Intermediate Sanctions

Intermediate sanctions are the sanctions that are more restrictive than the probation and less restrictive than imprisonment. It is also intended to relieve the pressure on the over crowed facilities that deal with the corrections and the probation departments that are understaffed. The purpose for the intermediate sanction in the criminal justice process is that it helps with any of the concerns from the facilities being packed and over crowed. Jails and the prisons are packed more this century then the last century. It also helps with the short staff that is in the offices and the probation officers short staffed. The government should take it under consideration that the criminal justice system needs the staff and the money to make the criminal justice organization work together. There are two functions as a sentencing alternative in the intermediate sanction. They are to divert the offenders from the overcrowded jails or prisons. The second one is to place the different offenders under the higher levels of the control. It is the risk that the community poses to. * I believe that the intermediate sanctions are not an appropriate punishment. People should not have to serve their time behind bars because they prisons and jail cells are over packed and crowded. The government should put in more funds so that if people do the crime, then they should do the time. Also, probation is an advantage and that people should not be misused. * In conclusion, I believe that the intermediate sanction can work out if people do not take advantage of the probation punishment. This punishment should only be used if there is no room in the jail cell or the prisons. I believe that once someone does a crime, that that person may do it again.

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man

Every child becomes an adult—a boy to a man, a girl to a woman. In the novel, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, published in 1916 by an Irish writer, James Joyce illustrates the protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, and his journey to seek for identity. While the title of the novel insinuates that the protagonist is going to become an artist, the novel also portrays Stephen’s sense of isolation that comes from the ambiguity and bewilderment that he experiences with his family, society, and country. As the novel begins, Stephan is still young and because of a lack of knowledge and experience, he fells small and weak.Stephen goes through a severe portrayal of the injustices and intricacy of childhood as a child trying to grasp a clear image of the world; Joyce depicts the impression of a child in a world regulated for adults. When â€Å"[Stephen] turned to the flyleaf of the geography and read†¦ Sallins/ Country Kildare/ Ireland/ Europe/ The World/ The Universe,† (Joyce, 13) thinking about the boundaries of the universe, Stephen attempts to identify himself by placing himself in the world by his geographic position.In addition, when he contemplates the overwhelming ideas of God and the limits of his political knowledge, which seems to be so significant to the adults. This shows the reader the isolation Stephen feels as a young child from the world. In short, this essay will analyze how Stephen alienation with his environment affects him to finds his own identity as an artist. During Stephen’s childhood, he feels isolated more in relation to his family and the society.When Stephen encounters into the duty of revealing the rector that Father Dolan has been inequitable with him at the Clongowes Wood College, he comes to a decision not take any actions at one point. â€Å"No, it was best to hide out of the way because when you were small and young you could often escape that way,† (48) Stephen thinks about his colleagues in the sc ene when he is questioned whether he will go to the rector or not. In this scene, Stephen understands the children’s world.He knows that â€Å"fellows [tells] him to go, but they would not go themselves† (48). However, after he tells the rector about Father Dolan, even though his fellows cheer for Stephen’s bravery and turnout to be here, he soon becomes alone. â€Å"He was happy and free: but he would not be anyway proud with Father Dolan. He would be very quiet and obedient: and he wished that he could do something kind for him to show him that he was not proud† (51) it states, emphasizing that Stephen knew that nothing would hange and the fact that he felt weak and small after all—a sense of isolation from his colleagues and adults. Soon after he experiences the sense of isolation from his colleagues, Stephen is introduced to the change in Dedalus’ financial situation. Moving into a â€Å"cheerless house† (57) in Dublin with his fa mily, Stephan recognizes that his father is the cause for he is a financial failure. This allows Stephen to become self conscious and acrimonious, humiliated by the â€Å"change of fortune† (58).Illustrating the Dedalus’ first night in their new house, where â€Å"the parlor fire would not draw [and the] half furnished uncarpeted room [was bathed in a] bare cheerless house† (57) makes Stephen’s â€Å"heart heavy† (57) with the â€Å"intuition and foreknowledge† (57) that it is his father who is responsible for the decline. Furthermore, Stephen starts to feel separated from his father. Despite the fact that Simon Dedalus is unsuccessful to manage the family’s financial needs, he his somwhat anxious of his children’s quality of education.Yet, Simon lets down Stephen by treating Stephen’s collision with Father Conmee—a triumphant moment in Stephen’s young life—with a â€Å"hearty laugh† (63) with his friends This event makes Stephen to feel degraded and patronized by his elders, thus starts to isolate himself from his father. Prior to analyzing the relationship between Stephen’s isolation to seek for his identity, it is important to note several backgrounds on Ireland.Around the time in which this novel was published, Ireland was colonized by England until April 24, 1916. (Parnell and Davitt) During the period of colonization by the Britain, along with the political tensions between the two nations, there was also a religious tension between the Catholics and the Protestants. Basically, the Catholics, including Joyce, were the Irish who supported Irish independence and contrary to this were the Protestants who wished to continue united with Britain. Fearghal McGarry) By the time Joyce was born, the Irish independence movement—the Fenian Movement—was wide-spreading by an Irish nationalist, Charles Stewart Parnell; however, his longstanding affair with a married woman caught, causing many followers to reject him as a leader and the Catholic church to condemn him. (Parnell and Davitt) This historical event can be seen within the surface of the novel and precisely in the Christmas dinner scene when Stephan’s relatives are discussing about politics. To sum up, such humiliating troubles within the country have perhaps caused Stephen to isolate himself from Ireland.In chapter 3, Joyce describes the isolation of the Catholic boy from his home country, Ireland. Stephen, who has been frequenting prostitutes, has lost faith. â€Å"[Stephen’s] soul was fattening an congealing into a gross grease, plunging ever deeper in its dull fear into a somber threatening dusk while the body that was his stood, listless and dishonoured, gazing out of darkened eyes, helpless, perturbed, and human for a bovine god to stare upon,† (98) it says, to show the awareness of Stephen’s sins and his â€Å"dishonoured† body causes t his moment of dull horror.Because Stephen feels sinful, it triggers him to dream of hell, â€Å"[a] field of stiff weeds and thistles and tufted nettle-bunches†¦[with] battered canisters and clots and coils of solid excrement. † (120) And the narrator continues, â€Å"An evil smell, faint and foul as the light, curled upwards sluggishly out of the canisters and from the stale crusted dung,† (120) giving the reader grotesque scenery with, â€Å"Goatish creatures with human faces, hornybrowed, lightly bearded and grey as indiarubber†¦[that moves in the field,] hither and thither† (120).The goats wandering in this scene are symbols of animalistic, primal, and bestial culture of Ireland that manipulates the youths with language. As well as the murmuring sounds and the â€Å"soft language† (120) of the goats, the usage of the repetition of â€Å"hither and thither† also represents the hollow voices that are spoken from the adults to Stephen to become an Irishmen.Joyce claims that this culture of Ireland, adults bringing up children with hollow voices, have been rooted long ago and will be everlasting, which can be seen as he describes the goats, â€Å"[moving] in slow circles, circling closer and closer to enclose, †¦their long swishing tail besmeared with stale shite, thrusting upwards their terrific face† (120). Recognizing Ireland as a dead country, Stephen begins to show clear detachment from his country. Stephen’s schoolmate, Mat Davin insists Stephen to become one of â€Å"us†, to declare his Irish nationality and to stop searching for potentials from England and France of artistic muse.In a revealing conversation, Davin asks Stephen if he is even Irish. Here, Davin comprehends an Irishmen as a nationalist who desires Ireland to become independent from England, the colonizer. In other words, Davin means being united with the people rather than standing back from them with a sneer. On the o ther hand, for Stephen, though, being Irish means being all that he is, containing all the contradictions of a colonized subject. â€Å"The soul is born, [Stephen] said vaguely, first in those moments I told you of. It has a slow and dark birth, more mysterious than the birth of the body.When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets,† (179) Stephen says, explaining the chances taken he is aware of as an heir in Ireland to his nationalist colleague, Davin. Rather than viewing the Fenian Movement as a potential for artistic inspiration, Stephen inspects the situation of Irish life as a downside. Stephen gradually becomes emotional through this conversation and initiate to treat it quite roughly, as he questions Davin, â€Å" ‘Do you know what Ireland is? asked Stephen with cold violence. Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow,à ¢â‚¬  (179). Here, Stephan metaphorically stresses that Ireland destroys its won children: a fate he wishes to avoid. Therefore, Ireland’s thwarted sense of nationhood devours Irishmen. To sum up, for Stephen, Ireland is a trap, restricting his independence and identity. In the last sections of the novel, Stephens seems to have settled his mind and ascetics about the world, and ready to isolate himself from his past—family, friends, , Ireland—to gain freedom.When Stephen has a conversion with Cranly, Stephen’s best friend at the university, Stephen says, â€Å"Look here, Cranly, [†¦] you have asked me what I would do and what I would not do. I will tell you wat I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allo w myself to use – silence, exile, and cunning. (218) Here, finally, Stephen demonstrates a clear and precise understanding of who he is. He is defined by his artistic goals and by his idealistic ambition to be true to his beliefs. While Joyce ends the novel at the point where Stephen departs from Ireland, this may be an interesting question for the reader to consider of: after leaving his country, how will Stephen see his home country when time passes? Work Cited Books †¢ Joyce, James, John Paul.Riquelme, Hans Walter Gabler, and Walter Hettche. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. Print. Internet †¢ McGarry, Fearghal. â€Å"The Irish War of Independence aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Religious War? Part I. † The Irish War of Independence aâ‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" A Religious War? Part I. WPSHOWER & MOODYGUY, 2010. Web. 19 Mar. 2012. . †¢ â€Å"Parnell and Davitt. † Irish Identity. Web. 20 Mar. 2012. .

Research paper on metebolic syndrome Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research paper on metebolic syndrome - Article Example These include; hypertension, insulin resistance, central obesity, glucose intolerance, among other factors. This syndrome is significantly similar to a higher risk of diabetes mellitus type II and cardiovascular disease. According to Ricci-Cabello et al (2011), it has been found out metabolic syndrome prevalence is about 20% to 30% among adults worldwide. Patients with MetS have excess blood clotting and increased levels of blood substances; a sign of inflammation throughout the body. Several factors have led to increased incidences of metabolic syndrome, and they include: unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, obesity epidemic, and tobacco use. Several signs serve as indicators of metabolic syndrome and a victim may display several of them. Such as blood pressure exceeding 130/185 mmHg, fasting blood glucose equal or higher than 100mg/dl, large waist circumference (length around the waist) for men 40 inches or more, women 35 inches or more. Moreover, triglycerides levels may rise to 1 50mg/dl or more. The authors argue that the relationship between type 2 diabetes and dairy product intake is not clear. At the same time, the authors articulate that weny from milk appeared insulin tropic when taken in a single meal, but not when it is taken in a long term intervention. Several studies show that there are beneficial effects of milk intake in persons diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. However, a report by Lawlor DA showed that a person, who was not an ardent milk consume, exhibited lower prevalence of MS and insulin resistance. Also, one cross-sectional study reported that intake of milk was associated with high occurrence of the abdominal blood pressure, but not associated with blood glucose, lipid and body weight. The authors equally stated that foods containing protein provided a satiating effect that was dependent on the source, dose and the proteins definitive features. These include, gel strength and viscosity. Moreover, consumption

Green Building and Sustainability Research Paper

Green Building and Sustainability - Research Paper Example The building life cycle entail; maintenance, design, renovation, operation and demolition. The United States green building council developed a set of rating system targeting operation, design and construction of such buildings. The rating system is called leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED). Green building focuses on finding the balance between sustainable and home building environment (Slessor & Linden, 2007).. The benefits of green buildings are unquestionable. The designers are able to develop harmless, environmentally friendly and energy efficient buildings. Unlike convectional building s which utilize too much of the natural resources, green building consumes renewable resources such as plants, rainwater and sunlight. Such buildings are usually certified by LEED. Some of the benefits of green buildings targets cost, energy efficient, water efficiency and material efficiency. Green buildings are usually expensive during construction period but many benefits are accrued during their usage. It has great benefit of reducing both the operating and embodied energy consumption (Gissen, 2003). Other forms of energy such as hydro and wind power are used to provide energy for consumption. Green buildings utilize rain water which is a renewable resource. The water used in the building is also recycled. On the other hand, green buildings present a number of limitations such as ineffective air cooling features. The materials utilized in building such houses are usually inadequate and may not be available in rural areas. The cost of constructing green buildings is usually high at the beginning even though it pays off during its lifetime (Engel-Yan et al,

The reason why Nike should not sponsor Tiger Woods Essay

The reason why Nike should not sponsor Tiger Woods - Essay Example Nike’s relationship with Tiger Woods can tarnish the company’s name, as this will depict to the public that it supports the drama that surrounds the golfer (Knittel & Stango, 2010). Most companies sponsor athletes for the sake of advertisement, promote the company’s image, and portray an excellent reputation on behalf of these companies, but Woods had proved otherwise, and most companies do not want to be associated with his persona. This also calls for Nike to take precautions and cease sponsoring him just for the sake of the company’s name and reputation. For Nike to support or be involved with Woods in any way, he should prove to be an outstanding representative of the company values. That is not the case as Woods has since been involved in several scandals including; being a reckless driver and being involved in extramarital affairs and this has damaged his reputation in the public. These values portrayed by Woods are dreadfully unacceptable and are against the values and norms of any reputable company such as Nike, and any relationship with him could jeopardize the outstanding reputation and name of Nike in the public. The losses that Nike is likely to incur if it decides to sponsor Woods would be extremely widespread considering the fact that Nike is a large company; hence, Nike should avoid him at all costs. Woods has proved to be incurring large amounts of loses since the ruin of his reputation, so there is no need to promote someone whose performance and earnings are moving at a downwards trend. In addition, since a larger percentage of Wood’s income is from endorsements, this means that those companies involved with him are likely to be victims of his losses since it is estimated that Woods’s scandal stock market effect, is on both their competitors and sponsors, as well. Nike sponsoring Woods is extremely risky as

Discussion Chapter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion Chapter - Essay Example The communication style of a manager is more aggressive as compared to leaders and the communication style used by leaders is more manipulative (Cherry, 2013). Leaders communicate in an aggressive manner because their objective is to simply get the work done. Managers do not listen to what their subordinates have to say regarding how work can be done and instead they inform the subordinates regarding the way the work should be done and expect the subordinates to follow the instructions (Yukl, 2010). In case of leadership, the leader tries to manipulate the feelings and the emotions of their followers in order to motivate them to work on their own and come up with innovative ideas regarding how tasks should be completed. The motivation strategies that a leader and a manager may use might be quite different. Managers are more likely to use extrinsic motivation strategies. When managers employ these strategies they tend to offer rewards to subordinates in order to externally motivate the subordinates (Yukl, 2010). These rewards can include increased pay rates as a result of attainment of targets in order to reinforce similar behavior in future. On the other hand, leaders are more likely to use motivation strategies that help motivating an individual internally (Sansone, 2000). For example leaders may have quite an aspiring personality and followers may want to be associated with them and in order to gain recognition in the eyes of the leader they may work hard. In order to enhance the individual and the organizational productivity managers may use the carrot and stick approach to motivate employees. The carrot and stick approach suggests that employees should be punished for their failures and should be rewarded for their successes (Daft et al., 2008). A manager may use rewards and punishments to motivate individuals to increase their

The negative effects of wind turbines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The negative effects of wind turbines - Essay Example Even though wind power plants have comparatively small influence on the surroundings when judged against power plants of fossil fuel there are certain problems regarding the impacts on wildlife habitation, sound created by rotor blades, aesthetic (visual) effects, and mortality of bats and birds . One of the effects of this technology has been the noise production from development of wind turbines. Noise, in contrast to the effects on scenery or visual impact can be calculated and measured quite simply. Two kinds of noise are produced by wind turbines, generators and gearboxes create mechanical noise, whereas blades produce aerodynamic noise. Even though the advanced wind turbines have almost eradicated the mechanical noise through high-quality material for insulation in the nacelle, so, aerodynamic sound is the major contributor in the noise pollution. It is formed by the turning round of the blades producing a swishing sound that is broad-band as it is a work of pointed speed. Acco rding to European wind energy association â€Å" at any given location, the noise within or around a wind farm can vary considerably depending on a number of factors including the layout of the wind farm, the particular model of turbines installed, the topography or shape of the land, the speed and direction of the wind, and the background noise.† Noise pollution has a harmful effect on the lives of thousands of individuals.   Researches have exposed that the link between noise and health is a direct one.   Health affects linked to noise are anxiety associated sickness, high blood pressure, hearing troubles, sleep disorder, and disoriented concentration plus productivity.   (NIHL), Noise Induced Hearing Loss is the widespread and frequently discussed effect on health, but studies have revealed that exposure to continuous or high-pitched intensity of noise can bring about countless

Segmentation and Targeting Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Segmentation and Targeting - Term Paper Example A Rolex customer is a person that is accustomed to buying luxury items. A lot of Rolex watches have target market of people that are millionaires (Rolexforums, 2011). (2) How does the choice of target market influence the company's pricing and promotion (from what you know so far)? The target market of Timex of targeting people of all ages is achieved by the firm’s pricing strategy of selling watches at the low end of the market. Most Timex watches are sold at a price point between $25 and $50. Timex utilizes various promotional strategies to increase the sales of the firm. Some of the stunts include the use of customized watches for incentive awards, sales incentives, corporate promotions, business gifts, safety programs, and recognition awards (Timex, 2011). The retailer that sell Timex watches on many occasions sell the watches on special since the target customer of Timex watches are price sensitive. The demand of products that are priced low goes up by further decreasing the price of the product. The Rolex uses different promotional strategies to attract customers. The use of celebrities sponsoring the product can help increase the appeal of the product. Rolex watches are sold at jewelry stores and in luxury department stores. There is a lot of competition in the luxury watch marketplace and many online vendors offer attractive discounts off the retail price to persuade people to buy Rolex products. For instance Melrose Jewelers is currently offering the Presidential Rolex at $9,825 (Melrose Jewelers, 2011). This price is 36% below retail price. (3) Now imagine one of the companies you chose wants to introduce a new target market. For instance, suppose Hilton or Four Seasons wanted to offer a budget option for the target market sought by Motel 6. How would this strategy affect consumer perceptions? Rolex could introduce a cheap version of its watches to attract the younger demographic between the ages of 18-25 years of age. The new product could att ract a lot of new customers and the sales of that product might be excellent. The problem with that strategy is that it can dilute the brand name of the company. The wealthy people that are accustomed to the prestige of owning a Rolex will not be very happy with the masses buying cheap Rolexes sold at hundreds of dollar a piece instead of thousands. The company could lose a lot of customers that are enabling the firm to make a nice profit margin from each unit sold. The second scenario involves Timex introducing an expensive model to target a different segment. A good way to achieve such a strategy is by including implicit value in the construction of the watch such building the watch with some or all its parts in gold. I think adding a line of luxury watches would be beneficial for the company. (4) Do you think these customers will be influenced by changes in the economy? Why or why not? Timex is better suited to accept negative changes in the economy than Rolex. Timex sells a chea p product. During bad economic times people look for bargains. Many users of mid level brands might switch to cheap brands such as Timex to serve their watch needs. During good economic times the Timex brand will do better, but the firm might lose a portion of its recurrent customers who might switch to more expensive brands because they can afford them now. The low price point of Timex makes the watch an excellent gift and during good economic times people are more generous. A Rolex is a luxury item. Luxury items do not have good sales during bad economic

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses Research Paper

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses - Research Paper Example Changes in these levels can lead to abnormalities. In addition, during the interview with the parents, it was acknowledged that they tolerated this abnormal behavior such as moodiness. He was also having problems at school due to the particular cohort of students he was associating with. The increase in weight could also be attributed to either genetic factors or simply the parents feeding him an unhealthy diet. On a side note, he seemed to have some abnormally shaped facial features which could possibly be the result of trisomy-21 or another genetically linked disorder which could be used to help explain the genetic link behind the psychiatric illnesses. The suicide which followed due to bullying could have also been prompted by a couple factors. The students were making fun of him and over time this wears down a person’s defenses making them vulnerable. People who are suffering from depression and suicide also have low amounts of dopamine, which is an important neurotransmit ter in the regulation of mood. It is hard to place Alex’s problems at a specific root such as ADHD because there are so many biopsychosocial problems which could be effecting and causing many of the problems in which he is experiencing. First, in order to gather information regarding the roots of the problem, I would focus on the biology and family history as well as the parent’s lifestyle and parenting style. 1. Is there a family history of obesity and any other conditions associated with obesity such as heart disease, cancers, etc.? 2. Is there a history of ADHD or any other diagnosable psychiatric illnesses in the family? 3. Has this behavior always been displayed, or has this been something that has evolved in the past few years? 4. How would you describe your parenting style when dealing with Alex? 5. How would you describe his home life in relation to his social life at school? The questions that I would like to ask Alex would be more related to his ideas of suic ide and depression and looking his global index as far as mental health. 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? 3. How do you feel when you cannot concentrate in class and do your work? 4. What do you want out of life? 5. Is there anything else you want to share as far as how your family, friends, teachers, etc. treat you? Interview 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? There has been a few times in which I have felt like what’s the point in living. Like its hard when you can’t find anything you’re good at, and you see kids doing good in some aspect and I’m just not good at anything. I also am fat and the kids like to make fun of me for that. I feel like what’s the point in living if I can’t be successful or do anything. I have only tried once to go through with my suicide, but I think about it as a way of me escaping from everything. 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? It makes me feel sad and angry. I feel like they are attacking me and it hurts me on the inside. Sometimes I will get angry and fight back, but then I get into trouble. I feel like I can’t talk to anyone about it because I don’t want to come off as weak to my parents or at school. Most of the time I just want to play video games and be by myself when I go home

Filipino Basketball Player Essay Example for Free

Filipino Basketball Player Essay Allan Caidic Alan Vito Flores Caidic (born June 15, 1963, Pasig City, Philippines) is a retired professional basketball player from the Philippines and is currently an assistant coach of the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the PBA. He is considered by many to be the greatest shooter the country has ever produced, thus, earning the moniker the Triggerman . He played college hoops at the University before joining the Philippine Basketball Association in 1987, where he broke several Philippine and PBA all-time records—including the most points scored in a single game (79 points), the most three-point field goals made in a single game (17 triples; breaking his previous record of 15 triples), the most three-point field goals in a career (1,242 triples) and the most consecutive free throws in a row (76). He has played with several PBA teams and won numerous championships. He played for the team including the 1998 Philippine Centennial Team. While in the league, he was considered one of the best three-point shooters in Asia. The vaunted Chinese national basketball team recognized his ability by always reminding their players to be on the lookout for Philippine No. 8, referring to Caidics regular jersey number while playing for the National Team. Renz Patrick T. Narag Grade V- ST Joseph James Yap, Sr. James Carlos Agravante Yap, Sr. (born February 15, 1982 in Escalante City, Negros Occidental) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the Philippine Basketball Association. Yap enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Bacolod Tay Tung High School and then at Iloilo Central Commercial High School, where he sparked his team to three consecutive Iloilo PRISAA titles. He then went on to play at the collegiate level for the UE Red Warriors and helped the team to the Final Four in 2002 after years of absence. However, the Red Warriors lost to the Blue Eagles, the eventual champions. In the following season of UAAP, Yap led the Red Warriors to the Final Four for the second straight time. Eventually in the semifinals series, the Warriors lost to the Far Eastern  UniversityTamaraws. Nevertheless, Yap was named as the Most Valuable Player in 2003. Yap also played for the Philippine Basketball League from 2001 to 2004. He decided to declare his eligibility for the PBA Draft, and was selected with the 2nd overall pick in the 2004 PBA Draft by the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. One of the focal points of the Purefoods offense, he is the 2005–2006 and 2009–2010 seasons Most Valuable Player and he is also 2009–2010 Philippine Cup Conference MVP. Yap is also a nine-time PBA South All-Star team starter through 2004 to 2012 and a many-time member of theRP Basketball Team.

Essay on Cloud Computing

Essay on Cloud Computing Abstract This paper explores cloud computing and its merits and de-merits which may help an organization in taking a wise decision either in favor of it or against it. Cloud computing is the buzz word now in the field of information technology. It is the concept of where an organization has its data and application hosted on a third party infrastructure. Sometimes the applications are designed and developed by the service provider and the company using it uses that application against its own data. There are several factors for deciding in favor of it as well as several factors that raise strong questions for its acceptance. It is totally based on the need of the organization, whether it leverages cloud computing or not. What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is Internet-based utility computing, basically shared resources, software and information that are used by end-users hosted on virtual servers. Some people term anything beyond a companies or users personal firewall to be in cloud (Knorr, Gruman, n.d., para. 2).Personal computing has evolved in three phases. The first phase was where the data and application was stored on a local desktop. The second phase is where the applications reside on a local server and utility software on the desktop along with the internet to provide valuable information. The third phase is where most of the data and software will reside somewhere on the internet. This phase is identified as cloud computing. Although more than 80% of world-wide computational data is being predicted to move into clouds in the next five to ten years, there are a number of unanswered questions which will decide the speed of development in this arena (Nelson, 2009, para. 1). It is a new concept in the field of inf ormation technology still trying to get acceptance, where-in the technological services/ applications are provided by a third-party. Cloud Computing Nomenclature From the days when use of internet started becoming popular, the network architecture diagrams show internet as cloud to hide the complexities from the end-user hence the name cloud computing. The applications/ software are provided as services which reside in data centers with server farms and redundant storage. End-users can access them via web browsers in laptops or hand-held devices. Google Apps, Facebook and salesforce.com are examples of cloud computing which are becoming very popular especially with the younger generations. A very basic example of cloud computing is a web-based email service like Gmail where the complexity of storage and presentation of user data is provided by a third party, and users are leveraging them by means of web browsers(Nelson, 2009, para. 12). Benefits of Cloud Computing Cloud Computing is a totally different paradigm of personal as well as corporate computing which drifts away from the traditional software business model. There are several positive factors for deciding in favor of moving to cloud computing. Some of the important favorable factors are discussed below. Entry cost for a business to set itself up in cloud is much less compared to traditional setup. Cost for running Information Technology (IT) business in cloud world can be visualized as operational cost. Organizations no longer need to shell out big amounts for hardware and software upgrades (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 3). They no longer need to worry about end of life for hardware/ software. Companies no longer need to spend huge amounts on buying new hardware for scalability. In short, infrastructure costs to get in to cloud are much lower than that for the traditional model. Pricing is generally based on usage options. Organizations do not need to maintain a workforce of IT people and can focus on strengthening their business domain knowledge. Organizations can use only applications which are suited for their need and not pay huge amounts on licenses for using a software suite. Most of the time buying a software suite is of lesser worth from the business perspective as only few features of the suite are really used and the cost associated with upgrades and licenses are expensive. With canned applications in cloud, business can decide and pay for only the applications that they need. Using virtualization as the main technology, additional computing resources can be added dynamically without having any downtime. By monitoring peak load and server usage, an application can be dynamically switched over to a virtual machine with greater computing speed or the current virtual machine can be augmented with more computing resources (Zhong, Wo, Li Li, 2010, p. 2). The organization using the application does not need to pay extra for the scalability feature. In virtualization, high performance servers are split into multiple machin es catering to different customers. Some of the popular products are VMware and XEN. With the infrastructure being located in multiple data centers and huge server farms, users can be productive anytime from anywhere in the world using web-browsers in laptops, desktops or hand-held devices. Business executives travelling to client locations need not carry hard copies and everything with them, as with a simple click of the mouse they can reach the information gateway. With infrastructure being maintained at multiple redundant sites, it gives more confidence to business organizations in regard to business continuity and disaster recovery. Nowadays in the industry, one of the buzz words is collaboration. Tools like sharepoint are becoming very popular where multiple people can work on the same document and access them without having to store the document locally and work on it and send it via email for edits by other users. With web 2.0 where everything is going to be on the internet, collaboration will be very easy and simple (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 4). Since the infrastructure for cloud computing is centralized and the client is a thin client like a web-browser or a WAP browser, the upgrade and maintenance of the system is much easier compared to the system where we require a desktop client connecting to a server where each client desktop needs to be upgraded when the server version is getting upgraded (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 3). Concerns with Cloud Computing As there is darkness after light similarly with the benefits discussed in the earlier sections there are a few concerns floating around with the acceptance and utilization of cloud computing. With the applications provided as service and being used by different customers, personalization seems to be one limitation. The characteristics are similar to a COTS product but if proper negotiations are made, product-based companies most of the time do allow customization. There is a serious concern with data being centralized and out of business control. Sensitive data will now be under the control of a third-party and according to some experts this is a compliance issue and some feel that this is probably going to be the end of confidential records management (Cunningham Wilkins, 2009, p. 7). When it comes to the disclosure policies, some people do not know where to draw the line and knowingly or unknowingly share vital information and with data out on the third-party space that concern be comes even more critical. With everything accessible through internet, business will be totally dependent on the network and the service providers infrastructure. Business will come to a halt if the network/ internet are down. As illustrated by Patrick Cunningham in his article (2009), currently in the IT world when we need to troubleshoot an issue, one advantage in our favor is that the application logs and the database are within the premises of the enterprise. With the shift to cloud, this aspect will be lost and thus special support or contract binding needs will be there between the service provider and the business for e-discovery. With business sensitive internal data being maintained by the vendor the dependency on the vendors unique API and proprietary interfaces could create a possible lock-in with the vendor. If under some circumstance the business is dissatisfied with the vendor, moving to a new vendor means data needs to be reformatted and converted which can be time co nsuming and expensive (Brandel, 2009, p.1). Return on Investment By moving to cloud computing companies can save huge amount of money. As illustrated by Raichura (2009), in couple of online articles please find below charts showing examples of savings that an organization can achieve by moving to the cloud. The first table illustrates the difference in cost of having infrastructure on premises versus having it in the cloud. The second table illustrates the cost saving considering storage, service, infrastructure and platform in the cloud. Conclusion After having discussed the merits and de-merits it clearly stands out that there is no one clear answer in favor or against of cloud computing. So far it seems that is going to be a hybrid solution from the corporate standpoint. Some critical, business sensitive applications will continue with the traditional business model till the concerns about privacy and legal matters are cleared from cloud computing whereas simple canned applications will become more and more popular in the cloud space. The concept and technology is here to stay but it still in its infancy and there is a long road ahead to get to maturity. References: Brandel,M.(2009).The Trouble with Cloud Vendor Lock in. Retrieved from http://www.cio.com/article/488478/The_Trouble_with_Cloud_Vendor_Lock_in Cunningham, P. Wilkins, J. (2009). A Walk in the Cloud. Information Management (15352897), 43(1), 22-30. Retrieved from Computers Applied Sciences Complete database. Erdogmus, H, (2009). Cloud Computing:Does Nirvana Hide behind the Nebula? Knorr, E. Gruman, G. (n.d). What cloud computing really means. Retrieved from http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031 Nelson, M. (2009). The Cloud, the Crowd, and Public Policy. Issues in Science Technology, 25(4), 71-76. Retrieved from Computers Applied Sciences Complete database. Raichura, B.J. (2009). The cloud ROI Framework. Retrieved from http://www.infosysblogs.com/cloudcomputing/2009/06/the_cloud_roi_framework.html Raichura, B.J. (2009). The Economics of cloud computing. Retrieved from http://www.infosysblogs.com/cloudcomputing/2009/06/the_economics_of_cloud_computi.html Zhong, L., Wo,T, Li, J. Li,B. (2010). A Virtualization-based SaaS Enabling Architecture for Cloud Computing.2010 Sixth International Conference on Autonomic and Autonomous Systems. pp.144-149.