Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Infographic 5 Social Media Tips for Authors

Infographic 5 Social Media Tips for Authors Infographic: 5 Actionable Social Media Tips for Authors Social media is the key to every self-publisher’s dream when it comes to marketing. Though complex, it’s the foreground to any successful book marketing strategy†¦ and it’s free! Being a self-published author means creating great content, but does it also mean you need to be an expert marketer? Thanks to the social web, no–though it certainly pays to be informed.We know engaging thousands of people on social media can feel like working in a black hole, but we’ve curated a list of actionable social media tips authors can utilize to market their books and themselves on social media without wasting time, breaking the bank, or turning into an angry-aggressive marketer who’s forgotten what their real job and passion is: writing.Tip #4. Stay optimistic or stay quietBeing a self-published author means you’re a professional; even though you may be accustomed to sharing personal opinions and experiences on your social media pages and comme nts, disassemble your internet armour and ignore the anti-fan comments. If you want a good counter-example, you can check this author’s reaction to a (slightly satirical) review of his book.Critique and criticism is inevitable. You will be much more appreciated as an author if you take reader feedback with a grain of salt and move on. Harping on the review will only hinder your credibility in the future and take away from the time you could have spent improving and creating content. If the same person keeps attacking your social media accounts, it’s perfectly acceptable to block them.Tip #5. Hashtags are your #friendsHashtags help categorize the rush of content constantly being posted by working as searchable tags and keywords. They’re a great feature to assist you in developing your online presence and reaching out to your audience. If used correctly, hashtags can connect you with readers all over the internet. If used incorrectly, they just clutter all of your wonderful content.Deciding which hashtags to use is one thing, but use too many, and your posts will look like spam. Search for hashtags like #amwriting, #amediting and #fridayreads to engage in community-wide topical posts, and don’t forget generic hashtags like #author, #pubtip, #writelife, #SFF, #YA, etc.Successful social media marketing really does just take time and patience–along with dedication, consistency, and a commitment to making your interactions personal. There is a very fine line between marketing yourself and harassing your readers, so make sure you fall on the right side of the fence by being transparent, friendly and personable. Who knows? You might just find that making friends online is just as fun as meeting people face-to-face!If you liked the post, do us a favour, and tweet the infographic! Just click here for that.How do you use social media as an author? Do you have any other tips to share with us?

Saturday, November 23, 2019

The Pastry War (French Mexican War, 1838 to 1839)

The Pastry War (French Mexican War, 1838 to 1839) The â€Å"Pastry War† was fought between France and Mexico from November 1838 to March 1839. The war was nominally fought because French citizens living in Mexico during a prolonged period of strife had their investments ruined and the Mexican government refused any sort of reparations, but it also had to do with long-standing Mexican debt. After a few months of blockades and naval bombardments of the port of Veracruz, the war ended when Mexico agreed to compensate France. Background of the War Mexico had serious growing pains after gaining its independence from Spain in 1821. A succession of governments replaced one another, and the presidency changed hands about 20 times in the first 20 years of independence. Late 1828 was particularly lawless, as forces loyal to rival presidential candidates Manuel Gà ³mez Pedraza and Vicente Guerrero Saldaà ±a fought in the streets after a hotly contested election. It was during this period that a pastry shop belonging to a French national identified only as Monsieur Remontel was allegedly ransacked by drunken army forces. Debts and Reparations In the 1830’s, several French citizens demanded reparations from the Mexican government for damages to their businesses and investments. One of them was Monsieur Remontel, who asked the Mexican government for the princely sum of 60,000 pesos. Mexico owed a great deal of money to European nations, including France, and the chaotic situation in the country seemed to indicate that these debts would never be paid. France, using the claims of its citizens as an excuse, sent a fleet to Mexico in early 1838 and blockaded the main port of Veracruz. The War By November, diplomatic relations between France and Mexico over lifting the blockade had deteriorated. France, which was demanding 600,000 pesos as reparations for the losses of its citizens, began shelling the fort of San Juan de Ulà ºa, which guarded the entrance to the port of Veracruz. Mexico declared war on France, and French troops attacked and captured the city. The Mexicans were outnumbered and outgunned, but still fought valiantly. The Return of Santa Anna The Pastry War marked the return of Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna had been an important figure in the early period after independence, but had been disgraced after the loss of Texas, seen as an utter fiasco by most of Mexico. In 1838 he was conveniently at his ranch near Veracruz when the war broke out. Santa Anna rushed to Veracruz to lead its defense. Santa Anna and the defenders of Veracruz were soundly routed by superior French forces, but he emerged a hero, partly because he had lost one of his legs during the fighting. He had the leg buried with full military honors. Resolution to the Pastry War With their main port captured, Mexico had no choice but to relent. Through British diplomatic channels, Mexico agreed to pay the full amount of restoration demanded by France, 600,000 pesos. The French withdrew from Veracruz and their fleet returned to France in March of 1839. Aftermath of the War The Pastry War, considered a minor episode in the history of Mexico, nevertheless had several important consequences. Politically, it marked the return of Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna to national prominence. Considered a hero in spite of the fact that he and his men lost the city of Veracruz, Santa Anna was able to regain much of the prestige he had lost after the catastrophe in Texas. Economically, the war was disproportionally disastrous for Mexico, as not only did they have to pay the 600,000 pesos to France, but they had to rebuild Veracruz and lost several months worth of customs revenue from their most important port. The Mexican economy, which had already been a shambles before the war, was hit hard. The Pastry War weakened the Mexican economy and military less than ten years before the much more historically important Mexican-American War broke out. Finally, it established a pattern of French intervention in Mexico which would culminate in the 1864 introduction of Maximilia n of Austria as Emperor of Mexico with the support of French troops.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Coca Colas Marketing Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Coca Colas Marketing Strategy - Case Study Example The Coca Cola Company is one of the world’s leaders in soft dink sales. It produces and distributes several brands of beverage internationally. The company also manufactures and distributes many fruit juices and other non soda beverages. It is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola’s soft drinks include its flagship product Coca-Cola, popularly known as Coke, Diet Coke, Tab, Sprite, Fanta, Fresca, the Mello Yello, and Barq’s root beer. The company’s nonsoda beverages include Minute Maid fruit juices, PowerAde sports drinks, and Nestea iced tea drinks. (Microsoft Encarta, 2006)Â  Invented by a pharmacist named John Stith Pemberton in 1886 and was the later bought by Asa Candler in 1889 who incorporated the Coca Cola Company in 1892. Coca Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over hundreds of countries and territories all over the world. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the company, it sells beverage product in more than 312 countries. It further s tates that of the more than 90 billion beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide everyday and that approximately 4.5 billion of beverages owned and licensed to the company. Also, according to the 2007 Annual Report, Coca Cola had gallon sales of 37% in the United States, 43% in Mexico, Brazil, Japan and china and 20% spread throughout the world. (Wikipedia, 2008)Â  Like any other companies, Coca Cola has also been involved in a number of controversies, issues and lawsuits.... Throughout the paper, COCA COLA Company is used as the main focus and object of discussion. The company's marketing strategies and techniques will be reviewed and analyzed and will be use as examples and citations. The paper aims to answer questions such as how do Coca Cola's marketing strategies and techniques contribute to its growth and success What is the impact of marketing strategies in an organization on the 21st century and in future years 2.0 Coca Cola's Marketing Strategy: A Case Analysis 2.1 Company Background The Coca Cola Company is one of the world's leaders in soft dink sales. It produces and distributes several brands of beverage internationally. The company also manufactures and distributes many fruit juices and other non soda beverages. It is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Coca-Cola'ssoftdrinks include its flagship product Coca-Cola, popularly known as Coke, Diet Coke, Tab, Sprite, Fanta, Fresca, Mello Yello, and Barq's root beer. The company's nonsoda beverages include Minute Maid fruit juices, PowerAde sports drinks, and Nestea iced tea drinks. (Microsoft Encarta, 2006) Invented by a pharmacist named John Stith Pemberton in 1886 and was later bought by Asa Candler in 1889 who incorporated the Coca Cola Company in 1892. Coca Cola currently offers nearly 400 brands in over hundreds of countries and territories all over the world. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the company, it sells beverage product in more than 312 countries. It further states that of the more than 90 billion beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide everyday and that approximately 4.5 billion of beverages owned and licensed to the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Lessons from Gorbachev's Doomed U.S.S.R and America's current Path Research Paper

Lessons from Gorbachev's Doomed U.S.S.R and America's current Path - Research Paper Example The relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union has been characterized by the interplay of economic, ideological and political factors that largely resulted in supper power rivalry throughout the cold war period. One of the remarkable similarities shared by the current United States and the former Soviet Union is a serious foreign debt crisis and a looming bankruptcy. Prior to its collapse Gorbachev's Doomed U.S.S.R was taking on foreign debt at unsustainable rates. A peak in the Russian oil production, as well as low world prices at the time, later sealed the fate of Soviet Union under Gorbachev. For example, his two main policies of Perestroika and glasnost significantly resulted in a political instability that eventually gave way to the dissolution of the Union (Service, 13).On the other hand, just like the former USSR, United States is also now facing similar economic problems and the current outstanding US national debt stands at over $16 trillion and is one of t he largest debts owed by a single country in the world. Even before the current economic crisis, the US grew by nearly 50% and the fact that the US debt to GDP ratio now stands at more than 100% is a serious alarm to both the policymakers and the investors. According to many analysts, the high US national debt resulted from an accumulation of federal budget deficits with the largest contributor being President Obama through his tax cuts, economic stimulus package (bailout) and increased military spending.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

English Literature Coursework Essay Example for Free

English Literature Coursework Essay Compare and contrast at least two short stories by Edgar Allen Poe, paying particular attention to setting, atmosphere, characterisation, theme and language. Throughout this essay I will be comparing and contrasting Edgar Allen Poes The Black Cat and The Cask of Amontillado. Edgar Allen Poe had a particular preference to what though was good writing he believed that a story should build suspense and tension and all techniques should be used to build this tension for a big finish, his unity of effects. Many of Poes stories are very gothic and sinister, this can be seen to have been influenced by the long chain of very traumatic events in his life such as losing both parents, losing his wife, alcoholism and hallucinations. He should never be called crazy himself but his stories often involve crazy narrators and characters. I will firstly start of with the setting in The Cask of Amontillado, this is a story set in old Italy in which our main character Montressor has been gravely insulted by Fortunato and to find his revenge he buries him alive deep underneath his mansion. The setting in the Cask is sinister and also ironic. Its set in a mansion during the carnival, the mansion itself is very gothic and creepy which gives us the gothic element, but the fact that its set during carnival is very ironic as carnival is supposed to be a time of joy and gaiety not a time for evil murders such as this. The reason this murder actually takes place is also due to the carnival, as during it a lot of social boundaries are dropped and laws are less firmly enforced which gives him this chance to get away with murder. The deed itself is set deep in Montressors cellar, his catacombs, which provides is with a very gothic atmosphere. The deeper they descend into the cellar can also been seen as irony for descending into hell which gives us another layer to the setting of this tale. The Black Cat is a story set all at home in which a very strange series of events take place and the narrator who was once a very fond animal lover becomes their enemy and ends up killing one cat and attempting to kill his second but instead kills his wife, who he walls up in his cellar and accidently walls up the cat alive with her. During this time we witness his slow decent into utter madness. The setting as I said is all at the narrator home, this is ironic as the home is where we are supposed to feel most secure and most safe but it this tale its where these crazy and rather disturbing events take place, this affects the reader in a way which makes them think that the home is maybe not so secure as they once thought and challenges their views of safety and security. The safety of home is a total contrast to the sinister events that take place. This is similar to the Cask as all deaths in both stories take place in the narrators home, but is contrasted as in the Cask he was more in control of where the death could have taken place as he was more sane, but it in The Black Cat he is less in control and the death of his wife was more spur of the moment. The murder in the cask was very much thought out and everything was planned to the last detail but in the black cat he is often drunk or not in a safe state of mind when the murders are committed. I will now compare and contrast the atmosphere in both stories. In the Cask Poe creates a gothic atmosphere by describing the scenery very vivid and in a hugely gothic detail. Such as upon the damp ground of the catacombs of the montressors which gives up a vivid image of a huge damp cellar lined with cob-webs and rats. Also the madness of the carnival is ironic for the madness of the deeds thats going to take place. In the black cat the gothic atmosphere is created by the huge range of gothic literature and very dramatic writing. During the story there are series of very perverse doings such as the pair of deaths one being a cat and the other his wife. There are also lots of hints towards to supernatural elements starting off with the connection between black cats and witches by the narrators wife, which we can assume played on his mind throughout the story and may have lead to part of his downfall. Both stories have a huge intensity and a great build up of tension. Both stories create terror and a gothic atmosphere. Now I will discuss the largest of all subjects from the two stories, the narrators. The narrator in the Cask is a very proud man and not easily annoyed as Poe says that he say bared most of Forunatos but once he is gravely insulted he believes he has to go to the extremity of murder to gain his revenge and regain his dignity. Id say the character is actually rather reliable as he doesnt seem to be insane, just getting revenge the only way he thinks he can, and he often mentions that what hes doing is just part of human nature and everyone does it just maybe not on this scale. His state of mind is pretty secure, he seems to know exactly what hes doing and just how hes going to do it and everything seems very much planned out to the utter last detail. His only slip would seem to be right at the end when he starts to call out Fortunatos name where it would seem that hes starting to feel regret already for what hes doing. Hes very manipulative as he knows exactly what things to say to make Fortunato come with him, such as mentioning Luchresi as he knows that Fortunato would be in competition with him and would be jealous to see him take it to Luchresi instead of him, he basically uses him as a lure, even though that is all we hear about Luchresi its enough to sway Fortunato into the montressors deep vaults. Now for the narrator in the black cat, at the beginning of the story he is made out to be a very respectful and animal loving character. In the case of this particular character I can easily say that he is unreliable as he is clearly insane. Unlike the narrator in the cask, during his mental disintegration he starts to hallucinate. Such as the enormous, flat cat he imagines in house after the death of his first cat, and secondly the gallows appearing in the tuft of white hair on the second cat. The gallows are used as foreshadowing, maybe his death, or another death in his household or his impending capture. Throughout the story the narrators state of mind deteriates slowly, one reason for this could be his alcoholism that had taken control of him. He calls the alcohol fiend intemperance which he says had altered his for the worse, this shows that the narrator can see whats slowly happening to himself but blames it on the alcohol as he calls it a fiend. This adds another layer to the alcohol and leads up to believe that the narrators state of mind is not totally secure. So unlike the narrator in the cask we feel that he is rather out of control of his actions and his state of mind. The third subject comparison I will make is in the language of the two stories. In the cask Poe uses a huge array of linguistic devices. There is extensive vocabulary throughout the prose which gives it depth and great vivid detail such as deep dark crypt; this has two descriptive adjectives and alliteration in a tiny space. This gives the tale imagery of this evil crypt and mysterious vaults. He also uses several instances of repetition to describe and give the story yet another layer or depth and emphasis in particular important events in the prose; a succession of loud and shrill screams. He also has a wide range of sentence structure, simple, compound and complex. The complex sentences in this prose build tension and then a compound or simple on for impact. All of these techniques create and build tension and intensity. There is also irony, for example the use of appearance versus reality where the narrator presents himself as one way when infact in reality it is clearly obvious they are not. Foreshadowing is also used, this is when a particular event is mentioned or hinted at will become later in the story. Such as when Fortunato is suffering from a cough and upon entering the vaults has a sudden coughing fit after which montressor requests that they leave but fortunate insists that; the coughs a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough. This is seen as foreshadowing his future, true he will not die of a cough, but he will die in these vaults. In the black cat Poe uses irony in his very first paragraph, mere household events when we know that they are clearly far from mere household events. Poe also uses personification; the most rhetorical is when he personifies the alcohol to give it another layer and it would also give someone to blame his irrational behaviour on. The use of irony is noticeable when the narrator reveals that his first cats name was Pluto, who, in Greek mythology, is the lord of the underworld. This could also tap into the supernatural element of the tale which could be the reason for the narrators physiological downfall. Poe uses the technique of rhetorical questions to probe at the reader and leave an unanswered question in the readers head. Such as; who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason that because he knows he should not?. This particular rhetorical question is basically talking about this perverse side in everyone and about basic human nature, which is something that we can all relate to as readers and could also, be the narrator trying to justify his actions as part of everyday human nature. Poes vocabulary is very vicious, emotive and demonic, such as demons, exhault, damned and agony. These emotive words play on the emotions and are much better than just normal descriptive words. Once again, like the Cask, intensity is created and built throughout the story, and both have foreshadowing, symbolism and good diction. An example of foreshadowing in the black cat could be the narrators hallucination of the gallows appearing in his second cats fur, this could be foreshadowing a death that he could be related to including himself. The last category I will be comparing and contrasting is themes in the tale. In the cask Poe explores several themes, such as the dropping of moral boundaries at the time of carnivals and their consequences, such as crime. Poe is just using this extremity to show this. Revenge is also another theme explored in this tale and once again this is an extremity to show that. It is also to explore the narrators state of mind and to entertain the reader. In the black cat Poe explores the idea that everyone has a perverse side and uses this extremity to show that. Like the cask, it also explores the narrators state of mind and to entertain the reader.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Francis Petrarch: Leader of the Humanistic Movement and Father of the R

Francis Petrarch: Leader of the Humanistic Movement and Father of the Renaissance Before the civic spirit and individuality evident and necessary to the Renaissance came to fruition, there had to have been something to trigger a change in the mentality of the medieval civilization. The medieval manorialism fostered illiteracy and ignorance and a very narrow view of the outside world, people did not question their place, the church, or the need to prepare for the after life. The "awakening" of the Renaissance came after the dawn of a new Roman Empire way of thinking.. Humanism is the intellectual, literary and scientific movement of the 14th to the 16th centuries without which the Renaissance would never have evolved. Humanism is a rediscovery and reevaluation (analysis) of classical civilization and the application of the aspects of this civilization to intellectual and social culture in the current time. It is a blend of concern for the history and actions of human beings, mainly the ancient Greeks and Romans, such as, Cicero, Ceaser, and Augustine, with the belief that man was at the center of the universe. Contrary to Christian teachings, humanist believe that man is subject and creator of his own destiny, governed by ideals of beauty, grace, and harmony and the glorification of individual freedom. These ideas provide the vehicle, in which the transition from medieval thinking of vassalage (servitude) and the afterlife to a return to the principles of the Pax Romana occurred. Christian humanism came to mean individualism and the value of life in the present. Italy, and specifically Florence, is said to have been the birthplace of humanistic thinking and the Renaissance for a variety of reasons. Geography, more ... .... Petrarch and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963. Donadoni, Eugenio. A History of Italian Literature, Volume 1. New York: New York University Press, 1969. Hollway-Calthrop, Henry. Petrarch: His Life and Times. New York: Putnam's, 1907. Lawall, Sarah, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Seventh Edition, Volume 1. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1998. Musa, Mark, ed. Selections from the Canzoniere & Other Works by Francesco Petrarch. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Robinson, James Harvey, ed. Petrarch: The First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters New York: G.P. Putnam, 1898. Symonds, John Addison. "Beginning and Progress of the Renaissance" History of the World, 01-01-92 (obtained online). Wilkins, Ernest Hatch. A History of Italian Literature. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Hinduism and Buddhism Essay

In recent years, numerous Eastern philosophical thoughts have influenced the contemporary world in more ways than one. Eastern philosophy serves as the foundation of discipline and way of life for most Asians and even several individuals from the west . The significance of eastern influences not only incline on the purpose of commemoration of historical people but on the scrutiny of principles and doctrines that contribute to growth as well. In a strict sense, eastern philosophies have connections in one way or another and such connections are often found in the beliefs and practices of such schools of thought. Hinduism and Buddhism for instance are regarded as two of the oldest systems of discipline both in doctrine and practice (Moore & Bruder, 2005). These philosophies are two of the oldest in the Dharmic tradition, hence it is plausible for Buddhism and Hinduism to be the subject of comparison. Hinduism is the oldest major religion still practiced today, it traces its roots from unrecorded history. The doctrines of Hinduism are as diverse as its number of interpretations, as such, Hinduism per se is more of a spiritual attitude that spawns an array of religious and philosophicl beliefs and traditions (Moore & Bruder, 2005). The diversities come in different forms such as worship of elements in the form of any living entities up to cultured metaphysical theories (Moore & Bruder, 2005). The diversities of hinduism, conversely, are bound by the Vedic scriptures’ authority, these scriptures are the basis of understanding for the discreet natural state of things (Moore & Bruder, 2005). Buddhism on the other hand is a system of beliefs, originally from Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), that responds to the supposed predicaments brought about by suffering which extends its arm to the feelings of sorrow, dissapointment, frustration, discontent, disaffection, pessimism and unfulfillment (Moore & Bruder, 2005). Buddha narrows the resolution to suffering in the context of his four noble truths: There is Suffering, Suffering has its causes, suffering has an end and there is a way to end suffering in the eight-fold path (Moore & Bruder, 2005). Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in the cause and effect principles of Karma. Karma’s is encompassed on the idea that intentions are the measuring factors of a person’s deeds. In Karma, these deeds will be carried over for several lifespans through an individual’s incarnations depending if a deed is morally good or morally bad (Moore & Bruder, 2005). Another element similar to Buddhism and Hinduism as the principles is Nirvana, though defferences are evident in the ways and means, the two are both directed to the attainment of the latter. Nirvana is a sanskrit word that literally means extinction and is applied in Buddhism and Hinduism as freedom from the cycle of life, death and reincarnation (Moore & Bruder, 2005). Personally, I concur to the system of beliefs suggested by Buddhism, primarily because it provides an easy, step-by-step guide to the achievement of the goal, nirvana. Gautama’s teachings, though hard and require discipline is the perfect path to enlightenment given that he primarily insinuates worldly desires and other emotions that hinder an individual from discovering the true self. Moreover, Buddha implies simplicity of Buddhist practices in the sense that he himself noted that anyone can achieve the insights that he had via focus, sincere meditation, continuous elimination of worldly desires and freedom from egoistic thoughts, fear and anxiety.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Bukowski poem †a smile to remember Essay

Analysis A smile to remember Charles Bukowski The poem is really a short story about an ordinary family with tragic problems. The child of the mother and the father, who are mentioned in the poem, is the narrator. The likely scenario is that the child in the poem represents Charles Bukowski’s childhood. In the first lines of the story, it is mentioned that the family has goldfish. We hear about a boy, whose mother keeps telling him to be happy, even though she has a miserable life because of his insane and abusive father, who beats her frequently. One day the goldfish dies and his father, being the insensible man he is, throws the goldfish to the cat, but remarkably, Henry’s mother just smiles. The first impression you get when you see the title of the poem is that this must be a ‘feel-good’- or ‘love’-poem. In the first line, the word ‘goldfish’ is mentioned. An innocent image most readers can relate to. The same goes for the line â€Å"my mother, always smiling, wanting us all to be happy†. Again, to the reader this is a good thing. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Most people agree that going through life happy, is something we all try to achieve. The fifth line reads â€Å"and she was right: it’s better to be happy if you†. Then the poet does something remarkable. The line stops after â€Å"you†, while the next line, only includes one word; â€Å"can†. Bukowski made this word a line by itself to make the reader understand the undertone of desolation in the family, because they surely cannot live the happy, picture-perfect life. By writing it this way, Bukowski leave it to the reader to decide if the mother and the child are happy. But clearly the Mother acknowledges that the child is in fact never happy, since he â€Å"never smiles† as she remarks later. Line 10-11, â€Å"raging inside his 6-foot-two frame because he couldn’t understand what was attacking him from within†. We know from earlier, that Bukowski’s childhood was terribly violent and his father was abusive to his  mother and him, but in this poem Bukowski choose to look beyond this and tries to understand why his father was abusive. In this line, the reader senses immediately that something is wrong with the father and that he is fighting his own demons. Is it mental illness, substance abuse or is he just a man with temperament? Bukowski’s mother becomes the center of the stanza; â€Å"my mother, poor fish, wanting to be happy, beaten two or three times a week, telling me to be happy: ‘Henry, smile! Why don’t you ever smile?† Instead of goldfish swimming in a bowl, the goldfish now symbolize the mother (â€Å"poor fish†) who tries to show happiness even though she suffers from violence and lives in pain. However, sor row cannot be hidden, even the child knows that her happiness is not real. As the author express it â€Å"it was the saddest smile I ever saw†. In the last stanza the goldfish dies. The reader can clearly envision the dead fish â€Å"they floated on the water on their side, their eyes still open†. To return to the symbol of the fish being the mother, the reader’s viewpoint now gets completely turned upside down. It is not as simple as it looked – the poem is not about abuse. It is about a frazzled woman who tried to keep an even more broken family together. She believed in the good things in life and smiled through her pain in an attempt to raise a shelter towards the ugly reality she is confined to. Until one day, when the little part of her, still trying to fight, died and was thrown to the cat: By then she just stands there, still smiling. Perhaps she realizes that relief will also come to her some day; when death put an end to her miserable life and she can finally stop pretending that life is a happy place.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Hang, Hung, Hanged

Hang, Hung, Hanged Hang, Hung, Hanged Hang, Hung, Hanged By Sharon Hang derives from Old English and means to be attached from above without support below. This is one of the core meanings, as shown in the sentence: The picture hangs on the wall. However, there are several other related uses, for example: To let droop or fall – hang your head in shame. To fall in a certain way – this costume hangs well. To pay attention to – I hang on your every word. To hold on tightly – My daughter is hanging onto my skirt. A way of doing something – She couldnt get the hang of it. To be oppressive – a cloud of gloom hangs over him. The regular past tense of hang is hung, which would be used in all the examples listed above. However, there is one difference when it comes to hanging someone by the neck. In this case the past tense is hanged which means killed by hanging. Here are some quotations from the newspapers: before American forces chased him from his capital city and captured him in a filthy pit near his hometown, was hanged just before dawn Saturday during the morning call to prayer. (www.nytimes.com) Secrets,† he printed the pieces of personal data on sheets of paper using a special liquid solution. The sheets were hung in neat rows and columns on a wall. Museumgoers could only see the data under a special light source, and key (www.nytimes.com) Met Breuer in 2016-2017.After it was acquired for McCormick Square, the painting hung in the hallway of the convention center for years with very little protection, making it liable to theft or damage, (www.nytimes.com) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should KnowBroadcast vs Broadcasted as Past FormSentence Adverbs

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Threading Introduction in Visual Basic

Threading Introduction in Visual Basic To understand threading in VB.NET, it helps to understand some of the foundation concepts. First up is that threading is something that happens because the operating system supports it. Microsoft Windows is a pre-emptive multitasking operating system. A part of Windows called the task scheduler parcels out processor time to all the running programs. These small chunks of processor time are called time slices. Programs arent in charge of how much processor time they get, the task scheduler is. Because these time slices are so small, you get the illusion that the computer is doing several things at once. Definition of Thread A thread is a single sequential flow of control. Some qualifiers: A thread is a path of execution through that body of code.Threads share memory so they have to cooperate to produce the correct result.A thread has thread-specific data such as registers, a stack pointer, and a program counter.A process is a single body of code that can have many threads, but it has at least one and it has a single context (address space). This is assembly level stuff, but thats what you get into when you start thinking about threads. Multithreading vs. Multiprocessing Multithreading is not the same as multicore parallel processing, but multithreading and multiprocessing do work together. Most PCs today have processors that have at least two cores, and ordinary home machines sometimes have up to eight cores. Each core is a separate processor, capable of running programs by itself. You get a performance boost when the OS assigns a different process to different cores. Using multiple threads and multiple processors for even greater performance is called thread-level parallelism. A lot of what can be done depends on what the operating system and the processor hardware can do, not always what you can do in your program, and you shouldnt expect to be able to use multiple threads on everything. In fact, you might not find many problems that benefit from multiple threads. So, dont implement multithreading just because its there. You can easily reduce your programs performance if its not a good candidate for multithreading. Just as examples, video codecs may be the worst programs to multithread because the data is inherently serial. Server programs that handle web pages might be among the best because the different clients are inherently independent. Practicing Thread Safety Multithreaded code often requires complex coordination of threads. Subtle and difficult-to-find bugs are common because different threads often have to share the same data so data can be changed by one thread when another isnt expecting it. The general term for this problem is race condition. In other words, the two threads can get into a race to update the same data and the result can be different depending on which thread wins. As a trivial example, suppose youre coding a loop: For I 1 To 10 DoSomethingWithI()Next If the loop counter I unexpectedly misses the number 7 and goes from 6 to 8- but only some of the time- it would have disastrous effects on whatever the loop is doing. Preventing problems like this is called thread safety. If the program needs the result of one operation in a later operation, then it can be impossible to code parallel processes or threads to do it.   Basic Multithreading Operations Its time to push this precautionary talk to the background and write some multithreading code. This article uses a Console Application for simplicity right now. If you want to follow along, start Visual Studio with a new Console Application project. The primary namespace used by multithreading is the System.Threading namespace and the Thread class will create, start, and stop new threads. In the example below, notice that TestMultiThreading is a delegate. That is, you have to use the name of a method that the Thread method can call. Imports System.ThreadingModule Module1 Sub Main() Dim theThread _ As New Threading.Thread( AddressOf TestMultiThreading) theThread.Start(5) End Sub Public Sub TestMultiThreading(ByVal X As Long) For loopCounter As Integer 1 To 10 X X * 5 2 Console.WriteLine(X) Next Console.ReadLine() End SubEnd Module In this app, we could have executed the second Sub by simply calling it: TestMultiThreading(5) This would have executed the entire application in serial fashion. The first code example above, however, kicks off the TestMultiThreading subroutine and then continues. A Recursive Algorithm Example Heres a multithreaded application involving calculating permutations of an array using a recursive algorithm. Not all of the code is shown here. The array of characters being permuted is simply 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Heres the pertinent part of the code. Sub Main() Dim theThread _ As New Threading.Thread( AddressOf Permute) theThread.Start(5) Permute(5) Console.WriteLine(Finished Main) Console.ReadLine()End SubSub Permute(ByVal K As Long) ... Permutate(K, 1) ...End SubPrivate Sub Permutate( ... ... Console.WriteLine( pno pString) ...End Sub Notice that there are two ways to call the Permute sub (both commented out in the code above). One kicks off a thread and the other calls it directly. If you call it directly, you get: 1 123452 12354... etc119 54312120 54321Finished Main However, if you kick off a thread and Start the Permute sub instead, you get: 1 12345Finished Main2 12354... etc119 54312120 54321 This clearly shows that at least one permutation is generated, then the Main sub moves ahead and finishes, displaying Finished Main, while the rest of the permutations are being generated. Since the display comes from a second sub called by the Permute sub, you know that is part of the new thread as well. This illustrates the concept that a thread is a path of execution as mentioned earlier. Race Condition Example The first part of this article mentioned a race condition. Heres an example that shows it directly: Module Module1 Dim I As Integer 0 Public Sub Main() Dim theFirstThread _ As New Threading.Thread( AddressOf firstNewThread) theFirstThread.Start() Dim theSecondThread _ As New Threading.Thread( AddressOf secondNewThread) theSecondThread.Start() Dim theLoopingThread _ As New Threading.Thread( AddressOf LoopingThread) theLoopingThread.Start() End Sub Sub firstNewThread() Debug.Print( firstNewThread just started!) I I 2 End Sub Sub secondNewThread() Debug.Print( secondNewThread just started!) I I 3 End Sub Sub LoopingThread() Debug.Print( LoopingThread started!) For I 1 To 10 Debug.Print( Current Value of I: I.ToString) Next End SubEnd Module The Immediate window showed this result in one trial. Other trials were different. Thats the essence of a race condition. LoopingThread started!Current Value of I: 1secondNewThread just started!Current Value of I: 2firstNewThread just started!Current Value of I: 6Current Value of I: 9Current Value of I: 10

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Public finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Public finance - Essay Example ng maximum output from its resources, whereas, parreto efficiency occurs where it is impossible to make one better off without making at least one worse off. The efficiency in the public sector is distorted by market failures. Market failures are those situations where conditions necessary to achieve the market efficient solution fail to exist or are repudiated somehow. Some the examples of market failures include the existence of public goods and externalities, imperfect competition, incomplete information, uncertainty and many more. When market fails in the public sector, inefficiencies are at its peak and intervention from a vast external force is much needed, this is the part where government intervenes in the market. The intervention of the government involves the four branches known as the Musgrave’s 4 branches which are; allocation branch, distributional branch, stabilization branch and regulatory branch. First, the allocation branch is activated when one of the following four principles are violated; a lucid system of property rights, complete information to buyers and sellers, excludable principle and rivalry in consumption. So for commodities where property rights cannot be assigned to a single individual, these common property resources fail the market due to the problem called tragedy of the commons, as these goods are for free and individuals’ tend to over use them. This over usage of the goods would mean rapid deterioration of the goods and that less of the goods would be available to others. This is a violation of the principle of having a clear system of property rights. The allocation branch corrects this inefficiency by communally owning the property rights rather than rights being privately owned and this means for each resource government allocates the right to use that resource. In addition, inefficiency also arises from pure public goods that are non-excludable and non-rival in consumption. In the case of non-excludable you cannot