Macbeth Act 2 Summary

Summary Macbeth meets Banquo in the courtyard of his castle. Banquo is restless because he cannot decide how he feels about the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth pretends indifference, but casually agrees to talk about it if Banquo would like. They agree, and Banquo leaves. Macbeth again takes time to examine the pros and cons of going through with the plot, and begins to see illusions, starting with a dagger floating in the air in front of him. He seems to go back and forth, but eventually decides to kill Duncan. Enter To come on stage. Court A courtyard, possibly the forecourt. bearing a torch before himFleance is carrying a torch because this scene is set at night. Since the play was originally performed in the open air, in the afternoon, the torch helps us accept that it’s night. she The moon. I take’t, ’tis later I assume that it’s later than midnight. Most people had no accurate way to tell time. Clocks were few and watches had not been invented. There’s husbandry in heaven; / Their candles are all out. husbandry — conservation All the candles of heaven (the stars) are dark, unseen. The night is cloudy. Take thee that too. Banquo asks his son, Fleance, to take something else he’s been carrying, in addition to his sword.A heavy summons lies like lead upon me   . .  . Gives way to in repose! Banquo is tired and wants to sleep, but he can’t. This is a problem, since he knows he’ll worry over unwelcome thoughts if he stays awake. He prays, briefly, that he won’t be bothered by thoughts we naturally would think when we have the time to reflect on things. Give me my sword. Banquo immediately asks for his sword back again, since someone is approaching. It’s dark, so he can’t yet tell it’s Macbeth. Who’s there? Banquo asks â€Å"Who’s there? † — challenging the stranger to identify himself. not yet at rest? Why haven’t you gone to bed?The king’s a-bed The king has already gone to his sleep in unusual pleasure, and / Sent forth great largess to your offices. The king has been in an unusually good mood, and has given gifts in great measure to your household. This diamond he greets your wife withal, / By the name of most kind hostess Here’s a gem the king asked me to give to you, to give to your wife, as thanks for all her kindness as hostess. shut up / In measureless content. The king has now gone to bed in his private chamber, where he is locked in — â€Å"shut up† — for the night, completely happy with the way things are — â€Å"in measureless content. Being unprepared, / Our will became the servant to defect; / Which else should free have wrought. I wasn’t expecting all this (I was unprepared), so I left the dinner early (I â€Å"defected†). Otherwise I would have remained the whole time, and done what anyone would normally have done. Macbeth may be ma king excuses. Possibly he had so much on his mind that he couldn’t be a good host and left earlier than expected. Possibly he just wanted time, alone, to think. All’s well. / I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: / To you they have show’d some truth. Banquo first says that there’s no harm done.He then invites Macbeth to talk about their meeting with the witches, by stating that he dreamed of the weird sisters — the sisters of Fate — the three witches. He also reminds Macbeth that they have spoken truth so far. I think not of them Macbeth is lying, trying to appear unconcerned. He definitely has been thinking about what the witches have said. Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, / We would spend it in some words upon that business, / If you would grant the time. But, if we have nothing better to do, we can talk about that, if you want. I don’t mind.Macbeth wants to conceal how eager he is to talk about this. At your kin d’st leisure. When it’s convenient for you. If you shall cleave to my consent, when ’tis, / It shall make honour for you. If you agree to act with me, join me, when it’s time to do so, you’ll benefit by it. So I lose none / In seeking to augment it, but still keep / My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, / I shall be counsell’d. As long as this doesn’t involve doing anything dishonorable, and as long as I can stay loyal and true, I’ll follow along. My bosom franchised and allegiance clear — my heart belongs to the kingI shall be counsell’d. — I’ll agree to your plans. The difference between the two men is becoming clear — Macbeth is willing to do anything, including murder Duncan, to get to the throne; Banquo won’t even pursue honor for himself if he has to give up any virtue to get there. Good repose the while! Sleep well until we get together to talk about this. Macbeth is probably just covering up, acting naturally. As we’re about to see, he has already decided to act, and probably feels no more need to discuss things with Banquo. Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?Come, let me clutch thee. / I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. dagger — sturdy, medium-sized knife, with a blade up to a foot long. let me clutch thee. / I have thee not — Macbeth is trying to grasp the dagger’s handle, but there’s nothing there. Macbeth has begun to see things, guilty visions, even before he has started down the road of murder. He is afraid of the immediate future, afraid of what he is planning to do. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible / To feeling as to sight? or art thou but / A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?Aren’t you able to be touched, just as you can be seen? Or are you just a vision, an imagined thing, an artifact of a fevered brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable / As this which now I draw. I can still see you, just as solid-looking as this real dagger I now draw from its sheath. Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going; / And such an instrument I was to use. Your appearance encourages me to pursue what I was going to do (murder Duncan), and I was going to use a dagger to do it, so this must be a true indicator of what lies ahead.Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses, / Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still, / And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, / Which was not so before. My eyes are either worthless (deceived by a false vision), or else they’re the most capable of my senses (able to perceive what my other senses cannot). I still see the dagger, and now I see flowing blood on the blade and handle — that wasn’t there earlier. There’s no such thing: / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes. This is unreal. It’s th e horrifying act I’m contemplating that makes these visions appear.Now o’er the one halfworld / Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse / The curtain’d sleep One half the world is in night, asleep, and nightmares take advantage of dreamers   . .  . witchcraft celebrates / Pale Hecate’s offerings, and wither’d murder, / Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf, / Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace. witches dance with Hecate (chief goddess of spells and witchcraft), and murder approaches (alarmed by its sentinel, the wolf)   . .  . With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design / Moves like a ghost. Tarquin was the son of a Roman king, infamous for his rape of Lucretia.This story has been the subject of many art works, including Shakespeare’s own poem, â€Å"The Rape of Lucrece. † For more information about this story, see the Wikipedia article regarding Sextus Tarquinius. Thou sure and f irm-set earth, / Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear / Thy very stones prate of my whereabout Macbeth is asking, dramatically, even the earth to not hear him walking, or know which way he goes, for fear the stones themselves would speak the truth they know — that he’s now going to murder Duncan. This is likely also a reference to Jesus entering Jerusalem — when told he hould quiet his disciples, Jesus responded â€Å"I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. † (Luke 19:40) Or, in other words, truth cannot be silenced. Macbeth is hoping to evade this proverb. prate — speak, talk And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Make the present less horrifying than it is. Whiles I threat, he lives: / Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. While I stand here talking about it, Duncan is still alive. Words are cold and weak, compared to the heat and strength (impor tance) of deeds.I go, and it is done The bell has rung. It’s time to act. It’s settled. the bell invites me The bell summons me. Macbeth is still hoping he can evade at least part of the responsibility for what he’s about to do. Now he’s making the bell partly responsible. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell / That summons thee to heaven or to hell. Even now, Macbeth half hopes that the murder might not happen after all. He thinks that if Duncan doesn’t hear the ringing of the bell (the knell), maybe he (Duncan) won’t have to die. But Macbeth proceeds, in spite of his doubts and misgivings. AsideIn an aside, the character speaks privately to himself for a moment, or directly to the audience, or privately to some (but not all) of the other characters present. As a matter of convention, an aside is always a true statement of what the character thinks. A character speaking in an aside may be mistaken, but may not be dishonest. An aside (agai n as a matter of convention) cannot be heard by those not spoken to. Exit He leaves the stage. Exeunt Banquo and Fleance. Exeunt — Latin, literally â€Å"they leave. † Banquo and Fleance leave the stage, leaving Macbeth alone with a servant.

Can the Problem of Monarchy Be Considered Old-Fashioned?

Can the problem of monarchy be considered old-fashioned? A monarchy is a governmental system that has one person as the permanent head of state until he or she dies or gives up his or her position. Typically, the position of monarch is hereditary, as is the case with famous monarchies like that of the United Kingdom. The term is often used to refer to a system of government in which the monarch — such as a king or queen — has absolute authority, but many monarchies are limited or constitutional monarchies in which the monarch has restricted power and might even be mostly a figurehead rather than a ruler.So ,the question is whether the problem of monarchy can be considered old-fashioned or not? One aspect of a monarchy that is considered to be an advantage is that it can reduce or eliminate the struggle for ultimate power within the government. When the head of state must be elected, members of different political parties or factions will compete for the position. This o ften creates division and conflict within the government. If the head of state serves for life and his or her successor is already known, it might increase the unity within the government.Still, the monarchy system represents a cultural tradition for a country. In many places, even after the actual operation of the government has changed to a different system, a monarchy will be retained because it is an important aspect of the cultural and political history of the nation. The monarchs in these cases are living representatives of generations of rulers. They often are treated as figures of reverence. Moreover, the system of monarchy means stability even prosperity .As an example, our country was doing well during monarchy system until the Russian communist took it and stole the land from the legal owners (peasants, rich people or business men). Everyone needs a place where his or her family would be safe and a stable working place. This stability in society is definitely attracting m ore and more people on the monarchy’s side. Another argument, which may sound odd, is that people are more reluctant to trust a king or a queen as the ‘boss’ of the country rather than a president.Believe it or not people still have the idea of a king as a person who is standing on a big throne with a golden crown on his head, having a luxurious life and with an outstanding intelligence as well (image that was took from fairy tales I guess) while a president is just a simple tailored-suited person. In conclusion I think that most people do not regard monarchy as an old-fashioned system. Moreover I think that this system is gaining more and more popularity as we have been experiencing many other systems which did not bring us prosperity at all.

TV Paper Topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

TV Paper Topics - Essay Example It is generally considered to be the supremacy of one society on that of inferior society. In this context it has been viewed that the show â€Å"Friend† promoted certain activities that are not acceptable by other society. For instance the show promotes practice like living relation which is considered to be an uncommon process in many parts of the world. According to John Tomlinson, cultural imperialism is basically the process of spreading western-modern life style. With reference to the stated statement it can be stated that the sitcom â€Å"Friends† certain activities that promoted western life style which could be stated as cultural imperialism (Tomlinson 2-5). How does show approach that issue: The different approach that have been adapted by the Show â€Å"Friends† are explained here under: Americanization Friends a well-known TV sitcom globally is considered to be amongst one of the best show in the American television history/. The show relives around t he life of six friends who helps each other’s in solving their individual problems. It has been stated by many critics that the show helped in promoting American culture to a great extent. However, globally many critics stated that the show mainly focused on influencing people to adapt American culture. For instance, the show promoted many American brands like Buitoni pasta, Nestle Toll House cookies, Oreo cookies among others which is considered to be an indirect way of promoting Americanization. It was also viewed that the sitcom was banned from China as it promoted too much sex which is considered to be a normal affair in the American context (Shi, â€Å"Product Placement and Digital Piracy: How Young... This paper approves that globally many critics stated that the show mainly focused on influencing people to adapt American culture. For instance, the show promoted many American brands like Buitoni pasta, Nestle Toll House cookies, Oreo cookies among others which is considered to be an indirect way of promoting Americanization. It was also viewed that the sitcom was banned from China as it promoted too much sex which is considered to be a normal affair in the American context. This report makes a conclusion that the contribution of television shop in bringing new changes in the society can be witnessed from the past. There exist many television shows that are made considering the normal living habits of their civilians. However, it has been viewed that the shows conflicts with certain living habits when telecasted in the international level. With reference to the above mentioned discussion it can be viewed that the show ‘Friends’ considered to be amongst one of the renowned television sitcom in the American TV history has been criticized my many individuals in the international level. The main reason that resulted in such criticism was resulted from promoting American brand and showing activities that are considered to be uncommon on the global platform. Thus, it can be concluded that a show must be made considering all the factors that would not promote discrimination amid the different people present in the society.

The food crisis of 2008 had been threatening for a few years, mostly Essay

The food crisis of 2008 had been threatening for a few years, mostly affecting the poor. A variety of causes but mostly mad-made - Essay Example 5-19, 2008). This crisis was one of the threatening incidents that not only affected a big faction of the human race who died of hunger and malnourishment but also grabbed the attention of the developed nations to the fact that with their increase in wealth, they are not performing adequately to surmount the world’s dilemmas and concerns. It has been an observation that the prosperous, successful, and developed countries have the least priority to nourish the starving population, though they have sufficient amount of food that they can provide to the entire inhabitants of the globe. One cannot ignore the reality that governments and United Nations need to put a lot of endeavor in such crises to embark on the problem of hunger. As there is a connection between different problems, resolving of one will lead to solve others as well. The food crises resulted in the sky-high prices of food. As an outcome of it, the fuel prices augmented due to the growing demand from the emergent n ations. With the increase in cost of commodities like food, fuel etc, and the unchanging income pattern of the individuals, it became difficult for them to pay for the basic and fundamental needs like food. The people that fall in the category of most effected sufferers are the poor natives like farmers and laborers and other low-income people (Shiva & Sagbo, pp. 5-19, 2008). It is a foremost right of all the natives of a country that government provides them with food security. This phenomenon refers to a condition where sufficient food is available for all the citizens, whether they are poor or rich. According to the research, it came under indication that due to the financial crisis and change in climate/weather the world has experienced, the supply of food to the natives has seen a drastic turn down subjecting food security to jeopardy. The result of the crisis may have a grave effect on the political steadiness and may result in wars to obtain food for one self. According to th e reports of United Nations World Food Program, "For the world's most vulnerable, the perfect storm [caused by climate, poverty, environmental degradation and political instability] is hitting with a vengeance† (Cribb, pp.1-14, 2010). This statement reflects the idea about the crisis that the world is undergoing unprecedented food shortage leaving an indelible imprint on the lives of many. Due to its effects, nobody is in a condition to provide an aid to each other. The short-term factors that caused the food crises in the years 2008 and 2011 were innumerable. However, only few came under investigations, which are as follows: some countries, known for only wheat agriculture, which is one of the staple foods for the majority of the population, observed famine in past years resulting in disappearance of wheat crops (Karrer, pp. 45-69, 2008). Another reason for the crisis was the increase in the consumption of meat in developing countries resulting in shortage of meat products. F urthermore, according to studies, the fact has revealed that the proportion of the population who are obese is increasing resulting in over consumption of food worldwide. Due to the increase in oil prices, the transportation cost for carrying foods from farm to market has also risen, adding to the food prices (Karrer, pp. 45-69, 2008). Where global recession has terribly crushed the powerful economies,

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Financial Management - Essay Example (Kieso, 2009) Recording includes journalizing the transactions by recording them into a daily book known as General Journal; these transactions are then posted in the ledger to separate the transaction with respect to their nature. Moreover, these are subsequently used to make financial statements at the end of the accounting cycle to gauge the performance of the firm. (Kieso, 2009) However, this all process is governed under some accounting principles that are taken into account when the transaction are recorded, posted or reused in the making of the financial statements which include balance sheet, statement of income and expenditure, statement of cash flows and statement of changes in equity. (Kieso, 2009) ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS The accounting concepts include the assumptions on which the accounting systems are based. They provide the key steps and guides towards the preparation of financial statements. ... Below, we will discuss in detail about the concepts mentioned above. Business Entity: A concept that treats business as a separate entity from that of its owners. Thus if the owner of the firm purchases a car for his personal use then that transaction would not be treated as a part of the business; however if the car would have been purchased for the business usage, then the transaction would have been recorded under the account of the business. (Kieso, 2009) Money Measurement: Accounting allows one to record only those transactions which are monetary in nature. (Kieso, 2009) For example, Apple by virtue of accounting laws can never bring the worth of Steve Jobs on the financial statements, nor it was able to reflect the expected loss in Apple’s worth after Mr. Jobs died, thus a company cannot bring the death of an employee on the financial statements since the event cannot be classified in terms of money. However, if a transaction is monetary in nature then only it can be rec orded; for instance, ABC Company purchased office equipment worth $1 million, now, since the transaction is monetary in nature, the transaction can be recorded in the books of the accounts. Cost Concept: This concept requires one to record an asset at a cost at which it is acquired. For instance, if Wal-Mart was able to acquire a new land at $1 million whose market price was $2 million, then the transaction will record land at $1 million, even though the market price of land is $2 million. There are two advantages of this assumption; first being the fact that it ensures filtering of more than one possible market price, and second, being the fact that the cost can be documented and thus can be used

Eassy of <A Thousand Splendid Suns> Essay

Eassy of - Essay Example Miriam had lost her baby 7 times, giving Rasheed reason to treat her as a worker and violate her frequently. In addition, the author develops the story of Laila; she has a nice and unbroken family, and she learns lots of knowledge from school and from her father. However, a rocket destroys her house and family when they decide to leave Kabul. Her parents die and she is also wounded. Consequently, she has to get married to Rasheed to earn a living because she finds that she is carrying her childhood lover’s child, Tariq. In general, the author depicts Mariam and Laila as poor Afghan women, who have similar experiences living with Rasheed. However, they become best friends after Aziza’s birth. From the analysis of the novel, it can be concluded that although life is unbearable for both Mariam and Laila, only Laila is able to make the decision to leave Rasheed and seek a better life. Mariam is not able to take a risk because she has a broken family. Mariam grows up only with her mother. She does not feel her father’s love even though her father comes to see her once a week. Nana says to Mariam, â€Å" Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women.( Hosseini, 7). However, she thinks Jalil is a very nice father although he visits only once a week. She used to expect her father’s visiting because he brings gifts to her and his voice is gentle and soft. Nevertheless, everything changes on Mariam’s fifteenth birthday. Mariam insists on watching movies with her siblings, so she goes into the Herat alone. Jalil does not receive her and even lies to her that he is not there. On the next day, Mariam goes back disappointed and then she is shocked because her mother commits suicide under the tree in front of her kolba. Mariam reckons that she lost her parents in one day, and the reason is her leaving Nana . After she gets married to Rasheed, she does everything Rasheed requires of her because he is the only one that she can

Quality Management and Accountability (SLP) Module 5 Essay

Quality Management and Accountability (SLP) Module 5 - Essay Example The initiation phase of the program is concerned with execution and recording of the program progress. This prompts the team to check progress and compare with the program’s objectives and goals. If any of the objectives are not met or the processes do not conform to the program goal, the acting-stage calls for evaluation and correction. In case, if corrections are inevitable, the process of program quality improvement may be recalled to access its viability (Kennedy, et al. 2011). In the healthcare program, steps to address quality assurance coincide with best practice and are therefore specific in addressing the programs goals. The steps outlined below comply with National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) standards and specifications: Limited knowledge-based resources have impacted quality of services within the healthcare setting. Knowledge management within the sector is based on access to information on a timely manner and availability of real-time support resources. Financial breakthroughs in the management of programs and associated activities limit the propensity of the healthcare sector to be viable. Increasingly, information systems for the management of knowledge database continue to evolve fast thus requiring regular human capital investment. The assessment of accountability for quality assurance services is ensured by measuring the interaction of personnel and focus on the program’s objectives and goals. The process of assessment includes identification of organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal conflicts and creating a committee to address them. Identification of each practitioner’s core competencies and their levels of information access is an essential assessment approach (Larson & Muller, 2002). Measures to ensure that the program employees provide quality services include provision of basic and professional education on ethics and program tasks. Access to information systems is guaranteed in order to

The Managerial Functions in a Commercial Bank Assignment

The Managerial Functions in a Commercial Bank - Assignment Example This ensures that issues of money laundering do not occur in the bank. The capital adequacy management refers to the bank’s managerial function that ensures that a bank has sufficient capital to carry out all its operations. It involves a number of activities and process. First, the bank through its manager must decide the amount of capital the bank must keep. This is done by identifying the needs of the bank and the central bank regulation policy on bank reserves. Second, once bank capital needs are identified, adequate policies are formulated to ensure that the capital adequacy level is not exceeded. Third, the bank through it managers mobilize the necessary capital and manage it to conform to policies that ensure that it is sufficient and quality bank assets at any given time. The asset-risk management refers to protecting banks assets from all risks associated with the asset and ensuring that they are performing appropriately. Asset-risk management involves keeping complete records of all the assets. The information that needs to be included in the asset register includes asset type, date and purchase price at acquisition, warranty information, spare parts, repair facilities and dates as well as service contracts (Collier 146). Banks management must ensure that all preventive maintenance is carried out and all planned inspection must be carried to ensure that the asset is functioning appropriately. In addition, all assets must conform to the industry regulatory standards. The above functions would ensure that banks assets are reliable and performing as required. Risk structure of interest rates is comprised of all risks associated with changes in interest rates as well as defaults that may occur when a client take a loan and fail to honour his or her financial obligations. Bonds duration is usually used to measure the interest rate risk. On the other hand, Term structure of interest rates is defined as a way in which interest rates on bonds with varying maturity terms are related. It has been estimated that interest rates on bonds of varying term maturities move together with time.  Ã‚  

Genetic Cloning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Genetic Cloning - Essay Example Human cloning is a controversial that elicits diverse reactions from all quarters and almost every member of the human race. The issue of cloning has caused much debate since the firs cloning of a live sheep in Scotland in 1997 (Allison, 2009). This is concerning ethics and authority to participate in the events leading to the creation of a new human being from the originally born one. This topic is crucial to the existence of human beings as it may be used to either improve their lives or degrade them. Genetic cloning takes place using embryonic stem cells, which is a concept that became known in the late 1990s with the isolation of the initial human embryo stem cell. This isolation works because embryonic stem cells can differentiate and form any human cell ranging from blood cells to skin cells, and it is from this that the idea to create perfect human beings first came into play. This is especially with potential use of stem cells to crate different organs and ensure that humans no longer suffer from conditions that can be healed through genetic cloning. The most popular means of cloning research done in the world today and from the 1970s is that of recombinant DNA technology, which entails replacement of molecular DNA fragments with those that are favourable to the host. This in human cloning is generating concerns in creation of super humans in that they select the best traits needed in humans and use recombinant DNA technology to fix these genes in host DNA (Bliss, 2012). The main way in which this technology has been used is through In-vitro fertilization that was discovered in the late 1970s, this has been used to date to eliminate undesirable traits in children and allow parents and scientists to pick out the traits, and conditions they would like to have their children. This is especially helpful I eliminating genetic conditions that parents may have in that the embryo is microscopically examined for signs of genetic disorders such as Tay - Sachs dis ease and Sickle Cell anaemia. Besides this, the creation of designer babies can be done after the child is already born, which is similar to vehicle maintenance through application of cannibalized parts from other vehicles. Children born with defects that were not detected during the genetic engineering process can undergo maintenance from selected genes from other children and genetically cloned parts. Genes, in this case refer to molecular units in a cell containing genetic information of heredity (Kaplan & Rdgers, 2003). This can be evidently seen in the case of Charlie Whitaker from the UK who was born with Diamond Blackfan anaemia, which prevented him from making his own red blood cells (Mclean, 2006). From this, genetic cloning allowed a designer baby to be made by correcting his situation at a young age by transplanting cells from his younger brother’s umbilical cord. This is indicative of some of the latest developments in human cloning to create designer babies throu gh curative measures. The key idea in designer babies is anchored around four key concepts and these are prevention of genetic diseases, promotion of conception of healthy children, correction of defects before a womb rejects an embryo and elimination of potential organ transplants. Another type of cloning is somatic cells nuclear transfer, which involves transfer of the nucleus of a

Head on vs Tylenol Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Head on vs Tylenol - Annotated Bibliography Example Head on is a product that relieves headaches by simple application on the forehead. The success of this product can be attributed to the vigorous and repetitive advertisement about it that has increased its awareness to people. Tylenol, the competitor brand is effective for temporary relief of aches, pains, headaches, nasal congestions. Its popularity has mainly been backed by the reputation of the Johnson and Johnson companies and the marketing it has been given. Head on is manufactured by Miralus healthcare Company. The ownership and manufacture of this product was transferred to Sirvision, inc. located in North America. Tylenol is one of the products made by the Tylenol Company and ownership is by Mc Neil consumer healthcare which is Johnson and Johnson subsidiary. Headon is made up of three ingredients from a flower, vine and a carcinogen. These ingredients are iris versicolor, potassium dichromate and white bryony. The active ingredient in Tylenol is paracetamol. The ingredients used in making these products have once or more been discredited by users and other groups for some reasons that reveal their failure or ineffectiveness. So far I have identified the population to gather the information from. The age of the people and their geographical location has been identified too. The methods of information gathering to use, and the timeline that will be enough to cover the project have also been ascertained. The information required for analysis of these products will be conducted after a survey by interviewing people to give their opinions on them and their preference. The interviews will cover the effectiveness \of these products, their failure and the most preferred in terms of effectiveness, accessibility and price. Questionnaires will also be used to collect information on the rival products. These data collecting instruments will be evenly distributed in the targeted demographic area to minimize chances of getting biased information. Manufacturers

Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay Example for Free

Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay â€Å"No one’s life is a smooth sail; we all come into stormy weather.† This statement has more truth to it than one may think. In life, everybody reaches a rough point, a point where the light at the end of the tunnel seems dim, or even nonexistent. But overcoming this adversity is what builds character. Accepting and prevailing over life’s obstacles are what separate strong, independent-minded and forward-thinking people from those who give up and avoid their problems. Anne Moody, author of Coming of Age in Mississippi, lived a life of great struggle in which she overcame adversity with great efforts and a dedicated heart and mind. As an African-American female, Anne Moody had one of the hardest battles to fight throughout her life. With limited rights as a woman and even further limitations due to race, she often found herself being subordinated by others. While in high school, she left her hometown of Centreville, Mississippi to spend the summer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While there, she worked for a local woman, Mrs. Jetson, doing housework. After working for Mrs. Jetson for two weeks, Anne wished to collect her pay. When Anne found Mrs. Jetson’s house empty, she recalled â€Å"On Monday I did call the shoe store, and was told Mrs. Jetson had quit on Friday. I had never before felt so gypped in all my life. Out of all the women I had worked for this woman was the worst† (Moody 150). Anne had been cheated out of two weeks’ worth of pay. She was astonished at Mrs. Jetson’s audacity in failing to pay Anne what was rightfully hers. It was difficult to find jobs where she was treated with some dignity, and almost impossible to find ones where she was treated as her employer’s equal. Anne was forced to change jobs frequently on account of being disrespected and used. Although no scamming experience was as impactful on Anne as the one with Mrs. Jetson, Anne experienced similar situations in jobs she had prior and jobs she took afterward. The summer after being in Baton Rouge, Anne went back to Louisiana; this time she stayed in New Orleans. There, she managed to land a job in a chicken factory. What she expected to be a large, intricate, and somewhat clean workplace turned out to be a dreadful nightmare. To her shock, she found herself gutting freshly killed chickens for over ten hours a day  without gloves or proper sanitation whatsoever. Near the end of the day, Anne recollected her â€Å"face, arms, and clothes were splattered with blood and chicken shit. I got so disgusted at one point that I stood there and let about a dozen chickens half full of shit pass me by† (Moody 178). Along with the other factory workers, Anne is treated with the utmost disregard to dignity and sanitation. She is forced to work excruciatingly long hours for minimum wage, exposed to grotesque dead animals and susceptible to disease. Unfortunately, because the pay was better than most other jobs in the area, Anne was forced to stick with her factory work. She worked in the factory for a month, saving her money and gaining exposure to the various stations in the factory. Although she did make very good money under the circumstances, she was deeply affected by her work; for years she could not eat chicken and for the rest of her life she refused to eat boxed chicken. The challenge of going to work every morning knowing what she was going to endure was tough, but her willpower and need for money helped her push through. After high school, Anne applied to and attended Natchez College in Mississippi. During her second year, she was eating in the cafeteria on campus when she and a few other classmates found maggots in their food. Disgusted, she and her classmates stormed into the kitchen to find an explanation for the repulsive experience. She â€Å"knew exactly where the grits were kept from the time I had worked in the kitchen. I went straight to the pantry and saw that there was a big leak from the showers upstairs. The water was seeping right down onto the shelves† (Moody 256). Anne and her classmates boycotted the campus cafeteria and its food, refusing to yield until some sanitary fixes were implemented. The challenge here was finding other ways to stay fed. The students did not have enough money to last them more than a week or so, so eventually they all started back, one by one, to the cafeteria and its semi-sanitary food. Still repulsed, Anne refused to go back and began losing a lot of weight. She became so thin and hungry all the time that she resorted to writing her mother who brought her enough canned food to last the remainder of the semester. The challenge in staying fed with healthy, sanitary food was one which presented itself on a large scale for Anne at college and otherwise. Had she been unable to obtain food from  her family, she may have starved to the point of fainting or even death. Overcoming this challenge was just about a matter of life or death for Anne. One of Anne’s most prominent memories and experiences in her early life was during her college career when she participated in a sit-in in Woolworth. The idea of the sit-in was to sit calmly at a white lunch counter and ask for service; thus, blacks wanted to show they wished to be treated equally. Of course, doing such a thing drew a lot of attention in very little time, and soon after the sit-in began a large crowd formed in the restaurant. After the crowd of whites realized Anne and her fellow sit-in participants would not budge until they received service, â€Å"the mob started smearing us [sit-in participants] with ketchup, mustard, sugar, pies, and everything on the counter. Soon Joan and I were joined by John Salter, but the moment he sat down he was hit on the jaw with what appeared to be brass knuckles. Blood gushed from his face and someone threw salt into the open wound† (Moody 291). The violence that occurred at the sit-in that Anne and her friends had to endure is almost unimaginable. The absolute disrespect, degradation, and cruelty shown to blacks by whites is virtually unbelievable, yet Anne was faced with challenges like these almost every day. Amazingly, Anne was courageous, intelligent, and controlled enough not to fight back and to remain nonviolent no matter what violence was shown to her. Her ability to not fight fire with fire is remarkable, and helped her to overcome the adversity which she so often found herself facing.

Effects of Soda Drinks on Health

Effects of Soda Drinks on Health Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tam INTRODUCTION Healthcare has become the primary concerns of public. There are many factors to ensure people health’s quality. Among them, food-stuff has a directly impaction on people health. At the time when food-stuff industry develops swiftly, it is really hard to distinguish between good and bad products. Especially, chemicals have been misused to add on processing products – not only on food, but also on drinks. Soda is the most popular drinks in the world. It appears in over 200 countries. However, not many users know how much sugar and carbonate they consume after drinking a can of those, which has strong affection on their health. This paper will discuss the issue of soda’s influences on people health in the United State and propose some solutions to these problems. DEFINITION Soda – another name of soft drinks or carbonated drinks – is a bizarre mixture of a great deal of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup), corrosive phosphoric acid, caramel coloring and a well-known drug – caffeine (Dillan, 2013). Beverages are usually packed by can, glass or plastic bottle, supper-sized bottle for some kinds. They can be seen in any supermarkets, restaurants or simple junk food stall. Moreover, they are colorful, eyes catching and cheap. It is partly explained the reason they are familiar to the major group of American, especially teenagers and young adults. SITUATION In recent years, people drink more and more soda. One of the biggest consumers is the United State with the sales volume increased up to 170 liters per one year in 2012 (Check, Dodson and Kirk, 2012). There is a big number of people who get addict to soda. According to Coca-Cola, there were 1.7 billion soda servings sold every day in 2010 (Coca-Cola GB, n.d.). Count out of only America, about 48 percent reported drinking at least one glass of soda per day. Among them, 20 percent drank more than 2 glasses (Saad, 2012). Carbonated drink has many reasons to become so popular and addictive. They were sold and advertised everywhere, the price is moderate. Especially, it contains plenty of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup) and caffeine, which provide instant energy and vigilant. However, long term drinking too much sugary drinks can lead to a lot of diseases. New Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) research suggests that roughly 180,000 obesity-related deaths worldwide—includin g 25,000 Americans—were associated with the consumption of sugary drinks (Hsph.harvard.edu, n.d.). PROBLEMS The issue of high soda consumption has led to several problems. Firstly, soda contains big amount of sugar. In 12-ounce can of coke, there are about 39 grams of sugar, which is about 9 1/3 teaspoons (Coffman, 2013). This amount of sugar would transform to about 154 calories in human body. According to American Heart Association (AHA), limit for daily added sugars intake is 100 calories (about 6 teaspoons) for women and 150 calories (about 9 teaspoons) for men (Heart.org, 2014). It can be seen that only a 12-ounce can of coke transcend the maximum sugar permission level for a day. The caloric excess can cause many diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure. Author of The Small Change Diet: 10 Steps to a Thinner, Healthier You, Keri Gans, said that â€Å"One 12-ounce soda a day translates into 16 pounds of extra weight over one year! If you drink one 20-ounce bottle of soda (which contains about 250 calories), you will drink up about 91,000 calories, which translat es into 26 pounds of extra weight!†. The proportion of overweight adults and obese adults in 2014 is 35.3 percent and 27.7 percent respectively. This obesity rate was the highest annual rate Gallup and Healthways have measured since beginning to track obesity in 2008 (McCarthy, 2014). Absorption of lots of sugar caused blood glucose levels to rise higher than normal. This is also called type 2 diabetes. The redundance of glucose in bloodstream can lead to heart and blood vessels diseases, nephropathy, eyes damage (Mayoclinic.org, 2014). Secondly, carbonated beverages brought about several problems of bones and teeth by its phosphoric acid. Tufts University researcher, Katherine Tucker, found that women who drank more than three 12-ounce servings of cola per day had 2.3 to 5.1 percent lower bone mineral density in the hip compared with women who consumed less than one serving per day (Enews.tufts.edu, 2003). Moreover, acid and acidic sugar byproducts in soft drink soften tooth enamel, contributing to tooth decay (Colgate.com, n.d.). Children and teenagers usually do not consume enough calcium in their diet while they drink soda more often. Long term beverages intake can reduce the amount of calcium in their bones and teeth. If this happens day after day, users will be at high risk of osteoporosis. This kind of illness considerably impact on human’s health and daily activities. In addition, beverages usually accommodate a great quantity of caffeine – about 45 to 60 milligrams. Caffeine is a kind of drug because it changes how you brain works. It is also considered to be stimulant. This chemical crosses the blood-brain barrier and gets inside the brain and central nervous system (Scott, 2014). Consumers may feel excited and alert when they use, however, stimulant can brings many bad effects to their body, even their brain. Caffeine not only brings users energy, it also triggers and releases stress hormones. It means the benefit only occur temporarily, after that, the body will feel exhausted and distracted. Drinking too much soda a day is the same with absorbing plenty of caffeine, which can easily cause insomnia, fatigue and stress. In fact, there are some phenomena occur to the abuser of caffeine. Although they are awake, they can not concentrate to what they are doing or feel light-headed – no physical strength. Undoubtedly, soft drink is no t effective as expectation, it just cheat on human’s feeling. Besides, a study of University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has shown thatdrinking sugary drinks was associated with cell aging. â€Å"Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened sodas might influence disease development, not only by straining the body’s metabolic control of sugars, but also through accelerated cellular aging of tissues.† saidElissa Epel, PhD, professor of psychiatry at UCSF and senior author of the study. The survey also indicated daily consumption 20-ounce of sugary drinks shortened life expectancy by 4.6 years (Leung et al., 2014). SOLUTIONS These issues bring a lot of negative aspects, not only for individuals but also for the country and society. However, there are several possible solutions to resolve these problems. The first solution is to raise educational awareness of citizens. To be more specific, schools can give some lectures to both parents and students. The purpose is to show them the terrible consequences of long term taking soda and teach them how to build a healthy diet or how to give up carbonated drinks. For example, they should replace daily Coke by fresh water or less-sugar juice. It is better for their skin and healthier. Besides, organizations related to food-stuff and health should conduct researches and provide convincing evidences to the citizens. It would be better to publish those lectures and researches on media such as television, radio, internets. In other words, this solution is used to gradually change the drinking habits of beverage’s consumers. Furthermore, some kinds of taxes can be increased or imposed heavily, for instance, non-alcohol carbonated drinks tax, plastic bottled beverages tax, advertise tax. There is a fact that beverages’ industry can be succeed like today, thanks to an important part to the advertising and marketing strategies. Coca Cola spent over 4 billion for marketing around the world and 3.3 billion on advertisements in 2013, represented 7 percent of its net sales (Forbes, 2014). In sum, marketing and advertisement play an important role in the level of consumer products. Therefore, restricting advertisements can reduce soda’s popularity and impaction. In January 2014, the Mexican government slapped an extra tax of 8 U.S cents per liter on sugary beverages. The result came out effectively, sale level for the biggest soft drink bottler, Coca Cola Femsa, dropped by 4.6 percent in Mexico during the first half of 2014, compared with the same period of 2013 (Guthrie, 2014). EVALUATION Those solutions above have two sides – advantages and disadvantages. This paragraph will evaluate the proposed solutions and suggest the best one. For the first solution, the good points of it are to change human’s eating habits and bring long-term effects. On the other hand, habits are difficult to change. It is very hard to overcome the psychological obstacles of avoiding favorite beverages. Moreover, to conduct a research or hold a thematic and publish them is simple and cheap. The price of making banners, advertisement or experiments’ devices is pretty high. For these reasons, this solution is time consuming and expensive though it is very effective. In comparison, the second solution succeeds almost immediately. However, it also has disadvantages which are really complex and sensitive. Taxes are under the management of the government, thus imposing new tax may impact the politics and economy problems. Once the genuine items are interfered, the contraband goo ds will take advantage of spreading which can cause serious consequences for customers. Therefore, the best solution should be the long-term increasing educational awareness. CONCLUSION Carbonated beverages have become a part of Americans’ diet. They are usually served with fast food which contains a lot of oil and calories. Totally, their meal accommodates much higher level of calories they need for a day. This prolonged situation can lead to enormous problems. For the purpose of avoiding negative consequences, human should have initiative solutions to solve those problems, especially to raise the awareness of healthcare and nutrients in soda, which cause many influences on people’s health. Overall, soda cause plenty of problems for people’s health, however, human can actively avoid them. REFERENCE LIST Coca-Cola GB, (n.d.).How many cans of Coca‑Cola are sold worldwide in a day? : FAQ. [online] Available at: http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/faq/products/how-many-cans-of-coca-cola-are-sold-worldwide-in-a-day.html [Accessed 15 Dec. 2014]. Coffman, M. (2013).How Many Teaspoons of Sugar Are There in a Can of Coke? | LIVESTRONG.COM. [online] LIVESTRONG.COM. Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/283136-how-many-teaspoons-of-sugar-are-there-in-a-can-of-coke/ [Accessed 23 Dec. 2014]. Colgate.com, (n.d.).Soda and Teeth Is Soda Bad for your teeth. [online] Available at: http://www.colgate.com/app/CP/US/EN/OC/Information/Articles/Oral-and-Dental-Health-Basics/Oral-Hygiene/Oral-Hygiene-Basics/article/Soda-or-Pop-Its-Teeth-Trouble-by-Any-Name.cvsp [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. Check, D., Dodson, M. and Kirk, C. (2012).Map: Americans Drink More Soda Than Anyone Else in the World. [online] Slate Magazine. Available at: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/map_of_the_week/2012/07/map_of_soda_consumption_americans_drink_more_than_anyone_else_.html [Accessed 15 Dec. 2014]. Dillan, J. (2013).What is in Soda and Why is it so Addictive?. [online] Health Ambition. Available at: http://www.healthambition.com/what-is-in-soda-why-so-addictive/ [Accessed 15 Dec. 2014]. Enews.tufts.edu, (2003).Tufts E-News: Soft-Drinks And Bones. [online] Available at: http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/802/2003/09/25/Tucker [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. Forbes, (2014). Coca-Colas Brand Building Initiatives Could Shoulder Sluggish CSD Sales. [online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/04/02/coca-colas-brand-building-initiatives-could-shoulder-sluggish-csd-sales/ [Accessed 20 Dec. 2014]. Gans, K. (2011).The Small Change Diet: 10 Steps to a Thinner, Healthier You. New York: Gallery Books, p.75. Guthrie, A. (2014).Survey Shows Mexicans Drinking Less Soda After Tax. [online] WSJ. Available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/survey-shows-mexicans-drinking-less-soda-after-tax-1413226009 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2014]. Heart.org, (2014).Frequently Asked Questions About Sugar. [online] Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Frequently-Asked-Questions-About-Sugar_UCM_306725_Article.jsp [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. Hsph.harvard.edu, (n.d.).Roughly 180,000 deaths worldwide linked to sugary drink consumption | News | Harvard School of Public Health. [online] Available at: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/roughly-180000-deaths-worldwide-linked-to-sugary-drink-consumption/ [Accessed 20 Dec. 2014]. Leung, C., Laraia, B., Needham, B., Rehkopf, D., Adler, N., Lin, J., Blackburn, E. and Epel, E. (2014). Soda and Cell Aging: Associations Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Healthy Adults From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.American Journal of Public Health, [online] 104(12), pp.2425-2431. Available at: http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/10/119431/sugared-soda-consumption-cell-aging-associated-new-study [Accessed 20 Dec. 2014]. Mayoclinic.org, (2014).Type 2 diabetes Complications Diseases and Conditions Mayo Clinic. [online] Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/basics/complications/con-20031902 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. McCarthy, J. (2014).In U.S., Adult Obesity Rate Now at 27.7%. [online] Gallup.com. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/170264/adult-obesity-rate.aspx [Accessed 19 Dec. 2014]. Saad, L. (2012).Nearly Half of Americans Drink Soda Daily. [online] Gallup.com. Available at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/156116/nearly-half-americans-drink-soda-daily.aspx [Accessed 17 Dec. 2014]. Scott, C. (2014).Caffeine: Energy Drinks, Coffee, Soda, Pills. Mason Crest Publisher.

Innocent Drinks Was Formed Management Essay

Innocent Drinks Was Formed Management Essay Innocent  Drinks was formed in 1998 by Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright BBC NEWS Business, 2010. The general idea of the company was to produce 100 fruit, with no water, sugar, concentrated juices or preservatives (GMID, 2012). It is also a firm that is synonymous with healthy lifestyles and ecological ethics.  Innocent  Drinks is now the leader of the smoothie market (see Appendix 2) in the UK, with the Coca-Cola Company owned a 58% of the companys stake (GMID, 2012). Moreover they sold their products in supermarkets, local shops, coffee shops and several other outlets. Furthermore Innocent drinks are now sold in ten European countries (Fast Track 100, 2012). Innocent shows a big interest to achieve the five-a-day in order to improve publics health. Thus, the company is working with Government consultants and nutrition specialists in order to find ways to promote fruit consumption (Marketing Week, 2011). They have shown a big interest about charity and according to the companys official website they donate 10% of their profits to the charity, the majority of which goes to the innocent foundation. Foundation is currently supporting sixteen partner projects mainly in countries where innocent drinks supplies its fruit. They focus on agricultural, because company believes that people should use the natural resources in order to enable a better future (Innocent website, 2012 b). The company emphasise that it is workers show respect for the environment and all the fruits used are 100% eco-friendly produced (Innocent website, 2012 b). Additionally the company have won many awards such as World Juice Award Foodnews World Juice Award for best new product (Apple Juice) on 2011 and Marketing Week Effectiveness Award for New Product of the Year (Kids) on 2010 (Innocent website, 2012 b). In general, smoothie market had a growth in sales and the forecasts were positive until 2007. However due the economic crisis the consumers modified their shopping list and th e revised forecast are not encouraging for the future according to Mintel report in 2009 (see Appendix 1). Figure 1: Business excellence model (Adapted from University of Cambridge Publications, 2012)http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Research/CSP/Modified_Large.png The business excellence models are frameworks that when operated within an organisation can help to focus ideas and action in a more methodical and structured way that should guide employees to increase their performance.  Moreover those frameworks help the company to introduce its HRM practices and also apply them more effectively. HRM Practices-Best Practices According to Marchington and Wilkinson (2005), best practice HRM is capable of being used in any organisation, irrespective of product market situation, industry, or workforce. There are many activities which human resource is focused on. Examples of HRM practices are recruitment and selection, training and development, employee wellbeing, negotiation, health and safety, payment and reward etc. (Foot and Hook, 2011). The two human resource practices that the Innocent focus on are the Training and Development and Payment and Reward. Training and Development Figure 2: Interaction between different levels of development requirements and the wider corporate planning process (Adapted from Investors in People, 2012 a) There are several methods to achieve the employees progress which are usually extent according to sector and size of the company. The progress within the company can be individually or team based. Additionally the employer has to take into consideration that the development starts form the organisation then moves to the department and finally to the individual (Figure 1). Moreover there is a several methods for the company when it is considering the training and development of both decision-making and non-decision making personnel. The firm can give emphasis to formal training procedures and self-development in order to achieve an improved standard for its employees. The table below illustrates information about the most effective methods for employees to learn. It is remarkable that the majority of them prefer to learn in the work place which Innocent provides during the induction compulsory programme. Employees prefer to learn during the work period instead of self-study through co urses and work experience. Method Percentage On the job 41 Formal Courses 21 The experience of work 15 Coaching/ Mentoring 10 Informal help from colleagues 7 Other 4 E-learning 2 Self-study in own time 1 Table 1: Most Effective way for people to learn (Adapted from CIPD, 2007) The Innocent Company engages this HRM practice and supports it in several ways in order to encourage its employees to work to in the maximum level of their ability. Thus, those practices can act as examples of ways of maximising employee performance. Firstly, the introduction of an induction programme is necessary of a smaller company, whereas a grater company might be providing series of training programmes (Investors in People, 2008). Innocent provides two week induction programme in addition to other courses. For example the Innocent Drinks Company provides two compulsory training programs for its employees such as the innocent academy and the innocent business academy. However, the company provides optional programmes such as Managing your own development and Building expertise in what you do (Innocent website, 2012 b). Compulsory courses: The innocent academy: This is a two day compulsory programme which helps the employee to familiarise with the work environment. This induction course equips the employee with uncomplicated tools and ideas. The general aim of this course is to help the new member of the company to be more valuable and efficient to the workplace. Moreover this is a great opportunity for the employee to meet people who may work way with on a daily basis. Furthermore the employee can listen to the older employees and get a general idea about working in Innocent (Innocent website, 2012 b). The innocent Business Academy (IBA): This is an additional two day course. The companys plan is to teach core business skills to its future employees, for example project management and financial skills. This course occur during the first year at innocent, in case of the employee is at manager level or beyond (Innocent website, 2012 b). Optional Courses Managing Your Own Development: These courses run during the year. They are optional courses designed to give to the employees additional information, guidelines and useful tools in order to managing their ideas, strategies and strengths in addition to planning the next move (Innocent website, 2012 b). Building expertise in what you do: The Company is divided to many small teams. Each team has an aim to do its best to hold the Innocent to the highest level. For example sales team focuses to the methods of negotiation, and technical team focus on the latest methods for keeping the drinks safe from bacteria and microbes. Moreover some other teams have to study for professional exams in order to improve their skills (Innocent website, 2012 b). Payment and Reward for Employees According to CIPD (2009), approximately a quarter of employers have a reward strategy in their company. Based on Investors in People (2012 b), there are several ways of rewarding people such as one-off bonus payments for personal performance, commissions, performance related pay, profit related pay, competency based pay, employee share scheme, benefits and non financial approaches. One-off bonus payments for personal performance: In addition to salary each employee can get an extra bonus for the achievement of the annually goals. Commission: This reward refers more to the sales team. The commission price depends on their achievement of effective selling methods. Performance related pay: This method reflects not only outcomes or output but also actual performance in the work (MacKenna and Beech, 2008). Increases level of basic pay based on overall personal performance, rather than as a one-off payment. Profit related pay: The employees pay and bonuses may be straight related to the companys profit or the achievement of effective targets. Principally employees would be given a motivation to work harder, and in high profit times for the company they will earn the rewards, though in bad times they would share the companys collapse. However it is possible for the employer to design a strategy in order to protect the employees when profits decreased (MacKenna and Beech, 2008). Competency based pay: Rewards can based on employees work, skills and attitude, and not only when the goal has achieved because sometimes is out of their control in several circumstances. Employee share scheme: Frequently used to link performance and long service to possession of the company. The method of offering share ownership to employees can include an individual financial value in the success of the company, as a part owner as well as an employee benefits. Non-financial approaches: This is an excellent performance and a motivation to take on more responsibility might make the employer to think a possible promotion or extra responsibility for an employee. Innocent adapts this HRM practice, and support the general idea of Payment and Reward. This practice is designed to motivate employees to work to the best of their ability and consequently is an example of method to maximising employee performance. The company organises meetings every week and the employees have the chance to talk about the topics which arise. Based in Innocent Drink company people who contribute more in the company get the highest salary and rewards. Every year the salary of each employee is reviewed and based on the annually high performance is rewarded by increasing ability to receive. Moreover the PRP Bonus  is an annually reward (Innocent website, 2012 b). If the yearly goals are successfully reached all the employees has the chance to share in the success. Furthermore all the employees have a private health care as well as life assurance and critical illness cover. Additionally there are tax saving schemes  in order to help people to save money where possible through tax saving system, for example they run the childcare coupon scheme (Innocent website, 2012 b). An once a year scholarship is offered by the company for an employee, in order to work in one of their foundation projects. Moreover the compa ny organised different clubs such as massage, cake club and Cheese Club. The best employee of the month has to wear hat or tiara and many cups of tea. Finally there are free smoothies for every employee, free breakfast and a weekly beer party every Friday (Innocent website, 2012 b). The company wants to create a friendly environment for its employees in order to increase the productivity and the will for work. 3. Employment Law-Legislation According to CIPD (2012), employment law refers to the legal rights of employees and employers. A range of employee rights are protected by employment law. Those regulations are either provided by European Union or by UK government. European Union can make suggestions for employment law and its members can vote against or can enact them. However some common employee rights such as those that encourage improvements related to health and safety must adopted by all members , including those members who vote against them (Foot and Hook ,2011). Moreover a general role which applied to all EU countries is the regulation which specifies to a maximum of 48 weekly working hours (Foot and Hook, 2011). According to the Equality Act 2010, no employee has to be discriminated about age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity (ACAS, 2010). This law became to practice in October 2010 (ACAS, 2010). Two examples of the Equality Act 2010: Employers have to design policies to encourage equal opportunities (Foot and Hook, 2011). They also have to train and inform the managers and the employees and ensure that no discrimination is occurring in the work environment (Foot and Hook, 2011). According to the Equality Act 2010, it is illegal for employers to discriminate because of anything of the above (ACAS, 2012). Discrimination is divided in four categories. Firstly, direct  discrimination occurs when an employer or employee treat someone less positively because of their actual or perceived sex or because of the sex of someone with whom they relate. Secondly indirect discrimination can happen where the company has a policy, training or actions that apply to all employees, but particularly disadvantage employees of a specific sex (ACAS, 2012). Thirdly, harassment occurs when unnecessary behaviour  related to sex has the reason or consequence of violating a persons dignity  or creating an unapproachable,  antagonisti c, humiliating, embarrassing or unpleasant environment. Fourthly victimisation is the unreasonable behaviour of an employee who has made or supported a criticism about sex discrimination (ACAS, 2012). As well as sex discrimination, race discrimination occurs under four categories. Race discrimination can occur because of colour, race, nationality, citizenship, ethnic or national origin are illegal (ACAS, 2012). Innocent: Innocent alight with the equality act and also it respect people from different race. For example Innocent foundation is currently supporting sixteen projects principally in countries where  innocent drinks get its fruit (Innocent website, 2012 b).   They give work to the local people with an agriculture focus in order to motivate them to use the natural sources. This move shows respect and equality between employees. Moreover Innocent provides work opportunities for both genders with equal pay, thus the company engaged with the Equality act 2010. No evidence found about discrimination or similar action from any employer at Innocent. Recommendations-Ideas for Improvement The company has to think about children nutrition (see Appendix 2), in order to decrease its high acid and sugar levels (Nexis, 2012). Innocent can organise conferences about sugar and acid levels and through the Training and Development HRM practice can develop employees knowledge about this key issue for a company which claims that is selling healthy drinks. Through this action the firm can improve its general reflection and also can show respect to the consumers. An additional recommendation can be the cooperation with a health promoting organisation or restaurant instead of McDonalds with which the company had cooperation the last five years (see Appendix 2). The cooperation with McDonalds had a bad reflection to the consumer and the firm can essentially represent its first idea which was the production of healthy drinks (Marketing Week, 2007 b). In order to succeed this cooperation the company has to encourage its personnel and motivate them through the different HRM practices such as Payment and Reward. 5. Conclusion To conclude Innocent applies the current HRM practices and current legislation effectively. According to their website and the information which are provided by the company employees are working in a friendly environment and they have many options to improve their performance through the HRM practices. Furthermore the company shows respect to the different race and gender, thus they follow the current employment law end especially the Equality Act 2010. Moreover by following the recommendations, the company can develop its functioning through employees ideas and actions as the business excellence model illustrates (Figure 1). 6. References ACAS, (2010), The Equality Act 2010, [Online]. Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3017 ACAS, (2012), Advisory handbook The A-Z of work, [Online]. Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=857 BBC News Business,(2010), Richard Reed, Innocent Drinks, [Online]. Last accessed on 21 October 2012 at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11551271 Britvic, (2012). Soft Drinks Report Data. [Online]. Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.britvic.co.uk/reports/Soft-Drinks-Report-Data-2012.indd/index.html#/1/zoomed CIPD, (2012), [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/ Fast Track 100, (2012). Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack/leagues/dbfastDetails.asp?siteID=1compID=1378yr=2008 GMID, (2012), [Online]. Innocent Drinks Co Ltd in Soft Drinks (United Kingdom), Last accessed on 21 October 2012 at: http://www.portal.euromonitor.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/Portal/Pages/Search/SearchResultsList.aspx Design Council, (2012), Innocent Drinks: creative culture and strong brand. [Online] Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/case-studies/innocent-drinks/# Innocent website, (2012 a), Full Sustainability report, [Online] Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://assets.innocentdrinks.co.uk/innocentsustainability.pdf Innocent website, (2012 b), [Online], Last accessed on 22 October 2012 at: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk Investors in People, (2008), Evaluate training and development, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Developing%20people/DP21.pdf Investors in People, (2012 a), How to analyse your teams development needs, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Developing%20people/How%20to%20Analyse%20Your%20Teams%20Development%20Needs.pdf Investors in People, (2012 b), Rewarding People, [Online], Last accessed on 4 November 2012 at: http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Documents/Interactive/Managing%20performance/Rewarding%20People.pdf Marchington M, Wilkinson A.,(2005),Human Resource Management, High Commitment HRM and Performance,71-98, CIPD, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7FE8ADEB-EA96-4836-83DD-2E95FD309B15/0/samplech3.pdf MacKenna E., Beech N. (2008). Human Resource Management. A Concise Analysi. 2nd edition Prentice Hall Marketing Week, (2007 a). McDonalds to trial sale of Innocent smoothies. [Online], Last accessed on 31 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/mcdonalds-to-trial-sale-of-innocent-smoothies/2056106.article Marketing Week, (2007 b). Innocent guilty of sell-out? , [Online], Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://web.ebscohost.com.lcproxy.shu.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f4ff9d99-0c5d-47f9-8745-45e97cb0c6b5%40sessionmgr112vid=8hid=128 Marketing Week, (2011).Innocent lobbies Govt to promote five-a-day. [Online], Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/innocent-lobbies-govt-to-promote-five-a-day/3024563.article Marketing Week, (2012 a). Innocent encourages kids to be gardeners, [Online], Last accessed on 30 October 2012 at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/innocent-encourages-kids-to-be-gardeners/4000213.article Mintel,(2009). Market Re-Forecasts: Food and Drink: 2009: Smoothies., [Online], Last accessed on 31 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=227765/display/id=447522#atom0 Mintel, (2012), [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com Mintel, (2011), Smoothies, Executive Summary UK October 2011. [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://academic.mintel.com/display/545342/?highlight=true Nexis, (2012 a), High acid levels in juice bad for your kid s teeth!, [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.lexisnexis.com Nexis, (2012 b), High level of acid in fruit drinks may harm teeth enamel. [Online]. Last accessed on 17 October 2012 at: http://www.lexisnexis.com Reynolds J. (2012), McDonalds ditches Innocent Smoothies, Marketing Mgazine, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1145352/McDonalds-ditches-Innocent-Smoothies/ Foot M, and Hook C,(2011), Introducing Human Resource Management, 6th Edition, FT Prentice Hall The food and grocery experts, (2009). Innocent drinks measuring their carbon footprint from farm to fridge to the recycling bin, [Online]. Last accessed on 1 November 2012 at: http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1fid=1sid=5tid=49folid=0cid=924 University of Cambridge publications, 2012, Developing Business Excellence Model for Performance Measurement in Transitional Economies,[Online]. Last accessed on 5 November 2012 at: http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/csp/excellence/ 7. Appendices

The Theme of the Epic Poem, Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essay

The Theme of Beowulf      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interpretations of Beowulf vary. In this essay I hope to state clearly some of the popularly mentioned themes running through the poem.    â€Å"Many critics feel that the speech of Hrothgar between lines 1700 and 1784 encapsulates the moral of the poem†¦.’He does not know the worse – till inside him great arrogance grows and spreads’† (Shippey 38). Hrothgar’s ominous words do come back to haunt the hero more than once. Beowulf is a braggart; he is proud, and nothing seems able to change his basic proud outlook derived from his all-powerful physical strength. Even shortly before his own defeat against the fire-dragon, our hero is recalling his killing of the great hero of the Hugas with his bare hands:    ever since the time,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   in front of the hosts, I slew Daeghrefn,  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the champion of the Hugas, with my bare hands.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He never brought back his breast-ornament  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   to the Frisian king: the standard-bearer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   fell in combat a prince, in valor;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   no edge killed him my hand-grip crushed  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   his beating heart, his life’s bone-house (2501-09).    Yes, Beowulf was full of pride and self-confidence; this made him impetuous in his actions. Regarding the dragon, â€Å"its strength and fire seemed nothing at all to the strong old king†(2348-49); before facing the dragon, he was reminiscing about his valour in combat against the Hetware and how he alone had escaped:    Lines 2354-68:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nor was it the least hand-to-hand comba... ...some of the viewpoints on this topic.    BIBLIOGRAPHY    Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A dual-Language Edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977.    Kaske, R.E.. â€Å"The Governing Theme of Beowulf.† In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975    Leyerle, John. â€Å"The Conflicting Demands of Heroic Strength and Kingly Wisdom.† In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.    Shippey, T.A.. â€Å"The World of the Poem.† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.    Tolkien, J.R.R.. â€Å"Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.† In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.            

Solving an Ethical Dilemma at Work Essay -- Business Ethics

Describe an ethical problem you have encountered or might encounter in your workplace. How would you approach the problem and reach a decision to solve it? Business ethics defines how a company integrates core values - such as honesty, trust, respect, and fairness - into its policies, practices, and decision-making. Business ethics also involves a company's compliance with legal standards and observance to internal rules and regulations. Business ethics is, in part, the attempt to think clearly and deeply about ethical issues in business and to arrive at conclusions that are supported by strongest possible arguments. Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values are the inner judgments that determine how a person actually behaves. Ethical principles are the rules of conduct that derive from ethical values. For example, honesty is a value that governs behavior in the form of principles such as: tell the truth, don't deceive, don't cheat. In this way, values give rise to principles in the form of specific "dos" and "don'ts." In a business the ultimate goal is to achieve maximum profits. There are factors affecting at different levels of the business such as finance, technology, labor, and workflow in order to maintain excellence and growth of the company. In this paper, I want to demonstrate what ethical issues I faced working as a team leader for my company and how I approached the problem in order to solve it. How to make decisions and also to find solutions without disturbing the env... ... my integrity and minimized damage to my fellow member. Although I still question the correctness of not exposing his negligence, the decision I made allowed me to preserve the trust of my team. After the project was in action that member continued working and completed his work and I had no problems with his work in future. Trustworthiness, respect, honesty, responsibility, fairness, caring, are ethical values to guide our choices in order to make an ethical decision. The key to making effective decisions is to think about choices in terms of their ability to accomplish our most important goals. Reading the chapters have changed and affected in the way of my thinking . It has also helped me decide that the decision I took at my workplace was right. Solving an Ethical Dilemma at Work Essay -- Business Ethics Describe an ethical problem you have encountered or might encounter in your workplace. How would you approach the problem and reach a decision to solve it? Business ethics defines how a company integrates core values - such as honesty, trust, respect, and fairness - into its policies, practices, and decision-making. Business ethics also involves a company's compliance with legal standards and observance to internal rules and regulations. Business ethics is, in part, the attempt to think clearly and deeply about ethical issues in business and to arrive at conclusions that are supported by strongest possible arguments. Ethics is concerned with how a moral person should behave, whereas values are the inner judgments that determine how a person actually behaves. Ethical principles are the rules of conduct that derive from ethical values. For example, honesty is a value that governs behavior in the form of principles such as: tell the truth, don't deceive, don't cheat. In this way, values give rise to principles in the form of specific "dos" and "don'ts." In a business the ultimate goal is to achieve maximum profits. There are factors affecting at different levels of the business such as finance, technology, labor, and workflow in order to maintain excellence and growth of the company. In this paper, I want to demonstrate what ethical issues I faced working as a team leader for my company and how I approached the problem in order to solve it. How to make decisions and also to find solutions without disturbing the env... ... my integrity and minimized damage to my fellow member. Although I still question the correctness of not exposing his negligence, the decision I made allowed me to preserve the trust of my team. After the project was in action that member continued working and completed his work and I had no problems with his work in future. Trustworthiness, respect, honesty, responsibility, fairness, caring, are ethical values to guide our choices in order to make an ethical decision. The key to making effective decisions is to think about choices in terms of their ability to accomplish our most important goals. Reading the chapters have changed and affected in the way of my thinking . It has also helped me decide that the decision I took at my workplace was right.

An Analysis of Andrew Sullivans Let Gays Marry :: Let Gays Marry Andrew Sullivan

"Let Gays Marry" is an article written by Andrew Sullivan arguing that homosexuals should be given the right to be legally married in the United States. In this essay, Sullivan argues that homosexuals have just as much right to marry as heterosexual couples. Sullivan argues that throughout US history that the definition of marriage has been altered several times to accommodate changing times, and that it is time to recognize gay's right to marry. Throughout the article, Sullivan uses several sources to back up his argument, but also makes several comments to weaken his argument. To add to Sullivan?s credibility, he is an editor of The New Republic, which was established in 1914 with a mission to provide its readers with an intelligent, stimulating and rigorous examination of American politics, foreign policy and culture, the author of several books, including Virtually Normal: An Argument about Homosexuality, as well as having been published in several news magazines including Newsweek. Sullivan?s article is an inductive argument directed at persuading and perhaps even educating all people on why gay marriage should be allowed in the United States. Throughout the essay, Sullivan uses multiple techniques, including Pathos, Ethos, Logos, and even Mythos to squarely support his argument, all of which help to aid in the credibility of the topic. Sullivan?s argument, while generally successful, has some weak points. The argument is generally written in a very relaxed manner, which may or may not discredit the argument. People looking to argue against Sullivan?s article may view the relaxed format as a sign of lack of knowledge or support of the argument. On the other hand, being composed in accessible language readily understood by the general population, and not perceived as accessibly intellectual may help this argument appeal to a broader population. Having been published in Newsweek Magazine on June 3, 1996, Sullivan?s article seems to be credible. Newsweek is a credible news source, and generally publishes credible materials. Despite having been published in Newsweek, this argument is biased when in the first sentence Sullivan identifies himself as a homosexual. ?For the first time in Supreme Court history, gay men and women were seen not as some powerful lobby trying to subvert America, but as the people we truly are?? When Sullivan uses the term we, he is identifying that he himself is a homosexual, and therefore I must assume that he is arguing from a homosexual point of view, and not an unbiased point of view.

10 Worst Computer Viruses of All Time

10 Worst Computer Viruses of All Time Computer viruses can be a nightmare. Some can wipe out the information on a hard drive, tie up traffic on a computer network for hours, turn an innocent machine into a zombie and replicate and send themselves to other computers. If you've never had a machine fall victim to a computer virus, you may wonder what the fuss is about. But the concern is understandable — according to Consumer Reports, computer viruses helped contribute to $8. 5 billion in consumer losses in 2008 [source: MarketWatch]. Computer viruses are just one kind of online threat, but they're arguably the best known of the bunch.Computer viruses have been around for many years. In fact, in 1949, a scientist named John von Neumann theorized that a self-replicated program was possible [source: Krebs]. The computer industry wasn't even a decade old, and already someone had figured out how to throw a monkey wrench into the figurative gears. But it took a few decades before prog rammers known as hackers began to build computer viruses. While some pranksters created virus-like programs for large computer systems, it was really the introduction of the personal computer that brought computer viruses to the public's attention.A doctoral student named Fred Cohen was the first to describe self-replicating programs designed to modify computers as viruses. The name has stuck ever since. |Old-school Viruses | |Some of the earliest viruses to infect personal computers included the Apple Viruses, which attacked Apple II computers | |and the Brain virus, which could infect PCs. | In the good old days (i. e. , the early 1980s), viruses depended on humans to do the hard work of spreading the virus to other computers. A hacker would save the virus to disks and then distribute the disks to other people.It wasn't until modems became common that virus transmission became a real problem. Today when we think of a computer virus, we usually imagine something that transmits itse lf via the Internet. It might infect computers through e-mail messages or corrupted Web links. Programs like these can spread much faster than the earliest computer viruses. We're going to take a look at 10 of the worst computer viruses to cripple a computer system. Let's start with the Melissa virus. Worst Computer Virus 10: Melissa In the spring of 1999, a man named David L. Smith created a computer virus based on a Microsoft Word macro.He built the virus so that it could spread through e-mail messages. Smith named the virus â€Å"Melissa,† saying that he named it after an exotic dancer from Florida [source: CNN]. [pic] Daniel Hulshizer/AFP/Getty Images A courtroom photo of David L. Smith, the alleged creator of the Melissa virus. Rather than shaking its moneymaker, the Melissa computer virus tempts recipients into opening a document with an e-mail message like â€Å"Here is that document you asked for, don't show it to anybody else. † Once activated, the virus repli cates itself and sends itself out to the top 50 people in the recipient's e-mail address book.The virus spread rapidly after Smith unleashed it on the world. The United States federal government became very interested in Smith's work — according to statements made by FBI officials to Congress, the Melissa virus â€Å"wreaked havoc on government and private sector networks† [source: FBI]. The increase in e-mail traffic forced some companies to discontinue e-mail programs until the virus was contained. After a lengthy trial process, Smith lost his case and received a 20-month jail sentence. The court also fined Smith $5,000 and forbade him from accessing computer networks without court authorization [source: BBC].Ultimately, the Melissa virus didn't cripple the Internet, but it was one of the first computer viruses to get the public's attention. Flavors of Viruses In this article, we'll look at several different kinds of computer viruses. Here's a quick guide to what we' ll see: †¢ The general term computer virus usually covers programs that modify how a computer works (including damaging the computer) and can self-replicate. A true computer virus requires a host program to run properly — Melissa used a Word document. †¢ A worm, on the other hand, doesn't require a host program.It's an application that can replicate itself and send itself through computer networks. †¢ Trojan horses are programs that claim to do one thing but really do another. Some might damage a victim's hard drive. Others can create a backdoor, allowing a remote user to access the victim's computer system. Next, we'll look at a virus that had a sweet name but a nasty effect on its victims. Worst Computer Virus 9: ILOVEYOU A year after the Melissa virus hit the Internet, a digital menace emerged from the Philippines. Unlike the Melissa virus, this threat came in the form of a worm — it was a standalone program capable of replicating itself.It bore the n ame ILOVEYOU. [pic] Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images A screenshot of the ILOVEYOU computer virus The ILOVEYOU virus initially traveled the Internet by e-mail, just like the Melissa virus. The subject of the e-mail said that the message was a love letter from a secret admirer. An attachment in the e-mail was what caused all the trouble. The original worm had the file name of LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU. TXT. vbs. The vbs extension pointed to the language the hacker used to create the worm: Visual Basic Scripting [source: McAfee].According to anti-virus software producer McAfee, the ILOVEYOU virus had a wide range of attacks: †¢ It copied itself several times and hid the copies in several folders on the victim's hard drive. †¢ It added new files to the victim's registry keys. †¢ It replaced several different kinds of files with copies of itself. †¢ It sent itself through Internet Relay Chat clients as well as e-mail. †¢ It downloaded a file called WIN-BUGSFIX. EXE from the Internet and executed it. Rather than fix bugs, this program was a password-stealing application that e-mailed secret information to the hacker's e-mail address.Who created the ILOVEYOU virus? Some think it was Onel de Guzman of the Philippines. Filipino authorities investigated de Guzman on charges of theft — at the time the Philippines had no computer espionage or sabotage laws. Citing a lack of evidence, the Filipino authorities dropped the charges against de Guzman, who would neither confirm nor deny his responsibility for the virus. According to some estimates, the ILOVEYOU virus caused $10 billion in damages [source: Landler]. Gotcha! As if viruses, worms and Trojan horses weren't enough, we also have to worry about virus hoaxes.These are fake viruses — they don't actually cause any harm or replicate themselves. Instead, the creators of these viruses hope that people and media companies treat the hoax as if it were the real deal. Even though these hoaxes aren't immediately dangerous, they are still a problem. Like the boy who cried wolf, hoax viruses can cause people to ignore warnings about real threats. Now that the love fest is over, let's take a look at one of the most widespread viruses to hit the Web. Worst Computer Virus 8: The Klez Virus [pic] Joe Raedle/Getty Images Fortunately for consumers, there's no shortage of antivirus software suites on the market.The Klez virus marked a new direction for computer viruses, setting the bar high for those that would follow. It debuted in late 2001, and variations of the virus plagued the Internet for several months. The basic Klez worm infected a victim's computer through an e-mail message, replicated itself and then sent itself to people in the victim's address book. Some variations of the Klez virus carried other harmful programs that could render a victim's computer inoperable. Depending on the version, the Klez virus could act like a normal computer virus, a worm or a Trojan horse.It coul d even disable virus-scanning software and pose as a virus-removal tool [source: Symantec]. Shortly after it appeared on the Internet, hackers modified the Klez virus in a way that made it far more effective. Like other viruses, it could comb through a victim's address book and send itself to contacts. But it could also take another name from the contact list and place that address in the â€Å"From† field in the e-mail client. It's called spoofing — the e-mail appears to come from one source when it's really coming from somewhere else. Spoofing an e-mail address accomplishes a couple of goals.For one thing, it doesn't do the recipient of the e-mail any good to block the person in the â€Å"From† field, since the e-mails are really coming from someone else. A Klez worm programmed to spam people with multiple e-mails could clog an inbox in short order, because the recipients would be unable to tell what the real source of the problem was. Also, the e-mail's recip ient might recognize the name in the â€Å"From† field and therefore be more receptive to opening it. Antivirus Software It's important to have an antivirus program on your computer, and to keep it up to date.But you shouldn't use more than one suite, as multiple antivirus programs can interfere with one another. Here's a list of some antivirus software suites: †¢ Avast Antivirus †¢ AVG Anti-Virus †¢ Kaspersky Anti-Virus †¢ McAfee VirusScan †¢ Norton AntiVirus Several major computer viruses debuted in 2001. In the next section, we'll take a look at Code Red. Worst Computer Virus 7: Code Red and Code Red II [pic] Chris Hondros/Getty Images The CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie-Mellon university published an advisory alerting the public to the dangers of the Code Red virus. The Code Red and Code Red II worms popped up in the summer of 2001.Both worms exploited an operating system vulnerability that was found in machines running Windows 2000 and Windo ws NT. The vulnerability was a buffer overflow problem, which means when a machine running on these operating systems receives more information than its buffers can handle, it starts to overwrite adjacent memory. The original Code Red worm initiated a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the White House. That means all the computers infected with Code Red tried to contact the Web servers at the White House at the same time, overloading the machines.A Windows 2000 machine infected by the Code Red II worm no longer obeys the owner. That's because the worm creates a backdoor into the computer's operating system, allowing a remote user to access and control the machine. In computing terms, this is a system-level compromise, and it's bad news for the computer's owner. The person behind the virus can access information from the victim's computer or even use the infected computer to commit crimes. That means the victim not only has to deal with an infected computer, but also may fall under suspicion for crimes he or she didn't commit.While Windows NT machines were vulnerable to the Code Red worms, the viruses' effect on these machines wasn't as extreme. Web servers running Windows NT might crash more often than normal, but that was about as bad as it got. Compared to the woes experienced by Windows 2000 users, that's not so bad. Microsoft released software patches that addressed the security vulnerability in Windows 2000 and Windows NT. Once patched, the original worms could no longer infect a Windows 2000 machine; however, the patch didn't remove viruses from infected computers — victims had to do that themselves.What do I do now? What should you do if you find out your computer has been hit with a computer virus? That depends on the virus. Many antivirus programs are able to remove viruses from an infected system. But if the virus has damaged some of your files or data, you'll need to restore from backups. It's very important to back up your inform ation often. And with viruses like the Code Red worms, it's a good idea to completely reformat the hard drive and start fresh. Some worms allow other malicious software to load onto your machine, and a simple antivirus sweep might not catch them all.Worst Computer Virus 6: Nimda [pic] SMobile Systems The Symbian Skull Virus affects cell phones, causing them to display a series of skull images like this. Another virus to hit the Internet in 2001 was the Nimda (which is admin spelled backwards) worm. Nimda spread through the Internet rapidly, becoming the fastest propagating computer virus at that time. In fact, according to TruSecure CTO Peter Tippett, it only took 22 minutes from the moment Nimda hit the Internet to reach the top of the list of reported attacks [source: Anthes]. The Nimda worm's primary targets were Internet servers.While it could infect a home PC, its real purpose was to bring Internet traffic to a crawl. It could travel through the Internet using multiple methods, including e-mail. This helped spread the virus across multiple servers in record time. The Nimda worm created a backdoor into the victim's operating system. It allowed the person behind the attack to access the same level of functions as whatever account was logged into the machine currently. In other words, if a user with limited privileges activated the worm on a computer, the attacker would also have limited access to the computer's functions.On the other hand, if the victim was the administrator for the machine, the attacker would have full control. The spread of the Nimda virus caused some network systems to crash as more of the system's resources became fodder for the worm. In effect, the Nimda worm became a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Phoning it In Not all computer viruses focus on computers. Some target other electronic devices. Here's just a small sample of some highly portable viruses: †¢ CommWarrior attacked smartphones running the Symbian operating system (OS). The Skulls Virus also attacked Symbian phones and displayed screens of skulls instead of a home page on the victims' phones. †¢ RavMonE. exe is a virus that could infect iPod MP3 devices made between Sept. 12, 2006, and Oct. 18, 2006. †¢ Fox News reported in March 2008 that some electronic gadgets leave the factory with viruses pre-installed — these viruses attack your computer when you sync the device with your machine [source: Fox News]. Next, we'll take a look at a virus that affected major networks, including airline computers and bank ATMs. Worst Computer Virus 5: SQL Slammer/Sapphire pic] Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images The Slammer virus hit South Korea hard, cutting it off from the Internet and leaving Internet cafes like this one relatively empty. In late January 2003, a new Web server virus spread across the Internet. Many computer networks were unprepared for the attack, and as a result the virus brought down several important systems. The Bank o f America's ATM service crashed, the city of Seattle suffered outages in 911 service and Continental Airlines had to cancel several flights due to electronic ticketing and check-in errors.The culprit was the SQL Slammer virus, also known as Sapphire. By some estimates, the virus caused more than $1 billion in damages before patches and antivirus software caught up to the problem [source: Lemos]. The progress of Slammer's attack is well documented. Only a few minutes after infecting its first Internet server, the Slammer virus was doubling its number of victims every few seconds. Fifteen minutes after its first attack, the Slammer virus infected nearly half of the servers that act as the pillars of the Internet [source: Boutin].The Slammer virus taught a valuable lesson: It's not enough to make sure you have the latest patches and antivirus software. Hackers will always look for a way to exploit any weakness, particularly if the vulnerability isn't widely known. While it's still impo rtant to try and head off viruses before they hit you, it's also important to have a worst-case-scenario plan to fall back on should disaster strike. A Matter of Timing Some hackers program viruses to sit dormant on a victim's computer only to unleash an attack on a specific date.Here's a quick sample of some famous viruses that had time triggers: †¢ The Jerusalem virus activated every Friday the 13th to destroy data on the victim computer's hard drive †¢ The Michelangelo virus activated on March 6, 1992 — Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 †¢ The Chernobyl virus activated on April 26, 1999 — the 13th anniversary of the Chernobyl meltdown disaster †¢ The Nyxem virus delivered its payload on the third of every month, wiping out files on the victim's computer Computer viruses can make a victim feel helpless, vulnerable and despondent.Next, we'll look at a virus with a name that evokes all three of those feelings. Worst Computer Virus 4: MyDoom [pi c] Alex Wong/Getty Images The MyDoom virus inspired politicians like U. S. Senator Chuck Schumer to propose a National Virus Response Center. The MyDoom (or Novarg) virus is another worm that can create a backdoor in the victim computer's operating system. The original MyDoom virus — there have been several variants — had two triggers. One trigger caused the virus to begin a denial of service (DoS) attack starting Feb. 1, 2004. The second trigger commanded the virus to stop distributing itself on Feb. 2, 2004. Even after the virus stopped spreading, the backdoors created during the initial infections remained active [source: Symantec]. Later that year, a second outbreak of the MyDoom virus gave several search engine companies grief. Like other viruses, MyDoom searched victim computers for e-mail addresses as part of its replication process. But it would also send a search request to a search engine and use e-mail addresses found in the search results. Eventually, searc h engines like Google began to receive millions of search requests from corrupted computers.These attacks slowed down search engine services and even caused some to crash [source: Sullivan]. MyDoom spread through e-mail and peer-to-peer networks. According to the security firm MessageLabs, one in every 12 e-mail messages carried the virus at one time [source: BBC]. Like the Klez virus, MyDoom could spoof e-mails so that it became very difficult to track the source of the infection. Oddball Viruses Not all viruses cause severe damage to computers or destroy networks. Some just cause computers to act in odd ways. An early virus called Ping-Pong created a bouncing ball graphic, but didn't seriously damage the infected computer.There are several joke programs that might make a computer owner think his or her computer is infected, but they're really harmless applications that don't self-replicate. When in doubt, it's best to let an antivirus program remove the application. Next, we'll ta ke a look at a pair of viruses created by the same hacker: the Sasser and Netsky viruses Worst Computer Virus 3: Sasser and Netsky [pic] David Hecker/AFP/Getty Images Sven Jaschan, creator of the Sasser and Netsky viruses, leaves the Verden Court. Sometimes computer virus programmers escape detection.But once in a while, authorities find a way to track a virus back to its origin. Such was the case with the Sasser and Netsky viruses. A 17-year-old German named Sven Jaschan created the two programs and unleashed them onto the Internet. While the two worms behaved in different ways, similarities in the code led security experts to believe they both were the work of the same person. The Sasser worm attacked computers through a Microsoft Windows vulnerability. Unlike other worms, it didn't spread through e-mail. Instead, once the virus infected a computer, it looked for other vulnerable systems.It contacted those systems and instructed them to download the virus. The virus would scan ran dom IP addresses to find potential victims. The virus also altered the victim's operating system in a way that made it difficult to shut down the computer without cutting off power to the system. The Netsky virus moves through e-mails and Windows networks. It spoofs e-mail addresses and propagates through a 22,016-byte file attachment [source: CERT]. As it spreads, it can cause a denial of service (DoS) attack as systems collapse while trying to handle all the Internet traffic.At one time, security experts at Sophos believed Netsky and its variants accounted for 25 percent of all computer viruses on the Internet [source: Wagner]. Sven Jaschan spent no time in jail; he received a sentence of one year and nine months of probation. Because he was under 18 at the time of his arrest, he avoided being tried as an adult in German courts. Black Hats Just as you'd find good and bad witches in Oz, you can find good and bad hackers in our world. One common term for a hacker who sets out to cre ate computer viruses or compromise system security is a black hat.Some hackers attend conventions like the Black Hat conference or Defcon to discuss the impact of black hats and how they use vulnerabilities in computer security systems to commit crimes. So far, most of the viruses we've looked at target PCs running Windows. But Macintosh computers aren't immune to computer virus attacks. In the next section, we'll take a look at the first virus to commit a Mac attack. Worst Computer Virus 2: Leap-A/Oompa-A [pic] Kevin Mazur Archive 1/WireImage/Getty Images We can thank â€Å"Weird Al† Yankovic for warning us of the dreaded â€Å"Stinky Cheese† virus.Maybe you've seen the ad in Apple's Mac computer marketing campaign where Justin â€Å"I'm a Mac† Long consoles John â€Å"I'm a PC† Hodgman. Hodgman comes down with a virus and points out that there are more than 100,000 viruses that can strike a computer. Long says that those viruses target PCs, not Mac comp uters. For the most part, that's true. Mac computers are partially protected from virus attacks because of a concept called security through obscurity. Apple has a reputation for keeping its operating system (OS) and hardware a closed system — Apple produces both the hardware and the software.This keeps the OS obscure. Traditionally, Macs have been a distant second to PCs in the home computer market. A hacker who creates a virus for the Mac won't hit as many victims as he or she would with a virus for PCs. But that hasn't stopped at least one Mac hacker. In 2006, the Leap-A virus, also known as Oompa-A, debuted. It uses the iChat instant messaging program to propagate across vulnerable Mac computers. After the virus infects a Mac, it searches through the iChat contacts and sends a message to each person on the list.The message contains a corrupted file that appears to be an innocent JPEG image. The Leap-A virus doesn't cause much harm to computers, but it does show that even a Mac computer can fall prey to malicious software. As Mac computers become more popular, we'll probably see more hackers create customized viruses that could damage files on the computer or snarl network traffic. Hodgman's character may yet have his revenge. Breaking into Song While computer viruses can pose a serious threat to computer systems and Internet traffic, sometimes the media overstates the impact of a particular virus.For example, the Michelangelo virus gained a great deal of media attention, but the actual damage caused by the virus was pretty small. That might have been the inspiration for the song â€Å"Virus Alert† by â€Å"Weird Al† Yankovic. The song warns listeners of a computer virus called Stinky Cheese that not only wipes out your computer's hard drive, but also forces you to listen to Jethro Tull songs and legally change your name to Reggie. We're down to the end of the list. What computer virus has landed the number one spot? Worst Computer Viru s 1: Storm WormThe latest virus on our list is the dreaded Storm Worm. It was late 2006 when computer security experts first identified the worm. The public began to call the virus the Storm Worm because one of the e-mail messages carrying the virus had as its subject â€Å"230 dead as storm batters Europe. † Antivirus companies call the worm other names. For example, Symantec calls it Peacomm while McAfee refers to it as Nuwar. This might sound confusing, but there's already a 2001 virus called the W32. Storm. Worm. The 2001 virus and the 2006 worm are completely different programs. [pic] Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty ImagesProfessor Adi Shamir of the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Israel is the leader of the Anti-Spyware Coalition. The Storm Worm is a Trojan horse program. Its payload is another program, though not always the same one. Some versions of the Storm Worm turn computers into zombies or bots. As computers become infected, they become vulnerable to remote control by the person behind the attack. Some hackers use the Storm Worm to create a botnet and use it to send spam mail across the Internet. Many versions of the Storm Worm fool the victim into downloading the application through fake links to news stories or videos.The people behind the attacks will often change the subject of the e-mail to reflect current events. For example, just before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a new version of the worm appeared in e-mails with subjects like â€Å"a new deadly catastrophe in China† or â€Å"China's most deadly earthquake. † The e-mail claimed to link to video and news stories related to the subject, but in reality clicking on the link activated a download of the worm to the victim's computer [source: McAfee]. Several news agencies and blogs named the Storm Worm one of the worst virus attacks in years.By July 2007, an official with the security company Postini claimed that the firm detected more than 200 million e-mails carrying links to the Storm Worm during an attack that spanned several days [source: Gaudin]. Fortunately, not every e-mail led to someone downloading the worm. Although the Storm Worm is widespread, it's not the most difficult virus to detect or remove from a computer system. If you keep your antivirus software up to date and remember to use caution when you receive e-mails from unfamiliar people or see strange links, you'll save yourself some major headaches. MalwareComputer viruses are just one kind of malware. Other types include spyware and some kinds of adware. Spyware spies on what a user does with his or her computer. That can include logging keystrokes as a way to discover login codes and passwords. Adware is a software app that displays ads to users while they use a larger application like a Web browser. Some adware contains code that gives advertisers extensive access to private information. Want to learn more about computer viruses? Take a look at the links on the next page, if you dare. COMPUTER VIRUSES Markus Hanhisalo Department of Computer ScienceHelsinki University of Technology Markus. [email  protected] fi This report briefly introduces computer viruses and how they effect network security. I have introduced today's virus situation. Many people are afraid of viruses, mostly because they do not know much about them. This report will guide you in the event of a virus infection. Computer viruses and network security is important. There are things that are not public information. Therefore it is good to be a weare of possible network security problems. [pic] Table of Contents 1. Introduction to computer viruses 2. General information about computer viruses . 1 Different Malware types 2. 1. 1 Viruses 2. 1. 2 Trojan 2. 1. 3 Worms 2. 2 Macro viruses 2. 3 Virus sources 2. 3. 1 Why do people write and spread viruses? 2. 4 How viruses act 2. 4. 1 How viruses spread out 2. 4. 2 How viruses activate 2. 5 Viruses in different platforms 2. 5. 1 PC viruses 2. 5. 2 Macinto sh viruses 2. 5. 3 Other platforms 3. How to deal with viruses 3. 1 What are the signs of viruses 3. 2 What to do when you find viruses 4. How to protect from viruses 4. 1 How to provide against viruses 4. 2 Different anti-virus programs 5. Computer viruses in Finland 5.   Ã‚  Ã‚   A questionnaire survey in Finland about viruses 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is going to be a criminal act to make viruses in Finland 6. How computer viruses have spread out around the world 7. Computer viruses and network security 8. Conclusions [pic] 1. Introduction to Computer Viruses The person might have a computer virus infection when the computer starts acting differently. For instance getting slow or when they turn the computer on, it says that all the data is erased or when they start writing a document, it looks different, some chapters might be missing or something else ubnormal has happened.The next thing usually the person whose computer might be infected with virus, panics. The person might think t hat all the work that have been done is missing. That could be true, but in most cases viruses have not done any harm jet, but when one start doing something and are not sure what you do, that might be harmful. When some people try to get rid of viruses they delete files or they might even format the whole hard disk like my cousin did. That is not the best way to act when the person think that he has a virus infection. What people do when they get sick?They go to see a doctor if they do not know what is wrong with them. It is the same way with viruses, if the person does not know what to do they call someone who knows more about viruses and they get professional help. If the person read email at their PC or if they use diskettes to transfer files between the computer at work and the computer at home, or if they just transfer files between the two computers they have a good possibility to get a virus. They might get viruses also when they download files from any internet site.There w as a time when people were able to be sure that some sites we secure, that those secure sites did not have any virus problems, but nowadays the people can not be sure of anything. There has been viruses even in Microsoft's download sites. In this report I am going to introduce different malware types and how they spread out and how to deal with them. Most common viruses nowadays are macro viruses and I am going to spend a little more time with them. I am going to give an example of trojan horses stealing passwords. 2. General information about computer viruses 2. 1 Different malware typesMalware is a general name for all programs that are harmful; viruses, trojan, worms and all other similar programs [1]. 2. 1. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   Viruses A computer virus is a program, a block of executable code, which attach itself to, overwrite or otherwise replace another program in order to reproduce itself without a knowledge of a PC user. There are a couple of different types of computer viruses: bo ot sector viruses, parasitic viruses, multi-partite viruses, companion viruses, link viruses and macro viruses. These classifications take into account the different ways in which the virus can infect different parts of a system.The manner in which each of these types operates has one thing in common: any virus has to be executed in order to operate. [2] Most viruses are pretty harmless. The user might not even notice the virus for years. Sometimes viruses might cause random damage to data files and over a long period they might destroy files and disks. Even benign viruses cause damage by occupying disk space and main memory, by using up CPU processing time. There is also the time and expense wasted in detecting and removing viruses. 2. 1. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Trojan A Trojan Horse is a program that does something else that the user thought it would do.It is mostly done to someone on purpose. The Trojan Horses are usually masked so that they look interesting, for example a saxophone. wav f ile that interests a person collecting sound samples of instruments. A Trojan Horse differs from a destructive virus in that it doesn't reproduce. There has been a password trojan out in AOL land (the American On Line). Password30 and Pasword50 which some people thought were wav. files, but they were disguised and people did not know that they had the trojan in their systems until they tried to change their passwords. 9] According to an administrator of AOL, the Trojan steals passwords and sends an E-mail to the hackers fake name and then the hacker has your account in his hands. 2. 1. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚   Worms A worm is a program which spreads usually over network connections. Unlike a virus which attach itself to a host program, worms always need a host program to spread. In practice, worms are not normally associated with one person computer systems. They are mostly found in multi-user systems such as Unix environments. A classic example of a worm is Robert Morrisis Internet-worm 1988. [1,5] [pic] Picture 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   An example of a worm. . 2 Macro virus Macro viruses spread from applications which use macros. The macro viruses which are receiving attention currently are specific to Word 6, WordBasic and Excel. However, many applications, not all of them Windows applications, have potentially damaging and infective macro capabilities too. A CAP macro virus, now widespread, infects macros attached to Word 6. 0 for Windows, Word 6. 0. 1 for Macintosh, Word 6. 0 for Windows NT, and Word for Windows 95 documents. What makes such a virus possible is that the macros are created by WordBASIC and even allows DOS commands to be run.WordBASIC in a program language which links features used in Word to macros. A virus, named â€Å"Concept,† has no destructive payload; it merely spreads, after a document containing the virus is opened. Concept copies itself to other documents when they are saved, without affecting the contents of documents. Since then, however, other macro viruses have been discovered, and some of them contain destructive routines. Microsoft suggests opening files without macros to prevent macro viruses from spreading, unless the user can verify that the macros contained in the document will not cause damage.This does NOT work for all macro viruses. Why are macro viruses so successful? Today people share so much data, email documents and use the Internet to get programs and documents. Macros are also very easy to write. The problem is also that Word for Windows corrupts macros inadvertently creating new macro viruses. [pic] Picture 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   New macro virus by corruption [12] Corruption's also creates â€Å"remnant† macros which are not infectious, but look like viruses and cause false alarms. Known macro virus can get together and create wholly new viruses. [pic]Picture 3  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macro virus growth, July 1995 to May 1997 [12] There have been viruses since 1986 and macro viruses since 1995. Now about 15 percent o f virus are macro viruses. There are about 2. 000 macro viruses and about 11. 000 DOS viruses, but the problem is that macro viruses spreads so fast. New macro viruses are created in the work-place, on a daily basis, on typical end-user machines, not in a virus lab. New macro virus creation is due to corruption, mating, and conversion. Traditional anti-virus programs are also not good at detecting new macro viruses.Almost all virus detected in the Helsinki University of Technology have been macro viruses, according to Tapio Keihanen, the virus specialist in HUT. Before macro viruses it was more easy to detect and repair virus infections with anti-virus programs. But now when there are new macro viruses, it is harder to detect macro viruses and people are more in contact with their anti-virus vendor to detect an repair unknown macro viruses, because new macro viruses spread faster than new anti-virus program updates come up. 2. 3 Virus sources Viruses don not just appear, there is al ways somebody that has made it and they have own reason to so.Viruses are written everywhere in the world. Now when the information flow in the net and Internet grows, it does not matter where the virus is made. Most of the writers are young men. There are also few university students, professors, computer store managers, writers and even a doctor has written a virus. One thing is common to these writers, all of them are men, women do not waste their time writing viruses. Women are either smarter or they are just so good that never get caught. [1] 2. 3. 1 Why do people write and spread viruses? It is difficult to know why people write them.Everyone has their own reasons. Some general reasons are to experiment how to write viruses or to test their programming talent. Some people just like to see how the virus spreads and gets famous around the World. The following is a list from news group postings alt. comp. virus and tries to explain why people write and spread viruses. ?   they don't understand or prefer not to think about the consequences for other people ? they simply don't care ?   they don't consider it to be their problem if someone else is inconvenienced ? hey draw a false distinction between creating/publishing viruses and distributing them ? they consider it to be the responsibility of someone else to protect systems from their creations ? they get a buzz, acknowledged or otherwise, from vandalism ? they consider they're fighting authority ? they like ‘matching wits' with anti virus vendors ? it's a way of getting attention, getting recognition from their peers and their names (or at least that of their virus) in the papers and the Wild List ? they're keeping the anti virus vendors in a job . 4 How viruses act Viruses main mission is to spread out and then get active. Some viruses just spread out and never activate. Viruses when they spread out, they make copies of self and spreading is harmful. 2. 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   How viruses spread out Vi ruses mission is to hop from program to other and this should happen as quickly as possible. Usually viruses join to the host program in some way. They even write over part of the host program. A computer is infected with a boot sector virus if it is booted from an infected floppy disk. Boot sector infections cannot normally spread across a network.These viruses spread normally via floppy disks which may come from virtually any source: ? unsolicited demonstration disks ? brand-new software ? disks used on your PC by salesmen or engineers ? repaired hardware A file virus infects other files, when the program to which it is attached is run, and so a file virus can spread across a network and often very quickly. They may be spread from the same sources as boot sector viruses, but also from sources such as Internet FTP sites and newsgroups. Trojan horses spread just like file viruses. A multipartite virus infects boot sectors and files.Often, an infected file is used to infect the boot sector: thus, this is one case where a boot sector infection could spread across a network. 2. 4. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   How viruses activate We are always afraid that viruses do something harmful to files when they get active, but not all the viruses activate. Some viruses just spread out, but when viruses activate they do very different things. Might play a part of melody or play music in the background, show a picture or animated picture, show text, format hard disk or do changes to files. As an example, in one unnamed company: over a long period of time, the files in a server were corrupted just a bit.So backup copies were taken from the corrupted files. And after they noticed that something was wrong, it was too late to get back the data from the backups. That kind of event is the worst that can happen for the uses. There is also talk that viruses have done something to hardware like hard disk or monitor. Viruses can not do any harm to hardware but they can do harm to programs and for e xample to BIOS so that computer does not start after that. Usually you can start the computer from a boot diskette if the computer does not start otherwise. 2. 5  Ã‚  Ã‚   Viruses in different platforms 2. 5.   Ã‚  Ã‚   PC viruses Viruses are mostly written for PC-computers and DOS environment. Even though viruses are made for DOS environment, they are working also in Windows, Windows95, Windows NT and OS/2 operating systems. Some viruses like boot sector viruses, do not care what about operating systems. [1] 2. 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macintosh viruses Macintosh viruses are not as a big problem as PC viruses are. There are not so many viruses in Macintosh operating system. Macintosh viruses has been found mostly from schools. How many Mac viruses there are? I found out that there are about 2-300 Mac-specific viruses.There are virtually no macro viruses which have a Mac-specific payload, but all macro viruses can infect on Macs and other platforms which runs Word 6. x of better. 2. 5. 3  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other platforms Viruses can be found from in almost any kind of computer, such as HP calculators used by students like HP 48-calculators and old computers like Commodore 64 and Unix computers too. [1] In general, there are virtually no non-experimental UNIX viruses. There have been a few Worm incidents, most notably the Morris Worm,. the Internet Worm, of 1988. There are products which scan some Unix systems for PC viruses.Any machine used as a file server (Novell, Unix etc. ) can be scanned for PC viruses by a DOS scanner if it can be mounted as a logical drive on a PC running appropriate network client software such as PC-NFS. Intel-based PCs running Unix e. g. Linux, etc. can also be infected by a DOS boot-sector virus if booted from an infected disk. The same goes for other PC-hosted operating systems such as NetWare. While viruses are not a major risk on Unix platforms, integrity checkers and audit packages are frequently used by system administrators to detect fi le changes made by other kinds of attack. . How to deal with viruses 3. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the signs of viruses Almost anything odd a computer may do, can blamed on a computer â€Å"virus,† especially if no other explanation can readily be found. Many operating systems and programs also do strange things, therefore there is no reason to immediately blame a virus. In most cases, when an anti-virus program is then run, no virus can be found. A computer virus can cause unusual screen displays, or messages – but most don't do that. A virus may slow the operation of the computer – but many times that doesn't happen.Even longer disk activity, or strange hardware behavior can be caused by legitimate software, harmless â€Å"prank† programs, or by hardware faults. A virus may cause a drive to be accessed unexpectedly and the drive light to go on but legitimate programs can do that also. One usually reliable indicator of a virus infection is a change in the le ngth of executable (*. com/*. exe) files, a change in their content, or a change in their file date/time in the Directory listing. But some viruses don't infect files, and some of those which do can avoid howing changes they've made to files, especially if they're active in RAM. Another common indication of a virus infection is a change to the reassignment of system resources. Unaccounted use of memory or a reduction in the amount normally shown for the system may be significant. In short, observing â€Å"something funny† and blaming it on a computer virus is less productive than scanning regularly   for potential viruses, and not scanning, because â€Å"everything is running OK† is equally inadvisable. 3. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   What to do when you find viruses First thing what you should do when you find virus is count to ten and stay cool.You should keep notes on what you do and write down what your virus programs and you computer tells you. If you are not sure what to do, you should call the administrator for future action. In some cases it is not good to start you computer from hard disk, because the virus may active and then do some harm. Second,make sure that you should get sure that it is virus and what virus it is. It is important to know what kind of virus we are dealing with. Companies that make anti-virus programs knows what different viruses does and you can ether call them and ask about that viruses or you can go to their web pages and read about the virus you have.When you start you computer you should do it from a clean (non-infected) floppy diskette and after that run the virus program. The boot diskette should be write protected so that virus can not infect the boot diskette too. [6] It is good to take a backup of the file that was infected. Virus program could do some damage to the file and that is why it is good to have a backup. It is good to let you administrator to know about the virus, so viruses would not spread around so much. I n TKK PC classes are protected by anti-virus program and that virus program reports to a person, responsible for virus protection. . How to protect from viruses 4. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   How to provide against viruses Best way to protect yourself is to prepare your computer against viruses in advance. One way to protect you computer is to use updated anti-virus program. When you get an email attachment, you should first check the attachment by checking the file with a anti-virus program. As an example in one unnamed Finnish company all information was mailed in email attachments. There was this one Word document that was mailed to everybody. That email attachment was infected by a macro virus.Everyone got the infected attachment and those who opened that attachment by Word got that CAP-macro virus. After all there were a few thousand infections. It took lots of time and money to clear that virus. One can protect the computer against boot sector viruses by setting the BIOS to start from a har d disk rather than from a floppy disk. Write protection is a good way to prohibit against viruses. Write protection works well in floppy disks, Windows NT and UNIX, but not that well in Windows and Windows95. 4.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Different anti-virus programs There are three different kind of anti-viral packages: activity monitors, authentication or change-detection software, and scanners. Each type has its own strengths and weaknesses. Commercial anti-viral programs have a combination of the above mentioned functions. [7] There are over ten good anti-viral programs. Most knows programs are Data Fellows F-Prot, EliaShim ViruSafe, ESaSS ThunderBYTE, IBM AntiVirus, McAfee Scan, Microsoft Anti-Virus, Symantec Norton AntiVirus and S&S Dr Solomon's AVTK.On a day-to-day basis, the average corporation should be very interested in the scan time; these impact strongly the users, who should be scanning hard drives and disks on a daily basis. If a product takes too long to carry out these basic tas ks, users will be unwilling to wait, and will stop using it. This is clearly undesirable – the perfect anti-virus product would be one which takes no time to run and finds all viruses. 5. Computer viruses in Finland 5. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚   A questionnaire in Finland about viruses Computer viruses are not uncommon in Finland, especially not in schools and universities. Virus prevention was not well organized in some organizations and tended to be better in government organizations than in local government or in firms† writes Marko Helenius in his Computer viruses in Finland report. He did a large scale questionnaire survey in Finland in the summer 1993. There were not macro viruses at that time yet, so today the virus situation is a bit different, but some results were pretty interesting. The knowledge of viruses was quite poor in all sectors: government, local authorities and companies. Respondents' knowledge of viruses was best in government organizations.How importance is vi rus prevention? The most positive attitude to virus prevention was in government organizations. 90% of the government organizations used some kind of anti-virus program, the same in local authority organizations was about 55 % and in companies it was over 60 %. [3] 5. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is going to be a criminal act to make viruses in Finland There is a new government bill about writing and spreading viruses. If the bill goes through, it is going to be a criminal act to make and spread viruses in Finland and one could get two years in prison or a fine, if one spread or write viruses.If a person make a virus it would be same thing in court than a person were planning to burn something. It is criminal to make viruses in England, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and Russia. It is not punished to make or spread viruses in Finland, according today's penal code. If viruses make harm to somebody that could be punished. Nobody has been punished for that in Finland, even though some Finns has m ade viruses, for example Finnish Spryer. That virus formatted about 600 hard disks and did lots of damage. They say that it was made in Espoo, but they never got the persons that made that virus.Virus business in Finland is pretty big. Businesses that have specialized in viruses have about 100 million in sales together. It costs money to stop working and clean up the viruses. Computer viruses put in danger general safety, says Pihlajamaki from Ministry of Justice. It is dangerous if viruses gets to programs that control trains or airplanes. Computer viruses can also be used as a weapon. It is sad that America used computer viruses to slay and to make Iraq's computers non-functional. [4] 6. How computer viruses have spread out around the world Computer viruses are a problem all over the world.The following picture tells us how many times people have accessed Data Fellows, a company that makes anti-virus program F-Prot, more than 1,672,846 per month[10]. It means that people are inter esting in virus information. One reason is that people have to deal with viruses. Viruses in not only a problem in Finland and USA, it is a problem around the world. [pic] Picture 4  Ã‚  Ã‚   Accesses per month Today's most common virus is the macro virus. Cap virus is one of the macro viruses. Last month there were 3100 Cap macro virus accesses during the last 30 days in Data Fellows.Next common virus was Join the Crew with 1171 accesses and third common was Pen pal Greetings with 895 accesses. [10] [pic] Picture 5  Ã‚  Ã‚   Twenty most accessed virus descriptions during the last 30 days 7. Computer viruses and network security Computer viruses are one network security problem. A few people when asked if computer viruses can cause network security problems answered as follows. Dave Kenney answered from National Computer Security Assoc: â€Å"There is one macro virus for MSWord that is received as an attachment to MS Mail messages. If a user has Word open, and double clicks to see the ontents of the attachment, MS Word and the open document is infected. Then the document is mailed to three other users listed in the original user's address book. † â€Å"The only information that is leaked is the thing you should be worried about, your password! The trojan sends an E-mail to the hackers fake name and then he has your account at his hands,† wrote CJ from American Online. â€Å"Rarely, a Word macro virus may accidentally pick up some user information and carry it along; we know of one case where a macro virus â€Å"snatched† an innocent user macro that contained a password, and spread it far outside the company where that happened.In the future, however, it is entirely possible that more network-aware viruses will cause significant network security problems,† wrote David Chess from IBM. Marko Helenius wrote from Virus Research Unit, that there has been some cases when hackers have used trojan horses to gain information. There is one example in one finnish corporation where some money were transferred illegally a year ago. There has been a trojan in the University of   Tampere too where the trojan pretend to be a host transfer program. The trojan saved users login name and password to hard disk. 8.Conclusions There are lots of viruses in the world and new viruses are coming up every day. There are new anti-virus programs and techniques developed too. It is good to be aware of viruses and other malware and it is cheaper to protect you environment from them rather then being sorry. There might be a virus in your computer if it starts acting differently. There is no reason to panic if the computer virus is found. It is good to be a little suspicious of malware when you surf in the Internet and download files. Some files that look interesting might hide a malware.A computer virus is a program that reproduces itself and its mission is to spread out. Most viruses are harmless and some viruses might cause random dam age to data files. A trojan horse is not a virus because it doesn't reproduce. The trojan horses are usually masked so that they look interesting. There are trojan horses that steal passwords and formats hard disks. Marco viruses spread from applications which use macros. Macro viruses spreads fast because people share so much data, email documents and use the Internet to get documents. Macros are also very easy to write.Some people want to experiment how to write viruses and test their programming talent. At the same time they do not understand about the consequences for other people or they simply do not care. Viruses mission is to hop from program to other and this can happen via floppy disks, Internet FTP sites, newsgroups and via email attachments. Viruses are mostly written for PC-computers and DOS environments. Viruses are not any more something that just programmers and computer specialist have to deal with. Today everyday users have to deal with viruses.