Why Americans should vote Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why Americans should vote - Essay Example Almost all the Americans had reservations about how the war on terrorism, hurricane Katrina and a myriad of other issues were handled during the Bush administration. But not many bothered to make their voices heard. Although it is interesting that this was the highest turnout of public for elections in the last 4 elections (File & Crissey, 2010). Americans fought long and hard for the right to vote. Later on American women, African- Americans and other minorities also struggled to give a voice to their opinions. Now though many Americans do not use this voice to change America for the better and instead choose to complain how wrong everything is. It is important to vote because our ancestors believed that Americans are intelligent enough to choose their own leaders and because they wanted to make sure that their coming generations had all the liberties and opportunities that only a democracy could grant. It is important that this right is not taken for granted (Isler 2001). The biggest argument in favor of elections is that those who do not participate in elections have no right to complain about its outcome. A person may be passionate about the issue of abortion and teenage pregnancies; another may feel strongly about a teacher’s pay scale in America. These people have to find a candidate that is standing to uphold views that they feel strongly about and vote for them. Elected officials make important decisions about the American society. Therefore, it is essential that they have the support from a majority of that very authority in order to successfully implement these decisions (Frantzich n.d.) Americans should vote because their vote is an essential investment in the better future of the American society. It must be understood that the policy makers of America are selected through elections only. So in order to influence the American

Terminologies in the ICN architecture

Terminologies in the ICN architecture The research on the Information-centric Networking initiated with the need to replace the current inefficient architecture to a promising model that could satisfy future network necessities [1]. The several projects on this research are differentiated in the operations of the key building blocks common to most projects [4]. Named Data Objects (NDOs)   Ã‚   Every content on the internet ranging from a web page, documents to media files is referred to as objects (NDOs) which are independent of location, storing and retrieval methods [4]. NDO and its name is the identity of the information on the internet which can be copied, requested and supplied. NDOs can also hold representative data about the information held by the object [4]. Naming Every NDO in ICN is to be assigned a unique name, and should also associate an integrity check with the information it holds to ensure reliability [4]. They are always location-independent and range from structured to flat and may be human interpretable or not [1].There are two different naming schemes hierarchical and flat namespaces. The hierarchical scheme has a structure to the name rooting to publisher prefix which may also be human-readable in some cases, enabling aggregation and scalability in routing mechanisms [4]. The flat namespaces use the hash of the content with the objects name for direct binding and embed public key and hash of the content for indirect binding [4]. The publisher field in flat names facilitates some level of route aggregation even if it is a non-hierarchical scheme [4]. The difference in the design trade-off affects routing and security mechanism [4]. Security This feature is correlated to the naming scheme adopted by the approach. Human-readable names require external trust agent for verification, while flat names support self-certification and validation [1]. Hierarchical naming is considered disadvantageous as it relies on public key infrastructure (PKI) [4]. Application Programming Interface (API) The ICN API is related to the operation of asking and getting the NDOs. There are different terms denoted for the operation that varies which will be discussed during respective approach. The source provides NDOs by publishing it to the network. The user requests the network to get the NDOs by subscribing to it. As per approach, the publish/subscribe operation may be synchronous or asynchronous, while some support location preferences [4]. Name Resolution, Routing, and Forwarding of the Content The name of NDOs is resolved by matching the information name to the source provider [1]. Resolution may be direct or indirect routes to the source/s. The operation is carried out by Name Resolution Service (NRS) in the routing infrastructure which stores pointers to the storage locations containing the object names [4]. The routing and forwarding of the objects are carried out in multiple steps which involve routing the request to the direct source or to the responsible NRS, translation of object name to source/s addresses if indirect, forwarding the request to the source and fulfilling the requested data back to the client [4]. The content routing may be coupled or de-coupled to the name resolution process. Coupled routing backtraces the request message path from the client and follows the same for delivering content. De-coupled routing uses different routes which can be generated by an independent routing module that provides a deliverable route to the source [1]. Caching Caching is application-independent and may be done at every node in the ICN infrastructure [4]. ICN supports on-path caching and off-path caching. On-path caching is caching the information along the path of NDO request message while Off-path caching is exploiting the information cached outside that path [1]. Off-path caching can be supported in both coupled and de-coupled routing mechanisms by routing systems or NRS respectively [1]. Mobility ICN facilitates content request process from user end as the request can be re-initiated after the handoff while providing mobility to the source is difficult in both coupled and de-coupled approach as it burdens the system with additional updates [1]. By caching and replicating content at multiples nodes closer to the mobile subscriber, the ICN infrastructure saves costs and time by bypassing possible congestion [2].

Live or Die Essay -- essays research papers

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears very briefly. However, he provides the basis for the development and eventual downfall of Hamlet’s character. The play begins with a dismal Hamlet mourning his father’s death Recognizing this gloom, Queen Gertrude urges Hamlet to â€Å"cast thy nighted color off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark† (I, ii, 68-69). Soon after, the ghost appears, insisting, â€Å"If thou didst ever thy father love, revenge his foul and most unnatural murder† (I, v, 24-25). As Hamlet decides to scourge the past and present evils in Denmark, the ghost unleashes death and malice onto the stage. The first and most obvious change which the ghost instills into Hamlet is a vengeful spirit. Not only must Hamlet destroy Claudius, but he must also stop Fortinbras from invading Denmark. Although less obvious, the second task can be inferred from the fact that the ghost appears wearing â€Å"the very armor he had on when he the ambitious Norway combated† (I, i, 60-61). Hamlet spends the entire play trying to carry out these orders, eventually causing the downfall of his spirit. Partly because he feels reserve and guilt for his task, Hamlet delays taking action throughout the play. However, this paradoxical delay only makes Hamlet feel more guilty. He questions his self-worth and even considers suicide, pondering, â€Å"To die -- to sleep -- no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is he...

British Airway’s Essay

A research report with a word limit of 1,500 on British Airway’s (BA) change program that resulted in long-running industrial disputes between its management and crew members in 2009-2011. The contextual information about the BA’s introduction of strategic changes – why BA produced this change, explain market (rising fuel costs etc.) British Airways is the UK’s largest airline. Since becoming privatized in 1987, BA has continued to grow despite increased competition (Connell & Williamson, 2011). The UK’s economic climate had a large influence to why the British Airways’ industrial occurred. In 2011, UK inflation was 4% on the previous year, compared to an average pay rise of 2.3% for the same period. This means that the cost of living was increasing at a much more rapid rate than people’s income. As a result, workers like BA’s cabin crew put pressure on employers to raise pay. Additionally, lower disposable income means fewer than usual are withdrawing money for one-off purchases such as foreign holidays – â€Å"A lot of people are not touching their savings because they do not know what is round the corner† (Giles, Groom & Bounds, 2011). Therefore demand for international flights is lower. Fuel accounts for 25% of British Airway’s total costs, therefore any fluctuations in the price of natural resources will have a huge impact on this industry. In 2011, after oil prices surged to $110 a barrel, BA informed passengers that they face rising fares (Groom, 2011). IAG’s (BA’s parent company) fuel costs were predicted to rise by â‚ ¬1.2bn to â‚ ¬5.1bn ( £4.36bn) in 2011 (Groom, 2011). However increasing fares would have reduce the airline’s competitiveness. Alternatively the company could remain profitable by reducing wage costs instead of passing the increases onto the customer. The airline industry has also been affected by social trends. Insurance costs have risen because of fear of terrorism and tighter security checks at airports (Barrows & Neely, 2011). Technological advances have reduced demand for business flights, with companies using alternative communication systems such as teleconferencing in order to cut costs (Shaw, 2011). As a result of these macroeconomic factors, BA felt that they needed to adopt an internal cost-cutting strategy to remain profitable. The dispute developed into a row over travel concessions removed from Unite members who went on strike, as well as suspensions and dismissals (Groom, 2011). The current environment of high unemployment increased BA’s bargaining power as an employer (Conrady & Buck, 2012, 11). The union was powerless to stop the original cause of the dispute as BA removed at least one crew member from most long-haul flights, saving  £63m a year (Groom, 2011). It has also hired 700 new crew members in its so called â€Å"mixed fleet† on certain routes, earning  £17,000 a year on average compared with  £29,000 for existing Heathrow cabin crew (Groom, 2011). This programme should yield  £160m annual savings within a decade. According to Deutsche Bank, following the cuts, BA has the lowest employee costs of the major European network airlines at 22.9 per cent of sales in 2010 compared with 26.8 per cent in 2006 (Groom, 2011). Evaluation on the nature of such changes – was it gradual, radical, top management, grass roots up scale, depth time scale. Apply the kaleidoscope model. On October 6, 2009 the airline announced plans to cut 1,700 cabin crew jobs and freeze pay. Union officials accused the company of †holding a gun† to the heads of staff and warned that they were prepared to fight the proposals. It wasn’t until May 1, 2011 that the dispute was on the verge of being resolved following a breakthrough in crucial talks aimed at ending the long-running row (Telegraph, 2011, May 12). The dispute lasted more than 18 months and led to 22 days of strikes costing BA  £150m. Therefore this proved to be a costly process, and had it been resolved sooner, BA would have saved a lot of money and the brand wouldn’t have received as much negative publicity. However, analysts said the airline’s savings on staff costs would far outweigh the losses from the strike and the outcome should reduce the likelihood of future stoppages (Groom, 2011). The ‘unfreezing’ phase (Lewin’s model) of this change was a gradual, drawn-out process. Time: As this was not a company in crisis there wasn’t a need to implement change reactively, British Airways had time to achieve their long-term strategy. Scope: British Airways did not require a transformation of the organisation as a whole. A realignment of the cabin crew’s operations and wage structure was the desired scope for this change. However, due to the industrial action taken by Unite the change had an impact organisation-wide. Preservation: It is important that BA preserves what makes British Airways, British Airways. This means they need to retain their brand identity, because this is one of their biggest selling points. It is also important to not destroy the business’ heritage and culture. Job security for the remaining cabin crew will be at an all-time low. Key members of staff need to be reassured of their position so that BA doesn’t lose these assets to competitors. Diversity: The change should not affect diversity between divisions. This means that the culture should remain consistent throughout BA, from pilots, to cabin crew, to administration staff. Capability: The individual within the cabin crew will need to be capable of adapting to the new operational requirements and be able to accept the change in pay structure. It is a managerial responsibility to help staff through this transition phase. The new BA chief executive, Keith Williams was praised for being â€Å"strong, brave and courageous† in reaching the agreement. These are the sort of capabilities required by the managerial team. Capacity: With the savings made in the long-term, BA will be able to invest in training for staff so quality of customer service will improve. The managers have shown devotion to this process by holding out for 18 months to ensure change was implemented. There must also be a number of people in the organisation with an adequate change capability. Readiness: The workforce was not aware of the need for change until it was announced that there would be 1,700 job cuts. As a result cabin crew members refused to commit to making the personal changes required of them. Power: The British Airway’s managerial team were the change agents containing the most power. As a trade union, Unite also contained considerable power, and this caused opposition for the implementation of change. The change management strategy, if any, as outlined by the BA management – have they addressed employee emotions or all focused on change process? The focus was placed mainly on the change process rather than employee emotions. The strategy appears to have been to implement the change at all costs. Throughout the 18 month negotiation process BA refused to give into the union demands. Despite 22 days of strikes BA continued to refuse the people what they wanted. They were accused of â€Å"management bullying, press slanders, and legal gerrymandering†. A big factor in the two parties coming to an agreement was BA agreeing to reinstate staff travel concessions, as stated by the Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey – â€Å"I am particularly pleased that travel concessions will be restored† (Scott, 2011, May 12). However, this was used as a bargaining tool rather than as an empathetic gesture. Having said this, there were a few minor interpersonal strategies. The personnel change of BA’s chief executive from â€Å"protagonist† Willie Walsh, to former finance director Keith Williams, contributed to the breakthrough. Union leaders described Keith Williams as a ‘genuine and honest man’, saying to cabin crew, ‘he values you’ (Smith, 2011, May 12). This is evidence of showing personal compassion in order to reduce resistance. However, many workers were unhappy with the praise he received. So if anything this strategy is likely to have hindered progressive rather than help it. BA also appointed an independent facilitator in the form of psychologist, Mark Hamlin to deal with the â€Å"fragility of trust† and act as a â€Å"long-term relationship builder† (Milmo, 2011, April 10). Long-term the ‘hard ball’ strategy employed by BA has left them with integrity and respect. This will help the company move forward and rebuild relationships. Good relations prevent industrial action and hence operational interruptions (British Airways, 2010). The challenges and difficulties in implementing such changes – as experienced by BA. Resistance/Acceptance. 93% of cabin crew voted for strike action originally. Through collective action and collective resistance they forced BA to change the terms. The resistance received enthusiastic support from wide sections of the working class in Britain in form of donations from union branches and solidarity on their picket lines (Counterfire, 2011, June 24).

Online Marketplace

WHAT IS ONLINE MARKETPLACE? The online payment marketplace is experiencing an explosion of innovative ideas, plans, and announcements, which one commentator has likened to a â€Å"goat rodeo†, a chaotic situation in which powerful players with different agendas compete with one another for public acceptance, and above all, huge potential revenues. Others liken the payment marketplace to a battle among the four platform titans Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.Each of these titans have their own versions of a future payment system that challenges the other players. And let’s not forget PayPal, the reigning power in alternative online payment, or the credit card companies who process over 70% of online payments, or the telecommunication wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T who make it all happen. All of these players are also competing for a share of the online payment stream. They all want to help us spend money, for a fee.The continuing double-digit growth of e-commerce is certainly one factor driving market participants, but a more important factors is the emergence of the mobile platform of smartphone and tablets that opens the door for new firms to enter the online payment marketplace based on newer technologies and control of the mobile platform itself. WHAT IS PayPal ? PayPal is a global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders.PayPal is an acquirer, performing payment processing for online vendors, auction sites, and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee. It may also charge a fee for receiving money, proportional to the amount received. The fees depend on the currency used, the payment option used, the country of the sender, the country of the recipient, the amount sent and the recipient's account type. In addition, eBay purchases made by credit card t hrough PayPal may incur extra fees if the buyer and seller use different currencies HOW TO BUY The easiest way to remember your credit card number is not having to.Remembering 16 digits isn’t easy and typing them in to pay for something isn’t always secure. Now you don’t need to do either. 1 Sign up for free, and add a bank account or a debit/credit card. 2 Speed through checkout at millions of online stores. Just look for the PayPal button. 3 Stay protected from checkout to delivery with our Buyer Protection. Figure 1. 1 show Ebay the example of website use PayPal. Figure 1. 2 show Hop-shop-go example for PayPal. PAYMENT METHODS Choose how you want to pay. Set up your payment methods quickly and easily. 1 Confirm your email address.This helps protect you if someone tries to register a PayPal account using your email address 2 You can add multiple credit/debit cards and have the flexibility to set one as your default payment source 3 You have the option to withd raw any payments received to your bank account. Simply add a bank account to facilitate it. Add a card You can add a credit or debit card to your PayPal account to make payments instantly. To add a card, 1. Log in and click  Profile. 2. Select  Add or Edit Card for payments. 3. Click  Add card  or  Add another card  and follow the prompts.Top-up my PayPal account You can use PayPal to make payments online card-free. Simply top-up your PayPal balance from your bank account. * 1. Log in and click  Top-up. 2. Select Top-up via RHB bank* account. Withdraw funds to a bank account When you receive payments, you can keep the money in your PayPal account for future purchases or add a bank to withdraw it to your bank account. To withdraw your funds, 1. Log in and click  Withdraw. 2. Select  Withdraw funds to your bank. 3. Enter the amount and follow the prompts. TYPES ONLINE PAYMENT Google Checkout ) Wallet One wallet for online and in-store shopping * Buy online with your phone or computer Make purchases at thousands of online shops by signing in to your Google Account. * Buy in-store with the mobile app Tap your phone to pay and redeem offers, using NFC (near-field communication). NFC payments are currently only available in the United States. * Manage your account Sign in to manage your payment information and view your transaction history. 2) Checkout Increase online sales using Google Wallet New! Google Checkout is now Google Wallet for buyers.Google Wallet is a fast, secure checkout process that helps increase sales by bringing you more customers and allowing them to buy from you quickly and easily with a single account, online or in-store. Sell worldwide. Attract buyers in over 140 countries to purchase your goods and services online using their Google Wallet. Convert more sales. A fast, convenient checkout process helps Google users convert more than shoppers who have not used Google before. Protect yourself from fraud. The Payment Guarantee P olicy protects 98% of orders on average – when an order is guaranteed, you get paid even if it results in a chargebackAMAZON Figure 1. 3 show Amazon website Amazon Services works with businesses of all sizes to provide products and solutions backed by the power of Amazon. For example, your business can reach millions of Amazon shoppers by selling on the Amazon Marketplace and then leverage Amazon's fulfillment services to manage shipping and provide trusted customer service. Or, if your business already has a website, you can advertise your products to Amazon. com shoppers to drive qualified traffic to your website, and then improve conversion by making it easy for them to buy on your site with their Amazon account through Amazon Payments.If you need a website, or would like to upgrade your current website, Amazon Webstore makes it easy to build a branded eCommerce website. Whether you'd like to Sell on Amazon. com or make your own website more successful, Amazon Services has solutions to help you build your business successfully online. Increase your business capabilities. Get on board with Amazon. If taking your business to the next level includes selling online, or improving your internet-based business, getting to know Amazon Services could make all the difference in your success.Imagine having Amazon, with its world-class technologies, as an ally in meeting your business goals. Think how much simpler things could be if you could leverage the power of Amazon tools and services for your business. Reach Customers Amazon Services offers two solutions that give you access to tens of millions of Amazon customers. You can sell your products directly on Amazon, or reach Amazon customers through our site display advertisements. Sell on the Amazon Marketplace By joining  Amazon Marketplace, you give customers a familiar, trustworthy shopping experience even as you avoid the time and costs of developing a standalone website.Use the Amazon Marketplace soluti on to help make your business what you dream it could be. Advertise on Amazon Get your products in front of millions of Amazon customers with  Amazon Product Ads  or display ads fromAmazon Media Group. With Product Ads, you get placement in targeted locations across our detail pages, search and browse options, the buy box, and tower ads. With display ads, your marketing messages can reach just the right audience in the numbers and channels where you want to be seen. Build a website with Webstore Build your eCommerce site on Amazon Webstore and put the security and scalability of Amazon's cloud behind your site.Robust site design and inventory management tools, plus easy integration with the other Amazon Services products, make Amazon Webstore the right eCommerce platform for businesses of all sizes. List your products on the Amazon Marketplace When you list and sell your products on Amazon, you can quickly take advantage of the same robust and reliable Amazon site infrastructure , including the many seller features and functionality we have worked hard to build. No matter how many products you list, you're eligible to use Amazon's world-class seller technologies. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS ) What is the value proposition that PayPal offers consumers ? How about merchants ? Do any of the competing proposals match the benefits of PayPal ? ANSWER a. PayPal offers consumers How to buy The easiest way to remember your credit card number is not having to. Remembering 16 digits isn’t easy and typing them in to pay for something isn’t always secure. Now you don’t need to do either. * Sign up for free, and add a bank account or a debit/credit card. * Speed through checkout at millions of online stores. Just look for the PayPal button. * Stay protected from checkout to delivery with our Buyer Protection.Buying is free It's free to use PayPal for online purchases in Malaysia. It's the PayPal sellers who are charged a small fee for each transaction. Your eligible purchases are protected Your eligible purchases are protected wherever you shop and pay with PayPal – at no cost to you. Just in case your item didn't arrive or is significantly different from how it was described, we can help you get a full refund. More ways to pay online You can store your bank details and credit/debit cards more safely with PayPal and choose your preferred way to pay the next time you shop.And you can even do it on your mobile. Accepted Worldwide Shop anytime, anywhere from millions of online stores that accept PayPal. b. PayPal offers merchants Solutions for business We have a wide range of solutions for your business. Sell globally and get paid quickly. Looking to sell occasionally on eBay or through your blog? PayPal helps you get paid faster. Fees at 3. 4% + RM2. 00 MYR With our simple and transparent pricing, you'll never be surprised by hidden fees when you receive commercial domestic payments for goods and services at 3. 4% + RM2. 00 MYR. Keeping every seller saferOur industry-leading anti-fraud technology and a team of specialists help to keep you more secure. We provide all sellers with a convenient process for responding to buyer disputes. c. PayPal Competitor Google Checkout is quite similar to PayPal, but it has grown to only 7% of the alternative payment market. Google Checkout a) Wallet * One wallet for online and in-store shopping * Buy online with your phone or computer Make purchases at thousands of online shops by signing in to your Google Account. * Buy in-store with the mobile app Tap your phone to pay and redeem offers, using NFC (near-field communication).NFC payments are currently only available in the United States. * Manage your account Sign in to manage your payment information and view your transaction history. b) Checkout * Increase online sales using Google Wallet * New! Google Checkout is now Google Wallet for buyers. Google Wallet is a fast, secure checkout process that helps increase sales by bringing you more customers and allowing them to buy from you quickly and easily with a single account, online or in-store. * Sell worldwide. Attract buyers in over 140 countries to purchase your goods and services online using their Google Wallet. Convert more sales. A fast, convenient checkout process helps Google users convert more than shoppers who have not used Google before. * Protect yourself from fraud. The Payment Guarantee Policy protects 98% of orders on average – when an order is guaranteed, you get paid even if it results in a chargeback 2) Why would the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move into the payment business? What chance do they have to compete against Google? What’s their advantage?. ANSWER i)Why would the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move in to the payments business?The reason why the telecommunications carriers like AT&T and Verizon want to move into the payment business is because of the h uge potential of revenues and another factors is the emergence of the mobile platform of smartphones & tablets that opens the door for new firms to enter the online payments marketplace based on newer technologies and control of the mobile platform itself ii)What chance do they have to compete against Google? Their percentage of chance that they probably have to compete against Google is 30%-70%,from our opinion. Google system is much familiar to the user than AT&T and Verizon.Google also one of four platform titans and already get the public acceptance. Yet, they still have the chance to compete against Google because Google is much familiar with search engines system. iii) What’s their advantage? AT&T and Verizon advantage is that they are from mobile telecommunications (phone company) which is give them the advantage to get public acceptance that in many parts of the world, the phone company is widely used as a payment system, after they announced a mobile phone-based paym ent system called Isi. Unlike Google, AT&T and Verizon is more to payment that makes by smartphone.So, it is their advantage to make step in Electronic payment market. 3) The smartphone giants Apple and Google control the operating systems and technological features of the devices. Google exercises this control not by actually making the devices but licensing its Android system and demanding device makers include certain features. Which of these smartphones firms has the greatest chance of successfully developing a Web-wide wireless payment service? Why? ANSWER Apple advantages is, like Google has already developed an online payment system to support salles ath the iTunes Store.Unlike Google Checkout and PayPal, Apple has not to date developed an online merchant payment system that could be used across the Web. Some analysis believe Apple is considering the idea of extending its existing iTunes payment system to third-party vendors selling digital goods on the Internet. iPhone users can already use their iTunes account to buy some third-party virtual and subscription goods. Apple’s iTunes Store, which could serve as the mobile digital wallet used to store payment information on a consumer’s payment-enabled device,generated net sales of music, software (apps) and content of about $5 billion in 2010.There are approximately 225 milliom iTunes users worldwide with credit card accounts at iTunes. Apple disadvantages is, Apple does not have a presence in the online merchant payment process, a critical weakness. Four instance, you can use PayPal and Google Checkout at thousands of online retailers, but there is no similar Apple digital wallet that can be used across the Web. It only works at the iTunes Store. This may be a case where Apple’s penchants for building walled gardens of hardware and software like the iPhone and iTunes Store has limited its future growth.Google already made its first foray into the merchant payment market with Google C heckout in 2007. Google Checkout is quite similar to PayPal, but it has grown to only 7% of the alternative payment market. Google Checkout stores a user’s financial information, including credit card information, and then presents this information to merchants when the user checks out. Google advantages is, the customer does not have to fill out forms or reveal credit information to online merchants, but instead clicks on a Google Checkout icon on the merchant’s site, and payment is made through Google’s site.As with PayPal, the user stores value on the Google Checkout site in the form of a verified credit card, or a bank account, and the merchant does not have access to the customers credit card information. Google firms has the greatest chance of successfully developing a Web-wide wireless payment service because, the customer does not have to fill out forms or reveal credit information to online merchants, but instead clicks on a Google Checkout icon on the merchant’s site, and payment is made through Google’s site.As with PayPal, the user stores value on the Google Checkout site in the form of a verified credit card, or a bank account, and the merchant does not have access to the customers credit card information. QUESTION 4) What strategies would you recommend that PayPal pursue in order to maintain its dominant position over the next five years? . ANSWER Strategies to maintain PayPal dominant position over next 5 years Intro : Scott Thompson , president of PayPal outlined a strategy to expand PayPal globally, strengthening its dominant position over the next five years. Here the strategies. 1.Increase penetration on eBay – Projected growth on eBay is a function of seller coverage and consumer preference. A one-percent share increase within eBay results in $17 million in incremental revenue for PayPal. While market share in No America is 79%, it is only 41% Internationally so there is still plenty of room to grow on eBay. And new PayPal users on eBay (growing at a rate of 3 million new accounts per quarter) use PayPal across the Internet 2. Grow share in merchants services – PayPal helps merchants to sell more online – those that enable PayPal Express Checkout experience up to a 14% increase in sales.Today, eBay has approximately a 5% share of global merchant services, as much as 9% if you include eBay volume. PayPal has specific strategies for each segment of the market: sole proprietors, small/medium business, and large merchants. Consumers are increasingly global, and increasingly security conscious. They prefer to use PayPal when they shop online. Note the significant growth among SMEs and large businesses. Merchants have discovered the value of payment choice in encouraging incremental sales and higher transaction values, particularly via Bill Me Later.PayPal anticipates that it will achieve 14% merchant services market share in No America by 2011. International market sh are is estimated to be 5-6% by 2011, citing PayPal’s â€Å"unmatched facility for cross border transactions. † PayPal’s global e-commerce market share is projected to be 12-14% (on and off eBay) by 2011. 3. Adjacent payment markers The third element of PayPal’s growth strategy is expansion outside e-commerce. Thompson estimated the non-retail marketplace online as $1 Trillion. He specifically noted mobile, social networks, and non-profits (government opportunities were cited by Donahoe earlier).PayPal has demonstrated early leadership in mobile payments, experimenting with solutions in lots of mobile segments until there is industry consensus where consumers will go. Although non-profits were positioned as an adjacent opportunity, there are over 100,000 non-profits currently using PayPal. We’ve watched as PayPal has customized its services for non-profits with special on-boarding process, special features, and special pricing. Will this be the appr oach used for other verticals? Not unlike Amazon, PayPal fosters a close relationship with developers that are creating applications for use online and on the go via mobile devices.The PayPal global Internet payments network can be used to exchange value not just on eBay and within e-commerce but beyond. Thompson acknowledged that opening up the developer network while maintaining a secure environment is challenging and that’s why none of the other payment platforms out there has done it [While Amazon has done this, and done it for payments, PayPal does not consider Amazon to be a global payments platform]. PayPal’s global reach, closed loop network, and risk management/anti-fraud capabilities uniquely position it to â€Å"accelerate innovation on the web† with â€Å"PayPal as the engine in the middle. CONCLUSION The online payment marketplace is experiencing an explosion of innovative ideas, plans, and announcements, which one commentator has likened to a â₠¬Å"goat rodeo†, a chaotic situation in which powerful players with different agendas compete with one another for public acceptance, and above all, huge potential revenues. Others liken the payment marketplace to a battle among the four platform titans Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Each of these titans have their own versions of a future payment system that challenges the other players. And let’s not forget PayPal, the reigning power in alternative

Ladino, the Jewish Spanish Language

Ladino, the Jewish Spanish Language Most people have heard of Yiddish, a Hebrew and German hybrid language. Were you aware that there is another composite language, which contains Hebrew and other Semitic languages, that is an offshoot of Spanish, called Ladino? Ladino is classified as a Judeo-Spanish Romance language. In Spanish, its called djudeo-espanyol  or ladino. In English, the language is also known as  Sephardic, Crypto-Jewish, or Spanyol. History of Ladino In the 1492 diaspora, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, they took with them Spanish of the late 15th century  and expanded the lexicon with language influences from the Mediterranean, primarily where they settled. Foreign words that mixed with Old Spanish derive mainly from Hebrew, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, French, and to a lesser extent from Portuguese and Italian. The Ladino community population took a large hit when the Nazis destroyed most of the communities in Europe where Ladino had been the first language among Jews. Very few of the people who speak Ladino are monolingual. Ladino language advocates fear that it could die out as speakers more often use the languages of the cultures around them.   It is estimated that about 200,000 people can understand or speak Ladino.  Israel has one of the largest Ladino-speaking communities, with many words borrowed from Yiddish. Traditionally, Ladino was written in the Hebrew alphabet, writing and reading right to left. In the 20th century, Ladino adopted the Latin alphabet, used by Spanish and English, and the left-to-right orientation.  Ã‚   What  Its Like Although separate languages, Ladino and Spanish are inextricably linked in a way that speakers of the two languages can communicate with each other, much like Spanish and Portuguese speakers can understand each other. Ladino retains Spanish vocabulary and grammar rules from the 15th century interspersed with many borrowed words. The spelling resembles Spanish. For an example, the following paragraph about the Holocaust, written in Ladino, very closely resembles Spanish and would be understood by a Spanish reader: En komparasion kon las duras sufriensas ke pasaron los reskapados de los kampos de eksterminasion nazistas en Gresia, se puede dizir ke las sufriensas de los olim en el kampo de Kipros no fueron muy grandes, ma despues de anyos de vida en los kampos de konsentrasion, en teribles kondisiones, eyos kerian empesar en una mueva vida en Erets Israel i sus planos eran atrazados agora por unos kuantos mezes. Notable Differences From Spanish A big difference in Ladino is that the k  and  s  are usually used to represent sounds that are sometimes represented in Spanish by other letters. Another notable grammatical difference  from Ladino is that  usted  and  ustedes, the  forms of the second-person pronoun, are missing. Those pronouns were developed in Spanish after the Jews had left.   Other Spanish language developments that came after the 15th century, which Ladino did not adopt, included distinguishing different sound for the letters  b  and v. After the diaspora, Spaniards had given the two consonants the same sound. Also, Ladino does not include the inverted question mark or the use of the à ±. Ladino Resources Organizations in Turkey and Israel publish and maintain resources for the Ladino community. The Ladino Authority, an online resource, is based in Jerusalem. The authority proctors an online Ladino language course primarily for Hebrew speakers. A combination of Jewish studies and language studies programs in universities and associations in the U.S. and globally offer courses, revival groups or encourage Ladino study woven into their studies. Disambiguation Judeo-Spanish Ladino  should not be confused with the  Ladino or  Ladin language  spoken in part of northeastern Italy, which is closely related with the  rumantsch-ladin  of Switzerland. The two languages  have nothing to do with the Jews or Spanish beyond being, like Spanish, a  Romance language.

Daily Writing Tips Is On Facebook and Twitter Now

Daily Writing Tips Is On Facebook and Twitter Now Daily Writing Tips Is On Facebook and Twitter Now Daily Writing Tips Is On Facebook and Twitter Now By Daniel Scocco Over the past months we received many emails from readers who wanted to connect with Daily Writing Tips on social networks. We finally made this possible on the two largest networks: Facebook and Twitter. If you have a Facebook account please visit Facebook.com/DailyWritingTips and click on the Like button to connect with us. Once you do that youll start seeing links to our posts on your Facebook stream. Alternatively you can visit this post on our website and hit the Like button directly on the Facebook Like Box. Twitter users can follow the official Daily Writing Tips account on Twitter.com/writing_tips. We try to follow every one back, and we also tweet links to the latest posts on the blog. Finally, youll notice that below the posts theres a Share section now. There you can click on the buttons to retweet the post or to share it with your Facebook friends. We would appreciate if you could spread the word about any post you like by using those buttons! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:45 Synonyms for â€Å"Food†11 Writing Exercises to Inspire You and Strengthen Your WritingThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"