Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Hatshepsut - The Woman Who Was Pharaoah

The Woman who was Pharaoh Hatshepsut, one of the ancient world’s most beautiful and intelligent women, is remembered as being the first woman to become King of Ancient Egypt. A woman of strong character, she acted as co-regent of Ancient Egypt for 20 years and worked hard to vastly improve the lives of all of her people. Her influence on the politics, trade, architecture and war during this time was immeasurable in the eyes and hearts of all who knew her and knew of her. Ancient Egypt was a peaceful civilization while Hatshepsut sat in the throne, dressed as a man to gather the admiration of her people. Peace rather than war found its way into Egyptian’s lives as they lived in harmony rather than tragedy. Tuthmosis III whom she shared the throne with led the army while she ruled the land. Wars were always businesslike and informative. This plan of attack resulted in no major wars while Hatshepsut was pharaoh. However, the forces were maintained efficiently despite the peaceful dent it carried. Many thousands of Egyptians lives were saved due to these 20 years of peace due to Hatshepsut’s keen political skills and her ability to jump every hurdle that came in her way. Hatshepsut ordered many trading expeditions during her time as King, which enabled Egyptians to live in domestic prosperity. Trade became an important part of her policy and many products returned in these expeditions can still be identified today in these lands. One of the most infamous trade expeditions was her voyage to Punt. Five ships sailed the Red Sea to Punt (now known as Somalia) with goods to exchange with the native people of Punt. Historians know of this voyage as the painted scenes of the expedition are seen today on the walls of her temple at Deir el-Bahri. Hatshepsut returned to Egypt with her ships carrying products Egyptians desired as dictated by the God Amon. The boats were laden with myrrh, frankincense, woods, resin, ivory... Free Essays on Hatshepsut - The Woman Who Was Pharaoah Free Essays on Hatshepsut - The Woman Who Was Pharaoah The Woman who was Pharaoh Hatshepsut, one of the ancient world’s most beautiful and intelligent women, is remembered as being the first woman to become King of Ancient Egypt. A woman of strong character, she acted as co-regent of Ancient Egypt for 20 years and worked hard to vastly improve the lives of all of her people. Her influence on the politics, trade, architecture and war during this time was immeasurable in the eyes and hearts of all who knew her and knew of her. Ancient Egypt was a peaceful civilization while Hatshepsut sat in the throne, dressed as a man to gather the admiration of her people. Peace rather than war found its way into Egyptian’s lives as they lived in harmony rather than tragedy. Tuthmosis III whom she shared the throne with led the army while she ruled the land. Wars were always businesslike and informative. This plan of attack resulted in no major wars while Hatshepsut was pharaoh. However, the forces were maintained efficiently despite the peaceful dent it carried. Many thousands of Egyptians lives were saved due to these 20 years of peace due to Hatshepsut’s keen political skills and her ability to jump every hurdle that came in her way. Hatshepsut ordered many trading expeditions during her time as King, which enabled Egyptians to live in domestic prosperity. Trade became an important part of her policy and many products returned in these expeditions can still be identified today in these lands. One of the most infamous trade expeditions was her voyage to Punt. Five ships sailed the Red Sea to Punt (now known as Somalia) with goods to exchange with the native people of Punt. Historians know of this voyage as the painted scenes of the expedition are seen today on the walls of her temple at Deir el-Bahri. Hatshepsut returned to Egypt with her ships carrying products Egyptians desired as dictated by the God Amon. The boats were laden with myrrh, frankincense, woods, resin, ivory...

Friday, November 22, 2019

NMSQT Why Should You Care

What Is the PSAT/NMSQT Why Should You Care SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Have you heard about the PSAT or the National Merit program and are wondering what they are?Are you looking for ways to prepare for the SAT? Read this guide to learn what the PSAT/NMSQT is, what it tests, and how it can get you ready for the SAT and earn you money for college. What Is the PSAT/NMSQT? First of all, what do all those letters stand for? The full name is thePreliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, often abbreviated to PSAT. So what is the PSAT? It's a standardized test that 10th and 11th graders can take, and about 3.5 million students choose to take it each year. The PSAT is used to determineeligibility and qualification for the National Merit Scholarship Program (which is what the "NMSQT" part of the name is for). It also serves as a practice test for the SAT, but be aware that you can't submit PSAT scores to colleges as your standardized test scores. What Sections Does the PSAT/NMSQT Include? The structure and content of the PSAT have been recently revised to reflect changes made to the SAT. There are three sections on the PSAT: Math, Reading, and Language and Writing. The total testing time of the PSAT is 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it includes 139 questions. This information is broken down more specificallybelow. Reading Section: 60 minutes to answer 47 questions Writing and Language Section: 35 minutes to answer 44 questions Math Section: 70 minutes to answer 48 questions What Material Do These Sections Cover? Reading Section The reading section tests students'ability to draw conclusions and make inferences from reading passages. The 47 questions arebased on three passages and two passage pairs (a passage pair is when a passage is paired with a chart, table, graph, or other passage, and the questions use information from both of those sources). The five passages/passage pairs will cover the following subjects: 1 on US/World Literature (with 9 corresponding questions) 2 on Social Studies/History (with 18-20 corresponding questions) 2 on Science (with 18-20 corresponding questions) Writing and Language Section The Writing and Language Section testsknowledge of grammar, usage, punctuation, and other English conventions. It does not include an essay. There are four passages/passage pairs in this section whichaddress topics related to careers, history/social studies, the humanities, and science. There are two categories of question in this section: 24 questions on Expression of Ideas 20 questions on Standard English Conventions Math Section The Math Section focuses on algebraic problems and tests ability to analyze and interpret data sets. For the first 25 minutes, a calculator is not allowed, but students are allowed to use a calculator for the last 45 minutes of the section. The questions are mostly multiple choice, but some (17-22%) will have grid-in answers. The topics tested in this section are: Heart of Algebra (linear equations and systems) Problem Solving and Data Analysis (quantitative literacy) Passport to Advanced Math (manipulation of complex equations) Additional Topics in Math (geometric and trigonometric skills) How Is the PSAT/NMSQT Scored? The PSAT has recently implemented a new scoring system. As of 2015, thescore range has been changed, and there will no longer be deductions for incorrect answers.Although the PSAT/NMSQT has a shared common score scale as the SAT, score ranges are not identical. The PSAT's total score range is 320-1520. The PSAT's range doesn'tgo up to 1600 like the SAT's does because the PSAT is a less difficult test than the SAT, and sincea perfect score on the PSAT does not necessarily indicate a perfect score on the SAT, having identical score ranges may have causedsome test takers to mistakenly believe that. There are two main section scores for the PSAT: the Math Score and the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Score. Both of these sections havescore ranges of 160-760. The Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Score is based on the combined scores of the Language and Writing and the Reading sections. This means that the Math section accounts for half of your entire PSAT score. The PSAT also has three test scores for each of the three subject sections, Math, Reading, and Language and Writing, that range from 8-38. Additionally, within each of these three sections there are several subsections with scores ranging from 1-15. These subscores letexam takers see how well they scored in more specific areas and can help make future studying more effective. There are seven subscores in the following categories: Reading:Command of Evidence, Words in Context Writing and Language:Expression of Ideas, Standard English Conventions Math:Heart of Algebra,Problem Solving and Data Analysis, Passport to Advanced Math What Are the Benefits of the PSAT/NMSQT? How can taking the PSAT help you? There are three main ways: 1. Practice for the SAT The PSAT allowsyou practice taking a test very similar to the SAT, under real test conditions. It can give you an estimate of the score you'd get on the SAT, and you can also look at the section scores and subscores to see which areas you should study the most in the future. The PSAT is a great way to practice for the SAT and other standardized tests 2. Practice for Standardized Tests in General Even though the PSAT will prepare you most directly for the SAT, taking it can benefit anyone looking to get more practice taking other standardized tests, like the ACT. It can help you practice managing your time during a test, improve your critical thinking skills, and also give you an opportunity to seehow well you do under official testing conditions. 3. Potential for Scholarship Money Competition is tough, but students with top PSAT scores can get a significant amount of scholarship money.Of the roughly 1.5 million high school juniors who take the test, about 50,000 students with the highest total PSAT/NMSQTscores qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. About 34,000 of those students become Commended Scholars. The roughly 16,000 students with the highest PSAT scores in the country (partly based on which state you live in) become National Merit Semi-Finalists, and most of them (about 15,000) move on to become National Merit Finalists. Over $180 million in scholarship money is awarded annually to students who get high scores on the PSAT. About half of the National Merit Finalistsreceive a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship, renewable for up to four years. Many corporations offer scholarship money as well. In addition, many colleges offer scholarships to National Merit Commended Scholars, Semi-Finalists, and Finalists. Some schools even offer a tuition waiver, which can save you tens of thousands of dollars. If you're interested in learning more about the National Merit Scholarship program, check out our guide which provides tips to help you improve your chances of becoming a Semi-Finalist! Getting a National Merit Scholarship can really fill up your piggy bank Want to improve your PSAT score by 150 points? We have the industry's leading PSAT prep program. Built by Harvard grads and SAT full scorers, the program learns your strengths and weaknesses through advanced statistics, then customizes your prep program to you so that you get the most effective prep possible. Check out our 5-day free trial today: Who Should Take the PSAT/NMSQT? There are multiple groups who can benefit from taking the PSAT. This can include high school sophomores or juniors looking to get more practice for the SAT, especially under real test conditions, as well as studentswho want more practice taking standardized tests in general. If you are trying to decide between the SAT and the ACT, taking the PSAT may also helpful because you can getan estimate of your SAT score without worrying about it being sent to colleges if it is lower than you'd like. Juniors who are confident in their standardized test-taking abilities and want to try for National Merit recognition and scholarships should also consider taking the PSAT, as well as sophomores hoping to increase their chances of winning a scholarship next year by getting more PSAT practice. How Do You Sign Up for the PSAT/NMSQT? The PSAT is administered by high schools, so you will register through your school. The PSAT is taken in October of your junior year. You can also take the exam as a sophomore, however; you won’t be eligible for National Merit awards that year. There is alsoa test called the PSAT10, which is offered only for 10th graders in the spring. This is the same test as the PSAT/NMSQT, but it is for preparation purposes only and is not part of the National Merit Scholarship Program.Students who take the PSAT 10 in the spring can still take the PSAT/NMSQT in the fall. What's Next? Have you decided to take the PSAT and want to know how to prepare for it? Take a look at this guide to finding full-length PSAT tests and practice questions! Not a high school junior yet? Take a look at our guide to the PSAT 10, which is specially designed forsophomores. Interested in winning a National Merit Scholarship? We have a guide that gives step-by-step instructions to improving your chances! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Status of Women in Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Status of Women in Islam - Essay Example In India the widow was consigned to flames at the funeral pyre of her dead husband. The religious faiths given to asceticism regarded her as the source of sin, the door leading to transgression and contact with her was considered an impediment in spiritual development and salvation. In most civilizations of the world she enjoyed no place in society. [1] She was contemptible and despised in their estimate. She had no social and political rights. She could not exercise her own free will in any financial deal. She was under the tutelage of her father, later under the oppressive rule of the tyrant of a husband and lastly under the patronizing care of the male offspring. She was not permitted by long standing conventions to challenge their authority and she had no course of justice to appeal to by way of escape from tyranny and excesses--not even a breath of complaint. Undoubtedly she has at times been in the seat of authority in some parts of the world. And it is also on record in the world history that empires and governments have danced to her tune, even tantrums, and it has been a common occurrence that she has had ascendancy in familial, tribal and monarchial activities. In some uncivilized tribes she had enjoyed superiority and rule and there are remnants of it still to be seen. [2] Yet as female of the human species, there was little change in her status and she suffered in silence through the course of history and remained deprived of her due rights as usual. Role of Women in Religion Muslims seek guidance from Allah through His book, the Qur'an, and His messenger Mohammed. Muslims believe that the word of Allah is supreme and takes precedence over all traditions cultures. Muslim women were expected to participate in the prayer sessions as the Mosque along with that of the men. Not only were women granted equality like the men, the women were given the same spiritual status as men. "Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, Verily, to him will We give new Life, and life that is good and pure, and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions." (Koran, Sura 16, Verse 97) [3]. As the Islamic state and religion expanded, interpretations of the gender roles laid out in the Quran varied with different cultures. [4] In modern contemporary times, some Muslim women, as well as men, have rejected the limitations put on them and have begun to re-interpret the Qur'an. "I shall not lose sight of the labor of any of you who labors in My way, be it man or woman; each of you is equal to the other (3:195)" [5] "Spiritual equality, responsibility and accountability for both men and women is a well developed theme in the Quran. Understanding the spiritual equality of women in Islam is to understand that equality between men and women in the sight of God is not limited to purely spiritual, religious issues, but is the basis for equality in all temporal aspects of human life." [6] Independence and Freedom of Choice As for what Muslim feminists argue women should wear to conform to Islamic ideals: unlike Islamists, who maintain that the hijab stands as the very symbol of Muslim piety; the most important element for Muslim feminists appears to be the element of freedom of choice in interpreting the Islamic dress code. Mai

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

A determination on the cost efectiveness of temporary employees for a Essay

A determination on the cost efectiveness of temporary employees for a manufacturing company - Essay Example In this study, several items will be considered while analyzing the cost effectiveness of temporary workers. First, an overall analysis of the benefits as well as the drawbacks of temporary workers will be presented in comparison to the hiring of full-time employees. The presentation of this analysis will demonstrate that hiring temporary workers is, in fact, more beneficial for companies when trying to cut costs.Temporary workers allow for companies to adapt to fluctuating markets, and give them some control in an economy that has not provided much earning incentive. In order to resolve this and to adapt to changing times, temporary workers can be hired and maintained by companies for as long as needed. Skilled contingent workers are included in this study. While skilled contingent workers are often paid more than other temporary workers, and often more than full-time workers as well, their use still allows the company to save money. This is because they are usually brought on for s hort term projects, and then released when the projects are completed. The large salaries or hourly wages earned by skilled contingent workers thus will end, and the company can return to normal expenditure. There would therefore be no need to bring on another full-time employee to handle certain skilled situations that are needed for specific periods of time only, and this has helped to keep costs down for many companies. This study examined three companies throughout a one year, four quarter period. Costs were analyzed and determined as the companies transitioned into using more and more contingent workers. The results of this study demonstrate that companies achieved cost-cutting results that increased every quarter for each company that participated in the study. Therefore, this study helps to prove that temporary workers, whether skilled or not, can be used to help cut the costs of company finances. Based on the findings, it appears that the use of temporary workers does, in fa ct, cut costs for companies. Therefore, the key recommendations of this study are for companies to use temporary employees in order to save money in a worsening economy. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 3 CHAPTER I. Statement of the Problem 5 Statement of the Problem 5 Purpose of the Study 5 Research Objectives 5 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 6 Temporary Employees 6 Core Reasons and Responsibilities of the Temporary Agency 7 Core Reasons and Responsibilities of the Organization 8 Core Responsibility of the Temporary Employees 11 III. METHODOLOGY 13 IV. Data analysis 14 Who Are the Temporary Workers 14 What Jobs do Temporary Workers Perform 17 How Often Are They Used 18 Overview of the Model 20 Is Training and Hiring Employees Cost Effective 25 Company 1 - Illustration 26 Company 2 - Illustration 27 Company 3 - Illustration 27 V. Summary, CONCLUSION, Recommendations 28 VI. 28 REFERENCES 33 Refer to the Student Guide for formatting and titles of chapters, etc. Chapter 1: Statement of the Problem Due to the rise of the global economy, technological advancement and the growth of the service economy have promoted changes in the way organizations do business (Camerman, Cropanzano, & Vandenberghe, 2007). These require that business develop the ability to respond flexibly to the fast-changing environments. One such strategic decision is whether to engage temporary employ

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Expectations about own work role Essay Example for Free

Expectations about own work role Essay It is important to understand the expectations, including codes of practise, regulations, minimum standards or national occupational standards. Some expectations are: see more:explain expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards ââ€"  reflect on their work ââ€"  record their qualifications ââ€"  understand what effective practise looks like ââ€"  formulate their self ­development plan ââ€"  allow managers to understand staff experience/qualifications and training needs to support the development of the setting. It is also expected as a practitioner to keep every child safe and secure in the environment as they learn and develop. It is very important to complete risk assessments daily for the safety of the children. Making sure the nursery is clean will help prevent the spread of illnesses and infections in the provision. Childcare providers must also have procedures for administering medication and supporting children with medical needs or who appear unwell during the day.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Study of Personality and Time Perception Essay -- Psychology

There have been many studies in the past which have investigated the effect of personality on our mental abilities. For instance Hannon et al. (1995) conducted research into the effect of extraversion and introversion on long term and short term forthcoming memory. Results show extroverts came up with less errors in comparison to introverts in regards to short and long term memory. In this present study we aim to investigate the effects of extraversion and introversion on time perception. With the directional hypothesis suggesting there will be a negative correlation between extraversion and time perception, it is later noted that this isn't the case, resulting in the hypothesis being rejected. It would be safe to say that further research into personality and time perception is required. Introduction: The study of personality and time perception is a captivating strong point for psychology, as it proves just how important psychology is in understanding the human mind. Despite the infinite attributions of these topics a lot of research has been carried out into these areas. The personality has had its fair share of attention in the world of Psychology world, and Hans Eysenck is definitely someone who has made contributions to what we know when understanding the personality. Eysenck came up with a theory for the personality, in which he used factor analysis to structure his beliefs.His theory is made of up of three core personality dimensions: Psychoticism, Neuroticism and Extraversion (Eysenck, 1970; Eynsenck and Eysenck, 1985, cited in Martin, Carlson, Buskist, 2009). These bipolar factors all have their opposites. Where Psychoticism is the opposite to self control, Extraversion is the opposite to Introversion, and Neurot... ...ing, and they had to stay silent at all times. When a participant thought the time was up they would have to then raise their hand, one of the timekeepers would then come over and give them a little tap on their shoulder, and note down the time it took them to raise their hand (each timekeeper was assigned to a section of the class, for monitoring purposes). If participants got to 6 minutes without raising their hand the experimenter would stop the study. After this the experimenter sat all the participants down and got them to look back at the questionnaires. Works Cited Burger, J. (2000) Personality (Fifth Edition) London: Wandsworth Martin, G. Neil, Carlson, Neil R., Buskist, W. (2010). Psychology (4th Edition). Harlow: Pearson Pervin, L., Cervone, D., John, O. (2005) Personality theory ans Research (Ninth Edition) Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

 Tablets versus Textbooks Essay

One in three adults own a tablet. As tablets are becoming more and more common a new debate has formed over whether K-12 school districts should switch from print textbooks to digital textbooks on tablets. The first benefit of digital textbooks is that students will have new information at their fingertips. The second benefit is that high level education prefers tablets. The negative about having a tablet is that many people don’t have wi-fi. As you can see, the benefits out-weigh the negatives by far and there really should be no debate. On a tablet e-textbooks can be updated instantly to get new editions or information. Schools will not have to constantly buy new copies, which few public schools buy due to the high prices of textbooks. Most public schools still have history books from when Bush was president. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that, â€Å"too many students are using books that are 7-10 years old with outdated material.† Subjects are especially beneficiary to subjects that constantly change, such as Science and History. On e-textbooks new editions and new information can be constantly at your fingertips. High-level education officials prefer tablets over textbooks. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chair Julius Genachowski said on February 1, 2012 that schools and publishers should â€Å"switch to digital textbooks within five years to foster interactive education, save money on books, and ensure classrooms in the US use up-to-date content.† The federal government, in collaboration with several tech organizations, released a seventy-page guide for schools called the â€Å"Digital Textbook Playbook,† a â€Å"roadmap for educators to accelerate the transition to digital textbooks.† Some say that using tablets is more expensive than using print textbooks. Putting tablets in K-12 schools involves buying the tablet and the textbooks, building new wi-fi structures, and training administrators how to use the technology. Costs for e-textbooks on IPad tablets are 552% higher than new print textbooks in an average high school. A prominent education marketing expert Lee Wilson, estimated the annual cost per student per year to be seventy-one dollars and fifty-five cents versus fourteen dollars and twenty-six cents for print textbooks. Although, this is true they are thinking of the now and not keeping in mind the later. Right now, yes that much money will be spent but in the long haul it will add up to save you money. Just in a year E-textbooks can save schools between two-hundred and fifty dollars and one thousand dollars per student per year. Also, tablet prices are dropping as the years go by, making them even more affordable. Tablets cost on average four-hundred and eighty-nine dollars in 2011, three hundred and eighty-six dollars in 2012, and are projected to cost two hundred and sixty-three dollars in 2015. In the end using tablets is less expensive than using textbooks. As times are changing it’s important that we roll with the times. Using tablets in school will help supply students with new information all the time and high level education prefers them. Some may have wrong interpretations of them being more expensive than textbooks but as you read, they are not. Clark, Alli. â€Å"Online Textbooks: Friend or Foe? – Private Tutoring and Test Prep – Educational Connections.† Private Tutoring and Test Prep Educational Connections. N.p., 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. â€Å"LEAD Commission.† Lead Commission, Np., Nd. Web 27, September 2013. Long, Julie. â€Å"IT Solutions Blog.† 9 Benefits Of Classroom Technology: Ebooks. N.p., 28 June 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Parvana’s life in Afghanistan Essay

In â€Å"The Breadwinner† Parvana’s rights are being violated. She has the right to go to school and get an education. She has the right to go to court to defend people. She has the right to freedom and many other rights, but nearly all of her rights are being violated by the Taliban. I wonder how Parvana deals with it? This essay will be about some of the rights that are violated in Afghanistan, the right for an education, the right to go to court and the right for freedom. The right for an education is violated. My first quote to help me give evidence that is on pages 10-11 â€Å"it wasn’t her fault she wasn’t in school! She would rather be there too. † This quote represents that the right for an education is violated because she wants to go to school, but the Taliban has forbidden girls to go to school. My second quote is found on page 11 â€Å"when they first took over the capital city of Kabul and forbade girls to go to school, Parvana was terribly unhappy. I think this quote means that the Taliban forbid girls to go to school so they are the smartest so it is easier to take over the whole of Afghanistan. The right for freedom is violated. The first example to show evidence is on page 22 â€Å"the Taliban has said we must stay inside, but that doesn’t mean we have to live in filth. † I think this quote gives a good example because it shows that they are demanded to stay inside. My second piece of evidence is on page 7-8 â€Å"For more than a year now, they had all been stuck inside one room, along with five-year-old Maryam and two-year-old Ali. I think this quote shows that the family’s freedom is violated because they have to stay inside because they are girls. Parvana’s right to go to court is violated. On page 31 a quote helps me give evidence that Parvana’s family can’t go to court. â€Å"Parvana watched hopelessly as two soldiers dragged him down the stairs. † I think this quote shows clear evidence because it shows that they just take him and don’t give information or when he will be released or anything. My second quote is found on page 30 â€Å"two of the soldiers grabbed her father. The other two began searching the apartment, kicking the remains of dinner all over the mat. † This means that the Taliban don’t give any information about when they can go to court to defend their father so he doesn’t need to go to jail, and they just storm in and do whatever they want. The Taliban also like to suppress people. Parvana deals with the rights in many ways. Girls could not go to school or be outside, so she disguised herself as a oy. She could not go to court to defend her father so she went to the prison to get her father back with her mom, but they were beat up. Parvana did not have the right for freedom so she disguised herself as a boy. â€Å"The Breadwinner† was a nice and emotional story about her life in Afghanistan and how she deals with her father being put in jail and the rights being violated. Parvana dealt with some of the rights, such as the right to go to court, the right for an education and the right for freedom.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Letter Writing 101

Letter Writing 101 Letter Writing 101 Letter Writing 101 By Ali Hale People have been writing letters for centuries. Before the telephone and the Internet, sending a letter (by messenger, and later by post) was the only way to communicate with someone who was geographically distant. Even with all our modern technology, letters haven’t become obsolete. Most of us will write many letters during our business life: perhaps including a covering letter to accompany our resume, a letter to be sent to clients, or a thank you letter after an interview or other opportunity. In this article, I’ll take you through the common types of letters that you’re likely to need to write at some point. I’ll offer general and specific advice which should help you if you’re at a loss for words or unsure how to structure a letter. You might want to bookmark this page so that you can refer back to it when you need it! I’ll cover business letters first, then mention some tips for personal letters too. Business Letters The standard format of a business letter varies from country to country, and standards often aren’t set in stone. If you’re not sure how your letter should be laid out, check Daily Writing Tips’ guidelines on How to Format a US Business Letter and How to Format a UK Business Letter. A quick tip if you’re still struggling about layout: look through your correspondence, find a business letter (ideally one from the company that you’re writing to), and use their format as a model. Here are four more points to take into consideration: 1. You should use a simple, standard font such as Arial or Times New Roman for business letters, and a font size of 10-12 pt (depending on the font). Even if your letter is short, don’t use a large font size to increase the space it takes up on the page – this will look unprofessional. This goes especially for writers, who are often tempted to use fancy fonts and layout. 2. You should never handwrite a business letter. However, you may send a very brief handwritten note on a printed compliments slip, in lieu of a letter. 3. For all business letters, you should keep your audience in mind. Don’t use business jargon when you’re writing to customers, for instance. Keep your letters as short as possible – if you need more than a page, consider whether the information might be better delivered in a leaflet or brochure. 4. Always check your spelling and proof-read your letters; if possible, ask someone else in your company to go through them. It’s surprising how mistakes can slip past your eyes: errors can alter your meaning and may confuse or even offend the recipient. Job Applications When writing a letter as part of a job application, remember that it will give the employer their first impression of you. Always: Ensure that you have provided all the information requested. Mention any enclosures (usually your resume and perhaps an application form). Address the letter to â€Å"Mr Smith† or â€Å"Mrs Jones†, rather than using their first name. If you are unsure of the gender of the recipient, use their first name and surname (such as â€Å"Sam Jones†). Here’s an example of the start of an application letter: Dear Mr Smith: Application for the Junior Manager Role, ref: 123A I am writing to apply for the position of Junior Manager, as advertised on your website. Please find my resume enclosed. I believe that I would be an ideal fit for this role, as I meet all of the requirements on the job specification. In particular, my spoken communication skills are outstanding (as you can see from my resume, I captained the debating team at my college). Business Thank You Letters In a business context, thank you letters are often appropriate and expected. When you have attended an interview, it is considered polite to send a thank you note – and it could harm your chances of getting the job if you don’t do this. You might also send a thank you letter when someone has given you their time and advice. In general, you should: Make it very clear that you’re writing to thank the recipient. Mention a specific detail of how they helped you. Express your gratitude for the time or effort they spent. Avoid using the letter just as an excuse to promote yourself (though if you are following up an interview, it’s appropriate to highlight your suitability for the job). An example paragraph from a thank you letter is: Thank you for giving me your time on Friday 18th, when you kindly showed me around the factory. It was fascinating to see how the widgets are manufactured, and I now feel confident that I want to pursue a career in the widget manufacturing field. I’ve attached my resume and wonder if you’d be kind enough to keep it on file, in case any future positions arise that I might be suitable for? Letters of Complaint If you have received poor service or have been dissatisfied with a product, you can write to the company involved to make a complaint. To get the result you want, such as a refund, follow these tips: Explain clearly who you are in relation to the company (eg. â€Å"I am an XYZ customer†). Let them know exactly what you’re complaining about, without using emotional or abusive language. Give specific location, time and date if appropriate. Make it clear what you would like them to do in response. You might also want to include a warning, such as â€Å"If this is not resolved, I will be forced to take my business elsewhere.† Throughout your letter of complaint, your tone should be polite but assertive. Don’t make ridiculous threats or demand an unreasonable compensation – but also don’t be afraid to tell them about the inconvenience or financial loss that you’ve suffered. You can practice writing a letter of complaint here, or use the example below as a model: I recently ordered several party platters of food from your store in Littletown, including one platter of seafood. The food was delivered two hours late, and the seafood platter was missing. I had to spend $40 to purchase extra food at short notice for my party. This was very inconvenient, as I had to drive to the store when I had planned to be with my guests. I have never used your party platter service in the past, and regret to say that I very much doubt I will be doing so again unless you can assure me that this was an isolated incident. Although I was not charged for the seafood platter, I would be grateful for compensation in view of the inconvenience – and cost – of buying replacement food at such short notice. Personal Letters A thoughtful letter from a friend can brighten anyone’s day. Most of us send emails rather than letters nowadays – which means that a letter will really stand out. Even if you’d never normally sit down to write a letter except in a business context, there are a couple of types of personal letter that you’ll want to familiarize yourself with: Letter of Condolence A letter of condolence or letter of sympathy is one which you send to someone who has been bereaved. It can be very difficult to find the right words to say, but taking the time to write a letter or note rather than just sending a â€Å"With Sympathy† card will mean a lot to the recipient. Some tips to bear in mind are: Acknowledge the loss – don’t gloss over it. Express your sympathy. Offer a brief anecdote or recollection of the deceased, mentioning the role s/he played in your life. Mention that your thoughts (and, if appropriate for you and the recipient, your prayers) are with the bereaved and their family. Note that if you’re writing to someone elderly, it’s particularly important to send a handwritten letter. A typed letter will often come across as cold or even rude. All letters of condolence will be unique, but you might like to use this example as a general guide: I was so sorry to hear that John had passed away. My sympathies are with you at this time: I know it must be very difficult for you. John was so good to me when I first came to Littletown – I remember how he welcomed me into your church and made me feel completely at home. I’ll miss him very much. My thoughts and prayers are with you, and with Johnny and Becca. Personal Thank You Letters When someone has given you a gift or done you a particular favor, it’s polite to send them a thank you note or letter. You might do this by email – but you still need to send a separate note to each person, rather than emailing a group of people. Thank you letters are required is in response to wedding gifts. You should send these through the post, and in many cases, you may want to handwrite them. As well as saying â€Å"thank you† for the gift, it’s often nice to acknowledge the particular role that a person played in your wedding – even if that’s just saying â€Å"We were so pleased that you could come and be with us on the day.† Other times when you could send a thank you letter include: For birthday and Christmas gifts. When you’ve stayed as a house guest somewhere (this is sometimes called a â€Å"bread-and-butter letter†). After someone has treated you to a meal, a theater trip, a vacation or similar. To your parents, grandparents or other relatives who have helped you out with a big purchase or a college degree. Your thank you letter doesn’t need to be long. In many cases, a few lines is plenty: Thank you for the gorgeous sweater – just the thing for the cold Canadian winter! I’ll be thinking of you every time I wrap myself up in it. We’re going to be travelling over Christmas, but hope to pop down and see everyone during the new year. Thanks again! If you’re not very confident about your letter writing skills, sending some personal thank you notes is a great way to get started. People are always delighted and touched by being thanked in this way – they’ll overlook any small slips of grammar, and you don’t need to worry too much about lay out and formatting in personal letters. Check Out Other Articles from The Writing 101 Series: The Writing Process Creative Writing 101 Story Writing 101 Letter Writing 101 Business Writing 101 Freelance Writing 101 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 Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of Adjectives30 Baseball Idioms10 Writing Exercises to Tighten Your Writing

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Using Sinatra in Ruby - Introduction

Using Sinatra in Ruby - Introduction In the previous article in this series of articles, we talked about what Sinatra is. In this article, well look at some real functional Sinatra code, touching on a few Sinatra features, all of which will be explored in depth in upcoming articles in this series. Before you get started, youll have to go ahead and install Sinatra. Installing Sinatra is as easy as any other gem. Sinatra does have a few dependencies, but nothing major and you shouldnt have any problems installing it on any platform. $ gem install sinatra Hello, World! The Sinatra Hello world application is shockingly simple. Not including the require lines, shebang and whitespace, its just three lines. This is not just some small part of your application, like a controller in a Rails application, this is the entire thing. Another thing you may notice is that you didnt need to run anything like the Rails generator to generate an application. Just paste the following code into a new Ruby file and youre done. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget / doHello, world!end Of course this isnt a very useful program, its just Hello world, but even more useful applications in Sinatra arent much larger. So, how do you run this tiny Web application? Some kind of complex script/server command? Nope, just run the file. Its just a Ruby program, run it! inatra$ ./hello.rb Sinatra/0.9.4 has taken the stage on 4567 for development with backup from Mongrel Not very exciting yet. Its started the server and bound to port 4567, so go ahead and point your Web browser to http://localhost:4567/. Theres your Hello world message. Web applications have never been so easy in Ruby before. Using Parameters So lets look at something a little more interesting. Lets make an application that greets you by name. To do this, well need to use a parameter. Parameters in Sinatra are like everything elsesimple and straightforward. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget /hello/:name doHello #{params[:name]}!end Once youve made this change, youll need to restart the Sinatra application. Kill it with Ctrl-C and run it again. (Theres a way around this, but well look at that in a future article.) Now, the parameters are straightforward. Weve made an action called /hello/:name. This syntax is imitating what the URLs will look like, so go to http://localhost:4567/hello/Your Name to see it in action. The /hello portion matches that portion of the URL from the reqest you made, and :name will absorb any other text you give it and put it in the params hash under the key :name. Parameters are just that easy. There is of course much more you can do with these, including regexp-based parameters, but this is all youll need in almost every case. Adding HTML Finally, lets spiff this application up with a little bit of HTML. Sinatra will return whatever it gets from your URL handler to the web browser. So far, weve just been returning a string of text, but we can add some HTML in there with no problem. Well use ERB here, just like is used in Rails. There are other (arguably better) options, but this is perhaps the most familiar, as it comes with Ruby, and will do fine here. First, Sinatra will render a view called layout if one exists. This layout view should have a yield statement. This yield statement will capture the output of the specific view being rendered. This allows you to create layouts very simply. Finally, we have a hello view, which generates the actual hello message. This is the view that was rendered using the erb :hello method call. Youll notice that there are no seperate view files. There can be, but for such a small application, its best to keep all the code in a single file. Though the views are sepeated at the end of the file. #!/usr/bin/env rubyrequire rubygemsrequire sinatraget /hello/:name doname params[:name]erb :helloend__END__ layouthtmlbody% yield %/body/html helloh3Hello % name %!/h3 And there you have it. We have a complete, functional hello world application in about 15 lines of code including the views. The following articles, well take a closer look at the routes, how you can store and retrieve data, and how to do better views with HAML.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

AlLDI Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

AlLDI - Case Study Example With already 90% of German shoppers, the organization saw it better to look into other markets. They ventured in the U.K. in 1980’s and the U.S.A. in 1976. They capitalized on these markets by reducing the heavy reliance on individual labelled goods and began to stock various national brands. In 1991, the organization invested on outlets in existing Gateways food Marts sites with the hope of enticing new clients to the Gateways (Lane & Steen, 2014). In 2013, Aldi’s U.K. product categories remained limited to approximately 1000 items (stock keeping units â€Å"SKU’), compared with 10,000 SKU managed by typical U.K. supermarkets. Cheap prices and limited SKU saw the company increase its client by 16% every year. Aldi’s have been found to be 40% cheaper than Waltrose, plus an annual saving of 1,700 Euro. It is clear that the company will be able to maintain its competitive advantages, as it has a simple business model of minimizing operational costs through purchasing only one line per item from suppliers, thus limiting choice for the consumers (Lane & Steen, 2014). Moreover, transportation costs have been minimized through direct delivering from the warehouse and being merchandised on the pallets they arrived in. With the limited assortment, the organization can achieve substantial globalization. Their product ranges mainly specialize on their own-branded labels, thus assisting them in controlling their costs and product prizes. Aldi as a discount organization has held a record year in the U.K. and Ireland, with a 65 percent increment in profits in the regions. The store found in Germany appreciated its lower prices as it drove the record results, with the discounter gaining pre-tax profit of  £260.9 million ($423.3 million) in 2013. In its U.K. and Irish store, profits went up from  £157.9 million on the previous year. This is by maintaining constantly low prices and ensuring product quality. Aldi currently controls around 4.8