness will be less an issue. OPPORTUNITIES: Acquisitions bring new business strategy openings. eBay has into agreement to buy off online telephone company Skype Technologies with a deal reported of about worth $2.6 billion. PC users use Skype to have conversation with each other for no charges and make cut-price calls to handheld cell-phones and fixed landlines once you have subscribe to the services. This will bring in more customers to the business and also make profit to continue to grow. THRATS: The world Internet brands, success attract competition. Overseas competitors competing in their home markets have the technical experience that could give them a stronger advantage over eBay. It came to the notice of eBay that it has met with other USA home Internet providers when trading in other international country. Yahoo! stand out in the Asian market. Doing the same market is a threat, just like weaknesses stated above, the name is attacked by mischievous individuals. When e-mail sent to unknown eBayers disguards to come from eBay. Logos, and design of the pages looks just the same. However they are designed so that you input private information that the thieves can use to accesses to passwords and identifications. Not all costs can controlled by eBay, example shipping charges and credit card charges. With fuel prices to rise, the customer suffers the increment of delivery and postal charges. This affect the total cost of auctioned items very expensive. When provider of credit card merchants like Visa or Master-card decide a charge for online business transaction the total cost of the same items would increase with a negative effects on the final customer of the product and will make eBay loose some of its future consumer and will affect the profit and share value of the company. 6. CONCLUSION EBay is well aware that in order for the company to maintain its competitive advantage and make it sustainable in the long run, the company must take advantage of the changes at the corporate, organizational and business levels. EBay embraces the five building blocks which are applied randomly throughout eBays history: improvisation, co-adaption, regeneration, experimentation and time pacing as evident by the strategies discussed. The company also embraces the 10 principles of competing on the edge about strategy, organization and leadership. With all hands on deck EBay can go further if the managing, marketing department embrace more with its IT department by merging with more social media platform not just their website because social website break more distance with communities of friends of my friends. Security department should work more bringing down the risk of internet fraud, this is one area of online business transaction that turn people away from buying online, because nobody wants to their money to end up on the place after paying for an item or product.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 6~7

6. The Vampire Parrots of Telegraph Hill A flock of wild parrots lives in the city of San Francisco. They are South American cherry-headed conures-bright green with a red head, a little smaller than a typical pigeon. No one is quite sure how they came to the City. It's likely that they are the descendants of animals caught in the jungle, then released to the city skies when they proved too wild to be kept as pets. They fly over the northern waterfront of San Francisco, foraging for fruit, berries, and blossoms, from the Presidio at the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge, over Pacific Heights, the Marina, Russian Hill, North Beach, and all the way to the Ferry Building near the Oakland Bay Bridge. They are social, squawky, silly birds that mate for life and advertise their presence with a cacophony of beeps and cheeps that inspire smiles from residents, bewilderment from tourists, and hunger in predators, mostly red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons. The parrots spend their nights high in the trees of Telegraph Hill, beneath the great concrete phallus of Coit Tower, sheltered from attack from hawks by the evergreen canopy overhead, and from all but the most ambitious cats, by the sheer altitude. But still, they are sometimes attacked, and although gentle creatures, they will fight back, biting with their thick, built-for-seed-crushing beaks. Which is what happened. The next morning after he witnessed the cat attack in the SOMA, the Emperor of San Francisco was awakened from a nest he'd made in one of the little stair gardens on Telegraph Hill, to hear parrots squawking in the trees. The sun was just breaking the horizon behind the Bay Bridge, turning the water red-gold under a blue morning mist. The Emperor crawled out from under a pile of carpet padding, stood, and stretched, his great joints creaking in the cold like ancient church doors. The men, Bummer and Lazarus, poked their noses out of the gray cloak, snuffled the dawn, then, with the call of the parrots, resolved themselves to morning and emerged like urgent butterflies to search for the perfect spot for the first wee of the day. The three watched as fifty or so squawking parrots circled Coit Tower and headed out toward the Embarcadero, where, suddenly, they all stopped flying, burst into flames, and fell like a smoldering storm of dying comets into Levi's Plaza. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor, scratching Lazarus's ears through the bandages. The retriever was a doggy version of The Mummy, wrapped ears to tail in bandages after his last encounter with the vampire cats. The vet in the Mission wanted to keep him overnight, but the retriever had never spent a night away from the Emperor since they had found each other, and the vet had no accommodations for a large and burly monarch, let alone a feisty Boston terrier, so the three had bunked together under the carpet pad. Bummer chuffed, which translated from dog to: â€Å"I don't like it.† As the famous frog sang, it's not easy being green. 7. The Fog Comes on Little Cat Feet and Whatnot FOO Stephen â€Å"Foo Dog† Wong's fully bombed Honda drift machine was full of rats. Not completely full, the passenger seat was filled by Jared Whitewolf, Abby's backup BFF. (BBFF, really.) â€Å"Did you have to get all white ones?† Jared asked. He was six foot two, very thin, and paler than Death shagging a snowman. The sides of his head were shaved and in the middle he sported an unlaquered Mohawk, which hung in his eyes unless he was lying on his back or looking up. In addition to a floor-length black PVC cenobite coat, he was currently wearing Abby's thigh-high red platform Skankenstein ® boots, which was completely within his rights, as her current BFF. What bothered Foo was not that Jared had on girl's boots, but that he had on the boots of a girl with distinctly small feet. â€Å"Don't those hurt?† Jared tossed his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Well, it's like Morrissey said, ‘Life is suffering.'† â€Å"I think the Buddha said that.† â€Å"I'm pretty sure Morrissey said it first-like, back in the eighties.† â€Å"No, it was the Buddha.† â€Å"Have you ever even seen a picture of the Buddha with shoes on?† Jared asked. Foo couldn't believe he was having this argument. What's more, he couldn't believe he was losing this argument. â€Å"Well, I have some Nikes upstairs that might fit you if you need to change shoes. Let's get the rats unloaded. I have to get to work.† Jared already had four plastic cages with two white rats in each stacked on his lap, so he unfolded himself out of the Honda and wobbled on the red platforms to the fire door of the loft. â€Å"Don't try to paint them black,† Jared said, peering into the Plexiglas boxes as Foo opened the door for him. â€Å"I tried that with my first rat, Lucifer. It was tragic.† â€Å"Tragic?† said Foo. â€Å"I'd have never guessed. Put them on the floor in the living room. I'll borrow the truck from work tomorrow and pick up some folding tables to put them on.† In addition to pursuing his degree in molecular biology, and variously rescuing Abby, formulating vampire serum, and tricking out his Honda, Foo still worked part-time at Stereo City, where he specialized in telling people that they needed a bigger TV. â€Å"You still have that job?† Jared said as he stumbled up the stairs. â€Å"Abby said you guys have total fuck-you money.† Why did she tell him? She wasn't supposed to tell him. Did she tell him everything? Why did she have to have friends at all? She'd given Jared five thousand dollars of Jody and Tommy's money for Hanukkah-despite the fact that neither one of them was Jewish. â€Å"Because I will not let mainstream society make me into the Christmas bitch of the zombie baby-Jebus, that's why,† she'd said. â€Å"And because he helped me take care of the Countess and Lord Flood when they were in trouble.† â€Å"I need to keep my cover,† Foo said. â€Å"For tax purposes.† That was partially true. He did need to keep up his cover, because, like Abby, he hadn't actually told his parents that he'd moved out. They were so used to him being at school, in the lab, or at work, that they hadn't really noticed that he hadn't been sleeping at home. It helped that he had four younger brothers and sisters, who were all carrying insane work and course loads. His parents were all about toil. As long as you were toiling, you were okay. They could smell toil from miles away, or the lack of it. He might be able to get away with living in his own loft with his spooky-sexy girlfriend, and doing bizarre genetic experiments on the undead, but if he quit his job they'd sense it in a second. It took Foo and Jared twenty minutes to get all the rats up the steps and lined up around the living room. â€Å"We're not going to hurt them, are we?† said Jared, holding up one of the plastic cages so he was eye to eye with its occupants. â€Å"We're going to turn them into vampires.† â€Å"Oh, cool. Now?† â€Å"No, not now. For now, you're going to need to feed them and make sure there's a water bottle in each of their cages,† Foo said. â€Å"Then what?† Jared asked, tossing his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Then you can go home,† said Foo. â€Å"You don't need to observe them full-time until the experiment starts.† â€Å"I can't go home. I told my parents I was staying over at Abby's.† Foo was suddenly horrified at the thought of having to spend the night in the loft with a hundred rats, two bronzed vampires, and Jared. Especially Jared. Maybe he'd go home and leave Jared to watch the rats-make an appearance at home for the parents, so as to throw them off the trail of his non-toiling, loft-living, Anglo-girlfriend lifestyle. â€Å"You can stay here, then,† Foo said. â€Å"I'll be back in the morning.† â€Å"What about them?† Jared nodded toward the bronzed figures of Jody and Tommy. â€Å"What about them?† â€Å"Can I talk to them? I didn't get to finish telling Jody my novel.† Jared had spent a very long night telling Jody the first part of the novel he was going to write, an erotic horror story that starred himself and his pet rat, Lucifer 2. â€Å"Okay,† said Foo. He didn't really like thinking about the two people, well, vampires, but they seemed a lot like people, that he'd helped imprison in a bronze shell. It sort of gave him the willies, and that was highly unscientific. â€Å"But no touching,† he added. Jared pouted and sat down on the futon, about the only spot in the entire living-room-kitchen area not covered with plastic rat cages. â€Å"Okay, but will you help me get these boots off before you go?† Foo shuddered. It had been less than an hour since the cops led Abby away and already he missed her like a severed limb. It was embarrassing. How could hormones and hydrostatic pressure make you feel like this? Love was very unscientific. â€Å"Sorry,† Foo said. â€Å"Gotta jet.† A true hero, the kind Abby accused him of being, he knew, would have helped Jared. JARED Abby Normal had once offered to pay for a tattoo for Jared that read: Danger. Do not administer caffeine without adult supervision. Jared asked, â€Å"Can it be in red? Does it have to be on the forehead? Maybe on the side so I can grow my hair over it if I don't like it. Am I being emo? Do you want to play Blood-feast on Xbox? They have green fur iPod cases at Urban Outfitters. I love white chocolate mochas. Marilyn Manson needs to be dragged to death behind a clown car. Oh fuck, I'm so allergic to this eyeliner I could cry.† Abby said, â€Å"Oh my God, you're like Obnoxious and Annoying had an ass baby!† â€Å"What are you trying to say?† asked Jared. What she had been trying to say, although she didn't know it at the time, was that under no circumstances should Jared be left alone in an apartment with an abundance of time and espresso, which is what Foo had just done. So after feeding, watering, and naming all the rats (most given French names from Abby's copy of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal), Jared began brewing espressos and was nine demitasse cups into the afternoon when he decided to act out the remainder of his unwritten vampire adventure novel, The Dark of Darkness, for a hundred rats caged in plastic and two vampires encased in bronze. â€Å"So the evil Blood Queen dons her chrome strap-on of death and goes after Lucifer 2. But Jared Whitewolf is on her like a fat kid on a cupcake, parrying her blows with his dagger of death, or Dee Dee, as it is known.† Jared pirouetted, a move he'd learned in ballet class at age six, and slashed the air, low and fast, with the double-edged dagger held backhand so as to sever his imaginary enemy's femoral artery, a move he'd learned in Soul Assassin Five on the Xbox (although it was harder to do while wearing platform boots than it was in the video game). The dagger was real enough, twelve inches of double-edged high-carbon stainless steel with a dragon hilt. Jared carried it because he thought it made him look badass when doormen took it away from him at clubs. â€Å"And he strikes her weapon in half!† he said, leaping and bringing the blade around a little too fast. He turned his ankle, lost his balance, and as he fell, the dagger put a deep nick in the bronze statue. â€Å"Ow!† He sat on the floor holding his ankle and rocking back and forth in the yoga position known as the â€Å"freaked-out half-lotus.† Then he noticed the gash he'd put in the bronze, directly over Jody's right clavicle. â€Å"I'm sorry, Countess,† Jared said, still a little breathless from his battle. â€Å"I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that I had to save Lucifer 2. You'd do the same thing for Lord Flood if he was in the story.† Jared buffed at the bronze with his sleeve, but the gash was deep and wasn't going to go away with polishing. â€Å"Abby's going to kill me. I'll patch you, Countess. Just hang on. Toothpaste. We used it on the wall that time we drank Abby's mom's vodka and played cross-country darts in her living room. Hang on a minute.† Jared let the heavy dagger drop to the floor, climbed to his feet, winced, then limped off to the bathroom to look for toothpaste. He located a tube of all natural tartar control with baking soda just as the sun dropped under the horizon in the west. Out in the living room, a needle-thin stream of mist began leaking out of the gash he'd made in the bronze statue. Toothpaste probably wouldn't have fixed it. THE ANIMALS In the last two months, the Animals, the night stock crew at the Marina Safeway, had hunted an ancient vampire, blown up his yacht, stolen millions of dollars' worth of art, sold it for pennies on the dollar, spent the remaining hundreds of thousands on gambling and a blue hooker, got turned into vampires, were torn apart by zoo animals, then burned up by sunlamps when they attacked Abby Normal, then turned, by Foo, back into seven guys who stocked shelves at the Safeway and smoked a little too much weed. And as it often is with adventurers, after the adventure, they were feeling a little bored, and a little worried that nothing exciting would ever happen to them again. After you've battled the darkness, then become the darkness, then shagged the darkness, frozen turkey bowling and skiing behind the floor-scrubbing machine just doesn't hold the same thrill. After you've shared a blue prostitute with your buddies to the tune of a half a million dollars, only to have her kill and resurrect you before disappearing into the night, swapping stories of banging babes was a bit of an anticlimax. After all, they worked nights and the oldest of them, Clint, was only twenty-three, so most of their stories were gross exaggerations, wishful thinking, or outright lies anyway. Even crucifying Clint with zip ties on the potato chip rack every other Friday didn't seem fun anymore, and last week they had just left him hanging, thrashing in the Doritos, and went off to stock their aisles before he could even forgive them for knowing not what they did. Tragic, really, to be young, free, and mind-numbingly bored. So when the Emperor of San Francisco came screaming out of the parking lot and slammed, face-first, into the big Plexiglas front window, rattling the Tic Tacs on every register, each of them dropped what he was working on and headed to the front of the store, hoping in their hearts that something outstanding was coming down. The seven, the Animals, stood on one side of the big window, while the Emperor pounded on the other, the royal hounds leaping and barking at his side. â€Å"Maybe we should let him in,† said Clint, curly-haired, born-again, ex-heroin addict who worked cereal, coffee, and juices. â€Å"He seems troubled.† â€Å"S,† said Gustavo, the porter, leaning on his mop. â€Å"Troubled.† â€Å"Seems fucking freaked,† said Drew, the Ichabod-Crane-gaunt master of the frozen food aisle and chief medical officer. â€Å"Totally fucking freaked.† â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Lash, the lean black guy who had become their leader when Tommy was turned into a vampire, largely because he almost had an MBA, but also because he was a black guy and inherently cooler than everyone else. â€Å"Murder, destruction, ravenous creatures of the night, a storm of them,† shouted the Emperor. â€Å"Hurry, please.† â€Å"He always says that,† said Barry, the balding fireplug of a scuba diver who also stocked soap and dog food. â€Å"Well, every time he says it, it's kind of true,† said Jeff, the tall blond ex-power forward with the blown-out knee (baking supplies and international foods). â€Å"I say let him in.† â€Å"Look, the retriever is all bandaged up. Poor guy,† said Troy Lee, their resident martial arts expert who worked the glass aisle. â€Å"Let them in.† â€Å"You just want to roll the little one up in a burrito,† said Lash. â€Å"Yeah, that's right, Lash. Because I'm Chinese, I have a deep-seated need to nosh house pets. Now why don't you let him in before my inner Chinaman forces me to kung-fu your bitch ass.† Because he understood that he was the leader only so long as he told everyone to do what they wanted to do anyway, and because he had had his bitch ass kung-fued in the past and hadn't cared for it, Lash unlocked the door and let the Emperor in. The old man fell into the store when Lash opened the door. Bummer and Lazarus stopped barking and bolted by them, and on toward the back of the store. Jeff and Drew got the Emperor seated on one of the registers and Troy Lee handed him a bottle of water. â€Å"Chill, Your Majesty, we've done this before.† â€Å"Not like this. Not like this,† said the Emperor. â€Å"It's a storm of evil. Lock the door.† Lash rolled his eyes. They really had done this before, and the door being locked or unlocked wasn't going to make much difference if a vampire was following the old man. â€Å"We got your back, Highness,† Lash said. â€Å"Lock the door,† the Emperor moaned, pointing through the window. A fog bank was moving across the parking lot, with rather more intent than one usually expects from a fog bank. A high, yowling screech seemed to come out of the fog in a stream, as if it had been sampled, amplified, and duplicated a thousand times. The Animals moved to the glass. â€Å"Lock the door, Lash,† Clint said. Clint never gave orders. The edge of the fog bank was boiling with shapes, claws, ears, eyes, teeth, tails-cats formed of fog, rolling in a wave over one another, some materializing partially, only to evaporate and roll back into the cloud, their red eyes moving through the cloud like embers out of a firestorm. â€Å"Whoa,† said Drew. â€Å"Whoa,† repeated the others. â€Å"Okay, that is different,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"My friends all over the City are missing,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Street people. They're gone. Just their clothes and gray dust,† the Emperor said. â€Å"The cats are killing everything in their way.† â€Å"That is fucked up,† said Jeff. â€Å"Deeply, deeply fucked up,† said Barry, dragging one of the heavy wooden order dividers off the register and brandishing it like a club. â€Å"Lock the fucking door, Lash!† Clint screamed. â€Å"Jesus hates it when you use the f-word,† said Gustavo, the Mexican porter, who was Catholic and liked to remind Clint when his Jesus was slipping. The fog washed against the window and claw marks etched the Plexiglas instantly to frost, as if it had all been sanded. The noise was like, well, it was like a thousand vampire cats clawing on Plexiglas-it made their teeth hurt. â€Å"Did anyone bring weapons?† Troy Lee asked. â€Å"I brought some weed,† Drew said. A cat's claw of fog crept under the door and raked the toe of Lash's sneaker. He snapped the lock shut, pulled out the key, and backed away. â€Å"Okay, break time,† he said. â€Å"Crew meeting in the walk-in.† JARED Across town, in the bedroom of a fashionable loft, in the fashionable SOMA neighborhood, aspiring rat-shagger, Jared Whitewolf, looked up from rubbing his sore ankle to see a completely naked redhead walk into the room. Her hair hung to her waist in a great curling cape, framing her figure, which was perfect and as white as a marble statue. She held Jared's double-edged dagger in her right hand. Jared backed up onto the bed in a reverse crab walk. â€Å"I, I, I, it, it, it-Abby made me-â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Scissorhands,† Jody said. â€Å"You'd better find some of those blood bags of Steve's fast, unless you'd like to finish high school as a pile of greasy dust. Countess is thirsty.†

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Teaching Music History Today s Classroom Essay - 2054 Words

Teaching Music History In Today’s Classroom In today’s music classrooms, one typically does not hear students talking about music history. In the state of Ohio, the 5-12 music standards require that some aspect of music history be incorporated into each grade level. Whether they teach band, choir, orchestra, or general music, most times our Ohio teachers are not meeting the music history standards. Our students are loosing the valuable education of the importance of music and the history behind it. If we do not continue to teach our students about the history of music, they will not be interested and continue on traditions that we have today, such as going to symphony orchestra concerts. No matter what type of music class they are involved in, our students deserve the best music education possible, and should be taught about the history of music. In most Ohio schools, one of the requirements of students is to take some type of music class each year. Most times, students have the option to choose which class they want, but the standards must still be covered in every music class. Recently, our Ohio teachers have lacked in providing the students the knowledge they need in order to cover the music history standards. The history of music is one of those topics that most music teachers do not enjoy, which means that they also do not want to teach it. Just like we have to do some things in daily life that we do not want to do, teachers also have to teach things they may notShow MoreRelatedReligion in Schools Today1253 Words   |  6 PagesThe American Religious Experience In America today we all have choices to make in regards to our religious beliefs. Many young children are brought up today confused about religion and the significance it plays in their lives. There are many sanctions and rules now on what can and can t be thought or displayed to people on public property, but it wasn t always like this. In this paper I will be discussing the American religious experience in regards to the impact religion has in the publicRead MoreEvaluation Of An Integrated Lesson Plan901 Words   |  4 Pagesstudents. The integrated lesson plan must also consider a diverse classroom, allowing all students equal access to what is being taught. Most importantly, art experiences must help each child meet challenging and achievable learning goals. As teachers, we must observe and assess each individual student in order to design an integrated lesson plan that is appropriate, meaningful, and challenging. (GPO2) Evaluation of individual child s development and learning is essential for planning and implementingRead MoreMusic As A Universal Experience1375 Words   |  6 Pages Music used as an Educational Tool in Advanced Higher Learning Tennessee State University Miller, Cordell 4/21/2016 â€Æ' Musical Minds â€Å"Musical is a universal experience. With few exceptions, all humans perceive musical pitch, tone, timbre, and harmony. We listen to music to relax, to help us think, to celebrate, and grieve. Our emotional responses to music have been noted in literature, poetry, and drama. The power of music to evoke an emotional response is used by advertising companiesRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effect On Society1171 Words   |  5 Pagesculture should be taught in schools. By teaching pop culture to students, it will help them know what’s going on in the world and helps them pay more attention in class. There are different types of pop culture such as, entertainment, music, video games, and sports. Teaching pop culture can benefit any classroom. Pop culture began after the Industrial Revolution, when the people had more free time and they wanted more entertainment.(Dr. Anthony Curtis, â€Å"Music and Popular Culture in America†) That isRead MoreAn Early Childhood Educator Can Reconstruct The Life Of A Child1708 Words   |  7 Pagesand/or a degree. Along with obtaining an academic history a teacher needs skills when engaging with children. Some skills involved are communication, creativity, social, organization, and perseverance (Bureau of Labor Statistics 1). Becoming an early childhood educator can be valuable to some. This occupation has a variety of teaching positions and degrees, offers steps in earning your degree, a preparation program, and engagement in a classroom setting. Early Childhood Education can be valuableRead MoreKnowledge Of Second Language Acquisition1462 Words   |  6 Pageslinguists and researchers in the teaching field. It highlights the process and theories of acquiring second languages among learners. Second language acquisition seeks to understand the development of second language acquisition among second language learners. Mastering the knowledge of second language acquisition helps teachers to successfully provide effective teaching for students. Undeniably, knowledge on second language acquisition is very much related to effective teaching of second languages. ManyRead MoreSchool Life in the 1950s1574 Words   |  7 PagesSchool Life in the 1950’s School Life in the 1950’s was harder than today because the facilities were few and inadequate. Teachers were stricter and corporal punishment was still in use. They had fewer subjects and wealth, discrimination, sexism and racism meant they could only do certain subjects. After World War 2 there was a baby boom and as a result in the 1950’s schools were quickly filling up as the children enrolled. The enrolments increased as much as 30% over the ‘baby-boomers’ decade. InRead MoreHistory of Music Education in America1580 Words   |  7 Pagesgreat history from the beginning. It began with the migration of people from Europe. They colonized the states and began life there. They eventually fought for their freedom and now are the United States of America. Within this history is another profound history, which is the history of music education in America. Music education has changed and grown dramatically from century to century from the 18th century to present times. Each century show a great moment and growth in the history of music educationRead MorePros and Cons of Technology in Classrooms1507 Words   |  7 Pageswalking. So many people are abusing technology by overusing it and even some, becoming addicted. If technology is goi ng to be used, it should have a positive purpose behind it. Throughout the past five years technology has become a main focus in the classroom and schools. Teachers are beginning to use computers, iPads etc. to help teach every grade and age. It has become so over welling that it could be believed that with all this technology, there is no point to have a teacher. Teachers and schools haveRead MoreThe Indian Wind Wolf1503 Words   |  7 PagesUnited States today there is a great amount of cultural diversity, but unfortunately the predominant American culture causes other cultures to be overlooked causing difficulties for students of other cultures to succeed in the American school system. This is what happens in the story of the Indian Wind-Wolf as he begins going to kindergarten. For Wind-Wolf, this is his first time outside of the Indian culture and it is very difficult for him to be the only Indian boy in his classroom. It causes

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Bipolar Disorder, By Stephen Fry - 1327 Words

Bipolar Disorder This case study is about Stephen Fry, who suffers from bipolar disorder. Fry wanted to tell the world about bipolar disorder, how it affects the people who has to live with it and the people around them, and how it feels for him dealing with bipolar disorder. What I Learned Watching this case study taught me how people try to deal with having bipolar disorders and how it works or does not work. For me, it was shocking how much it takes for someone to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the fact that only half of all who suffers from bipolar disorder are actually diagnosed. Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that biological factors are hard to find when it comes to bipolar disorder, leaving it hard to diagnose bipolar disorder. Nevertheless, bipolar disorder is hereditable, and having bipolar disorder means that someone in your family had it before you. Additionally I found it odd that only 20 percent of those who suffers from bipolar disorder manage to live stabile and full functioning lives. The reason why I find this strange is due to the fact that I know someone who suffers from bipolar disorder who is fully functioning. The case study also taught me that the stigma in mental health is much worse for the people suff ering from mental health issues than I expected. I believe a case study like this one is good for the stigma and hopefully it will help people admit to themselves that they suffer from a mental health illness. The lastShow MoreRelatedStephen Fry s The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive1409 Words   |  6 PagesIn this documentary of Stephen Fry, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, actor and comedian Stephen Fry goes on a journey to deepen his understanding of his mental illness. Fry starts by looking into his own past, beginning when he was just a young boy in boarding school, and searches for any signs that may have been a precursor of his eventual diagnosis. Fry also spends a good portion of the documentary talking to others’ with his shared diagnosis and listens to each of their own unique experiencesRead MoreIs Stephen Fry An English Comedian And Presenter?918 Words   |  4 PagesThis essay will describe important parts of the quest that Stephen Fry an English co median and presenter, took to explore through a two-part television documentary, the effects of living with bipolar disorder on himself and other celebrities and members of the public. Stephen fry starts his journey by recalling his depressive state at the age of 37 that lead him to his first diagnosis, finding out that he has bipolar disorder and with this, the explanation of his massive highs and miserable lowsRead MoreHow the Media Changes People’s Attitudes Towards Mental Health1897 Words   |  8 PagesBritney Spears. Over the years it has been suggested that the global pop icon suffers from a wide range of mental illnesses, from Bipolar Disorder and Manic Depression to Borderline Personality Disorder and even Postpartum Psychosis. Britney Spears has been subjected to media humilation following a string of divorces which lead to her Bipolar being triggered. Bipolar, which is known in the past as manic depression, is a condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to anotherRead MoreThe Uk Mental Health Charity Mind Essay1642 Words   |  7 Pagesthousands of people with bipolar disorder struggling to find money to eat, stay warm and pay the rent. They wrote a report stating, â€Å"People who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder may have particular problems managing their finances. During a manic, or ‘high’ phase, people can feel euphoric, brimming with ambitious schemes or ideas, their confidence excessively high. People may spend extravagantly and build up considerable debts. Additionally, comedian and writer Stephen Fry decided to speak openlyRead Morenumber of genetic and environmental factors are thought to act as triggers (NHS, 2014). Bipolar2100 Words   |  9 Pagesnumber of genetic and environmental factors are thought to act as triggers (NHS, 2014). Bipolar disorder affects more women than men even though it occurs later in women. It is more common in men with a substance use disorder and more common in women who have an underlying condition such as migraine, thyroid disease or obesity. Bipolar 11 disorder is more common in women than men with women experiencing depressive episo des, mixed mania and rapid cycling more often than men. There is no evidence thatRead MoreSuicide Death Of The United States2008 Words   |  9 Pagesbeen found yet. There are many non-genetic factors to depression such as any kind of abuse or neglect. One group that could be overlooked is people who are bipolar. In many of these cases their mood is unstable. One day they could be in a great mood and the next they could be willing to take their own life. There are treatment options for bipolar disease, however, we cannot make someone control their disease. A study has been done on 200 adults aged 18 to 25 who were apart of the middle class. TheirRead MoreSymbolism Of The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1956 Words   |  8 Pagesfan-made stories have even been made to be included in the canonical stories, the stories considered to be part of the originals and regarded as if written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, like a short Sherlock Holmes story written by Stephen Fry, included i n his novel, Paperweight (Fry PAGE NUMBER FOR PAPERWEIGHT SHERLOCK STORY HERE). Some other stories not written by Doyle to be included into canon are the collection of stories that Doyle’s son Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr wrote in 1954. SherlockRead MoreMiss Essay8754 Words   |  36 Pagesevidence you need. 2 CHAPTER 15 AC 1.1 What you need to know Describe the main types of mental ill health according to the psychiatric (DSM/ICD) classiï ¬ cation system: mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, substance-related disorders, eating disorders, cognitive disorders Explain the key strengths and limitations of the psychiatric classiï ¬ cation systems Explain two alternative frameworks for understanding mental distress Explain how mental ill healthRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 Pagesand goal setting STUDY ⠝  RESPONDENTS †¢ FOCUS ⠝  Luthans, Rosenkrantz, and Hennessey (1985) †¢ 52 managers in 3 organizations †¢ Participant observation of skills demonstrated by most effective versus least effective managers ⠝  Curtis, Winsor, and Stephens (1989) †¢ 428 members of the American Society of Personnel Administrators in the United States †¢ (1) Skills needed to obtain employment †¢ (2) Skills important for successful job performance †¢ (3) Skills needed to move up in the organization EmploymentRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesserious. It is so easy for students (and indeed others who should know better) to trivialize this very problematic and challenging subject. This is not the case with the present book. This is a book that deserves to achieve a wide readership. Professor Stephen Ackroyd, Lancaster University, UK This new textbook usefully situates organization theory within the scholarly debates on modernism and postmodernism, and provides an advanced introduction to the heterogeneous study of organizations, including chapters