Essay on F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby - 968 Words

The 1920s was a time of excess and growth. Economically, it was a time for great financial gain. Largely because of improvements in technology, productivity increased while overall production costs decreased, and the economy grew. Not only was this time filled with prosperity, but corruption as well. People who had previously worked day and night finally acquired leisure time. Some of the most wealthy people made the choice to fill this free time with gluttony and lust. Many authors during this time believed that the excessive spending and consumption would surely lead to ruin. Although many people associate good times and carefree abandon with the reverie of the 1920s, some also suggest a hidden, much darker side. In his†¦show more content†¦Although Gatsby claims he just does some business on the side, after Gatsbys death a caller intending to talk to Gatsby declares to Nick, Young Parkes in troubleÂ… They picked him up when he handed the bonds over the counter. They got a circular from New York giving em the numbers just five minutes before (Fitzgerald 174). This call signifies that Gatsby is not only involved in bootlegging, but also in securities fraud, a serious federal offense. Gatsbys participation in illegal activities in order to achieve his dream of love shows how corrupt the American Dream became. These illegal acts required to obtain the American Dream lower the American Dream onto an immoral path leading to even more corruption. This path of obtaining the American Dream shows further corruption when Jay Gatsby, who finally acquires the fortune necessary to win the affection of Daisy, partakes in an affair with Daisy. When trying to make his dream of acquiring Daisy come true, Gatsbys immoral actions continue even though he is fully aware of Daisys husband. This disgusting display of infidelity is further acknowledged when Daisy, upon Tom leaving the room, pulled [Gatsbys] face down kissing him on the mouth (Fitzgerald 1 22). This mutual display of affection in front of friends and family symbolizes the immoral actionsShow MoreRelatedF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby937 Words   |  4 PagesThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers. Fitzgerald uses the Roaring Twenties as the setting of this novel. The twenties were a time of promiscuity, new money, and a significant amount of illegal alcohol. Fitzgerald was a master of his craft and there was often more to the story than just the basic plot. He could intertwine political messages and a gripping story flawlessly. In the case of The Great Gatsby, he not only chronicles a love story, butRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby885 Words   |  3 Pagesmany people throughout history. Although the dream has its own distinct aspects throughout different time periods, it predominantly focuses on the foundations of wealth, success and a desire for something greater. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is primarily known for the numerous lavish parties he throws each weekend at his ostentatious mansion in West Egg in an attempt to reunite with Daisy Buchanan, a woman he falls in love with prior to enteringRead More F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Essay1211 Words   |  5 PagesF. Scott Fitzgerald’s Portrayal of the Twenties F. Scott Fitzgerald was accurate in his portrayal of the aristocratic flamboyancy and indifference of the 1920s. In his novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald explores many aspects of indifference and flamboyancy. A large influence on this society was the pursuit of the American Dream. Gangsters played a heavily influential role in the new money aristocracy of the 1920s. The indifference was mainly due to the advent of Prohibition in 1920. One majorRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay913 Words   |  4 Pages The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. â€Å"In the years immediately after the completion of The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald was unable to provide his art with any such endorsement† (Collins). Fitzgerald was unable to get his book published because of insufficient funds. According to Harris, â€Å"F Scott Fitzgerald wrote his greatest novel in France in 1924, having exiled himself in order to get some work done† (Harris). The best novel Fitzgerald has written he wrote when he was in France. AccordingRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay998 Words   |  4 PagesF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby â€Å"So The Great Gatsby house at West Egg glittered with all the lights of the twenties, there were was always Gatsby’s supplicating hand, reaching out to make glamour with what he had lost be cruel chance...of how little Gatsby wanted at bottom-not to understand society, but to ape it†(21-22). The Great Gatsby by F.Read MoreA Review of F Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby851 Words   |  3 PagesThe Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald created a modern masterpiece in his work The Great Gatsby, despite the novels earl ill reception. The work is a complex piece which tries to make sense of a strange concept of modernity within a classical sense of history. In the work, Fitzgerald illustrates the importance of allusion in the creation of character building, but also as a way for Fitzgerald to stray away from previous literary techniques and create motifs and themes that were entirely his ownRead More F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1411 Words   |  6 PagesF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby The greatness of an individual can be defined in terms far beyond tangible accomplishments. In F. Scott Fitzgeralds classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsbys greatness comes from his need to experience success and his will to achieve his dreams. Nick Carraway narrates the story, and his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, is Gatsbys love. Daisy, however, is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy, arrogant womanizer who despises Gatsby. Gatsby feels theRead More F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1013 Words   |  5 Pages Wealth, Love, and the American Dream nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It has been said that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is about the pursuit of the American dream. It has also been said that the novel is about love, ambition, and obsession. Perhaps both are true. Combined, these themes may be understood in their most basic forms among the relationships within the novel. After all, each character’s reason for belonging to a relationship speaks very strongly of what really makes him tick;Read MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby Essay1009 Words   |  5 Pages In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many of the characters live in an illusory world and only some can see past this. In the novel, West Egg and its residents represent the newly rich, while East Egg represents the old aristocracy. Gatsby seeking the past, Daisy is obsessed with material things, Myrtle wanting Tom to escape her poverty, George believing that T.J. Eckleburg is God, and Tom believing he is untouchable because of his power and wealth are all examples of the illusionRead MoreF. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby954 Words   |  4 PagesJay Gatsby. Gatsby lives in a mansion and has extravagant parties every Saturday. Gatsby’s real name is James Gatz and he was born at a farm in North Dakota. He went to St. Olaf’s University but dropped out two weeks later do to the humiliation of being a janitor. One day he was fishing at Lake Superior and he saw a yacht owned by Dan Cody. He rowed towards the yacht to warn Dan about an approaching storm. Dan was very grateful and took Jay on board. There, Jay introduced himself as Jay Gatsby. Since

School Vouchers are the Solution Essay - 1677 Words

We, as human beings, irrespective of our backgrounds, traditions and cultures, believe in certain fundamental ideals. We want all our children to have access to a good, overall education regardless of family income; we want to make sure that they are prepared for times to come; we want them to be responsible adults; and expect that these qualities are fostered in them through learning in their familial environments, friend circles and most importantly through the institution called school. The growing idea has been that these ideals may only be achieved through a universal centrally planned system of tax-funded schools, commonly known as â€Å"public schools†. People tend to misunderstand the ideals of public schooling and confuse them for†¦show more content†¦They lack the very vital skills that employers find necessary, for instance, they have trouble even reading the dosage on an aspirin bottle (2). To add to that, â€Å"32 to 36 percent of Americans with no incom e source and 34 to 44 percent welfare recipients struggle to perform most basic reading, writing and quantitative tasks†(2). Thus, it is clear that the present system is unable to grant the education that it has always promised and much of the money utilized in bringing about improvement is wasted. This is where, I feel, the market-system, with its abundant, competitive suppliers of education can bring about a change, where modern tuition vouchers will take care of any financial assistance crucial to keeping the system going. School vouchers are a form of scholarship, which transmits the flow of funding that is devoted to education and directs it to consumers rather than to school districts. This gives families the freedom to choose any school and thus send their children to institutions they feel are best suited to their children’s needs. There are government funded vouchers, as well as that made available by private institutions. I feel that one good way would be to do it through gigantic corporations, who have the capital and may find it to be a useful way of publicizing their names. What I admire about the market system is that there is an inherent personal benefit involved in every action by everyone who plays a part in the action:Show MoreRelatedEssay about Vouchers and School Choice - Vouchers are Not the Solution1296 Words   |  6 PagesSchool Vouchers: Not the Solution       As standardized test scores continue to plummet and our nation falls farther behind such industrial rivals as Germany, England, Australia and Japan in comparable education, parents are questioning the current system of education. After being kicked around the national agenda for decades, the school voucher issue is finally being emphasized in several state legislatures, as well as in Congress. In the website titled Vouchers: No, but...Taxpayer Help toRead MoreHow Privatization of Education May Be Possible1360 Words   |  5 Pagescritique of education funding and the notion of privatization of education. The Voucher System It seems to me that one of the best ways of privatization would be to adopt the voucher system. Louisiana just started doing that with promising results. The voucher system asserts that every individual has the right to an education of his or her choice and the government has no right to compel him to attend a certain school... The way that this can be practically implemented is by following LouisianasRead MoreWhy Is It So Hard For Student Success959 Words   |  4 Pagescollege? In the book â€Å"Back to School† by Mike Rose, Rose talks about some of the different obstacle student’s faces in college that prevents them from being successful. Financial support plays a big part in student success. Money plays a huge factor in student success. Student that fail generally are the ones who are unable to pay school tuition. If students cannot afford the necessary equipment they need to succeed then they will have a hard time going through college. School supplies such as books andRead MoreEducation in America1590 Words   |  7 PagesAmerica: Failing Schools Education in America is one of the most important issues that face our nation. If the education in America is not thought of one of most serious issues we face, our nation as a whole will fall. There are many debates and they seemly extend to all walks of life. The debates range from the decline in education, school vouchers, and the no child left behind law. As a nation, the United States is ranked above others. We must search for that solution to all of theRead More School Vouchers Essay1467 Words   |  6 PagesSchool Vouchers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  School vouchers can be described as financial funding given to students who elect not to attend public schools. Therefore the government would not be spending money educating that student in a public school. A school voucher is the allotment of money that the government would have used for that student to attend public school. This money is then given to the family of the student to help fund the education of that student. This money cannot be used for anything other thanRead MoreEducation Is The Most Powerful Weapon1195 Words   |  5 Pageseducation. Inner city public schools are not effective at teaching children the necessary skills to succeed in college, if they do not drop out of school altogether. Clearly, traditional welfare programs are not effectively ending the poverty cycle, so, new targeted programs must be put in place to help normalize this inequality. The most effective reform would be to increase educational opportunities for children inhabiting the inner city. Improvements to the public school system are constantly beingRead MoreEssay on Private Schools Will Not Fix the American Education System1422 Words   |  6 PagesPrivate Schools Will Not Fix the American Education System    The American public education system was founded on the radical notion that all members of society should have equal access to education. Also crucial was the notion that a basic common education was essential for a true democracy. This revolutionary system is now in indisputable trouble. Many worry about America’s ability to compete with foreign countries while others address the growing dichotomy between the quality of education inRead MoreOutline the New Right Perspective on the Role of Education. 20 Marks700 Words   |  3 Pageswere organised inefficiently and that both their formal and hidden curricula were not geared to meeting the needs of industry. New Right theorists argued therefore in favour of education policies which would enable effective schools to expand at the expense of ineffective schools as a means of improving overall standards, in favour of increased emphasis within the formal curriculum on the transmission of knowledge and skills specifically relevant to the needs of industry and commerce, and against Read MorePrayer in Public Schools Essay1440 Words   |  6 Pagestype of school students attend, organized prayer is mandatory, allowed, or banned. In the United States, organized prayer in public schools is prohibited because it goes against the Constitution’s separation of church and state (Jinkins 123). The United States promises religious freedom, but is yet to define the degree and limitation of that liberty. However, American citizens have been debating for many years, whether organized prayer should be an option or obligation in public schools. Some peopleRead MoreHomeless People : The Homeless1265 Words   |  6 Pageshomeless people in Baltimore and advocates some solutions to end this issue. Although we will suggest some policies and solutions that can be helpful for the homeless people. Baltimore’s homeless population has been increased in recent years. Public, state and local government should be involved and their participation would be required to fulfill those programs. First, the government must assist community and most importantly to ensure that those solutions that they will create are long-term goals.

Cbta Free Essays

string(69) " performance with a stop watch then it is probably not a competency\." Military profession can be considered as one of the oldest professions in the world. It had been a feature of societies throughout history where certain groups of people were entrusted with the responsibility of defending the state. The military profession today however, differs in many aspects from the military of the late eighteenth century in the sense that recruitment is based on education and skill rather than on the basis of social origins. We will write a custom essay sample on Cbta or any similar topic only for you Order Now Military men today work on a full-time basis instead of regarding military service as a part-time vocation or hobby. All professions are expected to maintain a certain level of competency and will be reprimanded or reject outright if they do not measure up to the required professional standards. The military profession must maintain high standards of performance in the eyes of the general public in order to hold its credibility and professional standing. Over the years, western writers like Huntington (1957), Janowitz (1971) and Sarkesian (1975) had given their views on the subject of military profession and professionalism. They had identified the following general characteristics of military professionalism which are organizational structure, special knowledge, education and training, self-regulation and commitment. The Malaysian Army had rise up to the challenge in addressing the issues of military professionalism among its personnel. All the characteristics of military professionalism mentioned earlier are being addressed seriously by the Army. Thus, one of the measures taken by the Army that the best place to start inculcating professionalism among the soldiers should start at the training centers. The Army has 17 training institutions all over the country and in 2011 the budget allocated for the Markas Pemerintahan Latihan dan Doktrin Tentera Darat was $22. 7 million. With 250 courses and 441 series of courses in 2011, the number of soldiers trained in year 2011 was approximately 16,000. This is a significant figure that can be considered as products of the Malaysian Army. Therefore, the Army has taken an approach by introducing the Competency Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) as a measure to increase the level of professionalism among its personnel. CBTA is not a new approach in training. It has been a nationwide move by the Ministry of Human Resources. Malaysia, along with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and Germany were the main players in implementing CBTA since year 2000. The introduction of the National Skills Certification System in 1993 by the Majlis Latihan Vokasional Kebangsaan (MLVK) and the soon to be implemented National Skills Development Act by the Ministry of Human Resources as well as the Malaysian Qualification Framework (MQF) by the Ministry of Higher Education will serve to restructure and streamline the national vocational and skills training in the country towards meeting the demands of today’s job tasks more effectively. Its introduction is indeed timely, given the high priority that it places on the area of human resource development. With the emphasis towards preparing trained and qualified skilled workforce to support the country’s economic development, therefore, the more flexible framework of national skills recognition and qualifications is necessary to promote a conducive training culture for the personal motivation of skilled workers, which would hence lead to the overall upgrading of competencies amongst the country’s skilled workforce. Competency based learning has been the basis of most training and has been practiced in most countries. The Roman Army for example, were masters of competency training as applied to large groups and their effectiveness in delivering such training was a major contributor to their military success. A perfect description of competency training is as follows: â€Å"Their drills are like bloodless battles, and their battles are like bloody drills. † Joseph Ben-Matthias, aka Flavius Josephus The terms of CBTA have many variations. Some countries know it as Competency Based Learning (CBL) and some countries call it Competency Based Training (CBT). Nevertheless, competency is the main keyword. CBT was a critical factor in the US Army’s ability to train several million young men during World War II. With the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942, the US Military was faced with the requirement to train millions of young men for its rapidly expanding armed forces. This rapid expansion required a method for quickly providing people with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to do a particular job. Using variations of CBT, millions of young men were trained, shipped to Europe or the Pacific and due to their training played a major role in the defeat of Germany and Japan. The role of training in enabling the US Military to expand from a very small army to one of several millions in only a short period of time is mainly due to the effectiveness of CBT. The Vocational Education, Employment and Training Advisory Committee of Australia, sees CBTA as â€Å"training geared to the attainment and demonstration of skills to meet industry-specified standards rather than to an individual’s achievement relative to that of others in a group†. CBTA is basically a scientific approach to training that relies on identifying the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to do a particular job, for example for an infantry soldier. The approach taken was to break each job down into groups of competencies. Competencies related to any particular job could be identified through a careful process of training analysis in terms of performance, conditions and standards. For example an infantry soldier might be required to perform firing of a rifle. The conditions required to fire the rifle at various conditions and positions. Example of standards required are, during day on a range at one hundred meters score fifty hits on a target measuring three foot high two foot wide, while standing. There is considerable debate as to what actually makes a competency, but for general purposes it can be identified as a readily identified group of related knowledge, skills and attitudes, which taken together constitute a major part of a job which is subject to measurement and assessment. Generally if you cannot measure performance with a stop watch then it is probably not a competency. You read "Cbta" in category "Essay examples" To give an example, firing a rifle in terms of infantry training can be regarded as a competency. It is a major part of an infantry man’s job. It can be measured in terms of performance, conditions and standards and you can put a stop watch to it. For example, ten shots in the target within one minute. The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) adopted CBTA based on the concept implemented by the Australian Defence Forces (ADF). The ADF practiced the CBTA concept since year 1996. The MAF, realizing the need to revamp the approach towards training, started the initiative towards CBTA in 2002 and started implementing CBTA in year 2007. The introduction of CBTA in the Army training programs has lead to the establishment of the Malaysian Army Competency Standard (MACS). It is a document that underlines the necessities and requirements that must be obtained by a soldier in their field of expertise. MACS will be assessed based on job proficiency in order to make sure soldiers can accomplish tasks at a level that can be accepted. The Army has identified that there are 318 career and functional courses based on the Armed Forces Code No 2 (AF Code No 2) that need to meet the requirement of MACS. Since the introduction of CBTA until end of year 2011, the number of soldiers who have qualified for the Malaysian Skills Certification (MSC) or also known as Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM) from Army training institutions is 42,408 students. MSC or SKM is a certification structure which comprises of five levels National Skills Qualification Framework based on National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS). MACS development for the courses listed in the AF Code No 2 varies in terms of achieving SKM accreditation ranging from SKM Level 1 to 5. The strengths of implementing CBTA in the Army encompassed all the general characteristics of military professionalism mentioned earlier. In the area of education and training, once the competencies have been identified then it is relatively easy to structure a training course. You might break the competencies down into component tasks, for example before you can fire a rifle, you would have to learn how to strip and assemble that rifle. That particular task might be listed as a specific learning outcome which has to be performed before meeting the final competency of firing a rifle under specific conditions. It would then be relatively easy to structure a training course, which might involve initial training and then further ‘On-The-Job’ training (OJT), which would deliver to the Army, soldiers with the necessary competencies to do the job required. Implementation of CBTA also allows the Army training institution to produce a more comprehensive training package that take into account the core values of competency (knowledge, skill and attitude). Efficiency in managing training courses, effectiveness of course delivery and systematic evaluation or assessment, ensure the quality of training, hence ensuring the quality of soldiers. Evaluation of a soldier does not end only at a particular training institution, which is the main approach in conventional method of training. CBTA allows continuous evaluation in the form of competency log. This would ensure that a soldier does not only competent during training but also when performing task and duties at workplace. In addition, CBTA can also help the Army to develop a good organizational structure as part of achieving military professionalism. Job analysis and job specification which have been identified during CBTA process, allows the Army to have the right person for the right job. This would allow the Army to identify what sort of competency and soldiers it needs in its organizational hierarchy. Improvements have also been made on Army training centers organizational structure. Moreover, besides having at least an officer responsible on CBTA at each of the Army training institutions, the Army also has started grooming its staff and instructors on what CBTA is all about. In year 2011, there were 5 courses conducted in the Army which aimed to increase the knowledge of the staffs and instructors. The courses were, Pegawai Latihan Vokasional (3 series), Induksi Pentauliahan Persijilan Kemahiran (3 series), Course of Study (4 series), Basic Instructor Methodology (1 series) and Kursus Induksi Pegawai Pengesahan Luaran Vokasional (1 series). These courses would lead the Army to ensure that CBTA is well understood, taught and implemented. As a result, the objectives of CBTA implementation can be achieved. Military professionalism should not only be accepted among military personnel but it must be recognized by the general public. CBTA has allowed military professionalism to be accepted and recognized. The implementation of CBTA in the Army is consistent with the requirement of MLVK. Adoption of CBTA provides soldiers with another qualification path and career development opportunity that has been established in line with the academic qualification structure. In other words, this means that the double qualification structure is based on two types of qualifications, namely the academic qualification and the skills qualification that are available in this country today. The emergence of this new skills qualification structure has opened up a whole new set of opportunities for all soldiers after completing their service in the Army. In addition, it also caters to soldiers who have no qualifications to show despite having years of working experience. As an example, PULMAT has able to get SKM accreditation of SKM Level 4 for its Souse Chef course. It is the highest level of SKM accreditation achieved among all the 318 courses conducted by Army training institutions. Attaining SKM Level 4 accreditation is equivalent to a diploma based on NOSS. Therefore, it can be said that soldiers who have achieved competency in the course is at par with others in the business environment or the labour market. They would also have a better career path after completing military service if they decided to pursue any job with similar competency level. A lot of discussions have been made regarding to the advantages and strengths of CBTA in having the Army desired results. Nevertheless, CBTA also have some weaknesses in heading to higher level of professionalism in the Army. Looking at the milestone and achievement of CBTA in the Army until today, the figures and statistics can be said to the extent of they are alarming. Out of the 17 Army training institutions, only 9 training centers or about 50% are considered accredited training centers. They are IKED, IKEM, IJED, PULMAT, PULNORD, PULAPOT, PULPAK, PULADA and IPDA. These training centers have in total of 42 courses out of 318 courses that have been accredited with SKM certification. This only made up to approximately 13% out courses listed in the AF Code No 2. Only one course managed to get SKM Level 4, 13 courses at SKM Level 3 and 28 courses with SKM Level 1 to Level 2. IJED has the most courses in terms that are accredited with the national level SKM. Based on the AF Code No 2, year 2011, out of the 21 courses were conducted by IJED, 12 courses are accredited with national SKM. In addition, IKEM and PULMAT have 7 courses each with national SKM accreditation. PULADA on the other hand, only have 1 course (Dog Unit Handler Course) which has achieved national SKM accreditation. This is very distressing figures for the Infantry Corps in terms of where is the future of Infantrymen during their service and once they leave the service. The competence level of Infantrymen should portray the professionalism of the Army since most Infantry officers would end up as top brass in the Army. As for the future of Infantrymen after their service, the Army must take a necessary action to in order to ensure that Infantry soldiers have a decent competency to compete in the labour market, especially for the other ranks where they would normally retire by the age of 45 and still need to work to support their family. With only 1 course accredited (SKM Level 2) out of 18 courses conducted by PULADA, CBTA can be said as failed to increase the level of professionalism for the Infantrymen. Only those who have the technical skills and knowledge while serving in Corps such as KJLJD and KPD would reap the benefits of CBTA. With majority of Army personnel were only trained at SKM Level 1 and 2, one lead to wonder how SKM Level 1 and Level 2, help the Army to increase professionalism among its personnel. The general guideline of SKM level is as the following diagram. SKM Level 1 and Level 2 are categorized as in the operation and production level in terms of category of personnel. These are the level where most of Army personnel managed to obtain SKM certification from attending courses in year 2011. In year 2011, 4,800 Army personnel obtained SKM certification. Only 11% (550 personnel) obtained SKM Level 3, 32% (1,516 personnel) obtained SKM Level 2 and 57% (2,734 personnel) obtained SKM Level 1. Thus, referring back to the general characteristics of military professionalism, if the Army considers having most of its personnel achieving SKM Level 1 and Level 2 as increment in professionalism, then CBTA would have met its objective. Nevertheless, military professionalism is more than just special skills as in SKM Level 1 and Level 2. The Army should be looking at aiming for at least SKM Level 3 in order to increase some level of professionalism. SKM Level 3 will allow soldiers to have the three categories of personnel as shown in the diagram. The categories are skills, related/management skills and supervisory skills. Mastering them would lead to achieving military professionalism. When the MAF adopted CBTA, the general guideline of SKM competency has been laid out based on rank structure. SKM Level 1 for the rank of Private and Lance Corporal, Level 2 for Corporal, Level 3 for Sergeant and Staff Sergeant, Level 4 for Warren Officers and Level 5 for Officers. It can be said that some courses in the Army failed to meet the guideline. As an example, the Section Commander course conducted at PULADA, is only developed to achieve SKM Level 2. Thus, for the Infantry Corps, most of its sergeants would have SKM Level 2 instead of SKM Level 3 as required by the MAF. This should be a major concern for the Infantry Corps because it has the most number of personnel in the Army. The number of personnel with the rank of sergeant in the Infantry Corps is approximately 1,500 personnel. In the Infantry Standard Battalion, personnel holding the rank of sergeant are 56% (57 personnel) out of the 102 Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in the battalion. The Infantry Section Commander course at PULADA basically focus on field application and tactics and not so much focus on managerial and administrative duties at the battalion. The managerial and administrative duties are covered mostly during the Pegawai Tidak Tauliah Rendah (PTTR) course at IPDA. Nevertheless, an infantry soldier is qualified to be given the rank of sergeant once he completed the Infantry Section Commander course. In an Infantry battalion, he is responsible to manage 7 personnel in his section. In year 2011, PULADA conducted 3 series of the Infantry Section Commander course with total number of approximately 300 students. The 300 personnel would have little knowledge of managerial and administrative duties due to normal practice applied in an Infantry Battalion is that a soldier will go for PTTR course once he completed the Infantry Section Commander course and if the he is planned to be promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Moreover, on average only 100 bits are given to Infantry Corps per year for the PTTR course. In comparison to the 300 personnel attended the Infantry Section Commander Course per year, less than 50% would have the chance to attend the PTTR course. Hence, approximately 200 personnel would not be competent enough to manage a section of soldiers in the Infantry Battalion. In the Sistem Saraan Malaysia (SSM), a Sergeant in the Infantry Battalion will have to complete the PTTR course if he wishes to have a better pay. He will be given the P2 salary for the rank of Sergeant. Therefore, it can be said that money could be the motivational level to attend the PTTR course. That motivation would force the learning of managerial and administrative knowledge during PTTR course where in return, it would make the Sergeant a better soldier, increasing his level of professionalism. Thus, it leads to the question on the new SBPA salary structure system where salary of P2 no longer applies. There could be personnel by the rank of Sergeant no longer wish to attend the PTTR course if they feel that they would not be promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Hence, it can be said to the extent that without the PTTR course they would be less professional. For an Infantry Battalion, the 57 Sergeant would not have the competency to manage approximately 500 soldiers in the battalion if no one attends the PTTR course. The chain reaction effect of this issue is that officers would have a larger responsibility in ensuring military professionalism is carried out in the Army. The responsibility supposedly to be shared among the NCOs and Officers in order to have a well structured organization as required in achieving military professionalism. Another area where CBTA is seen as does not promote the sense of professionalism is in terms of leadership training. CBTA is not effective when used as a basis for training in areas such as leadership, and management where it is almost impossible to measure competency in terms of clearly defined behaviors that contribute to effective management and leadership, hence affecting the characteristics of military professionalism. Such areas still rely on a subjective assessment made by experts in the field. For example many special forces training courses do use competencies as part of the training package where these competencies relate to measurable behaviors. Literally behaviors which can be measured with a stopwatch. However, the final assessment must be subjective. Such assessment could take the form of a group of experts examining each individual and asking a question that can only be answered subjectively such as ‘would you go to war with this man’. If the answer is no, then it doesn’t matter how many behavioral competencies the individual has passed, he is not suitable. Such subjective assessment is probably still appropriate in assessing candidates for jobs where qualities are required that can only be defined subjectively by experts. For example priest, teacher, military officer or a flying instructor. All of these types of jobs require qualities that it is almost impossible to define in terms of behavior. It is hard to say what exactly a good leader is actually doing, but we know it when we see it. Attitude competencies generally fail because they can only be measured in the negative. For example, a competency might require the individual to demonstrate the right attitude to safety. Well you can easily measure the wrong attitude, if somebody lights a cigarette in a no smoking area, you have a behavior which clearly demonstrates a poor attitude to safety. But if the individual is not smoking, it doesn’t demonstrate a positive attitude, all it shows is that the person is not smoking. Officer training courses where students are aware that attitude is being assessed tend to lead to students falsifying their behaviors that they believe will be viewed in a positive light. For example demonstrating keenness by always smiling and being willing to do a task. Any assessment could only conclude that the person is competent at smiling and effective in using the language of volunteering, it says nothing about the individual’s attitude. The keen individual might well turn out to be displaying a competency in duplicitous behavior, which might well be useful but is hardly a trait likely to endear the individual to his or her subordinates. CBTA could also lead to soldiers feel complacent on their achievement. They only have to achieve competence level since the evaluation is either he is competent or not yet competent. In contrast, the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) adopted the Competency Based Learning (CBL) and has a different competence level assessment. The differences between the Malaysian’s Army CBTA are that the SAF’s CBL evaluate performance based on five level of competency. The levels are, Novice/Advance Beginner, Competent, Proficient and Expert. The SAF feels that these are the necessary levels that should be assessed in CBL especially leadership training. Therefore, the Malaysian Army leadership training could be hampered in increasing level of professionalism due to soldiers feel that they only have to be assessed as competent. In order to excel, one should not feel complacent but try to bring the best out of him. In conclusion, the Malaysian Army should have a well defined terms and definition of military professionalism. From there, it would be able to understand how CBTA can improve the level of professionalism among its personnel. Based on the discussions, arguments and empirical evidence of CBTA achievements in the Army, it can be concluded that the level of professionalism could be increased solely by implementation of CBTA. Nevertheless, it does not mean that CBTA has failed in terms of its objectives, it merely need a minor overhaul in terms of the SKM level needed by Army personnel in achieving professionalism. 3894 words) REFERENCES 1. Janowitz, Morris, The Professional Soldier, The Free Press, New York, 1971. 2. Huntington, Samuel P. , The Soldier and the Slate, Belknap Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1957. 3. Sarkesian, Sam C. , The Professional Army officer in a Changing Society, Nelson-Hall Publishers, Chicago, 1975. 4. Ramatahan, K. , Leadership Development Through the Singapor e Armed Forces (SAF) Competency Based Learning Project, SAFTI Military Institute, Singapore, 2000. 5. Annual Report, Laporan Perkembangan Latihan dan Penilaian Berasaskan Kompetensi (LPBK) Tahun 2011, MK LAT-BPL(MLVK)/G3/3001/5(71) dated Feb 2012. 6. MACS Report, Pembangunan Standard Kompetensi Tentera Darat (SKTD) Untuk Tugas Penolong Ketua Platun Infantri Dan Ketua Seksyen Infantri, MK-TD Jab Inf, Kuala Lumpur, Jul 2008. 7. Paper Work, Konsep Strategi dan Perlaksanaan LPBK Dalam Angkatan Tentera Malaysia, MATM/J1CTK/A/238/8 dated 12 Dis 2005. 8. AF Code No 2, Jadual Kursus Tempatan Tahun 2011, Markas Pemerintahan Latihan dan Doktrin Tentera Darat, Kuala Lumpur, 2011. How to cite Cbta, Essay examples

Personal Family Description Essay Example For Students

Personal Family Description Essay My family can be very depressing, and sometimes very happy. Most of all, my family is the only people who have supported me throughout my life. This is what I love about them. When it comes to the families depicted in books, there are mostly a happy ones, and abusive ones. In reality, they are more just the normal ones, but let me tell you mine. I consider my family as the best, and perfect family. I belong to a middle-class nuclear family, with my mother, father, brother, and me. Thats just 4. My mother has a small figure, and a kind attitude. She has worked as a nurse for several years, until now. Then there is my father, who is totally strict when it comes to my studies. He used to work as a technician, but now he is a learning support to a student with special needs. I used to hate him, because I thought he wanted me as a perfect child. Finally, my brother. Hes a very caring and wise brother. As a student, he taught me how to love friends, family, and everybody else. As for me me well, Im me. Im naughty and okay. Everyone in my family is hardworking, loving, and caring. Well, except me, because Im sometimes lazy. Almost everybody has the same taste of music, the 80s. Not only that, but we also have similar personalities. When theres a conflict, we can always solve it. When someones negative, we make them feel positive. However, there is my father who has mood swings. My mother also buys a lot of stuff. The good thing about that, is that she bought us a lot of books, as my brother and I loved reading and collecting story books. My brother and I argue sometimes, but then problems are solved in the end. I love my family no matter what, and we support to each other. Since Im the youngest, they taught me how to be a good citizen, and how to love everybody with all of your heart. They were also the ones who led me to the hands of God as a child. Sometimes they make me feel insecure, but they always apologize to me. They even promised me that once I grow up, as I become an author, that they will support me no matter what. Now that Ive said it, why dont you go to your family, and tell them you love them. Thank them for their support.

Feature Extraction And Classification Information Technology Essay Example

Feature Extraction And Classification Information Technology Essay Any given remote feeling image can be decomposed into several characteristics. The term characteristic refers to remote feeling scene objects ( e.g. flora types, urban stuffs, etc ) with similar features ( whether they are spectral, spacial or otherwise ) . Therefore, the chief aim of a feature extraction technique is to accurately recover these characteristics. The term Feature Extraction can therefore be taken to embrace a really wide scope of techniques and procedures, runing from simple ordinal / interval measurings derived from single sets ( such as thermic temperature ) to the coevals, update and care of distinct characteristic objects ( such as edifices or roads ) . The definition can besides be taken to embrace manual and semi-automated ( or assisted ) vector characteristic gaining control nevertheless Feature Collection is the subject of a separate White Paper non discussed farther here. Similarly, derivation of height information from stereo or interferometric techniques could be considered feature extraction but is discussed elsewhere. What follows is a treatment of the scope and pertinence of characteristic extraction techniques available within Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging s suite of distant feeling package applications. Derived Information Figure 1: Unsupervised Categorization of the Landsat informations on the left and manual killing produced the land screen categorization shown on the We will write a custom essay sample on Feature Extraction And Classification Information Technology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Feature Extraction And Classification Information Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Feature Extraction And Classification Information Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer To many analysts, even ordinal or interval measurings derived straight from the DN values of imagination represent characteristic extraction. ERDAS IMAGINEAÂ ® and ERDAS ERM Pro provide legion techniques of this nature, including ( but non limited to ) : The direct standardization of the DN values of the thermic sets of orbiter and airborne detectors to deduce merchandises such as Sea Surface Temperature ( SST ) and Mean Monthly SST. One of the most widely known derived characteristic types is flora wellness through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ( NDVI ) , where the ruddy and near-infrared ( NIR ) wavelength sets are ratioed to bring forth a uninterrupted interval measuring taken to stand for the proportion of flora / biomass in each pel or the health/vigor of a peculiar flora type. Other types of characteristics can besides be derived utilizing indices, such as clay and mineral composing. Chief Component Analysis ( PCA Jia and Richards, 1999 ) and Minimum Noise Fraction ( MNF Green et al. , 1988 ) are two widely employed characteristic extraction techniques in distant detection. These techniques aim to de-correlate the spectral sets to retrieve the original characteristics. In other words, these techniques perform additive transmutation of the spectral sets such that the resulting constituents are uncorrelated. With these techniques, the characteristic being extracted is more abstract for illustration, the first chief constituent is by and large held to stand for the high frequence information nowadays in the scene, instead than stand foring a specific land usage or screen type. The Independent Component Analysis ( ICA ) based feature extraction technique performs a additive transmutation to obtain the independent constituents ( ICs ) . A direct deduction of this is that each constituent will incorporate information matching to a specific characteristic. Equally good as being used as stand-alone characteristic extraction techniques, many are besides used as inputs for the techniques discussed below. This can take one of two signifiers for high dimensionality informations ( hyperspectral imagination, etc ) , the techniques can minimise the noise and the dimensionality of the information ( in order to advance more efficient and accurate processing ) , whereas for low dimensionality informations ( grayscale informations, RGB imagination, etc. ) they can be used to deduce extra beds ( NDVI, texture steps, higher-order Principal Components, etc ) . The extra beds are so input with the beginning image in a categorization / characteristic extraction procedure to supply end product that is more accurate. Other techniques aimed at deducing information from raster informations can besides be thought of as characteristic extraction. For illustration, Intervisibility/Line Of Site ( LOS ) computations from Digital Elevation Models ( DEMs ) represent th e extraction of a what can I see characteristic. Similarly, tools like the IMAGINE Modeler Maker enable clients to develop usage techniques for characteristic extraction in the broader context of geospatial analysis, such as where is the best location for my mill or where are the locations of important alteration in land screen. Such derived characteristic information are besides campaigners for input to some of the more advanced characteristic extraction techniques discussed below, such as supplying accessory information beds to object-based characteristic extraction attacks. Supervised Categorization Multispectral categorization is the procedure of screening pels into a finite figure of single categories, or classs of informations, based on their informations file values. If a pel satisfies a certain set of standards, the pel is assigned to the category that corresponds to those standards. Depending on the type of information you want to pull out from the original informations, categories may be associated with known characteristics on the land or may merely stand for countries that look different to the computing machine. An illustration of a classified image is a land screen map, demoing flora, bare land, grazing land, urban, etc. To sort, statistics are derived from the spectral features of all pels in an image. Then, the pels are sorted based on mathematical standards. The categorization procedure interrupt down into two parts: preparation and classifying ( utilizing a determination regulation ) . First, the computing machine system must be trained to acknowledge forms in the information. Training is the procedure of specifying the standards by which these forms are recognized. Training can be performed with either a supervised or an unsupervised method, as explained below. Supervised preparation is closely controlled by the analyst. In this procedure, you select pels that represent forms or set down screen characteristics that you recognize, or that you can place with aid from other beginnings, such as aerial exposures, land truth informations or maps. Knowledge of the information, and of the categories desired, is hence needed before categorization. By placing these forms, you can teach the computing machine system to place pels with similar features. The pels identified by the preparation samples are analyzed statistically to organize what are referred to as signatures. After the signatures are defined, the pels of the image are sorted into categories based on the signatures by usage of a categorization determination regulation. The determination regulation is a mathematical algorithm that, utilizing informations contained in the signature, performs the existent sorting of pels into distinguishable category values. If the categorization is accurate, the ensuing categories represent the classs within the informations that you originally identified with the preparation samples. Supervised Categorization can be used as a term to mention to a broad assortment of feature extraction attacks ; nevertheless, it is traditionally used to place the usage of specific determination regulations such as Maximum Likelihood, Minimum Distance and Mahalonobis Distance. Unsupervised Categorization Unsupervised preparation is more computer-automated. It enables you to stipulate some parametric quantities that the computing machine uses to bring out statistical forms that are built-in in the information. These forms do non needfully correspond to straight meaningful features of the scene, such as immediate, easy recognized countries of a peculiar dirt type or land usage. The forms are merely bunchs of pels with similar spectral features. In some instances, it may be more of import to place groups of pels with similar spectral features than it is to screen pels into recognizable classs. Unsupervised preparation is dependent upon the informations itself for the definition of categories. This method is normally used when less is known about the informations before categorization. It is so the analyst s duty, after categorization, to attach significance to the resulting categories. Unsupervised categorization is utile merely if the categories can be suitably interpreted. ERDAS IMAGI NE provides several tools to help in this procedure, the most advanced being the Grouping Tool. The Unsupervised attack does hold its advantages. Since there is no trust on user-provided preparation samples ( which might non stand for pure illustrations of the category / characteristic desired and which would therefore bias the consequences ) , the algorithmic grouping of pels is frequently more likely to bring forth statistically valid consequences. Consequently, many users of remotely sensed informations have switched to leting package to bring forth homogeneous groupings via unsupervised categorization techniques and so utilize the locations of developing informations to assist label the groups. The authoritative Supervised and Unsupervised Classification techniques ( every bit good as intercrossed attacks using both techniques and fuzzed categorization ) have been used for decennaries with great success on medium to lower declaration imagination ( imagination with pixel sizes of 5m or larger ) , nevertheless one of their important disadvantages is that their statistical premises by and large preclude their application to high declaration imagination. They are besides hampered by the necessity for multiple sets to increase the truth of the categorization. The tendency toward higher declaration detectors means that the figure of available sets to work with is by and large reduced. Hyperspectral Optical detectors can be broken into three basic categories: panchromatic, multispectral and hyperspectral. Multispectral detectors typically collect a few ( 3-25 ) , broad ( 100-200 nanometer ) , and perchance, noncontiguous spectral sets. Conversely, Hyperspectral detectors typically collect 100s of narrow ( 5-20 nanometer ) immediate sets. The name, hyperspectral, implies that the spectral sampling exceeds the spectral item of the mark ( i.e. , the single extremums, troughs and shoulders of the spectrum are resolvable ) . Given finite informations transmittal and/or managing capableness, an operational orbiter system must do a tradeoff between spacial and spectral declaration. This same tradeoff exists for the analyst or information processing installation. Therefore, in general, as the figure of sets additions there must be a corresponding lessening in spacial declaration. This means that most pels are assorted pels and most marks ( characteristics ) are subpixel in size. It is, hence, necessary to hold specialized algorithms which leverage the spectral declaration of the detector to clear up subpixel marks or constituents. Hyperspectral categorization techniques constitute algorithms ( such as Orthogonal Subspace Projection, Constrained Energy Minimization, Spectral Correlation Mapper, Spectral Angle Mapper, etc. ) tailored to expeditiously pull out characteristics from imagination with a big dimensionality ( figure of sets ) and where the characteristic by and large does non stand for the primary component of the detectors instantaneous field of position. This is besides frequently performed by comparing to research lab derived stuff ( characteristic ) spectra as opposed to imagery-derived preparation samples, which besides necessitate a suite of pre-processing and analysis stairss tailored to hyperspectral imagination. Subpixel Classification IMAGINE Subpixel Classifiera„? is a supervised, non-parametric spectral classifier that performs subpixel sensing and quantification of a specified stuff of involvement ( MOI ) . The procedure allows you to develop material signatures and use them to sort image pels. It reports the pixel fraction occupied by the stuff of involvement and may be used for stuffs covering every bit low as 20 % of a pel. Additionally, its alone image standardization procedure allows you to use signatures developed in one scene to other scenes from the same detector. Because it addresses the assorted pel job, IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier successfully identifies a specific stuff when other stuffs are besides present in a pel. It discriminates between spectrally similar stuffs, such as single works species, specific H2O types or typical edifice stuffs. Additionally, it allows you to develop spectral signatures that are scene-to-scene movable. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier enables you to: aˆ? Classify objects smaller than the spacial declaration of the detector aˆ? Discriminate specific stuffs within assorted pels aˆ? Detect stuffs that occupy from 100 % to every bit small as 20 % of a pel aˆ? Report the fraction of material nowadays in each pel classified aˆ? Develop signatures portable from one scene to another aˆ? Normalize imagination for atmospheric effects aˆ? Search wide-area images rapidly to observe little or big characteristics mixed with other stuffs The primary difference between IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier and traditional classifiers is the manner in which it derives a signature from the preparation set and so applies it during categorization. Traditional classifiers typically form a signature by averaging the spectra of all preparation set pels for a given characteristic. The resulting signature contains the parts of all stuffs present in the preparation set pels. This signature is so matched against whole-pixel spectra found in the image informations. In contrast, IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier derives a signature for the spectral constituent that is common to the preparation set pels following background remotion. This is usually a pure spectrum of the stuff of involvement. Since stuffs can change somewhat in their spectral visual aspect, IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier accommodates this variableness within the signature. The IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier signature is hence purer for a specific stuff and can more accurately observe the MOI. During categorization, the procedure subtracts representative background spectra to happen the best fractional lucifer between the pure signature spectrum and campaigner residuary spectra. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier and traditional classifiers perform best under different conditions. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier should work better to know apart different species of flora, typical edifice stuffs or specific types of stone or dirt. You would utilize it to happen a specific stuff even when it covers less than a pel. You may prefer a traditional classifier when the MOI is composed of a spectrally varied scope of stuffs that must be included as a individual categorization unit. For illustration, a wood that contains a big figure of spectrally distinguishable stuffs ( heterogenous canopy ) and spans multiple pels in size may be classified better utilizing a minimal distance classifier. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier can congratulate a traditional classifier by placing subpixel happenings of specific species of flora within that forest. When make up ones minding to utilize IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier, callback that it identifies a individual stuff, the MOI, whereas a traditional classifier will sort many stuffs or characteristics happening with a scene. The Subpixel Classification procedure can therefore be considered a feature extraction procedure instead than a wall to palisade categorization procedure. Figure 2: Trial utilizing panels highlights the greater truth of sensing provided by a subpixel classifier over a traditional classifier, In rule, IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier can be used to map any stuff that has a distinguishable spectral signature relation to other stuffs in a scene. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier has been most exhaustively evaluated for flora categorization applications in forestry, agribusiness and wetland stock list, every bit good as for semisynthetic objects, such as building stuffs. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier has besides been used in specifying roads and waterways. Classification truth depends on many factors. Some of the most of import are: 1 ) Number of spectral sets in the imagination. Discrimination capableness additions with the figure of sets. Smaller pixel fractions can be detected with more sets. The 20 % threshold used by the package is based on 6-band informations. 2 ) Target/background contrast. 3 ) Signature quality. Ground truth information helps in developing and measuring signature quality. 4 ) Image quality, including band-to-band enrollment, standardization and resampling ( nearest neighbor preferred ) . Two undertakings affecting subpixel categorization of wetland tree species ( Cypress and Tupelo ) and of an invasive wood tree species ( Loblolly Pine ) included extended field look intoing for categorization polish and truth appraisal. The categorization truth for these stuffs was 85-95 % . Categorization of pels outside the preparation set country was greatly improved by IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier in comparing to traditional classifiers. In a separate quantitative rating survey designed to measure the truth of IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier, 100s of semisynthetic panels of assorted known sizes were deployed and imaged. The approximative sum of panel in each pel was measured. When compared to the Material Pixel Fraction ( the sum of stuff in each pel ) reported by IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier, a high correlativity was measured. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier outperformed a maximal likeliness classifier in observing these panels. It detected 190 % more of the pels incorporating panels, with a lower mistake rate, and reported the sum of panel in each pel classified. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier works on any multispectral informations beginning, including airborne or satellite, with three or more spatially registered sets. The information must be in either 8-bit or 16-bit format. Landsat Thematic Mapper ( TM ) , SPOT XS and IKONOS multispectral imagination have been most widely used because of informations handiness. It will besides work with informations from other high declaration commercial detectors such as Quickbird, FORMOSAT-2, airborne beginnings and OrbView-3. IMAGINE Subpixel Classifier will besides work with most hyperspectral informations beginnings. Expert Knowledge-Based Classification One of the major disadvantages to most of the techniques discussed supra is that they are all per-pixel classifiers. Each pel is treated in isolation when utilizing the technique to find which characteristic or category to delegate it to there is no proviso to utilize extra cues such as context, form and propinquity, cues which the human ocular reading system takes for granted when construing what it sees. One of the first commercially available efforts to get the better of these restrictions was the IMAGINE Expert Classifier. The adept categorization package provides a rules-based attack to multispectral image categorization, post-classification polish and GIS mold. In kernel, an adept categorization system is a hierarchy of regulations, or a determination tree that describes the conditions for when a set of low degree component information gets abstracted into a set of high degree informational categories. The constitutional information consists of user-defined variables and includes raster imagination, vector beds, spacial theoretical accounts, external plans and simple scalars. A regulation is a conditional statement, or list of conditional statements, about the variable s informations values and/or attributes that find an informational constituent or hypotheses. Multiple regulations and hypotheses can be linked together into a hierarchy that finally describes a concluding set of mark informational categories or terminal hypotheses. Assurance values associated with each status are besides combined to supply a assurance image matching to the concluding end product classified image. While the Expert Classification attack does enable accessory informations beds to be taken into consideration, it is still non genuinely an object based agencies of image categorization ( regulations are still evaluated on a pel by pixel footing ) . Additionally, it is highly user-intensive to construct the theoretical accounts an expert is required in the morphology of the characteristics to be extracted, which besides so necessitate to be turned into graphical theoretical accounts and plans that feed complex regulations, all of which need constructing up from the constituents available. Even one time a cognition base has been constructed it may non be easy movable to other images ( different locations, day of the months, etc ) . Image Cleavage Cleavage means the grouping of neighbouring pels into parts ( or sections ) based on similarity standards ( digital figure, texture ) . Image objects in remotely sensed imagination are frequently homogeneous and can be delineated by cleavage. Therefore, the figure of elements, as a footing for a undermentioned image categorization, is tremendously reduced if the image is foremost segmented. The quality of subsequent categorization is straight affected by cleavage quality. Ultimately, Image Segmentation is besides another signifier of unsupervised image categorization, or characteristic extraction. However, it has several advantages over the authoritative multispectral image categorization techniques, the cardinal differentiators being the ability to use it to panchromatic informations and besides to high declaration informations. However, Image Segmentation is besides similar to the unsupervised attack of image categorization in that it is an machine-controlled segregation of the ima ge into groups of pels with like features without any effort to delegate category names or labels to the groups. It suffers from an extra drawback in that there is by and large no effort made at the point of bring forthing the cleavage to utilize the section features to place similar sections. With Unsupervised Classification you may hold widely separated, distinguishable groups of pels, but their statistical similarity means they are assigned to the same category ( even though you do non yet cognize what characteristic type that category is ) , whereas with Image Segmentation, each section is merely uniquely identified. Statistical steps can normally be recorded per section to assist with station processing. Consequently, in order to label the sections with a characteristic type / land screen, the technique must be combined with some other signifier of categorization, such as Expert Knowledge-Based Classification or as portion of the Feature Extraction work flow provided by IMAGINE Objective. OBJECT-BASED FEATURE EXTRACTION AND CLASSIFICATION Globally, GIS sections and mapping establishments invest considerable gross into making and, possibly more significantly, keeping their geospatial databases. As the Earth is invariably altering, even the most precise base function must be updated or replaced on a regular basis. Traditionally, the gaining control and update of geospatial information has been done through labour and cost intensive manual digitisation ( for illustration from aerial exposure ) and post-production surveying. Since so, assorted efforts have been made to assist automatize these work flows by analysing remotely sensed imagination. Remotely perceived imagination, whether airborne or orbiter based, provides a rich beginning of timely information if it can be easilly exploited into functional information. These efforts at mechanization have frequently resulted in limited success, particularly as the declaration of imagination and the intended function graduated table additions. With recent inventions in geospat ial engineering, we are now at a topographic point where work flows can be successfully automated. Figure 4: The basic construction of a characteristic theoretical account demoing the additive mode in which the information is analyzed. Operators are designed as plugins so that more can be easy added as required for specific characteristic extraction scenarios. When Landsat was launched more than 30 old ages ago, it was heralded as a new age for automatizing function of the Earth. However, the imagination, and hence the geospatial informations dervied from it, was of comparatively harsh resoution, and thereby became limited to smaller graduated table function applications. Its analysis was besides restricted to remote feeling experts. Equally, the traditional supervised and unsupervised categorization techniques developed to pull out information from these types of imagination were limited to coarser declarations. Today s beginnings for higher declaration imagination ( primarilly intending 1m or smaller pel sizes, such as that produced by the IKONOS, QuickBird, and WorldView satelittes or by airborne detectors ) do non endure from the assorted pel phenomenon seen with lower declaration imagination, and, hence the statistical premises which must be met for the traditional supervised and unsupervised categorization techniques do non keep. Therefore, more advanced techniques are required to analyse the high declaration imagination required to make and keep big graduated table function and geospatial databases. The best techniques for turn toing this job analyze the imagination on an object, as opposed to pixel, footing. IMAGINE Objective provides object based multi-scale image categorization and characteristic extraction capablenesss to reliably physique and maintain accurate geospatial content. With IMAGINE Objective, imagination and geospatial informations of all sorts can be analyzed to bring forth GIS-ready function. IMAGINE Objective includes an advanced set of tools for characteristic extraction, update and change sensing, enabling geospatial informations beds to be created and maintained through the usage of remotely sensed imagination. This engineering crosses the boundary of traditional image processing with computing machine vision through the usage of pixel degree and true object processing, finally emulating the human ocular system of image reading. Providing to both experts and novitiates likewise, IMAGINE Objective contains a broad assortment of powerful tools. For distant detection and sphere experts, IMAGINE Objective includes a desktop authoring system for edifice and put to deathing characteristic particular ( edifices, roads, etc ) and/or landcover ( e.g. , flora type ) processing methodological analysiss. Other users may set and use bing illustrations of such methodological analysiss to their ain informations. The user interface enables the expert to put up feature theoretical accounts required to pull out specific characteristic types from specific types of imagination. For illustration, route center lines from 60cm Color-Infrared ( CIR ) orbiter imagination require a specific characteristic theoretical account based around different image-based cues. Constructing footmarks from six inch true colour aerial picture taking and LIDAR surface theoretical accounts require a different characteristic theoretical account. For those familiar with bing ERDAS IMAGINEAÂ ® capablenesss, an analogy can be drawn with Model Maker, with its ability to enable experient users to diagrammatically construct their ain spacial theoretical accounts utilizing the crude edifice blocks provided in the interface. The less experient user can merely utilize constitutional illustration Feature Models or those built by experts, using them as-is or modifying through the user interface. While similar to the IMAGINE Expert Classifier attack, the building and usage of characteristic theoretical accounts within IMAGINE Objective is simpler and more powerful. Constructing a characteristic theoretical account is more additive and intuitive to the expert constructing the theoretical account. In add-on, the support for supervised preparation and evidentiary acquisition of the classifier itself means that the characteristic theoretical accounts are more movable to other images one time built.

Free Essays on How Would You Characterize The Renaissance’s Approach To The Classical World

How would you characterize the renaissance’s approach to the classical world? The renaissance was a time of change. The future was eminent yet many found themselves looking back to a time of old; to the time of great buildings and sculptures; when art and creation were rampant. The classical world held the mind of many people of the time. The renaissance saw the classical world as an ideal to be incorporated into the works of the creative of the day. Italy had the strongest opinion of the classical world. Romans especially believed that the roman style of architecture, literature, theater, art exc. were the ideal models for their types. When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire the scholars of the city grabbed all the archived materials and escaped back to Rome. Luckily Johannes Gutenberg just finished the printing press. Aldus Manutius got a little printing shop going just as the scripts and books were coming in. these pieces were ancient Greek and roman pieces that had never been duplicated and few had ever seen. He printed all the classical works he could get his hands on. He also was keenly interested in making smaller compact books for scholars. As the works of the past became readily available to those of the renaissance; people in Rome began to look around them and notice that they were living in a city that was the greatest in the world at one time. Works like Vitruvius’ architecture that described how to re-create a roman city, including a theater, inspired new growth. Roman theaters were built. Sculptures were being modeled after ones of old. Michelangelo recreated a sculpture so believably classic that he put it in the ground and dug it up to sell as classic! The times were a changing. This influx in change also came intensely across in the plays of the day. The new plays written in the old style created the model for neoclassicism. The ideals of neoclassicism grew and traveled to France then through Europe... Free Essays on How Would You Characterize The Renaissance’s Approach To The Classical World Free Essays on How Would You Characterize The Renaissance’s Approach To The Classical World How would you characterize the renaissance’s approach to the classical world? The renaissance was a time of change. The future was eminent yet many found themselves looking back to a time of old; to the time of great buildings and sculptures; when art and creation were rampant. The classical world held the mind of many people of the time. The renaissance saw the classical world as an ideal to be incorporated into the works of the creative of the day. Italy had the strongest opinion of the classical world. Romans especially believed that the roman style of architecture, literature, theater, art exc. were the ideal models for their types. When Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire the scholars of the city grabbed all the archived materials and escaped back to Rome. Luckily Johannes Gutenberg just finished the printing press. Aldus Manutius got a little printing shop going just as the scripts and books were coming in. these pieces were ancient Greek and roman pieces that had never been duplicated and few had ever seen. He printed all the classical works he could get his hands on. He also was keenly interested in making smaller compact books for scholars. As the works of the past became readily available to those of the renaissance; people in Rome began to look around them and notice that they were living in a city that was the greatest in the world at one time. Works like Vitruvius’ architecture that described how to re-create a roman city, including a theater, inspired new growth. Roman theaters were built. Sculptures were being modeled after ones of old. Michelangelo recreated a sculpture so believably classic that he put it in the ground and dug it up to sell as classic! The times were a changing. This influx in change also came intensely across in the plays of the day. The new plays written in the old style created the model for neoclassicism. The ideals of neoclassicism grew and traveled to France then through Europe...

Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Workplace - Essay Example Prejudice is usually seen when one only believes in their views and refuses to listen to any other persons affiliations, beliefs or even political choices. Political correctness. It is becoming increasingly acceptable to talk against any religion that one does not view acceptable. Nowadays people find it hard to accept that they disagree against and shun it. People believe that it is right to talk about other groups that are seen as inferior or not of as the same significance as their own. Unfamiliarity. Human beings primarily fear what they do not understand. When they realize there is a new phenomenon, which brings an element of uneasiness and fear of domination. There is also the fear of being dominated by a new order or cult, and this brings fear and resistance. When people are not familiar with particular groupings or fail to understand the mechanisms that hold them together, they tend to be skeptical about them. Disunity. Pluralism causes disunity between differing factions on issues that can be debated amicably. People find it difficult to come together to reason over issues that could otherwise have easily been solved by other methods. Misunderstanding. It also causes misunderstanding between people because of different views and opinions concerning issues. People fail to come to amicable conclusions about each other, and there is a lack of cohesion and social unity. Disagreements and raised tensions. Pluralism can cause people to disagree about issues and hence increased unnecessary tension (Rose 70). Conflict usually occurs when it is difficult explaining the concepts of the particular social grouping to people who are unwilling to listen or take part in any debate. Human and moral values can promote understanding in several ways. First, equality can help people understand that they are all human beings who have their freedom of expression. When there is a spirit of equality in an

Instructions Memo Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Instructions Memo - Coursework Example The images that were shown were the actual graphic tablets to be used in digital painting and diagrams that were shown were the actual image of photoshop. The vocabularies were also audience friendly because it explained the jargons in the instruction such as what the definition of Pan. The online instruction however is not consistent of showing what to do in the navigation drill portion. It only showed the drill but it fell short of showing the instruction as well as the illustration just like what it did in the previous portions. It is recommended that the online instruction should also include the illustration as well as the instruction just like in the first two sections. Giving a navigation drill without instruction and illustration is pointless because the audience would not know what to do. To change your color to blue, and draw a rectangle in the lower right quadrant, click on the color palette located on the tools bar. Choose the color blue or any color of your preference and draw the rectangle. Change your color to green and draw a squiggle connecting the two shapes. Repeat the same process of clicking the color palette this time however choose green and draw an image of squiggle between the two

Thomas Hobbes Ieviathan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Thomas Hobbes Ieviathan - Essay Example Always he based his argument on the violent deaths of men on the hands of another man. He believed that the only way natural laws could work was only by submitting the commands t the sovereign. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Oxford 1996 Thomas Hobbes has his own reputation on political philosophy. He is widely known to be a thinker with so many interests in political philosophy. In the world of philosophy, Thomas H. is widely known for his defense on a wide range of issues that included Naminalist, empiricist, and materialist views in contrast to republic. In history too, he is also known to have translated Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian war in to now English which saw him later write his own history on the long parliament. Generally, Thomas H. is widely known for his participation in his intellectual life.1 His vision of the world is original and still relevant to the contemporary politics. His main concern is majorly the problems of the social and political order, which is how human beings can live together without fear or civil conflicts in our societies. He has ever insisted in giving our obedience to an account able sovereign person or group to determine every social political issue. Otherwise, what awaits us is a state of nature, which more closely resembles a civil war whereby everybody in any society is in a state of fear. It is due to Hobbes interpretations, which lead to so many controversies as to whether he sees human beings as merely egoistic or purely self-interested. He goes on to posits unconnected and primitive state of nature whereby men have the natural proclivity to hurt another man and have rights over everything even to one another’s body. This is what making me defends Hobbes in his argument whereby powers should be rested on the sovereign state. Power is entrusted to a certain group who ensures that there is law and order in that state and no civil wars2. In the early 1640s, this is the time when Hobbes started making an impac t with most of the philosophical writings and one of his own was the elements of law, whereby he started with the developments of the workings of the human mind and language also the political matters. One of his first published books on philosophy was the De Cive published in 1642, which encompasses three main aspects, which included Empire, Liberty, and religion. Later when in France Hobbes then wrote Leviathan and this book was published in 1651. Leviathan basically comprises of matters of scriptural interpretation and it is in this book where majorly his work evolves in. Leviathan is a book written by Thomas Hobbes during the civil war. Its concerns are basically on the society and the legitimate government hence taken as one of the examples of the social contract theory. He argues that social unity and civil peace can only be achieved through the establishment of a commonwealth through the social contract. This common wealth is then ruled by either a sovereign power or even a s ingle ruler who provides security to the common wealth. He is a man who has lived in fear, which then eventually led him to write the leviathan. In his book, He set out the foundation of states plus the legitimate governments, which are said to have originated from the social contract theory3. This book is known to have been written during the English civil wars. It was as a result of these evil

Impact of IT on Individuals, Communities and Society

Impact of IT on Individuals, Communities and Society Since its inception, IT has had a substantial impact on the world. The ability to access information at the touch of a button has transformed the way we learn. Education and Training have never been the same, before the dawn of the internet. However, all of this is not as amazing as it first seems. Malicious users roam the far reaches of the internet trying to steal peoples bank details, child pornography sites hidden behind proxies and VPNs deep in the dark net, even illegal drug and weapon sales. Online Shopping Online shopping is an amazing invention since its initiation in 1979 by Michael Aldrich. Michael Aldrich connected a 26 coloured consumer television by a telephone line to a real-time transaction processing computer. He called his new invention teleshopping, this is the forefather to our online shopping today. It even allows people who cant leave their homes, such as disabled people, elderly people, single parents and so much more. However, this godsend isnt as brilliant for local shop owners as it is for consumers; it can leave local economies decimated as people that used to be loyal customers move to services like Amazon and ASDA Direct. Not all is how it seems. Although online shopping can be accessible by many people, a lot of people still dont have access to it. 21.6% of UK residents dont have regular access to the internet. This has become a problem for many rural areas of the UK that seem to be neglected by ISPs (Internet Service Providers), low income areas also seem to have a smaller percent of online activity. In 2015 the UK government tried to combat this issue by passing a bill that was intended to provide everyone with at least 15 mbps (megabits per second) internet access for free. As of February 2017 the bill has disappeared. Free time The way we spend our free time has changed drastically over the last couple of decades. From the dawn of social media to the invention of complex graphically intense video games our choices of media consumption during our free time has vastly increased since the very first commercial computers were produced.   Websites like Twitter and YouTube have become the places where most will spend their free time. This has caused content creators commonly referred to as YouTubers, to make a living. Some even become millionaires. Video games have also become one of the most popular forms of peoples pass times, over 33 million out of the UKs 64 million residents play video games on a daily basis. Thats roughly 51% of the total populous, over half! So its no surprise that the British games market is worth a whopping  £4.193 billion as of 2015. Streaming websites are also among the most popular for internet users, they account for roughly 60% 70% of web traffic. They stream videos and other media like music to their users, some of the most frequently visited websites for streaming include: Netflix, Amazon Prime video and music, Spotify and Crunchyroll An anime streaming site. Communication Communication within the IT industry has shaped how we all communicate on a daily basis. From Emails to Short Message Service (SMS), daily communication has vastly changed from the days of letters and telegrams; this is thanks to the wide adoption of computers and mobile devices. This has only improved as technology has advanced to the internet vastly improved what mobile devices could do thus allowing us to communicate in better and faster ways. With the invention of 3G (short for 3rd Generation, in reference to it being the 3rd iteration of wireless mobile technology).   Users could surf the web from their devices. This newly found technology paved the way for smartphones, has the technology improved with H/HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) offering a theoretical 7.2 mbps connection speed and later H+HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) offering an insanely fast theoretical speed of 168 mbps. Legal Impacts The legal impacts of IT have always been up for debate, whether it was the ability to copy games from cassette to cassette or the sudden unlimited access to bountiful amounts of information that came from the incredible creation that is the internet. In order to protect peoples data and information, many governments around the world implemented improved copyright and plagiarism laws. In the UK this law is called the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1998. Law lays down foundations to help copyright and patent holders to take legal action again those who steal their works. Hacking, Fraud and other malicious acts also came along with the dawn of commonly available personal computers. The UK government passed the Computer Misuse Act 1990, this bill outlined the dos and donts when it comes to computer use; accessing a computer without permission is considered a crime under the Computer Misuse Act.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ethical Impacts The ethical impacts of IT mainly from the constant documentation of our information from services such as Google and Amazon has been a heated topic for several years. Should we allow such services to store our personal information and information about items we like or search most often? Although there are many benefits in allowing such information to be stored which can help to form algorithms to better improve our online experiences with search engines and online shops. This can allow services such as Amazon target specific advertisements to be shown to us based on our interests and to have products recommended to us based on our past purchases. However, if this information were to reach the wrong hands, such as a fraudster, it could be extremely dangerous to the users whom data has been stolen. Another ethical question that comes to play with the use of IT is for those who dont have access to high-speed internet that may of us take for granted. For instance, many people who live in rural areas of the UK dont have access to broadband due to the vast distance between them and the telephone exchange. In some cases, even trying to install cables for rural areas are just impossible due to the high cost and low reward aspect of the area. For a broadband company it is more profitable to place expensive high-speed cables in densely populated urban areas since the vast amount of customers would allow the companies to recover their investments much quicker. There are solutions to this however, many mobile communication networks have started providing 4G internet access to those who cant get access to the internet or who have rather weak connections. Most of the time these solutions are cheap and quick to set up however the 800Mhz (megahertz) frequency band, previously used for analog ue television, used by most telecommunication companies although has far reach due to its small wavelength this has the negative effect of not having the ability to transmit as much data as a fibre optic cabling. Life before computers As much as it is hard for some of us who have grown up with and around this amazing technology, we must not forget that computers have not always been around. Even earlier versions of cameras have been around longer than computers. Video games, Instant messaging, Email, DVDs, Cassettes, Laserdiscs: There was a time when all of these werent even thought of. A time of newspapers and radio, vinyl disc and Classic music and Jazz. Going outside to play with friends, working for a sixpence, 240 pence to a pound, before the days of post decimalisation. I asked my Nan about what it was like growing up, what she would have liked to do when she left school. Getting a job as a typist working for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was one of the flashiest jobs for women to get, everyone wanted it. Sustainability The sustainability of our modern technological position has been a question for many centuries. What can we do to help preserve our environment and sustain our current lifestyle? Recycling our old hardware and reusing the precious metals inside them can help us since it uses less energy to regain these metals than it does to mine and refine them. Another advantage to this is that metals are also a finite substance and we only have a set amount of it. Moving to a more sustainable energy source to power our homes and electronics is also a vital way to be stainable. Solar, wind and nuclear energy are the current candidates for us to replace our dependent on fossil fuels. All three of these present a positives and negatives but one thing they all have in common is their amount of pollution they produce or lack there of. PAGE 1 OF YOUR BLOG: Understand the impact of IT on individuals, communities and society. Impacts Social Impacts How we spend free time. Effects on local communities PAGE 2 OF YOUR BLOG: ECONOMIC IMPACTS Employment structure and working practices. Sustainability. PAGE 3 OF YOUR BLOG: Legal impacts Ownership, copyright and plagiarism PAGE 4 OF YOUR BLOG Ethical impacts Privacy of information PAGE 5 OF YOUR BLOG Activity from page 23 Life before computers investigate and write up in your own words.

Premature Infants Essay -- Health, NICU

Thousands of infants are born prematurely on an annual basis, and it is a challenge in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to facilitate parent-child attachment while still providing the safest clinical environment for the infant. One significant area of research where premature infants are concerned is the effect of early skin to skin contact (SSC), or kangaroo care, between the parent(s) and child during their stay in the NICU. Although it has been found that early and frequent SSC promotes positive physiological responses in preterm infants, there is mostly speculative data regarding the long-term psychosocial effects where parent-infant bonding is concerned. An important question for the clinician working in this specialty area to find a quantifiable answer for is, â€Å"Do parents who are permitted to touch and/or hold their infant in the NICU bond with their infant better than those who are not able to do this?† This type of question is structured in the PICO mod el, which is one of the most common models used in evidenced-based practice (EBP). The question is structured in a way that the patient population and practice or intervention are clearly identified, making it easier for the researcher to find relevant research data using the internet and databases. More specifically, PICO can be broken down into: P (patient population or condition of interest), I (intervention of interest), C (comparison of interest), and O (outcome of interest). (Schmidt & Brown, 2012) For the question at hand, the P (population) was parents of infants in the NICU, the I (intervention of interest) considered was the ability to touch and/or hold their infant, C (comparison) was parents who were not permitted physical contact with their infant,... ...es have to realize that they are not just caring for a premature infant, but also a new family. It is also important for the nurse to understand that the mothers’ and fathers’ approach to touching and bonding with their infant may differ. Although quantitative data from Chiu and Anderson (2009) did not reveal significant differences between the control group and the SSC group at 18 months, the data from Latva et al. (2008) showed significant behavioral differences at six years old when infants were touched as newborns and formed a secure attachment. Therefore, for the health and well-being of both parents and child, time and opportunity to have SSC and bonding experiences must be priorities in the plan of care for infants in the NICU. As one mother stated, â€Å"I need to be allowed to feel that he is mine.† (Fegran, Helseth, & Fagermoen, 2007, pg. 813)

African American Oral Tradition Essay

Modern African American Literature was formed under a stressful time for Africans, slavery. The only way the stories of the indigenous people of Africa were passed down was through oral recollections, or stories of the events. In America this was especially difficult for the slaves because of laws preventing them from learning English. By not being allowed to learn English, the slaves had to learn English solely on auditory purposes. This essentially made the slaves illiterate. When the slaves transferred the language that they heard to paper, a new style of language was formed which was referred to as dialect. Dialect is what the slaves thought they heard and the correct spelling of those words, not standard English. Dunbar, who wrote fluently in both standard English and dialect was praised by white critics only for his dialect poems, and not praised for his poems in standard English. His literacy works are still alive today, however the dialect works were attached with a stigma. Usually whites despised the African’s dialect. Therefore, the slaves would not try to publish any type of work with dialect because the slaves did not want to be associated with the stigma. In all, by creating a unique dialect gave the slaves a bilingual type of style. By not being able to write, slaves also made Genres such as, spiritual, folk songs and gospels. Songs such as these were ways of passing down stories to the next generation. These songs also contained secret messages. These messages may have contained information about escape routes or even the underground- railroad. However most of the songs were spiritual in nature. The songs also progressed through the years. The originals slave folk songs, spirituals, and gospels are now prevalent in modern day jazz and the blues. Martin even gives the example of Hayden, who mixes his song ideas with the ideas of Bessie Smith. Even though African are allowed to read and write, this is a form how their culture is still expressed today. Martin made the emphasis that the oral tradition is part of the African Americans distinct culture.

Halifax & Bank of Scotland Essay

The UK has one of the most diverse and dynamic banking sectors in the world. Banking is now a highly competitive industry. Financial consumers are now more sophisticated as they are now more aware of available banking options. The assets of the UK banking system were i 3,441bn (August 2001), which were dominated by a dozen or so retail banks, with national networks, mostly serving domestic, personal and corporate customers. Currently, the big four banks – HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and Barclays, dominate retail and business banking, jointly accounting for 68% of all UK current accounts. Both Halifax, founded in 1853, and 306-year-old Bank of Scotland are seen as business icons in their regions. Halifax is based in England, while the Bank of Scotland has very few branches south of the border. A merger between these firms would increase the geographic scope for potential customers. Halifax started as a building society and is now more widely known as a big mortgage lender. In the wider community, the Halifax Bank has a very active community-banking sector catering for charity and non-profit organizations including housing associations, credit unions and community development operations. In comparison, the Bank of Scotland’s strength lies in the corporate market. It would seem very likely that both firms would like to achieve higher profitability and growth opportunity through cross-selling products to each other’s customers. For example, the products developed by Halifax could be marketed effectively to Bank of Scotland’s customers and vice versa. Because both banks operate complementary activities, it is possible the combining of both firms will result in synergies, which may also result in increased efficiency. There may also be opportunities to achieve savings through cutting some unnecessary costs. For example, the amount of staff needed for the combined firm is likely to be reduced. By merging together, the size of the combined firm will certainly increase, thus leveraging the combined spend to negotiate better deals. The market position of the combined firm will be strengthened. Its market share within the industry will increase, maybe even enough to compete with the big-four banks, thus increasing the competition within the banking industry. In reality, there are wide ranges of techniques that can help analyse a firm’s performance – some firms may base their performance on sales, whereas others through the quality of products. Economists usually analyse a firm’s performance based on the amount of profit it is making. For a thorough analysis, this paper will be looking at the firm’s: market value, profitability, stability, value for shareholders, efficiency, and capital adequacy. It must be noted that firms within the banking sector are subject to many economic uncertainties, which can influence how well a firm is doing from year to year. In this case, these uncertainties include: interest rates, employment rates, as well as the condition of the equity markets. For example, the base rate in January 2000 was 5.75%, however, at January 2002, the base rate was at 4. 00%5. To analyse the performance of the banks before and after the merger, the firms’ financial accounts will be examined and ratios will also be calculated. 6 The main performance indicators that will be analysed include: Profit before tax; Total assets; Dividends and Earnings per share. In addition, the return on equity, cost:income ratio and the firm’s capital strength will be examined. These ratios will give a clear assessment of the firm’s performance compared with that of other firms. Before the merger, in 2000, Halifax and Bank of Scotland had market values of $22,105million and $11,762million respectively. Post-merger, in 2002, HBOS then had a market value in excess of $31billion7. This immediately signifies the success of the merger, as the combined company is worth now worth a lot more in the market. Figure 1 – Profit before tax From an economic point of view, it is important that a firm makes a profit otherwise there would be no point of the existence of the firm. The Profit & Loss account of a firm shows the results of trading over the previous 12 months. It shows the net effect of income less expenses. The reason that profit before tax is analysed rather than profit after tax is due to the fact that interest rates and inflation changes could affect the amount of tax that is paid each year. In 2000, Halifax made i 1,715million profit (before tax), compared with Bank of Scotland, which made i 911million. It would be expected that when both companies have merged together, the pre-tax profit should increase. Figure 1 shows that in 2002, HBOS made a pre-tax profit of i 2,909million, which is more than the separate firms’ pre-tax profit added together. This shows that HBOS are actually performing better than the previously separate firms.