The Tournament Essay Example for Free

The Tournament Essay If you have ever regretted volunteering for a task, but had to continue, despite this, you will know how I felt, as I boarded the coach that would take me to the venue of the chess tournament. It was an all-consuming, unforgettable, always nagging sort of worry: that I would bring about my own humiliation as I lost game by game at the prestigious tournament. No. Not a worry but a certainty. For I had not practised once in the past months, while in my prime, it was normal for me to spend a couple of evenings per week at a board, revising combinations. Yes, it was this lack of practice that troubled me to the very core, that I would disappoint my team and be humiliated for it. So the odour of the garbage on the coach had little effect on me, as I contemplated the nature of the disgrace that I would bring upon myself. In an attempt to banish these thoughts from my head, I brought out my reading book, which I soon immersed myself in, but the cheers and chit chat from my team mates as the coach started could not be ignored. As I snapped out of my ponderous trance, I became aware of the true stench of this appalling place where rotten eggs and ham from long forgotten packed lunches lay neatly stacked under the seats and the random splodges of yogurt were spread over the once-fine seat covers. But as the hours passed, none of these were noticed as my nose grew accustomed to the constant whiff, and my eyes remained firmly fixed on the pages of my book. It was finally four hours later that we pulled into the drive of the B B where we would stay. Just one more night till I would be a humiliated man My first match of the next day started and ended badly. I was to play against a boy of no more than 8, who sat precariously on the very edge of his seat, with legs dangling aimlessly under the table. His age and the innocent gaze gave me hope that I could at least secure 1 point for my team. But I was wrong, very wrong. As he made his first moves, I saw he was no novice and despite my best efforts, my fiendish foe struck mercilessly, felling my pieces one by one. It was an uphill struggle, a battle I could not win and yet I tried, while to my annoyance, he squealed with delight after each capture in a childlike manner, though he had the skill of double his apparent age. I can tell you this was terribly shocking. So there was no surprise when he finally delivered checkmate, though while we did this, I dreaded the teases I would be sure to receive as the result of this lost battle, especially due to my opponents age. As I stepped from the room, my fears were confirmed. My humiliation had begun. My next match went just as badly. Still in a daze from the jests endured, my head spinning, as I tried desperately to win against my unsympathetic opponent. But my efforts were to no avail, as I lost, even more swiftly than before. But my thoughts cleared as I left the tournament room: one round to make a win. One round to avoid disgrace! After my disastrous rounds, I expected nothing more than another loss from equally capable opponents, knowing my fate for humiliation had been sealed the moment I agreed to come. But my next opponent was not something I could have anticipated given even the wildest imagination. Like a giant, he towered over the board, but it was not his height which troubled me but his bulk. His fat bulged in great flabs so that I felt he might burst and his slow, lumbering walk scarcely surprised me. One could tell clothes were not made to his size; the Nike logo on his shirt was stretched into a thin line while his fat writhed under his tight top as he reached out to move his piece. I made no mistake in underestimating my opponent this time, however, it was soon clear he was less gifted than the child prodigy I had played the first round. But there was still something strange about the game play, there was something about the way we played in his shadow that unnerved me, and before long, I once more felt myself sailing against the wind in this battle of mine. But as does a wounded animal strike back, so did I, knowing the fate that would come to me if I lost this match. But then, my silent prayers were answered: in the form of the biggest blunder I had ever seen at this level of play, and I pounced upon it, like a hungry wild cat as he throws himself on a mouse. The tide had changed, and I finished him off easily. The victory was mine, no disgrace for me.

A Student Looks at Websites for 3D Graphics Cards :: Sell Websites Buy Web Sites

A Student Looks at Websites for 3D Graphics Cards There are many players in the game of computer graphics cards for personal computers. ATI and NVIDIA are two major competitors in this field along with many others. They have many differences that set them apart and also many issues that they have in common. One such issue is each company’s website. ATI’s and NVIDIA’s respective websites both target the same audience. With this being the case, they try their best to differentiate themselves from each other using a different yet somehow very similar layout for their websites. The audience that both companies are trying to get at is the biggest issue that these two giants have in common. They both target what has become the biggest market share in PC graphics, the computer gamer. The computer gamer can be anybody that plays any number of games on their PC. In order to run these games, they need a graphics card capable of supporting them. ATI and NVIDIA both know that this group of PC users are very dedicated to their hobby and put a lot of time and money into their graphics cards. ATI and NVIDIA also know that this same group of PC gamers is also very adept at using the internet. It is with no surprise then that both of their websites target PC gamers first and everyone else second. ATI and NVIDIA both have their best gaming graphics card right in front of the viewer when they enter their respective websites. This is no coincidence. With both companies targeting the PC gamer first and foremost, the center of attention is going to be given to the latest gaming graphics card. That starting point is about the only thing these two have in common when it comes to presenting their best card. They each try to take a different approach to the PC gamer audience and it is very interesting to compare the two. ATI presents their new card using a very flashy and slick interactive presentation. It allows the user to get involved with the website and can be very impressive and entertaining. Unfortunately it is also very annoying. Once the novelty of the presentation has worn off it can actually be quite distracting. The most noticeable distraction comes when looking at the technical specifications of the card.

Foxconn’s Labor Condition

Introduction (A)Background of Foxconn Foxconn is the subsidiary of the Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. , Ltd. , which is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturing company headquartered in Taiwan. It is the world's largest maker of electronic components. Foxconn is primarily an original design manufacturer and its clients include major American, European and Japanese electronics and information technology companies. Notable products manufactured by the company include iPad, iPhone, iPod, PlayStation, etc.Foxconn has factories in many different countries, which together assemble around 40 percent of consumer electronic products in the world. The reason why Foxconn become famous is that it helps Apple to assemble iPhones. In recent year, demand for Apple’s products increase dramatically. Foxconn thus mainly focus on assemble its products and receiving fewer orders from other company. However, Foxconn has been involved in several controversies, most relating to how it man ages employees in China since it is the largest private-sector employer.The employees’ suicide cases are reflecting on this problem. Therefore, Apple hired the Fair Labour Association to conduct an audit of working conditions at Foxconn in 2012. (B)Issue of the news Strike was happened in Zhengzhou factory of Foxconn in 5 October this year. Three to four thousands of employees stop working. This may affect the progress of the production line for assembling the iPhone 5. The poor working conditions are the main reason lead to the strike as Foxconn did not concern about the physical and mental health of employees.The long working hours make employees feel tired. Their effort put into the work did not have reasonable return as they only earn a very low wages for such a long working hour. Employees therefore cannot concentrate on their works. Moreover, Employees face high pressure working at Foxconn. Recent news had pointed out that Foxconn workers were fail to meet the high prod uct quality standard of Apple, because the structure of Iphone 5 is more complicated and workers have not been given enough training before they start their work, so high failure rate is obtained.The long working hour and the unsatisfactory in the production of the iPhone 5 make employees therefore face tremendous psychological pressure. Although the spokesperson explains it is only the employee dispute and will not affect the factory production. We disagreed that the strike did not bring any negative impact to Foxconn. In this report, we will examine the consequences of the strike and recommend suitable methods to solve the problem in order to minimize those negative impacts bring to the Foxconn. CausesFLA has investigated that Foxconn was fail to provide reasonable work time, compensation as well as working condition for the workers. For instance, more than 40 percent of workers had experienced or witnessed an industrial accident in the factory. (A)Long working hour with low wages The long working hour is unreasonable to the workers. In Foxconn, workers have to work for twelve hours per day excluding overtime working but they only have two to three holidays per month. Thus, they need to work over seventy hours per week and they can only get one holiday after working for ten to fourteen days.The average number of hours worked per week at Foxconn is found to be exceeded both the Fair Labor Association (FLA) Code Standard of sixty hours per week and the Chinese legal limits of forty hours per week. The wages of the workers are also relatively low. After raising the wage in 2010, the basis wage of a worker is about two thousand dollars per month. It is not reasonable for such a long working hour but the wages is so low. If the workers want to earn more, they need to work over time so that they can earn about four thousand dollars in which over 70% of the wage are overtime pay, reward and allowance. B)High pressure Leadership had high demand requirement for the q uality of iPhone 5, for example the appearance of effect can only within 0. 02 millimeters. But Foxconn did not provide any training course for employees, employee faced difficulties in producing such perfect iPhone 5 under the strict requirement. Supervisor blamed the assembly workers every day not only because of the failure in producing the perfect product but also because of receiving so many complaints about the appearance of iPhone 5 from all over the world. In Foxconn, worker is like a machine.Workers are specialized to maximize the productivity of the factory. They are required to complete each action in two seconds. Furthermore, workers who go to toilet more than ten minutes, talk or fail to meet the product targets will receive warning or even dismiss. The workers therefore are under pressure due to the tight schedule and the dissatisfaction of the products’ quality from the ultimate users, the supervisor and themselves. Consequemces Employee is a very important ass et of a company as it can’t function well without enough manpower.It is very obvious in the manufacturing company that without enough workers it cannot produce the goods on time which may affect their profit as well as their reputation. Foxconn may need to delay or even fail in delivering the iPhone 5 to Apple on time due to the strike. It may need to compensate the loss that Apple incurred due to the insufficient supplies of iPhone 5 which may decrease the profit estimated by Foxconn. Also, the complexity in producing the iPhone 5 may increase the cost of production as the raw materials used may be more than expected while the imperfect iPhone 5 provided for Apple may affect the reputation of Foxconn.Besides, Foxconn’s bargaining power may decrease due to the failure in providing the products that the customers wanted. Recommedations We are confident that Foxconn may suffer loss due to the strike and we are going to give some recommendations to Foxconn in order to min imize the potential loss that may incur. We suggest Foxconn to increase the basic salary, hire more employees and provide more training to solve the above problems. (A)Increase basisc salary Employees in Foxconn receive low basic salary and they have to work overtime in order to earn enough money for maintain their living standard.According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the consumer price index of food, clothes and necessity increased by 5%, 3. 1% and 2. 2% respectively in October (compared to same period last year). ( http://www. stats. gov. cn/tjsj/jdsj/t20121112_402850686. htm). The inflation further increases workers’ burden of living. If Foxconn increase workers’ basic salary then they do not need to work overtime which may shorten their working hour. (B)Hire more employees Employing more workers can also shorten working hours.Foxconn is now using two-shift system, so workers need to work for twelve hours per day. If more workers are employed and three-shift system is used, workers only need to work for eight hours per day. Under this system, the factory can still maintain 24-hours operation while workers have shorter working hours. Besides, employing more workers can release workers’ great pressure. Workers are required to maintain high efficiency, so they are not allowed to do unnecessary things even talking and smiling.Based on the investigation, nearly half of the employees feel stressed while working (http://cn. nytimes. com/article/business/2012/11/06/cc06foxconn/zh-hk/? pagemode=print). If Foxconn employ more workers to share the heavy work load, workers do not need to work with the unreasonable high efficiency. Then, their high pressure can be released. (C)Provide more training By providing training resource to frontline workers, the workers are able to much more familiar with the technical knowledge of the products, and lower failure rate which may also reduce their pressure.For example, Foxconn can invite a specialist from Apple Incorporation, in order to introduce or demonstrate the technical knowledge about product manufacturing in front of the frontline workers. Therefore, the probability of making mistakes decrease, workers will not be punished and they can be more relaxed. Although the above practice will raise the operating cost of the factory, the potential benefits can resolve the existing problems of the company that is the settlement of the worker’s strike. How can the recommendation be beneficial to Foxconn The suggestion we recommended not only minimize the potential losses that may incur.It can also improve the overall situation of Foxconn in management accounting perspective. (A)Higher fixed cost structure Hiring additional employees lead to an increase in fixed cost, while increase in overtime pay rate lead to an increase on variable cost. Since the specialist salary and training materials are usually a fixed amount, the overall training cost is regarded as fixed cost in general. With the assumption that China has great growth potential, and the global economic atmosphere will be improved in the coming future, a low variable cost tructure and higher contribution margin ratio are most preferred. The reason is that Foxconn’s profit will increase more rapidly as sales increase, in other words, greater profit can be resulted in good years. In addition, our recommendation helps workers are able to take enough rest, so that higher efficiency can be achieved. (B)Ethical concern – CSR Apart from amending the cost structure of Foxconn, we suggest the management should take account of corporate social responsibility in decision making process.With reference to the article of Foxconn worker condition, they received low paid relative to excessive worktime and they suffer in high working pressure, especially in assembling the Iphone 5. By introducing corporate social responsibility, Foxconn should consider the needs of all stakeholders incl uding employees when making decisions. In details, it should provide safe and humane working conditions for workers. Also, it should pay fair compensation and provide opportunities for training, promotion and personal development.According to KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011, reputation on brand, ethical considerations and employees’ motivation are top 3 businesses imperative that drive companies into corporate social responsibility. It indicates how companies enjoy the result of corporate responsibility. Except voluntarily fulfilling the moral obligation, a company can develop a good image in society which enables them to attract loyal customers. With the positive reputation, the company will be distinguished from the others and become the customers’ preference.Besides, employees tend to stay in the company with goodwill and work hard with the enjoyment of being ethic. Thus, corporate responsibility increases employees’ loyal ty and productivity. The potential benefits of corporate social responsibility will be the incentive of Foxconn to take their employees into consideration and provide better support for them in decision making process. Conclusion To sum up, we think that the strike may bring negative impacts to Foxconn and it should find ways to prevent it and solve it as soon as possible in order to minimize the loss which may incur.Our recommendations of hiring additional employees and providing training resources will lead to an increase in fixed cost, and net income will decrease consequently with the assumption that the variable cost keep constant. However, we believed that the decrease in profit can be compensated by the overall benefit bring to Foxconn by increasing the workers’ morale, production efficiency and higher product quality. More importantly, it helps Foxconn to create a positive public image. Since our recommendation will lead to a significant increase in fixed cost, Foxcon n should pay attention to its sales volume.It is because increase in fixed cost will lead to an increase in break-even sales volume, so margin of safety will be dropped consequently. It means that the risk of incurring a loss will become higher. Therefore, Foxconn should ensure that current sales level should above or equal the break-even sales volume, and prevent from emerging loss. However, it is expected that Foxconn can still have a steady growth in sales volume in the coming future, because there is still huge demand in Apple products.

The Increase of State Surveillance in the United States...

Introduction With today’s technological surveillance capabilities, our actions are observable, recordable and traceable. Surveillance is more intrusive than it has been in the past. For numerous years countries such as the United State and the United Kingdom have been actively monitoring their citizens through the use of surveillance technology. This state surveillance has been increasing with each passing year, consequently invading the citizen’s fundamental constitutional right to privacy,. This has lead to the ethical issues from the use or misuse of technology, one such ethical issue is should a government have the right to use technology to monitor its citizens without their knowledge or approval? For this reason this paper will†¦show more content†¦Governments such as the USA justify mass surveillance by stating it protects citizens from dangerous groups such as criminal organisations, political subversives and terrorists. In addition mass surveillance al so maintains social control. The disadvantage of state surveillance that citizens articulate is that it violates the right to privacy and political and social freedoms of individuals. What lead to state surveillance becoming so extensive in the United States? After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, the Patriot Act was implemented. The United States dramatically increased its use of surveillance technologies by modifying laws. This gave law enforcement agencies virtually unrestricted powers with regard to surveillance and monitoring. This act gave agencies of the government the authority to monitor telephone and cell phone calls without a warrant and access to person’s library, medical and financial records and a variety of other sources of information and databases. Internet activity was also monitored by governmental agencies at level never seen before in the United States. However is it ethical for the government to use this level of surveillance on its citizens in its broad unrestricted searches for terrorists and other high level treats? To determine whether mass surveillance is ethical perspectivesShow MoreRelatedThe United States Intervention With Terrorism1081 Words   |  5 Pagesanalysis will numerically discuss th e main aspects of the United States intervention with terrorism, past terrorist acts, and a modern day perspectives on terrorism. Now, the United States and its allies has been a major military force for the fight against terrorism. Within the allies it consists of, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The allies’ alliance was first derived years after the first World War, but France and the United Kingdom has been allies before those wars. 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